5th Oct 2013

IPT IO N SC R SU B

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2013

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150 Fils

Most Israelis want action against Iran

THULQADA 29, 1434 AH

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No: 15949

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Turkish PM Erdogan eyes presidency

Weeden rallies Browns past Bills, 37-24

Policewomen to work as ‘undercover’ detectives First female detectives in Kuwait history

KUWAIT: Kuwait’s policewomen are pictured during training at the police academy. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat

Max 41º Min 23º

KUWAIT: Kuwait is enlisting female police officers as detectives for the first time in 60 years since the Gulf state’s police force was established, a local daily reported yesterday quoting an Interior Ministry decision that took effect this month. The Interior Ministry hired the policewomen as detectives in order to improve the quality of performance and to inject new ideas in uncovering crimes.

Announcing that five policewomen have been assigned to work at the Criminal Investigations Department, a local newspaper noted that the female detectives will work ‘undercover’ secret missions to hunt down suspects and fugitives.

The decision is considered a significant step for Kuwait’s conservative society.

Sources further indicated that the Interior Ministry has also assigned two policewomen to the General Department of State Security; Four at the Airport Investigations Department, and two to the Sentences Implementation Investigations Department. “If you are ever approached by a woman who identifies herself as a detective and asks for your ID, do not take it as a joke.

Cooperate with her or else you might find yourself in trouble,” the sources advised. — Agencies

Clashes erupt in Egypt; Five killed CAIRO: Five people were killed in clashes yesterday as supporters of deposed President Mohamed Morsi took to the streets of Cairo and other cities to demand the end of armybacked rule. The marches were the most ambitious attempt by the Muslim Brotherhood to press its demands since Aug 14, when authorities smashed two pro-Morsi sit-ins in Cairo and then declared a state of emergency and imposed a curfew.

An Egyptian army vehicle fired live rounds in the direction of Brotherhood supporters who had been pushed away from Cairo’s Tahrir Square by security forces, a Reuters witness said. Four people were shot dead in clashes in the southern city of Assuit, medical and health sources said. It was not clear which side they were on. Medical sources in Cairo said a Brotherhood supporter had died from a gunshot wound in clashes in the capital.

Onlookers threw rocks at the pro-Morsi pro-

testers, who hurled them back. Riot police earlier fired tear gas to push back the march.

Thousands of protesters headed toward the site of a former Brotherhood protest camp in northeast Cairo which was crushed by security forces in August. By late afternoon, protesters had retreated from the area. Members of the Brotherhood, which has been banned by court order, tried to reach the presidential palace but were turned back by police.

The state news agency said protesters failed to reach the defense ministry and a Republican Guard facility. Fighting also erupted in Egypt’s second city Alexandria and two Nile Delta cities. The Brotherhood won every election after a popular uprising ousted autocrat Hosni Mubarak in 2011, but became deeply unpopular under Morsi’s rule.

Morsi was accused of trying to give himself sweeping powers and entrenching the Brotherhood - allegations he denies. Egypt has

Al-Rashidi under fire as MPs prepare for grilling

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been gripped by political and economic turmoil since army chief General Abdel Fattah AlSisi overthrew Morsi, the country’s first freely elected president, on July 3 after mass protests against his rule.

Yesterday’s violence came a day after European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton held talks in Cairo with top government officials, Sisi, and two Brotherhood politicians and urged both sides to pursue reconciliation.

There was no sign either side was prepared to heed her call. Hundreds of people were killed in mid-August when the security forces broke up Brotherhood sit-ins in Cairo. Many of the Brotherhood’s top leaders have been arrested since. “They (the government) want a country without religion,” said protester Rasha AlMalky. Sisi has promised that a political road map will lead to elections in the Arab world’s most populous nation. The Brotherhood, which says the military staged a coup, has refused to

take part in the political transition. Yesterday’s clashes in Cairo broke out as Morsi supporters tried to enter the centre of Tahrir Square, the rallying point for hundreds of thousands of protesters during the popular uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

The protesters chanted slogans calling for the removal of Sisi and waved Egyptian flags.

State news agency MENA said the army fired warning shots and tear gas to prevent Brotherhood supporters from crossing a bridge leading into Tahrir Square. Protesters wrote graffiti on the wall of a building near Tahrir reading “Egypt is Islamic.” Others chanted “You coward Sisi” as tear gas billowed in the air.

Political tensions have decimated investment and tourism, a pillar of the economy.

Attacks by militant groups based in the Sinai Peninsula have risen sharply since Morsi’s ouster, with almost daily operations against soldiers and police. —Reuters

Protests, resignations over new Indian state

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LOCAL

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2013

Some of the books written by Nazih. — Photos by Joseph Shagra

Author urges parents to read for their kids Eating junk food can damage family ties

By Abdellatif Sharaa KUWAIT: “I have a tender spot for children in my heart” said Nazih Girgis who authored six books on various children interests and habits, the latest of which was on eating and promoting healthy foods named the “Dolphin Park.”

Girgis said in order to get into the child’s brain, you must deliver information directly, and then it should be included in something attractive such as colors, music, animals, birds and things like that. It is hard to just give the child a text.” He said children have tremendous curiosity, so information must be delivered in a way children feel attractived to.

Girgis did not agree with those who claim that writing for children is difficult, because writing for children depends on one thing... Love of the child... he said “when you love the child, you will understand him.” He added, we adults must accept the fact that we are learning from our children, and they teach us in an indirect way.

He said that he learnt many things from his children while they were at an early age... and gave an example that one day he was taking his son Alexie back home from school, when he suddenly said “Dad, you are driving too fast”... so I removed my foot from the accelerator... when he said the speed limit on this street is 25 miles/hr, and you are driving at 40 miles/hr, I apologized to Alexie and never did it again.

He said that he was reading for his children since they were six months old and they were competing with each other on who will read first. He said from that moment they started loving to read and this continued with them into graduate school and both got full scholarships for their PhDs all because of reading.

He said that he urges parents to “please read for your children at a very early age. I enlarged a book to be at the height of a kindergarten child, so when the book is opened the child can walk into it, and this creates harmony between the book and the child, and this makes him love it.

He said as for the Dolphin Park book, he was

inspired by Michelle Obama when she started the project “let’s move”, and I followed the project on the news and was intrigued and thought “why do not I write a story for children that deals with obesity, junk food... etc, then a year later I wrote the story... children love dolphins, dolphin love people and the dolphin is the smartest animal or earth. I sent several copies to Mrs Obama as gift for her project, and she sent me a thank you with the president’s signature on it, and the book is being used in the “let’s move project.” I decided to translate the book into Arabic and I brought it to the Arab world, so our children can benefit from it. He said I will keep urging children to avoid junk food not only for health reasons, but the same can damage family ties, because family members used to sit around the table together to lunch or dinner and discuss things over the table, but now, a family of three children, you will find one ordering pizza, the second hamburger and the third

Nazih Girgis with the Dolphin Park book.

fried chicken and each one of them eat in his/her room, so the family become apart.

He said there was an interesting segment on CNN about in Dubai they were giving every person who loses a kilo of his weight one gram of gold, so if you lose 10 kilos, you will get 10 grams of gold. He said that this prompted me to make some contacts and came to Dubai and met several officials concerned with the project, and receive good reactions for the book. He said that he wrote the scenario of a play on the subject. He said that he met with composer Harriet Bushman here in Kuwait, who said that she must do something with the book and made appointments with people involved with the obesity project.

Nazih Girgis said he started writing for children when he translated the world classic Peter and the Wolf by composer Sergei Prokofiev. He wrote it in 1936 with the purpose of helping children get decent education. He said “I took

the story to Egypt where 800 workshops were arranged across the country.

He said, back to Dolphin Park, people liked the text and also the illustrations, and the fact that dolphins are considered the closest to children hearts add flavor to the story.

About the workshops, he said they received positive response in all areas including the poorest of Egypt’s schools... He said the start is always with the question, who likes animals... all raise their hands, who likes stories... all raise their hands... who likes music? All raise their hands... so then I say I will tell you a story today that has people and animals... and while telling the story I hand pictures on the walls, poster size... and I go with them through the pictures and illustrations, then we listen to the story with the music... finally the children are made to play the roles of characters in the story... I took masks with me wolf, a lion, a cat, a duck... and so on. All that was done in cooperation with prestigious NGOs, and the activity received a wide acclaim in the media. He said he went to Jordan, Syria, South Africa and throughout Egypt.

A native Egyptian Nazih Girgis wrote six books for children on how to safeguard their health and their surroundings. The “Dolphin Park” book goes into the junk food eating habits by children.

The book speaks about three dolphins named “beauty, witty and pretty” who were performing in a park, then beauty got hit with health problems after eating food given by children which was unfortunately junk. Getting tired of it pretty went back to being health conscious and eating healthy food, and made a full recovery and regained her ability to perform better tricks in the pool.

He said “the story line promotes proper eating habits to prevent childhood obesity by eating fruits and vegetables instead of fatty junk food.” Girgis is the founder and chairman of US Mid East and Fine Arts Council, which helps Middle Eastern children become familiar with the fine arts.

LOCAL SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2013

ANKARA: Kuwait House Speaker Marzouq Al-ghanim with Turkish President Abdallah Gul and other officials. — KUNA

MPs prepare Al-Rashidi grilling over ‘social care corruption’ PM urged to introduce ‘significant change’ in his Cabinet KUWAIT: Two lawmakers announced plans to file a grilling motion against Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Thekra Al-Rashidi over a number of topics topped by “spread of corruption at social care homes”.

Meanwhile, MP Dr Yousuf Al-Zalzalah also called for an ‘extended Cabinet reshuffle’ before the parliament resumes sessions on October 29th “because a return of the Cabinet in its current formation makes it prone for an unprecedented wave of interpellations”.

Dr Al-Zalzalah made his remarks during a seminar organized for female guests Wednesday night, in which he announced that a ‘large number’ of MPs told him during recent meetings that they plan to file grilling motions against ministers for their ‘extreme failure’ in running their respecting ministries. He further urged Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah to introduce ‘significant change’ in his Cabinet, saying that his team needs “six ministers selected from the parliament”.

In his strong attack against Al-Rashidi, Dr Al-Zalzalah argued that the Social Affairs minister is ‘incapable’ when it comes to assuming her duties which according to him “has led to the spread of corruption at her important ministry”. He further explained in his statements that were published yesterday by Al-Rai that he decided to file a grilling against her “because she is uncooperative and turns a deaf ear to MPs’ advices and comments on her performance”, in addition to problems found in social care houses that include residents’ mistreatment and escape.

Meanwhile, MP Hamdan Al-Azmy said in a statement published

by Al-Rai as well that a grilling motion against minister Thekra AlRashidi has become ‘imminent’, citing reasons that include “dissolving the Subahiya Co-op Society’s board illegally” and “the increasing number of incidents in which girls escape from social care homes”.

The lawmakers refer specifically to reports which indicated that two girls traveled outside the country with male friends after they managed to sneak out of social care homes on two separate occasions last week. The alleged incidents happened around a month after a girl died in an accident that happened when she was driving her car after reportedly escaping from a social care home.

In an update to those stories, Al-Qabas reported yesterday quoting a ‘reliable source’ that one of the girls reported missing was denied access at her social care home Thursday after she sought to

return. The same daily also reported that officials at a social care home reported two teenage boys missing after they escaped when they were being dropped off from school on Wednesday.

In other news, two MPs made statements to Al-Watan daily in which they asked Minister of Commerce and Industry Anas Al-Saleh to take necessary measures in order to curb “crazy prices increase” in local markets ahead of the Eid Al-Adha holiday which falls in less than two weeks. MP Talal Al-Jalaal urged the ministry to take large penalties against merchants responsible for increased prices by activating the competition, antimonopoly and consumer protection laws. Meanwhile, MP Abdullah Al-Adwani demanded that the minister acts against what he called ‘seasonal prices increase’ which seemingly take place around special occasions every year. — Al-Rai, Al-Qabas & Al-Watan

Al-Hajraf congratulates teachers on World Teachers’ Day KUWAIT: Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education Dr Nayef Falah Al-Hajraf congratulated yesterday teachers in Kuwait on the occasion of World Teachers’ Day, which is held annually on October fifth.

“The distinguished honor given annually by His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber AlSabah is an indicator of the teacher’s high status, “ said AlHajraf, wishing all teachers more success and prosperity in the performance of their jobs.

Teachers help in creating a loyal and educated generation that serves Kuwait by contributing to its progress and advancement, he said, stressing that the country, represented by the Ministry of Education, was keen on providing support to all teachers. — KUNA

Govt coordination on railway, metro routes KUWAIT: Coordination is in place between thirteen different state departments in order to outline the routes for the railroad and metro subway projects; two mega projects included in Kuwait’s development plan and aim to improve the country’s public transportation services.

This confirmation was given by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Sheikh Salem Al-Abdul-Aziz Al-Sabah in response to inquisitions made on that regard by MP Adel AlKhurafi. “These departments include the Ministry of Public Works, the Kuwait Oil Company, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Electricity and Water, the Kuwait Municipality, the Public Authority of Housing Welfare, the Customs General Department, and the Ministry of Planning and Development”, Minister Al-Sabah was quoted by Al-Jarida daily yesterday.

The Finance Minister also indicated that a joint team between the Kuwait Municipality and Municipal Council is working on addressing any obstacles that could stand before the two projects. He added on that regard that while his ministry did not receive any reservations regarding the metro project’s route, coordination was launched to address routes for the railway projects which go through allocated areas including farms in Al-Wafra.

The two projects are being carried out by the Ministry of Communications with 2020 set as the tentative date for the start of operating. MP Al-Khurafi also asked about the latest updates regarding the Khairan Power Plant project, to which the minister responded by indicating that an alliance led by BNP Paribas was awarded a tender to serve as consultant for the mega project.

LOCAL

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2013

Cadet’s father urges MOI to investigate son’s torture KUWAIT: The father of a new cadet, who recently enlisted to the warrant officers institute at the Saad AlAbdullah Academy, accused his son’s trainers of torturing him and breaking his leg during training.

The man urged the interior minister and lawmakers to investigate the matter. The father said that his 20 year old son had joined the institute on September 24.

On his third day, the new cadet was warned by a colleague that the training officer had been asked to treat him harshly. “Not believing his colleague and deciding to persevere with the hard training, my son was extremely surprised when that particular officer ordered him to undertake open field training under the heat of burning sun at 1 pm”, said the father noting that officers took turns brutally mistreating his son till 9 pm when he was allowed to go to bed.

The father said that the same was done the following day when the officer stayed inside a vehicle watching his son train - once again, in the burning sun. “He kicked my sons leg until he had broken it”, said the father claiming that his son was deprived of food, prayer and rest despite his injury and also that the doctor did not even bother x-raying the leg.

The man added that his son’s appeals to be seen by a doctor or to be able to make a phone call were denied but he, somehow, managed to call. “I went to the institute and took my son to hospital to treat his broken leg”, said the father who wondered if the institute was meant to train and qualify men to become security personnel or to simply turn them into monsters. — Al-Rai

KUWAIT: Debris of a car parking shed that was demolished by the municipality in Hawally, recently. — Photo by Sunil Cherian

Marina Mall suspect remanded in custody ‘Fire Lips’ triple caught KUWAIT: A stateless resident accused of killing a Kuwaiti man inside the Marina Mall a little more than a week ago was remanded in custody Thursday and that one day after the Public Prosecuted released two other suspects in the case. The 17-year-old will stay in jail until October 10 when he will stand before the judge again. The teenager denied murder intent but confirmed that he stabbed the victim. The second suspect denied taking part in the crime but admitted that the murder weapon belonged to him, whereas the third suspect said he was not present at the crime scene at the time.

AMMAN: Red Cresent society distributed clothes to Syrian refugees in Jordan. — KUNA

Citizen beaten

by Jordanian

By Hanan Al Saadoun KUWAIT: A citizen in his 20s told Zahra police that a well built Jordanian beat him near a mall. The Kuwaiti gave police a medical report stating injuries he sustained. He said the fight was over a parking space. Police are investigating.

Female harassed in cafe A citizen in her thirties told Sharq police that she was harassed and beaten in a cafe by several men who also beat a young man who attempted to defend her when they touched sensitive parts of her body. Investigations are underway.

‘Fire Lips’ triple caught Police detectives arrested three people featured in video footage that went viral on social networks and in which they were engaged in inappropriate activities. The video dubbed ‘Fire Lips’ shows a couple kissing inside a sports-utility-vehicle (SUV) with a girl sitting on the backseat. It was featured by local dailies on Thursday after it became a topic of public attention, and criminal investigators were able to identify the three and put them under arrest within 24 hours. The three, a Kuwaiti man, Kuwaiti woman and Bedoon (stateless) woman, admitted that they have taken the video in Kuwait and sent it to their private group, but failed to explain how the footage were leaked. The three remain in custody pending procedures to face charges of public indecency.

Policemen summoned over scandalous photos Senior Interior Ministry officials made orders to summon three police officers for questioning in a case in which they are accused taking offensive cell phone pictures with suspects caught during a recent crackdown.

The officers, including a First Lieutenant, successfully carried out an operation to raid a liquor brewing factory, but then took a picture with two suspects. The photo was apparently uploaded on social networks by accident, and it shows one officer doing an obscene hand

gesture, another flashing the victory sign and the third standing in the background smiling, whereas the two suspects were apparently made to perform the Nazi salute. The three were reportedly identified and are to be summoned before facing appropriate disciplinary measures.

Cable thieves held in Jahra A gang of five was arrested in the Erhayyah desert in Jahra where they were caught with possession of high voltage electricity cables that they have likely stolen from local transformers. The five Iranian men were busted at the site of a fire reported by the Kuwaiti Army, and were caught setting large cables ablaze which is a technique usually used by cable thieves to extract the copper inside and sell it as scrap. Police also found five trucks at the scene which were likely used to load the large number of cables found. Three of the suspects were arrested immediately while the other two were later caught after they had first managed to escape. They were taken to the proper authorities for further action.

Landmine for sale Bomb squads were called to a market in Al-Rai where a man was reportedly offering a landmine for sale. The incident took place recently when police and explosives technicians headed to the scene after a Kuwaiti man reported finding an Asian man selling the landmine.

Shoppers were evacuated until bomb squads handled the landmine which investigations revealed is remnant from the 1990/91 Iraqi Invasion era.

Student injured A student was hospitalized recently after falling from a high place inside a Sharq middle school. The 13year-old Kuwaiti girl was taken to the Amiri Hospital in an ambulance and was diagnosed with a neck injury and multiple contusions. A case was filed for investigations. —Al-Rai, Al-Anbaa, Al-Watan

LOCAL

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2013

Tribal fundraisers unlicensed: Ministry KUWAIT: Fundraisers organized by two tribes in Al-Riqqa last Tuesday and in which donations were collected to support the Syrian people were never licensed by the relevant state authorities, a local daily reported yesterday quoting

Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor insiders.

“The second forum for the Ajman and Yam tribes was organized illegally as the Charity Organizations and Foundations Department [in the MSAL] did not receive any

letter to request collecting donations prior to the event”, said the sources who spoke to Al-Jarida on the condition of anonymity.

Furthermore, the sources described a picture published Thursday and shows a man donating cash during the event as “a violation to local regulations which restrict donations to being only made online or through the KNet service”.

Meanwhile, the sources revealed that the Charity Organizations Department considers taking action with the Interior Ministry against the forum’s organizers “especially since the law indicates that licenses to organize fundraisers can only be issued to certified charity organizations in Kuwait”.

The source further explained that donations to the Syrian people can only be carried out through the Ministry of Social Affairs and under supervision of the International Islamic Charity Organization “who has exclusive authority to transfer donations to Syrian refugees”. In other news, Al-Qabas quoted the Charity Organizations Department Manager Ahmad Al-Sane’a who announced that 20 bank accounts that belong to charity foundations in Kuwait were suspended for failing to follow proper licensing procedures in collecting donations. — Al-Jarida & Al-Qabas

Ahmadi Governor, Head of Kuwait delegation to Cities and Local Governments Sheikh Dr Ibrahim Al-Suaij during his meeting with Palestinian local governmentís minister Saad Al-Kouni. — KUNA

NBK offers female customers discount on checkups against breast cancer KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) offers all its female customers a special discount on Bilateral Mammogram for early detection of breast cancer, in collaboration with Royale Hayat Hospital. This offer is part of NBK’s awareness campaign “Be Aware” and is valid until 31st of December 2013.

“This breast cancer initiative aims at educating our customers on the importance on early detection and encouraging them to get routine checkups”, said Manal Al Mattar, Public Relations Executive Manager at NBK. Al Matar added “All NBK’s female customers can enjoy a special discount on Bilateral Mammogram for early detection of breast cancer at Royale Hayat Hospital. This initiative reflects NBK’s commitment toward corporate social responsibility.” From his part, Dr. Bader Al Zaid Al Traiji, Deputy CEO at the Royale Hayat Hospital stated, “We are proud to be part of NBK’s, ‘Be Aware’ initiative and believe that awareness is the key in our fight against breast cancer. The Royale Hayat Hospital has built a reputation serving women’s healthcare needs from the days of its inception. We know that prevention, early-detection, and patient-education are the best tools in fighting this disease that affects millions of women across the globe.”

NBK launched the “Be Aware” campaign as part of its continuous efforts to increase social awareness on breast cancer and promote ways of prevention.

This campaign will be carried out through NBK’s official social media channels such as Facebook NBK - Official Page, Twitter @NBKPage and Instagram @NBKPage including daily tips and facts about the cause.

This awareness campaign reflects NBK’s commitment toward corporate social responsibility alongside many other activities and events that had been carried out to show its support the society and all its members.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2013

Turkey will ‘pay a heavy price’ for backing rebels

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Chemical attack reopens old wounds among Kurds

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Youths on rampage, burn Kenyan church

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GOLAN HEIGHTS: Israeli Merkava tanks roll down during a military exercise near the northern border with Syria in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights. — AFP

Israel eyes Security Council seat Most Israelis support Iran strike NEW YORK: Israel said yesterday it plans to run for a rotating seat on the UN Security Council for the time ever for 2019-2020, although UN diplomats said it will not be easy for the Jewish state to win. “We’re going all out to win,” Israel’s UN Ambassador Ron Prosor said. “It’s about time.”

Winning a Security Council seat requires a twothirds majority in the 193-nation General Assembly. Candidates are proposed by the five regional groups but election to the council is done by the full assembly.

Prosor said Israel will be vying against Germany and Belgium for two seats allotted to the “Western European and Others Group.”

Technically Israel should be a member of the Asia-Pacific Group along with the other states in the Middle East. But predominantly Muslim states blocked its admission to that group. In 2000 Israel was admitted to the Western European and Others Group, which includes the United States, on a temporary basis. In 2004 its membership in that group was permanently renewed. Israel has occasionally held posts as

vice president of the UN General Assembly but it has never been a member of the Security Council, the most powerful and prestigious body at the United Nations with the authority to impose sanctions or authorize the use of military force to enforce its decisions. Securing a council seat will not be easy, UN diplomats say. Most members of the 120 non-aligned bloc of developing nations are either cool or openly hostile towards Israel. General Assembly votes on issues related to Israel and the Palestinians are usually unfavorable for the Israelis.

In November 2012, a General Assembly vote on a Palestinian bid to gain implicit recognition of statehood by upgrading its UN observer status to that of “non-member state” - something the Israelis strongly opposed - highlighted how isolated Israel can be at the United Nations. There were 138 votes in favor of the Palestinian request, 41 abstentions and only nine against.

There are 10 rotating Security Council members who serve for two years at a time. Each year five rotating members are replaced. The five perma-

nent veto-wielding members are the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China.

In another development, a majority of Israelis would support unilateral military action against Iran, according to a poll published yesterday after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his government was ready to act alone. Some 65.6 percent of 500 Jewish Israelis surveyed by the pro-government Israel HaYom newspaper said they would support military strikes to halt Iran’s nuclear program, and 84 percent believed the Islamic republic had no intention of reining in its alleged drive to build a bomb. Israel and many Western countries accuse Tehran of trying to develop a nuclear warhead, a charge Iran denies.

Netanyahu in a speech to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday said Israel was ready to act alone to stop Iran making a bomb, in a warning against rushing into deals with Tehran’s new leaders. “Israel will not allow Iran to get nuclear weapons. If Israel is forced to stand alone, Israel will stand alone,” Netanyahu told a UN summit, in an attack on overtures made by Iran’s

President Hassan Rouhani. Israel has repeatedly advocated military force and has threatened unilateral strikes against the Islamic republic.

A nuclear-armed Iran would be a bigger threat than North Korea, Netanyahu added, in an alarmist speech designed to counter Rouhani’s recent diplomatic offensive, which has included a direct phone call with US President Barack Obama. “As dangerous as a nuclear-armed North Korea is, it pales in comparison to the danger of a nuclear-armed Iran,” he said. “A nuclear-armed Iran in the Middle East wouldn’t be another North Korea-it would be another 50 North Koreas.”

North Korea, which like Iran faces wide-ranging UN sanctions over its nuclear program, is believed to have several nuclear bombs and to have shared technology with Iran. Some 51.4 percent of respondents in HaYom survey said Netanyahu had given a “good speech” at the UN, with only 10.9 percent disagreeing. HaYom conducted the opinion poll on Wednesday. The margin of error was 4.4 percent.

LOCAL

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2013

Erdogan targeting presidential seat ANKARA: Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan would run for president next year if his party asked him to, he said, but dismissed suggestions of a rift with incumbent Abdullah Gul. Erdogan, who has dominated Turkish politics for a decade, cannot run again as prime minister in a general election in 2015, according to the rules of his AK Party.

He has long been expected to stand for a new executive presidency, although his plans to establish such an enhanced role have stalled.

“I have not made such a decision for sure yet. If I had made such a decision for sure, I would announce it,” Erdogan said in an interview with Turkish broadcaster A Haber late on Thursday. “We have a system and this system is based on consultation. The most important

piece of this consultation at this moment is my party. Whatever duty my party burdens me with, whatever it wishes of me, I will endeavor to do it.”

With less than a year to Turkey’s first popular presidential election, speculation has been mounting over what roles Erdogan and Gul, who occupies what is at present a largely ceremonial post, will play.

Gul, who has emerged as a more popular candidate in opinion polls, is allowed to run for a second term although he has not publicly expressed any intention to do so. The two were founding members of the AK Party in 2001 but their relations have appeared at times strained over the last year, not least over a police crackdown on antigovernment demonstrations this sum-

mer. Erdogan dismissed suggestions that the two could come head to head in a showdown for the presidency.

“I don’t believe there will be a decision that will lead to us parting ways.

What I mean is we will do the necessary consultation and negotiation amongst ourselves if needed,” Erdogan said.

Erdogan’s brash and stern nature is a contrast to Gul’s more moderate and soft-spoken approach, a distinction noticeable in their rhetoric on Syria and Egypt as well as during weeks of protests over the summer. In a conciliatory speech at the opening of parliament this week, Gul lauded peaceful protest as a sign of Turkey’s democratic maturity and warned against political polarization, saying it risked damaging the harmony of the nation.

Turkey will ‘pay a heavy price’ for backing rebels Growing Qaeda influence near Turkish border ISTANBUL: Syrian President Bashar AlAssad has told Turkey it will pay a heavy price for backing rebels fighting to oust him, accusing it of harboring “terrorists” along its border who would soon turn against their hosts. In an interview with Turkey’s Halk TV due to be broadcast later yesterday, Assad called Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan “bigoted” and said Ankara was allowing terrorists to cross into Syria to attack the army and Syrian civilians.

“It is not possible to put terrorism in your pocket and use it as a card because it is like a scorpion which won’t hesitate to sting you at the first opportunity,” Assad said, according to a transcript from Halk TV, which is close to Turkey’s opposition. “In the near future, these terrorists will have an impact on Turkey and Turkey will pay a heavy price for it.”

Turkey, which shares a 900-km border with Syria and has NATO’s second largest deployable armed forces, is one of Assad’s fiercest critics and a staunch supporter of the opposition, although it denies arming the rebels. It shelters about a quarter of the 2 million people who have fled Syria and has often seen the conflict spill across its frontier, responding in kind when mortars and shells fired from Syria have hit its soil. It has also allowed rebel fighters to cross in and out of Syria but has grown alarmed, along with Western allies opposed to Assad, by divisions among their ranks and the deepening influence of radical Islamists in Syria.

Last month, the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant seized Azaz, about 5 km from the border with Turkey, and has repeatedly clashed with the local Northern Storm brigade since then. “Right now, Syria is headed for a sectarian war,” Erdogan said in an interview on Turkish television late on Thursday. “This is the danger we are facing.” Turkey has bolstered its defenses and sent additional troops to the border with Syria in recent weeks and its parliament voted on Thursday to extend by a year a mandate authorizing a military

ANKARA: Children of Syrian refugees, who flock by dozens in Turkey each day, fleeing the civil war in their country, sit yesterday at a makeshift camp in Ankara, where they arrived three months ago. —AFP deployment to Syria if needed.

UNDECIDED ON ELECTIONS Assad accused Erdogan, whose AK Party has its roots in conservative Islamist politics, of a sectarian agenda.

“Before the crisis, Erdogan had never mentioned reforms or democracy, he was never interested in these issues...

Erdogan only wanted the Muslim Brotherhood to return to Syria, that was his main and core aim,” he said.

Erdogan’s government strongly denies any such agenda. His aides point to his cultivation of good relations with Assad for years before the conflict and say Turkey does not see Syria’s Sunni Muslims and its Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiism to which Assad belongs, as fixed blocs. Assad said he had not yet decided whether to run in presidential elections next year because the situation on the ground was changing rapidly, adding that he would only put himself forward if Syrians wanted him to.

The picture will become clearer in the next 4-5 months, Assad said.

The United Nations estimates that more than 100,000 people have died since the uprising against Assad began in March 2011 and has been notified of at least 14 chemical attacks. The UN Security Council adopted a resolution last week that demands the eradication of Syria’s chemical weapons and endorses a plan for a political transition in Syria agreed on at an international conference in Geneva last year.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said after the vote that major powers hoped to hold a second peace conference on Syria in mid-November in Geneva. In his interview, Assad again denied his forces had used chemical weapons and blamed such attacks on the rebels. Asked whether he expected the Geneva process to accelerate if Syria handed over its chemical weapons, Assad said he saw no link. “Practically these issues are not related. Geneva II is about Syria’s own domestic political process and cutting neighboring countries’ weapons and financial support to terrorists,” he said. — Reuters

In contrast, Erdogan has repeatedly dismissed the protesters who took to the streets around the country in June the biggest show of public defiance of his 10-year rule - as “riff-raff”.

Turkish media have been speculating over Gul’s political ambitions, with some suggesting he could return as prime minister, a role he held briefly in 2002. In his final speech to the opening of parliament of his current term, Gul hinted that his political life was not over. “All my life I have considered serving the people like I have served God and I have never left the service of our supreme nation,” Gul said.

“From now on, with this understanding and consciousness, I will continue to be at the service of our nation.” — Reuters

Embassy attacks threaten Libya with new isolation TRIPOLI: An assault on the Russian embassy in Tripoli that sparked the evacuation of its staff highlights a continued inability to protect diplomats that threatens Libya with renewed isolation, analysts say. Wednesday evening’s attack on the Russian compound triggered an exchange of fire in which two of the assailants were killed.

It came more than a year after ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed in an assault on the US consulate in Libya’s second city Benghazi. Following the September 11, 2012 attack, which was blamed on Al-Qaeda sympathizers, the Libyan authorities promised urgent action to improve security but they have proved unable to guarantee protection for foreign diplomatic missions even in the capital. Benghazi was the cradle of the 2011 revolt that overthrew veteran dictator Muammar Gaddafi, but ever since his ouster the eastern city has been prey to a array of former rebel militias that the central government has been unable to bring to heel. “The number of countries that have retained diplomatic missions in the city is in single figures,” the consul in Benghazi of one African government said.

“Despite the prevailing lack of security, we receive no protection” from the Libyan authorities, he said. “We have a few security agents but they are powerless in the event of an attack. So we try to keep the lowest profile possible and regularly exchange risk assessments with our fellow diplomats on the ground.” In Tripoli, dozens of protesters attempted to storm the Russian embassy compound on Wednesday evening, setting a vehicle alight and causing some damage to the mission’s entrance gate. The assault followed a car bomb attack on the French embassy in April which wounded two guards.

Moscow said it had decided to pull out all its embassy staff and their families after the Libyan authorities were unable to provide guarantees for their security. Foreign Minister Mohammed Abdelaziz denied that Libya had urged Russia to pull out its diplomats. He said he had merely urged embassy staff to retreat to the relative safety of one of the capital’s two heavily guarded luxury hotels for fear of a second attack on the compound. “We understand the concerns expressed by foreign diplomatic missions. We are doing our best to improve security for them,” Abdelaziz said.

“But as everybody knows, we are going through a difficult transition.” In the absence of stronger guarantees from the Libyan authorities, a growing number of foreign governments have taken matters into their own hands by pulling out all but essential embassy staff and relocating those who remain to premises that are easier to secure. Some have moved to one or other of the two heavily guarded hotels, while others have gone to fortified expatriate compounds.

After the security recriminations that followed the Benghazi attack, Washington has turned its embassy into a fortress. But the upshot has been that foreign diplomats leave their compounds less and less, with an inevitable impact on their ability to carry out their functions. —AFP

INTERNATIONAL

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2013

After chemical horror, besieged Syrian suburb remains defiant Streets strewn with bodies on night of attack ZAMALKA: Sixteen-year-old Mohammad Al Zeibaa lost his entire family in the sarin gas attack east of Damascus six weeks ago, surviving the world’s deadliest chemical weapons strike in a quarter century only because he was out working a hospital night shift. Mohammad’s father, who rushed to the scene to help survivors, died from the effects of the sarin, as did his mother and five brothers and sisters who stayed at home.

The teenager now lives with a surviving cousin amid the ruined streets and half-collapsed buildings that scar the Zamalka neighborhood and other districts of the Ghouta region on the edge of the capital. Perhaps numbed by more than two years of bloodshed, he sheds no tears over the Aug. 21 sarin attack which killed hundreds of people and brought the United States and France to the verge of air strikes against President Bashar Al-Assad’s forces.

“We’ve been seeing people martyred every day why not my family?” he said. Young men surrounding him nodded in agreement.

Already it is hard to tell exactly where the chemical rockets fell in the rebel-held Ghouta, a mix of suburban sprawl and farmland, because damage from conventional bombardment has reduced the area to a grey monochrome of rubble and wreckage. Street after street is littered with smashed concrete and bent metal. One building, destroyed before the chemical attack, is sliced in half from top to bottom. On one floor, a kitchen can be seen complete with cabinets and washing machine. On another, the headboard of a double bed and a bedroom commode.

At the site where residents say a sarin-loaded rocket fell, only mounds of rubble stand amid scorched earth, remnants of houses and patches of garden ringed by narrow streets that were so packed with bodies on the night of the attack that they said it was impossible not to step or drive over the dead. The rebels and their Western backers blame Assad’s forces for the attack, which they say killed 1,400 people. Authorities say rebels carried it out to provoke Western intervention in a civil war which has already killed more than 100,000 people.

COMMUNITY BESIEGED Like most people in Ghouta, Mohammad vows to remain steadfast until Assad’s overthrow - a still distant goal after military gains by the president’s forces. He has become an integral part of a community struggling to administer itself despite clashes with government forces and a 13-month government siege that leaves everyone hungry and is starting to starve the youngest and most vulnerable.

Every day, Mohammad shows up to work at the field hospital near his home. Thin and childlike for his age, he is too small to bear arms but he resembles the men with his stoic appearance, broken occasionally by a quick smile. Like everyone else he eats many meals without bread, a staple now in short supply, and finishes perishable food quickly because it cannot be refrigerated. The rebel area has been off the electricity grid for a year.

At night he spends his time in the dim half light of rechargeable torches and the droning of electricity generators, along with their noxious fumes. To get around, Mohammad uses a bicycle due to fuel shortages and lack of public transport. At home his landline telephone stopped working long ago and he has no use for a cell

phone because it is hard to get a signal. If he needs to communicate, he uses a walkie-talkie to contact a dispatcher and ask him to relay messages. Most of the rebel fighters are further west, on the front line near the Damascus ring-road which separates the rebellious eastern suburbs from the centre of the capital.

But during a short drive through the area, rebels could be seen two or three to a motor bike, their guns slung over their shoulders.

Others walk around, congregating around rebel checkpoints. Almost every family has a gun, sometimes laid openly on a table or hanging by the door. Such is life in the rebel territory linked to central Damascus only via two government checkpoints. There, soldiers confiscate food,

however, go to work. The most popular choice for boys and girls as young as 14 is medical work, where volunteers are needed and parents feel their children are as safe as they can be in a war zone. Teenage nursing assistants receive on-thejob training in field hospitals and quickly find themselves dispensing medicine and helping to treat battlefield casualties.

When the sarin was unleashed on the East Ghouta, dozens of teenage nurses administered injections of atropine - a sarin antidote - to survivors. And many did so at their own peril.

Sixteen-year-old Faris, whose home is a short bike ride away from where the chemical rockets fell, woke early the following morning unaware of the calamity that had occurred in the night. He

ALEPPO: An opposition fighter uses binoculars to observe the movement of regime forces as he holds a position in the Sheikh Al-Said neighborhood of Syria’s northern city of Aleppo. The struggle for Syria’s second city Aleppo has been locked in stalemate for months, fuelling the frustration of rebels who see no way out but to doggedly battle on. — AFP baby milk and medicine and at times refuse entry even to people who have queued for hours.

Residents, especially the men, cannot leave their district and venture into government controlled Damascus without risking indefinite detention when they try to pass the checkpoint.

For food they rely on locally raised poultry and meat, as well as olives, citrus, eggplant and green peppers. But in May, government bombardment set ablaze this year’s wheat crop. The handful of doctors complain that dysentery and a lack of antibiotics endanger lives. They say the siege is starting to cause malnutrition among pregnant mothers and children, and that some babies have already died of starvation.

CHILD NURSES The one thing that East Ghouta has in abundance is men willing to fight. But supported by financing from underground charities and fundraising by families abroad, it has also set up a network of pro-rebel organizations tackling the community’s medical needs, communications, humanitarian relief, education and sanitation, and ensuring something that approximates to the rule of law.

With most schools either bombed out or unsafe, residents have organized “revolutionary education” centres for small children. Teenagers,

learned about it at 7 am, on his way to the bicycle shop where he works before his shift at the field hospital.

He rushed to the hospital and treated dozens of people. “I was shocked. I’m still remembering things that I didn’t at that time,” he said, sitting up in his bed at the field hospital, his head loosely bandaged and his complexion pale after he too was wounded in the subsequent bombardment. “For example, today they were telling me that one of my neighbors, Abu Leila, had died in the chemical attack. And after they told me, I remembered that I had seen his body that morning when I arrived at the field hospital,” he said.

Shortly after he arrived and helped remove dozens of bodies and attend to dozens more survivors, many of them foaming at the mouth and struggling to breathe, Faris developed minor sarin gas symptoms including nausea and eye irritation. No one wore proper gas masks, which are unavailable in Ghouta. Some first responders used surgical face masks or wet towels at the site in a vain effort to protect themselves.

A NIGHT LIKE ARMAGEDDON Survivors still suffer from insomnia, severe headaches and the mental fog that they say began after their exposure to sarin gas. Everyone around Zamalka speaks of a night of horror that they liken to Armageddon. Mohammad, who

was on duty at the hospital that night, said he heard an unusual-sounding rocket shortly before 2 am. It seemed to land without the blast of mortar or tank shells.

It was not long before the dispatcher on the walkie-talkie started saying there had been a chemical attack, and ordered volunteers and medics to the scene to help. Then came chaos.

As people started to move bodies and take survivors to the field hospital, another rocket carrying sarin hit the crowd, killing four medics and many volunteers. Locals say they have become accustomed to army shelling whenever they congregate, a practice they say is done on purpose in order to target the largest number of civilians.

No one was sure how many chemical rockets fell, but fierce shelling with conventional explosives continued all night, killing more volunteers and sarin survivors, especially those who fled to higher floors seeking fresh air, escaping the heavier gas which lingers at ground level.

Survivors describe the events as a blur, punctuated by moments of nightmarish lucidity. There was the graveyard that gave up its dead as relentless bombardment pounded its grounds.

There were dead animals - goats, sheep and cats, and a tree under which 300 birds lay on the ground, one survivor said.

There were living people mistaken for dead, thrown in among the bodies awaiting burial, until a movement of the head or the faint sound of their moaning saved them. People insist they took extra care that day to ensure that no body was lowered into the mass grave before a final confirmation of death by one of the few doctors there. They continued to bury their dead for 16 straight hours, then finding more bodies trapped inside homes for several more days during which fierce government bombardment continued.

Many of the dead were entire families. Some died in their sleep, or together in the living room.

One family of five died huddled in a bathroom, apparently seeking shelter from the gas. Most of the dead were identified by a relative, a friend or a neighbor. But many were newcomers, Syrians who had been displaced from elsewhere. “We found entire families dead in their homes, and no one in our community knew who they were,” said an army defector and media activist who used the nom de guerre Mohammad Salahedinne.

One family had scribbled the name of their town, Jarba, on the wall of their living room, and that was how local people figured out their place of origin. Mohammad recalls giving atropine injections to dozens of survivors brought into the field hospital that night including, unsuccessfully, his own father. Asked to name the fallen in his family, he began with the distant relatives first, and continued in a soft but matter-of-fact voice. “Sheikh Rashad Shams died, and his wife Baraa Nadaf. Shifa Shams. Shayma Shams.

Mawada Shams and a boy she was due to give birth to in a week.

Those were my maternal uncle’s family. “Then my paternal uncle’s family: Anas Al Zeibaa, Mahmoud and Ahmad Al Zeibaa, and Khaled and Mashhoor, my cousins. And my parents, Nasib Al Zeibaa and Moameneh Shams and, what’s his name, Samer al Zeibaa, 21, the eldest. “Then Aya, Fatimeh, and who else? Oh yes, Asma al Zeibaa, and the last one Abdullah Al Zeibaa.” Asked who was his favorite, he smiled and said it was fouryear-old Abdullah. — Reuters

INTERNATIONAL

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2013

Merkel and SPD start tricky coalition talks Right, left to seek compromise on taxes, wages BERLIN: German Chancellor Angela Merkel holds preliminary talks with the Social Democrats (SPD) yesterday to sound out the chances of forming a “grand coalition” government, marking the start of complicated horse-trading that could last two months or more. The SPD is considered the most likely coalition partner for Merkel’s conservatives but has warned it will not be rushed into a deal.

Merkel will also hold preliminary talks with the Greens next week, playing potential partners off against each other. At stake is whether the two mainstream parties can agree on tax measures, a minimum wage and infrastructure investment to rebalance Europe’s biggest economy, and form a government with broad enough public backing to tackle the euro-zone’s banking and debt problems.

The SPD will have to drive a hard bargain to make any deal palatable to its members, many of whom oppose another ‘grand coalition’ because the party slumped to its worst post-war result in 2009 after hooking up with Merkel in her first term. The talks, due to start at 1100 GMT, will examine whether policy compro-

mises are feasible. Party leaders will make statements afterwards, probably in the evening.

Their comments will give an early indication of how doable a grand coalition is.

While they are not expected to say anything substantial on policy, they could announce further rounds of exploratory talks. The two parties disagree on key areas such as taxation, wages and investment.

While the SPD campaigned for higher taxes on the rich, the conservatives ruled out increasing any taxes, but they could compromise by agreeing to crack down on tax evasion and closing loopholes for big corporations.

The social democrats are expected to make introducing a national minimum wage a condition for a coalition. Merkel prefers “wage floors” agreed by region or sector but she may have to accept a blanket minimum to get a deal, perhaps not as high as the 8.50 euros ($11.60) an hour the SPD wants. The two parties may also agree on ramping up public investment in transport, energy and communications networks - an SPD demand - and on curbing costly renewable energy subsidies.

THOROUGHNESS BEFORE SPEED SPD chairman Sigmar Gabriel said attention to detail was more important than speed. “But the parties should also not play games and willfully delay negotiations,” he told the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper. European partners are watching the political maneuvering in Berlin closely, concerned that delay could push back EU-wide decisions on financial crisisfighting measures such as an ambitious plan for a banking union.

German agreement is essential to create a pan-European mechanism to recapitalize or wind down troubled banks, with a joint financial backstop. Speaking in Stuttgart ahead of the talks, Merkel said the world was watching and she would hold “fair talks” to justify voters’ trust in her conservatives, who won the most seats in a Sept. 22 general election but fell just short of an absolute majority and therefore need a coalition partner.

Once yesterday’s preliminary discussions are completed, a body of 200 senior SPD officials must decide whether to give the green light for formal coalition negotiations. “It is still an open question whether

Youths on rampage, burn Kenyan church Gunmen kill Muslim cleric, followers accuse police MOMBASA: Young Muslims set fire to a church, burned tyres and clashed with police in Kenya’s main port city of Mombasa yesterday, after the killing of an Islamic cleric his followers blamed on security forces. Sheikh Ibrahim Omar’s death ignited religious tensions in the commercial and tourism hub in east Africa’s largest economy, two weeks after Islamist militants killed at least 67 people in a raid on Nairobi’s Westgate shopping mall.

The imam was shot dead in Mombasa on Thursday night, police said. He preached at a mosque that has in the past been linked to the Somali Al Shabaab Islamists who claimed responsibility for the shopping centre attack.

Omar was found dead in a car hit by more than a dozen bullets, television images showed.

Youths torched a Salvation Army church and temporarily blocked the main road into the city, a Reuters witness said. Kenyan police in riot gear fired gunshots and teargas to break up the crowd. The worst of the running battles with police took place in Mombasa’s downtrodden Saba Saba neighborhood, where traders shuttered their shops and residents fled for safety. “We are trying to deal with some youths who have started bringing trouble within town,” Robert Kitur, Mombasa county police chief, told Reuters. “They are few. We will contain them.”

STRIKINGLY SIMILAR ATTACK The imam was shot in Mombasa’s outskirts on the main road to the resort town of Malindi, a few hundred meters from where another firebrand cleric, Aboud Rogo, was shot dead in his vehicle in August 2012 in a strikingly similar attack. Both Kenya and

MOMBASA: The body of Muslim cleric Sheikh Ibrahim Ismail lies in the backseat of a car after he was killed in a drive-by shooting on the Mombasa-Malindi highway late on October 3, 2013. — AFP United States had accused Rogo of recruiting not how we operate,” he told reporters. The and fund-raising for Somalia’s Al Shabaab Sept 21 assault on the Westgate mall was the militants. Rogo’s death last year unleashed worst militant strike on Kenyan soil since Aldeadly riots in Mombasa’s run-down neigh- Qaeda bombed the US Embassy in Nairobi in borhoods where he commanded a loyal sup- 1998. The raid shocked Kenyans and the port base. Both imams were popular among world and has raised questions over intelliyouths in Mombasa and along Kenya’s Indian gence failures.

Ocean coastline where many Muslims feel “They (authorities) have panicked marginalized by the predominantly Christian because of their own laxity which killed government. “This is no doubt a police exe- Kenyans at Westgate. Now they are trying to cution given what has happened in Nairobi,” save face by sacrificing innocent Muslims,” said 37-year-old Abdul Hassan Omar in said Hatib Suleiman, 21, who prays at Omar’s Mombasa’s rundown Majengo district, where Masjid Mussa mosque. “We are not going to Omar and Rogo both preached. take this lightly.” Al-Amin Kimathi, chairman Kitur dismissed the accusation and said of the Muslim Human Rights Forum, said officers would stop any protests after Friday Omar had been a student of Rogo and had prayers getting out of control. “The police publicly espoused the hardline ideological have nothing to do with the shooting. That’s beliefs of his former mentor. — Reuters

or not it will come to formal coalition talks,” said Andrea Nahles, left-wing general secretary of the SPD, who has said it could take until December or January for a government to be formed. Political risk analyst Carsten Nickel at Teneo Intelligence said such talk was tactical posturing and he expected a deal sooner, noting that “a prolonged period of partisan bickering would not pay off with Germany’s stability-prone electorate”.

No party would want to risk exacerbating the euro-zone crisis, he said, adding that while Merkel’s cabinet would act as a caretaker, “where possible, however, the preference will be to postpone decisions until a new government is in place”. The aim of formal coalition talks would be to draft a policy blueprint as well as allocating top cabinet posts.

The SPD has said it will then have to poll its 472,000 grassroots members for their approval before entering an alliance with Merkel. That raises the pressure on her to compromise, but also poses a risk to SPD leaders, who may have to step down if members reject a coalition deal. — Reuters

Madagascar tourist island smoulders after lynchings NOSY BE: Tensions simmered yesterday on the once idyllic Madagascar resort island where a mob lynched two Europeans and a local man suspected of killing a boy for his organs. Piles of ash marked the spots on Nosy Be where a local man, a French national and a man with dual Italian and French nationality were burned by a furious mob. The three were suspected of killing an eight year old local boy and mutilating his corpse, sparking an orgy of violence that rocked this tropical Indian Ocean haven. With some vigilantes still on the hunt for a rumored fourth suspect, a team of top government ministers jetted in to the holiday spot to meet local leaders in a bid to calm tensions. French foreign ministry spokesman Philippe Lalliot confirmed Friday that “two of our citizens are dead”one of whom also had Italian nationality-and said officials were “in contact with the families”. “An inquiry has been opened with Malagasy authorities. According to our information, six people have been arrested,” Lalliot said.

Local residents insisted there was no risk to tourists. “We are targeting the culprits. It’s public justice-we just kill them, and if you refuse to kill them we kill you because you’re an accomplice,” said Jacob, a resident from the island’s capital Hell-Ville. “We’ve got nothing against foreigners. You can come visit and there won’t be a problem,” he said. Security forces said the two Europeans had been tortured into a confession Thursday, then burned on Ambatoloaka beach, a popular palm-fringed strand ringed by bars and hotels.

‘THE FOREIGNERS CONFESSED’ District head Malaza Ramanamahafahy said the Frenchman, named as Sebastien Judalet, had a 60-day tourist visa issued on September 15 and his passport indicated he was a frequent visitor to Madagascar. Ramanamahafahy said the Italian, whom he named as Roberto Gianfala, had an expired Madagascan visa.

An Italian foreign ministry spokesman said: “I can confirm the Italian nationality of the victim but not his identity, the corpse was burnt.” A pile of ash, wood, iron bars, a torso and a pair of charred legs were the only recognizable signs of the earlier orgy of violence. One resident said the crowd had made sure the Europeans were implicated before killing them.

“They spoke for a long time until the morning hours, and then the foreigners confessed they had killed the child. We have it on video,” said Lala, who lives in the Dar-es-Salam suburb where the local man was killed Thursday night. —AFP

INTERNATIONAL SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2013

Shot Pakistani teen among Nobel favorites STOCKHOLM: This year’s Nobel prize season opens tomorrow with rumors swirling the peace prize could go to Pakistani girls’ education campaigner Malala Yousafzai, Congolese doctor Denis Mukwege or rights activists from Russia or Belarus. The first Nobel to be announced will be the medicine prize on Monday, when the jury in Stockholm reveals the winner or winners around 11:30 am (0930 GMT).

But like every year, most of the speculation is on who will take home the prestigious peace and literature prizes. A record 259 nominations have been submitted for this year’s peace prize but the Norwegian Nobel Institute never discloses the list, leaving amateurs and experts alike to engage in a guessing game ahead of the October 11 announcement. The head of the Peace Research Institute of Oslo, Kristian Berg Harpviken, follows the work of the peace prize committee closely and has since 2009 published his own shortlist of possible winners-though he has yet to correctly pick the laureate. Topping his list this year is Malala, the Pakistani teen who survived a shot to the head last year by the Taleban for championing girls’ education.

Harpviken said she “not only has become a symbol of girls’ and children’s right to education and security, but also of the fight against extremism and oppression”. But others suggest the prize would be too heavy to bear given her young age of 16. “I’m not sure it would be suitable, from an ethical point of view, to give the peace prize to a child,” Tilman Brueck, the head of Stockholm peace research institute SIPRI, told Norwegian news agency NTB. He suggested the award could instead go to Colombia’s peace negotiators or Myanmar’s reformists. Asle Sveen, a historian specialized in the peace prize, meanwhile said he thought the five committee members could give the nod to Congolese gynaecologist Mukwege. The doctor has set up a hospital and foundation to help thousands of women who have been raped in strife-torn eastern Democratic Republic of Congo by local and foreign militants, as well

This combo of file pictures shows Congolese doctor Denis Mukwege (left) and Pakistani girls’ education campaigner Malala Yousafzai. — AFP as by soldiers in the army.

“The secretary of the Norwegian Nobel Committee Geir Lundestad has repeatedly said that the conflict in DR Congo has not gotten enough attention,” Sveen told NTB. Human Rights Watch said the committee could also choose to honor rights activists in Russia, following the worst crackdown since the fall of the Soviet Union.

Activists in Belarus, often described as Europe’s last dictatorship, were another possibility, said the group. Russian women activists such as Lyudmila Alexeyeva, Svetlana Gannushkina and Lilia Shibanova could

be serious candidates, or rights group Memorial and jailed Belarussian rights activist Ales Belyatski.

Another Nobel prize that generates much speculation is that for literature. Unlike the other awards, the date of the literature prize announcement is revealed only a few days in advance. But it traditionally falls on a Thursday, and could therefore be October 10.

Experts in Stockholm’s literary circles suggested Belarussian writer Svetlana Alexievich could obtain the honour, though her name was not among those listed as possible winners on online betting sites.

Ladbrokes had Japanese author Haruki Murakami as the favourite with 4-to-1 odds, followed by US novelist Joyce Carol Oates at 7-to-1, Hungary’s Peter Nadas at 8-to-1 and Korean poet Ko Un at 11-to-1. “I really believe it’s going to be a woman this year,” Bjoern Wiman, culture pages editor for Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter, said. Other names circulating including Canadian short story author Alice Munro, Algerian writer Assia Djebar and US novelist Philip Roth. For the physics prize, to be announced on October 8, the nod is widely expected to go to the breakthrough work on the Higgs Boson, the famous “God Particle” that explains mass. Without the Higgs, say theorists, humans and all the other joined-up atoms in the Universe would not exist.

“As an achievement, it ranks alongside the confirmation that the Earth is round or Man’s first steps on the Moon,” said Canadian particle physicist Pauline Gagnon. Nevertheless, the Higgs may still miss out as officially, there remains a remote possibility that the new particle discovered last year is not Higgs but some other novel particle. The chemistry prize will be announced on October 9, and the economics prize, traditionally dominated by Americans, will wrap up the Nobel season on October 14. Laureates will receive eight million Swedish kronor ($1.25 million, 925,000 euros) per award, to be shared if there are several winners in one discipline. — AFP

Latest Myanmar violence blamed on extremists THANDWE, Myanmar: The Buddhist mob mutilated and burned Khin Naing so severely his son couldn’t recognize the body, one of series of attacks that suggest a resurgence of a monk-led movement in Myanmar accused of stoking violence against Muslims.

Flies were buzzing around the bloodied patch of earth outside a ransacked mosque in Tha Phyu Chai village where police removed Khin Naing’s body after he was hacked to death by ethnic Rakhine Buddhists. “He couldn’t run fast enough from the Rakhine people,” said his son, Tun Tun Naing, 17, who emerged from hiding to identify his father’s corpse from what remained of his charred clothing.

Khin Naing was one of five Muslims killed and four Rakhine Buddhists wounded in four days of violence in Thandwe, a township in western Rakhine State popular with foreign tourists for its nearby Ngapali Beach. Not far from its resorts, Buddhists armed with sticks, slingshots and machetes launched repeated attacks on Muslim villagers from Sunday, burning down dozens of homes, witnesses said.

Sectarian violence in Myanmar has killed at least 240 people and displaced 140,000, most of them Muslims, since June 2012.

The latest bloodshed in Thandwe shows Myanmar’s reformist government struggling to curb the spread of a Buddhist nationalist movement known as 969 and control members of an ethnic Rakhine political party implicated in violence.—Reuters

HYDERABAD: Indian Congress members and supporters celebrate after India’s Union Cabinet approved the creation of a new state “Telangana” in Hyderabad yesterday. Normal life was paralyzed in some regions of Andhra Pradesh state after the cabinet’s decision to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh yesterday. Telangana would become India’s 29th state. —AP

Protests, resignations over new Indian state Cabinet nod to Telengana opens a ‘Pandora’s Box’

A Kaman Muslim woman cries after Rakhine state chief minister’s motorcade passed through a road in Shwehlay village on Thursday in Thandwe, Rakhine State, western Myanmar. — AP

ANANTHAPURAM, India: Protests erupted yesterday in southeast India and several federal ministers tendered their resignations, a day after the government bowed to a longstanding and often violent campaign for a new state called Telangana.

Demonstrators blocked roads and took to the streets in coastal regions of the state of Andhra Pradesh after the highly contentious decision by the cabinet of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to split the state into two.

Telangana, which will be India’s 29th state if it gets parliamentary approval, will be created out of an impoverished northern area of Andhra Pradesh that supporters say has been neglected by successive state governments. In Ananthapuram district, 400 kilometres (250 miles) from Hyderabad, protesters shouted slo-

gans and tore down posters of the ruling Congress party amid fears of more violence, which has regularly flared in recent years over the issue.

In New Delhi Human Resources Minister Pallam Raju confirmed that he had quit the cabinet in protest, while two othersTourism Minister Chiranjeevi and Textiles Minister K S Rao-tendered their resignations, the PTI news agency reported.

In Andhra Pradesh a former ally turned rival of the ruling Congress party, Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, said he would go on an indefinite hunger strike to protest at the decision and promised that demonstrations would continue. The main city of the region, IT hub Hyderabad, will serve as joint capital for both states for at least the next 10 years, the government said.—AFP

INTERNATIONAL SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2013

In Asia, Obama’s no-show a boost for Xi BEIJING: President Barack Obama has called off a trip to Asia just as China’s president is being feted in regional capitals ahead of summits where the US no-show will give China a chance to shine and boost its influence. The cancellation of Obama’s trip because of the partial government shutdown will also undermine the Obama administration’s strategic “pivot” to Asia in which the US has

sought to focus on building economic ties with Asia and boosting its security presence in the region.

But with Washington’s foreign policy still dominated by the turbulent Middle East, questions have been raised about Obama’s commitment to Asia. Meanwhile, new Chinese leader Xi Jinping has been visiting Indonesia and Malaysia to

NUSA DUA: Host country Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa (front fifth left) laughs along with foreign ministers and trade ministers of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member countries during a group photo session at the APEC ministerial meeting in Bali yesterday. — AP

Indonesian radicals happy over Obama cancellation JAKARTA: While observers bemoaned US President Barack Obama’s decision to cancel his visit to Asia, at least one group was happy-hardline Muslims protesting against him in the Indonesian capital yesterday.

The president’s change of plans “is a victory for the Muslim community and it was surely with the help of God that Obama cancelled his trip,” said Khoirul Amri, one of more than 500 Muslim radicals demonstrating outside the US embassy in Jakarta. Obama had been due to attend the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit on the Indonesian resort island of Bali next week, but cancelled his trip late Thursday due to the US government shutdown.

A White House statement also announced that he would miss the East Asia summit in Brunei afterwards, a decision that came after he had also cancelled plans to visit Malaysia and the Philippines due to the budget impasse. Analysts have warned the decision could dent the US “pivot” to Asia-Obama’s effort to redirect US military and diplomatic muscle towards the fast-rising region. But the Muslim radicals from group Hizbut Tahrir welcomed the move at their anti-Obama protest, which was planned before the president changed his schedule.

They learned of Obama’s decision beforehand, but decided to press ahead with their protest to show opposition to the president and his policies, and APEC itself. “His capitalist government will continue to steal Indonesian natural resources through their investment projects,” the group’s spokesman Ismail Yusanto told AFP after the protest.

“APEC is an American tool to strengthen its economic colonisation of Indonesia,” one protester shouted to the crowd, who brandished banners that read: “Reject Obama, the destroyer of Muslim nations”. “APEC will pave the way for the American government to steal our rich natural resources.” The APEC leaders’ summit begins on Monday, with US efforts to shape far-reaching new trade rules for the Asia-Pacific region set to dominate. — AFP

improve Beijing’s image at a time when its aggressive stance on territorial issues has strained ties with some countries. “It shows that China has a functional government and America doesn’t at the moment,” said Kerry Brown, a China expert at the University of Sydney. “It’s just another sign that America is kind of losing its luster, losing its status.”

The White House said Thursday that Obama was canceling his trip to Asia because of the partial government shutdown, after already shortening the tour from four countries to two. The White House had hoped Obama could attend two economic summits in Indonesia and Brunei, but he decided to skip the entire trip to stay in Washington to work to reopen the government. In Asia, Xi was already well-placed to fill the void. In Indonesia earlier this week, lawmakers applauded after he became the first foreign leader to address Parliament, making a call for greater cooperation that he kicked off with an informal greeting in the local Bahasa Indonesian language - a rare display of oratorical skill for a Chinese leader. Then Xi went to Malaysia, where he and his photogenic first lady met with Prime Minister Najib Razak and they were given a ceremonial welcome at Parliament yesterday that included a military honor guard and a 21gun salute. Xi has also proffered plenty of goodwill during his trips: In Indonesia, he signed deals worth billions of dollars, while in Malaysia, he’s agreed to boost military cooperation and training to fight transnational crime and terrorism.

The Malaysian leader’s administration had, until

days ago, been looking forward to welcoming a US president to the country for the first time since Lyndon B Johnson in 1966. Then the White House announced earlier this week Obama would be unable to visit Malaysia and the Philippines because the shutdown was affecting staffers who were needed to set up the trips.

While other nations will be sending prime ministers or presidents to the economic forums, Washington has now tapped Secretary of State John Kerry to fill in for Obama. Kerry will also be visiting Malaysia and the Philippines. International relations experts in Asia said the cancellation showed a weakening of US leadership globally as Washington is forced to shift its focus to dealing with thorny domestic problems.

“If they can furlough jobs, cease government services and risk a downgrade in the country’s credit rating, American politicians may start finding it tough to be consistent in their political reassurances about US commitment toward faraway Asia,” Singapore Institute of International Affairs Chairman Simon Tay wrote.

Jeff Kingston, a specialist on Southeast Asia and Japan at Temple University’s Tokyo campus, said the cancellation sends “a troubling message that China is reliable and steady and always there, and American attention seems to be episodic and drifting.” Obama canceled trips to Asia twice in 2010, first to stay in Washington for votes on his health care law and later because of a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. —AP

Vietnam military mastermind Gen Vo Nguyen Giap dies HANOI: Vo Nguyen Giap, the brilliant and ruthless self-taught general who drove the French out of Vietnam to free it from colonial rule and later forced the Americans to abandon their grueling effort to save the country from communism, has died. At age 102, he was the last of Vietnam’s old-guard revolutionaries. Giap died yesterday evening in a military hospital in the capital of Hanoi where he had spent close to four years growing weaker and suffering from long illnesses, a government official and a person close to Giap said. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because his death had not been formally announced.

There was no word of the death in statecontrolled media late yesterday, but the news had spread widely in Facebook and other social media. Giap was a national hero whose legacy was second only to that of his mentor, founding President Ho Chi Minh, who led the country to independence.

The so-called “red Napoleon” stood out as the leader of a ragtag army of guerrillas who wore sandals made of car tires and lugged their artillery piece by piece over mountains to encircle and crush the French army at Dien Bien Phu in 1954. The unlikely victory, which is still studied at military schools, led not only to Vietnam’s independence but hastened the collapse of colonialism across Indochina and beyond.

Giap went on to defeat the US-backed South Vietnam government in April 1975, reuniting a country that had been split into communist and noncommunist states. He regularly accepted heavy combat losses to achieve his goals. “No other wars for national liberation were as fierce or caused as many losses as this war,” Giap told The Associated Press in 2005 in one of his last known interviews with foreign media on the eve of the 30th anniversary of the fall of Saigon, the former South Vietnamese capital.

“But we still fought because for Vietnam, nothing is more precious than independence and freedom,” he said, repeating a famous quote by Ho Chi Minh. Giap remained sharp and well-versed in politics and current events until he was hospitalized.

Well into his 90s, he entertained world leaders, who posed for photographs and received autographed copies of his books while visiting the general’s shady colonialstyle home in Hanoi.

Although he was widely revered in Vietnam, Giap was the nemesis of millions of South Vietnamese who fought alongside US troops and fled their homeland after the war, including the many staunchly anti-communist refugees who settled in the United States.

Born Aug. 25, 1911, in central Vietnam’s Quang Binh province, Giap became active in

politics in the 1920s and worked as a journalist before joining the Indochinese Communist Party. He was jailed briefly in 1930 for leading anti-French protests and later earned a law degree from Hanoi University. He fled French police in 1940 and met Ho Chi Minh in southwestern China before returning to rural northern Vietnam to recruit guerrillas for the Viet Minh, a forerunner to the southern insurgency later known as the Viet Cong.

During his time abroad, his wife was arrested by the French and died in prison. He later remarried and had five children. In 1944, Ho Chi Minh called on Giap to organize and lead guerrilla forces against Japanese invaders during World War II. After Japan surrendered to Allied forces the following year, the Viet Minh continued their fight for independence from France.—AP

In this June 23, 1997 file photo, former US Defense Secretary Robert McNamara (left) speaks to his onetime foe Gen Vo Nguyen Giap in Hanoi. Officials say legendary Gen Giap, the military mastermind who drove the French and the Americans out of Vietnam, died at a Hanoi hospital yesterday. — AP

INTERNATIONAL SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2013

News

in brief

70-ft-long mobile home stolen from NY lot HAMPTON, New York: Police in a rural upstate New York town are looking for a 70-foot-long mobile home that was stolen from a diner’s parking lot. The Washington County sheriff’s office tells The Post-Star of Glens Falls that the mobile home had been placed on a trailer that was parked at a diner in the town of Hampton awaiting delivery to neighboring Vermont. Investigators say the owner had to have emergency surgery and when he came back to Hampton a few weeks later, the trailer with the $50,000, partially furnished mobile home was gone. Police say someone apparently hitched a truck to the trailer and towed it away late on the afternoon of Sept 23, when a witness reported seeing it headed toward Vermont.

Text mistakenly sent to cop leads to NJ arrest SPARTA: Authorities say a New Jersey man mistakenly sent a text message to a police detective to set up a drug sale and now faces charges. Authorities say a detective received the text message on his new cellphone last night. The sender had said he had a quarter pound of marijuana for sale and wanted to meet at a pizza parlor. Nicholas Delear Jr, of Sussex, met later that night with an undercover police officer but fled when he became suspicious. Police soon stopped his vehicle, but the 33-year-old Delear refused to consent to his vehicle being searched. Authorities obtained a warrant after a police dog detected drugs in the vehicle.

They found four plastic bags containing marijuana and other paraphernalia.

Obama cancels Asia trip to deal with shutdown Kerry to head US delegation at APEC

WASHINGTON: House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio arrives on Capitol Hill in Washington yesterday. — AP

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama is canceling a trip to Asia to stay in Washington and push for an elusive funding bill to get the federal government back up and running after days of a shutdown, with no end in sight. The White House, in a statement late Thursday, blamed Republicans, saying the “completely avoidable” government shutdown was hurting the president’s efforts to promote trade and US influence in emerging world markets. Secretary of State John Kerry flew to Bali, Indonesia, yesterday and will head the US delegation to the summits.

Obama’s decision to skip the summits in Indonesia and Brunei was an indication of how entrenched the stand-off appeared to be as it entered its fourth day. Funding for much of the government has been cut off since Tuesday, when a Republican effort to thwart President Barack Obama’s new health care law stalled a normally routine spending bill that would have kept the government going.

Obama had been set to leave today night for the Pacific island getaway of Bali for a meeting of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation. It originally was scheduled as one of four Asian stops, and the White House announced earlier in the week that the final legs of Malaysia and the Philippines were being cut because of staffing problems due to the shutdown. Obama had held out hope that a budget deal would allow the visit to Bali and Brunei, where more economic summits were planned, but decided the cancel the entire trip Thursday. “The cancellation of this trip is another consequence of the House Republicans forcing a shutdown of the government,” White House press secretary Jay Carney said in a statement. —AP

INTERNATIONAL SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2013

Ex-Bell official: No contest in graft case LOS ANGELES: Robert Rizzo, accused of massive corruption in a small California city, was apparently still pulling strings when he quietly arranged to plead no contest to 69 charges, only days before he was to go on trial on charges of misappropriation of funds and related crimes.

His co-defendant and former top assistant, Angela Spaccia, was taken by surprise Thursday and was left with the prospect of standing trial alone with Rizzo becoming the key prosecution witness against her. She was due in court at a pretrial hearing yesterday.

His lawyer said Rizzo would blame Spaccia for the brazen financial corruption scandal that drove the modest Los Angeles suburb of Bell to the brink of bankruptcy.

“Mr Rizzo, up until the time Angela Spaccia started with the city, made reasonable salaries,” said attorney James Spertus. “Mr. Rizzo doesn’t know how the retirement fund worked, how the salaries are processed.” He said she changed the way business was done in Bell. District Attorney Jackie Lacey agreed not to announce Rizzo’s plea until the hearing before Superior Court Judge

Kathleen Kennedy was over and Rizzo had left the criminal courts building. His trial was to have begun Monday.

Spaccia’s attorney, Harland Braun, said her case would go forward and she was confident of being absolved. He said he was dismayed with a system that allowed Rizzo to accept the inducement of a lenient sentence to testify against a former co-defendant.

“This is a sick stunt,” said Braun. “He has obviously made a deal to drag down Angela in order to get a light sentence.”—AP

Woman killed in DC chase was depressed Cops say ‘isolated, singular matter’

This June 1968 photo taken by Bill Eppridge and released courtesy of Monroe Gallery shows presidential hopeful Robert F Kennedy campaigning in the Watts section of Los Angeles. — AP

Photographer who shot Robert Kennedy assassination dies WASHINGTON: Bill Eppridge, the photojournalist behind the iconic and haunting images of Robert Kennedy’s assassination in 1968, has died at the age of 75, the National Press Photographers Association said on Thursday.

On its website (www.nppa.org), the association said Eppridge died in a hospital in Danbury, Connecticut where he had been admitted several weeks ago after a fall that led to a blood infection. “He extended a helping hand and a bushel of inspiration to me, and his kindness shaped the course of my career,” said friend and fellow photographer David Hume Kennerly, quoted by the NPPA. As a staff photographer for Life, Eppridge enjoyed privileged access to Kennedy’s campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, following in the footsteps of his slain brother John F. Kennedy.

Eppridge followed Kennedy from a campaign event at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles into the back kitchen where a 24-year-old Palestinian Christian, Sirhan Sirhan, shot and killed the 42-year-old politician.

Of the many black-and-white images that Eppridge took that night, the most enduring depicted Kennedy lying on the floor, mortally wounded, with a halo of light in the background, with a hotel employee at his side. “You are not just a photojournalist, you’re a historian,” he once explained when asked how he could keep taking pictures after someone he was close to had been shot.—AFP

WASHINGTON: The mother of a Connecticut woman who was shot to death by police after a car chase that began when she tried to breach a barrier at the White House said her daughter suffered from post-partum depression. The harrowing chase Thursday unfolded between two national landmarks, briefly shuttered the chambers where federal lawmakers were debating how to end a government shutdown and stirred fresh panic in a city where a gunman two weeks ago killed 12 people.

Two law enforcement officials identified the driver as 34-year-old Miriam Carey, of Stamford, Conn. She was traveling with a 1-year-old girl who avoided serious injury and was taken into protective custody.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation.

Carey’s mother, Idella Carey, told ABC News Thursday night that her daughter began suffering from post-partum depression after giving birth to her daughter, Erica, last August.

“A few months later, she got sick,” she said. “She was depressed. ...

She was hospitalized.” Idella Carey said her daughter had “no history of violence” and she didn’t know why she was in Washington on Thursday. She said she thought Carey was taking Erica to a doctor’s appointment in Connecticut. Police said there appeared to be no direct link to terrorism and there was no indication the woman was even armed. Capitol Police Chief Kim Dine, whose officers have been working without pay as a result of the shutdown, called it an “isolated, singular matter.”

Still, tourists, congressional staff and even some senators watched anxiously as a caravan of law enforcement vehicles chased a black Infiniti with Connecticut license plates down Constitution Avenue outside the Capitol and as officers with high-powered firearms canvased the area. The House and Senate both abruptly suspended business, a lawmaker’s speech cut off in mid-sentence, as the Capitol Police broadcast a message over its emergency radio system telling people to stay in place and move away from the windows. The woman’s car at one point had been surrounded by police cars and

she managed to escape, careening around a traffic circle and past the north side of the Capitol. Video shot by a TV cameraman showed police pointing firearms at her car before she rammed a Secret Service vehicle and continued driving. Metropolitan Police Chief Cathy Lanier said police shot and killed her a block northeast of the historic building. In Stamford, the FBI served a search warrant in connection with the investigation and police cordoned off a condominium building and the surrounding neighborhood in the shoreline city.

Condo resident Eric Bredow, a banker, said police told him the suspect in the car chase was one of his neighbors. “I see the door to my building open and the FBI bomb squad in front of it,” said Bredow, who said helicopters were flying overhead when he first went home.

The chain-of-events began when the woman sped onto a driveway leading to the White House, over a set of barricades. When the driver couldn’t get through a second barrier, she spun the car in the opposite direction, flipping a Secret Service officer over the hood of the car as she sped away, said BJ Campbell, a tourist from Portland, Ore. “This wasn’t no accident. She was not a lost tourist,” Campbell said later near the scene that had been blocked off with police tape.

Then the chase began. “The car was trying to get away. But it was going over the median and over the curb,” said Matthew Coursen, who was watching from a cab window when the Infiniti sped by him.

“The car got boxed in and that’s when I saw an officer of some kind draw his weapon and fire shots into the car.” One Secret Service member and a 23-year veteran of the Capitol Police were injured. Officials said they are in good condition and expected to recover.

Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, who said he was briefed by the Homeland Security Department, said he did not think the woman was armed. “There was no return fire,” he said.

A few senators between the Capitol and their office buildings said they heard the shots. “We heard three, four, five pops,” said Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa. Police ordered Casey and nearby tourists to crouch behind a car for protection, then hustled everyone into the Capitol.

Others witnessed the incident, too.—AP

WASHINGTON: A damaged Capitol Hill police car is surrounded by crime scene tape on Constitution Avenue near the US Capitol after a car chase and shooting Thursday in Washington. A woman with a young child inside tried to ram through a White House barricade, then led police on a chase toward the Capitol, where police shot and killed her, witnesses and officials said. —AP

Islamic Development Bank to expand sukuk to $10bn

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Courting African consumers gets a reinvention of cool

Business

BoJ holds off monetary easing measures now

China leader eyes more trade with Malaysia

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2013

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WAHSINGTON: The Capitol is reflected in a pool on Capitol Hill in Washington yesterday. — AP

US warns of ‘catastrophic’ default Pressure on Republicans to climb down WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama demanded an end to a three-day government shutdown he decried as a reckless “farce,” piling pressure on Republicans to climb down first on a budget impasse.

The US Treasury meanwhile warned of “catastrophic” consequences if there is no deal within weeks to raise the country’s debt ceiling, and the IMF’s chief said navigating a way out of that next crisis was “mission critical.” And late Thursday the White House announced that because of the shutdown Obama was scrapping plans to attend two summits next week in Asia-an APEC summit in Indonesia and an East Asia summit in Brunei. The tour had been designed to advance a central thrust of Obama’s foreign policy. The trip had already been truncated, as Obama canceled tail-end stops in Malaysia and the Philippines.

He traveled earlier Thursday to the Washington suburbs to lambast Republican House Speaker John Boehner, who emerged from a White House meeting late on Wednesday complaining that the president would not negotiate with him. “Take a vote, stop this farce and end this shutdown right now,” Obama said during a fiery speech in the Maryland suburb of Rockville, which is home to many federal workers laid off in the shutdown.

Branding the crisis a “reckless Republican shutdown,” Obama said that Boehner could reopen the government and get hundreds of thousands of people back to work “in just five minutes” by passing a temporary operating budget with no partisan strings attached.

“Speaker John Boehner won’t even let the bill get a yes or no vote, because he doesn’t want to anger the extremists in his party,” Obama said. The government ran short of

funds on Monday, after Congress failed to pass a budget, forcing authorities to send all non-essential workers home and to close museums, monuments and national parks that are all popular with tourists.

The Democratic-led Senate had turned back repeated Republican efforts to pass a budget while defunding or delaying Obama’s health care law. The law dubbed Obamacare is a centerpiece of his political legacy and reviled by Tea Party conservatives. The talks at the White House between Obama and congressional leaders made no progress, and there is no sign that the dispute will be solved before dragging into a second week.

The crisis rattled Wall Street on Thursday, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 136.66 points (0.90 percent) to 14,996.48, amid ongoing jitters from the shutdown and nervousness about a looming battle over Congress’s responsibility to raise the $16.7 trillion US statutory borrowing limit.

If there is no resolution before October 17, the government could begin running out of money to pay its bills and an unprecedented US debt default could result.

But Republicans are again demanding concessions on Obamacare before voting to raise the debt ceiling, raising fears of unpredictable consequences, which the Treasury said in a report Thursday could plunge the United States into deep recession and rock global markets. “In the event that a debt limit impasse were to lead to a default, it could have a catastrophic effect on not just financial markets but also on job creation, consumer spending and economic growth,” the report said.

“Credit markets could freeze, the value of the dollar could plummet, US interest rates could skyrocket, the neg-

ative spillovers could reverberate around the world, and there might be a financial crisis and recession that could echo the events of 2008 or worse.” International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde said finding a way out of the debt limit dead end as soon as possible was “mission critical.”

The New York Times reported Thursday that Boehner had privately told House Republicans that he understood the dangers of a default and was ready to pass a debt limit increase with the help of minority Democrats if necessary.

Obama has refused to negotiate with Republicans over raising the debt ceiling, saying Congress is simply authorizing borrowing to pay bills it has already run up and that offering concessions would set a poor precedent for future presidents.

In the minds of key players on Capitol Hill, the government shutdown and the debt ceiling fight have now merged into one massive political crisis. There was some talk among Republicans that Boehner may try to craft a face-saving way out by reviving a stalled drive for a “grand bargain” on debt and spending with Obama. But there is skepticism on the Democratic side that there is time to pull together a pact-following repeated failed attempts in Obama’s first term-before the debt limit deadline.

Lawmakers meanwhile could pass a measure which will see federal workers receive back pay for the period when they have been off work since the shutdown.

Members of the House of Representatives and Senate filed bills that would ensure all federal employees receive retroactive pay for the duration of the work stoppage.

“They deserve their pay, not financial punishment,” House Democrat James Moran said in a statement. — AFP

BUSINESS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2013

N Korea official says security needed to expand economy PYONGYANG, North Korea: The head of North Korea’s parliament said yesterday that his country wants to focus on improving its struggling economy and raising its standard of living, but can only do so if the United States abandons what he called a hostile policy toward Pyongyang.

Kim Yong Nam, head of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly and North Korea’s de facto head of state, said economic growth is the top goal of the government under its new supreme leader, Kim Jong Un, who took over nearly two years ago after the death of his father, Kim Jong Il. But he said such improvements can only be made once North Korea is confident it will not be attacked or ostracized by the United States. “There wouldn’t be any reason for us to be on bad terms with the United States if the US government gives up its hostile policy and opts for a policy change of respecting our sovereignty and right to selection,” he said in a meeting in Pyongyang with Gary Pruitt, president and CEO of The Associated Press.

Although the United States has repeatedly offered assurances to North Korea that it has no intention of attacking, Pyongyang has long demanded that it remove the tens of thousands of American troops stationed in South Korea since the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty. That means the countries remain technically at war.

North Korea says it wants a formal peace treaty and all of the US troops removed from the South, and Kim reiterated that position yesterday. But North Korea continues to develop a nuclear weapons program and longrange missiles of its own. The United States has responded by backing strict sanctions against Pyongyang and has shunned direct talks, while North Korea’s economy has lagged far behind its Asian neighbors. Tensions between the two nations heightened dramatically after North Korea conducted its third nuclear test and launched a rocket earlier this year, and the United States and South Korea conducted their annual spring military exercises. North Korea’s rhetoric has since cooled some-

what, but Kim suggested the ball is now in Washington’s court.

North Korea wants to improve its economy, but “for this we need a peaceful environment,” he said. “We need to secure peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.”

Kim, a former foreign minister who is seen as the North’s senior statesman, also accused South Korean authorities of “divisive maneuvers” that have pushed the two Koreas into another cycle of confrontation. North Korea last month indefinitely postponed reunions of families separated by the Korean War that had been set to begin within days, a setback after weeks of improving ties.

Pyongyang was vague about its decision to cancel the reunions, which have not been held for three years. It accused unidentified conservatives in Seoul of a “reckless and vicious confrontation racket” against Pyongyang, a claim it routinely makes. It also vowed, in similarly familiar rhetoric, to “take strong and decisive counteractions against the South Korean puppet regime’s ever-escalating war provocations.”—AP

Shares in India’s Jet jump on Etihad deal MUMBAI: Shares in India’s Jet Airways jumped yesterday after the government cleared the group to sell a 24-percent stake to Abu Dhabi-based Etihad in the first such foreign deal since reforms last year. Jet announced the plan to sell its shares to Etihad in April, taking advantage of a government move to open the aviation sector a year ago to allow international carriers to buy up to a 49 percent stake in domestic operators. Jet shares rose as much as 7.27 percent in morning trade, and was later up 2.55 percent at 396.45 rupees on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The deal is worth $335 million, but its completion could be further delayed after the Supreme Court agreed to hear a public interest litigation against the acquisition, the Press Trust of India reported yesterday. The deal has been regarded as a key test of India’s ability to attract foreign investors to its ailing airline sector.

Indian carriers need money to fund expansion and cut debt after years of losses caused by the fierce fare battles and rising fuel costs. The aviation sector, once vaunted as a symbol of economic vibrancy, has also seen its fortunes fade in the face of a slowing economy, over-expansion and rundown infrastructure. Only privately held low-cost carrier IndiGo was in profit in the year to March 2012, out of India’s six main scheduled carriers.

Kingfisher Airlines, controlled by liquor baron Vijay Mallya and once the second-biggest carrier, remains grounded and teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. — AFP

Oil companies wonder if N Africa is really worth it LONDON: Two years of turmoil since the Arab Spring and some of the toughest terms in the business have led international oil companies to reassess their role in North Africa, with US firms looking keenest to leave. Libya and Algeria are among Africa’s top four oil producers. Together with Egypt, they are major suppliers of gas to Europe and their budgets depend heavily on energy revenues.

But Libya has not turned into the bonanza some foreign oil firms had hoped for, while the cost to reward ratio of producing gas in Egypt and Algeria looks less appealing as new finds in more politically stable places like Tanzania offer alternatives.

For some US companies, the prospect of shedding non-core assets and cashing in on the shale gas boom at home seems increasingly attractive, analysts say.

At least seven firms, five of them American, have abandoned projects, frozen activities or sold stakes worth billions of dollars in Libya, Algeria and Egypt in the past 18 months alone.

“The politics of the Middle East and North Africa have made things more difficult for all companies but American companies are not tied to North Africa,” said John Hamilton, North Africa analyst at Cross-border Information. “That’s in contrast to companies to like Repsol, Eni, Total and even BP. For them, these are large deposits on their door step so it makes more sense for them to stick it out.”—Reuters

MADRID: A senior citizen shops in covered market in the center of Madrid yesterday. Spain’s government has approved further unpopular austerity measures for pensioners and public workers in its 2014 budget but insisted the outlook for jobs and economic growth was getting brighter. — AFP

Islamic Development Bank to expand sukuk to $10bn IDB to get profile lift among investors RIYADH: The Saudi Arabia-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB) plans to increase its Islamic bond program to $10 billion from $6.5 billion, to keep pace with demand for investment-grade paper from the international institution.

An expanded program would help the AAA-rated bank meet its goal of issuing one sukuk publicly every year and cater to a growing number of investor requests for private placements.

The Jeddah-based lender plans to make the increase official in November subject to clearance from regulators in Britain, where its multi-currency program is listed, said Hasan Demirhan, director at the IDB’s treasury department. “So far, public issuances have been once in a year but private issuances have been frequently based on the resource requirements of the bank,” said Demirhan.

The program has been expanded twice since it was set up in 2005; close to $7 billion has been issued via 15 sukuk, out of which $6.3 billion is currently outstanding, according to Reuters calculations based on IDB data.

Last year was the busiest for the program with $1.9 billion issued via five sukuk, four of which were private placements worth a combined $1.1 billion. This year, the IDB issued a $1 billion, five-year sukuk in June and a five-year, $700 million private placement in March. The bank, which operates to promote economic development in Muslim countries and communities, has 56 member countries and Saudi Arabia as its largest shareholder with 23.6 percent. It plans to issue another benchmark-sized sukuk next year, Demirhan said; benchmark-size transactions are

at least $500 million.

In May, the IDB more than tripled its authorized capital to $150 billion; it provides financing, loans and technical assistance for development schemes which follow Islamic principles, such as bans on interest payments and pure monetary speculation. An expanded sukuk program would help the IDB increase its profile among global investors and secure similar pricing levels to other development banks such as the World Bank and European Investment Bank, which can borrow at slightly lower rates because they are more frequent issuers.

The IDB’s June sukuk set price guidance at a spread of 30 basis points over midswaps; a year earlier it priced a sukuk at 40 bps over midswaps. The EIB priced a five-year, 500 million Canadian dollar bond last month at 20 bps over midswaps. The expanded program would also help the IDB offer a wider range of maturities to investors in its private placements. Its public sukuk have used five-year tenors, but private placements have also carried other maturities, Demirhan said.

“Private issuance of the sukuk is tailored to the need of the investors and ranged between three to 10 years.” IDB sukuk are highly sought after by Islamic banks since the lender is designated a zero risk-weighted institution by the Basel Committee, the international banking supervisory body; this means its paper can be used to manage capital adequacy on bank balance sheets. The IDB also has a 1 billion ringgit ($313 million) sukuk program in Malaysia, where it has issued an aggregate 700 million ringgit in three tranches since 2008. — Reuters

BUSINESS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2013

Courting African consumers gets a reinvention of cool ‘Built for Africa’ sticker makes an impact

JAL lodges complaint over landing-slot spat TOKYO: Japan Airlines has lodged a complaint over Tokyo awarding twice as many lucrative landing slots at a major airport to rival All Nippon Airways, the carrier’s boss said yesterday.

The “unfair” decision at Haneda airport-an apparent attempt to level the playing field after the government bailed out once-bankrupt JAL-would cost the airline about 6.0 billion yen ($62 million) annually, JAL president Yoshiharu Ueki said. The carrier has sent a letter to transport officials demanding an explanation. “We are well aware of the criticism levelled against us for receiving public funds,” Ueki told reporters in Tokyo. But “this process has not been transparent and we think (the decision) is irrational.” He also warned its partner carriers, including American Airlines and British Airways, would also be negatively affected. In a written statement this week, American Airlines said it was “disappointed” by the ministry’s decision, and called for JAL to get an “equitable” share of slots.

“The Japanese public deserves a healthy competitive environment that promotes competition between airlines without favor to any carrier,” it added. A spokeswoman for British Airways parent IAG said it was “naturally disappointed by the slots decision”.

On Wednesday, the government said ANA would get 11 of 20 new international take-off and landing slots at the airport in Tokyo bay, the world’s fourth-busiest hub. JAL, which had expected to share the slots evenly with its main domestic rival, got just five with the remaining four slots to be distributed in the future. ANA has routinely criticized its rival’s monster bailout, which saw it rise from the ashes and re-list its shares in Tokyo last year after an offering that raised a whopping $8.5 billion, one of the biggest globally in 2012. JAL posted strong earnings after its re-listing, making it the most profitable airline in the world. Haneda is a lucrative location with better access to Tokyo’s downtown than suburban Narita airport, which is a major international gateway to Japan.

The country’s transport ministry is aiming to boost international flights at both airports in anticipation of big influx of visitors for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. — AFP

JOHANNESBURG: Samsung Electronics is betting on a top-end refrigerator designed not to lose its cool in Africa as a way into the continent’s consumer markets, where there is growing demand for prestige products which meet local needs. The refrigerator comes with a sticker saying it is “Built for Africa”, meaning that while it is basically the same flagship product on sale elsewhere in the world it has been tailored to suit local conditions.

The South Korean firm’s strategy is simple, and increasingly followed by a number of multinational firms looking to sell in an expanding African market - lay off the cut-rate goods, launch major products in Africa at the same time as the rest of the world but give them local appeal to build brand allegiance among consumers who are set to move up the income ladder. “Africa is not a dumping ground for technology. You always have to keep in mind that you are creating your market for the future,” said Thierry Boulanger, a director for Samsung at its African headquarters in Johannesburg.

Samsung’s “Built For Africa” refrigerators come with an extra layer of insulation guaranteed to keep food in the freezer frozen for a longer period of time without being powered. Rolling blackouts are not uncommon in major urban African centers as powerstrapped utilities try to lighten the load during peak demand. As a result the “dura-cool” refrigerator has boosted Samsung’s standing in Africa’s refrigerator market to a 23.5 percent share, with the company leading the sector for two straight years, Samsung says.

Also in the “Built for Africa” product line are certain flat-screen TVs and monitors and air conditioners with built-in protectors to avoid damage from the power surges that follow outages, and built-in solar panels for netbook computers.

In the big scheme of things, Africa is still small beer for major multinational firms, representing only a tiny portion of global sales and profits. A major drawback is rampant poverty and unemployment. Even though per capita GDP in the richest economy, South Africa, is about $7,500 a year, nearly 40 percent of the population lives on less than $3 a day.

But the demographics, with young populations in most countries seeing increased urbanization, are stacked in Africa’s favour in attracting sellers of consumer products, especially as markets stagnate or shrink in some developed markets already saturated with products.

According to management consultancy Accenture, consumer expenditure in sub-Saharan Africa is expected to grow from $600 billion in 2010 to nearly $1 trillion by 2020. The growth rate of economies in the region is also expected to be double that of the global economic growth rate during the same period.

Most African consumers still cannot afford to buy big-ticket items from the likes of Samsung and Sony. But there are still millions who now can and their numbers are set to grow.

And one factor making life easier for international firms is that 10 countries - Algeria, Angola, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, Sudan and Tunisia - account for an estimated 80 percent of Africa’s private consumption. “Interest in Africa is explosive but there is still a lot of fear because of the risks,” said an official in charge of Africa-related matters for the Korea TradeInvestment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) in Seoul.

Global consultancy McKinsey said African consumers are optimistic about their future, pay keen attention to labels and are in the early stages of developing brand loyalty.—Reuters

DUBLIN: An Irish youth walks past a polling station during the Seanad (senate) referendum in Dublin yesterday. Cash-strapped Ireland voted in a referendum yesterday on whether to back Prime Minister Enda Kenny’s controversial proposals to abolish the upper house of parliament. — AFP

Gold treads water as shutdown grinds on LONDON: Gold held steady for a second day yesterday as traders awaited news on a budget deadlock that has triggered a partial shutdown of the US government, while attention turned to imminent talks to lift the US debt ceiling.

Congress must increase the country’s borrowing limit on Oct 17 or risk default, a situation many fear would be far worse than the shutdown. The dollar held near an eight-month low, while European shares dipped and oil prices crept higher.

“There doesn’t seem to be a lot of fear yet priced into financial markets (from the shutdown), and until there is, I don’t think gold will do much,” Deutsche Bank’s global head of commodity research Michael Lewis said. Of more interest are developments surrounding the debt ceiling, which would have a much greater impact on risk perceptions, he said.

“If those started to deteriorate, that would affect growth expectations in the US, and that would then have an impact on the dollar and expectations for the tapering of the quantitative easing program, and probably also the equity markets. That

would probably be quite constructive for gold.”

Spot gold was at $1,316.26 an ounce at 1123 GMT, little changed from late Thursday, while US gold futures for December delivery were down $1 an ounce at $1,316.60. Gold is on track for its biggest one-week drop in three, with its 1.5 percent loss for the week so far largely due to a single massive Comex sell order on Tuesday that sent the price below $1,300 an ounce. With Chinese markets closed for the National Day holiday and the release of September US nonfarm payrolls data suspended due to the shutdown, gold is expected to trade in a narrow range yesterday. “Physical demand in China is... lacking due to the Golden Week holiday up to 7 October, but could provide new impetus next week, particularly since import figures from Hong Kong should confirm continuing interest in purchases by the Chinese,” Commerzbank said in a note.

Asian demand for physical gold picked up this week, especially in Japan and Thailand, when prices fell below $1,300 an ounce, but interest waned when the market moved off the lows.

The world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, New York’s SPDR Gold Shares, reported a second daily outflow on Thursday, of 1.8 tons, suggesting investors’ appetite for gold remains soft.

Platinum outperformed, rising 1 percent to $1,375.49 an ounce due to a strike at Anglo American Platinum’s South African operations. The miner said it was losing an average of 3,100 ounces of production a day. Spot palladium rose 0.6 percent to $700.97 an ounce, while spot silver added 0.4 percent at $21.66 an ounce. Technical analysts at Barclays Capital said they saw further underperformance in silver and expected the gold:silver ratio -the number of silver ounces needed to buy an ounce of gold - to rebound after it retreated from late September’s six-week high of 61.5.

“The recent pullback in the ratio provides a buying opportunity,” they said. Russia’s Norilsk Nickel, the world’s biggest palladium producer, said yesterday its palladium production may increase by up to 2 percent by 2016. — Reuters

BUSINESS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2013

Japan warns of ‘consequences’ in US debt battle TOKYO: Japan’s finance minister and top central banker yesterday urged Washington to resolve its political gridlock, warning a debt default could lead to grim “consequences” for the global economy.

The present impasse, where the refusal of a rightwing rump of the Republican Party to pass a budget bill has resulted in a government shutdown, is already affecting the currency markets, Finance Minister Taro Aso said, warning it could worsen. “I think this could likely result in a situation where the dollar will be sold and the yen will be bought,” Aso told reporters.

The yen has already soared to multi-month highs against the dollar, as traders move out of the greenback and into the safe haven of the Japanese currency. The falling dollar is bad news for Japan’s exporters, a key driver of growth in the world’s third-largest economy, because it erodes their repatriated profits. The Japanese unit was changing hands at 97.08 to the dollar in late Asian trade.

But, “my feeling is... the debt limit will have an inter-

nationally significant impact,” Aso said, referring to a looming October 17 deadline by which the US government needs lawmakers to raise the ceiling on the amount of money it can borrow. “Unless it is resolved swiftly, we will see various consequences.” Japan is a major holder of US government debt. Bank of Japan governor Haruhiko Kuroda echoed Aso’s concerns, but said if the emotionally-charged standoff could be resolved quickly, it need not derail the fledgeling US economic recovery.

Uncertainty Kuroda, a former head of the Asian Development Bank, said speed was of the essence because uncertainty would put a strain on global growth.

“If a situation like this becomes prolonged, it might have a serious impact on the US economy and the world economy,” Kuroda said. “By resolving this issue as quickly as possible, I hope they will dispel uncertainty about US fiscal policy,” he said.

Kuroda declined to comment on exactly what the Bank of Japan would do if Washington defaulted.

“I want both the budget and debt ceiling issues to be resolved soon,” he said. The comments from Aso and Kuroda came as US President Barack Obama cancelled his tour to key summits in Asia to stay at home and deal with the crisis. “Due to the government shutdown, President Obama’s travel to Indonesia and Brunei has been cancelled,” the White House said in a statement.

“The President made this decision based on the difficulty in moving forward with foreign travel in the face of a shutdown, and his determination to continue pressing his case that Republicans should immediately allow a vote to reopen the government.”

Obama is locked in a bitter fight with the Republicancontrolled Congress, where lawmakers have linked passage of the budget bill to a delay in the implementation of “Obamacare”, a law that requires all Americans to have health insurance.—AFP

Asia markets down as US budget woes drag on BANGKOK: Uncertainty about how long the partial shutdown of the US government will last kept global stock markets on edge yesterday. Some 800,000 federal workers and scores of agencies were idled earlier this week after a sharply divided US Congress failed to agree on short-term funding for the government to pay its bills beyond Monday, when the fiscal year ended. Markets initially took the passing of the deadline and the partial shutdown of nonessential government services in stride. But investor anxiety has risen as the budget impasse between Republicans in the House of Representatives and the White House drags on.

Republicans are insisting that President Barack Obama accept changes to the health care law he pushed through three years ago as part of a budget bill. Obama refuses to consider any deal linking the health care law to routine legislation needed to extend government funding. Although House speaker John Boehner “affirmed that he is committed to avoid this situation, we don’t see much breakthrough coming,” said Cynthia Kalasopatan at Mizuho Bank Ltd. in Singapore. Investors also had to digest some disappointing economic news from the world’s biggest economy. The Institute of Supply Management said that sales fell sharply, new orders dipped and hiring weakened at US service companies. The report covers industries including retail, construction, health care and financial services.

In early European trading, Britain’s FTSE 100 fell less than 0.1 percent to 6,443.81. Germany’s DAX fell marginally to 8,592.92.

France’s CAC-40 gained 0.2 percent to 4,137.75. Wall Street was headed for a higher open, with Dow Jones industrial futures rising 0.2 percent to 14,933. S&P 500 futures gained 0.3 percent to 1,674.10. Asian stocks were mostly lower. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index fell 0.9 percent to 14,024.31. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.3 percent to 23,138.54. South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.1 percent to 1,996.98.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.5 percent to 5,208.

American lawmakers also have to agree on an increase in the debt ceiling by Oct. 17 or the world’s largest economy may default on its debt payments. Congress must periodically raise the limit on government borrowing, but the once-routine matter has become the subject of bitter fights between Republicans and Democrats.

As well as undermining confidence in the ability of the US to pay back what it owes, a US default could send shockwaves round the world economy, threatening the patchy recovery. While some analysts said it was unlikely that US politicians would allow the budget impasse to deteriorate that far, the negative rhetoric out of Washington was undermining investors’ moods.

“That’s the sort of thing that keeps investors out of the market.

And when people aren’t buying, it’s easy for stocks to sell, to fall,” said Chris Weston, chief market strategist at IG in Melbourne, Australia. Among individual stocks, Air New Zealand rose 0.3 percent after announcing plans to raise its stake in Virgin Australia Holdings to 25.9 percent after getting the green light from Australian authorities. Virgin Australia rose 1.2 percent. Benchmark oil for November delivery was up 25 cents to $103.56 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 79 cents to close at $103.31 a barrel on the Nymex on Thursday.—AP

TOKYO: People walk by an electronic stock board of a securities firm in Tokyo yesterday. Uncertainty about how long the partial shutdown of the US government will last kept Asian stock markets on edge yesterday. —AP

BoJ holds off monetary easing measures now Decision puts focus on Fed TOKYO: The Bank of Japan yesterday held off fresh monetary easing measures, but its chief said he was ready to act if the economy took a hit from a sales tax hike or US debt default. After a twoday policy meeting, BoJ officials issued an upbeat statement which said the economy was still “recovering moderately” while overseas economies were “heading toward a pick-up”.

The bank had been widely expected to hold fire as it studies how its unprecedented monetary easing plan, which pumps huge amounts of money into the financial system, was rippling through the world’s number-three economy. But bank governor Haruhiko Kuroda said he was ready to pull the trigger on fresh policy moves if the economy heads south.

“We will review both upside and downside risks,” Kuroda told reporters in Tokyo. “If something happens, naturally we will take whatever monetary policy actions are necessary.” The meeting came just days after the BoJ published its Tankan survey, which showed business confidence in Japan had soared to a more than five-year high in the past three months-good news for Prime Shinzo Abe’s bid to revitalize the economy. The closely watched indicator was seen as key to Abe’s decision this week to press on with a plan to hike sales taxes to 8.0 percent, from 5.0 percent, in April.

The rise is viewed as crucial for Japan to shrink what is the rich world’s heaviest public debt burden. But some fear it will derail the premier’s economic policy blitz, dubbed Abenomics, which has sharply weakened the yen and boosted profits at major exporters such as Toyota and Sony.

Japan’s long-suffering economy is growing at a 3.8 percent annualised rate outpacing other G7 nations-thanks to government stimulus spending and central bank monetary easing of up to 70 trillion yen ($720 billion) a year.

Some analysts believe it is just a matter of time before the BoJ has to ramp up its pump priming as the effects of the initial injection wears off. Abe’s promised economic reforms, which are seen as key to Japan’s recovery, have so far been more talk than action.

“We continue to believe it is inevitable that the Bank of Japan will launch additional easing measures,” Credit Suisse economist Hiromichi Shirakawa said in a report. “The scenario to achieve economic growth through structural reforms sounds nice. But it would take a significant amount of time and its effects remain uncertain.” There are growing concerns about a budgetary stand-off in Washington that economists fear could extend into the middle of the month, when the US runs out of cash to service its debts. —AFP

BUSINESS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2013

Austrian economy set to pick up speed in 2014 VIENNA: The Austrian economy is set to pick up speed sharply next year, Austria’s main economic institutes said yesterday, edging up their forecasts.

The economy, part of the euro-zone and considered by analysts to be particularly significant to central Europe, seems likely to have emerged from recession by the end of this year.

For 2013, the WIFO and IHS institutes projected growth at 0.4 and 0.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), a minor change to their June forecasts of 0.4 and 0.6 percent. Next year, however, Austria’s economy was due to grow by 1.7-1.8 percent, the two institutes said in separate statements. In June, they had predicted 1.6 and 1.8 percent. “The second recession in five years appears to have come to an end,” WIFO said in its statement.

“The domestic economy will already gather some steam in the fourth quarter of 2013 and will recover further in 2014,” it added, citing renewed optimism in company surveys and fewer uncertainties on the financial markets. Austria’s economy has seen no growth or a slight contraction every quarter since the second quarter of 2012, according to WIFO data. For IHS, the improved international situation was “evidence that the structural reforms in the euro-zone’s crisis countries have had a positive effect.” “Early indicators suggest this positive development in industrial nations will continue,” it concluded in a cautiously optimistic note. In 2012, Austria registered growth at 0.9 percent. — AFP

Barclays wraps up 49.4bn cash call to bolster capital Challenges remain despite investors’ nod LONDON: Barclays completed its 5.8 billion pound ($9.4 billion) fundraising yesterday to meet a capital shortfall identified by its regulator, after almost 95 percent of the British bank’s investors stumped up more cash. Barclays launched its rights issue three weeks ago, prompted by the British regulator’s demand that it improve its leverage ratio - a measure of its capital to assets - to 3 percent by mid-2014.

Barclays said bookrunners for the offer sold the shares that were not taken up by investors - worth 463 million pounds - at 268 pence apiece, or a 1.8 percent discount to Thursday’s close.

Barclays shares were down 0.1 percent at 272.8p by 1110 GMT, which dealers said was a resilient performance and reflected the modest size of the leftover shares. The bank also plans to sell 2 billion pounds of bonds that convert into equity if the bank hits trouble and to shrink the balance sheet of its investment bank to help it meet its leverage ratio target. “Post the rights issue the regulatory risks have been reduced but not eliminated,” said Mike Trippitt, analyst at Numis Securities, saying there could be “pressure to deleverage the business further”. The rights issue was the biggest by a British bank since 2009 and raised the equivalent of 15 percent of Barclays’ market value.

Antony Jenkins, who took over as chief executive a year ago, is trying to rebuild Barclays’ reputation after a string of scandals. He said the rights issue would deal “quickly and decisively” with the British regulator’s demands. Investors have broadly welcomed his turnaround plan, although he still faces challenges to improve

profitability and tackle a raft of legacy issues. The rights issue forced him to push back his target to deliver a return on equity above about 11.5 percent by a year to 2016.

A slowdown in income from selling bonds and interest rate products, the core business for investment banks, will hurt third quarter profits across the industry.

Barclays’ rights issue prospectus also said it faced a 50 million pound fine from Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority for its failure to adequately disclose fees it had paid Qatari investors over the last five years. Those fees, linked to fundraising in 2008, continue to be investigated by other authorities in Britain and the United States.

Qatar Holding invested 5.3 billion pounds in two fundraisings, which helped it avoid the government bailouts of rivals Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland.

It is still Barclays’ biggest shareholder with a 6.3 percent stake and subscribed to buy more shares in the rights issue to maintain its stake, but did not buy any extra, a person familiar with the matter said. Investors in China, Hong Kong, Japan and South Africa were not allowed to buy shares in the offer because Of local laws. China Development Bank and Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui are among the bank’s top 20 shareholders after investing in 2008, and it was unclear if they could participate through a nominee holder. Advisers on the rights issue were Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citi and Barclays itself. — Reuters

Oil rises toward $104 on Gulf of Mexico storm NEW YORK: The price of crude rose to near $104 a barrel Friday as offshore oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico braced for Tropical Storm Karen. Investors were also keeping a close watch on developments in Washington DC as the partial shutdown of the US government entered a fourth day.

By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark oil for November delivery was up 54 cents to $103.85 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The contract fell 79 cents to close at $103.31 on Thursday.

Several oil companies operating in the Gulf of Mexico, including Exxon, said they were taking precautionary measures, including the evacuation of non-essential personnel from offshore installations in the path of the tropical storm that could turn into a weak hurricane over the weekend.

“Some 20 percent of US oil production is sourced from the Gulf of Mexico,” analysts at Commerzbank in Frankfurt said in a report. “Oil prices should ease again as soon as this temporary support disappears.”

The potential disruption comes amid the budget impasse in the US. Some 800,000 federal workers and scores of agencies were idled this week after a sharply divided US Congress failed to agree on short-term funding for the government to pay its bills beyond Monday, when the fiscal year ended.

Markets initially took the passing of the deadline and the partial shutdown of nonessential government services in stride. But investor anxiety has gradually risen as the budget impasse between Republicans in the House of Representatives and the White House drags on.

A prolonged halt to government activities would reduce demand for energy and result in lower prices of fuels such as gasoline. That would be a boon for drivers but also signal a weak economy. — AP

PARIS: A general view of the business district of La Defense near Paris. Hampered by rivalries between agencies in charge of its development, La Defense has a hard time attracting new businesses. — AFP

France on track for 0.2% growth this year PARIS: France is on track to achieve a modest 0.2 percent growth this year, official data showed yesterday with stubborn unemployment and a lack of investment hampering a full rebound of Europe’s second-largest economy.

Following surprise economic growth of 0.5 percent in the second quarter, which allowed France to exit from a short recession, the country’s Gross Domestic Product is expected to stagnate in the third quarter before reaching 0.4 growth in the final quarter, said national statistics agency INSEE. Overall, the French economy is set to grow by 0.2 percent in 2013, slightly beating government forecasts of 0.1 percent. INSEE said France’s GDP would return to levels last seen in early 2008, before the global financial crisis struck. “If the trend forecast by INSEE is confirmed in the coming quarters, our growth forecast of 0.9 percent for 2014 may be exceeded,” Finance Minister Pierre

Moscovici said in a statement.

INSEE said it expected unemployment, which has been on the rise for two years, to increase by 0.1 percent to 10.6 percent in the third quarter, and remain at that level for the final three months of the year. The agency said manufacturing output was set to fall by 0.4 percent in the third quarter before bouncing back in the fourth quarter.

After two years of decline, it also said it expected investment, which economists say is a key sign of the recovery’s strength, to grow by 0.3 percent in the fourth quarter. Household purchasing power was expected to decrease slightly in the final two quarters of 2013 because of taxes and inflationary pressure, INSEE said.

Nevertheless, consumer spending, seen as an important driver of the economic recovery, is forecast to grow by 0.1 percent in the third quarter and 0.3 percent in the fourth. — AFP

BUSINESS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2013

What would a US default look like?

WASHINGTON: Nobody knows exactly when America would default on its bills if Congress fails to raise a cap on government borrowing. But the recent past gives a pretty good idea of how a default could unfold. Even the Treasury Department can’t know how much tax revenue will come in each day after Oct 17, when it expects to hit its $16.7 trillion debt ceiling.

Nor can officials anticipate exact costs, such as how many people will apply for jobless benefits that week.

Yet we can infer how quickly the government might run out of cash by looking at the equivalent of the Treasury’s daily bank statements from that same period a year ago.

What follows is a timeline that shows what a default might look like, based on daily Treasury statements from October and November of 2012.

OCT 17 The Treasury Department exhausts all available tools to stay under the cap on borrowing and can no longer add to the national debt. Treasury expects it would still have about $30 billion cash on hand to cover its bills. Among the many inflows and outflows that day, it takes in $6.75 billion in taxes but pays out $10.9 billion in Social Security retirement checks. By the end of the day, its cushion has eroded to $27.5 billion.

OCT 18 - OCT 29 Treasury’s cash reserve quickly dwindles. Washington only takes in about 70 cents for every dollar it spends and is now unable to issue new debt to cover the difference. The tide turns briefly on Oct. 22, when the government takes in $3.5 billion more than it spends.

But that temporary gain is soon erased.

Oct 24 is an especially rough day: Treasury pays $1.8 billion to defense contractors, $2.2 billion to doctors and hospitals that treat elderly patients through the Medicare program, and $11.1 billion in Social Security, while taking in only $9.6 billion in taxes and other income.

One possible wild card: Treasury could lose the trust of the bond market. Even though the government cannot add to the national debt at this point, it can legally roll over expiring debt. Investors have the opportunity to cash out about $100 billion worth of US debt every week but choose to reinvest it. If fear of default causes investors to steer clear of new debt offerings, Treasury’s finances could unravel almost overnight.

“It’s very hard to predict,” said Brian Collins, an analyst at the Bipartisan Policy Center, which helped Reuters with this analysis. “It’s the same thing that causes (bank) runs or credit markets to freeze.”

OCT 30 Default happens. By the end of the day, the government is $7 billion short of what it needs to pay all of its bills. So who gets stiffed?

Everybody, according to the Obama administration. Treasury says it doesn’t have the ability to pick and choose who

gets paid. The last time the government faced this situation in 2011, they planned to wait until public coffers were full enough to pay a full day’s bills before cutting any checks, according to a Treasury Department watchdog report from 2012.

That would mean delays for everybody: the local schools that are owed $680 million, welfare recipients owed $553 million and defense contractors owed $972 million. Some companies that count the government as a major customer would take a big hit. “If you’re Lockheed Martin ... it’s a big deal,” said R. Bruce Josten, the US Chamber of Commerce’s top lobbyist.

Payment delays would grow longer as the default continues, sapping billions of dollars out of the economy within days.

OCT 31 Things get really spooky on Halloween when a $6 billion interest payment to bondholders comes due. US Treasury bills are the foundation of the global financial system, a supposed risk-free investment that underpins everything from retirement portfolios to China’s export-driven economy.

A missed payment could shake that foundation. The United States currently pays some of the lowest interest rates in the world due to a strong history of repayment; those borrowing costs would almost certainly rise. Stock markets could tumble and nervous consumers could spend less of their money, further damaging the economy. For the Treasury Department, this is where the truly tough decisions begin. Does the government pay bondholders in China or troops in Afghanistan? The Obama administration says it doesn’t have the ability to prioritize payments, but analysts are convinced it would at least try.

“Not making an interest payment on time is probably a worse way to default than not making other payments,” Collins said.

NOV 1 At this point, the United States goes into truly unchartered territory. In theory, the government could keep bondholders whole indefinitely because tax revenues are more than enough to cover interest payments, and Treasury pays creditors through a separate system than other obligations.

That would mean longer delays for everybody else. US troops could fall behind on their rent payments, and seniors who rely on Social Security may have trouble buying groceries. If, on the other hand, the Treasury missed the Halloween interest payment and Washington shows no sign of resolving the crisis, the creditworthiness of the country could suffer.

That would throw the value of almost every financial instrument into question: the US dollar, bank loans in Asia, the cost of crop insurance in Illinois.

“A default would be unprecedented and has the potential to be catastrophic,” the Treasury said in a report on Thursday.

“The negative spillovers could reverberate around the world.” — Reutres

KUALA LUMPUR: China’s President Xi Jinping (left) and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak (right) walk after the Malaysia-China Economic Summit in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks with Malaysia’s leader yesterday as part of a Southeast Asian charm offensive, with analysts saying he had the floor to himself after Barack Obama scrapped his own Asia tour. — AFP

China leader eyes more trade with Malaysia Two-way trade to go up to $160bn by 2017 KUALA LUMPUR: China and Malaysia announced plans yesterday to significantly boost trade in the next five years through measures such as supporting industrial parks in each other’s countries.

Leaders of both nations said during a visit to Malaysia by Chinese President Xi Jinping that the plans would increase two-way trade to $160 billion by 2017. China is Malaysia’s top trading partner. Trade between the two countries totaled $94.8 billion in 2012. “We would like to participate and cooperate in promoting the prosperity and stability of the region,” Xi said in brief remarks to reporters after talks with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.

Both sides said they would collaborate on industrial parks in each other’s countries, explore joint investment opportunities, broaden the use of local currencies in trade and also hope to work together on rail and university projects. Xi said China also wants closer cooperation with Malaysia

in areas such as defense, naval and military exchanges, security, law enforcement and combating terrorism and transnational crime. Najib said he plans to visit China next year. He said he had “great confidence that under (Xi’s) leadership, China will continue to make much progress and become an economic powerhouse and a major force in providing momentum for global economic growth.”

In a subsequent speech to business leaders in Kuala Lumpur, Xi called for closer regional cooperation to ensure sustainable growth and said that “going forward, Asia will continue to be the primary choice for China as it opens up its economy.”

He said China remains “committed to reforms and economic restructuring” to sustain its own growth.

Xi traveled to Kuala Lumpur on Thursday after visiting Indonesia’s capital and is also scheduled to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Bali. — AP

Not all agencies taking a hit in US WASHINGTON: As many high-profile agencies sit idle because of the federal government shutdown, others are humming along just fine, thank you. Many of them have escaped the fiscal ax because they pay much of their own way, or enjoy a revenue stream that’s insulated from Congress.

That means the cable bill and weekly grocery ads will still fill the mailbox, due to the stamps and other items the post office sells.

Social Security checks, food stamps and some other benefits will also show up on time because they are either funded with payroll taxes or otherwise deemed necessary and paid for in ways that keep them protected from lapsed budgets.

It also means applications for immigration benefits - everything from green cards to immigrants trying to change their immigration status - will still be processed. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the arm of the Homeland Security Department that handles the administrative side of legal immigration, runs on user fees and is still handling a bevy of applications.

While most government websites are inaccessible or not being updated during the shutdown, the immigration site advises people to report for interviews and appointments as scheduled because “fee-for-service activities performed by USCIS are not affected” by the budget impasse on Capitol Hill. The only thing the agency can’t do without a budget is run E-Verify, a program that lets employers check the legal work status of employees. The Federal Reserve, the nation’s central banker, is also operating as usual. The Fed not only doesn’t cost the government any money, but it hands off any profits to the Treasury. The Supreme Court also will conduct normal operations until at least the end of next week.

Among other functions that remain open, all of which take in user fees or have dedicated revenue streams that don’t depend on Congress: Passport offices run by the State Department, along with US citizen services at foreign consulates. The State Department is also still accepting and processing visa applications for foreign travelers who want to visit the United States.—AP

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2013

Julianne Moore gets star on Hollywood ‘Walk of Fame’ Page 22

Hong Kong tattoo convention aims to make its mark Page 23

A model presents a creation titled ‘The 4th Element’ by New Zealand’s Beatrice Carlson during the World of Wearable Arts show in Wellington. —AFP

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2013

Review

A

painful retelling of the Nov 22, 1963, assassination of President Kennedy in which the two least important players seem to be JFK and Lee Harvey Oswald, “Parkland” dramatizes the immediate impact of that tragedy on the lives of civilians, professionals and others tangentially involved. Comparisons with “Bobby” can’t be helped, since it took a similar approach to the equally shocking death of Robert F Kennedy, though that film seems like a masterpiece compared with this inadvertently tacky restaging of events.

Timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the tragedy, this film will swiftly be forgotten in the face of more tasteful mementos.

If you’ve ever wanted to know the expression on Abraham Zapruder’s face when his Super 8 camera captured history’s most famous snuff film, or to see the footage reflected in his eyeglasses right after it has been developed, “Parkland” is your movie. Writer-director Peter Landesman offers a reverse-shot on history, depicting the little people pulled into the maelstrom of confusion that surrounded Kennedy’s killing. But mostly, it feels like witnessing someone play a cruel jack-inthe-box trick on dozens of innocent bystanders, watching the belief in humanity fade from one face after another, as when Jackie (Kat Steffens) learns that her husband is dead, or Oswald’s brother Robert (James Badge Dale) hears the news on the radio.

Based on the first 700 or so pages of Vincent Bugliosi’s “Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy,” a solid piece of reportage by the author (and prosecuting attorney) behind “Helter Skelter,” “Parkland” would have

as the priest who delivers Kennedy’s last rites.

The only characters that rise above waxy re-creation in the whole affair are the Oswalds: Dale and Jacki Weaver, who plays Lee’s venom-spewing mother, Marguerite a real piece of work. Behind horn-rimmed glasses and a biting Southern accent, Weaver delivers a camp performance totally out of synch with the rest of the ensemble.

Named after the Dallas hospital where Kennedy was treated, “Parkland” spans four days in a very tight bubble. Apart from Walter Cronkite’s famous sign-off following JFK’s funeral, there’s little sense of how anyone outside this microcosm of characters reacted to events, the exception being Jack Ruby, whose shooting of Oswald also conforms to the movie’s curious style of rendering key events as obliquely as possible.

It’s as if Landesman wants to break from the now-cliched footage Americans already associate with this tragedy, attempting to fresh images in their place. But This film image released by Exclusive Media Entertainment shows, introduce from no one really needs the sight of a bloodleft, Paul Giamatti as Abraham Zapruder, Paul Sparks as Harry spattered Jackie cupping a handful of JFK’s McCormick, and Billy Bob Thornton as Forrest Sorrels, the head of the skull and brain matter, while the irony feels Secret Service in Dallas, in a scene from Parkland. -AP forced when asking the same Parkland staff been considerably easier to stomach in doc- offers Secret Service agent Forrest Sorrels who had lost Kennedy to treat Oswald or umentary form. Instead, we get a bizarre (Billy Bob Thornton), the sort of banal dia- cross-cutting between their funerals. The mix of Oscar winners and softball actors, as logue that begs the question of whether pic badly miscalculates such mock-poetic jittery hand-held cameras find Marcia Gay anyone could muster a less dramatic heavy-handedness as the classy approach, Harden working alongside “High School retelling of events. Granted, Landesman making it worse by slathering it all in a Musical” heartthrob Zac Efron in the ER feels an obligation to history, but there’s score that alternates between patriotic where doctors tried to save the president’s something ponderously obvious about the horns and cheesy suspense music. life. (Fun fact: For the sake of dignity, super- way so many of these scenes are played: “Parkland,” an Exclusive release, is rated vising physician Charles James Carrico evi- Paul Giamatti is sweaty and panting breath- PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of dently ordered that they leave Kennedy’s lessly as Zapruder; Ron Livingston looks America for “bloody sequences of ER trauboxer shorts on while trying to resuscitate shell-shocked and blank as FBI agent James ma procedures, some violent images and P. Hosty, who failed to investigate Oswald; language, and smoking throughout.” him.)

“This was not supposed to happen,” Jackie Earle Haley has nothing to work with Running time: 94 minutes. — AP

Julianne Moore gets star on Hollywood ‘Walk of Fame’

A Jane Fonda arrives for the screening of the film Promised Land at the 63rd edition of the Berlinale, International Film Festival in Berlin, Germany. — AP

Jane Fonda to receive film achievement award

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ane Fonda will receive the American Film Institute’s 42nd Life Achievement Award, one of Hollywood’s most prestigious career honors. “Jane Fonda is American film royalty,” AFI chairman Howard Stringer said in a statement released Thursday. “A bright light first introduced to the world as the daughter of Henry Fonda, the world watched as she found her own voice and forged her own path.”

At 75, Fonda’s career hasn’t slowed, including roles in “Lee Daniels’ The Butler” and HBO’s “The Newsroom.” The AFI award will be presented at a star-studded gala on June 5, 2014, to be televised later that month on TNT. — AP

merican actress Julianne Moore received the 2,507th star on Hollywood Boulevard’s “Walk of Fame” Thursday, during a ceremony surrounded by colleagues from her career in film. Wearing a yellow dress and white heels, Moore unveiled her star, located opposite Hollywood’s historic Pantages Theatre, one week before the release of her latest film “Carrie,” a remake of the classic 1976 horror flick. “Growing up it never even occurred to me that it was possible to be an actor for a living,” Moore, 52, said.

“But I did it because my favorite thing to do was read and it was a way for me to imagine that I was in the book and I loved it,” Moore said. Multiple colleagues from Moore’s career in film were present to honor her, including Jay Roach, director of the HBO television movie “Game Change.” Moore’s performance as US vice-presidential hopeful Sarah Palin in the 2012 film won her an Emmy Award for best TV movie actress.

Working alongside Moore, Roach said “everybody has to step it up. Everyone has to work much harder And she’s not pushing people or trying to control everything. She’s just collaborative and patient and generous.” “The only down-

side to work with Julianne Moore is that you become addicted to working with Julianne Moore,” Roach said. Actor-director Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who shares the screen with Moore in “Don Jon,” which he directed and is currently in theaters, honored his colleague as well.

“She’s not faking it when she’s per-

forming. She’s feeling what the character is feeling. It’s a very difficult thing to do,” Gordon-Levitt said. Nominated four times for an Oscar, Moore has nearly 60 films under her belt including “Boogie Nights,” “The Big Lebowski,” “Magnolia,” “Hannibal,” “Son of Man” and “Crazy, Stupid, Love.” — AFP

Actress Julianne Moore poses on her just unveiled Hollywood, California.

AFP

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SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2013

Photo shows Myanmar’s 25-year-old Moe Set Wine waving as she sits along with runners-up on stage after she was selected as the first Miss Universe contestant to represent Myanmar in more than 50 years during a contest in Yangon.

— AFP photos

Myanmar picks first Miss Universe hopeful in half-cent W

ith a whiff of controversy and not a bikini in sight, a US-educated business graduate was selected as the first Miss Universe contestant to represent Myanmar in more than 50 years. Moe Set Wine will take her place on stage at the global beauty pageant in Moscow next month, reflecting dramatic political and social changes in the former junta-ruled nation which last fielded a Miss Universe contender in 1961. “I feel like now I am part of the history and I feel like a soldier that is doing something for the country and my people,” she said after winning the trophy late on Thursday.

“I’m still in shock. I still can’t believe it. I feel really happy, because now I get the chance to represent my country,” added the 25-year-old, who has a BA in business marketing from California Lutheran University. According to the contest website, Moe Set Wine’s ambition is to “obtain self-accomplishment and be able to help/give the people in need.” Hemlines are rising in the nation formerly known as Burma as it opens up to the world after decades of iron-fisted military rule ended in

2011. President Thein Sein’s quasi-civilian government has released hundreds of political prisoners, welcomed Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy party into parliament and scrapped draconian censorship measures. But while many young people are embracing the fashion revolution, not everyone approves of scanty dress. When racy shots of one model wearing a two-piece swimsuit appeared online a few years ago, she received abuse and threats. So the Miss Universe hopefuls were careful not to bare any midriff in the swimsuit section, while long dresses were the garment of choice elsewhere in the show.

“My personal view is that the competition presents a good image of our country, but if you look at what they wear, it is not what a lot of people here like,” Deputy Culture Minister Than Swe told AFP. Songwriter Saw Khuse, who was one of the judges, said he was “very proud” to take part in the event. “After 50 years, I am very glad that Myanmar has been invited to participate in this kind of compe-

tition,” he added.

Myanmar’s traditional dress, which is still mandatory in high schools, universities and most state workplaces, is the demure “longyi”-a sheet of cotton or silk cloth wrapped around the waist and stretching to the feet. But the younger generation, especially young urban women, are increasingly shunning the national garb and embracing unconventional alternatives as they brush aside concerns about morals and modesty. The country has succumbed to the “Korean wave”-the South Korean cultural invasion that has flooded much of Asia and the wider world with its soap operas, films, “K-pop” and clothing.

“Myanmar people dared not wear clothes like this in the past. Now things are improving, and people dare to wear things, so as a designer I can create what I like. So I’m glad things are changing,” said Htay Htay Tin, who designed the contestants’ outfits. What about the swimsuits? “I wouldn’t dare to wear one, but they are part of the competition,” she said. — AFP

Hong Kong tattoo convention aims to make its mark V

isitors flocked yesterday to a Hong Kong tattoo convention, the first to be held in the southern Chinese city where tattoos were once seen as a sign of triad gang membership. The show features more than 30 artists from countries ranging from South Africa to mainland China. It aims to challenge “that old-fashioned notion that it’s just gangsters and sailors” who get tattoed, co-organizer Jay Foss Cole told AFP. Hong Kong’s lawyers, doctors and university professors all sport the skin designs, said Foss Cole, also known as Jay FC, and they also appeal to people in creative industries. Visitors, many of whom wore revealing clothing to display their own prized body sketches, browsed through designs, chose new ones and checked out different marking pens and techniques. Spectators were awestruck by the sight of four near-nude male models showcasing their colorful full-body tattoos in Japanese style.

“I got mine because I love it,” said one of the models. The work took 12

hours. Others sprawled on the beds or chairs of tattoo artists and watched

A man gets a tattoo at the Hong Kong China Tattoo Convention in Hong Kong yesterday. — AFP

intently as intricate designs were inked onto their skin. Historically tattoos on younger Chinese have largely been the preserve of triad gangsters, but the designs have begun to gain popularity among the mainstream community in recent years.

“Young people are changing their minds, not like before when they thought only mafia members wore them. Now it’s more like art,” Beijingbased tattoo artist Qi Xulong, known as “Little Dragon”, told AFP. “Long time ago, Chinese people in Beijing and Shanghai, they don’t think that tattoos are good,” Qi said, adding that now people increasingly use tattoos to express their identities. Foss Cole said Hong Kong’s tattoo culture is improving. “There’s more artists, there’s better artists, there’s more style, and there’s never been anything like this,” he said of the show. The convention, he said, shows that Hong Kong “has arrived as a world-class destination for tattoos and tattoo artists”. — AFP

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2013

Musicians Korey Cooper, left, and John Cooper of the Christian rock band Skillet play music inside of their home. (Right) Members of the Christian rock band Skillet, from right, John Cooper, Jen Ledger, Korey Cooper and Seth Morrison signing autographs for fans, they affectionately call panheads, before a show in the Tinley Park section of Chicago.

Skillet is starting to win mainstream music fans

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killet has long been much more than a pan to Christian music fans, but a new set of mainstream music lovers are starting to get to know the rock band that has been around since the mid-1990s. Skillet released its eighth album, “Rise,” this June - coming off its best-selling album, “Awake,” which went platinum after three years. But singer John Cooper hardly feels famous. “I like to tell people that Skillet is biggest selling band that you’ve never heard of,” said Cooper at his home in Kenosha, Wis. “People think I’m famous all the time, but they don’t know who Skillet is,” he said. “They always think I’m somebody else. They always think I’m Johnny Knoxville or Ryan Seacrest or somebody like that.” Off stage, Cooper and his wife, Korey, who also plays guitar and keyboards, live far from the spotlight in Kenosha, a southern Wisconsin city of about 100,000 people where Korey grew up. She has family nearby and her father started a church in the

area in the 1970s. Drummer Jen Ledger, an England native, also lives in Kenosha and attends the same church.

John Cooper helped start the band in Memphis 1996, but they’ve had lineup changes over the years. Currently, it’s the Coopers, Ledger and lead guitarist Seth Morrison, who lives in Memphis. He joined in 2011, and “Rise” was his first album with the band. They’ve continually won over Christian rock fans, even being nominated in 2005 and 2007 for Grammy Awards in the best rock gospel album category. The song that helped cross them over to the rock charts was “Whispers in the Dark,” from the 2006 album “Comatose.” They’ve since had several songs on Billboard’s rock chart.

When the Coopers sat down to write “Rise,” they reflected on the success of “Awake” - but didn’t find many answers. “No one really knows why our last album went platinum,” Korey Cooper said. “... So there’s even added

pressure of how do you follow up something nobody can really put a handle on why it was successful.” It could be of the energy they’ve put into relentlessly touring, concentrating on both mainstream and Christian crowds. They are in South America starting Thursday and will join Nickelback in Europe Oct 26.

“Rise” made its debut at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 chart and No. 1 on the Top Rock Albums and Alternative Albums charts. And this comes after the group’s last album in 2009, “Awake,” reached No. 2. Despite their success, they’ve not had that one giant crossover hit, said Anthony Delia, senior vice president of marketing for their label, Atlantic.

“We’ve not been critical darlings,” he said. “It’s hard a lot of times when you don’t have that early in your career. It becomes very hard to come by as you continue to develop because I think some publications write you off because they had written you off.”

Their songs are not overtly religious and are

open to interpretation - the intention of John Cooper, who writes most of the lyrics. In “American Noise,” for instance: “Times will be bad, times will be good, Things I wish I hadn’t done and somehow wish I could, Cutting through the American noise, You’ve got a voice and a song to sing.” “We write them through our world view, through my faith in Jesus, but I write it in a way that can interpreted into lots of different things,” he said. “And I think Skillet’s music brings people together. I don’t think it alienates people of certain beliefs.” Even in the Christian crowd, they can’t seem to win everyone over. “There is a certain sect of Christian people who believe that Christian music should be extremely overt,” Cooper said. Cooper said he once had a promoter tell him they would be far more popular if they stopped talking about Jesus. He disagrees. “I think (fans) just appreciate that we stand for something,” he said, “that we are real about it and not embarrassed about it.” — AP

Queen musical aims to rock you on national tour

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musical built around songs by the rock band Queen has found a kind of magic abroad, charming European audiences for years. Now, its producers hope another group will finally go gaga for it Americans. Eleven years after “We Will Rock You” debuted in London and spawned tours in Australia, Japan, Spain, Russia, South Africa and Italy, its first North American tour kicks off this month. “We decided to take our time,” says producer Jane Rosenthal, whose Tribeca Theatrical Productions, which she co-founded with Robert De Niro, will put the show on the road. “We decided to let America wait.”

Boasting an original futuristic story by British comedian and writer Ben Elton, the show contains 24 of Queen’s biggest songs including “Another One Bites the Dust,” “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” “We Are the Champions,” “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “We Will Rock You.” Elton worked with the surviving members of Queen and the family of the late singer Freddie Mercury to write a love story in a dystopian future studded with “perhaps the most theatrical rock music of all time.”

The tour launches in Baltimore on Oct. 15 and hits more than a dozen states and Canada over the next year, ending next summer in Los Angeles. It will star Brian Justin Crum and Ruby Lewis. Set in a future when musical

instruments are banned, individuality is taboo and everything is controlled by an international corporation, a small band of rebels wants to break free from the mindless dance music and celebrity gossip - called “gaga” that’s imposed from above.

A hero emerges - Galileo Figaro - who teams up with a girl - Scaramouche (both names are lifted from the lyrics to the rock opera tune “Bohemian Rhapsody”) - and together they seek to resurrect real rock music. Songs include “Radio Ga Ga,” “Under Pressure” and “A Kind of Magic.” “This is a way of taking this spectacular deep and rich catalog and being able to tell stories with it,” says Rosenthal. “It defies any demographic.” Critics in England were less than kind when the show began its run in 2002, with the Times saying it was “so awful, it’s almost entertaining” and the Guardian calling it “ruthlessly manufactured.” The Daily Mirror went so far as to say that “Ben Elton should be shot for this risible story.”

But “We Will Rock You” simply wouldn’t bite the dust. The show is still on in London’s West End and has spawned several tours through 17 countries, playing to over 15 million people. A stripped down version opened in Las Vegas in 2004 but lasted only a year. Elton, who helped write the groundbreaking TV comedies “Mr. Bean” and “The Young Ones,” was initially approached by

This image released by Shore Fire Media shows the cast of “We Will Rock You.” — AP the surviving members of Queen to help them write a musical about Mercury. He immediately thought that was a terrible idea.

Instead, inspired by the Legend of King Arthur, “The Matrix” and George Orwell’s “1984,” Elton penned a satirical story that tweaks corporate show business for sucking away individuality. He has been able to update certain sections of the script to stay technologically relevant over the years, adding jokes about Facebook or Twitter as they got topical. “Because it’s a satire and a comedy, the terms of reference change,” he says. “I’ll probably bang a twerking gag in for a month. It won’t last long.

The show can contain that.” —AP

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2013

Film tells story of Muhammad Ali’s draft fight He is now so much a part America’s social fabric that it’s hard to comprehend a time when Muhammad Ali was more reviled than revered. Barely past the opening credits of a new documentary about Ali, though, we get a glimpse of how many Americans felt about him during a tumultuous time in the country’s history. “I find nothing amusing or interesting or tolerable about this man,” television host David Susskind said, nearly spitting his words out in a 1968 broadcast as Ali looked on. “He’s a disgrace to his country, his race, and what he laughably describes as his profession.”

In this May 25, 1965 file photo, heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali stands over fallen challenger Sonny Liston in Lewiston, Maine. — AP photos

In this April 22, 1967 file photo, heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali, center right, rear, wearing a white shirt and tie, holds a paper as he addresses a rally at Howard University in Washington.

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he scene in “The Trials of Muhammad Ali” - now playing in selected theaters - is then juxtaposed with one of President George W. Bush giving Ali the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005. From draft-dodging pariah to hero, Ali’s long and sometimes painful journey was finally complete. For those who didn’t live in the time and are only faintly aware of the tale, it is a remarkable one. For those who grew up in the era and know well Ali’s impact on a country just beginning to come to terms with race relations, it’s a refresher course, complete with clips of Ali at his bombastic - and to some, scary - best.

“I don’t have to be what you want me to be,” Ali is shown telling reporters the morning after his first fight with Sonny Liston in 1964, when he announced to the world he was a follower of the Nation of Islam. Boxing fans were already wary of his involvement with the Black Muslim movement, but he became a pariah to even more when he refused induction to the Army at the height of the Vietnam War as a conscientious objector, famously saying, “I ain’t got no quarrel with the Viet Cong.” Banned from boxing and facing five years in prison, he spent three prime fighting years on the sideline while the courts debated what to do with him. Once the heavyweight champion of the world, he became a speaker on college campuses to make a living and keep his cause before the public.

“You’re talking about a man being hit with the war situation and taking a stand along with his involvement with the Nation of Islam.

It was new turf,” said Khalilah Camacho-Ali,

In this Nov 9, 2005 file photo, President Bush presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom to boxer Muhammad Ali in the East Room of the White House. his wife at the time, who is interviewed in the drama that airs Saturday night on HBO. film. “He was comfortable making his deci- “Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight” uses actors sions, but the thing that was hard to bear was including Christopher Plummer, Ed Begley, Jr whether he would fight again. It didn’t look and Peter Gerety to play Supreme Court juslike a hopeful battle.” Ali would eventually tices, but Ali himself is taken from the clips of win the battle, and go on to not only regain the era at his oratorical best. “Why tell his stothe heavyweight title but become the most ry when he tells it himself?” said Shawn Slovo, famous athlete of his time. The US Supreme the movie’s writer. But tell a story the HBO Court finally took up his case and reversed his movie does, though some liberties are taken conviction on a technicality in 1971 in a deci- for entertainment’s sake. Among them are the sion that surprised some considering the justices being shown at one point gathering in the basement of the Supreme Court buildtenor of the times.

The decision itself is also the subject of a ing to watch sex movies for a case before

them on pornography, and a clerk smoking marijuana in a court bathroom.

It’s surprisingly engrossing, though, for a movie that revolves almost entirely around the legal process. At the center of it is a clerk for Justice John Harlan II, who convinces him to switch his vote so that Ali’s conviction would be overturned on a technicality and he would not have to go to prison. The movie and the documentary aren’t related except that they both feature Ali. They do, however, share funny clips from when Ali - complete with big Afro and beard - is shown singing in the 1969 Broadway musical “Buck White.”

A man had to make a living, but Ali’s days as an actor were numbered when the play closed after seven performances. CamachoAli, who was married to Ali from 1967-77, said she never gave up hope during her husband’s dark period that he would be allowed to fight again, though Ali himself had his doubts. “My frame of mind was more positive than his was and it helped keep him afloat,” she said. “The best thing for Ali at the time was to keep him focused on his family life. That’s all we had to work with.”

Camacho-Ali hasn’t seen her former husband - now married to his fourth wife, Lonnie since they both attended Joe Frazier’s funeral in 2011. But she still feels protective of Ali, with whom she had four children, and believes the documentary is a way of educating people to the times they lived in and what they went through. “I’m tired of people giving the wrong information,” she said. “You’re talking about one of the most famous people in recent history. The facts should be correct.” — AP

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2013

Farhadi returns to Iran as new regime ‘Generates a Great Deal of Hope’ D

irector Asghar Farhadi has had a rocky relationship with the government and the cultural ministry of Iran. Although his films have represented the country three times in the Academy Awards race for Best Foreign Language Film - and one of them, “A Separation,” won Iran’s only Oscar - he left the country to live in France for two years after clashing with the culture ministry and speaking out against censorship. But now, as Iran is in the news because of the thawing of relations with the United States, Farhadi has returned to Tehran to live.

His new film, “The Past,” is once again the Iranian selection in the Oscar race and a favorite for a nomination - though the selection has met with some criticism inside Iran, because the predominately French-language film is set in Paris and stars French actress Berenice Bejo.

“The Past,” which will be released in December by Sony Classics, was chosen only two days before the Academy’s Oct 1 deadline and two weeks after new Iranian deputy culture minister Hojjatollah Ayoubi reopened the House of Cinema, a center for filmmakers and artists that had been closed by the previous hardline regime two years earlier.

Both the reopening and the selection of Farhadi’s film are seen as signs of tolerance in the new government of moderate President Hassan Rowhani, whose recent exchange of letters and phone conversation with President Obama was hailed as another sign of progress.

Farhadi declined to speak in greater depth about the politics of his home country, but he celebrated what he sees as positive changes in a recent conversation (done through a translator) with TheWrap.

Q: What is your current relationship like with the government, and the cultural ministry?

A: I spent a couple of years in France, and then went back to Iran recently. And in regards to those that have been newly appointed, it’s a little early for me to say. But the individual that’s been responsible for cinema, just in the very short time that he’s been appointed, has

This is true of my other films as well. It’s just like those Russian dolls you open and there’s another one inside. But in “The Past,” there is an aspect of the structure that did not exist in my previous films. It’s a kind of domino effect, where the dominoes are set up in a row and one of them knocks the rest down.

The first time I wrote the story, I actually chose the title “Domino.”

A picture taken on May 17, 2013 shows Iranian director Asghar Farhadi and Argentineanborn French actress Berenice Bejo posing during a photocall for the film “The Past” presented in Competition at the 66th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes. — AFP done some very good things. He’s reopened the House of Cinema, which was closed for a very long time. And the things that he has said seem to indicate that he is quite progressive. It’s generated a great deal of hope in Iranian filmmakers. Therefore I feel that these people, I’m not going to have any difficulties with them.

Q: Do you see yourself making movies in Iran again?

A: I have a few stories that I’ve been thinking of.

Some of them take place inside Iran, and some of them take place outside Iran. I’ve only just started thinking about it, so probably by the end of the year I’ll decide which one I’m working on.

Q: Was it important to set “The Past” in

France rather than Iran?

A: At first glance, one would think that this film could also be made in Iran. But in the details, there are very many differences. Because the story is built on details, if it had been made in Iran it would have been an entirely different film.

Q: In what way?

A: In terms of the culture, we Iranians are more restrained. We’re less liable to reveal ourselves easily. There are times where we might hold a secret our entire life and not tell it to anyone. I needed a woman who very easily would tell her secrets. I always felt that if this woman were Iranian, it would be very odd for me to have her constantly tell her secrets in front of everyone. The story is built around the gradual revelation of a series of secrets.

Earl Sweatshirt finally finds his happy place E

arl Sweatshirt thinks about it for a second and admits something surprising. “I’m pretty (expletive) happy all the time now, to be honest,” he says. Hip-hop’s troubled prince says during a recent phone interview that having his much-anticipated major label debut, “Doris,” out is a relief and everything has been perfect in the time since it debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 chart. He’s just boarded his tour bus and was handed an advance copy of “Grand Theft Auto V.” All smiles all the time. “Everybody’s screaming,” he says.

“Everybody’s really excited.” This is an exceptional moment in the story of Thebe Kgositsile, who made a dazzling debut three years ago as the enigmatic wunderkind rapper Earl Sweatshirt, a prodigiously talented teen rapper who was rising to fame - but not necessarily in the way he daydreamed about. Sure, his ecstatically received debut “Earl” and membership in the suddenly hot Odd Future collective got him a bit of notoriety. Almost immediately, though, his mother, Cheryl Harris, enrolled him in a Samoan boarding school due to his behavior, and his story took on the quality of urban myth.

His disappearance from the public eye became one of the great

mysteries of music journalism with reporters trying to reconstruct his story without his participation. That he’s the son of South African poet laureate Keorapetse Kgositsile only added to the mythic quality.

Cries of “Free Earl!” were common on the web and rumor was taken as truth. The inability to control the narrative was frustrating, and the hype that ensued was impossible to match. Anticipation for new music was so high when he returned to the U.S. early last year, he wasn’t sure how he’d meet the expectations. All these experiences have changed him, he says in an animated moment.

“I don’t like anyone anymore,” Kgositsile said. “It ruined my human relations. Overall, the places that I’m in constantly that I have to be because it’s my job now, I hate so many people. ... It’s just rap is such a scummy place, dog. It’s like no other genre. And I’m not talking about rappers, per se. I’m talking about, the subculture of it is gross.” He chronicles the pressure of making “Doris” and tries to answer the nonstop questions about his past, his relationships with his parents and his friendship with Odd Future alpha Tyler, the Creator, in dense, dazzling bars that flow with the patience of molasses. —AP

Q: When you started writing the script, you were in the middle of working on something else, weren’t you?

A: I was working on a project that I had actually conceived of even before “A Separation.” It happened very accidentally. I was sitting in a cafe with [French playwright/actress] Yasmina Reza, and we were discussing ideas for the previous screenplay. And I suddenly said, “I want to tell you a memory I have about a friend.” I have no idea why I did that, but I told her about this friend of mine who had gone to Canada after many years to formalize a divorce and had lived at his ex-wife’s for a while. After finishing, I said, “Why don’t we write this? This is better.” And the following day I began working on this one.

Q: What was it about this story that grabbed your attention?

A: Let me put it this way - at the moment that I made that choice, I was going from 40 into the fifth decade of my life. Forty is an age from which you begin to constantly look behind you. Before, I was always looking forward. But the last couple of years, I’ve been thinking constantly about my childhood and about the past. Perhaps unconsciously, this feeling connected me to this particular story.

Q: Did you enjoy the awards experience with “A Separation?”

A: For that film, not just myself but the film and all its cast and crew, we received something over 100 awards. 100 prizes in a year, that’s like one every three days. After a certain time, it became ordinary. — Reuters

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2013

Water buffaloes are pictured at the Tenuta Vannulo dairy farm in Capaccio.

A German tourist pets a water buffalo.

Jazz and massage

Star treatment at Italian buffalo dairy

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queue forms for rub-downs as jazz piano tinkles out of the speakers: some of the best buffalo mozzarella in the world starts with in-stable VIP treatment.

Ducky, Sweety and Lady lumber towards the sound system, attracted to the smooth Keith Jarrett licks at the exclusive Tenuta Vannulo dairy in southern Italy. “The music helps them produce more milk because the animal feels more relaxed,” said 25-year-old Valentina Michelucci, a tousle-haired stable hand, who said she wants to try out some disco hits too.

“They’re very curious when they hear it.”

The half-ton black water buffaloes spend their days lounging on rubber mattresses, munching on organic hay or looking forward to vaporized showers that form a fine cooling mist from overhead pipes. When they feel the urge, they saunter into a special pen for automatic milking by a unique machine that knows the exact shape of each udder thanks to a code emitted by the electronic collars the buffaloes wear.

An employee makes buffalo mozzarella at the Tenuta Vannulo dairy farm in Capaccio on September 3, 2013. — AFP photos Or they can head to large round brushes that twist into action when the animals come into contact with them, providing a soothing back and shoulders massage. “Animals have to be treated well to produce stress-free milk,” Antonio Palmieri, owner of the 200-hectare (500-acre) farm, told AFP in an interview. The dapper Palmieri, wearing a panama hat, a col-

larless linen shirt and loafers, is seen as a pioneer for environmentally sustainable buffalo dairies.

“They can’t speak for themselves so it’s up to us to understand how they want to be cared for,” he said, sitting in a manicured garden next to his three stables, which house 500 buffaloes. The farm sells around 300 kilograms (800 pounds) of mozzarella per day for 13 euros a kilo-nearly $8 a pound. There’s just one catch: If you want it, you have to drive to the farm, 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Salerno, to buy it, as Palmieri does not bother with distribution-or marketing, for that matter.

Business is brisk anyway, thanks to the dairy’s word-of-mouth fame and international reputation among jet-setting buffalo milk aficionados. Around 45,000 customers visited the on-site farm shop in August alone. On a recent visit by AFP, dozens of cars were in the parking lot and a group of German tourists were touring the farm. Business has boomed despite Italy’s economic crisis. “You can really taste the buffalo milk. It’s a bit far away, but it’s worth it!” said one customer from Salerno, Anna Orzano, clutching her bag of ricotta and mozzarella.

The staple remains mozzarella but Vannulo also make a range of buffalo milk-based products including yoghurt, ice cream and, starting next year, chocolate. A workshop on the farm even produces buffalo-leather handbags and belts, and Palmieri said he plans to open a restaurant serving up buffalo steaks. Vannulo’s “is widely regarded as the best mozzarella,” said Piero Sardo, president of the Foundation for Biodiversity at Slow Food, an Italy-based international gourmet and eco-friendly farming group.

‘Milk is not simple’ “The well-being of animals is an important issue,” said Sardo, a cheese expert, although he admitted that the link between better treatment and tastier milk was scientifically “difficult to prove”. The history of buffalo dairying in Italy has been traced to the 12th century, but it remained a mainly local affair until relatively recently because of the difficulties in refrigerating the milk. Before the 1980s, most dairies in the region were small producers like Vannulo.

But in recent years, buffalo mozzarella has gone international and is now prized in the best restaurants from Dubai to Moscow to Sydney. The coveted cheese sells for 30 euros

a kilo in Russia. Expansion has brought problems too, including reports of large imports into Italy of buffalo milk from Central and Eastern Europe and the use of frozen or powdered milk. But Domenico Raimondo, head of Italy’s buffalo mozzarella consortium, which tries to enforce strict rules on the sector, said a return to the local market like Vannulo would be “anti-economic”.

From Vannulo’s stables, the porcelainwhite milk is poured into large vats for curdling. Its high water content is filtered off before a team of three workers begin trans-

forming it into mozzarella. “Milk is not simple, it is a living thing,” said Donato Brinca, 46, chief cheesemaker, as he stirred the milk into a paste and kneaded it to make mozzarella. “A good mozzarella needs to have a sweet taste and a hint of hazelnut,” he said. The lip-smacking result is a tough sell for the diet-conscious.

Fresh buffalo milk is about 8.0 percent fatmore than twice as much as cow’s milk.

Palmieri, whose family has been rearing livestock for generations, conceded: “Buffalo mozzarella is definitely tastier, but it’s not exactly dietary.” — AFP

Employees make buffalo mozzarella (above, below).

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2013

Beatrice Torre sells items made from huayruro hembra and el macho, which are bright red and black Amazonian seeds, outside the witches market in Lima, Peru.

(Right) Fernando Naveda, right, discusses the merits of a perfume mixture with its creator Maria Rios. — AP photos

Weird potions at witches market in Lima, Peru Question: What’s red and green and goes 175 miles an hour?

Answer: A frog in a blender.

T

hat gross-out kids’ riddle takes on new meaning at the massive, indoor witches market in Lima, Peru. Here, ingredients for one of the proffered potions include a live frog plucked from a fish tank, plus pollen, coca, quail egg, honey, a fruit called noni and agorrobina, a syrup made from the black carob tree. The slimy brown mixture, promises drink-maker Mario Lopez, will cure respiratory ailments, impotence and anemia, and also work as an aphrodisiac.

Mario Gonzales arranges a boa constrictor at his stand.

Lopez whips up the elixir for a woman suffering from asthma. He tosses the frog into a skillet for a quick sear before it is liquefied in the mixer. I’m here on a tour with a local guide, and Lopez offers me a sip. I have tried many strange foods worthy of Anthony Bourdain, including grasshopper, pig penis and snake bile wine, but even I couldn’t summon the courage to try this amphibious smoothie.

Whatever it may be that ails you, though, the witches market in Lima is bound to have a folk remedy that claims to cure it. Located in a dingy area of Central Lima underneath the Gamarra metro station, from the outside, the market looks like any other crowded building in an urban commercial district of wholesale stores, selling cheap goods and black-market brands.

The only indication that this dark, cavernous warehouse might be a little different is the table on the street outside wrapped with a gargantuan boa constrictor carcass, where Mario Gonzales sells jars of snake fat as an arthritic cure.

My guide to the maze of stalls in the witches market was a local artist and musician, Fernando Naveda. He was shopping for his brother, who is a shaman - someone who claims to have powers that include communicating with the spiritual world and using magic to cure sickness, divine spirits and control events.

As we made our way through the cramped aisles, we passed an other-worldly assortment of ingredients: dried llama fetuses, animal skins, monkey skulls and trinkets that looked like Halloween decorations. The scene from Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” came to mind, where the witch recites a recipe over a boiling caldron: “Eye of newt, and toe of frog, Wool of bat, and tongue of dog, Adder’s fork, and blindworm’s sting, Lizard’s leg, and owlet’s wing.” Peruvian culture is known for its shamans, witches, natural healers and practitioners of folk medicine. Before the

Mario Lopez pours a freshly mixed folk cure into a strainer.

Maria Rios organizes a display of candles.

Spanish conquest, mystics were an important intermediary between humans and gods. Many tourist towns, including Cuzco, Chiclayo and Arrequipa have witches markets tucked away in corners, but none of them rival the size of Lima’s behemoth

market. At one overflowing stand, Naveda sorted through a display of brightly colored candles. Some looked like ordinary candles, while others were molded into pornographic wax sculptures of couples locked into amorous poses.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2013 He chose several, along with black candles covered with chili seeds showing couples with a stake between them. His brother uses these in black magic rituals to end relationships perfect for that annoying ex-boyfriend who continues to text you.

The stand’s owner, Maria Rios, who hails from Iquitos in Peru’s Amazon jungle, also sells a variety of homemade perfumes, with all types of mystical uses. These potions, all in recycled clear bottles, are stuffed with seeds, plants, leaves and secret ingredients. Rios has been formulating the colognes based on recipes she says have been handed down for generations. She has been selling them for 25 years.

Some are purported to attract money, some will bring you luck, and others are supposed to keep you in good health. She opened one bottle that she promised would attract true love; it smelled good. Naveda continued through the market picking up odds and ends: coca leaves, which are used for fortune telling; San Pedro, a sacred cactus used to purify the earth; and hatun hampi, a jumble of various elements of the Peruvian terrain including seeds, vegetables, dirt, minerals and spices.

It is used in ceremonies as an offering to Pachamama or Mother Earth. He also explained the significance of some of the animal parts: the snake represents the underworld, the llama fetuses are buried underneath a person’s house as an offering for good luck and protection from evil.

Outside, a woman on the street, Beatrice Torre, was selling beads made from huayruro hembra and el macho, which are bright red and black Amazonian seeds believed to attract good luck and positive energy. She offered me a bracelet, saying I’d need it for protection to safeguard me on my coming journey.

She asked where I was going, and before I could realize that I’d never told her I was going anywhere, I said I was heading back to the States for my birthday. Maybe she smartly guessed that I was likely to be traveling because I was the only fair-haired person in the area and obviously not a local. But a week later as my plane arrived safely in Miami, I wondered if maybe there was something to those beads.

A dried reptile sits on a bottle of natural perfume.

If you go...

Lima witches market: Located in central Lima underneath the Gamarra station on Lima’s elevated metro. You can direct a taxi driver to the metro stop and ask for the mercado de brujas. Look for men selling python skins outside. — AP A bin of hatun hampi is shown.

A frog is seared in a pan at the stand of Mario Lopez.

A bug feast fit for Aztec kings makes a comeback A

feast fit for an Aztec king is making a comeback in Mexican restaurants serving some of the insect delicacies once relished by the country’s ancient rulers. It’s not Montezuma’s revenge, but can you stomach it? From the corner cantina to the refined white-linen cafe, chefs are writing up menus that could make a foodie’s skin crawl: furry worms, fly larvae and crunchy grasshoppers are just a few of the flavors being resurrected. “We are going through an insect boom,” said Daniel Ovadia, chef of Mexico City’s high-end Paxia restaurant.

“The escamoles-ant larvae that cost up to $100 per kilo-disappear immediately,” he said, referring to the eggs known as “Mexican caviar.” Ovadia freezes the eggs before frying them on a pan, otherwise the heat would make the precious caviar explode. He then serves them on a plate with guacamole and sprinkles dried chiles on top, returning some of the earthy texture of their former habitat. His restaurant also serves

the azotador, a worm with black fur, or shield bugs-known as jumiles in Mexicothat crawl around the plate with their six legs and wiggly antennae.

The jumiles, he explained, “make an impact when they are served alive because they taste better like that.” “We are experiencing nostalgia,” Ovadia said, and chefs are seizing on this yearning for the past by “giving value to the land.”

Crunchy grasshopper While such lively pre-Hispanic ingredients have now crawled their way onto porcelain plates of ritzy restaurants, they have long been standard fare at more laid-back joints, like Chon, in the capital’s blue-collar La Merced barrio. “Everything that walks, flies or crawls goes into the pan,” said chef Fortino Rojas as he cooked an egg omelette with fly larvae.

One of his creations is a mix of ant larvae with chrysanthemum petals and mango sauce.

But Rojas warns that such foods may not last much longer because environ-

mental pollution is destroying their habitat. Next to the city’s famed San Juan market, Pedro Hernandez sells bugs like crispy grasshoppers that are eaten with garlic and olive oil or lime as well as chunky maguey worms that live off the agave plant used to make drink. “We come here to buy them every rain season, we don’t miss the chance,” said Margarita Martin, a homemaker who bought half a kilo (one pound) of live, red maguey worms.

In June, Hernandez opened a restaurant, La Cocinita de San Juan, next to his shop where customers can try cooked insects or “buy the raw little critter and take the recipe home,” he said. Nicole Olivares, a medical student, tried for the first time fried maguey worms on a bed of sopes-maize dough shaped in a circle.

“They’re very good. They taste like meat,” she said. Her lunch partner, high school teacher Miguel Diaz, said the Mexican palate has “Westernized” and forgotten foods that “in addition to being tasty, are very nutritious.”

Bugs against hunger The UN Food and Agriculture Organization not only believes that bugs have nutritional benefits, the agency even suggested in a recent report that they can help combat hunger affecting two billion people worldwide. They can also act as an important supplement for children enduring malnutrition, the report said.

Gabriela Jimenez, an entomologist at National Autonomous University of Mexico, said the protein content of insects such as grasshoppers is double that of beef. “All insects have amino acid which is essential for humans, and their life cycle moves quickly.

They become adults within two months of being born on average while a female produces 800 offspring.”

Jimenez said Mexico, which competes with the United States for the title of the world’s fattest country, will develop a bigger appetite for insects. “They are not fattening,” she said. “You can make flour with any insect.” — AFP

TECHNOLOGY

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2013

France takes aim at Amazon to protect local bookshops PARIS: French lawmakers on Thursday took aim at Amazon to protect local bookshops by voting through a law that bars online booksellers from offering free delivery to customers on top of a maximum 5 percent discount on books. The law is part of France’s broader regulation of book prices and curbs on discounting, which was passed in 1981 by the Socialist government at the time to protect small bookshops from supermarket chains.

In the past decade, online outlets have challenged physical bookstores, prompting French publishers to lobby for a change in the law to stop what they

call Amazon’s “dumping” and “unfair competition”. According to a French parliamentary report, online book sales rose to 13.1 percent of total book sales in 2011 from 3.2 percent in 2003. The country is still home to more bookstores than most countries with 2,000-2,500 in a country of 65 million people, compared with 1,000 in Britain, which has roughly the same-sized population.

“The (book pricing) law is part of our cultural heritage,” said conservative lawmaker Christian Kert who sponsored the bill. France’s lower chamber, with the support of the Socialist government, passed the law unanimously. It will now

go to the Senate, which is expected to pass it by the end of the year. For its part, Amazon said the law would have the perverse effect of hurting sales of books from the back catalogue and from smaller publishing houses, which were often bought online. “All measures that aim to raise the price of books sold online will curb the ability of French people to buy cultural works and discriminates against those who buy online,” it said. The proposed law is only the latest example of France taking aim at US-based Internet giants. Last week the country’s data protection watchdog moved closer to fining Google for the way it stores and tracks

user information after the search engine ignored a three-month ultimatum to bring its practices in line with local law.

France has called on the European Union to regulate global Internet companies such as Google, Amazon and Facebook more aggressively, to counter their growing dominance of online commerce and services. It is pushing within the OECD and G20 organizations to tighten tax rules to make sure that Internet companies cannot avoid tax by locating their headquarters in low-cost EU countries. Amazon and Google are subject of ongoing tax audits in France. — Reuters

Apple exec hopes to get iTunes Radio international

This publicity photo released by Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment shows a scene from the video game franchise “Batman: Arkham Origins.” — AP

Batman set to begin again in ‘Arkham Origins’ game BURBANK: Ben Affleck is poised to portray a new incarnation of the Caped Crusader in a film that also features Superman.

However, the developers of the upcoming video game “Batman: Arkham Origins” are taking the character back to basics for the third installment in Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment’s popular “Arkham” series.

“Origins,” which is primed for release Oct 25, is set several years before 2009’s “Arkham Asylum” and its 2011 sequel “Arkham City.” The game unfolds over Christmas Eve during the second year of Bruce Wayne’s tenor as the Dark Knight.

The crime boss Black Mask has set a $50 million bounty on Batman’s cowl-covered head and enlisted several assassins to collect on it.

“Batman is not complete yet,” said Eric Holmes, the game’s creative director. “He’s not a smooth stone in the stream. He hasn’t become this well-rounded character that’s gone through a great deal of experience and really come to know who he is as a hero. He’s got fire in his belly and a commitment to the fight against crime, but he doesn’t fully understand what that means.”

During a demonstration of the action-adventure game last week, Holmes showed off a level where Batman stealthily sneaks into Gotham police headquarters. First, he shot to the roof and quietly took down a few corrupt SWAT members before maneuvering through the complex, where he eavesdropped on a young James Gordon and his teenage daughter, Barbara.

Holmes noted that “Origins,” which is being crafted by the Warner Bros Games Montreal studio instead of “Arkham Asylum” and “Arkham City” developer Rocksteady Studios, will dive deeper into Batman’s relationships with butler Alfred Pennyworth, future police commissioner James Gordon and Barbara Gordon, who goes on to become Batgirl and the Oracle.

“You do have certain expectations,” said Holmes. “You can’t kill Gordon because he’s alive in the other games, but you can tell interesting stories about how these characters became who they were and therefore have revelations in that form. Speaking as a fan, that’s what I’d want from a game in that space. I don’t want to just be told, ‘They met, and then they were friends.’” — AP

NEW YORK: Top Apple executive Eddy Cue says he’s “very pleased” with the initial rollout of iTunes Radio and hopes to have it running internationally as soon as possible. “One of our top priorities is to bring iTunes Radio obviously here in the UK but everywhere in the world,” Cue said last week in an interview from London.

“We certainly want to be in more than 100 countries.” Apple launched its music streaming service late last month as part of an update to its iOS 7 operating system.

Though a late entrant into the Internet radio service, in just its first week, it had 11 million users.

“We were very pleased, very pleased with the initial results,” said Cue, senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. In comparison, Pandora, the biggest online radio network, has 72 million listeners, while Spotify has 24 million.

Both Spotify and Pandora are also available as an app on iPhones, while all new iPhone models come with iTunes Radio and some older models can update their systems to have iTunes Radio.

Cue says there’s enough room for everyone, but adds: “We want to be the best.” Its service has gotten some mixed reviews, but Cue believes it stands out because Apple has been able to create a

better match of songs that listeners like.

“That’s a lot of the feedback that I’ve seen both that people have written about and certainly the emails,” he said. “It’s the quality of the stations,” he said. “The question and what the ability that we have that I felt was unique ... that we could have a radio station that played songs that you would really like.”

Cue spoke as iTunes was wrapping up its annual festival in London, which saw Justin Timberlake, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Elton John and a host of others perform for the entire month of September at the

Roundhouse Theatre. Fans worldwide could see the performances streamed live on an app designed for the festival and that were later available for purchase.

Cue said he’d like to see the festival expand its reach but keep its intimate setting at the Roundhouse, which holds about 3,000 people.

“We’ve had a lot of requests from places to take it bigger, but this I really believe is perfect,” he said. “If you wanna see some of these stars in ... bigger arenas, there are definitely plenty of opportunities to do that.” — AP

Tech investor Sequoia takes stake in flight search firm Skyscanner LONDON: Sequoia Capital, a US venture capital firm which has backed groups including Apple and Google, has taken a minority stake in flight search company Skyscanner, valuing the Edinburgh-based business at $800 million.

Sequoia, which has also worked with Cisco and Yahoo, did not give details on the level of funding but said Scottish Equity Partners would remain Skyscanner’s largest investor.

Skyscanner, which describes itself as the world’s second largest flight search company, was founded in 2003 to offer a free flight search service as well as comparisons for hotels and car hire.

Its mobile app has been downloaded over 25 million times and its web site attracts over 25 million

unique users a month. Michael Moritz, Sequoia’s chairman, will join Skyscanner’s board.

“Skyscanner is one of the best technology companies ever to come out of Europe and is already a leading global player,” he said.

“Our job is to help take its current success a step further.”

Skyscanner spokesman Nick Freer said the company had secured more than $3.6 billion worth of travel bookings for its airline partners. At the end of December last year it posted $51.8 million of revenues, up 65 percent on the previous year. Earnings before tax were $18.6 million, a 153 percent increase on the previous year. Sequoia had previously invested in rival Kayak, which was sold last year to discount travel website Priceline.com. — Reuters

TECHNOLOGY

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2013

Twitter dishes tantalizing tidbits in IPO treatise

File photo shows a Twitter icon on the display of a smartphone in Berlin. — AP

Instagram to start showing advertisements NEW YORK: Instagram, the mobile photo-sharing app owned by Facebook Inc, says it will start showing “occasional” photo and video advertisements in the coming months. It’s Instagram’s first step toward making money.

While users can already follow brands and businesses, part of the app’s appeal has been its simplicity and, for some, a lack of advertisements.

To ease users into seeing ads, the company said in a blog post Thursday that it will focus on showing “a small number” of “high-quality photos and videos” from a handful of brands. Facebook bought Instagram last fall for $715.3 million, $300 million of it in cash and the rest in stock. The app has more than 150 million users and is especially popular with teenagers and young adults. — AP

Adobe says source code, customer data stolen by hackers

A

dobe Systems Inc said on Thursday that hackers had stolen source code to some of its most popular software and data about millions of its customers. Security experts worry about the theft of source code because close review of the programs can lead to the discovery of new flaws that can be used to launch hardto-detect attacks against all users of that software. The hackers took source code for Adobe Acrobat, which is used to create electronic documents in the PDF format, as well as ColdFusion and ColdFusion Builder, used to create Internet applications, Adobe said.

Adobe Chief Security Officer Brad Arkin said the company had been investigating the breach since its discovery two weeks ago and that it had no evidence of any attacks based on the theft.

“Based on our findings to date, we are not aware of any specific increased risk to customers as a result of this incident,” Arkin wrote on an Adobe blog.

Arkin said hackers also took information on 2.9 million Adobe customers, including their names, user identification numbers and encrypted passwords and payment card numbers. He said the attacks may be related. The company said it was resetting passwords for affected customers worldwide and warning people to change any passwords reused at other sites. The US Department of Homeland Security’s computer incident response team on Thursday warned that Adobe customers should be on the alert for fraud.

Adobe said it was working with banks and federal law enforcement to mitigate intrusions on customer accounts and to pursue those responsible. The company said it had been helped by cyber security journalist Brian Krebs and security expert Alex Holden, who found a cache of Adobe code while probing attacks at three major US data providers. Krebs wrote on his blog, KrebsonSecurity.com, on Thursday that the two men discovered the code while investigating breaches at Dun & Bradstreet Corp, Altegrity Inc’s Kroll Background America Inc and Reed Elsevier’s LexisNexis Inc. He said the Adobe code was on a server that he believed was used by those who hacked into LexisNexis and the others. The hackers offered Social Security numbers, credit report information and other highly sensitive data for sale over the Internet and had access inside the companies’ websites through hacked computers, Krebs said. In a 10-Q filing on Thursday, Adobe referred to the recent attacks in one paragraph. “We do not believe that the attacks will have a material adverse impact on our business or financial results,” it said. “It is possible, nevertheless, that this incident could have various adverse effects.”—Reuters

SAN FRANCISCO: Twitter, a privately held company built on blurbs, has finally laid itself bare in documents that read more like a treatise than a tweet. The roughly 800-page filing Twitter Inc. released late Thursday on its way to an eagerly anticipated IPO contains tantalizing tidbits about its growth and its attempts to make money from its influential short messaging service. Prospective investors and rivals alike will dissect and digest those morsels during the next few weeks leading up to the San Francisco company’s Wall Street debut.

The suspense surrounding Twitter’s IPO was heightened by the company’s decision to take advantage of a law passed last year that allows companies with less than $1 billion in annual revenue to keep their IPO documents under seal until management is ready to make formal presentations to investors. Thursday’s lifting of the veil means Twitter can start pitching investors during a so-called “road show” as early as Oct 24. The company’s stock should begin trading under the ticker symbol “TWTR” before Thanksgiving, barring a market meltdown or regulatory hurdles. Here are five key details revealed in Twitter’s tome: Twitter’s got growth to get excited about After Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey sent out the first tweet in March 2006, the company didn’t even try to make money for its few years. Instead, management focused on attracting more users and making the service more reliable. It looks like Twitter’s patient approach is paying off. Since former Google executive Dick Costolo became Twitter’s CEO in 2010, the company’s annual revenue has soared from $28 million to $317 million last year. Through the first half of this year, Twitter’s revenue totaled $254 million, more than doubling from last year. If Twitter maintains that growth pace through the second half, the company’s revenue will surpass $656 million this year.

Twitter gets 87 percent of its revenue from advertising. The rest comes from licensing agreements that give other companies better access to the flow of tweeting activity on its service. Meanwhile, Twitter ended June with 218 million users, up from 30 million in early 2010. More than three-quarters of those users, or 169 million people, are located outside the U.S. Twitter’s fastest growing markets are in Argentina, France, Japan, Russia, Saudi Arabia and South Africa.

But the company isn’t profitable It takes more than cultural heft to build a business of substance, as Twitter is learning.

The company has suffered uninterrupted losses of $419 million since its inception.

That’s something Twitter has been able to afford because it has raised $759 million from investors. The company still had $375 million in the bank at the end of June and hopes to raise at least $1 billion more in its IPO. But shareholders of publicly held companies don’t tolerate losses for very long, and it could still be a while before Twitter turns a profit.

Twitter’s losses widened during the first half of this year to $69 million, up from $49 million in the same period last year. In contrast, both social networking leader Facebook Inc and professional networking leader LinkedIn Corp. were profitable when they went public. To make money, Twitter will likely get more aggressive about showing ads. In the three months ending in June, Twitter generated revenue of $139 million, or an average of just 64 cents per user.

In contrast, Facebook generated secondquarter revenue of nearly $1.2 billion, or an

This screenshot taken from Twitter shows the company’s posting on its official account. — AP average of $1.06 per user, while LinkedIn posted revenue of $364 million, or an average of $1.53 per user. As Twitter cranks up its marketing machine, it runs the risk of alienating an audience accustomed to seeing relatively few ads in their news feeds. Beyond the US, Twitter is gearing to expand its advertising efforts in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan and the United Kingdom.

Twitter is more ‘mobile’ than facebook Twitter appears tailor made for an age of increasing reliance on smartphones and tablet computers. Three-fourths of Twitter’s users already use the service on mobile devices. Perhaps more important to investors, the company sells 65 percent of its ads on smartphones and tablets. Facebook gets 41 percent of its ad revenue from mobile devices.

Its market value could be as high as $20 billion Twitter hasn’t set a price target for its IPO yet, but its documents contain some clues about its recent market value. The company’s stock last sold in a privately arranged swap nine months ago at $17 per share. That deal implied Twitter had a market value of $10 billion to $11 billion at the time. Some

analysts predict Twitter will seek $28 to $30 per share in its IPO. If those projections pan out, Twitter will have a market value of $17 billion to $20 billion. Facebook made its stock market debut with a market value of more than $100 billion, but its stock plummeted before making resounding comeback this year.

Co-founder Evan Williams is in line for the biggest jackpot Williams, a Twitter co-founder who was CEO for two years until Costolo took over in 2010, owns a 12 percent stake in the company. If Twitter turns out to be worth at least $17.60 per share in the IPO, Williams will be a billionaire at 41 years old. He remains on Twitter’s board of directors. Another board member, Peter Fenton, and his venture capital firm, Benchmark Capital, own a 6.7 percent stake.

Next in line with a 4.9 percent stake is Jack Dorsey, who came up for the idea with Noah Glass and Biz Stone. The stakes of Glass and Stone aren’t listed in the IPO documents, meaning they don’t own enough stock to trigger legal disclosures. Many of Twitter’s 2,000 employees could become rich, too, if the company’s stock fares well. They won’t be allowed to sell their stock until Feb 15, at the earliest. — AP

France takes aim at Amazon to protect local bookshops PARIS: French lawmakers on Thursday took aim at Amazon to protect local bookshops by voting through a law that bars online booksellers from offering free delivery to customers on top of a maximum 5 percent discount on books. The law is part of France’s broader regulation of book prices and curbs on discounting, which was passed in 1981 by the Socialist government at the time to protect small bookshops from supermarket chains.

In the past decade, online outlets have challenged physical bookstores, prompting French publishers to lobby for a change in the law to stop what they call Amazon’s “dumping” and “unfair competition”. According to a French parliamentary report, online book sales rose to 13.1 percent of total book sales in 2011 from 3.2 percent in 2003. The country is still home to more bookstores than most countries with 2,000-2,500 in a country of 65 million people, compared with 1,000 in Britain, which has roughly the samesized population.

“The (book pricing) law is part of our cultural heritage,” said conservative lawmaker Christian Kert who sponsored the bill. France’s lower chamber, with the support of the Socialist government, passed the law unanimously. It will now go to the Senate, which is expected to

pass it by the end of the year. For its part, Amazon said the law would have the perverse effect of hurting sales of books from the back catalogue and from smaller publishing houses, which were often bought online. “All measures that aim to raise the price of books sold online will curb the ability of French people to buy cultural works and discriminates against those who buy online,” it said.

The proposed law is only the latest example of France taking aim at USbased Internet giants. Last week the country’s data protection watchdog moved closer to fining Google for the way it stores and tracks user information after the search engine ignored a threemonth ultimatum to bring its practices in line with local law.

France has called on the European Union to regulate global Internet companies such as Google, Amazon and Facebook more aggressively, to counter their growing dominance of online commerce and services.

It is pushing within the OECD and G20 organizations to tighten tax rules to make sure that Internet companies cannot avoid tax by locating their headquarters in low-cost EU countries. Amazon and Google are subject of ongoing tax audits in France. — Reuters

TV listings SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2013

03:15 Sharks Under Glass 04:05 Swamp Brothers 04:30 Swamp Brothers 04:55 Animal Battlegrounds 05:20 Baboons With Bill Bailey 05:45 Bondi Vet 06:35 Call Of The Wildman 07:00 Meerkat Manor 07:25 Cats 101 08:15 The Most Extreme 09:10 Weird Creatures With Nick Baker 10:05 Going Ape 10:30 Dick ‘n’ Dom Go Wild 11:00 The Most Extreme 11:55 Untamed China With Nigel Marven 12:50 Wild Things With Dominic Monaghan 13:45 Wild Things With Dominic Monaghan 14:40 Wild Things With Dominic Monaghan 15:35 Wild Things With Dominic Monaghan 16:30 Wild Things With Dominic Monaghan 17:25 North America 18:20 Wild Things With Dominic Monaghan 19:15 Buggin’ With Ruud 20:10 Gator Boys 21:05 Shark Attack File 2 22:00 Bad Dog 22:55 America’s Cutest Pets 23:50 Untamed & Uncut 00:45 Gator Boys 01:35 Animal Cops Houston 02:25 Shark Attack File 2

06:30 Great British Menu 07:00 Homes Under The Hammer 07:55 Homes Under The Hammer 08:50 Homes Under The Hammer 09:45 Homes Under The Hammer 10:40 Homes Under The Hammer 11:30 DIY SOS 12:00 Cash In The Attic 12:45 Come Dine With Me: South Africa 13:40 Come Dine With Me 14:30 Bargain Hunt 15:15 Bargain Hunt 16:00 Bargain Hunt 16:45 Bargain Hunt 17:35 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition Specials 19:00 Masterchef: The Professionals 19:55 Design Rules 20:20 Come Dine With Me: Supersized 21:55 Antiques Roadshow 22:50 Bargain Hunt 23:35 Masterchef: The Professionals 00:30 Design Rules 01:00 Cash In The Attic 01:45 Homes Under The Hammer 02:35 Homes Under The Hammer

03:00 Mythbusters 03:50 Border Security - Series 6 Specials 04:15 Auction Hunters 04:40 Baggage Battles

05:05 How Do They Do It? 05:30 How It’s Made 06:00 Sons Of Guns 07:00 The Big Brain Theory 07:50 Ben Earl: Trick Artist 08:40 Mythbusters 09:30 Bear Grylls: Escape From Hell 10:20 Ed Stafford: Naked And Marooned 11:10 Car vs Wild 12:00 Fantom Works 12:50 Fantom Works 13:40 Fantom Works 14:30 Fantom Works 17:00 Destroyed In Seconds 17:25 Destroyed In Seconds 17:50 Aircrash Confidential 18:40 Patrick Dempsey: Racing Le Mans 19:30 Deadliest Catch 20:20 Deadliest Catch 21:10 Sons Of Guns 22:00 Auction Kings 22:25 Baggage Battles 22:50 Baggage Battles 23:15 Baggage Battles 23:40 Baggage Battles 00:05 World’s Scariest 00:55 Forbidden 01:45 Body Bizarre 02:35 How It’s Made

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

Ghost Lab Nightmare Next Door Mystery Diagnosis Street Patrol Street Patrol Real Emergency Calls Who On Earth Did I Marry?

On The Case With Paula Zahn Solved Disappeared Mystery Diagnosis Street Patrol Street Patrol Forensic Detectives On The Case With Paula Zahn Real Emergency Calls Who On Earth Did I Marry?

Disappeared Solved Forensic Detectives On The Case With Paula Zahn Dr G: Medical Examiner Nightmare Next Door Couples Who Kill Deadly Devotion Fatal Encounters Deadly Sins Scorned: Crimes Of Passion Dr G: Medical Examiner Deadly Devotion

03:00 Scorned: Crimes Of Passion 03:45 I Almost Got Away With It 04:30 Dr G: Medical Examiner

03:35 Future Firepower 04:25 Superships 05:15 The Gadget Show

03:00 Doctor Who Confidential 03:15 Gates 03:45 2 Point 4 Children 04:15 The Weakest Link 05:00 Tweenies 05:20 Teletubbies 05:45 Nina And The Neurons 06:00 Jackanory Junior 06:15 Tweenies 06:35 Teletubbies 07:00 Nina And The Neurons 07:15 Jackanory Junior 07:30 My Family 08:00 My Family 08:30 My Family 09:00 My Family 09:30 Monty Halls’ Island Escapes 10:30 Robin Hood 11:15 The Weakest Link 12:00 Outcasts 12:50 Casualty 13:40 Eastenders 14:10 Eastenders 14:40 Eastenders 15:10 Eastenders 15:40 Outcasts 16:30 The Weakest Link 17:15 Robin Hood 18:00 Monty Halls’ Island Escapes 19:00 Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow 19:45 Alan Carr: Chatty Man 20:30 Scott & Bailey 21:15 Him & Her 21:45 Dead Boss 22:15 Alan Partridge’s Mid-Morning Matters 22:40 The Fat Fighters 23:30 Monty Halls’ Island Escapes 00:30 Scott & Bailey 01:15 Alan Carr: Chatty Man 02:00 Him & Her 02:30 Dead Boss

03:15 03:40 04:05 04:50 05:35

The Hairy Bikers Ride Again Great British Menu Cash In The Attic Bargain Hunt Britain’s Dream Homes

THE AVENGERS ON OSN MOVIES ACTION

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

Tech Toys 360 Superships Punkin Chunkin 2011 What Is That?

Plastic Fantastic Brain The Gadget Show Tech Toys 360 Superships Superships Superships Superships Superships Sci-Fi Science The Gadget Show Tech Toys 360 What Is That?

Tech Toys 360 Prototype This Scrapheap Challenge Deadliest Space Weather Deadliest Space Weather Weird Or What?

Punkin Chunkin 2011 What Is That?

Oddities Oddities The Gadget Show Tech Toys 360 What Is That?

Oddities Oddities Punkin Chunkin 2011 The Gadget Show Tech Toys 360 Sci-Fi Science Scrapheap Challenge Thunder Races Thunder Races

09:55 10:15 10:40 12:15 12:35 13:00 13:25 13:45 14:10 14:35 15:00 17:00 17:20 17:45 18:10 18:30 18:55 19:20 19:40 20:05 20:30 20:50 21:15 21:40 22:00 22:25 22:50 23:10 23:35 00:00 00:20 00:45 01:05 01:30 01:50 02:15 02:35

Austin And Ally A.N.T. Farm Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure Shake It Up Good Luck Charlie A.N.T. Farm Jessie That’s So Raven Shake It Up Dog With A Blog The Incredibles Code: 9 Code: 9 Code: 9 Prank Stars Prank Stars Prank Stars Good Luck Charlie Dog With A Blog Shake It Up Austin And Ally A.N.T. Farm That’s So Raven Good Luck Charlie Shake It Up A.N.T. Farm Austin And Ally Wizards Of Waverly Place Wizards Of Waverly Place The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody Jonas Jonas Suite Life On Deck Suite Life On Deck Wizards Of Waverly Place Wizards Of Waverly Place

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

Dr G: Medical Examiner Ghost Lab Fatal Encounters Scorned: Crimes Of Passion I Almost Got Away With It Dr G: Medical Examiner Ghost Lab Nightmare Next Door Mystery Diagnosis Street Patrol Street Patrol Real Emergency Calls Who On Earth Did I Marry?

On The Case With Paula Zahn Solved Disappeared Mystery Diagnosis Street Patrol Street Patrol Forensic Detectives On The Case With Paula Zahn Real Emergency Calls Who On Earth Did I Marry?

Disappeared Solved Forensic Detectives On The Case With Paula Zahn Dr G: Medical Examiner Nightmare Next Door Couples Who Kill Deadly Devotion Fatal Encounters Blood Relatives

03:00 03:20 03:45 04:05 04:30 04:50 05:15 05:35 06:00 06:30 06:45 07:10 07:35 07:55 08:20 08:45 09:05 09:30

The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody Sonny With A Chance Sonny With A Chance Suite Life On Deck Suite Life On Deck Wizards Of Waverly Place Wizards Of Waverly Place Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Jake And The Neverland Pirates Sofia The First A.N.T. Farm Shake It Up That’s So Raven Good Luck Charlie Dog With A Blog Gravity Falls Jessie

03:20 Handy Manny 03:40 Special Agent Oso 03:50 Special Agent Oso 04:00 Timmy Time 04:10 Imagination Movers 04:35 Little Einsteins 05:00 Jungle Junction 05:15 Jungle Junction 05:30 Little Einsteins 05:50 Special Agent Oso 06:00 Special Agent Oso 06:15 Jungle Junction 06:30 Jungle Junction 06:45 Handy Manny 07:00 Special Agent Oso 07:15 Jungle Junction 07:30 Higglytown Heroes 07:45 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 08:10 New Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 08:35 The Hive 08:45 Doc McStuffins 08:55 Zou 09:10 Justin Time 09:25 Justin Time 09:35 Henry Hugglemonster 09:50 Henry Hugglemonster 10:00 Sofia The First 10:25 Doc McStuffins 10:40 Doc McStuffins 10:55 Justin Time 11:10 Justin Time 11:25 The Hive 11:35 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 12:00 Winnie The Pooh: Tales Of Friendship 12:05 Higglytown Heroes 12:20 The Hive 12:30 Doc McStuffins 12:45 Doc McStuffins 13:00 Zou 13:15 Jake And The Neverland Pirates 13:30 Henry Hugglemonster 13:45 Henry Hugglemonster 13:55 Justin Time 14:10 Justin Time 14:20 New Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 14:45 Higglytown Heroes 14:55 The Hive 15:05 Sofia The First 15:30 Zou 15:45 Jake And The Neverland Pirates 16:00 Jake And The Neverland Pirates 16:15 Doc McStuffins 16:30 Doc McStuffins

TV listings SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2013 16:45 Art Attack 17:10 Lilo And Stitch 17:35 Jake And The Neverland Pirates 17:50 Zou 18:00 The Hive 18:10 Henry Hugglemonster 18:25 Henry Hugglemonster 18:35 Sofia The First 19:00 Winnie The Pooh: Tales Of Friendship 19:05 Pajanimals 19:25 Doc McStuffins 19:40 Winnie The Pooh: Tales Of Friendship 19:45 Zou 20:00 Justin Time 20:15 Jake And The Neverland Pirates 20:30 Jake And The Neverland Pirates 20:45 Doc McStuffins 21:00 New Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 21:25 Pajanimals 21:40 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 22:05 Timmy Time 22:20 Winnie The Pooh: Tales Of Friendship 22:30 Justin Time 22:45 Handy Manny 23:00 The Hive 23:10 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 23:35 Jungle Junction 23:50 Special Agent Oso 00:05 Special Agent Oso 00:15 Imagination Movers 00:40 Jungle Junction 00:55 Jungle Junction 01:10 Handy Manny

01:30 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 01:55 Winnie The Pooh: Tales Of Friendship 02:00 Little Einsteins 02:25 Special Agent Oso 02:40 Special Agent Oso 02:50 Imagination Movers

06:00 06:10 06:35 Ninja 06:45 Ninja 07:00 07:25 07:50 08:15 08:40 09:05 09:30 09:55 10:20 10:45 11:15 11:40 12:05 12:15 12:30 12:40 13:00 14:30 14:55 15:20

Kid vs Kat Scaredy Squirrel Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Max Steel Phineas And Ferb Slugterra Crash & Bernstein Kickin IT Kickin IT Dude, That’s My Ghost Camp Lakebottom Kickin’ IT Lab Rats Slugterra Ultimate Spider-Man Phineas And Ferb Phineas And Ferb Phineas And Ferb Phineas And Ferb Avalon High Camp Lakebottom Phineas And Ferb Phineas And Ferb

15:30 15:45 16:10 16:35 17:00 17:30 18:00 18:25 18:50 19:15 19:40 20:05 20:30 20:55 21:20 Ninja 21:30 Ninja 21:45 22:10 22:20 22:35 23:00 KSA

Phineas And Ferb Dude, That’s My Ghost Camp Lakebottom Kickin’ IT Lab Rats Slugterra Dude, That’s My Ghost Camp Lakebottom Kickin’ IT Lab Rats Slugterra Ultimate Spider-Man Max Steel Pair Of Kings Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade

03:00 03:25 03:50 04:15 04:40 05:30 06:10

Tastiest Places To Chowdown Food Wars Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives United Tastes Of America Chopped Iron Chef America Food Network Challenge

Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Phineas And Ferb Phineas And Ferb Phineas And Ferb Scaredy Squirrel Programmes Start At 6:00am

LOVE BIRDS ON OSN MOVIES COMEDY HD

07:00 Extra Virgin 07:25 Extra Virgin 07:50 Extra Virgin 08:15 Extra Virgin 08:40 Cooking For Real 09:05 Cooking For Real 09:30 Cooking For Real 09:55 Cooking For Real 10:20 Tyler’s Ultimate 10:45 Tyler’s Ultimate 11:10 Tyler’s Ultimate 11:35 Tyler’s Ultimate 12:00 Unique Sweets 12:25 Unique Sweets 12:50 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 13:15 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 13:40 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 14:05 Reza’s African Kitchen 14:30 Reza’s African Kitchen 14:55 Reza’s African Kitchen 15:20 Reza’s African Kitchen 15:45 Charly’s Cake Angels 16:10 Charly’s Cake Angels 16:35 Siba’s Table 17:00 Siba’s Table 17:25 Amazing Wedding Cakes 18:15 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 18:40 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 19:05 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 19:30 Chopped 20:20 Chopped 21:10 Amazing Wedding Cakes 22:00 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 22:25 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 22:50 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 23:15 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 23:40 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 00:05 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 00:30 Tastiest Places To Chowdown 00:55 Tastiest Places To Chowdown 01:20 Unwrapped 01:45 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 02:10 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 02:35 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives

03:00 The Colbert Report 03:30 Web Therapy 04:00 Legit 04:30 The League 05:00 Hot In Cleveland 05:30 Cougar Town 06:00 Seinfeld 06:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 07:30 All Of Us 08:00 The Neighbors 08:30 Friends 09:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 10:00 Seinfeld 10:30 All Of Us 11:00 Hot In Cleveland 11:30 Go On 12:00 The Office 12:30 Friends 13:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 14:00 The Neighbors 14:30 Seinfeld 15:00 All Of Us 15:30 Friends 16:00 Cougar Town 16:30 Go On 17:00 The Office 17:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 18:00 The Colbert Report 18:30 The Neighbors 19:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 20:00 The Simpsons 20:30 Cougar Town 21:00 Guys With Kids 21:30 The Office 22:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 23:00 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 23:30 The Colbert Report 00:00 Saturday Night Live 01:00 The New Normal 01:30 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 02:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

03:00 04:00 06:00 07:00 08:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 17:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00 00:00

Scandal The X Factor U.S. 24 Switched At Birth Suits The Ellen DeGeneres Show Suits 24 The X Factor U.S. The Mob Doctor C.S.I. New York Last Resort Hatfields And McCoys Scandal 24

04:00 06:00 08:00 10:30 12:30 14:30 16:15 18:15 20:00 22:00 00:00 02:00

Imago Mortis The Rescue The Avengers Super 8 Paycheck Dragonheart Super 8 Ultraviolet Dragonheart Shadow Below Zero Devil’s Playground

04:00 06:00 08:30 10:30 12:30 14:15 16:15 18:00 20:00 22:00 00:00 02:00

The Rescue The Avengers Super 8 Paycheck Dragonheart Super 8 Ultraviolet Dragonheart Shadow Below Zero Devil’s Playground Shadow

04:00 06:15 08:00 10:00 11:45 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00 00:00 02:00

Tin Cup Smooch The Little Rascals Ernest Scared Stupid Tin Cup Daddy Day Camp Ernest Scared Stupid Love Birds Calendar Girls Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story Stakeout Calendar Girls

03:00 05:00 07:00 09:00 11:00 13:00 15:00 17:00 19:00 21:00 23:00 01:00

Little Birds Circle Of Lies The First Grader A Woman Stomp The Yard Taken Back: Finding Haley Look Again Saving Grace B. Jones In Time Passion L.A I Hate You Saving Grace B. Jones

03:00 05:00 06:45 09:00 11:00 14:15 16:15 19:00 20:45 23:00 01:00

Philadelphia Yelling To The Sky Oscar And Lucinda L’amour C’est Mieux A Deux Quiet Flows The Don Happythankyoumoreplease The Last Samurai Contagion The People vs Larry Flynt The Mortician Arc

04:45 07:00 09:00 10:45 13:00 14:45 16:15 18:00 20:00 22:00 00:00 02:00

Hugo Alpha And Omega Bernie The Amazing Spider-Man Rise Of The Guardians The Three Stooges Bernie Sparkle The Awakening Looper Our Idiot Brother Sparkle

04:15 06:00 08:00 Coins 10:00 11:30 13:00 14:30 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00 23:30 01:00 02:45 Coins

Jumanji Dragon Hunters Princess Sydney: The Three Gold

07:00 09:00 10:00 10:30 12:30 14:30 15:00 17:00 17:30 20:30 21:00 23:00 23:30 01:30

Currie Cup Trans World Sport Total Rugby Live ITM Cup Top 14 ICC Cricket 360 Live Currie Cup Total Rugby Live The Rugby Championship Total Rugby Live Top 14 ICC Cricket 360 The Rugby Championship Live The Rugby Championship

Santa Paws 2: The Santa Pups Barbie In The Pink Shoes Dragon Hunters Olentzero And The Magic Log Spirit: Stallion Of The Cimarron Santa Paws 2: The Santa Pups Freddy Frogface Olentzero And The Magic Log Spirit: Stallion Of The Cimarron Freddy Frogface Princess Sydney: The Three Gold

05:00 UFC - The Ultimate Fighter Season 18 06:00 ICC Cricket 360 06:30 Champions League Twenty20 09:30 Live PGA European Tour 15:00 Live The Presidents Cup 17:30 Live Champions League Twenty20 20:30 Live The Presidents Cup 01:00 Super League

03:00 03:30 04:00 05:00 05:30 06:00 Rides 07:00 08:00 09:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 16:30 17:00 17:30 18:00 19:00 20:00 20:30 21:00 Rides 22:00 23:00 00:00 00:30 01:00 02:00

Rock My RV With Bret Michaels Rock My RV With Bret Michaels Globe Trekker Xtreme Waterparks Xtreme Waterparks World’s Greatest Motorcycle Globe Trekker Globe Trekker Airport 24/7: Miami Extreme Chef Extreme Chef International House Hunters International House Hunters Rock My RV With Bret Michaels Rock My RV With Bret Michaels Extreme Chef Extreme Chef The Food Truck The Food Truck World’s Greatest Motorcycle Xtreme Waterparks Insane Coaster Wars Bert The Conqueror Trip Flip Xtreme Waterparks Off Limits

W H AT ’ S O N

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2013

What to do in Kuwait?

Visit the Sadu House Al-Sadu Society is dedicated to preserving, documenting and promoting the rich and diverse textile heritage of the Kuwaiti Bedouin, from the nomadic weaving of the desert to the urban weaving of the town. Sadu is a traditional Bedouin art that involves weaving geometric designs on dyed and colored wool that is spun by hand to create magnificent carpets, rugs, and Bedouin tent screens. Inside the Sadu House, visitors have the opportunity to see Bedouin women weaving. Sadu House is located near the National Museum. It is considered to be the center of Bedouin art aiming at presenting Kuwait’s roots and protecting Bedouin crafts from eradication.

Address: Arabian Gulf Street, Next to the National Museum of Kuwait, Kuwait City Opening Hours: Saturdays to Thursdays: Mornings from 08 am to 1 pm. Evenings from 4 pm to 8 pm.

Contact: 22432395 E-mail: info@alsadu.org.kw Website: www.alsadu.org.kw View Boushahri Gallery The Boushahri Art Gallery was established in 1982 by Jawad Boushahri, the Chairman of the Boushahri group who is also an acclaimed Kuwaiti sculptor. It is one of the oldest private art galleries in the Middle East. This long established gallery showcases contemporary regional work. In order to create an awareness toward art in Kuwait as a community service, the Boushahri Art Gallery educates, supports and sponsors local and international artists, displaying their paintings, potteries, ceramic portraitures, designs, photographers, sculptures and much more. To encourage the Art lovers and educate society, Boushahri Art Gallery offers many courses, seminars and lectures about Art. Address: Salmiya, Baghdad St., Building Number: 36, in front of Al- Laheeb Mosque Opening Hours: 10 am to 1 pm and 5 pm to 9 pm. The museum is closed on Friday and Thursday afternoons.

Contact: 25621119/99770607 Website: www.boushahrigroup.com/client/PhotoandArt.aspx Take a break at Al-Khiran Resort The Al-Khiran resort is a relaxing “get-away” from the mayhem of stressful city life. The resort provides a soothing tranquil environment that includes beautiful green lawns, wide, well-defined roads, ample parking spaces, and clean well-maintained beaches. It has many chalets that are beautifully furnished and air-conditioned. The resort also offers a variety of other facilities such as football and basketball courts, luxurious restaurants, yacht clubs, an amusement park for children, electronic computer arcade and the ‘Duza’ ballroom. The resort also provides variety in food as it includes a fastfood counter, and a counter that offers seafood, Italian and oriental food.

Address: Gulf Street, Al-Khiran district Contact: 23951122 E-mail: mailbox@khiranresort.com Website: www.khiranresort.com Stop at the Tareq Rajab Museum The Tareq Rajab Museum houses an anthology of over thirty thousand items collected over the last fifty years, of which approximately ten thousand are on permanent display. Tareq Sayed Rajab was the first Kuwaiti to be sent abroad to study art and archaeology and his collection includes Islamic arts, ceramic, gold and silver jewelry, English manuscripts, metal and glass works, old English costumes, and musical instruments. His personal collection includes over thirty thousand Islamic treasures that were gathered over the

years. The Museum is divided into two parts: in Area A, calligraphy, manuscripts, ceramics, metalwork, glass, jade, wood and stone carvings are exhibited. Area B contains objects such as costumes, textiles, jewellery and musical instruments produced in the Islamic world.

Address: Jabriya, near the intersection of the Fifth Ring Motorway and the Abdulaziz Bin Abdilrahman al-Saud Expressway (Fahaheel Expressway); Street 5; Block12; House 16 Opening Hours: Weekdays from 9 am to 12 pm; Evenings: From 4 pm to 7 pm; Fridays: From 9 am to 12 pm.

Contact: 25317358/25354916 Website: www.trmkt.com

Visit Ghadir Gallery, Kuwait The Al-Ghadir Gallery Kuwait is dedicated to promote the Kuwaiti formative artist and writer Thuraya Al-Baqsami and successfully accomplished 120 national and international solo art exhibitions, literary and poetry readings and musical events. It also participates in charity activities worldwide. The gallery offers varieties of art including paintings, frames, handcrafts, art materials and antiques.

Address: Block 6, Street 5, Villa 40, Mishref, Kuwait Contact: 22435101, 22426240 E-mail: info@ghadirgallerykuwait.com Website: www.ghadirgallerykuwait.com

The Scientific Center, Kuwait The Scientific Center is designed to reflect the Islamic arts and culture. It has three main fascinating attractions: Aquarium, Discovery Place and IMAX Cinema. The Aquarium presents an ecosystem of desert, sea, and coastal edge. Visitors of the Aquarium explore the lives of beings and animals in their environments. When entering the Discovery Place, visitors gain scientific experience through educational games. Highly specialized trainers are assigned to guide visitors through hand-on playful training. On entering the IMAX Cinema, one can watch 3D movies played on the giant screen.

Visitors can enjoy watching educational and documentary presentations and get engaged into a highly imaginative experience.

Address: The Scientific Center, Gulf Road Contact: 1848888 E-mail: info@tsck.org.kw Website: www.tsck.org.kw Visit Dar Al-Funoon gallery Dar Al-Funoon, which was established in 1993, focuses on contemporary Arab art as well as Arabic calligraphy. Exhibitions are held monthly from October to May, and a special silk exhibition of arts and crafts is held in December. Between temporary exhibitions, items from the private collection are on display, which can be bought. The gallery is located between the Sheraton Hotel and the Arabian Gulf Street. The area itself is interesting thanks to its old Kuwaiti-style houses and a large courtyard which includes a number of excellent restaurants.

Address: Behbehani compound, Salhiya, House No. 28, AlWatiah, Kuwait City Opening Hours: Sundays to Thursdays: 10 am to 1 pm Evenings: 4 pm to 8 pm Contact: 22433138 E-mail: info@daralfunoon-kw.com Website: www.daralfunoon-kw.com Bayt - Lothan Bayt Lothan is dedicated to the promotion of arts and crafts and is host to various exhibitions and displays throughout the year. It covers an area of 4,000 square meters on the Arabian Gulf Street and caters to all tastes and themes, including sculpture, ceramic arts, jewelry and photography, as well as contemporary art and calligraphy. Watch out in the local press for details of current and forthcoming exhibitions or seminars. There is also a small coffee shop for basic refreshments and for theatre lovers they also hold drama classes throughout the year.

Address: Gulf Street, beside Marina Mall, in front of Corniche Hotel Contact: 25755866 / 25727388 E-Mail: info@baytlothan.org Opening Hours: Sundays to Thursdays: 9 am to 1 pm; Evenings: 5 pm to 9 pm Website: http://www.baytlothan.org

Tour the Entertainment City The Entertainment City is located 20 km from Kuwait City and provides complete entertainment for all members of the family. The city is divided into three theme parks: The Arab world, the International World and the Future World. The park offers more than 40 different rides, lots of games to play, and stage show unique to the Middle East. The major attractions to look out for in the park include the City of Dreams, the City of Sinbad and Ali Baba, the City of Thunder and Hurricanes, the African boat, Grand Pix, Arabian Carousel and the Fantasy Cinema. The place is fully equipped with a police station of its own and ambulance service, shops where souvenirs and other merchandise can be purchased, and a parking lot that can accommodate around 3000 vehicles.

Address: Al-Madina Al-Tarfihiya, Al - Doha Opening Hours: Sundays - Fridays: 5 pm to 1 am (Summers) and 3 pm to 11 pm (Winters) It is important to note that Mondays are allocated only for women and men are not allowed on Mondays.

Contact No.: 24879455 Take the kids to Al-Shaab Leisure Park Al-Sha’ab Leisure Park is located on the southern coast of Kuwait City. It combines more than 70 special rides on the level of the Middle East. It also provides integrated services, including restaurants, a mall, and rides and games that meet the interests of all age groups. The park also offers indoor games as well as outdoor sports like bungee jumping, pony rides and ice-skating. Families can also access facilities such as the movies and the delicious meals at the restaurants. At Al-Sha’ab Leisure Park, all these facilities are maintained according to international standards.

Address: Baghdad Street, Block 11, Salmiya Opening Hours: All days from 5 pm to 1 am (Summer) and 10 am - 12 Midnight on weekends.

Contact: 25613777 E-mail: shaabpark_fb@uetc.com.kw Website: www.shaabpark.com

Announcements SEND US YOUR INSTAGRAM PICS

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hat’s more fun than clicking a beautiful picture? Sharing it with others! Let other people see the way you see Kuwait through your lens. Friday Times will feature snapshots of Kuwait through Instagram feeds. If you want to share your Instagram photos, email us at instagram@kuwaittimes.net

A photowalk in Kuwait today photowalk is more like a social photography event where photographers gather in a spot, take photos for an hour or two then maybe meet up at a restaurant after that. Scott Kelby’s worldwide photowalk never took place in Kuwait until now. Kuwait’s photowalk will be held today at Souk AlMubarakiya at 10am. There are some prizes to be won like a Canon 70D and Adobe Creative Cloud Membership. So far there are 700 registered photowalks with 8700+ photographers. The prizes are for the worldwide event, not just Kuwait. Kuwait Mapping Meet-Up was held on September 2 at 5:30 pm in Coffee Bean (Mahboula, Coastal Road). The event is for anyone interested in maps, spatial analysis or surveying in Kuwait. For more information, contact Wil at 9722-5615.

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

W H AT ’ S O N

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2013

AUK hosts a lecture on Ibn Battutah

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merican University of Kuwait is hosting a lecture on Tuesday, October 8th at 6pm in the AUK Auditorium. The lecture is entitled “The Far-Flung World of Ibn Battutah” and is open to public. The guest speaker, Tim Mackintosh-Smith, has made his home in Sana’a, Yemen, where he has lived for the last 30 years. He is a renowned Arabist, scholar, traveler, and writer. One of his most notable accomplishments being the recreation of the journeys in the Islamic world of Ibn Battutah, the 14th century Moroccan traveler, as detailed in his trilogy of books of which the first is Travels with a Tangerine. He has received major literary awards and made a BBC television series on the journeys of Ibn Battutah from Morocco to China. He has also lectured extensively on his work at prestigious venues on both sides of the Atlantic.

Activities at TIES Centre October 6 A seven-week course on clearing common misconceptions about Islam that will begin on Sunday October 6, 2013 at 7:00pm. Those interested will be meeting every Sunday for seven weeks. The course is designed with the expat in mind, and will cover issues that are of great significance to all humanity.

Presentations will be given in an open-minded, relaxed manner, focusing on interaction between the presenter and the attendees. The course will be offered free of charge and will last for seven weeks. On Sunday October 6th, 2013, we will clearing the misconception that there is no equality between men and women in terms of giving testimony; that in some situation one man’s testimony equals two womens’. Does this mean that women are inferior to men.

October 7 Qur’an Quotes and Tafseer class by Hassan and Nejoud.

After reading specified Qur’anic verses aloud and explaining them very briefly, Hassan and Nejoud will explain the various connotations of some words and phrases to show the literary beauty and miracle of the Qur’an. After that, attendees will be

asked to participate in a discussion on the topic and other related issues. The class will involve an open discussion in a casual setting with the aim of reflecting and pondering verses from the Glorious Qur’an as well as learning how to recite some short surahs. On Monday October 7 at 7:00pm, we will discuss Surat Al-Kafiroun (The Disbelievers), which is among the virtuous surahs in the Qur’an.

October 8 A lecture entitled, “Contributions of African-Americans to the spread of Islam in America,” by Imam Al-Amin Abdullatif on Tuesday October 8, 2013 at 7:00pm. On that topic, we would like to welcome Imam Al Amin Abdullatif, a dynamic Muslim leader and speaker, who has been working in the field of da’wah (spreading knowledge about Islam) for over 40 years since he embraced Islam in 1969. He is well-known in New York as the founder and former president of the Islamic Leadership Council (Majlis Ash-Shura) and the pioneer in establishing the dawah programs in the New York State prison system. He has traveled extensively as an activist and teacher of Islam within and outside of the United States.

For more information call 25231015/6.

Embassy Information EMBASSY OF AUSTRALIA The Embassy of Australia has announced that Kuwait citizens can apply for and receive visit visas in 10 working days through www.immi.gov.au. All other processing of visas and Immigration matters are handled by the Australian Visa Application Centre located in Al Banwan Building, 4B, 1st Floor, Al Qibla Area, Ali Al Salem Street, Kuwait City. Visit. www.vfs-au-gcc.com for more info. The Embassy of Australia does not have a visa or immigration department. All processing of visas and immigration matters is conducted by the Australian ConsulateGeneral in Dubai. Email: Info.ausdxb@vfshelpline.com (VIS), immigration.dubai@dfat.gov.au (Visa Office), Tel: +971 4 205 5900 (VFS), Fax: + 971 4 355 0708 (Visa Office). Notary and passport services are available by appointment. Appointments can be made by calling the Embassy on 22322422. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF CANADA The Embassy of Canada in Kuwait does not have a visa or immigration department. All processing of visa and immigration matters including enquiries is conducted by the Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Individuals who are interested in working, studying, visiting or immigrating to Canada should contact the Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi, website: www.UAE.gc.ca or www.goingtocanada.gc.ca, E-mail: abdbi-im-enquiry@international.gc.ca.

The Embassy of Canada is located at Villa 24, AlMutawakei St, Block 4 in Da’aiyah. Please visit our website at www.Kuwait.gc.ca. The Embassy of Canada is open from 07:30 to 15:30 Sunday through Thursday. The reception is open from 07:30 to 12:30. Consular services for Canadian citizens are provided from 09:00 until 12:00, Sunday through Wednesday. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF GREECE The Embassy of Greece in Kuwait has the pleasure to announce that visa applications must be submitted to Schengen Visa Application Centre (VFS office) located at 12th floor, Al-Naser Tower, Fahad Al-Salem Street, Al-Qibla area, Kuwait City, (Parking at Souk Watia). For information please call 22281046 from 08:30 to 17:00 (Sunday to Thursday).

Working hours: Submission from 08:30 to 15:30. Passport collection from 16:00 to 17:00. For visa applications please visit the following website www.mfa.gr/kuwait. nnnnnnn

The Regency brings back its authentic BBQ every Wednesday night

A

s the eagerly awaited winter season approaches,The Regency is set to re-launch its charmingpoolside Barbeque Nightsstarting Wednesday. The BBQ nights will offermouthwatering barbequed delicacies including fresh meats, seafood and a variety of delightful saladsand breath-taking views of the Arabian Gulfevery Wednesday from 7:00pm onwards.

The Hotel’s spectacular setting, beautiful landscape combined with the warm spring weather reflects the ambience of the BBQ dinner buffet.

The BBQ stations offer a range of mouthwatering dishes that have been specially prepared to cater to any guest’s tastes -starting from the Pasta Corner to the grills’ stations which includes beef medallions rested in cola and chili marinade, smoked prime ribs with honey and teriyaki sauce, jumbo prawns marinated with garlic and Mediterranean herbs, swordfish steaks in addition to Shawarma and Saj stations. Along with side orders of Chinese fried rice, Italian

crisp fried seafood and Indian chicken Tandoori among others, guests will indulge in a menu that offers delicious cold buffet that include mixed seafood salad, Hawaiian chicken salad, Thai tuna salad and a selection of homemade bread rolls.

“We launched the BBQ nights at a time when people crave for a soothing and uniquely elevating experience. There’s no better way to celebrate the last season of the year than to dine poolside under the stars and the moonlight, while enjoying The Regencyluxurious hospitality.”said Tom Spaan, Director of Food and Beverage at the hotel. To end a perfect night, a scrumptious assortment of desserts is available, with homemade gateaux, Cheese cakes to the irresistible chocolatefountain, crepes and ice cream.

At poolside, The Regency presents the highest quality dining experience with premium cuts of beef, lamb and chicken, the fresher seafood, exciting sauces, salads and condiments and artistically crafted works of art amongst our collection of desserts.

EMBASSY OF US The US Embassy in Kuwait has new procedures for obtaining appointments and picking up passports after visa issuance. Beginning August 9, 2013, we now provide an online visa appointment system, live call center, and in-person pick-up facilities in Kuwait. Please monitor our website and social media for additional information. This new system offers more flexibility for travelers to the US and to meet the increase in demand for visa appointments.

The general application steps on the new visa appointment system are: 1. Go to www.ustraveldocs.com/kw (if this is the first time on ustraveldocs.com, you will need to create a profile to login).

2. Please complete your DS-160 Online Visa Application which is available at ceac.state.gov/genNIV. 3. Please print and take your deposit slip to any Burgan Bank location to pay your visa application fee.

4. Schedule an appointment for your visa interview online at www.ustraveldocs.com/kw or by phone through the Call Center (at +965-2227-1673).

5. If you need to change or cancel your appointment, please do so 24 hours beforehand, as a courtesy to other applicants. For more information, please visit the US Embassy website - kuwait.usembassy.gov as it is the best source of information regarding these changes.

HEALTH

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2013

Doctors still prescribe antibiotics too often WASHINGTON: US doctors prescribe antibiotics to six out of 10 patients with a sore throat, even though only one infection in 10 is severe enough to merit them, researchers said Thursday.

Overprescribing of antibiotics is dangerous because it contributes to the rise of superbugs that do not respond to treatment. US health officials have repeatedly warned that nearly all major bacterial infections in the world are becoming resistant to the antibiotic treatment of choice.

The latest study by Michael Barnett and Jeffrey Linder at Harvard University

and Brigham and Women’s Hospital included data on more than 8,100 visits to doctors’ offices and emergency departments from 1997-2010.

Antibiotic prescribing rates were initially around 80 percent and have bottomed out at 60 percent for the past decade, said the research letter in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

“Among adults seeking care with sore throat, the prevalence of group A Streptococcus (GAS) infection-the only common cause of sore throat requiring antibiotics-is about 10 percent,” said

the letter. The research shows that despite concerns about rising resistance to antibiotics, physicians are not changing their habit of regularly prescribing remedies like penicillin, amoxicillin and erythromycin which may not be necessary.

“Despite decades of effort, we found only incremental improvement in antibiotic prescribing for adults making a visit with sore throat,” said the letter in JAMA. “The antibiotic prescribing rate dropped from roughly 80 percent to 70 percent around 1993 and dropped again around 2000 to 60 per-

Pills made from poop cure serious gut infections CANADA: Hold your nose and don’t spit out your coffee: Doctors have found a way to put healthy people’s poop into pills that can cure serious gut infections - a less yucky way to do “fecal transplants.” Canadian researchers tried this on 27 patients and cured them all after strong antibiotics failed to help. It’s a gross topic but a serious problem. Half a million Americans get Clostridium difficile, or C-diff, infections each year, and about 14,000 die.

The germ causes nausea, cramping and diarrhea so bad it is often disabling.

A very potent and pricey antibiotic can kill C-diff but also destroys good bacteria that live in the gut, leaving it more susceptible to future infections.

Recently, studies have shown that fecal transplants - giving infected people stool from a healthy donor - can restore that balance. But they’re given through expensive, invasive procedures like colonoscopies or throat tubes. Doctors also have tried giving the stool through enemas but the treatment doesn’t always take hold.

There even are YouTube videos on how to do a similar treatment at home via an enema. A study in a medical journal of a small number of these “do-ityourself” cases suggests the approach is safe and effective. Dr Thomas Louie, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Calgary, devised a better way - a one-time treatment custommade for each patient.

Donor stool, usually from a relative, is processed in the lab to take out food and extract the bacteria and clean it. It is packed into triple-coated gel capsules so they won’t dissolve until they reach the intestines. “There’s no stool left - just stool bugs. These people are not eating poop,” and there are no smelly burps because the contents aren’t released until they’re well past the stomach, Louie said.

Days before starting the treatment, patients are given an antibiotic to kill the C-diff. On the morning of the treatment, they have an enema so “the new bacteria coming in have a clean slate,” Louie said.

It takes 24 to 34 capsules to fit the bacteria needed for a treatment, and patients down them in one sitting. The pills make their way to the colon and seed it with the normal variety of bacteria. Louie described 27 patients treated this way on Thursday at IDWeek, an

CANADA: Dr Thomas Louie, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Calgary, holds a container of stool pills in triple-coated gel capsules in his lab in Calgary, Alberta. — AP photos infectious diseases conference in San Francisco. All had suffered at least four C-diff infections and relapses, but none had a recurrence after taking the poop pills.

Margaret Corbin, 69, a retired nurse’s aide from Calgary, told of the misery of C-diff. “It lasted for two years. It was horrible. I thought I was dying. I couldn’t eat. Every time I ate anything or drank water I was into the bathroom,” she said.

“I never went anywhere, I stayed home all the time.” With her daughter as the

donor, she took pills made by Louie two years ago, and “I’ve been perfectly fine since,” Corbin said.

Dr Curtis Donskey of the Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center, who has done fecal transplants through colonoscopies, praised the work. “The approach that Dr Louie has is completely novel - no one else has done this,” he said. “I am optimistic that this type of preparation will make these procedures much easier for patients and for physicians.” —AP

CANADA: Dr Thomas Louie prepares vials in the process of making stool pills in his lab in Calgary, Alberta.

cent, where it has remained stable.”

Researchers noted that their data did not include details on the severity of the sore throats, so it was impossible to judge whether the prescriptions given were appropriate. “Antibiotic prescribing to patients who are unlikely to benefit is not benign. All antibiotic prescribing increases the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria,” the doctors concluded. “The financial cost of unnecessary antibiotic prescribing to adults with sore throat in the United States from 1997 to 2010 was conservatively $500 million.” — AFP

Walking tied to fewer breast cancers in older women NEW YORK: Older women who take regular walks are less likely to get breast cancer than their less-active peers, according to a new study. American Cancer Society (ACS) researchers found postmenopausal women who walked for at least one hour each day had a 14 percent lower chance of getting breast cancer than infrequent walkers. More vigorous exercise was tied to an even lower risk. “The exciting piece about this is that you don’t need to be a marathon runner to lower your risk of breast cancer,” Alpa Patel, the study’s senior author, said.

“Just going for a one-hour walk a day could have a significant impact on lowering your risk,” Patel, a senior epidemiologist at ACS in Atlanta, added. Dozens of past studies have found links between physical activity and breast cancer, but left some unanswered questions, write Patel and her fellow researchers in ACS’s journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention.

For example, those studies didn’t answer whether women still benefit from walking if they are overweight or taking hormones to treat menopause symptoms, like hot flashes. For the new study, the researchers used data on about 74,000 women between the ages of 50 and 74. Beginning in 1992, the women were asked questions about their health, medications and exercise habits. They also reported how much exercise they got in 1999, 2001 and 2005.

Between 1992 and 2007, about 6.5 percent of all women in the study were diagnosed with breast cancer. The researchers found that women who walked at a moderate pace for at least seven hours each week were 14 percent less likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer, compared to those who walked for three hours or less each week. The difference translates to roughly one fewer woman in 1,000 getting breast cancer each year.

“When we talk about moderately paced walking, we’re talking about a pace of about three miles per hour,” Patel said. Her team also found women who exercised more vigorously for at least seven hours per week were about 25 percent less likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer, compared to women who participated in those activities less often.

Patel told Reuters Health that walking and vigorous exercise were tied to a reduced breast cancer risk even among women who were overweight or taking hormone therapy. “I would say this is encouraging news for all women who want to begin an exercise regimen but find it overwhelming,” she said. The study can’t prove walking prevented any cancers.

But the researchers say it could be that walking affects a woman’s hormones, insulin resistance, weight and other factors linked to breast cancer risk. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention currently recommends that adults get at least two and a half hours of moderate exercise per week. Alternatively, it recommends at least one hour and 15 minutes of vigorous activity per week.

Less than half of US women report meeting those recommendations, however. Dr Steven Chen, an associate professor at City of Hope in Duarte, California, said women can add an hour of walking throughout the day. “You can pick up 10 minutes at the grocery store, another 10 minutes when you’re out shopping or another 10 or 15 minutes at work...

You can pick up your hour pretty quickly,” Chen, who wasn’t involved with the new study, told Reuters Health. —Reuters

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2013

Kuwait

SHARQIA-1 BATTLE OF THE YEAR (DIG) MAN OF TAI CHI (DIG) BATTLE OF THE YEAR (DIG) MAN OF TAI CHI (DIG) BATTLE OF THE YEAR (DIG) MAN OF TAI CHI (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED SHARQIA-2 KHUMBA (DIG-3D) KHUMBA (DIG-3D) KHUMBA (DIG-3D) KHUMBA (DIG-3D) RUSH (DIG) RUSH (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED SHARQIA-3 RUSH (DIG) EMPIRE STATE (DIG) RUSH (DIG) EMPIRE STATE (DIG) RUNNER RUNNER (DIG) EMPIRE STATE (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:15 PM 3:30 PM 5:45 PM 8:00 PM 10:15 PM 12:30 AM

1:00 PM 3:00 PM 5:00 PM 7:00 PM 9:00 PM 11:15 PM

1:30 PM 4:00 PM 6:00 PM 8:15 PM 10:30 PM 12:45 AM

MUHALAB-1 MAN OF TAI CHI (DIG) MAN OF TAI CHI (DIG) BESHARAM (DIG) (HINDI) MAN OF TAI CHI (DIG)

1:45 PM 4:00 PM 6:15 PM 9:15 PM

MUHALAB-2 KHUMBA (DIG) KHUMBA (DIG) KHUMBA (DIG) EMPIRE STATE (DIG) EMPIRE STATE (DIG)

2:00 PM 4:00 PM 6:00 PM 8:00 PM 10:00 PM

MUHALAB-3 BATTLE OF THE YEAR (DIG-3D) RUSH (DIG) BATTLE OF THE YEAR (DIG-3D) RUSH (DIG) RUSH (DIG)

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

FANAR-1 BATTLE OF THE YEAR (DIG) BATTLE OF THE YEAR (DIG) MAN OF TAI CHI (DIG) MAN OF TAI CHI (DIG) BATTLE OF THE YEAR (DIG) MAN OF TAI CHI (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

FANAR-2 KHUMBA (DIG) KHUMBA (DIG) KHUMBA (DIG) KHUMBA (DIG) EMPIRE STATE (DIG) EMPIRE STATE (DIG) EMPIRE STATE (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

FANAR-3 PLANES (DIG) BESHARAM (DIG) (HINDI) PRISONERS (DIG) BESHARAM (DIG) (HINDI) RUNNER RUNNER (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:45 PM 3:45 PM 6:45 PM 9:45 PM 12:45 AM

FANAR-4 RUSH (DIG) RUSH (DIG) BATTLE OF THE YEAR (DIG-3D) RUSH (DIG) RUSH (DIG) RUSH (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:30 PM 2:45 PM 5:00 PM 7:15 PM 9:30 PM 11:45 PM

FANAR-5 THE SMURFS 2 THE SMURFS 2 GETAWAY TOM & JIMMY (ARABIC) GETAWAY NO SUN+TUE+WED

2:15 PM 4:45 PM 7:00 PM 9:00 PM 11:15 PM

KNCC PROGRAMME FROM THURSDAY TO WEDNESDAY (03/10/2013 TO 09/10/2013) MARINA-1 BATTLE OF THE YEAR (DIG) BATTLE OF THE YEAR (DIG) RUNNER RUNNER (DIG) MAN OF TAI CHI (DIG) BATTLE OF THE YEAR (DIG) MAN OF TAI CHI (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:30 PM 2:45 PM 5:00 PM 7:00 PM 9:15 PM 11:30 PM

MARINA-2 RUSH (DIG) EMPIRE STATE (DIG) RUSH (DIG) RUSH (DIG) RUSH (DIG) RUSH (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:45 PM 4:00 PM 6:00 PM 8:15 PM 10:30 PM 12:45 AM

MARINA-3 KHUMBA (DIG-3D) KHUMBA (DIG-3D) KHUMBA (DIG-3D) BATTLE OF THE YEAR (DIG-3D) EMPIRE STATE (DIG) EMPIRE STATE (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:30 PM 3:30 PM 5:30 PM 7:30 PM 9:45 PM 11:45 PM

AVENUES-1 PRISONERS (DIG) PRISONERS (DIG) PRISONERS (DIG) PRISONERS (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

AVENUES-2 RUNNER RUNNER (DIG) RUNNER RUNNER (DIG) GETAWAY (DIG) RUNNER RUNNER (DIG) RUNNER RUNNER (DIG) RUNNER RUNNER (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:45 PM 3:45 PM 5:45 PM 7:45 PM 9:45 PM 11:45 PM

AVENUES-3 BATTLE OF THE YEAR (DIG-3D) BATTLE OF THE YEAR (DIG-3D) BATTLE OF THE YEAR (DIG-3D) BATTLE OF THE YEAR (DIG-3D) BATTLE OF THE YEAR (DIG) BATTLE OF THE YEAR (DIG-3D) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:15 PM 3:30 PM 5:45 PM 8:00 PM 10:15 PM 12:30 AM

AVENUES-4 MAN OF TAI CHI (DIG) MAN OF TAI CHI (DIG) MAN OF TAI CHI (DIG) EMPIRE STATE (DIG) MAN OF TAI CHI (DIG) EMPIRE STATE (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

AVENUES-5 RUSH (DIG) RUSH (DIG) RUSH (DIG) RUSH (DIG) RUSH (DIG) RUSH (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

AVENUES-6 EMPIRE STATE (DIG) EMPIRE STATE (DIG) EMPIRE STATE (DIG) EMPIRE STATE (DIG) EMPIRE STATE (DIG) EMPIRE STATE (DIG) 360ยบ- 1 EMPIRE STATE (DIG) EMPIRE STATE (DIG) EMPIRE STATE (DIG) EMPIRE STATE (DIG) EMPIRE STATE (DIG) EMPIRE STATE (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED 360ยบ- 2 MALAVITA (THE FAMILY)(DIG)

1:30 PM 3:30 PM 5:30 PM 7:30 PM 9:30 PM 11:30 PM 2:30 PM 4:30 PM 6:30 PM 8:30 PM 10:30 PM 12:30 AM

1:15 PM

MALAVITA (THE FAMILY)(DIG) MALAVITA (THE FAMILY)(DIG) MALAVITA (THE FAMILY)(DIG) MALAVITA (THE FAMILY)(DIG) MALAVITA (THE FAMILY)(DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

3:30 PM 5:45 PM 8:00 PM 10:15 PM 12:30 AM

360ยบ- 3 KHUMBA (DIG-3D) KHUMBA (DIG) KHUMBA (DIG-3D) KHUMBA (DIG-3D) MAN OF TAI CHI (DIG) MAN OF TAI CHI (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:45 PM 3:45 PM 5:45 PM 7:45 PM 9:45 PM 11:45 PM

AL-KOUT.1 BATTLE OF THE YEAR (DIG-3D) RUSH (DIG) BATTLE OF THE YEAR (DIG-3D) RUSH (DIG) RUSH (DIG) RUSH (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

AL-KOUT.2 EMPIRE STATE (DIG) EMPIRE STATE (DIG) MALAVITA (THE FAMILY)(DIG) EMPIRE STATE (DIG) BATTLE OF THE YEAR (DIG) EMPIRE STATE (DIG)

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

AL-KOUT.3 KHUMBA (DIG) KHUMBA (DIG) KHUMBA (DIG) PRISONERS (DIG) PRISONERS (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

AL-KOUT.4 MAN OF TAI CHI (DIG) MAN OF TAI CHI (DIG) RUNNER RUNNER (DIG) MAN OF TAI CHI (DIG) MAN OF TAI CHI (DIG) MAN OF TAI CHI (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:30 PM 4:00 PM 6:15 PM 8:15 PM 10:30 PM 12:45 AM

BAIRAQ-1 KHUMBA (DIG-3D) KHUMBA (DIG-3D) KHUMBA (DIG-3D) KHUMBA (DIG-3D) RUSH (DIG) RUSH (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:45 PM 2:45 PM 4:45 PM 6:45 PM 8:45 PM 11:15 PM

BAIRAQ-2 PLANES (DIG) RUNNER RUNNER (DIG) RUSH (DIG) MAN OF TAI CHI (DIG) MAN OF TAI CHI (DIG) MAN OF TAI CHI (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

BAIRAQ-3 BATTLE OF THE YEAR (DIG) EMPIRE STATE (DIG) BATTLE OF THE YEAR (DIG) EMPIRE STATE (DIG) BATTLE OF THE YEAR (DIG) EMPIRE STATE (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:45 PM 4:00 PM 6:00 PM 8:15 PM 10:15 PM 12:30 AM

PLAZA BESHARAM (DIG) (HINDI) 6:30 PM ATTARINTIKI DAAREDI (DIG) (TELUGU) 9:30 PM

CHANGE OF NAME I, Livina Fatima Baretto, resident of Goa and holder of Indian Passport No. K4654795 issued at Kuwait, hereby change my surname to Da Costa. Hence I will be called Livina Fatima Da Costa from now onwards.

(C 4528) 5-10-2013 I, Shahjahan Malek Ali Sadek D/O Sayyed Mohammad Jaffery, holder of Indian Passport No. Z1886955 have changed my name from Shahjahan Malek Ali Sadek to Shahjahan Sayyed Mohammad Jaffery.

(C 4527) 3-10-2013 I, Palleemeera Mutterahamath, holder of Indian Passport No. L0083056, issued at Hyderabad, A.P, hereby change my name to Palleemeera Mukthiyar.

(C 4525) 2-10-2013 I, Pallippadan Joseph Francis holder of Indian Passport No: A4917770 hereby change my name to Pallippatt Joseph Francis.

(C 4523) 1-10-2013

Prayer timings

LAILA MAN OF TAI CHI (DIG) EMPIRE STATE (DIG) RUSH (DIG)

6:00 PM 8:15 PM 10:15 PM

AJIAL.1 ATTARINTIKI DAAREDI (DIG) ATTARINTIKI DAAREDI (DIG)

6:30 PM 9:45 PM

Fajr: Shorook Duhr: Asr: Maghrib: Isha:

04:24 05:42 11:37 14:59 17:31 18:47

LOST Original document Policy No. 6330029847 of Waqas Azam by the State Life Insurance Corporation of Pakistan, Gulf Zone is reported to have been lost. Anyone finding the same or claiming any interest in it should communicate with State Life Office Kuwait Tel: 22452208.

(C 4529) 5-10-2013 Original document policy No. 633001498, Nabila Zubair Khan DV the State Life Insurance Corporation of Pakistan, Gulf Zone is reported to have been lost. Anyone finding the same or claiming any interest in it should communicate with the Manager Kuwait State Life office.

Phone: 22452208. (C 4524) 1-10-2013 MATRIMONIAL Marriage proposal invited for Pakistani Muslim family daughter, Pharmacist, on job, Kwt. Resident, tall, smart, from reasonable boy match through parents. Email: contact9132000@gmail.

(C 4526) 2-10-2013 ACCOMMODATION Accommodation available with Tamil Muslim family for family/ladies/bachelors in Hawally Dawar Sadiq. Call 97988528, 66594790.

information

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2013

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

Arrival Flights on Saturday 5/10/2013 Flt Route 43 DHAKA 148 DOHA 539 CAIRO 8063 DUBAI 441 LAHORE 267 BEIRUT 764 SABIHA 620 ADDIS ABABA 211 BAHRAIN 239 ISLAMABAD/SIALKOT 853 DUBAI 305 ABU DHABI-INTL 67 DUBAI 612 CAIRO 643 MUSCAT 138 DOHA 770 ISTANBUL 5509 CAIRO 170 BAHRAIN 555 ALEXANDRIA 529 ASYUT 157 LONDON 416 JAKARTA/KUALA LUMPUR 412 MANILA/BANGKOK 503 LUXOR 53 DUBAI 206 ISLAMABAD 381 DELHI 302 MUMBAI 352 COCHIN 344 CHENNAI 284 DHAKA 362 COLOMBO 855 DUBAI 125 SHARJAH 6588 SHAHRE KORD 1186 TEHRAN 55 DUBAI 132 DOHA 301 ABU DHABI-INTL 213 BAHRAIN 157 BAGHDAD/NAJAF 165 DUBAI 1188 MASHAD 401 ALEXANDRIA 241 AMMAN-QUEEN ALIA 5483 MASHAD 871 DUBAI 610 CAIRO 579 SOHAG 140 DOHA 57 DUBAI 672 DUBAI 790 MEDINAH 6692 MASHAD 1184 SHIRAZ 575 SHARM EL SHEIKH 500 JEDDAH 257 BEIRUT 341 DAMASCUS 470 JEDDAH 788 JEDDAH 621 AMMAN-QUEEN ALIA 538 SOHAG/SHARM EL SHEIKH 4813 MASHAD 640 AMMAN-QUEEN ALIA 118 NEW YORK 535 CAIRO 357 MASHAD 134 DOHA 125 BAHRAIN 303 ABU DHABI-INTL 857 DUBAI 127 SHARJAH 982 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 510 RIYADH 215 BAHRAIN 176 GENEVA/FRANKFURT 251 ALEXANDRIA 4167 MASHAD

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

TGZ KAC KAC QTR YYY KAC FDB GFA KAC KAC MSC JAI KAC KAC FDB OMA ABY IRA MEA MSR KNE AXB KLM ALK UAE JZR JZR JZR ETD QTR GFA JAI FDB AIC UAL MSC DLH JAI MSR THY KAC KAC JZR JZR JZR

1553 542 104 144 6060 502 63 219 618 674 405 572 562 774 61 647 129 607 402 618 462 489 415 229 859 777 177 189 307 136 217 576 59 975 981 2403 636 574 614 772 786 614 239 185 513

BATUMI CAIRO LONDON DOHA DOHA BEIRUT DUBAI BAHRAIN DOHA DUBAI SOHAG MUMBAI AMMAN-QUEEN ALIA RIYADH DUBAI MUSCAT SHARJAH MASHAD BEIRUT ALEXANDRIA MEDINAH COCHIN/MANGALORE AMSTERDAM COLOMBO DUBAI JEDDAH DUBAI DUBAI ABU DHABI-INTL DOHA BAHRAIN COCHIN/ABU DHABI-INTL DUBAI CHENNAI/GOA BAHRAIN SOHAG FRANKFURT MUMBAI CAIRO ISTANBUL JEDDAH BAHRAIN AMMAN-QUEEN ALIA DUBAI SHARM EL SHEIKH

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

Depature Flights on Saturday 5/10/2013 Flt Route 976 GOA/CHENNAI 573 MUMBAI 615 CAIRO 637 FRANKFURT 413 AMSTERDAM 44 DHAKA 502 LUXOR 8064 DUBAI 773 ISTANBUL 442 LAHORE 765 SABIHA 621 ADDIS ABABA 240 SIALKOT/ISLAMABAD 854 DUBAI 68 DUBAI 613 CAIRO 644 MUSCAT 306 ABU DHABI-INTL 139 DOHA 149 DOHA 212 BAHRAIN 771 ISTANBUL 240 AMMAN-QUEEN ALIA 164 DUBAI 537 SOHAG/SHARM EL SHEIKH 156 LONDON 54 DUBAI 256 BEIRUT 534 CAIRO 789 MEDINAH 671 DUBAI 126 SHARJAH 787 JEDDAH 856 DUBAI 56 DUBAI

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Time 00:05 00:20 00:30 00:30 00:55 01:30 01:30 01:55 02:20 02:30 02:40 02:45 03:35 03:45 03:50 04:15 04:20 04:20 04:25 05:15 07:00 07:10 07:10 07:25 07:45 08:25 08:25 08:50 09:10 09:15 09:25 09:30 09:35 09:50 09:55

IRC ETD QTR KAC IRM JZR KAC GFA KAC KAC IAW JZR MSC IRM JZR JZR MSR TBZ MSR UAE FDB KAC QTR MSR KAC IRM IRC KAC SYR SVA KAC JZR KNE JAV MRJ RJA KAC JZR JZR QTR ETD JZR MSR ABY UAE SVA GFA UAL JZR JZR NIA IZG TGZ QTR FDB GFA KAC KAC MSC JAI FDB ABY KAC OMA KAC IRA MEA MSR KAC KNE DHX KLM ETD ALK UAE KAC QTR KAC GFA FDB KAC JAI JZR KAC

6589 302 133 101 1185 356 501 214 541 165 158 776 406 1189 176 124 580 5484 611 872 58 561 141 576 673 1187 6693 617 342 505 773 188 461 622 4812 641 785 238 512 135 304 538 5510 128 858 511 216 982 184 266 252 4168 1554 145 64 220 613 283 402 571 62 120 331 648 351 604 403 607 543 477 171 415 308 230 860 381 137 301 218 60 205 575 554 411

SHAHRE KORD ABU DHABI-INTL DOHA LONDON/NEW YORK SHIRAZ MASHAD BEIRUT BAHRAIN CAIRO ROME/PARIS NAJAF/BAGHDAD JEDDAH SOHAG MASHAD DUBAI BAHRAIN SOHAG MASHAD CAIRO DUBAI DUBAI AMMAN-QUEEN ALIA DOHA SHARM EL SHEIKH DUBAI TEHRAN MASHAD DOHA DAMASCUS JEDDAH RIYADH DUBAI MEDINAH AMMAN-QUEEN ALIA MASHAD AMMAN-QUEEN ALIA JEDDAH AMMAN-QUEEN ALIA SHARM EL SHEIKH DOHA ABU DHABI-INTL CAIRO CAIRO SHARJAH DUBAI RIYADH BAHRAIN BAHRAIN DUBAI BEIRUT ALEXANDRIA MASHAD BATUMI DOHA DUBAI BAHRAIN BAHRAIN DHAKA ALEXANDRIA MUMBAI DUBAI SHARJAH TRIVANDRUM MUSCAT COCHIN ISFAHAN BEIRUT LUXOR CAIRO JEDDAH BAHRAIN DAMMAM/AMSTERDAM ABU DHABI-INTL COLOMBO DUBAI DELHI DOHA MUMBAI BAHRAIN DUBAI ISLAMABAD ABU DHABI-INTL/COCHIN ALEXANDRIA BANGKOK/MANILA

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

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SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2013

Word Search

Yesterdayʼs Solution

C R O S S W O R D 3 3 1

ACROSS 1. Either extremity of something that has length.

4. Used of persons.

12. A reproach for some lapse or misdeed.

15. Bright and pleasant.

16. Small free-swimming tunicates.

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

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

20. Selected as the best.

21. (Scotland) A small loaf or roll of soft bread.

22. United States writer of plays and short stories (1908-1981).

24. (astronomy) A measure of time defined by Earth’s orbital motion.

26. Large elliptical brightly colored deep-sea fish of Atlantic and Pacific and Mediterranean.

28. Any organic compound formed by adding alcohol molecules to aldehyde molecules.

30. Combined or joined to increase in size or quantity or scope.

34. The capital of Croatia.

35. One species.

38. Consisting of or made of wood of the oak tree.

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

43. Made of fir or pine.

46. A small cake leavened with yeast.

47. A Portuguese province on the south coast of China and two islands in the South China Sea. 49. An inactive volcano in Sicily.

51. In or of the month preceding the present one.

52. Any of a number of fishes of the family Carangidae.

55. In bed.

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

60. A genus of tropical American plants have sword-shaped leaves and a fleshy compound fruits composed of the fruits of several flowers (such as pineapples).

65. A region of Malaysia in northeastern Borneo.

66. Delicacy highly prized in Japan but highly dangerous.

68. Mild yellow Dutch cheese made in balls.

72. French writer whose novels described the sordid side of city life (1804-1857).

73. Used especially in treating bruises.

77. A constellation in the southern hemisphere near Telescopium and Norma.

78. A cut of pork ribs with much of the meat trimmed off.

80. The federal agency that insures residential mortgages.

81. Failing to speak or communicate etc when expected to.

82. Herbs of Mediterranean to central Asia cultivated for their flowers.

83. Of a light yellowish-brown color n 1.

5. Tropical American tree producing cacao beans.

6. A period of time equal to 1/24th of a day.

7. (Old Testament) Adam’s wife in Judeo-Christian mythology.

8. A thick black tar intermediate between petroleum and asphalt.

9. Made agreeably cold (especially by ice).

10. A sweet liquid secretion that is attractive to pollinators.

11. (slang) A gangster’s pistol.

12. The capital of Morocco.

13. Small terrestrial lizard of warm regions of the Old World.

14. Proceeding from or ordered by or subject to a pope or the papacy regarded as the successor of the Apostles.

19. Ratio of the hypotenuse to the opposite side.

23. A radioactive transuranic metallic element.

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

27. Any of numerous ornamental shrubs grown for their showy flowers of various colors.

29. The corporate executive responsible for the operations of the firm.

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

32. The capital and largest city of Bangladesh.

33. Panel forming the lower part of an interior wall when it is finished differently from the rest.

36. A chronic inflammatory collagen disease affecting connective tissue (skin or joints).

37. An informal term for a father.

39. Resin of the kauri trees of N Zealand.

40. The principal evil jinni in Islamic mythology.

41. The fleshy part of the human body that you sit on.

44. A blue dye obtained from plants or made synthetically.

45. (British) A waterproof raincoat made of rubberized fabric.

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

50. One who attacks the reputation of another by slander or libel.

53. A bachelor’s degree in religion.

54. To fix or set securely or deeply.

56. The dialect of Malay used as the national language of the Republic of Indonesia or of Malaysia.

57. A radioactive transuranic element produced by bombarding plutonium with neutrons.

59. A colorless and odorless inert gas.

61. An island republic on Nauru Island.

62. At right angles to the length of a ship or airplane.

63. Lighted up by or as by fire or flame.

64. A soft yellow malleable ductile (trivalent and univalent) metallic element.

67. Clothing of a distinctive style or for a particular occasion.

69. Informal or slang terms for mentally irregular.

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

71. (statistics) Approximating the statistical norm or average or expected value.

74. Rate of revolution of a motor.

75. Tag the base runner to get him out.

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

79. (Greek mythology) A maiden seduced by Zeus.

Yesterdayʼs Solution

DOWN 1. Armor plate that protects the chest.

2. Plant with an elongated head of broad stalked leaves resembling celery.

3. Someone whose job is to dye cloth.

4. Kill intentionally and with premeditation.

Daily SuDoku

Yesterday’s Solution

Sports SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2013

Uchimura wins record 4th world all-around title

PITTSBURGH: Sidney Crosby #87 and Pascal Dupuis #9 of the Pittsburgh Penguins get tangled up with Ryan Carter #20 and Peter Harrold #10 of the New Jersey Devils during the home opener at Consol Energy Center on October 3, 2013. — AFP

Penguins thrash Devils 3-0 PITTSBURGH: Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 28 shots for his 250th NHL victory and franchise-record 24th shutout, and Sidney Crosby scored in Pittsburgh’s two-goal first period to lead the Penguins to a 3-0 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Thursday night in the season opener for both teams. Chuck Kobasew and Craig Adams added goals for the Penguins, who took control early. Kobasew and Crosby scored less than four minutes apart in the first, and Adams made it 3-0 midway through the third to celebrate his 800th career game in style. Cory Schneider made 18 saves for the Devils. Schneider’s start marked the first time in 19 years Martin Brodeur didn’t play in the season opener for New Jersey. Brodeur is expected to start Friday at home against the New York Islanders. Fleury was stellar from the opening faceoff and even stopped a penalty shot by Adam Henrique late in the third period to preserve the shutout.

BRUINS 3, LIGHTNING 1 Chris Kelly scored on a penalty shot, and Patrice Bergeron also had a short handed goal as Boston opened defense of its Eastern Conference championship with a victory over Tampa Bay. Kelly was hooked from behind about eight minutes in while Boston was killing off a penalty, and he converted the one-on-one with goalie Anders Lindback. Boston also killed a 5-on-3 power play in the first period and another in the third. Tuukka Rask made 32 saves for Boston, which reached the Stanley Cup finals last season for the second time in three years. Lindback stopped 22 shots for the Lightning.

CAPITALS 5, FLAMES 4, SO Alex Ovechkin had two goals and an assist and then scored in the shootout for Washington, which rallied from an early threegoal deficit to beat Calgary in the Flames’ season opener.

Washington’s Michal Neuvirth, who replaced an ineffective Braden Holtby, made 27 saves and stopped Sven Baertschi and Jiri Hudler in the shootout. Marcus Johansson assisted on all three second-period goals for the Capitals, who earned their first win after dropping the opener to defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago on Tuesday. Connor Carrick and Nicklas Backstrom also scored for Washington. David Jones, Lee Stempniak, Hudler and Lance Bouma had goals for Calgary. Karri Ramo made 35 saves.

KINGS 3, WILD 2, SO Anze Kopitar and Jeff Carter scored shootout goals for Los Angeles, which rallied to beat Minnesota in the season opener for both teams. Carter and Drew Doughty scored regulation goals for Los Angeles, which had just 18 shots. Jonathan Quick made 29 saves for the Kings, including stops against Zach Parise and Mikko Koivu in the shootout. Matt Cooke and Jonas Brodin scored in regulation for Minnesota, which had never lost a home opener in its first 12 seasons (11-0-1). With the Kings trailing 2-1, Carter

scored on a rebound of a shot by Matt Frattin at 13:14 of the third period to tie it.

BLUES 4, PREDATORS 2 David Backes had a goal and assist in the first period to lead St Louis over Nashville. The Blues scored three times in the first 9:45 to jump in front 3-0 and chase goalie Pekka Rinne. Jaroslav Halak made 28 saves for the Blues and improved to 9-3-3 against the Predators. Vladimir Sobotka, TJ Oshie and Alex Steen also scored for St Louis, which was 2 of 4 on the power play. The Blues have won four of their past five home openers.

PANTHERS 4, STARS 2 Marcel Goc scored two third-period goals, and Florida spoiled Lindy Ruff’s debut as Dallas coach with a season-opening road victory. The Panthers erased a 2-1 deficit with goals about 41/2 minutes apart. Goc’s goal followed the tying tally by 18-year-old Aleksander Barkov, the No 2 pick in this year’s draft. Goc’s second goal was an empty-netter. Tim Thomas made 24 saves for Florida.

Dallas’ Ryan Garbutt and Florida’s Dmitry Kulikov were ejected in the first period when they started fighting a few moments after another fight on the ice. Scott Gomez, a 14-year veteran in his first season with the Panthers, opened the scoring with a backhand shot from the crease after a pass from behind the net by Scottie Upshall.

COYOTES 4, RANGERS 1 Radim Vrbata scored three goals and Mike Smith stopped 23 shots as Phoenix opened its first season with an owner in four years by routing the New York Rangers. With NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and the club’s new owners in attendance, the Coyotes turned a tight game into a one-sided contest behind Vrbata’s second straight hat trick - dating to last season - and fifth of his career. Kyle Chipchura also scored, Martin Hanzal had two assists, and Smith made some tough saves on a pair of early penalty kills, including one from his stomach on a shot by Benoit Pouliot. Marc Staal scored a power-play goal for the short-handed Rangers in their first game under new coach Alain Vigneault.

Henrik Lundqvist stopped 28 shots for New York.

SHARKS 4, CANUCKS 1 Justin Braun scored his first goal in more than 19 months to break a tie late in the second period and San Jose went on to beat Vancouver in the season opener for both teams. Brent Burns, Patrick Marleau and Tommy Wingels also scored for the Sharks, who have won eight straight against the Canucks including a sweep in the first round of the playoffs last season. Antti Niemi made 21 saves. Jason Garrison scored a power-play goal and Roberto Luongo made 31 saves for the Canucks, who lost in the debut of new coach John Tortorella. — AP

ANTWERP: Olympic champion Kohei Uchimura won a record fourth all-around world championship beating Japanese compatriot Ryohei Kato in a final that had a sense of inevitability from the start Thursday. Uchimura opened with the best floor exercise of the six top qualifiers, and was in command the rest of the way. He mixed strength, poise and elegance in every discipline, setting himself apart and reinforcing his reputation as the greatest in the history of the sport. “I always do my own things,” Uchimura said. “I don’t think about rivals.” Such is his mastery that he doesn’t have to. Even though Uchimura already held the men’s record for allaround world titles, he still shared it overall with retired women’s great Svetlana Khorkina of Russia, who also won three.

And at 24, he can continue to dominate for years to come. “I want to continue until Tokyo 2020,” he said about the Olympic Games his nation will stage. German veteran Fabian Hambuechen, the bronze medalist, has competed against Uchimura for years and has no doubt he is the greatest. “Yeah, sure,” he said in awe. “He has no weak event.” Uchimura bore testimony to that, finishing in the top three of each of the six events. “He is just like in a tunnel.

Doing his thing. Not being nervous at all, and just concentrating on his routines. That is very special,” Hambuechen said.

Uchimura also qualified for the weekend floor exercise, high bar and parallel bar finals. In the contest for the other medals, Sam Mikulak of the US made a decisive error late in his high bar routine and instead of challenging for silver he ended up sixth. “That is gymnastics. One second you’re on. One second you are off. It’s fine,” he said. Hambuechen started with a weak pommel horse routine, but his evening-long chase ended with a great floor exercise and the bronze. Uchimura finished with 91.990 points, almost a massive two points ahead of Kato, who had 90.032. Hambuechen finished with 89.332. Britain’s Max Whitlock was fourth with 89.031.

A difference in style was immediately visible on the opening floor exercise when it still looked like a US-Japanese fight for gold.

Mikulak was smiling broadly, pumping his fists and acknowledging the crowd; Uchimura left the floor seemingly subdued, giving a small nod and a handshake to his coach. It is this kind of serenity, this inner resolve, that has set apart Uchimura.—AP

Cardinals crush Pirates with seven-run inning SAINT LOUIS: The St Louis Cardinals crushed the Pittsburgh Pirates 9-1 to launch their Major League Baseball playoff campaign with an emphatic win on Thursday. St Louis starter Adam Wainwright turned in seven brilliant innings as the Cardinals got their quest for a third-straight trip to the league semi-finals off to an excellent start. The 32-year-old Wainwright struck out nine and allowed just three hits in the opening game of the first round playoff series.

Wainwright said he embraces the extra pressure that comes with playing in the post-season. “I love to be that guy,” Wainwright said. “It is important to have somebody out there you can count on.” In the late game Thursday, Clayton Kershaw struck out 12 as the Los Angeles Dodgers cruised past the Atlanta Braves 6-1 to take a 1-0 series lead. Cardinals starter Lance Lynn will face Pittsburgh rookie pitcher Gerrit Cole in game two yesterday. National League Central Division champs St Louis scored seven runs in the bottom of the third inning in which eight straight runners reached base in front of a crowd of 45,693 at Busch Stadium. “To be able to get out on a good first step and play well today, I think is big for our guys confidence-wise,” said Cardinals manager Mike Matheny.

Wainwright set the tone in the first game of the best-of-five series by retiring the first 11 batters he faced.

“He had his good stuff going right from the beginning,” said Matheny. “Breaking ball was sharp. Controlled the counts. He had everything really working from the top. When he does that, he’s going to make for a long day for most people.”

Wainwright’s only blemish was when Pedro Alvarez belted a solo home run to lead off the top of the fifth inning. Carlos Beltran clubbed a three-run home run off Pirates pitcher AJ Burnett during the third-inning barrage, while 2011 World Series MVP David Freese batted two-for-four with a two-run single.—AFP

SPORTS

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2013

Hamilton fastest in Korea practice Raikkonen crashes; Vettel second quickest YEONGAM: Lewis Hamilton kept championship leader Sebastian Vettel off the top of the timesheets in both yesterday practice sessions for the Korean Formula One Grand Prix while Kimi Raikkonen slammed his Lotus into a tyre wall in the morning. The Mercedes driver lapped the anti-clockwise Yeongam circuit, set against a backdrop of coastal marshes and South Korean shipyard cranes, with a best time of one minute 39.630 seconds in the morning and 1:38.673 after lunch.

Red Bull’s Vettel, chasing his fourth win in a row since the end of August and third in succession in Korea, was second quickest in both sessions run in bright sunshine and under cloudless skies. “I feel like I have a bit of a better foundation this weekend. I can’t remember the last time I had a really strong yesterday,” said Hamilton.

“We haven’t changed anything but the day just went smoothly and all the processes with the team worked well.” Vettel was a mere 0.037 slower in the first, after firing in his best lap in the closing seconds, and 0.108 adrift in the second. “I think it will be very close this weekend with Mercedes,” said the German, who has a 60 point lead over Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso with six races to go and could clinch his fourth successive title this month.

Alonso, who was sixth and seventh in the sessions, sounded gloomy afterwards. “On this track too it’s aerodynamics that make

the difference and for that reason, I am not expecting too many surprises when compared to the last few Grands Prix,” said the Spaniard. “The time sheet follows the order that continues to be more or less the same seen in previous weekends and there is every probability that, again here, we can expect to struggle in the race.” On a quiet opening day, with largely empty stands at

the track some three hours by KTX express train south from Seoul, the biggest noise was provided by South Korean fighter jets roaring overhead in formation.

BATTLE LINES Raikkonen, who struggled with a bad back in Singapore two weeks ago, skidded hard into the tyre wall at the final corner in

YEONGAM: Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain steers his car during the second practice session for the Korean Formula One Grand Prix at the Korean International Circuit in Yeongam, South Korea yesterday. — AP

Afghan fans in cricket heaven as WCup dream comes true KABUL: War-torn Afghanistan erupted in wild celebrations yesterday as its cricket team beat Kenya to qualify for the 2015 World Cup, just 12 years after the game took hold in the wake of the Taleban’s fall. About 3,000 fans packed onto the field at Kabul’s only cricket stadium to watch the match on a big screen, with noisy chants and dancing marking each boundary as Afghan batsmen carried the side to an easy victory in Sharjah.

Celebratory gunfire tore through the air in the eastern city of Jalalabad, but there was no immediate repeat of the nationwide explosion of bullets that met Afghanistan’s recent victory in the South Asian Football Federation cup. “Tears come out of my eyes because of my happiness,” Zakir Mohammadi, 23, told AFP, the national flag draped across his shoulders. “I am speechless and can’t express myself. This is a great feat for our cricket team and for all Afghans.”

Large crowds of supporters also celebrated in the southern city of Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taleban, where police issued strict warnings on the radio before the game that people should not celebrate by firing guns in the air.

“This is a great success for our country. Afghanistan have proved their ability to the world despite 30 years of war,” Shahzada Masood, chairman of Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB), said. “This shows the talent of our players. They can beat any team on their day despite the limited facilities that they have.”

Afghanistan’s cricket side has progressed rapidly since the country emerged from the austere rule of the Taleban in 2001, and the achievement makes up for narrowly missing out on the 2011 World Cup. Tens of thousands of Afghans learned the game in refugee camps in Pakistan after they were forced to flee during the decades of war and turmoil that followed the Soviet invasion in 1979. Cricket boomed after the Taleban era as many Afghans returned home, despite the Islamist militants waging a bloody insurgency against US-led troops and the Kabul government.

The game is now played on any piece of open ground, ranging from scruffy city parks to rural roads, with boys often using discarded pieces of wood for bats and wickets. “I cannot ask for a better performance than this. —AFP

the closing seconds of the morning session but clambered out of the car without any apparent difficulty. The 2007 world champion clocked the eighth best times in both sessions. “Obviously it didn’t help that I destroyed part of the car this morning; maybe I ran out of talent there,” commented the Finn, whose car was quickly fixed.

Red Bull’s Mark Webber, who will have a 10-place grid penalty tomorrow after collecting his third reprimand of the season for a Singapore post-race ‘taxi ride’ on Alonso’s Ferrari, was third and fourth respectively.

Hamilton’s team mate Nico Rosberg reinforced the idea that the battle lines were drawn between Mercedes and Red Bull with the fourth and third best times. Vettel was in a league of his own on the streets of Singapore and there were suspicions yesterday, where teams can be running with different fuel levels, that the 26-year-old had plenty in reserve.

“In terms of competitiveness, all the usual caveats apply: we know only what fuel loads we ran, not those of our competitors, so tomorrow will show us where we actually stand,” said Mercedes principal Ross Brawn.

Marussia’s Venezuelan test driver Rodolfo Gonzalez hit the wall early in the first session when he was almost alone on the circuit.

Britain’s James Calado was also given time in the Force India, with compatriot and race regular Paul Di Resta sitting out the session before returning in the afternoon. — Reuters

FIFA to set up Qatar World Cup task force ZURICH: FIFA leaders agreed yesterday to set up a working group to study switching the dates of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to avoid the hot summer months. However, a final decision on which months the tournament could be played is unlikely before 2015, FIFA executive committee member Michel D’Hooghe said.

“At the earliest in 2015,” D’Hooghe said after Friday’s executive committee meeting. “We will consult everyone in the football family. To have some concrete information, this will not be done in two days.” D’Hooghe and fellow committee member Hany Abo Rida told the AP that the new commission will not report back to President Sepp Blatter’s board before the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. “We have two World Cups before Qatar where we also have concerns,” said D’Hooghe, who also chairs FIFA’s medical committee.

The lengthy consultation process will involve medical experts and FIFA’s broadcasting and sponsor partners, as well as the influential European leagues and clubs which are worried about disruption to their schedules. D’Hooghe said it has not yet been decided who will head the working group. The FIFA board also discussed Qatar’s treatment of migrant workers after reported deaths and human rights abuses connected with World Cup construction projects.

FIFA Vice President Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan told the AP that Blatter offered to visit Qatar and discuss the issue with the emir, who is a longstanding IOC colleague of the FIFA president. “We received a letter from Qatar saying they will abide by international norms,” on labor rights, the prince said. Prince Ali said he believed that the Qatari World Cup organizers - who are not represented on FIFA’s ruling panel - were treated fairly and respectfully in the meeting.

Yesterday’s agreement falls short of Blatter’s stated plan to flatly reject the principle of playing the Qatar World Cup in June-July. He has suggested starting the tournament in

November. Still, the momentum to move FIFA’s showcase event appears unstoppable because of the searing summer heat in the tiny desert nation. The executive committee includes 13 men who took part in the December 2010 vote which awarded the World Cup to Qatar.

The gas-rich emirate beat the United States 14-8 in the final vote despite warnings that the extreme temperatures in June and July posed a health risk to players and spectators. Qatar has twice hosted major football tournaments but neither was played in June or July. The 2011 Asian Cup was played in January, the month preferred by European body UEFA and its president Michel Platini. In 1995, Qatar staged the Under-20 World Cup in April. A spring 2022 tournament has been proposed by Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, head of the European clubs’ association.

Blatter has pushed FIFA in recent months toward moving the 2022 World Cup dates after spending two years insisting that Qatari officials first had to ask for a change.

The Qatar organizing committee insists it can stage a safe tournament in June-July by using air-cooling technology.

However, Qatar says it would comply if FIFA reaches a consensus for change. Any switch of the dates could lead to legal challenges from the losing bidders, European leagues and broadcasters that bought rights based on a June-July event.

The US is FIFA’s most lucrative territory, and November or January dates would clash with the NFL season. Fox, Telemundo - owned by NBC Universal - and Futbol de Primera Radio agreed to pay a combined $1.2 billion in October 2011 to broadcast the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

FIFA has ruled out compensating losing bidders after 2022 candidate Australia said it wanted to recoup its publicly funded $40.6 million campaign costs. FIFA gets around 90 percent of its revenue from the World Cup. It earned $3.655 billion from commercial deals tied to the 2010 tournament in South Africa.— AP

SPORTS

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2013

Kuwait National Team

UAE beat Kuwait; Oman thump Bahrain First Gulf Women Handball tournament

By Abdulatiff Al-Sharaa KUWAIT: The head of the Women Sports Association Sheikha Naeema Al-Ahmad AlSabah has declared the first Gulf Women Handball tournament during a ceremony held

at the Regency hotel in the presence of the leader of the Women’s Committee at the Bahrain Olympic Committee Sheikha Hayat Al Khalifa and head of the Organizing Committee of Handball at the GCC countries as well as heads of delegations and players.

Sheikh Naeema said that the priority of the committees work is to help develop women’s sports. She hoped that Saudi Arabia will participate in the next championship. She said the handball tournament is an important step in the women’s sports march as the next one will be the organization of the Gulf Women Soccer Tournament in 2014.

The chairman of GCC Handball Organizing Committee Sultan Al-Housany lauded Sheikha Naeema’s determination to turn the dream into reality and thanked the Kuwait organizing committee for hosting the tournament.

Meanwhile, Bahrain’s Sheikha Hayat Bint Abdelaziz Al Khalifa praised the hospitality and thanked Kuwait and Sheikha Naeema for hosting the tournament. She said Kuwait’s hosting this women’s event shows the state’s interest in developing the women sports, which confirms Kuwait as a pioneer in the field of women sports.

Sheikh Hayat lauded the organization and the enthusiasm the gulf players showed with eagerness to compete. She said there are plans to launch women games for juniors in order to build strong women teams that can participate at the international level.

Meanwhile Oman’s women Sports Committee Chairwoman Sanaa Al-Busaeedi told Kuna that she appreciates Sheikha Naeema’s support of the gulf women sport and the hosting of first women handball tournament. She said Oman is proud with its first participation in this tournament.

Meanwhile, Kuwait Women Handball team were defeated by their UAE counterparts yesterday. The final score was 16-18 in favor of

Sheikha Naeema receives Sheikha Hayat of Bahrain. the UAE team. The game tough and very competitive. Kuwaiti coach Reem Al-Minae told Kuna that the players gave a good performance, as this is their first competitive match. In second match Oman vs Bahrain, Oman came out victorious with a score of 22-18.

SPORTS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2013

Springboks, All Blacks in clash of titans

Photo of the day

Rider practices under Andreas Lettenbichler's supervision during the "Ride with Pro's" training session before Red Bull Sea to Sky race in Antalia, Kemer, Turkey on September 25, 2013. — www.redbullcontentpool.com

Weeden lifts Browns CLEVELAND: Brandon Weeden came off the bench after Brian Hoyer injured his knee and rallied the Browns to a 37-24 victory over the Buffalo Bills, who also lost starting rookie quarterback EJ Manuel with a knee injury. After spraining his right thumb in Week 2, Weeden watched as Hoyer, a lifelong Browns fan who began the season as Cleveland’s No. 3 quarterback, led the team to two straight wins. Weeden got healthy enough to play but found himself demoted to a backup role. He could have sulked or complained. Instead, he fought back. “Whether I was the starter, eyes are still on you to see how you respond, to see how you react,” he said after Thursday’s win. “I was upbeat the entire time and never let it bother me. Inside, it just kind of lit a fire.”

Weeden threw a 37-yard touchdown pass to Josh Gordon in the third quarter as the Browns (3-2) won their third straight and temporarily moved into sole possession of first place in the AFC North. It’s the Browns best record after five games since they were 3-2 in 2001. “We don’t care about history,” Gordon said. “This is a new year and this is a new team.” Safety TJ Ward intercepted rookie Jeff Tuel’s pass and returned it 44 yards for a TD with 1:44 left to end any comeback hopes for the Bills (2-3). Travis Benjamin had an electrifying 79-yard TD punt return in the first half for Cleveland.

Hoyer sustained a potentially serious right knee injury on a scramble in the first quarter, and Manuel was forced out after taking a helmet to his right knee on a run in the third. Neither

returned and their injuries could impact both teams’ seasons.

Hoyer was attempting to become the first quarterback in team history to win his first three starts - now he may not get back on the field this season. “We definitely don’t want to see a teammate go down like that, especially a guy like Hoyer,” Gordon said. “He’s a great guy and I hope he comes back healthy.”

CJ Spiller had a 54-yard TD run and Fred Jackson had a pair of 1-yard TD runs for the Bills, who could do nothing on offense once Manuel left. Manuel got hurt at the end of a 14-yard run when he was hammered near the sideline by Browns safety Tashaun Gipson. Manuel walked off the field attempted to get his knee loose on the sideline by jogging and riding a stationary bike. But after having his knee examined, he jogged to the locker room with two trainers.

Billy Cundiff kicked field goals of 24 and 44 yards in the fourth quarter for the Browns, who overcame a 10-0 deficit and were down 24-17 less than two minutes into the second quarter.

Cundiff’s second kick with 2:91 left put the Browns ahead 30-24, and Cleveland turned it over to their third-ranked overall defense.

With Buffalo leading 24-17, Weeden found Gordon down the left sideline and the wide receiver made a juggling catch. Weeden started slowly but finished 13 of 24 for 197 yards. “He did a great job,” tight end Jordan Cameron said. “At first he was a little rusty. I think he shook that off and really got us going.”— AP

JOHANNESBURG: Global rugby powers New Zealand and South Africa square off at Ellis Park today with the Rugby Championship title on the line. The All Blacks take a five-point lead in the standings into a game that has captured the imagination of rugby followers far beyond the two countries. A win, a draw, or a bonus point for losing by fewer than eight points or for scoring four tries will ensure the southern hemisphere trophy remains in Wellington. But the Springboks can wrest the crown from their greatest rivals if they win by at least eight points, score four tries and deprive the visitors of any bonus points.

Add recalled warriors Bismarck du Plessis and Richie McCaw plus the setting of Ellis Park and the stage is set for a thriller on the fringe of the Johannesburg city centre. Form favors New Zealand with seven wins from the last eight meetings in a 92-year rivalry that began with a 13-5 Dunedin victory for the men in black. The most recent success came in Auckland last month with the 29-15 win marred by the controversial red-carding of hooker Du Plessis.

Ultra combative and famed for big ‘hits’, Du Plessis struck All Blacks playmaker Dan Carter hard but legally, only for French referee Romain Poite to flash a yellow card.

Another yellow card, this time for leading with his elbow into the throat of flank Liam Messam just after half-time, meant an automatic red for the Springbok. A bubbling contest with the All Blacks deservedly seven points ahead lost its edge as the home side used numerical superiority to deadly effect. International Rugby Board officials admitted the first yellow was wrong, but the damage was done and Springbok supporters craved a rematch.

“The All Blacks are the greatest team in the world and we want to test ourselves against the best,” said skipper and centre Jean de Villiers.

Coach Heyneke Meyer admits there are risks in pursuing a fourtry bonus point against lethal counter-attackers like the All Blacks.

“It would be great just to beat them-but you either go for the four tries or you don’t. It is a huge challenge and risks will have to be taken.” While New Zealand are seen as a team who love to run the ball, their kicking game also concerns the Springboks handler.

“The All Blacks kicking game is probably the best in the world-it is one area where we have fallen behind,” admitted Meyer. “They kick deep or high and regain possession, they put their opponents under pressure, and they score from these situations.”

Du Plessis for Adriaan Strauss and Juandre Kruger for suspended lock Flip van der Merwe are the two changes from the side that won 28-8 over Australia in Cape Town. New Zealand coach Steve Hansen also made two changes to the team that weathered a first-half storm to triumph 33-15 in Argentina last weekend.

Inspirational skipper and flanker McCaw has recovered from a knee ligament injury and returns with Sam Cane dropping to the bench. The other alteration to the starting line-up is enforced with a groin injury sidelining prop Owen Franks and Charlie Faumuina dons the No 3 shirt.

Hansen is not one for superlatives, but he cannot help using them when discussing McCaw, the greatest ball winner in the often murky world of the breakdown. McCaw has never played at Ellis Park and is eager to put one over the Springboks, who have won eight of 11 Tests there between the bitter rivals. Veteran battle-scarred hooker Keven Mealamu, who will watch from the stand with Andrew Hore first choice and Dane Coles on the bench, says the ground provides a unique experience. “You drive between the supporters and then you walk between them. The Springbok supporters are passionate and will often offer you some choice words.”—AFP

Nadal on brink of reclaiming top spot after Fognini scare BEIJING: Rafa Nadal is one victory away from returning to the top of the world rankings after surviving a huge scare to beat Italian Fabio Fognini in the quarter-finals of the China Open yesterday. The Spaniard will regain top spot if he reaches the final regardless of what current No 1 Novak Djokovic does in Beijing. Djokovic, who needs to retain the title to have any chance of holding Nadal at bay, responded with a thumping 6-1 6-2 defeat of American Sam Querrey to set up a semi-final against Frenchman Richard Gasquet.

Nadal, who enlarged his grand slam singles haul to 13 this year by winning the French and US Opens, has not been ranked one in the world since July 2011 but has produced a stunning run since returning from a long lay-off in February. Fognini, ranked 19, nearly put a spanner in the works though before Nadal earned a 2-6 6-4 6-1 victory to reach the semis. “It’s (the number one ranking) something

that doesn’t create more pressure for me,” Nadal, who will face fourth seed Tomas Berdych in the last four, said. “It’s something that already happened in the past. If that happens again, good, it will be special for me, but we’ll see.

“I am going to have a very tough opponent in front of me. In the end, it’s another match. True, it’s a little bit more special for the circumstances, but nothing else. “It is not the moment to think about No. 1... it is the moment to think about Berdych.” Fognini was a point away from taking a 5-1 lead in the second set and an upset was well on the cards with Nadal seemingly troubled by a left-knee injury he suffered in the opening minutes of the match.

However, he found his form in the nick of time and the Italian managed just one more game. The stylish Fognini dished out some brilliant groundstrokes in the opening set to break Nadal three

times. He continued his domination in the second set as he built a 41 lead but faltered with victory in sight. Nadal blazed back to win the next five games and the 27-year-old strolled through the decider to stay on course for an 11th title of an incredible season. “It’s true that his level of tennis for a long time in the match was very, very high,” Nadal added. “When you are playing against an opponent playing well, the thing that you have to do is try to push him to the limit and try to make him play very well for a very, very long time. “That’s something that I was not doing for the first set and a half. Then the situation changed a little bit.” Djokovic needed only 52 minutes to dismantle Querrey as his love affair with Beijing continued. The Serb has never lost a match at the tournament, winning the title in 2009, 2010 and 2012, only missing out in 2011 when he pulled out because of injury.— Reuters

SPORTS

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2013

Wig wearing S Africans win at Presidents Cup DUBLIN: Not even a visit to an overzealous barber could stop Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel from winning one of the key match-ups on the opening day of the Presidents Cup on Thursday. The two South Africans got more than they expected when they paid a visit to an on-course hairdresser at Muirfield Village Golf Club before the competition began, emerging with their hair completely shorn.

When they returned to the course on Thursday, they were finally beginning to see the funny side of it, arriving at the first tee wearing big curly wigs, which Oosthuizen’s

wife had bought at a local shop. “Everyone knows about the funny haircut we had and the experience we had, so I thought it would be a good thing to show everyone that we actually love to wear some wigs,” Oosthuizen explained.

They removed their rugs before playing their opening shots and then it was back to business as they took on the American pairing of Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley in one of the glamour match-ups. The Americans, who proved an instant hit when they teamed up together at last year’s Ryder Cup, made a flying start and were two up

through seven holes. But the South Africans quickly reeled them in, winning three of the next four holes and going on to win win 2&1.

“I think we did proper better-ball,” said Oosthuizen, the 2010 British Open champion. “When he was out of the hole, I played well. When I was out of it, he hit some amazing shots.” Schwartzel, who won the Masters in 2011, played the pivotal role in turning things around after a 90-minute rain delay.

At one stage the International team was trailing in all six matches but finished the day trailing by 3-1/2 points to 2-1/2 with Schwartzel making four birdies on the front

US fend off late Internationals Cup rally DUBLIN: The United States needed a par on the final hole to retain the overall lead over the Internationals on the first day of the Presidents Cup after almost throwing away a commanding advantage following a lengthy weather delay.

Steve Stricker calmly got up and down from a plugged lie in a greenside bunker to par the 18th, sinking a three-footer to secure the decisive point that allowed the Americans to finish the opening fourballs leading by 3-1/2 points to 21/2. At one point, the Americans led in all six encounters at rain-softened Muirfield Village Golf Club where birdies were plentiful but South Africans Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel inspired a stirring fightback by the Internationals.

Oosthuizen and Schwartzel, who briefly donned garish wigs on the first tee, came from two down after seven holes to beat British Open champion Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley 2&1 in a contest of high quality involving four former major winners. Bradley put the Americans two up by sinking a sixfoot eagle putt at the par-five seventh but the South Africans won the next two holes with birdies, Oosthuizen draining a 16-footer at the eighth and Schwartzel tapping in a two-footer at the ninth.

Oosthuizen then put the Internationals one up by knocking in a three-foot birdie putt at the par-five 11th, and his good friend Schwartzel sealed victory with a birdie at the 17th.

“We knew it was going to be difficult, Keegan and Phil are a great team,” said 2010 British Open winner Oosthuizen. “I think the break did us all really well,” he added, referring to a thunderstorm delay of just under an hour-and-a-half which effectively stalled the early US momentum. “We came back out and felt refreshed. “We just played well.

Whenever Charl was in trouble; I played really well. And whenever I was in trouble, Charl played well.”

Tiger Woods and Matt Kuchar earned the first point of the day for the US, hammering Argentina’s Angel Cabrera and Australian Marc Leishman 5&4 in a match they led from the opening hole.

“We ham-and-egged it pretty good,” said Woods. “Kuch made a bunch of putts on the front nine, I got it rolling there for a little bit and on the back nine.

It was him or me on each hole.” Zach Johnson and PGA Championship winner

DUBLIN: Tiger Woods of USA hits his second shot on the 4th hole during Day One Four-Ball Matches at the Muirfield Village Golf Club on October 3, 2013. — AFP Jason Dufner never trailed before beating South Africans Branden Grace and Richard Sterne 5&3 while Stricker and Jordan Spieth ended a birdie fest against South African Ernie Els and Zimbabwe’s Brendon de Jonge with a hard-fought 1-up win.

SALVAGED POINTS However, the Internationals did well to salvage 1-1/2 more points from two of the earlier matches out. Australian Jason Day sank a 22-foot birdie putt at the last to seal a 1-up win in tandem with Canada’s Graham DeLaet over Hunter Mahan and Brandt Snedeker, after they had been three down after six holes. Masters champion Adam Scott of Australia and Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama, who never led and trailed by two with four holes to play, fought back to square their match against Bill Haas and Webb Simpson.

The 21-year-old Matsuyama almost sank his approach at the last, his tap-in for birdie earning the Internationals a valuable half-point. “What we showed today is that there’s plenty of heart on this team,” said Scott, who has competed in five previous Presidents Cups but has yet to taste an International victory.

“We were in ordinary shape for a while and now, 3-1/2 to 2-1/2 isn’t a big deal.”

Prior to their late fightback, the Internationals were clearly feeling the pressure in the matchplay format they prefer, as they have traditionally struggled in the foursomes. Their captain Nick Price felt he had gained a valuable concession with fourballs featuring in the opening Cup session for the first time since the 1996 edition of the biennial team competition, and had been hoping for a fast start. But it was the Americans who came charging out of the gate after former US President George W Bush had greeted both teams before they teed off at the par-four first in front of packed grandstands.

US captain Fred Couples, who was given a cake by the International team for his 54th birthday, watched in delight as his players seized early control before play was suspended due to the threat of lightning. “Our guys were rocking and rolling,” said Couples. “The rain delay obviously helped them. They played their hearts out.” The US have dominated the Presidents Cup by winning seven times in nine editions, most recently with a 19-15 victory at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Australia two years ago. The only success for the Internationals came in 1998 when the event was first staged in Melbourne.

In 2003, the two teams battled to a 17-17 draw in South Africa. — Reuters

nine, then three more in his last five holes.

“After we went through six holes, I looked up at the board and there all six were red (indicating the US was leading in each match),” Schwartzel said. “Something needed to happen.

We were playing well and Phil was just playing better. We managed to make birdies on eight and nine to get it back to all-square, and then obviously the delay came. “But I think for the whole team, it was just sort of a breather to get back and settle down, and then to go back and fire. It seemed to work for us.” — Reuters

Monaghan targets Grand Final glory MANCHESTER: It is the Grand Final that Michael Monaghan and Super League have been craving but the Australian hooker insists it won’t mean much unless his Warrington side can defeat Wigan at Old Trafford today.

Since arriving from Australian NRL outfit Manly in 2008, Monaghan has enjoyed plenty of success in the Challenge Cup-winning the knockout competition three times with Warrington.

Between them, Warrington and Wigan have won the past five Challenge Cups-an indication of the dominance the two sides have enjoyed over recent times. However, the last time they clashed head-to-head in any final was in 1990. A Grand Final triumph for Monaghan’s Warrington has so far proved elusive despite Australian coach Tony Smith’s side being the most consistent side over the past three seasons.

They reached their first Grand Final last season, losing 26-18 to Leeds, but Monaghan is determined to seal hisand Warrington’s-maiden triumph, with the club having last been crowned champions of England way back in 1955. “We’re here now and that’s half the job but we need to make sure that we get the result,” said Monaghan.

“We have got experience from last year, but last year doesn’t guarantee us anything and hopefully we have learnt a few lessons. “It’s been a few years since ourselves and Wigan have played (in the Grand Final) but we’ve probably been the best two teams in the competition this year and we haven’t met in a final yet.

“I’m looking forward to playing them. Every game we’ve had in the last few years has come down to the last few minutes and I don’t expect this to be any different.”

Wolves head coach Smith-a veteran of four previous Grand Final appearances, three of which while in charge of Leeds-also believes today’s match has the potential to be an explosive encounter.”It’s funny we haven’t met each other in the last two or three years,” he said. “We’ve avoided each other in these finals and in some respects we were probably destined to make a final together.

“Two of the best games I’ve seen this season were between Wigan and Warrington and hopefully that will be matched.”Monaghan and Smith will be facing a Wigan side bidding for a domestic double after winning the Challenge Cup earlier this season, with the Warriors heading towards the end of an era-especially as far as Pat Richards is concerned. Since making his Wigan debut in 2006, Richards has scored 168 tries in 223 appearances and the Grand Final is set to be his last before he rejoins Wests Tigers.

He marked the end of his first stint with the Tigers with the 2005 NRL Grand Final title and he’s looking to do the same for the Warriors, who will also wave goodbye to New Zealand Warriors-bound Sam Tomkins. “It’s going be a tight game and every part will be important,” said Richards. “It’s my last game for Wigan and to be in a final as part of a very good team and against a very good team, it’s got all the makings of a great game. “Every little part of the game is going be important. When I left West Tigers I left on a win. It’s got the makings of a great way to end my time at Wigan.” — AFP

SPORTS

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2013

FRENCH LEAGUE PREVIEW

Old rivals Marseille out to end PSG run PARIS: Monaco may have emerged as Paris Saint-Germain’s main rivals in the Ligue 1 title race this season, but the biggest game for the reigning champions is still against their bitter old foes Marseille. The clubs meet at the Stade Velodrome tomorrow night in the fixture that the French have come to call the ‘Classique’.

The mega-rich title-holders from the capital will be guaranteed their usual warm welcome in the Mediterranean port city, home to arguably the most passionate fans anywhere in France. As it stands PSG trail Ligue 1 leaders Monaco on goal difference while Marseille are a point further back in third. There is plenty of incentive, then, for Elie Baup’s side to continue their impressive record at home to PSG down the years. OM have lost just one of their last nine home meetings with the club from the capital, with that 4-2 reverse coming in October 2008. However, Marseille’s recent record has been rather patchy,

with just two wins from seven games since the beginning of last month, and they come into the clash off the back of a chastening 3-0 defeat away to Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League on Tuesday. “We know the importance of the game,” said Baup. “We need to put the Champions League to one side and start focusing on our domestic league once again. “We have been on a good run, like Paris, so I don’t think the defeat (in Dortmund) will leave any traces.” PSG are unbeaten in 11 matches in all competitions this season and have not lost in 19 games in Ligue 1 since a 1-0 loss at Reims on March 2. It is their longest unbeaten sequence since a record 27-game stretch during their titlewinning 1993-94 campaign and their display in beating Benfica 3-0 in the Champions League on Wednesday would have made for ominous viewing for anyone with Marseille connections.

“We are eager for the Marseille game to come

City seek Everton boost MANCHESTER: Manchester City return to domestic action against Everton with manager Manuel Pellegrini looking for a reaction following his team’s humiliating Champions League loss to title-holders Bayern Munich. City’s start to the season has been wildly inconsistent and Pellegrini will be keen to sign off with three points before the international break.

Since arriving in pre-season, his new side have been outstanding in 4-0 and 4-1 Premier League victories over Newcastle and Manchester United but sloppy in a 2-0 win over Hull and a goalless draw at Stoke, and undermined by defensive errors in 3-2 defeats at Cardiff and Aston Villa respectively. But while they controlled the match at Villa Park, they were utterly outclassed by Bayern in a 3-1 defeat at Eastlands on Wednesday.

Roberto Martinez’s Everton are the only remaining unbeaten team in the Premier League this season, with the Merseysiders have won three and drawn three so far. And City defender Micah Richards said the home team would need to raise their game considerably if they were going to salvage something from a difficult week. “We’ll look forward to Everton and try to get a better result,” he said.

“We’ve had two disappointing results. Against Villa we played really well and didn’t get the points we wanted and we didn’t play well against Bayern.

“It’s two poor results and hopefully we can make it better at the weekend. “We want to play again quickly and get it out of our system. We’re used to being better than everyone else and playing the nice football and against Bayern we were taught a lesson,” Richards admitted. Given the amount of running City’s players had to do on Wednesday, Pellegrini is sure to make changes for today’s early kick-off match. Spanish winger David Silva returned from a month out with a thigh problem as a substitute against Bayern but midfielder Jack Rodwell and defender Martin Demichelis both remain on the sidelines with respective hamstring and knee injuries.

Everton’s Belgium winger Kevin Mirallas is doubtful with an ankle injury, while Darron Gibson is struggling with a knee problem and South African midfielder Steven Pienaar and Paraguayan defender Antolin Alcaraz are ruled out definitely. Martinez, who arrived before the start of the season, will look to extend Everton’s fine recent record against City, which has seen them win six and draw one of their last eight meetings, with the Toffees victorious in four of their last visits to Eastlands. After opening the season with three draws, Everton have won their last three league matches and could move five points clear of Pellegrini’s team with another victory at City.

But Martinez expects a significant reaction from City following their comprehensive defeat by Bayern.

“We have to remember that Manchester City are a top, top football club. When you are a top football club you know how to move from result to result and competition to competition without carrying any sort of damage with you,” the Spaniard said. —AFP

around but we need some time to savor this win first,” said PSG coach, former OM defender, Blanc after the performance against Benfica. “Marseille will be the last game of a long series (of seven games in 23 days) and we play football to be involved in matches like this,” added PSG goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu. One man who will not play in the game is captain Thiago Silva, who is still sidelined with a thigh injury, while Marseille are hoping striker Andre-Pierre Gignac-scorer of a brace in a 2-2 draw between the clubs at the Velodrome last season-can return after a toe problem.

Meanwhile, Monaco, who have already taken four points from trips to Marseille and Paris this season, will be hoping to extend their unbeaten start when they entertain Saint-Etienne in the principality on today afternoon. “Saint-Etienne are a direct rival for us. I think they will be competing at the top of the table right to the end of

the season,” said Monaco coach Claudio Ranieri, who has doubts over left-back Layvin Kurzawa and former Saint-Etienne striker Emmanuel Riviere and will be without Jeremy Toulalan for the game.

That could open the door to a starting berth for Colombian winger James Rodriguez, who has struggled to make an impact since his 45 millioneuro ($61m) summer move from Porto. “For James Rodriguez, it is a problem of mentality,” explained Ranieri.

“He thinks like a forward but must also defend.” The three sides tipped to fight it out at the top of the table before the season began have already opened up a gap on the rest, but Lille have lost just once in six games to climb up to fourth before hosting Fabrizio Ravanelli’s Ajaccio. Lyon have won just one of their last six games before travelling to Montpellier, who are traditionally strong at home tomorrow. — AFP

Del Bosque recalls Mata for World Cup qualifiers MADRID: Spain coach Vicente del Bosque has recalled Chelsea’s attacking midfielder Juan Mata for the holders’ final two World Cup 2014 Group I qualifiers at home to Belarus and Georgia. Mata was left out of the squad for last month’s game against Finland in Helsinki after losing his place in the Chelsea starting lineup under new manager Jose Mourinho.

However, the 25-year-old appears to have regained the confidence of the Portuguese and started Tuesday’s Champions League match at Steaua Bucharest after impressing in the second half of the 1-1 Premier League draw with Tottenham Hotspur. In the absence of injured Barcelona left back Jordi Alba, Del Bosque handed a first call-up to Sevilla’s under-21 international Alberto Moreno. He also brought right back Juanfran back into the fold, one of four players included from in-form Atletico Madrid along with midfielders Koke and Mario Suarez and forward David Villa.

Del Bosque said Moreno’s inclusion along with fellow youngsters Koke and Isco was part of a strategy of bringing inexperienced players through to freshen up the squad. “We want to function like a club that has an effective academy,” Del Bosque told a news conference. “At the moment Koke, Isco and Moreno are the representatives of that and it brings a lot of dynamism,” he added. Spain and France, who are assured of at least a place in the playoffs, both have 14 points at the top of their group though France have played one more match. Spain host Belarus in Palma de Mallorca on Oct 11 and meet Georgia in Albacete four days later, when France play Finland in Paris.

DIFFERENT, COMPLIMENTARY Del Bosque was quizzed at length about the possibility Atletico’s Brazil-born forward Diego Costa could be called into the squad in future. Costa met with the coach on Thursday and expressed his desire to play for Spain but must wait for the national federation to complete the necessary paperwork. The combative 24-year-old, who has dual Spanish and Brazilian nationality, has been on superb form this season and could bring added value to a Spain team that often plays without a traditional striker.

He tops the La Liga scoring chart with eight goals together with Barcelona’s Argentina forward Lionel Messi and scored

LONDON: Chelsea’s Portuguese manager Jose Mourinho (left) gestures to Chelsea’s Spanish midfielder Juan Mata during the English Premier League football match between Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea at White Hart Lane in London. — AFP the winner in Atletico’s 1-0 La Liga win at Real Madrid last weekend. “We examined the different options that we have and he indicated he would be delighted to joined up with the Spanish national team,” Del

Bosque said. “I think he is both different and complimentary to the forwards we already have,” he added. “He has been training in Spain since he was 18 and he is a very interesting player for us.” — Reuters

Moyes confident of Man Utd recovery MANCHESTER: Manchester United manager David Moyes has no doubt his side will turn around their difficult start to the campaign and figure in the title reckoning.

Moyes succeeded Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford in pre-season following the trophyladen manager’s retirement and, since then, the Premier League champions have lost three of their first six matches of the new campaign. They did secure a 1-1 draw in the Champions League at Shakhtar Donetsk in midweek but return to league action at bottom-of-the-table Sunderland today with ground to make up.

After losing 1-0 at Liverpool in August, United have suffered back-to-back back

defeats in the league, going down 4-1 to Manchester City and enduring a shock 2-1 reverse against West Bromwich Albion at Old Trafford last weekend. The fitful start, United’s worst to a season since 1989, has left them eight points adrift of leaders Arsenal. But, in an interview this week in the United States, Ferguson spoke of how Moyes-his chosen successor-will get it right at United after signing a six-year contract when he joined from top-flight rivals Everton. And with 32 matches of the league season remaining, a bullish Moyes told reporters at a news conference on Friday that his side would be in the title race come the end of the campaign. —AFP

SPORTS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2013

German League Preview

Leverkusen out to down high-flying Bayern BERLIN: Bayern Munich earned the plaudits with their impressive Champions League mid-week win at Manchester City, but Bayer Leverkusen are out to end their unbeaten Bundesliga run today. Bayern travel to Leverkusen top of Group D in the Champions League and second in the German league on goal difference with leaders Borussia Dortmund, but level on 19 points after seven matches.

Leverkusen are just a point behind in third and eager to claim the scalp of Pep Guardiola’s Bayern, who are on a 32match unbeaten league run. “I don’t think Bayern are unbeatable. On a good day we can do it,” said Leverkusen striker Stefan Kiessling, the Bundesliga’s top scorer last season. Bayer were the last team to beat Bayern in the Bundesliga, on October 28 last year, when they stunned Munich with a 2-1 home win.

It was Bayern’s only league defeat last season, but with Guardiola’s European champions fresh from their impressive 3-1 win at City’s Etihad Stadium, Sami Hyypia-coached Leverkusen need to show some confidence. “This is our

chance to make a real statement,” added Kiessling after Bayer’s 2-1 Champions League home win against Real Sociedad on Wednesday. “We go into this game wanting to win it.” Bayern are closing in on the Bundesliga’s record of 36 matches unbeaten-set by Hamburg in 1983 — and Leverkusen goalkeeper Bernd Leno said respect, not fear, must be the order of the day.

“Bayern are the best team in the world, but many people forget that we can also play good football,” said Leno with Leverkusen having won nine of their 11 matches this season.

“We have a huge opportunity to make a name for ourselves.”

While Guardiola insisted “it’s not the end, it wasn’t the final,” in a bid to dampen expectations after Bayern’s win in Manchester, the way president Uli Hoeness waxed lyrical would lead impartial fans to think the result in Leverkusen is academic.

“It was ‘summa cum laude’,” he enthused, using the Latin expression for work of the highest standard. “Last season, we had a great team, but now we have a super, super team,” he added in a playful reference to his penchant for the word

Italian League Preview

Inter to test Roma as Napoli wait in wings MILAN: Roma’s newly-acquired Serie A title credentials face their first serious test when Rudi Garcia’s team visit in-form Inter Milan today. In the final weekend of league action before a break for World Cup qualifiers, second-placed Napoli host promoted Livorno while champions Juventus host Milan in one of two potentially gripping late games tomorrow.

When former Lille coach Garcia took over Roma at the start of the season the initial aim was to start strongly and erase the memory of a seventh place finish last season.

However, the French coach and Roma have gone one better, grabbing the league’s attention after winning all of their first six games to top the table with a two-point lead over Napoli and champions Juventus.

Inter sit fourth, a further two points back, having enjoyed a positive start to the campaign under former Napoli coach Walter Mazzarri. As matches go, it could be the highlight of the weekend-Roma have hit the net 17 times and conceded only one while Inter have scored 16 and shipped only three. Despite having home advantage, Inter were held to a 1-1 draw by Juventus three weeks ago and Mazzarri’s men dropped more points in a shock 1-1 draw away to Cagliari last week.

Roma have also seen nine different players hit the net this season and Inter centre-back Hugo Campagnaro said they deserve respect. “They’re a great team and have scored a lot of goals while conceding very few. They deserve our respect,” Campagnaro told Sky Sport Italia.

“We’ll have to be on top of our game.” It appears there is little reason for Garcia to make major changes and his only injury doubt following a 5-0 rout of Bologna last week concerns Serbian striker Adem Ljajic.

But the Frenchman should not be sweating. Former Arsenal striker Gervinho hit a brace last week and, following a shaky start, seems to have now settled in well. Defeat for Roma would allow Napoli to snatch top spot, if they overcome league new boys Livorno. It would offer Rafael Benitez’s men a crumb of comfort after their 2-0 Champions League defeat to Arsenal in midweek, before which Gonzalo Higuain failed a late fitness test.

Although Higuain is expected to return for Sunday’s afternoon game, Napoli were quick to dispel suggestions the Azzurri have become dependent on the Argentinean, who with three goals is Napoli’s second-top scorer after Marek Hamsik. “Of course he’s a really important player for us but we can win without him,” said defender Paolo Cannavaro. “We beat Genoa (last week) without Higuain.”

Juventus and Milan, meanwhile, could both do with a boost although the latter are in arguably greater need having slipped to ninth place at 10 points adrift of Roma.—AFP

‘super’ in post match-interviews. But as Dutch winger Arjen Robben, who has scored in Bayern’s last five Champions League matches, insisted: “Today, we start again at zero” at Leverkusen.

Dortmund are at mid-table Borussia Moenchengladbach eager to go into the international break at the top of the table.

Borussia posted an impressive Champions League win of their own as they floored Marseille 3-0 on Tuesday, but goals are almost guaranteed in Moenchengladbach. None of their last 32 meetings, dating back to 1994, have ended in a goalless draw and Jurgen Klopp’s Dortmund are already averaging three goals per Bundesliga match this season.

Fresh from their Champions League win at Swiss champions FC Basel, Schalke 04 are at mid-table Augsburg today without Peru winger Jefferson Farfan, who is out for four weeks with a torn groin. Ex-Holland coach Bert van Marwijk, who took charge last week, continues his quest to get Hamburg out of the bottom three at Nuremberg tomorrow with the Hanseatic side having already leaked 19 goals this season.— AFP

Spanish League Preview

Barcelona, Atletico look to extend magnificent seven MADRID: Barcelona and Atletico Madrid look to extend their club record starts to the season when they host Valladolid and Celta Vigo respectively this weekend. Both sides have won all seven of their league matches to date and could set a new Spanish record should they make it eight out of eight.

The Catalans have the chance to open up a three-point gap at the top of the table as they play first on today night.

Gerardo “Tata” Martino’s men continued their fine start to life under the Argentine by also making it two wins from two in the Champions League in midweek with a hard-fought 1-0 success over 10-man Celtic. Young defender Marc Bartra particularly impressed in Glasgow as he continues to deputize for the injured Javier Mascherano and he is thankful for the confidence Martino has showed in him.

GLASGOW: Barcelona’s Spanish midfielder Cesc Fabregas (right) celebrates scoring the opening goal with Brazilian striker Neymar during the UEFA Champions League Group H football match between Celtic and Barcelona at Celtic Park on October 1, 2012. — AFP

“Tata has not doubted for a second in putting me into the team. I am satisfied with the confidence he has shown in me,” he told a press conference on Thursday. “Little by little I am feeling more wanted. I have had two years competing with some of the best players in the world in training and learning from them. “I have keep concentrating and learning.” The champions will have to do without World Player of the Year Lionel Messi as he is sidelined with a thigh injury.

Mascherano and Jordi Alba are also unavailable through injury, but Barca’s defense could receive a significant boost with the return of captain Carles Puyol to the squad for today’s match. The 35-year-old hasn’t played since undergoing knee surgery in March but has trained with his teammates in recent weeks and could make a return in the week that marked 14 years since his debut. Real Madrid are also in action today as they travel to Levante needing to bounce back from last weekend’s 1-0 defeat to Atletico which left them five points off the leaders.

Gareth Bale is once again unavailable due to a thigh strain, but Argentine winger Angel di Maria showed he is more than a capable replacement for the Welshman with two goals and a stunning assist in Real’s 4-0 win over FC Copenhagen on Wednesday. Coach Carlo Ancelotti’s defensive options have also been swelled by the return of Raphael Varane and Marcelo from injury, but Sergio Ramos will certainly start after being rested in midweek. Atletico also continued their 100 percent start in the Champions League thanks to a come from behind 2-1 win away to Porto on Tuesday that owed much to Diego Simeone’s men’s expertise from set-pieces.

Simeone will be able to welcome back top-scorer Diego Costa, who missed the game in midweek due to suspension, whilst Koke will also return having been rested from the start against Porto. And Koke insists his side won’t be taking anything for granted despite the plaudits they have received in recent weeks. “We take all the compliments calmly and they give me even more confidence and desire to keep working.

That confidence I am showing on the pitch,” he told the club’s website.

“It will be a difficult game against Celta because we are coming form two very demanding games. The group is physically and mentally prepared and we are desperate to go for the three points.” Elsewhere, Valencia will be hoping to extend their four-match winning run when they travel to face Athletic Bilbao in a meeting between Champions League contenders tomorrow night. However, Athletic will also fancy their chances having won both matches since moving into their new San Mames stadium last month. — AFP

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2013

Sports

FIFA to set up Qatar World Cup task force

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SWANSEA: Swansea City’s Wayne Routledge (left) and St Gallen’s Ermir Lenjani battle for the ball during their Europa League match at the Liberty Stadium, Swansea on Thursday Oct 3, 2013. — AP

Spurs, Swansea, Wigan in triple Euro joy Tottenham perfect in Europa, Valencia bounce back LONDON: Tottenham overcame cold conditions to maintain its billing as the Europa League’s top contender thanks to a confident victory on Thursday, when a goalkeeping gaffe sparked Valencia to its first win. Tottenham, the English Premier League club which has spent heavily this offseason and sold Gareth Bale, wasn’t the only team to make it two-for-two in wins: Genk, Fiorentina, Eintracht Frankfurt, Rubin Kazan, Sevilla, Swansea, Salzburg, and Ludogorets Razgrad are also perfect.

Also, Sergio Floccari capped a frenetic contest with a flourish of goals as the Lazio substitute scored late to force a 3-3 draw at Trabzonspor, while Wigan picked up its first ever European victory. Jermain Defoe and Nacer Chadli scored first-half goals to help Tottenham to a 2-0 win against Anji Makhachkala in near freezing temperatures on the outskirts of Moscow, with the conflict in Dagestan forcing the once money-laden club away from home. Tottenham manager Andres

Villas-Boas rotated his squad and the strong performance showed how deep the squad is, although it was left to old hand Defoe to steer the visitors with his 21st goal in European competitions - scored in the 34th minute - moving him within one goal of Martin Chivers’ club record. While Anzi showed some resilience, the fall from grace for the cash-strapped club was evident as Tottenham kept a second straight clean sheet.

“The conditions were difficult but we had a great first half, where we created a lot, kept the ball well and deserved the lead,” Villas-Boas said. “A win is what we wanted, and it gives us the opportunity in the next games against Sheriff to ensure qualification. That is extremely important for us.”Valencia enjoyed its own trip to Russia, bouncing back from a blowout loss to Swansea with a 2-0 win at Kuban Krasnodar. Paco Alcacer could just about walk his 73rd-minute goal into the net after Kuban goalkeeper Aleksandr Belenov misjudged a

clearance well outside the area. Sofiane Feghouli also netted for the Spanish side to get back into the mix in Group A, which sees Swansea top after its 1-0 win over St-Gallen.

Fiorentina also kept its place as one of the competition favorites after overcoming the absences of injured strikers Mario Gomez and Giuseppe Rossi to win 2-1 at Dnipro in the Ukraine. Massimo Ambrosini’s run was picked out by Borja Valero for the former AC Milan player to score the 73rd-minute winner for Fiorentina, which hung on after David Pizarro was sent off with four minutes to play. Of 24 games on Thursday, only seven home teams managed victory with eight visiting teams earning all three points.

Bordeaux fell 2-1 to visiting Maccabi Tel Aviv to leave the French club in trouble with zero points. Lyon, meanwhile, did only a little better in drawing 1-1 against Guimaraes.

Dimitris Salpingidis has scored many clutch goals for Greece, and the stocky striker did it

for his club PAOK on Thursday when an injurytime goal canceled out Jeffrey Gouweleeuw’s score in the 82nd as the Dutch club looked on course for three points.

At Sevilla, Fallou Diagne’s sending off in the 62nd led to Diego Perotti’s penalty score, and Sevilla held on to beat Freiburg 2-0 with Colombian striker Carlos Bacca adding the second in stoppage time. Sevilla’s second victory in the competition is twice as many as it has managed in seven league games this season.

“This victory will allow us to gain some confidence and improve,” Sevilla coach Unai Emery said. Wigan’s 3-1 victory over Slovenian champion Maribor also came on its first ever home game in Europe.

PSV Eindhoven bounced back from a home loss to Bulgarian minnow Ludogorets Razgrad with a 2-0 win at Chornomorets Odesa.

Ludogorets Razgrad continued its encouraging start with a 3-0 victory against Dinamo Zagreb in Group B. — AP