2nd Feb 2013

IPT IO N SC R SU B

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2013

Kuwait hosts conference on learning difficulties

RABI ALAWAL 21, 1434 AH

US takes aim at Iran and Russia over Syria

No: 15707

Australia rout West Indies by nine wickets

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2Suicide 7 44 bomber hits US embassy in Turkey Guard, bomber killed in blast

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Saudi Prince Muqrin appointed second Deputy Premier RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah has named former intelligence chief Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz as second Deputy Prime Minister, a role historically seen as making the incumbent second in line to become king.

Holders of the position have gone on in the past to be Crown Prince of the world’s top oil exporter, where the ruling family controls most senior government posts and wields near absolute authority.

The role means Muqrin will be in charge of the day-today running of the government if both King Abdullah, who is also prime minister, and Crown Prince Salman, who is first deputy prime minister, are both unwell or travelling abroad.

“He knows a lot about foreign affairs. I find him to be receptive to new ideas, to change. He knows which way the world is heading,” said Khaled Al-Maeena, editorin-chief of the Saudi Gazette English-language daily. Muqrin, who is about 70, is the youngest Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz son of the kingdom’s founder Abdulaziz ibn Al-Saud. — AFP Saud, and headed Saudi intelligence until July. “His Royal Highness Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, adviser and special envoy to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, is appointed second deputy to the prime minister,” said a Royal Court decree carried by the state news agency SPA. Saudi Arabia, a strategic ally of the United States and the birthplace of Islam, faces long-term domestic worries such as growing energy consumption and high youth unemployment. King Abdullah is nearly 90 and had a long back operation in November, his third round of surgery in two years. He has since been seen on television chairing cabinet and meeting visiting leaders. Crown Prince Salman, who turns 77 this year, gave a speech on his behalf at a recent Arab summit in Riyadh.

“The appointment of Muqrin to this post means the position of prime minister might start to carry more weight relative to the royal court,” said Hossein Shobokshi, a prominent Saudi columnist. Muqrin, born in 1943, is a former air force officer who trained in Britain and later served as governor of the Hail and Madina regions of Saudi Arabia.

He was made foreign intelligence chief in 2005 but was replaced last year by Riyadh’s former ambassador to Washington, Prince Bandar bin Sultan. — Reuters

ANKARA: Elevated view of the side entrance of the US Embassy in Ankara after a suicide bomber detonated an explosive device yesterday. (Inset) Rescuers take a victim to an ambulance.— AP/AFP ANKARA: A suicide bomber detonated an explosive yesterday in front of the US Embassy in Ankara, killing himself and a Turkish guard in an attack that Turkish officials blamed on domestic leftists.

Turkey and the US immediately condemned the attack and US officials urged Americans to stay away from all US diplomatic offices throughout Turkey. A Turkish woman was also seriously wounded and two other guards sustained lighter wounds in the 1:15 pm blast in the Turkish capital, Interior Minister Muammer Guler told reporters.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Guler said, “preliminary information” obtained by police indicated that the bomber was likely connected to a domestic left-wing militant group. He did not elaborate. A police official, meanwhile, said that the bomber is most likely a suspected member of the outlawed Revolutionary People’s Liberation PartyFront, or DHKP-C. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not permitted to speak to the press.

The group has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States but

had been relatively quiet in recent years.

Yesterday’s explosion occurred inside the security checkpoint at the side entrance to the US embassy, which is used by staff. A guard standing outside the checkpoint was killed while the two guards that were wounded “were standing in a more protected area,” Guler said.

Police and ambulances swarmed the area and authorities immediately cordoned it off. Forensic investigators in white outfits and gloves combed the site. TV footage showed the embassy door blown off its hinges. The blast also shattered the windows of nearby businesses, littering debris on the ground and across the road.

The inside of the embassy did not appear to be damaged. Television footage also showed what appeared to be a US marksman in a helmet and body armor surveying the area from the roof of an embassy building. The US Embassy building in Ankara is heavily protected and located near several other embassies, including that of Germany and France. The Hurriyet newspaper said staff at the embassy took shelter in “safe room” inside the compound soon after the explosion. In a statement, the US

Embassy thanked Turkey for “its solidarity and outrage over the incident.”

US Ambassador Francis Ricciardone declared that the US and Turkey “will continue to fight terrorism together” and described the US Embassy compound as secure. “From today’s event, it is clear that we both suffer from this terrible, terrible problem of today’s world. We are determined after events like this even more to cooperate together until we defeat this problem together,” he said.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan echoed that sentiment, saying the attack aimed to disturb Turkey’s “peace and prosperity” and demonstrated a need for international cooperation against terrorism. “We will stand firm and we will overcome this together,” he said.

In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said US officials were “working closely with the Turkish national police to make a full assessment of the damage and the casualties, and to begin an investigation.” Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu vowed that Turkey would spare no effort in protecting diplomatic facilities. —AP

LOCAL

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2013

KUWAIT: Dr Jassem Al-Tammar, Managing Director for Public Authority for People with Special Needs, inaugurating second Int’l conference on Learning Difficulties and Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder: Assessment & Intervention at the AUK yesterday. — Photos by Joseph Shagra

Kuwait hosts learning difficulties conference

By Ben Garcia KUWAIT: A two-day conference on learning difficulties commenced yesterday at the American University of Kuwait in Salmiya. The 2nd Int’l conference on Learning Difficulties and Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder: Assessment & Intervention, under the patronage of Dr Jasem Al-Tammar, the Managing Director for Public Authority for People with Special Needs, kicked off attended by parents, academics and over 60 specialists from various countries who are set to share their expertise on learning difficulties subject. The event organized by the Kuwait Association for Learning Difficulties (KALD) in association with Fawzia Al Sultan Corporation (FAWSAC) and Middle East Psychiatric Association (MEPA) aims to spread awareness and guidance on how to deal with learning difficulties cases.

Speaking at the conference, Amal Al-Sayer, Chairperson of KALD/ President, said the specialists will share their experiences and shed light on the latest development in this field. It would play a major role in re-enforcing the awareness and guiding both parents and academic specialists. “Driven by its commitment to create the awareness about such a vital social matter, KALD has taken the initiative to organize the second int’l conference based on the success of the first version in 2011 and we

trust that it will make a big difference in the approach on how to deal with learning difficulties persons and what would enable them to get integrated easily in the community”.

The conference aims at achieving three objectives: (1) to provide parents with information needed to better understand their kids’ demands and deal with them (2) update the academic specialists on the latest developments in learning difficulties field (3) develop the skills of psychiatritsts and professionals

working in the evaluation sector.

“This conference is a great example of our belief in the importance of coordination with different associations and the governmental entities since we are unified by the same objective marked with humanity and volunteering initiative which is addressed to serve those with educational handicap in particular the learning difficulties,” she added.

The event is held for the second consecutive year through the UN Development

Program. “We are happy to see a tremendous number of participants for this year’s conference joining from all around the world which is a proof on the efficiency of this sort of strategic conferences”.

Dr Houda Shaaban, Educational Consultant/ Head of Growth and Advancement Department said the first topic is dedicated to psychiatrists and social professionals and pediatrists.

“It sheds light on the diagnosis, evaluation and treatment of learning difficulties and hyperactivity in line with the educational and ethical criteria which rules the evaluation’s procedure. The second topic addresses professors and parents and those interested in this field amongst university students, and students with learning difficulties in addition to the people who have drafted the rules and decision makers. It emphasizes on the educational system, teaching strategies and academic therapeutic interferences.”

The specialists who share their expertise came from various international, regional and local universities/institutions including, San Diego University, Lesly University, Cairo University, Tanta University from Egypt, King Abdul Aziz University in Saudi Arabia and Mostganem, University and Betana in Algeria in addition to the Gulf University in Bahrain and the Lebanese International University.

MEW, KPC conflict over financial dues

KUWAIT: A team from the Ministry of Interior’s Criminal Evidence General Department destroyed 8,531 bottles of liquor seized during operation carried out in the past year. The operation was held on Thursday as per court orders for the alcoholic drinks to be disposed.

KUWAIT: The Ministry of Electricity and Water and Kuwait Petroleum Corporation are facing issues handling the financial side of an agreement by which the latter provides oil to run power plants, a local daily reported yesterday quoting sources with knowledge of the case.

The KPC had reportedly pumped oil to power plants worth KD2.5 billion during the fiscal year 2011/2012, which is up by KD600 million compared to the previous year. However, the MEW is yet to pay for the crude oil and natural gas provided given the fact that an agreement which would organize the financial side of the deal is yet to be signed.

“The MEW had requested an additional treaty which would organize the process of providing fuel to plants that are scheduled to be privatized”, explained the sources as they described the reasons which keeps an agreement pending. “The MEW wants an agreement which takes into account the presence of foreign investors who run the state’s power plants, and attach it to the comprehensive agreement before it can be signed”, said the sources who spoke to AlJarida on the condition of anonymity.

The KPC reportedly rejected the MEW’s request, and sent a final draft for the agreement in December

2011. A meeting by which the two sides were set to discuss the amended draft and possibly sign the agreement was not signed as of the end of the fiscal year on March 31, 2012, said the sources.

In other news, Al-Rai reported yesterday quoting MEW sources that the ministry has failed to take punitive measures against industrial, agricultural, commercial and industrial activities who owe the ministry KD95 million in unpaid dues. The sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity indicate that the ministry failed to use its authority in disconnecting electricity and water from the violating businesses, which they blamed as the main reason behind the nonpayment. “The ministry is required to take action similar to what is taken against individuals in order to force business owners who make a lot of money from their projects to pay their fees that have been due for many years”, the sources said, warning that penalties are necessary before the dues are dropped as per the statute of limitations.

The MEW had so far collected KD180 million from consumers during the current fiscal year which ends next March 31, announced Undersecretary Assistant for Consumers Affairs Abdullah Al-Hajri in a recent statement.

LOCAL

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2013

Political institutions paralyzed Human Rights Watch report KUWAIT: Recurring political disputes between the government and parliament paralyzed political institutions in Kuwait last year, according to a Human Rights Watch report published on Thursday. In February, the Islamist-led opposition made significant gains in parliamentary elections. In June, the Constitutional Court voided the February elections and reinstated the previous parliament, originally elected in 2009. In October, His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah dissolved the reinstated parliament and set Dec 1 to hold a new parliamentary election. However opposition groups, consisting of Islamists, liberals, and nationalists, boycotted the elections.

Kuwait continues to exclude thousands of stateless people, known as bedoons, from full citizenship, despite their longstanding roots in Kuwaiti territory. The government continues to violently disperse bedoon protests while promising to grant bedoons social benefits including governmentissued documentation and free education and health care. Authorities prosecuted individuals for expressing nonviolent political opinions, including web commentary. Kuwaiti courts issued two landmark rulings cancelling legally sanctioned discrimination against women in the judicial and education sectors.

At least 106,000 bedoons live in Kuwait. After an initial registration period for citizenship ended in 1960, authorities shifted bedoon citizenship applications to a series of administrative committees that have avoided resolving their claims. Authorities claim that most bedoons are ‘illegal residents’ who deliberately destroyed evidence of other nationality in order to get the generous benefits that the state provides to its citizens.

In March 2011, the government granted bedoons benefits and services such as free health care and education, as well as registration of births, marriages, and deaths. However, those benefits don’t provide a path to citizenship. Some bedoons complained that bureaucratic processes prevented many from accessing those benefits. Since February 2011, hundreds of bedoons have frequently taken to the streets to protest the government’s failure to address their citizenship claims. The government issued repeated warnings that bedoons should not gather in public, despite the country’s obligation under international law to protect the right to peaceful assembly.

Article 12 of the 1979 Public Gatherings law bars non-Kuwaitis from participating in public gatherings. The security forces beat bedoon protesters and detained dozens when they suppressed peaceful demonstrations. Detained bedoons reported physical abuse in detention. In one instance, on May 1, security forces violently dispersed around 300 protesters in Taima, northwest of Kuwait City, and arrested 14 of them. The Ministry of Interior said protesters had committed ‘shameful acts,’ such as trying to burn tires and block roads. Local rights activists told Human Rights Watch that the gathering was peaceful. The detained bedoons were freed after nearly two weeks.

According to local activists and lawyers, nearly 180 bedoons and Kuwaitis were tried on charges such as participating in an illegal gathering, resisting, insulting, and threatening police officers, and destroying police property, stemming from their participation in demonstrations in 2011 and 2012. 2012 saw some gains for free expression, but authorities continued to detain and criminally prosecute individuals based on nonviolent political speech, including web commentary. In December 2011 authorities allowed the bureau of the television news network Al Jazeera to reopen after shutting it down in late 2010 for reporting on security forces’ crackdown on opposition protests.

In March 2012, a criminal court suspended Al Dar newspaper for three months and sentenced the editor-in-chief, Abd Al-Hussain Al-Sultan, to a six-month suspended jail term and fined him KD 1,000 for allegedly publishing articles that raise[d] sectarian strife and incite[d] to violate public order. The charges arose after the newspaper published three articles that contained statements critical and demeaning to the Shia minority in Kuwait.

On May 14, 2012, a court of appeal increased the sentence to a one-year suspended jail term.

In May 2012, parliament amended the country’s penal code to authorize the death penalty or life imprisonment for religious blasphemy. However, the Amir, who has the power to review legislation, rejected the amendment in June. On June 5, 2012, a criminal court sentenced Hamad Al-Naqi to 10 years imprisonment for allegedly posting tweets insulting the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and criticizing the kings of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. AlNaqi claimed that someone had hacked his Twitter account and impersonated him. At this writing, his appeal was pending. In July 2012, police detained Sheikh Meshaal Al-Malek Al-Sabah, a member of Kuwait’s ruling family, for several days over comments he posted on Twitter in which he allegedly accused authorities of corruption and called for reform.

On April 22, 2012, an administrative court cancelled a ministerial order that barred women from entry-level jobs at the Ministry of Justice. The case stemmed from a July 2011 job announcement in which the ministry said it would accept applications only from ‘male candidates’ for entry level legal researcher positions —a first step to becoming a prosecutor. In early June 2012, an administrative court ordered Kuwait University to cancel a policy requiring female students to do better in exams than male students in order to enroll in certain departments, including colleges of medicine and architecture. In its ruling the court said that the university had treated male and female [students] differently. The Court of Appeal upheld the ruling a week later. Despite these gains, women continue to face discrimination. Kuwait’s nationality law denies Kuwaiti women married to foreign men the right to

pass their nationality on to their children and spouses, a right held

by Kuwaiti men married to foreign spouses. Kuwait has no laws prohibiting domestic violence, sexual harassment, or marital rape.

Households in Kuwait employ more than 600,000 domestic workers, primarily from Asia and East Africa. Kuwait’s labor law excludes domestic workers and the restrictive sponsorship (kafala)

system requires them to obtain permission from their employers to change jobs, effectively trapping many domestic workers with employers who mistreat them. Embassies report receiving thousands of complaints about confinement in the house, months or years of unpaid wages, long work hours without rest, and verbal, physical, and sexual abuse.

Local SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2013

Policeman leads four-member auto-theft gang in Qadsiya Forgery net busted KUWAIT: Qadsiya detectives arrested a fourmember gang including a police officer responsible for at least 30 thefts reported by luxury car owners around the country. The arrest happened Thursday after investigators found a connection between the reported thefts and a police officer whose recent sudden wealth had raised suspicions. The officer was questioned after a recent theft in which the car owner reported that a policeman had stood still and failed to stop thieves he saw stealing the car.

Investigations revealed that the officer used his position to approve forged registrations for the stolen vehicles, which are either resold inside or outside Kuwait or dismantled and have their spare parts sold separately.

The gang had also burnt 22 stolen vehicles according to investigations. The officer gave identity of his accomplices, a firefighter, an oil company employee and an assistant engineer in the Directorate General for Civil Aviation, who were later put under arrest. The four remain in custody pending trial.

Stamps forgery Two cleaning workers were arrested for selling recycled government stamps at the Capital Migration Department, while search is on for a third accomplice who remains at large. Police had first arrested one suspect who was found with possession of 70 recycled KD10 stamps which he sold for 800 fils each.

The man gave the identity of his accomplice who was arrested after being lured into a trap.

Police then attempted to set up the third suspect who reportedly supplies the two detainees with stamps from his Jleeb AlShuyoukh residence. The man switched his cell phone off apparently after sensing he was being set up when police made one of the accomplices call him and order a large amount of stamps. Investigations are ongoing.

Fugitive dead A fugitive died during a car chase that ended in an accident in Sabah Al-Salem, before police found drugs in his car. The suspect was stopped at a traffic light on the Ugailah bridge crossroad. But he drove away when patrol officer approached him when he failed to move after the light turned green. The officers went in pursuit of the suspect, who eventually lost control over his vehicle which overturned after hitting a road sign. The man was pronounced dead on the scene and police couldn’t identify him because he was not carrying any identification papers at the time. An amount of heroin, hashish, and some unidentified pills were found in his car. His body was taken to the coroner for an autopsy.

Jleeb victim’s wife testifies An Egyptian businessman who was shot dead inside his Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh office last month had no bad blood with other people which could’ve led to his death, according to his wife who was brought recently to Kuwait as part of the ongoing investigations. The woman had told officers that her husband used to make “a lot of money” from his real estate business in Kuwait, adding that financial disputes could have been the reason behinf the crime. Nonetheless, the woman said that her husband never spoke to her about having problems with anyone before his death. At least 50 suspects have been summoned for investigations so far according to security sources.

Teacher collapses A teacher was hospitalized after falling unconscious while watching over students taking their midterm exams inside a Da’iya high school. The 50-year-old Kuwaiti was diagnosed with circulatory failure at the Amiri Hospital where he was rushed after collapsing Wednesday morning. An ambulance was present at the scene shortly after the victim’s colleague informed the school’s management who made an emergency call.

Arab League chief lauds Kuwait for hosting donor conference CAIRO: The Arab League lauded His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah AlAhmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah’s initiative to host a UN-sponsored international donor conference to help the Syrian people.

The conference resulted in a hefty pledge of more than $1.5 billion to aid displaced Syrians inside and outside of their country; it was an “important and unprecedented” gesture to provide humanitarian aid for the Syrians, Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Al-Arabi said in a statement yesterday.

The conference was an indicator of the goodwill of the Arab countries to support one another in time of crises, he noted. In order to present the case justly, the wellorganized event took into account a report made by an Arab League delegation that visited Syrian refugee camps in Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan.

The Arab League report stressed that the international community should take full responsibility and demand the UN Security Council to put an end to the ongoing bloodshed in Syria. It also emphasized an increase of humanitarian aid that should be equally distributed to the displaced Syrians everywhere.

Meanwhile, eminent Turkish media figures and press have lauded announcement by the Amir of Kuwait of donating $300 million for the Syrian people.

Hassan Ozturk, the director of the

Turkish television station Ulke, said the donation by HH the Amir manifested concern of the state of Kuwait, the government and people for Muslims’ conditions, challenges they face, including the tragic conditions they suffer in Syria. He also praised outcome of the Kuwait-hosted international conference for donors for Syria, but he indicated that solidarity among Muslim nations was required to face various challenges as well as to stop the blood-spilling in Syria.

Meanwhile, the government TRV channel commented on the conference, held in Kuwait last week, saying its objectives were attained. Various local newspapers and news outlets have also praised the conference for aiding the Syrians. —KUNA

Efforts to cement ties with Singapore KUALA LUMPUR: Kuwaiti Ambassador to Singapore Abulaziz Al-Adwani discussed means of promoting cooperation and strengthening ties with Singapore’s Speaker of Parliament Halimah Yacob.

Through a phone call, Al-Adwani said yesterday that he met with Yacob to congratulate her on assuming her new post as Singapore’s first female Parliament Speaker. She thanked the Kuwaiti envoy for his kind gesture and expressed aspirations to further cooperation with the Gulf country. —KUNA

KUWAIT: Ancient ruins in Failaka island.

Failaka may be listed as world heritage PARIS: Kuwait Permanent Delegation to the UNESCO Ali Ahmad Al-Tarrah said yesterday he submitted to the organization’s World Heritage Center the bid of Failaka Island to be included in the World Heritage List.

“Kuwait’s National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters (NCCAL) developed the Failaka file which has been tendered to World Heritage Center,” Al-Tarrah said.

“The file sets forth the historical and humanitarian significance of the Island,” he

said, noting that the Heritage Center will study the bid carefully as a prelude to putting the site on the world heritage map.

Al-Tarrah appreciated the support to this cultural initiative by His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber AlSabah, HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber AlMubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs and Minister of State for Municipal Affairs Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah. —KUNA

Kuwait pavilion at Cairo book fair ‘stunning’ CAIRO: The Kuwaiti pavilion at the 44th Cairo International book-fair is stunning providing visitors with a chance to enhance their knowledge and cultural experience, said Kuwaiti Ambassador to Cairo Rashid Al-Hamad here Thursday.

Kuwait is keen on participating in the book-fair; therefore, several Kuwaiti publication companies and governmental institutions are partaking in this international event, said the Ambassador.

The Kuwaiti pavilion coordinator and

Information Ministry official Abdullah AlKhaledi said that the pavilion offered publications, books, encyclopedia, and other works of literature covering various subjects. The official welcomed visitors to take their time while visiting the pavilion, assuring that they would have a great experience.

Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi visited earlier the Kuwaiti pavilion after the opening of the international bookfair. —KUNA

Local SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2013

Opposition rejects reconciliation talks Change of heart on loans?

GONZALES: Sgt Robert Wilson holds his son Colton Underwood, who seems to be perfectly content, while waiting for a deployment ceremony to begin Thursday at the Lamar-Dixon Expo Center in Gonzales for about 150 members of the Louisiana National Guards 922nd Engineer Company. The unit has been ordered to spend a year in Kuwait after undergoing mobilization training at Fort Bliss, Texas.

Guard units bound for Kuwait GONZALES: More than 300 Louisiana National Guard members are preparing to depart for Kuwait to provide support for the US Army’s ongoing operations there.

Two Guard units - the 922nd Horizontal Engineer Company, in Gonzales, and the 205th Engineer Battalion, from Bogalusa and Hammond - held deployment ceremonies in Thursday. Both will depart this weekend, heading to conduct mobilization training at Fort Bliss, Texas, before deploying overseas.

The yearlong deployment will culminate with the units providing command and control of engineer construction operations in Kuwait, where they will be “doing very tough work,” said Maj Gen Glenn Curtis, the adjutant general of the Louisiana National Guard, who addressed the crowds at both ceremonies.

“We continue to be the state that sends the most warriors overseas to fight for global peace,” Ascension Parish Sheriff Jeff Wiley said at the 922nd’s deployment ceremony, which was held at the LamarDixon Expo Center.

Meanwhile, in Hammond, a parade of flags and an honor guard of veterans’ groups greeted members of the 205th for the ceremonies held at the University Center on the campus of Southeastern Louisiana University.

The 205th will depart for Texas today, while the 922nd will leave the National Guard armory on Irma Boulevard in Gonzales at 8 am Sunday.

A new veterans association, meanwhile, is asking residents to assist in seeing the 922nd away. Brent Gautreau, chairman of the Ascension Veterans Associations, a combination of several veterans groups, asked for Gonzales residents to come out Sunday morning to “send these guys off in style.” The troops will travel from the armory to Cornerview Road, onto La. 44, then La. 30 and eventually Interstate 10.

“We want everyone to bring their American flags to give them a send-off they will remember,” Gautreau said.

The 205th, which marks its 100th anniversary this year, and the 922nd have answered the call to duty in recent years, serving both overseas as well as locally in times of disaster, Curtis said.

“The men and women we are saying goodbye to today are our greatest American citizens because they stand ready to answer the call to duty at all times,” he said.

Curtis said that while the soldiers will place their lives in danger, the “real heroes” are the family members who are left behind.

Spc. Jacob Seidule of the 922nd is leaving behind a wife and three children in Denham Springs. Seidule, 33, said he has worked hurricane duty with the National Guard and also assisted several times in Haiti.

However, the Kuwait deployment will be the farthest he’s been from home.

Seidule said it will be tough leaving his children - a 4-year-old son and two daughters under 18 months. He said he would be disappointed to miss his youngest daughter’s first words and first steps, but he understood the choice he was making when he enlisted in the National Guard.

“I see it as a sacrifice,” he said. “I wouldn’t say I’m sad about it. I’m more upset, but it’s a sacrifice. It’s a life. Not everyone could live it.”

His wife, Heather Seidule, 26, said the family would stay in touch online via Skype, but she knows it won’t be easy to care for three young children while her husband is away.

“It’s a lot more responsibility for me to take on, but we knew that when he signed up,” she said.

KUWAIT: Several opposition members rejected rumors that they have engaged in productive talks with a group comprising of former lawmakers and ministers who hope to mediate political reconciliation talks aimed to achieve an end to the current stalemate.

Al-Rai daily reported on Thursday that members from the Majority Bloc; an unofficial political group which consists of politicians who formed a majority in the parliament that was elected February 2012 and dissolved by a Constitutional Court ruling four months later, met last week with a group which looks to materialize a political reconciliation project. “With all due respect to all political parties, we confirm at this time that news hinting of a dialogue between the opposition and any other parties representing the government or talking on their behalf are untrue”, former MP Musallam Al-Barrak said. Meanwhile, Al-Barrak said that any talks the government wishes to engage in “must be based on the constitution” and conditioned with “abstaining from tampering with the electoral system”. “Dialogue or reconciliation talks means that one part is ready to waive their position, but we insist that we will never change our position of commitment to the constitution and protection of the electoral system”, Al-Barrak added before reasserting the “rightful demands of reform” behind the public movement.

Al-Barrak and fellow oppositionists had boycotted last December’s parliamentary elections after HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah AlAhmad Al-Sabah released an emergency

decree a couple of months before changing the electoral system by making each voter entitled to a single vote instead of a maximum of four votes. The opposition argue that the change was a deliberate attempt to hurt their chances of regaining majority in the 50-seat house, and insist that the parliament is the only rightful place where the electoral system can be changed. Last month, the parliament approved the emergency decree with a strong majority.

Several other oppositionists including former MPs Khalid Al-Sultan, Abdullatif AlOmairi and Mohammad Al-Khalifa echoed Al-Barrak’s sentiments when contacted for a comment about the reconciliation efforts led by the co-called Wifaq (accord) group.

“Kuwait needs political reforms which can drive the country to safety shores and ensure that similar stalemates doesn’t happen in the future”, Al-Sultan said. “Such steps must be based on commitment to the constitution and reverting back to the previous electoral law while dissolving the current parliament”.

According to the original report which came out Thursday, the Wifaq group is holding preliminary talks at the time as it awaits a Constitutional Court ruling this month on challenges to the emergency decree. The group hasn’t met any government officials as of the release of the original report. The Majority Bloc released a statement late Wednesday night following a meeting hosted by former speaker Ahmad Al-Saadoun, in which they reiterated solidarity with jailed activists for statements posted on Twitter or any other means. “Prosecution doesn’t pro-

vide a platform to find a way out of the predicament that was created by the government with total disregard to the repercussions of their step on the political and social levels”, the statement reads.

Two Kuwaitis were sentenced to prison early last month after the court found them guilty of insulting HH the Amir and undermining his status, in cases they filed over statements they posted on Twitter. On Thursday, the Public Prosecution remanded citizen Saqr Al-Hashash in custody over state security charges in which he is accused for offending HH the Amir, and investigations are set to continue tomorrow. The criminal court meanwhile set Feb 28 to make its ruling on the case of Twitter activist Hamid AlKhaldi, and look further on the case of Twitter activist Mutlaq Al-Sanad. The court also adjourned the case of Twitter activist Mohammad Al-Ajmi to Feb 21. All three face state security charges.

In another news, Al-Rai reported yesterday quoting parliamentary sources who indicated that a majority of MPs are leaning towards changing their position in supporting efforts calling on the government to write off interests of citizens’ bank loans, and instead focus on development projects “that ensures well-being and investment”. The lawmakers are likely to support proposals to grant Kuwaitis with shares in companies established to build developmental projects, something seen as a better long-term investment compared to cash handouts, said the sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

NBK’s Hasala tours the world KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) launched its new social activity on Instagram “Hasala around the world”, posting the best photos of NBK’s money box (Hasala) taken by fans while traveling around the world.

“NBK Hasala attracted thousands of people since last Ramadan’s TV commercial,” said Badria Al-Reshaid, NBK Public Relations Officer.

“The concept behind this social activity is to interact with NBK fans and share their photos of the money box (Hasala).”

“NBK Hasala worldwide tour included Australia, France, India, Morocco, Spain, United Arab Emirates, United States of America (USA) and many other countries. Hundreds of photos

participated till now. Participants can send their photos to social@nbk.com or to NBK official page on Instagram @NBKPage,” Al-Reshaid added. NBK greatly values social media as an easy mean of communicating with customers and also building a strong and lasting relationship. NBK is among the first regional banks to establish a strong social media presence, with Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Foursquare and Google + pages. For more information regarding banking transactions, events and competitions check out National Bank of Kuwait official facebook page NBK - Official Page or follow NBK on Twitter @NBKPage, and on Instagram @NBKPage.

Badria Al-Reshaid

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2013

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AMMAN: A girl waves the revolutionary Syrian flag during a protest against President Bashar Assad in front of the Syrian embassy to commemorate the 31st anniversary of the 1982 Hama massacre, in the era of Hafez Assad in Amman yesterday. The Arabic writing on the flag reads “free Syria.” —AP

US takes aim at Iran, Russia over Syria Israeli warplanes fly over Lebanon DAMASCUS: The United States said Iran is stepping up its support for the Syrian regime and that Russia is still arming it, heightening fears yesterday that the conflict may spill over the country’s borders.

The assessment by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton came as US Vice President Joe Biden prepared to discuss the crisis with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Syrian opposition chief Moaz Al-Khatib.

Fresh concerns about the 22-month conflict drawing in the wider region arose after Damascus threatened to retaliate over a reported Israeli air raid and key ally Iran warned the attack would have “grave consequences.”

President Bashar Al-Assad’s regime accused Israel of sending its warplanes to attack a military research centre in Jamraya, near Damascus, on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Israeli warplanes flew over southern Lebanon yesterday, two days after the Jewish state launched an airstrike near Damascus, as Syria’s army chief of staff warned against testing his country’s capabilities.

Gen Ali Abdullah Ayoub made his comments Thursday during a visit to some military units in the country. The Al-Baath newspaper, the mouthpiece of President Bashar Assad’s ruling party, quoted Ayoub as saying Syria will never change its stance “no matter how much the

enemy carries out provocative and hostile acts.”

The latest overflights came after officials said Israel launched a rare airstrike Wednesday inside Syria, targeting a convoy carrying antiaircraft weapons bound for Hezbollah, the powerful Lebanese militant group allied with Syria and Iran.

Meanwhile, at least five Lebanese soldiers were among six people killed in a clash yesterday between unidentified gunmen and the army on the border with Syria, a security official told AFP. Several other soldiers were wounded in the fighting, the official said on condition of anonymity, updating an earlier death toll. A wanted gunman was among those killed.

Lebanon’s northern and eastern frontiers have seen spates of violence since the March 2011 outbreak of an uprising in Syria against President Bashar Al-Assad, including cross-border shelling and gunfights.

Israel has so far maintained a stony silence, as well as over separate reports its aircraft had hit a weapons convoy near the Lebanese border. But Israeli media speculated that the alleged air strike on the convoy could spark a chain reaction, and reported troops on high alert in northern Israel.

Israel has frequently warned that if Syria’s chemical weapons fall into the hands of Lebanon’s Shiite movement Hezbollah, Israel’s

arch-foe and close Damascus ally, this would be a casus belli.

Israel has also raised the alarm over longrange Scud missiles, anti-aircraft systems and surface-to-surface missiles being transferred to Hezbollah. Residents of eastern Lebanon, meanwhile, said soldiers and unidentified gunmen clashed near the border with Syria yesterday, as a security official said at least five soldiers and a wanted Islamist gunman were killed.

After Wednesday’s alleged air strike, Damascus affirmed “Syria’s right to defend itself and its territory and sovereignty.” Its ambassador to Lebanon, Ali Abdel Karim Ali, said Syria, “which defends its sovereignty and territory, may decide to respond by surprise to this aggression. “It is up to the competent powers to choose the appropriate answer, and to determine the means and the place,” Ali told Lebanese website Al-Ahad, which is close to Hezbollah. Damascus ally Iran was also strident, with Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian warning that the “Zionist regime’s attack on the outskirts of Damascus will have grave consequences for Tel Aviv,” ISNA news agency reported.

Russia expressed “deep concern” over the reported strike, saying it would be a brazen infringement of the UN charter and unacceptable.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon called on all parties to “prevent tensions or their escalation in the region,” as Clinton warned of “the dangers of an increasing civil war and a potential proxy war.”

“The worst kind of predictions of what could happen, both internally and spilling over the borders of Syria, are certainly within the realm of the possible now,” she said.

“The Iranians have made it clear for some time that keeping Assad in power was one of their highest priorities. We believe they have acted on that by sending in more personnel, not only to help Assad, but to support and advise military security forces.”

Washington has resisted calls for it to deploy military assets to help Syria’s rebels and has stopped short of arming them. But it has provided non-lethal logistics, and medical and humanitarian support to rebels. In Geneva, the UN’s children’s agency said some 420,000 people-half of them children-in the central region of Homs desperately need humanitarian aid.

On the ground, southern Damascus saw fresh clashes yesterday, while army shelling hit a town in northern Aleppo province and Homs city was also pounded, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. At least 163 people were killed nationwide on Thursday, the watchdog said. —Agencies

International SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2013

Egypt opposition takes to streets after deadly week Politicians disavow violence but still call for marches CAIRO/PORT SAID: Thousands of opponents of President Mohamed Mursi returned to the streets of Egypt yesterday, demanding his overthrow after the deadliest violence of his seven months in power.

Men in black shirts of mourning marched through the Suez Canal city of Port Said, scene of the worst bloodshed of the past 9 days, chanting and shaking their fists.

Saturday against 21 Port Said people over the riots fueled the past week’s violence there, which saw dozens shot dead in clashes with police.

Mursi imposed a curfew and emergency rule in Port Said and two other canal cities on Sunday, a move that only seems to have added to the sense of local grievance.

Protesters also marched in Alexandria,

PORT SAID: An Egyptian soldier tries to prevent protestors from reaching the Interior Security building in the canal city of Port Said during a demonstration against Egypt’s President Mohamed Morsi after Friday prayers yesterday. —AFP “There is no God but God and Mohamed Morsi is the enemy of God,” they chanted. Brandishing portraits of those killed in the latest violence, they shouted: “We will die like they did, to get justice!”

Protests marking the second anniversary of the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak have killed nearly 60 people since Jan 25, prompting the head of the army to warn this week that the state was on the verge of collapse.

For the Port Said marchers, yesterday was also the first anniversary of a soccer stadium riot that killed 70 people last year.

Death sentences handed down on

Ismailia and the capital Cairo, where they were expected to descend on the presidential palace. Morsi’s supporters have clashed with protesters at the palace in the past, although the Brotherhood has kept its men off the streets in recent days.

Mohamed Ahmed, 26, protesting at the palace, said: “I am here because I want my rights, the ones the revolution called for and which were never achieved.”

In Alexandria hundreds blocked a major traffic intersection. The protesters accuse Morsi of betraying the spirit of the revolution by concentrating too much power in his own hands and those of his Muslim Brotherhood. The Brotherhood accuses

the opposition of trying to overthrow the first democratically elected leader in Egypt’s 7,000-year history.

Yesterday’s marches took place despite an intervention by Sheikh Ahmed AlTayyeb, head of the 1,000-year-old AlAzhar university and mosque, who hauled in politicians for crisis talks on Thursday and pushed them to sign a charter disavowing violence. Anti-Mursi politicians said that pact did not require them to call off demonstrations. “We brought down the Mubarak regime with a peaceful revolution and are determined to realize the same goals in the same way, regardless of the sacrifices or the barbaric oppression,” tweeted Mohamed ElBaradei, a former head of the UN nuclear watchdog who has become a secularist leader.

In a statement released overnight, leftist leader Hamdeen Sabahi said despite the Azhar initiative he would not enter talks until bloodshed was halted, a state of emergency lifted and those to blame for the violence brought to justice.

“Our aim ... is to complete the goals of the glorious January revolution: bread, freedom and social justice,” he said.

Tahrir Square, ground zero of the 2011 revolution against Mubarak, has become a graffiti-covered monument to Egypt’s perpetual turmoil, strewn with barbed wire and burnt out cars. Hundreds of protesters gathered in the rain as vendors sold flag bracelets, pharaonic statues, sunflower seeds and water. A man with a microphone shouted to a crowd of a few hundred, calling for Morsi to be put on trial. “We came here to get rid of Morsi,” said furniture dealer Mohammed Al-Nourashi, 57. “He’s only a president for the Brotherhood.” As he spoke, a crowd gathered. “Why is Obama supporting Morsi and the Brotherhood?

Why?” a man shouted, challenging the US president’s policy on Egypt.

Osama Mohammed, 24, selling fruit from a battered wooden cart, said he graduated with a degree in commerce in 2007, but hadn’t been able to find work - the sort of economic problems that caused the 2011 uprising and have only gotten worse since. He was not on the square for politics, just business. —Reuters

Saudi spares Filipino death-row convict MANILA: Saudi Arabia has spared one of two Filipino men sentenced to death by beheading for separate killings, Philippine Vice President Jejomar Binay said yesterday.

Rodelio “Dondon” Lanuza is expected to walk free after more than 12 years in prison following the Saudi government’s decision to pay 2.3 million rials ($614,000) in indemnity to the victim’s kin, Binay announced on television. Binay, who said he had personally lobbied for Lanuza’s freedom, added the balance of the $860,000 settlement sought by the victim’s kin was raised by the convict’s family. “It’s already definite that he will be spared from the death penalty,” Binay said on the ABS-CBN network. The draughtsman was sentenced to death after he told a Saudi court he had knifed his Saudi employ-

er to death in August 2000 to protect himself from sexual assault, said labour rights monitor Gary Martinez. “Lanuza, 39, is expected to be granted freedom by the Saudi Reconciliation Committee,” Martinez, chairman of Migrante International, a migrant workers’ rights group, said in a statement. “All our efforts have not been in vain, and we attribute this mainly to (Lanuza’s) fighting spirit and the collective efforts of friends, supporters and family. “If not for these, the Philippine and Saudi governments would not have given proper attention to Dondon’s case,” Martinez added.

However, Binay said the Saudis are set to behead another Filipino death convict, Joselito Zapanta, shortly unless about

$811,000 in blood money is paid to the kin of his Sudanese landlord who was murdered in 2009. The construction worker won a fourmonth stay of execution in mid-November last year to give him more time to raise the amount. Binay said the victim’s family had since agreed to settle for less than the original amount of about $1.08 million, though the amount raised so far was still far less than the reduced amount. Martinez told AFP about 125 Filipinos including Lanuza and Zapanta were on death row abroad. The largest group of 75 were convicted in China for narcotics smuggling, he said. About nine million Filipinos work overseas. Their remittances are a mainstay of an economy that has struggled to create well-paying domestic jobs. —AFP

KIRKUK: Iraqi demonstrators shout slogans and make victory signs during an anti-government protest in the ethnically mixed city of Kirkuk 240 km (150 miles) north of Baghdad yesterday. —AFP

Tens of thousands call for Iraq PM’s ouster FALLUJAH, Iraq: Tens of thousands of Iraqis gathered in Sunni-majority parts the country yesterday in new rallies against Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki, a week after eight demonstrators were shot dead amid a dire political crisis.

Thousands demonstrated in Fallujah, just west of Baghdad, where the killings took place at the hands of the army, railing against their alleged marginalization at the hands of Iraq’s Shiite-led authorities. “We want the fall of the regime-no negotiations,” proclaimed one banner in the town.

The demonstrations were the latest in a wave of rallies that have continued largely uninterrupted since late December, criticizing the alleged mistreatment of the Sunni community and, more recently, calling for Maliki’s downfall.

They are among the myriad problems confronting the premier, who has also faced vocal opposition from many of his erstwhile government partners less than three months before key provincial elections.

“I will continue to protest, even if I am the one left,” said Osama Nayif, one of the Fallujah protesters. The 25-year-old was among 59 people who were wounded in Fallujah last week.

In an apparent revenge attack immediately following the protesters’ deaths, two Iraqi soldiers were killed and three others kidnapped as the army withdrew from the city and handed over security responsibilities to the police. In Ramadi, capital of Anbar province which surrounds Fallujah, many protesters held up flags dating back to the rule of now-executed dictator Saddam Hussein.

“I call for the Arab League and the United Nations to protect the demonstrators and to pressure the Iraqi government to listen to the people’s demands,” said one of them, Abdulrahman Al-Ghawi. And in Adhamiyah, a mostly-Sunni neighborhood in northern Baghdad, several hundred demonstrators held their latest weekly protest under heavy security measures at the Abu Hanifa mosque, calling for the release of prisoners they claim are being wrongfully held.

The latest rallies come a day after Al-Qaeda’s front group in Iraq released an audio message calling for the country’s Sunnis to take up arms against the Shiite-led government.

“You have two options,” a voice in the audio message, purportedly that of Islamic State of Iraq spokesman Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, said. “You can kneel to them (the government), and this is impossible, or carry weapons and you will be the superior.”

Iraqi authorities have taken several steps in a bid to curb the protests. They claim to have released nearly 900 prisoners, and have pledged to raise the salaries of anti-Qaeda militiamen. At the same time, a top minister has publicly apologized for holding detainees without charge for prolonged periods. —AFP

INTERNATIONAL SATURDAY, FEBUARY 2, 2013

Aussie DJs won’t face royal hoax call charges LONDON: British prosecutors said yesterday that two Australian DJs will not face charges over a hoax call to the hospital treating Prince William’s pregnant wife Catherine, after which a nurse was found hanged. The Crown Prosecution Service said there was no evidence to support a charge of manslaughter over the death of nurse Jacintha Saldanha, and that they would not be able to extradite the pair for data protection offences.

It said that while misguided and with tragic consequences “the telephone call was intended as a harmless prank.” Radio hosts Mel Greig and Michael Christian posed as Queen Elizabeth II, William’s father Prince Charles, and one of the queen’s corgi dogs when they called the private King

Edward VII’s Hospital in London in early December. Indian-born Saldanha inadvertently put them through to Kate’s room where another employee revealed details of Kate’s recovery from severe morning sickness, which were then broadcast by their Sydney-based radio station.

An inquest heard that Saldanha, a mother of two, was found hanged in staff accommodation at the hospital several days later and there were no suspicious circumstances over her death. She also had marks on her wrist.

Malcolm McHaffie, Deputy Head of Special Crime at the Crown Prosecution Service, said police had handed them a file on the case and asked advice about whether a prosecution should be brought. “Having carefully reviewed the

evidence currently available we have concluded that there is no evidence to support a charge of manslaughter,” he said in a statement.

He added that while there was “some evidence to warrant further investigation” of data protection and malicious communications offences, “any potential prosecution would not be in the public interest.” “In reaching this decision, the CPS has taken into account the following, among other, matters,” he said. “It is not possible to extradite individuals from Australia in respect of the potential offences in question. “However misguided, the telephone call was intended as a harmless prank.” McHaffie added: “The consequences in this case were very sad. We send our sincere condolences to Jacintha Saldanha’s family.”

There was no immediate reaction from Greig or Christian, or from Saldanha’s family. The Austereo radio network revealed on Monday that Greig and Christian have been taken off air permanently following the call, which also resulted in them receiving death threats over the hoax.

Austereo suspended prank calls by its stations and pledged at least Aus$500,000 ($520,000) to help Saldanha’s grieving family. Greig and Christian also made a tearful televised apology. Australia’s media watchdog has opened an investigation into the call.

Saldanha was buried in her native southwestern Indian state of Karnataka in December. She left three notes, one of which reportedly criticised colleagues over her treatment at the hospital. — AFP

Malala, former Eastern bloc activists up for Nobel Prize Nomination deadline expires

TIMBUKTU: A French military cuts bush to clear a road near Timbuktu as part of the French military operation codenamed Serval. —AFP

Hollande to visit Mali as French eye last bastion TIMBUKTU: President Francois Hollande prepared to visit Mali as French-led troops worked yesterday to secure the last Islamist stronghold in the north after a lightning offensive against the extremists.

Hollande will visit Mali on Saturday with Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and Development Minister Pascal Canin, his office said, three weeks after French troops launched a surprise intervention against Islamists in its former colony. The trip comes as troops are gathered at the gates of Kidal, a sandy northeastern outpost that is the last rebel stronghold in the poor west African country, poised to secure the town after capturing its airport on Wednesday.

The French-led campaign has claimed a rapid succession of victories in key Islamist strongholds where citizens greeted troops with euphoria. In the fabled city of Timbuktu, a school reopened yesterday Friday for the first time since a March coup in Bamako which paved the way for the Islamists to seize towns across northern Mali, taking control of an area as large as Texas.

“When the Islamists took control they wanted to re-open the school, but on their terms: a different curriculum, lessons in Arabic, girls separated from boys and forced to wear veils.

We refused,” said teacher Aichatou Amadou. But the joy of citizens throwing off the yoke of brutal Islamist rule, where they were denied music and television and threatened with whippings, amputations or execution, has been accompanied by a grim backlash against light-skinned citizens seen as supporters of the Al Qaeda-linked radicals.

Rights groups have reported summary executions by both the Malian army and the Islamists. Human Rights Watch detailed the killing of at least 13 suspected Islamist supporters in the central garrison town of Sevare. The victims were shot and dumped into wells, said the watchdog, a report corroborated by other rights groups. These abuses took place as the Islamists seized Konna, north of Sevare, in a push into government-held territory which sparked France’s surprise intervention on January 11 amid fears the entire country could become a haven for terrorists. In Konna, another five people were “disappeared”, their relatives and neighbours told Human Rights Watch. — AFP

OSLO: Malala Yousafzai, the shot Pakistani schoolgirl-turnedicon of Taleban resistance, and ex-Eastern bloc activists are among those known to be nominated for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, as the deadline expired yesterday.

This year’s award will be announced in early October, but speculation was already underway as the deadline for nominations ran out on February 1. Fifteen-year-old Malala Yousafzai was shot by a Taliban gunman at point blank range as she travelled on a bus to school on October 9, targeted for promoting girls’ education. She has since become an internationally recognized symbol of opposition to the Taleban’s drive to deny women education, and against religious extremism in a country where women’s rights are often flouted.

“A prize to Malala would not only be timely and fitting with a line of awards to champions of human rights and democracy, but also ... would set both children and education on the peace and conflict agenda,” said the head of the Peace Research Institute of Oslo, Kristian Berg Harpviken. Others known to have been nominated are human rights activists whose names have been mentioned in previous years, including Belarussian human rights activist Ales Belyatski-currently behind bars-and Russia’s Lyudmila Alexeyeva. Belarus, which former US President George W Bush’s administration had branded as the “the last dictatorship in Europe”, is governed by authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, who has cracked down even further on opponents of late, rights groups charge.

In neighboring Russia, authorities “unleashed the worst political crackdown in Russia’s post-Soviet history,” according to Human Rights Watch (HRW). Trying to predict who will win the Nobel Peace Prize is a difficult task, complicated by the fact that the list of nominees each year is kept secret for 50 years. But thousands of people are eligible to nominate candidates-including former laureates, members of parliament and government around the world, some university professors, and members of certain international organizations — and they are allowed to reveal the names they have put forward.

As a result, it is known that French, Canadian and Norwegian MPs have all separately nominated Malala.

Beliatsky’s and Alexeyeva’s names have meanwhile been put forward by two Norwegian lawmakers. “They have both defied authoritarian state structures and the illegal and illegitimate abuse of power,” one of the two MPs, Jan Tore Sanner, said.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee is quick to point out that a nomination should not be interpreted as any kind of recognition on its behalf. In the past, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Benito Mussolini, and even Michael Jackson have all been nominated.

Some names are already being tossed around as possible recipients of this year’s prize even though it is not yet known if they have been formally nominated. They include Bill and Hillary Clinton, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation of

the US, and Nicholas Winton of Britain who saved Jewish children in Prague just before the outbreak of World War II. Other possible candidates are Israeli former nuclear technician and whistle-blower Mordechai Vanunu, who leaked Israeli nuclear secrets to a British newspaper, Coptic Christian Maggie Gobran, dubbed Egypt’s “Mother Teresa” for her work to help the poor in Cairo’s slums, and Denis Mukwege, a pioneering doctor who founded a clinic for rape victims in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee is made up of five members designated by the Norwegian parliament. It has been known to come up with some surprising-and occasionally controversial-choices, as in 2009 when it honoured US President Barack Obama just months after he took office, or last year when it gave the nod to the crisis-ravaged European Union.

Its choices have caused such a stir that some have accused the committee of violating the last will and testament of the prize founder, Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel (1833-1896), who had a fairly narrow definition of “champions of peace.”

The Nobel Peace Prize will be announced in early October and will be handed over at a formal ceremony in Oslo on December 10. — AFP

A handout picture from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham shows injured 15-year-old Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai reading a book. —AFP

INTERNATIONAL SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2013

China fireworks cause huge highway collapse Over 8 killed, 11 hurt in explosion

PHNOM PENH: Cambodia’s Prince Norodom Ranariddh (right) leads the Royal float during a funeral procession for the late former King Norodom Sihanouk in front of the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh yesterday. — AFP

Mourners pay homage to Cambodia’s former king PHNOM PENH: A sea of mourners filled the streets of the Cambodian capital yesterday for a lavish funeral for revered former king Norodom Sihanouk, who towered over six tumultuous decades in his nation’s history.

Hundreds of thousands of Cambodians, dressed in black and white, began massing before dawn to pay their respects to the mercurial monarch, who died of a heart attack in Beijing in October, aged 89. The legions of mourners, many weeping and holding their hands together in a mark of respect, waited by the roadside as the procession inched through the city’s avenues, flanked by courtiers in white traditional costume.

A father of 14 children over six marriages, Sihanouk abdicated in 2004 after steering Cambodia through six decades marked by independence from France, civil war, the murderous Khmer Rouge regime, his own exile and finally peace. Many elderly Cambodians credit him with overseeing a rare period of political stability in the 1950s and 1960s, following independence, until the Khmer Rouge emerged in the 1970s.

Up to two million people died under their reign of terror, including five of Sihanouk’s own children. But even though the ever-changeable monarch had allied himself with the Maoist movement, he never lost his people’s veneration. “He did great things for the country. I love him very much. I’m really sad that we’ve lost him,” 70-year-old Suon Toch told AFP as he waited near the palace with his family, holding a portrait of the late royal.

Sihanouk’s widow Monique, dabbing her teary eyes, walked behind the golden casket earlier as it was brought out of the royal palace in Phnom Penh, accompanied by their son, King Norodom Sihamoni. — AFP

Hong Kongers turn to Obama over milk shortage fears HONG KONG: More than 12,500 people have petitioned US President Barack Obama to help Hong Kong avoid a baby formula shortage, saying infants in the city are facing malnutrition due to mainland Chinese “smugglers”.

Formula is popular with mainlanders because of concerns about the safety of food processed in China following a series of scandals, notably in 2008 when six babies died from drinking milk tainted with the chemical melamine.

The appeal, labelled “Baby Hunger Outbreak in Hong Kong, International Aid Requested”, was posted on Tuesday on the “We the People” section of the White House website, which does not require petitioners to be US citizens. The number of signatures has to reach 100,000 by the end of the month in order to trigger a response from the Obama administration.

“Local parents in Hong Kong can hardly buy baby formula milk powder in drugstores and supermarkets, as smugglers from mainland China storm to this tiny city to buy milk powder and resell for huge profits in China,” the appeal said. “We request for international support and assistance as babies in Hong Kong will face malnutrition very soon,” it added. — AFP

BEIJING: A truckload of fireworks intended for Lunar New Year celebrations went off yesterday in a massive, deadly explosion that destroyed part of an elevated highway in central China, sending vehicles plummeting 30 meters (about 100 feet) to the ground.

State TV broadcaster CCTV said eight people were confirmed dead and 11 injured after seven vehicles were recovered from the wreckage.

The death toll appeared likely to rise: The official Xinhua News Agency said the collapse smashed and buried at least 25 vehicles.

Earlier reports by China National Radio and some other outlets of 26 people killed were later removed from websites, without explanation. An 80meter (260-foot) stretch of a major east-west highway collapsed in Mianchi county in Henan province. It scattered blackened chunks of debris and shattered the windows of a nearby truck stop. A truck driver interviewed on CCTV said he was only 20 meters (yards) away from the explosion. “I heard a huge bang and immediately braked. I saw small fireballs falling down one by one,” said the unidentified truck driver, whose truck windshield was smashed from the impact of the blast.

“I then heard the sounds of clanking and exploding for five to six minutes,” the driver said. “My face was covered in dust.” Photos posted online by Xinhua showed a stretch of

elevated highway gone, with one truck’s back wheels perched at the edge of a shorn-off section of the highway.

Other photos showed firefighters below spraying water on scorched hunks of concrete, wrecked trucks and flattened shipping containers.

There was no immediate word on the cause of the explosion. It occurred about 90 kilometers (55 miles) west of Luoyang, an ancient capital of China known for grottoes of Buddhist statues carved from limestone cliffs.

Fireworks are an enormously popular

part of Chinese Lunar New Year festivities. To meet the demand, fireworks are made, shipped and stored in large quantities, sometimes in unsafe conditions.

A result is periodic catastrophe: In 2006, on the first day of the Lunar New Year, a storeroom of fireworks exploded at a temple fair in Henan, killing 36 people and injuring dozens more. In 2000, an unlicensed fireworks factory in southern China exploded, killing 33 people, including 13 primary and secondary school students working there. — AP

MIANCHI: Rescuers work at the accident site where an expressway bridge partially collapsed due to a truck explosion in Mianchi County, Sanmenxia, central China’s Henan Province yesterday. — AP

Taiwan premier resigns over flagging economy

Tibetan leader accuses China of ‘sham’ trials

TAIPEI: Taiwanese Premier Sean Chen said yesterday he has stepped down for health reasons, after the cabinet he heads came under fire for its poor handling of the economy. “I have some health problems ... and I need to completely change my life and work style to reverse the situation,” the 63-year-old finance expert told a press conference to announce his resignaSean Chen tion. “I believe that the economy will improve in the coming year. We have worked very hard on the planning for long-term issues and I hope everybody will continue to support the new team.”

Deputy premier Jiang Yi-huah, 53, a scholar-turned-politician and a former interior minister, will take over his job, Chen said. Chen’s departure came as Taiwan’s economy grew 1.25 percent in 2012 from a year ago at the slowest pace in three years due to shrinking exports.

Chen, who previously headed the Financial Supervisory Commission, the main industry regulator, had a tense term since taking office as premier in early 2012. His cabinet frequently came under attacks over the sluggish economy and other controversial policies, with the opposition repeatedly demanding his resignation. Last year, Chen survived a parliamentary no-confidence vote-only the second in Taiwan history-over what opposition lawmakers deemed as his cabinet’s failure to curb rising unemployment and inflation. — AFP

NEW DELHI: The political leader of Tibetan exiles yesterday accused China of holding “sham” trials in which eight Tibetans were convicted of inciting others to set themselves on fire to protest Chinese rule. Lobsang Sangay, prime minister of the Tibetan government-inexile, said the convictions reported Thursday by China’s state-run news agency were unfortunate because “repression is the cause” of the self-immolations.

About 100 Tibetan monks, nuns and lay people have set themselves on fire since 2009 to protest China’s heavy-handed rule, with more than 80 of them dying from their burns, according to overseas Tibetan rights groups. A court in the southwestern province of Sichuan sentenced a Tibetan man to death with a two year reprieve and gave his nephew a 10-year prison sentence for encouraging eight people to self-immolate last year, three of whom died, the Xinhua News Agency reported. Both men had been charged with murder. Suspended death sentences are usually commuted to life in prison. Xinhua also said a court in the northwestern province of Gansu sentenced six ethnic Tibetans to between three and 12 years in prison for their roles in a self-immolation of a local resident in October. On Friday, Sangay attended a prayer meeting of nearly 1,000 Tibetans in the Indian capital of New Delhi, with a huge banner in the background reading, “Why do Tibetans burn themselves?”

Sangay said it was unfortunate that the Chinese government had resorted to “sham” trials that had “no basis or legal process.” — AP

International SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2013

Mexico oil firm blast kills 25, wounds 100 Rescuers search for trapped in rubble

US Army Maj Gen Roger Mathews (left) and Australian Defense Forces Maj Gen Richard Burr salute during a ceremony welcoming Burr to Fort Shafter, Hawaii. —AP

Australian general gets key US Army post FORT SHAFTER, Hawaii: Maj Gen Richard Burr salutes with his palm facing out, like he’s shielding his eyes from the sun.

He wears a wide-brimmed felt “slouch hat” with a brown and green camouflage uniform. The two-star general in the Australian Defence Force stands out amid the American soldiers donning berets and green and beige fatigues at the U.S. Army’s headquarters for the Pacific. But he’s responsible for directing their training and exercises as U.S. Army Pacific’s deputy commander for operations. The Army is also making Burr their liaison to New Zealand, his homeland Australia and countries in Southeast Asia.

Burr’s appointment - it’s the first time a non-American has served in such a high-ranking position at a command like thissymbolizes the Army’s push to connect more with allies and friendly nations in the Pacific as it implements the Obama administration’s policy to “rebalance” national defense strategy toward the region.

Burr reports to Lt Gen Francis Wiercinski, a three-star general and US Army Pacific’s top commander since 2011.

Wiercinski is responsible for most US soldiers in the region, except those in South Korea. Burr said his presence in Hawaii tells others the U.S. Army is open to broadening its relationships. “I think it sends a very positive message to all countries in the region - not just our two countries - that stronger partnerships is really the way to go,” Burr said in an interview Wednesday, one month after arriving in Hawaii for the new job. “And building from bilateral to multilateral partnerships is the key to a stronger, more stable region.” —AP

Republicans face a balancing act on immigration WASHINGTON: Republicans face a delicate balancing act as they embrace an unprecedented shift in their views on immigration reform - and no one better exemplifies the potential risks and rewards than Sen Marco Rubio of Florida. Rubio has courted conservative commentators in recent weeks, outlining a set of principles for changes in immigration law that include a path to citizenship for the 11 million illegal immigrants who live in the United States. He’s in the vanguard of a growing list of prominent Republicans who see their electionyear pummeling among Hispanic voters as a wakeup call to address a broken immigration system and repair their standing among an evolving electorate.

As an emerging Republican star, Rubio could burnish his resume for a 2016 presidential campaign by steering immigration reform through the Senate. A bipartisan Senate group that includes Rubio reached agreement this week on a wide-ranging immigration plan that includes a citizenship provision.

Other Republicans are moving on the issue. A bipartisan group in the House is working on a similar proposal. Last week in Charlotte, NC, most members of the Republican National Committee agreed that the GOP must improve its tone and message on immigration. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, an influential party member, used an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal to urge the nation to “seize the moment” on bipartisan reform. Yet the politics of immigration remain perilous for any Republican. —AP

MEXICO CITY: Emergency services worked into the early hours of yesterday to find people trapped in rubble under state oil company Pemex’s headquarters in Mexico City after an explosion that killed at least 25 people and injured more than 100.

Scenes of confusion and chaos at the downtown tower dealt yet another blow to Pemex’s image as Mexico’s new president courts outside investment for the 75-year-old monopoly. Search and rescue workers picked through debris, and investigators sifted through shattered glass and concrete at the bottom of the building to try to find what caused the blast. It was not clear how many might still be trapped inside.

Pemex, a symbol of Mexican self-sufficiency as well as a byword in Mexico for security glitches, oil theft and frequent accidents, has been hamstrung by inefficiency, union corruption and a series of safety failures costing hundreds of lives. Thursday’s blast at the more than 50-storey skyscraper that houses administrative offices followed a September fire at a Pemex gas facility near the northern city of Reynosa which killed 30 people. More than 300 were killed when a Pemex natural gas plant on the outskirts of Mexico City blew up in 1984.

Eight years later, about 200 people were killed and 1,500 injured after a series of underground gas explosions in Guadalajara, Mexico’s second biggest city. An official investigation found Pemex was partly to blame. Pemex initially flagged Thursday’s incident as a problem with its electricity supply and then said there had been an explosion.

But it did not give a cause for the blast.

A government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a preliminary line of inquiry suggested a gas boiler had blown up in a Pemex building just to the side of the main tower.

However, he stressed nothing had been determined for sure.

Others at the scene said gas may have caused the blast. Not long after the blast, President Enrique Pena Nieto was at the scene, vowing to discover how it happened.

“We will work exhaustively to investigate exactly what took place, and if there

“I have issued instructions to the relevant authorities to convene national and international experts to help in the investigations,” Osorio Chong said. He later noted that the number of casualties could still climb. Whatever caused it, the deaths and destruction will put the spotlight back on safety at Pemex, which only a couple of hours before the

MEXICO CITY: This handout picture taken and released by the Mexican Office of Presidencia on Thursday shows Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto (center) talking with a woman injured at the Pemex Azcapotzalco hospital in Mexico City. —AFP are people responsible, to apply the force of the law on them,” he told reporters before going to visit survivors in hospital. Shortly after midnight, at least 46 victims were still being treated in hospital, the company said. Pemex said the blast would not affect operations, but concern in the government was evident as top military officials, the attorney general and the energy minister joined Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong for a late news conference.

explosion had issued a statement on Twitter saying the company had managed to improve its record on accidents.

Nieto has said he is giving top priority to reforming the company this year, though he has yet to reveal details of the plan, which already faces opposition from the left.

Both Pena Nieto and his finance minister were this week at pains to stress the company will not be privatized. —Reuters

Indiana murderer freed in Chicago

Steven L Robbins, a convicted murderer who was mistakenly released from custody in Chicago. —AP

CHICAGO: Police were hunting for a convicted murderer on Thursday after he was mistakenly released from custody in Chicago, where he was sent to face a drug charge while serving a 60-year prison sentence in Indiana. Indiana Department of Corrections officials said Steven L. Robbins, 44, was sent to Cook County Circuit Court on Tuesday to face a drug charge. The charge was dropped, “but for reasons yet unknown, the offender was released by Illinois authorities without being held for return,” the department said in a news release.

The Cook County Sheriff’s Office said it was investigating how Robbins was released. The Gary, Indiana, native was serving the decades-long sentence for murder and weapons convictions out of Marion County in Indiana. He started serving the sentence in October 2004 and his earliest projected release date was more than 16 years from now on June 29, 2029.

Both Illinois and Indiana have issued arrest warrants for Robbins. Officials in both states are asking for the public’s help to apprehend him. Information about Robbins’ murder case wasn’t immediately available Thursday evening. —AP

International SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2013

Ed Koch, who became a symbol of NYC, dies The mayor who transformed the city NEW YORK: Ed Koch’s favorite moment as mayor of New York City, fittingly, involved yelling. Suddenly inspired to do something brash about the rare transit strike that crippled the city in 1980, he strode down to the Brooklyn Bridge to encourage commuters who were forced to walk to work instead of jumping aboard subway trains and buses.

rest of the world.

Koch died at 2 am at New YorkPresbyterian/Columbia hospital, spokesman George Arzt said. The funeral will be Monday at Temple Emanu-El in Manhattan. Koch was admitted to the hospital on Monday with shortness of breath, and was moved to intensive care on Thursday for closer monitoring of the

New York Mayor Ed Koch gestures as he escorts Republican presidential nominee Ronald Reagan into Gracie Mansion in New York in this file photo. —AP “I began to yell, ‘Walk over the bridge!

Walk over the bridge! We’re not going to let these bastards bring us to our knees!’

And people began to applaud,” the famously combative, acid-tongued politician recalled at a 2012 forum. His success in rallying New Yorkers in the face of the strike was, he said, his biggest personal achievement as mayor. And it was a display that was quintessentially Koch, who rescued the city from near-financial ruin during a three-term City Hall run in which he embodied New York chutzpah for the

fluid in his lungs and legs. He had been released two days earlier after being treated for water in his lungs and legs. He had initially been admitted on Jan 19.

After leaving City Hall in January 1990, Koch battled assorted health problems and heart disease. The larger-than-life Koch, who breezed through the streets of New York flashing his signature thumbsup sign, won a national reputation with his feisty style. “How’m I doing?” was his trademark question to constituents, although the answer mattered little to

Koch. The mayor always thought he was doing wonderfully.

Bald and bombastic, paunchy and pretentious, the city’s 105th mayor was quick with a friendly quip and equally fast with a cutting remark for his political enemies.

“You punch me, I punch back,” Koch once memorably observed. “I do not believe it’s good for one’s self-respect to be a punching bag.” The mayor dismissed his critics as “wackos,” waged verbal war with developer Donald Trump (“piggy”) and mayoral successor Rudolph Giuliani (“nasty man”), lambasted the Rev Jesse Jackson, and once reduced the head of the City Council to tears.

“I’m not the type to get ulcers,” he wrote in “Mayor,” his autobiography. “I give them.” When President George W Bush ran for re-election in 2004, Democrat Koch crossed party lines to support him and spoke at the GOP convention. He also endorsed Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s reelection efforts at a time when Bloomberg was a Republican. Koch described himself as “a liberal with sanity.”

He was also an outspoken supporter of Israel, willing to criticize anyone, including President Barack Obama, over decisions Koch thought could indicate any wavering of support for that nation.

In a WLIW television program “The Jews of New York,” Koch spoke of his attachment to his faith. “Jews have always thought that having someone elevated with his head above the grass was not good for the Jews. I never felt that way,” he said. “I believe that you have to stand up.” Under his watch from 1978-89, the city climbed out of its financial crisis thanks to Koch’s tough fiscal policies and razor-sharp budget cuts, and subway service improved enormously.

But homelessness and AIDS soared through the 1980s, and critics charged that City Hall’s responses were too little, too late.—AP

2 children, 1 adult die in Detroit freeway pileup DETROIT: It took only seconds for the light snow to turn into a blinding curtain of white.

Drivers slammed on their brakes, others swerved to avoid tractor-trailers jackknifed across a busy Detroit freeway that quickly turned into a mile-long string of wrecks.

Three people were killed, including two children. The maze of mangled vehicles closed Interstate 75 for several hours after the Thursday morning chain-reaction wrecks, which also sent more than a dozen people to local hospitals. Ken Czarnecki recalled quickly swerving to avoid a stopped truck in his lane, then glancing off the side of a car wedged beneath another truck before striking the back of a semi-trailer. The falling snow, he said, took only moments to thicken. “It was a total white

sheet,” Czarnecki said. “You couldn’t see past the front of your car.”

The children who died, a 7-year-old boy and 9-year-old girl from Windsor, Ontario, were believed to be siblings whose parents were injured in the accident, Michigan State Police Lt Michael Shaw. An adult also was killed, though no other information about the victims has been released.

Police estimated that as many as 30 cars, SUVs and semi-trailers were crushed, buckled or damaged along the freeway, which cuts through a heavily industrialized part of the city and nearby communities. Semi-trailers and tankers dominate the interstate, some hauling loads and liquids to a nearby refinery and steel companies. The freeway’s surface was slick Thursday as temperatures

in the Detroit area dropped by about 30 degrees from the previous day to only 24 degrees at the time of the pile up, along with strong winds. The accidents happened near an elevated stretch of expressway where the road surface can cool quickly and make driving hazardous, said National Weather Service meteorologist Bryan Tilley.

Conditions for drivers went from “clear to total whiteout in a matter of seconds,” Shaw said. “All of a sudden, they couldn’t see anymore.” Motorists and passengers who were able to climb out of their vehicles huddled together on the side of the road, some visibly distraught, others looking dazed. A man and woman hugged under the gray, cloudfilled skies, a pair of suitcases next to them and a bumper on the ground behind. —AP

Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton embraces Triza Lapani, 17, after the teen helped Clinton put on a chitenje cloth, a traditional skirt, after speaking at Camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) run by the Peace Corps, in Lilongwe, Malawi.

—AP file photo

Hillary takes a rest, How weird is that?

WASHINGTON: Hillary Rodham Clinton’s plan for 2013 was simple. She’d embark on an epic swansong around the world as US secretary of state, a dizzying itinerary that would take her past 1 million miles in the air at the helm of American diplomacy and perhaps break her own record of 112 countries visited while in the post. Then, there would be a long rest, time and work with her husband, former President Bill Clinton, on development issues and a sequel to her 2003 memoir “Living History.”

Finally, she’d make a destiny-defining decision: whether to try again to become America’s first female president. Her health got in the way: a nasty stomach virus while returning from a weeklong trip to Europe, exhaustion, severe dehydration, a faint, a fall and a concussion that led to a brief hospitalization when doctors discovered a blood clot near her brain.

The woman who’d seemed to lay the perfect groundwork for another presidential bid was sidelined by circumstances beyond her control.

It was a rare sign of vulnerability in what had been a carefully charted four years, where as a peace mediator, international enforcer and global ambassador of America she fully emerged from the shadow of her husband. But it was not the only sign.

Burden of Benghazi The deadly terrorist attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, on Sept 11, 2012, revealed an episode of State Department miscommunication on her watch that could feed into her diplomatic legacy and give future political opponents, should she return to politics, an opening to exploit.

At times emotional and frequently combative, Clinton rejected Republican suggestions in two congressional hearings that the administration tried to mislead the country about the attack that killed Chris Stevens, the US ambassador to Libya, and three other Americans. She insisted the State Department is moving swiftly and aggressively to strengthen security at diplomatic posts worldwide.

In the final spectacle of a diplomatic career that ends Friday when John Kerry succeeds her, she would not be browbeaten.

Pressed perhaps once too often on why the terrorist assault was miscast as a public protest in the days afterward, Clinton went after her Republican inquisitor with her voice rising and quivering in anger. “What difference, at this point, does it make?” she demanded. “It is our job to figure out what happened and do everything we can to prevent it from ever happening again, Senator.”

Weighing 2016 Even before her ailments, people close to her were debating the pros and cons of another presidential run. Would it be worth the cost in time, energy and especially money - her 2008 campaign debt was just retired in January - and would it spark a new round of personal attacks on her, her husband and her character?

Polls show her as the popular favorite for 2016; no Democrat is better placed right now to unify the party. With instant national appeal and the highest approval ratings of her political career, she would also presumably have a head start on any Republican candidate in a general election. And at age 69, she’d hardly be too old to lead. She’d be five years younger than Vice President Joe Biden, a possible party rival. —AP

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2013

INTERNATIONAL SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2013

22 die in suicide attack near Pakistan mosque Sectarian attack wounds 30 worshippers

KABUL: An internally displaced Afghan family looks on from their hut at Nassaji Camp, east of Kabul, yesterday.

With an ongoing Taleban-led insurgency plaguing the poverty-stricken country, Afghanistan’s internally displaced population has reached half a million according to the UN refugee agency, though the actual number is likely to be much higher. — AFP

South Korean tourist drugged, raped in India NEW DELHI: A South Korean student holidaying on her own in India was allegedly drugged and raped by the son of a hotel owner as she visited a tiger reserve in central India, police said yesterday. The 23-year-old college student has filed a police case saying she was raped on January 14 after returning to the hotel from a safari at the Bandhavgarh National Park in Madhya Pradesh state.

“The incident happened last month but she said she did not have the courage to report it right away. She approached us on Thursday and we have registered a case against the accused,” inspector Prakash Kulkarni told AFP. Kulkarni, a police officer in Aurangabad city of Maharashtra state where the complaint was made, said the case had been transferred to his counterparts in neighboring Madhya Pradesh.

The incident comes on the heels of the brutal gang-rape of a student in New Delhi in December that has triggered an outpouring of criticism of the police and inadequate safety for women in Indian society. The physiotherapy student died 13 days after the assault, which happened on a bus she had boarded with her boyfriend as they returned home from watching a film in an upmarket shopping mall. The South Korean woman had come to India last month on a tourist visa, the Times of India newspaper reported. The paper said the woman had been offered a bottle of beer by the suspect after she returned to the hotel in the evening. “She said she lost consciousness but woke up in the middle of night to find the suspect sexually assaulting her. — AFP

PESHAWAR: A suicide bomber detonated his explosives outside a Shiite mosque in northwestern Pakistan as worshippers were leaving Friday prayers, killing 22 people and wounding over 30 in the latest apparent sectarian attack in the country, police said.

Shiite Muslims in Pakistan have increasingly been targeted by radical Sunnis who consider them heretics, and 2012 was the bloodiest year for the minority sect in the country’s history.

The attack on the mosque took place in the town of Hangu in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which has experienced previous clashes between the Sunni and Shiite communities that live there.

The bomber staged his attack at one of the mosque’s exits leading to a bazaar, said Hangu police chief Mian Mohammad Saeed. The blast damaged several small shops and peppered a wall with shrapnel, leaving scores of pockmarks, according to local TV footage.

Ambulances rushed in to pick up the dead and wounded, as police tried to keep back onlookers in the crowded bazaar.

The explosion killed 22 and wounded over 30 people, said another police officer, Naeem Khan. One policeman who was guarding the mosque was killed and another was injured. Most of the dead and wounded were Shiites, but some of the casualties were also from the country’s majority sect since there is a Sunni mosque nearby, said Khan. No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but suspicion will likely fall on the Pakistani Taliban or Lashkar-eJhangvi, which have both carried out

bombings against Shiites. The worst sectarian violence in Pakistan in recent years has been in southwestern Baluchistan province, which has the largest concentration of Shiites in the country. A twin bombing last month at a

HANGU, Pakistan: Onlookers stand over the site of a bomb blast outside a mosque in Hangu yesterday. A suicide bomber targeted a mosque in northwest Pakistan yesterday. —AFP billiards hall in the provincial capital, Quetta, killed 86 people, most of them Shiites.

According to Human Rights Watch, more than 400 Shiites were killed in targeted attacks in Pakistan in 2012, including over 120 in Baluchistan. Sectarian militant groups, such as Lashkar-eJhangvi, have increased their strength

enough to crack down on the attacks against Shiites. Pakistan’s intelligence agencies helped nurture Sunni militant groups like Lashkar-e-Jhangvi in the 1980s, to counter a perceived threat from neighboring Iran, which is mostly Shiite. Pakistan banned Lashkar-eJhangvi in 2001, but the group continues to operate fairly freely. — AP

Salman Khan faces homicide trial

Rights in Afghanistan at risk as NATO troops exit KABUL: Afghanistan’s human rights situation remains poor and will likely deteriorate even further with the departure of NATO-led forces from the country next year, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in its annual global report on Thursday.

Increasing international fatigue over the 11-year war has led to reduced pressure on the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai to limit the role of warlords, corrupt politicians, and other human rights abusers, the report said. “The future of human rights protections in Afghanistan are in grave doubt,” HRW Asia director Brad Adams said. “Corruption, little rule of law, poor governance, and abusive policies and practices deprive the country’s most vulnerable citizens of their rights.” The situation for people at risk of abuse was expected to worsen as NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) gradually withdraws its troops ahead of the end-2014 deadline for the end of the NATOled war, the report said.

The report’s concerns echoed a United Nations paper released in January which said that despite ongoing international attention, torture and mistreatment of Afghans held by the country’s police and spy agencies was continuing. The HRW report reserved particular concern for the plight of women, suggesting a decline in basic rights won back in education, voting and employment since the Taliban were ousted from power in 2001. — Reuters

through alliances with Al-Qaeda and the Pakistani Taleban, which has been waging a bloody insurgency against the government for the past several years.

Rights organizations have criticized the Pakistani government for not doing

MUMBAI: Indian Bollywood actor Salman Khan poses during the third season of the Celebrity Cricket League (CCL) curtain raiser event in Mumbai. A court in Mumbai has ruled that Bollywood star Salman Khan will be tried for culpable homicide over a 2002 hit-and-run case which could land him behind bars for 10 years, his lawyer said yesterday. —AFP

MUMBAI: A court in Mumbai has ruled that Bollywood star Salman Khan will be tried for culpable homicide over a 2002 hit-and-run case which could land him behind bars for 10 years, his lawyer said yesterday.

Khan is alleged to have rammed his Toyota Land Cruiser vehicle onto a pavement and over five sleeping homeless people in suburban Mumbai, killing one and injuring four others.

Dipesh Mehta, who represents Khan, said a sessions court had on Thursday “directed the police to book him for culpable homicide not amounting to murder”.

“We will however challenge this decision in the High Court,” Mehta told AFP. Khan was being tried under a lesser charge of rash and negligent driving but prosecutors had filed an application for the charges to be upgraded, which the court upheld. The new offences carry sentences of up to 10 years in prison.

“The court said there was enough evidence to show the act was not incidental and hence the case should be tried under a more serious section,” the Times of India reported yesterday, quoting another of Khan’s lawyers Kaushal Thakkar. The star has been asked to be present in court on March 11.

Khan-known for his muscular physique and off-camera fits of temper-has been a controversial figure since he first broke into Bollywood in the late 1980s in the romance film “Maine Pyar Kiya” (I’m In Love). In 1998, he spent more than a week in prison for killing endangered Indian gazelles in the northern state of Rajasthan. — AFP

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Barclays CEO Jenkins wonít take 2012 bonus

Sharp, Panasonic post huge losses

Business

17

India’s Bharti quarterly profit falls

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2013

SNS Reaal bank nationalized

17 19

BEIJING: A girl walks past a model of a watch at a museum yesterday. — AFP

US gains 157,000 jobs, hiring strong Job market steady as fiscal growth sputters WASHINGTON: US employers added 157,000 jobs in January, and hiring was stronger at the end of last year than previously thought, providing reassurance that the job market held steady even as economic growth sputtered.

The Labor Department report yesterday showed a jump in hiring just when the economy faced the threat of deep spending cuts and tax increases from the fiscal cliff. Job gains in November were revised to 247,000 from 161,000 and in December to 196,000 from 151,000.

The mostly upbeat report included one negative sign: The unemployment rate rose to 7.9 percent from 7.8 percent in December, mostly because some unemployed Americans gave up the search for work because of weak job prospects. The rate is calculated from a survey of households, and more people in that survey said they were unemployed. The job gains are derived from a separate survey of employers.

The hiring picture over the past two years also looked better after the department’s

annual revisions. The revisions showed that employers added an average of roughly 180,000 jobs a month in 2012 and 2011, up from previous estimates of about 150,000.

Economists say employment gains of at least 250,000 a month over a sustained period are needed. Stock futures rose after the report was released.

One notable change in the job market is the stronger contribution from construction companies. They added 28,000 jobs in January and nearly 100,000 in the past four months. The gains are consistent with a rebound in home construction and a broader recovery in housing. Retailers added 33,000 positions in January and health care gained 23,000 jobs.

Manufacturers posted a small increase of 4,000. Restaurants and hotels added 17,000.

Average hourly wages rose 4 cents to $23.78, the department said, and have increased 2.1 percent in the past 12 months. That’s slightly above the inflation rate, which was 1.7 percent.

Last month’s hiring should cushion the impact of the higher Social Security taxes that most

consumers are paying this year. And it would help the economy resume growing after it shrank at an annual rate of 0.1 percent in the October-December quarter.

Higher Social Security taxes are reducing take-home pay for most Americans. A person earning $50,000 a year will have about $1,000 less to spend in 2013. A household with two high-paid workers will have up to $4,500 less.

Taxes rose after a 2 percent cut, in place for two years, expired Jan 1. Analysts expect the Social Security tax increase to shave about a half-point off economic growth in 2013, since consumers drive about 70 percent of economic activity. The hit to consumers is coming at a precarious moment for the economy. It contracted in the fourth quarter for the first time in 31/2 years. The decline was driven largely by a steep cut in defense spending and a drop in exports. Analysts generally think those factors will prove temporary and that the economy will resume growing. Still, the contraction last quarter points to what are likely to be key challenges for the economy this year: the prospect

of sharp government spending cuts and uncertainty over whether Congress will agree to raise the federal borrowing cap. Most analysts predict that the economy will grow again in the January-March quarter, though likely at a lackluster annual rate of around 1 percent.

They expect the economy to expand about 2 percent for the full year.

Two key drivers of growth improved last quarter: Consumer spending increased at a faster pace. And businesses invested more in equipment and software. In addition, homebuilders are stepping up construction to meet rising demand. That could generate even more construction jobs. And home prices are rising steadily. That tends to make Americans feel wealthier and more likely to spend. Housing could add as much as 1 percentage point to economic growth this year, some economists estimate. Auto sales reached their highest level in five years in 2012 and are expected to keep growing this year. That’s boosting production and hiring at U.S. automakers and their suppliers. — AP

Business SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2013

Barclays CEO Jenkins won’t take 2012 bonus Jenkins entitled to $4.35m bonus

HO CHI MINH: Starbucks president for China and Asia Pacific, John Culver, (center) stands with guests during the opening ceremony of the first Starbucks store in Vietnam yesterday. —AFP

Saudi may cut March OSPs over weak demand SINGAPORE: Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia may lower its official selling prices for all crude grades for its Asian buyers in March on expectations of weaker demand due to refinery maintenance and warmer weather, a Reuters survey showed yesterday. Saudi Arabia may lower the OSPs for Arab Light and Arab Medium by a dollar per barrel, while Arab Heavy and Arab Extra Light may be cut by 65 cents and 90 cents each, according to the median of estimates from six traders and refiners.

Saudi crude OSPs are usually released around the fifth of each month, and set the trend for Iranian, Kuwaiti and Iraqi prices, affecting some 7 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude bound for Asia. Spot differentials for March cargoes, which traded last month, weakened considerably over January as refiners from north Asia cut their purchases. A weak Dubai market added further pressure.

North Asian refiners, who had previously driven prices higher as they stepped up winter buying, slowed their purchases ahead of a heavy refinery maintenance period that kicks off in the second quarter. “The weak Dubai time-spreads and refinery turnarounds will be the main factors affecting OSPs,” said a trader with a western oil major.

The front-month Dubai spread narrowed sharply to 10 cents a barrel in backwardation on Jan 31 and dropped to as little as 3 cents per barrel this week.

That compares with 40 cents on Dec. 31 and 80 cents in late November. Immediate prices are higher than those in future months in a backward market, suggesting stronger demand for near-term cargoes. But the narrowing to near-zero levels suggests that the strong prompt demand seen in earlier months may be dying out.

Not only is buying by refiners in Japan and South Korea expected to wane as units head into planned maintenance, seasonally warmer weather in April will also likely cut demand for heating fuels. Complex refinery margins steadily increased during January, to $8.50 per barrel from $5.50 at the start of the month, while product cracks - the profit or loss made by a refinery by processing crude into specific products remained steady, suggesting demand for lighter grades may be stable. Saudi Aramco, the world’s biggest crude exporter, sets its crude prices based on recommendations from customers, and after calculating the change in value of its oil over the past month, considering yields and product prices. —Reuters

LONDON: The chief executive of Britain’s Barclays bank said yesterday he is giving up his 2012 bonus amid a string of highprofile scandals over market-fixing, misselling of loan products, and other forms of financial malfeasance. Antony Jenkins had been entitled to a maximum bonus of 2.75 million pounds ($4.35 million), or 250 percent of his 1.1 million pound salary, and Sky News television reported Thursday that senior bank officials were canvassing investors about the possibility of awarding him a seven-figure sum. In a statement released early yesterday, Jenkins said he was waiving his bonus.

“I wish to make clear that I concluded early this week that I do not wish to be considered for a bonus award for 2012 and I have communicated that decision to the board,” said Jenkins, who became CEO in August after previously leading Barclays’ retail division. In a nod to the “multiple issues of our own making besetting the bank,” Jenkins said it was only “only right that I bear an appropriate degree of accountability for those matters.”

Bankers’ massive bonuses have been a hot button issue in Britain and elsewhere ever since the financial crisis touched off by the collapse of the US housing market in 2007 damaged the global economy.

Executives who drove their banks to the brink of ruin got eye watering payouts while taxpayers were left footing multibillion dollar bills for their botched bets.

Public anger over bonuses has been deepened by revelations of criminality at the highest levels of the financial industry.

The past year has seen allegations that British banking giant HSBC helped launder hundreds of millions of dollars for Mexico’s violent drug cartels; that Switzerland’s UBS helped American clients hide more than $1.2 billion from tax officials; and that London-based Standard Chartered spent years helping Iranian, Sudanese, Libyan and Myanmar customers evade US sanctions.

Although a host of international financial institutions have come under scrutiny as the world economy tries to find its feet, Barclays’ reputation has taken a particularly heavy beating. Barclays was one of several British banks involved in a scandal over Payment Protection Insurance, where consumers were signed up for inappropriate and expensive insurance products. That scandal has already cost Barclays hundreds of millions of pounds in compensation, and the investigators are looking into whether mis-selling may have occurred elsewhere. Earlier this week, Britain’s Financial Services

Authority announced a review into whether Barclays - along with other banks - had inappropriately foisted interest rate hedging products on small businesses.

There are also lingering questions about whether Barclays broke the rules when it took massive cash infusions from Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund in 2008.

Qatar’s 6.1 billion pound investment helped Barclays avoid having to ask for a UK government bailout, but in July the bank acknowledged that regulators were checking whether Barclays had properly disclosed fees it had paid as part of the fundraising drive.

Far more dramatic was the revelation that senior executives Barclays were involved in a campaign to rig a key interest rate known as the LIBOR. The rate-fixing drive was intended to make Barclays appear healthier than it really was, but because the LIBOR sets benchmarks for hundreds of trillions of dollars of contracts globally, its effects would have been felt across the financial industry including loans, pensions, and mortgages. Barclays’s role in fiddling the rate led to a $453 million fine and the resignation of a slew of executives, including Jenkins’ predecessor as chief executive, Bob Diamond. —AP

Euro zone-inflation close to ECB target Inflation falls to lowest since Nov 2010

BRUSSELS: Euro-zone inflation fell to a twoyear low in January as companies cut prices at a time of record joblessness, potentially giving the European Central Bank more scope to lower interest rates later this year. Inflation in the 17 countries using the euro fell to 2 percent in January compared to a year ago, the EU’s statistics office Eurostat said yesterday, its lowest level since November 2010 and well down from a 3 percent peak in September 2011. That puts the annual rate of increase in the cost of living just shy of the ECB’s target of close to, but below 2 percent.

With Eurostat figures also showing euro zone unemployment at a record 11.7 percent of the working population in December, the ECB appears to have room to lower rates again to stimulate an economy that has slipped into its second recession since 2009.

“Inflation is non-existent,” said Thomas Costerg, an economist at Standard Chartered in London. “Now with German inflation decelerating, that will fuel debate about how the ECB will ease policy,” he said, forecasting a cut in the ECB’s main refinancing rate in the second quarter.

For the past year, inflation has been driven by oil prices and tax increases, but stripping out those factors, annual consumer price rises are around 1 percent, reflecting the weakness of the economy. The ECB’s governing council kept rates at 0.75 percent at its January meet-

ing and will discuss rate policy again on Feb 7.

The decision to keep policy on hold was unanimous last month, but economists are still divided over the ECB’s future moves.

Thirty-eight out of 73 analysts polled in January by Reuters said the ECB will remain on hold in the first quarter. None expected a rate cut next week. A stronger euro, which rose to a 14-month peak yesterday, could also dampen the export-led economic recovery and potentially support the case for a rate cut.

“You have to wonder whether this will lead to a reaction from the ECB next week,” said Nick Kounis, a senior economist at ABN AMRO in Amsterdam.

An third consecutive improvement in euro-zone business morale in January and better factory output suggest the bloc has passed the worst of its recession, however, meaning further ECB stimulus in the form of lower borrowing costs may not be needed.

The ECB’s task is also complicated by a divide between wealthier, northern countries which are showing signs of emerging from the euro-zone’s three-year-old debt crisis, and countries such as Spain and Italy that are in deep recession. Stark differences between euro zone countries’ ability to borrow also raises questions about the value of a rate cut.

ECB President Mario Draghi said late last year that monetary policy is already “very accommodative.”

The divergence in fortunes of euro zone economies is evident not just in their ability to fund themselves, but in the rates of joblessness seen across the bloc of 330 million people. Highlighting the human cost of a debt crisis that began in 2009 in Greece and spread to the euro-zone’s biggest economies, some 18.7 million people were out of work in December, an unemployment rate of 11.7 percent. That figure has risen from below 8 percent in early 2008, just before the full effects of the global financial crisis were fully felt, and is well above 11.3 percent forecast by the European Commission for end-2012.

Unemployment held steady at just 5.3 percent in Germany, the euro-zone’s biggest economy, however but rose again in Portugal and Cyprus, to 16.5 percent and 14.7 percent respectively. Greece holds the record in both the euro zone and the wider European Union for worklessness, with a rate of 26.8 percent in October, the latest figure available. The unemployment rate in Spain fell slightly to 26.1 percent in December.

Even as the economy appears to have hit bottom, the number of those out of work is expected to rise in coming months, employment expectations in the latest Commission survey suggest. “We would still expect the jobless rate to breach 12 percent later this year,” said Martin van Vliet, an economist at ING. —Reuters

business

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2013

Sharp, Panasonic post huge losses Sharp warns ‘survival at stake’

Sunil Bharti Mittal

India’s Bharti quarterly profit falls NEW DELHI: Bharti Airtel, India’s top mobile company, reported yesterday its net quarterly profit plunged by an unexpected 72 percent, hit by punishing price competition and a surge in interest charges.

The profit drop to 2.84 billion rupees in the three months to December marked the telecom giant’s 12th straight quarterly fall and far undershot analysts’ forecasts of an eight-billion-rupee profit. “Market conditions have been challenging in recent quarters due to pricing pressures and rising input costs,” Bharti’s billionaire founder and chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal said. These have “put enormous pressure on the sector and consequently margins” he added.

Bharti, which has 262 million clients globally and is the world’s fourth-largest mobile operator by customers, posted a profit of 10.1 billion rupees in the same quarter last year.”There are still big headwinds, it’s not clear sailing yet by any means,” said Harit Shah, an analyst with Mumbaibased Nirmal Bang Institutional Equities, who has a “sell” recommendation on Bharti shares.

Bharti’s shares slid by nearly four percent before recovering to trade down nearly two percent at 333.05 rupees at mid-afternoon. The telecom sector was once a market star but price wars which have pushed call rates to among the world’s lowest have taken off the shine. Even though the number of major telecom companies has fallen to seven from over a dozen, due to a Supreme Court ruling scrapping licences of some smaller firms, rivalry remains intense.

Weighing on earnings were interest costs which soared 69 percent from a year earlier due to debt from purchasing faster 3G spectrum and the African mobile operations of Kuwait’s Zain in 2010. Bharti’s Africa operations, which it bought for $10.6 billion to extend its global footprint and “serve as a shining example” of cooperation between South Asia and Africa, are still losing money.

The group must also pay nearly $1 billion to cover government demands for operators to pay surcharges on their airwaves and has to purchase additional broadband in a March auction to meet growing demand.

Foreign exchange losses on the back of a weaker rupee ballooned to 2.48 billion rupees, swinging from a gain of 132 million rupees a year earlier. Analysts called the figures disappointing.

The result “was much below expectations,” said Mumbai-based Angel Broking telecoms analyst Ankita Somani. But revenues in the third quarter grew by 9.5 percent to 202.39 billion rupees from the same year-earlier period-in line with market expectations-led by strong growth in mobile Internet services, a company statement said.

The worst “seems to be getting over” with rates improving and on “the data front, it is heartening to see strong growth quarter-on-quarter”, Mittal added. Bharti, one-third held by Singapore’s SingTel, withdrew some discounts on voice calls last month to boost its performance. India’s boom in phone connections has been overwhelmingly driven by cellular services and the country is second only to China with 900 million subscribers. — AFP

TOKYO: Embattled Japanese electronics giants Panasonic and Sharp yesterday racked up more than $11 billion in combined losses over the nine months to December, and warned there was more bleeding to come. The battered sector has suffered from problems including a high yen, slowing demand in key export markets, fierce competition notably in the television market, and strategic mistakes that left companies’ finances in ruins.

Panasonic and Sony have been hammered by credit downgrades and record losses, while century-old rival Sharp warned last year that its survival was at stake. It put up its Osaka headquarters as collateral for life-saving bank loans. Yesterday, the maker of Aquos-brand electronics said its losses doubled in the nine months to December to $4.6 billion, while Panasonic said it lost about $6.77 billion over the same period, and was on track to lose a whopping $8.3 billion in the fiscal year to March.

But Sharp insisted its massive corporate overhaul, including thousands of job cuts, would now keep it from going under. It said in a statement that its troubles “will not cast a material uncertainty about Sharp’s ability to continue as a going concern”. The company also offered a glimmer of hope, as it eked out a small operating profit of 2.6 billion yen in the third quarter, although it still posted a net loss of 424.35 billion yen over the ninemonth period. Sharp shares surged 5.78 percent to close at 329 yen and it left unchanged a forecast for a full-

year net loss of 450 billion yen.

Panasonic said it logged a nine-month operating profit of 121.95 billion yen, despite its whopping net loss, saying the positive result was due “mainly to fixed cost reductions and streamlining material costs”.

Weak demand for flat-panel televisions, however, helped push total sales down 8.8 percent to 5.44 trillion yen, it added. Panasonic’s share price dropped 6.00 percent to close at 592 yen yesterday. Like its domestic rivals, Panasonic was sideswiped by slumping sales on the back of the global slowdown while it also took on huge restructuring costs, which contributed heavily to its bleeding bottom line. In November, ratings agency Fitch down-

graded Panasonic and Sony to junk status for the first time. Fitch also cut Sharp to junk in the same month, which followed a similar move by Standard & Poor’s earlier in the year.

Ratings agencies have pointed to the trio’s weak balance sheets and declining position in the global electronics sector. The downgrades meant their debt was no longer considered a safe investment for portfolio managers.

Sony-whose shares last year dipped below 1,000 yen for the first time since 1980 and the era of the Walkman-has said it expects to reverse four years of losses with a small net profit in the year to March. The company reports its earnings next week. — AFP

YOKOHAMA: A model poses with Panasonic’s Lumix GF5X digital camera during the CP+, (CP plus) photo imaging show in Yokohama. — AFP

Japan manufacturing jobs lowest in five decades TOKYO: Employment in Japan’s once-mighty manufacturing sector has fallen below 10 million for the first time in five decades, as a new government vows to stoke the struggling economy. Official employment data released yesterday showed the number of workers in Japanese industry, which fuelled the country’s stratospheric rise from the ashes of World War II, slipped to 9.98 million in December. That is the lowest level since 1961 as firms slash costs and ship manufacturing jobs to lower-cost nations overseas.

Like many developed economies, the manufacturing sector has been hollowed out in high-cost Japan as it struggles to compete with manufacturing powerhouse China and rivals in South Korea and Taiwan. “During the post-war era, Japan enjoyed significant standing in manufacturing.

Gradually it has been reduced as relocation of factories overseas continues,” said labour minister Norihisa Tamura.

“We must think about ways to keep manufacturing in Japan,” he added. The decline of manufacturing and that of world-beating giants such as Sony and Panasonic has sparked plenty of hand wringing in Japan. The deflationplagued economy remains stagnant, a far cry from the soaring growth that turned it into a world beater in the closing decades of the last century. Japan lost the title of world’s second-biggest economy behind the United States to a ris-

ing China in 2010. The new employment data shows the manufacturing sector has shrunk by about 40 percent from a peak of 16 million workers in 1992, as an asset and stocks bubble burst ushering in twenty years of anaemic growth.

Manufacturing has fallen from about 27 percent of Japan’s overall labour force in the 1970s to 16 percent today.

Japan’s hard-hit electronics giants, among others, have slashed jobs and downsized domestic factories while expanding overseas, as a persistently high yen and high wages encouraged manufacturers to ship jobs abroad.

However, a new conservative government under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has pledged to revive Japan’s economy with big spending and aggressive monetary easing. Tokyo has pressured the Bank of Japan for rocket-fuelled policy to stoke the economy, eventually bending the central bank to its will as it grudgingly set a two percent inflation target.

The yen has tumbled over recent weeks and the benchmark Nikkei 225 index has shot skywards. The manufacturing jobs data was released with regular monthly employment figures, which showed Japan’s jobless rate stood at 4.2 percent in December, edging up from 4.1 percent in the previous month. In 2012 the unemployment rate fell 0.3 percent, marking two straight years of improvement, according to the internal affairs ministry. — AFP

BUSINESS

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2013

Daimler puts foot on accelerator in China Daimler, BAIC partnership ‘in best phase ever’

LOS ANGELES: A man buys gas at a station Thursday in Los Angeles. — AP

Gas prices get early start on spring surge NEW YORK: Gasoline prices are getting an early start on their annual spring march higher. The average US retail price rose 13 cents over the past two weeks to $3.42 per gallon, and within a few days it will likely set a record for this time of year.

The culprits: Rising crude oil prices, slowing output at refineries that are undergoing maintenance, and low supplies of gasoline. These are the kinds of things that push gasoline prices higher every spring after what is normally a lull in gasoline prices in the late fall and early winter. But a heavy schedule of January maintenance at West Coast refineries has led to sharply higher prices there. Meanwhile, low inventories have pushed prices higher on the East Coast.

And rising crude oil prices have pushed prices higher throughout the country. “I’m not surprised at what I’m seeing, but I am surprised it’s coming early,” said Tom Kloza, Chief Oil Analyst at the Oil Price Information Service.

Hopes of stronger economic growth in the US and abroad helped push the US stock market to a five-year high in January and sent crude prices up. When economies expand, more gasoline, diesel and jet fuel are consumed by shippers and travelers. Crude oil has risen 14 percent since mid-December, to $97.49 on Thursday. Brent crude, the benchmark used to price oil that most US refineries use to make gasoline, is up 9 percent since then to $115.55 But gasoline wholesale prices are rising even faster. That’s the price distributors and service stations pay to buy the gasoline that they then sell to drivers. Wholesale prices in California are up 56 cents - a 20 percent jump - to $3.32 per gallon, in just two weeks, according to Kloza. Many California drivers will soon see $4 a gallon at local stations. Smaller but still substantial jumps are being seen throughout the country.

Retail gasoline prices have risen for 14 days straight, according to AAA. The average price for the month of January was $3.32, the second highest January average ever, although a nickel cheaper than last year’s record. In each of the last two years gasoline prices rose sharply at the beginning of the year because tensions in the Middle East raised fears that oil supplies would be disrupted.

In 2011 it was the Libyan uprising; in 2012 it was Iran’s threat to close a key shipping lane. So far in 2013, gas has been cheaper than it was last year. But that could change by this weekend as stations pass along the cost of their higher priced gasoline to drivers.

The national average price has risen in nine of the last 10 Februarys. Last year gasoline prices jumped 28 cents, or 8 percent, in February and averaged $3.55 for the month. Analysts still don’t expect prices to follow last year’s steep path through March that brought them to a high of $3.94 on April 6. Crude oil supplies are high, oil production is booming and the economy isn’t growing very fast. Also, the tensions in the Middle East seem to have eased somewhat.

And consider this as you fill up on your way to a Super Bowl party this weekend: The oil and gas analyst Stephen Schork notes that while gasoline prices may seem high, they haven’t risen nearly as fast as tickets to the big game.

When the first Super Bowl was played 46 years ago, gasoline cost about 32 cents per gallon and Super Bowl tickets cost $10. Now gasoline is $3.42 and a seat in a distant corner of the Superdome costs $2,236 on the ticket-reselling site StubHub. Put another way, a ticket to the Super Bowl in 1966 was worth about 31 gallons of gasoline then, enough for 2 fill-ups. A ticket to Sunday’s game between the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers in New Orleans is worth 650 gallons - enough to fill a mid-size sedan 43 times. Which makes gasoline, according to Schork, “a bargain.” — AP

FRANKFURT: German automaker Daimler unveiled plans yesterday to boost its position in the fast-growing Chinese market by acquiring a 12-percent stake in the country’s fifth-biggest car group. Daimler-which at the end of last year created a new position on its management board dedicated especially to China-said in a statement it had decided to deepen its existing partnership with Beijing Automotive Group (BAIC) by buying a stake in its passenger car unit BAIC Motor. BAIC is planning to float the subsidiary on the stock exchange and when it does so, Daimler would buy a stake of 12 percent, the German group said.

As part of the agreement, Daimler would receive two seats on the BAIC Motor’s board of directors. At the same time, the two sides would increase their stakes in existing joint ventures, they said. BAIC’s holding in the production joint venture Beijing Benz Automotive Company (BBAC) would rise to 51 percent from 50 percent, while Daimler’s stake in the integrated sales joint venture Beijing Mercedes-Benz Sales Service would be increased to 51 percent.

Financial details were not disclosed. But Daimler and BAIC expect the deal which still has to be approved by the relevant authorities-would be closed “by the end of this year or early next year.” “Following our technical cooperation with BAIC Motor and the setup of our integrated sales company, we are now taking the next step in deepening our relationship even further,” said Daimler chief executive Dieter Zetsche.

“Our investment is a strong sign of the increased level of trust and cooperation between our two companies and clearly emphasises the long-term commitment to a joint successful future of our two companies,” he said. BAIC chairman Xu Heyi said the partnership “has entered into its best phase ever, with further deepened cooperation in accordance with the mutual interests and development plans between both companies.”

Daimler’s acquisition of a 12-percent stake “will go a long way in accelerating the development of BAIC’s self-owned brand in terms of capital, technology, management, and brand. At the same time, this will help Mercedes-Benz to boost its business performance in China,” Xu said. NordLB analyst Frank Schwope put the estimated price tag of the deal at 640 million euros ($870 million.

He said Daimler has long been trailing rivals BMW and Audi, a unit of Volkswagen, in China, which is the world’s most important market in terms of growth outlook. In 2012, Daimler, which employs more than 2,000 people in China, sold around 210,000 of its Mercedes-Benz cars there. It aims to lift sales to 300,000 by 2015 with two thirds of those manufactured locally.

China is currently Daimler’s third-biggest market after

Germany and the United States, but is expected to become the German group’s number one market by 2020. According to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers or CAAM, BAIC is China’s fifth-biggest maker with sales of 1.69 million vehicles last year. Investors nevertheless appeared somewhat sceptical about the deal and Daimler shares were underperforming the overall market on the Frankfurt stock exchange, edging up only 0.08 percent while the blue-chip DAX 30 index rose by 0.26 percent. — AFP

BEIJING: Picture shows a hostess in front of the logo of Chinese car manufacturer BAIC Motor at the Auto China 2012 car show in Beijing. — AFP

Gold headed for weekly rise SINGAPORE: Gold ticked lower yesterday after recent gains prompted investors to book profits, but the metal was heading for a small weekly rise before the release of key US employment data that may show a modest growth.

Although weaker prices attracted buying from jewellers in China and Thailand, most investors turned their attention to the US data after a Reuters survey showed nonfarm payrolls are expected to have risen 160,000, a marginal step up from December’s 155,000 job gain.

“Investors are still trading on news, particularly from the United States,” said Brian Lan, managing director of GoldSilver Central Pte Ltd in Singapore. “Precious metals haven’t gotten their safe haven status back fully yet.” With the nonfarm data coming out, investors probably prefer to take profits before planning their next move, he said. Gold eased $1.13 to $1,661.86 an ounce by 0604 GMT- on course for a weekly rise of 0.2 percent, its fourth week of gains in five. It hit a near one-week peak of $1,683.39 on Wednesday after data showed the US economy unexpectedly shrank in the fourth quarter.

US COMEX gold futures for February was little changed at $1,660.40 an ounce. “If the data released is better than expected, people will tend to move back to stocks as

opposed to buying into precious metals,” Lan said. Shares in Asia wiped earlier gains yesterday as a tepid Chinese manufacturing report dented sentiment, while the euro was at its highest level since November 2011 on diminishing worries about Europe’s debt crisis.

The euro’s strength pushed the dollar index to its lowest since late December, which in theory should have boosted gold prices. Gold rallied to a record of around $1,920 in September 2011, when a worsening debt crisis in Europe sparked a buying rush. Previous rounds of asset purchases by the US Federal Reserve had also weakened the dollar, prompting investors to turn to gold as a hedge against inflation. “There’s a little buying on the physical side because premiums are slightly cheaper at $1 an ounce.

There’s some buying from mainland China,” said a dealer in Hong Kong, where premiums for gold bars fetched $1.20 last week. “But I think gold is a bit tired after it failed to break $1,700 an ounce.” In other precious metals, silver, platinum and palladium tracked gold lower. The CME Group said it will add platinum and palladium options onto its Globex electronic platform beginning late in February in a move to capitalize on growing investor interest in platinum group metals. — Reuters

BUSINESS SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2013

SNS Reaal bank nationalized $5bn nationalisation ‘inevitable’ THE HAGUE: The Netherlands has nationalised banking and insurance group SNS Reaal at a cost of 3.7 billion euros ($5 billion), Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem said yesterday, averting a threat to the Dutch financial system. “Today, SNS Reaal has been fully taken over by the Dutch state. I have nationalised SNS Reaal,” Dijsselbloem told a press conference, after a deadline expired to find a solution for the distressed bank. “With the Dutch Central Bank’s deadline passing last night and without finding a solution there was an immediate and dangerous situation for financial stability,” Dijsselbloem said.

“I had to conclude that nationalisation was inevitable,” he said, after reported talks with private equity firm CVC capital collapsed. The finance ministry said in a statement that savings deposited in the country’s fourth-largest bank were safe. SNS Reaal has suffered recurring losses in recent years linked to its Property Finance subsidiary, bought from ABN Amro bank in 2006. The bank is otherwise in relatively good health.

SNS Reaal is considered a systemically important bank, meaning it is too important to be allowed to go bankrupt.

Dijsselbloem, who has just been named head of the Eurogroup of eurozone finance ministers, said that SNS Reaal’s chief executive officer and chief financial officer had resigned. “I can fully understand people’s resistance to the fact that once again a large amount of money is needed to save a bank-and especially now that when we are going through a financially difficult time,” Dijsselbloem said. Shares in SNS Reaal have plunged in recent days amid speculation that the government would nationalise the bank.

Dijsselbloem said the 3.7 billion euros would consist of a 2.2-billion euro capital injection, 800 million euros to write off previous state support and 700 million euros to isolate the bank’s problematic property portfolio. “The state will also supply 1.1 billion euros in bridging credit and 5.0 billion euros in guarantees,” Dijsselbloem said.

In January, the European Commission blocked a plan by three other Dutch banking giants, ABN Amro, ING and Rabobank to help SNS with a capital investment, on competition grounds saying that ABN and ING had themselves previously received state aid. Dutch

sultation with the Dutch Central Bank, to demand that those holding bonds issued by a bank contribute to rescuing the bank if it fails. Last year, the European Commission put forward proposals for bank bailouts that would also require bondholders and shareholders

AMSTERDAM: In this file photo, two people use an ATM machine at an SNS bank in Netherlands. — AFP banks are now to contribute one billion euros to the bailout in 2014 but in a different form, the finance ministry said.

The bailout will have an impact on the Dutch economy, increasing the 2013 deficit by 0.6 percent and debt by 1.6 percent. The expropriation of shareholders and subordinated bond holders means that the Dutch state saves one billion euros, the ministry said. Common bond holders’ investments however were not affected. “The necessity for the state to once again intervene, especially considering the previous state interventions in 2008, is a blow to our efforts to make the Dutch financial sector robust again and get it back on its feet,” Dijsselbloem acknowledged.

The Dutch government nationalised SNS Reaal using a new intervention law for the first time. The law came into force in June 2012 and allows the state, in con-

rather than the taxpayer to pay.

The Commission has said it will draw up a directive for dealing with bank bailouts by the summer. Trading in SNS Reaal shares was suspended on the Amsterdam stock exchange at 0.84 euros, down from a high point of about 15 euros in 2008, before the financial crisis. Tom Muller, an analyst at Theodoor Gilissen private bankers, hailed Dijsselbloem’s intervention as a good example for other European Union countries. It showed that “even in a healthy country like the Netherlands, these situations of unaccountability will no longer be tolerated.” “These situations must be tackled,” Muller said. But Muller said he believed today’s intervention may have negative implications for Dutch banks’ ratings, with Fitch ratings agency warning last month that expropriation could have serious consequences. — AFP

Thai inflation eases from one-year high BANGKOK: Thailand’s headline inflation rate in January eased from a more than one-year high in December, showing a big wage rise last month has had only a limited impact so far, which gives the central bank room to keep rates low to support the economy. Most economists think the central bank may leave its policy rate unchanged at 2.75 percent at its next meeting on Feb 20, and possibly for some months to come. Annual inflation in January was 3.39 percent, as forecast and down from December’s 3.63 percent-the highest since November 2011 — and compared with a median forecast of 3.40 percent in a Reuters poll.

Core inflation-which strips out prices of fresh food and energy-was at 1.59 percent in January after 1.78 percent in December. That is well inside the Bank of Thailand’s (BOT) core inflation target range of 0.5-3.0 percent, which guides monetary policy. “Inflation this year should be around last year’s level because the global economy and the weather here should not change much. So product prices are likely to remain stable,” Vatcharee Vimuktayon, director-general of the Department of Internal Trade, told a briefing.

The ministry forecast headline inflation of 3.3 percent in the first quarter of this year and 2.8-3.4 percent for the whole of 2013. Last year inflation was 3.02 percent.

Inflation has been held down by government price controls and subsidies for some fuel and utilities plus free public transport to bring down living costs. Food and drink prices in January rose 4.3 percent from a year earlier after a 4.00 percent rise in December.

More rate cuts?

With inflation tame and global risks high, central banks across Asia are likely to continue seeking to boost economic growth. Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s biggest economy, saw annual inflation of 4.57 percent in January, up from 4.3 percent in December, due to higher prices for food, drinks and tobacco products. But economists say the Bank Indonesia still has room to leave its benchmark rate on hold at its Feb 12 meeting. In Thailand, inflation has been contained, although a nationwide daily minimum wage of 300 baht ($10) came into effect on Jan. 1, a rise of an average 26 percent, in addition to a jump of 40 percent in April 2012.

“Still-benign inflation as gauged by both headline and core inflation should support our expectations of a limited pass-through impact from minimum wage hikes on inflation,” said economist Usara Wilaipich at Standard Chartered.

She said that should allow the BOT to keep monetary policy easy to ensure growth and she felt a rate cut was likely in the first half of the year. But Santitarn Sathirathai at Credit Suisse said of the wage increases: “This year the price effect is likely to be much more visible but inflation will not be totally out of control, just enough for the Bank of Thailand to pause from easing further.” The BOT’s policy committee left the benchmark rate unchanged at 2.75 percent for a second straight meeting on Jan. 9, taking a more upbeat view on the economic outlook.. On Jan. 18, the central bank raised its economic growth forecast for this year to 4.9 percent from 4.7 percent, citing stronger-than-expected private investment. — Reuters

Welcome present for Darty CEO could annoy investors LONDON/BANGALORE: Europe’s No 3 electrical goods retailer, Darty, named a new CEO yesterday and gave him 500,000 pounds ($792,700) in shares as a welcome gift, a move that could irritate investors who rebelled against the firm’s executive pay last year. Regis Schultz, 44, will join on May 1 from French furniture and electricals chain BUT, where he has been CEO since 2008. He is also a former chief operating officer of Kingfisher’s do-it-yourself business B&Q. Darty said the one-off award of stock equivalent to Schultz’s basic salary was to compensate him for losing a bonus and incentives he would have received at BUT.

The shares will vest in full after three years, subject to Darty’s share price performance. Many investors frown on socalled “golden hellos”, arguing that compensating directors for incentive awards they might have had at a previous employer undermines the concept of schemes put in place to retain employment. It also argues they reward executives for jobs they have not yet done.

Schultz will steer a turnaround plan at Darty as it battles weak economies and intense competition from online retailers.

The plan, outlined in December, will see the firm focus on its profitable core businesses in France, Belgium and the

Netherlands and try to eliminate losses at non-core businesses in Spain, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Schultz, who as a youth was ranked as the 16th best tennis player in France, will succeed Dominic Platt, Darty’s finance director who had acted as interim CEO since Thierry FalquePierrotin stepped down in December.

Falque-Pierrotin’s departure was prompted by an investor rebellion over executive pay that saw more than half of Darty’s shareholders vote against the firm’s pay report. A quarter of Darty’s equity is owned by activist investor Knight Vinke. Though Schultz’s basic annual salary is less than Falque-

Pierrotin’s 1.04 million euros, he will be eligible for a yearly cash bonus of up to 125 percent of salary.

Shares in Darty, up 41 percent over the last six months, were unchanged at 60.6 pence in late-morning trade, valuing the business at 319 million pounds. Last February the group, formerly known as Kesa, sold its Comet business in Britain to private investment firm OpCapita. Comet has since closed down. In November, Darty sold its Italian business. Darty also said Bruno Cremel would step down as managing director of Darty France, the firm’s main business, “by mutual agreement” at the end of May. — Reuters

BUSINESS SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2013

Broadband, cost control help BT beat forecasts LONDON: Strong demand for broadband and tight cost control helped Britain’s BT offset the combined pressures of regulation and recession to post a better-than-expected 7 percent rise in third-quarter pre-tax profit. In a continuation of the strategy that has sent shares in the group to a near fiveyear high, BT said it had recorded profits in the three months to Dec 31 comfortably ahead of forecasts, off revenues that were down by 6 percent.

The news sent shares in the group up 4.6 percent, topping the FTSE 100 leader board and giving the group a market value of 20.5 billion pounds.

The group was boosted by demand for broadband, both at the retail level

directly to customers and in wholesaling the service to rivals, as an increase in the number of engineers it employs helped the group to rebound from the previous quarter which was hit by rain.

The group said it had now become the biggest fibre broadband network in Britain, overtaking Virgin Media, after it passed 13 million homes with the technology. More than a million of its customers are now using fibre and the group hopes that the imminent launch of its BT Vision sports channels with Premier League soccer and rugby will encourage others to upgrade to the faster and more expensive product. “More than 13 million premises can access our fibre broadband and

we are passing around 100,000 additional premises every week,” Chief Executive Ian Livingston said. “Take-up is growing strongly ... (and) this gives us an excellent platform for our push into TV and sport later this year.” The tight focus on costs and underlying improvement in trading has helped BT regain investor confidence in recent years. Total operating costs were down by more than 1 billion pounds in the last nine months alone, as the group improved terms with suppliers, used fewer contractors and third-party sources and benefited from improvements to the network. That helped lift third quarter adjusted profits by 7 percent to 675 million pounds ($1.07 bil-

Dow logs best January in nearly two decades Stocks gain on low borrowing

NEW YORK: The Dow logged its best start to the year in almost two decades. Stocks rallied in the first week of the year after US lawmakers reached a deal to avoid the “fiscal cliff,” and then pushed higher toward record levels as optimism about the housing market recovery grew. Decent company earnings for the fourth quarter and an improving job market also helped lift markets. The Dow Jones industrial average ended the month up 5.8 percent, its strongest January since 1994, according to S&P Capital IQ data. The Standard & Poor’s 500 finished the month 5 percent higher, its best start to the year since 1997.

“There’s not a whole lot of bears left here,” said Jeff Hirsch, the editor of the Stock Trader’s Almanac, adding that the market may struggle to gain further in February. Stocks have also benefited as investors have put money into equities in January. By one measure, the monthly flow into stock funds was the largest in nine years. About $51 billion in net deposits was moved into stock funds and so-called hybrid funds, which invest in a mix of stocks and bonds, consultant Strategic Insight said Thursday. That’s the most since $56 billion flowed in during January 2004.

On Thursday, stocks drifted lower as investors digested more earnings results and reports on the economy.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 49 points to 13,860.58. The S&P 500 dropped 4 points to 1,498.11 and the Nasdaq composite was little changed at 3,142.13. The Dow is just 304 points from its all-time high. Among companies reporting earnings Thursday, UPS Inc., the world’s biggest package-delivery company and an economic bellwether, fell 2.4 percent to $79.29. The company’s fourth quarter was hurt by weak global trade, and it forecast 2013 results below expectations.

January’s rally started to slow Wednesday after a report showed that

NEW YORK: In this photo, specialist John O’Hara works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. — AP the economy unexpectedly contracted in the fourth quarter of last year.

Stocks have gained against a backdrop of low borrowing costs and a slow, but steady, economic recovery. However, the market may struggle to build on those gains in the immediate future as traders and investors turn their attention back to Washington, said Ernie Cecilia, chief investment officer at Bryn Mawr Trust.

The budget deal struck at the start of the year dealt with taxes, but acrossthe-board spending cuts were pushed back from Jan 1 to March 1. While a showdown over the nation’s borrowing limits appears to have been put off, lawmakers have yet to agree on how best to reduce government spending. Those negotiations could be protracted and increase stock market volatility, said Cecilia. More government reports Thursday also gave investors a better picture of the health of the economy.

The number of Americans seeking unemployment aid rose sharply last

week but remained at a level consistent with moderate hiring. Investors will look for further clues about the strength of the jobs market, when the closely followed monthly nonfarm payrolls report is published. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely to its price, was little changed at 1.99 percent. Among other stocks making big moves: Under Armour gained $2.74, or 5.7 percent, to $50.87, after the company said its fourth-quarter earnings jumped 10 percent and the clothing company predicted revenue growth of at least 20 percent in each of the next two years. CononcoPhillips fell $3.09, or 5.1 percent, to $58 after the oil company said earnings fell as prices for oil and natural gas declined. The Houston-based company also said 2013 production would decline. JDS Uniphase added $2.11, or 17 percent, to $14.51 after the technology company reported stronger-than-expected earnings on improved revenue and margins late Wednesday. —AP

lion), some 7 percent ahead of consensus at 632 million pounds.

Group revenues, hit by regulation and economic pressures in Britain and Europe where it serves multinational corporations, were down 6 percent.

“As one of the few European incumbents increasing EBITDA, BT remains an attractive name in the sector,” Berenberg analyst Stuart Gordon said.

“The momentum looks set to continue with the cost-cutting efforts still bearing fruit. “We expect modest upgrades to current consensus expectations for the current financial year driven by the acceleration in fibre and signs that Global Services is beginning to improve.” — Reuters

Analysts scour for rising market data LONDON: From phone bills in Lagos to bulldozers in Beijing, analysts are looking creatively at ways to measure the strength of emerging market economies where official data sometimes comes up short. How much Guinness are Nigerians drinking? How full are hotels in the Gulf? What about enrolment in international schools? All are methods being used to track the ups and downs of economies where timeliness, transparency and accuracy do not always meet develop market standards. The explosion of interest in emerging markets Lipper data shows $90 billion in fund inflows last year has drawn in many investors who are less familiar with analysing risky assets and need help.

Quarterly economic growth data, for example, is the most comprehensive and complete set of statistics on any developed economy’s economic health. Yet the availability of even this most-basic economic speedometer is fraught with caveats when it comes to emerging markets. It is released too late to be of much use in the case of many African countries, or not at all in many Middle Eastern countries. In China, meanwhile, this key release arrives unsettlingly early for some.

So some analysts have started looking at other data or even creating their own datasets to assess how investible such markets are. “In emerging markets it’s more difficult (to get good data) than in developed markets, because it’s expensive to run a good statistics office - it does not tend to be a priority,” said Graham Stock, strategist at frontier fund Insparo, adding: “You have to use proxies.”

Proxies that Stock and others look at to judge the strength of the growing consumer class in Africa - cited frequently by investors as one of the huge attractions of the continent - include quarterly consumption data from local breweries such as Guinness Nigeria and Zimbabwe’s Delta. “We get more thorough data through going to the companies themselves - not as broad a coverage, but much more timely,” Stock aid.

Investment in financial services stocks in Nigeria were boosted by an examination of mobile phone subscriptions. The monthly data is released within a few weeks where quarterly gross domestic product data takes a few months. It showed, for example, a 3 percent rise in active mobile phone subscriptions between September and November Nov 2012 to 110 million, in a country with a population of 170 million.

Based on that rise, which brings the December 2011-November 2012 gain in subscriptions to 16 percent, investors expect bank accounts - currently estimated at 20 million - to follow. As a result, they have bought Nigerian banks, a good call in recent months.

Zenith Bank shares, for example, jumped 20 percent in the fourth quarter. Analysts will have to wait several more weeks for the formal fourth quarter GDP data. —Reuters

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2013

Haiti ‘snake artist’ uses Carnival to get by Page 27

Beyonce admits Inauguration Day pre-recording

Page 26

Models present creations by Lina during the first day of the SIMOF (International Flamenco Fashion Show) in Sevilla, on January 31, 2013. — AFP

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2013

Eva Longoria dislikes living alone

Max George catches fire during a show

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wants a baby boy

Kanye West

he Wanted singer was performing a concert with the group Jay McGuiness, Siva Kaneswaran, Tom Parker and Nathan Sykes - at the bar in Dallas, Texas, on Thursday night when his velvet jacket caught alight after they walked through a wall of pyrotechnics. Max, 24, recalled to The Mirror newspaper: “We came through these big flames and just before I started singing I noticed these techie guys waving their hands. “I looked down and my arm was on fire.” Although Max, 24, managed to put out the flames before it spread across his entire body, it didn’t stop the hunk from feeling “scared” by the feeling. He said: “It was scary, my arm was on fire.

Luckily there was no damage but it could have been a disaster.” A similar incident happened to the late pop legend Michael Jackson, who suffered severe burns to his scalp after filming an advert for soft drink giant Pepsi in 1984 - an experience which is said to have “changed his life” and eventually led to his problems with prescription medication and obsession with cosmetic surgery. Max has recently been linked to troubled ‘Mean Girls’ star Lindsay Lohan, who has fueled rumours by uploading images of the pair together to her Instagram account.

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he rapper and his girlfriend Kim Kardashian are expecting their first child together this summer and Kanye, 35, has reportedly told friends he is hoping for a son. A source told HollywoodLife: “I think they already know what they’re having but Kanye hasn’t been saying anything other than that he wants a little baby boy. “That would make him real happy.

He’s always wanted a little boy. He wants to spoil him rotten but also teach him a lot. He wants his son to be great so hopefully he’ll be able to have a little guy.”

However, Kanye insists he will be happy with a daughter too. The insider added: “He’s got his heart set on having a son, but he would be happy with a little girl too. No matter what they have, that baby is going to be his heart.” Whatever the gender, Kim, 32 and Kanye are determined their tot will be fashionable. She recently said: “If anyone knows Kanye, they just know how into fashion he is, and I think he’s going to have things, like, specially made. “I don’t think hand-me-downs are going to work. I think it has to be, like, really fun stuff.” Asked what fashion-forward items it will be wearing, Kim added: “Chains... leather pants!

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he former ‘Desperate Housewives’ actress - who has reportedly rekindled her relationship with Eduardo Cruz - grew up with three sisters so prefers to have lots of people around. She told Cosmopolitan for Latinas magazine: “My mother gave me one piece of advice that’s always stuck with me.

Don’t forget where you came from. I grew up with three sisters and love a full house, I basically live in a sorority house now in West Hollywood with girlfriends.” Eva, 37, and Eduardo, 27, split in June last year after which she enjoyed a brief relationship with Mark

Sanchez, before splitting in October. Eva and the NFL player went their separate ways after a couple of months of dating because of their “different schedules and lifestyles”, but the pair have remained “close friends”. The American football player’s representative said at the time: “Mark adores and respects Eva. It really was about scheduling more than anything else. They will remain close friends. “There was no drama. They just have completely different schedules and lifestyles.”

Eva was previously married to basketball player Tony Parker.

Khloe Kardashian loves Simon Cowell’s honesty

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he ‘Keeping Up With The Kardashians’ star admitted she got off to a rocky start when she first started hosting the ‘X Factor’ but says Simon’s honesty and pep talks helped gain confidence. She told HuffPostLive: “I actually love Simon. I love that personality, I love the honesty. He was so phenomenal to me.

He could tell I kind of lost my confidence the first week... I got insecure for a minute, and Simon told me, ‘I hired you for you, I could have hired any trained host, so be yourself.’ And as soon as he said that, I felt like I was getting into my groove, and then it was the finale and now it’s over.” Khloe also revealed she was asked not to take any hosting lessons before she started, leaving her unprepared for what to expect.

She added: “I’ve never done live TV before, and I was asked to not do any hosting lessons because they wanted me to be just myself. I found the day before because the stage was just built, that I couldn’t read the teleprompter without glasses, so I had to get contacts the day before.

“Just learning how there’s a screaming audience and you don’t yell because the mic is right there ... I will have an earpiece in my ear, and while I’m trying to read the teleprompter then I have someone counting down ... and they’re like, ‘Okay, ask Simon this or that’...

There were so just so many pieces I never knew were involved in live TV. “I do feel like through every show I got better and better, but my first week I literally was like, ‘I am going to die. I want to fake a heart attack.’”

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2013

split Kelly Brook, Thom Evans

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he TV beauty has dated the rugby hunk since meeting him in a nightclub in November 2010 but they called time on their relationship last week after he grew jealous of her friendship with her former boyfriend Danny Cipriani. A source told The Sun newspaper: “She’s never stopped loving Danny. “Even though there was nothing going on while she and Thom were together, Thom hated the fact she was seeing him and Kelly refused to end their meetings. “After one row too many the pair decided to end things. She’s been leaning on

Danny since the break-up and, while she’s devastated, she knows it’s for the best.” While Kelly, 33 - who who has also dated actors Jason Statham and Billy Zane - remains in their London home, Thom, 27, has already moved to Los Angeles where he is hoping to forge an acting career.

The source added: “Thom told Kelly that he’s always wanted to live in LA but never made the leap because she was so against it. “He’s booked loads of auditions. It’s also easier for her to have this distance right now as it’s all so raw.”

Harry Styles splashes £3,000 on pizza

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he One Direction heartthrob made the charitable gesture when he had a day off in Los Angeles last year and bought a huge quantity of pizza to distribute among as many vagrants as he could find. Harry’s close friend Ed Sheeran told the Daily Mirror newspaper: “We were in LA about three months ago and he had a day off. “He spent two or three grand on Domino’s pizza and drove around giving them out to homeless people. That’s an amazing story. “People write about Harry in a negative way because of his love life but he does stuff like that a lot. He’s a pretty genuine guy.” Friends of the 19-year-old singer agree that Harry is generous and say he is still getting used to his fame and wealth. A source said: “Harry only came into this huge amount of wealth in the past two years, so he doesn’t take it for granted at all. “He’s really generous and likes feeling like he does some good in the world.”

Lana Del Rey loves to ‘live fast and freely’

Ryan Seacrest is ‘scared’ of his athletic girlfriend

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he ‘American Idol’ host has been dating former dancer Julianne Hough for two years and while he is completely smitten, he admitted he sometimes worries he will injure himself if he tries to keep up when she is doing physical activities. He told chat show host Ellen DeGeneres: “She’s such an athlete. I’m afraid sometimes to do stuff with her because I know I’m going to get injured.” Ryan, 38, also admitted he has been thinking of marriage but insists Julianne, 25, will be the first person to know when he decides to pop the question.

Asked when he is getting married, Ryan answered: “Good question. At the perfect time, and she will be the first to know.” Julianne has previously admitted Ryan was her “first celebrity crush”, but was hesitant to go out with him when they first met. She said: “I’m kind of dating my first celebrity crush, so I feel pretty fortunate. “I was reluctant because he is such an influential guy and what if it didn’t work out? Our first date, I was so nervous that I just sat there and interviewed him with questions like, ‘Are you loyal?’ and, ‘Are you close to your family?’”.

T

he ‘Video Games’ singer says she loves to take risks but is happiest when she is helping other people. She told Tokyo Numero magazine: “I loves to take things as they come and live fast and freely. “I find when my life is about other people i am more passionate and creative because I’m not getting in my own way. “I feel the most beautiful when I’m being of service to other people.” Lana also revealed she studied metaphysics before finding fame because she was interested in the connection between God and science. She said: “It bridged the gap between God and science. “I was interested in God and how technology could bring us closer to finding out where we came from and why.” Lana - whose real name is Lizzie Grant -previously admitted she often becomes uncomfortable on stage and sometimes has to kneel during her performances in order to hide her visible discomfort but is grateful her fans do their best to put her at ease. She said: “I love to take care of the songs - that’s my natural place then, when I get on stage that’s not my element.

“Sometimes I kneel down because I am trembling or touch the audience because I don’t know what else to do. But the nice thing about the kids is that they feel bad for me, and pass me soft toys!”

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2013

Western chefs seek recipe for Eastern success

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ncreasing numbers of Western chefs are looking to Asia to offset the dreary economies of the US and Europe, but the recipe for Eastern success depends on more than simply exporting expertise.

“What works in New York does not necessarily work in Hong Kong,” said Sandeep Sekhri, whose company Dining Concepts manages a stable of restaurants in the Chinese city and Macau that include ventures with Mario Batali and New York chef Michael White. Batali last year opened a $3.2 million version of his famed New York family-style restaurant Lupa, situated in Hong Kong’s high-rent Central district.

Like its Manhattan counterpart, it offers dishes such as Ricotta Gnocchi with sausage and fennel, or veal-lined Saltimbocca. But its glossy take on Roman trattoria fare makes for a higher-end ambiance. “People in Asia expect a higher comfort level, it needs to be a little bit more plush,” said Sekhri, who is managing director of Dining Concepts and says more Batali projects are in the pipeline.

With Asia’s economies in better shape than those in the eurozone or the United States, “someone who wouldn’t speak to us three, four or five years ago is now much more willing to talk”, said Sekhri of the so-called “celebrity chefs”. The company, which last year posted gross annual revenue of $65 million, also boasts ventures with Michelin-starred chefs Sergi Arola from Spain and Australia’s Greg Malouf. “The bigger the names the higher the expectations. We try to do a familystyle trattoria with Lupa, but people compare us to a three (Michelin) star restau-

In this picture, head chef with IHM Group Vincent Lauria, 28, poses in one of the restaurants of the group in Hong Kong. — AP rant-which was totally not the price point or the idea.” Batali has also recently opened two restaurants at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, where casino investments have helped lure the likes of French master Joel Robuchon, US-based Wolfgang Puck and Australia’s Tetsuya Wakuda.

‘Explosion’ of chefs Singapore’s dining scene has seen radical change, in stark contrast to the street cuisine of chilli crab and chicken rice it is more famous for, with some in the industry saying expansion has been too fast.

“Singapore had a massive explosion of Michelin star chefs because of the casinos,” said Yenn Wong, owner of Jia Boutique

Hotels, which operates restaurants and bars in the city and in Hong Kong, as well as a Shanghai hotel.

“There’s now an oversupply of restaurants making it a very challenging environment. Some are just so expensive and not what a typical Singaporean can afford.”

Wong recently teamed up with British chef Jason Atherton, another Michelin starred chef and a protege of Gordon Ramsay with restaurants in Singapore, to open 22 Ships, a Hong Kong tapas joint that has created both buzz and long queues in its first months. “Sometimes you never know whether it’s going to be difficult working with big chefs,” said Wong, adding that Atherton’s understanding of the Asian

Myanmar festival

celebrates literary freedom

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ozens of renowned international and local writers gathered yesterday at Myanmar’s first international literary festival to celebrate the country’s new-found freedom of expression. Authors hailed the festival-supported by Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi-as a breakthrough for creativity after years lost to stifling censorship rules under the generals who ruled the country for decades. “There was no freedom at all before,” said poet Saw Wai, who was jailed under the former junta for writing a satirical poem about the regime.

“As censorship has been abolished, we have become able to be more free and open,” he said, adding that poetry and cartoons were becoming increasingly “bold” with their satire. For decades censors vetted every article, book manuscript, photograph and illustration before publication, eliminating anything considered inflammatory or damaging to the nation’s former military rulers.

But the quasi-civilian government that took office in early 2011 has effectively abolished direct censorship as part of the reforms sweeping the country. Organisers of the Irrawaddy Literary Festival want to exploit Myanmar’s new freedoms to encourage bolder writing and debate. “When I saw how difficult it was to buy a book-new books or modern literature at all-that’s what give me the idea,” said event organiser Jane Heyn, the wife of the British ambassador to Myanmar.

“The main purpose of the festival is to provide a platform to exchange ideas, to exchange writing and discussion.” Around 25 international authors and some 120 local writers and poets are participating in the three-day

palette and market has been crucial to his success.

“The dishes aren’t very heavy, they’re clean which suits Asian tastes, they’re easy to understand. There is a creative twist but not too much.” Wong contrasts it to one of her first projects, a Hong Kong restaurant called Opia that offered Australian cuisine but which has since closed down.

“When we first opened there was a very good response. After two years it started to tail off, because you can’t really pinpoint what ‘modern Australian’ cuisine is. We learned and decided to focus more.”

‘Everyone wants to be at the top’ Even if the food is right, transplanting a chef into a new kitchen thousands of miles from home can be tricky. It is not just the menus that need to be adapted. “In terms of having a new kitchen crew, that’s a huge change for, say, a chef coming from New York,” said Sekhri. “There are five different languages being spoken in the kitchen for a start.” At 28 years old, Vincent Lauria is head chef with IHM Group in Hong Kong, which operates a cluster of restaurants including the Italian Linguini Fini in Central.

He quit Batali’s upscale Babbo restaurant in New York for an opportunity to work in Asia in 2009 before being approached by IHM. “When I first came to Asia, I still had the New York mentality and I was very aggressive,” he said. “In New York it is so competitive and cut-throat.

Everyone wants to be at the top, everyone wants your position. Here you have to look after people, nurture your staff as they get used to your recipes.” —AFP

Bolshoi drops major ballet premiere after attack

R A man browses a book on Myanmar’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi displayed during the Irrawaddy Literary Festival at Inya Lake hotel yesterday in Yangon, Myanmar. — AP festival at Yangon’s Inya Lake Hotel. In a scene that would have been unthinkable under the junta, visitors openly browsed Suu Kyi’s books along with other literature at stalls and exhibition displays blanketing the waterside lawns.

Vikram Seth, author of “A Suitable Boy”, historian William Dalrymple and China’s Jung Chang, who penned the epic “Wild Swans”, will join Suu Kyi-herself the author of several books-for a panel discussion today.

One debate on Friday was due to cover the future of freedom of speech with renowned poet-comedian Zarganar and dissident author Pe Myint on the panel.

“For many years we didn’t have a chance to collaborate like this. We’ve never experienced an international festival before,” Pe Myint said. — AFP

ussia’s Bolshoi ballet yesterday postponed one of its most eagerly anticipated premieres of the year, a new version of Igor Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring”, after the acid attack on its artistic director Sergei Filin. The Bolshoi had invited the British choreographer Wayne McGregor to choreograph an entirely new ballet to Stravinsky’s iconic score which this year marks 100 years since its premiere by the Ballet Russes in Paris. The ballet was due to have premiered in late March in a festival of dance celebrating the 100th anniversary of the “The Rite of Spring”, the kind of innovative programming championed by Filin.

“The Bolshoi management and the stage team led by Wayne McGregor have taken a joint decision to postpone ‘The Right of Spring’ as Sergei Filin is undergoing treatment,” the Bolshoi said in a statement. It said that new dates for the production would be announced when Filin returns to work at the theatre. The “Rite of Spring” anniversary festivalexpected to include the celebrated companies of the late Pina Bausch and Maurice Bejart-would still take

Sergei Filin place, it said. Filin has undergone repeated operations to try and save his eyesight after an unknown attacker last month threw acid into his face. He is set to go for further treatment next week in the German city of Aachen. The management blamed the attack on internal conflicts in the theatre which left Filin on the “front line” for months but investigators have yet to offer any insight on the progress of the case.

McGregor’s world premiere of his “The Right of Spring” in Moscow was eagerly awaited after his abstract ballet “Chroma” proved a smash hit at the Bolshoi in 2011. — AFP

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2013

A member of staff poses next to a work entitled ‘Jeanne Hebuterne (au chapeau)’ by Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani at Christie’s auction house in central London yesterday. Due to form part of the Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale on February 6, it is expected to fetch between $25-33 million. — AFP

Zombie rom-com ‘Warm Bodies’ tackles Stallone

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arm Bodies,” a zombie romantic comedy inspired by Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet,” seems ideal box-office counter-programming to open on Super Bowl weekend. “Bullet to the Head,” a Sylvester Stallone action movie, does not. It’s all about the demographics, say industry analysts, who believe enough young people will forget about the big game long enough to make PG-13 “Warm Bodies” No. 1 with around $17 million in sales. Warner Bros.’ R-rated “Bullet to the Head,” which would appeal most to older males more likely to be preoccupied with football this weekend, is expected to take in less than half that. For years the Super Bowl weekend was seen as a box-office dead zone, but that hasn’t been the case recently.

Last year, the sci-fi fantasy “Chronicle” opened to $22 million and the Daniel Radcliffe horror film “Woman in Black” debuted to nearly $21 million on that weekend.

Both of those films scored well with young people, and “Warm Bodies” is positioned to do that, too. Summit Entertainment and its parent Lionsgate were behind the “Twilight’ and “Hunger Games” franchises, so they know a little bit about marketing a movie based on a young adult novel, as this one is. Additionally, the month’s releases have been predominantly R-rated and there has been a dearth of movies targeting young audiences. It will be on about 2,400 screens. Josh Levine (“50-50”) adapted the “Warm Bodies” screenplay from Isaac Marion’s 2010 novel of the same name and directs. The story follows the zombie lad R (Nicholas Hoult) who saves Julie (Teresa Palmer) from an attack by other zombies. When their relationship takes off, it threatens to transform the lifeless world. Rob Corddry, John Malkovich and Dave Franco co-star.

“Warm Bodies” is generating more heat on Facebook and Twitter than “Dark Shadows,” the Johnny Depp send-up of the TV series that opened to $29 million last May, and the critics like it. It’s facing “Bullet to the Head,” Stallone’s first film since last summer’s “Expendables 2,” which opened to $28 million and went to make $300 million worldwide.

Stallone won’t have Arnold Schwarzenegger and the rest of the over-the-hill gang with him this time, and the opening weekend for “Bullet” is expected to be closer to the $7 million debut posted by Arnold’s “The Last Stand” earlier this month.

It will be on roughly 2,900 screens. Four days ahead of its release, “Bullet to the Head” was showing less Facebook and Twitter activity than “The Last Stand” at a comparable juncture, according to BoxOffice.com. Bigger things are expected from “The Tomb,” which pairs the two aging action heroes and will be released in September by Summit Entertainment.

Walter Hill directs “Bullet to the Head,” in which a hitman (Stallone) teams with a young Washington DC detective (Sung Kang) in a high-stakes investigation that leads from the back alleys to the power corridors of New Orleans. Christian Slater, Jason Momoa and Sarah Shahi co-star. Alfred Gough, Miles Millar and Kevin King Templeton are producing the film, which is based upon a French graphic novel by Alexis Nolent, and premiered at the Rome Film Festival in November. Meanwhile, Lionsgate is opening the action comedy “Stand Up Guys” on 600 theaters ahead of its wide release. —Reuters

Visitors look at artworks displayed at the India Art Fair in New Delhi on January 31, 2013. — AFP

As Indian art world meets, prices stay depressed

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ndia’s art world has converged on New Delhi for the industry’s biggest annual event where upbeat talk and parties are likely to disguise a market that is still in the doldrums since crashing in 2008. Indian art auction prices are down 70 to 75 percent from their peak, when speculation driven by new prosperity in cities such as Delhi and Mumbai pushed them to “unsustainable levels”, says art analyst Anders Petterson. Petterson, managing director of London-based global art market analysis firm ArtTactic, says India is still suffering from the after effects of the 2008 global financial crisis, but says he sees signs for cautious optimism.

“We glimpse a market gradually turning around,” he said.

The three-day India Art Fair-now in its fifth year and featuring 105 art houses-offers valuable global exposure to local artists and a chance for overseas galleries to woo India’s increasingly affluent population with international works. However artists and galleries still face a battle to restore confidence among buyers who are worried about the “sustainability of art values”, according to veteran art critic Kishore Singh.

“People want to know that if they buy a work at least it will be worth the same next year or in a few years and perhaps a little more,” he said. The price of top works by India’s Modernist masters-the late M F Husain and others from the Bombay Progressive Artists’ Group-are returning to pre-crash levels, said Singh, but rich collectors are still nervous about taking risks. A canvas by Tyeb Mehta, a top member of the Progressives’ group, fetched a record price of $3.24 million in

Visitors look at photographs taken by Canadian singer and photographer Bryan Adams yesterday at the Museum NRW forum in Duesseldorf, western Germany. The exhibition shows from January 2 until May 22, 2013 portraits of Artists photographed by Canadian singer Bryan Adams in the NRW forum in Dusseldorf, Germany. — AFP

2011, but the high price paid was seen as a one-off. Works by the younger contemporary school of artists are still overpriced by around 30 percent, estimates Kapil Chopra, editor of Indian e-art magazine Wall, noting large gallery stockpiles. The woes of the Indian art world, however, look unlikely to dim enthusiasm for the fair among the public who have flocked to the event, which was launched by 32-year-old marketing graduate Neha Kirpal in 2008.

“The fair has grown exponentially in India, which is a country deprived of seeing art,” said Kirpal, who told AFP she has kept tickets at an affordable 200 rupees ($3.75) — below the price of a cinema ticket-to “ensure accessibility”. For collectors and art lovers alike, the fair is regarded as the best chance to get a handle on India’s hugely varied art scene-from paintings to sculpture, multi-media installations and interactive projects-in a country where there are few state-funded museums.

“Every serious collector, scholar and curator makes themselves available for this event, it’s an amazing platform,” Amin Jaffer, a leading expert on Asian art at London auction house Christie’s, told AFP. Visitor numbers have risen 10-fold to over 100,000 since the show’s launch, while the size of the venue-a huge tent designed by top Indian scenographer Sumant Jayakrishnanhas mushroomed seven-fold. But critics say increased visitor footfall does not equate to buyers, making it an expensive venture for galleries. Twenty foreign galleries are present this year, the same tally as in 2012. —AFP

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2013

Beyonce admits Inauguration Day pre-recording

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eyonce answered critics of her Inauguration Day performance the best way could - with another sterling performance of the national anthem. The difference? On Thursday, it was live: She admitted during her Super Bowl news conference that when she performed for President Barack Obama and the nation, she decided to sing to a prerecorded track because she didn’t have time to practice. Calling herself a self-proclaimed “perfectionist,” she said wanted the day to go off without a hitch.

“I practice until my feet bleed and I did not have time to rehearse with the orchestra,” she said, adding that she was also emotional that day. “Due to no proper sound check, I did not feel comfortable taking a risk. It was about the president and the inauguration, and I wanted to make him and my country proud, so I decided to sing along with my pre-recorded track, which is very common in the music industry.

And I’m very proud of my performance.”

It was the superstar’s first public comments on the scandal. Her rendition of the anthem at the inauguration was critically praised, but it came under scrutiny less than a day later when a representative from the US Marine Band said Beyonce wasn’t singing live and the band’s accompanying performance was taped.

Shortly after, the group backed off its initial statement and said no one could tell if she was singing live or not.

With the controversy growing each day, and everyone from politicians to other entertainers weighing in, the inauguration performance threatened to overshadow her planned Super Bowl halftime show. So the 31-year-old, wearing a tight, cream mini-dress, addressed the issue as soon as she took to the podium Thursday afternoon. She asked everyone to stand, and, with an image of the American flag behind her, performed a live rendition of the national anthem that mirrored the one on Inauguration Day. After, she said with a laugh: “Any questions?”

Despite her performance, there were. When

Beyonce performs the National Anthem at the Pepsi Super Bowl XLVII Halftime Show Press Conference at the Ernest N Morial Convention Center on Thursday in New Orleans. —AFP pressed about whether any sound was coming from her voice when she sang for the president, she said she was singing along to the track and not mimicking.

And when asked if she would be singing live at the Super Bowl, she said: “I will absolutely be singing live.

“This is what I was born to do.”

She added later: “I always sing live. ... The inauguration was unfortunately a time where I could not rehearse with the orchestra, actually because I was

rehearsing for the Super Bowl. So that was always the plan.” Beyonce also got a chance to talk more in detail about the reason why she was in New Orleans - to perform at the halftime show. Calling it one of her career aspirations, she said when she arrived at the Superdome, she was so moved by the experience she took her shoes of and ran on the field, taking in the history at the famed venue.

“It really makes me emotional,” she said. “When I am no longer here, it’s what they’re gonna show.”

Beyonce has teased photos and video of herself preparing for the show, which will perhaps be the biggest audience of her career. Last year, Madonna’s halftime performance was the most-watched Super Bowl halftime performance ever, with an average of 114 million viewers. It garnered more viewers than the game itself, which was the most-watched US TV event in history.

But she would not give anything more away about the performance. While a Destiny’s Child reunion was shot down by Michelle Williams, who is starring in a production of “Fela!”, the third Destiny’s Child member, Kelly Rowland, is in town. Beyonce laughed off questions of whether Rowland or Beyonce’s husband, Jay-Z, would join her on stage. “I can’t give you any details, sorry,” she said. She also would not reveal her set list, though acknowledged she was having a hard time trying to “condense a career into 12 minutes.”

Before the news conference, Beyonce’s “Life is But A Dream” was shown to the media. The documentary about the star’s life features her talking in-depth about intimate details of her life, including suffering a miscarriage; it will air on HBO on Feb 16. In it, she also reveals more of her 1-year-old daughter Blue Ivy, whom she called her inspiration. “I feel like my daughter changed me and changed my life and has given me so much purpose,” she said. She added that she was counting down until 9 pm Sunday, when her performance would be over - and she could be reunited with Blue Ivy. —AP

Oscar’s documentary shorts hit close to home

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itting down to watch the Oscarnominated documentary shorts is an enlightening experience, but it’s not exactly a short one. The docs, after all, are always the longest of the shorts.

You can watch all five animated-short nominees in about 40 minutes, the same amount of time it’ll take to view “Inocente” or “Mondays at Racine” or “Open Heart,” three doc-short nominees that approach the Academy’s 40-minute limit for qualifying in the shorts categories.

The five nominees average almost 37 minutes, and the whole category takes more than three hours of viewing. But it’s a gripping three hours, full of moving stories about tough subjects: homelessness, childhood disease, cancer, aging.

This year’s field is typical in its subject matter, but uncharacteristic in that four of the five nominees take place inside the United States. Between the time commitment and the fact that this is the one shorts category that requires Academy members to attend special screenings before voting, the category will almost certainly have fewer voters than any other. But that should change in 2014: Screeners will likely be sent and voting will likely be opened up to the entire Academy next year.

A theatrical program of the nominated doc shorts will open on Feb. 8 through ShortsHD and Magnolia Pictures.

“Inocente” Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine 40 minutes Made under the auspices of MTV, “Inocente” is the charming and occasionally heartbreaking character study of a homeless teen from San Diego who refuses to let her tough circumstances keep her from making vibrant, colorful, defiantly celebratory art. Fine and Nix were nominated in the doc-feature category five years ago for “War/Dance,” and this film speaks both to the economic climate and the urge to express oneself.

It’s a moving combination, and celebrations of the power of art have won in the category before (“A Note of Triumph,” “Music by Prudence”). But up against films that are more wrenching, the chances for “Inocente” depend on how many viewers will fall in love with its subject.

“Kings Point” Sari Gilman and Jedd Wider 30 minutes A retirement home in Florida is the setting for veteran doc editor Gilman’s film, which tells personal stories of the relationships, longings and loneliness in the last place most of its residents will ever live. The doc moves deftly between stories of several residents, from ones looking for love to ones wary of letting anybody get too close. Like “Inocente,” this is a character study that views larger stories through small, personal prisms.

No doubt younger voters can relate to stories of parents, and the older side of the Academy will have its own take on the humor and heartbreak of these residents.

“Mondays at Racine” Cynthia Wade and Robin Honan 39 minutes Wade, a past winner in the category for “Freeheld,” focuses on a Long Island beauty parlor that opens its doors once a month to women with cancer. The small rituals of shaving heads and pampering women fighting the disease are a jumping-off point for a deeper look at two women, one a young mother undergoing chemotherapy for the first time and the other an older woman whose marriage is fracturing under the stress of living with cancer for more than 17 years.

As the film moves away from the beauty parlor, the storytelling gets more scattershot and less focused. But “Mondays at Racine” does have the uplift that voters often like in the category, making it a clear contender.

“Open Heart” Kief Davidson and Cori Shepherd Stern 40 minutes Davidson’s film is the model of the kind of doc short that had traditionally done well in this category, including winners “Saving Face” and “Smile Pinki” in the last four years. For starters, it uncovers a wrenching problem, in this case

rheumatic heart disease among children in Africa whose strep throat had gone untreated, and who are facing all-butcertain death unless they receive treatment that is only done at one public hospital in Africa. But crucially, it also offers hope instead of despair.

A global story well told, the movie fol-

lows a group of eight children who travel from Rwanda to Sudan for treatment at the hands of a Rwandan cardiologist and an Italian surgeon. Skirting politics to zero in on the human stories, it tells a story that is involving, horrifying and ultimately uplifting. In this category, that is often a recipe for success.—Reuters

Indian Bollywood film actresses Sohan Ali Khan (left) and Mahie Gill pose during the First Look of upcoming Hindi film ‘Sahib Biwi Aur Gangster’ directed by Tigmanshu Dhulia in Mumbai Thursday. —AFP

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2013

In this photo, snake handler Saintilus Resilus holds a snake in front of his lips as he trains the snake to recognize his smell as he prepares for his street performances during the pre-Lenten Carnival season, at his home in Petionville, Haiti. —AP photos

In this photo, snake handler Saintilus Resilus holds a snake with his teeth as he performs for money during the pre-Lenten Carnival season.

Haiti ‘snake artist’ uses Carnival to get by

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aintilus Resilus’ day job this time of year is walking the streets of Haiti’s capital with snakes on his head. He sees himself as something of a performance artist, showing off with snakes and other animals that Haitians don’t see every day, earning tips from impromptu audiences during the preLenten Carnival season. “Sometimes I put the head of a snake in my mouth,” Resilus, 58, said while sitting in a plastic chair in his cinderblock box of a home.

“It’s not something anyone can do.”

He demonstrated by stuffing the tip of a four-foot Haitian boa in his mouth.

The serpent’s tail kicked and curled around Resilus’ neck. Resilus is one of

millions of people scrambling to get by in a country where the unemployment rate hovers around 60 percent and most get by on $2 a day. Resilus has used snakes and other animals to earn a little money since at least 1974. This year, he has new catches to display: an owl tied to his chair with twine, along with a collection of marsh hens stored in a tool box at his feet. He promises to let them go after Carnival. But the snakes? No, those will stay.

It’s the serpents that help him eat and pay rent, in addition to his work for a neighborhood herbologist. And it’s the snakes for which he’s most famous.

“I’m an artist, an artist of the country,”

A man kisses a snake for good luck after paying snake handler Saintilus Resilus.

he said. “If you go on the Internet you’ll see me.” Art, however, has its challenges. Resilus has scars from owl bites on his hands, the palms rough like sandpaper from climbing trees to capture animals. Haiti’s snakes aren’t venomous, but they have poisoned some relationships. His wife left him in 1991.

“My wife told me, ‘you can go live with your snakes,’” he recounted, a camouflage bag of five snakes at his feet. He has found high regard among fellow street performers. “He makes the biggest shows in the country,” said Dieupuisa Louis, 35, a fellow street performer who uses animals. These days, Restilus lives in a hillside neighborhood

above the capital that’s part shantytown, part post-quake settlement housing people who left the makeshift camps that sprouted in the capital after the 2010 earthquake.

Restilus welcomes the meager income and his fleeting fame. But his children, at least, think he hasn’t gotten the recognition he deserves.

“What my dad is doing is something really special,” said Romunus Restilus, a 24-year-old student. “My dad would like to show the world what he has, what he represents. My dad is not only a snake artist. There are other animals like lizards and owls that he cultivates.” —AP

In this photo, an assistant to snake handler Saintilus Resilus prepares to wash snakes before using them in pre-Lenten Carnival performances.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2013

Tourists gather at Trevi’s Fountain in Rome. — AP photos

Rome’s Trevi Fountain gets $2.9m facelift R

(From left) Designer Karl Lagerfeld, Silvia Venturini Fendi, Fendi CEO Pietro Beccari and Rome’s Mayor Gianni Alemanno, pose for photographers in Rome.

ome’s 18th-century Trevi Fountain, famed as a setting for the film “La Dolce Vita,” is getting a $2.9 million restoration courtesy of the Fendi fashion house. The 20-month project on one of the city’s most iconic fountains was unveiled at a city hall press conference Monday featuring Fendi designers Karl Lagerfeld and Silvia Venturini Fendi, who said the project combined a love of Rome’s past with a need to preserve its future.

Rome’s fountains, Lagerfeld said, “are there to glorify water, which is the most important thing in life.” It’s the latest example of Italian fashion companies coming to the aid of Italy’s chronically underfunded cultural heritage. The founder of the Tod’s footwear company is footing the bill for the Ä25 million (nearly $34 million) restoration of Rome’s ancient Colosseum, and Mayor Gianni Alemanno said he hoped these two donations were just the start.

“Without similar initiatives, we won’t be able to save the cultural memory of our country,” Alemanno said. Fendi is also donating Ä320,000 ($430,000) to restore another fountain complex in Rome, the Quattro Fontane. The landmark Trevi Fountain is a mustsee on any tourist itinerary. It was famously featured in Federico Fellini’s 1960 movie “La Dolce Vita,” with Anita Ekberg seductively splashing in the fountain’s waters and calling out to leading man Marcello Mastroianni.

Many visitors flip a coin into the fountain: Tradition says that doing so ensures a prompt return to the Eternal City. The Trevi restoration involves a complete overhaul of the fountain, including cleaning the travertine faÁade and marble statues, replacing the gilded Latin inscriptions and re-waterproofing the main basin. The project will be carried out in phases, with the central section restored first, then the sides, then the top. At no time will

it be closed to visitors, and officials said a screen bearing the image of the fountain will cover the scaffolding in a bid to minimize the eyesore for camera-toting tourists.

The restoration is expected to completed by 2015. The fountain, which was built between 1732 and 1762, features Oceanus being carried on his chariots and contains many other allegorical references to water. The location of the fountain itself - on a side street off central Rome’s main thoroughfare - is the termination of one of ancient Rome’s aqueducts, the Aqua Virgo Aqueduct. Alemanno stressed that the only reference to Fendi’s sponsorship will be a small plaque near the fountain identifying Fendi as responsible. Silvia Venturini Fendi said the firm, which her family founded in 1925 in Rome, wanted to give something back to the city and noted that she and her sisters had previously published a book on Roman fountains. “For Romans, water is inspiration,” she said. — AP

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2013

Copenhagen

Fashion Week

Models present creations on the catwalk in a Soulland during the Copenhagen Fashion Week fall/winter in Copenhagen. — AP

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2013

Meet 3 keeping ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ running

In this photo, actor Richard Poole (left), dresser Erna Dias (center) and musical supervisor David Caddick pose for a photo in front of ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ stage at the Majestic Theater in New York. — AP

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ver the past quarter of a century, 37 different actresses have played the female lead in “The Phantom of the Opera” on Broadway. All 37 have been dressed by one woman: Erna Dias. “I have no favorites. You can’t do that,” says Dias, who has been a wardrobe attendant with the show at the Majestic Theater

In this file photo, Kelly Clarkson performs at VH1 Divas at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Kelly Clarkson’s No. 1 hit, ‘Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You),’ is nominated for record of the year at Grammy Awards on Feb 10, 2013. — AP

in New York since rehearsals began.

She oversees each actress’ 16 nightly costume changes one so short she has only 34 seconds to get it done - and has rearranged her vacations to ensure she’s present for each new heroine making her debut as Christine Daae.

“To keep this fresh, when I come in, I try to think of every night as opening night,” she says. “I’ve been in this business 36 years and I never thought this show was going to last this long. This is unbelievable.” The show is celebrating its record-setting silver anniversary and it has eye-popping numbers grossing over $887 million, using 1,600 tons of dry ice and having its famous chandelier travel 4 million feet. But behind the numbers and behind the scenes, it is people like Diaz who have kept “The Phantom of the Opera” going, one outfit at a time.

It’s people like David Caddick, the Grammy-winning musical supervisor who also frequently conducts the show dressed in Edwardian tails. His hair has grown gray over the 25 years he’s been with “Phantom.” “It keeps going because people want it to keep going,” says Caddick, who leads the show’s tours as well. “We have an audience that keeps coming back, and a new audience who have never seen it, and everyone’s very grateful for that.”

The musical opened on London’s West End at the 1,200seat Her Majesty’s Theatre on Oct. 9, 1986, with Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman in the lead roles. It crossed the Atlantic and opened on Broadway on Jan. 26, 1988, and has clocked more than 10,400 performances, becoming the Great White Way’s longest-running show ever.

“Every single show is a pioneer into the future. Every single one makes it that much further,” says actor Richard Poole, who has played Joseph Buquet in the show for 14 1/2 years. “It’s an incredible blessing to be in something like this because you don’t go into this business for security.” Based on a novel by Gaston Leroux, “Phantom” tells the story of a deformed composer who haunts the Paris Opera House and falls madly in love with an innocent young soprano, Christine. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s lavish songs include “Masquerade,” “Angel of Music,” “All I Ask of You,” “The Phantom of the Opera” and “The Music of the Night.”

The musical has played to over 130 million people in 27 countries and has grossed over $5.6 billion worldwide more than any film in history, including “Avatar,” “Titanic,” “Gone With the Wind” and “Star Wars.” In the New York production, Poole plays an unpleasant, drunken opera stagehand who is killed before intermission - “It’s rough dying eight times a week,” he cracks - but returns to play various other smaller roles the rest of the night. He’s a classic team player.

“Even the short time that I’ve been here - comparatively - I see people come and go, but I see the standard - the benchmark - remain the same,” he says. “That is attributed to the people who are really in it every single day, week, month, year, decade.”

The show has endured through blackouts, 9/11, economic recessions and Superstorm Sandy, a flood in the theater due to plumping problems and one Christine popping her Achilles tendon. It also survived Poole losing some teeth. He explains that a few years back, he cracked five teeth on a piece of equipment but kept going that week with some temporary teeth. Then, one night onstage, he said the word “ghost” and two of his temporaries flew out of his mouth, landing several feet away at the foot of another actor.

“I’m realizing at that point that these teeth are worth a lot more than my dignity of picking them up,” he says. “I thought, ‘I’m a stage hand.’ I reached down, picked them up and put them back in. Everyone was going, ‘Ugh!’ which is perfect for the character.” What has fueled Dias, Caddick and Poole every night for all these years has been the sense of obligation they have to inspire another generation and pass along their passion. “My philosophy about it is that every time that you go on the stage, you have to realize that there are some people who have never seen a theatrical production ever before. There are people who have spent half a year saving up money to come and see something,” says Poole. “The show has become a revival of itself because now the people who saw it when they were kids are bringing their kids. It’s iconic. It’s part of the fabric of New York.” — AP

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2013

technology

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2013

US weighs tougher action over China cyberattacks WASHINGTON: High-level talks with the Chinese government to address persistent cyberattacks against US companies and government agencies haven’t worked, so officials say the Obama administration is now considering a range of actions.

China-based hackers have long been an economic and national security concern, but as cybersecurity experts report an increase in attacks, US leaders are looking at ways to better address the threat and analyze its impact.

Two former US officials said the administration is preparing a new National Intelligence Estimate that, when complete, is expected to detail the cyberthreat, particularly from China, as a growing economic problem. One official said it also will cite more directly a role by the Chinese government in such espionage.

The official said the NIE, which reflects the views of the nation’s various intelligence agencies, will underscore the administration’s concerns about the threat, and will put greater weight on plans for more pointed diplomatic and trade measures against the Chinese government. The two former officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the classified report.

“We have to begin making it clear to the Chinese,” Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Thursday, “that the United States is going to have to take action to protect not only our government’s, but our private sector, from this kind of illegal intrusions.”

She said the U.S. must help build an international alliance against the cyberthreat and added that there is a

lot the U.S. is working on “in the event that we don’t get some kind of international effort under way.” She said no specifics have been finalized.

Underscoring that widespread threat, both The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that their computer systems had been infiltrated by China-based hackers. In both cases they said the focus was on monitoring news coverage and the reporters digging into stories the Chinese government deemed important.

Although the Obama administration hasn’t yet decided what steps it may take, actions could include threats to cancel certain visas or put major purchases of Chinese goods through national security reviews.

“The US government has started to look seriously at more assertive measures and begun to engage the

Chinese on senior levels,” said James Lewis, a cybersecurity expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “They realize that this is a major problem in the bilateral relationship that threatens to destabilize US relations with China.”

To date, extensive discussions between Chinese officials and top U.S. leaders - including President Barack Obama and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta - have had little impact on what government and cybersecurity experts say is escalating and technologically evolving espionage. The Chinese deny such espionage efforts.

The newly disclosed four-month long cyberattack against the Times is just the latest in a long string of breaches said to be by China-based hackers into corporate and government computer systems across the United States. — AP

New BlackBerry won’t be released in US until March Physical keyboard to take a month longer NEW YORK: Research In Motion Ltd. unveiled new, versatile BlackBerrys after excruciating delays allowed Apple, Samsung and others to build commanding leads in an industry that is redefining society. But the first phone won’t come out in the United States until March, and one with a physical keyboard will take at least a month longer.

The stock fell 12 percent after Wednesday’s kickoff, despite mostly positive reviews about the new BlackBerry 10 operating system.

There’s concern the phone isn’t coming out sooner, and there’s worry BlackBerry 10’s advances won’t be enough to turn the company around.

In a move underscoring the stakes riding on its make-or-break product lineup, RIM used the occasion to announce that it is changing the company’s name to BlackBerry. It’s a pio-

neering brand that lost its cachet not long after Apple’s 2007 release of the iPhone, which reset expectations for what a smartphone should do.

Pioneered in 1999, BlackBerry became a game-changing breakthrough in personal connectedness. It changed the culture by allowing onthe-go business people to access wireless email. President Barack Obama couldn’t bear to part with his BlackBerry. Oprah Winfrey declared it one of her “favorite things.” It was so addictive at times that it was nicknamed “the CrackBerry.”

As the BlackBerry began to cross over to consumers, rivals came out with a new generation of phones that could do more than just email and messaging, starting with the iPhone and followed by devices running Google’s Android system. Suddenly, the BlackBerry looked ancient.

NEW YORK: Sam Shperling with Gameloft holds the new BlackBerry 10 while playing his company’s game, Nova, in New York. The maker of the BlackBerry smartphone is promising a speedy browser, a superb typing experience and the ability to keep work and personal identities separate on the same phone, the fruit of a crucial, long-overdue makeover for the Canadian company. — AP

RIM promised a new system to catch up, using technology it got through its 2010 purchase of QNX Software Systems. But it has taken more than two years to unveil new phones that are redesigned for the new multimedia, Internet browsing and apps experience that customers are now demanding.

CEO Thorsten Heins, who one year ago replaced longtime executives who had presided over BlackBerry’s fall, formally unveiled the much-delayed smartphones and software Wednesday in New York. Simultaneous events were held in Toronto, London, Paris, Dubai, Johannesburg, New Delhi and Jakarta, Indonesia.

The first device in the new crop of revamped BlackBerrys will be the Z10 pronounced “zee 10” in the US and “zed-10” elsewhere. As RIM previously disclosed, it will have only a touchscreen keyboard, like Apple Inc.’s trend-setting iPhone and most phones running Android, including Samsung Electronic Co.’s popular Galaxy line.

Although the Z10 will go on sale in the U.K. and next Tuesday in Canada, it won’t be available in the US until March.

The Q10 will follow and will have a physical keyboard, a feature that has kept BlackBerry users loyal over the years because it makes typing easier.

RIM said the Q10 will start going on sale on some global carriers in April, but it couldn’t say when US carriers will have it. Heins said US carriers need more time to test the devices. All the major US carriers plan to sell the new BlackBerrys. Verizon Wireless said the Z10 will be available for $200 with a two-year service agreement, in line with what other major smartphones cost. In Canada, it will cost about $150 with a three-year contract. — AP

Facebook unwraps new gift cards to Target, others NEW YORK: Facebook’s newest e-commerce idea: A gift card users can buy for each other that can be spent at retailers and restaurants including Target, Jamba Juice and Olive Garden. The company is building on the gifts service it introduced last fall. That lets people send chocolate, flowers and other real-life goods to their Facebook friends.

Facebook Inc. said Thursday that the reusable card will be available to US users gradually. To send gifts and gift cards, users can click on the “gifts” icon on their friends’ Facebook pages or alongside birthday notifications.

Gifts amounted to a tiny portion of Facebook’s revenue in the fourth quarter. The Menlo Park, Calif., company expects it to stay very small this year.

Facebook and BlackBerry lost ground on Wall Street Thursday as investors gave a cool reception to earnings at social network Facebook and the Canadian firm’s launch of a new smartphone platform.

Facebook dropped 0.83 percent to close at $30.98, even after results Wednesday that topped most analyst estimates. Research in Motion, which rebranded the company as BlackBerry as it unveiled new smartphones and and an operating system, tumbled 5.8 percent to $12.98 after getting a lukewarm response to the launch.

Facebook, which highlighted a growing shift to mobile usage, reported a $64 million profit in the fourth quarter of last year, while revenue grew 40 percent to $1.585 billion.

But analysts expressed concern about news that Facebook expenses jumped 82 percent to $1.06 billion and will keep rising given the company’s plan to hire aggressively and invest heavily in datacenters.

Analysts at Jefferies downgraded Facebook, saying profits may be squeezed. “While we are broadly supportive of Facebook’s longer-term strategy, the material increase in 2013 spending pressures valuation, making the stock less attractive to own on a near-term basis, in our opinion,” said Jefferies analyst Brian Pitz. — Agencies

Te c h n o l o g y SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2013

Judge rejects Apple’s patent award demands SAN FRANCISCO: A federal judge rejected Apple Inc.’s demand to increase the $1.05 billion in damages a jury ordered Samsung Electronics Inc. to pay its fiercest rival in the smartphone market.

US District Judge Lucy Koh also rejected demands from both companies to conduct another trial on different issues over claims that the South Korean company unfairly used technology controlled by Apple to build its iPads and iPhones to market knockoff products. She also upheld the validity of the Apple patents at the center of the dispute.

A jury in August found that Samsung “infringed” six Apple patents to create and market 26 models of smartphones and computer tablets and ordered the $1.05 billion award. The jury found several other older Samsung products didn’t infringe any Apple patents.

Earlier, the judge refused to block sales of the infringing products in the United States after she said Apple failed to show consumer demand for the Samsung devices was driven by the purloined technology, including the “pinch-to-zoom” function. Apple is appealing that decision. Samsung contends that only three of the 26 older-generation products are still offered for sale in the United Sates.

Apple has filed a new lawsuit contending that Samsung’s current products are also using Apple technology.

Koh scheduled trial for that matter in 2014.

In a series of four orders, the judge painstakingly considered each side’s myriad claims that the nine-member jury wrongly considered evidence and misread complex patent law. With a few minor exceptions, the judge concluded that the jurors’ got it right as far as the law goes. “Accordingly, the

trial was fairly conducted, with uniform time limits and rules of evidence applied to both sides,” the judge said.

“A new trial would be contrary to the interests of justice.”

The judge is still considering Samsung’s demands to reduce the $1.05 billion award. The jurors had filled out a verdict form listing the damages Samsung owed Apple for each of the 26 products it found to have used infringing technology.

Samsung contends that many of the line-item calculations were done incorrectly and that it was due a big reduction in the award.

Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet declined to comment. A Samsung spokesperson didn’t respond to emails late Tuesday. At a hearing in December, the judge seemed inclined to rework at least a few of the jury’s damages calculations, but gave no indication by what

amount. Apple and Samsung are the top two smartphone makers and are locked in a no-holds-barred, worldwide battle for supremacy of the $346 billion annual sales market, appearing in courtrooms around the globe accusing each other of stealing technology and trade infractions.

International Data Corp. on Friday released a report showing smartphone shipments soared 36 percent worldwide in the fourth quarter as the sleek devices supplanted personal computers and other gadgets on holiday shopping lists.

Samsung Electronics Co. retained its bragging rights as the smartphone leader, shipping nearly 64 million devices for a 29 percent share of the global market. Apple ranked second with nearly 48 million iPhones shipped during the fourth quarter, translating into a market share of 22 percent. —AP

Apple blocks Java on Macs due to vulnerabilities Apple dominates in tablets NEW YORK Some Mac users were taken by surprise Thursday as their computers stopped running programs written using the Java programming language after Apple blocked Java due to security problems.

Java allows programmers to write a wide

Java in Web browsers to avoid potential hacking attacks. Oracle Corp., which owns Java, has issued updates that fix known vulnerabilities, but the DHS expects that there are more flaws in Java’s coding. Apple sends out virtual “blacklists” to Internet-connected Macs,

TOKYO: Customers try out the newly launched 7-inch sized tablet “iPad mini” at an Apple store in Tokyo in this November 2, 2012 photo.

Worldwide tablet sales jumped in the fourth quarter beyond even some of the most optimistic forecasts to 52.5 million, with Androidpowered devices pacing growth, a survey showed on Thursday. —AFP variety of Internet applications and other software programs and run them on most computers, including Apple Inc.’s Mac. However, earlier this month the US Department of Homeland Security recommended disabling

instructing them not to run certain programs.

Apple is blocking the latest version of Java from running on the most recent versions of its Mac operating system, and blocking an older version, Java 6, from running on the old-

er version of its Mac system, called Snow Leopard. The blocks affect programs and online games that use Java in Web browsers.

Oracle had no immediate comment on Apple’s action. Among those Java users inconvenienced by the unannounced block was the photo department of The Associated Press, which relies on a Java application to manage and distribute photos.

“The situation caught us by surprise and a number of our machines could not operate for a time, but we had enough capability to work around the problem in the meantime,” said AP spokesman Paul Colford. “We expect the affected machines to be operating by day’s end.”

Apple continues to dominate in tablet computers, although its market share is shrinking because of growing competition from Samsung and others, research firm IDC said Thursday.

Apple Inc. shipped 22.9 million iPads worldwide in the October-December quarter, during which it released a smaller version and updated its full-size models. That’s growth of 48 percent from the same period a year earlier. But IDC said Apple’s market share fell to 44 percent, from 52 percent.

Samsung Electronics Co., maker of the Galaxy line of devices, saw shipments more than triple to 7.9 million. Its market share expanded to 15 percent, from 7 percent.

AsusTek Computer Inc., maker of the Transformer line and Google’s Nexus 7, also saw shipments and market share increase.

Amazon.com Inc.’s share fell despite shipping more Kindle Fires during the quarter.

Barnes & Noble, maker of the Nook tablets, saw both market share and shipments fall. IDC said Microsoft Corp. didn’t make the top 5 despite the high-profile release of the Surface tablet running a version of its new Windows 8 system.

Overall, there were more than 52 million tablets shipped during the quarter, an increase of 75 percent. —AP

EU studies Google’s bid to avoid anti-trust fine BRUSSELS: EU anti-trust authorities said yesterday they had received proposals from Internet giant Google aimed at ending a probe into its dominance of online search advertising platforms.

“We have received proposals from Google and have started analysing them,” said a spokesman for European Union Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia.

The EU launched its investigation of Google in November 2010 following a complaint by companies in several countries, including Ciao, which is owned by US software giant Microsoft.

EU competition authorities expressed concern following claims that Google search results for items such as travel reservations favoured its own services to the detriment of those offered by competitors.

Earlier this month the US Federal Trade Commission said it lacked a legal basis to bring a case against Google for allegedly abusing its dominance in Internet searches, but added that it had won commitments from the company to end the “most troubling” practices.

After significant progress in talks that nonetheless stalled in July, Google met a midnight Thursday deadline to avoid anti-trust charges and a possible fine of up to 10 percent of its sales.

Critics say that Google controls about 70 percent of the Internet search market, and the advertising that goes along with it. —AFP

W h a t ’s o n SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2013

Announcements

GPCC holds blood donation camp

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ECC organizes Omra trip for Egyptians

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ulf Pravasi Cultural Congress(GPCC) Kuwait celebrated India’s 64th Republic Day jointly with Shifa Al-Jazeera Medical Center and Jabriya Central Blood Bank to mark the 7th Blood Donation Camp on January 25, 2013 at Fahaheel, Shifa Al-Jazeera Medical Center. More than 150 people from different nationalities donated the blood on the occasion including GPCC members. The inaugural meeting was presided by Rajeev Naduvelamuri, (GPCC president) and Jomon Thomas Koikkara (Gen Secretary-GPCC) who welcomed the gathering.

GPCC Advisory Board Chairman Simon Varghese Parakadathu inaugurated the camp. Jils Kudakassery, Kochapilly Vijyabhanu, Aby Varikad, Kishore Sebasitin, Ibrahimkutty (GM -Shifa AlJazeera Kuwait) Latifa Ahamed (PRO, Central Blood Bank), Hamsa Payanoor, Nidhi Nair (Shifa Al-Jazeera Kuwait) gave the felicitations. Ali K Mohammed, (GPCC treasurer) thanked all who attended the program.

ecretary general of the Egyptian Community Council (ECC), Dr Azmi Abdul Fattah congratulated all Egyptians on the second anniversary of the January 25 revolution urging everybody to consolidate and unite for the best of Egypt as a whole. On this occasion, Abdul Fattah announced that the council would organize its annual Omra trip pointing out that it would last eight days in the period of February 21 till 28.

Shirva feast hirva Welfare Association Kuwait (SWAK) will be celebrating their Shirva Parish feast-2013 here in Kuwait. On this occasion there will be a mass offered at 9.15 am on February 8, 2013 at the Holy Family Cathedral. Kuwait and the celebration / gettogether with a of variety entertainment programme will he held from 4:30 pm - 9 pm on the same day at the Indian Community School, Salmiya. SWAK members or their children who would like to participate in the variety entertainment programme and show their talent are requested to contact any of the SWAK committee members listed below to avail the opportunity before January 10, 2013. Likewise if any of members children have excelled in academics or any other extra curricular activities in the past 1 year will be appreciated and hence are requested to inform any of the SWAK committee members listed below before the 10th of January. Last date for enrollment in the talent show is January 15, 2013.

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Goan Culinary Club

T Kalanjali to hold sitar concert

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alanjali Kuwait will hold its first program of the year 2013, a sitar concert

by Pandit Janardan Mitta, one of the senior most students of Late Pandit Ravi Shankar. The concert is scheduled for Feb 4, 2013, from 6.30 pm onwards at Indian Community School Auditorium, Senior Branch, Salmiya. No entry for children below 15 years.

The program will be dedicated to Late Pandit Ravi Shankar and to commemorate India’s 64th Republic Day. Pandit Janardan Mitta attained the excellence of a consummate, elegant artist that he is today, under the distinguished tutelage

of the world-renowned Sitar maestro Pandit Ravishankar... He has traveled widely across the country performing at all the leading Sabhas, Radio and TV and abroad all over the USA, Canada, West Indiies, the UK, France, Germany, Belgium, Poland, Singapore and Sri Lanka.

Pandit Janardan is one of the few distinguished musicians to have performed at the United Nations in 1971 and the first Hindustani musician to have performed at the Thyagaraja Aradhana Festival at Tiruvaiyyaru in 1976, He was conferred the title ‘Asthana Vidwan’ of Sri Sarada Peetham, Sringeri..

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

T

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.

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

T

he International Women’s Group (IWG), Kuwait announced its February programs noting that special events have been specially set to join Kuwait’s celebrations of its National and Liberation Days. In this regard, IWG will organize a lecture titled ‘Future Vision of Developing Kuwait & Youth Aspirations’ to be delivered by Minister of State for Municipal affairs, Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah at 10:00 am at the Blue Radisson Sass Hotel, Al-Hashimi Ballroom on February 3, 2013.

Kitchen Rock Band music

K

itchen Rock’s Valentine program on February 15 at Asia Asia Royal Hall, Al-Watiya Complex, Kuwait City, 7pm onwards.

Enjoy the New Version band, Selda band and Freefall band.

SEND US YOUR INSTAGRAM PICS

W

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, FEBRUARY 2, 2013

Republic Day celebration at Jack and Jill

Embassy

T

he most awe-inspiring and majestic celebration of India Republic day at Bhavan’s Jack and Jill kindled the spark of vivacious zeal and traditional ardour of patriotism in the minds of one and all.

It was a cherishable moment of great pride, esteem and honour when the principal, Rathi Ravindran unfurled the Indian National Flag, commemorating a significant event of national acclaim which marked the birth of the Indian constitution.

The auspicious programme commenced in spirited exuberance as the children serenaded the soulful rendering of the song ‘Saare Jahan Se Acha’ in all its gaiety and ebullience. This heart touching lyrical medley stirred the verve and vigour of nationalism in the heart and soul of every Indian.

It was indeed a marvel to watch the dynamism and zing displayed by the gifted students who danced gracefully to the tunes of AR Rahman’s catchy and mesmerizing song ‘Jai Ho’.

The thematic sublimity and ideology depicted in the exquisitely presented skit entitled, ‘Be Indian, Buy Indian’ enchanted the audience in its spellbinding performance.

It was on January 26th 1950 that the Indian Parliament adopted the Constitution for the Indian Union, thus realizing the long-cherished dream of Indian people and great leaders whose commitment, sacrifice and dedication reached its crescendo, leading to the attainment of freedom. India finally

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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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.

T rejoiced in the much awaited sprightly spell of freedom, rule of law and fundamental principle of governance. The patriotic fervour of the Indian people on this momentous day brings the whole country into a harmonious unison.

The effulgent jubilation of 64th Republic day will be undoubtedly

treasured as the most splendorous and enriching day for the students of Jack and Jill as the essence and significance of this remarkable day will always engrave an indelible mark in their young minds, strongly inculcating a feeling of great pride in being an Indian.

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First IKFS economic seminar grand success

T

he long awaited IKFS Economic Seminar was held at Plaza Athenee Hotel on Tuesday, January 29, 2013. Many enthusiastic and young economists attended the event despite bad weather.

Indo-Kuwait Friendship society, conducted this program for exploring further achievements for NRIs whose mind is set for the progress of their motherland India in the field of poverty eradication and to support the foreign remittances.

Kuppanna, a leading economist and General Manager of Kuwait India International Exchange Company inaugurated the panel discussion. In his key note address on “Eradicating Poverty in India and Role of NRIs” he asked whether the “Poverty in India is real or a matter of concern? India is the poorest among G20 nations despite being the fourth largest economy in the world.

Between 1980 and 2010, India achieved a growth of 6.2 per cent, while the world as a whole registered a growth rate of 3.3 per cent. Result:

India’s share in global GDP more than doubled from 2.5 per cent in 1980 to 5.5 per cent in 2010. What NRIs Could Do? Educate: Our-self and those around us. About the right economics; policy implications needed. The best way of helping the poor is not to become one of them. (Earn, Save & Prudently Invest, then we can grow our Wealth). He added that “Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime”. We, NRIs should set up “for profit” undertakings for skill development.

The ‘entrepreneurial’ NRIs could set up businesses/industries and strive to run them on profitable lines and generate wealth. Do not seek concessions, support or patronage of Government.

Because if we ask more incentives, then it would result in perverse, distorting and deleterious effects.. He concluded while saying that one would observe a very strong, though imperfect, correlation: Those countries with greater economic liberty tend to be less corrupt; have stronger protections of human

rights; their people are wealthier; also their people score high on total human development. This finding is not a coincidence.

Brigadier, Abdul Hadi Al-Hajiri, former Chief of Security, UASC’s message was conveyed to the audience and Eng Samer Matar, Chief Executive Officer, Plaza Athenee Hotel was the guest of honor.

Advocate Sayid Mohamed Nizar, IKFS Vice President quoted in his speech that poverty is a pervasive concern in a huge country like India. It has been projected that India is home for an huge number of impoverished population of the world. Dr Ghalib Al-Mashoor, in his presidential address said that IKFS is proud of dedicating its 2nd anniversary celebrations coinciding with India’s 64th Republic Day. Kuppnna, the main speaker of the event was decorated with a “Plaque and Memento” by IKFS executive team which was handed over to Kuppanna by IKFS Vice President Adv Sayid Mohamed Nizar.

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.

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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 & SCIENCE SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2013

Vegetarians may have fewer heart problems Lower cholesterol, blood pressure

ROSENWILLER: A woman feeds a Chiroptera bat with a larva yesterday at the French birds’ protection league (LPO) health center in Rosenwiller, eastern France. The LPO center has rescued 500 bats, who had begun their hibernation in a tree that fell. — AFP

Lumpectomy survival rates good for early breast cancer DURHAM: A new US study examining survival rates for women with early stage breast cancer found that surgery such as lumpectomy that preserves the rest of the breast may offer survival odds as good as, or even better than, mastectomies.

Despite clinical trials showing lumpectomy, or removal of the cancer only, to be as effective as mastectomies in treating early breast cancers, the number of women choosing breast removal has been on the rise, wrote lead researcher E. Shelley Hwang in the journal Cancer.

“It was kind of an exciting and hopeful message that women don’t have to go off to get a mastectomy to do better,” said Hwang, from the Duke Cancer Institute in Durham, North Carolina. “I think a lot of women were making that decision (for mastectomy) because they thought the lumpectomy was not enough. In that context, we wanted to know if lumpectomy works just as well as mastectomy in the modern era.” For the study, they used data collected by the Cancer Prevention Institute of California on 112,154 women who were diagnosed with stage I or II breast cancer between 1990 and 2004. The majority - 55 percent - had a lumpectomy with radiation, and the rest had a mastectomy without radiation. The researchers then tracked the women’s health for an average of nine years.

Overall, 31,425 women died by the time the study ended in 2009, and 39 percent of those deaths were due to breast cancer. But the researchers found that the women who had a lumpectomy with radiation were more likely to survive than women who had a mastectomy, regardless of age or cancer subtype. The difference was most pronounced among women who were over 30 years old and diagnosed with the most common type of breast cancer, one that’s fed by hormones like estrogen or progesterone. Those who chose lumpectomy had a 19 percent lower chance of dying from breast cancer than counterparts who got mastectomies.

The survival advantage with lumpectomy held up even when researchers accounted for age, tumor stage and type, race, economic status and other factors. Among women younger than 50 with hormone-sensitive cancers, for instance, those who had lumpectomy had a 7 percent lower chance of death than those who had mastectomy.

Hwang said the survival difference might be partly explained by the fact that women who got a mastectomy tended to be in worse health to begin with.

The study cannot prove that lumpectomy alone is the factor responsible for the improved survival, and researchers did not have access to some specific details about the women’s tumors, or whether some had genetic susceptibility to breast cancer.

“I wouldn’t overstate these results, because survival can come from other things,” said Dawn Hershman, co-leader of the Breast Cancer Program at the Columbia University Medical Center in New York - though she did say the results are reassuring. “Sometimes patients in practice can be very different than patients in randomized trials,” she added. “It’s reassuring that patients who get breast-conserving therapy do at least as well as those with mastectomy.” — Reuters

OXFORD: In yet more evidence that avoiding meat is good for the health, a UK study has found that vegetarians are one-third less likely to be hospitalized or die from heart disease than meat and fish eaters. Previous research has also suggested that non-meat eaters have fewer heart problems, said researchers publishing in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, but it wasn’t clear if other lifestyle differences, such as exercise and smoking habits, might also play into that.

“We’re able to be slightly more certain that it is something that’s in the vegetarian diet that’s causing vegetarians to have a lower risk of heart disease,” said Francesca Crowe, who led the new study at the University of Oxford.

Crowe and her colleagues tracked almost 45,000 people living in England and Scotland who initially reported on their diet, lifestyle and general health in the 1990s. At the start of the study, about one-third of the participants said they ate a vegetarian diet, without meat or fish.

Over the next 11 to 12 years, 1,086 of the study subjects were hospitalized for heart disease, including heart attacks, and 169 died. After taking into account participants’ ages, exercise habits and other health measures, the research team found vegetarians were 32 percent less likely to develop heart disease than carnivores. When weight was factored into the equation, the effect dropped slightly to 28 percent.

The lower heart risk was likely due to

lower cholesterol and blood pressure among vegetarians in the study, the researchers said. Meat eaters had an average total cholesterol of 222 mg/dL and a systolic blood pressure - the top number in a blood pressure reading - of 134 mm Hg, compared to 203 mg/dL total cholesterol and 131 mm Hg systolic blood pressure among vegetarians.

Diastolic blood pressure - the lower number - was similar between the two groups.

Crowe said the difference in cholesterol levels between meat eaters and vegetarians was equivalent to about half the benefit someone would see by tak-

ing a statin medication.

The effect is probably at least partly due to the lack of red meat - especially meat high in saturated fat - in vegetarians’ diets, she added. The extra fruits, vegetables and higher fiber in a nonmeat diet could also play a role.

“If people want to reduce their risk of heart disease by changing their diet, one way of doing that is to follow a vegetarian diet,” Crowe told Reuters Health.

However, just scaling back on saturated fat can also make a difference.

Butter, ice cream, cheeses and meats all typically contain saturated fat. — Reuters

Russia-launched satellite plunges into Pacific MOSCOW: A Russian rocket carrying a US telecommunications satellite plunged into the Pacific Ocean yesterday only moments after being launched from a mobile sea platform in Russia’s latest space failure.

The accident meant the Boeing corporation lost an Intelsat satellite that was to provide TV feeds not only the the United States but also Europe and Latin America.

“There was an accident during the Zenit rocket launch,” a source at the Energia corporation that makes the Zenit-3SL rocket used to lift up the Intelsat satellite said.

“The rocket fell into the Pacific Ocean.”

Officials said no one was hurt on the huge Odyssey platform that was once stationed off the oil-rich coast of Norway before being tugged to the Pacific by an international consortium called Sea Launch.

The group said in a statement that it “will establish a Failure Review Oversight Board to determine the root cause of the incident.” Energia chief Vitaly Lopota said the Russian rocket’s engine appeared to fail less than a minute after the evening takeoff for a still unknown reason.

“We had an abnormal situation-the emergency shutdown of the first stage engine,” Lopota told the state RIA Novosti news agency. “It happened 50 seconds into the flight. We are now looking into what happened.”

Other sources said that the Zenit had veered off course from the moment of the blast-off and pointed out that heavy waves had surrounded the Odyssey for several days.

“The rockets detected an abnormal situation linked to platform instability from the very start, and then switched

the engines over (to operations) aimed at steering the rocket away from the platform,” a space industry source told the Interfax news agency.

Sea Launch has been using the deep-sea platform to perform commercial launches since 1999. There had been only two complete failures out of the 34 missions conducted prior to Friday’s launch. The Intelsat-27 had been originally due to be taken up to its low-Earth orbit on Thursday. Officials said the one day delay was not caused by suspicions about the reliability of the engines or other equipment.

The widely-used Intelsat satellites have 15-year lifespans and service both commercial and state clients.

Russia’s space programme is especially closely watched now because it now provides the world’s only manned link to the International Space Station (ISS).

The country’s space programme also leads the world in the number of commercial launches and is used by other nations to put up both private and military satellites.

The Roscosmos space agency-a direct descendent of Moscow’s once-proud Soviet programme that competed against NASA at the height of the Cold War-has been beset by a string of accidents in the past two years that prompted sackings at the top of command.

Russia’s most recent setback came in November when it temporarily lost contact with all its non-military satellites as well as the space station because of a vital cable cut.

Other high-profile accidents included the loss of a highlypublicised Mars probe in the Earth’s orbit and the loss of a cargo vessel taking up supplies to the ISS. —AFP

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2013

HEALTH

information SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2013

Al-Madena Al-Shohada’a Al-Shuwaikh Al-Nuzha Sabhan Al-Helaly Al-Fayhaa Al-Farwaniya Al-Sulaibikhat Al-Fahaheel Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh Ahmadi Al-Mangaf Al-Shuaiba Al-Jahra Al-Salmiya

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information SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 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 FDB PIA MSR RBG QTR DHX THY JZR JZR KAC JZR BAW KAC KAC FDB KAC KAC UAE KAC KAC ABY QTR FDB ETD GFA BAB JZR MSC IZG MSR IRM UAE KAC JZR FDB KNE KAC SVA QTR JZR KAC KAC KNE KAC QTR IRC JZR KAC UAE SYR JZR ETD RJA GFA SVA JZR QTR ABY UAL KAC KAC JZR RBG

Arrival Flights on Saturday 2/2/2013 Flt Route 574 MUMBAI 413 AMSTERDAM/DAMMAM 772 ISTANBUL 267 BEIRUT 539 CAIRO 148 DOHA 441 LAHORE 620 ADDIS ABABA 211 BAHRAIN 853 DUBAI 305 ABU DHABI 643 MUSCAT 67 DUBAI 239 ISLAMABAD/SIALKOT 612 CAIRO 3555 ALEXANDRIA 138 DOHA 170 BAHRAIN 770 ISTANBUL 503 LUXOR 555 ALEXANDRIA 416 JAKARTA/KUALA LUMPUR 529 ASSIUT 157 LONDON 412 MANILA/BANGKOK 206 ISLAMABAD 53 DUBAI 302 MUMBAI 352 COCHIN 855 DUBAI 344 CHENNAI 362 COLOMBO 121 SHARJAH 132 DOHA 55 DUBAI 301 ABU DHABI 213 BAHRAIN 436 BAHRAIN 165 DUBAI 401 ALEXANDRIA 4161 MASHAD 610 CAIRO 1190 MASHAD 871 DUBAI 382 DELHI 325 NAJAF 57 DUBAI 472 JEDDAH 672 DUBAI 500 JEDDAH 140 DOHA 257 BEIRUT 788 JEDDAH 790 MEDINAH 470 JEDDAH 284 DHAKA 134 DOHA 6692 MASHAD 535 CAIRO 118 NEW YORK 857 DUBAI 341 DAMASCUS 357 MASHAD 303 ABU DHABI 640 AMMAN 215 BAHRAIN 510 RIYADH 777 JEDDAH 144 DOHA 127 SHARJAH 982 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 538 SOHAG/SHARM EL SHEIKH 542 CAIRO 177 DUBAI 3553 ALEXANDRIA

Time 0:05 0:30 0:35 0:45 0:50 1:00 1:30 1:45 1:50 2:35 2:45 2:50 3:05 3:05 3:10 3:25 3:45 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 11:20 11:30 11:45 12:45 12:50 12:50 12:55 13:00 13:50 14:10 14:15 14:30 14:35 14:50 14:55 15:00 15:10 15:10 15:30 15:50 16:25 16:35 16:40 16:40 16:45 16:50 16:55 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 IRA KAC OMA KAC FDB JAI AXB MSR JZR ABY KNE ALK QTR KNE MEA QTR GFA ETD UAE JAI FDB KLM KAC AIC JZR GFA KAC JZR KAC UAL DHX BBC DLH

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

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

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 20:50 20:55 21:00 21:00 21:20 21:25 21:30 21:35 21:40 21:55 22:00 22:05 22:25 22:30 22:45 22:50 23:00 23:05 23:15 23:25 23:40 23:45 23:55

Airlines AIC JAI UAL DLH 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

Departure Flights on Saturday 2/2/2013 Flt Route 976 GOA/CHENNAI 573 MUMBAI 981 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 637 FRANKFURT 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/ISLAMABAD 139 DOHA 149 DOHA 164 DUBAI 212 BAHRAIN 771 ISTANBUL 54 DUBAI 156 LONDON 256 BEIRUT 534 CAIRO 101 LONDON/NEW YORK 787 JEDDAH 324 NAJAF 671 DUBAI 122 SHARJAH 537 SOHAG/SHARM EL SHEIKH 856 DUBAI

Time 0:05 1:05 1:10 1:20 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

FDB ETD QTR KAC GFA JZR BAB KAC KAC JZR MSC IZG MSR JZR IRM UAE FDB KAC KAC KNE KAC SVA JZR KNE QTR KAC IRC KAC KAC JZR ETD SYR

56 302 133 789 214 356 437 541 165 776 406 4162 611 176 1191 872 58 561 673 473 617 505 188 461 141 773 6693 785 501 238 304 342

DUBAI ABU DHABI DOHA MEDINAH BAHRAIN MASHAD BAHRAIN CAIRO ROME/PARIS JEDDAH SOHAG MASHAD CAIRO DUBAI MASHAD DUBAI DUBAI AMMAN DUBAI JEDDAH DOHA JEDDAH DUBAI MEDINAH DOHA RIYADH MASHAD JEDDAH BEIRUT AMMAN ABU DHABI DAMASCUS

10:00 10:05 10:10 10:15 10:40 10:45 10:50 11:30 11:50 12:15 12:30 13:05 13:45 13:50 14:15 14:15 14:30 14:30 15:05 15:10 15:45 16:00 16:05 16:10 16:15 16:25 16:50 16:55 17:05 17:15 17:35 17:40

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

538 135 858 641 216 184 511 128 266 145 3554 982 64 439 402 4168 613 62 604 648 331 571 120 607 351 543 471 475 171 230 308 403 137 222 301 60 554 860 575 205 415 147 218 411

CAIRO DOHA DUBAI AMMAN BAHRAIN DUBAI RIYADH SHARJAH BEIRUT DOHA ALEXANDRIA BAHRAIN DUBAI BAHRAIN ALEXANDRIA MASHAD BAHRAIN DUBAI ISFAHAN MUSCAT TRIVANDRUM MUMBAI SHARJAH LUXOR COCHIN CAIRO JEDDAH JEDDAH BAHRAIN COLOMBO ABU DHABI BEIRUT DOHA BAHRAIN MUMBAI DUBAI ALEXANDRIA DUBAI COCHIN ISLAMABAD DAMMAM/AMSTERDAM DOHA BAHRAIN BANGKOK/MANILA

17:40 17:45 17:50 17:55 18:15 18:30 18:35 18:40 18:45 18:50 19:00 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 21:40 21:50 21:50 21:55 22:20 22:20 22:25 22:30 22:35 22:40 22:45 22:50 22:55 23:00 23:05 23:10 23:50 23:55

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

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2013

Word Search

Yesterdayʼs Solution

C R O S S W O R D 8 8

ACROSS 1. A fraudulent business scheme.

5. The dead body of a human being.

12. A three-year law degree.

15. A teeming multitude.

16. An aperture or hole opening into a bodily cavity.

17. (Old Testament) Adam's wife in Judeo-Christian mythology.

18. Toward the mouth or oral region.

19. Affecting things past.

20. A genus of Platalea.

22. New Guinea echidnas.

24. Being nine more than forty.

25. Moderately warm.

26. A wave on the surface of a lake or landlocked bay.

29. A plant hormone promoting elongation of stems and roots.

30. Being or occurring at an advanced period of time or after a usual or expected time.

31. A body of (usually fresh) water surrounded by land.

35. Being five more than one hundred fifty.

38. Large lipoproteins rich in triglycerides.

40. Cause to become awake or conscious.

42. Dry red table wine from the Rioja region of northern Spain.

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

46. An esoteric or occult matter that is traditionally secret.

47. (prefix) Indicating difference or variation.

50. A wealthy man (who made his fortune in the Orient).

51. South African term for `boss'.

52. A long pointed rod used as a weapon.

53. Aromatic bulb used as seasoning.

54. A high-pitched noise resembling a human cry.

56. According to the Old Testament he was a pagan king of Israel and husband of Jezebel (9th century BC).

59. A Mid-Atlantic state.

60. A cloth having a crisscross design.

62. COmmon Business Oriented Language.

64. An unpredictable outcome that is unfortunate.

67. A benign epithelial tumor of glandular origin.

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

71. (botany) Outer tissue of bark.

74. An Arabic speaking person who lives in Arabia or North Africa.

75. The sixth day of the week.

76. Pale yellow seedless grape used for raisins and wine.

77. Someone who works (or provides workers) during a strike.

78. A condition (mostly in boys) characterized by behavioral and learning disorders.

79. City in central Iran.

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

1. A particular situation.

2. (Greek mythology) A sorceress who detained Odysseus on her island and turned his men into swine.

3. A genus of Indriidae.

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

5. Of or related to the cornea.

6. A particular geographical region of indefinite boundary (usually serving some special purpose or distinguished by its people or culture or geography).

7. The shorter of the two telegraphic signals used in Morse code.

8. The second largest continent.

9. Of a color midway between red and blue.

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

11. A long noosed rope used to catch animals.

12. A light springing movement upwards or forwards.

13. Being seven more than fifty.

14. A small ball with a hole through the middle.

21. A loose cloak with a hood.

23. An Indian tree of the family Combretaceae that is a source of timber and gum.

27. Report or maintain.

28. Hard strong durable yellowish-brown wood of teak trees.

32. Jordan's port.

33. Raised pinkish scar tissue at the site of an injury.

34. Render capable or able for some task.

36. Of a pale purple color.

37. Relating to the palm of the hand or the sole of the foot.

39. An ancient Greek city on the slopes of Mount Parnassus.

41. An ambitious and aspiring young person.

43. Leader of the Nez Perce in their retreat from United States troops (18401904).

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

48. Type genus of the Ascaphidae.

49. Often cultivated for the decorative foliage.

55. Pass by, as of time.

57. A laborer who carries supplies to masons or bricklayers.

58. Ruffed grouse.

61. A low triangular area where a river divides before entering a larger body of water.

63. Spanish poet and dramatist (1898-1936).

65. A United Nations agency created to assist developing nations by loans guaranteed by member governments.

66. Being the one previously mentioned or spoken of.

68. A flat-bottomed volcanic crater that was formed by an explosion.

69. A French abbot.

72. (folklore) Fairies that are somewhat mischievous.

73. The syllable naming the sixth (submediant) note of a major or minor scale in solmization.

Yesterdayʼs Solution

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Daily SuDoku

Yesterday’s Solution

Sports SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2013

Thunder maul Grizzlies 106-89 at Oklahoma Raptors coach fined for criticizing refs OKLAHOMA CITY: A day after controversially trading away top-scorer Rudy Gay, the Memphis Grizzlies were humbled 106-89 at Oklahoma City on Thursday as the Thunder stayed firmly in the hunt to be best in the west.

In a battle of NBA title contenders from the Western Conference, the second-best Thunder improved to 35-11 with the rout, while questions about whether the fourth-placed Grizzlies can contend without Gay will remain as they fell to 29-16.

OAKLAND: Golden State Warriors’ Andrew Bogut, right, drives the ball against Dallas Mavericks’ Elton Brand in the first half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, in Oakland, Calif. —AP

NBA results/standings Oklahoma City 106, Memphis 89.

Eastern Conference Atlantic Division W L PCT NY Knicks 28 15 .651 Brooklyn 27 19 .587 Boston 22 23 .489 Philadelphia 19 26 .422 Toronto 16 30 .348 Central Division Chicago 28 17 .622 Indiana 27 19 .587 Milwaukee 24 20 .545 Detroit 17 29 .370 Cleveland 13 33 .283 Southeast Division Miami 29 13 .690 Atlanta 26 19 .578 Orlando 14 31 .311 Washington 11 33 .250 Charlotte 11 34 .244

GB 2.5 7 10 13.5

1.5 3.5 11.5 15.5

4.5 16.5 19 19.5

Western Conference Northwest Division Oklahoma City 35 11 .761 Denver 29 18 .617 Utah 25 21 .543 Portland 23 22 .511 Minnesota 17 25 .405

6.5 10 11.5 16

Pacific Division LA Clippers 34 13 Golden State 29 17 LA Lakers 20 26 Sacramento 17 30 Phoenix 16 30

4.5 13.5 17 17.5

.723 .630 .435 .362 .348

Southwest Division San Antonio 37 11 .771 Memphis 29 16 .644 Houston 25 23 .521 Dallas 19 27 .413 New Orleans 15 31 .326

6.5 12 17 21

Gay was shipped to Toronto as part of a multi-player and team trade on Wednesday to save Memphis money and avoid the payment of luxury taxes but it could dampen the team’s playoff hopes.

Their cause as further undermined as they were also without trade acquisitions Tayshaun Prince, Austin Daye and Ed Davis, who are yet to arrive and pass physicals.

Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 27 points while an emotional Russell Westbrook contributed 21 despite spending time in the locker-room cooling off after a disagreement with team mate Thabo Sefolosha.

“Throughout the game you’re going to have some ups and downs and Russell is so emotional, he wants to win so bad, he wants to give it all for our team,” Durant told reporters of the mid-game blow-up he tried to diffuse.

“It’s just a bump in the road, but he’s (Westbrook) got to keep being himself and we’ll be fine.

“It was a good win. We had some days off to refresh our legs and we were passing the basketball really well. We’ve got to continue to do that.” Jerryd Bayless top-scored for the Grizzlies with 23 points.

The NBA fined Toronto Raptors head coach Dwane Casey $25,000 for criticizing the officials in his team’s 93-92 loss to the Atlanta Hawks.

Casey blasted officials for failing to call a foul when Toronto’s DeMar DeRozan grabbed an offensive rebound then tried to go up for a shot in the closing seconds but was impeded by Atlanta center Al Horford, who appeared to make contact with DeRozan.

“I’m tired of this. I’m tired of losing games because of missed calls at the end of the game,” Casey said. “I know the league is going to come down on me but I don’t care. These guys have fought their hearts out.”

Earlier this month, the NBA league office said its referees blew a late call in a January 16 game that ended with Chicago beating Toronto in overtime, and the league has also admitted officials missed a late foul that cost the Raptors in a November 21 loss to Charlotte.

“It has happened too many times,” Casey said. “I’ve been in this league 18 years and have never seen so many missed calls at the end of the game.” —Agencies

MARANELLO: This photo made available by Ferrari press office shows Spanish driver Fernando Alonso, right, and Brazil’s Felipe Massa waving as they pose next to the new F138 Ferrari Formula One car during the unveiling ceremony in Maranello, Italy, yesterday. —AP

Ferrari’s Alonso predicts tighter 2013 F1 race MILAN: Fernando Alonso said yesterday the battle for Formula One supremacy could be a lot tighter this year ahead of his bid to improve on two runner-up places behind Sebastian Vettel with a maiden title for Ferrari.

Last season’s world championship was remarkable for the fact there were seven race-winners in the first seven races before Alonso went toe-to-toe with Red Bull ace Vettel in a decisive, thrilling finale at Interlagos.

Vettel, the sport’s youngest-ever three-time world champion (2010, 2011, 2012), finished sixth at the legendary Brazilian circuit, where Alonso was second, to beat his Spanish rival to the title by only three points.

Alonso, speaking at the launch of Ferrari’s new F138 car for the upcoming season, indicated that their anticipated duel in 2013 could leave rivals trailing in their wake from the seasonopening Australian GP in March.

“I think the likelihood of seeing seven different race winners in the first seven races, like last year, will be impossible,” he said.

“There will be a maximum of two or three teams” battling for the title, he added, “and one of those will definitely be Ferrari.”

Alonso, a two-time world champion with Renault in 2005 and 2006, joined Ferrari for the 2010 season and finished runner-up to Vettel. He finished a disappointing fourth in 2011 but in 2012 won three times and secured a total of 13 podium places before being pipped by Vettel at the finish.

Afterwards, he said: “Next year, we will try and improve the car, trying to start further up the grid, thus avoiding accidents.

Let’s hope we also have a bit more luck.” The F138 — whose name represents the current year and the car’s V8 engine, which will be used for the last time this season-was unveiled at Ferrari’s Maranello headquarters in northern Italy on Friday.

Ferrari described it as “an evolution of last year’s race-winning car, although every single part has been revised in order to maximise performance while maintaining the characteristics which were the basis of the F2012’s superb reliability”.

“The rear of the car is much narrower and more tapered than before,” said Ferrari, although “significant modifications will be made to the car’s aero package” before the Australian Grand Prix on March 17.

One major change Ferrari has made, one year ahead of schedule, is in the electronics domain with the early introduction of the single control unit that will be used in 2014.

Alonso is set to get his first taste of the F138 at a pre-season testing session in Barcelona from February 19. It means Brazilian Felipe Massa will be at the wheel for the first pre-season test at Jerez in Spain next week.

Massa, who finished seventh overall last season, believes the car is equipped sufficiently to allow Ferrari to aim for both the drivers’ and constructors’ titles.

“I hope it will bring the two titles to Ferrari. It’s the only thing we want,” he said. Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemolo said last year he wants to see three-times champion Vettel race for the Italian team in the future.

But yesterday Di Montezemolo ruled out the possibility of seeing Alonso and Vettel in the same team. “Absolutely not,” replied Di Montezemolo. —AFP

SPORTS SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2013

Predators dethrone Kings in shootout Nashville outblock Los Angeles 24-8 LOS ANGELES: The struggling Nashville Predators snapped a three-game losing streak when they upset the Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings with a nerve-jangling 2-1 shootout victory on Thursday. Despite being outshot 22-11 in regulation, the Predators kept coming up with crucial blocks to stay alive before left wing Sergei Kostitsyn scored the decisive goal in the eighth round of a tense shootout.

Nashville improved to 2-2-3 for the season while the Kings, bidding for a third straight win in front of a sellout crowd of 18,118 at the Staples Center, slipped to 2-2-2.

“I think that we would have been mentally scarred if we wouldn’t have won that one,” Nashville head coach Barry Trotz told reporters. “We were in four shootouts and we were 0-for-3.

“Obviously tonight we got a couple of goals which was good. We’re trying to get a little bit of an order in our game and I don’t think we hit stride at all. You have to find ways to get points.”

Kings head coach Darryl Sutter was frustrated after his team had been outblocked on the night 24-8.

“I’d like to score more than one goal,” Sutter said. “They (Nashville) are strong up the middle. They’ve got veterans in the back and they have a good goalie.

They don’t give you much.

“It just comes down to we’re still not getting that goal from the players we need to count on to score that goal.”

The home fans had barely settled into their seats before Nashville struck early, Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick being beaten by a blazing long-range snap shot from right wing Brandon Yip after just 58 seconds. However, Los Angeles made it 1-1 on a powerplay 13

minutes into the first period when captain Dustin Brown, lurking close to the net, scored his first goal of the season with a wrist shot.

After a scoreless second period, both teams upped the tempo in the third with the Kings more dangerous on offense but the deadlock could not be broken. It was still 1-1 after five minutes of overtime before Kostitsyn’s score through Quick’s legs sealed the win after centers David Legwand and Craig Smith and left wing Gabriel Bourque had also scored for the Predators in the shootout.

Nashville goaltender Pekka Rinne, who had lost five of his previous six starts against the Kings, made 23 saves

and stopped five of eight shootout attempts. “This was my first win of the season,” a relieved Rinne said. “It’s been tough so far but hopefully it changes the course of how things go. I’m just happy to be with the big win.”

Los Angeles scored just once on six powerplays and will need to regain some momentum as they embark on a five-game road trip starting on Saturday in Anaheim against the Ducks.

“We had some good offensive chances, probably not enough,” Brown said of his team’s display against Nashville. “We have to find a way to score goals. We got one from our power play. We had chances. We just got to get dirtier goals.” — Reuters

LOS ANGELES: Davis Drewiske #44 of the Los Angeles Kings and Nick Spaling #13 of the Nashville Predators get tangled up in the third period at Staples Center on Thursday in Los Angeles, California. The Predators defeated the Kings 2-1 in a shootout. — AFP

NHL results/standings Los Angeles 1, Nashville 2 (SO); San Jose 3, Edmonton 2 (SO); Florida 6, Winnipeg 3; Calgary 3, Colorado 6; Boston 4, Buffalo 7; Toronto 3, Washington 2; New Jersey 4, NY Islanders 5 (OT); NY Rangers 0, Pittsburgh 3; Columbus 1, St. Louis 4.

Eastern Conference Atlantic Division W L OTL GF GA PTS New Jersey 3 0 3 16 14 9 NY Islanders 4 2 1 27 23 9 Pittsburgh 4 3 0 19 18 8 NY Rangers 3 4 0 16 20 6 Philadelphia 2 5 0 14 20 4 Northeast Division Ottawa 5 1 1 24 13 11 Boston 5 1 1 23 19 11 MontrÈal 4 2 0 18 15 8 Toronto 4 3 0 21 22 8 Buffalo 3 3 1 23 23 7 Southeast Division Tampa Bay 5 1 0 29 15 10 Winnipeg 3 3 1 21 24 7 Carolina 2 3 0 14 18 4 Florida 2 5 0 16 27 4 Washington 1 5 1 15 25 3 Western Conference Central Division Chicago 6 0 1 24 16 13 St. Louis 6 1 0 28 14 12 Detroit 3 2 1 15 17 7 Nashville 2 2 3 12 19 7 Columbus 2 5 1 14 26 5 Northwest Division Edmonton 4 2 1 19 18 9 Minnesota 4 2 1 19 19 9 Vancouver 3 2 2 19 19 8 Colorado 3 4 0 16 19 6 Calgary 1 3 1 14 21 3 Pacific Division San Jose 7 0 0 29 12 14 Anaheim 3 1 1 17 17 7 Los Angeles 2 2 2 12 16 6 Phoenix 2 4 1 22 22 5 Dallas 2 4 1 13 18 5 Note: Overtime losses (OT) worth 1 pt and not included in loss column (L).

NFL’s Rooney Rule is broken: Ex-coaches NEW ORLEANS: Three black former NFL head coaches say the league needs to rethink its Rooney Rule for promoting minority hiring after 15 top vacancies eight head coaching jobs and seven general manager positions - were all filled by white candidates since the regular season ended a month ago.

“I know the concept is good and something we need to do,” said Tony Dungy, who was with the Indianapolis Colts during the 2006 season when he became the first black coach to win a Super Bowl. “Obviously, it’s not working the way it should.”

The Rooney Rule, implemented in 2003, was named for Pittsburgh Steelers chairman Dan Rooney, who steadfastly pushed the league to require every team to interview at least one minority candidate every time there is a coaching or general manager opening. Before the rule went into effect, the NFL had had only six minority head coaches in more than 80 years. Since it has been in place, 12 have been hired. But none were hired this year to replace the two black coaches who were fired - Romeo

Crennel in Kansas City and Lovie Smith in Chicago - and the one fired black GM, Rod Graves in Arizona.

Herm Edwards, former coach of the New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs and now an ESPN analyst, has called for not only revising the rule but perhaps even changing its name. “When you use the Rooney Rule and not correctly, you put a little bit of a bad mark on Mr. Rooney’s name, and that is not good,” Edwards said Wednesday. “If it keeps going this way, we might need to take his name off the rule. It is not being used in the right manner that Mr. Rooney meant it to be.” Robert Gulliver, the NFL’s executive vice president of human resources, said that the hiring results were “disappointing” and that he expects to make revisions in the rule.

The Fritz Pollard Alliance, a group of minority coaches and front-office, scouting and game-day NFL officials, wants the Rooney Rule expanded to apply to coordinators, assistant head coaches and club president positions.

Unlike Dungy and Edwards, Jim Caldwell is still coaching, albeit as an

assistant. Not only that, his team, the Baltimore Ravens, will play the San Francisco 49ers in Sunday’s Super Bowl.

But he wasn’t even invited to interview for one of the eight vacant coaching jobs, though having a team in the playoffs can be a hindrance to such opportunities. Fired as the Colts’ coach following the 2011 season, Caldwell joined the Ravens as quarterbacks coach.

When head coach John Harbaugh fired offensive coordinator Cam Cameron in December, Caldwell was promoted.

With his guidance, Baltimore’s offense responded.

Caldwell is no stranger to the Super Bowl, having led the Colts there three years ago after replacing the retired Dungy. It was only after Peyton Manning was sidelined for the 2011 season that Caldwell was fired.

“It has been a great rule and it has worked in the past,” he said. “Just like anything else, you have to, after a certain period of time, revisit it and take a look and see if it needs a little tweaking.

I think it does in this particular case.”

Caldwell added: “That’s one of the

reasons that the Rooney Rule was put in place, because you’re trying to avoid those situations, if possible. We’re at that stage where guys like Lovie Smith, who didn’t get an opportunity, who had won and been very successful previously ... obviously, there’s some concern there, and that’s why I think the rule is going to be revisited.”

Dungy said he believes the entire system is broken. He cited 21 head coaching jobs changing in a three-year span, which he said indicates owners are making the wrong hires regardless of race. Edwards said he wonders whether minority candidates get interviewed only to satisfy the rule, even though they have no chance of getting the job. He and Dungy noted that the last black head coach hiring - other than coaches promoted from within, like Leslie Frazier, Raheem Morris, Mike Singletary, Hue Jackson and Crennel was Mike Tomlin by Pittsburgh, in 2007.

There are currently four minority head coaches: Tomlin, Frazier in Minnesota, Marvin Lewis in Cincinnati and Ron Rivera in Carolina. — AP

Sports SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2013

Singh withdraws from Phoenix Open LOS ANGELES: Vijay Singh pulled out of the Phoenix Open on Thursday before the start of the first round, a day after admitting he had used deer antler spray which contains an ingredient banned by the PGA Tour.

The former world number one, who was scheduled to tee off in the company of American Ryan Moore and Swede Carl Pettersson at the TPC Scottsdale, cited a back injury for his withdrawal.

Singh, 49, was replaced in the field by

American Richard H. Lee. A three-times major winner, Fijian Singh revealed earlier this week he had been using deer antler spray for a couple of months in an interview with Sports Illustrated magazine. On Wednesday, he issued a statement in which he expressed shock that the spray contained IGF-1 (insulin-like growth factor), a natural anabolic hormone that stimulates muscle growth.

“While I have used deer antler spray, at no time was I aware that it may con-

tain a substance that is banned under the PGA Tour anti-doping policy,” said Singh, who has battled assorted health problems in recent years, especially with his back.

“I am absolutely shocked that deer antler spray may contain a banned substance and am angry that I have put myself in this position. I have been in contact with the PGA Tour and am cooperating fully with their review of this matter.” The PGA Tour is now “looking into

the matter” and has a variety of sanctions at its disposal, including disqualification, a one-year suspension for a first violation and up to five years for a second violation. Since the Tour’s anti-doping programme was launched in 2008, American journeyman Doug Barron is the only player who has been suspended for a violation. Barron, then 40, was banned for one year in November 2009 for taking a performance-enhancing drug. —Reuters

Sterne leads in Dubai after round two Dubai Desert Classic

DUBAI: South Africa’s Richard Sterne managed to maintain his one-shot advantage on top of the leaderboard with a birdie on his final hole in the second round of the Dubai Desert Classic yesterday.

Sterne, who was one shy of the 19-year-old course record at the Majlis course of Emirates Golf Club on Thursday with a 62, added a twounder par 70 round in decidedly tougher playing conditions to move to 12-under par 132 total at the halfway stage of the tournament.

That kept him one ahead of England’s Tommy Fleetwood (68),

Denmark’s Thorbjorn Olesen (66) and Scotland’s Stephen Gallacher (70), while Germany’s Maximilian Kieffer (68), Dane Andreas Harto (67) and Scotland’s Chris Doak (69) were tied for fifth at 10-under par 134.

Spain’s world No.14 Sergio Garcia almost pulled out of the tournament after a few holes with a shoulder injury, but recovered well with oncourse treatment and shot a fiveunder par 67 to be tied eighth at 135 alongside Frenchman Romain Wattel and India’s Jeev Milkha Singh (both 67).

World No.8 Lee Westwood, the

DUBAI: Richard Sterne from South Africa plays a ball on the 12th hole during the second round of the Dubai Desert Classic Golf tournament in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, yesterday. —AP

highest ranked player in the tournament, could not replicate the success of his horse Rerouted, who won his race on Thursday night at Meydan Racing Carnival.

The Englishman made a double bogey on his 17th hole and finished at one-under par 71 for a six-under par total.

Defending champion Rafael Cabrera-Bello added a second successive 69 to be tied 26th alongside Westwood at 138. The 31-year-old Sterne, currently ranked 165th in the world, has five European Tour wins against his name, but the last one came way back in the beginning of 2009 after which he struggled for almost two seasons with a back injury.

Fully fit now, Sterne is looking for his sixth European Tour win come Sunday, but is aware he has a lot of work to do over the next two days.

“It was a pretty consistent round.

The course was a lot tougher today with the wind and the greens definitely firmed out a bit. I think it’s going to be quite tricky coming to the weekend.

“There’s a lot of guys bunched up and you’re going to have to play pretty well on the weekend to be there tomorrow,” said Sterne. Olesen, who continues his remarkable rise up the world rankings - he is No.43 within just two years of playing on the European Tour - said he would be happy if the conditions remain tough and windy over the next two days.

“It’s nice... I like to keep the ball low. It’s good for me when it’s windy.

It was actually windy the whole day from the morning and I hope it remains like this,” said the 23-yearold, whose 66 was the joint best round of the day.

“I played more solidly definitely.

I rolled the putts really nicely the first two days, and that’s why I’m 11-under. It was more solid today and I struck the irons a lot better today.” —AFP

SCOTTSDALE: Phil Mickelson smiles after finishing the first round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open golf tournament Thursday, in Scottsdale, Ariz. Mickelson shot a course record 11-under par 60 for the round. —AP

Mickelson’s bid for 59 falls agonisingly short ARIZONA: Phil Mickelson came up agonisingly short in a spectacular bid to become the sixth player to dip under 60 on the PGA Tour when his birdie putt for a magical 59 horseshoed out at the Phoenix Open in Scottsdale, Arizona on Thursday. Having lined up a 25-footer at the par-four ninth, his final hole in the opening round at the TPC Scottsdale, Mickelson watched in anguish as his ball caught the right edge of the cup before rolling around the back of hole and spinning out.

“The last six feet it was right on glide slope, it should have been right in the middle,” Mickelson told Golf Channel after shooting an 11-under-60. “To have that putt on line, I am kind of mortified that it didn’t go in.” The four-times major champion, who had pointed his putter in the direction of the ball as it headed towards the cup, clutched his drooping head with his left hand when his hopes of a 59 were so cruelly dashed.

Mickelson had to settle for a share of the course record at the TPC Scottsdale - which he already held jointly with Grant Waite and Mark Calcavecchia - but grabbed a commanding four-shot lead in the fifth PGA Tour event of the season.

Thirty-three players were still out on the course when play was suspended for the day in fading light after the start of the opening round had been delayed for an hour due to morning frost. Americans Brandt Snedeker, Ryan Palmer, Jeff Maggert and Ted Potter Jr, along with triple major winner Padraig Harrington of Ireland in his first start of the year on the U.S. circuit, opened with 64s. Belgian rookie Nicolas Colsaerts and American Brian Gay, winner of the Humana Challenge at La Quinta 11 days ago, were among a group of nine players knotted on 65. Masters champion Bubba Watson, who has not played since the season-opening Hyundai Tournament of Champions in Hawaii because of flu, opened with a five-birdie 67 on a near-perfect day for scoring in the Arizona desert.

“I’m ecstatic to shoot 60,” Mickelson said after piling up 11 birdies with a flawless display of golf in dazzling sunshine. “I am excited and so forth but you don’t get chances to shoot 59 very often. —Reuters

SPORTS SATURDAY, FEEBRUARY 2, 2013

Scoreboard JOHANNESBURG: Scoreboard at the close of play on the first day of the opening test between South Africa and Pakistan at the Wanderers yesterday: South Africa won the toss and elected to bat first Pakistan first innings M. Hafeez not out 6 N. Jamshed not out 0 Extras 0 Total (for no wicket - 2 overs) 6 To bat: Misbah-ul-Haq, A.Ali, Younus Khan, A.Shafiq, Sarfraz Ahmed, U.Gul, S.Ajmal, Junaid Khan, Rahat Ali. Bowling: V.Philander 1-0-6-0, D.Steyn 1-1-0-0 South Africa first innings G. Smith c Ahmed b Gul 24 A. Petersen c Hafeez b Junaid 20 H. Amla c Azhar Ali b Younus Khan37

J. Kallis c Shafiq b Umar Gul 50 A. De Villiers c Ahmed b Hafeez 31 F. du Plessis b Junaid Khan 41 D. Elgar c Ahmed b Hafeez 27 R. Peterson b Hafeez 0 V. Philander run out 1 D. Steyn not out 12 M. Morkel b Hafeez 0 Extras (b4, lb4, w1, nb1) 10 Total (all out, 85.2 overs) 253 Fall of wickets: 1-46, 2-46, 3-125, 4135, 5-199, 6-232, 7-239, 8-240, 9-243, 10-253 Bowling: Gul 19-2-56-2, Junaid Khan 18-8-33-2, Rahat Ali 14-0-56-0 (w-1, nb-1), Ajmal 23-4-68-0, Younus Khan 4-0-16-1, Hafeez 7.2-1-16-4.

Late flurry of S African wickets cheer Pakistan JOHANNESBURG: Pakistan claimed six wickets in the final session to bowl South Africa out for 253 on the opening day of the first test at the Wanderers yesterday. The visitors then had a testing two-over spell before the end of play and closed on six without loss with Mohammad Hafeez and debutant Nasir Jamshed at the crease.

It was meant to be a double celebration for Graeme Smith on his 32nd birthday and his 100th test as captain but Pakistan picked up wickets at regular intervals and were the happier of the two teams when stumps were drawn.

Having won the toss and chosen to bat on a wicket that provided plenty of early encouragement to the bowlers, the home team will be disappointed that all of their top six batsmen got starts without going on to make big scores. They were pegged back first by the excellent seam bowling of Junaid Khan and later on by off-spinner Hafeez who picked up four for 16.

After a cautious start South Africa edged their way to 46 before a double strike pegged them back. Alviro Petersen was caught for 20 at third slip

by Hafeez off Junaid and four balls later Smith edged paceman Umar Gul to wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed on 24. A quickfire 79-run stand for the third wicket by Jacques Kallis and Hashim Amla steadied the ship before the heavyweight duo were removed by two excellent catches.

Kallis reached his 58th test half-century before he was brilliantly snapped up by Asad Shafiq in the deep on 50 while Amla was taken in the gully by Azhar Ali off Younus Khan for 37.

Faf du Plessis and AB de Villiers survived appeals for catches behind that Pakistan reviewed after they were given not-out by New Zealand umpire Billy Bowden. De Villiers (31) was just getting into his stride when he finally did edge behind to Sarfraz off Hafeez in the off-spinner’s first over. With much of the juice having been drained from the pitch by the hot sun, Pakistan turned to spin from either end and

were getting enough turn and bounce to slow down the run-rate. That was until Dean Elgar, his confidence high after a maiden test century last month against New Zealand, launched a counter-attack that included a massive six off Ajmal.

Junaid was then brought back into the attack and in his first over he removed Du Plessis for 41. A well pitched-up delivery kept a little low and although the South African got plenty of bat on it with his forward defensive, the ball went back on to the stumps and dislodged a bail to make the score 232 for six. Robin Peterson was next to go for a duck when he left a ball from Hafeez that turned and nudged the top of off stump. Elgar’s promising knock came to an end on 27 when he edged Hafeez down the leg side to Sarfraz. Vernon Philander was then needlessly run-out for one attempting a second run before Morne Morkel was out for a duck, becoming Hafeez’s fourth victim. — Reuters

JOHANNESBURG: South African batsman AB de Villiers is caught behind

by Sarfraz Ahmed of Pakistan, bowled by Muhammad Hafeez on day one of the first Test match between South Africa and Pakistan, in Johannesburg at Wanderers Stadium yesterday. — AFP

PERTH: Australia’s batsman Glenn Maxwell plays a pull shot to the boundary for four runs watched by West Indies Chris Gayle slip fielder (L) and wicketkeeper Johnson Charles (R) during the one-day international cricket match between Australia and the West Indies at the WACA ground yesterday.— AFP

Australia rout West Indies by nine wickets PERTH: Australia’s Mitchell Starc claimed five wickets as the West Indies were bundled out for just 70 on their way to an embarrassing defeat in the first one-day international in Perth yesterday.

Australia made light of the feeble score-the West Indies’ third-lowest ODI total-romping to victory in just 9.2 overs for the loss of one wicket.

Left-armer Starc took five wickets for 20 runs in a devastating spell as the tourists imploded after winning the toss and electing to bat in the first game of the five-match series. The paltry score was well short of Australia’s 91 against the West Indies at the same venue in 1987, the previous lowest total at the WACA Ground.

The home side put their opponents’ performance into context when they came out to bat, with Glenn Maxwell smashing 51 off 35 balls as they raced towards their target. Usman Khawaja, dropped before he scored, was unbeaten on eight.

When the West Indies slumped to 19-5 after Starc claimed his fourth wicket in eight balls, they appeared in grave danger of falling short of their lowest ever ODI tally of 54, against South Africa in 2004.

Darren Bravo’s dismissal for 11 left them floundering at 39-7 before captain Darren Sammy put on 26 for the eighth wicket with debutant Jason Holder. Sammy, with 16 runs, was the top-scorer with the bat, his tally only eclipsed by the 17 extras Australia conceded.

The West Indies skipper said the low total was more a result of good Australian bowling than poor West Indian batting, vowing to rebound back quickly with the second match at the same venue tomorrow.

“They came hard at us and we have to come back ever harder,” he said. “We know we have the ability to bounce back and it is just the first game of a five-match series. It is just a one-off game. We will come back on Sunday and look to execute better.”

Clint McKay (3-10) started the rot for the tourists when he claimed the prize scalp of bighitting opener Chris Gayle, caught by Aaron Finch at second slip for just four. The match was

effectively over as a contest when Starc used his combination of pace and swing to destroy the West Indian top order. — AFP

Scoreboard PERTH: Scoreboard after Australia defeated West Indies by nine wickets in the first oneday international at the WACA yesterday.

West Indies won the toss and elected to bat first.

West Indies innings C. Gayle c Finch b McKay 4 K. Powell c Clarke b Starc 11 R. Sarwan b Starc 0 Darren Bravo c Clarke b Faulkner 11 Dwayne Bravo c Hughes b Starc 0 K. Pollard b Starc 0 D. Thomas c Clarke b Faulkner 3 D. Sammy c Bailey b McKay 16 J Holder b Starc 7 S. Narine c Wade b McKay 0 K. Roach not out 1 Extras (b-8 lb-3 w-6) 17 Total (all out; 23.5 overs) 70 Fall of wickets: 1-14 2-18 3-19 4-19 5-19 6-28 739 8-65 9-68 10-70 Bowling: C. McKay 7-3-10-3 (w-2), M. Starc 6.52-20-5, J. Faulkner 5-1-14-2 (w-2), M. Johnson 50-15-0 (w-2) Australia innings G. Maxwell not out 51 A. Finch c Thomas b Holder 10 U. Khawaja not out 8 Extras (w-2) Total (one wicket; 9.2 overs) 71 Fall of wicket: 1-39 Did not bat: P. Hughes, M. Clarke, G. Bailey, M. Wade, J. Faulkner, M. Johnson, M. Starc, C. McKay Bowling: Roach 2-0-29-0, Holder 4.2-0-18-1 (w1), S. Narine 3-0-24-0 (w-1) Australia lead five-match series 1-0.

Sports SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2013

Morita pulls off double triumph in Pattaya PATTAYA: Japan’s Ayumi Morita shrugged off a three-day battle with the rain to reach the Pattaya Open quarterfinals, beating former world number one Ana Ivanovic and compatriot Kimiko Date-Krumm.

Ivanovic and Morita began their first round clash late on Tuesday before torrential rain brought proceedings to a halt with the contest poised at one set all.

When they finally resumed on Thursday after a Wednesday washout, the Japanese player romped to a 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 win. “This normally doesn’t happen, where one match lasts for three days, but I was ready for that,” Morita said.

“When I went on the court I just tried to stay aggressive and fight for every point until the end because she’s a great player. “To be honest, I wanted to play

yesterday, because if I played today I knew I would have to play two matches, but this is tennis and I’m ready for the next match.”

Six hours later Morita emerged back out onto Court 1 to face evergreen compatriot Date-Krumm and clinched a 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 win and a quarter-final clash with Russia’s Nina Bratchikova.

Bratchikova made the last eight when defending champion and sixth

seed Daniela Hantuchova was forced to retire midway through their match after suffering from dizzy spells.

British eighth seed Heather Watson was also knocked out, losing to Latvian qualifier Anastasija Sevastova, 7-6 (7/4), 4-6, 6-2.

Last year’s runner-up Maria Kirilenko, the Russian second seed, saw off Thailand’s Luksika Kumkhum 5-7, 6-2, 62. —AFP

Isner to lead US Davis Cup team vs Brazil

ROUEN: France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga returns the ball to his Israeli opponent Amir Weintraub during a Davis Cup tennis match France vs Israel at the Kindarena stadium in Rouen yesterday. Tsonga won 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5. —AFP

Tsonga and Gasquet give France 2-0 lead over Israel France hopes to reach the quarterfinals ROUEN: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Richard Gasquet won their opening singles in contrasting fashion yesterday to give France a 2-0 lead against Israel in the first round of the Davis Cup. While the eighth-ranked Tsonga had to overcome a sloppy third set to beat Amir Weintraub 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5, Gasquet followed up with a far more convincing 6-3, 62, 6-2 win against Dudi Sela. Tsonga seemed to be cruising until his shot-making fell apart in the third set, where he made 13 unforced errors as Weintraub broke him twice to get back into the match. Tsonga looked increasingly nervous in the fourth set but was given several reprieves as Weintraub made numerous errors when he went for winners.

Tsonga retrieved two big forehands and earned a match point when Weintraub missed an easy smash, and closed out the victory when the Israeli returned into the net. The first match was interrupted for about a minute by a handful of fans shouting as Weintraub was serving midway through the second, but it was not clear what the commotion was about.

The Israeli’s strong backhand helped

him earn his first break to lead 2-1 in the third and took charge as Tsonga started playing loose shots all over the court.

Weintraub picked him off with a superb backhand down the line to move 5-2 up.

Tsonga broke back for 5-3 and held to love for 5-4 to pressure Weintraub, ranked 173rd, but he held firm on his next service game to pull a set back.

Gasquet started shakily and trailed 2-0 after dropping serve, but won the next five games on his way to clinching the set in 31 minutes. The 10th-ranked Gasquet’s touch was too good for his opponent, as demonstrated by a brilliant backhand volley down the line at full speed late in the second set.

A sublime backhand from the back of the court down the line enabled Gasquet to break Sela and lead 3-2 in the third set.

Gasquet broke Sela again for the sixth time in the match when he sprinted to the net and retrieved a drop shot with a whipped backhand for a 5-2 lead, and clinched the match with his ninth ace.

France can clinch its spot in the quarterfinals if Julien Benneteau and Michael Llodra win their doubles against Jonathan Erlich and Sela today. —AP

JACKSONVILLE: John Isner is set to return from a knee injury and will play the No. 1 singles spot for the U.S. team against Brazil in the first round of Davis Cup World Group matches. “We came into the week looking for clarity on John’s knee, hoping it would respond the way it has,” team captain Jim Courier said at Thursday’s draw ceremony. “He practiced hard every day.

He’s had no setbacks. “From our eyes and our medical staff’s eyes, we feel confident he’s ready and set for 10 sets of tennis if he needs to play them this weekend.” Isner injured his knee a month ago at the Hopman Cup in Perth, Australia playing with Venus Williams. He withdrew in his opening match the following week at the APIA International Sydney and hasn’t played competitively since.

He said he’s ready to return to the courts. “I had a very encouraging week of practice which is what I was looking for,” the 6-foot-9 Isner said. “I didn’t know how my knee was going to react when I really started to practice hard because it’s been a while.

“My knee hasn’t been bothering me. I feel like I’m ready to go.” Isner’s presence in the lineup is key to the Americans’ hopes of beating Brazil and advancing to the quarterfinals in April against the winner of the Serbia-Belgium. Isner is the 13th-ranked player in the world, the best ranking of any of the four singles players competing in Friday’s opening match.

He will meet Brazil’s Thiago Alves, ranked No. 145 in the second singles match on Friday. The opening match pits the United States’ Sam Querrey (No. 22) taking on Brazil’s top player, Thomaz Bellucci (No. 33). It’s the first meeting for the players in both matches.

The doubles competition takes place today with the world’s No. 1 ranked team of Bob and Mike Bryan taking on the Brazilian pair of Marcelo Melo and Bruno Soares who have a 17 and 19 doubles ranking respectively.

Had Isner been ruled out, the US likely would have turned to Ryan Harrison who last summer cracked the Top 50 rankings for the first time. The match marks the fifth meeting between the U.S. and Brazil in Davis Cup with the Americans leading the overall series 3-1. The countries last met in Davis Cup play in 1997 in a firstround match in Ribeirao Preto, Brazil. Courier played singles for the U.S. team and won two matches to lead the American team to a 4-1 win.

This will be the first Davis Cup competition in an American city for either Isner or Querrey. Isner is 5-5 in Davis Cup singles play while Querrey is 1-5, with all matches held outside the U.S. on clay courts.

Isner, who lives in Tampa and played his college tennis at nearby Georgia, is looking forward to having the home crowd support behind him and his teammates.

“I’ve always flown over an ocean to go play Davis Cup. This tie I just got in my car and drove three hours,” he said. “I do feel at home here. Hopefully I can get some USA chants, but Georgia chants also would be accepted on my part.”

While the Bryan brothers have the world’s No. 1 ranking and are coming off another Grand Slam doubles title at the Australian Open two weeks ago, the Brazilian pair of Melo and Soares hold a 2-1 edge on the US pair. The four players met for a fourth time this past December when they played an exhibition match in Brazil. The Bryan brothers were victorious in three sets.

“This is a team that has beaten us before,” Bob Bryan said. “We really respect them. But yeah, it’s going to be a war. “These guys are both top-20 players, both won tournaments this year, so they’re playing well.

We know what we have to do. We feel good. We have some momentum coming here from Australia.

But that definitely doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy.” —AP

Italy’s Sara Errani celebrates after winning her 21st Paris WTA Open tennis match against Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro yesterday. —AFP

Sports SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2013

Mancini backs Balotelli to come good for Milan

‘Mancini confident his team can close the gap’ MANCHESTER: Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has backed Mario Balotelli to become a great player at AC Milan now that he has ended his time in the Premier League.

Balotelli, 22, joined the Serie A giants for a reported £19 million ($30.1 million; 22.2 million euros) fee this week after two-and-a-half eventful years at the Etihad Stadium.

The striker was involved in training ground bust-ups and off-field incidents including fireworks being set off in his home, while also showing flashes of brilliance on the pitch in helping City to a Premier League title and FA Cup win in his time in Manchester.

Mancini admitted his disappointment to see the Italian striker leave but predicts he will go on to become a top player now he is closer to his family in his homeland.

“It was good for everyone; for Mario, to take a big chance to go to Italy and play with top club like Milan. It was important for him and for the club,” said Mancini.

“No, we are not happy. Mario did well, maybe not in the last three or four months

because of injury, but he helped us win the Premier League and FA Cup. We are sad that he leaves. “It was difficult. It was only my decision. I believe in him and I believe for him after two years in England, it was important for him to go back to Italy.”

When asked if Balotelli could become the superstar that the City manager has predicted he could be, Mancini responded: “Yes, yes. “He has everything. He has quality, it is important he can understand this.

I think to play for Milan is important.”

With Balotelli having left, Mancini has just three main strikers in Sergio Aguero, Carlos Tevez and Edin Dzeko, but the City manager is confident that will be enough as they prepare to face Liverpool tomorrow.

“Now we have three strikers, but we have only the Premier League and the FA Cup, which could be enough,” said Mancini.

The City coach also revealed that there was no late dash to bring in a new player on transfer deadline day to replace Balotelli.

“No, we did not (try). It is difficult for us to take a good player from another club at this time,” he said.

More worryingly for Mancini is that captain Vincent Kompany is set for three weeks on the sidelines with the calf injury that he picked up in City’s 1-0 win at Stoke City in the FA Cup last weekend.

The Belgian international is not expected to return until City face Chelsea on February 24 and will miss tomorrow’s game, the subsequent visit to Southampton, and the FA Cup fifth-round clash with Leeds United.

“Vinnie is out. I hope he can recover after the FA Cup,” Mancini said. City could be a massive 10 points behind rivals Manchester United by the time they face Liverpool on Sunday, as Alex Ferguson’s side face Fulham on Saturday. But Mancini is confident his team can close the gap on the Premier League leaders before the end of February.

He said: “I think when we arrive at the end of February, the gap will be very, very small. “In every championship, never one team won a title in January here. We should fight until April. If they have seven, eight, nine points (lead) in April, it could be difficult, maybe, but in this moment, we have a big chance.” —AFP

I Coast take steps to avoid fresh penalty misery RUSTENBURG: After missing out on two Africa Cup of Nations Cup titles on penalties, coach Sabri Lamouchi has taken direct action to prevent his 2013 squad suffering a similar fate.

The Ivorians, who face Nigeria here in tomorrow quarter-final, are 180 minutes of regulation time away from making their third Nations Cup title decider in seven years.

They missed out on spot kicks to Egypt for the 2006 title in Cairo, and experienced similar heartache 12 months ago to Zambia in Libreville. To avoid history repeating itself in South Africa now they are into the serious bit of the competition Lamouchi disclosed: “We’ve already started working on penalties.

“Obviously I hope they don’t arise, but if they do - we’ll be ready.” Lamouchi rotated his squad for the closing ‘dead’ Group D game with Algeria, making nine changes, including a start for captain Didier Drogba, who was on the bench for the second match against Tunisia.

Asked at a press conference here Friday on Drogba’s eventual place in his starting XI the former Parma, Genoa and inter Milan midfielder replied: “Didier has made clear progress, he’s working hard. —AFP

Samba joins QPR, Arsenal pounce for Monreal LONDON: Queens Park Rangers broke their transfer record to sign Christopher Samba and Arsenal swooped for Spanish full-back Nacho Monreal as the January transfer window clanged shut in England on Thursday.

QPR are currently four points from safety at the foot of the Premier League and manager Harry Redknapp hopes former Blackburn Rovers centre-back Samba will help to stiffen his side’s fragile defence.

The giant Congolese defender signed on a four-and-a-half-year deal for a reported fee of £12.5 million ($19.7 million, 14.6 million euros) from Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala.

“I’m delighted to be back in the Premier League. It’s the best league in the world to play football,” Samba told the QPR website. “I’ve been linked with the club for a long time. With Harry here though, he is really passionate and he wants to do something with the club.”

Redknapp said: “Chris is just what we need. He’s a monster.

Great in the air, quick, a leader, strong, fantastic in both boxes, hard as nails. He’s a proper centrehalf.”

QPR also completed loan moves for Tottenham Hotspur midfielders Jermaine Jenas and Andros Townsend, while Argentine midfielder Alejandro Faurlin was allowed to leave the club to join Italian side Palermo on loan.

One player unable to join QPR was West Bromwich Albion striker Peter Odemwingie, who was

reportedly denied entry to Loftus Road after apparently travelling to the club under his own steam in a bid to force a move through.

Late on Thursday, Arsenal announced a deal reportedly worth £8.3 million for Spain international left-back Monreal from Malaga.

“We are delighted that Nacho Monreal has agreed to join us,” said Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.

“We have been monitoring him for some time now and are really pleased that we’ve been able to agree this move today (Thursday).”

Stoke City made two late moves in the transfer window, signing England international goalkeeper Jack Butland from Birmingham City and United States winger Brek Shea from FC Dallas.

Butland, who was named in Roy Hodgson’s England squad earlier in the day, reportedly cost £3.5 million and will be loaned back to Birmingham until the end of the season.

“I feel very good. I’m glad to get it done, it’s the next step of my career and I’m looking forward to it,” Butland told Sky Sports News.

Sunderland announced the capture of Danny Graham in a £5 million switch from League Cup finalists Swansea City.

The 27-year-old striker, who had lost his place in the Swans’ starting XI to Spanish close-season signing Michu, has signed a three-and-a-half-year contract at the Stadium of Light.

A file picture taken in Liverpool, on October 25, 2012, shows Congolese footballer Christopher Samba playing for Anzhi Makhachkala against Liverpool. English Premiership team Queens Park Rangers signed Samba on Thursday, from Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala on a four-and-a-half-year contract, with media reports claiming the transfer fee was £12.5 million ($19.7 million, 14.6 million euros). — AFP “As soon as I heard about the interest from Sunderland, I didn’t even have to consider any of the other options that were on the

table,” Graham told the Sunderland website.

“I was born and brought up in the north-east (of England) so I

know first-hand the intense passion that people have for their football in this part of the worldit’s special and there’s nowhere else like it.”

The Premier League also bade farewell to trouble-prone Italian striker Mario Balotelli, who completed a £19 million move to AC Milan after falling out of favour at champions Manchester City.

Norwich City announced that they had agreed to sign Argentine forward Luciano Becchio from second-tier Leeds United in a part-exchange deal that will see Wales international striker Steve Morison move in the opposite direction.

The move, subject to the completion of the relevant paperwork, will see Becchio arrive at Carrow Road on a three-and-ahalf-year contract.

“I cannot wait to play my first game for Norwich,” he told the club website. “I am really happy about having the chance to play in the Premier League, it is brilliant for me personally and for my career.”

Fulham completed loan moves for AC Milan utility player Urby Emanuelson and PSV Eindhoven right-back Stanislav Manolev, while Austrian Paul Scharner returned to Wigan Athletic on loan from German side Hamburg.

Tottenham goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes joined German side Hoffenheim on loan until the end of the season and Aston Villa snapped up French midfielder Yacouba Sylla from French Ligue 2 side Clermont. —AFP

SPORTS

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2013

English big guns keep powder dry in January window LONDON: Premier League spending in the January transfer window rose this year but the biggest market agitators were once again the English top-flight’s struggling clubs. The 20 teams in England’s highest division spent around £120 million ($190 million, 139 million euros) in transfer fees over the last month, according to business advisory firm Deloitte.

The figure was double the amount spent in January 2012 but well short of the record of £225 million established in 2011, when Fernando Torres joined Chelsea for £50 million and Andy Carroll went to Liverpool for £35 million. Transfer activity in the mid-season window is often likened to panic buying and this season once again saw teams towards the bottom of the table scrabbling around for players to boost their bids to avoid relegation. Newcastle United signed six new players, including five Frenchmen, while bottom club Queens Park Rangers broke their transfer record twice to sign French striker Loic Remy from Marseille for £8 million and former Blackburn Rovers

centre-back Christopher Samba from Anzhi Makhachkala for £12.5 million. Along with Liverpool, who spent a reported £12 million on Daniel Sturridge and £8.5 million on Philippe Coutinho, the three clubs’ spending amounted for over half of the Premier League total.

The top clubs, in contrast, were relatively prudent. Manchester United agreed a deal for 20-year-old winger Wilfried Zaha that could ultimately cost £15 million but immediately loaned him back to Crystal Palace until the end of the season.

Notoriously cautious Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger waited until the final hours of the transfer window before splurging £8.3 million on Spanish left-back Nacho Monreal, while champions Manchester City did not sign anyone.

“Premier League clubs have been relatively restrained in their player transfer fee spending, in spite of the upcoming uplift in their broadcasting revenues of between £20m and £30m each from next season,” said Dan Jones from Deloitte’s Sports

Business Group. The caution shown by Premier League clubs can be partially explained by wariness of UEFA’s Financial Fair Play rules, which will oblige the leading clubs to break even or risk exclusion from European competition. “Clubs are now in a reporting period that will count towards the first assessment of UEFA’s financial fair play break-even requirement for international competition and Premier League clubs are also considering the implementation of additional cost control regulation at a domestic level,” Jones added.

“Their apparent relative restraint in this transfer window may reflect an increasing focus on clubs achieving more sustainable levels of expenditure relative to revenues.”

Despite an absence of mega-money transfers this year, English clubs have now spent over £1 billion on new players since the January transfer window was introduced in 2003 and continue to lead the way for spending in Europe. Total spending in Italy’s Serie A accounted for roughly 70 percent of the Premier League total, with

that figure falling to around 45 percent for Germany and 30 percent for France.

The money spent on transfer fees by Spanish clubs was “minimal”, according to Deloitte, despite the vast resources available to Barcelona and Real Madrid.

The challenge facing Samba, Sturridge, Zaha and company is to avoid joining the ranks of previous January transfer window movers who spectacularly failed to make an impact at their new clubs.

The careers of Torres and Carroll have both flat-lined since their January moves, while Andrey Arshavin disappeared into anonymity at Arsenal despite a superb start to life at the Emirates Stadium after he arrived in January 2009.

“You are always under pressure to buy in England and every problem has to be sorted out by buying people,” said Wenger.

“It is not only in buying players that you sort out problems, especially from people who live in a different country. They come at the end of January and by the time they adapt, the season is over.” — AFP

Liga under racism cloud in El Clasico Cup fallout Real Madrid finally finding their form

PARIS: A man looks at a soccer shirt on display with the name of British soccer player David Beckham, at the Club’s shop on the Champs Elysees, in Paris, yesterday. — AP

Chelsea need fear Factor: Azpilicueta NEWCASTLE: Chelsea defender Cesar Azpilicueta admits his team must embark a long winning streak if they are to restore the fear factor opponents used to experience when facing the Blues. Azpilicueta and his team-mates travel to face Newcastle tpday after a frustrating 2-2 draw at struggling Reading in midweek when they conceded two late goals after appearing to be on course for victory.

That disappointment came on the back of the FA Cup fourth round draw with third tier minnows Brentford and the League Cup semi-final exit at the hands of Swansea.

Chelsea interim manager Rafael Benitez insists his side, currently third in the Premier League but only five points clear of fifth placed Everton, have been playing well without getting the rewards they deserve.

But Azpilicueta acknowledges that the longer the current run continues, the harder it will be for the Blues to intimidate opponents.

“Teams get scared when you win games in a row.

Against Reading we played well and had a lot of chances.

We felt that they were worried about our game but it’s true that when you win you get more respect,” Azpilicueta said.

Azpilicueta also conceded the recent poor run of results has had an effect on the team’s confidence and warned they must shake off the effects of the Reading game quickly ahead of the St James’ Park clash.

“We have a lot of players with experience. They’ve played a lot of important games. We’ve had this situation a lot of times,” he said.

“It’s also a little bit of confidence. When the team is better it’s easier to have the mind clear and to manage those situations. Now we have to recover well because we have an important game before the international break.” — AFP

MADRID: Leaders Barcelona return to league action away to Valencia tomorrow after a typically charged El Clasico in the cup where Dani Alves claims he was subjected to racial abuse.

With the league title seemingly out of sight, as Real Madrid trail Barca by 15 points, it means there is added incentive for Jose Mourinho’s men to beat their arch-rivals in the semi-final of the Spanish Cup. The first leg ended in a 1-1 draw on Wednesday, but the aftermath was overshadowed by Barcelona’s Brazilian defender Alves claiming he was subjected to racial abuse at the Santiago Bernabeu. “It is a shame, however you are feeling (about the game) people

should be there to support their team and there are too many racist insults,” he said. “Sadly it is a lost battle because until they take more drastic action then it will continue. I didn’t think of walking off the pitch. This wasn’t a one-off, it happens in a lot of stadiums.

“They need to punish clubs but not with fines like 1,000 or 2,000 euros.

They need to be heavier and in England, for example, you would be unlikely to see this happen. In Spain there isn’t respect in football stadiums.”Barca responded to their first defeat of the season away to Real Sociedad by thumping Osasuna 5-1 at home last week but now they have a

tricky game against a rejuvenated Valencia under Ernesto Valverde.

“We can’t afford to let them think as we know how they can punish you.

We have to try and squeeze them and give them as little space as possible to work in,” said defender Victor Ruiz. “Of course we can beat them. Real Sociedad did it only recently and we will go out to win.” Real Madrid appear to finally be finding their form, with nine goals from their last two league matches, and travel to Granada. “There is little difference between Barca and us. It is just that in the league we have made a lot of mistakes and that is the reason for the distance,” said Madrid assistant Aitor Karanka. — AFP

MILAN: New AC Milan player, Italian striker Mario Balotelli (L) poses with his AC Milan’s team jersey together with AC Milan sporting director Adriano Galliani during a press conference yesterday at San Siro Stadium in Milan. — AFP

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2013

Sports

Thunder maul Grizzlies 106-89 in Oklahoma

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CHARLEROI: Serbia’s Novak Djokovic returns a ball to Belgium’s Olivier Rochus during their Davis Cup World Group first round tennis match yesterday in Charleroi. — AFP

Troicki win Cup thriller

PARIS: Serbia’s Viktor Troicki defeated Belgium’s David Goffin in a Davis Cup five-set thriller yesterday, mastering a clay court condemned as dangerous by world number one compatriot Novak Djokovic.

Troicki battled back from two sets down in Charleroi to win 1-6, 3-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4, 6-4, paving the way for newly-crowned Australian Open champion Djokovic, who skipped the Davis Cup in 2012, to face Olivier Rochus in the second rubber.

Djokovic goes into his clash having lashed out at the clay court at the Spiroudome de Charleroi which was laid on top of parquet floor. “It’s the worst court I have ever played on. It’s very, very dangerous,” raged Djokovic after training on Thursday. But the International Tennis Federation claimed yesterday that referee Remy Azemar had inspected the court and confirmed that it was of a playable condition.

“There has been some speculation that laying

the temporary clay court surface on wood was a source of the problem but the ITF has approved many temporary clay courts laid on wood including more than twelve since 2009 that have been laid without issue,” said an ITF statement.

“The ITF would like to thank the Federation Royale Belge de Tennis for their response to our requests and their efforts over the last 24 hours to ensure that the court is fit for play.”

Serbia, the 2010 champions, are looking to reach the World Group quarter-finals for a fourth consecutive year, while Belgium are hoping to make the next stage for the first time since 2007.

France put one foot in the quarter-finals when they took a 2-0 lead over Israel in Rouen in a tie which represented Arnaud Clement’s debut as national coach. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the world number eight, beat 173-ranked Amir Weintraub 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 before world number 10 Richard Gasquet breezed past Dudi Sela, ranked at 106, in straight

sets, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2. Michael Llodra and Julien Benneteau can wrap up the tie in the doubles today if they beat Sela and Jonathan Erlich.

Defending champions Czech Republic finished the day in Geneva at 1-1 against Switzerland.

Stanislas Wawrinka, the Swiss team’s number one in the absence of Roger Federer, saw off Lukas Rosol, the shock conqueror of Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon last year, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.

World number six Tomas Berdych then defeated Finland-born Henri Laaksonen, the world 289, 63, 6-2, 6-7 (5/7), 6-1. The winners of that tie will meet either Kazakhstan or Austria in the last eight.

Kazakhstan led 2-0 after the opening day in Astana with Andrey Golubev beating Andreas Haider-Maurer 7-6 (7/2), 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) and Evgeny Korolov seeing off the experienced Jurgen Melzer 7-6 (7/4), 6-3, 6-2.

Later yesterday, Spain, winners three times in the last five years, and runners-up to the Czechs in

2012, travel to Vancouver to face Canada without their three top players-the injured Rafael Nadal and Nicolas Almagro and the resting David Ferrer.

Canada’s top player is big-serving Milos Raonic, who stands at 15 in the world while, in the shape of Daniel Nestor, they boast one of the world’s most accomplished doubles players.

The winner of that tie will face either Italy or Croatia in the quarter-finals.

Marin Cilic gave Croatia a 1-0 lead in Turin with a marathon 6-1, 6-7 (6/8), 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over Paolo Lorenzi who had replaced Fabio Fognini who was suffering from flu.

The United States, the 32-time champions, will face Brazil in Jacksonville where the winners will face either Belgium or Serbia.

Argentina, who have lost all the three finals in which they have appeared, welcome Germany to Buenos Aires with a last-eight clash with either France or Israel on the cards. — AFP