14 Jan

CR IP TI ON BS SU

MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 2013

Israel forces Palestinians from site of settlement

France extends Mali airstrikes to Islamist strongholds

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RABI ALAWAL 2, 1434 AH

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Cleric leads thousands in Pakistan protest march

United down defiant Liverpool, City sink 10-man Arsenal

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Amir meets speaker as panel discusses debts Court delays election challenge • Oppn stages rally

Max 14º Min 03º High Tide 00:35 & 14:20 Low Tide 07:59 & 19:55

By B Izzak

KUWAIT: Former MP Musallam Al-Barrak, flanked by former MPs Mubarak Al-Walaan and Khaled Al-Tahous, leads opposition supporters late yesterday in a demonstration in Sabah Al-Nasser to demand the dissolution of the National Assembly elected last month in general polls boycotted by almost all political groups. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat

Surplus hits $52bn amid low spending KIA assets more than $261bn KUWAIT: Kuwait’s budget surplus stood at KD 14.7 billion ($52 billion) in the first eight months of its fiscal year thanks to strong oil revenues, data from the finance ministry showed. The AprilNovember surplus accounts for around 33.1 percent of the OPEC member’s 2011

gross domestic product, according to a Reuters calculation based on the latest official data. A Reuters poll in September forecast Kuwait would record a budget surplus of 23.8 percent of GDP in fiscal year 2012/13, which began in April.

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KUWAIT: HH the Amir yesterday received Speaker of the National Assembly Ali Al-Rashed and head of various parliamentary committees and discussed with them the top issues on the panels’ priority lists. The Governor of the Central Bank Mohammad Al-Hashel meanwhile told the financial and economic affairs committee that the cost of writing off interest on the bank loans of Kuwaiti citizens will be around KD 1.7 billion, insisting that the bank does not support the issue. Also, the constitutional court decided at the end of its first session for studying challenges against the election and the single-vote decree to postpone the next hearing for Feb 3.

Rashed said the Amir expressed concern for solving problems facing Kuwaitis as he reviewed with heads of committees the most important issues on their agendas which will be later submitted to the Assembly’s office for approval and debate. The speaker said the Amir promised to convey the issues to the government with a recommendation that it should take care of them so in order to create an atmosphere of cooperation between the Assembly and the government. Regarding the issue of waiving interest on debts, Rashed said the Amir expressed hope that the Assembly and the government cooperate on finding a mechanism to resolve popular issues that are connected to public funds and the mechanism should be fair and safeguard funds.

Meanwhile, rapporteur of the financial and economic affairs committee MP Safa Al-Hashem said the Central Bank governor informed the committee that there are 341,000 Kuwaiti debtors who have taken loans from banks and other companies against 412,400 citizens who have taken no loans. She said the governor believes that forgiving interest on the loans is unfair and unjust to many Kuwaitis, especially that the process will cost state coffers around KD 1.7 billion.

She said the committee will hold another meeting on Wednesday with Deputy PM and Finance Minister Mustafa Al-Shamali to discuss the issue. A number of MPs attended the meeting, the first to discuss several proposals calling to drop the interest on bank loans and then reschedule the repayment of the principal of the debt over many years in easy installments.

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Egypt opens old wound with Mubarak’s retrial CAIRO: Egypt ordered a retrial of deposed president Hosni Mubarak yesterday after accepting an appeal against his life sentence, opening up an old wound in the painful transition from decades of authoritarian rule. Mubarak, 84, was ousted in 2011 after 30 years in power and jailed for life last year over the killing of protesters by security forces trying to quell a mass street revolt. He was the first Arab ruler to be brought to court by his own people. A Cairo court granted Mubarak and his former interior minister the appeal as Egypt prepares to mark the second anniversary of the uprising on Jan. 25.

The retrial is likely to stir emotions and could plunge the government of new President Mohamed Morsi into dangerous waters as he tries to restore law and order and a wrecked economy. Egypt remains volatile as it prepares for a parliamentary election in the next few months. Anxiety over the economy is on the boil after protests, often violent, in late 2012 prompted citizens to snap up hard currency and take out savings.

During Mubarak’s 10-month trial, many protesters accused the then ruling generals and officials seen as loyal to the ousted president of protecting him. A retrial may revive calls for a deeper purge of those viewed as holdovers from the old era.

Continued on Page 13

CAIRO: Egyptian supporters of former president Hosni Mubarak celebrate yesterday after the court of cassation, the top appeals court, accepted an appeal for a retrial of the ousted president. (Inset) Mubarak’s Kuwaiti lawyer Faisal AlOtaibi leaves the court. — AFP

Renewable energy atlas launched

LAS VEGAS: Miss New York Mallory Hagan is crowned Miss America 2013 by Miss America 2012 Laura Kaeppeler late Saturday. — AP (See Page 40)

ABU DHABI: The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) yesterday launched the world’s first atlas on clean energy which will offer open-access information on countries’ renewable energy potential. “The Global Atlas is the largest ever initiative to help countries assess their renewable energy potential, and companies bringing together data and maps from leading technical insti-

tutes and private companies worldwide,” IRENA said. “It currently charts solar and wind resources, and will expand to other forms of renewable energy over 2013 and 2014,” the agency announced as it began its two-day annual general assembly in Abu Dhabi.

ABU DHABI: Members of the Israeli delegation IRENA said the atlas will also help comattend the General Assembly of the International panies looking to invest in new markets.

Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) in the Emirati Continued on Page 13 capital yesterday. — AFP

MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 2013

LOCAL

Kuwait cautions against spread of Syrian crisis Threat to regional security CAIRO: Kuwait’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid Al-Hamad Al-Sabah cautioned yesterday that expansion and continuity of violence in Syria and its ensuing humanitarian and security repercussions impose a threat to stability and security in neighboring and regional countries. “The Syrian crisis represents the core of emerging humanitarian crisis with its grave impacts on the regional and international security and stability,” Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid said in the Arab Foreign Ministers’ Emergency Meeting in Cairo. He noted that the international community failure to provide needed humanitarian and relief aid to desperate Syrians inside or outside Syria is complicating the situation.

There is a growing influx of Syrian refugees who are seeking safety to neighboring countries, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Turkey, he said.

Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid reiterated that Kuwait has warned of these grave aftermaths of worsening situation in Syria on the region and the whole world. The Kuwaiti top diplomat lamented Syrian regime’s defiance in dealing with the international calls and initiatives to stop violence and meet the aspirations of the Syrian people.

He urged the Arab and international community to provide all support and aid to the Syrian refugees who are facing the severe humanitarian situations due to the breezing weather and the cute shortage in basic needs.

Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid stated that Kuwaiti government and people have exerted strenuous efforts upon instructions from His Highness the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah to collect donation and send humanitarian and relief aid to displaced Syrians.

In this regard, the Kuwaiti Minister lauded the role played by Kuwaiti non-government organizations such as Kuwait Red Crescent Society and the International Islamic Charity Organization, which have permanent offices in the Syrian refugee camps in Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey.

Kuwait will also host, on Jan 30, an international conference for donors to Syria, he said, noting that the conference aims to raise about $ 1. 5 billion in donation to help alleviate the suffering of Syrian people. Meanwhile, the Arab foreign ministers expressed their deep concerns over the severe humanitarian situation in the conflict-ravaged Syria, urging collective Arab and international

action to alleviate the sufferings of traumatized and displaced Syrians.

In the final communique of their emergency meeting in Cairo, the Arab foreign ministers voiced concerns over the situation of nearly 2.5 million people who were forced to flee their homes to seek safety in less volatile areas inside Syria and that of hundreds of thousands who fled to neighboring countries for the same reason.

The ministers also hailed efforts exerted by the governments of Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Turkey to offer shelters and humanitarian needs for the growing number of Syrian refugees who are crossing their borders every day.

The statement underlined the need for collective Arab and international action to end the sufferings of the desperate Syrian people.

The ministers extolled Kuwaiti’s initiative to host an international conference for donors to Syrian people later this month, called for significant Arab contribution in the event and the donations. They also asked the Syrian government and opposition not to attack Palestinian refugee camps in Syria or force its residents to take side with any of the conflicting parties. —KUNA

Zain and OSN partner to bring premium TV content to customers KUWAIT: Zain customers in Kuwait and Bahrain can now subscribe to OSN’s premium TV content following a strategic partnership announced yesterday between Zain Group, a pioneer of mobile telecommunications in the Middle East and North Africa, and OSN,the region’s leading pay-TV network.

Zain customers in Kuwait and Bahrain can purchase OSN subscriptions and services directly from Zain retail stores along with the mobile operator’s regular selection of communication services. The partnership also opens up access to digital TV entertainment with Zain customers gaining access to premium and exclusive Arabic and English entertainment anytime, anywhere on a number of devices through OSN Play, the region’s first online TV viewing platform. OSN Play will be offered as part of a special package with Zain’s high-speed broadband services.

Zain Group plans to roll out similar initiatives in new markets allowing its large base of customers to enjoy more services as well as the convenience of subscribing to telecommunication and TV entertainment services from a single retail point.Zain and OSN stand to benefit mutually through the partnership given the operator’s impressive and well established distribution networks across its markets of operation and the network’s digital entertainment services.

Hisham Akbar, Zain Group Deputy CEO and COO, said: “At Zain we always look to excel in the offer of new and innovative services, and this agreement demonstrates the extent to which we are delivering cutting edge technologies.”

He continued: “We have an unyielding desire with-

in Zain to acquire and commercialize new products and business models.We are confident that this partnership will help push the boundaries of integration between mobile communications and premium entertainment in order to meet and surpass our customers’ passion for these new kind of experiences.”

David Butorac, CEO of OSN said: “The strategic partnership with leading telecom brand, Zain, will provide the most extensive range of exclusive and premium TV entertainment bundled with the latest communication services. We recently launched five new channels and have expanded our HD line-up which is currently the largest in the region giving customers more to look forward to. Customers will not only benefit from OSN’s fantastic content and Zain’s world class technology, but also the convenience of one place to shop.”

Zain is a leading telecommunications operator across the Middle East and North Africa providing mobile voice and data services to over 41.3 million active customers as of 30 September, 2012. With a commercial presence in 8 countries, Zain operates in the following countries: Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and South Sudan. In Lebanon, the company manages ‘touch’ on behalf of the government. In Morocco, Zain has a 15.5% stake in Wana Telecom, now branded ‘INWI’, through a joint venture.

OSN is the ultimate destination for the widest choice of brand new premium Western, Arabic and Filipino entertainment in the Middle East and Africa.

OSN is the home of 100 channels filled with great value entertainment, offering viewers in the MENA

region exclusive access to the latest blockbuster movies, top rated series, sports, documentaries, news, kid’s entertainment and live talk shows. The movie offering includes over a 100 uncut and uninterrupted movie premieres a month so viewers can watch them the way they were meant to be watched.

OSN boasts the most comprehensive portfolio of exclusive rights from all the major studios including Warner Brothers, Paramount, Fox, Disney, Sony, MGM, Universal and DreamWorks and offers access to the worlds leading television brands including Disney channel, Sky News, Discovery Network and Nat Geo. As the leader in innovation, OSN has changed the TV viewing experience by bringing quality entertainment through 36 High Definition channels and is currently the only network offering a full HD bouquet of channels as well as 3D entertainment in the region.

OSN was the first to launch the DVR, the OSN Showbox HD; the regions first online TV platform, OSN Play; the regions first 3D, HD, internet enabled satellite receiver and recorder, OSN Plus HD and the region’s first VOD service, OSN on Demand offering viewers the opportunity to watch over 1000 movies and 52 latest seasons of the top series, all available in full HD quality and Dolby Digital sound.

September 2012 saw the launch of OSN’s first rewards programme, OSN Privileges, offering subscribers money can’t buy experiences, special offers and premium prizes all year round.The OSN platform is owned and operated by Panther Media Group Limited; a company registered in DIFC, and is owned

by Mawarid Group Limited and KIPCO.

NA panel to discuss citizens loans with Shamali

By A. Saleh KUWAIT: Following the parliamentary financial committee’s meeting with the Central Bank governor, Mohammed Al-Hashel, the committee Rapporteur MP Safa Al-Hashim said that it would meet with the deputy PM and the M inister of Finance, Mustafa Al-Shamali, next Wednesday to discuss the same issue.

Al-Hashim added that the Central Bank governor stressed that the total number of citizens who have bank loans were 341206 compared to 412359 who have not availed of bank loans so far. She also highlighted that Al-Hashel stressed that it would be unfair to write off the loans, par ticularly since the cost would hit KD 1,686,000,000 and since over 280,000 citizens older than 21 did not avail of any loans while some of those who did were younger than 21 and still received students’ allowances.

One vote decree The Constitutional Court yesterday held a hearing to review the contests filed against the single vote decree and the current parliamen-

tary elections. The contests filed in the court seek cancelation of the decree and dissolution of the parliament. The hearing was adjourned till February 3rd.

Gulf Championship in Basra The recent meeting of the GCC Football Association heads agreed to hold the next Gulf Cup of Nations, which will be its 22nd cycle, in Basra, Iraq in 2015, informed sources said.

Further, the sources added that in case of security-related situations or any instability in Iraq, the championship would be held in KSA, Jeddah instead.

Waste of public funds In keeping with his recent statements that his grilling motion against Oil Minister Hani Hussein was approaching fast, MP Sa’doun Al-Otaibi yesterday posed a number of inquiries to the minster about certain financial and legal violations committed by the CEO of Kuwait Petroleum International Co. who allegedly unlawfully compensated the head of a European international oil company. The latter was fired in mid-2012 for manipulating the prices of European gas stations and wasting around €3 million.

Kuwait, Saudi major contributors to Arab fund RIYADH: Saudi Minister of Finance Ibrahim Al-Assaf said here on Saturday Kuwait and Saudi Arabia contribute $500 million each to a fund for supporting small and mediumsized enterprises (SMEs).

Speaking to reporters following the opening of the Arab Private Sector Forum, the minister said Saudi Arabia and Kuwait were major contributors to the fund. The minister pointed to contributions worth less than US 400 million from Arab countries.

The program of the fund began by giving loans to all Arab countries which have smallsized projects, he said.

He hoped that the next version of the Arab economic development summit due here this month would be successful and

fruitful.

On the agenda of the meeting, he said it included a revised Arab investment agreement purposed to wipe out obstacles impeding inter-Arab investment.

It also includes Arab free trade zone, customs agreement and joint ventures involving infrastructure, railway, aviation, roads and electricity as well as food security, the Saudi minister noted.

However, he maintained, inter-Arab transportation still poses a problem that requires a swift solution in order to pave the way for boosting trade exchange.

The Arab Private Sector Forum began here earlier in the day, attracting 500 figures from Arab public and private sectors. —KUNA

KUWAIT: Opposition supporters take part in a demonstration in Sabah Al-Nasser yesterday to demand the dissolution of the National Assembly. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat

Amir meets speaker...

Surplus hits $52bn...

Continued from Page 1

Continued from Page 1

In another development, the constitutional court yesterday held its first session to study a large number of petitions and challenges against the Dec 1 election which was boycotted by the opposition. The court has received as many as 56 petitions challenging the elections and yesterday it began with nine. It will hold sessions until Jan 21 to review all the petitions. Among the petitions reviewed yesterday were two challenging the constitutionality of the whole election process and the amendment of the electoral law which sparked the ongoing political crisis.

The first was submitted by former MPs Adel AlSaraawi, Abdullah Al-Roumi and Marzouk Al-Ghanem and the second by former MP Aseel Al-Awadhi. The court decided to club the two together. It set the next hearing for Feb 3. If the court accepts the petitions, it could lead to dissolving the National Assembly for the second time by the constitutional court.

Late yesterday, hundreds of citizens led by several former opposition MPs took part in the 6th “Nation’s Dignity” protest in Sabah Al-Nasser to express their rejection of the one-vote decree issued by the Amir and demand the dissolution of the recently elected parliament. Protestors gathered at a roundabout between Sabah Al-Nasser and Firdous before starting their march. Organisers confirmed that the protest would be a peaceful one.

“This is a parliament of shame,” said leading opposition figure and former MP Musallam Al-Barrak. Despite an official denial that it will not send any special forces to the protest site, the Ministry of Interior deployed special forces and riot police near the land customs department in Sabah Al-Nasser one hour before the start of the demonstration. The ministry stressed that all necessary legal measures and security plans would be used in accordance to the law.

Total revenue was KD 21.6 billion while spending reached a mere KD 6.9 billion, around a third of the KD 21.2 billion total projected for the year. Kuwait had originally wanted to spend KD 14.2 billion by November, the data showed. The surplus is already larger than the figure for full year 2011/2012, when Kuwait booked a record KD 13.2 billion surplus thanks to robust oil income and lower spending. Receipts from crude exports account for around 95 percent of the government’s income. The Cabinet approved a revised budget for the current fiscal year in October.

While its fiscal position is strong, political upheaval in the state has stalled implementation of major parts of a KD 30 billion ($107 billion) economic development plan announced in late 2010. Analysts say Kuwait needs to diversify its oil-reliant economy and control wage growth.

As part of plans to invest revenues more efficiently, authorities decided to increase the amount channelled into Kuwait’s Future Generations Fund, a nest egg for when oil supplies diminish or for when the economy suffers other shocks. A newspaper reported yesterday that assets in the fund totalled $261 billion at the end of the last fiscal year.

Al-Qabas said 47 percent of the fund was invested in stocks and that its total size was KD 73.63 billion at the end of March. This would be $261.47 billion according to the current exchange rate or $266 billion at the time.

The KIA does not officially disclose its assets under management. In September last year, Kuwait decided it would start putting 25 percent of revenues into the fund, up from 10 percent previously, in order to invest state money more efficiently. The fund, which invests outside Kuwait, was set up in 1976 and all investment income is reinvested. It is meant to provide for future generations in a country where more than half of nationals are under 25.

The KIA also manages a large General Reserve Fund which acts as the main treasurer for the government and receives all revenues. — Reuters

MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 2013

LOCAL

CB unwavering on loans

KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah received yesterday at Seif Palace, the Speaker of the National Assembly Ali Al-Rashed along with NA Deputy Speaker Mubarak Al-Khurainej and heads of standing parliament committees who presented His Highness with a review of the committees’ programs and items on their agendas. His Highness stressed the importance of constructive cooperation between the executive and the legislative authorities at present and in the future to tackle challenge and yield results that meet citizens’ expectations and serve the development of the homeland.

KUWAIT: While the government seems open to the idea of negotiations with the parliament in order to agree on a solution to the loans problem, a local newspaper reported yesterday that the Central Bank “remains adamant about rejecting a compromise which involves writing off interests of citizens’ loans in local banks.”

Quoting ‘parliamentary insiders’ who spoke on the condition of anonymity, AlRai reported that several proposals are currently being discussed “including a solution that involves reducing the weight off of the shoulders of some indebted citizens including those whose problem is being attributed to cumulative interests.”

This can be resolved by paying allowances to such people so that they can continue their payments.

On the other hand, Al-Rai quoted other sources described as “top economic insiders” who insisted that the Central

Bank “will not waiver from its strong stance against a proposal calling on the government to write off the interests of bank loans,” which forms the backbone of proposed solutions forwarded by lawmakers so far.

Central Bank Governor Dr. Mohammad Al-Hashel attended the parliament’s financial committee meeting yesterday during which he gave figures to explain the CB’s position on the subject, including “nearly KD1.686 billion which is the estimated cost for writing off interests of all citizens’ loans,” according to rapporteur Safaa Al-Hashim. “[The Central Bank] believes that the issue is absolutely technical yet has been politicized,” said the sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

“Discussing this topic requires going back to the basics of banking and details of the procedures adopted by the CB and local banks to determine whether exceptional remedial measures are required.”

Kuwait’s attitude towards ADHD changes positively Five year transition over

By Ben Garcia KUWAIT: Kuwait’s attitude towards how to respond to Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has changed drastically in the last five years, Dr Susannah J. Schuilenberg, clinical coordinator and supervising psychologist at the Soor Center, has said. ADHD is a neurobehavioral disorder characterized by either significant difficulty in paying sustained attention or hyperactivity and impulsiveness or a combination of the two.

Dr Susannah J. Schuilenberg

“Kuwaitis now recognize the disorder and are seeking help compared to how they viewed it earlier,” she noted.

“I remember five years ago when parents were hardly ready to accept the fact that their children could be affected by ADHD. Parents are parents, irrespective of their nationality, and they love and care about their children just as parents in Canada, where I came from, do, or in any other country. It is painful for parents to see their children being labeled with some sort of disorder,” she said.

Schuilenberg said parents were nowadays bringing their children to an expert on their own if they suspected symptoms of ADHD. “When we started our campaign in Kuwait, we organized educational campaign in schools about the disorder. In the beginning, we used to receive patients mostly referred by school teachers but over a course of time, parents started dropping by our center seeking help. It was a very positive outcome and I am very happy that I am part of the transition,” she mentioned.

As is the case worldwide, about three to five percent of Kuwait’s children suffer from Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder which

can be detected and treated with proper guidance and intervention. Schuilenberg, a professional therapist and assessment supervisor, said the figures were no different from the rest of the countries as far as the percentage of children suffering from ADHD was concerned.

Schuilenberg said ADHD is a chronic condition which starts in early childhood and persists throughout a person’s lifetime. It is estimated that up to 60 percent of children with ADHD will continue to show significant ADHDrelated symptoms persisting into adulthood, resulting in an impact on education, employment, and interpersonal relationships.

“When not recognized, it can affect your adult life. People with ADHD could be unproductive and unsuccessful. But when recognized, there could be a tremendous transformation,” she said. “Help and proper intervention nowadays is just around the corner. It only takes some expert advice, guidance, therapy and education. In serious cases, there are some medications available although in our clinic we do not prescribe any. However, we recommend excellent psychiatric doctors,” she opined.

People with ADHD have deficiencies can deal with these through selfregulation and self-motivation. It causes problems with distractibility, procrastination, organization and prioritization.

In most cases, the common ADHD symptom was hyperactivity or its opposite. “The ADHD can manifest in children at a very young age and become severe as they grow. Their behavior is different from their peers’.

ADHD can manifest in children as soon as they start moving their limbs.

“Another common symptom is a child forgetting something all too easily. If you were to tell a child to go and fetch something and runs out of the room but forgets what it was that he was supposed to do, it could be a sign. Such children need help.

The order is part of the behavioral component and needs to be managed,” she explained.

To further educate parents, teachers, councilors, psychologists and students about the ADHD, the Kuwait Association for Learning

Beach cleaning campaign KUWAIT: Kuwait’s iconic “Rescue our coast in an hour” mega campaign will t a k e o f f t o m o r ro w a t 9 a m a t t h e Towers Beach. The campaign is being organized by Kuwait Teachers Society in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, Environmental Voluntary Organization and other government forums and private companies.

The treasurer of Kuwait Teachers Association, Abdul Mohsen Al-Sanie, said 1500 students from 75 schools will participate in the campaign

which will result in cleaning up 20 beaches starting from Ushairage right up to the Kuwait City. A number of supervisors will be guiding the students.

Al-Sanie said all precautions are being obser ved to ensure that the weather condition and cold wave do n o t a f fe c t t h e c a m p a i g n o r t h e planned program. Al-Sanie said the coast cleaning campaign was a very important one and the largest such exercise in the history of Kuwait.

Cabinet to discuss social welfare KUWAIT: His Highness Sheikh Jaber Al Mubarak will chair the council of ministers’ meeting scheduled for today. A number of issues are on the agenda and the meeting is slated to discuss many cases and action required.

Sources said among these will be the issue of financial allowances for social welfare. As per the new amendments, the maximum ceiling for a family will be KD 1200 per month while in no case should it be less than KD 255 per month.

In addition to the current groups benefiting from social welfare, two new age groups of Kuwaiti unmarried women are

being added. Those women who reach the age of 18 but have no one to take care of them, and those who reach the age of 35 and have someone to take care of them but they are not married, will be included. Sources revealed that the housing allowance will be KD 150, in addition to KD 50 for any son or daughter who needs rehabilitation and training. Regarding men who are married to more than one woman, and thus have more than one family, the sources said in such cases, each family will be treated separately according to the number of the family components.

Difficulties (KALD), will organize the second international conference on “ADHD: Assessment and Intervention.”

The event is set to be held in Kuwait on February 1-2, 2013 at the American University of Kuwait. The two-day conference will be attended by a group of elite professionals, experts, lecturers from Kuwait and all over the world including the USA, India, Britain and GCC countries. They will deliver not only lectures but also hold workshops and symposia around three strands - parents, teachers and specialists. The lecture will be open to the public but pre-registration is required as seats are limited.

To register, please visit the website: www.kaldkuwait.com.

KUWAIT: The General Director of the Fire Department, Lt Gen Yousuf Al-Ansari, received Dr Talal Al-Suhail, a member of the Auditors Society, who thanked the fire department for its participation in the recent conference held by the Kuwaiti Auditing Society. Al-Suhail also praised the role played by firemen in protecting the lives and property of all Kuwaitis. Al-Suhail also presented Al-Ansari with a memorial shield in appreciation of the work done by the fire department administrators.

—By Hanan Al-Saadoun

MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 2013

LOCAL In my view

In my view

Tragicomic performance

New avenues to avoid tax hikes

By Amir Taheri

S

ince the start of the uprising in Syria in 2011, President Bashar Al-Assad has responded to the challenge with three major speeches. Each time, the venue chosen had a perhaps unintended symbolic significance.

The first venue was the ornate hall used for meetings of the Council of Ministers.

The choice indicted that the president regarded the burgeoning uprising which begun in Deraa as a largely administrative problem to be handled by the govern-

By Labeed Abdal

local@kuwaittimes.net

A

fter reaching a brink while climbing up the ‘fiscal cliff’, the new US administration was able to find new avenues to avoid tax increases and huge spending cuts that would be reflected very poorly on it in the eyes of millions of Americans.

Going back to more moderate federal spending, increasing some taxes on the wealthy companies, starting more projects during the time of a deep financial crisis reminds one of the great depression of 1930, after the Wall Street crash of 1929.

After reaching a public debt of $ 16.4 trillion, the US administration faces still larger challenges to find a way out. The partisan politics cannot be a reason to forget the people in need and those who are dependent on governmental support. It was indeed a reasonable deal involving tax cuts for US citizens earning under $400,000, up from $250,000 level. For sure, with some tax increase on inheritance after five to ten million dollar worth of capital taxes, one year extension for unemployment benefits and five year extension for tax credits will help the poor and the middle class.

Without this important solution, the situation would have added to the debt another $4 trillion, which would mean even more recession and more suffering for people without jobs. Going back to more moderate federal spending, increasing some taxes on the wealthy companies, starting more projects during the time of a deep financial crisis reminds one of the great depression of 1930, after the Wall Street crash of 1929. The economy then was hit by severe unemployment, poverty, low profits, and lost opportunities for economic growth in the private sector. Although, such challenges could confront any country in the world, the then President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, was able to pull it out of the morass within three years. What is really surprising now is that some countries want the US to suffer even worse depression so that the financial crisis leads it to an abyss, forgetting the positive role that the US played during past few decades in educating and liberating many countries from vicious dictators, restoring liberty, freedom and justice.

kuwait digest

Strange stance of our MPs

Some Western analysts believe that Al-Assad’s rejection of peaceful transition is prompted by Russia and that the key to any solution lies in Moscow. I don’t believe that is the case.

Russia no longer has the influence it once had as the Soviet Union. Today, Russia is operating as an opportunist power, seeking a say in Syriaís future without making a big political investment.

By Abdallah Al-Najjar

A

t times, I am prepared to overlook any strange or peculiar stance of a current or former MP since they, too, are human beings and cannot always be perfect. That is understandable. But the strangest of the stances that I can never forget for the rest of my life is that of MPs Hammad Al-Dousary and Saleh Ashoor who have opposed setting up of the anti-corruption authority and bringing in a law to make all MPs declare their financial worth.

Such opposition comes at a time when everyone is advocating some mechanism to fight corruption and also urging MPs to declare their financial worth.

This would help people evaluate which minister is clean and which ones are corrupt. They would be able to know which MP entered the hallowed portals of parliament as a simple, poor man but was the owner of three buildings, a chalet and a bunch of luxury cars by the time his term is over.

People would come to know which officials sold their homes in the limited income areas and were able to purchase new ones in posh areas, establish companies and

register them in the names of their mothers’ and wives’ names so as not to reveal their own identity.

The majority in the last parliament was asking those assemblies, especially the annulled one in which a majority of the MPs claimed to be keen to fight corruption, yet they rejected a proposed law to establish this authority because it would have exposed many of them and brought out the state of their finances.

However, MPs openly rejecting such a law is rather strange. Also, during the vote on the emergency decree, the opposition by MP Khalid Al-Adwa was strange since he would not have made it to the Abdallah Al-Salem Chamber in these elections if it were not for that decree.

The MP knows as well as we do that if he had contested as per the four-votes-per-voter system prevalent earlier, it would have been a political suicide. He had no intention of running till the new one vote system was introduced. Despite that, he objected to the system because he wanted to send a message to the tribes that he was with them in their boycott but actually wanted to participate. — Al-Watan

kuwait digest

A citizen called Hassan

By Jafaar Rajab

W

hen news agencies reported a hurricane strik ing Australia, Kuwait ’s Foreign Ministry released a statement within minutes reassuring us about the safety of Kuwaitis in Australia, New Zealand and the Fiji Islands as well.

When a traffic accident is reported in Venezuela, Kuwait’s Foreign Ministry promptly releases a statement announcing that no Kuwaitis were among the victims, and reassuring us about the safety of all Kuwaitis in Caracas.

When it star ts snowing in Sweden, Kuwait ’s Foreign Ministry releases a statement to reassure us that all Kuwaitis there are safe and enjoying the warmth of their homes.

Releasing statements to reassure us about the safety of Kuwaitis abroad has become a habit for the Foreign Ministry. But what they are not used to on the other hand is to release a statement when a Kuwaiti citizen outside actually ends up in any trouble.

When news broke about a number of Kuwaiti fans who seemed to have carried a Kuwaiti flag with orange replacing the original red color while supporting the national team during the ongoing Gulf Cup, Kuwait’s Ambassador to Bahrain stepped in immediately and announced after examining the flags in question that the ‘reflection of the light’ and the ‘type of fabric used in making the flag’ had actually made it appear that way.

The Ambassador stepped in to resolve this trivial problem on the same day it happened. At the same time, Bahrain’s jails happen to hold a Kuwaiti young man by the name of Hassan Karam, yet the same Ambassador did not take the trouble to at least explain to us the circumstances that led to this young man’s arrest, or whether he was innocent or not, and whether the embassy had provided an attorney for him. Nobody in the embassy opened their mouth about the subjec t, nor have they opened their doors for the citizen’s family. They were busy meanwhile examining the fabric of flags used by Kuwaiti soccer fans.

When the government disregards the parliament and then MPs bow to a request made by the Interior Minister to discuss the deteriorating state of law and order only behind closed doors, it is only natural for the government to disrespect the people and ignore their issues.

Kuwait’s government is sending a clear message to all its friends and allies that “the Kuwaiti citizen does not matter.” Any government around the world can arrest, humiliate, wrongfully accuse and jail a Kuwaiti citizen since his dysfunctional government cannot defend him.

This is not only true of citizen Hassan Karam. It is also true of citizens who believe they have a government that is too weak to even shoo away a fly which lands on its long-stretched nose.

Be careful, because keeping silent means that any citizen can be in Hassan Karam’s shoes someday. — Al-Rai

ment through bureaucratic means. Al-Assad’s tone was paternalistic, not to say patronising. He saw the uprising as a minor and localised affair prompted by some people’s misunderstanding of his government’s beneficial policies.

Trying to triangulate, Al-Assad cast himself as an arbiter between the protestors and the government. In that mode he dictated a series of meaningless measures, with ministers dutifully noting every word.

Al-Assad’s failure to see the political nature of the uprising was astonishing, to say the least.

In the next speech Al-Assad enlisted members of the Syrian parliament as audience. The choice of the parliament as venue indicated the beginning of an understanding that something more than administrative blips was involved. Despite thousands killed and many more driven out of their homes or imprisoned, the problem AlAssad faced was unlikely to end with bureaucratic measures and hollow promises.

Nevertheless, Al-Assad still insisted that the revolt concerned a tiny minority. Though months of efforts to crush the uprising by mass killing and indiscriminate destruction had failed, Al-Assad clung to the failed recipe.

Commentators had wondered where the third speech might be held. The hall of the Council of Governments no longer fit the purpose if only because Syria has ceased to have a government in the normal sense. Two changes of prime minister, the defection of a prime minister and reshuffles caused by defections and/or assassination have transformed the Council of Ministers into an empty shell. Today, to the extent that Syria could be said to have a government it consists of Bashar Al-Assad and his kitchen cabinet including his wife, brother, and mother. The parliament was also out as venue for a presidential speech.

Many members have simply vanished, some joining the opposition or seeking shelter in exile. It is not even clear if the discredited organ could conjure a quorum for a plenary session.

So, where could Al-Assad make another speech? The question had prompted speculation for weeks. Since no one had seen the president in public since June, there were rumours that he had fled to his Alawite stronghold or was hiding in the mountains.

However, when revealed, the venue chosen for the latest presidential speech fit the bill perfectly.

The third speech was made in the Damascus Opera House, closed since last May when Russian musician Viktor Babenkov was billed for a recital.

Was Al-Assad following Babenkov with a partition composed in Moscow?

The question is not fanciful.

Al-Assad’s analysis of the dire situation in Syria included echoes of Russian propaganda. The uprising was the work of “terrorists financed, armed and manipulated by the West”, al-Assad claimed. There was no point in talking to the rebels; he would rather talk to their “masters” in the West.

Some Western analysts believe that Al-Assad’s rejection of peaceful transition is prompted by Russia and that the key to any solution lies in Moscow. I don’t believe that is the case. Russia no longer has the influence it once had as the Soviet Union.

Today, Russia is operating as an opportunist power, seeking a say in Syria’s future without making a big political investment. Even if Russia abandoned Al-Assad, he would not throw in the towel unless he is convinced that the game is up for him.

Al-Assad’s analysis is the mirror image of the mistake made by Western analysts. He is proposing negotiations with the West, actually meaning the United States, because he wrongly believes Washington writes the score for the Syrian uprising.

However, even if Washington asked the Syrian opposition to accept Al-Assad in some capacity, it is doubtful that key segments of the uprising would agree. In the same way, even if Moscow asked al-Assad to leave, it is not certain he would do so.

The crisis in Syria has fond a momentum of its own that no outside power, or combination of powers, can modulate let alone stop.

The fate of Syria is in the hands of Syrians. Outsiders could help shorten the deadly crisis by supporting the uprising in a massive way, enough to counter Al-Assad’s military machine. Paradoxically, by rejecting feelers put out to him for a negotiated transition, al-Assad may have forced the Western powers into that direction.

Assad’s libretto at the Opera House the other night may have had a farcical tone. But it may well lead to a tragic denouement for him.

MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 2013

LOCAL

Visa ban on six nationalities partially lifted Increase in number of work permits KUWAIT: Citizens of six nations facing visa restrictions in Kuwait can now enjoy more flexibility as far as bringing their families to the Gulf state was concerned following new regulations released by the Interior Ministry and published by a local newspaper yesterday.

According to security sources quoted by AlRai, the citizens of Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan can bypass an embargo imposed on their access to Kuwait under three conditions.

The first condition pertains to residents working in the public sector “who can bring their wives and children without restrictions.”

The second condition covers those private sector employees “who can issue dependency visas to their male children up to the age of 15 and female children up to the age of 18” as long as both the employee and his wife have valid residencies in Kuwait. The third condition allows citizens of the aforementioned nationalities to obtain a commercial visa to work in a company in Kuwait classified under “first-class companies” or in any of the state-owned shareholding companies.

All other categories still remain under the ban which was imposed by Kuwaiti authorities for security reasons, the sources explained.

Project nominated for Innovation Award KUWAIT: The Awareness Center for the Development of Arab-Western relations announced nominating Kuwait’s project ‘The World in Conversation’ for the Intercultural Innovation Award of 2013, sponsored by BMW Group in cooperation with the UN, among 550 other projects from 29 countries.

The center’s Director, Dr. Ibrahim Al-Adsani said yesterday that this global event to be held in Vienna next month will attract major humanitarian and cultural institutions dedicated to enhancing dialogue among civilizations to instill the values of understanding and peaceful coexistence between the nations and peoples.

“Nominating the World in Dialogue project for this international award, which is co-sponsored by the United Nations, is a pride to Kuwait and to the center,” Al-Adsani said. Despite the massive growth in information and communication technology, individuals around the world no longer communicate with each other and many of them have lost the desire to participate in direct contact with others, the director added.

He added “many people build perceptions about the world on a shaky foundation of assumptions and prejudices as the project has sought to correct them through dialogue based on mutual understanding and the desire to participate.”

The project is a weekly dialogue held between Kuwaiti undergraduates and American students in the United States to constructively discuss cultural similarities and differences.

By this program, the center is seeking to search for the truth through constructive dialogue based on mutual respect to change misconceptions and presumptions, the director said, adding that he was noticing significant changes that have been invested into positive action.

The Alliance of Civilizations’ Award for Intercultural Innovation is one of the most prominent awards made in the field of dialogue to promote and encourage cultural diversity and peaceful coexistence between the communities.

The selection process of the projects submitted for the prize consists of several stages in which the projects are evaluated on a precise criteria basis such as quality, clarity of their concept and repetition and measurement capabilities. —KUNA

In other news, a senior Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor official announced “an increase of nearly 8000” in the number of work permits issued last year compared to 2011, according to early results of the ministry’s annual year-end inventory.

Speaking to reporters during a recent tour of the Hawally Labor Department, Undersecretary Assistant for Labor Affairs Jamaal Al-Dousary also revealed the ministry’s plans to “reconsider the option of announcing a new time band to allow domestic workers to transfer their visas to the private sector as long as the same sponsor is retained.”

At least 16,000 domestic helpers shifted to local companies owned by their respective employers during a similar six months’ period last year. Meanwhile, the National Assembly Committee for Human Rights Affairs and for the Illegal Residents met several rights groups and committees to discuss the Human Rights situation in the country.

NA committee Rapporteur MP Taher AlFailikawi said, “agreement was reached on several points, including organizing visits to confinement centers accompanied by public groups, to verify complaints of inadequate ventilation and lighting in some buildings,

particularly in the women’s holding cells.”

He added the committee also discussed the dossier of Kuwaitis in Guantanamo and would be issuing a statement in this regard soon, and would also address the Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry regarding Kuwaiti Adel Karam who is held in the Kingdom of Bahrain to ascertain the details regarding his situation.

The committee also received requests by public societies and committees on issues including civilian policing, centers offering refuge to victims of domestic violence, and procedures for release of patients from the psychiatric hospital.

MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 2013

LOCAL

Suspects summoned in Jleeb murder case ‘Victim involved in residency trade’ KUWAIT: The Farwaniya police summoned four Egyptian nationals for questioning in connection with a murder case of one of their compatriots who was shot dead in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh last week, a local newspaper reported yesterday, quoting a security source. The four were reportedly arrested “based on investigations which revealed that they had business links with the victim who was into residency trade,” the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said. They also indicated that the deceased was facing many problems “due to his involvement in illegal residency trade activities” and on other financial accounts. The four will remain in custody pending further investigation.

A few more people were also summoned for interrogation as Farwaniya detectives’ investigations to identify the shooter continue, the sources added.

Attempted murder Three robbers attacked as many people playing soccer in Saad Al-Abdullah, stabbing one of them and running over another in their vehicle while the third one escaped to save his life. Both were injured seriously. The victims were playing in a town square when the three robbers approached them, asking them at knifepoint to hand over their money. As one of the youths tried to resist, a suspect stabbed him. Then they deliberately ran over another victim who tried to run away. The third young man was able to escape and call for help. Both the injured were rushed to the Jahra Hospital while charges of a murder attempt among others were pressed

against the unidentified robbers at the area’s police station.

Shooter attacked A man who randomly shot from a rifle in Ardhiya was chased and beaten up by angry residents and had to be hospitalized with multiple injuries. Just as he fired that shot, enraged residents chased him down and eventually caught him, snatched his weapon and then assaulted him physically. One of the residents reportedly stabbed him. The men then made an emergency call and disappeared before police arrived at the scene. The victim was taken in an ambulance to the Farwaniya Hospital where he was admitted to its intensive care unit. Investigations went underway in search of the attackers who face attempted murder charges.

Shopper survives The medics at the Adan Hospital were able to resuscitate a man who had suffered a heart attack while he was shopping at Al-Fahaheel.

Paramedics and police rushed to a shop selling watches where the 40-year-old Egyptian collapsed after a cardiac arrest. The man had apparently lost his pulse before paramedics arrived, but regained it later while in the ICU following multiple defibrillator shocks. Doctors later described the man’s condition as stable.

Drunk driver A driver pulled over for reckless driving in Salmiya recently and identified as a defaulter on a KD 35,000 payment was found under the influ-

ence of liquor and resisted police officers’ attempts to arrest him. It took officers some effort to overpower the man and take him to the Salmiya police station where he was identified as a former Ministry of Defense serviceman. He was released a few months ago. He remains in custody pending legal procedures.

Emergency landing An Emirates aircraft made an emergency landing in Kuwait because a passenger required immediate medical attention after suffering health complications on board. Medical personnel at the Kuwait International Airport were put on alert after the control tower received a call from the captain of the flight coming from the United States en route to Dubai, asking for permission to land due to the exigency. The passenger was shifted into an ambulance as soon as the plane landed and rushed to the Farwaniya Hospital where he was admitted to its intensive care unit.

Former education minister Moudi Al-Humoud ( right) and other guests.

Drug overdose A drug addict was hospitalized after he was found in an unconscious state near a building in Khaitan recently. Police reached the scene following an emergency call made by the shopkeeper of a nearby baqala (small grocery store).

The 30-year-old Egyptian was rushed in a patrol vehicle to the Farwaniya Hospital where he was diagnosed with complications arising from an overconsumption of a drug overdose. Police are waiting for the man to be discharged from the hospital in order to arrest him.

American ambassador and his wife inspecting the items on auction.

Al-Khaldi hails Horeca exhibition the Amir Sheikh Sabah AlKUWAIT: The Ahmad Al-Sabah about Undersecretar y of the making Kuwait a financial Ministry of Commerce and and commercial hub in the Industry, Abdul-Aziz Alregion.

Khaldi, is set to attend the “In the light of such a inauguration of the 2013 dream, the 2013 Horeca Horeca Kuwait, an exhibiKuwait and similar specialtion on hotel, hospitality ized exhibitions gain extra and catering equipment, importance given their slated for Monday, March role in contributing to the 18, at the Raya Ballroom in improvement of services Court Marriott Hotel. provided,” Al-Khaldi added.

Al-Khaldi recognized The event is organized the importance of internaAbdul-Aziz Al-Khaldi by the Leaders Group for tional exhibitions “as a key factor contributing to the goal of making Counseling and Development in cooperKuwait a commercial and financial desti- ation with Lebanon’s Hospitality Services Company. nation.”

It will feature various catering and He added in a statement yesterday that specialized exhibitions “boost hospitality companies including the Kuwait’s efforts for economic openness Advanced Technology Company, (and) create a suitable environment for Mabrouk Catering Company, and exchanging expertise in all the fields cov- Boecker Company who all participate as ered.” Moreover, Al-Khaldi pointed out diamond sponsors, in addition to KASCO, the need to continue working towards Kuwait Hotel Owners Association, and realizing the ambitions outlined by HH President Company as golden sponsors.

KUWAIT: The Asian drug duo pictured after their arrest.

By Hanan Al Saadoun KUWAIT: Ahmadi security officers arrested two Asians in the Hadeya area for selling drugs and confiscated 18 envelopes containing heroin and 303 tablets found on the suspects. Law enforcement officers were on patrol when they noticed a vehicle parked in a sand area. Officials said that as officers approached the auto the driver’s companion attempted to flee, but was quickly apprehended. Police report finding 18 envelopes of heroin on the suspect. Also, after searching the driver police found an additional 303 tablets. Both of the suspects were sent to concerned parties.

Salwa fight A 23 year-old Kuwaiti man sustained a head injury during a fight which occurred in Salwa opposite the Sultan Center. The injured Kuwaiti was transported to Mubarak Hospital for treatment.

Road accidents A 56 year-old Syrian expat broke his leg when struck by a car as he crossed Al-Ghazali road opposite Ishbiliya. He was taken to Farwaniya Hospital.

A car accident on Arabian Gulf Street opposite Green Island resulted in a 21 year-old Kuwaiti man complaining of pain in his back and chest. He was taken to Al-Amiri Hospital for medical care.

A 25 year-old Kuwaiti suffered back pain following a car accident on Jahra Road near Amghara Bridge. The injured Kuwaiti man was transferred to Al-Jahra Hospital for medical treatment.

Breathing problem Two persons were rushed to Jahra Hospital after officials reported they were unable to breathe. One of the victims is described as being about 35 years-old. Officials said the identity of both men was unknown. The men were rescued while in Jahra barns and have since been admitted to the hospital intensive care unit.

KUWAIT: The Dasman Diabetes Institute hosted the first annual “Friends of Dasman” gala dinner and silent auction over the weekend. The Friends of Dasman Foundation is a group of individuals who came together to support the initiatives and activities of the Dasman Diabetes Institute.

The goal of the foundation is to raise funds through various social events, such as dinners, seminars and social gatherings.

The funds thus raised are to be used for sponsoring a particular program or initiative. As the institute moves to find creative ways to raise its own funds for its diverse activities, the foundation will play a role as being one of the sources for these funds.

This year the “Friends of Dasman” foundation will be raising funds for sponsoring more “Let’s Get Healthy Today, Kuwait” events. The program envisages hosting schools from various governorates in Kuwait, bringing the students to the Institute for day long workshops about healthy living. The children will attend lectures about diabetes education and nutrition, fly kites, and even cook their own food in the kitchen.

Dirtector General of Dasman Institute Dr Kazim Behbehani The money raised from tonight’s Gala dinner and silent auction, as well as various other social events planned for the coming year, will be used so that more schools can participate in such programs. The goal is to be able to host as many children through these workshops as possible to promote healthy living and ultimately prevent the onset of non-communicable diseases, such as diabetes.

Cirque De Glace comes to Kuwait

Two Asian drug dealers in police net

Illegal residents At least 15 expats were arrested on charges of living in Kuwait on expired residency permits, violating labour laws or being fugitives in financial cases. The expats were caught during a security drive by Hawally security men led

by General Director Brig. Ghloom Habeeb. The drive was carried out in Nugra and Salmiya areas. All the nabbed expats were sent to the concerned authorities.

At the same time, Jahra security authorities arrested 32 expats of different nationalities for violating residency laws. The campaign was carried out in Amghara at dawn yesterday. Check points were set up to arrest the residency violators. Also, 60 traffic citations were handed out to vehicle owners for violating various provisions of the traffic law.

‘Friends of Dasman’ held

Omar Sabri KUWAIT: The Cirque De Glace, an ice show presenting company, is set to perform 38 shows from Feb 6 to 9, a senior Touristic Enterprises Company official announced yesterday.

The performances at the Ice Skating Rink are a result of the coordination between the TEC and Power Media for Advertisement Company, said the TEC’s Deputy Managing Director Khalid bin Sabt.

Meanwhile, Power Media’s General

Khalid bin Sabt Manager Sabri Ali Omar indicated that “special visual and sound effects” will be used during the performances which will take place twice a day between 4:30 pm and 9:30 pm.

The event comes as part of the TEC’s program to provide activities and events during the month of February, which also includes a ‘Local Horses Festival’ to be hosted by the Green Island on February 8th and 9th.

MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 2013

Six arrested in new India gang-rape case

Syrian jets bomb Damascus suburbs Page 8

Page 12

QUETTA: Pakistani Shiite Muslim shout slogans as they demonstrate along with the coffins of bomb blast victims in Quetta yesterday, on the third day of protest. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf arrived, in the southwestern city of Quetta to meet Shiite Muslim families refusing to bury their dead after devastating bombings. —AFP

Bomb kills 14 Pakistani soldiers Attack in retaliation for army’s complicity in drone strikes MIRANSHAH: A roadside bomb killed as many as 14 Pakistani soldiers in the northern border region of North Waziristan yesterday, military officials said, a day after the Pakistani Taleban leader called for attacks on the military in the area to stop.

The explosion occurred on a road about 50 km (30 miles) south of the provincial capital of Miranshah. Twenty-one soldiers were wounded in the attack, senior army officials said. A spokesman for the Mujahideen Ansar, a group dominated by Uzbek fighters, claimed responsibility and told Reuters the attack was retaliation for the Pakistani army’s complicity in drone

strikes. The group is allied to Pakistan Taleban fighters. Pakistan frequently protest publicly about US drone strikes but has not taken any legal steps to end them. On Saturday, Hakimullah Mehsud, the leader of the Tehrik-eTaleban Pakistan (TTP), had circulated a leaflet calling for an end to the Taleban’s infrequent attacks on Pakistani soldiers in North Waziristan.

Thousands of Pakistani soldiers are stationed in North Waziristan. The ceasefire did not apply to the rest of the country, where there are often fierce clashes between the Taleban and security services.

The mountainous tribal region of North

Waziristan along the Afghan border is a key stronghold of the Taleban and al-Qaeda. South Waziristan is under the control of the Wazir tribe, who have a peace deal with the Pakistani military. It was unclear if the leaflet was related to rumours of splits in the movement. It called on local and foreign fighters to unite because “the enemy is trying to divide and rule us”. The Taleban have formed alliances with a number of other militant groups in North Waziristan who are violently opposed to the Pakistani state.

Some Taleban commanders are divided over whether the Pakistani state or NATO forces are their top target. Those divisions were laid bare

in November by an attempted suicide attack on Mullah Nazir, a top militant commander from the Wazir tribe in South Waziristan. He had signed a peace deal with the Pakistani army but supported attacks on NATO forces in Afghanistan.

The attack was widely believed to be the work of rival Taleban commanders, and the Wazir tribe ordered Hakimullah Mehsud’s tribe out of their lands. Mullah Nazir was killed in a drone strike this month and it is unclear if his successor will continue his policies, or what relationship the Wazir tribe will have with the Mehsud tribe.

‘Congress will not pass weapons ban’ WASHINGTON: The powerful gun lobby says it has enough support in Congress to block a law that would ban assault weapons, despite promises from the White House and senior Democratic lawmakers to make such a measure a reality.

Senators plan to introduce a bill that would ban assault weapons and limit the size of ammunition magazines, like the one used in the December shooting massacre that killed 27 people, most of them children, in a Newtown, Connecticut, elementary school. Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California has promised to push for a renewal of expired legislation.

The National Rifle Association, the influential gun rights lobbying group, has so far prevented passage of another assault weapons ban like the one that expired in 2004. But some lawmakers say the Newtown tragedy has transformed the country, and Americans are ready for stricter gun laws. President Barack Obama has made gun control a top priority. And on Tuesday Vice President Joe Biden is expected to give Obama a comprehensive package of recommendations by a task force he headed for curbing gun violence.

Still, the NRA has faith that Congress would prevent a new weapons ban. “When a president takes all the power of his office, if he’s willing to expend political capital, you don’t want to make predictions. You don’t want to bet your house on the outcome. But I would say that the likelihood is that they are not going to be able to get an assault weapons ban through this Congress,” NRA President David Keene told CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Sen. John McCain, an Arizona Republican, responded with a flat out “no” when asked on CBS television’s “Face the Nation” whether Congress would pass a ban on assault weapons.

Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, a lifelong member of the NRA, has said everything should be on the table to prevent another tragedy like Newtown.

But he assured gun owners he would fight for gun rights at the same time. “I would tell all of my friends in NRA, I will work extremely hard and I will guarantee you there will not be an encroachment on your Second Amendment rights,” Manchin said on ABC’s “This Week.”

The Second Amendment of the US Constitution guarantees the right to bear arms. —AP

Pakistani army officials have also told Reuters that there are tensions between Mehsud and his deputy. The two men recently appeared together in a video to deny the allegations. The decision to halt attacks against the Pakistani army in North Waziristan could signal the Pakistani Taleban’s intention to help the Afghan Taleban fight US-led NATO forces in the neighbouring country, or focus more closely on attacking Western targets inside Pakistan.

Or it could be more specifically aimed at unifying local factions. Mehsud’s statement specifically addressed both foreign fighters and local Taleban. —Reuters

MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 2013

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

Israel’s ultra-Orthodox Shas chief discharged after stroke JERUSALEM: Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, 92, the spiritual leader of Israel’s ultraOrthodox Shas party, was discharged from hospital yesterday morning, a day after a colleague said he suffered a mild stroke.

Jerusalem’s Hadassah Ein-Kerem hospital confirmed that the former chief rabbi of Israel had been released but

refused to comment on his condition.

Aryeh Deri, a leading member of Shas and long-time Yosef confidant, told an Israeli TV station on Saturday that his mentor was lucid and his speech was fluent. “There was a stroke. It was small; it didn’t cause much damage,” Deri said.

The powerful Yosef, who heads Shas’s supreme body, the Council of Torah

Sages, was taken to Hadassah for a series of tests on Saturday morning after feeling unwell, Deri said.

Rabbi Yosef’s influence is not limited to the world of Sephardic Jewry.

Political leaders are always keen to secure his backing because of the pivotal role the Shas party can play in forming any coalition government: to ignore

Shas is to alienate around half a million voters.

Shas currently has 11 members in the 120-seat Knesset, or parliament. The latest opinion polls predict that it will win 10-12 seats in the early general election called for January 22.

Last August, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was reported to have sent

one of his closest aides to win Rabbi Yosef’s backing for any Israeli military attack on Iran. Israel-the Middle East’s sole if unacknowledged state to have the atomic bomb-and Western powers suspect the Islamic republic of carrying out a covert nuclear weapons programme, a charge Tehran vehemently denies. —AFP

Syrian jets bomb Damascus suburbs Over 34 Syrians wounded in airstrikes BEIRUT: Syrian fighter jets yesterday bombed Damascus suburbs in a government offensive to dislodge rebels from strategic areas around the capital, activists said, as clashes raged around army bases and airfields in the country’s north.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said warplanes were

Syrian town of Azaz near the Turkish border. At least 34 Syrians wounded in the airstrikes were brought across the border to the Turkish province of Kilis for treatment, the state-run Anadolu agency said. Seven died of the injuries, the report said.

The Observatory said troops were battling rebels in the suburb of Daraya

ALEPPO: Men help a wounded civilian after a mortar attack in the Saif al-Dawlah neighborhood of Aleppo, Syria, yesterday.

The revolution against the Syrian regime started in March 2011 with peaceful protests but morphed into a civil war that has killed more than 60,000 people, according to a recent United Nations estimate. —AP hitting towns and villages around the capital, including Kfar Batna and Gesereen, while regime forces targeted other neighborhoods with artillery and mortars. At least nine people were killed when a shell hit eastern Ghouta district, the group said.

Also yesterday, Turkish state media said Assad’s fighter jets bombed the

a day after government officials claimed the army had taken much of the strategic area, which lies on the edge of a major military air base southwest of the capital.

In northern Syria, government forces were fighting rebels over an air base and the international airport of the city of Aleppo. The airport includes

a military base.

Syrian troops have been pushing since November to regain Daraya, which had a population of about 200,000 before the fighting. Thousands have fled the relentless violence, among more than 2 million Syrians who have been internally displaced during the civil war. At least half a million Syrians have fled to neighboring countries like Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan. Observatory director Rami Abdul-Rahman said government troops now control more than half the suburb, a stronghold of support for the rebels since the start of the uprising against President Bashar Assad in March 2011.

Because of its strategic location, rebel control of the Daraya poses a particularly grave threat to the capital.

The suburb is flanked by the key districts of Mazzeh, home to a military air base, and Kfar Sousseh, where the government headquarters, the General Security intelligence agency head office and the Interior Ministry are located. It also is less than 10 kilometers (six miles) from a presidential palace. While Assad’s loyalists appear to have an upper hand on the Damascus front due to the regime’s air power, the rebels dealt the government a major blow in the north by capturing a sprawling air base in Idlib province on Friday.

Rebels retained control of the Taftanaz base Sunday and intensified their assault on the Mannagh air base and the international airport in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, activists said.

Among the rebels taking part in the battle are fighters from Jabhat alNustra, an Islamist group that the US has branded a terrorist organization.

Washington said the group, among the most organized and effective rebel forces on the ground, is affiliated with Al-Qaeda.

Syrian official statements regularly play up the role of Islamist militants in the civil war and refer to the rebels as terrorists.

More than 60,000 people have been killed since the revolt started almost two years ago.

Heavy fighting was reported Sunday in the northern province of Deir el-Zour, involving attacks by warplanes, activists said. Clashes between rebels and troops were concentrated on the area around the airport outside the city of Deir el-Zour that has been under siege by the government forces for weeks.

Last month an international aid group, Doctors Without Borders, said tens of thousands of Syrians, many of them wounded, are trapped in Deir elZour.

In Aleppo, where rebels fought troops to a stalemate last year, the two sides clashed near the air force intelligence building in the Zahra neighborhood.

The state-run SANA news agency said an army unit killed “a number of terrorists and destroyed a convoy of cars that was transporting weapons, ammunition and terrorists” in Deir elZour.

SANA also said the military foiled an attempt by terrorists to detonate two car bombs in the southern province of Daraa, where the revolt against Assad started.

Associated Press writer Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria, and Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, contributed to this report. —AP

WEST BANK: Israeli border police evict Palestinian activists from an area known as E-1 near Jerusalem, yesterday. Palestinian activists erected tents in the area on Friday saying they wanted to “establish facts on the ground” to stop Israeli construction in the West Bank. —AP

Israel evicts Palestinians from West Bank protest site ZAIM: Israeli police evicted dozens of Palestinian activists early yesterday from a first-of-its-kind protest camp they set up in a West Bank area slated for Jewish settlement. Police and activists confirmed that hundreds of Israeli police entered the campsite in the controversial E1 area on the outskirts of Jerusalem at around 2:30 am (00.030 GMT) yesterday.

They quickly bundled around 200 Palestinian activists at the Bab al-Shams (Gate of the Sun in Arabic) camp into buses and drove them from the site. The camp been set up on Friday in the E1 area between Israeli annexed east Jerusalem and the Maaleh Adumim settlement.

Israel recently moved forward with plans to build in the area, drawing international criticism for the move, which Palestinians say would effectively end the chances for the creation of a contiguous Palestinian state.

“Hundreds of Israeli police came from all directions, surrounding all those who were in the tents and arresting them one by one,” Palestinian legislator Mustafa Barghouti told AFP. But police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP that no arrests had been made. “They were told they were tres-

passing and carefully escorted from the site one by one,” he said.

“Nobody was hurt on either side,” he added, saying around 500 police took part in the operation.Protest organisers said that six people were injured during the operation, and that those detained were taken elsewhere in the West Bank by bus and released.

In a statement, the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee group that organised the camp vowed that the protest would not be the last of its kind. “This is not the end of the popular struggle and it will continue in its full strength.”

Speaking to Israeli army radio, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat praised the protest, saying, “Palestinians are trying to protect the land of their state and they have done something peaceful.”

“It was shameful for the Israeli government to do what they did this morning,” he added.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Saturday night that he wanted the protesters removed at once and that state lawyers were asking the Israeli supreme court to overturn a Friday injunction postponing the eviction. —AFP

Iraq Sunni leader urges reforms to end protests BAGHDAD: Iraq’s Shi’ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki should reform laws seen as unjustly marginalizing the country’s Sunni Muslims or mass protests could spiral out of control, a top Sunni leader said. Thousands have taken to the streets in Sunni stronghold provinces for three weeks of daily protests, posing the sternest test yet for Maliki’s fragile government composed of Shi’ites, Sunnis and ethnic Kurds.

Osama al-Nujaifi, parliament speaker and the most senior elected Sunni figure, said Maliki should pass a draft amnesty law to free detainees jailed on terrorism charges and modify laws that many Sunnis say are used to target them unfairly.

Protesters also want to end a campaign against members of Saddam Hussein’s outlawed Baath party that Sunnis fear is used to harass their leaders and sideline them from politics.

“They say they want justice and they want to be treated as citizens of the same class ... and if these demands which they present are not met, certainly they will call for ousting the government,” Nujaifi told Reuters.

“We are afraid protest leaders and representatives will lose control of demonstrations after a while if they don’t convince them that our political partners will change their policies.”

The latest protests erupted after security forces arrested the bodyguards of the Sunni finance minister on terrorism charges, a move seen by many Sunnis as a provocation.

Nujaifi belongs to the more moderate wing of the Sunni-backed Iraqiya block in parliament, but Sunni ranks are split, with more radical leaders making increasingly tough demands.

Hardline Sunni Islamists and clerics are calling for Maliki’s removal and even the establishment of an autonomous Sunni-dominated region bordering Syria, similar to the country’s autonomous Kurdistan enclave in the north. The peaceful mass protests are compounding fears of a sectarian confrontation in Iraq which, along with the conflict in neighbouring Syria, would deepen a regional confrontation between Shi’ite Iran and Sunni Arab Gulf states.

Some Iraqi Sunni leaders view the

war beween mostly Sunni rebels in Syria and President Bashar al-Assad, an ally of Iran, as an opportunity to strengthen their own position should Assad fall and a Sunni government come to power. A year after the last U.S. troops left Iraq, tension between Shi’ites and Sunnis is still raw.

Thousands were killed in several years of sectarian violence that began shortly after the US-led invasion of 2003 to oust Sunni strongman Saddam.

Whatever the motive of the protests, Sunni discontent is real. Since Saddam’s fall, many feel sidelined in a government that splits posts along sectarian and ethnic lines.

Disagreements have left Iraq without permanent ministers of defence and interior since the government was formed in 2010. Shi’ite leaders blame Sunni lawmakers for stalling, but Maliki’s critics accuse him of amassing power.

“We believe the country is unbalanced,” Nujaifi said. “All authority is exclusively under the control of a specific side and the participation of the other side is marginal.”

Maliki, who spent years in underground exile from Saddam, accuses his Sunni partners of blocking the progress of government in an attempt to undermine his position.

The Shi’ite premier and some allies have suggested he may call early elections before a scheduled 2014 vote as a way to break the deadlock that has delayed key legislation.

Maliki has proven adept at navigating the country’s shifting political allegiances to keep his administration intact. Many Sunnis want him to rein in the campaign against former Baath party members, but that could alienate some of Maliki’s Shi’ite backers before provincial elections in April.

Sunni parties are seeing signals from Maliki’s National Alliance Shi’ite coalition that there is room for negotiation.

But those overtures are very preliminary, Nujaifi said.

“We’ve started receiving messages suggesting we turn the page of the past, discard disagreements and start from the beginning,” he said. “If we cannot reach a deal, the country will slide back into many problems.” —Reuters

ARBIL: Kurdish women gather outside the General Consulate of France in the northern Iraqi city of Arbil yesterday, to protest against the killing of three Kurdish female activists in France. The three activists — Sakine Cansiz, Fidan Dogan and Leyla Soylemez — were found dead on January 10 at the Kurdistan Information Centre in the grimy 10th district of Paris, after last being seen alive at the centre at midday on January 9. —AFP

MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 2013

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Eight civilians killed in French Somalia raid MOGADISHU: At least eight civilians were killed during France’s failed attempt to free a hostage in Somalia, witnesses said yesterday, adding to prior reported death tolls. They also said Saturday’s operation failed because the Islamist fighters were warned of the French commandos’ arrival, a report confirmed by a local Islamist commander.

“Four civilians, including three from one family, are among the dead. They were all killed outside Bulomarer, where the French commandos landed before entering the city,” resident Adan Derow said by telephone. The victims were a

couple, their son and another man, other residents said. “We don’t know why those civilians were killed” outside Bulomarer, where the raid took place, added another resident, Ali Moalim Hassan. “Four other civilians were also caught in the crossfire and died in the town of Bulomarer” during a pitched battle between French commandos and Islamist fighters. The four included a woman, her child and a local market guard, according to residents.

On Saturday, French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said that one French soldier died and another went missing

during the raid, adding that 17 guerrillas were killed.

He said “all indications” point to the conclusion that the hostage, a French intelligence agent with the alias of Denis Allex, had been killed by his captors belonging to the Shebab, a Somali Islamist group affiliated with Al-Qaeda.

But the Shebab denied that Allex was dead and said they were holding the missing French commando. Le Drian said yesterday that French troops underestimated the Islamist rebels’ strength when they launched the overnight operation, which involved some 50 troops and at

least five helicopters. Derow meanwhile told AFP that “people saw (the French commandos) disembark in the fields.

The Shebab were alerted that the helicopters had landed and that they let out soldiers, and so they (the Islamists) were able to prepare”.

Senior Shebab commander Sheikh Mohamed Ibrahim confirmed to AFP by telephone that the “fighters were already aware of the attack and we were ready to defend ourselves, thank God”. He didn’t specify how they were alerted.

Several residents expressed their anger over the raid. “They killed inno-

cent civilians and left without accomplishing anything. The people here are very disappointed in the French government on account of the civilian victims,” said Bulomarer resident Moalim Ahmed Nur. “ These people were crazy,” said another Somalian regarding the French commandos, an employee of a local humanitarian agency who wished to remain anonymous.

“We were told there were about 40 of them against more than 100 heavily armed Shebab fighters. Their mission was impossible and not very professional.” — AFP

French jets pound Mali Top Islamist reported killed BAMAKO: French Mirage fighter jets yesterday pounded Mali for a third straight day and a top Islamist leader was reported killed as African troops headed to the west African country.

“There were (air strikes) last night, there are now and there will be today and tomorrow,” Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said in televised remarks.

“Our intervention is ongoing and we will continue in order to make them (Islamist fighters) retreat and allow Malian and African forces to go forward and re-establish the territorial integrity of the country,” Le Drian said.

The first troops promised by African nations were expected in Mali to join the campaign.Burkina Faso, Niger and Senegal on Saturday each pledged 500 troops for an African-led intervention force.Also yesterday a security source said a lieutenant of Ansar Dine chief Iyad Ag Ghaly was killed in fighting to recapture the central town of Konna from the

rebels. “The Islamist fighters suffered a real setback with the death of Abdel ‘Kojak’ Krim,” the source said. On Saturday French troops arrived in the capital Bamako, flying in from bases in Ivory Coast and Chad, a Malian officer told AFP. He refused to give details of their numbers or their mission.

Colonel Paul Geze, the French mission’s commander, told Mali’s ORTM television he hoped their mission would succeed “as quickly as possible, in the best conditions possible”. ORTM said the French contingent would be at full strength by today.

It has been deployed in the capital to protect the 6,000-strong expatriate community.

Both France and Mali on Saturday hailed the success of their joint operation to push back an advance by the Islamists who control the north of the country. Since taking power in the north last year, the Islamists have destroyed centuriesold Muslim mausoleums they see as heretical

PARIS: French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault (foreground) followed by France’s Foreign minister Laurent Fabius (L) leave the Elysee presidential palace yesterday in Paris after a defence council focused on the situation in Mali. French forces carried out airstrikes in Mali today for a third straight day and extended their bombing campaign to the northern strongholds of Islamist forces they are trying to drive out of the centre of the country. —AFP

and imposed an extreme form of Islamic law including floggings, amputations and sometimes executions.

“Our foes have suffered heavy losses,” French President Francois Hollande said, stressing that the French intervention had “only one goal, which is the fight against terrorism”.

A statement late Saturday from Mali’s interim president Dioncounda Traore said 11 of their soldiers had died and some 60 had been wounded in the fighting.

“They fell on the field of honour at Konna,” it said. French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said French Mirage fighters had carried out a second day of air strikes Saturday to stop columns of Islamist fighters from driving south.

A French pilot carrying out air raids had been killed, he added. But the Islamists reportedly suffered heavy losses. A Malian officer in the central town of Mopti, near the front line, said dozens, possibly as many as a hundred Islamists had been killed in Konna. Residents there described the bodies of men wearing Arab clothing and turbans. Malian troops recaptured Konna Friday, just a day after it had fallen to the insurgents who had been threatening to continue their advance southward.

Human Rights Watch, citing reports from residents, said at least 10 civilians including three children had died in Konna. Children forced by the Islamists to fight in their ranks had been wounded and possibly killed in the fighting, said HRW’s Corinne Dufka.

The Islamists had conscripted the child soldiers in Mali’s northeast region of Gao and captured others from neighbouring Niger, she added, calling for their immediate release. As Western nations praised the French initiative, Britain offered technical support, though no troops on the ground.

Meanwhile French President Hollande said he had ordered tighter security at home following the intervention in Mali, a former French colony.

France “has to take all necessary precautions” in the face of a terrorist threat including increased surveillance of public buildings and transport, he said.

The Islamists seized northern Mali, a territory the size of France, in the wake of last year’s March 22 coup which ousted democratically elected president Amadou Toumani Toure.

There were fears the north could become a haven for extremist groups. Some observers feared their recent advance south threatened the whole country. — AFP

Russians march against anti-US adoption law MOSCOW: At least 20,000 Russians marched yesterday through Moscow to protest a Kremlin law that banned US adoptions of Russian orphans and led to a further split in an already polarized society.

The protest dubbed “the March Against Scoundrels” was aimed at naming and shaming the lawmakers who fast-tracked the anti-adoption bill through the lower house of parliament, the State Duma.

Besides slogans such as “Stop Lying,” participants carried pictures of lawmakers Alina Kabayeva, a former gymnast, and Irina Rodnina, Russia’s Olympic gold figure skating champion, along with others who voted for the measure.

The word “shame!” was

splashed across their portraits in red. The Duma passed the bill without debate in a quick 420-7 vote during a third and final reading in December. “I am against our Duma and the thieving authorities,” Yulia Shamanova, a young mother, told AFP. “This is a very shameful law that should be cancelled.”

Moscow authorities said up to 20,000 people could participate in the protest amid a heavy police presence and temperatures of minus 12 degrees Celsius (seven degrees Fahrenheit).

At least 20,000 took part in the march, an AFP photographer said, while leftist activist Sergei Udaltsov said up to 50,000 had turned up. City police put the turnout at just

under 10,000. “A little goes a long way,” said another march participant Alexei Sharapanyuk. “Sooner or later something will change in the country. It is no longer possible to tolerate this.”

The latest anti-Kremlin march comes after President Vladimir Putin signed off on a measure that introduced a blanket ban on US adoptions in reprisal for Washington legislation targeting Russian officials who have allegedly committed rights abuses.

Critics say the measure will rob many disabled orphans of the chance to receive adequate medical treatment abroad and triggered a rare split in the government.

Scores of Russians had said they planned to join the

MOSCOW: Opposition leader Sergei Udaltsov, left, brakes a portrait as he and others throw portraits brought to the rally in the garbage, during a protest rally in Moscow, Russia, yesterday. Thousands of people are gathering in central Moscow for a protest against Russia’s new law banning Americans from adopting Russian children. — AP

march for the first time since unprecedented protests against Putin’s 13-year rule first shook Moscow in response to widespread fraud during parliamentary elections in December 2011.

Since then the protests, which at their height gathered up to 120,000 near the Kremlin have died down, with Putin launching a tough crackdown on civil society following his presidential comeback in May. Eldar Ryazanov, one of the country’s best-loved film directors, had before the march called on Russians to stand up for their rights and those of the orphans.

“It is not possible to live like that. There’s a feeling that we are sinking into the epoch of the Inquisition,” the 85-yearold director said in video appeal posted on the Internet, referring to a string of repressive laws adopted since Putin’s comeback.

Political activists have taken up the cause of Russian orphans to also make a broader point about widespread rights violations and will call for the Duma’s dissolution.

They hope public anger may help breathe new life into the protest movement. Liberal party Yabloko, which did not make it into the Duma during 2011 elections and often keeps distance from the motley opposition movement that includes nationalists said it would join the march to protest the “barbarian law.”

More than 100,000 signatures have already been collected against the measure and the Novaya Gazeta opposition newspaper has also collected more than 117,000 signatures on a petition calling

for the dissolution of parliament. Observers say the latest Kremlin initiative has led to a huge split in society and dented the government’s moral authority. Andrei Isayev, chairman of the Duma committee responsible for labour, social policies and veterans’ affairs, branded those planning to take to the streets “enemies” of Russia. Smaller rallies took place in other cities. Around 1,500 gathered in Saint Petersburg, Putin’s hometown, with some holding placards reading “Putin is evil.” —

TUSCAN ISLAND: Relatives of the 32 victims of the Costa Concordia aboard a ferry approach the Costa Concordia off the Tuscan Island of Isola del Giglio, Italy, yesterday. Survivors of the shipwreck and relatives of the 32 people who died marked the first anniversary of the grounding yesterday. — AP

Grieving relatives mark Italy shipwreck versary GIGLIO ISLAND: Grieving relatives of the 32 victims of the Costa Concordia cruise ship disaster laid flowers by the giant wreck under a leaden sky yesterday at the start of an emotional commemoration on the Italian island of Giglio one year after the tragedy. Salvage workers on a tugboat also used a crane to lower into the sea a piece of the enormous rock that the Costa Concordia crashed into and then tore from its base before veering sharply and keeling over with 4,229 people from 70 countries on board.

A ship’s horn sounded out 32 times in memory of those who died, its blares echoing across the water as the rock slowly descended into the sea and tearful families looked on from another ship.

“I want justice for my family and for all the victims,” said Susy Albertini, mother of a five-year-old girl who perished with her father. Ten people are being investigated over the tragedy including the ship’s infamous captain Francesco Schettino and three executives from the ship’s owner Costa Crociere but no indictments have been handed out and a trial is still months away. “This is very difficult for us,” said Maddelein Soria, 35, the sister of Erika Fani Soria Molina, a Peruvian waitress on the ship who perished.

“I feel as if I am with her again,” she told AFP. Twelve of the victims on the luxury liner were from Germany, seven from Italy, six from France, two from Peru, two from the United States, one from Hungary, one from India and one from Spain.

Survivors of the disaster who came for the ceremony re-lived the panic of that night, when hundreds had to jump into the freezing waters, clamber down a rope ladder in the dark or be evacuated by helicopter after several lifeboats failed to deploy. “ We came because we wanted to express our gratitude. We survived,” said Ronald Dots from Spain, who was with his wife and their son when tragedy struck.

French survivor Jacques Masson said: “The more time passes, the more I feel traumatised... I know I will never come back to this island.” Another French survivor, Daniele Dubuc, broke down in tears upon stepping off a ferry-the first time she had been back

on a ship since that night. “I think it’s important to be here,” she said.

Dubuc said she and her husband loved ballroom dancing and had enjoyed dances on the cruise, but “the tragedy has made us lose the will to dance”. Many said they also came to thank local residents who rushed to pluck shivering survivors from the water and brought them food and blankets.

Costa Crociere, Europe’s biggest cruise operator, had asked passengers in a letter to stay away from the ceremony on the island because of a lack of space, infuriating many survivors.

Costa Crociere said it will mark the day by holding masses in the chapels of all its vessels around the world and flying their flags at half mast. In the countries of origin of many of the crew, the company is also organising masses in Peru and the Philippines, Muslim rites in Indonesia, Hindu services in India and a Buddhist ceremony in China.

Among those attending the ceremony on Giglio was coast guard official Gregorio De Falco, who upbraided Schettino with an expletive in a phone call when the man dubbed “Captain Coward” refused to get back on the ship to aid the evacuation.

At a crowded mass in the same church that served as a temporary refuge for many survivors that night, some objects from the ship were put on display during the service-a life jacket, a length of rope, some bread and a statue of the Virgin Mary.

“You are at home in this church,” Father Lorenzo Pasquotti, who opened the doors of his church that night, told the returning survivors. After a minute of silence at 2045 GMT, the exact time the ship crashed, all the fishing boats in this seafaring community of 1,500 souls will sound their sirens in tribute to the victims.

The 290-metre (951-foot) liner crashed into a group of rocks just off Giglio, veered sharply and keeled over just as many passengers were sitting down for supper on the first night of a Mediterranean cruise.

Salvage work coordinators on Saturday said an unprecedented $400 million (300 million euro) operation to refloat and remove the ship for scrapping will be completed by September. — AFP

MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 2013

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

Philippines imposes gun ban to stop poll violence MANILA: A 150-day ban on the carrying of firearms outside residences across the Philippines began yesterday to prevent violence that could erupt during May 13 congressional and local elections in a country awash with weapons and plagued by a history of deadly poll rivalries.

Commission on Elections Chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. said the ban, which ends June 12, suspends all permits to carr y firearms in public areas and exempts only top officials, on-duty troops and police, and people facing threats. Violators could be jailed up to six years.

Election and police officials staged a march in metropolitan Manila and inspected security checkpoints to dramatize their call for peaceful mid-term elections - an often-futile goal in a country where rivalry for power among old and new political clans has been blamed for electoral violence and fraud in past years.

In the country’s worst elections-related violence, 58 people, including 32 media workers, were killed by more than 100 gunmen in a 2009 massacre blamed on political rivalry between two powerful clans in southern Maguindanao province. The existence of private mili-

tias and more than half a million unlicensed firearms have fueled fears of violence, officials said.

Army-backed police contingents began to enforce the ban on guns and armed bodyguards, especially in about 800 towns in 15 provinces, including Maguindanao, considered security hotspots because of a recent history of election violence or the presence of private armed groups, Elections Commissioner Rene Sarmiento said.

Police have identified at least 60 privately maintained militias across the country, along with 43 criminal gangs, which could be tapped by candidates in

the elections, Sarmiento said, adding that a government crackdown is under way to hunt down and dismantle those groups.

In Maguindanao, about 900 kilometers (560 miles) south of Manila, army troops and police manned checkpoints and staked out bus stations and other crowded public areas, checking people for guns.

Around 50 million Filipinos have registered to elect more than 18,000 national and local government officials, including nearly 300 members of the Senate and the House of Representatives, on May 13. Simultaneous elections will also

be held in a five -province Muslim autonomous region in the country’s south that is notorious for poll violence and fraud.

As in the 2010 presidential election, optical counting machines will be used to tally votes to speed up the notoriously slow hand-counting of ballots that fostered cheating, violence and unrest in the past, Sarmiento said. But such automation cannot prevent vote-buying and intimidation, he said. “ There’s danger because of the armed groups,” Sarmiento said. “My other fear is there might be massive vote-buying.”—AP

Ailing Chavez not in coma, responding well to treatment ‘We all hope for a quick recovery’

TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, right, is greeted by a little girl as he visits Meiji Shrine in Tokyo yesterday. Abe visited the main Shinto shrine in the capital, which has strong imperial connections, in an apparent attempt to appeal to his right-wing supporters. — AP

Thousands protest Taiwan’s president TAIPEI: Tens of thousands of opposition demonstrators took to the streets of Taipei yesterday to protest the policies of Taiwan’s China-friendly president, in the largest antigovernment action since he was re-elected to a second four-year term a year ago.

Waving green-colored banners emblazoned with the two Chinese characters for “fury” - the theme of the protest - demonstrators called on President Ma Ying-jeou to fire Prime Minister Sean Chen over the lackluster economic performance of the island, which saw growth of less than 2 percent in 2012.

They also demanded that government regulatory bodies stop a consortium widely seen as pro-China from purchasing a masscirculation newspaper, and called for the convening of an all-party conference to discuss Taiwan’s ailing social security and pension systems.

“The economic situation is very bad,” said one of the protesters, 29-year-old Andy Chen, who recently returned to Taiwan after several years studying abroad.

“It’s very difficult for college graduates to find jobs. The government needs to do a lot more.”

Organizers from the main opposition Democratic Progressive Party estimated the crowd at 150,000, though Associated Press journalists on the scene put the number at no more than 50,000. There was no immediate estimate from police.

Since Ma’s re-election, his popularity has plummeted amid the failure of his Chinaoriented economic program to show results and nagging unease over Taiwan’s

increasing orientation toward the mainland. Ma - whose approval rating now stands at around 15 percent - insists that tying the island’s high-tech industries ever closer to China’s lucrative markets is the best way for Taiwan to avoid economic marginalization.

Sixty-three years after Taiwan separated from the mainland following a protracted civil war, relations with Beijing remain the key issue in Taiwanese politics. Opposition supporters say Ma’s China-friendly policies are gradually eroding Taiwan’s democratic freedoms and paving the way to the eventual loss of the island’s de facto independence. Ma rejects the charges, insisting that no changes to the island’s political status will occur on his watch.

A current bone of contention revolves around the efforts of a Taiwanese consortium widely seen as pro-China to acquire a popular mass-circulation newspaper.

Over the past few weeks, students have taken to the streets to oppose the deal to buy Next Media, claiming it would concentrate too much media power in the hands of Tsai Eng-meng, a pro-China businessman who already owns a popular cable TV news station and another mass-circulation paper.

Tsai, one of the three members of the consortium, attracted widespread criticism a year ago when he disputed generally accepted accounts that hundreds if not thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators were killed by Chinese security forces in the area of Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in 1989. Regulators will eventually rule on the deal to buy Next Media.—AP

TAIPEI: Demonstrators wave flags that read: “Fury” during a protest against the policies of Taiwan’s China-friendly President Ma Ying-jeou, in Taipei, Taiwan, yesterday.

Tens of thousands of opposition demonstrators took to the streets of Taipei in the largest anti-government action since Ma was re-elected to a second four-year term a year ago. — AP

Myanmar army, rebels trade claims over helicopter crash YANGON: Myanmar’s state media said yesterday three army personnel were killed when a helicopter crashed in conflict-torn northern Kachin state, rebutting rebel claims that the aircraft had been shot down.

The military helicopter was on a “security and administrative mission” on Friday when “engine failure” forced it to make an emergency landing, according to the English-language New Light of Myanmar newspaper.

“Some parts of the helicopter were damaged, and two pilots and one flight sergeant who were on board sacrificed their lives for the country,” the report said, citing the defence ministry.

Growing fighting between the military and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA)

has overshadowed Myanmar’s wider political reforms, with the US and UN recently condemning the army’s use of air strikes in the state since December.

The rebels claim the helicopter was being used for aerial offensives and troop transportation and said it crashed in their territory after it was hit by KIA fire.

“This is true that they shot down (the helicopter), not an emergency landing,” James Lum Dau, spokesman for the KIA’s political wing, told AFP. AFP was unable to verify either the government or rebel claims. Tens of thousands of people have been displaced in Kachin-which borders China-since June 2011 when a 17-year ceasefire between the government and the KIA broke down. The number of casualties is unknown.—AFP

CARACAS: The brother of Hugo Chavez has denied that the ailing Venezuelan president is in coma, saying the Venezuelan leader is responding well to cancer treatment in Cuba and making progress on a daily basis.

“Reports that the president is in a coma and that the family is discussing ending life support, are totally false,” Adan Chavez, governor of the state of Barinas, said in a statement Saturday.

He “continues to respond well to his medical care and to make daily progress in his recovery.” Chavez, whose OPEC-member nation controls the world’s largest proven oil reserves, has been out of the public eye since undergoing surgery in Havana on December 11. It is the fourth such operation in the 18 months since his condition was made public.

Previously, officials said the fiery leftist leader was suffering from a severe pulmonary infection that resulted in a “respiratory insufficiency”. That fueled speculation about his prospects for a full recovery-and his political future.

A recent report in the Spanish newspaper ABC said the Venezuelan president was in an induced coma and on life support.

The uncer tainty surrounding Chavez’s condition has unsettled Venezuela.

The government was forced to postpone the president’s scheduled inauguration Thursday, as it became clear that he could not attend. Authorities insist the country’s constitution allows Chavez to take the oath of office at a later time.

But the opposition has objected, calling for a medical board to review the absent leader’s health-a demand rejected by the Supreme Cour t, which said the delayed swearing-in was constitutional.

In Cuba on Saturday, President Raul Castro voiced his support for the Venezuelan leadership, his government’s closest and most critical economic and political ally. Castro’s comments came during a meeting

HAVANA: Cubans sing alongside a poster that shows Cuba’s Fidel Castro, left, and Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez, outside the Cathedral, after attending a Mass to pray for the recovery of Chavez, in Havana, Cuba. — AP with Venezuelan Vice President Nicolas Maduro, who arrived in the Cuban capital late Friday to visit Chavez.

Raul Castro “expressed his confidence in the ability of the Venezuelan people and their institutions to address and overcome any challenge,” a government statement said. “Raul and Maduro shared their mutual satisfaction with the emotional demonstration of suppor t for Venezuela and President Chavez on January 10 in Caracas,” it added, in a reference to a mass rally on the Venezuelan capital. At a mass for Chavez in Havana late Saturday, priest Yosvany Car vajal asked God to bless him, stay at his side and ensure a swift recovery. Worshipers included Venezuelan Ambassador Edgardo Ramirez and Alex Castro, son and personal photographer of retired revolutionary icon Fidel

Castro. Two Chavez allies, Argentine President Cristina Kirchner and Peruvian President Ollanta Humala, also arrived in Havana on Friday. “We all hope for a quick recovery,” Humala said.

Kirchner refused to comment on Chavez’s health when asked by reporters Saturday, saying it should be left to his family. She did, however, thank Castro, 86, for hosting a luncheon for her in his home the previous day.

Castro has been sidelined by health problems and rarely appears in public since stepping down as president of the communist country in 2006. Chavez’s illness was first detected in June 2011. But the charismatic leader, who has been in power for 14 years, has refused to relinquish the powers of the presidency, even when leaving for Cuba for his latest surgery.

Venezuela’s constitution says new elections must be held within 30 days if the president-elect or president dies or is permanently incapacitated before he takes office or in the first four years of his six-year term.

A large concert featuring about 20 music groups was held in the Venezuelan capital late Saturday in a show of solidarity with the cancer-stricken leader. But the Venezuelan opposition used the weekend to protest last week’s Supreme Court decision to legitimize the postponement of Chavez’s inauguration, saying the Venezuelan constitution was violated.

“Nobody was sworn in to take power in this country,” opposition mayor of the town of Baruta Gerardo Blyde said at one of the rallies. “ We are witnessing the beheading of the republic.” — AFP

Large wildfire hits top Australian telescope site SYDNEY: Australia’s top research observatory, which houses telescopes used by scientists from around the world, was damaged by a large wildfire yesterday as hot weather and storms stoked dozens of new blazes.

The Rural Fire Service (RFS) of New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state, issued an emergency warning for an out-of-control fire that scorched the Siding Spring Observatory, a remote global research facility.

“This is a large and dangerous bush fire. It is burning in the area around Timor Road near Siding Spring Observatory,” the RFS said. It said two properties in Timor Road had been destroyed and part of the observatory was damaged by fire. The extent of the damage was unclear.

All observatory staff were evacuated before the fire and were safe. Siding Spring, a mountaintop site in the Warrumbungle Ranges about 500 kilometres (310 miles) north-west of Sydney, houses 10 operating telescopes run by Australian, Polish, British, Korean and American researchers.

Administered by the Australian National University’s research school of astronomy and astrophysics, Siding Spring is the nation’s major optical and infrared observatory and one of the top facilities of its kind in the world.

A university spokeswoman said all observatory personnel had been confirmed as “safely evacuated and accounted for”. Crews were battling difficult conditions, with temperatures in the area above 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) and hot north-westerly gusts of about 60 kilometres per hour.

The fire was burning across a four-kilometre front, with a strong southerly pushing the flames to the north and northeast as night fell.

A partner observatory at Canberra’s Mount Stromlo was destroyed by wildfires in January 2003 that killed four people and razed more than 500 homes.

Five telescopes, residences and more than a dozen buildings were ruined in the Mount Stromlo inferno, forcing the termination of a number of major projects including a digital survey of the Southern Hemisphere’s skies.

Large parts of Australia have sweltered under extreme heat in the past week, sparking hundreds of wildfires that have destroyed more than 100 homes.

In the northern state of Queensland trains were halted yesterday due to fears that tracks would buckle under scorching heat that has seen bitumen road sur faces melt in some towns. The RFS said lightning storms started about 40 new fires overnight in northern NSW.

They were being fanned by strong winds but most were in remote areas and not a threat to properties.

By yesterday evening there were 134 fires burning across NSW of which 43 were out of control, according to the RFS. Wildfires are a common threat in arid Australia, particularly in the hotter months between December and February. The government’s Climate Commission has warned that global warming will increase the risk.

Some 173 people were killed and more than 2,000 homes destroyed during the so-called Black Saturday firestorm in 2009, Australia’s worst natural disaster of modern times. —AFP

NEW SOUTH WALES: This photo taken on January 11, 2013 shows a general view of the state operations centre at the New South Wales Rural Fire Service in Sydney tracking bushfires around Australia’s most populous state. As dozens of wild and unpredictable bushfires break out in Australia’s extreme heat military-style operations are in full swing at a state-of-the-art “nerve centre” in populous New South Wales state. —AFP

MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 2013

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

Three million join Bangladesh Muslim gathering TONGI: At least three million Muslims gathered to pray on the banks of a river near the Bangladeshi capital as the world’s second-largest annual Islamic congregation ended yesterday.

Devotees flocked to the River Turag at Tongi, some 40 kilometres (25 miles) north of Dhaka, as an imam from India led the concluding prayer of the Biswa Ijtema, or World Muslim Congregation.

Local television stations broadcast images of pilgrims crying as they raised their hands in prayer on both banks of the river, and on bridges, roads and rooftops along the venue.

Organiser Nurul Islam said Indian imam Jobayer Hasan, a leader of Tablig Jamaat, an Islamic group that has been holding the event since 1964, conducted

the prayer in Urdu, seeking divine help for the world’s 1.5 billion Muslims.

“We’ve estimated that more than three million people joined the final prayer. Some eight to 10 kilometres of road leading to the venue were clogged up with people,” he said, adding that around 30,000 foreigners joined the congregation.

The normally congested streets of Dhaka looked deserted yesterday, a week day in the Muslim-majority country, as people took trains, buses and private cars to attend the prayer. For the last three days devotees have braved chilling temperatures as they prayed and listened to Islamic scholars in marquees, with Bangladesh experiencing its coldest winter since independence in 1971.

Tablig Jamaat, a non-political organisation which has tens of millions of followers across the globe, urges people to follow the tenets of Islam in their daily lives. The Biswa Ijtema is the second largest annual gathering of Muslims in the world, after the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia.

It became so popular among Bangladeshi Muslims, mostly rural poor who can’t afford the Hajj, that the organisers started hosting the event in two phases last year.

The second phase, which also lasts three days, will begin on January 18.

Bangladesh is the world’s third-largest Muslim-majority nation, with Muslims making up nearly 90 percent of its 152 million population. — AFP

DHAKA: Thousands of Bangladeshi Muslims gather to board trains to return home after the three-day Islamic Congregationn on the banks of the River Turag in Tongi, on the outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh, yesterday. The gathering, held each year since 1966, aims to revive the tenets of Islam and promote peace through prayer. — AP

Six arrested in new India gang-rape case Seventh suspect on the run

LAHOREL Supporters of Pakistani religious leader Tahir-ul Qadri shows victory signs at a protest march in Lahore yesterday. An influential Pakistani preacher lead thousands of supporters at the start of a protest march on the capital Islamabad to demand key reforms before looming elections. — AFP

Cleric leads thousands in Pakistan protest march LAHORE: influential Pakistani preacher yesterday led thousands of supporters at the start of a protest march on the capital Islamabad to demand key reforms before looming elections.

Hundreds of cars, buses and trucks carrying around 7,000 people left the easternmost city of Lahore, expected to grow in number as they pass through towns and villages en route to Islamabad, accompanied by a heavy security presence.

Tahir-ul Qadri accuses the government of being corrupt and incompetent, and argues that Pakistan must enact “meaningful” reforms before general elections, which are scheduled to be held within eight weeks after parliament disbands in midMarch.

But the government says Qadri, an Islamic scholar who preaches against terrorism and who returned to Pakistan only last month after years in Canada, is part of a dangerous conspiracy designed to postpone elections and grab power.

The authorities have sealed off the main approaches to Islamabad and warned that the Taleban could attack the march, leading to the closure of schools, businesses and embassies on Monday when the rally is expected to arrive.

“I am declaring it democracy march,” Qadri, bespectacled and with a closely cropped white beard, told reporters as activists carried green and white Pakistani flags and a mock coffin to symbolize the “redundant system”.

“This is a march for protection of human rights, elimination of poverty, supremacy of constitution, rule of law and end of corruption,” Qadri said, accusing the Punjab provincial government of impounding buses and detaining drivers.

He wants an independent caretaker government set up in consultation with the military, judiciary and not just political parties when parliament disbands in midMarch and before polls due by mid-May. If polls are held on time, it will mark the first time that a democratically elected civilian government hands over to another democratically elected civilian government

in Pakistan, which has seen four military dictators.

Qadri has called for an end to corruption and for electoral reforms to be enacted to allow honest candidates to stand and win, but he has not engaged in specifics.

He has likened his efforts to the Arab spring, but insisted it will not be bloody as it was in Egypt, Libya or Syria. Pakistan suffers from crushing problems-a flagging economy, a Taleban and Al-Qaeda-linked insurgency, record attacks on Shiite Muslims and an energy crisis.

“My word revolution means come to peace and security and to eradicate and remove all kind of terrorism, radicalism, extremism and corruption,” Qadri told AFP on Friday.

Police said 10,000 officers had been deployed along the route of the march for the security of the protesters and that an elite commando squad would guard Qadri.

Mohammad Farooq, 50, said he travelled from the eastern industrial city of Faisalabad to join the march, adding that he was prepared to die for the cause.

“We are going to Islamabad to change the exploitative system and will not budge from our mission and even sacrifice our lives for it,” Farooq told AFP. The rally is expected to converge outside Islamabad from various starting points in Punjab.

Organisers say fuel canisters and trucks laden with rations will also accompany the protesters. Political analyst and retired lieutenant general Talat Masood told AFP he believed Qadri had been “dropped from a parachute” to try to disrupt the political process. Commentators have questioned how Qadri has been able to whip up such large crowds and raise so much money so quickly after returning from Canada.

“It’s the same thinking as in the past, to bring a technocrat who comes and brings changes and reforms, improves the economy and focuses on militancy,” said Masood.

“I would say that certain elements within the military, may have an interest, plus the bureaucracy, plus the businessmen who are not getting energy, gas and they face difficulty,” he added. — AFP

AHMADABAD: Gujarat state Chief Minister Narendra Modi holds a kite during the inauguration of International Kite Festival in Ahmadabad, yesterday. Foreign kite flyers, along with their Indian counterparts, gathered to participate in the the festival. — AP

AMRITSAR: Six men have been arrested over the rape of a passenger on a coach in India, police said yesterday, weeks after the gang-rape and murder of a student on a bus in New Delhi sparked nationwide protests.

The victim had boarded the service to her inlaws’ home in the northern state of Punjab when she was abducted Friday and driven to a district bordering the Sikh holy city of Amritsar, local police officer Raj Jeet Singh said.

Five men joined the driver and conductor, who had taken her by motorbike to an unknown address, and took turns to rape the victim before dropping her off near her in-laws’ village on Saturday morning, he said.

“Six men have been arrested on allegations of having raped a 29-year-old woman after forcibly taking her to an unknown location on the night of January 11,” the policeman told AFP, adding that a seventh suspect was being hunted.

“After raping the victim throughout the night, one of the accused dropped her near her in-laws’ house the next morning where she narrated the whole incident to her two sisters-in-law.”

He said the extent of her injuries had yet to be established. Police arrested the men late Saturday.

The attack is disturbingly similar to the December 16 gang-rape and murder of a 23year-old student in Delhi, where five men are on trial in a case that has fuelled anger across India over the alarming incidence of sexual assault.

Partap Singh Bajwa, a local Congress Party politician in Punjab, where the latest reported gang-rape took place blamed the police for not enforcing stringent checks on buses operating in the state.

“It all happened due to laxity of police as they never bother to check out the buses moving on national highways during night time,” Bajwa told AFP. In a separate incident in western India, reported by the Press Trust of India (PTI), police arrested a 32-year-old man Saturday for allegedly abducting, raping and killing a nine-year-old girl.

Police told PTI the suspect allegedly kidnapped the child on December 28 last year in

the temple town of Shirdi in Maharashtra state before dumping her body near the railway station, where it was discovered on Friday night.

The suspect was released from prison in May after his sentence for the rape and murder of another girl was commuted from 17 to 10 years for good behavior.

Elsewhere, in the central India state of Madhya Pradesh, a convicted rapist who abducted a schoolgirl in his car had his driving license cancelled, the Indian Express reported, after the transport department previously announced the licenses of all convicted rapists would be revoked. Protesters have called for the police to be more vigilant and sensitive to the growing reality of sexual assault against women, after details emerged of the New Delhi attack.

Police and prosecutors have outlined how the alleged rapists picked up the student and her male companion in a school bus which they had taken for a joyride after drinking heavily.

The bus would have had to cross numerous police checkpoints at that time of night but at no stage was the vehicle pulled over by officers.

After getting into an argument with the woman’s male companion, the group allegedly beat him up and raped the victim in the back of the bus while driving around Delhi for some 45 minutes.

They also sexually assaulted the woman with a rusting metal bar, leaving her with severe intestinal injuries, before hurling her out of the vehicle. She died in a Singapore hospital 13 days after the attack. — AFP

AMRITSAR: Indian policemen stand with six men, face covered in black sheet, suspected in a gang rape of a bus passenger in Punjab state, India, yesterday. Police said yesterday they have arrested the six suspects in another gang rape of a bus passenger in India, four weeks after a brutal attack on a student on a moving bus in the capital outraged Indians and led to calls for tougher rape laws. — AP

India, Pakistan to hold talks on Kashmir violence NEW DELHI/JAMMU: Military officials from India and Pakistan will hold talks today at the Line of Control, which divides disputed Kashmir, in a bid to defuse tensions after a series of deadly attacks in the region, Indian army officials said.

Four soldiers were killed last week in the worst outbreak of violence in Kashmir since the nuclear-armed neighbors agreed a ceasefire nearly a decade ago.

“Yes the two sides will be meeting on Monday. This is a local commander meet,” Colonel Rajesh Kalia, a spokesman for Indian Army’s Northern Command, told Reuters by phone.

Another Indian Army spokesman, Colonel Jagdeep Dahiya, said in New Delhi that the meeting would take place in Mendhar, the scene of one of the deadly attacks, at 1 p.m. (0730 GMT).

India and Pakistan have fought three wars since their independence in 1947, two of them over the Himalayan region of Kashmir.

India considers the entire region of snow-capped mountains and fertile valleys an integral part of its territory. Muslim Pakistan contests that and demands implementation of a 1948 U.N. Security Council resolution for a plebiscite to determine the wishes of the mostly Muslim people of Kashmir.

India-Pakistan ties had shown signs of improving in the past year after souring again in 2008 when gunmen killed 166 people in Mumbai in a three-day rampage. India blames a Pakistan militant group for the massacre.

Firing and small skirmishes are common along the 740-km (460-mile) LoC despite a ceasefire that was agreed in 2003. The Indian army says eight of its soldiers were killed in 2012, in 75 incidents of ceasefire violations.

Last Sunday, a Pakistani soldier was killed in what Islamabad said was a cross-border raid mounted by the Indians. The Indian army denied any of its troops breached the control line, but said there had been an exchange of fire.

Two days later, further south along the LoC in the Mendhar district, two Indian soldiers were killed in a thick forest after what Indian officials said was a deep incursion into their territory by Pakistani forces. The head of one of the bodies had been ìbadly severedî, according to Indian officials.

On Thursday, hostilities erupted again in another part of the ceasefire line, and this time Pakistan said one of itssoldiers was killed. — Reuters

S Lanka president sacks chief justice COLOMBO: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse yesterday sacked the chief justice by ratifying a controversial parliamentary vote, defying international calls for restraint and plunging the country into a constitutional crisis.

Shirani Bandaranayake, the first woman to hold the office of top judge, had issued several decisions at odds with the government. Rajapakse dismissed her after a closed-door meeting with other judges on Saturday, according to a presidential spokesman.

The move came despite mounting calls on the president to halt the impeachment, which is seen by rights groups and Western nations as a blow to judicial independence in a country just emerging from decades of ethnic war.

Parliament voted on Friday to approve an impeachment report that last week had been quashed by the country’s highest courts, which ruled that the process was unconstitutional. The United States and Britain expressed deep concern at the vote.

“The president this morning signed the letter removing Shirani Bandaranayake from the office of chief justice,” Rajapakse’s spokesman Mohan Samaranayake told AFP. The Lawyers’ Collective, which represents most of the nation’s 11,000 lawyers who have been boycotting work since Thursday to protest the impeachment move, said they would not accept Rajapakse’s decision.

“We salute her for her courage, leadership and steadfastness in facing one of the most unreasonable and irrational inquiries ever faced by a person holding such an exalted office in a democratic country,” the Collective said.

“Shirani Bandaranayake remains the Chief Justice, notwithstanding being unconstitutionally removed.” The main opposition United National Party also rejected the sacking. The Commonwealth had asked Rajapakse on Saturday to reflect on the “constitutional and other ramifications” at a time when Sri Lanka is preparing to host the 54-member group’s next summit later this year.

Sri Lanka’s Sunday Times newspaper said Rajapakse had offered to allow her to retire and so avoid impeachment during a meeting Saturday with other supreme court judges, but a source close to Bandaranayake told AFP that she was not amenable.

Rajapakse’s spokesman would not comment on what was discussed in Saturday’s meeting.

The ruling party initially framed 14 charges of financial, professional and personal misconduct against Bandaranayake, but later cleared her of financial wrongdoing and convicted her only on three counts of misconduct.

Legislators had found her guilty of tampering with a case involving a company from which her sister had bought an apartment, of failing to declare dormant bank accounts, and of staying in office while her husband faced a bribery charge.

Bandaranayake has denied all the allegations against her. She walked out of a parliamentary select committee hearing last month after accusing government legislators of verbally abusing her and not giving her a fair trial.

The government launched the impeachment in November after a spate of supreme court decisions went against the administration of Rajapakse, who has tightened his hold on power after crushing Tamil Tiger rebels in May 2009 following a decadeslong long ethnic war.

Among other rulings, Bandaranayake stalled a bill that sought to grant greater political and financial power to the president’s youngest brother Basil, who is the economic development minister.

Privately run newspapers in Sri Lanka yesterday had urged Rajapakse to reconsider and avoid a constitutional crisis. “In the coming week, what stands between possible constitutional anarchy and the rule of law is the intervention of the president,” the Sunday Times said in an editorial.

The Sunday Island said the chief justice was not given a fair hearing and the impeachment had only “blackened” the country’s image. — AFP

NEWS

MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 2013

Egypt opens old wound with Mubarak’s...

Continued from Page 1 “The court has ruled to accept the appeal filed by the defendants ... and orders a retrial,” Judge Ahmed Ali Abdel Rahman said. Crowds of Mubarak supporters attending the hearing shouted “God is greatest”, clapped and whistled as the judge read out the appeal ruling. Groups of joyful supporters were also spotted handing out sweets in central Cairo.

Mubarak’s health and fate are debated intensely in Egypt as people try to turn a page on decades of his iron-fist rule and the political turmoil that followed his downfall. During the original trial, the televised image of their once feared leader prostrate on a hospital gurney in the defendants’ iron cage captivated the nation, drawing a line under his era. The retrial is certain to revive difficult memories. “If Mubarak and his corrupt aides get lighter sentences this will reignite the revo-

lution and there will be more bloodshed,” Ahmed Abdel Ghaffour, a 33-year-old engineer in Cairo.

The judge did not clarify the legal basis for the retrial, nor did he say when the hearings were likely to start. But Mohamed Abdel Razek, one of Mubarak’s lawyers, said the retrial would be based on the same evidence used in the original trial and that it would take at least four months to set a date. “No new evidence will be added to the case,” he said, adding that there were countless flaws in the verdict. “(These) resulted in the unfair trial of our client.”

After the original trial, many in Egypt were disappointed that Mubarak had not been explicitly convicted of ordering the killing of protesters as well as of what rights groups see as widespread abuses committed under his rule. Instead, he was found guilty of being complicit in the killings. Around 850 protesters died in the

uprising but some rights groups claim the figure is higher. The opposition, a loose alliance of liberals, secularists and Christians, is now gearing up for demonstrations to coincide with the second anniversary of the uprising on Jan 25.

The retrial “takes everything and everyone back to square one,” said Hassan Nafaa, a professor of political science. “The timing of the verdict is critical with the second anniversary of the revolution coming up on January 25th. Revolutionary youth and opposition will certainly mobilise on this day for justice.”

The price of the freedom brought by Mubarak’s overthrow is a volatile new politics that often boils over into sporadic street violence. Attackers threw petrol bombs at tents housing protesters outside the presidential palace in Cairo overnight, firing rubber bullets at security forces. The exact state of Mubarak’s health is not clear, though last year some media reported that

Renewable energy... he was close to death. He was moved from prison to a military hospital in late December after breaking ribs in a fall.

His legal team had pressed to have him moved to a better-equipped facility, saying he was not receiving proper treatment. He will remain in custody as he faces new charges from the public funds prosecutor for receiving gifts worth millions of Egyptian pounds from Egypt’s state newspaper, Al-Ahram. Mubarak has not spoken publicly about the events that followed his downfall, saying almost nothing during the trial beyond confirming his presence and denying the charges.

The court also overturned non-guilty verdicts on Mubarak, his two sons and a former aide on corruption charges and ordered a retrial of six aides to former interior minister Habib Al-Adli. Abdel Razek, the lawyer, said the new panel of judges could consider Mubarak’s health when issuing a verdict. — Reuters

Continued from Page 1 “Over the next decade, we expect an enormous increase in investment in the field of renewable energy. Global Atlas will help us make the right decisions,” said Danish Climate and Energy Minister Martin Lidegaard, who chaired a session at the gathering. IRENA director Adnan Amin said that by 2014 the atlas will include information on bio-energy, geothermal energy and marine energy. “The Global Atlas provides a powerful new tool in international efforts to double the world’s share of renewable energy by 2030” to around 30 percent of the global energy mix, he said.

Thirty-seven countries, including Israel which has no diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates, have so far contributed information on their renewable energy potentials to the atlas. Established in 2011, Abu Dhabibased IRENA is mandated by 159 countries and the European Union to promote the sustainable use of all forms of renewable energy. Its meeting comes as part of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week which includes the Future Energy Summit, the International Water Summit and the International Renewable Energy Conference. — AFP

MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 2013

ANALYSIS

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Issues

British Hip Hop Hijabis explore gender equality

By Mette Reitzel

recent parliamentary report in the UK reveals that some Muslim women are removing their headscarves and anglicizing their names to improve their chances in the job market. Two best friends featured in the upcoming documentary film Hip Hop Hijabis did the exact opposite. Born in Bristol to Jamaican parents, they converted to Islam in 2005, started wearing the hijab and changed their names to Sukina Abdul Noor and Muneera Rashida.

Together they are known as the Hip Hop duo Poetic Pilgrimage and have toured internationally to critical acclaim.

It is estimated there are a total of 100,000 British converts to Islam, a majority of them are women and a growing number are black youth from the inner cities. Combined with immigration this has made Islam the second largest religion in the UK at around 5 per cent of the population according to the latest census data.

Polls indicate that roughly half of all Britons think that is too many and that “Muslims create problems in the UK” reports an Evening Standard article on Dec 11, 2012. Yet evidence compiled by Islamophobia author Chris Allen shows that two thirds admit to knowing “nothing or next to nothing about Islam” and get most of their knowledge from the media, which the Leveson Report on British press culture recently described to be biased in their coverage of Muslim stories.

By gaining insight into the mindset and daily lives of two outspoken female Muslim converts, Hip Hop Hijabis aims to dispel some of the misconceptions that cause such polarised views, especially around the issue of gender equality, which was a major concern for Sukina and Muneera when they initially felt drawn to the religion.

Researching the question further they found that in historical terms Islam was radically egalitarian condemning the common practice of female infanticide and introducing rights of inheritance, divorce and education for women at a time when they were generally considered their husbands property. They also learnt that customs such as female genital cutting and honour killings predate Islam and are not sanctioned by the Holy Quran.

By speaking out against these cultural traditions from within an Islamic framework, Poetic Pilgrimage is part of a growing number of Muslim artists, activists and intellectuals reclaiming their religion.

Doing so through the language of Hip Hop has unintentionally become a statement in itself, as some interpretations of Islam consider music and female performance to be forbidden. The advantage is that through their skilful rhymes, catchy beats and positive energy Poetic Pilgrimage can reach a wide audience, - both European Muslim youth who may be feeling trapped between cultures, and non-Muslims, whose stereotypes are efficiently challenged by two hijab-wearing rappers.

Though Hip Hop and religion may initially seem like unlikely partners, they both stem from a strong desire for social justice, and there have always been a large number of Muslim artists within the genre. A wide network of educational initiatives has developed around it, encouraging creative expression through Hip Hop as an alternative to violence, drugs and other destructive behaviour.

Extremism has been dominating the public debate around Islam for too long. There are many highly educated and outspoken Muslims who think that justifying misogyny and violence in the name of Islam is a gross misinterpretation of their faith, but their voices are rarely heard. Conflict and tragedy simply make for better headlines but also breed fear and hate on both sides of the divide with potentially fatal consequences.

The Hip Hop Hijabis project is an attempt to redress the balance and contribute to a more nuanced debate.

It will include creative workshops, lectures and public debates to encourage constructive dialogue and counter religious extremism as well as Islamophobia.

NOTE: Mette Reitzel is a Danish-born London-based documentary filmmaker. —CGNews

A

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.

Mali: One African war France couldn’t avoid

By Mark John and John Irish ust as its leaders were defining a new “hands-off” strategy for Africa, France has been thrust onto the front line of one of the continent’s riskiest battlefields deep in the desert of Mali.

President Francois Hollande’s backing of air strikes to halt Islamist rebels advancing on the capital Bamako raises the threat level for eight French hostages held by AlQaeda allies in the Sahara and for the 30,000 French expatriates living in neighbouring, mostly Muslim states. It could also trigger an attack on French soil. But, in what could be the biggest foreign policy decision of his presidency, Hollande bet that inaction bore a greater peril of producing a jihadist state like Afghanistan under the Taleban.

“We must stop the rebels’ offensive, otherwise the whole of Mali will fall into their hands - creating a threat for Africa and even for Europe,” his foreign minister Laurent Fabius told reporters to justify backing Mali’s dilapidated national army. For months, military planners in Paris had been working on discreet and limited support for an African-led effort due later this year to try and drive Islamists out of France’s ex-colony. That scenario was swiftly overtaken on Thursday as rebels captured the central town of Konna that is a gateway towards Bamako 600 km further south.

With Mali’s army impotent, Hollande ordered the first military strikes of his career. Now France has deployed troops, C-160 trans-

J

port aircraft, attack helicopters and has Rafale jets on standby the question is: where does it go from here? The intervention came weeks after Paris conspicuously failed to rescue the incumbent leader in Central African Republic, another ex-colony, leaving President Francois Bozize no alternative but to accept a power-sharing pact with insurgents threatening to take over his mineral-rich state.

The Bozize snub was a sign that Hollande’s government was banging another nail in the coffin of “Francafrique”, the shady decadesold system under which Paris propped up African leaders aligned to French business interests.

Hollande’s government stresses that by entering Mali, France is not falling back into old habits. Its presence is legitimised by UN resolutions mandating foreign intervention to support Mali forces and approval by the same African leaders irked in 2011 when France and Britain ordered NATO air strikes in Libya to oust Muammar Gaddafi.

The United States and Britain have also signalled backing, and even opposition French conservatives mostly say Hollande did the right thing. Shocking reports of public amputations in rebel-held northern Mali as tough shariah Islamic law is imposed will persuade many French voters the intervention was just. But events on the ground could change that quickly. While the Mali Islamists are a rag-tag army, they managed to recoup many of the arms that spilled out of Libya during its war and can inflict real damage includ-

ing the downing of a French helicopter on the first day of strikes.

By going to help the Malian army, Hollande defied threats by the rebels’ allies, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), to kill the French hostages taken across the Sahara in past years. As the failure of a French commando bid late last week to free a secret agent held in Somalia since 2009 shows, it will be very hard for him now to guarantee their safety. “With this (Mali) intervention, the French president has shown he did not want to be taken hostage himself by the issue of the French hostages held by AQIM. That is an act of political courage,” said Mathieu Pellerin, head of the Paris-based Centre of Strategic Intelligence on the African Continent (CISCA).

Hollande said he believed the secret agent had been killed during the abortive raid, an assertion which the Somalian Al Shabaab insurgents deny.

With some of the rebel Malian fighters living side by side with their families, the further risk is of collateral damage that would drain domestic and foreign support for the action. “If we jump in then we could have horrific images of children, women killed,” said one French diplomatic source speaking before last week’s events, noting how civilian deaths caused by NATO operations in Afghanistan damaged public support for the Western mission to dislodge Taliban Islamists there.

Fears will also grow of reprisals on the large expatriate French communities in neighbouring

Muslim countries such as Burkina Faso, Niger and Senegal. “There are consequences, not only for French hostages, but also for all French citizens wherever they find themselves in the Muslim world,” Sanda Ould Boumama, of the Malian insurgent group Ansar Dine, warned on Saturday.

But the real political gamechanger for Hollande is the threat of an attack on French soil. France is no stranger to such strikes, with eight killed during a wave of bombings of the Paris Metro in 1995 by Algeria’s Armed Islamic Group (GIA), a guerrilla Islamist movement from which AQIM traces some of its lineage. Home to Europe’s largest Muslim population of some five million, France is acutely aware of the risk of radicalisation after an Al-Qaeda-inspired gunman last March went on a killing spree in the southern city of Toulouse, killing seven. Underlining that he takes the threat of attack seriously, Hollande on Saturday announced he was stepping up security measures on French transport and in public places.

For now, France said its aim is not to begin an operation to take Mali’s north back out of rebel hands. Hollande has stressed its exclusive goal is to prepare for a subsequent intervention to be led not by Paris but by the West African ECOWAS bloc. Mark Schroeder, Africa-watcher for US-based risk and security consultancy Stratfor, expected French troops to focus on holding the line in central Mali in coming weeks and wait for the operation to take on a more inter-

national feel. “Behind that line, the European Union military training mission will come in and African forces will start to arrive,” he said of troops from neighbours including Niger due to arrive from Monday to build a total force around 3,300 strong.

While that could help France wind down its exposure, CISCA’s Pellerin said that would still depend crucially on the African-led coalition gaining the necessary size and strength to lead the fight to push back the rebels - not a given at this stage. A rare dissenting voice, former foreign minister Dominique de Villepin - who led world opposition to the US-led Iraq war in 2003 warned France could get sucked into a conflict where military victory was hollow without political conciliation. “It is time to break with a decade of lost wars,” he said of wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya which he argued merely created the grounds for future conflicts.

For Hollande, whose poll ratings are at record lows because of his hesitant leadership and failure to cut unemployment, Mali could emerge as his political crucible. It was already diverting attention away from a mass march on Sunday in protest at his plans to legalise gay marriages, and meant that a late-night Friday deal between trade unions and employers on reforming the labour market went little noticed. “This is not just any old baptism of fire,” said Bruno Tertrais, head of research at Paris’s Foundation for Strategic Research. “This is a baptism of fire in his very role as chief of the armed forces.” —Reuters

Hindus have fellow believer in US Congress

By Deepti Hajela hen Dr Uma Mysorekar looks at the members of the new Congress, the Indian immigrant and practicing Hindu can see that, for the first time, there’s someone who shares her ethnicity and someone who shares her faith. To her surprise, they are two different people.

Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii is the first Hindu elected to Congress. Rep Ami Bera of California, also a Democrat, is the third Indian-American to serve in the House of Representatives. Gabbard, however, isn’t from India, where Hinduism originated and to which the vast majority of its adherents have ethnic ties.

Bera is a Unitarian. His two IndianAmerican predecessors in Congress, Dalip Singh Saund and Bobby Jindal, also were not practicing Hindus. The late Saund, a California Democrat elected in 1956, was Sikh. Jindal, a Republican elected to the House in 2004 and now Louisiana’s governor, is Catholic. Gabbard’s presence in Congress creates an interesting moment for Hindus in the United States, a chance to celebrate a barrier broken but also a topic of discussion as they ponder how closely religion and nationality are entwined, or even should be.

Mysorekar is glad to see a practicing Hindu in the country’s halls of political power, no matter her nationality. Gabbard “is a Hindu representative, it doesn’t matter where she came from,” said Mysorekar, president of the Hindu Temple Society of North America, a temple in the New York borough of Queens that is one of the country’s oldest.

W

As a non-Indian Hindu, Gabbard is most definitely an outlier. According to an analysis issued last month from the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, there are about 1 billion Hindus in the world. Of those, 94 percent are in India, and 99 percent in the larger South Asia region. The analysis, based on data from 2010, the latest available, estimated the population of Hindus in the United States at 1.79 million. Most are of Indian descent.

Hindus agreed with the sentiment. “I don’t think it makes a difference that she’s not Indian,” said Kinjal Dave, 17, a high school senior in Hillsborough, New Jersey. “I think it’s the faith that matters.”

The press secretary for Gabbard, a 31year-old Iraq war veteran, declined an Associated Press request to interview the congresswoman for this story, but sent along a statement Gabbard had made upon being sworn into office, for which she used a copy

Tulsi Gabbard

Ami Bera

Hinduism encompasses a range of beliefs and practices, and there is no formal conversion practice. That acceptance of plurality in the faith, that Hindus come in many forms, would make it “hypocritical” for Indian Hindus to look askance at Gabbard for not sharing their ethnicity, said Smita Kothuri, 38, of McLean, Virginia. “How can I hold it against her? I’d be untrue to my religion if I held it against her,” she said. Other Indian

of the Bhagavad Gita, a Hindu religious text.

“I chose to take the oath of office with my personal copy of the Bhagavad Gita because its teachings have inspired me to be a servant-leader, dedicating my life in the service of others and to my country,” she said.

Gabbard has said she was introduced to Hinduism through her mother, and embraced it fully as a teenager. She also is the first member of Congress to be born in

the US territory of American Samoa. The reception from Indians and Indian media to her electoral victory has been largely positive, although there has been at least one mistaken media report making a reference to Gabbard being Indian-American. (She and her siblings all have Indian first names.)

Having any Hindu representation in Congress breaks barriers in a country that, despite religious freedom being enshrined in the Constitution, has seen its elected officials overwhelmingly come from Christian backgrounds. It can be an inspiration to other Hindus who are interested in public office, that their faith and most voters’ unfamiliarity with it, won’t prove insurmountable. “I think it instills confidence to say there’s been a Hindu there,” said Suhag Shukla, executive director of the Hindu American Foundation in Washington.

It’s also an opportunity to introduce Hinduism as a faith to people who may have seen it as solely the purview of those who have a connection to India. Dharmasetu Das knows all about that. Born in Massachusetts to a military family, the 55-year-old white man whose original first name was David has been practicing Hinduism for decades. Now living in San Diego, he performs weddings and other ceremonies as a Hindu pandit, or priest. He was a teenager when he came across some books on the faith, and “I felt like this was it,” he said. He hasn’t come across too many other non-Indian Hindus like himself over the years, and is happy to know he now has a compatriot in such a high-profile place like Congress. “Just opening people’s eyes,” he said, “it’s a great thing.” —Reuters

MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 2013

S P ORT S Guardiola to take City job — report

South Korean underdogs claim two titles at home

Giggs plans to wait on new contract decision

LONDON: Former Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola will replace Roberto Mancini as manager of English champions Manchester City in the summer, the Sun yesterday claimed. Guardiola, 41, said last Monday he was ready to return to coaching after stepping down from the Barcelona job at the end of last season having guided them to 14 trophies in his four years in charge, including two Champions League titles. The Sun yesterday claimed Guardiola will opt for City over Chelsea because he sees the Abu Dhabi-owned side as being the more likely to challenge for European honors despite the London side having won the Champions League last season.

Mancini - who has won an FA Cup and the Prmeier League titles in his time at the club - is set to pay for his failure to guide the expensively-assembled side into the Champions League knockout stages on two occasions.

“It is 100 per cent certain that Guardiola is going to City this summer,” a high level source in Spanish football told the paper.

“And when I say 100 per cent I don’t mean 99 per cent, I mean 100 per cent!” According to the paper, Guardiola will become the highest-paid manager in England on £10 million pounds (12,085,500 euros, $16.1million US) a year after tax. —AFP

SEOUL: South Korean underdogs gave the host country two surprising victories in the Korea Open badminton finals yesterday, while Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei confirmed his standing as the men’s world number one.

Lee defended his Korea Open title in the men’s singles, comfortably beating Du Pengyu of China 21-12, 21-15.

China, who won four out of five events in each of the two past Korea Opens, had to settle for women’s and mixed doubles titles, where the finals were all-Chinese affairs. In the men’s doubles, feisty South Koreans Lee Yong-Dae and Ko Sung-Hyun upended Denmark’s world number one pairing of Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen, 19-21, 21-13, 21-10, taking advantage of the Danes’ sloppy play in the third set.

Holding on to a 13-10 lead in the decisive frame, the South Koreans reeled off eight straight points to clinch their first Korea Open together, their fourth tournament victory since becoming partners last September.

In the women’s singles, unseeded Sung Ji-Hyun upset the defending champion Wang Shixian of China 21-12, 22-20 for South Korea’s second win, avenging her loss to Wang in the 2010 final.

Sung came back from 6-2 down to take the first set, and quickly turned a 9-4 disadvantage into a 10-9 lead in the second. Wang, down 19-15, forced Sung into a deuce before conceding the final two points and the title. —Reuters

MANCHESTER: Welsh footballing great Ryan Giggs will see how he feels at the end of the season before deciding whether to sign another year long contract with Manchester United, he told the Sunday People. The 39-year-old winger — winner of 12 Premier League titles with United as well as two Champions League trophies — said he would hold talks with United manager Alex Ferguson at the end of the present campaign, which has so far seen him make 16 appearances in all competitions.

“I will see how I feel and see how I am contributing, and then I will sit down and talk to the manager,” said Giggs, who has won 24 major trophies in his time at United. “I am cool with that. I am enjoying my football at the moment, but the end of the season is a few months away and you never know what will happen. “I have to contribute as well as enjoying both training and playing.” Giggs, who made his debut for United in the 1990/91 season, praised Ferguson for his longevity because of the way he differs his training regime.

“In a way I suppose I get an easier ride than some of the younger lads, and that’s because the manager recognises I have different needs at this point,” he said. “But don’t get me wrong, my fitness has to be spot on, otherwise I just couldn’t compete with the rest of the guys either in training or during matches.” — AFP

Armstrong plans to answer ‘honestly’ during Oprah talk AUSTIN: Lance Armstrong said he will answer questions “directly, honestly and candidly” during an interview with Oprah Winfrey next week. He will also apologize and make a limited confession to using performance-enhancing drugs, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.

Armstrong has spent more than a decade denying that he doped to win the Tour de France seven times. Without saying whether he would confess or apologize during the taping, Armstrong told The Associated Press in a text message early Saturday, “I told her (Winfrey) to go wherever she wants and I’ll answer the questions directly, honestly and candidly. That’s all I can say.”

A confession would be a stunning reversal for Armstrong after years of public statements, interviews and court battles from Austin to Europe in which he denied doping and zealously protected his reputation.

Armstrong was stripped of his titles and banned from the sport for life last year after the US Anti-Doping agency issued a detailed report accusing him of leading a sophisticated and brazen drug program on his US Postal Service teams that included steroids, blood boosters and a range of performance-enhancing drugs.

Armstrong’s interview with Winfrey is not expected to go into great detail about specific allegations levied in the more than 1,000-page USADA report. But Armstrong will make a general confession and apologize, according to the person, who requested anonymity because there was no authorization to speak publicly. Several outlets had also reported that Armstrong was considering a confession.

Armstrong hasn’t responded to the USADA report or being stripped of his Tour de France titles. But shortly afterward, he tweeted a picture of himself on a couch at home with all seven of the yellow leader’s jerseys on display in a room at his home in Austin. He also agreed to be interviewed there, in what the Oprah Winfrey Network announced would be a “no-holds barred” session. That’s scheduled to be taped Monday and broadcast Thursday night.

“His reputation is in crisis,” said crisis management expert Mike Paul, president of New York-based, MGP & Associates PR. “Most people don’t trust what comes out

of his mouth. He has to be truly repentant and humble.” He also has to be careful.

Armstrong is facing legal challenges on several fronts, including a federal whistle-blower lawsuit brought by former teammate Floyd Landis, who himself was stripped of the 2006 Tour de France title, accusing him of defrauding the U.S. Postal Ser vice. The US Justice Department has yet to announce whether it will join the case. The Londonbased Sunday Times is also suing Armstrong to recover about $500,000 it paid him to settle a libel lawsuit, and Dallas-based SCA Promotions has threatened to bring yet another lawsuit against Armstrong to recover more than $7.5 million an arbitration panel awarded him as a bonus for winning the Tour de France.

The only lawsuit potentially impacted by a confession might be the Sunday Times case. Potential perjury charges stemming from his sworn testimony in the 2005 arbitration fight would not apply because of the statute of limitations. Armstrong was not deposed during a federal investigation that was closed last year without charges being brought.

However, he lost most of his personal endorsements - worth tens of millions of dollars - after USADA issued its report and he left the board of the Livestrong cancer-fighting charity he founded in 1997. He is still said to be worth an estimated $100 million.

Livestrong might be one reason to issue an apology or make a confession.

The charity supports cancer patients and still faces an image problem because of its association with Armstrong.

He may also be hoping a confession would allow him to return to competition in the elite triathlon or running events he participated in after his cycling career. But World Anti-Doping Code rules state his lifetime ban cannot be reduced to less than eight years. WADA and U.S. Anti-Doping officials could agree to reduce the ban further depending on what new information Armstrong provides and his level of cooperation. USADA chief Travis Tygart did not return a call Saturday from the AP. Armstrong met with USADA officials recently to explore a “pathway to redemption,” according to a report by “60 Minutes Sports” aired Wednesday on Showtime. — AP

OBERHOF: Felix Loch of Germany speeds down the track during the men’s luge World Cup race. He won the competition and the European Championships. —AP

Loch leads German sweep OBERHOF: Olympic champion Felix Loch won his third World Cup race of the season to lead a German sweep of the podium positions and claim his first European Championship yesterday.

Loch was fastest in both runs for an aggregate time of 1 minute, 27.257 seconds - 0.390 seconds quicker than Andi Langenhan, and 0.519 ahead of Johannes Ludwig. Russia’s Semen Pavlichenko was the fastest non-German in fourth, followed by Germany’s David Moeller and another Russian, Alber t Demchenko.

After six of nine races, Loch had 515 points in the World Cup standings, followed by Langenhan on 435 and Moeller on 398. The race also counted as the

European Championships, allowing the 23-year-old Loch to complete his medal collection.

“Now I could end my career,” Loch joked after his 13th career victory. “But of course that’s rubbish, of course I’ll go on.

I like the track in Oberhof. It’s where I celebrated my first World Championship title.”

Late yesterday, Germany also claimed the team relay European Championship title, when Natalie Geisenberger, Loch, Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken combined to finish 0.461 seconds faster than I taly, and 0.757 ahead of defending champion Russia.

The result did not count toward the World Cup standings. — AP

PHILADELPHIA: Houston Rockets’ Carlos Delfino, of Argentina (top) and Jeremy Lin leap for a rebound against Philadelphia 76ers’ Thaddeus Young (left) and Lavoy Allen in the second half of an NBA basketball game. — AP

Heat scorch Kings, Magic roll SACRAMENTO: Mario Chalmers had career highs with 10 3-pointers and 34 points to lead the Miami Heat to a 128-99 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Saturday night.

LeBron James had 20 points, seven assists, five steals and a pair of blocks for the Heat, who had a season-high point total. Miami, which hadn’t topped 100 points in its previous four games, got a needed bounceback win after losing two straight and five of eight since Dec. 26.

Chris Bosh had 16 points, Mike Miller 12 and Dwyane Wade 11 for Miami, which shot 56 percent from the field and went 17 for 37 from beyond the arc. Chalmers tied Brian Shaw’s franchise record for 3s and connected on 10-of-13 overall in breaking the previous record of nine 3s at Sleep Train Arena. Isaiah Thomas made six 3-pointers and scored a career-high 34 points for the Kings, who dropped their fourth straight game.

Magic 104, Clippers 101 In Los Angeles, JJ Redick gave Orlando its first lead on a 3-pointer with 42 seconds left, Arron Afflalo tied his season high with 30 points, and the Magic beat the Los Angeles Clippers to snap a 10-game skid.

The loss ended the Clippers’ franchiserecord 13-game, home-winning streak and provided them with a scare when All-Star guard Chris Paul went down holding his right knee with 54 seconds to go. Paul returned after a timeout and hit a 15-footer to draw his team within one with 33 seconds left.

But the Clippers turned the ball over on Jamal Crawford’s offensive foul. Josh McRoberts found Nikola Vucevic open under the basket, and Vucevic dunked to extend Orlando’s lead to 104-101 with 8 seconds left.

After a timeout, Crawford missed a 3-pointer as time expired. Redick had 21 points for the injury-riddled Magic, who ended the franchise’s longest skid since 2003-04. Blake Griffin tied his season high with 30 points for the Clippers.

Wizards 93, Hawks 83 In Washington, John Wall gave his teammates a lift with 14 points and four assists in his first game of the season, and the worst-inNBA Wizards have their first winning streak.

Wall’s playing time will be limited as he returns from a knee injury, but he appeared to have his old speed and explosiveness back while playing seven minutes in the first half and 15 in the second half.

No. 3 overall pick Bradley Beal, getting to play with Wall for the first time, scored 16 points for the Wizards, who are 6-28 but have strung together two wins in a row following their upset of Oklahoma City on Monday. Jeff Teague scored 19 points, Al Horford had 16 points and 12 rebounds, and Josh Smith added 11 points for the Hawks, who have lost five of six.

Mavericks 104, Grizzlies 83 In Dallas, Shawn Marion scored a seasonhigh 20 points, Dirk Nowitzki added 17 and the Mavericks won consecutive games for the first time in a month. All five starters scored in

double figures for Dallas, with Chris Kaman scoring eight straight points in the third quarter and finishing with 14. OJ Mayo had 11 and Darren Collison 10.

The Grizzlies were ragged a night after a big over time win against Southwest Division-leading San Antonio. Memphis shot 38 percent and Rudy Gay was the only starter in double figures. He led the Grizzlies with 12 points.

76ers 107, Rockets 100 In Philadelphia, Jrue Holiday scored 30 points, Thaddeus Young had 18 points and 12 rebounds and the 76ers snapped a fivegame losing streak . Jason R ichardson scored 16 points for the Sixers, who finally return home for a lengthy stint as they try to play their way back into the Eastern Conference playoff race. The Sixers opened a stretch of 12 home games in the next 13 and hope they can start to offset a miserable 2-6 road trip that stretched over the new year.

James Harden led the Rockets with 29 points and Chandler Parsons had 23. Jeremy Lin missed 11 of 13 shots for seven points.

Led by 24 points from Holiday, the Sixers built a 14-point lead in the third quarter, and found an offensive touch they ’ve missed for most of the season.

Suns 97, Bulls 81 In Chicago, Luis Scola scored 22 points to help the Suns snap a five -game losing streak. Michael Beasley added 20 points for Phoenix, which had lost 12 straight on the road and got its first win away from home since beating Cleveland on Nov. 27.

The Suns got the 2,000th win in franchise history, accomplishing the feat in their 3,599th game to become the fourth-fastest

team to the reach the milestone. Carlos Boozer had 15 points and 10 rebounds, and Joak im Noah added 10 points and 13 boards for Chicago, which continued its inconsistent play at home with its fourth loss in the last six. The Bulls lost for just the second time in 13 games when both Boozer and Noah recorded double - doubles.

Chicago was whistled for four technical fouls, capped by coach Tom Thibodeau’s penalty with 3:57 left in the fourth.

Jazz 90, Pistons 87 In Auburn Hills, Al Jefferson scored 10 of his 20 points in the third quarter, and Utah rallied for the win. Detroit’s Brandon Knight missed a 3-pointer in the final seconds that would have tied the game after the Pistons trailed by 13 points with 3:26 left.

Jefferson helped the Jazz outscore Detroit 25-11 in the third, powering them to their first lead after trailing by as many as 15 points. Utah also put together a 17-3 run after Austin Daye’s 3-pointer with 8:38 left gave the Pistons the lead for the last time.

Knight had 16 points and Greg Monroe scored 12 for the Pistons, who got a late lift from reserve Will Bynum, who scored 13 points. Utah’s Paul Millsap and Randy Foye each scored 17.

Pacers 96, Bobcats 88 In Indianapolis, George Hill scored 19 points, D.J. Augustin added a season-high 18 and Indiana earned its fourth straight win.

Lance Stephenson had 17 points and David West scored 14 to help the Central Divisionleading Pacers, playing without leading scorer Paul George (illness), get their sixth win in seven games. Ben Gordon scored 21 points for the Bobcats, and Kemba Walker had 16 on 5-for-9 shooting. — AP

NBA results/standings Orlando 104, LA Clippers 101; Washington 93, Atlanta 83; Indiana 96, Charlotte 88; Philadelphia 107, Houston 100; Utah 90, Detroit 87; Phoenix 97, Chicago 81; Dallas 104, Memphis 83; Miami 128, Sacramento 99.

Western Conference Eastern Conference Atlantic Division Northwest Division W L PCT GB Oklahoma City 28 8 .778 NY Knicks 23 13 .639 22 16 .579 7 Denver 21 15 .583 2 Brooklyn Portland 20 16 .556 8 Boston 19 17 .528 4 Utah 20 19 .513 9.5 Philadelphia 16 22 .421 8 Minnesota 16 17 .485 10.5 Toronto 14 22 .389 9 Pacific Division Central Division LA Clippers 28 9 .757 Indiana 23 14 .622 23 12 .657 4 Golden State Chicago 20 15 .571 2 LA Lakers 15 21 .417 12.5 Milwaukee 18 17 .514 4 Sacramento 13 24 .351 15 Detroit 14 24 .368 9.5 Phoenix 13 26 .333 16 Cleveland 9 29 .237 14.5 Southwest Division Southeast Division San Antonio 28 11 .718 Miami 24 11 .686 24 11 .686 2 Memphis Atlanta 21 15 .583 3.5 Houston 21 17 .553 6.5 Orlando 13 23 .361 11.5 Dallas 15 23 .395 12.5 Charlotte 9 27 .250 15.5 New Orleans 11 25 .306 15.5 Washington 6 28 .176 17.5

MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 2013

S P ORT S

Sri Lanka defeat Australia ADELAIDE: Lahiru Thirimanne struck his first one-day century as Sri Lanka levelled the one-day series against Australia with a convincing eight-wicket win yesterday. Sri Lanka put the hosts in to bat after rain delayed the start at the Adelaide Oval and the bowlers capitalised on cloud cover and moisture in the pitch to restrict Australia to 170 all out from 46.5 overs.

The tourists’ reply started poorly when Upal Thuranga was caught behind off Clint McKay without scoring but Thirimanne (102 not out) and Tillakaratne Dilshan (51) dug in to help Sri Lanka reach 172-2 with almost 10 overs remaining.

The series is level at 1-1 after two of the five matches, with the teams next meeting in Brisbane on Friday. The outcome hinged largely on the toss, with Sri Lanka able to tie down the Australian batsmen with the swinging ball before batting conditions improved.

The tourists reduced Australia to 83-6 at one stage though Brad Haddin (50) and Ben Cutting (27) rallied for the hosts with 57 runs for the seventh wicket.

Paceman Lasith Malinga, the pick of Sri Lanka’s bowlers with 3-32 from nine overs, halted the recovery by dismissing debutants Cutting and Kane Richardson with successive deliveries.

Earlier in the innings George Bailey (26) and David Hussey (29) were the only recognised batsmen to reach double fig-

ures and it was left to Haddin to make the score respectable with his 16th oneday half century.

But Haddin, playing impressively in place of the rested Matthew Wade, hurt his hamstring while batting and had to hand over the wicketkeeper’s gloves to Phil Hughes after 20 overs.

Sri Lanka began the run chase conservatively after Thuranga’s dismissal as Thirimanne and Dilshan inched their way to 66-1 from 20 overs. From that point, they struck out with greater freedom to up the run rate and ease their side to victory under the floodlights.

Thirimanne surpassed his previous one-day best score of 77, set against India last August, with a four to the fine leg boundary. He played with far greater fluency than Dilshan, who holed out off Cutting to Glenn Maxwell at point.

Kushal Perera had hit 14 from 12 deliveries before he resisted the temptation to hit the winning runs with Thirimanne on 98.

Perera faced four balls without attempting to score, giving Thirimanne the chance to reach his century and win the match with his 12th boundary as Sri Lanka avenged Friday’s 107-run defeat in Melbourne.

Australia will look forward to the return of rested captain Michael Clarke and opener David Warner, with several issues to address ahead of Friday’s third game in Brisbane. — Reuters

ADELAIDE: Australia’s Brad Haddin (right) drives against Sri Lanka during their One Day International cricket match. — AP

SCOREBOARD ADELAIDE: Scoreboard in the second of five one-day cricket internationals between Australia and Sri Lanka at the Adelaide Oval yesterday: Sri Lanka win by eight wickets.

2 (1w), L Malinga 9-0-32-3, A Mendis 7.5Australia innings 0-41-1 (1w), J Mendis 2-0-7-0.

A Finch c J Mendis b Mathews 4 P Hughes lbw b Kulasekara 3 Sri Lanka innings G Bailey c Thirimanne b Malinga 26 U Tharanga c Haddin b McKay 0 D Hussey run out (Dilshan) 29 T Dilshan c Maxwell b Cutting 51 S Smith c K Perera b T Perera8 L Thirimanne not out 102 G Maxwell c K Perera b Mathews 8 K Perera not out 14 B Haddin c Thirimanne b A Mendis 50 Extras: (3lb, 2w) 5 B Cutting c K Perera b Malinga 27 Total: (for two wickets; 40.1 overs) 172 K Richardson lbw b Malinga 0 Fall: 1-0, 2-137.

C McKay c K Perera b T Perera 4 Did not bat: M Jayawardene, A Mathews, X Doherty not out 5 J Mendis, T Perera, N Kulasekara, L Extras: (1b, 1lb, 4w) 6 Malinga, A Mendis.

Total: (all out; 46.5 overs) 170 Bowling: C McKay 10-0-43-1, K Fall: 1-7, 2-12, 3-51, 4-60, 5-82, 6-83, 7- Richardson 6-3-15-0, B Cutting 10-0-42-1 140, 8-140, 9-146.

(1w), X Doherty 7-0-34-0, S Smith 4-0-16Bowling: N Kulasekara 9-0-24-1 (1w), A 0, G Maxwell 3.1-0-19-0 (1w).

Mathews 10-1-24-2 (1w), T Perera 9-0-40Five-match series level at 1-1.

Oosthuizen storms back to win Volvo Champions DURBAN: South African Louis Oosthuizen stormed back in the final round of the Volvo Golf Champions at Durban Country Club yesterday to shoot a six-under-par 66 and win the title by one stroke.

Oosthuizen entered the final round five shots adrift of leader Scott Jamieson from Scotland, who finished second after a finalhole chip to force a play-off came agonisingly close to dropping.

Former paratrooper Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand ended third a further shot behind, Irishman Padraig Harrington was fourth and Julien Quesne of France and Englishman Danny Willett shared fifth spot.

“What a great week for me and I played really well today,” said Oosthuizen after receiving the trophy. “Yesterday was tough as I finished two over, but today was fantastic. “My third round troubles stemmed from a problem with my swing which I could not

DURBAN: South African Louis Oosthuizen poses with his trophy after winning the Volvo Golf Champions. — AFP

fix on the course. I concentrated today on a shorter, tighter swing and it paid off.

“I had a couple of scares during the closing holes-misreading my par putt at 16 and geting the line completely wrong at 18 to prevent me getting a birdie that would have shut out my rivals.”

Oosthuizen posted rounds of 68, 64, 74 and 66 for a 16-under-par total of 272 and succeeded compatriot Branden Grace as winner of the opening European Tour event this year.

It was the sixth success on the European circuit for the 2010 British Open champion and victory in perfect summer conditions lifted him two places to fourth on the world rankings.

The 30-year-old from Mossel Bay in the western Cape birdied four holes on the front nine and another three coming back before dropping a stroke on the par-four 16th, where he misread and pushed a short putt.

Pars at the final two holes seemed to have sealed success in the two million euro ($1.3 million) tournament as Jamieson battled to create final-day birdie opportunities while chasing a second win in Durban within two months.

But the 29-year-old Glasgow-born winner of the Nelson Mandela Championship in the Indian Ocean city during December almost snatched a last-hole eagle with his chipped second shot trickling within millimetres of the pin.

Jamieson started his final 18 holes promisingly with birdies at three and four only to double bogey the par-four fifth and turn in a level 36, leaving him a solitary stroke ahead of Oosthuizen.

After six consecutive second-nine pars, he bogeyed 16, parred 17 and birdied 18 to end with a level-par 72 while Thongchai carded a 68, Harrington a 68, Quesme a 71 and Willett a 68.

Grace, winner of five European titles last season, was always playing catch-up after an opening 75 and although he closed impressively with a five-under 67, ended six strokes behind Oosthuizen. — AFP

PORT ELIZABETH: New Zealand’s batsman Kane Williamson (center) is bowled as South Africa’s captain Graeme Smith (left) and wicketkeeper AB de Villiers (right) look on during day three of their second cricket Test match. — AP

South Africa set for second big win over New Zealand PORT ELIZABETH: South Africa were on track for their second successive big win over New Zealand when they claimed four second innings wickets on the third afternoon of the second and final Test at St George’s Park yesterday.

New Zealand were 157 for four at the close, still 247 runs short of avoiding a second conscutive innings defeat, after being forced to follow on 404 runs behind. Dale Steyn took five for 17 as New Zealand were bowled out for 121 in their first innings.

Left-arm spin bowler Robin Peterson took the first two wickets in the second innings and fast bowler Rory Kleinveldt followed up with two wickets off successive deliveries.

New Zealand wicketkeeper BJ Watling followed up an impressive first innings of 63 - more than half his team’s total - with 41 not out as he shared an unbeaten fifth wicket stand of 73 with Dean Brownlie (44 not out) to delay South Africa’s progress.

On a hot, sunny day, in contrast to the overcast, swing-friendly conditions in which New Zealand crashed to 47 for six on Saturday, South Africa were made to work far harder for their wickets.

But they made steady progress and will be able to call for the second new ball 13 overs into the fourth day’s play today. Captain Brendon McCullum and Martin Guptill made a cautious start in the second innings as New Zealand set out to try to avoid their second successive innings defeat. They saw off the new ball attack of Steyn and Morne Morkel as they put on 40 for the first wicket. But McCullum fell to Peterson for the third time in as many innings to provide South Africa with their first breakthrough.

After being dismissed by Peterson in the second innings in the first Test at Cape Town and in the first innings in the current match, McCullum

played Peterson with exaggerated caution before missing a delivery which went straight on and trapped him leg before wicket for 11.

Kane Williamson attempted an aggressive back foot shot against Peterson but was bowled by a ball which kept low. Guptill made 48 before he went back to a ball from Kleinveldt which veered in and hit his offstump and Daniel Flynn was out first ball for his second duck of the match when he edged Kleinveldt to wicketkeeper AB de Villiers.

Steyn had a spell of three wickets for three

runs in five overs on Sunday morning to reduce New Zealand to 62 for nine in reply to South Africa’s 525 for eight declared.

But Watling went on the attack and added 59 for the last wicket with Trent Boult (17 not out) before Watling was last man out, caught at first slip off Morkel. It was a record tenth wicket stand for New Zealand against South Africa. Watling followed up a marathon 42 during New Zealand’s innings defeat in the first Test with another composed, impressive performance. He faced 87 balls and hit 13 boundaries. —AFP

SCOREBOARD PORT ELIZABETH: Close of play scores on the third day of the second and final Test between South Africa and New Zealand at St George’s Park yesterday: 26-1, Kleinveldt 11-3-53-2, South Africa, first innings, 525-8 dec Peterson 7-2-20-2, Kallis 1-1-0-0.

New Zealand, first innings (overnight 47-6) New Zealand, second innings M. Guptill c Petersen b Steyn 1 M. Guptill b Kleinveldt 48 B. McCullum c Kallis b Peterson 13 B. McCullum lbw b Peterson 11 K. Williamson c Smith b Steyn 4 K. Williamson b Peterson 11 D. Brownlie c De Villiers b Kleinveldt 10 D. Brownlie not out 44 D. Flynn lbw b Kleinveldt 0 D. Flynn c De Villiers b Kleinveldt 0 B. Watling c Smith b Morkel 63 B. Watling not out 41 C. Munro c Elgar b Peterson 0 Extras (lb1, w1) 2 D. Bracewell c De Villiers b Steyn 7 Total (4 wkts, 67 overs) 157 N. Wagner lbw b Steyn 0 Fall of wickets: 1-40 (McCullum), 2-64 J Patel b Steyn 0 (Williamson), 3-84 (Guptill), 4-84 T. Boult not out 17 (Flynn) Extras (lb5, w1) 6 Bowling: Steyn 13-1-41-0, Morkel 13-4-32-0 Total (44.4 overs) 121 Fall of wickets: 1-2 (Guptill), 2-8 (Williamson), (1w), Kleinveldt 12-8-31-2, Peterson 20-11-292, Kallis 5-3-8-0, Smith 1-0-10-0, Petersen 3-03-27 (Brownlie), 4-27 (Flynn), 5-39 (McCullum), 6-39 (Munro), 7-61 5-0 Match situation: New Zealand trail by 247 runs (Bracewell), 8-62 (Wagner), 9-62 with six wickets remaining in the second (Patel) Bowling: Steyn 13-5-17-5 (1w), Morkel 12.4-6- innings.

Henley, Langley share lead HONOLULU: Scott Langley and Russell Henley joked around as if they were a couple of rookies fresh out of college. They sure don’t play like rookies. After they set the Sony Open scoring record at 17-under 193 to share the lead, Henley walked into a news conference Saturday evening and realized Langley, who moments earlier had been sitting in the same chair, left behind his PGA Tour credentials and sunglasses.

Langley came back into the room - turns out he forgot his golf clubs, too - and Henley waved the credentials and called out to him, “What a rookie.”

Put them on the golf course, though, and they look awfully tough to beat.

Langley relied on his stinger 3-wood on the fast fairways of Waialae and another solid round putting for a 5-under 65. Henley took a suspect swing from the range and made it work on the course, turning a so-so round into a 67 by keeping bogeys off his card for the second straight day. He smashed a high draw on the par-5 18th over the bunker and just through the fairway, leading to a two-putt birdie that allowed him to catch Langley. They had a three-shot lead over Tim Clark, who is finally feeling healthy again.

“I’m sure they won’t be too intimidated,” Clark said. “That’s going to be fun to see them play.

There’s all these young guys coming out these days, and they’re ready to go right from the start. So it’s going to be a fun battle.”

Langley and Henley started the Sony Open playing in the same group, not unusual because rookies are often put at the back end of the draw. They will play together Sunday for the fourth straight day, this time with a lot more at stake. A chance to become the first rookie to win his PGA Tour debut since Garrett Willis in the 2001 Tucson. A two-year exemption on tour.

And the sweet reward of an invitation to the Masters, rare for a rookie. “A month ago I was at orientation, and Scott just done with Q-school, and I gave him a ride to the airport,” Henley said. “We had lunch and I was telling him how awesome it was I was on the PGA Tour. This is kind like a dream. It’s weird. It’s like I’m not awake. Very weird.”

Perhaps reality will set in Sunday, though there has been no evidence of that for three days - not the way these guys putt. “The Vegas odds on me winning were probably not very good,” said Langley, not a betting man himself. “I hope somebody bet on me and I make him a lot of money.”

Langley made seven birdies to offset a pair of bogeys. Henley has been steadier, and he carries a streak of 43 holes without a bogey into the final round.

Henley looked relaxed when he finished his round and still feels as though he’s playing with house money. “Win this tournament or not, it’s already been a very successful week,” said Henley,

who won twice on the Web.com Tour last year to earn his card.

“Obviously, I’ve played great golf, and I feel like I can compete out here. And I think when I get confidence like that, I can compete. It lets me get out of my way a little bit. It’s a long year. Whatever happens tomorrow, I’m going to learn from it.”

The rookies have ruled along the shores of Oahu, and if not for Clark, it would have been even more pronounced. Clark made a birdie on the last hole that put him into the final group.

Otherwise, that spot would have been occupied

by Scott Gardiner of Australia, who had a 64 and was four shots behind. Charles Howell III, twice a runner-up at the Sony Open, had a 67 and also was four behind. “We’ll see what happens,” Howell said.

“Those young kids are running away with it, but I’ll just do my best tomorrow to have a nice week.”

Seven players were within five shots of the lead, which included Monday qualifier Danny Lee and Pat Perez, whose goal to have a more positive attitude was severely tested on the final hole when he missed a 40-inch birdie putt. Perez still had a 67 and was at 12-under 198.

Henley and Langley shared low amateur honors at Pebble Beach in the 2010 US Open, and then became fast friends by flying together to Northern Ireland for the Palmer Cup. They were thrilled to be playing together for their rookie debut in the opening two rounds.

Neither had any idea they would still be together going into the final round. Nobody has been

able to catch them. “I never imagined that,” Langley said. “It’s certainly odd. But you know, if there was a guy in the field that I would love to do it with, it would be Russell because we play pretty similar games, and we’re kind of the same guy on the course. We play pretty quickly and pretty easy going, kind of feel our way around, not too technical. So there are a lot of guys that I enjoy playing with, but Russell is definitely one of them.”

Langley was two shots behind until a two-putt birdie on the ninth and a short birdie putt on the 10th to tie for the lead. He pulled ahead with a 12foot birdie putt on the 13th, and after a three-putt bogey, regained the lead with a 15-foot birdie putt on the 15th.

He kept in front with a 7-foot par save on the 17th, but took himself out of an easy birdie chance on the 18th when his ball settled just in front of a large tree root.

In another veteran move, he took a steep swing so that the club narrowly passed over the exposed root and struck the ball cleanly, though it still left him a wedge into the green.

Those expecting to see the rookies get stage fright in the final group on the weekend quickly learned that these aren’t ordinary rookies - at least not on Saturday. Both played with remarkable poise and kept this Sony Open a two-man show.

Except for John Daly, of course, who always manages to keep it interesting. He pulled his tee shot into the hill on the sixth hole, hit a rock and hurt his shoulder. —AP

HONOLULU: Scott Langley follows his shot off the first fairway during the third round of the Sony Open golf tournament. — AP

MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 2013

S P ORT S

Sheikh Salman hands Sheikha Latifa a memento.

Sheikha Latifa Al-Fahad (center), Sheikh Salman Al-Humoud (left) and Sheikh Abdallah Al-Fahad (right)

Sheikh Salman Al-Humoud with MOE students.

Gulf women’s shooting tourney concludes ported at all levels. He said that designating this championship for Gulf women helps strengthen the brotherly spirit and contacts between shooters and help polish their skills.

Sheikh Abdallah Al-Fahad thanked KSF President and Board members for their efforts to develop the shooting sport in Kuwait and maintain its achievements technically and administratively.

Education Ministry students performed popular dances which were appreciated by the crowd, then Sheikha Latifa Al-Fahad, Sheikh Salman Al-Humoud Al-Sabah, Sheikh Fahad AlSaad and Eng. Duaij Al-Otaibi distributed cups and prizes to the winners, whose results were as follows:

By Abdellatif Sharaa KUWAIT: The Late Sheikh Fahad Al-Salem AlSabah Gulf Women Shooting Tournament came to a close Saturday, under the Patronage of Sheikha Latifa Al-Fahad, and in the presence of Asian and Kuwait Shooting Federations, Vice President of ISSF Sheikh Salman Sabah AlSalem Al-Humoud Al-Sabah, President of the Arab Shooting Federation and Vice President of KSF, Chairman of the Higher Organizing Committee Eng. Duaij Al-Otaibi, and Sheikh Abdallah Fahad Al-Saad Al-Sabah.

Ambassadors of Bahrain, Qatar and UAE, KSE Secretary General Obaid Al-Osaimi, Assistant Secretary Eng. Mohammad Al-Ghurba, and Mohammad Karam were also present.

Eng. Duaij Al-Otaibi welcomed all those present and appreciated the role of Sheikha Latifa and her presence at the Shooting Club to encourage shooters. He added we also appreciate her wish to make the tournament a Gulf event in which Gulf Shooters participate.

He said the Late Sheikh Fahad Al-Salem AlSabah contributed to the building of modern Kuwait and preserved its heritage and project-

Group photo of Sheikha Latifa Al-Fahad with officials and winners.

Eng. Duaij Al-Otaibi said we at KSF apprecied its capabilities in all fields, adding that he gave it all to ensure its development over ate and thank HH The Amir Sheikh Sabah Almany years. He said Kuwait Shooting Club Ahmad and HH The Crown Prince Sheikh finds it necessary to appreciate Kuwait’s sin- Nawaf Al-Ahmad for their continued support.

He said that nearly 110 Gulf Shooters parcere dignitaries and those who supported our ticipated in the Skeet, Trap, 10M Air Pistol and sport of shooting.

Riffle events, and results were promising and showed that female Gulf Shooters have a bright future ahead of them.

Sheikh Abdallah Fahad Al-Saad Al-Sabah expressed his pleasure for holding this tournament, and stressed that shooting must be sup-

Asian Youth Shooting camp

10M Air Riffle - Individuals: 1.

Heba Erzouqi - Kuwait 2.

Bahiya Al-Hamad - Qatar 3.

Yasmeen Tahluk - UAE 10M Air Riffle - Teams 1.

Qatar 2.

Kuwait 3.

Bahrain 10M Air Pistol - Individuals 1.

Nasra Mahmoud - Qatar 2.

Huthama Al-Baghli - Kuwait 3.

Iman Boland - Kuwait 10M Air Pistol - Teams 1.

UAE 2.

Kuwait 3.

Qatar Skeet Individuals 1.

Iman Al-Shamma - Kuwait 2.

Dunia Al-Tubaishi - Qatar 3.

Afrah Mohammad - Kuwait Skeet Teams 1.

Kuwait 2.

Qatar Trap Individuals 1.

Kholoud Al-Khalaf - Qatar 2.

Amina Al-Abdallah - Qatar 3.

Rasha Al-Fares - Kuwait

Dr Salman Khan, Eng. Mohammad Al-Ghurba, Eng Duaij Al-Otaibi, Sheikh Salman AlHumoud, Obeid Al-Osaimi, Bret Erickson and Lisa Erickson

Group photo of Sheikh Salman with officials and trainees.

KUWAIT: President of Asian and Kuwait Shooting Sport Federations, Vice President of ISSF Sheikh Salman Al-Humoud Al-Sabah opened the 2nd Asian Youth Training Camp at the Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Olympic Shooting Complex on Saturday in the presence of President of the Arab Shooting Federation, Vice President of KSF Eng. Duaij Khalaf Al-Otaibi, Secretary General of Arab and Kuwait Shooting Federations Obaid AlOsaimi, Director General of ASC Eng. Mohammad Al-Ghurba and his deputy Dr. Salman Khan.

Sheikh Salman welcomed participants and lecturer Bert Erickson, adding that the

course will be fantastic, and hoped that all have come with open minds and ready to do things they did not do before and to expect some difficulties, but would reach their goals at the end.

Director General of ASC Eng. Mohammad Al-Ghurba said the programme is intense, but we will strive to make it enjoyable. He said there will be a competition at the end of the camp. He said this camp is very important because it will cover several topics, and urged participants to ask about anything in order to get maximum benefit. Al-Ghurba thanked KSF for hosting this event.

ASF is keen to hold such camps to enable youths to learn the right shooting methods from the start, so that they can stand on solid grounds that lead them to achieve good results.

Sheikh Salman thanked HH. The Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad, HH The Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad and HH The Premier Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak for their continued support to the sport of shooting.

He also thanked the organizing committee of this camp and wished the guest a pleasant stay in Kuwait.

On his part, Lecturer Bret Erickson said he is happy to be in Kuwait adding that the

President of the Arab Shooting Federation, Vice President of KSF thanked Sheikh Salman Al-Sabah, and colleagues for this camp. He also thanked the lecturer for his presence at a time when the new ISSF regulations are in effect and this is a great opportunity to understand the new changes.

Sixteen countries in addition to Kuwait are participating with 21 shooters and 15 coaches. These countries are: India, Iran, Jordan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Thailand.

Trap Teams 1.

Kuwait 2.

Qatar Results of Late Sheikh Fahad Al-Salem Grand Prix Tournament were as follows: 10M Air Pistol 1.

Ghizlan Hussein - Kuwait 2.

Sheikha Al-Obaidi - Kuwait 3.

Muna Al-Juwani - UAE 10M Air Riffle 1.

Fatima Abdelmalek - Kuwait 2.

Ayat Al-Duwaikhi - Kuwait 3.

Alya Mabrouk - UAE Sheikh Salman presented a memento to Sheikha Latifa Al-Fahad in appreciation of her efforts and contributions to the club at the end of the ceremony.

GulfRun car show a huge success

By Nawara Fattahova KUWAIT: The GulfRun car show is here again. The 360 Mall hosted the Car Show on January 11 and 12, 2013. These exhibited cars along with some other will then participate in the actual race GulfRun8 at the Bahrain international circuit on January 24 and 25, 2013. The winners of the race will be awarded during a ceremony to be held on February 5, 2013.

How it started GulfRun, an annual motorsport event, started in 2005 as a weekend getaway for a group of friends passion about automobile racing. The goal behind GulfRun was simple; promote automobile racing and training in a safe and secure environment. The purpose was to avoid street racing, reduce car accident, and educate drivers on proper driving techniques.

After heading to the Bahrain International Circuit with over a dozen cars and several eager drivers; and with the help of qualified trainers and professional instructors, the objective was achieved and GulfRun began. The success of the first GulfRun set the course that established it into an annual racing and training event. GulfRun was evolved from a

weekend track day into an open public event supported by local sponsors and participants.

The GulfRun car show In 2009, GulfRun4 inaugurated the first GulfRun car show at Marina Mall as part of the events taking place during GulfRun. The car show was created to bring together participating drivers, cars enthusiasts and the general public interested about automobiles in Kuwait. This event was a massive success with a large outpouring of visitors and attendees.

With five years of thriving events in Kuwait in Bahrain; the second car show was a large success and showcased over 50 participating race cars at 360 in January 2013. The GulfRun car show is now an annual event which occurs two weeks before the GulfRun track event in Bahrain.

Khalid Al-Fareeh, one of the founders stressed that GulfRun started when the circuit just opened in Bahrain. “We went as group of friends and brought our cars there to try them on track that just opened.

Second year people heard of the track we came back again. When GulfRun started in 2005 there were12 participants. The number is increasing every year, and this year there are 55 cars participating,” he told the Kuwait Times.

Ahmad Al-Majid at the exhibition. — Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat

There are three categories and five competitions in GulfRun race. “Drivers choose which category to be in depending on their car. There is the unlimited, street and super cars categories. Each category consists of 5 competitions: quarter mile, auto cross, evening circuit, drag race, and Formula 1 circuit.

Every year records are being broken. Some participants just go for fun, while others to compete,” added Al-Fareeh.

Mohammed Al-Manai, is a participant of the GulfRun for the third time this year. “It’s an experience for me. I’m moving step by step. I’m participating with modified Honda Integra in the street category. Rarely one participant win in all competitions.

First time I’m participating with this car, and I’m very excited as it happens only one time a year. It’s a chance for us with small cars, to practice our hobby,” he pointed out. Meanwhile, Ahmad Al Majid said that every year many participants change. “We have 50 participants from Kuwait and 5from GCC. The list is long many wanted to participate thus we couldn’t take more than 55. Logistic is difficult to handle more vehicles, and we have more than 100 on waiting list. Participation is open for anybody who has passion to drive the car. Whoever comes first get registered. Within our network we have communities and they participate. On this car show people can see the cars and know about the event. We hope to have our own track in Kuwait. Registration is open for all but only men have applied, especially as participants have to travel. Attending the race is free of charge in Bahrain. Winners will be awarded in Kuwait and get prizes from the sponsors,” he explained.

The Sponsors GulfRun would like to extend our heart-felt thanks toward the commitment of our valued support of our sponsors. It was the vision of GulfRun to inform, entertain and create a competitive atmosphere for drivers, enthusiasts and the general public. Their generous contribution helped make our vision a reality, we would like to thank personally: Wataniya Telecom Platinum: Kuwait Finance House (Strategic Partner), Consolidated Contractors Co, Jashanmal, Hydrotek Engineering Co. Gold: KGL, Slider Station, Al-Sawan Co, Moto Care. Dealer Sponsors: Kromozone, ouad Aighanim & Sons Automotive Co., Abdul Rahman Albisher & Zaid Alkazemi Co.

The organizing team of Gulf Run including Khalid Al-Fareeh (first left) at the Car Show in 360 Mall.

Some of the participating cars during the Car Show.

MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 2013

S P ORT S

Once ‘crazy and lazy’ Wu flies Chinese flag MELBOURNE: China is set to take another small step on the long march to becoming a tennis power when 21-year-old Wu Di meets Croatia’s Ivan Dodig in the first round of the Australian Open.

The 186th-ranked Wu, from the Yangtze river port of Wuhan, earned a wildcard to become the first Chinese man in the main draw of a grand slam since Mei Fu-Chi played at Wimbledon in 1959 in the era of Mao Zedong.

While Chinese women players have made major strides in recent years, Li Na capturing Asia’s first grand slam singles title at the French Open in 2011, the men have trailed far behind.

The pint-sized Wu said he hoped to do his bit for the lagging half of China’s 1.3 billion population as he battled the butterflies before his grand slam debut. “Of course, I’m nervous!” Wu told Reuters at

Melbourne Park yesterday. “It’s my first grand slam and I’m the first (Chinese) man in the professional era to play, so there’s certainly some nerves.

“But it’s part of a process. I’m really excited to be the first man but just being here isn’t my goal - I actually want to win.” Just one win would suffice for Wu, who has modest ambitions in his grand slam debut but has set himself a goal of breaking into the top 100 by the end of the year.

Since joining forces last year with Frenchman David Moreau, his first official coach, Wu’s ranking has improved from outside the top 400 over the past year. His new dedication to the game has been noted by fellow Wuhan native and friend Li. “Now that he’s got this coach he has someone that can be behind him pushing him forward,” Li told reporters yesterday. “When talking to him

recently I get the feeling that he finally knows what he wants. I think this is quite important.”

Wu in turn lavished praise on tattooed 30-yearold Li, who became China’s first grand slam finalist at the 2011 Australian Open and the country’s first top 10 player.

“We’re often in touch with each other,” said Wu, wearing short, spiky hair and an impish grin. “She’s been the biggest help in my career so I’m really thankful to her. “And after all she’s the first (Chinese) grand slam winner so she’s had a big influence on me.”

The only other Chinese man in the top 200 is 157th-ranked Zhang Ze, and Li has often criticised the country’s men for not working as hard as their female counterparts for success.

Wu pleaded guilty during a directionless phase

of his fledgling career. “Actually my improvement hasn’t been all that fast. I made the top 300 when I was 18, but there was a year there when I was a little bit crazy,” he said.

“I was a also a bit lazy so I wasted a bit of time there. I think had I worked as hard then as I had today, my ranking would be even better.” Wu rates his technique as sound and court speed as one of his strengths, but describes his serve as a weakness.

At 5ft-8in (1.73 metres), he also cannot help but feel the gap between himself and the more imposing titans of the men’s game. “Most of the top players are 1.90 or 1.85 or so like (Roger) Federer and (Rafa) Nadal. Being tall is important but it’s not the most important thing,” he said. “Being short is a bit of raw deal, but what can you do? I’ve been given this body by the heavens so I’ll accept it.” — Reuters

Federer starts season on track for another record

TUCUMAN: Paco Martinez of Spain rides his Kawasaki through river basin that was flooded with water rapidly due to heavy rains during the 8th stage of the 2013 Dakar Rally. —AP

Deluge swamps Dakar title hopefuls TUCUMAN: Torrential rain brought chaos to the Dakar Rally on Saturday after rivers overflowed and tracks were blocked on the eighth stage between Salta and Tucuman.

“The stewards are currently meeting to decide on the next step,” David Castera, the race director, told AFP. The race had been stopped at the 88km mark when a riverbed on the course swelled with water.

At that time, 2011 champion Nasser alAttiyah, who started the day in second place in the overall standings, was 13sec ahead of America’s Robby Gordon with overall leader Stephane Peterhansel, the defending champion, three minutes behind.

But as the storms worsened, al-Attiyah got stuck and then watched several of his rivals disappear into the distance. Guerlain Chicherit reached the finish in the fastest time with Peterhansel over 12 minutes behind while al-Attiyah was left sweating on his fate as the stewards conferred.

“Everything was going smoothly for us, we were putting the pedal on the metal, and everything was fine,” said Al-Attiyah. “When we got to the river, there were three metres of water, there was no way we could cross that. So we called the organisers, who told us the stage had been neutralised at CP2.”

Peterhansel, who was fifth fastest at the end of the stage, said that if the stage was neutralised at the check point, he would not be too concerned as he had lost nine minutes in the early exchanges.

“One of the riverbeds was quite full when we went by and apparently they wanted to neutralise the stage at CP2. This wouldn’t be bad news for me, as it would neutralise our navigational mistake and we’d only concede the time lost head-to-head on the course,” said the 10-time winner.

David Casteu took the overall lead in the rain-hit motorcycling section after longtime leader Olivier Pain endured a miserable eighth stage. Joan Barreda Bort claimed the 183km timed run in 2hr 7min 26sec, ahead of America’s Johnny Campbell, who was 7min 4sec behind, with Slovakia’s Ivan Jakes in third, 7min 57sec off the pace.

Torrential rain led to the early part of the planned stage, which had been set for 492km, being cancelled. Casteu, on a Yamaha, has a 9min 26sec overall lead over defending champion Cyril Despres and an 11min 16sec advantage over Portugal’s Ruben Faria.

Pain finished more than 30 minutes off the pace and is now fifth overall, 16min 10sec behind Casteu in the race for the title.

Pain was one of a batch of riders who got lost at the 122km stage. “A huge navigational success,” said Casteu. “I’m over the moon because it’s difficult to ride at the front while attacking and keeping your bearings, navigating. “I was able to keep my cool while everyone else was spinning around, but I stayed focused and was the first across the line.” — AFP

Tomic, Stosur carry Australian hopes MELBOURNE: Take a walk around the Grand Slam Oval at Melbourne Park and it is easy to see why Australia has such high expectations of tennis success. A long semi-circle of bronze busts of the likes of Rod Laver, Margaret Court, Roy Emerson and Evonne Goolagong bear witness to an era when Australian winners at majors were the rule rather than the exception.

Those expectations have not been met by a homegrown Australian Open singles champion for three and a half decades, however, and in recent years the lively Melbourne crowds have had scant opportunity to barrack for local heroes.

That is unlikely to change this year, unless former US Open champion Sam Stosur suddenly overcomes the injury woes that have beset her over the last few weeks and stage fright that strikes when she plays in Australia. Warm-up tournament victories for Bernard Tomic and Lleyton Hewitt, though, have fired up hopes that the former can fulfill his potential or the latter can enjoy one last triumphant day in the sun.

Tomic’s triumph at the Sydney International was probably more significant than Hewitt’s at the Kooyong Classic exhibition but even so, it may still be a couple of years too early to talk about the 20-year-old as a potential Australian Open champion.

Tomic has thrown off the shackles of a miserable end to 2012 and started the new season with eight successive wins, including a stunning victory over world number one Novak Djokovic at the Hopman Cup. Saturday’s Sydney title success was his first on the ATP Tour and he was still basking in the afterglow when he arrived in Melbourne yesterday. “It’s amazing. It’s very important for tennis to have a lot of confidence, so I’m really confident. I’m going to use this as much as I can for Tuesday and this whole tournament,” he told reporters.

“I’m playing really good tennis, feeling physically really well. That’s why I think I’ve been playing good out there.” Tomic has a rest day on Monday before his first round tie against Argentine Leonardo Mayer, but most local eyes are fixed on a potential

third round encounter with Roger Federer, who he played in the last 16 last year.

“I would love to get in that position to play Roger in the third round,” he said. “He has to get there as well. You don’t know what can happen. Tennis is a funny sport.”

Tomic has been lauded as the next big thing in Australian tennis but former U.S. Open and Wimbledon champion Hewitt shows no sign of letting the light flicker out easily on his grand slam dreams.

The 31-year-old will drag his battered body into a 17th consecutive Australian Open on Monday with hope renewed after beating world number 15 Milos Raonic, number six Tomas Berdych and number seven Juan Martin del Potro at Kooyong.

Runner-up to Marat Safin in 2005, Hewitt was reluctant to indulge his compatriots about the state of men’s tennis in Australia on the back of two titles at warmup events.

“Obviously we’re both hitting the ball well, but we’re both unseeded, too,” he said yesterday. “We probably had higher expectations when myself, (Mark) Philippoussis and (Pat) Rafter were in the top 10, top 15 in the world, and seeded at the majors.

“But we’re both hitting the ball well, obviously confident coming in.” Hewitt did not have the best draw either, having been handed a first-round tie against eighth seed Janko Tipsarevic which will take place on Rod Laver Arena today.

“I don’t care,” the feisty Australian said.

“I’ll knock him off, try to take his spot in the draw.” Stosur is again the Australian standard-bearer in the women’s draw but admits she has not looked past Taiwan’s Chang Kai-chen, who she meets on Monday, having crashed out in the opening round last year.

“I think this year I do feel better about things,” said the ninth seed, who has never been beyond the fourth round at Melbourne Park. “I don’t feel as probably uptight or stressed or anything like that than last year. Last year I didn’t handle it so well. I need to try to play a bit better than what I have been.” —Reuters

MELBOURNE: Another season, another potential tennis record for Roger Federer. But this one is a bit different. The celebrated Swiss star doesn’t actually need to win a match, he just needs to show up and play at each of the year’s four Grand Slams.

If he does, Federer will tally 56 consecutive Grand Slam singles tournaments, which would equal the record held by retired South African player Wayne Ferreira. So far, so good.

Federer will mark his 53rd straight when the Australian Open starts Monday, making him not just one of the greatest players in tennis history but also one of the sport’s most enduring.

“I’m still here,” said a smiling Federer, looking relaxed and confident at a packed pre-tournament press conference Saturday.

“Longevity has always been something that’s important to me,” The 17-time Grand Slam winner has been winning major titles since 2003 - and said he was once a ball boy for Ferreira who retired in 2005.

“I’m excited that I’ve played so many in a row, and I hope I can keep the streak alive - and see where it stops.

We’ll see how it goes.”

For the moment, more immediate records beckon. At age 31, Federer is in pursuit of his 18th Grand Slam title.

If he wins the title at Melbourne Park, it would make him the only man to win more than four Australian Open trophies in the Open era.

It would also allow Federer, the reigning Wimbledon champion, to join a club of only five men to have won two or more Grand Slam titles after turning 30. The others are Agassi, Jimmy Connors in the 80s, Ken Rosewell a decade earlier, and Rod Laver in 1969.

Until his Wimbledon win, Federer had been widely viewed as a champi-

MELBOURNE: Serbia’s Novak Djokovic serves during a training session at the Australian Open tennis championship. — AP on in decline, eclipsed by Rafael after having taken several weeks off Nadal and Novak Djokovic. But his from tennis and public appearances.

“It’s been very relaxing.” said win returned him to the top the ATP rankings for the first time since June Federer, who is now ranked No. 2 and 2010, matching Pete Sampras’ record faces Benoit Paire of France in the first round. “I purposely didn’t play of 286 weeks at No. 1.

Mindful of his place in history and any lead-up tournament so that I’d be his aging body, Federer has scaled fresh for the beginning, hopefully back his schedule. He arrives in going deep into (this) tournament.

Melbourne more rested than usual That’s the goal obviously.” Injury has

hobbled Nadal, who was sidelined since June with tendinitis in his left knee and is not competing in Melbourne.

Federer’s biggest obstacles remain top-ranked Djokovic, who is aiming for a third consecutive Australian Open title, and No. 3 Andy Murray, who is on a roll after his breakthrough win at the London Olympics followed by his first major title at the US Open.

The 25-year-old Murray landed in the same half of the draw as Federer, meaning they could potentially meet in the semifinals. The winner of that match could face a final against Djokovic - a matchup that Murray knows well.

“They’re incredibly tough, physical matches,” said Murray, who beat Djokovic to win the U.S Open final after losing to the Serb in last year’s Australian Open semifinal. “We played quite a few good ones last year in some of the biggest events.”

“If I get to play Novak here, that would mean it would be in the final.

So obviously that’s what I would like to do,” Murray said. Djokovic had kind words for Murray’s accomplishments.

“He has become a Grand Slam and Olympic champion. It’s something not many players in history have done,” Djokovic said. “He’s great. I think mentally something switched in his head and he just started believing much more in his abilities.”

The 25-year-old Djokovic is aiming for his third consecutive Australian Open win, a feat no other player has achieved in the Open era.

But he didn’t want to discuss that.

“This is my most successful Grand Slam,” he said. “But this Grand Slam is also known for a lot of surprises.”

Djokovic begins his title defense with a first-round match against PaulHenri Mathieu, while Murray faces Robin Hasse. — AP

Ravens shock Broncos as 49ers rout Packers DENVER: The 49ers and Ravens are getting another shot at making the Super Bowl. Losers in tight conference championship games a year ago, they are returning to the final step before the big game in the Big Easy after wins Saturday.

Baltimore took the long, frigid route, rallying at Denver for a 38-35 victory in an AFC divisional playoff.

The Ravens will go to either New England, where they lost 23-20 in the conference championship match last January, or Houston. The Patriots and Texans face off Sunday in Foxborough, Mass.

San Francisco took the NFC game at night 45-31 over Green Bay behind the running and passing of quarterback Colin Kaepernick. That gave both coaching Harbaughs victories Saturday: Jim with the 49ers, John with the Ravens.

San Francisco fell in overtime to the New York Giants for the NFC title last year. The Niners will either visit Atlanta or host Seattle in next weekend’s championship matchup. The wild-card Seahawks are at the Falcons in late yesterday’s game.

Second-year QB Kaepernick made Jim Harbaugh’s decision to stick with him over incumbent Alex Smith during the season look brilliant. He set a playoff mark for the position by rushing for 183 yards, including a 56-yard TD, and threw for 263 yards. Kaepernick hit Michael Crabtree for two scores and Frank Gore rushed for 119 yards. The AFC West champion Niners (12-4-1) gained 579 yards.

“It feels like we’re in the same place,” Crabtree said.

“Winning that game last year, we’re in the same place.

It’s just what we do the next game. It’s all about the next game.” The NFC North-winning Packers (12-6) beat Minnesota in the wild-card round last weekend, but their defense was overmatched at San Francisco.

Aaron Rodgers finished 26 for 39 for 257 with two TDs and an interception.

Rookie Justin Tucker’s 47-yard field goal 1:42 into the second overtime of the longest playoff game in 26 years advanced the Ravens and kept star linebacker Ray Lewis’ career going at least another week.

Earlier this season, the AFC North champ Ravens (12-6) beat the Patriots 31-30 in Baltimore. They lost 43-13 at Houston. Joe Flacco’s 70-yard heave to Jacoby Jones with 31 seconds remaining forced the overtime. Flacco is the only quarterback to win playoff games in each of his first five seasons, and he heads to his third AFC championship match. He also lost to Pittsburgh in the 2008 title game.

“We fought hard to get back to this point and we’re definitely proud of being here.” Flacco said. “We feel like it’s going to take a lot for somebody to come and kick us off that field come the AFC championship game.” Lewis announced before they beat Indianapolis in the wild-card round that this was the last of his 17 pro seasons. It’s still going.

“When you look back at it and let the emotions calm down, it will probably be one of the greatest victories in Ravens history,” Lewis said. “It’s partly because of the way everything was stacked against us coming

SAN FRANCISCO: 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick (7) is tackled by Green Bay Packers free safety MD Jennings (43) and outside linebacker Erik Walden (93) during the second quarter of an NFC divisional playoff NFL football game. — AP in.” Peyton Manning lost in his first postseason appearance with the AFC West-winning Broncos (13-4), who had won their last 11 games to earn home-field advantage in the playoffs. They wasted it by giving up long plays, negating a record-setting performance by kick returner Trindon Holliday.

Holliday ran back the second-half kickoff 104 yards for a TD. He went 90 yards with a first-quarter punt return to become the first player to score on one of each in a playoff game.

“He’s one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time and for us to come in here and confuse him the way we did, and make the plays we did?” Lewis said. “We gave up two big special teams touchdowns, but the bottom line is, but we kept fighting.”

Oddly, there might be more doubts floating around the home team with the spiffy record than the visitors. While Seattle has won six in a row, erased its reputation as a road flop with three straight away victories - including last week at Washington - and has the league’s stingiest defense. It’s NFC South champ Atlanta, 0-3 in the postseason under coach Mike Smith and with Matt Ryan at quarterback, that probably faces more pressure. “We’ve been disappointed a few times,” said center Todd McClure, a Falcon for 13 years.

“I think we’ve got guys in this locker room who are hungry and ready to get over that hump.”

One of them is Tony Gonzalez, the career leader in nearly all receiving categories among tight ends. In 16 pro seasons, Gonzalez never has won a playoff game.

And he’s said this very likely is his final year in the NFL.

“I’m not going to lie to you,” he said. “I really, really, really want to win this game.” To get it, Gonzalez, Ryan and star receivers Julio Jones and Roddy White must contend with the league’s most physical defense, a unit that completely shut down the Redskins for three quarters in the 24-14 wild-card win.

“I expect our guys to try to play like they always play,” Seattle coach Pete Carroll said. “They don’t need to change anything because we’re not doing anything different, we’re going to try and hang with them, and we’ll find out what happens.”

Houston’s reward for its wild-card win over Cincinnati is a return to trip to Foxborough, where the Texans’ late-season spiral began. Houston was in position for home-field advantage in the AFC before being routed 42-14 by the Patriots, then losing twice more in the final three games.

This is only the fourth postseason game in the Texans’ 11-season NFL history. The Patriots began winning Super Bowls with Tom Brady before the Texans were born. AFC South champion Houston must bring the fierce pass rush it often has shown with end J.J. Watt, who led the NFL with 20 1-2 sacks. “Biggest goal of them all, Super Bowl, and this is a big step for us,” Watt said, “and we’re really excited about the challenge.”

That challenge comes against the NFL’s most prolific offense. The Texans and Patriots allowed the same number of points, 331, but AFC East winner New England led the NFL in scoring with 557 points, 34.8 per game. —AP

19

MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 2013

SPORTS

Lazio close gap as Parma hold Juve

Adane Girma

Ethiopia confident despite outsider status ADDIS ABABA: They may be smaller than the Nigerians, slower than the Zambians and have fewer professional players than most rivals, but Ethiopia are committed to excelling at the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations.

It is the first time the Horn of Africa squad has qualified for the pan-African tournament in 31 years, and though the odds might be stacked against them, the Walias Antelopes-named after an endangered antelope endemic to Ethiopia’s northern mountains-are confident they will defy expectations and proceed to the knock-out stage of the tournament.

“We are going to face a lot of challenges and we have been away from the competition for a long time,” striker Adane Girma told AFP. “But we have good morale, a good mentality and we are very strong, so we can face any kind of challenge,” he added, sweat glistening on his forehead after practice at the national stadium in Addis Ababa.

In a rare and unexpected feat, the Walias beat Sudan 2-0 last October in the Ethiopian capital, prompting thousands of jubilant fans to pour into the streets to celebrate.

They are now preparing to face title holders Zambia on January 21 in South African city Nelspruit. Though Zambia is a stronger team, Girma said his squad is focused on beating them in order to move on to matches against twice champions Nigeria and perennial underachievers Burkina Faso in the same group. “We are just thinking about finishing that first game on top and then later think about Nigeria or Burkina Faso,” he said. Star striker Saladin Said added that he remains unfazed by the threat posed

by stronger teams. “We are not bothered by the names, our only focus is to win,” he told AFP. But coach Sewnet Bishaw said that despite the team’s confidence the Walias still lack international experience and boast few professional players.

“Our players are young and they are less experienced with international matches like (the Cup of Nations),” he said.

The team has only one international player-Said, who plays for Wadi Degla in Egypt. Bishaw said his team’s strengths, however, are in their passing and strong defence, which helped them draw a friendly against 2004 champions Tunisia in Qatar this month, and make them formidable competitors at the Africa Cup. The draw against Tunisia was a “huge boost”, according to Girma. And he is not prepared to stop there: he has his sights set on the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

“We are leaders in the World Cup qualification group, and hopefully we are going to qualify for the World Cup,” he said. But if they do not come out on top, Bishaw said the tournament is an opportunity for Ethiopia-a country better known for churning out world-class long distance runners than footballers-to prove their clout on the football pitch.

“The mood is 100% — they want to show their talent and sell their personality to the world,” he said, adding that their participation in the Cup of Nations is a source of major national pride.

“We have tried many times to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations, we have tried many different types of coaches, including professionals from abroad but now we are all locals here, we made it, so it’s a great thing for our nation,” he said, breaking into a wide smile.—AFP

MILAN: A 2-0 home win over Atalanta boosted Lazio’s Serie A title ambitions after champions and leaders Juventus were held to a 1-1 draw away to Parma yesterday.

Lazio began the second half of the season trailing Juve by five points but sealed their 13th win of the campaign thanks to goals from Sergio Floccari and a Davide Brivio own goal.

With Juve settling for a share of the spoils after Nicola Sansone levelled Jonathan Biabiany’s earlier own goal, it left Vladimir Petkovic’s side just three points adrift in second with a two-point lead on Napoli.

Inter Milan had leapfrogged Napoli into third thanks to a 2-0 home win over Pescara on Saturday, but Napoli re-established order with a convincing 30 home win over Palermo.

Inter now sit fourth, seven points behind Juventus but three clear of Fiorentina after La Viola suffered a shock 3-1 defeat at the hands of on-form Udinese. A week on from their 3-0 home rout over Inter, Antonio Di Natale scored his second consecutive league brace as Udinese claimed their seventh win of the campaign to move one place up to eighth. AC Milan, in seventh, can leapfrog Roma, who were stunned 1-0 in Catania after Alejandro Gomez’s 61st-minute effort, into sixth if they manage to account for Sampdoria in Sunday’s late game. Elsewhere, Cagliari moved out of the bottom three at the expense of Genoa after sealing a 2-1 win over the visitors thanks to Daniele Conti’s 82nd-minute winner.

Only days ago Petkovic had claimed Juve already have one hand on the title, but the Biancocelesti are now the champions’ closest challengers. “Our win was deserved, although we played far better in the second half than in the first,” said Petkovic. “But if we want to have higher ambitions, we need to be more constant throughout.”

After their shock home defeat to Pescara last week, Fiorentina were there for the taking by a Udinese side which is currently on fire. La Viola took the lead at the Stadio Friuli when Gonzalo Rodriguez rose above the

ITALY: Lazio’s Stefan Radu (left) vies with Atalanta’s Luca Cigarini during an Italian Serie A football match at Rome’s Olympic stadium.—AFP defence to smash a header off the crossbar and into the net via the head of ‘keeper Zeljko Brkic.

But Di Natale levelled from the spot for the hosts and then broke through the Viola defence to beat Norberto Neto for a 14th league goal which put him second behind Napoli’s Edinson Cavani’s Serie A-leading tally of 16. Udinese confirmed their superiority barely a minute later when Colombian striker Luis Muriel beat Neto with a rightfoot strike. Fiorentina host Roma in an Italian Cup quarter-final in midweek, and despite defeat coach Vincenzo Montella said: “The team played well but we were punished by the opportuni-

ties Udinese had.” At Parma, both sides missed scoring chances before Pirlo’s freekick from just outside the area took a deflection off the head of Biabiany and wrong-footed ‘keeper Antonio Mirante in the 52nd minute.

But a dummy blunder by Mirko Vucinic gave Parma the chance to level, Argentine defender Gabriel Paletta pouncing to send Nicola Sansone through to outpace Juve defender Martin Caceres before beating Gianluigi Buffon with a low, wellplaced strike.

Juve coach Antonio Conte later admitted: “On Parma’s goal, I take the blame. I called for Vucinic to dummy, but Paletta is

Emenike scores as Nigeria win behind closed doors

BAMAKO: Players of Maliís national football team applaud during a training session at the Mobido Keita stadium on Jan 6, 2013. — AFP

Mali pin hopes on classy Keita again LAGOS: Mali hope experienced campaigner Seydou Keita can lead them to the top bracket at the Africa Cup of Nations like he did last year. The former Barcelona midfielder led a youthful Les Aigles (The Eagles) to a third-place finish in Gabon/Equatorial Guinea last year.

It was their best performance since they came fourth in 2004. Mali are in Group B with four-time champions Ghana, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Niger, and would be expected to battle the Congolese to clinch a place in the knock-out stage with strong title contenders Ghana.

New coach Patrice Carteron, who stepped in after compatriot Alain Giresse could not agree on a new contract, has fortified the west Africans by recalling midfielder Mohamed Laime Sissoko, who missed the 2012 tournament.

They trounced Botswana 7-1 to qualify for South Africa 2013 and sent a warning signal that they are again capable of springing surprises. The class of Keita has never been in doubt, even when he only played a cameo role at mighty Barcelona and this could again shine through in South Africa.

In the absence of central defender Cedric Kante, Keita has been reinstated

as captain and at 33, will again be expected to delive some cheer for a nation that has suffered an uprising in the north of the country.

He has admitted that money was one of the reasons he moved to China last year, but was also quick to add the decision has not blunted his ambitions with the Eagles.

“I will make some money in China, but that is not the only reason I went there. I want to stay in shape and I’m still ambitious. “There is the 2013 Nations Cup and the 2014 World Cup,” said the player who has been a full international for 11 years. The Mali star helped Chinese club Dalian Aerbian remain in the top flight after he teamed up with them when they were in the relegation zone.

Carteron said Keita may have lost some pace since his switch to China, but he is not concerned because the midfielder has enough class to still lead the team.

“He is very motivated. He has lost a bit of pace, but I’m not worried because I know what he is capable of,” said the French coach. “And with him we hope to do better than last year. We want to prove that despite the problems in the country, football in Mali is okay.”—AFP

JOHANNESBURG: Nigeria edged Dutch club Sparta Rotterdam 1-0 behind closed doors this weekend in a final warm-up match with the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations kick-off in South Africa less than one week away.

The Super Eagles failed to win or score in two previous matches, in Spain with a Catalonia side that included several Barcelona stars and in Portugal with fellow qualifiers Cape Verde Islands.

Russia-based Emmanuel Emenike-expected to spearhead the Nigerian attack at the Africa Cup with Ikechukwu Uche-scored the winner on 55 minutes in southern Portuguese resort Faro.

Efe Ambrose and Ahmed Musa combined to set up the striker and he scored from close range to compensate for the disappointment of having the ball in the net during the opening half only to be ruled offside.

Coach Stephen Keshi, who is going to a first Cup of Nations with his native Nigeria after taking Togo and Mali to previous African football showpieces, made a host of changes after his side took the lead.

Shock absentees from the last tournament a year ago, Nigeria qualified with comfortable aggregate victories over Rwanda and Liberia and have been placed in Group C with Burkina Faso, Ethiopia and defending champions Zambia.

Pundits have few doubts about the outcome of this mini-league with the Eagles and the Chipolopolo (Copper Bullets) strongly fancied to fill the top two places and advance to the knockout phase.

Meanwhile, Tunisia coach Sami Trabelsi has given his squad a verbal lashing after disappointing warmup results with a narrow 2-1 victory over Iraq followed by 1-1 draws against Gabon and Ethiopia.

“My players did not perform well and all of them are in poor form,” he told reporters in United Arab Emirates city Abu Dhabi, where the Carthage Eagles are preparing for the January 19-February 10 tournament. “We are in trouble because the Cup of Natons is going to be much tougher and we are not ready for the difficult tasks that lie ahead. The squad has to do more and prove it deserves to wear the national colours.”

Tunisia are hoping to organise an additional friendly against record seven-time African champions Egypt in the Middle East before facing Algeria, title favourites Ivory Coast and Togo in Group D-the group of death.

Egypt, who won an unprecedented three consecutive titles between 2006 and 2010, miss out on South Africa after suffering a stunning qualifying loss to Central African Republic.—AFP

good at anticipating and he managed to send the ball through to Sansone.” In Naples, Christian Maggio broke the deadlock for the hosts after heading home Marek Hamsik’s cross from the left past Samir Ujkani on the half hour. Swiss midfielder Gokhan Inler made it two when he surged forward and sidestepped the Palermo defence before sending his shot just under the crossbar and into the net.

Lorenzo Insigne put the match beyond all reach in the 72nd minute when he slammed Inler’s cut-back from the goalline into the roof of the net from the edge of the area.—AFP

Asamoah Gyan

Ghana captain Gyan is a man for the big occasion LAGOS: Ghana will again be looking to striker Asamoah Gyan to rise to the big occasion at the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa. The goals of the former Udinese striker ensured the depleted Black Stars went all the way to the final of the 2010 Nations Cup in Angola.

And now Gyan has been made captain after he came out of self-imposed exile following the country’s shock ouster by Zambia from the 2012 tournament in Gabon/Equatorial Guinea at the semi-finals stage.

This will be the fourth Africa Cup finals appearance for ‘Baby Jet’ and with the Black Stars without Michael Essien, Andre Ayew, John Mensah, Kevin Prince Boateng and Sulley Muntari, Gyan leads the team.

Ghana won the last of four Nations Cup trophies in 1982 and 27-year-old Gyan says he now wishes to end the long wait for more silverware. “We hope to end the long wait for a trophy in South Africa,” declared Gyan after he was named captain in place of injuryprone Mensah last September. But he is not underrating Ghana’s first round opponents Mali, the Democratic

Republic of Congo and Niger.

“It’s not an easy group because any team who have got to this stage cannot be underrated,” he cautioned. “We faced Mali at the last tournament, while by qualifying for their second Nations Cup, Niger must be strong and are capable of creating upsets. We just have to remain focused and fight for the nation,” said Gyan.

The signs are already good for the former striker of English Premier League club Sunderland as, unlike previous competitions, he is fit. The Black Stars sweated over Gyan’s fitness right into last year’s tournament and it needed the unorthodox healing powers of a Serbian woman to get him back on his feet.

Another boost for Ghana is that he is enjoying a free-scoring run at his United Arab Emirate club Al Ain. He has scored 21 goals in 13 matches in the first round of the UAE league and has admitted the pressure is on him to reproduce this form for his country. “There might be pressure because people expect you to do more,” he admitted. “If you don’t deliver, your form is due to luck and that is a challenge. Sometimes it puts pressure on me.”—AFP

Heat scorch Kings, Magic roll

15

MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 2013

Lazio close gap as Parma hold Juve

19

South Africa set for second big win over New Zealand

Page 16

LONDON: Manchester United’s Robin van Persie fights for the ball against Liverpool’s Daniel Agger during their English Premier League soccer match at Old Trafford Stadium.—AP

United down defiant Liverpool Man United 2

Liverpool 1

LONDON: Robin van Persie and Nemanja Vidic scored as Manchester United strengthened their grip on top spot in the Premier League with a 2-1 win over Liverpool at Old Trafford yesterday. But the latest meeting between England’s two most successful clubs saw Liverpool ensured a nervous finish for United when substitute Daniel Sturridge pulled a goal back with just over half an hour left.

Van Persie scored in a dominant first half for United with Vidic, deflecting in a header from Patrice Evra, adding a second goal in the 54th minute. But three

minutes later, Sturridge pulled a goal back for the visitors, who remained in eighth place but now trail United by the huge margin of 24 points.

Liverpool, in what is always one of the showpiece fixtures of the English season, looked unsettled from the off and fell behind to their north-west rivals in the 19th minute.

A well-worked move between Danny Welbeck and Tom Cleverley saw Evra clear down the left and he played in a low cross for van Persie, who calmly sidefooted past Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina to grab his 17th Premier League goal of the season.

It was certainly something for Jose Mourinho, the Real Madrid coach, to note as he was in attendance to cast his eye over United-the Spanish giants’ last16 opponents in the Champions League. Van Persie could have doubled United’s lead six minutes later but after Ashley Young found him free in the

area, the ball bobbled before he could hit it and his strike flew harmlessly wide.

As Liverpool failed to create a single chance in the opening half hour, they were also gifting oppor tunities to United. Joe Allen misplaced a pass near his own area that fell to Welbeck but Daniel Agger was on hand to make a last-ditch tackle and block the striker’s shot. Allen was at fault again five minutes before the break when his tame header failed to clear the area. Cleverley caught it on the volley but his effort flew just inches past the post. A superb ball from Michael Carrick then set Rafael da Silva away down the left and the Brazilian, despite losing his footing, got away from Glen Johnson before feeding van Persie.

However, the Dutchman’s clever flick was cleared off the line by Martin Skrtel.

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers had to do something at the break and he brought on recent signing Sturridge.

In the 51st minute, Liverpool squandered their best chance yet when Luis Suarez played a ball out to young defender Andre Wisdom but, caught in two minds as whether to cross or shoot, he sliced an effort well wide.

And they were punished as three minutes later as van Persie turned provider with a curling free-kick that found Evra unmarked at the back post and his headed went in off Vidic.

But Sturridge revived Liverpool in the 57th minute when David de Gea palmed Steven Gerrard’s shot into his path. It was the striker’s second goal in as many games for Liverpool since joining from European champions Chelsea.

Reina then had to be alert to save Japan star Shinji Kagawa’s curling effort.

Then, in the dying moments, the ball fell to Sturridge following a period of sustained Liverpool pressure. But he curled his shot over the bar and United clung on to all three points.—AFP

City sink 10-man Arsenal to keep title race alive Arsenal 0

Man City 2

LONDON: Manchester City kept the title race alive as the champions won 2-0 at 10-man Arsenal to secure their first away league success over the Gunners for nearly 38 years. Roberto Mancini’s side knew anything less than a victory at the Emirates Stadium would all but end their title hopes after leaders Manchester United moved 10 points clear with a 2-1 win over Liverpool earlier yesterday.

But second-placed City showed their determination to hold on to the crown with a first league win on Arsenal turf since October 1975. The turning point came early on when Arsenal defender Laurent Koscielny was sent off by referee Mike Dean for a professional foul on Edin Dzeko.

Although Dzeko missed the penalty which resulted from that incident, City exploited their numerical superiority in ruthless fashion with goals from James Milner and Dzeko before half-time.

City had captain Vincent Kompany sent off in the closing stages, but it was too late to spark an Arsenal fightback and Mancini’s men, who have won five of their last six league games, will believe they can still overturn United’s seven-point lead.

In contrast, Arsenal’s spluttering attempts to qualify for the Champions League look more unconvincing by the week and Arsene Wenger’s side remain six points behind four th-placed Tottenham. City returned a large portion of their 3,000 ticket allocation after fans refused to pay £62 (83 dollars) for seats in the away end, but those who boycotted the fixture missed an historic day for their club.

Police had been called to deal with a suspect package in a car park close to the Emirates before kick-off, but it was Arsenal’s hapless defending that gave more cause for alarm.

City benefited from those frailties in the 10th minute when Koscielny rashly grabbed hold of Dzeko and hauled the Bosnian forward to the turf as the pair contested a high ball in the Arsenal area. Dean immediately awarded a penalty and sent off Koscielny for his rugby tackle.

It looked like advantage City but Wojciech Szczesny came to Arsenal’s rescue as he deflected Dzeko’s spot-kick onto a post with his legs and then clasped the ball to his body as it rebounded along the goal-line and into his arms.

Dzeko, attempting to make amends for his penalty miss, screwed a shot wildly off target from a tight angle with two City team-mates screaming for a pass. But City didn’t need to rue Dzeko’s profligacy for long as Arsenal were caught cold by a quick free-kick from Gareth Barry in the 21st minute.

David Silva took Barry’s short pass and moved possession onto Carlos

EPL results/standings Arsenal 0 Manchester City 2 (Milner 21, Dzeko 32); Manchester United 2 (Van Persie 19, Vidic 54) Liverpool 1 (Sturridge 57).

English Premier League table after yesterday’s matches (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points): Man Utd 22 18 1 3 56 29 55 Man City 22 14 6 2 43 19 48 Chelsea 21 12 5 4 43 19 41 Tottenham 22 12 4 6 39 27 40 Everton 22 9 10 3 35 26 37 Arsenal 21 9 7 5 40 24 34 West Brom 22 10 3 9 31 30 33 Liverpool 22 8 7 7 35 28 31 Swansea 22 7 9 6 31 26 30 Stoke 22 6 11 5 21 24 29 West Ham 21 7 5 9 24 27 26 Norwich 22 6 8 8 24 34 26 Fulham 22 6 7 9 33 38 25 Sunderland 22 6 7 9 24 29 25 Southampton 21 5 6 10 28 38 21 Newcastle 22 5 6 11 27 39 21 Wigan 22 5 4 13 23 40 19 Aston Villa 22 4 7 11 17 42 19 Reading 22 3 7 12 26 42 16 QPR 22 2 8 12 17 36 14

Europe may beckon goal king Mputu

LONDON: Manchester City’s Carlos Tevez (right) misses a chance despite the challenge of Arsenal’s Bacary Sagna (center) and Per Mertesacker during their English Premier League soccer match.—AP

Tevez and, with Arsenal’s defenders responding far too sluggishly, the Argentine had time and space to find Milner 10 yards from goal and the England midfielder lashed a superb strike into the far corner of Szczesny’s goal. Arsenal’s defence is fragile at the best of times and, with an extra man at their disposal, City were able to pick them apart for their second goal in the 32nd minute.

Pablo Zabaleta brushed Kieran Gibbs aside to steal possession and the City defender released Milner into the space down the left. With Arsenal completely exposed, Milner whipped over a low

cross and Tevez’s shot was pushed out

by Szczesny only as far as Dzeko and the Bosnian tapped into the empty net from close-range.

Javi Garcia almost killed off Arsenal just before half-time when his looping header was nodded off the line by Jack Wilshere. City were content to sit on their lead for much of the second half and Dean gave Arsenal a glimmer of hope in the 75th minute when he ruled that Kompany’s two-footed tackle on Wilshere was worthy of a red card. But the visitors had to survive only one scare when Joleon Lescott cleared off the line from Theo Walcott.—AFP

JOHANNESBURG: Tresor Mputu has been linked with a move to a European league almost as many times as he has scored for his club and country. And the diminutive 27-year-old midfield talisman has netted more than 200 goals for the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Tout Puissant Mazembe club based in southern mining city Lubumbashi. Media speculation has gone into overdrive again with another Cup of Nations looming in South Africa, and claims have been made that a good showing by Mputu will finally see him leave his homeland for a foreign club.

His most amazing scoring achievement was finishing leading scorer in the CAF Champions League and CAF Confederation Cup club competitions-in the same year.

Although Mazembe were eliminated after the final qualifying round for the 2007 Champions League, his nine-goal haul was not equalled, despite some rivals playing 10 matches more. His team dropped to the second-tier Confederation Cup and his 10 goals in eight games topped the scoring charts in that competition although other contenders had the huge advantage of an extra 10 games. Mazembe failed to make the Cup final, but were African champions within two years, retained the title in 2010 and caused the greatest FIFA Club World Cup shock by reaching the final at the expense of Brazilians Internacional.

Mputu missed the world championship in the United Arab Emirates as a one-year worldwide ban was still in force for chasing a referee, cornering him and kicking him brutally during a regional club tournament in Rwanda.

The only surprise when he returned to action was that it took him 46 minutes to score in a domestic league game-such are the expectations heaped on him that most Congolese thought it would take him far less time.

Experienced DR Congo coach Claude le Roy lavishes praise on the star who scores regularly despite operating in midfield, and it is not unusual for him to head goals after outjumping much taller opponents. “The national team cannot do without Mputu, without his creativity, without his talent. He has incredible technical qualities and does things during training that very few footballers are capable of. “He can play for any club in the world,” boasts the Cup of Nations-winning Frenchman of a star who joined Mazembe from Kin City 11 years ago and has with the Ravens since.—AFP

Business

Saudi refineries to cut crude export cushion Page 22 Luxury market has room for Lincoln: Ford CEO Page 24

MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 2013

Richani sees anemic recovery in US, technical recession Page 23 Page 25 in UK

BOJ must set 2% medium term inflation goal: Abe

MADRID: People hold a banner reading “Resignation: Healthcare is not for sale” during a demonstration of Spanish health workers against government health cuts and privatization plans in Madrid yesterday. — AFP

Kuwait bourse rallies on Q4, stability Petrochemicals drag Saudi down, Dubai retreats DUBAI: Kuwait’s bourse rose yesterday for an eighth straight day, its longest winning streak in 16 months, on the belief that corporate earnings were improving. But some other regional markets ended recent rallies.

The Kuwaiti benchmark climbed 0.7 percent to 6,109 points, its highest close since June 2012. Last week its break of resistance at 6,011 points, the October peak, triggered a double bottom formed by the August and November lows and pointing up to around 6,350 points in coming weeks.

“Overall sentiment is ver y positive because of Q4 earnings, expectations of better dividends and political stability,” said Fouad Darwish, head of brokerage services at Global Investment House.

“The market is trading above the psychologically important level of 6,000, and 6,050 was said to be the crossing point for institutions to start buying.”

Last month’s parliamentary elections did not resolve political uncertainty in Kuwait or end the conflict between the cabinet and the opposition, but it ushered in a period of relative quiet, and some economic development plans appear to be proceeding.

Last week a GDF-Suez-led consortium won a contract to build and run a 1,500 megawatt gas-fired power and seawater treatment plant in Kuwait, which will make up around 12 percent of Kuwait’s installed power generation capacity and about a quarter of its desalination capacity.

Telecommunications operator Zain gained 1.3 percent and rival Wataniya climbed 1.7 percent.

Small-caps dominated trade as retail investors looked for short-term gains.

Abyaar Real Estate and International Financial Advisors rose 6.2 and 2.0 percent, becoming the two most heavily traded traded stocks.

That focus of trading on small-caps rather than blue chips was a sign that investors remained wary.

“People are trading stocks that are liquid - there is caution in the market, with some wondering if the current prices are justified,” said a Kuwait-based trader who asked not to be identified. “The market has had a good run and some stocks are overdone.”

Ahli United Bank rose 6.1 percent as more than five million shares traded. The Bahraini lender sold most of its 33 percent stake in Qatar’s Ahli Bank to sovereign fund Qatar Foundation.

The Doha-listed bank fell 2.0 percent, underper forming Qatar ’s main index, which slipped 1.1 percent from Thursday’s nine-month high.

Qatar’s index formed a bearish engulfing pattern on the daily candlestick chart, a short-term negative signal. Some other Gulf markets also turned at least shortterm negative, often after nearing major resistances. In Saudi Arabia, the index slipped from a four-month high as petrochemical firms posted estimate-trailing earnings.

Saudi Kayan Petrochemical said its fourth-quarter net loss increased 1.9 percent from the year-earlier period to 194.45 million riyals, citing a jump in cost of sales and other expenses. Shares in the firm fell 4.6 percent.

“The continued increase in losses and

Saudi Kayan’s inability to report a profit are concerning,” Iyad Ghulam, analyst at NCB Capital, said in a note. “We believe this can be attributed to higher feedstock costs and continued operational inefficiencies.”

Saudi Arabian Fertilizers Co (SAFCO) fell 0.8 percent after it posted a 10.3 percent decline in fourth-quarter net profit, missing the average analyst forecast.

The kingdom’s benchmark lost 0.7 percent, after testing and failing to break its September peak of 7,179 points.

Dubai’s benchmark fell 1.3 percent. It closed at 1,733 points, pulling back from near major technical resistance at 1,7781,793 points, where last year’s high, hit last March, coincides with an October 2010 peak. The Dubai index also posted a bearish engulfing pattern.

Emaar Properties and Emirates NBD fell 1.9 and 1.6 percent respectively. But largecaps helped Abu Dhabi’s bourse rise 0.5 percent to its highest close since June 2011. Telecom operator Etisalat and First Gulf Bank climbed 1.0 and 1.7 percent respectively. The index pulled back sharply from an intra-day high of 2,769 points, however, after it neared resistance on the June 2011 peak of 2,777.

Dana Gas rose 3.9 percent to 0.52 dirhams, its highest close since February 2012. In a Reuters interview, its biggest shareholder last week backed the firm’s plans to restructure $920 million of debt.

“There is big room for the stock to go higher - the target price is between 0.68 to 0.72 dirhams,” said Ali Adou, portfolio manager at The National Investor. “The default scenario is now behind us. The main challenge is Dana Gas’ ability to get

its dues from Iraq and Egypt.”

The energy firm said last month it received $48 million in overdue payments for fuel supplied in Kurdistan. Dana Gas said in its 2011 results that trade receivables at the end of the year stood at 1.74 billion dirhams ($474 million), of which about 48 percent was owed by Egypt and 52 percent by Kurdistan.

Egypt’s measure declined 0.9 percent to 5,701 points, down for a second session from Wednesday’s 10-week high. The market surged about 25 percent over six weeks to reach that high, buoyed by foreign investors rebuilding their weightings in Egypt.

Analysts said Egypt’s weak currency and precarious foreign reserve situation were still not prompting heavy selling of stocks. Prime Minister Hisham Kandil said yesterday that Egypt hoped soon to resume talks with the International Monetary Fund on a $4.8 billion loan, though he spoke of “realigning” the economic reform program previously agreed with the IMF and it was not clear how easily that could be done.

The main reason for stocks’ retreat is that the index has neared important chart resistance, the analysts said. There is minor resistance at 5,894 points, the late October peak, and major resistance at 6,025 points, last year ’s peak hit in September.

Analysts expect the market to trade between 5,500 and 5,900 points for the time being, before any sustained break above the 6,000 area that would signal another leg up. Immediate, minor chart suppor t is at 5,693 points, the late November peak.—Reuters

Greece ‘past danger’ but risks remain: PM ATHENS: Greece has overcome the danger of an ignominious euro exit, but it must stay the course of tough reforms to avoid a “relapse”, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said yesterday.

“I believe the great danger (of a euro exit) has passed,” Samaras said in an inter view with the To Vima weekly.

“Drachmaphobia seems to have receded completely.” But Samaras, whose three-party government faces another reform hurdle in parliament next week, warned the nation: “There can be no letup in our effort, because there is the risk of a relapse.”

The government last week pushed through parliament a tax bill introducing new annual income thresholds for salaried taxpayers and scrapping tax breaks for the self-employed, a category blamed for a large part of the tax evasion that has plagued state finances for decades. On Monday, it will seek approval for another round of reform legislation tied to Greece’s next slice of EU loans.

The opposition has condemned the measures as a new attack on the embattled middle class which is bearing the brunt of a fourth straight year of austerity. Samaras’ administration

has been hit with several defections in the past few weeks in opposition to the continued austerity wave.

The coalition government has lost 16 deputies since coming to power in June, but still retains a nominal majority of 163 in the 300-seat parliament.

The latest umbrella bill introduces closer state budget monitoring and gives greater flexibility to banks to raise fresh capital. It also regulates civil service pay cuts and layoffs and finalizes a state debt buyback. European Union leaders last month agreed to hand out 49.1 billion euros ($65 billion) in aid in return for more austerit y

measures. Athens has already received 34.3 billion euros of this package and is poised to get another 9.2 billion euros at the end of this month if key fiscal reforms are carried out, followed by two more slices of 2.8 billion euros in February and March.

European finance ministers are to meet on January 21 to decide whether to authorise the next payment. The International Monetary Fund, which is participating in Greece’s rescue, is also expec ted to decide this month whether to release its next share of the bailout, worth an additional 3.4 billion euros. —AFP

UAE CB plans mortgage rules by mid-2013 ABU DHABI: The central bank of the United Arab Emirates plans to issue broad regulations governing the housing mortgage industry by the middle of this year, aiming to ensure the stability of the sector, two sources familiar with the matter said yesterday.

“The final pieces of the new mortgage regulations are being put together. It could be ready for issue by June this year,” one of the sources told Reuters, declining to be named because the information has not yet been made public.

The regulations will deal with all important aspects of mortgage lending, the source said without going into details. A central bank spokesman declined to comment.

The source said the regulations would be discussed before being finalized with the Emirates Banks Association, the banking industry body, as well as with individual banks. “There will be uniform criteria for housing finance. Banks and financial institutions involved in mortgages will have to adhere to the new regulations,” a second source said.

The new rules would include, but be much wider in scope than, the mortgage limits which were introduced by the central bank at the end of last year.

Those limits capped mortgages taken out by foreigners at 50 percent of the property’s value for a first purchase of a home, and 40 percent for second and subsequent homes. Caps for UAE citizens were set at 70 percent and 60 percent.

Commercial banks, complaining they were not consulted about the caps, are lobbying the central bank to relax them and delay implementation on the grounds they could disrupt the UAE property market’s slow recovery from the crash of recent years.

The sources declined to comment yesterday on whether the mortgage caps were likely to be relaxed. The central bank is believed to be keen to prevent the growth of another real estate bubble in the UAE, after the bursting of a bubble formed in the mid-2000s hit the economy hard.

Philip Ward, chief executive of Abu Dhabi Finance, a major provider of mortgages in the UAE, said the central bank’s broad regulations, if well-designed, could benefit the industry.

“Clearly, regulations are better than no regulations because it brings clarity to lenders, developers and customers for a better understanding of their rights and responsibilities.” — Reuters

MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 2013

BUSINESS

Saudi refineries to cut crude export cushion Expansion to alter global fuel trade flow DUBAI: Saudi Arabia’s drive to build new refineries means its maximum capacity to export crude, the big gun it aims at other producers wanting higher oil prices, is set to decline over the next five years.

Major oil importers are not alarmed, as actual Saudi crude exports are well below their maximum and because more US and Iraqi crude will become available. But India’s refining industry has reason to worry about the emergence of a rival processing more than a million barrels a day.

The three new refineries, each able to process 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) of mainly heavy crude, could consume nearly a tenth of the kingdom’s current officially declared production capacity of 12.5 million bpd when they are all fully operational in 2017.

Saudi Arabia has so far used its unique ability to produce much more crude than needed to counter price hawks led by Iran in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and keep prices at levels that do not over burden the world economy.

Now the world’s largest crude exporter has invested tens of billions of dollars raising refinery capacity to maximize profits by selling more products while cutting a fuel import bill that has ballooned since 2007 as domestic demand grew.

The trio of refineries will continue major exports of petroleum in the form of diesel and gasoline, moderating any erosion of the kingdom’s overall clout in crude oil markets.

Some traders at Asian refiners, the biggest buyers of Saudi crude, were relaxed about the availability of crude. “I am not worried about the supply situation. Supply of crude is ample, especially from the (Middle East) Gulf,” a trader at north Asian refiner said.

“Iraq’s production is increasing, that could make up. But, refining margins will definitely be a concern if Saudi Arabia begins to export products.” Fereidun Fesharaki, chairman of Facts Global Energy, said the new refineries will result in lower exports of Arab Heavy crude, one of the Saudi grades, pushing up its prices.

“Despite growing demand at home, most of the products will go to exports and have a regional impact on product markets and the flow of products globally,” Fesharaki said in FGE’s latest global refining report.

Even when making up for supply losses from

Libya and Iran over the last two years, Saudi Arabia has rarely needed to pump more than 10 million bpd and Saudi officials have said they see no need to increase capacity beyond the current sustainable levels of around 12.5 million bpd. A surge in North American shale oil production and rising Iraqi exports have taken much of the pressure off Riyadh to maintain such a large and costly spare capacity cushion that it has never and may never test.

“The rapid increase in shale oil production will lower US import of crude oil from the Middle East in the next few years,” a senior trader at a western oil company in Singapore said, adding that lower US demand would push more west African crude into Asia. “Margins will be affected if Saudi products hit the markets, especially with the global economy slowing as well, unless there are more closures of old refineries,” he said.

Saudi Arabia’s move from selling only crude towards more value-added products aims to diversify its economy and should be profitable, especially as the refineries will use mostly heavy and sour oil that it now sells at a discount to other grades.

“More of our liquids production can travel farther down the value chain, rather than being exported as crude oil, refined products or natural gas liquids,” state run oil company Saudi Aramco says on its web page.

As the new refineries use more crude, Aramco may run its existing oil wells harder but it is already spending to offset declining production from older fields. Unless it invests yet more heavily to build more capacity, its maximum crude export potential will fall.

Rapidly rising domestic demand for vehicle fuels and power plants has seen implied Saudi crude oil use rise to an average of 2.4 million bpd in the 12 months to the end of October, 2012, according to Reuters analysis of official figures available through the Joint Oil Data Initiative (JODI).

By comparison, the gap between Saudi production and exports in the same period of 2005 was 1.9 million bpd, pointing to a 20 percent rise in Saudi crude use over the last five years.

Current Saudi crude consumption rates cap its annual average crude exports at around 10.1 mln bpd, with more available in winter and less in summer when air-conditioning needs are high. Adding another 1.2 million bpd of refinery

Qatar Airways confirms Cargolux stake sale DOHA: Qatar Airways has sold its entire 35 percent stake in freight-only airline Cargolux, the chief executive of Qatar Airways confirmed yesterday.

“We sold our stake back to the Luxembourg authorities. We are not anymore a shareholder in Cargolux as of Jan. 1 this year,” Akbar al-Baker told reporters at an event in Doha. “We sold the entire stake. I think the Luxembourg government thought that as it is a national carrier, theu would like the 100 percent stake.” A spokeswoman for the Luxembourg state had said on Dec. 19 that Luxembourg had taken back a stake in Cargolux from Qatar Airways with the intention of selling it on soon. Luxembourg sold the 35 percent stake to Qatar Airways last year, and bought it back for the original sale price of $117.5 million.

Luxembourg has said it is in talks with a number of potential buyers for the stake. The Luxembourg government and other groups took over Swissair Group’s 33.7 percent stake in privately held Cargolux as a temporary measure at the end of 2009 after the Swiss airline went into liquidation.

Cargolux’s other shareholders include Luxembourg airline Luxair (43.4 percent) and state-owned Luxembourg banks BCEE (10.9 percent) and SNCI (10.7 percent). Al-Baker denied marked speculation that Qatar Airways was talking to Al Italia about a possible combination. “We have not opened any talks with Al Italia or its owners. We are not studying it, and we have not been approached,” he said. On prospects in India, Al Baker said his airline was not talking to anyone. — Reuters

capacity raises potential Saudi crude use to 3.6 million bpd by 2017, unless it succeeds in reducing the oil it burns for power generation.

If not accompanied by a rise in crude production capacity that more than offsets declines in maturing fields, increasing refinery use could reduce maximum export capacity to around 9 million bpd in five years time.

Whether that will be an issue for world oil markets is unclear, as even when Saudi production averaged a record of 9.9 million bpd in the first nine months of 2012, its crude exports averaged just 7.5 million bpd.

So Saudi Arabia could still increase exports by 1.5 million bpd above the record levels sold in that period, even if the three refineries due online over the next five years were already running flat out.

By far the largest of the new Saudi oilfields on the horizon is Manifa, which is expected to produce around 500,000 bpd by mid-2013 and hit full flow of 900,000 bpd of heavy crude in 2014.

“The key thing for me is what happens with Manifa... If Manifa is only replacing decline in other fields, then that of course implies a shift from exports to more domestic use,” Robin Mills of UAE-based energy consultancy Manaarco said.

If oil use in power generation can be controlled by more gas use, Saudi Arabia will remain a significant oil product exporter. But its net exports of crude and products could drop by 600,000-1,100,000 bpd by 2020, depending on the pace of Saudi demand, unless it raises crude output further, Mills said.

Most of Manifa’s output this year is likely to be consumed by the new Jubail refinery, the largest addition to global refining capacity since 2009, which developers Saudi Aramco and French oil major Total expect to hit full production in the second half of next year.

Rising output from Manifa, beyond Jubail’s maximum processing capacity, could make more Arabian heavy crude available for export from late 2013 to late 2014.

But the expected start up in late 2014 of Aramco’s Yasref refinery, being built on the Red Sea coast with China’s Sinopec , will use up most of what is left of Manifa’s output from 2015, with the heavy and medium-crude Jizan refinery on the Red Sea set to soak up 400,000 bpd more Saudi crude from 2017. — Reuters

Taqa buys stake in India hydro plant ABU DHABI: Abu Dhabi National Energy Company yesterday said it has acquired a minority interest in the developer of a 100 megawatt hydroelectric plant in northern India, with plans to fully acquire the firm at a later date.

The purchase is the latest in a string of acquisitions by the firm, which is 75 percent owned by the Abu Dhabi government.

TAQA said in a statement it had acquired an interest in Himachal Sorang Power Limited (HSPL) through a joint venture with Jyoti Structures Ltd (JSL), an Indian power infrastructure company. No value for the purchase was given.

TAQA and JSL plan to progressively acquire 100 percent of the share capital of HSPL and will jointly operate the Sorang plant, which is due to begin operations later this year.

Once fully acquired, the Abu Dhabi firm will hold a majority stake in the joint venture, the statement said. “This investment will both complement our existing power generation business in India and support TAQA’s nascent renewable energy stream,” Carl Sheldon, CEO of TAQA, said, adding it reflected the firm’s confidence in the Indian market.

TAQA already operates a 250 megawatt lignite power station in the Neyveli region of southern India. — Reuters

HERAT: An Afghan girl walks through a garbage dump in the outskirts of Herat yesterday. Over a third of Afghans are living in abject poverty, as those in power are more concerned about addressing their vested interests rather than the basic needs of the population, a UN report said. — AFP

Burgan Bank names winner of its card spending campaign KUWAIT: Burgan Bank announced yesterday the name of the winner of the bank cardholder’s monthly draw on its cards spending campaign to win an iPad3 and Samsung Galaxy SIII. The lucky winner of the iPad3 was Riyadh Al-Saleh, and the winner of the Samsung Galaxy S3 was Fawaz Al-Marzouq.

The winners’ announcement comes as part of Burgan Bank’s cards promotion that was launched earlier, in which every 10 KD spent in Kuwait online or in stores using Burgan Bank’s cards; card-

holders will be granted 1 chance to enter the draw. Customers using their cards outside Kuwait, will double their chances to entering the monthly draws.

Burgan Bank’s latest promotion is inline with its overall commitment to provide its customers with exclusive benefits that go beyond their banking needs.

To find out more about Burgan Bank’s services as well as its latest promotions, customers are required to visit their nearest Burgan Bank branch or contact the call center on 1804080.

QNB’s Q4 net profit flat; meets analysts’ forecasts DOHA: Qatar National Bank (QNB), the acquisitive Gulf Arab lender, yesterday posted fourth-quarter net profits which were essentially flat compared with the previous year, meeting analysts’ forecasts.

The Gulf state’s largest lender, which agreed to buy a majority stake in the Egyptian arm of Societe Generale in December, posted a net profit of 2.1 billion riyals ($577 million) for the fourth-quarter, according to Reuters calculations, compared with the same amount a year earlier.

Reuters calculated the net profit from previous financial statements. Full-year net profit was 8.3 billion riyals, up 11.1 percent from a year ago, the company said in a statement yesterday.

Analysts on average forecast a net profit of 2.1 billion riyals in a Reuters poll. The bank set a cash dividend at 60 percent of nominal earnings per share value, equivalent to 6 riyals per share, the statement said.

QNB, whose results are generally seen as an indicator for the sector’s performance in the country, said total assets grew 21.5 percent to 367 billion riyals in 2012, the highest ever achieved, as a result of a 28.9 percent increase in loans and advances.

Deposits grew 34.9 percent to 270 billion riyals, with the loans-to-deposits ratio reaching 92.6 percent at the end of 2012,

the statement said. The ratio of non-performing loans to total loans was 1.3 percent.

QNB, which has snapped up several banking stakes as part of a regional expansion strategy, said in December it was now looking at a majority stake in a top 10 Turkish bank as a means to add value.

The bank, which already has stakes in lenders in countries such as Indonesia, Jordan and Tunisia, wants its international business to contribute around 40 percent of profit and 45 percent of total assets by 2017, Chief Financial Officer Ramzi Mari said in December, up from around 17 percent and 30 percent prior to the NSGB transaction. The lender, which is 50-percent owned by sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority and has a market value of around $26 billion, raised its stake in Abu Dhabi-based Commercial Bank International to 39.9 percent from 16.5 percent last year.

It also boosted its stake in Iraq’s Mansour Bank to 51 percent and bought a 49 percent stake in Libya’s Bank of Commerce and Development in April.

In November QNB launched a $1 billion bond, its second debt markets foray of 2012. QNB shares closed down 1.7 percent yesterday before the results were announced. — 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 US Dollar/KD GB Pound/KD Euro Swiss francs Canadian dollars Danish Kroner Swedish Kroner Australian dlr Hong Kong dlr Singapore dlr Japanese yen Indian Rs/KD Sri Lanka rupee Pakistan rupee Bangladesh taka UAE dirhams Bahraini dinars Jordanian dinar Saudi Riyal/KD Omani riyals Philippine Peso

.2750000 .4490000 .3650000 .3020000 .2830000 .2950000 .0040000 .0020000 .0764740 .7450620 .3880000 .0720000 .7301010 .0430000 CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES .2817000 .4510020 .3675060 .3039650 .2854250 .0492530 .0428620 .2971510 .0363410 .2296030 .0031960 .0000000 .0000000 .0000000 .0000000 .0767260 .7475120 .0000000 .0751400 .7319730 .0000000

Al-Muzaini Exchange Co. Japanese Yen Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Srilankan Rupees Nepali Rupees Singapore Dollar Hongkong Dollar Bangladesh Taka

ASIAN COUNTRIES 3.235 5.141 2.902 2.235 3.222 231.000 36.499 3.537

.2845000 .4620000 .3770000 .3140000 .2920000 .3030000 .0067500 .0035000 .0772420 .7525500 .4060000 .0770000 .7377420 .0510000 .2838000 .4543640 .3702450 .3062310 .2875530 .0496200 .0431810 .2993660 .0366120 .2313150 .0032200 .0052180 .0022610 .0029290 .0035740 .0772980 .7530850 .4014140 .0757000 .7374300 .0070210

Philippine Peso Thai Baht Irani Riyal - transfer Irani Riyal - cash

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

6.931 9.296 0.271 0.273 GCC COUNTRIES 75.470 77.763 735.090 751.690 77.063

Saudi Riyal Qatari Riyal Omani Riyal Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham

EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 282.900 Euro 371.590 Sterling Pound 455.190 Canadian dollar 287.500 Turkish lire 159.130 Swiss Franc 306.830 Australian dollar 297.890 US Dollar Buying 281.700 GOLD 311.000 157.000 81.500

SELL DRAFT 303.12 292.09 313.38 378.64 282.50 458.77 3.25 3.561 5.171 2.240 3.248 2.906 76.98

Rate for Transfer 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

Selling Rate 282.650 286.870 454.355 370.475 306.160 748.310 76.930 77.585 75.335 398.440 43.553 2.212 5.144 2.900 3.506 6.913 693.345 4.230 9.375 3.975 3.305 92.855

Bahrain Exchange Company

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

750.000 46.750 400.000 734.000 78.500 75.750

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd

ARAB COUNTRIES Egyptian Pound - Cash 46.200 Egyptian Pound - Transfer 43.552 Yemen Riyal/for 1000 1.320 Tunisian Dinar 181.170 Jordanian Dinar 399.270 Lebanese Lira/for 1000 1.899 Syrian Lier 3.075 Morocco Dirham 33.880

20 Gram 10 Gram 5 Gram

752.20 43.19 402.47 735.23 78.01 75.54

SELL CASH 310.000 290.000 310.000 371.500 283.500 456.000 3.750 3.700 5.450 2.500 3.550 2.990 77.500

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

SELL CASH 300.400 749.950 3.840 290.000 553.800 45.900 51.300 167.800 46.060 380.200 37.080 5.470 0.032 0.161 0.242

SELLDRAFT 298.900 749.950 3.544 288.500

231.600 43.055 378.700 36.930 5.165 0.031

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

3.260 399.630 0.191 96.540 45.900 4.340 239.600 1.827 52.200 732.500 3.030 7.290 78.000 75.290 231.630 35.040 2.686 459.000 44.600 312.400 3.400 9.640 198.263 76.890 282.400 1.360

10 Tola

GOLD 1,765.300

Sterling Pound US Dollar

399.590 0.190 96.540 3.250 238.100

732.320 2.912 6.971 77.570 75.290 231.630 35.040 2.240 457.000 310.900 3.400 9.510 76.790 282.000

TRAVELLER’S CHEQUE 457.000 282.000

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

Transfer Rate (Per 1000) 281.550 378.500 456.700 288.200 3.190 5.155 43.025 2.232 3.550 6.928 2.908 749.700 76.550 75.200

MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 2013

BUSINESS

Richani sees anemic recovery in US, technical recession in UK NBK highlights global markets outlook 2013 KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) held its annual seminar entitled “Global Markets Outlook for 2013” for its Corporate Banking customers at Sheraton Hotel yesterday. The seminar was presented by NBK Group Chief Investment Officer and Global Treasurer George Richani.

Richani provided NBK Corporate Banking customers an insight into the global markets outlook for 2013 as well as the available investment opportunities. Richani explained the challenges of forecasting under those very unprecedented transitional times. He clarified that the issues facing the world markets today are so varied, so different and so interconnected.

“After the collapse of the credit market, the only long-term solution is turning the fat years into lean years by adopting austerity measures and long-term reform programs but this does not come without pain,” said Richani. “The dilemma is that policy makers are damned if they do and they are damned if they do not”.

He explained that the political issues and uncertainties in many countries this year could make the environment drag on for some time. “The political gridlocks in Europe and USA and the policy of partial solutions or kicking the can down the road has only averted immediate financial crises and saved the world from possible depression but postponed the inevitable pain that is needed for corrections to make their way into the economy” he said.

Lessons from crisis Richani also went through the important lessons that the markets should have learned well from the crisis relating to risk taking, redefining risk free assets, leverage, black swans, correlations, diversification, contagion risk, herd mentality and the new normal but it seems that humans and investors forget as always and they revert all the time to believing that this time is different.

Richani explored the interconnectedness of the sovereign debt crisis, the banking crisis especially in Europe and the economic slowdown. He also explained in details how unprecedented problems need unprecedented solutions.

Euro-zone crisis Although big steps have been taken in Europe in 2012 and a Eurozone crisis was averted, Richani forewarned that Europe is not out of the woods yet. He went on to explain that unless the root causes of the problems in Europe such as competitiveness divergence between core and peripheral Europe and productivity differences is not handled there will be no solution to the problem. Austerity measures alone have their own limitations and overly tightening the belt could be counterproductive to growth.

Richani also see that the impact on quantitative easing on the real economy is not significant yet. This is simply because the fundamental weakness is due to deleveraging and due to the fact that banks are hoarding cash and reserves and not relending it to the real economy and also because the consumers are not yet fully deleveraged - you can take the horse to the water but you cannot force it to drink. The new regulations regarding Basel III is not helping either.

KUWAIT: NBK Group Chief Investment Officer and Global Treasurer George Richani addresses the seminar.

KUWAIT: The corporate clients attend NBK seminar.

US debt As for the United States, he saw that growth figures have improved a little in the last few months and the stock markets have relatively done well. But he looked at the long-term prospects of the US and saw fundamental unresolved issues in the US such as the huge debt burden, the unfunded entitlement liabilities, the political brinksmanship and gridlocks, and the demographic time bomb of baby boomers coming to the retirement age in the next two decades.

That said, he saw no immediate replacement to the US as safe haven.

On the US debt, he stressed that the US government borrows around 40 cents and taxes 60 cents of each Dollar it spends.

Worse still, the 60 cents in tax revenues only cover mandatory entitlements and the 40 cents that the US borrow completely goes to finance discretionary spending including armed forces. This is definitely unsustainable in the long run.

Monetary policy As far as monetary policy is concerned, Richani believes that interest rates worldwide will remain low for a long time to come because inflation is not a concern now but recession and deflation are, and because the major Central Banks led by the Fed vowed to keep rates low until employment rate comes down to 6.50% and expected inflation between one and two years do not rise above 2.50%.

Richani explained how 5-year and 10year US real rates have turned deep into negative territory during 2012. He also explained the quantitative easing has in effect allowed the Fed to buy Treasury debt to finance a good portion of US government deficits at no cost. The Fed rebate (gives back) the interest it receives on its holdings of Treasury bonds that it purchases in the Quantitative Easing program, which in effect allows the US Treasury to borrow money freely.

Outlooks On the European front, more than a decade into the creation of the euro-zone, Richani sees that the original objective has not been achieved. On the contrary there are more divergences now than there were in 1999 when the Euro came into existence.

This crisis has definitely revealed the main weaknesses of the euro-zone and that is the fact that you cannot have a monetary union without having a fiscal union, banking union and political union.

In his forecasts, he sees that could be more short-term pain in the coming years before long-term gain could be achieved in a sustainable manner. The debt of the past should be totally unwound and this would take long time. Austerity measures and belt tightening in the western world would be the main headwind facing those economies and therefore we could see below 2% growth in the US and possibly below 1%, if not recession in Europe during in 2013.

Richani explained that the new normal that is much talked about these days could entail issues such as acceptance of lower global and developed markets growth, acceptance of reduced return, importance of return of capital, divergent world, shift of power from west to east, more uncertain world, more, regulated financial markets.

He stressed that although the Central Banks have saved the world from deeper problems in the short term, the more unconventional monetary policies carry big long term risks. Richani expects a period of low growth, where he sees the US witnessing an anemic recovery, the UK a technical recession, a struggling Europe, a suffering Japan and a sluggish performance in emerging markets.

“The fortunes of the USD will depend on the situation in Europe. If the situation settles, the USD will come under pressure. But he expects, the European crises would continue in its muddle through as politicians continue to kick the can down the road.

He expects US official interest rates to stay low for some time to come. Policy mistakes could be the biggest risks going forward, and he expects a bumpy road ahead.

Richani advised that investors should look at ways to survive not to thrive, and to focus on strategies that ensure return of their capital rather than return on their capital. Real assets could find a place in the portfolio of most investors going forward.

Will WTO drop dream of global free trade?

GENEVA: As it seeks a new chief to lead it out of a negotiating death-spiral, the World Trade Organization looks doomed to be fatally undermined by new global carve-ups that will leave many of the world’s poorest sidelined. At its creation 18 years ago, as the “third pillar” of the postWorld War Two economic system alongside the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, tariffs fell by a third and world markets, from farm produce to finance, were opened up.

A boom in commerce ensued, gathering pace when China became a member in 2001. But then, at a meeting in Doha that year, the WTO launched an ambitious attempt to push for further liberalization that would help developing countries most of all.

The talks dragged on for 10 years, failing to resolve a split between the developed and developing worlds, mostly over agriculture. W TO Director-General Pascal Lamy, who vowed in 2005 to make them his “first, second and third priority”, finally declared an “impasse” in 2011. The WTO’s first head, Peter Sutherland, wrote in an op-ed published on Dec. 31 that it was “a unique failure in the history of multilateral trade negotiations”.

The stalemate triggered a scramble to arrange preferential trade terms outside the WTO - regional deals such as the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership and bilateral agreements such as the one the European Union is pursuing with the United States.

“If either ever comes to pass, which I doubt, a huge share of world trade would be conducted within a discriminatory framework,” wrote Sutherland.

Such deals were already common before the “impasse”, but afterwards they became the main focus for many countries seeking a route back to economic growth. British Prime Minister David Cameron has made an EU-US deal one of three priorities for the UK’s presidency of the G8 group of nations, which began this

month. “The big question is this: does the WTO retain its centrality in the trading system? It’s down to the next WTO head,” said Simon Evenett, professor of international trade at St Gallen University in Switzerland.

Jagdish Bhagwati, professor of economics at Columbia University in New York, compared the WTO system to a three-legged stool, resting on negotiations, rule-making and dispute settlement. With one leg broken, the others start to wobble.

“You can’t do away with bilaterals and regionals, but as long as the first leg is not broken, the second and third won’t be,” he said. “The directorgeneral has to come in and say that these things are here to stay, but how do I reconcile all this with the purposes of the WTO system which I am guardian of?”

Nine candidates vying to succeed Lamy will make their pitch to the WTO’s membership at the end of this month. Many in the audience have spent a decade toiling over Doha, so none of the hopefuls is likely to trash it or claim to have an easy fix.

Instead, Evenett said, they will distance themselves obliquely, with lines like: “It was not our finest hour” or “There’s still some way to go”, while suggesting they could be part of a creative process to try and figure out how to move on.

“This is not business as usual,” said Richard Baldwin, professor of international economics at the Graduate Institute of Geneva. “By analogy, the WTO needs a Bernanke or Draghi - a policy leader who can think out of the box and understand how the world has changed and how the policy must change with it - not a Greenspan or Trichet, who were simply implementing the old rules in a faithful, dogmatic style,” he added.

But the chances of a revolution are slim. “ The way I see it now,” said Baldwin, “the US and China are happy to let the WTO languish - China has nothing to complain about that could be fixed by any conceivable version of Doha, and the U.S. sees no

substantial gains from finishing Doha on the current terms.”

Both he and Evenett said there was a chance that the WTO would pick a “placeholder” director-general.

“If they want a quiet time, you might not want a particularly ambitious WTO head. Someone who just treads water might be acceptable,” said Evenett.

That would allow the surge of regional deals to continue unchecked. They would entrench and lubricate corporate supply chains, a bonus to big business, but would do nothing to assuage developing countries wanting a fairer deal on agriculture or better access to rich markets for their exports and services.

Bhagwati said the TPP was untransparent and influenced by lobbyists, ensuring that it was full of side conditions, such as stipulations on labor and intellectual property, which made it impossible for developing countries to sign up to. “The lobbyists have to be sidelined,” he said.

If the TPP and the “mega-bilaterals” succeed, Baldwin said, global trade will be back to the pre-WTO days, dominated by the “Quad” - the United States, EU, Canada and Japan, with negotiations run by and mostly for the Quad members.

“This will threaten China, India and Brazil (and others) with exclusion, and at that point, we’ll see the current stalemate destroyed. There will be room for discussions to bring the TPP-like disciplines to the multilateral level.”

But the WTO cannot wait for the regional deals to develop to the point they can be harmonized into one whole. Even if that eventually happened - and Baldwin thinks it will require a new body, a W TO 2.0 Sutherland believes that regional deals are already doing lasting damage to the credibility of the WTO. “Now we are really in danger,” said Bhagwati. “Let’s hope it works out because this is our last chance to save the WTO.” — Reuters

MADRID: Two Spanish health workers walk as they take part in a demonstration against government health cuts and privatization plans in Madrid yesterday. —AFP

Credit Suisse to cut bonus pool by 20% ZURICH: Credit Suisse will cut its bonus pool for 2012 by 20 percent to around 2.3 billion Swiss francs ($2.52 billion), the fourth year in a row the Swiss bank has slashed payouts, a newspaper reported yesterday.

Citing unnamed sources, Der Sonntag newspaper said the 20,000 employees of Credit Suisse’s investment bank were allocated significantly over 1 billion francs, while the 14,000 staff of the private bank would get some 400-500 million francs.

A Credit Suisse spokeswoman declined to comment.

The expected payout of 2.3 billion francs compares to 3 billion francs the bank allotted to bonuses in 2011 and 5 billion it paid in 2010. Der Sonntag said the bonus pool was likely to sink another 20 percent this year to 1.8 billion francs.

Credit Suisse, which like other global investment banks has suffered from sluggish markets in the wake of the financial crisis, is axing jobs as it seeks to make 4 billion francs of cost savings by 2015.

Reuters reported earlier this month that the bank is preparing to offload more risk exposure to investment bank staff in its 2012 bonus giveaway but significantly fewer managers will be allowed to join the scheme.

The creation of a new Credit Suisse scheme comes as banks bow to the demands of shareholders and regulators to move away from cash bonuses in favor of alternatives that are more aligned with the risks bankers are taking.

Two earlier schemes have helped the bank to transfer $17 billion of troubled loans and derivatives off its balance sheet and have also allowed the bank to save about $1.4 billion on cash or share-based bonus payments.

Further details of the Plus Bond, which will have a “similar” structure and composition to the 2011 scheme, will be announced to staff later in January, a spokesman has said. — Reuters

Commodities weekly update

Commodities not finding traction

By Ole Hansen KUWAIT: Commodities continued to show weakness into the second week of 2013 despite rising stock markets and a falling US dollar. Investors are generally in a positive mood at this time of year, but so far this sentiment has only been seen in equities with global stocks rising to their highest level in 19 months. The USD rally seen during the first week quickly faded and the EURUSD has now returned to the top of its current range. However, so far this has failed to lift commodities. Chinese economic data, though, did help support prices as exports jumped by 14 percent in December, thereby potentially confirming a rebound in the global economy.

Precious metals continued their tentative recovery amid the USD weakening on news that China’s appetite for gold remains strong. The price of oil meanwhile, is stuck between supports from improved economic data and a well-supplied market that led Saudi Arabia to cut its December output to its lowest in 19 months, according to one source. In addition, US oil imports have dropped to their lowest level in 25 years because of increased domestic production.

Some of the excitement caused by the Chinese trade data were somewhat scuppered late in the week when Chinese inflation data for December jumped by more than had been expected. A rise in inflation could restrict the government’s ability to stimulate growth further. This could potentially reduce demand for raw materials from the country that accounts for a large proportion of demand growth for many commodities including soybeans, oil and copper.

Gold receiving a boost Following nervous trading during the first week that saw gold trade down to late August levels, the yellow metal spent the second week trying to recover. The 200-day moving average at 1662 that held it back for a few days was eventually broken.

However, the lack of any follow-through momentum indicates the need for additional consolidation before a potential upside attempt towards critical resistance at 1710 can be initiated.

Measured in EUR, gold is still performing very poorly and before we see a pick-up in this cross further upside looks difficult to achieve. But at the time of writing gold is on track for its first positive week following its longest weekly losing streak since 2004.

As the effects of the gold-negative December minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee(FOMC) begin to fade, gold has received some support. This came especially from the weaker USD but also from news of increased physical buying from China and India, the world’s two largest buyers of actual gold. Chinese demand is expected to pick up ahead of the Lunar New Year on10 February while Indian demand has risen with traders stocking up ahead of an expected rise in gold import taxes which could be raised to help limit the country’s trade deficit.

Money managers halved their net-long position during the last quarter and have ample room therefore to rebuild position once they feel the technical and/or fundamental picture improves.

Investors in Exchange Traded Products have stayed much more resilient and have only scaled back their holdings by a mere 13 tons out of total holdings of 2619, according to Bloomberg.

Although we are not out of the woods yet in terms of the risk of additional price weakness, the belief is that we should see some further upside potential especially as real interest rates remains negative and in that US forward inflation expectations have moved higher since late November.

Technically, the levels to look out for are first of all whether gold can manage to consolidate above its 200-day moving average at 1662 USD/oz. After this, attention will turn to resistance at the 2 January high at 1694.8 USD/oz. before the most important level at 1710.7, which is a combination of a trend-line from the October high together with a 50 percent retracement. Critical support can be found at 1625 USD/oz.

Crude correction Brent crude eased back from a near threemonth high this week as focus switched from investor demand driven by rising stock markets and a generally friendly investment environment to news that Saudi Arabia had cut its December production while US imports fell to their lowest level in 25 years. Reduced Saudi production results in a higher level of spare capacity which can be used to meet future supply disruptions while lower US imports means that more oil is available in the global system for those countries, especially emerging economies, where demand is growing.

When Chinese inflation rises by more than expected it reduces the government’s ability to promote growth. With China currently expected to represent almost half of this year’s increase in global oil demand growth, any changes to these projections could help trigger an oversupply scenario which could ultimately lead to lower prices.

Money managers held a net-long position on 1 January which was only exceeded in March last year when worries about the impact of Iranian sanctions saw Brent crude oil trade above $123/barrel. Such an elevated position size at a time of limited upside potential could eventually help trigger a setback in prices.

We expect the trading range of between $105/barrel and $115/barrel that has prevailed for some time now to continue. But we also see a short-term risk of the price dropping back towards the lower end, which is good news for non dollarbased consumers because the dollar is falling at the same time.

MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 2013

BUSINESS

This product image provided by Ford shows the Lincoln MKC Concept. The Lincoln MKC Concept is Lincoln’s attempt to This product image provided by Ford shows the Lincoln MKC Concept revealed yesterday. The Lincoln MKC Concept’s seats and pillars are wrapped in smooth premium leather. —AP enter the industry’s fastest-growing segment: small luxury utility. —AP

Luxury market has room for Lincoln: Ford CEO Detroit Auto Show DEARBORN, Michigan: Ford thinks the luxury car market is missing something.

Luxury buyers sobered up during the recession, the company reckons, and they now find German brands too pricey, Cadillac too showy and Japanese brands too boring. Ford hopes its Lincoln brand will fill a hole: premium but moderatelypriced, elegant but not ostentatious, sporty but smooth.

“There’s a whole market that’s not served,” Ford CEO Alan Mulally told in a recent interview. “I was just driving a $98,000 (competitor’s) car yesterday. A $98,000 car. Well, we’re not going after them.” Lincoln is in the midst of a revamp that will see four new models over the next four years. The first, the MKZ midsize sedan, arrived in showrooms in December. It starts at just under $36,000 a little less than its closest competitor, the Lexus ES - but offers some premium features the Lexus doesn’t, like a panoramic glass roof.

Lincoln will give a glimpse of its next product at the Detroit auto show this week. The MKC small SUV is critical, since it will compete in the fastest-growing segment in the luxury industry. Sales of other small luxury SUVs, like the BMW X3 and the Acura RDX, saw big jumps last year as younger buyers entered the market and older buyers traded down from larger SUVs. The MKC concept hints at what will hit showrooms by the end of this year. It shares the MKZ’s panoramic roof and spare, highly sculpted lines. But it has a more dramatic grille thanks to the use of two shades of metal and a trunk that’s cut to allow one long, thin, uninterrupted taillight on the rear. There are touches like shiny wood flecked with silver flakes and Lincoln logos stitched into the seats and floor mats.

Ford wants to keep Lincoln in the public eye this year, starting with the brand’s first Super Bowl ad. In early spring, Lincoln dealers will start offering date nights to prospective customers, letting them borrow an MKZ and treating them to dinner.

Mulally and Jim Farley, a former top Lexus executive who now leads the Lincoln brand, sat down with The Associated Press recently to talk about Lincoln. Below are excerpts, edited for length: Q: Lincoln dealers say they love the new vehicles but need them to get to the showrooms more quickly. Do you need to move faster to turn Lincoln around?

Mulally: We are going as fast as we can. I know that sounds maybe too easy, but this is a company that turned the corner and now is growing. We’re going up in production, all those new launches and all that product development. And it’s a real balance to deliver those vehicles. I think we think we’d like to go faster, but the most important thing is to deliver on this brand promise that we’ve made.

Farley: I think building a world class premium brand, especially a brand like Lincoln where our vision is to serve all the customers, you have to be very thoughtful about the kind of products, when they come out and how you build in the capability at the dealership level. And that takes time. I remember how anxious everyone was for the (Ford) Fiesta to launch, and we said, “We need a little time to get ready for this launch.” Our dealers weren’t used to dealing with Honda trade-ins. We didn’t know how to sell a small car. We were selling Expeditions and Explorers. They didn’t know how to quote used-car prices for a Civic or a Fit. If you want to be truly a luxury brand that competes and differentiates in the U.S. market, with the kind of competition out there and the kind of expectations, customers have, to get the plumbing and the wiring and the software and the people side of the dealership takes time. It takes time for us to consolidate the dealer network. Our team, and Alan, always really made sure that when we did things that we had real proof. The Lincoln dealers, for many decades, were told many things. And this is a team that believes deeply that when we say something, we’re going to do it.

Mulally: We helped our reputation and our credibility because of what we did with Ford. We couldn’t have done this without Ford. They know that we’re serious about it. We know how to do it.

Q: How long will Lincoln’s turnaround take? When will you start making a dent in the Germans’ dominance of the luxury market?

Farley: We had the benefit of seeing

how the luxury industry changed after the recession, because we were imagining and executing all these products right after that. And what we found in the recession was a fundamental reset button on price points, on expectations, on why people buy a luxury car - to treat themselves rather than to show off. We are seeing that play out right now. Like for example, when I was with another brand, more than 25 percent of our sales were with a high-end, rear-wheel-drive sedan.

Today, that vehicle’s less than 10 percent of their sales. The recession fundamentally changed the sales.

Mulally: It’s just a huge change in the number of people who want premium but they want affordable premium. That’s the answer to your question, because you’ve got these guys up here (holds hand up high) and you’ve got these huge numbers in between.

Farley: And on the time side, we think of it kind of like “Get Smart,” where you’re walking through all those doors. The first step of the journey requires the transformation of the lineup, all new products, completely differentiated, exclusive drivetrain and exclusive dealership facilities and people who are only selling Lincolns.

And until you do those, you really aren’t starting the journey to being a really premium player. We are totally focused on that first step. I don’t know how many doors - opportunities - we have. Our sights are not to be the biggest, to sell 200,000 to 300,000 units. That’s not our goal. Our goal is to take the solid footing we have from Lincoln and now start that march toward a really premium brand.

Mulally: We’re not in a hurry. The dealers are in place. We make a reasonable return on the Lincoln vehicles. It’s not like anybody’s panicking.

Q: Ford recalled the Escape four times after it went on sale for various safety issues. The Lincoln launches will have to be flawless. How do you ensure that?

Mulally: I would say that your comment is absolutely right. It has to be, across Ford and Lincoln. Ford is so excited on one hand. You know how many years these companies have been declining. We’ve turned that corner. We were the first ones to turn it. We’re growing now. The growth is spectacular, here and around the world.

So now we’re turning the corner, adding production, adding third shifts, second shifts, and last June we weren’t able to keep up with the demand. And then we have all these launches, because we made a commitment that we are going to have the best-in-class quality, fuel efficiency and safety. So every time we don’t, then we’re going to stop just like we did.

We’ll come pick them up, we’ll do whatever it takes. We’ll get it right for you right away. I think the most important thing is our commitment to quality. But it’s an exhilarating time.

Q: You just changed Lincoln’s name to the Lincoln Motor Co. and began a new ad campaign. What impact are you seeing?

Farley: More important to me than how is it affecting demand for Lincoln vehicles is that more and more people are talking about Lincoln. We’re getting more online discussion. A lot more people are saying, “Lincoln. What is that?

Who are they? What are they doing?”

That is good. That was very much part of the initiative of the Lincoln Motor Co. When I talk to Gucci and Burberr y, brands that were very big in the ‘70s and then recommitted themselves, they all said the same thing to me: “Jim, make sure that you start a conversation around Lincoln.” And that’s part of our expectation for the Super Bowl.

Q: There are a lot of naysayers out there, including GM’s CEO Dan Akerson, who have suggested Lincoln has fallen too far to be revived. What do you say to that?

Mulally: I just believe Jim’s vision that he laid out, when we decided to focus on Ford and Lincoln, so we had a great volume brand for everybody and a premium brand. And then let each one do the talking. I wouldn’t go out and bad mouth things. Let each of them do their thing and tell everybody that this is the brand promise. You can’t get in that car (hybrid MKZ) and operate it and get out of it and not go, “Wow. That’s a different experience.” And there are people - there are a lot of people - who want that experience, they want that innovative technology and they want to access it. They don’t want to pay $100,000. And Ford can do that. Ford can really do that. —AP

MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 2013

BUSINESS

Draghi delivers optimism, euro perks up NBK WEEKLY MONEY MARKETS REPORT KUWAIT: After the good performance of financial markets since the beginning of the year, the FX markets eased back from recent peaks, as the post-cliff new-year rally faded and attention turned to the start of the corporate earnings season.

Across the Atlantic, the European Central Bank reversed the trend, by sending a strong signal that it is unlikely to cut interest rates. Draghi stated that “economic activity should gradually recover in 2013” due to “considerable improvements” in the financial markets”.

The euro started the week at 1.3070. The single currency then advanced against the US dollar, ahead of the ECB meeting to 1.3130. The single currency range traded between 1.3050 and 1.3130, while markets anticipate the ECB’s decision. The EUR rose against its American counterpart, after a successful Spanish bond auction, pushing the Euro to the 1.3120 level. The single currency then surged on Thursday, after the ECB decided to keep the benchmark interest rate unchanged. The ECB Presidents’ upbeat tone spurred a sharp rally for the euro against the US dollar hiking the single currency to the week’s high of 1.3366. The euro closed at 1.3343. The sterling pound endured a volatile week. Cable opened the week at 1.6070, only to surge on Monday to reach 1.6130, after good housing figures. The Sterling Pound then dropped to 1.5992 after disappointing economic figures. Cable followed suit with

the euro, hiking on Thursday with the optimism spurred by ECB President Mario Draghi, to peak at 1.6180. Cable closed the week at 1.6132. The Japanese Yen opened the week at 88.15, strengthening against the US dollar, to touch a low of 86.84 on Wednesday. The yen then weakened significantly against the US dollar, as the newly elected prime minister, Shinzo Abe, continued to stack pressure on the Bank of Japan Governor, Masaaki Shirakawa, to double the central bank’s inflation goal. The Japanese yen hiked to a high of 89.44 on Friday, after the Japanese cabinet approved a JPY 10.3 trillion ($116.9 billion) stimulus package. The Japanese yen closed the week at 89.18. The Swiss franc opened the week at 0.9246, only to strengthen against a weakening US Dollar, as investors’ appetite turns for riskier assets. The CHF closed the week at 0.9135.

Crude inventories US crude oil inventories increased by 1.3 million barrels for the week ending on 4 January. At 361.3 million barrels, crude oil inventories are well above the upper limit of the average range for this time of year. Total motor gasoline inventories increased by 7.4 million barrels last week and are well above the upper limit of the average range. Finished gasoline inventories decreased while blending components inventories increased last week.

More Americans than forecasted filed for first-time claims for unemployment last week, indicating that improvements in the labor market remain irregular enough to maintain current employment levels.

Jobless claims rose by 4,000 from 367,000, to 371,000, against a forecasted drop of 7,000. A consistent decline in firings, along with a rise in payrolls is needed to spur consumer spending, which counts for 70% of the US economy.

Trade deficit The US trade deficit unexpectedly widened by 15.8% in November

to $48.7 billion while analysts were expecting the deficit to shrink to $41.3 billion, the gap’s widening was driven by a 3.8% increase in imports, the largest gain in eight months, which gave a positive signal for consumer spending.

ECB pumps positive sentiment European Central Bank President, Mario Draghi, addressed optimism and positive contagion into financial markets, at the ECB’s press conference. The ECB have

kept the rate unchanged at 0.75%, before Draghi’s speech, which dwelled into a positive note. The central banks’ decision to keep rates unchanged was unanimous. The President of the ECB said that “we are now back in a normal situation from a financial viewpoint, but we are not at all seeing an early and strong recovery”, and that the central bank takes-note of the “significant improvements” in financial market conditions in recent months.

Leader of Euro-area finance ministers, Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, resonated

Draghi’s positive comments by stating that “the worst is over, but what we still have to do is difficult”. The policy makers’ comments spurred the single currency to its biggest gain in four months versus the US Dollar and to its strongest since July 2011 against the Japanese Yen. Moreover, Spain’s 10-year borrowing costs, which hit a Euro-era record of 7.75% in July, fell below 5% for the first time since March, after a successful bond sale.

Unemployment rate in the euro-

zone rose to an all-time high in November as the fiscal crisis and tougher austerity measures worsened Europe’s economic worries.

The unemployment rate in the 17nation region rose to 11.8% in November, from 11.7% in October.

The figure is the highest recorded since the data collection started in 1995. This equates to 18.8 million jobless people in the euro-zone, more by 113,000 in October. While Germany has a 5.4% jobless rate, Spain tops the list with 26.6% of its population unemployed.

German production up German industrial production rose in November, providing evidence that Europe’s largest economy dodged contraction in the 4th quarter of 2012. Industrial production rose less than forecasted, hindered by a sharp fall of energy and consumer production figures.

Germany’s industrial production rose by 0.2%, against a forecasted 1.1% increase, and ahead of October’s drop of -2.2%.

Bank of England policy makers decided not to add further stimulus to the UK economy, as the central banks’ scheme designed to boost lending showed signs of success.

The nine-member Monetary Policy Committee kept the asset purchase program at GBP 375 billion and refrained from increasing the key interest rate, keeping it at the record low of 0.5%. The Bank of England has previously warned economic output could contract for the last

BOJ must set 2% medium term inflation goal: Abe Bold monetary easing policy on cards TOKYO: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the Bank of Japan (BOJ) must set a 2 percent inflation target and make it a medium term, not long-term, goal to show markets it was determined to pursue bold monetary easing to end nearly two decades of deflation.

The government is negotiating with the BOJ to issue a joint statement this month to make the central bank accountable for achieving 2 percent inflation, double its current price goal.

“The BOJ basically says it sees 1 percent inflation as a loose goal.

That doesn’t show it’s responsible to achieve it and doesn’t show its strong determination,” Abe said told public broadcaster NHK yesterday.

“The statement must say clearly that 2 percent is the target. That would lead to fundamental changes” in the way it guides policy, he said. The BOJ set its current 1 percent inflation target last

February and eased monetary policy five times in 2012.

Japan is stuck in its fourth recession since 2000 and its export-reliant economy is suffer-

ing from a strong yen. Abe, who won a landslide election last December, has piled pressure on the BOJ for bolder efforts to beat deflation, threatening to revise a

TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announcing an economic package during a press conference at the prime minister’s official residence in Tokyo. —AFP

KAMCO named ‘Deal Maker of Year 2012’ KUWAIT: KAMCO (KIPCO Asset Management Company) announced yesterday that it has won the prestigious ‘Finance Monthly Deal Maker Award 2012’ by the Finance Monthly magazine. The award is in recognition for the role KAMCO played as an Exclusive Financial Advisor to one of its clients in acquiring an 82% equity interest acquisition stake in Al-Rayan Holding Company, a private learning institution. This deal is considered to be the largest of its kind in the private education sector in 2012 in the GCC. On this occasion, KAMCO’s Chief Investment Officer, Ziad Hasan Al-Qaissi commented, “We are proud to have won this award, as it is a testament to the effectiveness of KAMCO’s role as a leading financial advisor to its clients. The award is also evidence of KAMCO’s wealth of experience and high level of competence with regards to successful completion of major deals both of which are indicators of the high caliber team KAMCO employs.”

KAMCO’s depth of experiZiad Hasan Al-Qaissi ence in the education field extends to the KAMCO Education Fund which we believe is the best performing Fund posting a 32.34% returns in 2012.

After many years of conducting business in Kuwait’s dynamic investment industry, KAMCO has successfully established a robust reputation for solidity, characterized by its prudent, conservative investment philosophy which has consistently commanded the goodwill of a wide patron-base.

KAMCO’s Asset Management Division specializes in customized portfolio management, access to IPOs, and local and international fund management. The Investment Advisory and Research Division tracks the latest directions and trends across regional and local economies as well as equity markets and offers a range of customized services that focus on maximizing returns, mitigating risks, and maintaining capital appreciation for individual and institutional clients. The Company’s Financial Services and Investment Division offers a full range of advisory services on mergers and acquisitions, underwriting, private placements, debt issuance and restructuring, and private equity management.

law guaranteeing its independence on monetary policy if his demands are not met.

Under intense pressure, the central bank will consider easing monetary policy at its rate review on Jan. 21-22 and respond to Abe’s calls to double its inflation target, sources have told Reuters.

In the joint statement likely to be released on Jan. 22, the BOJ wants to describe the new target as a long-term goal without setting a specific deadline, to leave itself flexibility in guiding future monetary policy. Abe, however, warned that making 2 percent inflation a “long-term goal” wasn’t good enough. “That’s too long. It should be a medium-term one. Otherwise markets won’t react,” he said.

The Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy, the government’s top economic panel which the BOJ governor attends regularly, could call a meeting to focus on monetary policy and a timeframe, Abe

said. Abe also said he will meet with monetary policy experts on Tuesday, including his special economic adviser Koichi Hamada, to seek views on who would be suitable as next BOJ governor.

“Basically, I’d like to choose someone who can implement bold monetary policy and who shares our views,” he said.

Abe’s government has the power to nominate a successor to BOJ Governor Masaaki Shirakawa when his term expires in April, although the nomination needs approval by both houses of parliament. Abe controls the lower house but the upper house. Japan last week approved a $117 bn stimulus package, the biggest spending boost since the financial crisis, to try and boost the economy. Abe is gambling that a shift to a more expansionary fiscal policy and more monetary easing from the central bank can end years of stop-start growth. —Reuters

Survey: China economy to rebound this year BEIJING: China’s economy is poised finally to end a long downward trend in 2013, economists polled by AFP say, as the new communist leadership vows to retool the nation’s investment-led development model and promote a “happy life” for all.

The world’s second-largest economy is not expected to return to double-digit growth, but the economists’ predictions are a welcome spot of good news in a financial world assailed by the euro-zone debt crisis and lackluster recovery in the United States.

After seven consecutive quarters of slowing growth, China’s gross domestic product (GDP) will rise by 8.0 percent in 2013, according to the median forecast of 15 economists surveyed by AFP. The poll

also projected 7.7 percent growth for 2012.

The figures would outpace the government’s 7.5 percent growth target for 2012 — but are well below the 9.3 percent recorded in 2011 and 10.4 percent in 2010.

Maintaining growth is all-important for China’s communist leaders, who derive much of their claims to legitimacy from the country’s reform-led economic rise, which has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty over the past three decades.

The rebound comes as China formally wraps up a once-in-a-decade leadership change in March when Xi Jinping, who was named Communist Party chief in November, takes over as president and Li Keqiang becomes premier in charge of day-to-day administration. Xi, in his first

JIUJIANG: A woman working in a textile factory that exports clothing materials to the US and Europe in Jiujiang, east China’s Jiangxi province. China’s economy is poised finally to end a long downward trend this year, economists polled by AFP say. —AFP

public appearance after being chosen to lead the party, said China’s citizens “want their children to have sound growth, have good jobs and lead a more enjoyable life.

To meet their desire for a happy life is our mission.”

China’s stunning economic transformation has long been fuelled by heavy state investment in railways, airports, bridges and buildings, as well as an emphasis on manufacturing and exports.

But it is now trying to promote demand from its own increasingly well-off consumers as the economy’s main driver.

And the Communist Party says it recognizes the need to encompass the havenots who have failed to share in the boom as a rich-poor gap opens up.

The National Bureau of Statistics is due to announce GDP figures for the fourth quarter and the whole of 2012 on Friday.

For the final quarter of last year, the median forecast in the AFP survey was 7.8 percent, up from official third-quarter growth of 7.4 percent-which was the lowest figure since early 2009.

“The new leaders themselves would like economic growth to not be slower than 2012... in their first year,” Chen Xingdong, a Beijing-based economist with French bank BNP Paribas who is expecting 2013 growth of 8.3 percent, said.

Stronger monthly data during the fourth quarter, including industrial output and retail sales, has fanned optimism the worst is over, as did new single-month highs for imports and exports in December. But the economy still faces challenges such as unresolved structural problems including overcapacity and reliance on investment-driven growth, said Yao Wei, Hong Kong-based economist with Societe Generale. —AFP

three months of 2012, which would raise the prospect of a triple-dip recession. The BOE dropped its lending rate to the historic low in March 2009. The asset purchase program was first announced in the same month.

UK’s manufacturing production grew less than expected in November, even with a strong rebound in oil and gas production, signaling that the British economy may have contracted in the last quarter of 2012. The manufacturing output fell by -0.3%, against a forecasted gain of 0.5%, following a 1.3% drop in October. Economic uncertainty, below-inflation wage growth and finance minister George Osborne’s austerity measures have kept a lid on demand for manufactured goods at British homes.

Oil rose to a high of 94.70, after Chinese exports increased more than forecasted in December, signaling growth in the second largest oil consumer. Exports in China jumped 14% from a year earlier, against a forecasted 5%. Moreover, Saudi Arabia has cut production in December to the lowest in 19 months, adding more momentum to an increasing oil price, while investors speculated a global economic recovery would boost fuel demand.

Kuwait Kuwaiti dinar at 0.28130 The USDKWD opened at 0.28130 yesterday morning.

Warba Bank draw to win one of 12 Mini Coopers on Jan 17 at 360 Mall KUWAIT: Warba Bank, the most recently opened Islamic bank in Kuwait, yesterday announced the date for the grand closing ceremony of “La t7aty” campaign, where 12 lucky customers will win a new Mini Cooper each at a special ceremony organised by the bank at 360 Mall. The draw will take place on Thursday 17th January 2013 at 7:00 pm. The ceremony, which will commence at 2:00 pm till 9:00 pm, will witness many fun activities, competitions, and question and answer sessions with gifts for the participants.

The distinctive campaign that was recently launched by the bank received a very positive response from customers. It gave customers who transferred their salaries during the “La T7ty” campaign period an opportunity to qualify for a draw on 12 Mini Coopers.

Commenting on the occasion, Adnan Salman Al-Salem, Chief Retail Banking Officer of Warba Bank, said: “This campaign comes to attract customers and encourage them to transfer their salaries to Warba in order to experience the quality products and services, as well as the unique and fast account opening service, introduced by Warba Bank in the local market. La T7aty campaign will provide special gifts; it is the first of its kind to gift 12 Mini Coopers at the same time.”

“This campaign received a very good response from customers, which reflects customer’s awareness of the added value features we provide in the local market,” added Adnan.

The closing ceremony for the campaign is the first of its kind, where 12 winners will get the Mini Coopers all at the same time at 2 pm at 360 Mall.

Many activities and valuable gifts will be presented as participants come together to share the success of this campaign, which was launched last year on 23rd September 2012. The event will also be broadcasted live on Al Rai TV. Warba bank is a prime Islamic institution that offers an array of Sharia-compliant quality products and services to its customers. Adnan Salem indicated that: “The salary transferring campaign, which will conclude on 17th January, is in line with our main goal of giving our customers added value and privileges, while sparing no effort to serve their needs efficiently and transparently.”

Moreover, Warba Bank is grateful to Ali Alghanim & Sons Automotive Co., the exclusive distributor and agency for BMW, MINI, Rolls Royce in Kuwait, and Al Rai Media Group for sponsoring and participating in the closing ceremony.

Customers can learn more about ‘La T7aty’ and the bank’s multiple services by visiting Warba Bank or calling 182-5555.

Warba Bank, an Islamic bank established by virtue of Amiri Decree, was officially registered in the Central Bank of Kuwait’s list of Islamic banks on the 5th of April, 2010. The state of Kuwait, represented by Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA), owns 24% shares of the bank while the remaining 76% of shares, fully subscribed by the government, have been equally allocated among all Kuwaiti nationals. Warba Bank offers a range of customized Sharia-compliant services and solutions which are available through the banks three divisions of Retail, Investment and Corporate Bank ing.

Branching out in four strategic locations, Warba Bank has over 150 employees.

MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 2013

BUSINESS

Nissan Al-Babtain puts 2013 Nissan 370Z pricing style Performance and power within your reach KUWAIT: Abdulmohsen Abdulaziz Al-Babtain Company, the dealer of Nissan in Kuwait announced revised pricing for the 370Z Coupe and 370 Roadster, putting it within the reach of even more enthusiasts. The choice of connoisseurs for generations with its blend of great handling, performance and agility, the 2013model year 370Z range will start from a very accessible KD10,999.The significant adjustment in 370Z’sretail price is perfectly timed to take advantage of the growth in the

spor tscar segment which saw sales rise by20% in 2012 in the Gulf Region.

The Nissan 370Z is famous for its blend of style and driver appeal, in keeping with its iconic ‘Z’ DNA. This award winning sports car has always led the class in performance terms, now its price gives it even greater appeal.

Combined with its fresh innovations for the 2013 model year, the excitement of owning a 370Z is open to a broader audience.

The 2013 Nissan 370Z offers an unmatched

balance of performance, style, and technology, and further benefits from a refreshed front fascia with vertical LED daytime running lights.

Equipped with a 328-horsepower 3.7-litre engine, choice of 7-speed automatic transmission or close-ratio 6-speed manual with available SynchroRev Match, the list of cutting edge technology also includes 4-wheel vented disc brakes. Other available technology features include an advanced Nissan Hard Drive Navigation System, RearView Monitor,

Bluetooth(r) Hands-free Phone System and standard Nissan Intelligent Key(r).

Enhancements for the 2013 model year 370Z Coupe include a new 19-inch wheel design and two exciting new colors - Magma Red and Midnight Blue.

Abdul-Mohsen Abdul-Aziz Al-Babtain Company as the authorized dealer of Nissan Motor Co, Ltd in Kuwait has been honored by Nissan Motor Company which recently granted Al- Babtain as “Best agent for Nissan” for

2011. It has been awarded this prize in recognition of outstanding performance at the level of sales, marketing, after-sales service, spare parts and customer service, within the overall performance of agents all over the world. Abdul Mohsen Abdul-Aziz Al-Babtain comes as the oldest distributor of Nissan cars outside Japan, and it is one of the leading companies in various sectors of activities spanning from the United States all the way to the Far East.

Nikon launches digital SLR camera D5200

KUWAIT: (Left to right) Aly Shalaby, General Manager of Consumer Banking Group and Fawzy Al-Thunayan, General Manager of Board Affairs at Gulf Bank during the announcement of the Al-Danah millionaire.

Crowds during the Al-Danah millionaire draw.

Gulf Bank announces Salama Mutlaq Rahaili as Al-Danah 2012 millionaire KUWAIT: Gulf Bank has announced Salama Mohammad Mutlaq Al-Rahaili as the Al-Danah millionaire of 2012. The draw for the winner was the highlight of a special Al-Danah millionaire event at The Avenues Mall on 10 January, held under the supervision of a Ministry of Commerce representative.

Marina FM hosts Khaled Al-Ansari and Ossama Fouda opened the event at 7pm, conducting a quick fire question and answer session with the crowd about the Bank, rewarding correct answers with vouchers with values ranging between KD500 to KD1000 to spend at any X-cite store or Safat Home in Kuwait. During the evening, Hadeel Al-Fadhli and Khaled Al-Otaibi from Gulf

Bank’s External Relations department engaged with the audience, helping to raise excitement and anticipation for the Al-Danah millionaire announcement.

The Bank also included a special Gulf Bank Al Danah booth at the event so that people could enquire about Al Danah and register their names for the on-the-spot prizes.

Gulf Bank unveiled new draws for the AlDanah line-up in 2013, increasing customers’ chances to become winners. From 13 January, Al-Danah draws will be made daily and two customers per working day will each win KD1000. Quarterly draws for the major prizes will continue, the first on 28 March, will include two new cash prizes of KD200,000 and

Free Quattro offer on all Chevrolet vehicles Yusuf A Alghanim & Sons Automotive campaign KUWAIT: Yusuf A Alghanim & Sons Automotive, the sole distributor of Chevrolet vehicles in Kuwait, is pleased to announce the launch of its Quattro offer campaign featuring all the line-up of Chevrolet vehicles. For a limited period customers will be entitled to 3 year/60,000 KM comprehensive service package, Window Film with

warranty for 5 years as well as free registration and third party insurance upon the purchase of any Chevrolet vehicle.

The All-New 2013 Trailblazer is a Powerful, capable and spaciousness SUV which is available in two and four-wheeldrive configurations and is powered by a 3.6L, V6 with variable valve timing matched with a six speed automatic transmission.

The Seven-passenger interior offers intuitive three- row tumble and/or fold flat seat versatility and best-in-class spaciousness in the third row. The All-New 2013 Trailblazer is also equipped with an array of safety features which includes electronic stability control, Anti-lock braking system, Hydraulic brake assist, traction control and hill descent control to deliver the best safety package for customers.

For those looking for a chic and modern vehicle, the All-New 2013 Chevrolet Malibu redefines the mid-size vehicle segment with expressive styling ,a refined and luxurious interior ,outstanding ride and a 5-star safety rating. The Chevrolet Malibu is available in four and six cylinder engines and is equipped with ambient lighting, 7’’ color touchscreen, USB & Bluetooth, remote engine starter, smart key and push start, sunroof, chrome trim, 18’’ alloy wheels and offers the quietest, smoothest ride in its segment.

Speed-loving adrenaline seekers should not look further than the stunning Chevrolet Camaro. The Camaro is available in two engines variants, a powerful 6.2 L V8 automatic transmission that pumps out 426 HP and an impressive 3.6 L direct injection V6 engine that sports a 6-speed automatic transmission that pumps out an amazing 312 HP. Yusuf A.Alghanim & Sons Automotive adds the finishing touch to the ownership experience with high-quality after-sale services. With the world’s biggest and most advanced automotive service center, customers service and maintenance needs will be taken care of.

Choose any Chevrolet vehicle and you are guaranteed to enjoy a car that suits your lifestyle and needs. Grab this offer that is available for a limited period and pass by the any of Yusuf A Alghanim & Sons Automotive showrooms to drive off in the Chevrolet vehicle that suits your needs today.

KD25,000 in addition to KD125,000. The second quarterly draw for cash prizes of KD25,000, KD125,000 and KD250,000 will be held on 27 June, and the third quarterly draw will be on 26 September for prizes of KD25,000, KD125,000 and KD500,000. The final draw will be on 9 January 2014 and will be for cash prizes of KD50,000, KD250,000, as well as announcing the Al-Danah millionaire for 2013, who will receive KD1 million.

The highlight of the event, the draw and announcement of the winner of the KD1 million, was made ‘live’ on stage and confirmed by Fawzy Al-Thunayan, General Manager of Board Affairs at Gulf Bank and Aly Shalaby, General Manager of Consumer Banking Group, who

personally signed the winner’s cheque.

Ten weekly winners of KD1000 were also drawn and their names announced during the event. The whole evening was live streamed through Gulf Bank’s website, making the Bank the first in Kuwait to offer this service to its customers.

Gulf Bank’s Al-Danah account offers a number of unique services, including the AlDanah Deposit Only ATM card, and an AlDanah online calculator to help customers calculate their chances of becoming an AlDanah winner. Every Al-Danah account holder with KD200 or more in their account on the closing date of each Al-Danah draw is eligible to win and is automatically entered.

Al-Jothen Gallery joins ABK Advantage KUWAIT: Two years ago Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait created its ABK Advantage Program that offers the latest deals and promotions at various retail outlets to its loyal customers.

ABK is now proud to announce a new alliance with Al-Jothen Gallery. Al-Jothen Gallery is a unique beauty showroom concept that caters a huge variety of professional head to toe beauty products ranging from hair care, skin care, nail care, perfumery to cosmetics, along with related accessories and electrical appliances. Our cardholders will be offered up to 15% discount if they use their ABK cards for purchases at the AlJothen Gallery outlets. Stewart Lockie, General Manager, Retail Banking Division at ABK explained that, “It is with great pleasure that we

have an alliance with such a prestigious company. Al-Jothen joining our directory as part of the ABK Advantage Program is a great way to reward our customers on their purchased items.”

Lockie further elaborated, “Al-Jothen Gallery joins a wide and varied selection of companies that are part of the ABK Advantage Program.

Many companies offer our customers up to a massive 45% discount on their purchases if they use their ABK cards as the preferred choice of payment. Hotels and resorts, fashion, jewelry and watches, furniture, restaurants and cafes, health and beauty, gifts and services, lifestyle and so much more are all offered at discounted prices but only to ABK customers. That’s a great advantage to banking with ABK! “

Burgan Bank announces winners of Yawmi Account KUWAIT: Burgan Bank announced yesterday the names of the five lucky winners of its Yawmi account draw, each taking home a prize of KD 5,000.

The lucky winners for the daily draws took home a cash-prize of KD 5000 each, and they are: 1. Faten Farouq Najem Aldin Al-Naqeeb 2. Irina Arevalo 3. Ahmed Mahboob Al-Amer 4. Sharifah Yousef Bin Yousef Alkharji 5. Ibrahim Dhaher Fhaid Alrasheedi The newly re-launched Yawmi Account is better, easier and faster than any day before.

With its new and enhanced features, the Yawmi Account has become more convenient, easier, and faster for customers to benefit from. Now, customers will be eligible to enter the draw after 48 hours only from opening the account. Customers are also required to deposit KD 100 or equivalent only to enter the daily draw, and the coupon value to enter the

draw stands at KD 10. The newly designed Yawmi account has been launched to provide a highly innovative offering along with a higher frequency and incentive of winning for everyone. Today, the Yawmi account is a well understood product, where its popularity can be seen from the number of increasing account holders.

Burgan Bank encourages everyone to open a Yawmi account and/or increase their deposit to maximize their chances to becoming a daily winner. The more customers deposit, the higher the chances they receive of winning the draw.

Opening a Yawmi account is simple, customers are urged to visit their nearest Burgan Bank branch and receive all the details, or simply call the bank’s Call Center at 1804080 where customer service representatives will be delighted to assist with any questions on the Yawmi account or any of the bank’s products and services.

TOKYO: Nikon Corporation is pleased to announce the release of the Nikon D5200. This camera is equipped with a new Nikon DXformat CMOS sensor with an effective pixel count of 24.1-million pixels and an image-processing engine equivalent to EXPEED 3 built into the D4 flagship camera. It offers the superior basic performance needed for full-scale photography in a compact and lightweight body.

The D5200 offers the same side-hinged vari-angle monitor as the D5100 that enables flexible shooting from any angle, high or low, making even self portraits possible. It is an entry-level model that meets photo enthusiasts’ demands for full-scale photography capabilities with its new Nikon DX-format CMOS sensor with an effective pixel count of approximately 24-million pixels as well as an image-processing engine equivalent to EXPEED 3 built into high-end Nikon D4, D800, D800E, and D600 digital SLR cameras for superior resolution, and image quality with very little noise at high sensitivities.

The standard range of sensitivities covers a broad range of ISO 100 to ISO 6400, with support for additional expansion to equivalents up to ISO 25600 (Hi 2). It also offers the most focus points available in its class-39-for fast and reliable focus acquisition and tracking. The Scene Recognition System, made possible with the same 2,016-pixel RGB sensor found in high-end Nikon cameras, more accurately analyzes scene brightness and color information, which is then reflected in autofocus, automaticexposure, i-TTL balanced fill-flash, and auto white-balance control.

The D-Movie function supports recording of full-HD 1920 x 1080 60i/50i movies for sharp HD movies exhibiting excellent detail. The D5200 is also equipped with Special Effects mode that enables the application and adjustment of special effects with shooting. Combining a variety of effects with a vari-angle LCD monitor that enables shooting from a wide range of angles significantly broadens imaging expression possibilities with both still image and movie recording.

What’s more, the D5200 is compatible with the Wireless Mobile Adapter WU-1a and the new Wireless Remote Controller WRR10/WR-T10 (both available separately) for collaboration with smart devices and more possibilities for remote control over the camera, making the D5200 more convenient than its predecessor. When the WU-1a is connected to the camera, images can be transferred to a smart device, such as a smart phone or tablet*, and the smart device can also be used to control camera shooting remotely. In addition, the new WR-R10 (transceiver) and WR-T10 (transmitter) enable remote control over the camera from greater distances and broader angles than are possible with infrared remote controls for simple and convenient remote control even through obstacles. The WR-T10 can be used to control the camera to which the WR-R10 is connected. However, it can also control multiple cameras to which WR-R10s have been connected, enabling smooth remote control over a number of cameras.

Al-Tijari announces winners of daily draw with Najma Account KUWAIT: Commercial Bank of Kuwait held the Al-Najma account daily draw yesterday. The draw was held under the supervision of the Ministry of Commerce & Industry represented by Saquer Al-Manaie.

The winners of the Najma daily draw are: Sughra Haji Mohammed — KD 7000, Mabrokah Saad Ali Hussin— KD 7000, Saadiah Mustafa Amish— KD 7000, Awad Said Mohammed Beqref— KD 7000, Gul Rahman Mohammed Zaman— KD 7000.

The Commercial Bank of Kuwait announces the biggest daily draw in Kuwait with the launch of the new Najma account. Customers of the bank can now enjoy a KD 7,000 daily prize which is the highest in the country and another 4 mega prizes during the year worth KD 100,000 each on different occasions: The National Day, Eid Al-Fitr, Eid AlAdha and on the 19th of June which is the date of the bank’s establishment.

With a minimum balance of KD 500, customers will be eligible for the daily draw provided that the money is in the account one week prior to the daily draw or 2 months prior to the mega draw. In addition, for each KD 25 a customer can get one chance for winning instead of KD 50.

Commercial Bank of Kuwait takes this opportunity to congratulate all lucky winners and also extends appreciation to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry for their effective supervision of the draws which were conducted in an orderly and organized manner.

MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 2013

technology

Microsoft may have exited gadget show prematurely LAS VEGAS: Microsoft may have relinquished its starring role in America’s gaudiest gadget show a year too early.

After 13 straight years in the spotlight, Microsoft’s decision to scale back its presence at this week’s International CES deprived the software maker of a prime opportunity to explain and promote a new generation of redesigned computers running its radically remade Windows operating system. The missed chance comes at a time when Microsoft Corp could use a bully pulpit to counter perceptions that Windows 8 isn’t compelling enough to turn the technological tide away from smart phones and tablets running software made

by Apple Inc. and Google Inc. “They needed to be at this show in a very big way to show the progress they have made and what is it about 2013 that is going to make consumers really gravitate toward a Windows 8 machine,” said technology industry analyst Patrick Moorhead.

Since Windows 8 went on sale in late October, there has been little evidence to suggest the operating system will lift the personal computer industry out of a deepening downturn. Worldwide PC shipments during the final three months of last year dropped 6 percent from the same period in 2011, according to the research firm International Data Corp. The dip occurred despite the bevy of Windows 8 laptops and desktop machines that were on sale during the holiday shopping season.

Microsoft, though, insists things worked out at just fine during CES, even though it didn’t have a booth and only had a smattering of executives at the sprawling trade show, which drew some 156,000 people to Las Vegas. The company, which is based in Redmond, Wash., decided it no longer makes sense to invest as much time and money in CES as it once did. The company

says the show’s early January slot doesn’t mesh with the timing of its major product releases. Windows 8, for instance, was still more than nine months away from hitting the market when Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer kicked off last year’s CES with a keynote address that was billed as the company’s swan song at the show.

“We are very comfortable with our decision,” Microsoft spokesman Frank Shaw said. “It has been a productive show for us this year.” Microsoft’s retreat from CES puzzled some attendees curious about Windows 8. For instance, when Michael Sullivan showed up at computer maker Asus’ booth, which was stocked with Windows 8 computers, there was no one around to discuss the machines or the software. “This is unusual,” said Sullivan, CEO of computer sales firm Spec 4 International Inc. “I don’t understand why a successful company isn’t bringing executives here.”

Asus invited some CES attendees to learn more about Windows 8 at a nearby hotel, away from the show’s main trade show. Asus has left its booth unmanned in previous years at CES, but the void wasn’t as noticeable when Microsoft’s own representatives were canvassing the floor.

NPD Display Search analyst Richard Shim thought Microsoft should have had more people helping to staff its partners’ booths because, he said, no one understands how Windows 8 works better than the company that made it.

“Whenever you have a new product rolling out, it’s always helpful to communicate your message directly as opposed to counting on your partners,” Shim said.

Microsoft elected to curtail its CES presence largely because the show’s marketing value has diminished. In recent years, companies such as Apple and Google have shown that they can command more atten-

tion by holding their own exclusive events to unveil products just before they go on sale. Neither Apple nor Google had a major presence at CES. In a sign that it is embracing its rivals’ strategy, Microsoft staged separate events last year in Los Angeles and New York to unveil Surface, a Windows-powered tablet computer, and Windows 8.

Nevertheless, both Shim and Moorhead believe would have been better off waiting until after this year’s CES to surrender its top billing on the marquee. That way, Ballmer could have used this year’s opening CES keynote to talk about Windows 8’s advantages as a finished product.

“Ballmer could have talked about the operating system more completely and built more hype around it, especially since Microsoft has been getting beaten up so far over Windows 8’s performance,” Shim said. When Ballmer ended Microsoft’s 13year streak of kicking off CES, he was only able to provide a peek at a makeover of the operating system that was still months away from being completed.

Microsoft touts Windows 8 as a breakthrough that will enable people to straddle the divide between personal computers and tablets. The revamped operating system is built to respond to the touch of a finger so it can work on tablet computers while still retaining the ability to respond to commands from keyboards and mice on laptop and desktop machines. To take advantage of Windows 8’s versatility, many PC makers are building convertible devices that can work as a tablet or a laptop.

But reviews of the new operating system have been lukewarm. Critics have been panning it as too confusing and cumbersome. Microsoft used part of a CES technology forum presented by J.P. Morgan to try to build more enthusiasm. The company

LAS VEGAS: A convention attendee stands in the giant frame of a Samsung mobile device at the International CES in Las Vegas earlier last week. — AP revealed that 60 million copies of Windows 8 have been sold so far, putting it on the same pace as the previous version Windows 7 - at the same juncture of its release. But it’s unclear how many of those Windows 8 licenses are installed on computers that are still sitting in stores or warehouses. Investors have been so unimpressed with the reception to the new Windows products that Microsoft’s stock price has slipped 4 percent since the operating system’s Oct. 26 release. Meanwhile, the bellwether Standard & Poor’s 500 index has gained 4 percent. Microsoft’s stock closed Friday at $26.83, up 37 cents.

A clearer picture of the early reception to Windows 8 may emerge Jan. 24 when Microsoft is scheduled to report its earnings for the three months spanning the holiday shopping season. Although he

wasn’t the main attraction, Ballmer made a cameo appearance during Qualcomm Inc. CEO Paul Jacobs’ opening address at this year’s show. Ballmer’s acceptance of Qualcomm’s invitation to join Jacobs on stage surprised some people because Qualcomm has emerged as a threat to Intel Corp., a longtime Microsoft ally that makes most of the processors in Windows computers. Instead of touting Windows 8, Ballmer spent his time hailing a streamlined version of the operating system, dubbed Windows RT, which runs on tablets using processors that rely on technology designed by ARM, another Intel rival.

Microsoft’s top executive in charge of technical strategy appeared on stage at Samsung Electronics’ invitation to reveal a Windows phone featuring a flexible color display. The electronics of the phone are in a little box, and the thin, bendable screen is attached to it, looking much like a piece of paper. That left Intel and other Microsoft partners, including PC makers Samsung, Sony, Asus, Acer and Hewlett-Packard Co., to do most of the boasting about Windows 8 at their own CES booths.

“Our partners are doing that very effectively,” Shaw said. “You couldn’t walk through the (CES) floor without seeing people doing really interesting things with Windows 8.” But there were other times when it appeared Microsoft’s partners could have used some help.

Sony exhibitor John Guzman, for instance, seemed stumped when an Associated Press reporter visited the company’s CES booth and asked whether a machine running Windows 8 or the more advanced Windows 8 Pro would be a better fit for journalistic work. “That is more of a Microsoft question,” Guzman said, adding that no Microsoft representatives were around. — AP

Women pry open door to video game industry Social and media boom helps women enter ‘boys’ club’

From Italy with Luxe Maserati tempts US drivers with new sedan MILAN: When rap legend Eminem took a Chrysler sedan for a crawl through dark Detroit streets in a landmark 2011 TV commercial, the car he drove was defiantly “Imported from Detroit.” In 2013, with Chrysler back in the black, its Italian parent, Fiat SpA, is trumpeting another new car - one that rockets from 0 to 60 miles per hour in under 5 seconds and is decidedly “Imported from Italy.” Fiat’s luxury brand, Maserati, will unveil a newly redesigned Quattroporte sedan at the Detroit auto show, which began yesterday.

The contrast between the Quattroporte and Eminem’s Chrysler sedan is apt. While it was U.S. factory workers who benefited from Chrysler’s Fiat-led resurgence since 2009, this year it will be employees at Fiat’s money-losing Italian plants watching to see if the Turin-made Maseratis will be able to increase the company’s tiny US market share.

To move into bigger volumes, Maserati must pry buyers away from German and British luxury competitors - a tough challenge given that many US consumers have heard little about the brand in recent years.

Worldwide, Maserati wants to increase annual sales from about 5,000 cars at present to 50,000 in 2015 with the help of a smaller, less expensive “entry-level” Ghibli model due out later this year and the Levante SUV in 2014. The redesigned Quattroporte begins arriving at European dealers next month and in the United States in June.

Maserati has yet to announce a price tag for the Quattroporte in the US market. In Europe, it will sell for between 100,000 and 150,000 euros ($132,100 to $198,200).

Maserati launched the original Quattroporte in Italy in 1963.

“Even if you take it as a given that the new car is a valid competitor for BMW and Audi, it’s not clear how Maserati plans to step up from 5,000 cars it sells now to the 50,000 they are targeting in 2015,” said UBS analyst Philippe Houchois. “What’s missing is an indication of their marketing and distribution strategy.” Fiat says it will increase Maserati dealerships worldwide to 425 by 2015 from 250 at the end of 2012. Fiat is spending $1.6 billion between now and 2014 on product development and a new factory in Italy to build this hoped-for increase in sales for the three new models.

Building up Maserati volume is a key piece of Fiat’s latest strategy to stem losses in Europe. With European car sales likely to shrink for a sixth year in a row in 2013, massmarket car makers have been cutting capacity, as did their US counterparts back in 2009.

Rather than shut another factory, FiatChrysler Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne’s plan is to sell more Maserati, Alfa Romeo, Jeep and Fiat 500 cars in expanding markets such as the United States in order to return Fiat’s money-losing operations to profit in Europe in 2015 and keep Italian workers in their jobs.

Marchionne’s ambitious plan - which he admits is “not for the faint-hearted” - sent the stock tumbling after it was unveiled on Oct. 30 on concerns about whether Fiat has the ability and sufficient cash to execute it.

Luxury brands are important to car makers because they are more profitable than massmarket ones. Fiat’s Maserati and Ferrari brands combined sold about 10,000 cars globally in the first nine months of 2012, contributing 9.5 percent of Fiat’s total earnings before interest and tax of 2.77 billion euros ($3.66 billion). Fiat said it earns a trading profit of 6.6 percent on each Maserati it sells, while it loses money on its mass-market brands in Europe.

Maserati aims to sell 7,000 to 8,000 of the new Quattroporte worldwide in 2013, and between 13,000 and 15,000 when the full range is available. By way of comparison, Jaguar sold 12,011 cars in the United States alone last year, Porsche about 35,000, and Maserati sold 2,730.

While Fiat’s previous attempts to build the Maserati and Alfa Romeo brands have fallen flat, Maserati CEO Harald Wester asserted at the Quattroporte launch last month that the pieces are in place this time. “If I look back at 2005, the situation was difficult,” he said. “We had quality issues at the time. We have no quality issues at this point.”

Another difference is the partnership with Chrysler, which enables Fiat to save millions on development costs. Maserati can piggyback on Chrysler’s dealer network. It can share platforms, cutting down on development costs. The Levante SUV could be built on a Jeep platform, while the Quattroporte shares underpinnings with the Chrysler 300.

That means the biggest challenge for Maserati will be to carve out its niche in a crowded field. Some reviewers have referred to the Quattroporte as a “four-door Ferrari” because of its speed, although it sells for tens of thousands of dollars less. Maserati will need to sharpen its brand focus and then use the dealer network to make a statement as it did with the Fiat 500, said Stephen Wunker, managing director of consultancy New Markets Advisors.

“One thing that the Fiat 500 experience has shown is how important it is to tailor your outlet to the product,” said Wunker. “The downside is that it’s costly and slow to get traction.” — Reuters

SAN FRANCISCO: When video game developer Brenda Brathwaite Romero started her career in the 1980s, she could count the number of female developers in the industry on one hand.

Today, many “Women in Games” roundtables she attends are filled to capacity with new faces.

The 46-year-old, sometimes referred to as the longest-serving woman in the video game arena, jokes that these days one can even encounter long lines for the ladies’ room at the Game Developers Conference, one of the industry’s largest gatherings.

“Over the years, greatly helped by the social and mobile boom, there have been many, many women coming into game development,” Brathwaite Romero said. With women comprising just over 1 in 10 in the video game workforce, the industry has a reputation for being among the most testosterone-fueled of the traditionally male-dominated technology sector. But thanks to the mobile revolution, industry executives say that’s changing.

With smart phones going mainstream and delivering gaming to a new, broader population, publishers and developers are keen to tap an audience beyond young males. And, not surprisingly, as women have explored a growing range of mobile games on Facebook or other platforms, they have discovered the allure of working in the industry. The number of women hired by game companies has tripled since 2009, according to recruiting firm VonChurch, based on over 350 placements it has made in digital gaming firms like CrowdStar and GREE. In 1989, when veteran games designer Sheri Graner Ray started out, women made up less than 3 percent of the workforce. That’s now up to 11 percent. “In 20 years, it’s not a lot of growth,” said Graner Ray, who has worked at leading companies like Electronic Arts and Sony Online Entertainment. But she agrees that number will rise as more women assert themselves in the industry, educational programs take hold, and mobile games continue to flourish.

Some of the first engineers at mobile games maker Pocket Gems were women, and though that wasn’t intentional when the company was founded in 2009, it proved instrumental to success, said Chief Executive Ben Liu. Pocket Gems, best known as a maker of familyfriendly mobile games like its popular “Tap” series, recently launched “Campus Life”, where players can build and run a college sorority, to target a female audience. “I’ve worked at other, different game companies and I’ve been on floors where

it’s only guys,” Liu said. “Our aspiration is to create games that are mass market and accessible to all people, and having that representative base of employees helps us keep true to that.” Gaming still conjures up images of young men glued to flickering screens for hours on end, fueled by energy drinks and waging online battles unto death in such “shooters” as “Call of Duty” or tactical war games like “Starcraft.”

But the advent of affordable smart phones and tablets and the burgeoning world of social media has drawn in a whole new world of gamers.

Individuals who had never been tempted to plunk down hundreds of dollars to buy a gaming console found themselves enticed by a whole new genre of games. These days, gaming might just as easily mean launching attacks on pigs in “Angry Birds” or slicing produce with swiping motions in “Fruit Ninja”-games that have mass appeal. “Mobile is still the Wild West and it’s founded on this idea of inclusion, because everyone has these mobile devices and everyone wants to play,” said game content designer Elizabeth Sampat, who works at social game company Storm8. That’s partly why more than half of America’s social and mobile gamers are women, according to research firm EEDAR, while they comprise just 30 percent of those who play hardcore violent games like Microsoft’s “Halo 4” on game consoles.

Erin McCarty, 24, grew up playing such fare.

She went to engineering school at Carnegie

Mellon University, with a goal toward working in the video game industry. Today she’s the only female engineer in a seven-member team crafting multiplayer-shooter game “Realm of the Mad God” at social and mobile game company Kabam that targets male gamers.

But far from feeling different, McCarty considers herself just another coder at Kabam, where women make up just a fifth of the payroll. “I’m around guys a lot and they are always people that I’m happy to work with,” McCarty said. Brathwaite Romero recalls how her male coworkers on the team that created the mature-rated “Playboy: The Mansion” game with nude characters that was published in 2005, were wholly professional.

“I’ve fortunately not experienced the level of misogyny that I’ve heard other people experience,” Brathwaite Romero said.

“Some of the debauchery that was evident in the early days of the industry, like meetings at strip clubs, having strippers at your party, that sort of stuff has gone down way, way down from where it used to be.” That’s not to say the industry doesn’t have a ways to go. First, there’s a 27 percent gap in average incomes, with women making $68,062 versus men at $86,418, according to Game Developer Magazine’s 2011 annual salary survey. Women in the game industry are underrepresented in software engineering and top-level management, reflecting a similar trend in the broader technology sector, industry executives say. — Reuters

Kaspersky announces security update for Linux Mail Server DUBAI: Kaspersky Lab announced a key update for Kaspersky Security for Linux Mail Server, the corporate solution for Linux and FreeBSD mail server protection. The enhancedproduct includes innovative technologies to protect corporate users against spam and malware spread by email. Features and Improvements. ● New innovative Zero-day, Exploits and Targeted Attacks Shield (ZETA Shield) technology protects computers against unknown malware, exploits and advanced persistent threats ● New Enforced Anti-Spam Updates Service technology uses push technology directly from the Kaspersky cloud to deliver real-time updates ● New cloud-assisted Content Reputation Filtering technology combats unknown spam to enhance the spam capture rate and reduce the number of

false positives ● Kaspersky Security Network (KSN) support provides additional protection against the very latest spam ● New Format Recognizer feature can filter attachments based on file type, name and message size ● Improved blacklist and white list support: in addition to creating corporate blacklists or white lists, administrators can manage ìallowedî or ìdeniedî senders, while users can also create their own lists ● Integration with most popular MTAs (Postfix, Sendmail, Exim, qmail and CommunigatePro) ● New module licensing feature allows companies to choose between anti-spam protection, anti-malware protection or a complex solution.

Download white paper Today, targeted attacks on compa-

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Thanks to its innovative ZETA Shield technology, Kaspersky Linux Mail Security is able to detect and block emails containing malicious exploits, including new and unknown ones. One distinct feature of spamrelated cybercrime is the ìhit and runî nature of most attacks: roughly half of any spam assault is delivered inside the first 10 minutes.

The new EASUS technology delivers the most important parts of every anti-spam database update in real time, so Kaspersky Security for Linux Mail Server is able to react to new

spam quickly and efficiently.

Content Reputation Filtering, a new Kaspersky Lab technology, fragments email content, then analyses and compares these fragments with known samples of unwanted email using Kaspersky Labís cloud technologies. As well as increasing thedetection level of new spam and malicious messages, Content Reputation Filtering reduces the number of false positives.

Flexible Licensing Depending on its needs, a company can choose one of three licenses for Kaspersky Security for Linux Mail Server.

The first option includes anti-spam security, the second offers anti-malware protection and the third license provides complex mail server security against active cyber-threats.

MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 2013

H E A LT H & S C I E N C E

Beijing choked by third day of hazardous smog

MILWAUKEE: Stephanie Henderson, right, talks with her surgeon Dr Allan Roza, and Cami Meunier, RN, during a follow-up visit related to her kidney transplant at Froedtert Hospital. —MCT photos

Billboard seeking kidney launches chain of giving MILWAUKEE: Terry Dvorak heard about the billboard on US 41 — “Young Mother Needs Live Kidney Donor. Is It You?” Two words resonated: “young mother.” She had that in common with the patient seeking the kidney, Stephanie Henderson, an information technology worker from Kimberly, Wis. Dvorak kept thinking: This woman needs to be there for her kid.

Dvorak, a mother herself, would help this woman she’d never met.

She announced her intentions to her husband in a way that said, “This is not up for debate.” “She just told me she was going to donate a kidney,” Carl Dvorak recalled.

That’s when things got complicated. It turned out that Dvorak, 46, could not give her kidney to Henderson, much as she wanted to.

Tests showed they were not a match. In years past, that would have left Henderson stuck on the Froedtert Hospital kidney list, where the wait is between three and five years. This time, however, Dvorak’s offer of a kidney would set in motion a chain of gift-giving across the country. Her incompatible kidney allowed the hospital to use a relatively new strategy that is transforming organ transplantation.

On Nov. 28 a kidney from Maryland arrived at Froedtert. That afternoon Henderson, 38, was wheeled away for surgery. “See you on the flip side,” she told her hus-

all day long,” says Joe Sinacore, director of research and education at the registry’s office in Ramsey, NJ.This year the registry is on target to arrange 225 transplants, roughly the combined total of the three years from 2008 to 2010. The increase in transplants is helping reduce the time people wait for kidneys, and that in turn reduces national health-care costs. While they wait for transplants, many patients are forced onto hemodialysis. Three times a week for several hours each time they are connected to a machine that does what their kidneys can no longer do reliably: filter waste products from the blood. The annual cost of the sessions can reach $100,000 or more.

And some patients stay on dialysis year after year. By comparison, a transplant costs roughly $100,000.

Afterward patients also require medications to suppress their immune systems, an annual cost approaching $25,000. Health-care providers are saving money for kidney patients within a year and a half after a transplant, says Allan Roza, a transplant surgeon at Froedtert and professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Paired exchanges, as these kidney swaps are known, have gained popularity in the United States in recent years and have helped the nation’s kidney donation system function more efficiently.

MILWAUKEE: Stephanie Henderson talks with medical staff. band. In an effort to save lives and health-care costs, computers at the National Kidney Registry’s offices in Babylon, NY, Ramsey, NJ, and Chicago connect dozens of hospitals around the country representing hundreds of patients, in a neverending bid to link each person in need of a kidney to someone with a kidney to give.

The idea is that if Dvorak’s kidney doesn’t work for Henderson in Wisconsin, maybe it works for another patient at another hospital.

Maybe there is a California hospital with a patient who needs a kidney just like Dvorak’s. And maybe that hospital has someone who tried to donate to the local patient, but couldn’t-just like Dvorak.

Sometimes the best kidney for a patient in Wisconsin happens to be in California or somewhere else.

And if the hospital in California cannot directly help the hospital in Wisconsin, maybe it can help indirectly by sending a kidney to New Jersey or North Carolina to obtain another that will work for the Wisconsin patient. These chains can grow into massive feats of coordination. One involved 30 kidneys and 60 patients. “ The computer system goes crazy trying to make these matches

“ The concept started in Asia decades ago,” says Johnny C. Hong, who was recruited this year from the Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, to run newly reorganized transplant programs for Froedtert, Children’s Hospital and the Medical College. “Most of the countries in Asia don’t have a ‘brain dead law,’ so the only source (for kidneys) was live donors.” In the United States and other nations, doctors can harvest organs from people who have been declared brain dead provided the people have arranged to be organ donors or that their relatives give permission. Still, there are always fewer kidneys than needed.

Each year about 4,500 people like Stephanie Henderson die waiting for a kidney. “So we have a lot to do,” says Sinacore at the kidney registry.

The transplant at Froedtert Hospital on Nov 28 was not Henderson’s first. Headaches, blood in the urine and double vision led to her diagnosis of kidney failure in 1991. The following year she received a kidney from her mother at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. She was 17. Doctors said it was very likely she would need another transplant at some point in her life.

In late August 2004, Henderson’s kidney problems returned, and by June of 2005 she was on peritoneal dialysis, a less burdensome form of dialysis. In 2010, after her appendix ruptured, she was forced back onto hemodialysis. Twelve hours a week hooked up to a machine was something she did not need. Henderson was the family’s primary breadwinner. She was raising a teenage son, Traven.

She had half-assumed that her father would be her backup kidney donor if she ever needed one. But people who have received one transplant become much harder to match for another. Her antibodies, the defense against bacteria, viruses and other invaders, had changed after the first transplant. Her father’s kidney was no longer a match, and her antibodies posed a serious challenge for other potential donors. As Henderson put it: “I was the bully in the petri dish. When you put my blood in with their blood, my antibodies would just demolish their blood.”

In 2011, the billboard went up on the highway and www.FindStephAKidney.com went online. By then she had been on the kidney waiting list for seven years.

There had been moments of promise when a match seemed close, but she never let herself get sucked in by hope. “The only thing I ever really asked of God,” she said, “was, ‘Let me see my kid reach 18.’ “ When Johnny Hong arrived at Froedtert and the Medical College this year, no patient from the Milwaukee area had been involved in a kidney chain. Hong and the medical staff, in particular Chris Johnson, chief of transplant surgery, worked to change that by registering Milwaukee’s solid organ transplant program with the national registry. Joining the clearinghouse in May brought a swift payoff. Soon, a chain was assembling. Started by the altruistic donation of a kidney in California, the chain would link eight patients and four kidneys.

One kidney would be arriving in Milwaukee from Maryland; it would go to Stephanie Henderson.

Another would be leaving Milwaukee; Dvorak’s kidney matched a patient in California.

Behind this organ match making lay the complex logistics of scheduling flights, backup flights and couriers for the kidneys. Two different medical teams in two locations would have to coordinate the work on each kidney. The doctors removing the kidney and those receiving it would have to be in phone contact. Long before the surgery, Dvorak and the other donors had faced their own logistics, requests for medical histories, meetings with dietitians and interviews with social workers and transplant psychologists. Approval for donation seldom takes less than two months.

Cami Meunier, a 37-year-old nurse at Froedtert who serves as the transplant coordinator for the paired exchange program, had come to know Stephanie Henderson and Terry Dvorak. They were alike in some respects, reserved at first. Their lives had been in a holding pattern for months, at least as far as their kidneys are concerned. When Dvorak learned that, yes, after all of the monthly updates, the actual moment of donation had arrived, she felt a tremor of panic. A college theater student, she was directing per formances of “ The Best

Christmas Pageant Ever.” She could not miss it.

She directed per formances Friday and Saturday and arrived at Froedtert on Sunday. Her surgery on Monday was a few days after Henderson’s. Different doctors at Froedtert performed the surgeries.

Transplant surgeon Roza inspected the kidney that had come in for Henderson, trimmed away the excess tissue and readied the blood vessels that would need to be attached to those inside the patient.

He made the standard incision, about 8 to 10 inches long, in Henderson’s lower abdomen. Roza likes to have music in the surgery room, but he makes an exception for live organ transplants.

“I want absolutely no distractions,” he said. The surgery took around two hours. He followed the standard transplant procedure, leaving inside Henderson the old, failed kidneys. She would now have four, though only one would work.

Once the new kidney had been connected to the blood vessels, it began doing its job right away. The new kidney started making urine.

Although Roza has performed these surgeries many times, he felt as he always does. “I never lose the sense of awe and amazement that we’re able to do this,” he said. “Through the gifts of others, we’re able to save lives.”

The day after the surgery, Stephanie Henderson met Terry Dvorak for the first time. Even though they were links in a chain, not directly connected by blood or tissue, the moment was almost too much, too overwhelming.

Henderson did not know what to say beyond “ Thank you.” Words seemed inadequate. Her family added their own thanks, telling Dvorak that she was “an angel,” and that she was the reason Henderson would get to do so many things in years to come. Dvorak felt awkward.

“Angel” was not how she saw herself.

The two women hugged. They had run out of things to say. A few days later, on the morning of Dec 3, it was Dvorak’s turn to leave for surgery. Her husband was nervous.

“Don’t die,” he told her. She was delivered to the hands of Johnson, chief of transplant surgery at Froedtert and a veteran of about 500 such procedures. Asleep, Dvorak was tipped on her left side.

The procedure was laparoscopic, meaning that it required a relatively small incision, about three inches or so. When Johnson had removed the kidney, Dvorak’s remaining kidney began to ramp up, assuming a larger share of the work. Eventually the single kidney would go from doing about 50 percent of the work to 75 percent. She would never again have 100 percent of her kidney function.

Blood was flushed from the donated kidney and it was triplewrapped in plastic resembling a Ziploc bag. The bag was placed in a cooler and embedded in ice. Then a courier drove the cooler to the airport. It was on its way to the patient in California. A few days later the magnitude of what had happened finally hit the woman whose image had been plastered on a billboard above US 41, the woman with the new kidney. Stephanie Henderson was in her hospital room. From bed, she watched a woman walk gingerly along the hallway past her door.

Dvorak paused, glanced inside and greeted Henderson: “Hi.” —MCT

BEIJING: Beijing endured a third day of pollution at hazardous levels yesterday, as authorities warned that a thick cloud of smog may not lift from the Chinese capital until midweek. While those venturing outside wore face masks, dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei went one step further, posting pictures of himself on Twitter in a gas mask. As the dense smog shrouded large swathes of northern China, flights were cancelled and traffic delayed as visibility was reduced to 100 meters in some areas. The dangerously poor air quality was highlighted by a steady stream of news broadcasts on state television, many of which warned residents against venturing outside.

The pollution also provoked China’s huge number of microbloggers to take to the Internet, with some high-profile web-users calling for a re-evaluation of China’s rampant modernization. Rapid economic growth has led to a dramatic increase in the consumption of coal and clogged city streets with cars.

“The foreign media is laughing at us.

I agree with their laughter,” said Hu Xijin, the editor of the state-run Global Times newspaper on Weibo, China’s version of Twitter. “This is a warning to the Government and Beijing’s citizens.

We have to think about what kind of modernization we want and how to manage it.”

Hu said the pollution issue would be on the front page of his newspaper on Monday. Beijing-based Ai, 55, an outspoken critic of China’s communist government, posted three pictures of himself on Twitter standing against a white background wearing a gas mask, his beard frizzing out beneath. But he did not make any verbal comment. Beijing’s municipal environment warning centre issued its second alert in two days, warning people to avoid outdoor physical activity.

The centre also urged government

officials to set an example to other residents, by not using their cars. Air quality in Beijing showed small airborne particles with a diameter small enough to deeply penetrate the lungs at a reading as high as 993 micrograms per cubic meter on Saturday evening, the warning centre said. The World Health Organization says the figure for such particles, known as PM2.5, should ideally be no more than 25 micrograms per cubic meter.

High levels have been linked to health problems including respiratory disease, heart disease and lung cancer. A reading shown on the United States embassy website in Beijing was above 800 micrograms per cubic meter at the height of the pollution Saturday. But it was at 375 at 5pm yesterday (0900 GMT). Official PM2.5 figures have only been monitored in China’s major cities since the beginning of last year. The lack of official data makes it difficult to compare the recent smog with previous cases of pollution, said Ma Jun, director of the Beijing-based Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs.

“But it is interesting to see that residents have been warned about the dangers of pollution by official media,” Ma told AFP. “ This has never happened before, and is a result of the transparency that we now have with the figures.”

The pollution is expected to engulf Beijing until Wednesday before wind arrives to blow it away, according to a weather report from the meteorological station, Xinhua news agency said.

Ten flights had been cancelled and five delayed by more than an hour at Beijing Airport by 11am (0300 GMT) yesterday, the airport said. However, flights were departing on schedule by the afternoon. China’s air quality is among the worst in the world, international organizations say, citing massive coal consumption and car-choked city streets in the world’s biggest auto market. —AFP

MILWAUKEE: Stephanie Henderson talks with medical staff.

Swine flu kills second Jordanian in a week AMMAN: A Jordanian woman has died of swine flu in the second such death in a week, Health Minister Abdullatif Wreikat said yesterday.

“The woman, who was in her forties, was taken to hospital last Sunday, suffering from pneumonia,” Wreikat told the official news agency Petra.

“The woman was given necessar y treatment after tests showed H1N1 infec-

tion but she died on Friday,” he added.

In 2009, an epidemic of H1N1 swine flu erupted in Mexico and spread into a worldwide pandemic that caused at least 17,000 deaths.

The World Health Organisation declared it over in August 2010. On January 6, a 26-year-old man died of the virus, which has killed 25 people in Jordan in recent years. —AFP

INDIA: In this handout photograph from the Indian Presidential Palace, Indian President Pranab Mukherjee gives a child a polio vaccination during the launch of a round of nationwide vaccinations at the Presidential Palace in New Delhi yesterday.

The Indian government has spent USD 2 billion over the last 10-15 years on polio eradication efforts. —AFP

H E A LT H & S C I E N C E

MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 2013

Abdulhani lost 33kg with Lofat Juniors

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s many of us know, the battle to lose weight is not an easy one and has many obstacles to overcome. This was the case with Abdulhani, a 14 year old who has been suffering from obesity from the age of 13.

He decided one day to start taking control of his life and health, and with the support of both his parents and Lofat Junior he was able to shed an alarming 33 kg in less than a year!

Abdulhani is an inspiration to both teenagers and adults alike and he was kind enough to share his story with us in the interview below.

Q: How would you describe your health condition before you started your weight loss journey?

A: I used to get tired from exercises like walking and climbing up the stairs.

Q: What motivated you to make a change?

What keeps you motivated?

A: My parents were the main influence by being supportive and also my gratitude to the Lofat staff that helped me reach my goal.

Q: Do you mind if we ask how much you have lost?

A: Not at all, I lost 33 kilograms since I first joined which was last year.

Q: When did you become unhappy with your weight?

A: Since my childhood, I was only 13 years old at that time.

Q: How have you done it? What’s your secret?

A: By being patient and having a strong willpower and by being motivated from my dietitian ‘Alaa’ and by exercising.

Q: What made you decide to lose weight?

A: I felt that my shape and body did not match my age. This actually affected my selfconfidence especially when I used to go shopping; it was really difficult to find clothes that fitted my body. So I finally decided to change myself and start a new journey.

Q: How is your health after losing the weight?

A: I feel light and fit as I don’t feel tired anymore from exercising.

Q: Has your weight loss improved other areas of your life?

A: I gained my self-confidence and felt I can live my life according to my age and practice any activity without feeling shy or tired.

Q: What were the most important changes you made to lose weight?

A: Changing the quality of the food and reducing the portion size.

Q: What was most challenging about losing weight?

A: I didn’t face any obstacles during my journey with Lofat Juniors because I had a strong willpower and a true desire to reduce my weight.

Q: Why did you choose Lofat?

A: People that I knew recommended Lofat Juniors due to its great taste in food and quality as well and that was a motive for me to try out their products which are placed in supermarket fridges. So when I tasted their food, I was surprised because as we all know low calorie foods

are tasteless and do not have any flavor, but with Lofat it was totally different. Also, Lofat Group was the first diet company that introduced the Juniors program which is suitable for children between 6-16 years old. So I called them up and booked my first appointment.

Q: How long did it take you to start to see results?

A: I started observing a difference after 4-5 months.

Q: How long did it take for you to reach your current weight?

A: It took around a year.

Q: How long have you maintained your weight loss and how do you do it?

A: I started maintain my current weight right after I joined Lofat Juniors through exercise and being committed to the meals.

Q: How did Lofat help you reach your weight loss goals?

A: Through weekly follow-up consultations with my dietitian ‘Alaa Al Safei’. She encouraged and motivated me during the program by advising me on what to do which helped me to lose weight the healthy and safe way.

Q: Did you ever think you’d be where you are today?

A: I never thought I would reach this weight and shape ever in my life.

Q: What are your future goals?

A: To continue in the same path and reach my ideal weight.

Q: Do you have any advice for others who would like to lose weight?

A: Willpower, patience and hard work are the key of reaching an ideal weight. I advise everyone to join Lofat and you will feel the difference with your body. Good luck everyone.

MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 2013

W H AT ’ S O N

KromOzone sponsors GulfRun 8

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SEND US YOUR INSTAGRAM PICS

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

Greetings

You are an amazing friend, with a good heart. May God pour his love and warmth on you, in all walks of life. I wish you a very happy birthday.

From, Ate Marlyn and kids.

Announcements

Shirva feast

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Kuwait’s exclusive event for motorsports

romOzone, one of Yusuf Ahmed Alghanim & Sons Autmotive’s subsidiaries, has long been an enthusiastic supporter of the youth, especially in the world of fast-paced cars. Due to its keenness on advocating Kuwaiti youth’s hobbies and talents, especially ones that merge the road with unique rides, KromOzone took the opportunity to participate in GulfRun 8’s event that was held in 360 Mall on the sixth ring road on the 10th and 11th of January. KromOzone’s participation in this highly anticipated event was in the form of the eye-grabbing Chevrolet Camaro, an orange and black stunner that attracted many passersby with its unique accessories. KromOzone’s participation went beyond the real world and into the digital realm with a fun and engaging contest that was held on social media channels, providing everyone with a chance to enjoy the opportunity to win exciting prizes.

Till this day, the Camaro is regarded as one of the legends in the automotive world and has been on the minds and in the hearts of the youth who lean toward fast, sleek sports cars. Yusuf Ahmed Alghanim & Sons Automotive, the exclusive distributor of Chevrolet vehicles in Kuwait, offers the new Chevrolet Camaro that is equipped with a V8 6.2-liter engines that run on 426 hp. In addition, the Camaro can be further enhanced with unique accessories including tinted windows, rally stripes, xenon

headlights and other additions that will make one’s accessorized Camaro truly unique. KromOzone is one of the largest and most famous centers in Kuwait that is specialized in accessorizing all car makes.

The center offers customers a wide range of accessorizing options including rims, electronics, headlights, sound systems, bumpers and grills, body paint and much more high quality, innovative accessorizing

options for cars’ interior and exterior. Due to its excellent service and products, KromOzone is considered as the ideal location for all car lovers who seek to add a personal touch to their drive.

IKEA Kuwait rewards its outstanding employees

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s part of the brands ongoing internal corporate responsibility and employee developmental planning, IKEA Kuwait is proud to announce the start of its employee Talent Pool and Succession Planning programs.

The Talent pool and Succession Planning program consists of the top 20% performers in the company who are recognized for their outstanding performance. The intention

being to ensure a clear career path that would simultaneously inspire and motivate their colleagues as well. These programs allow outstanding employees to receive recognition by displaying their names and picture at the office while special monetary incentives will be set for their contribution to the company’s overall success. Names will be selected and reviewed once every year from a selected management committee.

The criteria for selection range from performance, quality of work, initiative, communication and interpersonal skills, teamwork, time management punctuality attendance and leadership.

After the selection process, nominated employees will discuss with the committee a series of trainings, tasks and projects are expected to receive to further enhance their career direction and timeline at the compa-

ny which coincides as part of the succession planning program. Review of the succession plan will come about every six months in order to benefit from these programs and ensure employee development to the next potential role. IKEA Kuwait continues to upgrade its internal policies and programs to build a world pool of distinct professionals that would represent the brand wholly and successfully.

hirva Welfare Association Kuwait (SWAK) will be celebrating their Shirva Parish feast-2013 here in Kuwait. On this occasion there will be a mass offered at 9.15 am on February 8, 2013 at the Holy Family Cathedral. Kuwait and the celebration / gettogether with a of variety entertainment programme will he held from 4:30 pm - 9 pm on the same day at the Indian Community School, Salmiya. SWAK members or their children who would like to participate in the variety entertainment programme and show their talent are requested to contact any of the SWAK committee members listed below to avail the opportunity before January 10, 2013. Likewise if any of members children have excelled in academics or any other extra curricular activities in the past 1 year will be appreciated and hence are requested to inform any of the SWAK committee members listed below before the 10th of January.

Last date for enrollment in the talent show is January 15, 2013.

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Arabic courses

WARE will begin Winter 1 Arabic language courses with new textbooks and curricula on from December 2, 2012 until January 24, 2013. AWARE Arabic language courses are designed with the expat in mind. The environment is relaxed & courses are designed for those wanting to learn Arabic for travel, cultural understanding, and conducting business or simply to become more involved in the community. For more information or registration, please log-on to our website.

Goan Culinary Club

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he Goan Culinary Club - Goa encourages you to log on to their website where you can find a video of Odette and Joe Mascarenhas sharing their thoughts on Goan cuisine. These videos were recorded at the launch of the Goan Culinary Club in Goa on March 3, 2012. Thanks to support from all at the Goan Culinary Club, we have made great progress in six months.

Basketball Academy

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he new Premier Basketball Academy offers coaching and games every Friday and Saturday from 10 am onwards for 6 to 18 year olds, boys and girls. Located in Bayan Block 7, Masjed Al-Aqsa Street by Abdullah Al-Rujaib High School. Free Basketball and Tee Shirts for all participants, with certificates and special awards on completion of each 6 week course. Qualified and experienced British and American Coaches, Everyone Welcome.

Kidney Foundation Chairman Fr Davis Chiramel speaks during the reception organized by Syro Malabar Cultural Association Kuwait.

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

Safir Hotel and Residences Fintas organizes blood drive

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afir Hotel & Residence- Fintas organized a blood drive in association with Central Blood Bank in Kuwait. Safir Hotel and Residences Fintas staff enthusiastically donated blood after undergoing a medical checkup. The drive was held under the slogan ‘Be someone special, be a blood

donor’. SaifEddin Mohammed, General Manger of the hotel said, “It is our duty towards society to encourage such initiatives which go a long way in saving many lives and bringing smiles to others. The main objective for organizing the blood drive is to raise awareness and to increase

volunteering engagement.” “There can be no greater joy than the ability of tender for the wellbeing of others,” he added. Mr. Mohammed congratulated all staff for their noble gesture and thanked the Central Blood Bank team for their efforts. He said that the hotel would continue to support

such noble causes in the future. Safir Hotel & Residence- Fintas has been at the forefront of Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives over the past three months as a part of its ‘Go Green Quarter’, including safety awareness campaigns, the plantation of trees and beach cleanup days.

NAFO bids farewell to outgoing students

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AFO Kuwait organized ‘Kudumbasangamam,’ a family gettogether, on January 4 at the Indian Community School Auditorium, Amman branch from 10 am to 3 pm. As in the previous years, ‘Kudumbasangamam’ marked the beginning of NAFO’s socio-welfare activities for the year 2013. With the traditional lamp lighting by the senior citizens in NAFO family, Ladies Wing coordinators and NAFO officials, the program began in front of a large number of NAFO members and their families.

Followed by the national anthem of both Kuwait and India, NAFO’s promising talent Anupama Dilip Nambiar offered prayer.

While welcoming the audience, Murali S Nair, Acting General Secretary, gave a brief about the socio-welfare activities of NAFO over the years and its proposed plans for the forthcoming years aiming the well-being of our society. He further updated the progress on the implementation of NAFO’s 10 iconic socio-welfare projects proposed to be implemented during the tenth anniversary year.

KG Nair, Advisory Board Member, in his speech, elaborated the vision and mission of NAFO. He further requested the members to join their hands together in achieving NAFO’s mission by taking adequate steps for uplifting the downtrodden.

A variety of cultural entertainments coordinated by the Ladies wing were also staged

by NAFO children. The major part of the program was in the afternoon - farewell ceremony for the outgoing students and appreciation for the students who topped the Class X exams during the academic year 2011 - ‘12.

There were 10 students (leaving Kuwait for higher studies) and three top achievers of class X, to receive NAFO’s prestigious Gold medals and meritorious awards respectively.

They were (outgoing students) Anagha Gopakumar, Anandakrishnan Remesh, Bharat Rajagopal, Devi B Nair, Kriti Girish Nair, Rahul Anand Menon, Rohit Anand Menon, Vivek Nandakumar, Vivek Unnikrishnan, Deepak B Nair. Anushka Anil, Akhil Dilip Nambiar and

Rohan Mahesh were the top achievers of class X exams.

As part of the farewell, Dr T S Srikumar, convener, welcomed the students and the audience. In his address, Dr Srikumar appreciated the outgoing children for their sociocultural contributions rendered to the NAFO fraternity and wished them all success in their future.

NAFO Patron Vijayan Karayil inaugurated the farewell ceremony with a rousing speech.

He further stressed the importance of selfdiscipline, mutual respect and love and affection, the children to follow during their future career. NAFO President BS Pillai, in his address, advised the children to give importance to spiritual values along with their education. Dr Prasad Nair, Advisory board member, in his felicitation, shared several views with the children on adopting new habits and improving self-confidence. Dr PC Nair delivered a motivating speech, advising students to establish a wish and then set their goals to achieve that wish. Smitha Sashikumar, coordinator, Ladies Wing, also

felicitated the students on behalf of the Ladies-wing.

Vijayan Karayil, Dr T A Remesh, Dr Prasad Nair, Dr CG Suresh, Rajan Menon, Dr P C Nair, Venugopala Panicker, T K Janaky, Priya G Nair, B S Pillai, M S Nair and ON Nandakumar hon-

ored the students with medals and certificates. The compeering by Meena Rajeev Pillai with the support of program committee representative Rajeev Pillai was exceptional. KC Gopakumar, Cultural Secretary proposed a vote of thanks.

W H AT ’ S O N

Al-Mulla Exchange picks winner of Remit 2 Win Pajero Promotion

MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 2013

Embassy Information EMBASSY OF AUSTRALIA The Australian Embassy Kuwait does not have a visa or immigration department.

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

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l Mulla International Exchange had always been in the forefront when it comes to awarding their customers with free and enriching promotions throughout the year. Many lucky winners were given prizes of Gold and free tickets to Switzerland in the past. The year 2012 came to a close with the bumper draw for Pajero. Rajesh Gairola, General Manager and the AMIEC management team handed the keys of the bumper car prize of the “Remit 2 Win Pajero” promotion to Basheer Khan Allabakshi at the Fahaheel main branch of Al Mulla Exchange. Allabakshi’s name was selected from more than a million customers that had participated in the promotion by sending their remittances using AMIEC. “It’s a wish come true,” said Allabakshi, adding that he could hardly believe he had won the bumper prize.

He further commented that he had been using the services of Al Mulla Exchange for a long time, especially since the serv-

EMBASSY OF CANADA The Embassyof Canada 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, U.A.E. 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 07:30 to 15:30 Sunday through Thursday. The reception is open from 07:30 to 12:30. Consular services for Canadian citizens are provided from 09:00†until 12:00, Sunday through Wednesday.

ices are efficient and competitively priced -”What can one wish for in this world but best of service and to have won a prize like this is an icing on top”.

General Manager of Al Mulla Exchange, Rajesh Gairola, commented, “Our ‘Remit 2 Win Pajero’ had a fantastic response from the customers. As always, in all marketing promotions, we have given customers top-end prizes like the Pajero SUV, ASX SUVs etc. Therefore a customer at Al Mulla Exchange can rest assured that they can only expect the best, be it the services or the prizes; quality is what we offer. I wish Mr. Allabakshi and his family all the very best.”

Al Mulla Exchange is the premier exchange company in Kuwait. With value added benefits like free loyalty points, free life insurance, free SMS feedback, split second credit to accounts, Al Mulla Exchange bundles lot of benefits to customers in their remittances at no additional charge.

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GUST’s Dr Hassan El-Sady publishes ‘The GCC Economies’

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ISHREF: Director of the Professional Advancement and Continuing Education Center (PACE) at the Gulf University for Science and Technology (GUST), Dr. Hassan El-Sady contributed to a book titled “The GCC Economies: Stepping Up To Future Challenges,” published by Springer (2012) in Chapter 9 entitled “GCC Country Risk Analysis.” The innovative empirical approach deployed by Dr. El-Sady to analyze the GCC Country Political risk has not been used before and it was a great contribution to the body of knowledge, as noted by the editor of the book.

Dr. Hassan El-Sady in his contribution to the book discusses, empirically, the important topic of GCC country risk analysis. He provides detailed empirical analysis and assessments of each of the GCC countries in terms of economic, financial and political risk to be able to determine the sub-components of a GCC country composite risk that drives its particular risk. In his analysis of GCC’s Political Risk Dr. El-Sady included factors such as government stability, corruption, socioeconomic conditions, internal and external conflicts, law and order situation and ethnic tensions, amongst others. Financial risk components include foreign debts as percentage of GDP, foreign debt service, current account trends and exchange rate stability, while economic risk components analyze the population, inflation on, budget balances and real GDP growth.

The findings by Dr. El-Sady for the region reveal that individual GCC countries exhibit differences in their risk elements. The results make the reading interesting. Saudi Arabia evidenced moderate overall risk for investors, with the Kingdom being a safe home for international investors regarding its economic risk, low financial risk and also moderate political risk. Results for the UAE revealed that international investors should pay more attention to political risk, as opposed to economic and financial risk, with Kuwait also exhibiting the same risk factors but a higher political risk profile. Qatar’s assessments

indicated that international investors should be more concerned about economic and financial risk rather than political risk. The findings in Bahrain, on the other hand, revealed higher economic and political risk, unlike Oman, where economic risk was the highest.

Dr. El-Sady’s analysis of the individual factors in the composite indexes provides better insights into which particular factors need to be addressed to overcome perceived weaknesses and provides a guideline for regional policy makers. The author’s findings go some way in explaining why, for examples, Kuwait was ranked fourth in the GCC according to political risk and hence ranked last in its ability to

attract FDI in the whole MENA region. However, the results do not explain why Saudi Arabia, with a higher political risk in the survey, managed to attract most FDI compared to other GCC countries, with ESady attributing this to large budgetary expenditure and the Kingdom’s oil base as well as stable, but high, political risk.

The period covered by Dr. El-Sady’s work was from 2000 to 2010, before the ‘Arab Spring’ upheavals of 2011. These events could have altered the earlier country risk assessments of the period under study for some countries, notably Bahrain and Oman, but Dr. El-Sady’s work is an original contribution to the subject matter, as its sets.

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. � � � ��� � �

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. � � � ��� � �

Malek Jandali, award winning composer

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uwait Women’s Cultural and Social society will hold two charity concerts under the patronage of Information Minister Sheikh Salman Al-Humoud Al-Sabah under the name of “The Call of Jasmine”.

The concerts will be for the aid of nearly four million displaced Syrians inside Syria, to help them get their necessary needs of food, milk and medicine.

The concerts will be held at the “Gulf Science and Technology University Theater” in Mishrif at 7.30 pm on January 26, 2013 by the world renounced Syrian Pianist Malik Jandali, and on January 27, 2013 Oud Player Nassir Shamma and Formative Artist Keefork Murad.

Malek Jandali was Born in Germany to Syrian parents in 1972, award-winning composer and pianist, Al-Jandali, is recognized as a leading figure in today’s piano world. His outstanding recordings and extensive concert tours receive abundantly glowing praise. His musical career as a concert pianist began in 1988 after winning the first

prize at the National Young Artists’ competition followed by the 1997 “Outstanding Musical Performer Award” in the United States.

A prolific composer, Malek’s works have received critical acclaim in major newspapers throughout Europe and North America. His works have been performed with several leading orchestras around the world such as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Ludwig Symphony Orchestra. He has been a frequent guest on National Public Radio (NPR), BBC, Radio France Musique and was featured on CNN, PBS, Al Jazeera, Al Arabyia, and France 2 TV. Jandali is the first Arab musician to arrange the oldest music notation in the world, which was featured in his 2008 album “Echoes from Ugarit”. He was the recipient of the 2011 “Freedom of Expression” award in Los Angeles for his song “Watani Ana - I am my Homeland”, as well as his activism in the Arab Spring movement for human rights and democracy. In 2012, he was recognized in New York City with the Arab-American Cultural

Achievement Award.

His latest album “Emessa - Homs” includes original compositions recorded with The Russian Philharmonic Orchestra. The music was inspired by the people of Syria and their noble quest for freedom and human rights.

Jandali’s diverse career remains truly international, as he continues to captivate audiences in concerts throughout North America, Europe and the Middle East at such prestigious venues as Lafayette Park at the White House, The Kennedy Center, The Royal Conservatory of Toronto, The Music Institute of Chicago, St. John’s Smith Square in London, The Damascus Opera House, The Cairo Opera House, The Detroit Institute of Arts, and Wiener Konzerthaus among others.

Malek currently resides in Atlanta and is a member of The Recording Academy and The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). His music is published by Soul b Music and can be found on iTunes, CD Baby, Amazon and at Virgin Megastores worldwide.

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

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. � � � ��� � �

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.

MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 2013

TV PROGRAMS

00:50 Untamed & Uncut 01:45 Killer Jellyfish 02:35 Animal Cops Philadelphia 03:25 Wildest Africa 04:15 Untamed China With Nigel Marven 05:05 Wildest Islands 05:55 Animal Cops Philadelphia 06:45 Wildest Africa 07:35 Wildlife SOS 08:00 The Really Wild Show 08:25 Bad Dog 09:15 Dogs/Cats/Pets 101 10:10 Baby Planet 11:05 Wildest Arctic 12:00 Animal Cops Philadelphia 12:55 Call Of The Wildman 13:20 Wildlife SOS 13:50 Wild Africa Rescue 14:15 Wild Africa Rescue 14:45 Animal Precinct 15:40 Wildest Arctic 16:35 Cheetah Kingdom 17:00 The Really Wild Show 17:30 Dogs/Cats/Pets 101 18:25 Crocodile Hunter 19:20 America’s Cutest...

20:15 Monkey Life 20:40 Bondi Vet 21:10 Call Of The Wildman 21:35 Cheetah Kingdom 22:05 Wildest Arctic 23:00 Karina: Wild On Safari

00:10 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition Specials 01:35 10 Years Younger 02:25 Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is 03:10 Antiques Roadshow 08:35 The Hairy Bikers Ride Again 09:30 The Boss Is Coming To Dinner 10:20 Bargain Hunt 11:05 Antiques Roadshow 12:00 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition Specials 13:20 The Hairy Bikers Ride Again 13:50 The Hairy Bikers Ride Again 14:15 Gok’s Clothes Roadshow 15:05 Bargain Hunt 15:50 Antiques Roadshow 16:45 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition Specials 18:05 Britain’s Dream Homes 19:00 Trish’s Mediterranean Kitchen 19:20 Trish’s Mediterranean Kitchen 19:45 Rhodes Across China 20:35 Come Dine With Me: South Africa 21:30 Vacation Vacation Vacation 21:55 Vacation Vacation Vacation 22:20 Antiques Roadshow 23:15 Bargain Hunt

00:00 00:30 01:00 01:30 02:00 02:30 02:45 03:00 03:30 04:00 04:30 04:45 05:00 05:30 05:45 06:00 06:30 06:45 07:00 07:30 08:00 08:30 08:45 09:00 09:30 09:45 10:00 10:30 10:45

BBC World News Horizons BBC World News Our World Newsday Asia Business Report Sport Today Newsday India Business Report Newsday Asia Business Report Sport Today BBC World News Asia Business Report Sport Today BBC World News Asia Business Report Sport Today BBC World News Hardtalk BBC World News World Business Report BBC World News BBC World News World Business Report BBC World News BBC World News World Business Report 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 15:00 GMT With George Alagiah 16:00 Impact With Mishal Husain 17:30 Hardtalk 18:00 BBC World News 19:30 World Business Report 19:45 Sport Today 20:00 BBC World News 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

00:20 00:45 01:10 01:35 02:00 02:25 02:50 03:15 03:40 04:00 04:20 04:45 05:10 05:35 06:00 06:25 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 19:30 19:45 20:00 20:15 20:30 20:55 21:20 21:35

Yogi’s Treasure Hunt Duck Dodgers Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries Dastardly And Muttley Popeye Wacky Races Scooby Doo Where Are You! The Flintstones The Jetsons What’s New Scooby Doo? Taz-Mania The Looney Tunes Show Tom & Jerry Tales Dexter’s Laboratory Moomins Dexter’s Laboratory 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 Moomins Pink Panther & Pals The Garfield Show Jelly Jamm Ha Ha Hairies Gerald McBoing Boing Baby Looney Tunes Bananas In Pyjamas Puppy In My Pocket

00:40 Chowder 01:30 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 06:55 Angelo Rules 07:00 Casper’s Scare School 08:00 Mucha Lucha 08:25 Johnny Test

08:45 Regular Show 09:05 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

00:40 Outback Truckers 07:00 Mythbusters 07:50 The Will: Family Secrets Revealed 08:45 Gold Divers 09:40 Border Security 10:05 Auction Kings 10:30 Property Wars 10:55 How Stuff’s Made 11:25 How It’s Made 11:50 Fast N’ Loud 12:45 One Car Too Far 13:40 Wheeler Dealers 14:35 Border Security 15:05 Auction Kings 15:30 Property Wars 16:00 Is It Possible?

16:55 Gold Divers 17:50 Mythbusters 18:45 Sons Of Guns 19:40 How Stuff Works 20:05 How It’s Made 20:35 Auction Kings 21:00 Auction Kings 21:30 Gold Rush 22:25 Deadliest Catch 23:20 Gold Divers

00:10 00:35 01:25 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 07:40 07:55 08:20 08:45 09:00 09:25 09:35 09:45 10:00 10:25 10:50 11:15 11:40 12:05 12:30 12:55 13:20 13:45

Stitch A Kind Of Magic Replacements Emperor’s New School Emperor’s New School A Kind Of Magic A Kind Of Magic Replacements Replacements Emperor’s New School Emperor’s New School A Kind Of Magic Phineas And Ferb Suite Life On Deck My Babysitter’s A Vampire A.N.T Farm Phineas And Ferb Phineas And Ferb Jessie Good Luck Charlie Doc McStuffins Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Jake & The Neverland Pirates The Hive Mouk Jonas So Random Hannah Montana Forever Sonny With A Chance Kim Possible Shake It Up Wizards Of Waverly Place Phineas And Ferb Austin And Ally Art Attack

14:10 14:35 15:00 15:50 16:15 16:40 17:00 17:30 17:55 18:20 18:40 18:45 20:10 20:30 20:50 21:15

00:20 Little Einsteins 00:50 Special Agent Oso 01:15 Lazytown 01:40 Jungle Junction 02:10 Handy Manny 02:30 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 02:55 Winnie The Pooh: Tales Of Friendship 03:00 Lazytown 03:25 Special Agent Oso 03:50 Imagination Movers 04:15 Handy Manny 04:40 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 10:05 Doc McStuffins 12:05 Animated Stories 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 Little Einsteins 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 Imagination Movers 17:20 Animated Stories 17:25 Doc McStuffins 19:10 The Adventures Of Disney Fairies 19:35 New Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 20:00 Animated Stories 20:05 Winnie The Pooh: Tales Of Friendship 20:15 Winnie The Pooh: Tales Of Friendship 20:25 Doc McStuffins 20:40 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

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

30 MINUTES OR LESS ON OSN CINEMA

A.N.T Farm Suite Life On Deck Shake It Up Austin And Ally Jessie A.N.T Farm Good Luck Charlie Gravity Falls Suite Life On Deck Austin And Ally Toy Story Toons Toy Story Jessie That’s So Raven Cory In The House Kim Possible

Programmes Start At 7:00am Kickin It Phineas And Ferb Almost Naked Animals Pokemon: BW Rival Destinies Slugterra Scaredy Squirrel Ultimate Spider-Man Pair Of Kings Lab Rats Zeke & Luther Lab Rats Kickin It Mr. Young Pair Of Kings Zeke & Luther Rekkit Rabbit I’m In The Band Phineas And Ferb Pokemon: BW Rival Destinies Rekkit Rabbit Pair Of Kings Almost Naked Animals Lab Rats Slugterra Kickin It Scaredy Squirrel Phineas And Ferb Slugterra Mr. Young Zeke & Luther I’m In The Band Rated A For Awesome Rekkit Rabbit Phineas And Ferb Ultimate Spider-Man Kick Buttowski Scaredy Squirrel

00:30 Chelsea Lately 01:00 Countdown To The Red Carpet: The 2013...

02:00 Live From The Red Carpet 04:00 Live From The Red Carpet 06:00 E!es 07:00 E! After Party: The 2013 Golden Globe...

08:00 Live From The Red Carpet 10:00 THS 11:00 THS 12:00 Live From The Red Carpet 14:00 Kourtney & Kim Take New York 15:00 Style Star

15:30 THS 16:30 A-List Listings 17:00 Live From The Red Carpet 19:00 THS 20:00 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 21:00 Live From The Red Carpet 23:00 Nicki Minaj: My Truth

00:15 Unwrapped 00:40 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 01:05 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 01:30 Heat Seekers 01:55 Food Network Challenge 02:45 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 03:10 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 03:35 Unwrapped 04:00 Unwrapped 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 Hungry Girl 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 American Street Feasts 14:40 Everyday Italian 15:05 Healthy Appetite With Ellie Krieger 15:30 Healthy Appetite With Ellie Krieger 15:55 Hungry Girl 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 19:15 Andy Bates American Street Feasts 19:40 Tyler’s Ultimate 20:05 Guy’s Big Bite 20:30 Chopped 21:20 The Next Iron Chef 22:10 Andy Bates American Street Feasts 22:35 Andy Bates American Street Feasts

00:40 01:30 02:20 03:05 03:55 04:45 05:30 06:20 07:10 08:00 08:50 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 20:55 21:20 22:10 23:00 23:25 23:50

Deadly Affairs Ghost Lab Dr. G: Medical Examiner Reel Crime/Real Story I Almost Got Away With It Deadly Affairs Ghost Lab Dr. G: Medical Examiner Disappeared Mystery Diagnosis Street Patrol Real Emergency Calls Who On Earth Did I Marry?

On The Case With Paula Zahn Undercover Disappeared Mystery Diagnosis Street Patrol Street Patrol Forensic Detectives On The Case With Paula Zahn Real Emergency Calls Who On Earth Did I Marry?

Undercover Disappeared Forensic Detectives Mall Cops ‚Äì Mall Of America On The Case With Paula Zahn Stalked: Someone’s Watching Nightmare Next Door Couples Who Kill I Married A Mobster I Married A Mobster Blood Relatives

00:15 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 1 00:45 The Frankincense Trail 01:40 On Hannibal Trail 02:05 The Green Way Up 02:35 Street Food Around The World 03:00 Market Values 03:30 Travel Oz 03:55 Graham’s World 04:25 On The Camino De Santiago 04:50 Young Global Hotshots 05:20 Nomads 06:15 My Sri Lanka With Peter Kuruvita 06:40 Food Lover’s Guide To The Planet 07:10 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 1 08:05 The Frankincense Trail 09:00 On Hannibal Trail 09:25 The Green Way Up 09:55 Street Food Around The World 10:20 Market Values 10:50 Travel Oz 11:15 Graham’s World 11:45 On The Camino De Santiago 12:10 Young Global Hotshots 12:40 Nomads 13:35 Food School 14:00 Food Lover’s Guide To The Planet 14:30 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 1 15:25 Ultimate Traveller 16:20 On Hannibal Trail 16:45 The Green Way Up 17:15 Street Food Around The World 17:40 Market Values 18:10 Travel Oz 18:35 Graham’s World 19:05 On The Camino De Santiago 19:30 Young Global Hotshots 20:00 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 1 21:00 Food School 21:30 Food Lover’s Guide To The Planet 22:00 Nomads

00:00 Lion Army 01:00 Wild Case Files 01:55 Zambezi

BENDING THE RULES ON OSN ACTION HD 02:50 Animal Superpowers 03:45 Built for the Kill 04:40 Swamp Men 05:35 Wild Chronicles 06:30 Zambezi 07:25 Animal Superpowers 08:20 Built for the Kill 09:15 Jaguar: Catching the Cat (aka Hunt for the Shadow 10:10 Africa’s Deadliest 11:05 Crimes Against Nature 12:00 The Great Serengeti (aka Serengeti) 13:00 Triumph of Life 14:00 Animal Superpowers 15:00 Built for the Kill 16:00 Cougars: Ninja of Jackson Hole (aka American Couga 17:00 Cheetah: Against All Odds 18:00 Crimes Against Nature 19:00 Monster Fish 20:00 Animal Superpowers 21:00 Built for the Kill 22:00 Jaguar: Catching the Cat (aka Hunt for the Shadow

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

Carriers-PG15 Resident Evil 4: Afterlife-18 Goal!-PG15 Hackers-PG15 Little Big Soldier-PG15 Metro-PG15 Bending The Rules-PG15 Little Big Soldier-PG15 Transporter 2-PG15 Bending The Rules-PG15 Street Kings 2: Motor City-18 Empire-18

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

The Tourist-PG15 Soapdish-PG Blank Slate-PG15 Uncorked-PG15 The Tourist-PG15 Kung Fu Dunk-PG15 Golden Christmas 3-PG15 Relative Stranger-PG15 Every Jack Has A Jill-PG15 Footloose-PG15 30 Minutes Or Less-18 Contraband-18

00:00 Breaking In 00:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 01:00 The Colbert Report 01:30 Community 02:00 American Dad 02:30 Weeds 03:00 Last Man Standing 03:30 The Simpsons 04:00 Brothers 04:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 05:30 Til Death 06:00 Samantha Who? 06:30 Seinfeld 07:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 08:00 Brothers 08:30 Last Man Standing 09:00 Til Death 09:30 Samantha Who? 10:00 Two And A Half Men 11:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 12:00 Seinfeld 12:30 Brothers 13:00 Til Death 13:30 Samantha Who? 14:00 The Simpsons 15:00 Two And A Half Men 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 Last Man Standing 18:30 The Simpsons 19:00 Melissa & Joey 20:00 Don’t Trust The B In Apartment 23 20:30 Wilfred 21:00 The Daily Show Global Edition 21:30 The Colbert Report Global Edition 22:00 Community 22:30 Unsupervised 23:00 Weeds

22:00 Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs.

Evil-PG 23:30 Tommy & Oscar-FAM 00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 06:00 07:00 08:00 08:30 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 17:00 18:00 18:30 19:00 21:00

Eureka The Closer Sons Of Anarchy Burn Notice Breaking Bad Good Morning America Covert Affairs Emmerdale Coronation Street Smallville Royal Pains Eureka Burn Notice Smallville Live Good Morning America The Ellen DeGeneres Show Emmerdale Coronation Street Breakout Kings Justified

00:00 03:00 04:00 07:00 07:30 11:00 12:00 12:30 15:00 16:00 16:30 18:00 19:00 22:00

Grimm Six Feet Under Burn Notice Emmerdale Coronation Street Burn Notice Emmerdale Coronation Street Parenthood Emmerdale Coronation Street C.S.I. Breakout Kings Sons Of Anarchy

00:00 MacGruber-18 02:00 Stuck On You-PG15 04:00 Envy-PG15 06:00 Good Boy!-PG 08:00 The Perfect Catch-PG15 10:00 It Could Happen To You-PG 12:00 Envy-PG15 14:00 Say Anything-PG15 16:00 It Could Happen To You-PG 18:00 Sleepless In Seattle-PG 20:00 Austin Powers In Goldmember-PG15 22:00 American Virgin-18

01:15 Dead Awake-18 03:00 Biutiful-18 05:30 Babies-18 07:00 I’ve Loved You So Long-PG15 09:00 African Cats: Kingdom Of Courage-PG 11:00 Dear John-PG15 13:00 Bound By A Secret-PG15 15:00 African Cats: Kingdom Of Courage-PG 17:00 Separate Lies-PG15 19:00 Flight Of The Phoenix-PG15 21:00 The Man Who Came With The Snow-PG15

01:00 The Fighter-PG15 03:00 Love And Mary-PG15 05:00 Treasure Buddies-PG 07:00 Rio-FAM 09:00 Judy Moody And The Not Bummer Summer-PG 11:00 Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules-PG 13:00 Beethoven’s Christmas Adventure-PG 15:00 The Smurfs-PG 17:00 Judy Moody And The Not Bummer Summer-PG 19:00 A Fall From Grace-PG15 21:00 Arthur-PG15 23:00 Powder Blue-18

01:00 D’fenders-PG 02:45 Cher Ami-PG 04:30 The Happy Cricket-FAM 06:00 The Wild Thornberrys Movie 08:00 Maroons-FAM 09:45 Rango-FAM 11:30 The Happy Cricket-FAM 13:00 Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs.

Evil-PG 14:30 Cheaper By The Dozen-PG 16:15 Tommy & Oscar-FAM 18:00 Rango-FAM 20:00 Wheelers-PG

02:00 02:30 03:00 06:00 07:00 11:00 13:00 14:30 15:30 16:00 21:30

ICC Cricket 360 Futbol Mundial Live European PGA Tour Trans World Sports Snooker Masters Rugby Union Challenge Cup Volvo Ocean Race Highlights Trans World Sport Futbol Mundial Live Snooker Masters Futbol Mundial

01:00 City Centre Races 02:30 Snooker Masters 06:30 ICC Cricket 360 07:00 PGA European Tour 11:30 Triathlon UK 12:00 PGA Tour 15:30 Rugby Union European Challenge Cup 17:30 Triathlon UK 18:00 Trans World Sport 19:00 PGA European Tour Highlights 20:00 PGA Tour Highlights 21:00 Futbol Mundial 21:30 ICC Cricket 360 22:00 Cricket T20

00:30 Trans World Sport 01:30 Cricket T20 04:30 Rugby Union European Challenge Cup 06:30 Futbol Mundial 07:00 Golfing World 08:00 Top 14 Highlights 08:30 ICC Cricket 360 09:00 World Pool Masters 10:00 World Cup of Pool 11:00 Extreme Sailing 11:30 Snooker Masters 15:30 Golfing World 16:30 Trans World Sport 17:30 Spirit of a Champion 18:00 Spirit of a Champion 18:30 Spirit of a Champion 19:00 Rugby Union European Challenge Cup 21:00 Golfing World 22:00 World Pool Masters 23:00 World Cup of Pool

00:00 UFC The Ultimate Fighter The Smashes 01:00 UFC 03:00 UFC Unleashed 04:00 UFC Unleashed 05:00 NHL 07:00 WWE Bottom Line 08:00 WWE Experience 09:00 V8 Supercars Highlights 10:00 V8 Supercars Highlights 11:00 NHL 13:00 UAE National Race Day Series 14:00 WWE NXT 15:00 WWE SmackDown 17:00 European Le Mans Series 19:00 UFC The Ultimate Fighter The Smashes 20:00 UFC The Ultimate Fighter 21:00 UFC

00:00 02:00 03:00 05:00 Us 07:00 08:00 08:30 09:00 10:00 10:30 11:00 11:30 12:00 13:00 15:00 15:30 16:00 17:00 19:00 19:30 20:00 21:00

Rise & Fall Of The Third Reich WWII: Europe’s Secret Army Rise & Fall Of The Third Reich Mankind The Story Of All Of UFO Hunters Pawn Stars Storage Wars Mud Men Pawn Stars American Restoration Pawn Stars Storage Wars Ancient Aliens Ancient Aliens Pawn Stars American Restoration Mud Men Ancient Aliens Pawn Stars American Restoration Mud Men Pawn Stars

Classifieds MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 2013

ACCOMMODATION Accommodation available with a single lady for couples / ladies, near Canary Restaurant, Abbasiya.

Contact: 24346602/ 99254284. (C 4279) 8-1-2013

FOR SALE Toyota Camr y GLX full option model 2011 white metallic color, sunroof, alloy rim, rear sensor, cruise control, CD wooden interior etc. (installation possible) 28,000 km, cash price KD 4,450/-. Contact: 66507741.

(C 4278) 7-1-2013 Ford Mondeo, maroon color, model 2003, very good condition, price KD 800, kilometer 200,124. Phone: 99839184. (C 4276) 3-1-2012

TUITION Learn Holy Quran in perfect way, private tuition available for elders and children by Hafiz-E-Quran.

Contact: 66725950.

(C 4262) Tuition available for Web Designing & Professional Graphic Designing. Learn to create your own website just in 3 months. Flexible schedule, join us to build your career as Web Designer. Call 60078629, 22403408.

(C 4264) 7-1-2013

SITUATION WANTED M.A in English Literature having two years job experience, looking for a suitable job in HR & Admin.

Please contact: 66342097.

(C 4270) 6-1-2013

MATRIMONIAL Christian, Marthomite parents settled in South Africa, invite proposals from parents of professionally qualified youngsters aged between 29 and 32 years, well to do and respected Christian family background, for our daughter 28 years, Commerce graduate, working in South Africa.

Contact: Email: madhubina@gmail.com (C 4280) 9-1-2012

Automated enquiry about the Civil ID card is 1889988 Prayer timings Fajr:

05:20

Shorook

06:44

Duhr:

11:57

Asr:

14:51

Maghrib:

17:11

Isha:

18:32

No: 15688

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) Looking for a part time cleaning lady, 1-5pm 6 days/week.

Contact: 96942874. (C 4274)

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

Airlines PIA JAI THY JZR JZR QTR ETH QTR GFA UAE ETD AFG QTR FDB MSR DHX THY JZR BAW KAC KAC FDB KAC UAE ABY QTR FDB ETD KAC GFA BAB KAC JZR MSC IRC MEA MSR UAE FDB KNE KAC SVA KAC QTR JZR KAC KAC QTR OMA

Arrival Flights on Monday 14/1/2013 Flt Route 205 LAHORE 574 MUMBAI 772 ISTANBUL 267 BEIRUT 539 CAIRO 148 DOHA 620 ADDIS ABABA 6130 DOHA 211 BAHRAIN 853 DUBAI 305 ABU DHABI 416 JEDDAH 138 DOHA 67 DUBAI 612 CAIRO 170 BAHRAIN 770 ISTANBUL 503 LUXOR 157 LONDON 412 MANILA 206 ISLAMABAD 53 DUBAI 302 MUMBAI 855 DUBAI 121 SHARJAH 132 DOHA 55 DUBAI 301 ABU DHABI 352 COCHIN 213 BAHRAIN 436 BAHRAIN 344 CHENNAI 165 DUBAI 403 ASSIUT 6521 LAMERD 404 BEIRUT 610 CAIRO 871 DUBAI 57 DUBAI 472 JEDDAH 672 DUBAI 500 JEDDAH 546 ALEXANDRIA 140 DOHA 561 SOHAG 788 JEDDAH 284 DHAKA 134 DOHA 645 MUSCAT

Time 0:15 0:30 0:35 0:45 0:50 1:00 1:45 1:45 1:50 2:35 2:45 2:55 3:01 3:05 3:10 5:15 5:30 5:55 6:40 6:45 7:40 7:45 7:55 8:40 9:05 9:10 9:15 9:20 9:50 9:55 10:05 10:40 11:20 11:30 11:45 11:55 12:45 12:50 13:50 14:10 14:10 14:30 14:30 14:45 14:50 14:55 15:10 15:30 15:40

JZR KAC UAE ETD RJA GFA SVA JZR QTR ABY UAL KAC JZR RBG KAC BAB FDB ETD MSC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC OMA FDB JAI AXB MSR ABY QTR MSC ALK MEA QTR GFA ETD UAE JZR JAI DHX FDB AIC TAR JZR GFA PIA JZR UAL BBC DLH

535 118 857 303 640 215 510 777 144 127 982 542 177 3553 786 438 63 9822 405 618 742 674 104 774 647 61 572 389 618 129 146 401 229 402 136 221 307 859 135 576 372 59 975 327 239 217 205 185 981 43 636

CAIRO NEW YORK DUBAI ABU DHABI AMMAN BAHRAIN RIYADH JEDDAH DOHA SHARJAH WASHINGTON DC DULLES CAIRO DUBAI ALEXANDRIA JEDDAH BAHRAIN DUBAI ABU DHABI SOHAG DOHA DAMMAM DUBAI LONDON RIYADH MUSCAT DUBAI MUMBAI MANGALORE ALEXANDRIA SHARJAH DOHA ALEXANDRIA COLOMBO BEIRUT DOHA BAHRAIN ABU DHABI DUBAI BAHRAIN COCHIN BAHRAIN DUBAI CHENNAI TUNIS AMMAN BAHRAIN LAHORE DUBAI BAHRAIN DHAKA FRANKFURT

16:25 16:35 16:40 16:50 16:55 17:15 17:20 17:45 17:50 17:55 17:55 18:05 18:15 18:20 18:30 18:40 18:45 18:55 19:15 19:20 19:30 19:35 19:35 19:50 19:55 20:00 20:10 20:20 20:25 20:35 20:45 20:50 20:55 21:20 21:25 21:30 21:35 21:40 21:50 21:55 22:00 22:00 22:30 22:45 22:45 22:50 23:00 23:05 23:25 23:45 23:55

Airlines AIC UAL DLH JAI PIA KAC ETH THY QTR FDB UAE ETD AFG MSR QTR QTR JZR GFA THY KAC JZR FDB BAW JZR KAC KAC ABY UAE FDB ETD QTR GFA BAB KAC KAC JZR KAC MSC IRC MEA KAC MSR JZR UAE FDB KAC KNE SVA

Departure Flights on Monday 14/1/2013 Flt Route 982 AHMEDABAD 981 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 637 FRANKFURT 573 MUMBAI 206 PESHAWAR 283 DHAKA 621 ADDIS ABABA 773 ISTANBUL 6131 DOHA 68 DUBAI 854 DUBAI 306 ABU DHABI 416 JEDDAH 613 CAIRO 139 DOHA 149 DOHA 164 DUBAI 212 BAHRAIN 771 ISTANBUL 545 ALEXANDRIA 560 SOHAG 54 DUBAI 156 LONDON 534 CAIRO 787 JEDDAH 671 DUBAI 122 SHARJAH 856 DUBAI 56 DUBAI 302 ABU DHABI 133 DOHA 214 BAHRAIN 437 BAHRAIN 541 CAIRO 165 ROME 776 JEDDAH 103 LONDON 406 SOHAG 6522 LAMERD 405 BEIRUT 785 JEDDAH 611 CAIRO 176 DUBAI 872 DUBAI 58 DUBAI 673 DUBAI 473 JEDDAH 501 JEDDAH

Time 0:05 1:10 1:20 1:30 1:35 2:25 2:45 2:55 3:15 3:45 3:50 4:00 4:00 4:10 4:50 6:05 6:55 7:00 7:35 7:45 8:15 8:25 8:45 9:15 9:25 9:35 9:45 9:55 10:00 10:05 10:30 10:40 10:50 11:30 11:50 12:15 12:20 12:30 12:35 12:55 13:00 13:45 13:50 14:15 14:30 15:05 15:10 15:45

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

KAC QTR KAC KAC OMA JZR ETD JZR QTR UAE RJA GFA JZR SVA ABY JZR QTR RBG JZR UAL FDB BAB MSC FDB OMA KAC ETD KAC KAC JAI ABY MSR MSC DHX ALK MEA ETD QTR GFA KAC FDB UAE JAI DHX KAC QTR JZR TAR GFA KAC

617 141 773 741 646 238 304 538 135 858 641 216 184 511 128 266 145 3554 134 982 64 439 404 62 648 331 9823 361 351 571 120 619 402 171 230 403 308 137 222 301 60 860 575 373 205 147 502 328 218 411

DOHA DOHA RIYADH DAMMAM MUSCAT AMMAN ABU DHABI CAIRO DOHA DUBAI AMMAN BAHRAIN DUBAI RIYADH SHARJAH BEIRUT DOHA ALEXANDRIA BAHRAIN BAHRAIN DUBAI BAHRAIN ASSIUT DUBAI MUSCAT TRIVANDRUM ABU DHABI COLOMBO KOCHI MUMBAI SHARJAH ALEXANDRIA ALEXANDRIA BAHRAIN COLOMBO BEIRUT ABU DHABI DOHA BAHRAIN MUMBAI DUBAI DUBAI KOCHI BAHRAIN ISLAMABAD DOHA LUXOR DUBAI BAHRAIN BANGKOK

15:45 16:15 16:25 16:30 16:40 17:15 17:35 17:40 17:45 17:50 17:55 18:15 18:30 18:35 18:40 18:45 18:50 19:00 19:05 19:10 19:25 19:30 20:15 20:40 20:55 20:55 21:00 21:00 21:10 21:10 21:15 21:25 21:50 21:50 21:55 22:20 22:20 22:25 22:30 22:35 22:40 22:50 22:55 23:00 23:00 23:10 23:35 23:45 23:50 23:55

34

MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 2013

s ta rs CROSSWORD 69

STAR TRACK Aries (March 21-April 19) ARIES It is a big relief to have help in cleaning and perhaps putting some new colorful accents around. Much of this day is spent in clearing away the old and making room for the new. Cleaning, washing and sprucing up the home are usual tasks for days such as this. You enjoy having things in order and you like to feel good about the place in which you live. Your taste in art and art appreciation in general are heightened as you gaze at an unusual exhibit later today. You may find a particular item to purchase for your living area or that blank wall in the hallway or entrance hall. There is a yearning for adventure and far horizons that may be satisfied by relaxing with a video movie this afternoon. Dinner is most enjoyable this evening as somebody else cooks.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) Good luck and special personal charm show themselves today. Love is passionate and you and your loved ones can enjoy a leisure day. Your friends may want to visit this afternoon, but if you are still in your robe, they will understand. This is also a good time to lay out some plans on improvements in health and home. The ultimate mysteries of life and death take on greater importance. Get outside, weather permitting of course, and enjoy some fresh air this afternoon. Visiting with a neighbor is likely. You may find yourself in deep discussions about the world and your opportunities. Talk of taxes, investments and other financial ties may hold your attention as well. Romance and healing are manifestations that play a big role in your life now.

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

ACROSS 1. In bed.

5. Something resembling a fact.

12. Having undesirable or negative qualities.

15. (Irish) Mother of the Tuatha De Danann.

16. A small conical pouch projecting from the upper anterior part of each atrium of the heart.

17. A Kwa language spoken by the Yoruba people in southwestern Nigeria.

18. (physics and chemistry) The smallest component of an element having the chemical properties of the element.

19. An extended area of land.

20. A coffee cake flavored with orange rind and raisins and almonds.

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

25. Any of numerous local fertility and nature deities worshipped by ancient Semitic peoples.

27. Dwell (archaic).

29. Apathy demonstrated by an absence of emotional reactions.

32. A monument built to honor soldiers who died in a war.

36. A plant hormone promoting elongation of stems and roots.

38. The former capital and 2nd largest city of Brazil.

39. Flower arrangement consisting of a circular band of foliage or flowers for ornamental purposes.

40. Charge falsely or with malicious intent.

44. Chief deity of Zoroastrianism.

45. Monotypic genus of palms of Australasia.

46. A French abbot.

47. A state in southeastern United States.

48. Either of two folds of skin that can be moved to cover or open the eye.

49. A doctor's degree in optometry.

50. A pass between mountain peaks.

53. Affect with wonder.

55. Type genus of the Lepismatidae.

58. Any of various thermoplastic resins used to make things.

59. Any plant of the genus Reseda.

62. An adrenal-cortex hormone (trade names Hydrocortone or Cortef) that is active in carbohydrate and protein metabolism.

64. The elementary stages of any subject (usually plural).

66. Type genus of the Alcidae comprising solely the razorbill.

70. The United Nations agency concerned with the interests of labor.

74. A river in north central Switzerland that runs northeast into the Rhine.

75. Estrangement from god.

76. A cut of pork ribs with much of the meat trimmed off.

77. An accountant certified by the state.

78. The compass point midway between east and southeast.

79. A mountain peak in south central Sri Lanka (7,360 feet high).

80. God of the earth.

DOWN 1. (Babylonian) God of storms and wind.

2. A Chadic language spoken south of Lake Chad.

3. An organic compound that contains a hydroxyl group bonded to a carbon atom which in turn is doubly bonded to another carbon atom.

4. A barrier constructed to contain the flow or water or to keep out the sea.

5. A linear unit of measurement (equal to 6 feet) for water depth.

6. Of or pertaining to hearing or the ear.

7. A capacity unit used for measuring fresh herring.

8. Steady recurrent ticking sound as made by a clock.

9. The month following September and preceding November.

10. Being nine more than forty.

11. A young woman making her debut into society.

12. A small cake leavened with yeast.

13. A town and port in northwestern Israel in the eastern Mediterranean.

14. Consisting of or involving two parts or components usually in pairs.

21. Assist or encourage, usually in some wrongdoing.

23. An electronic device that generates a series of beeps when the person carrying it is being paged.

24. A servile or fawning dependant.

26. A brittle gray crystalline element that is a semiconducting metalloid (resembling silicon) used in transistors.

28. The frame that supports a door.

30. Member of a Jewish sect that observes a form of strict Orthodox Judaism.

31. An inhabitant of Lappland.

33. (zoology) Pertaining to alulae.

34. Type genus of the Pezizaceae.

35. Not accessible to view.

37. The month following January and preceding March.

41. Imperial moths.

42. Minute floating marine tunicate having a transparent body with an opening at each end.

43. A ductile gray metallic element of the lanthanide series.

51. An unabridged dictionary constructed on historical principles.

52. (plural) Rare collector's items.

54. A Chadic language spoken south of Lake Chad.

56. Minute blackish gregarious flies destructive to mushrooms and seedlings.

57. Reduced to liquid form by heating.

60. The principal evil jinni in Islamic mythology.

61. Small biscuit (rich with cream and eggs) cut into diamonds or sticks and baked in an oven or (especially originally) on a griddle.

63. Of or relating to a speaker of the Tamil language or the language itself.

65. A conveyance that transports passengers or freight in carriers suspended from cables and supported by a series of towers.

67. The state of needing something that is absent or unavailable.

68. A strip of land projecting into a body of water.

69. An Arabic speaking person who lives in Arabia or North Africa.

71. Syndrome resulting from a serious acute (sometimes fatal) infection associated with the presence of staphylococcus.

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

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

You may spend a great deal of time, effort and worry balancing commitments.

Also, this time marks an interest in intellectual stimulation from social and leisure activities. You want to be helpful and may decide to volunteer for some nearby charity this year. Conversations about goals, changes and perhaps the fun vacation you always wanted to take can also be of interest today. Writing your ideas down may help to give you a good focus. Getting an idea on paper will also help you to see your thoughts from a different perspective. Your sense of value is strong—today may be a good time to take advantage of some special sales to purchase accessories for the house. This evening you will want to just sit back and enjoy a good book, etc.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) Now is the perfect time to get your thoughts together about a vacation you have been thinking about taking. You may find yourself on the Internet or in the library or science museum today; making discoveries, drawing map instructions or making decisions on just which areas will be the most beneficial to some research or some longtime interests. You may read about situations in one country where you think you can help to create a positive change. Of course, the joy of travel and the ability to travel may be enough for you. Today you will make a difference. You create your own future and you make a positive presence. An elderly or a very young person benefits from your guidance. Exercise by walking today; there is a release of excess energy.

Leo (July 23-August 22) On the home front, you check all the appliances, smoke detectors, food supply, automobile upkeep and batteries for flashlights. There is nothing like feeling secure as the weather changes. You may find yourself being put to good use by your friends this afternoon. There is an opportunity to be helpful to each other and perhaps reorganize some project. All of this should go rather smoothly. Don’t do too much dreaming just now. It would be very easy for you to become carried away with some fancy or another. You are very intuitive when it comes to understanding what foods your body needs and now is the best time for experimenting with some new recipes or creating your own. It might be fun to make extra food and share with others at work next week.

Virgo (August 23-September 22) Throughout all of this year, you will have plenty of enthusiasm and luck of the draw for your choice in such things as education, travel, publishing, art, theater or sports.

Travel desires come from remembering times past and experiences enjoyed. You will be able to make some plans for travel through your career or hobby choice. Your life outlook is positive and ready for life experiences—fasten your seat belt. You may be inspired to pass on your knowledge in teaching survival techniques or guiding a group. You will more than likely attract the outdoor type of friends. You may find that your outdoor types of friends are discussing the next fishing trip. A romantic dinner away from the home can be enjoyed this evening. Romance is high on your list.

Word Search

Libra (September 23-October 22) Whatever you set out to do today will have positive results. Everyone is in a good mood and restless to move toward out-of-door activity. This could be in the form of some sort of sports or competitive games. You may enjoy some team sports with your friends today. Obligations may gain your attention this afternoon . . . including studying, tutoring or teaching. A feeling of satisfaction is easy to find. Positive feedback for your effort is available and welcomed. Everything conspires to reveal you at your most elegant, particularly in social situations this evening. You will have a grasp for abstract and spiritual ideas and the ability to present or communicate these to others. Clear thinking and good communication are on target today.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) Travel gets the green light now, but you will have to make confirmations and possibly change some plans. This could mean travel that is short-range or longrange and possibly surrounds business issues. Of course, you will have some time for yourself and while it may not be that grand vacation, it certainly gives you some time to be away from the regular routine. You have an interest in metaphysical fields of study and may find yourself signing up for a horoscope class. Good luck follows you around today and you may want to get a couple of lottery tickets, but do not overdo. This is a good time to surround yourself with your friends and enjoy the energies of this day. You are particularly witty and make stimulating company.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) You may think your emotions are tuned in to others this morning. You may feel someone is out of order, when indeed they are right on target. Consider the facts of a particular matter instead of the presentation and you will also be on target. Take time to enjoy nature later today—adopt an observer attitude. Relaxation is important.

Perhaps you have never noticed the variety of birds in your neighborhood? This would be a good time to shop for those healthy, crispy vegetables and fruits to put in your lunches. You may find yourself put to good use by your friends this evening. This could include helping someone move furniture, provide needed transportation, etc. This evening brings about some good feelings of being included and needed.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19) Romantic thoughts are on your mind today. If you are not married you just may meet that special person today. If you are married you may have some plans to enhance and electrify your relationship. This is a most positive beginning for today. The afternoon is filled with the laughter of young voices and you may be interested in helping with some neighborhood youth group. Off-the-cuff remarks from these young people make for excellent writing material. Keep in contact with an elderly member of your family today—perhaps by phone. Better yet, consider including an invitation for some time with this person next week. This person could be bored or depressed; do not be shy about bringing him or her up to date with your own activities.

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) Walking for exercise is a way to focus your thoughts and that is probably how you begin your day today. Squabbles over chores may be solved by rotating the duties between members of the family. You had many opportunities for a social life in December and it seems those opportunities will be coming up again. In your work, you will deal more with the public and encounter difficult personality types. You are good at handling difficult situations and your idea of relaxation and timeout activities is something you may want to talk about with a friend later today. Your charm and friendliness are magnetic pulls that attract the sort of people that everyone would enjoy having around them. Your timing is perfect for a romantic evening.

Pisces (February 19-March 20) Religious contacts could have a part in making good things happen today.

With places to go and things to do, you enjoy having a day you can call your own. Relaxation time with friends or with family is also important. With the opening week of a new year behind you—you may decide to goof off in the garage, read, see a movie or just hang out this afternoon. You may enjoy a good book or just sit in your comfortable chair and relax. Your life seems to be in balance today. Home, office, personal and political life is in tune with your energies. If you desire, a perfect setting can be arranged for a romantic evening. If you do not have a special loved one, consider a new person carefully. Close friends or family members want to share their thoughts tonight.

Yesterday’s Solution

Yesterday’s Solution

Daily SuDoku

Yesterday’s Solution

MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 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

PHARMACY

ADDRESS

PHONE

Ahmadi

Sama Safwan Abu Halaifa Danat Al-Sultan

Fahaeel Makka St Abu Halaifa-Coastal Rd Mahboula Block 1, Coastal Rd

23915883 23715414 23726558

Jahra

Modern Jahra Madina Munawara

Jahra-Block 3 Lot 1 Jahra-Block 92

24575518 24566622

Capital

Ahlam Khaldiya Coop

Fahad Al-Salem St Khaldiya Coop

22436184 24833967

Farwaniya

New Shifa Ferdous Coop Modern Safwan

Farwaniya Block 40 Ferdous Coop Old Kheitan Block 11

24734000 24881201 24726638

Tariq Hana Ikhlas Hawally & Rawdha Ghadeer Kindy Ibn Al-Nafis Mishrif Coop Salwa Coop

Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St Salmiya-Amman St Hawally-Beirut St Hawally & Rawdha Coop Jabriya-Block 1A Jabriya-Block 3B Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St Mishrif Coop Salwa Coop

25726265 25647075 22625999 22564549 25340559 25326554 25721264 25380581 25628241

Hawally

ST TATE T OF KUW K WAIT A

Tel.: e 161

DIRECTORA ATE T GEN GENERAL OF CIVIL AV VIA AT TION METEOROLOGICAL DEP PARTMENT A DA AY: Y Sunday

Ext.: 26 2627 - 2630

13/01/2013

BY Y NIGHT:

Very e cold with light to moderate north westerly wind, with speed of 15 - 38 km/h

BY Y DA AY:

Cold with light to moderate freshening gradually north westerly wind, with speed of 15 - 40 km/h

WA ARNING

No Current Warnings arnin a

ST TAT TION

MAX. REC.

MIN. N. EXP P.

16 °C

08 °C

22451082

KUW WA AIT AIRPOR RT

14 °C

04 °C

Mirqab

22456536

NUW WA AISEEB

16 °C

05 °C

WA AFRA

16 °C

04 °C

SALMI

13 °C

02 °C

ABDAL LY

15 °C

03 °C

Sharq

22465401

Salmiya

25746401

Jabriya

25316254

JAL ALIY YA AH

14 °C

01 °C

Maidan Hawally

25623444

FAILAKA A

15 °C

06 °C

Bayan

25388462

AHMADI POR RT

14 °C

06 °C

Mishref

25381200

UMM AL-MARADEM

14 °C

11 °C

W Hawally

22630786

WA ARBA A - BUBY YA AN

15 °C

02 °C

Sabah

24810221

Jahra

24770319

SFC. CHART

13/01/2013 1200 UTC

4 DA AY YS FORECAST Temperatures DA AY

DA AT TE

Monday

14/01

Tuesday

15/01

WEA ATHER T

Wind Speed

Wind Direction

MAX.

MIN.

cold

15 °C

04 °C

NW

15 - 40 km/h

cold + raising dust

16 °C

05 °C

NW

20 - 45 km/h

New Jahra

24575755

West Jahra

24772608

South Jahra

24775066

Weednesday

16/01

cold

16 °C

6 °C

NW

20 - 40 km/h

North Jahra

24775992

Thursday

17/01

cold + scattered clouds

17 °C

4 °C

NW-VRB

08 - 30 km/h

North Jleeb

24311795

Omariya

24719048

N Khaitan

24710044

Fintas

23900322

PRA AYER Y TIMES

RECORDED YESTERDA AY AT KUW WAIT A AIRPOR RT

Fajr

05:20

MAX. Temp.

Sunrise

06:44

MIN. Temp.

13 °C 05 °C

Zuhr

11:57

MAX. RH

64 %

Asr

14:51

MIN. RH

18 %

Sunset

17:11

MAX. Wind

N 43 km/h

Isha

18:32

TOT TA AL L RA AINF FA ALL L IN 24 HR.

All times are local time unless otherwise stated.

00 mm

13/01/13 14:16 UTC

V1.00

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

Dr. Salem soso 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

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

Soor Center Tel: 2290-1677 Fax: 2290 1688

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

Expected Weeather for the Next 24 Hours

Ayoun Al-Qibla

24892674

22545171

INTERNATIONAL CALLS

19:00

Issue Time

22459381

Firdous

Al-Shuhada

WWW.MET.GOV V.KW .

Qibla

24884079

22418714

Fax: 24348714

KUW WA AIT CITY

Ardhiya

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

36

MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 2013

LIFESTYLE G o s s i p

Kinski says ‘tyrant’

father tried to abuse her

A

ctress Nastassja Kinski on Sunday accused her father, late German film icon Klaus, of attempting to abuse her, following allegations by her half-sister Pola that he raped her throughout her childhood. Nastassja Kinski, 51, who achieved Hollywood fame with films such as “Cat People” and “Tess”, told the Bild am Sonntag weekly that her father did not actually rape her but that “he tried to.” “He always touched me far too much, held me so tightly against him that I thought I could not escape. At the time I was four or five years old and we were living in Munich,” Kinski recounted.

“Instinctively I recognized that this could not be the loving embrace of a father but that it was more than that,” she added. The accusations against Klaus Kinski, a volatile film star who died in 1991, came after Pola Kinski’s allegations that he began abusing her at the age of five and raped her for the first time when she was nine. The assaults continued until she was 19, she alleged in an interview with Stern magazine ahead of the publication of her memoirs. In the 1970s, Nastassja Kinski made headlines for her affair with “Tess” director Roman Polanski. She was 15 at the time, while he was 42. Born in Berlin but living in California, she is the daughter of Klaus Kinski’s second wife Brigitte. Pola Kinski’s mother was his first wife, singer Gislinde Kuehbeck. They also have a 36-year-old halfbrother, Nikolai. Nastassja Kinski painted a picture of a violent and cold father who would fly into fits of rage. “He was a tyrant. I can scarcely remember us all sitting around a table together,” she told Bild am Sonntag. If he were still alive today, “I would do everything to ensure he went to prison,” she said. “When he died, some people told me they were sorry. I wasn’t sorry.”

A

Adele is ‘petrified’

dele is ‘petrified’ of performing at the Oscars. The 24year-old singer is gearing up for her big comeback performance at the prestigious film awards on February 24 in Los Angeles, where she is expected to perform her Academy Award nominated James Bond track ‘Skyfall’, but has been suffering from crippling nerves at the thought of being on stage for the first time in a year. A source told the Daily Star newspaper: “Adele is petrified of her comeback performance. She’s been a recluse over the last year being a mum and she knows the whole world will be watching. “She’s been working flat-out to perfect her performance and rebuild her confidence.” The famously secretive ‘Someone Like You’ superstar gave birth to a son in October and has taken time out to devote herself to the little boy. Adele - who is engaged to charity boss Simon Konecki - has rarely been seen in public over the past months, but was spotted last Friday shopping for baby clothes in Los Angeles. The bubbly star first took a break from her high-profile lifestyle in 2011 when she cancelled several tour dates due to throat surgery. She has often spoken of the paralysing fear she suffers on stage, recently confessing: “I’m scared of audiences. It has gotten worse as I have become more successful. “It starts the minute I wake up. If I know I have got a show, I try to potter around and keep busy. I get panicky and sick. I’ve thrown up a few times.” Adele is thought to be attending tonight’s Golden Globes ceremony in LA, but is not expected to perform.

Perry

Wilde

and Sudeikis engaged to marry

O

livia Wilde and Jason Sudeikis are getting married.

A spokeswoman for Wilde confirmed Saturday that the couple is engaged. Joy Fehily released no other details. The engagement was first reported by People.com. This will be the second wedding for both actors. Wilde finalized her divorce from documentarian Tao Ruspoli in 2011 after eight years of marriage. Sudeikis was previously married to “Pitch Perfect” screenwriter

Kay Cannon. They divorced in 2010. Wilde, 28, rose to fame on TV’s “House M.D.” Her film credits include “Tron: Legacy” and “Cowboys & Aliens.” Sudeikis, 37, is a star of “Saturday Night Live.” He hosted the MTV Movie Awards in 2011 and appeared in the film “Horrible Bosses” that same year.

Price is engaged for the fourth time

T

he 34-year-old glamour model has accepted a proposal from builder and part-time stripper Kieran Hayler, just three months after splitting from her former fiancÈ Leandro Penna.

She told The Sun newspaper: “Kieran and I talked about marriage a few times and he proposed to me at Christmas over dinner. Kieran is a true gentleman who treats me like a princess. He’s a normal guy, he works hard and the kids love him. It just feels right. “I know what people will say because I’ve heard it all before. But life is short so when something feels right, I just go for it.” The mother-of-three - who has children Harvey, 10, Junior, seven, and five-year-old Princess Tiaamii only went public with her new beau in December when he posted snaps of them kissing on Twitter, but despite their whirlwind romance she’s convinced he could be The One. A source added: “Katie’s insisting he’s The One and that she would have been miserable over Christmas and New Year without him. She’s calling it ‘love’ already. She reckons becoming Mrs Hayler is the right thing because Kieran’s got none of the faults of her exes. She’s totally smitten.” Katie - also known as Jordan - became close to the plasterer and cabaret stripper after struggling to cope with her heartbreak over Argentinean model Leandro calling off their engagement. The busty pin-up is known for her rash decisions in affairs of the heart, first marrying Peter Andre in a lavish fairytale style wedding after meeting him on ‘I’m a Celebrity...

Get Me Out Of Here!’ in 2005. Following their bitter divorce, she tied the knot with cross-dressing cage fighter Alex Reid in Las Vegas in 2010, before falling for Leandro after the marriage broke down a year later.

Gosling discusses his pet muscles

R

yan Gosling thinks of his muscles as his pets. The ‘Gangster Squad’ hunk doesn’t understand women’s fascination with his muscular body and has likened his defined biceps and chiselled abs to animal companions you have to keep feeding - which are actually “pointless”. He joked: “Anyone can get those if they work at it. It’s just a lot of exercising.

And it’s really quite pointless, because you go to a gym and you lift a heavy thing so a muscle grows, but the only thing the muscle can actually do is to lift that heavy thing. “After a while they’re like pets because they don’t do anything useful.

But you have to feed them and take care of them otherwise they’ll go away. I feel a bit goofy having them, to tell you the truth.” The 32-year-old star - who is dating Eva Mendes - revealed he has a strange and equally “goofy” source of inspiration every time he gets into character, in the form of Warner Bros cartoon characters.

He confessed: “When I take on a new role, the first thing I do is to figure out what percentage of the character is Bugs Bunny and what percentage is Daffy Duck.

Seriously - that works every time for me.”

loves to disguise herself

K

aty Perry loves to disguise herself and hand out free tickets to her concerts.

The ‘Wide Awake’ singer is a fitness fanatic, but finds it hard to work out while on tour, so gets exercise by riding her bicycle around the cities she is playing in incognito and surprising fans. She said: “Constantly travelling can make it hard to exercise, but my favorite workout to do on tour is to ride around the town or city I’m visiting on my bike. I love to explore a new city in disguise and hand out tickets to my show.” Katy also likes to get on the exercise bike in the gym, and regularly attends a special spinning class where participants are motivated by music. She added to Closer magazine: “I try to exercise three to four times a week and, on days when I’m not working, I do a really fun activity, like hiking. I also love soul cycling, which is a spin class with high energy coaching and fun, upbeat music.”

Hathaway praises adorable Boyle

A

nne Hathaway thinks Susan Boyle is “adorable”. The ‘Les Miserables’ actress sang the iconic song ‘I Dreamed A Dream’ for her role as prostitute Fatine in the epic feature and admits that during her “low days” she would watch the clip of Susan auditioning for TV show ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ singing the same song to help raise her spirits. She revealed: “I think [Susan Boyle is] wonderful and adorable. I used to watch that clip [of her auditioning] when I was having a low day.” The brunette beauty also loves music mogul and ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ judge Simon Cowell’s reaction to Susan, who took the nation by storm with her incredible voice, and Anne enjoys thinking of what his plans for her may have been. The 30-year-old actress added: “I love to watch the clip to see Simon Cowell’s mind racing - he’s thinking, ‘How can I make this woman a star?’

“Anne, who is married to fellow actor Adam Shulman, may have struggled throughout the filming of the iconic musical but finds it a “joy” to look back at what she has achieved and feels proud of the finished piece. She continued to heat magazine: “I’m so happy at the moment; life couldn’t be better. But it’s hard watching the film, in the sense that I remember what I went through when I made it. “But otherwise, it is a joy to see all the performances and it is such a beautiful film.”

Lewis: Homeland won’t be popular forever

D

amian Lewis thinks people will “go off” ‘Homeland’ soon. The 41-year-old actor stars opposite Claire Danes in the critically-acclaimed drama series - which is currently in its second season and though the show has won a string of awards and amassed millions of viewers, the British star doesn’t think it will remain popular forever. He told Vogue magazine: “I’m quite sure everyone will go off ‘Homeland’ soon. “When it gets to the seventh series and Claire Danes and I are like a twisted version of ‘The Waltons’, living in the middle of nowhere with our seven ginger children.” Damian has previously spoken of how close he is to co-star Claire and insists he doesn’t get embarrassed when they have intimate scenes together. He said: “I always invite her round for brunch Eggs Benedict is my specialty. “We don’t even get embarrassed about our sex scenes - they’re more like

37

MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 2013

LIFESTYLE F a s h i o n

Versace in Milan Fashion Week

Models display creations as part of Versace Fall-Winter 2013-2014 Menswear collection on January 12, 2013 during the Men’s fashion week in Milan. —AFP

MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 2013

lifestyle F A S H I O N

Milan Fashion Week

starts on somber note

Models display creations as part of Dolce & Gabbana Fall-Winter 2013-2014 Menswear collection during the Men’s fashion week in Milan.

— AFP photos

M

ilan Fashion Week started off on a somber note Saturday, as the design world maintained a vigil for the missing CEO of the family-run Missoni fashion house. The Italian National Fashion Chamber urged the fashion community to post messages on social networks to keep pressure on authorities not to abandon the search for Vittorio Missoni and five others who disappeared aboard a twin-engine plane near Venezuelan islands on Jan 5.

Designers expressed their solidarity with the family on the first day of menswear previews Saturday. “No one better than me can understand the pain and anguish that they are experiencing, the suffering of the sister Angela,” Donatella Versace told Italian reporters before her menswear preview.

Versace’s brother, Gianni, the founder of the company, was killed by a gunman in Miami in July 1997. In a message posted on Facebook, designer Angela Missoni, Vittorio’s sister, expressed gratitude for messages of support. Their brother, Luca, a trained pilot, was in Venezuela helping with the search. “They did very well to confirm the appointment with the new collection.

Vittorio would have done the same,” said Mario Boselli, head of the fashion chamber.

Thirty-seven brands were holding fashion shows to present their menswear collections for next winter over four days.

DOLCE&GABBANA

Dolce and Gabbana’s menswear collection for next winter is pure masculinity, infused with southern romanticism. With motifs of winter roses, illuminated Madonnas and baroque embossing, the 2014 winter menswear collection evokes the design house’s Sicilian roots. And to drive home the point, the designing duo chose ordinary Sicilians as their models, as they have done in the past, filling the runway with men who were more muscular, with more pronounced features and often shorter than those usually seen in fashion.

Cinched high-waist pleated pants strongly suggested a bygone era. Trouser lengths varied from calf to ankle, straight or cuffed, while jacket, coats and vests ranged from short waist cuts to long overcoats. In its most basic iteration, the collection featured black pants paired with white blousons or dark ribbed sweaters - the clothes of a craftsman, a fisherman, a laborer. Detailing like an overlay of white lace on the blousons elevated the look far above mere utility. And there were also garments fitting of the merchant class - rich brocade jackets and thick furry overcoats and velvet suits. These more formal clothes, including a dark suit jacket overlayed with white lace and finished with velvet trim, could be worn for business, a personal celebration or to Sunday Mass.

BURBERRY PRORSUM

Tradition meets innovation in Burberry Prorsum’s new winter looks for men. The “I Love Classics” collection - or made more technology-friendly, I (heart) Classics focuses heavily on outerwear, from the classic trench and duffel, to topcoats, Chesterfields and bombers. While diving deep into Burberry’s archives, designer Christopher Bailey managed also to have fun, adding a touch of whimsy with repeating heart motifs and over sizing militaryinspired accents.

“I liked the idea of celebrating things that are familiar, classic, the kind of classic Burberry, classic menswear,” Bailey said backstage. “But I wanted to be playful as

well.” Bailey married innovation and levity in traditional coats made of light-weight transparent rubber with a repeating heart lining. Bailey said Burberry developed the rubber to be silky to the touch. Cashmere also gets special treatment, with new finishes and bonding to alter the texture. Colors followed the classic line - camel, bone, olive, navy and black - with deep reds and dark royal purple. Maintaining a light mood, animal prints also accented classic bags, complementing the Burberry check pattern, and also adorned shoes and boots. Animal print sunglasses complete the look.

MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 2013

lifestyle F A S H I O N

JIL SANDER

Tall, almost Puritan collars gave gravitas to Jil Sander’s first winter menswear collection since returning to the label she founded. The ample lapels made prominent in the collection for next fall/winter often contrasted in tone or texture with the jacket or sweater they accented, and were sometimes layered over more traditional notched lapels. Short-cropped hair kept the focus on neckline. Suit jackets were kept mostly shorter and allowed to billow

Burberry Prorsum

ZEGNA

Cyber-kinetic patterns give energy to classic looks by Ermenegildo Zegna. Zegna signals a push for innovation in the title of the collection: “Style for Change.” Zegna zips up the doublebreasted suit with graphic lines, while repeating patterns of dots fused into lines give motion to overcoats. Gray dominates the collection, giving it an urban flair. The basic look forms around suits, paired with slim, elegant ties or scoop-neck sweaters.

Trousers are straight cut without being tight, and might include a cummerbund that elongate the look. Much attention is flourished on collars, which when small might be decorated with a clip, or when oversized adorned with a clasp. Textures operate in contrast. Soft alpaca coats are worn over tailored suits. Shoes taper to a point, while bags span a range from travel backs to computer totes. —AP

Zegna

Jil Sander

slightly in the back. This permitted whimsical layering with longer sweaters underneath - and most of the suits were finished with sweaters, crew necks or mock turtlenecks, rather than shirts. Pants were straight, and ankle-length, giving way to well-polished boots.

While the looks adhered to the line’s minimalist credo - simplicity and clean lines - there was nothing austere about it. The colors and fabrics were both lush and luxurious. Crimson, cobalt and pine contrasted soothingly with more sober grays and black. Even strong shades were easy on the eyes. Materials included chunky corduroy, cashmere knit and leather. For fun, Sander offered sleeveless pull-over vests, leaving arms and shoulders bare, and sometimes bi-colored in Harlequin fashion. For more serious moments, there were double-breasted pinstripes, distinguished with monochrome panels.

Gucci town beats Italy’s economic crisis with handbags

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n this crisis-busting corner of Italy’s industrial heartland, the local college found jobs for all of its graduates last year and the latest plant to open was relocated from Germany. A short drive from the mediaeval palazzos of Florence, the town of Scandicci is booming while the rest of Italy endures a recession. Why? Handbags. Local artisans in Scandicci’s non-descript warehouses craft luxury leather goods exported around the world by some of the biggest names in fashion.

Gucci has a headquarters in Scandicci and Christian Dior and Chanel have set up plants here.

The sector includes some 2,700 mostly small-scale manufacturers and employs around 20,000 people. “Our directors are enlightened people. They asked themselves ‘Where is the best place to make leather? Scandicci? Okay, let’s move to Scandicci,” said Giacomo Cortesi, director of a plant set up by luxury watches and accessories maker Montblanc. Montblanc’s leather working facility opened in Scandicci last year after the company, which belongs to Swissbased luxury holding Richemont, sold off its leather plant in Germany.

“We’re at the heart of the leather goods business and the network is right here! You can almost visit all our suppliers by bike,” said Cortesi. “Basically, if you’re buying a handbag it’s from here.” The

facility brings together German technology and Italian craftsmanship, with an eyeopening array of machines to test the leather for every type of global climate, temperature, wear and discoloration.

There is even a robotic arm which repeatedly tests the resistance of shoulder straps on Montblanc bags loaded with 15 kilos (33 pounds) of weights.

The luxury company is taking its precautions against counterfeiting, which is rampant in Italy, and applies its logo only at the last stage of its own production or when it has already received the bags, wallets and belts from its suppliers. The sector in Scandicci has grown so fast in recent years that it is struggling to find enough workers, meaning that students at a local college teaching techniques for handcrafted leather work are basically guaranteed a job when they graduate.

“There is a lot of demand abroad for our leather right now. This is really a source of pride for Italy,” said one student Francesco Gheri, who is hoping to set up his own business when he completes the course which is financed by local authorities. Another student, Claudia Paci, said her parents’ small leather business was forced to shut down because of competition from cheap Chinese goods and she was now looking at upgrading her skills for the luxury sector where the market was better. “Luxury leather is really the

way forward. This is how we can compete with China,” said Paci, as she painstakingly cut intricate shapes with a scalpel in a roll of leather during the model-making class.

The figures bear out the hyperboleaccording to the most recent data leather exports from Scandicci were up 11.3 percentage points in the second quarter of 2012 from the same period a year earlier.

“The sector is in full expansion,” said Laura Chini, director of the Alta Scuola di Pelletteria (High School of Leather Working). “A lot of the sector revolves around Gucci. Gucci has its roots here and everything developed in its wake,” Chini said. Guccio Gucci founded the company in the 1920s, making high-end leather goods inspired by his years as a bellboy at the Savoy Hotel in London with a shop in Florence and production in the suburbs.

The company, which has just inaugurated its new headquarters in Scandicci, is proud of its roots. “Everything is hand- People arrive on September 26, made, everything is made in Italy,” said 2011, for the Francesca Amfitheatrof, director of the opening of the Gucci Museum in Florence whose collecGucci Museum tion charts the evolution of the company from Florentine leather goods maker to at Palazzo della Mercanzia in global fashion powerhouse. Amfitheatrof Piazza della said: “Gucci is very close to its artisans.

Signoria in That is something that is still at the core Florence. —AFP of the brand. That’s Tuscan pride.” — AFP

Milan Fashion Week starts on somber note

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MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 2013

(Above) Miss New York Mallory Hytes Hagan reacts as she is crowned Miss America 2013 on Saturday, Jan 12, 2013, in Las Vegas.

(Left) Contestants compete in the Miss America 2013 pageant. —AP photos

Brooklyn resident wins

Miss America

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23-year-old blonde from Brooklyn, NY, won the Miss America crown Saturday night after deftly dealing with a question about armed guards in schools and raising the issue of child sexual abuse in her contestant platform. En route to her victory in the Las Vegas pageant, Mallory Hagan also tap danced to James Brown’s “Get Up Off of That Thing,” strutted down the runway in an asymmetrical white gown, and donned a revealing black string bikini. She defeated Miss South Carolina Ali Rogers, who took second, and Miss Oklahoma Alicia Clifton, who finished third.

Hagan wins a $50,000 college scholarship and a year as an instant celebrity and role model to many girls. Her platform, the issue she will promote during her reign, is fighting child sexual abuse. She told The Associated Press in an interview after her win that it was her mother who encouraged her to tackle the issue. She said that sexual abuse had “rippled through” her family, touching her mother, aunt, grandmother and cousins. Her mother had trouble at first convincing others of the trauma she had faced.

“That kind of sent her into a whirlwind of

anxiety and depression. So as a teen I lost my mom kind of for a couple years,” she said. “She was dealing with her own issues, and that’s something that now as an adult I understand, but then I certainly did not.” During an interview backstage, Hagan’s mother Mandy Moore wiped tears away as she spoke. “It’s very overwhelming,” she said. “It’s all hitting me so fast.”

Hagan said she will work to make child abuse education mandatory in all 50 states. “It’s something I can hopefully change for the next generation,” she said.

Hagan left her native Alabama for New York at 18 with less than $1,000 in her pocket. She began competing in pageants when she was 13 and tried for Miss New York in 2010 and 2011 before winning last year. She studied communications at the Fashion Institute of Technology and has been living in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn. Hagan, who aspires to be a global cosmetic company executive, ends a long dry spell for New York in the competition. The previous winner from that state was actress Vanessa Williams, who became the first black winner when she took the crown in 1984. Hagan is the first Brooklyndweller to claim the title.

She was good enough during preliminary contests for the 92nd annual Miss America pageant to be chosen as one of 16 semifinalists who moved on to compete in the main show. Her bid lasted through swimsuit,

evening wear, and talent competitions that saw cuts after each round. In the final moments of the show, “Good Morning America” weatherman Sam Champion asked her if schools should hire armed guards in the wake of the Newtown, Conn shooting.

“I don’t think the proper was to fight violence is with violence,” she replied. “I think the proper way is to educate people on guns and the ways we can use them properly. We can lock them up, we can have gun safety classes, we can have a longer waiting period.” Hagan defeated titleholders from all 50 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Several of her competitors had grabbed headlines this year because of their backstories. Miss District of Columbia plans to undergo a preventive double mastectomy to reduce her risk of breast cancer, which killed her mother and grandmother.

Miss Montana was the pageant’s first autistic contestant. Miss Iowa has Tourette’s syndrome. And Miss Maine lost more than 50 pounds before winning her state crown.

During the opening number at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip, when all the queens gave short quips about their states, Hagan referenced last year’s superstorm, saying, “Sandy may have been swept away our shores but never our spirit.”

The pageant, which started as little more than an Atlantic City bathing suit revue, broke viewership records in its heyday and bills itself as one of the world’s largest scholarships programs for women. But like other pageants, the show has struggled to stay relevant as national attitudes regarding women’s rights have changed. More recently, the rise of reality television has provided a superabundance of options for Americans interested in seeing attractive young people in competitive pursuits. Hagan’s boyfriend Charmel Maynard said he knows that pageants are dismissed by some, but he hopes Hagan’s willingness to take on the

Miss Georgia Leighton Jordan, center, congratulates Miss New York Mallory Hytes Hagan for winning the Miss America 2013 pageant. sexual abuse issue will lend legitimacy to her new role. “I don’t think it’s taken seriously, but I think she’s going to be a great ambassador and it could change,” he said. —AP

Miss Illinois Megan Irvin

Miss New York Mallory Hytes Hagan competes in the evening gown.

Miss Tennessee Chandler Lawson competes in the talent portion.

Miss New York Mallory Hytes Hagan competes in the talent portion.

crown

Miss Illinois Megan Ervin competes in the Miss America pageant.

Miss New York Mallory Hytes Hagan, right, answers a question with host Brooke Burke.