13th Sep 2013

Happily married, unhappily overweight?

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7 Max 43ยบ Min 28ยบ

NO: 15927- Friday, September 13, 2013

www.kuwaittimes.net

PAGES 4 & 5

Local FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

Conspiracy Theories

Sweet lies

By Badrya Darwish

badrya_d@kuwaittimes.net

W

here can lies take you? Lying is wrong any way but some people claim that there are white lies. What is the definition of a white lie? Why isn’t it called a fuchsia or purple lie? Are there really black and white lies?

Sometimes people meet hilarious situations by telling white lies. Lies can also place you in a hazardous situation. The problem is - you never know what will meet you outside of the door once you leave. No white or fuchsia lie can save you.

When Kuwait Airways plane was hijacked in the 80s one old man was a passenger who had told his family that he was going to Makkah to perform Umrah. Little did he know that

the plane returning from Bangkok to Kuwait would be a world headline because it was circling in the skies and kept on landing in different places around the region for over three weeks.

It was a long drama episode.

After long negotiations, the problem was resolved in Algeria and the man came back home after - of course performing his Umrah in Bangkok. Similar situation occurred when a married guy with children left home telling his wife he was going to the university. When she watched the evening local news, she saw him being saved by the lifeguards in a local lake from a capsized boat in their state.

Local Spotlight

Are you happy?

By Muna Al-Fuzai

muna@kuwaittimes.net

K

uwait ranked 32 in the happiness survey? Are you happy? When I first read about the happiness survey and its results, I felt I should address this in my column. Although this question seems naive, it does make all of us think about our personal experiences and judgments. Happiness varies from person to person even though they may be from the same country.

I don’t think there is a country in the world which can be ranked on a certain grade because this happiness scale can never be the same or be judged on one common factor. I’m doubtful about such surveys and their accuracy. Does it reflect public attitude? Was the sample used in this survey focusing only on a certain category of people? What was their income ?

In Kuwait, if you spoke to someone who makes millions living in a large villa with maids around and the best fancy cars, then he will surely say Kuwait is heaven and claim to be the happiest on earth. He would think this way because he may not be able to make any money outside Kuwait. Not all Kuwaitis are millionaires; many of them live in flats and pay rent like many expats. The government grants each Kuwaiti family a rent allowance of KD 150? Now, how many Kuwaitis are living in a rented flat worth

only KD 150?

I can’t think of a decent flat in Salmiya at that rent. This is not the subject I’m focusing on but it is definitely related as people staying in a small flat can’t be expected to be happy, when they’re paying half of their salary as rent.

The same goes for some expatriates, especially the ones who make lots of money like doctors, for instance, because they think of their kin back home who may not making the same amount of money like themselves. They compare the scenarios and it’s not like these expats are making millions and in fact, people with small jobs are going through hell to meet their needs, especially if they have families. If they were asked about happiness, they would say “hamdulilah”. But deep inside, they are not happy with their life .

Happiness can never be scaled or measured and it differs from person to person. Our judgment on happiness is the way we see life and what it offers us.

Now, am I happy? No, I’m not. I think I have a little of everything than most other people.

There are many stories like that - they fall under the category of white lies. People never know what is lying beneath that.

Is it really worth to lie from the very beginning? Like this one little girl. Her father told her to say that he was not at home.

She came to the door and explained to his friend: “My dad said he was not at home”. A lie is a lie regardless of the color. You never know. It can be colorless but it can end up not odorless.

Have a nice weekend! Try not to rely on white lies. @BadryaD

Local FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

By Priyanka Saligram and Sahar Moussa

T

here’s a million-dollar question that no girl above the age of 20 can escape: “So when is the wedding?”

Fortunately, there are many answers to this, ranging from “I would like to study further and get a great job” to a polite and truthful “Inshallah”. The most common time-tested universal response usually is a nonchalant “What’s the hurry?”

Unfortunately, this rhetoric question is like opening a Pandora’s Box and is met with answers, justifications and unwarranted advice coupled with old wives’ tales of consequences of delaying marriage beyond a certain age - including probably growing a tail and an extra head.

While the topic of marriage can amuse some and evoke laughter, it is actually serious business. According to a Reuters feature which was published in the Kuwait Times, marriage rates are officially falling.

In 2011, there were 359 marriages per 1,000 inhabitants, a 10 percent decrease compared to 2007, according to the Ministry of Justice. The concerned government took the initiative and introduced a campaign called ‘Marriage Comes First’ in March last year. This drive was meant to encourage Kuwaitis to think about matrimony before material goods, studies, and a career, traveling and having fun with friends. “You are right” to want all these things, said the brightly colored advertisements, “but, MARRIAGE COMES FIRST”.

In an oil-rich country like Kuwait, which is modernized and doesn’t restrict women from choosing their own life partners, what exactly is the problem? Why are women thinking twice about taking the plunge early? A need for freedom and independence, driven by a materialistic outlook, is the main reason, according to Dr Khaled Al-Muhanadi, a Kuwaiti psychologist. He says that the need to get a high-paying job with the assurance of a good monthly income is the number one priori-

ty among young women today and since everyone is welleducated and ambitious, this need is easily fulfilled. While the marriageable age was between 20 to 30 years earlier, it has been pushed by a few more years now. Many opt for higher education and it takes years to complete the courses and work by which time they find that they are beyond the marriageable age. Dr Muhanadi believes that marriage is a gamble and women want to be financially independent in case the union isn’t successful and leads to a divorce.

Biological clock ticking According to Dr Muhanadi, Statistics Planning Commission in 2009 recorded more than 60,000 unmarried women, which is a large number and can affect the socio-demographics of a country. “Whatever the personal reasons are for delaying marriage, the fact remains that the older a woman gets, the harder it becomes to procreate and in turn, increases the chances of

Local FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

giving birth to a disabled child,” he said.

Dr Muhanadi also offers a lesser-known perspective of how segregation in schools and universities might have a lessthan-desired effect on the community. “Segregation between boys and girls from a young age is one of the major causes of homosexuality spreading in society” he says, and elaborates that this is a strong reason to not only postpone marriage but also cancel it altogether. “Young people are sometimes reluctant to marry each other because they’re already sexually sufficient,” he admits.

Laila, a 40-year-old Lebanese expat who works in the fashion industry has been single all her life - simply because she didn’t find the right person to get married to. “They don’t make men like they used to. Nowadays, most of them don’t want to get married because they don’t want any serious commitment and prefer to have a girlfriend instead of a wife as it’s less of a headache,” she says. Many people think that marriage is too “old-fashioned” and women are now stronger, better educated, and more independent and a man wouldn’t have been a necessity if it weren’t for reproduction, Laila said.

“Today, women are free from the stereotype that their only place is in the kitchen and their only job is to produce more children,” and explained that the parental mindset has also shifted considerably as earlier, an unmarried girl was viewed as a “burden” but today, many young women not only support themselves, but their families as well.

Naya, an unmarried 35-year-old Lebanese expat and a media professional, thinks that women have finally found

showed that 54 percent of female Emiratis in their 30s are still single and quoted Salim Al-Mansouri, a member of the Sharjah Consultative Council who said that society’s “cultural norms” are being threatened by the phenomenon. It was also noted that the UAE has the highest divorce rates in the Muslim world with one in four marriages breaking down, particularly among couples in their 20s.

Shwetha, a 31-year-old Indian expat working in Dubai with a financial firm thinks that marriage is a dying institution and gives it another 50-100 years before it is phased out. Three of her closest girlfriends got married recently and all three were divorced within a short time frame as well. Shwetha’s parents have been on the lookout for her and she has met up with a few prospective grooms but none of them have clicked.

“Dubai isn’t the best place to look for a “soul mate” because there is just so much of distraction; everyone is extremely good-looking, stylish, well-educated, and well-off and Dubai has a thriving social life. So expecting loyalty or monogamy isn’t something reasonable and humans were never programmed to be that way either; it’s just societal conditioning which is forced upon us and this is why people fall short of expectations,” she says.

their voice and know what they want from life. She says that women now are more demanding from men in terms of everything because they have realized their own potential and are confident that they can compete with men in every aspect - which makes them unwilling to compromise and unapologetic about the career decisions they make. “Women now not only see if the man will make a good husband but also have foresight enough to question if their life partner will make a good father for their future kids. Many men are intimidated by a woman who knows what she wants and instead, prefer to play it safe by opting for meeker women who they think they can control,” she said. Naya also said that trust plays a big role in the decisions young women take and if they sense that a man cannot be trusted in the long run for whatever reason, they prefer to back off and stay single than get married and suffer later.

problem finding suitable suitors, right? Wrong. In Beijing, more than a third of women in their late 20s and 30s are looking for husbands, according to the dating website Jiayuan.com. Media reports say there may be as many as 500,000 “leftover women” in the capital. In fact, the term “shengnu” - directly translated as “leftover women” - was coined to refer to professional women who have not married by their late 20s. The Shanghai city government tries to help women by arranging regular match-making events. According to a Reuters report, one in May this year attracted 20,000 single men and women but how many of them were able to find their soul-mates wasn’t mentioned.

In the meanwhile, urban Indian cities haven’t had it easy either. Some major cosmopolitan hubs like Mumbai, New Delhi, and Bangalore have witnessed a growing number of grooms and a dwindling number of brides who are ready to say ‘I do’. Tina, a 31-year-old single woman who is currently between jobs is based in New Delhi, India’s capital. Tina’s parents have consulted every astrologer in town and performed every ‘pooja’ (holy ritual) possible to influence the planets and make them change their “stubborn” daughter’s mind. In fact, they have listed her on leading matrimonial websites and are doling out a handsome amount on an “elite” website, but to no avail. “I only want someone I can look up to, someone I can respect; am I asking for too much?” she wondered. Her parents sometimes feel guilty that they might have “spoilt” her by encouraging her to be independent and pursue a higher education in the US - which has in turn made her more demanding, critical, and dismissive of every alliance.

Tina has met up with a few potential suitors but each one has turned out to almost be “an axe murderer”. “Most of them whom I have met have turned out to be idiots! One of them asked me how much I earn and when I will take up a job again and if I didn’t mind working all my life because he wanted to travel the world with his friends and learn about different cultures and another guy said he is a party animal and will continue to be one even after marriage and I should ‘co-operate’”.

But Tina is not ready to give up, not just yet.

“Considering there are a billion people in India, I still have hope of finding ‘The One’” she says.

Male speak Funnily, some young men seem to have some reservations about getting married altogether and think that staying single makes more economic sense, especially during recession.

Abdallah, a 27-year-old Kuwaiti MBA graduate thinks that women are complicated and too “expensive to maintain”.

“Women, Kuwaiti women in particular, just want to show off to each other what their boyfriends/husbands bought them and we men go bankrupt trying to help them keep up their images! More than marriage and companionship, they want your car keys and credit cards and even after you give it to them, there’s no guarantee they won’t leave you and run away,” he says.

Closer home, Dubai has been in such a hurry to go higher and faster that many young women are opting to put marriage and motherhood on the backburner in pursuit of other goals. In a news report published in The National newspaper aptly titled ‘Modern Women Are Just Too Busy to Marry’, government and social experts were reported to be concerned at young women “postponing wedlock, the erosion of marriage with rising divorce levels, declining birth rates and the rising number of unmarried women”. It mentioned figures released in April 2009 by the Department of Social Affairs which

‘Leftover women’?

Interestingly, this trend is not unique to the Middle East alone because some other countries are facing the same social dilemma. You would think that a place with a roaring population like China would be the last place on earth to have a

1. You should “settle down” while you are still goodlooking!

2. When will you have kids??

3. You should stop being selfish and think about your parents... After you get married, we will also be able to relax once our responsibility is over 4. Everyone’s getting married! Our neighbor’s neighbor’s cousin’s aunt’s distant niece’s best friend also got married!

5. When will we get to see a wedding in our family?

Don’t you want to make us happy?

6. We’ll get you anything you want if you agree to get married! A brand new car? Done! An SUV? Done! The Titanic??? Done! Just please, for heaven’s sake, get married!

7. If you don’t get married, you will be delaying marriage for your younger sisters/brothers too!

8. We would like to see our grand-children soon!

9. I know a very eligible young bachelor who is very handsome, earns a great package, drives a fancy car, has a wonderful job and comes from a reputable family... Why don’t you meet him? (And then fall in love miraculously and agree to get married?)

10. What’s wrong with you? Don’t you like men? Are you into (gulp)....... women????!!

Local FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

By Nawara Fattahova

E

ntering matrimony means a new house, new social cliques and a new lifestyle. In many cases becoming a Mr or Mrs means adopting new habits too. In Kuwait, getting married is linked to the fast growing bulge. Husain, a 23-year-old Kuwaiti got married about two months ago and has gained 10 kg since then. “My wife enjoys and loves eating. I spend a lot of time with her, so I join her at the table.

She is a fantastic cook too, so how can I resist?”

According to Husain, joining his wife in enjoying food meant a drastic increase of the quantity of food consumed and the extra pounds on his waist. “On the other hand, I’m not moving as much and not burning many calories, though before marriage, I was going to the gym on a daily basis,” Hussain said.

“Although I’m a boxing champion now, I don’t have time and I’m not practicing any sport. Even when we go out, we go to a restaurant and our journey is again about food,” he said.

Husain is not alone in his new married lifestyle changes. The combination of social media and marriage were also detrimental to Nawaf’s fitness schedule. Nawaf, 31, got married in August and has managed to gain about 16 kg since then. “When I was single, I used to jog by the seaside daily and went to the gym six days a week. Then I met my wife and we got married. I still go to the gym but only two or three times a week,” he said.

He explained that his wife loves cooking and if she does not cook, she orders vine leaves, cakes, sweets and sandwiches from outside, and they eat everything they order. “Even when we go out every weekend, we always try to find new restaurants, especially since my wife likes to write about her experience with food and post it on social media,” he pointed out.

He is now trying to lose weight together with his wife. “It’s hard to lose weight as we have got used to our lifestyle and laziness. I used to weigh 78 kg before marriage, and now I’m about 94 kg.

We mostly stay at home, and when we go out, we go to a cafe and order sweets, or we go to the cine-

ing the same dishes as him - oily, nutritious and very delicious,” Sandra said. “I have noticed that I have a bigger belly after three months of marriage.

During Ramadan, we used to indulge in sweets and late-night dinners and this is the result,” she said pointing at herself.

“When I was single, I used to jog by the seaside daily and went to the gym six days a week. Then I met my wife and we got married. I still go to the gym but only two or three times a week” ma where we eat popcorn and nachos,” added Nawaf.

Khalida a 38-year-old expat was another example of weight-gain after marriage. “I was slim before my wedding but after I got married, I gained weight. In fact I wasn’t practicing sports or going to the gym before as I have a disability in one of my legs, but at least I was working and now I’m just a housewife. I gained more than 30 kg in about a year-and-a-half, which makes a huge difference. I went to doctors and they told me that nothing was wrong with my hormones. I have a child now but I’m still fat,” she said.

Sandra, a 28-year-old American got married three months ago and she noticed the additional kilograms on her body. “I used to be very active. I used to travel and go to the gym for about three hours every day. Now I have family commitments and don’t have time to practice any exercise or other activities. I’m sharing my husband’s diet and eat-

Local FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

Kuwait’s my business

Kuwait ‘ranks #1 among nations’

By John P Hayes

local@kuwaittimes.net

I

don’t know about you, but having just returned to Kuwait after several weeks away, I’m already sick and tired of hearing that Kuwait scored the lowest rating on this or that survey. It seems that every pollster wants to kick at Kuwait, and as much as I’d like that to stop, it’s probably not going to happen. So what do we do? You know that old saying, “When you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em?” Let’s join ‘em. Most Fridays that I’m in Kuwait I join a group of expats for brunch and at some point during our conversation someone will say, “Life is pretty good in Kuwait, isn’t it?” We’ll all agree that indeed it is satisfying.

And these are folks who have lived here for as many as ten years.

WHAT DO POLLSTERS KNOW? So it doesn’t make any sense that a group of foreigners say that life is satisfying in Kuwait when this and that survey says it isn’t. Who knows better? The pollsters, most of whom have never even stepped foot on Kuwaiti soil, or the people who live here by choice? In other words, we don’t have family ties here, we don’t have businesses here, our money is not invested here, so we do not feel obligated to live here. We live here because - well, we find Kuwait satisfying. But why, when so many people seem to think otherwise? If this and that survey says that life sucks in Kuwait, what do we know that others, especially the pollsters, don’t know? Plenty!

BORING VS SATISFYING For example, those of us who spent most of our lives living in Western countries spent most of our time there with people from the same country. Boring! But in Kuwait, we spend most of our time with people who come from many different backgrounds. This includes spending time with Kuwaitis. We enjoy the opportunity to view life from different perspectives. Sitting around a dining table, or in a salon, or out on the beach, or at the camel races, we develop envious friendships during a period of months and years. It doesn’t happen like that everywhere in the world. This is something special about Kuwait, and we find it satisfying.

Arts and culture exist in Kuwait at a level that you can’t always find in the USA or elsewhere. Along with theatrical groups, book shops, art exhibits, and expos, we have a choir led by two brilliant expat musicians who invite amateurs to perform with them several times during the year.

That opportunity may be unique to Kuwait. It’s certainly satisfying, especially to those of us who are not professional singers!

Crazy as it sounds, we sleep sound in Kuwait. Even though we live in the volatile Middle East, we have a low crime rate, and we don’t worry so much about drugs, gangs, shootings, or even war. We are concerned for Syria and other hot spots in the world, but we are not addicted to continuous news updates. Did someone say Obama and Putin are sparring? Of course we pay attention to world affairs, but in Kuwait we’re not smack dab in the middle of trouble, and that’s a satisfying feeling.

WE CAN CONTRIBUTE IN KUWAIT We also like working here. Every job comes with stress, regardless of the country, but many of us can contribute to Kuwait in meaningful ways that may not exist at “home”, especially if home is a more developed country.

As a college teacher, I’m helping to develop Kuwait’s future leaders, and few things are more satisfying than that. For affording me this satisfaction, I say: Thank you, Kuwait. So here’s what we’ll do to beat the naysayers.

We’ll sponsor the World Satisfaction Survey and see how Kuwait scores. Actually, on behalf of Kuwait, I just completed the survey and Kuwait ranks at the top of the list!

Go tell that news to everyone you know.

Vacationers re-route over regional turmoil

By Ben Garcia

C

itizens and expatriate vacationers are back in Kuwait and schools are now officially open. But did travelers manage to have a good time considering the political turmoil in neighboring Syria and Egypt? Friday Times met with several people from various nationalities and asked them how their holidays were.

Mishall, a 15-year-old Kuwaiti, enjoyed summer vacation with his family in Turkey. His family was supposed to visit Egypt during the summer break but they changed their plans keeping Egypt’s political situation in mind. “We were supposed to visit Egypt with my family. I wanted to visit historical places in Egypt, but because of the on-going political tension there, my father changed the destination,” said Mishall, who used to spend summer vacations abroad with his family.

Mishall is just one of many Kuwaitis who changed their holiday plans but have no regrets. “We had the best time in Turkey and my family enjoyed a lot,” Mishall said. Shankar, an entrepreneur from India, spent the summer break with his family in India and Dubai. “I have my relatives in Dubai and we just returned from there. Actually, we were on a long holiday in India and transited in Dubai for a week. It was a very fulfilling vacation and also very tiring,” he admitted.

Unlike Mishall and Shankar, Alla’a and Osama spent their summer in Kuwait. Tensions in their own countries played a big role in their decision to stay. Alla’a, a Syrian national, wanted to bring his family to Kuwait (three daughters and two boys) during summer, but immigration regulations here prevented him from doing so. “I usually take a vacation in Aleppo with my family. But the situation there is getting worse and worse every day. Now they are okay and safe, but I fear for their lives,” he admitted.

Alla’a is just one of more than 100,000 Syrians currently working here and some of them have chosen to stay in Kuwait for life. “I just visited them three months ago. I saw the hardships and challenges engulfing the country. I told my wife that I need to stay in Kuwait to provide for their daily living. How I wish I could bring them back again here, but Syrians are included in the six states banned from entering Kuwait.

So, it is very hard. I have my visa here, but I cannot get visas for my family members since they are in Syria. I pray

for their safety every day. I cannot just leave Kuwait because if I do, how could I provide for them? So even though I am here, my spirit is with them in Syria,” he added. Osama, an Egyptian teacher, managed to bring his family from Egypt. Osama has two college-going kids and a wife. “I have two sons; one is pursuing second year at university and the other one is in his first year,” said Osama.

“They studied and finished elementary and high school here. But two years ago, one of my sons moved back to Egypt with his mom to finish his studies there. Last year, my youngest son also moved to Egypt. Our arrangement is such that I go to Egypt every summer and last year I did that but this year, I invited them here because of the situation in Egypt. On September 21, my family is heading back to Egypt and I will stay here,” he added.

EPA rehabilitates Kubbar Island KUWAIT: The Environment Public Authority (EPA) has launched a national awareness project to rehabilitate Kubbar Island, whose environment has been deteriorating. EPA chief Dr Salah Al-Mudhi said the campaign aims at protecting vegetation which has depleted tremendously on the Island. The program was launched in cooperation with the Ministry of State for Youth Affairs and Public Authority for Agricultural Affairs and Fish Resources (PAAAFR), including volunteers, headed by Nasser Al-Azmi.

Al-Mudhi said this campaign began more than three months ago, where EPA examined seasonal conditions on the Island, soil, plant species and irrigation methods. The official added the first phase of the project started with planting some 450 seedlings of beautification plants on a patch that might be eventually expanded on seven percent of the Island area. Al-Mudhi said EPA desired not to limit participation in the project only to official bodies and would seek to involve civil organizations, noting that 120 volunteers already had been already listed in this national project. For his part, Al-Azmi said Kubbar is suffering from desertification and rehabilitation is critical to maintain biological diversity, adding that the idea behind rehabilitation was to revive original plantation on the Island which will be under regular supervision. Kubbar Island, known as one of the distinguished places in Kuwait because of its unique ecological environment which attracts turtles, is surrounded by coral reefs, Algae and is home for many species of birds. — KUNA

Local FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

Kuwait, US re-strengthen ties Regional security tops agenda as Amir meets Obama KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, currently on a visit to the United States, will meet with US President Barack Obama today to discuss issues of bilateral concern and to re-strengthen already wellestablished relations. Amir’s visit to US comes at a time when both countries enjoy a strong partnership and similar viewpoints on such issues seminal to both nations such as the war on terrorism, regional security, the Middle East crisis and a host of other mutual concerns.

US officials have perennially lavished praise on the reforms undertaken by the Amir especially those of economic and political reforms such as granting political rights to women. The current official visit by the Amir is the third to the United States since he officially became the ruler of Kuwait. Earlier on in 2009, the Amir met with President Obama at the White House at which US expressed its gratitude to Kuwait for hosting the US armed forces during US military operations in Iraq.

Obama at the time underscored the unwavering US commitment to the security of Kuwait and the firm bilateral ties both countries enjoyed. In September, 2006 the Amir met with former President George W Bush who described Kuwait as a friend and an ally, and deeming the reforms undertaken by the Amir at the time a paragon for others in the region to take note of. President Bush had said “I am grateful for the ideas proffered by Kuwait Amir regarding a gamut of issues; he has an uncanny predilection to scope out the essence of crucial issues and how they play themselves out in joint strategic and commercial ways.”

In September, 2003, Sheikh Sabah having been appointed Prime Minister visited the US where the administration and the congress heaped praise on Kuwait for its stance vis-a-vis the war of liberation of Iraq and the war on terrorism. That visit was seminal for both countries since it transcended the conventional political interchange to dealing with concrete issues of boosting bilateral trade and increasing economic cooperation.

On June 29, 2005 the Amir, in his capacity as prime minister, and while on an official visit to US was awarded an honorary doctorate of law degree by the University of George Washington in recognition of his life-long public service record. He met in the course of that visit with former president George W Bush at the White House where the two leaders solidified the partnership between their countries.

Kuwaiti-US relations have traversed through a four-stage span in recent decades to reach the level they have at present. For instance, the period of the sixties and seventies saw both countries having relations based on friendship, which in the eighties moved incrementally to a partnership, especially when Kuwaiti oil tankers during the Iran-Iraq war flew US flags. The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and the liberation of Kuwait became an expansion of ties between the US and Kuwait, culminating in the nineties with a strategic pact between them.

This culmination reached its apex in

2004 when the US classified Kuwait officially as a major ally outside of NATO. The US interest in the Arabian Gulf goes back a long time and one of its manifestations was its political recognition of Kuwait on September 22, 1961, three months following the official announcement of Kuwait’s independence. The recognition was quickly followed by establishing diplomatic ties with the new state.

Ever since then, Kuwaiti-US relations have pivoted on a number of shared values and precepts, among them being non-interference in other countries’ domestic affairs and complete abidance

by United Nations resolutions and protocols. Officials of the two countries have been visiting each other’s country over the years as evidenced by the visit of the late Amir of Kuwait HH Sheikh Sabah AlSalem Al-Sabah to the United States in 1968 where he met with the then US president Lyndon Johnson with whom he discussed a number of issues, among them US military assistance to Kuwait, stability in the Gulf region and the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Also, the late Amir of Kuwait HH Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah visited US during the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990 where he met in Washington with the former US president George H W Bush with whom he discussed the latest developments in the war for the liberation of Kuwait. HH the late Sheikh Jaber revisited US in February 1996 which coincided with the fifth anniversary of the liberation of Kuwait at which time he met with the then US president Bill Clinton, the latter himself had visited Kuwait in 1994 when Sheikh Jaber, the Amir at the time, conferred on his distinguished American guest the highest Kuwaiti medal of honor - Mubarak Al-Kabir Medal.

This conferral exhibited the deepening of relations the two countries were experiencing in the aftermath of the liberation of Kuwait in 1991. Earlier in 1993, the late Sheikh Jaber had conferred the same distinguished medal on former president George H W Bush on a visit he had made to Kuwait, in recognition of his efforts in leading the international coalition to liberate Kuwait.

Kuwait and US enjoy burgeoning economic and commercial relations, noted vividly in the fact that the US is one of Kuwait’s major trade partners, importing $2.6 billion of goods and services from the US last year which makes Kuwait the fifth largest market for US goods and products in the Middle East region, according to US federal records. The size of bilateral trade between the two countries can be better seen in the field of oil and petrochemical products where the US is among Kuwait’s top importers of crude oil which reached $7.8 billion in 2011.

Moreover, Kuwaiti energy companies have joint contracts with US companies whereby the former attain the equipment, technology, and expertise from their US counterparts to help in managing oil refineries and petrochemical industries. The two countries had signed in February, 2004, the new Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) - a springboard agreement that would pave the way for bilateral negotiations to ultimately reach a bona-

HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah

fide free trade pact.

US and its TIFA partners consult on a wide range of issues related to trade and investment. Topics for consultation and possible further cooperation include market access issues, labor, the environment, protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights. These topics are discussed routinely by the Kuwait-US trade and investment council.

A further manifestation of growing USKuwaiti relations is cooperation in the military field where US military hardware is well sought after by the Kuwaiti armed forces.

An increasing number of Kuwaiti military personnel receive their field and technical training in US military establishments, especially those offering air force training.

Since 1984 Kuwait has bought large amounts of military hardware from the

US; but this military cooperation came to a peak in 1990 when the US led an international coalition to liberate Kuwait. After the liberation of Kuwait on February 26, 1991 this cooperation was crowned with a bilateral security pact in September of that year.

On a different note, Kuwaiti-US educational ties have been progressing well in recent years; for instance there are more than 3500 Kuwaiti students pursuing college education in US universities. Also, US hospitals and medical facilities receive a growing number of Kuwaiti patients who seek treatment there. An so, after 52 years of solid US-Kuwaiti relations, the current visit by HH the Amir to the United States is further cause to celebrate this distinguished partnership between two great nations. — KUNA

Local FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

Bangladeshi ‘fake passport’ ring busted KUWAIT: Immigration officials busted a Bangladeshi gang that issues new passports for Bangladeshis who return to Kuwait after being deported. A gang member and six Bangladeshis who received fake passports were arrested and the officials are on the lookout for the rest. Officials suspected that the gang has a lot of wasta as the confiscated passports were brand new and issued in Kuwait. Immigration detectives noticed that when a Bangladeshi wanted to transfer information from his old passport to the new one, he denied going to the main office to get an iqama.

After verification, it was discovered that there was a difference in the photo though the name and the rest of the information was the same. He was fingerprinted and it was noticed that he had been deported earlier and had re-entered Kuwait illegally. Upon questioning, he revealed that his friend asked for KD

1,000 to get him a new passport after claiming that he lost his previous passport. He also said that six others were deported and came back to Kuwait with the fake passports. Further investigations are underway.

JEALOUS BROTHER A girl was beaten up by her brother after he found six mobile phones with her and she had to be admitted to the hospital.

The young man was suspicious about his sister and when he heard her speaking in her room, he barged in and was very angry to see her on the phone. He beat her up and demanded that she hand over her mobile phone and discovered five other phones hidden in her room. After he attacked her, the family had to intervene and rescue her before taking her to Mubarak Hospital to treat her injuries.

OWNER DESTROYS CAR A Kuwaiti set his car on fire to prevent the municipality from towing it away. The incident took place in Qaser when municipality officials told him that his car was in a dilapidated condition and they would tow it away. He refused to part with it and torched it saying “I will burn it so you don’t take it”. Firemen doused the blaze and arrested the owner.

FIGHT OVER A WOMAN A group of men beat up a man for harassing a young woman. The man was chasing this woman from one place to another and kept asking for her number despite being ignored. He refused to take no for an answer even after she screamed at him. A group of men interfered and after a fight took place, all the parties involved were arrested and taken to the local police station.

‘Mars invasion’ 142 Kuwaitis want to live on Red Planet

KUWAIT: Fire broke out in a Daeya area house yesterday.

Shuhada and Hilali fire centers responded to the emergency calls and rushed to the area. The fire started on the roof of a house used to store sanitary tools. The fire was put out and no injuries were reported.

Kuwait supports anti-piracy effort DUBAI: Director of the Legal Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kuwait, Minister Plenipotentiary, Ghanim Saqr Al-Ghanim asserted yesterday that the State of Kuwait supports international efforts to combat the phenomenon of maritime piracy.

Speaking to KUNA after he presided over the Kuwaiti delegation taking part in the Third Conference to combat maritime piracy, which was launched yesterday, Al-Ghanim said that the decline of this phenomenon has become obvious since the international community has highlighted such an issue through the UAE’s hosting of the first conference in 2011. He stressed the continuation of Kuwait’s support for Somalia and the efforts to bring peace and stability. He explained that the anti-piracy conference in its three sessions focused on addressing this phenomenon and ways to harness global partnerships between the public and private sectors to deal with it through international cooperation and the development of sustainable and long-term solutions to that problem. He extolled efforts of the United Arab Emirates in the elimination of this phenomenon, hailing at the same time assistance and facilities it has offered in cooperation with the international community to Somalia.

TRANSPORT WORKERS’ FEDERATION In another development, the second regional conference of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) kicked off in Amman yesterday with Kuwait’s Fares Al-Sewagh of Kuwait elected as deputy chairman of the ITF regional land transport committee. The conferees also elected the Kuwaiti Mona Al-Qaisy as member of the ITF regional woman committee in the Arab world.

The convention, involving representatives of Kuwait and 12 Arab states, is addressing the laborers’ role in the transport sector and plans for preserving their rights. Kuwait is represented by the head of the ports union Ali Al-Sekouni, Treasurer Saleh Al-Aslawi, Belal AlMesaeed who is the assistant secretary of the employees’ union, member of the union Ahmad Al-Enezi, member of the women committee Maitha Suleiman, along with other figures from the air aviation sector. Al-Sekouni told KUNA that he presented at the conference “outlook of the ports’ union,” noting necessity of privatizing the sector, raising workers’ payments and creating new jobs. For her part, Suleiman briefed the attendees about women role in resolving affairs of female staff, and Al-Mesaeed talked about the issue of privatizing Kuwait Airways. The conference groups union leaders from Kuwait, Jordan, Bahrain, Algeria, Iraq, Libya, Palestine, Egypt, Tunisia, Lebanon, Morocco and Yemen. — Agencies

KUWAIT: A total of 1,259 Gulf residents have applied to join a program that is aiming to establish the first human settlement on Mars by 2023, with the majority coming from Saudi Arabia, a spokesperson for the Dutch company behind the ambitious project exclusively told Arabian Business. The Mars One Astronaut Selection Program received more than 202,586 applications from people around the world seeking to be among the first to obtain a one-way ticket to live on the Red Planet. Organizers said applicants come from over 140 countries, with the largest coming from US (47,654), India (20,747), China (13,176), Brazil (10,289) and Great Britain (8,497).

A spokesperson for Mars One told Arabian Business a total of 1,259 residents from the six GCC countries applied to join the program. With 477 applications, the majority of would-be Gulf astronauts seeking to blast into space came from Saudi Arabia. Bahrain registered 421 applicants, followed by Kuwait with 142 and Qatar with 122.

Just 52 UAE-based residents applied, and only 45 were willing to swap Oman for the Red Planet. The deadline has now closed for applications and all 202,586 applicants will go forward to the Mars One Selection Committee, which will select prospective Mars settlers in three additional rounds spread across two years. By 2015, six to ten teams of four individuals will be selected for seven years of full-time training. In 2023, one of these teams will become the first humans ever to land on Mars and live there for the rest of their lives. The initial section process is expected to take several months, the company said. Any Gulfbased candidates selected for the next round will be notified by the end of this year. The second round of selection will start in early 2014, where the candidates will be interviewed in person by the Mars One Selection Committee.

The project was launched in April by Stitching Mars One, a Dutch non-for-profit foundation. In the coming years, a demonstration mission, communication satellites, two rovers and several cargo missions will be sent to Mars. These mis-

sions will set up the outpost where the human crew will live and work and it is planned to have a human settlement on the Martian surface by 2023.

US is already in the early stages of plans to land humans on the surface of Mars in 2036, Charles Elachi, head of NASA’s missions to the Red Planet, told delegates at the Arabian Business Forum 2012 in Dubai in November. “We don’t have a program [to send a man to Mars] but we are starting to plan,” Elachi, who heads up the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the Pasadena-based NASA agency that constructs and operates robotic planetary spacecraft, said.

“Interestingly enough we can go to Mars every four years or so. Every 18 years they get very close. We are thinking not for 2018 but 2036 [for a human mission],” he added. Elachi’s team at JPL successfully masterminded the landing of a one-ton vehicle - called ‘Curiosity’ - in a deep crater on the surface of Mars in August 2012.

The rover has now begun a two-year mission to look for evidence that the Red Planet may once have supported life, but Elachi said plans to send humans to Mars is possible. “It is a challenge as it takes nine months to get there. Imagine if you

are sending three people for 18 months, how much food and garbage and water you have to take. It is a massive engineering challenge but it is it is feasible.

“We are in the early stages. 2036 - that is the target,” he said. Lebanon-born Elachi still retains his ties with the Gulf region via a board position of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) and the King Fahd University of Petrochemicals and Minerals, both in Saudi Arabia.

Last month it was the one-year anniversary of Curiosity’s landing on Mars and its findings have so far concluded that the planet could indeed have supported microbial life, the primary goal of the mission. “The stunning thing is that we found it all so quickly,” California Institute of Technology geologist and lead project scientist John Grotzinger told Reuters in August.

Now scientists hope to learn whether life-friendly niches on Mars are common and whether any organic carbon has been preserved in the planet’s ancient rocks.

Curiosity is expected to be joined next year by another NASA robotic probe, called MAVEN, which will remain in orbit to assess how and why the planet is losing its atmosphere. — arabianbusiness.com

MPs fume over traffic related traveling ban KUWAIT: Several members of the parliament criticized Major General Abdulfattah Al-Ali’s announcement that citizens and expats will not be allowed to travel until they pay their traffic fines.

The MPs said that such an order should be issued formally by the court.

Dr Abdullah Al-Tareeji, Member of the Interior and Defense Committee said it is not possible to accept the Interior Ministry’s decision to ban citizens and expats from traveling over non-payment of fines and added that “such a ban should be through a court ruling or order from the prosecution and the

Interior Ministry does not have the right to stop any citizen or expat from traveling”.

He said the traffic law does not have any rule that stops the violator from traveling and Major General Al-Ali’s statement needs legislation.

Al-Tareeji said “it is the right of the citizen and expat to refrain from paying the traffic fines and protest against them.

So making them pay before they travel means denying them this right to fight their case, which is something that is unacceptable and should be done through the judiciary”. — Al-Rai

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

Egypt extends emergency law

12

Former Taleban No 2 may hold key to peace

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Philippine fighting spreads, rebels besiege city

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WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama speaks during a hold a cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington yesterday. (Inset) Syrian President Bashar Assad gestures as he speaks during an interview in Damascus. — AP

Kerry to test Russia on Syria arms Obama hopeful, Assad asks US to stop threatening GENEVA: US Secretary of State John Kerry and his team open two days of meetings with their Russian counterparts yesterday, hoping to emerge with the outlines of a plan for the complex task of safely securing and destroying vast stockpiles of Syrian chemical weapons in the midst of a brutal and unpredictable conflict.

President Barack Obama expressed hope yesterday that talks underway between high-level Russian and US envoys lead to a workable plan to strip Syria of its chemical weapons. “I’m hopeful that the discussions that Secretary Kerry has with Foreign Secretary Lavrov as well as some of the other players in this can yield a concrete result,” he said.

Syria will fulfil an initiative to hand over its chemical weapons only when the United States stops threatening to strike Syria, RIA news agency quoted President Bashar Al-Assad as saying in a television interview. Assad also said that Damascus will begin handing over information on its chemical weapons

stockpiles one month after it joins a anti-chemical weapons convention. “When we see the United States really wants stability in our region and stops threatening, striving to attack, and also ceases arms deliveries to terrorists, then we will believe that the necessary processes can be finalised,” he was quoted as saying in an interview with Russian state television.

Russian President Vladimir Putin held out the effort as “a new opportunity to avoid military action” by the US against Syria. “The United States, Russia and all members of the international community must take advantage of the Syrian government’s willingness to place its chemical arsenal under international control for subsequent destruction,” Putin wrote in an opinion piece published in the New York Times.

Kerry will be testing the seriousness of the Russian proposal, and looking for rapid agreement on principles for how to proceed with the Russians,

including a demand for a speedy Syrian accounting of their stockpiles, according to officials with the secretary of state.

One official said the US hopes to know in a relatively short time if the Russians are trying to stall.

Another described the ideas that the Russians have presented so far as an opening position that needs a lot of work and input from technical experts. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov described the focus as largely on “technical issues,” avoiding any expression of suspicion about US intention.

“Undoubtedly, it’s necessary to make sure that Syria joins the convention on prohibition of chemical weapons, which would envisage Syria declaring the locations of its chemical weapons depots, its chemical weapons program,” said Lavrov, who spoke at a briefing in Astana, Kazakhstan before heading to Geneva. “On that basis, the experts will determine what specific measures need to be taken to safeguard those depots and arsenals.”

Kerry, accompanied by American chemical weapons experts, was to meet with Lakhdar Brahimi, the UN-Arab League envoy for Syria, before sitting down with Lavrov. Russian technical experts were joining Lavrov in the meetings.

The US team includes officials who worked on inspection and removal of unconventional weapons from Libya after 2003 and in Iraq after the first Gulf War. Meanwhile, activists say infighting between rebel forces in Syria has killed at least 50 in clashes in the country’s northeast.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said yesterday that the fighting took place in Hassakeh province. It says clashes between Kurdish fighters and members of the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front and the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant in the past two days left 13 Kurdish gunmen and 35 militants dead. The two sides have been fighting in northern Syria for months in clashes that left scores of people dead on both sides. — Agencies

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International FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

US reversal on Syria a blow to Gulf allies RIYADH/DOHA: Washington’s last-minute decision to call off military strikes against Syria deals a blow to Saudi Arabia and Qatar, but the states that arm rebels battling President Bashar Al-Assad will not soon give up on a war that has already cost them billions.

With Assad now looking unlikely to crumble soon and the West showing no desire to bomb him from power, the Gulf princes face few options beyond continuing to fund one side in a perpetual military stalemate that has already killed 100,000 people.

“If the US doesn’t launch an attack there’s really no plan B drawn up yet by the GCC states,” said an Arab diplomat, referring to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) of six rich Arab countries. “What I’m telling you is simple: they have no plan.” The Sunni Muslim Arab monarchs see defeating Assad as fundamental in their confrontation with the Syrian leader’s main regional patron, Shiite Iran. Since 2011, Western leaders appeared to be on the same page, repeatedly demanding Assad be removed from power and insisting that no solution was possible unless he goes.

But the West’s latest diplomatic efforts

have been focused on dismantling Assad’s chemical weapons stockpiles, not on removing him from power, leaving the Arab states alone. Gulf watchers say Qatar, which began arming rebel units last year, and Saudi Arabia, which stepped in as the main supplier this year, will keep the weapons coming. “There is no way that Qatar will let go of their support for Syria now. This is a very personal issue for Qatar as they feel a close connection with Syria,” said a source close to the government in Doha.

Abdulaziz Al-Sager, head of the Gulf Research Centre in Jeddah, said the same was true of the Saudis. “I would not be surprised to see much more open Saudi support for the rebels,” he said, adding that the situation argued for closer coordination between Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey, another ally of the rebels.

The problem is: no matter how much they spend, it no longer seems possible for the Gulf rulers to purchase victory. There is already no shortage of light weapons, such as AK-47 rifles and rocket propelled grenades, which have poured into Syria for months. The Gulf countries have also been sending some more advanced weapons, like anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles, but

are reluctant to send too many for fear of them falling into the hands of rebel units allied to al Qaeda. A source close to Gulf governments said this meant they did not have plans to supply “game-changing weapons”. Nor is it clear that weapons alone would be enough to turn the tide in a war that has gone Assad’s way since the start of this year, when he won the backing of Lebanon’s Hezbollah militants to reverse rebel gains in the centre of the country.

Some voices have begun arguing for the Gulf states to take direct military action on their own without Western support, something they have never really done despite arming themselves for decades with some of the world’s biggest defence budgets.

“The United States was always there for us for the last 50 or 60 years. But after this incident it was not. Saudi strategists have to think about the new realities,” said Jamal Khashoggi, who runs a television news channel owned by a Saudi prince and cowrote an op-ed piece in the New York Times calling for Arab states to act without waiting for the West.

But most observers see any direct action as unlikely. “They will not launch a strike themselves of course: they don’t have the

forces or the numbers. And if they just keep providing the rebels with weapons that will not change the situation,” said the Arab diplomat. Diplomats say the Gulf states have been counting on Western intervention of some kind to help the rebels, at least since the battle of Qusair in March, when Hezbollah fighters helped Assad’s forces to a big victory and tipped the war’s momentum in the Syrian leader’s favor.

“They always wanted Western support.

Partly from Britain and France. More importantly from the US. Until the start of this year they thought they could do it (bring down Assad) themselves. Now they think they can’t,” a diplomat in the Gulf said soon after that battle.

The source close to Gulf governments said one big reason the monarchs had hoped for Western air strikes was that this would help level the military playing field without flooding Syria with the sort of heavy weaponry that would be hard to deal with after the war. Syrian rebels are still counting on Gulf support, even as international diplomacy is expected to shift towards promoting a peace conference in Switzerland to follow on an inconclusive meeting in Geneva last year. —Reuters

Egypt extends emergency law CAIRO: Egypt’s interim authorities yesterday extended a state of emergency in force since mid-August by another two months because of the country’s continued insecurity. President Adly Mansour had initially announced a month-long state of emergency on August 14, at a time when deadly unrest swept Egypt as police dispersed two Islamist protest camps.

“President Adly Mansour decided to extend the state of emergency...by two months,” presidential spokesman Ehab Bedawy said in a statement. The decision was taken in light of “developments and the security situation in the country,” he said.

More than 1,000 people were killed on August 14 and following days after police dis-

GAZA STRIP: Egyptian soldiers standing on bulldozers used to flatten fields near the border between Egypt and the Palestinian territory yesterday. —AFP

Yemen jails 3 Saudis for illegal entry SANAA: A state security court in Yemen has convicted five Saudis of entering the country illegally but only sentenced three of them to 18 months in jail. The Saudis were among suspected Al-Qaeda militants targeted in a recent wave of US drone strikes. Yemeni authorities say Saudis are increasingly crossing the border into Yemen to deliver funds or receive terrorist training.

The remaining two defendants in yesterday’s hearing were sentenced to time already spent in detention and now face deportation to Saudi Arabia. All five suspects were acquitted of Al-Qaeda membership. Yemen’s Al-Qaeda in The Arabian Peninsula was former through a merger of the terror network’s Yemeni and Saudi branches. It is thought to be among the most active of all Al-Qaeda affiliates. —AP

persed two sit-ins in Cairo by ousted Islamist president Mohammed Morsi’s supporters.

Islamists at the time lashed out at Christians, accused of supporting the military coup which ousted Morsi, and burned down several dozen churches and Coptic Christianowned properties.

Violent protests have largely subsided, giving way to militant attacks such as a suspected suicide bombing that targeted the interior minister last week in a failed assassination bid.

The state of emergency grants security forces wide-ranging powers of arrest.

According to a temporary charter adopted by Mansour, the state of emergency can be extended after the three-month period only by referendum. Barring a months-long interval in the early 1980s and its suspension months after president Hosni Mubarak’s overthrow in early 2011, Egypt has been under continuous state of emergency ever since 1967.

In a newspaper interview on Wednesday, interim prime minister Hazem Al-Beblawi had said the state of emergency would likely be extended by two months. “I don’t think any reasonable person aware of the situation, which keeps getting worse, would want the state of emergency lifted,” Beblawi said. He did not indicate when the government would lift a nighttime curfew also imposed on August 14, since when the government has shortened it by four hours. With much of its senior leadership arrested, Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood movement has lost its ability to rally huge crowds to protest for his reinstatement. But the Islamists still organize weekly rallies.

Meanwhile, attacks on security forces have spiked, even as the military conducts its largest operation in years to quell a radical Islamist insurgency in northern Sinai. One militant group in the peninsula, Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis, took responsibility for the failed assassination attempt against interior minister Mohamed Ibrahim and pledged to try again. It also vowed to target Colonel General Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, the army chief who overthrew Morsi in July and installed Mansour as president. —AFP

American-born Islamist militant Omar Hammami (right) and deputy leader of Al-Shabab Sheik Mukhtar Abu Mansur Robow (left) sit under a banner which reads “Allah is Great” during a news conference of the militant group at a farm in southern Mogadishu’s Afgoye district in Somalia. Hammami was killed yesterday in an ambush ordered by the militant group’s leader, militants said. —AP

Somali militants kill US jihadist MOGADISHU: A prominent US-born Islamist militant was killed in Somalia yesterday after he fell out with senior commanders of the Al-Shabaab rebel group, witnesses said.

Residents in al Baate village in southern Somalia said Alabama-born Omar Hammami, commonly known as Abu Mansoor Al-Amriki or ‘the American’, and a British national known as Usama al-Britani were shot dead in a dawn raid on their hideout. Hammami’s killing exposed widening rifts in al Shabaab’s top ranks as the group affiliated to al Qaeda grapples with an African Union-led military offensive that has captured key cities from the militants, depriving them of revenues.

“This morning Al-Amriki and his comrades were attacked by well armed fighters,” said village resident Hussein Nur. “After a brief fight Al-Amriki and his two colleagues were killed. Several of their guards escaped.” A second villager confirmed the gun battle and said he had heard al Shabaab fighters confirm the deaths, though he had not seen the bodies. “No-one is allowed to go near the scene,” the shopkeeper told Reuters by telephone from the village that is under militant control.

Hammami is believed to have arrived in Somalia aged 22 in late 2006, shortly before a US-backed Ethiopian military incursion into the war-shattered Horn of Africa country to rout an Islamist administration that had dislodged the government. Fluent in Somali, Hammami swiftly became an influential leader of al Shabaab’s foreign jihadists fighting to topple a government seen as a Western puppet and impose a strict interpretation of sharia law on Somalia. —Reuters

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International FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

Moscow mayor to be sworn in, Navalny claims foul play MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin was to attend the inauguration yesterday of a close ally as Moscow mayor, despite claims of foul play in weekend polls from his anti-Kremlin rival who plans to send a truck-load of complaints to court. Incumbent mayor Sergei Sobyanin, who barely avoided a run-off in Sunday’s closer-than-expected Moscow mayoral polls, will be sworn in during a ceremony attended by hundreds of guests led by Putin yesterday evening, a Kremlin spokesman said.

The ceremonial swearing-in at one of the capital’s landmark parks will take place after the Moscow election commission refused to conduct a partial vote recount demanded by Sobyanin’s main rival Alexei Navalny.

Navalny said his team was putting together documented evidence that the vote was partially rigged in favour of Sobyanin, who was appointed Moscow mayor in 2010 but had called the elections before his term was due to end.

According to official results, Sobyanin received 51.3 percent of the vote but Navalny’s team insists that the inauguration should be cancelled because, according to its data, the mayor had polled around 49 percent. Speaking on popular radio Moscow Echo, Navalny said his campaign had prepared more than 950 complaints to contest the vote and would hire a lorry to bring all the papers. “At 9:00 am (0500 GMT) yesterday we will submit them to the Moscow city court. We will bring them in a truck: there are 50,000 pages there.” Navalny, who polled a stronger than projected 27.2 percent of the vote, insists that election officials helped the Kremlin ally avoid a second round run-off by allowing irregularities during at-home voting and at polling stations without observers. —AFP

Putin plays trump card in Syria standoff

MOSCOW: After over two years of isolation and vilification as the last significant friend of Bashar al-Assad, Russian President Vladimir Putin appears for now to have played a trump card in the Syrian crisis with a plan for the regime to hand over chemical weapons.

If it works, the plan could offer the West a way out of threatened military strikes as retribution for a chemical attack blamed on the regime and restore Russia’s image and regional influence which have been battered throughout the Arab Spring. Yet Putin will be acutely aware of the risks of the plan backfiring, in particular if the expressions of readiness to implement the plan by Damascus turn out to be an illusion. Seizing the initiative to promote Russia’s position in front of a worldwide audience, Putin took the unusual step yesterday of publishing an op-ed in The New York Times “to speak directly to the American people and their political leaders”.

Putin recalled the alliance between the Soviet Union and United States in World War II that defeated Nazi Germany and paved the way for

the creation of the United Nations Security Council where the victorious Allies still have veto power. He painted a near-apocalyptic picture of the price of military action against Syria, warning of a “new wave of terrorism” and collapse of the whole global diplomatic system based on the UN. “We are not protecting the Syrian government but international law,” he said. One of the hallmarks of Putin’s domination of Russia has been an insistence that the country remains a Great Power and he took issue with comments by Obama that American policy is “what makes us exceptional”.

“It is extremely dangerous to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional, whatever the motivation,” Putin spat back.

Analysts said that the Russian proposal succeeded in striking a chord in the West as it cleverly plays on the reluctance for military action among Western governments, legislatures and societies haunted by the 2003 Iraq war. The Russian proposal, in the short term, suits everyone as it does not “demand the impossible”

said Andrei Baklitsky of the Russian Centre for Policy Studies.

“If things work out with Syria, Russia will have very elegantly returned itself as an important player in the Middle East,” he told AFP. “If Syria starts to hide the weapons and so forth then Russia’s reputation and its position will be at stake. It’s a bold step on Russia’s part but it can still win.” The circumstances of the appearance of a plan which might prompt the biggest concession from the Syrian regime in the two-and-a-half year conflict remain enigmatic but appear a combination of long-term thinking and quick reaction.

Moscow announced the plan on Monday, apparently seizing on remarks by US Secretary of State John Kerry that a swift weapons handover could avert strikes, in a rare burst of quicksilver pragmatism from the staid world of Russian diplomacy. But the idea has also not come from nowhere, with President Barack Obama and the Kremlin confirming that such a suggestion was floated at talks between the US president and Putin at the G20 in Russia last week. —AFP

International FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

France: West must not be fooled by Syria deal PARIS: France said yesterday it would be clear next week whether a Russian proposal to control Syria’s chemical weapons was credible, but warned of a risk of being fooled if Western allies do not stick to their demands. France, one of Assad’s fiercest critics, proposed a tough UN resolution on Tuesday a day after a surprise proposal by Russia that its Syrian ally hand over its chemical arms stocks, a move that could avert possible US-led military strikes.

“I think (next week) we will have a real idea if, whatever the initial intentions were, it (the chemical weapons) can be controlled or not,” French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said. “We are clear the commitments from Syria must be quick, credible and verifiable,” he told RTL radio. “We have to be firm, but seize the openings for a solution if they exist, but we shouldn’t be fools. We have to accept people’s words, but not to be fooled by those words.” He did not elaborate on what he meant by being “fooled”.

Some Western diplomats and analysts believe Moscow’s plan is far-fetched, noting it would be difficult to verify whether Damascus had yielded all its

chemical arms since there is no known reliable inventory of the stockpile or its whereabouts.

Skeptics also note that for Assad, such a deal could spare him from US-led air strikes, one of the few scenarios under which he might be seriously weakened against rebels in the two-and-a-half-year-old uprising against his rule. Moreover chemical arms have been used only occasionally in Syria’s war and caused only a small fraction of its casualties, so removing them may do little to defuse the conflict, barring any knock-on diplomacy towards a ceasefire and peace deal. While France has declared itself ready to help in any air strikes, it has increasingly been left in limbo and sidelined since the United States decided to seek congressional approval before responding to an Aug 21 chemical arms attack in Syria. Paris has also not been invited to Geneva where Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry were to meet to try to agree on a practical strategy to eliminate the chemical arsenal.

US officials said Washington would insist that Syria take rapid steps to show it is serious about abandoning

its vast chemical arsenal as Kerry arrived in Geneva.

Fabius, who spoke to Kerry on Wednesday, reiterated that Paris wanted a UN resolution that was legally binding, with “punishment” for those who carried out the Aug 21 attack. “It’s our firm position that has paved the way to finding a diplomatic solution, but weakness would shut that door,” he said. “In our resolution, there has to be punishment.”

Fabius also said that UN inspectors who investigated the poison gas attack that killed hundreds of civilians would “probably” publish a report on Monday, although French officials said they had not been given any specific indication by the United Nations, and it might come out earlier.

Diplomats have said the UN report is unlikely to pin blame on either side in the conflict pitting Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad against rebel forces, but that it will contain enough detail to suggest which party was responsible. “The inspectors’ report will probably be Monday. I haven’t seen it, but it will say there was a chemical massacre. There will certainly be indications,” said Fabius. — Reuters

Syria arms deal must secure all arms: UK Chem arms don’t fall into wrong hands: Hague

ANGLESEY: Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II (left) and Prince Philip are escorted by their grandson, Prince William, during a visit to RAF Valley, Anglesey, Wales, where he is stationed as a search and rescue helicopter pilot. — AP

Prince William to leave military LONDON: Britain’s Prince William, who became a father for the first time in July, is to step down from the military and will focus on his charity and royal duties for the immediate future, his office said yesterday. William, 31, second in line to the throne, has been working as a search and rescue helicopter pilot with Britain’s Royal Air Force in north Wales and has spent 7-1/2 years in the armed forces. “This is a transitional year for him,” a spokeswoman said. “He’s going to take this year to focus on his charity work, his royal engagements and particularly his work in the field of conservation.”

The prince is considering options for a future role in public service and will not be going into full-time royal duties yet, she said. “It will be a very busy year for him: he’s got quite a lot on, so you’ll see him out and about quite a lot,” she added.

Most pressing for William will be his role as a father following the recent birth of son Prince George, while he and wife Kate are due to move into their official renovated residence at

London’s Kensington Palace in the next few weeks. There has also been speculation in the media that William, Kate and baby George will make an official visit to Australia next year.

“It is fair to assume that they will be taking a tour in 2014,” said the spokeswoman, adding the birth of his son had not played a role in his decision to quit the armed forces.

William, known as Flight Lieutenant Wales to his colleagues, began military life in the army as a lieutenant in the Household Cavalry’s Blues and Royals before joining the RAF. As a search and rescue pilot, he conducted 156 operations, helping 149 people in the process, said Wing Commander Mark “Sparky” Dunlop, his squadron commander.

“These missions were conducted across Wales, northwest England and the Irish Sea in a range of weather conditions which tested the crew’s airmanship skills and determination,” he said. “I have flown with him and been very impressed with his flying ability and I’d be happy to fly with him again.”— Reuters

LONDON: British Foreign Secretary William Hague said yesterday any deal to place Syria’s chemical weapons under international control had to be enforceable and ensure the arsenal did not fall into the wrong hands. “The United Kingdom will make every effort to negotiate an enforceable agreement that credibly, reliably and promptly places the regime’s chemical weapons stock under international control for destruction,” Hague told parliament.

“We will need to have confidence that all chemical weapons have been identified and secured and that they would not fall into the wrong hands,” he added. Hague was speaking as US Secretary of State John Kerry flew into Geneva to hear Russia’s plan to place Syria’s chemical weapons under international control, an initiative that has transformed diplomacy over a two-anda-half year old civil war. Hague said Britain supported the idea in principle, but warned there would be “immense practical difficulties” in properly implementing such an initiative.

The United States’ decision to consider military action against Syria and growing evidence that Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad was

behind a chemical weapons attack helped persuade Russia to change its stance towards its ally in the Middle East, Hague added.

War Crime Syrian government forces have committed war crimes by seizing medical aid from convoys bound for rebel-held areas, European Union aid chief Kristalina Georgieva said yesterday.

“There are cases where medical kits, surgical kits, are removed. What it means is that on the other side, a wounded man, woman or child could die,” Georgieva told reporters. “It is a war crime to remove surgical kits from a convoy, or to prevent help getting in, or, what is even worse, to target medical facilities and bomb them, to shoot at doctors,” Georgieva said in Geneva, where US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov were to hold talks later yesterday on efforts to control Syria’s chemical weapons. “Thirty-one humanitarian workers have lost their lives.

Turning a blind eye to a violation of international humanitarian law is a war crime too,” she added. —Agencies

CADIZ: Members of the National Police force and Guardia Civil stand on a boat on the port of Cadiz yesterday in Cadiz. A joint operation combining the National Police, Guardia Civil and the Spanish tax office, intercepted a sailboat on the Atlantic loaded with 800 kilograms of cocaine. In addition to the drugs several vehicles, a catamaran, a pistol, and cash were confiscated during the raid. — AFP

International FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

UK police probing Trinity Mirror over hacking LONDON: British police are investigating whether Sunday Mirror newspaper publisher Trinity Mirror is criminally liable for alleged phone hacking by former journalists, widening a probe that had centered on Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp.

Trinity Mirror said yesterday it was being investigated by London’s Metropolitan police and it was too soon to say how the matter might progress.The practice of phone hacking by journalists to illegally obtain material for stories came to light two years ago at News Corp’s now closed News of the World title. Police arrested four former journalists from the Sunday Mirror tabloid in March - the first arrests related to a title outside Murdoch’s stable - and said they were looking into a suspected conspiracy at Trinity Mirror’s Mirror Group unit between 2003 and 2004 to hack into voicemails.

The editor of Trinity Mirror’s other Sunday tabloid, the People, James Scott, and his deputy, Nick Buckley, were two of the people arrested. Thursday’s news widens the investigation from individual journalists to

the company itself, following a similar pattern at Murdoch’s British newspaper business, now renamed News UK. “The group does not accept wrongdoing within its business and takes these allegations seriously,” Trinity Mirror said in a statement.

Jonathan Coad, media lawyer at the firm Lewis Silkin, said that in certain circumstances companies could be charged with criminal offences based on offences committed by their employees in the course of their work. “On basic legal principles, the police must firstly establish that the criminal activity was undertaken by Mirror employees during the course of their employment,” he said.

“The second element they will have to establish is that senior management at Mirror Group Newspapers knew of and at least turned a blind eye to, or more particularly endorsed, this activity.”

Shares in Trinity Mirror, which plunged to a fourmonth low of 81.5 pence in March following the arrests of individual journalists before gradually recovering,

Hurricane Humberto strengthens in Atlantic HAMILTON, Bermuda: Humberto grew to hurricane force far out in the Atlantic yesterday, becoming the first hurricane of the Atlantic season, while Bermuda shook off a drenching by Tropical Storm Gabrielle.

Humberto’s maximum sustained winds were

NASA’s Terra satellite shows Hurricane Humberto in the mid Atlantic Ocean.

Humberto, churning far off land, has become the first hurricane of the season in the eastern Atlantic, US forecasters said. — AFP

near 85 mph (140 kph), but the US National Hurricane Center said some weakening was expected over the next two days. The storm was centered about 395 miles (630 kilometers) northwest of the Cape Verde Islands just before midnight EDT (0400 GMT) and was moving northward at 13 mph (20 kph) into the open Atlantic. In Bermuda, Gabrielle caused several power outages overnight, but no major damage was reported on the British territory. The government announced that all public schools were reopening and there would be sporadic ferry service.

The island’s meteorology service warned that strong winds and rain would continue to pelt Bermuda as the storm headed north. By late Wednesday, Gabrielle had weakened to a tropical depression and was about 135 miles (220 kilometers) west-northwest of Bermuda with sustained winds of35 mph (55 kph). It was moving westward at 6 mph (9 kph), and was predicted to pick up forward speed.

It was expected to turn to the northnortheast and remain well off the U.S. East Coast while heading toward a possible weekend brush with Nova Scotia. It is unusual for this much time to pass in the Atlantic season without a hurricane forming, though not unheard of. Hurricane Gustav was the first of the 2002 season when it formed on Sept 11 of that year. The record for the latest first-ofthe-season hurricane is Oct. 8, 1905, based on records dating to 1851. — AP

were down 2.5 percent at 125.4 pence by 1105 GMT. London police are already investigating Murdoch’s News UK for possible criminal violations over allegations of phone-hacking and illegal payments to public officials by its journalists. News Corp has said it is aware of the police inquiry but has given no further details.

Dozens of current or former employees of the Murdoch newspapers have been arrested. Among them are two former News of the World editors, Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson, who are due to go on trial on Oct. 28 along with other defendants. After leaving the News of the World, Coulson went on to work as Prime Minister David Cameron’s spokesman, while Brooks, a friend of Cameron, rose to be chief executive of Murdoch’s entire British newspaper business. On Thursday, Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service said Ben O’Driscoll, a former deputy news editor at News UK’s Sun tabloid, had been charged with authorizing illegal payments worth 5,000 pounds ($7,900) to public officials for celebrity stories. — Reuters

Officials: CIA delivering light weapons to Syria Report says a Gulf state also arming rebels WASHINGTON: The CIA has been delivering light machine guns and other small arms to Syrian rebels for several weeks, following President Barack Obama’s decision to arm the rebels. The agency has also arranged for the Syrian opposition to receive anti-tank weaponry like rocket-propelled grenades through a third party, presumably one of the Gulf countries that has been arming the rebels, a senior US intelligence official and two former intelligence officials said yesterday.

They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the classified program publicly.

The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal first reported the lethal aid. Top rebel commander Gen Salim Idris told NPR yesterday that rebels had received no such aid from the US The CIA declined to comment. The officials said the aid has been arriving for more than a month, much of it delivered through a third party, which could explain why the rebel commander Idris does not believe the US

directly delivered the aid. The officials said the aid is delivered to commanders who have been vetted by the CIA, and the path of the weaponry is tracked through trusted parties within the country - though eventually, once they’re in the hands of fighters, the US loses sight of where the weapons go.

The rebels continue to request sophisticated anti-aircraft weaponry to take out the Syrian regime’s helicopters, but the officials said neither the US nor Syria’s neighboring countries, like Jordan or Israel, wants the rebels to have weaponry that may fall into the hands of the Al-Qaeda-linked rebel group alNusra, or captured by Hezbollah fighters who are bolstering the Syrian army’s effort.

The CIA program is classified as covert, which means it would be briefed to Congress’s intelligence committees but not its defense committees. That explains why some senior lawmakers on the defense committees have complained the lethal aid was not arriving, two of the officials said. — AP

Chile coup ’versary toll: 264 arrests SANTIAGO: Chile police say they arrested 264 people and that 42 officers were wounded during a night of violence on the anniversary of Chile’s 1973 coup. Police say six officers were seriously injured when hooded vandals hurled acid at them. President Sebastian Pinera visited the injured officers yesterday and asked the public to help identify the attackers. Gen Rodolfo Pacheco was taken by helicopter to a hospital after being

struck in the head by an unlit gasoline bomb.

Three public buses also were set on fire to make barricades in the streets of the Chilean capital.

The protests marked the 40th anniversary of the Sept 11, 1973, coup that began Gen. Augusto Pinochet’s brutal dictatorship. The government estimates 3,095 were killed during Pinochet’s rule, including about 1,200 who were forcibly disappeared. — AP

WASHINGTON: House Intelligence Chairman Mike Rogers (right) speaks as House Intelligence ranking member Rep Dutch Ruppersberger watches during the inaugural Intelligence Community Summit organized by the Intelligence and National Security Alliance (INSA) yesterday in Washington, DC. — AFP

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International FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

Dempsey wary on Syria after seeing Iraq up close Top US General served in Iraq during post-invasion chaos WASHINGTON: America’s top military officer General Martin Dempsey has already seen one Middle Eastern civil war. He is much more cautious about involvement in another.

While Dempsey, 61, has argued in favor of the White House’s idea of limited military strikes against Syria and arming moderate rebels, he has made clear his lack of enthusiasm for widening America’s role in the conflict much beyond that.

A decade ago, Dempsey was a brigadier general commanding the 1st Armored Division in Baghdad. The United States had toppled President Saddam Hussein, expecting to bring stability to Iraq. But Iraqi insurgents took advantage of a power vacuum to launch

has been criticized by Republican Senator John McCain for not pushing harder for military action in Syria.

The chance of a US attack has lessened in recent days as Washington and Moscow explore a way to secure Syria’s chemical weapons, but Obama told Americans in a televised address on Tuesday that he is ready to use force if the diplomacy fails.

Dempsey has warned against setting up a no-fly zone or US intervention that would change the course of the civil war and lead to the collapse of the Syrian government without a clear understanding of what might follow. In Iraq, Dempsey’s division was the biggest single US military element at the time, and he fre-

General Martin Dempsey a bombing campaign that targeted mosques, hotels and embassies - including a blast that killed the UN envoy. Dempsey acknowledged in 2011, the year he was appointed chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, that US political and military leaders - including himself - had failed to fully grasp the strength of sectarian hatreds in Iraq.

“I didn’t understand the dynamic inside that country, particularly with regard to the various sects of Islam that fundamentally, on occasion, compete with each other for dominance,” he told a hearing in the US Congress.

“I’ve reflected about that a lot,” he said. “I’ve learned that issues don’t exist in isolation.

They’re always complex,” said Dempsey, who

quently went out onto the streets of Baghdad.

“General Dempsey realized early on that there were going to be issues developing institutions and stable governance in post-Saddam Iraq,” said Lieutenant Colonel David Gercken, who served with him in Iraq.

Dempsey’s forces had their tour of duty extended to deal with rising violence from the followers of Shiite militia leader Moqtada AlSadr. He left Iraq after 14 months and returned in August 2005 for a two-year tour as head of an effort to train Iraqi security forces to handle their own national security.

That was the height of the sectarian war that ripped the country apart as Shi’ite militias and death squads as well as Sunni groups

linked to Al-Qaeda slaughtered thousands of people. Mosques, including one of the holiest sites in Shiite Islam, were bombed and desecrated.

Dempsey belongs to a cadre of warrior scholars who have inhabited the upper ranks of the US military in recent years. Two others are Admiral James Stavridis, who became dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University after retiring from the military this year, and retired Army General David Petraeus, who has a doctorate from Princeton. Dempsey, who holds a master’s degree in English from Duke University focusing on Irish literary figures, said Iraq had made him ponder America’s haste to use military force.

“I’ve been scarred by rereading a quote from Einstein, who said if you have an hour to save the world, spend 55 minutes of it understanding the problem and five minutes of it trying to solve it,” he told lawmakers two years ago. “I think sometimes, in particular as a military culture, we don’t have that ratio right,” Dempsey said. “We tend to spend 55 minutes trying to ... solve the problem and five minutes understanding it.”

His approach to Syria has aroused the ire of critics who have pushed for quick, decisive U.S. action to help the collection of rebel groups fighting to oust Assad.

McCain said in June that the “situation is much more dire than it was” when Dempsey became chairman and suggested that US “inaction” had created an even greater threat to American national security interests. “You say ... we need to understand what the peace will look like before we start the war,” said McCain to Dempsey, noting the rising death toll in Syria. “Do you think we ought to see how we could stop the war by intervening and stopping the massacre?”

Others have joined the chorus. Retired Major General Robert Scales, a former commandant of the US Army War College, wrote in The Washington Post that the chairman’s “body language” at recent congressional hearings about whether to attack Syria for its alleged use of chemical weapons made it clear that he “doesn’t want this war.”

Supporters say, unlike Secretary of State John Kerry who has led the push for action against Syria, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, out of respect for civilian control of the military, has to walk a fine line between advice and advocacy. —Reuters

In this still frame made from ABC 7NEWS video yesterday, people walk through floodwaters from a creek in Boulder, Colorado. —AP

Flooding kills 3 in Colorado LOS ANGELES: Severe flooding in the western US state of Colorado has killed at least three people and prompted hundreds of evacuations, officials said yesterday. Firefighters in the city of Colorado Springs recovered two bodies due to the flooding, they reported on their twitter feed.

A third death was reported in Jamestown, a small town of a couple hundred people, just north of the city of Boulder, Gabrielle Boerkircher, a spokeswoman for the county’s emergency management division said. Rescue workers were just arriving in the town, after mudslides and rockslides had blocked many of the roads with debris, she said.

She was unable to confirm media reports of a fourth death in Nederland, another town nearby.

“It’s been raining for the last three days now,” Boerkircher said, but the worst “started early in the morning on September 11 and hasn’t stopped yet.” A mandatory evacuation order was in place for Jamestown, Boerkircher said, adding that hundreds of people elsewhere in the county had voluntarily gone to shelters, including some 200 people in Lyons and around 400 people at Boulder’s University of Colorado campus.

Officials at the university said water had leaked into all the buildings, and their main concern was the library, where damage to the books could be extensive, Boerkircher said. The flooding is unusual, Boerkircher said, due not just to how much rain has fallen but where. “It’s been a weird storm,” she said, adding it had been “turning back around on itself all night. Usually we don’t get this amount of rain.” Much of the rain has fallen over a “burn scar” from a forest fire four years ago, she said, explaining that the area “leads into a lot of our creeks and all the creeks end up in our cities.”

Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle urged residents to “please stay off the roads today,” in a message to Facebook, adding “Please leave the roads open for emergency crews.” Schools were closed in the county as were many roads, due both to flooding and downed trees or debris. And officials were warning residents especially to steer clear of Lefthand Canyon where there were reports of a 15 foot wall of water that prompted one fireman to take refuge in a tree-where he was still awaiting rescue, Boerkircher said. —AFP

First lady wants people to drink more plain water WASHINGTON: Michelle Obama has pushed Americans to eat healthier and to exercise more.

Now she says we should “drink up” too. As in plain water. And as in more of it.

The first lady, an exercise fanatic who loves French fries and whose biceps are envied by women everywhere, is getting behind a campaign being launched Thursday to encourage people to drink more plain old-fashioned water. Whether it comes from a faucet, an underground spring, a rambling river or a plastic bottle, the message is: “Drink up.” She was joining the Partnership for a Healthier America as the nonpartisan, nonprofit group launches the nationwide effort from Watertown, Wisconsin, with backing from a variety of likely and unlikely sources, including the beverage industry, media, government and entertainers, including actress Eva Longoria.. Mrs

Obama is the organization’s honorary chairman.

Mrs Obama said she has realized since beginning her anti-childhood obesity initiative in 2010 that drinking more water is the best thing people can do for their health.

“It’s really that simple,” she said in a White House statement. “Drink just one more glass of water a day and you can make a real difference for your health, your energy and the way you feel. So ‘drink up’ and see for yourself.” Every bodily system depends on water, which makes up about 60 percent of a person’s body weight, according to the Mayo Clinic. Water is also a calorie-free option for people concerned about weight control, and is largely inexpensive and available practically everywhere. Yet despite recent trends showing a rise in water consumption and declines in the amount of soda people drink, Larry Soler, the partnership’s

president and chief executive, says the “drink up” water campaign is still needed. Health advocates have blamed the corn syrups and other sugars in soda for obesity. “That’s exactly the type of impact we’re glad to be seeing, and we want to accelerate that because we still have an enormous problem in this country with rates of obesity,” Soler said.

Sam Kass, executive director of “Let’s Move,” the first lady’s anti-childhood obesity initiative, cited federal statistics showing that about 40 percent of people drink less than half the typically recommended eight cups of water a day and that about one-fourth of kids below age 19 don’t drink any plain water at all on any given day. Soler emphasized that the campaign is not about pushing a particular type of water, or stressing water over other beverages, although Mrs. Obama in the past has counseled people to switch from sugary soda

to water and has talked about seeing improvement in her two daughters’ health after making that change in their diets.

The first lady also has been criticized by people who accuse her of being the nation’s food police. “Every participating company has agreed to only encourage people to drink water, not focus on what people shouldn’t drink, not even talk about why they may feel their type of water is better than another,” Soler said. “It’s just ‘drink more water.’” The first lady has recorded individual messages that are to air from morning to night yesterday on various TV talk shows, including “Today,” “Good Morning America,” “Nuevo Dia,” “Despierta America,” “The View,” “Live With Kelly and Michael,” “Katie” and the late-night programs with comedians Jay Leno, David Letterman and Jimmy Fallon. —AP

International FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

Former Taleban No 2 may hold key to Afghan peace Baradar may be freed this month

LAHORE: Pakistani student Abdullah Raheem browsing YouTube at an internet cafe in Lahore. On September 17, 2012 Islamabad blocked access to the popular video sharing website after it aired a trailer for a low-budget American film deemed offensive to Islam. — AFP

Pakistan’s ‘cyberwar’ for control of the web LAHORE: In a dingy Internet cafe, Abdullah gets round the censors with one click and logs onto YouTube, officially banned for a year and at the heart of Pakistan’s cyberwar for control of the web.

On September 17, 2012 Islamabad blocked access to the popular video-sharing website after it aired a trailer for a lowbudget American film deemed offensive to Islam and the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH).

Pakistan summoned the most senior US diplomat in the country to protest against the “Innocence of Muslims”, demanding that the film be removed and action taken against its producers.

A year later, the film is barely mentioned but YouTube, whose parent company is US multinational Google Inc, is still banned in Pakistan, as it is in China and Iran. Pakistan is no stranger to censorship. Foreign television programs deemed offensive are blocked. Films shown at cinemas are stripped of scenes considered too daring.

But the YouTube ban is in name only. Internet users like Abdullah Raheem, a university student in Pakistan’s cultural capital Lahore, can easily access the site through a simple proxy or Virtual Private Network (VPN).

“Most people who go to school or university know how to access YouTube, but not the rest of the population,” says Abdullah. Only 10 percent of Pakistan’s estimated 180 million people have access to the Internet, one of the lowest rates in the world.

“This ban has no impact,” says Abdullah, who still feels bad about logging onto YouTube. “As a Muslim, I’m ashamed... because the ‘Innocence of Muslims’ defiled Islam.”

Pakistan blocked the site only after Google was unable to block access to the film because it has no antenna in the country. Although Google’s executive chairman Eric Schmidt defended hosting the film, the company did have the technology to block access to it in countries such as Egypt, India and Saudi Arabia. But the Pakistani government didn’t stop there.

It then ordered that websites be monitored for “anti-Islam content”. —AFP

KABUL/ISLAMABAD: Once a ruthless fighter and a friend of Taleban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, Abdul Ghani Baradar may now hold the key to Afghanistan’s peace - or so his minders believe. The former Taleban second-in-command was captured in Pakistan in 2010 and has since emerged as a figure Afghanistan and Pakistan believe could help persuade his former comrades to lay down their weapons and engage in peace talks.

Pakistan announced this week that it would free Baradar as early as this month. Sources in Pakistan and Afghanistan said he could be sent to another country, possibly Saudi Arabia or Turkey, to prepare him for the mission. Even before his detention, Baradar was known as a pragmatic and level-headed operator who had once reached out to Kabul seeking a peace settlement, according to Afghan officials. But critics say his years in Pakistani detention may have eroded his sway over the fast evolving insurgency, and there are doubts over whether Mullah Omar would agree to talk to his former protégé in the first place.

“He won’t be able to mediate because he has lost his influence during his time in prison,” said Ahmad Zia Massoud, a former vice president whose brother, guerrilla leader Ahmad Shah Massoud, was killed by Al-Qaeda militants two days before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

“Unless there is a comprehensive plan to negotiate peace with Mullah Omar, one person won’t be able to do anything.”

Afghanistan sees Baradar as a sensible and down-to-earth negotiator willing to act as a go-between for the Kabul government and the Taliban leadership council, the Quetta Shura. One of the founders of the Taleban movement, Baradar is ethnic Pashtun and belongs to the same powerful Popalzai subtribe as Karzai - a factor that could lend credibility to Karzai’s own peace efforts among Pashtuns, Afghanistan’s biggest ethnic group.

Baradar, who is in his 40s, also belongs to the older generation of mujahedeen fighters who are less ideologically extreme compared with a younger, more violent crop of insurgents with closer links to Al-Qaeda.

Baradar’s friendship with Mullah Omar goes back to the 1980s when the two fought side by side against the Soviets - a decade-long war during which Mullah Omar famously

ISLAMABAD: Afghan refugees and Pakistani children, who were displaced with their families from Pakistan’s tribal areas due to fighting between the Taleban and the army, listen to their teacher (not pictured) at their school in a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of Islamabad yesterday. — AP lost his eye. It was Mullah Omar who gave Baradar his nom de guerre, which means “brother”. Later they married a pair of sisters, analysts say. Some Afghan politicians said he still enjoyed much support among his former comrades in arms. “He is a highly influential figure among Pashtuns in the south who is capable of helping us with the peace process,” said Shahzada Shahid, a senior member of Afghan High Peace Council. “Many Taliban commanders fought under him,” Shahid said, adding that he should be able to encourage many fighters to stop fighting.

After the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan

by US-led forces, Baradar emerged as the main day-to-day commander responsible for leading the campaign against them, planning offensives and bomb attacks.

Later, he secretly tried to explore the possibility of peace with Kabul, holding two meetings with Karzai’s now late brother in Kandahar, Afghan officials said. He was eventually captured in a joint CIA-Pakistani intelligence operation in Karachi. Afghan officials at the time suspected Pakistan had detained Baradar because it thought he was

trying to negotiate a peace deal without involving Islamabad.

Pakistani minders have since shuttled Baradar from one safe house to another and there are concerns whether Mullah Omar would agree to listen to him after years of absence. “The Taliban’s policy is clear: whoever is detained is immediately expelled from the movement,” said Rustam Shah Mohmand, Pakistan’s former ambassador to Afghanistan. “By detaining him, Pakistan made him completely irrelevant.”

And yet Baradar’s involvement gives a glimmer of hope that peace negotiations might restart after US-backed efforts to establish a Taliban office in Qatar collapsed in June.

“The release of Mullah Baradar would mean that serious negotiations are going on,” said one diplomat in Islamabad.

“For them to release Baradar I would expect an agreement would have been reached about the start of the talks and the agenda of the meetings.” Pakistan and Afghan sources say that Baradar might be sent to Saudi Arabia or Turkey to prepare for his mission and explore the possibility of setting up a new Taliban office there. —Reuters

Pakistan Taleban discuss talks offer ISLAMABAD: Senior Pakistani Taleban commanders opened discussions yesterday on how to respond to an invitation from the government on talks to end an insurgency that has killed thousands of people. Leaders in the Tehreek-e-Taleban (TTP) are expected to continue consultations for several days at an undisclosed location in the semi-autonomous northwest along the Afghan border.

TTP leader Hakimullah Mehsud, who was previously reportedly against holding talks with the authorities, is chairing the consultations, two Taliban commanders told AFP. “We are discussing the overall situation and the government’s

offer. We will soon inform the media about our decisions,” TTP spokesman Shahidullah Shahid told AFP. Earlier this week, he welcomed the offer of peace talks.

“We have taken the government’s offer seriously and commanders are discussing a future plan for proposed peace talks,” one senior Taliban commander told AFP from an undisclosed location.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who took office after winning elections in May, has called for peace talks and on Monday won backing for his policy from Pakistan’s main political parties. “The shura (decision-making council) is dis-

cussing the overall situation. It’s good that all Pakistan leaders have agreed to initiate peace talks,” another TTP commander told AFP. He called on the military to stop all operations against Taleban fighters in the northwest and called for a halt to US drone strikes, which target Islamist militants on the Afghan border. “We also want all our prisoners released and compensation for all those killed in military operations,” he said.

A third TTP commander said the Taleban would finalise the names of a negotiations committee and a list of TTP prisoners. “We hope that the shura will

take a decision on all matters in the next five or six days,” he said. “We want guarantees from the government side. In the past, governments have not fulfilled their promises and we do not want to repeat that again,” he added.

Previous peace deals with Taleban have quickly broken down and been sharply criticized for allowing the extremists space to regroup before launching a new wave of attacks. Pakistan says more than 40,000 people have been killed as a result of bomb and suicide attacks carried out by Taleban and Al-Qaeda-led militants who oppose Islamabad’s US alliance. — AFP

International FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

ZAMBOANGA: Residents try to put out fire that gutted several homes while government troopers continue their assault at Muslim rebels yesterday in Zamboanga city in southern Philippines. (Right) Government troopers continue their assault on Muslim rebels yesterday in Zamboanga city. — AP

Philippine war spreads, rebels besiege city Govt recaptures burning city as thousands flee ZAMBOANGA, Philippines: Philippine forces were fighting Muslim rebels on two fronts yesterday as the government recaptured burning sections of a key southern city besieged by guerrillas opposed to peace talks. Security forces punched into the Santa Catalina district of Zamboanga city, where thousands of people have fled four days of fighting, as the neighbourhood went up in flames, military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Ramon Zagala said.

“Soldiers were doing offensive action to stop these (gunmen) from continuing to burn homes,” he told AFP. At least 1,500 soldiers, backed by police, have surrounded six mainly Muslim communities on Zamboanga’s outskirts where about 180 Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) members were hiding out since they launched their attack on Monday. The rebels have been using scores of people as “human shields”, leading to a stand-off as security forces try to avoid civilian casualties. “The primary mission is still containment, but they were burning communities so the

soldiers had to move forward to stop them from committing these atrocities,” Zagala said. About 200 elite military and police forces moved in midafternoon to suppress rebel sniper fire, allowing fire trucks to move into neighborhoods shrouded in thick black smoke, an AFP photographer saw.

But it was too late to save about 20 houses torched by the rebels during their retreat. A cat, its coat on fire, leapt out from one of the burning buildings. Zagala said the MNLF attack was ordered by its founder Nur Misuari, who has recently renewed a call for independence, 17 years after the group signed a peace treaty that won self-rule for the Muslim minority in the largely Catholic Asian nation.

Zamboanga Mayor Maria Isabelle Climaco Salazar said she contacted Misuari by telephone late Wednesday after three days of trying, and asked him to call off the siege.

She said Misuari told her he had given his men on the ground “a free hand” in deciding their fate.

Troops were also battling gunmen who attacked

Reported restart of N Korea reactor ‘serious,’ says US TOKYO: North Korea’s reported restart of a plutonium reactor would be “a misstep” and a “very serious matter”, the US point man on the isolated state said yesterday.

And US envoy Glyn Davies dismissed suggestions that Pyongyang could set any agenda for six-party talks other than scrapping its nuclear program. Davies, in Tokyo as part of an Asian tour, was speaking after satellite imagery apparently revealed white steam coming from a building next to the five-megawatt plutonium reactor at Yongbyon. The pictures, published as part of a report by the USKorea Institute at Johns Hopkins University was followed hours later

by Russia saying it also believed North Korea was conducting work on a nuclear reactor. “If it turns out that these reports are true that North Korea has restarted the five-megawatt plutonium reactor, this would be a very serious matter,” Davies told reporters after meeting Japanese foreign ministry officials.

He said the move would be “a misstep on the part of North Korea because of course it would violate seriously the United Nations Security Council resolutions. “It flies in the face of North Korea’s own commitments and promises they’ve made over the years, in particular the September 2005 joint statement,” he said.

“We are watching this very closely, we will see what developments occur in the coming days, but this is potentially quite a serious matter.” North Korea declared in April that it would restart all facilities at Yongbyon to “bolster the nuclear armed force both in quality and quantity”. —AFP

army positions on nearby Basilan island, killing a pro-government militiaman and wounding four members of the government forces and a civilian, Zagala said. He said a local resident was also missing as soldiers repulsed an attempt by about 150 rebels to capture Lamitan city, Basilan’s main Christian enclave.

President Benigno Aquino’s spokesman Edwin Lacierda said in a statement: “While the government is exhausting all avenues for a peaceful resolution... they should not entertain the illusion that the state will hesitate to use its forces to protect our people.” Misuari has alleged the government was violating the terms of its peace treaty with the MNLF by negotiating a separate peace deal with a rival faction, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

The MILF is in the final stages of peace talks with Manila and is expected to take over an expanded autonomous Muslim region in the south by 2016. The deal seeks to end an insurgency that has killed some 150,000 people in the

south. The Basilan clash raised the official toll from the southern Philippines crisis to 15 dead.

A soldier killed in a firefight with the rebels in Zamboanga and a village watchman who was mistaken for a guerrilla and shot dead by the security forces, both on Wednesday, were among the other fresh fatalities. Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman said yesterday that officials were trying to verify allegations that the gunmen had raped some of the local women. About 13,000 people fled to a sports complex, as aid agencies called for a humanitarian corridor for those still trapped.

The mayor said officials were moving to bring back vital services to the rest of the city of nearly one million, which has been paralyzed by the siege. She called on shops to re-open, doctors to remain in hospitals and for the public to stay calm as authorities seek to convince the rebels to leave.

Officials also called on the remaining residents in the conflict areas to leave their homes and head for safety. — AFP

Netherlands apologizes for Indonesian colonial killings JAKARTA: The Netherlands sought to “close a difficult chapter” with its former colony Indonesia yesterday by publicly apologizing for mass killings carried out by the Dutch army in the 1940s war of independence. As children of some of the men who were massacred in summary executions looked on, Dutch ambassador to Indonesia Tjeerd de Zwaan offered a state apology during a ceremony at the country’s embassy in Jakarta.

“On behalf of the Dutch government, I apologize for these excesses,” said the ambassador. “The Dutch government hopes that this apology will help close a difficult chapter for those whose lives were impacted so directly by the violent excesses that took place between 1945 and 1949.”

He was referring to the years of the Indonesian war of independence, when the sprawling archipelago nation sought to shake off Dutch colonial rule. The Hague had previously said sorry to the relatives of those in particular cases but it has never before offered a general apology for all summary executions.

Last month the Dutch government also

announced that it would pay 20,000 euros ($26,600) to the widows of those killed.

However, 81-year-old Shafiah, whose father and brother were killed in an

attack by Dutch soldiers on her village in Bulukumba district on Sulawesi island, told AFP the Netherlands had not gone far enough. —AFP

JAKARTA: Dutch Ambassador Tjeerd de Zwaan (right) gestures to photographers as he walks with some of the surviving family members of the victims of mass killings committed by the Dutch military between 1945-1949. — AP

Business FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

Palestinian economy precarious, says IMF

Page 20

iPhone faces challenge in busy Chinese market Page 21

Euro-zone industrial output slumps EU lawmakers back CB oversight LONDON: Any hopes that the troubled eurozone economy was poised for a solid rebound from recession were under threat of being dashed yesterday by latest figures showing the industrial sector sliding into reverse during July.

Eurostat reported that industrial output, which includes everything from the making of high-end Mercedes cars to oil & gas extraction, slumped 1.5 percent in July from the previous month. The decline, which followed a 0.6 percent advance in June, was much bigger than expected - the consensus of analysts’ forecasts was for a far more modest decline of around 0.3 percent.

The fall, which was fuelled by a 2.3 percent drop monthly decline in Europe’s heavyweight economy, Germany, is also likely to stoke fears over the state of the euro-zone economy following its modest rebound from recession in the second quarter. The monthly fall took the annual rate of decline down to 2.1 percent from the 0.4 percent recorded in June. Figures last month confirmed that economic growth across the 17 European Union countries that use the euro grew by 0.3 percent in the second quarter following a sixquarter recession, the longest it has experienced since the single currency was launched in 1999.

“July’s fall means that, even if production

posted monthly rise of around 1 percent in August and September, it would still roughly stagnate in Q3 as a whole,” said Ben May, European economist at Capital Economics.

“The numbers provide an early indication that the euro-zone economy is unlikely to have gathered more momentum in Q3 and may even have lost some steam,” he added.

Though the key hurdle facing Europe’s manufacturers - the region’s debt crisis - has abated over the past year following the European Central Bank’s offer to buy up unlimited amounts of government bonds, manufacturers still face a tough time from spending cuts in countries such as Greece and Spain, tight credit conditions and high unemployment.

Meanwhile, European lawmakers approved legislation yesterday establishing a new, centralized oversight for Europe’s largest banks, marking what is considered a key step toward stabilizing the bloc’s financial system.

The centralized bank supervision authority, which will be anchored by the European Central bank, will be up and running next year following a thorough stress-test of banks’ balance sheets. The so-called single supervisory mechanism is the first of three pillars of the bloc’s planned banking union, the cornerstone of efforts to turn the tide on the 17-nation euro-zone’s

SHANGHAI: A man is seen sitting inside a car in British supercar maker Mclaren Automotive’s first Chinese dealership unveiled yesterday in Shanghai. McLaren Automotive opened its dealership in the commercial hub of Shanghai to woo the country’s super rich, betting on rising demand in the world’s largest auto market. — AFP

three-year-old debt crisis.

Its goal is to make supervision and rescue of banks the job of European institutions rather than leaving weaker member states to fend for themselves. Failing banks in the past have dragged down government finances and forced European Union countries such as Ireland or Cyprus into seeking bailouts. “Today marks a real step forward in setting up a banking union,” said ECB President Mario Draghi. He added that the new supervisor would “contribute to the restoration of

confidence in the banking sector.”

However, the establishment of the banking union’s remaining pillars - setting up a joint deposit guarantee and an authority to restructure or wind down banks complete with a common financial backstop - is still a long way from being agreed upon.

Many analysts warn the reluctance of creditor countries such as Germany to agree on a joint backstop could jeopardize the banking union project as a whole. —AP

Business FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

Dubai’s non-oil trade with Iran shrinks 12% DUBAI: Dubai’s non-oil trade with Iran shrank 12 percent in the first half of 2013, a sign that Western sanctions continue to inflict fresh damage on the Iranian economy, data showed yesterday.

Dubai, across the Gulf from Iran and home to tens of thousands of ethnic Iranians, has long been a major commercial hub for the Iranian economy, re-exporting consumer goods from other countries to the Islamic republic. This role suffered after US financial sanctions, imposed in late 2011 over Iran’s disputed nuclear program, caused banks in Dubai and around the world to cut back sharply on Iran-related business. Two-way trade between Dubai and Iran, excluding oil, fell to 10.8 billion dirhams ($2.9 billion) in January-June from 12.3

billion dirhams in the same period of 2012, the Dubai customs authority said in a written answer to Reuters questions.

The drop slowed from a 31 percent plunge to 25 billion dirhams in all of 2012. Partly because of the sanctions, the Iranian rial lost about two-thirds of its value against the US dollar over the 18 months to late 2012, hurting Iran’s ability to pay for imports, but the currency has since stabilized.

Iran now accounts for a mere 1.6 percent of Dubai’s total non-oil trade. Re-exports to Iran dropped 13.5 percent to 9.0 billion dirhams in the first six months of this year, while Dubai’s exports were flat at 1.0 billion dirhams, the data showed. Imports from Iran to Dubai,

one of seven United Arab Emirates, fell to 766 million dirhams in January-June from 819 million dirhams a year earlier.

The vast majority of trade between Iran and Gulf Arab states is routed through Dubai. Traditional wooden boats, known as dhows, carry some consumer goods across the Gulf. In addition to its non-oil trade, Dubai has been importing significant amounts of oil from Iran.

The shrinking of its trade with Iran has had little effect on Dubai’s strong economy. The emirate’s total non-oil foreign trade increased 16 percent to 679 billion dirhams in the first half of this year, data showed this week. Re-exports to other countries grew 13 percent to 188 billion dirhams. — Reuters

Palestinian economy precarious, says IMF Territory plagued by host of problems

A couple walk at the Kosovo-Macedonian border crossing near the town of Hani i Elezit. Kosovo has banned all imports from Macedonia, an official said yesterday in a deepening Balkans trade row after its neighbor limited entry of food products and slapped on border crossing fees. — AFP

Ex-Barclays team plans Islamic asset manager LONDON: A group of former Barclays executives are launching a Londonbased asset management firm that combines socially responsible and Islamic investment principles, seeking to build crossover appeal among both investor segments. The firm, named Arabesque, is due to open to investors in the first quarter of 2014 with a team led by 20year veteran Omar Selim, Barclays’ former head of global markets for institutional clients in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and eastern Europe.

It will focus on value-based investment strategies, which buy shares deemed to be trading at a discount to their fundamental worth. Its methodology will use environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) criteria.

“Implementing ESG is not meant to patronize anyone, quite the contrary - it is for performance, and extensive academic research supports this,” said the Egyptian-born Selim.

“Our objective is to make sustainable investment attractive and available to all investors regardless of the economic and cultural background.” The firm is applying for authorization and regulation by Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority; it is

establishing funds in Luxembourg and the Cayman Islands and plans to offer managed accounts as well.

“We will start with three globally diversified equity funds and later expand to other asset classes such as fixed income and real estate,” said Andreas Feiner, former head of distribution for Barclays Saudi Arabia. An office in Frankfurt will handle research, advisory activities and distribution while the firm plans to open an office in the Gulf for additional research and client coverage.

The team includes Dominic Selwood, previously global head of Islamic products at Barclays, as well as Alexander Kuppler, former head of trading at DWS Investments, Deutsche Bank’s retail fund management arm, and Tarek Selim, who headed the structured solutions team in Germany and Austria for UBS. The firm aims to add a head of quantitative research.

Arabesque will follow rules set by the Bahrain-based Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions as well as United Nations principles for responsible investment, Selim said. — Reuters

WASHINGTON: Palestinians are in a precarious economic position and may struggle to keep financing their budgets over time, the International Monetary Fund mission chief for the West Bank and Gaza warned. Christoph Duenwald said in an interview that the Palestinian territories are plagued by a host of problems: Slowing growth, high unemployment, large budget deficits, Israeli restrictions, and an unpredictable stream of donor aid. Progress in newly restarted peace talks with Israel holds out the most hope for relieving Palestinian hardship. “The whole problem is rooted in the political conflict between Israelis and Palestinians,” Duenwald said late Wednesday night ahead of the release of an IMF staff report on West Bank and Gaza economies.

Extensive Israeli restrictions on movement and access should be eased and eventually removed, said the report released on Thursday. It added that Israeli officials gave no indication such an easing was forthcoming.

The economic outlook will brighten if peace talks succeed and a supporting economic package is implemented. This could attract investment and aid, boosting growth and employment and potentially easing budget financing. The breakdown of peace negotiations with Israel in late 2010 ushered in almost three years of economic decline and political stalemate, the IMF said.

“This turn of fortune, combined with increasingly unpredictable donor aid, has reached a point where the early achievements in economic institution-building are being threatened,” said the report, prepared for a semiannual meeting of Palestinian donors.

The meeting of the donors group, known as the Ad Hoc Liason Committee, is set for Sept. 25 during the United Nations General Assembly. The report said eco-

nomic prospects for the West Bank and Gaza Strip are dim if Palestinians continue down the same path they are on. And there is a risk the situation could deteriorate further if aid falls short or political instability increases.

The Palestinians depend heavily on aid from donors about $1.3 billion this year or the equivalent of nearly 12 percent of annual gross domestic product. But the aid has been falling in recent years along with optimism over peace and it is unpredictable. Duenwald said the IMF does not expect the aid to go up or down in the immediate future.

“It will depend on how peace talks evolve,” he said.

With that uncertainty over aid, if Palestinians continue to run large budget deficit, they may not be able to fund them in the medium term, the IMF warned. The political upheaval sweeping the Middle East only complicates Palestinian economic difficulties.

Donors are stretched even thinner by the conflicts in Egypt and Syria. Violence and instability is pushing oil prices up and they could still rise further.

Egypt, after the ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, is threatening to shut down all smuggling tunnels between the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza - the main economic lifeline to the outside world for the impoverished territory. “The impact on Gaza of these tunnel closures could be very significant,” Duenwald said. “We are definitely concerned about it.”

The IMF forecast that GDP growth for the territories will slow in 2013 to 4.5 percent from 5.9 in 2012 and fall further in subsequent years. Slower growth is not generating enough jobs to bring down the high unemployment rate, which the IMF predicts will rise to 24 percent by the end of this year.—AP

HONG KONG: A plane taking off from Hong Kong International Airport in front of apartment buildings in the neighborhood of Tung Chung on Lantau Island. Hong Kong’s status as a financial powerhouse is under threat, analysts warned in early yesterday, after plans for China’s first free trade zone in Shanghai revealed a largescale push to create a new international hub. —AFP

21

Business FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

iPhone faces challenge in busy Chinese market Market glutted with alternatives

FRANKFURT: German Chancellor Angela Merkel (right), Peter Ramsauer, German Minister of Transportation (left), Norbert Reithofer, CEO of German car maker BMW (second left) and Matthias Wissmann, president of German auto industry federation VDA stand next to a BMWi3 car at the booth of German car maker BMW on the opening day of the 65th edition of the IAA (Internationale Automobil Ausstellung) auto fair yesterday. —AFP

China reforms may slow, say analysts DALIAN, China: Business executives and analysts yesterday welcomed Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s pledges of reform in his inaugural speech at the World Economic Forum’s “Summer Davos” meeting, but warned the process will be slow and incremental.

Li, who took office six months ago, delivered a message of change in the world’s second-largest economy to global business leaders gathered in Dalian, in northeastern China.

“China’s modernization will not be accomplished without reform, nor will it be achieved without opening up,” he said. “Without structural transformation and upgrading, we will not be able to achieve sustained economic growth.”

He pledged China would make its yuan currency freely convertible and allow bank interest rates to be set by the market-but did not give any timetable for the moves.

Li’s remarks came before a key Communist Party meeting in November but analysts said a “big bang” approach to change was off the table. “China would be very ill-advised to call for a ‘big bang’, they will take progressive steps,” said Hellmut Schutte, vice president of the China Europe International Business School.

James McGregor, greater China chairman of business strategy firm APCO Worldwide, added: “At the plenum, I think we are going to see some directional reforms, but I don’t think you’ll see a great-leap-forward reform. “Li Keqiang is trying to reassure the business community that, if things look a little bit dodgy right now, wait and see because we are heading for more reforms,” he said.

Li’s comments followed Chinese authorities targeting foreign companies in the baby formula, drug and auto industries over high prices, as well as a corruption probe of British pharmaceutical firm GSK for alleged bribery. China has repeatedly vowed to move towards making its currency fully convertible, meaning the unit could be freely bought and sold, allowing unrestricted movement of funds in and out of the country. The Chinese yuan is only convertible for trade, to buy imported goods or turn revenue from exports back into local funds. In July, China began allowing banks to set their own lending rates but the central bank still fixes deposit rates by administrative order.

A Chinese banker said deposit rates could be freed as early as 2015. “For the last key steps in the liberalization of deposit rates... commercial banks should be fully prepared,” said Hong Qi, president of Minsheng Banking Corp.

“It would increase competition, and we might have ‘interest wars’ so to speak,” he added. A US official urged China to open further to foreign investment. “It will strengthen your economy, it will attract know-how, it will lead to best practices, it would be beneficial for both China and the foreign investors,” said Francisco Sanchez, US Under Secretary for International Trade.

China’s reform promises come despite a slowing domestic economy, which analysts say could make Beijing less likely to take risks with big change.

Li defended the government’s decision to use a stimulus package to spur growth and played down fears over huge local government debt, which he said was “manageable”. During the global financial crisis in 2008, China launched a 4.0 trillion yuan ($645 billion) stimulus package, but easy credit caused local governments to run up borrowing. —AFP

BEIJING: The iPhone’s magic as China’s musthave smartphone is eroding. Last year, eager buyers in Beijing waited overnight in freezing weather to buy the iPhone 4S. Pressure to get it and the profit to be made by reselling scarce phones - prompted some to pelt the store with eggs when Apple, worried about the size of the crowd, postponed opening. Just 18 months later, many Chinese gadget lovers responded with a shrug this week when Apple Inc unveiled two new versions of the iPhone 5. Today’s market is glutted with alternatives from Samsung to bargain-priced local brands.

“There was no big change, no surprise at all,” said Gu Lanjun, a 29-year-old employee at a Shanghai bank. Having bought the three most recent iPhone models as soon as they were released, she said, “I won’t update this time.”

That lackluster reception suggests Apple faces a struggle in defending its shrinking share of China’s crowded, increasingly competitive smartphone market and its premium prices.

That matters, because China is a key part of Apple’s growth plans. CEO Tim Cook told the official Xinhua News Agency in January he expects this country to pass the United States as its biggest market.

“Apple’s market position in China has stagnated,” said telecommunications analyst Jan Dawson of the research firm Ovum, in an email.

One problem, he said, might be that Apple’s high price limits it to targeting the top market tier, and customers in that segment who want an iPhone already have one.

The two models unveiled this week “will largely be sold to existing subscribers and won’t win many converts,” Dawson said. Earlier iPhones became status symbols in China even before they were formally sold here. Buyers paid hundreds of dollars for handsets brought in from Hong Kong and modified to work on China’s phone network. Companies treated them as luxury goods, buying hundreds at a time to give to important customers as Chinese New Year’s gifts.

Now, Apple faces increasing competition.

Samsung has made inroads into its premium market segment. For the mass market in a country with an average annual income of only about $4,000 per person, less than one-tenth the US level, newcomers such as China’s Xiaomi offer smartphones that run Google Inc.’s Android system for as little as 799 yuan ($125).

The rapid growth of the lower segments where Apple doesn’t compete has helped to shrink its share of the overall market even as its

ment. But that didn’t happen,” said analyst CK Lu of Gartner Inc. “We don’t see much is going on in the China market with this new product launch.” Investors gave Apple’s two new iPhones a similarly lukewarm reception.

Shares fell 6 percent in US trading on Wednesday following the announcement.

Apple stock has fallen nearly 30 percent since peaking at $705.07 when the last iPhone came out. Apple also disappointed observers by fail-

New plastic iPhones 5C are displayed during a media event held in Beijing. —AP sales grow. Apple’s share of China’s smartphone market fell by nearly half, from 9.1 percent to 4.8 percent, over the past year, according to research firm Canalys.

Apple appeared to be trying to capture some of that lower-tier market with this week’s announcement of the lower-priced 5C. But the company’s website said it will start at 4,488 yuan ($712) in China, well above analysts’ expectations of as little as 2,500 yuan ($400).

“People were expecting a much cheaper version to expand the market to the mid-tier seg-

ing to announce an agreement with China Mobile Ltd, the world’s biggest phone company by number of subscribers, though Apple had promised no deal.

After this week’s announcement that Japan’s biggest mobile carrier, NTT DoCoMo, would support the new iPhone lineup, China Mobile is the last major holdout. A tie-up would require Apple to create an iPhone that runs on China’s homegrown mobile standard but would give it a partner with 750 million subscribers. —AP

Greek jobless rate hits new record ATHENS: Greece’s jobless rate hit a record high of 27.9 percent in June, data showed yesterday, as the labor market continued to buckle in a deep recession with austerity policies linked to the country’s bailout.

Unemployment rose from 27.6 percent in May, and was more than twice the average rate in the euro-zone of 12.1 percent in July. The latest reading was the highest since Greek statistics service ELSTAT began publishing monthly jobless data in 2006. Such data, however, tends to lag other growth indicators, which Eurobank economist Platon Monokroussos said were painting a slightly less bleak picture. “Recent data for the annual change in employment and new private sector hirings suggest the jobless rate may be approaching a cyclical peak,” he said. The government has also suggested that there are tentative signs of Greece having hit bottom. Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said last week he believed the 2013 slump would be smaller than forecast and economic pain would ease next year.

Financial daily Naftemporiki reported yesterday that the finance ministry is now looking at a 3.8 percent contraction this year versus the 4.2 percent forecast by international lenders.

The unemployment rate, meanwhile, has more than tripled since 2008, the start of a six-year recession which has wiped out about a quarter of Greece’s economy. Joblessness is a major headache for the government as it scrambles to hit fiscal targets and carry out

ATHENS: Greek state hospital’s medical staff protest outside the Health ministry in Athens against a mobility scheme yesterday and against the conversion of their hospitals to urban health centers with reduced staff. Greece’s unemployment rate continues to climb. —AFP structural reforms demanded by its international creditors. Monokroussos said temporary hirings in the tourism sector and recently initiated short-term public works programs were likely to provide support for employment over the second half. Tourism, which

accounts for about a fifth of Greece’s economic output and one in five jobs is having a bumper season.

Revenues are seen rising 10 percent in 2013, to 11 billion euros, with more than 17 million visitors - a record - expected. —Reuters

22

Business FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

In Africa growth story, don’t forget the aid JOHANNESBURG: Africa’s robust economic growth over the past decade has raised hopes the world’s poorest continent can reduce reliance on aid. The problem with this scenario is its failure to consider the role aid may be playing in the “Africa Rising” narrative. Looking for a link between aid and growth, an unmistakable pattern emerges from the numbers.

World Bank data shows foreign donor aid to Africa from the OECD group of wealthy countries was just under $13 billion in 2000 and soared to $41 billion in 2006, and then slipped, before rebounding and hitting over $46 billion in 2011.

Net official development assistance per

capita was just $19.50 in 2000 and almost tripled to a peak of $53.29 in 2006. It then declined, but in 2011 was back just below $53.00. Other sources suggest different, though similar, numbers. Chinese official inflows also surged during this period, though much of this was credit support or “oil-backed loans” and would not count as aid by the OECD definitions, according to AidData, a research initiative tracking over $5.5 trillion in development finance from over 90 donors, including China.

The first decade of this century saw a concerted effort to boost western aid to Africa, marked by anti-poverty campaigns headed by

celebrities such as Irish rocker Bono, which featured debt forgiveness on a large scale and other initiatives. It was also the decade when African growth took off. From 2001 to 2010, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said six of the world’s ten fastest growing economies were in Africa: Angola, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Chad, Mozambique and Rwanda.

Nigeria and Angola are Africa’s top oil producers and Chad a recent petrostate, so surging crude prices had a lot to with their growth.

But it is instructive to look at aid flows into Ethiopia, Mozambique and Rwanda, which did not have oil dollars. Rwanda and Mozambique both saw net aid from rich-donor countries

roughly triple between 2000 and 2011 - in the case of the former from $341 million to almost $1.3 billion, close to 18 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP).

Western aid to Ethiopia soared almost fourfold $906 million in 2000 to a peak of over $3.8 billion in 2009. Much of Africa’s growth is consumption driven, and aid can stimulate that, such as when used to support national budgets. Examples of recent aid linked to growth in Africa include subsidies to peasant farmers in Zambia and Malawi, credited with lifting harvests for the staple maize crops in countries where farming still makes a massive contribution to GDP. —Reuters

BoE’s Carney says stimulus working Official wary of new ‘false dawn’ LONDON: Bank of England Governor Mark Carney defended his policy of forward guidance to lawmakers yesterday and said signs of recovery in Britain’s economy could prove to be another “false dawn”. Strong economic data in recent weeks has caused financial markets to push up long-term borrowing costs and bring forward bets on when the BoE will increase interest rates, raising doubts about Carney’s new policy, which aims to stop expectations of higher rates choking off recovery.

British lawmakers challenged Carney on this at a session to explain his guidance plan. The Canadian said it was succeeding in lowering short-term borrowing costs relative to longer ones, easing credit conditions for households and small firms. “The economy is picking up and the stimulus is working,” he said, adding that guidance made the BoE’s pre-existing policy stance more effective, rather than loosening or tightening it.

But Carney said it was early days for the recovery and the bank stood by its forecast that it would take at least three years for unemployment to fall to 7 percent - the threshold for it to start to consider interest rate rises. Markets by contrast think a rate

rise could come in little more than a year.

“Our job is to make sure that (recovery is) not another false dawn that we saw earlier, a few years earlier, and to make sure that as soon as possible this economy reaches a form of sustained velocity,” Carney said.Britain’s economy seemed to be on the mend in 2010 and early 2011 only for growth to peter out, and Carney said there might even be a case for more stimulus if that happened again. “If recovery were to falter, if additional stimulus were to be required, we would consider whether to provide additional stimulus.”

Earlier this week, British finance minister George Osborne said Britain was turning a corner after struggling to recover from the financial crisis and praised the guidance policy, which he had urged the BoE to consider earlier this year. Sterling recovered earlier losses as investors saw no signs that the rise in market interest rates was enough of a concern for the BoE to resort to more stimulus. British government bond prices were little changed on the day while short sterling futures slightly pared back expectations of rate rises.

“The testimonies of Mark Carney and his MPC colleagues to the Treasury Select

Committee are unlikely to have been a game changer as far as the markets are concerned,” said IHS Global Insight economist Howard Archer. BoE policymaker David Miles, who supported more asset purchases earlier this year, told the committee that the recent rise in British government bond yields might well be transitory.

Paul Fisher, another dovish official, said markets may have underestimated the degree of slack in the labour market.

However a third policymaker, Ian McCafferty, had more sympathy with the recent rise in bond yields. Carney shrugged off skepticism in markets about the Bank’s plan, saying consumers and businessmen had got the message that the BoE’s rates would remain low for a long time. “My experience in talking to businesses, our experience in terms of surveys of household expectations have been that the message has been understood,” he said. A survey released by the BoE last week showed the number of people expecting interest rates to rise in the next year has fallen to its lowest since November 2008. Some of the lawmakers on the committee told Carney the nuances of the plan were not easy to understand for the public. —Reuters

Indonesia hikes rates, rupiah pares losses JAKARTA/WELLINGTON: Bracing for more turmoil if the US Federal Reserve scales back its economic stimulus next week, Indonesia hiked interest rates to shore up its ailing currency, but elsewhere in Asia-Pacific policymakers less afraid of capital outflows held steady.

Bank Indonesia’s surprise increase in three key rates on Thursday helped the rupiah bounce off a 4-1/2 year low, but it is still Asia’s worst performing currency so far this year, having lost around 15 percent of its value against the dollar. Having come through the past few months of a fierce emerging markets sell-off largely unscathed, New Zealand, South Korea and the Philippines all left rates unchanged as expected, though they

are at different stages of their economic cycles.

The Fed is widely expected to announce a reduction in its quantitative easing on Sept. 18, to start bringing the curtain down on nearly five years of super-easy dollars.

Investors have been expecting the move for months, so the impact on markets should be less when it happens. “Is the emerging market sell-off over? Likely not,” said a recent research note by Credit Agricole, though it added that the pressure may moderate as US bond yields rise at a slower pace and as economic recoveries in the US and Europe support exports from emerging economies.

While emerging markets have tak-

en a beating in the last few months, some have since steadied. But others like Indonesia and India, dependant on capital inflows to fund large current account deficits, remain vulnerable to further capital outflows. “We believe that the current bout of currency volatility is nearing an end and that a prolonged reversal of capital flows is unlikely. As such, we think further aggressive rate hikes in Indonesia will be unnecessary,” said Gareth Leather, economist at Capital Economics Asia.

“Nevertheless, uncertainty about the timing of eventual policy tightening by the (US) Fed could trigger further bouts of volatility, prompting further rate hikes in Indonesia.”— Reuters

SYDNEY: A man helps to erect scaffolding at a Circular Quay park on Sydney Harbor yesterday.

Australia’s jobless rate edged up to 5.8 percent in August, a level not seen since the global financial crisis, with the sluggish economy shedding 10,800 jobs as the mining investment boom unwinds. —AFP

Australian unemployment climbs to four-year high SYDNEY: Australia’s jobless rate edged up to 5.8 percent in August, a level not seen since the global financial crisis, with the sluggish economy shedding 10,800 jobs as the mining investment boom unwinds. The Australian Bureau of Statistics said the seasonally adjusted rate-up from 5.7 percent in July-was the result of losses in full-time and part-time employment and is the highest since August 2009.

While the headline figure was in line with forecasts, analysts had expected the economy to create 10,000 jobs, while the proportion of the population in or looking for work fell, a sign that people were giving up on job-seeking. The Australian dollar plunged half a cent to 92.91 US cents on the disappointing data, which follows the weekend election of a new conservative government that has pledged to “reboot” the economy by slashing corporate taxes.

Slowing growth in key export market China and plunging commodity prices have hit Australia’s key mining sector, with the central bank warning a decade-long Asia driven resources investment boom has peaked. Inflation was just 0.4 percent in April-June as households save rather than spend, while the economy expanded just 0.6 percent quarter on quarter in the same period.

Australia now faces a bumpy transition towards other growth drivers, with interest rates slashed to a record low 2.5 percent to stoke consumer spending and non-mining areas of the economy.

Queensland, a key coal-mining centre, saw the biggest job losses according to the ABS, shedding 5,000 positions as global oversupply sees major firms including BHP Billiton and Glencore Xstrata scale back or shutter projects. In percentage terms, resources-rich Western Australia, home to BHP and Rio Tinto’s flagship iron ore operations and the emerging gas industry, saw the biggest monthly rise in unemployment, spiking to 5.0 percent from 4.6 percent in July.

Prime minister-elect Tony Abbott has promised to return Australia to the prosperity of earlier booms by axing mining profits and corporate pollution taxes unpopular with business, as well as lowering the overall company tax rate. His likely treasurer, Joe Hockey, said the tax cuts would “restore the confidence of business and workers which has been severely damaged under six years of Labor mismanagement”. Hockey said Abbott and his team were “purposefully and methodically” drawing up their economic plans, noting that Australia’s rising jobless rate was in contrast to falling unemployment in other advanced nations. —AFP

Health FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

Huge tobacco use in India kills 1.5 million every year LONDON: Tobacco inflicts huge damage on the health of India’s people and could be clocking up a death toll of 1.5 million a year by 2020 if more users are not persuaded to kick the habit, an international report said yesterday. Despite having signed up to a global treaty on tobacco control and having numerous anti-tobacco and smoke-free laws, India is failing to implement them effectively, leaving its people vulnerable to addiction and ill health, according to the report by the International Tobacco Control Project (ITCP).

“Compared with many countries around the world, India has been proactive in introducing tobacco control legislation since 2003,” said Geoffrey Fong, a professor of psychology at Canada’s University of Waterloo and a co-author of the report. “However ... the legislation currently in place is not delivering the desired results - in terms

of dissuading tobacco use and encouraging quitting.” As a result, India, with a population of 1.2 billion, currently has around 275 million tobacco users, the report said.

Harm from tobacco accounts for nearly half of all cancers among males and a quarter of all cancers among females there, as well as being a major cause of heart and lung diseases. “The tobacco epidemic in India requires urgent attention,” the report said, adding that by 2020, tobacco consumption will account for more than 1.5 million Indian deaths a year. Worldwide, the number of deaths caused by tobacco is expected to rise from around 6 million a year now to more than 8 million by 2030, according to the World Health Organization.

The ITCP India Survey conducted face to face interviews with 8,000 tobacco users and 2,400 non-

users across four Indian states - Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and West Bengal. So-called smokeless tobacco - including chewing products such as gutkha, zarda, paan masal and khaini - is the most common form of tobacco use in India, with many poorer people and women preferring these over smoking cigarettes or bindis - small, cheap, locally-made cigarettes. According to the Global Adult Tobacco Survey, 26 percent of adults in India consume smokeless tobacco - 33 percent of men and 18.4 percent of women. Smokeless tobacco can cause oral and other cancers, as well as other mouth diseases and heart disease.

Among several striking findings in the ITCP report was that, while many smokers and tobacco users said they knew of the health risks, only a small proportion said they would like to quit. Up to 94 percent of smokers and up to the same proportion

of smokeless users in the survey said they had no plans to give up. Set against this, the report also found that up to 81 percent of smokers and up to 87 percent of smokeless tobacco users expressed regret for taking up the habit, and more than 90 percent of tobacco users and non-users in all four states had negative views on smoking and tobacco.

The report said that, while India has been a regional leader in enacting tobacco control legislation over the past 10 years, the laws are poorly enforced, regulations covering smoke-free zones are patchy, and tobacco remains relatively cheap.

Fong said the low percentage of people wanting to quit meant deaths from tobacco use were destined to stay high. “If there is any single indicator of the urgent need for continued and strengthened efforts for strong, evidence-based tobacco control in India - this is it.” — Reuters

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!

While in Dubai, Jami and Noora are visiting the camel races...when one of the camels’ robot jockeys goes berserk!

Visit the99kids.com for free games featuring THE 99!

THE99FanPage

@THE99Comics

THE99Comics

www.the99.org

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

The STORY so Far :

Opinion FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

How the Syria plan broke through

By Calvin Woodward

“W

e’ve kind of hit a wall,” President Barack Obama commented last week on his way to Russia. He meant his relationship with Moscow, but the remark came to apply as well to other leaders abroad, lawmakers at home and Americans at large, all standing in the way of what he wanted to do about Syria, which was to attack it.

Just days later, military action is on hold, a diplomatic effort to have Syria turn over its chemical weapons has some steam and Obama no longer looks so terribly alone. The potential way out took shape with an episode akin to palace intrigue: Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin pulling up chairs in a corner of a

The potential way out took shape with an episode akin to palace intrigue: Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin pulling up chairs in a corner of a stately room at the summer home of Peter the Great, after a very late night of fireworks and lasers etching the St Petersburg sky. And it grew from there. stately room at the summer home of Peter the Great, after a very late night of fireworks and lasers etching the St. Petersburg sky.

And it grew from there.

It’s all been enough to stir some gushing admiration in the halls of Congress for a clever president who knows how to conduct statesmanship when the pressure’s really on. The president of Russia, that is.

“Those people who have been demonizing Putin and pushing him away have been doing a great disservice to our country and to the cause of peace,” said Rep Dana Rohrabacher.

That sentiment is far from unanimous in Congress. But the sense of relief that has washed over lawmakers is palpable. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who has been pushing Obama’s case for military strikes, commented that, really, “I’m not a blood and thunder guy. I’m not for shock and awe.”

Instead, almost everyone seems up for dither and defer at the moment. A look at how the past days’ parallel tracks - pushing for approval of a military attack while pausing to give diplomacy a chance - unfolded: SUMMIT STIRRINGS Obama pressed his case with world leaders at the Group of 20 summit, which included an opulent dinner last Thursday night with ballet dancers and fire jugglers. His pitch slipped past midnight on a night capped by St Petersburg fireworks at 2 am. After Friday’s round of meetings, the burden of a looming military strike in retaliation for Syrian chemical weapons use and the lack of explicit support from summit partners weighed visibly on the president when he addressed the traveling press corps. It’s conceivable that “I don’t persuade a majority of the American people that it’s the right thing to do,” he said. “And then each member of Congress is going to have to decide.”

And then he would have to decide whether to attack Syria, even absent congressional support. With plenty of US-Russian tensions simmering - over Syria, Moscow’s sheltering of former NSA leaker Edward Snowden and more - Obama decided there would be no formal one-on-one with Putin. But the Russian leader, the Syrian government’s leading patron on the world stage, approached him Friday and they pulled chairs together off to the side.

Flanked only by interpreters, with other leaders looking on, they launched into a 20-minute discussion about Syria. There was no breakthrough on one vexing aspect of their disagreement - the future of Syrian President Bashar Assad. However, Putin broached an idea that the two leaders had first discussed a year ago at the G20 summit in Mexico - an international agreement to secure Syria’s chemical weapons stockpiles.

Obama agreed that could be an area for cooperation and suggested Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov follow up. You wouldn’t know it from Obama’s public mood that day, but seeds had been planted.

Kerry had been the main figure pitching the Syrian strategy. To lawmakers, in speeches and at news conferences, he spoke passionately and sometimes misspoke. At one point, he even seemed to hold out a last-resort option of ground troops in Syria, in the face of numbingly repetitive assurances by US officials of no-boots-onthe-ground. This time, he swerved verbally in the other direction, stating US action against Syria would be “unbelievably small,” raising questions about why bother. When Kerry was asked if Assad could do anything to avoid an attack, he uttered 20 words that set off a rapid chain of events. “Sure,” he said. “He can turn over every single bit of his chemical weapons to the international community in the next week.”

He raised both arms for emphasis and continued: “Turn it over, all of it, without delay, and allow a full and total accounting for that.

But he isn’t about to do it, and it can’t be done, obviously.”

On the flight home, Kerry, now in a faded orange zip-up sweatshirt, spoke on the phone with Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister.

Lavrov told Kerry he had heard his comments in London and Russia

GENEVA: US Secretary of State John Kerry waves as he arrives in Geneva yesterday to test the seriousness of a Russian proposal to secure Syria’s chemical weapons. — AP THE ARM-TWISTING Since Aug 23, administration officials have had discussions about Syria with more than 370 House members and nearly all senators, according to the White House count. The pace picked up on the weekend and into Monday, as members of Congress returned from a summer break that had kept many of them engaged on Syria only from afar. They’d already, though, gotten an earful from constituents against military action.

Back in Washington lawmakers were shown a collection of videos, also released publicly, showing victims of the Aug 21 chemical attacks that the US blames on Assad’s forces. There were repeated presentations of those videos, to bring home the brutality of gassing, although they did not prove who was responsible. “I cannot look at those pictures - those little children laying on the ground, their eyes glassy, their bodies twitching - and not think of my own two kids,” said Susan Rice, Obama’s national security adviser, as part of the lobbying offensive.

Obama and Vice President Joe Biden pressed members of Congress at a dinner Sunday night as well as in a battery of phone calls over days. Lawmakers walked swiftly from one briefing to the next Monday and gathered en masse in the large Capitol Visitors Center auditorium for a session with top national security officials.

Nothing seemed to be working. More and more lawmakers stepped forward to declare their opposition to military strikes. The dynamics - for and against military action - were strikingly bipartisan. But those seeds from the palace were taking root.

DIPLOMACY BREAKS OUT On Monday morning, Kerry, in London, held a news conference with British Foreign Secretary William Hague, greeted outside by 50 protesters chanting, “Keep your hands off Syria.” “I think it would be good to hear people saying to a dictator, ‘Keep your hands off chemical weapons that kill your own people,’” Kerry retorted inside the room. Since early in the crisis, and until Obama stepped up,

was getting ready to make an announcement.

By the time Kerry landed in the US, Russia had made its proposal to place Syrian chemical weapons out of Assad’s control, Syria had welcomed the idea, other nations and the United Nations had embraced it in principle, and some members of Congress were beginning to see a possible way out of the jam. Kerry’s staff initially suggested that the secretary’s words were merely a rhetorical flourish. But by the end of the day, though expressing deep skepticism, Obama declared the Russian pitch “potentially a significant breakthrough” that could head off US air strikes.

Some members of Congress were beside themselves, trying to make sense of it all. First the Obama administration had appeared to be marching toward a strike. Then the president hit pause and asked Congress to approve his course. Then came the Russian idea, so yet another pause. Altogether, the arguments of the administration had grown awfully complicated and seemed to be changing by the hour.

“I’m going to start looking for medication,” Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. , remarked Tuesday morning. “This place is a zoo.” Obama’s address to the nation Tuesday night wasn’t the trumpet call to action that it might have been, absent the diplomatic initiative on Syrian chemical weapons. His statement reflected the complexities of the moment - a chance to avoid war, as he saw it, but a continuing need for congressional approval to keep a credible military threat alive. Until recently, the Senate had been expected to conduct an initial vote Wednesday, beginning an arduous legislative process to be echoed in coming days in the House, where opposition to a military strike has been an even tougher sell.

Instead it was dither and defer, at least for a while longer, with everyone treading carefully. Any resolution on Syria was on hold on Capitol Hill. “The whole terrain has changed,” Sen Dick Durbin, said after a meeting of Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “We want to make sure we do nothing that’s going to derail what’s going on.” — AP

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2013 www.kuwaittimes.net

France's President Francois Hollande holds an humanoid robot "Nao" from Aldebaran Robotics company as he visits an exhibition on French industrial design and technology at the Elysee Palace in Paris, yesterday. —AFP

Food FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

By Noelle Carter

W

hen I was little, my mother’s inspiration for our school lunches usually revolved around chocolate chips and food coloring. I kid you not. Chocolate chips appeared in standard dessert fare, but they also found their way into our sandwiches - peanut butter, usually, but my mom liked to push boundaries, pairing them with bologna or cheese on occasion. A few drops of food coloring might lend a fluorescent flair to Rice Krispies bars, muffins and cake. And there’s nothing like green or purple mac ‘n’ cheese to make a kid feel like she’s eating aboard the galley of “Star Trek’s” Enterprise. I never had a dull lunch, though I didn’t fully appreciate my mom’s humor and ingenuity until years later.

For many parents, there’s nothing more daunting than packing the school lunch. What do I pack?

What if my child gets bored? How am I supposed to prepare a lunch when it’s all I can do to get dinner on the table after a long day? What constitutes “lunch”? Lunch doesn’t have to be complicated. It doesn’t have to take forever to prepare. And it doesn’t always have to be homemade.

Here are 10 ideas for school lunch. They’re not recipes, per se, but rough outlines you can tweak to suit your family’s needs, creatively repackaging last night’s leftovers or using a few handy staples.

No matter your skill level in the kitchen, there’s something here for everyone. Empanadas or hand pies: A great way to recycle last night’s dinner.

Take leftover stew, draining the excess liquid, or combine leftover meat and vegetables to use as the filling for these little packets. Wrap the filling in homemade pastry dough or use pre-made pie or biscuit dough from the grocery store and bake.

Skewers: Isn’t everything more fun on a stick?

Skewer cubes of cheese and leftover roast or chicken, or roll and skewer slices of deli meat. Add tomatoes and crudites, such as carrots, broccoli and cauliflower. This also works with fruit and dessert nibbles. If your kids are too young or the school doesn’t allow sharp skewers, Popsicle sticks or coffee stirrers are a creative alternative. Make it colorful and fun.

Dips: Fix an assortment of crudites and cold cuts, maybe adding some bread or crackers, and serve alongside a fresh bean dip or hummus. To make the dip, simply rinse and drain a can of beans and puree in a food processor with a touch of garlic, oil, salt and pepper, and maybe a dash of cumin and paprika and a touch of fresh cilantro.

The dip comes together in minutes.

Salads: Chop up leftover steak or other meat, along with vegetables, and toss with chopped lettuce, pasta, rice, quinoa, grains or beans for a colorful salad. Add bits of colorful bell pepper or cheese, and you’ve got a one-dish meal.

Soup: Like a salad, leftover mains and sides can often be combined in a simple soup. Fix the soup from scratch or use a pre-made soup and enhance with the leftovers. Onigiri: Have you seen all the creative photos of onigiri on Pinterest? It’s not much more than rice molded into handy shapes.

Use cookie cutters or mold the rice into cute little bears or other shapes. Flavor with bits of vegetable (peas, carrots, etc.) and garnish with sesame seeds and nori sushi wrap. Another great project for kids.

PB&J: There’s a reason this is a classic. If peanut butter is not your thing, try another nut butter, such as almond or cashew. There are so many great options on the market right now. Or better yet, have your kids help you make homemade nut butter. The process is simple: Toast nuts until lightly colored and aromatic, then grind in a food processor for a few minutes until the nuts are reduced to a buttery consistency (you shouldn’t need to add oil; as you process the nuts should release enough oil for a moist butter) and, finally, sweeten to taste with a touch of sugar, honey or maple syrup. Jams are just as simple and recipes are readily available.

Calzones: Just like empanadas or hand pies but using pizza dough. Sure, you can mix the pizza dough from scratch, but many stores now carry ready-made versions in the refrigerated section to make it even easier. Slather the dough with pasta sauce and add meatballs (homemade or frozen) or other meats or vegetables and top with cheese, then fold over the dough and seal. The calzones bake in about 20 minutes in a 400-degree oven. Be

Food FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

sure to pack a little extra pasta sauce on the side for dipping.

Quesadillas: Sprinkle cheese over a tortilla and add leftover meats or vegetables, then fold and cook over a griddle until the cheese is nice and gooey. Ready in minutes. Wraps: Keep a package of tortillas or flatbread on hand, along with an assortment of deli meats and cheeses. Layer them in the tortilla, along with tomatoes and lettuce or other greens (a great way to introduce your child to spinach or other ingredients on the sly), along with a slather of mayonnaise or mustard to add moisture and flavor. Or try peanut butter with a sprinkling of mini chocolate chips for a dessert option. Not into gluten? Wrap everything in lettuce. Have your kids help with assembly and rolling.

APPETIZING TIPS FOR PACKING ONE Here are tips on how to pack a school lunch in a way that will encourage kids to eat healthfully.

Sometimes it all boils down to packaging and presentation, even when it comes to the school lunch. Handled in just the right way, you might be able to sell even the pickiest child on a food he or she might otherwise toss or trade. Focus the lunch around a child’s favorite ingredient but sneak in a surprise (just like my mom did with chocolate chips in sandwiches).

Make the overall composition colorful by incorporating fresh vegetables and fruit (food coloring not required).

Play with textures, just as chefs do when composing formal dishes at restaurants. Use cookie cutters to cut sandwiches or other items into creative shapes. And if something - like the idea of a sandwich - gets boring, repackage the sandwich using pita bread or as a wrap, or deconstruct it as skewers or a dip with crudites and cold cuts. There are so many alternatives to the lunch box and brown paper bag. If your child is a fan of Lunchables, consider buying a compartmentalized bento box you can find at most Asian markets and online. These handy boxes allow you to choose what goes into each compartment, tailoring the lunch to your child’s needs and tastes.

Look for lunch containers that are insulated, so you can keep cold foods cold and hot foods hot, a potential health concern when your child’s lunch is left at room temperature for hours before being eaten. Like reusable grocery bags, cotton lunch sacks are easily laundered so they’re always clean and fresh when you’re packing a new lunch.

Finally, add a little something extra to let your kids know you love them and are thinking about them during the day. Don’t underestimate the effect a simple note, a surprise sticker or stamp can have during a long day at school. - MCT

Tr a v e l FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

On the literary trail Scotland is prime territory for the written word The view from the Old Observatory House vacation rental on Calton Hill might be the best in all of Edinburgh.

By Kari Howard

“Y

ou’re on the road to nowhere.” The roads were getting narrower and narrower on the drive through southwestern Scotland. We had left behind the divided highway outside Glasgow, and then, somewhere near the towns with signs saying “Haste Ye Back,” had lost the painted line down the middle of the two-lane road.

For a few miles now, we had been on a onetrack road, the kind where you must back up to the last lay-by if you meet a car coming from the other direction. My mom politely suggested that it might be a good idea to turn around.

Caught in the act of what was, at minimum, a six-point turn for a still jet-lagged driver getting reacquainted with driving from the passenger seat, I asked a man sent by the gods of lost travelers if we were on the road to Newton Stewart. No, we weren’t. (See first paragraph.) But he straightened us out, and we were soon on the road to somewhere again. Specifically, the area around Wigtown, the village that has become Scotland’s national book town.

I had lived in Scotland when I was young and had been back several times since, but on this trip in June, I wanted to try a new area Galloway - and a new theme - literary Scotland. For someone seriously bookish (you know, the kind who collects old Penguin paperbacks and judges vintage books by their covers), the idea of a town dedicated to secondhand books was thrilling. And Wigtown didn’t disappoint.

The Book Shop was my favorite spot in town. Row upon row of Penguins. Higgledypiggledy rooms, chandeliers, fireplaces and writerly things etched on the walls (“Man reading should be man intensely alive. The book should be a ball of light in one’s hands.”

Ezra Pound. Or, if you want to go another way, “Only two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity, and I’m not sure about the former.” Einstein.)

But even the most bookish types have to go outside once in a while, and that is where the Machars peninsula, as the area is known, is like the plain secretary who takes off her glasses and her boss says, “Why, Miss Smith, you’re beautiful!” Rolling green fields that look more like Ireland than the Scotland I had known. Woodlands carpeted with wildflowers

of the better names: Cruggleton Lodge, about a 10-minute drive south of Wigtown. Sitting on the edge of a cliff, with a view of the Irish Sea and the remnants of a 12th century castle, it had been in spooky disrepair when owners Ella and Finn McCreath rescued it. Today, the interior is just as striking as the view, both modern-stylish and cozy - a hard combination to get right. The wooden floors have an inherent warmth to them, so going barefoot is sensuous. Oh, and for those who daydream of living the retro-Anglo country life, it even has an

The Wigtown Ploughman pub reflects the region’s agricultural roots. Today, the town is famous for its books.

Books line a shelf in the Scottish room of The Book Shop in Scotland’s “Book Town,” Wigtown. — MCT photos and lighted by sunbeams. A coastline that manages to look rugged and lush at the same time. Seaside villages with pastel-painted houses all in a row.

We were staying at one of the more perfect places I’ve rented in my travels, with one

Aga stove. And did I say that it has lots of books? I’m sure I wasn’t the first visitor to look around and say I could live here. In fact, I know I’m not, because Ella told us about an American friend of hers. Get this: She had been living in LA, working for JPL, and

chucked it all to move to Wigtown. Not only did she fall in love with a local bookseller, but she also wrote a book about it - and when I was here, was in London talking about a possible movie. Looks like my spot as the bookloving Angeleno who dreams of living in a Scottish village and then writing a bestseller about it has been taken. Bummer.

Luckily, I had plenty of places to drown my sorrows (not that I really had any). Scotland’s southernmost whisky-maker, Bladnoch Distillery, is just south of Wigtown. We bought a bottle of the 22-year-old single malt, and it was quite mellow, not as peaty as the whiskys from the islands to the west.

Across the road from the distillery is the Bladnoch Inn, a whitewashed pub and bedand-breakfast. Its tidy black sign informed us

Tr a v e l FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

Cruggleton Lodge, a vacation rental in Garlieston in southwest Scotland, commands a sweeping ocean view. High style inside Cruggleton Lodge, including wallpaper that’s a map lover’s dream. that fishing licenses were also available. We had lunch at a comfy window table and lived it up with a gin and tonic on a glorious bluesky day. My only regret: The wall-mounted wooden jukebox wasn’t working.

Farther down the peninsula, the Steam Packet Inn in the village of Isle of Whithorn was a lovely place to have Sunday lunch. It was the first warm weekend of the year, after a long winter that saw snow falling in May, and everyone looked a bit dazed and happy as they sat in sundresses and shorts on the quay, eating fish and chips and drinking real ales. After a few days of exploring the region, with its beach cave where a saint once meditated and its ancient standing stones, it was time for our next literary destination: Edinburgh. Perhaps the most famous book set in Edinburgh is Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde,” inspired by an upstanding citizen who secretly lived a lowdown life. More recently, Irvine Welsh’s “Trainspotting” was Mr. Hyde all the way.

My favorite Edinburgh book is Muriel Spark’s “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie,” and my mom’s is anything from Ian Rankin’s Inspector Rebus series. The closest we got to the latter was the Oxford Bar, famous for

being a Rankin favorite. Even though the pub, on a quiet street in the New Town, is on the tourist trail, the bartender and the locals couldn’t have been friendlier.

The closest we got to the former was a 10-

ers: Stevenson, Walter Scott and Robert Burns.

Even though I’m still haunted by the memory of standing in front of my primary school class and trying to recite a poem in the local vernacular (a thing of beauty in a Scottish accent,

I had lived in Scotland when I was young and had been back several times since, but on this trip in June, I wanted to try a new area - Galloway - and a new theme - literary Scotland. minute walk to the Old Town, and an inscription in the concrete outside the Writers’ Museum that read, “The transfiguration of the commonplace. Muriel Spark.” Right on, Ms Spark. The museum, in a pretty little close off the Royal Mile not far from Edinburgh Castle, honors three of Scotland’s most famous writ-

a thing of comedy in an American one), I’m a fan of Burns’ deeply human insights.

One night in Edinburgh, my oldest friend came to visit. He had witnessed my mangling of the Scottish poem all those decades ago but somehow didn’t hold it against me. One of the highlights of the trip was seeing his

reaction to the stupendous views from the place we had rented. He went from window to window (and there were many), taking snaps on his smartphone. The Old Observatory House, recently restored by a building preservation group called the Vivat Trust, sits atop Calton Hill, which has probably the best vantage point in the city. The views are 360 degrees: of the castle, the extinct volcano known as Arthur’s Seat, the Firth of Forth and the truly odd assortment of memorials and buildings on the hill itself, including a half-built acropolis.

The Gothic-style house looked like a minicastle and had a touch of Downton Abbey to it - right down to the service bells above the kitchen door. (Sadly, the bells are silent and no longer summon a Carson or Mrs. Hughes.)

It doesn’t come cheap, at about $300 a night, but it sleeps eight, and it would be a dreamy place for a gathering of family or friends. One day, I sat by the window in a comfy chair, torn between a book I had picked up in Wigtown and the city spread out below me, cast in the golden glow of a midsummer evening when the sun doesn’t set until nearly 11. I stared out the window awhile. Then I picked up the book and started to read. — MCT

Cruggleton Lodge, a vacation rental in Garlieston in southwest Scotland, commands a sweeping ocean view.

HEALTH FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

Twist yourself out of shape to get your health straight

By Timothy McCall

I

f you’re a passionate yoga practitioner, you’ve probably noticed the ways yoga works-maybe you’re sleeping better or getting fewer colds or just feeling more relaxed and at ease. But if you’ve ever tried telling a newbie how it works, you might find that explanations like “It increases the flow of prana” or “It brings energy up your spine” fall on deaf or skeptical ears.

As it happens, Western science is starting to provide some concrete clues as to how yoga works to improve health, heal aches and pains, and keep sickness at bay. Once you understand them, you’ll have even more motivation to step onto your mat, and you probably won’t feel so tongue-tied the next time someone wants Western proof.

I myself have experienced yoga’s healing power in a very real way. Weeks before a trip to India in 2002 to investigate yoga therapy, I developed numbness and tingling in my right hand. After first considering scary things like a brain tumor and multiple sclerosis, I figured out that the cause of the symptoms was thoracic outlet syndrome, a nerve blockage in my neck and chest.

Despite the uncomfortable symptoms, I realized how useful my condition could be during my trip. While visiting various yoga therapy centers, I would submit myself for evaluation and treatment by the various experts I’d arranged to observe. I could try their suggestions and see what worked for me. While this wasn’t exactly a controlled scientific experiment, I knew that such hands-on learning could teach me things I might not otherwise understand.

My experiment proved illuminating. At the Vivekananda ashram just outside of Bangalore, S Nagarathna, MD, recommended breathing exercises in which I imagined bringing prana (vital energy) into my right upper chest. Other therapy included asana, Pranayama, meditation, chanting, lectures on philosophy, and various kriya (internal cleansing practices). At the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram in Chennai and from AG Mohan and his wife, Indra, who practice just outside of Chennai, I was told to stop practicing Headstand and Shoulderstand in favor of gentle asana coordinated with the breath. In Pune, SV Karandikar, a medical doctor, recommended practices with ropes and belts to put traction on my spine and exercises that taught me to use my shoulder blades to open my upper back.

Thanks to the techniques I learned in India, advice from teachers in the United States, and my own exploration, my chest is more flexible than it was, my posture has improved, and for more than a year, I’ve been free of symptoms.

My experience inspired me to pore over the scientific studies I’d collected in India as well as the West to identify and explain how yoga can both prevent disease and help you recover from it.

Here is what I found.

Flex Time Improved flexibility is one of the first and most obvious benefits of yoga. During your first class, you probably won’t be able to touch your toes, never mind do a backbend. But if you stick with it, you’ll notice a gradual loosening, and eventually, seemingly impossible poses will become possible. You’ll also probably notice

that aches and pains start to disappear. That’s no coincidence. Tight hips can strain the knee joint due to improper alignment of the thigh and shinbones. Tight hamstrings can lead to a flattening of the lumbar spine, which can cause back pain. And inflexibility in muscles and connective tissue, such as fascia and ligaments, can cause poor posture.

Strength Test Strong muscles do more than look good.

They also protect us from conditions like arthritis and back pain, and help prevent falls in elderly people. And when you build strength through yoga, you balance it with flexibility. If you just went to the gym and lifted weights, you might build strength at the expense of flexibility.

Standing Orders Your head is like a bowling ball-big, round, and heavy. When it’s balanced directly over an

lage is like a sponge; it receives fresh nutrients only when its fluid is squeezed out and a new supply can be soaked up. Without proper sustenance, neglected areas of cartilage can eventually wear out, exposing the underlying bone like worn-out brake pads.

Spinal Rap Spinal disks-the shock absorbers between the vertebrae that can herniate and compress nerves-crave movement. That’s the only way they get their nutrients. If you’ve got a well-balanced asana practice with plenty of backbends, forward bends, and twists, you’ll help keep your disks supple.

Bone Zone It’s well documented that weight-bearing exercise strengthens bones and helps ward off osteoporosis. Many postures in yoga require that you lift your own weight. And some, like

from the legs and pelvis to flow back to the heart, where it can be pumped to the lungs to be freshly oxygenated. This can help if you have swelling in your legs from heart or kidney problems. Yoga also boosts levels of hemoglobin and red blood cells, which carry oxygen to the tissues. And it thins the blood by making platelets less sticky and by cutting the level of clot-promoting proteins in the blood. This can lead to a decrease in heart attacks and strokes since blood clots are often the cause of these killers.

Lymph Lesson When you contract and stretch muscles, move organs around, and come in and out of yoga postures, you increase the drainage of lymph (a viscous fluid rich in immune cells). This helps the lymphatic system fight infection, destroy cancerous cells, and dispose of the toxic waste products of cellular functioning.

Heart Start When you regularly get your heart rate into the aerobic range, you lower your risk of heart attack and can relieve depression. While not all yoga is aerobic, if you do it vigorously or take flow or Ashtanga classes, it can boost your heart rate into the aerobic range. But even yoga exercises that don’t get your heart rate up that high can improve cardiovascular conditioning.

Studies have found that yoga practice lowers the resting heart rate, increases endurance, and can improve your maximum uptake of oxygen during exercise-all reflections of improved aerobic conditioning. One study found that subjects who were taught only pranayama could do more exercise with less oxygen.

Pressure Drop If you’ve got high blood pressure, you might benefit from yoga. Two studies of people with hypertension, published in the British medical journal The Lancet, compared the effects of Savasana (Corpse Pose) with simply lying on a couch. After three months, Savasana was associated with a 26-point drop in systolic blood pressure (the top number) and a 15-point drop in diastolic blood pressure (the bottom numberand the higher the initial blood pressure, the bigger the drop.

erect spine, it takes much less work for your neck and back muscles to support it. Move it several inches forward, however, and you start to strain those muscles. Hold up that forwardleaning bowling ball for eight or 12 hours a day and it’s no wonder you’re tired. And fatigue might not be your only problem. Poor posture can cause back, neck, and other muscle and joint problems. As you slump, your body may compensate by flattening the normal inward curves in your neck and lower back. This can cause pain and degenerative arthritis of the spine.

Joint Account Each time you practice yoga, you take your joints through their full range of motion. This can help prevent degenerative arthritis or mitigate disability by “squeezing and soaking” areas of cartilage that normally aren’t used. Joint carti-

Downward- and Upward-Facing Dog, help strengthen the arm bones, which are particularly vulnerable to osteoporotic fractures. In an unpublished study conducted at California State University, Los Angeles, yoga practice increased bone density in the vertebrae. Yoga’s ability to lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol may help keep calcium in the bones.

Flow Chart Yoga gets your blood flowing. More specifically, the relaxation exercises you learn in yoga can help your circulation, especially in your hands and feet. Yoga also gets more oxygen to your cells, which function better as a result.

Twisting poses are thought to wring out venous blood from internal organs and allow oxygenated blood to flow in once the twist is released.

Inverted poses, such as Headstand, Handstand, and Shoulderstand, encourage venous blood

Worry Thwarts Yoga lowers cortisol levels. If that doesn’t sound like much, consider this. Normally, the adrenal glands secrete cortisol in response to an acute crisis, which temporarily boosts immune function. If your cortisol levels stay high even after the crisis, they can compromise the immune system. Temporary boosts of cortisol help with long-term memory, but chronically high levels undermine memory and may lead to permanent changes in the brain. Additionally, excessive cortisol has been linked with major depression, osteoporosis (it extracts calcium and other minerals from bones and interferes with the laying down of new bone), high blood pressure, and insulin resistance. In rats, high cortisol levels lead to what researchers call “food-seeking behavior” (the kind that drives you to eat when you’re upset, angry, or stressed). The body takes those extra calories and distributes them as fat in the abdomen, contributing to weight gain and the risk of diabetes and heart attack.

— www.yogajournal.com

Lifestyle FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

Letts on the pains of adapting ‘Osage County’ T

he build-up to the world premiere of “August: Osage County” was familiar to Tracy Letts, the playwright who penned the Pulitzer Prize-winning play and wrote the screenplay for its big-screen adaptation.

Formal wear, a limo, a ride to the theater. But such a night would usually culminate for him in the debut of a play and, he says, “the thrum of live performance.” “Some part of me because I’m a theater animal - I go into that cinema last night and I get into my seat and I go, ‘Oh, it’s a movie. It’s already done,’” Letts said in an interview the day after “August: Osage County” premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.

The film, with an ensemble cast led by Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts, is one of the most-anticipated of the fall movie season. It’s also a closely watched test of Hollywood’s ability to transfer theater into a film - rarely its strong suit. “August: Osage County” isn’t just your regular stage production: It’s roundly regarded as perhaps the finest American play in decades. After premiering at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre in 2007, it played for several years on Broadway and went on to a national tour. Inspired by Letts’ own family history, it’s about a sharp-tongued, pill-popping Oklahoma matriarch (played by Streep in the film) whose family arrives following the suicide of her husband (Sam Shepard).

“It seemed to me that the right container for the story was The Big American Play - a certain sprawl to the play, a kind of familial sprawl with multiple generations, multiple acts, multiple floors to the house,” says Letts. So why on Earth would Letts want to subject himself to the anguish of cutting his greatest creation - a play defined by its largeness - by some 45 minutes? “Then who knows what havoc would be wrecked over my piece!” responds Letts.

Unlike playwright friends of Letts - he cites Martin McDonaugh (“The Pillowman”) and Bruce Norris (“Clybourne Park”) - who refuse to harm their plays through adaptation, Letts

Writer Tracy Letts, right, and actor Ewan McGregor attend the press conference for “August: Osage County” on day 6 of the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival at the TIFF Bell Lightbox on Tuesday in Toronto. —AP believes in the movie adaptation process even if it’s always, as he says, “an uneasy transition.” Letts, who recently won a Tony for his performance in a revival of Edward Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolfe?” (an experience that left him “bone tired,” he says), has written the screenplays of the other two movie adaptions of his work: 2006’s “Bug” and 2012’s “Killer Joe.” “I still think of that little kid in a small town who’s going to get a chance to watch ‘August: Osage County’ on video or on TV and say, ‘That’s my family. I recognize them,’” says Letts, who, growing up in Oklahoma, was first introduced to Shakespeare and “A Streetcar Named Desire” as movies. “So I think there’s value in doing it.” “That push and pull of what goes, what stays - it’s a fight,” he adds. “It’s a fight I’m willing to fight. It’s a fight, on some level, I have to be willing to lose.”

Actors Julia Roberts, right, and Dermot Mulroney participate in the press conference for “August: Osage County”. —AP

That’s because it ultimately wasn’t in his hands. It’s in the care of director John Wells (“ER”) and producer Harvey Weinstein, who’ll release the movie Dec 25. Wells was a great fan of the play and made the film in collaboration with Letts. “I was always just constantly trying to have that same experience in the film,” says Wells. “That’s the challenge.”

Speaking together in Toronto, Letts and Wells appear friendly with one another, even if Letts is still stinging from battles over the script. “I guess ultimately you hope that somebody with some taste and intelligence is making some good, final decisions about this,” says Letts. “In the case of John, I think they are - which is not to say we don’t have fights about this. We do. I was calling him a (expletive) just yesterday. But he’s a generous collaborator and he’s always been willing to listen.”

Letts pauses for effect and smiles. “Even when

Drummer’s appendectomy forces Bon Jovi tour change

Cowell on show’s word of mouth: ‘It’s all I ever think about’

K

D

rummer Tico Torres’ emergency appendectomy in Mexico City has forced Bon Jovi to postpone concert dates. The band postponed Tuesday’s show in Mexico City after Torres checked into the American British Cowdary Hospital. Jon Bon Jovi says in a Facebook post the band is staying with Torres until he is released from the hospital.

Bon Jovi apologized to fans who might have been inconvenienced or were traveling to the concerts in Mexico City, Santiago, Chile, and Buenos Aires, Argentina. The band’s website says concerts in those cities have been rescheduled for later this month. Bon Jovi said Torres wanted to play Tuesday’s gig after the surgery “but the doctors prevailed.” The band is scheduled to return to the road Sept 20 in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. —AP

he’s flat wrong.”

As a movie, “August: Osage County” didn’t open to the same kind of reviews as the play.

Though it’s still expected to be an Oscar heavyweight, many critics found it too crowded by the play’s dramatic peaks with too little breathing room in between. The film also changes the final moment of the story, a decision that the Los Angeles Times has reported has been much debated between the Weinstein Co and the filmmakers, and could still be changed. But the rhythms of a 3 1/2 hour play (with intermission) were always going to be hard to time in a 2 hour film. For Letts, even the running time was up for debate. “There has always been a theoretical disagreement about the running time you need to get to,” says Letts. “I’m always sitting there going: ‘Lawrence of Arabia!’ There are long movies in the world!” —AP

In this file photo, American rock band Bon Jovi, from left, Richie Sambora, David Bryan, Jon Bon Jovi and Tico Torres pose for a portrait, in the Brooklyn Borough of New York. —AP

nown for his bold pronouncements and unwavering honesty, “The X Factor” executive producer and judge Simon Cowell admitted that he feels the heat to succeed. “There’s always pressure,” he told TheWrap.

“But in the world we live in now, the public dictates your future. There’s so much word of mouth with Twitter and Facebook, they control your future. It’s all I ever think about, ‘Will they like it? Will they talk about it?’ And if it does, then it will be fine.”

One would think that in its third season, “The X Factor” would be settling into itself. Instead, it returns on Wednesday with a new judges panel and a renewed focus on the competitors. Both those elements should result in Cowell’s ultimate goal: to find a star. “I think it’s very raw,” Cowell said of the third season opener. “The panel is focused on the contestants. Chemistry is good with us.

Most importantly, it’s about the story. I thought it was fun, touching and many of the contestants we highlighted have something.” —AP

Lifestyle FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

Review

Bowie heads Britain’s Mercury Prize shortlist

R

ock icon David Bowie’s re-emergence into the limelight continued on Wednesday when he was named on the shortlist for the Mercury Prize, one of Britain’s most prestigious music awards. The winners of the award, for the best British or Irish album of any

Portishead, Pulp and Franz Ferdinand.

Bowie reconquered his home charts in March by scoring his first number one album in 20 years with “The Next Day”.

Bowie surprised the music world by breaking a decade-long musical silence in January when he unveiled a new sin-

David Bowie genre released in the year to July, will be announced at a ceremony in London on October 30. Also on the list are former winner Arctic Monkeys, folk singers Jake Bugg and Laura Marling and Oxford artrockers Foals. The victors, chosen by an independent panel of judges, will join an exclusive club of past winners including

gle entitled “Where Are We Now?” to coincide with his 66th birthday-his first release since the 2003 studio album “Reality”. Sheffield band Arctic Monkeys, winners in 2006, said they were “delighted and hugely flattered” at being nominated for their latest release, “AM”, while Jake Bugg’s self-titled album secured his

first nomination.

Two-time former nominee Laura Marling makes the list again for “Once I Was an Eagle” Bowie and the Arctic Monkeys emerged as early favorites with British bookmakers. The Mercury Prize organizers claim it is Europe’s top arts award in terms of influence and media coverage. Winning, or even being shortlisted, usually sparks a surge in sales. The prize is known for representing an eclectic range of styles, but usually leans towards indie and rock music. Simon Frith, chair of the judging panel, described the list as the culmination of “a fascinating year for British and Irish music. “You don’t have Adele and all her imitators in the charts, so it’s kind of an open field,” he added. Leeds indie band Alt-J scooped last year’s prize.

Shortlist: Arctic Monkeys-”AM” David Bowie-”The Next Day” Disclosure-”Settle” Foals-”Holy Fire” Jake Bugg-”Jake Bugg” James Blake-”Overgrown” Jon Hopkins-”Immunity” Laura Marling-”Once I Was An Eagle” Laura Mvula-”Sing to the Moon” Rudimental-”Home” Savages-”Silence Yourself” Villagers-”Awayland” —AFP

Syrian intervention gets a no-vote from Sheryl Crow

I

n case you were wondering, a US military strike on Syria would not make Sheryl Crow happy. The “Leaving Las Vegas” singer dropped in at HuffPost Live on Wednesday to add her voice to the growing list of celebrities who’ve weighed in on the Syria crisis, a list that also includes “Vogue” singer Madonna and tough-guy actor Chuck Norris. As it turns out, Crow is against a US military intervention, likening a possible attack to “throwing a rock in a beehive.”

“It is like throwing a rock in a beehive. We cannot know the outcome of going into a country that has that kind of instability and a lack of reason when it comes to leadership ....

I’m never a proponent for going into somebody else’s war.”

While Crow did acknowledge that fundamental rules of civilization must be adhered to, she added, “I think that in those countries who have very different ways than we do, to go in and bomb or send missiles or whatever is really not the way to preach about freedom.” President Obama, who’s been pushing for military action in Syria since an August chemical-weapons attack that reportedly left more than 1,000 dead, addressed the nation and said that he’d asked Congress to postpone a vote on the use of force in Syria in favor of a more diplomatic approach, such as convincing Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to surrender his chemical weapons.

Crow applauded the president’s newfound stance, saying that it’s uncertain how involved the Syrian leader was with the attacks.

“In this particular instance, we don’t know how much Assad had to do with it, or how much he’s a pawn in the game, and whether it’s going to fuel a bigger movement,” Crow offered. “It’s very convoluted, and I appreciate the fact that the president is holding back and saying, ‘Let’s exercise reason.’”—Reuters

File photo shows filmmaker George Lucas looks over a Chewbacca costume at the “Star Wars” exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution’s Air and Space Museum in Washington. —AP

‘Star Wars’ actor Mayhew has surgery on knees

A

ctor Peter Mayhew, who portrayed Chewbacca in the “Star Wars” films, has had double knee-replacement surgery at a Texas hospital. Mayhew was recovering Wednesday at Plaza Medical Center in Fort Worth. Angie Mayhew says her 69-year-old husband had the surgery Monday and hopes to walk again. She says her spouse has been using a wheelchair for two years.

Angie Mayhew says her husband also had a tendon-stretching procedure to stabilize his legs.

Peter Mayhew was born with a condition known as gigantism, which causes excessive growth. He’s 7 feet 3 inches tall. The British-born actor’s medical issues will be the subject of an upcoming documentary, “Standing in the Stars - The Peter Mayhew Story.” The Mayhews live in Boyd, about 20 miles northDr Jeffrey McGowen, left, west of Fort Worth. —AP and actor Peter Mayhew.

‘Blue Caprice’ is mature and intelligent

“B

lue Caprice” is a disturbing, masterfully controlled thriller based on the 2002 sniper attacks in the Washington, DC, suburbs. The national discussion of mass shootings and gun control stands to heighten the impact of director Alexandre Moors’ head-turning debut, which is driven by performances of brooding intensity from Isaiah Washington and Tequan Richmond.

Following a grainy montage of news and surveillance video accompanied by traumatized 911 calls reporting shootings in the DC area, the story opens amid the lush island vegetation of Antigua in the Caribbean.

A teenage boy, Lee (Richmond), watches in mute fury as his mother leaves their home to take work elsewhere, saying she’ll be back for him. But as her absence stretches on, Lee grows bored, frustrated and then desperate, seemingly attempting to drown himself in the rough surf. He is rescued and taken in by John (Washington), a visiting American whose three young daughters have been removed from their country in violation of a custody agreement. With no word from Lee’s mother, John eventually takes him back to Tacoma, Wash.

From early in their relationship, John begins drilling his life-isunfair views into Lee, whose absence of a father figure renders him highly susceptible to the older man’s influence. The bottomless pit of John’s anger becomes steadily more apparent back in the US, as he takes Lee on a tour of the middle-class suburban neighborhood of his former life. He talks of the evil that lives there, the ghosts left behind, and the vampires like his ex-wife, who sucked him dry. Since their return from Antigua, she has taken out a restraining order against him and removed their children to parts unknown. This gnaws at him like a cancer.

When Lee is taken along with John and his Army buddy Ray (Tim Blake Nelson) to let off steam with some target practice in the woods, he reveals himself to be a natural with a gun. Watching the boy’s face the first time a semi-automatic “widow-maker” is placed in his hands is especially disquieting in light of recent events. After John’s erratic behavior gets them kicked out by his girlfriend (Cassandra Freeman), they end up staying with Ray and his equally trashy partner Jamie (Joey Lauren Adams), providing access to Ray’s arsenal of firearms.

Some of the film’s most powerful scenes are brutal interludes in which John subjects his young protege to various tests, leaving him tied to a tree overnight in the woods or forcing him to fight in a systematic campaign to harden the boy and break his moral resistance.

Demanding proof of Lee’s love and gratitude, John instructs him to shoot a woman who testified against him during the divorce proceedings. That initiation kick-starts the escalating chain of violence that leads them to the DC area, where John has traced his estranged family. Showing refreshing faith in the audience’s ability to connect the dots, Moors employs frequent narrative ellipses and nonlinear editing to strong effect.

The film expertly manipulates mood and atmosphere with a muscular sound design that juggles dense textures, uneasy silences, a suspenseful score and striking classical music choices. Visually, too, the work is impressive, with cinematographer Brian O’Carroll’s nighttime shots of the Caprice cruising along the Beltway planting an ominous sense of dread.

The randomness of the Beltway killing spree shocked America a decade ago but recedes from the national memory with every new mass shooting. Revisiting that episode, the filmmakers have made a smart, sobering movie that speculates with compelling detachment on how the abhorrent urge to take innocent lives might evolve.

“Blue Caprice,” an IFC release, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America for “disturbing violent content, language and brief drug use.” Running time: 93 minutes. —AP

Lifestyle FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

Softer edges for spring, even for boardroom Y

ou don’t need to be buttoned-up to be the boss. The styles shown Wednesday as New York Fashion Week neared its end showed women softening their edges - but keeping their confidence. At Michael Kors, the models resembled a secretary pool from the 1970s that had since moved into the corner office.

Those bow blouses now have a luxury coat and handbag to go with them.

Gone are the minimalist, sharp-edged looks shown on so many runways for fall.

There are looser, less restrictive outfits for spring that are more soft and feminine, but still grown up. “You know it’s funny, last fall we had this very sharp, strong, urban collection, which really was for me this reaction to how fast life has gotten,” Kors said backstage before his show. “But sometimes I think life is a little too fast. And when we go out to dinner put your phone down, put

your BlackBerry down, have a conversation.

Write a thank you note, a real one. Walk down the street in the summer when the weather gets warm and wear something that catches the wind.”

Oscar de la Renta showed it’s possible to be feminine and still feel like you own the room. Vera Wang softened up her look with fabric petals. Gilles Mendel’s collection started with an ingÈnue who grows in confidence and becomes a woman. “She’s strong, she appreciates quality, she loves clothes. I like a celebration of this woman,” Mendel said at his J. Mendel show. With a palette that includes mint and blush tones and softer blouson shapes, spring styles are for a woman who’s not afraid to wear a pink dress to the boardroom. Even the bra tops appearing on so many runways are being paired with palazzo pants, not skinny jeans, making them almost - almost - office-appropriate.

MICHAEL KORS Kors offered scarf-neck georgette blouses with the bow undone, a whisper light wool georgette pleated skirt in “banker” gray and a crisp white trench to top it off. There was also a sand-colored suede trench. Good thing his muse can make decisions. A ticking-stripe boyfriend shirt was worn with denim shorts and a wrap made of white fox - yes, summer fur with an unexpected stripe lining. He had some moments that seemed 1970s inspired, with disco studs on slinky dresses with full hemlines and palazzo pants with bra tops. “The challenge is to have romance for everyday life,” Kors said, “and how do you have charm in everyday life?”

A good place to start is smiling models, and Kors had those. Karolina Kurkova, Frankie Rayder and Karen Elson are among the catwalkers who make infrequent runway appearances, but always seem to turn up for Kors.

PROENZA SCHOULER To say the designers at Proenza Schouler loosened up their look for next spring, you have to know the starting point: The collection typically is inventive, cool and fairly aggressive.

Their clothes are for the model types - the young women who jet-set the globe in search of the next great party, the one that starts after midnight. So to see the words “understated domesticity” and “serene and polished” in the notes Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough used for their runway show was more than a little surprising. But, as promised, there was movement and ease, mixed with their other hallmark, experimental fabrics. Accordian-pleat, below-the-knee skirts were shown in a myriad of metallics, tiered tops and jackets were paired with cropped, loose-leg pants, and a series of cotton crepe outfits were printed with the

shadings and shadows of well-loved garments.

Don’t worry, they took care of their model friends, too. They can wear the stunning top cast in copper, a breast plate held in place with some wide ribbon, that closed the show. Not many others can.

MARCHESA

MICHAEL KORS

Pearls were still being sewn on the showstopping red carpet looks an hour before Marchesa’s show, but the audience would never have known the frenzy. When it came time for models to come down the runway in an elegant space at the New York Public Library, the delicate dresses floated with ethereal calm.

Some gowns had pearls, others butterfly

appliques - and some had both. There was more of a light lingerie feel to the silhouettes than big sculptural pieces designers Georgina Chapman and Keren Craig have turned out in seasons’ past. The inspiration, according to Craig, is a Victorian-style curiosity case, where people would display treasures such as butterflies and birds. Chapman said, “We were thinking about the romance of it and the idea of collecting all these different things and putting them together. So then we ... came to the idea of, you know, old pieces of lingerie mixed with Irish laces mixed with bird motifs, and so it’s a melting pot of ideas but done in a very relaxed way.” This isn’t the fashion show to see what everyone will be wearing. It’s the show to see what Hollywood lovelies will wear to big events. Predictions? The opener, a powder-blue lingerie top with a gold, metallic lace embroidered skirt, and the finale gown with an empire waist, gold lace bra top and blush tulle skirt with rose ribbon flowers will be on the red carpet soon.

Lifestyle FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

MARCHESA

J. MENDEL

BETSEY JOHNSON

Gilles Mendel’s catwalk saw a young ingenue grow into a woman. He started with short shift dresses in white, yellow and pink, and moved from there into red leather, gray lace and his signature fur. The python motorcycle jacket over a patent-leather skirt must have been his muse’s transition phase. “She’s strong, she appreciates quality, she loves clothes,” he said of his J. Mendel customer and inspiration. “I like a celebration of that woman.” Think of a Charlotte Gainsbourg type, he said in a backstage interview.

PROENZA SCHOULER

Lifestyle FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

BETSEY JOHNSON Dr Betsey Johnson was in the house with a dose of pretty, a dose of hip-hop and a whole lot of rock ‘n’ roll during her ever-loopy, always fun runway show.

Taking on a medical theme with looks dubbed “Tylenol Tara” and “Benadryl Barbie,” models in teased pink hair put on the swagger in the 71-year-old’s trademark poofy prom dresses and metal “Betsey” necklaces. They pranced in metallic black, white and pink petticoats, or flirted in tight minis and leggings done in black, and sexy animal and floral prints. Post-bankruptcy, the first season of her Style network reality show a wrap, Johnson has no intention of growing up, though her adorable granddaughters, Layla and Ella, now join her on the runway for her traditional cartwheel and splits. That is, after the day-of-the-week girls waved American flags and showed off their short boy undies in bright yellow, green and blue.

JENNY PACKHAM

J. MENDEL

JENNY PACKHAM Packham put out a casual ease without sacrificing glamour. There were scarflike halter-neck tops and palazzo pants, and drop-waist dresses and a fully beaded T-shirt dress. The inspiration for Tuesday’s spring preview started with the 1975 movie “Picnic at Hanging Rock,” an Australian film set in a boarding school at the turn of the 20th century. “So it was a little Edwardian, a little ‘70s rock ‘n’ roll, and we thought it all had an upbeat mood,” she said.

She carried the theme through with fancy jeweled embellishment on easy-towear gowns. — AP

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

Kuwait

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12:30 PM 2:30 PM 4:30 PM 6:30 PM 8:45 PM 11:00 PM 1:15 AM

AVENUES-4 2 GUNS (DIG) TOM & JIMMY (DIG) 2 GUNS (DIG) TOM & JIMMY (DIG) TOM & JIMMY (DIG) 2 GUNS (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:45 PM 4:00 PM 6:15 PM 8:30 PM 10:45 PM 1:00 AM

BAIRAQ-2 THE SMURFS 2 (DIG) THE SMURFS 2 (DIG) THE SMURFS 2 (DIG) YOU’RE NEXT (DIG) YOU’RE NEXT (DIG) THE CONJURING (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

360º- 1 RIDDICK (DIG) RIDDICK (DIG) RIDDICK (DIG) RIDDICK (DIG) RIDDICK (DIG) RIDDICK (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

BAIRAQ-3 RIDDICK (DIG) WE’RE THE MILLERS (DIG) RIDDICK (DIG) WE’RE THE MILLERS (DIG) RIDDICK (DIG) RIDDICK (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:00 PM 3:30 PM 5:30 PM 7:45 PM 9:45 PM 12:05 AM

360º- 2 WE’RE THE MILLERS (DIG) WE’RE THE MILLERS (DIG) WE’RE THE MILLERS (DIG) WE’RE THE MILLERS (DIG) WE’RE THE MILLERS (DIG) WE’RE THE MILLERS (DIG) WE’RE THE MILLERS (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:15 PM 3:15 PM 5:15 PM 7:15 PM 9:15 PM 11:15 PM 1:15 AM

MARINA-2 RIDDICK (DIG) 2 GUNS (DIG) RIDDICK (DIG) 2 GUNS (DIG) RIDDICK (DIG) RIDDICK (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

MARINA-3 TOM & JIMMY (DIG)(ARABIC) THE SMURFS 2 (DIG-3D) TOM & JIMMY (DIG)(ARABIC) TOM & JIMMY (DIG)(ARABIC) TOM & JIMMY (DIG)(ARABIC) THE CONJURING (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

AVENUES-1 ONE DIRECTION: THIS IS US (DIG) ONE DIRECTION: THIS IS US (DIG) THE CONJURING (DIG) THE CONJURING (DIG) THE CONJURING (DIG) THE CONJURING (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

360º- 3 ONE DIRECTION: THIS IS US (DIG-3D) 1:30 PM ONE DIRECTION: THIS IS US (DIG) 3:45 PM ONE DIRECTION: THIS IS US (DIG-3D) 6:00 PM ONE DIRECTION: THIS IS US (DIG-3D) 8:00 PM THE WOLVERINE (DIG) 10:00 PM THE WOLVERINE (DIG) 12:30 AM NO SUN+TUE+WED 360º- 4 THE SMURFS 2 (DIG-3D) THE SMURFS 2 (DIG) THE SMURFS 2 (DIG-3D) THE SMURFS 2 (DIG-3D) THE SMURFS 2 (DIG)

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

PLAZA TOOFAN (DIG) (TELUGU) THU+FRI+SAT+MON TOOFAN (DIG) (TELUGU) THU+FRI+SAT+MON TURBO (DIG) SUN+TUE+WED TOM & JIMMY (DIG)(ARABIC) SUN+TUE+WED TOOFAN (DIG) (TELUGU) SUN+TUE+WED LAILA 2 GUNS (DIG) TOM & JIMMY (DIG)(ARABIC) RIDDICK (DIG) AJIAL.1 TOOFAN (DIG) (TELUGU) TOOFAN (DIG) (TELUGU)

bambiblue73@gmail.com (C 4505) 11-9-2013

CHANGE OF NAME

6:30 PM 9:30 PM 5:30 PM 7:30 PM 9:45 PM

5:45 PM 8:00 PM 10:30 PM 6:45 PM 9:45 PM

AJIAL.2 NEELAKASHAM, PACHAKKADAL, CHUVANNA BHOOMI 6:30 PM

I, Shaik Shanwaz holder of Indian Passport No. E7171807 hereby correct my name to Shaikh Shanawaz. ( C 4504) 9-9-2013

Looking for a part time maid for an American family. 12 - 4 pm. 5 days a week. KD. 100/per month. Call 96942874.

9-9-2013 FOR SALE

SITUATION VACANT Cook needed from India or Srilanka for a Kuwaiti doctor family. Salary KD 120, must know Kuwaiti food, baking (bread), speak and write English, transferable visa.

Call: 98863412 or send CV on:

Massive moving household sale, furniture, single beds, dining table, crockery, glassware, ladies clothing etc. Call: 67723993, 66118406, 25316866.

(C 4506)

Hospitals Sabah Hospital Amiri Hospital Maternity Hospital Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital Chest Hospital Farwaniya Hospital Adan Hospital Ibn Sina Hospital Al-Razi Hospital Physiotherapy Hospital Rabiya Rawdha Adailiya Khaldiya Khaifan Shamiya Shuwaikh Abdullah Salim Al-Nuzha Industrial Shuwaikh Al-Qadisiya Dasmah Bneid Al-Ghar Al-Shaab Al-Kibla Ayoun Al-Kibla Mirqab Sharq Salmiya Jabriya Maidan Hawally Bayan

Prayer timings Fajr: Shorook Duhr: Asr: Maghrib: Isha:

04:11 05:31 11:44 15:15 17:56 19:14

Clinics

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Pe t s FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

By Kathy Antoniotti

S

everal years ago, a popular YouTube video showed a young woman attempting to bathe her cat in a tub of water.

The horrified cat appeared to be screaming nooooo each time it was moved closer to the water. Now, I ask, how funny is that? Not very, unless you are sadistic and enjoy scaring the wits out of a helpless animal.

The person recording the event and the woman holding the feline thought it was hilarious enough to publish the episode online. The owners of the cat were unaware of the abject fear the cat was exhibiting, but the video was shockingly brutal to someone who understood the cat’s body language.

“I don’t think they were trying to be mean, I just don’t think they recognized the cat’s trauma,” said Jennifer Mauger of Akron, Ohio, owner of L’Chaim Canine and Feline. Mauger, a certified professional dog trainer, said she realized that for the sake of their feline pets, owners needed to be educated to the responsibilities of owning a cat.

Some pet owners believe it is necessary to bend a pet to their will for its own good. All that does is cause ill will between a cat and its owner, Mauger said. “You can do almost anything to a dog and it will forgive you. A cat is not like that,” said Mauger during a class on kitten basics held earlier this week at her Richfield, Ohio, studio.

The classes teach kittens 8 to 12 weeks of age the art of socialization under the tutelage of staff cat, Juice. The sessions help accustom the kittens to different sights, sounds and textures via a mat in the center of the room piled with irresistible toys. Naturally, a couple of them discovered it was more fun to explore a few boxes stacked under a table.

It took about 15 minutes of solitary play before the six kittens discovered the toys were more fun while playing with a companion. Those favoring the boxes began chasing each other in a game of tag. Owners are taught to recognize feline behavior and how to handle a kitten properly so they aren’t fearful. The class teaches owners it is possible to take the fear out of getting into a carrier for a trip to the vet, to trimming their claws so there is no need to have a cat declawed - a horrible and inhumane surgery in the eyes of most pet lovers.

“If we can avoid declawing, that’s what we want to do. If the nails are short enough, they aren’t going to scratch,” she said. A word to the wise, Mauger noted: Cats need scratching posts taller than they are when stretched out.

Don’t waste money on a too short scratching post.

“So, if your cat is 20 inches long when stretched to its fullest length, you should provide it with a 25-inch high scratching post,” she said. Shoving an ill cat into a carrier is very traumatic for an animal that is not crate trained and can result in numerous cat scratches for the owner.

Jennifer Mauger trains a kitten (at left) with clicker training as another kitten attempts to snatch the other kitty’s reward during the kitten class of L’Chaim Canine and Feline.

“The No. 1 reason people don’t take pets to the vet is because they can’t get them in the carrier,” Mauger said. On a recent Monday, assistant trainer Kelsey Hrusch clipped the claws of an 8-week-old kitten that was so intent on licking baby food from a spoon she had no idea she was being attended to.

Three kittens from Pawsibilities, Humane Society of Greater Akron attended the sessions “because they needed a little extra socialization,” Mauger said. One of the younger kittens at the class, a feral rescue, learned hand targeting - touching its nose to Mauger’s hand to get a reward - in less than three minutes.

As Mauger moved the treat-filled spoon in her left hand behind her back until the cat touched her right hand, unbeknownst to Mauger, a second kitten patiently waited behind her for the spoon to reappear to delicately take a lick.

Whoever termed the phrase “dumb animals” obviously never met an 8-week-old kitten. Within the two-week, $40 session, kittens learn to adjust to harnesses and leashes, meet friendly dogs, come when called (OK, if they choose to come) and get into their crates by themselves.

The whole idea is to accustom animals to the things you want them to do and not make them afraid and run away, or fight back.

Cats are members of a family and should be treated as such. “They aren’t just furniture,” Good noted. — MCT

Juice (left) the staff cat of L’Chaim Canine and Feline, socializes with a timid kitten from the Greater Akron Humane Society during kitten class at the Cuyahoga Valley Vet Clinic, in Richfield, Ohio.

— MCT photos

Kittens socialize during the kitten class of L’Chaim Canine and Feline.

Kittens socialize during the kitten class of L’Chaim Canine and Feline.

Stars

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

Aries (March 21-April 19)

Much of your focus is internal, but today it would behoove you to turn some of that energy outward, Aries. Take this opportunity to make a leap of faith in the right direction. You have a great deal of bite behind your words. Don't underestimate your power and bravery. Just be careful that you don't start arguments over petty issues that aren't worth losing friends over.

Taurus (April 20-May 20)

There's no need to walk around with a frown on a day like this, Taurus. You have a special spark in your eye and spring in your step that you should make great use of today. Jump into action with vigor and communicate your thoughts to other people.

Change is important and necessary now. It might be smart to wipe the slate clean and start anew.

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

You might feel a bit rough around the edges today, Gemini.

There's a bite to the day that could leave you feeling upset and unnerved. It may seem as if no one understands you. By opening up to others, you'll allow them to open up to you. People will be anxious to learn the inner workings of your mind. You have a great deal of personal wisdom to share.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

Your thoughts are emotionally charged, Cancer, but you'll find that this can be used to your advantage. You have a great deal of knowledge at your disposal, and you aren't afraid to throw in a little drama just for the fun of it. Your dramatic flair will take you far on a day like today. Don't hesitate to get exactly what you want.

Leo (July 23-August 22)

The fast-paced frenzy of the day is just what you need to jumpstart your brain and get it moving in the right direction, Leo. Take control of the fire within and keep it strong all day. You'll find that there's a more personal aspect to your thoughts, and you can think more rationally about your emotions. Your heart and your head are working well together.

Virgo (August 23-September 22)

While you're on a crusade for peace and diplomacy, Virgo, you may find that other people seem to be on a crusade for war. Do your best under the prevailing trends. You may find that other people's words are charged with a great deal of passion that will be hard to ignore. You have your work cut out for you today if you plan on maintaining a serene and calm disposition.

Libra (September 23-October 22)

There's action to be taken, Libra, so make sure you get up early to make a fresh start. You may be on stage today in more ways than one. Your powerful words won't go unnoticed by others.

You're dynamic and effective in the pursuit of your goals. Your mental acuity is in top working condition, and your words are emotionally charged.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21)

Be yourself and you can do no wrong, Scorpio. This is one of those days when you barely need to make any effort to go a long distance. You'll find power at your disposal and confidence in yourself. Feel free to grab the microphone and express your opinions. Your words and thoughts are highly charged.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21)

There may be a bit of restlessness due to strong forces urging you to take action, Sagittarius. A dynamic feeling is in the air and calling on you to get up and get moving. Take this opportunity to push through some of your new ideas. Make strides toward the completion of your goals. Don't let your emotions get in the way of your mental processes.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19)

Charge ahead and use your emotions to fuel your fire, Capricorn. You have plenty of mental acumen today that can help break through any puzzle. New beginnings are underway in many areas of your life. There's no reason to delay any longer than you already have. Take this opportunity to live up to your full potential and make things happen for yourself.

Aquarius (January 20- February 18)

Be a bit selfish today, Aquarius. You have every right to look out for number one. Sensitivity to other people's emotions and issues is noble, but it may leave you emotionally drained. Think rationally about your emotions and have the courage to say no to people once in a while. You're a giver and a saint. This is the perfect day to do some giving back - to yourself.

Pisces (February 19-March 20)

Your mind is going to be sharp today, and you should be certain of all your words, Pisces. Take pride in who you are and what you believe. This self-confidence will radiate from you.

Use your keen mental powers to move things along in your favor. This is too good of an opportunity to waste passively.

Take control of the situation and lead the charge. Full steam ahead!

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

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

Stars

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

Word Search

Yesterdayʼs Solution

C R O S S W O R D 3 0 9

ACROSS 1. A modified bud consisting of a thickened globular underground stem serving as a reproductive structure.

5. Type genus of the Cariamidae comprising only the crested cariama.

12. The compass point midway between south and southwest.

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

16. The trait of lacking restraint or control.

17. A flat wing-shaped process or winglike part of an organism.

18. Not far distant in time or space or degree or circumstances.

19. Spring-loaded doorlock that can only be opened from the outside with a key.

20. The cardinal number that is the sum of five and one.

22. (Arthurian legend) The most virtuous knight of the Round Table.

24. Goat grass.

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

27. Relating to or characteristic of people of Rome.

28. Relating to or denoting or characteristic of Catalonia or its inhabitants.

31. Mild yellow Dutch cheese made in balls.

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

36. The content of cognition.

38. (Roman Catholic Church) The supreme ecclesiastical tribunal for cases appealed to the Holy See from diocesan courts.

42. The branch of military science dealing with detailed maneuvers to achieve objectives set by strategy.

44. A theocratic republic in the Middle East in western Asia.

45. A polite name for any woman.

46. Of or in or relating to the nose.

47. Any plant of the genus Caragana having even-pinnate leaves and mostly yellow flowers followed by seeds in a linear pod.

49. Rough edge left by a deckle on handmade paper or produced artificially on machine-made paper.

50. A public promotion of some product or service.

51. A white soft metallic element that tarnishes readily.

52. Any culture medium that uses agar as the gelling agent.

55. Angular distance above the horizon (especially of a celestial object).

57. Genus of South and Central American heathlike evergreen shrubs.

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

63. Neuralgia along the sciatic nerve.

67. American prizefighter who won the world heavyweight championship three times (born in 1942).

68. Someone who rigs.

71. A lake in northwestern Russia.

72. A hospital unit staffed and equipped to provide intensive care.

73. All the weapons and equipment that a country has.

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

76. A barrier constructed to contain the flow or water or to keep out the sea.

77. Having an elongated seating area.

78. Smallest merganser and most expert diver.

Daily SuDoku

DOWN 1. A vigorous blow.

2. The chief solid component of mammalian urine.

3. (archaic or Scottish) Faithful and true.

4. United States writer of poems and plays about racial conflict (born in 1934).

5. West Indian tree having racemes of fragrant white flowers and yielding a durable timber and resinous juice.

6. A port city in southwestern Iran.

7. Any of various long-tailed rodents similar to but larger than a mouse.

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

9. Sticking fast n.

10. A polyvalent metallic element that resembles chromium and tungsten in its properties.

11. Type genus of the Anhimidae.

12. Of or relating to or characteristic of the early Saxons or Anglo-Saxons and their descendents (especially the English or Lowland Scots) and their language.

13. A blow from a flat object (as an open hand).

14. A large number or amount.

21. An extinct ancient language of unknown affinities.

23. Occupied or in the control of.

25. United States physicist who developed the first successful liquid-fueled rocket (1882-1945).

29. Away from the mouth or oral region.

30. A member of the Mongolian people of central Asia who invaded Russia in the 13th century.

32. The process of remembering (especially the process of recovering information by mental effort).

33. Heart and liver and other edible viscera especially of hogs.

35. A member of an agricultural people of southern India.

37. A Nilotic language.

39. (electronics) Of a circuit or device having an output that is proportional to the input.

40. Leaf or strip from a leaf of the talipot palm used in India for writing paper.

41. Valuable fiber plant of East Indies now widespread in cultivation.

43. A city in Tamil Nadu on the Bay of Bengal.

48. An active volcano in southeastern Colombia in the Andes.

53. Not in a specified place physically or mentally.

54. A narrow zigzag ribbon used as trimming.

56. Mosses similar to those of genus Bryum but larger.

58. The branch of computer science that deal with writing computer programs that can solve problems creatively.

59. (Greek mythology) A Titan who was forced by Zeus to bear the sky on his shoulders.

61. Type genus of the Alcidae comprising solely the razorbill.

62. Channel into a new direction.

64. (Islam) The man who leads prayers in a mosque.

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

66. Again but in a new or different way.

69. A change in the electrical properties of the skin in response to stress or anxiety.

70. A unit of force equal to the force exerted by gravity.

74. A gonadotropic hormone that is secreted by the anterior pituitary.

Yesterdayʼs Solution

Yesterday’s Solution

Sports FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

Marlins down Braves MIAMI: In his season finale, Miami Marlins rookie Jose Fernandez pitched seven innings, hit his first major league homer and engaged in a standoff with the annoyed Atlanta Braves that cleared both benches and bullpens.

When he had completed his eventful evening, Fernandez slowly walked off the mound one last time, removing his cap as the crowd gave him a standing ovation. Two relievers pitched the final two innings, and the woeful Marlins beat the playoff-bound Braves 5-2.

The game was the last of the season for the demonstrative 21-year-old Fernandez because he passed his 170-inning limit set by the Marlins. A top candidate for NL Rookie of the Year, he finished 12-6 with an ERA of 2.19, second-lowest in the majors behind only the Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw.

Fernandez homered in the sixth inning, and after slowly circling the bases he engaged in a heated exchange with catcher Brian McCann, which prompted the other players to join them. Shoves were swapped but no punches were evident, and no one was ejected.

Mike Minor (13-7) allowed five runs, four earned, and 11 hits in six innings for Atlanta.

and an 84-degree temperature at gametime.

Cubs right-hander Jeff Samardzija (8-12) also pitched 5 2-3 innings and was charged with six runs and eight hits. Mesoraco hit a solo drive in the fourth for his first homer in 25 games since he hit two against St. Louis on Aug. 3. Hannahan connected for a three-run shot in the sixth.

PHILLIES 4, PADRES 2 In Philadelphia, Cliff Lee pitched eight sharp innings and Freddy Galvis had three hits for Philadelphia. Lee (13-6) allowed two runs and five hits, struck out nine and walked one. It was the second straight eight-inning outing and fourth in the last six starts for Lee, who pounded his glove and skipped toward the dugout after fanning Jedd Gyorko to end the eighth.

NATIONALS 3, METS 0 In New York, Dan Haren pitched one-hit ball for six innings, Ryan Zimmerman homered and Washington earned its fifth consecutive win.

The Nationals improved to 22-9 in their late charge toward a playoff spot. They remained six games behind Cincinnati for the final NL wild-card spot with only 17 to play. Haren (9-13) and the Washington bullpen held an overmatched New York lineup to three singles. Rafael Soriano got three outs for his 41st save.

The night was full of 9/11 tributes. Mets manager Terry Collins wore an NYPD hat during batting practice, and there were several remembrances on the field, on the scoreboard and over the public-address system of those affected by the terror attacks 12 years ago.

Zack Wheeler (7-5) gave up one run and eight hits in seven innings, striking out six and walking one. He wound up with his third loss in four starts.

DIAMONDBACKS 4, DODGERS 1 In Los Angeles, Paul Goldschmidt had four hits and two RBIs, helping the Diamondbacks snap a five-game skid against the Dodgers.

Patrick Corbin (14-6) ended a three-game losing streak while improving to 2-0 in three starts at Dodger Stadium. The left-hander allowed one run and eight hits in 6 1-3 innings. Brad Ziegler pitched the ninth for his 10th save in 12 chances.

Dodgers left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu (13-6) gave up three runs and 10 hits - his second-most this season - in his first start since Aug. 30. The left-hander missed his scheduled start last Friday because of a stiff back. Los Angeles got its only run on Yasiel Puig’s 16th homer in the seventh.

CARDINALS 5, BREWERS 1 In St. Louis, Matt Adams hit a two-run homer in St. Louis’ four-run eighth inning, helping the Cardinals to their fifth consecutive win.

Matt Carpenter and Matt Holliday had two hits apiece for the Cardinals, who maintained a one-game lead over Pittsburgh in the NL Central. Brewers reliever Brandon Kintzler (3-2) was charged with three runs and recorded two outs.

Carlos Beltran’s sacrifice fly off Michael Gonzalez scored Carpenter to give the Cardinals a 2-1 lead. An error by catcher Jonathan Lucroy allowed Jon Jay to score and Adams followed with his 12th homer. Trevor Rosenthal (2-3) had a hitless eighth inning for the win.

REDS 6, CUBS 0 In Cincinnati, Devin Mesoraco homered for the first time in a month, Jack Hannahan added his first career pinch-hit homer and the Reds avoided a sweep by the last-place Cubs.

Mesoraco broke out of his slump with three hits as the Reds closed a 7-3 homestand. Mike Leake (13-6) allowed four hits and walked four in 5 2-3 innings en route to a career high in wins, despite humid conditions

MIAMI: Jose Fernandez No. 16 of the Miami Marlins pitches during a game against the Atlanta Braves at Marlins Park. — AFP Gyorko and Tommy Medica homered for the Padres, who had won four in a row. Medica’s solo shot in the fifth was his first hit in his major league debut.

Jonathon Papelbon pitched a scoreless ninth for his 26th save in 33 chances. The Phillies took the lead in the seventh against Nick Vincent (4-3). Galvis led off with a double, went to third on Lee’s sacrifice and scored on Cesar Hernandez’s weak chopper to first.

GIANTS 4, ROCKIES 3 In San Francisco, Marco Scutaro and Brandon Belt hit consecutive RBI singles in the eighth inning to help San Francisco rally for the victory.

The Giants loaded the bases with one out against Matt Belisle (5-7), and Scutaro followed with a tying single into right field. Belt’s hit drove in Angel Pagan and gave San Francisco a 4-3 lead.

Guillermo Moscoso (2-2) pitched two scoreless innings for the victory, securing the first winning homestand for the Giants since May 20-26. Santiago Casilla finished for his second save.

Nolan Arenado had two hits and two RBIs for the Rockies, who have lost five of six. Michael Cuddyer added three hits and went 7 for 13 in the series. —AP

Boston pound Tampa Bay ST. PETERSBURG: Mike Carp connected for a pinch-hit grand slam in the 10th inning and AL East-leading Boston beat Tampa Bay 7-3 on Wednesday night.

Carp sent a drive over the centerfield fence on the first pitch from Roberto Hernandez. It was the first pinch-hit grand slam for Boston since Kevin Millar hit one at Milwaukee on June 7, 2003. Dustin Pedroia opened the 10th with a walk against Joel Peralta (2-7) and went to second on Shane Victorino’s bunt. After David Ortiz was intentionally walked, Hernandez replaced Peralta and walked Mike Napoli on four pitches before Carp connected for his ninth homer. Boston closer Koji Uehara (4-0) struck out two during a perfect ninth.

He has retired his last 34 batters.

James Loney homered for the Rays, who trail the Red Sox by 91/2 games in the division race, to tie it in the eighth.

Tampa Bay, which has lost 13 of 17, saw its lead drop to one game over New York for the second AL wild-card spot.

YANKEES 5, ORIOLES 4 In Baltimore, Robinson Cano hit a tiebreaking homer leading off the ninth inning, and New York also got solo shots from Alex Rodriguez and Curtis Granderson.

The Yankees moved past Baltimore and Cleveland in the AL wild-card hunt. New York has hit eight home runs in winning two of three in the four-game series that concludes Thursday night.

The Yankees trailed 3-1 before Granderson homered in the fifth - New York’s first hit - and Rodriguez tied it in the sixth with his 653rd career home run. In the ninth, after Cano connected off Tommy Hunter (4-4), Granderson tripled with one out and scored on an infield hit by Lyle Overbay.

David Robertson (5-1) worked the eighth and Mariano Rivera gave up a run-scoring single to Brian Roberts before securing his 43rd save, tied for the major league lead with Baltimore’s Jim Johnson. Chris Davis drove in two runs with a double, making him the first player in Orioles history to have 40 doubles and 40 homers in a season.

Danny Valencia tied a career high with four hits, and Roberts had three singles. Baltimore outhit New York 13-6.

Before the game, the Yankees announced that shortstop Derek Jeter would miss the rest of the season with an injured left ankle. The Yankees captain played in only 17 games this season and made four trips to the disabled list.

TIGERS 1, WHITE SOX 0 In Chicago, Anibal Sanchez struck out 10 for Detroit. Sanchez (14-7) allowed five hits and walked four in 7 1-3 innings while lowering his AL-best ERA to 2.50. Joaquin Benoit got three outs for his 18th save in as many opportunities, completing a five-hitter for Detroit’s 11th shutout of the season. Omar Infante drove in the game’s only run with a two-out single against Matt Lindstrom (2-4) in the eighth inning. White Sox left-hander Jose Quintana pitched seven innings of five-hit ball. He remained winless over his last five starts despite a 3.03 ERA. ATHLETICS 18, TWINS 3 In Minneapolis, Jed Lowrie’s foul ball that turned into a two-run double

after umpires changed the call highlighted a 10-run fourth inning for Oakland. Every Oakland starter had at least one hit, one run and one RBI as the A’s recorded a season-high 22 hits and extended their lead over Texas in the AL West to three games.

Lowrie, Coco Crisp and Stephen Vogt also homered. Yoenis Cespedes had three RBIs to help the A’s score their most runs in a game since beating Boston 20-2 on Aug. 31, 2012.

With runners on second and third and three runs already in, Lowrie lined a ball down the line in the fourth that first-base umpire Bill Miller ruled foul as he danced out of the way.

Lowrie pointed at the ground inside the white line where he thought the ball hit. Oakland manager Bob Melvin came out to argue, and Lowrie was eventually awarded a two-run double after the entire umpire crew huddled and changed the call.

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire was ejected by Miller after a long argument. Sonny Gray (3-3), who had received fewer than four runs of support over his last six starts, struck out seven in five innings for the win.

In the fifth, Josh Reddick of the A’s drove a ball off the top of the wall in the right-field corner that Miller ruled a home run. The call was overturned after a replay review - the first at Target Field this season - and Reddick had to trot back out of the dugout to second base. Mike Pelfrey (5-12) was removed with no outs in the fourth. He allowed seven runs and eight hits and has won just once since July 11.

ROYALS 6, INDIANS 2 In Cleveland, Alex Gordon homered on the game’s first pitch and Kansas City’s James Shields dominated after a shaky first inning. Kansas City took two of three in the series between clubs that are in contention for the second wild card spot in the AL. The Royals, who entered Wednesday trailing Tampa Bay by three games, moved a game closer to the Indians. Cleveland was 11/2 games behind the Rays.

The Royals had a home run, a triple and a single on the game’s first seven pitches to take a 2-0 lead. Shields (119) gave up two runs, two hits, and hit a batter in the bottom half of the first before taking control. Michael Brantley had a two-run single in the first, but Shields didn’t allow another hit until Jason Kipnis’ leadoff single in the ninth. Shields allowed four hits, struck out seven and walked one. Greg Holland retired the last three hitters for his 42nd save. Scott Kazmir (8-8) allowed four runs and nine hits in four innings.

ANGELS 5, BLUE JAYS 4 In Toronto, Kole Calhoun hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the eighth inning and C.J. Wilson won his eighth straight decision for Los Angeles.

Mark Trumbo hit a two-run home run, his career-high 33rd, and Josh Hamilton had three hits as the Angels won for the ninth time in 12 meetings with the Blue Jays.

Mike Trout drew a one-out walk off Steve Delabar (5-3) in the eighth and went to third on Hamilton’s double.

Trumbo was intentionally walked to load the bases for Calhoun, who hit a sacrifice fly to left. Calhoun went 1 for 2 with two sacrifice flies, helping the Angels win for the fifth time in seven games. —AP

Sports FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

Mollema wins 17th Tour stage MADRID: Dutch rider Bauke Mollema of the Belkin team won the 17th stage of the Tour of Spain in Burgos yesterday as Italy’s Vincenzo Nibali retained the overall race leader’s red jersey. Mollema, 26, attacked at the end of the 189-km ride from Calahorra to take the stage win ahead of Sky’s Norwegian rider Edvald Boasson Hagen and Argentina’s Maximiliano Richeze, of Lampre, who were second and third respectively. The Dutchman’s move completely took by surprise the peloton, containing the leading riders in the general classification, to recover some pride from a race in which he had been left trailing in the overall standings. “I knew that this was my only chance to win a stage,” Mollema told Spanish television at the end of a stage that had been earmarked as one for the sprinters. “I came to the Vuelta with ambitions to do well in the general classification, my team had designated me for that role, but it hasn’t been possible and so we decided to go for stage wins instead,” added Mollema, who became something of a cult hero in his native Netherlands on his way to finishing sixth at this year’s Tour de France.

Nibali and his principle rivals - the American veteran Chris Horner of RadioShack and Spanish duo Alejandro Valverde of Movistar and Joaquim Rodriguez of Katusha reached the finish just behind Mollema and were given the same time as the stage winner.

However, several riders lost time after cracks appeared in the peloton when Ireland’s Nicolas Roche and his SaxoTinkoff team attacked in crosswinds with just under 30 kilometres to go. France’s Thibaut Pinot and Italy’s Domenico Pozzovivo were among the riders worst affected, with both losing 1min 31sec on Nibali.

“It was a stage in which we needed to be wary from beginning to end. On paper it looked easy, but we saw what happened to two riders with high hopes in Pozzovivo and Pinot,” commented Valverde at the finish.

While Pozzovivo and Pinot sit more than five and six minutes behind Nibali respectively, Roche climbs back into the top five in the overall standings, 3min 43sec behind the overall leader. Horner sits second at 28sec, with Valverde third at 1min 14sec and Rodriguez fourth at 2min 29sec. This year’s Vuelta concludes in Madrid on Sunday but, before that, the peloton must prepare for a first-category finish yesterday on the Pena Cabarga, where ‘Purito’ Rodriguez won in 2010. And on Saturday there will be a finish atop the unclassified Alto de l’Angliru, at an altitude of 1,557 metres. “I like this climb,” said Nibali, winner of this year’s Giro d’Italia and the 2010 Vuelta, of the Pena Cabarga. “I know it well from 2010 and 2011. In 2010, I remember that Puriot was very good. We will see. It is a great finish.”— AFP

SAN FRANCISCO: Oracle Team USA sails near the Golden Gate Bridge before the 34th America’s Cup in this file photo. — AFP

Oracle Team could replace tactician in America’s Cup SAN FRANCISCO: A blunder on Tuesday that led to a commanding victory for Emirates Team Zealand and prompted Oracle Team USA to call an unusual time-out in the 34th America’s Cup regatta might have cost sailor John Kostecki his job.

The 49-year-old American was nowhere to be seen when software magnate Larry Ellison’s team got back on its 72-foot catamaran for a practice run on Wednesday after Tuesday’s devastating loss. Acclaimed British sailor Sir Ben Ainslie, who has been at the helm of Oracle’s second yacht during training matches, took his place.

Oracle representatives did not immediately respond to calls and emails asking for confirmation that Ainslie would replace Kostecki as the tactician when Oracle again faces Team New Zealand for two races late yesterday.

The government-backed Kiwis have won four of the nine races they need to take the Auld Mug, as they call the silver trophy, back to their tiny, sailing-crazed island nation. Because of a jury-imposed penalty, Oracle must finish first in 11 races - two more than New Zealand.

Ainslie, 36, has won four Olympic gold medals and is considered one of the most decorated sailors of all time.

Though Oracle flies the American flag, the loss of Kostecki would leave only one U.S. sailor on the team, trimmer Rome Kirby. All but two of the Kiwi sailors hail from New

Zealand. Oracle was winning the race on Tuesday when it tried to do something that has never before been done to lift its foils out of the water while tacking. But the team bungled the maneuver, almost stopped dead and gave up an eight-second lead.

Criticism was also heaped on Oracle for heading to the right side of the upwind leg near Alcatraz Island to escape current, allowing the Kiwis to use better wind in the center of the course to get ahead. The team used a so-called postponement card to skip the second race of the day.

Skipper Jimmy Spithill said Oracle would return to the water to figure out how to make the hard-to-handle twinhulled yacht move faster before two races scheduled for Thursday. Asked at a post-race press conference if Kostecki would be fired, Spithill said, “I can’t guarantee anything. I can’t guarantee I’ll be there.” An international jury expelled Kostecki’s brother-in-law, first-choice wing trimmer Dirk de Ridder, after finding he and other team members illegally modified smaller, prototype boats used in warm-up regattas. Kostecki grew up sailing on San Francisco Bay and is said to have been hired as Oracle’s tactician because of his insider knowledge. Asked at a press conference on Sunday if his local knowledge had given him a leg up on the Kiwis, he replied, “I think these guys know the Bay pretty well.”— Reuters

SPAIN: Belkin’s Dutch rider Bauke Mollema celebrates winning as he crosses the finish line after the 17th day of the 68th edition of ‘La Vuelta’ Tour of Spain. —AFP

Woods happy to be back at Chicago hunting ground LAKE FOREST: With his ailing back much improved after a oneweek break from the PGA Tour, an upbeat Tiger Woods will tee off in late yesterday’s opening round of the BMW Championship in pursuit of his sixth win this season.

Though the American world number one will be competing for the first time on the par-71 layout at Conway Farms Golf Club, he boasts an impressive record in the Chicago area.

Not only has Woods twice clinched the PGA Championship at nearby Medinah, but he has also visited the winner’s circle on five occasions at Cog Hill, twice in the BMW Championship and three times in its predecessor, the Western Open.

“Obviously it’s very different compared to Cog Hill and Medinah, but it is a nice track,” Woods said of Conway Farms after playing there in the pro-am competition on a muggy Wednesday.

“It’s a little confined in the sense that it’s going to be interesting to see how they’re going to get the gallery around here, especially on the front nine, the bottlenecks over on (holes) five and six.

“All the times I’ve been in Chicago, it’s a great sporting town. They come out and support their events. This will be a fun crowd.” Asked by a reporter what he considered as his single greatest moment in the Chicago area, Woods replied: “Probably Medinah, winning there twice.”

When twice pressed to narrow that ‘moment’ down to just one, Woods grinned while replying each time: “Winning there twice.”

Woods heads into the third of the PGA Tour’s four lucrative FedExCup playoff events ranked

second in the points standings, behind Swede Henrik Stenson who took over at the top by winning the Deutsche Bank Championship nine days ago.

While Woods finished a lowly 65th at the Deutsche Bank after closing with a two-over 73 in lowscoring conditions, he was especially pleased to have the next week off to work on his problem back.

“That was nice,” the 14-times major champion smiled. “It was nice to have that week of treatment and strengthening, so that was all good. And I was practising towards the end of the week.”

Woods had collapsed to his knees in pain with a back spasm on the 13th hole during the final round of The Barclays in New Jersey, the opening playoff event, forcing him to limit his practice time at the Deutsche Bank Championship.

With his caddie, Joe LaCava, having scouted out the Conway Farms layout earlier this week, Woods likes the look of a relatively short course where birdies should be plentiful.

“We know we’ve got some easier holes out there, and if you drive the ball well here, you’re going to have a lot of eight-irons on down, and those are some scoring clubs,” Woods said.

“There’s a lot of funneling where you can get to some of these pins. You don’t have to fire right at the flag, you can funnel it in there. You can get the ball pretty stiff. The scores are going to be low.” Woods, who has triumphed a season-high five times on the 2013 PGA Tour, has been grouped with Stenson and Masters champion Adam Scott for the first two rounds at Conway Farms. — Reuters

Sports FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

Fights, bites, protests at China’s national ‘Olympics’ BEIJING: Fighting, biting, alleged cheating and an extraordinary on-pitch protest have cast a shadow over China’s National Games and prompted renewed accusations that the quest for medals in the domestic showcase is motivated mainly by greed. The quadrennial tournament dubbed “China’s Olympics”-which draws to a close in Shenyang yesterday-features teams from each province and region, as well as the military, emergency services and state-run entities in what is intended as patriotic and friendly competition.

But the stakes are high for each area’s sporting officials, with success in the medals table unlocking opportunities for promotion and increased funding from the central government in Beijing. Failure, meanwhile, can lead to the sack.

“The stench of money has haunted the National Games and become the driving force in encouraging athletes and coaches to participate,” Xi Jiandong, vice-president of Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics told sohu.com, a news website. Despite the worthy slogan of “Fitness for all to enjoy”, athletes are under intense pressure to perform, resulting in some extraordinary scenes during the Games’ 12th edition over the past two weeks.

During the women’s 10km marathon swim, two of the contestants became embroiled in a fight, with neither of them managing to finish the race. In the wrestling-newly reinstated as an Olympic sport-a heavyweight fighter from Henan was bitten by an opponent from Inner Mongolia. Online images showed him clutching his arm, heavily marked with red teeth-marks, and grimacing in agony at the referee. But the most striking image was the Beijing women’s rugby sevens team refusing to play the last minutes of their final against Shandong, accusing the referee of prejudice.

Clad in their yellow kit, they stood in a huddle and simply let their opponents run past them and repeatedly score, eventually losing 71-0. The sport is in line for huge investment in China ahead of its introduction to the Olympics in 2016, and reports said Beijing

officials had set its rugby teams high targets at the Games. “It seems the match was thrown because of bad referee calls or injuries, but the farce at the games were a result of the sports system’s obsession with medalling,” sports sociologist Lu Yuanzhen at South China Normal University told the China Daily.

“For years, we’ve been calling for a change from the pursuit of medals, but elite competitive results remain major achievements in evaluating officials instead of achievements in promoting mass fitness,” he added. Some officials did their best to give their athletes an advantage even before the Games started. Hubei province said its tennis team included local heroine and world number five Li Na, even though it was clear she would not be taking part as she was competing in the US Open. However, the sly move gave Hubei’s other tennis players an easier draw as collective world rankings counted towards the seedings. In the synchronised swimming duet, Sichuan twins and favourites Jiang Wenwen and Jiang Tingting-silver medallists at last month’s world championships in Barcelona-came only third in their last contest before retirement.

The gold instead went to a pair of swimmers from the host province, Liaoning. The Jiangs refused to attend the post-event news conference, instead organising their own event where they wept as they criticised the judging. Soon afterwards Jiang Tingting thanked their fans on her verified account on China’s Twitter-like Sina Weibo, adding bitterly: “We should thank the judge even more for helping us finish our swansong in third place. It’s not that easy to be third in China after being second in the world!” National games were first established in the final months of Imperial China, and the ruling Communist Party reinstated the event in 1959, with the People’s Liberation Army topping the medals table at the first two editions.

China’s emergence as a sporting powerhouse at international events like the Olympics, Asian Games and world aquatics champi-

onships has reduced the tournament’s standing. Even so, for some lower-ranked athletes the National Games are their only chance of a medal, fame and a comfortable retirement, leaving them sometimes desperate to succeed. An official from the Shenyang National Games told AFP that he could not comment on the financial incentives for athletes or officials, but that the event had been a success.Commenting on the women’s rugby sevens, he added: “The team (Beijing) were not satisfied, but it is not important who comes first or second.”— AFP

MOSCOW: Russian lawmaker Artur Chilingarov holds an Olympic torch in a lecture-hall of the Russian Geographical Society, in Moscow. Russian polar explorer Artur Chilingarov will be a torchbearer at the North Pole during the 2014 Winter Olympics torch relay. — AP

Former athletes struggling with addiction and illness

BELGRADE: Members of the Serbian and Canadian Davis Cup teams pose during the draw ceremony for the upcoming Davis Cup semi-final tennis match in Belgrade. —AFP

Djokovic eyes Davis Cup glory BELGRADE: Winning the 2010 Davis Cup for Serbia proved the launch pad for Novak Djokovic to reach the top of the men’s game and the 26-year-old hopes another epic run will have a similar effect.

Looking upbeat and raring to go just a few days after a crushing US Open defeat by Rafael Nadal, Djokovic was named to play singles on the opening day of the semifinal against Canada in the cavernous Belgrade Arena. Any fatigue from his New York battles and the long-haul flight home will be soothed by the prospect of playing in front of the partisan home crowd, the world number one said.

“I am tired and jet-lagged but also as inspired and motivated as ever to play for my country,” Djokovic told a news conference after yesterday’s draw which pitted him against Vasek Pospisil in Friday’s opening singles rubber.

“It’s not the first time I’ve had only two days to recuperate for a Davis Cup tie after the U.S. Open and the fact that we will be playing at home for the first time in two years will galvanise us to perform.

“The 2010 triumph was a stepping stone for all of us in terms of our individual careers and that’s why we are really looking forward to it.”

Following their epic 3-2 win over France in the 2010 final, which produced a soccer-like atmosphere in a jampacked arena, Serbia suffered their first loss at the venue

in the 2011 semis. An ailing Djokovic, who was nursing a ribcage injury, retired against Juan Martin del Potro in the reverse singles, handing Argentina an unassailable 3-1 lead as he collapsed to the ground in anguish.

It was an anti-climax to his memorable U.S. Open final win against Nadal that season, the most successful in the Serb’s career as he also claimed the Australian Open and Wimbledon to go with a myriad of Masters Series titles.

“I am fit this time and I don’t think adapting to red clay will be a problem because I’ve done it before,” he said of the specially-prepared clay surface.

“Canada are a very strong team but our home fans can help us prevail in what promises to be a delicately balanced tie.”

Janko Tipsarevic has returned to the Serbian squad after a 16-month absence and faces big-serving Milos Raonic in Friday’s second singles rubber.

Nenad Zimonjic and Ilija Bozoljac play Belgrade-born Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil in Saturday’s doubles, while Djokovic locks horns with world No. 11 Raonic and Tipsarevic clashes with Pospisil in Sunday’s reverse singles. Nestor, Zimonjic’s former doubles partner on the ATP Tour, said he expected no empathy from a raucous Belgrade crowd although he called his birthplace “a home away from home.”—Reuters

LONDON: Almost a quarter of former sportsmen have battled with health, addiction or financial problems after retiring, according to a British survey published yesterday.

More than 1,200 retired footballers, rugby union and league players, jockeys and cricketers were polled by the Professional Players Federation, an umbrella body of players’ unions who interviewed a wide range of former sports professionals aged from 22 to 95.

Simon Taylor, the PPF general secretary, told Reuters some female jockeys may have been polled but 99 percent of the respondents were men.

The results showed that while 79 per cent said they were content with their lives, 32 per cent said they did not feel in control in the first two years after leaving sport.

Almost a quarter of them — 24 per cent — said they had suffered from physical and mental health issues or financial and addiction problems as they attempted to embark on second careers once their professional sporting days were over.

Many footballers have publicly struggled with their demons with former Manchester United and Northern Ireland great George Best the most notable example. Former England midfielder Paul Gascoigne’s problems have also been well documented over the last few years.

Some 16 per cent said they experienced depression or “feelings of despair”, 17 per cent had anxiety or stress issues and 16 per cent suffered a loss of self-esteem once they retired.

Brendan Batson, the PPF chairman said in a release accompanying the

survey: “This important study emphasises the challenges professional sportspeople face in retirement and it is crucial we help them adjust to life out of the spotlight.”

Angus Porter, the chief executive of the Professional Cricketers’ Association, which initiated the study, added: “It is important that we continue to provide support, particularly in the crucial two year period after they stop playing.”

The most recent example of a former sportsman struggling to cope is Kenny Sansom, the ex-Arsenal defender who played 86 times for England and took part in two World Cups. His alcoholism was so bad he admitted to sleeping on park benches.

“When you come to the end of your career you obviously have more time on your hands and you drink three or four times a week, then it becomes every day, and at one stage I was drinking eight or nine bottles of wine a day, “ he told Sky Sports News on Thursday.

“I was drinking to forget problems and I didn’t mind sleeping rough because I’d get miserably drunk and then just fall asleep somewhere on a park bench,” he added.

The PPF was organising a one-day conference in Birmingham to help former professionals cope with the trials of life as they embark on a second career.

The research found that almost half retained a link to their sport in some capacity, and the average salary among those surveyed was between 30,000 pounds ($47,400) and 40,000 pounds, above the average national wage of 26,000 pounds. — Reuters

45

Sports FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

Joyous Afghans celebrate football win with dancing, gunfire KABUL: President Hamid Karzai embraced Afghanistan’s victorious football team yesterday, hours after they united the nation in a rare moment of shared joy, but officials also told jubilant Afghans to stop firing guns into the air in celebration.

The national men’s team beat India 2-0 to win the South Asian Football Federation championship in Kathmandu late on Tuesday, Afghanistan’s first international football title, sending tens of thousands of joyous Afghans into the streets. Fans in cars and on motorbikes joined others on foot, cheering, blowing horns and waving Afghan flags throughout the night. Many danced in the streets of the capital, Kabul, after crowding around television sets in their homes, restaurants and coffee shops to watch the match. “Now I know what being proud feels like, this is the happiest time in my life,” said fan Ahmad Bashir, an Afghan flag draped over his shoulders.

“I have no idea what we will do if we ever win the World Cup,” he said. Most of those out in the streets of the strictly conservative Muslim country were men, although some families in cars joined in the celebrations, many shouting “Zendabad Afghanistan!”

(Long Live Afghanistan!).

Afghans have struggled under the weight of three decades of conflict, stretching back through the occupation by former Soviet forces, a civil war, austere rule under the Taliban and then another 12 years of war since the Taliban were toppled. Such celebra-

tions would have been unimaginable under the Taliban, who banned music and television and forbade women access to education and most public gatherings.

The Taliban also banned most sport, and even used the national football stadium in Kabul for public executions.

“Our youths proved that we have the ability to make progress and win,” Karzai said in a statement issued by the presidential palace.

Karzai’s office tweeted a picture of him watching the match in the palace.

Celebrations continued throughout Thursday, a brief respite for Afghans who fear increased violence as most foreign troops prepare to leave by the end of next year.

The night erupted into gunfire in Kabul and elsewhere across Afghanistan immediately after the match as fans fired AK-47 assault rifles - commonplace in many Afghan households - and even machine-guns into the air in celebration. Witnesses said many of those firing into the air had been police. The gunfire panicked some residents, who feared an attack by the Taliban, and led to warning sirens being sounded in some foreign embassies.

The Afghan interior ministry and the intelligence agency congratulated the national football team in a statement. They had to send out a second statement on Thursday urging people to stop the celebratory gunfire because of the risk posed by bullets falling back to earth. —Reuters

Mazembe stars poised to reach CAF Cup semis

KABUL: Afghans watch their national football team as they celebrate victory in the South Asian Football Federation Championship, at the Kabul stadium.

Revenge-seeking Afghanistan broke India’s stranglehold on the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) title with an impressive 2-0 win over the two-time defending champions. —AFP

JOHANNESBURG: Multi African title winners TP Mazembe from the Democratic Republic of Congo can secure a CAF Confederation Cup semi-finals place this weekend.

Victory for the ‘Ravens’ over Algerian visitors Entente Setif Saturday would ensure a top-two finish in Group B of the second-tier club competition.

And the odds are in favour of the 2010 FIFA Club World Cup runners-up to Inter Milan after forcing a 1-1 draw at Setif last month. “My immediate target is to win the Confederation Cup,” says France-born Mazembe coach Patrice Carteron.

He moved to southern Congolese mining city Lubumbashi, where Mazembe are based, after taking Mali to third place at the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations.

The former Sunderland defender is considered among the best young coaches on a continent where many of his compatriots have made a telling impact.

Mazembe boast a multi-national squad with Ghanaians, Malians, Tanzanians and Zambians bolstering local stars like playmaker and captain Tresor Mputu.

Zambian Rainford Kalaba snatched the late match-winner at home to closest challengers CA Bizertin of Tunisia two weeks ago.

And Ghanaian Solomon Asante, Tanzanian Mbwana Samata and Malian Cheibane Traore scored in a 3-0 rout of Moroccans FUS Rabat.

But Mazembe have been less successful away with the draw at Setif followed by a defeat at Bizertin, whose only CAF title came 25 years ago.

Mazembe have won the CAF Champions League four times, the CAF Super Super twice and the now defunct African Cup Winners Cup once.

Setting their sights on the 2013 Champions League, Mazembe lost a qualifier to South Africans Orlando Pirates and were demoted to the Confederation Cup. Setif have drawn three matches and lost one and only an unlikely away win would bring the 1988 African champions back into the reckoning.

Victory for Mazembe would also set up Bizertin for a place among the last four provided they defeated 2010 Confederation Cup winners FUS. Having drawn 1-1 in Morocco last month, the Tunisians can be confident, although a two-goal return from four games is a concern.

Fellow Tunisians CS Sfaxien, the only club to win the nine-year Confederation Cup twice, clinched Group A two weeks ago.

The club from Mediterranean industrial city Sfax have won four consecutive games under coach and 1970s Dutch star Ruud Krol. But who accompanies Sfaxien to the knockout stage is wide open with compatriots Etoile Sahel, Stade Malien of Mali and Saint George of Ethiopia in contention.

Etoile host Sfaxien in Sousse having lost the first encounter to a goal from consistent Ivorian scorer Idrissa Kouyate. And Stade have home advantage over a Saints side containing many of the Ethiopia squad that is 180 minutes away from the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. —AFP

46

Sports FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

Real unlikely to overburden Bale MADRID: Barcelona have been careful to break new recruit Neymar in gently during the opening weeks of the La Liga season and Real Madrid are likely to follow a similar policy with Gareth Bale, even with several key players carrying injuries.

Soccer’s richest club by income, who like champions Barca have a perfect nine points from three matches, splashed a record 100 million euros ($133 million) to secure Bale’s services and he could make his debut at promoted Villarreal in tomorrow’s late kickoff (2000 GMT).

The 24-year-old winger played the final half hour of Wales’s 3-0 World Cup qualification defeat at home to Serbia on Tuesday, his first competitive action since July, and coach Chris Coleman warned it would be unwise for him to play a full match this weekend considering his relative lack of fitness.

Bale told reporters yesterday he was “feeling good” and hoped to get a run-out at the Madrigal. “Obviously I am a bit behind the rest of the squad in terms of physical fitness but I think it’s possible,” he said at the presentation of Real’s new orange away kit.

“I have been training for a week with Wales and I have already trained a couple of times here,” he added. “The coach has welcomed me and hopefully I can quickly win a place in the team.”

Bale had his first workout with his new team mates after arriving in the Spanish capital on Wednesday and although Real have a number of players injured, coach Carlo Ancelotti is unlikely to deploy him from the start on Saturday.

Portugal pair Cristiano Ronaldo and Fabio Coentrao, Spain’s Isco and Marcelo of Brazil all returned from international duty with problems of varying degrees of seriousness.

Ronaldo and Isco were back with Bale and the rest of the squad on Thursday after training apart on Wednesday, while Marcelo had treatment from medical staff along with Coentrao and long-term absentee Xabi Alonso.

Villarreal, along with Atletico Madrid the only other team to win their opening three games, are eager to test themselves against opponents of Real’s calibre after spending a year in the second division. Under coach Marcelino they have shown real attacking flair and their performances so far this term suggest they are more likely to be challenging for a place in Europe than flirting with relegation come the end of the campaign. —Reuters

Freiburg paying the price of success GERMANY: Unfashionable Bundesliga outfit Freiburg have found themselves paying the almost inevitable price for success this season as they struggle near the bottom of the table after selling off the core of their team.

The team from the Black Forest region finished fifth last term, their second best performance in the Bundesliga, and only missed out on a Champions League qualifying round place on the final day of the season. But, while the big guns such as Bayern Munich were able to build on success with more lavish signings, Freiburg’s reward was to have their team ripped apart as players took advantage of contract release clauses.

The result has been that Freiburg, who visit Augsburg on Saturday, have yet to win in four outings and find themselves languishing in 16th place in the 18-team table.

Freiburg’s team began to unravel barely two weeks after the season had finished when Congolese midfielder Cedric Makiadi, a vital cog in midfield for the previous four seasons, was sold to Werder Bremen for an estimated 3 million euros ($3.99 million).

Max Kruse, joint topscorer with 11 goals, departed for Borussia Moenchengladback for 2.5 million euros and midfielder Daniel Caligiuri was snapped by VfL Wolfsburg for 2.8 million.

The writing had been on the wall well before the end of last season with striker Jan Rosenthal agreeing terms in March for a summer move to Eintracht Frankfurt.

Coach Christian Streich had warned in April that further success this season was unlikely. “We’re in for a tough time, we might even go down,” he said. “It would have been nice to have carried on with the team as it is and to strengthen it.” —Reuters

Photo of the day

Jamie Whincup of Red Bull Racing Australia bounces of the ripple strips in practice for V8 Supercars Winton 360 in Benalla, Australia. —www.redbullcontentpool.com

Stage set for Ozil to launch Arsenal career LONDON: Arsenal fans waited a long time for a big summer signing and when the club smashed its transfer record on Mesut Ozil on deadline day the international break meant another delay before they could feast their eyes on him in club colors.

The Germany international, signed from Real Madrid for 42 million pounds ($66.03 million), was a huge coup for manager Arsene Wenger and after scoring in a World Cup qualifier in the Faroe Islands in midweek Ozil is set for his debut at Sunderland tomorrow.

England’s north east coast is a little more hospitable than windswept Torshavn but nevertheless Ozil will quickly learn about the physical demands of English football against a Sunderland side desperate to kickstart their season.

Ozil is not the only player anxious to make an instant impression for a new club as the domestic season swings back into action after World Cup distractions.

Marouane Fellaini will be eager to pull on a Manchester United shirt for the first time after his 27.5 million pounds deadline day move from Everton.

Like Arsenal, United were quiet in the transfer window but the introduction of Belgian midfielder Fellaini will give David Moyes’ side some added venom as they host newcomers Crystal Palace at Old Trafford, having managed only one win from their opening three Premier League games.

Everton will have Gareth Barry (on loan from Manchester City) in their ranks as they take on Chelsea although striker Romelu Lukaku will not make his debut because of Premier League rules on loaned players playing against their mother club.

Ozil’s departure from Real Madrid in the wake of the Spanish giants’ world record signing of Gareth Bale for 100 million euros ($132.66

million) raised plenty of eyebrows across Europe and even Arsenal’s Santi Cazorla admitted being surprised he had been allowed to leave.

“I am very happy that Ozil is here. He is a spectacular player and we are very lucky that we are going to learn alongside him,” Cazorla told Spanish newspaper Marca this week.

“I don’t understand that (why Real Madrid

Mesut Ozil sold him), he is a unique player. You will have to ask the club for reasons why they sold them, but at the same time he didn’t think he was getting the opportunities he deserved.

“Luckily he has come to us.” Ozil had more assists than any other player in Europe last season and is regarded as a magician capable of unlocking the meanest defences, yet it remains to be seen whether Arsenal have the forwards to capitalise.

“I want to improve myself further and I’m looking forward to the style of play,” Ozil said of his new team. “Arsenal are well known for the strength of their technical game and their desire to play attacking football.

“I think I will fit perfectly into that.” Olivier Giroud has begun the season well for Arsenal, scoring the winner against Tottenham Hotspur in the last round of fixtures, but manager Arsene Wenger has few other natural striking options at his disposal.

He will be hoping Theo Walcott, who hobbled off for England in Ukraine on Tuesday, will be fit for the trip to Sunderland who have managed one point from their first three games.

United take on Palace at the start of an important period for manager Moyes as he continues to try and stamp his mark on Old Trafford following Alex Ferguson’s retirement.

Victory over Palace will be viewed as essential before United begin their Champions League quest at home to Bayer Leverkusen then travel to Manchester City for the derby.

Fellaini could fill a variety of roles at United but Moyes, who signed him for Everton, believes he will become a vital cog in the side, whether it be in the position vacated by Paul Scholes or further back in the engine room.

“Marouane is not someone you want to be playing against,” Moyes told Sky Sports this week. “He has attributes other people don’t have. And with those qualities he has, I am sure he will be a big player for Manchester United.”

With early leaders Liverpool not in action until Monday at Swansea City, Chelsea can go top with victory at Everton who have drawn all three of their matches so far.

Manchester City travel to Stoke City who have started the season well under former City boss Mark Hughes while Tottenham Hotspur are looking to bounce back from defeat by Arsenal against Norwich City. —Reuters

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

www.kuwaittimes.net

Afghans celebrate victory Page 45

KATHMANDU: Afghan football fans cheer with their national flag during the SAFF Championship match between India and Afghanistan in Kathmandu. Afghanistan won the match 2-0. —AFP

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