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NO: 15720- Friday, February 15, 2013

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BLADE MURDERER? See Page 47

Local FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2013

Kuwait’s my business

How much do you matter to local businesses?

Local Spotlight

The gift of giving

By Muna Al-Fuzai

By John P Hayes

local@kuwaittimes.net

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usinesses across Kuwait are making the same mistakes every day, and it’s costing them piles of profit. Amazingly, by changing one or two behaviors, fewer businesses would be forced to close, and more businesses would generate more profit for their shareholders. However, generating profit doesn’t seem to be a major goal for all local businesses. In fact, I now understand that some businesses in Kuwait do not exist to earn profits.

Does profit matter?

One of my first teaching experiences at GUST was an MBA course where one of the students argued, “Professor, profit isn’t the only reason to own a business.”

I knew she was badly mistaken, and I set her straight, and I wish I could apologize to her now because from her perspective, probably learned from her family, she was right.

While you would rarely hear MBAs in the Western world or the Far East say that profit isn’t the primary motive for business ownership (they’d be called socialists or communists), I now realize that in Kuwait, at least, there are overriding factors to profit. As a former business owner, I don’t agree with them, but then, of course, I am not a Kuwaiti. I believe that businesses should maximize earnings for their shareholders, and behave accordingly (and I think most Kuwaiti business owners agree).

But it’s difficult to find businesses that “behave accordingly” isn’t it? I’m not talking about businesses that generate profits by charging more money than customers should have to pay - we’re all suffering from inflated prices in Kuwait. I’m talking about businesses that, in spite of the prices they promote, show no real interest in making more money. Otherwise, they wouldn’t keep making the same mistakes!

No money, no business It has occurred to me, of course, that because businesses often charge inflated prices, and we, the customers, pay those prices without complaining, business

owners know they don’t have to do anything different to rake in money. However, that’s nonsense. Businesses constantly disappear, and it’s not because they’re making too much money. It’s because they lost money - or, perhaps, because their other overriding factors disappeared.

Focusing on businesses that are in it for profit, most of them could improve their profits by re-examining their intentions. Ask a business owner, “Why are you in business?” and you’ll get a variety of answers, most of them wrong. Go ahead, ask anyone you know why they’re in business, any business, and see what they tell you. If they don’t say, “I’m in business to capture and keep customers,” or words to that effect, their answer is wrong (or their business provides some other overriding benefit). If they say, “I’m in business to make a profit,” they’re at least in the right neighborhood, but chances are pretty good they don’t know which doorbell to ring to make good on their dreams.

Patronize savvy businesses It’s easy to recognize savvy businesses, and it’s much more enjoyable to patronize them. Don’t you prefer shopping and dining where you matter? By matter I mean the businesses not only want to serve you today, but serve you repeatedly in the future. (Greeting customers enthusiastically, which is well done in Kuwait, or spraying cologne on them at the mall, is not the same as capturing and keeping customers). Capturing a customer requires one behavior; keeping a customer requires a different behavior. Pity those businesses that don’t understand these behaviors. And pity us consumers because we’re stuck with these businesses!

Businesses that capture and keep customers reduce their greatest acquisition cost: customers. Customers aren’t free, and shamefully most businesses lose 50 percent of their customers every five years! That’s one reason why some businesses have to charge inflated prices.

Be on the look out for businesses that demonstrate that you matter. Let me know where and when you find them! # Dr. John P. Hayes 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 - and all of them were in business to maximize profits for shareholders. Contact Dr. Hayes at questions@hayesworldwide.com, or via Twitter @drjohnhayes.

muna@kuwaittimes.net

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love these kinds of occasions. We miss the lovely sentiments associated with such events that spread joy and peace in a world that is filled with tension, hatred and killings.

So I have decided to dedicate my love letter this year to Valentine’s Day itself which was celebrated yesterday. I want this day to know how much we need the comfort and the happiness that it brings and that we miss it after it is gone.

Dear Valentine’s Day, I am very pleased to have you with us again after a long tiring year in which we all suffered from the many confusions and complexes that we created for ourselves. Yes, it has been a full year since you last came by and while many of us rushed to buy gifts for our beloved ones that day, some of us tended to ignore those who made our lives prettier just by being there.

I know most people thought of buying a nice, sweet gift for their loved ones. But they needed to first consider those who brought them into this world in the first place, their parents. Many bought a gift for friends, family members and their parents. Even if they live a thousand miles away, they deserve a call or at least a text message saying it is Valentine’s Day. Saying that you love them is the best Valentine’s Day present for them.

I know some people may think that their parents were not the best but don’t you think that they did their best according to their knowledge, abilities and understanding of this life. If it were not so, you would not have been here today. I guess we need to forgive to release anger and tension. That is what I believe can make our life a permanent Valentine’s Day. I read an article recently about Valentine’s Day gifts and I they advocated buying less expensive gives; I also believe that simplicity is the key. So, a rose or a candy or maybe even a new perfume was more than enough for this occasion. Exaggeration is the worst people can do. Being simple and classy was the key to a nice Valentine’s Day surprise. It is a just a day that reminds us of our humaneness.

The big gifts and heavy surprises are spared for other occasions such as birthdays.

Enjoy life in such a way that it becomes one long Valentine’s Day.

In my view

By Nivedha Narayan

Ode to backbone of our country

local@kuwaittimes.net

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t was a weekend, and in the overcrowded mall, the washroom was busy as hell.

Even as people waiting impatiently in the long queue fidgeted and cursed the woman who was spraying a disinfectant in every unit and making sure it stayed clean for every user, the scene set me thinking. No one spared a word of thanks for the cleaning lady. Even as she was making sure that we stay healthy and clean, no one actually noticed her, at least not in real terms. She is just one more face among a sea of people who are an integral part of our lives but we hardly take any notice of them. They are a class of society that all of us conveniently miss out on - the labour class.

This is an ode to the forgotten people in our lives, the ones we fail to notice, the ones we do not acknowledge; the people without whom our country would not run. Have you seen the spotless floors you walk on in

malls and theatres? They are shiny and clean because a sweeper does an honest day’s work, tirelessly wiping the same patch endless number of times as we keep soiling it.

An ode to the workers who slog day and night in extreme weather, building homes for us so that we can protect ourselves from the harsh weather and shelter ourselves. An ode to those who lay the roads for us to walk and drive over. An ode to the people who give us shiny basins and speckless washrooms that we often fail to maintain and put the blame on the cleaner.

An ode to the people who clear our garbage the first thing in the morning so that when we walk out of our houses, the streets look clean and are stench-free. An ode to the office boy who makes tea and coffee appear at your table within minutes after your ask for one. An ode to the nannies

who relentlessly take care of not one but many babies at a time; feed them, walk them, tend to them so that you can live your life peacefully and go to work without worrying about your children, or go shopping.

So that you can have some fun without having to stay back taking care of your offspring. How do you think the table smeared all over with dropped food cleared in a matter of minutes without you doing anything about it? And the tissues, cigarette butts, plastics you throw on the road showing complete disregard to the discipline of the city simply vanishes?

The cars you drive around would not have been half as appealing if someone had not cleaned these for you. What if there was no one to carry your heavy bags for you at the airport? What if one day all the cleaners decided to quit? What if the workers refuse to construct your house? Has anyone of us

ever paused to think about what would happen without this army of people? Are you going to take over all these errands? I hardly doubt we would do anything like that.

The jobs that we consider undignified or beneath us are one of the most important ones that make our country what it is. Let alone acknowledging their efforts, many of us, particularly the younger lot, do not even show an iota of respect for them regardless of their age. Here’s a fact: They only need you for their payroll. You need them for your survival. So, take out a moment to thank these people who have made our lives so much easier, the people who have worked for the benefit of all while remaining inconspicuous. And from this very minute, start showing them some respect that they very much deserve.

This is an ode to those who form the backbone of our city.

Local FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2013

Conspiracy Theories

Ibn Battutah must have been Kuwaiti

By Badrya Darwish Ahmadi is all lit up for the national days. — Photo by Joseph Shagra

badrya_d@kuwaittimes.net

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hy are we Kuwaitis in love with travelling? Come any holiday and we start searching all options for flights to Dubai, the United Kingdom, Timbuktu and even China.

We do not need any reasons in Kuwait to travel anymore. Aren’t we a pampered nation?

If it is an ordinary weekend - Friday and Saturday - many people skip Thursday and then get mysteriously sick on Sunday. There you go, you have a four-day weekend. Weekend trips are designed for Dubai. It is the closest entertainment hub especially since Bahrain is undergoing turmoil and demonstrations every now and then. You know guys, in history, proverbs are 99 percent correct in real life. They are more correct than the percentage of election victories of Arab leaders. You know that they always win with 99.9 percent.

The saying that one man’s fortune is another man’s misfortune applies to Bahrain. It was the day-tripping spot for Saudi Arabia. Now, it is Dubai. No wonder outbound flights from Kuwait to Dubai are so many now. I heard that only flydubai has eight flights a day to Dubai. Emirates has 10. Add to that Jazeera Airways and Kuwait Airways with their regular flights to Dubai. And at the same time our dear parliament wants to put additional and restrictive rules for foreign investors in the hope that Kuwait will become the finance hub of the Middle East.

I am not excluding myself. I am a member of the pampered club. Dubai is overbooked by now, whether it is hotels or flights. But what surprised me was that my option number two - London was also fully booked for the whole of February. Or if you find a seat, it is at a very high price.

Honestly, I am sure that even Ibn Battutah must have been originally Kuwaiti. I advise the ministers instead of threatening people to be deported to hold a session and find out the reason for travelling. If not grilling, they can do an open day in parliament with seminars to discuss the issue. I also invite the budget committee who are busy with the discussion of the debt write-off to add this to that list.

So this month we have the national holidays. It is a lucky time for travelers because the National Day holiday falls on 24th, 25th and 26th of February. Add to these days the weekend and it is not a bad holiday. At the same time, do not forget that we will decorate the streets and houses. We are already seized by a patriotic feeling for the national days. Don’t forget that we are lucky this month having a Valentine’s Day without any opposition from anywhere. That is why the Day of Love festivities went smoothly without any MPs threatening to boycott sales of chocolate and flowers or anything wrapped in red.

Yesterday, by the way, I was accidentally dressed in a red scarf and red cap. Have a nice weekend!

Local FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2013

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Local FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2013

Mariyam Sultan during her trip to Antarctica.

By Nawara Fattahova

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ariyam Sultan, a young Kuwaiti who wants to do something for cancer survivors, is organizing a trip to Antarctica. Her co-travellers will be cancer survivors. Her grandmother who herself suffered from cancer was her inspiration to organize this campaign for cancer survivors.

This is not the first time Sultan is raising awareness about cancer as she previously participated in some activities supporting the cancer patients as a volunteer when she was still a student at the university in the United States. “After I returned home to Kuwait, I did not see any activity to help cancer survivors; certainly not at the same scale as such activities are held abroad,” this is how her idea was born.

She said, “I decided to choose a trip to Antarctica or some other distant or exotic place to attract people’s attention. This will be the beginning of my support in this innovative way. I thought of Antarctica as I made such a trip last year in December when I had met 12 cancer survivors onboard a ship. They were from different nationalities but all of them were working in the United Arab Emirates. I liked the idea especially since they also came from the same region, and I decided to do an annual trip to support cancer survivors,” she added.

In her words such a trip would be a very good experience for the cancer survivors. “I met one lady who was doing the same thing on this Antarctica-bound ship, and they really inspired me to organize this campaign. After this campaign, I am also planning to do other campaigns and go on trips for patients from South Africa and the United States. However, I decided to start from here,” said Mariyam.

It is not easy work. “It is difficult to find cancer survivors here in Kuwait as most of the time people do not want to share about the disease or their experiences. However, I will do my best to find them. I am planning this trip this year itself, and when I find the cancer survivors, I will start preparing for it and also looking for sponsors. The trip will be mainly for them and I hope the experience will definitely please them. My message to all cancer survivors in Kuwait is to come with me to a wonderful place and join in some great activity,” she explained.

Mariyam plans to cover part of the payment. “Some survivors may find this trip expensive, so I decided to cover part of the expenses from the business that I just started for this purpose.

Part of the profit from the business will go into this enterprise for research on cancer in Kuwait and abroad. Also, I will do my best to find sponsors for the trip in order to cover the expenses,” she said adding that this trip will not be for the survivors only, but for those interested in spreading awareness about cancer. I will arrange an event for them also to speak in public. It will all depend on them as I know that people in our community often refuse to share their experiences,” she said.

Cancer survivors from all nationalities and both genders who are older than 21 and are living in Kuwait can join the trip.

“Children would not be participating as they would not be able to go to such a place. In Antarctica, those less than 21 years of age are barred from going to certain places without guardians,” stressed Mariyam.

On her last trip to Antarctica, she had spent five days sailing and five days kayaking, mountaineering, camping and hiking.

Local FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2013

By Ben Garcia

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uwait’s status as one of the richest countries in per capita terms is a known fact, thanks to the seemingly endless oil revenue which has been funding Kuwaiti lives in many aspects. In fact, some oil companies continuously innovate and bring their own share of pride to the country. One is a company connected to agri-business which is adopting advance methods in growing and propagating plants. AlFaisaliya Farm, one of the highly productive agricultural farms in Kuwait, was formed to produce high quality vegetables and native plants/seeds for domestic market. The farm possesses all farming facilities including a large production house for hydroponics, native plants, fully equipped tissue culture lab, and mechanized seed processing facilities. The managing experts are wellknown agricultural engineers and environmental scientists with significant knowledge of hydroponics, vegetables, and native plants. Dr Jose Kaitharath, who is working as a botanist in Al-Faisaliya Farm in Wafra is one of them. He is Technical Manager for Native Plants, Plant Tissue Culture and Mushrooms.

Dr Jose Kaitharath is demonstrating how the tissue culture is cultivated. — Photos by Ben Garcia The following are some excerpts from an interview with Dr Jose Kaitharath: FT: What is tissue culture and why do you think tissue culture can also work in this part of the world?

JK: Plant tissue culture is a method of plant propagation by culturing plant cells, tissues and organs in synthetic media under aseptic environment and controlled conditions of light, temperature, and humidity.

The three important aspects in tissue culture techniques are selection of explants, aseptic environment and nutrient media. Small tissues are excised from any part of the plant, called explant, which is used to start tissue culture work. It can be from any part of plant such as root, stem, petiole, leaf or flower, etc. The choice of an explant varies with each species.

Aseptic environment during culture work is required to avoid contamination from microorganisms.

All the materials like glass wares, instruments, tools, media, explants etc to be used in culture work must be freed of any kind of microbes. An instrument known as laminar air flow chamber is normally used to maintain this ascetic condition during culture works. Since plants are produced artificially in tissue culture techniques, a synthetic growing media is required for growth of plants which includes different types of nutrients, salts, vitamins, plant growth regulators, etc.

Plant tissue culture technology offers great promise for the production of quality planting material on account of being disease free and true to plant types produced through micro-propagation techniques.

FT: As there many ways to propagate plants, why is tissue culture an excellent method?

JK: For plants with viable seeds and seedlings, tissue culture technique has less importance. Vegetative propagation methods like shoot tip cuttings, off shoot collection, etc are also employed in case of some plants. Scope of tissue culture is in plants where conventional methods are not practicable and/or laborious. Tissue culture technique is now used for propagation of numerous ornamental plants and commercial crops for commercial purposes.

Some of the advantages of tissue culture are: It produces a large number of plants that are clones of each other; it produces disease-free plants by eliminating pathogens; it produces rooted plantlets ready for growth, saving time for the grower when seeds or cuttings’ germination is slow; it is the only viable method of regenerating genetically modified cells or cells after protoplast fusion; it is useful in multiplying plants which produce few or no seeds, or when plants are sterile or seeds cannot be stored; it often produces more robust plants with accelerated growth than conventional methods.

Other than propagation works, establishment of plant tissue culture techniques has enabled botanists to introduce this method in major areas of plant sciences such as plant breeding, industrial production of natural plant products, conservation of germplasm and genetic engineering.

FT: Do you think tissue culture is the answer to growing problems in agribusiness?

JK: Yes, up to a large level. Tissue culture is a very good tool in agribusiness. Many of the commercial crop farms have been facing expansion problems due to the lack of enough plant material. The demand for large quantity of seeds or seedlings seasonally cannot be met by traditional propagation methods. For example, offshoots of date palms developed from the base of the plant were the only source of propagation. This traditional procedure is limited by both the numbers of offshoots produced from a superior selected plant and the development of useful offshoots from a single plant, which occurs only during the juvenile phase of the palm’s life. Offshoots of cultivars in high demand, can, therefore, not meet the market demand. This slow nature of traditional vegetative propagation methods kept constrained the expansion in date palm cultivation in many Middle East countries. Since several thousands of plants can be produced from a single date palm mother plant by tissue culture techniques, this method is currently the most promising tool to obtain sufficient plant material of high quality to overcome offshoot shortage.

FT: When was the tissue culture introduced in Kuwait?

JK: Probably in the late 90s. Perhaps the KISR and/or Kuwait University were the first ones to introduce tissue culture in Kuwait.

FT: Can it be applied to all plants?

JK: Theoretically yes, but in practical terms, tissue culture cannot apply to all kinds of plants because some plants will not respond positively to chemicals and hormones. Successful standardization of protocol is so laborious for some plants and even more laborious for others.

FT: Is life span of tissue cultured plants longer or shorter than the conventional method?

JK: Life span of tissue cultured plants is found to be same as the plants from conventional methods.

FT: Are there any disadvantages in tissue culture? What are those and why?

JK: Tissue culture method is more expensive at the initial stage than conventional propagation methods especially because the production capacity is less. This method of propagation cannot be applicable to all plants. Some plants are not vulnerable to chemicals and hormones. Plants of non true-to-type and genetically not identical to the mother plant may be produced by tissue culture method. This genetic instability in plants (off types), a phenomenon called somaclonal variation was found to occur in some plants, especially those plants which demand a lengthy plant production cycle.

The application of high concentrations of plant growth regulators to culture media and the cumulative addition of chemicals and hormones for a long period were found to be reasons for plant off-type production.

At the same time, some somaclonal variations are economical and desirable also.

FT: Since the technique looks expensive, can a farmer single-handedly use this technique or does it require cooperatives or investors?

JK: Tissue culture method of propagation is more expensive than any other conventional methods of propagation. It requires lab facilities, experts, expensive chemicals, etc. Individual farmer or a group can start a lab as it is not that much expensive.

FT: In Kuwait, how many farms are already using this technique? How does this technique help local farmers?

JK: In addition to Kuwait University and KISR, very few private tissue culture labs are functional in Kuwait.

However, majority of farmers depend on tissue culture plants imported from other countries for their agribusiness, especially date palms, flowering plants, indoor plants, etc. Even though commercial plant tissue culture is so established in the world, Kuwait is yet to realize their potential. ‘Imported plants would be better’ is the common belief.

FT: How is this technique used in Kuwait; you already use this technique in case of strawberries and dates. Can you explain how you managed to introduce this to Kuwait?

JK: The best example is KISR. They produce different varieties of date palm seedlings successfully and continue selling in the local market at a better price.

Faisaliya Farm continues doing research on standardization of tissue culture protocols for date palm, strawberry, indoor plants etc. Trials are still underway to provide any significant data on the results.

There is not a single tissue culture lab successfully functioning in Kuwait. The main purpose of Faisaliya lab is to reduce import of tissue culture plants and also to produce disease free plants in bulk in a shorter time period.

Local FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2013

GCC accuses Iran of destabilising region Iran calls for nuke talks to take in Bahrain, Syria

CAIRO: Finance Minister Mustafa Al-Shamali attends the 91st meeting of the Arab League’s Economic and Social Ministerial Council yesterday.— KUNA

Shamali: Good progress on Arab free trade zone CAIRO: Kuwaiti Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Mustafa AlShamali stated yesterday that Arab finance ministers have made significant progress on talks over the creation of an Arab free trade zone. “One of the most important issues that were thoroughly discussed in today’s meeting is the creation of the free Arab trade zone and the conferees made great strides in this file,” Shamali said in exclusive statements to KUNA following his participation in the 91st meeting of the Arab League’s Economic and Social Ministerial Council, held here yesterday. “The Arab ministers have overcome almost eighty percent of the obstacles hindering the expansion of pan-Arab trade,” Shamali said.

The minister said that the conferees have also agreed on forming a five-member ministerial committee to study all the challenges facing the implementation of economic integration among Arab states. “There are still some problems that need to tackled, but I think they are not huge as the Arab ministers have reached understandings over the majority of relative issues,” he stated. Shamali added that “some countries have certain reservations about some tariff exemption and duty cuts proposals despite the fact that they already apply these measures through agreements with other non-Arab countries.

I believe these facilities had to be giv-

en to Arab countries first”.

He disclosed that the Arab finance minister will hold a meeting shortly to prepare for the upcoming Arab Summit in Doha late March. AlShamali pointed out that Kuwait’s vision in the economic and social files is to enhance Arab youth’s contribution to national economies, citing HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad AlSabah’s initiative in the Arab Economic Summit in 2009 to launch a fund to finance Small and Medium Enterprises in the Arab countries. He said that the fund, which Kuwait launched with a $500-million contribution, is being run by the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development and has already started financing various projects in many Arab states. The minister urged all Arab countries to join the fund to benefit from its various services.

Al-Shamali reiterated Kuwait’s eagerness to participate in Arab meetings and events to help bolster panArab cooperation. The meeting has tackled a wide array of key issues relative to the Arab economic, commercial and social integration such as food security, the joint electric network, the Arab free-trade zone and the joint customs union, preparations for the upcoming economic and social meeting at the summit and following up implementation for resolution passed in the previous summits held in Riyadh (2013), Sharm El-Sheikh (2011) and Kuwait (2009). — KUNA

ABU DHABI: Gulf Arab governments dismissed as “interference” an Iranian suggestion that unrest in Syria and Bahrain be discussed at nuclear talks between world powers and Iran, accusing Tehran of trying to dodge the main agenda. The secretary general of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) said the bloc “categorically rejected” Iran’s proposal, saying it was further evidence of Iranian meddling in the region, the Bahraini news agency BNA reported yesterday. “This confirms Iran’s clear interference in the domestic affairs of Arab countries, and its continuous efforts to destabilise the security of some of these Arab countries,” Abdulatif Al-Zayani was quoted by BNA as saying.

Arab popular uprisings since 2011 have kindled increased strife between Shiite and Sunni Muslims that Sunni-ruled Gulf states with restive Shiite communities blame on incitement from regional Shiite power Iran, which denies the accusation. The GCC is a US-allied, political and economic bloc comprising Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait. The GCC is not represented at the intermittent and so far inconclusive talks six world powers are conducting with Iran to try to get it to rein in its disputed nuclear energy programme.

BNA further quoted Zayani as accusing Iran of trying to manipulate the negotiations “by mixing political cards” and continuing “procrastination and non-seriousness on reaching a final solution to alleviate regional and international fears regarding its controversial nuclear

program”. Zayani, according to BNA, urged the six powers to “reject these provocative Iranian attempts”.

Western diplomats have accused Iran in the past of avoiding the main point of the negotiations by trying to have the agenda widened to cover general security and economic issues. The next negotiating session is to be held in Kazakhstan on Feb 26. The West fears Iran is pursuing the means to develop nuclear weapons. Iran says it seeks only civilian atomic energy.

The semi-official Iranian news agency Mehr said on Tuesday Tehran had proposed including Bahrain - which is grappling with unrest by majority Shiites - and Syria where an increasingly sectarian civil war is raging - in the talks with world powers. “The Islamic Republic of Iran has proposed as a suggestion to Western countries that the crisis in Syria and Bahrain be among the issues discussed in negotiations in Kazakhstan,” Mehr quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi as saying. Bahrain had summoned Iran’s charge d’affaires over the statement, BNA said.

The GCC routinely accuses Iran of interfering in the region, primarily in Bahrain where the Sunni-dominated government has been struggling since 2011 to suppress pro-democracy agitation led mainly by the kingdom’s Shiites. Iran denies trying to stir trouble in Bahrain or to subvert any of its other wealthy Gulf Arab neighbours.

Tehran also says it regards the Gulf as its geo-political backyard and that it has a legitimate right to advance its interests there. — Reuters

CSC sets holidays for February 24-26 KUWAIT: The Civil Service Commission set yesterday the National and Liberation Day holiday between February 25 and 26, with work coming to a halt across ministries, government and public institutions. CSC said in a press statement that Sunday, Feb 24, is a day off because it’s between two holidays, adding the holiday for entities with special nature of work will be determined by competent authorities, taking into account public interest.

At the same time, the head of Public Relations and Citizens Service Department at the CSC Jassem Al-Ruwais said that 3,849 citizens have applied for jobs through the automated recruitment system since the opening of registration on the first of February until today. Al-Ruwais said in a press statement that the registration system is open 24 hours until today midnight to give opportunities for all who wish to work to register either through the phone or using the website. AlRuwais also said that the applicants need to bring letters from the Supreme Committee for Disabled Affairs, Martyrs Office and the National Committee for Prisoners Affairs to review their applications at the Selection Department to facilitate their registration procedures. — KUNA

Man changing flat tyre killed by truck

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: In a freak accident, an Egyptian expat was killed when a passing truck hit him while he was replacing a flat tyre of his vehicle on King Fahd Road yesterday. Eyewitnesses said the man was changing the rear left tyre when the truck passed too closely and a protruding piece of metal hit his head, killing him instantly.

Corrupt cop busted The Ahmadi detectives arrested a detective who would storm the homes of Asian expats and intimidate them using his ID to extract bribes, reported Al-Watan. The lance corporal working with the Rigga police station’s detectives department was caught in Fahaheel where he went to an Asian expat’s home and demanded money from those present there but they became suspicious and attacked him. The suspect escaped from the spot but left behind his ID card.

Municipality warns against unlicensed ads KUWAIT: The Municipality urged the public not to place unlicensed banners on public roads and utilities, particularly those celebrating the country’s imminent national days. In statements to KUNA, Kuwait Municipality General Director Ahmad Al-Subaih made it clear that unlicensed ads will be removed and legal action will be taken against violators. He pointed out that unlicensed billboards which are randomly hoisted at key places tarnish the image of main roads, major squares and could even cause traffic jams or accidents. Al-Subaih asked citizenry and firms seeking to install ads at any place to get a license from the

Municipality Council office in the related areas to avoid removal.

Meanwhile, Al-Ahmadi Municipality General Director Yussef Al-Mullah revealed that the Municipality teams have removed 253 unlicensed hoardings across the governorate. AlMullah disclosed that that Municipality’s teams have recently carried out a campaign of inspections and busts of spoiled food stashes in warehouses as well as on the shelves of shopping centers and food outlets in the governorate.

The campaign resulted in closing six shops and referring scores others to investigations for not abiding by laws and regulations. — KUNA

KUWAIT: Municipality workers remove a hoarding yesterday. — Photo by Hanan Al-Saadoun

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2013

Bahrain youth killed in clashes

GCC raps Iran for dodging agenda of nuke talks

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India’s Rafale jet talks with France brighten

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ALEPPO: Syrian rebels fire a rocket towards regime forces stationed at Kwiriss airport in Al-Bab, 30 kilometres from the northeastern Syrian city of Aleppo yesterday. — AFP (See Page 11)

Iran commander killed in Syria Jets downed in blow to Syria regime DAMASCUS: Gunmen killed an Iranian commander in Syria while rebels shot down two fighter jets and overran a town yesterday, dealing further setbacks for forces loyal to President Bashar Al-Assad.

The ambush that killed the Revolutionary Guards commander, the downing of the aircraft in the northwest and the seizure the town of Shadadeh near the Iraq border amounted to four straight days of battlefield successes for the rebellion. The insurgents overran a military air base in Aleppo province on Tuesday, after taking control of Syria’s largest dam in the neighbouring province of Raqa the day before.

The latest setbacks came after new US Secretary of State John Kerry said President Bashar Al-Assad needed to abandon hopes of riding out the war and instead accept the “inevitability” of his departure. Yesterday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said one of its commanders, Hassan Shateri, was “martyred... at the hands of Zionist regime mercenaries and backers” while travelling on the road between the Syrian and Lebanese capitals.

The Guards said the commander was also head of the Iranian Committee for the Reconstruction of Lebanon, and the Iranian embassy in Beirut gave a similar account, but named the slain man as Hessam Khoshnevis. A strong ally of the Damascus regime, Tehran often refers to rebels fighting Assad’s troops as “terrorists” with ties to arch foe Israel. Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi strongly condemned the killing as a “terrorist act” and paid tribute to “this commander of Islam and his tireless efforts in reconstruction”.

Syria’s rebellion flared after Assad’s forces launched a bloody crackdown on peaceful democracy protests that erupted in March 2011, inspired by the Arab Spring uprisings. It has become increasingly dominated by Islamist groups, however, and one of the most prominent of these, the Al-Nusra Front, seized the town of Shadadeh in the oil-rich northeastern province of Hasakeh yesterday.

“After three days of fierce battles against the army, Al-Nusra Front fighters have seized control

of Shadadeh,” said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Fighting and car bomb attacks by the jihadists left more than 100 troops dead in three days, during which 30 Al-Nusra Front fighters also died. Five of the jihadists killed in the violence were from Kuwait, said the Observatory.

“Dozens of employees” working for the state petrol company were also killed in the rebels’ assault on the town, said the Britain-based watchdog, without elaborating. But elsewhere in the war-torn country, the army made its own advance, taking a district in the central city of Homs after weeks of heavy clashes. “The army has entered Jobar in western Homs, and rebel fighters have withdrawn from the district,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Observatory which relies on a network of sources for its information.

The victory comes a week after the army took control of Kafraya on the southwestern outskirts of Homs, a city opposition activists refer as “the capital of the revolution”. On January 19, the army launched an all-out bid to secure the route linking

Damascus to the coast, which runs through western Homs but has so far failed to take complete control. Elsewhere in Homs province, the air force bombarded the ancient city of Palmyra for the 10th day in a row, and warplanes also raided the nearby town of Rastan, activists and monitors said.

“Homs province is strategic to the regime because it is the largest in the country and because it links Damascus to the coast,” said Abu Rawan, a Rastan-based activist. In Washington, Kerry said on Wednesday after talks Jordan Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh that Washington and Jordan could take renewed steps to urge Syrian ally Russia to bring more pressure on Assad to quit. Those remarks came after Russia insisted it was ready to host talks with both sides in the conflict which has a death toll approaching 70,000.

Syria welcomed the invitation, while stressing its foreign minister would not meet Ahmed Moaz AlKhatib, the opposition chief who has offered to hold peace talks with regime officials without blood on their hands. — AFP

International FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2013

UN atom talks with Iran fail, no new date set Tehran won’t surrender to ‘domineering powers’

NABLUS: A young Palestinian flashes the sign of victory after being arrested by Israeli soldiers following clashes during a demonstration in support with Palestinian prisoners jailed in Israeli prisons yesterday in Nablus in the occupied West Bank. — AFP

Australia spy case

mystery grips Israel JERUSALEM: Speculation over the top-secret arrest and suicide of an Australian-Israeli in prison reached fever pitch yesterday amid allegations he may have been about to blow the whistle on sensitive Mossad operations. The mystery surrounding the so-called Prisoner X, identified this week by Australian media as Mossad agent Ben Zygier, has dominated headlines in Israel and Australia despite a media blackout on publishing details about his arrest.

Zygier is believed to have died in Dec 2010 while in isolation at Ayalon prison in Ramle near Tel Aviv, in a case which Israel went to extreme lengths to cover up.

Late on Wednesday, Israel admitted it had imprisoned a man with dual nationality on security grounds who had committed suicide in jail in 2010, but did not identify him, nor did it confirm reports he worked for its shadowy spy agency, Mossad. But an Israeli lawyer who met Zygier just days before his death confirmed that Mossad agents had been involved in the case, and said he saw no indication the prisoner was planning to kill himself.

According to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald, Australian intelligence officials believe that Zygier may have been about to reveal information about sensitive Mossad operations, including the use of falsified Australian passports, to either Canberra or to the media when he was arrested. Zygier “may well have been about to blow the whistle, but he never got the chance”, said an Australian security official familiar with the case. The report quoted Foreign Minister Bob Carr as saying Canberra had first learned of Zygier’s arrest “through intelligence channels” on Feb 24, 2010.

Just a week earlier, Dubai police had publicly accused Mossad agents of carrying out a January hit on a top Hamas militant, saying they were looking for around a dozen people with Western passports - four of them Australian. The move sparked a crisis between Israel and several Western governments, including Canberra, with the resultant freeze meaning “Zygier’s case wasn’t pursued further” by Australian intelligence or the foreign ministry, it said. Shortly afterwards, it emerged that Australia’s overseas intelligence agency had been investigating Zygier on suspicion of using his passport to spy for Israel, the paper said, indicating he was one of at least three dual Australian-Israeli citizens being probed. Earlier yesterday, human rights lawyer Avigdor Feldman confirmed he had met Zygier just days before he was found hanged in his cell which was equipped with state-of-the-art surveillance gear. “When I saw him, there was nothing to indicate he was going to commit suicide,” Feldman told army radio, saying he had gone to offer him advice ahead of his trial as talks were held over a plea bargain. —AFP

Australian newspapers lead their front pages in Australia yesterday with the story of Ben Zygier. — AFP

VIENNA: UN inspectors returned yesterday from talks in Tehran with no deal on access to Iran’s nuclear sites and no date for new talks, failing to produce even a small signal of hope for wider big power diplomacy aimed at averting a war.

“Despite its many commitments to do so, Iran has not negotiated in good faith,” said a Western diplomat accredited to the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna who was not at the talks. “It appears that we now have to ask ourselves if this is still the right tactic.”

The deadlock is a chilling signal for a wider effort by six major powers to get Iran to curb a programme that they fear could give it the capacity to build a nuclear bomb, something Israel has suggested it will prevent by force if diplomacy fails.

The IAEA and Iran “could not finalize the document” setting out terms for an IAEA inquiry into possible military dimensions of Iran’s nuclear program, chief UN inspector Herman Nackaerts said at Vienna airport after returning from Iran. He said no new date had been set for talks that have shown no progress in more than a year, adding: “Time is needed to reflect on the way forward.”

The United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany are due to meet Iran for separate talks in Kazakhstan on Feb 26 to tackle a decade-old row that has already produced four rounds of UN sanctions against Iran.

But the Islamic Republic, which denies any military dimension to its work and is asking for acknowledgement that it is entitled to produce nuclear fuel for peaceful purposes, is heading for a presidential

VIENNA: The IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Safeguards Herman Nackaerts arrives after a trip with his team to Iran yesterday at Schwechat Airport in Vienna. — AFP election in June. That fact alone makes it hard for any official to be seen to make concessions to foreign powers, let alone ones that suit Iran’s enemies, the United States and Israel, which is widely assumed to be the Middle East’s only nuclear-armed power.

“On behalf of the Iranian nation, I say that whoever thinks that the Iranian nation would surrender to pressure is making a huge mistake and will take his wish to the grave,” outgoing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said yesterday, according to state television.

Yet while talks go nowhere, the diplo-

matic clock is ticking. Iran is expanding a stockpile of higher-grade 20-percentenriched uranium ever closer to levels where a critical mass of weapons-grade material would be only a short step away something that Israel says would be a “red line” for action.

Washington has also warned, in less direct terms, that it will do what it takes to prevent Iran getting the bomb. Late last year it set a March deadline for Iran to start cooperating with the IAEA’s investigation, warning Tehran that it might otherwise be referred to the UN Security Council. —Reuters

Tunisia PM to declare cabinet line-up or quit TUNIS: Embattled Tunisian Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali said yesterday he will announce a new government line-up tomorrow, and warned that he will quit if it is rejected. Jebali has been pushing to form a government of technocrats in defiance of his Islamist Ennahda party since the murder last week of vocal government critic and leftist figure Chokri Belaid plunged the country into political crisis.

“I want to go through with this initiative,” Jebali told reporters on the sidelines of consultations with party leaders. “Today I will meet all the parties who have, or have not, accepted this initiative.

“Tomorrow I will announce the new government line-up and if it is rejected I will submit my resignation to the president,” he added.

Ennahda has rejected a new government made up exclusively of technocrats and called for a pro-Islamist rally tomorrow to back its legitimacy. The Islamists have joined ranks with the centre-left Congress for the Republic Party of President Moncef Marzouki, and two other parties, in proposing that the new cabinet comprise both politicians and independents.

But Jebali yesterday insisted that the

criteria for being in the new cabinet must include non-partisanship as well as a firm engagement by future ministers not to run in the next elections. “This is the proposal I am making for the country, and the

parties will be held responsible for its success or failure,” he told reporters.

“The parties must realise that there can be no bargaining for this initiative to go through. —AFP

TEHRAN: Iranian mourners carry the flag draped coffin of Gen Hassan Shateri, shown in the poster, in Tehran yesterday. Prominent Iranian politicians and clerics led mourners at a funeral for a senior commander of the country’s powerful Revolutionary Guards who was killed this week while traveling from Syria to Lebanon, local media said. — AP

International FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2013

Bahrain youth killed in clashes Violence erupts on uprising anniversary

Boats wait for customers on the banks of the Nile on Valentine’s Day, in Cairo, Egypt, yesterday. —AP

Officials defend hiring Egyptian leader’s son CAIRO: The appointment of the Egyptian president’s son to a high-paying job at a state-owned company raised accusations yesterday yesterday of nepotism in the country where the unemployment rate hovers at 13 percent and many university graduates are out of work.

Egypt’s Aviation Minister Wael El-Maadai said hiring newly elected President Mohammed Morsi’s son, Omar, was justified, and dismissed accusations of nepotism. The country reeled from pervasive nepotism under the country’s former autocratic ruler Hosni Mubarak, who was widely believed to be grooming his son for the presidency. ElMaadawi told the state MENA news agency that Omar Morsi, who graduated from college last year, went through regular procedures before he was hired by the state holding company for airports and aviation.

An aviation official familiar with the appointment said Omar Morsi, one of the president’s five children, got the internally advertised job in a department that usually pays new hires $5,000 a month. Another official in the company said the expected salary will be no more than $750 a month.

Still, such figured are practically unheard of for new university graduates in Egypt, where the starting salary for a government job can be as low $75. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

Marina Raouf, a 23-year-old who graduated last year from the same university as the president’s son, said she broke out in laughter when she first heard the news.

“Morsi’s son is working and I’m still jobless at home,” she said. “This makes me feel that I can never dream in my country because no matter what happens - even if we get a president with our votes - he’ll still prioritize his children.

There will still be that quota for officials’ sons.”

Morsi has four sons and a daughter. One of his children works as a doctor in Saudi Arabia, while the youngest is still in high school. When news surfaced that Omar Morsi had landed a job starting in March in the state-run holding company for airports and aviation, many activists accused government officials of favoring the president’s son and likened the move to Mubarak-era practices.

Fady Mohammed, an 21-year old activist who volunteers in low-income neighborhoods, said no one - not even a president’s son - gets a government job without a “wasta,” an Arabic word loosely meaning favoritism or having connections. “The problem is now Islamists are putting a loyalist or a member in every ministry and not based on merits,” Mohammed said. “We are still a repressive country and with the president’s son in a post, other employees will treat him as a leader, who must be obeyed.” The accusations prompted the aviation minister to publicly defend the hire. —AP

MANAMA: A teenager was shot dead near Bahrain’s capital yesterday as clashes erupted when hundreds took to the streets to mark the second anniversary of a Shiite-led uprising against the kingdom’s rulers. The demonstrations, staged early morning in some villages across the Gulf archipelago, turned violent when police fired shotguns and tear gas to disperse the crowds, wounding several people, witnesses said.

Protesters responded by hurling petrol bombs at the security forces, and a 16year-old boy was shot and killed during the confrontation, according to the opposition. On the eve of the anniversary, the opposition held a new round of reconciliation talks with the government and its supporters, although there was still no sign of a breakthrough.

The opposition identified the slain teenager as Hussein Al-Jaziri, saying he had been killed in the Shiite-populated village of Daih near the capital Manama.

Jaziri was “wounded by a shotgun that regime forces fired... He was severely wounded in his stomach and died at the hospital,” said Al-Wefaq, the main opposition bloc.

The interior ministry said that “a wounded person who was brought to AlSalmaniya hospital was pronounced dead.” Opposition groups had called for strikes and nationwide protests yesterday and today to mark the Arab Springinspired uprising that began on February 14, 2011 and was crushed by the security forces about a month later.

Public security chief Major-General Tariq Al-Hassan had warned late on Wednesday that “those who engage in any type of illegal behavior will be dealt with swiftly”. But demonstrations took off in the villages of Barbar, Bilad Al-Qadim, and Sitra where protesters waving

Bahraini flags chanted: “The people want to overthrow the regime”. Protesters blocked several roads across the Gulf state, home to the US Fifth Fleet, burning tyres, garbage and tree branches.

They tried to march towards what was once known as Pearl Square in central Manama, the symbolic centre of the uprising where protesters had camped before being driven out by security forces. Police were heavily deployed around the square in a bid to dissuade gatherings. The violence subsided in the afternoon, despite online calls for further demonstrations later yesterday.

Al-Wefaq condemned the regime’s “violence” and accused it of “savagely” dealing with the protests. “Dozens have been wounded, some of them seriously,” the opposition group said in a statement, adding that many of them suffered from

breathing difficulties due to the police use of tear gas “against residential areas.”

The opposition had called for strikes to be observed across Bahrain yesterday. But activity in Manama appeared normal and shops remained open at the kingdom’s largest shopping mall as well as in Manama’s business centre. The violence came after representatives of the opposition held a new round of a national dialogue on Wednesday with the government and political groups that support it.

The dialogue, hailed by the United States as a positive step that could bring reforms to satisfy all Bahrainis, resumed at the weekend for the first time since they broke down in mid-2011. The opposition, which wants a constitutional monarchy, is demanding that the results of the talks be put to a referendum and not be submitted to King Hamad for approval. - AFP

MANAMA: Bahraini women flash the sign for victory during an anti-government protest in the village of Sanabis, west of capital Manama.—AFP

‘Fundamentalist Island’ harbours Mali rebels KADJI: Boncana Amadou, the 93-year-old chief of the village of Kadji in northern Mali, points a worn finger toward the Niger river and a strip of land down the middle that locals call “Fundamentalist Island”. “Do you see that there?” Amadou says. “Those are Malian fundamentalists living there, and they’ve been sheltering Islamists from

MUJAO.” MUJAO is the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa, one of three armed Islamist groups that seized Mali’s vast desert north for 10 months before a French-led military campaign launched on January 11 forced them from the towns under their control.

MUJAO’s stronghold was Gao, the largest

ACCRA: This undated photo released yesterday by the Ministry of Defence shows a Ghanaian soldier standing guard over a Royal Air Force C-17 Globemaster at Accra Airport, Ghana. — AP

city in northern Mali, which the fighters from the Al-Qaeda offshoot have continued attacking with suicide bombings and a street battle in recent days. Kadji sits some 10 kilometres (six miles) south of Gao. A village of around 6,000 people, it is divided between the high river bank and an island below, straddling a strand of the Niger with no bridge between the two parts.

Locals say the island is inhabited by several hundred members of an Islamic fundamentalist movement called Ansar Sunna (Faithful to God’s Word). “That part of my village has escaped my control,” says Amadou, sitting in front of a mud hut. Ansar Sunna was founded more than 25 years ago and preaches a “radical Islam”, says Mamadou Adama, deputy mayor of the district that includes Kadji and 12 other villages. “Today it has spread all around this region,” Adama says. Ansar Sunna requires women to wear full veils-a practice uncommon among Mali’s 90-percent Muslim population-separates men and women during the daytime, has only Koranic schools, forbids smoking and denies public health workers access to the island to vaccinate children, locals say.

Bossou, a cousin of the village chief who has visited the island, says men with guns guard the entrance to the collection of mud huts where its residents live. —AFP

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2013

International FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2013

Crashed Ukraine plane hit weather station Soccer fans killed in crash

NAIROBI: Supporters of The National Alliance hold a placard for of Kenya’s Deputy Prime Minister and Jubilee Alliance Presidential candidate in the upcoming Presidential elections, Uhuru Kenyatta during a political rally in the capital Nairobi. — AFP

Lawyers for Kenya suspects call for trial delay THE HAGUE: Four prominent Kenyans accused of orchestrating deadly violence that erupted after their country’s 2007 presidential elections called on the International Criminal Court yesterday to delay the start of their trial.

Lawyers for Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and Cabinet secretary Francis Muthaura told judges at a pretrial hearing that prosecutors have not disclosed key evidence ahead of the trial that is scheduled to start April 11. They argue that the identities of several witnesses are still being withheld and large chunks of evidence have been redacted by prosecutors, meaning they cannot properly prepare for trial. “The extent of the redactions, in names and substance, render the proposed date for trial entirely untenable,” said Gillian Higgins, one of Kenyatta’s attorneys. Prosecutors said they are working within court rules and deadlines for disclosure set by the judges.

Judges made no immediate ruling. Kenyatta and Muthaura are charged with crimes against humanity for alleged involvement in the murder, forcible deportation, persecution and rape of supporters of Prime Minister Raila Odinga in the aftermath of the 2007 vote.

The violence left more than 1,000 people dead. Two other suspects, former Education Minister William Ruto and broadcaster Joshua Arap Sang, are charged with similar offenses and face a separate trial. The two cases are separate because the suspects supported different candidates in the 2007 election.

At a second pretrial hearing, lawyers for Sang and Ruto also argued for a delay in their clients’ trial, arguing that the start date of April 10 would not give them enough time to prepare.

Kenyatta, who is the son of Kenya’s founding father, Jomo Kenyatta, is running on a joint ticket with Ruto in next month’s presidential election. While Sang and Muthaura traveled to The Hague for their hearings, Kenyatta and Ruto remained in Kenya and participated in the hearings via a video link. Also yesterday, Presiding Judge Kuniko Ozaki said that she wants two sets of judges to hear the cases. Currently, the same three-judge panel is due to sit in both trials.

Explaining how they will run the country while facing a trial at the ICC that could last for years, and how Kenya’s relationship with the west will be affected if they win, has become the main issue for Kenyatta and Ruto in their campaigns throughout the country. The top US State Department official for Africa, Johnnie Carson, appeared last week to warn Kenyans against voting for Kenyatta. Shortly afterward, France and Switzerland said they would have only essential contact with Kenya’s top leadership if Kenyatta wins the presidency.

Other presidential contenders have taken advantage of the ICC trial to discredit the alliance between the two suspects, in which Kenyatta is the presidential contender and Ruto is his running mate. Polls put Kenyatta as the second most popular presidential candidate. On Monday during Kenya’s first ever presidential debate, Prime Minister Raila Odinga, the front runner in the presidential race, said the country cannot be governed remotely.

It will pose serious challenges to run a government via Skype from The Hague, Netherlands, Odinga quipped. Kenyatta and Ruto have insisted that they will be able to rule Kenya if they win despite their trials. A High Court in Kenya will rule today on whether Kenyatta and Ruto can run for election while facing trial at the ICC. — AP

KIEV, Ukraine: A plane that crashed at a Ukrainian airport, killing five people, hit the airport’s weather station while landing in thick fog, officials said yesterday.

The Soviet-built An-24 twin-engined turboprop carrying soccer fans headed for a match against a German team crashed while trying to land at Donetsk airport Wednesday evening. Of the 44 passengers and eight crew on board, five were killed and nine others injured. Donetsk Prosecutor Volodymyr Vyshinsky said the plane, which was flying from the Black Sea port of Odessa, grazed the weather station with its left wing as it was approaching the landing strip, then hit the ground with its right wing and broke into two pieces.

Airport weather stations are slim, unmanned towers that hold the sensors and measuring equipment that record weather data. They are separate from the airport’s control tower.

Investigators are considering pilot error, faulty ground support equipment and poor weather conditions as possible causes. Witnesses said the plane quickly caught fire. Passengers were able to escape from the burning aircraft through a hole in the fuselage left by the crash.

The plane’s pilot Serhiy Meloshenko blamed bad weather for the accident.

“There was heavy fog,” Meloshenko told Channel 5 television in a weak voice from a hospital bed. “The landing strip was poorly visible, or to be more precise, it was not visible at all.” Yuri Molod, head of

South Airlines, which operated the flight, told the 1+1 TV channel that the plane was in good condition and blamed the pilot for the crash-landing. Molod said the pilot should not have landed in the fog and should have diverted to another airport. South Airlines is a small company that mainly operates domestic flights out of the Black Sea port of Odessa. Its planes were ordered grounded pending an investigation into the crash.

The An-24, which first entered service

in 1959, is a medium-range plane that has remained a mainstay of carriers across the former Soviet Union even though production ended in 1978. It wasn’t clear when the crashed plane was built. In recent years, former Soviet republics have seen a series of deadly crashes that has tarnished the region’s air safety record. Experts blame them on poor maintenance of aging planes, weak government controls, insufficient pilot training and a cost-cutting mentality among carriers. — AP

DONETSK: Personnel are seen through the fence at the tarmac of Donetsk International Airport after an Antonov AN-24 plane with dozens of football fans on board made an emergency landing in the eastern Ukraine city of Donetsk.—AFP

Turkey detains 4 ex-generals ISTANBUL: Four retired Turkish generals have been jailed pending trial in an inquiry into the removal of an Islamist-led government in 1997, days after the prime minister met a convicted general in an apparent step to mend relations with the army. The detention of the four, on top of dozens of other officers arrested, widened extensive judicial investigations into the once-all powerful military, whose power

has been sharply curtailed in the last decade.

The arrests were made even though Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has criticized lengthy pre-trial detentions of hundreds of military officers on conspiracy charges, hinting that he is seeking to rebuild bridges with the military. Over the last couple of weeks he has also criticized the charging of a former chief of staff as a

terrorist group member and visited in hospital an ailing general among those convicted of conspiring against him. In February 1997 the military-dominated National Security Council issued a stern warning to Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan, who pioneered Islamist politics in Turkey, accusing his government of policies undermining the secular constitution.—Reuters

Angola parliament okays 2013 budget in final vote

LISBON: Angola’s parliament yesterday approved a 2013 budget bill that the ruling MPLA party says will increase spending to improve social conditions while extending an economic rebound in Africa’s No. 2 oil producer, state news agency Angop reported.

President Jose Eduardo dos Santos led his MPLA party to a resounding victory in an election last August and has pledged to improve the distribution of the country’s vast oil wealth and offer millions of Angolans better access to public services and jobs. The MPLA have previously said the budget would deliver on those promises by allocating more than a third of total spending to education, health, social welfare and housing. But the country’s sec-

ond-biggest opposition party, CASA-CE, said this statistic was misleading. “The increase in resources for the social sector is a fallacy, as the biggest slice of the spending is on fuel price subsidies, which benefits the few rich in Angola and not the poor majority of the population,” it said in a statement. Together with main opposition party UNITA, CASA-CE also criticised the allocation of about 17 percent of total spending on defence and security, 11 years after the end of Angola’s civil war.

Angop said the bill was approved in a final vote with 155 lawmakers for, 38 against and five abstentions. The MPLA has 175 seats in the 220-seat parliament.

The budget forecasts economic growth of 7.1 percent this year, with increased

crude output and prices helping extend a rebound started by last year’s 7.4 percent expansion. Technical problems and maintenance dented Angola’s oil production in 2011 but these have been largely overcome and, with new fields coming online, output is seen rising to 1.84 million barrels per day this year from last year’s 1.8 million. Dos Santos has also pledged to diversify the economy, which depends on oil for 95 percent of its export revenues. His government has said a 60 percent jump in public investment to about $17 billion in the budget - to go mainly on construction and renovation of infrastructure destroyed by the civil war - is needed for sectors such as agriculture, industry and mining to flourish.—Reuters

International FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2013

Children of Europe’s debtor nations pushed into poverty BRUSSELS: Almost a third of children in Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Italy and Spain have been pushed to the brink of poverty by austerity designed to bring down public debt, the global charity Caritas said yesterday. Italy and euro zone countries that have received international loans are creating a generation of poorlyfed young people with low morale and few job prospects as the number of children at risk of poverty continues to rise, the charity said, citing EU statistics.

“This could be a recipe not just for one lost generation in Europe but for several lost generations,” Caritas said. Since 2010 Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain have received tens of billions in loans from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund in return for spending cutbacks and tax rises. Indebted

Italy has not received an international loan.

In all five of these countries the increasing rate of children close to poverty coincides with the height of the crisis in 2008 and rises year-on-year to 2011.

Statistics for 2012 are not yet available. The charity blames children’s growing impoverishment on familyunfriendly cuts to welfare, unemployment benefits, rising value-added tax and increased fuel duties.

“It has become an established fact that children are more at risk of poverty than any other demographic,” Deirdre de Burca from Caritas said. Figures from the European Commission show that in 2011 over 30 percent of children in Spain and Greece were at risk of poverty or exclusion, a four percentage point rise since 2005. In Portugal that figure is just below a third at

28.6 percent. The 2011 figures for Ireland and Italy were not available. In 2010 37.6 percent of children were at risk of poverty or exclusion in Ireland and 28.9 percent in Italy. Children are defined as nearing poverty and exclusion if they live in families with 60 percent or less the median income or have parents with little or no employment or lack basic essentials such as proteinrich foods, heating and clothes. Caritas said governments must ask themselves what these trends will mean for children in the long run. Studies show children from poor households are more likely to underperform at school and to struggle at finding or keeping jobs. “They are looking at a future where the prospect of unemployment is stretching out ahead of them,” de Burca said. — Reuters

Benedict’s protege to hold dual role under new pope Vatican hints at Benedict’s role as ‘guide’

ROME: Women and men wearing a glove with red paint dance during the Rome’s “One Billion Rising” flashmob against Violence on women at Piazza di Spagna yesterday. The “One Billion Rising” is a protest organized in many countries around the world on St Valentine’s day. — AFP

Small firms back Cameron on EU reform HEDDINGTON: For Peggy Robinson, the directives coming from the European Union are now so relentless she hires an extra person just to “wade” through the paperwork at her small family firm. Gareth Jenkins, a small manufacturer from Wales, relies heavily on his lawyer to understand the many rules, and describes the experience as a snowstorm of new legislation coming from every direction.

Both are typical of many small businesses around Britain who benefit hugely from free trade but feel they are buckling under the weight of regulation and are starting to wonder whether life might be easier if the UK withdrew to Europe’s sidelines. The debate has taken on added meaning since Prime Minister David Cameron said last month he would seek to cut red tape in a renegotiation of the terms of Britain’s EU membership, before holding a straight in-out referendum by the end of 2017.

“They’re telling us how to run our companies, and that grates,” says Robinson, who handles the paperwork for her family’s 25-person manufacturing business from a farm in Heddington, in southern England. “Our cultures and practices are different, yet our hands are bound.” The issues that concern the companies include health and safety regulations, changes to pensions, and requirements for maternity and paternity leave.

Cameron said “Europe had gone too far” in setting “unnecessary rules and regulations”.

Much of the response from business so far has come from the heads of the country’s largest companies, such as WPP’s Martin Sorrell and Virgin Group’s Richard Branson, who believe a fiveyear wait for a referendum will create uncertainty and stifle investment in the $2.5 trillion economy. But the opinions of smaller companies, which with staff numbers of between 20 and 100 lack the manpower to handle “red tape”, are more nuanced.

“We all like free trade. We all recognise the euro zone as our main trading partner,” said Jenkins, managing director of FSG Tool & Die in south Wales. “But the things we don’t like as a community are the raft upon raft of legislation. It’s like being in a snowstorm.

There are so many flakes you can’t count them.”—Reuters

VATICAN CITY: Pope Benedict XVI’s closest confidant Georg Gaenswein will continue to be the soon-to-be former pope’s secretary while also overseeing the new pope’s household, the Vatican said yesterday. “He will remain prefect of the papal household and will also be secretary to Benedict,” Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said at a press briefing.

“He has informed us he will take up residence with Benedict” in a monastery within the Vatican walls that is currently being renovated, Lombardi said. Monsignor Gaenswein will therefore hold a dual role as part of an unprecedented situation in the history of the Catholic Church in which a pope and his predecessor will live within a stone’s throw of each other.

The Vatican has hinted that Benedict could continue to have a behind-thescenes spiritual role as guide for his successor. The 85-year-old pope himself has said he will live “hidden from the world”.

Lombardi yesterday said Benedict’s four housekeepers-pious lay women known as “Memores Domini”-would also continue to work for the ex-pope in his new residence, a picturesque spot in Vatican City surrounded by flower beds.

Benedict promoted Gaenswein to prefect of the papal household in December a move interpreted now as a key part of his plans to resign. Like the pope, Gaenswein is German and has an academic background, with a doctorate in canon law. The son of a blacksmith, he was ordained in 1984 and rose through the ranks to become Joseph Ratzinger’s secretary in 2003.

When Ratzinger was elected to the papacy in 2005, he kept the trusted Gaenswein by his side, propelling him into the limelight, much to the delight of the international media, instantly smitten by the pope’s dashing assistant. A refreshing change from the elderly dignitaries populating the often staid world of the Vatican, the 56-year-old, who can be seen constantly at the pope’s side, has a pilot’s licence, skis in his spare time and is a Pink Floyd fan.

Gaenswein also played a pivotal role in the investigation that identified the pope’s butler, Paolo Gabriele, as the source of a series of damaging leaks of confidential papal documents that rocked the Vatican last year. Gaenswein testified at Gabriele’s

trial, an unprecedented court case in modern Church history where it emerged that he had suspicions on the butler’s guilt all along in a scandal that has come to be known as “Vatileaks”. The scandal has been

seen by many observers as one of many factors that helped Benedict come to the conclusion that he should step down. The pope was said to be personally shaken by the betrayal of his butler. — AFP

ROME: Pope Benedict XVI (C) is greeted at the end of an audience with Rome’s parish priests yesterday at the Paul VI hall at the Vatican. — AFP

Russia wants arrest of Georgian MP MOSCOW: Russia yesterday issued an arrest warrant for a Georgian politician allied to President Mikheil Saakashvili accused of funding last year’s street protests against Vladimir Putin.

The Investigative Committee said Georgian parliament member Givi Targamadze was accused of “preparing to organise mass disturbances on the territory of the Russian Federation together with Sergei Udaltsov” and two other leftist protest leaders.

Udaltsov was placed under house arrest in connection with the same investigation last week. He faces up to 10 years in jail if put on trial and convicted. Targamadze sits in the Georgian parliament as a senior member of the opposition United National Movement Party of Saakashvili-a top foe of Putin’s Kremlin after the 2008 Moscow-Tbilisi war. The charges stem from a documen-

tary-style film attacking the opposition movement that was broadcast on Russian government-controlled NTV television on October 5.

“The Anatomy of a Protest — 2” showed grainy footage of a figure resembling Udaltsov meeting with a group of people who included a man with a Georgian accent.

The film alleged that a Moscow banker on poor terms with the Kremlin had volunteered to finance the street protests while Targamadze acted as the middleman in the talks with Udaltsov.

Both men deny the charges. The Investigative Committee-Russia’s nearest equivalent of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)— said it was issuing the arrest warrant after officially being informed by Tbilisi that Targamadze had no immunity from prosecution.—AFP

International FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2013

Republicans blocking Hagel: Senate Democratic leader Panetta left Pentagon mark

Rick Heltebrake, who called police informing them that fugitive Christopher Dorner had hijacked his car, talks to the media with his dog Suni about the ordeal in Angelus Oaks, California. — AFP

Victim on US fugitive: ‘I don’t want to hurt you’ LOS ANGELES: There was no question. The man standing before Rick Heltebrake on a rural US mountain road was Christopher Dorner.

Clad in camouflage from head to toe and wearing a bulletproof vest packed with ammunition, the most wanted man in America had emerged from a grove of trees holding a large assault-style rifle.

As teams of officers who had sought the fugitive ex-Los Angeles police officer for a week were closing in, Dorner pointed the gun at Heltebrake and ordered him out of his truck. “I don’t want to hurt you. Start walking and take your dog,” Heltebrake recalled Dorner saying during the carjacking Tuesday. The man got into the truck and drove away.

Heltebrake called police when he heard a volley of gunfire erupt soon after, then hid behind a tree.

A short time later, police caught up with the man they believe was Dorner, surrounding a cabin where he’d taken refuge after crashing Heltebrake’s truck in the mountains 80 miles (130 kilometers) east of Los Angeles. A gunfight ensued in which one sheriff’s deputy was killed and another wounded. After the firefight ended, a police team using an armored vehicle broke out the cabin’s windows and began knocking down walls. Tear gas was thrown, a fire started, and later, charred remains believed to be Dorner’s were found.

San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon said Wednesday the fire was not set on purpose. “We did not intentionally burn down that cabin to get Mr. Dorner out,” he said. His deputies lobbed pyrotechnic tear gas into the cabin, and it erupted in flames, he said. McMahon did not say directly that the tear gas started the blaze, and the cause of the fire was under investigation.

The sheriff said authorities have not positively identified the remains. However, all evidence points to it being Dorner, he said, and the manhunt is considered over. A wallet and personal items, including a California driver’s license with the name Christopher Dorner were found in the cabin debris, an official briefed on the investigation told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing probe.

The tourist community of Big Bear Lake that was the focus of the intensive manhunt was returning to normalcy Wednesday, and residents were sharing stories of the last weeks’ events. None was more dramatic than Heltebrake’s.

He said he wasn’t panicked in his meeting with Dorner because he didn’t feel the fugitive wanted to hurt him. “He wasn’t wild-eyed, just almost professional,” he said. “He was on a mission.” —AP

WASHINGTON: US Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid made an impassioned appeal yesterday for confirmation of Chuck Hagel as President Barack Obama’s new secretary of defense, as Republicans said he might not get the 60 votes needed to overcome roadblocks preventing a vote on his confirmation.

A senior Republican aide said it was not clear if enough Republicans would cross the aisle to help provide the 60 votes. Democrats, who have remained united in support of Hagel, a former Republican senator, control 55 seats in the 100-member Senate.

The aide said a number of members want more information about Hagel, their former colleague. But the aide said that eventually, barring an unexpected surprise, the feeling is that he will be confirmed.

Meanwhile, on his last trip abroad as US defense secretary, Leon Panetta was asked what he thought of “Zero Dark Thirty,” the movie about the intense manhunt and daring raid that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

“You know what,” chuckled Panetta, who as CIA director oversaw the raid two years ago. “I lived it. It’s a great movie, but I lived it.” As he heads home to California, the 74-year-old Panetta will inevitably be remembered more as the CIA director who got bin Laden than as the Pentagon chief who oversaw shrinking defense budgets and the winding down of the Afghanistan war.

But military officials and analysts say Panetta, who had decades of public service but just 19 months as defense secretary, also left a mark on the Pentagon.

He removed barriers to women in direct combat jobs, which had limited their ability to reach the highest ranks.

And he oversaw the lifting of the ban on gays serving openly in the military.

Panetta helped fashion a US defense strategy for the post-9/11 era and won military chiefs’ support for $487 billion in cuts to defense spending, all while maintaining a sense of collegiality and consensus, officials said.

Senate Republicans, who verbally browbeat Panetta’s likely successor, Chuck Hagel, at his confirmation hearing, praised the outgoing defense chief, not least for trying to hold the line on even deeper budget cuts.

“Nobody was more passionate, no

President Barack Obama gets off the Marine One helicopter before boarding Air Force One as he arrives at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland yesterday before traveling to Decatur to promote his economic and educational plan that he highlighted in his State of the Union address. — AP one was more outspoken than Leon Panetta and I am grateful,” said Sen. John McCain, a Republican from Arizona, who nonetheless disagreed with his decision on gays in the military.

Revolutionary change did not mark his tenure, and some fault him for being too eager to find consensus. He leaves behind a Pentagon that is two weeks away from deeper, across-the-board spending reductions that he railed against for months.

“He is a Washington insider, a budget expert and he was an excellent caretaker for DoD during a very contentious presidential election year where defense was in fact a relatively big issue,” said Mackenzie Eaglen, a defense analyst at the conservative American Enterprise Institute.

Defense secretary was not a job Panetta coveted. After the intense months that led up to the raid on bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, the CIA chief was done, officials said, and ready to return to California and the walnut farm where he grew up collecting the fruit his Italian immigrant father would shake from the trees. Panetta is fond of saying when he decided to pursue a career in public

service, his father told him he was welltrained for Washington because “you’ve been dodging nuts all your life.”

But Obama wasn’t ready to let Panetta return to his California nuts.

Facing huge deficits after a decade of war and the worst economy in a generation, he wanted Panetta’s budget expertise at the Pentagon.

Panetta declined, but Obama pressed harder and by June 2011, he was at work in the defense secretary’s office along the Pentagon’s E-ring corridor.

The shift to Panetta from Defense Secretary Robert Gates brought a marked change in tone to the Pentagon.

Where Gates tended to be serious, reserved and formal, Panetta was humorous, irreverent and casual.

Between them, officials and analysts say, they restored civilian-military ties that were badly frayed by the disputes in the early Bush administration over the handling of the wars. Both men were keenly interested in the young troopers who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Panetta’s gift was his ability to light up a room with laughter, even if that room was a hospital ward filled with veterans recuperating from war wounds, military officials said. — Reuters

After days stranded at sea, now comes the bus ride MOBILE, Alabama: After days stranded in the Gulf of Mexico in conditions some have described as dismal, most passengers aboard the disabled Carnival Triumph can look forward to an hours-long bus ride after they reach dry land.

The company announced its plan for passengers late Wednesday as the Triumph was being towed to a port in Mobile, Alaabam, with more than 4,000 people on board, some of whom have complained to relatives that they have limited access to food and bathrooms.

But passengers’ stay in Alabama will be short. Carnival said in a statement late Wednesday that passengers were being given the option of boarding buses directly to

Galveston, Texas, or Houston - a roughly seven-hour drive - or taking a two-hour bus ride to New Orleans, where the company said it booked 1,500 hotel rooms. Those staying in New Orleans will be flown today to Houston. Carnival said it will cover all the transportation costs.

“I can’t imagine being on that ship this morning and then getting on a bus,” said Kirk Hill, whose 30-year-old daughter, Kalin Christine Hill, is on the cruise. “If I hit land in Mobile, you’d have a hard time getting me on a bus.”

Hill is booking a flight from Amarillo, Texas, to New Orleans to meet his daughter when she gets there.

Speaking by phone to NBC’s “Today” show yesterday morning, passenger Janie Baker said conditions on the

ship were “extremely terrible.” There has been no electricity and few working toilets, she said.

Baker also described having to use plastic bags to go to the bathroom and wait in line for hours to get food and once saw a woman pass out while in line. “It’s just a nightmare,” she said. Baker said she and her friends slept with their life vests one night because the ship was listing and they feared it would tip over.

Vivian Tilley, whose sister, Renee Shanar, is on the ship, said Shanar, of Houston, told her the cabins were hot and smelled like smoke from the engine fire, forcing passengers to stay on the deck. She also said people were getting sick. —AP

International FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2013

Bomb attacks kill 14 in northwest Pakistan PESHAWAR: Three separate bomb attacks in northwest Pakistan killed at least 14 people yesterday, including five security personnel in a suicide blast at a checkpoint, officials said.

A bomber detonated a pickup truck loaded with explosives at a checkpoint in Hangu district, near the tribal areas where militants linked to the Taliban and AlQaeda have strongholds, local police chief Mian Mohammad Saeed told AFP. “At least five security personnel have been killed and 11 injured. It was a suicide attack,” he said.

Earlier in the day a roadside bomb struck a bus carry-

ing members of a pro-government militia from the tribal district of Khyber, where fighting has recently intensified in a long-running Pakistan military operation against insurgents. The explosion in the village of Hassanzo in the neighbouring tribal district of Orakzai killed seven people and wounded 13, officials said. “According to initial information, the van was hired by a local peace committee from Khyber and 20 members of the peace committee were on board together with the driver,” top Orakzai administration official Mehmood Hasan told AFP. Peace committees are armed groups operating in the restive northwest with the aim of protecting local

communities on behalf of the government. In a second attack in the same place, a van carrying civilians was hit by a blast which killed two people and wounded 10, Hasan said.

Security officials confirmed the attacks and the death toll. Pakistani troops have been locked in deadly battles for years with domestic insurgents in the northwestern tribal belt, where militants also plot attacks on Afghan and Western targets.

Islamabad says more than 35,000 people have been killed as a result of terrorism in the country since the 9/11 attacks on the United States. — AFP

2 die after Bangladesh war crimes protest DHAKA: Two people died yesterday after suffering injuries in violent clashes between police and Islamists earlier in the week during protests over war crimes trials in Bangladesh.

The demonstrators have been demanding a halt to the trials of opposition Jamaat-E-Islami party leaders for crimes including genocide and rape they are alleged to have committed during the 1971 war of independence against Pakistan.

Nine people have now died of political violence including Jamaat supporters, some of whom were shot dead, since the Islamists launched the protests last month. Police said a lift operator of a state bank succumbed to head injuries after he was beaten by supporters of Jamaat on Wednesday as clashes erupted between police and Islamists in Dhaka’s main commercial area.

A village guard who was gravely injured on Tuesday in another violent protest that broke out near the southeastern port city of Chittagong also died of his wounds yesterday afternoon, police said. “He was attacked by Shibir (student wing of Jamaat) activists,” Rabiul Islam, Chittagong special branch police chief, told AFP. The entire leadership of Jamaat including its chief and deputy chief and two senior officials of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party have been tried by a war crimes tribunal set up by the country’s secular government. A senior Jamaat leader was sentenced to life imprisonment last week for mass murder. The government says the trials are needed to heal the wounds of the nine-month war in which it says three million people were killed, many by pro-Pakistani militia whose members allegedly included Jamaat officials. — AFP

Maldives ex-leader seeks president’s resignation COLOMBO: The former president of the Maldives took refuge for a second day yesterday in the country’s Indian embassy, and his party spokesman said he would not leave the building until the current leader resigns.

Abdul Gafoor, spokesman for the Maldivian Democratic Party, said former President Mohamed Nasheed was in danger and the party had urged him to remain in the embassy in the capital, Male.

“The threat level is high. The party is advising him not to step outside,” Gafoor told The Associated Press. Nasheed entered the embassy Wednesday after a court ordered his arrest for

not attending a hearing on charges that he illegally ordered the detention of a senior judge, a move which led to his ouster from power last year. Nasheed says that the charges are politically motivated to disqualify him from running for the presidency in September elections.

The government says the arrest warrant expired Wednesday night but Gafoor said the party feared for Nasheed’s life. Nasheed demanded in a statement Wednesday that President Mohammed Waheed Hassan resign and install a caretaker government to oversee the election. He said Hassan could not be trusted to hold a free and fair vote.—AP

KOLKATA: Members and supporters of various sexual minority groups dance during a protest meeting against all forms of physical and mental violence against women and girls all over the world, in Kolkata yesterday.— AFP

NEW DELHI: French Defense Minister Jean-Yves le Drian (left) meets with his Indian counterpart AK Anthony at South Block in New Delhi yesterday during the two-day state visit by French President Francois Hollande . — AFP

India’s Rafale jet talks with France brighten Talks hampered by pricing of tech transfer NEW DELHI: India and France are speeding up negotiations on a $10 billion deal for 126 Rafale aircraft following disagreements over the cost of building them in India, which caused months of delays, two Indian Defense Ministry officials told Reuters. India started exclusive talks with French Dassault Aviation’s Rafale for a 126-plane order in January 2012, over the competing Eurofighter Typhoon. The two sides still have to sign a final contract.

French President Francois Hollande discussed the deal with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday, the first day of a two-day visit to India. “We’ve seen progress in these discussions and I’m hopeful that they will succeed,” Hollande said after the talks. Singh said discussions on the sale were “progressing well”. The deal is being negotiated against the backdrop of the arrest of the chief executive of Italy’s Finmeccanica this week after allegations kickbacks were paid during the sale of helicopters to India. India has suspended the deal pending investigation.

There were no immediate indications the fallout from the Finmeccanica investigation would affect the French deal. Indian Defence Minister AK Antony said on Wednesday that the kickback allegations were likely to cause an “initial setback” to India’s push to modernise its weaponry. The talks on the Rafale sale have progressed slowly because of differences about how to price the transfer of technology, sourcing of spares and the selection of an Indian partner, two Indian Defence Ministry officials said. “There are three issues of contention - pricing of transfer of technology, sourcing from India and the joint venture with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL),” said one of the ministry officials, who said negotiations had been

delayed by a few months, largely because of those issues.

The other official said the contentious points had been mostly resolved and the deal could be finalized as soon as July. Dassault declined to comment. The second official said Dassault had earlier asked India to pay up to $2 billion more for the future upgrading of technology that would be transferred over the 30-year life-cycle of the deal.

At an air show in Bangalore last week, India pledged not to let defence cuts stand in the way of efforts to finalize the deal.

Following India’s strong objections to the cost escalation, France has broadly agreed to review its decision but negotiations were still going on for calculating the price for the maintenance and lifecycle cost of the planes, the second official said.

Under the Rafale deal, Dassault is expected to send 18 ready-made jets, then manufacture the rest in India. India expects the deal will provide business of $4 billion to $5 billion to Indian companies, said the second ministry official, who has knowledge of the talks.

Both officials said another contentious issue in the negotiations was the selection of India’s staterun Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) as partner of Dassault to manufacture planes in India. Rafale has expressed doubts about the technological capability of HAL to manufacture such a sophisticated fighter jet, the official said. A HAL program to manufacture advanced jet trainers is running years behind schedule. However, India has told French negotiators that provisions of entering into a joint venture with the HAL to produce fighter jets was non-negotiable and there was no question of involving any private company in the deal, the officials said.—Reuters

International FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2013

Malaysia in standoff with Philippine rebels Gunmen ‘demand to stay in Malaysia’

PYONGYANG: North Korean army officers and soldiers attend a rally at Kim Il Sung Square yesterday in Pyongyang in celebration of the country’s recent nuclear test. — AP

Lack of data shrouds N Korea nuke test SEOUL: Urgent efforts to find out the type of device detonated in North Korea’s latest nuclear test appeared to be getting nowhere yesterday, with South Korean experts unable to detect any radioactive fallout. The North’s test on Tuesday triggered an immediate scramble to collect and analyse any fallout data that might provide crucial clues about the nature of the test and the progress Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program has made.

While seismic data was able to shed light on the likely yield of the underground test-estimated at 6-7 kilotons-the main hunt was for elusive radioisotopes that might confirm the type of fissile material that was used. Experts are particularly keen to establish whether the North switched from plutonium-used in the 2006 and 2009 tests-to a new and self-sustaining nuclear weaponisation program using highly enriched uranium.

The South’s state-run Nuclear Safety and Security Commission said yesterday it had analysed eight atmospheric samples apparently collected by warships and air force planes equipped with highly sensitive detection devices.

“No radioactive isotope has been found yet,” the commission said in a statement.

Their priority target was traces of xenon gases released in the detonation that would point to the weapon type. “We are analysing samples and xenon has not been found,” the commission statement said.

If the underground test was well contained, it is quite possible there would be little or no radioactive seepage into the atmosphere. A Seoul government source quoted by Yonhap news agency suggested that was the case, saying the entrance to the tunnel where the test was conducted remains intact. And even if some gases did escape, scientists stress there is a large amount of luck involved in collecting them. No xenon gases were detected after the North’s 2009 test.

As well as the military detectors, the commission said there were 122 automated devices across South Korea that were continually capturing and analyzing air samples. The detection effort is running on a very tight deadline. Xenon-133m, a metastable isotope needed to pin down the fissile material type, has a halflife of just over two days. Proof of a uranium test would confirm what has long been suspected: that the North can produce weapons-grade uranium, doubling its pathways to building more bombs in the future. The North has substantial deposits of uranium ore and it is much easier secretly to enrich uranium in centrifuges rather than enriching plutonium in a nuclear reactor.

In an apparent effort to showcase its own military muscle yesterday, South Korea’s Defence Ministry provided a video demonstration of a newly deployed cruise missile capable of striking precision targets in the North. “With this missile, we could hit any facility, equipment or individual target in the North anywhere, at any time of our choosing,” Major General Ryu Young-Jeo told a special press briefing.

Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-Seok said the missile was accurate enough to target “the office window of the North’s command headquarters”.

It has “deadly destructive power” that could “restrain the enemy headquarters’ activities” during wartime, Kim told reporters.

The day after the nuclear test, South Korea said it would speed up the development of longer-range ballistic missiles that could also cover the whole of North Korea.

Last October South Korea reached a deal with the United States to almost triple the range of its ballistic missile systemswith Seoul arguing it needed an upgrade to counter the North’s own missile development. —AFP

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s government said yesterday its security forces have surrounded dozens of Philippine gunmen in a remote area of Borneo island, and a report said the group is demanding the right to stay. Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein told reporters about 80 to 100 gunmen had been cornered by security forces near the small coastal town of Lahad Datu in the Malaysian state of Sabah.

He said security forces were in control and negotiating with the group, some of whom were armed.

The area was once controlled by the former Islamic sultanate of Sulu and has a history of incursions by armed Filipino Muslim groups. Malaysia’s national police chief Ismail Omar was quoted as saying the militants had declared themselves followers of “a descendant of the Sultan of Sulu.” Ismail, quoted on the website of The Star newspaper, said the group demanded to be recognised as the “Royal Sulu Sultanate Army” and insisted that as subjects of the sultanate, they should be allowed to remain in Sabah.

“They have made known their demands while we have told them that they need to leave the country,” the police chief was quoted as saying, adding that negotiations with the group were still under way.

The report did not elaborate.

Earlier yesterday Prime Minister Najib Razak was quoted by The Star as saying police were negotiating with the gunmen “to get the group to leave peacefully to prevent bloodshed”.

The report said a tight security ring including Malaysian army and naval forces

had been drawn around the “heavily armed” group. The Sulu sultanate, first founded in the 1400s, was once a regional power center, controlling islands in the Muslim southern Philippines and parts of Borneo including Sabah until its demise a century ago.

Security on Sabah’s coast has been a problem for Malaysia, with tens of thousands of Filipinos believed to have migrated illegally to the state over the past few decades from the adjacent southern Philippines. People continue to move freely across the maritime border from the southern Philippines, which has been racked for decades by Islamic separatist

insurgencies and other lawlessness. In 2000, guerrillas of the Islamic militant Abu Sayyaf movement seized 21 mostly Western holidaymakers as hostages at the Malaysian scuba diving resort of Sipadan near Lahad Datu.

The hostages were taken to Philippine islands and later ransomed. Mainly Muslim Malaysia hosted long-running talks between Manila and the southern Philippines’ main Muslim separatist group that resulted in a framework agreement last year aimed at ending their insurgency.

A Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman has said Manila was in touch with Malaysia over the case.— AFP

Two armed policemen man a security check post in a village of Bakapit near Lahad Datu, on the Malaysian island of Borneo yesterday. —- AFP

Churches attacked with petrol bombs in Indonesia JAKARTA: Attackers threw petrol bombs at three churches in central Indonesia yesterday, in the latest assault on religious minorities in the world’s biggest Muslimpopulated nation.

Police in the south of Sulawesi island reported three consecutive attacks between one and four in the morning, national police spokesman Agus Riyanto told reporters. “As we understand, the attackers threw water bottles filled with flammable materials at the churches,” he said, adding that the door of the first church caught fire.

Witnesses managed to put out the flames and the churches were only slightly damaged. No one was hurt, Riyanto said.

Attackers hurled petrol bombs at two other churches over the weekend in Sulawesi.

Parts of the island had a decades-long history of sectarian violence between Muslims and Christians, with thousands killed or displaced, before a 2001 peace agreement. Two weeks ago a minister in the west of the country’s main island of Java was jailed for three months for holding services at his Pentecostal church.

Authorities claimed the church did not

have a permit to conduct religious activities there. In Bekasi city near Jakarta, authorities yesterday sealed a mosque where followers of the Islamic Ahmadiyah sect worship and announced a mayoral decree banning all Ahmadiyah activities in the city. “We want to remind the (Ahmadiyah) community they cannot worship here,” said Asep Syarif Hidayat, head of the Bekasi National Unity, Politics and Social Protection Agency.

Followers of Ahmadiyah do not believe Mohammed was the last prophet and are regarded as heretics by conservative Muslims. Several regulations have banned them from proselytising in Indonesia, but the Bekasi decree is the first to place a blanket ban on all the sect’s activities.

Around 90 percent of Indonesia’s 240 million people identify themselves as Muslims, with the vast majority practising a moderate form of the faith. — AFP

Singapore gay couple seeks to abolish gay sex law SINGAPORE: A gay couple in Singapore seeking to abolish a long-standing law banning gay sex had their case heard in court yesterday, just days after a former department store manager sued his boss for alleged discrimination against homosexuals.

The two cases highlight how members of Singapore’s gay community have become increasingly vocal, demanding changes in the city-state’s attitudes toward homosexuality by speaking out against discrimination and raising legal cases to challenge the law. Singapore’s High Court held its first full hearing yesterday in a case brought by Gary Lim and Kenneth Chee. Peter Low and Choo Zheng Xi, the lawyers representing Lim and Chee, said the couple hopes to have the law banning gay sex declared unconstitutional. Singapore law criminalizes sex between mutually consenting adult men, and offenders can be jailed for up to two years.—AP

Business FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2013

KUFPEC picks 5 banks for $750 million loan

American, US Airways form biggest airline PAGE 20

PAGE 22

Zain Group announces 2012 financial results Revenues reach $4.6bn with net income of $902m

KUWAIT: Zain Group, the pioneer of mobile telecommunications in eight countries in the Middle East and North Africa, announced its consolidated financial results for the 12 months ending December 31, 2012.

For the 12 months in 2012, Zain Group generated consolidated revenues of $4.58 billion (KD 1.28 billion) compared to 2011 consolidated revenues of $4.79 billion (KD 1.32 billion). EBITDA for the same period amounted to $2.04 billion (KD 570.7 million) reflecting an EBITDA margin of 44.5 percent.

Net income amounted to $902 million (KD 252.1 million), compared to 2011 net income of $1.033 billion (KD 284.9 million). Earnings per share for the 12 months stood at $0.23 (KD 0.065), compared to $0.27 (KD 0.073) in the previous year. Additionally, shareholders equity stood at $6.1 billion (KD 1.7 billion).

Subsequently, the Board of Directors recommended a cash dividend of $0.18 (KD 0.050) per share subject to the Annual General Assembly and regulatory

approvals. Zain Group’s consolidated customer base grew by 6 percent and stood at 42.714 million active customers across all operations at the end of 2012.

The group added 2.451 million new active customers over the past twelve months.

Remarks and operational commentary from Zain Group Chairman and CEO: Commenting on the full-year results, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Zain Group, Asaad Al-Banwan said: “2012 has been a challenging year and Zain’s financial indicators suffered from sharp currency translation impact in some of the markets in which we operate, which cost Zain’s bottom line approximately $109 million.” Al-Banwan continued: “In 2012, the group’s key financial indicators were relatively stable. Without the effects of the currency translation impact, consolidated revenues would have been $4.88 billion (KD 1.4 billion), while EBITDA would have been $2.15 billion (KD 601.7 million), and net profits $1 billion (KD 282.6 million).”

Scott Gegenheimer Zain Group continued to adhere to its policy of reducing administrative, operational and finance costs during 2012, helping the company lower its overall costs during the year through effective streamlining and efficiency drives.

Al-Banwan also took the opportunity to express his hope and confidence that Zain Group’s management will continue to successfully pursue the company’s growth plans under the leadership of the recently appointed Group CEO, Scott

Gegenheimer. Al-Banwan described Gegenheimer as, “one of the most capable and experienced telecom executive leaders in the world”.

On his part, Zain Group CEO, Scott Gegenheimer said: “Our Kuwait operation achieved a technological breakthrough in 2012 when it became the first operator in Kuwait to launch a nationwide LTE network.”

Gegenheimer continued: “Zain KSA successfully completed its rights issue with a full subscription during the summer; a development that formed part of a wider plan to restructure the company’s capital. Zain Group continued to back its Saudi Arabia operation both administratively and financially, having taken the strategic decision to increase its ownership in Zain KSA to 37 percent in the wake of the company’s rights issue.” Zain KSA went on to utilize the cash generated from the rights issue to repay some debt in addition to investing in network improvements and services.

Additional support from Zain Group

ensured the Saudi operator improved its financial performance and results, which led to a reduction in its net loss by 9 percent year-on-year in 2012.

As a result of the political unrest and economic instability inSudan and South Sudan, Zain Group faced a number of challenges highlighted by the sharp volatility of the exchange rate and the devaluation of the Sudanese pound, (which fell by 55 percent against the dollar during 2012). Commenting on the situation in Sudan and South Sudan, Gegenheimer said: “I hope that the recent talks between Sudan and South Sudan will result in political stability, favorable economic recovery, support of the local currency, and an increase in the purchasing power of the average Sudanese citizen.” Gegenheimer continued: “Zain continues to have confidence that once structural issues in this part of the world are resolved we will again benefit from the substantial growth of our operations there, despite the heightened taxation and fuel costs.”

Business FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2013

Turkey buys less Iran crude oil in December DUBAI: Turkey imported 29 percent less Iranian crude oil in December than November, data from the Turkish energy watchdog showed, as the country followed a pledge to cut purchases as part of western trade sanctions against Iran.

Iranian crude imports dropped to 82,849 barrels per day (bpd) or 350,385 tons from November’s 116,000 bpd or 474,784 tons, according to data from EPDK. This brought Turkey’s total Iranian oil imports to 7.56 million tons in 2012, or 151,829 barrels per day (bpd), a drop of around 15 percent from 2011 and from volumes contracted with Iran, which were around 180,000 bpd. Once reliant on Iran for more than half its crude oil imports, Turkey has reduced its purchases as the United States and European Union have tightened sanctions on the trade with Tehran. Turkey obtained an initial waiver from the United States on Iranian oil imports for 180 days from June 11 after Ankara made an initial 20 percent import cut before the EU sanctions came into effect last July. The exemption was renewed in early December for another 180 days. The United States and many of its allies say Iran is enriching uranium for weapons purposes, while Iran says its programme is for peaceful purposes.

Iranian oil has fallen to 39 percent of Turkey’s total crude oil purchases from 49 percent in 2011, according to data from Turkish Statistics Office and the energy watchdog. —- Reuters

KUFPEC picks 5 banks for $750 million loan 5-year loan to help business operations DUBAI: Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company (Kufpec) has picked five banks to arrange a $750million, five-year loan to help fund its general business operations, three banking sources told Reuters yesterday.

Kufpec has chosen Bank of TokyoMitsubishi, HSBC Holdings, JP Morgan Chase, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) and Royal Bank of Scotland to arrange the loan, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity. NBK and JP Morgan are coordinating. Kufpec is owned by state oil firm Kuwait Petroleum Company and has an inter-

national focus. A Kufpec spokesman was not immediately available for comment. A period of marketing to other banks is expected to start shortly.

Should the deal commence syndication in the next few days, it is expected to close by the end of the first quarter, one of the sources, a regional banker, said. Kufpec has a $320 million loan which matures in May. That facility was funded by 10 banks led by Citigroup and NBK in 2008 and paid a margin of 100 basis points over the London interbank offered rate (Libor), according to Thomson Reuters data.

The new loan will not refinance this

facility, which will be retired when it reaches maturity, a second banker, based in London, said. In December, British oil major BP said Kufpec would acquire a 34.3 percent stake in the Yacheng gas field in the South China Sea for $308 million in cash.

The deal is expected to complete in the second half of 2013. Kufpec, which is active in exploration, development and production of crude oil and natural gas in Africa, Middle East, Asia and Australia, has also been linked with taking over part of a huge oil block in South Sudan previously controlled by France’s Total. — Reuters

India’s economy falls short of aspirations MUMBAI: India’s statistics agency is forecasting economic growth of only 5 percent for the fiscal year ending March, the weakest in a decade. It’s a big comedown from just a couple of years ago when officials boasted India could grow at 10 percent or more a year and overtake China.

The finance ministry has accused the statistics agency of being too pessimistic.

That spat aside, there’s no question that Asia’s third-largest economy is now not growing fast enough to produce sufficient jobs for its burgeoning youth population. Here are some questions and answers on India’s slump.

Q: Two years ago, India was growing at 9 percent or more, as fast as China. What happened?

Investment in the economy has slowed sharply because many businesses, foreign and local, have little confidence the government will make significant improvements to India’s creaking infrastructure, ponderous bureaucracy and extravagant corruption. Power outages last year affecting hundreds of millions dramatically underlined strains on the power grid. The poor condition of highways and rail is another major bottleneck for business. Ordinary Indians, meanwhile, have slowed spending because of high inflation, which also inhibits investment, since weaker consumer demand gives businesses less reason to expand.

Q: Is 5 percent growth really that bad? The US, Japan and Europe would be happy to grow that fast.

India’s needs fast growth to lift more people out of poverty and provide enough jobs for its swelling population.

Average income per person was about $1,500 in 2011, not even one thirtieth of average incomes in the US More than half of India’s 1.2 billion people are under 30 years old and some 13 million Indians reach working age each year, according to the IMF. India’s finance ministry estimates the country needs at least 8 percent growth each year to create enough new jobs.

Q: What does India’s slump mean for the world economy?

It dims hopes that India along with China will help drive a rebound in a glob-

al economy that is weighed down by a sluggish US recovery and recession in Europe. Global companies from automakers to retailers who hoped Indian consumers would drive new revenues might have to scale back their plans for the country.

Q: Can India’s central bank help?

Its scope to cut interest rates to boost the economy has been limited by high inflation. Central bankers feared that lower interest rates would only worsen inflation and further impoverish many Indians by pushing up prices for food and other essentials. So they kept inter-

have much impact on borrowing and investment. And as the central bank has repeatedly said, India’s economic problems are too complex to be solved by it alone.

Q: Are India’s deficits also a problem?

India’s government is running a steep budget deficit, spending more than it collects in taxes. The country also has a big current account deficit because its imports, swelled by oil and gold, exceed exports. The deficits aren’t by definition a problem as long as investors are willing to finance them and believe the debts will ultimately be repaid. If doubt creeps

reduce its budget deficit but has to proceed cautiously, because a too sharp withdrawal of deficit spending would further slow economic growth.

Q: It sounds like India’s problems are too hard to solve.

They’re difficult, but there are some steps India’s government can take. It can reform regulations to make doing business easier. The World Bank’s ease-ofbusiness survey ranks India 132 of 185 countries and lists India as one of the world’s five worst countries both in enforcing contracts and dealing with construction permits. Businesses say the

NEW DELHI: (Left to right) FICCI President, Naina Lal Kidwai, French President Francois Hollande, French Trade Minister Nicole Bricq and President of CII and Chairman of Godrej group, Adi Godrej attend the India France Economic Conference - Strengthening Long-Team Economic partnership in New Delhi yesterday.-AFP est rates high until inflation showed signs of moderating. It reached a threeyear low of 7.2 percent in December and the Reserve Bank of India last month made a modest cut to its main lending rate. But analysts say inflation is still at a worrisome level and any further interest rate cuts likely won’t be big enough to

in, India’s creditors would demand higher rates of interest to continue financing the country. In extreme circumstances that could lead to a government default or balance of payments crisis. Right now, the twin deficits are a symptom of India’s economic weaknesses and show its vulnerability. India’s government wants to

government must also follow through on pro growth policies such as opening retail and aviation to more foreign investment and forming a special commission to solve delays blocking major infrastructure projects. It would also help to streamline the country’s notoriously tangled bureaucracy. —AP

Business FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2013

Recession-hit Japanese economy shrinks again BOJ head denies manipulating yen

Franz Koch, CEO of German sportswear giant Puma, poses with the new running shoe ahead the annual press conference yesterday in Herzogenaurach, southern Germany. — AFP

Puma ends sailing sponsorship as profit crumbles FRANKFURT: Germany’s Puma is to stop sponsoring sailing, including teams in the Americas Cup and the Volvo Ocean races, as part of efforts to focus on sports and products that bring in the most money. Puma, which yesterday reported 2012 profit down 70 percent, is going through its biggest reorganization in 20 years to counter falling profits and encourage more people in the United States, Europe and China to buy its shoes and T-shirts.

The group is closing stores, cutting products and last month said it would stop sponsoring rugby, leaving the Irish rugby union team looking for new kit.

In sailing, Puma will stop sponsoring the Oracle team, current holder of the Americas Cup, after the 2013 season. Chief Executive Franz Koch told journalists that it would take “some time” before the changes brought visible success, with sales this year expected to remain on a level with 2012’s total of 3.27 billion euros ($4.4 billion). The world’s third-largest sportswear and equipment company, behind Nike and Adidas, is also undergoing a management reshuffle led by 82 percent shareholder PPR , the French luxury goods group that owns the Gucci brand.

Koch will leave the group at the end of March, after less than two years as CEO. A replacement will be announced in the coming weeks, Koch said.

Chief Financial Officer Michael Laemmermann and Chief Commercial Officer Stefano Caroti will lead the company with support from PPR’s Jean-Francois Palus, who chairs the Puma supervisory board, until the CEO post is filled.

Puma swung to a fourth-quarter net loss of 42.6 million euros, against a consensus forecast for profit of 10.1 million euros in a Reuters poll. — Reuters

TOKYO: Japan’s economy shrank for a third quarter at the end of 2012, data showed yesterday, leaving it mired in recession owing to weak export demand, but analysts and the central bank eyed a rosier outlook.

Tokyo saw a 0.1 percent contraction in October-December from the previous three months, underlining the work ahead for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s new government as it tries to boost growth while fending off claims it is manipulating the yen to lift exports.

Financial turmoil in key market Europe, a strong yen and a diplomatic row with China have hurt Japan, frustrating hopes that it would cement a recovery from the 2011 quake-tsunami disaster that battered domestic demand and output. The country logged modest growth of 1.9 percent for 2012 over the previous year. Japan has seen a mixed bag of economic data lately as factory output rises while the export picture remains cloudy, with a record trade deficit for 2012.

However, the yen has weakened in recent months, which helps exporters’ competitiveness and provided a muchneeded boost to their latest earnings results. Yesterday the Bank of Japan gave an upbeat assessment of the economy after a two-day policy meeting, saying it appeared to have stopped weakening and adding: “Exports continue to decrease, but the pace of decrease has been moderating”. It said there were signs of a pick-up in overseas markets. “Japan’s economy is expected to level off more or less for the time being, and thereafter, it will return to a moderate recovery path,” it said.

The bank held off making any new policy announcements after last month’s unveiling of indefinite monetary easing and the adoption of a two percent inflation target. Both moves followed intense pressure from the new government.

The BOJ’s view mirrored those of analysts, who said a better picture abroad and

government spending to fuel growth were having an effect. “While the figures were worse than expected, they aren’t too badwe could see it rebound in the future,” said Hideki Matsumura, senior economist at Japan Research Institute, referring to the quarterly results.

Key to Japan’s outlook was demand in the United States and an easing in the

17 percent against the dollar since November-has raised eyebrows overseas.

The unit’s steep decline has sparked criticism, particularly from Europe, that the government is engineering a devaluation to boost its exports that risks setting off a global currency war.

But Japan dismisses the charges, with BOJ chief Masaaki Shirakawa yesterday

TOKYO: Japanese Finance Minister taro Aso (center) and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (right) attend the Lower House’s budget committee session at the National Diet in Tokyo yesterday.—AFP debt crises in Europe, while some of the nation’s biggest firms have said a slump in shipments stemming from the diplomatic row with China was softening.

Tokyo’s trade deficit with Beijing doubled to a record 3.52 trillion yen ($38 billion) last year, as the feud over a set of islands in the East China Sea spurred a consumer boycott of Japanese goods in China.

Tokyo’s new aggressive economic policy-which has seen the yen tumble about

adding his voice to the issue. The nation’s top central banker said BOJ policies were only aimed at boosting the country’s deflation-plagued economy, not manipulating the yen’s value. “Our purpose is not to guide exchange rates, but to overcome deflation in the near-term,” he told a press briefing in the Japanese capital. Markets have cheered Abe’s strong stand, betting his administration may succeed in achieving the strong growth that eluded previous administrations.— AFP

Nestle makes $11.55bn profit in 2012

VEVEY: Nestle CEO Paul Bulcke speaks during the 2012 full-year results press conference of Nestle in Vevey yesterday.—AP

VEVEY, Switzerland: Nestle SA, the world’s biggest food and drinks maker, predicted another challenging year ahead but overcame tough global economic conditions to post a full-year net profit yesterday of 10.6 billion Swiss francs ($11.55 billion) for 2012. With 330,000 employees worldwide and 461 factories in 83 countries, Nestle is a major buyer of food commodities such as wheat, sugar, milk and coffee and its results are a good indicator of consumer demand in various regions of the world and the health of the global economy as a whole.

The maker of Nescafe, Perrier, Jenny Craig, Haagen Dazs and Carnation reported broad- based growth across all product ranges and regions with sales reaching 92.2 billion francs ($100.5 billion), up from 83.6 billion francs ($91.11 billion) in 2011.

The results compare with a full-year 2011 profit of 9.5 billion Swiss francs ($10.35 billion). In its financial statements, the Swissbased food giant predicted 2013 will prove

to be every bit as challenging as last year.

This year began with an improved economic climate but a still-uncertain recovery, particularly in Europe where officials remain anxious whether reforms will prevent failed banks from adding to government debt through bailout.

This year “will have its difficulties, definitely, but there will also be many opportunities to deliver value,” Chief Executive Officer Paul Bulcke told a news conference at the company’s elegant headquarters on the shoreline of Lake Geneva. Even in Europe, he added, there was “good growth,” even if it lagged well behind other regions. The weakest growth was in Europe - up just 1.8 percent compared with 5.2 percent in the Americas and higher everywhere else - and with products such as prepared dishes and cooking aids.

Overall sales for 2012 showed that the strongest growth was in China and other parts of Asia along with Africa and the Oceania regions.

“This year was not a walk in the park,” said Chief Financial Officer Wan Ling Martello, who noted that Nestle had its slowest growth in Europe in the face of some shrinking local economies. “Even so, we delivered good top-line results.”

But consumer confidence remains “very low,” said Martello, a former Wal-Mart executive, who singled out health and wellness items such as Nesquik made with less sugar and organic Gerber baby food as examples of what is selling well. Productwise, the best sellers were powdered and liquid beverages and pet care. In North America, which is Nestle’s most important market, pet care and frozen foods were the stalwarts, said Chris Johnson, the company’s executive vice president for the Americas.

Nestle said its sales growth rebounded during the last three months of 2012 and that it strengthened its standing as a seller of premium nutritional and health products.—AP

Business FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2013

MIAMI: (Left) An American Airlines passenger confirms his ticket before his flight out of Miami International Airport. American Airlines and US Airways announced yesterday that they’re merging in a deal they value at $11 billion, creating the world’s biggest airline. (Right) An American Airlines passenger plane takes off at Miami International Airport in Miami. —AP Photos

American, US Airways form biggest airline in the world Merger to cut big US airlines to 4 DALLAS: American Airlines and US Airways say they have agreed to merge in an $11 billion deal that would create the world’s biggest airline. The combined carrier will be called American Airlines but be run by US Airways CEO Doug Parker.

The boards of the two airlines unanimously approved the deal late Wednesday, and the companies announced the agreement yesterday.

The merger would reduce the number of major US airlines to four: the new American, United, Delta and Southwest.

The deal is a coup for smaller US Airways Group Inc., which pushed for a merger almost as soon as American parent AMR Corp. filed for bankruptcy protection in November 2011.

While Parker runs the company, AMR CEO Tom Horton will serve as chairman until its first shareholder meeting, likely in mid-2014. “The combined airline will have the scale, breadth and capabilities to compete more effectively and profitably in the global marketplace,” Parker said in a statement. “Our combined network will provide

Tata Motors Q3 profit plunges MUMBAI: Hit by falling margins and rising capital expenditure, roaring Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) may be heading for a speed trap. Rising investment is eating into the luxury carmaker’s cash pile and raising the prospect of fresh borrowing, as falling profitability saw parent Tata Motors Ltd post its first drop in profits in five quarters. Increasing reliance on lower-margin models such as the Land Rover Evoque and Freelander and adverse currency movements saw JLR’s profit margin fall, and free cash flow (FCF) at the unit turned negative just months after it paid its weaker parent a maiden dividend.

Negative cash flow will continue in the next financial year, JLR says, as the carmaker that has propped up its Indian owner for the past 18 months starts a 2.75 billion pound ($4.3 billion) a year splurge on its plants and product pipeline. Tata’s net profit for the third quarter of the financial year that ends on March 31 came in far below market estimates at 16.28 billion rupees ($303 million), down 52 percent year-on-year and the first fall since the three months to September 2011.

Analysts had expected average profit of 28.9 billion rupees, according to Thomson Reuters Starmine. Much of the fall was down to a slide in JLR’s blockbuster operating margins to 14 percent in the quarter, down from 17 percent in the year ago period, due in part to a shift towards less profitable models.

“Over the next couple of years, they are unlikely to generate much cash. That’s a worry,” said Joseph George, analyst at IIFL Institutional Equities in Mumbai, one of seven with a negative rating on the stock, according to Thomson Reuters Starmine.

“That’s going to be a problem for Tata.”— Reuters

a significantly more attractive offering to customers, ensuring that we are always able to take them where they want to go.”

AMR creditors and shareholders including creditors will own 72 percent of the new company and US Airways shareholders 28 percent.

The companies said merging would create savings of more than $1 billion a year.

The merger will be part of AMR’s plan for exiting bankruptcy protection.

The deal would need approval by AMR’s bankruptcy judge and antitrust regulators,

who have permitted three other big airline mergers to go ahead since 2008. The companies had negotiated since August, when creditors pushed AMR to conduct merger talks so they could decide which earned them a better return: a merger or an independent American. The new American would have more than 900 planes, 3,200 daily flights and about 95,000 employees, not counting regional affiliates. It will be slightly bigger than United Airlines by passenger traffic, not counting regional affiliate airlines.—AP

BNP Paribas posts 8.3% profit rise PARIS: Leading French bank BNP Paribas reported yesterday an 8.3-percent rise in net profit last year to 6.55 billion euros ($8.76 billion), falling short of expectations owing to exceptional items but doing better than most of its rivals.

The outcome in the fourth quarter of a net profit of 514 million euros fell far short of a figure of 969 million euros broadly expected by analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires.

In the last quarter, the bank made writedowns for its Italian branch BNL to reflect Italian requirements for an increase in capital. The bank also raised its provisions for bad risks, mainly in respect of a particular problem at its investment arm. It also made a special allocation to its consumer credit arm.

Senior director Francois Villeroy de Galhau told BFM radio that in the light of this, the outcome for the fourth quarter was not significative because it included several exceptional items.

The fact that the bank managed to raise its profits last year from the 2011 level strengthens its strong position in Europe and puts in on a level with the best US banks in terms of profitability.

The price of shares in the bank was showing a gain of 2.62 percent to 47.04 euros in mid-morning trading. The overall market as measured by the CAC 40 index was showing a fall of 0.05 percent.

Managing director Jean-Laurent Bonnafe said that BNP Paribas had “stood up well” while getting ready for the application of new capital rules known as Basel III. The bank had reduced its risk-weighted assets by 10.0 percent or by 62 billion euros and had a ratio of core capital to loans of 9.9 percent at the end of 2012.

He said that the return on shareholders’ funds of 8.9 per-

cent last year needed to be improved in coming years. To achieve this, the bank would invest 1.5 billion euros over three years from 2013 to raise efficiency and save 2.0 billion euros in a full year from 2015.— AFP

BNP Paribas banking group’s CEO Jean-Laurent Bonnafe gives a press conference to present the group’s 2012 results yesterday.—AFP

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.

Mukit holds back the water so Baeth and Mumita can make the next move...

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

www.the99.org

26

Opinion FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2013

Arabs mired in messy transitions No smooth path to democracy after Arab rebellions

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Bahraini protestors clash with security forces following a rally to mark the second anniversary of an uprising in Bahrain yesterday in the village of Sanabis, west of the capital Manama. A teenage boy was shot dead during clashes with police in a Shiite village near Manama as hundreds took to the streets to mark the second anniversary of the uprising. —AFP

wo years on, the euphoria has long gone.

The flame of revolt that first flared in Tunisia, previously one of the Arab world’s quietest corners, consumed autocrats there, in neighbouring Egypt and, more violently, in Libya. Contained in Bahrain, it flickered on in Yemen where in time a veteran leader was pushed aside. In Syria, it is still being fiercely fought over. All Arab countries have felt the heat. Gritty political transitions are under way in nations where “revolution” has triumphed, ushering in contests over power, identity and religion, continued economic and social malaise, new opportunities for Islamist radicals, lawlessness and a surge in sexual violence against women that has gained publicity.

Among a host of unintended consequences is an outflow of weapons and fighters from Libya after the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi that has helped to destabilise neighbouring Mali.

Another is rising tension between Sunni and Shiite Muslims across a region already buffeted by rivalry between Shiite Iran and US-aligned Sunni powers led by Saudi Arabia. In Bahrain, the Saudis helped to crush protests led by the Shiite majority, and in Syria, mainly Sunni rebels are battling Iran’s principal Arab ally, President Bashar Al-Assad, whose rule is built around his Shiite-rooted Alawite minority.

Many Arabs are proud of their new freedom to speak out and to take to the streets against real and perceived wrongs, but it has proved trickier than many expected to create prosperity, fill power vacuums left by entrenched rulers and convert police states into stable democracies governed by the rule of law.

‘Work And Dignity’ Unemployment, poverty and rising prices, which helped to fuel the revolts in Tunisia and Egypt, remain grievances in economies hit by unrest that has deterred tourists and foreign

investors. “Our basic demand was work and dignity, but now under the Islamists we don’t have either,” said Aymen Ben Slimane, an unemployed young man in the Tunisian capital. “We have no confidence in them to achieve the goals of our revolution.”

Last week’s assassination of opposition politician Chokri Belaid plunged Tunisia into its worst crisis since the uprising and raised fears of violence in a country where an Islamist-led government faces strong liberal and secular opposition.

Zouhour Layouni, a 22-year-old student in a headscarf, said Tunisia had won freedom of expression and could accommodate differences between Islamists like her and their opponents. “The assassination of Belaid is an exception,” she said. “Now we ask secular people to give us time and they will see the results. Our hope is that Tunisia will be united.”

Tunisia’s troubles and those of other Arab nations in early stages of transition should come as no surprise. “These revolutions require a long-term perspective. It would have been unrealistic to think that in two years these countries would have transformed themselves into perfectly functioning democracies,” said Eric Goldstein of Human Rights Watch. “It’s important not to underestimate how much 25 years of dictatorship and the politics of fear and intimidation have distorted the political landscape,” he said, adding that Tunisian political parties lacked experience in negotiating their differences peacefully. “They are learning as they go.”

Soaring Expectations Well-organised Islamist groups such as Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood and Tunisia’s Ennahda party have won elections after revolts they did not start, but after years of preaching that “Islam is the solution” both have collided with the complexity of managing modern economies and governing unruly societies. “People are angry because they

feel the revolution did not change their lives,” Ennahda’s leader Rached Ghannouchi told Reuters this week, acknowledging how hard it is to meet popular expectations raised by the overthrow of Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali. Relatively moderate Islamist parties face pressure from ultra-orthodox Salafis, whose drive to write stricter codes into new constitutions and laws dismays their liberal opponents. Some Salafis, but by no means all, are ready to pursue their goals through violence. The attacks on US diplomatic missions in Tunis, Cairo and Benghazi in September, following an anti-Islam video that surfaced in America, illustrated the danger. A smattering of Arab voices reflecting on the ferment of the last two years provides individual insights, even if they cannot encompass the complexity of changes in the Middle East that will take years, if not decades, to shake down.

In Egypt, liberal activist Abdelrahman Mansour, who helped organise protests on Jan 25, 2011 that snowballed into an uprising against Hosni Mubarak, said Islamists had failed to bring Mubarak-era officials to account or to establish a real democratic transition after an interim period of military rule. “Instead, Islamists staged a series of power grabs that marginalised other political forces,” he said, arguing that the military and their Islamist successors had sidelined youth groups and others who had prepared plans for reform of the interior ministry, judiciary and other state institutions. “Their aim was to contain the revolution and its youth by convincing the average Egyptian citizen that the youth were the ones destroying the revolution, not the ones who ignited it.”

Samir Wisamee, an Islamist activist, said Mubarak’s removal and the holding of free and fair elections were major gains, but also lamented “the lack of accountability within the Interior Ministry and the cycle of violence that plagues the country”.

Syria’s Agony While hundreds of people have died in unrest in post-Mubarak Egypt, the violence is dwarfed by that in Syria, where the United Nations says nearly 70,000 have now been killed since a revolt against Assad began with peaceful protests in March 2011. Syrian opposition campaigner Fawaz Tello, now in exile, said he was saddened by the human cost of freedom extracted by Assad’s “savage” ruling system and by international inaction.

But his biggest disappointment was a Syrian opposition that he said lacked leadership, political acumen and administrative skill. “It has not managed to connect effectively with the spirit of the revolution and it is responsible for corrupting the revolt by trying to buy loyalties of the rebels,” he said. “But I’m proud that a defenceless people who have challenged a totalitarian system that has been strengthening itself for the last half a century are on their way to victory,” Tello said.

After so much carnage, the outcome of Syria’s conflict is far from clear. Nor can anyone be sure what will emerge in other countries where Arabs rose up for freedom and dignity. Nathan Brown, at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said the uprisings expressed “disgust in the prevailing political order and a hope that if societies could just get their politics right they would solve their pressing problems”. Structures that kept selfserving Arab leaders in power had been toppled, “but there was no systematic thought about what should positively replace these systems, and building good ones has been far harder than anticipated”, he said. “The biggest obstacle to such a process in Egypt and Tunisia - the two most hopeful countries two years ago - has not been the actions or attitudes of any particular actor but the deep polarisation among various camps and the inability to bridge differences or even find a common language.” - Reuters

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2013 www.kuwaittimes.net

Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Hannah Davis attends SI Swimsuit on Location at the Marquee Nightclub at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas on February 13, 2013 in Las Vegas, Nevada.— AFP

Tr a v e l FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2013

Trails wind along the Vermillion River at the Augusta-Anne Olsen State Nature Preserve.

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he late Gussie Olsen would be proud. Her 83-acre gift to the state of Ohio has grown into a 132-acre state nature preserve that features multi-hued bluffs along the picturesque Vermilion River in north-central Ohio. Welcome to the Augusta-Anne Olsen State Nature Preserve, one of the best wildflower spots in northern Ohio. The preserve north of Wakeman in northeastern Huron County features three miles of trails and almost a mile of the Vermilion River, which makes a great bend to the northwest on the preserve.

Cliffs line the Vermillion River at the Augusta-Anne Olsen State Nature Preserve.

The riffle-and-pool Vermilion River is only about 35 miles in length and empties into Lake Erie. It drops about 500 feet in that distance and cuts through the Berea Escarpment. It is a pretty stream with bluffs of sandstone and shale that reach 100 to 200 feet in height. The lower two-thirds of its cliffs are made up of thin layers of dark, crumbly Cleveland shale. There is also a layer of fine sandstone. The upper third is a soft, grayish-red Bedford shale that gave the river its name: After heavy rain, the hue would wash out and stain the cliffs reddishorange, vermilion in French.

At river level, you can find the soft, bluish Chagrin shale that is 360 million years old, the oldest exposed rock in Northeast Ohio. In the winter, water seeping from the cliffs creates giant ice displays, especially in shady spots. Paddlers enjoy the Vermilion in the spring and after heavy rains. It passes small farms and second-growth woodlots. The section north of Wakeman may be the prettiest and most rugged section along the Vermilion, with a wider floodplain. That’s where you will find the Olsen preserve, off West River Road in Wakeman Township.

In the early 1970s, William and Augusta-Anne Olsen purchased a 140-acre farm north of Wakeman on the west bank of the Vermilion River. Augusta-Anne Olsen had grown up in Maryland and her old family farm had been lost to a naval installation. She was especially drawn to the site by the dense patches of club moss or crowsfoot that reminded her of her childhood.

In 1985, she donated 83 acres to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to become the Vermilion River Preserve. In 1997, the state purchased an additional 47 acres of the farm.

In 2000, it became the Augusta-Anne Olsen State Nature Preserve. It features ridge tops with oaks and maples that rise

Tr a v e l FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2013

above a mixed floodplain forest along the river. It offers views high above the river on a ridge of serviceberry and witch hazel.

Because of the bend in the river, the preserve is home to different plant communities because of the varying exposures.

It offers a great deal of biodiversity in a small area. It is also known for excellent birding, especially in the spring. Pileated woodpeckers, scarlet tanagers and wood warblers may be spotted. Bald eagles are often sighted along the river.

The trails have practical names - River Trail, Sassafras Trail, Old Field Trail, Spring Trail - and are short. The River Loop Trail is 1.5 miles, the Sassafras Trail a half-mile. You can access the preserve via the Old Field Trail. It skirts a small pond and then cuts through an old farm field where plant succession is taking place. A few bird boxes have been installed in the rolling field.

To the left are deep woods of beech and mixed hardwoods that gently slope to the Vermilion River. That’s where you will find the Spring Trail. It connects to the River Trail, which connects to the Sassafras Trail. The Spring Trail makes a big loop through the maples and oaks that grow in the floodplain.

The damp woods are at their colorful best for wildflowers in April and May. Wildflowers include twinleaf, bluebells, sessile trillium, large-flowered trillium, drooping trillium, ginger, bloodroot, marsh marigold, hepatica, wild hyacinth, golden saxifrage, dwarf ginseng and showy orchis. The woods are also home to vernal pools that house numerous amphibians. There are no rare plants or animals found in the preserve, ODNR says.

The Sassafras Trail features one of the largest sassafras trees in the state of Ohio, 4 feet in diameter. Sassafras is a member of the laurel family and was once used as the flavoring in root beer. The preserve has few amenities, no restrooms or picnic areas. There is an information kiosk near the parking lot, and small bridges and wooden boardwalks in swampy areas.

You can also access the Vermilion River and its cliffs at the Vermilion River Reservation, a 1,301-acre tract in western Lorain County, north of the state preserve. It is at 51211 North Ridge Road in Brownhelm Township, a great place for a picnic or a short hike. It is owned and operated by the Lorain County Park District and includes the Mill Hollow and Bacon Woods parks on opposite sides of the river.

Settler Benjamin Bacon arrived from New England in 1817.

The small community was initially called Brownhelm Mills; later it became Mill Hollow. The mill and town thrived until about 1900, although Mill Hollow peaked in the 1860s. An 1845 Greek Revival house built by Bacon is a museum in the park.

It is on the National Register of Historic Places. Call 440-9677310 for hours and tour information.

You can find the sites of old mills and even the remnants of a millrace, or ditch, that was built in 1825 to divert water from the river to power the sawmill and gristmill. Another nearby outdoor option is Findley State Park in southern Lorain County. The 931-acre park off state Route 58 features a charming woodland, 14.9 miles of hiking trails and nine miles of single-track mountain bike trails that circle the lake. The park also features a 1.2-mile nature trail with 15 self-guiding stops, an 18-hole disc golf course, a geocaching course and eight picnic areas. The campground with 231 sites and three cabins lies on the southeast edge of 93-acre Findley Lake.

There is a 435-foot grassy beach and marina concession on the lake’s north side. Canoes and rowboats are available.

Electric motors are permitted.

The land south of Oberlin was part of a rich farm area known as Cheesedom. Lorain County once produced 1 pound of cheese for every man, woman and child in Ohio. The area

was farmland until it was donated to the state in 1936-1937 by Guy B Findley, a Lorain County judge. He had begun purchasing local farms outside Wellington starting in the 1920s to return them to woodlands.

He donated the land to the state of Ohio to be maintained as a state forest after the Civilian Conservation Corps planted an estimated half million pines and hardwoods. Findley helped plant the trees himself. He struck up a friendship with author and noted conservationist Louis Bromfield, who had recently returned to Ohio, and whose Richland County farm later became Malabar Farm State Park.

In 1950, Findley’s land was transferred to the newly formed Division of Parks. The park also features a habitat for a rare butterfly, the Duke’s skipper. It is a small, brown butterfly with yellow spots. It favors shaded wetland areas. Wellington is also home to painter Archibald M. Willard, who painted the Spirit of ‘76. About 75 percent of the town is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. — MCT

A trail winds through wildflowers at the Augusta-Anne Olsen State Nature Preserve.

FOOD

Healthy New Year

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2013

Try recipes that add grains, greens and healthy protein to your diet

I

t seems every year, the New Year is the time when so many of us make healthy eating resolutions. Of course, January is when memberships for weight-loss programs boom. But, inevitably, the resolve to diet withers, and we go back to scarfing and feeling guilty. So what’s the long-term solution?

“People need diners’ education just like they need drivers’ education,” says Carolyn O’Neil, a dietitian and journalist, who writes The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Healthy Eating column.

“Nutrition advice, especially at the beginning of the year, when people have such great intentions, is often associated with a list of foods you’re not supposed to eat,” O’Neil says. “Cut back on salt and sugar and fat. No desserts. No French fries. It’s a list of negatives.” O’Neil, who is the co-author of “The

Dish on Eating Healthy and Being Fabulous!”

(Atria Books) and often gives tips for making healthy choices while enjoying dining out, likes to take a more positive approach.

“We’re in a new age of nutrition discovery, and as a dietitian, I’d much rather people focus on what they should be adding to their diets,” O’Neil says. “Try adding more whole grains, for instance, which have more nutrients and fiber. Maybe you get brown rice instead of white rice with your sushi. Maybe you’re ordering a pizza and you get a whole grain crust.” So-called superfoods, such as acai berries, chia powder and coconut water, have become another hot topic for healthy eating features this time of year. But O’Neil thinks the term can be confusing and says some of the more exotic finds can be too expensive.

“So many foods have jumped on to the superfood bandwagon. It really has become a three-ring circus,” O’Neil says. “The original intention of the term ‘superfood’ was to define a food that offered you one-stop shopping for a lot of different nutrients. “The term nutritionists use is nutrient-dense, meaning you’re getting more bang for your buck with every bite, either of a range of nutrients or a lot of one specific nutrient. That might be something like mango or fat-free milk or eggs or kale or even lean beef.” O’Neil’s advice for 2013 is to add a wider variety of whole grains, including “ancient grains,” and leafy greens.

“Try quinoa, if you haven’t tried it yet,” O’Neil says. “It’s so easy to make because it cooks in just a few minutes. Kale was the big star last year, but other greens are becoming popular again, including everything from Swiss chard to turnip greens and Asian mustard greens.”

NINA’S CALDO VERDE (WHITE BEAN AND GREENS SOUP) Hands on: 20 minutes. Total time: 30 minutes. Serves: 4 This simple take on a Portuguese classic is

a fast and surprisingly flavorful soup that makes a low-fat meal with protein, fiber and dark leafy greens.

2 15-ounce cans white beans and their liquid 2 cups water 2 cloves garlic 1 onion, peeled and quartered 3 cups Swiss chard, chopped 1 link turkey andouille sausage, thinly sliced (optional) In a large saucepan, combine white beans and their liquid, water, garlic and onion. Bring to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and puree with an immersion blender or standard blender. Return to the heat and add the chopped chard. Bring back to a low simmer, until chard is wilted, about 5 minutes. Divide into bowls and serve.

Per serving, without turkey sausage: 313 calories (2 percent from fat), 22 grams protein, 57 grams carbohydrates, 19 grams fiber, 1 gram fat (trace saturated fat), no cholesterol, 71 milligrams sodium.

Per serving, with turkey sausage: 369 calories (11 percent from fat), 26 grams protein, 57 grams carbohydrates, 19 grams fiber, 5 grams fat (1 gram saturated), 23 milligrams cholesterol, 356 milligrams sodium.

FOOD FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2013

MISO GINGER POACHED WILD SALMON WITH ASIAN VEGETABLES Hands on: 20 minutes. Total time: 30 minutes. Serves: 4 We know salmon is omega-3-rich. But if you don’t enjoy cooking salmon because of the fishy odor, poaching is the perfect, virtually foolproof method, as the seasoned broth keeps the fish moist. Any quick-cooking vegetable can be used and the broth flavorings can be changed up with herbs. Serve over brown rice or rice noodles to round out the meal.

2 cups water 2 tablespoons yellow miso paste

2 tablespoons grated ginger 2 tablespoons crushed garlic 4 wild-caught salmon filets (1 pound each), skin off 1 cup snow peas 1 cup bean sprouts 1 cup shredded broccoli Sesame seeds and chopped fresh cilantro for garnish (optional) In a large saucepan, bring water, miso, ginger, and garlic to a simmer. Add salmon filets and gently poach for 5 minutes. Add snow peas, bean sprouts and broccoli and continue

to simmer for 3 additional minutes.

To serve, divide salmon and vegetables between 4 bowls. Ladle broth on top and garnish with sesame seeds and cilantro.

Per serving: 197 calories (23 percent from fat), 26 grams protein, 9 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams fiber, 5 grams fat (1 gram saturated), 54 milligrams cholesterol, 402 milligrams sodium.

SPINACH AND RICOTTA MEATBALLS WITH FRESH TOMATO SAUCE Hands on: 30 minutes. Total Time: 75 minutes. Serves: 4 This family-friendly finalist in the Aetna Healthy Food Fight recipe contest uses lean

grass-fed beef and provides a heart-healthy dose of omega-3s and other nutrients.

Adding ricotta and spinach to the meatballs keeps them moist. Baking instead of frying cuts down on added fat. Subbing al-dente spaghetti squash for pasta cuts the carbs and gives the dish a nice nutty flavor.

1 whole spaghetti squash, halved and seeded 1 pound grass fed ground beef 1 cup low-fat ricotta cheese 1 pound baby spinach, steamed, drained and chopped

1 Vidalia onion, chopped 1 clove garlic, chopped 4 medium tomatoes, diced 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar 1/2 cup basil, shredded 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese Salt and pepper to taste Preheat oven to 375.

To prepare the spaghetti squash: Place the squash cut-side down on a baking sheet and roast for 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, to prepare the meatballs: In a large bowl, combine ground beef, ricotta, spinach, onion and garlic. Roll into 16 golf-ball sized balls and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes.

To prepare the sauce: In a medium saucepan over low heat, combine diced tomatoes, balsamic vinegar and half of the basil. Cook until just warmed through. Add salt and pepper to taste.

To serve: Remove squash from oven and shred with a fork to create spaghetti-like strands. Divide into serving bowls. Top with meatballs and tomato sauce, the remaining basil and a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese.

Per serving: 333 calories (52 percent from fat), 25 grams protein, 16 grams carbohydrates, 3 grams fiber, 19 grams fat (8 grams saturated), 72 milligrams cholesterol, 254 milligrams sodium.

GEORGIA PECAN CONFETTI QUINOA Hands on: 15 minutes. Total time: 30 min-

utes. Makes: 6 {-cup servings Quinoa is a delicious gluten-free, grain-like seed that cooks up light and fluffy like rice but contains more protein. This super side dish featuring confetti-colored orange and green seasonal veggies, such as squash and greens, is flavored with garlic and rosemary. Crunchy Georgia pecans add even more great taste and nutrition, because pecans are a source of heart-healthy fats and antioxidants.

2 teaspoons olive oil 1 cup carrots, diced and steamed 1 cup butternut squash, diced and steamed 1 garlic clove, minced 2 cups cooked quinoa (prepared to package directions) 2 cups kale, stripped off the stem and sliced into ribbons 1\2 teaspoon finely chopped rosemary leaves Pepper and sea salt, to taste 1\2 cup toasted pecan halves or pieces (reserve 2 tablespoons for garnish) Heat oil in large skillet and add carrots, butternut squash and garlic. Cook until crisp tender. Fold in the cooked quinoa, kale, rosemary and pecans. Season to taste with freshly ground black pepper and sea salt. Present quinoa on a large platter and garnish with additional toasted pecans.

Per serving: 282 calories (25 percent from fat), 9 grams protein, 46 grams carbohydrates, 5 grams fiber, 8 grams fat (1 gram saturated), no cholesterol, 26 milligrams sodium. — MCT

TECHNOLOGY FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2012

Dolphins

and

foxes

Using non-standard smartphone browsers

I

t’s no longer unusual to install an alternative browser onto a notebook or PC. Now it’s the turn of smartphone users to stray a bit off the reservation. Whereas desktop and laptop users have long since discovered Safari and Chrome as alternatives to Internet Explorer and Firefox, most smartphone users have, so far, stuck with their preinstalled browser, which means whatever came with their iPhone or Android phone.

But there’s no reason for smartphone users to stay stuck in that rut, when options like Dolphin, Firefox and Opera are also available for mobile device surfing and are easy to install. “It’s definitely worth it,” says Rainer Hattenhauer, who has written multiple books about Android smartphones and tablets. “A lot of browsers come with little tricks to ease operations that make surfing more comfortable.”

Firefox for Android, for example, supports tabs on its browser, as is common with many alternative browsers. That lets users switch between multiple pages, just like they would do on their desktop.

“You can do it with a simple swipe of the finger on Firefox,” says Hattenhauer. “This way I go through the tabs like they were a stack of cards.”

Opera for Android also employs tabs, as well as a customizable startup page that should be familiar to the Norwegian software maker’s desktop clients.

Every time it’s called up, users are presented with a choice of nine favourite sites, all accessible with the touch of a finger. Opera Mini, also available for the iPhone, promises easy surfing and quick connections since accessed websites are first compacted on Opera servers before being sent to the mobile.

Dolphin, available for both systems, is also catching on. Copying many desktop browsers, it can be expanded with add-ons that can alter the graphic interface or allow the browser to take screenshots or view PDF files. Dolphin also comes with the ability to take voice commands. Chrome, also for both Android and iOS, can synchronize with the PC browser of the same name. By submitting the password for a Google account, a user can

quickly access all bookmarks and stored data.

However, there are differences between the mobile and desktop versions.

Extra security is one good argument for opting for an alternative browser. Matthias Ritscher of the Fraunhofer Institute for Secure Information Technology in Darmstadt, Germany, says security gaps in the main browsers are often overlooked or only spotted too late, mainly because updates require bringing the whole operating system up to the most recent settings. “Mobile device manufacturers rarely make updates or security fixes available,” he says. Things go faster with alternative services, since they can retool their services as easily as an app gets updated. Browsers for Apple products have the advantage that they’re all based

upon Safari. Most of the alternative services are available for free in the iTunes App Store or in Google’s Play Store. Once downloaded, follow the instructions for setting which browser should be the default and which programmes should open automatically.

Hattenhauer advises relying upon individual preferences for desktop browsers when choosing one for your smartphone. “There aren’t that many differences between the interfaces,” he says.

Ritscher says people should make sure any downloaded browser comes from a reputable source.

More care is needed when picking a browser than any other app, he notes, since, after all, most people use browsers to enter all manner of confidential data. — dpa

Compact and full of sound R

arely is there enough space for an entire sound system with speakers - definitely not on a desk. And maybe the music should play every now and again in another room. That’s the perfect case for active speakers, which don’t need anything more than a socket and playing device. Because they are often used to play back recordings in studios, they are rarely found in HiFi sections. But not every speaker box with an amplifier is a real active speaker.

“Actually the active speaker box is the most sensible thing you can have,” said Andrea Kloehn, consultant at the media technology company Amptown. The deviations of frequency response caused by speaker form and size can be corrected by active speakers. That means listeners don’t have to accept losses in frequency response due to smaller casing.

“Most subwoofers are active because their casing is smaller,” said Kloehn. The frequencies are separated in the preamplifier. “If for example the bass distorts in an amplifier, then it turns over to the other tones as well.”

Active speakers are high-tech. The

individual amplifiers can be optimally adjusted to the individual speaker chassis. Constructors can use so-called corrective elements, including acceleration sensors which measure the movement of the chassis or active frequency switches which are often supported by digital signal processors (DSP). The result is a speaker with a frequency response as linear as possible and with very few distortions.

“There is almost nothing that speaks against active speakers,” said Holger Biermann, editor of the magazine Stereoplay. Even HiFi and high end shops have active speakers in their selection.

“The manufacturers are mainly targeting professionals and studio musicians. But of course everyone can buy them,” said Biermann. And the word studio in the description should not scare off anyone.

Active speakers can also be used in living rooms.

The playing devices are usually connected to the active speaker via a cinch (RCA) or jack (TRS or audio jack). Using smartphones or tablets as sound sources can often cause sonic restrictions

because they usually do not have standardized audio outputs to optimally connect the output impedance of the player and the input impedance of the speakers.

“If you connected transportable devices with active speakers then you should expect there to be too many or too few highs and lows,” said Kloehn. It’s better to connect the active speakers to a HiFi unit, a docking station or a streaming-capable Blu-ray player, AV receiver or television, which have a standardized output with a preamplifier.

The many individual amplifiers, the corrective elements and the setup effort of a real active speaker are not cheap.

“It’s really only worth it if the listener has the ambition to pay attention to the spacing and placement of the speaker system,” said Olaf G Guenther, presentation coordinator with the Association of German Sound Engineers. Biermann said at least 400 to 500 euros (510-640 dollars) should be invested in a pair of good active speakers. “You get a reasonable set of speakers starting at 500 euros,” Kloehn said. “I would stick to the known brand names.”

Te c h n o l o g y FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2013

Advanced

Photoshop

tips for geeks

P

roductivity is a crucial asset of professional designers. Photoshop is an extremely powerful application for photo processing and image manipulation, and we can make it even more powerful by using handy tools, actions, plugins and templates to save time for solving mundane regular tasks.

The better our professional tool set is, the more time we can spend to focus on the actual design process rather than the tool we are using to implement it on screen.

We’re continuously searching for recent time-saving, useful Photoshop resources for our readers, to make the search of these evergrowing techniques easier. We hope that these techniques will help you improve your design skills as well as your professional workflow when using Adobe Photoshop.

Mr. Stacks A small Photoshop script that can quickly generate storyboards, stacks and PDFs for project CDs, client presentations or anything else - right from the Layers Comps in your Photoshop file. The script would be useful for a series of animations, storytelling elements in a design and advertising.

Photoshop Tych Panel Every photographer and Web designer who has spent time arranging images and photographs knows that scaling and resizing takes time. But even existing templates are unnecessary when you try out Reimund Trost’s latest little Tych Panel for Photoshop. It completely automates the n-Tych creation process, and it has a lot of layouts to choose from. The tool has been open sourced by Reimund Trost and can be freely used, modified and redistributed in any way.

Pixel Proliferation: A Toolset For Managing Screen Resolutions This tool will help you to manage screens resolutions more easily. The toolset contains a collection of PS5 marquee-tool presets for common screen resolutions, covering fixedscreen resolution sizes, ratios for less common resolutions and standard ratios. Also, a collection of layered CS5 PSDs provides common devices for computing and design presentations. Finally, there is a reference chart for resolutions and design landscape. Useful.

Generating CSS positions for Sprites A Photoshop plug-in by Arnau March that generates sprites with your given CSS file. You can then add the sprite locations and also create hover and click effects with the help of jQuery.

Golden Crop Golden Crop is a Photoshop Script making cropping with respect to division rules (golden rule, 1/3 rule) very easy with visual guides.

Requires installed Photoshop CS2, CS3, CS4 or CS5 (either x86 or amd64 version). Works on Windows and Mac. Browser UI The Browser UI is an action that creates a browser window around any size Photoshop document you can throw at it. The free version includes only Internet Explorer 6 UI. The deluxe edition with current versions of Chrome, Safari and Firefox is not free ($3).

Open With Photoshop 0.6 An add-on for Firefox that is a new companion for Web and graphic designers to open up any Web image with Adobe Photoshop via a single and quick mouse click.

A useful time saver. foxGuide: Photoshop Guides Inside Firefox A Firefox extension that displays horizontal and vertical guides. You can move or remove the floating guides on a webpage just the way you do it Photoshop with the help of foxGuide. Guides are useful for laying out elements symmetrically, structure a design and improving the overall layout.

Modular Grid Pattern: create a modular grid in Photoshop, Fireworks and GIMP Modular Grid Pattern is application for web designers, which helps you quickly and easily to create a modular grid in Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Fireworks, GIMP, Microsoft Expression Design and other applications. The extension requires Adobe Photoshop CS5.

960gs ExtendScript for Photoshop CS5 The script is very raw and crashes easily with the wrong input or settings. However, it has some nice features such as disabling gutters by putting 0 for gutter width and optionally adding evenly-spaced horizontal guides.

Workspace import/export script for Photoshop John Nack has written a script to enable simple importing and exporting of Photoshop workspaces. It should work in both CS4 and CS5 (although it is a little more robust in CS5), so you can use it to migrate workspaces from CS4 to CS5 in addition to using it to enable

easier sharing of CS5 workspaces between machines or people.

carve all the titles you need and name them exactly as you need them named.

Subpixel Hinted Font-Rendering This technique is great for your concepts when you want to simulate actual text in your Photoshop file. Thomas Maier has saved his workflow as an action. You can download the subpixel-rendering technique and use it for free.

The Image Processor Script The Image Processor in Photoshop CS4 is a simple way to quickly resize and convert a bunch of images to JPEG, PSD or TIFF format.

The modified script allows exporting CMYK JPEGs as CMYK, as well as support for exporting PNG images.

GuideGuide 1.0 What actually started out as a script that drew guidelines at the middle of the document, turned out to become a quite helpful extension for Photoshop when working with columns, rows and midpoints in CS4 & CS5.

You can download Cameron McEfee’s GuideGuide to help you find midpoints, make margins and create rows and columns much easier while working in Photoshop.

Photoshop Animation to Sprite Sheet This tool enables you to easily export a framed animation in Adobe Photoshop to a packed sprite sheet. The tool is available for Photoshop CS3 or higher. Developed by Peter Jones.

Automatic Tile Cutter Some images are made of dozens to thousands of tile images, depending on the zoom level. At the distant zoom levels you only need a few images to cover a large area.

Creating and then uniquely naming each of these images would be a daunting task if you had to do it by hand. Will James has solved this problem and released a batch processing script to use with Photoshop 7 or CS that will

Adobe Photoshop Scripts Trevor Morris provides more than a dozen of free scripts for Adobe Photoshop. All scripts are commented, making them easy to modify and/or learn from. Among other scripts, you’ll find Layers to Comps, Rename Layers, Sort Layers and Distribute Layers Vertically scripts.

The Photoshop Scripting Community Forum PS-Scripts is a community for Photoshop scripting and automation. The site contains articles Members of the community release their script on the site’s forum; for instance, you can find the Smart Object links panel , Listing fonts used in PSD files (alternative).

Russel Brown’s Scripts Page Russel Brown provides a number of free useful Adobe Photoshop Scripts and Panels for CS4 and CS5. Among other things, Adobe Emailer Panel, Image Processor Pro and Edit Layers in ACR scripts are available.

Scriptopedia Another community that helps to find scripts and scripters for Photoshop and other Adobe applications. The site is frequently updated; you’ll find various scripts as well as tutorials on the site.

— www.smashingmagazine.com

Lifestyle FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2013

Mexican sculptor Pedro Reyes poses behind an instrument that mimics the sound of a bass guitar, made from seized guns, at his workshop in Mexico City, Tuesday. —AP photos

T

A drum-like instrument.

Mexican artist turns guns into musical instruments

he guns that have caused so many deaths in northern Mexico are now making music. Mechanical hammers ping against ammunition magazines from assault rifles. Gun barrels cut to different lengths ring like marimbas. Pistol parts strike metal plates, like cymbals, to create rhythmic, syncopated sounds. “It’s important to consider that many lives were taken with these weapons, as if a sort of exorcism was taking place,” sculptor Pedro Reyes said in a description of his project emailed to The Associated Press.

When they were played, he said, “the music expelled the demons they held, as well as being a requiem for lives lost.” For the project titled “Disarm,” Reyes said he was able to choose his instruments from about 6,700 guns that were turned in or seized by the army and police in Ciudad Juarez, a city of about 1.3 million people that averaged about 10 killings a day at the height of the violence.

In 2010, Ciudad Juarez, across from El Paso, Texas. Juarez had a murder rate about 230 per 100,000 inhabitants. The nationwide rate for the US that year was 4.8.

“The dramatic thing is that this is just the tip of the iceberg of all the weapons that are seized every day and that the army has to

T

destroy,” Reyes said in an interview as he demonstrated some of his computer controlled instruments that played a sort of industrial pop tinged with marimba. Reyes already was known for a 2008 project called “Palas por Pistolas,” or “Pistols to Shovels,” in which he melted down 1,527 weapons to make the same number of shovels to plant

the same number of trees. The new project began last year with a phone call offering him another chance to work with the seized guns.

“Normally, they bury or destroy them, but someone who works in the government said, ‘Would you be interested in making a sculpture with this metal?’” he recalled. Drug-cartel violence cost more than 70,000 lives in

A circular xylophone made from weapons’ parts, by Mexican sculptor Pedro Reyes.

Mexico over the last six years and the weapons trafficking that has been a sore point; many of the weapons used by the cartels are smuggled across the border from the United States. In 2012, then-president Felipe Calderon inaugurated a billboard in Ciudad Juarez which, facing Texas, spelled out the words “No More Weapons” in welded pieces of decommissioned guns. Reyes also hopes to take his message international, with an exhibition of the musical instruments in London’s Lisson Gallery in March and later in the United States.

“This project has a pacifist intent, to create a global consciousness about arms trafficking,” Reyes said. Violence has become a theme in Mexican art in recent years. One artist from the violence-plagued state of Sinaloa, Teresa Margolles, works with artifacts collected from crime scenes, such as pieces of glass or cloth dabbed with mud and blood. Reyes stresses that his work “is not just a protest, but a proposal.” “It occurred to me to make musical instruments, because music is the opposite of weapons,” Reyes said. “This exercise of transformation we see with the guns, is what we would like to see in society.” — AP

Miss America pageant returns to Atlantic City, NJ

here she is, Miss America, headed back to Atlantic City. The Miss America pageant, a staple in Atlantic City for decades before it was moved to Las Vegas in 2006, is making a return, Gov Chris Christie’s spokesman Michael Drewniak confirmed Wednesday. Lt Gov Kim Guadagno was scheduled to make a formal announcement Thursday at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall. The Miss America pageant started as little more than a bathing suit revue. It broke viewership records in its heyday and bills itself as one of the world’s largest scholarship programs for women. But, like other pageants, it has struggled to stay relevant as national attitudes regarding women’s rights have changed.

The news of the pageant’s return to Atlantic City came as a surprise to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, which sponsored the pageant on the Las Vegas Strip in January, spokeswoman Courtney Fitzgerald said in a telephone interview. In a

subsequent statement, she said the tourism organization wished the pageant well in its new home. “Las Vegas is honored to have hosted the Miss America pageant for the past seven years,” she said. “We understand that moving the televised event to various cities showcases America’s diverse destinations which represent our great country.”

Pageant officials didn’t immediately respond to after-hours phone and email messages seeking comment Wednesday. Many details remained unclear, including whether the pageant would return to the elaborate show it had been for decades at Boardwalk Hall or continue as more of the reality show it became with its move to Las Vegas. Also unknown was where it would be broadcast and whether it is returning permanently or for a limited run. According to the Miss America Organization’s website, the contest originated in 1920 as the Fall Frolic, which became the InterCity Beauty Contest the following year. In 1921, a high

school junior named Margaret Gorman was one of approximately 1,000 entrants in a photo contest held by the Washington Herald.

She was chosen as the first Miss Washington, DC, and her prize was a trip to Atlantic City, where she won the top prize: the Golden Mermaid Trophy. The next year, Gorman was expected to defend her title.

But when the Washington Herald selected a new Miss Washington, DC, Atlantic City pageant officials didn’t know what new title to award Gorman. Since both titles she won in 1921 - Inter-City Beauty, Amateur and The Most Beautiful Bathing Girl in America - were considered somewhat awkward, it was decided to call her Miss America. The pageant was conceived by the Businessmen’s League of Atlantic City as a way to extend the summer tourism season in Atlantic City for another week, being held the weekend after Labor Day weekend, when temperatures were generally still warm. — AP

Lifestyle FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2013

Director Lanzmann, honoured in Berlin, reflects on ‘Shoah’

French documentary filmmaker and producer Claude Lanzmann gestures during a photocall organized for his honorary Golden Bear. —AFP

F

rench film-maker and producer Claude Lanzmann, renowned for his groundbreaking 1985 documentary “Shoah”, will accept a lifetime achievement award at the 63rd Berlin film festival yesterday. He told AFP in an interview ahead of the gala ceremony that he was honored to receive the honorary Golden Bear in the country he helped to “liberate” 40 years after the Holocaust with his iconic nine-and-a-half-hour work.

“During the 12 years of work on ‘Shoah’ with enormous difficulties that almost led me to abandon it, one of the things that kept me going was that I thought ‘Shoah’ would be a film to help liberate the Germans,” the 87year-old said.

“I thought it would help Germans to confront their horrible past. Do not forget that they remained silent for many, many years. The immensity of the crime silenced them, they couldn’t even talk about their own suffering.”

The film, which includes harrowing interviews with Holocaust survivors and footage taken at several Nazi death camps, had its German premiere at the Berlin festival. “I remember that there were three or four screenings of the entire film. The cinemas were packed and peoples’ knees were shaking. It was very hard for them to see the film and it was very hard for me to show them,” he said.

“Occasionally someone would get up, I thought, ‘He’s leaving, he can’t stand it anymore.’ But he went out, had two drags on his cigarette and returned.” Lanzmann said the screenings were followed by all-night discussions with young Germans. “It was great,” he said. “In my mailbox at my hotel on the Kurfuerstendamm (then West Berlin’s upscale main boulevard), there were lots of letters they wrote spontaneously, there were very nice ones among them.” Lanzmann said he was impressed by Germans’ tenaciousness in facing up to their brutal history, and that he still received letters every time the documentary is shown. “‘Shoah’ does not have a wrinkle. The film does not age,” he said. Lanzmann said he was putting the finishing touches on a nearly four-hour-long film about Theresienstadt, a concentration camp in today’s Czech Republic where nearly 150,000 people were held during the German occupation. Festival director Dieter Kosslick hailed the director as “one of the great documentarists.”

“With his depictions of inhumanity and violence, of antiSemitism and its consequences, he created a new kind of cinematic and ethical exploration. We feel honored to honor him,” Kosslick said when he announced the prize.

Lanzmann was born in Paris in 1925 to Jewish parents, fought in the French resistance against the Germans and later taught at the then newly founded Free University in Berlin after World War II. He played a part in French intellectual life, counting amongst his circle of friends existentialist philosophers Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir. Lanzmann’s other films include the 1973 documentary “Israel, Why” as well as a 2001 film about an uprising in the Sobibor death camp in 1943. “His exploration of the Shoah, anti-Semitism and political struggles for freedom infuse both his cinematic and journalistic work,” said the Berlinale. — AFP

Musician Dave Grohl (left) and John Fogerty perform on stage at the Sound City Players concert at The Manhattan Center Hammerstein Ballroom, Wednesday in New York. — AP

Bee Gees’ Gibb says it could have been a life of crime T

he sole surviving member of the Bee Gees yesterday revealed he and his brothers could easily have turned to crime rather than music as he unveiled a statue in their honor in Australia. Barry Gibb, with brothers Robin and Maurice, grew up in Redcliffe in Queensland state, where the band was formed and they performed as the Bee Gees for the first time. Barry unveiled on Thursday a walkway-Bee Gees Way-and a statue depicting the brothers aged nine to 12, recalling the simple joys of his childhood.

“I think we were crazy, but it was okay to be crazy in those days,” he told thousands of people who gathered for the unveiling. “I took Robin and Maurice down to the pier - we’d already been in Woolworths and we had pen knives in our pockets that we hadn’t paid for,” he added, according to Australian Associated Press. “We made the decision to throw the pen knives off the jetty - they’re out there somewhere and to make the decision that it was either going to be a life of crime or a life of music.”

They never looked back, with the trio helping turn disco into a global phenomenon in the 1970s with hits such as “How Deep Is Your Love”, “Stayin’ Alive” and “Night Fever”. Although originally from the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea, the brothers

US actor and director Ben Affleck poses with Best Director award for his film Argo during the annual BAFTA British Academy Film Awards at the Royal Opera House . — AFP spent their childhood in Manchester and Australia. Maurice died in 2003 after suffering a cardiac arrest while Robin died in May last year after a lengthy battle against cancer. A fourth brother, Andy, died from cocaine addiction in 1988. — AFP

Epic to pull song with offending Lil Wayne lyric

E

pic Records says it is making “great efforts” to take down a new Future remix with a vulgar Lil Wayne lyric that has offended the family of a black US teenager whose murder in the 1950s for whistling at a white woman helped to change the national conversation on race. In a version of the song leaked over the weekend, the rapper makes a sexual reference to the beating death of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old Chicago boy tortured and shot in Mississippi in 1955.

Till’s family objected, and the Rev Jesse Jackson contacted Lil Wayne’s management, The Blueprint Group, on the family’s behalf.

The label issued a statement Wednesday night apologizing for the release of the song. “We regret the unauthorized remix version of Future’s

‘Karate Chop,’ which was leaked online and contained hurtful lyrics,” the statement said. “Out of respect for the legacy of Emmett Till and his family and the

File photo shows recording artist Lil Wayne speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in New Orleans. — AP

support of the Reverend Jesse L Jackson, Sr. we are going through great efforts to take down the unauthorized version.”

Epic will release an official version of the song that “will not include such references.” Neither Jackson nor members of Till’s family could be reached late Wednesday. A publicist said Lil Wayne had no comment.

He appears briefly on the song, alluding to the black teenager’s beating in a way too vulgar to print. Till was in Mississippi visiting family when he was killed.

He was beaten, his eyes were gouged out and he was shot in the head before his body was tossed into a river. Two white men, including the woman’s husband, were acquitted of the killing by an all-white jury. —AP

Lifestyle FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2013

Ravi Shankar’s daughter says was sexually abused

T

he daughter of legendary Indian sitar player Ravi Shankar said yesterday in a video released for a global women’s rights campaign that she had been sexually abused as a child by a family friend. Anoushka Shankar, herself a famed sitar player who used to play with her late father, said she had decided to go public in support of the One Billion Rising campaign against violence against women.

She dedicated her message to an Indian medical student who was gang-raped in a bus by six drunken men on December 16 in New Delhi, and later died in hospital from horrific injuries. The crime sparked violent protests and a round of soul-searching in India about the treatment of women.

“As child, I suffered sexual and emotional abuse for several years in the hands of a man my parents trusted implicitly,” Shankar said in the message posted on YouTube from her home in London.

“Growing up like most women I know I suffered various forms of groping, touching, verbal abuse and other things like I didn’t know how to deal with, I

In this photograph taken on June 4, 2008, Indian musician Ravi Shankar’s daughter, Anoushka performs during a concert at London’s Barbican centre. —AFP

didn’t know I could change,” Shankar said.

“Enough is enough. I am rising. I am rising for... and women like her. I am rising with the women of my country,” the US-born musician said. Events marking the One Billion Rising campaign, timed to coincide with Saint Valentine’s Day, are planned across the Indian capital, said Kamla Bhasin, a prominent women’s activist leading the campaign in South Asia.

“From 10 am (0430 GMT) onwards our programs have started in colleges and I am going with women taxi drivers to spread the word of equality because today is the day of love,” Bhasin told AFP. She said activists would sing, stage street plays, light candles and shout anti-violence slogans.

In Mumbai the events include a flash dance, a seaside “open drum circle” at sunset, demonstrations of solidarity and a protest against atrocities against women. Delhi police have charged five of the suspects with rape and murder. The sixth is a minor and is being tried in a juvenile court. —AFP

Review

‘Safe Haven’

is routine romantic thriller

I Kanye West and Kim Kardashian

West, Kardashian in security screening flap at JFK

T

wo celebrity passengers -reported by newspapers to be Kanye West and Kim Kardashian -were allowed to bypass airport security to catch a flight at New York’s JFK International Airport, but were later given a private screening, the US Transportation Security Administration said on Wednesday. An airline employee escorted two unnamed celebrity travelers on Tuesday through a non-public area “in order to provide expedited access to their domestic flight,” TSA said in a statement. It did not say whether the two entered the plane.

The New York Post and Daily News reported the incident involved rapper West and reality TV star Kardashian.

Representatives of West and Kardashian, who announced in December they are expecting a baby, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. “The airline employee violated security protocols by permitting the travelers to bypass the TSA security checkpoint,” the statement said. “TSA officials learned of the violation and conducted a private screening of the two passengers in the area of the jetway.” The couple was allowed onto the plane, and the entire incident delayed the flight for 50 minutes. — Reuters

t’s easy to understand why Hollywood loves doing business with author Nicholas Sparks. His books are huge best-sellers, and several of the films adapted from his novels - “Message in a Bottle,” “The Notebook,” and “Dear John” - have achieved impressive box office grosses.

The latest Sparks adaptation, “Safe Haven,” will probably continue his winning streak, especially with its Valentine’s Day opening pegged to lure female fans. A thriller element that has not been present in earlier Sparks movies is designed to draw reluctant male viewers to see the picture, but they won’t respond with the same enthusiasm as his core audience of woozy romantics.

The mystery plot recalls a 1991 Julia Roberts movie, Sleeping with the Enemy, in which the heroine fled an abusive husband and tried to re-invent herself in a brand new community. In this case our heroine, Katie (Julianne Hough), runs away from a toxic marriage in Boston, boards a bus, and on a whim gets off in a small seaside community in North Carolina. There she meets a sensitive widower, Alex (Josh Duhamel), raising two young children on his own. Because of their troubled histories, they approach each other warily, but there’s little doubt about where their relationship is headed. Before long, however, a nasty blast from Katie’s past arrives to threaten her newfound bliss.

The first problem with the film is that the burgeoning romance is too flat to generate intense audience empathy. Alex’s daughter, who barely remembers her mother, warms to Katie immediately, but her older brother has a harder time with his father’s new relationship. Still, this complication isn’t especially well developed in the screenplay by Dana Stevens and Gage Lansky. In addition, the two main characters are such paragons that there are no real psychological impedi-

ments to their union. To jack up the tension, director Lasse Hallstrom (who also helmed the film “Dear John”) keeps intercutting scenes of a grim, hard-drinking Boston cop (David Lyons) determined to track Katie down. But the gauzy romantic interludes prove to be something of a yawn. When her nemesis finally arrives in North Carolina, the film does develop some effectively suspenseful moments.

But the drama is a long time coming.

A related problem is the casting. The best Sparks movie, “The Notebook,” had the strongest cast, with talented newcomers Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams balancing seasoned veterans James Garner and Gena Rowlands. To put it as charitably as possible, the actors in “Safe Haven” are not in the same league. Hough, better known as a singer and dancer than a dramatic actress, is likably spunky, but Duhamel fades into the background, and there are no lively supporting players in the ensemble. Perhaps the biggest disap-

pointment is that Hallstrom, who burst into prominence with his fine direction of child actors in the Swedish film “My Life as a Dog,” fails to draw vivid performances from the two actors cast as Alex’s children.

Hallstrom’s direction is generally lackluster. The picture is certainly competent, but a dozen other journeyman directors could have executed this piece just as efficiently. It’s hard to see much evidence of the talent that brightened “My Life as a Dog,” “The Cider House Rules,” or even “Chocolat.”

The seaside locations are tenderly evoked by cinematographer Terry Stacey and production designer Kara Lindstrom, but the film isn’t visually memorable or dramatically vibrant. It does, however, have one sentimental surprise at the end that testifies to Sparks’ storytelling shrewdness. This last-minute twist is shameless and stupefying, but it demonstrates why Sparks has an army of fervent readers. —AP

This film image released by Relativity Media shows Julianne Hough (left), and Josh Duhamel in a scene from “Safe Haven.” — AP

Lifestyle FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2013

File photo provided by Bob MacDuff shows MacDuff holding an automatic weapon at the Gun store in Las Vegas after his “shotgun wedding.” — AP

Photo shows Lindsae MacDuff holding an automatic weapon at the Gun store in Las Vegas after her “shotgun wedding.” —AP

Vegas amps up gun promotions;

O

ne Las Vegas shooting range is selling “take a shot at love” packages that include 50 submachine gun rounds.

Another is offering wedding packages in which the bride and groom can pose with Uzis and ammunition belts. And a third invites lovebirds to renew their vows and shoot a paper cutout zombie in the face. Never known for its understatement or good taste, Sin City is bucking the US trend of avoiding flippant gun promotions after the Connecticut school shooting in December left 20 young children dead.

Instead, it is embracing tourists’ newfound interest in big guns the only way it knows how: by going all in.

Capitalizing on the state’s relaxed gun laws, shooting ranges offer an armory of militarygrade weapons that aren’t accessible in other states. And because this is Las Vegas, they also allow customers to destroy photographs of exes, make souvenir T-shirts full of holes and shoot fully-automatic weapons in barely-there bachelor party man-kinis. Some gun control advocates say the promotions trivialize the

dangers of high-powered weapons.

“These gun stores and shooting ranges offer bad puns in poor taste in their efforts to put a happy face on firearms, yet each day more than 86 Americans die from gun violence,” said Josh Sugarmann, who is executive director of the Washington DC-based Violence Policy Center. “While Las Vegas gun promoters present assault rifles with high-capacity ammunition magazines as harmless Valentine’s Day props, the vast majority of Americans understand their true role: militarybred weapons that threaten police and public safety,” he said. At least half a dozen ranges opened in Las Vegas last year, triggering a marketing arms race.

Before visitors even pick up their bags at McCarran International Airport, they are confronted by ads for the Gun Store, Las Vegas’ most venerable shooting range. One ad features a blonde posing with an MP5 submachine gun under the words, “Try one.”

Machine Gun Las Vegas, which opened last winter, hires former go-go dancers as host-

a shot at love

esses and sells its “femme fetale” package with the slogan, “There’s nothing like the scent of Cordite in a woman’s hair.” (Cordite is an alternative to gunpowder). “We give what people are asking for, whether it’s the ‘mob experience’ and they want to test a Tommy gun, or a bachelor package, and they want a limo to take them to the club afterward,” said Lianne Heck, marketing director at Range 702, which opened in October.

This year, gun ranges are extending their tongue-in-cheek promotions to Valentine’s Day, always a moneymaker in this matrimonyand-sex-obsessed town. The Guns and Ammo Garage is offering free vow renewals by the “Pistol Packing Preacher” for one day only. The Gun Store has built a permanent “shotgun weddings” chapel, because nothing makes a memory quite like the sound of gunfire. Bob MacDuff of Canada said his “I do’s” there last July before posing with AK-47s for wedding pictures and going shooting with his 25 guests.

He encourages others to celebrate their love with weapons in hand.

“For people who are gun people, you can’t find a better option,” MacDuff said. British tabloids have chided the Las Vegas gun ranges.

“What hope for the US when couples can now get married with weapons?” read the headline of a Jan 7 article in the Sun reporting that that no couples had canceled their shotgun weddings after the national tragedy. Emily Miller, wedding officiant and head of marketing for the Gun Store, said the high-powered weapons allow tourists to live out a wild-west fantasy.

“People always want to put a spin on it, like it’s a hostile or angry thing,” she said. “Really, customers just want to have fun.” At least one gun control advocate agrees with her. In what might be called a Valentine to the shooting range industry, a spokesman for the Washington DC-based Coalition to Stop Gun Violence said Vegas’ public embrace of shooting might cause people to associate it with other Sin City favorites like gambling, benders and ill-conceived hook-ups. “If anything, this will maybe enforce the image of guns as something that are bad for you,” he said. —AP

Long-married couples share their secrets to love C ouples who’ve been married longer than 50 years and organizers of a Valentine’s Day drink party for them in Brooklyn share tips for staying together.

COMPROMISE: Murray and Esther Redlitz, married 66 years “You’ve got to know each other for a while and then compromise,” says Murray.

“Think what the other thinks.

Don’t be selfish.”

Photos show Fortunato Corso, 89, and Maddalena Corso, 88, a Bensonhurst couple married 72 years, pose with a heart at their home in New York. — AP

MUTUAL INTERESTS: David and Faina Shamrakov, married 58 years “We have the same interests - we worked together, we both like to read books, we go to the library, the

cinema, the theater,” says Faina.

“We do everything together.”

RESOLVE DISPUTES: Fortuno and Maddalena Corso, married 72 years “You don’t go to bed mad,” says the couple’s daughter, Madeline Corso, recalling her father’s advice. “That’s what he believes in.”

SPREAD HAPPINESS: Marty and Jamie Markowitz, organizers of the party, married 13 years “Here’s the secret: Happy wife, happy life. It’s as simple as that. That’s it,” says Marty. “There’s nothing more. It’s as simple as that. It makes your life so much better if they’re happy.” — AP

Photos show Fortunato Corso, 89, and Maddalena Corso, 88, a Bensonhurst couple married 72 years, pose with a heart at their home in New York. — AP

Lifestyle FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2013

Romantic

Filipinos bridge the gap with serenades

R

omantic Filipinos abroad have found a way to bridge the gap with loved ones at home on Valentine’s Day-via an online serenade service. Jane Soco, managing director of Harana.ph, said yesterday the company’s professional singers would lift the spirits of those left behind as their partners toil in a foreign land.

“We’re booked out even days ahead of Valentines. Filipinos are very romantic and they will not let distance get in the way of celebrating this day,” she said.

“About 80 percent of our clients are people who work abroad, who want to make their partners here feel special by serenading them.” For a fee of between 7,000 and 12,000 pesos ($172-295), Harana.ph will deploy singers, hand out teddy bears and serenade the lonely lover left behind in the Philippines. The whole event is videotaped and posted on its website. Soco said the service has helped ease the pain of separation, or even saved rocky long-distance relationships.

One video posted on its portal showed Harana.ph crooners serenading a tearful office worker on her wedding anniversary. The woman received a teddy bear and a special message from her overseas-based husband read by the singers. An estimated 10 million Filipinos, or about a tenth of the population, work abroad and their dollar remittances help keep the economy afloat. Meanwhile, about 400 couples joined a mass wedding officiated by the country’s Vice President Jejomar Binay. The couples exchanged vows inside a packed gymnasium on the outskirts of Manila’s Makati financial district, as a school band played love songs that drowned out the heavy traffic outside. — AFP

Rose Natividad (left), reacts as a singer, hired by her partner who is working for a cruise liner overseas, serenades her as a surprised Valentine’s Day gift to her at her office in Manila, Philippines yesterday. —AP

Digital messages, proposals expected to rise on Valentine’s Day

N

A carnation-selling clown speaks on a mobile phone at the entrance to a park in Beijing yesterday. Businesses in the Chinese capital were said to be fearing the proximity of Chinese Lunar New Year falling just days before Valentine’s day, after some nine million Beijingers were reported to have left the city for the annual holiday exodous, according to state media. —AFP

People shop for Valentine’s Day gifts in central Baghdad, Iraq. —AFP

ot everyone will be struck by Cupid’s arrow on Valentine’s Day, but for the many people who are, they will be popping the question and proposing to their loved one, according to a new survey. Six million Americans are expecting or planning a marriage proposal on Valentine’s Day, two million more than last year, and the average price of a ring to seal the deal will be $2,410, data from American Express showed.

“As the economy is picking up people are starting to be more optimistic and things like proposals and getting engaged, and taking that next life step, are more topical,” said Melanie Backs, the manager of public affairs at American Express. Backs said the number of expected proposals is a significant boost from last year. “We were surprised, a little bit, that optimism is reigning on Valentine’s Day, especially since the number of people saying they will be spending on the day is down this year,” Backs said.

Although fewer people will be buying Valentine gifts this year - 69 percent compared to 76 percent in 2012 - those who are expected to spend about $239, up from $196 last year. “Couples are spending more this year and they are driving the majority of the spending,” said Backs.

Men will be a bit more generous than women, spending an average of $272, while women will be more economical.

True romance or overrated holiday. Most people will buy a card for their Valentine but 32 percent of up to 2,000 adults questioned in the poll

said they would opt for flowers, 17 percent were planning to buy jewelry and only 21 percent would give a gift card or cash. Heart-shaped boxes of chocolates and red roses will be in abundance, but not everyone feels romantic about the day.

Slightly more than 30 percent of women think it is overrated and 34 consider it a fun holiday but not a major occasion. Only 35 percent believe it is an important day for their relationship. In line with the digital times, 62 percent of people said they would use technology or social media to express their love on Valentine’s Day. Romantic texts and postings or messages are expected to be the most popular electronic way of saying “I love you,” followed

by email and eCards.

Seven percent of people planned to express their love in 140 characters or less in a heartfelt tweet. “This idea of romance and expressing yourself is a little bit more public than it might have been in the past when it was just between two people,” said Backs.

“We’re proclaiming everything else in our day-to-day lives on social media and love is not different.”

Another topic that people seem to be more open about discussing is finance and money. Nearly 44 percent of unmarried couples said they were talking about finances within six months of meeting each other, which was jump from 29 percent last year. “We saw a significant boost there,” said Backs. —Reuters

A Yemeni man buys flowers on Valentine’s Day in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa. — AFP

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2013

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FOR SALE

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AL-KOUT.4 SAFE HAVEN (DIG) 1:30 PM SNOWFLAKE, THE WHITE GORILLA 3:45 PM SAFE HAVEN (DIG) 5:30 PM BULLET TO THE HEAD (DIG) 8:00 PM SAFE HAVEN (DIG) 10:15 PM BULLET TO THE HEAD (DIG) 12:30 AM NO SUN+TUE+WED BAIRAQ-1 THE SNOW QUEEN (DIG-3D) THE SNOW QUEEN (DIG-3D) THE SNOW QUEEN (DIG-3D) 3ALA GOSETY (DIG) 3ALA GOSETY (DIG) 3ALA GOSETY (DIG) 3ALA GOSETY (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

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LAILA A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD (DIG) 3ALA GOSETY (DIG) BROKEN CITY (DIG) A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD (DIG)

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AJIAL.1 MIRCHI (DIG) (TELUGU) MIRCHI (DIG) (TELUGU) MIRCHI (DIG) (TELUGU)

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

AJIAL.2 SNOWFLAKE, THE WHITE GORILLA 4:00 PM SNOWFLAKE, THE WHITE GORILLA 6:00 PM 3ALA GOSETY (DIG) 7:45 PM 3ALA GOSETY (DIG) 10:00 PM AJIAL.3 SPECIAL 26 (DIG) (Hindi) SPECIAL 26 (DIG) (Hindi) SPECIAL 26 (DIG) (Hindi)

4:00 PM 7:00 PM 10:00 PM

AJIAL.4 LOKPAL (DIG) (MALAYALAM) LOKPAL (DIG) (MALAYALAM) LOKPAL (DIG) (MALAYALAM)

3:45 PM 6:45 PM 9:45 PM

METRO-1 LOKPAL (DIG) (MALAYALAM) LOKPAL (DIG) (MALAYALAM) LOKPAL (DIG) (MALAYALAM)

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

METRO-2 MIRCHI (DIG) (TELUGU) MIRCHI (DIG) (TELUGU) MIRCHI (DIG) (TELUGU) NO SUN+TUE+WED MIRCHI (DIG) (TELUGU) SUN+TUE+WED

3:45 PM 6:45 PM 10:00 PM 9:45 PM

PETS FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2013

Racehorse’s first

victory: Survival

Jockey Julio Felix puts Taxi through a workout at Hawthorne Race Course in Cicero, Illinois, on February 5, 2013. — MCT

‘The horses here are loved and pampered. They’re treated like kings at the track. Then that world is shattered. They become meat on the hoof. They’re thrown into pens with all these other horses, and they’re not used to that environment. There’s kicking, biting. The horses are terrified’

B

e careful when betting against Magna Fortuna. The 3-year-old dark bay gelding, known to his friends simply as Taxi, will run his second race ever when Hawthorne Race Course begins its spring meeting this month. To get this far, he has been the longest of long shots. How long? Well, by all rights, he should be dead. “Considering how the stars had to align to get him here, he’s an incredible long shot,” said Gail Vacca. “Pretty much off the charts.”

Taxi’s story begins with Vacca, founder and president of Illinois Equine Humane Center, a horse rescue, advocacy and education organization based in Big Rock, about 45 miles west of Chicago. She sometimes attends what she calls “kill auctions,” where unwanted horses are sold for as little as $25 and shipped to slaughter.

“It’s pretty much egregious cruelty,” she said on a recent cold morning at Hawthorne, in Stickney. “The horses here are loved and pampered. They’re treated like kings at the track. Then that world is shattered. They become meat on the hoof. They’re thrown into pens with all these other horses, and they’re not used to that environment. There’s kicking, biting. The horses are terrified.”

At such an auction in June 2009 in Shipshewana, Ind, Vacca saw a lame mare struggling to stay on her feet in the overcrowded kill pen. She’d been sold to a dealer who intended to haul her to Canada to be slaughtered.

Vacca, a former thoroughbred trainer who has been involved with horses for more than 40 years, recognized the mare as a thorough-

bred. She spent the day haggling with the dealer, who finally agreed to sell the horse for $300. “She could hardly stand; she had trouble with her front legs,” Vacca said. “I knew that if he put her in that trailer with the other horses, she’d fall down and would be trampled to death before they ever got her to Canada.”

She took the mare home, knowing she might have to euthanize her - preferable to death in a horse trailer or slaughter plant, Vacca said. But first, she wanted to give the mare one more chance. And with corrective shoes and treatment, the horse began to recover.

Soon, Vacca noticed that the mare - now dubbed Lulu - was showing signs of being in foal. A vet confirmed it, and Taxi came into the world on April 15, 2010. One look at the foal and it was evident Lulu had been keeping good company. “Before, I didn’t know what he was, a Heinz 57 or what. When he came out, it was just obvious,” Vacca said. “People who know dogs know the difference between a poodle and a German shepherd. It’s the same with people who know horses. It was pretty clear he was exceptional. Good conformation, good presence.”

Then Vacca went on a quest, first to learn who Lulu was, then how she ended up in a kill pen, and finally who Taxi’s sire was. A series of Internet searches, emails and phone calls brought some fascinating answers. Lulu was really Silver Option, who had become a broodmare after a brief and winless racing career.

When her owner thought she had lost a

foal conceived earlier in 2009, he sent her to the “kill auction.”

And Taxi’s sire was Magna Graduate, a $2.58 million career stakes winner who was standing stud at the prestigious Darby Dan Farm in Lexington, Ky. Taxi was from Magna Graduate’s first crop of foals, so he had no track record as a sire. But clearly, the pedigree was there, along with the classic long legs and neck. (Lulu, incidentally, has largely recovered from her leg problems and now lives in happy retirement at the rescue.)

Having a racehorse isn’t the same as running one, of course. It takes between $25,000 and $30,000 a year to maintain a thoroughbred, money the small rescue organization didn’t have. So Vacca and others from Illinois Equine Humane Center decided to form a partnership, Rescue Me Racing. Sixteen shares were created; an initial payment of $1,000 to get into the group was in the form of a donation to the equine humane center, and the partners now share costs. Suddenly, Taxi, registered as Magna Fortuna (Latin for “good luck” or “good fortune”), had a huge adoptive family.

“It’s fun,” said retired pilot Charlie Deveaux, of Bartlett, Ill., who went into the partnership with a friend, Clay Kannaka, of St Charles. “My buddy was always very interested in owning a horse. When I started volunteering (at the equine humane center) a year ago, Gail introduced me to the partnership.” To train Magna Fortuna, the group brought in Michele Boyce, a licensed trainer for 25 years. The horse has impressed her.

“I didn’t see him before he came in (to

Hawthorne), but I’d get pictures weekly,” she said. “We have a lot of good photographers in the group. He was a sturdy, sound colt. From the first time I saw him, he always looked good.” In Magna Fortuna’s one start, in a 6furlong race in December at Hawthorne, he was given the challenging outside No. 11 slot in a field of 12 horses, most of them more experienced. He finished ninth.

“He’s showed a lot of promise in training,” Boyce said. “His first race wasn’t the best, but he learned a lot. He’s gaining maturity, which I like to see. But he’s like a kid; he’s still learning.” Boyce said she has noticed more concentration. “He’s always trained well, but he’s less of a goof-off. It might take a couple of races to focus, but I’ve liked everything I’ve seen about him.”

The date for Taxi’s first race of the spring meeting, which runs until April 28, isn’t set yet. The partnership, which will funnel a portion of any winnings to the Illinois Equine Humane Center, has agreed he won’t be entered in claiming races, where horses can be claimed by other owners for a set price.

And there won’t be any big paydays from stud fees at the end of the road because Taxi has been gelded. The next chapter of Taxi’s story waits to be written.

“If he’s not competitive at the allowance level and we’re spinning our wheels, we’ll retrain him as a jumper or for dressage or as a trail horse, whatever suits him best,” Vacca said. “Some owners may not want to continue, but I suspect the only problem we’ll ever have is a 16-way custody battle for him when he ends his racing career.” — MCT

Stars

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2013

Aries (March 21-April 19)

Feelings of relaxation, receptivity and passivity are likely and you tend to avoid stressful confrontations or situations that demand too much of you. Goals and desires that normally seem so important to you just don’t matter quite as much now. It’s just a lazy kind of mood and it never hurt anyone to take the time out to contemplate their belly button for a day or two.

Taurus (April 20-May 20)

Your intimate relationship may be a bit askew at this time. Personal freedom and the need for a little adventure are the issues causing your disconnection. Take some “me time” and do something new and exciting on your own. Prove to yourself that you can still move through the world as an individual and you’ll feel far less smothered by your personal relationship.

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

Up and down emotions with energies running high make for uncomfortable moments today, so avoid hasty choices or impulse buying. If tempers flare, just don’t go there, spare yourself and others the hassle. Commitments made now will tend to partake of this atmosphere, so have the patience to wait a little before moving ahead.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

Your emotional inhibitions are at a low at the moment, which allows you to talk freely about your feelings, needs and desires. Discussing your hopes and dreams with those close to you is likely to produce positive, even marvelous results. Use this time to strengthen all of your personal relationships, settle lingering grievances, and create an environment that promotes a splendid future.

Leo (July 23-August 22)

Refinement and relationships are the issues to emotional satisfaction for you now. Harmony and beauty are deeply satisfying to you on both an emotional and spiritual level. And the lack of them can be emotionally unsettling. Close personal ties to other people are a focal point for your feelings, intimate relationships and other partnerships could be a what it’s about.

Virgo (August 23-September 22)

Romance can become an end in itself for you now. It marks a time when love, creativity, and self-expression satisfy a deep yearning to be appreciated and admired, needed even. Be a bit flashy, with a splash of color and warmth, grab a rose or something bright to wear today! You just might get a bit more attention than what you are used to!

Libra (September 23-October 22)

You may begin a relationship now, boldly taking the initiative to pursue someone you want to be with. You will come on strong to this person, but he or she might just love it! If you don’t take a risk to find out you won’t ever know, so be gentle with yourself and the person you’ve got your heart set on and go for it!

Scorpio (October 23-November 21)

Today could be like a roller coaster ride with crazy emotional ups and downs. Positive energy will be coming and going out of nowhere to remind you of your more important purpose. Try not to get so weighed down in the lows of the day that you fail to see the opportunities when they hit the highs.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21)

Your home life should get the bulk of your attention at this time. Now is an excellent time to resolve any lingering conflicts with your personal relationships. Expressing your emotional and physical needs clearly to your mate should lead to a fulfilling affirmation of your love for one another and strengthen your sense of being a part of something special.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19)

The energy of this time is light, friendly and easy, it all just flows today. Positive connections are made with others, and you may meet a new friend that could turn into more if you let it. You may also want to call or email someone you love, simply to cheer them up or tell them you love them.

Aquarius (January 20- February 18)

There is a friendly, cooperative, harmonious tone to the interactions you have now. You avoid heavy discussions and do not want to focus on dry, practical matters. Reading light fiction, going out to see a romantic comedy, or simply sharing a pleasant time with someone you like is more in tune with your feelings now.

Pisces (February 19-March 20)

It’s an off sort of day today. You could be inclined to irritability, temper tantrums, and just down right cranky for little or no cause. You could also feel impatient and inclined to bulldoze your way into situations, which can cause accidents or bruised feelings of the part of the people you live with or are emotionally close to. Try to keep a firm grip of both your attitude and your words as you may be abrasive and insensitive.

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

L e i s u re

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2013

Word Search

Yesterdayʼs Solution

C R O S S W O R D 1 0 1

ACROSS 1. A health resort near a spring or at the seaside.

4. Beside one another in a row or rank.

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

15. An ugly evil-looking old woman.

16. Able to flex.

17. The largest and southernmost island in the Marianas.

18. A port in southwestern Scotland.

19. A dough of flour and water and shortening.

20. A numerical quantity measured or assigned or computed.

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

23. Wrap us in a cerecloth, as of a corpse.

25. A white linen liturgical vestment with sleeves.

26. Large brownish-green New Zealand parrot.

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

33. Being one hundred more than three hundred.

34. The central area of a church.

35. A large fleet.

38. (Babylonian) God of storms and wind.

42. The act of scanning.

43. A superior grade of black tea.

45. A Dardic language spoken in northern Kashmir.

46. A member of a Muslim Turkic people of western Asia (especially in Kazakstan).

48. Reconnaissance (by shortening).

50. The most common computer memory which can be used by programs to perform necessary tasks while the computer is on.

51. The compass point midway between northeast and east.

52. A summary that repeats the substance of a longer discussion.

54. A Mid-Atlantic state.

57. A medicinal drug used to evoke vomiting (especially in cases of drug overdose or poisoning).

60. Half the width of an em.

61. A compartment in front of a motor vehicle where driver sits.

64. South American armadillo with three bands of bony plates.

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

70. Genus of East Indian trees or shrubs.

72. The third month of the civil year.

73. Genus of large deciduous nut-bearing trees.

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

76. The emotion of hate.

77. Continuing forever or indefinitely.

79. Resinlike substance secreted by certain lac insects.

80. (old-fashioned) At or from or to a great distance.

81. A usually malignant tumor arising from connective tissue (bone or muscle etc.).

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

4. An abnormally large amount of this fetoprotein in the fetus can signal an abnormality of the neural tube (as spina bifida or anencephaly).

5. Raspberry native to eastern North America having black thimble-shaped fruit.

6. Seed again or anew.

7. Further or added.

8. A river in northern England that flows southeast through West Yorkshire.

9. Marked by skill in deception.

10. A brittle silver-white metalloid element that is related to selenium and sulfur.

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

12. A Russian prison camp for political prisoners.

13. Stems of beans and peas and potatoes and grasses collectively as used for thatching and bedding.

14. Naked freshwater or marine or parasitic protozoa that form temporary pseudopods for feeding and locomotion.

22. Small voraciously carnivorous freshwater fishes of South America that attack and destroy living animals.

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

27. A small flat triangular bone in front of the knee that protects the knee joint.

28. A motorized wheeled vehicle used for camping or other recreational activities.

29. Not only so, but.

31. Requiring secret or mysterious knowledge.

32. Affect with wonder.

36. Widely cultivated in tropical and subtropical regions for its fragrant flowers and colorful fruits.

37. Italian lawn bowling (played on a long narrow dirt court).

39. English theoretical physicist who applied relativity theory to quantum mechanics and predicted the existence of antimatter and the positron (1902-1984).

40. Type genus of the Anatidae.

41. Informal terms for a (young) woman.

44. A short trip that is taken in the performance of a necessary task or mission.

47. One thousand grams.

49. An organization of countries formed in 1961 to agree on a common policy for the sale of petroleum.

53. Used as a Hindi courtesy title.

55. A mechanical device consisting of a cylindrical tube around which the hair is wound to curl it.

56. A chronic emphysema of the horse that causes difficult expiration and heaving of the flanks.

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

59. Shaped and dried dough made from flour and water and sometimes egg.

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

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

65. French cabaret singer (1915-1963).

67. Type genus of the Aceraceae.

68. A lawman concerned with narcotics violations.

69. A river in central Italy rising in the Apennines and flowing through Florence and Pisa to the Ligurian Sea. 71. The basic unit of money in Western Samoa.

74. Edible tuber of any of several yams.

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

Yesterdayʼs Solution

DOWN 1. Title for the former hereditary monarch of Iran.

2. The British system of withholding tax.

3. A city in northern India.

Daily SuDoku

Yesterday’s Solution

Sports FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2013

Singaporean reveals match-fixing secrets PARIS: When police arrested Wilson Raj Perumal in Finland, it didn’t take long for him to realize that his criminal buddies had ratted him out. He’s been exacting revenge ever since - by ratting on them, too. Since his arrest in 2011, Perumal has been talking to police, prosecutors and journalists about the shadowy world of fixing soccer matches, in which he was an active participant, and the millions of dollars that can be made in betting on them.

The Singaporean was convicted in the Lapland District Court of bribing players in the Finnish league, forgery and trying to flee from officials guarding him, and was sentenced to two years in prison. Perumal told police that he could be in danger for betraying his former colleagues. But Perumal also reasoned that by fingering him to the Finns, his associates broke the cardinal rule of criminals not cooperating with law enforcement. “It’s not in my nature to sing like a canary,” he wrote in a letter from jail. “If I had been arrested under normal circumstances, I would have been back in Singapore to serve my time as a guest of the state with my mouth tightly shut.”

European investigators and prosecutors say Perumal has provided an invaluable window into the realm of match-rigging, which is corroding the world’s most popular sport. They say he has revealed who organizes some of the fixing in football, as the sport is known in most countries, and how money is made wagering on outcomes prearranged with players, referees and officials who have been bribed or threatened. “He’s not the only operating match-fixer of this style or this size in the world, but he’s the first to be really captured in the way he was and now to cooperate the way he is,” said Chris Eaton, who was head of security of FIFA, soccer’s governing body, at the time of Perumal’s arrest. “He put two and two together and realized he’d been traitored,” Eaton said in an interview with AP. “It took several days before he decided that it was in his best interests to cooperate.”

Wilson Raj Perumal Police from Italy investigating dozens of fixed Italian games and a prosecutor looking into 340 suspect games elsewhere in Europe both traveled to Finland to question Perumal as a witness. One investigator on those trips told the AP that Perumal provided “very good interviews”, that he is still cooperating even after his release from prison in Finland, and that evidence he provided has checked out. Another investigator told AP that Perumal alerted authorities to two fixes in progress - the matches, the referees - and that his information was “100 percent” right in both cases. That investigator called Perumal “a massive help”. Both investigators spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss their work publicly. Perumal declined an AP request for an interview.

In court filings, Italian prosecutors described Perumal as their “primary source of evidence” on Tan Seet Eng, also known as Dan Tan, a Singaporean they allege is the leader of the syndicate that fixed matches in Italy. Perumal detailed to authorities how the syndicate is structured, how it places bets, and how it moves bribe-money around the world, they said.

Italian prosecutors have issued an arrest warrant for Tan and listed him as the No. 1 suspect in their match-fixing investigation. Prosecutor Roberto Di Martino told the AP there are

about 150 people under investigation, including Tan, but none of them has been indicted.

AP could not contact Tan in Singapore. Five phone numbers identified as his by Italian prosecutors were disconnected, and no one answered the door at an apartment the Italians listed as his address. Perumal told Finnish police that the syndicate has six shareholders - including himself - from Singapore, Croatia, Bulgaria, Slovenia and Hungary, and he said they divide up income from gambling on fixed matches.

The syndicate places bets mainly in China, Perumal said, according to a transcript of his May 18, 2011, police interview obtained by the AP. He said the group fixed “tens of matches around the world” - in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and the Americas - from 2008 to 2010. He estimated the group’s total profits after expenses at “several millions of euros, maybe 5-6 million”.

“Perumal is key, because he provides a view into how it all fit together,” Di Martino told the AP. Investigators said Perumal has a long history as a match-fixer and a broad array of contacts in soccer. He boasted in a letter from prison: “I can pick up the phone and call from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe.” When arrested, he had numbers stored in his phone for people in 34 countries. He carried a business card with a FIFA logo that described him as “executive manager”.

Perumal wrote from prison that he started fixing matches in Asia in the early 1990s. “I grew up in a region where football betting and match-fixing was a way of life. Gradually I developed the ability and the expertise to execute the job myself,” he said. He claimed to have paid off players in Syria and Africa and spoke of fixes in the US and in Bahrain, as well as games involving teams from North Korea, Kuwait, Zambia, Bolivia, Venezuela and Togo. Zimbabwe linked him to widespread corruption and fixes involving its players and soccer association.

Perumal also is suspected of rigging games involving South Africa before it hosted the 2010 World Cup. FIFA determined that Perumal’s company, Football4U, was a front for his betting syndicate and infiltrated the South African Football Association. In Finland, Perumal told police how he distributed bundles of cash - tens of thousands of dollars at a time - to corrupt Finnish league players, including a 56,000-euro bribe handed over in a stadium lavatory in 2010. In a prison letter, he lamented that “all corrupt players and officials are like whores who will walk with the highest bidder. There is no loyalty in this business.”

But he felt no guilt about his role. “I have had players thanking me for giving them this opportunity and telling me how much this money will change their lives,” he wrote. “The only people who get affected are the illegal bookmakers, and they dissolve their losses in the massive turnover of profits.”

Perumal had been in and out of jail repeatedly in Singapore. In 2010, he was given a five-year sentence for injuring a police officer. He appealed but then skipped town. Singapore police spokeswoman Chu Guat Chiew told the AP that Perumal is still wanted in Singapore.

In his prison letters, Perumal said he lived unnoticed in London while on the run, jogging daily around Wembley Stadium and attending Premier League matches on weekends. The handwritten prison letters were sent via Perumal’s lawyer to a journalist, Zaihan Mohamed Yusof of the New Paper in Singapore. If not for peculiar circumstances in Finland, Perumal might never have talked.

His arrest came on a tip from an informant, also Singaporean, who walked into a police station in Rovaniemi in northern Finland in Feb 2011 and told the duty officer that Perumal was in the country on a counterfeit passport and staying at the Scandic hotel, Finnish police told investigators.

But the informant gave police the wrong room number, so they detained the wrong man, who was later released.

Once armed with the correct room number, police tracked down Perumal and put him under surveillance to be sure that they had the right man, said Eaton, the ex-FIFA security chief who is now director of integrity at the International Centre for Sport Security, a Qatar-backed group funding research into match-fixing. Finnish police followed Perumal to a game and saw him in heated discussion with a player. That piqued their curiosity and prompted them to contact soccer officials. They, in turn, got word to Eaton at FIFA, who already had Perumal on his radar and immediately recognized the significance of the Finnish catch.—AP

Ref denies fixing football matches ZURICH: It was in the final minutes of a June 2011 soccer game between Nigeria and Argentina when the little green flags on computer screens in London started to change color. Nigeria was leading 4-0 in the exhibition match of little significance, and more and more money was being laid down around the world on the possibility that one of the teams would score another goal before the game was over.

Monitors hired by the soccer governing body FIFA to detect deviations from expected betting patterns - helped by computer algorithms - spotted something fishy.

The game’s 90 minutes of regular time ended without another goal. Referee Ibrahim Chaibou ordered additional time added to the clock - normal in most soccer games to make up for stoppages in play throughout the contest for injuries or other minor delays. He added six minutes - a substantial amount for such a minor game. When that time ran out, the game continued, with the score still at 4-0. The clock reached 98 minutes.

That’s when Chaibou called Nigerian defender Efe Ambrose for touching the ball with his hand - an infraction that brought a penalty kick for Argentina. Ambrose couldn’t believe it. Video replays showed the ball touching him halfway up his thigh, with his arm behind his back and his hand nowhere near the ball. The replay also suggested that Chaibou had a clear view of the play. But the referee pointed straight to the spot and patted his elbow twice as if to confirm his call beyond any doubt. Nigerian players crowded around him, one even laughing in bemusement.

Argentina scored the penalty, and the game ended 4-1.

Within days, both FIFA and the Nigerian Football Association announced they would look into the possibility that the match had been fixed. The world’s most popular sport is under sustained attack from criminal gangs that corrupt players, referees and soccer officials into rigging matches - determining in advance the result of a game, or how many goals are scored and when. The profits from betting on fixed games are so vast that at least two organized crime groups have recently switched from drug trafficking to match-fixing, Interpol chief Ron Noble told AP. Sportradar, a European company that monitors worldwide betting, says up to 300 games a year could be fixed in Europe alone.

Referees are tempting targets for match-fixers because their decisions can significantly alter a game’s outcome. They also make bad calls all the time for reasons that have nothing to do with corruption, so any investigation centers on collaborating evidence, such as unusual spikes in betting or confessions from people paid off by crime gangs.

Chaibou, a slim, bald 46-year-old from the West African country of Niger, is one of football’s most-investigated international referees.

Matches in which he officiated have been investigated by FIFA, the Nigerian Football Ibrahim Chaibou Association and the South African Football Association. At least five of his matches have been flagged as suspicious by betting monitoring companies, an action that usually prompts FIFA and national football organizations to look into the possibility that it was fixed. None of those have resulted in formal charges or sanctions, and Chaibou denies any connection to match-fixing. He says he has retired from soccer and now works in Niger’s military.

In a telephone interview from his home in Niger’s capital of Niamey, Chaibou acknowledged that soccer authorities have been questioning him about matches he officiated, including the Argentina-Nigeria game. —AP

Sports FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2013

Penguins beat Senators 4-2

PITTSBURGH: The Ottawa Senators lost a lot more than a game, as star defenseman Erik Karlsson went down with a left Achilles injury when he was cut by a skate blade in their 4-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the NHL on Wednesday. “It’s a tough blow,” Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson said. “Obviously, the way he’s playing and how much he means to our team, it feels terrible and I feel really bad for him.” The Norris Trophy winner last season as the NHL’s top defenseman, Karlsson was cut by Penguins forward Matt Cooke’s skate blade as the two tangled along the boards. The Senators said Karlsson will need surgery.

“We all know who’s involved in it,” Ottawa coach Paul MacLean said about Cooke. “That’s just the way it is. The injury to Erik was unfortunate and it happens on a nothing play that could’ve potentially been whistled down.”

Cooke has been suspended several times for much criticized hits, some of them involving head-shots that injured opposing players. In 2011, Cooke was suspended for the Penguins’ final 10 regular-season games and the first round of the playoffs after an elbow to the head of New York Rangers’ defenseman Ryan McDonagh.

Karlsson fell to the ice and was in visible pain after tangling with Cooke. He needed help get-

ting back to the bench and displayed frustration, throwing his stick against the boards before disappearing down the runway. “Him and I were engaged and he went down screaming,” Cooke said. “I didn’t even know what happened. It’s a complete accident and obviously I feel terrible about it. It has happened a few times over the past couple of years and it’s scary.”

The Senators stood up for their teammate in the third as Chris Neil took penalties for roughing and a 10-minute misconduct after tussling with Cooke. In Detroit, Alexander Steen stuffed in a rebound 52 seconds into overtime for St. Louis to beat the Red Wings 4-3 and end a fivegame losing streak that followed a 6-1 start. The Red Wings had won a season-high three straight, and beaten the Blues four games in a row at home. Detroit blew a two-goal lead in the first period and chances to win in the third period on a pair of power plays.

St Louis goalie Jake Allen, making his first NHL start in his second game in the league, made 15 saves. Mike Cammalleri had three goals and an assist in his return from a hip injury to lead Calgary past visiting Dallas 7-4. After missing the last three games because of a hip flexor, Cammalleri scored his first three goals of the season to reach 200 for his career. — AP

LOS ANGELES: Houston Rockets guard Jeremy Lin (right) puts up a shot as Los Angeles Clippers forward Lamar Odom defends during the second half of their NBA basketball game Wednesday. The Clippers won 106-96. — AP

Clippers beat Rockets for third straight win LOS ANGELES: The Los Angeles Clippers shot 77 percent and scored 46 points in the first quarter, then lost their killer instinct but still led all the way in earning their third straight NBA victory, 106-96 over the Houston Rockets on Wednesday. Caron Butler scored 17 of his 19 points in the opening quarter for Los Angeles.

Blake Griffin had 20 points and 11 rebounds, Chauncey Billups had 19 points, and Chris Paul had 10 points and 11 assists as the Clippers started all their regulars again after the lineup had been hit by injuries during their recent Grammy road trip. “We played great and got a little complacent with the lead,” Billups said.

“We’ve shown to lose our discipline sometimes.”

Chandler Parsons scored 17 points, Jeremy Lin added 14 points and James Anderson had a season-high 14 for the Rockets, who have lost five straight to the Clippers. “They came out on fire and we didn’t do a good job of making it difficult for them,” Lin said. “Once they got in a rhythm, it just kind of snowballed at least in the first quarter.” Lin was set to have an X-ray on his right wrist after a fall in the second quarter. “I think it’s fine. It just hurts,” he said.

In other games, the San Antonio Spurs beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 96-95 for their 14th win in 15 games, the Toronto Raptors won their fourth straight at the expense of the New York Knicks, 92-88, and Vince Carter passed Larry Bird on the all-time scoring list as the Dallas Mavericks beat the Sacramento Kings 123-100.

Kawhi Leonard made a 3-pointer with 2.9 seconds remaining for visiting San Antonio to edge Cleveland.

The Spurs had stars Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili on the floor together for the first time since Jan. 13. Parker led the Spurs with

24 points. Duncan, who had missed eight of the last nine games with a sore left knee, scored 13 points in 25 minutes. Ginobili had five points in nine minutes off the bench after missing nine of the last 13 games with a tight left hamstring Reserve Alan Anderson’s 26 points was one of the few good offensive performances for either Toronto or New York at Madison Square Garden.

Teammate DeMar DeRozan added 20 points for the Raptors, who overcame a 4-for-21 performance from Rudy Gay because Knicks star Carmelo Anthony was just as bad. Anthony finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds but shot 5 of 24 for the Knicks, who dropped their final two games leading into the All-Star break. J.R. Smith led the Knicks with 26 points.

Carter scored 17 of Dallas’ last 21 points in the third quarter to help turn aside a Sacramento rally. He made five of seven 3-pointers in the quarter and ended the night with 26 and 21,796 career points for 29th on the all-time list. Bird had 21,791. The Kings lost their 18th regular season game in a row in Dallas. The Brooklyn scored a season-high total in beating the Denver Nuggets 119-108, Paul George posted his first career triple-double with 23 points, 12 rebounds and a career-high 12 assists as Indiana snapped a two-game skid with a 101-77 win over Charlotte, and the Atlanta Hawks blew away the Orlando Magic 108-76 for their ninth consecutive regular-season win over their division rivals. Boston overcame poor shooting less than 37 percent - to beat Chicago 71-69, Detroit defeated Washington 96-85, Milwaukee came back in the fourth quarter to top Philadelphia 94-92, Utah beat Minnesota 97-93, and New Orleans handed Portland a fifth straight loss, 99-63. — AP

PITTSBURGH: Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby (87) is checked into the boards

by Ottawa Senators defenseman Marc Methot (3) during the third period of an NHL hockey game on Wednesday. The Penguins won 4-2. — AP

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Sports FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2013

It’s not over yet, say Mourinho, Ferguson

Alex Ferguson

Jose Mourinho

MADRID: Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho insisted yesterday that the Champions League duel with Manchester United, which will probably decide his fate and legacy in Spain, is far from finished. The two sides battled out a 1-1 draw in the first leg of their last-16 tie at the Bernabeu, a result which should give United a slight edge ahead of the return at Old Trafford on March 5. But Mourinho, already a Champions League-winning coach with Porto and Inter Milan, backed his Real team to score again in Manchester.

“We can definitely score at Old Trafford, many teams have done already this season and they’ll know that,” said Mourinho, whose side fell behind to a Danny Welbeck goal on Wednesday before former United star Cristiano Ronaldo levelled.

“Because of the football culture in England

I don’t think they can play as defensively there. “It’s easy to understand - if they score first we have to score, if we score first we’re in the lead.”

The Portuguese coach was defiant about the pressure facing him going into the second leg. “I don’t feel pressure, I work well to do my best job. Real Madrid can score goals away, life goes on. See you all in three weeks’ time,” said Mourinho.

United manager Alex Ferguson was the happier with his side’s performance and the result, picking out goalkeeper David De Gea, back in his home city, Welbeck and Phil Jones for special praise. “I thought De Gea was excellent and made four or five top saves, but he’s been performing well all season, he’s done well,” said Ferguson. “We would have taken 1-1 before the game. In the first-half I was dis-

English Cup Preview

French League Preview

PSG unlikely to be tested by Sochaux PARIS: Paris St Germain, who have conceded only one goal in their last nine Ligue 1 matches, are unlikely to be troubled at the Stade Bonal on Sunday by a Sochaux side who have managed just 22 goals in 23 league games this season. PSG will probably field Mamadou Sakho and Alex in central defence while Brazilian Thiago Silva recovers from a thigh injury. They lead second-placed Olympique Lyon by six points.

Coach Carlo Ancelotti is unlikely to include former England captain David Beckham in his squad, waiting until the following round and a home game against arch-rivals Olympique Marseille. Media accreditation was needed for Beckham’s first training session at St Germain’s Camp des Loges on Wednesday with 150 reporters turning up to watch. Ancelotti’s news conference tomorrow at the Camp des Loges will also be open to accredited reporters only as the club struggles to adapt to life with one of the world’s leading sports celebrities.

Olympique Lyon, who play Girondins Bordeaux on Sunday, have leaked six goals in their last two Ligue outings and they will be without playmaker Yoann Gourcuff who has been suffering from a groin injury and could be out of action for up to three weeks. Third-placed Olympique Marseille, trailing PSG by eight points, need to revive their campaign, said defender Nicolas N’Koulou ahead of their home game against Valenciennes tomorrow.— Reuters

VALENCIA: Referee Paolo Tagliavento shows a red card to PSG’s Swedish forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic during the UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg football match Valencia CF vs Paris Saint Germain at the Mestalla stadium on Feb 12, 2013. — AFP

appointed at how deep we played, but the away goal is important. It’s not finished but it gives us a good chance to go through. We had four attacking players in our team so I think we came to win the game. We were deep especially in the firsthalf, but we made chances. We’ll play differently at home. They counter-attack very well but we have goals in our team. It’s still 50-50 but the team that scores first will have a good chance.” Asked why captain Nemanja Vidic, who has battled a knee injury for large parts of the season, did not start, Ferguson admitted that Jonny Evans and Rio Ferdinand were better options. “I played Vidic against Everton (on Sunday), because I thought it was more his game.

He can only play every eight or nine days, like Rio, and we didn’t have enough days to get him right.” — AFP

Role reversal as City face Leeds LONDON: When Manchester City last met Leeds United in the FA Cup, the fixture pitted a team flying high in the top flight and one who had fallen on hard times and slipped out of the game’s elite. On Sunday the sides will meet again in the fifth round, and while the narrative remains the same, the roles of the two protagonists have been turned on their head. Thirteen years ago, Leeds, on their way to a third-place Premier League finish, won 5-2 in a fourth-round stroll against a City side who had just been promoted to the second tier of English football having diced with financial meltdown.

Now the boot is on the other foot and City are rolling in Middle-Eastern wealth and fighting for a second consecutive Premier League title while Leeds are watching the pennies and trying to plot a route back to the top division. The differing paths the teams have taken since they were both established members of English soccer’s elite in the late 1960s and 70s is a reminder of how financial misjudgements and highstakes gambles can bring down even the biggest clubs.

Leeds, three times league champions, were flying when David O’Leary took them to the Champions League semifinal in 2001 with an expensively-assembled side that included £18 million ($28.19 million) defender Rio Ferdinand. The club took out large loans based on hopes of continued Champions League football and when they failed to qualify the next season, their problems spiralled and they were relegated in 2004. Three years later they fell into the third tier.

City’s demise from league champions in 1968 and FA Cup winners the following season was more drawn out. Twice relegated from the top flight in the 1980s and once in each of the preceding two decades, 18 different permanent managers - seven in the 80’s alone - occupied City’s hotseat after 1979. Their darkest hour came in 1998 when they too were relegated to the second division, or third tier of English soccer.

Unlike Leeds, however, there was a hap-

py ending to their tale of woe as they rose from the ashes to become world football’s richest club under Abu Dhabi-stewardship that culminated in their first Premier League title last season. City’s current title campaign has faltered, though, and it is unclear whether manager Roberto Mancini sees the Cup as an unwanted distraction or an opportunity to return to winning ways with their league challenge falling away in recent weeks.

The Italian has promised to ring the changes having seen his team slip 12 points adrift of Manchester United at the top of the table following a 3-1 defeat by Southampton last weekend. Talking about his preparations for the Cup clash, Mancini said: “I will change players. I only want players who are ready for the fight in the last 12 games. I am very angry with a lot of my players and very disappointed at the performance (against Southampton), because it is impossible to play the way we did.”

The previous round of the Cup underlined the difficulties in store for Premier League clubs who choose to rest players against lower division teams hungry to cause an upset. Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, Norwich City, Queens Park Rangers and Aston Villa all made changes for their fourth round matches last month and were dumped out by lower league clubs. Holders Chelsea were held to a draw at third tier Brentford and will play their fourth round replay on Sunday while other clubs are involved in fifth round clashes.

In the pick of the other ties, Arsenal host Blackburn Rovers tomorrow while Everton travel to Oldham Athletic who embarrassed Liverpool in the previous round.

The only all-Premier League tie pitches Manchester United against Reading at Old Trafford on Monday with the hosts lifted by their 1-1 draw at Real Madrid in Wednesday’s Champions League last 16 first leg. —Reuters

SOUTHAMPTON: Southampton’s English striker Jay Rodriguez (right) vies with Manchester City’s French midfielder Samir Nasri during the English Premier League football match between Southampton and Manchester City at St Mary’s Stadium on Feb, 2013. — AFP

45

Sports FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2013

Spanish League Preview

Italian League Preview

No end to Roma’s transitional period MILAN: AS Roma fans may be wondering how much longer their team will be in a so-called transitional period after club president James Pallotta used the dreaded word again this week. The decision to sack coach Zdenek Zeman two weeks ago failed to stop the rot as they lost 3-1 to Sampdoria in their first game under his replacement Aurelio Andreazzoli and they now face the daunting task of taking on Serie A leaders Juventus tomorrow.

Roma fans had accepted that last season would be transitional under Spaniard Luis Enrique who was hired as coach by the consortium which took over the club in 2011 and was expected to imitate Barcelona’s style.

However, the Spaniard quit in the summer and Roma then opted for old romantic Zdenek Zeman, a Czechborn coach known for throwing caution to the wind. True to Zeman’s style, Roma scored freely but also leaked goals at the back, putting everyone’s nerves on edge and leading to talk of a U-turn as early as November. “I don’t want another year of transition, I’m tired of that,” said stalwart striker Francesco Totti at the time. “We have to follow Zeman and we will come out of this tunnel.”

But a 4-2 home defeat by Catania a fortnight ago was the last straw and the club changed direction again, bringing in Andreazzoli on an interim basis. Following Sunday’s defeat at Sampdoria, which left Roma languishing in ninth place with 34 points, club president James Palotta issued a statement which made it clear that the period of transition was still far from over. “As I have said on every occasion we are building an organisation and team that will take some time and that Rome can be proud of,” he said. “In these periods of transition, there will always be cases, in hindsight, we could have made different decisions but I don’t intent to take those decisions just to satisfy some short-term goals.

“I’m disappointed because we would all like to see us quickly getting the results we expected. But, since becoming president seven months ago, I think we have taken steps forward in many aspects to achieve the longterm results and greatness we all want.” He added: “While we are all not happy with our recent results I have complete confidence in our players and entire staff.”

Andreazzoli’s debut was also marked by controversy when Pablo Osvaldo took and missed a penalty even though Totti was the designated taker. Osvaldo’s car was kicked by angry fans at a training session on Tuesday while Totti was criticised by the media for not forcing his team mate to back down. “I would like to say sorry to the fans and I certainly didn’t want to show any disrespect to Francesco,” said Osvaldo later. Juventus, who have recovered from a minor slump following the winter break, have 55 points at the top, five clear of Napoli, and enjoyed an emphatic 3-0 win at Celtic in the first leg of their Champions League round-of-16 tie on Tuesday.

Napoli are at home to an improving Sampdoria, where speculation already surrounds the future of their 19-yearold Argentine forward Mauro Icardi after his recent goal glut. Lazio are a further six points adrift in third place and visit lowly Siena. —Reuters

GENOA: AS Roma midfielder Miralem Pjanic (left) is challenged by Sampdoria defender Daniele Gastaldello during their Serie A soccer match on Feb 10, 2013. — AP

Rayo out to storm fortress Bernabeu MADRID: Rayo Vallecano have made a mockery of their financial woes and played some of the best football in La Liga this season to climb to sixth and can test their progress when they take on wealthy city rivals Real Madrid at the Bernabeu on Sunday. A thoroughly deserved 2-1 win at home to secondplaced Atletico Madrid last weekend prompted talk of a realistic chance of a place in Europe next term and enhanced Rayo’s reputation as one of Spain’s “giant killers”. The modest club, who are in administration and whose 15,000-seater stadium has only three stands with one end used for advertising, are transformed from the side that were mired in the third-tier in Spanish football between 2004 and 2008.

They narrowly avoided relegation last season after coming up from the second division but under the guidance of coach Paco Jemez and fired by the goals of captain Piti and fellow forward Leo Baptistao, they have become a genuine force, with wins at Valencia, Athletic Bilbao and Malaga. “We are now in a situation where we only have to look forward,” Jemez told a news conference this week. “We are not going to be satisfied with what we have done and we want to continue making history,” the 42-year-old added. “We have to enjoy everything we are doing.”

They face a monumental task at champions Real, who are undefeated at the Bernabeu in all competitions this season but have suffered erratic form

away from home and are four points behind Atletico and 16 behind leaders Barcelona. Jemez said Rayo would not be changing their free-flowing playing style, which has drawn comparisons with Barca, and would be going out to enjoy themselves on Sunday. “We don’t need to be scared in any way, we just have to show what we have been showing up to now,” he said. “We are going to go there without any kind of complex with a lot of desire to enjoy ourselves and play a good match.”

Barca have had a restful week with their Champions League last 16 first leg at Serie A side AC Milan not until next Wednesday and can go 15 points clear of Atletico with a win at 14th-placed Granada tomorrow. Forward David Villa is unavailable after failing to recover from kidney stones, the club said on Thursday. Atletico have won all 12 of their home matches this term but were beaten in their last two away fixtures and play at mid-table Real Valladolid on Sunday. — Reuters

MADRID: Rayo Vallecano’s Guinean forward Lass Bangoura celebrates after scoring during the Spanish league football match Rayo Vallecano vs Atletico de Madrid at the Vallecas stadium in Madrid on Feb 10, 2013. — AFP German League Preview

Stuttgart suffer familiar winter slump BERLIN: VfB Stuttgart have fallen into their traditional winter slump with a run of five consecutive league defeats leaving them closer to the relegation dogfight than the chase for a place in Europe.

Coach Bruno Labbadia has been repeatedly let down by his blundering defence and his only crumb of comfort is that Sunday’s opponents Hoffenheim have even more problems than his own team. Hoffenheim, 16th in the 18-team table and occupying the relegation playoff spot, fined goalkeeper Tim Wiese and midfielder Tobias Wies after they were thrown out of a carnival event by security guards for unruly behaviour on Monday.

The previous week their Peruvian defender Luis Advincula suffered minor injuries in a car crash, bringing back memories of September’s incident when Boris Vukcevic was left in a coma for eight weeks following a severe crash. Stuttgart, who reached the Champions League round of 16 three seasons ago, had a seven-match winless run between November and February last season, although they eventually recovered to claim a place in the Europa League. “In the last few years, we have got used to going downhill and we know how to get around the situation,”

said striker Martin Harnik.

This time, with the team languishing in 14th spot and only nine points clear of Hoffenheim, sporting director Fredi Bobic has set them a more modest target of 40 points which would see them finish in mid-table. “Unfortunately, we have wrecked the good position we had at the halfway mark,” said Bobic. “We have often been naive in defence,” he added.

“Obviously, we have to cut out these individual mistakes. But when you get into a downward spiral, it can be difficult to stop.”

Another club in trouble are Schalke 04, who have won only one game in four since they fired Huub Stevens in December and replaced him with Jens Kellers. The Royal Blues, who play sixthplaced Mainz 05 tomorrow, were grateful to lose only 4-0 to leaders Bayern Munich after a dismal display in their last outing.

Kellers was given a vote of confidence by sporting director Horst Heldt after that game when he said: “It’s the same as we said before -Kellers is staying as coach until the end of the season.”

However, Stevens was fired in December after similar comments. At the top, the question is when rather than if

Bayern Munich will wrap up the title after they moved 15 points clear of secondplaced Dortmund. The Bavarians have won all four matches without conceding a goal since the Christmas break and their huge lead is a Bundesliga record for this stage of the season. In all, they have scored 55 goals in 21 league matches this season and conceded a mere seven.

“At the moment, the way we’re playing our football looks so easy. But it’s all the product of hard work,” said coach Jupp Heynckes, who will be replaced by former Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola at the of the season. “We can still optimise a few things. We have to keep working on ourselves, because there are always things you can make more perfect.” Club president Uli Hoeness said it was too early to celebrate.

“There can be no talk of the title race being over,” he said. “There’s no reason for euphoria. There are plenty of games to go and we’re still in three competitions.”

Dortmund, who collapsed to a 4-1 home defeat by Hamburg SV last Saturday, have 39 points and host Eintracht Frankfurt, who are only two points behind them in fourth place. Third-placed Bayer Leverkusen, on 38 points, host relegation-threatened Augsburg. — Reuters

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Sports FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2013

Ban breeds frustration for Indian athletes MUMBAI: Indian boxing’s pin-up boy Vijender Singh drags himself to the ring in the north Indian city of Patiala each day, sweats out mechanically and leaves wondering if it was all worth the trouble. Singh’s frustration reflects the mood of the athletes in a country that has been kicked out of the Olympic family for allowing government interference in the functioning of its controversial Olympic committee. To make matters worse for local boxers, the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation has separately been suspended by the sport’s international governing body (AIBA) for “possible manipulation” in its September elections.

“It’s very frustrating,” Singh told Reuters by telephone. “We can’t go to any camps, can’t compete in any competitions but still train day in and day out to stay in shape. We ask ourselves every day ‘Why are we train-

ing? What’s the use of it when we are banned?’ The urge to train harder will come only when we can see a ray of hope.” Singh’s middleweight bronze in the 2008 Beijing Games helped raise boxing’s profile in India, which otherwise remains obsessed with cricket. “It (ban) shouldn’t have happened. It is not good for Indian sports and Indian boxing. Whatever needs to be done should be done and this ban should be lifted as soon as possible.” The International Olympic Committee (IOC) banned the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) due to government interference in its Dec 5 elections, which also saw a tainted official being elected to a key post.

Lalit Bhanot, who spent 11 months in custody following corruption charges that swirled around the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, was elected unopposed as the secretary-general despite the IOC declar-

ing the elections “null and void”. While the athletes may still compete under the IOC flag, the prospect does not excite discus thrower Krishna Poonia. “It is obviously a matter of concern. Till this crisis is solved, there will always be concerns surrounding our participation in competitions and that too under some other flag,” the 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medallist told Reuters. “It’s very confusing for us. We hope we won’t suffer like the boxers.”

Bhanot and his IOA colleagues continue to defy the IOC and there appears no immediate solution either, something shooter Joydeep Karmakar finds exasperating. “The way out is pretty simple and basic - follow the Olympic Charter,” he said by phone.

India should take the opportunity to weed out vested interests from sports administration, said Karmakar, who narrowly missed

out on a bronze in men’s 50m rifle prone at the London Olympics. Singh echoed Karmakar’s views and urged administrators to put national interest above anything else.

“I think the whole of India should be involved in solving this crisis. It’s a loss for India and every Indian citizen,” the 27-yearold boxer said. “If the officials are doing this for their personal gain, they are betraying the country.”

IOC member Randhir Singh acknowledged the athletes were suffering for no fault of their own. “You have to go by the IOC rules. If it carries on like this any further, it’s possible that the Indian athletes will not be allowed to participate anywhere,” he told Reuters. “Who will suffer in the end?

Obviously the Indian athletes and that too just because of the whims and fancies of a few.” —Reuters

Classy Younus, Shafiq lead Pakistan recovery

Hedo Turkoglu

Turkoglu banned for positive steroid test ORLANDO: Orlando Magic forward Hedo Turkoglu of Turkey was suspended 20 games by the NBA on Wednesday after testing positive for steroids. The NBA said Turkoglu tested positive for methenolone, an anabolic steroid. He began serving the suspension Wednesday night when the Magic hosted the Atlanta Hawks. Turkoglu took full responsibility for the positive test and apologized to the Magic organization, fans and fellow teammates. He said he took medication from a trainer in Turkey this past summer to help him recover from a shoulder injury and mistakenly neglected to check it against the NBA’s list of banned substances.

“As a player this is the worst situation that you want to be in,” Turkoglu said. “I’m just sorry to put the organization in this situation. ... I should have double-checked and researched and shouldn’t be in this situation.” He is the eighth player suspended for performance-enhancing drugs under the NBA’s drug testing policy.

He is the second Magic player to be suspended under the policy in four years. Former Magic forward Rashard Lewis was suspended 10 games in 2009 after testing positive for an elevated testosterone level.

Turkoglu said he was tested by the league in December and learned of the suspension Tuesday night. General manager Rob Hennigan said Turkoglu informed the team of the positive test a week ago. Turkoglu sat out the Magic’s past three games for what the team said were flu-like symptoms and a sore back.

Hennigan said those ailments were legitimate and unrelated to the positive test. It is the latest in a string of bad news for Turkoglu during the past year. He missed 10 games at the end of last year’s regular season for a fractured bone above his eye and then missed 28 straight games at the start of this season after breaking a bone in his hand. He’s appeared in just 11 games in 2012-13 with only one start.

Turkoglu is in the third year of his second stint with the Magic.

He is averaging 2.9 points, 2.1 assists and 2.4 rebounds, all down from his career numbers over the previous 12 seasons. “It’s been really nightmare,” Turkoglu said. “It wasn’t a really good year for me. Now I’m facing this. As a player, you face a lot of injuries. It just comes and goes. But this kind of situation, you don’t want to put yourself in. This is the worst one I’m dealing with now.” —AP

CAPE TOWN: Younus Khan and Asad Shafiq made fine centuries as Pakistan recovered from a poor start to reach 253 for five on the opening day of the second test against South Africa at Newlands yesterday. Having been reduced to 33 for four before lunch, a 219-run fifth-wicket stand between Younus (111) and Shafiq (111 not out) made the South African bowlers toil in the sun after captain Graeme Smith had won the toss. The hosts dismissed Younus shortly before the close to leave the match evenly poised.

“After the first test we had a lot of meetings to discuss how we should play test cricket,” Younus told reporters. “It was tough again this morning, but after we got through the new ball, if it was there to be hit, we went for it. I encouraged Asad to do the same and I think that helped him to relax. The wicket is much better for batting, I was a bit lucky but I hung in there.

The bowlers were talking a lot to me but I just kept smiling and trying to hit the bad ball.” Smith had spoken about a “dangerous” Pakistan side following their 211-run defeat in the first test and so it proved as Younus and Shafiq started watchfully before accelerating after tea. Shafiq was dropped by Dean Elgar at short leg off spinner Robin Peterson when on just 24, but otherwise gave a chanceless performance in reaching his third test century off 201 balls including 13 fours and a six.

The experienced Younus reached his hundred from 192 balls with six fours and three towering sixes off Peterson. It was his 21st in tests and fourth against South Africa. He was dismissed on review after an inside edge off Vernon Philander carried to wicketkeeper AB de Villiers. “I think if we can get through the morning session tomorrow and post 350 or 400 then we have a good chance to win the test,” Younus said.

Morne Morkel was the pick of the bowlers with two for 37 from his 16 overs and Philander took two for 45. Dale Steyn deserved more than his one for 34 as he went past the outside edge on numerous occasions. “Newlands always offers a bit in the morning, so hopefully with a new ball that is only 10 overs old we can get through them quickly,” Philander said.

It looked like it was going to be another batting disaster for Pakistan early on. Nasir Jamshed (3) offered a catch to De Villiers with a loose front-foot drive off Philander, Mohammad Hafeez (17) tentatively pushing forward to a full ball from Steyn and Smith pouched the catch at first slip.

Morkel had Azhar Ali (4) caught behind by De Villiers and four balls later Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq fended a rising delivery into his ribs with his gloves and Elgar took the catch at short leg. South Africa lead the three-match series 1-0 after their victory in Johannesburg. — Reuters

CAPE TOWN: Pakistan cricketer Misbah-ul-Haq (captain) plays a shot before going out for a duck (0) on the first day of the second Test match between South Africa and Pakistan at Newlands yesterday. — AFP

SCOREBOARD CAPE TOWN: Close of play scores on the first day of the second Test between South Africa and Pakistan at Newlands yesterday: Pakistan, first innings Mohd Hafeez c Smith b Steyn 17 Nasir c De Villiers b Philander 3 Azhar Ali c De Villiers b Morkel 4 Younis Khan c Villiers b Philander111 Misbah-ul-Haq c Elgar b Morkel 0 Asad Shafiq not out 111 Sarfraz Ahmed not out 0 Extras (lb4, nb3) 7 Total (5 wkts, 90 overs) 253 Fall of wickets: 1-10 (Jamshed), 2-21 (Hafeez), 3-33 (Azhar), 4-33 (Misbah), 5-

252 (Younis) Bowling: Philander 21-8-45-2 (2nb), Steyn 19-7-34-1, Morkel 16-6-37-2 (1nb), Kallis 13-2-34-0, Peterson 19-0-85-0, Elgar 2-0-14-0.

To bat: Tanvir Ahmed, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Irfan South Africa: G. Smith, A. Petersen, H. Amla, J. Kallis, A. de Villiers, F. du Plessis, D. Elgar, R. Peterson, V. Philander, D. Steyn, M. Morkel Match situation: Pakistan are 253 for five wickets in the first innings

Sports FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2013

‘Blade Runner’: Adored star with high-octane life

(Left) Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius leaves the Boschkop police station, east of Pretoria, South yesterday after being charged with murdering his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp yesterday. This picture taken on Nov 4, 2012 during the Feather Awards held at Melrose Arch in Johannesburg shows Pistorius and Steenkamp. — AP

Olympian Pistorius charged with murder PRETORIA: Paralympic superstar Oscar Pistorius was charged yesteday with the murder of his girlfriend who was shot inside his home in South Africa, a stunning development in the life of a national hero known as the Blade Runner for his high-tech artificial legs. Reeva Steenkamp, a model who spoke out on Twitter against rape and abuse of women, was shot four times in the predawn hours in the home, in a gated community in the capital, Pretoria, police said.

Hours later after undergoing police questioning, Pistorius left a police station accompanied by officers. He looked down as photographers snapped pictures, the hood on his gray workout jacket pulled up, covering most of his face. His court hearing was originally scheduled for yesterday afternoon but has been postponed until today to give forensic investigators time to carry out their work, said Medupe Simasiku, a spokesman for the prosecution.

Police said there had “previously been incidents at the home of Mr Oscar Pistorius.” Police in South Africa do not name suspects in crimes until they have appeared in court but police spokesperson Brigadier Denise Beukes said that the 26-year-old Pistorius was at his home at the time of the death of Steenkamp and “there is no other suspect involved”. “Yes there are witnesses and there have also been interviews this morning,” Beukes told reporters outside the gated complex where Pistorius lived. “We are talking about neighbors and people that heard things that happened earlier in the evening and when the shooting took place.”

Police said that earlier reports that Steenkamp may have been mistaken for a burglar by Pistorius did not come from the police.

Several local media outlets had initially reported that the shooting may have been accidental. “It would be very premature and very irresponsible of me to say what actually has happened,” Beukes said.

“There have been allegations. We are not sure.” Beukes also said there had been previous incidents and “allegations of a domestic nature” at the home of the Olympic star and double-amputee runner, who is one of South Africa’s and the world’s most famous sportsmen and made history at the London Games last year by being the first double-amputee runner to compete at the Olympics.

“I’m not going to elaborate on it but there have been incidents (at Pistorius’ home),” Beukes said.

Capacity Relations, a talent management firm, earlier named model Steenkamp as the victim of the shooting. Police spokeswoman Lt Col Katlego Mogale told AP that officers received a call around 3 am after the shooting. A 9 mm pistol was recovered and a murder case opened against Pistorius. Mogale said when police arrived they found paramedics trying to revive a 30-year-old woman, who had been shot four times. Mogale, who was speaking to the AP from the scene, said the woman died at the house.

Police have still not released the name of the woman, but the publicist for Steenkamp confirmed in a statement that the model was dead. “We can confirm that Reeva Steenkamp has passed away,” Steenkamp’s publicist Sarit Tomlinson said. “We are in communication with people on the scene, please wait for official statements, as there is too much speculation at this moment in time. We

will provide further information as soon as we are able to provide accurate information as to what transpired. “Our thoughts and prayers go to the Steenkamp family, who have asked to have their privacy respected during this difficult time, everyone is simply devastated. She was the kindest, sweetest human being; an angel on earth and will be sorely missed.

Tomlinson said Steenkamp, known simply as Reeva, was one of FHM’s (formerly For Him Magazine) 100 Sexiest Women in the World for two years running, appeared in countless international and national advertisements and was one of the celebrity contestants on Tropika Island of Treasure, filmed in Jamaica. On Twitter, she tweeted messages urging women to stand up against rape alongside her excitement about Valentine’s Day. “What do you have up your sleeve for your love tomorrow?” she tweeted. “It should be a day of love for everyone.” Mogale and Beukes said the victim’s family had not yet identified the body.

Pistorius made history in London last year when he became the first double-amputee track athlete to compete in the Olympic Games, propelling him to the status of an athletics superstar. Having had both his legs amputated below the knee before his first birthday because of a congenital condition, he campaigned for years to be allowed to compete against able-bodied athletes. Having initially been banned because of his carbon fiber blades - which critics said gave him an unfair advantage - he was cleared by sport’s highest court in 2008 and allowed to run at the top events.

He competed in the 400 m and on South Africa’s 4x400 relay team at the London Games, making history after having his selection confirmed on South Africa’s team at the very last minute. He also retained his Paralympic title in the 400 m in London. South Africa’s Sports Confederation and Olympic committee released a statement on Thursday saying they had been “inundated” with requests for comment but were not in a position to give out any details of the shooting. “SASCOC, like the rest of the public, knows no more than what is in the public domain, which is there has been an alleged fatal shooting on the basis of a mistaken identity and an apparent assumption of a burglary,” the South African Olympic committee said. “The organization is in no position to comment on the incident other than to say our deepest sympathy and condolences have been expressed to the families of all concerned.” The International Paralympic Committee also said it wouldn’t comment in detail apart from offering its condolences to the victim’s family.

“This is a police matter, with a formal investigation currently underway,” the IPC said. “Therefore it would be inappropriate for the IPC to comment on this incident until the official police process has concluded. The IPC would like to offer its deepest sympathy and condolences to all families involved in this case.” South Africa has some of the world’s highest murder rates, with nearly 50 people killed each day in the nation of 50 million. It also has high rates of rape, other assaults, robbery and carjackings. UN statistics show South Africa has the second highest rate of shooting deaths in the world, second only to Colombia.— AP

JOHANNESBURG: South Africa’s Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius, charged with shooting dead his girlfriend yesterday, was publicly adored but has a rocky private life of rash behaviour, beautiful women, guns and fast cars. The dashing and charismatic 26-year-old sprinter became the first double amputee ever to compete at an Olympics in London last year.

The global celebrity and champion for disabled sport uses two carbon-fibre running blades, which earned him the epithet “Blade Runner” and “fastest man on no legs”.

But his playboy private life has courted controversy. In 2009 Pistorius spent a night in jail after allegedly assaulting a 19-year-old woman at a party. “Oscar is certainly not what people think he is,” said ex-girlfriend Samantha Taylor last November - two months after a magazine program covered the couple’s Seychelles holiday. He then started going out with model Reeva Steenkamp, who was found shot four times in Pistorius’s Pretoria home yesterday. “Oscar has a way with women. Strange, she’s probably not the only one at his side,” Taylor told Rapport newspaper.

Pistorius has been open about his love for guns. The sprinter slept with a pistol, machine gun, cricket bat and baseball bat for fear of burglars at his upmarket home in a secure Pretoria estate for fear of burglars, he told Britain’s Daily Mail last year. He once took a journalist interviewing him to a shooting range. The Johannesburg-born runner had both legs amputated below the knee when he was 11 months old after being born without lower leg bones. But the boy played sports unhindered while growing up in a well-do family and switched to running after fracturing a knee playing rugby.

At high school, the teen was so good that his trainer was unaware for six months he ran on prosthetic legs. “You’re not disabled by your disabilities but abled by your abilities,” Pistorius told Athlete magazine in a 2011 interview. He won an international legal battle overturning a ban on competing in able-bodied events after some argued the running blades gave him an unfair advantage. He became the first amputee to run at the World Championships in 2011 and won silver with South Africa’s 4x400m sprint team.

After taking the 100m, 200m and 400m sprint titles at the Beijing Paralympics, the athlete qualified for the London Olympics, but didn’t reach the final. He failed to retain two of his Paralympic titles, but bounced back to take gold with his South African team-mates in the 4x100m relay and storm to victory in the individual 400m, sending the 80,000 Olympic Stadium crowd wild. However, he became embroiled in a dispute about the length of his rival’s running blades, after Brazil’s Alan Oliveira beat him into silver in the 200m. His accusations that Oliveira’s blades were too long raised an outcry and he later apologised.

Off the track, Pistorius has a passion for motorbikes, adrenalin and speed. “He likes fast cars. Every time he comes here, he’s got another car,” his trainer Jannie Brooks told AFP last year. “He is just built for speed, because the cars have an amazing performance.” Four years ago he crashed his boat in a river south of Johannesburg, breaking two ribs, an eye socket and his jaw. Empty alcohol bottles were found in the boat, but his blood alcohol content wasn’t tested. He also once owned two white tigers but sold them to a zoo in Canada when they became too big.

Pistorius had been brash with reporters in the past, famously storming off the set when a BBC interviewer asked if his battles to compete in able-bodied sports weren’t “an inconvenient embarrassment” to athletics authorities.

Turbulent family life marked his childhood. His parents divorced when he was six and his mother died when he was 15. The date she died is tatooed on his arm. The middle child between a younger sister and elder brother, he has problematic relationship with his father, Henke, but the two brothers are close. The athlete cut a more humane figure in London after making history last year, talking to reporters and speaking with pride at seeing his 89-year-old grandmother in the stadium. “To step out here for an Olympic final is more than I could ever have hoped for. It’s been a truly humbling experience,” he said. Pistorius has done work for several charities. He is an ambassador for the Mineseeker Foundation, a British charity which works on removing land mines, and British communications firm BT’s Paralympic World Cup, much of his work focused on changing perceptions about disabled people. — AFP

Turkoglu banned for positive steroid test Page 46

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2013 www.kuwaittimes.net

LOS ANGELES: Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin (top) blocks the shot of Houston Rockets forward Donatas Motiejunas of Lithuania during the second half of their NBA basketball game on Wednesday. The Clippers won 106-96. — AP

Clippers win over Rockets Page 43