14th Oct 2013

CR IP TI ON BS SU

MOMDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2013

Indian cyclone wreaks havoc, 1m evacuated

Farewell party in honor of Indian envoy

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THULHIJA 9, 1434 AH

NY cops make arrest in death of ‘Baby Hope’

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Djokovic grabs Shanghai Masters title

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Pilgrims throng Mina as annual Hajj starts 31,000 turned back for not carrying permits

HOLY MAKKAH: Pilgrims circle counterclockwise with their hearts tilted toward the Kaaba, the cube-shaped structure that Muslims around the world face in prayer five times a day, in the Grand Mosque in the holy city of Makkah yesterday. (Inset) Pilgrims pray at the door of the Kaaba — AP

Kuwait group slams Amnesty

By A Saleh KUWAIT: An Islamist group in Kuwait slammed Amnesty International over a report in which the global rights group demanded that Gulf states refrain from taking measures to prevent entrance of homosexuals into their countries. “ The Middle East and North Africa Director at Amnesty International has the audacity to demand that Gulf Cooperation Council countries cancel laws which ban and combat homosexuality and force homosexuals to reveal their true sexual identities”, reads a statement released by the Thawabet Al-Umma (Principles of the Nation) group and made available to the press yesterday. The group further accused Amnesty International of ignoring “the Islamic identity and conservative traditions of our societies”, as well as the “potential impact that their statements can have”.

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Hundreds of Syrians flee besieged suburb BEIRUT: Hundreds of Syrian civilians, some carried on stretchers, fled a besieged rebel-held suburb of Damascus following a temporary ceasefire in the area, activists and officials said yesterday. The evacuation from Moadamiyeh, where local activists say at least six people have died of starvation, began Saturday and was still underway yesterday.

It was not immediately clear who brokered the cease-fire between rebels and government forces. It marks a rare case of coordination between opposing forces in Syria’s civil war. “It’s (been) an area of military operations for months, so to see this halt of fire, and to see this exodus of people, means there’s a high level cooperation - not regular cooperation,” said Rami Abdul Rahman, the director of the Britishbased Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Neither Syrian officials nor activists close to rebels would discuss the ceasefire.

Syria’s state news agency SANA said Saturday that 2,000 women and children left the suburb for temporary housing in the nearby suburb of Qudsaya. The humanitarian situation for the thousands trapped in Moadamiyah has been deteriorating for months.

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Eiffel Tower evacuated PARIS: The Eiffel Tower was completely evacuated yesterday afternoon following a threatening phone call, a police official told Reuters. The 324-metre-high (1,062foot) iron tower was evacuated around 3 pm (1300 GMT) and had not reopened to tourists by 5.30 pm. The sector around it was fully cleared, the police official said. He could give no further details.

Built in 1889 and one of the world’s most recognizable monuments, the Eiffel Tower sees some 7 million visitors each year and up to 30,000 a day in the peak summer season. It is regularly subject to bomb scares which are usually quickly found to be hoaxes and only cause full evacuations a couple of times a year. — Reuters

Max 35º Min 15º High Tide 05:55 & 20:42 Low Tide 00:33 & 13:53

MINA: Some two million pilgrims thronged Mina Valley from the holy city of Makkah to start the annual Hajj pilgrimage yesterday, with numbers down on fears of the MERS virus and Saudi cuts. Authorities announced at noon that all the pilgrims had reached Mina from nearby Makkah, following in the footsteps of Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) some 14 centuries ago.

Saudi Interior Minister Prince Mohammed bin Nayef said the number of pilgrims from outside the country totalled 1,379,531 million, down 21 percent on last year’s 1.75 million.

Around 1.29 million of them had flown to Saudi Arabia from 188 countries, he said, without giving a figure for pilgrims residing in the kingdom whose number is believed to have been halved. The kingdom cut by 20 percent the quotas for pilgrims allowed in from abroad over fears of MERS and because of massive projects to expand the capacity of the Grand Mosque, Islam’s holiest place of worship.

Saudi Health Minister Abdullah Al-Rabia told reporters late Saturday the authorities had so far detected no cases among the pilgrims of the MERS virus which has killed 60 people worldwide, 51 of them in Saudi Arabia. Authorities have stepped up measures to curb illegal pilgrims who infiltrate into Makkah through desert roads.

Security officials have said that as many as 31,000 Saudi and expatriate pilgrims were turned back for not carrying legal permits, while around 12,600 others were arrested. The pilgrims moved to Mina by road, by train or on foot, the men wearing ihram, the seamless twopiece white garment that rituals require, the women covered up except for their faces and hands. In Mina, a small site with 45,000 fire-resistant tents that can accommodate two million people, they will pray and rest before moving on to Mount Arafat today for the climax of the pilgrimage rituals.

A newly-constructed electric railway transported around 400,000 of the pilgrims taking part in the world’s largest annual gathering. Saudi Arabia has deployed more than 100,000 troops to ensure the safety of the pilgrims and has warned it will tolerate no demonstrations or disturbances. Security forces are monitoring the holy sites in and around Mecca with 4,200 hi-tech cameras, some of which can cover a distance of 60 kilometers (37 miles).

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91 killed in India temple stampede BHOPAL: A stampede on a bridge outside a Hindu temple killed more than 91 people in India yesterday, with many of the victims leaping to their deaths in the water below. Police warned that the number could rise further as medics struggled to make their way through hordes of pilgrims to reach the scene of the tragedy-the latest in a string of disasters at religious festivals.

While officials said the panic appeared to have been sparked by a

false rumor, witnesses said that the situation escalated when police weighed in with batons. “The death toll has risen to 91 and 10 others are in a critical condition,” Deputy Police Inspector D K Arya said after the tragedy in the Datia district of central Madhya Pradesh state.

Arya, who had earlier put the number of dead at 60, said that those in the most critical condition were being treated in Datia’s Government Hospital. Police and state government

officials said the stampede at the Ratangarh temple was triggered by rumors the bridge might collapse after being struck by a heavy vehicle around lunchtime.

“There were rumors that the bridge could collapse after the tractor hit it,” said Arya. “Many people are feared to have fallen into the river.” Other police sources said that some 20,000 people were on the bridge over the River Sindh when the stampede broke out.

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Iran refuses to ship out nuke material Tehran, world powers set for talks DUBAI/VIENNA: Iran yesterday rejected the West’s demand to send sensitive nuclear material out of the country but signaled flexibility on other aspects of its atomic activities that worry world powers, ahead of renewed negotiations this week.

Talks about Iran’s nuclear program, due to start in Geneva tomorrow will be the first since the election of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who has tried to improve relations with the West to pave a way for lifting economic sanctions.

Rouhani’s election in June to succeed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has raised hopes of a negotiated solution to a decade-old dispute over Iran’s nuclear program that could otherwise trigger a new war in the volatile Middle East. Iranian Deputy

Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi’s comments yesterday may disappoint Western officials, who want Iran to ship out uranium enriched to a fissile concentration of 20 percent, a short technical step away from weapons-grade material.

However, Araqchi, who will join the talks in Switzerland, was less hardline about other areas of uranium enrichment, which Tehran says is for peaceful nuclear fuel purposes but the West fears may be aimed at developing nuclear weapons capability.

“Of course we will negotiate regarding the form, amount, and various levels of (uranium) enrichment, but the shipping of materials out of the country is our red line,” he was quoted as saying on state television’s website. In negotiations since

early 2012, world powers have demanded that Iran suspend 20-percent enrichment, send some of its existing uranium stockpiles abroad and shutter the Fordow underground site, where most highergrade enrichment is done.

In return, they offered to lift sanctions on trade in gold, precious metals and petrochemicals but Iran, which wants oil and banking restrictions to be removed, has dismissed that offer.

It says it needs 20-percent uranium for a medical research reactor.

However, Araqchi’s statement may be “the usual pre-negotiation posturing”, said Middle East specialist Shashank Joshi at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London.

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KUWAIT: A Kuwaiti checks a sheep at a livestock market in Al-Rai, Kuwait yesterday ahead of Eid Al-Adha, marking the end of the annual pilgrimage or Hajj to the Saudi holy city of Makkah. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat

MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2013

LOCAL

Kuwait sees windfall from UK’s Royal Mail sell-off Surge in value of Gulf wealth funds KUWAIT: Sovereign wealth funds in Kuwait and Abu Dhabi have each reportedly made a profit of nearly $30million each from their investment in the UK’s Royal Mail, after shares in the firm rocketed 40 percent above their issue price when it debuted on the London stock market on Friday.

Landsdowne, one of the world’s biggest hedge funds, and sovereign wealth funds including the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA), Singapore’s GIC and Norway’s Norges all invested in the British postal service.

The Gulf funds are believed to have injected £50 million ($79 million) each, meaning the 40 percent surge in the value of stocks gave them an instant profit of around £18m ($28.7m), sources close to the deal told the CNBC news station.

Royal Mail’s shares rocketed above their

issue price in Friday’s stock market debut, fuelling a debate about whether they had been priced too low in order to guarantee a successful privatisation.

The share price increase, which inflated the value of the near 500-year-old company to £4.5bn ($7.2bn) in one of Britain’s biggest state sell-offs for decades, came after criticism from the opposition Labour party that the Conservative government had short-changed British taxpayers.

British Business Secretary Vince Cable again denied the government had undervalued Royal Mail, whose red mail boxes decorated with the Royal Crest are a feature of British landscapes from Land’s End in southwest England to John o’Groats in the far north of Scotland.

“You get an enormous amount of froth and speculation in the aftermath of a big initial public offering of this kind, it’s of

absolutely no significance whatsoever,” he told the BBC. “What matters is where the price eventually settles and if we look back on this in three months, six months time, or indeed years to come, that’s what we’re really interested in.” After receiving around 27 billion pounds worth of orders for the 1.7 billion worth of shares on offer, the government allocated 33 percent of the offering to members of the public, with the rest going to institutional investors.

Members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU), which represents postal workers and is holding a strike ballot over pay and job security, held a protest outside the London Stock Exchange on Friday in opposition to the sale.

Around 30 gathered, some dressed as criminals, holding banners with slogans such as “The great Royal Mail robbery” and

“Fat cats steal the profits”.

The government handed 10 percent of Royal Mail’s shares to staff in the largest share giveaway of any major British privatisation, with just 368 of the 150,000 eligible UK-based workers declining to take up their free shares.

“Who wouldn’t take free money?,” CWU General Secretary Billy Hayes told Reuters.

“But we’re confident next week we’ll have a big ‘yes’ vote for strike action.”

Hayes said Friday’s share price move showed the company had been undervalued by a billion pounds. “It’s outrageous what’s happening today,” he said.

Staff are required to hold the shares for three years. Royal Mail’s public offering leaves the UK government with a 38 percent stake, but this could fall to 30 percent should it choose to exercise the overallotment option.

Akef’s interview refers him to criminal court KUWAIT: The name of Kuwait’s daily, Al-Jarida, recently sprung up in the middle of an ongoing political controversy in Egypt after a judge entrusted with investigating repor ts about slandering the Egyptian judiciary, decided to refer the former Muslim Brotherhood leader, Mahdi Akef to Cairo’s criminal court. Notably, an interview Akef had with Al-Jarida last April, when the deposed MB President Morsi was in office, triggered controversy amongst Egyptian politicians and judges over accusations of corruption in the Egyptian judiciary and plans to get rid of 3,500 judges by means of a law amend-

ment the MB intended on proposing to the parliament regarding reducing judges’ retirement age to 60 - which was rejected by all judges.

A few hours after the interview was published, many political movements, parties and members of the judiciary filed lawsuits and cases accusing Akef of slandering and insulting judges, cases which were ignored by the former MBaffiliated Prosecutor General Talat Abdullah.

However, the current Prosecutor General Hisham Barakat reopened the cases and arrested Akef after the June 30 revolution which top-

with low-fat, low-calorie products.

The Health Ministry also recommended creating a more balanced nutrition system by adding legumes, vitamin-enriched cereals and fresh milk .The recommendations are based on studies which show a sharp rise in chronic diseases including obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes among citizens, said the sources who spoke to Al-Qabas on

the condition of anonymity.

They further indicated that the MCI has already given preliminary approval to replace processed cheese with cereals in the subsidized food list.

Kuwaitis are entitled to basic food items that are sold at subsidized prices and made available only to holders of special ‘Tamween’ (catering) cards.

in brief

Amir congratulates citizens KUWAIT: The Amiri Diwan yesterday conveyed greetings from His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah AlAhmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah to citizens and residents on the occasion of Eid Al-Adha. The Amiri Diwan also expressed hopes that the Arab and Muslim worlds would enjoy peace and prosperity during this happy occasion, which falls tomorrow.

Driver sentenced to life KUWAIT: Kuwait’s criminal court recently gave life sentence to an Asian driver for possessing heroin which he intended to sell. The suspect works for a Kuwaiti family and was arrested by criminal investigators for using his sponsor’s house in Salwa to sell drugs using four mobile phones. The investigating officer said that he had been tipped off concerning the suspect’s activity and that he had been working for a central prison inmate who is currently doing time on drug-related charges. He added that on arresting the suspect and searching the sponsor’s house, drugs were found hidden on the roof. The suspect admitted that he intended to sell them.

Gang stabs bedoon KUWAIT: A security source said a bedoon was admitted in Jahra hospital’s ICU after he was stabbed my several men. The victim’s father said that his son asked the drivers of two cars to lower the loud radio volume as they were close to his house and this was enough to make them stab him. Eyewitnesses gave police the license plate numbers.

pled the MB with army assistance.

Notably, all Arab and Egyptian newspapers and agencies had used Akef’s reordered interview from AlJarida website where he said: “We will get rid of at least 3,500 judges” and then denied saying so, which made Al-Jarida claim he was “lying”.

Notably, the Egyptian judges’ struggle against the MB was a fierce one that eventually succeeded in deposing Morsi’s regime. Similarly, Al-Jarida-Akef issue proves how professional the newspaper was, especially when Akef was referred to the criminal court with charges of slandering the judiciary only six month after the MB was toppled.

Kuwaitis in India ‘safe’ NEW DELHI: All Kuwaiti nationals in India are “safe and sound” and none of them is currently in the area hard hit by a cyclone, it was announced here yesterday. Kuwaiti Ambassador to India Sami Al-Sulaiman said in a statement that an around-the-clock hotline has been designated by the Foreign Embassy of Kuwait to assist the Kuwaiti nationals in India, urging any person in need of any assistance to contact the embassy’s hotline at: 00919999954422.

‘Healthier food’ added to Tamween list KUWAIT: Kuwait is studying recommendations to adjust the list of food items made available to citizens by eliminating calorific food, a local daily reported yesterday quoting sources.

The recommendations were made by the Ministry of Health and are currently being considered by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

They include removing items such as processed cheese and replacing them

News

KUWAIT: Narcotics department arrested two bedoons with 600 grams of hashish and 70 grams of ICE as well as some money. Security-men raided the house of one of the bedoons and found 500 grams of hashish and 30 grams of ICE. He said that his partner provides him with drugs, and he also was arrested as 100 grams of hashish and 40 grams of ICE were found with him. Both were sent to concerned authorities.

— By Hanan Al-Saadoun

UAE- Yemeni ties discussed ABU DHABI: Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan discussed here Sunday a number of issues of common interest with the Yemeni Defense Minister Mohammed Nasser Ahmed.

According to WAM, Sheikh Mohammed reviewed with his guest the fraternal relations between the UAE and Yemen and ways of enhancing and strengthening them in various fields to serve the interests of the two countries within the framework of keenness of both countries’ leaderships to consolidate and develop these relations to new horizons. The two sides discussed bilateral cooperation and coordination and exchanged views on a number of issues of reciprocal concern.

Kuwaitis prefer to be entrepreneurs Private sector becoming attractive

KUWAIT: Military Education Command at the National Guard celebrated the graduation of units shooting officers in the presence of shooting ranges commander Col Saud Oqab Mizyed. The course included the use of simulation systems so the officers can be trained to shoot from various distances and positions.

Kuwaiti pilgrims arrive in Mina on way to Mount Arafat JEDDAH: Kuwait ’s M inistr y of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs expressed commitment to the safety and relaxation of Kuwaiti Hajj pilgrims who made their stop at Mina yesterday on their way to Mount Arafat. “ The M inistr y of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs is committed to the relaxation, health and safety of its pilgrims - for them to carry out the (Hajj) rituals in the best manner possible,” Adel Al-Falah, the head of the Kuwaiti Hajj mission said.

On the eighth day of Thul Hujja, the pilgrims will conduct the day’s prayers and read the Quran, during what is called Tar wiya Day, after spending yesterday at the Grand Mosque before heading a day later to Mount Arafat on the trip assumed

by the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

Al-Falah made reference to the efforts of the mission in cooperation with local bodies in Saudi Arabia, he said were “exceptional”,

in the service of Kuwaiti pilgrims.

Some 43,000 tents air-conditioned and insulated have been provided to accommodate the incoming pilgrims. — KUNA

India to become top Arab trading destination KUWAIT: India will remain one of the top trading corridors for the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, according to HSBC’s latest trade forecast report.

The report predicts that India will be the UAE’s top export destination by 2030, accounting for 14 per cent of its exports. The country will also be Saudi Arabia’s largest export destination by 2030, accounting for 18.5 per cent of its exports.

As the UAE continues to diversify from its mineral manufactures and invest heavily in its infrastructure, imports from India are predicted to rise. According to the report, the

growth in imports of infrastructure goods and investment equipment from India will significantly outstrip growth in other imports from 2013 to 2030.

The UAE is also India’s largest export market, accounting for around 10 per cent of total merchandise exports. The GCC member state is forecast to maintain this position until 2030 due to its growth in demand, the report said.

India’s trade relations with Saudi Arabia are also set to undergo major changes in the coming decades.

According to the report, Saudi

Arabian exports to India will be extremely diversified in 2013. The biggest growth in exports from the Kingdom to India will be in chemicals, which will account for over 80 per cent of total exports between the two countries from 2013 to 2030.

The share of India’s exports to the Kingdom is also slated to increase by four per cent in 2030, ranking it the fourth largest export destination of the South Asian giant.

Key contributors to this increase will come from manufacturing, machinery and transport, and chemicals industries, the report said.

KUWAIT: The Bayt.com Entrep reneurship in the M iddle East sur vey, recently conducted by Bayt.com, the region’s number one job site, and YouGov, a research and consulting organization,has revealed that respondents in Kuwait have a clear preference for being employees, rather than self-employed. Five in 10 respondents (46%) claim that, if given the choice, they would explore the possibilities of entrepreneurship - as opposed to the 51% who would choose to be employees. From that 51%, six in 10 (64%) would prefer to work in the private sector.

The top reasons Kuwait respondents want to work for a company, rather than be self-employed, are the regular income offered by a salaried job (42%),the chance to learn new skills and techniques (41%), and the benefits work ing for a company offers, such as medical insurance (30%). For those in Kuwait who would prefer to pursue an entrepreneurial career path, the number one reason is personal fulfilment (61%), followed by the freedom to choose their own work-life balance (59%) and higher monetary gains (42%).

Half (45%) of the respondents who are currently employed in the public or private sector in Kuwait are currently thinking of starting their own business, while 24% have tried to start one in the past but failed to do so.

Four in 10 (43%) Kuwait respondents claim that it is ‘somewhat difficult ’ to set up a new business in Kuwait, with the unavailability of finance being the leading hindrance (57%) in doing so. Strict government rules and regulations (53%) are also seen as difficult to overcome.

The majority (56%) of Kuwait respondents, however, claim to know between 1-to-5 entrepreneurs, while a further 58% say that of the entrepreneurs they know, ‘a few’ are successful - 30% say that the majority of entrepreneurs they know have achieved success.

Four in 10 (44%) respondents in Kuwait state that the best time to star t your own business is midcareer, though 34% claim that ‘any time’ is the right time, with ‘don’t be afraid of failure’ considered by the

majority (39%) to be the best advice to give to an entrepreneur.

Entrepreneurship is perceived as most successful in Oman (12% saying ‘all’ and ‘almost all’ entrepreneurs they know are successful), followed

by Morocco and Tunisia (both 11%), and the UAE (10%).

In Kuwait, the hospitality and leisure industry is seen to be the most appealing for entrepreneurship by 18%, followed by advertising, marketing and public relations (16%), and architecture and engineering (16%).

When asked what they perceive to be the top three things that would concern them if they were to set up their own business, the majority of Kuwait respondents chose ‘procuring finances to start’ (54%), needing to establish the ‘right’ contacts (or ‘wasta’)’ (49%) and ‘uncertainty of profit and income’ (40%).

Kuwait respondents agree that their education has helped them develop an entrepreneurial attitude (71%), acquire the necessary skills and know-how to become an entrepreneur and understand the role entrepreneurs play in society (68%), as well as got them interested in becoming an entrepreneur (67%).

Seven out of 10 (71%) Kuwait respondents believe that entrepreneurs think only of their own profit, while 66% believe that they create new products and services that benefit society. The majority (76%) state that entrepreneurs help in creating new jobs, and that they are opportunity-driven (84%).

“It would seem there are issues standing in the way of people becoming self-employed,” said Suhail Masri, VP of Sales, Bayt.com. “With finance being the number one problem across the Middle East, it suggests that the region needs more angel investors to step in and help local entrepreneurs; it might also be of benefit for authorities to reconsider their policies, as less stringent regulations could encourage the creation of more start-ups. At Bayt.com, not only do we provide a wealth of jobs and recruitment solutions to connect between people looking for jobs and business owners, but we also empower our members with

access to live data regarding the employment and economic pulse of the region. Bayt.com has been helping star t-ups recruit top calibers across industries and career levels since its inception in 2000 and our platform has been instrumental in facilitating and enabling recruitment activities for entrepreneurial ventures from start-up phase through to maturity across the MENA. “ “I t is in the interest of ever y Middle Eastern country to encourage more entrepreneurial ventures, as they are beneficial in myriad ways to the economy - they contribute to the GDP and create job opportunities,” said Sundip Chahal, CEO, YouGov. “ This alone should be of special interest to the region’s governmental bodies, given the number of jobs that must be created to avoid mass unemployment of the younger generation in the coming years.”

Data for the Bayt.com Entrepre neurship in the Middle East survey was collected online from September 1 to 15 2013, with 8,776 respondents from UAE, KSA, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia.

Bayt.com is the largest and most relevant community of professionals interested in the MENA region, with over 11,250,000 registered jobseekers and 40,000 employers. Bayt.com has 11 regional offices, more than 270 staff and a 13-year track record of successfully matching the region’s top talent with top employment opportunities at every career level, in every industry.

Founded in 2000, Bayt.com has become one of the most trusted and respected brands in the region. Over the years, they have won numerous awards of recognition, including the “Leading E-Commerce Website in the Pan Arab Region” by the Pan Arab Web Awards (2007), the “Company of the Year ” award by the TECOM Investments Pearl Awards (2009), SME Advisor Stars of Business Awards (2011), the “Top Companies to Work for in the UAE” award by the Great Places to Work Institute (2011 and 2012), and the “Gulf Capital Business of the Year” and “People & Culture of the Year ” by SMEI nfo Awards (2012).

MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2013

LOCAL

Three ministers in hot seat over mixed coffee shops Call to take quick action KUWAIT: Three Kuwaiti ministers could be interrogated by parliament if mixed coffee shops are not closed within one month, a lawmaker has warned. Reports in Kuwait City pointed to the presence of young women and men in these coffee shops to smoke shisha.

“We will not hesitate to grill the competent ministers if these immoral coffee shops are not shut down within one month,” MP Askar AlEnezi said, quoted by local media. “We urge the ministers of interior, commerce and municipality to take action against these cafes all over Kuwait, but particularly in the Jahra area,” he said, referring to his constituency north east of the capital Kuwait City.

The lawmaker issued his warning as he took part in a rally on Saturday alongside other MPs, religious figures and residents in Jahra to push for action against the coffee shops accused of promoting vice and depravation.

“Such coffee shops have no room in our society as they violate our very traditions and customs as well as the spirit of the Constitution which stipulates the state’s responsibility in maintaining the values of the family considered as the core of the community and in protecting the youth,” the lawmaker said.

MP Sultan Al Laghisem and Mohammad Tana said that they would use all parliamentary means to ensure the end to the “moral menace”

to Jahra by the coffee shops.

“There is a deep corruption of morals at these suspicious places and we will do our utmost, including quizzing, to fight it,” Mohammad Tana said, quoted by Al-Jareeda daily on Sunday.

The call to shut down the mixed cafÈs triggered a heated debate on Kuwaiti social media where the focus was on the extent of individual freedom in a country where society and families have a preponderant status.

Lawmakers were also accused by some commentators of advancing a self-serving populist agenda to ensure high ratings that would allow them to be re-elected.

Public reaction over cafe issue ‘mixed’

By Nawara Fattahova KUWAIT: A group of angry people in Jahra protested demanding that cafes in Jahra should be closed and claimed that “immoral acts” take place at these cafes, especially the ones with closed cabins. They protested against the cafes and said that they are spoiling the youth because men and women can mix freely with each other.

According to Malaak, a supervisor at Classical CafÈ, segregating men and women at cafes is not logical. “Ever since we launched our cafe 16 years ago, we have only segregated single people from families. It’s not logical for us to separate a man from his wife and tell them to sit in different areas. If we did this, the cafe will have to shut down next,” he told the Kuwait Times.

Even other Islamic conservative countries don’t apply this rule. “Saudi Arabia has a similar culture and is even more conservative than Kuwait. This can be our model as it applies sharia strictly and they have mixed restaurants and cafes. So why should Kuwait apply such a weird

rule?” he asked.

Abdullah, a 26-year-old resident of Jahra agrees on closing cafes because he thinks that they don’t suit the society in Jahra. “There is a problematic cafe located in one of the shopping malls, and it badly affects the families visiting the place. Immoral acts happen there and such cafes should be removed or at least relocated to a place which is exclusive to men only. It’s been open for a few years but the situation has got worse lately and the residents are annoyed.

Some visitors who noticed inappropriate behavior called the police but as soon as they came, everybody was on their best behavior and managed to convince them that nothing happened.

Because we couldn’t stop this from happening again and again, we have decided to protest as police patrols are ineffective,” he explained.

28-year-old Homoud, visits many cafes regularly and said that any decision taken should be executed in a legal manner. “Decisions should be taken according to the law. They should have evidence that some violations took place at the cafe. The law should be applied, and if anyone is

caught doing something illegal, they should be punished, along with the cafe owner. How do we guarantee they won’t demand segregation in other public places like shopping malls or restaurants next?” he wondered.

“Instead of participating in such protests, they can use the parliament’s legal tools to issue laws and regulations that may improve the situation in general. I think there are many more important issues that need to be solved like healthcare and education instead of wasting valuable time on these unnecessary and unimportant issues,” Houmoud said.

“Cafes are public places which are controlled where people are not free to do as they like as everybody can see and hear them. What is the proof that such customers indeed committed these violations? And if this was true, they are the one to be punished and closing the place is not the solution. It’s easy to report any violation to the police, and besides, I don’t think that the cafe’s management would let the customers misbehave at the cafe,” stressed 50-year oldOmar.

‘An unlicensed gathering’ KUWAIT: Reactions to a demonstration in Jahra on Friday night where protestors demanded closure of “mixed-gender cafes” in the governorate continued yesterday with one newspaper calling the event “an unlicensed gathering [held] in partnership with parliament members”.

“The gathering witnessed several incidents which don’t happen in a country under normal circumstances”, Al-Qabas daily wrote yesterday, mentioning examples including “threats to close the coffee shops by force if the government failed to step in”. The liberal daily fur ther blamed MPs Mohammad Al-Eniz y, Saud AlHuraiji, Mansour Al-Thufairi, and Sultan Al-Shemmari who took part in the event and “yet failed to perform their duty as law protectors”.

Protestors claim that cafes that allow male and female customers to sit together in the same place and even share tables to be “destructive” to the governorate’s conservative nature, and a suitable location to host “immoralities”. In that regard, Al-Qabas suggested that illegal activities can be dealt with “by enforcing the law”, and indicated that allowing similar protests opens the door for similar incidents in the future. “Who can stop protestors from demanding that markets, hospitals or other places that accept people of both genders to be closed?” the paper asked.

Al-Qabas further criticized four lawmakers for threatening to file grilling motions in a bid to “force” the government to close the unwanted cafes. “In their point of

view, a grilling motion became a penalty awaiting any minister that fails to meet their demands that in some cases would reflect a shortsighted ideology or one that does not reflect the general public opinion”, the daily wrote. I t fur ther slammed the MPs for overlooking the simple fact that shutting down licensed coffee shops can only be done legally.

The four lawmakers gave the government a one-month deadline to close the cafes and threatened to take matters into their own hands otherwise. “ The Prime Minister is directly responsible to stop the unacceptable practices that happen in Al-Jahra’s cafes”, MP Al-Thufairi said, adding that “if the government] fails to provide a solution, then I will ”. MP Mohammad Al-Enizy threatened “political questioning” if the government failed to close the cafEs. “We cannot accept this thing out of our duty to protect the Arab and Islamic identity of our community”, he said as quoted by Al-Rai yesterday. Also, MP Al-Shemmary urged the interior and commerce ministers to “act swiftly to address this problem or otherwise we will act and close the cafes by the force of the law and Constitution”.

Al-Rai also quoted a statement released by the Revival of Islamic Heritage S ociet y Jahra Branch which said that cafes have become a place where “dignity is slaughtered, moralities are violated and young people are destroyed”. “We urge the relevant authorities to stop those who wish to tarnish the purity of our society”, the statement reads.

KUWAIT: Kuwaiti men check sheep at a livestock market in Kuwait City yesterday ahead of the Muslim holiday of Eid Al-Adha or the “Feast of Sacrifice” which marks the end of the annual pilgrimage or Hajj to the Saudi holy city of Makkah and is celebrated in remembrance of Abraham’s readiness to sacrifice his son to God. Cows, camels, goats and sheep are traditionally slaughtered on this holy day.

—- Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat

25% price rise before Eid

KUWAIT: With the advent of Eid Al-Adha, sheep prices have increased by KD 15-35 per head compared to last year’s prices, said informed sources, noting that other consumer goods and foodstuff have also gone up by 2540 percent.

The sources added that, except for tomato prices which have increased by 70 percent (a small box which used to cost KD 0.250 earlier is now sold at KD 1), vegetable prices have increased by 40 percent compared to what they were a few days ago.

Moreover, the sources highlighted that this has happened despite previous warnings from economists who demanded the government control prices and inflation, especially at this point in time. The source added that according to Law 79/10, vendors will be subjected to legal accountability for unjustified price increases.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2013

LOCAL

kuwait digest

In my view

GCC, Morocco ties enter a fresh era

Healthy minds in healthy bodies

By Ahmed Taher Al-Khateeb

I

By Abdel Aziz Aluwaisheg

I

write this week from Rabat where a new Cabinet was sworn in on Thursday, representing the second incarnation of an Islamist-led government, with a new and broader-based coalition. At the same time in Rabat, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Morocco cemented their newly founded “special strategic partnership” with the formation of eight new bodies to oversee their joint action plans. Four more are expected to be set up later this year.

The newly-founded GCC-Morocco partnership has largely coincided with the appointment of Abdellilah Benkirane, the chief of the moderate Islamic Justice and Development Party, as prime minister, after his party won a plurality in parliamentary elections in November 2011. His appointment by King Muhammad was seen at the time as a sign of far-sightedness, flexibility and readiness to embrace changes expressed at the ballot box.

Some expected that this arrangement may not last or that the new government may not be especially enthusiastic about the GCC partnership. But neither prophecy turned out to be accurate.

The Justice and Development Party (known by its French initials PJD) and its leader had come a long way from a radical past, renounced violence and decided to participate in the political process. For that, the Moroccan electorate rewarded them handsomely in the November 2011 polls when PJD garnered the largest number of seats by a party. As it did not win a majority (only 107 seats out of 395), it had to form a coalition to form the government.

PJD has done something else that made it more acceptable to skeptical voters and neighboring governments. Unlike other Islamist parties in the region, it distanced itself from the Muslim Brotherhood and emphasized its Moroccan orientation. The PJD-led coalition, which has governed Morocco since January 2012, faced a major setback earlier this year, when one of its main partners, the venerable Istiqlal (Independence) Party pulled out of the government last July. The crisis weakened the government and threatened it with collapse.

The lengthy negotiations to find a new partner ended last week with the formation of an expanded 38-minsiter cabinet, the largest in recent memory. The National Rally of Independents (RNI), a center-right liberal party, agreed to join the government, and was given eight ministerial posts.

Last Thursday, King Muhammad appointed the new government, led again by Beinkirane, putting an end to the crisis. The new Cabinet surprised pundits when it included six women, instead of one in the outgoing formation, and recruited some key figures in Moroccan business and politics, not necessarily from among PJD membership. To get a broader-based coalition, the PJD was willing to relinquish some important posts. RNI Chairman Salaheddine Mezouar was given the post of foreign affairs minister, replacing Sadeddine Otmani, a well-regarded psychologist and Islamic scholar from Benkirane’s party. Moulay Hafid El-Alamy, a businessman and former head of the chamber of commerce, was appointed minister of industry, trade and investment, and Mohamed Boussaid, a local politician, was named minister of economy and finance.

The new women ministers are noteworthy for their colorful backgrounds. While Bassima Hakkaoui, current minister of solidarity, women, family and social development, has retained her portfolio, five new women were appointed to the new Cabinet, either as full or delegate ministers. Fatima Marouane was chosen as minister for crafts and traditional economy, an area of important potential in Morocco.

The remaining four women members were appointed “delegate ministers” (i.e., vice ministers), and are probably being groomed for full ministers in future formations. They represent the new generation in Moroccan politics - highly accomplished young professionals with a background in social activism and community service: Mbarka Bouaida for foreign affairs, Soumiya Benkhaldoun, for higher education and training, Charafat Afilal for the water portfolio, and Hakima El-Hiti for the environment.

The GCC-Morocco partnership will most likely benefit from the formation of the new broad-based coalition, as that partnership enjoys wide support in Morocco, among all political orientations. In December 2011, the GCC took the initiative by inviting Morocco to engage in an ambitious program covering almost every conceivable field. The eight new working groups announced in Rabat on Oct 8, included, among other things trade, investment, energy, education and the environment and natural resources. They also included sharing experiences on youth and women empowerment, where Morocco has made notable progress, as we just noted in the formation of the new government.

When Morocco and GCC delegates meet later this year, they are expected to expand cooperation to include other areas, such as political coordination and cooperation in the area of infrastructure development, an area where the GCC has achieved high levels. In addition to official dialogue, the two sides have engaged representatives from the business community to take advantage of the opportunities made available through this partnership. Business organized its first large-scale conference in May in Morocco.

Further, four GCC countries (United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait) have started an ambitious $5 billion program of development aid for the period (2012-17). The combination of aid, official dialogues and business-to-business partnerships are the ingredients of a solid strategic partnership that will be mutually beneficial.

Morocco has been an oasis of relative stability and an example of peaceful evolution for nearly 400 years. The current ruling family traces its beginning 1666, when its founder Al-Rashid was proclaimed sultan of Morocco.

Despite internal upheavals and external aggression, revolutions and bloody colonial rule, the family has enjoyed support and loyalty from ordinary Moroccans. The monarchy’s ability to adapt and respond to political and social changes is one of the secrets of its longevity.

In my view

US-Iranian relations

By Mansour Farhang

I

s an end to the more than 30-year US-Iran standoff in sight? grade and peacefully purposed. By International Atomic The historic Sept 27 phone conversation between US Energy Authority (IAEA) estimates, however, Iran has close to President Barack Obama and Iranian President Hassan 250 kilograms of near-20 percent enriched uranium - the kind Rowhani - the first direct contact between the presidents of with military potential.

To resolve the issue, Iran will have to degrade the potency the two nations since the 1979 revolution - certainly suggests of that stockpile or place it under international supervision. It there’s been a significant shift in attitudes.

Although the ultimate power in Iran remains in the hands must also offer IAEA observers complete and unrestricted of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the “Supreme Leader,” it’s worth access. In response, the United States would begin easing remembering that Rowhani secured the June election in the sanctions in what would be an important step toward the first round by winning more than 50 percent of the vote. restoration of formal diplomatic relations and a general easing Rowhani’s stated goals to restore Iran’s battered economy and of tensions.

There is a long history of antagonism between the United improve relations with the West clearly have wide public support. This is not surprising, given that 70 percent of Iran’s pop- States and Iran, however, and resolving their differences will ulation is under the age of 30, and the youth unemployment not be easy. Each side says the other cannot be trusted. Iran sees the United States as in rate is about 40 percent. thrall to Israel and militant The public consensus and the United States seems to be that Iran’s ecoA good deal of Iran’s anti-Israeli prop- Zionism, condemns Iran for backing nomic problems are the result of mismanagement under aganda and hostility is opportunistic: Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime, and is suspicious of Rowhani’s predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and It strategically uses the region’s anti- Iran’s broad geopolitical ambitions. the impact of US-sponsored As for resolving the Iranian international sanctions, which Israeli sentiment in order to appeal to had little likelihood of being the masses of the Arab world and nuclear issue as a basis for improved relations, both lifted while Ahmadinejad spouted his anti-Western, anti- play a role in the politics of the Middle Obama and Rowhani face opposition and skepticism Israeli vitriol.

Khamenei understands all East. An agreement concerning the within their respective political this and, although he’s been nuclear dispute and a gradual nor- circles. Although they are a tiny minority, hard-liners in Iran still cautious in his response to Rowhani’s 15-minute phone malization of American-Iranian rela- pose a threat to Rowhani.

Meanwhile, pro-Israel senticonversation with Obama, he’s generally indicated approval tions would signal a serious change in ment in the US Congress - the that buys into Israeli Prime for Rowhani’s desire to improve Tehran’s strategic policies with defi- kind Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s relations with the West. seemingly uncompromising Additionally, the Majlis, Iran’s nite benefits for Israel. stance and demand for a total legislative body, which is very end to Iran’s nuclear program much pro-Supreme Leader, has overwhelming voted in approval of Rowhani’s performance in is a real political factor for Obama.

Some of the US sanctions imposed on Iran are New York.

The immediate issue that has to be resolved is of course Congressional acts, and Congress has the authority to either Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Iran has consistently maintained that annul or continue them. Obama’s challenge will be to perits intent is peaceful: To generate electricity and isotopes for suade this faction that resolving the Iranian nuclear issue the medical purposes. Israel, however, believes Iran’s goal is mili- way he envisages will actually be in Israel’s best interest.

A good deal of Iran’s anti-Israeli propaganda and hostility is tary and aggressive, and sees it as an existential threat. The United States and Europe have acknowledged such a possibil- opportunistic: It strategically uses the region’s anti-Israeli senity to varying degrees - understandably, given Iran’s lack of timent in order to appeal to the masses of the Arab world and transparency and resistance to meaningful international mon- play a role in the politics of the Middle East. An agreement concerning the nuclear dispute and a gradual normalization itoring of its nuclear facilities.

The Obama administration seems willing to recognize of American-Iranian relations would signal a serious change in Iran’s right to enriched uranium so long as it is below weapons Tehran’s strategic policies with definite benefits for Israel.

kuwait digest

Carcinogenic ideologies

By Jaafar Rajab

T

here is nothing worse than the present except for ments they falsely claim are ‘modern’. There is no way to what could be awaiting us in the future. The prob- tell the difference between a bedoon and hadar judglem is not about a university construction site that ing by behavior -unless you look at the surname to catches fire every now and then, a football stadium determine to which group a certain person belongs to. that cannot host public events, an entrance that costs Commitment to tribal linage could perhaps be the state a million dinars to open at the side of a street, acceptable in the social or political context as our gova police service that has failed to identify criminals who ernment deals with citizens according to their tribal smuggled diesel fuel for years, set the Amghara tire roots or sectarian belief. However, it is unacceptable to graveyard ablaze or stole see young people who are high voltage cables from supposed to lead the revoelectricity transformers but Commitment to tribal linage could lution against traditions of were still able to arrest the past use it as fuel to three people only a couple perhaps be acceptable in the social power those destructive valof hours after a video show- or political context as our govern- ues. ing them kissing went viral The issue goes beyond ment deals with citizens according tribalism in its common defon social networks.

The problem is in the to their tribal roots or sectarian inition; at least tribes do not mind that refuses to move, hide their support for cerchange or improve. It is in a belief. However, it is unacceptable tain student lists. new generation whose to see young people who are sup- Meanwhile, there are other minds are dominated by lists that claim nationalism tribalism which judge oth- posed to lead the revolution but still announce that they ers from a tribal standpoint. been endorsed by a against traditions of the past use it have A generation that studsheikh during the Friday ies in the finest colleges as fuel to power those destructive prayer ’s speech at a worldwide, travels looking mosque, a cleric from the values. for knowledge and yet top of his platform inside a returns carrying the same Husaniya, or a top CEO from mentality that refuses to deal with people who don’t his office. belong to their blood, race, religion, sectarian belief We would be fooling ourselves if we claim moderniand tribe. During the recent student elections at the ty against nomadic inclinations; we all are guilty of tribPublic Authority for Applied Education and Training, alism. While some of us are biased towards our tribe, posters were put up calling students to vote and sup- others are biased towards their sectarian group, family, ported tribal chiefs in Kuwait, as if we are still living in etc. Despite all the luxury buildings, luxury cars and the old ages. Students are divided according to their smartphones that changed our lives, we still refuse to origin into bedoons and hadar (urban). change our carcinogenic ideologies. We are creating a Even hadars carry a tribal mentality that has ele- hole in our ship with our own hands. — Al-Rai

n 1978, when we were high school students, though we were relatively older than other classmates, our physical education teachers used to make us exercise during the morning parade by swinging our arms back and forth and jumping in the same spot. At that time, such movements seemed so funny and made us laugh our hearts out while performing them, especially while watching how the rest of them performed them.

However, after the activity, the freshness we felt after 10 minutes of these exercises was very strange and we used to feel like every muscle in our bodies was put in its due place and we felt more lively. Our bodies were warmer and our minds were ready to receive more information through our lessons.

Unfortunately, things are different nowadays and sports and exercise is right at the bottom of our lists.

They are so neglected that our kids’ physical health is deteriorating and their little bodies are becoming more like warehouses for tons of junk foods which are full of unhealthy preservatives and beverages full of artificial dyes and dangerous harmful chemicals. To make things worse, we allow them to get glued to TV screens and video games for hours and hours, which has a negative effect on their tempers.

They are becoming hyper and easily get outraged and angered. In addition, obesity rates are alarmingly increasing amongst children because of the sedentary lifestyles they are allowed to follow. They are becoming more idle, lazy and sluggish without any kind of sports.

The bottom line is sound minds are in sound bodies and unless we care for our bodies, we will suffer the consequences. I have previously written about an award presented by the GCC health ministers’ executive council that focuses on physical activity with the aim of boosting health awareness.

So, I hope all citizens and expatriates will take part in this essential competition. They can visit the award’s official website of : www.gdam.org for further information. — Al-Anba

kuwait digest

The legitimate householder

By Abdullatif Al-Duaij

K

uwait has never seen actual construction since the parliament was unconstitutionally dissolved in 1976. Despite that, oil revenues have been consumed or rather ‘stolen’. The government along with groups it allied itself with have taken over the national income through many ways, including salar y increases, allowances, increased housing loans, loans’ writeoff and other ‘gifts’. In the meantime, people with influence took over state properties including housing units, chalets, jakhours (livestock farms) or even public squares.

Everyone had a hand or continues to take part in the ‘legitimate’ theft of public funds and properties. And while people with influence are often accused of ‘stealing’, at least they kept that in the dark and never tried to ‘legitimize’ what they are doing. On the other hand, the people or ‘limitedincome citizens’ are the major consumers, or

Everyone had a hand or continues to take part in the ‘legitimate’ theft of public funds and properties. And while people with influence are often accused of ‘stealing’, at least they kept that in the dark and never tried to ‘legitimize’ what they are doing. On the other hand, the people or ‘limited-income citizens’ are the major consumers, or rather those with the most control over national income. Despite that, they continue complaining about the need to protect public funds while at the same time legislate laws to ‘legitimize’ their control.

Not only that, but they keep demanding reform as well. rather those with the most control over national income. Despite that, they continue complaining about the need to protect public funds while at the same time legislate laws to ‘legitimize’ their control. Not only that, but they keep demanding reform as well.

There is no doubt that the country suffers political mismanagement and growing corruption. But regardless of how serious or vast those problems are, they are still not the main predicament that Kuwait faces. The main crisis is in the ‘corruption’ of citizens themselves and the destruction for the entire nation.

Of course, those who sidestep the truth are going to blame the government for being in the position of the ‘householder’. But the fact is that in Kuwait, citizens are the legitimate holder of sovereignty and power. Being ‘partners’ in wealth and power is a deception meant to distract the people from the fact that they are the source of all powers. And just like in any other house, if the householder does not take the initiative to address their own flaws, then corruption is going to continue dominating as an “acceptable behavior” or at least one that is mostly practiced by all. — Al-Qabas

MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2013

LOCAL

Teenager runs over officer in Farwaniya Man accuses wife of defamation KUWAIT: A teenager faces charges after he deliberately ran over a police officer and left his patrol vehicle heavily damaged while trying to escape a checkpoint in Farwaniya.

According to the police report, the incident occurred when the First Lieutenant tried to prevent a car from escaping, but the driver did not stop. He ran over the officer and then hit his car, before back-up police forced him to pull over and arrested him. Police found out that the 15-year-old was driving without a license. He was referred to Farwaniya police station to face charges while an ambulance took the officer to the Farwaniya Hospital for treatment.

Meanwhile, a man was arrested in Faiha after he assaulted a traffic police officer because he issued him a ticket. The Kuwaiti man reportedly became furious the moment he saw the officer writing him a ticket, and then went on to assault him both verbally and physically. The officer then reached out to his transmitter, but then the man snatched it and smashed it to the ground. Back-up police soon arrived after eyewitnesses made emergency calls and later provided testimony at the police station. The man was charged with assaulting a police officer on duty, resisting arrest and damaging state property.

Fabricated picture A public sector employee is accusing his wife of hacking into his Instagram account and posting what he says is a fabricated picture showing him with another woman. The Interior Ministry employee filed a case at the Adan police station against his wife on Saturday, accusing her of both hacking and defaming. He explained to police that after

he failed to access his account, he consulted a friend who told him that the account has been hacked. The man then saw his account’s homepage on his friend’s phone and realized that the personal picture was changed to show him in the company of another woman.

The man insisted that he never met the woman in the picture, and that the whole thing was fabricated to tarnish his public image. When police asked him about people he suspected, the man pressed charges against his wife who he said had threatened to defame him on social network during a previous dispute. His wife has currently been called for questioning.

Maid arrested A domestic worker was arrested minutes before she could board a plane carrying her employer’s jewelry which she had stolen earlier. The arrest was made on Saturday after the woman’s picture was circulated at all border checkpoints. The maid was approached by police officers while she was getting ready to catch a Sri Lanka-bound flight. Police found some of the jewelry with the maid while she confessed that she sold the rest before traveling. She was referred to the proper authorities to face charges pressed by her Kuwaiti employer in Ahmadi.

Farm worker dead A man was found dead at a farm in Wafra recently and preliminary investigations indicate that he suffered an electric shock. Police and paramedics rushed to the scene after a Kuwaiti man repor ted finding a worker unconscious at his brother’s farm. The Iranian man was pronounced dead on the scene, and

investigations revealed that he was electrocuted while working. The body was taken to the forensic department and a case was filed.

Fatal crashes A man died in an accident repor ted recently at Salmi road and preliminary investigations indicate that his tire burst which caused the vehicle to overturn. Paramedics arrived at the scene with police shortly after the accident was reported and soon pronounced the 61-year-old Gulf national dead.

Investigations are ongoing.

In a separate incident, a pedestrian was hospitalized in a critical condition following a hit-and-run accident reported in Sulaibiya.

The Nepalese man was rushed to Farwaniya Hospital by a man who told officers that the victim was run over by a driver who escaped immediately after the accident. Investigations are ongoing to identify and arrest the suspect.

Child molestation Investigations are ongoing in a case involving three domestic workers accused of repeatedly molesting a nine-year-old girl. The case was filed Saturday at the Abdullah Port police station where a Kuwaiti woman pressed charges against the housemaids. She said that she caught the maids molesting her child earlier the same day inside their chalet, and added that her daughter told her that this was not the first time they did it. The woman brought a medical report from Adan Hospital before heading to the police station which showed no evidence of rape. The girl was taken for a forensic examination as part of the investigations.

Kuwait gives more humanitarian aid to Syrian refugees in Jordan AMMAN: Al-Rahma International Charity, an off-shoot of Social Reform Society and a Kuwait-based non-government fundraising agency, continues supporting Syrian refugees in Jordan by yet launching another humanitarian campaign.

Head of the charity body Dr Waleed Al-Anjari said yesterday that the campaign which holds number (106) is to provide 95 refugees families with $140 each. It will also give Eid Al-Adha clothing for 67 children and toys for 210 others. In addition, since it is customary to sacrifice sheep in this religious festival, the charity will also distribute 90 sheep to the families.

The goal of any aid campaign, he said, is to alleviate the moral and material suffering of the Syrian refugees in different parts of the country, especially during religious holidays.

Last night, aid campaign number 104 was concluded, where a $90,000 aid was distributed to up to 500 Syrian families and provided financial aid to Al-Jazeera hospital where some injured Syrians are receiving medical treatment. Campaign number 105, meanwhile, was sent out to the Syrian refugees in Lebanon.

Al-Anjari noted that Kuwait has consistently launched, as of yet, 106 help campaigns to Syrian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon. He lauded the Kuwaiti diplomatic mission in Jordan for facilitating this humanitarian work by removing any obstacles in the way.

On his part, Kuwaiti Ambassador to Jordan Dr Hamad Al-Duaij commended this humanitarian support and encouraged for more as was directed by His Highness the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad AlJaber Al-Sabah. — KUNA

KEPS campaign receives high public turnout KUWAIT: Kuwait Environment Protection Society (KEPS) said yesterday that its national campaign on protecting migratory birds dubbed Let Them Cross, had had a high turnout from the public in its first week.

Secretary General of the society Wojdan AlOqab said in a press statement that the one-

month campaign, has been viewed by nearly 5,000 viewers who in turn re-directed and republished the campaign’s activities to others.

Al-Oqab explained that the KEPS, is seeking through the four stages of the campaign that are shown in theaters across the country, to define the importance of migratory birds and

How not to manage social media DUBAI: Companies in the UAE have slowly but surely embraced social media. Many firms initially resisted social networks hoping they were just a fad, but following the Arab Spring, when networks like Facebook and Twitter became catalysts to mobilise protests in the region, local companies sat up and took notice.

Communicating via social networks is now becoming a key component of every firm’s marketing strategy. But while seemingly easy, tools like Twitter and Facebook can prove to become PR disasters if not handled correctly.

Car dealer Subaru Emirates learnt this lesson the hard way. Following a recent road accident in Dubai that claimed four lives, the company posted a message on Facebook entitled “Woman driver at it again” alongside an image of the accident. The post instantly garnered furious comments, with Facebook users accusing the writer - and in turn the company - of being sexist and insensitive. It took 26 hours for the company to finally take down the post and apologise, but the damage was done.

The incident has sparked off a series of articles on how not to manage your social media and the brand’s reputation was seriously tarnished. Some Facebook commentators even swore never to buy a Subaru, hurting the company’s business along with its image.

Another UAE-based firm that recently fell prey to a social media debacle was telecoms operator du.

The company suddenly announced automatic upgrades and fee hikes for its internet, phone and TV packages, predictably generating questions and confusion from customers on Twitter. But when a du employee responded to one such question tweeting: “Hey! if (sic) you don’t want to continue with the services, you can cancel your account at one of our stores,” it unleashed a severe backlash from customers. Although du’s reaction was swift - it removed the tweet and publicly apologised, the brand’s image was already tarnished. With social media starting to take centre-stage in shaping brand identity, local companies must carve out effective social media strategies to avoid such catastrophes.

the risks they are exposed to during their transit in Kuwait. She said the campaign also sheds light on the pathways of migratory birds in Kuwait, one of the best passages in the world, hailing at the same time the support exerted by Kuwait National Cinema Company to KEPS’s activities. —KUNA

KUWAIT: The house in Saad Al-Abdallah in which fire broke out yesterday.

Syrian woman harassed

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: A security source said that a Syrian expat was harassed by a Kuwaiti and police found drugs and a weapon in his car.

The source said that a citizen chased the Syrian woman all the way to her house in Fahaheel and threatened her with a knife because she refused his overtures. Her father gave police the car plate number and when they arrested him, they found drugs and the knife in his car.

Property damaged Another citizen who is also an ex-con-

vict, was charged for damaging state property as he destroyed the camera in the cell he was detained in over theft charges. The suspect also attacked the police during his arrest.

House fire A fire broke out in a house in Saad AlAbdallah and engulfed a total area of three floors and a basement. Firemen carried out residents on their shoulders as extreme heat and thick smoke stopped them from escaping. Four elderly women, seven children, infants and two maids suffered smoke inhalation and were treated on site.

Oman plans exhibition MUSCAT: Oman will be presenting an exhibition at the MusÈe National de la Marine (National Navy Museum) in Paris which traces the fascinating history linking France and Oman’s maritime heritage.

The exhibition: entitled “Oman et la Mer” (Oman and the Sea) will be held from Oct 16 to Jan 5, 2014. The event traces the 5000-year Omani marine heritage and the history of Omani people who set off to conquer the oceans and develop maritime trade with different parts of the world. It will, also, show case collection of Omani vessels that sailed across the oceans weaving a network of long, diverse and rich relationships with different cultures and civilizations.

Secretary-General of Oman’s Foreign Ministry Bader al-Busaidi told the press Sunday that the exhibition is organized by Omani Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Heritage and Culture. It will shed light on the trip made by French Admiral FranÁoisEdmond Paris who visited Oman in 1838 and who dedicated himself to studying Omani vessels, maps and painting.

The exhibition will present a documentary film on the life of the French admiral’s impressions on certain aspects of Oman’s maritime heritage.

This event highlights the long OmaniFrench bilateral relations in culture, economy, commerce and tourism, al-Busaidi concluded. — KUNA

MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2013

LOCAL

Iraqi Ambassador Mohammad Bahr Al-Oloum hosted a reception recently in honour of the outgoing Indian Ambassador Satish C Mehta. A number of diplomats and prominent personalities attended the party.

Kuwait Times Editor-in-Chief Abd Al-Rahman Al-Alyan is seen second from left.

Farewell party in honor of Indian ambassador

(From left) Mohammad Bahr Al-Oloum and Indian Ambassador Satish Mehta.

(From left) Serbian Ambassador Mihailo Brikic, Russian Ambassador Alexey Solomatin, Iraqi Ambassador Mohammad Bahr Al-Oloum, Pakistan Ambassador Syed Abrar Hussain, Indian Ambassador Satish Mehta and Kuwait Times Editor-in-Chief Abd Al-Rahman Al-Alyan (right).

(From left) Iraqi, Spanish, Indian, South Korean and Chinese ambassadors.

(From left) Brunei Ambassador Pengiran Mustapa, Ethiopian Ambassador Mohammad Gudefa, Somali Ambassador Abdulqadir Abu Bakir, ICRC: Gerard Peytrignet and Jordanian Ambassador Mohammad Al-Kayed.

(From left) Nepal Ambassador Madhuban P. Paudel, Malaysian Ambassador Dato Adnan Haji Othman and Sri Lankan Ambassador C.A.H.M Wijeratne.

(From left) Iraqi Ambassador Mohammad Bahr Al-Oloum, Indian Ambassador Satish Mehta and Egyptian Ambassador Abdelkareem Suleiman.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2013

German ‘luxury bishop’ in Rome for decision on job

Detained American found dead in cell Page 8

Page 10

ARJIPALLI: People try to remove an electric pole that fell down at the cyclone hit Arjipalli village on the Bay of Bengal coast in Ganjam district, Orissa state, India, yesterday. Mass evacuations spared India the widespread deaths many had feared from a powerful cyclone that roared ashore over the weekend, officials said yesterday, as the country sorted through the wreckage of flooded towns, tangled power lines and tens of thousands of destroyed thatch homes. — AP

Killer Indian cyclone wreaks havoc 18 dead, over a million evacuated GOPALPUR: A massive relief operation kicked into gear in eastern India yesterday after a terrifying cyclone killed at least 18 people, forced over one million from their homes and left a trail of destruction along the coast.

Cyclone Phailin was dissipating rapidly after pounding the states of Orissa and Andhra Pradesh overnight, uprooting trees, overturning trucks, flattening homes and knocking out power lines.

Casualties were minimised after the biggest evacuation in the country’s history saw some one million people huddle in shelters and government buildings as the ferocious storm took hold. Seventeen people were killed in the state of Orissa and one person further south in the state of Andhra Pradesh, government and disaster management officials said.

“The 17 deaths were due to people being crushed by falling trees, walls, roofs,” R.S. Gopalan, the senior state government official coordinating relief operations in Orissa, told AFP.

Some 600,000 people were left homeless in Orissa after the country’s biggest cyclone in 14 years swept through 14,000 villages, the state’s special relief commissioner, Pradipta Kumar Mohapatra, told AFP. Families, who only hours earlier fled to shelters, returned to discover what was left of their flimsy homes. Many, holding their children, picked through the debris. Others simply sat on the ground in their village clutching bags of possessions. “I lost my house and also a small shaving shop, I lost everything,” Janardan, 32, who uses one name, said from inside his tiny dwelling in Gopalpur. The cyclone collapsed the roof, leaving Janardan and his wife to begin the clean-up.

The worst affected area, around the town of Gopalpur in Orissa where the eye of Phailin came ashore packing winds of 200 kilometres an hour (125 miles per hour), was still without power as emergency services rushed to help people living there.

Hundreds of workers from the country’s

National Disaster Response Force fanned out across the region, clearing away fallen trees from roads, mangled power poles and other debris, a statement said.

Other relief workers distributed food at shelters and treated the injured, while authorities worked to restore power and other services.

“Most of Orissa should have electricity back within 12 hours, by tomorrow morning. Water supplies should also be restored in much of the state later tonight,” state official Gopalan said.

Some 1,000 people marooned by the storm surge in a village in Andhra Pradesh were rescued by boat, a top disaster response official told a press conference. At the same press conference, vice chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Marri Shashidhar Reddy put the total death toll slightly lower, at 14, with 13 killed in Orissa and one in Andhra Pradesh.

He praised relief workers for keeping the “death toll to a bare minimum”. More than 8,000

people were killed in 1999 when a cyclone hit the same region, devastating crops and livestock. The area took years to recover.

This time round, the massive evacuation operation, which officials said was the biggest in Indian history, appeared to have succeeded in minimising casualties.

Raj Kishor Muduli, a delivery driver who lives just outside Orissa’s state capital Bhubaneswar, said the whole of his village had spent the night on Saturday hunkering down in a communal shelter. “We were all afraid, the whole village was afraid, we didn’t know how strong the winds would be,” the 43-year-old told AFP yesterday morning, when the winds had died down and heavy overnight rainfall had ceased.

“Everyone was awake the whole night to see what the size of (the) storm would be and to be on guard.” High-sided trucks lying on their sides were witness to the strength of the winds on the main highway south of Gopalpur, which was littered with uprooted trees and other debris.

Despite the damage, there was a general sense of relief that things could have been a lot worse in Orissa and Andhra Pradesh.

“We were preparing for a super cyclone, but Phailin did not turn into a super cyclone,” spokeswoman for the NDMA, Tripti Parule, told AFP. “The last biggest evacuation in India’s recorded history was in Andhra Pradesh in 1990 (when another cyclone struck) — and this is now much bigger.” Officials in Orissa said 873,000 people moved before the cyclone made landfall on Saturday evening, while at least another 100,000 were evacuated in Andhra Pradesh. Residents were also evacuated from coastal regions of West Bengal state. The storm was moving north over Orissa with a speed of just 13 kilometres per hour, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. Although the worst was over, the IMD said heavy rainfall could be expected to fall in at least five states over the next 24 hours, including in Bihar, where floods five years ago killed dozens. — AFP

MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2013

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Hit in his own office: Sudanese anger at protest shooting KHARTOUM: A Sudanese personnel officer angrily recalls how he was in his Khartoum office when two stray bullets crashed into his left arm last month as security forces confronted protesters. He says he had just taken a toilet break when the bullets slammed into the office compound, providing a rare account from among the hundreds of people whom human rights monitors say were wounded in the protests sparked by rising fuel prices.

Dozens were killed and hundreds of people, including opposition activists as well as protesters, detained. Journalists complained of worsening censorship, restricting the chance for victims’ voices to be heard.

“I am in my office and I’m shot. I am very angry about that,” said the human resources officer, who is in his 40s and asked not to be identified. Thousands took to the streets after President Omar Al-Bashir on September 23 slashed fuel subsidies.

One small demonstration broke out near the man’s Khartoum office. He went outside to have a look but decided it would be best to stay inside until things calmed down. He said he saw about 60 to 70 demonstrators who were burning tyres in the main street and had damaged traffic signals and street lights.

Police, militia and state security agents were armed with rifles and a truck-mounted gun, the man said. They were firing, intermittently, “in all directions” but not directly at the protesters, he said.

“They wanted to scare them,” he said, adding that he witnessed the gunfire before returning to his office. After 20 or 30 minutes he needed to go to the toilet, which is near the entry gate to his compound.

When he was finished and leaving the toilet, “suddenly I was hit” in the left side and arm. “I fell down.” His blood staining the white tile floor, he says he dragged himself to the main gate and

called out that he was wounded.

Across the narrow dirt road, a storekeeper heard his plea and summoned uniformed militia who drove him to the nearest hospital, he says.

Two bullets went through his elbow and hand, he says, puncturing the bathroom door with holes about 2.5 centimetres (one inch) in diameter.

Another bullet left a larger hole two metres (six feet) high in the metal at the top of the gate.

The rounds appeared to have been fired from the main street into the alley which his office faces and where, the man said, the demonstrators had retreated.

Security forces are believed to have killed more than 200 protesters, many of whom were shot in the head or chest, Amnesty International said.

Authorities report 60 to 70 deaths, and say they had to intervene when crowds turned violent, attacking petrol stations and police.

Bashir said the protests were part of an effort to end his 24-year rule, using “agents, thieves and hijackers”.

Reformers within his ruling party sought an independent inquiry into the shooting of civilians but have instead found themselves under investigation by the party. The victim said he had not joined any of the anti-government protests but he supports the right of demonstration “if it’s peaceful.” Britain, France and the United States have all expressed concern at Sudan’s response to the protests.

An October 4 report from The African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies, a human rights watchdog, said 170 demonstrators had been gunned down and more than 500 wounded.

Citing the deaths of a mechanic and an Ethiopian food vendor, it said “bystanders not involved in the demonstrations have been shot and killed by security forces” in areas where demonstrations occurred.

“Doctors have also been harassed by

authorities when making statements regarding those killed and injured during the demonstrations,” the watchdog said. The wounded man interviewed by AFP says he spent three days in hospital, is still recovering at home, and needs further surgery.

“This was an accident,” he said, but he has begun legal action over the incident and is angry that nobody from the government has come to see him. His elbow is bandaged and a thick dressing encases his hand and wrist, leaving only the fingertips exposed as his arm rests in a sling.

Rabbie Abdelatti Ebaid, a senior ruling party official, told AFP that he had not heard about accidental shootings but they “maybe” had occurred. He urged the man to bring his case to authorities and, if the accident is confirmed, he should be eligible for compensation. “It is the responsibility of the government to make people secure,” he said. — AFP

Key Syria opposition group refuses Geneva peace talks Evacuees ‘very scared’: Red Crescent

ARBIL: President of Iraqi Kurdistan autonomous region, Massud Barzani answers AFP’s journalists’ questions during an interview yesterday in the northern Kurdish city of Arbil. Iraqi Kurdistan is prepared to strike militants anywhere, including Syria and Iraq, but must avoid being drawn into Syria’s civil war, Barzani said. — AFP

Iraq Kurd chief ready to hit militants in Syria, Iraq ARBIL: Iraqi Kurdistan is prepared to strike militants anywhere, including neighbouring Syria, but the Kurds must avoid being drawn into its civil war, the autonomous region’s president Massud Barzani told AFP. Barzani’s remarks came after militants carried out a late-September attack on a security ser vice headquarters in the Kurdish region’s capital Arbil, killing seven people-a rare occurrence in an area usually spared the violence plaguing other parts of Iraq.

“We will not hesitate in directing strikes (against) the terrorist criminals in any place,” Barzani said in an exclusive interview with AFP, when asked about the possibility of Kurdish action against militants in Iraq or Syria.

“Our duty is to protect the Kurds if we are able,” he said. But the long-time Kurdish leader made a distinction between that and being drawn into Syria’s bloody civil war, which he said the Kurds must try to avoid.

“Our opinion is that the Kurds must stand at the same distance” from all parties in the conflict, so “the Kurdish people are not forced into a war” from which they will gain nothing, Barzani said. But Syrian Kurdish forces have already been drawn into the fighting, clashing with jihadist groups fighting President Bashar al-Assad’s troops, who want to secure a land corridor connecting them to Iraq.

The violence has pushed tens of thousands of Syrian Kurds across the border, seeking refuge in Iraqi Kurdistan. And Barzani has previously threatened to intervene in the Syrian conflict to protect Kurdish civilians, although officials have since backtracked on his remarks.

Barzani also said in the interview that Iraqi Kurdistan had provided military training to Syrian Kurds so they could defend their communities-the first public acknowledgement that this was done.

“A number of young (men) were trained, but truly not with the aim of entering the war,” Barzani said. In claiming the September 29 attack in Arbil, which killed seven security force personnel and wounded more than 60 people, Al-Qaeda front group the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant also pointed to Syria.

The group said the attack on the Kurdish asayesh security service headquarters with suicide bombers, gunfire and car bombs

was in response to Barzani’s alleged willingness to provide support to the government in Baghdad and to Kurdish forces battling jihadists in Syria.

The attack was the first of its kind to hit Arbil since May 2007, when a truck bomb exploded near the same headquarters, killing 14 people and wounding more than 80. Barzani also discussed the future of the Kurdish people, saying that they have a right to self-determination and statehood, but that this will not be accomplished through violence.

It is “a natural right for there to be a state for the Kurdish people, but this will not be achieved by violence, and must be done in a natural way,” Barzani said. This “age is the age of understanding, and we encourage dialogue between the Kurds and... the states” where Kurdish populations live, he said.

Four countries-Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran-host major Kurdish populations, which have faced decades of discrimination. In Iraq, the Kurds now have a three-province autonomous region in the country’s north with its own government, security forces, flag and borders.

Although Kurdistan and the federal government in Baghdad moved to reduce high tensions earlier this year, they are still at odds over a number of issues.

Iraqi Kurdistan has sought to establish a pipeline that would give it access to international energy markets, sent crude across the border to neighbouring Turkey, and signed deals with foreign energy firms.

It has also capitalised on its reputation for greater safety and stability, as well as a faster-growing economy than the rest of Iraq, to solicit investment independent of the federal government.

All this has angered Baghdad, and the two sides are also locked in a protracted dispute over the Kurds’ long-standing demands for the incorporation of other traditionally Kurdish-majority areas into their autonomous region. Barzani also said that political disputes and rampant violence that is killing hundreds of people in Iraq each month will likely not be resolved before parliamentary elections next year.

“I do not believe that the fundamental problems will be resolved until these elections,” Barzani said, adding that “there is real fear ... that the conflicts will develop into a civil war.” — AFP

DAMASCUS: A key group within the Syrian opposition National Coalition said yesterday it would not attend proposed peace talks in Geneva and would quit the Coalition if it participated.

The decision deals a potential blow to international efforts to convene a peace conference in Geneva, which was first proposed for June but has been pushed back multiple times.

The Syrian Red Crescent meanwhile said it had evacuated around 1,500 people from a suburb of the capital Damascus that has been under a regime siege for months.

The president of Syrian National Council, the biggest member of the opposition Coalition, told AFP yesterday that it was impossible to carry out negotiations given the suffering of people on the ground.

“The Syrian National Council, which is the biggest bloc in the Coalition, has taken the firm decision... not to go to Geneva, under the present circumstances (on the ground),” George Sabra told AFP. “This means that we will not stay in the Coalition if it goes” to the peace talks, he added.

Western nations and Russia have been pushing the regime and the rebels to meet for talks on a negotiated solution to the two and a half year-old conflict, which has killed some 115,000 people.

US Secretary of State John Kerry flew to London yesterday for talks that will include discussion of the Geneva conference with Lakhdar Brahimi, the UN-Arab League envoy for Syria. But Sabra said the international community had failed to punish the regime for an August 21 sarin attack on the outskirts of Damascus that reportedly killed hundreds of people.

Washington threatened to carry out military strikes in response to the attacks, which the United States and the Syrian opposition blamed on the regime. But the punitive strikes were averted by a USRussian deal under which Syria is turning over its chemical arsenal for destruction.

“The international community

DAMASCUS: A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) yesterday shows Syrian women and children arriving to be evacuated by Syria’s Red Crescent from a Damascus suburb that has been under siege by the Syrian army for months. — AFP has focused on the murder weapon, which is the chemical weapons, and left the murderer unpunished and forgotten the victims,” Sabra said. “The regional and international context does not give the impression that Geneva 2 will offer anything to the Syrians,” he added.

“We will not participate in a conference that is intended to hide the failure of international politics.” He also invoked the plight of Syrians in neighbourhoods besieged by regime troops, including in the Damascus suburb of Moadamiyet al-Sham, where he said residents were “dying of hunger.”

The suburb southwest of the capital is largely controlled by rebels and has been under an army siege for months. On Sunday, the Syrian Red Crescent said it had evacuated 1,500 people from the neighbourhood since the day before.

“Around 1,500 people, most of them women and children, were

evacuated from a point on the outskirts of Moadamiyet al-Sham and taken to shelters,” Red Crescent head of operations Khaled Erksoussi told AFP. He said the evacuated civilians “were in a state of major fatigue and were ver y scared.” Regime forces regularly bomb the area and the opposition accuses the government of starving residents by sealing off the district.

Moadamiyet al-Sham was also one of the areas targeted in the August 21 sarin attack. The Syrian government says the opposition is holding residents of the district hostage and described the evacuation as part of its “efforts to protect citizens from terrorists.”

A video distributed by state news agency SANA showed hundreds of people, mostly women and children, streaming towards a convoy of buses, assisted by officials from the Red Crescent. State television showed Social Affairs Minister Kinda Shmat and soldiers

Detained American found dead in cell CAIRO: A US citizen detained in Egypt for violating cur few in August was found dead yesterday in his jail cell, the second foreigner to die in detention in recent weeks, security officials said. The US Embassy in Cairo confirmed that an American citizen held prisoner in the Suez Canal city of Ismailia died from an apparent suicide and that it was in contact with Egyptian

authorities. It had no further comment. Security officials identified the man as James Henr y, 66, a retired US Army officer who arrived in Cairo from the Gulf kingdom of Bahrain on Aug. 25. Henry was detained by army troops in the turbulent region of northern Sinai three days later while making his way to the border crossing with Gaza in the town of Rafah, the offi-

cials said.

Henry was flown to the Suez Canal city of Ismailia on a military aircraft and handed over to the police who remanded him in custody pending charges, the officials said. Jailers found Henry dead after he used his belt and shoe laces to hang himself, the officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized

Islamist militants destroy Sufi shrine in eastern Syria AMMAN: A Sufi Muslim shrine was blown up in eastern Syria yesterday, opposition activists said, blaming al Qaeda-affiliated militants who have joined in the increasingly sectarian civil war.

Militants placed explosives at the shrine of Sheikh Eissa Abdelqader al-Rifaiy in the rebel-held town of Busaira, 45 km (30 miles) east of the provincial capital of Deir al-Zor, and detonated them on Sunday morning, they said.

The activists contacted by Reuters said they suspected al Qaeda-linked fighters of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) were behind the explosion.

“The Islamic State has a base outside the town. The ease by which they got to the shrine indicates that their presence is growing,” activist Abu Al-Tayyeb al-Deiri said from Deir Al-Zor. Video footage and a photo released by the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group showed

the shrine reduced to a field of shattered rock and twisted metal with trees and a small domed building in the background.

Several graves and other sites belonging to the Sufi sect, a mystical school of Islam opposed by puritanical Salafists from which al Qaeda draws its ranks, have been burnt or destroyed in the province in the past few months, opposition sources said.

The Observatory, which has a network of sources across Syria, said another shrine had been blown up in the same area last month. Tension has been rising in Deir alZor between ISIL, composed largely of foreign fighters, and other rebel brigades drawn from eastern tribes, who turned against President Bashar al-Assad after a crackdown on protests in the revolt’s early months. The 2-1/2-year conflict has become increasingly sectarian as rebels overwhelmingly from Syria’s Sunni Muslim majority fight to oust Assad, a member of the Shi’ite-derived Alawite sect. — Reuters

welcoming the evacuees as they arrived.

Erksoussi said Red Crescent officials were unable to enter Moadamiyet al-Sham “to provide treatment to the wounded, who we were not able to evacuate.” He would not say whether the evacuation was the result of an agreement between the rebels and the regime, saying only that the Red Crescent “received guarantees that it could carry out this operation.”

Elsewhere in the country, the Obser vator y said regime war planes bombed the town of Sfeireh in northern Aleppo province as they pressed a bid to reclaim the town from rebels.

Sfeireh is near a site believed to hold chemical weapons, and the regime bombardment in recent days has provoked an exodu s. I n the s ou thern Da raa prov ince meanwhile, rebels brought down a regime warplane in the Atman region, the Observatory said. — AFP

LUXOR: An Egyptian boy looks at wreckage of an Egyptian army MiG-21 aircraft after it crashed near the southern city of Luxor yesterday, leaving one person dead and three others injured on the ground after the crew ejected, officials said. The Russian-built MiG was conducting a routine training flight when it caught fire shortly after takeoff from a military airport in Luxor. — AFP

to speak to journalists.

Henry is the second foreigner to die in Egyptian custody since last month. Then, authorities said cell mates beat a French man to death after his arrest in Cairo’s upscale district of Zamalek for violating curfew. Authorities slapped a nighttime curfew on much of Egypt in August following a wave of violence stemming from a popularly backed military coup that overthrew the country’s president.

Meanwhile yesterday, a Sovietmade MiG-21 fighter jet belonging to the Egyptian air force crashed while on a training mission near the southern ancient city of Luxor, killing a villager on the ground and injuring three, officials said. The pilot bailed out and parachuted safely to the ground.

The plane crash set several houses on fire and damaging an elementary school. The fire was quickly put out, said security and medical officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Col. Ahmed Mohammed Ali, a military spokesman, said on his official Facebook page that the plane crashed as a result of a mechanical failure. He gave no other details.

The Russian-made MiG warplanes were once the backbone of Egypt’s air force. They began to be replaced in the 1980s and 1990s by US-made fighter jets, mainly the F16. — AP

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NY police arrests man in 1991 ‘Baby Hope’ killing Investigation lasted for more than two decades

BRASILIA: Catholics carry candles during the procession in honor of Our Lady of Aparecida, on her feast day in Brasilia, Brazil, Saturday. Revered across the width and breadth of Brazil, Aparecida’s appeal has transcended the church’s legions of faithful in the world’s biggest Catholic country. —AP

Brazil celebrates feast day of patron saint BRASILIA: Roman Catholic faithful gathered in Brasilia on Saturday to honor the country ’s patron saint, Our Lady of Aparecida. Her saint’s day, Oct. 12, is a national holiday in Brazil, and tens of thousands of pilgrims annually mark the day by trekking to her sanctuary in the city of Aparecida do Norte about halfway between the cities of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.

But she is honored in celebrations across the country. The image of the dark-skinned Virgin of Aparecida emblazons bumper stickers, presides over shops and dangles from gold chains around women’s necks all over Brazil.

She’s been syncretized with the goddess of love and maternity in a Brazilian religion with roots in west Africa, and her dark complexion has endeared her to blacks and those with a mix of black and white heritage, both of whom make up

about half of the country’s population.

According to church lore, the Virgin of Aparecida surfaced on Oct. 16, 1717, as the town of Guaratingueta prepared for a visit by Sao Paulo state’s governor. A fleet of fishermen plied the nearby Paraiba River to catch fish for a banquet in the official’s honor, but after 12 fruitless hours in the normally well-stocked river, all but three of the fishermen gave up.

As night fell, they cast their nets one last time, dredging up only the terracotta statue of a headless female figure, her hands pressed together in prayer.

Surprised, they cast the net once more, bringing up a head that fit perfectly on the body. They wrapped the pieces in their shirts and cast the nets once more, this time bringing up hundreds of fish.A series of miracles was later attributed to the Virgin, including the freeing of a runaway slave named Zacarias. —AP

NEW YORK: Police announced Saturday that, after an investigation lasting more than two decades, they had arrested the killer of a child who was nicknamed Baby Hope by detectives after her body was discovered inside a picnic cooler beside a Manhattan highway in 1991.

During an interrogation early Saturday, the 4-year-old girl’s cousin, Conrado Juarez, had admitted sexually assaulting and smothering her, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said.

The child’s name and the circumstances of her death had been a mystery for two decades. But earlier this week, police announced that a new tip and a DNA test had allowed them to finally identify the baby’s mother, a dramatic turnaround in one of the city’s more notorious cold cases.

Now they are also revealing the slain girl’s name: Anjelica Castillo. It wasn’t clear whether Juarez, 52, had a lawyer. Police said he lived in the Bronx, but that the family had been living in Queens at the time of the killing. They also said Juarez claimed that a relative helped him dispose of the child’s body.

Anjelica’s naked, malnourished corpse was discovered on July 23, 1991, beside the Henry Hudson Parkway. Detectives thought she might have been suffocated but had few other clues as to what happened.

The case became an obsession for some investigators. Hundreds of people attended a funeral for the unknown girl in 1993. Her body was exhumed for DNA testing in 2007, and then again in 2011.

In July, detectives tried another round of publicity on the 22nd anniversary of the discovery. They canvassed the neighborhood where her body was found, hung fliers, circulated sketches of the girl and a photograph of the cooler and announced a $12,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. Former detective Jerr y Giorgio, who had the case from 1991 until his retirement over the summer, said he remained confi-

Colombia probes alleged extrajudicial killings BOGOTA: The crimes were shocking, even for a country hardened by the atrocities of decades of internal conflict. Colombian troops had killed hundreds of innocent civilians for no apparent reason other than to boost rebel body counts, UN investigators found. Typically, the victims were down-on-their-luck men lured to their deaths with job promises, then dressed in military fatigues and registered as guerrillas slain in combat.

Five years after the scandal broke, only about one-sixth of the soldiers accused have gone to trial or pleaded guilty, and only a handful of those convicted held the rank of major or higher.

In all, authorities are investigating some 3,900 cases of alleged extrajudicial killings involving security force members.

Human rights activists say they are afraid a new law pushed through Congress by President Juan Manuel Santos in June will make it even harder to pursue those responsible, particularly senior officers. The law, which is under review by the Constitutional Court, would broaden the military justice system’s jurisdiction and narrow the definition of extrajudicial killings.

Santos says the reform is needed to assure armed forces members they have nothing to fear from making peace with the country’s main leftist rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. But activists fear the reforms could hinder prosecutions of past and future war crimes by security force members and thus hurt prospects for peace with the FARC, with whom the government

launched negotiations in Cuba last year.

The FARC has denounced the militar y justice reform as granting “a pirate’s banner to people who have committed terrible crimes against humanity.” Some rebels also face war crimes accusations, but the military justice reform applies only to uniformed personnel.

“Why does the Santos government, if it’s in a peace process, present legislation that strengthens impunity?” asked leftist congressman Ivan Cepeda.

“It’s incoherent and complicates matters.”

The US Congress is also concerned about impunity in what have become known as the “false positives” cases; military jargon identifies a “positive” as a slain enemy combatant. The bulk of the killings occurred from 2002 to 2008 during the presidency of Alvaro Uribe.

UN investigators deemed the crimes “widespread and systematic.”

Washington provided more than $2 billion in assistance to Colombia’s militar y in the years that most of the killings occurred, but US lawmakers are currently withholding at least $10 million in military aid over objections to the new law, said Tim Rieser, a senior aide to Sen. Patrick Leahy, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee.

How much US money went to units guilty of “false positives” is unclear. No breakdown is publicly available. A 1997 law named after Leahy prohibits US funding of foreign military units with members facing credible accusations of rights abuses. Colombian units have been denied aid under the Leahy law,

BOGOTA: In this April 7, 2011 file photo, students hold up a sign that reads in Spanish “Impunity Soacha equals false positives” during a protest where police stand guard in Bogota, Colombia. Military jargon identifies a “positive” as a slain enemy combatant. Authorities are investigating some 3,900 cases of alleged extrajudicial killings involving security force members. —AP

and the State Department, in response to an Associated Press query, characterized its unit vetting as “rigorous.”

Peace activist John Lindsay-Poland of the US-based Fellowship of Reconciliation disagrees. He is compiling a false positives database and calls US monitoring sloppy. The military reform will only increase impunity, said Jose Miguel Vivanco, Americas director for the watchdog group Human Rights Watch, calling it a loophole -filled “major setback for human rights.”

Under the law, military courts would tr y all violations of international humanitarian law committed by armed services members except seven types of crimes against humanity including sexual violence, forced disappearance and extrajudicial killings. But the law narrows the definition of extrajudicial killings, which rights activists say means an increased possibility that such crimes will be sent to military judges. It limits the definition of such killings to circumstances in which, among other requirements, the victim was “under the control of the state agent” and “did not try to escape.”

Because extrajudicial killings did not previously exist as a crime, activists also fear cases from before the law’s enactment could be transferred to the military system.

Santos promises that any war crimes committed by Colombia’s security forces will be punished, just as he insists FARC war criminals will not be allowed to evade justice. “I don’t understand why (human rights activists) believe that transitional justice has anything to do with the ‘false positives,’” Santos, who was defense minister from 2006 to 2009, said in a recent AP interview.

The president says the killings were not systematic, which is also the contention of active and retired military officers. “It is completely false to say it was a policy of state,” said retired Gen. Carlos Suarez. As armed forces inspector general, he led the 2008 investigation after the scandal broke that led to the dismissal of 27 officers, three of them generals.

International Criminal Court prosecutors are skeptical. In a November 2012 report, they said “existing (judicial) proceedings have largely failed to focus on the persons who might bear the greatest responsibility ” while Colombian prosecutors “perpetuated rather than diminished impunity” by largely failing to expose the circumstances of killings organized “at least at the level of certain brigades.” —AP

NEW YORK: Conrado Juarez, 52, approaches the bench before his arraignment at Manhattan Criminal Court for the alleged murder of 4-year-old Anjelica Castillo, nicknamed “Baby Hope”, Saturday, in New York. — AP dent the case could be solved.

Assistant Chief Joseph Reznick, who also worked the case, said they never gave up.

“I think reflecting back on what we named this little girl, Baby Hope, I think it’s the most accurate name we could have come up with,” Reznick said.

Giorgio left the NYPD and went to the Manhattan district attorney’s cold case squad, from which he retired this year. “I missed the tipster call by a couple of weeks, damn it,” he said.

The tipster led police to Anjelica’s sister, who told detectives her sister had been killed.

Police matched DNA from Anjelica to their mother. The mother, who

was not identified, didn’t have custody of Anjelica at the time of the girl’s death - she had been living with an aunt on the father’s side, Bavlina Juarez-Ramirez, police said.

Police closed in on Juarez and waited for him Friday outside a Manhattan restaurant where he worked as a dishwasher. He told them he killed the girl at the apartment of his sister - Juarez-Ramirez.

Then, the sister, who is now dead, helped dispose of the body. Kelly said they took a livery cab from Queens to Manhattan where they dumped the cooler.

The cooler, which contained the girl’s remains and unopened cans of Coke, was later discovered by construction workers.

Kelly called the arrest a superb case of detective work, and he was proud of his officers. Juarez was being held on murder charges and was awaiting arraignment. “For me, it makes you proud to be a member of this organization - they were unrelenting.”

The detectives assigned to the case were instrumental in organizing a burial in a Bronx cemetery for the girl in 1993. Hundreds attended the funeral; Reznick gave the eulogy. The girl was dressed in a white frock and buried in a white coffin.

The detectives paid for the girl’s headstone that reads: “Because we care.” On the tomb sit two little angels. — AP

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Rome vows to block funeral of convicted war criminal Priebke ROME: Civil and church authorities have moved to prevent a funeral in Rome for Erich Priebke, a Nazi war criminal convicted of one of Italy’s worst wartime massacres, who died last week at the age of 100.

Priebke, who never apologised for his role in the killing of 335 civilians in the Ardeatine Caves near Rome in 1944 and who denied the Nazi Holocaust ever took place, was serving a life sentence under house arrest in the Italian capital when he died.

His death, like his 100th birthday in July, has brought into the open some of the deep tensions that remain in

the aftermath of World War Two in Italy, which came close to civil war after the fascist dictatorship of Benito Mussolini collapsed in 1943.

Rome daily Il Messaggero showed a graffito painted outside Priebke’s Rome residence saying “Honour to Priebke” in Italian with a Nazi swastika alongside.

The former SS officer’s lawyer Paolo Giachini told Reuters on Sunday the family would ask to have Priebke buried in Rome as soon as the formal registration procedures were completed and the body was released, but there was immediate opposition. Ignazio Marino, the cen-

tre-left mayor of Rome, said it would be an insult for Priebke to be buried in the city. “I will do everything in my power to prevent the burial of Erich Priebke in Rome,” he said in a statement. Church authorities also said he would not receive a religious burial in Rome. “There are no plans for any church funeral in Rome for Erich Priebke,” church spokesman Walter Insero was quoted as saying by the Catholic daily Avvenire. In March 1944, Priebke was in charge of SS troops who executed the 335 people in retaliation for the killing of 33 German soldiers by a partisan group near Rome. After the war he escaped to Argentina

but was deported to Italy after he was interviewed on U.S. television and admitted his role in the massacre, which he said had been conducted against “terrorists”. The Argentinian government has also refused to allow his body to be returned to be buried next to his wife.

Giachini said no formal request for a funeral had been made as yet and the family could decide to bury Priebke elsewhere. “Burial in Rome would be the obvious thing.

They wanted to bring him to Rome and when someone dies somewhere it’s normal to bury them there but we could also bury him somewhere else.” — Reuters

Italy to step up patrols to save migrants from shipwreck Italy and Malta want more funds from EU

NAIROBI: In this photo taken Oct 11, 2013, 14-month old Azzurra sits with a lipstick kiss on her cheek from her mother Cynthia Carpino, both of whom were caught up in the Westgate Mall attack, at their apartment in Nairobi, Kenya. Parents whose children were caught up in the Westgate Mall attack on Sept. 21 are struggling with symptoms of distress themselves while at the same time grappling with how to help their traumatized kids - some of whom are drawing grenades or impersonating the terrorists by “playing Westgate” games. — AP

After Kenya mall attack, children’s trauma lingers NAIROBI: When the shooting began at the Nairobi mall, Cynthia Carpino and her husband hid in the parking lot. But their 1-year-old daughter wouldn’t stop crying. To muffle her cries, her father placed his hand over her mouth so hard she almost suffocated. Little Azzurra fainted in his arms, and three weeks later she’s still not right.

“Now when I try to put a sweater on her, and it goes over her mouth, she starts screaming and screaming,” says Carpino. “I know this is because of what happened at the mall. But I don’t know what to do about it.”

Nor do other parents whose children were caught in the Westgate Mall horror on Sept 21 and who are now grappling with how to help their traumatized children at the same time that they themselves are struggling with signs of distress.

The attackers struck on a Saturday afternoon, a time when families flock to the mall.

Couples pushed strollers through marbled floors that would soon turn red with blood.

Mothers with toddlers in tow loaded groceries into shopping carts at the supermarket, the same carts which would be used hours later as gurneys to evacuate the more than 60 dead.

When the assault started, parents threw themselves over their children to shield them, but they couldn’t block out the sights and sounds. Now the psychological toll is becoming apparent. Girls draw pictures of grenades and machine guns. Kids who once played hide-and-seek are “playing Westgate,” impersonating the terrorists. Yet some children who were directly in the line of fire are showing few, if any, symptoms, creating a confusing array of responses, sometimes within the same household.

Cynthia Carpino, a Kenyan, and her Italian husband, Livio, had just parked their car and were pushing their two-seater pram up the ramp leading to the mall’s rooftop terrace.

When the shooting erupted, Cynthia grabbed her 12-day-old baby while her husband held Azzurra. They ran in separate directions.

Cynthia slipped under a parked car, the baby cradled in her arm.

Frightened shoppers tried to squeeze in after her. The terrorists spotted them and sprayed the car, until the young mother was surrounded by a buffer of corpses. The car began leaking water, drenching her. Her baby began to wail.

“Whenever they heard a baby cry, they would throw a grenade. Then you didn’t hear the cries anymore,” said Carpino. “I saw the feet of one go by. He said, ‘We are al-Shabab. Your president has invaded our country. Our women are being raped. Our kids are being killed. So why should we spare your kids?’ And then he opened fire.”

Later Al-Shabab, Al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Somalia, would claim responsibility, saying the attack was in retaliation for Kenya’s deployment of troops into Somalia, its neighbor.

Terrified that she might be spotted, Carpino opened her shirt and tried to get her baby to nurse under the chassis of the car. Each time the infant whimpered, she shoved its face into her chest, smothering the sound.

Meanwhile, her husband had ducked behind an enclosure and was struggling to calm their older daughter. When he put his hand across her mouth, she struggled. Then

then went limp.

The family survived, though they now find themselves in different worlds. Livio Carpino has gone back to his job as pilot for Kenya Airways, while his wife is afraid to leave the house. Even though both her children were smothered, her baby appears unaffected, while Azzurra struggles with tasks as simple as getting dressed.

Clinical psychologist Katie McLaughlin, whose research at the University of Washington in Seattle focuses on post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, says trauma alters the chemistry of the brain. So Azzurra would associate something touching her face with her panic during the attack. “It’s typical conditioning,” McLaughlin says, and for most people it fades over time.

It’s when this process fails to happen that PTSD can set in, she said in a telephone interview. PTSD is more than ordinary stress. It’s associated with severe or unusual trauma.

Those experiencing it may suffer from violent, intrusive thoughts. They have trouble sleeping.

Once innocuous things, like a particular smell or sensation, can bring back terrible memories.

In the community of Newton, Conn., for instance, signs ask people to close doors softly because loud bangs still bring on flashbacks, nearly a year after a gunman opened fire inside the Sandy Hook Elementary School. A number of factors determine why even siblings can have diametrically opposed reactions to the same experience. Keya and Kashvi Sarkar, 9-year-old twin sisters, came away with very different reactions to the attack, and what they saw may explain why. The sisters, amateur cooks, couldn’t wait to get to the mall and compete in the second round of the SunGold SunRice Super Chef Junior Competition.

They had put on their white chef hats and blue aprons, and had taken their seats, waiting for their turn at the cutting board. When their mother tried to linger, she was told parents had to stay outside. So she left, and when the first explosion went off, the girls found themselves alone.

In desperation they ran to the far end of the parking lot, huddling against the wall. Keya got there first and managed to squeeze between two large women, her body shielded by theirs. Kashvi got there too late, and was left on the edge of the cowering crowd, directly exposed to the gunmen. She lay on the pavement and closed her eyes.

By contrast, Keya kept looking: “I saw three men. Three terrorists. They were wearing black turbans ... They were just shooting at anyone that moved,” she said. “There was a lady with a baby next to me. When the baby started crying, they threw a grenade at us. It bounced over a car and landed next to my sister. The only grenade I’d seen before was on Tom & Jerry.” The grenade rolled to a stop. It began giving off a black, acrid smoke. Just feet away, Kashvi stayed face down, never looking up.

Keya covered her head with her arms and waited for the blast, which never came.

When it didn’t go off she stole a peek. The peek turned into a stare. By the time they were evacuated she’d been looking at the grenade for so long that when the therapist asked her to draw it, she could replicate its exact shape, down to its ovoid shell and L-shaped lever, her parents said. —AP

ROME: Italy is to step up naval and air patrols in the southern Mediterranean to try to prevent repeats of the shipwrecks which have drowned hundreds of African migrants this month.

Prime Minister Enrico Letta said late on Saturday an “air and naval package” would be put in place south of Sicily, where tens of thousands of migrants in flimsy, overcrowded boats have made the crossing from Africa so far this year.

Italian officials have been increasingly worried by the uncontrolled arrivals from a region destabilised by the civil war in Syria, chaos in Libya and unrest in Egypt and elsewhere.

“We intend to triple our presence, in terms of both men and means in the southern Mediterranean, for a military-humanitarian mission that has been made necessary in part by the fact that Libya is currently a ‘non-state’,” Defence Minister Mario Mauro told the daily Avvenire newspaper.

He said operational and financial details of the deployment were being worked out and could involve more patrol vessels or more powerful ships with greater surveillance capacity.

“We need strong action to stop these shipwrecks out to sea,” Mauro told the newspaper. Italian media reported that unmanned drone aircraft based in Sicily could also be used to identify boats in trouble.

In addition to coastguard and frontier police vessels, the Italian navy currently has three vessels supported by four helicopters patrolling the area, and two surveillance aircraft with night vision capabilities in support. Italy and Malta, which have borne the brunt of the crisis, have asked for more funds from the European Union and called for the migrant emergency to be put on the agenda of the next European Council meeting on Oct. 24-25.

“The fact is that as things stand, we are just building a cemetery within our Mediterranean Sea,” Malta’s Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said in an interview with the BBC. Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan backed calls for more action from Europe following a meeting with Muscat in Tripoli on Sunday, but the Maltese prime minister said no real progress would be made until order was restored along the African coast. “To have a permanent solution or at least a better way of dealing with the issue of illegal emigration, there needs to be stability in Libya,” he said.

VALLETTA: In this Saturday, Oct. 12, 2013 file photo, a man, covered in a blanket, is helped to disembark as he arrives at the Valletta harbor, Malta after a Maltese brought 143 survivors from a capsized smugglers’ boat, most of the migrants in the latest tragedy were fleeing civil war in Syria. — AP At least 34 people died on Friday and 206 were bat clandestine immigration which make it an rescued when a boat capsized and sank south of offence to offer assistance to illegal migrant boats.

Letta said on Saturday that he favoured changing Sicily. The incident came just over a week after more than 350 Eritrean and Somali migrants drowned just the law but he faces stiff opposition from centreright partners in his left-right coalition government off the southern island of Lampedusa.

On Sunday, Italian vessels rescued about 400 peo- who insist the law should stay.

The instability in North Africa and the Middle East ple from a struggling boat around 60 miles (100 km) south of Lampedusa while another boat carrying has removed many of the controls which previously around 100 people was picked up by Maltese res- prevented migrant boats departing, and Europe has long struggled to come up with a comprehensive cuers, an Italian coastguard official said.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon response. European Home Affairs Commissioner said the international community had to address the Cecilia Malstrom has called this week for Europe’s frontier agency Frontex to be strengthened to be root causes of the crisis.

The hundreds of deaths have set off a fierce politi- able to deploy search and rescue operations in a cal debate in Italy over tough rules intended to com- zone stretching from Cyprus to Spain. — Reuters

German ‘luxury bishop’ in Rome for decision on job BERLIN: A German Catholic bishop under fire for huge cost overruns on a luxury residence and alleged lying under oath has flown to Rome to meet Vatican officials and possibly Pope Francis to decide if he can stay in office.

A spokesman confirmed yesterday that Limburg Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst had departed but would not say when or how long he would be away. He declined to comment on media reports the prelate flew on a budget airline.

Tebartz-van Elst has caused a crisis in the German church for building a luxury residence and office complex at a time when the new pope is stressing humility and service to the poor.

“The bishop has made it clear that any decision about his service as a bishop lies in the hands of the Holy Father (Pope Francis),” said a statement issued by the diocese on Saturday.

“The bishop is saddened by the escalation of the current discussion. He sees and regrets that many believers are suffering under the current situation,” it said. An initial audit of his spending, ordered after a Vatican monitor visited Limburg last month, revealed the project cost at least 31 million euros, six times more than planned.

Tebartz-van Elst, whose baroque style was more in line with the conservative model of Roman Catholicism projected by retired Pope Benedict, has also been accused of lying under oath about a firstclass flight to visit poverty programmes in India.

The head of the German Church, Archbishop Robert Zollitsch, has said the scandal about the cost overruns and allegations of lying were hurting the whole church here and he would discuss it with Pope Francis during a visit to Rome this week.

The pope’s response will be closely watched as a barometer of how far he will go to promote frugality and simplicity in a church plagued for decades by scandals of clerical sexual abuse and opaque financial transactions at the Vatican bank.

The Limburg case presents special problems because Tebartz-van Elst, at 53, is too young to simply be retired off as some bishops in abuse scandals have been. In the Catholic Church, a bishop retains his status even if he loses his office.

FRANKFURT: The Aug 29, 2013 file photo shows the Bishop of Limburg Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst blessing a new Kindergarden in Frankfurt, Germany. The bishop already facing questions over his new multi-million euro residence now has legal problems on allegations he lied to a Hamburg court. Hamburg prosecutors said they asked a court to fine Tebartz-van Elst for providing false testimony. — AP State prosecutors in Hamburg said last week they wanted the bishop to be fined for making false affidavits about the first-class flight to India while denying a report about it by the magazine Der Spiegel. Tebartz-van Elst said he flew business class but the Hamburg-based weekly has made public a mobile phone video recording of a conversation which triggered action by prosecutors.

The Welt am Sonntag newspaper said yesterday the final price tag for the residence and office complex next to Limburg’s hilltop Romanesque cathedral could run to as much as 40 million euros because of costs which were not in the earlier estimate. The German bishops’ conference, which set up a special commission to investigate Limburg’s books, is due to issue a final report before the end

of the year. The “luxury bishop” story has become front-page news in Germany, deeply embarrassing a church enjoying an upswing thanks to Pope Francis’s popularity after years of criticism for hiding sexual abuse cases among clergy.

Tebartz-van Elst, once considered a possible future cardinal, has angered many Catholic priests and lay people in Germany and become the butt of jokes in the media. One satirical article in the daily Die Welt wrote that leading European luxury goods makers had stepped in as sponsors to help defray the cost of his stately residence. The bishop, who has been openly accused of authoritarian and secretive management by his closest advisers, apologised after the Vatican monitor’s visit last month for “any carelessness or misjudgment”. — Reuters

Conflicts, energy to top agenda as Hollande visits South Africa PARIS: French leader Francois Hollande arrives in South Africa today for a two-day state visit in which he is set to push for greater cooperation on African crises with the continental powerhouse.

Economic ties will also dominate talks between Hollande and his South African counterpart Jacob Zuma on Monday, with the two nations due to sign accords including one on developing South Africa’s nuclear power.

France will also grant energy-strapped South Africa’s power giant Eskom a loan of 100 million euros ($130 million) for the construction of a solar power station and a wind farm.

The visit will be the first by a French leader since Nicolas Sarkozy travelled to Africa’s largest economy in 2008 as part of a drive to seek new partnerships beyond France’s former colonies.

France is still heavily involved in security and peacekeeping in its former colonies where it has often stepped in militarily.

However Hollande has tried hard to shrug off the negative image of “France-Afrique”, a term used to describe the secretive use of political and economic influence between elites in France and former colonies. France, a “big player” in Africa, is trying to “get South Africa to be playing a

stronger role in continental security efforts,” said David Hornsby, a lecturer at the University of the Witwatersrand. France “wants to play an active role in the geopolitical future of Africa, and to do it, it needs partners that are strong enough, well established,” said political analyst Koffi Kouakou.

“And the only one really who is established ...is South Africa. There is no way France can have a strategy (for Africa) ignoring South Africa,” he said. The two countries have often disagreed over how to tackle conflicts such as those in Libya and Ivory Coast.

However French officials say Hollande has

maintained close contact with Zuma over the situation in Mali, where French forces intervened against Islamist groups this year. Another issue of concern is the deeply troubled Central African Republic, stricken by what the United Nations has termed a “total breakdown of law and order” since a bloody coup in March.

South Africa pulled its troops out of the CAR in March after 15 soldiers were killed as the Seleka rebel coalition seized power, and French forces helped with their evacuation. However tensions arose over French troops’ refusal to get involved in the fighting, evidenced by an open letter writ-

ten by French Ambassador to South Africa Elisabeth Barbier to explain “their political position of non-interference.”

French officials are hoping Zuma will use his influence within the African Union to help smooth preparations for a peacekeeping force to be deployed in the troubled state. In general, France and South Africa have enjoyed warm relations, partly born of the prominent role France played in attempts to isolate the white-minority apartheid regime and close links between their ruling parties-the Socialists and the African National Congress. —AFP

MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2013

I N T E R N AT I O N A L

S Korea should lower reliance on nuclear SEOUL: South Korea should reduce its reliance on nuclear power in view of public discontent with corruption in the industry and Japan’s difficulty tackling the aftermath of the Fukushima disaster, a group weighing up the problem said yesterday. The Energy Ministry published the findings of a study group of 60 representatives from industry, academic institutions and civic bodies that recommended reducing to between 22 percent and 29 percent the portion of electricity that can be generated by nuclear power. That compares to 41 percent proposed in a

government plan for 2030.

Asia’s fourth-largest economy currently generates one third of its electricity from nuclear power as part of longterm efforts to replace imported oil and gas. Agreement on a range of 22-29 percent was reached “based upon consensus to minimise social conflict over the proportion of nuclear power generation,” the study group said in a statement released by the energy ministry.

The government will hold public hearings over the report’s conclusions and plans to draw up final revisions to energy policy in December, it said. The

group also recommended keeping the proportion of renewable energy at 11 percent as planned. It suggested imposing taxes on coal-fired power stations and lowering taxes on liquefied natural gas and kerosene.

Public discontent over nuclear power has been fanned by a scandal over the use of fake certificates which, since 2012, has prompted a series of reactor shutdowns in South Korea. The nuclear industry has been criticised for breeding a culture of secrecy that led to corrupt practices among officials involved in safety certification. Six of 23 reactors

remain off line, including three halted in May to replace cables supplied using bogus certificates. Authorities on Thursday said 100 people, including a top former state utility official, had been indicted on corruption charges.

The head of the group, Kim Changseob, said the figures provided were intended strictly as guidelines to take account of trends and growing discontent over the nuclear sector. “Our suggestion is to set the direction in the policy for social consent, as there are huge social conflicts,” Kim said. Anxiety has also risen over repeated setbacks by the

Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) in its efforts to halt radiation leaks and make safe the Fukushima plant north of Tokyo, which was crippled by an earthquake and tsunami in 2011. Tepco last Thursday said radiation levels in seawater just outside the plant had climbed to their highest level in two years. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been criticised since he declared the problems at Fukushima “under control”. Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Agency earlier this month ordered Tepco to draft in additional workers and report on its measures to tackle the clean-up. —Reuters

Thousands bid farewell to Vietnamese war hero Death ‘great loss’ for Vietnam

BULACAN: Ed Mangaluz, 78, gestures as he tells his story on how his jeep got washed away by strong currents during the height of floods caused by Typhoon Nari at San Miguel town, Bulacan province, northern Philippines yesterday. The typhoon flooded villages and farms in the Philippines’ major rice-growing region and has killed at least a dozen people, officials said.—AP

‘De-Americanised’ world needed after US shutdown: China media BEIJING: While US politicians grapple with how to reopen their shuttered government and avoid a potentially disastrous default on their debt, the world should consider ‘de-Americanising’, a commentary on China’s official news agency said yesterday. “As US politicians of both political parties (fail to find a) viable deal to bring normality to the body politic they brag about, it is perhaps a good time for the befuddled world to start considering building a deAmericanised world,” the commentary on state news agency Xinhua said.

In a lengthy polemic against American hegemony since World War two, it added: “Such alarming days when the destinies of others are in the hands of a hypocritical nation have to be terminated. “A new world order should be put in place, according to which all nations, big or small, poor or rich, can have their key interests respected and protected on an equal footing.” Negotiations over how to end the budgetary impasse have shifted to the US Senate after House Representatives failed to strike a deal with President Obama on extending borrowing authority ahead of a October 17 deadline.

Beijing has in recent days issued warnings as well as appeals for a deal, all the while emphasising the inseparable economic ties that bind the world’s two biggest economies. “The cyclical stagna-

tion in Washington for a viable bipartisan solution over a federal budget and an approval for raising debt ceiling has again left many nations’ tremendous dollar assets in jeopardy and the international community highly agonised,” said the commentary. China is the biggest foreign holder of US Treasury bonds, worth a total of $1.28 trillion according to US government data.

“Instead of honouring its duties as a responsible leading power, a self-serving Washington has abused its superpower status and introduced even more chaos into the world by shifting financial risks overseas,” but equally stoked “regional tensions amid territorial disputes, and fighting unwarranted wars under the cover of outright lies” the commentary said, referring to Iraq. It added that emerging economies should have a greater say in major international financial institutions the World Bank and International Monetary Fund and proposed a “new international reserve currency that is to be created to replace the dominant US dollar”. China has only slightly more weight than Italy at the IMF, which has been headed by a European since its creation in 1944. A governance reform has been in the works for three years but its implementation has been blocked by the effective veto of the United States. —AFP

Vietnam fireworks factory blast toll reaches 24 HANOI: Vietnamese police yesterday raised the death toll from a blast at a fireworks factory to 24 blaming other explosives also stored at the site for the accident which also left many injured. “At least 24 people were killed-we have identified 16 bodies,” Phu Tho policeman Pham Quang Minh told AFP, raising the number of dead from 21 in Saturday’s incident. Minh said more than 20 people had been injured, lower than the near100 initially reported to have been hurt in the explosion at a military complex in northern Vietnam.

“According to a preliminary investigation, some explosives self-ignited in storage, which caused a fire and further explosions at the site,” he said, adding both fireworks and other explosives were stored at the Z121 military facility.

Plumes of black smoke billowed from the complex, around 120 kilometres (75 miles) north of Hanoi, as fireworks exploded uncontrollably for several hours on Saturday before the blaze was

contained. The explosion prompted the evacuation of some 2,000 people living near the area, most of whom had returned by yesterday. Minister of Defence Phung Quang Thanh visited the area late Saturday, calling for urgent assistance for the victims’ families. In the hours after the explosion local hospitals were swamped with victims, some with horrific burns. The most critical cases were moved to a specialist burns centre on the outskirts of Hanoi. In 2010, fireworks being prepared at Hanoi’s My Dinh stadium for use in the city’s 1,000th anniversary celebrations exploded, killing three foreigners and one Vietnamese national. Handmade firecrackers were traditionally used as a symbol of good luck to celebrate the Lunar New Year-known locally as Tet-and at weddings. But, in 1994, the government banned the production and use of all firecrackers nationwide for safety reasons, changing instead to fireworks-which are produced only in state-approved facilities. — AFP

QUANG BINH: Hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese lined the streets yesterday for the funeral of independence hero General Vo Nguyen Giap, who orchestrated the country’s stunning wartime victories over France and the United States. Giap’s coffin, draped in Vietnam’s flag, was lowered into a grave in a remote coastal area of his native Quang Binh province, after a day which saw vast crowds-at times 10 or 20 deep-swarm to pay their respects as his body was brought from Hanoi.

Mourners in the capital had earlier fallen to their knees in prayer or shouted “Long live General Giap!”, as the funeral cortege drove to the city’s airport to make the 500-kilometre (310 miles) journey south for burial. Giap, who died aged 102 on October 4, was the architect of Vietnam’s battlefield victories over France and the US. The one-party communist state has tried to harness the popular general’s legacy to bolster its own legitimacy. “(Giap) is the general of the People and his name will be forever engraved in the history of the nation,” Communist Party leader Nguyen Phu Trong said in a televised speech on yesterday.

His death was “a great loss” for Vietnam, Trong added, speaking before the procession at the Hanoi Funeral House, where the general’s body lay in state overnight. Hordes more people, many bearing bunches of yellow flowers, greeted the coffin’s arrival in Quang Binh and lined the main highway from the airport to the private burial site in Vung Chua.

Nguyen Van Hien, 45, said he had walked many miles from a neighbouring province to say goodbye to Giap, who was lauded as a military genius for the guerrilla tactics that inspired resistance movements around the world. “His death is a great loss for the country,” he told AFP, adding he would not leave until he could pray at the

HANOI: Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang (front left), Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung (far right) along with leaders and soldiers carry the coffin of the late General Vo Nguyen Giap during his funeral ceremony at the National Funeral House yesterday. — AFP grave. Giap, who became a prominent government critic late in life, is second only to founding president Ho Chi Minh in the communist nation’s affections. He has been honoured with two days of national mourning-when all flags fly at half mast-and the largest state funeral in decades. “The General gave his whole life to the country and the people,” his son, Vo Dien Bien, said in a short, emotionally-charged speech in Hanoi yesterday.

“Now he is gone, his spirit will join with those of the Vietnamese people, giving (them) strength to build a strong and prosperous country.” The former history teacher turned military commander led his troops to victory over France in 1954 at Dien Bien Phu-the battle that ended French involvement in Indochina-and played a key role in Vietnam’s defeat of the United States in 1975. The enormous crowds are highly unusual in

authoritarian Vietnam, which heavily stage -manages anniversary events and routinely breaks up political protests with force.

Despite being politically marginalised after the country’s reunification in 1975, Giap remained a national icon-even among those born after the war.

“So many people cried-it is completely different from previous (state) funerals,” war veteran Vu Phi Hung, 62, told AFP. “This shows that the people had a deep, strong emotional connection with Giap,” he added. Until well into his 90s, Giap, physically frail but outspoken, wrote open letters and used anniversary events to rail against sensitive issues such as corruption and mining.

In doing so, the general provided implicit cover for party critics and the country ’s dissidents, experts said-despite always remaining a loyal party member. Speaking

in Hanoi yesterday, Party leader Trong also acknowledged Giap’s “important opinions on the country’s major issues”. Historians have hailed Giap’s grasp of logistics and his ability to mobilise a population against a more technologically advanced enemy, but they also question the morality of the huge sacrifices he asked of the Vietnamese in order to secure independence.

Some Vietnamese commentators view the massive outpouring of grief over Giap’s death as a symbol of rising discontent with the quality of today ’s leaders.

“People want more Vo Nguyen Giaps-the problems we face today are no less difficult than the war,” historian Duong Trung Quoc told state radio yesterday, referring to the countr y ’s economic woes.

General Giap is survived by Dang Bich Ha, his wife since 1949, and four children. —AFP

In China, old woman sues children for care FUSHENG: As the daughter-in-law rolls open the rusted doors to her garage, light spills onto a small figure on a straw mattress. A curious face peers out. It’s the face of Kuang Shiying’s 94-year-old mother-in-law better known as the little old lady who sued her own children for not taking care of her. The drama playing out inside this house reflects a wider and increasingly urgent dilemma. The world’s population is aging fast, due to longer life spans and lower birth rates, and there will soon be more old people than young for the first time in history. This has left families and governments struggling to decide: Who is responsible for the care of the elderly?

A few countries, such as India, Singapore, France and Ukraine, now require adult children to financially support their parents. Twenty-nine US states have similar laws, though they are rarely enforced because the government provides aid. In China, where family loyalty is a cornerstone of society, more than 1,000 parents have sued their children for financial support over the last 15 years. But in

December, the government went further, amending its elder care law to require that children also support their parents emotionally. Children who don’t visit their parents can be sued - by mom and dad.

The law pits the expectations of society against the complexities of family, and begs the question: How do you legislate love? Zhang Zefang, with her thin frame and soft smile, hardly looks like the vindictive matriarch many assume she must be. She is one of about 3,800 people in the village of Fusheng in southwest China, where the pace is slow and the atmosphere placid. But inside Kuang and Zhang’s home, there is war.

Resentment hangs in the air, acrid and sharp like the stench from the urine-filled bucket next to Zhang’s bed. This is the epicenter of a family feud that erupted amid accusations of lying, of ungratefulness, of abuse and neglect and broken promises. “I never thought about whether my kids would take care of me when I was old,” Zhang says. “I just focused on taking care of them.” Inside her room, there is no heat, no window to

CHONGQING CITY: Zhang Zefang, 94, who sued her own children for not taking care of her, cries as she describes the miseries she has endured throughout her life, at Fusheng Village. —AP

the outside world. From the shadows, she begins to speak.

It used to be in China that the idea of filial piety, or honoring your parents, was instilled from birth. A Chinese proverb calls filial piety “the first among 100 virtues,” and the ancient philosopher Confucius credited it as the bedrock of social harmony. As a 2008 bulletin from the US aging advocacy group AARP said: “For thousands of years, filial piety was China’s Medicare, Social Security and long-term care, all woven into a single family virtue.” This is the world Zhang was born into, on Aug 15, 1919.

She married at 14, but her husband died of dysentery. Her second husband was too poor to support her, so they moved in with his parents. That’s when her nightmare truly began. “She’s not making sense!”

Kuang snaps. Zhang barely acknowledges her daughter-in-law’s insult. In fact, she barely acknowledges her at all. Kuang hovers over her mother-inlaw, interjecting constant critiques: Zhang is messing up the story, Zhang cannot remember a detail, even if she is in the midst of delivering it. Zhang tries to remember her age when her first husband died....24? Or 21? “Don’t make up nonsense!” Kuang says, voice rising. “It was 22! IT WAS 22!”

Zhang is crying. Her father-in-law, she says, was a gambling addict with a violent temper. Yet Zhang never considered leaving - that would have made her a social outcast. Three decades later, her husband died, leaving her at the mercy of her offspring.

But the world had changed. Zhang murmurs that she wants to say something, but is afraid to talk in front of her daughter-in-law. Kuang steps outside and Zhang pleads: “Don’t let her know that I told you this...”

Her family locks her in this room all day. She dares not scream for help for fear she will be beaten. She pinches her cheek hard, slaps a visitor’s arm. That’s what they do to me, she

says. Her bones ache. Her feet ache.

The stench from the toilet bucket sickens her. All she wants is to go to a nursing home, she says. But the few nursing homes in China supply only 22 beds for every 1,000 seniors, and most families can’t afford them.

Zhang has no money. She says her children took it all. She presses a filthy rag to her wet eyes. “I’m too old to go through this.”

This village lies within the district of Changshou, which means “long life.” But living long has transformed from a dream achieved by few into a nightmare endured by many.

China is projected to have 636 million people over age 50 - nearly 49 percent of the population - by 2050, up from 25 percent of the population in 2010, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. So who will care for them?

Across the world, rapidly increasing life spans have left many adults scrambling to look after their parents, their children and themselves. In China, one-child urban policies over three decades have led to even fewer working youngsters. And a lack of jobs means rural youth must leave their parents to find work in distant cities. The result is an emotional and generational tug-of-war. Frustration is etched into every line of Kuang’s face. Zhang’s accusations, she says, are lies.

Kuang has become the true family matriarch. Ask to speak to her husband, and she’ll insist she knows best, so just ask her. It’s not an offer it’s an order. But it is also Kuang who looks after her mother-in-law, because in China, women shoulder most of the responsibility of elder care. Her mother-in-law is no victim, Kuang says. If anyone is suffering, she says, it is everyone in the family who has thanklessly cared for Zhang, even as their own desperation grows.

When Zhang claims the lawsuit was her sons’ idea, her daughter-inlaw explodes. “She doesn’t know the whole story!” Kuang barks. —AP

NEWS

MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2013

NEW YORK: The Statue of Liberty looms over visitors as they mill about Liberty Island in New York Harbor yesterday in New York. — AP

Statue of Liberty reopens amid federal shutdown NEW YORK: Lady Liberty was once again welcoming visitors to her shores yesterday after the state agreed to shoulder the costs of running the famed statue during the federal government shutdown. Eager sightseers stood in line in Manhattan’s Battery Park, waiting for the ferry trips to the Statue of Liberty, which had been shut since Oct 1.

Esther Athanase, a 26-year-old au pair from Le Havre, France, was using a ticket she’d booked months ago with a friend.

“We have to do this,” she said. “It’s an American symbol. And it was a gift from France.” Ahmed Albin-Hamad, 24, a Saudi Arabian student at Drexel University in Pennsylvania, said he came to Battery Park to get a view of the statue.

“I assumed it was closed, but at least I could see it,” he said. He was surprised and excited when he found out the statue had reopened. Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Friday that the state would pay about $61,600 a day to reopen Liberty Island National Park through Oct 17. If the shutdown is not resolved by then, officials said, they will renegotiate to keep it open.

Yesterday, Cuomo said it was in the state’s economic interest to make sure the statue was accessible. “When you close down the Statue of Liberty, you close down a good portion of the tourism that comes to New York City, and that is untold millions of dollars of damage,” he said. New York has 33 sites under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service, and they have been shut

since Oct. 1 during the partial federal government shutdown. The sites include the statue and nearby Ellis Island, which remains closed for repairs since Superstorm Sandy last year.

Nearly 4 million people visited Lady Liberty in 2011, generating $174 million in economic activity, the park service said.

Governors in several other states have asked for authority to reopen parks within their borders, citing economic losses from closures. Arizona reopened the Grand Canyon on Saturday. Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota and Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado also reopened along with several parks in Utah, according to the parks service website. — AP

Kuwait group slams Amnesty Continued from Page 1 “The international organization that claims defending the oppressed ought to have avoided making controversial statements that encourage an action which violates the correct human instincts and the moral principles preached by all of God’s Prophets and Holy Books”, the group said. They further indicated that any relationships that are not classified as heterosexual to be “inhuman”, “immoral”, and “has no relation to humanity in any shape or form”. “These deviant behaviors are destructive to humanity and straight principles that guarantee humanity’s existence and continuity”, the statement reads. The group also warned of “infiltration of aberrant individuals” into international organizations who then try to “refurbish the actions of those who are sick, deviant and astray”. “Under these circumstances, protection is provided to unwanted behaviors in the name of humanity”, the group argued.

Middle East and North Africa Director at Amnesty International Philip Luther said in a statement released

on Friday that Kuwait’s proposal to introduce compulsory “medical tests” to bar entrance of any migrant workers deemed to be homosexual or transgender is “outrageous” and “should be rejected”. He further called on Kuwaiti authorities to “ensure that people are not harassed and abused because of who they are” and to repeal laws that “criminalize sexual acts between consenting adults”.

However, the Thawabet Al-Umma group believes that instead of defending homosexuals’ rights, Amnesty International is supposed to “correct their behavior”.

“Encouraging such reprehensible behavior can have a catastrophic effect on humanity itself and transform the organization’s role into that which defends suspicious behavior”, the statement reads.

“As an organization that raises the slogan of humanity, Amnesty International should guide people to the right path instead of encouraging destructive behavior that is deadly to society by spreading physical, psychological and behavioral diseases which are difficult to cure”, the group said.

Hundreds of Syrians flee besieged suburb Continued from Page 1 In a bid to squeeze rebels there, Syrian forces blocked food and supplies from entering the suburb on the western edge of Damascus.

Its residents have been hit hard. Syrian activists of the Moadamiyeh Media Center reported six people died of starvation in September: two women and four children.

One woman described how her 18-month-old daughter lost half her weight as she struggled to nourish her on boiled lentil water.

It’s not clear how many people still live in the area. An Moadamiyeh Media Center activist estimated some 12,000 people likely remain. The activist only identified himself as Mahmoud out of security concerns. Also yes-

terday, Islamic extremists blew up a shrine of a mystic Muslim saint, Issa Abdul-Qader Al-Rafai, in the northern town of Busaira, the Observatory said. A shrine belonging to the mystic’s brother was destroyed in September.

Islamic extremists form some of the most powerful rebel groups battling the government of President Bashar Assad. They also have burnt churches, smashed statues, and desecrated shrines belonging to Islam’s minority Muslim sects, and those belonging to mystic Sufi branches of Islam. Late Saturday, tank shells slammed into a building in the southern city of Daraa, killing at least 11 people huddling there for safety, the Observatory said. It said at least three children, including a baby found still wearing a diaper, and four women were among those killed. — AP

Iran refuses to ship out nuke material Continued from Page 1 “It is easy to imagine a compromise whereby Iran would ship out only some of its uranium, allowing the negotiating team to claim a victory. There are many potential compromises that will be explored,” Joshi told Reuters.

Cliff Kupchan, a director and Middle East analyst at risk consultancy Eurasia Group, took a similar line, saying Iran was seeking to gain leverage ahead of negotiations.

“Still, it is sobering that a lead Iranian negotiator is setting red lines so early. These are going to be tough talks.”

Since the Islamic Republic started making 20-percent uranium gas in 2010 it has produced more than the 240-250 kg (530-550 pounds) needed for one atomic bomb, which Israel has suggested may provoke it to take military action against Iran. Iran has kept its stockpile below this figure by converting some of it into oxide powder for reactor fuel, potentially buying more time for diplomacy, UN watchdog reports show.

But it has also amassed stocks of low-enriched uranium gas that experts say would be enough for several bombs if processed much further to weapons-grade material. It has also sharply expanded its enrichment capacity in recent years.

Israel, which has threatened preemptive military action if it deems diplomacy a dead end, demands the total removal of Tehran’s enriched uranium stockpiles along with a dismantling of its enrichment facilities.

Iran says it will never give up its “right” to refine uranium and Western experts acknowledge it may no longer be realistic to expect Iran to suspend all such work, as demanded by a series of UN Security Council resolutions since 2006. Instead, they say, Iran’s enrichment capacity should be scaled back in order to make it more difficult for the country to launch any weapons bid without being detected in time.

R Scott Kemp, an assistant professor of nuclear science and engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said that merely capping Iran’s nuclear program was unlikely to provide enough confidence in the West. “Some rollback of the program ... is really the only path to confidence and stability,” Kemp wrote in a blog last week. David Albright, of the Institute for Science and International Security think-tank, told a US Senate committee in early October, referring to machines used to refine uranium: “Any future nuclear agreement must include a limit on the number and type of centrifuges Iran can install.” — Reuters

Pilgrims throng Mina as annual Hajj...

Continued from Page 1 Authorities said more than 20,000 buses are ferrying the pilgrims to Mina, using 58 tunnels under Mecca’s mountains. But some pilgrims, like Egyptian Mustafa Abu el-Wafa, decided to walk the 10-kilometre distance despite the heat and humidity.

“I am so excited that I finally managed to perform the Hajj and come to the areas that the Prophet (Mohammed) had once been to,” Wafa said as he walked towards Mina. From Mina, pilgrims will head to nearby Mount Arafat, where they spend today in prayer until sunset. The kingdom has also mobilized huge medical and civil defense resources to ensure the smooth movement of the pilgrims. The fact that the kingdom

accounts for the overwhelming majority of MERS cases reported around the world has raised concerns pilgrims could be infected and return to their homelands carrying the virus. But authorities have voiced confidence the Hajj will pass without incident.

This year’s minor pilgrimage season, called the “Umrah”, during the fasting month of Ramadan in JulyAugust, passed off without any MERS outbreak even though millions of Muslims took part. The Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam that every capable Muslim must perform at least once. Despite being marred by deadly incidents in the past, including floods, stampedes and fires, the Hajj has in recent years been almost incidentfree, thanks to multi-billion-dollar projects by Saudi authorities. — AFP

RATNAGARH, India: Bodies are pictured on a bridge following a stampede outside the Ratangarh Temple in Datia district, India’s Madhya Pradesh state, yesterday. — AFP

91 killed in India temple stampede Continued from Page 1 Large crowds began converging on the site from early morning, according to witnesses, as Hindus celebrate the end of the Navaratri festival. The festival is dedicated to the worship of the Hindu goddess Durga, which draws millions of worshippers to temples, especially in northern and central India. Up to 400,000 devotees were already inside or around the temple in Datia district, which is about 350 kilometers (220 miles) north of the state capital Bhopal, when the stampede took place.

Witnesses said the situation was exacerbated by police charging at the crowds with heavy wooden sticks known as lathis. “Police lathi-charge during the panic run worsened the situation, forcing many to jump off the bridge,” 28-yearold Manoj Sharma, who lives in the nearby village of Bhander, told The Times of India’s website.

However Arya insisted “there was no baton-charge” by the police. Uma Shankar Gupta, the state’s home minister, said authorities had not yet determined why the stampede had broken out, but downplayed suggestions that security to deal with the crowds was inadequate. “There were safety measures in place, this is an annual event,” he told reporters.

“We don’t yet have information on how this happened, as our focus is on the rescue effort.”

Ashok Argal, a federal lawmaker from the region, placed the blame on crowds trying to rush across the bridge. “It is wrong to say there were any administrative lapses. The administration had taken steps and made fool-proof arrangements to avoid any untoward incident,” he told AFP. “Sometimes there is little cooperation from people and

people are always in a hurry, because of which this unfortunate incident occurred.” The Times of India reported that crowds could be seen pelting police with stones as frustration grew over the rescue operation.

Efforts to reach the injured and ferry them to hospital were being hampered by the huge volume of traffic in the area. A team of around 20 medics had however managed to reach the scene of the tragedy, and the casualty wards of nearby hospitals were being emptied to cope with the influx of victims, the newspaper added on its website.

The state’s chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced payouts of 150,000 rupees ($2,500) to the families of those killed, and 50,000 rupees to the injured. India has a long history of deadly stampedes at religious festivals, with at least 36 people trampled to death in February as pilgrims headed home from the Kumbh Mela religious festival on the banks of the river Ganges.

Some 102 Hindu devotees were killed in a stampede in January 2011 in the state of Kerala, while 224 pilgrims died in September 2008 as thousands of worshippers rushed to reach a 15th-century hill-top temple in Jodhpur. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was among those to express condolences over yesterday’s tragedy. “On this day of festivities, our hearts and prayers are with the victims and their families,” he said in a tweet.

Narendra Modi, leader of the Hindu nationalist opposition Bharatiya Janata Party which is hoping to oust Singh’s Congress government in next year’s general election, said his “prayers are with the victims and their families”. The stampede comes only weeks before Madhya Pradesh is due to hold elections for the state assembly. — AFP

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ANALYSIS

MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2013

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Issues

Yemen child brides, the victims of poverty, tradition

By Sami Al-Ansi orced into marriage when she was only 13, Saadah is now back in her impoverished Yemeni family’s cramped home with two children, little money and dreams of returning to school. “I don’t want a husband ever again. All I want is to get a divorce and study,” Saadah says as she sits in the small room she shares with her two boys, dark circles shading her weary eyes.

“Child brides,” or “death brides” as they are sometimes called, are quite common in poor, tribal Yemen, where barely pubescent girls are forced into marriage, often with much older men.

Saadah’s ill father, no longer able to sustain his family, married her off five years ago in an attempt to spare her from her family’s poverty. But her husband soon began forcing her to beg on the capital’s streets with her boys until she fled back to her parents’ home. “He would beat and verbally abuse me and my family,” says Saadah, now 18, whose name means happiness in Arabic.

She is dressed in black from head to toe, but there are still traces of fading orange henna on the fingernails of her fidgety hands. Her two boys, aged three and four, look on as she recounts the nightmare of her marriage.

“My life is difficult with my parents, as we rely on small amounts of aid from our neighbors to survive. But this is still better than living with my husband,” Saadah says.

Her 16-year-old sister Amnah was also forced to marry, and wed a man who agreed to pay her father’s 20,000 riyals (93 dollars) worth of debt three years ago.

“I am a victim of early marriage,” says Amnah, who was also abused by her husband before she escaped after just five months with him.

“He once put a dagger to my stomach and dragged me out of my parents’ house. He then beat me on the street in front of everyone before taking me back to his house,” she recalls shyly. She finally went back to school this year. Activists have been pushing for a draft law that sets a minimum age for marriage. Human Rights Minister Huriya Mashhoor told AFP last month she wanted to revive a 2009 bill-which would have set the minimum age for marriage at 17 and amend it to raise the age to 18.

Activists say the bill was shelved when ultraconservative lawmakers from the Islamist Al-Islah party blocked it.

Before the unification of Yemen in 1990, the legal age of marriage was set at 15 in the north and 16 in the south. But legislation in the united country does not specify any age limit. Human Rights Watch said last month that 14 percent of girls in Yemen are married before the age of 15, and 52 percent before 18, citing Yemeni figures and 2006 data from the United Nations.

In certain rural areas, girls as young as eight are sometimes given in marriage to much older men. The husbands of child brides often “beat and abuse them, deprive them of food, and force them into sex,” according to Ahmed Al-Qurashi, head of Seyaj, a Yemeni organization for the protection of children. “This is rape under the pretext of sharia (Islamic) law,” says Yemeni activist Arwa Othman. Last month, reports emerged that an eight-year-old girl named Rawan had died from internal bleeding after sexual intercourse, following her marriage to a 40-year-old man in a remote area in the north. Authorities have denied the claims, and presented to reporters a girl who claimed she was Rawan and was never married.

But in April 2010, 13-year-old Ilham Al-Ashi died after being raped by her husband a few days into her arranged marriage, and in September 2009 a 12-yearold wife died along with her baby during delivery. Girls are usually afraid of speaking out against their parents’ decision or reporting abuse in a society where a woman is traditionally shamed if she rejects marriage or defies her family. But in a case that shook Yemen’s conservative society in 2008, a court granted a divorce to eightyear-old Nojud Mohammed Ali, whose unemployed father forced her into marriage with a man 20 years her senior.

While some neighbors sympathize with them, Saadah and Amnah are still sometimes met with reproachful stares on the streets. “Some people look down at us because we escaped from our husbands’ houses,” says Saadah. However, their 14-year-old sister Nemah says she has learned from their bitter experience. “I will only get married after I’ve continued my education,” she says with a smile. — AFP

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All articles appearing on these pages are the personal opinion of the writers.

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Focus

Al-Qaeda comes roaring back to Iraq

By Adam Schreck irst came the fireball, then the screams of the victims. The suicide bombing just outside a Baghdad graveyard knocked Nasser Waleed Ali over and peppered his back with shrapnel.

Ali was one of the lucky ones. At least 51 died in the Oct 5 attack, many of them Shiite pilgrims walking by on their way to a shrine. No one has claimed responsibility, but there is little doubt al-Qaida’s local franchise is to blame. Suicide bombers and car bombs are its calling cards, Shiite civilians among its favorite targets. Al-Qaeda has come roaring back in Iraq since US troops left in late 2011 and now looks stronger than it has in years. The terror group has shown it is capable of carrying out mass-casualty attacks several times a month, driving the death toll in Iraq to the highest level in half a decade. It sees each attack as a way to cultivate an atmosphere of chaos that weakens the Shiite-led government’s authority.

Recent prison breaks have bolstered Al-Qaeda’s ranks, while feelings of Sunni marginalization and the chaos caused by the civil war in neighboring Syria are fueling its comeback.

“Nobody is able to control this situation,” said Ali, who watches over a Sunni graveyard that sprang up next to the hallowed Abu Hanifa mosque in 2006, when sectarian fighting threatened to engulf Iraq in all-out civil war. “We are not safe in the coffee shops or mosques, not even in soccer fields,” he continued, rattling off some of the targets hit repeatedly in recent months.

The pace of the killing accelerated significantly following a deadly crackdown by security forces on a camp for Sunni protesters in the northern town of Hawija in April. United Nations figures show 712 people died violently in Iraq that month, at the time the most since 2008.

The monthly death toll hasn’t been that low since.

September saw 979 killed. Al-Qaeda does not have a monopoly on violence in Iraq, a country where most households have at least one assault rifle tucked away. Other Sunni militants, including the Army of the Men of the Naqshabandi Order, which has ties to members of Saddam Hussein’s now-outlawed Baath party, also carry out attacks, as do Shiite militias

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that are remobilizing as the violence escalates.

But Al-Qaeda’s indiscriminate waves of car bombs and suicide attacks, often in civilian areas, account for the bulk of the bloodshed. At least 31 people were killed in new wave of bombings in mostly Shiite-majority cities yesterday.

The group earlier this year renamed itself the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, highlighting its cross-border ambitions.

It is playing a more active military role alongside other predominantly Sunni rebels in the fight to topple Syrian President Bashar Assad, and its members have carried out attacks against Syrians near the porous border inside Iraq.

The United States believes the group’s leader, Abu Bakr AlBaghdadi, is now operating from Syria. “Given the security vacuum, it makes sense for him to do that,” said Paul Floyd, a military analyst at global intelligence company Stratfor who served several US Army tours in Iraq. He said the unrest in Syria could be making it even easier for al-Qaida to get its hands on explosives for use in Iraq.

“We know Syrian military stocks have fallen into the hands of rebels. There’s nothing to preclude some of that stuff flowing across the border,” he said. Iraqi officials acknowledge the group is growing stronger. Al-Qaeda has begun actively recruiting more young Iraqi men to take part in suicide missions after years of relying primarily on foreign volunteers, according to two intelligence officials. They said al-Baghdadi has issued orders calling for 50 attacks per week, which if achieved would mark a significant escalation.

One of the officials estimated that Al-Qaeda now has at least 3,000 trained fighters in Iraq alone, including some 100 volunteers awaiting orders to carry out suicide missions. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to disclose intelligence information. A study released this month by the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War said Al-Qaeda in Iraq has emerged as “an extremely vigorous, resilient, and capable organization” that can operate as far south as Iraq’s Gulf port of Basra.

The group “has reconstituted as a professional military force capable of planning, training, resourcing and executing synchronized and complex attacks in Iraq,” author Jessica Lewis added. The study found that Al-Qaeda was able to carry out 24 separate attacks involving waves of six or more car

bombs on a single day during a one-year period that coincided with the terror group’s “Breaking the Walls” campaign, which ended in July.

It carried out eight separate prison attacks over the same period, ending with the complex, military-style assaults on two Baghdad-area prisons on July 21 that freed more than 500 inmates, many of them Al-Qaeda members. “It’s safe to assume a good percentage of them ... would flow back into the ranks,” boosting the group’s manpower, said Floyd, the military analyst.

American troops and Iraqi forces, including Sunni militiamen opposed to the group’s extremist ideology, beat back AlQaeda after the US launched its surge strategy in 2007. That policy shift deployed additional American troops to Iraq and shifted the focus of the war effort toward enhancing security for Iraqis and winning their trust.

By 2009, Al-Qaeda and other Sunni extremist groups were “reduced to a few small cells struggling to survive and unable to mount more than token attacks,” Kenneth Pollack, a Clinton administration official who is now a Middle East analyst at the Brookings Institution, noted in a report earlier this year.

Now there are fears that all the hard work is coming undone. Iraqis, both Sunni and Shiite, say they are losing faith in the government’s ability to keep the country safe. “Al-Qaeda can blow up whatever number of car bombs they want whenever they choose,” said Ali Nasser, a Shiite government employee from Baghdad. “It seems like al-Qaida is running the country, not the government in Baghdad.” Many Sunnis, meanwhile, are unwilling to trust a government they feel has sidelined and neglected their sect.

Iraqi officials say that lack of trust has hampered intelligence-gathering efforts, with fewer Sunnis willing to pass along tips about suspected terrorist activities in their midst.

“During the surge, we helped build up the immune system of Iraq to deter these attacks. Now that immune system has been taken away,” said Emma Sky, a key civilian policy adviser for US Army Gen. Ray Odierno when he was the top American military commander in Iraq. “Before you had the U.S. there to protect the political space and help move the country forward,” she added. “How much longer can this go on before something breaks?” — AP

Silicon Valley tussles for talent

By Sarah McBride mong Twitter Inc’s highest-paid executives, Christopher Fry’s name stands out. The senior vice president of engineering raked in $10.3 million last year, just behind Twitter Chief Executive Dick Costolo’s $11.5 million, according to Twitter’s IPO documents. That is more than the paychecks of executives such as Chief Technology Officer Adam Messinger, Chief Financial Officer Mike Gupta and Chief Operating Officer Ali Rowghani.

Welcome to Silicon Valley, where a shortage of top engineering talent amid an explosion of venture capital-backed start-ups is inflating paychecks. “The number of A-players in Silicon Valley hasn’t grown,” said Iain Grant, a recruiter at Riviera Partners, which specializes in placing engineers at venture-capital backed start-ups. “But the demand for them has gone through the roof.”

Stories abound about the lengths to which employers will go to attract engineering talent - in addition to the free cafeterias, laundry services and shuttle buses that the Googles and Facebooks of the world are already famous for. One start-up offered a coveted engineer a year’s lease on a Tesla sedan, which costs in the neighborhood of $1,000 a month, said venture capitalist Venky Ganesan. He declined to identify the company, which his firm has invested in. At Hotel Tonight, which offers a mobile app for last-minute hotel bookings, CEO Sam Shank described staging the office to appear extra lively for a prospective hire. He roped in two employees for a game of ping-pong and positioned another group right by the bar.

It worked: the recruit signed on and built a key piece of the company’s software. In Fry’s case, his compensation came mostly in the form of stock awards, valued last year at $10.1 million, according to Twitter’s IPO documents registered with securities regulators. He drew a salary of $145,513 and a bonus of $100,000. Some might call that underpaid. Facebook Inc’s VP of engineering, Mike Schroepfer, took in $24.4 million in stock awards the year before the social network’s 2012 initial public offering. He also drew a salary of $270,833 and a bonus of $140,344.

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But Facebook that year posted revenue of $3.71 billion, 10 times more than Twitter’s $317 million.

Grant said more than three-quarters of candidates who took VP of engineering roles at his client companies over the last two years drew total cash compensation in excess of $250,000. Many also received equity grants totaling 1 to 2 percent of the company, the recruiter added.

LORE OF 10X The hot demand for engineers is driven in part by a growing number of start-ups, venture capitalists say. Some 242 Bay Area companies received early-stage funding known as a seed round - in the first half of this year, according to consultancy CB Insights. That is more than the number for all of 2010. Another factor is the increasing complexity of technology. Many in Silicon Valley like to discuss the lore of the “10x” engineer, who is a person so talented that he or she does the work of 10 merely competent engineers. “Having 10x engineers at the top is the only way to recruit other 10x engineers,” said Aileen Lee, founder of Cowboy Ventures, an early-stage venture fund.

Former colleagues said Fry, who joined Twitter earlier this year, fits the bill. The messaging service poached him from software giant Salesforce.com Inc, where Fry had worked in various positions since 2005, rising from engineering manager in the Web Services team to senior VP of development.

Perhaps most attractive to Twitter is the fact that Fry joined Salesforce when it was also a 6-year-old company with big ambitions of taking on the software establishment. At that time, Salesforce’s product development needed help, Fry has said in previous interviews. He whipped them into shape, helping build the company into one of the hottest enterprise-software providers in the industry today.

Twitter has had its share of technical problems, such as the notorious “fail whale” that regularly appeared on screens during outages. That made Fry’s experience all the more valuable. “All it takes is a couple of bad incidents where Twitter is down, or there’s a security breach. That

could be the end of the company,” said Chuck Ganapathi, an entrepreneur who previously worked with Fry at Salesforce, where he was senior vice president for products. “You need somebody of this caliber to run it.” Neither Twitter nor Fry responded to requests for comment.

Today, even entry-level engineers can draw lucrative salaries in the Valley. Google Inc offered $150,000 in annual wages plus $250,000 in restricted stock options to snag a recent PhD graduate who had been considering a job at Apple Inc , according to a person familiar with the situation. The average software engineer commands a salary of $100,049 in Silicon Valley, according to Dice, a technologyrecruitment service. That is down from $113,488 last year, due to an increase in hiring of less experienced engineers, said a Dice spokeswoman.

By comparison, the average salary for all professions in San Francisco’s Bay Area is $66,070, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Other jobs in the area can command higher wages - physicians make $133,530, a lawyer about $174,440 and a civil engineer makes $107,440 - but the tech industry often offers restricted stock or options on top of salaries.

Even for plain-vanilla engineers, competition is intense, said Dice CEO Mike Durney, leading companies to go to great lengths to attract and hold onto the right people.

Accommodation-search service ApartmentList rents a drum studio on an ongoing basis to help retain a key engineer, said CEO John Kobs. In one of the better-known examples, Google famously allowed engineers to devote 20 percent of their time on personal projects. It is worth it, many recruiters and industry executives say.

Many of the most talented engineers bring more than programming chops, promoting the sort of career diversity prized in Silicon Valley. Take Fry, who earned a PhD in cognitive science from the University of California at San Diego in 1998. He is a surfer, a sailor and a snowboarder, according to his personal website. In a fitting twist for Twitter, known for its blue bird mascot, Fry also has avian expertise. His postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, Berkeley, focused on the auditory cortex of zebra finches. — Reuters

MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2013

S P ORT S Ponting doubts Clarke’s captaincy

Degenkolb clinches classic

SYDNEY: Ricky Ponting once harbored doubts over the suitability of Michael Clarke to succeed him as captain of Australia. Ponting, who stood down after nine years in the post in 2011, said the concerns over his successor-designate and vice captain - who he called “Pup” - had prevented him from considering resigning earlier.

“It wasn’t that he was disruptive or treacherous and publicly he said all the right things,” Ponting said in an extract from his autobiography, “At The Close Of Play”, serialised in the Herald Sun newspaper. “But he had never been one to get too involved in planning sessions or debriefs at the end of a day’s play, or to volunteer to take on any of the captain’s workload. “More than once, (coach) Tim Nielsen and I had encouraged him to take on more of a leadership role within the group, but when Pup was down on form or if he had a problem away from cricket, he’d go into his shell. “I knew he was an excellent thinker on the game, but for a long time I was concerned that he wouldn’t be able to handle the huge variety of ‘little things’ that go with being Australian captain.”

Those feelings had been compounded by the way Clarke distanced himself from the team as he became more and more involved in a celebrity lifestyle off the field. “Pup remained a good trainer and we could all see that he loved playing for Australia and was determined to do well,” Ponting recalled. —Reuters

TOURS: German rider John Degenkolb beat Michael Morkov of Denmark and Arnaud Demare of France in a mass sprint to win the Paris-Tours classic yesterday.

Degenkolb completed the 235-kilometer trek from Authon-duPerche to Tours in 5 hours, 29 minutes, 19 seconds. Morkov took second and Demare third. Defending champion Marco Marcato of Italy attacked in the Cote de Beau Soleil and was followed by six riders - Degenkolb, Morkov, Jetse Bol of the Netherlands, Sep Vanmarcke of Belgium as well as Frenchmen Demare and Sylvain Chavanel. Bol escaped six kilometers from the finish but could not hold off a late charge from the pack in the last kilometer.

Degenkolb was tipped as a strong favorite after winning the ParisBourges race on Thursday. Demare made his move on the Avenue de Grammont but was overtaken by the powerful Argos-Shimano rider, who earned his sixth victory of the season.

Bryan Coquard of France, a 2012 Olympic runner-up in the omnium, fell in a crash about 24 kilometers from the finish. The Frenchman managed to get back on to his bike and rejoined the pack but was out of contention in the sprint.

In the first hour of the race, Sebastian Lander of Denmark, Aleksejs Saramotins of Latvia and Frenchmen Yannick Martinez and Julien Duval broke away to build a lead that stretched to 11 minutes. But the pack reeled them in with 11 kilometers left. —AP

Federer splits with coach

SHANGHAI: Roger Federer has split from his American coach Paul Annacone with the struggling Swiss former world number saying on Saturday that it was the best time to make a change. “After a terrific 3-1/2 years working together, Paul and I have decided to move on to the next chapter in our professional lives,” the 32-year-old Federer said on his website (www.rogerfederer.com). The announcement came two days after the world number seven was dumped out of the Shanghai Masters by France’s Gael Monfils.

Federer, winner of a record 17 grand slams, is battling to qualify for next month’s endof-season ATP World Tour Finals for the 12th consecutive year.

He teamed up with Annacone, former long-time coach to multiple grand slam winner Pete Sampras, in August 2010.

“When we started together we had a vision of a three-year plan to win another Grand Slam title and get back to the number #1 ranking.

Along with many other goals and great memories, these two main goals were achieved,” Federer said in a statement.

“After numerous conversations culminating at the end of our most recent training block, we felt like this was the best time and path for both of us. “Paul remains a dear friend, and we both look forward to continuing our friendship. I want to thank Paul for his help and the value he has added to me and my team,” he added of the 50-year-old former world number 12. Federer, who won his last grand slam title at Wimbledon in 2012 before claiming a silver medal at the London Olympics, has failed to reach the final of a major this season for the first time since 2002. His only tournament success was at the low-key Halle event. — Reuters

Red Wings soar over Flyers

DETROIT: Henrik Zetterberg had two goals and an assist, and Pavel Datsyuk and Niklas Kronwall each had a goal and two assists to lead the Detroit Red Wings to a 5-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday night.

Todd Bertuzzi also scored for Detroit, which had three power-play goals after failing on its first 10 opportunities this season. Daniel Alfredsson had three assists, and Jimmy Howard made 32 saves.

Erik Gustafsson and Tye McGinn scored for Philadelphia (1-5) and Ray Emery stopped 25 shots.

Flyers interim coach Craig Berube dropped to 1-2 since replacing the fired Peter Laviolette on Monday.

AVALANCHE 5, CAPITALS 1 Alex Tanguay scored twice and Semyon Varlamov made 40 saves in his return to Washington as Colorado remained perfect under coach Patrick Roy. It is the first time the franchise is 5-0 since the 1994-95 season when the team was the Quebec Nordiques. Rookie Nathan MacKinnon added his first NHL goal and an assist, and Matt Duchene and Jamie McGinn also scored for Colorado. Paul Stastny earned two assists, including his 400th NHL point.

Varlamov, traded by the Capitals to the Avalanche in 2011, carried a shutout into the third period before Eric Fehr beat him at 2:03. Varlamov is 4-0 with a 1.00 goals against average. Michael Neuvirth made 23 saves for the Capitals (1-4) in his first start this season. Washington has lost three straight.

SHARKS 3, SENATORS 2 Rookie Tomas Hertl scored his league-leading seventh goal before leaving with an injury and Brent Burns got the tiebreaker in the third period to lead the San Jose to its fifth straight win to open the season. Patrick Marleau tied the game with a power-play goal late in the second period and Antti Niemi made 21 saves as the Sharks won a nail biter after outscoring the opposition by 16 goals in the first four games.

Zach Smith and Bobby Ryan scored for the Senators, and Robin Lehner made 47 saves in his first start of the season. Ottawa has lost three straight games after winning the first game on their seasonopening six-game road trip.

Hertl had to be helped to the dressing room after taking a hard hit from Clarke MacArthur late in the second period and did not return. The Sharks announced he was under observation.

PENGUINS 5, LIGHTNING 4 Sidney Crosby had three goals and an assist, and Matt Niskanen scored a tiebreaking power-play goal with 18.6 seconds left, lifting Pittsburgh past Tampa Bay. Niskanen scored the winning goal from the top of the left circle, with an assist from Crosby. Crosby tied it at 3 with a redirection of Rob Scuderi’s shot 25 seconds into the third, and then put Pittsburgh in front when he scored from the right circle with 9:34 remaining. Crosby has a point in all five games this season. It is his longest streak to start a season since a six-game stretch in October 2005.

After a pair of goals by Crosby in the third period gave the Penguins a 4-3 lead, Alex Killorn tied it for the Lightning with 3:02 remaining. Valtteri Filppula, Steven Stamkos and Teddy Purcell also scored for Tampa Bay (3-2). Brooks Orpik added a goal for the Penguins (4-1).

CANADIENS 4, CANUCKS 1 Carey Price made 39 saves for Montreal, and Lars Eller got credit for a bizarre short-handed winner. Max Pacioretty, Tomas Plekanec and Josh Gorges also scored for Montreal, and Raphael Diaz added two assists. Henrik Sedin replied for Vancouver, which got 34 saves from Roberto Luongo. He also stopped Pacioretty on a third-period penalty shot.

The winner came in the second period with the Canadiens killing a penalty. Canucks defensemen Dan Hamhuis and Jason Garrison got tangled up behind the Vancouver net on a breakout, with the puck caroming into the crease and off both of Luongo’s skates before dribbling over the line at 16:12.

Eller, who wasn’t even in the Canucks’ zone at the time of the goal, was the last Canadiens player to touch the puck for a Montreal team that didn’t score a short-handed goal all last season or through the first four games of 2013-2014.

BRUINS 3, BLUE JACKETS 1 Loui Eriksson scored from a hard angle in the opening minute of the third period for his first goal for Boston, which topped Columbus.

Playing their first road game, the Bruins also got a goal from Chris Kelly, and an empty-net tally from Milan Lucic. Tuukka Rask made 26 saves. Rask blocked Marian Gaborik’s tying attempt in the closing moments and then pushed the puck aside with his glove. Jack Johnson scored on a first-period power play for the Blue Jackets, who won their last two on

the road but are now 0-2 at home. Sergei Bobrovsky, last year’s Vezina Trophy winner as the NHL’s top goalie, stopped 33 shots.

BLUES 5, RANGERS 3 David Backes scored twice, and unbeaten St. Louis topped the slumping New York Rangers. The Blues, who haven’t trailed at all this season, are 4-0 for the first time in franchise history.

Derek Roy, Alexander Steen and Vladimir Tarasenko added goals for St. Louis, which has outscored its opponents 19-7. Jaroslav Halak made 26 saves to improve to 4-0. Ryan Callahan scored twice for the Rangers (1-4), and Brad Richards added his team-leading fourth goal. New York, which has four games left on a season-opening, nine-game trip, has lost three in a row by a combined score of 20-5.

St. Louis scored four times on its first 17 shots against backup goalie Martin Biron, who was making his first start of the season. Biron was pulled after the second period in favor of regular netminder Henrik Lundqvist. Biron stopped 13 of 17 shots. Lundqvist allowed one goal on 17 shots.

The Blues won their first three games in 1969 and 1993, but had never won four in a row to start a season in their 47-year history.

BLACKHAWKS 2, SABRES 1 Corey Crawford made 28 saves to lead Chicago over winless Buffalo. Ben Smith and Patrick Kane scored for the Blackhawks, who swept a pair of weekend home games, edging the Islanders on Friday.

Drew Stafford connected with 8:11 left in the third, spoiling Crawford’s bid for a shutout. The Sabres (0-51) put together several tough challenges in the second and third periods despite being outshot 40-29 overall. Ryan Miller had 38 saves for Buffalo, which has been outscored 16-6 in its worst start since the 19992000 season, when it was 0-5-2. The Blackhawks outshot the Sabres 20-6 in the first period, but only led 10 at intermission.

PREDATORS 3, ISLANDERS 2 Seth Jones scored his first NHL goal, helping Nashville edge the New York Islanders. Nashville has won two of three. The Islanders were beaten for the third time in four games - including twice in two days.

Patric Hornqvist and Ryan Ellis had the other Nashville goals. Frans Nielsen and John Tavares scored for New York. —AP

Henrik Zetterberg in action in this file photo.

NHL results/standings Boston 3, Columbus 1; Toronto 6, Edmonton 5 (OT); Detroit 5, Philadelphia 2; Pittsburgh 5, Tampa Bay 4; Colorado 5, Washington 1; Chicago 2, Buffalo 1; St. Louis 5, NY Rangers 3; Nashville 3, NY Islanders 2; Minnesota 5, Dallas 1; Montreal 4, Vancouver 1; San Jose 3, Ottawa 2.

Western Conference Eastern Conference Atlantic Division Pacific Division Toronto 5 1 0 23 15 10 W L OTL GF GA PTS Boston 3 1 0 10 5 6 Montreal 3 2 0 17 10 6 San Jose 5 0 0 24 7 10 Detroit 3 2 0 13 13 6 Calgary 3 0 2 18 17 8 Tampa Bay 3 2 0 18 14 6 Anaheim 3 1 0 14 11 6 Ottawa 1 1 2 10 12 4 Phoenix 3 2 0 12 14 6 Florida 2 3 0 13 21 4 Los Angeles 3 2 0 13 14 6 Buffalo 0 5 1 6 16 1 Metropolitan Division Vancouver 3 3 0 17 20 6 Pittsburgh 4 1 0 20 13 8 Edmonton 1 3 1 17 25 3 2 1 2 10 13 6 Carolina Central Division NY Islanders 2 2 1 16 13 5 Colorado 5 0 0 18 4 10 Columbus 2 2 0 11 10 4 St. Louis 4 0 0 19 7 8 New Jersey 0 2 3 11 18 3 Chicago 3 1 1 15 13 7 NY Rangers 1 4 0 9 25 2 Washington 1 4 0 13 20 2 Minnesota 2 1 2 14 12 6 Philadelphia 1 5 0 8 17 2 Dallas 2 2 0 9 11 4 Note: Overtime losses (OTL) are worth one Winnipeg 2 3 0 14 16 4 point in the standings and are not included in Nashville 2 3 0 9 15 4 the loss column (L).

MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2013

S P ORT S

Salido knocks out Cruz LAS VEGAS: Puerto Rico’s Orlando Cruz, the first openly gay fighter in professional boxing, failed in his bid to gain the WBO featherweight title when he was knocked out by Mexico’s Orlando Salido in the seventh round of their fight on Saturday.

Salido dominated throughout and put Cruz away with a right hand to the chin and left to the body during the seventh after a heavy exchange of power blows during their bout in Las Vegas.

Cruz went down to the canvas face first with referee Kenny Bayliss then stopping the fight to push Salido’s record to 40-12-2, with 28 KOs while Cruz fell to 203-1. “I went into the corner and he hit me with a good shot,” Cruz said. “I thought the fight was close up until then. It was going back and forth.”

The reality was Cruz, wearing rainbow

trunks to promote gay rights, was never really in the fight, landing just the occasional blow and clearly being stung by the ferocity of Salido’s combinations and body shots. The Mexican, however, was magnanimous in his praise for the outclassed Cruz.

“Cruz is strong and fast, and I had to fight with intelligence and put a lot of pressure on him,” Salido said. “This is the biggest moment of my life. My career has been like a roller coaster. “I’ve had my ups and downs, but it’s great to be back on top. It’s a very big win.”

The WBO title was vacant af ter Miguel Angel Garcia was stripped of the belt when he failed to make weight for his first defense against former champion Juan Manuel Lopez in August. Garcia had won the belt from Salido in January. — Reuters

Bradley takes split decision over Marquez LAS VEGAS: Timothy Bradley advanced his claim to be regarded as the world’s best welterweight by winning a split decision over Juan Manuel Marquez on Saturday.

Bradley thwarted Marquez’s attempt to win his fifth world title by coming on in the second half of the fight to win. It was the third straight close decision win for Bradley, who was a hotly disputed winner over Manny Pacquiao two fights ago, and retained the WBO belt he won in that bout.

The pro-Marquez crowd booed loudly and Bradley egged them on afterward. He won 116-112 on one card and 115-113 on another, while a third judge had Marquez winning 115-113. The Associated Press scored it 115-113 for Bradley.

Bradley rocked Marquez with a left hook in the final seconds of the final round, the biggest punch of the fight between the last two men to beat Pacquiao. “That win was my ticket to the boxing Hall of Fame,” Bradley said. “I beat a great champion.”

Coming off a brutal brawl with Ruslan Provodnikov last March that took him two months to recover from, Bradley vowed to avoid a war with Marquez. He used his left jab to keep the Mexican away and boxed from the outside for most of the bout before trading wild punches in the final round.

“He couldn’t touch me,” Bradley said. “I gave him a boxing lesson.” Marquez was in the fight the entire way but at the age of 40 he seemed less active than in earlier fights.

Bradley was the aggressor most of the night and seemed to control the action from the middle rounds on.

“I came to win. I felt that I did win,” Marquez said. The judges took it away. You don’t have to knock out a guy to win.”

The decision loss was the latest in a series of disappointing decisions that went against Marquez. He fought Pacquiao three times, losing twice and getting a draw on narrow decisions before finally knocking him out.

“I’ve been robbed six times in my career,” Marquez said. “I clearly won the fight.”

Marquez, like Bradley, passed up a rematch with Pacquiao in favor of this fight.

Marquez knocked Pacquiao out in the sixth round last December, but could never find his big punch against Bradley.

Pacquiao will fight in Macau next month against Brandon Rios instead. Bradley remained unbeaten in 31 fights with the win, his third narrow decision win in a row.

Marquez fell to 55-7-1 and may be near the end of a career that has made him one of his country’s biggest champions. Both fighters earned $4 million. — AP

BOSTON: David Ross No. 3 of the Boston Red Sox tags out Omar Infante No. 4 of the Detroit Tigers at home plate during Game One of the American League Championship Series. — AFP

Tigers win ALCS opener BOSTON: Lose the no-hitter, win the game.

That’s a trade Anibal Sanchez and the Detroit Tigers were happy to make to take the lead over the Boston Red Sox in the AL championship series.

Sanchez and four relievers came within two outs of the first combined no-hitter in postseason history, striking out 17 to beat Boston 1-0 in the series opener on Saturday night.

“At this point, especially in this series, it’s not about throwing a no-hitter,” said Sanchez, who was pulled after 116 pitches in six innings. “As soon as you get some zeroes ... it’s more important. It’s more important than the no-hitter at this point.”

Sanchez struck out 12 - including a recordtying four in the first inning - but also walked a season-high six and was pulled after six innings and 116 pitches. Al Alburquerque, Jose Veras, Drew Smyly and Benoit stretched the no-hitter through eight innings.

With one out in the ninth, Daniel Nava lined a single to center field off Joaquin Benoit to end Detroit’s bid for the third postseason no-hitter ever. “I’m not going to lie to you. I wanted it,” Tigers catcher Alex Avila said. “But had to think about the next hitter with a 1-0 game.”

Stephen Drew flied out to right and, with the potential tying run on second, Xander Bogaerts hit a game-ending pop out to shortstop that put the Tigers ahead in the best-of-seven series.

Boston’s Clay Buchholz will face major league wins leader Max Scherzer in Game 2 on Sunday night.

Jhonny Peralta had an RBI single off Jon Lester in the sixth for the game’s only run.

Peralta, who missed most of August and September while serving a 50-game suspension

for violating baseball’s drug rules, was taunted with chants of “Steroids!” and “User!” as he looped a single to center to bring home Miguel Cabrera.

It was a day for pitching in the playoffs - St. Louis beat the Dodgers 1-0 in the second game of the NLCS, marking the first time in postseason history two games ended by that score on one day.

“That tells you the quality of pitching in the postseason,” Tigers manager Jim Leyland said.

“We’ve got to do a lot better with our opportunities, but in this one we were able to hold on.”

The majors’ highest-scoring team during the regular season, the Red Sox were shut out at Fenway Park in the postseason for the first time in 95 years.

“You give up one run and you like your chances,” said Lester, who allowed six hits and a walk, striking out four in 6 1-3 innings. “It was a great game. That was playoff baseball.”

The AL’s regular-season ERA champion, Sanchez loaded the bases in the sixth on three walks. But he struck out Stephen Drew to end the inning, coming off the mound with a celebratory arm pump and high leg kick.

Alburquerque pitched a perfect seventh, Veras got two outs and Smyly retired David Ortiz on a harmless fly ball to center to end the eighth. Drew kept the score close for Boston in the bottom of the eighth, racing into shallow center field to make a juggling, over-the-shoulder catch on Prince Fielder’s looper with runners on second and third. Benoit struck out Mike Napoli to start the ninth before Nava singled to end the no-hit bid.

“Whether it was Sanchez or every guy they brought out of the bullpen, it was power stuff,”

Red Sox manager John Farrell said. “To chase a very good starter after six innings, I thought we succeeded in that right. We’re down a run. That game is still very much in the balance with every time we come to the plate. ... We achieved what we set out to do and that was to get in the bullpen in the middle innings. And, unfortunately, it didn’t work out.”

Two nights after Justin Verlander took a nohit bid into the seventh to finish off Oakland in the AL division series, Sanchez had a similar effort against the Red Sox. His four strikeouts in the first inning - thanks to a third-strike wild pitch to Shane Victorino - tied the major league record for a postseason game set by the Cubs’ Orval Overall in the 1908 World Series.

It’s the first time in baseball postseason history a team has had back-to-back games in which its starting pitcher had a no-hitter through five innings.

On a brisk night with the wind blowing in from center, the Tigers got the only run they needed in the sixth after Cabrera drew a one-out walk and moved to second when Fielder was hit by a pitch. Victor Martinez hit a sharp grounder to short for the force at second, but he beat the relay throw to first by inches to keep the inning alive. Peralta then knocked a 2-2 pitch to center to score Cabrera from third. Detroit threatened when Martinez doubled to lead off the fifth, but he was caught off second base on Omar Infante’s sharp grounder to first. Alex Avila singled, and Infante took third when Victorino bobbled the ball in right.

On Jose Iglesias’ grounder, third baseman Will Middlebrooks threw the ball home to retire the lead runner. Austin Jackson flied out to right, ending the inning. —AP

Keselowski grabs 1st win of year LAS VEGAS: WBO welterweight champion Timothy Bradley Jr. (left) hits Juan Manuel Marquez in the seventh round of their bout at the Thomas & Mack Center. — AFP

Rockets top Pacers in NBA preseason game TAIPEI: It was a perfect homecoming for Houston Rockets point guard Jeremy Lin in the Taiwanese capital of Taipei. Lin, whose parents emigrated from Taiwan to the United States in the 1970s, scored 17 points and went 3-4 from the three-point line to help the Rockets overcome the Indiana Pacers 107-98 in an exhibition game played before a capacity crowd of 13,686.

James Harden led all Rockets scorers with 21 and had three 3-pointers of his own. Paul George’s 19 points led the Pacers.

George Hill contributed 17, but suffered what coach Frank Vogel called “a mild ankle sprain” in a third quarter scramble. Vogel said that Hill’s condition will be monitored in the coming days.

Lin was clearly the crowd favorite and didn’t disappoint with a dazzling array of clutch shooting and pinpoint passing.

His play earned him accolades from Rockets coach Kevin McHale, who said that all the hard work Lin put in over the summer is giving him the boost he needs to cope with the immense pressure he feels at being one of the most closely watched NBA players in Asia.

“He puts so much pressure on himself,” McHale said. “There’s an entire half of the world that seems to be pulling for him.”

After a seesaw first quarter, Houston pulled away to lead by 15 points at halftime but Indiana cut that lead to only two before fading in the final quarter.

McHale singled out Houston newcomer Omri Casspi for special praise. Casspi had had 13 points and nine rebounds, all but one on the defensive end. “Omri is doing a really good job for us,” McHale said. “He’s playing at a really high level.” — AP

TAIWAN: (Left to right) Basketball player George Hill No. 3 of the Indiana Pacers and Jeremy Lin No. 7 of the Houston Rockets vie for the ball during the NBA 2013 Global Games in Taipei. — AFP

CONCORD: Driving for an organization known for excellence, Brad Keselowski understands the expectations at Penske Racing.

But when the defending Sprint Cup champion snapped a 37-race losing streak Saturday night, his team owner wasn’t sure Keselowski knew exactly what it meant.

“Brad, you don’t realize that every driver in our stable now has won a race this year,” said Roger Penske, who rattled off AJ Allmendinger, Ryan Blaney, Sam Hornish Jr., Joey Logano and IndyCar drivers Helio Castroneves and Will Power. “I’d say this is a pretty good night for us.”

A pretty good night, indeed.

After failing to make the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship this year, Keselowski grabbed his first win of the season and first since Sept. 30, 2012, at Dover, by passing Kasey Kahne with nine laps to go at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

In doing so, Keselowski became the rare nonChase driver to win a Chase race. The last to do so was Kahne in 2011 at Phoenix.

“I never thought we couldn’t,” Keselowski said. “The perception is, and rightfully so, that the guys in the Chase are the cream of the crop ... and they should win races and probably sweep the Chase. But this is a very good team.

We’ve had what we need to be a championship team. We just haven’t put them all together.”

The No. 2 team might not have Saturday night if not for a caution with 27 laps remaining that changed the race dramatically as Jimmie Johnson, who led 130 laps, was seemingly on his way to an easy victory. A call for debris sent the leaders to pit road and ended Johnson’s march to a record seventh Charlotte win. “There was a caution that shook things up,” Johnson shrugged.

Hendrick teammates Kahne and Jeff Gordon took only two tires and raced off pit road first, while everyone else took four tires and lined up behind them. Johnson came out in third, and should have been in good shape on four fresh tires.

Instead, Johnson had a terrible re-start and fell back to seventh. Kahne pulled away and championship leader Matt Kenseth jumped from fourth to second. Then Keselowski, sixth on the restart, picked his way through traffic and worked his way past second.

Keselowski was unsure all night if his car was as good as Kahne or Johnson. The four tires he got from crew chief Paul Wolfe gave him a chance to find out.

“I never got to really race them until the end ... when Paul made the call to take four tires and I saw we were that close to the front, I knew we could get them,” Keselowski said.

His sights set on Kahne, who led a race-high

CONCORD: Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford, poses with the trophy in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Bank of America 500. — AFP 138 laps, Keselowski needed several attempts at the pass for the lead before he could make it stick. “I love hard racing and there are a handful of guys who can’t race hard and they freak out he’s not one of them,” Keselowski said about Kahne. “He’s an excellent driver. He ran me hard but ran me clean and that is great racing. He did a hell of a job and deserves a lot of credit for it.”

Kahne finished second in a Chevrolet.

“Tonight was a good battle. He had four tires and I had two, and I did all I could, and he just got by me and cleared me,” Kahne said.

Kenseth was third in a Toyota and maintained his lead in the standings. He goes to Talladega next week up four points over Johnson.

“I’m happy we finished third,” said Kenseth, who was the lowest qualifying Chase driver at 20th. “I was so far behind because I qualified so poorly and needed all night to get back up there. Then at the very end they gave me a shot to win and I’m slightly disappointed that I didn’t take advantage of that opportunity.” Johnson wound up fourth and said he had trouble when he tried to push teammate Kahne on the restart.

“Evidently I was too close to him and in his way, and my car washed up a little bit,” Johnson said. “A couple of guys were able to get inside of me. I just lost track position at that point, which was unfortunate. Once I got rolling again I was fine, but I lost too much at that point.”

Kyle Busch was fifth which should have been celebrated considering all he went through. He dropped as low as 35th when he had to make a second trip down pit road early in the race because of loose lug nuts, and he thought his engine was failing late in the race.

“It’s acting like it’s out of fuel, but I’m sure it’s blowing up,” he radioed. Busch, who went from third in the standings to fifth last week at Kansas, is 37 points behind Kenseth.

“Fifth place sucks. They say you need topfives to win a championship, but when you’re getting beat by guys in front of you then we’re just not good enough,” Busch said. “I don’t know what to do to be better. It’s frustrating, but you know, should be happy with a fifth, but we’re not.”

Kevin Harvick was sixth and followed by Jeff Gordon, Ryan Newman, Denny Hamlin and Carl Edwards. Kyle Larson made his Sprint Cup Series debut driving a Chip Ganassi Racing-prepared car. He was impressive early, driving from 21st inside the top-12, and he lingered there alongside Juan Pablo Montoya, the driver he’ll replace next season for Ganassi.

Larson eventually dropped to 16th, where he stayed until his engine lost a cylinder and eventually failed, sending him to the garage with 87 laps remaining. “I had a lot of fun tonight,” said Larson, who finished 37th. — AP

MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2013

S P ORT S

Koepka two ahead in PGA season opener SAN MARTIN: Unheralded American Brooks Koepka moved a step closer to clinching a maiden victory on the PGA Tour after stretching his lead to two shots in Saturday’s third round of the Fr ys.com Open in San Martin, California.

A stroke in front of the chasing pack overnight, Koepka kept his nearest challengers at bay as he fired a four-under-par 67 on another sunsplashed day of low scoring at CordeValle Golf Club in the opening event of the PGA Tour’s 2013-14 season.

Though he was caught in a share of the lead by both Jason Kokrak and Robert Garrigus earlier in the round, the 23-year-old forged ahead with three birdies in the last six holes to post a 15-under total of 198. “You’ve just got to approach it the same way,” Koepka, who is competing for the first time in a regular PGA Tour event, told Golf Channel of his mindset for late yesterday’s final round.

“We’ve got a good game plan and things seems to be going pretty well.

So just stick to it and everything will take care of itself. I played really well today.”

The big-hitting Kokrak carded a 68

to share second place at 13 under with fellow American George McNeill, who rocketed up the leaderboard with a 10-birdie 62, equalling the course record matched earlier in the day by compatriot Jimmy Walker.

“It was a lot of fun,” McNeill, who is seeking a third victory on the PGA Tour, told reporters. “Sixty-two, I don’t know how it could ever not be fun.

“I figured out something on the range last night and my swing was much more comfortable today. I felt free so I could go ahead and aim at some flags.”

Former world number one and ‘senior citizen’ Vijay Singh, who made his debut on the over-50 Champions Tour in Hawaii last month, carded a 65 to sit three shots off the pace at 12 under, level with Walker. But it was Koepka, a non-member of the PGA Tour who is playing this week on a sponsor exemption, who once again commanded the spotlight.

The former three -time AllAmerican at Florida State birdied three of the first four holes to remain a stroke in front, Kokrak having briefly joined him in a tie at the top after holing out from 130 yards to eagle the par-four first.

Though Koepka bogeyed the sixth, he parred the next three holes to reach the turn in a share of the lead at 13 under with Garrigus, who mixed five birdies with a lone bogey on the front nine.

Koepka offset a birdie at the 13th with a bogey at the 14th, where he found a fairway bunker off the tee, but regained a one -shot cushion when he got up and down from a greenside bunker to birdie the parfive 15th.

He picked up another shot at the driveable par-four 17th, two-putting there from 30 feet, and narrowly missed out on a birdie at the last where his eight-foot putt stayed out.

Koepka, who has already won four times on the lower-tier European Challenge Tour, is bidding to become the first person to triumph on the PGA Tour playing on a sponsor exemption since England’s Lee Westwood at the 2010 FedEx St. Jude Classic.

“The Challenge Tour, winning four times, that helped me a lot me in learning how to win,” said Koepka.

“That’s a big thing. You’ve just got to stick with what you’re doing for a whole week. That’s what got you here in the first place.”— Reuters

Kang strolls to victory YEOJU: South Korean Kang Sunghoon enjoyed a stroll yesterday he eased to a five-shot victory at the Asian Tour’s CJ Invitational in Yeoju, hosted by his compatriot KJ Choi.

Kang’s two-under-par round of 70 gave him a 12-under total for the $750,000 tournament and he was able to enjoy the last nine holes comfortably ahead of India’s Jyoti Randhawa (67) and compatriot Kim Tae-hoon, who finished a distant joint second.

“I felt very comfortable after nine holes. I was looking at the scores and I saw that I had a big lead so I was able to play it safe and try to give myself chances,” Kang told the Asian Tour before hailing the host. “ When I played on the US PGA Tour, I lived very near to KJ We had dinners together and he would give me a lot of advice.

That’s why it means a lot to me that I have won this event which he is hosting.” Asian Tour order of merit leader Kiradech Aphibarnrat (73) of Thailand increased his advantage in the money race by finishing tied fourth alongside American Jason Knutzon (69) and Korean Baek Seuk-hyun.

Tournament host Choi, seeking to become the first player to win the same Asian Tour event for three straight years, finished tied for 21st place after also shooting a one-over 73. — Reuters

YEOJU: Kang Sung-hoon of South Korea poses with the trophy after winning the CJ Invitational. — AFP

Schwartzel wins, Clarke slips BEIJING: Former US Masters champion Charl Schwartzel came from behind to win the Nanshan China Open by one shot yesterday after a costly late slip by Northern Ireland’s Darren Clarke.

Clarke and China’s Liang Wenchong started the final round of the $1 million OneAsia Tour event three clear of Schwartzel but the South African shot a brilliant final four-under-par 68 for a nine-under total to pip the pair.

It was a first title of the year for Schwartzel, who has now won on

By Abdellatif Sharaa

the US PGA, European, Sunshine, Asian and OneAsia circuits.

“I never thought I was out of it, for any second. It’s a matter of staying in there, hitting good golf shots and controlling your own destiny,” the 2011 US Masters champion told the OneAsia Tour.

“I’ve played a lot of golf tournaments and done a lot of travelling in the past few months and it felt like I’ve been playing really good golf with no results, so it’s nice to have something finally go your way.”

Clarke was level with Schwartzel at

Photo of the day

nine-under standing on the 17th tee but the 2011 British Open champion struck a wayward tee -shot and bogeyed the par three hole.

The 45-year-old, who has not won since his sole major triumph, and defending champion Liang both failed to find a birdie on the last and finished with level par rounds of 72.

“I’m obviously disappointed with the day - it was another one of those days on the greens again where I couldn’t buy a putt from anywhere,” Clarke said. — Reuters

Nasser Al Attiyah performs during the Qatar Red Bull Rally Team Test in Fontjoncouse, France, on September 22, 2013 — www.redbull.com

Lexi triumphs in Malaysia KUALA LUMPUR: American teenager Lexi Thompson shot a 2-under 69 yesterday to win the LPGA Malaysia title by four strokes.

The 18-year-old, who won her second career LPGA title and first of the season, finished on 19-under 265 to end the South Korean dominance at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club.

Chinese star Feng Shanshan was second after a 67, while Ilhee Lee, the leader after the first two rounds, tied for third with second-ranked Suzann Pettersen another three strokes back.

Thompson also won the Navistar LPGA Classic 2011. “Words can’t even describe the feeling I have right now,” said Thompson. “It’s sort of like a rerun from Navistar, just having that feeling walking up to the 18th green, embracing the fans and just knowing you have the win under your belt.

“It’s very big, I have worked so hard between this whole last year since Navistar, it pays off and means so much to me.” South Korea’s Amy Yang was fifth, nine shots off the pace.

Sandra Gal of Germany, who shot a 66 in the final round, finished with a share of sixth alongside Chella Choi, Alison Walshe, Stacy Lewis, Beatriz Recari and Karine Icher.

Thompson began the day atop the leaderboard, leading nearest rival Lee of South Korea by three strokes, but the comfortable margin was down to two after the first nine as Lee made her move. Lee picked up two back-toback birdies on No. 7 and No. 8.

“She (Lee) made a few birdies in that stretch of holes that I missed a few birdies putts. It got really close,” said Thompson, who bogeyed the 2nd to drop a shot. “It was hard to grasp because I actually hit some really good putts and they just lipped out unfortunately.”

Pressure on Thompson eased a little when Lee bogeyed the ninth hole.

On the back nine, Thompson came back strongly and fired three straight birdies to put her back in a comfortable position. “Those were big. No. 10,

MALAYSIA: Lexi Thompson of the US smiles as she poses with her trophy after winning the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia 2013 golf tournament at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club. — AFP She added another birdie on 16th I just hit a close wedge shot and made like a 4-footer, but the birdie actually to close in on the title she went on to on 11 was really unexpected,” she said. clinch despite a bogey on the next.

“But those are always huge in a tour- Jimin Kang won the inaugural event nament, getting into the next hole in 2010 before compatriots Na Yeon and always pumping yourself up to and the top-ranked Inbee Park followed the next two years. — AP make more birdies out there.”

Victorious Kuwaiti shooters return home

KUWAIT: Kuwaiti shooters who participated in the 3rd Asian Clay Target Championship that was held in Kazakhstan returned to Kuwait with four gold, six silver and two bronze medals. The tournament witnessed the participation of a large number of Asian Shooting Confederation member states.

The delegation was received by President of the Arab and Kuwait Shooting Associations Eng. Duaij Khalaf AlOtaibi, Deputy president of Kuwait Shooting Sport Federation Mohammad Mustafa Karam, Secretary General of Kuwait and Arab Shooting Federations Obaid Munahi AlOsaimi. Eng. Duaij Al-Otaibi said “we are very happy with

this significant achievement during the 3rd Asian Clay Target Shooting Tournament in Kazakhstan, adding that as KSF we are happy to receive the champions. He said that on the occasion of Eid Al-Adha, we, on behalf of the shooting community congratulate HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah AlAhmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, HH the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber, HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak and the Kuwaiti people.

He said they dedicate this achievement to HH the Amir and Kuwait people and hope Kuwait shooting continue its outstanding performance and represent Kuwait honorably in the Asian and international levels. He said the achievement of our shooters is not new to them but what is new is that the juniors won several medals including gold, and

they represent the back up of well established shooters such as Fuhaid Al-Daihani and Abdallah Al-Rashidi.

Al-Otaibi thanked shooters for their achievements and said the board of directors will honor the winners during the tournament of HH the Crown Prince at the end of this month and the start of the new shooting season in Kuwait.

Shooter Shahad Al-Hawal said her competition was very fierce and had to go through several rounds to reach the finals before winning the silver medal in the women’s trap event. She said preparations were very good and a training camp was held at the Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Olympic Shooting Complex. She said this tournament is the start of several others that are soon to be held. Meanwhile, Olympian Fuhaid Al-Daihani dedicated the win to HH the

Amir, HH the Crown Prince and the Kuwait people. He said the tournament was characterized by the participation of a large number of shooters and was also characterized by the outstanding performance of the Indian team in the trap and the Kuwaiti team in the double trap events. He said the Indians took first place in the Grand Prix and the Asian Championship. He added that in the individual events we were able to snatch the medals from the lion’s den especially that the Indian team was extremely ready.

He said though the Chinese were present, their performance was not up to what was expected, and the outstanding performance of the Indian and Kuwaiti teams kept the Chinese at bay. He said this is supposed to be a trial for the upcoming world cup tournament.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2013

S P ORTS

Rock-steady S Africa face unpredictable Pakistan ABU DHABI: World number one South Africa will hold most of the aces against an erratic and unpredictable Pakistan when the teams open a two-Test series from today.

Graeme Smith’s Proteas have dominated the five-day format and are unbeaten in a Test series since losing to Sri Lanka in 2006.

Their record against sub-continent teams is particularly impressive as they have lost only four out of their last 20 Tests against such opposition and just once in an away series.

South Africa have beaten Pakistan in 11 of their 21 Tests, losing only three and drawing the remaining seven.

Pakistan’s only series win came way back in 2003 on home ground. Smith’s men routed Pakistan 3-0 when the two teams met in South Africa earlier this year, exposing their rivals’ fragile batting through pacemen Dale Steyn (20 wickets) and Vernon Philander (15).

Even the dusty and dry pitches of the United Arab Emirates, where Pakistan have been forced to play their home matches since the 2009 terror attack on a Sri Lankan team bus, hold no fears for the South Africans. They drew a two-Test series in the UAE in 2010 with Jacques Kallis hitting successive hundreds, AB de Villiers notching South Africa’s then highest score of 278 not out and Smith and Hashim Amla also scoring centuries.

They blunted Saeed Ajmal so well that Pakistan were forced to leave out the ace spinner after he got only three wickets in the first Test in Dubai.

Smith, who returns to international cricket following an ankle injury in March, believes his side are ready for all possibilities. “We expect the wickets to spin, we expect the worst in that regard, and know that how we handle Ajmal could be the key,” said Smith.

Pakistan have also named left-arm spinners Abdur Rehman and Zulfiqar Babar,

who may make his Test debut at 34, if they play three spinners.

Pakistan have only won one of their last eight Tests since Dav Whatmore took over as coach last year and have slipped to sixth in the Test rankings after an embarrassing defeat against Zimbabwe last month. But Misbah-ul Haq’s men can take solace from their 3-0 rout of then world number one England in the UAE last year.

If Pakistan wants to repeat that triumph their sloppy batting needs a huge improvement and senior players like Misbah and Younis Khan must continue taking the responsibility.

Pakistan were shot out for their lowest Test score of 49 at Johannesburg in February this year and failed to dominate a novice Zimbabwe attack.

Pakistan’s pre-series build up was also chaotic as they delayed announcing their squad and then named only 12 players, picking the remaining three from the tour match against South Africa which ended on Thursday. Their top-order could be easy prey for the South African pacemen-out of three openers, only Khurram Manzoor has played Tests (nine), while Ahmed Shehzad and Shan Masood have yet to play the longer version of the game.

South Africa (from): Graeme Smith (capt), Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Dean Elgar, Imran Tahir, Jacques Kallis, Rory Kleinveldt, Morne Morkel, Alviro Petersen, Robin Peterson, Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn, Thami Tsolekile.

Pakistan (from): Khurram Manzoor, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), Umar Amin, Adnan Akmal, Saeed Ajmal, Zulfiqar Babar, Abdur Rehman, Junaid Khan, Mohammad Irfan, Rahat Ali, Asad Shafiq, Shan Masood, Ahmed Shehzad Umpires: Rod Tucker (AUS) and Paul Reiffel (AUS) Third Umpire: Ian Gould (ENG) Match referee: David Boon (AUS). — AFP

CHITTAGONG: Bangladesh batsman Mominul Haque (center) plays a shot as New Zealand wicketkeeper B J Walting (left) and cricketer Ross Taylor (right) look on during the fifth and final day of the first cricket Test match. — AFP

Bangladesh’s Gazi grabs hat-trick as Test drawn CHITTAGONG: Bangladesh’s Sohag Gazi followed a maiden Test century with a hat-trick to light up the final stages of the first Test against New Zealand, which ended in a draw in Chittagong yesterday.

The 22-year- old off-spinner had Corey Anderson leg-before, Bradley-John Watling caught behind and Doug Bracewell caught in the slips off successive balls at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury stadium.

Gazi’s hat-trick, which gave him his sixth wicket in the innings, saw the Black Caps slump from 260-4 to 260-7 in their second knock after lunch on the fifth and final day.

The tourists declared the innings closed at 287-7, leaving Bangladesh a target of 256 runs in a minimum of 45 overs to win the Test and take the lead in the two-match series.

The hosts showed no appetite to chase the stiff target and ended play on 173-3 in the 49th over, with Shakib Al Hasan unbeaten on 50 and newcomer Mominul Haque on 22.

Gazi, who hit an unbeaten 101 batting at number eight on Saturday, joined Alok Kapali as only the second Bangladesh bowler to claim a Test hat-trick.

K apali had achieved the feat against Pakistan in Peshawar in 2003 when he dismissed tailenders Shabbir Ahmed, Danish Kaneria and Umar Gul in three consecutive deliveries.

“This was obviously a very good Test match for me, it has made me believe I belong to this level,” said Gazi. “I will go into the next match with a lot of self-confidence.”

Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim said his team, ranked at the bottom of the table at number 10, dominated a major part of the match.

“We were hungry to prove ourselves since we do not get many opportunities to play Tests,” he said. “Our batting effort in the first

innings was excellent.

“Mominul’s centur y on debut was ver y heartening, and one just can’t praise Gazi enough. A hundred and a hat-trick in the same game is something one can only dream about.”

New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum said it was a tough outing for the bowlers, but was pleased the batsmen showed good form, especially first-innings century-makers Watling and Kane Williamson.

“The wicket was not an easy one but Watling was just outstanding and I was very happy the way Kane played. We look forward to putting up a better show in the second Test.”

The draw loomed after New Zealand made 469 in their first innings and Bangladesh replied with 501 on a newly-laid pitch that provided no assistance to the bowlers.

Gazi, playing only his seventh Test, claimed all the six wickets to fall on the final day to finish with six for 77 in 26 overs.

Bangladesh have yet to win a Test against New Zealand, having lost eight and drawn one of their nine previous matches against the Black Caps. The second Test will be played in Dhaka from October 21 to 25, followed by three one -day internationals and one Twenty20 match. — AFP

SCOREBOARD CHITTAGONG: Final scoreboard of the first Test between Bangladesh and New Zealand which ended in a draw at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury stadium in Chittagong yesterday: New Zealand 1st innings: 469 (K. Williamson 114, BJ Watling 103, P. Fulton 73, Abdur Razzak 3-147) Bangladesh 1st innings 501 (Mominul Haque 181, Sohag Gazi 101 not out, D. Bracewell 3-96, C. Anderson 2-34) New Zealand 2nd innings (overnight 117-1): P. Fulton lbw b Gazi 59 H. Rutherford lbw b Nasir 32 K. Williamson c Anamul b Gazi 74 R. Taylor not out 54 B. McCullum b Gazi 22 C. Anderson lbw b Gazi 8 BJ Watling c Rahim b Gazi 0 D. Bracewell c Shakib b Gazi 0 I. Sodhi not out 22 Extras: (b11, lb4, nb1) 16 Total (for seven wickets declared, 90 overs) 287 Fall of wickets: 1-48 (Ruther ford), 2-149 (Fulton), 3-200 ( Williamson), 4-250 (McCullum), 5-260 (Anderson), 6-260 (Watling), 7-260 (Bracewell).

Bowling: Razzak 32-5-116-0, Rubel 6-0-21-0

(nb1), Gazi 26-4-77-6, Shakib 9-1-19-0, Nasir 9-4-20-1, Robiul 4-1-9-0, Mominul 4-0-10-0 Bangladesh 2nd innings: Tamim Iqbal c Williamson b Martin 46 Anamul Haque c Anderson b Martin 18 Marshall Ayub lbw b Sodhi 31 Mominul Haque not out 22 Shakib Al Hasan not out 50 Extras: (b2, nb4) 6 Total (for three wickets, 48.2 overs) 173 Fall of wickets: 1-39 (Anamul), 2-99 (Tamim), 3101 (Ayub).

Bowling: Boult 4-1-9-0, Bracewell 5-0-14-0, Anderson 2-2-0-0, Williamson 10-3-24-0, Martin 16-4-62-2 (nb4), Sodhi 10.2-1-57-1, Taylor 1-0-5-0.

Match drawn.

Texas defeat Oklahoma CHICAGO: Rita Jeptoo of Kenya wins the women’s race at the 2013 Bank of America Chicago Marathon in 2:19:57. — AFP

Kimetto wins Chicago Marathon CHICAGO: Dennis Kimetto of Kenya broke the course record yesterday in capturing the Chicago Marathon, and compatriot Rita Jeptoo was the women’s winner in the first major marathon in the United States since the Boston bombings.

Kimetto finished in 2 hours, 3 minutes, 45 seconds, leading a 1-2-3 finish for Kenyan men. He beat the mark of 2:04:38 set by Ethiopia’s Tsegaye Kebede last year.

He pulled away from Emannuel Mutai over the last few miles and was all alone with both arms raised as he crossed the finish line.

It was his second major victory this year to go with a win at Tokyo in February. Mutai (2:03:52), the 2011 London winner, also beat Kebede’s time but finished seven seconds off the lead. Sammy Kitwara (2:05:16) was third.

Jeptoo followed up her victory at Boston by easily taking the women’s raise, finishing in 2:19:57 after losing in a sprint a year ago. There was no one near Jeptoo as she turned into Grant Park, wearing a wide grin and waving to the crowd.

Jemima Sumgong Jelegat of Kenya (2:20:48) was second, followed by Maria Konovalova of Russia (2:22:46). The winners each earned $100,000. Kimetto gets an additional $75,000 for the course record, while Jeptoo gets another $40,000 for finishing under 2:20:00. — AP

CHICAGO: Dennis Kimetto of Kenya wins the 2013 Bank of America Chicago Marathon in 2:03:45. — AFP

OKLAHOMA: Texas snapped its losing streak in the Red River Rivalry by beating Oklahoma and Missouri got its first signature win in the Southeastern Conference by beating Georgia in Saturday’s college football action.

At the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, the Longhorns (4-2, 3-0 Big 12) ended Oklahoma’s three-game winning streak in the rivalry by winning 36-20, giving coach Mack Brown at least a temporary reprieve from all the gloomy talk about his future.

Brown insisted the victory was special for what it was — finally a win for this senior group over Oklahoma (5-1, 2-1), a 3-0 start in Big 12 play and the possibility of a conference title and BCS game still in their future.

Missouri (6-0, 2-0 SEC) held off a late rally by Georgia (4-2, 3-1), who were playing without a half-dozen key injured players, and won 41-26.

The Bulldogs closed with two late touchdowns after quarterback James Franklin left with a shoulder injury that will keep him out at least next week at home against Florida and replacement Aaron Murray took over. Top-ranked Alabama got two running touchdowns from both T.J. Yeldon and Kenyan Drake as the Crimson Tide blew out Kentucky 48-7.

Oregon’s Marcus Mariota threw for 366 yards and three touchdowns, added another 88 yards and a touchdown rushing, as the Ducks won their 10th straight over Washington, taking it 45-24.

Clemson’s Tajh Boyd ran for the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter and defensive end Vic Beasley followed with a 13-yard fumble recovery score to lift the Tigers to a 24-14 win over Boston College, staying undefeated and on track for next week’s Atlantic Coast Conference showdown with Florida State.

Utah’s defense made a goal-line stand in the final minute and Dres Anderson scored twice, helping the Utes to their biggest upset at home, defeating Stanford 27-21.

Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel threw for 346 yards and ran for two touchdowns to lead the Aggies to a 41-38 win over Mississippi.

Louisiana State’s Jeremy Hill rushed for 121 yards and Zach Mettenberger passed for 152 as the Tigers beat Florida 17-6. — AP

COLLEGE STATION: TJ Yeldon No. 4 of the Alabama Crimson Tide runs against Texas A&M Aggies during the game at Kyle Field. — AFP

MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2013

S P ORT S

Points record gives Alonso something to celebrate SUZUKA: Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso took more comfort in knocking Michael Schumacher off his perch as Formula One’s all-time top points scorer yesterday than in keeping the championship mathematically open for two more weeks.

The Spaniard’s fourth place in the Japanese Grand Prix meant Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel, winner for the fifth race in a row and now 90 points clear with four rounds left, would have to wait until India on Oct. 27 to celebrate his fourth successive title. The result also lifted Alonso’s career points tally to 1,571 five more

than seven times world champion Michael Schumacher managed to accumulate.

The record may be scorned by the sport’s historians, given the change in scoring systems over the years and far greater number of races in a season, but Alonso was not about to overlook the chance to be happy about something. “Today they told me I have the record for the most amount of points in F1 history, so it’s a happy day - the leading points scorer in F1 is something great,” he told reporters. “In six years time when someone will overtake me, no-one will

remember the points (systems). They will only celebrate they are first in history. “So it’s my time to celebrate, my time to enjoy hopefully for many years,” said Alonso. Formula One awarded eight points for a win in the early days with only the top five scoring.

From 1991, the winner collected 10 points and in 2010 that was increased to 25 with the top 10 finishers all scoring. Schumacher won 91 races in a career running from 1991 to 2012, with a break from the end of 2006 to 2010, while double world champion Alonso has 32 career wins since he made his debut in

2001. Alonso had little to crow about after Sunday’s race, with Ferrari again outpaced by the Red Bulls and the Lotus of Frenchman Romain Grosjean.

In his mind, the title has already been won by Vettel and the battle now is to keep Ferrari in second place and ahead of Mercedes and Lotus.

“I was always behind someone but the top three were always too strong for us. Even without the traffic, I think the podium was already decided,” said Alonso. “Even if Sebastian retires in all four races I need to win them all.” — Reuters

Vettel grabs Japan GP

ZARAGOZA: Spanish matador El Cordobes is gored by a bull during a bullfight at La Misericordia bullring during El Pilar Feria in Zaragoza. — AFP

Int’l Open football tournament to kick off during Eid holidays KUWAIT: After conducting the Int’l Open football tournament successfully for the last two years, Real Betalbatim Football Club is all geared up once again for the 3rd edition, scheduled on Oct 16, 2013 during the Eid Holidays (Ground to intimated via Facebook).

The Tournament is organized in fond memory of Late Sheikha Huda Bader Mohammed Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, and is a much awaited feature in the expatriate football circuits in Kuwait & GCC. Last year a total of 24 teams participated in the football extravaganza and once again it was a Dubai based Team, Siolim United who took flight with the prestigious trophy to the United Arab Emirates to add to their collection.

Among others who shone during the tournament were Vanxim Divar and Aldona United from Dubai & Goa Maroons and Veterans United from Kuwait. This year also

24 Teams will be participating in this prestigious Tournament and a stiff competition is awaited between Dubai & Kuwait Teams.

Teams vying for the glittering Trophy and valuable prizes this year will include the Champions of last year Siolim United, strong contenders Aldona United and new outfits Emirates Goan (EGSCC) and FC Bardez from Dubai and around 20 renowned Teams from Kuwait namely Santos United, AVC Goa Maroons, Real Betalbatim, Don Bosco, DHL FC, Veterans United, United Friends, Fahaheel Brothers and Kuwait Goans Association (KGA) among other teams.

Real Betalbatim FC looks forward to your presence as a large holiday crowd is expected to witness this tournament. To add spice to the tournament two exhibition matches will be held for the first time in the history of Kuwait, one for the Ladies and other for Children (Boys).

SUZUKA: Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel won the Japanese Grand Prix yesterday but was made to wait for his fourth successive Formula One title after Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso finished fourth.

The 26-year-old German’s fourth win at Suzuka in the last five years left him with a lead of 90 points over Alonso with four races, and a maximum 100 points, remaining. The next up is India on Oct. 27. Vettel’s Australian team mate Mark Webber, who had started on pole position, finished 7.1 seconds behind in a Red Bull onetwo with Frenchman Romain Grosjean taking third place for Lotus on a sunny afternoon at the Honda-owned track.

“Ichiban (first), Ichiban,” Vettel shouted in Japanese over the team radio, whooping in delight after taking the chequered flag at the end of a race that hinged on his ability to do two stops to Webber’s three. “Great job, thanks a lot for bringing the car back, unbelievable. You’re the best team in the world. Thank you very much boys, I love you.”

It was Vettel’s fifth win in a row, ninth in 15 races this season and 35th of his career. Asked on the podium about the championship, with the passionate crowd roaring in approval, he added: “Obviously we have a very good gap but we still keep pushing... it looks very good at this stage but it’s not over until its over.”

Alonso, who became Formula One’s leading all-time points scorer, had no illusions about his chances. “Even if Vettel doesn’t finish all of the races I need to win nearly all (of them), so it’s a matter of time,” said the Spaniard.

Webber always knew he was going to have a battle on his hands with his team mate but it was Grosjean who seized the lead with a storming start from fourth while both Red Bull drivers were slow to react. Vettel made contact with Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes, with the Briton first suffering a puncture that sent him to the back of the field and then retiring.

“The floor was destroyed... I was a second and a half to two seconds off the pace and the car was pulling to the right. It’s a good job they pulled me in,” said the 2008 world champion.

The Red Bull emerged unscathed, with the team reassuring a concerned Vettel, and the German settled into third place at the end of the opening lap. “A horrible start and then a fantastic comeback,” declared the beaming Vettel, who took the lead for the first time on lap 13 after Grosjean and Webber had pitted.

The lead changed between the three over the race according to pitstops with Webber making his final stop 11 laps before the finish.

The Australian had hoped to claw back the deficit but could not get past Grosjean until the penultimate lap, by which time Vettel was nine seconds clear and out of reach.

“Mark was going through the tyres a bit quicker and getting into trouble earlier,” said Red Bull principal Christian Horner. “It made a huge amount of pressure on the two-stop and would have been very difficult to beat Grosjean so we

SUZUKA: Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel of Germany holds up the trophy to celebrate his victory during the awarding ceremony of the Formula One Japanese Grand Prix. — AFP switched from two to three.

“Unfortunately we lost too much time at the end there behind Grosjean for him to have a crack at Sebastian but he (Vettel) just made the tyres last extremely well.”

Kimi Raikkonen was fifth for Lotus with Nico Hulkenberg sixth in the Sauber. Sauber’s Mexican

Esteban Gutierrez became the first rookie driver to score a point this season with seventh place for Sauber. Nico Rosberg put some points on the board for Mercedes, who slipped further behind Ferrari in third place in the championship, with Britain’s Jenson Button ninth for McLaren.

Ferrari’s Felipe Massa was 10th. — Reuters

Cameroon goalkeeper foils Tunisia SEPANG: MotoGP rider Dani Pedrosa of Spain lifts up his trophy on the podium after winning the Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix. — AP

Pedrosa bags Malaysia GP MALAYSIA: Spain’s Dani Pedrosa won the Malaysian Grand Prix for the second year in a row yesterday but his compatriot Marc Marquez finished second to move to the brink of clinching the MotoGP title in his rookie season.

Pedrosa, nursing a badly injured hip from a crash he blamed on a collision with Marquez that ended his race in Aragon two weeks ago, made a point to his Honda team mate with a dominant ride to claim his third victory of the season.

Marquez, though, prevailed in a fierce battle with his closest title rival, world champion Jorge Lorenzo, and passed the Yamaha rider with 11 laps remaining to claim the 20 points awarded for second place. Victory for Marquez next week at Phillip Island in Australia combined with anything worse than second place for Lorenzo, who finished third ahead of Valentino Rossi, would hand the 20-yearold the world title with two races to spare.

Marquez said claiming the points for the championship race at the sweeping Sepang International Circuit had been more important than pushing for a seventh victory of the season.

“We had a great battle with Jorge and Dani opened up this gap,” he said. “And when I overtook Jorge, I tried to close this gap but it was too much risk. “So I said, ‘Okay, I will finish second, I will lead with 43 points and that is enough after

the Malaysian Grand Prix’.”

With three rounds to go and a maximum of 75 points up for grabs, Marquez leads the riders’ standings on 298 points with Lorenzo second on 255 and Pedrosa third with 244.

Marquez was handed a third penalty point of the season for his part in the Aragon collision but Pedrosa still clearly felt he had something to prove and raced off the second row past the polesitter at the start. Lorenzo, aware that he would become less competitive against his compatriots on the Hondas as the race progressed, made an even better start and led until he was overtaken by Pedrosa on lap five.

Marquez almost followed his team mate through but Lorenzo held his ground in a ding-dong battle until lap nine, when the championship leader came storming up the inside.

By this time, though, Pedrosa had already established a strong lead and he crossed the line an impressive 2.757 seconds ahead of the field.

“Great feeling to be back and to win this race after the huge crash, physically it was very hard,” said the 28-year-old. “It was not an easy week, I wasn’t really able to get out of bed but came back strong to win this one for my fans and for my team. “It’s a little bit of a shame because I had very strong pace in Aragon too, we could have won but unfortunately I crashed.” — Reuters

JOHANNESBURG: Former Liverpool goalkeeper Charles Itandje made a string of superb saves to help Cameroon force a 0-0 World Cup Africa play-off draw in Tunisia yesterday.

Given a second chance after Cape Verde were disqualified, the Tunisians attacked relentlessly in the early stages only to be foiled by the 30-year-old Franceborn shot-stopper.

Cameroon captain Samuel Eto’o, back after a shortlived retirement, was always a threat in the first leg of a tie offering a ticket to the 2014 finals in Brazil.

The teams, who boast 10 World Cup appearances between them, clash again in the second leg in Yaounde on November 17 with the odds favouring the ‘Indomitable Lions’.

Tunisia flew out of the starting blocks with Amine Chermiti having a shot blocked by Itandje with just 10 seconds gone at Stade Olympique on the outskirts of Tunis. Houcine Ragued and Chermiti again went close as the ‘Carthage Eagles’ sought an early breakthrough while Eto’o saw his long-range shot comfortably saved at the other end.

Itandje had to be at his acrobatic best on 17 minutes, pushing over a dipping medium-range drive from Wissem Ben Yahia. There was no rest for the Cameroon shot-stopper, this time keeping out a Chermiti header as Tunisia used the flanks to create chances. Eto’o was the victim of a two-foot lunge from behind by Sameh Derbaly and recovered to later cut the ball back for Jean Makoun, who should have done better than fire wide. Substitute Ben Fakhreddine Youssef and Pierre Webo squandered good chances in a less frenetic second half. Emmanuel Emenike scored both goals as Nigeria triumphed 2-1 in Ethiopia to all but seal a fifth World Cup appearance.

His fierce drive from outside the box brought the ‘Super Eagles’ level midway through the second half before calmly converting a last-minute penalty.

Ethiopian Girma Adane wasted several good firsthalf chances and Salahdin Ahmed had a shot cleared off the line by Godfrey Oboabona.

The ‘Waliya Antelopes’ went ahead early in the second half when Nigeria goalkeeper and captain Vincent Enyeama caught a harmless Behailu Assefa cross behind the goal-line. Ethiopia caused the shock of the mini-league previous stage, winning a group in which 2010 World Cup hosts South Africa were top seeds.

Burkina Faso kept alive hopes of a first World Cup appearance through a controversial 3-2 victory over Algeria in Ouagadougou Saturday. The late winner came from an Aristide Bance penalty that television replays suggested should not have been awarded.

Essaid Belkalem had his arms behind his back when the ball struck him on the chest, but the Zambian referee awarded a spot-kick for hand-ball.

Bance, who stood out with his dyed blond mohawk hairstyle, was a relieved match-winner as he had a first-

TUNIS: Tunisian striker Amine Chermiti (right) vies for the ball against Cameroon�s defender Ndoubena Nkoulou (3) during the FIFA World Cup qualification match. —AFP half penalty saved by goalkeeper Adi Mbolhi.

Midfielder Jonathan Pitroipa, voted the best player at the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, was outstanding and broke the deadlock just before half-time.

Sofiane Feghouli equalised early in the second half, Djakaridja Kone put the ‘Stallions’ ahead a second time and Carl Medjani brought the ‘Desert Foxes’ level again. Chelsea old boys Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou were among the Ivory Coast scorers in a 3-1 Abidjan triumph over Senegal. Gervinho, another former English Premier League performer who moved from Arsenal to Roma in mid-year, played a part in all

the Ivorian goals. A foul on him allowed captain Drogba to convert a penalty, and his cross forced Lamine Sane to concede an own goal with only 14 minutes gone.

Kalou was put through by a superb Gervinho pass five minutes after half-time and he fired past Bouna Coundoul to suggest a rout was in prospect.But Senegal had the final say, Papiss Cisse pouncing on a loose ball to fire home from close range six minutes into additional time. Ghana host Egypt Tuesday in a much-anticipated final first-leg fixture and the return matches will be staged in mid-November. — AFP

Kimetto wins Chicago Marathon

MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2013

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Vettel grabs Japan GP

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Bangladesh’s Gazi grabs hat-trick as Test drawn

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SHANGHAI: Novak Djokovic of Serbia (right) celebrates with the winner’s trophy after defeating Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina (left) during their men’s singles final at the Shanghai Masters 1000 tennis tournament. — AFP

Djokovic captures Shanghai Masters SHANGHAI: Novak Djokovic maintained his dominance in China by holding off Juan Martin del Potro 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (3) yesterday to capture a second Shanghai Masters title and extend his winning streak in the country to 20 consecutive matches.

The Serb completed a back-to-back sweep of titles at the China Open in Beijing and the Shanghai Masters for the second straight year.

He’s now captured seven titles overall in China - the most he’s won in any country.

Djokovic had to overcome a strong challenge from del Potro, who fended off two match points late in the third set, but couldn’t put any pressure on Djokovic’s serve down the stretch and appeared to fade in the tiebreaker.

“He’s a big fighter. All the way up to the last point, I don’t know if I’m going to win the match,” Djokovic said. “His forehand is one of the best in the game, one of the best I’ve ever

played against. It’s a huge weapon and once it’s on, it’s very dangerous.”

For Djokovic, the title has added significance coming just days after he relinquished his top ranking to Rafael Nadal, who lost to del Potro in the semifinals. He can’t retake the top spot this week, but Djokovic has been focused on finishing the year strongly to stay within striking distance.

“Considering the rankings, I put myself in a better position right now with back to back wins,” the six-time Grand Slam winner said.

“But the fact that if I would win, I would put myself in a better position, did not affect my motivation. My motivation is there always, especially when I’m playing finals of such a big event.” It was a tough loss for del Potro, who was trying to win his maiden Masters title at his third attempt. He was coming off a title last week at the Japan Open in Tokyo, and he got

his first win over Nadal in four years in the semifinals in Shanghai.

Del Potro overpowered Nadal so completely in that match, the Spaniard later said: “Very few times I played against a player with a level like today.”

Del Potro served notice, however, that he’s fully fit and confident again after a wrist injury nearly derailed his career after his breakthrough win at the 2009 U.S. Open.

He’s back up to the No. 5 ranking - his highest in three years - and has beaten Djokovic, Nadal and Andy Murray this year. He also scored one of the biggest wins of his career over Djokovic at the London Olympics last year, where he beat the Serb in the bronze medal match.

“I think I’m playing even better than many years ago,” he said. “I got good things on my career this year. I couldn’t win a Grand Slam

like I did in 2009, but I reach finals in the 1000 (level) Masters. I already win three tournaments. I beat the top guys, which is fantastic for me.”

The match looked like it might be a runaway win for Djokovic early on as he raced out to a 5-0 lead in the first set by dictating play with precise groundstrokes and keeping a sluggish del Potro on the defensive. But the momentum shifted in the second set when del Potro began connecting on his serve and cracking the same forehand winners he used to sweep Nadal off the court in straight sets in the previous round.

He broke Djokovic to take an early lead, then played a magnificent game to save three break points to hold for 5-2 before closing out the set. The Argentine appeared to tire slightly as the third set wore on. During one changeover, the chair umpire, Damien

Stosur rallies past Bouchard to clinch Japan Open title

Kerber lifts Linz crown LINZ: Top-seeded Angelique Kerber won her first WTA title of the season and third overall by defeating two-time former champion Ana Ivanovic 6-4, 7-6 (6) at the Generali Ladies yesterday.

It was Kerber’s third final of the year after losing to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia in Monterrey in April and to Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic in Tokyo two weeks ago. The 10th-ranked German improved her record in finals to 3-5.

“This is an incredible feeling,” said Kerber, who qualified for the season-ending WTA Championships by reaching the semifinals this week. “This victory means a lot to me. I will go to the ‘masters’ with lots of confidence now.”

Kerber didn’t initially intend to play in Linz but was given a late wildcard entry to replace Kvitova after the former Wimbledon champion pulled out with a back injury.

The former top-ranked Ivanovic, who won the event in 2008 and ‘10, appeared in her first final since winning her 11th career title in Bali, Indonesia, in November 2011.

“It was a real close final,” said Kerber, who missed three match points at 5-3 in the second set. “I became a bit twitchy toward the end. My thoughts were elsewhere during these match points. Later I managed to focus on each point again.”

Ivanovic battled back from two breaks down to level at 4-4 in the opening set before dropping her serve for a third time.

The third-seeded Serb made another comeback in the second set.

After denying Kerber victory at 5-3, she missed two set points while leading 6-5 and two more in the tiebreaker as the German reeled off four straight points to close out the victory. “I was too passive and didn’t find my rhythm,” Ivanovic said. “I got my chances but I couldn’t take them.” — AP

Dumusois, warned him that he needed to speed up play between points. “Even after a long rally?” Del Potro asked, looking up wearily. Dumusois nodded yes.

Djokovic had two match points on del Potro’s serve at 4-5 in the set, but the Argentine saved them both. The Serb then pulled away in the tiebreaker by hitting a forehand winner to finish off a 24-shot rally to take a 4-2 lead, leaving del Potro unable to manage another comeback. During the trophy presentation, Djokovic tried to console an obviously disappointed del Potro, one of his better friends on the tour. “You’re a great person and an even better player on the court,” Djokovic said. “I’m sorry you lost today. You deserve this trophy equally.” “What can I say, man, I’m trying to be nice to you,” he added, smiling, before giving the Argentine a hug. Del Potro later joked: “Now we are not too close.” — AP

LINZ: Germany’s Angelique Kerber poses with the trophy after winning her final match against Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic at the Generali Ladies tennis tournament. —AFP

JAPAN: Australia’s Sam Stosur fought back from a set down to claim the Japan Open for a second time yesterday and deny Canadian teenager Eugenie Bouchard her first WTA title.

The former U.S. Open champion beat her 19-year-old opponent 3-6 7-5 6-2 in Osaka to clinch the $250,000 hard court title, with her second of the year ensuring she has won more than once in a season for the first time.

The Australian wore down Bouchard with some booming forehands into an open court after pushing the Canadian out wide with a clever kick serve.

It was a fifth career title for the world number 20 and second in Osaka following a 2009 success. The fifth seeded Bouchard began her first WTA final confidently, breaking her 29-year-old opponent three times en route to taking the set 6-2.

The second set looked to be heading for a tiebreak at 5-5 but third seed Stosur stepped up her game, breaking the Canadian as she won seven of the next eight points to seal it 7-5.

Bouchard held serve to open the deciding set but Stosur again went on a run, claiming the next four games to open up a lead she would not relinquish to seal victory in two hours and 13 minutes.

“Eugenie was playing really well today. I just had to stick it out in the second set, and I’m pretty happy with how things went in the third,” Stosur said in an on court interview. “I love playing here. I love the site and the fans are great I always feel like I have lots and lots of support when I come to Osaka.” — Reuters

Business MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2013

Malaysia, UAE tie up to boost Islamic finance Page 22 Europe prepares to come clean on hidden bank losses Page 25

Cityscape Awards to honor world’s premier properties

Furloughed US workers pinching pennies

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IMF, World Bank seek new legitimacy New challenges as emerging economies muscle way onto center-stage WASHINGTON: The IMF and the World Bank held annual meetings this week in Washington under a cloud of financial constraints and questions about their legitimacy as bulwarks of the global economy. The 188-nation sibling institutions will turn 70 next year in a global economy less and less dominated by the United States and Europe, as Brazil, China, India and other emergingmarket economies muscle their way onto center-stage.

With all eyes fixed this week on the US budget crisis, the grand reception of the world’s finance leaders in the US capital spared the International Monetary Fund another uncomfortable debate on the damaging effects of the austerity it imposes, particularly in the euro-zone.

But the IMF’s imbalanced representation once again was glaringly clear: the emerging economies have complained for years that their relatively small voting rights in the institution insufficiently reflect their real power in the world economy. China, the world’s second-largest economy, has only slightly more weight than Italy at the IMF, which has been headed by a European since its creation in 1944.

A governance reform has been in the works for three years but its implementation has been blocked by the effective veto of the United States. IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde could only display her impotence in deploring once again that a “major member” had not yet approved the 2010 reform. But on Friday, she hammered home the point-saying “we must be even more representative and mirror these shifts”-while still having no way to twist the arm of the IMF’s largest stakeholder.

“That is clearly a longstanding problem,” said Jacob Kirkegaard of the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington. The IMF “is out of date,” he said. “It’s basically a credibility problem and it’s going to get worse over time.” The big emerging BRICS economies-Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africabrimming with impatience, have launched their counter-offensive: the creation of their own monetary fund.

The BRICS fund is expected to be finalized in 2014, Brazilian central bank chief Alexandre Tombini said Friday.

The stagnant reform process underscores “the deepened democratic deficit of the institution and the need for a profound transformation of the Fund,” Argentina’s finance minister, Hernan Lorenzino, said Saturday. Even

Austria’s National Bank Governor Ewald Nowotny, speaking as a representative of Austria, Turkey and six central and eastern European countries, said they were “disappointed about the slow progress of the reform.”

The countries “consider it important-not least for the legitimacy and credibility of the IMF-that the quota and governance reform is implemented within the agreed timeframe,” he added. Despite criticisms, the IMF still is a crucial crisis-fighter. Currently involved in four rescue programs in the euro-zone, it remains at the center of the global economic network for its role as guardian of budget orthodoxy.

The World Bank, the behemoth of development, is facing more pressing challenges.

Since taking the helm of the institution in July 2012, Bank President Jim Yong Kim has steered it toward the goal of ending extreme poverty by 2030 and a vast internal restructuring to fight compartmentalization and a “culture of fear” among staff.

“A development institution can’t operate effectively when its clients are confused” by its organization, he said. Ivory Coast Prime Minister Daniel Kablan Duncan said it was “courageous for them to look at things as they are,” pointing to certain “weights” on the Bank.

The anti-poverty bank is facing new competition in WASHINGTON: International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde (right) waves as she the development sphere, including from the private departs with Singaporean Minister for Finance Tharman Shanmugaratnam, who is also the chairman of the IMFC, sector, China and foundations, which threaten to reduce after a media availability, during the World Bank/IMF Annual Meetings at IMF headquarters. —AP its key turf in Africa.

And, in the coming months, it will be asking its member nations to donate to the International Development Association, the Bank’s fund for the poorest countries.

Kim, a physician, announced a diet budget for the DAEGU: OPEC’s current crude production is “adequate to the million bpd of crude last month, Mazroui said, but he declined Bank, seeking to trim the institution’s annual operating market” and there is no talk of the cartel changing its output tar- to reveal this month’s production level. OPEC’s September outbudget by $400 million to $4.6 billion in three years. get of 30 million barrels per day (bpd) when it meets in put was the lowest since October 2011, when the group Budgets for travel and facilities will be reduced, and the December, the UAE’s energy minister, Suhail bin Mohammed Al- pumped 29.81 million bpd, according to Reuters surveys, and Bank’s 10,000-strong worldwide workforce will not be Mazroui, said. leaves supply a mere 70,000 bpd above its output target of 30 spared. The Bank will “strategically review our staffing,” The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, million bpd. OPEC again lowered the forecast demand for its Kim said, in remarks likely to rattle staff. which pumps more than a third of the world’s oil, meets on Dec crude in the fourth quarter and 2014 in a monthly report on This new broad strategy received explicit support 4 in Vienna to decide whether to adjust its output target. “There Thursday, saying its production remained higher than next is no sign or something that we can tell you today to say we are year’s demand for its oil despite a plunge in Iraqi and Libyan from the United States on Friday, but may spark oppoincreasing or decreasing the quota,” Mazroui told Reuters in an output. Asked about the current level of oil prices, Mazroui said sition from some other member countries. “The quesinterview, referring to the December meeting. “But what is cer- around $100 a barrel was “fair and sustainable” for producers, tion it poses is crucial: How can it assure that it is more tain is we will ensure the market is well-supplied,” he said yester- and it did not harm the market. Brent crude rose above $117 in flexible without lowering quality standards? There’s day in the city of Daegu, about 300 km southeast of the South August on the disruption of Libyan supply and the prospect of going to be a lively debate among member countries,” Korean capital and the venue of this week’s World Energy US military action against Syria. In the past four weeks it has said Nicolas Mombrial of the Oxfam development Congress. The United Arab Emirates produced 2.7 million to 2.8 ranged between $107 and $112 a barrel. — Reuters group. — AFP

OPEC output adequate to the market: UAE

MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2013

BUSINESS

GASC faces no financing woes over wheat buys CAIRO: Egypt’s main state wheat-buying entity has no financing problems for global wheat purchases and all letters of credit to suppliers have been opened or are being processed, it said yesterday.

European traders in France and Germany had been speculating that financial problems were causing delays to the opening of letters of credit and could be the reason Egypt’s General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC) has been absent from the market in recent weeks. The economy of Egypt, the world’s biggest wheat importer, has been crippled by social and political turmoil since Hosni Mubarak was ousted as president in early 2011 and it has been supported in recent months by funding from several Gulf Arab states.

“All the letters of credit have been opened and the remaining ones will be opened right after the Eid vacation,” Mamdouh Abdel Fattah, the GASC vice chairman, told Reuters by telephone.

Most of the Arab world will be on holiday this week when the Eid Al-Adha festival starts. “There are no financing problems.

The reason we were absent from the market the past few weeks is because the prices were too high,” Abdel Fattah said.

“And the reason the tender was cancelled on Thursday is because we were surprised to find that the Russian and Romanian offers we got were $10 per ton higher than prices announced on the

Russian and Romanian screens.”

On Thursday GASC said it cancelled a tender in which it sought wheat for shipment between Nov. 21 and 30 because prices were too high. The cheapest offer was for 60,000 tons of Romanian wheat from Bunge at $274.64 a ton. It would have been Egypt’s eleventh international tender since February and the tenth since the removal of President Mohammed Morsi by a popular uprising backed by the army on July 3. Cairo opened letter of credits for October 1-10 shipments only on Thursday, two traders said. A senior trader also said that Egypt needs to import between one and one and a half million tons of wheat by the end the year, adding that this is not to build stocks but because the country is short of wheat.

Egypt usually buys about 10 million tons of wheat a year from international markets and uses a mixture of domestic and imported wheat for its subsidized bread program, which feeds millions of people. It reduced imports in the past year as Morsi’s government bet on a higher domestic crop. However, industry experts said the policy has left the country at least 900,000 tons short of the wheat needed for its subsidy program. Egypt is now targeting imports of 5 million to 5.5 million tons in the year to June 30, 2014, and has enough stocks to last until mid-February, supplies minister — Reuters

Malaysia, UAE tie up to boost Islamic finance Countries to strengthen economic ties KUALA LUMPUR: The central banks of Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates signed a pact to foster closer economic ties between the two countries, including in the area of Islamic finance. The pact signals stronger cooperation between the two financial hubs, which held a combined $181 billion in sharia-compliant banking assets as of 2011, despite growing competition for a share of Islamic business.

Governors of both central banks signed the

memorandum of understanding on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank annual meetings in Washington. It follows stronger cooperation between the Islamic finance centres, in particular the Gulf and Southeast Asian regions, despite traditional differences in the design and implementation of sharia-compliant financial products.

Both central banks are key backers of the Malaysia-based International Islamic Liquidity

Management Corp, an institution tasked with addressing a shortage of interbank lending products for Islamic banks. Last year, Malaysia’s securities commission revised its guidelines for screening equities that qualify for Islamic investment, moving them closer to the approach used in the Gulf. The global Islamic banking industry is expected to tip $1.3 trillion by year-end. It follows religious principles such as a ban on interest and pure monetary speculation. — Reuters

Senegal revives $200m sukuk plan, to launch in 2014 Senegal is reviving plans to issue its first Islamic bond through a 100 billion CFA franc ($200 million) sukuk program that would be launched next year, officials said. The Senegalese government would sell the sukuk in cooperation with the Jeddah-based Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), an affiliate of the Islamic Development Bank, the institutions said.

“This project is the beginning of an ambitious program which could lead to the financing of innovative infrastructure and energy projects through sukuk issuances,” a statement quoted Economy and Finance Minister Amadou Ba as saying. A sovereign sukuk from Senegal would be an important step in developing Islamic finance in subSaharan Africa; so far, sukuk issuance has been small. Gambia has been selling small amounts of Islamic debt for years and Nigeria’s Osun State last month sold a local currency sukuk worth $62 million.

Governments in countries including South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria and Senegal

have been considering sukuk issues as a way to attract cash-rich Islamic funds from the Gulf and southeast Asia. Senegal has been studying the possibility of an issue since at least 2011. Khaled Al-Aboodi, chief executive of the ICD, said the Senegalese sukuk would be the first of a series of regional programs that would be offered to West African states. The ICD, which promotes the economic development of its 51 member countries by financing private sector projects, has also been trying to expand the consumer base of Islamic finance in Africa by helping to establish institutions in countries such as Mali and Benin.

The Central Bank of West African States, which serves countries in the region, has in principle accepted that the Senegalese sukuk could be used in its repurchase operations, Aboodi said. This could make it an attractive investment for banks operating in the local money market. Citigroup would help to arrange the Senegalese issue, the statement said. — Reuters

Oman’s Bank Dhofar Q3 net profit falls DUBAI: Bank Dhofar, currently in talks to merge with smaller rival Bank Sohar, recorded a 10.8 percent decline in third-quarter net profit, Reuters calculated yesterday. Oman’s secondlargest bank by market value made a profit of 8.3 million rials ($21.6 million) in the three months to Sept. 30 compared to a profit of 9.3 million rials in the prior-year period, Reuters calculated from previous financial statements.

Two analysts polled by Reuters had estimated a quarterly profit of 9.2 million rials and 8 million rials respectively. Reuters calculated third-quarter profit from previous financial statements. Nine-month profit was reported as 49.1 million rials, according to a statement to the bourse, a significant jump on the 28.7 million rials Bank Dhofar made in the corresponding period of 2012. The profit hike was fuelled

by Oman’s Primary Court returning 26.1 million rials to Bank Dhofar in March after the country’s appeals court overturned a judgment relating

to a 2011 case involving Oman International Bank and Ali Redha Trading and Muttrah Holding over the ownership of 1,925,000 Bank Dhofar shares.

The move resulted in first-half net profit more than doubling over the same period of 2012. Despite the Q3 net profit decline, shares in Bank Dhofar closed Sunday 0.6 percent higher in light trading. The volume of shares traded on the wider Muscat bourse was also reduced due to much of the region celebrating the Eid Al-Adha holiday this week. Net loans and advances grew 13.7 percent to 1.89 billion rials from 1.66 billion rials at the end of Sept. 2012.

Deposits were also up over the same period, rising 19.3 percent year-on-year to 1.91 billion rials. In July, Bank Dhofar said it had approached Bank Sohar with a view to merging the two entities and creating Oman’s secondlargest bank, with the latter saying it would consider the move later that month. —Reuters

ROME: An Italian student lights a flare as others hold a banner reading “Schools pay the bills for the cracks of the country” as they demonstrate against education cuts in downtown Rome. — AFP

Algeria looks to industry to move ahead ALGIERS: Algeria’s disappointing economic performance, with its heavy reliance on oil and gas, is spurring a push to revive long-neglected industry as the way forward. Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal told business leaders and trade unionists Thursday that “reindustrialisation must be the engine of strong and healthy economic growth,” creating sustainable employment and a far greater share of GDP. “It’s the only way we can effectively break out of this vicious circle of dependence on hydrocarbons,” he added.

As it stands, oil and gas exports account for more than 95 percent of foreign currency earnings.

In contrast, economist Abdelatif Rebah says, the industrial sector accounts for only 4.0 percent of GDP, compared with around 25 percent in the mid 1980s. The sector has suffered from decades of under-investment, restructuring and downsizing, he explains. Algeria enjoyed an industrial boom in the 1970s, when investment multiplied 15-fold, according to Rebah, who says that between 1968 and 1980 investment averaged 45 percent of GDP. The country’s main industrial centres bloomed, with the construction of petrochemical plants, steelworks, a heavy goods vehicle plant and another for agricultural machinery.

Rebah says this created expertise in a range of areas and led to the creation of 1.4 million jobs, and came out of a political will to industrialize. Decades

on, Algerian leaders are now looking to the country’s industrial potential in the hope of kick-starting a revival, because despite its energy riches, the economy has underperformed in recent years, exacerbating social problems. At the moment, the country of 35 million people has an unemployment rate of 10 percent.

But that figure reaches 21.5 percent among Algeria’s youth. Overall, growth is expected to edge lower in 2013, from 3.3 percent last year to 3.1 percent, the International Monetary Fund forecast on Tuesday, as the all-important energy sector languishes and nothing fills the gap. Oil and gas export earnings fell 7.05 percent in the first half of 2013 from a year earlier. President Abdelaziz Bouteflika called last month for a “modern industrial base,” which “must involve” state support.

Smail Kouadria, an MP and member of the national workers union (UGTA), agrees that relaunching the national economy requires a revival of industry.

“We have no other choice,” he said, adding that this meant “returning to the approach of the 1970s, with a new vision.” And earlier this week, an industry leader said Algeria lacked economic vision, and “continued to navigate without a program.” Back in the heyday of Algeria’s economic policies, the industrial sector was 100 percent state-owned.

Today any revival will need the involvement of the

private sector, whether Algerian or foreign, to bring in new technologies and know-how.

But Algeria is widely seen to have an unattractive business climate, which remains a formidable obstacle. In the World Bank index that ranks the ease of doing business in 185 countries, Algeria dropped two places this year to 152. Deterrents to private-sector investment include the high cost of doing business, limited access to finance and limitations on foreign direct investment, with a maximum of only 49 percent foreign ownership of Algerian assets permitted, according to the IMF. “Algeria’s economy is insufficiently diversified and is growing below its potential; it remains heavily reliant on the hydrocarbon sector and public spending, while private-sector growth is lackluster,” the fund noted. Rebah believes “re-industrialization” should be driven by centralized state decisions with the intervention of public companies, and calls for a long-term plan combining incentives and coercive measures.

“The industry questions are too important for the future of the country to be left to the chaotic play of market forces and the whims of globalization.” But more than 50 years after independence from France and of reliance on its natural resources, it remains to be seen whether Algeria can wean itself off hydrocarbons and develop an economic model that raises general living standards. — AFP

EXCHANGE RATES Al-Muzaini Exchange Co.

UAE Exchange Centre WLL

ASIAN COUNTRIES Japanese Yen Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Srilankan Rupees Nepali Rupees Singapore Dollar Hongkong Dollar Bangladesh Taka Philippine Peso Thai Baht Irani Riyal Irani Riyal

2.878 4.650 2.672 2.163 2.924 231.500 36.588 3.642 6.582 9.072 0.271 0.273 GCC COUNTRIES

Saudi Riyal Qatari Riyal Omani Riyal Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham

75.684 77.982 737.170 753.820 77.292

COUNTRY Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc Euro US Dollar Sterling Pound Japanese Yen Bangladesh Taka Indian Rupee Sri Lankan Rupee Nepali Rupee Pakistani Rupee UAE Dirhams Bahraini Dinar Egyptian Pound Jordanian Dinar Omani Riyal Qatari Riyal Saudi Riyal

SELL DRAFT 271.01 278.70 318.39 388.05 282.80 458.26 2.98 3.639 4.578 2.158 2.868 2.666 77.06 752.70 41.03 402.49 735.46 78.09 75.54

SELL CASH 272.000 279.000 318.000 390.000 285.500 462.000 3.000 3.700 4.820 2.500 3.300 2.760 77.400 753.500 41.100 407.500 741.500 78.500 75.800

ARAB COUNTRIES Egyptian Pound - Cash Egyptian Pound - Transfer Yemen Riyal/for 1000 Tunisian Dinar Jordanian Dinar Lebanese Lira/for 1000 Syrian Lira Morocco Dirham

42.900 40.717 1.324 173.730 400.790 1.904 3.083 35.025

EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 283.700 Euro 390.000 Sterling Pound 458.350 Canadian dollar 279.510 Turkish lira 143.310 Swiss Franc 317.870 Australian Dollar 274.050 US Dollar Buying 282.500 GOLD 20 Gram 10 Gram 5 Gram

248.000 125.000 65.000

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd Rate for Transfer US Dollar Canadian Dollar Sterling Pound Euro Swiss Frank Bahrain Dinar UAE Dirhams Qatari Riyals Saudi Riyals Jordanian Dinar Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupees Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Pesso Cyprus pound Japanese Yen

Selling Rate 283.150 276.220 456.285 385.340 312.980 747.655 77.070 78.620 76.375 399.145 41.040 2.155 4.553 2.669 3.640 6.551 695.475 3.000

Thai Bhat Syrian Pound Nepalese Rupees Malaysian Ringgit

10.015 3.065 3.860 89.290

Singapore Dollar South African Rand Sri Lankan Rupee Taiwan Thai Baht

0.223432 0.022498 0.001827 0.009525 0.008703

0.229432 0.030998 0.002407 0.009705 0.009253

Bahraini Dinar Egyptian Pound Iranian Riyal Iraqi Dinar Jordanian Dinar Kuwaiti Dinar Lebanese Pound Moroccan Dirhams Nigerian Naira Omani Riyal Qatar Riyal Saudi Riyal Syrian Pound Tunisian Dinar Turkish Lira UAE Dirhams Yemeni Riyal

Arab 0.745268 0.038500 0.000078 0.000183 0.395501 1.0000000 0.000139 0.022687 0.001200 0.730072 0.077133 0.074937 0.001929 0.168969 0.140278 0.076178 0.001287

0.753268 0.041600 0.000080 0.000243 0.403001 1.0000000 0.000239 0.046687 0.001835 0.735752 0.078346 0.075637 0.002149 0.176969 0.147278 0.077327 0.001367

Bahrain Exchange Company COUNTRY SELL CASH Belgian Franc British Pound Czech Korune Danish Krone Euro Norwegian Krone Romanian Leu Slovakia Swedish Krona Swiss Franc Turkish Lira

SELLDRAFT Europe 0.007366 0.448723 0.006648 0.047494 0.379246 0.043353 0.081774 0.008124 0.039966 0.306721 0.140278

0.008366 0.457723 0.018648 0.052494 0.386746 0.048553 0.81774 0.018124 40.044966 0.316921 0.147278

Australian Dollar New Zealand Dollar

Australasia 0.259152 0.229085

0.270652 0.238565

Canadian Dollar US Dollars US Dollars Mint

America 0.268140 0.279300 0.279800

0.276640 0.283650 0.283650

Bangladesh Taka Chinese Yuan Hong Kong Dollar Indian Rupee Indonesian Rupiah Japanese Yen Kenyan Shilling Korean Won Malaysian Ringgit Nepalese Rupee Pakistan Rupee Philippine Peso Sierra Leone

Asia 0.003260 0.044844 0.034466 0.004365 0.000020 0.002825 0.003408 0.000253 0.085039 0.002937 0.002526 0.006415 0.000069

0.003860 0.048344 0.037216 0.004766 0.000026 0.003005 0.003408 0.000268 0.091039 0.003107 0.002806 0.006695 0.000075

Al Mulla Exchange CurrencyTransfer Rate (Per 1000) US Dollar Euro Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar Indian Rupee Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupee Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso Pakistan Rupee Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham Saudi Riyal *Rates are subject to change

283.150 386.700 454.100 275.750 4.635 41.075 2.161 3.645 6.570 2.670 754.150 77.150 75.600

MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2013

BUSINESS

IMF gives Jordan some wiggle room on reforms WASHINGTON: International Monetary Fund officials relaxed some fiscal and other targets for Jordan under its $2 billion loan program as the country struggles to deal with an influx of Syrian refugees and energy supply disruptions. The IMF officials on Saturday agreed to give Jordan about $258 million, its third tranche of aid under a three-year loan program started last year to help the Middle Eastern country speed up economic reforms and boost growth.

The IMF’s executive board must still sign off on the disbursal, which should happen in November.

Jordan will get each subsequent chunk of cash if the IMF decides it has sufficiently complied with the conditions of the program,

which include getting the government’s finances in order and cutting subsidies for electricity and fuel. An IMF seal of approval can also help mobilize support from other donors. The IMF had previously set a target for the government deficit and losses at the state-owned electricity firm NEPCO at 7.2 percent of GDP for next year, but agreed to relax it by about 1 percentage point in light of Jordan’s tough external environment, Kristina Kostial, IMF mission chief for Jordan, told reporters in a briefing.

The Fund also loosened targets for how quickly Jordan would have to raise electricity tariffs, she said, praising the government’s commitment to reforms. “Jordan has been really hit hard with exogenous shocks,”

Kostial said. “When I compare April with where we stand now, it’s, I think, even gotten tougher on Jordan,” she said. The IMF last reviewed Jordan’s program in April.

“Of course you have to acknowledge the financial realities, clearly, but we want to be as flexible as possible in accommodating these exogenous shocks,” she said.

Jordan has been hard-hit by the cost of an estimated half a million refugees fleeing the civil war in neighboring Syria and the influx has further squeezed the economy following a financial crisis last year.

Jordan, which imports 97 percent of its energy, has also seen purchase costs soar above $5 billion in the last two years - equivalent to about 15 percent of its gross domes-

tic product - after supplies of cheap Egyptian gas were disrupted by repeated blasts of a pipeline. The disruptions have left Jordan dependent on costly diesel and fuel oil, and the country is preparing a hike in electricity prices, a politically fraught move after street protests erupted last year over fuel subsidy cuts demanded by the IMF. However, there have also been signs of economic recovery with foreign reserves boosted to about $10.7 billion with an infusion of Gulf money, and with investors showing rising confidence in Jordan’s economy, officials have said.

Wealthy Gulf Arab states - Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have extended a combined $5 billion of project financing to Jordan to help the country

recover. Jordan is also planning to sell a USbacked Eurobond, though it has held off on issuing it due to the fiscal impasse in the United States that has spooked global markets.

“Technically everything is ready, that’s the only thing which is holding this off,” Kostial said, in reference to the government shutdown and the standoff in the US Congress.

“Otherwise this could have happened already,” she said. The IMF projects Jordan’s economy should grow between 3 and 3.5 percent over the next year, supported by Gulf money for new infrastructure projects and a solid tourism season. Inflation, which eased to 5 percent year-on-year in August, should also continue to fall. —Reuters

Airbus chief eyes overtaking Boeing in production by 2018 BERLIN: Airbus chief Fabrice Bregier says the European planemaker will overtake its US rival Boeing to become the world’s biggest producer within four or five years, in an interview with a German newspaper yesterday.

Bregier told Welt am Sonntag that Airbus would step up production through its new A320Neo and long-haul A350 models. “In 2017/2018 we will therefore again be able to gain the lead also in deliveries,” the Airbus chief executive said according to an extract of the interview to appear in German in yesterday’s edition. Airbus will deliver more than 600 aircraft this year and more next year, he said, adding that in terms of orders, it would also

WASHINGTON: Governor of the Banque de France Christian Noyer and French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici speak in a news conference during the World Bank/IMF Annual Meetings at IMF headquarters. —AP

Gulf Bank announces winners of Al-Danah daily draws KUWAIT: Gulf Bank held its Al-Danah daily draws on October 6, 2013, announcing the names of its winners for the week of September 29 to October 3. The Al-Danah daily draws include draws each working day for two prizes of KD1000 per winner.

The winners were: (Sunday 29/9): Hany Tohamy Rashed, Henriette Schoeman Menriette (Monday 30/9): Mohammed Maitham Abbas Anki, Muhannad Rabah Mustafa AlOmari (Tuesday 1/10): Fatma Abdulsatar Abdal, Mayasha Ali Qhlom Al-Qattan ( Wednesday 2/10): Abbas Fakhir Aldin Talwala, Naqeeb Hamed Mohammed Amin Ahmed (Thursday 3/10): Mohammad Gulzar Nawab Khan, Dr. Moayed Yousif Abdulwahab AlBassam Gulf Bank’s Al Danah 2013 draw lineup includes daily draws (2 winners per working day each receive KD1000), as well as

three draw prizes per quarter. The final draw will be held on the 9th January, 2014 announcing winners of KD50,000, KD250,000 and the Al-Danah Millionaire.

Gulf Bank’s Al-Danah allows customers to win cash prizes and simultaneously encourages them to save money. Chances increase the more money is deposited and the longer it is kept in the account.

Al-Danah also offers a number of unique services including the Al-Danah Deposit Only ATM card which helps account holders deposit their money at their convenience; as well as the Al-Danah calculator to help customers calculate their chances of becoming an Al-Danah winner.

To be part of the Al-Danah draws, customers can visit one of Gulf Bank’s 56 branches, transfer on line, or call the Customer Contact Center on 1805805 for assistance and guidance. Customers can also log on to www.e-gulfbank.com/aldana hwinners, to find out more about Al-Danah and who the winners are.

Hard road to world domination for Chinese firms BEIJING: In the global contest for business Chinese brands struggle to rival big Western and Japanese names, but some are now looking to reinvent their identities to overcome image and political hurdles. The world’s second largest economy does not have a single one of the world’s top 100 brands, as compiled by marketing consultancy Interbrand. And according to a survey by HD Trade Services, 94 percent of Americans are unable to name a single Chinese brand, with a third saying they would not buy one they k new to be Chinese.

“Brand China has many problemstransparency, ethical practices, treatment of employees, the quality of the products,” Richard Edelman, head of public relations giant Edelman told a World Economic Forum meeting in Dalian. “And unfortunately the China reputation for companies is too much overshadowed by reputation of government.”

Chinese phone security company NQ Mobile dealt with the problem by effectively presenting itself as an American firm. It created an entirely new headquarters in the Lone Star state, listed on Wall Street, has an American co-CEO brought over from US banking giant Citigroup, and its English website proclaims: “Made in Dallas, Texas”. Henr y Lin, the group’s founder, told AFP: “All our employees in the US are American people... the consumer will feel it’s a US company.

“We divided the global market in two parts, developing countries, for which the headquarters is Beijing... and developed countries, with a headquarters in Dallas.

“If you can be successful in the US, you would be successful in western Europe, Japan, Australia.”

Others are simply buying foreign firms, as decades of inward investment into China begins to move in the other direction. Last month a $7.1 billion takeover by Shuanghui International was agreed by shareholders of US pork giant Smithfield Foods, the biggest ever Chinese acquisition of a US company.

Chinese car manufacturer Geely bought out Sweden’s Volvo, while its rival Chery created a new brand, Qoros, in partnership with an Israeli group.

Most symbolically, electronics group

Lenovo took over the PC arm of venerable US computer firm IBM in 2005, and went on to become the world’s biggest PC maker.

‘Corporate suicide’ But others prefer to stick with their own name, such as the world’s top fridge maker Haier, or telecoms giant Huawei-which has been described as one of the world’s most controversial companies.

It generates 67 percent of its sales from outside China, and last year was listed among the top five companies in the world for numbers of patents.

But despite marketing its flagship smartphone as the world’s slimmest, it struggles to compete with South Korea’s Samsung and Apple of the US-and faces accusations that it could be a spy agency masquerading as a commercial enterprise.

The US Congress last year ordered Huawei be excluded from public contracts, and Australia has banned the firm from providing its broadband networks.

Huawei’s vice president Scott Sykes told AFP such moves were down to protectionism and fear of China. “We’ve been in business for 26 years, we operate in 140 countries... and there has never been a security issue of any kind, in all that time and all these places,” he said. “We were accused of the potential for doing that, but nobody has ever proved that. “Our motivation is commercial, if we ever do anything on the behalf of the Chinese government that would be corporate suicide, we’ll lose 70 percent of our revenues, it would be foolish.”

He prefers to stress Huawei’s research and development spending, and points out that many of the West’s biggest companies themselves have their products assembled in vast factories in China.

“The difference is that our headquarters is in China... this is about trade protectionism, it’s about fear and lack of trust of China.”

Sykes, an American hired in 2011, is not the only foreigner recruited by Chinese firms to a high-profile role. In September, electronics company Xiaomi hired Hugo Barra, a former Google vice-president in charge of its Android operating system, to help it develop.— AFP

beat its target. “2013 is becoming an excellent year for Airbus,” he commented.

Airbus last week announced a $9.5 billion deal with Japan Airlines, its first jet order from the carrier, challenging Boeing’s dominance in the Japanese market as it struggles with the troubled Dreamliner. The fuel-efficient aircraft, marred by years of production delays, faced a global grounding order in January after lithium-ion batteries overheated on two different planes, with one of them catching fire while the aircraft was parked.

Bregier also criticized the comfort of the 787 Dreamliner, telling the Welt newspaper he had seen a cabin with nine seats in a row. “For me

it’s clear that as a passenger I wouldn’t like to sit 12 hours long in there,” he said. Referring to the Dreamliner’s technical problems, he said: “From my team I expect the commissioning of the A350 to run much smoother.”

Like Boeing’s Dreamliner, the Airbus A350 is to be made mainly of lightweight composite materials to save fuel, which can currently account for more than half of overall airline operating costs. In November 2011, Airbus announced a six-month delay in the first delivery of the A350 to the first half of 2014.

In July 2012, it said there would be another delay of about 3 months to the second half of the 2014. —AFP

Furloughed US workers pinching pennies NEW YORK: They’re experienced research engineers and park rangers still in college, attorneys who enforce environmental regulations and former soldiers who took civilian jobs with the military after coming home from war. And all of them have one thing in common: They were sent home on unpaid furlough last week after a political standoff between the president and Congress forced a partial shutdown of the federal government.

More than 800,000 federal workers were affected at first, though the Pentagon has since recalled most of its idled 350,000 employees.

What these sidelined government employees are doing with their spare time varies as widely as the jobs they perform. Some are tightening their budgets at home, watching what they spend on food and other necessities, fearing it could be weeks before they earn another paycheck. Others are having a tough time keeping their workplace projects shelved and agency emails unread.

While Congress and the White House work on a deal to ensure furloughed workers receive back pay once the shutdown ends, some expenses can’t be put off, whether it’s replacing a broken furnace for $6,500 or buying diapers for a baby due before the month ends. Here are the stories of just a few government workers directly affected by the shutdown. As the government shutdown began its second week, Donna Cebrat was focused on stretching each dollar of her savings under the assumption she might not be able to return to work for a month or longer.

“Instead of having a dinner, I’ll have a bowl of cereal. Maybe for dinner and lunch. Or maybe I’ll go down to McDonald’s for a hamburger off the dollar menu,” said Cebrat, 46, who works for the FBI at its office in Savannah, Ga. “Lots of budget cuts. Not that I was living extravagantly before.”

Cebrat makes her living processing requests for public access to FBI records made under the Freedom of Information Act. She lives alone in a middle-class suburb and estimates the money in her savings account could last her anywhere from two to six months.

She checks headlines for any news on negotiations between the president and Congress, but said she avoids reading full stories or watching shutdown reports on TV that would only bring her down further. “I don’t need to see the name-calling,” Cebrat said. “I just need to see the headline.”

Otherwise Cebrat has spent her days sanding and repainting her bathroom walls - a new tub, toilet and vanity will have to wait until next year - and taking walks in her neighborhood. She’s avoided trips to the mall or the movies. Catherine Threat sat at the bar, typing a note to her friends on Facebook.

“How do I serve my country from this barstool in the only restaurant in this tiny town outside a training base that is mostly shut down?” she wrote. The 40-year-old staff sergeant in the Army Reserve returned from Afghanistan in July, taking a civilian job at Fort McCoy in central Wisconsin.

Then, last week, she and most of her colleagues were furloughed - a maddening existence for a woman who isn’t used to sitting still for

ver y long. So she headed to Chicago to help fellow veterans patrol the streets to help keep school children safe. It wasn’t much different from the foot patrols she did during her three years in Afghanistan. Foot patrols there created a presence, built bonds and deterred violence. “ That’s what we’re doing here, too,” she said as she stood with other veterans outside an elementary school in a neighborhood that has had gang violence and other crime. The assignment was short-lived. Threat was called back to Fort McCoy, along with hundreds of other civilian employees.

She didn’t see the recall as a victory “because there are still a lot of people out of work” because of the shutdown. But either way, she was grateful for the chance to serve in

had been given only about a month to live. Under his feet, the banging of workmen installing a new $6,500 furnace at his Decatur, Ga., bungalow after the old one broke.

And there was Corso, home at 9:30 on a Friday morning. He would normally be at work at the Atlanta regional office of the Economic Development Administration, a small federal agency that provides help and construction grants to industrial parks, colleges and local governments.

Corso, 44, and his wife, Liza, who works at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, were both furloughed. In recent years, their federal jobs seemed stable while people working in state and local government and many private companies saw wage freezes or layoffs.

The couple has savings, and

Furloughed federal worker Jonathan Corso poses with his dog, 14year-old Dixie, outside his home in Decatur, on Friday. Corso, who works in the Atlanta regional office of the Economic Development Administration, was sent home because of the government shutdown the same week his family’s dog, which has terminal cancer, was given only about a month to live. —AP Chicago. “Sometimes, I think this has almost been better for me. I’ve gotten more out of it than I’m contributing,” she said, quietly monitoring children walking by her. “But hopefully, I contributed something.”

Jonathan Corso sat at his dining room table, the signs of a terrible week all around him. At his feet, his family’s beloved dog, Dixie. The sadeyed, 14-year-old spaniel/mutt has terminal cancer and the day before

they and their 7-year-old son should be fine financially for a while. There have been a few silver linings: The couple went to lunch together on a weekday. Corso, a marathoner, began his daily 10mile run at 6 a.m. rather than his more onerous 4:45 a.m. usual start time. That allowed him to stay up one night to watch a baseball game. “We’re trying to make the best of it right now,” Corso said.

Rob Howard has been working through the shutdown, but not at his day job as an information technology specialist for the federal Court Ser vices and Offender Supervision Agency, which oversees people on probation and supervised release.

Instead, he’s volunteering for So Others Might Eat, a Washington organization that serves meals to the poor and homeless. On Friday, he was a coffee server. On Sunday, he washed dishes after lunch.

“I just want to keep busy during this time,” said Howard, 45, who lives in Upper Marlboro, Md. He has also gotten work done around his house, finally finding time to redo the floor in an upstairs bathroom.

He took out the old linoleum and put down some black and white tile, which he said sat in his garage “forever.”

Howard also spent time cleaning. “I could probably have a party at my house right now because it’s spotless,” he said. One day he made two trips to the gym. “I can’t stay idle too long or I’ll lose my mind,” he said.

Darquez Smith found himself furloughed from his job with the National Park Service just as his fiancee is due to give birth to their daughter later this month. Smith, 23, of Zenia, Ohio, is spending his time off looking for a new job.

Working as a park ranger at the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park, which tells the story of the Wright brothers, is his only source of income.

“Mentally, it’s definitely no fun at all,” said Smith, who has an interview lined up with a company next week. “It’s never fun to be out of work and not have the ability to go to work, and still have bills to pay.”

Smith said he’s looking for work in information technology and is pursuing an IT degree at Central State University. By the time rent is due Nov. 1, Smith said he’ll need to be back at his Park Service job or have found other work. Utility bills and car insurance will soon follow, along with the added costs of raising a newborn.

“For me as a student, a full-time worker paying all the bills myself, with a lot of responsibilities, there’s never really a day off or a fun day,” he said. During the government shutdown in 1995 and 1996, Dan Madrzykowski would occasionally sneak onto the Gaithersburg campus of the National Institute of Standards and Technology and check on some lab work or crunch some numbers.—AP

Libyan oil production at 600,000 to 700,000 bpd TRIPOLI: Libya is currently producing between 600,000 to 700,000 barrels per day of oil, Prime Minister Ali Zeidan said yesterday, as it tries to end protests that have shut down oilfields and ports.

A mix of striking workers, militias and political activists knocked the OPEC member’s oil production to as low as 200,000 bpd last month, from 1.6 million bpd before leader Muammar Gaddafi was ousted in 2011.

Libya took its first steps towards resuming output in the west in mid-September after reaching a deal with some protesters, and its oil minister said on Oct. 2 full output could be restored within days. In the first production update since then, Zeidan told reporters: “Oil production is now between 600,000, 650,000 and 700,000 bpd.” He said the government and parliament were

working on solving the conflict “soon”. “Libya is going through a difficult phase,” he said.

Talks to reopen the major oil export terminals of Es Sider and Ras Lanuf in the east have taken time because while some protesters are demanding better benefits, more local investment and more jobs, others have linked their demands to political wrangling over the future shape of Libya. Protesters in the east want a federal Libya with greater powers and the headquarters of the National Oil Company (NOC) transferred to Benghazi, the capital of the east and birthplace of the revolution that removed Gaddafi from power.

Parliament is due to write a new constitution for the new Libya but different groups are pushing their own agendas. — Reuters

MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2013

BUSINESS

Dollar index rallies despite shutdown NBK MONEY MARKETS REPORT KUWAIT: The US federal government has shut down since Oct 1, as Republicans in Congress want to undermine the Conservatives healthcare act as a condition of funding government operations. In addition, the US government is expected to reach its borrowing limit by Oct 17, but a divided Congress might prove unable to raise the debt ceiling. That, in turn, raises the specter of a default. The Federal Reserve Banker Bullard said, “The government shutdown makes an October taper less likely and urged politicians in Washington to fix the fiscal deadlock”. In addition, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew urged Congress to raise the government’s borrowing limit before Oct. 17, warning that a Republican idea to prioritize payments with cash on hand could cause “irrevocable damage” to the US economy. Lew Also said, “Effects of a default would include a sharp fall in the dollar, a significant jump in US interest rates and negative effects on the global economy.”

Last week, the Chinese Prime Minister brought up the issue of the possibility of the US defaulting on its debt with the US secretary of State John Kerry. Saying that “China is highly concerned with the United States’ debt ceiling issue”, and that they were paying great attention to the matter. China currently holds the largest amount of US debt, holding about $1.28 trillion.

On Friday Oct 11, Republicans in the US House of Representatives and President Barack Obama met amid efforts to avert a looming debt crisis. The Republicans have offered the president a shortterm debt limit increase to stave off default.

The dollar index rallied reaching a high of 80.595 recovering from last week’s low of 79.83, as optimism grew that Washington may soon finalize a stop-gap deal to avert a devastating US default.

However, a short-term deal would keep the level of uncertainty relatively high and likely keep business sentiment pressured.

Gold fell about 1.5 percent on Friday reaching its lowest level in three months as ner vous investors fled the bullion market on signs a deal might be near to avert a potential US debt default, Gold closed for the week at 1,272.62 dollar per onus .

US FOMC Meeting Minutes Summary of the meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee was held last week .They said that “The information reviewed for the September 17-18 meeting suggested that economic activity continued to increase at a moderate rate. Privatesector employment rose further in July and August, but the unemployment rate was still elevated. Total consumer price inflation picked up in recent months but continued to be modest, and measures of longer-run inflation expectations remained stable.”

President Obama Announces Janet Yellen as His Choice to Chair The Federal Reserve The President Barack Obama announced last week ,his intent to nominate Federal Reserve Vice Chairwoman Janet Yellen to become the US central bank ’s new head, Yellen would replace Ben Bernanke, whose current term as head of the Fed ends in January. Yellen would be the first ever woman named as the Governor of the Federal Reserve System.

US Unemployment Claims The Jobless claims data is the only government report being published during the shutdown, and so is being closely watched for clues on the health of the job market. The number of Americans filing for jobless claims reached a six-month high last week due to the partial US government shutdown that began to hit some non-federal workers.

However, stripping out this factor, which economists viewed as temporary, last week’s report suggested that the labor market continued to improve moderately. Unemployment claims increased to 374,000 the highest level since the end of March, an increase of 66,000 from the previous week’s unrevised expectations of 308,000.

German trade balance German exports improved in August, rising slightly less than expected but more than imports and widening the trade surplus, in a sign that the foreign trade will not drag too much on growth in Europe’s largest economy. Exports gained 1.0 percent on the month, which has been forecasted to raise 0.9 percent. The trade surplus widened to 15.6 Billion Euros from an upwardly revised 15 Billion Euros in July. Market expectations were for the surplus to widen 15.1 Billion Euros.

German production German economy ministry data showed last week, that the German industrial production rallied in August, adding to signs that Europe’s largest economy is benefiting from the euro area’s recov-

er y. Output rallied 1.4 percent from July .Economists forecast an increase of 1 percent.

Production advanced 0.3 percent from a year earlier when adjusted for working days.

Draghi speaks The European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said last week that the rate of recovery in the Euro Area is “fragile and uneven” with risks to the downside. Draghi reiterated the European Central Banks commitment to low rates. Dragi also said that the guidance was to provide clarification on the Bank’s reaction function and was successful in reducing market volatility. Speaking on the United States Debt Standoff, he said that if the standoffprolonged, it could cause “severe damage” to the US and global economies.

UK manufacturing United Kingdom industrial production unexpectedly dropped in August by the most in almost a year, casting doubt on the strength of the thirdquarter recovery. British industrial output fell by 1.1 percent on the month in August, the biggest drop since September 2012. This was far weaker than the rise of 0.4 percent forecast by economists. The fall in industrial output was driven by a sharp decline in manufacturing output, which dropped 1.2 percent on the month. Firms in the pharmaceuticals, electronics and food and beverages sectors led the decline.

The Bank of England made no change to its monetary policy on last week’s meeting, maintaining their pledge to keep interest rates at a record low for the near future despite signs of a strengthening economic recovery. The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee said its main interest rate would stay at 0.5 percent and that it would not extend its asset purchases program beyond the 375 Billion Pounds.

The International Monetary Fund revised up the United Kingdom’s growth prospects, seeing growth of 1.4 percent this year and 1.9 percent in 2014.

Australia’s unemployment rate The Australia’s Unemployment rate surprisingly fell in September, adding to evidence a two-year interest rate cutting cycle is boosting demand. The jobless rate dropped to 5.6 percent from 5.8 percent. The number of people employed increased by 9,100. Central bank Governor Glenn Stevens reduced the overnight cash rate target by 2.25 percent points since late 2011 to a record low 2.5 percent.

Australia’s business Australian business confidence rose to a three and a half year high in September, as firms were optimistic of the current ongoing economic recovery led by a decisive election outcome, lower borrowing costs and rising consumer sentiment.

Business confidence rallied to 12, from a downwardly revised 4 in August, reaching its highest since March 2010. The index is now 17 points higher than its most recent low in July Japan confidence Japanese confidence improved in September, marking the first gain in four months, the improvement was attributed to the ongoing stimulus package led by Bank of Japan Governor Kuroda. The consumer confidence rose to 45.4 in September, up from 43.0 in the previous month. A reading below 50 suggests consumer negativity. The Cabinet Office raised its assessment on consumer sentiment, saying it is in an improving trend.

BoJ financial report The Japanese economic situation is gradually heading toward a pick-up, with exports and business fixed investment generally picking up, also corporate profits have improved with an increase in public and housing investment. Private consumption has remained strong, with some improvement observed in the employment and income situation.

Reflecting these developments in demand both at home and abroad, industrial production is increasing moderately. Business sentiment has continued to improve.

Kuroda, Governor of the Bank of Japan, said the bank is going to do anything necessary to defeat deflation that kept threatening the world’s third largest economy for the last 15 years. Kuroda did not discuss certain additional stimulus that might be needed in the coming period.

Kuroda added that the Bank of Japan asset-purchase program is giving the desired results, and by continuing to follow this policy, the government will definitely be able to overcome deflation, and reach its 2 percent inflation target.

Kuwait Kuwaiti dinar at 0.28285 The USDKWD opened at 0.28285 yesterday morning.

Walmart’s woes in India go beyond sourcing troubles, with Indian authorities probing whether a loan by the retailer to Bharti broke foreign investment rules. Both firms deny wrongdoing. — AFP

Walmart divorce highlights pitfalls of business in India ‘Chill effect’ on foreign investment NEW DELHI: The divorce between US giant Walmart and its Indian partner, the latest in a string of foreign corporate alliances to founder, will have a further “chill effect” on vitally needed foreign investment, analysts say. Citing restrictive foreign investment rules, the world’s biggest retailer scrapped a partnership last week with Indian telecom heavyweight Bharti Enterprises and suspended plans to open supermarkets which could have tapped a potential market of 1.2 billion shoppers.

Foreign investors are already spooked by worries over a number of issues: pervasive corruption, red tape, stop-start efforts to open up Asia’s third-largest economy, tax battles, decade-low growth and a weak currency, analysts say. Strict regulations for outside firms include a requirement to source 30 percent of goods from small industry-a dealbreaker for Walmart, which said the goal was impossible to meet.

“This will have more of a chill effect,” Saloni Nangia, president of management consultancy firm Technopak, told AFP. “From a destination perspective, foreign firms want to be in India. But from a policy and doing-business perspective, it’s different,” she said. “The government needs to make this country investment-friendly. So far it’s been pure posturing.” The Walmart-Bharti break up is one of a long saga of unhappy endings to marriages between foreign and Indian partners, Nangia noted.

“It can be mismatched expectations to blame, disappointing returns, government vacillation on implementing policies, legal and regulatory concerns, ambiguities about what can be achieved-sometimes a mix of elements,” she said. Walmart president Scott Price

said the company would “continue to advocate for investment conditions” that would allow it to invest in multi-brand retail while it focused on its wholesale operations in India.

Many foreign firms had high hopes of India’s liberalization drive and voiced strong interest in entering the country.

But those plans have soured in the face of failure to improve infrastructure, long approval delays, bureaucratic hurdles and graft-which has its tentacles in all sectors of the economy.

“No company can operate without greasing a palm here or shelling out unaccounted amounts there,” said The Economic Times in an editorial. That issue has become increasingly crucial, especially in the United States, where laws like the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act are making it tougher for India to absorb foreign direct investment (FDI).

“Corruption is one of the most significant challenges adversely affecting the Indian economy,” Toby Latta, head of Control Risks in Asia-Pacific, said.

Walmart’s woes in India go beyond sourcing troubles, with Indian authorities probing whether a loan by the retailer to Bharti broke foreign investment rules.

Both firms deny wrongdoing.

Walmart is also under US scrutiny over its overseas operations amid bribery allegations-which it rejects-in Mexico, Brazil, China and India. “This scrutiny by their home countries is a big deal for foreign companies,” Alina Arora, a partner at Luthra and Luthra Law Offices, told AFP. Alleged corruption led to Norway’s phone giant Telenor snapping ties last year with Indian partner Unitech after India’s Supreme Court revoked 122 mobile licences following charges they were illegally issued. UAE mobile opera-

tor Etisalat closed its India business and split from local ally, DB Group in a decision also stemming from the ruling, and accused its ex-partner of “fraud”-a charge DB rejects.

While Telenor, which took a $720-million writedown, has pursued its operations in India, Etisalat said it would only reconsider re-entry when there is “greater legal and regulatory certainty”.

Also last year Italian carmaker Fiat ended a distribution pact with Indian vehicle giant Tata Motors which said the joint venture was not generating expected sales.

Automotive major Mahindra & Mahindra has seen three global vehicle partnerships go sour-with Ford, Renault and most recently in January with US engine maker Navistar International.

“The Indian market has not expanded as we originally expected,” Navistar president Troy Clarke said at the time. Now, with elections to be held by May 2014, analysts say there is scant hope the scam-tainted and unpopular Congressled government will take significant steps to make India more appealing to foreign investors.

The government says it has no plans to relax its sourcing rule on foreign supermarkets. Even though India aims to attract $1 trillion in FDI by 2017 to upgrade shabby infrastructure in order to boost growth, foreign investment faces hostility from many politicians who say it threatens jobs, especially in the retail sphere, which is dominated by small family-run stores. “We’re going to be in wait-and-watch mode at least until after the elections” in the first half of next year, said Technopak’s Nangia. “It’s only India which is losing out in the meantime.” — AFP

Hope amid the ruins as bankrupt Detroit seeks rebirth DETROIT: The hollow hulk of Detroit’s once majestic train station draws a steady stream of tourists to see how far the mighty Motor City has fallen. The Beaux Arts building was the tallest railway station in the world when it was built in 1913, and its 18-storey office tower once housed more than 3,000 workers.

Abandoned to the elements-and to vandals who smashed its windows, spray painted its yellow brick walls and stole its brass fixtures, marble and decorative railings-Michigan Central escaped demolition largely because the city lacked the funds for such a monumental task.

“It’s kind of like the ancient pyramidsonce an amazing place and now completely run down,” said Bernhardt Karg, an IT manager who was taking a group of friends visiting from Germany on a ruin tour.

There are signs of life behind the razor wire fence erected to keep the vandals and squatters out. A handful of new windows fill the gaping frames and trucks and workmen come and go. So far, no formal plans for the building have been announced.

The city of Detroit’s spectacular bankruptcy-the largest in US history when it was filed in July and a complex legal process expected to take years to complete-has masked a long-sought revival which is gathering momentum.

Deindustrialization On a recent sunny afternoon, crews could be seen painstakingly repairing the brickwork on yet another downtown skyscraper slated to be transformed into condominiums.

Posh bars and restaurants dot the streets near the Detroit Tigers baseball stadium built across from the beautifully restored Fox theater on the northern edge of downtown. A short drive up Woodward Avenue is the bustling Midtown neighborhood, where upscale shops like the expensive Whole Foods supermarket have followed the influx of young professionals seeking an urban lifestyle within walking

distance of the renowned Detroit Institute of Art. Key to the revival has been the policing provided by Wayne State University and two major hospitals, which supplement an overwhelmed Detroit police department that has an average response time of 58 minutes. The island of safety and good management has attracted craft manufacturers like Shinola, which proudly stamps “made in Detroit” on handmade watches built with Swiss components.

“While the city will go through this (bankruptcy) transition, we fully believe it’s in the process of regenerating itself,” Shinola chief executive Steve Bock said during a tour of the chic office and assembly room on the campus of the College for Creative Studies.

“To be part of it is fantastic for us.” The 120 jobs at Shinola are nothing compared to the hundreds of thousands who were employed by the auto industry as it built Detroit into a wealthy industrial giant.

But Shinola’s “hipster story” is helping to change perceptions of a city which has for too long been synonymous with “deindustrialization, obsolescence and ruin porn,” said Robin Boyle, a professor of urban planning at Wayne State.

“The real challenge is how do you connect the improvement, the investment, the incoming new residents in the midtown, downtown area to the rest of the city,” Boyle said.

‘It hurts, it hurts, it hurts’ Outside the handful of healthy or reviving neighborhoods lies an urban wasteland housing 78,000 abandoned buildings.

Many are single family homes whose wooden structures have collapsed after years or even decades of neglect as the population shrank from 1.8 million in 1950 to 685,000 today.

Plenty bear the scars of arsonists. Step inside and the detritus is puzzling.

Scrappers are quick to pull out the copper wiring and metal fixtures. Yet there are

often piles of clothing, furniture and clues to a past life. Too often there are used needles and rats.

Frank Pickett, 69, sat on the sidewalk watching as bulldozers attacked the Frederick Douglass Homes, the nation’s first public housing project. Pickett grew up in the projects, which were once home to Motown legends Diana Ross and Smokey Robinson and actress Lily Tomlin.

He stayed on after they were officially closed in 2008, squatting in the solid brick buildings behind boarded up windows which kept out the worst of the cold.

“It hurts, it hurts, it hurts,” Pickett told AFP. “All these years I never thought the city would tear them down. They said they were going to rebuild it. I don’t understand why they’re doing this.”

‘If Detroit can pay its police and teachers that bodes well’ Clearing out blight is a critical component to transforming Detroit into a livable city and the federal government is providing millions to help cover the cost of demolition. Yet it’s not clear how-or if-Detroit will be able to fill in the miles upon miles of empty lots or to link its few vibrant, but scattered, neighborhoods into some kind of functioning whole. A new light rail system is in the works to connect downtown and midtown.

Urban farming projects are popping up. The latest in a series of master plans for the city seem promising. A trial to determine if the city is even eligible to erase its debts in bankruptcy is scheduled to begin on October 23. There is simply no precedent for what happens next.

“When we talk about what Detroit is going to look like after the bankruptcy, my answer is pretty good,” said John Pottow, a bankruptcy expert with the University of Michigan’s law school.

“The main thing is they need to focus on having a credible operating budget that doesn’t have a structural deficit in it,” Pottow said in a telephone interview. “If Detroit can pay its police and teachers that bodes well.” — AFP

MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2013

BUSINESS

Fed pressed to take care with stimulus pullback Global finance chiefs mount pressure

WASHINGTON: German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble (right) speaks with Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann in a news conference during the World Bank/IMF Annual Meetings at IMF headquarters. — AP

Europe prepares to come clean on hidden bank losses LUXEMBOURG: Euro-zone countries will consider today how to pay for the repair of their broken banks after health checks next year that are expected to uncover problems that have festered since the financial crisis. Nobody knows the true scale of potential losses at Europe’s banks, but the International Monetary Fund hinted at the enormity of the problem this month, saying that Spanish and Italian banks face 230 billion euros ($310 billion) of losses alone on credit to companies in the next two years.

Yet five years after the United States demanded its big banks take on new capital to reassure investors, Europe is still struggling to impose order on its financial system, having given emergency aid to five countries. Finance ministers from the 17nation currency area meeting in Luxembourg will tackle the issue of plugging holes expected to be revealed by the European Central Bank’s health checks next year.

The president of the European Central Bank underscored the need for action in Washington at the meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. “The effectiveness of this exercise will depend on the availability of necessary arrangements for recapitalizing banks ... including through the provision of a public backstop,” Mario Draghi said on Friday.

“These arrangements must be in place before we conclude our assessment,” he said. But the ministers’ talks face an additional hindrance because Germany ’s finance minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble, is not expected to attend the two-day Luxembourg meeting. Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, in in talks to form a new government.

During the region’s debt turmoil, the European Union conducted two bank stress tests, considered flops for blunders such as giving a clean bill of health to Irish banks months before they pushed the country to the brink of bankruptcy. The ECB’s new checks are seen as the last chance to come clean for the euro zone as the bloc tries to set up a single banking framework, known as banking union.

The debate opens amid ebbing political enthusiasm for banking union - originally planned as a three-stage process involving ECB bank supervision, alongside an agency

to shut failing banks and a system of deposit guarantees. It would be the boldest step in European integration since the crisis.

“We have to find a solution now,” said Michel Barnier, the EU Commissioner in charge of financial regulation, urging faster progress in the slow talks. “The next financial crisis is not going to wait for us.”

In one sign of the divisions, Britain has repeatedly refused to sign off on the first pillar of the banking union framework, allowing the ECB monitor banks.

Having earlier agreed, London now wants additional assurances from ministers this week that Britain, which is outside the euro and polices its own banks, will not face interference from the ECB-led euro bloc. Britain is likely to find a sympathetic ear in Berlin, which wants to keep London on side in its push to prevent stricter EU emissions rules to protect its luxury car makers.

Before the ECB takes over as supervisor late next year, it will conduct health checks of the roughly 130 banks under its watch.

This is the nub of the problem facing finance ministers at the two-day talks. With the euro zone barely out of recession, a failure to put aside money to deal with the problems revealed could rattle fragile investor confidence and compound borrowing difficulties for companies, potentially killing off the meek recovery. In turn, that raises the question about who pays for the holes that are found in balance sheets in countries such as Spain and Italy.

While Rome and Madrid would like easy access to the euro zone’s permanent bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism, Germany, Finland and other strong countries say each country should pay for its own clean-ups. This time around, the task of cleaning up banks should not be quite as daunting as five years ago because shareholders, bondholders and wealthy depositors can expect to take some of the losses, as happened in the bailout of Cyprus in March.

But if that is not enough, it will fall to governments to pick up the tab. Although technical, talks about banking union have sparked an acrimonious debate touching on fundamental questions such as rewriting basic EU law that risk dividing the European Union. — Reuters

Nobel economists: Masters of theory, if not of practice STOCKHOLM: Winning the Nobel Prize for Economics brings great prestige, but there is no guarantee the recipient will win over policymakers, the real practitioners of the dismal science. The award, officially Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, will be awarded Monday at 11 GMT in Stockholm.

It will close a Nobel season marked by awards in physics to the fathers of the Higgs boson and a peace prize to the UN-backed Organization for the Prohibition of Chemicals Weapons.

As usual, American economists dominate the list of favorites, just as they have dominated the roster of laureates over the past 10 years, with 17 out of the 20 recipients, who are often awarded in groups, coming from the US side of the Atlantic.

After the 2012 economics prize acknowledged game theory, a somewhat ancillary field, it is possible that this year it will return to the core concerns of the economic science. Favorites include Robert Barro of Harvard and Paul Romer of New York University, who have both done work on growth.

Also on the list of serious contenders are finance specialists such as the University of Chicago’s Eugene Fama and Kenneth French of Dartmouth College. Behavioural finance, too, would get a nod if the prize went to Andrei Shleifer of Harvard, Robert Vishny of the University of Chicago and Robert Shiller of Yale.

It’s all up to six Swedish university professors. “The Nobel Prize in Economics is recognized as the pinnacle of intellectual achievement in economics,” said Avner Offer, an economics historian at Oxford University. However, the winners do not necessarily become key advisors to important policy-makers. Some do not even aspire to that position.

“Not all of economic research that was awarded the Nobel is applicable by policymakers,” said Jan Haeggstroem, chief economist at Swedish lender Handelsbanken.

“Or it is for very specific problems, like the research on the functioning of markets.” He was referring to 2012 laureates Lloyd Shapley of UCLA and Stanford’s Alvin Roth, who studied theories of supply and

demand in a theoretical marriage market.

While their models can predict the optimal matches among small groups of men and women, they have little to say about creating jobs for millions or keeping inflation down. Government leaders interested in more conventional issues are more likely to read works by 2010 laureates Peter Diamond of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dale Mortensen of Northwestern University and Christopher Pissarides of the London School of Economics. Their work on the labor market is authoritative, but even a Nobel win was not enough to give Diamond a seat at the Federal Reserve, the US central bank. Picked

by US President Barack Obama for the Fed’s board of governors, Diamond was eventually turned away by Republican opposition.

“Unquestionably Nobel is a major honor.

Yet being a Nobel recipient does not mean one is qualified for every conceivable position,” said US Senator Richard Shelby, one of the main opponents to Diamond’s appointment. Some in Europe may now regret not heeding 2011 laureate Christopher Sims, a macroeconomist from Princeton. As early as 1999, Sims criticized the euro-zone, saying “the European Monetary Union has the appearance of an attempt to create a central bank and a monetary unit that have no corresponding fiscal authority behind them.” The Greek crisis would prove him right 11 years later.

According to Offer, the Oxford economic historian, it is to be expected that policymakers who have to make difficult decisions about real-life problems are reluctant to follow theoreticians. What is in doubt “is not the beauty or internal validity of creative work in economics, which is excellent,” he said.

“It’s the external validity, how much it tells us about real economies, and what authority it has to inform policy.” Swedish economist Klas Eklund, once a government advisor, emphasized the many uncertainties that can hurt a theory’s application.

“Building an economic model is complicated work. It takes time to test it,” he said. “And even if it works in one country at a certain point, you may realise it does not in another country.” — AFP

WASHINGTON: Global finance chiefs stepped up calls for the Federal Reserve to take care in moving to cut its stimulus, as emerging countries wrestle with financial turbulence.

Numerous countries at the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank said the US central bank’s expected tightening had already added challenges to their struggling economies, stirring capital outflows and pressing their currencies lower. The IMF’s steering committee, the International Monetary and Financial Committee, itself cautioned the Fed and other central banks in advanced economies when they begin “normalizing” their ultra-low interest rates and easy-money policies.

“The eventual transition toward the normalization of monetary policy... should be welltimed, carefully calibrated, and clearly communicated,” the IMFC said. Others were more frank, after struggling with the consequences of a surge in interest rates in the five months since the Fed signaled it was close to “tapering” its $85 billion a month asset-purchase program.

Africa’s IMF and World Bank representatives said they were “worried about uncertainty” arising from the pullback from so-called unconventional monetary policies-which have flooded cheap dollars, euros and yen onto the global economy for some five years. Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said he expects only more turmoil in the markets when the Fed moves. “The assumption that the asset-price correction that began this summer has already been largely completed does not seem to be plausible to us,” he told the IMFC. “Even the first hint on the exit from unconventional monetary policies in advanced economies has already led to many difficulties for emerging-market economies.”

Brazil’s central bank governor, Alexandre Tombini, said that economic pessimism had spread due to the expected Fed tightening. And Yi Gang, deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China, warned of a “disorderly” wind-down of stimulus programs.

“While unconventional monetary policies helped stabilize growth and financial markets in advanced economies after major crises, more attention should be given to the risks associated with the prolonged use and disorderly exit of such policies,” he said. “Policy coordination and clear and effective communications will be essential to ensure the smooth and orderly exit of unconventional monetary policies.” US interest rates jumped suddenly and sharply in the three months from May, when the Fed signaled it was moving to cutting back its quantitativeeasing stimulus, predicting the entire program

WASHINGTON: Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve (center) straightens his tie, with Luc Frieden (right), President of Board of Governors of IMF and World Bank, and Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso (left), during a group photo at the World Bank/IMF Annual Meetings at IMF headquarters on Saturday. — AP would be ended by mid-2014.

Already slowing emerging economies from Indonesia to Turkey to Brazil, and many poorer ones in Africa and South America, experienced sudden outflows of capital, sinking their equity markets and their currencies, and forcing interventions to stabilize the markets.

The Fed still has not begun its taper, deciding so far that the US economy is not ready for it, but most expect the stimulus reductions to come in the next few months.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke has reaped criticism for allegedly poorly communicating his intent. Austrian central bank chief Ewald Novotny, a governor of the European Central Bank, called on the Fed to communicate better the direction of its monetary policy to minimize the impact of the taper.

Speaking as representative of Austria, Turkey and six Eastern European countries at the IMF, he called on the Fed to “engage in international dialogue in order to minimize unwarranted negative spillovers from the exit of its unconventional monetary policy measures on other countries.”

Still, the IMF has repeatedly warned the emerging economies to fortify themselves against likely more turbulence and higher interest rates as the global economy transitions to a more “normal” monetary situation. World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said that the Fed’s decision not to begin the taper in September effectively bought other countries extra time to get their houses in order.

“The decision not to decrease bond purchases by the US Fed is giving emerging markets at least a couple of months’ window,” he said. “The advice is very clear. “We are very strongly urging these emerging market economies to move quickly on these reforms that we all know they have to make.” Brazil’s Tombini said that is what his country has done, piling up foreign reserves and other strong buffers. But he warned that if the Fed and others moved too fast, it could easily overshoot and depress global growth.

“If long-term real interest rates rise too steeply, the US recovery could stumble and the negative effects would be felt worldwide,” he said. — AFP

European retailers embrace crooked fruit, ugly veggies BERLIN: Any takers for blemished apples, misshapen carrots and overly bent cucumbers?

Some European retailers are entering the market of ugly fruits and vegetables, positioning themselves as crusaders against food waste. This week Edeka of Germany started selling the flawed items in some of its stores across the country, as part of a four-week pilot project.

Normally the crooked veggies would end up thrown away or as animal feed, because consumers “buy with their eyes too, and have gotten used to certain norms” of shape and color, said Gernot Kasel, a spokesman for Germany’s number one retailer by market share. Branded “nobody is perfect”, the ill-proportioned apples, potatoes and carrot sell cheaper than their “normal” counterparts.

Swiss market-leader Coop entered similar new ground in August with a range called “Unique”, on offer in about a third of its stores.

After blemished apricots and freckled cauliflowers, these days three-legged carrots are vying for buyers’ favors, said Coop spokeswoman Nadja Ruch.

They are priced about 60 percent cheaper than “first-class” carrots, she said. “There would be scope for selling many more of these products, as demand has certainly exceeded our hopes”, said Ruch. But there is simply no more supply of these “moods of nature”, as Coop likes to refer to them.

German retailer Rewe launched its own

“Wunderling” range last week in its Austrian stores. The name is a cross between the words ‘anomaly ’ and ‘miracle’. British retail giant Sainsbury’s had paved the way last year. Adverse weather conditions translated into a dramatic drop in the country’s fruit and vegetables production, and a high rate of misshapen and damaged goods.

Sainsbury’s nevertheless committed to buying all the output, including ugly specimens. They found their way onto the shelves or as ingredients in readymade meals or pastries.

For retailer Rewe entering that market “isn’t a decision based on economic considerations”, the company said. It sees the project, which will be extended to other markets if the Austrian experiment is a success, as “a concrete step against the food waste culture”.

According to recent figures by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, over a billion tons of food is thrown away each year, costing the world about $750 billion.

Environmental and anti-poverty groups have long highlighted the problem, and 2014 has been labeled the “European Year against Food Waste” by the European Union.

With their ugly fruit and veg action, Edeka, Coop and the others have clearly embraced a trend. The products “are optimal in quality and taste”, says Rewe. In many markets, quality, taste and origin are increasingly important in purchase

decisions. That’s the case in Germany for instance, where taste ranks as number one buying criteria for food, ahead of price, according to a study by Ipsos institute.

From a producers’ perspective, however, getting rid of unsightly products is a concern “of secondary importance”, said Jochen Winkhoff, who is in charge of vegetables at Germany’s farmers’ association Bauernverband. Nonetheless, growers welcome the new market for their flawed pieces of fruit and vegetable, especially if the arrival of strange-looking potatoes and zucchinis on supermarkets shelves “raises real questions about nature” for the consumers.

But farmers still want to hold on to strict norms in their dealings with retailers. “They make total sense”, said Winkhoff, “for instance when setting prices”. “Nowadays every deal is done on the phone or over the internet, and the parties have to be sure they talk about the same thing”, he added. A number of EU norms, notably the muchmocked cucumber-curve norm, were abandoned in 2008.

The overwhelming majority of professionals still apply norms drawn up by United Nations body Unece.

These specify for instance that brown stains on a apricot shouldn’t exceed 15 percent of its surface. And a zucchini has to be at least 7 centimetres long, as well as “free of cavities and splits”. — AFP

Mazagan Beach & Golf Resort wins two prestigious awards EL JADIDA: Mazagan Beach & Golf Resort, a leading tourism destination in the Arab world, has been named by The Global Golf Tourism Organization (IAGTO) as the ‘Golf Resort of the Year - Rest of the World’, based on the responses of some 480 specialist golf tour operators in 59 countries globally.

This accolade was followed by CNN listing Mazagan Beach & Golf Resort among 10 Best Golf Courses in Africa. The report said that the continent hosts more than 800 golf courses, making Africa one of the best choices for golf lovers. Terrance Mohamed, Director of Golf at Mazagan Beach & Golf Resort said: “To be honoured with such prestigious awards is a true testament to the quality and service which is synonymous with 5-star standards. These standards have helped raise the profile of both Kerzner International and Troon Golf within the Golf tourism industry. Competing in today’s golfing climate with some of the great resorts and courses worldwide, we’re excited to have made such a significant impact.”

Mazagan has emerged as prestigious choice of VIPs and celebrities, located just an hour’s drive from Casablanca, making it an ideal destination especially for GCC families looking for cooler weather throughout the year. Mazagan was developed by Kerzner International. El

Jadida was selected as the location as it is one Moroccan ‘City That Never Sleeps’ in summer.

The resort boasts a distinguished Portuguese architecture, blended with Moroccan and European touches.

Located 90 km south of Casablanca in El Jadida, Mazagan Beach & Golf Resort is a coastal destination resort overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Set around a magnificent internal courtyard, the resort’s 500 rooms boast unspoilt views of the ocean, lagoons, golf course, landscaped

gardens and a stunning swimming pool in the center. Mazagan encompasses a 250-hectare site including an 18-hole golf course designed

by Gary Player, a 7km stretch of beach, a variety of restaurants and bars, a nightclub designed by Jeffrey Beers, an award-winning spa, a wide range of sport and leisure activities and one of the largest conference centers in the region. 67 luxurious villas are situated alongside the golf course with fantastic views of the Atlantic coastline.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2013

BUSINESS

Nissan’s legendary Takumi: Four master craftsmen who hand-build every Nissan GT-R engine DUBAI: In Japan, the term takumi is used to describe a master craftsman who has perfected his skills over years of painstaking work and dedication. It is reserved for those who are at the very top of their profession. At Nissan’s expansive engine factory in Yokohama, four men have been designated as takumi. They are the sole assemblers of the engines that power one of the most heralded sports cars in automotive history.

The four takumi of Nissan’s Yokohama plant are Takumi Kurosawa, Tsunemi Ooyama, Izumi Shioya and Nobumitsu Gozu. Collectively, they share over 100 years of exceptional work in their chosen field. These engine craftsmen are responsible for hand-building every awe-inspiring 545-horse-

Gulf Insurance launches new websites KUWAIT: Gulf Insurance Co, the leading insurance provider in Kuwait and the Middle East, launched it new website (www.gulfins.com.kw) and it’s Group website (www.gulfinsgroup.com) with new layouts and concepts that cater for the needs of online visitors and customers of both websites. The freshly designed websites provide easy use and enjoyable browsing experience.

Khalid Al-Sanousi, GIC’s Corporate Communications and Investor Relations Department Manager said, “The websites are designed in accordance with the latest technological standards. New and pioneering services are offered by the company to its customers through this platform. The web pages have been arranged in an easy and friendly manner to access information as needed.”

To enable users to buy particular insurance policies at any given time or location, www.clickgic.com was also re-launched and is dedicated for electronic insurance policies sales.

Moreover, the newly Khalid Al-Sanousi designed website will enable customers to issue documents electronically and on the spot without prior reference to GIC. The websites were designed in collaboration with National Electronic Websites Company (Mawaqaa), a leading comprehensive websites solutions provider. Gulf Insurance Company is the largest insurance company in Kuwait in terms of written and retained premiums, with operations in both life and non-life insurance. Gulf Insurance has become one of the largest insurance networks in the Middle East and North Africa, with companies in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Iraq and Bahrain, Emirates and Kuwait. Its reported consolidated assets stand at $1.04 billion as at 30th June, 2012.

KIPCO - Kuwait Projects Company - is Gulf Insurance’s largest shareholder, followed by the Canadian-based Fairfax Financial Holding Ltd. Gulf Insurance holds a Financial Strength Rating of “A”with Stable Outlook from Standard & Poor’s. A.M. Best Europe - Rating Services Limited has also assigned a financial strength rating of A- (Excellent) and issuer credit rating of “A-” to Gulf Insurance with a Stable Outlook.

power twin-turbocharged V-6 engines found beneath the hood of the Nissan GT-R, production vehicles and the racecars alike. Each engine is assembled with care and precision by one of these four individuals.

Once an engine is completed, the takumi craftsman proudly mounts a plaque bearing his name upon the completed masterpiece, serving as a timeless reminder of the high level of craftsmanship and expertise that went into each work.

Many Nissan GT-R owners have visited the Yokohama plant and to meet the takumi enginebuilder who hand-assembled their Nissan GT-R’s engine. Even popular American late-night television talk show host and car collector/aficionado

Jay Leno has made the trip to the plant to meet the takumi.

Nissan’s Yokohama plant is a model of both technology and efficiency within the industry. In its nearly eight decades in existence, it has produced more than 35 million engines, including the exceptionally-capable VR38 that powers the legendary Nissan GT-R high performance sports car. “Yokohama is the plant where our company was established, and we’re proud to make Nissan’s flagship engine here. It represents the pinnacle of the Nissan brand,” said Nobuhiro Ozawa, Yokohama plant manager. “We adhere the nameplates of the takumi who hand-built these engines and put their souls into each one with a

sense of responsibility.”

In North America, Nissan’s operations include automotive styling, engineering, consumer and corporate financing, sales and marketing, distribution and manufacturing. Nissan is dedicated to improving the environment under the Nissan Green Program and has been recognized as an ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 by the US Environmental Protection Agency. More information on Nissan in North America and the complete line of Nissan and Infiniti vehicles can be found online at www.NissanUSA.com and www.InfinitiUSA.com, or visit the Americas media sites NissanNews.com and InfinitiNews.com.

Standalone net profit of EGP 3.5m, 1.7% rise in aggregate revenues Citadel Capital reports Q2 2013 results CAIRO: Citadel Capital (CCAP.CA on the Egyptian Exchange), the leading investment company in Africa and the Middle East with $9.5 billion in investments under control, reported yesterday its financial results for the second quarter of 2013, highlights of which include a standalone net profit of EGP 3.5 million and a 61.9 percent narrowing year-on-year of its consolidated net loss to EGP 47.3 million.

Citadel Capital’s Business Review focuses primarily on the performance of its eight operational platforms in the core industries of energy, transportation, agrifoods, mining and cement, which together reported 2Q13 aggregate revenues of EGP 1.5 billion, up 1.7 percent from the same quarter last year.

The energy, transportation, agrifoods and mining sectors all reported growth in aggregate sector revenues.

Meanwhile, aggregate EBITDA across operational core platforms rose 12.9 percent in the same period to EGP 119.9 million. Notable drivers of aggregate EBITDA growth included ASCOM (mining), Africa Railways (transportation) and Gozour (agrifoods).

“We are broadly speaking pleased with our second quarter results, where rising aggregate revenues and EBITDA figures for our core operational platform companies underscores the clear logic of our transformation into an investment company,” said Citadel Capital Founder and Chairman Ahmed Heikal. “We look forward to shareholder approval to launch our EGP 3.64 billion share issuance, which will further drive the transformation - and which we expect to close as scheduled in late December 2013 or early January 2014.”

For 2Q13, Citadel Capital reported a standalone net profit of EGP 3.5 million on revenues of EGP 21.1 million, compared with a net loss of EGP 9.2 million in the same quarter last year, marking the second consecutive quarter of profitability for the firm on a standalone basis, driven by steady advisory fees, lack of non-recurring OPEX, and net financing and forex gains.

On a consolidated basis, the firm reports a net loss of EGP 47.3 million in 2Q13, a narrowing of 61.9 percent year-on-year.

As consolidated results do not present a complete picture of the performance of core platform companies that will remain part of Citadel Capital’s investments following the winding down of a three-plus year divestment program for non-core assets, Management has presented aggregate revenue and EBITDA figures for the firm’s eight core operational platform companies since its FY12 Business Review. These aggregate figures give a more accurate picture of financial and opera-

tional performance than do consolidated results, which will become better indicators of the firm’s performance as the transformation process moves forward.

Highlights of the performance of the firm’s investments in each of the five core industries follow.

the lowering of EBITDA losses at Wafra. The segment saw a 6.9 percent rise in aggregate revenues in 1H13 to EGP 649.1 million compared to EGP 607.4 million in 1H12, while EBITDA climbed 97.3 percent year-on-year to EGP 63.6 million on the same factors supporting the 2Q results.

Energy The Energy division saw revenues increase by 8.7 percent year-on-year in the second quarter to EGP 332.1 million, while EBITDA increased by 6.6 percent to EGP 27.9 million, on the back of better performance in the quarter at both TAQA Arabia and Tawazon. In the first half, revenue was essentially flat at EGP 623.6 million compared to EGP 626.5 million in the same period of 2012, while EBITDA declined 33.1 percent year-on-year in the half, as falling power generation and distribution volumes and margins in 1Q13 were only somewhat offset by gains in the second quarter. Notably, segment EBITDA grew by 49 percent in 2Q13 over 1Q13.

Mining In the second quarter, the Mining division’s platform company ASCOM reported a 6.6 percent year-on-year increase in revenues to EGP 141.6 million and a very positive EBITDA swing from negative EGP 6.1 million in 2Q12 to positive EGP 4.9 million in 2Q13, bolstered by significant improvements at newly operational ACCM and Egyptian quarrying operations (via ASCOM standalone). In the first half, ASCOM reported a modest 1.7 percent y-o-y increase in revenues to EGP 273.4 million, while the successes of 2Q13 led to a 71.8 percent upswing in EBITDA to EGP 10.7 million, compared to EGP 6.2 million in 1H12.

Transportation The Transportation division posted aggregate revenues in 2Q13 of EGP 132.2 million, a 12.6 percent increase over EGP 117.4 million in 2Q12. EBITDA, while still in the red, saw a 71.5 percent improvement year-on-year in 2Q13 to negative EGP 9.3 million, primarily driven by the better performance of Africa Railways portfolio company and turnaround play Rift Valley Railways (RVR).

RVR recorded in 2Q13 its first profitable month on the EBITDA level, leading EBITDA losses to contract to less than $ 0.1 million in 2Q13 from US$ 3.8 million the previous quarter. Nile Logistics, although recording a quarter-on-quarter improvement to negative EGP 9.2 million in 2Q13, continues to account for the majority of the Transportation segment’s EBITDA losses, as delays in the lifting of diesel subsidies - the macro theme backing this investment - offset the positive impact of Nile Barges (South Sudan).

Cement Aggregate sector revenues were down 7.9 percent yearon-year in 2Q13 to EGP 533.7 million compared to EGP 579.3 million in 2Q12 as a 16.0 percent drop in revenues from Construction activities offset a 2.5 percent increase from the Cement division. EBITDA was down 37.6 percent over the same period at EGP 61.0 million, affected by the overhaul and temporary halt of production at Zahana cement in Algeria.

That said, the division tripled EBITDA quarter-on-quarter, reporting EGP 61.0 million compared to EGP 18.3 million in 1Q13, thanks largely to improvements at the Cement division’s Al-Takamol Cement Plant and a turnaround at the Construction division’s ARESCO. In the first half, aggregate revenues for the sector were down 3.8 percent y-o-y at EGP 1.1 billion on lower revenues from both the Cement and Construction divisions, while EBITDA decreased 22.8 percent to EGP 80.1 million.

Agrifoods The Agrifoods division reported a 6.5 percent y-o-y improvement in revenues in 2Q13 to EGP 324.3 million, as platforms Gozour (Egypt) and Wafra (newly operational greenfield in Sudan and South Sudan) both reported improved revenues. Meanwhile EBITDA surged by 68.3 percent y-o-y to EGP 35.4 million, primarily on strong performance by Gozour, and

Principal investments Citadel Capital principal investments from its own balance sheet remain largely unchanged at US$ 1,132.1 million. Full financial statements and management’s analysis of the performance of operational core platform companies as well as the firm’s standalone and consolidated financial results are available for download at ir.citadelcapital.com.

DUBAI: The winners of the 2013 Cityscape Awards for Emerging Markets celebrated their achievements last night at the JW Marriot Hotel Dubai.

Msheireb, Downtown Doha, Qatar won the Best Sustainability (Future) award.

Cityscape Awards to honor World’s premier properties Recognition for emerging market firms DUBAI: The Cityscape Awards for Emerging Markets have recognized the 2013 pioneering global real estate developments in a glamorous ceremony and cocktail reception at the world’s tallest hotel last night.

Selected among 27 shortlisted projects from 11 countries, the 12 winners of the prestigious event were celebrated at the JW Marriot Marquis Hotel Dubai, in a prestigious event that hosted hundreds of industry professionals and VIPs. Reflecting the true international nature of the Awards and the submissions received, the winners came from all corners of the globe including the One AIA Financial Center in China, which won the Best Commercial &

Mixed (Built) Development; Quasar Istanbul for Best Commercial & Mixed (Future) Development; Hotel Indigo in Hong Kong for Best Leisure & Tourism (Built) project; and Ahyaa Amman Boutique Hotel in Jordan for Best Leisure & Tourism (Future).

GCC winners on the night included the Tourism Development & Investment Company ( TDIC) for the Louvre, Abu Dhabi for Best Community & Culture (Future) development, while both sustainability awards were snapped up by regional projects - Siemens Middle East Headquarters in Masdar, Abu Dhabi won Best Sustainability (Built) project and Msheireb, Downtown Doha in Qatar won Best Sustainability (Future) project.

Other winners included the National Institute of Fashion Design in India for Best Community and Culture Project (Built); Qatar Foundation’s Male & Female Student Housing for Best Residential Project (Built); Windchants for Best Residential Project (Future); Akbati Shopping Mall for Best Retail Project (Built); and Hang Lung Properties’Olympia 66 for Best Retail Project (Future).

Sponsored by Axor by Hansgrohe and Flash Properties, the Cityscape Awards for Emerging Markets was a feature of Cityscape Global, which concludes today (10 October) at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Wouter Molman, Exhibition Director of

Cityscape Global said: “The Cityscape Awards for Emerging Markets this year attracted a total of 283 nominations from across the world, with only the finest 27 chosen to move forward to the final judging day this week. The quality of the nominations this year was incredibly high, and it’s great to see such a diverse range of projects celebrated on a global stage.”

Cityscape Global opened on 8 October, and was a hive of activity as leading international, regional, and local real estate developers showcased their latest projects and innovations to thousands of eager investors. With exhibition space growing by 50 per cent for the second year in a row, the three-day event has mirrored the positive sentiment that the

real estate market has seen building up in the last two years. Organised by Informa Exhibitions, the Middle East’s largest real estate event hosted 223 exhibitors from 19 countries this year, with 35 per cent of exhibition space occupied by international property developers.

Supported by the Land Department, Cityscape Global is supported by Foundation Sponsors Emaar, Nakheel, and Dubai Properties Group; Strategic Sponsor Barwa; Official Broker, TRISL Real Estate; Silver Sponsors Anantara Residences and Pacific Ventures; Al Arabiyaas Regional Broadcast Partner; and CNN as the International Broadcast Partner.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2013

technology

‘Tech stress’ builds with proliferation of digital devices NEW YORK: The signs of tech stress are everywhere: The iPhone junkie freaking out over his contacts being swallowed alive by the new iOS 7 software. The office manager furiously swimming upstream against a never-ending flood of emails.

The angry home-office worker hyperventilating over a computer virus and taking it out on a guy like Mike Kushner.

“We see people crying, we see people angry, we have people lash out at us because we can’t recover what they’ve lost,” said Kushner, the coowner of Palo Alto, Calif.-based Bay Area Computer Solutions, which provides paramedics for the digitally desperate. “People are under incredible pressure these days because of how dependent everyone is on their computers and especially their smartphones. We get calls from CEOs with email problems and they’re going crazy, so it’s a good thing I took psychology classes in college because it helps me calm talk them off the ledge.”

Our growing addiction to technology has become even more dramatic thanks to the proliferation of mobile devices. While their benefits are bountiful, whether it’s the magic of GPS mapping or real-time access to everything under the sun, that same powerful computer in our pocket is also

spawning obsessive behavior, often served up with heaping sides of angst. Palo Alto psychologist Francine Toder calls it the “always on” syndrome. She has seen patients who are already “overwhelmed by life, and now their problems become much more complicated by all these new devices and nonstop data coming at them.”

We’ve all seen it. We’ve all felt it ourselves. The skipping heartbeat when your Android phone beeps with an alert. The nagging need to ceaselessly check for incoming texts and emails, even at the movies or while having dinner with friends or family. And then there’s the “phantom vibration syndrome,” that creepy sensation that your smartphone is buzzing in your purse or pocket when in fact it isn’t.

Santa Clara University psychology professor Thomas Plante said solid clinical research on techinduced anxiety is still in its early stages. Still, he said, all you have to do is look over at that texting driver next to you at the red light to see firsthand “how we’re all constantly using our phones to deal with boredom or to get an immediate answer to some trivial question. We’ve reached a point where it’s increasingly hard for people to have the mind at quiet.”

Plante got so fed up with his students sneaking

Buy electronics wherever you are from Best Electronics online store KUWAIT: As part of its expansion program and to improve the shopping convenience of its customers, Best Electronics has now launched its online store www.best.com.kw where customers can order all their electronics items from the comfort of their homes or work places on the internet at any time.

The online store provides customers with the opportunity to explore the latest electronic devices in the market before making a purchase in a secure, easy and convenient manner at any time and from anywhere.

The new website caters to all your demands for electronics be it Home appliances, Televisions, Video Games, Laptops, Accessories, Mobile Phones or Smart Phones and a huge array of other electronic products from world renowned brands. Best Electronics also provides its customers with the option to make payments on receiving the product delivery at their homes or work places while the option for secure and easy online payments is also available on the website through debit cards. One of the strongest USPs of this service is the free & quick delivery with the assurance of delivering the items within 12 hours of the purchase being made.

Along with the launch of its online shopping store www.best.com.kw, Best Electronics also commits itself to provid-

or they’ve accidentally answered their phone so that the person on (the other end) can hear us talking.” Redman said the latest social stressor is Apple’s software upgrade to iOS 7, a transition that has apparently left some users besides themselves after contacts were wiped out or photos were sent asunder. It’s particularly troubling, she said, that even a software tweak “can drive so many people crazy.”

HOW TO CUT DOWN STRESS • Avoid leaving your smartphone next to your bed at night, as studies suggest beeps and even a gadget’s light may disrupt sleep.

• Be aware of your tech-tool usage, keeping a diary for a week of what devices you use, for what reason, and for how long.

• Set up boundaries for yourself, such as refusing to check emails before 10 a.m. or after 10 p.m.

• Call someone for a 10-minute phone conversation rather than using text.

• Leave your phone in your car while at the movies and in your glove compartment while driving.

• Establish a no-smartphone policy during family dinners.

• Learn how to silence your phone; you’d be surprised how many people don’t know how. — MCT

New gadget frees mobile TV from blocky attachment ‘Mobiletv’ gizmo picks up free TV signals LOS ANGELES: A new gadget lets you watch TV on your phone or tablet without a blocky attachment.

Audiovox’s “mobiletv” gizmo allows you to pick up free TV signals and watch them on Apple and Android mobile devices without eating into your cellular data plan. The accessory doesn’t have to be attached to the mobile device physically. Previous mobile TV antennas could hang precariously from the charging port.

The consumer electronics maker’s device, which costs $130, can be set up within 25 feet of your tablet or smartphone - on a windowsill, for example, if you’re in a building. It works over Wi-Fi and lets consumers watch major broadcast networks like ABC, NBC, Fox, CBS, PBS, Telemundo and Ion using the Dyle Mobile TV

ing a comprehensive and convenient shopping experience to all its customers by offering everyone the chance to shop from any place and at anytime. Besides convenience, customers can also benefit from a wide variety of discounts and promotions which are exclusive to its online customers. Besides the online store, Best Electronics also operates from its three state-of-the-art stores at the Panasonic Tower in Kuwait City, at Tunis Street in Hawally and on the Fourth Ring Road in Al Rai which is the biggest Electronics Store in the Middle East Region.

Xerox: Access restored for food stamp users OHIO: People in Ohio, Michigan and 15 other states found themselves temporarily unable to use their food stamp debitstyle cards on Saturday, after a routine test of backup systems by vendor Xerox Corp. resulted in a system failure.

Xerox announced late in the evening that access had been restored for users in the 17 states affected by the outage, hours after the first problems were reported.

“Re-starting the EBT system required time to ensure service was back at full functionality,” spokeswoman Jennifer Wasmer said in an email.

An emergency voucher process was available in some of the areas while the problems were occurring, Wasmer said.

US Department of Agriculture spokeswoman Courtney Rowe underscored that the outage was not related to the government shutdown.

Shoppers left carts of groceries behind at a packed Market Basket grocery store in Biddeford, Maine, because they couldn’t get their benefits, said shopper Barbara Colman, of Saco, Maine.

The manager put up a sign saying the EBT system was not in use. Colman, who receives the benefits, called an 800 telephone line for the program and it said the system was down due to maintenance, she said.

“That’s a problem. There are a lot of families who are not going to be able to feed children because the system is being maintenanced,” Colman said. She planned to reach out to local officials.

“You don’t want children going hungry tonight because of stupidity,” she said.

Colman said the store manager promised her that he would honor the day’s store flyer discounts next week. Wasmer said the states affected by the temporary outage also included Alabama, California, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia.

Ohio’s cash and food assistance card payment systems went down at 11 am, said Benjamin Johnson, a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. Johnson said Xerox asked retailers to revert to a manual system, meaning customers can spend up to $50 until the system was restored.

Illinois residents began reporting

peeks at their phones under their desks that “I now ban tech devices, and I have students do a one-minute mindful meditation at the start of every class. ‘Take a deep breath,’ I tell them, ‘and get yourselves together.’ “Not everyone, of course, is overwhelmed, said Gesine Schaffer, a retired psychologist in San Jose, Calif. “With my own grandkids, for example, this technology is just part of their culture. Kids see heavy use of these devices as normal, and I think they know how to manage that stress better than, say, a 60-year-old.”

Schaffer said mobile devices have become such an “essential part of our culture, especially among young people, that if they weren’t feeling some of that stress, they’d feel like they were missing out on something and wouldn’t know what to do with themselves. These devices provide a sor t of drama in their lives that they embrace.” For those less adept at managing their use of these tools, or for people already grappling with stressed-out lives and other emotional problems, the always-on phenomenon can make a bad situation worse.

Saratoga, Calif., psychologist Janet Redman said she’s had patients simultaneously so anxious and so tethered to their smartphones “that some have accidentally recorded their therapy session,

problems with their cards - known as LINK in that state - on Saturday morning, said Januari Smith, spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Human Services.

Smith said that typically when the cards aren’t working retailers can call a backup phone number to find out how much money customers have available in their account. But that information also was unavailable because of the outage, so customers weren’t able to use their cards.

“It really is a bad situation but they are working to get it fixed as soon as possible,” Smith said. In Clarksdale, Miss. - one of the poorest parts of one of the poorest states in the nation - cashier Eliza Shook said dozens of customers at Corner Grocery had to put back groceries when the cards failed Saturday because they couldn’t afford to pay for the food. After several hours, she put a sign on the front door to tell people about the problem.

“It’s been terrible,” Shook said in a phone interview. “It’s just been some angry folks. That’s what a lot of folks depend on.”

Mississippi Department of Human Services director Rickey Berry confirmed that Xerox, the state’s EBT vendor, had computer problems. “I know there are a lot of mad people,” Berry said. Sheree Powell, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Department of Human Services, started receiving calls around 11:30 a.m. about problems with the state’s card systems. More than 600,000 Oklahomans receive SNAP benefits, and money is dispersed to the cards on the first, fifth and 10th days of every month, so the disruption came at what is typically a high-use time for the cards.

Oklahoma also runs a separate debit card system for other state benefits like unemployment payments. Those cards can be used at ATMs to withdraw cash.

Powell said Xerox administers both the EBT and debit card systems, and they both were down initially.

Powell said that some grocery store cashiers had been speculating that the federal government’s shutdown caused the problem, but state officials have been assured that that is not the case.

Powell said Oklahoma’s Xerox representative told them that the problems stemmed from a power failure at a data center. “It just takes a while to reboot these systems,” she said. — AP

app. The app is downloadable for free from Apple’s App Store or Android’s Google.

The networks and TV stations that are available differ in each of the 38 markets where Dyle operates, such as New York and Los Angeles, so you should check www.dyle.tv before buying.

Not every TV station sends out the kind of TV signals that can be captured by mobile antennas. For now, these signals allow for images that have a relatively fuzzy resolution of 416 by 240 pixels, although work is being done to boost the quality.

Unfortunately, watching TV this way blocks you from surfing the Web or pulling down fresh emails at the same. But a planned future software update is meant to make that possible.

The gizmo weighs less than 2 ounces and lasts four hours without being plugged in via

its USB charger. The company says it fits in your pocket. I t has a retractable antenna that extends to 6 inches and works even while in a moving vehicle.

Such devices are geared toward consumers who either don’t want to pay for TV or want to get around the blackouts that are common in fee disputes between content owners and pay TV distributors.

Salil Dalvi, co-general manager of the Mobile Content Venture, which operates Dyle, said the technology could also be used by pay TV channel operators that want to reach mobile viewers who are worried about exceeding their monthly data limits.

The Mobile Content Venture is a joint venture of 12 major TV station owners as well as broadcast networks Fox, Ion and NBC. — AP

DBWC’s Network Majlis emphasizes ‘Power of Digital Marketing’ DUBAI: Dubai Business Women Council (DBWC) recently hosted a seminar under the theme “Power of Digital Marketing” during monthly Network Majlis to help businesses drive success in today’s digitized world.

Experts from Google, Polar Bear Creative, MomSouq and Mompreneurs ME shared digital marketing strategies with eminent women personalities in the UAE. The session focussed on Search Engine Optimization, Google Adwords and popular digital marketing tools and tactics. It also highlighted crucial elements such as the key criteria for developing a website, social media platforms and applications, and database management essential to augmenting a business’ online presence.

Raja Al Gurg, President, Dubai Business Women Council, said: “With statistics indicating that 61 per cent of global Internet users research products online, we felt the time was right to conduct a seminar on this topic.

In the UAE especially, with the increasing prevalence of smartphones, there is no denying the significance of digital marketing.

With our distinguished lineup of international and regional experts, the seminar proved to be highly beneficial.”

Marie de Ducla, Industry Head Travel Gulf, Google Dubai; Saman Hamidi, CoFounder and Manager, Polar Bear Creative Consultancy; and Mona Tavassoli, Founder, Mom Souq and Mompreneur Middle East,

formed the panel of speakers.

Founded in 2002, DBWC motivates women to be productive members of the society, while encouraging role models to rise up from the ranks and inspire other women around the world, especially in the

Arab region, to discover their true potential.

DBWC organises the high-profile monthly event ‘Network Majlis’ to provide information about the latest knowledge, skills and best practices for women entrepreneurs and leaders.

ADELAIDE: People look at solar race cars during the 2013 World Solar Challenge closing parade in Adelaide, Australia yesterday. The race, lasting for seven days, took 43 participants over 3,021 kilometers from Darwin to Adelaide in Australia. — AP

MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2013

H E A LT H & S C I E N C E

Depression during pregnancy linked to offspring’s affliction LOS ANGELES: A baby born to a woman who suffers depression during pregnancy stands a higher likelihood of becoming a depressed adolescent than does his or her nursery-mate born to a nondepressed mother, a new study finds. A large British study also found that among those with less education, a mother’s postpartum depression - as well as a father’s depression following his baby’s birth - similarly raised the odds that that offspring would go on the become depressed. Mothers and fathers with more education who became depressed after a baby’s birth appeared less likely to

sow the seeds of later depression in the child. The child’s odds of going on to suffer depression rose steadily as the severity of his mother’s depression during pregnancy increased. And for women with lower education, a case of severe postpartum depression was linked to a higher likelihood that her child would suffer depression by late adolescence than if her postpartum symptoms were milder.

The findings, published Wednesday in the journal JAMA Psychiatry, underscore the importance of treating depression in pregnant women, the authors wrote. And

they suggest that a child whose mother was depressed while carrying him would be a good candidate for early intervention aimed at nipping melancholia in the bud. In the interests of children’s future mental health, public health officials might consider making it a priority to support less-educated mothers who have postpartum depression, the authors wrote. To explore the intergenerational transmission of depression, the authors tracked 8,937 pregnant women and the children to whom they gave birth in a corner of southwest England between April 1991 and December 1992. After

gauging the mental health of the women and their partners throughout and after pregnancy, the researchers collected parental reports on the children and made their own assessments based on regular clinic visits. They tracked the kids until they reached 18.

The study does little to tease apart the many factors known to influence a child’s propensity to develop depression. Genes, early bonding experience with caregivers and even intrauterine environment all are thought to raise or lower the risk. The power of education to blunt the impact of a parent’s postpartum depression is

strong testament to the early environmental factors that influence the development of the disorder.

On the other hand, when a mother was depressed during her pregnancy, the likelihood that she would transmit that vulnerability to her unborn child was not mitigated by such social factors as better education. That underscores the contributions of genetics and “fetal programming” - the stew of hormones and other chemicals in which a baby is incubated, and which powerfully influence brain development - in the intergenerational pattern of depression.—MCT

Execution drugs mixed by pharmacies draw new challenges from death row KANSAS CITY: Several US states are turning to lightly regulated pharmacies for lethal injection drugs, prompting a host of court battles and at least one stay of execution because of concern tainted or impure drugs could inflict cruel and unusual punishment on inmates.

The scramble for alternative supplies comes as major pharmaceutical companies, especially based in Europe, have clamped down on sales of drugs for executions in recent years in order to avoid association with the punishment.

Missouri on Friday abandoned a plan to use the anesthetic propofol to put an inmate to death after the German maker of the drug, Fresenius Kabi, discovered that some had been sold to the state for executions, and suspended shipments to a US distributor in retaliation.

Cut off from traditional sources of drugs, at least five states where the death penalty is legal - South Dakota, Texas, Ohio, Georgia and Colorado - are looking to “compounding” pharmacies, which typically mix drugs for prescriptions and are mostly exempt from federal oversight and face widely varying scrutiny from states.

Tainted drugs from a Massachusetts compounding pharmacy caused an outbreak last year of a rare type of meningitis that killed more than 50 people and sickened more than 700 in 20 states, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The resulting outcry has sparked a drive in Congress for a larger role by the US Food and Drug Administration, which has warned of “special risks” from compounding pharmacies.

No judge appears to have ruled that an execution was botched from compounded drugs. But death penalty opponents have filed a flurry of lawsuits seeking to halt executions using them. They say the use of compounded drugs runs the risk of violating the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution, which forbids states from inflicting “cruel and unusual punishment.”

“You don’t have a high level of assurance that the drug is pure and potent,” said Sarah Sellers, a pharmaceutical consultant who testified twice about the risks of compounders before the Massachusetts Legislature after the meningitis outbreak.

“When used in executions, they are a real concern. It could take longer to die, there could be unnecessary suffering.”

Compounders and prison officials reject that view, saying the industry does good work, and that executions happen too fast for tainted drugs to mar the process. A spokesman for the compounding industry, David Ball, said he was aware of only three pharmacies that had supplied compounded drugs for lethal injections, and that the industry in general was of “high quality.”

“No compounding pharmacy that I know of is actively seeking this business,” he said. “Every pharmacist that I know chose their profession in part out of a desire to help people, and that is what they focus on in their work.”

The results of the court challenges have so far been mixed. In their biggest success, a Georgia judge in July granted a stay of execution for death row inmate Warren Lee Hill. Among the reasons Fulton County Superior Court Judge Gail Tusan cited were questions whether Georgia’s lethal injection drug was “somehow contaminated or improperly compounded.” The state Supreme Court is considering the case.

Other judges have allowed executions to go ahead. In a case brought by three Texas death row inmates, among them Michael Yowell, challenging the use of the drug pentobarbital from a compounder, a judge said he was not persuaded.

“Pentobarbital will kill Yowell in five to eighteen minutes and his consciousness will be diminished almost immediately; therefore, infections like meningitis will not hurt him because they require weeks to incubate,” wrote U.S. District Judge Lynn

Hughes.

Yowell was executed on Wednesday, the first Texas inmate put to death using the compounded drug. Compounding pharmacies combine or alter drugs mostly to fill individual prescriptions for patients. The FDA, which regulates drug manufacturers, does not approve the products of compounding pharmacies, which are licensed through state pharmacy boards.

An FDA study found the potency of compounded drugs can vary widely from that listed on the label, and the agency has cited numerous cases of contamination from such operations.

The US House of Representatives passed a bill on Sept. 28 to give the FDA more authority over compounding pharmacies, although the measure is unlikely to become law soon because of the political gridlock in Washington over the budget, national debt and health reform.

In response to concerns about the quality of drugs, Texas had an independent laboratory, Eagle Analytical Services, test the state’s compounded pentobarbital used in executions and it was 98.8 percent pure, court documents in the death row inmates case showed.

“Thousands of individuals use compounded drugs each day,” said Jason Clark, spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. “The quality and potency of the compounded pentobarbital will not differ from the pentobarbital that is manufactured by a pharmaceutical company.”

The scramble for new sources of execution drugs has been accompanied by an effort to shield the process from scrutiny, which advocates for death row prisoners find troubling. “The lack of transparency around the form and source of the drugs puts our clients at an unjustified risk of being executed with drugs that either will not work as planned or will cause excruciating pain and suffering,” said Bryan Stull, a lawyer specializing in capital punishment for the American Civil Liberties Union.

Court challenges and media scrutiny have been more successful in prying information about the compounded drugs from state authorities than in delaying executions. South Dakota had refused to identify where it got the drugs that it used to execute an inmate last year. A judge on Sept.

30 ordered the state to turn over some information to him, although he said the identity of the compounding pharmacist need not be disclosed publicly.

Earlier this year, Colorado officials turned to compounding pharmacies to seek out sodium thiopental, a common execution drug until major drug companies two years ago refused to supply it. The information was disclosed in a letter sent by the Colorado corrections department to compounding pharmacies that became public in a lawsuit filed in May by the ACLU. Ohio, which is running out of usable drugs for executions, announced on Oct. 4 that it would allow the purchase of drugs from compounding pharmacies if needed.

Texas, which executes more inmates than any other state, stirred debate over whether it had promised secrecy to a supplier, when it identified the compounder earlier this month. On Oct. 2, in response to a media public information request, the state criminal justice department said it had purchased pentobarbital for executions from Houston-based Woodlands Compounding Pharmacy. Two days later, the owner of the pharmacy sent a letter to Texas corrections officials saying he wanted the drugs back because the company had been subjected to public criticism.

“It was my belief that this information would be kept on the ‘down low’ and that it was unlikely that it would be discovered that my pharmacy provided these drugs,” owner Jasper Lovoi said in the letter, which was disclosed in documents as part of a federal lawsuit filed against the state by three death row inmates. —AP

HAMBURG: A prairie dog nibbles a branch at the Tierpark Hagenbeck zoo in Hamburg, northern Germany on Saturday. — AFP

Young Kuwaiti inventor Asfour advances to engineering stage Top 10 Arab innovators revealed amidst tough competition DOHA: The latest Proof of Concept episode of Stars of Science, aired on MBC4, challenged the 16 selected candidates to scientifically validate their ideas with 10 now through to the Engineering stage.

Six candidates were eliminated during the Proof of Concept stage following a heated debate amongst jury members that included Dr Hayat Al Sindi, the Founder and President of the Saudi-based i2 institute, Dr Mazen Hasna, Vice President & Chief Academic Officer at Qatar University and the programme’s permanent jury members Mr. Youssef Al Salhi, GM of Qatar Shell research and technology center and Dr. Fouad Mrad, Executive Director for the Regional Technology Center at the United Nations - ESCWA. The judging criteria was based on each candidate’s working prototype (50 per cent), product feasibility (30 per cent) and their resourcefulness and approach (20 per cent).

The Engineering stage is one of the most challenging as the 10 remaining young innovators will be judged on their product’s functionality, marketability and resourcefulness before six move on to the Design stage.

The prestigious panel of jurors for the Engineering phase will include Dr Farouk Al Baz, Research

Professor and Director of the Center for Remote Sensing at Boston University who has been acting as a VIP juror for four consecutive seasons, as well as Dr Eyad Masad, Assistant Dean for Research and Graduate Studies at Texas A&M University Qatar and Professor of Civil and Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M University (USA).

Dr Farouk Al Baz, Research Professor and Director of the Center for Remote Sensing at Boston University in the United States, said: “We are really impressed to see that this year a majority of the candidates’ projects are very much focused on directly benefitting the wider society. Each innovation tackles a prevalent issue in the Middle East in a unique and innovative way.

We look forward to seeing what each of the candidates will be presenting at the Engineering stage.”

Hosted by Khaled Al Jumaily, Stars of Science Season Five consists of eight prime-time episodes plus the live finale, where the public will be invited to vote alongside the Jury. The program began on September 13th 2013 (8 pm KSA), with daily updates airing from Saturday to Thursday at 4.30 pm KSA on MBC4.

For the latest updates, log on to: • www.starsofscience.com https://www.facebook.com/Starsof

No cases of MERS virus among haj pilgrims MECCA: Saudi Arabia has so far recorded no cases of the deadly MERS coronavirus among pilgrims in the holy city of Makkah for the annual haj season, the Ministry of Health said. The death toll from the respiratory virus in the kingdom, where the strain emerged last year, has reached 51, and some health officials had feared there could be a large outbreak in a huge congregation of pilgrims from the Muslim world.

“I would like to assure everyone that were no cases of coronavirus recorded in any of the pilgrims’ areas,” said ministry spokesman Khalid al-Mirghalani said. The virus, the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV), can cause coughing, fever and pneumonia.

The annual haj pilgrimage will start today and more than 1.6 million pilgrims so far have made it to Makkah from outside the kingdom. “We are taking all precautions, we have labs for testing suspected cases and in case someone tests positive we will immediately isolate them to avoid any epidemic,” al-Mirghalani added.

On Thursday, the ministry said two citizens had died after contracting the virus, bringing the total in the kingdom to 51. The men aged 78 and 55 were both from Riyadh, the ministry said, however no details were given on when they had died.

While cases have been reported in people across the Middle East and in France, Germany, Italy, Tunisia and Britain, the vast majority of infections and deaths are in Saudi Arabia.

In the days leading up to the haj, the ministry launched an advisory campaign for pilgrims on how to prevent it spreading. “We advise pilgrims to wash their hands frequently with soap and, in crowed areas, we highly advise that everyone wears a face mask to cover their nose and mouth,” said Mowafak Abu Taleb, physician and head of the haj health department at a hospital in Arafat, one of the holy haj cites.

He said some 22,000 health workers, including doctors, nurses and administrative staff were on standby to help ill or injured pilgrims - around 3,000 more than previous years. — Reuters

ScienceTV

• http://twitter.com/starsofscience • http://www.youtube.com/starsofsciencetv These sites also include informa-

tion on the applications process for Stars of Science Season which is currently accepting submissions from applicants until December 15th 2013.

Tropic region - First to be hit by the global warming WASHINGTON: Scientists have determined when the climates of numerous locations around the world will shift to a new, hotter normal as a result of higher greenhouse gas emissions, according to a study released Wednesday in the journal Nature. The tropics appear most likely to be the first to shift to an unprecedented new climate, perhaps as early as the next decade, the analysis shows. The average location on Earth could experience a substantially different climate by 2047 if human beings continue to do little to rein in emissions of heat-trapping gases, the report warns.

The shifts to consistently warmer temperatures in the world’s climates pose a considerable threat to thousands of plant and animal species. They would either have to move, adapt or face extinction. Most aspects of human society would face grave disruptions as well, from agriculture to water security to public health. “Regardless of the scenario, changes will be coming soon,” said Camilo Mora, an assistant professor of geography at the University of Hawaii, Manoa, and the study’s lead author. “Within my generation, whatever climate we were used to will be a thing of the past.”

Even if nations took a more aggressive approach to reducing greenhouse gases, the annual mean temperature in an average location in the world would still shift out of its previous normal range by 2069, Mora and his colleagues found. The inevitability of the global shift to hotter climates should not be seen as cause for inaction, warned the study’s authors and others who read the paper. Rather, it highlights the urgency of adopting measures that would give people and other organisms better odds of coping with their new, hotter environs, they said.

“The optimistic way to look at this is that taking steps to reduce emissions is buying us time _ for species to adapt, for human soci-

eties to change and to come up with technological advancements,” said study co-author Abby Frazier, a graduate student in geography at the University of Hawaii, Manoa. “It lets us put on the brakes. If you were about to get into an accident, wouldn’t you want it to happen at 20 miles per hour rather than 80?”

Mora said the research arose from the realization that while there were many studies looking at the absolute change in global temperature and the speed of the transformation, there was a gap in knowledge regarding the timing of such shifts.

The team’s findings are based on annual average temperatures around the world over the last 150 years. The notion of a shift to a different climate means that the annual average temperature for a given location will be consistently outside the bounds of its current range. “We set the bounds of the past minimum and maximum values, and the shift is when the annual mean temperature moves beyond these bounds and never comes back in,” said study co-author Ryan Longman, also a graduate student in geography at the University of Hawaii, Manoa. “The new minimum temperature of the future is the old maximum temperature of the past.”

Many studies have focused on the great temperature increases expected in the Arctic. But the new study’s conclusion that the tropics will suffer unprecedented temperature changes first surprised experts who weren’t involved in the research. The swift changes expected for the tropics “immediately raises all sorts of alarms bells,” said Stuart L. Pimm, an expert on the tropics and professor of conservation ecology at Duke University. “The greatest variety of life and biodiversity and the poorest people in world live in tropics, and the new climate shifts will be outside their parents’ and grandparents’ experience.” —MCT

MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2013

H E A LT H & S C I E N C E

Dar Al Shifa Hospital holds first conference on obesity

KUWAIT: Dar Al Shifa Hospital recently hosted its first International Conference on Obesity in Kuwait. The 2-day conference sponsored by Bader Sultan & Brothers Co., took place on October 1st and 2nd at Jumeirah Hotel.

Attendees at the conference included participants from the region, Ministry of Health head of dietary departments, students and professors from Kuwait University, in addition to other healthcare providers e.g. doctors, surgeons, dietitians from some private hospitals and obesity centers in Kuwait, along with psychologists, pediatricians, researchers, academicians and even patients.

International, regional and local speakers shared their experience and knowledge around various factors that would lead to obesity and on ways to prevent it. Clinical researcher from

Oxford University, Dr Paulin Nowicka, shared the latest means and procedures of treating obesity in children and adults, which have been successfully implemented internationally, and have focused on behavioral modification of parents and children along with a healthy diet and physical activity.

In addition to that, Dr Omar Obeid, Professor& Researcher at the American University in Beirut (AUB), highlighted the importance of proper nutritional guidance and multivitamin supplementation post-bariatric surgeries to avoid complications. In-line with that, Mrs. Colleen Cook, Founder & President of Bariatric Support Centers International, shared her personal experience as a former bariatric surgery patient, emphasizing the importance of educational support pre and post-surgery that she felt was needed in order to avoid future

complications and retain successful results.

Furthermore, Head of Community Nutrition Promotion at the Ministry of Health Dr. Mona Al Sumaie shed light on the high obesity prevalence rate in our society that is gradually increasing according to the Kuwait Nutrition Surveillance System report. From 2006 to 2012, the percentage of obesity increased from 22.5% to 34.6% in males and from 20.1% to 28.1%.in females.

Head of Dietary Department at Dar Al Shifa hospital, Ms. Nadeen Al Jawhary, expressed her delight to hold the first international conference on Obesity, by saying: “This conference brings together experienced professionals from multidisciplinary fields involved in obesity prevention and management.

We do hope that through this training, we can follow our aim of providing evi-

dence-based nutritional care practice to our patients for optimal outcomes.”

Ms. Al Jawhary added, “After the success of the Enteral and Parenteral Nutrition workshop that was organized in May, we spared no efforts to help in educating and sharing our knowledge to other healthcare practitioners, and the public around an epidemic disease in Kuwait.”

Commenting on the conference, Ms. Tina Baramakian Patient Care Admi nistrator claimed: “We have conducted workshops in order to allow attendees practice clinical methods and theories taught to them in real-life situations. We do strongly hope that we can use this conference to bridge the gap between theories and practices, and empower attendees with appropriate scientific tools needed in their clinical practices to achieve the optimum level of obesi-

ty prevention and management.”

Moreover, Ms. Tina added: “ This conference is in line with other

remarkable events in celebrating the 50th anniversary of the hospital’s establishment.”

MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2013

W H AT ’ S O N

Focus International Kuwait holds Open Canvas against food wastage

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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

Announcements KKIC to hold Islamic students conference uwait Kerala Islahi is planning to conduct Second Islamic Students Conference (ISCON) on November 1 and 2 at Grand Mosque. Scores of students had participated in last year’s students’ workshop and other various activities. The two-day program will commence with inaugural ceremony on Friday evening.

Renowned guests from the Ministry of Awqaf, Islamic Heritage Society in addition to renowned educationists, experts, guest lecturers from in and out of Kuwait will participate in the conference. Several sessions will be held under students workshop, parenting and butterfly meets with support of presentations. A souvenir will be released on this occasion.

Students will be admitted only through registration. For details call on 50775545, 66977038, 99392791.

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Oula Fuel Marketing concludes First Aid Workshop ula Fuel Marketing Company announced the conclusion of its training workshop entitled “First Aid Basics” that was organized by the Training & Administrative Affairs Department. The training was held at the company’s headquarters in the Kuwait Business Town Tower from September 17-19, 2013.

The workshop, which was held in cooperation with one of the leading consultancy centers, lasted for three days and acquainted 60 station managers with the safety procedures and first aid basics required in the case of an emergency.

In accordance with the strong emphasis Oula places on maintaining public safety, and as a confirmation of the company’s commitment to implementing the highest of safety standards; the workshop came in line with a series of similar training programs regularly organized by Oula for its managers and employees. Through such workshops, stations managers are provided with all the necessary information and skills to efficiently handle both humanitarian cases and emergencies that may arise during a customer’s presence at any of the stations. In addition, employees are equipped with the appropriate means required to prevent or minimize any amount of human and material losses that may occur.

Upon completion of the workshop, and as proof of the stations managers’ qualification and readiness to carry out first aid procedures and early intervention, Oula distributed certificates approved by the Management of Medical Emergencies. Participants also received a license from the Health Care Association, the American Heart Association and the American Hospital Management Company.

Such efforts represent Oula’s genuine keenness on implementing its core strategy founded on constantly developing its products and services, along with ensuring that all health and safety standards are met in hopes of pleasing customers and maintaining the safety of citizens and station workers.

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Enjoy 3 nights at Starwood hotels for 2 urgan Bank announced yesterday that its X-Change card holders can benefit from the bank’s new offer when travelling within Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Customers can book for two nights to receive a third night for free in more than 230 Starwood Hotels such as Sheraton, Le Meridien, W Hotels and many more. This offer is valid until July 31, 2014.

The X-Change card comes in seven different currencies: the US dollars, euro, British pound, Saudi riyal, UAE dirhams, Egyptian pound as well as the Filipino peso. The card, which provides its users with easy access to online shopping, ticket booking and hotel reservations, comes with a unique key feature which is the ability to capture and hold the value of the exchange rate at which the card was bought to enable customers to capitalize on their preferred currency rates and withstand future currency fluctuations.

Burgan Banks latest promotion is part of their long term commitment to provide customers with innovative benefits that go beyond their banking needs. To find out more about Burgan Bank’s X-Change card, or any of its products and services, customers can visit any of the bank’s branches, or contact the call center.

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s a part of the ongoing two-month campaign against food wastage, ‘La Thusrifu,’ Focus International Kuwait held a Paint on Canvas program inviting various artists from different parts of Kuwait. The paintings were on the subject of food wastage and saving the planet by reducing our global food print. The program is recognized by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), as part of their ongoing ‘Think Eat Save campaign’. This program illustrates the thoughtful theme of reducing food wastage and food print through commercial videos and statistics on wastage in different developed nations.

At the event, the Director of the IPC Abdul Azeez Al-

Duwaij, stressed on the importance of the subject in the modern world and appreciated the efforts taken by the youth organization.

The event was inaugurated by PARTS Kuwait President Sunil Pookode. The campaign, ‘La thusrifu’ was officially inaugurated at Grand Mosque in Kuwait on September 6, 2013 by Abdul Azeez Al-Duwaij. The campaign duration is two months which will end in the first week of November with a youth summit. An ecosenate, door to door campaign, leftover food recipe contest and drawing competition for school students are the remaining programs of this campaign.

IIS venerates teachers on Teacher’s Day

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th September 2013, was the most awaited day for our diligent students to express their feelings, emotions and pay reverence and gratitude to their dear teachers for their selfless effort in inculcating in the minds of students the essence of value education, thereby enriching and enlightening the education system in the process.

The ceremony kicked off with a warm welcome speech proposed by Principal FM Basheer Ahmed. In his speech he quoted the golden words promulgated by Dr Radha Krishnan -”Teachers should be the best minds in the country.” He instilled confidence, ingrained motivation and infused the teachers to the core by his thoughtful speech. Furthermore, he highlighted the role of a teacher that he/she has to play the role as a facilitator and not as a teacher. Children are like plants and care them like a gardener nurture them and remember that every moment of life teaches and learning never stops.

Not only were the students, the teachers too proved innovative in celebrating the day. There was a musical feast organized by our teachers that captured the wonderful moments of the event. Director Malayil Moosa Koya’s words of appreciation and gratitude enlivened the teachers. His magnanimity got highlighted as he gifted each and every staff with a gift as a token of appreciation for their relentless efforts. Sr Vice Principal

proposed the vote of thanks. Truly, Teacher’s Day celebrations enriched and boosted the teachers with

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

courage and confidence to light our student’s path that leads to the road of excellence.

Oula Fuel Company to provideservices during Eid

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Kuwait City Mar Thoma Parish golden jubilee closing ceremony

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he golden jubilee celebrations of Kuwait City Mar Thoma Parish, which began a year back will end on November 15. Rt Rev Dr Joseph Mar Thoma, the Metropolitan of Mar Thoma Cyrian Church of Malabar, will preside over the valedictory ceremony. Kerala Minister of Finance and Justice K M Mani and Minister of Labor Shibu Baby John are the chief guests. Many other dignitaries are also expected to attend the function.

During the jubilee year, the parish has undertaken many charitable works; to mention a few. It has established a cardiac unit at Mission Hospital Kattanam, a village in Kerala.

It provided financial help to 50

desired girls irrespective of cast and creed, for their marriage. It sponsored 50 people at North India through the church to work for the uplift of the socially backward people. It provided accident- health insurance coverage to the members of Kuwait City Mar Thoma Parish. It dedicated six children to the full time ministry of the church.

A general committee comprising of 301 members are working for the successful conduct of the programs under the leadership of Rev T Sam Koshy (vicar) Adv P John Thomas (General Convener), William K Daniel and Shibu Pullampallil (conveners).

Jacob Thomas, advisory board, Soman P Mathai, reception, Shaji Simon,

finance, Shilu George, program, Philip Varghese, publicity, Sunil T Thomas, souvenir, Gibi Tharakan, food, Mathew Varghese, projects, Joseph M A, prayer cell, Siji George, general arrangements and Abraham C T, volunteer, are the various conveners of the sub committees. Rev K O. Philipose (Vicar General), Rev T Sam Koshy (Vicar), Philip Varghese(Secretary), Shaji Simon and Leji Philip(Trustees,) Shilu George, Eapen Alumkal and Chacko Thomas (Lay ministrants) and the other executive committee members attended a press conference which was called to announce the various programs and projects.

ula Fuel Marketing Company would like to extend its warmest wishes to the people of Kuwait and its residents on the occasion of the blessed Eid AlAdha holiday while wishing for many blessed returns. It would also like to announce that its stations will continue operating on schedule during the Eid holiday, gladly servcing its customers around the clock for all their fuel needs, as well as the continuation of services at all its car wash stations. Mazen Al-Khatib, Head of Marketing and Development at Oula, said: “It is with pleasure that the Oula congratulates the government and people of Kuwait on the occasion of the blessed Eid Al-Adha holiday, praying to God for much good and many happy returns for everyone. We would also like to reassure our customers that Oula stations will be running around the clock as usual during the holiday.”

Al-Khatib added, “In line with its commitment to enhancing customers’ experiences with an added value by providing smart payment solutions, Oula continues to sell prepaid payment cards of various types depending on customers’ needs at all its service stations.”

As the Eid Al-Adha holiday approaches, and traffic increases in the chalet and Kabd areas, Oula is ready to double its capacity at stations located on main roads, such as West Shuaiba and Kabd stations, in order to accommodate for the increase of station visitors during the upcoming blessed days.

Oula always strives to distinguish its customers and has not spared an effort in doing so by constantly implementing renewed strategies in the sake of elevating the quality of service at its stations. These have included the successful introduction of dual-sided fuel pumps for the first time in Kuwait in order to recharge fuel in a more time-efficient manner and spare customers long wait periods. This was in addition to prepaid payment cards that have been made available at all stations and that were designed to enhance customers’ experiences with greater flexibility and efficiency by saving them to carry cash and allowing them to monitor and control their fuel expenditures.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2013

W H AT ’ S O N

AUK artists come together ‘in the name of peace’

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-augcc.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 Consulate-General 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

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s part of Kuwait’s celebration of Global Peace Day, an exhibition entitled ‘In the Name of Peace’ is showcasing interpretations of ‘peace’ by local and international artists. The exhibition is being held at the Contemporary Art Platform (CAP) and is featuring pieces by AUK Graphic Design Professors Maryam Hosseinnia and William Anderson, as well as pieces by AUK alumnus Faisal Mohammad.

‘In the Name of Peace’ was launched on September 15 and will run through to mid-October. Part of the proceeds collected from sold items will be donated to Khair Al-Kuwait, a non-profit foundation devoted to the concept of volunteerism, and Loyac, a non-profit organization working towards the overall development of the youth. The celebration of Global Peace Day also includes live music and activities for children,

which will be held at the CAP Kuwait Warehouse on September 21st, starting at 5:30pm, as well as a ‘Global Peace Ride’ by the Kuwait Riders and Phoenician Riders from Costa Bedai on September 20 at 4:00 pm. The AUK Art and Graphic Department invites you to participate and contribute... in the name of peace.

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

Hindi Diwas celebrated at IIS

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

EMBASSY OF BHUTAN The Royal Bhutanese Embassy in the State of Kuwait would like to inform all concerned that its chancery has shifted to its new premises in South Surra, Al-Salaam, Block 3, Street 308, House 3.

Telephone:25213601- 25213602,Fax: 25213603 and Email: bhutankuwait@gmail.com. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF US

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eptember is celebrated as ‘HINDI DIWAS ‘every year to honour Hindi as an National language .To pay honour and respect to this very purpose Hindi department organized special assemblies and marked its significance by conducting the whole program in Hindi. The program started with a solemm prayer song in Hindi to invoke

the blessings of the Almighty. Following this a rich cultural programe, show casing the talents of students in the form ofsinging, dance, skits and Hindi recitals, were presented in a grand manner. To create an aura of amusement and laughter, students of class X A entertained the audience with Netaji’sspeech on Hindi Diwas and Hindi skit ‘Santosham Param

Sukham’ which resulted roar of laughter.

Following this student enlightened the audience with role and importance of Hindi language. Director Malayil Moosa Koya, Principal FM Basheer Ahmed, senior Vice Principal Narender Kaur, other Vice Principals graced the occasion.

Principal addressed the gathering. He

administered the oath for the teaching and learning of Hindi language. Sr Vice Principal highlighted the role of Hindi language as pride of India and encouraged the audience to speak Hindi. Alka Shukla Head of the Hindi department thanked and appreciated the efforts taken by Hindi Department.

AUK starts 10th academic year

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he American University of Kuwait has officially opened doors to new and returning students on September 11, marking the commencement of its 10th academic year. This year, AUK is reaching a special milestone, 10 years of service and achievement in higher education in Kuwait. The 10th anniversary will bring in a variety of exclusive events and projects, where the local community will get to celebrate with AUK. “This year, the university is initiating a comprehensive development plan to expand campus facilities, as well as, academic programs,” announced Dr Hamzeh,AUK Interim President and Provost, is general meeting with AUK faculty and staff members. Dr Hamzeh also called on everyone to “support the plan and work together to achieve its goals.” In his welcome note to the students starting the new academic year, Dr Hamzeh encouraged everyone to “actively participate in the classroom that fosters critical thinking, provides professional success, instills values, and inspires personal growth, and leadership. I realize that each student is unique and, as a university, we strive to maximize that unique potential.”

This year AUK welcomed 11 new fulltime faculty members, making a total of 115 full-time faculty members in the College of Arts and Sciences, College of Business and Economics and the Intensive English Program. “New AUK faculty members are selected based on commitment to academic excellence in teaching, research and service,” said Dr Hamzeh Amal Al-Binali, Vice President for Admissions and Public Affairs, pointed out that the University has filled all offered places for the Fall Semester “The current admission cycle has brought in students with high academic records. The average high school GPA of newly enrolled freshman students is 3.12 and 2.88 for Transfer

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. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF BANGLADESH The Embassy of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh in Kuwait will remain closed from Monday to Thursday, October 14-17, 2013 on the occasion of Holy Eid-ul-Adha.

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Students,” said Al-Binali.

The AUK Office of Student Affairs is organizing a variety of events to introduce new students to University life, and get them well acquainted with the different AUK activities and services including, student employment, recreational activities, and sports. In her welcome note to AUK students, Dr Carol Ross-Scott, Vice President of Student Affairs urged the students to “Take pride in the fact that we have maintained and will continue to provide you with learning and personal growth opportunities designed to prepare you for

this global world.” She also added,”Our students excel because of the dedication of our faculty and staff. This year we celebrate our 10 years of excellence.”

The American University of Kuwait (AUK) is an independent, private, equal opportunity, and co-educational liberal arts institution of higher education. The educational, cultural and administrative structure, methods and standards of AUK are based on the American model of higher learning. The language of instruction is English.

EMBASSY OF SOUTH AFRICA On the occasion of Eid-Al-Adha, the South African Embassy will be closed from Tuesday, October 15, 2013 to Thursday, October 17, 2013. The Embassy will resume it’s normal working hours on Sunday, October 20, 2013, from Sunday to Thursday. Please note that the working hours will be from 8:00 to 16:00 & the Consular Section operation hours will from 8:30 to 12:30. For emergencies, please contact: 94924895.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2013

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03:15 North America 04:05 Snow Leopards Of Leafy London 04:55 Animal Cops Houston 05:45 Untamed China With Nigel Marven 06:35 Wildlife SOS 07:00 Monkey Life 07:25 My Cat From Hell 08:15 The Most Extreme 09:10 My Cat From Hell 10:05 Big Five Challenge 11:00 Animal Cops Houston 11:55 Predator’s Prey 12:20 Call Of The Wildman 12:50 ER Vets 13:15 ER Vets 13:45 Weird Creatures With Nick Baker 14:40 Big Five Challenge 15:30 Cheetah Kingdom 16:00 Monkey Life 16:30 The Most Extreme 17:25 Breed All About It 18:20 Great Ocean Adventures 19:15 Monkey Life 19:40 Call Of The Wildman 20:10 Predator’s Prey 20:35 Cheetah Kingdom 21:05 Big Five Challenge 22:00 Too Cute!

22:55 Too Cute!

23:50 Animal Cops Houston 00:45 Attack Of The Giant Jellyfish 01:35 Untamed & Uncut 02:25 Big Five Challenge

03:30 Bedlam 04:15 The Weakest Link 05:00 Mr Bloom’s Nursery 05:20 Boogie Beebies 05:35 The Large Family 05:45 3rd & Bird 05:55 Little Human Planet 06:00 Charlie And Lola 06:15 Mr Bloom’s Nursery 06:35 Boogie Beebies 06:50 The Large Family 07:00 3rd & Bird 07:10 Little Human Planet 07:15 Charlie And Lola 07:30 2 Point 4 Children 08:00 Gates 08:30 The Weakest Link 09:15 Big Bear Diary 09:45 Doctors 10:15 The Fat Fighters 11:05 Casualty 11:55 2 Point 4 Children 12:25 The Weakest Link 13:10 Gates 13:35 Big Bear Diary 14:05 Doctors 14:35 Casualty 15:25 The Fat Fighters 16:15 Emma 17:10 Eastenders 17:40 Doctors 18:10 The Weakest Link 19:00 My Family 19:30 Little Britain 20:00 Waking The Dead 20:50 Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle 21:20 The Fixer 22:05 32 Brinkburn Street 22:50 Roger & Val Have Just Got In 23:20 My Family 23:50 The Fat Fighters 00:40 Little Britain 01:10 Eastenders 01:35 Doctors

03:05 Antiques Roadshow 05:00 New Scandinavian Cooking 05:25 Come Dine With Me: Supersize 07:00 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 07:40 Bargain Hunt 08:25 Antiques Roadshow 09:20 Come Dine With Me: Supersize

10:55 Masterchef: The Professionals 11:50 Celebrity MasterChef 12:40 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 13:25 Antiques Roadshow 14:20 Holmes On Homes 15:55 Bargain Hunt 16:45 Cash In The Attic 16:50 Design Rules 17:30 Antiques Roadshow 18:20 Marbella Mansions 19:10 Bill’s Kitchen: Notting Hill 19:35 Come Dine With Me: South Africa 20:30 Come Dine With Me 21:20 Antiques Roadshow 22:15 Bargain Hunt 23:00 Cash In The Attic 00:00 Marbella Mansions 00:45 Come Dine With Me 01:35 Celebrity MasterChef 02:05 The Hairy Bikers Ride Again 02:35 Britain’s Dream Homes

03:25 07:00 07:50 08:40 09:30 09:55 10:20 10:45 11:10 11:35 12:25 Mans 13:15 14:05 14:30 14:55 15:20 16:10 17:00 17:50 18:40 19:30 20:20 20:45 21:10 21:35 22:00 22:50 00:30 01:20

The Unexplained Files Mythbusters Extreme Fishing American Chopper Border Security Auction Kings Baggage Battles How Do They Do It? How It’s Made Fast N’ Loud Patrick Dempsey: Racing Le Wheeler Dealers: Trading Up Border Security Auction Kings Baggage Battles Flying Wild Alaska American Chopper Ultimate Survival Dirty Jobs Down Under Mythbusters Sons Of Guns Storage Hunters Baggage Battles How Do They Do It? How It’s Made River Monsters Deadliest Catch River Monsters Deadliest Catch

03:00 03:45 04:30 5:20 06:10 07:00 07:50 08:40 09:05 09:30 Jones 10:20 11:10 12:00 12:50 13:40 14:30 Jones 15:20 15:45 16:10 17:00 17:50 18:40 Jones 20:20 21:10 22:00 22:50 23:40 00:30

On The Case With Paula Zahn Extreme Drug Smuggling Dates From Hell Dr G: Medical Examiner Disappeared Mystery Diagnosis Street Patrol Real Emergency Calls Who On Earth...

True Crime With Aphrodite

03:00 03:25 03:45 04:30 05:20 06:10

I Was Murdered I Was Murdered I Almost Got Away With It Dr G: Medical Examiner Ghost Lab Nightmare Next Door

Solved Disappeared Mystery Diagnosis Street Patrol Forensic Detectives True Crime With Aphrodite Real Emergency Calls Who On Earth...

Disappeared Solved Forensic Detectives True Crime With Aphrodite Nightmare Next Door Couples Who Kill Deadly Devotion Deadly Sins I Almost Got Away With It Dr G: Medical Examiner

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

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 On The Case With Paula Zahn Nightmare Next Door I Almost Got Away With It Dr G: Medical Examiner Ghost Lab On The Case With Paula Zahn

03:35 Sport Science 04:25 Sport Science 05:15 The Gadget Show 05:40 How Tech Works 06:05 Deadliest Space Weather 06:30 Deadliest Space Weather 07:00 Prototype This 07:50 X-Machines 08:40 The Gadget Show 09:05 How Tech Works 09:30 Sport Science 10:25 Superships 11:20 Thunder Races 12:10 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 13:00 X-Machines 13:50 How Do They Do It? 14:20 The Gadget Show 14:45 How Tech Works 15:10 Prototype This 16:00 Sport Science 16:55 Superships 17:45 Thunder Races 18:35 Space Pioneer 19:30 Prototype This 20:20 X-Machines 21:10 The Gadget Show 21:35 How Tech Works 22:00 Prototype This 22:50 X-Machines 23:40 Dark Matters 00:30 How Do They Do It? 01:00 The Gadget Show 01:25 How Tech Works 01:50 Prototype This 02:45 X-Machines

03:25 Guns: The Men Who Made Them 04:20 Out Of Egypt 05:15 Out Of Egypt 06:05 Out Of Egypt 07:00 Surviving Sharks 07:50 American Car Prospector 08:45 How We Invented The World 09:35 True Stories 10:30 Ultimate Warfare 11:20 Out Of Egypt 12:10 American Car Prospector 13:05 Guns: The Men Who Made Them 13:55 Decoding Disaster 14:50 Crime Scene Wild 15:45 Pearl Harbor Declassified 16:40 Out Of Egypt 17:35 Greatest Human Achievements 18:25 Surviving Extreme Weather 19:20 Altered Statesmen 20:10 American Car Prospector 21:05 Ultimate Warfare 22:00 Altered Statesmen 22:55 I Was Bitten 23:50 Murder Shift 00:45 Ultimate Warfare 01:35 Altered Statesmen 02:30 I Was Bitten

DIARY OF A WIMPY KID: DOG DAYS ON OSN MOVIES HD

03:00 03:20 03:45 04:05 04:30 04:50 05:15 05:35 06:00 06:25 06:45 07:10 07:35 07:55 08:20 08:45 09:05 09:30 09:55 10:15 10:40 11:05 11:25 11:50 12:15 12:35 13:00 Long 14:35 15:00 15:25 15:50 16:10 17:00 17:20 17:45 18:10 18:30 18:55 19:20 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

14:45 Three Investigators And The Secret Of Terror...

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23:45 The Land Before Time 01:15 Everyone’s Hero 02:45 The Ugly Duckling In The Enchanted Forest

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05:00 Here Comes The Boom 06:45 Princess Lillifee 08:00 The Big Year 10:00 Mission: Impossible III 12:15 Here Comes The Boom 14:00 Do No Harm 16:00 The Big Year 18:00 Seeking Justice 20:00 21 Jump Street 22:00 How I Spent My Summer Vacation 00:00 The Scorpion King 3: Battle For Redemption 02:00 Seeking Justice

My Babysitter’s A Vampire Jessie Jessie Jessie Violetta Dog With A Blog Austin And Ally Gravity Falls Shake It Up That’s So Raven A.N.T. Farm Violetta Jessie My Babysitter’s A Vampire Austin And Ally Shake It Up That’s So Raven Jessie A.N.T. Farm Good Luck Charlie Wizards Of Waverly Place Wizards Of Waverly Place 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

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 Jake And The Neverland Pirates 08:50 Doc McStuffins 09:05 Doc McStuffins 09:20 Zou 09:35 Henry Hugglemonster 09:50 Henry Hugglemonster 10:00 Sofia The First 10:25 Mouk 10:40 Jake And The Neverland Pirates 10:55 New Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 11:20 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 11:45 Mouk 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 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 14:20 New Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 14:45 Higglytown Heroes 14:55 The Hive 15:05 Doc McStuffins 15:20 Zou 15:35 Jake And The Neverland Pirates 15:50 Mouk 16:05 Art Attack 16:30 Goof Troop 16:55 Tarzan 17:20 Quack Pack 17:45 Lilo And Stitch 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 Pajanimals 20:15 Jake And The Neverland Pirates 20:30 Goof Troop 20:55 Tarzan 21:20 Quack Pack 21:45 Lilo And Stitch 22:10 Sofia The First 22:35 Doc McStuffins 22:50 Pajanimals 23:05 Winnie The Pooh: Tales Of Friendship 23:10 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 23:35 Jake And The Neverland Pirates 23:50 Zou 00:10 Doc McStuffins 00:25 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 00:50 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

03:00 IRB Rugby Sevens 06:00 Trans World Sport 07:00 PGA Tour 10:30 IRB Rugby Sevens 13:30 Darts Grand Prix 15:30 ICC Cricket 360 16:00 Currie Cup 18:00 Trans World Sport 19:00 PGA Tour Higlights 20:00 PGA European Highlights 21:00 IRB Rugby Sevens 00:00 Darts Grand Prix 02:00 Trans World Sport

LORDS OF DOGTOWN ON OSN MOVIES HD ACTION

06:00 Kid vs Kat 06:10 Scaredy Squirrel 06:35 Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja 07:00 Max Steel 07:25 Phineas And Ferb 07:50 Slugterra 08:15 Crash & Bernstein 08:40 Kickin IT 09:30 Phineas And Ferb 10:20 Lab Rats 10:45 Lab Rats 11:10 Pokemon Bw: Adventures In Unova 11:35 Max Steel 12:00 Zeke & Luther 12:25 Zeke & Luther 12:50 Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja 13:00 Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja 13:15 Scaredy Squirrel 13:40 Pair Of Kings 14:05 Pair Of Kings 14:30 Phineas And Ferb 14:55 Phineas And Ferb 15:05 Phineas And Ferb 15:20 Pokemon Bw: Adventures In Unova 15:45 Max Steel 16:10 Pair Of Kings 16:35 Crash & Bernstein 17:00 Lab Rats 17:30 Kickin IT 18:00 Kickin’ IT 18:25 Phineas And Ferb 18:35 Phineas And Ferb 19:15 Slugterra 19:40 Crash & Bernstein 20:05 Ultimate Spider-Man 20:30 Max Steel 20:55 Pair Of Kings 21:20 Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja 21:45 Phineas And Ferb 21:55 Phineas And Ferb 22:10 Phineas And Ferb 22:20 Phineas And Ferb 22:35 Scaredy Squirrel 23:00 Programmes Start At 6:00am KSA

03:25 03:50 04:15 04:40 05:30 06:10 06:35 07:00 07:25 07:50 08:15 08:40 09:05 Basics 09:30 10:20 10:45 11:10 11:35 12:00 12:50 13:15 Basics 13:40 14:05 14:30 14:55 15:20 15:45 16:35 17:00 17:25 Feasts 17:50 18:15 18:40 19:05 19:30 19:55 20:20 21:10 22:00

Unique Eats Food Crafters United Tastes Of America Chopped Iron Chef America Unwrapped Unwrapped Unwrapped Unwrapped Recipes That Rock Kid In A Candy Store Jenny Morris Cooks Morocco Barefoot Contessa - Back To The Next Iron Chef Luke Nguyen’s Vietnam Aarti Party Unwrapped Unique Sweets Amazing Wedding Cakes Reza’s African Kitchen Barefoot Contessa - Back To Charly’s Cake Angels Siba’s Table Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Roadtrip With G. Garvin Chopped Barefoot Contessa Barefoot Contessa Andy Bates American Street Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Guy’s Big Bite Roadtrip With G. Garvin Siba’s Table Charly’s Cake Angels Chopped Chopped Siba’s Table

22:25 22:50 Feasts 23:15 Feasts 23:40 00:30 00:55 01:20 01:45 02:10 02:35 Feasts

Siba’s Table Andy Bates American Street Andy Bates American Street Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Food Wars Tastiest Places To Chowdown Outrageous Food Siba’s Table Siba’s Table Andy Bates American Street

03:00 New Girl 03:30 Veep 04:00 Girls 04:30 The New Normal 05:00 The Simpsons 05:30 Cougar Town 06:00 Seinfeld 06:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 07:30 Two And A Half Men 08:00 The Neighbors 08:30 Friends 09:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 10:00 Seinfeld 10:30 Two And A Half Men 11:00 The Simpsons 11:30 Guys With Kids 12:00 Modern Family 12:30 Friends 13:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 14:00 1600 Penn 14:30 Seinfeld 15:00 Two And A Half Men 15:30 Friends 16:00 Cougar Town 16:30 Guys With Kids 17:00 Modern Family 17:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 18:00 The Colbert Report 18:30 1600 Penn 19:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 20:00 The Simpsons 20:30 Last Man Standing 21:00 Community 21:30 Modern Family 22:00 Parks And Recreation 22:30 Don’t Trust The B**** In Apartment 23 23:00 The Daily Show Global Edition 23:30 The Colbert Report Global Edition 00:00 South Park

03:00 06:00 07:00 08:00 12:00 12:30 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 16:30 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00 00:00

Scandal 24 Switched At Birth Suits Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show Suits 24 Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show Suits Once Upon A Time Revenge The Blacklist Boardwalk Empire Scandal 24

03:45 Virtuosity 05:45 Courageous 08:00 Ice Road Terror 09:45 Captain America: The First Avenger 12:00 Wild Wild West 14:00 Lords Of Dogtown 16:00 Captain America: The First Avenger 18:15 The Blood Bond 20:00 Lords Of Dogtown 22:00 Meskada 00:00 Fertile Ground 02:00 Wrong Side Of Town

03:45 Courageous 06:00 Ice Road Terror 07:45 Captain America: The First Avenger 10:00 Wild Wild West 12:00 Lords Of Dogtown 14:00 Captain America: The First Avenger 16:15 The Blood Bond 18:00 Lords Of Dogtown 20:00 Meskada 22:00 Fertile Ground 00:00 Wrong Side Of Town 02:00 Meskada

04:00 Tower Heist 06:00 Another Stakeout 08:00 Police Academy 3: Back In Training 10:00 The Brothers Solomon 12:00 Tower Heist 14:00 Police Academy 4: Citizens On Patrol 16:00 The Brothers Solomon 18:00 Hit List 20:00 The Inbetweeners 22:00 Bucky Larson: Born To Be A Star 00:00 Venus & Vegas 02:00 The Inbetweeners

03:00 04:45 07:00 09:00 11:00 12:45 15:00 17:00 19:00 21:00 23:00 01:15

Another Harvest Moon The Terminal A View From Here Waiting For Forever A Woman World Trade Center Boy The Iron Lady Arbitrage Summer Coda Anna Karenina The Iron Lady

03:00 IT 05:00 07:00 Cradle 09:00 11:00 13:00 15:00 17:00 19:00 21:00 23:45 01:30

What’s Love Got To Do With Young Adult The Hand That Rocks The The Wild Hunt Dark Horse Look Again Dreaming Of Joseph Lees Dark Horse Circle Of Lies Scarface When Love Is Not Enough TT: Closer To The Edge

03:00 Fastest 05:00 Frankenweenie 07:00 A Fall From Grace 09:00 Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: Dog Days 11:00 Dark Shadows 13:00 Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close 15:15 Mary & Martha 17:00 Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: Dog Days 19:00 You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger 21:00 Birdsong 00:00 Taken 2 01:45 Outlaw Country

04:30 Eleanor’s Secret 06:00 Muppets From Space 08:00 Everyone’s Hero 09:45 Brave 11:30 Eleanor’s Secret 13:00 Lemony Snicket’s A Series Of Unfortunate

Tour

03:00 ICC Cricket 360 03:30 Futbol Mundial 04:00 Darts Grand Prix 06:00 UFC - The Ultimate Fighter Season 18 07:00 Darts Grand Prix 09:00 ICC Cricket 360 09:30 Trans World Sport 10:30 Champions Tour 13:00 NHL 15:00 This Week In WWE 15:30 Darts Grand Prix 17:30 UFC - The Ultimate Fighter Season 18 18:30 UFC - Countdown 19:00 UFC - Unleashed 20:00 Live NHL 23:00 Trans World Sport 00:00 PGA Tour Higlights 01:00 PGA European Tour Highlights 02:00 Live NHL

04:35 07:00 08:35 10:25 14:05 16:00 18:20 Emily 20:15 22:00 23:50 01:20

Hotel Paradiso The Glass Slipper Jeremiah Johnson Gone With The Wind Les Girls Rio Bravo The Americanization Of The Wheeler Dealers Brass Target The Fastest Gun Alive Brass Target

03:00 Airport 24/7: Miami 03:30 Airport 24/7: Miami 04:00 Descending 05:00 Globe Trekker 06:00 Globe Trekker 07:00 Globe Trekker 08:00 Departures 09:00 Airport 24/7: Miami 09:30 Airport 24/7: Miami 10:00 World’s Greatest Motorcycle Rides 11:00 Xtreme Waterparks 12:00 Extreme Chef 13:00 Bizarre Foods America 14:00 International House Hunters 14:30 International House Hunters 15:00 International House Hunters 15:30 International House Hunters 16:00 Hotel Impossible 17:00 It’s A Woman’s World 18:00 Extreme Chef 19:00 Bizarre Foods America 20:00 International House Hunters 20:30 International House Hunters 21:00 World’s Greatest Motorcycle Rides 22:00 Rock My RV With Bret Michaels 22:30 Rock My RV With Bret Michaels 23:00 Airport 24/7: Miami 23:30 Airport 24/7: Miami 00:00 Xtreme Waterparks 01:00 World’s Greatest Motorcycle Rides 02:00 Off Limits

00:20 01:10 02:00 02:50 03:45 04:40 05:35 06:30 07:25 08:20 09:15 10:10 11:05 12:00 12:55 13:50 14:45 15:40 16:35 17:30 18:25 19:20 20:10 21:00 21:50 22:40 23:30

Dead Or Alive Crocodile King Fish Warrior Dangerous Encounters Croc Invasion Zambezi Fish Warrior Dangerous Encounters Croc Invasion World’s Deadliest Killer Three Monster Fish Shocking Sharks World’s Weirdest Croc Labyrinth Caught Barehanded Dangerous Encounters Mother Croc World’s Deadliest Killer Three Phantom Wolverine Monster Croc Hunt World’s Weirdest Caught Barehanded Dangerous Encounters Mother Croc World’s Deadliest Killer Three Phantom Wolverine Monster Croc Hunt

Classifieds MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2013

Kuwait SHARQIA-1 CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2 CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2 RAMAIYA VASTAVAIYA (DIG) (TELUGU) FRI THE BUTLER (DIG) NO FRI DIANA (DIG) DIANA (DIG) ESCAPE PLAN (DIG) SHARQIA-2 KHUMBA (DIG-3D) KHUMBA (DIG-3D) KHUMBA (DIG-3D) ESCAPE PLAN (DIG) RUSH (DIG) ESCAPE PLAN (DIG) ESCAPE PLAN (DIG) SHARQIA-3 BADGES OF FURY (DIG) QALB AL ASAD (DIG) (ARABIC) RUSH (DIG) QALB AL ASAD (DIG) (ARABIC) QALB AL ASAD (DIG) (ARABIC) BADGES OF FURY (DIG) MUHALAB-1 ESCAPE PLAN (DIG) RAMAIYA VASTAVAIYA (DIG) (TELUGU) NO TUE+WED BOSS (DIG) (HINDI) TUE+WED QALB AL ASAD (DIG) (ARABIC) QALB AL ASAD (DIG) (ARABIC) MUHALAB-2 CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2 KHUMBA (DIG) CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2 ( DIANA (DIG) BADGES OF FURY (DIG) MUHALAB-3 ESCAPE PLAN (DIG) ESCAPE PLAN (DIG) RUSH (DIG) ESCAPE PLAN (DIG) ESCAPE PLAN (DIG) FANAR-1 BADGES OF FURY (DIG) BADGES OF FURY (DIG) BADGES OF FURY (DIG) DIANA (DIG) BADGES OF FURY (DIG) DIANA (DIG) BADGES OF FURY (DIG) FANAR-2 KHUMBA (DIG) QALB AL ASAD (DIG) (ARABIC)

1:00 PM 3:00 PM 4:00 PM 5:00 PM 7:30 PM 9:45 PM 12:05 AM

12:45 PM 2:30 PM 4:15 PM 6:00 PM 8:15 PM 10:30 PM 12:45 AM

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

1:45 PM 4:15 PM 4:15 PM 7:15 PM 9:30 PM

KNCC EID AL ADHA PROGRAMME FROM THURSDAY TO WEDNESDAY (10/10/2013 TO 16/10/2013) KHUMBA (DIG) QALB AL ASAD (DIG) (ARABIC) QALB AL ASAD (DIG) (ARABIC) QALB AL ASAD (DIG) (ARABIC)

5:30 PM 7:30 PM 9:45 PM 12:05 AM

FANAR-3 CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2 ( RUSH (DIG) RUSH (DIG) NO TUE+WED BOSS (DIG) (HINDI) TUE+WED RUSH (DIG) NO TUE+WED BOSS (DIG) (HINDI) TUE+WED RUSH (DIG) RUSH (DIG) MARINA-1 THE BUTLER (DIG) BADGES OF FURY (DIG) DIANA (DIG) DIANA (DIG) THE BUTLER (DIG) BADGES OF FURY (DIG) MARINA-2 QALB AL ASAD (DIG) (ARABIC) QALB AL ASAD (DIG) (ARABIC) RUSH (DIG) QALB AL ASAD (DIG) (ARABIC) QALB AL ASAD (DIG) (ARABIC) QALB AL ASAD (DIG) (ARABIC)

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

AVENUES-1 THE BUTLER (DIG) THE BUTLER (DIG) THE BUTLER (DIG) THE BUTLER (DIG) THE BUTLER (DIG)

1:30 PM 3:15 PM

7:45 PM 7:45 PM 10:30 PM 12:45 AM

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

2:00 PM 4:00 PM 5:45 PM 7:45 PM 10:00 PM

12:45 PM 2:45 PM 4:45 PM 6:30 PM 8:30 PM 10:45 PM 1:00 AM

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

AVENUES-3 RUSH (DIG) RUSH (DIG) RUSH (DIG)

360ยบ- 1 QALB AL ASAD (DIG) (ARABIC) QALB AL ASAD (DIG) (ARABIC) QALB AL ASAD (DIG) (ARABIC) QALB AL ASAD (DIG) (ARABIC) QALB AL ASAD (DIG) (ARABIC) QALB AL ASAD (DIG) (ARABIC)

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

360ยบ- 2 THE BUTLER (DIG) THE BUTLER (DIG) THE BUTLER (DIG) THE BUTLER (DIG) THE BUTLER (DIG)

12:45 PM 3:30 PM 6:15 PM 9:00 PM 11:45 PM

360ยบ- 3 KHUMBA (DIG-3D) KHUMBA (DIG) KHUMBA (DIG-3D) KHUMBA (DIG-3D) ESCAPE PLAN (DIG) ESCAPE PLAN (DIG)

1:15 PM 3:15 PM 5:15 PM 7:15 PM 9:15 PM 11:30 PM

AL-KOUT.1 RUSH (DIG) ESCAPE PLAN (DIG) RUSH (DIG) ESCAPE PLAN (DIG) ESCAPE PLAN (DIG) ESCAPE PLAN (DIG)

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

AL-KOUT.2 DIANA (DIG) DIANA (DIG) DIANA (DIG) DIANA (DIG) BADGES OF FURY (DIG) BADGES OF FURY (DIG)

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

UK expat leaving Kuwait wants to sell Nissan Extrra 4x4, model 2009, silver color, full option, 99000 km, fully maintained Nissan Babtain Company, price KD 3650 only, serious buyers can contact: 50687350.

10-10-2013

FOR SALE Mitsubishi jeep Nativa model 2011, white color, alloy rim, 6 cylinder engine, 4 wheel drive, automatic gear, excellent condition, installment possible. Cash price KD 2900, negotiable.

Tel: 66507741. (C 4533) Mitsubishi Pajero for sale 1996 model, color red, passing up to Aug 2014, used

CHANGE OF NAME I, Mohammed Ali Khan, S/o Hussan Sha Khan, date of birth: 05.06.1973, Passport No. E9102180 residing at No. 3/58, Periya Pallivasal Street, Mel Kavarapet Post 607 112, shall henceforth be known as MOHAMMED ALI. (C 4534) 12-10-2013

From Adeb Shams - as per the birth certificate - 15days-old to Adeb Ibrahim.

Tel: 66993190.

(C 4530) 6-10-2013 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

THE PUBLIC AUTHORITY FOR CIVIL INFORMATION

Automated enquiry about the Civil ID card is

1889988

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

04:30 05:49 11:34 14:51 17:18 18:35

112

No: 15958

1:45 PM 4:30 PM 7:15 PM 10:00 PM 12:45 AM

AVENUES-2 BADGES OF FURY (DIG) BADGES OF FURY (DIG) BADGES OF FURY (DIG) BADGES OF FURY (DIG) BADGES OF FURY (DIG) BADGES OF FURY (DIG)

9:00 PM 11:30 PM

Indian Computer Engineer, B.Tech (information technology), networking, CCNA certified, 3 years experience in Kuwait, Article 18 visa seeks job. Contact: 99561274, email: mahesh88.gv@gmail.com (C 4535) 12-10-2013

4:45 PM

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

MARINA-3 KHUMBA (DIG-3D) CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2 KHUMBA (DIG-3D) CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2) ESCAPE PLAN (DIG) ESCAPE PLAN (DIG) ESCAPE PLAN (DIG)

12:30 PM 2:30 PM 4:30 PM 6:30 PM 8:45 PM 10:45 PM 1:00 AM

12:30 PM 2:30 PM 4:45 PM

RUSH (DIG) RUSH (DIG)

by a lady. Contact: 97277139.

SITUATION WANTED

1:30 PM 4:00 PM 6:30 PM

AL-KOUT.3 KHUMBA (DIG) QALB AL ASAD (DIG) (ARABIC) KHUMBA (DIG) QALB AL ASAD (DIG) (ARABIC) QALB AL ASAD (DIG) (ARABIC) QALB AL ASAD (DIG) (ARABIC)

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

AL-KOUT.4 CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2 CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2 MAN OF TAI CHI (DIG) CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2 THE BUTLER (DIG) MAN OF TAI CHI (DIG)

1:00 PM 3:00 PM 5:15 PM 7:30 PM 9:30 PM 12:05 AM

BAIRAQ-1 CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2 KHUMBA (DIG-3D) CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2 CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2

12:30 PM 2:30 PM 4:30 PM 6:30 PM

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

Airlines QTR BBC JZR JZR FDB THY ETH GFA AFG UAE ETD FDB MSR QTR THY DHX FDB QTR KAC BAW FDB MSR KAC KAC JZR KAC UAE ABY FDB QTR ETD KAC KAC GFA MEA MSC FDB IRC JZR JZR SYR ABY UAE MSR MSR THY QTR FDB MPH FDB SVA

Arrival Flights on Monday 14/10/2013 Flt Route 148 DOHA 43 DHAKA 267 BEIRUT 539 CAIRO 8063 DUBAI 764 SABIHA 620 ADDIS ABABA 211 BAHRAIN 416 JEDDAH 853 DUBAI 305 ABU DHABI-INTL 67 DUBAI 612 CAIRO 138 DOHA 770 ISTANBUL 170 BAHRAIN 69 DUBAI 6130 DOHA 412 MANILA 157 LONDON 53 DUBAI 3000 CAIRO 302 MUMBAI 206 ISLAMABAD 503 LUXOR 284 DHAKA 856 DUBAI 125 SHARJAH 55 DUBAI 132 DOHA 301 ABU DHABI-INTL 344 CHENNAI 352 COCHIN 213 BAHRAIN 404 BEIRUT 403 ASYUT 8055 DUBAI 6521 LAMERD 165 DUBAI 561 SOHAG 341 DAMASCUS 123 SHARJAH 871 DUBAI 610 CAIRO 579 SOHAG 766 ISTANBUL 140 DOHA 57 DUBAI 93 AMSTERDAM 8051 DUBAI 500 JEDDAH

Time 00:05 00:05 00:20 00:40 01:10 01:40 01:45 01:55 02:15 02:25 02:30 03:10 03:15 03:30 04:35 05:10 05:50 06:05 06:15 06:30 07:45 07:35 07:50 07:25 07:40 08:15 08:25 08:50 09:15 09:25 09:30 09:35 09:55 10:40 10:55 11:35 11:45 11:45 11:35 12:00 12:05 12:40 12:45 13:00 13:05 13:10 13:45 13:50 13:55 14:20 14:30

KAC KAC JZR OMA RJA KAC JZR QTR ETD FDB UAE ABY GFA SVA JZR NIA KAC QTR RBG FDB KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC GFA MSC JAI OMA FDB ABY MEA MSR AXB MSC ALK UAE QTR ETD GFA JAI FDB AIC JZR TAR JZR JZR DLH PIA JAI MSR KLM THY

672 546 257 645 640 118 535 134 303 8057 857 127 215 510 177 251 542 144 553 63 786 104 742 774 674 618 219 405 572 647 61 129 402 618 489 401 229 859 136 307 217 576 59 975 239 327 185 135 636 205 574 614 411 772

DUBAI ALEXANDRIA BEIRUT MUSCAT AMMAN-QUEEN ALIA NEW YORK CAIRO DOHA ABU DHABI-INTL DUBAI DUBAI SHARJAH BAHRAIN RIYADH DUBAI ALEXANDRIA CAIRO DOHA ALEXANDRIA DUBAI JEDDAH LONDON DAMMAM RIYADH DUBAI DOHA BAHRAIN SOHAG MUMBAI MUSCAT DUBAI SHARJAH BEIRUT ALEXANDRIA COCHIN ALEXANDRIA COLOMBO DUBAI DOHA ABU DHABI-INTL BAHRAIN COCHIN DUBAI CHENNAI AMMAN-QUEEN ALIA TUNIS DUBAI BAHRAIN FRANKFURT LAHORE MUMBAI CAIRO AMSTERDAM ISTANBUL

13:40 14:15 14:30 14:40 15:55 16:00 16:10 16:15 16:35 16:45 16:55 17:10 17:20 17:20 17:30 18:00 18:15 18:25 18:30 18:55 18:30 18:45 19:30 19:25 19:25 19:10 19:05 19:15 19:35 20:00 20:00 20:05 20:15 20:30 20:35 21:00 21:10 21:15 21:30 21:30 21:45 22:05 22:20 22:25 22:30 22:55 22:40 23:00 23:10 23:15 23:20 23:30 23:40 23:45

Airlines AIC JAI UAL DLH MSR JZR BBC FDB THY THY ETH AFG UAE FDB MSR ETD QTR QTR JZR FDB GFA THY KAC JZR QTR BAW FDB MSR JZR JZR KAC ABY UAE FDB ETD QTR GFA KAC KAC MEA FDB KAC MSC IRC KAC SYR ABY JZR MSR MSR THY

Departure Flights on Monday 14/10/2013 Flt Route 982 AHMEDABAD 573 MUMBAI 981 WASHINGTON 637 FRANKFURT 615 CAIRO 502 LUXOR 44 DHAKA 8064 DUBAI 773 ISTANBUL-ATATURK 765 ISTANBUL-SABIHA 621 ADDIS ABABA 416 KABUL 854 DUBAI 68 DUBAI 613 CAIRO 306 ABU DHABI 139 DOHA 149 DOHA 560 SOHAG 70 DUBAI 212 BAHRAIN 771 ISTANBUL-ATATURK 545 ALEXANDRIA 164 DUBAI 6131 DOHA 156 LONDON 54 DUBAI 3001 SHARM EL SHEIKH 256 BEIRUT 534 CAIRO 671 DUBAI 126 SHARJAH 856 DUBAI 56 DUBAI 302 ABU DHABI 133 DOHA 214 BAHRAIN 541 CAIRO 165 ROME 405 BEIRUT 8056 DUBAI 103 LONDON 406 SOHAG 6522 LAMERD 785 JEDDAH 342 DAMASCUS 124 SHARJAH 176 DUBAI 580 SOHAG 611 CAIRO 767 ISTANBUL-ATATURK

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

Time 00:05 00:20 00:25 00:30 00:30 01:30 01:30 01:55 02:20 02:40 02:45 03:15 03:45 03:50 04:15 04:20 04:25 05:15 05:35 06:30 07:00 07:10 07:20 07:25 07:35 08:25 08:25 08:35 08:50 09:10 09:25 09:30 09:50 09:55 10:15 10:25 11:25 11:30 11:45 11:55 12:25 12:30 12:35 12:35 13:00 13:05 13:20 13:20 13:50 14:00 14:10

UAE FDB QTR FDB KAC MPH OMA SVA KAC KAC KAC RJA JZR QTR ETD FDB JZR ABY UAE GFA SVA JZR JZR NIA RBG QTR FDB GFA JZR KAC MSC JAI FDB ABY KAC OMA KAC MEA MSR DHX MSC ETD ALK UAE QTR KAC GFA FDB KAC JAI KAC TAR

872 58 141 8052 673 93 646 501 617 773 741 641 238 135 304 8058 538 128 858 216 511 184 266 252 554 145 64 220 134 283 404 571 62 120 331 648 351 403 619 171 402 308 230 860 137 301 218 60 205 575 411 328

DUBAI DUBAI DOHA DUBAI DUBAI AL MAKTOUM INTERNATIONAL MUSCAT JEDDAH DOHA RIYADH DAMMAM AMMAN AMMAN DOHA ABU DHABI DUBAI CAIRO SHARJAH DUBAI BAHRAIN RIYADH DUBAI BEIRUT ALEXANDRIA ALEXANDRIA DOHA DUBAI BAHRAIN BAHRAIN DHAKA ASYUT MUMBAI DUBAI SHARJAH TRIVANDRUM MUSCAT KOCHI BEIRUT ALEXANDRIA BAHRAIN ALEXANDRIA ABU DHABI COLOMBO DUBAI DOHA MUMBAI BAHRAIN DUBAI ISLAMABAD ABU DHABI BANGKOK DUBAI

14:15 14:30 14:55 15:00 15:05 15:25 15:40 15:45 15:45 16:00 16:30 16:55 17:05 17:20 17:20 17:25 17:40 17:50 18:15 18:20 18:20 18:30 18:40 19:00 19:10 19:25 19:35 19:50 20:05 20:15 20:15 20:35 20:40 20:45 20:50 20:55 21:05 21:15 21:30 21:50 22:00 22:15 22:20 22:25 22:40 22:40 22:45 23:00 23:00 23:05 23:40 23:45

34

s ta rs CROSSWORD 340

STAR TRACK Aries (March 21-April 19) ARIES You place a high value on your dreams and do not consider them otherworldly or impossible. You experience the unity around you—that which joins things together. There is a love of the sea and of whatever solves that which separates us. Some of your collections could be pulled out into the open and enjoyed. You might consider some ideas you had for a seashell collection. You could enjoy making a wind chime or a mobile hanging with shells to watch them move in the breeze. This or some other collection is where your energies are today. You possess a waking experience of that part of us that is mystical and dreamlike. You find new ways to bring people together, to unify situations. This is a happy day, one that could be spent with friends.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) There is a greater than usual interest in relationships, social connections and the arts—on a more intellectual level than in the past, most likely. A dreamy manner or appearance, plus the ability to enchant others, finds this a time when mysticism and idealism seem to really be living in you. Harmonious ties to others are what you yearn for; refinement and elegance are what you seek. Getting dressed up to attend a banquet or some other social obligation makes the day much more than obligation . . . Let’s say animated. The ideal partnership, the perfect balance are some of the things that quicken your pulse. Close relationships offer a lot of potential for growth and good fortune. A marriage or other partnership can raise high hopes and give your spirits a boost.

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

ACROSS 1. A change in the electrical properties of the skin in response to stress or anxiety.

4. (sports) Illegally beyond a prescribed line or area or ahead of the ball or puck.

12. A secret agent hired by a state to obtain (military) information about its enemies or by a business to obtain industrial secrets from competitors.

15. A reptile genus of Iguanidae.

16. A mountain peak in the Andes in Bolivia (21,201 feet high).

17. Fermented alcoholic beverage similar to but heavier than beer.

18. Open to change.

19. A man who is the senior member of a group.

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

21. Someone who engages in arbitrage (who purchases securities in one market for immediate resale in another in the hope of profiting from the price differential).

22. Give over.

24. An ability to understand a broad range of topics.

26. A contorted facial expression.

29. Again but in a new or different way.

30. Impose anew.

35. A vigorous blow.

38. A soft silvery metallic element.

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

41. Artists or writers whose ideas are ahead of their time.

42. African antelope with ridged curved horns.

45. East Indian tree bearing a profusion of intense vermilion velvet-textured blooms and yielding a yellow dye.

47. Tropical American tree grown in southern United States having a whitish pink-tinged fruit.

49. Any tumor derived from cells of the nervous system.

52. Marked by extreme anger.

53. A round shape formed by a series of concentric circles.

54. Tag the base runner to get him out.

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

58. Small low-growing annual or perennial herbs of temperate and cool regions.

61. American professional baseball player who hit more home runs than Babe Ruth (born in 1934).

63. A sweetened beverage of diluted fruit juice.

64. Take away the weapons from.

66. (Babylonian) God of wisdom and agriculture and patron of scribes and schools.

69. A Japanese cheer of enthusiasm or triumph.

72. Fleshy spore-bearing inner mass of e.g. a puffball or stinkhorn.

74. A close friend who accompanies his buddies in their activities.

75. Used of a single unit or thing.

76. (usually in the plural) A garment extending from the waist to the knee or ankle, covering each leg separately.

78. Bulky grayish-brown eagle with a short wedge-shaped white tail.

79. Headdress that protects the head from bad weather.

80. Concerning or affecting a particular person or his or her private life and personality.

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

DOWN 1. A Russian prison camp for political prisoners.

2. Rock star and drummer for the Beatles (born in 1940).

3. Spiritual leader of a Jewish congregation.

4. A can with a long nozzle to apply oil to machinery.

5. The wool of a sheep or similar animal.

6. A state in southeastern United States between the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico.

7. Located on a side.

8. The United Nations agency concerned with international maritime activities.

9. The first light of day.

10. A biological unit consisting of a nucleus and the body of cytoplasm with which it interacts.

11. Ratio of the opposite side to the hypotenuse.

12. Being the one previously mentioned or spoken of.

13. Make a plat of.

14. Not only so, but.

23. Wet with dew.

25. An ester of adenosine that is converted to ATP for energy storage.

27. A great rani.

28. A trivalent metallic element of the rare earth group.

31. A master's degree in religion.

32. The organ that bears the ovules of a flower.

33. A winged often one-seed indehiscent fruit as of the ash or elm or maple.

34. Hard white substance covering the crown of a tooth.

36. A primeval personification of air and breath.

37. A verbalization that encourages you to attempt something.

39. A bachelor's degree in religion.

43. A mountain peak in the Saint Elias Range in the southwestern Yukon Territory in Canada (19,850 feet high).

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

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

48. A body of water cut off from a larger body by a reef of sand or coral.

50. A public promotion of some product or service.

51. A palace and fortress built in Granada by the Moslems in the Middle Ages.

55. (Irish) God of love and beauty.

56. Pitching dangerously to one side.

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

60. French diplomat who in 1793 tried to draw the United States into the war between France and England (1763-1834).

62. Greek mythology.

65. In addition.

67. An aggressive remark directed at a person like a missile and intended to have a telling effect.

68. The inner and longer of the two bones of the human forearm.

70. A nucleotide derived from adenosine that occurs in muscle tissue.

71. A strong emotion.

73. The sign language used in the United States.

77. A state in northwestern United States on the Pacific.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2013

Breakthroughs regarding relationships and the social life are obtainable.

Possibly there will be unconventional but acceptable approaches and techniques to partnerships and lovers. You may find yourself pursuing very eccentric or different methods of communicating and enjoying every moment. You can give as much support to others as you would want them to give back to you. There is a little boost or enthusiasm for your ideas. You may discover insights into day-to-day problems that will be valuable later. Activities today may not be on the mild side but will certainly be thrilling—snowboarding, ice skating, learning to play a didgeridoo—oh my. Fun discussions around the dinner table tonight lead to good relationships.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) This is a great day to decorate for the season ahead. All that is psychic, mysterious and spiritual comes to the forefront today. This can be inspiring or it can be confusing, depending on how you are able to integrate it into your overall experience.

Artistic talent and appreciation are heightened beyond words. To use all the information coming into you today would be to enjoy art, music and creating beauty. While shopping, you may have some insight into who made or designed some of the things you see and enjoy at this time. You think you might do a better job of designing purses for women . . . Give it a try. Ideas are flowing and could come with ease. Be careful that you do not overspend or indulge too much just now. Enjoy.

Leo (July 23-August 22) You will be pleased at the progress you have made today—just take a look! This is a rewarding day. There is faith, optimism and a yearning to explore all kinds of new horizons. Travel, education and other ways to extend your horizons open new doors of opportunity. Religious, philosophical and cultural matters are likely to have special appeal for you now. You may even decide that more education would be fun . . . Not the ordinary education, however. There are opportunities to go out of the country in order to study language, dance, art, etc. Family, home and the other roots in your life give you a sense of mission. The exchange of ideas becomes important—you may find yourself at a coffee or tea shop chatting with the locals about options.

Virgo (August 23-September 22) You may be feeling more inward and more like sharing some time with your loved one or with close friends. Perhaps this is not a time to be very outward or to try to present yourself to the world. You are feeling reflective rather than expressive just now. Close relationships are important to you and this day may bring about some opportunity to enjoy a friend’s company through participating in some sport event. Whether you are watching a game or participating in a game, these are the times you will always remember. Fondness and appreciation for the past and for your roots in life takes on a greater importance. There is some conversation over the times of your youth. The sale or purchase of real estate is coming up soon and could bring you much gain.

Word Search

Libra (September 23-October 22) Opinions are a keynote of the new phase you have begun—the power of ideas and the power they exert over people. Religious, cultural or philosophical controversies and crusades have a way of stirring your blood. There may be great mental activity and heightened communication with others. You and a sibling may be chatting this afternoon about sports or taking in a camping trip before it gets too cold. Planning the trip can give you loads of things to do and there is a list to fill out for supplies since your last trip. A lot of joking and daring each other is just part of the fun. One of you is a serious star gazer and the telescope will make a fine addition to the trip. Adventure is a compelling temptation as you dare to test your abilities and see new horizons.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) You rip through appearances in an effort to get beneath, behind and at the heart or essence of an issue today. You may find the occult, psychology, initiation and mysticism of great interest. Intense personal change and inner growth are lifelong habits.

Positive results can happen if you are looking for a loan today. You work hard to make your dreams and ideals a reality. You work hard at community or group work. You spare no effort here. Humanitarian goals are central to your life’s work. This is a time to absorb and take in new impressions and information. In summary, here is a breaking point in life, a time to let go of what has been occupying you for the last years and assume a new attitude. You could be most persuasive with others this evening.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) You may have insights or breakthroughs about improvements on your home or living surroundings—perhaps you have just met a knowledgeable repair person or attended a great wallpapering course. Now is the time to gather your tools for whatever you feel you need to accomplish and move forward with your ideas and plans. With that wit of yours, you will be able to pull in the interest of others and gain the help you may need for a project. Later today, you may enjoy relaxing with your friends and celebrating your accomplishments or just celebrating your friendships.

This could be as simple as a pizza party. Movies, books and all forms of escape could prove very enjoyable. When asked, you are happy to give your advice tonight.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19) A trip to an outdoor market is fun this morning and you may also decide that this is a great time to start a diet. There is enough food to invite a friend for dinner and so you go about your day looking forward to an evening with a friend.

Change and inner growth tend to come through your relationships with both friends and lovers. Marriage or some other similar union will be very intense, positive and not at all superficial. You get to the heart of a relationship. You are painstaking and deliberate when it comes to sorting through ideas and values for what is lasting and solid. Friends, group projects and community concerns could play a key role that affects your career direction. Altruism and humanitarian works can affect your work and life path.

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) Until your thoughts are interrupted by a young person today, you may feel very dreamy and imaginative. You could be involved in a good book or plan to see a new movie. A young person needs your advice and you are able to magically come up with some workable solution that will help. You seem to have a natural sense of how to help others. You usually have clear insight into the person and the problem and the best solution is to stay with the facts and to teach that to others. Emotions are built into us so that we have an early warning system but we must realize that emotions are not the true indicator of answers. You could be most persuasive with others and eloquent in speech and communication. Any political issue will gain a positive response.

Pisces (February 19-March 20) There is an opportunity to take control and become more disciplined. You may find answers to some of your storage problems. Since you may not live alone, you will find yourself considering the other persons in your living area. You might be in a position to offer your talents in exchange for a little extra space or some item that will make your space more useful. New discoveries delight you. If you are left-handed, you may discover there are left-handed scissors on the market; nothing slows your progress. Give yourself time to think through things and you will discover what you are looking for at this time. Future goals are quickly coming to fruition. This evening’s dinner could be served away from home—sometimes called a tailgate meal.

Yesterday’s Solution

Yesterday’s Solution

Daily SuDoku

Yesterday’s Solution

MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2013

i n f o r m at i o n For labor-related inquiries and complaints: Call MSAL hotline 128 GOVERNORATE Sabah Hospital

24812000

Amiri Hospital

22450005

Maternity Hospital

24843100

Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital

25312700

Chest Hospital

24849400

Farwaniya Hospital

24892010

Adan Hospital

23940620

Ibn Sina Hospital

24840300

Al-Razi Hospital

24846000

Physiotherapy Hospital

24874330/9

PHARMACY

ADDRESS

PHONE

Ahmadi

Sama Safwan Abu Halaifa Danat Al-Sultan

Fahaeel Makka St Abu Halaifa-Coastal Rd Mahboula Block 1, Coastal Rd

23915883 23715414 23726558

Jahra

Modern Jahra Madina Munawara

Jahra-Block 3 Lot 1 Jahra-Block 92

24575518 24566622

Capital

Ahlam Khaldiya Coop

Fahad Al-Salem St Khaldiya Coop

22436184 24833967

Farwaniya

New Shifa Ferdous Coop Modern Safwan

Farwaniya Block 40 Ferdous Coop Old Kheitan Block 11

24734000 24881201 24726638

Tariq Hana Ikhlas Hawally & Rawdha Ghadeer Kindy Ibn Al-Nafis Mishrif Coop Salwa Coop

Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St Salmiya-Amman St Hawally-Beirut St Hawally & Rawdha Coop Jabriya-Block 1A Jabriya-Block 3B Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St Mishrif Coop Salwa Coop

25726265 25647075 22625999 22564549 25340559 25326554 25721264 25380581 25628241

Hawally

Al-Madeena

22418714

Al-Shuhada

22545171

Al-Shuwaikh

24810598

Al-Nuzha

22545171

Sabhan

24742838

Al-Helaly

22434853

Al-Faiha

22545051

Al-Farwaniya

24711433

Al-Sulaibikhat

24316983

Al-Fahaheel

23927002

Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh

24316983

Ahmadi

23980088

Al-Mangaf

23711183

Al-Shuaiba

23262845

Kaizen center

25716707

Rawda

22517733

Adaliya

22517144

Al-Jahra

25610011

Khaldiya

24848075

Al-Salmiya

25616368

Kaifan

24849807

Shamiya

24848913

Shuwaikh

24814507

Abdullah Salem

22549134

Nuzha

22526804

Industrial Shuwaikh

24814764

Qadsiya

22515088

Dasmah

22532265

Bneid Al-Gar

22531908

Shaab

22518752

Qibla

22459381

Ayoun Al-Qibla

22451082

Mirqab

22456536

Sharq

22465401

Salmiya

25746401

Jabriya

25316254

Maidan Hawally

25623444

Bayan

25388462

Mishref

25381200

W Hawally

22630786

Sabah

24810221

Jahra

24770319

New Jahra

24575755

West Jahra

24772608

South Jahra

24775066

North Jahra

24775992

North Jleeb

24311795

Ardhiya

24884079

Firdous

24892674

Omariya

24719048

N Khaitan

24710044

Fintas

23900322

INTERNATIONAL CALLS

PRIVATE CLINICS Ophthalmologists Dr. Abidallah Al-Mansoor 25622444 Dr. Samy Al-Rabeea 25752222 Dr. Masoma Habeeb 25321171 Dr. Mubarak Al-Ajmy 25739999 Dr. Mohsen Abel 25757700 Dr Adnan Hasan Alwayl 25732223 Dr. Abdallah Al-Baghly 25732223 Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT) Dr. Ahmed Fouad Mouner 24555050 Ext 510 Dr. Abdallah Al-Ali 25644660 Dr. Abd Al-Hameed Al-Taweel 25646478 Dr. Sanad Al-Fathalah 25311996 Dr. Mohammad Al-Daaory 25731988 Dr. Ismail Al-Fodary 22620166 Dr. Mahmoud Al-Booz 25651426 General Practitioners Dr. Mohamme Y Majidi 24555050 Ext 123 Dr. Yousef Al-Omar 24719312 Dr. Tarek Al-Mikhazeem 23926920 Dr. Kathem Maarafi 25730465 Dr. Abdallah Ahmad Eyadah 25655528 Dr. Nabeel Al-Ayoobi 24577781 Dr. Dina Abidallah Al-Refae 25333501 Urologists Dr. Ali Naser Al-Serfy 22641534 Dr. Fawzi Taher Abul 22639955 Dr. Khaleel Abidallah Al-Awadi 22616660 Dr. Adel Al-Hunayan FRCS (C) 25313120 Dr. Leons Joseph 66703427 Psychologists /Psychotherapists

Paediatricians

Plastic Surgeons Dr. Mohammad Al-Khalaf

22547272

Dr. Khaled Hamadi

Dr. Abdal-Redha Lari

22617700

Dr. Abd Al-Aziz Al-Rashed

Dr. Abdel Quttainah

25625030/60

Family Doctor Dr Divya Damodar

23729596/23729581

Psychiatrists Dr. Esam Al-Ansari

22635047

Dr Eisa M. Al-Balhan

22613623/0

Gynaecologists & Obstetricians DrAdrian arbe

23729596/23729581

Dr. Verginia s.Marin

2572-6666 ext 8321

Endocrinologist

25665898 25340300

Dr. Zahra Qabazard

25710444

Dr. Sohail Qamar

22621099

Dr. Snaa Maaroof

25713514

Dr. Pradip Gujare

23713100

Dr. Zacharias Mathew

24334282

(1) Ear, Nose and Throat (2) Plastic Surgeon Dr. Abdul Mohsin Jafar, FRCS (Canada)

25655535

Dentists

Dr. Fozeya Ali Al-Qatan

22655539

Dr. Majeda Khalefa Aliytami

25343406

Dr. Shamah Al-Matar

22641071/2

Dr. Ahmad Al-Khooly

25739272

Dr. Anesah Al-Rasheed

22562226

22618787

Dr. Abidallah Al-Amer

22561444

Dr. Faysal Al-Fozan

22619557

Dr. Abdallateef Al-Katrash

22525888

Dr. Abidallah Al-Duweisan

25653755

Dr. Bader Al-Ansari

25620111

General Surgeons Dr. Amer Zawaz Al-Amer

22610044

Dr. Mohammad Yousef Basher

25327148

Internists, Chest & Heart Dr. Adnan Ebil Dr. Latefa Al-Duweisan

22666300 25728004

Dr. Nadem Al-Ghabra

25355515

Dr. Mobarak Aldoub

24726446

Dr Nasser Behbehani

25654300/3

Soor Center Tel: 2290-1677 Fax: 2290 1688

Neurologists

22639939

Dr. Mousa Khadada

info@soorcenter.com www.soorcenter.com

3729596/3729581

Dr. Sohal Najem Al-Shemeri

25633324

Dr. Jasem Mola Hassan

25345875

Gastrologists Dr. Sami Aman

22636464

Dr. Mohammad Al-Shamaly

25322030

Dr. Foad Abidallah Al-Ali

22633135

Kaizen center 25716707

25339330

Dr. Ahmad Al-Ansari 25658888 Dr. Kamal Al-Shomr 25329924 Physiotherapists & VD Dr. Deyaa Shehab

25722291

Dr. Musaed Faraj Khamees

22666288

Rheumatologists: Dr. Adel Al-Awadi

Dr Anil Thomas

Dr. Salem soso

Dr. Abd Al-Naser Al-Othman

25330060

Dr. Khaled Al-Jarallah

25722290

Internist, Chest & Heart DR.Mohammes Akkad

24555050 Ext 210

Dr. Mohammad Zubaid MB, ChB, FRCPC, PACC Assistant Professor Of Medicine Head, Division of Cardiology Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital Consultant Cardiologist Dr. Farida Al-Habib MD, PH.D, FACC Inaya German Medical Center Te: 2575077 Fax: 25723123

2611555-2622555

William Schuilenberg, RPC 2290-1677 Zaina Al Zabin, M.Sc. 2290-1677

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

Iran 0098 Iraq 00964 Ireland 00353 Italy 0039 Ivory Coast 00225 Jamaica 001876 Japan 0081 Jordan 00962 Kazakhstan 007 Kenya 00254 Kiribati 00686 Kuwait 00965 Kyrgyzstan 00996 Laos 00856 Latvia 00371 Lebanon 00961 Liberia 00231 Libya 00218 Lithuania 00370 Luxembourg 00352 Macau 00853 Macedonia 00389 Madagascar 00261 Majorca 0034 Malawi 00265 Malaysia 0060 Maldives 00960 Mali 00223 Malta 00356 Marshall Islands 00692 Martinique 00596 Mauritania 00222 Mauritius 00230 Mayotte 00269 Mexico 0052 Micronesia 00691 Moldova 00373 Monaco 00377 Mongolia 00976 Montserrat 001664 Morocco 00212 Mozambique 00258 Myanmar (Burma) 0095 Namibia 00264 Nepal 00977 Netherlands (Holland) 0031 Netherlands Antilles 00599 New Caledonia 00687 New Zealand 0064 Nicaragua 00505 Nigar 00227 Nigeria 00234 Niue 00683 Norfolk Island 00672 Northern Ireland (UK) 0044 North Korea 00850 Norway 0047 Oman 00968 Pakistan 0092 Palau 00680 Panama 00507 Papua New Guinea 00675 Paraguay 00595 Peru 0051 Philippines 0063 Poland 0048 Portugal 00351 Puerto Rico 001787 Qatar 00974 Romania 0040 Russian Federation 007 Rwanda 00250 Saint Helena 00290 Saint Kitts 001869 Saint Lucia 001758 Saint Pierre 00508 Saint Vincent 001784 Samoa US 00684 Samoa West 00685 San Marino 00378 Sao Tone 00239 Saudi Arabia 00966 Scotland (UK) 0044 Senegal 00221 Seychelles 00284 Sierra Leone 00232 Singapore 0065 Slovakia 00421 Slovenia 00386 Solomon Islands 00677

36

MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2013

LIFESTYLE G o s s i p

Once Upon a Time’s Goodwin and Dallas to marry

Tisdale switches gears to ’voice ‘Sabrina

A

shley Tisdale said she’s delighted to voice the title character in Hub TV’s new “Sabrina: Secrets of a Teenage Witch.” But her 3-year-old niece has her beat. “She’s super excited about it,” Tisdale said. “She saw the ‘Sabrina’ poster in my house and said, ‘Aunt Ashley is Sabrina!’” For Tisdale, her role in the animated series debuting 9 am EDT Saturday is an acting treat. Sabrina is “such a cute, quirky character. She’s really cool and popular in ‘witch world,’ but when it comes to her human world she’s klutzy and completely opposite,” she said. “It’s fun to play with both sides.” There’s another advantage to the show, Tisdale said: Voice recording sessions don’t demand playing dress-up and she can even work in sweats. The live-action series “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch,” which starred Melissa Joan Hart as a high school student who discovers she’s a witch, aired from 1996-2003. Tisdale’s voice-acting skills, honed in projects including “Phineas and Ferb,” allow her to continue playing characters Sabrina’s age or even younger. But the former “High School Musical” star now is 28, recently engaged to Ashley Tisdale rocker Christopher French (they’re in “the beginning stages” of wedding plans, she said) and runs her own production company. Among other projects, the company is producing a pilot for ABC Family, Tisdale said. She’s also keeping on-screen roles in the forefront, playing Rebel Wilson’s sister in freshman sitcom “Super Fun Night” and taping an episode next week of “The Crazy Ones,” the new Robin Williams comedy on CBS. She sounds a bit awed talking about Wilson, who’s wearing writing, producing and starring hats for her ABC sitcom. That is both daunting and inspiring, said Tisdale, adding, “You’re so proud of her because she’s doing it.” Williams is another role model, said the actress who began working as a preteen. “I grew up watching every Robin Williams movie ever made, so this is so exciting,” she said. “It’s cool to be able to work with people you’ve looked up to and enjoyed and can learn from.”

G

innifer Goodwin and Josh Dallas’ fairy tale extends beyond their day jobs. The actors, both 35, play Snow White and Prince Charming on ABC’s “Once Upon a Time” and have announced their engagement. The couple met while working on the show and began dating in 2011. Goodwin was previously engaged to actor Joey Kern, while Dallas was married to Lara Pulver from 2007-2011. On her official Twitter account, Goodwin wrote Friday, “From my soon-2-b-Mrs-Dallas head 2 my soon-2-be Mrs-Dallas-toes, I’m oh-so grateful 4 your well wishes!

THANK U!” Dallas tweeted to on his account, “Thanks to all of you for the outpouring of love and congrats!” “Once Upon a Time” is now in its third season.

Ginnifer Goodwin and Josh Dallas

Duchovny and Anderson say they want more X-Files

A

fter 20 years, it’s possible for the details of a relationship to get fuzzy. Just ask David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, who first premiered their roles as FBI agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully on “The X-Files” two decades ago. The series aired nine seasons and resulted in two feature films. The actors got together Saturday to mark the 20th Anniversary of the series’ premiere. They participated in a panel discussion for fans at The Paley Center for Media in New York.

When asked where their characters left off, the two weren’t completely clear on the specifics. “Well they (Mulder and Scully) were married the last movie,” Duchovny said, referring to 2008’s “The X-Files: I Want to Believe.”. Were we actually married?” Anderson asked. “I believe so.

That was my impression,” he responded. Their characters did become romantically involved in the TV series and were a couple during the 2008 movie. However, it was not clear whether they were married. What 53-year-old Duchovny and 45-year-old Anderson are both sure of is their interest in a third “X-Files” film. “All the principals are on board,” including “X-Files” creator Chris Carter, Duchovny said. “Gillian and I want to do it, so it’s really up to Twentieth Century Fox at this point.” Anderson said if fans want another film they should let their voices be heard.

“If it takes fan encouragement to get Fox interested in that then I guess that’s what it would be.” An email message sent to Twentieth Century Fox seeking comment on Saturday was not immediately returned. For an indefinite future, Duchovny and Anderson spent a lot of time over the weekend promoting the franchise. They appeared at Comic-Con in New York and also took part in a “ask me anything” session on the website Reddit.

Liam Payne is ‘quite nerdy’

T

he One Direction singer enjoys spending his days off from the band hanging out with old friends, playing video games and watching movies and loves getting the chance to be “normal”.

He said: “I’ve still got the same friends back home as I did before the band. That’s really important to me. They treat me the same as they always did. “My mate Andy from college moved to London around the same time as I did, so he comes over to my house a lot. Often he’ll bring his friends with him and we go out together. “We’re quite nerdy and have games nights, as well as movie nights on Wednesdays if I’m home. It’s nice to do something really down to earth and normal.” Liam’s bandmates Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson also credit their childhood friends with keeping them grounded. Louis said: “It would be easy to make a lot of new friends in the industry, but when you see your old mates and they treat you the way they always have done, it brings you straight back to earth.” Zayn added to Top of the Pops magazine: “I only really had two close friends growing up. I’m still good mates with both of them now. Our friendship is the same - they take the mickey out of me like they’ve always done. They remind me of who I am.”

Victoria

Liam Payne

set to change image

V

ictoria Beckham hopes her new reality show will stop people thinking she is “aloof”. The fashion designer is launching a new attempt at scoring a successful reality series - following 2007’s ‘Coming to America’ show - in a bid to boost her public profile. A source said: “It frustrates Victoria people don’t seem to ‘get’ her, and she understands that to a degree - she never used to smile and was seen as snooty and aloof. But now she wants to be loved. “She’s throwing all her energies into this show and wants to come across as someone who’s quite shy and a little unsure of herself. She wants people to see how hard she works and to see her eat. But she won’t pretend she stuffs her face.” Victoria, 39, thinks the fact some of her heroes have made documentaries and appeared in reality shows makes her venture more credible. The source added to Closer magazine: “Victoria’s weighed up the pros and cons and it’s taken her six months to decide. She’s a smart businesswoman and she wants to build her brand. She says even Vogue editor Anna Wintour has done a documentary.”

Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny

Williams marries Lasichanh P

harrell Williams has married Helen Lasichanh. The producer-and-musician tied the knot with his supermodel fiancee on Saturday at a star-studded ceremony in Florida.

Many famous friends attended the bash in Miami, including rappers Busta Rhymes and Usher who performed a “mini concert” for the guests. An insider told UsMagazine.com: “Usher and Busta Rhymes did a mini concert at the wedding. “It was so fun. The little concert was amazing. It [was] the most fun wedding I’ve ever been to.” Another guest revealed the pair were even set to treat those at the wedding to renditions of some of Pharrell’s own hits. They added: “Of course they’re playing some of [his] hits tonight.” The couple got engaged last summer, and together have a four-year-old son Rocket.

The ‘Get Lucky’ hitmaker has spoken recently of his immense pride at their child, describing him as the “best” collaboration and insisting his friendship with Helen makes “every night” feel “like a sleepover”. He previously said: “[He’s the] best song that I’ve ever co-written ... It’s awesome. “I can’t tell anyone what to do. I can’t give anyone relationship advice. But the bestie thing is awesome. Every night is like a sleepover.”

Pharrell Williams and Helen Lasichanh

Victoria Beckham

McGowan Detail ,

tie the knot

R

ose McGowan got married to Davey Detail in an intimate ceremony. The couple - who have been together for over a year - are said to have tied the knot Saturday in front of 60 guests outdoors at the Paramour Mansion in Los Angeles. E! News reports that the former ‘Charmed’ actress was wearing a Monique Lhullier gown as she walked down the aisle in front of her close friends and family in an “enchanting and magical” ceremony. The 40-year-old star - who was previously set to marry Marilyn Manson - previously revealed it would be an intimate day for those closest to them. She had said: “I have eight brothers and sisters and a massive family. That takes care of it. That’s everybody. That’s it.” They announced a lot of their wedding details ahead of the big day, revealing the setting and date last month.

She explained: “We’re getting married October 12th at a mansion.

It used to be a nunnery, so it’s perfect for me. As everyone knows, I am a nun! “I’m having a New Orleans swing band—a brass band from New Orleans. I found them on the street.” The wedding will provide some happy news for Rose whose home almost burned down on September 30. She tweeted at the time: “Well, my house almost burnt down tonight. Thanks @courtenaysemel for calling the fire dept and saving my house.”—Agencies

Rose McGowan and Davey Detail

37 An unusually cheery Phoenix at ‘Her’ NYFF premiere

MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2013

LIFESTYLE

M u s i c

&

M o v i e s

Charlie Hunnam departs ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’

film

This file image released by Warner Bros Pictures shows Joaquin Phoenix in a scene from the Spike Jonze film, “Her.”— AP photos Actors Rooney Mara, Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, and Olivia Wilde attend the Closing Night Gala Presentation Of “Her” during the 51st New York Film Festival at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center on October 12, 2013 in New York City.—AFP

T

he colorful palette of Spike Jonze’s wistful, slightly futuristic digital romance “Her” had an unlikely inspiration: Jamba Juice. Jonze premiered his highly anticipated film Saturday at the New York Film Festival, where he and his cast, including star Joaquin Phoenix, exemplified none of the interpersonal disconnect of the movie’s sleek but melancholy future. They entertainingly debuted the film for critics and film industry members ahead of an evening red-carpet premiere that was to draw the 51st New York Film Festival to a close.

Phoenix stars in the film as a recent divorce who purchases and gradually falls in love with an artificial operating system named Samantha (voiced by Scarlett Johansson). The system, dubbed OS1, is something like a far more advanced version of the iPhone’s Siri, advertised as an “intuitive entity” and “a consciousness.”

Jonze said in a post-screening news conference that he wanted to set “Her” in a somewhat utopic Los Angeles that “felt nice to be in.” It shares some of the color of the smoothie franchise Jamba Juice and is forested by skyscrapers. Jonze, who wrote and directed the film, borrowed the skyline from Shanghai, where much of the movie was shot.

It was an interesting acting challenge for Phoenix, given that his primary co-star was a disembodied voice.

The character was initially voiced by Samantha Morton before Johansson took over the role. “I’d like to say that I trained, but as an actor, I’m accustomed to walking around my house and talking to myself,” Phoenix said.

“We rehearse all the time so I don’t think it was that dissimilar.” Phoenix is known for his distaste for public appearances and media interaction, but he was in good spirits Saturday, playfully answering questions or cheerfully ignoring them. On capturing the loneliness of his character, Phoenix replied that “Spike just broke me.”

“Going into the movie, all I was concerned about was trying to feel natural in something that wasn’t there,” he said. As to how he managed to “break” Phoenix, Jonze fumbled for an answer before guessing, “I think he’s joking?” while Phoenix nodded. The actor even ironically admonished co-star Rooney Mara, who plays his ex-wife, for not eagerly answering questions.

“Rooney, don’t do that,” Phoenix said. “I’m so sorry everyone.” Warner Bros will release “Her” on Dec 18.—AP

File photo shows Charlie Hunnam, a cast member in the FX series “Sons of Anarchy,” answers a reporter’s question during the FX 2013 Summer TCA press tour in Beverly Hills, Calif.—AP

C

Indian Bollywood film actress Rani Mukherjee poses at the North Bombay Sarbojanin Durga Puja Charitable Trust in Mumbai on October 12, 2013.—AFP

(From left) File photo shows South Korean film director Im Kwon-Taek poses for photos with South Korean actors Ahn Sung-ki, Kang Soo-Hyun, Park Joong-Hoon, and Cho Jae-Hyun during a hand printing activity at the 18th Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) in Busan.—AFP

A season of Cumberbatch starts with

‘Fifth Estate’

I

t was the day before shooting began on “The Fifth Estate” when Benedict Cumberbatch, as he was trying on blond wigs for the last time, heard back from Julian Assange, the man he was to play. Through friends of the WikiLeaks creator, Cumberbatch had reached out to Assange. The letter (which WikiLeaks has since posted online) starts out cordially, with Assange complimenting Cumberbatch’s work. But he then levels a warning: “I believe you are a good person, but I do not believe that this film is a good film.”

Assange went on to say, at some length, why the movie, based on two books Assange disputes (Daniel DomscheitBerg’s “Inside WikiLeaks: My Time With Julian Assange and the World’s Most Dangerous Website” and “WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assanges War on Secrecy,” by This image released by Dreamworks Pictures shows Dan Stevens as jourBritish journalists David Leigh nalist Ian Katz, left, and Benedict Cumberbatch as WikiLeaks founder and Luke Harding), would do Julian Assange in a scene from “The Fifth Estate.”—AP harm to him, WikiLeaks and whistleblowers around the Cumberbatch says. “The kind of tabloid heading of world. “It winded me quite a bit,” Cumberbatch said in it is ‘Weirdo, white-haired guy wanted for rape who’s an interview shortly after “The Fifth Estate” premiered hiding behind Harrod’s in an embassy’ - nothing to do at the Toronto Film Festival last month. “He was very with the achievements we show in the film. All of that polite. He wasn’t aggressive. ... But there was a certain is celebrated.” amount of naivety about what he thought a film’s “The Fifth Estate,” which Disney will release Oct impact could be.”

18, is just the first entry in a season of Cumberbatch, Playing Assange, one of the world’s most debated the British actor most famed for his running TV and recognizable figures, was always going to series “Sherlock.” This fall, he also appears in “August: be a challenge for Cumberbatch, and it would be Osage County,” “12 Years a Slave” and “The Hobbit: particularly so with his very subject objecting to the The Desolation of Smaug.” Cumberbatch is the enterprise. Cumberbatch hoped his portrait would latest British sensation in Hollywood - an actor of be balanced, showing Assange as controlling and scrupulous intelligence and a fragile, shape-shifting reckless, but also “fiercely intelligent, principled and presence as unique as his name. “At the moment, I’m rather brilliant.” “Frankly, the perception of him before just enjoying the momentum,” he says.—AP this film comes out is already a fractured thing,”

harlie Hunnam is dropping out of the highly anticipated big-screen version of “Fifty Shades of Grey” just weeks after being cast as the lead, citing his busy schedule. Universal Pictures and Focus Features announced Saturday that the British actor who was to play Christian Grey will depart the project. The studio called it a mutual decision because Hunnam’s preparation time was limited by his television schedule. He stars in the FX series “Sons of Anarchy.”

It’s an abrupt and embarrassing switch for a highprofile film. Fans of E L James’ erotic best-seller are eagerly awaiting the movie adaptation, which will be directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson. Dakota Johnson remains in the co-starring role of Anastasia Steele. A replacement will be sought for Hunnam, who last month said he initially turned down the role. When his casting was announced in September, many vented online that the “Pacific Rim” actor was ill suited to play the seductive billionaire. Producers Dana Brunetti and Michael De Luca took to Twitter to defend the choice, maintaining their two leads had good chemistry together. Representatives for Hunnam didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday.—AP

‘Grandfather’ A

of Korean cinema sees, life through a lens

cclaimed Korean director Im Kwon-Taek has a simple explanation as to why he is embarking on his 102nd film at an age when others might consider taking things easy. “Film is my passion,” the 77-year-old said. “And you must follow your passion.”

Affectionately known as the “Grandfather of Korean cinema”, a large number of Im’s acclaimed productions have focused on what he sees as the erosion of Korean culture in a society that has seen rapid change in recent decades.

With giant posters of him displayed all over the city, Im was an omnipresent force at this year’s 18th Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), which screened 71 of his movies while making him the subject of a series of seminars and panel discussions. The first Korean to be named Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival for 2002’s “Chihwaseon” (“Painted Fire”) Im marked the occasion by announcing his 102nd film in a career dating back to his 1962 debut “Farewell to the Duman River”.

“Films reflect the accumulated experiences of the life you have lived,” said Im. “The life I have lived is within me and I have to translate that into film.” Shooting will start in December on an adaptation of Korean author Kim Hoon’s novel “Hwajang”. The film, which reunites Im with acclaimed Korean actor Ahn Sung-Ki for their seventh production, focuses on an ageing man who lusts after a younger woman while caring for his dying wife. “Hwajang” means both “cremation” and “make-up”.

“I have always waited with baited breath for [Kim’s]

next work,” Im said. “Hwajang is not a story that is very dramatic. But the tension and the beat of the work is what attracted me. It is a challenge but I am attracted to that challenge.” The 61-year-old Ahn said he was also keen to explore the story’s deeper meanings.

“The director has always dealt with aspects of Korean culture to examine the human condition, and the upcoming film will probably focus more on the latter, like the book,” said Ahn. “It’s going to be a very difficult role to tackle as an actor.” BIFF, which wrapped up this weekend, also reunited the director with cast members from his romantic classic “Seopyeonje” (1993), which was the first film in Korea to sell more than one million admissions.

“No one thought people would come and see this film,” said Im. “There were many bigger productions coming about and it is a drama about Korean life. But word-of-mouth worked and the people just kept coming - it became a sensation.”

The director said he had wanted to use film to encourage people to not only reflect on their own lives but on the society that surrounds them. “These things are important because they are part of who we are,” he said. “If I can help make people appreciate them more, then I think I have succeeded. I think we all need to take the time to reflect on our lives.”—AFP

38

MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2013

LIFESTYLE

Japanese

F e a t u r e

Exceptional speakers line up for Eurobest in the name of creative bravery

break-dancer wins Asia-Pacific competition

A

A break-dancer performs on the stage.

South Korean break-dancer “Vero” performs on the stage.

(File photo) Japanese break-dancer Noritoshi Kikuchi smiles on the stage during the Red Bull BC One Asia Pacific contest at the Kushida shrine in Fukuoka.—AFP

A

Japanese break-dancer has spun and somersaulted his way into the sport’s global finals to be staged in South Korea next month after winning a regional competition on home soil. Noritoshi “Nori” Kikuchi showed off a series of downrocks, power moves and freezes to emerge victorious at the “Red Bull BC One” contest held inside a historic Shinto shrine in the southern city of Fukuoka on Saturday. The knockout tournament featured 16-elite dancers from several countries, including Japan and South Korea,

Malaysian break-dancer “BBOY Khenobu” performs on the stage.

squaring-off on a circular stage as dance music blared out and 1,000 spectators cheered on.

“This is a boxing ring and I came here to win,” Nori said after his victory, sporting a black t-shirt and flat-brimmed baseball cap in a trademark hiphop style. “When it comes to competitions, I fight. I gave it all I had today,” he said.

The world finals will take place on November 30 in Seoul, according to organizers.—AFP

Five free things in OKC:

Native America, art and more

The Myriad Botanical Gardens.

I

s Oklahoma part of the Midwest, Southwest or southern United States?

Ask three different people residing in the Sooner State and you’ll get three different answers. It’s a question with no solid answer, and so Oklahoma has taken a little bit of culture from each and made it its own. It’s where people say y’all and wave as they pass by in a driving car. It’s where you’ll still hear references to cowboys and Indians, and where the state meal is made up of chicken-fried steak, fried okra and squash.

Nowhere is the melding of cultures more noticeable than in Oklahoma City, the state’s capital and largest city. Home to nearly 600,000 residents, Oklahoma City is becoming a booming urban area, with a popular major basketball team, The Thunder; a 50-story skyscraper (the Devon Energy Center), and a host of options for dining, museums and recreation. Here are five free things to see and do while in Oklahoma City.

Red Earth Museum Oklahoma is home to 39 Native American tribes. The tribes come from all over the country, having been forced to relocate here in the 19th century to what was known as Indian Territory. They still have many different cultures, languages and beliefs. Visiting each of the tribal headquarters within the state makes for a daunting task, but their influence is felt throughout Oklahoma City, including at the Red Earth Museum, a small nonprofit gallery in the heart of downtown

Photo shows a display at the Red Earth Museum in Oklahoma City. Oklahoma is home to 39 Native American tribes.—AP photos

People walking at the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum before the start of the 17th annual remembrance ceremony.

Oklahoma City. The Red Earth Museum displays more than 1,400 Native American items, which includes fine art, pottery, basketry and beadwork. More than 1,000 American Indian artists and dancers from across North America turn out each year for the annual Red Earth Festival, next scheduled for June 5-7, 2014.

Paseo Arts District Developed in the late 1920s, the two-block Paseo Arts District is lined with stucco buildings showcasing their Spanish influence. More than 20 art galleries, a handful of restaurants and a few boutiques and gift shops line the street, which has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Paseo celebrates a First Friday gallery walk each month in which visitors can see new work and enjoy live music.

Bricktown Stroll along the brick streets of this major entertainment hotspot converted from a warehouse district. While patronizing the businesses in Bricktown will set you back a bit in the wallet — think upscale restaurants and nightclubs — going just for the people-watching and photo ops on a Friday or Saturday night is worth the trip. In Bricktown, men wearing boots and cowboy hats stroll alongside 20-somethings out for a night on the town. Watch visitors take a water taxi down on the Bricktown Canal or a horse carriage carry passengers past the Chickasaw

head of this year’s festival, Eurobest has yesterday released the 2013 seminar program online. Across three days, an innovative schedule of 30 seminars and 12 workshops will focus around the theme of creative bravery; an exploration into the ideas that are pushing the limits of creativity.

This year’s program will deliberately draw upon a broader spectrum of creative influences including sport, fashion, entertainment, art, design, religion, cutting edge technology and the latest human and cultural insights, whilst the presentation styles will range across inspiring speeches, live theatrical experiences, revealing interviews, practical demonstrations, displays of creativity and new viewpoints on long-standing industry challenges.

Mark Hogarth, Creative Director of Harris Tweed will join the festival to discuss the significant renaissance of the brand; sharing his experience and discoveries as a five year image makeover was completed. Speaking about his appearance, Mark says that he is “looking forward to discussing the renaissance of the Harris Tweed brand at Eurobest. Delegates can look forward to a presentation that will examine the subtle image transformation that has put Harris Tweed at the vanguard of heritage inspired style.

The product - sometimes criticized as old-fashioned - has remained the same but provenance and artisanal skill have been successfully packaged for 21st century success. For Harris Tweed the last five years truly have been a ‘new twist on an old yarn’ and I’m confident that delegates will gain both practical and philosophical inspiration from this presentation.”

In a tale of determination and talent, Gwyn Jones, Global CEO of BBH, will take a retrospective look at the formation of his career starting with his placement on BBH’s first graduate intake followed by his 26 year rise to overseeing all offices in the global BBH network. He will be joined by one of the agency’s young rising stars, Ben Shaw, and together they will provide a lively debate on how talent and brilliant creative energy is fostered from the top down, whilst new ideas work from the bottom up.

At this year’s Cannes Lions, agency Y&R New Moments New Ideas in Macedonia, took home the country’s first Titanium Lion for their ad ’10 Meters Apart’. In an effort to promote understanding between Christians and Muslims in the war-torn nation, their ground-breaking concept convinced representatives from both religions to take part in a joint prayer, in the same location, just 10 meters apart. Now Creative Director, Dusan Drakalski, will bring the campaign to Eurobest, revealing how they solved a complex and highly emotional situation with a simple, well executed idea. Offering a first-hand experience of the concept, Dusan will be joined on stage by the religious leaders of both groups in Skopje, who will start the seminar with a live joint prayer.

Rodney Collins, McCann Truth Central European Director, McCann Erickson, will take to the stage in a Eurobest exclusive to share their findings from the business intelligence unit’s latest research study; The Creative Craft of Consumer Crisis. Talking about what delegates can expect from the seminar, Rodney Collins says, “We’re excited to be launching exclusive new research at Eurobest this year on The Creative Craft of Consumer Crisis – which explores how consumers innovate, collaborate, and share in a time of crisis.

Our European regional report draws on insights from consumers, shopkeepers, taxi-drivers, and journalists to examine how the crisis is leading to transformative opportunities in the shadow of the political and economic crises that roil the region. We think attendees will discover a different perspective on crisis after hearing the insights from the study.”

Commenting on the agenda, Philip Thomas, CEO of Lions Festivals, says, “This is just a taster of what’s in store at Eurobest this year; the program is bespoke and brave, tackling industry issues with bold and edgy content. It offers real insights into genuine risk taking and will leave attendees reinvigorated with fresh, innovative ideas and an understanding of the importance of being creatively brave. It’s a genuinely exciting line-up”.

Eurobest is taking place from 4-6 December in Lisbon, Portugal.

The seminar program is now online, providing details of further sessions which will come from the likes of Brothers and Sisters, BrandOpus, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Happiness Brussels, R\GA and Holler. Additional speakers and the Workshop programme will be announced shortly. Further information including details of how to register and be a part of the Festival can also be found at www. eurobest.com.

The gift shop at the Red Earth Museum in Oklahoma City.

Bricktown Ballpark, where the minor league Oklahoma City RedHawks baseball team plays.

Myriad Botanical Gardens The 17-acre (7-hectare) Myriad Botanical Gardens offer a bit of reprieve from the hustle and bustle of urban life in downtown Oklahoma City. Trees, shrubbery and other landscaped areas surround a small lake. A children’s garden, splash fountains, off-leash dog-park and paths for running and walking offer visitors a variety of activities. In the summer, free concerts, movies and children’s events are held throughout the gardens.

The Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum Even people who don’t know much about Oklahoma City will likely recall the Oklahoma City bombing. The memorial is where visitors can pay tribute to the people who were killed and those who survived the bombing at the Alfred P Murrah Federal Building on April 19, 1995. While the Memorial Museum has an admission fee, the outdoor memorial, full of symbolism, is free and open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Monuments at each end of the memorial note 9:01 am and 9:03 am, framing the destruction that took place at exactly 9:02 am. Once inside the grounds, visitors can walk along a reflecting pool. Nearby, 168 chairs represent the number of lives lost, with 19 of the chairs smaller, representing the children who perished in the bombing.—AP

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MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2013

LIFESTYLE F a s h i o n

Models pose during the Naeem Khan Fall/Winter 2014 Bridal Collection presentation and reception in New York City. –AFP photos

Designer Naeem Khan poses with models during his Naeem Khan Fall/Winter 2014 Bridal collection presentation.

Christos

Amsale

Kurt Geiger

launches their striking Autumn-Winter 2013 range

T

his Autumn-Winter Kurt Geiger, the leading UK luxury footwear brand, launches its glamorous collection for women that strikes with its elegance and stunning features.

Kurt Geiger London for women: Autumn-Winter 2013 is all about Kurt Geiger London pointy-toed ‘Court Collection’, ‘everything but the dress’ line of accessories and Kurt Geiger’s signature stiletto that is a heart of ‘B Series’ styles’, says Creative Director of Kurt Geiger London, Rebecca Farrar-Hockley.

KG by Kurt Geiger for women: A star on the sole continues to identify the grunge-cool of the KG Kurt Geiger label with 60s-meets-90s fashion heritage.

The new trainer tribe takeover in ‘Trainers’ collection inspires designs with London’s new taste of grunge. Embossed croc, super soft suede and tiger printed calf-hair leather craft new low profile runners and high-tops to go glam.

The AW’13 collection for women is available at the Kurt Geiger stores located at The Avenues and 360 mall.

Carvela Georgina Black

Angle Black Leather

Arno Black White Leather Aster Black Leather

Kenneth Poole

Japanese breakdancer wins Asia-Pacific competition

38

MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2013

Installation ‘Keeper of Time’ is seen in front of enlightened Berlin Cathedral on the first day of Festival of Lights.—AFP

South African A

chefs stir up ‘old-style’ cuisine

vanguard of South African chefs are dusting off unfashionable cooking techniques used by 18th century Dutch settlers— like pickling, salting and smoking—to create a modern “sustainable” cuisine. A lot of what chef Chris Erasmus works on at his upscale restaurant in the Cape winelands has not been in vogue, or even necessary, since fridges were first sold over a century ago. But the former chemical engineering student is determined, with the help of a little scientific know-how, to resurrect a centuries-old way of approaching food that seems anathema to modern life.

Some of Erasmus’s preparation methods, once essential to keep local produce edible through the winter, can take weeks, months or even a year to complete. But they make the most of ingredients that do not need to be flown in from around the world. “We are using old techniques with modern science,” he said toying with a puffedup, week-old vacuum pack of salted raspberries.

Inside the plastic pouch the blood-red berries are being pickled using heterolactic fermentation, a chemical process that converts glucose into lactic acid, preserving the fruit in the process.

To this age-old technique Erasmus adds salt and low oxygen levels, helping the process move along and preventing the build-up of bacteria we now know is harmful. Once the fermentation is completed the berries can be dehydrated, stored and reconstituted with water whenever needed.

The end result is an ingredient that has little in common with the vinegar-tinged tastes commonly associated with pickling. This is no throatburning bar snack, soggy fast food garnish or bland central European stodge. “It’s got a beautifully savory raspberry smell and it’s got 10 times the flavor because of the fermentation,” he said.

‘They knew exactly what they were doing’ The groundwork for this new old cuisine may have come from the likes of Topsi Venter—a nowretired female chef who went from working on the South African Dried Fruit Board to opening restaurants that dug deep into the terroir to redefine local food. But Erasmus—along with other like-minded South African chefs such as Margot Janse and Richard Carstens—stand at the confluence of many food movements that have grown over the last decade around the world. They dip into the use-it-all ethic of head-to-tail butchering, the scientific adventurism of molecular gastronomy and the locavore drive for seasonal food sourced from nearby farms.

For this reason Erasmus’s menus at the Pierneef restaurant—located in the La Motte vineyard

beneath steep granite slopes that dot South Africa’s Western Cape—are often short on specifics.

“It will say Karoo lamb, it won’t say what cut. So we’ll first use the neck then the shoulders, then the ribs, then the legs, until there is nothing left.”

Angus McIntosh, a former Goldman Sachs broker who left investment banking to set up an biodynamic farm near Stellenbosch, supplies Erasmus and dozens of other local restaurateurs.

He said demand for his pasture-reared products has increased dramatically in recent years as people become more concerned about how and, as importantly, where their food is produced.

“It’s not just a trend anymore,” said Erasmus. “It’s becoming a guideline for the top chefs, if you have Canadian scallops on your menu someone is going to call you and say ‘un-uh’ get it off, let’s not do that’.”

But the thing that binds these ethical and locavore influences together for Erasmus is oldtime cooking used by the voortrekkers, the Dutch immigrants who settled across southern Africa in the 1800s. “Back then they knew exactly what they were doing, and it was forgotten for a while.

Now we have a better understanding of the science behind it, and it makes sense.” In that sense his approach is similar to the retro ethos which catapulted Copenhagen’s two Michelin starred Noma restaurant and its “new Nordic cuisine” to international fame.—AFP

B

Food

One of Chef Chris Erasmus’s old fashion meals, soup in a bone, is displayed at his upscale restaurant.

Chef Chris Erasmus works at his upscale restaurant in Franschhoek as a vanguard of South African chefs are dusting off unfashionable cooking techniques used by 18th century Dutch settlers.—AFP photos

heritage

efore the civil rights movement, dining while traveling by train was a challenge for black people. Although white train passengers were served in dining cars, Jim Crow laws barred black passengers. Thus, the shoe box lunch, a meal in a box packed before boarding, became common for traveling black families. Today, the shoe box lunch has evolved into something entirely different for one Chicago organization. Rather than a meal in a box, it’s an audiobook in a box complete with objects to touch, smell and taste in which African-Americans share soul food traditions to encourage health and wellness.

Fereshteh Toosi, director of Garlic & Greens, a program that highlights the intersections among food heritage, migration history, social justice, the arts and disability studies, launched her Shoebox Lunch project in July. In the audiobook a half-hour audio documentary Toosi introduces six African-Americans from Chicago, Los Angeles and Philadelphia who share memories about food and family that focus on soul

in a shoe box

food traditions, black culture, migration and health.

“I’m going back to the way I grew up and finding out, darn it, I was very healthy,” says Dorothy HortonJackson in the documentary. Although her mother cooked with fats and greases, she “balanced it out” with healthier choices like beans, collard greens and oatmeal, Horton-Jackson says.

“You don’t have to have fried chicken; you don’t have to have fried fish,” she says. “You bake your fish; you bake your chicken.

Maybe I can’t have greens every day, but I can have salad. You just balance it out.” Toosi’s initial idea was to compile a cookbook of family recipes, but the project’s focus changed after she began interviewing sources.

“When you ask (people) for a family recipe, they don’t necessarily get scientific measurements,” she said. “But when people start talking about the story behind it ... that would snowball into a different kind of story about their family. So that became way more interesting than capturing this recipe in an artificial way.”—MCT

Better eating advocacy group Garlic and Greens offers an audio book and learning kit.—MCT