19 Jan

IPT IO N SC R SU B

SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 2013

7 150 Fils

Sahara hostage holders issue new threat

RABI ALAWAL 7, 1434 AH

No: 15693

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44

UN, Iran fail again to reach nuclear deal

Armstrong admits doping in ‘toxic’ tale

United Arab Emirates crowned GCC champs Kuwait humiliate Bahrain 6-1, secure 3rd place

Max 21º Min 07º

Bahrain’s police, protesters clash DUBAI: Bahrain police yesterday fired tear gas to disperse Shiite protesters who took to the streets of the capital Manama chanting anti-regime slogans, witnesses said.

The demonstration coincided with the final football game in the Gulf Cup of Nations being hosted in the Sunni-ruled kingdom. “Down (King) Hamad,” yelled protesters who attempted to march in small groups in the narrow alleys of central Manama, as riot police fired tear gas canisters and stun grenades, said witnesses.

Police arrested several protesters, including at least one woman, they reported. Protesters also staged demonstrations and burned tyres in villages outside Manama as they failed to reach the capital due to a heavy security cordon, other witnesses said. The demonstration in Manama was called for by the February 14 Youth Coalition, an Internet group that regularly calls for protests in the Shiite-majority kingdom ruled by the Al-Khalifa dynasty.

Bahrain’s government said on Thursday the demonstration had not been authorized and warned security forces would prevent it from going ahead. The Gulf state has been shaken by unrest since its forces in March 2011 crushed a month of popular Shiite-led protests demanding greater rights and an end to what they said was discrimination by the Sunni royals. The International Federation for Human Rights says 80 people have died since the start of the Arab Spring-inspired uprising on February 14, 2011.— AFP

MANAMA: A Bahraini anti-government protester reacts to tear gas fired by riot police to break up a pro-democracy protest in the capital Manama, Bahrain yesterday. — AP

MANAMA: Supporters of the United Arab Emirates cheer their team during the Gulf Cup’s final football match between UAE and Iraq yesterday in Manama. UAE beat Iraq 2-1 to win the Gulf Cup. — AFP MANAMA: UAE defeated Iraq 2-1 in extra-time to claim the 21st Gulf Cup in a thrilling final yesterday. Omar Abdulrahman put UAE ahead in the 28th minute while Iraq equalized through captain Younis Mahmoud Khalaf in the 81st minute. The match-winner was scored by substitute Ismail Al-Hammadi in the 107th minute as thousands of UAE fans flown in by chartered flights specially for the final roared in celebration.

In another development, Kuwait football team won third place in the 21st Gulf Cup after defeating the host Bahrain 6-1, a historic score between the two in all GCC tournaments.

Before now, the biggest score was in 1976 in Qatar when the Kuwaiti team won against Bahrain 5-2. Determined to put up a good fight for the position, the Bahrain team began scoring in the first minute of the first half, thanks to Bahraini player Abdullah Yosif, while the Kuwaiti team was able to score in the 35th minute thanks to the new excellent player Abdulhadi Khamees, who also quickly scored again at the 38th minute. — Agencies (See Page 48)

in the

news

Muslims, Christians clash

Snow grounds flights

LUXOR: Police have fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of Muslim protesters outside a church in southern Egypt. They were demanding an investigation into allegation that a Christian man sexually assaulted a 6-year-old girl. Residents in the city of Qena say four stores owned by Coptic Christians were torched overnight after villagers accused one of the store owners of molesting the young girl. The clashes took place in the village of Marashda in Qena. Residents say protesters threw stones at the local church yesterday, and police fired tear gas to scatter the crowd. Qena security director Gen. Salah Mazid was quoted in state media saying that police are investigating the accusations against the merchant. Flare-ups of violence between Egypt’s Christian minority and Muslims have increased in the past two years.

LONDON: Snow swept across Britain yesterday, forcing airports to cancel dozens of flights and more than 2,000 schools to close.

London’s Heathrow Airport, one of the busiest in the world, cancelled around 60 flights while the airports in the Welsh capital Cardiff, Southampton in southeast England and Bristol in the southwest were closed completely.

“We’ve got 24 vehicles clearing the runways,” a Heathrow spokeswoman said. A Cardiff spokesman said the airport was due to reopen shortly, while Southampton said it would be shut until at least 1500 GMT. British Airways cancelled more than 60 of its flights but said the figure was likely to rise during the day. Over 2,000 schools were closed across Britain, while the bad weather also caused gridlock on the roads.

Local SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 2013

Panel failed to visit Twitter inmates WASHINGTON: Kuwait suffered a setback in freedoms in a recent report released by an American group described as “an independent watchdog organization that supports democratic change, monitors the status of freedom around the world, and advocates for democracy and human rights”.

“Kuwait’s political rights rating declined from 4 to 5 due to a parliamentary crisis and the government’s attempts to undermine the political opposition by revising the electoral law”, according to the Freedom in the World 2013, an annual report on the state of global freedom released by Freedom House.

It lists Kuwait with Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Syria, and the United Arab Emirates as Middle Eastern states where freedoms had suffered setbacks as a result of “reactions, sometimes violent, by authoritarian leaders triggered as a result of the gains for the Arab Spring countries”. On the other hand, the report shows “striking gains for freedom” in Libya “which advanced from Not Free to Partly Free and registered one of the most substantial oneyear numerical improvements in the report’s nearly 40-year history”. Egypt also gained improved status in the report after “experiencing relatively modest freedom” following a year with inconsistencies highlighted by presidential elections which saw the end of direct military rule, as well as a dissolved parlia-

ment and “a new constitution pushed through under deeply problematic circumstances”.

The report also shows “major advances” seen in Burma and a number of African countries “including CÙte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Lesotho, Senegal, and Sierra Leone”, but points out “noteworthy declines” recorded for Kazakhstan, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine. In general, the report shows that the number of countries ranked as Free for 2012 was 90, a gain of 3 over the previous year, while indicating that 27 countries showed significant declines, compared with 16 that showed notable gains. “This is the seventh consecutive year that Freedom in the World has shown more declines than gains worldwide”, Freedom House indicated. “The report data reflected a stepped-up campaign of persecution by dictators that specifically targeted civil society organizations and independent media”, it added.

“Our findings point to the growing sophistication of modern authoritarians,” said Arch Puddington, Freedom House vice president for research. “They are flexible; they distort and abuse the legal framework; they are adept at the techniques of modern propaganda,” he added. “But especially since the Arab Spring, they are nervous, which accounts for their intensified persecution of popular movements for change.”

Kuwait suffers setback in Freedom House report Result of Arab Spring gains

WASHINGTON: Kuwait suffered a setback in freedoms in a recent report released by an American group described as “an independent watchdog organization that supports democratic change, monitors the status of freedom around the world, and advocates for democracy and human rights”. “Kuwait’s political rights rating declined from 4 to 5 due to a parliamentary crisis and the government’s attempts to undermine the political opposition by revising the electoral law”, according to the Freedom in the World 2013, an annual report on the state of global freedom released by Freedom House.

It lists Kuwait with Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Syria, and the United Arab Emirates as Middle Eastern states where freedoms had suffered setbacks as a result of “reactions, sometimes violent, by authoritarian leaders triggered as a result of the gains for the Arab Spring countries”.

On the other hand, the report shows “striking gains for freedom” in Libya “which advanced from Not Free to Partly Free and registered one of the most substantial oneyear numerical improvements in the report’s nearly 40-year history”. Egypt also gained improved status in the report after “experiencing relatively modest freedom” following a year with inconsistencies highlighted by presidential elections which saw the end of direct military rule, as well as a dissolved parliament and “a new constitution pushed through under deeply problematic circumstances”.

The report also shows “major advances” seen in Burma and a number of African countries “including CÙte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Lesotho, Senegal, and Sierra Leone”, but points out “noteworthy declines” recorded for Kazakhstan, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, Russia,

Turkey, and Ukraine.

In general, the report shows that the number of countries ranked as Free for 2012 was 90, a gain of 3 over the previous year, while indicating that 27 countries showed significant declines, compared with 16 that showed notable gains. “This is the seventh consecutive year that Freedom in the World has shown more declines than gains worldwide”, Freedom House indicated. “The report data reflected a stepped-up campaign of persecution by dictators that specifically targeted civil society organizations and independent media”, it added.

“Our findings point to the growing sophistication of modern authoritarians,” said Arch Puddington, Freedom House vice president for research. “They are flexible; they distort and abuse the legal framework; they are adept at the techniques of modern propaganda,” he added. “But especially since the Arab Spring, they are nervous, which accounts for their intensified persecution of popular movements for change.”

Furthermore, the report urges the United States and other democracies to demonstrate leadership in the struggle for freedom, and criticizes both the Obama administration and the Republican opposition for “a reluctance to provide that leadership.”

“Right now there are societies where freedom is in the balance, yet the democracies have beaten a retreat,” said David J. Kramer, president of Freedom House. “What we’ve learned over the years is that gains for freedom usually take place with the active participation of democracies like the United States and those in Europe. And where they have opted out of the struggle, the result is usually a defeat for freedom.”—Freedom House

Abdul-Aziz Fakhro

Dr Bassam Hannoun

Wataniya Telecom announces Give Kuwait 3 KUWAIT: Wataniya Telecom announced opening registration for the ‘Give Kuwait 3’ program, a program organized for the third year in a row to allow small business owners and skillful individuals to showcase their talents and creative ability to the public.

“The program sheds the light on special artistic talents of young people in various fields and allows people with initiatives and small projects to showcase their products and services”, reads a

statement released by the Wataniya Telecom yesterday. Meanwhile, CEO of Wataniya Telecom Dr. Bassam Hannoun expressed his pride for organizing the program for the third consecutive year, adding that it comes “as part of Wataniya’s philosophy that focus on improving young people’s skills”. Deputy CEO Abdul-Aziz Fakhro meanwhile recognized “Wataniya’s active role to be a pioneer in supporting young people and their initiatives”.

LOCAL

SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 2013

Former president of Iraq’s Kurdistan region, Borhum Saleh receiving Kuwait’s media delegation.

Former president of Iraq’s Kurdistan region, Borhum Saleh holds a meeting with the Kuwaiti media delegation.

Kurdistan, Kuwait keen on bolstering ties

Borhum Saleh with KUNA’s editor in chief, Rashid Al-Ruwaished.

ERBIL: Former President of Iraq Kurdistan region Barham Salih lauded relations with Kuwait, affirming that both sides were eager to boost the bilateral ties.

He said during a meeting with a

Former president of Iraq’s Kurdistan region with Kuwait’s media delegation.

delegation of Kuwaiti journalists that both Kuwaitis and Iraqis have suffered on the hands of the former Iraqi regime, affirming that the new Iraq was eager to cooperate with its neighbors to achieve development

‘Kuwaiti, Kurdish people have a lot in common’: Al-Mo’men ERBIL: Kuwait’s Ambassador to Iraq Ali Al-Mo’men said that the Halabcha Crime Committee by the former Ba’thist Iraqi regime will always be remembered by

Ali Al-Mo’men

future generations and viewed as an emblem of liberation. “All of us enjoy the freedom dearly paid for by both the Kuwaiti and the

Kurdish people and we are deeply grateful and indebted to those brave men and women who were martyred in both Iraq and Kuwait to create the freedom we enjoy today”, said AlMo’men while escorting the Kuwaiti media delegation currently visiting the Kurdistan region.

“Both the people have a lot in common with the only one exception of chemical warfare”, he said noting that Kuwaiti men, women and children were held captive and brutally murdered by the former Iraqi regime. AlMo’men also apologized for the delay in visiting the town of Halabcha though he had visited Kurdistan more than once on previous occasions. Halabcha Mayor Kuran Adham confirmed Al-Mo’men’s statement with regard to Kurdish and Kuwaiti people sharing a common experience.

and prosperity for all states in the region.

The former Kurdish president welcomed Kuwait to invest in the region which has been developing through the last 10 years, stressing

that that such investments would reflect positively on the whole of Iraq because Kurds were very loyal to the notion of a unified strong nation.

The delegation, which arrived in

the Kurdish Region last Sunday, is headed by the Director of Kuwait Journalists Association (KJA) Ali AlRashed and comprises a number of journalists and figures representing Kuwaiti newspapers. — KUNA

‘Visiting Kurdistan a golden chance to explore developing region’: Al-Rashid ERBIL: Adnan Al-Rashid, the head of the Kuwaiti media delegation and KJA Manager spoke to reporters while heading back to Kuwait and said that the visit

Adnan Al-Rashid was a good chance to probe and explore the developing Kurdistan region.

“We felt a strong desire to strengthen ties between our two people, especially through public and formal demands to open a direct flight route to Kurdistan”, said Al-Rashid pointing out that the five-day visit was a complete success and that the delegation visited the cities of Erbil, Duhok and Sulaimaniya and met with top delegates including President Barzani and leading media and journalists.

Notably, the delegation visited the Sorani Christian Heritage Museum in the town of Ankawa near Erbil which forms the best embodiment of co-existence.

The delegation also visited the Erbil Castle, the city of Duhok where the Kurdistan parliament is located and finally visited Sulaimaniya; the region’s cultural capital where they met Dr

Borhum Saleh.

The delegation also visited the Halabcha town which had been struck by Saddam Hussein’s regime with chemical weapons killing over 5,000 civilians in 1988.

The delegation included KUNA’s Editor-in Chief Rashid Al-Ruwaished, KJA advisor Dr Ayed Al-Manna’, Kuwait Times’ General Manager Badrya Darwish, Al-Kuwaitiya newspaper’s Deputy Editor-in-Chief Nassar Al-Khaldi, Aljarida reporter Lama Othman, AlSeyassah reporter Saleh AlGhannam, Al-Rai reporter Ghanim Al-Sulaimani, KJA board member Jassim Mohammed Kamal, Al-Qabas reporter Ibrahim Al-Saeedi, AlWatan’s reporter Mubarak AlShammari and Al-Anbaa’s photographer Hani Al-Shammari.

LOCAL

SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 2013

Record traffic at Kuwait airport KUWAIT: Air traffic at Kuwait International Airport grew six percent in 2012 compared to 2011, deputy director of civil aviation Nabil Al-Zamel said yesterday.

The number of passengers going through the airport increased five percent last year, he said as he noted that these increases occurred at a time when the air travel industry worldwide had experienced rough going due in the main to the global economic slump, particularly in Europe, and political turmoil in different regions of the Middle East.

However with Kuwait’s Open Skies policy and its continuing trend to sign bilateral agreements with more international air carriers and its constant streamlining of services directed at pas-

senger and airlines alike, all converged to encourage air carriers to increase their flights to and through Kuwait last year, he said.

For instance airlines Bahrain Air, Iran’s Zagros Air, and Thailand’s Jet Asia ramped up their flights through Kuwait’s major airport as did Qatar Airways, FlyDubai, Gulf Air, Turkish Airlines, Egypt Air and Emirates, to name a few.

Al-Zamel, further, noted that the number of air passengers using Kuwait airport last year topped 8.9 million compared to 8.5 million in 2011. Those numbers translated into over 85,567 flights in 2012 and 85,117 flights in 2011, he said. Air cargo also was quite brisk in 2012 where over 181 million kgs of merchandize were transported. — KUNA

KUWAIT: An aerial view of the Kuwait International Airport.

Police bust vice dens in Khaitan, Farwaniya Fake kidnap case

KUWAIT: The Municipality Public Relations Department announced it destroyed nearly 727 kg of rotten fish during the first week of January. The fish was confiscated from the Mubarakiya fish market at dawn just before it was to be auctioned. The Capital municipality branch director, Faleh Al-Shimmari, said the inspectors will continue their work, especially focussing in areas where large numbers buy their fish, vegetables and fruits. — Hanan Al-Saadoun

KUWAIT: Forty five people were arrested in recent crackdowns which featured busting several brothels in Khaitan and Farwaniya.

The operation went underway as per instructions of the Interior Ministry’s Assistant Undersecretary for Criminal Security Affairs, Maj Gen Abdul-Hameed AlAwadhi, who ordered investigations to stop prostitution and other illegal activities around the country. Farwaniya officers arrested 45 men and women of Arab and Asian nationalities and referred them to proper authorities to face charges related to prostitution.

Servicemen held Two servicemen are expected to face legal action in connection with a case in which they were accused of kidnap. Police were called to a location in Sabah Al-Salem area based on an emergency call made by two people who were approached by a woman seeking their help to thwart two kidnappers. The suspects drove away from the scene on their black SUV before police arrived. The 25-year-old Somali woman and the two eyewitnesses were escorted to the police station to file a case. The two men, who work as an imam and muezzin at a local mosque, provided descriptions and the license plate number of the suspects’ vehicle; much to the chagrin of the woman who

had failed to provide these information.

Detectives grew suspicious when the woman insisted that the two eyewitnesses were lying, after which they were able to identify and summon the car’s owner.

The suspect, a Kuwaiti man employed at the Ministry of Interior, denied knowledge of the case during interrogation and claimed he was camping at the time of the crime.

Despite the fact that the woman said she never met the man, he was recognized by the eyewitnesses prompting further interrogations under which he eventually admitted his involvement in the case. He explained that the woman was his girlfriend and that she was preparing to escort him when they were spotted by the eyewitnesses, at which point they fabricated the kidnap plot in fear of getting into trouble as he was preparing for a promotion course. The man reportedly did not expect that the eyewitnesses would be able to note down the license plate number of his car. He gave the addresses of his brother, a Ministry of Defense serviceman, who was inside the car at the time. The second suspect was arrested and joined with his brother as the two remain in custody pending legal procedures. (Rai) Fatal accident A male driver died in an accident reported recently on the Salmi Road. The victim, a

Kuwaiti in his twenties, was pronounced dead on the scene by paramedics who arrived shortly after the accident was reported. Investigations are ongoing to determine the circumstances which led the victim’s car to lose balance and overturn.

Drunk driver A drunk driver was arrested in Maidan Hawally following a failed escape attempt.

Patrol officers went in pursuit of the suspect who ignored orders to pull over for reckless driving. The bedoon (stateless) man was eventually forced to stop following a pursuit which saw him pass a red traffic light, hit two parked vehicles as well as taunting police with a liquor bottle snuck outside of the window. He was referred to the proper authorities to face charges.

Jahra car thief Search is on for an unknown suspect who stole a car in Jahra after forcing a child out of it. The 10-year-old boy had reportedly started the car’s engine as per instructions of his mother who was supposed to join him shortly. However, the suspect forced him out of the car at knifepoint and fled with the car. The Egyptian woman reported the case at the area’s police station after her terrified son came upstairs and told her about the ordeal.

Approval required for mixed marriages in Kuwait KUWAIT: Foreign women who married Kuwaiti men after January 2010 will need the approval of a special committee to be able to live in Kuwait. “The interior ministry has stopped stamping residence permits to the foreign wives of Kuwaiti nationals and whose marriage took place after Jan 1, 2010,” security sources said.

“These couples now need the approval of the committee set up by Interior Minister Sheikh Ahmad AlHumood and which includes representatives from the interior, foreign and justice

ministries and the National Security Agency,” the sources said.

Mixed couples married before 2010 will not be affected by the decision and will continue to submit the wife’s papers to the immigration authorities.

“For the new couples, the committee will be the one to contact the immigration authorities to inform them whether the foreign wife’s papers are accepted or rejected,” a local newspaper reported on Monday. The sources attributed the move to make the committee decide on

the permits to foreign wives to “a need to reduce the number of marriages between Kuwaiti men and expatriate women.”

The number of such marriages has reached high figures in recent years and there is a need to address the increasingly worrying issue of Kuwaiti women not getting married. The decision is also driven by security concerns amid worries that some of the marriages were based on common interests and not on forming families,” the sources said.

Local SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 2013

Stage set for Arab Development summt RIYADH: A specialized panel assigned to prepare for the Arab Development Summits met yesterday to follow up decisions adopted in the previous two summits, topped by Kuwait’s $2billion initiative to finance small and medium projects in Arab countries.

The eight-member committee, which concluded its meeting at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel earlier to prepare for the third Arab Development Summit due to open on Monday, also discussed pan-Arab investments and the Unified Agreement to invest Arab capitals internally.

Participants reviewed an Arab strategy to develop uses of renewable energy from 2010-2030, development goals for the 2000-2015 millennium and fighting non-contagious diseases.

The committee groups the host country, Algeria, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Egypt and Morocco.

Senior officials are set to meet soon to prepare for the twoday summit, due to conclude on Tuesday.

Arab foreign and finance ministers are scheduled to open a joint meeting on Saturday to set the stage for the third summit of its kind, following the ones in Kuwait in 2009 and Sharm El-Sheikh in 2011. HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah launched the Kuwaiti initiative at the first summit in a bid to finance small and medium projects in Arab countries. — KUNA

Kuwait political situation looks set to remain rocky Positive year for economy

KUWAIT: The year 2012 was one marked by ups and downs for Kuwait, with a record profit highlighting the country’s economic growth, but also exposing its perpetuating reliance on oil revenues.

While the planning of new infrastructure projects and growth in the banking sector showed that the country is recovering well from the effects of the 2009 economic crisis, the political scene was dominated by tensions between the government and opposition, which left the parliament paralyzed for most of the year.

Kuwait’s GDP is on target to expand by an average of 5% per year over the next few years, according to the IMF, building on a strong performance in 2011 which produced growth of 5.7%.

In a trend that reinforced Kuwait’s positive economic performance, local banks posted strong third-quarter 2012 returns, with many institutions recovering from negative growth in the second quarter caused by allocating funds for provisioning against potential defaults. A number of banks have signalled their intention to continue approaching lending with caution and maintaining a strong provisions base in 2013 as part of an effective ongoing strategy to protect against market volatility.

The economy remained dominated by oil revenues in 2012, reflecting its listing in OPEC’s annual statistical bullet as the organisation’s fourth-largest producer of crude oil. However, the government’s National Development Plan (NDP), which maps out a strategy for economic expansion into 2035 through a series of fiveyear plans, puts the spotlight firmly on

diversifying away from a reliance on hydrocarbons.

The current 2010-14 plan pinpoints significant investment in infrastructure projects, listing, among others, work on roads, ports, a $3.6bn expansion of Kuwait International Airport, a transportation network linking Kuwait to other GCC countries and an offshore tourism resort.

The construction industry in particular should see significant growth on the back of key projects. While construction was hit hard by the effects of the financial crisis, registering a 9.8% drop in activity in 2009, data compiled by the Irish market research company Research and Markets indicates that the sector should expand at a compound annual growth rate of 7.45% between 2012 and 2016.

Following lengthy delays, the Kuwaiti cabinet passed the national budget for 2012-13 in early October, forecasting revenues of KD13.8bn, up 3.7% on anticipated income for 2011. Spending, meanwhile, is expected to reach KD21.2bn, marking a rise of 9.3% on last year’s projections.

While the current budget forecasts a shortfall of KD7.3bn, mainly due to highly conservative oil price estimates, the country is expected to follow the pattern of previous years by ending the 2012-13 fiscal year with a surplus. Kuwait has predicted annual budget deficits for over a decade but has always finished the year in the black. At the end of the 2011-12 fiscal year, for example, the country posted a record surplus of $47bn.

Kuwait’s 2012 budgetary decisions were hit by lengthy delays, largely caused

by ongoing tensions the government and the opposition, which escalated when the emir dissolved parliament in December 2011 following corruption allegations.

Tension mounted when a new parliament, formed by the opposition after it won a majority in February’s elections, was dissolved by the constitutional court six months later. The 2009 parliament was then reinstated, prompting the opposition to boycott parliamentary sessions in protest that the dissolution process was illegal. The Amir again chose to dissolve the National Assembly in October, paving the way for new parliamentary elections.

However, the opposition’s decision to boycott the most recent round of elections in December in protest at changes to the election law enacted by His Highness the Amir in October suggest that the uncertainty is far from over. The boycott also meant that turnout reached just 40%, down 20% on last February’s election. Low turnout could open the door for the opposition to question the legitimacy of the recently elected parliament on the grounds that it fails to represent the population.

While 2012 was undoubtedly a positive year for the Kuwaiti economy, with continued investment in infrastructural developments coming on the back of a record surplus, the political situation looks likely to remain rocky in the coming months.

Observers will be hoping that the appointment of a new National Assembly brings to an end the paralysis that has characterised Kuwait’s parliament, making way for new legislation and reforms.

—Oxford Business Group

UNHCR hopes to see ‘robust pledge’at conference on Syria UNITED NATIONS: Panos Moumtzis, the regional refugee coordinator for Syrian Refugees, late Thursday sounded the alarm at the humanitarian situation in Syria - “the fastest growing humanitarian disaster in the world” - and expressed hope to see a “robust pledge” at the upcoming international donor conference to be held in Kuwait later this month.

“On the 30th of January, there is going to be a pledging Conference in Kuwait. We very much hope to see a robust pledge and support from donor countries around the world, because the crisis is such that we cannot wait. We have to be able to respond and provide the urgently needed life-saving assistance,” Moumtzis told the International Peace Institute (IPI) during a visit to the institute headquarters.

The Institute invited the UN official to highlight the current and future challenges facing humanitarian actors and governments alike in coordinating and delivering aid to 642,000 refugees, 75 percent of them women, and mainly children, scattered across Jordan, Iraq, Turkey, Lebanon and Egypt.

The financial support is really crucial he said. “We feel as humanitarian agencies that there is a huge political interest on the Syria situation. At the same time, we feel that the financial support is not there yet. We urgently need to have the assistance needed.”

“It is extremely important that the international community shows its solidarity to the neighbouring countries by providing the necessary support. We cannot take the (generosity of) neighbouring countries for granted,” he argued.

“We really consider the Syrian humanitarian situation as one of the most complex and dangerous operations in the world, because the risk of a regional expansion of the conflict is very real,” he warned, adding that the Syrian humanitarian situation at the moment is the “fastest growing humanitarian regional disaster in the world.” He said the agency put a plan to assist four million people inside Syria, including two million displaced internally, and 1.1 million refugees from now until end of June, and, in the worst case scenario, 1.8 million, which brings the total to over five million people, or a quarter of the Syrian population.

“One in four Syrians is in need of humanitarian assistance, and I am afraid this number is increasing by the day as the level of security in Syria deteriorates,” he said, adding that the agency receives 3,000 refugees daily. He noted that the Dec 19 UN appeal of $1.5 billion-half a billion to help Syrians inside the country and one billion to assist neighbouring countries, is “the largest humanitarian appeal ever presented to cover their needs.”

He commended the neighouring countries for keeping their borders open, especially Turkey which hosts 230,000 refugees and “showed tremendous generosity by providing ‘five star plus camps’ with three hot meals a day, hot water and washing machines.”

“Clearly, the humanitarian response that we are providing is not the solution. What is really needed for this crisis is a political solution,” he said with frustration. —KUNA

SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 2013

UN, Tehran fail again to reach nuclear deal

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Washington confronts new north Africa crisis

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Pakistan’s officer probing PM graft case found dead

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SAHARA: Satellite image shows the Amenas Gas Field in Algeria, which is jointly operated by BP and Norway’s Statoil and Algeria’s Sonatrach. Algerian Special Forces have launched a rescue operation at the plant in the Sahara Desert and freed foreign hostages held by Al-Qaeda-linked militants, but estimates for the number of dead varied wildly from four to dozens. (Inset) An image grab shows an Mi-8 helicopter belonging to the Algerian air force hovering in the desert at an undisclosed location in the south of the country. — AP

Sahara militants issue new threat 14 Japanese, 8 Norwegians among foreigners unaccounted for ALGIERS: At least 22 foreign hostages were unaccounted for yesterday and their Al-Qaedalinked captors threatened to attack other energy installations after Algerian forces stormed a desert gas complex to free hundreds of captives, resulting in dozens of deaths. With Western leaders clamoring for details of the assault they said Algeria had launched on Thursday without consulting them, a local source said the gas base was still surrounded by Algerian Special Forces and some hostages remained inside.

Thirty hostages, including several Westerners, were killed during the storming, the source said, along with at least 11 of their captors, who said they had taken the site as retaliation for French intervention against Islamists in neighboring Mali. The crisis represents a serious escalation of unrest in North Africa, where French forces have been in Mali since last week to fight an Islamist takeover of the north, and strikes a heavy blow to Algeria’s vital oil industry, just recovering from years of civil war.

Fourteen Japanese were among those still unaccounted for by the early hours of yesterday, their Japanese employer said, while Norwegian energy company Statoil, which runs the Tigantourine gas field with Britain’s BP and Algeria’s national oil company, said eight Norwegian employees were still missing. A

French hostage employed by a French catering company said Algerian military forces were combing the sprawling In Amenas site for hostages when he was escorted away by the military. “They are still counting them up,” Alexandre Berceaux told Europe 1 radio.

The crisis posed a serious dilemma for former colonial power Paris and its allies as French troops attacked the hostage-takers’ Al-Qaeda allies in Mali, another former colony. The kidnappers warned Algerians to stay away from foreign companies’ installations in the OPEC-member oil and gas producing state, threatening more attacks, Mauritania’s news agency ANI said, citing a spokesman for the group. Algerian workers form the backbone of an oil and gas industry that has attracted international firms in recent years partly because of military-style security.

The kidnapping, storming and further threat cast a deep shadow over its future.

An Irish engineer who survived said he saw four jeeps full of hostages blown up by Algerian troops whose commanders said they moved in about 30 hours after the siege began because the gunmen had demanded to be allowed to take their captives abroad. Two Japanese, two Britons and a French national were among at least seven foreigners killed, the source told Reuters. Eight dead hostages were Algerian. The

nationalities of the rest, and the perhaps dozens more who escaped, were unclear. Some 600 local Algerian workers, less well guarded, survived.

Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said his country still did not know the fate of eight of 13 Norwegian hostages taken. “As we understand it, the operation is still ongoing,” he told Britain’s BBC broadcaster. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has cancelled part of his trip in Southeast Asia, his first overseas trip since taking office, and will fly home due to the hostage crisis, Japan’s senior government spokesman said yesterday. “The action of Algerian forces was regrettable,” said Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, adding Tokyo had not been informed of the operation in advance.

Their governments say Americans, Romanians and an Austrian have also been captured by the militants, who have demanded France end its week-old offensive in Mali. A US plane landed near the plant to evacuate hostages, the local source said yesterday.

Underlining the view of African and Western leaders that they face a multinational Islamist insurgency across the Sahara - a conflict that prompted France to send hundreds of troops to Mali last week - the official source said only

two of the 11 dead militants were Algerian, including the squad’s leader.

The bodies of three Egyptians, two Tunisians, two Libyans, a Malian and a Frenchman - all assumed to have been hostage-takers - were found, the security source said. The group had claimed to have dozens of guerrillas on site, and it was unclear whether any militants had managed to escape.

The overall commander, Algerian officials said, was Mokhtar Belmokhtar, a veteran of Afghanistan in the 1980s and Algeria’s bloody civil war of the 1990s. He appears not to have been present and has now risen in stature among a host of Saharan Islamists, flush with arms and fighters from chaotic Libya, whom Western powers fear could spread violence far beyond the desert.

Algerian security specialist Anis Rahmani, author of several books on terrorism and editor of Ennahar daily, told Reuters about 70 militants were involved from two groups, Belmokhtar’s group, who travelled from Libya, and the lesser known “Movement of the Islamic Youth in the South”. “They were carrying heavy weapons including rifles used by the Libyan army during (Muammar) Gaddaffi’s rule.

They also had rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns.” — Reuters

INTERNATIONAL

SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 2013

Syrians turn to astrology for signs of hope BEIRUT: Tired of failed forecasts about their country’s bitter conflict that has left more than 60,000 people dead, some Syrians have turned to fortune tellers and astrology to try to predict what lies ahead. Nearly two years into the fighting, many have lost faith in political analysts and claims by parties on both sides of the conflict, who frequently promise that victory is near. A group of well-off Syrians gathered in a Beirut restaurant found solace in what famed Lebanese medium Maguy Farah told them in a private seance. “What will our country’s future be?” asked one businessman, who longed for the fall of President Bashar al-Assad.

“Assad will leave in March,” Farah told the group. “Many merchants have abandoned their businesses, and their horizons are empty,” a Syrian businesswoman guest of Farah who identified herself as Mona said. “When a fortune teller gives them a reading about Syria’s future, they feel they can work again.” After decades of stability, Syria’s war has ravaged much of the country,

struck the economy hard and turned everyday life into a struggle for survival riddled with uncertainty. “Syrians do not like living in uncertainty,” said Mona. Just as the country’s crisis has divided much of Syrian society into pro- and anti-regime camps, astrologers’ contrasting predictions reflect the split.

In Syria’s neighbor Lebanon, which was dominated politically and militarily for nearly 30 years by Damascus, television astrologer Michel Hayek predicted the fall of Assad in his latest annual reading on anti-Assad channel MTV. Hayek, the country’s most famous astrologer, wrongly forecast the toppling of the regime in 2012. This year, he said that women and members of Assad’s minority Alawite sect will play an important role in Syria’s future political life. Mike Feghali, who works for pro-Damascus Lebanese broadcaster OTV, disagreed with Hayek. Assad, he predicted, “will remain strong. He will not fall.”

Feghali’s popularity soared when

Israel, Europe, US tensions looming JERUSALEM: Israel may seek to focus on Iran after next week’s election, but tensions with the US and European discontent over the frozen peace process could see it face diplomatic initiatives from abroad or even sanctions. Over the past four years, Israel’s right-wing government has made no headway in ending the conflict with the Palestinians, instead pushing ahead with the largest number of settlements in a decade and sparking European and US anger.

The stand-off over Iran’s nuclear program has seen Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu locked in several high-profile disputes with US President Barack Obama, leaving Israel increasingly isolated on the international stage. Netanyahu, who is widely expected to win the January 22 vote, has said his “first priority” after reelection would be preventing a nuclear Iran. “The central issue is Iran, there is no time left.

The decision will have to be made rather quickly,” said Eytan Gilboa, an expert on US-Israeli relations at Bar Ilan University.

Israel has refused to rule out a military strike to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear arms, although analysts doubt it has the military capability to carry out an effective strike alone. But tensions with Washington, which erupted again this week over an article in which Obama reportedly referred to Netanyahu as a “political coward,” could prove a challenge for future coordination on Iran and other issues.

In the article, prominent Bloomberg columnist Jeffrey Goldberg said Israel could soon notice a sea change in US diplomatic support. “It is in terms of American diplomatic protection-among the Europeans and especially at the UNthat Israel may one day soon notice a significant shift,” he wrote.

Gilboa said the fraught ties could improve “if Netanyahu has at least one centrist party in his coalition” and depending on who fills the key defense and foreign portfolios, as well as that of Israel’s envoy to Washington. Although Israel and Europe see eye to eye on the danger of Iran’s nuclear ambitions, their relationship was overshadowed by the Palestinian issue, an Israeli official said. “The problem is that they think the settlements are more important than all of those things,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

If Israel does not initiate a fresh attempt to renew peace talks, the Europeans would very quickly try “to create a new initiative with the new US administration,” he said. — AFP

history proved him right after he predicted former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri’s 2005 assassination. In 2013, Feghali said, much of Syria will be “mostly calm.” But violence in the central city of Homs, dubbed “the capital of the revolution,” will continue, he added. “A drowning man will clutch at a straw,” said a journalist from Damascus, who said she has developed an “obsession” with astrology. “In this crisis, it is unsurprising that books about esoteric subjects have become more popular,” she added, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity.

In early 2012, an astrologer said “black smoke will rise from the presidential palace, followed by white smoke, symbolizing good news-the fall of the regime,” said the journalist.

“Even my father, who never in his life listened to clairvoyants, has waited, like many Syrians, to see if this prophecy comes true,” she added. A 27-year-old lawyer in Damascus said she watches everything astrology-related she can on television. “With all the darkness

around us, we need hope. Astrologers give us that,” said Randa. Listening to Hayek’s predictions, “my heart started to beat very fast,” said Ayman, a refugee who has sought shelter from his strife-torn country in Beirut. But it is no surprise that viewers find the comfort they seek in predictions that typically correspond with the political orientations of the television station.

“Television executives in Syria and Lebanon tell astrologers to broadcast predictions that will make audiences feel good,” said Rostom Mahmud, a Syrian journalist and researcher living in France. Syrian novelist Maha Hassan, who now lives in Paris, said she relies instead on the intuition of close friends to try to figure out what the future holds. One Egyptian friend, she said, predicted the fall of Tunisia’s former strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. “But deep down I know that no one can predict the critical moment, and I also know that all important events in life happen suddenly, and beyond all expectations,” she said. — AFP

UN, Tehran fail again to reach nuclear deal Iran again refuses access to Parchin military site VIENNA: UN inspectors failed again in talks in Tehran this week to secure a breakthrough deal on Iran’s atomic activity in a setback for diplomatic efforts to resolve the nuclear dispute with the Islamic state peacefully.

Herman Nackaerts, deputy director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said yesterday his team had not been granted the access they have long sought to a military site. A further meeting was scheduled for Feb 12.

In a separate note sent to IAEA member states about the negotiations over Wednesday and Thursday, seen by Reuters, the UN agency said “important differences” between the two sides remained and it had therefore not been possible to reach an agreement. The absence of an accord meant to allay international concerns over Tehran’s atomic ambitions will disappoint world powers seeking a broader diplomatic settlement with Iran that would avert the threat of a new Middle East war.

The IAEA’s efforts to unblock its longstalled investigation into suspected atom bomb research in Iran are separate, but closely linked, to negotiations between Tehran and the powers that may resume later this month after a seven-month hiatus. The IAEA, whose mission is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, has been trying for a year to negotiate a so-called structured approach with Iran giving the inspectors access to sites, officials and documents for their long-stalled inquiry.

At the centre of its concerns, it wants to inspect the Parchin military complex southeast of Tehran where it believes

VIENNA: The IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Safeguards Herman Nackaerts (center) arrives after a trip with his team to Iran yesterday at the Airport Schwechat, in Vienna. — AFP explosives tests relevant for nuclear weapons development may have taken place, something Iran denies. “We had two days of intensive discussions,” Nackaerts told reporters at Vienna airport. “We could not finalize the structured approach to resolve the outstanding issues regarding possible military dimensions of Iran’s nuclear program,” he said. Nackaerts said as he left Vienna for Tehran on Tuesday that he hoped for immediate access to Parchin, where Western diplomats suspect Iran has carried out work to cleanse the site of any traces of past, illicit nuclear-related activity.

Iran says Parchin is a conventional mil-

itary facility and has dismissed accusations of “sanitization” taking place there.

“Also on this occasion no access was granted to Parchin,” said Nackaerts, who led a team of eight senior IAEA officials.

World powers were monitoring the IAEAIran talks for any signs as to whether Tehran, facing intensifying sanctions pressure, may be prepared to finally start tackling mounting international concerns about its nuclear program. Israel - a US ally believed to have the Middle East’s only nuclear arsenal - has threatened military action if diplomacy and economic sanctions intended to rein in Iran’s uranium enrichment program do not resolve the stand-off. — Reuters

INTERNATIONAL

SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 2013

Anxiety, Russian immigrants push Israeli voters rightward JERUSALEM: The face of the Israeli electorate has had an extreme makeover in the 20 years since Labor’s Yitzhak Rabin signed a peace deal with the Palestinians and his leftwing party held 44 seats in parliament. Disillusioned by a failure of the Oslo peace agreement and hardened by a series of bloody conflicts with the Palestinians, today’s voters stand well to the right.

Two years after signing the 1993 Oslo Accords, Rabin was assassinated by a rightwing extremist, marking the start of a decline for Labor which today has eight seats, although it is expected to double that number in Tuesday’s vote. But analysts see the political horizon in 2013 as more complex than simply a drift rightward by the Israeli electorate. “I think that the categories ‘left’ and ‘right’ are not subtle enough to cover the changes in Israeli public opinion,” said Yehudit Auerbach, a political scientist at Bar Ilan University near Tel Aviv.

“Thirty or 40 years ago there were very

many people who said there is no such thing as the Palestinian people,” she said. “Todayapart from the most absurdly extreme rightthe sane right and most of the public accept that there is a Palestinian people, (and) they are even prepared to accept a Palestinian state.” Gideon Rahat, of the Israel Democracy Institute think tank, said that while the mainstream right, such as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, may have edged toward the centre, the Israeli voter has in tandem moved to the right.

In June 2009, Netanyahu for the first time publicly endorsed the concept of a Palestinian state, although he has not made progress in realizing it. “The parties moved to the centre and the voters clearly moved to the right,” Rahat said. An alliance of Likud and the hardline nationalist Yisrael Beitenu is seen picking up around 33 mandates, well down from their combined total of 45 in the 2009 race, although overall the right-wing-religious bloc is seen commanding 71 seats-easily enough to

Islamists tougher than anticipated UNITED NATIONS: French troops’ initial clashes with Islamist militants in Mali have shown that the desert fighters are better trained and equipped than France had anticipated before last week’s military intervention, French and other UN diplomats said. The realization that the fighting could be bloodier than anticipated in the weeks-or months-ahead might make Western countries even more reluctant to get involved alongside France. French officials, however, hope it will rally their allies behind them, diplomats say.

“The cost of failure in Mali would be high for everyone, not just the people of Mali,” an African diplomat said on Thursday.

Like the other diplomats, he spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military and diplomatic issues. The seizure of dozens of hostages in neighboring Algeria, where Algerian troops launched a military operation to rescue the captives from “diehard” Islamist militants at a desert gas plant, also raises the possibility that Islamist violence could snowball beyond Mali’s borders.

The diplomats were speaking after French forces had their first encounters with Islamist fighters in recent days. The ground war appeared headed for escalation on Thursday as French troops surrounded the town of Diabaly, trapping rebels who had seized it three days ago. “Our enemies were wellarmed, well-equipped, well-trained and determined,” a senior French diplomat said. “The first surprise was that some of them are holding the ground,” he said, adding that others had fled during six days of French air strikes aimed at halting the militants’ offensive and preventing the fall of Mali’s capital, Bamako.

French, Malian and African forces are facing off against an Islamist coalition that includes al Qaeda’s North African wing, AQIM, and the homegrown Ansar Dine and MUJWA militants.

The motley mix of Tuareg rebels, Islamists and foreign jihadists has been united by the threat of foreign military intervention, which the Security Council called for last month. Some of the militants are believed to have been trained and armed by the government of late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who was ousted and killed by rebels in a 2011 civil war.

A number of diplomats said it was clear that the initial French assessments of the militants had underestimated their strength. It is a view that French officials do not dispute. “They are better trained, I think, than the French had anticipated at the beginning and are fighting harder than had been anticipated,” a senior Western diplomat said. Other envoys noted that the 2,000 promised Chadian troops, who are known for their desert-fighting expertise, have yet to arrive and it remains to be seen how they will perform.

Diplomats said that the overly optimistic assessments of the Islamists were understandable in what several envoys described as “the fog of war,” where clarity is rare and precise information and accurate intelligence are often hard to come.

The senior Western diplomat said there was nothing to suggest the French were being overwhelmed on the ground and pointed to the achievement of Paris’ initial objective, which was halting the militants’ offensive. — Reuters

form the next ruling coalition.

Ukrainian-born Roman Bronfman came to Israel in 1980 and became an MP for a leftist party representing Russian-speaking immigrants. He quit politics in 2006 to go into business. Co-author of a new book, “A million who changed the Middle East”, he argues that the mass migration of Soviet Jews in the 1990s redrew the local political map, bolstering the hardline right. “It connected with the nondemocratic forces in Israel,” he said. “It joined them because it had no democratic tradition.”

He said many of those million immigrants, who made a huge demographic impact on the Jewish state-which today has a population of 7.93 million-have become part of broader Israeli society, but the “Russian vote” still exists.

“It’s about half of what it was 10 years ago,” Bronfman said. “The younger ones vote more for the established Israeli parties, but about half still wants to see the Russian-speaking community represented in the Knesset.” The Russians are a key source of electoral strength

for Moldovan-born former foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman and his Yisrael Beitenu party which is running on a joint list with Likud. “The Russians vote from the centre to the right, most of them according to surveys vote for Likud-Beitenu,” Rahat said. “There is a Russian vote and it’s more right-wing.”

Bar Ilan’s Auerbach believes much support for the right is driven by anxiety stemming from the failure to end the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the perception that peace became even more remote after Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007, ousting forces loyal to Western-backed Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas. “There is a feeling of desperation, a growing lack of faith in the other side, a feeling that there really is no partner and the greater part of the population share that feeling,” she said. “It is a feeling that this is not the time for possibly dangerous breakthroughs in the peace process, when there is nobody on the other side to deliver the goods.” — AFP

Netanyahu set to win vote, but losing steam Support for Netanyahu slips JERUSALEM: Four days before Israel’s parliamentary election, opinion polls published yesterday showed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu still set to win, although his support had slipped to its lowest point in the campaign so far.

Two polls showed Israel’s right-wing and religious bloc winning a slim parliamentary majority of 63 out of 120 seats, with Netanyahu’s Likud-Beitenu group on course to be the largest party in the Knesset, albeit with eroding support.

The polls in Haaretz and Yedioth Ahronoth newspapers both showed Netanyahu’s party winning 32 seats, its poorest predicted showing so far and some 10 seats fewer than Likud and Yisrael Beitenu took in 2009 when they ran separately. “The gap is shrinking,” leading Israeli daily Yedioth said in a headline, adding that some 15 percent of voters remained undecided. Friday is the last day opinion polls can be published in Israel before Tuesday’s election.

A relatively weak showing at the ballot box for Netanyahu would make him more susceptible to the demands of his prospective coalition partners, smaller right-wing and religious parties on which his government would have to rely to survive. Those parties are likely to include Netanyahu’s natural partners, the fiercely pro-settler Bayit Yehudi (Jewish Home) and ultra-Orthodox Shas and United Torah Judaism. Netanyahu may also face more pressure from abroad, with international condemnation growing over the expansion of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem land the Palestinians want for a state, along with the Gaza Strip.

But in newspaper interviews published yesterday, Netanyahu said he would not give in to calls to halt or reverse his settlement drive if he was reelected. “The days of bulldozers uprooting Jews are behind us, not ahead of us,” Netanyahu told Maariv newspaper. “I do

TEL AVIV: A car drives past election campaign posters for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) and Israeli Labor party leader Shelly Yachimovich (right) in the Mediterranean coastal city of Tel Aviv. — AFP not volunteer concessions. Our record social and economic issues were the shows that. We have not uprooted any most pressing concern, against 10 persettlement, we made settlements cent who cited Iran. Some 18 percent saw stronger.” “The entire world will look at negotiations with the Palestinians as the only one thing after the election, whether priority. US-brokered peace talks the ruling party has shrunk or grown. If between Israel and the Palestinians broke we grow, that will give us the strength to down in 2010, weeks after they had face pressures,” said Netanyahu, clearly begun, over a dispute on continued setconcerned by his recent decline in the tlement construction.

The Palestinians say Israeli settlepolls.

Despite the slippage, Netanyahu is ments, deemed illegal by most world still in prime position to secure a third powers, will deny them a viable state. term in office following a long and lack- Israeli commentators have said lustre election campaign, largely devoid Netanyahu might seek a partnership with of emotion or central themes. While sup- at least one centrist party after the elecport for centre-left parties has edged tion to bring a more moderate voice into higher, they have failed to present a unit- his cabinet and try to allay international ed front or convince most Israelis that concerns. Former Foreign Minister Tzipi they are ready to take charge of a country Livni, who heads Hatenuah (the concerned by turmoil in neighboring Movement) and TV-star-turned-politician Yair Lapid, head of Yesh Atid (There is a Arab states.

Although Netanyahu has repeatedly Future), have not ruled out joining said that dealing with Iran’s nuclear Netanyahu. They are projected to win up ambitions will be his priority if he wins re- to eight and 13 seats respectively. Labor, election, the issue has barely registered which is set to be the second largest paron the campaign trail. A Haaretz poll yes- ty with up to 17 seats, has said it will not terday said 47 percent of Israelis thought join a Netanyahu government. — Reuters

INTERNATIONAL

SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 2013

Washington confronts new north Africa crisis US boosts security as Islamists wreak havoc WASHINGTON: The United States was rocked Thursday by a new crisis spurred

by Islamic militants amid a deadly hostage-taking in Algeria, prompting warnings to US interests in north Africa to boost security. Just four months after Al-Qaeda-linked extremists overran a US diplomatic outpost in Libya, the administration of President Barack Obama was anxiously watching events after militants seized hostages at an Algerian gas field.

Countries stretching from Egypt on the Red Sea, through Libya and Algeria and further south to Mali in western Africa, have been caught up in the maelstrom unleashed by the Arab Spring uprisings.

“There is a continuing effort by the terrorists, whether they call themselves one name or Al-Qaeda, to try to destroy the stability, the peace and security of the people of this region,” US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said. Clinton, who next week will testify to lawmakers about the September attack on the Benghazi mission in Libya in which four Americans died, swiftly urged all US embassies and US firms operating in north Africa to review security. “We are vigilant and we encourage our companies to be so as well,” Lionel Johnson, vice president for Middle East and North Africa at the US Chamber of Commerce said.

The security needs in each country were different, he stressed, as “each transition is very unique in national scope and character.” American companies have been working in the region for decades. “I think that companies that have billions of dollars of investments are not prepared to walk away from those... they are committed to being corporate citizens,” he added. US officials have repeatedly stressed that US military operations have squeezed Al-Qaeda out of safe havens in countries such as Yemen, leaving them to seek fresh strongholds in some of the world’s remotest regions,

CAIRO: Egyptian riot police cordon off the area in front of the French embassy in Cairo as Islamist protesters demonstrate against the French intervention in Mali yesterday. — AFP often grafting themselves onto areas of existing turmoil.

“The uprising in Mali, that was going to happen,” J. Peter Pham, director of the Africa Center at the Atlantic Council, told AFP, pointing to decades of disaffection by the Tuareg population in the country.

“Libya was an accelerant if you will. And of course the secular Tuaregs who thought they were rebelling for autonomy ended up being sidelined by the extremists.” Wednesday’s attack on the remote Algerian gas field near the Libyan border appeared to be retaliation for a week-old French military campaign against Islamist rebels in the north of neighboring Mali. Algerian officials announced late Thursday that the military operation had ended, but did not provide many details on the fate of the hostages, who include an unknown number of American citizens.

Communications Minister Mohamed Said said “several people” were killed or wounded and a “large number” of hostages freed at the site, jointly operated by British oil giant BP, Norway’s Statoil

and state-run Algerian energy firm Sonatrach. US officials refused to provide any details of the unfolding events in Algeria. “The situation is extremely fluid on the ground,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland warned reporters. But the audacious attack-one of the largest hostage-takings ever in the region-has triggered fears that Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), known to be sheltering in Mali, could launch even larger kidnapping operations.

“The AQIM is known for trying to kidnap Westerners. That’s how they fund themselves, is through ransoming and that kind of thing,” Nuland said.

According to calculations by the Atlantic Center’s Pham, AQIM has pocketed about $100 million in the last decade solely from kidnapping operations. “AQIM has been gathering resources for the better part of a decade, making literally tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions, in kidnapping ransoms, fees, protection money from narco-traffickers, and involvement in smuggling of other contra-band itself,” he said. — AFP

Latin American women face widespread violence WASHINGTON: More than half of Bolivian women have suffered domestic violence, according to a report out Thursday that found such abuse widespread in Latin America, with partners usually the perpetrators. In seven of the 12 Latin American and Caribbean countries surveyed by the Pan American Health Organization, more than one in four women reported having experienced such brutality in their lifetimes. At 17 percent, women in the Dominican Republic reported the lowest level of domestic violence. It was followed by its neighbor Haiti, the poorest country in the region, with 19 percent.

PAHO pointed to social and cultural norms that support violence against women in the region, including that “there are times when a woman deserves to be beaten” and “a man has a right to assert power over a woman and is considered socially superior.” It also found that physical violence is considered an “acceptable way” to resolve conflict in a relationship and that sexual activity-including rape is a “marker of masculinity.” Even when looking at just a 12-month period, rather than

an entire lifetime, the report found that more than a quarter of women - 25.5 percent-in Bolivia reported physical or sexual violence in 2008.

The lowest ratio, at 7.7 percent, was in El Salvador (2008) and Jamaica (20082009). In up to 82 percent of cases, women suffered physical injuries, ranging from cuts and bruises to broken bones, miscarriages and burns. Despite the abuse, between 28 percent and 64 percent of victims did not speak to anyone or seek help, according to the 156-page report, titled “Violence Against Women in Latin America and the Caribbean.” The analysis of more than 180,000 women also showed that women who were beaten in childhood reported violence at the hands of their partners as adults at higher rates than those who were not hit when they were young.

“In addition to violating basic human rights, violence against women has serious consequences for the health of women and their children and impacts heavily on health services and health workers in the region,” said PAHO Director Mirta Roses. In

all countries except Paraguay, women said a partner’s drunkenness or drug use was the most common trigger for violence. The second most commonly cited cause was jealousy. PAHO, which is based in Washington, warned that violence against women has consequences across generations, with violence against women and against children often taking place in the same household.

“When women experience violence, their children suffer,” it said. “Growing evidence suggests that when children witness or suffer violence directly, they may be at increased risk of becoming aggressors or victims in adulthood.” The report said that children living in households where women were subject to violence were at significantly greater risk of being punished with hitting, beating, spanking or slapping. Countries participating in the study included Bolivia, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Paraguay, and Peru. Data was culled from national surveys conducted between 2003 and 2009. — AFP

Mali crisis shines light on North Nigeria insurgency LAGOS: Mali’s struggle against Islamists now being targeted by French and African forces has raised fresh questions over an insurgency in nearby Nigeria and ties between extremists in both countries. Nigeria plans to send some 900 troops to Mali as well as command the African force being deployed there despite also dealing with violence back home by the Islamist extremist group Boko Haram.

While the Islamist advance in Mali has sparked international fears that it could become a safe haven for Al-Qaedalinked militants and criminal gangs, many observers caution that Nigeria’s situation is vastly different. Africa’s most populous nation and largest oil producer has battled Boko Haram in its current form since 2010, but little is known about the group, its structure and leadership, and its stated aims have repeatedly shifted.

The Nigerian insurgents are seen as having a domestic focus, targeting symbols of authority and Christians with bombings and shootings. They have not seized territory in the way Islamist militants have in Mali, taking over the north of that country in the chaos following a coup last March. Boko Haram is also thought to include various factions in addition to imitators and criminal gangs that carry out violence under the guise of the group. There have also long been suspicions that certain elements of the group have political links. However, the Boko Haram threat has been evolving and the leader of its presumed main faction, Abubakar Shekau, has recently expressed sympathy with jihadist groups globally.

There are also claims that one or more splinter groups have carried out kidnappings of foreigners from France, Italy, Britain and Germany in northern Nigeria, a tactic regularly used by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).

Concerns have been raised about signs of growing links between African extremist groups. “We have seen clear indications of collaboration amongst the organizations,” General Carter Ham, head of US Africa Command, said recently. “In one instance ... we believe and have seen reports that Boko Haram is receiving financial support, probably training, probably some explosives, from AlQaeda in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb, and in a relationship that goes both ways.”

What level of cooperation may or may not exist has been intensely debated, and a number of analysts say there are simply no clear answers. Some Boko Haram members are believed to have previously gone to northern Mali to train with the Al-Qaeda branch in the Maghreb, but it is not clear if closer ties have developed. There have also been claims of Boko Haram fighters in northern Mali in recent months, but whether they are indeed Boko Haram members, or mercenaries or something else entirely is difficult to determine.

Africans who had been living or fighting in Libya under Moamer Kadhafi have found their way to northern Mali, some analysts say. Illegal weapons have also travelled the same route. “Black Africans who were working in Libya, moved out of Libya.... One can imagine that being part of an armed group is an economic opportunity,” said Gilles Yabi, West Africa project director for the International Crisis Group. Still, the nebulous nature of Boko Haram and its unclear membership certainly leave open the possibility that members have joined the fight in Mali. “I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the more extreme Boko Haram members just take up arms (in Mali),” said Virginia Comolli of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London.

The United States has labeled three Nigerian extremists as “global terrorists”, but has so far declined to give the label to Boko Haram as a whole, citing its domestic focus and unclear nature, among other reasons. Diplomats, analysts and many others have said the deep poverty and hopelessness in northern Nigeria has helped feed the Boko Haram insurgency, which has involved suicide bombings, including at UN headquarters in the capital Abuja. With the Mali crisis intensifying, some now worry that if claims of Boko Haram members fighting there are true, it could lead to further bad news for Nigeria. “Once they go back to Nigeria, they could bring with them this new viewpoint,” said Comolli. — AFP

INTERNATIONAL

SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 2013

France, Germany mark ‘friendship’ half-century BERLIN: When France’s national handball team goalkeeper Thierry Omeyer joined his new club in Germany, he was touched by the welcome from the fans.

“To put me at ease people came out with the two or three words of French they knew,” the 36-year-old twice Olympic and world champion, who plays for German champions Kiel, recalled in an interview with AFP. He has now lived and played in Germanythe country where the rules of modern handball were drawn up-for seven years and relishes its “quite exceptional” sports culture, even when France and Germany clash on the pitch or field.

Omeyer arguably embodies the dream envisaged by former French president Charles de Gaulle and exWest German chancellor Konrad Adenauer when they inked the Elysee Treaty on January 22, 1963, opening a new chapter in relations between the former foes. Eighteen years after the end of World War II, the two leaders formalised the Franco-German cooperation that has since been at the heart of a

closer Europe and the building block for 50 years of reconciliation.

Seeking to recapture the spirit of the accord, Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande will embark on a packed day of events on Tuesday to mark its half-century milestone in the German capital. Alongside the leaders, their respective governments are due to meet, while lawmakers from the French National Assembly will also travel to Berlin to join their Bundestag counterparts for a two-hour debate. On the eve of the anniversary, Merkel and Hollande will have dinner and meet youngsters.

But the symbolic fanfare of historic Franco-German friendship comes at a time of strained relations after Europe’s gruelling debt crisis laid bare deep differences which saw Paris and Berlin repeatedly lock horns. Even if Europe’s two main architects have managed to pull off compromises, such as agreeing on a single banking supervisor, Germany, which has fared far better in the three-year-long crisis than many of

its partners, has not masked its concern over the health of the French economy.

Lars Feld, one of Germany’s so-called “Five Wise Men” of independent economic advisors said he did not fear France finding itself in the same boat as Italy last year with high borrowing costs.

But “the problem is that in 2012 the French economy stagnated for the second consecutive year and the situation doesn’t look good this year”, he added, mainly blaming a lack of French competitiveness. While headlines in Germany such as “France, the new Greece?” have fuelled fears, a report that Berlin had asked the “Five Wise Men” to draw up economic reform proposals for France was officially denied.

Political scientist Ulrike Guerot said that Merkel, who so far has not enjoyed the same rapport with Hollande that she developed with his predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy, may not be openly criticizing France but she is telling it to “recover and quickly”. “France must regain its stability” in order to find a balance with Germany for the good of

Merkel surfs popularity wave before state vote Conservatives rising in polls as SPD slumps STADE: German Chancellor Angela Merkel doesn’t make rousing speeches, but she had 1,200 supporters wildly cheering her standard sober delivery, fired up about their brightening chances of winning a key regional election tomorrow. At a campaign rally in the northern town of Stade late on Thursday, Merkel and Lower Saxony state premier David McAllister exhorted an enthusiastic crowd of Christian Democrats (CDU) to ensure a high turnout for the election of the regional assembly, which in turn chooses the state premier.

Merkel’s CDU has been battered by the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) and Greens in 12 regional elections stretching back to 2009. A come-frombehind win in Lower Saxony would end that losing streak and give the chancellor a timely lift for her own re-election hopes in September. “We’re all excited about the outcome tomorrow,” said Merkel, who is seeking a third term against the SPD, which is on the ropes thanks to blunders by Peer Steinbrueck, its candidate for Merkel’s job. “And it’s not only the people of Lower Saxony who are interested in this election. It’s a pivotal election. So get out and talk to your friends and neighbors and tell them how important this is,” she added.

Lower Saxony, an industrial and farming heartland and Germany’s fourth most populous state, can go either way; both the centre-left and centre-right have taken turns running the vast region bordering the Netherlands and North Sea. If the CDU can hold power in Lower Saxony for a third straight term tomorrow, it would

BERLIN: German Chancellor Angela Merkel (C) checks the quality of an egg next to Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit (L) as she opens the Gruene Woche Agricultural Fair in Berlin yesterday. This year the official partner country of the fair is The Netherlands. — AFP send a powerful signal across Germany and galvanize Merkel supporters.

It would also prevent the opposition from getting a blocking majority in the Bundesrat upper house, where the 16 federal states are represented, which could make life difficult for Merkel’s centre-right coalition. That explains why Merkel, who has become one of Germany’s most popular leaders for her handling of the euro zone debt crisis, has invested so much time in Lower Saxony. Her campaign stop in Stade was her seventh in the last two weeks.

An opinion poll in Lower Saxony on Thursday showed a dead heat at 46-

percent for both sides. The CDU were on 41 percent and their Free Democrat (FDP) allies 5 percent. The SPD were at 33 percent and their Greens allies at 13 percent. Just six months ago, the SPD were in front with 36 percent and the Greens had 13, while the CDU appeared doomed at 32 percent, with their FDP coalition partners on 4 percent - below the 5 percent threshold needed to win seats. “Our numbers are rising, and their numbers are going down,” said McAllister, 42, a gifted speaker and rising star in the CDU whose Scottish father came to West Germany as a soldier. — Reuters

Europe, Guerot, of the European Council on Foreign Relations, said. On military matters too, France and Germany have limited cooperation as the current conflict in Mali and Germany’s non-intervention in Libya in 2011 showed, and have traditionally different approaches shaped by their respective histories.

While allies have criticized Germany for failing to match its economic might with military commitments in the world’s trouble spots, France is less hesitant to intervene in the wake of its colonial past and aided by quicker decisionmaking. EU Greens lawmaker Daniel Cohn-Bendit, who is of Franco-German parentage, said in an interview with AFP it was high time for an updated Elysee Treaty for the 21st century. This should include “a defense and security treaty which would aggregate French and German policies so that they can be expressed together”, he said, adding it would call for parliamentary structures enabling joint interventions as well as common embassies. — AFP

Decree shows Chavez ‘still rules’ Venezuela CARACAS: Venezuela’s newly appointed foreign minister said Thursday the decree that installed him in office is proof that ailing President Hugo Chavez is still in control of the oil-rich country. Elias Jaua was named in a decree signed by Chavez, who remains gravely ill in a Havana hospital some five weeks after complications arose during his fourth round of cancer surgery. “If I am the foreign minister, it is because President Chavez is governing and making decisions,” Jaua told a Colombian radio station.

The decree has been heavily criticized by Venezuela’s opposition, who have cited its publication in Venezuela’s official government gazette as further reason to demand that the absent president clarify how sick he is and what he can and cannot do. The decree-number 9,351 - was marked “Caracas” and carries the signature of Chavez, who underwent surgery in Cuba on December 11 and has not been seen in public for more than a month. Opposition lawmaker Carlos Berrizbeitia weighed in on the dispute Thursday, stating there was “reasonable doubt” about whether the signature on the decree was genuine and demanding the government release the original document.

“It is not possible that the president has signed the decree... in Caracas, because everyone knows he is in Havana,” Berrizbeitia told local media. Meanwhile, Vice President Nicolas Maduro-handpicked by Chavez as his political heirurged the opposition to make a public apology for talking about the signature’s “falsehood.” The Venezuelan government has been releasing only minimal information on the condition of Chavez, a 58-year-old former paratrooper who first came to power in 1999 and won a third term in October elections.

He could not attend his scheduled inauguration on January 10 because of his poor health and the swearing-in has been postponed indefinitely. Panama fired its ambassador to the Organization of American States, Guillermo Cochez, after he questioned the regional body for endorsing the Supreme Court’s decision to delay the inauguration. The Panamanian Foreign Ministry cited “insurmountable differences of political judgment” with Cochez in dismissing him and disavowing his statements. But Cochez did not back down, saying he did not regret his criticism of the OAS. “I will never support the OAS or any other forum that my country supports so long as, God knows why, chaos remains in Venezuela,” he said moments before he was officially let go. — AFP

SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 2013

INTERNATIONAL

SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 2013

Kashmir killings spook villagers on tense frontier KASHMIR: On both sides of the de facto border in Kashmir, villagers living on one of the world’s most dangerous flashpoints have special reason to fear the return of tension between India and Pakistan.

The Line of Control that separates Kashmir has been subject to a ceasefire agreed by the nuclear-armed neighbors since 2003, offering a semblance of security to the hamlets that dot the snow-capped, mountainous terrain.

Periodic violations and cross-border shelling are a constant menace, but a sharp escalation over the last 10 days following apparent tit-for-tat killings of soldiers by both sides has heightened a sense of dread of more conflict.

In the tiny settlement of Parla Mohrra, located in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and home to around 25 families, local families who eke out an existence on their farms are frightened.

The hamlet scattered over the hills appeared deserted when AFP visited on Thursday.

Nearby shops and schools were also closed as anxious residents refused to venture out of their homes. Shameer Begum, a 55-year-old widow with 11 children, showed damage to her house and parts of a mortar shell which she said landed in her courtyard on Tuesday night, jolting her out of bed.

“We were so scared and started to pray. We can’t live here if the firing carries on.

But I’m a widow and I don’t have the means to move,” she said. The settlement lies just 450 meters from the de facto border and an Indian army post

can be seen across a deep valley perched on the brow of the hill in the distance. The spike in cross-border firing in Kashmir-a region claimed wholly by both India and Pakistan-has seen five soldiers killed in recent days and threatened to unravel a fragile peace process that had begun to make progress. Shameer, her shawl wrapped tightly around her head and chest against the biting cold, said the timing of mortar rounds and firing was impossible to predict as she pointed to bullet holes scarring the wall of a neighbor’s home. “The children haven’t been to school for three days as schools are closed. I don’t even let them go outside,” she said. Laborer Sardar

Shahmim, 45, said men were taking on jobs traditionally done by their wives to spare them from venturing outside.

“We’re not sending our women to fetch water. We go ourselves now,” he said.

“We have enough food for today, but if the firing incidents carry on, our food will run out,” he said.

A deal to “de-escalate” tensions and end the cross-border firing was reached during a 10-minute phone call on Wednesday between generals from both sides, which appears to have ended hostilities for the time being.

Across the border, in Indian-administered Abdulian village, security forces are on high alert, conducting patrols through the night and cleaning out old

KASHMIR: Indian villagers walk during a rain shower along the India-Pakistan border in Suchit-Garh, 36 kms southwest of Jammu yesterday. — AFP

Jakarta battles floods; 11 dead JAKARTA: Floods in Indonesia’s capital Jakarta which have killed at least 11 people and left two missing eased yesterday, authorities said, warning however of more torrential rains which could hamper relief efforts. The capital’s worst floods in five years have forced 18,000 people from their homes, the nation’s disaster agency said, with many ferried to temporary shelters on rafts. “Since January 15, 11 people have died, five of which from electrocution,” said National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho.

Among the dead were two children aged two and 13, said Nugroho, adding that eight percent of the capital was still inundated yesterday morning and a city-wide state of emergency would apply until January 27. By afternoon though, floodwaters had receded in central Jakarta and traffic was back to normal. Jakarta police spokesman Rikwanto, who goes by one name, said that two men had been trapped since Thursday morning in a flooded parking lot in the capital’s business district. “Rescuers are still struggling to search for them,” he said, adding that 2,781 police had been deployed to help assist victims from the floods.

At least four scuba divers were also helping to locate the missing, according to an AFP correspondent. Authorities raised the flood alert to its highest level Thursday, warning that the torrential rains would not subside until the end of the week. “Based on weather forecast, heavy rains will continue pouring down until Saturday,” the agency’s spokesman Nugroho said. Authorities rushed against time yesterday to fix a dike which collapsed due to floods near one of Jakarta business areas. Two excavators were seen and dozens of military personnel joined efforts to repair it.

The flooding caused chaos in the morning in Jakarta’s upmarket downtown district, causing hours-long traffic jams as motorists struggled to get to work. Drivers could be seen standing miserably in raincoats, waiting for their flooded cars to be towed away. —AFP

bunkers used by villagers for protection during earlier outbreaks of violence. As locals cautiously carry on tending to their cattle and sheep in Abdulian, where the soldiers deployed nearly outnumber the local population, a sense of anxiety is palpable.

The hamlet, which is ringed by barbed-wire fences, has witnessed sporadic firing since the 2003 ceasefire, pushing villagers to ask the government to resettle them in safer areas. In Charunda hamlet, where three villagers were killed by cross-border shelling last October, residents say their nerves are shredded by the prospect of an escalated conflict. Nazir Ahmad, whose son suffered severe injuries due to firing in 2011, told the Deccan Herald newspaper he was praying for normality to return. “We fear that we will face the worst situation again if the ceasefire breaks. We take shelter in the ground floor of our house or bunkers due to the fear of shelling,” he said.

Farmers in India’s remote and mountainous Poonch district, bounded on three sides by the Line of Control, said they feared a return to life before the ceasefire, when they were compelled to move home constantly to escape frequent mortar fire. In the recent border flare-up, Pakistan says three of its soldiers have been killed in firing by Indian troops since January 6.

India in turn has accused Pakistani troops of killing two of its soldiers on January 8, one of whom was beheaded.

India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars since independence over Kashmir. — AFP

Pakistan’s officer probing PM graft case found dead Karachi shuts down after Pakistan politician killed ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani officer investigating a corruption case against the prime minister was found dead in the country’s capital yesterday in what was likely an act of suicide, police said. The body of Kamran Faisal was found hanging from a ceiling fan in his room at a government dorm in Islamabad, according to senior police officer Bani Yamin.

“Apparently it seems he committed suicide, but we are sending his body for autopsy to determine the cause of death,” Yamin said.

Faisal’s death came days after the Supreme Court ordered the arrest of Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and 15 others in connection with an old corruption case that the officer was investigating. The prime minister was implicated in the case when he was minister of water and power. At the time, he oversaw the import of short-term power stations that cost the government millions of dollars but produced little energy. Ashraf has denied the charges against him.

Faisal and another investigating officer of the National Accountability Bureau, Asghar Ali, played a main role in the graft probe until they were removed from the investigation weeks ago by Fasih Bokhari, the bureau chairman who was allegedly unhappy with their performance.

Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the NAB to arrest Ashraf and 15 others involved in the case. But Bokhari, refused, saying he does not have sufficient evidence to arrest the prime minister. The refusal was seen as the latest clash between the government and the country’s top court and has intensified the sense of political crisis in Pakistan.

Bokhari said he needed more time to determine whether the premier should be arrested. The top court on Thursday adjourned the hearing in the case for next Wednesday.

KARACHI SHUTS DOWN Meanwhile, shops, businesses and schools shut yesterday across Pakistan’s financial capital Karachi, braced for further unrest after the killing of a politician and a night of sporadic shootings.

Manzar Imam, 42, a lawmaker from the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), a coalition partner in the federal government and the dominant political party in Karachi, was shot with three of his guards in a drive-by shooting on Thursday.

Pakistan’s umbrella Taleban faction claimed responsibility for his death and threatened further attacks on the party.

“This was a first gift to MQM and we assure the people of Karachi that we will

soon free them from MQM’s clutches,” Tehreek-e-Taleban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said by telephone from an undisclosed location. “MQM is a secular party and we will increase such attacks against them,” he said. Karachi last year saw its deadliest year in two decades, with around 2,000 people killed in violence linked to ethnic and political tensions, raising fears over elections due this year. Overnight violence, linked to ethnic and politically linked tensions in Karachi, left five people dead and around 30 wounded, according to police.

Markets shut, streets were deserted and schools closed, with office attendance thin although government departments, the port and stock exchange remained open.

Hyderabad, the second largest city after Karachi in southern province Sindh, was similarly shut down and people burnt tyres to protest against Imam’s killing. It is the second shooting of an MQM provincial lawmaker in just over two years in the city, Pakistan’s business centre with a population of 18 million.

The death of MQM lawmaker Raza Haider in an ambush in August 2010 sparked a fierce wave of ethnic and politically linked violence that killed scores of people. — Agencies

Top economies face fuel price increase

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Shares of Indian oil firms up on partial deregulation

Business

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Housing, labor data provide upbeat signs on US economy

SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 2013

Boeing Dreamliner probe focuses on burnt battery

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HONG KONG: An assistant shop clerk displays newly unveiled gold snake for sale ahead of the upcoming Chinese lunar new year, the year of the Snake, at a jewelry shop yesterday. — AP

Euro-zone to get new head Germany backs Dijsselbloem as Juncker bows out LUXEMBOURG: Euro-zone finance ministers will get a new head on Monday, outgoing chair Jean-Claude Juncker said, with the Netherlands expected to take the helm as the single currency bloc rides out the debt storm. “The Dutch finance minister presented his candidature which is a good one and the decision will be taken next Monday,” Juncker, Luxembourg’s prime minister, said after meeting Jeroen Dijsselbloem yesterday.

Juncker, well known for his sociable disposition, welcomed Dijsselbloem with a bear hug and smiles before ushering him to his seat surrounded by press photographers.

Dijsselbloem, who had said Thursday he would formally announce his candidacy when meeting Juncker, told reporters he would tell his colleagues Monday of how he saw the future after more than three years of a debilitiating debt crisis.

“I want to thank Juncker for his work at the

Eurogroup ... (and) all the advice he has given me as a newcomer to this financial world,” said Dijsselbloem, 46, who was only named Dutch finance minister in November. “We’ll see Monday how it goes. My French colleague has asked for a presentation of ... (my) vision for the Eurogroup,” he said.

“I am very glad to give that on Monday.

That is a very reasonable request from the French colleague. We’ll do that.” At one time, it had looked as if France wanted its finance minister, Pierre Moscovici, to take the Eurogroup post but Paris could not reach a compromise with Germany, the euro-zone’s paymaster and biggest economy. Moscovici said in Paris Thursday that the Eurogroup should not rush into appointing a new chief, calling for the selection procedure to last “several weeks” and for Dijsselbloem to give a full account of what he expects to do.

Germany reiterated yesterday its backing

for Dijsselbloem. “Our minister has campaigned positively since the beginning of the year for the candidate from the Netherlands and we are confident there will be a good solution and agreement on Monday,” a finance ministry spokeswoman said. Apart from Dijsselbloem, there are no other candidates to head the Eurogroup which coordinates policy on the single currency.

Juncker has been in the post since 2005. He has served through the worst of a debt crisis which several times appeared to threaten the euro’s survival as Greece, Ireland and Portugal were forced into massive international bailouts. In July, he tried to step down but in the absence of a compromise candidate agreeable to Paris and Berlin, he reluctantly said he would stay on until January, when he made an “irrevocable” decision to leave.

He has won widespread respect for his commitment to the euro and the wider European

project, and is well known for a mordant sense of humour. He will remain as Luxembourg’s prime minister, a position he won in 1995. In contrast, Dijsselbloem, from the PvdA Labour party, has barely two months of ministerial experience and little is known of his views on the future of the 17-nation currency union.

He told the Dutch parliament Thursday that his presentation Monday would focus on the Eurogroup’s functioning and agenda. “I will stress the importance of the Eurogroup.

Obviously we must continue to develop the means to manage the crisis but also develop and expand European economic cooperation, strengthen the European economy,” he said.

Dijsselbloem emerged as a compromise candidate because he comes from one of the few remaining top AAA-rated countries, which is also a founding EU member; he is also Social Democrat, like the government in France, but backs austerity, like Germany. — AFP

Business SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 2013

Top economies face fuel price increase Major exporters show declines as home demand rises

BERLIN: Hostesses of the Netherlands booth pose with cheese during the opening of the Gruene Woche (Green Week) Agricultural Fair yesterday. This year the official partner country of the fair is The Netherlands. —AFP

Iraqi Kurds defend oil policy

BAGHDAD: Iraq’s Kurdistan has defended its oil policy as constitutional, and rejected a deal between Baghdad and BP for an oilfield in the disputed city of Kirkuk as an “illegal” step in the autonomous region’s feud with the central government. The statement came after Iraq’s oil minister said Baghdad’s government would sue companies exporting crude from Kurdistan, warned of cuts to the self-ruled region’s federal budget and announced an accord with BP in Kirkuk. Iraq’s Arab-led central government and Kurdistan Regional Government or KRG, run by ethnic Kurds, are locked in a widening dispute over control of oil revenues, oilfields and territory that is fraying the country’s uneasy federal union.

The ethnically mixed city of Kirkuk, sitting on the internal border between Iraq and Kurdistan, is at the heart of their longrunning battle over constitutional rights to the OPEC member’s crude reserves, the world’s fourth-largest. “Iraq’s citizens are simply tired of this sort of language of threat and intimidation, which in the cynical pursuit of narrow political agendas serves only to create division and strife,” the KRG said in a statement on its website.

“In terms of oil and gas management, the KRG firmly believes in, and abides by, the letter and spirit of Iraq’s permanent, federal constitution.” Speaking to Reuters on Wednesday, Oil Minister Abdul Kareem Luaibi said Baghdad intends to sue Genel Energy - the first company to export oil directly from Kurdistan - and may slash the government’s allocated 17 percent budget to the region unless it halts what he rejected as smuggling.

Luaibi announced a preliminary agreement with BP to revive the northern Kirkuk oil field, which - apart from being at the centre of the fight between Kurdistan and Iraq - is suffering massive output declines. “He reveals details of an illegal and unconstitutional plan to allegedly allow BP to enhance the recovery of some of the depleted fields in Kirkuk... without consulting and obtaining approval of the other parties to the dispute,” the KRG said.

Long-running feud The feud between Baghdad and the Kurdistan enclave, which has run its own regional administration and armed forces since 1991, has escalated since the KRG began signing deals with oil majors like Exxon Mobil and Chevron. Iraq’s government claims only it has the constitutional authority to export crude oil and sign deals, but Kurdistan says the constitution allows it to agree to contracts and ship oil independently of Baghdad. Baghdad and Kurdistan late last year both sent troops to reinforce positions along their internal border in a major escalation of tensions between the two regions, but neither appeared to have the stomach for open conflict. The KRG has given permission to Genel to truck exports directly from Kurdistan’s Taq Taq oilfield to Turkey, bypassing the federal pipeline system linking Kirkuk with the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan. —Reuters

NEW YORK/LONDON: Global prices for liquefied natural gas are rising toward record highs this year as increasing demand runs up against stuttering supply, threatening to drive up fuel costs in some of the world’s biggest economies. After a record, unexpected drop in LNG output in 2012, production is expected to grow only marginally this year. Demand, meanwhile, continues to march higher, driven by energy-hungry Asia’s rapid economic growth, Japan’s near total shutdown of its nuclear industry and a drought in Brazil that has forced the South American nation to buy emergency fuel supplies at high prices.

With 80 percent of global LNG supplies locked up under long-term contracts, it is countries such as Brazil, Argentina, number two economy China and India that rely on short term deals who could face the biggest hit. LNG helps bridge fuel supply gaps in countries where domestic output fails to keep up with demand. The intricate process of liquefying gas, shipping and regasifying the fuel can also make it more expensive than pipeline supplies.

Spot prices of liquefied natural gas are currently about $18 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), up about $2 from the same time last year, but still lower than record deals above $20 in 2008. “The supply situation is worse than we thought it would be,” said independent LNG analyst Andy Flower, who tracks global export and import volumes. “LNG production declined last year and it doesn’t look as though it will increase by much this year.”

He added that LNG output has fallen just three other times in the 50 years it has been produced: In 2008 when the global economy was in free fall and in 1980 and 1981 when Algeria halted LNG exports to the United States over a price dispute. Moreover, the tighter market means that any unforeseen events, such as Japan’s Fukishima nuclear disaster, big weather events or sudden plant shutdowns, could push prices even higher. In the wake of Fukushima in March 2011, imports by the world’s top consumer of LNG rocketed to meet power needs, pushing Asian prices up 70 percent in the following seven months, according to Reuters data.

Only two of Japan’s 50 nuclear plants are back online nearly two years later. LNG exporters are bracing for a supply glut in the

second half of this decade as new supplies arrives from Australia, Africa and the United States. But in the meantime a shortage looms.

Falling output After production doubled between 2000 and 2011 as a raft of new projects were completed, output fell by a record amount last year because of unforeseen events. Maintenance slowed output in the world’s top exporter, Qatar, while rising domestic energy demand in Egypt and Indonesia, once stalwarts of the LNG export market, took supplies off the open market. Unrest and militant attacks in Yemen also halted output from that country’s troubled export project, which began producing in 2009. Meanwhile, only one major project, in Angola, with a capacity to produce 5.2 million tonnes per year (mtpa) of LNG, is scheduled to start up this year. “If overall demand is growing and supply is not, and you are relying on the spot market, you are going to have a harder time accessing supply and will have to pay higher prices,” said Charles Martin, an analyst of Asian LNG markets for Waterborne Energy in Houston.

Global supply fell about 1.6 percent to 238 million tonnes in 2012, according to Flower’s estimates. This year does not look much better. The security situation in Yemen remains a concern and a source told Reuters in December that Indonesian production will drop nearly 14 percent in 2013 because of declines in domestic gas production.

At the same time, new projects in Asia will suck up what supply they can in 2013. In India, China and Singapore, up to five new import terminals will add nearly 18 million tonnes per year of import capacity, according to Reuters estimates - about 8 percent of last year’s supply. The LNG is used in electricity generation, heating and transportation. That demand is only set to grow. China, which is planning to triple gas use by 2020 to reduce reliance on smog-inducing coal, has nearly 10 mtpa of import projects on the slate for 2013.

Adding to spot supply pressures is a move

by Qatar - a crucial balance in the LNG market in recent years - toward longer term contracts with emerging importers. Qatar National Bank forecast in December that the nation’s LNG spot sales would fall by at least 40 percent from 2012-2014 as the world’s top exporter

enters into longer-term supply deals.

The result is a less liquid spot market where the buyer usually willing to pay the highest price set prices and other buyers must pay up or go away empty-handed. Difficulties have already emerged. Suffering from a severe drought that threatened to crimp hydro electricity output, Brazil paid up to $18 per mmBtu for emergency LNG this month, near the highest price paid for spot LNG in four years.

By comparison, US gas prices, pressured by a glut thanks to the shale drilling boom, languish below $4 per mmBtu. In Argentina, stiff competition from Brazil and Asia is hindering attempts to secure LNG supplies needed to make up for dwindling domestic oil and gas production. State-run energy company YPF SA opened a tender in December to import a record 83 cargoes for 2013, up slightly from the previous year. So far it has only secured 51 cargoes because of price disputes, sources said.

Easing longer term Waterborne’s Martin says the spot market’s flexibility can increase when new projects first come online with plenty of production to spare and decrease as they attract long term contracts. In a few years time, the supply picture is more promising for consumers. The shale gas boom means there will probably be new supplies from the United States on the world market, although a debate is raging between domestic producers and consumers over allowing more than one project to go ahead. There are also new export terminals due to be established in Australia and East Africa by 2020.

Already experts are asking whether there might even be excess supply once these projects are built. Resentment over costly LNG imports might prompt importers to diversify, analysts said, cutting demand just as producers turn the taps on at new mega-projects. In 2008, India switched to naphtha when LNG prices hit record highs above $20 per mmBtu. Japan, too, has the nuclear option to fall back on, depending on the political and social appetite for such a move after the accident and subsequent crisis at Fukushima. “Fuel switching is more likely to happen in Japan. If we see less LNG in 2013, then we could see the Japanese government fast-tracking nuclear reactor restarts,” said Societe Generale analyst Thierry Bros. —Reuters

Oil market tightens, raid clouds Algerian energy PARIS: Price pressures on the global oil market have suddenly tightened, and the deadly hostage drama at a gas field in Algeria puts a “dark cloud” over the country’s entire energy sector, the International Energy Agency warned yesterday. The IEA said that a dominant factor in the global energy market now “has a lot to do with political risk writ large, and not just in Syria, Iran, Iraq, Libya or Venezuela”, and included regulatory risks. The agency raised its forecast for global oil demand this year by 240,000 barrels per day from its estimate in December to 90.8 million barrels per day, and to 930,000 bpd or 1.0 percent more than in 2012. The IEA said that its estimates for global oil demand this year suddenly looked tighter mainly because of unexpectedly strong data for demand in the United States and China in the last quarter of last year.

But while warning that a rebound into bull mar-

ket conditions was possible, the agency said the signs were not yet clear and it warned that some data was uncertain and would be volatile.

The IEA, commenting on its overall interpretation of data in its monthly report, said that “brutal swings in apparent demand in both directions may become a fact of life, masking unreported inventory builds and draws.” It said that the United States was by far the biggest user of oil in October, consuming twice as much as the next biggest user China, which in turn which used twice as much as the thirdbiggest, Japan. Initial data showing US consumption in the last quarter at an average of 18.84 mbd, which was 155,000 bpd more than the agency had forecast in December, “surprised on the upside”, the agency said. As a result, US demand will decline by the lowest rate for nearly two years and, in view of a less

pessimistic economic climate in the United States, the data support the view of the International Monetary Fund that global economic growth will remain above 2.0 percent this year. On the attack on the In Amenas gas field in Algeria on Wednesday, the IEA warned: “The 16 January kidnapping and murder of foreign oil workers at the In Amenas gas field has cast a dark cloud over the outlook for the country’s energy sector. “Production at the field was shut in, including an estimated 50,000 barrels per day of condensate,” the IEA said, referring to claims by Islamist attackers that they had acted in retaliation for French military action against Islamists in Mali. The IEA noted that the In Amenas field was a joint venture grouping the operator Statoil (of Norway), BP and staterun Sonatrach and involving Japanese engineering firm JGC. —AFP

Business SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 2013

Boeing Dreamliner probe focuses on burnt battery ANA cancels more than 60 flights

TAKAMATSU: US and Japanese aviation safety officials wrapped up their initial investigation of a badly damaged battery from a Boeing Co 787 Dreamliner jet yesterday, saying further checks would be held in Tokyo and could take a week to complete. Officials from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and Boeing joined Japanese authorities looking into what caused warning lights to go off on an All Nippon Airways Co domestic flight earlier this week, prompting the aircraft to make an emergency landing at Takamatsu airport in western Japan.

The incident prompted regulators in the United States and around the world to

the importance of swiftly producing a comprehensive report, free from bias,” said Hideyo Kosugi, a JTSB inspector. “We hope to produce a report as soon as possible... within a week.” “This information will go to Boeing and the FAA. They will assess it” before allowing the 787 to fly again in Japan. “The United States analysis may take a bit longer than this.”

GS Yuasa Corp, the Japanese firm that makes batteries for the Dreamliner, said it sent three engineers to Takamatsu to help the investigation. A person at the company, who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue, said: “Our company’s battery has been vilified for now, but it only

TOKYO: All Nippon Airways’ Boeing 787 “the Dreamliner” are parked on the tarmac at Haneda airport yesterday. —AP ground the 50 Dreamliners in service. The lightweight, mainly carbon-composite 787 has been plagued by mishaps, with safety concerns centred on its use of lithium-ion batteries, which pack more energy and are faster to recharge but which are potentially more volatile. A Japanese safety official onsite at Takamatsu told reporters yesterday it was possible that excessive electricity may have overheated the battery and caused liquid to spill out. Pictures released by investigators of the battery showed a misshapen, burnt out blue metal box with clear signs of liquid seepage.

At a news conference, the Japan Transport Safety Board (JTSB) said the charred battery and the systems around it would be sent to Tokyo for more checks. It said there were similarities with an earlier battery fire on a Japan Airlines Co 787 parked at Boston Logan International Airport. “The impact of this incident on the aviation industry is great. That’s why we feel

functions as part of a whole system. So we’re trying to find out exactly where there was a problem within the system.”

Shares in the Kyoto-based battery maker rose as much as 3.9 percent yesterday, having dropped around 18 percent since the Jan 7 battery fire in the auxiliary power unit (APU) of the JAL plane at Boston. The US investigation into that incident is focused on the Japanese-made batteries, with no indication the APU - built by United Technologies Corp’s Pratt & Whitney - was involved, said a person familiar with the government probe, who was not authorised to speak publicly.

Mark Rosenker, a former NTSB chairman, said Boeing conducted over 1.3 million hours of testing before deciding the lithiumion batteries were safe to use on the 787, and the company had to satisfy additional rigorous tests to be granted “special condition” by the FAA to use the batteries. “I don’t believe there was corner cutting in any

way,” he said. “I believe the FAA has done a good job in its certification process. And Boeing is a very formidable and extremely careful airplane manufacturer. You don’t survive in this business by not making safe, efficient and reliable planes.”

Biggest market Japan is the biggest market so far for the 787, with ANA and JAL operating 24 of the 290-seat wide-bodied planes, which have a list price of $207 million. Boeing has orders for close to 850 of the planes. Goldman Sachs estimated the hit to ANA’s annual operating profit could be up to $40 million if the grounding of its 17 Dreamliners drags on through March. The plane makes up close to a tenth of ANA’s fleet and is crucial to its growth strategy. ANA cancelled more than 60 domestic and international flights scheduled through Monday, affecting more than 10,000 passengers. JAL has cancelled 8 Dreamliner flights on its Tokyo-San Diego route until Jan. 25. Other flights will switch to older planes.

A spokesman for the airline said ANA remained committed to the Dreamliner.

“The Boeing 787 is an absolutely wonderful aircraft and we will spare no effort to help it get back in the air safely as soon as possible,” said Hideya Oishi. Australia’s Qantas Airways said it cancelled an order for one of 15 Dreamliners earmarked for its budget arm Jetstar. It said the decision to cancel was taken late last year, before the plane’s recent problems. Qantas has options to order 50 of the new generation aircraft. Separately, Japan’s transport ministry said a fuel leak on another JAL-operated 787 last week was due to a malfunction in a drive mechanism that controls a valve. It said the British company that makes the valve was investigating. The ministry declined to name the firm.

Bad batch?

The use of new battery technology is among the cost-saving features of the 787, which Boeing says burns 20 percent less fuel than rival jetliners using older technology.

Hans Weber, president and owner of TECOP International Ltd, a San Diego-based aviation consulting firm and former adviser to the FAA, said it was possible the incidents could be the result of a bad batch of batteries - as was the case with General Motors’ Volt electric car, where fires were blamed on a defective batch of batteries supplied by A123 Systems, which has since gone into bankruptcy. —Reuters

JIANGXI: In this photo, a woman works at a textile factory in Jiujiang city, in central China’s province. —AP

China’s economy posts the slowest growth since 1999 BEIJING: China’s economy grew at its slowest pace in 13 years in 2012, though a year-end spurt supported by infrastructure spending and a jump in trade signalled the foundation for the stable growth path Beijing says is vital for economic reform may be in sight. Evidence of a burgeoning recovery in exports, stronger than expected industrial output and retail sales, together with robust fixed asset investment, all indicated that Beijing’s pro-growth policy mix has gained sufficient traction to underpin a revival without yet igniting inflationary risks.

Year-on-year growth of 7.9 percent in the fourth quarter beat a consensus forecast of 7.8 percent in a Reuters poll and snapped a streak of seven consecutive quarters of slowdown. The performance was at the upper end of the 7-8 percent rate economists reckon is needed to deliver on reforms essential to China’s long-term development after three decades of red-hot, double-digit growth.

Full year growth of 7.8 percent was also just ahead of the poll’s 7.7 percent call and, although the weakest since 1999, comfortably ahead of the government’s 7.5 percent target, which just months ago seemed to some economists to be in jeopardy. “It’s kind of like a golden spot - stronger growth, but not strong enough to trigger a lot more inflationary concern.

That’s perfect for equity markets.” said Dariusz Kowalczyk, Asia ex-Japan senior economist and strategist at Credit Agricole CIB in Hong Kong.

“What everybody wants is growth that’s strong enough to give us peace of mind that revenues will increase and there is no hard landing risk, but not excessive, not strong enough to trigger inflation. And this is what I think we are getting. I’m bullish on China still.” Market reaction was generally upbeat, with Asian shares advancing and platinum and palladium following suit, while oil traders took the opportunity of data confirming the recovery to book profits after two sessions of steep rises.

China’s new leaders must stabilise the economy this year to keep employment high while avoiding a surge in housing prices and inflation that could undermine reforms needed to overhaul the country’s exportoriented growth model. Without stability, incoming President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang, who are set to be confirmed in March, have no chance of delivering a slew of reforms they say are needed to tackle a host of financial, industrial and income imbalances that threaten China’s future.

Addressing the wealth gap China’s statistics chief, admitting the country’s wealth gap was “relatively large”, released a recalculated indicator of economic inequality yesterday, the first time in several years that officialdom has addressed the sensitive issue head-on. China’s Gini coefficient stood at 0.474 in 2012, down from 0.477 in 2011 and from a peak of 0.491 in 2008, Ma Jiantang, the head of the National Bureau of Statistics, told reporters at a press conference on 2012 economic performance. The index ranges from 0 to 1, with the 0.4 mark viewed by analysts as the point at which social dissatisfaction may come to a head.

Libya’s east heightens calls for control of oil BENGHAZI: Eastern Libya is rejecting a compromise proposal by the government to split the OPEC member’s main oil body as popular pressure for more authority in the energy-rich region gathers pace, potentially threatening output through protests.

The National Oil Corporation (NOC) is headquartered in Tripoli and since the end of the 2011 war that ousted Muammar Gaddafi, workers in the east have called for more powers in a region accounting for around 80 percent of Libya’s oil wealth.

Oil Minister Abdelbari al-Arusi has pro-

posed splitting the NOC into an exploration and production body based in the capital and a refining and petrochemicals company in Benghazi. But eastern oil workers and civil groups want the NOC to be transferred to Benghazi, cradle of the anti-Gaddafi uprising and where the North African country’s biggest oil company, Arabian Gulf Oil Company (Agoco), was the first to restart production. “We don’t want a NOC branch, we want the whole thing,” Tahani Mohammed Ben Ali, head of Agoco’s Benghazi workers’ union, told Reuters.

Agoco has about 6,000 employees, of which around a third are in the headquarters in Benghazi.

“We have had several protests ... We haven’t had any strikes in the fields yet, but they could also move.” The struggle over the NOC’s powers adds to broader discontent simmering in Benghazi, Libya’s second biggest city, as residents say they still feel marginalised by Tripoli. Libya’s east was starved of cash during Gaddafi’s 42-year rule, and long-standing complaints the region has been deprived of its fair share of

wealth have led to calls for a federal political structure rather than strictly central rule.

Opponents of the proposal want control over exploration and production and say there are fewer commercial activities in refining. Easterners like Ben Ali also cite the NOC’s historical roots as one of the main reasons they want the body in Benghazi. Its predecessor the Libyan General Petroleum Company was set up there in 1968. The NOC was established in 1970, a year after Gaddafi came to power, and relocated to Tripoli. —Reuters

BUSINESS

SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 2013

Socialists seek new fix for French pensions PARIS: France’s Socialist government will overhaul the nation’s pension system again because former president Nicolas Sarkozy failed to ensure its long-term viability, Labour Minister Michel Sapin told Reuters yesterday. A governmentendorsed panel of experts estimates the system that relies on people in work paying taxes to fund those in retirement will run up a deficit of 20 billion euros ($27 billion) by the end of the decade - despite a reform by Sarkozy that sparked large and widespread street protests in 2010. “The main message is that the previous reform in no way solved the problem. It generated a lot of injustice without solving the problem itself,” Sapin, a close friend of President Francois Hollande, said in an interview.

“A large chunk of 2013 is going to be devoted to this reform, to consultations on this reform, what shape it takes, how we go about it, and where it’s headed,” he

said. Acknowledging that such changes would still leave the system dependent on state support, he added: “It’s about moving the cursors that can be moved to ensure that, even if the books are not balanced, the system is in any case sustainably financed.”

But with state finances already under duress and a stagnant economy, the government has few options to fix the system given that it has always dismissed any element of private pension funding. Its options consist largely of increasing the length of time that people are obliged to contribute to the scheme or seeking further increases in minimum retirement ages. Hollande, who unseated Sarkozy in a May election to become the country’s first Socialist president in 17 years, has rolled back part of a reform under which his predecessor had raised the legal pensionable age to 62 from 60.

But such moves have run up against

doubts about long-term trends in France’s finances that have cost the country two of its top triple-A credit ratings. Many economists say Hollande’s target of cutting the budget deficit to the European Union ceiling of 3 percent of output this year is optimistic. He told business and labour leaders this week to prepare for consultations, starting in July, on overhauls of pension and welfare benefit finances more broadly, seeking to shrink the public sector deficit to zero by 2017.

“This is part of the wider, necessary, push towards balanced state finances and the social partners are very conscious of this need,” Sapin said. Hollande and his labour minister claimed victory in engineering a new industrial relations climate after unions agreed a labour law reform last week that will give firms more leeway to cut pay or working hours in hard times.

Sapin, the man who orchestrated that accord, said that his government hoped it

would be on the statute books by May and was a more powerful reform because it had the backing of employers and the majority within the labour movement. The labour accord “will not mechanically create jobs” but will, along with a raft of other pro-employment measures, help France to rebound better when the economy starts to pick up, perhaps in the second half of this year, Sapin said.

Hollande has said he hopes to reverse the upward spiral in the unemployment rate this year. The number of jobseekers in France, a country of 65 million people, hit a 15-year high of more than 3.1 million in December. Sarkozy often sought to force the pace of reform in France, ruling by decree rather than seeking first to build up support among employers and unions, said Sapin, who contends that the labour code change will be held up in years to come as proof that France, often described as “unreformable” can change. — Reuters

Shares of Indian oil firms up on partial deregulation India’s Wipro profits soar 18%

TOKYO: Koichi Hamada, professor emeritus of economics at Yale University, speaks at a press conference yesterday. — AP

Adviser hails ‘Abenomics,’ says dollar can rise TOKYO: The expert behind the monetary policies of Japan’s new prime minister welcomed the recovering stock market and favorable exchange rate as signs of success yesterday, and said the dollar can rise to 110 yen before excessive inflation risks kick in.

Koichi Hamada, professor emeritus of economics at Yale University, is the brain behind the “Abenomics” of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, elected late last year, who has been pressuring the Bank of Japan to set an inflation target to fight deflation.

Although the Bank of Japan has not yet taken any action, Abe’s pronouncements have been enough to lift the benchmark Nikkei and the dollar higher. Yesterday the dollar rose above 90 yen for the first time since June 2010. That’s up from the 80 yen levels prior to Abe’s election. It had traded below 80 yen during much of last year. A weak yen makes Japan’s imports more expensive but is a boon for its exporters. The Nikkei 225 has gained almost 11 percent since the Jan. 16 election.

“The proof is in the pudding. Evidence is stronger than any talk,” said Hamada, recently appointed adviser to Abe’s Cabinet.

Hamada’s views, while shared by many economists around the world, is based on the idea that moderately rising prices are good for growth, and that Japan’s big problem is deflation, or continuously plunging prices. Japan’s economy has been in the doldrums for the past two decades after its 1980s bubble economy turned sour. Hamada’s proposals, which encourage the printing of more money, also help export-dependent economies such as Japan by lowering their currencies.

Japan’s automakers and electronics makers have been at a huge disadvantage compared to their South Korean rivals because, as the yen surged 20 percent in recent years, the won fell 40 percent, according to Hamada. “If the dollar goes above 110 yen, there may be reason for worry, but at 100 yen or 95 yen, it’s OK,” he said at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan in Tokyo. Hamada, who often advises Abe through telephone calls and memos, argued growth was being held down by failed monetary policies, and Japan can get back on a recovery track with the right measures. —AP

MUMBAI: Shares of state-run oil marketing firms rocketed yesterday on hopes of better earnings following a move by the government to partially deregulate pricing in the sector. Shares of Indian Oil Corp, the country’s biggest fuel retailer by sales, raised the price of diesel sold at gas stations by 0.45 rupees a litre late Thursday and other oil marketing firms were expected to follow suit. Indian Oil’s shares jumped 10.46 percent to 348.95 rupees, while Bharat Petroleum Corp soared 9.64 percent to 434.05 rupees.

Upstream oil companies such as the largest state-run oil explorer, Oil and Natural Gas Corp, also got a boost, climbing surged percent to 339.70 rupees and GAIL India rose 3.4 percent to 388.80 rupees, India’s oil minister Veerappa Moily said on Thursday that the country’s three state-run fuel retailing companies would be allowed to increase prices of diesel by a “small quantum”. Moily did not say by how much companies would be allowed to hike prices but the aim is to reduce government subsidies paid to the firms and lower the companies’ losses on fuel sales.

India’s state-run refiners-Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleumsell diesel, kerosene and liquefied petroleum gas at discounted prices, with the government subsidising some of their hefty losses.

Mumbai’s IDBI Capital called Thursday’s announcements “baby steps to deregulation”. “Diesel deregulation can be considered the mother of all reforms in the oil and gas sector. It was eagerly awaited,” its analyst Sudeep Anand said.

The government deregulated petrol prices in 2010 in a reform aimed at cutting subsidies it pays to fuel refiners but it has continued to set prices of diesel used by tens of millions of farmers, truckers, transporters and bus operators. Diesel costs are a highly politically sensitive issue as increases in the price can boost already stubbornly high inflation as a result of rises in transportation costs.

The diesel decision comes as the Congress-led government seeks to implement reforms to spur a sharply slowing economy and narrow its fiscal deficit to 5.3

MUMBAI: A pedestrian walks past a kiosk with an advertisement for Reliance Communications in Mumbai. — AFP Rivals Tata Consultancy Services and percent of gross domestic product for this financial year from 5.75 percent last year. Infosys reported better-than-expected earnThe fiscal deficit stems mainly from govern- ings this month, raising analysts’ hopes that ment subsidies paid to reduce the prices of India’s software sector is headed for a recovery after recording sluggish growth in recent fuels, fertilisers and food.

In another development, India’s third- years. The outsourcer’s chief financial officer largest software firm Wipro said yesterday Suresh Senapaty said Wipro saw “a lot of that net profit in the third quarter rose a sur- momentum in certain areas of business,” prise 18 percent, thanks to new outsourcing without giving details.

“There is uncertainty in the market and orders despite global uncertainty.

In the October-December net profit early indicators are that IT budgets will be climbed to 17.16 billion rupees ($318 mil- flattish,” he told AFP. But the deal pipeline lion) from 14.56 billion rupees a year earlier continued to be strong, Senapaty said. as revenue jumped 10 percent to 110.25 bil- Wipro won a string of orders in the quarter, lion rupees. Analysts had forecast a third- including a new multi-year deal with USquarter net profit of 16 billion rupees, based retailer Sears and a large research and according to a poll by Dow Jones infrastructure services deal with an unnamed Europe-based telecom company.

Newswires.

TCS, Infosys and Wipro lead India’s flagBut the results failed to cheer investors who sent shares of the Bangalore-based firm ship IT outsourcing industry, which carries down 5.16 percent to 408.85 rupees as its out a wide range of jobs for Western firms core IT services business grew slower than such as answering calls from bank cusexpected, dealers said. Wipro forecast rev- tomers, processing insurance claims and enues from IT services of $1.58 billion-$1.62 software development. India, with its large billion in the next quarter ending March-in English-speaking workforce, accounts for at line with analysts’ expectations. The firm least 50 percent of the global outsourcing added 50 clients and 2,336 people to its staff market. Most of India’s IT outsourcing firms in October-December. “We have seen broad- say the outlook for the industry remains based growth in the quarter across all sec- challenging because of uncertainty in their key US and European markets. — Agencies tors,” its chief executive T K Kurien said.

Business SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 2013

UK retail sales growth disappoints in December Little evidence of Christmas cheer after shop closures

LAS VEGAS: A display made with laptops is seen at the Intel booth at the International Consumer Electronics Show in this file photo. —AP

Intel Q4 profit down, beats Street NEW YORK: Intel Corp, the world’s largest chipmaker, on Thursday said its fourth-quarter net income fell 27 percent from the previous year, as PC sales continued to weaken. Net income was $2.47 billion, or 48 cents per share, for the October to December period. That was down from $3.36 billion, or 64 cents per share, a year ago.

Intel still beat earnings expectations for the quarter by 3 cents per share relative to the average of analysts polled by FactSet. That was due to slightly higher-than-expected prices for its chips and lower-than-expected costs for starting up new production lines. Revenue fell 3 percent to $13.5 billion, matching analyst expectations.

Intel is challenged by a shift in consumer spending from PCs - most of which use Intel chips - to smartphones and tablets, which don’t. Research firm Gartner said this week that global PC shipments fell 4.9 percent in the fourth quarter from a year ago. Households are letting tablets replace their secondary PCs, it said. On a call with analysts, Intel chief financial officer Stacy Smith admitted that tablets are affecting sales of PC chips, which fell 3 percent in the quarter. Intel is trying hard to get its chips into smartphones and tablets. On the call, CEO Paul Otellini touted the company’s latest “Atom” processors, which are used in ten tablet models, he said, and can yield the same or better battery life as the competition. —AP

Is the 60/40 portfolio obsolete?

BOSTON: Is it time to retire the idea of a 60/40 portfolio? The strategy has been generally regarded as a good starting point for most investors. But many experts question whether a mix of 60 percent stocks and 40 percent bonds is suitable. Over the years, 60/40 has become a rough gauge for how to build adequate retirement savings without taking excessive risk. Typically, it’s promoted as a sort of default portfolio balance for investors in their 40s, or even closer to retirement. The basic rationale: Keep most of your retirement savings in the stock market, because stocks are likely to provide greater longterm growth than bonds. But when stocks fall, you’ll want a significant percentage of your portfolio in bonds to cushion against steep losses.

That approach is under fire. Many suggest it’s important to have more than 60 percent invested in stocks. That’s because retirement can stretch for several decades, and investors will need to increasingly rely on stocks to limit the risk of outliving savings. Also, the long-term outlook for bonds is poor. Their yields are near all-time lows and interest rates are certain to eventually climb. Another criticism: 60/40 is too narrow an approach to build a truly diversified portfolio because it fails to consider alternative assets classes. Think of investments in commodities such as oil, precious metals or real estate investment trusts. Alternatives may also include using complex strategies that hedge funds pioneered to protect against losses when stocks plunge or inflation spikes. These approaches may sound uncommon, but they’re readily available.

Hundreds of mutual funds using alternative assets or strategies have been launched in recent years. —AP

LONDON: British retail sales dashed hopes yesterday of a Christmas boost for a struggling economy, falling on the month in December and growing the least on the year since April. The latest official figures support the view that British national output shrank in the fourth quarter and point to a gloomy consumer mood that has shut three wellknown chains since the beginning of the year.

The Office for National Statistics said sales volumes including automotive fuel fell 0.1 percent on the month to give an annual rise of 0.3 percent. Economists had forecast a 0.2 percent monthly increase.

The annual rise was the smallest since April and far below a forecast 1.1 percent rise. The pound fell to an 8-week low against the U.S. dollar while British government bond prices rallied after the release.

“The high street seems to have stalled again over the past few months,” said Investec economist Philip Shaw.

“Recovery prospects will depend strongly on a pick-up in consumer activity over the first few months of 2013.” The main driver behind the monthly fall in sales was non-food retail, chiefly sales of household goods which dropped 3 percent - the biggest fall since January 2010, the ONS said. Food sales, which fell 0.3 percent on the month, also contributed to the weakness.

Consumer spending in Britain - some two thirds of the economy - has taken a hammering from a combination of below-inflation wage growth, worries about the economy and government austerity measures.

Still, trading updates from six major British retailers on Thursday demonstrated that must-have gadgets, cheap fashion and internet sales were key to overcoming an otherwise tough festive season.

The official data showed online and other types of non-store retail grew almost 12 percent on the year in December. The share of internet trading continues to rise,

and one industry survey has forecast it to grow another 12 percent this year to 87 billion pounds ($139 billion).

For some retailers this Christmas, a period when many make as much as half of their annual profit, was their last. Three household names in British retail have gone into administration since the start of the year, including 92-year-old music retailer HMV. Boding ill for quarterly GDP numbers in the last quarter of 2012, retail sales fell 0.6 percent between October and December compared to the previous three months - the biggest fall since August 2011.

The figures follow another survey by the British Retail Consortium, which showed that the total value of goods sold in December was up just 1.5 percent on the year. The ONS said retail sales excluding fuel fell 0.3 percent on the month and were 1.1 percent higher than in December 2011, compared to economists’ forecast for rises of 0.1 percent on the month and 2.1 percent on the year. —Reuters

BofA makes a new mortgage push NEW YORK: Bank of America wants a bigger slice of the mortgage market. This time, the bank is being more careful about how to get it.

On Thursday, the bank sketched out plans for regaining some of the ground it has lost in home lending. That’s a change from the strategy of the last few years, when it has concentrated on shedding the parts of its mortgage business that it saw as undesirable. Under its new approach, the bank is targeting people who are already customers. It also wants to focus on making loans directly to borrowers, rather than buying mortgages from other lenders. The restraint is a sign that the lessons of the financial crisis, when risky mortgages tarnished the bank’s reputation and its results, are still fresh. “We need to really focus on people that we are very comfortable with,” CEO Brian Moynihan said in a call with analysts.

Bank of America has been dealing with the fallout from soured mortgages made before the financial crisis for years now. Thursday brought another reminder, when the bank said that fourth-quarter earnings shrank because it had to take big charges to settle two mortgage-related disputes.

Even so, the bank knows that the housing market, in many respects, is improving. It doesn’t want to miss out on a boom that could provide a steady source of revenue. Housing prices are rising in many parts of the country.

On Thursday the government reported that home builders broke ground on homes last month at the fastest pace since 2008. Low interest rates and government programs are encouraging people to refinance. To reach them, Bank of America is putting more mortgage loan officers into bank branches, so customers don’t have to go to separate mortgage offices. It is trying to close loans more quickly.

It is targeting ads to people who are already bank customers. Customers who log on to their Bank of America checking account, for instance, might see an ad touting low mortgage rates. Many of Bank of America’s mortgage problems stem from its decision in the summer of 2008 to buy Countrywide, a California mortgage lender known for making unconventional loans to borrowers with weak credit. The bank initially hailed the purchase as a coup, but it turned into a debacle after defaults mounted and the riskiness of

BOSTON: In this photo, a customer stops at a Bank of America ATM office. —AP

Countrywide’s lending practices became clear.

Bank of America has endured a string of quarterly losses, government investigations and other regulatory headaches stemming from Countrywide.

The experience has driven Moynihan, who became CEO a year and a half after the Countrywide purchase, to scale back certain mortgage businesses. At the end of 2011, the bank got rid of its so-called correspondent lending mortgage business, where it bought mortgages that had been made by other lenders. Bank officials say they’ll work to sell more mortgages directly to customers to fill in the gap. They pointed to fourth-quarter results as proof. Mortgage originations were roughly flat compared to a year ago, up to $22.5 billion from $22.4 billion. However, the $22.4 billion of a year ago included $6.5 billion in correspondent lending. Excluding the impact of the lost correspondent lending, Bank of America’s mortgage originations jumped 41 percent.

Bank of America is a smaller player in mortgages than it used to be. It now makes about 4 percent of the mortgage loans in the US. That’s down from nearly 22 percent in 2009, after it bought mortgage lender Countrywide, according to the trade publication Inside Mortgage Finance.

Wells Fargo controls 30 percent of the market, and JPMorgan Chase, 10 percent. Bank of America points out that those two rivals still get a large part of their mortgage revenue from buying mortgages from third-party lenders. Despite the strides the bank has made, reminders of Bank of America’s lingering mortgage mess were hard to miss in its fourth-quarter financial results.

Earnings and revenue slipped as the bank took big charges on two mortgage-related settlements. Earlier this month, Bank of America and other banks agreed to pay a combined $8.5 billion to settle government accusations that they had wrongfully foreclosed on struggling homeowners. It also settled disputes with Fannie Mae, the government-backed mortgage agency, which forced Bank of America to buy back some of the mortgages it had sold Fannie before the financial crisis. —AP

Business SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 2013

Housing, labor data provide upbeat signs on US economy Jobless claims drop 37,000

WASHINGTON: The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment aid hit a five-year low last week and residential construction surged in December, the latest signs that the US economic recovery remains on track. The reports on Thursday showed the economy was weathering an uncertain fiscal environment surprisingly well. Still, growth in the fourth quarter was likely subdued with only a modest pick-up expected in the first three months of this year.

“While growth has been slow, the damage done from the uncertainty surrounding the fiscal cliff was not sufficient to topple the recovery,” said Millan Mulraine, a senior economist at TD Securities in New York. The fiscal cliff refers to a wave of deep government spending cuts and tax increases, part of which was avoided after a last-minute agreement by USlawmakers. A fight over raising the government’s borrowing limit looms.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell 37,000 to a seasonally adjusted 335,000, the lowest level since January 2008, the Labor Department said. It was the largest weekly drop since February 2010 and ended four straight weeks of increases. While problems adjusting the data for seasonal fluctuations might have exaggerated the decline, economists said the report still suggested an improvement in sluggish labor market conditions and the economy as a whole.

“Having taken a pinch of salt, however, we would suggest that the trend in claims generally show no pickup in layoff activity around the turn of the year,” said

John Ryding, chief economist at RDQ Economics in New York. A separate report from the Commerce Department showed housing starts jumped 12.1 percent last month to their highest level since June 2008. Permits for future home construction were also the highest in about 4-1/2 years. Stocks on Wall Street ended higher on the fairly upbeat jobs and housing data, with the broad Standard & Poor’s 500 index hitting a five-year high. Commodity prices also firmed, but US government bond prices slumped. The dollar rallied to a 2-1/2-year high against the yen.

Housing gaining traction Though warm weather likely helped, the data was confirmation of the improving housing market tone, and home building made gains across all four regions. Groundbreaking also increased for both single-family homes and multifamily units. Builders started 780,000 houses in 2012. While still low by historical standards, it was the third straight year of gains in home construction.

Housing is no longer a drag on the economy and residential construction is expected to have contributed to growth last year for the first time since 2005.

“The housing recovery has steam.

Interest rates are rock-bottom low, inventories of new and existing homes are lean, and the economy is creating jobs,” said Patrick Newport, an economist at IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts. Newport said they expected starts to rise to 970,000 this year. The reports came on the heels of data this week showing solid retail sales

and manufacturing growth in December.

But weak exports, a slow pace of inventory accumulation and the reversal of a surge in defense spending probably slowed growth to below a 2 percent annual pace in the fourth quarter. In a reminder that the outlook for the economy remained shaky, a third report showed factory activity in the US midAtlantic region contracted this month as new orders tumbled. The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank said its business activity index fell to -5.8 from 4.6 in December. A reading below zero indicates contraction in manufacturing in eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware.

“Manufacturing has slowed but it’s still growing. I’m not going to read too much into this until I see other regional surveys,” said Gus Faucher, a senior economist at PNC Financial Services in Pittsburgh. The claims data covered the survey week for the January data for the closely watched nonfarm payrolls report.

The four-week moving average of new jobless claims, a better measure of labor market trends, fell 6,750 to 359,250, suggesting some improvement in labor market conditions. Job growth has been gradual, with employers adding 155,000 new positions in December. The unemployment rate held steady at 7.8 percent last month. High jobless is likely to keep the Federal Reserve on an expansionary monetary policy path. Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart said on Thursday theFederal Reserve will very likely need to continue itslarge-scale asset purchases into the second half of this year. —Reuters

Farmers find Midas touch in Ireland’s property crash LONDON/DUBLIN: Land in Ireland earmarked for homes and offices is being sold at knockdown prices to farmers, sometimes the same farmers who made fortunes selling it in the boom years, as swathes of the country return to its agricultural roots.

Irish lenders and the country’s bad bank, the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA), are cranking up the sale of land to farmers as they accept some locations are dead to developers, even at bargain prices, property agents told Reuters.

Land zoned for housing that sold for 1 million euros ($1.3 million) per acre before the 2008 crash now fetches about 10,000 euros as farmland, or 50,000 euros as development land, said Chris Smith, regional manager for rural properties at auctioneer Gunne. “Development won’t come back for a generation in some parts of Ireland, and the banks and NAMA aren’t willing to wait a generation,” Smith said.

Spain will no doubt be taking note, as that country just started cleansing its banking system of toxic property loans. Spain and Ireland suffered Europe’s worst property crash, with prices falling more than 50 percent in some areas. NAMA was set up in 2009 to purge the country’s banks of nearly 75 billion euros of risky property loans.

The crash left about 2,000 half-built ‘ghost estates’ strewn across the country, schemes often given the green light because of investor tax breaks or financial incentives for local authorities but with little thought to long-term viability. “You had little villages with 100 or 200 souls, a pub, a post office and a chapel and suddenly there were 60 or 70 houses around them, even though the commuting distance to anywhere was

too great,” said Callum Bain, head of rural valuations and consultancy at Knight Frank in Ireland.

“Quite close to every village in Ireland has a scenario like that.” NAMA has sat on most of its property loans since 2008 in the hope values would improve but against the backdrop of anaemic economic growth and turmoil among its euro zone trading partners, it will increase land sales at farmland prices over the next 12 to 18 months, a spokesman told Reuters.

It will also increasingly finance the demolition of half-built sites for reversion to farmland, the spokesman said, declining to say what slice of its loans this represented. Discounts are likely to be huge. “In 2006, five and a half acres of land with zoning for residential was sold for 3 million euros in a sleepy village in County Meath,” Smith said. “The same piece of land plus a cottage on half an acre and another 20 acres is about to come to the market for 200,000 euros.”

Fortunately, farming is relatively buoyant in Ireland, and dairy farmers are bulking up operations in anticipation of the abolition of European Union milk quotas in 2015. Farmland prices rose about 5 percent in 2012 and will probably do the same this year, Knight Frank said, and many farmers are now buying back land they sold in the boom.

Two farmers from Mallow, County Cork, in west Ireland, paid about 2.25 million euros last year to buy 180 acres of land from a developer who paid them 40 million euros for it in 2004. “It suited my pocket,” said one of the farmers, 76-year old John Cronin. “I know quite a number of farmers that are looking out for land. There’s a great love for it.” —Reuters

BUENOS AIRES: Freddy Lopez, who works selling coffee from his cart in the street, serves a 5 peso cup of coffee with milk in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, Jan 17, 2013. According to the government, it only takes six pesos a day to eat in Argentina. But on the streets of the capital, 6 pesos doesn’t stretch beyond a pack of chewing gum, or a cup of yogurt, or a single “alfajor”: the country’s traditional caramel-and-chocolate cookies. —AP

GE Q4 profit revs top estimates NEW YORK: General Electric Co reported a better-thanexpected 7.5 percent rise in fourth quarter profit and a sharp increase in its backlog of equipment orders, sending shares up in premarket trading. GE, the largest US conglomerate, notched strong earnings growth at units that make jet engines and equipment used in oil and gas production, with results benefiting from Chief Executive Jeff Immelt’s efforts to boost its presence in the energy industry in recent years.

The order backlog, watched by investors as an important indicator of future sales growth, hit $210 billion in the fourth quarter, up from $203 billion in the third quarter. “The backlog was a really good number. I didn’t expect to see a $7 billion, 3.5 percent rise in the backlog,” said Jack De Gan, chief investment officer at Harbor Advisory Corp, which holds GE shares. “Orders in the fourth quarter must have been really good for the industrial side.”

Shares rose almost 3 percent to $21.90 premarket. Solid demand in China and oil-producing countries helped to offset unsteady economies at home and in Europe, Immelt said.

“The outlook for developed markets remains uncertain, but we are seeing growth in China and the resource rich countries,” Immelt said in a statement.

Q4 EPS beats by a penny GE, the world’s biggest maker of jet engines and electric turbines, said fourth-quarter earnings rose to $4.01 billion, or 38 cents per share, from $3.73 billion, or 35 cents per share, a year earlier. Factoring out one-time items, profit came to 44 cents per share, a penny ahead of analysts’ estimates, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Revenue rose 3.6 percent to $39.33 billion from $37.97 billion a year earlier. Analysts expected revenue of $38.76 billion. Profit increased across all divisions, with the jet engine unit notching 22 percent growth and GE Oil and Gas, which makes equipment used in energy production, up 14 percent. Profit at the GE Capital finance arm, in the process of being scaled back, rose 6 percent.

“They saw some good organic growth in the industrial part of their business. GE Capital was a strong contributor,” said Oliver Pursche, president of Gary Goldberg Financial Services, a GE shareholder. Over the past few years, Fairfield, Connecticut-based GE has boosted its position in the energy industry, broadening its lineup of equipment used in oil and gas production and mining, with an eye toward capitalizing on surging US natural gas production. GE also makes medical equipment and railroad locomotives.

At the same time, Immelt has made cost-cutting a major thrust across the company, with an eye toward raising operating profit to about 15.8 percent of sales by the end of 2013. At Thursday’s close, GE shares were up about 12 percent during the past 12 months, topping the 9 percent rise in the Dow Jones industrial average. GE kicks off a wave of earnings reports from the nation’s largest manufacturers, with United Technologies Corp, 3M Co and Honeywell International Inc all due next week. —Reuters

SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 2013

Redford: Diversity reigns at Sundance Festival

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5 of Jodie Foster’s greatest performances PAGE 24

Asia Ray performs on stage at a private viewing of AMC’s ‘Freakshow’, on Thursday, in Venice, Calif. — AP

SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 2013

Redford: Diversity reigns at Sundance Festival

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iversity is king at the Sundance Film Festival - and queen, too. For the first time, half of the films featured at the festival were made by women.

Festival founder Robert Redford opened the event Thursday and said “diversity is the point” of the independent film showcase, further evidenced by contributions from 32 countries and 51 first-time filmmakers this year. The chorus of voices represented at Sundance “reflects the times we’re in,” he said. “What Sundance stands for is giving new voices and new filmmakers an opportunity to be seen and heard,” Redford said in an interview. “We show what’s there, and what comes up will usually give you an indication of changing times.”

Redford, along with festival director John Cooper and Sundance Institute director Keri Putnam, opened the 11-day festival with a news conference at the Egyptian Theatre in Park City, Utah, Sundance’s home since 1981. The films featured at the festival, like all art, reflect and inspire change, Redford told reporters. “The festival, being as diverse as it is, shows all kinds of content, and that gives the audience a chance to choose,” he said. “That’s not quite so available in the main marketplace.”

One of the most significant changes he’s noticed over his years in filmmaking is the role sex plays on screen. Several of the festival films deal with sex: “Lovelace” looks at porn star Linda Lovelace, “Interior.

Leather Bar.” examines the gay, S&M leather-bar scene in the early ‘80s, “Two Mothers” follows a pair of friends who have affairs with each other’s (adult) sons, and “Kink” is about the business of bondage and discipline pornography.

“When I got into the film business in the early ‘60s, it was a romantic time. Sex and romance were pretty well tied together,” Redford said. “Now, 40, 50 years later, we see that sexual relations have moved to a place where it doesn’t feel like there’s so much romance involved. ... Relations have changed, and they’ve changed because of changing times and because of new technology. People are texting rather than dating and all that kind of stuff.

“We just show what’s there. We don’t predict anything. We don’t shape anything. ... We might be agents for change, but we’re not shape-shifters. So there you have sexual relations and you look at how sex is treated today: It’s just simply a reflection of the times we’re living in and nothing more.” One conservative group isn’t pleased with the sexual content and suggested the state of Utah cease its financial support of the festival. But Redford isn’t

(From left) Sundance Institute founder and president Robert Redford, Sundance Institute executive director Keri Putnam and Sundance Festival director John Cooper take part in the opening news conference of the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, Thursday in Park City, Utah. —AP photos

Cherien Dabis, third from right, writer, director and star of “May in the Summer,” poses with cast members, from left, Hiam Abbass, Alia Shawkat, Bill Pullman, Nadine Malouf and Ritu Singh Pande at the premiere of the film on the opening night. worried. “We either ignore them or remind them that it’s a free country and they should maybe look at the Constitution,” he said.

Meanwhile, with recent attention on gun violence and what role Hollywood might play, Redford said the conversation ought to continue, noting that President Ronald Reagan was shot at the same year the Sundance Festival began. “Now, 30 years later, it’s absolutely not only appropriate, but overdue to have a dialogue,” he said. He added that he has a question for

Director Sebastian Silva, left, actress Gaby Hoffmann, center, and actor Michael Cera, right, pose at the premiere of “Crystal Fairy”.

the film industry after seeing two movie billboards in Los Angeles that prominently feature guns: “Does my industry think that guns will help sell tickets?”

One of the documentaries in competition this year, “Valentine Road,” deals with the 2008 school shooting of an eighthgrader in California by a fellow classmate.

“It all the sudden has a new resonance,” said Cooper, noting that the film was selected before last month’s school shooting in Newtown, Conn. “We chose it because it’s an amazing movie.” The festi-

val begins in earnest Thursday night with screenings of four films. Screenings, workshops, parties and schmoozing will continue through Jan 27. Cooper, whose staff culled the 119 festival offerings from thousands of submissions, said he can’t wait for audiences to see the selections. “I just want to get this thing started,” he said. “I feel like I’m sitting on a powder keg of talent that needs to explode.” —AP

Opinions vary as Colorado movie theater reopens

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he Colorado cinema where 12 people were killed and dozens injured in a shooting rampage nearly six months ago reopens Thursday with a remembrance ceremony and a private screening of the fantasy film “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” for survivors - but for some Aurora victims, the pain is still too much, the idea too horrific. Several families boycotted what they called a callous public relations ploy by the theater’s owner, Cinemark. They claimed the Texas-based company - which has been publicly silent since the July 20 shooting - didn’t ask them what should happen to the theater. They said Cinemark emailed them an invitation to Thursday’s reopening just two

days after they struggled through Christmas without their loved ones.

“It was boilerplate Hollywood - ‘Come to our movie screening,’” said Anita Busch, whose cousin, 23-year-old college student Micayla Medek, died at the theater. Others, like Aurora Mayor Steve Hogan, said the event was part of the healing process and that many residents wanted to see the theater back up and running. James Holmes, a former neuroscience Ph.D. student, is charged with 166 felony counts, mostly murder and attempted murder, in the July 20 shootings at the former Century 16 - now the Century Aurora. A judge ordered Holmes to stand trial, but he won’t enter a plea until March.

First responders to the massacre, Hogan, Gov. John Hickenlooper and religious leaders were to join survivors at the multiplex for Thursday’s event.

In addition to the “Hobbit” screening, theater placards featured “Trouble With the Curve,” “Cloud Atlas,” “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” and other films for the weekend. Victims have filed at least three federal lawsuits against Cinemark, alleging it should have provided security for the midnight “The Dark Knight Rises” showing, and that an exit door used by the gunman to get his weapons and reenter should have had an alarm. In court papers, Cinemark says the tragedy was “unforeseeable and random.” Hogan noted that the community grieves

and heals in different ways but insisted that most Aurora residents wanted to reopen the theater.

“For those who don’t want to be there, who can’t be there, I understand and respect that,” Hogan said.

“For us here, the larger community if you will, it is part of the healing process.” Vanessa Ayala is a cousin of Jonathan Blunk, a 26-year-old Navy veteran and father of two who was killed. Ayala said she believed the multiplex should have been torn down and, perhaps, turned into a park. At the very least, she said, the auditorium where the shooting occurred should be a memorial. —AP

SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 2013

African diva aims for ʻMarilyn momentʼ at Obama inauguration

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outh Africa’s Lira will be one among many performers at Barack Obama’s inaugural celebrations Monday, but she is determined to be remembered for a performance to rival Marilyn Monroe’s wooing of John F Kennedy. The multi-platinum artist hopes to give Obama and other guests at the Ambassadors’ Inaugural Ball in Washington something as memorable, but perhaps not as

File photo shows South African musician and singer Lira arriving at the South African Music Awards (SAMAs). —AFP racy, as Monroe’s “Happy Birthday, Mr President” 1962 enticement to JFK. “We all remember how she sang Happy Birthday to the president,” said the 33-yearold, whose real name is Lerato Molapo. “I am going to concentrate on seeing how I can make it special, not only for me,” she said. Lira has chosen to play Obama a song that she

has previously performed for a president: “Something inside so strong,” by Labi Siffre. “I played that song for president Mandela in 2010; it was his favorite song when he was still incarcerated.”

The song features lyrics laced with meaning for a free South African who grew up in an apartheid township performing for the United States’ first black president. It opens: “The higher you build your barriers / the taller I become / The farther you take my rights away / The faster I will run.” According to Lira, “it was a song about the struggle of the native Africans during apartheid. I saw it as a great present for the president and I am singing it for Obama in the same spirit.” At her Johannesburg studio during recent rehearsals for the ball and for her performance at the Africa Cup of Nations-which begins today-Lira admitted she has been a little nervous.

“I am feeling very confident now, I was overwhelmed and a little bit nervous, but I think we have prepared a beautiful show,” she said. She has packed several elegant jackets for the North American winter and the dress, by South African designer David Tlale that she will wear in one of the most important moments of her career. But her thoughts about the trip to Washington have little to do with the razzle-dazzle of show business. She recounts the emotion of watching Obama’s first inauguration in Kenya, where the president’s father was born.

“The whole country stood still and was celebrating Obama. It was beautiful,” she said.

“Obama represents possibility, what is possible for an African child out there. “We Africans always needed help, but time is turning. We want to be equal, we want to be excellent in what we do, we want to play in the global field.” Lira will perform along with South African band Mi Casa, Cape Verdian Anane Vega and popular Ethiopian DJ Biz Markie at the Washington Convention Center. An important highlight on the Washington social calendar, inaugural balls are one way a newly appointed president rewards staffers-and more importantly donors and supportersafter a gruelling election campaign. —AFP

Natalie Wood’s husband snubs new death probe

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“Mr Wagner has been interviewed on multiple ollywood icon Natalie Wood’s husband occasions by the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department has declined to talk to detectives who and answered every single question asked of him have re-opened a probe into his wife’s by detectives during those interviews.” The commystery 1981 death, saying he has already ments came after an updated coroner’s report this answered all questions. A lawyer for 82-year-old week changed the cause of death actor Robert Wagner said those to “drowning and other undeterseeking to challenge the original mined factors” and said she may finding of accidental death by have ended up in the sea in a drowning were trying to “exploit “non-volitional” manner. The and sensationalize” the 30th “West Side Story” and “Rebel anniversary of her passing. “Mr Without a Cause” star drowned on Wagner has fully cooperated over the night of November 29, 1981 the last 30 years in the investigaoff California’s Catalina Island, after tion of the accidental drowning of Natalie Wood, with her an evening of drinking and eating his wife in 1981,” said Blair Berk, attorney for the Wagner family, in a actor husband, Robert with her husband and actor Wagner. —AP Christopher Walken. —AFP statement.

A Chinese woman walks past film advertisements at a cinema in Beijing yesterday. —AFP

China moviegoers show Hollywood the money

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en new movie screens open each day in China as the popularity of cinema soars in the country, but the appeal of Chinese films has failed to maintain the pace. Box office receipts jumped 30 percent last year to 17 billion yuan ($2.7 billion), lifting China up to become the world’s number two cinema market behind the United States, figures last week showed. Yet foreign titles took the bulk of the money, scooping up just over half the revenue in 2012 despite facing an annual cap of only 34 releases-while Chinese filmmakers produced 893 films last year.

“The successful movies are nearly all Hollywood blockbusters,” said Pen Kang, a researcher for the Hong Kong Baptist University Academy of Film. “Chinese domestic films have no advantages compared to these Hollywood films. The production standards and technology are less advanced.” China only increased its foreign movie quota from 20 in 2012 after long pressure from Hollywood and the World Trade Organization. As a result foreign films edged out domestic ones in ticket sales for the first time in a decade, taking 51.5 percent of the total.

Naxin Ping, who manages an antique shop in Beijing, said she went to the cinema several times last year, watching both foreign and domestic titles including “The Amazing SpiderMan”, “Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol”, martial arts film “The Grandmaster” by Hong Kong director Wong Kar Wai and “Renzaijiongtu”, a Chinese comedy. “That’s my taste,” she said. She is typical of China’s growing middle-class population willing and able to pay the relatively high price of movie ticketsaround $13 — that has made Chinese theatres such an attractive market.

The country’s leading property group Wanda became the world’s biggest cinema owner last year after acquiring US company AMC for $2.6 billion. But State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) vice minister Tian Jin in November urged domestic filmmakers to “enhance creativity”, saying their movies faced tremendous pressure and needed to be more competitive. In recent years Hollywood blockbusters such as “Avatar” and “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” have brought in whopping sums, though the lowbudget Chinese comedy “Lost in Thailand”

unexpectedly upended them last month to become the country’s biggest-ever box office hit.

But Robert Cain, a producer who has worked in China for 25 years, pointed out that it was among the successful domestic movies that “drew large audiences in China because they released at times when Hollywood movies were blocked out of Chinese theatres”.

Mega blockbusters such as the latest James Bond movie “Skyfall” and the widely anticipated “The Hobbit”, based on the JRR Tolkien novel, hit cinemas around the world last year but have 2013 release dates in China-by which time many potential viewers will already have seen them on pirated DVDs. Just as Chinese movies have lagged domestically, they have also struggled to garner significant popularity or renown abroad, despite being the world’s third most prolific film industry according to SARFT. And despite being the world’s most populous country, China has failed to produce anything with the global cultural impact of South Korean singer Psy’s “Gangnam Style” or Indian musician Ravi Shankar, who died in 2012.

President Hu Jintao acknowledged last year that China’s soft power had not kept pace with its growing political and economic stature, saying: “The international influence of Chinese culture does not correspond with the international status of China.” But Rance Pow, an industry analyst who heads the consultancy Artisan Gateway, was optimistic that domestic filmmakers would steadily improve. “Chinese films remain on course to produce commercial hits not only for the China market but for international audiences as well,” he said.

The difficulty comes in part from the censorship that China exercises over film and other cultural productions. The Communist Party imposes strict rules over what films are allowed to be seen by the public, banning what it considers any negative portrayal of contemporary politics or issues it says might lead to social unrest. In an open letter last month award-winning Chinese director Xie Fei said the censorship system had “become a corrupt black spot for controlling the prosperity of the cultural and entertainment industry, killing artistic exploration and wasting administrative resources”. —AFP

SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 2013

File photo shows actress, Jodie Foster, from the upcoming film “Elysium,” poses for a portrait during Comic-Con, in San Diego. —AP photos

In this March 30, 1992 file photo, Jodie Foster poses backstage with her Oscar at the 64th annual Academy Awards in Los Angeles.

In this publicity photo provided by Orion Pictures, Jodie Foster is shown in a scene from the film “The Silence of the Lambs,”1991.

5 of Jodie Foster’s greatest performances J

odie Foster had everyone talking when she took the unusual step of revealing she’s a lesbian on the Golden Globes stage Sunday night. This hadn’t exactly been a secret, given that she has two sons with her former partner. But the two-time Oscar winner has been notoriously protective of her privacy, which made the rambling and

Jodie Foster portrays a 12-year-old prostitute in the movie “Taxi Driver,” which was directed in 1976 by Martin Scorsese.

emotional speech such a riveting aberration. But this is also a good opportunity to talk about what made Foster famous in the first place: the strong screen persona and versatile talent she’s displayed over her 47 years as an actress. Here’s a look at five of her best performances: “The Silence of the Lambs” (1991): The word “iconic” gets tossed around a lot without much thought, but it’s truly applicable here in describing the work of Foster and co-star Anthony Hopkins. Foster won the second of her two best-actress Oscars (the first was for 1988’s “The Accused”) as young FBI agent Clarice Starling, who’s sent to pick the brain of the fiendish and fearsome Hannibal Lecter. She’s brilliant and resourceful, the scrappy, self-made underdog who dares to go toe to toe with a psychopath. A controlled and masterful performance in one of the most deeply disturbing movies ever.

“Taxi Driver” (1976): It’s frightening when you think about not only how good Foster was at such a young age but also how young her child-prostitute character of Iris was, as well. Her work in one of Martin Scorsese’s greatest films presents a fascinating dichotomy. She has to project a world-wariness and a cynicism beyond her years but also a youthful vitality, freshness and the hint of promise. She’s only 12 years old but she absolutely holds her own opposite Robert De Niro and earned an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress.

“Freaky Friday” (1976): In a great demonstration of Foster’s range, she played an extremely different kind of kid later the same year. She’s actually playing an adult, too, since this classic Disney comedy hinges on the idea that her character, Annabel, switches bodies with her mother (Barbara Harris), giving each a brief taste of how tough the other’s life is. This is probably my earliest memory of Foster - she’s hilarious and charming with her tomboyish toughness and quick wit, and she has the sort cool and confidence we all wish we could have had at that age.

“Inside Man” (2006): Foster plays a supporting part in Spike Lee’s slick bank heist thriller, but it’s such an intriguing departure for her that I had to pick it. She plays Madeline White, who has the vague occupation of functioning as a fixer for the wealthy and powerful.

Here she’s working for the bank’s founder (Christopher Plummer), who sends her to retrieve something damaging from a safe deposit box. It’s actually a quasi-villainous role: a well-connected, well-spoken social climber who’s all business beneath her cool, blond exterior, and it was juicy fun to watch her reveal yet another facet of her talent.

“A Very Long Engagement” (2004): Who knew Foster was fluent in French? Seeing her turn up here, speaking flawlessly in a foreign language, was a huge surprise and a thrill. Her role is so small as a soldier’s wife in director Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s lavish and lively World War I romance that you long to see more of her. Actually, you don’t even realize it’s Foster at first; she’s in the distance when we see her at a crowded marketplace, and she has a scarf pulled over her head. But eventually she starts speaking in that instantly recognizable, husky voice. Talk about a real revelation. —AP

John Mayer

Drug-taking bear star ‘Ted’ to appear at Oscars

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ed,” the drug-smoking, foulmouthed teddy bear, who was a blockbuster hit last year, is to appear at the Oscars next month, his onscreen sidekick Mark Wahlberg said Thursday. Comedian Seth MacFarlane, who is hosting the February 24 Academy Awards, has secured the invitation for his comic creation and Walhberg to appear on stage at Hollywood’s biggest awards show.

“Because Seth is hosting the Oscars, Ted and I will be appearing at the Oscars,” Wahlberg told talk show host Anderson Cooper, also confirming that a sequel to the R-rated movie is in the works. Asked if Ted would have to smoke a bong before the show to calm his nerves, the actor said: “He can’t do it without it, it’s mandatory.” “Family Guy” creator MacFarlane is expected to be joined by a string of A-listers to hand out the golden statuettes at the Oscars, the climax of Hollywood’s awards season, although no major names have yet been disclosed. —AFP

SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 2013

Rihanna’s fashion collection to debut in February

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ihanna’s collection for British brand River Island is slated for its debut next month during London Fashion Week. Fashion week organizers listed the pop star on its official calendar of fall previews as they sent out registration materials on Thursday to the editors, stylists and retailers who cover designer collections.

The 24-year-old’s first collection of clothing and accessories will be shown Feb 16. Items will be available in River Island stores in Great Britain, and in the United States and Japan at Opening Ceremony starting on March 5. Rihanna said in a statement that an appearance at fashion week is “a dream come true.”

She already has another fashion commitment this year: She signed on to executive produce and star in the Style network reality series “Styled to Rock.” —AP

Yamamoto revives kilts and whiskers at men’s fashion

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ilts made a comeback at the Paris menswear shows Thursday courtesy of Japan’s Yohji Yamamoto while Louis Vuitton looked east to another national costume for inspiration. To the wail of bagpipes, models sporting beards and every conceivable style of whiskers from Dali and fu manchu to handlebar and walrus teamed Yamamoto’s 21st century take on the kilt with ties, hats and long flowing woollens.

Double breasted jackets combined with the facial hair conjured up an Edwardian gents look with red and black tartan and mauve adding a splash of colour for winter.

Trousers-where they did featurewere cut short. For his fourth collection for Louis Vuitton, Briton Kim Jones, working with artistic director Marc Jacobs, said he had travelled to the tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan for inspiration. “A collection is often an actual journey for us. It comprises what you take with you and what you bring back both physically and mentally from the experience,” he said.

Unspoilt by mass tourism due to restricted access, Bhutan “still had that mystery surrounding it. Almost a fantasy idea as well as a real place... the only place where snow leopards and tigers cross paths,” he added.

Silk robes in a “Garden in Hell” print

by British artists Jake and Dinos Chapman resembled the gho, the heavy, knee-length garment worn

by Bhutanese men, and its traditional checks and stripes featured in much of the collection’s suiting. A snow leopard pattern and motif recurred throughout the collection.

In other looks, “the figure of the gentleman climber is compared and contrasted with Bhutanese traditions and symbols”, the house said,

with soft structured jackets and coats in Bhutanese Yak felt and Himalayan stone buttons. The travel theme found fresh expression at Dutch design duo Viktor & Rolf’s collection inspired by Jules Verne’s “A Journey to the Centre of the Earth”.

In the suitably hushed environs of a Natural History Museum gallery, earnest, bespectacled models strode past stone columns and high glassfronted cabinets.

Here was the “house’s eccentric gentleman on his style journey. a curious monsieur who is playful while serious, adventurous while cautious”, the duo said. Super slim silhouette suits dominated in shades of black “interwoven with dark earthy tones in browns, graphites, greens and midnights”, with fabrics such as boiled wool and satin quilting. Footwear featured the Chelsea boot with gunmetal toe embellishment, described as Rolf Snoeren and Viktor Horsting’s “unique take on the mountaineering boot”. The pair mark their 20th anniversary next year.

Elsewhere Thursday, American Rick Owens continued his focus on light and dark in a typically restrained palette of black, white and ecru with mixed materials such as leather sleeves on wool coats.

Owens told AFP that designing the collection had been one of the few occasions he had actively thought about masculinity. “I was thinking about almost a joyous masculinity,” he said, adding that wearing a military coat “automatically gives you a certain swagger”. Around 80 shows are being held during the five-day Paris menswear shows which wind up on Sunday. —AFP

Models presents a creation by designer Yohji Yamamoto during the men’s Fall-Winter 20132014 collection show as part of the Men’s fashion week in Paris. —AFP

Rick Owens

SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 2013

This May 24, 2011 file photo shows President Barack Obama, second left, and first lady Michelle Obama, with Queen Elizabeth II, left, and Prince Philip, right, prior to a dinner hosted by the queen at Buckingham Palace in London.

This Jan. 20, 2009 file photo shows Barack Obama, left, taking the oath of office from Chief Justice John Roberts, not seen, as his wife Michelle, holds the Lincoln Bible and daughters Sasha, right and Malia, look on at the US.

Michelle Obama faces

a fashionable second term M ichelle Obama has proven her fashion savvy time and again since she was introduced as the US first lady in a lemongrass-yellow sheath and coat by Isabel Toledo on Inauguration Day 2009 - so much so that we don’t discuss it nearly as much as we used to. Four years ago, there was a daily barrage in the media: Jason Wu gown! J Crew gloves! Jimmy Choo shoes! It remained that way for months and even years.

There was the Naeem Khan beaded strapless gown for the first state dinner in the Obama White House, and the black racerback dress by Michael Kors worn in her official portrait. Her wardrobe for the Obamas’ state visit to England, including the white cross-neck halter gown by Tom Ford she wore to a black-tie event with Queen Elizabeth in London, and the fiery red Alexander McQueen she wore for the state dinner the Obamas hosted for China, generated news around the globe. Even more recently, her pink Tracy Reese dress was practically an honored guest at the Democratic National Convention in September.

This Jan 19, 2011 file photo shows President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama at the North Portico of the White House in Washington.

This Jan 5, 2013 file photo shows President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama preparing to board Air Force One at Honolulu Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, in Honolulu, after their holiday vacation.

This Jan 25, 2012 file photo shows first lady Michelle Obama having lunch with school children at Parklawn elementary school in Alexandria, Va.

This Jan 6, 2013 file photo shows first lady Michelle Obama, right, with her daughter Sasha on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington after returning from vacation in Hawaii.

This July 16, 2010 file photo shows first lady Michelle Obama arriving with President Obama at Hancock County Bar Harbor Airport in Trenton, Maine.

One of the moments so many are eagerly anticipating on Monday, when her husband enters a second term, is when she’ll emerge in her gown for the inaugural balls. But she’s figured out a way to largely move the focus from her style to her substance. “What’s really interesting about the first lady is that she’s been able to incorporate the fact that she’s stylish into a much larger persona,” says Ariel Foxman, managing editor of InStyle magazine.

In the early going, there was intense focus on what she’d wear “because we hadn’t seen a first lady who had such an innate style and sense of color - and great arms,” Foxman adds. “It’s been exciting to see a first lady embracing fashion by remaining consistently interesting and diverse in her fashion choices, and in doing that, she’s been able to draw attention elsewhere.” In an age of the overused term “style icon,” Obama is one of the few modern women to deserve it. In the past

four years she has adeptly walked - usually in kitten heels or ballet flats - the line between directional fashionista and everywoman. She has a pretty deep tool box and she knows how to use it, says Kevan Hall, a Los Angeles-based designer.

“Every designer wants to dress her,” he says. (She has worn his label.)

“Just like any woman, she wants to look pretty, and I think she’s having fun with it. It must be fun to be a girl with a big White House closet,” Hall says. She looks comfortable in clothes that can be a little edgy, and Hall says women find that inspiring. Foxman describes Obama as a working mom who has those favorite go-to pieces: the sleeveless dresses, cardigans, capri pants, chunky jewelry, flat shoes and waist-nipping belts.

It’s nice to see that she often wears the same pieces, finding new ways to mix and match them, Hall says. The fashion industry is looking forward to another term, giving another chance for her to wear a variety of designer names and brands and call attention to new designers. “It’s a big business in this country,” Foxman says. “We’re waiting to see who she can pluck for obscurity on the inaugural night like she did with Jason Wu four years ago.” —AP

SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 2013

Issey Miyake gives fashion an emergency blanket

I Japanese designer Issey Miyake (foreground R) acknowledges the audience following the men’s FallWinter 20132014 collection show yesterday during the Men’s fashion week in Paris.

— AFP photos

ssey Miyake is one house with its finger firmly on the pulse of the weather forecast. During last summer’s heat wave, the Franco-Japanese fashion house handed out designer ice packs to clammy menswear spectators. For fall-winter 2013, as temperatures in Paris plunged to subzero, they were at it again. This time, revelers clutched invitations wrapped in the gold fabric used in thermal emergency blankets. The insulating theme carried on in the clothes, with the design team’s exploration of a lightweight, heatretaining wardrobe - so say the program notes to enable “a freer lifestyle during the winter months.”

It was a neat idea. Jackets and sporty overcoats with loose silhouettes used recycled polyester sandwiching thermal fleece fabric in russet and gray. The box was also ticked for the house’s cutting edge fabric technology: a translucent film was laminated onto jersey on ensembles, many of which sported signature utilitarian detailing like side pockets and zippers.

However, all of these were upstaged by the show’s defining look: the vibrant bold, silver and bronze emergency blanket fabric which appeared in over a dozen of the looks that had revelers wide eyed. There were a few hits - like one great A-line, hooded black raincoat with space-age gold lining. Sadly, with the all-over metallic hues, and pant line that distorted the leg shape - it often

drowned out the human silhouette. Some of the looks came across busy and a little garish - if, undeniably practical. —AP

SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 2013

Five spots to hit in the next three months W

ith the start of the New Year, you’re bound to be making resolutions and trying to change patterns. Didn’t travel much last year? Didn’t take a vacation at all?

Make a positive change right now by planning a trip in the next few months! With must-see spots for the next three months in mind, the members and editors of VirtualTourist.com were polled, and here are

1. See the northern lights in Norway NASA has predicted that the winter season in the Northern Hemisphere (October 2012-April 2013) will be the brightest northern lights display in 50 years. Aurora Borealis, the scientific term for the northern lights, occurs when energetic particles are flung out from the sun and hit the magnetic field around Earth, and this year’s conditions suggest some of the best sightings since 1958. As the phenomena’s name suggests, the display is most commonly seen in a zone within a certain radius of the North Pole, in an area including Iceland, northern Scandinavia, northern Canada, Alaska, and some parts of Siberia.

Tromso and Finnmark in Norway are located above the Arctic Circle, with relatively mild winters and long winter nights, so both are ideal locations for viewing the northern lights. However, a lack of storms does not mean you should pack light-the average temperature in Tromso in January is 24 degrees Fahrenheit, so remember your gloves or mittens. Also, make sure to avoid the full moon and places with lots of lights, as these will interfere with your viewing.

2. Valapariso, Chile & Chilean Patagonia Stretching 4,270 km (2,653 mi) along the Pacific Ocean, Chile’s length and range of latitudes (from subtropical to subantarctic) create incredible biodiversity and a variety of natural settings to see and enjoy. The next three months are Chile’s summer, so the climate is the most temperate it will be all yearthe average high in Valapariso is 71 degrees Fahrenheit in January. It is also the best time of the year to visit Chilean Patagonia, with Torres del Paine National Park in splendid form and the region’s famous winds the most manageable they will be all year. While the obvious motivation to visit Chile in the next few months is its mild season, there are more pressing reasons for visiting its natural setting as soon as you can.

Due to Chile’s energy needs, the country has approved projects to build and operate five dams in Chilean Patagonia, as well as resurrecting power lines that will cause the longest clear-cut in history. Since both the President and Chilean Supreme Court have approved the decision, it seems inevitable that the building will commence and large areas of Patagonian forest area will be flooded for the operation of the dams. In addition to seeing the nation’s Southern regions while they remain intact, the country also has some unique events coming up: for New Year’s Eve, Valparaiso will be hosting its traditional fireworks, and attempting to make a Guinness World Record with over 20 tons of fireworks. In the Patagonian region, the Teatro del Lago in Frutillar, the largest theater in the country, will be hosting its “Festivales Musicales” from Jan. 27 through Feb. 5.

3. San Juan, Puerto Rico For those members trying to escape the season’s cold weather, San Juan, Puerto Rico, is hot on their list. With all the sun of the Caribbean, but none of the hassle, Puerto Rico is only two hours and thirty minutes from Miami. Since it’s a US territory, visiting Puerto Rico does not require a passport for US citizens or a change of currency. While Havana may be at the top of some travel lists, San Juan offers similar colonial architecture, colorful building facades, and cobblestoned streets, but a much cleaner and more modernized atmosphere. In addition to the balmy weather and beaches, there are many activities for visitors in the next few months. First, the Christmas season extends much longer in Puerto Rico than in other countries many households don’t exchange presents until Three Kings Day, or Jan 6 — so there are parades and festivals celebrating the holidays long into January.

The Fiestas de la Calle San Sebastian, occurring a week after

Northern Lights are seen over Tromso.

Crowds take to the streets in Old San Juan.

Three Kings Day in the third week of January, is often compared to Mardi Gras. Located along San Sebastian Street in Old San Juan, the street becomes filled with stalls selling a variety of local foods and rum drinks, in addition to music, arts and crafts shows, and crowds of fun-lovers. For those who love to watch athletics, the Puerto Rico Open is held the first week of March; it’s the only official PGA stop in the Caribbean. For those who will miss the event, you can try the Trump International course yourself at the Gran Melia.

4. Rome and Pompeii, Italy Members also mentioned that this period of the year is a great time to visit landmarks that are typically swarmed with tourists in the summer months. Few destinations in the world see as many visitors as Rome and Pompeii, so it makes sense this “off-season” is an ideal time to visit these popular landmarks. With average temperatures in January around 50 degrees F, it’s still quite temperate and great for walking and exploring Rome’s sights. If visiting the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel are on your agenda, VirtualTourist members strongly suggest getting your timed tickets online before your trip, which allows you to go straight to the security check line.

Another tip: the Vatican website also offers tours, and many members recommend this for first-time visitors, since the numerous one-way routes through the museum can be frustrating and confusing.

Further to the south, Pompeii is a site that must be seen to be believed, but is accordingly filled with visitors during the summer months. In our poll, one VirtualTourist member recalled her “blissful” visit to Pompeii in February, when she had the ruins more or less to herself for a whole hour. Visits to these sites are usually crammed and stressful, so the word “blissful” is proof enough this is a great time to visit! From November 1 to March 31, the site is opens at the same time, 8:30 am, but closes two hours earlier than during the summer months, at 5:00 pm.

5. Sri Lanka Located just off the coast of India, the island of Sri Lanka has been a fly-over country for most travelers, due to its extensive history of civil unrest. However, the country has been stable for the last four years, and has become a popular destination for budget conscious travelers.

For travelers looking for a safari experience, Sri Lanka offers just as much amazing wildlife as Africa, but is more budgetfriendly. Wild elephants, leopards, and spotted deer are just a sample of the mammals you can see in one of the island’s fourteen national parks. Along with the ecological diversity and lush landscape, the country also has six archaeological UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The capital of Colombo is an interesting mix of colonial architecture, Buddhist and Hindu temples, and friendly locals. Colombo is a great spot to visit in the next three months, as the city hosts some unique upcoming festivals.

Duruthu Perahera, the Buddhist event celebrating the day the Buddha visited Sri Lanka, will be a great day in January to witness rituals and celebrations at the Buddhist temples in Colombo. In March, the Sri Lankan Balloon Festival draws participants from all around the world to fly hot-air balloons around Colombo, creating a great spectacle and fun festivities.

With the heavy holiday travel season almost behind us, we hope you can take advantage of some of the great travel deals in the New Year and checkout at least one of these VirtualTourist member recommended destinations! —MCT

Leopards at Yala National Park are just a sample of the mammals you can see in one of the Sri Lanka’s fourteen national parks. — MCT photos

SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 2013

A woman walks along the beach.

A man drags a kayak past a sand castle.

In Tulum, a relaxing Mexican escape to the beach T

he all-inclusive Cancun resorts are not known for topless women on the beach or Argentinians with scraggly beards playing Gypsy music. But that’s the norm in Tulum, a Mexican seaside spot south of Cancun that attracts a mix of bohemians, well-pocketed New Age types and sun-seekers to its turquoise waters and white sandy beaches.

Despite its proximity to Cancun and its fellow party neighbor Playa del Carmen, Tulum is not for the same spring break crowd.

“The college kids go to Cancun. The professors and teacher assistants come to Tulum,” said Richard Contreras, whose family has managed properties in Tulum for nearly a decade.

That doesn’t mean Tulum is cheap. We couldn’t find a room on the beach for less than $150 a night that came with a bathroom. Meals nearby cost just as much as they do in my hometown of Seattle. “Tulum is luxury, but the luxury here is nature and the beach,” said Mimi Contreras, Richard’s sister.

Our trip was a five-day sun-seeking dash in the first week of January, during the area’s high season, which stretches from winter through spring break. Tulum, located on Mexico’s lush green Yucatan Peninsula, was an ideal destination. The weather was perfect. The bright sunshine was rarely obscured by fast traveling clouds. December and January are among the driest months on the Yucatan Peninsula and offer hot weather, but no debilitating heat. The dayside highs in our trip were in the mid-80s.

The night skies were full of stars.

Tulum is about 90 miles (145 kilometers) south of Cancun and the highway connecting both is well-paved. We flew into Cancun, rented a car ($25 a day plus insurance from Hertz) and made the drive late at night. It went smoothly and we hit no traffic, but watch out for speed bumps scattered around the area and pedestrians crossing the highway in some spots. There are also shuttles available from Cancun to Tulum, but the car gave us the mobility to visit attractions beyond the beach.

“Tulum is pretty laid-back and chill. And I think most of the people who live here, work here, who have property here, want to keep that way to a certain extent,” Mimi Contreras said. Tulum can be divided in to three parts: the town, the Mayan ruins and the beach.

Tulum the town is on the highway, about a 10minute drive from the beach.

Tourism has pushed the population to around 30,000 people, but the town retains the blueprint of many Latin American pueblos, centered around an open plaza or town square. Shops, street-food vendors, hotels and restaurants catering to tourists line the main drag. In general, hotels and restaurants downtown are much cheaper than those on the

beach. (We found tasty Mexican food and great service at La Malquerida.)

Just past the town are the nearest “cenotes,” which are water caves that are part of a network of rivers under the Yucatan Peninsula. We went to the Gran Cenote ($10 entrance plus snorkel rental) for a swim in its cool and clear waters. Snorkeling underwater, you can see how the water has eroded the cave’s limestone walls over the eons into formations of many different shapes and sizes.

The Gran Cenote even had fish in its cavernous pool and bats flying overhead. The Yucatan has many cenotes and some are deep enough for scuba diving.

Tulum may be best-known for its ancient Mayan ruins, which attract a steady stream of day-trippers, cruise passengers and tour buses.

The complex of crumbling structures here is smaller and less impressive than some other Mayan sites like Chichen Itza, but its location atop seaside cliffs is one of the most scenic ruin sites on the Yucatan. The complex is surround-

A couple takes a picture while swimming in the Gran Cenote, a water cave near Tulum. just footsteps from the beach. “I want to have a place for people who are independent travelers... who can appreciate the little oasis we’ve built here,” said Mimi Contreras.

Our $150 room was at Los Lirios Cabana Hotels. The room came with a huge bathroom, a balcony with a hammock and a view of the sea. Buffet breakfast was included.

The waves in Tulum were more soothing than daunting. The water was both refreshing and warm. Just watch out for kite surfers - I was nearly hit by one while swimming.

In this Jan 4, 2013, photograph, the Castle of the Mayan ruins in Tulum, Mexico is lit by late afternoon sun. — AP photos ed by a wall (Tulum means wall) and was inhabited for centuries before Spanish colonialists arrived in the early 1500s. Entrance to the park is $10, which also gives you access to a beach where you can swim beneath the ruins. Guided tours cost extra.

Last but not least, there’s Tulum the beach.

Stretching for roughly six miles (10 kilometers), waterfront Tulum is lined with cabanas, “ecochic” hotels, fancy restaurants and yoga spots, but it’s less developed than some of Mexico’s other resort areas, where the view of the beach often includes high-rise hotels.

There’s only one main road and it does get crowded during the day. In spots, it barely

accommodates the stream of cars, trucks, taxis, bicycles and pedestrians using it. Biking can be perilous; two women staying next to us fell off their bikes in the traffic, though fortunately they were not seriously injured.

We stayed in one of Contreras’ seaside cabanas for $75 a night. It came with a shared bathroom, a fan and occasional insects common in tropical settings - including some that bite. The cabana rooms are large, cleaned daily and are nicely decorated. There’s Wi-Fi, if you must. People staying at the cabanas can use beach beds, lounge chairs and a bar from the Contreras’ next-door property, which hosts cruise ship tours in the afternoons. We were

A line of people leave the swimming beach next to the Mayan ruins in Tulum.

We spent much of our stay at the beach, only getting up to grab drinks, food and evening walks. There are plenty of people on the beach, but it doesn’t feel crowded. It offered premium people-watching; the lone nuisance was bohemian types selling their handmade bracelets and bikinis.

Most of all it was sunny and relaxing, which is, after all, what makes the beach the most important of the three Tulums. — AP

SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 2013

TECHNOLOGY EMC VSPEX transforms virtualized Microsoft SharePoint environments NEW YORK: EMC Corporation announced new EMC VSPEX Proven Infrastructure configurations optimized for virtualized Microsoft SharePoint environments. VSPEX provides customers the power to choose the hypervisor, server, and network technology they prefer to go along with EMC’s awardwinningVNX and VNXe unified storage and EMC Data Domain, EMC Avamar and EMC NetWorker backup and recovery solutions to address the uniqueness of their SharePoint environments. The simple, efficient and flexible VSPEX for SharePoint configuration can scale from 1,000 users up to 10,000 users and can be used with all of the private cloud solutions in the VSPEX catalog.Since its April 2012 launch, EMC partners have sold hundreds of VSPEX, which offer a wide variety of configurations enabling channel partners to accommodate a diverse range of customer deployment preferences. EMC also announced updates for all 14 of the original VSPEX configurations to ensure customers can choose from the latest technology when deploying their VSPEX, as well as an online education and sales enablement center and simplified technical documentation for partners.

Organizations implement SharePoint to improve internal and external productivity and collaboration. For many customers, SharePoint is often deployed in a highly distributed model that can result insignificant data growth, management complexity and isolated islands of information and infrastructure. VSPEX Proven Infrastructure for virtualized SharePoint environments enables customers to confidently consolidate or deploy new SharePoint environments and leverage the power of virtualization to lower costs and simplify management. VSPEX includes EMC’s award-winning unified storage systems, which according to IDC are most preferred by SharePoint customers over other vendors.

Available in early 2013exclusively through partners in the EMC Velocity(tm) partner program, the new EMC VSPEX for SharePoint simplifies infrastructure design and deployment so partners can focuson rapidly consolidating existing or deploying new SharePoint environments for their customers.

VSPEX Proven Infrastructure for virtualized SharePoint is designed for customers looking to consolidate storage and infrastructure and lower costs associated withSharePoint use cases such as Document Repository (file shares replacement) and Enterprise Content Management.With VSPEX, customers can realize greater efficiency, flexibility, higher availability, faster and simplified backup and recovery and reduce TCO. VSPEX provides Microsoft customers and others a choice of industry leading virtualization technologies for their private cloud Infrastructures.

Validated in tests and studies conducted

by EMC and leading industry analyst firms, these technologies combined in VSPEX can help users in virtualized SharePoint environments: tune SharePoint storage performance in 80 percent less time; shorten SharePoint provisioning by 4X with EMC Storage Integrator (ESI); accelerate SQL Server transactions per second by 4X; cut time to manage backup by 81 percent; and reduce backup storage by 10-30X.

TECHNOLOGY SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 2013

NEW YORK: Mobile phones sit on display in the window of a store. Responding to weaker than expected demand, Apple has cut orders for LCD screens and other parts for the iPhone 5 this quarter. — AFP

This undated image provided by Auroch Digital Ltd shows the video game “Endgame: Syria.” The new video game based on Syria’s civil war seeks to illustrate the hard choices facing the country’s rebels. The game’s British developer hopes it will inform people about the nearly two-year old conflict, but reactions have been mixed. — AP

Iran strengthens cyber capabilities Iran will be ‘forced to be reckoned with’

WASHINGTON: Iran responded to a 2010 cyber attack on its nuclear facilities by beefing up its own cyber capabilities, and will be a “force to be reckoned with” in the future, a senior US Air Force official told reporters on Thursday. General William Shelton, who heads Air Force Space Command and oversees the Air Force’s cyber operations, declined to comment about Iran’s ability to disrupt US government computer networks, but said Tehran had clearly increased its efforts in that arena after the 2010 incident.

While no government has taken responsibility for the Stuxnet computer virus that destroyed centrifuges at Iran’s Natanz uranium enrichment facility, it was widely reported to have been a US-Israeli project. Western

analysts say Iran has launched increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks in a growing confrontation with its adversaries, including the United States, Israel and Gulf Arabs, at a time of rising pressure on Tehran to curb its nuclear program.

Iran denies Western accusations it is seeking to develop a nuclear weapons capability, and says its program is aimed only at power generation and medical research. This week, a senior Iranian commander was quoted as saying that the Islamic Republic could disrupt enemy communication systems as part of its growing “electronic warfare” capabilities.

Iranian officials have denied hacking into US banks in recent months, but have devoted resources to building up their cyber defense

capabilities after suffering a string of cyber attacks in the past year targeting industrial sites, an oil export terminal and oil platforms.

“The Iranian situation is difficult to talk about,” Shelton told reporters. “It’s clear that the Natanz situation generated reaction by them. They are going to be a force to be reckoned with, with the potential capabilities that they will develop over the years and the potential threat that will represent to the United States.”

Shelton said the Air Force expected orders in coming months to expand its cyber workforce of about 6,000 by 1,000 people. He said he was pressing Air Force leaders to boost funding for cyber operations, but added there were competing demands and the budget

outlook remained uncertain.

He said the Air Force was repelling nearly 100 percent of the millions of probes launched against Pentagon networks every day, but it was also using cyber tools to substitute for clandestine human intelligencegathering efforts and expanding its offensive cyber capabilities. “There are things that you can get from a computer network that in the past were very hard to collect and had to be done through human sources,” he said. “It has become ... a darned-near substitute for human intelligence activity.” With what he called access to the “right networks” and the “right code,” Shelton said the US military would also be able to cause physical damage without using a bomb or missile. — Reuters

Kaspersky Lab reveals international cyberspies

K

aspersky Lab has identified an elusive cyber espionage network that targets diplomatic, governmental and scientific research organizations in several countries, a company statement revealed. The network has been christened Red October, and there is a chance that the malware may have its origins in a Russian-speaking country.

Cybercriminals focusing on Russia, the former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and some Central Asian countries have stolen confidential data to gain access to computer systems, personal mobile devices and corporate networks, and geopolitical data. In October 2012, Kaspersky Lab’s team of experts initiated an investigation following a series of attacks that targeted the computer networks of international diplomatic service agencies. A large-scale cyber espionage network was revealed during the investigation. According to Kaspersky Lab’s analysis report, operation Red October has been a sustained campaign dating back as far as 2007.

“We initiated the investigation once we received files from a partner of ours who wanted to remain anonymous. We soon understood that we were dealing with one of the most widespread cyber espionage campaigns that we had ever encountered,” Kaspersky’s chief malware

expert, Vitaly Kamlyuk, told CNews. “The size and variety of the malicious code was simply incredible, with over 1,000 unique files and 34 types of modules.

Furthermore, we believe that we can only see part of a much bigger picture.”

The attackers infected around 300 computers and mobile devices over five years and stole hundreds of terabytes of data. To this end, they created more than 60 domain names and several server hosting locations in different countries, with the majority located in Germany and Russia. The location of the main server remains unknown. There is strong evidence to suggest that the code was written by Russian programmers, as Russian words and slang appear in the texts of the virus modules. Kaspersky Lab has been unable to identify the hackers’ affiliation or goals, however.

The attackers have been focusing not only on diplomatic and governmental agencies, but also on research institutions, trade and military organizations, and the nuclear, oil, gas and aerospace industries.

Files of various formats were stolen from infected systems. Experts also discovered files with “acid” extensions, which appear to refer to the classified Acid Cryptofiler software used by several European Union and NATO organizations.

Kaspersky Lab has chosen not to reveal the names of the institutions that have been targeted until the investigation has been completed.

To infect systems, the attackers sent targeted spear-phishing emails to victims; the emails were “tailored” to the interests of each recipient, Kamlyuk said in an interview with Vedomosti. Malicious emails included customized Trojan droppers and exploits that were rigged for security vulnerabilities inside Microsoft Office. The exploits were created by other attackers and employed during different cyberattacks - including those against Tibetan activists and military and energy sector targets in Asia.

Among the unique features of the malware is a module that enables the attackers to “resurrect” infected machines. The module is embedded as a plug-in inside Adobe Reader and Microsoft Office installations, providing the attackers a foolproof way to regain access to a targeted system if the main malware body is discovered and removed, or if the system is patched.

Furthermore, it enables the attackers to steal data from mobile devices. Kaspersky Lab is continuing its investigation in collaboration with international organizations, law enforcement agencies and Computer Emergency Response Teams

(CERTs). “Over the past five years, cyber espionage campaigns have evolved from isolated attacks targeting specific vulnerabilities to industrial scale systems,” the executive director of Peak Systems, Maksim Emm, told Vedomosti. “You don’t have to conduct a targeted attack to obtain data, because the computers you need (say, in state agencies) are already infected, and access to them is sold by botnet (computer networks with breached defenses) owners,” said Emm. “To protect your data, you need to take a complex approach and use both technical measures, including antivirus software (however, attackers often remain undetected if they know which software the victim is using), and organizational measures, including bans on opening links and attachments in emails received from unknown addresses and using the same storage devices for internal and external systems,” Kamlyuk said. “The more echelons the cyber protection of an organization has, the higher the chance that the attack will be repelled,” said Emm. “These include timely software updates, using software only from reliable producers, antivirus software and, finally, the physical isolation of the computers with confidential information from those with Internet connections.”

TV listings SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 2013

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

Animal Cops Phoenix The Beauty Of Snakes Untamed & Uncut Wildest Latin America Shark Attack File 2 Monster Bug Wars Call Of The Wildman Cheetah Kingdom Michaela’s Animal Road Trip Wildlife SOS Meerkat Manor Dogs/Cats/Pets 101 Crocodile Hunter Weird Creatures With Nick

00:00 Connect The World With Becky Anderson 01:00 Amanpour 01:30 World Sport 02:00 Piers Morgan Tonight 03:00 World Report 03:30 World Sport 04:00 Anderson Cooper 360 05:00 Piers Morgan Tonight 06:00 Quest Means Business 06:45 CNN Marketplace Africa 07:00 The Situation Room 08:00 World Sport 08:30 On China 09:00 World Report 09:15 CNN Marketplace Africa 09:30 Backstory 10:00 World Report 10:15 CNN Marketplace Middle East 10:30 I Report For CNN 11:00 World Sport 11:30 Open Court 12:00 The Best Of The Situation Room 13:00 Amanpour 13:30 The Brief 14:00 World Report 14:30 Inside Africa 15:00 Talk Asia 15:30 Sanjay Gupta MD 16:00 World Report 16:30 Leading Women 16:45 Future Cities 17:00 News Special 17:30 Backstory 18:00 International Desk 18:30 African Voices 19:00 CNN Marketplace Europe 19:15 CNN Marketplace Africa 19:30 The Brief 20:00 World Sport

Monkey Life Dick ‘n’ Dom Go Wild Natural Born Hunters The Really Wild Show Wildest Latin America Wildest Arctic Wildest Latin America Speed Of Life Killer Crocs Wildest Latin America Bad Dog

00:00 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition Specials 01:20 Come Dine With Me 02:10 Antiques Roadshow 03:00 House Swap 03:45 Saturday Kitchen 2008/09 04:35 House Swap 05:20 Come Dine With Me 06:10 Antiques Roadshow 07:00 House Swap 07:45 Antiques Roadshow 11:10 Vacation Vacation Vacation 12:05 Trish’s Mediterranean Kitchen 13:35 Come Dine With Me: South Africa 14:25 Bargain Hunt 15:10 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition Specials 17:50 Come Dine With Me: South Africa 18:45 Antiques Roadshow 22:15 Fantasy Homes In The City 23:00 Vacation Vacation Vacation 23:50 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition Specials

00:00 Business Edition With Tanya Beckett 00:30 Football Focus 01:00 BBC World News America 01:30 BBC World News America 02:00 BBC World News 02:30 Newsnight 03:00 BBC World News 03:10 Weekend World 03:30 The Culture Show 04:00 BBC World News 04:10 Have You Heard From Johannesburg?

05:00 BBC World News 05:30 Horizons 06:00 BBC World News 06:10 The Art Of Spain 07:00 BBC World News 07:30 Fast Track 08:00 BBC World News 08:30 Middle East Business Report 09:00 BBC World News 09:30 Click 10:00 BBC World News 10:10 Weekend World 10:30 The Culture Show 11:00 BBC World News 11:10 Football Focus 11:30 Horizons 12:00 BBC World News 13:10 World Features 13:30 Newsnight 14:00 BBC World News 14:10 Weekend World 14:30 Our World 15:00 BBC World News 15:30 Equestrian World 16:00 BBC World News 16:15 Sport Today 16:30 Fast Track 17:00 BBC World News 17:30 Dateline London 18:00 BBC World News 18:10 Have You Heard From Johannesburg?

19:00 BBC World News

LARGO WINCH 2 ON OSN CINEMA 19:30 20:00 20:30 21:00 21:30 22:00 22:15 22:30 23:00

Our World BBC World News Final Score BBC World News Fast Track BBC World News Sport Today Click BBC World News

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

Fast N’ Loud One Car Too Far Wheeler Dealers Mythbusters Border Security Auction Kings Auction Kings How Stuff Works How It’s Made Sons Of Guns Mythbusters Magic Of Science Time Warp Is It Possible?

Bull Shark Ultimate Survival Animal Cops South Africa Masters Of Survival Bear Grylls Fine Dining With Bear Grylls Bear Grylls Fast N’ Loud Gold Rush Deadliest Catch Sons Of Guns Auction Kings Auction Kings Auction Kings Auction Kings Auction Kings

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

Hannah Montana Brandy & Mr Whiskers Replacements Emperor’s New School Brandy & Mr Whiskers Brandy & Mr Whiskers Replacements Replacements Emperor’s New School Emperor’s New School Brandy & Mr Whiskers Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Handy Manny Suite Life On Deck A.N.T Farm Wizards Of Waverly Place Phineas And Ferb Phineas And Ferb Fish Hooks Fish Hooks Good Luck Charlie Austin And Ally Jessie Shake It Up Toy Story Toons Twitches Jessie Wizards Of Waverly Place Suite Life On Deck Shake It Up Prankstars Shake It Up Austin And Ally Jessie A.N.T Farm Twitches Too Prankstars Prankstars Twitches Austin And Ally

20:25 20:40 20:50 21:15 21:40 22:05 22:55 Cody 23:45

Prankstars Prankstars A.N.T. Farm Jessie Jessie Good Luck Charlie The Suite Life Of Zack And Stitch

00:00 Opening Act 00:55 Style Star 01:25 THS 03:15 Behind The Scenes 03:40 Extreme Close-Up 04:10 THS 05:05 THS 06:00 THS 07:50 Behind The Scenes 08:20 E! News 09:15 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 10:15 Kimora: Life In The Fab Lane 11:10 Kimora: Life In The Fab Lane 12:05 E! News 13:05 Scouted 14:05 Giuliana & Bill 15:00 Giuliana & Bill 16:00 Opening Act 17:00 Opening Act 18:00 E! News 19:00 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 20:00 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 21:00 A-List Listings 21:30 Fashion Police 22:30 E! News 23:30 Chelsea Lately

00:15 Heat Seekers 00:40 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 01:30 Heat Seekers 01:55 Guy’s Big Bite - Special 02:45 Andy Bates American Street Feasts 03:35 Heat Seekers 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 - Specials 10:55 Cooking For Real 11:20 The Fat Spa Chef Challenge 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 The Fat Spa Chef Challenge 16:20 United Tastes Of America 16:45 Chopped 17:35 Barefoot Contessa - Specials 18:25 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Special 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 Iron Chef America 23:00 Chopped 23:50 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives

00:45 Amish: Out of Order 01:40 My Sri Lanka With Peter Kuruvita 02:05 My Sri Lanka With Peter Kuruvita 02:35 On Surfari 03:00 On Surfari 03:30 Exploring The Vine 03:55 Exploring The Vine 04:25 Amish: Out of Order

05:20 Bondi Rescue: Bali 06:15 Dive Detectives 07:10 Departures 09:00 Treks In A Wild World 10:50 Amish: Out of Order 11:45 My Sri Lanka With Peter Kuruvita 12:10 My Sri Lanka With Peter Kuruvita 12:40 On Surfari 13:35 Food Lover’s Guide To The Planet 14:30 Amish: Out of Order 15:25 On Hannibal Trail 15:50 Finding Genghis 16:20 Departures 17:15 Treks In A Wild World 19:05 Bondi Rescue: Bali 20:00 Dive Detectives 21:00 Departures 22:00 Don’t Tell My Mother 22:55 Deadliest Journeys 23:50 Deadliest Journeys

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

Monster Fish Africa’s Deadliest Secret Brazil World’s Deadliest Animals The Incredible Dr. Pol Bite Me With Dr. Mike Leahy Insects From Hell Insects From Hell Hooked Fish Warrior Caught In The Act World’s Deadliest Animals Ultimate Animal Countdown Maneater Manhunt Dangerous Encounters Untamed Americas World’s Deadliest Animals The Incredible Dr. Pol Fish Tank Kings Animal Intervention Ultimate Animal Countdown Dangerous Encounters Untamed Americas World’s Deadliest Animals The Incredible Dr. Pol Fish Tank Kings

00:05 Empire Girls: Julissa And Adrienne 01:00 Empire Girls: Julissa And Adrienne 02:00 Videofashion News 02:25 Videofashion Collections 02:55 Big Rich Texas 03:50 Big Boutique In The City 04:20 Jerseylicious 05:15 Glam Fairy 06:10 Chicagolicious 07:05 The Amandas 08:00 Videofashion News 08:30 Videofashion News 09:00 Videofashion Daily 10:00 Videofashion Daily 10:55 Designer Marathon 11:50 Videofashion Collections 12:20 Videofashion Collections 12:50 Open House 13:20 Open House 13:50 Giuliana & Bill 14:45 Giuliana & Bill 17:35 How Do I Look?

18:30 How Do I Look?

19:25 Big Boutique In The City 19:55 Big Boutique In The City 20:25 Designer Marathon 21:20 Designer Marathon 22:15 Tia And Tamera 23:10 Tia And Tamera

00:00 02:00 04:15 PG15 06:00 08:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:15 20:00 22:00

The New Daughter-PG15 13 Assassins-18 True Justice: Dark VengeanceFaster-PG15 Dad Savage-PG15 Ip Man 2-PG15 And Soon The Darkness-PG15 Dad Savage-PG15 Jackie Chan’s Who Am I?-PG15 And Soon The Darkness-PG15 Army Of Darkness-18 The Man Inside-PG15

TV listings SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 2013 15:15 The Avengers-PG15 18:00 Jack And Jill-PG15 20:00 Happythankyoumoreplease 01:00 03:00 PG15 05:00 07:00 09:00 11:00 13:00 14:45 17:00 19:00 21:00 23:15

Largo Winch 2-PG15 The People vs George LucasHorrid Henry-PG 13-PG15 Largo Winch 2-PG15 Nothing Like The Holidays Feed The Fish-PG15 Moneyball-PG15 My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend-PG15 Honey 2-PG15 Bridesmaids-18 Middle Men-18

00:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 01:00 The Colbert Report 01:30 Community 02:00 South Park 02:30 The Ricky Gervais Show 03:00 Last Man Standing 03:30 2 Broke Girls 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 How I Met Your Mother 11:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 12:00 Seinfeld 12:30 Brothers 13:00 Til Death 13:30 Samantha Who? 14:00 2 Broke Girls 15:00 How I Met Your Mother 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 19:00 How I Met Your Mother 20:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 21:00 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 21:30 The Colbert Report 22:00 Saturday Night Live 23:00 The Ricky Gervais Show 23:30 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

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

Glee Glee Damages Bunheads Boardwalk Empire Good Morning America Royal Pains Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show House Royal Pains American Idol Glee House Damages Live Good Morning America Emmerdale Coronation Street Breakout Kings Criminal Minds C.S.I. Miami Strike Back Boardwalk Empire

00:00 03:00 07:00 07:30 12:00 12:30 16:00 16:30 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00

Grimm Six Feet Under Emmerdale Coronation Street Emmerdale Coronation Street Emmerdale Coronation Street C.S.I. Breakout Kings Criminal Minds C.S.I. Miami Strike Back

02:00 Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story-PG15 04:00 Morning Glory-PG15 06:00 Zookeeper-PG15 08:00 Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son-PG15 10:00 It’s Kind Of A Funny Story-PG15 12:00 Morning Glory-PG15 14:00 Scooby-Doo-PG 16:00 It’s Kind Of A Funny Story-PG15 18:00 The Ladykillers-PG15 20:00 High Fidelity-PG15 22:00 Paul-PG15

01:15 03:00 05:30 07:30 09:15 11:00 13:00 15:00 16:45 PG15 19:00 21:00 23:00

L.A I Hate You-PG15 Any Given Sunday-18 Ripley’s Game-PG15 The Third Wave-PG15 Sundays At Tiffany’s-PG15 Henry’s Crime-PG15 Sunny And The Elephant-PG15 Sundays At Tiffany’s-PG15 When A Man Loves A WomanLife In A Day-PG15 Somewhere-18 The Hit List-18

00:30 Bel Ami-18 02:30 Thor-PG15 04:30 Captain America: The First Avenger-PG15 07:00 A Cinderella Story: Once Upon A Song-PG 09:00 Jack And Jill-PG15 11:00 Thor-PG15 13:00 Captain America: The First Avenger-PG15

01:00 The Nimbols: Part II-FAM 02:45 Return To Halloweentown-PG 04:30 Emilie Jolie-PG 06:00 Princess Sydney: The Legend Of The Blue Rabbit-FAM 08:00 The Great Bear-PG 10:00 Gulliver’s Travels-PG 11:30 Emilie Jolie-PG 13:00 The Fantastic Adventure Of The Ugly Duckling-FAM 14:30 Return To Halloweentown-PG 16:00 Turtle Hero: Part I-FAM 18:00 Gulliver’s Travels-PG

02:00 02:30 03:30 06:00 06:30 07:00 11:00 11:30 12:00 16:00 18:00 18:30 21:30 22:30 23:00 23:30

ICC Cricket 360 Trans World Sport Live Champions Tour Inside The PGA Tour European Tour Weekly Snooker Masters Inside The PGA Tour European Tour Weekly Live European PGA Tour Rugby Union Challenge Cup ICC Cricket 360 Cricket Twenty20 Trans World Sport Futbol Mundial NFL Game Day Inside The PGA Tour

00:00 03:00 07:00 10:30 11:00 14:00

Live PGA Tour UFC The Ultimate Fighter PGA Tour ICC Cricket 360 Live Cricket T20 ICC Cricket 360

14:30 15:30 16:00 20:00 22:00

Trans World Sport Futbol Mundial Live Snooker Masters WWE SmackDown Live Snooker Masters

00:00 Rugby Union European Challenge Cup 02:00 Futbol Mundial 02:30 Snooker Masters 06:30 ICC Cricket 360 07:00 Trans World Sport 08:00 Futbol Mundial 08:30 Top 14 Highlights 09:00 ICC Cricket 360 09:30 Inside the PGA Tour 10:00 Champions Tour 12:30 Futbol Mundial 13:00 Rugby Union European Challenge Cup 15:00 Cricket T20 18:00 PGA European Tour 22:30 Top 14 Highlights

00:00 UFC The Ultimate Fighter The Smashes 01:00 WWE SmackDown 03:00 WWE Bottom Line 04:00 UFC Unleashed 05:00 NHL 07:00 WWE SmackDown 09:00 WWE Bottom Line 10:00 WWE Vintage Collection 11:00 NHL 13:00 UAE National Race Day Series 14:00 WWE Smackdown 16:00 WWE Bottom Line 17:00 European Le Mans Series 19:00 UFC The Ultimate Fighter The Smashes 20:00 UFC The Ultimate Fighter 21:00 WWE SmackDown 23:00 WWE Bottom Line

THE AVENGERS ON OSN MOVIES HD

01:20 03:00 04:30 06:00 07:35 08:35 11:10 12:45 14:15 16:10 17:35 20:15 20:30 22:00

Peter’s Friends Gate II Legion Of Iron Piranha Lights! Action! Music!

It’s A Mad Mad World Who Was Geli Bendl?

Vigilante Force Viva Maria!

The Purple Rose Of Cairo New York, New York Mgm’s Big Screen The Lake Another Man, Another Chance

00:40 03:05 04:50 08:00 09:40 11:30 13:20 16:30 18:20 20:05 21:35 23:00

The Dirty Dozen 3 Godfathers-FAM Doctor Zhivago-PG Blackboard Jungle-PG The Philadelphia Story-FAM White Heat-PG Doctor Zhivago-PG Young Cassidy-PG 3 Godfathers-FAM Tom Thumb-FAM Bad Day At Black Rock-PG Point Blank

01:00 01:30 02:00 03:00 05:00 06:00 06:30 07:00 11:00 13:00 15:00 15:30 16:00 16:30 17:00 19:00 20:00 20:30 21:00 21:30 22:00 23:00 23:30

Pawn Stars Storage Wars Ancient Aliens Nazi Gospels Mud Men Pawn Stars American Restoration Ancient Aliens American Pickers Soviet Storm: WWII In The East Pawn Stars Pawn Stars Pawn Stars Pawn Stars Ancient Aliens Ancient Aliens Storage Wars Storage Wars Pawn Stars Cajun Pawn Stars American Pickers Storage Wars Storage Wars

00:40 Chowder 01:30 Bakugan Battle Brawlers 01:55 Bakugan Battle Brawlers 02:20 Foster’s Home For...

02:45 Foster’s Home For...

03:10 Courage The Cowardly Dog 04:00 The Amazing World Of Gumball 04:25 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 04:50 Adventure Time 05:15 The Powerpuff Girls 05:40 Generator Rex 06:05 Ben 10 06:30 Ben 10 06:55 Angelo Rules 07:00 Casper’s Scare School 07:30 Casper’s Scare School 08:00 Grim Adventures Of...

08:45 Total Drama Island 09:10 Total Drama Island 09:35 Transformers Prime 09:55 Level Up 10:15 Ben 10: Ultimate Challenge 10:35 Ben 10: Omniverse 11:00 Thundercats 11:25 Mucha Lucha 11:50 Regular Show 12:40 The Amazing World Of Gumball 13:05 Adventure Time 13:30 Johnny Test 14:20 Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated 14:45 Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated 15:10 Total Drama Island 15:35 Total Drama Island 16:00 Level Up 16:25 Level Up

16:50 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 17:15 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 17:40 Young Justice 18:05 Young Justice 18:30 Batman: The Brave And The Bold 18:55 Batman: The Brave And The Bold 19:20 Ben 10: Ultimate Challenge 19:45 The Amazing World Of Gumball 20:10 Adventure Time 20:35 Regular Show 21:00 Mucha Lucha 21:25 Total Drama Island 21:50 Total Drama Island 22:15 Grim Adventures Of...

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

00:40 Disappeared 01:30 Dr G: Medical Examiner 02:20 The Haunted 03:05 Evil, I 03:30 Evil, I 03:55 Exorcist Files 04:45 Disappeared 05:30 Dr G: Medical Examiner 06:20 The Haunted 07:10 FBI Case Files 08:00 Life Or Death: Medical Mysteries 08:50 Street Patrol 09:15 Street Patrol 09:40 Real Emergency Calls 10:05 Who On Earth Did I Marry?

10:30 On The Case With Paula Zahn 11:20 Undercover 12:10 Disappeared 13:00 Life Or Death: Medical Mysteries 13:50 Street Patrol 14:15 Street Patrol 14:40 Forensic Detectives 15:30 On The Case With Paula Zahn 16:20 Real Emergency Calls 16:45 Who On Earth Did I Marry?

17:10 Undercover 18:00 Disappeared 18:50 Forensic Detectives 19:40 Street Patrol 20:05 On The Case With Paula Zahn 20:55 Stalked: Someone’s Watching 21:20 Nightmare Next Door

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 06:30 Little Einsteins 07:00 Special Agent Oso 07:15 Jungle Junction 07:45 Handy Manny 08:00 Special Agent Oso 08:15 Jungle Junction 08:30 Little Einsteins 08:55 Lazytown 09:20 Imagination Movers 09:45 Timmy Time 09:55 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 10:20 The Hive 10:30 Doc McStuffins 10:45 Zou 11:00 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 11:15 Animated Stories 11:20 New Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 11:45 Art Attack 12:10 Pixie Hollow Games 12:35 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 13:00 Winnie The Pooh: Tales Of Friendship 13:10 Timmy Time 13:20 The Hive 13:30 Doc McStuffins 14:00 Zou 14:15 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 14:30 Mouk 14:45 Jungle Junction

W h a t ’s o n SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 2013

Announcements

Shirva feast

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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 / get-together 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.

Arabic courses

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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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VPA Kuwait honors veteran members

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enmony Pravasi Association (VPA) conducted an award ceremony to honor members who completed 25 years and more. Those members include; Abraham Thomas & Susy Abraham Thomas, Nalonnil Malayil; George Varghese, Cheriyil Bunglow; Saji Idicula, Kuttickal Peedekayil; K Mathai Daniel, Kandankara Manu Villa; P V Mathew,

Valiyamadathileth; John Zachariah, Thottapuzha Peedikayil; Thomas E, Edavanatharayil. VPA students who have secured highest marks are as follows: Jovina Merin Sam for securing 1st place in class 10 CBSE Exams conducted in 2011; and Annett Ponnu Varghese for securing 1st place in class 12 CBSE Exams conducted in 2011.

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.

SEND US YOUR INSTAGRAM PICS

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Artist Johnarts presents a caricature of visiting Indian musician KG Jayan during the annual celebrations of Kottayam Club, Kuwait.

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

W h a t ’s o n SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 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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KMCA marks Xmas, and New Year event

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he Christmas and New Year celebrations of Kuwait Malayalee Catholic Association (KMCA) were held at United Indian School, Khaithan on January 11, 2013. The event was inaugurated by the Apostolic Nuncio His Grace Most Rev Peter Rajic. Vicar General and KMCA spiritual director Most Rev Fr Mathew Kunnelpurayidam and Rev Fr Dr John Padipurackel were the other dignitaries at the event. KMCA Secretary Sajen George welcomed the guests. KMCA President CA Joy gave the presidential address.

The prizes to the winners of Crib Competition and Memento to the couples who celebrated 25th wedding anniversary and Children who scored highest marks in the board exam were distributed by the Apostolic Nuncio.

Price for the KMCA Arts Competition was distributed by KMCA former president Thomas Ottathengan and Sojan Thomas and Thomas Luke. Memento for the first Holy Communion children was presented by Rev Fr Dr John Padipurackel.

EMBASSY OF CANADA he 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.

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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.

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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.

Pakistan English School student complete their coaching course

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tudents from the Hawally Pakistan English School completed a five week coaching course with the Premier Goal Academy in association with Everton FC at the weekend. The program is sponsored by Porsche Centre Kuwait, Behbehani Motors Company - providing expert coaching in skills and techniques and the opportunity to apply them in matches. Certificates of achievement were presented to all the players.

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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.

Health SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 2013

Whole body vibration may help elderly get up and go Easy and quick treatment ZARAGOZA: When the elderly can’t exercise, doing stints on a vibrating platform may help them become slightly stronger, faster and more agile, according to a Spanish study. The method used in the study, which appeared in the journal Maturitas, involves standing on top of a flat platform about the size of a boogie board that sends mild vibrations through the feet to the rest of the body. While on the platform, the person does exercises such as standing or squatting, with bending the knees helping to transmit the vibrations.

Exercise is the best option for good health in older age, said lead author Alba Gomez Cabello, but for those unable to perform aerobic exercise, this vibration technique “could be an easy and quick treatment to improve physical fitness.”

In the study, funded by the Spanish government, 24 men and women over 65 performed 10 squats held for 45 seconds on the vibrating platform, with a minute rest in between, three times per week for 11 weeks. The study also included 25 peo-

ple who did not take part in the vibration exercises.

There were some differences between the groups by the end of the study, although they were small. Those who did the exercises were, on average, able to do two more reps of upper and lower body strength exercises, had almost half an inch more lower body flexibility, and walked 33 yards one second faster than before the vibration training.

“Whole body vibration is an easy and quick way of exercise that stimulates muscles and improves fitness,” said Cabello, who studies growth and exercise at the University of Zaragoza, Spain.

In theory, vibrations help activate muscles, strength bones and improve circulation in people of all ages. But the vibrating platforms have shown mixed results in recent research, improving balance and muscle tone in some studies but failing to prevent bone loss in postmenopausal women in another.

There still isn’t enough evidence to convince most exercise scientists to advo-

cate the devices, according to Wojtek Chodzko-Zajko, who studies aging and physical activity at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Campaign.

“That doesn’t mean it’s a scam, it means there’s really been very little study of this kind of intervention,” he said.

The vibration group did squat reps, while the comparison group did not, so some of the fitness improvements could have been due to the squatting exercises and not the vibration.

A better assessment of the true health of older adults would take into account whether whole body vibration influences chronic conditions like heart disease and mental health, depression and anxiety, he said.

His 82-year-old mother has a whole body vibration machine in her bedroom, which she uses every morning to “loosen up her joints.” Chodzko-Zajko gives her the same advice he’d give anyone: “I don’t think it’s going to do you any harm, but don’t stop doing your regular exercise routine.” —Reuters

Ganges gathering ‘good for health’ NEW DELHI: India’s Kumbh Mela, the world’s biggest religious festival which sees up to 100 million people flock to take a bath in the river Ganges, is good for pilgrims’ health, according to

a new study.

Despite facing cold weather, endless noise, poor food and the risk of disease, Hindu devotees who attend such events report higher levels of mental

ALLAHABAD: Indian Hindu devotees release offerings in the river’s current while bathing in the Sangam or the confluence of the the Yamuna, Ganges and mythical Saraswati rivers during the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad over the weekend. — AFP

and physical well-being, said the study by researchers in India and Britain.

“While some might indeed fall ill and feel worse, for most the Mela gathering is good for their health,” said the research entitled “Understanding the Pilgrim Experience”.

The 55-day Kumbh Mela in Allahabad in northern India, which takes place every 12 years, began on Monday where authorities said eight million people jostled for space to take a dip in the sacred waters which are said to cleanse sins.

Smaller melas take place every year in India.

Social scientists from four British and five Indian universities concluded that the shared group experience of enduring hardships and sharing the same activities outweighed any physical discomfort.

“The experience of being part of a tightly-knit group of Hindu pilgrims, and the sense of support one gets from one’s fellow pilgrims, enhances one’s sense of being part of the community more generally,” it said.

The study, published in the scientific journal Plos One, involved two surveys in 2010 and 2011 involving 416 pilgrims and a sample of 127 people who had not attended a mela. —AFP

US black, poor youth consume more sugar-laden drinks NEW YORK: Black children and teens in the United States are almost twice as likely as their white peers to consume more than 500 calories a day of sugary beverages, according to a study that covered tens of thousands of people.

The results, which appeared in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, also found a three-fold surge in the overall number of teens drinking

sugar-spiked sports energy drinks.

The study comes of the heels of last year’s passage of a landmark New York City ban on restaurant, concession and other venue sales of sugary drinks larger than 16 ounces (473 ml) “Some groups may be more at risk for soda, others may be more at risk for fruit drinks, all of which ... have the same sugar base that contributes to obesity and disease,” said study co-

author Lisa Powell, of the University of Illinois at Chicago Health Policy Center.

Black children, the study found, are more than twice as likely as whites on any given day to consume fruit drinks containing little actual fruit. Fruit juices, for example, range from 100 percent actual fruit juice to those with as little as 10 percent fruit juice and plenty of added sugars. —Reuters

Marie (L), a 60 years old woman affected by a cancer, hospitalized in a palliative care unit, is pictured in her room with relative and her biographer, Valeria Milewski (R), on January 16, 2013, in Chartres. In this palliative unit sick people can tell their story to a biographer and leave a message for their loved ones. —AFP

Some children outgrow autism WASHINGTON: Some children diagnosed as autistic at a young age see their symptoms completely disappear when they get older, new research shows.

The small-scale study-published in the “Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry”-included 34 subjects who were diagnosed very early on with the disorder but who, by ages 18 to 21, no longer exhibited any signs of it.

Unlike when they were little, the subjects no longer showed deficits in speech, communication, recognizing faces or social interactions-all hallmarks of autism.

“Although the diagnosis of autism is not usually lost over time, the findings suggest that there is a very wide range of possible outcomes,” said Thomas Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health.

Previous studies had already suggested it was possible for an autism diagnosis to disappear over time.

But this research looked deeper into the legitimacy of the phenomenon. The authors questioned whether the initial diagnosis had been accurate and whether the subjects had truly caught up to their peers.

In both cases, it turned out the answer was yes.

The researchers, led by Deborah Fein of the University of Connecticut, reviewed the original reports written when the children were diagnosed and had them examined by additional experts outside the research group.

The data was compared to groups of young adults whose diagnoses of autism and its milder sibling, high-functioning autism, persisted, and to a control group.

The analysis showed that, among the 34 subjects whose autism symptoms had abated, doctors had originally observed lower levels of social deficits than among the subjects with high-functioning autism.

But other symptoms, including language delays and repetitive behavior, had been on par with the other group.

And the contemporary testing of the study subjects-all of whom attended school in mainstream classrooms with no special services-confirmed that the young adults no longer exhibited any deficits.

But the authors emphasized that the study offers no insight on what percentage of children with autism spectrum disorder, or ASD, will grow out of their diagnosis.

“All children with ASD are capable of making progress with intensive therapy, but with our current state of knowledge most do not achieve the kind of optimal outcome that we are studying,” said lead author Fein.

“Our hope is that further research will help us better understand the mechanisms of change so that each child can have the best possible life.” —AFP

SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 2013

health & science

information SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 2013

Kuwait

SHARQIA-1 PARENTAL GUIDANCE (DIG) SABOBA (DIG) GREAT EXPECTATIONS (DIG) SABOBA (DIG) GREAT EXPECTATIONS (DIG) GREAT EXPECTATIONS (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED SHARQIA-2 ZAMBEZIA (DIG-3D) DJANGO UNCHAINED (DIG) TEXAS CHAINSAW (DIG) DJANGO UNCHAINED (DIG) TEXAS CHAINSAW (DIG) DJANGO UNCHAINED (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED SHARQIA-3 THE IMPOSSIBLE (DIG) CHINESE ZODIAC (DIG) THE LAST STAND (DIG) CHINESE ZODIAC (DIG) THE LAST STAND (DIG) THE LAST STAND (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

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12:45 PM 2:30 PM 5:30 PM 7:30 PM 10:30 PM 12:30 AM

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

MUHALAB-1 GREAT EXPECTATIONS (DIG) SABOBA (DIG) GREAT EXPECTATIONS (DIG) SABOBA (DIG) GREAT EXPECTATIONS (DIG) SABOBA (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:45 PM 3:15 PM 5:00 PM 7:30 PM 9:15 PM 11:45 PM

MUHALAB-2 CHINESE ZODIAC (DIG) TEXAS CHAINSAW (DIG) CHINESE ZODIAC (DIG) TEXAS CHAINSAW (DIG) CHINESE ZODIAC (DIG) TEXAS CHAINSAW (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

MUHALAB-3 DJANGO UNCHAINED (DIG) THE LAST STAND (DIG) DJANGO UNCHAINED (DIG) THE LAST STAND (DIG) DJANGO UNCHAINED (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:30 PM 4:30 PM 6:45 PM 9:45 PM 12:05 AM

FANAR-1 GREAT EXPECTATIONS (DIG) PARENTAL GUIDANCE (DIG) GREAT EXPECTATIONS (DIG) GREAT EXPECTATIONS (DIG) GREAT EXPECTATIONS (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

2:15 PM 4:45 PM 7:00 PM 9:30 PM 12:05 AM

FANAR-2 TEXAS CHAINSAW (DIG) ZAMBEZIA (DIG-3D) TEXAS CHAINSAW (DIG) SABOBA (DIG) SABOBA (DIG) TEXAS CHAINSAW (DIG) TEXAS CHAINSAW (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:45 PM 3:45 PM 5:30 PM 7:30 PM 9:15 PM 11:00 PM 1:00 AM

FANAR-3 HYDE PARK ON HUDSON (DIG) HYDE PARK ON HUDSON (DIG) JAB TAK HAI JAAN (DIG) (HINDI) HYDE PARK ON HUDSON (DIG) THE IMPOSSIBLE (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

2:00 PM 4:15 PM 6:30 PM 9:45 PM 12:05 AM

FANAR-4 CHINESE ZODIAC (DIG) THE LAST STAND (DIG) THE LAST STAND (DIG) CHINESE ZODIAC (DIG) THE LAST STAND (DIG) CHINESE ZODIAC (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED FANAR-5 DJANGO UNCHAINED DJANGO UNCHAINED DJANGO UNCHAINED DJANGO UNCHAINED DJANGO UNCHAINED NO SUN+TUE+WED MARINA-1 PARENTAL GUIDANCE (DIG) GREAT EXPECTATIONS (DIG) PARENTAL GUIDANCE (DIG) GREAT EXPECTATIONS (DIG)

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

12:30 PM 3:30 PM 6:30 PM 9:30 PM 12:30 AM

12:45 PM 3:00 PM 5:45 PM 8:00 PM

Prayer timings

KNCC PROGRAMME FROM THURSDAY TO WEDNESDAY (17/01/2013 TO 23/01/2013) SABOBA (DIG) GREAT EXPECTATIONS (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

10:30 PM 12:15 AM

MARINA-2 CHINESE ZODIAC (DIG) DJANGO UNCHAINED (DIG) CHINESE ZODIAC (DIG) DJANGO UNCHAINED (DIG) DJANGO UNCHAINED (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:00 PM 3:30 PM 6:30 PM 9:00 PM 12:05 AM

MARINA-3 TEXAS CHAINSAW (DIG) THE LAST STAND (DIG) TEXAS CHAINSAW (DIG) THE LAST STAND (DIG) TEXAS CHAINSAW (DIG) THE LAST STAND (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

2:00 PM 4:15 PM 6:30 PM 8:30 PM 10:45 PM 12:45 AM

AVENUES-1 HYDE PARK ON HUDSON (DIG) HYDE PARK ON HUDSON (DIG) HYDE PARK ON HUDSON (DIG) HYDE PARK ON HUDSON (DIG) HYDE PARK ON HUDSON (DIG) HYDE PARK ON HUDSON (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED AVENUES-2 SABOBA (DIG) SABOBA (DIG) SABOBA (DIG) SABOBA (DIG) SABOBA (DIG) SABOBA (DIG) AVENUES-3 CHINESE ZODIAC (DIG) CHINESE ZODIAC (DIG) CHINESE ZODIAC (DIG) CHINESE ZODIAC (DIG) CHINESE ZODIAC (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED AVENUES-4 DJANGO UNCHAINED (DIG) DJANGO UNCHAINED (DIG) DJANGO UNCHAINED (DIG) DJANGO UNCHAINED (DIG) DJANGO UNCHAINED (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

1:30 PM 3:30 PM 5:30 PM 7:30 PM 9:30 PM 11:30 PM 1:15 PM 3:45 PM 6:15 PM 8:45 PM 11:15 PM

12:30 PM 3:30 PM 6:30 PM 9:30 PM 12:30 AM

360 º- 1 THE LAST STAND (DIG) THE LAST STAND (DIG) THE LAST STAND (DIG) THE LAST STAND (DIG) THE LAST STAND (DIG) THE LAST STAND (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

360 º- 2 GREAT EXPECTATIONS (DIG) GREAT EXPECTATIONS (DIG) GREAT EXPECTATIONS (DIG) GREAT EXPECTATIONS (DIG) GREAT EXPECTATIONS (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:00 PM 3:45 PM 6:30 PM 9:15 PM 12:05 AM

360 º- 3 ZAMBEZIA (DIG-3D) ZAMBEZIA (DIG-3D) DJANGO UNCHAINED (DIG) DJANGO UNCHAINED (DIG) DJANGO UNCHAINED (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:30 PM 3:30 PM 5:30 PM 8:30 PM 11:30 PM

360 º- 4 SABOBA (DIG) SABOBA (DIG) SABOBA (DIG) SABOBA (DIG) SABOBA (DIG) SABOBA (DIG) SABOBA (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED 360 º- 5 PARENTAL GUIDANCE (DIG) SAT PARENTAL GUIDANCE (DIG) FRI+SAT PARENTAL GUIDANCE (DIG) NO MON PARENTAL GUIDANCE (DIG) PARENTAL GUIDANCE (DIG) 360 º- 6 THE IMPOSSIBLE (DIG)

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

1:00 PM 3:30 PM 6:00 PM 8:30 PM 11:00 PM 1:30 PM

THE IMPOSSIBLE (DIG) THE IMPOSSIBLE (DIG) THE IMPOSSIBLE (DIG) THE IMPOSSIBLE (DIG) THE IMPOSSIBLE (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

AL-KOUT.1 ZAMBEZIA (DIG-3D) TEXAS CHAINSAW (DIG) DJANGO UNCHAINED (DIG) DJANGO UNCHAINED (DIG) TEXAS CHAINSAW (DIG) DJANGO UNCHAINED (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:30 PM 2:15 PM 4:15 PM 7:15 PM 10:15 PM 12:15 AM

AL-KOUT.2 HYDE PARK ON HUDSON (DIG) PARENTAL GUIDANCE (DIG) HYDE PARK ON HUDSON (DIG) SABOBA (DIG) SABOBA (DIG) HYDE PARK ON HUDSON (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:00 PM 3:30 PM 5:45 PM 8:00 PM 9:45 PM 11:45 PM

AL-KOUT.3 CHINESE ZODIAC (DIG) CHINESE ZODIAC (DIG) THE LAST STAND (DIG) THE LAST STAND (DIG) CHINESE ZODIAC (DIG) THE LAST STAND (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

AL-KOUT.4 THE IMPOSSIBLE (DIG) GREAT EXPECTATIONS (DIG) GREAT EXPECTATIONS (DIG) GREAT EXPECTATIONS (DIG) THE IMPOSSIBLE (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

2:00 PM 4:30 PM 7:00 PM 9:30 PM 12:30 AM

BAIRAQ-1 CHINESE ZODIAC (DIG) TEXAS CHAINSAW (DIG) CHINESE ZODIAC (DIG) TEXAS CHAINSAW (DIG) CHINESE ZODIAC (DIG) TEXAS CHAINSAW (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

BAIRAQ-2 THE LAST STAND (DIG) THE LAST STAND (DIG) SABOBA (DIG) THE LAST STAND (DIG) SABOBA (DIG) THE LAST STAND (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

BAIRAQ-3 DJANGO UNCHAINED (DIG) DJANGO UNCHAINED (DIG) DJANGO UNCHAINED (DIG) DJANGO UNCHAINED (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED PLAZA TEXAS CHAINSAW (DIG) THU+FRI TEXAS CHAINSAW (DIG) SAT+MON SEETHAMMA VAKITLO SIRIMALLE CHETTU THU+FRI SABOBA (DIG) NO THU+FRI SABOBA (DIG) TEXAS CHAINSAW (DIG) LAILA THE LAST STAND (DIG) NO THU CHINESE ZODIAC (DIG) NO THU THE LAST STAND (DIG) NO THU DJANGO UNCHAINED (DIG) NO THU AJIAL.1 SAMAR (DIG) (TAMIL) SAMAR (DIG) (TAMIL) SAMAR (DIG) (TAMIL)

Fajr:

05:20

Shorook

06:43

Duhr:

11:59

Asr:

14:55

Maghrib:

17:15

Isha:

18:36

Hospitals Sabah Hospital

24812000

Amiri Hospital

22450005

Maternity Hospital

24843100

Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital

25312700

Chest Hospital

24849400

Farwaniya Hospital

24892010

Adan Hospital

23940620

Ibn Sina Hospital

24840300

Al-Razi Hospital

24846000

Physiotherapy Hospital

24874330/9

Clinics Rabiya

24732263

Rawdha

22517733

Adailiya

22517144

Khaldiya

24848075

Khaifan

24849807

Shamiya

24848913

Shuwaikh

24814507

Abdullah Salim

22549134

Al-Nuzha

22526804

Industrial Shuwaikh

24814764

Al-Qadisiya

22515088

5:30 PM

Dasmah

22532265

6:45 PM

Bneid Al-Ghar

22531908

8:45 PM 10:45 PM

Al-Shaab

22518752

Al-Kibla

22459381

5:45 PM

Ayoun Al-Kibla

22451082

8:15 PM

Mirqab

22456536

Sharq

22465401

Salmiya

25746401

Jabriya

25316254

Maidan Hawally

25623444

Bayan

25388462

2:15 PM 5:15 PM 8:15 PM 11:15 PM

3:30 PM 4:45 PM

3:30 PM

10:30 PM

3:30 PM 6:30 PM 9:30 PM

AJIAL.2 SEETHAMMA VAKITLO SIRIMALLE CHETTU 3:30 PM SEETHAMMA VAKITLO SIRIMALLE CHETTU 6:30 PM JAB TAK HAI JAAN (DIG) (HINDI) 9:30 PM

information SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 2013

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION In case you are not travelling, your proper cancellation of bookings will help other passengers use seats Airlines JAI KLM THY JZR JZR QTR SAI ETH GFA UAE ETD OMA QTR PIA FDB MSR RBG DHX THY JZR JZR KAC JZR BAW KAC KAC FDB KAC KAC KAC UAE KAC ABY QTR FDB ETD GFA BAB FDB JZR IZG MSC MSR UAE IRM KAC JZR FDB KNE KAC SVA QTR JZR KAC KAC KAC QTR IRC JZR JZR KAC KNE UAE SYR JZR ETD RJA FDB GFA SVA JZR QTR ABY UAL KAC KAC JZR RBG

Arrival Flights on Saturday 19/1/2013 Flt Route 574 MUMBAI 413 AMSTERDAM 772 ISTANBUL 267 BEIRUT 539 CAIRO 148 DOHA 441 LAHORE 620 ADDIS ABABA 211 BAHRAIN 853 DUBAI 305 ABU DHABI 643 MUSCAT 138 DOHA 239 ISLAMABAD 67 DUBAI 612 CAIRO 3555 ALEXANDRIA 170 BAHRAIN 770 ISTANBUL 503 LUXOR 555 ALEXANDRIA 416 JAKARTA 529 ASSIUT 157 LONDON 412 MANILA 206 ISLAMABAD 53 DUBAI 302 MUMBAI 352 COCHIN 344 CHENNAI 855 DUBAI 362 COLOMBO 121 SHARJAH 132 DOHA 55 DUBAI 301 ABU DHABI 213 BAHRAIN 436 BAHRAIN 69 DUBAI 165 DUBAI 4161 MASHAD 401 ALEXANDRIA 610 CAIRO 871 DUBAI 1190 MASHAD 382 DELHI 325 NAJAF 57 DUBAI 472 JEDDAH 672 DUBAI 500 JEDDAH 140 DOHA 257 BEIRUT 788 JEDDAH 790 MEDINAH 284 DHAKA 134 DOHA 6692 MASHAD 787 RIYADH 535 CAIRO 118 NEW YORK 470 JEDDAH 857 DUBAI 341 DAMASCUS 357 MASHAD 303 ABU DHABI 640 AMMAN 71 DUBAI 215 BAHRAIN 510 RIYADH 777 JEDDAH 144 DOHA 127 SHARJAH 982 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 538 SOHAG 542 CAIRO 177 DUBAI 3553 ALEXANDRIA

Time 0:30 0:30 0:35 0:45 0:50 1:00 1:30 1:45 1:50 2:35 2:45 2:50 3:01 3:05 3:05 3:10 3:25 5:15 5:30 5:55 6:00 6:25 6:35 6:40 6:45 7:40 7:45 7:55 8:05 8:40 8:40 8:45 9:05 9:10 9:15 9:20 9:55 10:05 10:45 11:20 11:45 12:00 12:45 12:50 12:50 12:55 13:00 13:50 14:10 14:15 14:30 14:45 14:50 14:55 15:00 15:10 15:30 15:50 16:10 16:25 16:35 16:40 16:40 16:40 16:45 16:50 16:55 17:05 17:15 17:20 17:45 17:50 17:55 17:55 18:00 18:05 18:15 18:20

BAB FDB IZG MSC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC IRA KAC OMA FDB JAI AXB MSR JZR ABY QTR ALK KNE MEA QTR GFA ETD UAE DHX JZR JAI FDB KLM KNE KAC AIC JZR GFA KAC JZR KAC UAL BBC DLH

438 63 4167 405 176 618 674 104 774 607 562 647 61 572 389 618 189 129 146 229 474 402 136 221 307 859 370 135 576 59 415 462 786 975 239 217 502 185 614 981 43 636

BAHRAIN DUBAI MASHAD SOHAG GENEVA DOHA DUBAI LONDON RIYADH MASHAD AMMAN MUSCAT DUBAI MUMBAI MANGALORE ALEXANDRIA DUBAI SHARJAH DOHA COLOMBO JEDDAH BEIRUT DOHA BAHRAIN ABU DHABI DUBAI BAHRAIN BAHRAIN COCHIN DUBAI AMSTERDAM MEDINAH JEDDAH CHENNAI AMMAN BAHRAIN BEIRUT DUBAI BAHRAIN BAHRAIN DHAKA FRANKFURT

Airlines AIC UAL DLH JAI KLM KAC SAI ETH THY KAC FDB UAE OMA ETD RBG MSR PIA QTR QTR JZR GFA THY FDB BAW JZR JZR KAC KAC JZR KAC ABY KAC UAE FDB ETD

Departure Flights on Saturday 19/1/2013 Flt Route 976 GOA 981 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 637 FRANKFURT 573 MUMBAI 413 AMSTERDAM 283 DHAKA 442 LAHORE 621 ADDIS ABABA 773 ISTANBUL 381 DELHI 68 DUBAI 854 DUBAI 644 MUSCAT 306 ABU DHABI 3556 ALEXANDRIA 613 CAIRO 240 SIALKOT 139 DOHA 149 DOHA 164 DUBAI 212 BAHRAIN 771 ISTANBUL 54 DUBAI 156 LONDON 256 BEIRUT 534 CAIRO 101 LONDON 787 JEDDAH 324 AL NAJAF 671 DUBAI 122 SHARJAH 537 SOHAG 856 DUBAI 56 DUBAI 302 ABU DHABI

18:40 18:45 18:50 19:00 19:15 19:20 19:35 19:35 19:50 19:50 19:55 19:55 20:00 20:10 20:15 20:25 20:30 20:35 20:45 20:55 21:00 21:20 21:25 21:30 21:35 21:40 21:40 21:50 21:55 22:00 22:05 22:15 22:25 22:30 22:45 22:50 23:00 23:05 23:15 23:25 23:45 23:55 Time 0:05 1:10 1:20 1:30 1:45 2:25 2:30 2:45 2:55 3:15 3:45 3:50 3:55 4:00 4:05 4:10 4:20 4:50 6:05 6:55 7:00 7:35 8:25 8:45 8:50 9:15 9:20 9:25 9:35 9:40 9:45 9:50 9:55 10:00 10:05

KAC QTR GFA JZR BAB FDB KAC KAC JZR JZR MSC IZG MSR JZR UAE IRM FDB KAC KAC KNE KAC SVA JZR QTR KAC IRC KAC KAC JZR ETD KNE SYR JZR QTR UAE RJA FDB GFA JZR SVA ABY JZR QTR RBG JZR UAL FDB BAB MSC IZG KAC FDB IRA OMA KAC JAI ABY MSR KAC KAC DHX KNE ALK MEA ETD QTR GFA KAC DHX FDB JZR UAE JAI KAC KLM QTR KNE GFA KAC

789 133 214 356 437 70 541 165 776 786 406 4162 611 176 872 1191 58 561 673 473 617 505 188 141 773 6693 785 501 238 304 461 342 538 135 858 641 72 216 184 511 128 266 145 3554 134 982 64 439 402 4168 613 62 604 648 331 571 120 607 351 543 171 475 230 403 308 137 222 301 371 60 554 860 575 205 415 147 471 218 411

MADINAH DOHA BAHRAIN MASHHAD BAHRAIN DUBAI CAIRO ROME JEDDAH RIYADH SOHAG MASHHAD CAIRO DUBAI DUBAI MASHHAD DUBAI AMMAN DUBAI JEDDAH DOHA JEDDAH DUBAI DOHA RIYADH MASHHAD JEDDAH BEIRUT AMMAN ABU DHABI MADINAH DAMASCUS CAIRO DOHA DUBAI AMMAN DUBAI BAHRAIN DUBAI RIYADH SHARJAH BEIRUT DOHA ALEXANDRIA BAHRAIN BAHRAIN DUBAI BAHRAIN ALEXANDRIA MASHHAD BAHRAIN DUBAI ISFAHAN MUSCAT TRIVANDRUM MUMBAI SHARJAH LUXOR KOCHI CAIRO BAHRAIN JEDDAH COLOMBO BEIRUT ABU DHABI DOHA BAHRAIN MUMBAI BAHRAIN DUBAI ALEXANDRIA DUBAI KOCHI ISLAMABAD DAMMAM DOHA JEDDAH BAHRAIN BANGKOK

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

10:15 10:30 10:40 10:45 10:50 11:25 11:30 11:50 12:15 12:55 13:00 13:05 13:45 13:50 14:15 14:15 14:30 14:30 15:05 15:10 15:45 16:00 16:05 16:15 16:25 16:50 16:55 17:05 17:15 17:35 17:35 17:40 17:40 17:45 17:50 17:55 17:55 18:15 18:30 18:35 18:40 18:45 18:50 19:00 19:05 19:10 19:25 19:30 20:00 20:05 20:15 20:40 20:50 20:55 20:55 21:10 21:15 21:25 21:30 21:40 21:50 21:50 21:55 22:20 22:20 22:25 22:30 22:35 22:40 22:40 22:45 22:50 22:55 23:00 23:05 23:10 23:15 23:50 23:55

SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 2013

Word Search

Yesterdayʼs Solution

C R O S S W O R D 7 4

ACROSS 1. A unit of heat equal to the amount of heat required to raise one pound of water one degree Fahrenheit at one atmosphere pressure.

4. East Asian perennial herbs.

12. A drug combination found in some over-the-counter headache remedies (Aspirin and Phenacetin and Caffeine).

15. Belonging to or on behalf of a specified person (especially yourself).

16. A building that would be hard to escape from if it were to catch fire.

17. A beverage made by steeping tea leaves in water.

18. Become of.

20. (India) Absolutely first class and genuine.

21. (folklore) A small grotesque supernatural creature that makes trouble for human beings.

22. An artificial language intended for international use as an auxiliary language.

24. Having no employment.

26. A port and tourist center in southwestern Italy.

29. A membrane enclosing and protecting the developing spores especially that covering the sori of a fern.

31. (plate tectonic theory) A hypothetical continent including all the landmass of the earth prior to the Triassic period when it split into Laurasia and Gondwanaland.

34. A German art song of the 19th century for voice and piano.

35. The basic unit of electric current adopted under the System International d'Unites.

37. A hard copal derived from an African tree.

38. British immunologist (born in Brazil) who studied tissue transplants and discovered that the rejection of grafts was an immune response (1915-1987).

41. A white linen liturgical vestment with sleeves.

43. A class of proteins produced in lymph tissue in vertebrates and that function as antibodies in the immune response.

44. An international organization of European countries formed after World War II to reduce trade barriers and increase cooperation among its members.

45. The compass point midway between east and southeast.

46. A collection of objects laid on top of each other.

49. Drawn or pressed close to someone or something for or as if for affection or protection.

52. Peace of mind.

54. Having undesirable or negative qualities.

55. A Russian river.

57. Evergreen trees and shrubs having oily one-seeded fruits.

58. An associate degree in nursing.

59. A public promotion of some product or service.

62. The use of nuclear magnetic resonance of protons to produce proton density images.

64. A tricycle (usually propelled by pedalling).

71. Somewhat ill or prone to illness.

74. A river in north central Switzerland that runs northeast into the Rhine.

75. Someone who engages in arbitrage (who purchases securities in one market for immediate resale in another in the hope of profiting from the price differential).

76. Someone who tries to embarrass you with gibes and questions and objections.

78. The elementary stages of any subject (usually plural).

79. A unit of length of thread or yarn.

80. A dicot family of the order Urticales including.

81. An independent agency of the United States government responsible for collecting and coordinating intelligence and counterintelligence activities abroad in the national interest.

Daily SuDoku

DOWN 1. A small cake leavened with yeast.

2. A relative position or degree of value in a graded group.

3. Not furnished with funds.

4. (computer science) A unit for measuring computing power.

5. Aromatic bulb used as seasoning.

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

7. Type genus of the Lepismatidae.

8. Small ornamental ladies' bag for small articles.

9. Electrical conduction through a gas in an applied electric field.

10. A town in south central Washington.

11. The great hall in ancient Persian palaces.

12. The capital and largest city of Greece.

13. A laborer who is obliged to do menial work.

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

19. Type genus of the Alaudidae.

23. The basic unit of money in Romania.

25. A linear unit (1/40 inch) used to measure diameter of buttons.

27. An enzyme secreted in the digestive tract that catalyzes the breakdown of fats into individual fatty acids that can be absorbed into the bloodstream.

28. English physicist remembered for his studies of the ionosphere (1892-1966).

30. A daughter of your brother or sister.

32. Tropical African herbs.

33. Of or relating to or characteristic of the prehistoric Aegean civilization.

36. A member of the Siouan people formerly living in the Missouri river valley in NE Nebraska.

39. European mignonette cultivated as a source of yellow dye.

40. Make anew.

42. Any of numerous local fertility and nature deities worshipped by ancient Semitic peoples.

47. Preceding all others in time.

48. An edge tool with a heavy bladed head mounted across a handle.

50. A metallic element having four allotropic forms.

51. A landlocked mountainous republic in southeast central Asia north of Afghanistan.

53. A river in north central Switzerland that runs northeast into the Rhine.

56. Date used in reckoning dates before the supposed year Christ was born.

60. United States industrialist who manufactured plows suitable for working the prairie soil (1804-1886).

61. Relating to the deepest parts of the ocean (below 6000 meters).

63. (Old Testament) The second patriarch.

65. A Chadic language spoken south of Lake Chad.

66. An important seaport on the Island of Cebu in the Philippines.

67. An organization of countries formed in 1961 to agree on a common policy for the sale of petroleum.

68. Any wingless blood-sucking parasitic insect noted for ability to leap.

69. A sock with a separation for the big toe.

70. Type genus of the family Arcidae.

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

73. (prefix) Coming before or being preliminary or preparatory.

77. Diabetes caused by a relative or absolute deficiency of insulin and characterized by polyuria.

Yesterdayʼs Solution

Yesterday’s Solution

SPORTS SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 2013

LeBron puts Heat on Lakers Clippers sweep past slumping Wolves

Cardinals hire Bruce Arians as head coach TEMPE: Arizona Cardinals have filled the NFL’s final head coaching vacancy by hiring Indianapolis offensive coordinator Bruce Arians. The team confirmed the hiring in a release Thursday night, saying Arians received a four-year contract with a club option for a fifth year. The 60-yearold longtime assistant went 9-3 as Colts interim head coach while Chuck Pagano was undergoing treatment for leukemia last season.

Arians arrived in Arizona on Wednesday night, had dinner with top team officials, then interviewed on Thursday and met with reporters to indicate his interest in the job. He was offered and accepted the job Thursday night. Arians also was a finalist for the Chicago job that went to Marc Trestman.

Arians was the sixth known candidate interviewed to replace Ken Whisenhunt, who was fired after six seasons.

Whisenhunt was introduced on Thursday as the offensive coordinator for new head coach Mike McCoy in San Diego. The Cardinals said Arians would be introduced as coach at a news conference later. The precise time had not been determined. The team posted a photo of Arians getting a congratulatory call from Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, who is vacationing in Belize and undoubtedly will welcome anyone who can do something to revive a dreadful offense.

In his meeting with reporters earlier Thursday, before he was hired, Arians said his stint as Pagano’s replacement “answered all questions I ever had” about whether he could succeed as an NFL coach.

“I hope it answered all the questions everybody else has had for all these years,” he said. It apparently did for the Cardinals, who lost 10 of 11 this season to finish 5-11 for the second time in three years.

Arians said there are young coaches for teams still in the playoffs that will be denied a chance to be a head coach now because of their teams’ success.

“Maybe I was a victim of that a couple of times,” he said. “Hey, I’ll take the Super Bowl ring and look back later. You can’t worry about why you never got one or why have you got one this time. I’m just happy it happened, and I look forward to seeing what’s made of it and what turns out.” Arians has been a football coach since his days as a graduate assistant at Virginia Tech in 1975 and he has 20 years of experience as an NFL assistant. He also was head coach at Temple for five seasons.

Wearing a Super Bowl ring from his days in Pittsburgh prominently on his right hand, he said his stint as head coach in Indy taught him that being a head coach is “not as hard as it’s supposed to be.”

“It’s really not,” Arians said. “I think it’s all about building relationships. Coaching is all about relationships. As long as it’s built on trust, loyalty, and respect, anything is possible.”

When the Jacksonville Jaguars hired Seattle defensive coordinator Gus Bradley on Thursday, Arizona’s job was the only one still open.

Arians was wide receivers coach in Pittsburgh and he succeeded Whisenhunt as offensive coordinator there.

He was Steelers offensive coordinator when Pittsburgh beat Whisenhunt’s Cardinals in the 2009 Super Bowl.

Arians left the Steelers to become Pagano’s offensive coordinator last year, taking over as interim coach when Pagano left for treatment for leukemia. “It has been an unbelievable 12 months for me personally,” Arians said.

McCoy was among those interviewed by Cardinals President Michael Bidwill. Other known Arizona candidates were Cardinals defensive coordinator Ray Horton, Seattle offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell, Steelers offensive coordinator Todd Haley and Cincinnati offensive coordinator Jay Gruden. —AP

LOS ANGELES: Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant (24) goes up for a dunk as Miami Heat forward LeBron James (6) defends during the first half of their NBA basketball game, Thursday, in Los Angeles. —AP LOS ANGELES: LeBron James had 39 points and eight assists, Dwyane Wade added 27 points on his 31st birthday and the Miami Heat held off the Los Angeles Lakers 99-90 Thursday night to finish their six-game road trip with three wins.

Ray Allen scored seven of his nine points in the final 5 minutes as the defending NBA champions repelled a late charge by the Lakers, who lost for the seventh time in nine games.

Kobe Bryant scored 13 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter for Los Angeles, which rallied for a brief lead midway through the final period before James and Allen secured the Heat’s second win in their last eight road games against the Lakers.

KNICKS 102, PISTONS 87 Carmelo Anthony returned to the site of his Olympic triumph and scored 26 points to lead New York over Detroit.

Anthony had 18 in the first half as the Knicks (25-13) jumped out to a 16-2 lead before holding a double-digit lead for most of the game.

Amare Stoudemire added 17 points for the Knicks and J.R. Smith scored 16.

Will Bynum led the Pistons with 22 points. The Pistons (14-25) were the home team at the O2 Arena in London, the site of the Olympic gold-medal game during last year’s London Games. It was the third regular-season NBA game played at the venue, where the thenNew Jersey Nets swept the Toronto Raptors in a pair of games two years ago.

Anthony and Knicks teammate Tyson Chandler were on the team that celebrated a gold medal for the United States with a win over Spain in August.

Chandler scored 10 points on Thursday and pulled down 14 rebounds. Anthony has at least 20 points in 25 straight games, extending the longest streak of his career.

CLIPPERS 90, TIMBERWOLVES 77 Jamal Crawford scored 22 points, Blake Griffin added 20 and Los Angeles hardly broke a sweat in cruising past free-falling Minnesota.

Lamar Odom grabbed 12 rebounds and dished out six assists, and the Clippers outscored Minnesota’s bench 45-23 to overcome Chris Paul’s third straight missed game because of a knee injury.

Luke Ridnour scored 21 points and Ricky Rubio had four points and six assists in his first start of the season for the Timberwolves, who lost leading scorer and rebounder Nikola Pekovic to a bruised right quadriceps in the third quarter.The Timberwolves shot just 35.7 percent and missed 15 of their 19 3-pointers in losing their fifth straight game.

BUCKS 98, SUNS 94 Mike Dunleavy hit a 3-pointer with 57.4 seconds left to cap a 10-0 run and Milwaukee pulled away to snap a 24game losing streak in Phoenix.

Monta Ellis scored 24 points and Larry Sanders added 19, while Dunleavy and Brandon Jennings had 16 apiece for the Bucks, who had not won in the Valley since Feb. 21, 1987, at the old Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Milwaukee has won four of six since interim coach Jim Boylan replaced Scott Skiles on Jan. 8.

Shannon Brown scored 20 points off the bench for the Suns, who have lost four straight at home for the first time since 2004 and have dropped 13 of 15 overall. — AP

NBA results/standings NY Knicks 102, Detroit 87; LA Clippers 90, Minnesota 77; Milwaukee 98, Phoenix 94; Miami 99, LA Lakers 90.

Eastern Conference Atlantic Division W L PCT GB NY Knicks 25 13 .658 Brooklyn 23 16 .590 2.5 Boston 20 18 .526 5 Philadelphia 16 23 .410 9.5 Toronto 14 25 .359 11.5 Central Division Indiana 24 16 .600 Chicago 22 15 .595 0.5 Milwaukee 20 18 .526 3 Detroit 14 25 .359 9.5 Cleveland 10 31 .244 14.5 Southeast Division Miami 26 12 .684 Atlanta 22 16 .579 4 Orlando 14 24 .368 12 Charlotte 9 29 .237 17 Washington 7 29 .194 18

Western Conference Northwest Division Oklahoma City 31 8 .795 Denver 24 17 .585 8 Utah 21 19 .525 10.5 Portland 20 19 .513 11 Minnesota 16 20 .444 13.5 Pacific Division LA Clippers 31 9 .775 Golden State 23 14 .622 6.5 LA Lakers 17 22 .436 13.5 Sacramento 15 24 .385 15.5 Phoenix 13 28 .317 18.5 Southwest Division San Antonio 30 11 .732 Memphis 24 13 .649 4 Houston 21 19 .525 8.5 Dallas 17 23 .425 12.5 New Orleans 13 26 .333 16

SPORTS SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 2013

Lexus become champions of champions in GC/Atkins Cup KUWAIT: Atkins, a global leader in the engineering field has been a leading promoter of cricket in Kuwait and this year they announced their sponsorship of the GC Atkins Twenty20 cricket league organized by Gulf Consult. The tournament was comprises of 16 teams grouped into four pools and each team were ensured to play 3 matches. After the completion of the group matches, and as per their rankings, the teams will be regrouped to play 3 more matches and the top ranking team of each group were announced the winner.

In this Final match, Lexus beat Kharafi National by 5 wickets. After winning to toss, Lexus Captain Anil elected to field first. Vipin and Paresh who opened the innings for Kharafi National gave good opening stand of 54 runs in 7.4 overs, before losing Parash at 22 runs(3 fours and 1 six), but Vipin (69), including 5 fours and Dennis (34) built 61 runs partnership between them scored frequently to reach at 149 for 6 wickets in allotted twenty overs.

Nirmal of Lexus took 3 for 18 and Roshan 2 for 24 runs. In reply Lexus lost their first wicket at only 16 runs on board in 2 overs, but the second wicket partnership of 71 between Raghu (59) and Prince (41) took the team total to 87 in 10 overs. After departure of Price, Raghu was joined by Roshan, who scored a quick fire 30 runs with the help of 2 fours and 1 six. Lexus reached the target with 16 balls to spare. Imran bowled well and took 2 wickets for 15 runs in 3 overs. Raghu was declared man of the match for his contribution of 59 runs. Alwyn D’Souza of Lexus was adjudged the “Man of the Series” for his consistent performance in the series who scored 407 Runs in 6 matches at an average of 81.40 and 8 wickets.

This match was supervised by Riaz Chaudhry and Oswald Pinto. The presentation ceremony was conducted by Riaz Choudhry, Director Umpiring of Kuwait along with Jeff de Lange the Chairman of the Kuwait Cricket Executive Council, Asad Baig the Director General (Admin, Facilities, Logistics & International Cricket, & Mr.Arjuna the General Manager web & Statistics Kuwait Cricket and Mahboob Kan Director Women’s Cricket. The Guest of Honor was Will Myles, the Country Manager of Atkins Kuwait. Will Myles presented the Atkins Winners Champions Trophies to Lexus Captain Anil and the other winners alongwith the individual prizes and promised his utmost cooperation and support for the development of cricket in the country. Earlier inthe other leagues groups Al Sayer Group secure TOP position in Group B by beating AL Bader Shipping, Durrar, Spartans, Desert Knights.

Overall performance throughout the tournament was given

by Salim, Ishtiyaque, & Ayub the FINAL Match was played with Emerging Stars. Winning the toss and batting first, Emerging Star Put a total of 120 in 20 Over’s, Chasing the target the opener’s of Al Sayer Group, skipper Soheb Nazir & Krishna put a opening stand to 75 runs where the skipper was out for 30 Runs but Krishna on other hand took the team to the victory by scoring 52 not out and Al Sayer Group Won the Match by 8 Wickets. Krishna was declared player of the match for his batting & bowling skills.

In other group final of the same event held at GC Grounds in Jleeb Al Shuwaikh between 4th Dimension and Banswada 11. 4D stood the champions in Gulf Consult Atkins Cricket League 2012 - 2013 in Group C by defeating all the teams in their group. Mohammad Akram stood as Man of the Match with 49 runs and 4 wickets followed with the contribution of all team members, which lead 4D to hold the Champions Cup.

Victorious Lexus team with organisers.

GABBA: Nuwan Kulasekara of Sri Lanka (C) celebrates after taking the wicket of Phil Hughes of Australia during their One Day International cricket match at the Gabba in Brisbane yesterday. — AFP

Lanka beat Australia by 4 wickets in 3rd ODI S Lankan swingers take 2-1 series lead BRISBANE: Sri Lanka overcame a shaky start to its small run chase before beating Australia by four wickets with a full 30 overs to spare yesterday, taking a 2-1 lead in the one-day international series. After dismissing Australia for a dismal 74 in the 27th over, Sri Lanka wobbled in reaching a winning 75-6 in the 20th.

Australia, boosted by the return of regular captain Michael Clarke and test stars David Warner and Matthew Wade, crumbled as man-of-the-match Nuwan Kulasekara took 5-22 after the hosts won the toss and elected to bat.

“Nuwan has been very consistent for us for quite a few years and he’s built a nice little partnership with Lasith (Malinga),” Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene said.

“The thing today was he hit some really awkward areas for the Aussie batsmen and especially on this wicket created a lot of problems.” Chasing victory, Jayawardene (1) was dismissed by Clint McKay in the first over before the visitors slumped to 37-4. But despite some spirited bowling from Mitchell Johnson (3-11), the tourists had too many wickets and overs in hand.

Angelo Mathews (1-10) had Warner caught in the second over of Australia’s innings, then Kulasekara removed opening partner Phil Hughes, David Hussey, George Bailey, Clarke and Moises Henriques in succession to leave the hosts reeling on 30-6.

Clark described it as a “horrible day.”

“Our defense let us down more than anything. No excuse for the way we performed,” he said. “Shot selection was poor.

I understand the public wants us playing consistently. Honestly, if we played like that then the public wouldn’t want to see us playing at all.”

Tailender Mitchell Starc top-scored with an unbeaten 22, rescuing Australia

from an even more dismal score, having been 40-9. Warner made just 4 before offering a catch to Eranga at mid-on and Hughes had 3 when he became Kulasekara’s first victim with an edge to slip three overs later.

Hussey was ruled caught behind for 4 after Sri Lanka appealed to the TV umpire, and Bailey followed lbw the next ball without scoring.

Clarke, a prolific scorer in test cricket this summer, made 9 before losing his middle stump and Henriques joined him with 2 in the dressing room two balls later.

Lasith Malinga chimed in shortly after to remove test wicketkeeper Wade for 8 and

dismissed Clint McKay for a duck. Starc and spinner Xavier Doherty shared a gritty 34-run partnership for the last wicket before Eranga had Doherty caught by Jeevan Mendis for 15 to end the innings.

In reply, Sri Lanka lost Jayawardene early, then Johnson removed Tillakaratne Dilshan (22), Lahiru Thirimanne (7) and Mathews (0) in the space of eight balls.

Starc had Upul Tharanga caught at first slip by Clarke shortly after for 12 and claimed Jeevan Mendis for 2 in the last over of the match. Kushal Perera ended the game unbeaten on 22 with Thisara Perera on 4. The fourth game of the series will be on Sunday at Sydney. — AP

SCOREBOARD BRISBANE, Australia: Collated scoreboard in the third one-day international between Australia and Sri Lanka at the Gabba yesterday.

Australia innings D. Warner c Eranga b Mathews 4 P. Hughes c Jayawardene b Kulasekara 3 M. Clarke b Kulasekara 9 D. Hussey c K. Perera b Kulasekara 4 G. Bailey lbw Kulasekara 0 M. Wade c Dilshan b Malinga 8 M. Henriques b Kulasekara 2 M. Johnson b Malinga 2 M. Starc not out 22 C. McKay c K Perera b Malinga 0 X. Doherty c Mendis b Eranga 15 Extras (2lb, 3w) 5 Total (all out; 26.4 overs) 74 Fall of wickets: 1-4 (Warner), 2-13 (Hughes), 3-21 (Hussey), 4-21 (Bailey), 5-28 (Clarke), 6-30 (Henriques), 7-35 (Johnson), 8-38 (Wade), 9-40 (McKay) Bowling: Mathews 4-0-10-1, Kulasekara 10-2-22-5, Malinga 7-2-14-3, T. Perera 3-0-14-0, Eranga 2.4-0-12-1

Sri Lanka innings M. Jayawardene c Warner b McKay 1 T. Dilshan c Clarke b Johnson 22 L. Thirimanne c Warner b Johnson 7 K. Perera not out 22 A. Mathews c Starc b Johnson 0 U. Tharanga c Clarke b Starc 12 J. Mendis c McKay b Starc 2 T. Perera not out 4 Extras (1lb, 1nb, 3w) 5 Total (six wickets; 20 overs) 75 Fall of wickets: 1-4 (Jayawardene), 2-33 (Dilshan), 3-37 (Thirimanne), 4-37 (Mathews), 5-63 (Tharanga), 6-71 (Mendis) Bowling: McKay 8-0-31-1, Starc 7-0-252, Johnson 3-0-11-3, Moises Henriques 2-0-7-0 Sri Lanka won by four wickets.

Sports SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 2013

Kings seek to repeat in lockout-shortened season LOS ANGELES: The Los Angeles Kings, who have had ample time to recover from any Stanley Cup hangover, will launch the lockout shortened NHL season today by raising their first championship banner.

Los Angeles will hand out their rings and raise the banner at Staples Center arena prior to their game against the Chicago Blackhawks which is one of 13 contests to open the 2012-13 season.

The Kings are trying to become the first team to capture back-to-back titles since the Detroit Red Wings in 1997 and 1998, and they hope to do it with a roster that is almost fully intact from last year.

“I know the two times I went to the finals with Pittsburgh,” said defenceman Rob Scuderi, who appeared in back-to-back finals with the Penguins. “(When you start the next season) you kind of feel like you never left.

“For us, with the extra rest and the fact that we bring back the same team, the same coaching staff and the same philosophies, hopefully that will be an advantage for us.”

The four-month old lockout ended this month after the owners and players signed a memorandum of understanding outlining the major issues agreed on for their new collective bargaining agreement.

The deal salvaged a shortened season of 48 games per team. The Kings won the league championship last year despite being the No. 8 playoff seed, but they will be hard pressed to repeat.

Los Angeles open against the Blackhawks without star centre Anze Kopitar, who strained a knee playing in Sweden during the lockout. It also remains to be see how playoff MVP goalie Jonathan Quick reacts after undergoing off season back surgery.

American Quick literally carried the team on his back for much of last season, especially when the Kings had trouble scoring goals. Los Angeles managed to make it to the playoffs despite finishing 29th in league scoring. The New Jersey Devils open defence of their Eastern Conference crown on Saturday on the road against the New York Islanders. The Vancouver

Canucks are among the favourites in the Western Conference.

Cory Schneider has overtaken playoff disappointment Roberto Luongo as their No 1 netminder. The Canucks are trying to trade Luongo in a deal that would certainly land them some solid players.

Both Philadelphia and Toronto are said to be interested in Luongo. The Detroit Red Wings underwent some major offseason changes, losing veteran stalwarts Nicklas Lidstrom and Tomas Holmstrom to retirement.

However, general manager Ken Holland has had great success grooming young players in the minor leagues.

The Minnesota Wild went on a spending spree after last season, shelling out $196 million to get all-star forward Zach Parise and defenceman Ryan Suter.

The move should improve their powerplay but Parise and Suter aren’t going to be able to turn the franchise around by themselves.

The Nashville Predators lost Suter to the Wild but they still have arguably

France’s Pinturault shines in Wengen Innerhofer leads combined after downhill WENGEN: France’s Alexis Pinturault made the most of his all-round talent to clinch his third World Cup race in a men’s super-combined in Wengen yesterday.

The 21-year-old, one of the most exciting prospects to emerge in the sport in recent years, outclassed his rivals in the afternoon slalom to win in a combined time of two minutes and 41.62 seconds.

While he limited the damage by finishing 22nd in the morning’s downhill, 2.07 behind Italy’s Christof Innerhofer, Pinturault left his nearest rival, Croatia’s Ivica Kostelic, 1.15 adrift after the slalom leg.

Innerhofer leads the World Cup combined race here yesterday after finishing .11secs ahead of Austria’s Hannes Reichelt in the downhill race, ahead of the slalom leg later in the day.

The speed specialists dominated the top rankings, with Norwegian Kjetil Jansrud in third at .43secs, Switzerland’s Carlo Janka fourth at .50secs and double combined world champion Aksel Lund Svindal, also of Norway, lying seventh at .93secs.

American Ted Ligety, who won the 2006 Olympic combined race in Turin and is one of the stronger slalom racers in the field is well placed in 13th spot, 1.50secs down on Innerhofer.

Local favourite Carlo Janka, in the doldrums for nearly two years, finished third, 1.49 behind the Frenchman.

“Its not obvious to win a super-combined in Wengen with one of the most difficult downhill courses in the world. I was injured in the summer and did not train at all in downhill until Tuesday’s first practice here,” said Pinturault, who bruised an ankle playing tennis in August.

“To win ahead of Kostelic is also brilliant since he’s a sort of a king here,” added the Frenchman, winner of a slalom in Val d’Isere earlier this season.

By finishing second, Kostelic secured his 11th podium in the Swiss resort. “I’m proud to have achieved this in a such a historical place as Wengen,” said the Croatian, who has been nursing an ailing knee since the start of the season but does not intend to have surgery.

“I had a very hard time last month but it’s going better and given my injury, the world championships in Schladming have now become a much more important goal.”

Kostelic said he had been impressed

by Pinturault and was looking forward to an exciting battle in the future between

the Frenchman and World Cup holder and leader Marcel Hirscher of Austria, who shunned yesterday’s race.

For Janka, third place was “a great relief” after two years marred by injuries and personal problems. “It’s a very special sensation, especially here in Switzerland,” said the 2010 winner of the overall World Cup big globe.

“This is a great morale booster for me and the whole Swiss team. I skied a good downhill today and it gives me confidence for tomorrow.”

Depleted by the retirement of Didier Cuche and the injury of Beat Feuz, the men’s Swiss team have yet to win a race this winter. The Wengen weekend continues with the classic Lauberhorn downhill today. —Agencies

WENGEN: France’s Alexis Pinturault (C) celebrates on the podium after winning the men’s World Cup Super Combined, yesterday in Wengen.

Pinturault won ahead of Croatia’s Ivica Kostelic (L) and Switzerland’s Carlo Janka. —AFP

the best defenceman in the league in Shea Weber. Pekka Rinne is a solid goaltender and locking up Weber with a $110 million contract for 14 years was a smart move and gives their defence a solid base to build from.

Other notable players that changed teams in the extended off season include Rick Nash moving from Columbus to the New York Rangers and Jaromir Jagr from Philadelphia to Dallas. Veteran Teemu Selanne returned to the Ducks for likely his final NHL season.

The backlash from disgruntled hockey fans hasn’t materialized to the extent that some anticipated. There have been surprisingly large crowds turning out just to watch teams train.

The St. Louis Blues worked out in front of 5,700 fans last Sunday.

And tickets for the Kings sold-out opener were being offered for as high as $1,500 on StubHub for a seat in the lower section. The season ends with 13 games on April 27 and the Stanley Cup playoffs will begin three days later. —AFP

Magic Tina Maze out to extend World Cup lead CORTINA D’AMPEZZO: Slovenia’s Tina Maze has not ruled out a sensational double in the women’s downhill and superG here this weekend as she looks to continue her spectacular alpine season.

Maze, who boasts a huge points tally of 1334 at the midway point of the season, won her first ever World Cup super-G last week to become only the sixth woman to win races in all five alpine disciplines.

Already virtually assured her maiden World Cup overall title, the 29-year-old has also been tipped by retired Austrian great Hermann Maier to add another prestigious line to her season’s achievements.

Maier remains the only skier to achieve 2000 points in a single season-in 1999-2000 — and Maze, who holds a 590point lead on second-placed German Maria Riesch-Hoefl, is not shying away from becoming the second skier to do so.

“I think everything’s possible if you let your body and your mind run free and not get too preoccupied about reaching the 2000 points,” the Slovenian said here Thursday. A former specialist in the technical events of the slalom and giant slalom, Maze has gradually improved her skills in the glaringly different speed events of the downhill and super-G. She has only one downhill win to her name, from Saint Moritz in 2008, and on paper might trail American speed queen Lindsey Vonn in the list of favourites for today’s downhill on the Olimpia della Tofane course in the spectacular Dolomites.

Vonn, the only active skier with more than 50 World Cup victories, with 57, holds a stunning 28 victories in the women’s blue riband event. But with Maze placing an impressive fourth in the downhill here last year, and amid the best season of her life, she has not ruled out a second career downhill win which, in turn, would take her confidence sky high ahead of tomorrow’s super-G. “I came fourth here last year and I’ve improved a lot,” added the Slovenian. “The speed events used to be my weak point but for the past two years I’ve been doing a lot of work in the summer to prepare better for these events.

“I’ve seen myself hit well over 100 km/h sometimes and that was really scary. Now, I don’t feel so afraid of going fast.

I’m really confident. No stress, it’s better to be like that at the start gate than the opposite.”

Having finished third in the super-G here last year, and one second ahead of Vonn on her way to a maiden super-G win in Sankt Anton, Austria, last week Maze will also be among the favourites on Sunday. —AFP

Sports SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 2013

Kokrak flies high with two eagles at La Quinta LA QUINTA: Long-hitting American Jason Kokrak recorded two eagles in ideal scoring conditions as he charged into a three-way tie for the lead in Thursday’s opening round at the Humana Challenge.

While twice former champion Phil Mickelson struggled with his putting en route to a level-par 72, Kokrak fired a flawless 63 at La Quinta Country Club, one of three venues hosting the pro-am celebrity event.

The beefy Kokrak took advantage of a picture-perfect day in the California desert, covering his last nine holes in four-under 32 to finish level with compatriots Roberto Castro and James Hahn.

In-form PGA Tour rookie Russell Henley, who won last week’s Sony Open in Hawaii, was a further stroke back after a 64, along with fellow American Doug LaBelle II and Australians Aaron Baddeley and Greg

Chalmers. On a sublime, sun-splashed day in the California desert, Kokrak made a sizzling start with a birdie on his opening hole, the par-four 10th, followed by an eagle at the 11th.

“I just got off to a good solid start,” he told reporters after mixing five birdies with his two eagles.

“I just tried to play solid from tee to green, put it in the right spots, put it in the fairways, and out there that’s key.

Today couldn’t have been a better day.”

Kokrak said he was feeling much more comfortable with playing conditions on the PGA Tour after completing his maiden season on the US circuit in 2012. “As a rookie out here last year I didn’t know any of the golf courses, so coming out here now it’s a little bit more relaxed,” he added. “It’s easier for me to get into a little bit of a routine.

“I don’t have to go out there and

learn every little detail. I can come out here and just concentrate on my game.”

Castro, who started out on the Nicklaus Private course, birdied his first two holes before surging into a share of the lead with five birdies on his homeward nine.

“I got off to a good start, birdied the first two with kick-ins basically, and then just played well after that,” the 27-year-old said. “I didn’t make any long putts until the 18th hole where I rolled in like a 40, 50-footer. This tournament, you kind of got to get it going and keep it going. If you don’t make a bunch of birdies you’re kind of left behind.”

Rookie Hahn, who started out on the Arnold Palmer Private layout, had two chip-ins on his way to a bogeyfree, nine-birdie round. “It was a great day,” he smiled. “Chipped two in, hadn’t done that since I was nine years

old, so nothing more I could say about that round. I just made a lot of putts.

“The greens are rolling pure. You hit a good putt on the right line at the right speed it’s going to go in.”

While most of the players in the field made the most of the low-scoring conditions, Mickelson struggled on the greens as he battled flu-like symptoms for a 11th consecutive day.

“My expectations were to be really low today but I putted terrible,” Mickelson, tournament winner in 2002 and 2004, said after totalling 30 putts on the La Quinta layout.

“My timing and rhythm was off a little bit today. As bad as that is, I’ve got a low round in me tomorrow, I think, and it doesn’t feel like it’s far off.” Also making a poor start to the third event on the 2013 PGA Tour was fellow American Mark Wilson, the defending champion, who laboured to a five-over 77 at La Quinta. —Reuters

Armstrong admits career was ‘one big lie’ ‘I made my decisions, they’re my mistake’

LOS ANGELES: Lance Armstrong has finally admitted that his seven Tour de France wins were fuelled by a frightening cocktail of banned drugs, in one of the most sensational confessions of cheating in the history of sport.

The 41-year-old on Thursday told talk show host Oprah Winfrey in his first interview since being stripped of his record yellow jersey haul and banned for life that his career was a sham in which he bullied and attacked anyone who doubted him.

“I made my decisions. They’re my mistake.

And I’m sitting here today to acknowledge that and to say I’m sorry for that... I view this situation as one big lie that I repeated a lot of times,” Armstrong said, describing himself as “flawed”.

His confession strips bare the legend of the cancer survivor turned champion that inspired millions across the world and made

the Texan rider cycling’s first global superstar, popularising the sport beyond its European heartland.

The former US Postal Service team leader admitted to Winfrey that the “mythic, perfect story... wasn’t true”, confirming mounting doubts about his performances that came to a head last October in a devastating US AntiDoping Agency (USADA) dossier.

Reaction to his belated confession was swift, with Travis Tygart, the tenacious USADA chief who exposed Armstrong’s lies with damning eyewitness testimony from his former teammates, calling it “a small step in the right direction”.

Yet Tygart was still guarded, as calls persisted for Armstrong to go further than the terse “yes” answers that he gave about whether he took the blood-booster erythropotein (EPO), blood transfusions, testosterone and human growth hormone.

AUSTIN: In this Monday, Jan. 14, 2013, file photo provided by Harpo Studios Inc., talk show host Oprah Winfrey, right, interviews Lance Armstrong during taping for the show “Oprah and Lance Armstrong: The Worldwide Exclusive” in Austin, Texas. Armstrong confessed to using performance-enhancing drugs to win the Tour de France cycling during the interview that aired Thursday. —AP

“If he is sincere in his desire to correct his past mistakes, he will testify under oath about the full extent of his doping activities,” Tygart said.

Cycling’s embattled world governing body, which has been under pressure to say how Armstrong was able to evade detection for so long, called the admissions “disturbing” but said they could yet help lift the spectre of doping that clouds the sport.

International Cycling Union (UCI) president Pat McQuaid said it was “an important step forward on the long road to repairing the damage that has been caused to cycling and to restoring confidence in the sport”.

But his counterpart at the World AntiDoping Agency (WADA), John Fahey, said Armstrong revealed “nothing new” and had merely affirmed what USADA had outlined in the dossier that sealed his downfall.

The author and journalist David Walsh, who was sued by Armstrong for alleging that he doped, said “it felt good to hear him admit to doping” but also reflected that he was still evasive and questions still went unanswered.

Armstrong confirmed details outlined by USADA such as the existence of the shadowy courier known as “Motoman” who delivered EPO to riders.

But he took issue with other claims, saying he did not believe the doping program on the US Postal Service team was the biggest in the history of sport and could not compare to the state-sponsored scheme in the former East Germany.

He also denied that the UCI covered up a positive drug test from the 2001 Tour of Switzerland and denied using banned drugs when he returned from retirement and raced in the 2009 and 2010 Tours de France.

Armstrong said he justified his actions in the years that he won the Tour from 1999 to 2005 because doping was then part of the culture of the sport-and he did not believe he could capture cycling’s greatest race without illegal assistance.—AFP

ABU DHABI: Justin Rose of England follows his shot on the 14th hole during the second round of Abu Dhabi Golf Championship in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, yesterday. —AP

Rose goes clear in Abu Dhabi ABU DHABI: Justin Rose went three shots clear at the top of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship leaderboard yesterday at the start of a season he hopes will see him win his first major.

The world No.5 from England carded a second round, three-under 69 in perfect morning playing conditions, to go with the 67 he fired the previous day in the face of blustery afternoon crosswinds. Abu Dhabi is 32-year-old Rose’s first tournament since early December when he closed with a course record 62 at nearby Dubai in finishing second to world No.1 Rory McIlroy in the season-ending World Tour Championship.

He was quick though to douse expectations of going one better here. “I look at the big picture and if I live and die by this result, it gets in the way of the rest of the season,” he said. “I’m looking to build and build. So whatever comes out of this week, I will use it to make it a better season.” Starting at the the 10th, Rose hit a superb approach to the 16th and tapped in from two feet for a birdie. He had other occasions at the 18th and first, and finally grabbed his second birdie of the day at the par-five second where he went in from five feet.

A missed eight-footer, coming back from a chip out of greenside rough, spelled bogey for him at the next, but he got back to seven under for the tournament by sinking a 15-foot birdie putt at the short fourth hole. Rose stayed at seven under with a run of four pars, before an approach to two feet at the last brought him in with a 69, setting the pace in the clubhouse as the afternoon groupings started their rounds.

Playing alongside Rose, British Open champion Ernie Els had a 73 to stay in contention at level par. The third member of the grouping had been defending champion Robert Rock, but, following a poor 76 on Thursday, the Englishman pulled out, citing an unspecified illness.

Welshman Jamie Donaldson, who had shared the overnight lead with Rose at five under was in the afternoon groupings, the same as the two top-ranking players in the world, McIlroy and Tiger Woods. —AFP

Sports SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 2013

Li, Nishikori maintain momentum in Australia MELBOURNE: China’s Li Na and Japan’s Kei Nishikori maintained their love affair with the Australian Open as they both reached the fourth round with victories yesterday.

Li, the 2011 runner-up, breezed past Romania’s Sorana Cirstea, while Nishikori shook off injury concerns in his straight-sets win over Russian challenger Evgeny Donskoy.

But there was disappointment for China’s Zheng Jie, who was bundled out of the tournament by German 18th seed Julia Goerges as she narrowly failed to reach the fourth round for the second year in a row.

Li now has the chance to avenge her countrywoman’s defeat after she set up a meeting with Goerges, thanks to her 64, 6-1 over Cirstea.

The former French Open winner came through a seesawing first set and then capitalised as Cirstea crumbled, racing through the second set in just 28 minutes.

Afterwards, she said she hoped to advance her world ranking from six to three under new coach Carlos Rodriguez, former handler of Justine Henin, who has revitalised her career.

“Of course I will try as hard as I can. I really want to be top three,” said Li. “This

is the goal for whole team. I know it’s tough, but if you didn’t have a goal maybe you just feel like, ‘Oh, number six also is pretty good’. “But I still try to fight on the court to push myself.”

Nishikori had to pull out of this month’s Brisbane International semifinals with a knee injury, and he needed a medical timeout to strap his left ankle yesterday. But he still had too much for Donskoy and ran out 7-6 (7/3), 6-2, 6-3 winner to move one victory from repeating last year’s quarter-final appearance, the best ever performance by a Japanese man.

“I think I played well in the important

games. It wasn’t easy to play today with the wind,” Nishikori said.

“But like in the last couple games I played really well and have more confidence coming to play. I think I’m in good shape.”

Nishikori is the last Japanese player in the men’s singles draw after the exits of Go Soeda and Tatsuma Ito, while 42year-old Kimiko Date-Krumm plays her third-round match against unseeded Serb Bojana Jovanovski today.

“It’s good for Japanese tennis, for sure and I’m very happy that Kimiko is doing well,” he said. “That’s amazing how much she can play.” —AFP

Djokovic, Sharapova stay hot as Melbourne cools Radwanska, Ferrer through

NBK wins against Ahli United 4-1 KBC Football League 2013 KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) won the football match against Ahli United Bank (4-1) in Kuwait Banks Club (KBC) Football League 2013.

NBK’s players Mehdi Arab and Abdul Aziz Haidar gave the team its victory in its first

match in the league which took place at Kathima Stadium. NBK Football Team is looking forward to keep its high performance during this tournament. NBK is currently preparing to run for its second match in the tournament on 21st January.

Angola, Morocco out to banish bad memories JOHANNESBURG: Angola and Morocco will try to put bad Africa Cup of Nations memories behind them today when they clash in the second half of an opening-day double-header at the 2013 tournament.

Both countries went to the last edition a year ago in Gabon/Equatorial Guinea with a bottom-line target of a top-two group finish and a place in the knockout phase.

Neither succeeded, with Angola pipped on goal difference by Sudan for second place behind Ivory Coast, and Morocco beating only Niger to come third behind Gabon and Tunisia.

It was a major setback for the Angolan Black Antelopes after two successive quarter-final appearances and confirmation of the poor form of the Moroccan Atlas Lions after equally early exits from the 2006 and 2008 editions.

Morocco lifted the Africa Cup for the only time in 1976 — the last tournament in which a mini-league format was used to determine the champions-while Angola have never gone beyond the round of eight.

The popular perception is that Group A is a three-team race between Angola, Morocco and hosts South Africa, who tackle debutants Cape Verde Islands in the tournament opener at Soccer City stadium three hours earlier.

So a win for the Antelopes or the Lions

would put them in a strong position after just one game to survive the first-round cull in the 22-day African football showcase.

Moroccan hopes of a successful tournament hinge heavily on Younes Belhanda, the playmaker from French champions Montpellier and a top-five finisher in the 2012 BBC African Footballer of the Year public poll.

“We have no right to fail this time round. We have a debt to the Moroccan people after what happened at the last tournament,” admitted the midfielder who was part of the disgraced 2012 squad.

Eric Gerets, a strict Belgian with coaching success in Europe and the Middle East, took Morocco to the last tournament and was later fired after losing a 2013 qualifier in Mozambique.

Rachid Taoussi took charge, orchestrated a handsome return-match win over the Mozambicans and ignored English Premier League pair Adel Taarabt and Marouane Chamakh plus former captain Houssine Kharja for South Africa.

Talented QPR midfielder Taarabt paid the price for snubbing the coach when he travelled to London, Chamakh has had litte game time at Arsenal before being loaned to West Ham, and Taoussi and Kharja never got along. —AFP

MELBOURNE: A welcome wind blew away the stifling heat at Melbourne Park yesterday but there was no diverting Novak Djokovic or Maria Sharapova from their paths to the last 16 of the Australian Open on day five of the tournament. Djokovic remained on course for his third straight title as he marched into the fourth round without giving up a set after successfully negotiating a tricky tie against Radek Stepanek with a 6-4 6-3 7-5 win. Sharapova was even more impressive and, although denied a third successive 6-0 6-0 win of the week, looked every inch the title contender in her 6-1 63 demolition of seven-times grand slam champion Venus Williams. Fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska also continued her red-hot start to the year, notching up win number 12 with a 6-3 6-1 victory over Britain’s Heather Watson in their third round tie. Playing with the roof closed on Rod Laver Arena because of a few drops of rain that accompanied the cooler weather, Djokovic had to work for every point against Stepanek, who charged the net 67 times. It was little more than a good workout for the world number one, however, and before launching a broadside at disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong, he complimented the 34-year-old Czech on his contribution to the match.

“He loves the big stage,” the Serbian said. “You saw how much fun he had. I also had a lot of fun playing. It was a very entertaining match. He’s very skilful, comes to the net, never gives you the same ball twice.”

Sharapova’s flurry of fist pumps after she wound up her match against Williams showed how much the victory meant to the second seed, who has been in ruthless form this week despite missing her one warm-up tournament with a collar-bone injury. “I think the reason I started so well in this tournament is because I knew that I had to,” said the Russian 2008 champion.

“I knew I was coming in without any match play. It’s tough. I hadn’t played a professional match, a real match, in over two months.”

The absence of the injured world number four Rafa Nadal has left a gaping hole in the top half of the draw and fourth seed David Ferrer eased further into it with a 6-4 6-2 6-3 win over another entertainer, 2006 finalist Marcos Baghdatis. The Spanish baseliner showed more than a few decent touches of his own - most notably a sumptuous backhand lob - as he set up a fourth-round contest against Japan’s Kei Nishikori.

Big-serving Tomas Berdych was a 6-3 6-2 6-2 winner over Jurgen Melzer and will face Kevin Anderson in the next round with a likely quarter-final meeting with Djokovic on the line. “Kevin Anderson has a huge serve so it could be like playing against myself,” the Czech fifth seed said of the South African, who upset 22nd seed Fernando Verdasco 4-6 6-3 4-6 7-6 6-2.

Djokovic must first get past Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka, who ended the 2013 challenge of the American men at Melbourne Park when he beat Sam Querrey 7-6 7-5 6-4. Eighth seed Janko Tipsarevic out-

lasted Frenchman Julien Benneteau 3-6 6-4 2-6 6-4 6-3 in a second successive five-set match but Melbourne’s changeable weather seemed to trouble him as much as the length of his contests. “The weather in Australia, I have to say it’s crazy,” he said. “Today was beautiful, but it was really, really windy. Who knows what’s going to happen tomorrow? Probably we’ll have rain and we’re going to end up playing indoors.”

The Serbian will next face Spanish 10th seed Nicolas Almagro, who ended Jerzy Janowicz’s maiden Australian Open with a 7-6 7-6 6-1 win in a match that was free of the histrionics that accompanied the Pole’s second round victory. Janowicz’s compatriot Radwanska claims she is not superstitious, which might be a good thing as she will face 13th seed Ana Ivanovic in the fourth round as he looks to extend her winning

MELBOURNE: Russia’s Maria Sharapova serves against Venus Williams of the US during their women’s singles match on day five of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne yesterday. —AFP streak to 13 matches. “I just hope I keep going,” last year’s Wimbledon finallist said. “Of course now it is going to be harder and harder playing against seeded players.” Ivanovic won the battle of the Serbian former world number ones against Jelena Jankovic 7-5 6-3 and was later joined in the fourth round by another former French Open champion, Li Na. China’s Li, who beat Sorana Cirstea 6-4 6-1, reached the final in 2011 and will fancy her chances of going deep again this year, especially as Kim Clijsters, who beat her in both the last two years, has now retired again. —Reuters

SPORTS

SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 2013

South Africa need to impress in Cape Verde opener JOHANNESBURG: Anything less than victory against debutants Cape Verde in today’s 2013 Africa Cup of Nations curtain-raiser could spell potential disaster for under-fire hosts South Africa.

With 90,000 partisan vuvuzela-blowing fans cramming into Soweto’s magnificent Soccer City, the home nation is out to take a giant step towards the knockout stages in a group also featuring former winners Morocco, and Angola.

Bafana Bafana’s build-up has hardly been the stuff of potential champions but they will be counting on huge home support to help lift them as it did when they won their only previous Nations Cup in 1996.

The momentum built by an opening success would prove invaluable-defeat or a lacklustre draw could knock the stuffing out of Gordon Igesund’s side.

Since going all the way 17 years ago,

South Africa’s fate in the continental showpiece has plummeted-they haven’t won a match since 2004 and failed to qualify for last year’s competition in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon in farcical circumstances.

South African players, coaches and officials did not understand the widely-used head-to-head rule and played for a draw at home to Sierra Leone, believing a point would suffice. Bafana players danced and sang their way around the stadium, convinced they had succeeded, only to discover later that minnows Niger had pipped them at the post. The time has come so for the 2010 World Cup hosts to put some much needed pride back into the national game.

“With a little bit of luck and if we start scoring goals, I think we can go all the way,” Igesund, who won the South African Premiership with a record four clubs, said on Thursday.

“Hopefully, things go well for us and we

get a bit of a roll going, especially with the support we are going to get behind us, 90,000 people in the stadium. “It’s not an easy task. We’ve got to respect the teams around us. There are some very good teams here, but I think we’re very capable.”

South Africa’s players have shown sterling commitment to the cause by forgoing any cash bonuses until the knockout stages.

“The players will accept bonuses only if they get to the quarter-finals and again if they reach the final. There is no money in the first round nor the semi-finals,” the coach stressed. “This shows a commitment to do well,” added Igesund, whose squad have been under media and public fire after a lacklustre build-up that finished with a drab 0-0 draw against Algeria in Soweto last weekend.

Not as though it puts too much pressure on them, but they have been tipped to do

well by South African President Jacob Zuma.

“I certify that the team is ready,” the head of state said during a visit to a training session this week. “I am more confident this time, more than any other times,” he added.

Igesund, meanwhile, admitted he had never seen Cape Verde play-if he had he would have found a team brimming with confidence after their shock defeat of Cameroon in the qualifiers.

If South Africa think Cape Verde will roll over like startled rabbits caught in the Cup spotlight they should just listen to Ryan Mendes. “It’s our first time going to the Nations Cup, so there’s no pressure on us,” said the Lille striker. “We’re lucky to be playing the opening game of this Nations Cupfor us that’s the ultimate!” he added. “Aside from that, it’s true we want to achieve something because we don’t want to end up being ridiculed.” — AFP

Record Africa Cup appearance

by Claude Le Roy in balance Sunzu will return to training with Zambia

LE HAILLAN: Bordeaux’s captain Jaroslav Plasil (2ndL), Brazilian defender Mariano (C), and Polish midfielder Ludovic Obraniak (R) take part in a training yesterday in Le Haillan, southwestern France, two days ahead the French L1 football match Bordeaux vs Paris-SaintGermain today. — AFP

Coach Keshi seeks glory after winning as player JOHANNESBURG: Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi could well join Egypt’s Mahmoud El Gohary in an exclusive club of those who have won the Africa Cup of Nations both as a player and a coach. ‘Big Boss’ Keshi skippered the Super Eagles to their second Nations Cup triumph in Tunisia in 1994 and he is now in charge of the team for the tournament in South Africa.

Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel has backed Keshi to make history as a coach. “Keshi has already won this tournament as a player and I believe he can make history as a coach, too, by winning it,” said Mikel.

“We have some great individuals and if we can bring all our qualities together and play as a team, we can make his dream come true.” The Eagles may not be one of the favourites in South Africa after they failed to qualify for last year’s competition in Gabon/Equatorial Guinea, but Keshi says his team has great potential to do well.

“Many don’t know how good this team is. I see potential in them and they can go places,” said the coach, who led Togo and Mali in previous Nations Cup tournaments.

Keshi replaced Samson Siasia as coach in November 2011 and has embarked on rebuilding a once proud team who, in 1994, were ranked fifth in the world by FIFA. From the outset, he has worked with players in the domestic league, who for many years were used only as “training material” by the national team.

The players from Europe will dominate his team at this competition even though he dropped several top stars like Peter Odemwingie, Obafemi Martins and Taye Taiwo. And the result is that six locals made the final 23-man squad to South Africa, a remarkable departure from the 2008 and 2010 squads that did not feature any Nigeria Premier League players. “I will always say names don’t play football and that is why we are now working with players who will help us to do well. If these players are in the league at home, so be it,” he said. —AFP

JOHANNESBURG: A record seventh appearance by Claude Le Roy at the Africa Cup of Nations hung in the balance on the eve of the competition yesterday, amid claims he had quit as coach of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

A Congolese TV station said the Frenchman handed a letter of resignation to team leader Theo Binamungu, but national football association president Constant Omari denied the coach had quit.

Assistant coach Sebastian Migne has also reportedly resigned because of poor management of the team, who play four-time champions Ghana tomorrow in the opening Group B fixture.

Widely respected Le Roy has guided Cameroon to the 1988 title and Senegal twice each at the premier African football tournament as well as DR Congo and Ghana.

He also took Cameroon to the 1986 final which they lost on penalties against Egypt and was also in charge of Ghana when they hosted the 2008 competition, finishing third.

On top of that, when he led Senegal to the semi-finals in 1990, it was the first time the team had even got past the first round. The Cup of Nations kicks-off today with a Group A double-header-South Africa versus Cape Verde Islands and Angola versus Morocco - before a sell-out 90,000 crowd at Soccer City stadium in Soweto. Meanwhile, star defender Stoppila Sunzu will return to training with Zambia today after spending this week on trial at relegation-threatened English Premier League outfit Reading.

Sunzu, who plays for four-time CAF Champions League winners Tout Puissant Mazembe in DR Congo, hopes to clinch a deal during the midseason transfer window. But the attention of the 2012 CAF Africabased Footballer of the Year finalist

JOHANNESBURG: Chief Executive of the Local Organising Committee of the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), Mvuzo Mbebe (L) talks to Confederation of African Football (CAF) Secretary General, Hicham El Amrani during a press conference yesterday in Johannesburg on the eve of the start of the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations hosted by South Africa from today to February 10. — AFP

and his team-mates now turns to the opening Group C match against Ethiopia at Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit on Monday. Sunzu has missed most of the Zambian preparations as they get set to defend a title won against the odds in Gabon last year with the centre-back striking the winning goal against the Ivory Coast in the penalty shootout.

Although given little chance by pundits of repeating the 2012 triumph, Zambia coach Herve Renard remains optimistic they can emulate Egypt, Cameroon and Ghana and successfully defend the crown.

“It will be very difficult to defeat this Zambian team,” he told reporters.

“Should we fail to retain the trophy, it simply means another country was

better than us.” Burkina Faso, who confront Nigeria in the second half of the Group C double-header, will be without star midfielder Charles Kabore and ace goal poacher Alain Traore.

Kabore carried a suspension into the tournament after yellow cards in qualifiers against the Central African Republic, and Traore has not fully recovered from a heel injury. The Stallions owe their place at the 16team tournament to the predatory instincts of Traore, who snatched the tie-clinching goal against the central Africans deep into stoppage time.

Burkina Faso defeated South African champions Orlando Pirates 3-0 in a Nelspruit warm-up thanks to goals from Aristide Bance, Abdou Razack Traore and Pierre Koulibaly. — AFP

SPORTS

SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 2013

Historic Barca show no signs of easing up MADRID: The records continue to tumble for Barcelona, who finished the first half of the season with the highest ever points total in La Liga.

But talisman Lionel Messi is still not taking the league for granted as they prepare to take on Real Sociedad. Their remarkable total of 55 points from a possible 57 is three more than Pep Guardiola’s Barca side managed in the 2010-11 season after 19 games and gives them an 11-point lead over Atletico Madrid while Real Madrid languish 18 points adrift.

On a personal level, Messi has hit an unrivaled 28 goals in the first half of this campaign and faces Sociedad knowing that a goal would see him equal the Barca and Liga record of scoring in 10 straight matches for the second time after scoring 18 goals in

10 matches during the 2011-12 campaign. He currently shares that mark with Ronaldo who scored 12 in 10 games during the 1996-97 season while Mariano Martin put away 18 in 10 matches between 1942 and 1943.

“We are in a strong position in the league with the advantage we have but we cannot ease off. There is Atletico who are a strong side and then Real Madrid cannot be forgotten as they will fight to the end,” said Messi.

“There is a long way to go but we are confident and our aim is to maintain the same level although we know it won’t be easy for us.” David Villa is expected to miss the trip to San Sebastian through injury and so Messi is again set to play alongside Pedro Rodriguez and Andres Iniesta as Alexis Sanchez struggles for form.

The Chilean was booed by sections of the crowd as a weakened Barca drew 2-2 with Malaga in the King’s Cup semi-final first leg on Wednesday night. Real Madrid avoided any hiccups with a 2-0 win over Valencia but there remains plenty of tension in the camp as was shown with an argument between Jose Mourinho and Cristiano Ronaldo at the end of the match.

One of the main questions now is who will be in goal as Madrid face Valencia again in the league, with Spain international Iker Casillas having been replaced by Antonio Adan before Adan was suspended.

“There are a lot of opinions going around and I’m not getting involved in that. All I can say is that I will work hard and the coach will decide. I have no idea who will be picked,” said Adan.

“I have a good relationship with Iker, we are teammates and friends. He is captain of the national team and Madrid so he is obviously a good professional.” Atletico face a tough clash with Europe-chasing Levante while Real Betis, surprisingly occupying the fourth Champions League slot after a bright start, now take on Athletic Bilbao. Malaga will look to build on their performance against Barcelona with the visit of Celta Vigo while Rayo Vallecano, level on 31 points, play Granada. At the other end of the table the bottom two, Osasuna and Deportivo la Coruna, go head-to-head and Mallorca above them face a rejuvenated Espanyol.

Elsewhere, Sevilla with new boss Unai Emery face Getafe and Valladolid take on Zaragoza. — AFP

Today’s matches on TV

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE Newcastle v Reading Abu Dhabi Sports HD Wigan v Sunderland Abu Dhabi Sports HD Swansea v Stoke Abu Dhabi Sports HD West Ham v QPR Abu Dhabi Sports HD Liverpool v Norwich Abu Dhabi Sports HD Man City v Fulham Abu Dhabi Sports HD West Brom v Aston Villa Abu Dhabi Sports HD

18:00 18:00 18:00 18:00 18:00 18:00 20:30

SPANISH LEAGUE Granada v Rayo Vallecano Aljazeera Sport +5 Real Sociedad v Barcelona Aljazeera Sport +2 Getafe v Sevilla 22:00 Aljazeera Sport +7 Malaga v Celta de Vigo

18:00 20:00

00:00

ITALIAN LEAGUE Palermo v SS Leazio Aljazeera Sport +1 Juventus v Udinese Aljazeera Sport +1

20:00 22:45

German League Leverkusen v Eintracht Dubai Sports 1 Bayern Munich v SpVgg Dubai Sports 4 FSV Mainz v Freiburg Dubai Sports 5 TSG Hoffenheim v Borussia Dubai Sports 6 Bremen v Dortmund Dubai Sports 1 French League Olympique v Montpellier Aljazeera Sport +4 AC Ajaccio v Valenciennes Aljazeera Sport +9 Lorient v ES Troyes AC Aljazeera Sport +4

17:30 17:30 17:30 17:30 20:30

19:00 22:00 22:00

MENDOZA: Paraguay’s Miller Mareco, right, and Bolivia’s Rodrigo Vargas go for a header during an U-20 South American soccer championship match in Mendoza, Argentina, Thursday. — AP

Ferguson expects Fletcher return Alex extends his sympathies to Nigel Adkins MANCHESTER: Alex Ferguson is confident Darren Fletcher will return to play an important role for Manchester United despite undergoing surgery for a career-threatening bowel condition. The 28-year-old Scotland captain will miss the rest of the season following an operation to alleviate the ulcerative colitis that has dogged him for the best part of two years. United manager Ferguson revealed yesterday that Fletcher’s condition had taken a turn for the worse recently, but he expects the midfielder to continue his fight against the ailment once he can return to action ahead of the 2013/14 season.

“This is something we thought would happen (at some stage) anyway,” Ferguson said.

“He tried his best to cope with the condition with the treatments he was using, but in the last couple of weeks it’s just come back again.

“Hopefully this operation solves the situation in terms of his career in the game and we expect him to be back in July. “It’s a blow for the boy, but given that he’s been dealing with the condition for a couple of years now it’s just another step towards something very

important-firstly, his health and secondly, his career. “He’ll need time to recover, it will be quite a while. But he’s a fantastic character, an absolutely briliant boy, and he will do his best-he always does.”

Fletcher attempted to play through his illness, which was eventully revealed in December 2011 after the club had earlier cited a mystery virus as the reason for his absences.

He returned to the United first team in September after 10 months out of the game, while revealing in November he was still struggling with his health. Nevertheless, the Old Trafford midfield enforcer has made 13 appearances this season, the last as a substitute in the 4-3 win against Newcastle on December 26.

Ferguson, who always believed that Fletcher’s suspension from the 2009 Champions League final was instrumental in Barcelona’s victory, sees him in more of a holding role when he does come back.

“I felt he had to change his game,” the United manager explained. “When he played

in games this season, he wasn’t the Darren Fletcher of three or four years ago.

“We started using him in front of the back four, which he did very well, and that could be his real role in the future. “Some of his performances were very good. So I’m sure that when he comes back-and I’m sure he will-it will be in a different role.”

Meanwhile, Ferguson extended his sympathies to Nigel Adkins, the latest Premier League managerial casualty after being sacked by Southampton yesterday.

The south coast club have improved of late, moving out of the relegation zone and earning an unxpected point in a 2-2 draw against European champions Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday Ferguson, the longest-serving manager in the Premier League, having arrived at Old Trafford in 1986, said: “It’s a crazy world. I find it hard to believe. “He (Adkins) got a great result at Chelsea after being 2-0 down. But there’s no point in saying I’m surprised.

Strange things happen in football, but it does seem unfair.” — AFP

SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 2013

Sports

Armstrong admits career was ‘one big lie’

44

MANAMA: Emirati players celebrate with their trophy after winning the final of the 21st Gulf Cup yesterday. — AFP

UAE win Gulf Cup title Kuwait trash Bahrain 6-1

MANAMA: United Arab Emirates defeated former Asian champions Iraq 2-1 in extra-time to claim their second Gulf Cup title in a thrilling final yesterday.Substitute Ismail al-Hammadi scored the winner in the 107th minute as thousands of UAE fans, flown in by chartered flights specially for the title showdown, roared in celebration. Al-Hammadi, who replaced Ali Mabkhout in the 62nd minute, latched on to a pass from Amer Abdulrahman and neatly slid the ball past the right of Iraqi goalkeeper Noor Sabri.

Omar Abdulrahman had conjured the lead for the UAE in the 28th minute while Iraq captain Younis Mahmoud Khalaf equalised nine minutes from time. Abdulrahman’s solo goal was the best of the championship as the 21-year-old slipped into the penalty box before slamming the ball to the left of Sabri.

Iraq had to wait till the 81st minute to get back into the match with Khalaf, in front of goal, coolly slotting the ball past goalkeeper Ali Khaseif for his second goal of the championship. Khalaf could have sealed the match six minutes later when he

did well to beat Abdulaziz Sanqor inside the penalty box but he shot directly at Khaseif.

Mabkhout had the first attempt on goal in the eighth minute from the left and a few minutes later Ahmad Khalil, who scored the last-minute winner against Kuwait in the semi-finals, tried from the right but on both occasions Sabri came to Iraq’s rescue.

For Iraq, Ahmed Yasin and lone stiker Khalaf made a couple of encouraging moves midway through the first-half but were thwarted by UAE defenders.

UAE could have doubled their lead early in the second half as Amer Abdulrahman’s powerful long ranger from the left went slightly wide and Khalil’s attempt from close was also off target.

Iraq came up with their own attack in the 58th minute when Adnan made a move from the left but his powerful left-foot drive was punched away by a diving Khaseif.

UAE, made up mostly of players who were part of the national team which took part in the 2012 London Olympics, kept pressing for the second

goal but failed to find a way past goalkeeper Sabri.

For UAE coach Mahdi Ali, the only one of two native coaches among the eight nations in the fray, it was a moment of crowning glory having earlier steered his team to victory in the 2008 AFC Under19 Championship, a silver medal at the 2010 Asian Games and a berth in the 2012 Olympics.

It was UAE’s second title in this prestigious regional championship, six years after having won it for the first time since its inception in 1970.

Also, Kuwait football team won third place in the 21st Gulf Cup after defeating the host Bahrain 6-1, a historic score between the two in all GCC tournaments. Before now, the biggest score was in 1976 in Qatar when the Kuwaiti team won against Bahrain 5-2. Determined to put up a good fight for the position, the Bahrain team began scoring in the first minute of the first half, thanks to Bahraini player Abdullah Yosif, while the Kuwaiti team was able to score in the 35th minute thanks to the new excellent player Abdulhadi Khamees, who also quickly scored again at the 38th minute.

In the second half, Khamees had his hat-trick -

scored this time from the penalty spot at the 54th minute. Fahad Abdulrahman later scored the fourth goal at the 65th minute, and Bader AlMutawa scored the fifth one minute later. The sixth and final goal came thanks to Abdulaziz Al-Sulaimi at the 71st minute. Overall, the match was exciting, however the Bahraini side lost a key player from a red card, the goal keeper Abbas Ahmad, at the 42nd minute, which contributed into the big loss.

After the match, Kuwaiti Coach Goran Tufegdzic hailed the players for their excellent performance at the concluding day of the tournament, despite his sadness for not qualifying to the final. In a press conference, Goran said that the Kuwaiti team ended the match against Bahrain after the third goal, noting that they got lucky with scoring later due to taking advantage of great opportunities. With regard to substituting Khamees in the second half, Tufegdzic said that it was a tactical move when he saw danger coming from the Bahraini team on the right side of the field. The coach added that winning the match was important and he wanted to give chance to new players. — Agencies