8 Feb 2013

US scales back to one carrier in Arabian Gulf

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FR EE

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Nadal overcomes slow start to advance in Chile

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NO: 15713- Friday, February 8, 2013

Oppn to unite ranks See Page 8

KUWAIT: A man holds his falcon during a competition in Salmi yesterday, held as part of the ongoing Popular Heritage Festival. The onemonth event is held annually to commemorate popular activities in Kuwaiti heritage, featuring camel races, falcon contests, fishing competitions and others. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat (See Page 9)

Local FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

From the editor’s desk

Conspiracy Theories

A war, Cold War or a Shoe War?

By Badrya Darwish

badrya_d@kuwaittimes.net

W

hat’s up with the throwing of shoes these days? This happens especially to leaders from the region. The shoe throwing has become a kind of a VIP phenomena after the Iraqi journalist Muntadar Zaidi threw his shoes at the then-American President George Bush during a press conference a few years ago. The American president ducked to escape and the shoe missile could not hit the president. The hit was avoided but the Iraqi journalist made the international news that week. He was featured in every single news media. He was on the cover of magazines, in newspapers and was being interviewed by TV channels.

Many Arabs hailed the young man’s action. Many considered the shoe-throwing as an act of heroism. Apparently, there is a war, cold war and a shoe war. Of course, the brave young man was jailed for some time after this episode. But his shoes were quickly considered more expensive than designer shoes. Rumour had it that rich Arabs paid quite a handsome amount for them.

That was Bush, the American president who launched a war against Iraq and we are all aware of the devastating effects of that war on Iraq and the Iraqi people. In a way, not many people blamed the Iraqi journalist for what he did. They looked at what he did as a crime of passion. Since that first episode, we started hearing a lot of stories about throwing shoes at politicians. Even in different parliaments, shoes were active weapons. Maybe later shoe manufacturers will update shoes to stand strong for shoe-war launching.

By the way, when having domestic disputes, many women opt for their shoes as a defence weapon especially the high-heel ones with sharp, pointed edges. But because these women are not celebrities, their stories stay at home, on the streets or in the neighbourhood.

The latest shoe war I heard happened a few days ago when one Egyptian guy threw his shoes at Iran’s President Ahmadinejad ho was visiting the Imam Hussein Mosque in Cairo. I found that a bit gross to be honest. I am not siding with Ahmadinejad but I oppose the disrespect of Imam Hussein Mosque. Also, may I ask what harm has the Iranian president done to Egypt?

Why we never saw anybody throw shoes at the Israelis when they used to come to Cairo on regular visits. At least, these people harmed Egypt and many Egyptians consider them enemies.

Anyways, I do not believe in the shoe war. I find it ridiculous.

After all, I love my shoes. Shoes talk, guys. Have a nice weekend!

Kuwait’s my business

‘Kuwait’: Soon to be a blockbuster book?

By John P Hayes

local@kuwaittimes.net

Y

ou probably don’t know the name James A Michener, who was on several occasions America’s most popular writer and whose books sold more than 75 million copies worldwide. Had he written “Dubai” instead of “Hawaii”, or “Tales of the Arabian Gulf” instead of “Tales of the South Pacific”, which won a Pulitzer Prize, you would know his name. Any book by Michener put a country or place on the map. Millions of tourists have flocked to Hawaii and the South Pacific islands carrying copies of Michener’s novels. They’ve also descended upon Spain, Israel, Afghanistan, South Africa, Mexico, Poland, Alaska, Colorado, Texas, Maryland, etc, thanks to a Michener book. Just to cover the universe, he also wrote “Space”.

Blockbuster book: Kuwait Imagine what would have happened had Michener written “Kuwait”. Actually, I have. During the last several weeks I’ve been editing my 1985 biography of Michener to prepare it for e-book publication. Tackling this job while writing about Kuwait every week as I do, has provoked countless issues that should be discussed by anyone who cares about Kuwait’s future.

Michener’s success was largely due to his skillful ability to snag a reader’s attention and hold it. Some of Michener’s novels exceed 1,000 pages; it’s a commitment when you pick up one of his thick sagas. Most readers live in his make-believe world for weeks and they don’t want his story to end. Critics faulted him for pandering to the masses - anyone that popular couldn’t be an intellectual but Michener never wrote anything without a sociological purpose. When he wrote about a place, he wanted that place to somehow become better because of his book.

The writer as teacher While he annoyed many critics, he angered countless

readers, especially those who lived in the places he wrote about. For many years he was not welcome in Hawaii, even though the book enriched the state’s economy. Spain banned “Iberia”, until the government realized how much money it was losing. Readers often demonized Michener for the way he portrayed their country or state - even if what he said was true!

More often than not Michener angered people because he questioned their customs and values. Some, of course, said he had no right to do that, but Michener was a teacher at heart who understood something that too few teachers do: it’s more difficult to engage people intellectually than it is emotionally. You want to get a student’s attention?

You want people to think about critical issues? Appeal first to their emotions.

The writer as agitator Michener also understood that an important job of the writer is to agitate. Without Franklin and Jefferson, who forced debates, America didn’t stand a chance to become the world’s greatest country. While writers may not solve major problems, they can force dialogues that often result in solutions. People didn’t like it when Michener wrote about prejudice, greed, corruption, politics, sex, and religion, but that’s how Michener created blockbuster stories that consistently topped the international bestseller lists, produced millions of dollars via royalties, and, perhaps most importantly, prodded discussions about critical issues.

Can you imagine the themes Michener would have selected for “Kuwait”? Oh my. Where shall we begin? What are the critical points that Kuwait’s citizens must resolve to preserve and improve Kuwait? The book would become an international bestseller overnight, and, of course, it would be banned in Kuwait! Michener is dead; so all we need now is another courageous storyteller.

NOTE: Dr John P Hayes is inspiring Kuwait’s future leaders at the Kuwait Leadership Mastery, funded by the US State Department. He is the head of Business Administration at GUST where he teaches marketing. Through the years he’s worked with more than 100 franchised brands internationally. Contact him at questions@hayesworldwide.com, or via Twitter @drjohnhayes.

A bullet or a ballot box

By Abd Al-Rahman Al-Alyan Editor-in-Chief

myopinion@kuwaittimes.net

W

hen reviewing MPs’ rallies and statements on the current political situation in Kuwait, I heard a speech by ex-MP Jamaan Al-Harbash talking about in shock about how the honorable and respectful knights of Kuwait such as Musallam AlBarrak, Khaled Al-Tahous, Faisal Al-Mislem and Bader Al-Dahoum are being taken to court or prison while “lower class sheep” like Nabeel Al-Fadhl are sitting on parliament seats.

Al-Harbash also took the point further and said that “we have cowardly sheep sitting in parliament on the seats of honorable, respectful knights who are being prosecuted”. He compared the confined prison cell to the four corners of Kuwait implying that Kuwait has become a prison. He went even further to make comments about forgiving the royal family after the 1990 invasion.

Although I never voted for Nabeel Al-Fadhl, he has managed to win a seat in parliament twice - once with the new voting system and once with the old voting system. I do not need to defend Al-Fadhl’s position as he has shown that he is more than capable to reply as he did with his response through the media to the verbal attack by Al-Harbash. What concerns me is how can you classify some Kuwaiti citizens as sheep, lowclass or unworthy of being in parliament when you are meant to be representing Kuwaitis? If you are fighting for more democracy in Kuwait, how can we trust you when you only consider your voters as “honorable knights” and those who decided not to boycott elections as “cowardly sheep”? Part of being democratic is to learn how to respect opposing opinions. Part of being honorable is to carry yourself and speak in an honorable way. Calling people cowardly low-class sheep does not show the class of an “honorable respectful knight”.

Secondly, how can you compare Kuwait to a prison when the Kuwaiti people have always pushed the lines and the boundaries of freedom in parliament throughout the history of politics in Kuwait without the need to revert to aggression or abusive language.

Even we the media have fought an honorable war to get to the freedom that we enjoy now. Never have we had to cause chaos or break the law or invade the ministry of information to get to where we are now. If anything, this is a sign that this democracy develops and continues to develop.

Finally, may I remind you that it was by the efforts and the experience of the onetime Minister of Foreign Affairs His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah who used his 30 years of experience to lobby among all of the countries who were pro and against Kuwait and it was by the swift procedures of the late Amir Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah and his wisdom to react the way he did back then in a successful attempt to rally the world and regain Kuwait from a real aggressor. Then your speech and your forgiveness you might have given to Saddam Hussein and he might have accepted it with a bullet to your head if you were lucky.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

In my view

The dilemma of Kuwaiti-expat marriage

By Sahar Moussa sahar@kuwaittimes.net

M

arriage in general is a big step. But it’s a bigger step when you are a foreigner and want to marry a local. Being a foreigner in a country like Kuwait is a difficult situation by itself. There is a lot of discrimination against nationalities and stereotypes come with the territory. An expat marrying a local in Kuwait is a big issue, thanks to the traditions and customs. If a Kuwaiti man loves a foreigner and wants to marry her, his family will come in the way.

Some families in order to avoid this problem, put pressure on the guy by bringing a photo album of several girls of marriageable age, replete with personal data and their profiles for him to pick his future wife. Even before they have had a chance to see each other, a wedding date is set and preparations kick off full swing.

And God forbid, he says no to her, he will automatically become the black sheep of the family.

Even the government supports Kuwaitis marrying other Kuwaitis through interesting rules. If a Kuwaiti man marries a Kuwaiti woman, the government will gift him KD 6,000 as marriage grant but if he marries an expat, he will only receive their blessings. A law earlier stated that if a Kuwaiti man married a non-Kuwaiti woman, she would be granted nationality upon completing five years of marriage but revised laws state that the woman will have to go through a panel for approval and unless she has wasta, in all likelihood, may not even get it. This is almost like pushing Kuwaitis to make their choice right then: more money or their love. I have one question: Does anyone, including the family or the authorities, have the right to interfere when two people fall in love?

Okay, I have mentioned the facts and the procedures, and now I’m going to write what exactly Kuwaiti women think about their men-folk marrying a foreigner.

Kuwaiti women wonder “Why do our men want to marry a foreigner? What is wrong with us or our women?” or believe that “all foreigners want to marry our men because they eye our nationality and the benefits we Kuwaitis have!”

A common refrain is that they don’t know how Arab women convince Kuwaiti men to marry them and “They must have certainly bewitched them by using magic spells to bring them under their control”.

This is my personal favorite line and believe you me, I heard this one!

To all Kuwaiti women who think that foreigners marry Kuwaiti men after bewitching them or for their private benefits: I would like to say, that it’s true that there is something called magic - which is the magic of love. I believe that everything is destined in life, and this applies to marriage too. If it is destined for a foreigner to come from a different country and meet a guy, fall in love with him and then get married, God will bless this marriage as it is only because of pure love and not traditions or prejudice which could lead to deceit and divorce.

I hope you will not take this issue personally but instead think that real joy lies in finding that one special person with whom you can share the rest of your life irrespective of which country they come from. For every woman and man out there, I wish from the bottom of my heart that you find The One to grow old with.

Local FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

— Photos by Joseph Shagra

‘I am a Kuwaiti woman’ brings out the changing sense of identity

By Nawara Fattahova

K

uwaiti photographer Tahani Al-Ayoub decided to hold a unique photography exhibition, the first of its kind in Kuwait, in an outdoor strip in the residential area of Shuwaikh. For three days this week, Al-Ayoub displayed 38 black and white photographs on the walls of two houses in Shuwaikh.

Inspired by the way Kuwait and its customs have changed over the years, the exhibition called ‘I Am a Kuwaiti Woman’ featured images of Kuwaiti women in different moods, attire and environment.

“It seems that, with time, people have lost their sense of brotherhood and friendship; they are torn apart by the social class or

Local FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

family they come from and we have lost many traits that were once ingrained into our culture,” Al-Ayoub says as she stands in the backdrop of one of the pictures depicting a Kuwaiti girl cooking meals for her family on a charcoal furnace.

Women have played an important role in the Kuwaiti society. “They raise the children, make sure the house is in order and provide for the family in every way. This was especially true during the Gulf War. Kuwaiti women showed solidarity and bravery. They kept their families safe and fought alongside the men. Some of Kuwait’s most famous martyrs during that period were women who risked their lives for the sake of their country,” she said. “These pictures shed light on the role of women in Kuwait,” she added.

A street-turned-gallery The narrow alley way between the two houses where the photographs were exhibited was the inspiration for Al-Ayoub. “We used terminologies that all Kuwaitis can relate to. Giving an example, she says: “Sika, which is boulevard or alley way in Arabic, is a word we can all understand. People used to meet there night and day to exchange pleasantries and catch up with each other,” explained Al-Ayoub.

These photographs show Kuwaiti women from all walks of life in so many different moods and attires. “We show women in all the attires they have worn in the past and sport at present,” she said pointing out that some women in the pictures are shown dressed in traditional outfits such as dara’a or abaya, while others had donned western clothes.

The photos include those of girls, young and old women in different positions, places, and moods. Also, different antique and traditional objects figure in the photos that were shot in Beit Al-Othman Museum, Sidra Tree Roundabout in Shuwaikh, and houses in Jahra area.

She explained that all the women in these photos are her friends or relatives, who agreed to participate as models in this exhibition. “That is why I will give each photo to the woman pictured in it. We did our best to showcase their beauty, grace, and poise. We want them to be as proud as we are to be Kuwaiti women,” she stated.

The “I Am a Kuwaiti Woman” exhibition was a success due to the help and hard work of many contributors. “I would like to give special thanks to Nada Al-Faris and Anwaar Al-Azmy, Hayat Shaahaan and Nusaiba Al-Nusuf who own the houses where the “Sika” in between them was used,” she said. She also expressed her gratitude to Salma AlYaseen who directed and edited the video, Anwar Al-Refaie who helped while using the Othman Museum; Jaser Al-Shammari, the calligrapher, and Muneera Al-Qenaie, who designed the exhibition brochure. She thanked Nour Al-Mutawa for translating all the photo captions and the introduction. “A heartfelt thanks to everyone involved who helped make this project so special. I am glad I brought all these people together and reminded them of our beautiful past,” concluded Al-Ayoub.

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Local FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

Netball season starts “I love the sport so much as I love the opportunities it has given me, the amazing people I have met along the way, the coaching and knowledge I am able to pass on, seeing other people enjoy the game as much as me and people of all ages and abilities keeping fit. It allows an opportunity for people to meet and make friends. I have made lifelong friends through netball.”

By Ben Garcia

coached university, school and club teams, and now find myself in Kuwait coaching the next generation of young talented players.

My most notable achievement in netball was playing Oxford University in the University Netball championships, which we lost but which still was one of the best experiences I have ever had. I also toured New Zealand and Fiji for four weeks on a netball tour. Playing netball over there, particularly in Fiji on grass, were players who had no shoes on. It really made me aware that this sport is such an accessible one available to anyone who wanted to play. All you need are two posts to score points and a ball. I have played in Spain in university sports tours too.”

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etball is gaining momentum and is slowly being recognized as one of the many options for women’s sports in Kuwait. Basketball is the male version of this ballgame. Netball was introduced in Kuwait 10 years ago and since then, the sport has seen certain ups and downs. The Kuwait team travels frequently to other countries within the Gulf to play in the annual inter-Gulf championships. “I took over Kuwait netball in September, but I do believe it has been run by numerous expat ladies over the past 10 years,” said Laura McDermid, a PE teacher.

Laura believes in and promotes an active and healthy lifestyle. “In netball there is a position for everyone. It’s a fun game where everyone can be involved, whether you are a professional player or have not touched a ball in 50 years,” she said. Netball is a very inclusive game. The ball must be passed in each area of the netball court (3 thirds), therefore, it is a great game to include all players. “It is a great way to keep fit. I recently set up school tournaments and training programs within schools, and it has become hugely popular with the girls. I believe schools have had it only for the last three years,” she said.

Laura also set up school club links. Since young women did not have enough sports opportunities, opening up the club to students above 16 years of age will hopefully help them continue their participation in the sport and maintain an active and healthy lifestyle.

Comparing netball to basketball, Laura explained that a netball court is split into three zones while a basketball court has only two. “Each player has a position and players manning different positions are allowed into only certain parts of the court in netball. In basketball, five players are allowed to go anywhere. There are seven different positions in netball, but only two can shoot. Also, in netball, you cannot run with the ball or dribble. There are many similarities such as defending the ball, playing it along and shooting into a net.

Netball is attracting players from various sections of society, but most players are expats and/or students from local schools above the age of 16.

Netballing Netball is popular in English-speaking countries including Australia and New Zealand. In fact, it is women’s national sport in that part of the world. “I believe in South

Laura McDermid Africa too, it is hugely popular. Netball is very popular within UK schools, and is rising in popularity amongst the older generation as more is being done to promote the sport.”

Laura used to play for the Poly Netball

club in England, the oldest netball club in the world (1904), recognized by the Guinness Book of records. Laura has played in the UK national finals and was considered number 6t in the country.” I have played at national and regional levels within the UK,

Season starts The netball season started on Tuesday (Feb 5) in Kuwait and will be open to anyone who wants to come along. “The website is still a work in progress since, with the volunteers running the club, it is hard to find the time to keep everything up and running. I have found email and Facebook the best ways to keep everybody up to date with what’s happening. If you were to search for Kuwait netball on Facebook, you will find all the information there.”

Netball can be played by anyone, but especially by women who want to have fun, meet new people, and play a competitive game or a friendly joust, keep fit and are up for a challenge. “I hate the gym and find it terribly boring, but playing netball for an hour certainly keeps you fit, your brain active and occupied whilst having a great work out.”

Laura has been playing netball for the last 18 years. She loves the sport and would love to stay as long as it takes. “I love the sport so much as I love the opportunities it has given me, the amazing people I have met along the way, the coaching and knowledge I am able to pass on, seeing other people enjoy the game as much as me and people of all ages and abilities keeping fit. It allows an opportunity to people to meet and make friends. I have made lifelong friends through netball. I am a complete team player and love working with other people to achieve a goal. I love keeping fit and playing netball certainly had an influence on my career path. It has allowed me to travel. The list is endless.” Laura recommended netball to Kuwaiti women as it has a potential and Kuwait can play at international fixtures. Laura is also planning to introduce a netball academy for junior players, women below 16.

Local FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

Envoy presents credentials to Honduras president TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras: Kuwaiti diplomat Samih Johar Hayat presented his credentials Wednesday evening to the President of Honduras Porfirio Lobo Sosa as Kuwait’s Ambassador Extraordinary and non-resident Plenipotentiary in an official ceremony at the president’s palace. Hayat, also Kuwait’s Ambassador to Mexico and Non-Resident Ambassador to Guatemala, relayed the greetings and best wishes of HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah and hopes of stronger relations between the two friendly nations.

President Sosa for his part expressed like keenness on bolstering cooperation in all fields and furthering diplomatic relations, which started back in 2001.

Honduras gained its independence from Spain in 1821, it is a democratic constitutional republic and the president is both the chief of state and head of government. The president is elected by popular vote for a four-year term, and the National Congress includes 128 members, elected proportionally by department to serve four-year terms. The country is divided into 18 departments.

In terms of geography, the state is in Central America, bordering the Caribbean Sea, between Guatemala and Nicaragua, and bordering the Gulf of Fonseca (North Pacific Ocean), between El Salvador and Nicaragua. It has an overall area of 112,090 sq km with a population of over eight million. Some 56 percent of the country’s population works in agriculture, and main crops are coffee beans and corn. The country is also known as a producer of precious metals, and its wealth of gold and silver were the reasons for the Spanish empire’s interest in and occupation of the region in the past. Whereas the country’s rare metal resources are all depleted by now, it is still a producer of zinc, lead, copper, and iron ore, as well as coal and mercury.

Though official diplomatic representation only goes back to 2001, the two countries have cooperated on a number of investment and development projects in Honduras. Kuwait Fund for Economic Development had been involved in and funding such projects since 1992. — KUNA

TEGUCIGALPA: Ambassador Samir Hayat presents his credentials to Honduras President Porfirio Lobo Sosa. — KUNA

KUWAIT: Opposition leaders including Musallam Al-Barrak (second right) and Ahmad Al-Saadoun (third right) gather at the diwaniya of Barrak in Andalous yesterday. — Photo by Fouad Al-Shaikh

Opposition heading to form broad alliance MPs give first nod to naturalise 4,000 bedoons

By B Izzak KUWAIT: A large number of opposition activists, former MPs, societies, trade unions and others held a meeting at the house of former opposition MP Musallam Al-Barrak and discussed forming a broad opposition alliance. Former opposition MP Mohammad Al-Dallal said the meeting was very positive and participants agreed to form a preparatory committee from various sides to formulate the alliance draft which will be discussed at a meeting early next week by all sides. Barrak said that the meeting decided to stage a daily nightly sit-in until Feb 12 in the park opposite the Palace of Justice in Kuwait City in solidarity with activists in jail.

The idea to form a broad opposition alliance was proposed a few days ago after the criminal court sentenced three former opposition MPs - Falah AlSawwagh, Khaled Al-Tahous and Bader Al-Dahoum - to three years in jail each for allegedly undermining the status of HH the Amir at a public rally in October.

Meanwhile, the liberal National Democratic Alliance and Kuwait Democratic Forum have said they have not decided on joining the proposed opposition alliance. They said that they have informed the opposition that they

will prepare their viewpoint about the events taking place in the country and if they are acceptable to the opposition, the Alliance will cooperate. The Alliance strongly criticized the government for the deterioration of the situation in the country, saying that Kuwait has never witnessed such events. It also blamed the opposition for being partly responsible. Opposition activists have demonstrated in the past two days in Fintas and Sabah Al-Nasser in protest against the jail sentences.Defense lawyers for the three former MPs announced yesterday that the court of appeals will start looking into the appeal of the three former lawmakers from Sunday. Although the ruling issued by the criminal court was with immediate effect and must be carried immediately, the three former MPs have not yet been arrested.

In a related development, the criminal court yesterday decided to free an opposition youth tweeter on a KD 300 bail. Sager Al-Hashash has been in detention for a week on the accusations of writing tweets deemed offensive to the Amir. Three other tweeters have been sentenced to jail and are currently serving their sentences even before their appeals could be heard. Dozens of other activists are awaiting trial.

In other developments, the National

Assembly yesterday strongly criticized former housing minister Shuaib AlMuwaizri for his claims of rife corruption in the government during a televised interview over a month ago. Following a presentation by the government in which it categorically denied the accusations by Muwaizri, also a former opposition MP, the Assembly passed recommendations calling on the government to refer the former minister to the special tribunal for trying ministers. Muwaizri had claimed that tens of billions of dollars of public funds have disappeared amid suspicions of corruption.

The Assembly also passed in the first reading a draft law calling to naturalize at least 4,000 stateless persons this year amid warnings that stateless people have been subjected to unfair treatment.

The bill was supported by 33 MPs while 14 others, including all nine Cabinet ministers present, abstained. The government said it wants to propose certain modifications to the proposed legislation. There are around 110,000 stateless people, known as bedoons, in Kuwait who claim the right to Kuwaiti citizenship but the government insists that only 34,000 of them qualify for consideration while the rest are citizens of other countries and must produce their original passports.

Kuwait-funded schools open in southern Beirut BEIRUT: The Kuwait Schools Complex and Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Schools Complex were inaugurated yesterday in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital. Both ventures have been funded by Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED). KFAED Director-General Abdul Wahab Al-Bader, in a statement to KUNA on the occasion, affirmed Kuwait’s keenness to support educational and development ventures.

The Kuwaiti fund has contributed towards establishment of 14 schools in various regions of the country. Lebanese Ministry of Education has named several schools in greater Beirut after Kuwait and the country’s top leaders. Kuwaiti embassy diplomats and staff attended the inaugural ceremony of the complexes located in the suburban districts of Haret Horeik and Ghobeiri. KAFED has given Lebanon 20 loans worth more than $612 million, in addition to grants valued at $420 million. — KUNA

BEIRUT: Director of Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development Abdul Wahab Al-Bader opens the Kuwait and Sabah Al-Ahmed school complexes yesterday. — KUNA

Local FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

KUWAIT: Camels are seen during a competition in Salmi yesterday, held as part of the ongoing Popular Heritage Festival. The one-month event is held annually to commemorate popular activities in Kuwaiti heritage, featuring camel races, falcon contests, fishing competitions and others. — Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat

US to cut carrier fleet in Arabian Gulf to one ‘Truman’ deployment canceled

KUWAIT: A folklore band performs during the flag hoisting ceremony at Mubarak kiosk yesterday. — Photo by Joseph Shagra

Flag hoisted at Mubarak kiosk KUWAIT: Under auspices and with the attendance of the Information Minister and Minister Of State For Youth Affairs Sheikh Salman Al-Humoud Al-Sabah, State Minister of Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Mohammed Al-Abdullah and Sheikha Amthal AlAhmed Al-Sabah, Kuwait Municipality yesterday celebrated hoisting Kuwait’s flag in the yard outside the Mubarak AlKabeer kiosk in Mubarakiya to mark the third anniversary of reopening it. The ceremony, which was watched by hundreds of citizens, included musical concerts, traditional ardha dancing and handmade artifacts by young volunteers.

The ceremony is part of celebrations held during the national anniversaries fiesta and was organized in collaboration between Kuwait Municipality, the ministries of interior, health, public works, electricity and water and KFSD. Notably, Kuwait’s ruler Sheikh Mubarak the Great built the Mubarak kiosk in 1897 and used it to receive Kuwaiti subjects from the early hours of the morning until before the noon prayer to discuss and solve their grievances.

WASHINGTON: The US is cutting its aircraft carrier presence in the Persian Gulf region from two carriers to one, the Defense Department said, in a move that represents one of the most significant effects of budget cuts on the US military presence overseas. The decision Wednesday comes as Washington struggles to find a way to avoid across-theboard automatic spending cuts set to strike the Pentagon and domestic programs next month. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has approved keeping just one carrier in the Arabian Gulf region. The US has maintained two aircraft carrier groups in the Gulf for most of the last two years.

Panetta has been leading a campaign to replace the automatic cuts he warns would “hollow out” the military, and the Pentagon has been providing greater details on the cuts it would have to make if Congress fails to both replace them and agree on a 2013 defense budget bill. The carrier decision is one of the most significant announcements made thus far. Plans for the USS Harry S Truman to deploy to the Gulf later this week have been canceled. The USS Dwight D Eisenhower, brought home to Norfolk, Virginia, from the Gulf in December for the resurfacing of its flight deck and other maintenance, will return later this month and stay until about summer. The USS John C Stennis

will leave the Gulf and return home after the Eisenhower arrives. Pentagon press secretary George Little issued a statement Wednesday afternoon confirming the carrier decision after The Associated Press, citing unidentified US officials, reported Panetta’s move. Little said the Navy asked Panetta to delay the deployments of the Truman and the USS Gettysburg, a guided-missile cruiser, because of budget uncertainty. According to the Navy, reducing the carrier presence in the Gulf from

A handout picture dated Feb 21, 2007 shows the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS John C Stennis as it conducts operations in the Gulf. — AFP

two to one will save several hundred million dollars, including spending on fuel for the ships and the carrier’s air wing, food and other supplies. Although the ships will not deploy, the crews will continue with their duties in Norfolk, and the ships will routinely conduct training and exercises. It was not clear whether the ships would eventually be deployed to the Gulf if the budget issues were resolved. Sweeney said he’s focusing on assisting the roughly 5,500 crew members affected by the change. Prior to deployment, many sailors cancel their apartment leases and cellphone plans and put their cars and other belongings into storage.

In 2010, then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates approved a formal directive to keep two carrier groups in the Gulf amid escalating tensions with Iran. It has been part of a US show of force in the region, particularly in an effort to ensure that the critical Strait of Hormuz remains open to naval traffic. Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the strategic waterway, which is the transit route for about a fifth of the world’s oil supply, in retaliation for increased Western-led sanctions. The Pentagon blamed the decision on budget shortfalls in the current fiscal year spending as well as the threat of across-the-board automatic budget cuts that will be triggered if Congress doesn’t act to stop them by the beginning of March. — AP

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

Syria conflict divides Cairo Islamic summit

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France ponders Mali ext; UN troops to take over

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US lawmakers to get drone report before CIA hearing

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TEHRAN: A handout picture released by the official website of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei shows Iranian air force commanders saluting Khamenei during a meeting in Tehran yesterday. —AFP

Khamenei rebuffs US talks offer Biden offer just a ploy: Iran’s supreme leader DUBAI: Iran’s highest authority, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, yesterday slapped down an offer of direct talks made by US Vice President Joe Biden this week, saying they would not solve the problem between them. “Some naive people like the idea of negotiating with America, however, negotiations will not solve the problem,” Khamenei said in a speech to officials and members of Iran’s air force carried on his official website.

“If some people want American rule to be established again in Iran, the nation will rise up to face them,” he said. “American policy in the Middle East has been destroyed and Americans now need to play a new card. That card is dragging Iran into negotiations.”

Khamenei made his comments just days after Joe Biden said the United States was prepared

to meet bilaterally with the Iranian leadership.

“That offer stands but it must be real and tangible,” Biden said in a speech in Munich. With traditional fiery rhetoric, Khamenei lambasted Biden’s offer, saying that since the 1979 revolution the United States had gravely insulted Iran and continued to do so with its threat of military action.

“You take up arms against the nation of Iran and say: ‘negotiate or we fire’. But you should know that pressure and negotiations are not compatible and our nation will not be intimidated by these actions,” he added. Relations between Iran and the United States were severed in 1979 after the overthrow of Iran’s prowestern monarchy and diplomatic meetings between officials have since been very rare.

Currently US-Iran contact is limited to talks

between Tehran and a so-called P5+1 group of powers on Iran’s disputed nuclear program which are to resume on Feb 26 in Kazakhstan.

Israel’s Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor said he was skeptical the negotiations in Almaty could yield a result, telling Israel Radio that the United States needed to demonstrate to Iran that “all options were still on the table”.

Israel, widely recognized to be the only nuclear power in the Middle East, has warned it could mount a pre-emptive strike on Iranian atomic sites. Israel sees its existence as directly threatened by the prospect of an nuclear-armed Iran, given Tehran’s refusal to recognize the existence of the Jewish state. “The final option, this is the phrasing we have used, should remain in place and be serious,” said Meridor. “The fact that the Iranians have not yet come down from

the path they are on means that talks ...are liable to bring about only a stalling for time,” he said.

Iran maintains its nuclear program is entirely peaceful but Western powers are concerned it is intent on developing a weapons program. Many believe a deal on settling the nuclear issue is impossible without a US-Iranian thaw. But any rapprochement would require direct talks addressing many sources of mutual mistrust that have lingered since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution and the subsequent US embassy hostage crisis in Tehran.

Moreover, although his re-election last November may give President Barack Obama a freer hand to pursue direct negotiations, analysts say Iran’s own presidential election in June may prove an additional obstacle to progress being made. —Reuters

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International FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

Syria conflict divides Cairo Islamic summit Warning against inter-Muslim ‘sectarian strife’ CAIRO: Organization of Islamic Cooperation leaders met yesterday for the second and final day of a summit dominated by the Syrian conflict which has divided the Muslim world along sectarian lines.

The closed-door meeting of half of the

ernment officials “not directly involved in oppression”. Foreign ministers of Egypt, Iran, Turkey met on Syria on the summit’s sideline, a day after Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi held talks with his Iranian and Turkish counterparts,

CAIRO: A handout picture released by the Egyptian presidency shows Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi chatting with officials during the closing session of the 12th summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Cairo yesterday. —AFP OIC’s 57 members started at around midmorning, officials said, with a final press conference expected when the meeting wraps up in the evening.

A draft resolution on Syria, seen by AFP, calls for a “serious dialogue” between the Syrian opposition and gov-

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Abdullah Gul, diplomat said.

“The process is still ongoing,” Mohammad Akhoundzadeh, a deputy Iranian foreign minister, told reporters. At Wednesday’s meeting, Morsi had urged Ahmadinejad whose country is Syrian

President Bashar Al-Assad’s main regional backer, to switch allegiances and support the opposition.

The leader of the Syrian opposition’s main umbrella group, Ahmed Moaz AlKhatib, has expressed willingness to negotiate with Syria’s Vice President Faruq alSharaa, who has kept a low profile in the nearly 23-month conflict. Morsi in an address to the summit on Wednesday urged Syria’s fractious opposition to unite, while warning Assad’s regime to “draw lessons from history” and listen to its people’s demands.

He also warned against inter-Muslim “sectarian strife” that could, “God prevent, achieve what the enemies of the (Muslim) nation have failed to achieve.”

The Syrian conflict, in which majority Sunni-led rebels are trying to oust the minority Alawite-dominated regime of Assad, has further hardened longstanding sectarian tensions between Sunnis and Shiites. Shiite Iran is the main backer of Assad, whose Alawite sect is an offshoot of Shiite Islam, while Sunni states such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the Muslim Brotherhood-led Egypt strongly back the rebels.

Morsi’s spokesman Yassir Ali said that Ahmadinejad, the first Iranian leader to visit Egypt since the 1979 Islamic revolution, was told on Wednesday that Iran’s “interests in the Arab world are tied to supporting the Syrian people”.

In an interview with Egyptian state television late on Wednesday, Ahmadinejad said he wanted the Syrian opposition and regime to negotiate “a solution to the crisis, through mutual understanding.” The talks should lead to “free elections, and the Syrian people are the ones who decide Syria’s fate,” said Ahmadinejad. —AFP

Iran airs footage from downed US drone DUBAI: Iran released what it said was the decoded footage taken by a US reconnaissance drone plane that it captured more than a year ago, Iranian media reported.

The grainy footage was broadcast on Iranian television late on Wednesday and showed images of what officials said were a

US base inside Afghanistan and several other aerial shots. It featured narration from the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps aerospace force, Amir Ali Hajizadeh. “After we decrypted the data ... we realised that this aircraft had made a lot of flights inside regional countries and was

This undated image taken from video broadcast on Iranian state television purports to show a US drone landing in Kandahar. —AP

directing much fighting in Pakistan,” he said, according to Mehr news agency.

In December 2011, Iran said it had captured an unmanned US. RQ-170 drone in eastern Iran which was reported lost by US forces in neighboring Afghanistan. The incident highlighted tensions in the Gulf as Iran and the United States demonstrate their military capabilities in the oil-exporting region in a standoff over Tehran’s disputed nuclear program. Iranian forces were put on alert after the drone’s capture in case the US launched aerial strikes to destroy it, Hajizadeh said. “We had put all our missile bases on alert so if they were to move, we would immediately have bombed their regional bases,” Hajizadeh claimed.

Reuters was unable to confirm whether the footage was genuine but Iranian authorities have previously claimed to have decoded much of the data from the downed craft as well as valuable technology. In a separate incident, in December 2012, Iran said it had captured a US intelligence drone in its airspace over the Gulf. However, the US Navy said had not lost any unmanned aircraft in the area. —Reuters

TUNIS: Tunisian protesters hold a banner during a demonstration against the assassination of vocal government critic Chokri Belaid (featured on the banner) yesterday in Siliana northwest of Tunis. —AFP

Clashes sweep Tunisia as general strike called TUNIS: Tunisia was hit yesterday by fresh protests, clashes and strikes sparked by the assassination of outspoken opposition leader Chokri Belaid, as the ruling Islamists broke ranks over how to defuse the crisis. The country’s main trade union called a general strike on Friday to coincide with the funeral of Belaid, a lawyer and vocal critic of the ruling Ennadha party who was shot dead outside his home by a lone gunman.

In the capital, police fired tear gas at demonstrators marching on the interior ministry to protest Belaid’s assassination in broad daylight on Wednesday, an AFP correspondent said.

The protest march came despite a heavy deployment of police in Habib Bourguiba Avenue, epicentre of the 2011 uprising that toppled ex-dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and where thousands had gathered Wednesday in scenes reminiscent of the revolt. Shops reopened in the centre of the city, but many of them kept their shutters down to save their windows from being smashed. Clashes also erupted in Gafsa, in Tunisia’s volatile central mining region, with protesters throwing petrol bombs at police who fired tear gas in response, correspondents said.

The Gafsa demonstration was organised by the Popular Front, an alliance of leftist parties to which Belaid belonged.

Yesterday’s unrest follows violence the day before that left one policeman dead in Tunis and saw protesters torch and ransack offices of the Islamist party Ennahda in a number of towns, including Gafsa. Tunisian lawyers, judges and some teachers began a strike yesterday while the General Union of Tunisian Workers (UGTT) announced on its website it had called a general strike today. Ennahda has been squarely accused by Belaid’s family of being behind the killing-charges it vigorously denies. Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali, who hails from Ennahda, said in a televised address on Wednesday that he would form a new administration of non-political technocrats ahead of fresh elections.

“I have decided to form a government of competent nationals without political affiliation, which will have a mandate limited to managing the affairs of the country until elections are held in the shortest possible time,” he said.

Jebali, who is expected to remain in his post, did not specify that he was dissolving the existing government, nor did he set a date for the reshuffle which must be confirmed by the national assembly.

But Ennadha’s parliamentary leader, Sahbi Atig, said his block of MPs rejected the plans, reflecting the divisions within the party. “We have rejected this proposal... The head of the government took the decision without consulting the (ruling) coalition or the Ennahda movement,” he said on national television. Abdelhamid Jelassi, a member of Ennahda’s political bureau, also criticized Jebali’s decision, “As far as we are concerned, our country still needs a government coalition based on the results of the elections on October 23, 2011” that Ennahda won, said Jelassi. Jelassi said the prime minister, who is number two in Ennahda, “had not consulted the party’s political bureau before making the announcement”. Jebali is considered a moderate within his party and has for months been locked in negotiations with the secular parties in the coalition who have demanded that some ministries be assigned to independents, a move rejected by Ennahda hardliners. —AFP

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International FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

France ponders Mali ext; UN troops to take over Intervention cost Paris $95 million GAO, Mali: Nearly a month after launching an offensive in Mali to drive out Islamist extremists, France mulled the withdrawal of its troops yesterday after asking the UN to prepare a peacekeeping force to take the baton.

France’s 28-day-old intervention has largely driven the Al-Qaeda-linked rebels, who controlled northern Mali for 10 months and had threatened to advance on the capital, to the remote mountains of the far northeast, along the Algerian border. But French-led forces continue to come under attack in reclaimed territory, and with fears of a prolonged insurgency, Paris is keen to hand over the military burden.

The French defence ministry said yesterday that the intervention in its former colony has already cost France 70 million euros ($95 million), with the figure rising by 2.7 million euros per day. French Defence Minister JeanYves Le Drian said the rebels had hit back at troops with rocket fire on Tuesday in Gao, the largest city in the north, and that patrols in reclaimed towns had encountered “residual jihadist groups who are still fighting”.

Le Drian said Tuesday the French-led operation had so far killed “several hundred” AlQaeda-linked militants. “This is a real war with significant losses but I’m not going to get into an accounting exercise,” he said when asked about the toll.

France’s sole fatality so far has been a helicopter pilot killed at the start of the operation.

Mali said 11 of its troops were killed and 60 wounded in early fighting but has not since released a new death toll.

A spokesman for one of the rebel groups, the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West

Africa (MUJAO), told AFP: “The combat isn’t over. The attacks are going to continue.” In Gao, French-led forces have beefed up security to prevent rebels infiltrating the city, according to a Malian army source. An AFP journalist reported large patrols by French, Malian and Nigerien troops.

French helicopters have been patrolling

After announcing plans to start withdrawing its 4,000 troops from Mali in March, France called Wednesday for a United Nations peacekeeping force to take over. Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said a peacekeeping force could be in place by April, incorporating troops being deployed under the banner of a West African intervention force, AFISMA, into

PARIS: Benin’s President Thomas Boni Yayi talks during an interview yesterday in Paris, as part of a State visit to France. Boni Yayi called for France’s continued “leadership” in Mali. —AFP the road between Gao and Douentza, 400 kilometres (250 miles) to the southwest along the road that leads to the capital, Bamako. The area is littered with land mines and improvised explosive devices, according to security sources. Two Malian soldiers were killed last week when their vehicle drove over a mine outside Douentza.

a UN mission.

“This gives the advantage of being under the umbrella of the United Nations, under its financing,” he said. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is slowly deploying some 6,000 troops in Mali, joined by another 2,000 from Chad.

France’s ambassador to the UN, Gerard

Araud, said it would take “several weeks” to make an assessment on deploying peacekeepers but that the Security Council had “no objections” to the plan.

UN peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous acknowledged that Mali’s interim government had raised objections to such a force, but said the idea was supported by the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States and key UN members.

“I think there is clearly a shared desire of the international community to do what needs to be done in Mali,” Ladsous told a press conference in New York.

France now has as many troops in Mali as it had at the peak of its deployment in Afghanistan in 2010. French fighter jets continue to pound the area around the Adrar des Ifoghas massif in the far northeast, a craggy mountain landscape honeycombed with caves where the insurgents are believed to have fled with seven French hostages.

France’s UN ambassador said a peacekeeping mission would also be tasked with helping Mali, whose bow tie-shaped map circumscribes a vast sprawl of terrain and peoples, “reach a new national pact”.

Mali’s descent into chaos began with a new rebellion among the Tuareg in April, a traditionally nomadic northern people who have long felt marginalised by the southern government.

But a Western UN diplomat warned such a mission would not be easy. “The initial mandate will be for 12 months, but the political problems between Bamako and the Tuareg definitely can’t be resolved in that amount of time,” he said. —AFP

Lebanon grapples with ghosts of a bloody past Over 200,000 Syrian refugees in Lebanon TYRE, Lebanon: A new video making the rounds in Lebanon opens with ominous string music reminiscent of a horror film and the title “Before it’s too late.”

Red stains spread across a white map of the tiny coastal country, marking areas where Palestinian refugees settled after they fled or were driven from their homes with the creation of Israel in 1948.

Once settled in Lebanon, the video says, the refugees threatened its sovereignty, attacked its national army and helped cause a 15-year civil war that killed more than 100,000 people. Now Syrians are coming in similar numbers. “Will history repeat itself?” asks the video, which has garnered thousands of hits on YouTube and been shared on Lebanese blogs and websites.

Some Lebanese said it was racist, but many agreed with it, reflecting concern the fallout from Syria’s 22-month revolt against President Bashar al-Assad may threaten the fragile peace between its diverse ethnic and religious groups since 1990. Those Lebanese see the arrival of tens of thousands of mostly Sunni Muslim Syrian refugees as a replay of the flood of Palestinians which altered Lebanon’s communal balance and challenged its Christiandominated power structure decades ago.

The debate about what to do with the Syrians has raged on social networking web-

sites and in the corridors of power, paralysing the country’s response to the influx. Lebanon, unlike Turkey and Jordan, has not set up formal camps for the Syrians. “In Lebanon, there is no political consensus or national consensus about how to deal with the refugees,” Social Affairs Minister Wael Abu Faour told Reuters in an interview.

The camps issue is sensitive because of “historical fears” around the Palestinian camps, he said, while noting the significant difference between the two groups; while the Palestinians were prevented from returning, the Syrians will presumably be able to go home when the war ends.

More than 200,000 Syrian refugees have already arrived in Lebanon, equal to about 5 percent of the country’s 4 million population.

The United Nations says there may be 1 million Syrian refugees in the region by June, from around 700,000 now. With an eye on those figures, Energy Minister Gebran Bassil, a Christian, has proposed shutting the border.

Other Christian politicians have made similar suggestions. The YouTube video - whose exact origin is unclear - claims that by 2020 Syrian and Palestinian refugees will outnumber Lebanese.

“We must act before we become guests in our own country,” it says, urging people to put pressure on politicians to do something, with-

out saying exactly what.

Lawmaker Ibrahim Kanaan is more diplomatic than some of his colleagues when he discusses the refugees. But he is clear about where he stands. “What’s going on in Syria is alarming,” Kanaan said in an interview at his home in an upscale northern suburb of Beirut.

What started as a peaceful protest movement demanding democractic reform has become an internationally-backed civil war, he said. “Fundamentalism, Islamism and terrorism” were spreading, and Lebanon could not afford to get involved. There are few countries where demographics are so sensitive. French colonial rulers carved Lebanon out of Sunnimajority Syria largely to give a haven to the area’s Maronite Christians, who follow an Eastern rite of the Roman Catholic church. The country, only about a third as large as Belgium, is also home to Sunnis, Shi’ites, Druze, Armenians and a medley of other groups. No one knows how exactly how many there are of each because Lebanon has not carried out a census since 1932.

Resentment of Christian dominance among some of these groups helped trigger civil war in 1975. For a decade and a half, rival ethnic and religious factions carved the country into warring fiefdoms and wove a dizzying web of alliances and betrayals. Bullet-scarred buildings still dot the capital, Beirut. —Reuters

TRIPOLI: A doctor attends to a Syrian refugee woman who fled her war-torn country in Al-Bashaer clinic in the Abu Samra district of the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli. —AFP

US envoy told to stop meddling in Turkey ANKARA: Turkey bluntly told the US ambassador yesterday to stop meddling in its domestic affairs after he criticised the country’s justice system, particularly the jailing of politicians and military chiefs. “Ambassadors should mind their own business. They should stay away from assessments that mean interference in Turkey’s judiciary and domestic affairs,” Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag was quoted as saying by the Anatolia news agency.

In an interview with Turkish media on Tuesday, US ambassador Francis Ricciardone criticised “the flaws in the justice system, among them being lengthy pre-trial detentions, lack of clarity in presenting charges, lack of transparency.” He highlighted the jailing of over 300 Turkish military officers, a move seen as part of a campaign by the Islamist-rooted government to clip the wings of the once-powerful military, as well as the detention of politicians and other government opponents. —AFP

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

International FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

What time is it? Russia’s Medvedev resists change Govt denies decision to switch to winter time

MOSCOW: (Left to right) Russian human rights advocates, Lev Ponomarev, Svetlana Gannushkina and the head of Russia’s leading independent election watchdog Golos (The Vote), Liliya Shibanova, attend a press conference in Moscow yesterday. —AFP

Russia media tycoon on trial for assault MOSCOW: Russian media magnate Alexander Lebedev, who owns newspapers in Russia and Britain, went on trial yesterday for assault against a fellow tycoon but the judge sent the case back to prosecutors to rectify procedural violations. The decision was a temporary respite for Lebedev, who could be jailed for up to five years on charges of assault and hooliganism for the bizarre attack during a televised talk show.

Lebedev, who has repeatedly complained of pressure from Kremlin-linked security services, punched Sergei Polonsky, an outspoken real estate tycoon, during an argument on a Russian talk show in September 2011. The 53-year-old co-owner of Russia’s top opposition newspaper Novaya Gazeta and Britain’s The Evening Standard and The Independent newspapers, dismissed the charges as a fabrication as he attended the hearing at a court in Moscow.

“I think it is made-up from start to finish,” Lebedev told reporters in the courthouse, wrapped in a dark overcoat but sporting his usual light suntan. There is expected to be a pause of several weeks as the prosecutors resubmit the case to the court after failing to formally notify the defence that the trial process was underway. In a bizarre twist, the aggrieved party Polonsky was not present for the hearing as he has been detained in Cambodia since December 31 on suspicion of inflicting violence on a group of local boatmen. Polonsky’s flamboyant stunts and racy business slogans have repeatedly raised eyebrows in the past.

Despite the sparring between showmen lawyers and the fact that the plaintiff is behind bars in Cambodia jail, the colourful case nevertheless carries potentially serious consequences for Lebedev.

He faces two charges: hooliganism motivated by social or political hatred, which carries a maximum fiveyear jail term, and assault, which carries a penalty of up to two years. The charge of hooliganism motivated by political, ideological, racial, national or religious hatred, or hatred of a particular social group, was used to sentence three members of punk band punk Riot to two years in prison last year, although one of them was unexpectedly released with a suspended sentence.

Lebedev’s son Evgeny, who lives in London, has warned that his father risks being assassinated if he is sent to jail. Polonsky’s defence team insists that Lebedev should be held accountable for his actions.

“Evil should be punished,” said lawyer Vadim Samsonov. “Can you in our country during a political discussion come up and hit someone from behind?” added his colleague Alexander Dobrovinsky. “We are awaiting an answer to that question.”

Dobrovinsky said the case had been returned to prosecutors for the “removal of the breaches that the prosecutors allowed.” “The prosecutor’s office has 10 days to appeal today’s ruling,” he told reporters.

Lebedev’s defence lawyer, Genri Reznik, asked when the next hearing might take place, told AFP: “You can live peacefully for three weeks.” — AFP

MOSCOW: When will the sun come up today? In Russia, it’s a matter of fierce debate, and one that may reflect the sinking stature of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.

Medvedev declared yesterday that he has no immediate intention of reversing his decision to leave Russia’s clocks on summer time the whole year. The move he made in 2011 when he was president has been widely unpopular as it has plunged the sprawling nation into darkness until late morning throughout the winter. And now it’s not clear how long that decree will actually last. Medvedev’s mentor, Vladimir Putin, who returned to the presidency in May after spending four years in the premier’s seat due to term limits, has indicated that Russia could switch back the time soon. Putin said in December that sticking permanently to summer time would make it difficult for TV audiences in Europe to watch the 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi. The games - on track to be the most expensive Olympics ever, even more than the Summer Games in London and Beijing - are known to be close to Putin’s heart.

Yesterday, the daily Izvestia newspaper that kowtows to Putin said the Cabinet already had made the decision to switch Russia permanently to winter time and that a decree will be issued soon.

The government quickly denied the report, and then Medvedev himself told a Cabinet session that he sees no point in switching the clock now. “The government considers it unfeasible to again switch time at the current moment,” Medvedev said, adding that public opinion has been divided. “Let’s not make sharp movements and live in those conditions without making extra fuss. Let’s keep monitoring the situation and once again analyze the opinion of experts, doctors and citizens.”

The switch to summer time is one of the few of Medvedev’s reforms that has survived Putin’s return to the presidency. Since Putin came back, most of Medvedev’s initiatives - from decriminalizing slander to ousting government officials from the boards of state-controlled companies - have been methodically reversed. Putin’s harsh course has contrasted sharply with Medvedev’s modernization platform. The president has backed a series of repressive bills that introduced heavy fines for those joining unsanctioned protests and imposed new tough restrictions on groups promoting democratic rights.

Opposition activists have faced searches, interrogations and arrests and three members of the Pussy Riot punk band

have been sentenced to two years in prison for an anti-Putin protest in Moscow’s main cathedral.

Medvedev has avoided confronting Putin and defended his patron’s new tough course, but is appearing increasingly cornered and powerless despite his show of loyalty.

State-controlled television stations have reduced their coverage of his activities, and a newspaper report recently claimed that the networks had received orders from the Kremlin to cast him in a negative light and focus on his unpopular decisions, such as the time change.

The Izvestia newspaper has recently published leaks from official documents critical of the performance of Medvedev’s Cabinet, prompting an angry rebuke from his office.

Yesterday, it posted a December’s letter by Jean-Claude Killy, head of the International Olympic Committee’s coordination panel for Sochi, suggesting that the IOC would welcome Russia’s switching back to the winter time but warning that such a decision need to be made soon. — AP

MOSCOW: Then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (left) and then Prime Minister Vladimir Putin synchronize their watches during a United Russia party congress in Moscow. — AP

Assange alienated allies, says ex-supporter Khan LONDON: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange risks turning from a popular hero into an L Ron Hubbard figure, tolerating only “blinkered, cultish devotion”, said one of his former backers Jemima Khan.

Claiming Assange had alienated his supporters, Khan, associate editor of the New Statesman, wrote for the weekly British magazine that Assange’s anti-secrecy organisation was now “guilty of the same obfuscation and misinformation as those it sought to expose”. She compared the Australian to US sciencefiction author Hubbard, founder of the Church of Scientology.

Assange has been holed up inside the Ecuadoran embassy in London after losing his battle in the British courts against extradition to Sweden, where he faces questioning over allegations of rape and sexual assault. Ecuador has granted him political asylum. By jumping bail, the 41-year-old surrendered the £200,000 ($315,000, 230,000 euros) that supporters including Khan had put up as a surety. Khan-daughter of the late financier James Goldsmith and former wife of Imran Khan, the Pakistan cricket captain turned political leader-was an executive producer of “We Steal Secrets: The Story Of WikiLeaks”, Alex Gibney’s documentary about the whistle-blowing website.

“The problem with Camp Assange is that, in the words of (former US president) George W Bush, it sees the world as being ‘with us or against us’,” wrote Khan. “When I told Assange I was part of the ‘We Steal Secrets’ team, I suggested that he view it not in terms of being pro- or anti-him, but rather as a film that would be fair and would represent the truth. — AFP

EU urged to delay lifting Zimbabwe sanctions HARARE: Global rights monitor Human Rights Watch yesterday urged the European Union to insist on tangible human rights reforms and free and fair elections as a precondition for lifting targeted sanctions on Zimbabwe. “It would be premature for the EU to lift targeted sanctions on President Robert Mugabe and members of his inner circle simply for holding a referendum on a new constitution,” Tiseke Kasambala, Africa advocacy director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. The EU imposed sanctions including a travel ban and asset freeze on Mugabe and his close allies following elections in 2002 which the bloc said were rigged to hand the veteran ruler victory. The EU is expected to review its policy toward Zimbabwe in the coming two weeks.

Kasambala said that lifting or suspending the sanctions before Zimbabwe carries out comprehensive rights reforms will give Mugabe and his party free rein to continue repression ahead of elections expected later this year.

HRW said if the EU wants to encourage respect for human rights in Zimbabwe, it should postpone lifting or suspending targeted sanctions until after the country holds credible, free and fair elections. — AFP

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International FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

No other explosives found near Alabama bunker: FBI MIDLAND CITY: Bomb technicians have found no more explosive devices after an arduous search of the rural Alabama property of Jimmy Lee Dykes, the gunman who shot dead a school bus driver and held a boy captive for nearly a week in a rigged underground bunker. Dykes was killed Monday by SWAT team members during a gunfight when officers raided the bunker and rescued the kindergartner unharmed, officials said. With the work of bomb experts concluded, Dykes’ body could be safely removed from the bunker, the FBI said.

An autopsy was planned Thursday and the FBI said evidence-collection and review teams had already begun the next phase - sifting the crime scene.

The FBI said after the raid that the 65-year-old man had planted one explosive artifact in a ventilation pipe used by negotiators to communicate with him in his underground bunker in the bucolic farming community of Midland City. The agency said a second device was found in the roughly 6-by-8foot hand-dug bunker. Both were safely removed.

FBI Special Agent Paul Bresson said in an email late Wednesday that the technicians who scoured the 100-acre property in the days after the end of the standoff had “completed their work and cleared the crime scene.”

“No additional devices were found,” he added.

Dale County Coroner Woodrow Hilboldt told The Associated Press late Wednesday that he was waiting to pronounce Dykes dead. He added that the autopsy would be held at the state forensic laboratory in Montgomery.

Bresson, meanwhile, said evidence review teams now processing the crime scene could take two or three days to finish their work. A shooting review team from Washington also is reviewing the hostagetaking episode that began Jan 29 with the attack on the school bus.

Authorities said Dykes boarded the bus full of children and gunned down drive Charles Albert Poland Jr. as he sought to protect the 21 children on board. According to officials, the gunman then seized a 5-year-old boy and fled with his hostage to the nearby bunker, setting up the standoff that had captured national attention.

The boy’s rescue was carried out by the FBI’s hostage response team, which serves as the agency’s full-time counterterrorism unit, FBI agent Jason Pack said Wednesday. Trained in military tactics and outfitted with combat-style gear and weapons, the group was formed 30 years ago in preparation for the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.

Composed of FBI agents, some of whom have prior military experience, the team is deployed quickly to trouble spots and provides assistance to local FBI offices during hostage situations. It has participated in hostage situations more than 800 times in the United States and elsewhere since 1983, the FBI said.

“As an elite counterterrorism tactical team for law enforcement, the HRT is one of the best, if not the best, in the United States,” Sean Joyce, deputy FBI director, said in a statement.

The FBI also brought out an array of military-style equipment including armored personnel carriers and combat rifles. Drones also flew large, lazy circles overhead. According to a US official, about a dozen Navy Seabees in special naval construction unit helped authorities build a mock-up of the bunker to plan the FBI assault. The official, who was not authorized to discuss the rescue effort, spoke on condition of anonymity.

“This was a classic, textbook situation,” said Clint Van Zandt, a former FBI negotiator who worked with the hostage rescue team repeatedly before retiring in 1995. Building a replica of Dykes’ bunker, practicing an assault, negotiating Dykes into a sense of security and even sneaking a camera into the shelter are all part of the agency’s tools, said Van Zandt. — AP

US Northeast braces for major snowstorm Rescuers bid to reach Solomons tsunami-hit areas

SEOUL: South Korean Marines walk while holding their guns on a snow-covered hill during their joint exercise with US counterparts in Pyeongchang, east of Seoul yesterday. More than 400 marines from the two countries participated in the Feb 4-22 joint winter exercise held for the first time in South Korea. — AP

Fed plot suspect may plead guilty in NYC NEW YORK: A 21-year-old Bangladesh native accused of trying to blow up the Federal Reserve Bank in New York with what he thought was a car bomb is expected to plead guilty to charges stemming from the phony plot.

A plea hearing in federal court in Brooklyn was scheduled yesterday for Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis. He was charged in October after an FBI sting with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and attempting to provide material support to Al-Qaeda. Investigators said in court papers that he came to the US bent on jihad and worked out the specifics of a plot when he arrived.

Investigators said Nafis contacted a government informant, who then went to US authorities. They said he selected his target, drove the van loaded with dummy explosives to the door of the bank and tried to set off the bomb from a hotel room using a cellphone he thought had been rigged as a detonator. But it was all fake. He also believed he had the blessing of Al-Qaeda and was acting on behalf of it, but he has no known ties to the terrorist group, according to federal officials. During the investigation, he spoke of his admiration for Osama bin Laden, talked of writing an article about his plot for an al-Qaida-affiliated magazine and said he would be willing to be a martyr but preferred to go home to his family after carrying out the attack, authorities said. And he also talked about wanting to kill President Barack Obama and bomb the New York Stock Exchange, officials said.

But family members in Dhaka said they did not believe he was capable of such actions. “My son couldn’t have done it,” Quazi Ahsanullah said after his son’s arrest. Nafis, who was working as a busboy at a Manhattan restaurant at the time of his arrest, came to the US as a student. His parents said he was terrible in school in Bangladesh and that he persuaded them to send him to study in the US as a way of improving his job prospects. —AP

BOSTON: A major winter storm headed toward the US Northeast yesterday, with up to 2 feet (0.6 meters) of snow expected for a Boston-anchored region that has seen mostly bare ground this winter, the National Weather Service said.

It will be a rare and major storm, the type that means “you can’t let your guard down,” said Louis Uccellini, director of the weather agency’s National Centers for Environmental Prediction. “This has the potential for being a dangerous storm, especially for Massachusetts into northeast Connecticut and up into Maine,” Uccellini said. The snow will start Friday morning, with the heaviest amounts dumped that night and into Saturday, the National Weather Service said.

A coastal flooding watch was in effect for some shore communities in Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York’s Long Island - just outside New York City. Tom Meyers, marketing director for Wachusett Mountain Ski Area in Massachusetts, said many participants at an annual conference of the National Ski Areas Association this week, were “buzzing” about the storm.

Meanwhile, disaster relief agencies were struggling yesterday to reach remote tsunami-hit villages in the Solomon Islands, and warned the death toll following a powerful 8.0-magnitude quake was likely to rise. At least six people were confirmed dead after Wednesday’s quake generated a wave that swamped coastal communities on Ndende island in the eastern Solomons and triggered warnings of a more widespread tsunami that was later lifted.

Aid agency World Vision said the force of the surging water shunted some houses 10 metres (33 feet) back from the coast in the Ndende town of Venga and almost all the homes in Nela village were washed away. “I’m currently walking through one

A photo released by World Vision shows a resident with salvaged possessions from her destroyed home in the village of Venga, caused by a tsunami in the Santa Cruz Islands region of the Solomons Islands. —AFP community and I’m knee-deep in water,” World Vision emergency coordinator Jeremiah Tabua said. “I can see a number of houses that have been swept away by the surge.” Unconfirmed reports said nine were killed and the national disaster management office said it had no clear picture of the scale of destruction on the island, more than 600 kilometres (370 miles) from the capital Honiara. “Some of the remote communities we haven’t heard back from yet, it’s very difficult to get information,” office spokesman Sipulu Rove told AFP. He said local officials were trying to check on the villages but the process could take days, as roads had been blocked by landslides and telecommunications was poor or non-existent. World Vision said the latest reports from the aid group’s staff on

the ground suggested the scale of the disaster was bigger than previously thought and that up to 20 communities were believed to have been affected, rather than just five. “All communities visited today have suffered significant damage. This brings the estimated number of people affected to 6,000 people approximately,” it said in a statement, adding that food and water were running low in some areas. The stricken island’s airstrip was also closed because of debris on the runway, preventing planes carrying relief supplies from landing and thwarting plans to send reconnaissance flights over the disaster zone.

Officials said about 460 houses had been destroyed leaving some 3,000 people homeless, with many villagers fleeing for higher ground. — AP

International FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

US challenges India’s solar program curbs WASHINGTON: The United States on Wednesday filed a challenge with the World Trade Organization over elements of India’s national solar program, which it said discriminates against foreign solar products in violation of a core global trade rule.

The case comes as a number of governments, including the United States, are supporting development of clean energy to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and to cut greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global climate change.

“Let me be clear: the United States strongly supports the rapid deployment of solar energy around the world, including with India,” US Trade Representative Ron Kirk said in a statement announcing the request for consultations with India, which is the first step in bringing a WTO dispute.

“Unfortunately, India’s discriminatory policies in its national solar program detract from that successful cooperation, raise the cost of clean energy, and undermine progress toward our shared objective,” Kirk said.

The US action targets India’s national solar program, the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission.

That program, launched in 2010, appears to discriminate against US solar equipment by requiring solar energy producers to use Indian-manufactured solar cells and modules and by offering subsidies to those developers for using domestic equipment instead of imports, the US trade office said.

“What we’re talking about here is the most fundamental principle of non-discrimination at the core of the whole trading system,” a US trade official told Reuters, speaking on condition he not be identified.

That principle requires countries to treat foreign goods and services the same way they treat domestic goods and services, the US official said.

US lawmakers praised the action, which they said addressed a trend seen in China, Argentina and other countries. “India isn’t playing by the rules, and USTR is right to go to the WTO to hold it accountable for its local content requirements,” House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp said.

Indian government officials were not immediately available in Washington or WTO headquarters in Geneva for comment. India has argued its solar policy measures are legal under WTO government procurement rules that permit countries to exempt projects from non-discrimination obligations. — Reuters

US lawmakers to get drone report before CIA hearing Brennan helped managed Obama’s drone program

An Australian fighter jet is readied for a training mission at the Cope North military exercises at Andersen Air Force Base on the US island of Guam yesterday.

Fighter jets from the US and two key allies roared into Western Pacific skies yesterday in the combat phase of exercises that have gained importance as the region responds to the rise of China and other potential threats. — AP

Senator wants probe at California nuke plant LOS ANGELES: California Sen Barbara Boxer pressed federal regulators to open an investigation of the shuttered San Onofre nuclear power plant after uncovering documents that she said suggest the utility that runs it took shortcuts and compromised safety.

The seaside plant located between San Diego and Los Angeles hasn’t produced electricity in more than a year, after a tiny radiation leak in January 2012 led to the discovery of damage to hundreds of steam generator tubes that carry radioactive water. Boxer said Wednesday in a letter to Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chair Allison Macfarlane that a confidential report obtained by her office shows Southern California Edison and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the Japan-based company that built the generators, were aware of design problems before the equipment was installed.

Boxer, who chairs the Environment and Public Works Committee, said the report written by Mitsubishi raises concerns that Edison and its contractor rejected safety modifications and sidestepped a more rigorous safety review.

“Safety, not regulatory short cuts, must be the driving factor in the design of nuclear facilities, as well as NRC’s determination on whether (San Onofre) can be restarted,” Boxer said in a letter cosigned by Rep. Edward Markey, DMassachusetts.

In a statement, the NRC said it received the letter and “will review all available information in making a judgment as to whether the plant would meet our safety standards if restart

were permitted.” Edison said in a statement the company “takes very seriously all allegations raised by the letter” and would comply with all requests for information and documents.

“SCE is strongly committed to the transparent review of its operations at San Onofre and the safety of the public and its employees,” the company said.

Mitsubishi said design decisions were made “in accordance with well-established and accepted industry standards” along with a wealth of operating experience.

“Nothing is more important to us than the safe design and manufacturing of nuclear-energy facilities,” a company statement said. “A thorough investigation has been ongoing and will continue. We will continue cooperating fully.”

Boxer’s disclosure further clouds the future of the twin-domed plant, which is seeking NRC permission to restart the Unit 2 reactor and run it at reduced power in hopes of slowing or halting tube damage. The future of heavily damaged Unit 3 is not clear. Last year, federal officials blamed a botched computer analysis for design flaws that are largely to blame for unprecedented wear in tubes at the plant. They found a Mitsubishi analysis vastly misjudged how water and steam would flow in the reactors. Gradual wear is common in steam generator tubing, but the rate of erosion at San Onofre stunned officials because the equipment is relatively new. The generators were installed in a $670 million overhaul and began operating in April 2010 in Unit 2 and February 2011 in Unit 3.—AP

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama’s choice to head the CIA faces a Senate Intelligence Committee confirmation hearing just hours after lawmakers are expected to receive a classified report providing the rationale for drone strikes targeting Americans working with Al-Qaeda overseas.

John Brennan, the White House counterterrorism chief and Obama’s nominee to run the nation’s spy agency, helped manage the drone program. The confirmation hearing sets the stage for a public airing of some of the most controversial programs in the covert war on AlQaeda, from the deadly drone strikes to the CIA’s use of interrogation techniques like waterboarding during President George W. Bush’s administration. Obama directed the Justice Department to provide access to the secret document to members of the Senate and House intelligence committees, an administration official said Wednesday. Sen Dianne Feinstein, D-California, the Senate committee’s chairman, said the legal opinion would be provided to her committee.

Sen Ron Wyden, a committee member who had pressed the administration to provide the opinion, left open the possibility he might still try to block Brennan’s nomination. He said turning over the opinion was a good first step. “I’m committed to making sure that we get all the facts,” Wyden said on NBC’s “Today” show. “Early this morning, I’m going to be going in to read the opinion.

We’ll go from there.” Wyden said “there are still substantial questions” about how the administration justifies and plans drone strikes. “The Founding Fathers thought the president should have significant power in the national security arena. But there have to be checks and balances,” Wyden said. “You can’t just skirt those checks and balances if you think it’s inconvenient.”

An unclassified memo leaked this week says it is legal for the government to kill US citizens abroad if it believes they are senior al-Qaida leaders continually engaged in operations aimed at killing Americans, even if there is no evidence of a specific imminent attack. That unclassified memo is based on classified advice from the Office of Legal Counsel that is being made available to the intelligence committees’ members, the official said. The official was not authorized to speak publicly about the decision and requested anonymity.

Brennan laid out the administration’s policy for targeting al-Qaida with lethal drone strikes ahead of the hearing, defending the use of such strikes but disavowing the harsh interrogation techniques used when he was at the CIA. In answers to pre-hearing questions released Wednesday by the Senate Intelligence Committee, Brennan said no further legislation was necessary to conduct operations against al-Qaida wherever it’s operating. Brennan answered some of his critics who charged him with backing the detention and interrogation policy while he served at the CIA. Those allegations stymied his attempt to head the intelligence agency when the Obama administration began in 2009. Brennan said in his written answers that he

was “aware of the program but did not play a role in its creation, execution, or oversight.” He added that he “had significant concerns and personal objections” to the interrogation techniques and voiced those objections to colleagues at the agency privately.

Brennan went on to describe how individuals are targeted for drone strikes, saying whether a suspect is deemed an imminent threat - and therefore appropriate for targeting - is made “on a case-by-case basis through a coordinated interagency process” involving intelligence, military, diplomatic and other agencies. Human rights and civil liberties groups have decried the methods for targeting terror suspects, especially US citizens.

Brennan defended the missile strikes by unmanned Predator or Reaper drones as a more humane form of war, but he acknowledged “instances when, regrettably and despite our best efforts, civilians have been killed.”

“It is exceedingly rare, and much rarer than many allege,” he added. Aides have portrayed Brennan as cautious in the use of drones, restraining others at the CIA or military who would use them more often, even though as the White House’s counter-terror adviser, he has presided over an explosion of drone strikes in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia. Fewer than 50 strikes took place during the Bush administration while more than 360 strikes have been launched under Obama, according to the website The Long War Journal, which tracks the operations.

Administration officials say Brennan would further limit the use of drones by the CIA and leave the majority of strikes to the military. Brennan signaled in his written answers that he would not seek to expand the CIA’s paramilitary operations. “While the CIA needs to maintain a paramilitary capability ... the CIA should not be used, in my view, to carry out traditional military activities,” Brennan wrote, referring to activities like the special operations raid that killed Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

The CIA’s drone strikes primarily focus on Al-QaEda and Taleban targets in the tribal regions of Pakistan, while the military has launched strikes against Al-Qaeda targets in Yemen and Somalia. —AP

Deputy National Security Adviser for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism John Brennan briefs reporters at the White House in Washington. — AP

International FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

Nepal Maoists propose chief justice as new PM

KATHMANDU: Nepal’s ruling Maoists yesterday proposed that the chief justice be appointed prime minister and preside over parliamentary elections, calling it the only option to resolve a long-running political crisis.

The proposal was made by party chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, known by his nom de guerre Prachanda, at the Maoists’ largest meeting since they toppled the monarchy in 2006 after a decadelong civil war and then took power in elections.

“In the meeting, chairman Prachanda proposed forming a government led by the chief justice of the supreme court,” party spokesman Agni Sapkota told reporters. “The

proposed administration will hold the elections for Constituent Assembly.

His proposal was approved by the delegates.”

In-fighting, including a split in the party last year, has confounded efforts to draw up a post-war constitution spelling out how Nepal should be run as a modern, democratic republic. An interim assembly elected for the task was dissolved in May last year and elections promised for November were shelved amid quarrelling among the main parties over who should lead a national unity government into the vote. The Maoists now lead Nepal as the major partner in a fragile caretaker coalition that is carrying out the most essential tasks

of government but has no popular mandate to make fundamental policy decisions. Inaugurating the convention on Saturday, Dahal had said the Maoists would step down from the government and offered to give up leadership to an independent prime minister.

“We know that the constitution doesn’t have a provision whereby a chief judge can lead such a government. But we are sure that the opposition parties will agree on this,” Sapkota said.

“If this doesn’t work, there’s no other option. This is the last option.

The opposition parties should come up with a better alternative. If there’s none, we will launch a nationwide

movement to sensitise people about the issue.

The introduction of a republican constitution and elections were key conditions of a deal that ended the civil war in which more than 16,000 died. But the transition to democracy has been beset by the ethnic, caste, religious and ideological differences that have made agreement among the country’s powerbrokers impossible. While the Maoists want the creation of up to 14 states named after ethnic groups, their rivals say the plan would fuel unrest.

The convention in the southern industrial town of Hetauda was due to wrap up last night having gone a day over schedule. — AFP

Indian child sex victims ‘mistreated’, says HRW Children often forced to undergo ‘finger tests’ NEW DELHI: Indian protesters push through police barricades as they march in protest accusing the government of ignoring key suggestions of the government panel set up to examine India’s criminal justice system’s treatment of violence against women in New Delhi yesterday.—AP

NATO chopper crashes in Afghanistan KABUL: The US-led coalition says a NATO helicopter has crashed in eastern Afghanistan.

The International Security Assistance Force says all crew members have been recovered and no fatalities have been reported in yesterday’s crash. It says the site of the crash has been secured, although the statement did not provide a location or other details.

Taleban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claims the helicopter was shot down by the group’s fighters in the Tagab district of Kapisa province. But US Army Maj Adam Wojack, an ISAF spokesman, says the cause of the crash is still being investigated and it’s not yet known if there was enemy activity in the area at the time.

The Taleban spokesman also said in an email that all crew members were killed. The militants often exaggerate casualty figures. — AP

NEW DELHI: Child victims of sex assaults in India often find themselves humiliated by the police and mistreated by doctors when they pluck up the courage to report abuse, Human Rights Watch said yesterday.

In a report released amid continuing anger at the handling of sex cases in the wake of a deadly gang-rape in Delhi, the rights watchdog said the authorities had to become more sensitive towards victims. “Children who bravely complain of sexual abuse are often dismissed or ignored by the police, medical staff and other authorities,” said HRW’s regional director Meenakashi Ganguly at the unveiling of the report.

“Instead, they subject the victim to mistreatment and humiliation.” The report details how children are sometimes forced to undergo a so-called ‘finger test’ to determine their sexual history, even though forensic experts say the examination has no scientific value.

It also quotes the mother of a three-year-old girl who was left in severe pain after being seen by doctors examining her alleged assault.

“For six to eight hours after the exami-

nation my daughter did not urinate because it was hurting her so much,” the mother, who cannot be named, was quoted as saying in the report.

Ganguly said it was this sort of “mistreatment” that needed to be addressed and called for an urgent overhaul of the criminal justice system. Many of the criticisms contained in the report echo those voiced by protestors in the aftermath of the December 16 gang-rape that triggered demonstrations across the country and deep soul-searching about the handling of sex attacks.

The number of reports of sexual assault in India, whether attacks on children or adults, are believed to represent only a fraction of the overall number, with victims often too scared to file complaints. “It is hard enough for a sexually abused child or their relatives to come forward and seek help, but instead of handling cases with sensitivity Indian authorities often demean and retraumatize them,” Ganguly told reporters.

“The failure to implement needed police reforms to be more sensitive and supportive to victims has made

police stations places to be dreaded.”

The 82-page report entitled “Breaking the Silence”, contains more than 100 interviews on the experience of dealing with government institutions.

Child sexual abuse is common in homes, schools and residential care facilities across India and critics say the authorities have a poor record in bringing offenders to justice.

The most high-profile verdict saw two British men jailed for six years in 2011 for abusing several boys at a shelter they ran in Mumbai — 10 years after charges were first filed. Last year, the government enacted the Protection of Children from Sexual Offence Act which sets out punishments for all forms of sex abuse as well as guidelines for police and courts to deal with victims.

“It is a very good initiative from the government,” Ganguly said. “But government efforts to tackle the problem will fail unless protection mechanisms are properly implemented and the justice system is reformed to ensure abuse is reported and fully prosecuted.” — AFP

Three killed as Mumbai airport flyover collapses MUMBAI: The collapse of a flyover bridge being built at Mumbai’s main airport killed three people and injured another seven, Indian police said yesterday.

“A large slab fell suddenly late last night, trapping several people underneath it. Most of them were laborers,” senior police inspector Uttam Korekar told AFP at the site of the accident.

The injured are being treated at nearby hospitals, he said. Police arrested three

employees from engineering firm Larsen and Toubro-which is building the bridge-for further investigations. They were due to appear in court later. Police alleged that certain safety measures were not taken during construction, which led to the accident. But Larsen and Toubro called the incident “unfortunate” and denied any negligence.

The flyover is part of a major construction project for a new terminal at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport. — AFP

MUMBAI: Indian workers stand at the site of an under-construction bridge wich collapsed at the international airport in Mumbai yesterday.— AFP

International FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

Two Russian jets breach Japan airspace: Tokyo Millions head home for China annual migration BEIJING: Hundreds of millions of people across China are squeezing into packed train carriages and buses to travel home for the Lunar New Year, in the world’s largest annual movement of people.

A total of 3.4 billion trips will be made over the holiday period, official media estimates, including hundreds of millions of migrant workers in booming cities who journey to the countryside to spend the season with their families. Travellers must be home by tomorrow night to usher in the new year on Sunday.

Chinese media has been filled with images of migrant workers, dressed in stiff army coats and carrying cloth knapsacks, camping out at railway stations and queuing to buy long-distance bus tickets.

An online system designed to ease the stress of buying tickets generated controversy after some used special computer applications to beat the process, while others reported that they were stranded after tickets were sold out.

Migrant workers often carry home large sums of cash to give to relatives in “red envelopes” over the lunar new year, known in China as “Spring Festival.”

One worker became so stressed at the thought that someone would steal the 20,000 yuan ($3,200) he was carrying that he dumped the entire amount in a station waiting room, local media reported.

The worker decided to continue travelling with the money after a police officer calmed him down, reports said.

Donations flooded in to a delivery man who dropped 17,600 yuan on a Shanghai street ahead of the holidays after social media users highlighted his plight, reports said. He has since received 14,650 yuan in gifts.

Chinese men have placed adverts online offering their services as boyfriends for women anxious to show their parents that they are making progress towards securing a husband. “Your parents worked so hard to raise you, bringing a boyfriend home is the best way to repay them,” one such offer read. One site priced holding hands, hugs and kisses at 10, 20 and 500 yuan per display of affection. The season sees peak traffic on roads and an annual rise in accidents. A bridge in central Henan province collapsed last week as a truck carrying new year’s fireworks exploded, killing at least 13. — AFP

Aircraft spotted after Abe’s overture to Moscow TOKYO: Two Russian fighter jets violated Japanese airspace yesterday with Tokyo scrambling jets in response, the defense ministry said.

The Russian planes were detected off the coast of northernmost Hokkaido island for just over a minute, shortly after Japan’s new prime minister said he wants to find a “mutually acceptable solution” to a decades-old territorial row with Russia and sign a long-delayed peace treaty with Moscow.

Japan’s foreign ministry lodged a formal protest over the incursion by a pair of Russian SU-27 fighters at about 3:00 pm local time (0600 GMT).

“Today, around 3:00 pm, military fighters belonging to Russian Federation breached our nation’s airspace above territorial waters off Rishiri island in Hokkaido,” the foreign ministry said. The incident came hours after hawkish Japanese premier Shinzo Abewho swept to power in December with pledges to get tough on diplomacyoffered apparently conciliatory com-

ments toward Moscow over the Russianadministered Southern Kurils, known as the Northern Territories in Japan.

Abe’s tone was in marked contrast to his uncompromising stance on a dispute with Beijing over the sovereignty of a different set of disputed islands. “There is no change in my resolve to do everything I can towards sealing a peace treaty with Russia after resolving the issue of the Northern Territories,” Abe said. In December, Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to restart talks on signing a peace treaty formally ending the hostilities of World War II that has been stymied by the dispute.

“In the telephone talks, I told President Putin I would make efforts to find a mutually acceptable solution so as to ultimately solve the issue of the Northern Territories,” Abe told a government-backed rally of around 2,000 former islanders and their descendants in Tokyo. Soviet forces seized the isles, which stretch out into rich fishing

waters off the northern coast of Hokkaido, in the dying days of WWII and drove out Japanese residents. The islands were later re-populated by Russians but remain a poor and undeveloped part of the country.

Abe’s comments come as tensions between Japan and China have intensified over the sovereignty of the Tokyoadministered Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, claimed by Beijing as the Diaoyus.

On Tuesday, Japan said a Chinese frigate had locked its weapons-targeting radar onto a Japanese military vessel, the first time the two nation’s navies have locked horns in a dispute that flared badly last summer.

Abe on Wednesday called the radar move “dangerous” and “provocative”.

The Japanese prime minister has repeatedly said there is no room for negotiation over the East China Sea islands. But he has also stressed the row should not harm overall ties with Beijing, an important trading partner. — AFP

HAYAMA: Japanese Emperor Akihito (second right) and Empress Michiko (right) chat with wellwishers during their stroll around the imperial villa in Hayama, in Kanagawa prefecture south of Tokyo yesterday. The emperor and empress arrived here for a rest until February 10. — AFP

China holds two over baby death amid one-child anger BEIJING: A Chinese official and a driver have been held on suspicion of manslaughter after a baby boy was run over and killed by a family planning agency car, authorities said yesterday amid online anger over the one-child policy.

The death of the 13-month-old triggered outrage both over the brutality of law enforcement in the country and the population control measures.

In the incident a total of 12 officials were confronting a family-who already had two daughters-in Ruian in the eastern province of Zhejiang, demanding that they pay a fine for the birth of the boy.

The father was holding the baby in

his arms but dropped him when a local government official surnamed Bai stopped him from entering a vehicle to join his wife, the local authority said yesterday.

He was unable to pull the baby out of its path, it added. Both Bai and a driver named Cheng have been detained by police on suspicion of negligent manslaughter, said a statement on 66ruian.com, a site run by the local government.

Bai is also a local Communist Party leader, the official Xinhua news agency reported. “We were required to pay 30,000 to 40,000 yuan ($4,800 to $6,400), otherwise they would have detained us,” it quoted Chen Liandi, the

father, as saying.

The maximum penalty for negligent manslaughter is seven years in prison. The incident has provoked widespread anger on social media. “They lost their humanity for money. They must be severely punished,” said a user of the Twitter-like Sina Weibo microblog, adding terms of personal abuse.

Another commentator using the nickname Pearl Bay said: “Family planning is simply to kill people.” Under China’s population controls most couples who have more than one child must pay a “social upbringing” fine, while in some cases mothers have been forced to undergo abortions.

China says the policy, instituted more than 30 years ago, has prevented overpopulation and promoted economic development. There are exemptions for some rural families, ethnic minorities and couples who are both single children themselves.

But some experts have called for the restriction to be phased out as the country’s labour pool shrinks and the ranks of the elderly swell, while rights groups criticise what they call harsh enforcement.

There was widespread outrage last year after a woman who had been forced to abort seven months into her pregnancy was pictured with the bloody foetus. — AFP

Business FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

Biggest US transit hub in the making

France calls for debate on euro’s exchange rate PAGE 20

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HONG KONG: Pedestrians walk past a high rise building in Hong Kong yesterday. Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying said he planned to tackle the city’s housing crisis by increasing land supply to provide around 128,700 new homes “in the short-to medium-term”. — AFP

No EU deal without further cuts: Cameron Merkel unsure of deal as leaders tackle budget BRUSSELS: British Prime Minister David Cameron warned yesterday that there would be no EU budget deal without further cuts to proposals made at a summit in November that collapsed in disagreement. “When we were last here in November, the numbers that were put forward were much too high. They need to come down.

And if they don’t come down, there won’t be a deal,” Cameron told reporters at a start of talks in Brussels.

The British premier refused to accept the trillion-euro European Union budget for the next seven years proposed at last year’s special summit, despite EU President Herman Van Rompuy cutting it back to 973 billion euros ($1.32 trillion) under pressure from London. Cameron warned again on Thursday that “the European Union should not be immune from the sorts of pressures that we’ve had, to reduce spending... that we’re all having to do right across Europe”.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was not sure that EU leaders will be able to reach a

deal on the bloc’s contentious 2014-20 budget.

“We cannot say yet if there will be an agreement ... the positions are still quite far from each other,” Merkel said as she went into a summit dominated by differences over the budget, with Germany among those seeking cuts to spending. The chancellor said she would try everything to get a deal that would to allow the 27-nation bloc to move ahead at a time of economic difficulty. Agreement now was of great importance, she said, after a special November summit ended in acrimony when leaders could not agree on cuts and spending priorities. EU leaders head into difficult talks on the bloc’s 2014-20 budget yesterday, with key players France and Germany insisting they both want a deal amid sharp differences over cuts and spending priorities. A special November summit ended acrimoniously and this time most expect a compromise but there is no certainty other than that the negotiations will be tough.

An agreement depends on finding a balance between British and German calls for cuts, and

French and Italian demands to ring-fence money for investment in areas that can generate jobs and growth in a faltering economy.

Late Wednesday, French President Francois Hollande hosted Chancellor Angela Merkel for what a German spokesperson described as “a short but intense meeting ... to see what kind of agreement could be made.” Britain meanwhile warned that a “bigger and bigger EU budget is not the answer to the EU’s challenges. “We need spending that is affordable,” Britain’s permanent representative to the EU said in a tweeted message. The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, initially wanted a 5.0 percent increase in member state commitments to 1.04 trillion ($1.4 trillion) euros for the 2014-20 budget. EU President Herman Van Rompuy cut that back to 973 billion euros for the November summit but now it appears he is ready to go further in an effort to avoid another embarrassing failure. EU diplomatic sources said Van Rompuy could reduce this figure-the maximum amount mem-

ber states agree to contribute to the budget-to around 957 billion euros.

At the same time, the total money to be actually spent will be reduced by around 30 billion euros to 905 billion euros, perhaps enough to satisfy Britain and other hawks, the sources said.

Spending at around 900 billion euros would be about one percent of the EU’s total Gross Domestic Product, modest on that basis but crucial at the margins for many member states.

A new element in the equation is that the EU parliament now has to approve any budget deal and assembly head Martin Schulz has said lawmakers are ready to throw out any agreement they think falls short. In a possible foretaste of things to come, several leading MEPs have warned against “suicidal” or “fraudulent” fixes which undercut growth and jobs. Typically, spending in the budget is fixed below the maximum contribution figure so as to allow some leeway and based on experience that some programmes are not implemented. —Agencies

Business FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

France calls for debate on euro’s exchange rate Paris returns to attack over currency

TOKYO: Chief financial officer of Japan’s electronics giant Sony Corporation Masaru Kato listens to questions during a press conference in Tokyo yesterday. — AFP

Sony trims quarterly loss to $115 million TOKYO: Sony Corp is still struggling but managed to reduce its red ink for the latest quarter as the Japanese electronics and entertainment company aims for a comeback from record yearly losses.

Sony yesterday reported a 10.7 billion yen ($115 million) loss for the October-December quarter compared with a 158 billion yen loss a year earlier.

The company had a record loss of 457 billion yen for the fiscal year through March 2011 as its TV business struggled and it suffered from factory and supplier damage in northeastern Japan from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

Quarterly sales inched up nearly 7 percent to 1.95 trillion yen ($21 billion) despite declining sales of gadgets such as flat-panel TVs and Blu-ray video recorders, but only because Sony got a perk from a weaker yen.

The yen has been weakening because of expectations the central bank will ease monetary policy and that helped Sony by boosting the value of its overseas sales.

Sony has lost money for the past four years as it fell behind powerful rivals such as Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. in profitability and innovation.

Kazuo Hirai, who took over as president nine months ago, is promising to lead a comeback with what he calls “wow” products, such as nifty mobile devices, sophisticated digital cameras and interconnected gadgetry designed to show off Sony’s technological prowess.

Some analysts say playing catch-up in smartphones and flatpanel TVs may be too little too late, and the company needs a far more pioneering product if it hopes to regain its historical glamour. — AP

Draghi faces heat over euro, Monte Paschi FRANKFURT: Mario Draghi faces a grilling over the European Central Bank’s sensitivity to the euro’s sharp rise and his connection to an Italian banking scandal at an ECB meeting yesterday where interest rates are almost certain to be unchanged.

Ireland is on tenterhooks whether the ECB will sign off on a new proposal to reduce the country’s debt burden, for which its government rushed through emergency legislation early yesterday to liquidate failed Anglo Irish Bank. A source close to the negotiations told Reuters the ECB came close to agreeing a deal on Wednesday night, but in the end more work needed to be done and the Governing Council would continue discussions at its Thursday meeting.

Investors will seek to gauge how much further the euro must rise before its strength forces the ECB to express concern, or even reverse course and contemplate a rate cut - a scenario that shows virtually no sign of materializing yesterday. The euro has risen to a 14-month peak against the dollar this year, though it slipped on Wednesday, with traders becoming cautious in the event that Draghi expresses concern about the currency’s strength. French President Francois Hollande said on Tuesday the euro-zone must develop an exchange rate policy to protect the currency from “irrational movements”.

Erkki Liikanen, an ECB Governing Council member, later dismissed any prospect of the bank pursuing such a policy, saying “we have no foreign exchange target” - a line ECB chief Draghi is likely to take at his 1330 GMT news conference. —Reuters

PARIS: France returned to the attack over the strength of the euro yesterday, calling for calm reflection on whether there should be an exchange rate policy despite clear hostility from Germany.

French Economy and Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici, who is worried that the rise of the euro will crimp recovery of the French and euro-zone economies, said that European governments had an interest in raising the problem “in a serene way”.

He also said that the global monetary system should be reformed, in an explicit reference to what some see as competitive devaluations by some countries. The euro firmed yesterday to $1.3567 from $1.3519 late on Wednesday, about 15 percent higher than last July. Moscovici spoke on France Inter radio, just before a policy meeting at the European Central Bank in Frankfurt and as a European Union summit was about to begin, essentially on the EU’s budget which has an impact on long-term policies to boost growth.

Moscovici and French President Francois Hollande have both raised concerns this week about a recent rise of the euro, which makes exports more

expensive, with Hollande saying that the exchange rate of the euro could not be left to market forces of the moment.

On Wednesday, German government spokesman Steffen Seibert gave the official German view, saying that the euro was not over-valued and that any effort to hold down the euro would not have any lasting effect on competitiveness. Yetserday, Moscovici, who has already said that France does not have a strategy for an offensive over exchange rates, repeated the French line saying that the rise of the euro was driven by two factors, “the return of confidence” in the euro-zone economy and also “more aggressive monetary policies in other zones of the planet.”

This second factor meant that “a reform of the international monetary system” was needed to guarantee the stability essential to the economies of the world which had become highly sensitive to export performance. At European level, a debate had to begin, he said. “Let’s be aware that there is an interest for the Europeans to raise in a serene way the problem of the exchange rate and without putting pressure on the European Central

Bank.” He argued for “a global debate on the right balance in Europe between support for growth and a reduction of public spending.”

He said: “We are already doing a lot. I do not agree that Europe is going deeper in to a cycle of austerity and recession... I do not want the euro to dive down into the gloomy wallowing of austerity policies.” Regarding the disagreement between France and Germany, the two main forces in the euro-zone, on whether the level of the euro is a concern, Moscovici said: “We do not have necessarily either the same point of view or the same situation.” He said: “The essential problem for France is to be more competitive, it is to pull its industry back up, it is not just to save Petroplus (a bankrupt refinery) and to defend endangered companies but also to promote an industrial policy.”

He estimated that if the euro continued to rise at the current rate, it could cut growth of the French economy by 0.3 percentage points over the whole of 2013. However Commerzbank economist Lutz Karpowitz called the 15 percent gain in the euro since July “really nothing exceptional”. — AFP

Qatar posts $26bn budget surplus DUBAI: Qatar’s government budget leaped into a large surplus of 94.6 billion riyals ($26.0 billion) in the JulySeptember period, the second quarter of its 2012/13 fiscal year, preliminary central bank data showed yesterday.

The fiscal surplus of the world’s No.1 exporter of liquefied natural gas was equivalent to 53.9 percent of gross domestic product in the period, according to the central bank.

It was more than double the 42.2 billion riyal surplus recorded in the same quarter of the previous year, and compared with an 18.5 billion riyal deficit in April-June. That put the cumulative surplus at 76.1 billion riyals in April-September.

Because of the timing of revenue flows, Qatar’s budget usually records deficits in the first quarter of its fiscal year, which begins in April, and then bounces back into surplus for the rest of the year.

The OPEC member booked a robust 54.3 billion riyal surplus in the 2011/12 fiscal year, the biggest since at least 2005/06, despite a surge in spending on public sector wages.

Analysts polled by Reuters in January forecast Qatar’s budget surplus would be 9.1 percent of GDP in the current fiscal year. Expenditure rose nearly 14 percent from a year earlier to 40.8 billion riyals in JulySeptember. Revenue was 135.3 billion

riyals, up 74 percent. Oil- and gas-related revenue accounts for roughly 70 percent of Qatar’s budget income.

Under its budget plan the Gulf Arab state said it would boost spending to 178.6 billion riyals in the current fiscal year, including wages, services and projects, but expected a comfortable surplus of 27.8 billion riyals.

In September 2011 Qatar, which has

avoided the social unrest that rocked much of the Arab world, raised basic salaries and social benefits for state civilian employees by 60 percent, while military staff received 50-120 percent increases. It plans to spend an average of over 10 percent of GDP annually on infrastructure in the run-up to hosting the soccer World Cup tournament in 2022. — Reuters

ATLANTA: A “Sale” sign is reflected in a mirror as a shopper walks though the women’s section of an H&M store in Atlanta. The Federal Reserve reports how much consumers borrowed yesterday. — AP

Business FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

India budget cuts won’t hit Boeing contracts: Official Rafale deal ‘highest priority’

HINGHAM: A UPS truck stops in front of a Sprint store at the Derby Street Shoppes in Hingham, Massachusetts.

Sprint Netxel Corp reported its fourth quarter 2012 earnings yesterday. —AP

Daimler sees Q4 net profit up BERLIN: A one-off gain from the sale of an investment helped boost German automaker Daimler AG’s net profit in the fourth quarter of 2012, offsetting the impact of higher costs. The company, based in Stuttgart, said yesterday that net profit was 2.3 billion euros ($3.1 billion), up from 1.79 billion euros in the same quarter last year, thanks to the sale of a 7.5 percent stake in European defense company EADS. That sale, which reaped a 709 million euros gain, masked a 2 percent fall in Daimler’s operating profit in the period, to 8.6 billion euros from 8.8 billion euros in 2011 as the company invested heavily in new plants and models. “The past financial year was overall a strong year for Daimler with some great achievements, but also with clear potential for improvement,” said CEO Dieter Zetzche.

“Notwithstanding our success and the numerous pioneering investments in 2012, it is a fact that we did not reach our own targets for earnings and profitability.”

Looking ahead, Daimler said that major markets will remain week in the first half of 2013, but that with the introduction of new models and as efficiency measures start to pay dividends, “earnings are expected to improve in the second half of 2013 compared with the level of the first half.” Operating profit from ongoing business fell to 8.1 billion euros in 2012 from 9 billion euros in 2011, whereas the company had expected it to remain flat.

Now, Daimler said is predicting that its operating profit from ongoing business for 2013 should reach the level of 2012. Daimler saw a 4 percent increase in sales in 2012 to 2.2 million vehicles, up from 2.1 million in 2011. — AP

Dieter Zetsche

BANGALORE: Boeing Co’s contract talks with India for military helicopters will be unaffected by planned budget cuts, an executive said yesterday, a day after the country’s defence minister said spending on arms would be tightened.

India, the world’s biggest arms importer in recent years as it looks to upgrade its mostly Soviet-era military hardware, is cutting defence spending as part of a wider push by New Delhi to rein in its fiscal deficit.

“There is nothing that will lead me to believe there will be any delays,” said Dennis Swanson, vice president, international business development at Boeing’s Defence, Space and Security Division.

“India is one of our biggest growth markets. We are certainly aware of (the budget cuts). We are not changing anything that we are doing,” Swanson told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of an air show in the Indian city of Bangalore.

India’s agreement to buy 126 Rafale fighter jets from France’s Dassault Aviation is of the “highest priority” in India’s budget for the upcoming financial year that begins in April, Air Chief Marshal N A K Browne said yesterday.

India picked the Rafale jet for exclusive negotiations over a year ago after a hotly contested bidding war with rival manufacturers, but is still to finalise the $10 billion deal.

The deal would not be signed during a visit of French President Francois Hollande to India next week, a diplomatic source said on Wednesday.

Boeing is in exclusive talks to sell

BANGALORE: Visitors walk past a display of missiles by Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd on the second day of the Aero India 2013 at Yelahanka air base in Bangalore yesterday. — AP 22 of its Apache combat helicopters and 15 Chinook heavy lift helicopters to India. Swanson declined to comment on the deal value when asked

by Reuters.

India agreed in 2011 to buy 10 C-17 military cargo planes from Boeing in a $4.1 billion deal, but overlooked the US company in favor of France’s Dassault Aviation for a highly soughtafter $10 billion fighter jet contract.

“We do see additional opportunities for C-17s,” Swanson added, without providing details.

The US company’s civil aviation division is in talks to sell its 737-MAX aircraft to Indian carriers Jet Airways , SpiceJet and Air India, another execu-

tive told Reuters in a separate interview.

“737 has been the mainstay of domestic aviation in India.. All these airplanes will be replaced some day and the replacement for that is MAX,” Dinesh Keskar, Boeing’s vice-president for sales in Asia Pacific said. “We are in conversations with the airlines here.”

State-run passenger carrier Air India was the world’s fifth airline to take delivery of Boeing’s Dreamliner jet, and has ordered 27 in total.

The manufacturer will address compensation issues over the grounded Dreamliners after the troubled aircraft take to the skies again, Keskar said. — Agencies

German outlook brightens as industrial output rises FRANKFURT: German industrial output rose for the first time for five months in December, data showed yesterday, adding to evidence that sharply rising confidence is gradually feeding through into the real economy, analysts said.

Industrial production increased by 0.3 percent in December from the November level, making up for a 0.2percent contraction the previous month, the economy ministry said in a statement.

While energy output declined by 3.4 percent and construction output was down by as much as 8.9 percent, manufacturing output rose by 1.2 percent, driven by a 4.2percent increase in production of consumer goods, the ministry calculated.

“As expected, industrial output was weak in the final quarter of last year, even if it showed signs of stabilization,” the ministry wrote. “However, an upturn in industrial orders, combined with sharp improvements in confidence indicators, suggest the current period of weakness will come to an end in the foreseeable future,” it said.

The day before, the ministry had calculated that industrial orders increased by 0.8 percent month-on-month in December, propelled by overseas demand for Germanmade goods.

Analysts said the data suggested that the recent sharp rises in industrial confidence in Europe’s top economy is not just wishful thinking. — AFP

Global food prices hold steady in Jan ROME: Global food prices held steady in January after three straight months of decline, with increased prices for cooking oils balancing out lower grain and sugar prices, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said yesterday.

The FAO said its Food Price Index remained at 209.8 in January, unchanged from December, and down slightly from 212.8 in January 2012. “The pause in the Index’s decline tallies with a significant upward revision in FAO’s latest forecast for 2012 world cereal production,” the FAO said in a statement.

“This is now estimated at 2,302 million tons - 20 million tons up on December’s forecast,” it said. According to the index, a monthly measure of changes in a basket of food commodities, price of oils and fats prices, offsetting lower cereals and sugar prices-while dairy and meat prices remained largely unchanged. In January, the FAO oils index averaged 205 points (up 4.4 percent on December), while the dairy index averaged 198 points, up slightly on an month earlier. — AFP

Business FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

Tunneling New York Biggest US transit hub in the making

NEW YORK: Rush hour commuters crowd a subway platform at the Woodside station in Queens, New York. The station is a transfer point for passengers traveling on the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) and going to Manhattan’s East Side. — AP NEW YORK: Sixteen stories below Grand Central Terminal, an army of workers is blasting through bedrock to create a new commuter rail concourse with more floor space than New Orleans’ Superdome, just one of three audacious projects going on beneath New York City’s streets to expand what’s already the nation’s biggest mass transit system. But even with blasting and machinery grinding through the rock day and night, most New Yorkers are blithely unaware of the construction or the eerie underworld that includes a massive, eight story cavern, miles of tunnels and watery, gravel-filled pits. “I look at it and I’m in wonder, I’m in awe,” says engineer Michael Horodniceanu, president of capital construction for the state Metropolitan Transportation Authority. “I feel like when I went to Rome and entered St Peter’s Basilica for the first time. I looked at it and said, ‘Wow, how did they do that?’”

In New York, they hauled out so much rocky debris from under Grand Central that it could have covered Central Park almost a foot (12 centimeters) deep, Horodniceanu says.

Together, the three projects will cost an estimated $15 billion. And when they’re all completed, tentatively in 2019, they will bring subway and commuter rail service to vast, underserved stretches of the city, particularly the far East and West sides of Manhattan. “They’ll be a game-changer for New Yorkers,” says Horodniceanu, an Israeli-educated native of Romania who lives in Queens.

The most dramatic project will result in a sort of 21st century, underground Grand Central Terminal mirroring the century-old Grand Central Terminal above -a 350,000square-foot (32,500-square-meter), $8.3 billion commuter rail concourse with six miles (10 kilometers) of new tunnels. It will accommodate Long Island Rail Road trains that now bypass Manhattan’s East Side as they roll east through Queens and straight to Pennsylvania Station on the island’s West Side.

This so-called East Side Access will bring about 160,000 passengers a day from Long Island to a new station in Queens’ Sunnyside neighborhood, then about five more miles (eight kilometers) to the new, eight-track Grand Central hub.

For now, the subterranean hub is a drippy, humid construction site. The raw, dark gray walls mark the dimensions of the future concourse - eight stories high, about 70 feet (21 meters) wide and 1,800 feet (550 meters) long.

The Federal Transit Administration is kicking in $2.7 billion toward the estimated $8.3 billion budget, with the MTA state agency covering the rest using mostly taxpayer money.

Also under construction is the Second Avenue Subway that eventually will serve Manhattan’s far East Side, from Harlem to the island’s southern tip. The planned eight miles (13 kilometers) of track will open Manhattan’s East Side to millions of people who now squeeze daily onto the Nos. 4, 5 and 6 subway trains running under Lexington Avenue.

Dubbed the “The Line That Time Forgot,” the Second Avenue Subway has been a New York City dream since the 1920s. Then came the Great Depression and World War II, followed by lack of funds that stopped the project after several stretches of tunnel with tracks were built in the 1970s. The existing tunnels are now being incorporated into the new ones. The first phase - 1.7 miles (2.7 kilometer) with stations between East 63rd and East 96th streets - is to be completed in 2016 at a cost of $4.5 billion. Funding and plans for the rest of the route are still up in the air. Finally, there’s the extension of the No. 7 subway line from Times Square to a huge new real estate development on Manhattan’s Far West Side, New York’s biggest besides the World Trade Center.

It’s called Hudson Yards, a small urban village of high-rises, parkland, retail businesses and cultural institutions in the West 30s. Moody’s Investors Service calls this subway extension financed through $2.1 billion worth of city-

NEW YORK: Contractors work on the East Side Access project beneath midtown Manhattan in New York. The East Side Access is one of three bold projects under New York that will expand what’s already the nation’s biggest mass-transit system by 2019. —AP issued bonds - “a key milestone towards attracting development.”

“These are vital projects, and they’ll reinforce the infrastructure of the city,” says Mitchell Moss, director of the Rudin Center for Transportation Policy and Management at New York University. “It’s not just about people going to work; the New York subway and rail systems are busy 24 hours a day, taking people shopping, to theaters, to clubs.”

The city’s 468 subway stations register more than 1.6 billion rides a year. The system is used by more than 5 million daily riders. By comparison, the Metro in Washington, DC, has about 800,000, and San Francisco’s Bay Area Rapid Transit has about 400,000. The three mammoth projects require creative solutions and the latest technology.

When crews prepared to drill the giant new cavity under Second Avenue, they first had to freeze the ground to about minus 20 degrees (minus 29 Celsius) so as not to destabilize the buildings above as the boring machine cut

through. For that, aluminum tubes were inserted from the street and a special chemical solution was poured into the ground and cooled by a refrigeration plant. The Second Avenue tunnels hold a space-age surprise: The ceilings are coated with a material once used to fireproof the space shuttle.

The new line has another major improvement. Instead of ventilation grates that allow rainwater to pour in, the new stations will be aired using enclosed cooling plants. When Superstorm Sandy hit the city last October, floodwaters washing over the East Side did not penetrate subway construction sites.

“We’re using the best technology available today, but this is really people-intensive work,” says Horodniceanu, who supervises a team of thousands of workers on any given day. “I feel I have the most exciting job in the world,” he says. “It’s an incredible feeling to be able to build a legacy project. I hope that one day, my grandchildren will be able to say their granddad built this!” — AP

THEY ARE THE 99!

99 Mystical Noor Stones carry all that is left of the wisdom and knowledge of the lost civilization of Baghdad. But the Noor Stones lie scattered across the globe - now little more than a legend. One man has made it his life’s mission to seek out what was lost. His name is Dr. Ramzi Razem and he has searched fruitlessly for the Noor Stones all his life. Now, his luck is about to change - the first of the stones have been rediscovered and with them a special type of human who can unlock the gem’s mystical power. Ramzi brings these gem - bearers together to form a new force for good in the world. A force known as ... the 99!

THE FASCINATING STORY OF THE 99 When a dam in India threatens to collapse, THE 99 rushes to respond. But Jabbar is shocked when Dr. Ramzi, mentor of THE 99, replaces him on the mission...

The 99 ® and all related characters ® and © 2013, Teshkeel Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

www.the99.org

26

Opinion FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

Tough times for Hezbollah in fast changing region

In this Feb 22, 2008 file photo, Hezbollah fighters hold their party flags as they attend a rally to commemorate slain top Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyeh and two other leaders, Abbas Musawi and Ragheb Harb, in a Shiite suburb of Beirut. —AP

By Zeina Karam

T

hese are tough times for Hezbollah. The Shiite militant group’s uncompromising support for Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad and allegations that it attacked Israeli tourists in Bulgaria are both unpopular in Lebanon, where it is increasingly accused of putting the interests of longtime patrons Iran and Syria over those of its home country. For many in the deeply polarized and war-weary nation, Hezbollah’s involvement in last year’s bus attack that killed five Israelis, if confirmed, constitutes further proof that the group is willing to compromise the country’s security for external agendas.

“Hezbollah uses the Lebanese people like sandbags, they don’t care about the people,” complained Michel Zeidan, echoing the views of others who called in to a talk radio show Wednesday.

“These are very serious accusations which would demonstrate once again that Hezbollah is completely driven by foreign agendas,” Ahmad Fatfat, a Lebanese lawmaker in the pro-Western camp opposed to Hezbollah, told The Associated Press.

Hezbollah has denied involvement in the Bulgaria attack and has not made any direct comments since the findings of an investigation were announced Tuesday. Asked to comment at a cabinet meeting Wednesday, Hezbollah minister Mohammed Fneish said: “Israel has been pointing fingers at Hezbollah from the first moment of the explosion took place.” The group’s deputy chief, Sheikh Naim Kassem, said Israel is conducting an international terror campaign against Hezbollah because it failed to defeat it militarily.

“All these accusations against Hezbollah will have no effect, and do not change the facts or realities on the ground,” Kassem told supporters

Wednesday, without referring to the Bulgarian charges directly. Bulgarian officials said Tuesday that the Lebanese group has been linked to the sophisticated bombing carried out by a terrorist cell that included Canadian and Australian citizens. They said the two living suspects have been identified and are in Lebanon.

The announcement put pressure on European countries such as France and Germany, which haven’t designated Hezbollah a terrorist organization despite the urgings of Israel and the US. “If the evidence proves to be true, that Hezbollah is indeed responsible for this despicable attack, then consequences will have to follow,” said Steffen Seibert, a spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

He didn’t say what those consequences could be.

But a ban on Hezbollah’s activities in Germany, where authorities believe it has almost 1,000 members, could limit its ability to collect funds for the group’s main branch in Lebanon.

In Lebanon, there were calls for Hezbollah to come out with a clear statement outlining and responding to the accusations. “We are waiting for Hezbollah’s response,” said Fatfat, the lawmaker.

The Bulgaria accusations come less than a week after an Israeli airstrike in Syria that US officials said targeted a convoy of sophisticated weapons bound for Hezbollah.

A Lebanese radio talk show host on Wednesday morning fielded calls from people commenting on the fallout for the country from the airstrike in Syria and the Bulgarian findings. “The economic repercussions on Lebanon will be disastrous,” said Zeidan. Issam, a tour operator, said he was worried it would become harder for Lebanese to get visas to Europe if the group is declared a terrorist organization there.

“We don’t want to be involved in any proxy wars anymore,” he told the AP, declining to give his full name. His words reflected a view shared by many Lebanese who are not interested in further warfare with Israel. Even among supporters of the group who have seen their homes and villages destroyed too many times, there is reluctance to endorse anything that may be seen as provoking a war.

Fawaz A Gerges, director of the Middle East Center at the London School of Economics, said there remained big question marks about whether Hezbollah was really involved in the Bulgaria attacks. He argued that the group was “too skilled and too intelligent” to carry out an operation in Europe that would play so bluntly into the hands of Israel and the US. “By traveling this road, Hezbollah risks becoming a pariah organization, in particular given the importance of Europe to Lebanon and to the Hezbollah community,” he said. Like others, he said Hezbollah must come out with a very clear statement outlining and responding to the Bulgarian claims and assertions about its role in the attack against tourists. “Hezbollah doesn’t have the luxury to remain silent,” Gerges said.

Despite its formidable weapons arsenal and political clout in Lebanon, the group’s credibility and maneuvering space has been significantly reduced in the past few years. The civil war in Syria, the main transit point of weapons brought from Iran to Hezbollah, presents the group with its toughest challenge since its inception in 1982.

Once lauded on the Arab street as a heroic resistance movement that stood up to Israel, it has seen its reputation and popularity plummet in the Arab world because of its staunch support for Assad. The group has faced repeated accusations that its

members were helping the Assad regime’s military crackdown against rebels in Damascus - a claim the group denies.

Officials and analysts say there is real anxiety within Hezbollah that if Assad falls, it might lose not only a crucial supply route for weapons but also political clout inside Lebanon, where it currently dominates the government, along with its allies.

Hezbollah still suffers from the fallout of the 2006 war, which many in Lebanon accused it of provoking by kidnapping soldiers from the border area.

Since then, the group has come under increasing pressure at home to disarm. Sectarian tensions between its Shiite supporters and Sunnis from the opposing camp have often spilled over into deadly street fighting.

Furthermore, four Hezbollah members have been named suspects by a UN backed tribunal in the 2005 Beirut truck bombing that killed former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, who was then Lebanon’s top Sunni politician. Hezbollah denies the charges and has refused to hand over the suspects. As the Assad regime in Damascus becomes weaker, analysts expect Hezbollah to come under more pressure and Israel to take advantage of the group’s perceived vulnerability at home, particularly ahead of parliament elections scheduled for this summer.

“Hezbollah remains preoccupied with domestic stability in Lebanon and will not want to shoot itself in the foot by launching an offensive against Israel prior to the 2013 general elections,” said Anthony Skinner, an analyst at Maplecroft, a British risk analysis company . “Hezbollah may also want to keep its powder dry for an offensive against Israel if the Israelis launch airstrikes against Iranian nuclear facilities,” he said. —AP

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013 www.kuwaittimes.net

A masked participant takes part in a carnival event meeting in Damme, near Osnabrueck, northern Germany Sunday Feb 3, 2013. —AP

Tr a v e l FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

Distillery housed in old blacksmith shop.

Guided carriage tours through Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.

Cruising Eastern Canada:

Where history meets nature

By Andrea Kitay

“D

ancez avec moi?” inquires a jolly gentlemen as I step off the gangplank in Tadoussac, a little bit of a port at the confluence of the St Lawrence Estuary and the Saguenay Fjord in Quebec province. Grizzled with grey at the edges and dressed in what looks slightly more comfortable than a canvas sack, he takes my hands with a big grin and pulls me into his small circle of companions, a group of actors hired to greet cruise visitors.

This surprise request to dance on a rickety wooden dock momentarily takes me back.

But why not? With fiddlers nearby sawing away at their strings, smiling women dressed

in period garb clapping their hands in time to the music and giggling children leaning over an ice-laden, makeshift table twirling sticks of maple syrup into hardened candy, I figure a refusal would be downright unfriendly.

As so I find myself tooling along Canada’s eastern coastline on the La Compagnie du Ponant’s Le Boreal, a 264-passenger luxury ship sailing from Quebec City, around the Gaspe Peninsula and down to Boston Harbor.

On this route the ship’s size matters. Le Boreal, 466 feet long, gives us the advantage of dipping in and out of picturesque fishing villages and shallow ports otherwise inaccessible to larger ships.

Touted as a fall foliage tour, our journey might also be coined “In Search of the

Northwest Passage” or “Eastern Canada’s Remarkable Wildlife.” In truth, it is all of these things. Onboard historians paint a picture of early explorer Jacques Cartier’s relentless and frequently tumultuous search for the elusive Northwest Passage and his on again off again relationship with the Iroquois. And naturalists confirm this vast region is abundant with both land and marine wildlife, creating opportunities for both high-octane and reflective adventure.

Once onboard, it’s no surprise I find myself amidst a bevy of dapper French tourists, bound together in search of a common history and some of the most stunning vistas in North America. This is because La Compagnie du Ponant is well known in Europe for its

appealing routes and subdued elegance.

Settled in my cozy yet luxurious cabin, Le Boreal glides up the St Lawrence towards the Saguenay fjord, dropping anchor in the village of Tadoussac where I find my hearty welcome. The town, once France’s first trading post on the mainland of “New France,” is still the fjord’s door keeper and as such is a hub of tourism for the estuary area.

Here, where the fjord’s fresh water meets the salty St Lawrence, a nutrient rich underwater environment becomes an important summer feeding ground for several whale species: fin, mink, belugas and blue whales, as well as harbor porpoises. It is, in fact, a haven for visitors in search of whale watching excursions by zodiac and hikers seeking the quiet,

Tr a v e l FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

forested terrain surrounding the fjord. A stroll around town accompanied by an afternoon snack of tasty poutine - a quintessential Quebecois dish of french fries smothered in gravy - rounds out the day nicely.

But I have only a day in port, and by evening I have to be back onboard in time to join the evening’s festivities. Dinner is served in one of two dining venues, and my French neighbors are dressed to the nines. I’m told a titled French woman is onboard, the chief suspect being the grand dame across the hall from my stateroom. She is my grandmother’s vision of perfect comportment. Without a pin out of place she would make Miss Manners proud.

Although the ship flies the French flag, the food is pleasantly North American. And even the Anglophiles eat heartily. After dinner, however, the ship reveals its particular French sensibilities in a flamboyant Paris-style revue staged in the theater. I feel as if I’ve stepped back into the Paris of Hemingway and Picasso and half expect to find one of them sitting beside me.

Evenings are quiet with most guests back in their staterooms by nine. This is when the aft lounge morphs into a mini disco with tunes from the 1980s piped in via a twentysomething’s laptop. No matter. I slip away to the panoramic Observatory Lounge with its svelte white bar chairs and panoramic views, and tuck into a Drink of the Day for kicks.

A bilingual program outlining activities for the next day is placed in my stateroom each evening while I’m at dinner. After I miss an important lecture early on, I realize it’s important to spend time examining it each evening.

Ports come and go, but the Madeleine Islands, an archipelago in the Gulf of St Lawrence is one of the most memorable. By the time we drop anchor, even in the bright sunshine of a September morning, there is a discernable chill in the air made more noticeable by the wind.

If it’s this chilly in September, how bearable is it in the depths of winter, I wonder.

“Oh, this is pleasant,” our chipper, bilingual guide Hugo Petitpas tells me. But the tiny population - only 13,000 Acadians - tells a story of winters that are too long and too cold.

Originally flat and barren, the existing trees

were clear-cut over a century ago, conspiring to produce a relatively flat terrain comprised of volcanic rock and sand dunes. A sweeping glance paints a grim picture of few natural defenses against what nature hurls at it in this picturesque chain of islands where generations of families know and rely on each other.

These folks will also tell you that their location far from the mainland of Canada actually keeps their island home more temperate. As a Californian, it seems like a matter of perspective. Clearly, though, the Acadians are survivors. By 1875, when the timber was all logged, bundled up and sent back to Britain for use as flooring, lobster fishing became the islanders’ primary livelihood. I’m told that today, millions of pounds of lobster are fished by these modern Acadians who survive on the profits during the off-season.

Today, nearly 200 bird species are bringing increasing numbers of birders to the islands, and tourism is on the rise. Ever the survivors, a budding artist community is designing and making exquisite works of art from local sea glass and sand, on display near La Grave and well worth a look.

While some of the ports on our itinerary don’t pull out the stops like Tadoussac, there is a potent charm factor in colorful Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. A UNESCO World Heritage Site whose rows of centuries-old red, blue, and yellow buildings stand like soldiers guarding this British settlement, I watch from the stern deck as the town comes into view.

A masterful example of a bona fide British colonial settlement, like most coastal towns in this part of Canada the waterfront is the heart of the city. Fishing, shipbuilding and social life revolved around some of the richest stocks of both fish and fur - including the now fishedout walrus - when these towns were built in the 18th and 19th centuries. The same is true today with the addition of tourism revenue.

Lunenburg’s annual folk art festival is a popular event, a fact my fellow cruisers seem to know as they disembark in droves.

Together we wander the orderly, parallel streets, wander through the historic KnautRhuland Museum with its authentic period garb and reproduction rooms. A knitter, I’m drawn to the little shops selling handmade, heavy woolens designed to protect tender

Strolling the boardwalk in the Saguenay Fjord, Quebec. skin in negative zero-degree weather.

After a last stop in lively Bar Harbor, I disembark in Boston, where to my surprise I feel better rested than I have in weeks. Perhaps it was the clear night air wafting through the balcony

door that I left open. But another bonus promises to last longer. For the first time I’ve learned a little bit about one of Canada’s best-kept secrets: her rich cultural heritage and spectacular Atlantic coastline. — MCT

Food FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

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ere you aware that California crowns the tri-tip roast as its king of the grill? It does. And, rightfully so. Locals know it as Santa Maria tri-tip, named after the small town on California’s Central Coast, where this cut first came to light in the 1950s, and is still among the area’s greatest claim to barbecue fame - and glory. It’s that good.

If you’re not quite sure what a tri-tip is, don’t feel out of the loop. Until recently, this chameleon-like cut of beef, which you can treat as a steak or a roast with equal success, was absent from local meat cases, and considered primarily a West Coast hunk, although it’s found on dinner tables around the world. You’ve probably gotten up close and personal with this cut without even knowing it if you’ve ever dined at any of the popular and flamboyant Brazilian steak houses. No doubt, fragrant hunks of grilled tritip speared onto massive skewers have passed right under your nose.

Elusive? Maybe. But hardly exotic. Tri-tip, sometimes called bottom sirloin roast and triangle roast, is a hindquarter cut from the bottom sirloin that’s blessed with a rich flavor and not too much, nor too little marbling. In fact, it qualifies as lean according to government guidelines, meaning a 3.5ounce serving boasts less than 10 grams of total fat, 4.5 grams or less of saturated fat and less than 95 milligrams of cholesterol. Each steer yields only two tri-tip roasts. On looks alone, this boneless slab brings to mind a baby brisket. Part of the tri-tip’s appeal is its elongated triangular shape.

It starts out fairly thick and wide at one end, gradually gaining girth toward the middle, which can be several inches thick, then the roast tapers down to an obvious point. When the meat is grilled, the oddball shape allows you to offer rare slices from the plump section, and more well-done from the

tip, thus pleasing everyone. But, note that the tri-tip is better when grilled not past medium-rare or medium. The longer you let a tri-tip linger over the flames, the tougher and drier this lean cut gets.

On the other hand, the tri-tip isn’t called a roast for nothing. It lends itself beautifully to braising or roasting and shines brilliantly when prepared in a slow cooker. Tri-tips come in slightly different sizes, but they don’t top out at much more than three pounds or so. But pay attention when you spot a tri-tip. Unless you find one labeled “hand trimmed,” you’re

also buying a thick layer of flab called a fat cap that covers one side. And that’s the side you won’t see facing up in the package. So, pick it up, then try to peek to see how thick that fat is because you don’t want to pay around $9 per pound for excess flab. Some folks like to keep all of the fat on the meat while grilling so that it bastes the tri-tip. Sounds great in theory, but the reality is not so hot when you consider that all of that melted fat easily causes five-alarm flare-ups.

Tri-tip is a fantastic hunk of beef, but I’m not going to kid you. It’s no hoity-toity filet mignon (it’s more flavorful). It’s not even an uppity rib-eye (far less marbling and fat). It’s a little chewy when grilled, but not to imply tough - unless you cook it to death. When making sandwiches or simply serving sliced grilled or roasted tri-tip, be sure to thinly slice the meat against the grain so that you end up with more tender pieces.

The goal is a fragrant pile of rosy tri-tip, not a fat slab. If you give the tri-tip a go, and treat it with care, there’s no doubt that you’ll be glad that this robust hunk finally found its way out of California.

Food

PERFECTLY GRILLED TRI-TIP ROAST

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

Hands on: 30 minutes Total time: 6 hours, 30 minutes Serves: 6 1 2- to 3-pound tri-tip roast 1 cup olive oil 6 cloves garlic, crushed 1 shallot, finely minced 1 tablespoon dried oregano 1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper 1 lime For the marinade: Combine the olive oil, garlic, shallot, oregano and black pepper in a heat-proof container and microwave for 45 seconds on high.

When the marinade has cooled slightly, add the juice and zest from the whole lime. Set marinade aside to cool completely.

Meanwhile, trim the layer of fat from the tri-tip.

Place the tri-tip in a large plastic zip-close bag and add the cooled marinade. Press or massage the bag to coat the meat with the marinade, which looks like a cross between a rub and a marinade.

Refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight.

About 45 minutes before you’re ready to grill, take the tri-tip from the refrigerator to bring it almost to room temperature so that it’ll cook evenly.

Remove the meat from the bag and leave as much of the marinade on the meat as you can. Sprinkle the tri-tip with salt to taste.

To grill: I use a gas grill, which I heat to 500 degrees to get a good crusty sear on the meat. Cook the tri-tip for about 4 or 5 minutes on both sides until you get a good sear on each side.

Lower the heat to about 400 degrees, and cook each side an additional 8-10 minutes. Depending on the size, the tri-tip should be medium rare.

When done, remove the meat from the grill and let it rest for about 10 minutes before slicing.

Slice thinly against the grain.

Per serving: 313 calories (59 percent from fat), 30 grams protein, 2 grams carbohydrates, trace fiber, 20 grams fat (8 grams saturated), 98 milligrams cholesterol, 87 milligrams sodium.

SOUTH OF THE BORDER SHREDDED TRI-TIP Hands on: 5 minutes Total time: 14 hours, 10 minutes Serves: 8-10 For marinade: 1\2 cup olive oil 4 garlic cloves, crushed 2 tablespoons dried oregano 1 finely chopped chipotle pepper in adobo sauce Juice from one Mexican or key lime, about 1 tablespoon 1 tri-tip roast about 3 pounds, trimmed For the tri-tip: 1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced 4 bay leaves 2 poblano chilies, roasted over an open flame until charred all over, then diced 5 garlic cloves, crushed and lightly browned in 1 teaspoon of olive oil. Be careful not to burn garlic.

1 14.5-ounce can fire roasted diced tomatoes 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1/2 teaspoon black pepper For the marinade: Combine oil and garlic in a heat-

proof cup and heat in microwave for about 45 seconds on high. Set aside until cool.

Once garlic oil is cool, combine with oregano, chipotle pepper and lime juice. Place in a large zip lock bag and add the tri-tip. Massage the bag so that the roast is completely coated with the marinade paste.

Refrigerate overnight or for at least 6 hours. Remove the marinated tri-tip from the refrigerator about 45 minutes prior to cooking.

For the tri-tip: Place the onion slices and bay leaves on the bottom of the slow cooker.

Combine the rest of the ingredients in a small bowl.

Set aside.

Place the tri-tip and marinade on top of the onion and bay leaves. Pour the tomato mixture over the roast. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or on low for about 8 hours. Tri-tip should be easy to shred when done.

Perfect for burritos or tacos. Shredded tri-tip can be tightly wrapped in plastic and frozen.

Per serving, based on 8: 378 calories (63 percent from fat), 33 grams protein, 1 gram carbohydrates, 1 gram fiber, 26 grams fat (9 grams saturated), 111 milligrams cholesterol, 109 milligrams sodium. — MCT

Te c h n o l o g y FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

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Don’t type it, Swype it!

wype is a fast way to enter text. To Swype, put your finger on the first letter of the word and draw a path from letter to letter, lifting up after the last letter. Remove words from Swype’s default dictionary Users now have the ability to remove words that came with Swype by default. Simply long press on the offending word in the Word Choice List, confirm to remove it when the popup appears, and it won’t get in your way again!

Automatic spacing Swype automatically inserts a space between words when you Swype the next word in your sentence.

Double letters Swype usually knows if you want a double letter in a word without your doing anything special, but you can help Swype recognize you want a double letter by scribbling slightly or making a loop on the letter. For example, to get the “ll” in “hello”, scribble (or make a loop) on the “l” key.

Word choice list When there are multiple suggestions for the word you want to enter, Swype displays a Word Choice List. To accept the default word in the Word Choice List, just keep Swyping. Otherwise, scroll through the list by dragging your finger, and tap the word you want. You can also customize the way the Word Choice List behaves while tapping - just go to Options and select Word suggestion to see more options.

Changing a word There are many ways to edit a word. If Swype does not output the word you wanted, tap on the word and select an alternate from the Word Choice List. To quickly replace a word, simply double-tap on the word and Swype (or tap) a replacement word.

The Swype Key Press and hold the Swype key to access Swype Settings and Swype Help.

One-letter words Swype one-letter words like “a” and “I” by gliding from the letter to the Space key. Swype automatically capitalizes the word “I” for you.

Contractions Many words with punctuation and punctuation combinations are in the Swype dictionary, making them easier to enter when Swyping (I’m, I’ll, it’s, how’s, etc).

Alternate characters Tapping and holding your finger on any key brings up a list of all the characters available on that key, including letters with accents like “é” and “?”, symbols like @ and %, and numbers.

To enter an alternate character explicitly, tap the +!=(symbol) key to be taken to the Symbols layer. You can see that there are two pages of alternate characters. If you don’t see the character you are looking for, press the Shift key and this will show you another set of characters.

All of the characters are Swype-able from the main keyboard (whether you can see them or not). You can Swype while on Symbol layer of the keyboard, but you will only get words that have at least one number or symbol.

Swype gestures Swype gestures are shortcuts on the keyboard to quickly accomplish common tasks. Not all gestures below are available on all versions of Swype. Some gestures are described below: Language switch: Quickly change between your current and previously used language by swyping from the Swype Key to the Space bar.

Double-tap the space key: Insert a period followed by a space by double-tapping the space bar. This is useful if you find the

period key too small, or don’t like having to go from the period key to the Space bar.

Capitalization: Capitalize a letter while Swyping by gliding your finger from the letter up past the top of the keyboard and, without lifting, gliding your finger back down to the next letter of the word.

Punctuation: Swype from the comma, period, or other punctuation to the Space key instead of tapping punctuation and then the Space key.

The edit keyboard: The Edit keyboard allows the user to move the cursor within text, as well as perform other editing tasks. To get to the Edit keyboard, Swype from the Swype key to the Symbols key (=@#) on the keyboard.

Select all: To select all of the text you entered, just Swype from the Swype key to the ‘a’.

Copy: To copy a word or block of text, just select the text by double-tapping on the word or do the Select-all gesture, then Swype from the Swype key to the ‘c’.

Cut: To remove a word or block of text and store it to paste elsewhere, just select the text by double-tapping on the word or do the select-all gesture, then Swype from the Swype key to the ‘x’.

Paste: After doing a copy or cut of your text, Swype from the Swype key to the ‘v’ to paste it.

The number keyboard: To quickly get to the Number keyboard, Swype from the Swype key to the number 5.

Hiding the keyboard: To easily hide the keyboard, just Swype from the Swype key to the backspace key.

Turn off automatic spacing: Suppress automatic spacing before the next word by gliding from the Space key to the backspace key. This is useful when creating compound words.

Editing the case of a word: Change the case of a word after you enter it or when editing your message by tapping the word in the message and then gliding from the Swype key to the Shift key before lifting. A Word Choice List with capitalization options will display, allowing you to choose lower case, Capitalized, or ALL CAPS. Personal dictionary management You can add and remove custom words, email addresses, phone numbers, etc. from your Swype personal dictionary via the following ways: a) While entering text adding a word: • Tap in the letters of your custom word • Select it from the word choice List • Swype will add custom words automatically and according to the behavior of individual users To add many words at once, or phone numbers, or words that contain numbers and symbols: • Highlight the word(s) in the editor • Tap the Swype key • Tap the prompt that appears to add the word Removing a word you added: • Highlight the word in the editor you want to delete • Tap the Swype key • Tap the prompt that appears to delete the word b) Personal Dictionary Editor In the Swype Settings menu you can navigate to your personal dictionary to remove custom words, email addresses, phone numbers etc. — www.swype.com

Lifestyle FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

A Rastafarian priest leads a chant.

Bob Marley’s granddaughter Donisha Prendergast (right) dances to reggae music during the celebration of Marley’s 68th birthday.

Fervent fans mark Marley’s birthday in Jamaica

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undreds of tourists joined dreadlocked Rastafarian priests, leading reggae musicians and some of Bob Marley’s relatives at the late reggae icon’s old house in Jamaica to mark the 68th anniversary of his birth Wednesday.

Since his death from cancer in 1981 at age 36, Marley has become more than Jamaica’s most famous musical export. The trailblazing reggae songwriter’s message of unity and respect for human rights remains a beacon of hope for some in this Caribbean nation chronically struggling with a sputtering economy and high rates of violence.

A Rastafarian drummer leads a chant during the celebration of reggae music icon Bob Marley’s 68th birthday.

“It’s the same struggle now as when he was alive. So his music, when you hear it, it’s like he’s singing today even though he died some 30 odd years ago,” said Mutabaruka, a famed dub poet who attended the celebration along with reggae singers like Sizzla Kalonji. In the early morning light, some of Marley’s relations and old friends danced and chanted to the pounding of Rastafarian drums in the yard of his Kingston home, which is now a family-run museum displaying his guitar, clothing and other memorabilia. Later in the day, Marley’s songs were blasted from big speakers as people danced and chatted amid clouds of marijuana smoke.

Donisha Prendergast, a documentary filmmaker and artist who is Marley’s eldest granddaughter, said her grandfather’s message of “one love” and social revolution remains alive and well. But she said more Jamaicans need to heed it. “I don’t think most people here are really hearing it, you know?

They know that his music is around and they are proud of it, but they don’t live it. Because if they did, then we would be a stronger people, we would be stronger characters,” Prendergast said.

The Caribbean country has struggled the last 40 years, due in large part to political mismanagement by the two main political parties. Good jobs are scarce, the local currency is sliding and the government is so swamped with debt that about half of the budget goes to loan payments.

There were 1,087 slayings last year, which was touted as the lowest number of killings in nine years on the island of about 2.8 million people.

When Chicago, with roughly the same population, chalked up 506 homicides last year, the bloodshed put the city at the center of the US debate over guns.

On Wednesday, Culture Minister Lisa Hanna encouraged Jamaicans to listen

A mural depicting reggae music icon Bob Marley (right) and former Ethiopia’s Emperor Haile Selassie decorate a wall in the yard of Marley’s Kingston home, in Jamaica, Wednesday. —AP

to Marley’s lyrics, saying they called for Jamaicans to create a “more wholesome, caring, peaceful and progressive society.”

Most young people in Jamaica listen to the brash reggae-rap hybrid of dancehall, but there is a new generation of music lovers who have turned to Marley’s albums. “Bob Marley’s music is definitely inspirational to listen to,” said Marlene Haughton, an unemployed 20-year-old who enthusiastically sang along with Marley’s “Trenchtown Rock,” whose lyrics say: “One good thing about music, when it hits you feel no pain.” Marley’s popularity remains strong around the globe, and his music continues to sell steadily.

A long-in-the-works documentary about his life was released last year.

Some of Marley’s foreign fans journeyed to the Kingston museum to take part in Wednesday’s festivities.

A dreadlocked Japanese man who goes by the name of Bongho Jatusy smoked a long wooden pipe and nodded his head to the music. “Bob Marley, he’s universal,” Jatusy said, watching his dreadlocked children playing nearby. — AP

S Korean air force parodies ‘Les Miserables’

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he South Korean air force has posted a “Les Miserables” video parody on YouTube, complete with snow-shovelling airmen, a lovelorn military service conscript and a vindictive superior officer. The 14minute video, entitled “Les Militaribles”, has garnered more than 400,000 views in just a few days and even received a Twitter nod from one of the stars of the Hollywood version, Russell Crowe. The parody uses the same famous score for the musical’s big numbers “Look Down”, “I Dreamed a Dream” and “Do You Hear the People Sing?” but replaces the original lyrics with an alternative Korean-language version.

In the opening scene, young airmen doing their military service labour at clearing a runway after a heavy snowfall. “Look Down” becomes “Dig Down” as the conscripts chant: “Dig down, dig down, and clear the snow below... there is no end to this accursed snow.” Apart from the names of the characters, the plot of the video bears only a minor resemblance to the source material and centres around one airman, Valjean, whose girlfriend, Cosette, has come to the base to visit. In the original, Valjean was Cosette’s protector and guardian. The airman’s overbearing superior Javert insists he return in one hour, leaving the couple only a few snatched minutes together. —AFP

Lifestyle FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

Rihanna attends

Brown’s community service hearing

Singer Chris Brown appears in court for a probation progress report hearing in Los Angeles, California. —AFP

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Los Angeles judge on Wednesday ordered a new report on singer Chris Brown’s community service after prosecutors said he cut corners while fulfilling work requirements imposed after his 2009 assault on girlfriend Rihanna. Rihanna accompanied Brown, 23, to court in a show of support for the man who pleaded guilty to punching and beating her four years ago. The couple have recently rekindled their romance.

Brown is serving five years probation and last year was deemed to have completed 180 days of community service and domestic violence counseling. During Wednesday’s brief hearing, Brown sat expressionless with his hands folded in a dark sport coat. Rihanna sat behind him dressed in a white top and black pants.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge James Brandlin ordered Brown to meet with his probation officer to address claims by prosecutors that his community service records contain “significant discrepancies, indicating, at best, sloppy documentation and, at worst, fraudulent reporting.” The “Don’t Wake Me Up” singer was ordered back to court on April 5 at which time Brandlin will set a date for another hearing on whether to revoke his probation.

Brown’s community service involved tasks like cutting grass, picking up trash and removing graffiti.

He was allowed to complete it in his home state of Virginia. This week Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Mary Murray accused Virginia authorities of poor management of the singer’s service and records and said his community service case should be transferred to Los Angeles.

Outside court, Brown’s attorney, Mark Geragos, accused the District Attorney’s office of persecuting Brown. “I’ve ... never, ever had a client that has been tortured by a DA’s office on probation like Chris Brown has,” he said. — Reuters

‘Star Wars’ makeup artist Stuart Freeborn dead at 98

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tuart Freeborn, the makeup artist who designed Yoda, Chewbacca and a number of other memorable “Star Wars” characters, died Wednesday in England.

He was 98. Freeborn began his six-decade career in the movie business with uncredited work on 1936’s “Rembrandt” before creating makeup magic for 75 other films, including “Oliver Twist,” “Dr Strangelove,” 2001: A Space Odyssey,” four “Superman” films and the original “Star Wars” trilogy.

“Stuart was already a makeup legend when he started on ‘Star Wars,’” George Lucas said in a statement on StarWars.com. “He brought with him not only decades of experience, but boundless creative energy. His artistry and craftsmanship will live on forever in the characters he created. His ‘Star Wars’ creatures may be reinterpreted in new forms by new generations, but at their heart, they continue to be what Stuart created for the original films.” —Reuters

Solange Knowles, (left) and Verdine White perform at the fourth annual ESSENCE Black Women in Music reception at the Greystone Manor on Wednesday. —AP

Wong Kar Wai martial arts epic opens 63rd Berlinale

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he 63rd Berlin film festival opened yesterday with a gala screening of Chinese director Wong Kar Wai’s martial arts epic about the mentor of kung fu superstar Bruce Lee. Wong, who is also leading the Berlinale’s jury this year, is using the event as a launch pad for the worldwide release of “The Grandmaster”, which has opened in China to rave reviews and a box office bonanza. The film, whose original two-hours-plus length has been chopped slightly for the world market, stars Hong Kong heart-throb Tony Leung, who starred in Wong’s 2000 hit “In the Mood for Love”, and Beijing-born actress Zhang Ziyi (“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”).

The film spans several decades of Chinese history to tell the story of legendary martial artist Yip Man, who went on to train Lee, and features dazzling battle scenes between rival fighters. Wong, 54, told reporters in Beijing last month he was confident the movie, which is screening out of competition at the 11-day Berlinale, had global appeal. “There is no such thing as a Western or Eastern audience... The elements of cinema are the same worldwide, although their expression is different,” he said. The film follows the Grandmaster through some of China’s most tumultuous recent history including the Japanese invasion in the 1930s.

It spent nearly a decade in gestation, with extensive re-shooting and injured actors. Wong, who made his international breakthrough in 1994 with “Chungking Express”, will head the panel handing out the Berlinale’s Golden and Silver Bear top prizes among 19 contenders on February 16. He told reporters here yesterday that the Berlinale was traditionally an “intimate” festival which was more about the “true pleasure” of sharing ideas and enjoying cinema than being a place for business.

“We are here to serve the films, we’re not here to judge films, we are here to appreciate films, to champion the films that we really find inspiring... and move us,” he said.

“This is our goal here and to keep this festival as intimate as possible.” The first major European film festival of the year and traditionally its most politically minded, the Berlinale this year is showcasing pictures about the human impact of the West’s economic crisis, two decades of upheaval in eastern Europe as well as fresh releases from US independent directors. Matt Damon, who won a screenwriting Oscar for Gus Van Sant’s 1997 “Good Will Hunting”, teams up with the US director again with

(From left) The jury of the 63rd Berlinale film festival US cinematographer Ellen Kuras, US actor/director Tim Robbins, Iranian director Shirin Neshat, Hong Kong Chinese director Wong Kar-Wai, Danish director Susanne Bier, German director and screenwriter Andreas Dresen, and Greek director Athina Rachel Tsangari pose for photographers prior to a press conference in Berlin yesterday. — AFP “Promised Land” as a fracking firm executive pressuring cash-strapped farmers to sell their property. Steven Soderbergh will enter the running with “Side Effects”, billed as his last movie before he heads into semiretirement, featuring Jude Law and Catherine Zeta-Jones as psychiatrists handing out drugs to stressed-out Americans.

The grandes dames of French cinema Catherine Deneuve, Isabelle Huppert and

Juliette Binoche will all be unveiling new work. And Poland’s Malgoska Szumowska, one of three women vying for the Golden Bear, will tackle the tale of a gay Roman Catholic priest with the keenly awaited “In the Name of”. Iran’s Jafar Panahi, a director who has scooped up international prizes for socially critical movies that are banned at home, will present “Closed Curtain” about two fugitives hiding from the police. —AFP

Main competition entries at Berlin film festival * The Grandmaster/Wong Kar Wai/Hong Kong (out of competition, opening film) * In the Name Of.../Malgoska Szumowska/Poland * Promised Land/Gus Van Sant/United States * Paradise: Hope/Ulrich Seidl/Austria * A Long and Happy Life/Boris Khlebnikov/Russia * Gold/Thomas Arslan/Germany * The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman/Fredrik Bond/United States * Gloria/Sebastian Lelio/Chile * The Nun/Guillaume Nicloux/France * Vic+Flo Saw a Bear/Denis Cote/Canada * Child’s Pose/Calin Peter Netzer/Romania * Before Midnight/Richard Linklater/United States (out of competition) * Layla Fourie/Pia Marais/Germany * Closed Curtain/Jafar Panahi and Kambozia Partovi/Iran * Side Effects/Steven Soderbergh/United States * Camille Claudel 1915/Bruno Dumont/France * An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker/Danis Tanovic/Bosnia * Prince Avalanche/David Gordon Green/United States * Night Train to Lisbon/Bille August/Germany (out of competition) * Harmony Lessons/Emir Baigazin/Kazakhstan * Dark Blood/George Sluizer/The Netherlands (out of competition) * Nobody’s Daughter Haewon/Hong Sangsoo/South Korea * The Croods/Kirk DeMicco and Chris Sanders/United States—Reuters

Lifestyle FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

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portrait of Jeanne Hebuterne painted by Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani a year before his death in 1920 sold on Wednesday for 26.9 million pounds ($42.3 million), above the high estimate set by Christie’s auctioneers. “Jeanne Hebuterne (au chapeau)” was the leading lot at the impressionist, modern and surrealist sale in London which brought in a total of 136.5 million pounds, a record at Christie’s for the equivalent auction in London in February.

The total underlines the strength of the high-end art market, with ultra-wealthy buyers and institutions from markets like Russia, China and the Middle East bidding against more established collectors in Europe and the United States.

Modigliani met Hebuterne towards the end of his life and they had a child together. The day after the artist died aged 35, his inconsolable partner jumped out of a window killing herself and their unborn second child. Another notable success on the night was 19th Century French painter Berthe Morisot’s “Apres le dejeuner” which fetched seven million pounds, well in excess of expectations of between 1.5 million2.5 million pounds.

The total was a record price for a female artist at auction.

Morisot was famously captured by Edouard Manet wearing ablack hat, a work which is currently hanging at a Manet exhibition at the Royal Academy near Christie’s headquarters. Rival Sotheby’s had the top lot of two days of major sales in London, with Picasso’s portrait of his mistress Marie-Therese Walter selling for 28.6 million pounds on Tuesday. Overall Sotheby’s sold art worth 121.1 million on the night.-Reuters

In a file picture taken on February 1, 2013 a member of staff discusses a work entitled “Jeanne Hebuterne (au chapeau)’

by Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani at Christies auction house in central London. — AFP

Nominees for Queen of the 2013 Santa Cruz carnival performs in Santa Cruz de Tenerife on the Spanish Canary island of Tenerife. — AFP photos

Lifestyle FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

Millions head home for China annual migration

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undreds of millions of people across China are squeezing into packed train carriages and buses to travel home for the Lunar New Year, in the world’s largest annual movement of people. A total of 3.4 billion trips will be made over the holiday period, official media estimates, including hundreds of millions of migrant workers in booming cities who journey to the countryside to spend the season with their families.

Travellers must be home by tomorrow night to usher in the New Year on Sunday.

Chinese media has been filled with images of migrant workers, dressed in stiff army coats and carrying cloth knapsacks, camping out at railway stations and queuing to buy long-distance bus tickets. An online system designed to ease the stress of buying tickets generated controversy after some used special computer applications to beat the process, while others reported that they were stranded after tickets were sold out. Migrant workers often carry home large sums of cash to give to relatives in “red envelopes” over the lunar New Year, known in China as “Spring Festival.”

One worker became so stressed at the thought that someone would steal the 20,000 yuan ($3,200) he was carrying that he dumped the entire amount in a station waiting room, local media reported. The worker decided to continue travelling with the money after a police officer calmed him down, reports said. Donations flooded in to a delivery man who dropped 17,600 yuan on a Shanghai street ahead of the holidays after social media users highlighted his plight, reports said. He has since received 14,650 yuan in gifts.

Chinese men have placed adverts online offering their services as boyfriends for women anxious to show their parents that they are making progress towards securing a husband. “Your parents worked so hard to raise you, bringing a boyfriend home is the best way to repay them,” one such offer read. One site priced holding hands, hugs and kisses at 10, 20 and 500 yuan per display of affection. The season sees peak traffic on roads and an annual rise in accidents. A bridge in central Henan province collapsed last week as a truck carrying new year’s fireworks exploded, killing at least 13. — AFP

Photo shows people sleeping in the dining car of a train from Guangzhou to Changchun as they head back to their hometowns for the Lunar New Year, or Spring Festival. — AFP

China’s New Year

shows to star Celine Dion, Psy

A vendor sells Chinese lanterns at a market in Shanghai on February 6, 2013 ahead of the Lunar New Year. — AFP photos

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hina’s hugely popular Lunar New Year television galas aim to woo even more viewers this year with foreign megastars including Celine Dion and “Gangnam Style” pop sensation Psy, state media said yesterday. Watching the China Central Television (CCTV) variety show has become a tradition for families gathering on New Year’s Eve and it is set to draw a billion viewers this year, according to the China Daily. The show, which will air tomorrow for more than four hours on multiple channels, typically features a range of performances ranging from comedy sketches to folk songs to ballet dances.

For 24 years it featured Peng Liyuan, a soprano who holds the rank of army general and is married South Korean ‘Gangnam to the Communist Party’s new leader Style’ star Psy waves as he Xi Jinping, but she retired from the departs from Incheon show shortly after her husband International Airport . joined the Politburo in 2007. This year it will see Dion performing her global hit “My Heart Will Go On,” from the Hollywood blockbuster Titanic, which became extremely popular in China. She will also sing in a duet in Chinese, the China Daily reported. The CCTV program faces growing competition from

A customer looks at Chinese lanterns at a market in Shanghai.

local stations. Psy, the South Korean performer who shot to global fame with his “Gangnam Style” music video last year, will do his dance on Shanghai-based Dragon TV, the Global Times said. The Global Times praised producers’ efforts to create the best shows possible but also questioned the reliance on international stars, especially if they required hefty fees. “While some netizens are excited about such famous foreign figures coming to China, others wonder why the Spring Festival galas in China today have to depend on big-name foreign stars,” it said. —AFP

People gather at a Taoist temple in Hong Kong in Hong Kong yesterday.

(Left) Thai women stand near multi-colour of Chinese lanterns on display for the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year.

Lifestyle FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

(From left) Brenda Strong, Kelly Osbourne and Soledad OíBrien on the runway during The Heart Truth 2013 Fashion Show held at the Hammerstein Ballroom on February 6, 2013 in New York City. — AFP photos

Kendall Jenner, Kris Jenner and Kylie Jenner wearing Badgley Mischka.

R

Brenda Strong, Jillian Michaels, Kris and Kylie Jenner.

Gabrielle Douglas wearing Pamella Roland.

ed isn’t just a trend at The Heart Truth runway show, it’s a tradition: The Red Dress Collection, modeled by celebrities to draw awareness to heart disease, has become the kick off to New York Fashion Week. Minka Kelly, Toni Braxton, gymnast Gabrielle Douglas, Kelly Osbourne and Kris Jenner, with daughters Kendall and Kylie, were among those donning designer dresses and towering heels Wednesday night in front of an audience that largely put on their best red dresses, too. It’s the shoes that have many stars fearing they’ll trip up. Actress Brenda Strong, who wore Marc Bouwer’s draped cowl-neck dress, said her red spiky stilettos were the most intimidating part of the catwalk experience.

She had a little experience modeling, though.

“In my last incarnation, when I was in college, I was a Miss America contestant. That was a long runway!” she said. Kelly, wearing an Oscar de la Renta gown with an asymmetrical neckline and metallic belt, walked in last year’s show and this time was tapped as the Heart Truth ambassador by sponsor Diet Coke. Her best tip as a runway veteran was to wear shoes with straps.

They hold you in better, she said. The catwalk isn’t her favorite place to spend an evening, Kelly said, but it’s for a good cause.

“This is all done with a sense of humor. It’s fun. I don’t fancy myself a model, but maybe the models aren’t relatable if we’re not perfect, so it works for me,” she said. Osbourne, with clashing purple hair, seemed as though she was having

Actress Brenda Strong

Actress Minka Kelly

a good time, shimmying down the runway in her Zac Posen dress. Braxton wore a second-skin V-neck halter dress by Herve L Leroux. Douglas said she’s become more accustomed to dressing up since returning from the London Olympics with her gold medals. “I feel like a doll in my dress,” she said of her Pamella Roland gown.

She practiced her runway walk before going in front of the cameras and compared it a little to being on a balance beam, where one foot goes straight in front of the other. “I am participating because of the heart health cause. ... I want young girls to think about it. I want to get the message out,” she said. “My advice to them is to stay active, eat healthy.” The first Red Dress show was held in 2001 at the beginning of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute’s campaign to reach out specifically to women. Models over the years have included Christie Brinkley, Heidi Klum, Liza Minnelli and Kim Kardashian. — AP

Actress Roselyn Sanchez

Soledad O’Brien wearing Black Halo Eve.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 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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Kuwait

SHARQIA-1 BULLET TO THE HEAD (DIG) THE GUILT TRIP (DIG) WARM BODIES (DIG) BULLET TO THE HEAD (DIG) THE GUILT TRIP (DIG) BULLET TO THE HEAD (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED MUHALAB-1 BULLET TO THE HEAD (DIG) THE GUILT TRIP (DIG) FRI+SAT+MON BULLET TO THE HEAD (DIG) NO FRI+SAT+MON THE GUILT TRIP (DIG) NO FRI+SAT+MON MIRCHI (DIG) (TELUGU) FRI+SAT+MON BULLET TO THE HEAD (DIG) THE GUILT TRIP (DIG) BULLET TO THE HEAD (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED FANAR-1 BULLET TO THE HEAD (DIG) THE GUILT TRIP (DIG) WARM BODIES (DIG) BULLET TO THE HEAD (DIG) THE GUILT TRIP (DIG)

1:30 PM 3:45 PM 5:45 PM 8:00 PM 10:00 PM 12:05 AM

12:45 PM 2:45 PM 3:45 PM 5:45 PM 4:45 PM 7:45 PM 9:45 PM 11:45 PM

1:00 PM 3:00 PM 5:00 PM 7:00 PM 9:00 PM

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KNCC PROGRAMME FROM THURSDAY TO WEDNESDAY (07/02/2013 TO 13/02/2013)

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11:00 PM 1:00 AM

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

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

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HANSEL & GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS 6:15 PM NO WED 3ALA GOSETY (DIG) 8:15 PM NO WED BROKEN CITY (DIG) 10:30 PM NO WED Special Show “A Good Day to Die Hard” 7:00 PM WED AJIAL.1 MIRCHI (TELUGU) MIRCHI (TELUGU) MIRCHI (TELUGU)

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

METRO-1 KAMMATH & KAMMATH (MALAYALAM) 3:30 PM KAMMATH & KAMMATH (MALAYALAM) 6:30 PM 3ALA GOSETY (DIG) 9:30 PM METRO-2 MIRCHI (DIG) (TELUGU) MIRCHI (DIG) (TELUGU) MIRCHI (DIG) (TELUGU)

3:45 PM 6:45 PM 10:00 PM

Pets FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

Puppy classes help new owners T

he first night of a puppy class can be hectic as excited little ones age 8 weeks to 4 months begin to learn acceptable behavior and how to properly socialize with other dogs. But for two 10-week-old pups, it was a night of rediscovering the kinship of being littermates. The owners of two Labrador retriever-mix pups were shocked at the resemblance of the two canines when they arrived at Papp’s Dog Services in Akron, Ohio, recently for their first puppy class.

“They have to be brother and sister,” remarked Papp’s owner Susan Jenkins, who has more than 30 years of experience in animal obedience training. After a little sleuthing, pet parents Naomi and James Bryant and Pat Doane realized that little Maxx and Roxie came from the same Barberton, Ohio, home within the last month.

The other remarkable thing is that both sets of owners realized their puppies needed a few training sessions to learn how to behave.

While getting some “grown-up” help from Jenkins’ dog Caleb, who has been ranked one of the top obedience Labrador retrievers in the nation, instructor Jennifer Durst began the class by talking to owners about what is considered acceptable behaviors and what they could expect to learn in the four-week, hourlong sessions.

“Supervision is the key,” Durst told them.

When not supervised, puppies should be in a totally empty crate to prevent them from choking on toys, blankets or chew strips.

“Treats are an earned privilege,” said Jenkins.

Toys should be given only while the puppy is supervised to make sure it can’t break off pieces of rubber or fabric, she said.

Dogs who get a good foundation with early training stand a better chance of a good life During the first class, puppies and their owners focused on behavior issues they are dealing with, such as housebreaking and biting, a puppy’s way of communicating. The joyful pups were having a great time and had no idea they were actually absorbing new lessons.

Most owners in the class said they were having issues with housebreaking their pups. “If you are supervising your puppy properly, you will pick up on the signals when they need a potty break,” Durst said.

Durst, a member of Cuyahoga County, Ohio’s Public Animal Welfare Society, explained that getting angry or frustrated with a misbehaving puppy is counterproductive.

“One of our goals here is to make your puppy comfortable in any situation and help you learn to be comfortable, too,” Durst said. The four-week curriculum is geared to helping owners raise the ideal pet. Jenkins has worked with veterinarians, vet assistants, groomers and therapy dog testers for the Delta Society, the largest national group that certifies therapy dogs in the US to develop her curriculum.

Jenkins insists puppies begin learning limited recall - to come when called each and every time they are called. “In my opinion, (it is) one

Littermates Maxx (left) and Roxxie reunite during a basic puppy training class for beginner owners and their dogs at Papp’s Dog Services, January 10, 2013, in Akron, Ohio. — MCT photos

of the most important things you can teach a dog,” Jenkins said. It wasn’t long into the session that Durst and Jenkins thought it was time for the puppies to take a break from the classroom and expend some pent-up energy by introducing them to a strange new game of walking through a tunnel. Starting with encouragement from their owners and a treat waiting at the end of the opening, some of the pups were chasing each other through the tunnel on their own by the end of the class.

Throughout each session, puppies will continue to learn how to get along with each other as well as the manners they need to keep their families happy.

Dogs who get a good foundation with early training stand a better chance of a good life.

Trained dogs are more welcome in homes and don’t end up abandoned in a shelter for bad behavior, Jenkins said. “I’ve gotten a 5-year-old shepherd that was a biter that would probably never have gotten to that point if they had brought him to me sooner,” Jenkins said. “It’s much more difficult to recondition that behavior after an animal has been doing it for a long time,” she said. — MCT

Kelsey Simmons (left) coaxes Roxxie through a tunnel held by instructor Durst.

Ben-G (left) and George get acquainted in a socialization exercise.

Stars

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

Aries (March 21-April 19)

All the planets are very fortunately aligned for you, and the coming weeks should be great, Aries. Minor irritations today could make you wonder, though. You might worry that this good fortune won’t last. Don’t work yourself into a panic. This all continues through the next six months. However, you may need to focus sufficient effort if you’d like to make it last for a long time.

Taurus (April 20-May 20)

You may wonder why increased intuition has seemed to replace your usual logical self. An unexpected intellectual, spiritual, or metaphysical insight might come to you from another realm. It may seem so profound that you wonder if it really came from you. Write it down in detail. Whatever you come up with is going to keep you in the clouds all day, Taurus. Don’t trip or bump into anyone!

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

You should feel especially sociable today, Gemini. You might attend one or more events, or perhaps you will choose another type of group activity. Relationships of all kinds should prove satisfying and comforting. Expect to grow closer to the friends you have and meet new friends with whom you share many interests. You continue to meet professional, creative, and financial goals in a big way.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

Today an important goal might reach a point you’ve been aiming at for a long time. All those in your entourage have new respect for you. In fact, Cancer, relationships of all kinds are warm, open, and honest, and you will probably enjoy the company of others immensely now. Romance, in particular, goes well. Feel free to indulge in a little celebration.

Leo (July 23-August 22)

Your focus today is likely to be on learning. Something you’ve wanted to study for a long time may finally be within your grasp. Perhaps money makes this possible, or you’ve finally settled on a workable course of action. Travel might be involved. If you’ve been thinking about going back to school, get everything started today. If you do, you will probably attain what you want. Go for it.

Virgo (August 23-September 22)

If you’ve been investing, look for it to pay off big. Or you could execute a new contract, settle a claim, or even win something.

Expect the unexpected where money is concerned. It might have you reeling. In the past few weeks you’ve been releasing a lot of negative energy and clearing the way for today’s good fortune. Plan to have some wonderful dreams tonight as well.

Libra (September 23-October 22)

Plans for a social event that you were going to host in your home may have to be changed at the last minute. Even so, it should go very well. You’re feeling exceptionally sociable now, Libra, not to mention romantic and sexy. If you aren’t presently involved, expect to meet more than one possibility. If you are involved, anticipate events that will bring you closer to your partner.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21)

An unexpected letter or call could totally turn your working situation in a new direction. This can be disconcerting, Scorpio, but it’s a very positive and fortunate development. Relations with colleagues should involve new respect and enthusiasm.

By the end of the day, you will likely feel very good about the way your life is going. Don’t expect it to be the same as it was this morning!

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21)

For you, Sagittarius, relationships with other people should be going so well that you feel more loved than ever. A new friend or perhaps an old one you haven’t seen in a while could suddenly become a powerful part of your life. You’re probably feeling exceptionally innovative and more likely to make a success of whatever new ideas you have. Prepare for a busy and satisfying day.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19)

An unexpected opportunity could temporarily throw your life into disorder, Capricorn, but you will see from the start that this is a definite stroke of good luck that you shouldn’t let pass. It could involve money, a chance to move to your dream home, or relationships in some way. Whatever it is, you’re definitely going to be happy about it.

Aquarius (January 20- February 18)

A lot of letters, calls, and other communications could skyrocket you into a new and unexpected space, Aquarius. If you’ve been thinking of trying your hand at writing or speaking, this is the day to work on it. All signs indicate good fortune will come your way at this time, though it might sneak up on you and leave you a bit disconcerted. Pull yourself together and go for it.

Pisces (February 19-March 20)

Good fortune continues to come your way, Pisces, and your life may finally seem to be moving in the direction you wanted.

Today, however, you may feel frustrated by a lot of minor, if somewhat bizarre, upsets. Dropping things, losing objects you just had in your hand, forgetting names - just about anything could happen. Try to see the humor in it and stay cool.

COUNTRY CODES Afghanistan 0093 Albania 00355 Algeria 00213 Andorra 00376 Angola 00244 Anguilla 001264 Antiga 001268 Argentina 0054 Armenia 00374 Australia 0061 Austria 0043 Bahamas 001242 Bahrain 00973 Bangladesh 00880 Barbados 001246 Belarus 00375 Belgium 0032 Belize 00501 Benin 00229 Bermuda 001441 Bhutan 00975 Bolivia 00591 Bosnia 00387 Botswana 00267 Brazil 0055 Brunei 00673 Bulgaria 00359 Burkina 00226 Burundi 00257 Cambodia 00855 Cameroon 00237 Canada 001 Cape Verde 00238 Cayman Islands 001345 Central African Republic 00236 Chad 00235 Chile 0056 China 0086 Colombia 0057 Comoros 00269 Congo 00242 Cook Islands 00682 Costa Rica 00506 Croatia 00385 Cuba 0053 Cyprus 00357 Cyprus (Northern) 0090392 Czech Republic 00420 Denmark 0045 Diego Garcia 00246 Djibouti 00253 Dominica 001767 Dominican Republic 001809 Ecuador 00593 Egypt 0020 El Salvador 00503 England (UK) 0044 Equatorial Guinea 00240 Eritrea 00291 Estonia 00372 Ethiopia 00251 Falkland Islands 00500 Faroe Islands 00298 Fiji 00679 Finland 00358 France 0033 French Guiana 00594 French Polynesia 00689 Gabon 00241 Gambia 00220 Georgia 00995 Germany 0049 Ghana 00233 Gibraltar 00350 Greece 0030 Greenland 00299 Grenada 001473 Guadeloupe 00590 Guam 001671 Guatemala 00502 Guinea 00224 Guyana 00592 Haiti 00509 Holland (Netherlands)0031 Honduras 00504 Hong Kong 00852 Hungary 0036 Ibiza (Spain) 0034 Iceland 00354 India 0091 Indian Ocean 00873 Indonesia 0062 Iran 0098 Iraq 00964 Ireland 00353 Italy 0039 Ivory Coast 00225 Jamaica 001876 Japan 0081 Jordan 00962 Kazakhstan 007 Kenya 00254 Kiribati 00686

Kuwait 00965 Kyrgyzstan 00996 Laos 00856 Latvia 00371 Lebanon 00961 Liberia 00231 Libya 00218 Lithuania 00370 Luxembourg 00352 Macau 00853 Macedonia 00389 Madagascar 00261 Majorca 0034 Malawi 00265 Malaysia 0060 Maldives 00960 Mali 00223 Malta 00356 Marshall Islands 00692 Martinique 00596 Mauritania 00222 Mauritius 00230 Mayotte 00269 Mexico 0052 Micronesia 00691 Moldova 00373 Monaco 00377 Mongolia 00976 Montserrat 001664 Morocco 00212 Mozambique 00258 Myanmar (Burma) 0095 Namibia 00264 Nepal 00977 Netherlands (Holland)0031 Netherlands Antilles 00599 New Caledonia 00687 New Zealand 0064 Nicaragua 00505 Nigar 00227 Nigeria 00234 Niue 00683 Norfolk Island 00672 Northern Ireland (UK)0044 North Korea 00850 Norway 0047 Oman 00968 Pakistan 0092 Palau 00680 Panama 00507 Papua New Guinea 00675 Paraguay 00595 Peru 0051 Philippines 0063 Poland 0048 Portugal 00351 Puerto Rico 001787 Qatar 00974 Romania 0040 Russian Federation 007 Rwanda 00250 Saint Helena 00290 Saint Kitts 001869 Saint Lucia 001758 Saint Pierre 00508 Saint Vincent 001784 Samoa US 00684 Samoa West 00685 San Marino 00378 Sao Tone 00239 Saudi Arabia 00966 Scotland (UK) 0044 Senegal 00221 Seychelles 00284 Sierra Leone 00232 Singapore 0065 Slovakia 00421 Slovenia 00386 Solomon Islands 00677 Somalia 00252 South Africa 0027 South Korea 0082 Spain 0034 Sri Lanka 0094 Sudan 00249 Suriname 00597 Swaziland 00268 Sweden 0046 Switzerland 0041 Syria 00963 Taiwan 00886 Tanzania 00255 Thailand 0066 Toga 00228 Tonga 00676 Tokelau 00690 Trinidad 001868 Tunisia 00216 Turkey 0090 Tuvalu 00688 Uganda 00256 Ukraine 00380 United Arab Emirates00976

Stars

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

Word Search

Yesterdayʼs Solution

C R O S S W O R D 9 4

ACROSS 1. Cloak that is folded or wrapped around a person.

5. An ascocarp having the spore-bearing layer of cells (the hymenium) on a broad disklike receptacle.

11. Owed and payable immediately or on demand.

15. A member of a North American Indian people speaking one of the Hokan language.

16. Of or in or relating to the nose.

17. Kamarupan languages spoken in northeastern India and western Burma.

18. (Old Testament) In Judeo-Christian mythology.

19. Covered or protected with or as if with a case.

21. (Old Testament) Wife of Isaac and mother of Jacob and Esau.

23. A genus of Laridae.

24. (used of a horse or related animal) Born.

25. Wanted intensely.

28. A religious belief of African origin involving witchcraft and sorcery.

29. (formerly) A horse-drawn wagon that delivered ice door to door.

32. The act of clasping another person in the arms (as in greeting or affection).

36. A stick that people can lean on to help them walk.

37. A hard gray lustrous metallic element that is highly corrosion-resistant.

38. The cry made by sheep.

39. A colorless odorless inert gaseous element occurring in the earth's atmosphere in trace amounts.

40. Of deserts of northern Africa and southern Asia.

43. A salt deposit that animals regularly lick.

45. A radioactive transuranic element which has been synthesized.

47. A ruler of the Inca Empire (or a member of his family).

48. Port city in the United Arab Emirates on the Persian Gulf.

49. The cardinal number that is the sum of one and one and one.

50. Fastener consisting of a resinous composition that is plastic when warm.

52. An inhabitant of ancient Thebes.

54. Act in concert or unite in a common purpose or belief.

57. (informal) Exceptionally good.

60. (used of count nouns) Every one considered individually.

62. Swelling from excessive accumulation of serous fluid in tissue.

66. Animal food for browsing or grazing.

69. Arm again.

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

72. (Irish) Mother of the ancient Irish gods.

73. The animal order including amoebas.

75. A city in the European part of Russia.

76. The month following February and preceding April.

77. Below the dura mater but above the arachnoid membrane of the meninges.

78. A workplace for the conduct of scientific research.

2. An exhibition of cowboy skills.

3. Jordan's port.

4. A tricyclic antidepressant drug (trade name Pamelor) used along with psychotherapy to treat dysthymic depression.

5. The dialect of Ancient Greek spoken by Arcadians.

6. Title for the former hereditary monarch of Iran.

7. An alliance made up of states that had been Soviet Socialist Republics in the Soviet Union prior to its dissolution in Dec 1991.

8. Of or relating to or suggestive of dreams.

9. (informal) Roused to anger.

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

11. A member of the Iroquoian people formerly living east of Lake Ontario.

12. A large number or amount.

13. Armor plate that protects the chest.

14. Fallow deer.

20. A distillery where beer is brewed.

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

26. Any of various spiny trees or shrubs of the genus Acacia.

27. Prostitution of talents or offices or services for reward.

30. Type genus of the Otariidae.

31. A nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (trade name Nalfon) used in the treatment of arthritis and other painful inflammatory disorders.

33. A state in New England.

34. An indehiscent fruit derived from a single ovary having one or many seeds within a fleshy wall or pericarp.

35. A substance that oozes from animal or plant pores.

41. Be present at (meetings, church services, university), etc..

42. An edge between a sidewalk and a roadway consisting of a line of curbstones (usually forming part of a gutter).

44. A city of central Russia south of Moscow.

46. 36th President of the United States.

51. A heavy brittle diamagnetic trivalent metallic element (resembles arsenic and antimony chemically).

53. Relating to the blood vessels or blood.

55. Worn or shabby from overuse or (of pages) from having corners turned down.

56. A seat for one person, with a support for the back.

58. Type genus of the Ranidae.

59. Essential oil or perfume obtained from flowers.

61. An important seaport on the Island of Cebu in the Philippines.

63. The twelfth month of the civil year.

64. A Chadic language spoken south of Lake Chad.

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

67. The state of matter distinguished from the solid and liquid states by.

68. Any of various systems of units for measuring electricity and magnetism.

70. A nucleic acid that transmits genetic information from DNA to the cytoplasm.

74. A Russian river.75. Half the width of an em.

Yesterdayʼs Solution

DOWN 1. A platform built out from the shore into the water and supported by piles.

Daily SuDoku

Yesterday’s Solution

42

Sports FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

Heat top Rockets 114-108 James, Wade score 63 MIAMI: LeBron James scored 32 points, and Dwyane Wade added 31 points and eight assists as the Miami Heat held off the Houston Rockets 114-108 on Wednesday. Shane Battier scored 12, Norris Cole added 10 and Udonis Haslem grabbed 13 rebounds for Miami, which moved to 20 wins from 23 away home games. James Harden finished with 36 points and 12 rebounds for Houston.

San Antonio’s Danny Green hit eight 3-pointers and scored a career-high 28 points to help the Spurs win their 11th straight game, 104-94 over the Minnesota Timberwolves. Tony Parker added 31 points and eight assists and Kawhi Leonard finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Spurs. Nikola Pekovic had 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Timberwolves.

At Oklahoma City, Kevin Durant scored 25 points and Russell Westbrook added 22 as the Thunder beat the Golden State Warriors 119-98 for their first consecutive win in nearly three weeks. Harrison Barnes and Klay Thompson had 19 points each for the Warriors.

Dallas gave coach Rick Carlisle his 500th career victory as OJ Mayo scored 28 points and Vince Carter hit a critical jumper in the final minute of the Mavericks’ 10599 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.

LaMarcus Aldridge had 27 points and 10 rebounds a week after he beat the Mavericks at the buzzer in Portland. Washington broke New York’s five-game winning streak as John Wall had 21 points and nine assists, and Trevor Ariza scored 20 points in the Wizards’ 106-96 win over the Knicks. Martel Webster added 19 for Washington, which has won just 13 games, but has beaten five of the six NBA division leaders.

Carmelo Anthony led the Knicks with 31 points. The Clippers rallied behind Eric Bledsoe’s had 27 points, including 19 in the second half, to down the Orlando Magic 86-76 and end a three-game losing streak, while Kevin Garnett scored a season-high 27 points with 10 rebounds as the Boston Celtics edged the Toronto Raptors 99-95 for their fifth straight win.

Cleveland’s Kyrie Irving scored 22 points in just three quarters, rookie Dion Waiters added 19 as the Cavaliers downed the Charlotte Bobcats 122-95, and the Central Division-leading Indiana Pacers downed the Philadelphia 76ers 88-69 for their third victory in three nights. In other games, the Atlanta Hawks beat the Memphis Grizzlies 103-92, the Brooklyn Nets MIAMI: Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade (3) shoots over against defeated the Detroit Pistons 93-90, the New Orleans Houston Rockets’ James Harden during the second quarter Hornets downed the Phoenix Suns 93-84 and the of their NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Feb 6, 2013, in Utah Jazz were 100-86 winners over the Milwaukee Bucks. —AP Miami. —AP

Lakers’ Gasol out with foot injury LOS ANGELES: Los Angeles Lakers forward Pau Gasol has been sidelined indefinitely after sustaining a tear in his right foot, his team said on Wednesday. Gasol was injured during the Lakers’ victory over Brooklyn on Tuesday and received scans which confirmed an injury serious enough to keep him off court for a while.

Los Angeles has not given a specific timetable on his return and the 7-foot (2.13m) Spaniard met with team doctors yesterday to sketch out a plan for his recuperation. “I’m hoping to recover ASAP so I can be back with the team and keep fighting until the end of the season,” Gasol tweeted on Wednesday.

The Lakers (23-26) have only recently found their rhythm - winning six of their last seven game - as they try to climb from 10th in the Western Conference into one of the top eight playoff spots. They are already without center Dwight Howard, who has missed the last three games while nursing a shoulder ailment, and can hardly afford another injury. Gasol had been moved to a reserve role to make room in the paint for Howard, but over his last three games had averaged 20 points and 8.6 rebounds in the starting lineup. —Reuters

NBA results/standings Minnesota 94, San Antonio 104; Dallas 105, Portland 99; Detroit 90, Brooklyn Nets 93; Atlanta 103, Memphis 92; Miami 114, Houston 108; Utah 100, Milwaukee 86; New Orleans 93, Phoenix 84; Oklahoma 119, Golden State 98; Cleveland 122, Charlotte 95; Toronto 95, Boston 99; Philadelphia 69, Indiana 88; Washington 106, New York Knicks 96; Orlando 76, LA Clippers 86.

Eastern Conference Atlantic Division W L PCT GB New York Knicks 31 16 .660 Brooklyn Nets 29 20 .592 3 Boston 25 23 .521 6.5 Philadelphia 21 27 .438 10.5 Toronto 17 32 .347 15 Central Division 31 19 29 19 25 23 18 32 15 34

.620 .604 .521 .360 .306

1 5 13 15.5

Southeast Division 32 14 27 21 14 35 13 35 11 37

.696 .563 .286 .271 .229

6 19.5 20 22

Western Conference Northwest Division 37 12 31 18 28 22 25 24 18 28

.755 .633 .560 .510 .391

6 9.5 12 17.5

LA Clippers Golden State LA Lakers Phoenix Sacramento

Pacific Division 35 16 30 19 23 26 17 33 17 33

.686 .612 .469 .340 .340

4 11 17.5 17.5

San Antonio Memphis Houston Dallas New Orleans

Southwest Division 39 11 30 18 27 24 21 28 16 33

.780 .625 .529 .429 .327

8 12.5 17.5 22.5

Indiana Chicago Milwaukee Detroit Cleveland

Miami Atlanta Orlando Washington Charlotte

Oklahoma Denver Utah Portland Minnesota

TORONTO: Boston Celtics forward Paul Pierce (34) drives to the hoop through Toronto Raptors guard Alan Anderson (6), Rudy Gay (22) and Amir Johnson (15) during second-half NBA basketball game action in Toronto.

—AP

43

Sports FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

NHL results/standings Edmonton 2 Dallas 3 (OT); Colorado 0 Anaheim 3; Montreal 1 Boston 2.

Pittsburgh New Jersey NY Islanders NY Rangers Philadelphia

Eastern Conference Atlantic Division W L OT GF 7 3 0 34 5 1 3 23 4 4 1 29 4 5 0 20 4 6 0 23

GA 24 20 30 25 27

PTS 14 13 9 8 8

Boston Ottawa MontrÈal Toronto Buffalo

Northeast Division 7 1 1 26 6 3 1 29 6 3 0 27 5 5 0 25 3 6 1 30

20 19 19 29 37

15 13 12 10 7

Tampa Bay Winnipeg 3. Carolina Florida Washington

Southeast Division 6 3 0 40 4 4 1 27 4 4 0 22 3 5 1 22 2 7 1 23

23 34 24 33 36

12 9 8 7 5

Chicago St. Louis Nashville Detroit Columbus

Western Conference Central Division 8 0 2 33 6 3 0 32 4 2 3 20 4 4 1 23 3 6 1 20

23 25 21 28 32

18 12 11 9 7

Vancouver Edmonton Minnesota Colorado Calgary

Northwest Division 5 2 2 24 4 3 3 24 4 4 1 21 4 6 0 21 2 3 2 20

22 27 24 26 25

12 11 9 8 6

Pacific Division Anaheim 7 1 1 32 23 15 San Jose 7 2 1 34 21 15 Dallas 5 5 1 23 27 11 Phoenix 4 4 2 29 27 10 Los Angeles 3 3 2 20 25 8 Note: Overtime losses (OT) worth 1 pt and not included in loss column (L).

DENVER: Patrick Bordeleau No. 58 of the Colorado Avalanche goes airborne as he tries to take a shot against goalie Viktor Fasth No. 30 of the Anaheim Ducks at the Pepsi Center. —AFP

Fasth propels Ducks to 3-0 win over Avalanche Jagr scores in overtime DENVER: Viktor Fasth stopped 31 shots for his first NHL shutout and Francois Beauchemin scored in his 500th career game as the surging Anaheim Ducks downed the Colorado Avalanche 3-0 on Wednesday. Sheldon Souray and Saku Koivu each added a goal and an assist for the Ducks, who won their fourth straight game. Fasth stymied the struggling Avalanche with one sprawling save after another to help Anaheim start a six-game road swing on a good note.

Boston linemates Tyler Seguin and David Krejci scored in the opening 2:05 of the third period to lift to the Bruins over the Montreal Canadiens 2-1. The win moved the Bruins into sole possession of first place in the Northeast Division and kept Montreal from taking over the division lead. P K Subban scored his first of the season on a second period power play for Montreal, whose five-game home winning streak ended.

At Edmonton, Alberta, Jaromir Jagr scored in overtime to lift the Dallas Stars to a 3-2 victory over the injury-riddled Edmonton Oilers for their first winning streak of the season. Jagr beat Oilers goalie Devan Dubnyk 1:46 into the extra period with a high wrist shot for his third goal of the season. Jamie Benn and Derek Roy scored in regulation for the Stars, who have now won two in a row.

Ales Hemsky and Justin Schultz scored for the Oilers. —AP

US agents investigating Armstrong WASHINGTON: US federal agents are investigating disgraced former Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong for crimes including obstruction, witness tampering and intimidation, ABC News reported Wednesday.

Citing an anonymous source, ABC News said the current probe is focused on different charges from those previously investigated in a federal probe that was dropped last year. US Attorney Andre Birotte, who led the prior investigation, said he had no plans to press charges despite Armstrong’s recent doping admissions, but he did not definitively rule out such action.

Birotte’s investigation was centered on doping, fraud, conspiracy and Armstrong’s denials of such crimes when he was the lead rider in the extremely successful governmentfunded US Postal Service Team. “Obviously we’ve been well aware of the statements that have been made by Mr Armstrong and other media reports,” Birotte said, referring to Armstrong’s bombshell doping confession to

chat show legend Oprah Winfrey last month.

“That has not changed my view at this time. Obviously we’ll consider-we’ll continue to look at the situation,” Birotte told reporters in Washington. The ABC News source, quoted on condition of anonymity, said: “Birotte does not speak for the federal government as a whole. Agents are actively investigating Armstrong for obstruction, witness tampering and intimidation.” It’s not, however, being done by FDA agents, who were prime among those who gathered evidence in the prior case against Armstrong. US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) spokeswoman Sarah Clark-Lynn told AFP on Wednesday: “The FDA is not currently investigating on Lance Armstrong.” For years Armstrong denied doping, but he was banned last year after the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) gathered compelling testimony that he had been the ringleader of a large-scale and highly-organized doping conspiracy. Former teammate Tyler Hamilton opened the door to possible witness

tampering charges against Armstrong in an interview with CBS News broadcast last month as part of a “60 Minutes” story with USADA chief Travis T Tygart.

Hamilton told CBS that he was confronted

by Armstrong in 2011 only three weeks after a prior interview with “60 Minutes” aired, in which Hamilton made revelations about Armstrong. Hamilton told CBS he was in a crowded bar in Aspen, Colorado when Armstrong approached him. “Turned to my right and it was Lance Armstrong,” Hamilton said. “Stops me cold. First he asked how much ‘60 Minutes’ had paid me to do that interview. Obviously, nothing. “The biggest thing he said is: ‘You know, we’re going to make your life a living, f-ing hell, both in the courtroom and out.’” Hamilton said he felt intimidated by Armstrong and, at that moment, Hamilton was a witness against Armstrong in what was an active federal investigation. Armstrong was given a Wednesday deadline to come clean under

oath about his doping activities-and others who were involved in the cheating conspiracy-in order to have any hope of USADA reducing his lifetime ban from competition.

Armstrong attorney Tim Herman told USA Today that Armstrong would not meet that deadline, saying his client wants to testify to the International Cycling Union (UCI). USADA’s evidence showed UCI officials might have turned a blind eye to enable Armstrong’s doping scheme.

Armstrong faces other legal battles after being stripped last year of his record seven Tour de France titles. Dallas insurance company SCA Promotions is set to sue Armstrong for $5 million, while Herman said Armstrong doesn’t plan to repay the money. SCA withheld a $5 million bonus due after Armstrong’s sixth Tour de France win in 2004 because of doping allegations circulating in Europe, and Armstrong took them to court. He won the case because SCA’s original contract had no stipulations about doping. —AFP

Sports FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

Nadal triumphs in singles return Nadal overcomes slow start to advance in Chile VINA DEL MAR: Rafael Nadal made a triumphant singles return after a seven-month absence, beating qualifier Federico Delbonis 6-3, 6-2 in the second round of the ATP claycourt tournament here. “I’m happy to play a singles match after so long,” Nadal said. “I need days and time to get my game back, but so far the feeling on court is great. “For now the most important thing is to spend as much time as possible on court. This victory allows me to play at least two more matches, singles and doubles.”

The 11-time Grand Slam champion from Spain hadn’t played singles since a shock second-round exit from Wimbledon in June, although he warmed up here on Tuesday with a doubles win. A torn tendon and inflammation in his left knee had kept him out of the London Olympics and the 2012 US Open, while a virus further delayed his return to action this year.

The rust was showing as Nadal, now ranked fifth in the world, dropped his serve in the first game of the match and quickly fell into an 0-2 hole to the left-handed Argentinian. But he rebounded in style against his 128th-ranked Delbonis, regaining the break in the fourth game before prevailing in a hard-fought eighth game to give himself a chance to serve for the opening set.

He raced to a 4-0 lead in the second, seeming to move with ease around the sunsplashed red clay court-even when racing to

the net after drop shots. He locked up the match after 87 minutes coming up with four aces and facing just one break point. Former world number one Nadal, playing with the familiar band of tape around the bottom of his left knee, had looked keen to get things underway as he danced on the balls of his feet during the coin toss, wearing a bright purple shirt and gray shorts.

He had vocal supporters in the packed grandstand as he made his first appearance in eight years in Latin America’s “Golden Swing” of tournaments. Nadal, who will be 27 in June, had down played his expectations for his comeback event. But his world ranking gave him the number one seed here and a first-round bye.

“To practice is one thing but to play is totally different. In a real match you can’t control your body as you do in practice,” Nadal said. In the quarter-finals he’ll face either compatriot Albert Montanes or another Spaniard Daniel Gimeno-Traver. Nadal, who has claimed seven of his 11 Grand Slam titles on the clay courts of Roland Garros, is slated to play clay tournaments in Brazil and Mexico before heading up to the United States for the Masters Series events in Indian Wells and Miami on the hardcourts that are more wearing on his knees. After that beckon Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Rome and on to Paris - the red clay route that Nadal has dominated like no-one else over the last eight years. — AFP

DOHA: Omega Pharma-Quick Step team’s Britain’s leader Mark Cavendish (center) celebrates on the podium after winning the 4th stage of the 2013 cycling Tour of Qatar from Camel Racetrack to Al-Khor Corniche. — AFP

Cavendish wins again MADINAT AL-SHAMAL: Isle of Man racer Mark Cavendish bagged his third win in as many days yesterday in winning the fifth stage of the Tour of Qatar to retain the overall lead. The British rider, who is in his first season with Omega PharmaQuick Step after a move from Team Sky, landed the penultimate stage — 154km from Al-Zubara Fort to Madinat AlShamal-in taking a sprint finish to edge

out Yauheni Hutarovich of Belarus and Lithuania’s Aidis Kruopis. The 27-year-old Cavendish, who has picked up 23 stage wins on the Tour de France, a record for a sprinter and fourth all-time best, took his stages tally in Qatar to seven overall as he held on to the gold jersey he took Wednesday from American Brent Bookwalter. The race concludes today at Doha. — AFP

SCHLADMING: Carlo Janka of Switzerland competes during the men’s downhill training event of the 2013 Ski World Championships yesterday. — AFP

Healing hands shine bright at PGA Tour LOS ANGELES: Twice Masters champion Bernhard Langer has visited them on a regular basis, as have fellow former world number ones Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh. Without their help, players such as American journeyman Kris Blanks and Australian left-hander Greg Chalmers would have been forced to pull out of several tournaments in which they ended up faring well. The people in question are the five physical therapists and four athletic trainers who ply their trade on a daily basis on the PGA Tour and its senior equivalent, the Champions Tour. “Almost everybody on tour walks through our door at some point during the season,” PGA Tour physical therapist Jeff Hendra told Reuters.

“I always tell people we have three groups of golfers on tour. “Our regulars come in every day regardless. Whether they have an injury, an ache or pain or if they are as healthy as they can be, they are in. And they are the guys that I love because they stay on top of things.

“They do what we call pre-hab. They do the work before they get injured. So when they do get injured, we know them very well, we know their bodies. We know how they move, where their restrictions are.” Hendra said the second group of players visited the state-of-the-art clinical trailer, which has become a permanent fixture at every PGA Tour event, only when they were injured while a handful very rarely made an appearance.

Without the help of Hendra and his co-workers, scores of players would almost certainly have been forced to withdraw from events because of back trouble, shoulder injuries, hand and knee problems or various other ailments over the past decade.

In many of these cases, however, physiotherapy treatment throughout the week of the tournament has come up trumps. “Five or six years ago at the Players Championship, Bernhard Langer was struggling with some back pain and we treated him all week,” Hendra recalled of Germany’s former world number one.

“He came in on the Tuesday of that week saying, ‘I don’t know if I can play. I think I may have to withdraw.’ But we treated him and he got progressively and significantly better as the week went along. “In fact, Bernhard put himself in contention on the Sunday but then trailed off toward the end of the day.” Tour veteran

Langer, who developed back problems at the age of 19 during an 18-month stint as a member of the German Air Force, tied for 15th at that Players Championship in 2008 despite closing with a 77.

Six-month absence Burly American Blanks, twice a runner-up on the PGA Tour without yet claiming a maiden title, played his first event on the US circuit in more than six months at last week’s Phoenix Open after battling a left shoulder injury. “Kris had been out for a significant amount of time and was toying with the idea of surgery but we got him playing in Phoenix,” Hendra said. “I think the last time I saw him was at the Canadian Open in July. “At Q-school in December he was really struggling but my coworkers helped him along. He not only finished the six rounds, which is a grind, but played outstandingly and kept his card.”

Blanks, who announced in August he would miss the rest of the season because of his shoulder problem, tied for fourth at the PGA Tour’s qualifying tournament to regain his card for 2013. Australian Chalmers, who in 2000 emulated Phil Mickelson, Mike Weir and Steve Flesch by becoming the fourth left-hander on the PGA Tour to win more than $1 million in a single season, is a regular visitor to the clinical and fitness trailers. “I go in twice a day,” said the 39-yearold. “I have some chronic issues, like most golfers. I’ve got one leg shorter than the other and all sorts of things that I need to get looked at. “The staff work incredibly long hours ... and I love that you can go in there and get the same service week after week. You can get anything fixed from a blister to X-rays and MRIs referred onward from there.

“So you can get an awful lot done to help you stay in the game longer, and it’s certainly done that for me.” Hendra is proud of his working environment in the PGA Tour’s clinical trailer which includes three treatment tables, ultrasound machines and electrical stimulation machines in an area of about 750 square feet.

“Any PT (physical therapist) clinic would be happy to have the equipment that we have,” Hendra grinned. “But the main tool that all of us possess is ourselves, our hands. We are all manual therapists.”—Reuters

Sports FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

Doping ‘widespread’ in Australian sport ‘Blackest day’ in Australian sport history

JEREZ DE LA FRONTERA: Ferrari’s Brazilian driver Felipe Massa drives during the third day of Formula One testing at the Jerez racetrack yesterday. — AFP

Maldonado puts honeymoon on hold JEREZ: The honeymoon is on hold for Pastor Maldonado as the Williams driver prepares for his third season in Formula One with a determination to win more races and steer well clear of the stewards. “One day.

Eventually,” grinned the Venezuelan, who married fiancee Gabriela in the close season, after his first test of the campaign at the Jerez circuit. Maldonado has had no time for the usual post-nuptial holiday. He is fully focused on the year ahead and trying to establish a new reputation as a driver who is quick, confident and consistent rather than quick with controversies and crashes. “I am more confident. Confident with the team and the car as well,” the 27-year-old told Reuters over a cup of coffee in the team hospitality when asked how he felt about the year ahead.

“In my first year we were suffering a lot with the car, the next year was a question mark and this year must be progress, a step up. “I will try to do my best, to win not only one (race),” he added. “I think and I hope the level will be more or less the same as last year because the rules haven’t changed a lot. So everything will be very tight and I enjoy that

because the driver can sometimes make the difference.”

Former champions Williams, whose last title came in 1997, finished eighth overall last season with Maldonado scoring 45 of their 76 points after winning in Spain for the team’s first victory in nearly eight years. There would have been more points had the Venezuelan not racked up so many trips to the stewards that it sometimes seemed as if they had his number on speed dial. Maldonado even managed to collect three punishments at the Belgian Grand Prix weekend at Spa that left him with a 10-place grid penalty for the following race in Italy.

He made it a priority over the closing races of last year to stay out of trouble and it remains right up there on his list for 2013, even if he still chafes at the sanctions meted out. “I made some mistakes last year but at the same time I was being killed by the stewards. It was a combination, 50-50, not all down to me and everybody knows that,” said Maldonado. “I am more experienced now. I will try to be away from the troubles,” he added.—Reuters

CANBERRA: The use of performance enhancing drugs is “widespread” among professional and amateur athletes in Australia, a government report which rocked the sports-mad country said yesterday. Australia is proud of its reputation as a nation that plays fair and the report’s findings were explosive with one former head of the national anti-doping agency describing it as the “blackest day” in the country’s sporting history.

The report was the result of a one-year probe

by Australia’s leading criminal intelligence organisation into the use of drugs, both performance enhancing and recreational, as well as the association of organised crime with the trade.

“The findings are shocking and they will disgust Australian sports fans,” Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare said at a news conference. “(It) has found the use of substances, including peptides, hormones and illicit drugs, is widespread amongst professional athletes. “We are talking about multiple athletes across a number of codes. We’re talking about a number of teams.

“The findings indicate the drugs are being facilitated by sports scientists, coaches, support staff as well as doctors and pharmacists. “In some cases, sports scientists and others are orchestrating the doping of entire teams. In some cases, players are being administered substances which have not yet been approved for human use.” The report said that organised crime was involved in the distribution of the drugs, which exposes players to the possibility of being co-opted into match-fixing, Clare added.

‘Integrity units’ One such case had been identified and was being investigated, he said, without indicating which code was involved. The government said it would do all in its power to crack down on the scourge. “If you want to dope and cheat, we will catch you, if you want to fix a match, we will catch you,” Sports Minister Kate Lundy told reporters.

Lundy said evidence of breaches of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) code would be passed on to the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) for further investigation, while the agency’s authority would be reinforced by legislation. Lundy said the major sports codes would establish “integrity units” to counter dop-

ing and match-fixing, would cooperate with police and ASADA on investigations and encourage players breaching rules to own up.

“Our job is to restore integrity in sport. We can never be complacent,” she added. “We must stamp this out. That is our job and that is what we intend to do.” As well as the two ministers, the heads of all of Australia’s major professional sports were present at the release of the report.

“Australia’s major sports are rock solid behind the government in our determination to tackle this issue,” said Cricket Australia chief James Sutherland, chair of a body representing professional sports.

“As CEOs of our individual sports, we were shocked this week to hear evidence of the risks of the crime world.” Sutherland said the Australian rules (AFL) and rugby league (NRL) professional governing bodies had “concerns arising out of this report”.

Crackdown welcomed AFL club Essendon this week asked ASADA to investigate supplements administered to their players last season. National Rugby League chief Dave Smith said the body had investigations underway with the help of a former judge without specifying whether it was about doping, match-fixing or both. “We’ve worked with the crime commission in the last week or so and information has come forward for NRL specifically that affects more than one player and more than one club,” he said.

The government crackdown was welcomed

by Australia Olympic Committee president John Coates, a long-time advocate for a harder line on doping and match-fixing in sport. “I congratulate the Australian Crime Commission and the Federal Government for the stance they have taken because as far as cheating in sport goes the gloves are now off, we now have the powers to properly investigate doping and match fixing,” he said. WADA chief John Fahey, a former Australian Minister of Finance, said he was saddened but not surprised by the report’s findings and thought Australia’s reputation was bound to be damaged. “It does give the message that doping in sport is alive and well,” he told ABC TV. “It hasn’t gone away and we have to renew our efforts and increase our resources.” —Reuters

Pedrosa edges out Lorenzo SEPANG: Spain’s Dani Pedrosa remained the fastest rider on the final day of the first pre-season MotoGP testing at Malaysia’s Sepang circuit yesterday, but times stayed extremely close. Honda’s Pedrosa had led the pack on Tuesday and Wednesday, and yesterday he again edged out his countryman and Yamaha rival Jorge Lorenzo.

Nine-times world champion Valentino Rossi was third while Marquez, a former 125cc world champion and reigning Moto2 title holder, took fourth. Unlike the first two days of cloudy skies and rain late Wednesday, the final test day saw sunshine and dry track which let the riders push their bikes. On the last day, the gap between Pedrosa’s 2 minutes 00.100 seconds and Lorenzo’s best effort was just 0.329 seconds.

Returning Yamaha star Valentino Rossi of Italy kept himself in the top group again with third, 0.442 seconds off the pace. Marquez, who is preparing for his first season in MotoGP, was fourth and 0.536 seconds clear of his Honda team-mate Pedrosa. Pedrosa said he was confident with the performance of his Honda but insisted there was still work to be done on its shock absorbers and clutch, which were a problem last season.

“I am satisfied because from the day we arrived here, the progress has been good. I feel confident not just because of the position but because of the feeling with

the bike,” he said. Pedrosa, 27, is in the hunt for his first MotoGP championship. He has finished MotoGP title runner-up on three occasions since his 2006 debut. Marquez expressed pleasure at his performance. “I am happy. I have been consistent every day. I hope to continue like that,” he told reporters.

Lorenzo said he would focus more on the bike’s acceleration and traction during the next test. “I think the bike has improved a little compared to last year. It is slightly faster in the corner,” he said, adding he was impressed with Rossi and Marquez. Rossi said he no longer had doubts about returning to competitive MotoGP racing after three hard days of testing, and hinted he was eyeing a podium finish from the first race of the season. “I have to work a lot harder to stay with Lorenzo and Pedrosa. I cannot expect a better start for this new season,” he said after two frustrating years with Ducati.

British rider Cal Crutchlow on a Yamaha was 0.634 seconds off the pace at fifth. The Ducatis of Nicky Hayden and Andrea Dovizioso stood at ninth and tenth rankings.

The second test session will be at Sepang from February 26 to 28, while the third will be in Jerez from March 23 to 25. The opening round of the MotoGP world championship will be in Qatar under floodlights on April 7.

Malaysia will host round 15 on October 13. — AFP

SEPANG: Honda MotoGP rider Dani Pedrosa of Spain takes a corner during a pre-season test at Sepang International Circuit in Sepang, Malaysia yesterday. — AP

Sports FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

GERMAN LEAGUE PREVIEW

Schalke face Bayern with backs to the wall BERLIN: Schalke 04 are with their backs to the wall when they travel to leaders Bayern Munich tomorrow, with a prolonged slump in form risking to derail the Champions League competitors’ once sparkling season. Established as the main title rivals to Bayern at the start of the campaign, Schalke, who topped their Champions’ League group, have imploded since late last year with one win in their last nine games to drop to sixth place.

Their fans were jeering and whistling after last week’s home defeat to bottomplaced Greuther Fuerth, adding more pressure on coach Jens Keller, who took over from Huub Stevens just before the winter break, and his team. Keller has so far failed to turn their fortunes around with only one

win in three games since the Bundesliga restart in mid-January.

The departure of playmaker Lewis Holtby to Tottenham Hotspur last week, has further compounded problems, with their midfield looking out of sorts against Fuerth.

The absence this week of several players who are on international duty has also not helped. “It is understandable that our fans are frustrated. We are now obliged to pull ourselves out of this situation,” said midfielder Roman Neustaedter. “We have to work together to do this. If everyone shows what they can do then we will pull ourselves out of this situation,” he said.

“We have to keep working hard to get back to the road of success.”

Schalke, who take on Galatsaray in the Champions League Round of 16 later this month, could be without forward Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, who was replaced in the Netherlands squad prior to Wednesday’s friendly against Italy with an eye injury. He will undergo further tests to determine whether he will be fit in time for tomorrow’s game, Schalke have said.

The mood could not be more different a few hundred kilometres further south in Munich, where Bayern enjoy a 12-point lead at the top following a record-breaking campaign so far and look set to end a twoseason title drought.

With three wins and three clean sheets in all games since the league restart, Bayern tightened their hold on first place,

having conceded just seven goals in 20 matches so far.

“We do not want to let off. We want to continue like that because everything is in our own hands,” Croatian striker Mario Mandzukic, whose two goals last week in their 3-0 win over Mainz 05 sent him top of the Bundesliga scorers’ list with 14, told reporters. “Up to now everything is going according to plan,” he said. Champions Borussia Dortmund, on 39 points after their own fine start to the year with three wins, will look to strengthen their grip on second place with victory over visitors Hamburg SV (1430). Bayer Leverkusen, a further two points behind in third place, travel to Borussia Moenchengladbach (1430). — Reuters

FRENCH LEAGUE PREVIEW

In-form PSG ready to retain momentum PARIS: Paris Saint-Germain have no intention of letting the international break derail their Ligue 1 title quest when Bastia travel north to the French capital today. Wednesday’s full slate of international friendlies hardly came at an ideal time for in-form PSG, leaving them with just 48 hours to prepare for the visit of the Corsicans, but Brazilian defender Maxwell elected to portray things in a positive light. “It’s a bit of a strange situation because the changing room is a bit empty. But these are the weeks that allow us to work on the physical side of things to be at an optimum level today,” he said.

PSG have collected 22 points from a possible 24, a sequence that has also seen them record eight successive clean sheets to open up a three-point lead over challengers Lyon at the summit.

“We feel very at ease on the pitch and

TOULOUSE: Paris Saint-Germain’ Swedish forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic (center) celebrates with teammates during the French L1 football match Toulouse (TFC) vs Paris SaintGermain (PSG) at the Stade Municipal in Toulouse. — AFP

more confident because we have established a more solid style, a true identity, and we work every day to improve it,” Maxwell said of the team’s upturn in fortunes.

The Parisians demolished Bastia 4-0 in the reverse fixture in September, but the Brazilian stressed the importance of not allowing complacency to settle in at Parc des Princes. “From experience I know very well that there’s no such thing as an easy match. We must be fully concentrated today because Bastia will come here with the hope of getting a result.

“It won’t be easy, it will be a test of our motivation, concentration. But we must, above all, take the points. It’s essential.” Second-placed Lyon suffered a crippling 3-1 loss at Ajaccio last time out but will seek solace at Stade Gerland, where Remi Garde’s side own the league’s best home record this term, on Sunday when they host Lille.

Michel Bastos departed for Schalke during the January transfer window, but Lyon were however able to retain the services of Lisandro Lopez despite reported interest from Juventus. Garde conceded he was glad to draw a line under last month’s unsettling rumours and transfer speculation. “The market doesn’t create good working conditions. The players are inevitably a bit distracted. We lost Michel, a player who helped us. Admittedly we didn’t strengthen the team by losing a player but the page is turned.”

Meanwhile Marseille, who dropped six points off the pace as they crashed to an embarrassing 1-0 home defeat to struggling Nancy last weekend, face another team fighting to preserve their top-flight status in Evian. Saint-Etienne will vie for a fourth straight win as they entertain title-holders Montpellier, while fourth-placed Bordeaux continue their push for a Champions League spot away to Ajaccio. Nice and Lorient meet on the Cote d’Azur with both sides looking to bolster their European aspirations with Rennes aiming to do likewise against Toulouse and Brest travelling to Valenciennes. —AFP

STOCKHOLM: Argentina’s Federico Fernandez (middle) is squeezed between Sweden’s Mathias Ranegie (left) and Jonas Olsson (right) during their friendly soccer match between Sweden and Argentina at Friends Arena in Stockholm. — AP

Ibra, Messi off target as Argentina thump Sweden STOCKHOLM: Argentina defeated Sweden 3-2 in an international friendly on Wednesday on a night when superstar strikers Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Lionel Messi were both off target. Argentina were 31 up by the break courtesy of two strikes from Gonzalo Higuain and one from Sergio Aguero while Jonas Olsson was on target for the Swedes.

Argentina had been held 0-0 by Saudi Arabia in their last friendly international while Sweden recorded a 4-2 win over England with Zlatan Ibrahimovic famously grabbing all four goals.

Ibrahimovic and Messi went into the game leading the goal-scoring charts in their respective leaguesMessi has 34 in La Liga with Barcelona while Ibrahimovic has hit 20 with Paris Saint-Germain in France. The south Americans dominated against a team who held them to a 1-1 draw at the 2002 World Cup, a result that caused Argentina’s early exit. Javier Mascherano and Pablo Zabaleta were the sole survivors from that game while Sweden gave squad debuts to goalkeeper Kristoffer Nordfeldt, Joel Ekstrand and Jimmy Durmaz.

Argentina were ahead after just three minutes when Real Madrid striker Higuain scored after neat approach work from Angel di Maria and skipper Messi. West Brom defender Olsson pulled the Swedes level after 18 minutes with a header from a corner, but that respite lasted barely a minute when Aguero, the Manchester City star, was set up by di Maria to restore Argentina’s lead. In the 29th minute, Higuain made it 3-1 after a Messi free-kick was only parried by the keeper.

Ibrahimovic was substituted at the interval before Messi had a goal ruled out when a sweet lob was judged not to have crossed the line. “For me it was a goal, but that’s it. It’s important that the team won,” said Messi. The contest petered out with a host of replacements upsetting the pattern of the game before Rasmus Elm hit a consolation for the hosts in the fifth minute of injury time.

Both sides will now set their sights on World Cup qualification with Sweden facing Ireland on March 22 and Argentina tackling Venezuela on the same day. — AFP

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Sports FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

Carragher to retire LONDON: Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher will retire from football at the end of this season, the English Premier League club said in a statement yesterday. “This will be my last season at Liverpool and my last as a professional footballer,” said Carragher. “I’m making this announcement now because I don’t want the manager (Brendan Rodgers) or the club to be answering questions on my future when I’ve already decided what I am going to do.”

The 35-year-old former England international-a one-club man-joined home-town side Liverpool as a youth player and has since made

Jamie Carragher

over 700 senior appearances following his debut in 1997. Carragher, second behind only Ian Callaghan in Liverpool’s all-time appearances list, has won several major honours in his career, including the Champions League, the UEFA Cup and two FA Cups.

He confirmed yesterday his intention to continue playing for the remainder of the campaign, but added that he would be making no further statement about his future between now and the end of the season. “I will be fully committed between now and the end of the season to doing the very best for Liverpool Football Club, as I’ve done my entire career since joining aged just nine years old,” he said.

“It has been a privilege and an honour to represent this great club for as long as I have and I am immensely proud to have done so and thankful for all the support I have had.

“There are many memories I want to share and people to thank but now is not the time for that. I won’t be making any further comment on this decision until the end of the season.

“All our focus and concentration should be on achieving the best possible finish in the league this season and trying to win the last remaining trophy (the Europa League) we are competing in.”

Carragher’s friend and former Liverpool team-mate Michael Owen predicted that the centre-back still had a future in the game.

“What a servant Carra has been for Liverpool,” Owen wrote on Twitter. “A rare breed and it’s been a privilege to play alongside, room with and be big mates with one of football’s real men. I doubt we have heard the last of him. He has too much to offer the game to be away for long!”

Another former Anfield colleague, Robbie Fowler, tweeted: “Sorry to hear the news on carra, his quotes regarding retirement tell you everything about the man... An absolute legend of a player.” Born in Bootle, Merseyside, Carragher signed his first professional contract with Liverpool in 1996. He represented England at under-20, under-21 and senior level, earning 38 full caps.

Having retired from international football in 2007, he returned to play under Fabio Capello at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, before retiring definitively after the tournament. His finest achievements at Liverpool were the 2001 treble of the League Cup, the FA Cup and the UEFA Cup, and the 2005 Champions League success, which saw the club claim their fifth European Cup. —AFP

Tunisia referee suspended over Ghana-Burkina semis JOHANNESBURG: Tunisian referee Slim Jdidi has been suspended for his controversial handling of the Africa Cup of Nations semi-final between Ghana and Burkina Faso, the organisers said yesterday. “We would have expected a better standard,” Confederation of African Football (CAF) secretary-general Hicham El-Amrani told a media conference just hours after Burkina Faso lodged an official appeal against key player Jonathan Pitroipa’s red card in the semi-final win over Ghana on Wednesday. “There is a meeting today to discuss the Pitroipa incident,” El-Amrani told reporters.

The official said Pitroipa’s chances of playing in the final depend on the match report sent in

by Jdidi. “The organising committee does not have the power to change the referee’s decision unless the referee admits he made a mistake in his official report,” said El-Amrani. As it stands, Pitroipa will miss Sunday’s Cup of Nations final against Nigeria in Soweto after picking up two yellow cards in the stunning penalty shoot-out

success over the Black Stars.

Pitroipa, who has scored twice in the tournament, was sent off three minutes from the end of extra time on Wednesday for diving when, in fact, he had clearly been knocked to the ground after tangling with an opponent. Team manager Gualbert Kabore, speaking at the team hotel in north-eastern city Nelspruit, told AFP: “The Burkina Faso Football Federation wrote an official letter of appeal to CAF (competition organisers).

“We lodged it in the two hours after the match as stipulated by the regulations. “We think we have a good chance of winning the appeal.” Kabore, a distant relation to another key Burkinabe player, midfielder and vice-captain Charles Kabore, echoed coach Paul Put’s dim view of Jdidi’s decision-making during the match. Chief among the Tunisian’s perceived errors in the Burkina Faso camp were the rejection of a legitimate penalty claim, a disallowed goal that appeared to be valid, and Pitroipa’s sending off. —AFP

Spanish League Preview

VALENCIA: Valencia’s forward Roberto Soldado (left) vies with Barcelona’s defender Gerard Pique during the Spanish league football match Valencia CF vs FC Barcelona at the Mestalla stadium. —AFP

Barcelona battle fatigue from international week Xavi out with a muscle injury BARCELONA: Barcelona hope to avoid a slip against Getafe on Sunday as their players fight fatigue from international friendlies midweek, and with Atletico Madrid lurking nine points adrift of the Spanish league leader. Barcelona will play the better-rested Getafe at home, and will be missing injured playmaker Xavi Hernandez.

Nine Barcelona players logged minutes in Spain’s 3-1 win over Uruguay in Doha on Wednesday. Lionel Messi helped Argentina win in Sweden 3-2, and various other international players also face a quick turnaround for the Catalan club.

“It was a very long trip, about six to seven hours. We arrived this morning and we haven’t had time to rest,” said Barcelona defender Jordi Alba. “But we have the rest of the day and tomorrow to get fit for the game on Sunday.” Barcelona has been practically unbeatable this season, and has a home league record of nine wins and a draw. Even so, Barcelona has proven vulnerable of late with a draw and a loss in its last two away games in league play to go with a pair of draws in the Copa del Rey. Messi will try to extend his record run of having scored in 12 consecutive games, while fellow forward Pedro Rodriguez enters off a brace for Spain. However, he will be missing one of his favorite assist makers in Xavi, who is out for two weeks with a muscle injury in his right leg. Getafe has wins at home over Madrid and Malaga, but has yet to come up with a quality victory on the road this season.

“The absence of Xavi will affect them,” said Getafe captain Jaime Gavilan. “Besides, they have several players who just made long journeys and haven’t had a chance to rest. Why can’t we pull off a surprise?”

Atletico visits upstart Rayo Vallecano in a Spanish capital derby on Sunday looking to break a run of four away games without a victory.

Rayo has won its last three games at Vallecas Stadium and has an impressive record with seven wins in 10 home games this season for a team many expected to fight to avoid the drop. Atletico coach Diego Simeone called his team’s more

humble crosstown rival “dangerous.” “Rayo doesn’t have a single player who doesn’t know how to take care of the ball,” said Atletico coach Diego Simeone. “It’s a team that wants to carry the initiative. It presses across the entire pitch and has great wingers and good midfielders as well.”

Third-place Real Madrid hosts Sevilla tomorrow as it tries to bounce back from its latest stumble, a 1-0 loss at Granada last weekend, which left the defending champions trailing Barcelona by 16 points. Jose Mourinho’s Madrid could get a boost from the return of Portugal defender Pepe, who practiced with his teammates this week for the first time since having ankle surgery in early January. Otherwise, its players could have the same tired legs as Barcelona’s after their international commitments.

Sevilla beat Madrid at home this season and has been playing better since former Valencia manager Unai Emery took over last month. Journeyman coach Gregorio Manzano will begin his third stint at the head of Mallorca tomorrow when the struggling club hosts Osasuna. Manzano, who coached Mallorca from 2002-03 and 2006-10, returned to the Balearic island team on Tuesday after Joaquin Caparros was fired following just one win in 17 games and with the team in second-to-last place.

“Changing coaches is always complicated,” said Mallorca midfielder Jose Marti. “(But) tomorrow’s game should be a turning point that gives us back our confidence.

It will be key.” Also tomorrow, fourth-place Malaga visits a Levante on a three-game home winning streak. Last-place Deportivo La Coruna hosts Granada five points from safety, and Valencia travels to relegationthreatened Celta Vigo.

Real Sociedad has lost only once in 12 rounds and visits Real Zaragoza also on Sunday, while Athletic Bilbao hosts an improved Espanyol that has just one defeat in nine matches under coach Javier Aguirre.

Fifth-place Real Betis hosts Valladolid on Monday with a chance to move into the top four spots and claim a Champions League place if Malaga falters. —AP

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013

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VINA DEL MAR: Spain’s Rafael Nadal returns the ball to Argentina’s Federico Delbonis during a VTR Open tennis match in Vina del Mar, Chile, Wednesday, Feb 6, 2013. — AP

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