4th Nov 2013

CR IP TI ON BS SU

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2013

Divorce rate on the rise in Kuwait

Two French journalists killed in Mali

NO: 15976

150 FILS

2 40 PAGES

THULHIJA 30, 1434 AH

7

Minat Aishatah performs in Kuwait

40

www.kuwaittimes.net

Vettel wins Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

20

MP submits motion to grill health minister Quwaiaan move signals looming political crisis

By B Izaak

conspiracy theories

Washed ashore...

By Badrya Darwish

badrya_d@kuwaittimes.net

S

ince last week, the media, especially newspapers, have been highlighting and publishing pictures of thousands of oysters, sea cucumber and crabs washed ashore near Al-Khairan area. I have been waiting for a week now to hear a statement from the government regarding this environmental catastrophe.

Just look at the pictures. They speak for themselves. It is like an oyster massacre. Nobody can deny that something big took place there. If it was one or two or 100 oysters washed ashore, I would not take it seriously, but if thousands of crabs and shellfish are dead, this raises a hundred questions.

So far we did not hear any official come out and speak about the environmental catastrophe.

Nobody even comforted us.

If oysters are dying, this means that all sea fish is affected. Is our fish safe to eat? What caused the death of these oysters? Is it something that happened in the deep sea and scared them and they went running away as if from a big white shark or a big white whale? I am joking guys.

Even to the simplest eye, it looks that the oysters were poisoned. How they were poisoned, I have no idea, because I am not a scientist. Did something leak in the area and kill them? I leave the answer to the Environment Public Authority (EPA) to answer and tell us the truth.

On the other hand, I am waiting for the honourable gentlemen of parliament. Have they read the news? Have they seen the pictures of the dying shellfish and crabs? Why no one made any statement on the crisis? Not even a question or two on the subject. Aren’t they bothered what happened there? What are they waiting for? Isn’t this better than grilling threats? Isn’t it worth grilling somebody in the government if they love grillings so much?

Unfortunately, we do not have an environment minister but of course, the EPA falls under some ministry. This is not enough justification that the environment in Kuwait is totally ignored and neglected. I am not blaming the government as much as I am blaming the MPs. Can we expect that in the coming few days, we will hear some voices from the Abdullah Salem Hall inquiring what is happening on the Kuwaiti shores before all of us get washed ashore.

KUWAIT: Just two days after MP Riyadh AlAdasani filed a surprise move by asking to grill HH the Prime Minister, another lawmaker Hussein Al-Quwaiaan filed yesterday a similar request to question Health Minister and State Minister for Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Mohammad Al-Ahmad AlSabah. The new grilling is based on three issues; Alleged obstruction of vital health projects, financial and administrative corruption and ignoring the Ministry of Health which led to an increase in serious diseases.

National Assembly Speaker Marzouk AlGhanem said he has received the grilling request and informed the government, adding that it will be added to the agenda of the November 12 session along with the other grilling. In a previously unannounced move on Thursday, Adasani submitted a request to grill HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah on allegations of rife corruption, a decline in most aspects of public life and the chronic housing problem.

But the two grilling motions are not expected to be debated on November 12 as the two officials can request a two-week delay which is granted automatically. A further delay requires the approval of the National Assembly.

Yesterday’s grilling motion also comes amid reports and statements by MPs that

more grilling requests are expected to be filed in the coming few days, especially against State Minister for development Rola Dashti and Minister of Public Works and Electricity and Water Abdulaziz Al-Ibrahim over a variety of alleged irregularities. MP Quwaiaan claimed in his grilling request that the minister of Health has blocked key healthcare projects especially in playing a role in scrapping contracts for four major public hospitals which would have raised the ministry’s bed capacity by 2,100 beds.

He said the Health Ministry made a request to halt the contracts awarding process which will delay the projects, eventually negatively affecting the country’s health services. In the second issue, the lawmaker, who is a specialist doctor and worked for the ministry before being elected to the Assembly, alleged that the minister is responsible for failure in stopping corrupt contracts, citing the example of Amiri Hospital expansion project.

He said the project was awarded to the second lowest bid and the contractor with the lowest bid is fighting the ministry’s decision in court, while the minister has refused to halt the project until the court announces its verdict. He also claimed there were a number of illegal variation orders in some project that have been approved by unauthorized officials in the ministry and the minister refused to rectify the situation.

MP Quwaiaan said in the grilling that

KUWAIT: MP Hussein Qwaiaan Al-Mutairi (right) submits to National Assembly Secretary General Allam Al-Kandari a request to grill Health Minister Sheikh Mohammad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah in the National Assembly in Kuwait City yesterday. — Yasser Al-Zayyat Sheikh Mohammad, who is also state minister for Cabinet Affairs, has devoted little time to the Health Ministry which has led to a number of negative results. As a result, the minister has failed to follow up closely the spread of serious diseases and order swift action, said the lawmaker and added that

the most serious failure was that allowing expatriates infected with AIDS to stay in the country without deportation. He also claimed that there have been serious shortages of equipment and medicines at some facilities in the ministry, charging the minister of being responsible.

Tests show ‘poison’ killed oysters in Khairan EPA warns of legal action KUWAIT: The Environment Public Authority has announced plans to take legal action against environmentalists who linked massive oyster deaths reported since Wednesday in Khairan with possible pollution, said sources who indicated that toxin tests of samples taken from the scene came positive. “Results of tests carried out by research bodies in Kuwait indicate that the oyster kill happened as a result of unspecified toxics in the seawaters,” said the sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity. They further indicated that the poisons detected during ‘careful lab tests’ are to blame for the death of oysters as well as other marine species found at the scene. Sources said

that “preliminary tests carried out by the Kuwait Institution for Scientific Research indicate that some sort of pollution was the reason behind the oysters’ deaths”.

Meanwhile, leader of the Kuwait Dive Team at the Environmental Voluntary Foundation Waleed Al-Fadhel responded to an explanation given by Environment Public Authority about oysters being caught and dumped back into the sea before they washed ashore. “This does not explain the dead crabs, algae, sea cucumbers and some fish that were found at the scene,” he said in a statement.

Fadhel indicated that the large number of dead oysters found makes it impossible Continued on Page 13

Kerry visits Saudi to ease tensions US vows backing for Egypt rulers

Angry Pakistan reviews US ties PESHAWAR: Pakistan is to review its relationship with the United States, the prime minister’s office said yesterday, following the killing of the Pakistani Taleban leader in a US drone strike. But a top-level meeting to examine relations, scheduled for yesterday, was postponed at the last minute without explanation.

Mehsud, who had a $5 million US bounty on his head, was killed on Friday in the northwestern Pakistani militant stronghold of North Waziristan, near the Afghan border. The Pakistani Taleban have killed thousands of Pakistani civilians and members of the security forces in their bid to impose Islamist rule, but the new government has been calling for peace talks.

The government denounced Mehsud’s killing as a US bid to derail the talks and summoned the US ambassador on Saturday to complain. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s office had said he would chair a meeting on the consequences for ties with Washington.

There was no indication when it might now take place.

Some politicians have demanded that US military supply lines into Afghanistan be blocked in response.

“It is clear that the US is against peace and does not want terrorism to subside. Now, we only have one agenda: to stop NATO supplies going through (the northern province of ) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” Asad Qaiser, the speaker of the provincial assembly, told Reuters. — (See Page 11)

Max 24º Min 19º High Tide 11:57 & 23:23 Low Tide 05:42 & 17:46

KUWAIT: People watch a rare hybrid solar eclipse through clouds in Souq Sharq Marina, Kuwait yesterday. The rare eclipse swept across parts of Middle East, Europe and the United States yesterday as the moon blocked the sun either fully or partially depending on the location. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat

Khamenei not optimistic but backs nuclear talks TEHRAN: Iran’s supreme leader said yesterday he is not optimistic but supports talks with world powers over his country’s nuclear drive as the process is incapable of hurting the Islamic republic.

The remarks by the all-powerful Ayatollah Ali Khamenei came ahead of a new round of negotiations with the socalled P5+1 group of world powers in Geneva on November 7 and 8. “I am not optimistic about the negotiations but, with the grace of God, we will not suffer losses either,” said Khamenei.

“I do not think the negotiations will produce the results expected by Iran,” he told a group of students at his residence, a day before the anniversary of the takeover

of the US embassy in Tehran in 1979. All decisions on the nuclear program, which Western powers and Israel suspect is masking a military drive despite repeated Iranian denials, rest with Khamenei. Next week’s talks are aimed at finding a negotiated solution that would remove concerns about Iran’s nuclear drive in exchange for an easing of economic sanctions that have provoked soaring inflation.

It will be the second such meeting since Hassan Rouhani, a reputed moderate, took office as Iran’s president in August with a stated mandate of lifting the sanctions through constructive engagement.

Continued on Page 13

RIYADH: Top US diplomat John Kerry travelled to Saudi Arabia yesterday hoping to soothe tensions over Washington’s refusal to intervene in Syria and its diplomatic overtures to Iran.

Relations with the longtime ally have been strained over US reluctance to strike Syria or provide more aid to rebels there, as well as its tentative detente with Iran following the election of President Hassan Rouhani, a reputed moderate.

Earlier in Cairo, Kerry reassuring America’s Arab allies that the United States will not allow them to be attacked “from outside” - that’s an apparent warning to Iran. Kerry said the US will stand with its partners. He was specifically mentioning Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Jordan and Egypt as countries the US will defend.

Kerry spoke yesterday in Egypt as he began a visit to the Middle East, Europe and North Africa.

Kerry also played down US divisions with Gulf nations over Syria. He said some countries differ with US tactics in Syria. But he said they agree on the goal of ending the fighting and forming an interim government. Kerry said his country is committed to working with Egypt’s interim rulers, on his first visit to Cairo since the army ousted president Mohammed Morsi.

On the eve of the opening of Morsi’s trial, Kerry was in Cairo to shore up ties with a key ally and ensure it moves

CAIRO: US Secretary of State John Kerry gives a press conference yesterday at the Fairmont Hotel in Cairo. — AFP ahead on plans to restore democracy, just weeks after Washington partly suspended aid to Egypt.

“We are committed to work with and we will continue our cooperation with the interim government,” Kerry told a joint news conference with Egyptian foreign minister Nabil Fahmy, urging “inclusive, free and fair elections”.

Kerry also played down Washington’s suspension of part of its $1.5 billion in annual aid to Cairo, denying the decision had been taken to punish Egypt’s military leaders and saying it “is a very small issue between us”.

Continued on Page 13

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2013

LOCAL

Austrian ambassador receives the Editor in Chief of Kuwait Times Abdl Rahman Al-Alyan at the reception.

KUWAIT: Khaled Al-Moqames, Director of follow up and coordination at the Ministry of Foreign Affaires, Ambassodor of Austria Ulrich Frank and his spouse jointly cut the cermonial cake at a reception at his residence on the occasion of Austrian National Day.

A group photograph of the ambassadors, (R-L) China, North Korea, Laos and Vietnam. —Photos by Joseph Shagra

Dr Adnan Al-Shatti

Major change in people’s attitude Divorce rates increase

By Nawara Fattahova KUWAIT: According to a study by attorney Hawra AlHabib, there are about 18 divorce cases every day in Kuwait based on the latest annual statistic that registered 6,672 cases. Her study also mentioned that these divorce cases cost about KD 50,000 daily apart from the fees paid to lawyers.

Psychiatrist Dr Adnan Al-Shatti agreed that divorce cases are rapidly increasing and expected that the number will even increase more in the future. “Some patients come for consultation before getting divorced to solve the problem as they don’t want a divorce, while others come after the divorce to heal from the negative effect of the divorce, mostly emotional and economic as well. They mostly suffer when they have to leave the children who will go with one of them. In fact the divorce affects the whole family,” he told Kuwait Times.

According to him, all present indicators predict an increase in divorce cases. “All indicators including personal, governmental, educational or the media expect an increase in divorce cases in Kuwait. In the past, parents played an important role in reconsolidating the couple and avoid divorce. But today their role has decreased, and most couples only seek benefits,” added Shatti.

A psychiatrist can play an important role in saving couples from divorce. “People, especially men, ignore the role of the psychiatrist and think that visiting his clinic is a shame. He thinks that people will say he is crazy, while in fact he is crazy if he divorces without coming for consultation. Psychiatric treatment is simple, and it may save many couples from getting divorced,” he added.

There are different reasons for divorce from his point of view. “Wrong personal choice, not being able to stand the behavior or habits of the other, cheating and others. The horrifying fact is that in the past, cheating was only common in men, and the women in the past used to forgive him easily. Today, even women are cheating. The percentage of cheating women has increased from one case out of 1,000 wives to about 50 cheating wives out of 1,000. Today there are 2-3 cheating wives against 5 cheating men, which is a great increase in our conservative community. This is not an official statistic, but it’s a summary of my experience at the clinic,” Shatti pointed out.

He mentioned different cases of female patients who were cheating. “I’m shocked to see women cheating, especially in newly-married couples after less than a year of marriage. I had a husband who was brought to the clinic by the family of his wife who knew she was cheating on her husband and came seeking treatment for him to avoid him committing a crime or hurting their cheating daughter, and they are also afraid of a scandal. What’s worse is that this wife was not forced on this marriage and she claimed she had good relations with her husband, yet she cheated on him. I had another 29-year-old patient who was cheating on her husband and her boyfriend was beating her, yet she loved him. Then I have another one who not only cheated on her husband but she also got pregnant from her boyfriend and delivered a girl. About 6 months later, her husband died and she got married to her boyfriend.

People were amazed by his strong love to this girl, and of course the reason is that she’s his daughter, but he couldn’t tell anyone,” he stated.

The divorce cases depend on the period of the marriage regardless of age. “About 50 percent of the divorce cases are from the first year of the marriage. Regarding age, the majority of the divorce cases are of couples who are aged between 25 and 30, while on the other hand the smallest percentage of divorces are in the age category of 20-25 years. We should blame both genders for the divorce as both are breaking traditions of the community,” concluded Shatti.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2013

LOCAL

Indian Muslims still languish far behind Govt dilly-dallying on Sachar Report implementation

By Sajeev K Peter KUWAIT: Rajindar Sachar, former Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court and the chairman of the Sachar Committee, said the condition of the Muslim community has not improved much even seven years af ter his committee’s report on the socio-economic and educational status of Muslims in India.

Though the committee presented its report in 2006, the government has not taken any effective measures to implement the report yet. The committee has done an in-depth analysis of Indian Muslims with statistical reports based on information from government agencies, banks, I ndian M inorit y Commission, different state governments and its agencies.

“The government purports to implement the report, at least part of it. We have to hold the government responsible for not implementing it. Now, it is for the people, the media and NGOs to put pressure on the government.

People’s vigilance, their active participation in discussions and criticisms are necessary for the implementation of the report,” said Justice Sachar during a press conference organized by the Indo-Kuwait Friendship Society (IFKS) on Saturday.

IKFS honored Justice Sachar with the ‘IKFS 2013 Excellence Award for Social Justice’ at another function in recognition of his valuable contributions towards social justice. Justice Sachar arrived in Kuwait accompanied

by IKFS Patron Sami Bubere, chief editor of Indo-Gulf Times, Ummeeth magazines, President of Mumbai-based Sahyogh Cultural Society and Dhaval Bhatia, a well-k nown international trainer and patron, IKFS. “Our job was to give the report. We were not the implementing agency nor we had been given the mandate to talk about the report,” he said.

The Sachar Committee report had found out that the literacy rate among Muslims is way below the national average. The gap between Muslims and the general average is greater in urban areas, especially among women. About 25 percent of children of Muslim parents in the 6-14 year age group have either never attended school or have dropped out.

Iraq praises Kuwait humanitarian efforts KUWAIT: Iraq’s ambassador to Kuwait Mohammad Bahr Al-Ulum praised on Saturday the humanitarian efforts of Kuwait Red Crescent Society (KRCS) in aiding, assisting victims as well as natural disaster around the world. Speaking after a meeting with Chairman of KRCS Barjas Al-Barjas, the ambassador added Kuwait is a model for charitable and humanitarian work as well as its generous assistance for all people including the Iraqi people. Kuwait is known for its humanitarian efforts, he noted. During the meeting, they discussed enhancing efforts between the two countries in the field of philanthropy and volunteering, in addition to KRCS efforts on Arab and international arenas. For his part, Al-Barjas elaborated on KRCS vital humanitarian and charitable works around the world. — KUNA

Charity run for rehabilitation of children KUWAIT: Justice Rajindar Sachar (center) addresses a press conference at Plaza Atheenee Hotel.—Photo by Sajeev K Peter

“ The repor t has given the fac ts based on material collected from various sources. Nobody has so far said it is a biased report. And none of the members of the commission were beholden to the government as well,” he pointed out. “When we presented the report to the prime minister, we asked his office to put it on the website so that there is no way it can be kept back. We presented it on Nov 17 and the next day it was available for the public. And all the material we collected have been kept in the Nehru Memorial Museum today,” he said.

According to Justice Sachar, women’s education was given top priority in the report. The commission relied on the latest National Sample Survey (NSS) 2004 in preparing the report. The NSS periodically gives figures on different levels of consumption, poverty, expenses and education.

Sachar, who is also a member of the United Nations’ Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protec tion of Human Rights, said the percentage of Muslims in parliament is not in proportion with their population.

“Same is the case with the presence

of Muslims in the country’s civil service.

It is primarily because of the educational backwardness that exists in the communit y. The Lef t was annoyed when we released the statistics that in Gujarat, eight percent of the government servants are Muslims, while the percentage is only four in West Bengal,” he said. “Prima facie, it may appear that Chief Minister Modi has done a wonderful job in Gujarat. But the fact is that in Gujarat, education level is high.

Whereas the West Bengal government is not attaching adequate importance to education,” he pointed out.

The India government earmarks 15 percent of its annual budget for the welfare of the minorities that comprise Muslims, Buddhists, Jains and Christians.

“As it happens, the condition of the Muslims is the worst, both educationally and economically. They are the real minorities. Of the 15 percent of the minority population, 13.8 percent are Muslim. Interestingly, Jains and Sikhs are far ahead of even the Hindu majority in education. In fact, only 1.8 percent of the total funds spent for the welfare of the minorities are utilized for

Muslims. That is why we recommend that the minority funds must be utilized from the village level,” he pointed out.

The justice said Muslims are part of India and it is their country as it is the country of Hindus or anybody else.

“Muslims just happened to be minority in number. The countr y belongs to them as they are not strangers,” he added. According to Justice Sachar, the ruling United People’s Alliance (UPA) coalition and the opposition National Democratic Alliance (NDA), now led by Narendra Modi are equally bad. “Now a political message is being spread. And it is a ‘Play on Both Your Houses’. There is nothing to choose between the two,” he said. Sachar said he doesn’t believe that Modi will come to power in the for thcoming parliament elec tions.

“There must be alternative forces who could fight these evil forces. And that is what democracy is about,” he concluded.

IKFS executives President Dr Ghalib Al-Mashoor, Secretary Siddeeqi Ikram and Shahjahan Jeffri, convener of Mushaera programs, were also present during the press conference.

KUWAIT: Registrations are now open for RunQ8, the annual 10 km charity race to be held Saturday, Nov 30 at 9 am, starting and ending at Marina Crescent on the Gulf Road. RunQ8 2013 is organized by the Fawzia Sultan Rehabilitation Institute (FSRI) and Agility, supporting health†initiatives and raising health awareness. We encourage socially responsible engagement in our community to improve preventative healthcare, standards for treatment as well as equal access to medical care. Previously, RunQ8 successfully supported Eye Health and Road and Traffic Safety community-wide projects in Kuwait.

In its third year, RunQ8 is supporting Childrenís Rehabilitation through the new FSRI Childrenís Rehabilitation Clinic. Caring for a child with a physical and/or cognitive disability has significant emotional, physical and financial effects on the child and the family. Despite parentsí best intentions, they often are unable to provide the care needed to improve their childís quality of life, reduce his/her physical pain and provide for rehabilitation. The heartbreaking reality is that the children who are the most vulnerable require the most extensive, complex and prolonged rehabilitative care, which is financially impossible for many families. RunQ8 believes that no child should be left behind due to lack of financial support or quality medical care. With FSRIís pediatric program, we strive to meet the needs of families without resources. This year we will be raising funds through RunQ8 to ensure that FSRI can continue to provide free comprehensive rehabilitative care to those children in the greatest need who have limited resources. Last yearís runnersí registration fees are being utilized to provide one year of comprehensive care currently to a child who has sustained severe injuries as a result of a traffic accident. Without your contributions last year, this child would have been unable to access the care needed. You are already making a difference!

LOCAL

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2013

In my view

By Abdul Aziz Al-Yaqout

Regional Managing Partner, DLA Piper Middle East

K

uwait has recently been experiencing legislative developments that have been leaving indelible marks on its legislative landscape. One of the objectives of these developments is to install international best practices in the regulatory framework governing the establishment of business and foreign investment in the country. And one of the intended consequences of such recent legislation is undoubtedly to make a positive contribution towards Kuwait’s economic development and to ensure that the country remains competitive as an investment hub both regionally and worldwide.

The recent enactment of the Companies Law (Decree Law No. 25 of 2012 as amended by Law No. 97 of 2013) and the publication of its Executive Regulations on Oct 6, 2013 in the Official Gazette (Al-Kuwait Al-Yawm) highlight a shift that is both striking and extremely significant in the Kuwaiti legislative landscape. If read against Kuwait’s legislative history and in tandem with other enacted laws and resolutions, the door to one hundred percent ownership of shareholding companies by foreign nationals is now open.

For any foreign national who has participated in business activities in Kuwait, and more widely, in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries (GCC), foreign ownership restrictions of corporate entities established in any GCC country is a wellknown fact of business life. With the advent of independence, Kuwait enshrined its foreign ownership rules early on in the Commercial Companies Law (Law No. 15 of 1960). This is where the basic legal principle for ownership of corporate entities by foreign individuals or corporate persons were established.

Under the Commercial Companies Law, and regardless of a company’s legal form, companies had to always have at least one or more Kuwaiti partners or shareholders who retained at least 51% of the membership interests or shares in the capital of the company. In the case of general par tnerships, Ar ticle 5 of the Commercial Companies Law required at least one Kuwaiti partner. As for limited partnerships, Article 47 required at least one Kuwaiti partner and a Kuwaiti majority ownership of at least 51% of the limited partnership’s capital. This provision equally applied to partnerships limited by shares. And even a joint venture required that a Kuwaiti act as guarantor for a non-Kuwait part-

ner in a joint venture company that conducted business with third parties under Article 61 of the Commercial Companies Law. Until recently, foreign ownership restrictions were nowhere stricter than in the case of shareholding companies. Article 68 of the Commercial Companies Law barred any non-Kuwaitis from participating as shareholders in the company, effectively restricting ownership in shareholding companies exclusively to Kuwaiti nationals. And although Article 68 did provide for exceptions where foreign expertise or know-how was needed, it ensured that Kuwaiti majority ownership remained at a minimum 51% of the company’s share capital should such foreign expertise or know-how be deemed necessary. In the case of companies involved in the banking or insurance sectors, the same provision increased this minimum threshold to 60% Kuwaiti ownership.

This principle was subsequently summed up in the Commercial Code (Decree Law No. 68 of 1980). Under Article 23 of the Commercial Code, foreign nationals are prohibited from engaging in business in Kuwait without at least one or more Kuwaiti partners who must maintain at least 51% of the membership interests or share capital in companies established and operating in Kuwait. Additionally, foreign corporate entities are prohibited from establishing branches in Kuwait under Article 24. This same provision furthermore requires foreign corporate entities to conduct their business in Kuwait through a Kuwaiti agent.

Unless a law expressly stipulates otherwise, this principle continues to apply. This is noteworthy as the legislative developments since the year 2000 have gradually, but surely, shown signs that foreign ownership restrictions are easing up.

It is Law No. 20 of 2000 (“Law No. 20”) Regarding Allowing Non-Kuwaitis to Own Shares in Kuwaiti Shareholding Companies which opened up the possibility of foreign ownership in shareholding companies. Article 1 of Law No. 20 allowed foreign nationals to own shares in shareholding companies in addition to allowing them to participate in establishing such companies.

Article 2 of Law No. 20 further delegated the task of setting out the criteria for regulating the participation of non-Kuwaitis in shareholding companies to the Minister of Commerce and Industry, including setting out the maximum

Door to total foreign ownership in companies opened in Kuwait number of shares that foreign nationals may own and any rights attached to such shares.

Consequently, Ministerial Resolution No. 205 of 2000 (“Resolution No. 205”) followed Law No. 20 and set out the criteria regulating the ownership of shares by foreign nationals and their participation in establishing shareholding companies. It stipulated that foreign nationals may wholly own shares in Kuwaiti shareholding companies listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange.

Restrictions only applied in respect of the shareholding in banks listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange. Article 3 of Resolution 205 set a cap of permitted foreign ownership in banks of 5% of the total share capital. Ownership in shares exceeding this amount was additionally permitted subject to the approval of the Central Bank of Kuwait. A further cap of 49% non-Kuwaiti ownership in the share capital of a bank was set, which could only be surpassed on the basis of prior approval of the Council of Ministers. This provision eased restrictions which were previously in place under Ar ticle 68 of the Commercial Companies Law requiring at least 60% Kuwaiti ownership in shareholding companies involved in banking activities.

In 2008, Resolution No. 205 was amended by Ministerial Resolution No. 123 of 2008 (“Resolution No. 123”). Resolution No. 123 introduced only one amendment: it redefined the term “shareholding company”. Under Article 1 of Resolution No. 205, a shareholding company was defined as a Kuwaiti shareholding company listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange. Article 1 of Resolution No. 123 extends this definition to encompass all shareholding companies, so also non-listed shareholding companies. The definition further states that any percentages or proportions specified in the laws and regulations governing foreign ownership of shares in Kuwaiti shareholding companies have to be considered.

Ar ticle 2 of Law No. 20 did leave it to Resolution No. 205 to determine the maximum number of shares that foreign nationals may own. However, Resolution No. 205 omitted to establish such maximum threshold even as Resolution 123 continued to make reference to it. To date, there are no regulations issued by any relevant authority that sets out a maximum threshold for foreign ownership in shareholding companies, with the exception of the caps set out in respect of foreign ownership in banks.

Consequently, one had to turn to the much awaited new Companies Law and its Executive Regulations to ascertain whether restrictions would be imposed on the number of shares that foreign nationals may own and whether such ownership would be restricted only to shareholding companies listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange.

The new Companies Law maintained some familiar principles in respect of foreign ownership in Kuwaiti companies. Article 34 restricted ownership in a general partnership exclusively to Kuwaiti nationals, and Article 85 restricted ownership of a single person company exclusively to one Kuwaiti legal or natural person. The rule maintaining a minimum 51% Kuwaiti ownership in the capital of a limited partnership and a partnership limited by shares is enshrined in Article 57, and Article 110 of the Executive Regulations of the Companies Law established the minimum threshold of 51% Kuwaiti ownership in the capital of a company with limited liability.

Yet, the omission of any provisions governing foreign ownership restrictions on shareholding companies is conspicuous in both the Companies Law, as well as, its Executive Regulations. The Companies Law makes no reference to foreign ownership restrictions in respect of shareholding companies. And with the recent publication of its Executive Regulations, the continued silence on foreign ownership restrictions in respect of shareholding companies appears to reverberate a noteworthy omission.

With the publication of the Executive Regulations of the Companies Law, foreign ownership restrictions have been effectively eliminated in respect of shareholding companies. Law No. 20 and Resolution 205 continue to provide for non-Kuwaiti ownership of shares in shareholding companies, including non-listed ones (subsequent to the amendment of the definition of shareholding companies in Resolution 123).

And nowhere is the percentage of this ownership established. If the silence in the Companies Law and its Executive Regulations is read against such allowances under the law, then foreign ownership restrictions have been altogether eliminated in the case of shareholding companies. After well over fifty years of foreign ownership restrictions, Kuwait has finally opened the door to total foreign ownership in both listed and non-listed shareholding companies.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2013

LOCAL

Big, positive role in serving community Arab Press Award

By Nawara Fattahova KUWAIT: Kuwait Journalists Association (KJA) in cooperation with the secretariat general of the Arab Press Award held a meeting for the 10th anniversary of the award on Saturday at the Sheraton Hotel. This meeting is a part of the meetings of the secretariat general and the Union of Arab Journalists (UAJ). The Arab Press Award was founded in 1999 by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid AlMaktoum, Ruler of Dubai, who is also the UAE Vice President and Prime

Minister, who asked the Dubai Press Club (DPC) to organize it. This award aims to improve Arab journalism and encourage Arab journalists to be creative by awarding excelling journalists.

The idea of the Arab Press Award was formed to strengthen the big, positive role of the press in serving community issues and to appreciate their participation to present the Arab voice to the world.

“This award seeks to honor these journalists and highlight their work and creativity. DPC set the basic system for the award project, and

KUWAIT: Mona Al-Meri presenting the award to Ahmad Behbehani during the event. — Photo by Joseph Shagra

appointed an independent council to manage it and let the UAJ join it. This council includes popular, qualified and experienced personalities of the Arab media,” said Mona Al-Miri, Secretary General of the Arab Press Award. “This success was achieved by hard work and systematic support of the media to this award. We were keen to have journalists from different Arab countries participate in this award, and we hope and aim to make it reach all Arab countries,” she added.

Mona Bu Samara, Director of the Arab Press Award, gave a presentation about the history of the award. “In the first year of the award in 2000, we received 800 entries in different categories, and due to its success, the number of participants grew to 4,146 in 2012. There are 13 categories of the award to which any Arab journalist writing in newspapers or electronic dailies or magazines published in Arab or other countries can apply. The winner in each category will receive $15,000,” she pointed out.

“Last year we had 199 winners from all countries including winners from 12 non-Arab countries where they publish Arabic papers. We also have special awards for Arab journalists who served their countries honestly through their work. The deadline for this year’s award is Dec 31, 2013. All journalists are welcome,” stressed Bu Samara.

The Arab Press Award also awarded Ahmad Behbehani, Chairman of KJA, and Hatim Zakariya, Undersecretary of UAJ. The event concluded with a dinner banquet.

Kuwait ‘land bank’ in the offing KUWAIT: The government has plans to establish an ‘independent entity’ that oversees unutilized state properties, according to sources who indicated that this entity could be established in the form of a state department or a bank for land property.

“The Ministry of Finance contacted state departments including the Kuwait Municipality, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the Ministry of Oil, and the Public Authority for Housing Welfare to form a joint committee that outlines the framework for establishing this entity”, said sources quoted by Al-Jarida daily yesterday.

The main task that the proposed entity would tackle is gathering information about unused lands in Kuwait and

“reclassify them in accordance with projects, public services and the development plan”, said the sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The parliament recognized the housing issue as a priority for discussion after the case came in first place in a public survey announced a month ago. Al-Rai daily quoted government sources in a report yesterday who indicated that a special parliamentary session allocated to discuss the issue is expected to be held “by the end of this month”.

“The government plans to propose its vision during the session which includes launching the first new housing project mid March 2014”, said the sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2013

LOCAL

No secret session on PM’s grilling motion Lawmakers in dilemma over joining blocs KUWAIT: While a motion filed last Thursday to grill HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah is set to highlight a discussion during the Cabinet’s weekly meeting today, sources indicated that the government has no plans at present to request that the interpellation be debated behind closed doors.

“The government finds no reason to debate the grilling motion in a secret session or any reason to believe that the debate will end with a vote of no-confidence”, said the sources who were quoted by Al-Rai yesterday. The grilling motion was

filed by MP Riyadh Al-Adasani over allegations of failing to solve the housing crisis and corruption in government agencies.

“Those topics will be discussed during the cabinet’s meeting before the premier starts preparations to leave for his Asian tour at the weekend”, said the sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The grilling motion is scheduled to be debated on November 12, but the sources said that the Cabinet is likely to request a two-week’s delay given the limited time that the prime minister has between returning from his Asian tour and

November 12 session. Meanwhile, MP Hamdan Al-Azmi announced his plan to file a grilling motion against Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Thekra Al-Rasheedi still stands. But he is waiting for ‘the right moment’ to file it. His grilling would be the third after MP Husain Al-Quwaiaan announced an interpellation motion against Minister of Health Sheikh Mohammad AlAbdullah Al-Sabah yesterday. Grilling motions against Minister of Electricity and Water and Minister of Public Work Abdul-Aziz Al-Ibrahim, as well as Minister of Planning and Development Dr Rola Al-Dashti are also expected to be based on MPs’ threats

before the beginning of the current parliamentary term.

The ‘rush’ in grilling motions coupled with results of parliament committee elections have affected lawmakers’ plans to form new blocs or join existing ones, one MP suggested. “The committees’ election results and grilling threats require further studying before making an announcement to join a parliamentary bloc”, MP Khalil Al-Saleh told Al-Qabas daily. He further indicated that he along with other lawmakers were on the verge of announcing a new bloc, “but the political developments made us put those plans on hold”. — Al-Rai and Al-Qabas

Policeman charged with reckless driving KUWAIT: A police officer faces charges following his arrest Saturday for reckless driving. The arrest happened on the Gulf Road where the man tried to escape after patrol officers ordered him to pull over. The suspect was in police uniform when he was caught driving a sports car recklessly. Further investigations revealed that the officer is wanted in a previous case in which he was convicted and sentenced to four years in prison. The man was referred to authorities to face charges while his brother, also a police officer, reportedly escorted the patrol vehicle when his attempts to mediate for the suspect’s release failed.

Drunk driver Police are waiting for a driver to be discharged from the hospital to be questioned on drug possession charges filed after contrabands were found inside his car following an accident on the Fahaheel Road. The man was first taken in an ambulance to Mubarak Hospital, then transferred to Al-Razi Hospital after he was diagnosed with multiple bone fractures.

Police found a number of narcotic pills and an imported liquor bottle in the injured man’s car while examining the crash site. Preliminary investigations indicate that the man was involved in an accident while driving under the influence.

Drug addicts Five drug addicts were detained at Salmiya police station following arrests in three separate incidents recorded in the area this weekend.

Patrol officers stopped a car carrying three persons who were placed under arrest after an identity check revealed the one of them was wanted for drugrelated charges. Narcotic pills were found in the suspects’ car as well. The other two were arrested while driving under the influence, and drugs were also found in their possession.

Car thief A man was arrested in Sulaibiya shortly after he stole a car from a Rai mall parking lot and used it for reckless driving. The man was identified through surveillance tapes which police obtained after the car owner filed a theft case. The suspect was arrested after police headed to his Sulaibiya house and found him performing stunts with the stolen vehicle. He was taken to the authorities to face charges.

Sex trade Detectives arrested a European woman who entered Kuwait a few days before for prostitution. The arrest happened as part of extensive investigations carried out by Criminal Investigations Department officers in cases pertaining with women who arrive in Kuwait to provide sexual services offered by pornographic websites for customers around the world. The 38-year-old fell in a trap in which she collected KD 300 from an undercover agent. Investigations revealed that the woman entered Kuwait through the airport. She is a citizen of one of the 35 European countries whose nationals can enter the state without a visa.

KUWAIT: The Kuwait Diving Team recently managed to salvage a 400 ton sunken ship off the Dhubaeya shore to the south of Shuaiba port. The 54meter long ship was lying under a water depth of 7 meters, said the operation manager, Faisal Al-Harban. He added that the ship sank six months ago and it was loaded with hundreds of tons of rock. The salvage operation was done in collaboration with Coast Guards department and KFSC and the Gulf Pearl Marine Services Company.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2013

Taleban name interim chief as Pakistan mulls US answer

Bangladesh sentences British Muslim leader, US citizen to hang Page 10

Page 11

French journalists ‘coldly assassinated’ in Mali Hollande holds crisis meeting on shock Mali killings PARIS/BAMAKO: France said yesterday two French journalists found dead in the northern Mali region of Kidal had been “coldly assassinated” by militants and vowed to step up security measures in the area. Radio journalists Claude Verlon and Ghislaine Dupont were abducted after interviewing a member of the MNLA Tuareg separatist group in northern Mali.

Their bodies were found on Saturday by a French patrol 12 km (8 miles) outside Kidal, the birthplace of a Tuareg uprising last year that plunged Mali into chaos, leading to a coup in the capital Bamako and the occupation of the northern half of the country by militants linked to Al-Qaeda. Full details of why the journalists were killed and who carried out the attack were not immediately clear, but Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius put the blame firmly on militants operating in the region.

“The assassins are those that we are fighting, the terrorist groups that refuse democracy and elections,” Fabius said, calling the killings “heinous and revolting”. Fabius said one of the journalists had been shot twice, and the other three times. He said French forces had tried to find the hostage takers, but to no avail.

Paris launched air strikes and sent thousands of soldiers into Mali at the start of the year to drive back Al-Qaeda-linked rebels it said could turn the West African country into a base for international attacks. Although Malian, UN and French troops are stationed in Kidal, none are heavily deployed. The Malian army’s contingent is generally symbolic and soldiers are confined to their base. There are some 200 UN peacekeepers (MINUSMA)who are officially in control of security and France also has about 200 troops, though their operations in the region have focussed on the Adrar des Ifoghas mountains to the north, which served for years as a hideout for militants.

Gunmen roam Kidal “Security in the area and the surrounding

areas will be increased,” Fabius said, after a specially convened meeting between President Francois Hollande and key cabinet ministers. He did not elaborate. Mali government spokesman Mahamane Baby echoes those comments saying President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and Hollande had agreed that the status quo could not remain during a telephone call late on Saturday.

“The two heads of state agreed that the situation in Kidal was unacceptable and that a change was necessary to ensure the security of all Malians and foreigners present there,” he said. According to the Ouagadougou agreement signed by Mali’s government and rebel groups ahead of the July elections that aimed to pave the way for a peace deal across the country, rebel fighters were due to be confined to barracks before the new government launched a final round of peace talks.

However, MNLA fighters still operate in and around Kidal, much to the frustration of Bamako. A small contingent of Malian government troops is present in the town, though they are largely confined to barracks. The journalists’ deaths came just days after four French hostages kidnapped in Niger by al Qaeda’s north African (AQIM) wing were released following secret talks with officials from the West African country. They had been held for three years. Paris dismissed media reports the government had used public funds to pay a ransom of some $20 million. Pierre Boilley, an Africa expert at the Centre for National Scientic Research (CNRS), said the attack was likely to have been carried out by groups linked to AQIM or to a lesser degree people trying to undermine political talks between the central government and northern rebels.

“It could also have been vengeance. There are difficulties within AQIM. Some may have benefited from the hostages’ ransom, and others may have been neglected so it’s a possible hypothesis,” he said. — AFP

PARIS: Pictures of French RFI journalists, Ghislaine Dupont (right) and Claude Verlon on a poster headed “RFI and all France Media World in Mourning” displayed in a window yesterday. — AP

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2013

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

Jordan king moves ahead with reforms AMMAN: Jordan’s King Abdullah II promised yesterday to press ahead with a wide-ranging package of reforms, amending elections laws that the opposition says favor pro-palace candidates and overhauling a public sector widely seen rife with corruption and nepotism. Addressing parliament, Abdullah said his “white revolution” is part of home-grown reforms he initiated weeks before the outset of the Arab Spring that saw four of his peers deposed in uprisings. Media commentators said the “white” symbolizes purity, honesty, and peaceful change rather than the kind of upheaval that has engulfed some of its neighbors.

“Jordan is continuing its quest to develop a regional reform model that is home-grown and based on a clear roadmap with specific reform milestones,” the king said. He said his public sector plan would restructure state agencies and advance the quality of education, health care and public transportation. Meanwhile, he added, parliament should tackle laws governing election and political parties.

The Muslim Brotherhood boycotted both elections this year to protest the laws. The opposition says they favor conservative tribal candidates who back the palace.

The next steps will be to build real political parties, the king said. He says he would like to see Jordan’s 23 small and fractured political parties coalesce into two coalitions based on ideology - right and left - for the next parliamentary election.

Currently, voters usually cast ballots on the basis of tribal affiliation and family connections. Although Jordan’s multiparty system was revived in 1991, fol-

lowing a 35-year ban prompted by a 1956 leftist coup attempt, opposition parties remain unable to chart clear programs, claiming they are intimidated by tight scrutiny and security crackdowns.

Earlier this year, Abdullah said his reforms will lead to the absolute monarchy taking a step back in run-

ning the daily affairs of the state. He said as parliament takes on more responsibility, future monarchs maybe within five years - will have limited, though still significant responsibilities, mainly preserving their final word in foreign and defense policy.

Reform laws introduced in the past three years

AMMAN: Jordanian King Abdullah II reviews a guard of honor upon his arrival at the Parliament of Jordan yesterday. — AFP

eased restrictions on the freedom of speech, opinion and assembly, but officials say it is still taking time to interpret or implement them. Officials say Jordan is also making a push against corruption, with a powerful business tycoon and an ex-intelligence chief sentenced to jail in separate cases. Prosecutors are also investigating an additional 200 corruption cases involving serving and former officials.

Abdullah said some delays in liberalization stemmed from regional tensions, including the absence of a Palestinian-Israeli peace settlement and regional turbulences sparked by the Arab Spring, such as the civil war in neighboring Syria. He said an influx of nearly 600,000 Syrian refugees “depletes our already limited resources and puts enormous pressure on our infrastructure.”

He warned if the international community “does not move quickly to help us shoulder the burdens of the Syrian crisis, I repeat and emphasize that Jordan is able to take measures to protect the interests of our people and country.” But he did not say if Jordan would close its border. Jordan has complained of the shortfall of foreign donations to assist Syrian refugees, scattered in refugee camps and local communities across the country and now make up around 10 percent of its 7 million people. The government says it spent $2 billion in precious cash for the refugees’ upkeep last year. Cash-strapped Jordan depends on donations from the United States and oil-rich Gulf Arabs to keep its fragile economy afloat.

It is saddled by a multi-billion foreign debt, a record $2 billion budget deficit, high inflation and a rising energy bill. — AP

Palestinians lose a lot in Syrian exodus Arrival stirs memories of Lebanon’s own civil war AIN AL-HELWEH: Palestinians Mahmoud and Ahmed fled Syria last month for Egypt, where they paid smugglers to bring them to Europe. Once at sea, they were robbed at knifepoint and herded onto an overloaded boat that sank, pitching over 100 into the sea. The brothers made it back to shore while others drowned, then to be deported in days from a volatile Egypt where anti-Palestinian sentiment runs high. Now at the Lebanese camp of Ain al-Helweh, they face as Palestinians restrictions on their lives far more severe than any other refugees from Syria.

A people all too familiar with refugee life, Palestinians have lost out more than most in the exodus from Syria. “They grabbed the women and children and tossed us onto the boats like they were tossing rocks or some other worthless thing,” said Mahmoud, 23, who asked that his family name not be used. “There was no way to turn back.”

“They pulled knives on us and took our money and mobile phones and stripped the gold off the women.” The war has forced some 50,000 Palestinians to flee Syria, a country where they had enjoyed some of the most favourable treatment in all of the Arab world. The number is a sliver of the

700,000 registered Syrian refugees in Lebanon, but enough to strain overcrowded and volatile camps and stir memories of Lebanon’s own civil war; a conflict some see rooted in the arrival of armed Palestinian factions in the decades after Israel’s foundation in 1948.

Banned from professions Noufa Sallem, a 55-year-old Palestinian from Syria, fled to Ain al-Helweh, Lebanon’s largest camp, about a year ago after shelling gutted her family’s four-storey home in Damascus. She and two of her sons settled in a dirt lot in a tent of plastic sheeting and wooden planks, around the corner from a neighbourhood run by a faction of radical Islamists.

Sallem’s husband, a teacher with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, founded in 1949 to help Arabs fleeing Israel, died of a heart attack before they left Damascus.

Then in September she found out her third son, who stayed in Syria because he had not done his military service, had been killed. She had not spoken to him since fleeing and learned about his death through a news website. “Everything is gone.

Everything that could be burned was burned,

everything that could be destroyed was destroyed,” Sallem said, seated at a small wooden table outside her tent.

Palestinians face a particularly hard time in Lebanon because they are barred from working in over 70 professions and are subject to major restrictions on property ownership and access to state services. The coastal country of 4 million people also faces its own crippling political disputes and an economy hammered by the loss of tourism and business because of Syria’s civil war. “Lebanon is a small country ... and it’s already suffering from social, economic and security problems,” said Kamel Kozbar, a city councilman in the southern city of Sidon where Ain al-Helweh is located. “Now this, as they say, is adding fuel to the fire.”

Desperate acts Lebanon’s Palestinian areas are still called “camps,” but they are really more like city districts hodgepodge areas packed with old cars, nests of electrical wire, and narrow streets crowded with shoppers, schoolchildren and merchants. A sign inside Ain Al-Helweh welcomes you to “the Capital of the Diaspora” as soldiers at the entrance check

IDs and search cars. Jumbles of murals, images and slogans from some of the 16 or so political factions that run the camp cover the walls.

Poverty is rife and water-borne diseases are common because of shoddy infrastructure.

Healthcare and education are provided largely by UNRWA. Arrival can be especially hard for refugees from Syria, where they had had access to schools, healthcare and government jobs. The hopelessness occasionally inspires spectacular acts of desperation. Kozbar, the Sidon city councillor, has an office decorated with brightly coloured motivational posters, but his outlook is thoroughly bleak. There is not enough food, shelter or clean water for the refugees pouring into the country, he said.

Lebanon’s government, beset by chronic economic and political malaise, was doing little to help. The desperation was ripe for exploitation by drug dealers, pimps and religious radicals.

“If the situation remains like this, we will be on the verge of a population explosion, and maybe a security explosion, both inside and outside Ain AlHelweh,” said Kozbar, who is also a secondary school principal in Sidon. That apocalyptic forecast is becoming common wisdom for many in Lebanon,

only about a third as big as Belgium, its delicate social fabric especially vulnerable to the sectarian conflicts simmering across the Middle East.

Lebanon’s civil war Some fear the desperation could fire radicalisation and violence - an especially potent concern since many link Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war to the arrival of Palestinian fighters after the foundation of Israel. More recent memories include the battle of Nahr Al-Bared, a Palestinian camp in the northern city of Tripoli where a radical Islamist group battled the army in 2007.

Lebanese are already divided over Syria’s civil war, and both Sunni and Shiite factions have sent fighters to join opposing sides in what has become a deeply sectarian conflict. Still, there have been few recent examples of Palestinians getting involved in Lebanon’s political disputes. Camp leaders, sensitive to their precarious position, say they want nothing to do with Syria’s war or Lebanon’s factional quarrels. In Lebanon, Palestinian refugees are essentially trapped between two countries bent on maintaining demographic equations that exclude them. —Reuters

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2013

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

US blockade inflicts incalculable damage to Cuba: Cuban FM HAVANA: Cuban foreign minister Bruno Rodriguez said at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday that the damage inflicted by the US economic, commercial and financial blockade of Cuba are incalculable.

The criminal policy causes suffering and constitute a massive, flagrant and systematic violation of human rights; 76 percent of Cubans have lived under the

devastating effects of the blockade since they are born, said the foreign minister as he addressed the 68 plenary session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Rodriguez recalled that the damage inflicted by the over-50-year blockade on Cuba are estimated at over one trillion 157 billion dollars. The blockade qualifies as an act of genocide, according to article 2 of the 1948 Geneva

Convention on the Prevention and the Sanction of Genocide, and as an act of economic war, according to to the Declaration on the Right of Maritime War adopted in 1909, he said. The top diplomat stressed that the blockade was designed to submit the Cuban people to hunger and economic shortage to cause the fall of the Cuban government, as it was established in a US government

memorandum dated April 6, 1960.

Minister Rodriguez said that under the Obama administration, the blockade was reinforced with the persecution of Cuban financial transactions around the world, with no respect for the laws of third countries.

Cuba cannot export or import products or services to or from the United States or use the US dollar in its transac-

tions, including payment to international entities, said the minister and pointed out that the blockade is a hostile and unilateral act that must be ended, a discredited policy lacking ethical and legal ground as it has been proven by over 180 votes by UN member nations and statements by many heads of state and government, who participated in the debate.

New York poised to usher in de Blasio as new mayor De Blasio campaigns hard against ‘99 percent’

NEW YORK: Heavy security including a bomb-sniffing dog are present near the finish line of the 2013 New York City Marathon yesterday. — AP

NYC Marathon returns amidst more security NEW YORK: Geoffrey Mutai owns the course record at the New York City Marathon, where he will defend his title yesterday. His goal is to go even faster. The Kenyan won two years ago in 2 hours, 5 minutes, 6 seconds. That was the last time the NYC Marathon was held, and much has changed since that day Mutai describes as “perfect.” The 2012 race was called off because of the destruction of Superstorm Sandy, but not before the week’s events enraged many residents and runners. City and marathon officials initially said the race would go on, but many New Yorkers recoiled at the idea of possibly diverting resources so soon after a natural disaster.

The decision to cancel didn’t come until a day-and-a-half before the scheduled start time. By then, many overseas entrants had already arrived. Then in April at the Boston Marathon, two bombs exploded near the finish line, killing three people and injuring more than 260. The increased security in New York yesterday will be most evident near the finish line in Central Park. There will be barricades around the park to limit entry points, bag checks and bomb-sniffing dogs. More than 47,000 runners are expected for the 43rd running of the NYC Marathon. A handful will be competing for the $100,000 prize for the men’s and women’s champions.

Five races within the race to watch: Mutai has run the fastest marathon in history, 2:03:02 in Boston in 2011. It didn’t count as a world record because the course is too straight and downhill. The official world record was lowered in September to 2:03:23 in Berlin by Wilson Kipsang. New York is a difficult course, unlikely to produce a world record. A windy morning is in the forecast for Sunday, which may also keep Mutai’s course record safe.

Stephen Kiprotich’s personal best time is 2:07:20, slow by today’s standards. But he keeps proving he knows how to race. The Ugandan was the surprise gold medalist as

the 2012 London Olympics, then he won a world championship in August. New York is a championship-style setup, with no pacesetter, which bodes well for Kiprotich.

Kiprotich and Ethiopia’s Tsegaye Kebede, the reigning London Marathon champ, are also competing for the World Marathon Majors title, a $500,000 bonus. A year ago, Meb Keflezighi planned to run the 2012 NYC Marathon and the 2013 races in Boston and New York, and then retire. New York was canceled, and he pulled out of Boston because of injury. Now the 38-yearold Keflezighi is flirting with the idea of competing through the 2016 Olympics.

“Can I squeeze a little more out of it?” he said. “Otherwise, I feel content where my career has been.” He took silver at the 2004 Olympics, the first American man in 28 years to win a marathon medal. And at the 2009 NYC Marathon, he became the first American champion in 27 years. Kenyans Edna Kiplagat and Priscah Jeptoo train together and expect to work together for the first part of Sunday’s race. The two are competing for a second prize: the World Marathon Majors title. If either wins in New York, she will earn the $500,000 bonus.

Kiplagat is the two-time defending world champion, and Jeptoo won the London Marathon this year.

Kiplagat, who won in New York in 2010, is a force in championship-style races. “This is one of the best courses - it’s not a flat course,” she said. “It needs a lot of strategy and a lot of mental strength. And I’m happy when I’m on it. It’s still very fresh in my mind, the whole course.” Firehiwot Dado and Buzunesh Deba grew up together in Ethiopia, and they were reunited at the last NYC Marathon, in 2011. They worked together to chase down Mary Keitany, who had pulled away to a big lead. Dado won and Deba finished second, in breakthrough performances for both. Now Dado returns as the defending women’s champion, and Deba is trying to win in her new hometown. —AP

NEW YORK: Left-wing progressive Bill de Blasio is poised to secure a landslide victory in New York’s mayoral elections next week after executing a near-flawless campaign. De Blasio, whose public sector background and policies sit uneasily with the gigantic wealth of the establishment, appears certain of election victory, possibly by a historic margin tomorrow.

By placing his black, former lesbian wife and teenage children center stage, he appears to have connected to ordinary middle-class families and a vastly diverse electorate, if his mammoth poll leads are anything to go by. New Yorkers voted for outgoing Mayor Michael Bloomberg three times in a row, but now look set to elect a candidate who could not be more different in background or style than the billionaire incumbent.

Analysts say de Blasio offers voters a package they relate to, leaving his Republican rival Joe Lhota trailing a distant second. He has campaigned hard against the yawning gulf between rich and poor-”a tale of two cities” or “the 99 percent” against the one percent-and stands up for minority rights.

De Blasio promises to raise taxes on those earning more than $500,000 to fund universal prekindergarten education and after school programs. He calls for reforms to the “stop and frisk” policy, which critics say unfairly targets black and Hispanic minorities, but which supporters say has driven down crime. And he promises to build 200,000 new affordable housing units and grant two extra school days off for the main Muslim festivals. “Yes, they are progressive (ideas), yes, they are bold,” de Blasio told supporters during a campaign stop in Manhattan’s Upper West Side Saturday. “New Yorkers believe in big ideas, bold ideas, progressive ideas that move us forward. New York has led the nation.”

Unchallenged now, he was late to emerge as the Democratic frontrunner after lesbian City Council

NEW YORK: New York City mayoral frontrunner Bill de Blasio speaks at a campaign rally at Brooklyn Borough Hall. — AFP Speaker Christine Quinn flatlined and Anthony Weiner became embroiled in a sexting scandal. He has traded heavily on his family.

Like the Clintons, he and his wife, Chirlane McCray, have run as a package. Poet, editor, feminist and activist who famously spurned his initial advances, Chirlane is nothing if not tough. Their 16-year-old son Dante, instantly recognizable by his father’s smile and a halo of Afro hair, has featured prominently in TV ads telling voters how great his dad is.

After winning the Democrat primary, De Blasio, McCray, Dante and 18-year-old sister Chiara were filmed doing a family “smackdown” dance in Brooklyn. His daughter, too, has featured prominently in the campaign, telling voters how her dad is not “some boring white guy.”

“He truly cares about everybody in this city, every different type of person, rich, poor, black, white,” she told one meeting. The multiracial

family has struck a chord in a city of great ethnic diversity: 33.3 percent white, 25.5 percent black, 28.6 percent Hispanic and 12.7 percent Asian. De Blasio has spoken candidly about his difficult childhood as the son of an alcoholic, World War II vet who walked out and later committed suicide after being diagnosed with cancer.

In contrast to Bloomberg, he makes much of his ordinary credentials and “modest” home in Park Slope, gentrified Brooklyn. The New York Times endorsed him last month for giving a voice to New York’s poor. “The 46 percent living in or near poverty, the 50,000 living in homeless shelters, the millions living outside the zones of economic security and gentrified affluence,” the paper wrote.

Analysts say de Blasio has oiled his path by playing successfully to the Democratic city’s fear of rightwingers and the Tea Party move-

Virginia race seen as key US election bellwether

Bangladesh sentences British Muslim leader, US citizen to hang DHAKA: A Bangladesh war crimes court yesterday sentenced a British-based Muslim leader and a US citizen to death in absentia for murder, in the latest ruling over atrocities during the war of independence. Londonbased Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin and Ashrafuzzaman Khan, from the United States, were found guilty by the International Crimes Tribunal of 11 charges related to the kidnap and slaughter of 18 intellectuals during the 1971 conflict.

“Justice will not be done if they are not awarded capital punishment,” senior judge Obaidul Hassan told the packed court in Dhaka. Prosecutors accused the pair, who fled Bangladesh after it gained independence from Pakistan, of being “high command” members of the notorious Al-Badr militia that supported Pakistani forces during the war.

“They killed top professors, journalists and doctors to make the nation devoid of any talent,” senior prosecutor M K Rahman told reporters outside the court after the ruling. The pair refused to return to Bangladesh to face trial, but their tribunal-appointed lawyers denied the charges against them. No defence witnesses were called during the trial held earlier this year.

The tribunal has now convicted 10 people, mostly leaders of the country’s largest Islamic party the Jamaat-e-Islami, for war crimes, with seven of them sentenced to death by hanging. At least another eight are on trial. The trials have sparked protests throughout the Muslim-majority country, leaving at least 150 people dead since January when the court started handing down their verdicts. Jamaat claims the trials are politically motivated and accuses the secular government of trying to execute its entire leadership. The government says the trials are needed to heal the wounds of the conflict. The latest sentences are unlikely to

trigger a backlash in the volatile country since both men, aged in their 60s, left the country years ago and have started new lives in London and New York.

During the final days of the war, when it became clear Pakistan was losing, intellectuals were rounded up and murdered in what was the most brutal chapter of the ninemonth struggle. The pro-Pakistani militias, wanting to deprive the new Bangladeshi state of an intellectual elite, captured writers, university professors and others. Many of their bodies were later found dumped in marshes and flood plains outside the capital with their hands tied. Masuda Faruq Ratna broke down in tears in court after the ruling.

Ratna, a prosecution witness, said she saw the pair along with others kidnap her uncle, a professor, from Dhaka University.

“I was 17 when they took my uncle. Now I am 58 and the two are sentenced to death. I hope I’ll live long enough to see the two brought to the country and executed,” she said. Several hundred people, who had gathered in a central Dhaka square, cheered the ruling and staged a celebratory procession.

Mueen-Uddin has held positions in a host of top Islamic organizations in Britain and was involved in setting up the Muslim Council of Britain-the country ’s largest umbrella group representing Muslims. He was a newspaper reporter in what was then East Pakistan when the war broke out. On his website before yesterday’s sentence, MueenUddin said that although he opposed Bangladesh’s independence at the time, he was not involved in any crimes. He said he had “no confidence that I will receive a fair hearing in a tribunal already accused of judicial and procedural misconduct”. There was no immediate reaction to the sentence from Mueen-Uddin. Britain historically has refused extradition requests if the conviction carries a death sentence. — AFP

ment. But there are concerns that his ideals will be sacrificed to his pragmatic streak, the deft politician capable of bargaining. He has been criticized, for example, for flip-flopping over whether horse-drawn buggy rides through Central Park should be abolished to win support from animal rights’ campaigners.

There are also questions about whether he really has the experience to lead a city hall staff of 300,000 and a budget of $72 billion.

For three years, de Blasio has been public advocate, essentially New York ombudsman. He was on the city council for eight years. He was a regional housing official under President Bill Clinton and a manager for Hillary Clinton’s N e w Yo r k S e n a t e e l e c t i o n i n 2000. The Clintons, along with New York celebrity actors Alec Baldwin and Sarah Jessica Parker, a re a m o n g t h o s e w h o h a ve endorsed his bid. —AFP

LEFKA: Sufi mystic Sheikh Nazim Al-Haqqani (left) attends a prayer at the Naqshabandi Sufi Order spiritual center in the village of Lefka, in the Turkish-occupied northern part of Cyprus. —AFP

NYC subway vigilante charged in drug case NEW YORK: Subway vigilante Bernie Goetz, who ignited a national furor over racism and gun control after he shot four panhandling youths on a train in the 1980s, has been charged with misdemeanor sale and possession of marijuana, authorities said Saturday.

Goetz was nabbed in a sting operation in Union Square park Friday evening for selling $30 worth of pot to an undercover officer, police said. He asked the woman if she wanted to get high, then went back to his apartment, where he has lived for decades, and returned with marijuana, authorities said. He was arrested on charges of criminal sale of marijuana.

Goetz wasn’t being targeted specifically; he just happened to cross paths with the undercover officer assigned to crack down on drug dealing in the park, authorities said. The 65-year-old was arraigned Saturday in Manhattan Criminal Court on three misdemeanor drug charges for sale and possession of marijuana. He was released on his own recognizance and is due back in court next month. His lawyer couldn’t be reached for comment.

Goetz became a household name as the skinny, bespectacled white man who, on Dec 22, 1984, rose from his seat on the No. 2 train in Manhattan and shot four black teens inside

a subway car with an illegal handgun. The teens had sharpened screwdrivers and were asking him for $5. Goetz said it was selfdefense and the youths intended to rob him.

The shooting brought to the surface longsmoldering urban issues of race, crime and quality of life. It also thrust Goetz, a selfemployed electronics expert, into the role of spokesman for what some New Yorkers considered a justified form of vigilantism. It was a vastly different era. Subway cars were spraypainted with graffiti tags and inhabited by muggers, panhandlers, junkies and the homeless. And crime was out of control there were about 40 felonies per day in the nation’s largest mass transit system. Last year, there were about eight per day, and the figure is declining.

Goetz was cleared of attempted murder charges in 1987 and spent 250 days in jail the same year for a weapons conviction in the case. In 1996, a Bronx jury awarded one of the teens, Darrell Cabey, $43 million in his lawsuit against Goetz. Cabey’s attorney, Ron Kuby, said Saturday his client remains paralyzed in a wheelchair and has never received a penny from Goetz, who had declared bankruptcy.

He had since slipped into relative obscurity, surfacing infrequently, like in his 2001 failed bid for mayor. — AP

ROANOKE: The semi-rural, increasingly diverse state of Virginia elects a new governor tomorrow in the most watched US race of the year, as political parties jockey for supremacy ahead of 2014 and 2016 elections. Politicians, pollsters and analysts are eager to see if the state’s dramatic demographic transformation will scrape out a win for Democrats or whether its southern traditional values boosted by Tea Party conservatism will carry the day.

The election across the Potomac River from Washington is a barometer of the popularity of the two major US political parties-as well as that of the turbulent, conservative Tea Party movement that has upended national politics in recent years. On the right, 45-year-old Ken Cuccinelli, the state’s anti-abortion, pro-gun Republican attorney general and Tea Party darling who was the first in the nation to mount a legal challenge against President Barack Obama’s health care reforms in 2010.

On the left, Democrat Terry McAuliffe, 56, a party insider who has never held elected office but whose business savvy and political pragmatism-and his status as close friend to the Clintons-have helped him emerge as the preelection favorite. Obama is scheduled to stump for McAuliffe in the commonwealth yesterday. Virginia extends from the Washington suburbs, a high-tech hub that has drawn an influx of ethnically diverse workers over the past decade, to its more homogeneous, conservative southern counties, where coal-mining and farming have been staples for generations.

Losing the race would be a bitter blow for Republicans, who until recently have counted on Virginia as a stronghold. But the increasing Hispanic population and fasterpaced growth in cities have largely benefited Democrats.

After 10 straight elections favoring Republican presidential candidates, the conservative base began to erode.

The state of 8.2 million people tipped for Obama in 2008 and 2012. Both its US senators are now Democrats, although current Governor Bob McDonnell is Republican.

Near the Shenandoah mountains, dozens of activists gathered recently for a mid-week Cuccinelli campaign event in Roanoke, 240 miles (390 kilometers) west of Washington.

Among them was truck driver Mike Jornlin, who bemoaned the Republicans who compromised with Obama to end last month’s two-week government shutdown. “Democrats are evil. There is just no doubt about it, they intend to destroy this country,” he told AFP. Cuccinelli is fiercely proud of his conservative pedigree. He opened his remarks by recalling he was home-schooled, a badge of honor for Christian conservatives wary of public education.

He quickly turned to berating McAuliffe as “a classic taxand-spend liberal.” “My opponent can’t walk in a room without promising new spending,” Cuccinelli quipped, before ridiculing Obama’s health care law. “You haven’t seen the end to the reduction of freedom and liberty that would happen under Obamacare.”—AFP

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2013

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

UK police face new probe over ‘plebgate’ scandal LONDON: Britain’s police watchdog said yesterday it will carry out a fresh investigation into three officers whose actions helped spark the resignation of former minister Andrew Mitchell amid what he said was a smear campaign. The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said it had found “procedural irregularities” in an internal police inquiry into an incident in which Mitchell was accused of calling police “fucking plebs”.

The Conservative then-international development minister admitted swearing during an altercation as he tried to push his bicycle through the gates of Downing Street. But he strongly denied using the politically toxic word “plebs”-a derogatory term used

to describe commoners. He quit Prime Minister David Cameron’s government in October 2012 after the row.

Two members of the Police Federation, which represents officers, are to be hauled before lawmakers on Tuesday after being accused of giving “misleading” answers in a previous session. Meanwhile, a new investigation by the IPCC will take place, involving no one who took part in the previous probe, which cleared officers involved in the affair of misconduct.

“The only mode of investigation that would satisfy the public interest and maintain confidence in the police oversight regime is an independent one, carried out by the IPCC’s own staff, and this is what will

now take place,” said IPCC deputy chairwoman Deborah Glass. Lawmaker Keith Vaz, who sits on parliament’s Home Affairs Select Committee, said: “The narrative of what we have seen could rival any great work of fiction.

“At every point and at every level, instead of being transparent, we have uncovered a process that obstructs the truth. “If this can happen to a Cabinet minister, what hope is there for anyone else?”

Prosecutors are meanwhile considering criminal charges against some of the police officers involved over claims that they lied about what Mitchell said and effectively conspired to bring down a government minister.

An IPCC report released last month criticised members of the Police Federation who met with Mitchell three weeks after the altercation in a bid to smooth things over. That meeting helped to seal his fate, as the officers said afterwards that Mitchell had failed to allay their concerns and should resign. He quit a week later. But Mitchell’s supporters accused the officers of deliberately misrepresenting what he said to discredit him, and released a recording of the meeting to prove their point. The Police Federation, which represents police officers, had seized on the so-called “plebgate” scandal to boost its campaign against cuts to their budget, accusing ministers of not respecting them. — AFP

Taleban name interim chief as Pakistan mulls US answer Washington accused of ‘scuttling’ peace process

BUNAGANA: A boy tries to stay warm near a fire as refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo fleeing fights between the Congolese army and M23 rebels gather on the border in Bunagana on November 2, 2013. — AFP

Miserable wait for DR Congo’s refugees BUNAGANA: The Democratic Republic of Congo’s army has wrested territory from rebels in the country’s restive east in a dramatic week of military advances, but for those fleeing the fighting, life has been brutal. Like thousands of other refugees, JeanNepomuscene Twizerimana sits miserably, sheltering under a eucalyptus tree in Uganda, as fighting against M23 rebel forces rages just across the border, barely a kilometre (mile) away.

On Wednesday, Congolese troops backed by a UN intervention force seized the key town of Bunagana, the main M23 rebel base near the eastern border with Uganda, forcing thousands from their fields and homes. “When the M23 were there we were under the authority of rebels, people were miserable, because there was no peace,” the 20-year-old said.

“But now the government has come in and nothing has changed... because we are now refugees here.” Since the fall of their stronghold, the last M23 fighters-thought to number between 200 and 300 — have dug in on nearby hilltops for a final stand.

Operations to dislodge them continued over the weekend.

The M23 rebel group was founded by ethnic Tutsis who were incorporated into the Congolese army under a 2009 peace deal, but who mutinied in April 2012.

Kinshasa and the United Nations say they are backed by Rwanda and Uganda, an allegation the two neighbouring countries strongly deny. At their strongest in November last year, M23 marched into Goma, a mining hub and city of one million people, and took control for 10 days, before regional leaders persuaded them into fresh peace talks. But with the on-off talks yielding no result, the DR Congo army-backed by a special United Nations force-went on the attack a week ago in a bid to end the rebellion in

the mineral-rich region once and for all.

Jean-Nepomuscene recounted how he was forced to flee his home empty-handed and said he was unaware of where his family was. And not for the first time: back in 1998, as a child, he fled with his family to Uganda when fighting raged between two rebel groups, the Tutsi RCD and the extremist Hutu FDLR. He fled again in 2005 amid fighting between the national army and CNDP militia, and once more last year when M23 rebels moved in. Aside from the emotional trauma, he has physical scars on his face.

“The last time we took refuge here I had an accident. I was run over by a car as I was walking with other refugees,” he explained.

In a nearby muddy field, hundreds of other Congolese were sheltering from the rain under plastic sheets. Among them Noella Bigumashyaka, a 26-year-old teacher from the village of Jomba who fled for Uganda on Wednesday. “I have two of my children with me, but I don’t know what happened to the other two, they are only five and eight,” she said weeping.

“There was a lot of shooting. We ran too quickly, abandoned our belongings along the road. We’re dirty but we can’t change our clothes.” “My field where I was growing beans was destroyed by bombs,” said the woman, adding her mother was killed during one of the many times in the past when rival armies and rebels swept through the area.

According to the UN’s refugee agency and the Ugandan Red Cross, roughly 10,000 Congolese refugees have poured into Uganda since the offensive against M23 rebels began a week ago. Many have made the journey before, evidenced by Noella’s plastic sheet that she was sheltering under.

It was donated by the Red Cross the last time she and her family fled and she had kept it just in case. — AFP

Kosovo vote crucial test for EU-backed deal with Serbia KOSOVSKA MITROVICA: Polls opened Sunday in key local elections in Kosovo that are being closely watched by the European Union amid fears of a boycott by minority Serbs, voting for the first time since independence in 2008. The election of deputies and mayors in 36 Kosovo municipalities is seen as a key test of relations between Pristina and Serbia after an historic EU-brokered deal to improve ties.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 but the Serb minority living in the north of Kosovo still refuses to accept the government in Pristina. Serbia also rejects Kosovo’s independence but has urged the ethnic Serb community there to vote as part of the April deal brokered by Brussels.

The turnout of the 120,000 Serb voters, especially in the north where they make up the majority and enjoy control over some institutions, is seen as crucial to the poll’s success.

But many Serbs fear that voting in the election gives legitimacy to the Kosovo government. EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton called the elections “a key moment in Kosovo’s future and an important element in the process of normalisation of relations between Kosovo and Serbia.”

“The EU will be following closely the conduct of the elections,” she said in a statement. Kosovo, the territory which sparked a war between Serb forces and ethnic Albanian rebels in 1998-1999, remains the main stumbling block to Serbia’s bid to join the European Union.

The deal with Pristina had helped Serbia secure the green light to begin membership talks with Brussels, and holding up its end of the accord is vital for Belgrade. For Kosovo, a free and fair vote with a significant Serb turnout would be a positive mark in its own push for negotiations on an EU membership bid. Kosovo’s independence is recognised by most EU states. However, the election got off to a shaky start in the north, with Nenad Rikalo, the Serb representative in the Kosovo electoral commission, telling reporters that in many polling stations there “the vote has yet to start.”

However, hardline nationalist Serbs have campaigned heavily against the vote, calling for a boycott. This campaign seemed to be having an effect, with 43.5 percent of northern Kosovo Serbs saying they would not vote, according to an survey conducted last month by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). — AFP

MIRANSHAH: The Pakistani Taleban named an interim leader yesterday after the death of Hakimullah Mehsud in a drone strike, as the government mulled its next move after slamming the US for killing the militant chief.

Islamabad has said it will review “ever y aspect” of relations with Washington in the wake of the attack strike that killed Mehsud on Friday and which the interior minister described as the “murder of peace”.

Representatives of the government had been due to meet the Tehreek-e-Taleban Pakistan (TTP) with a view to initiating peace talks when Mehsud was killed in the North Waziristan tribal area near the Afghan border. Shahidullah Shahid, the main T TP spokesman, said a permanent replacement had not yet been chosen.

“Asmatullah Shaheen Bhittani, the head of the supreme shura, has been appointed as temporary head of the TTP,” Shahid told AFP, adding that prayers for Mehsud were still going on. Bhittani, the head of the central shura who was close to Mehsud, has been touted as a potential permanent replacement, as has the movement’s number two Khan Said, alias Sajna.

Mehsud’s death represents a significant blow for the TTP, which is blamed for killing thousands of soldiers, police and civilians in its six-year campaign against the Pakistani state. But it prompted a furious response from the Pakistani government, with Interior Minister Chaudhr y Nisar accusing Washington of “scuttling” the peace processthough no talks had actually begun.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is expected to chair a meeting of his top security advisers today to discuss the next steps. Opposition parties led by Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreeke-Insaaf (PTI) party have demanded the government close Pakistan’s roads to convoys supplying NATO forces in Afghanistan. PTI has said it will block NATO convoys in the nor thwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where it is in power, which

would cut off one of the main crossing points into Afghanistan.

Pakistan blocked NATO convoys for seven months in 2012 after a botched US air raid killed 24 troops. With NATO withdrawing 87,000 troops from Afghanistan by the end of next year after 12 years of war, the ground supply lines through Pakistan are of vital importance.

Sharif and his government must weigh their response to the Mehsud drone strike carefully, given that relations with Washington have been on the mend in recent months. Last month US President Barack Obama welcomed Sharif to the White House and the State Department announced the release of $1.6 billion in aid, including $1.38 billion for the country’s powerful military.

The money had been frozen as relations plummeted amid a series of crises in 2011 and 2012 including the US raid to kill Osama bin Laden at his hideout in Pakistan-carried out without Pakistani knowledge. Pakistan’s press voiced surprise at Nisar’s stronglyworded outburst, with several newspapers urging the government to seize the chance to strike the TTP while they are leaderless.

The pro-establishment daily Dawn doubted the claim that the drone strike necessarily meant the end of the peace process. “If peace talks were not derailed by repeated militant attacks in recent months, why must an attack on the TTP leadership necessarily scuttle the possibility of talks?” it said in an editorial.

A State Depar tment official said the issue of whether to negotiate with the TTP was an internal matter for Pakistan but Washington and Islamabad had “a vital, shared strategic interest in ending extremist violence”. Pakistan’s foreign ministry summoned US ambassador Richard Olson on Saturday to protest over the drone strike that killed Mehsud, and another that struck a day earlier.

Asmatullah Shaheen Bhittani

A ministry statement also stressed that despite the drone strike the government was “determined to continue with efforts to engage the TTP”. Islamabad routinely condemns drone strikes as a violation of sovereignty, and Sharif urged Obama to end them during their White House talks. Mehsud’s death is the third major blow against the TTP by the US this year, following the killing of number two Waliur Rehman in a drone strike in May and the capture of another senior lieutenant in Afghanistan revealed last month. The T TP has risen to become arguably the biggest security threat facing Pakistan. It was behind the 2008 bombing of the Islamabad Marriott hotel and the attempt to kill schoolgirl activist Malala Yousafzai last year. The TTP also claimed the 2010 Times Square bomb plot after training Pakistani-American Faisal Shahzad. — AFP

Factory fire in India capital kills 6 NEW DELHI: A large fire erupted at a factory in the Indian capital killing six workers, some of whom were trapped inside and burnt beyond recognition, a fire official and reports said yesterday. The blaze broke out at the three-storey factory, which manufactured leather bags, in a New Delhi neighbourhood on Saturday evening, a city fire department official told AFP. “We rushed around 20 people

to the hospital after evacuating them. Six of them died and seven were discharged after first aid,” the official who did not give his name said.

“Seven persons are still undergoing treatment at the hospital.” Local media reports quoted witnesses as saying they saw flames leaping from the factory’s windows as workers trapped inside shouted for help. Some of the

windows were blocked with iron mesh, forcing firefighters to cut their way into the building to rescue the workers, the Times of India said.

Police have taken the factory owner into custody for questioning, while an investigation was under way into the cause of the blaze, the newspaper said. A preliminary case of causing death due to negligence had been registered against the owner, the daily said. — AFP

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2013

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

Dozens of Rohingya missing after boat sinks off Myanmar YANGON: A boat carrying almost 70 Rohingya Muslim refugees fleeing sectarian tensions capsized yesterday off Myanmar’s coast, police said, leaving dozens missing in treacherous seas. The boat was believed to be taking the Rohingya from Myanmar’s western state of Rakhine to Malaysia, where thousands of members of the Muslim minority have sought sanctuary since violent clashes with Buddhists erupted last year.

“Altogether 66 people — 38 men and 28 womenwere on board when the boat capsized,” a police official in Rakhine told AFP, adding six survivors had been found in the Bay of Bengal. The missing are thought to have been IDPs (internally displaced persons) from the area around the state capital Sittwe, the officer added, requesting anonymity.

Around 140,000 people-the majority of them Rohingya-were displaced by two waves of violence between Buddhists and Muslims in Rakhine last year that left some 200 people dead. Thousands of Rohingya have fled Myanmar since then, many paying smugglers for passage on rickety and overcrowded boats to Malaysia or further south, despite the dangers posed by rough seas in the Bay of Bengal.

Hundreds are believed to have died at sea so far this year. In May nearly 60 Rohingya Muslims went missing after their boat sank after hitting rocks as a cyclone approached the bay. Myanmar views its population of roughly 800,000 Rohingya as illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh and denies them citizenship. They are considered by the UN to be one of the world’s most persecuted minorities.

Rohingya boats frequently make landfall in Thailand, where those passengers caught by authorities are detained. According to rights groups they are vulnerable to exploitation by human traffickers.

The United Nations has raised fears that the number of Rohingya fleeing camps for the displaced will rise further this year. It has urged Myanmar’s reformist government to address the humanitarian crisis by easing sectarian divisions in the area and improving conditions in the squalid camps where tens of thousands languish.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva said Friday it had received “worrying reports” that around 1,500 people had left the Rakhine area in recent days as the annual sailing season gets underway. A UNHCR spokesman said that an estimated

28,000 people-mainly Rohingya have left by sea since June last year, while “over 400 have have died or gone missing” so far this year.

“The UNHCR fears that as the rainy season comes to an end and sailing season starts in earnest, more people could feel compelled to leave by boat, subjecting themselves to exploitation by smugglers,” he said. Violence in Rakhine, which has been followed by several outbreaks of anti-Muslim unrest across Myanmar, has posed a serious challenge to the government’s reform credentials as it emerges from decades of military rule. Rights groups have accused authorities of being party to ethnic cleansing in Rakhine during the unrest and say they have subsequently failed to tackle discrimination against the stateless Rohingya. — AFP

Xinjiang military chief punished after attack Peng Yong replaced with army veteran

BEIJING: A couple walks along a road holding a balloon yesterday. Autumn has arrived in the city bringing with it the peak tourist season and tens of thousands of cashed up domestic tourists. — AFP

BEIJING: China’s ruling Communist Party announced yesterday the removal of the military chief of restive Xinjiang from the region’s governing council, following a car crash in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square blamed on Islamist militants from Xinjiang. The official Xinjiang Daily said in a brief front page report that Peng Yong had been sacked as a member of Xinjiang’s Communist Party Standing Committee, and would be replaced by Liu Lei, an army veteran with more than a decade’s experience in the region.

The newspaper gave no reason for the move, but the party frequently removes top officials following such incidents as it seeks to apportion blame.

The incident was especially embarrassing for the stability-obsessed party given the billions of dollars it spends every year on domestic security, not only in Xinjiang but across the country, and

that the crash happened in the heart of Beijing.

Peng was appointed commander of the Xinjiang military region in July 2011. It is likely that he will also be relieved of his military duties.

Real power in China lies with party bodies rather than government ones, as that is where the key decisions are made. The government has blamed Islamist extremists plotting holy war after a vehicle police said was laden with gasoline ploughed into bystanders outside the front entrance of the Forbidden City, on the north of Tiananmen Square.

The three people in the car died, as did two tourists. More than 40 were injured. Police have also detained five suspected accomplices.

Security has been stepped up in Beijing and Xinjiang following the incident. Beijing party chief Guo Jinlong has urged the police to improve their capacity to collect intelligence and

take precautions against further attacks, the city government-run Beijing Daily said yetserday.

Guo urged police and security forces to “look for vulnerable links” and “learn the lessons” from the incident, the report said. Xinjiang is home to the Muslim Uighur minority, many of whom chafe at China’s restrictions on their religion, culture and language, though the government says they are granted broad freedoms. Xinjiang has been wracked by unrest in recent years, blamed by the government on the separatist East Turkestan Islamic Movement which Beijing believes was also responsible for last week’s incident. Rights groups, exiles and some experts say, though, that there is little evidence of a cohesive extremist movement operating in Xinjiang. In 2009, some 200 people died in Xinjiang’s regional capital Urumqi during riots which pitted Uighurs against the majority Han Chinese. — Reuters

Myanmar govt’s efforts for peace, stability, development in Rakhine Ministry of Foreign Affairs The Republic of the Union of Myanmar Nay Pyi taw

R

akhine State is located in the west of Myanmar bordering Bangladesh on the north-west, Chin State on the north, Magway Division, Bago Division and Ayeyarwaddy Division on the east and the Bay of Bengal on the west and south.

A long coastal stretch of land touching the Rakhine Yoma in the east, the state is criss-crossed with a large number of natural watercourses including Naff, Mayyu and Kissapanadi rivers and Maei, Tanlwe, Taungup, Thandwe, Kyeintali and Gwa creeks flowing from north to south.

The population of Rakhine State is 3.3 million and made up of Rakhine, other Rakhine tribes such as Thet, Daingnet, Mro, Khamee, Kaman and Maramagyi in addition to Bamars and Chins.

Bengalis are also residing there. The area is 14,200 square miles (36780 square Kilometers) and the Capital is Sittwe, There are 17 townships in Rakhine State.

Agriculture is the main economic activity: principal crops being paddy, chilli, Myanmar tobacco, coconut, betel nut, groundnut, maize, rubber, various beans and pulses are cultivated. The Kissapanadi river runs through the state, giving water for plantation.

Brief history The history of Rakhine rooted into the ancient time, portrayed with many successive Rakhine monarch who had established the City State: the First Danya Waddy in BC 3287 and the Second Danya Waddy in BC 1469.

lower socio-economic state of both Rakhine and Bengali communities among others are also contributing adversely to Rakhine situation today.

Recent developments Communal violence broke out in Rakhine State in May-June 2012 was triggered by a crime. Similar pattern of violence followed in Meikthilatownship, Lashio and Kantbalu in 2013. During the public disorder, both Buddhist and Muslim communities lost human lives, properties, houses, schools, monasteries and mosques.

In restoring law and order, the authorities exercised maximum restraint and acted in a responsible manner. Rakhine Investigation Commission, composed of high profile individuals from all walks of life, academia and religious leaders from Hinduism, Islam and Christianity released its report to the public on April 29, 2013 which has analysed the issues surrounding communal violence in Rakhine State from various perspectives in a comprehensive, pragmatic and forward-looking manner. Recommendations include measures to see to immediate needs and on rule of law and peaceful co-existence. The sentiments between the two communities in Rakhine State have influenced the people elsewhere in Myanmar and fuelled ordinary crimes or incidents into a violence.

Current conditions of the camps Currently a total of 59 temporary comps are sheltering about 120,000 displaced persons including both Rakhine and Bengali. A total of 1,881 long house were built in Sittwe, Tatthedaung, Kyauktaw, Mrauk-U, minbya, Kyaukphyu, Yan Byae, Pauktaw, Myaepone townships in Rakhine State by Union Government, Rakhine State Government, UNHCe and NGOs. Individual houses of 1,235 were also completed by the end of August 2013. At present, a total of 87,362 Bengali people have been housed in 2,769 long houses while a total of 6,578 Rakhines have been accommodated in 19 long houses and 1,242 houses.

Food A total of 21,717 metric tons of food including rice, edible oil, salt, pulses and beans, nutrition powder were distributed from 2012 to 2013.

Average food requirements for each months is 2,100 metric tons.

Non-food items Household boxes, delivery kits, kitchen utensils, tarpaulin sheets, blankets and mosquito nets are distributed.

Resident Diplomats visiting camp.

In Rakhine history, Myauk U dynasty existed until 1785 AD and lasted for more than 350 years which could be termed as the Golden Days of Rakhine. In 1824 AD, British declared war against Myanmar. Through two Anglo-Myanmar wars, Rakhine State and Taninthari State fell under the British in 1826 AD. The British administration and economic policy had encouraged large migration of Indians into Myanmar. The agro-farming and land plots were expanded with the aim to collect taxations.

However, British found original labour force in Rakhine inadequate, thus large number of cheap laborers from India was brought into Rakhine by the British to use in the cultivation of the fertile land of Rakhine.

Bengali population expanded throughout the history and reached to the second largest populace in Rakhine. The state is under-developed and resources are limited. This created a competition for livelihoods between the original Rakhines and the Bengalis. The frustration and competition is largely seen in economic activities and social settings. Furthermore, differences in culture, race and religion made room for misunderstandings, disapprovals and conflicts whenever sensitivity arises.

Root causes like its location bordering with a densely-populated country, colonial legacy and

The security The Border Area Immigration Control forces known as NASAKA were responsible for the security forces in the region during the violence. At present, their headquarters and its forces has been abolished since July 2013. As there still exists mistrust between the two communities, there has been incidents in which a routine police work was encountered by clashes from a community.

Water and sanitation Access to clean water and sanitation is also a priority to prevent the outbreak of diseases in the camps. Building 3,273 toilet facilities, digging 4 new wells and upgrading of 27 water reservoirs and ponds are also done at the camps.

Healthcare In addition to existing ones, 29 additional Health Clinics are under construction in 11 townships in Rakhine State. Services are available for emergency transportation of patients from camps to nearest Hospitals. Education on reproductive health is conducted while providing necessary kits. Nutrition programmes for children are also conducting in 10 townships. Mobile clinics are also operating there. Almost fifty thousand hygiene kits were distributed. Treatments for children with

May Yu Mountain Range: a landmark of Rakhine malnutrition were provided at 14 camps and 59 villages.

Education services While 30 new schools have been built, 20 existing schools are being renovated in Sittwe, Yathaytaung, Pauktaw and Myebon townships. To cater education services to 7,972 Rakhine and Bengali school children in 24 camps in 6 townships, 213 teachers from their own communities have been trained with teaching skills.

Law enforcement Myanmar practices zero tolerance on impunity as the State policy. Any Perpetrator regardless of faith or race is being penalized. In the case of Rakhine, a total of 1,189 were detained and tried. In Meikhtila incident, a total of 82 including 63 Buddhists have detained. Likewise, 57, Buddhists were among the 67 detained and tried in Lashio.

These cases are being dealt with existing law and verdicts have been reached. Information in this regard has already been widely published in local media.

The Rakhine Investigation Commission, composed of prominent figures from civil society, academia and all faiths was established on 17 August 2012. The report by the Commission on 29 April 2013, recommended as priorities, the need to maintain peace and stability in the region and to put law enforcement measures in place to prevent the recurrence of violence.

Following the report, President U Thein Sein, in his statement on 6 May 2013, expressed his administration’s determination to resolve the ongoing problems in Rakhine State in a systematic and pragmatic manner and to create a harmonious society where all communities can live together peacefully. He also highlighted the importance of ensuring freedom of religion and speech, the need to practice tolerance and mutual respect in order for religious freedom to prevail and peaceful coexistence. He also reminded that all perpetrators to violence will be dealt with law without any discrimination and also that the Government would provide genuine and decisive leadership in resolving the conflict in Rakhine State while ensuring national security, rule of law and human rights.

Measures taken for long term development To address the root causes that led to the conflict and implement reconstruction activities swiftly, the Government has established a Central Committee for Implementation of Stability and Development in Rakhine State. In implementing the state policy and recommendations and taking into consideration of the recommendations of the Rakhine Investigation Commission - seven subcommittees are now working on: - rule of law, - security and law enforcement - immigration and review of citizenship - temporary resettlement and reconstruction

- social and economic development and strategic planning A coordination centre for effective execution of conflict prevention and reconstruction activities as been set up in Sittwe since May this year.

Provisions necessary to support livelihood such as tractors, power tillers, seeds, fertilizer, fuel, fishing boats and nets are provided to the local population. Considerable progress has been achieved in construction of shelter, housing, schools, clinics in addition to food security and education and health services.

Upgrading and installation of telephone landlines in Buthidaung, Gwa and Yanbyae townships has been completed. Mobile phones for temporary camps for camp management authorities have been distributed as well. For the ease of daily life, temporary bazaars will be established. One such bazaar has already been in place.

Views by UN officials In his statement at the Yangon International Airport on August 21, 2013, the special rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights in Myanmar Tomas Ojea Quintana noted that the states and central government were working well with the international community to address urgent humanitarian needs of both Rakhine Buddhists and the Muslim communities.

The Chief Minister of Rakhine assured him that there was no two-child policy in place for the Muslim populations in Northern Rakhine State and it was reconfirmed by the Union Ministers of Immigration and Population.

United Nations Secretary General’s special advisor Vijay Nambiar during his meeting with Rakhine State Government on 1-9-2013 said “The conflict that had broken out in Rakhine State is a domestic issue that is to be settle in Myanmar and no other country needs to interfere the internal affairs”.

Myanmar is grateful to international partners that are donating funds for Rakhine State. The main donors include the United States of America, UK, Australia, Sweden, Switzerland, Germany, UAE, Luxemburg, New Zealand, Norway , France, India and Indonesia. The United Nations and its system, international organizations and other entities like UNHCR, UNICEF, UNOCHA, UNDP,WHO, WFP, UNFPA, EU Humanitarian Office and ICRC. NonGovernmental including Malteser, Care, Save the Children, MSF, Oxfam, Soldarities, CDN, ZOA refugee Care, Various Recipients, DRC, Coalition of Duch NGOs, Swedish Civil Contingency Agency and Church of Sweden.

Areas of humanitarian activities are providing food, no-food items, nutrition for children, shelter, water and sanitation, health and education services, means for livelihood and so on. Since the launching of emergency, resettlement and reconstruction programs a year ago in July 2012, a total of $73 million donated by the above-mentioned international partners has been received and disbursed until now. However, $6.2 million is still

needed to meet the needs of current programmes.

The government has already spent over 12.45 billions of kyat from its own resources in addition to providing materials and services. Local wellwishers have also contributed cash and kind worth of billions of kyats. However, international assistance continues to play an important role.

Cooperation with member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) - The government has been facilitating humanitarian and other assistance from any quarters including the member states from the OIC if the assistance is provide to both the communities without any discrimination.

- Myanmar understands and is fully aware of concerns by the international community, - A Presidential Statement issued at the last HRC session is the testimony of our goodwill to work with the international community.

- In the spirit of cooperation and for the sake of transparency, Myanmar has invited the OIC Secretary-General and 5 Foreign Ministers of the Contact Group to visit Myanmar.

The challenges The government of Myanmar and people are fully aware that trust and harmony between the Buddhists and the Muslims is important for lasting peace and development of the country. All communities should preserve and promote mutual respect, understanding , empathy and patience. To this end, the government and people are striving to oppose hostilities of religious extremism and stand against those who are instigating for the escalation of religious divergence and instability.

Today, although stability has been restored in Myanmar, certain organizations both at home and abroad are portraying as if there exists severe religious and racial discrimination. All should be cognizant of the fact that such fabrications will further complicate the situation.

Anxiety and distrust between the two communities particularly at the grass roots level is still high. Advocacy to understand and accept peaceful and harmonious co-existence among different faith and races is one of the highest priorities of the government. President U Thein Sein called on the people to pay mutual respect on different beliefs and to promote peace and harmony and to join hands with the government, civil societies and elders. The President urged the Interfaith Friendship Group to work nationwide to help implement three main priorities of rehabilitation, prevention of conflicts and developing a long-term plan to resolve root causes. The temporary re-settlement of people in one place is to provide security, shelter, food and other immediate assistance to those who are in need. As soon as essential circumstances such as restoration harmony and trust between the communities and creation of conditions for livelihood are met, people will be going back to their original on new homes. It is encouraging to see that interfaith dialogue at various levels and across the societies is taking place more and more frequently in Myanmar.

Message to the international community - Political and socio-economic reform of Myanmar is gaining momentum. This process is all inclusive. Any group of people will not be left behind in this process.

- There is no discrimination against anyone based on gender, race and faith. The State Constitution guarantees fundamental rights of all.

- In the interest of all people in Myanmar, the government never tolerate anyone who try to spread incitement of religious hatred directed against anyone or any groups.

- The Government and people of Myanmar know the situation in Rakhine State the best.

The answer to Rakhine situation lies within Myanmar. We will find the solution in line with national interest and the international norms and standards. Constructive engagement by the international community would help Myanmar in finding solutions to the issue.

NEWS Tests show ‘poison’ killed...

Continued from Page 1 to assume that the shellfish were caught and opened by humans. “A person can open an average one or two bagfuls of shellfish a day,” he said. “With the number of dead oysters we found, it would take approximately four thousand people to assume that the oysters were all caught and opened by people looking for pearls”.

Furthermore, Fadhel indicated that his team detected some ‘dying’ oysters among dead ones “which at first glance show that the creature must have been affected with something that changed its color and size”. Announcing that his team plans to take ‘underwater photos’ after weather conditions stabilize, Fadhel revealed that several international groups contacted his team “and requested visits to Kuwait in order to study the phenomenon”. He also noted that a similar incident happened in Saudi Arabia’s territorial waters 25 years ago, while scores of dead oysters were found last January in Ras Al-Khaima in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

Despite environmentalists’ warnings that some kind of pollution continues to kill oysters in Kuwaiti waters, a senior Environment Public Authority official insisted that their own tests did not find anything suspicious. “A comprehensive examination of the area where dead oysters appeared did not reveal any unusual phenomena as promoted in the media, or anything outside the conclusion that the oysters were taken from the seabed and returned back to the waters by pearl-seeking individuals,” Assistant Director for Technical Affairs Mohammad AlEnizy said in statements. Director of the Water Pollution Department in the EPA indicated that tests of samples taken from the scene came

‘negative’ for any pollutants.

Meanwhile, Enizy announced plans to take legal action against anyone ‘spreading false information’ on the issue. “The EPA plans to file cases against anyone who made inaccurate statements regarding the incident, which ultimately caused increasing public concern and damaged Kuwait’s reputation internationally,” he said.

Meanwhile, Green Line demanded ‘quick action’ from the government to clean the Khairan’s beach from dead oysters “in order to prevent the spread of diseases in the area”. And while they did not specify a main reason behind the phenomenon, Green Line reiterated criticism of the government for “failure to focus on measures to identify the cause of the oysters’ death”, and of the EPA for “failing to secure the marine environment against irresponsible behaviors that result in damage to marine species” in Kuwaiti waters.

The case sparked public attention since it was first reported by the local press on Wednesday, as it highlights an environmental concern stemming from various reports about the pollution of Kuwait’s marine environment in recent years, and is surrounded with mystery given the state in which the dead shellfish were found. “There are cases recorded worldwide of oysters being affected by a deadly virus, but the weight of oyster shells make the animal sink to the seafloor once it dies,” Kuwait University biology professor Dr Salem AlMuhanna said. He also noted that oysters are usually ‘attached’ to rocks at the seafloor “and can only be removed by humans”, but argued that the large number of dead shellfish “requires extensive studies to determine the real cause behind the phenomenon”.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2013

Kerry visits Saudi to ease tensions Khamenei not..

Continued from Page 1 “US-Egyptian relations should not be defined by assistance,” Kerry said, adding direc t aid would continue to help Egyptians in areas such as health and education and to aid “counter terrorism” efforts. In a move that angered Cairo, Washington last month said it was “recalibrating” its aid to Egypt-including about $1.3 billion for military assistance-and suspending delivery of big-ticket items like Apache helicopters and F-16 aircraft.

Kerry-the most senior figure of the US administration to visit since Morsi’s July 3 ouster-said he had candid discussions with Fahmy, and he had other meetings later with interim president Adly Mansour and powerful military chief Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi.

Egyptian authorities meanwhile, switched the venue for the trial of the former Islamist president yesterday, a lastminute change made after the Muslim Brotherhood called for mass demonstrations at the original location.

The trial of Mohammed Morsi, now to be held east of the capital today, could lead to another round of bloodshed as his supporters look likely to face an emboldened security apparatus that has boosted its forces for the hearing. Speaking at a news conference, appeals court judge Medhat Idris gave no reason for the change of venue, adding that the hearing would not be televised live.

Morsi has been held in undisclosed location and received only rare visits and

telephone calls since his July 3 ouster in a popularly backed military coup. The trial will be his first public appearance since then, possibly enflaming the already tense political atmosphere. He stands charged of inciting violence and murder during clashes last year at the presidential palace.

The heavily-fortified police academy in an eastern Cairo suburb where the trial is to be held has already been transformed into a courthouse for the trial of another former president, Hosni Mubarak, who was toppled in a 2011 uprising.

Saudi Arabia has also clashed publicly with Washington over its decision to freeze some aid to Egypt ’s militar yinstalled government, with Riyadh pledging to more than make up for any shortfalls following the overthrow of Islamist president Mohammed Morsi.

The conservative oil-rich kingdom has grown increasingly nervous over the past two years as Arab Spring revolts have toppled onetime allies in Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen and spread turmoil across the region. In an unprecedented move last month, Saudi turned down a coveted non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council in protest at the world body’s failure to end the war in Syria, which has left over 120,000 people dead. And last week, Saudi intelligence chief Prince Bandar bin Sultan Al-Saud reportedly told diplomats in Riyadh that he would scale back Saudi cooperation with the CIA on training Syrian rebels and work with other allies including Jordan and France. — Agencies

Continued from Page 1 Khamenei dismissed the notion that submission to Western demands of abandoning Iran’s nuclear agenda “would solve all of our problems, including the economic woes”.

The White House has spearheaded international efforts to target Iran’s vital oil income and its access to the global banking system to coerce it into making concessions in the negotiations, while keeping on the table the threat of military action as a last resort. And Khamenei criticized the dual approach yesterday, as the crowd of students chanted “Death to America”. “The Americans smile and express a desire for negotiations; on the other hand, they immediately say that all options are on the table,” he said.

‘Smiling enemy’ “We should not trust a smiling enemy,” Khamenei said, warning Iran’s negotiating team of hardened diplomats overseen by Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

Iranian negotiators and P5+1 representatives from the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia plus Germany restarted the talks in Geneva last month.

Both sides said the new push was substantive, with Zarif expressing hope for a “new phase” of relations between Tehran and the international community.

But since then, his team has faced mounting criticism at home from hardliners wary that the negotiators could compromise Iran’s nuclear work.

The disapproval peaked in late October when antiAmerican posters questioning Washington’s sincerity in the talks went up on Tehran’s streets, before the authorities removed them. Khamenei yesterday warned against such criticism, as he expressed support for the negotiators who had a “difficult” task. “No one should see our negotiating team as compromisers,” he said. “They have undertaken a difficult mission and no one should undermine an agent on a mission.” — AFP

14

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2013

ANALYSIS

THE LEADING INDEPENDENT DAILY IN THE ARABIAN GULF ESTABLISHED 1961

Founder and Publisher

YOUSUF S. AL-ALYAN Editor-in-Chief

ABD AL-RAHMAN AL-ALYAN EDITORIAL : 24833199-24833358-24833432 ADVERTISING : 24835616/7 FAX : 24835620/1 CIRCULATION : 24833199 Extn. 163 ACCOUNTS : 24835619 COMMERCIAL : 24835618 P.O.Box 1301 Safat,13014 Kuwait.

E MAIL :info@kuwaittimes.net Website: www.kuwaittimes.net

Issues

GOP divide plays out in Alabama poll campaign

By Bill Barrow o get a sense of the Republicans’ internal struggle, take a look at a congressional runoff Tuesday in south Alabama. The race to succeed US Rep Jo Bonner, who resigned the seat and became an executive with the state university system, marks a test of the business community’s effort to counter conservative activists who have pushed the party to the right since President Barack Obama’s election in 2008. Bradley Byrne, a lawyer with two decades in government, is the US Chamber of Commerce’s preferred candidate, an endorsement that has meant $200,000 in campaign support. The group has said that after October’s partial federal government shutdown and near national credit default it will be more aggressive in Republican primaries.

Byrne’s rival is Dean Young, a self-described tea party conservative best known as a onetime campaign adviser to Roy Moore, the judge who was once ousted as state Supreme Court chief justice after refusing to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the lobby of the Alabama Judicial Building.

Yet easily overlooked in the establishment vs. tea party storyline is that both candidates have virtually identical positions on the high-profile issues at the core of Capitol Hill dysfunction: the budget fight over tax policy and spending priorities, and the related struggle over Obama’s health care law.

That raises questions about whether races like this, in strongly conservative House districts, will do anything to settle the GOP’s direction or alter the dynamics of a Republican-controlled House that remains fundamentally at odds with the Democratic-run Senate.

Byrne, who lost a 2010 Republican runoff for governor to eventual winner Robert Bentley, led a field of nine candidates in the September primary with 35 percent, well short of a necessary majority. Young was a distant second.

But polls suggest the race has tightened considerably with a low turnout expected Tuesday. Barring an upset by a little known Democrat in the December general election, the GOP runoff winner will take office as Congress nears the Jan 15 expiration of a temporary budget agreement that reopened government. A few weeks after that, the Treasury Department again will need an increase the nation’s borrowing limit.

Byrne and Young have tried to capitalize on antiWashington sentiments heightened by the shutdown, but they go about it in starkly different ways, making the race a personality-driven demonstration of the party’s seeming cultural divide. Byrne, the city lawyer, represents the old “country club-Chamber of Commerce Republicans.” Young is the voice of those who distrust all big institutions in Washington.

Both criticize Congress for the deal. Byrne uses the familiar “kicking the can down the road” as a signature line.

Young opts for this favorite: “We don’t have a revenue problem. We have a spending problem.” In a recent forum, Byrne blamed Obama for the shutdown because he “wouldn’t even talk to Republicans” about the health care law, taxes and spending. Young dismisses any worry about blame for the shutdown, saying it was worth it to stop the health care law, which he calls “the absolute worst mistake this country has ever made, excepting the election of Barack Hussein Obama.”

Young says “absolutely not, under no circumstance” to increasing the debt limit again. Byrne says he wouldn’t unless it was part of a larger deal to overhaul the federal budget. But he’s quick to note that he signed a pledge to oppose any tax increase of any kind. With Obama and Democrats making clear that any long-term deal must pair revenue increases with spending cuts, the immediate prospects of a deal that meets Byrne’s conditions are slim to none. Byrne acknowledges that “on substance, there’s not much difference between me and Mr. Young.” He notes that while Young embraces the tea party label, the national conservative groups that have endorsed primary opponents of Republicans such as US Senator Mitch McConnell haven’t endorsed Young. Byrne says it’s because those interests are comfortable with him. For Byrne, the distinction that matters is style.

Despite his blistering critiques of Obama, he usually says “President Obama” and states as fact that the president was born in Hawaii and proved it with a birth certificate. Young has indulged the false rumors that Obama was born in Kenya and is somehow ineligible to hold office.

“Tone is important,” Byrne said, sitting in his downtown law office in the district’s population center. “The job of a congressman is more than just what you say about these national issues,” he said, pointing down at the shipbuilding yards along the Mobile River. “It’s about those jobs right out there. You have to be able to work with people, in Washington and at home.” — AP

T

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

Kuwait Times takes no responsibility for views expressed therein. Kuwait Times invites readers to voice their opinions. Please send submissions via email to: opinion@kuwaittimes.net or via snail mail to PO Box 1301 Safat, Kuwait. The editor reserves the right to edit any submission as necessary.

US tensions with allies rise

By Paul Eckert ith ties between Washington and many close allies strained because of eavesdropping revelations and differences over US policies in the Middle East, the Obama administration can take some comfort from an improvement in ties with China.

A year after China’s President Xi Jinping took over the helm of the country’s ruling Communist Party, senior US officials say they see increased cooperation on a range of issues from climate change to North Korea’s nuclear weapons ambitions. They also regard greater bilateral military contacts as an important safety valve if there are any potential flare-ups.

On the economic front, Washington is focused on China’s Nov 9-12 Communist Party conclave where Xi’s blueprint for making the world’s second-largest economy more open is expected to be unveiled.

Xi’s administration already has spawned optimism with an agreement to reopen bilateral investment treaty talks and a pilot free trade zone in Shanghai that augurs well for deeper reforms to address Chinese investment and trade barriers. Both could help dent the $300 billion annual US trade deficit with China. Not all is rosy. Serious fault lines remain over issues that have long vexed the Sino-US relationship, such as human rights. Western experts and Chinese activists are concerned that China’s record on human rights may be worsening under Xi, who became China’s president in March, given there have been crackdowns on lawyers, activists and Internet opinion leaders.

Potential discord also lurks in China’s recent increasing recourse to what its critics call gunboat diplomacy in maritime territorial disputes with Asian neighbors, including US allies such as Japan and the Philippines. But officials from both countries say they are committed to what China calls a “new model of major country relations” - a Xi mantra that aims to minimize Sino-US rivalry as China’s global power grows. To Washington, the concept means “there is room on planet Earth for a rising, strong, stable, prosperous China and a United States that continues to serve as the champion of a liberal, democratic, free-market and rules-based system,” said Daniel Russel, the State Department’s top Asia diplomat.

Washington and Beijing intend to “avoid a mechanistic dynamic in which a rising power and an enduring power were inevitably destined for conflict,” he added. The most common concrete example US officials give of a better working relationship is North Korea, whose nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs are seen as one of

W

Asia’s most serious security threats.

Washington has long sought to convince Beijing to do more to rein in Pyongyang, a Chinese ally since the Korean War. North Korea’s nuclear test in early 2013, the latest of three since 2006, was accompanied by threats of nuclear attack on the United States and South Korea. “We’ve seen (China) be more forward-leaning in applying pressure on the North Koreans,” said Ben Rhodes, Obama’s deputy national security adviser for strategic communications.

“That’s in part because the cycle of provocation that was taking place in the spring was concerning to them because it was destabilizing the region ... and ultimately it was not consistent with their own interest,” he told Reuters. China, often criticized by the United States and its allies for weak enforcement of UN Security Council sanctions on the North, last month published a detailed list of technologies and goods banned from export to North Korea because of their potential use in weapons of mass destruction.

Priority issues The narrowing of differences on North Korea was a key outcome from Xi’s informal summit with President Barack Obama last June in Rancho Mirage, California - a desert retreat that allowed the two leaders to meet for eight hours over two days. That informal summit, mainly designed as a trust-building exercise, also produced an agreement to reduce the use of greenhouse gases and to launch a bilateral working group to hold regular discussions on cyber-security.

“The US and China are cooperating not on boutique projects, not on off-Broadway, where it doesn’t really matter, but on priority, critical issues that genuinely matter to both of our people and genuinely matter to the region and the world,” said Russel, who attended the summit, in an interview.

In early 2012, when Xi was China’s vice president, he toured the United States as a guest of US counterpart Joe Biden, visiting a small town in Iowa where he did a brief home stay in 1987, as well as Los Angeles and Washington.

The Washington trip included a visit to the Pentagon, which helped set up a packed 2013-14 calendar of exchanges between the two countries’ militaries. Militaryto-military ties have long been the weakest link between the two powers.

US-China ties have warmed but then cooled in the past, and analysts warn that Xi’s agenda may only start to become clearer after this month’s Communist Party Central Committee Plenum sees him put his full stamp on

Chinese policy.

On economic policy, Americans see room for optimism, based on Xi’s record since the 1990s as a business-friendly par ty and government leader overseeing roaring economies in Shanghai and the vibrant coastal provinces of Fujian and Zhejiang. “Everything about his past where he served before in China indicates that there are reasons to be optimistic that he will take a more pro-market approach than his predecessor,” said Kenneth Jarrett, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai and a former US diplomat in China.

The US Treasury on Wednesday said China was not a currency manipulator and had allowed the yuan to appreciate 12 percent against the dollar since June 2010, while adding that the Chinese currency still appears undervalued. But in a semiannual report to Congress, the criticism of China was muted and less prominent than an attack on Germany, which was accused of hampering economic stability in Europe and hurting the global economy because of its focus on exports rather than boosting domestic demand.

On human rights and regional security, however, there are more question marks. A par ty directive called Document No. 9, believed to reflect Xi’s beliefs, makes it a taboo to discuss publicly “Western notions” such as constitutional rule, universal values, press freedom, judicial independence and civil society.

In less abstract terms, China’s widening crackdown on bloggers, lawyers and activists has seen the detention or arrest of scores if not hundreds of people. Obama, while not dropping the human rights issues, appears to have decided not to turn it into a make-or-break issue for SinoAmerican relations.

Xi has broken with Beijing’s traditionally reactive and defensive foreign policy, said Stephanie Kleine-Ahlbrandt of the US Institute of Peace. She sees Xi testing US allies and pushing back against Obama’s decision to shift diplomatic and security attention to Asia.

“Xi Jinping has come in and essentially pivoted on a dime and is now the first to really embrace China’s role as a ‘great power’ and he’s making foreign policy with a great power mindset,” she said. US officials say they do not expect Beijing to escalate its maritime disputes with Japan or other smaller neighbors because it would risk harming China’s economic growth. “If Xi Jinping wants to realize the goal of the Chinese dream, of becoming a middleclass country by 2049, the 100th anniversary of the PRC, they’re going to want to do that without any kind of disruption or distraction,” said a senior US official. -— Reuters

French want Hollande to change policies

By John Irish he vast majority of French people want President Francois Hollande to change his polices or reshuffle his government, an opinion poll suggested, a day after thousands protested against tax hikes and rising unemployment.

Hollande, the most unpopular French president on record according to a previous poll, has been hit by public anger over his economic methods, rows over immigration policy and repeated gaffes within the government.

Riot police fired water cannon to disperse protesters in Quimper in northwestern France, an agricultural hub, on Saturday after a peaceful demonstration turned violent. Three p e o p l e we re a r re s te d a n d f i ve slightly injured during the demonstration. According to an IFOP poll fo r n e ws p a p e r J o u r n a l d u Dimanche, 91 percent of French people want Hollande to change his policies or his government before March’s local elections.

The survey also showed a deep discontent among supporters of the Socialist president’s own party with 85 percent of those on the lef t polled also demanding change.

“There is a real doubt over the government’s method and that is

T

shared equally and in a way not seen before between supporters of the left, right and far-right,” said IFOP’s Frederic Dabo. Jobless claims rose in September by the highest margin since the depths of the financial crisis in early 2009, undermining Hollande’s pledge of reversing a rise in unemployment, which currently stands at 11 percent.

The government is also experiencing a growing back lash from voters and businesses af ter it imposed 30 billion euros ($40.46 billion) in tax hikes this year, seeking to honor a promise to its EU partners to bring its budget deficit below the bloc’s target ceiling of 3 percent next year.

Agriculture Minister Stephane Le Foll defended the government ’s track record, saying its main problem was explaining to the people its policies, which he said would eventually bear fruit. “There is an explanation problem and coherence in how all of the government expresses itself,” he said on Europe 1 radio.

The IFOP telephone survey of 1,009 people, between Oct. 31 and Nov. 2, came a day after between 10,000 to 30,000 people took to the streets of Quimper in the Brittany region.

The protesters accused the government of abandoning Brittany, the heartland of France’s pork and

poultr y sectors, where there has been several factory closures since last year. Hundreds had already taken to the streets last week in the region, protesting against a planned “ecotax” on heavy goods vehicles. Despite the government s u s pending the tax du ring the week, they took to the streets again wearing red caps and carrying antigovernment banners, including one reading: “Hollande, Brittany will be your cemetery.”

“Brittany trusted Hollande,” said one protester who gave his name only as Mikael. “We thought by voting left it would change something, but I’m rethinking that now.” The region voted 56 percent in favour of Hollande during last year’s presidential elections. The tradition of wearing red caps date back to protests in Brittany in the 17th century when the king at the time increased taxes to fund a war. The caps also became an official emblem of the 1789 Revolution.

Hollande’s government is struggling to bring down the public deficit without killing a fragile economic recover y. Although it has shifted the burden towards spending cuts rather than tax hikes in the 2014 budget, business leaders and voters have expressed mounting discontent. — Reuters

PARIS: French CEO of France Media Monde MarieChristine Saragosse (left) speaks with French President Francois Hollande at the Elysee Palace in Paris yesterday. — AFP

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2013

S P ORT S Eriksson: I signed for United

Fox to have heart surgery

Afridi: Pakistan can beat SA

LONDON: Former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson has claimed that he signed a contract to succeed Alex Ferguson at Manchester United in 2002.

The Swede, who coached England between 2001 and 2006, made the claim in his new autobiography, in which he also revealed that he clashed with Ferguson over Wayne Rooney’s participation at the 2006 World Cup. Ferguson announced that he would step down as United manager in 2002 and although he later reversed his decision, Eriksson says he struck a deal with the club to replace the Scot. In an extract from his book published in British newspaper the Mail on Sunday, Eriksson wrote: “I knew it would be tricky. I had a contract with England until the 2006 World Cup and I would be severely criticised if I broke that contract.

“But this was an opportunity to manage Manchester United. A contract was signed-I was United’s new manager.”

Eriksson included Rooney in his squad for the 2006 World Cup in Germany despite the striker having broken a bone in his foot shortly before the squad was announced.

Eriksson claims that Ferguson did not want to release Rooney for the tournament, prompting a clash between him and England doctor Leif Sward. “Leif and I met Ferguson and United’s doctor at the United training ground,” Eriksson wrote. “‘He cannot play in the World Cup’, Ferguson said flatly. The doctor brought out some X-rays that he said showed Rooney’s broken bone would not heal in time. —AFP

CHARLOTTE: Denver Broncos coach John Fox will have an aortic heart valve replacement operation in the next few days and miss several weeks of the NFL season, the team said Saturday.

Fox was hospitalized Saturday after feeling light-headed while playing golf at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, North Carolina. He was taken to an area hospital, where he underwent medical tests.

While the information had been kept private, Fox had been planning for such a surgery after the season. The incident Saturday forced doctors to advance that timetable.

“Although I am disappointed I must take some time away from the team to attend to this pre-existing health condition, I understand that it’s the right thing to do,” Fox said in a statement.

“I have great confidence in our coaches and players, who are fully committed to our goals. “I look forward to returning to coaching as soon as possible.” The Broncos, led by star quarterback Peyton Manning, are 7-1 at mid-season, the second-best record in the NFL to the unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs. Denver had a bye this weekend, giving Fox the rare chance for weekend golf.

“Coach Fox was advised by doctors months ago that his defective aortic valve would require this procedure following the 2013 season,” the Broncos said in a statement. “As part of his trip to North Carolina over the bye week, he had a preoperative appointment on Thursday with his doctor, who informed him to seek medical attention immediately if he felt any discomfort.” —AFP

DUBAI: Dashing all-rounder Shahid Afridi yesterday showed confidence Pakistan can pull off a one-day series win despite the return of Hashim Amla and Dale Steyn in the South African squad for the last three matches.

Afridi starred with 3-26 to add to his 20-ball 26 in Pakistan’s comprehensive 66-run win in the second day-night international in Dubai on Friday which levelled the five-match series at 1-1.

Pakistan spurned a golden opportunity to win the first match in Sharjah on Wednesday, going down by one run from a winning position. But Afridi, 33, said the way their bowlers were performing Pakistan can win the series. “There is no doubt Amla and Steyn will strengthen South Africa but the way our bowlers are doing, I am sure we can beat South Africa,” Afridi told reporters.

Amla reteuned to Dubai yesterday after missing the second Test and the first two one-day games due to the birth of his child back home.

Steyn is likely to join the squad in time for the third match in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday after returning home for a rest before the one-day series. The fourth match will also be played in Abu Dhabi on Friday while the fifth and final match will be held in Sharjah on November 11.

The teams will also play two Twenty20 internationals in Dubai on November 13 and 15. Besides Afridi, off-spinner Saeed Ajmal took 2-15 and paceman Mohammad Irfan claimed 3-53 in the second match. —AFP

Rangers stop Hurricanes NEW YORK: Derek Stepan scored his first three goals of the season, and Carl Hagelin added his first two as the New York Rangers’ had their best offensive output of the season in a 5-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday night.

Henrik Lundqvist made 27 saves and grabbed first star honors for New York (6-7), which is on a seasonhigh, three-game winning streak.

Hagelin scored the Rangers’ first two goals of the game, and Stepan netted the final three.

Andrej Sekera scored a power-play goal with 37 seconds left in the second period to provide the only offense for the Hurricanes. Justin Peters made 33 saves in the loss and fell to 0-5. Carolina (4-7-3) has lost five straight.

EAST LANSING: Bennie Fowler No. 13 of the Michigan State Spartans tries to avoid Raymon Taylor No. 6 and Thomas Gordon No. 30 of the Michigan Wolverines during the fourth quarter. — AFP

Ohio State, Michigan in control NEW YORK: Ohio State laid downed an overmatched conference foe, and No. 24 Michigan State took control of the Big Ten’s other division with a rout of Michigan in college football Saturday.

The Buckeyes, coming off 49-point victory over Penn State, crushed Purdue 560 in West Lafayette, Indiana. Ohio State has won 21 straight and has been far and away the Big Ten’s most impressive team.

Ohio State appears to be cruising toward a Leaders Division title and their first Big Ten title game. They have a one-game lead over Wisconsin, a team they’ve already beaten, and have games left against Illinois, Indiana and Michigan.

Michigan State and the nation’s No. 1 defense were even more impressive. The Spartans pummeled their rivals No. 23 Michigan 29-6 in East Lansing, Michigan and have a game and a half lead in the Legends Division. Michigan State plays second-place Nebraska in two weeks. The Huskers kept pace by beating Northwestern 27-24 on a last-play touchdown pass. At Tallahassee, Florida, Jameis Winston threw for 325 yards as Florida State rolled to another romp in a battle of ACC unbeaten, downing No. 7 Miami 4114. Tre Mason rushed for 168 yards and

four touchdowns as No. 8 Auburn earned first-year coach Gus Malzahn a win in his return to Arkansas with a 35-17 win.

No. 9 Clemson downed Virginia 59-10 after Tajh Boyd threw three touchdown passes and ran for a score, while Maty Mauk threw three touchdown passes and ran for another to lead No. 10 Missouri to a 31-3 victory over Tennessee.

No. 10 Missouri defeated Tennessee 31-3 and No. 12 Texas A&M downed UTEP 57-7, while Connor Shaw threw for four touchdowns and Mike Davis ran for 128 yards to move past 1,000 yards this season as No. 14 South Carolina equaled a school record with its 15th straight home victory 34-16 over Mississippi State.

In other games, No. 16 Fresno State defeated Nevada 41-23, No. 17 UCLA beat Colorado 45-23, No. 18 Oklahoma State were 52-34 winners over Texas Tech, No. 21 Northern Illinois trounced Massachusetts 63-19 and No. 22 Wisconsin downed Iowa 28-9.

Kendall Brock scored on a 43-yard run on the opening possession for the Wolf Pack (3-6, 2-4), who have lost four straight games in a season for the first time since 2001. Cody Fajardo threw for 202 yards and two touchdowns. —AP

Eagles beat Giants to win Japan Series SENDAI: The Rakuten Eagles beat the Yomiuri Giants 3-0 in Game 7 of the Japan Series yesterday to win their first championship and give a boost to a region still recovering from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. Rakuten starter Manabu Mima, who was named MVP of the series, held the Giants to one hit while striking out five over six scoreless innings for the win. Rookie Takahiro Norimoto pitched two scoreless innings of relief and 24-game winner Masahiro Tanaka retired the side in the ninth.

“I was nervous at the beginning but with the support of my teammates and the fans, I was able to settle down,” said Mima, who also was the winning pitcher in Game 3.

Casey McGehee made it 1-0 in the first inning with a hard-hit ball that shortstop Hayato Sakamoto bobbled, allowing Ginji Akaminai to score from third.

The Eagles added another run in the second inning on a double by Takeru Okajima and Akihisa Makida completed the scoring with a solo homer in the fourth.

The Eagles are the only professional baseball team located in the Tohoku region that was devastated by the March 11, 2011 disaster. The team’s home stadium was severely damaged by the earthquake.

More than two years after the disaster that killed nearly 19,000 people, the region is still struggling and progress in recovery efforts is slow. More than 280,000 people remain living in temporary housing. Leaks of radioactive

contaminated water at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant have been keeping people on edge. Sendai is only 57 kilometers (36 miles) from Fukushima.

“This is a great present for the people of the Tohoku region,” Rakuten manager Senichi Hoshino said. “I hope this victory will be an inspiration to the evacuees. There will be many tough days ahead but tonight I hope we can all enjoy this win.”

The Giants are the oldest and most successful team in Japanese baseball with 22 championships while the Eagles are playing in just their ninth season in Japanese professional baseball.

After a fourth-place finish in 2012, the Eagles signed major league veteran Andruw Jones and the move proved to be a huge success. Jones hit 26 homers and drove in 94 runs as the team went 82-59 to earn its first Pacific League pennant.

Tanaka went 24-0 in the regular season. In September, he notched his 21st straight win to break Japan’s previous record of 20 wins in a row set by Kazuhisa Inao in 1957.

His success this season has raised Tanaka’s profile among teams in Major League Baseball, making him the most sought-after Japanese import since Yu Darvish.

According to media reports, at least seven major league teams, including the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, are expected to enter the Tanaka sweepstakes now that the season is over. — AP

ISLANDERS 3, BRUINS 1 John Tavares, Andrew MacDonald and Thomas Vanek scored second-period goals, and backup Kevin Poulin made 26 saves for his first win of the season as the New York Islanders beat Boston.

Tavares knocked a loose puck past Bruins backup goalie Chad Johnson at 6:15 of the second for his sixth goal of the season.

After MacDonald scored his first of the season at 13:13 to make it 2-0, and Boston’s Dougie Hamilton answered two minutes later, Vanek scored his first with the Islanders. It was his 255th NHL goal and 500th point. The 29-year-old Vanek also assisted on Tavares’ goal. The Islanders (6-5-3) won for the second straight night. Boston (8-5) lost for the third time in four games.

BLACKHAWKS 5, JETS 1 Brandon Bollig, Patrick Sharp and Nick Leddy scored within a 4:55 span in the second period as Chicago extended its winning streak to three games in a rout of Winnipeg.

Corey Crawford stopped 26 shots to earn his eighth win of the season. Niklas Hjalmarsson and Ben Smith also scored, and Marcus Kruger had a pair of assists for the Blackhawks, who are 4-1-1 on the road.

Defenseman Tobias Enstrom’s goal made it 1-0 in the first period for the Jets, who have lost three straight.

It was the Jets’ biggest margin of defeat this season. They had lost 4-1 to Dallas Oct. 11. Ondrej Pavelec started in net for Winnipeg and stopped 10 of 14 shots. He was replaced by Al Montoya after Leddy’s goal at 5:49 of the second. Montoya made 10 saves on 11 shots.

DUCKS 6, SABRES 3 Emerson Etem and Corey Perry both scored two goals to lift Anaheim over reeling Buffalo. Ryan Getzlaf scored and added a pair of assists for the Ducks (11-31), who recorded five straight goals after Buffalo struck first. Sami Vatanen also scored for Anaheim.

Cody Hodgson, Tyler Myers and Henrik Tallinder scored for Buffalo, but the Sabres (2-13-1) continued their worst start in franchise history. The Sabres have lost their first nine home games, their longest stretch to open a season.

Thirteen players recorded points for Anaheim, which won its first game in Buffalo since 2009. Buffalo barely tested Anaheim goalie Jonas Hiller, and the Sabres were outshot for the sixth straight game, 2917. The three-goal loss was the Sabres’ fifth of the season, four of which have come at home.

LIGHTNING 4, BLUES 2 Brett Connolly and Valtteri Filppula scored in the third period, lifting Tampa Bay over St. Louis. Connolly, playing in his second game since being recalled from Syracuse of the AHL, put Tampa Bay ahead 3-2 when he redirected Radko Gudas’ shot at 8:37 of the third.

Filppula made it 4-2 with 3:59 remaining. Alex Killorn had a goal and two assists, and Steven Stamkos also scored for the Lightning, who have won all five games this season against Western Conference teams. St. Louis got goals from Alex Pietrangelo and Jaden Schwartz.

FLYERS 1, DEVILS 0 After being embarrassed by Washington at home 24 hours earlier, Philadelphia ground out a win at New Jersey. Brayden Schenn deflected Andrej Meszaros’ shot past Martin Brodeur in the first period, and Ray Emery made 14 saves, as last-place Philadelphia (4-9) earned a needed victory.

The fight-filled 7-0 loss to Washington on Friday might have sparked the Flyers. Philadelphia peppered Brodeur, who started his season-high third consecutive game. Brodeur made 20 saves.

New Jersey came up empty on five power-plays.

Emery, who gave up four goals on 15 shots and fought Washington’s Braden Holtby a night earlier, recorded his 15th NHL shutout.

PENGUINS 3, BLUE JACKETS 0 Deryk Engelland, Chris Kunitz and Jussi Jokinen scored, and backup Jeff Zatkoff made 19 saves in his first NHL win to lead Pittsburgh past Columbus.

The Penguins beat the Blue Jackets for the second straight day to stretch their winning streak to four.

Zatkoff was 0-2 with a 5.06 goals-against average coming in.

Engelland scored on a rapid-fire one-timer and Kunitz picked up his eighth when a shot went in off a Blue Jacket’s stick in the third. Jokinen added an empty-net goal.

Perhaps Zatkoff’s best save came when he blocked Dalton Prout’s hard shot from close range at 8:32 of the third period that would have cut the margin to a goal. Curtis McElhinney, getting his second start for the Blue Jackets, stopped 24 shots.

CAPITALS 3, PANTHERS 2 Nicklas Backstrom scored in the first period and

NEW YORK: Mats Zuccarello No. 36 of the New York Rangers butt helmets with teammate Henrik Lundqvist No. 30 in this file photo. — AFP added the winning goal in the shootout to lift Washington over Florida.

The Capitals won their second game in a row without Alex Ovechkin, who is out with an unspecified upper-body injury.

Tomas Fleishmann tied the game for Florida with a power-play goal with 2:38 left in the third. The Capitals also got shootout tallies from Mikhail Grabovski and Brooks Laich.

Ovechkin had 10 goals in 12 games before he was hurt in the first period Monday at Vancouver. Since then, the Capitals have outscored opponents 9-2 and reached .500 (7-7).

John Carlson also scored for Washington and Michal Neuvirth stopped 31 shots in regulation. Jesse Winchester had the Panthers’ other goal.

CANUCKS 4, MAPLE LEAFS 0 Roberto Luongo made 21 saves for his second shutout of the season, leading Vancouver to a victory over Toronto. Daniel Sedin, Zack Kassian, Chris Higgins and Dan Hamhuis scored for the Canucks, who rebounded from a disappointing loss to Detroit on Wednesday with one of their best efforts of the season. Henrik Sedin, who along with his brother signed a four-year contract extension on Friday, earned an assist on Daniel’s first-period goal to extend his point streak to 11 games (three goals, 10 assists). Before the game, Vancouver retired former star winger Pavel Bure’s No. 10.

James Reimer kept the Maple Leafs in it most of the night, making 43 saves as Toronto was outshot for the 13th time in 15 games this season. The Maple Leafs had a three-game winning streak snapped.

PREDATORS 4, KINGS 3 David Legwand’s second goal of the game with 3:56 left carried Nashville past Los Angeles. Legwand and Shea Weber scored power-play goals in the first period, Eric Nystrom also scored, and Patric Hornqvist had three assists. Carter Hutton made 35 saves in his fourth straight start since Pekka Rinne went on the injured list because of an infection in his surgically repaired hip. Anze Kopitar, Dustin Brown and Mike Richards scored for the Kings, and Jonathan Quick faced only 17 shots.

RED WINGS 5, OILERS 0 Petr Mrazek needed to make only 14 saves to earn his first NHL shutout in his third game as Detroit cruised to its third straight victory with a win over Edmonton. Tomas Tatar, Darren Helm, Jakub Kindl, Joakim Andersson and Todd Bertuzzi scored for the Red Wings (9-4-2), who are 3-1-2 in their last six games. Helm played in his first game of the season and third since March 2012, due to various injuries.

The Oilers (3-10-2) lost their fifth straight before they head out on a four-game trip. Edmonton has been shut out in its last two home games. Detroit took a 2-0 lead on goals 27 seconds apart five minutes into the game. The Red Wings outshot the Oilers 21-10 through the first 40 minutes.

AVALANCHE 4, CANADIENS 1 Gabriel Landeskog scored a goal and assisted on rookie Nathan Mackinnon’s go-ahead score as Colorado beat Montreal for its second six-game winning streak of the young season.

Ryan O’Reilly also had a goal, and Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 29 saves for the Avalanche, whose 12-1 start is the best in franchise history. P.A. Parenteau added an empty-net goal in the final minute.

Brendan Gallagher scored a power-play goal for the Canadiens at 3:38 of the third. That snapped Colorado’s season-high streak of 22 consecutive penalty kills.

COYOTES 3, SHARKS 2, SO Antoine Vermette scored in the opening minute and then got the winning goal in the shootout to give Phoenix a victory over San Jose.

Mikkel Boedker also scored for the Coyotes (10-32), who have points in 11 of their last 12 games. Joe Pavelski and Danny Boyle, who missed the previous seven games with a concussion, scored for the Sharks (10-1-3). Logan Couture converted the first attempt of the shootout for San Jose. He thought he had the winning goal with 33 seconds left in regulation, but it was waved off because the puck never crossed the line.

It was just one of many brilliant saves made by Mike Smith, who stopped 48 shots through overtime.

Sharks goalie Antti Niemi made 28 saves. Radim Vrbata also scored in the shootout for Phoenix. — AP

NHL results/standings Chicago 5, Winnipeg 1; Anaheim 6, Buffalo 3; Tampa Bay 4, St. Louis 2; Philadelphia 1, New Jersey 0; NY Islanders 3, Boston 1; NY Rangers 5, Carolina 1; Washington 3, Florida 2 (SO); Pittsburgh 3, Columbus 0; Vancouver 4, Toronto 0; Colorado 4, Montreal 1; Detroit 5, Edmonton 0; Phoenix 3, San Jose 2 (SO); Nashville 4, Los Angeles 3.

Western Conference Eastern Conference Atlantic Division Pacific Division Tampa Bay 10 4 0 47 35 20 W L OTL GF GA PTS Toronto 10 5 0 48 36 20 San Jose 10 1 3 53 27 23 Detroit 9 4 2 38 37 20 Anaheim 11 3 1 50 39 23 Boston 8 5 0 36 25 16 Phoenix 10 3 2 51 46 22 Montreal 8 7 0 41 31 16 Ottawa 4 6 3 39 43 11 Vancouver 10 5 1 46 41 21 Florida 3 8 3 28 49 9 Los Angeles 9 6 0 43 40 18 Buffalo 2 13 1 26 49 5 Calgary 5 6 2 39 47 12 Metropolitan Division Edmonton 3 10 2 36 59 8 Pittsburgh 11 4 0 48 33 22 Central Division 6 5 3 45 44 15 NY Islanders Colorado 12 1 0 42 19 24 Washington 7 7 0 44 40 14 NY Rangers 6 7 0 25 38 12 Chicago 9 2 3 50 39 21 Carolina 4 7 3 27 44 11 St. Louis 8 2 2 44 29 18 Columbus 5 8 0 33 36 10 Minnesota 7 4 3 34 34 17 New Jersey 3 6 4 26 38 10 Nashville 7 5 2 31 40 16 Philadelphia 4 9 0 21 37 8 Dallas 5 6 2 33 39 12 Note: Overtime losses (OTL) are worth one point in the Winnipeg 5 8 2 35 45 12 standings and are not included in the loss column (L).

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2013

S P ORT S

Golovkin retains boxing titles NEW YORK: After successfully finishing off a brash challenger, WBA and IBO middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin gave himself a perfect score and declared who he wants to fight next.

“I give myself a grade of a 10,” Golovkin said after stopping Curtis Stevens at the end of the eighth round Saturday night. “I am ready to fight anybody, but specifically I want to fight Sergio Martinez.”

A spokesman from K2 promotions said Golovkin’s next fight is scheduled for Feb. 1 in Monte Carlo against an opponent to be determined. Martinez holds the WBC middleweight title and might fight Miguel Cotto next year.

Golovkin won in front of 4,618 fans at the Theater at Madison Square Garden, improving to 28-0 with his 25th knockout.

He retained his titles for the fourth time this year and successfully defended a title for the ninth time as a professional.

The end came with a dominating display in the eighth. Golovkin used his right hand to pound Stevens under his swollen left eye. The round ended with a series of body shots and Stevens’ corner stopped the fight.

Golovkin won all eight rounds on Michael Pernick’s scorecard. On the other scorecards by Max DeLuca and Tom Schreck, Golovkin won every round but the fourth.

Golovkin dominated the statistics, connecting on 293 of 794 punches, including 108 jabs and 185 power punches. Stevens (25-4) connected on 97 of 303 punches, 23 jabs and 74 power punches.

“Stevens was tougher than we thought

he was going to be,” said Abel Sanchez, Golovkin’s trainer. “There are still things we need to work on as far as Gennady ’s patience and setting up his punches, but the good part is we got the win and have stuff to work on. Despite being dominated, Stevens didn’t lose any of his confidence.

“I have nothing to be ashamed of,” said Stevens, the Brooklyn fighter who had won four straight bouts. “I’m better than anybody gave my credit for. I’ve shown more in a loss than most people show in a win. This is not the end for me. I will learn from my mistakes and I’ll be back.

Early it seemed that Golovkin might have a short night as he dropped Stevens with 25 seconds left in the second round.

Golovkin knocked down Stevens with consecutive left hooks, finished the round with combinations near the ropes and referee Harvey Dock appeared hesitant to let the fight continue.

“I was not surprised he got up,” Golovkin said. Golovkin was only threatened slightly in the fourth and fifth when Stevens hit him with a series of left hooks and a standing left hook that appeared to slightly hurt Golovkin.

Golovkin, however, showed little effects and, after an early charge by Stevens in the sixth, he countered with several right hands and finished the round with 41 punches.

“I was able to use my right punches that we worked on in the gym to break him down,” Golovkin said. “He was strong and I was a little cautious of his strength but I felt comfortable in there and never felt I was in any trouble.” — AP

NEW YORK: Curtis Stevens punches Gennady Golovkin during their WBA Middleweight Title fight at The Theater at Madison Square Garden. — AFP

PGA Tour to launch new circuit in China SHANGHAI: The US PGA Tour continued its growth into Asia yesterday with the announcement of a new developmental circuit to be launched in China next year.

PGA Tour China will feature 12 events with fields, not restricted to Chinese players, expected to be between 120 and 156 players and purses around $200,000.

Qualifying events will be played early next year, with details still being finalised.

The new venture was launched by PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem, China Golf Association (CGA) chief Zhang Xiaoning and China Olympic Sports Industry (COSI) president Sun Liping at the WGC HSBC Champions event.

“We are very pleased to announce the establishment of PGA Tour China, which builds upon our longstanding relationship with the China Golf Association,” Finchem

said. “PGA Tour China will provide open competition on a quality tour for elite players from China and other countries and the opportunity to advance to the world stage. “ We plan to provide access to the Web.com Tour for the season’s top players.”

The PGA Tour already owns and operates two tours outside the United States - PGA Tour LatinoAmerica and PGA Tour Canada but a move into the world’s second largest economy could upset its rivals.

Finchem, though, dismissed concerns that the new tour would pose a threat to the European and OneAsia Tours, which have had a presence in China for several years. “ We don’t see any effect on either OneAsia or the European Tour’s interests in co-sanctioning events in certain places,” he said. —Reuters

DHAKA: Bangladesh cricketers and officials pose for a photo after winning the third One-Day International (ODI) cricket match between Bangladesh and New Zealand at Khan Jahan Ali Stadium. — AFP

Bangladesh whitewash NZ FATULLAH: Shamsur Rahman scored 96 and Naeem Islam made 63 to help Bangladesh win the third and final one-day international by four wickets and the series 3-0 against New Zealand yesterday.

Chasing a target of 308 to win, Nasir Hossain added 44 not out as Bangladesh eased to victory by scoring 309-6 with four balls to spare.

Mominul Haque contributed 32. Mitchell McClenaghan finished with 2-69. Rahman, playing just his second one-day international match, got close to his maiden century but a slower delivery from Corey Anderson induced him to edge to wicketkeeper Luke Ronchi as he missed the ton by four runs.

He struck seven fours and four sixes in his 107-ball knock. Rahman’s total kept Bangladesh on course when they set out in their chase of the big score posted by the visitors. They had never beaten a top side when facing the challenge of more than 300 runs though did manage the feat against Zimbabwe. Its highest chase came against India in 2012 when it chased down 293.

Rahman, however, kept the required run rate in check and together with Ziaur Rahman gave the team a solid base by adding 61 runs for the opening stand. Ziaur made 22.

Mominul Haque hit four fours in his 32 runs before he gave a return catch to Anton Devcich.

New Zealand fought its way back into the game when they got rid of Mushfiqur Rahim courtesy of Nathan McCullum immediately after the dismissal of Haque.

Naeem Islam and Rahman later added 75 runs for the fourth-wicket stand to deal the Kiwis a further blow. Islam smashed 63 off 74 balls with five boundaries before being run out.

But Hossain then held together the innings while Sohag Gazi sealed the victory by hitting a boundary against McClenaghan. Hossain was unbeaten on 44, which included five fours and a six. Earlier, Ross Taylor scored an unbeaten 107 and Colin Munro made 85 to help New Zealand reach 307-5. Devcich added 46 while Tom Latham scored 43 to give the visitors a solid base against a struggling Bangladesh team at Khan Shaheb Osmani Ali Stadium, which hosted international cricket for the first time in seven years.

After Bangladesh won the toss and asked New Zealand to bat first, Mahmudullah returned figures of 2-36, while Hossain, Gazi and Mashrafe Mortaza claimed one wicket each.

Taylor hit his eighth ODI century off 93 balls with nine boundaries and three sixes. Munro made his total off 77 balls with seven fours and two sixes.

Munro and Taylor added 130 runs in a fourthwicket stand. Munro’s innings swung the momentum toward the Kiwis, who were struggling on 101-3 at one stage.

Munro attacked Bangladesh bowling from the start, but the aggressive approach was also his downfall when a century appeared imminent. He looked to reverse hit a Mahmudullah

SCOREBOARD FATULLAH, Bangladesh: Scores in the third one-day international between Bangladesh and New Zealand at the Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium at Fatullah outside Dhaka yesterday: New Zealand innings: A. Devcich c Razzak b Mahmudullah 46 T. Latham c Mushfiqur b Rubel 43 G. Elliot c Sohag b Razzak 3 R. Taylor not out 107 C. Munro c Mushfiqur b Mahmudullah 85 C. Anderson c Ziaur b Sohag 1 L. Ronchi not out 13 Extras (lb3, w6) 9 Total (five wickets; 50 overs) 307 Fall of wickets: 1-66 (Devcich), 2-82 ( Elliot), 3101 ( Latham), 4-231 ( Munro) 5-232( Anderson) Bowling: Mashrafe 8-0-73-0, Rubel 6-0-38-1 (w5), Sohag 10-0-67-1 (w1), Razzak 9-0-57-1, Nasir 10-1-33-0, Mahmudullah 7-0-36-2 Bangladesh innings: Shamsur Rahman c Ronchi b Anderson 96 ball but the extra bounce got him out.

After the dismissal of Munro, Taylor came out of his shell to launch a spectacular attack. He gained the momentum when hitting two fours off a Razzak over and then hit three sixes in a row against Gazi.

His attacking knock helped New Zealand amass 73 runs in the last five overs. Bangladesh came into the game with one change to the

Ziaur Rahman c Milne b McClenaghan 22 Mominul Haque c & b Devcich 32 Mushfiqur Rahim c Taylor b McCullum 2 Naeem Islam run out 63 Nasir Hossain not out 44 Mahmudullah c Ronchi b McClenaghan 16 Sohag Gazi not out 11 Extras (b4, lb3, w9, nb7) 23 Total (six wickets, 49.2 overs) 309 Fall of wickets: 1-61 (Ziaur) 2-126 (Mominul), 3129 (Mushfiqur) 4-204 (Shamsur), 5-254 (Naeem), 6-289 ( Mahmudullah) Bowling: Millis 8-1-55-0 (nb2), Milne 7-0-42-0 (w2), McClenaghan 9.2-0-69-2 (w1, nb5), Anderson 10-0-56-1 (w4), McCullum 8-0-44-1, Devcich 7-0-36-1(w2) Result: Bangladesh won by four wickets, take series 3-0. team that played the second ODI, bringing Ziaur Rahman in for Tamim Iqbal, who complained of abdominal pain.

New Zealand made four changes, replacing Brendan McCullum, Tim Southee, James Neesham and Hamish Rutherford with Munro, Adam Milne, Ronchi and McClenaghan. Kyle Mills led New Zealand after McCullum was ruled out with back pain. —AP

DUBAI: Pakistani opener Nasir Jamshed (right) talks to South African batsman Hashim Amla (left) during a training session. Pakistan will face South Africa in the third match in Abu Dhabi on November 6. The five-match series is leveled at 1-1 after two matches. — AFP

Big game, big win for Johnson SHANGHAI: It only took four holes over two days for Dustin Johnson to lose a six-shot lead in the HSBC Champions. All that mattered was the high-powered kick down the stretch yesterday at Sheshan International that brought him the biggest win of his career.

In what felt like the end of a long year and beginning of a new season, Johnson broke loose from a three-way challenge on the back nine by playing a five-hole stretch in 5-under par. He closed with a 6-under 66 for a three-shot win over Ian Poulter to capture his first World Golf Championship title.

“It’s the biggest win I’ve had in my career so far,” he said. “Those guys put a lot of pressure on me. I’m really proud of the way I handled myself.” This one required a little bit of everything.

One shot behind with six holes to play, he smashed his drive over the corner of a dogleg on the 13th hole that left him a short wedge into 5 feet for birdie to catch Poulter. Right when it looked as though he would fall behind again, Johnson holed a 20-foot birdie putt on the next hole. It was a pitch-in for eagle that effectively won the tournament.

With a one-shot lead playing the par4 16th, Johnson hit a 3-iron about 25 yards short of the green with a front pin.

The pitch was perfect, rolling into the cup like it was a putt. Johnson raised his left hand and pumped his right fist. And when he waved to acknowledge the Chinese fans, they instinctively waved back, as if Johnson were the star attrac-

SHANGHAI: Dustin Johnson of the United States poses with his trophy at an award ceremony of the HSBC Champions golf tournament at the Sheshan International Golf Club. — AP tion in a parade.

That he was, and there were plenty of stars. For most of the back nine, the top seven players on the leaderboards consisted of Johnson and half of Europe’s winning Ryder Cup team from Medinah.

Poulter and Graeme McDowell, who each had a share of the lead at some point, looked capable of winning until Johnson’s late heroics. Right behind them were Sergio Garcia, Justin Rose, Rory McIlroy and Martin Kaymer, all firing away with birdies on a soft course

but unable to catch up.

Poulter and McDowell each closed with a 66, the same score as Johnson.

McDowell went 64-66 on the weekend without making a bogey and still lost by four. It was the start of that amazing stretch by Johnson that he recalled most clearly.

“He trenches one 350 down the middle and has the hands to that 70-yard shot to the front pin and make the putt,” McDowell said. “He’s just a quality, talented, very athletic, classy player. Yeah,

he makes mistakes. But when you’ve got a game as good as him, you can get away with a few mistakes. He’s just got a great wedge game to go with just an outrageously good driving game.”

Johnson set the tournament record at 24-under 264.

He was six shots clear Saturday afternoon when he hit his tee shot in the water for a double bogey on the par-5 18th hole. Poulter had made birdie on the 18th, so the lead was cut to three shots going into the final round. Poulter started birdie-birdie. McDowell did one better, opening with three straight birdies. Johnson three-putted the first hole for bogey, and then failed to make birdie on the par-5 second hole even though he had a 6-iron for his second shot.

Just like that, there was a three-way tie for the lead. “The first five holes were not fun,” Johnson said. “I wasn’t having too much fun at the start, especially when Graeme and Ian were birdieing every hole, it seemed like. But I knew I just needed to keep playing my game.”

Poulter, still tied for the lead, reached the green in two with a fairway metal.

Johnson missed the fairway and had to lay up, while McDowell was stuck in the thick collar on the top side of a bunker, and he did well to hit a chunk-and-run onto the green about 40 feet away.

Poulter lagged to tap-in range for birdie.

McDowell’s long birdie putt banged into the back of the cup and disappeared.

Johnson calmly made his 20-foot birdie.

“That was a big putt there,” Johnson said.

Poulter fell out of the lead with a bogey from the bunker on the 15th, and he never caught up. He at least stayed within two shots with a birdie on the 16th, but it was demoralizing to see Johnson follow his eagle with a 5-iron into 8 feet for birdie on the 17th that wrapped it up.

“A little disappointed not to put my hands back on the trophy,” said Poulter, who won the HSBC Champions last year at Mission Hills. “But 15 birdies and an eagle at the weekend is some pretty good golf. Dustin finished the job. It was good golf and it was good fun to play in that group.”

Garcia closed with a 63 to finish fourth, followed by Rose (68). McIlroy and Graham DeLaet each shot 69 to tie for sixth.

It was the second straight PGA Tour season that Johnson won the first tournament he played - even though it was in the same year. His last win was the Tournament of Championship at Kapalua in January. This is the first time the tour has gone to a wraparound season, which began a month ago.

Johnson now has won in each of his first seven seasons on the PGA Tour, the most by any player since Woods in his first 14 seasons through 2009. The next step is to win a major, and he already has had plenty of chances in those. “You know what?” Johnson said. “If I play like I did this week, I’m going to win one, for sure.” — AP

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2013

S P ORT S

Wise Dan shines again, Game on Dude fades ARCADIA: For a second year in a row at the Breeders’ Cup, Wise Dan cemented his credentials as North America’s topranked race horse while Game on Dude spectacularly failed as favorite for the showpiece Classic.

Game on Dude, whose odds shortened to 8-5 at Santa Anita Park on Saturday, finished a surprising ninth out of 11 runners after running out of steam down the stretch, effectively ending his chance of securing Horse of the Year honors.

That accolade now seems certain to fall to Wise Dan after the six-year-old gelding surged to a repeat victory in the $2 million Mile, despite an early stumble out of the gate and being ridden by a replacement jockey. John Velazquez was initially scheduled to be on board but had to have emergency surgery after falling with his horse during a race earlier in the day. Jose Lezcano took over, and guided Wise Dan to victory by three-quarters of a length.

“He stumbled out of the gate really bad,” Lezcano said of Wise Dan, who is the reigning Horse of the Year. “He tried to break so fast that he just lost his balance. “I had to let him go. He tried to go to plan ‘B’, you know, waiting. He gave me a good run and won the race. He’s a champion horse.”

Lezcano expressed sympathy for Velazquez, who required emergency surgery to remove his spleen after he suffered internal bleeding following an accident during the $2 million Juvenile Fillies, the first race of the day.

Velazquez was riding Secret Compass

when he and his horse fell as they approached the final turn. Secret Compass was later euthanised after being diagnosed with a broken leg.

“First everybody pray for Johnny and his family,” said Lezcano. “You don’t want to see that happen to a good horse like her, but that’s the way the business happens. We’re sorry.” Mucho Macho Man, a 4-1 shot, stole the limelight from Game on Dude with a storming finish to win the $5 million Classic, the concluding event at the two-day Breeders’ Cup extravaganza.

Piloted by 50-year-old Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens, Mucho Macho Man surged past the celebrated field down the home straight before holding off a late charge by Will Take Charge to prevail by a nose.

“He was super, super sharp today,” Stevens said as he celebrated his first ever Classic win. “You need a good, clean break, and he left there like a quarter horse today and actually outbroke them.

“He’s so push button. He’s a big, long striding horse, and he was powerful down the back side. I knew they were coming, but he was super, super tough the last 16th of a mile.”

Game on Dude, who had won all five of his previous starts this season, faded into seventh place at last year’s Classic after also starting as the favorite.

Mizdirection retained her title in the $1 million Turf Sprint as her veteran jockey, Mike Smith, extended his record career total of Breeders’ Cup wins to 20.

Reneesgotzip, with Edwin Maldonado on board, appeared to have

the race in control coming into the home straight but was overtaken on the outside by Mizdirection as she surged to the finish line.

“I broke better this time (compared to last year’s race),” said the 48-year-old Smith, who won two Breeders’ Cup race on Friday. “I took advantage of the break and I took the rail right away, which is the best place to be turning right. “Man, she was right there. I was worried I might have been a little too close, but I’m glad I was because the lead horses weren’t stopping.

Reneesgotzip wouldn’t give up.”

Ria Antonia, a 32-1 long shot going into the starting gate, won the $2 million Juvenile Fillies in controversial circumstances after She’s A Tiger was relegated into second place following a steward’s inquiry. She’s a Tiger, with veteran Stevens on board, had led from the start but drifted off line coming down the home straight to bump the hardchasing Ria Antonia, causing her to lose momentum. “I had gotten by Gary but when he came in to me, he bumped me off stride,” said Ria Antonia’s jockey Javier Castellano, after crossing the line a nose behind She’s a Tiger.

“It was a tough call,” said Stevens. “ The stewards made their call and I wouldn’t disagree with that. I wouldn’t have wanted to be up there in that booth with them.” Favorite Groupie Doll retained her title in the $1 million Filly and Mare Sprint, jockey Rajiv Maragh expertly guiding the five-year-old mare from the outside to win by half a length over Judy the Beauty. — Reuters

Shooting tourney concludes

By Abdellatif Sharaa KUWAIT: The tournament of HH the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf AlAhmad Al-Jaber concluded Saturday evening with the closing ceremony that was held at Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Olympic Shooting Complex, in the presence of Hawally governor Lt General (Rt) Abdallah Abdelrahman Al-Fares, representing HH the Crown Prince, President of

Al-Fatah Club, President of Kuwait Society for the ideal family Sheikha Faraiha Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber, President of Kuwait and Arab Shooting Federations Engr Duaij AlOtaibi, Deputy Director General for Maintenance Affairs at Pays Esam Jaafar, KSSF vice -president Mohammad Mustafa Karam, KSSF Secretary General Obaid Al-Osaimi and board members.

More than 200 shooters from the club, National Guard, military, police sports associations, Qatar and Bahrain, participated in the tournament at the Olympic, international, continental and Arab levels. He said the results of Kuwait shooters during the Third Asian Clay Target Tournament in Kazakhstan winning 12 medals, and Abdallah Al-Rashidi’s win of the bronze medal at the world cup finals, is a strong evi-

dence on the efforts exerted, and those shooters always honor us through their outstanding results.

President of the Arab and Kuwait Shooting Federation, member ISSF executive council Engr Duaij Khalaf Al-Otaibi congratulated the winners and lauded the strong presence of youth and juniors who achieved good scores during their participation with the men and women, and

hoped that shooters continue participating in the coming events, as large participation give the competition a good flavor.

He said that we are happy with opening the season with HH Crown Prince tournament in which a large number of shooters from all categories participated.

Al-Otaibi thanked HH the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad AlJaber Al-Sabah for his continued support of the shooting sport and having an annual tournament in his name.

Results of the tournament: Skeet-men: Saud Habeeb, Zaid AlMutairi, Mansour Al-Rashidi.

Trap-men: Nasser Al-Miqlid, Tami AlRashidi, Abdelrahman Al-Faihan.

Double trap-men: Ahmad Al-Afasi, Abdullah Al-Rashidi Hamad Al-Afasi.

Skeet-women: Imam Al-Shamma, Afrah Abdelrahman, Futooh Abdelrahman.

Trap-women: Sumaya Al-Juhail, Asmaa Al-Qatarmi.

10m air pistol-men: Saadoun AlAjmi, Hamad Al-Rashidi, Bader AlMuhaini.

10m air rifle -men: Abdallah AlHarby, Khalid Al-Subaie, Mohammad Abdelrahman.

50m rifle-men: Khalid Al-Subaie, Abdallah Al-Harby, Hamad Al-Hajiri.

50m 3 position rifle -men: Mohammad Abdelrahman, Khalid Al-Subaie, Mifreh Al-Subaie.

50m pistol-men: Bader Al-Muhaini, Mishal Al-Tahoos, Hamad Al-Rashidi.

25m pistol-women: Huthama AlBaghli, Israa Bahman.

10m air rifle -women: Mariam Erzouqi, Duaa Al-Duwikhi, Zahra AlSafar.

10m air pistol-women: Mohammad Musallam, Ahmad Al-Shatti, Faisal Al-Rashidi.

Olympic Archery-women: Hanan AlMayas, Sanaa Al-Khudari, Rajaa AlHuddad.

Olympic archery, complex-men: Musallam Ibrahim, Salem Saeed, Ahmad Al-Shatti.

Those with special needs category 10m air rifle-men: Atif Al-Dousari, Mohammad Atab, Nizar Ramadhan Mohammad.

10m air pistol-men: Khalid Khaleef, Tawfiq, Ashkanani, Ali-Khaleefa.

Photo of the day

A competitor performs at the WISBI Challenge Final 2013 in Spielberg, Austria on October 26, 2013.

— www.redbull.com

76ers stop Bulls charge PHILADELPHIA: Rookie Michael Carter-Williams had 26 points and 10 assists and Spencer Hawes added 18 points and 11 rebounds as the Philadelphia 76ers continued their stunning start to the season, beating the Chicago Bulls 107104 on Saturday.

Pegged to be one of the league’s worst teams, the Sixers (3-0) have opened the season with wins over Chicago, Washington and two-time defending champion Miami.

Carlos Boozer led the Bulls with 22 points and 10 rebounds and Luol Deng had 20 points.

Still dealing with neck soreness, Derrick Rose finished with 13 points and six assists for Chicago.

After trailing by 18 points in the second half, the Sixers took a 100-99 lead with 3:29 left when Carter-Williams picked up a loose ball and calmly laid it in. It was the Sixers’ first lead since 11-10.

went on a 13-0 run over 2 1/2 minutes to take a 16-6 lead they never lost.

PACERS 89, CAVALIERS 74 Paul George and Lance Stephenson combined for 43 points as Indiana remained unbeaten. Stephenson scored 22 points, including 10 in a 14-4 run midway through the fourth quarter that gave the Pacers a 79-61 lead with 7:46 to play. George, who had 21 points and 13 rebounds, and scored all the points in a key third-quarter run for Indiana (3-0). Dion Waiters scored 17 points, Kyrie Irving had 15 and Anderson Varejao 14 for Cleveland (1-2), which dropped both ends of a two-night road trip after beginning the season with a homecourt win. Stephenson began the final surge by hitting a 3-pointer from the left side, scored on a layup, drove the lane, then finished the run by knocking down a 28-footer from the left side.

TRAIL BLAZERS 115, SPURS 105 Nicolas Batum hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer and finished with 11 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists as Portland won its fifth straight home opener.

Damian Lillard had 25 points, seven assists and seven rebounds, and LaMarcus Aldridge added 24 points for the Trail Blazers, who led by as many as 13 points. Duncan sat out the Spurs’ 91-85 win Friday night against the Lakers after bruising his chest in Wednesday’s season-opening victory over Memphis. He had 24 points in the first loss this season for the Western Conference champions. — AP

PELICANS 105, BOBCATS 84 Anthony Davis had 25 points, eight rebounds and five assists to lead New Orleans to its first win since changing its nickname to Pelicans.

Tyreke Evans added 15 points, Jrue Holiday had 14 and Brian Roberts 13 for New Orleans (1-2), which made the name change from Hornets in the offseason.

Ramon Sessions had 22 points and Kemba Walker added 14 for Charlotte (1-2). The Pelicans set a franchise record with 18 blocked shots, including a career-high six by Davis.

Jason Smith tied a career high with five blocks.

Indiana 89, Cleveland 74; Philadelphia 107, Chicago 104; New Orleans 105, Charlotte 84; Dallas 111, Memphis 99; Toronto 97, Milwaukee 90; Houston 104, Utah 93; Portland 115, San Antonio 105; Golden State 98, Sacramento 87.

Eastern Conference Atlantic Division W L PCT GB Philadelphia 3 0 1.000 2 1 .667 1 Toronto NY Knicks 1 1 .500 1.5 Brooklyn 1 1 .500 1.5 Boston 0 2 0 2.5 Central Division Indiana 3 0 1.000 1 1 .500 1.5 Detroit Chicago 1 2 .333 2 Cleveland 1 2 .333 2 Milwaukee 1 2 .333 2 Southeast Division Atlanta 1 1 .500 1 2 .333 0.5 Charlotte Miami 1 2 .333 0.5 Orlando 1 2 .333 0.5 Washington 0 2 0 1 Western Conference Northwest Division Minnesota 2 0 1.000 2 1 .667 0.5 Portland Oklahoma City 1 1 .500 1 Denver 0 2 0 2 Utah 0 3 0 2.5 Pacific Division Phoenix 2 0 1.000 2 1 .667 0.5 LA Clippers Golden State 2 1 .667 0.5 LA Lakers 1 2 .333 1.5 Sacramento 1 2 .333 1.5 Southwest Division Houston 3 0 1.000 2 1 .667 1 San Antonio Dallas 2 1 .667 1 New Orleans 1 2 .333 2 Memphis 1 2 .333 2

ROCKETS 104, JAZZ 93 Chandler Parsons scored 24 points and James Harden had 23 to help Houston rally from a 19-point deficit to remain undefeated and keep Utah winless. Jeremy Lin added 20 points as the Rockets (3-0) outscored the Jazz 64 37 in the second half.

After John Lucas made a jumper to beat the shot clock and pull the Jazz within 95-90 with 3:27 left, the Rockets allowed just one field goal the rest of the way.

Enes Kanter made an inside jumper to give Utah its final lead, 85-83 with 7:11 remaining. Harden drove for a layup, Lin hit a 3-pointer and Parsons followed with another basket to start the game-ending run. Richard Jefferson led Utah (0-3) with 18 and Kanter added 16 for the Jazz.

MAVERICKS 111, GRIZZLIES 99 Dirk Nowitzki scored 24 points to lead Dallas’ balanced offense. Shawn Marion had a double-double of 21 points and 14 rebounds for the Mavericks, while Monta Ellis had 18 points. Jose Calderon broke out of a shooting slump with 15 points, Samuel Dalembert didn’t miss a shot in scoring 14 and Vince Carter added 11 in a reserve role.

Zach Randolph had 21 points and 14 rebounds for Memphis. Calderon had made just 1 of 15 shots from the field in the first two games. Last season’s NBA leader in 3point percentage had been 1 for 8 from beyond the arc before going 3 for 7.

Dallas missed its first seven shots before Nowitzki banked in a 3-pointer 2:20 into the game. The Mavericks

RAPTORS 97, BUCKS 90 Rudy Gay had 18 points and 15rebounds, DeMar DeRozen added 17 points, and Toronto spoiled Milwaukee’s home opener. After losing a 12-point lead, DeRozen helped Toronto hold on down the stretch. His step-back jumper put the Raptors back up 89-85 with 4 minutes left.

Then after missing two free throws, DeRozen was fouled again after corralling the rebound, making both this time with 2:09 left for a five-point lead.

O.J. Mayo had 16 points off the bench for the Bucks, including a 3 that tied the game at 85 with 5:53 left. The Raptors controlled the paint early and outrebounded the Bucks 60-38.

NBA results/standings

OAKLAND: Sacramento Kings’ DeMarcus Cousins (left) and Greivis Vasquez (right) chase a loose ball with Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry during the second half of an NBA basketball game. — AP

18

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2013

SPORTS

Owen’s goal to win Melbourne Cup with Brown Panther MELBOURNE: Former football star Michael Owen played in three World Cups and for some of the greatest club teams but his burning ambition is to own the first English-trained winner of tomorrow’s Melbourne Cup. Owen, 33, bred and races Brown Panther and opted for early retirement after 17 years of toplevel soccer including for England so he could travel to major race meetings around the world.

Brown Panther, trained by Tom Dascombe in Cheshire, is one of nine overseas-trained runners entered for Australia’s iconic horse race over 3,200 metres (two miles) at Flemington.

Five overseas stayers have won the Melbourne Cup-Dunaden and Americain (France), Delta Blues (Japan), Vintage Crop and Media Puzzle (Ireland) — but England has yet to land the big prize in the Aus$6 million ($5.7 million) race.

“England have never had a winner in the

Melbourne Cup so obviously it would be a first, it would be a huge honour,” Owen said this week.

“But I don’t want to get too carried away. “I get quite nervous, in particular, when this fellow runs.

He’s obviously my best horse.

“I never really suffered with nerves throughout my (football) career. When you’re actually doing something, you feel as though you’re in control of it, but when the jockey and horse trot off down to the gates you’ve got no control whatsoever.”

Owen, the fourth all-time England top scorer with 40 goals in 89 internationals and who played for Liverpool, Real Madrid and Manchester United, tweeted yesterday: “Trying to keep my expectations in check! I suppose the 16-1 bookmakers quote him reflects his chance.”

Brown Panther has the form to give the Cup a shake after his dominant win in the Goodwood Cup over a similar distance in August, beating

Godolphin’s Ahzeemah and another Melbourne Cup runner Mount Athos.

Newmarket trainer Luca Cumani is having another crack at the Melbourne Cup with Mount Athos after close seconds with Purple Moon (2007) and Bauer the following year.

Mount Athos was heavily checked on the home turn in last year’s Cup and eventually finished fifth, but that hasn’t put off Cumani for Australia’s famous handicap race.

“I’m an obstinate Italian so-and-so, and here I am, back to try again,” said Cumani of his second favorite behind locally trained Fiorente, who is the clear 5-1 favorite.

Fiorente went down by a length to Green Moon in last year’s Melbourne Cup and was the third runner-up for Gai Waterhouse, who previously trained Te Akau Nick (1993) and Nothin’ Leica Dane in 1995. Green Moon and Dunaden

are bidding to become only the sixth horse to win multiple Melbourne Cups in the race’s 152-year history. French jockey Christophe Lemaire will be on Verema in one of his last big-race rides for the Aga Khan stable, while Newmarket trainer Ed Dunlop’s much-travelled Red Cadeaux, who lost a head-bobbing finish with Dunaden in 2011, is looking to go one better.

The Goldolphin stable, which has had three runners-up in over 15 years at the Melbourne Cup, is pinning its hopes on Royal Empire.

“There is no problem with the draw, and I am very happy with the horse. He did all his serious work in England and he has just been ticking over here,” trainer Saeed bin Suroor said. “He stayed one mile, five furlongs in Britain, so I can see him staying two miles in Australia.” The other members of the European contingent in the race are Dandino, Simenon and Ruscello. — AFP

Gripes over Tokyo stadium overshadow Games euphoria TOKYO: Just weeks after they rode the wave of euphoria to Olympic victory when Tokyo won the right to host the 2020 Games, organisers are being brought back to Earth with a bump.

The eye-catching architectural centrepiece-a futuristic, bike-helmet-shaped stadium-is too big say detractors. What’s more, others add, it’s too expensive.

“A huge building is not always loved by people... and after the Olympics are over, many people will be forced to see it,” said Fumihiko Maki, an award-winning Japanese architect responsible for one of the new towers for the World Trade Center complex in New York.

The proposed stadium, designed by London-based Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid, is intended to occupy the spot in west Tokyo of the present national stadium, an area with numerous parks and a large Shinto shrine. Rising to about 70 metres (230 feet), the 80,000-seat facility would tower over most of the structures around it in a part of the densely-packed city that has historically restricted the height of buildings to 15 metres or less.

That would make it visible from all over the west of Tokyo, including from the immaculately-kept National Shinjuku Gyoen Park, a green lung tucked underneath the skyscrapers of Shinjuku.

“It’s important that people don’t have to see it if they don’t want to,” said Maki. “If there is no event going on inside the stadium, it is just an enormous object.”

The 85-year-old has pedigree in Olympic projects; he was one of the architects in the run-up to the 1964 Games, Japan’s coming out party as a modern, industrial nation.

“When we built the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium (in 1954) just next to the planned new stadium, there were strict regulations to protect the landscape there,” said Maki, referring to the building for which he won the Pritzker Architecture Prize. The comments by Maki came after Japan’s minister in charge of the Olympics said last month the estimated cost for the construction of the stadium is now about 300 billion yen ($3 billion), more than double the 130 billion yen that was originally stipulated in the design competition.

Hakubun Shimomura told parliament: “We need to look at how we might shrink the plan because the budget is too big.”

Tokyo governor Naoki Inose has said the metropolitan government has no intention of riding to the rescue for a stadium that can be built for a maximum 150 billion yen.

Maki said Friday he plans to submit a petition to the education and sports ministry demanding complete transparency on the project.

“We don’t oppose hosting the Olympics per se... I only hope the plan will get cut down to make it a smaller structure,” he said. “Unlike fireworks festivals and costume parties, an architectural building remains there for 50 years, 100 years, regardless of your likes and dislikes. The financial burden might fall on us citizens,” he said. Fellow architectural heavyweight Kengo Kuma said he shared Maki’s concerns but was sympathetic to Hadid. Kuma said Tokyo had to meet certain conditions set down by the International Olympic Committee in order to win the 2020 Games.

One of those was that the stadium had to be able to hold 80,000 spectators.

“The size of the stadium ...is not so fitting” in a limited area surrounded by green parks, he told a news conference. “But this is not her fault,” he said. The placing of Hadid’s stadium reflects the lessons Tokyo learned from its unsuccessful bid to host the 2016 Games, said Kuma, a Tokyo University professor.

Then, the plan had been to site the centrepiece facility in Tokyo’s bay area, which has more room for a large structure.

But that “was criticised by the IOC (International Olympic Committee)... because it was separated from central Tokyo,” he said. “But central Tokyo has only space in this zone, so that’s why they put it there. The design brief “had very high hurdles. And I think Zaha Hadid’s idea, the design itself, is not so bad. She tried to solve the conditions in a smart way.”Kuma warned that the time for chopping and changing was rapidly running out. “We need to think about what we can do, because we only have seven years left, which is not a lot of time for construction on a big project like this.” — AFP

Injury thwarts Ashour as Matthew, Gaultier make final MANCHESTER: Ramy Ashour lost his world title and saw his unbeaten 53match sequence halted when a calf injury caused him to retire at one game all against Nick Matthew in the semifinals of the World Championships on Saturday.

The sport’s most brilliant player and most charismatic personality was reduced to a sombre figure, close to tears, at having dreams of repeating his world title triumph in Manchester five years ago shattered.

Instead it became the third time in four world championships that the world number one from Egypt has been forced to quit in the middle of the tournament, raising questions as to what the 26-year-old can do to prolong his career.

After two painfully half-hearted rallies at the start of the third game, Ashour shook hands and received some consoling words from Matthew who made it to his third final in four years with the score at 6-11, 11-2, 2-0 in his favor. In late yesterday’s final, Matthew will face French second seed Gregory Gaultier who defeated Mohamed El Shorbagy, the Egyptian sixth seed, 6-11, 11-3, 11-8, 12-10.

Ashour confirmed that he suffered the injury during his hard third round match with Cameron Pilley of Australia, which went to four games and lasted more than an hour.

“I’ve been having a lot of physio, and ice and acupuncture - and taking pills to relax,” he said. “It’s going to be hard because I have been pushing my leg far too much and that’s not the right way to do it.

“I’ve been expecting something wrong to happen but I’ve been trying to stay positive. It’s a very big disappointment to me. I have to go back and see what’s wrong with my legs,” Ashour added.

“People in the hospital told me I

have fatigue in my hamstrings and that it’s going to come back, but that I might get lucky if it doesn’t come back.

“It’s a bit uncertain,” he went on, referring to the future. “There is no certain thing I can do to make it go away. I will have to go away for the 25th time and try to find a way to come back again.”

Matthew, twice a former winner of the world title, will now play Gaultier, who survived a late night drugs test, a lack of sleep, and a superbly tenacious Shorbagy to reach his fourth world final. Matthew was well beaten by Gaultier in the US Open final in Philadelphia two weeks ago.

“You know I don’t really think about it,” said Gaultier. “I just enjoy being on court and playing well and being free of injury. I try to fly on court. It’s just a pleasure, and if it’s a pleasure when you work everything comes and you manage to play well.”

Gaultier started slowly on Saturday and allowed Shorbagy to take leads of 4-0 in the third game and 8-4 in the fourth, and profited rather fortunately three points from the end from a debatable no let decision which prevented a valiant opponent from reaching two games all.

Gaultier had gone to bed at 5 am, he claimed, because he had been given a drug test during the evening, and eventually slept for only three hours.

“I was on the toilet, like this,” he said, giving a brief demonstration. “I was a bit sleepy but I managed to do it.” His best was still very good indeed. He turned the pivotal third game round with the help of a monster rally of more than a hundred strokes at 8-7 which he won with a forehand volley to a perfect length, and also with a cool head during what followed. Shorbagy did more of the physical work, but was still able to extend the contest to a testing 80 minutes. — AFP

NEW YORK: Women’s winner Priscah Jeptoo of Kenya (center) second place finisher Buzunesh Deba of Ethiopia (left) and third place finisher Jelena Prokopcuka of Latvia pose with their medals after the New York City Marathon. — AP

Mutai and Jeptoo win New York Marathon NEW YORK CITY: Kenyans Geoffrey Mutai and Priscah Jeptoo won New York City Marathon titles yesterday as elite runners returned to the Big Apple a year after Hurricane Sandy wiped out the race and seven months after the Boston Marathon bombings.

Mutai, who also won the 2011 New York crown, captured the men’s title in an unofficial time of 2hrs 8mins, 23secs while Jeptoo, the reigning London Marathon champion who finished second at last year’s London Olympics, came from behind to win in an unofficial time of 2:25.07.

The 43rd edition of the 26.2-mile (42.2km) showdown included more than 48,000 runners from 115 nations competing in cool and windy conditions for a $100,000 top prize with a backdrop of tightened security in the wake of twin tragedies.

Three people were killed by bombs planted near the finish line of the Boston Marathon last April, making “Boston Strong” a catchphrase to inspire comebacks, including a World Series baseball crown for a Boston Red Sox club that was last in its division in 2012.

“What occurred in Boston has made this race even more important to participants,” said retired tennis star John McEnroe, who lives near the finish line.

Nearly 100 people died in flooding and devastating property damage caused in the New York area last year by Hurricane Sandy, which forced the race to be cancelled.

“We run for the spirit of New York and Boston,” said race chief executive Mary Wittenberg. “We run united.” Many runners turned into relief supply deliverers to people who lost homes and electricity.

“We’re here to say keep your hope up when the struggles start,” said American Meb Keflezighi, the 2009 winner. Mutai, who set the course record in taking the 2011 title, went to the front of the early lead pack of 20 that was halved as the leaders surged after the first hour and down to eight with about half an hour remaining.

Mutai made his move in the 21st mile, breaking the pack apart after one hour and 42 minutes. Countryman Stanley Biwot stayed with him for another mile but then faded and Mutai was never challenged from there to the finish.

New York 2011 runner-up Buzunesh Deba and training partner Tigist Tufa, Ethiopians living in New York, raced to the front from the start of the women’s race, pulling ahead by two minutes after the first 40 minutes and kept a large lead deep into the event.

Kenya’s Jeptoo began closing the gap with eight miles remaining in a bid to chase down the leaders.

Deba pulled ahead alone with about seven miles to run but charging Jeptoo passed Deba in Central Park with just under two miles remaining and surged quickly to a

NEW YORK: Geoffrey Mutai of Kenya holds his trophy after winning the men’s division of the New York City Marathon. — AP substantial lead. titles by adding New York to a haul that also Russian-born American Tatyana includes crowns at Boston, London and McFadden completed a women’s wheel- Chicago. Swiss Marcel Hug won the men’s chair marathon grand slam of 2013 major wheelchair race. — AFP

NEW YORK: Women’s wheelchair winner Tatyana McFadden of the United States breaks the tape to win the women’s wheelchair division of the New York City Marathon. — AP

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2013

S P ORT S

Villa, Costa on target for buoyant Atletico MADRID: Atletico Madrid moved back to within a point of Barcelona at the top of La Liga with a comfortable 2-0 win at home to Athletic Bilbao yesterday.

David Villa and Diego Costa were again the men who inflicted the damage on the Basques as the former opened the scoring with a volley from Juanfran’s cross on 32 minutes.

Costa then cored his 13th goal in 12 league games this season with a brilliant individual effort eight minutes later.

And Atletico boss Diego Simeone was full of praise for the Brazilian-born striker who moved level again with Cristiano Ronaldo at the top of the La Liga scoring charts. “He is huge for us in every way,” Simeone said of Costa. “He scored a wonderful goal, his movement and power was great. “But not just his goals, in his participation in the play and the connection he has with the other players he makes the team better. “He is growing in every aspect and he will continue to do so because he still has a lot to improve.” An 11th victory in 12 league games also means Atletico maintain their five point advantage over city rivals Real Madrid in third.

However, despite such an incredible start to the campaign, Simeone insisted he is not annoyed to still find his side behind Barca at the top of the table.

“No, we are not frustrated (that Barcelona keep winning), we are just enjoying the moment that we

MADRID: Atletico Madrid’s Diego Costa (center) runs with the ball between Athletic Bilbao’s Erik Moran (left) and Mikel San Jose during the Spanish La Liga soccer match. — AP

are in at the moment. We are excited and know we are making the Atleti fan on the street happy.” Villa was first to threaten as his powerful free-kick was well-held by Gorka Iraizoz before Costa broke clear and pulled his shot just beyond the far post.

Iraizoz then made an incredible save to prevent Villa’s volley from close range as the ball ricocheted around the Athletic box. However, six minutes later the keeper was beaten from a similar move as Juanfran got the by-line and his cross fell for Villa whose shot deflected off Mikel San Jose on its way into the net. Costa then got his customary goal to make the game safe as he powered down the left, cut inside Erik Moran and slotted cooley past Iraizoz into the far corner. Villa should have added a third 12 minutes after the restart when he headed Adrian Lopez’s excellent cross straight at Iraizoz.

There were to be no more goals, but a miserable day for the visitors was rounded off 12 minutes from time when Moran was shown a second yellow card for a foul on Diego Godin.

Earlier, Valencia eased the pressure on their coach Miroslav Djukic with a badly needed 1-0 win away to high-flying Getafe. Dorlan Pabon’s wonderful longrange effort was enough to secure Los Che’s first win in four league games and move them into the tophalf of the table, three points behind Getafe who remain sixth. — AFP

Lazio slump as Inter conquer

LIVERPOOL: Tottenham Hotspur’s Belgian defender Jan Vertonghen (left) vies with Everton’s Spanish striker Gerard Deulofeu (right) during the English Premier League football match. — AFP

Spurs and Everton share points Everton 0

Tottenham 0

LIVERPOOL: Everton and Tottenham Hotspur both missed the opportunity to climb up to second place in the Premier League table after a goalless draw at Goodison Park yesterday.

Spurs were unfortunate not to be ahead at half-time after they dominated the first period, with Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard saving from Kyle Walker and Andros Townsend.

Everton were much improved after the interval, but despite chances for Steven Pienaar and Gerard Deulofeu, they were unable to break the stalemate. The draw saw Tottenham climb up to fourth place, level on 20 points with Liverpool and Chelsea and five points behind leaders Arsenal.

Everton remain in seventh on 19 points, level with Southampton and Manchester City, who are above them on goal difference.

Everton manager Roberto Martinez made one change to the side that won 2-0 at Aston Villa as Leon Osman was preferred in midfield to Ross Barkley. Tottenham named the same team that beat Hull City in their last league outing, with Lewis Holtby keeping his place ahead of Christian Eriksen in the playmaker role behind lone striker Roberto Soldado.

Andre Villas-Boas’s side began confidently and midfielder Sandro forced Howard to tip the ball around the post with a low shot from distance in the third minute.

Everton, by contrast, struggled to find their rhythm and were almost punished when winger Kevin Mirallas was caught in possession 30 yards from goal by Paulinho, but the Spurs midfielder’s cross was cut out by Phil Jagielka.

Howard was called into action again in the 19th minute when Walker curled a free-kick from a dangerous position over the Everton wall that the United States international punched away.

Spurs were also aggrieved not to be awarded a penalty after Jan Vertonghen went down under pressure from Seamus Coleman inside the hosts’ area. The home side registered their first significant attempt just before the half-hour mark when Osman struck a speculative effort from distance that flew just over the bar.

Everton left-back Leighton Baines was given a stern test of his defensive qualities as the combined threat of Townsend and Walker posed problems down the Spurs right flank.

And Townsend created a shooting opportunity for himself six minutes before half-time when he cut inside and drilled in a low effort, only to find Howard well positioned at his near post.

Everton finally started to find some success as they showed more ambition after the interval.

A neat passing move on the edge of the penalty area carved out a chance for Pienaar, who saw his shot blocked by Spurs defender Michael Dawson.

In search of more quality in the final third, Martinez made a double change in the 61st minute as Deulofeu and Barkley replaced Mirallas and Osman.

And the latter immediately looked to make an impact as he struck a swerving shot from 25 yards that flew just over the top-right corner of Hugo Lloris’s goal.

Coleman was then denied a penalty in a reversal of his first-half tangle with Vertonghen, who clipped the Irishman’s heels as he shaped to shoot, only for referee Kevin Friend to wave play on. Tottenham’s forays into the Everton half became infrequent as the game wore on, although substitute Gylfi Sigurdsson brought a fine save out of Howard with a stinging shot from the corner of the box.

There was a lengthy delay in the 78th minute when Lloris took a blow to the head after colliding with Romelu Lukaku, but despite looking shaken, the Spurs goalkeeper remained on the pitch. On-loan Barcelona forward Deulofeu jinked into the penalty area late on as Everton pushed for a winner, but Lloris was quick off his line and parried his angled drive.

Everton looked the more likely to score in the nine minutes of added time, but they were unable to break down a disciplined Spurs backline. — AFP

MILAN: Lazio’s recent revival came to a grinding halt with a 2-0 humiliation by Genoa at the Olympic Stadium as Inter Milan put three unanswered goals past Udinese on a rain-hit trip north.

Elsewhere, Domenico Berardi made it a day to remember for Sassuolo, the striker scoring a hat-trick, including a late penalty, to help the Serie A new boys dominate a seven-goal thriller away to struggling Sampdoria.

Verona meanwhile continued their strong start to the campaign with a 2-1 win at home to Cagliari which moved the newly-promoted side up to fifth at the expense of Fiorentina, 2-0 winners over AC Milan at the San Siro on Saturday.

League leaders Roma visit Torino later yesterday looking to restore their five-point leader over Juventus and Napoli, who closed the gap to two points with wins over Parma and Catania respectively on Saturday.

For their Olympic Stadium neighbors Lazio, meanwhile, it is back to the drawing board.

Vladimir Petkovic’s men looked to have put a recent slump behind them with a home win over Cagliari and a draw away to Milan in the past 10 days. However the Biancocelesti paid the price for missing several chances in the first half when Juraj Kucka broke the deadlock on the hour and Alberto Gilardino doubled the visitors’ lead 12 minutes later from the spot.

Lazio’s fourth reverse left them in seventh, 15 points behind Roma and seven adrift of Verona.

Verona started strongly and took an eighthminute lead when Luca Toni was left alone by the Cagliari defence to nod past Michael Agazzi in the Cagliari net.

Bosko Jankovic doubled the hosts’ lead on 57 minutes and Verona survived a nervous finish after Daniele Conti’s 90th minute strike to claim a seventh win in 11 games to go fifth, only eight points shy of Roma.

Udinese’s Friuli Stadium is known as a difficult venue for visiting teams but two weeks after a 10 defeat to Roma, Francesco Guidolin’s side buckled again under a far more clinical Inter side.

The visitors opened the scoring through Rodrigo Palacio in the 25th minute when the Argentine flashed a header past goalkeeper Zeljko Brkic from close range following Saphir Taider’s precision free kick.

Four minutes later Brkic dashed out of his goal in wild fashion to intercept a corner kick that was out of his reach and Inter defender Andrea Ranocchia volleyed the ball through traffic and into a virtually empty net.

ITALY: Genoa’s defender Thomas Manfredini (center) fights for the ball with Lazio’s Brazilian forward Felipe Anderson during the Italian Serie A football match. — AFP Colombian Muriel spurned the chance to reduce arrears when he pounced on a blunder

by Inter defender Walter Samuel. Instead of feeding fellow striker Antonio Di Natale who was unmarked to his right, he sent a wild shot across

Italian League results/standings Livorno 1 (Paulinho 11) Atalanta 0; Verona 2 (Toni 8, Jankovic 57) Cagliari 1 (Conti 90); Lazio 0 Genoa 2 (Kucka 60, Gilardino 72-pen); Sampdoria 3 (Pozzi 19, Eder 65, De Silvestri 81) Sassuolo 4 (Berardi 49, 52-pen, 88-pen, Floro Flores 63); Udinese 0 Inter 3 (Palacio 25, Ranocchia 29, Alvarez 90+1).

Genoa 11 4 2 5 11 14 14 Playing later Torino v Roma Atalanta 11 4 1 6 12 14 13 Udinese 11 4 1 6 11 14 13 Italian Serie A table ahead of yesterday’s late AC Milan 11 3 3 5 17 19 12 match (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, Parma 11 3 3 5 16 19 12 goals against, points): Livorno 11 3 3 5 13 16 12 Torino 10 2 5 3 16 18 11 Roma 10 10 0 0 24 1 30 Cagliari 11 2 4 5 11 19 10 Napoli 11 9 1 1 24 8 28 Bologna 10 2 3 5 13 22 9 Juventus 11 9 1 1 23 10 28 Sampdoria 11 2 3 6 12 20 9 Inter Milan 11 6 4 1 27 12 22 Sassuolo 11 2 3 6 12 27 9 Verona 11 7 1 3 22 17 22 Fiorentina 11 6 3 2 22 13 21 Catania 11 1 3 7 7 19 6 Lazio 11 4 3 4 15 15 15 Chievo 10 1 1 8 7 18 4

Caulker settles landmark Welsh derby for Cardiff Cardiff 1

Swansea 0

EPL results/standings Cardiff City 1 (Caulker 62) Swansea City 0; Everton 0 Tottenham Hotspur 0.

English Premier League table after yesterday’s matches (played, won, drawn, goals for, goals against, points): West Brom 10 3 4 3 10 10 Arsenal 10 8 1 1 22 9 25 Cardiff 10 3 3 4 9 13 Chelsea 10 6 2 2 16 8 20 Swansea 10 3 2 5 12 12 Liverpool 10 6 2 2 17 10 20 Aston Villa 10 3 2 5 9 12 Tottenham 10 6 2 2 9 5 20 West Ham 10 2 4 4 8 8 Man City 10 6 1 3 28 11 19 Fulham 10 3 1 6 10 15 Southampton10 5 4 1 11 4 19 Stoke 10 2 3 5 7 11 Everton 10 5 4 1 14 10 19 Norwich 10 2 2 6 6 20 Man Utd 10 5 2 3 17 13 17 Sunderland 10 1 1 8 7 22 Newcastle 10 4 2 4 14 16 14 Crystal Palace10 1 0 9 6 21 Hull 10 4 2 4 8 10 14

lost, 13 12 11 11 10 10 9 8 4 3

the face of goal. Udinese, who finished fifth last season, now sit in 10th at 17 points adrift of Roma, who travel to Torino looking to stretch their all-time Serie A record of 10 consecutive opening wins to 11. — AFP

CARDIFF: Swansea City’s Ivorian striker Wilfried Bony vies with Cardiff City’s French defender Kevin Theophile-Catherine (right) during the English Premier League football match. — AFP

CARDIFF: Steven Caulker returned to haunt Swansea City by scoring the only goal of the Premier League’s first all-Welsh fixture yesterday to give Cardiff City a famous 1-0 victory.

The 21-year-old centre-back, who spent the 2011-12 season on loan at Swansea, struck from a 62nd-minute corner to settle the game on a rain-soaked day at the Cardiff City Stadium. Swansea threatened to snatch a late equaliser, but they lost their momentum in injury time when goalkeeper Michel Vorm was sent off for a last-man foul on Cardiff substitute Fraizer Campbell.

It was the first time two Welsh sides had faced off in the 125-year history of the English top flight and Cardiff’s win sent them above their fierce local rivals to 12th place in the table. Victory also took attention away from the off-pitch turmoil at Cardiff, following the dismissal of head of recruitment Iain Moody and the reported intervention of the British government to prevent his successor, 23-yearold Kazakh Alisher Apsalyamov, from taking up the role due to visa concerns. Cardiff manager Malky Mackay drafted local star Craig Bellamy into his starting line-up, with Don Cowie also coming into the team and Peter Odemwingie taking over from Campbell up front.

Mackay’s opposite number, Michael Laudrup, erred on the side of caution, fielding Michu as a lone striker and bolstering his midfield with the addition of Jonjo Shelvey.

The visitors sought to draw the sting from the occasion with their habitual passing approach and they saw Michu squander an

early pair of presentable opportunities.

The Spaniard volleyed over in the fifth minute after teeing himself up from Shelvey’s right-wing cross and he then forced Cardiff goalkeeper David Marshall to parry with a firm drive. Bellamy was one of only three Welshmen on the pitch at kick-off and he demonstrated his famed appetite for a scrap in a running battle with visiting right-back Angel Rangel.

The former Liverpool and Manchester City forward came close to breaking the deadlock in the 26th minute, but his deflected free-kick flew just over the crossbar.

With Cardiff content to cede possession to Swansea, the game lacked spark, but Odemwingie almost got the home fans out of their seats early in the second period when he came close to making contact with a Caulker flick-on. Cardiff then had a penalty appeal turned down after Swansea captain Ashley Williams eased Cowie out of position as he attempted to get on the end of a header across goal from Bellamy. The home side were building momentum and in the 62nd minute, they made the breakthrough.

Bellamy bent a corner into the box from the right and Caulker outmuscled marker Chico Flores at the near post to plant a powerful header in the bottom-right corner.

Laudrup reacted by introducing Wilfried Bony and the Ivorian striker almost made an instant impact by bundling a shot narrowly wide. Cardiff looked to be building momentum as the rain intensified in the game’s latter stages, with Marshall forced to save from Jonathan De Guzman and substitute Alex Pozuelo. However, Vorm was sent off after racing from his area and felling Campbell in injury time, forcing Rangel to go between the posts because Swansea had used up all their substitutes. The Spaniard raised ironic cheers by saving Peter Whittingham’s shot from the ensuing free-kick, and the volume rose several decibels when the final whistle sounded to mark the start of the Cardiff celebrations. — AFP

Villa, Costa on target for buoyant Atletico

Mutai and Jeptoo win New York Marathon

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2013

18

19

Owen’s goal to win Melbourne Cup with Brown Panther Page 18

ABU DHABI: Red Bull Racing’s German driver Sebastian Vettel (left) celebrates on the podium at the Yas Marina circuit after the Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix. —AFP

Vettel makes it seven wins in a row ABU DHABI: Quadruple Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel eased to victory in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix yesterday for his seventh successive victory and 11th of the season.

The 26-year-old German led home a Red Bull 1-2 — the 15th time in Formula One and giving them their 100th podium finish-with Australian Mark Webber second, taking him to over 1000 points in his Formula One career which comes to an end at the end of the season. German Nico Rosberg was third in a Mercedes. Vettel’s win drew him level with compatriot Michael Schumacher’s mark of seven successive wins (2004) and should he win the last two races of the season he will equal the overall record of nine held by Alberto Ascari (1952/53).

The German, who also equalled his person-

al record set in 2011 of 11 race wins in a season, can also equal Schumacher’s overall record of 13 wins in a campaign if he lands the final two races of the season. Vettel was ecstatic at his victory especially as it came in front of his parents.

“I have spent most of my life racing in front of them (his parents) as a kid, the toys are a bit bigger now, but I am so pleased they are here to see me today.

“They taught me lots of good things and one day I want to pass that on to my children if I have them. So today I dedicate this victory to them.”

Webber said he was content with his end result. “The start wasn’t great and Nico got an unbelievable start,” said the 37-year-old.

“I had to battle with Nico for second. I would have liked the win, but I matched my

best result here.” Rosberg said that Mercedes had achieved its objective for the weekend.

“I am happy, third place was good. The plan for the weekend was to be the best of the rest behind the Red Bull and we achieved that. It could have been second on another day, but it didn’t quite work out. “The most important thing is to finish second in the constructor’s’ championship not only financially, but also motivationally for the team to see that we have the second best car.”

Once again, as he did in India last Sunday when he sealed his fourth title, Vettel threw his Red Bull car into a series of ‘doughnut’ pirouettes on the circuit to delight the crowd.

A week previously, he had been reprimanded and fined for his celebrations.

“I think Sebastian can pay the fine this week,” said team chief Christian Horner. “That

was a champion’s drive.”

Vettel, recording his 37th win of his career, started second alongside Webber but the Australian once again failed to benefit from starting from pole, he has won just once on the last nine occasions he has started there.

Sensing this Vettel took the lead at the first corner and went on to dominate the race, turning the contest into a master-class.

Webber, who had started from pole position, endured a typically incident-filled contest on his way to second ahead of Rosberg while Frenchman Romain Grosjean of Lotus finished fourth.

Two-time champion Spaniard Fernando Alonso, who had started 10th for Ferrari, came home in fifth position and recorded the fastest lap ahead of Briton Paul Di Resta of Force India.

Italy beats Russia to win 4th Fed Cup title CAGLIARI: Italy won a fourth Fed Cup title with a whitewash 4-0 victory over Russia yesterday as No. 7-ranked Sara Errani cruised past Alisa Kleybanova before Flavia Pennetta and Karin Knapp won the dead doubles rubber.

It took Errani less than an hour to win 6-1, 6-1 against the No. 183-ranked Kleybanova, who has only recently returned to the circuit following treatment for Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Pennetta and Knapp beat youngsters Margarita Gasparyan and Irina Khromacheva 4-6, 6-2, 10-4. “It’s down to a marvellous team and above all the fact that we are always united,” Errani said. “We are very happy. It was a very good week for us. I am happy with how I played today.

“I know Alisa, she is a great player, so with a lot of tension every point is important for us and it was not easy but I am really happy. I was focused on every point, there was tension, there is a lot of people here and it means a lot for us.”

Italy became an overwhelming favorite when Russia traveled without any of its top players, due to injuries and a scheduling conflict with the Tournament of Champions in Bulgaria.

However, Roberta Vinci and Errani struggled at times before beating Fed Cup debutants Alexandra Panova and Khromacheva, respectively, on a difficult opening day Saturday to give Italy a commanding lead. Panova was scheduled to play Errani but Russia captain Shamil Tarpischev opted to replace her with the more experienced Kleybanova.

The 24-year-old, who was ranked 20th before her battle with cancer, was

given a warm reception as she walked onto the court.

However, she had no response to some fantastic play from Errani, who dropped just two games and earned five breaks. A stunning drop-volley handed Errani two match points and although Kleybanova saved one, she netted a volley on the second.

“I knew I had to play yesterday after the two matches,” Kleybanova said. “But there was no sort of pressure on me. I tried to do my best but this is the first official match I’ve played on clay since 2011. I tried to do my best but Sara was really in form. “(Corrado) Barazzutti is a captain who really understands his role.

He’s certainly one of the best. And the girls are really close to each other. They have so much respect.”

Italy is now level with Russia with four Fed Cup titles, just one behind Spain, but 13 behind the United States. Australia and the Czech Republic have seven titles each. Barazzutti is level with Vicky Berner, Billie Jean King and Miguel Margets with four titles as captain.

“This is a really great group which has now gone down in history in the sport,” Barazzutti said. “They are girls who are attached to the national team, you win with that kind of spirit.

“Sara was as ever a real champion.

They were all brilliant and I have to thank everyone who contributed to this project and this success, from the coaches to the medical staff. I try to do what I can but (the girls) are the real protagonists.

They showed me that even during the season.” — AP

Briton Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes was seventh, Brazilian Felipe Massa of Ferrari eighth, Mexican Sergio Perez of McLaren ninth and German Adrian Sutil of Force India 10th.

Ferrari-bound Finn Kimi Raikkonen’s rounded off a nightmare week with a suitably flat performance.

Indeed the Lotus driver, who has threatened to boycott the final two races of the season because he has not been paid this year, had had to start from the back of the grid after a technical infringement in qualifying. His race then lasted to just the first corner where he clipped one of the Caterham cars.

Asked whether he thought he had made the wrong decision to start from the back of the grid rather than the pitlane, from where Vettel started last year and finished third, he replied tersely: “No.” —AFP

Djokovic wins Paris Masters

CAGLIARI: Italy’s Sara Errani holds the trophy after winning the International Tennis Federation Fed Cup final match against Russia yesterday. Italy won 4-0. — AFP

PARIS: Serbia’s Novak Djokovic defeated defending champion David Ferrer 7-5, 7-5 yesterday to win the Paris Masters after a thrilling final at the Bercy arena.

The Spaniard twice served for both sets only for the six-time Grand Slam winner to show his pedigree and break at the crucial moments before holding serve to close out the first set and then the match. Ferrer fell short of becoming the first player to successfully defend the Paris title while Djokovic took another step towards regaining the number one spot from Rafael Nadal heading to the World Tour Finals.

It was also Djokovic’s 40th ATP title victory, the 15th player to reach this milestone. “I’m full of joy right now and this is one of the biggest weeks of the tennis season so I’m really happy and just want to continue like this,” said the 26-year-old Serbian.

“This win has given me a lot of confidence and we’ll see now what happens in London,” he added in reference to the World Tour Finals where he still has a chance to take the world number one spot from Nadal. Ferrer grabbed the first break after a punishing rally at 30-40 was finally won by the Spaniard with a perfect drop shot that left the number one candidate stranded at the back of the court.

Djokovic, true to his sportsmanlike

mannner, applauded his opponent’s brilliance as the crowd roared their approval at the sheer quality of the tennis.

The Serb carved out his first break point of the match in the following game, but Ferrer held firm and built his resilience on his excellent first serve which was reaping him a winning percentage of 80 per cent. With the Spaniard serving for the set at 5-4, Djokovic launched his assault and this time on break point he fired a forehand winner that grazed the line and pulled him back on level terms.

After serving out to love to go 6-5 up, the Davis Cup finalist seized his first set point when Ferrer hit long as the set swung surprisingly into Djokovic’s hands.

Ferrer shook off the disappointment of letting that first frame slip from his grasp and broke to open the second set before a tough service hold gave him a 2-0 lead.

The set then went to serve before the defending champion again had a chance to close out the frame at 5-4 only for Djokovic to break at the crucial moment to once again level the set.

In an exact repeat of the opening set, Ferrer cracked at the worst possible moment as Djokovic pounced on his opponent to tie the set before serving out for the title. — AFP

Business

Twitter set to make a splash on Wall Street Page 23 Ryanair looks to soften image in tough market

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2013

Page 24

Gulf draws foreign money as Arab Spring states struggle

Jakarta textile market seeks to clean up act

Page 22

Page 23

ABU DHABI: With the new $490 million presidential palace under construction in the background, a fisherman watches a plane preparing to land on the water in the Emirati capital yesterday. — AP

ABK announces Q3 profit of KD 25.2m Bank continues to diversify and build on stable funding base KUWIT: Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait reported a net profit of KD 25.2 million for the nine months ended Sept 30, 2013 with operating income of KD 87.7 million and operating profit before provisions of KD 59 million.

Earnings per share amounted to 16 fils with shareholders’ equity of KD 534 million and total assets of KD 3.047 billion. Commenting on these financial results, Ahmed Yousuf Behbehani, Chairman of the Board, stated the following: The prevalent market and economic conditions remained challenging with limited government spending putting pressure on our incomes and earnings. Nevertheless, our revenue generating capacity and underlying profitability metrics remain strong with our

operating profits before provisions to average total assets ratio consistently remaining above our peers. We also focussed on improving our operating efficiencies, and resultantly our cost to income ratio has also remained stable and comparable with peers.

On asset quality he commented that, “We have always remained conservative in our provisioning policies and have succeeded in maintaining our asset quality levels comparable with our peers in these difficult operating conditions. This has in the short term no doubt reduced our profitability but has enabled us to build adequate loan loss provision coverage mainly comprising of precautionary general provisions to cope with any unforeseen contingencies.”

Deposits also increased during the period as the bank continued to diversify and build on its stable funding base.

Additionally, with a capital adequacy ratio of 27.20 percent, the highest capitalisation ratio among Kuwaiti banks and ahead of international peers, the bank has the capacity and resilience to absorb losses and sufficient capital to expand its operations when opportunities arise. He also pointed out that the bank continued to enjoy investment grade ratings with a stable outlook from international rating agencies, Moody’s and Fitch which recognises the bank’s intrinsic strength, good liquidity and good income generating capacity.

On the regulatory side, new Corporate

Egypt markets muted ahead of Morsi trial MIDEAST MARKET REPORT DUBAI: Egypt’s benchmark rose slightly in thin trade yesterday, a day before the trial of deposed Islamist president Mohamed Morsi begins, while other Middle East markets were also lacklustre. Egypt’s index edged up 0.1 percent, taking its gains since the army ousted Mursi from power on July 3 to 24.5 percent. Amer Group was the most active stock with 9.7 million shares changing hands as it fell 3.5 percent. Four other index stocks traded more than 2 million shares. “The market is pretty flat everybody is waiting for Mursi’s trial tomorrow,” said Mohamed Radwan, director of international sales at Pharos Securities in Cairo. “Overall, the mood is very cautious - we don’t see any institutions trading, it’s retail investors dominating.”

Several hundred Islamists protested in some cities on Friday, responding to a call from a pro-Morsi alliance for daily protests ahead of the ousted president trial. He and 14 other senior Muslim Brotherhood figures are being tried on charges of inciting violence and could face a life sentence or the death penalty if found guilty. However, aid from Gulf countries - Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait have pledged more than $12 billion to Egypt - has boosted market sentiment since Morsi’s fall, Radwan said, while what he described as a “stabilising security situation” was also positive for investors.

Saudi Arabian blue chips lifted the kingdom’s index, which rose 0.2 percent to be within 2 percent of Aug. 21’s five-year peak as investors slowly shrugged off broadly disappointing third-quarter earnings to focus on dividends. Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) rose 1 percent, up for a second session in three since Tuesday’s threeweek low. Al Rajhi Bank and Saudi Telecom Co (STC)

added 0.3 and 1.8 percent respectively. “It’s all about Q3 results - most were below consensus and that has caused some market volatility,” said Hesham Tuffaha, a Riyadhbased portfolio manager. This volatility will remain for a few weeks, he said, as dividend expectations shape trade.

“For most bank and petrochemical blue chips, we didn’t see any solid growth in earnings, but if decent dividends are announced these should be enough to boost the market.”

Lacklustre results have stretched many blue chips’ valuations, Tuffaha said, mentioning a tepid performance by Al Rajhi Bank, Saudi’s largest listed lender.

Rajhi’s shares are up 12.7 percent in 2013, yet its ninemonth profit fell 1.4 percent year-on-year as operating expenses increased. SABIC is a similar story - its shares have gained 12.3 percent this year versus a 1 percent nine-month profit rise. Saudi’s retail sector could correct.

The sector’s index is up 50 percent in 2013, driven “by expectations that large local consumption will boost companies’ profits, but the results haven’t justified this optimism,” Tuffaha said.

Jarir Marketing Co rose 1.4 percent after the kingdom’s largest listed retailer said it would hold a shareholder meeting on Nov. 27 to approve increasing its share capital by 50 percent through a bonus issue. Tuffaha predicted some petrochemical companies and STC could lead gains in the short- and medium terms in a catch-up rally. STC’s shares have gained 14.7 percent this year, trailing the main benchmark’s 18.5 percent rise, but the company comfortably beat estimates with a 73 percent increase in third-quarter profit as it cut costs. United Arab Emirates’ markets were closed for a holiday. — Reuters

Governance regulations issued by the Central Bank of Kuwait came in to effect during the third quarter and the bank had taken adequate steps to comply with these. A new Corporate Governance Office had also been established to oversee the compliance with these regulations and support the Board in discharge of their governance duties and responsibilities. In conclusion, the chairman stated that he remained confident of the bank’s abilities to continue to enhance profitability and provide value to its shareholders and customers. He also thanked the bank’s valued customers for their trust and confidence, the management and staff for their hard work and loyalty and shareholders for their continued support and faith.

Ahmed Yousuf Behbehani

Gulf banks in expansion push as recovery kicks in DUBAI: After weathering the global financial crisis and local debt restructurings in the last few years, Gulf banks are expanding their regional footprint and venturing into business lines previously targeted only by their global rivals. A slowdown in regional banking activity, coupled with large restructurings of state-owned entities, stymied profits around the turn of the decade as banks set aside billions of dollars to meet loan losses and restrained their lending appetite. However, backed by a recovery in their home economies and strong capital positions, the banks are now drawing up regional growth plans and gaining share in businesses such as debt advisory services, private banking and brokerage activities, areas previously dominated by Western banks.

The crisis left Gulf banks with an opening, as some Western banks downsized regional operations to focus on repairing balance sheets back home and meet stricter capital and liquidity standards being imposed globally under the Basel III regulatory regime - a much easier task for cash-rich Gulf lenders. “The key players are still here big time, but even they have different issues and are looking at where do they consolidate in certain areas, so that has given an opportunity for the local banks,” Rick Pudner, chief executive of Dubai’s Emirates NBD , told the Reuters Middle East Investment Summit.

Several major regional lenders expect profits to rise by around 20 percent or more this year as state spending on infrastructure and social welfare bolsters their balance sheets, and as they obtain higher fee income from new revenue streams. Barwa Bank, a sharia-compliant Qatari lender, posted an 85 percent leap in net profit for the first half of 2013 and expects fast growth to continue, driven mainly by billions of dollars worth of infrastructure building in Qatar and growth in debt advisory and asset management business. “We have invested heavily in our markets capabilities, in fixed income, sukuk origination activity in the Islamic capital markets, foreign exchange and market activities generally,” Chief Executive Steve Troop said.

The bank helped arrange a $1 billion five-year sukuk for multilateral lender Islamic Development Bank this year.

Meanwhile, net profit growth at commercial banks in the United Arab Emirates is expected to accelerate to about 20 percent in 2013, the chairman of the UAE’s banking federation said in September. Even smaller names such as National Bank of Fujairah (NBF) are benefiting from economic growth in the UAE; the bank may open trade finance offices in Africa after setting up a financial advisory business in Dubai’s tax-free financial zone this year. “We’ve consistently seen over this year a 30 percent range of year-on-year growth in net profit and we see that continuing because it’s not coming from a oneoff,” NBF’s Chief Executive Vince Cook told Reuters.

A key result of the regional banking revival has been a renewed appetite for acquisitions among Gulf lenders, which want to lower their reliance on home markets. Outside the Gulf, they are focusing mainly on emerging economies - the rest of the Arab world, Turkey, Africa and parts of East Asia rather than developed, slow-growth markets in Europe and the United States. ENBD, Dubai’s top lender, is eyeing acquisition targets in Turkey as the bank aims for 20 percent of its revenues to come from overseas markets in five years, up from the 8 percent level which it hit after buying BNP Paribas’ Egyptian business last year, CEO Pudner said.

Bahrain-based Ahli United Bank is scouting for acquisitions in its existing markets and in new ones as it tries to build a network across the Middle East, its chief executive said. “Acquisitions come typically in feast and famine cycles sometimes you get inundated with opportunities, sometimes the market goes dry - but we are known as an acquirer so we tend to attract approaches and we are proactive in soliciting interest from potential parties,” Adel El-Labban told the summit. The bank, with operations in six Middle East and North African states as well as the United Kingdom, wants a presence in three Gulf countries where it currently has no base - the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar plus Turkey. — Reuters

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2013

BUSINESS

Intl investors should focus on small firms

By Hayder Tawfik Executive Vice President of Asset Management Dimah Capital

M

ABU DHABI: A Japanese tourist takes photos of the city skyline from the beach yesterday. — AP

Gulf draws foreign money as Arab Spring states struggle Politics degrade policy-making across Middle East DUBAI: Foreign money is flowing into the parts of the Middle East which need it least as the Gulf becomes a major destination for global portfolio investors and political instability deters investment elsewhere in the region. When uprisings swept across Egypt, Tunisia and other Arab countries more than two years ago, the Arab Spring looked as if it might have a very different impact. By clearing out corrupt rulers and installing democratic governments focused on raising living standards, the uprisings promised to open markets to more competition and attract fresh foreign investment in much of North Africa and the Levant.

The Gulf, which escaped major political change, seemed to offer less exciting opportunities as conservative monarchies girded themselves to resist the threat of unrest, backing away from politically sensitive reforms of their economies. But since 2011, investors have voted in favour of the Gulf by a landslide. Gulf equity and debt markets have boomed, partly on the back of inflows of foreign money, while markets affected by the Arab Spring have struggled. The contrast was underlined last week when equity index compiler S&P Dow Jones Indices upgraded Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to emerging markets from frontier market status, after a similar decision by MSCI in June.

The decisions, which are expected to attract hundreds of millions of dollars of fresh foreign money to those two markets, put the Gulf on the map for the first time in the eyes of some foreign funds which follow the S&P and MSCI benchmarks. The upgrades are part of a trend in which foreign investors are increasingly look ing at non- oil sectors of Gulf economies as well as their energy riches, fund managers said at the Reuters Middle East Investment Summit. “Gulf countries

have started to attract the interest of international investors beyond the area of gas, oil and hydrocarbons,” said John Sfakianakis, chief investment strategist at MASIC, a Riyadh-based investment firm.

Politics have been key. Many investors underestimated the seriousness of sectarian tensions uncovered by the Arab Spring; few expected that 2-1/2 years later, Syria’s civil war would still be underway, Egypt would lack a democratic government and Libya would lack any government able to assert its authority. At the same time, Gulf governments have done better than many expected in maintaining political stability. Massive state spending programs, financed by oil revenues, have mostly been successful in buying social peace.

Other factors are involved. The euro zone debt crisis and uncertainty over US economic policy have hurt Arab countries with weak external trade positions and state finances while rewarding those, including the Gulf states, which enjoy the security of current account and budget surpluses.

Estimates by Lipper, a Thomson Reuters company, show that even as money flowed out of many emerging market funds in the third quarter of this year, pure Middle East equity funds most of them Gulf-focused - saw a third straight quarter of net inflows. The sector had not managed that feat since 2007/2008. In the nine months to endSeptember, net inflows reached more than $200 million, equivalent to 12.5 percent of the latest reported assets under management, according to Lipper.

Mark Mobius, Executive Chairman of Templeton Emerging Markets, said the strong performances of Gulf economies in the past few years had caused some foreign investors to understand the

region better and distinguish between individual markets. “People understand there is a difference between Dubai and Oman, or Bahrain and Qatar, for example - they can differentiate between them.

That’s very important.” A third factor buoying Gulf markets is the growth of the private sector. Political tensions have discouraged radical economic reforms, such as cuts in wasteful and expensive state subsidy schemes, across the Middle East and North Africa.

But in the Gulf, governments have been prompted to step up efforts to create jobs for their citizens with labour reforms, financial aid for entrepreneurs and in some cases deregulation, such as Saudi Arabia opening up its aviation market. As Gulf economies slowly diversify, they become more interesting to foreign investors and more able to ride out drops in oil prices. Output of Saudi Arabia’s oil sector shrank 3.7 percent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2013 but the nonoil private sector expanded 4.2 percent, resulting in a solid overall economic growth rate of 2.7 percent.

The growing market clout of the Gulf’s private sector was seen last month when UAE shopping mall operator Majid Al Futtaim became the first issuer from the Middle East other than a bank to sell a hybrid bond - one with equity-like characteristics - in the international market.

British-based investors bought 43 percent of the $500 million issue, followed by other Europeans with 28 percent and Asian investors with 12 percent. Just a couple of years ago, local Gulf investors could have been expected to buy most of a bond issue from the region as many foreigners stayed away.

The gradual increase of foreign portfolio investment in the Gulf could become a flood if Saudi Arabia decides to open its

market, the Arab world’s largest, to direct foreign investment after several years of preparing for the reform. Foreigners are now limited to investing via swaps and exchange-trade funds, and are believed to hold no more than 5 percent of the stock market. Sfakianakis said any decision to open the Saudi market would be politically sensitive because foreigners might be perceived as unfairly taking some of the country’s corporate wealth.

“If it happens, it could happen in a second - over a weekend.”

Another issue is whether Gulf markets can list enough corporate assets to satisfy foreign investors. In Saudi Arabia, much of the economy is controlled by family firms which float few if any of their shares; in Qatar, the government holds big, untraded stakes in many companies.

Officials in both countries say they want to make more shares available for trading, but once again, progress may be slowed by political sensitivities. With the S&P and MSCI upgrades due to take effect next year, however, the trend of rising foreign portfolio investment in the Gulf may continue for some time.

The biggest threat may be oil prices.

Any drop of Brent crude to around $85 a barrel, from about $105 at present, would start to pressure the finances of Gulf states while aiding the economies of oilimporting Arab Spring countries such as Egypt. Sfakianakis said any major flow of foreign funds back to North Africa was unlikely without a political breakthrough.

“The politics is what directs the conditions in these countries. Without fixing the politics, and creating a process of decision-making that is based on compromise and rejects extremes on both sides, there will be little economic growth and little attention from outside investors,” he said. —Reuters

ost equity strategists and analysts have been busy advising investors to focus on large-cap, multinational companies that offer exposure to global economic growth. This was true after the financial crisis started back in 2008. There was strong argument for this strategy. However, over the last couple of years investors have missed out on the secular shift in performance that has been under way in which smaller, more domestically focused companies have been outperforming their bigger counterparts.

In the absence of strong global economic growth, small domestically orientated companies that are at the same time defensive in their business nature benefit more than those big multi-nationals. Smaller companies are much adaptable to the changes in the economic cycles. They are not exposed to volatile or risky foreign markets. They have no foregin exchange risk. Above all the very low interests rate environment can be of greater advantages to them than bigger companies.

Defensive stocks usually lead or outperform the market when profit cycles trend down. However the effect is typically more, not less seen among mid-cap and smallcap companies.

The economic growth in the US and the slowing global growth have recently encouraged investors to focus more on small local companies . Since the start of the year samll and mid-cap local companies have outperformed big and international companies. When investing in small companies, valuations might be a bit stretched but profits and earnings are more superior than those for bigger companies. As I said earlier smaller companies have the flexibility to adjust quickly to any downturn in the economic activities, hence quickly adjusting their prices or changing the products mix. This has been seen clearly in the small technology stocks.

I think international investors who are interested in Emerging Markets should look for domestic stocks rather assume that export orientated companies will deliver good performance. Obviously there are some companies in the Emerging Markets that have a niche market globally and will continue doing very well.

In spite of their superior outperformances, small and mid cap local companies are still ignored and not getting the fair coverage by the equity researchers or the big brokerage houses. The main reason for this is that small companies might not be liquid enough to generate reasonable fees to justify equity analysts time and costs. This is quite true and that is why investors should do their own work when looking to invest in small-cap companies. International investors should always remember that today’s big multinationals were started as small companies.

What you should look for when investing in small companies? It is not easy for investors to scan the world looking to invest in small profitable companies. My advice is to focus your attention on what exactly you want to achieve. There are thousands may be millions of potential small companies. Always try to find out what makes one companies totally different from the others?

And why? When you find the right company, you should compare it to the sector and try to find out if it has competitors in the local market and internally and how they compare against one another. Also, look for their brands if they have any. How sustainable their brands, how is the consumer perception to the brands. Does the brand name offers something unique?

Also, assess their profit margins and see if they are sustainable. Profit margin is very important for any business. It allows the company the ability to be more flexible and invest freely. The management of the company is very important too. Check their background and try to contact them on regular basis. See how long they been running the business. Avoid businesses that rely on oneman show. Finally make sure that the company has been growing its business continuously year after year.

Always, remember to set an exit strategy before you start investing and be very discipline.

EXCHANGE RATES Al-Muzaini Exchange Co. ASIAN COUNTRIES 2.895 4.592 2.649 2.155 2.877 228.980 36.431 3.626 6.559 9.105 0.271 0.273 GCC COUNTRIES Saudi Riyal 75.350 Qatari Riyal 77.639 Omani Riyal 733.920 Bahraini Dinar 750.500 UAE Dirham 76.951 ARAB COUNTRIES Egyptian Pound - Cash 40.950 Egyptian Pound - Transfer 40.544 Yemen Riyal/for 1000 1.318 Tunisian Dinar 174.190 Jordanian Dinar 399.030 Lebanese Lira/for 1000 1.896 Syrian Lira 3.070 Morocco Dirham 35.306 EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 282.450 Euro 391.480 Sterling Pound 458.560 Canadian dollar 271.590 Turkish lira 142.650 Swiss Franc 317.360 Australian Dollar 272.420 US Dollar Buying 281.250 GOLD 20 Gram 248.000 10 Gram 125.000 5 Gram 65.000 Japanese Yen Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Srilankan Rupees Nepali Rupees Singapore Dollar Hongkong Dollar Bangladesh Taka Philippine Peso Thai Baht Irani Riyal Irani Riyal

UAE Exchange Centre WLL COUNTRY SELL DRAFT Australian Dollar 275.52 Canadian Dollar 274.65 Swiss Franc 320.91 Euro 393.26 US Dollar 281.85 Sterling Pound 460.19 Japanese Yen 2.95 Bangladesh Taka 3.624 Indian Rupee 4.588 Sri Lankan Rupee 2.162 Nepali Rupee 2.872 Pakistani Rupee 2.655 UAE Dirhams 76.81 Bahraini Dinar 750.17 Egyptian Pound 40.90 Jordanian Dinar 401.14 Omani Riyal 732.99 Qatari Riyal 77.83 Saudi Riyal 75.29

SELL CASH 276.000 274.000 321.000 396.000 284.600 464.000 3.000 3.700 4.850 2.600 3.400 2.750 77.100 751.000 41.000 406.200 739.100 78.200 75.500

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 283.650 275.105 454.890 386.445 312.945 748.980 77.205 78.760 76.510 399.850 41.120 2.165 4.592 2.653 3.644 6.559 696.700 3.890

Thai Bhat Syrian Pound Nepalese Rupees Malaysian Ringgit

Singapore Dollar South African Rand Sri Lankan Rupee Taiwan Thai Baht

10.120 3.055 3.855 91.032

0.225000 0.022645 0.001891 0.009510 0.008770 Arab

Bahrain Exchange Company CURRENCY Belgian Franc British Pound Czech Korune Danish Krone Euro Norwegian Krone Romanian Leu Slovakia Swedish Krona Swiss Franc Turkish Lira Australian Dollar New Zealand Dollar America Canadian Dollar US Dollars US Dollars Mint

BUY SELL Europe 0.007351 0.008351 0.447076 0.456076 0.006619 0.018619 0.048057 0.053057 0.383682 0.391162 0.043903 0.049103 0.081615 0.81615 0.008099 0.018099 0.040294 0.045294 0.308198 0.318398 0.140723 0.147723 Australasia 0.260043 0.271543 0.227620 0.237120 0.265129 0.278750 0.279250

0.273629 0.283100 0.283100 Asia

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

0.003422 0.045021 0.034395 0.004482 0.000021 0.002799 0.003411 0.000256 0.085857 0.003030 0.002507 0.006438 0.000069

0.004022 0.048521 0.037145 0.004883 0.000027 0.002979 0.003411 0.000271 0.091857 0.003200 0.002787 0.006718 0.000075

0.231000 0.031145 0.002471 0.009690 0.009320

Bahraini Dinar 0.743809 Egyptian Pound 0.038421 Iranian Riyal 0.000078 Iraqi Dinar 0.000183 Jordanian Dinar 0.394722 Kuwaiti Dinar 1.0000000 Lebanese Pound 0.000138 Moroccan Dirhams 0.022620 Nigerian Naira 0.001196 Omani Riyal 0.728643 Qatar Riyal 0.078982 Saudi Riyal 0.074790 Syrian Pound 0.001925 Tunisian Dinar 0.169706 Turkish Lira 0.140723 UAE Dirhams 0.076028 Yemeni Riyal 0.001285

0.751809 0.041521 0.000080 0.000243 0.402222 1.0000000 0.000238 0.046620 0.001831 0.734323 0.078195 0.075490 0.002145 0.177706 0.147723 0.077177 0.001365

Al Mulla Exchange Currency 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

Transfer Rate (Per 1000) 283.300 385.700 454.000 274.150 4.575 41.105 2.156 3.631 6.535 2.645 754.500 77.150 75.575

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2013

BUSINESS

Finnish engineers discover there is life after Nokia TAMPERE, Finland: The decline of Finnish mobile phone manufacturer Nokia has encouraged a whole generation of local engineers to venture on a new and riskier path: that of entrepreneurship. Housed on the top floor of a building located on the main avenue of the southern city of Tampere, the office of local start-up TreLab exudes ambition and optimism.

“We just sent our first five-figure invoices. It feels good!” 44-year-old chief executive Kimmo Saarela said.

This former Nokia employee joined four colleagues to create in December 2011 a start-up specialising in wireless measurement devices which can be used in sectors such as health care, logistics and personal wellness and training. “Even if I sometimes miss the comfort of a regular salary and the job security provided by Nokia, I feel freer here. One can make decisions quickly, without going through all the bureaucracy of a big firm,” he said.

In the early 2000s, when Nokia reigned supreme in the global mobile phone market and contributed four percent to Finland’s gross domestic product, the job security offered by the company had no match.

“When you were a Finnish engineer starting at Nokia, you knew you would leave Nokia only when retiring.

Your future was clear,” recalls Tommi Uhari, who left his management position to found Uros, a mobile wireless Internet provider for international travelers.

Everything changed when the financial crisis hit and Nokia fell behind in the smartphone race after Apple launched its first iPhone in 2007. Trapped in a failure spiral, Nokia started to lay off white-collar staff and ended up agreeing in September to sell its mobile phone division to US giant Microsoft for 5.44 billion euro ($7.5 billion) in a move considered by local media as “the end of an era for Finland”.

When it began to need to downsize a few years back, the firm launched an uncommon initiative named the Nokia Bridge program, through which it helped its former employees to create their own companies. TreLab, the Tampere start-up, benefited from the programme, which allowed former employees to leave the company with up to 20,000 ($27,573) each. Some engineers, the founders of TreLab among them, even got the right to use certain technologies they had developed at Nokia without having to buy any expensive patents. “Without this support, we probably wouldn’t have been able to create our company,” Saarela said.

According to Nokia, more than 1,000 start-ups

had access to the Nokia Bridge program, 400 of them in Finland. The most famous one is Jolla, which has taken over Meego, a free mobile operating system abandoned by Nokia. The company is expected to launch its first mobile phone by the end of the year.

The start-up model does not suit everybody, though.

“Sure, there are a lot of engineers coming out of Nokia, with a long and brilliant career behind them.

But very few know how to sell a product, which is a necessary skill when you’re creating a start-up,” said Tiina-Maria Siipola, president of the Association of Engineers of Oulu, a city in western Finland that was hit hard by Nokia’s job cuts.

In Oulu, more than a third of all start-ups created in 2011 did not survive their first year. Some nostalgics in Finland still dream of the arrival of a “new Nokia”, a top world-class company that will boost Finnish pride again. This is not a pipe dream. Finnish entrepreneurs have had an uncanny knack for turning from underdogs into greyhounds. Take for example Rovio, whose Angry Birds games exploited the new touchscreen features of smartphones and tablets to launch itself to success.

Another example from the same industry: Supercell, which was founded only 2010 and recent-

Kimmo Saarela ly sold 51 percent of its shares to Japanese investors for $1.5 billion. Entrepreneur Tommi Uhari thinks it is better for Finland to stick with Davids rather than Goliaths, however. “When Nokia was successful, it was very hard to hire talented employees, because they all worked there! Now it is much more interesting. People are ready to take risks, and to do what really excites them,” Uhrari said. — AFP

Twitter set to make a splash on Wall Street Star quality, but questions on monetization

JAKARTA: This picture taken on Oct 29, 2013 shows customers walking past a shop at the Tanah Abang textile market. — AFP

Jakarta textile market seeks to clean up act JAKARTA: After years of being overrun by a racketeering mafia, drug addicts and prostitutes, Southeast Asia’s biggest textile market is cleaning up its act in an effort to win back droves of shoppers. Spread across several blocks in the Indonesian capital Jakarta, Tanah Abang market is a colourful whirl of activity that has attracted shoppers from across the region for centuries. While glittering skyscrapers have shot up around the city centre trading hub, the market itself, which was founded in 1735 by a Dutch businessman, is a series of modest buildings in an area of traditional, red-tiled houses.

Traders looking for wholesale bargains and shoppers looking for smaller items haggle at myriad stalls on several floors in the market buildings, looking for everything from raw cloth to branded goods.

“There is so much variety under one roof and 20 to 30 percent cheaper than in Kuala Lumpur. And fashionable too,” said Malaysian shopper Mariam Ahmad, who makes an annual trip to the market to buy clothing ahead of the Muslim Eid holiday.

But the market’s increasingly seedy atmosphere and traffic gridlock in the area caused by illegal street stalls were putting shoppers off. Vendors estimated customer numbers had fallen around 10 percent in recent years. Bag seller Desmawita, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, said that crime had been “getting out of hand”. “Two prostitutes pounced on one of my customers from Brunei while he was praying and he had to give them money before they let him go. He bought 29,000 bags from me but cancelled a five-year business deal.”

Jeha, who sells traditional patterned “batik” shirts and goes by one name, added: “Even for us locals, Tanah Abang was scary. “It was normal to see hundreds of needles used by drug addicts strewn along the back alleys. Gangsters would demand money and beat us up if we refused.” Popular Jakarta governor Joko

Widodo, who took power around a year ago, decided to tackle the issue. In August, he pushed through a plan to relocate around 1,000 vendors who had been illegally hawking goods on the streets and were blamed for many of the market’s problems.

They were moved to a refurbished building in the area, joining another 15,000 vendors working legally inside the market’s original blocks. The number of public order officers, who help police in keeping the peace but come under the authority of the local government, has also been dramatically increased. With the vendors off the streets, the mafia-like gangs that demanded cash payments to rent out illegal lots have largely gone. And the increased security has succeeded in frightening off many of the sex workers and drug addicts, vendors say. “A Philippine customer was shocked when she came yesterday to see how orderly everything was. She said she would definitely return - that’s good news for me,” headscarf seller Rinaldi said.

However the change has not been without problems. Some vendors say that business has been hurt by the move from the street, where they could catch casual shoppers as they walked past. Rahmat Hidayat, who sells dresses, said he had not made a single sale since moving indoors but previously he could make $50 to $80 a day. “I make money from impulse buyers because I’m not selling household staples like rice.

Nobody will climb three flights of stairs just to come to my shop,” he said.

And while it is striving to change without losing its authenticity, some complain that the clean-up has wiped away the market’s old character. Gone are the noisy, streetside market stalls that used to spill across the main roads and fill up narrow alleyways. “Please bring back the old Tanah Abang,” said headscar f seller Andalusia, complaining there were fewer customers since the market had been spruced up. — AFP

IDB to launch $10bn Islamic bond program DUBAI: The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) will set up a $10 billion sukuk issuance program on the Nasdaq Dubai exchange, a boost to Dubai’s efforts to become a top centre for Islamic finance in competition with other cities. It would be the Jeddah-based IDB’s third sukuk programme - it already issues Islamic bonds in London and Kuala Lumpur - and its first in a Middle Eastern country. The international lender, which has 56 member countries, promotes economic development in Muslim countries and communities. In January, Dubai launched a drive to become a centre for Islamic business; its exchanges have so far listed $12.5 billion of sukuk and the total is expected to reach $16 billion by year-end, a statement from the office of Dubai’s ruler said late on Saturday.

No time frame was given for the launch of the IDB’s programme. Its sukuk are highly sought after by Islamic investors because of their AAA credit rating, so they could offer a much-needed boost to trading volumes in Dubai and encourage more issuers from outside the emirate to choose Dubai as their listing venue. “As

the IDB plans a significant expansion of its activities, Dubai’s world class exchange and regulatory architecture together with its commitment to providing Islamic finance solutions of the highest quality make it a natural home for our securities,” IDB president Ahmad Mohamed Ali was quoted as saying in the statement.

The IDB also plans to expand its sukuk programme on the London Stock Exchange this month to $10 billion from the current $6.5 billion. It has issued 15 sukuk in London since 2005. In addition, the IDB has a 1 billion ringgit ($313 million) program listed on Bursa Malaysia, which has raised a total of 700 million ringgit via three sukuk since 2008. Dubai’s announcement comes days after Britain unveiled plans to issue a 200 million pound ($320 million) sovereign sukuk, the first from a Western country, ramping up efforts to promote itself as an Islamic finance hub. Prime Minister David Cameron announced the intention during the World Islamic Economic Forum, a major conference for the industry, in London last week; the event will be held in Dubai next year. — Reuters

NEW YORK: Wall Street is aflutter over Twitter, set to make the most anticipated stock market debut since Facebook in a huge test for social media and the technology sector. No official date has been set, but Twitter appears on a fast track which could see its initial public offering priced as early as Wednesday for trading on Thursday, according to some reports. The company will trade under the “TWTR” symbol on the New York Stock Exchange, breaking from the Nasdaq market used by a large number of tech companies.

There is considerable excitement about the IPO because Twitter is “a unique product that no one can replicate,” said Michael Pachter, head of equity research at Wedbush Securities. Pachter and his colleagues said in a research report that they expect high demand.”We believe that the market is likely to generate appetite for more than $1 billion in stock,” they said. “The simple rules of supply and demand suggest that by limiting the supply of shares offered to the public in its IPO, Twitter will be unable to satisfy demand.”

And Twitter appears to have learned a lesson from Facebook’s debacle in May 2012, marked by trading glitches, accusations about secret information and a plunge in the share value for months after the IPO. “The Facebook situation last year was a perfect storm of an overheated private market, a fully priced offering, a massive amount of shares brought to market, all compounded by an historical technical glitch,” said Lou Kerner, founder of the Social Internet Fund.

“That confluence of events is not likely to occur again.”

As of its latest update, Twitter will seek to raise up to $1.6 billion - one tenth the value of the Facebook IPO - by offering 70 million shares in a range of $17 to $20. That is a relatively small chunk of Twitter’s capital, and implies a market value between $9.3 billion and $11.1 billion - a conservative figure compared with some of the private market trades in Twitter so far. Analysts say Twitter, unlike Facebook, will not flood the market, and that with demand exceeding supply the price will rise. The early Twitter investors may not get maximum value right away, but could benefit over time from a rise in the share price.

Twitter does have a star quality that is likely to fuel interest, because it is a key platform for celebrities, politicians and journalists. In its investor presentation, the company used President Barack Obama’s widely retweeted message of “four more years” after his 2012 re-elec-

KOLN, Germany: This Sept 13, 2013, file photo shows a Twitter app and stock tracker on an iPhone. — AP tion, and noted how activist investor Carl Icahn’s single tweet about buying Apple shares moved the stock market. A crucial question for Twitter, as for Facebook, is how deftly the company is able to monetize its platform.

Twitter has some 232 million active users around the world, but has lost money steadily since 2010, according to IPO documents. The losses amounted to $133 million on $422 million in revenues in the first nine months of the year.

Twitter makes most of its money from advertising, chiefly in the form of “promoted tweets.” A recent revamping of its display opens the door to bigger display-type ads. The investment firm Sterne Agee notes that “Twitter’s scale and deeply engaged user base create valuable opportunities for advertisers to leverage the platform.”

Analysts point out that Twitter can allow companies to advertise for free, or pay for promoted tweets and benefit from analytics that target people based on their interests and profiles.

“Twitter is a niche business that will not likely be used by ‘everybody’ vs. Facebook, which essen-

tially is,” said a report from Pivotal Research Group analyst Brian Wieser. “However, at the same time we expect that advertisers will continue to value Twitter for its unique attributes and should conceivably allocate budgets from sources intended towards digital goals.”

But the report goes on to say that Twitter faces big risks including “a relatively unproven advertiser proposition, the prospects of wild swings in investor sentiment, difficulty scaling the business profitability, rush sellings at a time when early investor lock-ups expire (and) government regulations primarily related to privacy.”

Still, Pivotal sets a target price of $29 a share, or 46 percent above the high end of the offering price range. Others note that it is hard to evaluate Twitter’s financial potential because threequarters of its users are outside the United States where digital advertising is just taking hold. “Many international ad markets are years behind the US in terms of the maturity of the digital ad market,” noted Hillside Partners, an investment firm specializing in technology companies. — AFP

Cubans fret, sweat currency launch HAVANA: Cubans have welcomed news the government will end its unpopular dual currency system, but they are beyond keen to know when the change will actually come. “It should be done already,” said retiree Mirtha Graveran, 67, who earns a monthly pension worth 147 pesos (six dollars) and “rarely” has access to convertible pesos. “That would put us on all the same playing field,” Graveran said, echoing the feelings of many Cubans that the system has let social inequalities widen in the only Communist nation in the Americas.

Many basic necessities here are available only in convertible pesos at special state-run stores, a source of tension between Cubans who have access to dollars and the majority who don’t. The government announced Oct 22 it will phase out the dual currency system, in place for almost two decades, as part of President Raul Castro’s gradual attempt to streamline the country’s Soviet-style economy. Under the current system, Cubans who have dollars (a minority) can buy convertible pesos (CUC) at a one for one rate, and use them to buy scarce goods in well-stocked special state stores.

Cubans’ salaries, however, are paid in non-convertible pesos (CUP), which are valued at 24 to a convertible peso and do not go far in a country where builders, teachers and doctors, for example, are paid $20 a month. The government set up the system originally to steer hard currency into its coffers which it needs to buy bulk food on international markets for this nation of 11 million. While Cubans enjoy almost free education and health benefits, housing and a subsidized food basket, most say they still struggle to put food on the table.

In state stores, a liter bottle of cooking oil costs $2.40 - which might not sound bad except for that average monthly salary at the local equivalent of about $20. “Really, I thought the story in Granma would say more. It does not really have an outline of what is happening now so much as where we are headed, an outline,” said Laura, a 54-year-old economist who asked that her family name not be given. The impatience is palpable. But so far, all the government has said was that this will be a slow

HAVANA: A book vendor poses with convertible pesos, the four bills on the right, and regular Cuban pesos in front of books of Argentine born Cuban revolutionary hero Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara and Cuban leader Fidel Castro in this Oct 22, 2013 photo. — AP and gradual process. “Though there has been talk “That is, when they are able,” Rodriguez said.

Ending the dual system, which has been in of a timetable, so far no dates have been mentioned for finally ending the dual currency system,” effect since 1994, was a key demand raised at the VI Communist Party Congress in April, 2011. President opposition blogger Yoani Sanchez wrote.

The economist’s conundrum is how to make Raul Castro, 82, has slimmed down hulking statethe transition in a country plagued by such low pro- run bureaucracies. But his government has refused ductivity and high inefficiency, Sanchez wrote. to embrace market economics and political openSanchez has won awards abroad but is little known ing. The gap between the haves and have nots, at home, a country where only state media exists meanwhile, has become more noticeable as more and most Cubans cannot afford Internet use. Cubans turn to a nascent private sector to make a Cubans who have access to US dollars are mainly living. Some 430,000 Cubans are now privately those who receive remittances from relatives over- employed, mostly as owners of small restaurants, seas, but also locals who work in the tourism indus- beauty parlors and taxi drivers. While a medical try, estimated at $2.5 billion a year, unofficially. “I am doctor earns a monthly salary of 500 ordinary hopeful,” said Yolanda Rodriguez, a Finance Ministry pesos, a mechanic working for himself can make expert who makes 41 convertible pesos a month 400 convertible pesos a month, or 9,600 ordinary and gets by with help from children living abroad. pesos. — AFP

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2013

BUSINESS

Banks hope flagships can tempt customers VELIZY, France: Installation art, interactive walls and a robot doorman; the flagship branches of the world’s top banks have come a long way from the iron grilles and potted plants of old. To compete against online-only rivals and to attract a new generation of customers to branches, banks are installing sleek interiors and hi-tech gadgetry.

ATMs that read fingerprints, touch-screen desks to flick through your finances and videoconference units for expert advice are all on display at payments-technology firm Wincor Nixdorf’s showroom in the Paris suburb of Velizy. “Banks are investing a lot in their retail branches,” said Steve Bousabata, head of Wincor’s French banking services arm. “They want customers to come back.”

The reason is clear: after years of relying on branches to drive retail revenue, European banks expect such networks to supply only 62 percent of sales by 2020 from today’s average of 81 percent, according to Equinox Consulting. Banks, especially those still nursing losses from the financial crisis, are under pressure to cut costs and are balancing the need to pare back branch networks by sprucing up select outlets. But branches are still the first point of contact for many customers and are still the primary location for product sales like mortgages, new accounts and insurance, underlining the importance of upgrading them for a more tech-savvy generation.

The difficulty is knowing exactly what belongs

in the branch of the future and what is better left behind. “Are all the things we see in branches today going to be seen in branches tomorrow? I very much doubt that,” said Mike Baxter, head of management consultancy Bain’s Americas Financial Services practice. “There’s an awful lot of experimentation of stuff that turns out to be unsuccessful and uneconomic.”

Flashy “bank of the future” branches mixing gadgetry with design similar to Apple’s minimalist stores have been opened by BNP Paribas in Paris, Barclays in London and Deutsche Bank in Berlin at an estimated cost of Ä5 million ($7 million) each. They include lounge areas, giant interactive screens and other trimmings such as handbags

for sale and pieces of art. Gauging their success is tricky. BNP was willing to give data on its refurbished flagship branch near the Paris Opera which three years ago was fitted with a wall covered in plants, iPads for customer use and a touchscreen desk - saying that footfall was up 40 percent and new clients up 25 percent.

Italy’s Unicredit also said that footfall and new business were up at its newly revamped flagship branch in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia, which offers “welcoming scents” and a touch-screen wall.

Visits are up by an average of 60 percent while loans and deposits have doubled, a spokeswoman said. On the other hand, BNP has done away with some ideas that failed to click with consumers: it

has scrapped the iPads and touch-screen desk in favour of an interactive wall. Deutsche Bank and Barclays declined to give data on single branches.

More broadly, some 88 percent of bank executives view their flagship branches in main street areas as being “successful” in promoting brand awareness, according to a survey by Equinox.

Beyond Europe, the experiments are even bolder. In South Korea, where mobile banking has flourished faster than in the West, Hana Bank allows mobile users to transfer money to one another by physically “bumping” smartphones.

Shinhan Bank has also introduced unmanned “smart” branch kiosks that communicate with handsets.—Reuters

Ryanair looks to soften image in tough market DUBLIN: Exchanges with customers on Twitter and plans for a simplified website - Irish no-frills airline Ryanair is seeking to improve its public image as it flies into tougher market competition.

Ahead of the Dublin-based carrier’s latest quar terly earnings update on Monday, Ryanair has sought to soften its much-criticised public image of being a company that is lacking in good customer service. Customers being hit by fines at the airport for failing to print off their tickets and for carrying too much weight in their luggage are among some of the biggest grievances, even if Ryanair’s policy is posted on its website.

Ryanair recently simplified its online booking process, and will launch a new homepage later this month, after customers regularly complained about the confusing and long procedure. The airline also said it would allow passengers to carry a second bag of hand luggage from December. Ryanair’s chief operating officer Michael Cawley has said that while changes are being introduced there will not be a shift from the basic principles that transformed Ryanair into one of the biggest carriers in Europe.

“The idea that there’s going to be wholesale changes is wrong. There’s some changes announced and there will be more changes but we don’t want to throw out what ’s good about Ryanair,” he told an aviation conference in Dublin last month. “We need to be perhaps a little bit less vigorous in the implementation of (our policies). When we’re taking 70 euros ($95) from someone for a bag that doesn’t fit we should do it not with glee but with sympathy,” he added. Ryanair had in September issued a shock profit warning that it blamed on intense competition and falling airfares, sparking a share-price plunge across Europe’s airlines sector which highlighted its influence on the market. It said that it expects to come in at the lower end of its full-year net profit range of Ä570-600 million. This could be

revised today when Ryanair posts earnings for its second-quarter period.

Following the profit-warning, outspoken chief executive Michael O’Leary declared that the company would strive to be less abrasive. “I’m conscious that we need to eliminate a lot of minor things that irritate,” O’Leary told the company ’s annual general meeting (AGM). “We do need to soften the image when things go wrong. We need to be quicker and more responsive.” In summing up O’Leary added: “We should try to eliminate things that unnecessarily pisses people off.” The airline came under fire in the run-up to the AGM for charging a Dublin-based neurosurgeon Ä188 to change flights after his wife and three children were killed in a house fire in England. The airline later apologised to the customer. O’Leary also admitted that the company needed to reduce its “macho” culture and subsequently took part in a rather amusing but forthright question-and-answering session on social-media site Twitter, under the hashtag GrillMOL. Profit-warning, changes not totally linked, says analyst Donal O’Neill, aviation analyst with Goodbody stockbrokers, said that September’s profit-warning should be distinguished from the customer service changes. “They’re partly related long-term but in the near term they are quite different issues,” he told AFP. “In order to differentiate itself and in order to keep growing, Ryanair has to offer a slightly different product to its passengers and that’s with a longer-term view to appeal to those kinds of consumers that traditionally used legacy carriers (like British Airways and German airline Lufthansa). “A lot of these services are focused on trying to continue to take traffic from those carriers and also to try win new traffic and maybe slightly higher-end traffic,” O’Neill added. Ryanair transported almost 81 million passengers across Europe in the year to the end of October, its own data revealed on Friday. —AFP

ECB under growing pressure to cut rates FRANKFURT: The heat is on the European Central Bank to cut rates amid growing deflationary fears in Europe, but analysts are divided over whether it will act as soon as this week. The annual rate of inflation for the 17 countries that share the euro slowed unexpectedly to just 0.7 percent in October, the lowest rate in four years, raising fears the single currency area may tip into deflation - a vicious circle of falling prices, wages and output. RBS economist Richard Barwell, who like many other ECB watchers had previously been expecting eurozone interest rates to remain on hold at their current record low of 0.50 percent for the time being, said the data will “be sufficient to force the governing council into action.” The rate-setting council holds its regular monthly policy meeting on Thursday.

Barwell pointed to recent comments

by Belgian central bank governor, Luc Coene, who sits on decision-making body. Coene had said that the low level of inflation was a “growing concern” and “if core inflation or inflation would continue to drop further, that in itself ... in my view would already be sufficient reason to think about strengthening the accommodative stance of polic y ”.

“When the objective of policy is to keep inflation below but close to 2.0 percent, there comes a point where inflation is so weak and coming in weaker than anticipated that the case for loosening polic y becomes too hard to resist,” Barwell argued.

Deflation is bad for the economy because it can lead consumers to delay purchases in the expectation that prices will fall. Slower sales have a knock-on effect on orders to factories, which reduce production and then either cut wages or jobs. This leaves households in an even worse position and then often fearful to spend, worsening the cycle even further and creating a vicious circle that feeds upon itself.

But other analysts were not so certain that the ECB will act this month.

“The ECB is not generally influenced by individual monthly data but by the

medium-term inflation,” said Commerzbank economist Joerg Kraemer. “However, updated inflation projections will not yet be available at Thursday’s meeting. Consequently, the ECB can be expected to do no more than emphasise its basic willingness to act but to refer to the December meeting, when its new projections will be published,” Kraemer said.

Capital Economics economist Ben May agreed that a rate cut “remains off the table”. But Howard Archer IHS Global Insight believed that the sharp slowdown in inflation “means that a rate cut to 0.25 percent “is now a very real possibility” this week. Such a move could also exert some welcome downward pressure on the euro, the expert argued.

“However, the ECB may prefer to hold fire until its December meeting when it will have available the new eurozone growth and inflation forecasts. Either way, we expect the ECB to cut interest rates before the end of this year,” Archer insisted.

Economists at BNP Paribas likewise warned that a protracted rise in the euro - it recently broke the threshold of $1.38, its highest level in two years “might derail the already fragile economy”, as well as add to the downward momentum on inflation. “In this case, action would necessary. However, we do not expect a move as soon as (this week),” they argued. Another possible avenue of action would be for the ECB to pump more liquidity into the markets in the form of more long-term refinancing operations (LTROs), which it used at the end of 2011 and the beginning of 2012 to avert a possible credit crunch.

Draghi specifically raised such a possibility at the ECB meeting last month.

Commerzbank’s Kraemer believed a new LTRO would be the preferred route of action for market players and economists. But some ECB council members notably executive board member Benoit Coeure and German central bank chief Jens Weidmann - harboured reservations about such a move, Kraemer noted. — AFP

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2013

BUSINESS

GCC’s fresh produce import flourishes DUBAI: According to recent statistics, the total value of fresh produce import to Kuwait has reached $164 billion in 2012.

The International Perishables Expo Middle East (WOP 2013), running from November 17 to 19, 2013 will offer an ideal venue to explore business opportunities as well as discuss best technologies surrounding the flourishing trade of fresh edible food.

Organized by planetfair LLC, the fifth edition of WOP Dubai - the GCC’s only dedicated exhibition for fresh edible food - will be held at the Dubai International

Convention & Exhibition Centre under the patronage of Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, UAE Minister of Finance and Chairman of Dubai Municipality. The event is expected to attract more than 7,000 visitors from around the world, in addition to over 130 exhibitors from 20 exhibiting countries coming from all over Europe, Africa, Asia, GCC, the Middle East and the Americas.

The Middle East import of the fresh produce reached 4.1 per cent from the total world imports in 2012 with $4.2 billion where GCC alone shared 54 per cent

NBK announces 14 winners to reward credit cardholders KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) announced the 14 winners in its exclusive campaign offered to its Credit Cardholders in collaboration with M H Alshaya Co (Alshaya). NBK Credit Cardholders enjoyed exclusive offers at Alshaya operated stores and restaurants at The Avenues. NBK recently held an event to announce the winners of its largest campaigns this year at the Grand Avenue - The Avenues. In addition to this event, NBK organized a weekend event to reward its Credit Cardholders with exclusive offers in collaboration with M.H. Alshaya Co. where credit cardholders had the chance to win their purchases back up to KD 500 in the form of NBK Rewards vouchers.

Fedda Abdulkareem Al Haraki, Nawaf Saad Marzouq Al Abdulla, Adel Musaed Khalifa Al Kharafi, Rym Mohammad Abdul Jaleel Bournan, Noura Abdulaziz Mohamed

Al Ghanim, Reem Ahmad Shaheen Al Rubaie, Mohamed Jasem Mohamed Al Mutairi, Mesaed Khalifa Mesaed Al Kharafi, Anwar Ahmad Ibrahim Mohammed, Mohammed Ibrahim Mohammed Bahman, Shahira Mohmoud Mohieldin, Waleed Abdulla Akabar Ali AlHusaini, Ahmad Hasan Abdulghani Hussain, Esraa Saheb Sayed Hasan Bebehani each won their purchases back up to KD 500 in the form of NBK Rewards vouchers.

NBK’s leadership in the Credit Card market in Kuwait has been established by consistently delivering superior value to customers. NBK always strives to develop promotions to reward customers by building on the long-time relationships with local and world leading partners and brands.

NBK Credit Cards are accepted worldwide and are the safest, most convenient and rewarding way to pay.

Burgan Bank announces winners of Yawmi account KUWAIT: Burgan Bank announces the names of the winners of its Yawmi account draw, each taking home a prize of KD 5,000. The lucky winners for the daily draws took home a cash-prize of KD 5000 each, and they are: 1. MOHAMMAD ABDULLAH ALI ALWAZZAN 2. RANGWALA FAKHRUDDIN AHMED ALI 3. MURTADHA HABIB KASEM KOTHARI With its new and enhanced features, the Yawmi Account has become more convenient, easier, and faster for customers to benefit from. Now, customers will be eligible to enter the draw after 48 hours only from opening the account. Customers are also required to deposit KD 100 or equivalent only to enter the daily draw, and the coupon value to enter the draw stands at KD 10.

The newly designed Yawmi account has

been launched to provide a highly innovative offering along with a higher frequency and incentive of winning for everyone. Today, the Yawmi account is a well understood product, where its popularity can be seen from the number of increasing account holders.

Burgan Bank encourages everyone to open a Yawmi account and/or increase their deposit to maximize their chances to becoming a daily winner. The more customers deposit, the higher the chances they receive of winning the draw.

Opening a Yawmi account is simple, customers are urged to visit their nearest Burgan Bank branch and receive all the details, or simply call the bank’s Call Center at 1804080 where customer service representatives will be delighted to assist with any questions on the Yawmi account or any of the bank’s products and services.

Exclusive offers for Gulf Bank red customers at Honda Alghanim KUWAIT: Gulf Bank announced that its red debit card holders can now receive exclusive discounts when making a purchase from the Honda Alghanim showroom. The offer is valid until Dec 31, 2013 and is granted directly upon making the purchase using a Gulf Bank red debit card. This offer is in line with the Bank’s Rewards Program, to reward Gulf Bank card users for their loyalty and trust in the Bank’s services and products, and is one of a series of offers the Bank is planning to present to its customers.

Gulf Bank’s redprogram is only available to students aged 17 to 24 years and is specially designed for the needs of

young people. Opening the account requires no deposit and it can be used for both current and savings accounts with monthly interest payments. To join the redprogram, students can visit one of Gulf Bank’s 56 branches, contact the Bank’s Customer Contact Center on 1805805 for assistance and guidance or log on to www.e-gulfbank.com/red, Gulf Bank’s dedicated page for redô customers. Students could also follow Gulf Bank on Twitter and Instagram @gulf_bank, to keep updated with the university registration periods, links to application forms and all the Bank’s latest offers and promotions.

GIC announces KD 7.8m profit KUWAIT: Gulf Insurance Company (GIC) has announced a net profit of KD 7.8 million ($27.5 million), or 42.5 fils per share (15 cents), for the financial period ended September 30, 2013 with an increase of 4.8 percent compared with KD 7.4 million ($26.3 million) or 40.4 fils (14 cents) for the same period last year. The book value of the share at the end of the third quarter 2013 reached 411.6 fils and shareholder’s equity reached KD 75.4 million ($266.5 million) as of Sept 30, 2013.

The gross written premiums has also reached KD 123 million ($434.4 million) with an increase of 8.7 percent from last year. The total revenue of the company has reached KD 70.6 million ($250 million) with the comparison of last year’s KD 62.7 million ($222 million) which brings it to a 12.7 percent increase. Total assets has also reached KD 322.6 million ($1.14 billion) with an increase of 8.1 percent amounted KD24.3 million ($85.8 million) from Dec 31, 2012.

GIC’s net technical reserves have been increased from KD 88.2 million ($312 million) in Dec 31, 2012 to KD 101 million ($356 million) in September 30, 2013. This increase represents a 14.3 percent rise and is in the interest of supporting the company’s operational activities and to protect the policy holders rights, thereby strengthening GIC’s ability to sustain emergencies and risks that may rise in the future. There was an increase in net cash and investments of 11.9 percent which is equivalent to KD 17.5 million ($61.8 million) which brings it up to KD 164.8 million ($582.4 million) in the end

from the total imports of the Middle East with $2.2 billion. In 2012, the UAE alone accounted for $1.145 billion of GCC’s total fresh produce import, with Saudi Arabia at second place with $825 million and Kuwait third with $164 million. Oman, Qatar and Bahrain contributed $58 million, $57 million and, 43 million respectively.

Tarek Sibai, Project Manager, planetfair, said, “Import of fresh edible produce to Kuwait have seen an upward trend and this could be attributed to the combination of the growing population in the

region, increasing consumer demand for fresh ingredients and rising trend for healthy eating. By hosting the GCC’s only dedicated exhibition for fresh edible food, we have provided a platform to people in the fresh produce sector to meet industry experts to learn about innovative trends, express their concerns and explore new markets.”

With 10 official participating pavilions, this year WOP Dubai will see a substantial increase in space along with more services options. The fresh produce expo will run concurrently with its sister event,

2013 International Plants Expo Middle East (IPM), the only international horticultural trade show in the Middle East. The annual WOP Dubai International Perishables Expo Middle East is the leading and only dedicated exhibition for fresh fruits and vegetables show in the Middle East. The well-structured exhibition profile covers the entire products chain comprising Fresh Products, Technical Equipment, Fresh Produce Safety, Trading and Services, Transport and Logistics, Fresh Produce Trading and Fresh Produce Services.

Full-frame experience in smallest, lightest form KUWAIT: The all-new D610 is Nikon’s smallest and lightest full-frame format D-SLR to date, with a compact form factor power-packed with intuitive features to meet the top image quality and practical demands of professional photographers and everyday users alike. Middle East and Africa - Nikon Middle East FZE is pleased to announce the release of the D610, a portable FXformat camera designed to meet the everyday demands of professional photographers and enthusiasts alike.

Catered for users who are new to the FX-format, the D610 is equipped with exclusive firstrate Nikon technology, including a 24.3megapixel FX-format CMOS sensor and the EXPEED 3 image processing engine, along with an ISO range of 100 to 6400 (expandable from 50 to 25,600), to deliver exceptional image quality. Designed for portability and built for superior performance, the compact D610 is easy to use and offers a host of extensive features.

“The new Nikon D610 bridges the gap for photographers who are looking to take advantage of the advanced imaging capabilities that only the FX-format can offer, without having to compromise on the form factor,” said Uemura Kimito, General Manager, International Marketing Division, Nikon Singapore Pte Ltd. The D610 features an improved shutter release mode that allows for an uninterrupted stream of images at approximately 6 frames per second and introduces new innovations such as the Quiet Continuous shutter release mode for near-silent shooting. For greater versatility, the D610 is compatible with an expanding line-up of accessories including the Wireless Mobile Adapter WU-1b for wireless connectivity and range of Speedlights.

balance. Photographers can also take advantage of the D610’s improved Auto White Balance Control System to produce true-to-life colours in photographs.

Engineered for Exceptional Imaging Quality Whether the desired result is a dark and moody photograph or an image with a stunning dynamic range, the D610’s FX format will be able to please even the most demanding of users. The 24.3-megapixel CMOS sensor on the D610 provides users with an extensive ISO range of 100 to 6400 (expandable from 50 to 25,600). This enables users to capture photographs in low light with true-to-life colours and minimal noise. The ISO range of 100 to 25,600 is also accessible when capturing HD videos under challenging lighting conditions.

ing nature and for use in quiet environments such as theatres.

Power-Packed Performance for the Advanced User The D610 is equipped with a unique 39point autofocus (AF) system to cater to a w i d e v a r i e t y o f s h o o t i n g c o n d i t i o n s.

Featuring autofocus modes that are useful in various photography situations, photographers can select single point AF, continuous AF, Dynamic AF or 3D tracking to keep pace with moving subjects throughout the frame. f/8 aperture compatibility with teleconverter The D610’s 39-point AF system is compatible with an aperture value of up to f/8 for capturing impressively sharp images in all situations. When connected with a telephoto lens or a 2x teleconverter, the D610 enables precise focusing even at an effective aperture of f/8, ideal for nature photography and long distance shots.

HD-SLR video technology for the Full HD experience The advanced video features provide photographers with the ability to record Full-HD videos at 30, 25 or 24p, and 720p videos at 60, 50 and 30p. Budding film-makers can also take full manual control of the exposure. This allows switching between FX and DX-format (1.5X) in Full HD for a telephoto boost or for altering the depth of field.

Time-lapse photography enables users to select high-speed playback from 24 times to 36,000 times and combine still photos into a movie.

Full-frame Experience in a Compact Body Weighing in at approximately 760 grams, the compact and lightweight D610 is an ideal choice for day-to-day photography. The camera is also extremely durable and is designed for a variety of shooting conditions, with various points of the body sealed for dust prevention and weatherresistant performance.

EXPEED 3 image-processing engine The D610 boasts high-speed processing power with its EXPEED 3 image-processing engine. On top of providing users with smooth operation and image processing, the camera is also capable of bursts of images of up to 6 frames per second in FX and DX-formats. To further enhance the speed and workflow for photographers, images and videos can be rapidly transferred to the dual SD card slots that are compatible with SDXC, UHS-1 as well as Eye-Fi cards.

Intuitive features Photographers will appreciate the additional features on the 610, such as the optical viewfinder that provides 100 percent frame coverage for composing images. The large 3.2-inch 921K-dot LCD screen makes it easy to preview images or videos, as well as featuring an automatic brightness control that adapts seamlessly to changing lighting conditions. Users can sharpen and tweak the brightness and contrast of their images via a dedicated button for one-touch access to the Picture Control function. The Scene Recognition System utilizes a 2,016-pixel RGB sensor and the 24.3-million pixel image sensor to accurately adjust focus, exposure and white

Innovative imaging capabilities The D610 offers a power-up time of just 0.13 seconds3 and a release time lag of approximately 0.052 seconds3. For capturing fast-moving objects, the D610 features an improved shutter release mode capable of continuous shooting at approximately 6 frames per second in both FX and DX-formats. The D610 is also equipped with an innovative Quiet Continuous (QC) shutterrelease mode that allows for near-silent shooting at approximately 3 frames per second. When the QC mode is selected, the mirror movement sound is significantly reduced, allowing users to photograph subjects with minimal disruption.

This unobtrusive mode is ideal for photograph-

NIKKOR, Speedlight and System Compatibility The D610 is compatible with over 70 premium NIKKOR AF and AF-S compatible lenses.

The compact form factor of the D610 is optimised for use with the recently developed lineup of advanced NIKKOR lenses, including the AF-S NIKKOR 18-35mm, 24-85mm, 70-200mm, 28mm, 50mm and 85mm.

Nikon Creative Lighting System The D610’s built-in flash works hand-in-hand with Nikon’s renowned Creative Lighting System to bring about endless lighting possibilities. The Advanced Wireless Lighting feature allows photographers to control multiple Speedlights such as the SB-700, SB-910 or Wireless Close Up Speedlight System.

Wireless capability When connected with the optional WR-1 Wireless Remote Controller, the WR-10/WR-T10 Wireless Remote Controller and the WU-1b Wireless Mobile Adaptor, users can share images with ease, as well as view and change some of the camera settings wirelessly. With the WR-1 users can view and change various camera settings wirelessly, while the WU-1b allows effortless transmission of images to a supported smartphone or tablet.

Al Tijari announces winners of daily Najma Account draw

Khaled Saoud Al Hasan of the 3rd quarter of 2013 in comparison with the KD 147.3 million ($521 million) as of Dec 31, 2012.

Khaled Saoud Al Hasan, Gulf Insurance’s CEO, said: “Our results for the first nine months of 2013 reflect the growth we have achieved. The company’s performance mirrors its ability to protect its assets and shareholders’ equity. It also falls in line with our overall objectives to provide the best insurance services to our clients across the markets we are present in, and our strategic expansion approach that aims at increasing our local and regional stake.” He added: “We have our clients to thank for these achievements, as well as the support of our shareholders, especially KIPCO - Kuwait Projects Company (Holding) - and Fairfax Middle East Ltd. I would also like to expression my sincere appreciation to our dedicated employees for their efforts.”

KUWAIT: Commercial Bank of Kuwait held the Al Najma Account daily draw on Nov 3, 2013. The draw was held under the supervision of the Ministry of Commerce & Industry represented by Abdulaziz Ashkanani The winners of the Najma Daily Draw are :Khamees Mahmoud Al Hussain KD 7000 AbdulMoumen Ali Nwaz KD 7000 Faleh Falah Fahad Al Azmi KD 7000 Zainab Jawad Hajiyah Sagheer KD 7000 Mohammed Yaser Husain Al Ali KD 7000

The Commercial Bank of Kuwait announces the biggest daily draw in Kuwait with the launch of the new Najma account. Customers of the bank can now enjoy a KD 7,000 daily prize which is the highest in the country and another 4 mega prizes during the year wor th KD 100,000 each on different occasions: The National Day, Eid Al Fitr, Eid Al Adha and on the 19th of June which is the date of the bank’s establishment.

With a minimum balance of KD 500, cus-

tomers will be eligible for the daily draw provided that the money is in the account one week prior to the daily draw or 2 months prior to the mega draw. In addition, for each KD 25 a customer can get one chance for winning instead of KD 50. Commercial Bank of Kuwait takes this opportunity to congratulate all lucky winners and also extends appreciation to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry for their effective supervision of the draws which were conducted in an orderly and organized manner.

Iran to lead gas-producing bloc TEHRAN: A former head of Iran’s central bank was elected yesterday to head a 13-nation bloc of gas-producing countries as Tehran looks beyond its sanctions-hit crude oil sales to bring in vital revenue and explore new energy markets. Iran has looked to its vast natural gas reserves and refined petrochemical products to bypass US-led sanctions over Tehran’s nuclear program. The sanctions have concentrated on Iran’s oil exports - cutting them in half over the past two years - and other measures such as blocking access to international banking networks. Iran has sought to ease the sanctions through nuclear talks with world powers, which resumed last month amid groundbreaking diplomatic overtures between Washington and Tehran. The next round of negotiations is scheduled to begin Thursday. The presidency of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum does not carry the same clout as leading

the oil cartel OPEC because of intense rivalries and policy disagreements among its members. But it comes as Iran tries to retool its export economy. Iran has the world’s second-biggest gas reserves after Russia, but has relatively small exports. It instead has concentrated on the massive domestic market.

A former central bank chief and veteran diplomat, Mohammad Hossein Adeli, was chosen as the group’s president through 2015, Iranian state television reported. The bloc includes major gas exporters Russia and Qatar, as well as Oman and the United Arab Emirates. Other members are in Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America. Iran produces some 550 million cubic meters of gas per day. Less than 10 percent is exported, mainly to neighboring Turkey and Armenia. Iran plans to export more gas to Iraq and Pakistan in the future. — AP

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2013

BUSINESS

Jazeera takes delivery of brand new Airbus A320 KUWAIT: Jazeera Airways Group yesterday took delivery of a brand new Airbus A320 aircraft, bringing its total fleet number to 14 aircraft. The new aircraft was placed in operation after it left the manufacturer’s A320 facility in Toulouse, France, on Friday morning, Nov 1, and landed in Kuwait at 7:15 pm local time.

On landing, the National Bank of Kuwait (NBK), Kuwait Chief Executive Officer Shaikha Al- Bahar and Jazeera Airways Group Chairman Marwan Boodai signed the new aircraft’s engine, which is the second aircraft to be delivered out of three aircraft funded by the $90 million structured facility that was led by NBK and DVB Bank SE back in June 2013. The first aircraft that was funded by the facility was delivered on June 1.

Jazeera Airways Group Chairman, Marwan Boodai, said, “The new aircraft will be placed in operation for the passenger airline business Jazeera Airways.

Having one of the Middle East’s youngest fleets is a core component to our customer offering.” Boodai added, “As accustomed, the aircraft passed through a diligent nine-month review process by our team, our partners, and an independent inspector whom we hire. The successful delivery is the result of great efforts by the Jazeera Airways team and our partners.”

NBK Kuwait Chief Executive Officer, Shaikha Al-Bahar, said: We are happy to take part in this event. This is the second of the three aircrafts that NBK led the

financing for. NBK has been a major supporter of Jazeera Airways since its establishment. This reflects NBK’s commitment as a trustworthy partner that can be relied on to support local and regional companies in their development and expansion plans. We are confident that Jazeera Airways will continue growing successfully to strengthen its position in the regional aviation market.”

The newly delivered aircraft is part of the airline’s growth strategy to operate new and modern aircraft, and to take on new aircraft deliveries until 2014 in parallel with Kuwait’s overall market growth. To date, the company has taken delivery of 14 Airbus A320s since 2005 out of its order of 15 aircraft of the same type. The company ’s remaining aircraft from its current order is scheduled for delivery in May 2014. The Airbus A320 is the world’s most-selling aircraft. There are 3,264 A320 aircraft in operation by airlines across the world and over 3,446 aircraft scheduled for delivery over the coming years and another 6,468 in order.

Jazeera Airways Group is a Kuwait Stock Exchange-listed company with a fleet of 14 fully-owned Airbus A320s, distributed between its airline business, Jazeera Airways (eight aircraft), and its fully-owned leasing-arm Sahaab Aircraft Leasing (six aircraft). Sahaab has assets placed with Virgin America, SriLankan Airlines, and Jazeera Airways.

Jazeera Airways operates its seven

Marwan Boodai and Shaikha Al Bahar receive the new aircraft.

fully-owned Airbus A320s with a twoclass cabin comprising a Business Class and an Economy Class. Business Class travelers get both an upgraded experience and exclusivity, starting with exclusive check-in lines, business lounge access, up to 60 kilograms in free baggage allowance, and an exclusive on-

board cabin. The airline’s Economy Class offers travelers free baggage allowance of 40 kilograms and free on-board meals with a changing menu every month.

Jazeera Airways is based in Kuwait and serves 19 popular destinations in the Middle East from Kuwait comprising high-demand business, leisure, family,

and weekend destinations such as Dubai, Bahrain, Beirut, Alexandria, Amman, Istanbul, Sharm El Sheikh, Assiut, Luxor, Mashhad, Sohag, Jeddah, Riyadh, Cairo and Al Najaf. Jazeera Airways is an IATAmember airline and operates one of the youngest Airbus A320 fleets in the Middle East.

Mighty Ford Atlas concept debuts at Dubai Motorshow DUBAI: Ford unveiled the Ford Atlas Concept in the Middle East to showcase the design, capability, fuel efficiency and smart technologies that will define future pickup trucks.

Building from its reputation as truck leader, Ford went against no limits to realize its vision for trucks. And this vision will boldly mark its presence at next week’s Dubai Motorshow, kicking off on November 5, on the Ford stand inside Hall 1.

“The Ford Atlas Concept previews the innovations that will transform what people expect from their pickup,” said Paul Anderson, Ford Middle East’s Marketing director. “With 36 years as America’s best-selling pickup, we are absolutely committed to setting the agenda in the truck market and are happy to premiere Ford Atlas Concept in the Middle East.

Every surface and feature in the vehicle has been crafted for purpose and capability while retaining an unmistakable Built Ford Tough look.”

Lexus LS460 lauded as Best Luxury Sedan KUWAIT: The dynamic handling, bold new design, superior craftsmanship, refinement and innovative features of Lexus’ flagship LS460 catapulted it to the top spot at the 2013 Middle East Motor Awards (MEMA) on Tuesday, October 29, 2013 at Al Majaz Waterfront, Sharjah, UAE, as it swept up the award in the Best Luxury Sedan category. The LS460 emerged a clear winner based on a 12-point scoring criteria in which a distinguished panel of jurors evaluated its technical aspects, design, handling, safety features, performance, innovation, consumer aspects, driver satisfaction, emotional appeal, value for money, comfort level and Middle East friendliness.

The 18-member jury was drawn from the most respected figures in the Middle East’s automotive journalism world, such as editors of some of the most popular motoring titles and senior motoring writers. The opinions of the distinguished and expert automotive journalists on the panel are the most sought after in the region, making the award the most unbiased, credible and the most prestigious of its kind in the Middle East.

Speaking about the LS460’s accolade, Nobuyuki Negishi, Chief Representative of Middle East & North Africa Representative Office, said: “It gives us great joy and pride at Lexus to see the LS460 crowned the winner in the MEMA Best Luxury Sedan category. The current fourth generation is an evolved and premium product of automotive engineering and brings a bold new design, sharper driving dynamics and the highest levels of refinement and luxury to its segment as well as the backing of industry-leading technology.”

The new LS460 sports approximately 3,000

changes including three world firsts, among which is the first-ever 8-speed transmission and an innovative climate control system. It also has no less than 15 Lexus firsts, features and technical innovations. The refined, fresh styling reflects the new face of Lexus with an aggressive spindle grille giving it greater road presence and stronger brand identity while heralding a significant improvement in driving dynamics, responsiveness and handling while carrying forward the Lexus legacy of fusing the most advanced technology with refined Japanese aesthetics. Equipped with a 4.6 litre V8 petrol engine the LS460 now develops 285 kW of power at 6400 rpm and a maximum torque of 493Nm at 4100 rpm.

“The Lexus LS460 features the latest cutting-edge technology and state-of-the art engineering that is available in the automotive world today,” said Negishi. “This puts it at the forefront of a very competitive market segment for luxury sedans in terms of design, build quality, safety, performance, comfort and features. To receive this prestigious award that has been adjudicated by distinguished jury members is matter of pride as it is a true recognition of the innovation and creative design that defines the Lexus LS460. I thank the MEMA organizers and the judges for selecting the LS460 as the best car in the luxury sedan category.”

The Middle East Motor Awards (MEMA) now in its fourth successful year, is the biggest and most coveted award of the Middle East Automotive Industry. The award is an initiative

by Expo Centre Sharjah to acknowledge the leading players of the automotive industry and to celebrate emerging technologies.

Gulf Bank closes during Islamic New Year Holiday KUWAIT: On the occasion of the observance of the Hijri New Year, Gulf Bank’s Head O ffice and all branches will be closed on Tuesday Nov 5, 2013. The Bank will commence normal working hours on 6 Nov 6, 2013. During the holiday, customers will continue to have roundt h e - c l o c k a cce s s to G u l f B a n k o n 1805805, where Gulf Bank staff are available 24 hours to direc tly assist customers. Customers can also log on to Gulf B a n k ’s we b s i te, w w w. e gulfbank.com, to get more information about the Bank ’s latest products and

services.

On this blessed occasion of Hijri New Year, Gulf Bank would like to convey its sincere congratulations and best wishes to the Amir of the State of Kuwait His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad AlJaber Al-Sabah, His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, and His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak AlHamad Al-Sabah - May Allah Almighty safeguard and preserve them for their nation, as well as to the government and people of Kuwait.

Design with purpose The Ford Atlas Concept is inspired by decades of listening to customers at the places they work and play. The result is a purpose-driven design with prominent wheel arches, a wide stance and chiseled grille - all to reinforce its functional Built Ford Tough(r) image. Designers enhanced truck functionality, while creating new advanced features. For example, multiple tie-down points are integrated within the cargo box walls and load floor, along with 110-volt electrical outlets in the cargo box to charge power tools. An integrated roof carrying system and hidden extendable ramps give the truck unique functionality for a variety of jobs.

The interior is themed with structural styling cues and features the latest thinking in comfort, utility and refinement. Innovative, thin, lightweight seating in comfortable leather allows for extra legroom for rear passengers - along with integrated storage for smaller items. “Floating” instrument pods and glove-friendly buttons and controls keep the interior functional and ruggedly stylish.

Leading fuel efficiency The Ford Atlas Concept features a next-generation EcoBoost(r) powertrain, which introduces truck-enhanced Auto Start-Stop engine shutoff technology. Auto Start-Stop shuts off the engine when stopped in traffic to save fuel - and smartly suspends the feature when the truck knows it is towing.

EcoBoost engines use gasoline direct injection and turbocharging to deliver fuel-economy gains of up to 20 per cent and reduction of CO2 emissions of up to 15 per cent, compared with larger displacement engines. The Ford Atlas Concept goes further to save fuel through a combination of active aerodynamic elements that reduce wind resistance. They include: • Active Grille Shutters: Automatic shutters

behind the grille stay open when extra engine cooling is needed, such as during low-speed stop-and-go driving or while working in hot weather. The shutters automatically close to improve aerodynamics when cruising on the highway at steady speeds • Active Wheel Shutters: Automatic shutters in the wheels are hidden to improve style at rest and low speeds, but automatically close at highway speeds to improve aerodynamics.

Self-charging batteries use energy from the wheels’ motion to power the shutters • Drop-Down Front Air Dam: A drop-down front wind spoiler lowers at highway speeds to improve underbody airflow. The air dam is raised at low speeds to improve ground clearance - helpful for off-roading • Power Running Boards: Auto-deploying running boards help passengers enter the truck at rest and tuck up against the truck when it is moving to improve aerodynamics and ground clearance • The combination of these fuel-saving features saves more than 0.85 km/L on the highway without diminishing towing or hauling capability.

Work and play smarter, not harder Ford Atlas Concept is a rolling showcase of features that improve capability, durability and productivity to meet the diverse needs of pickup truck owners. Features include: • Dual-Purpose Tailgate Step and Cargo Cradle: The acclaimed Ford Tailgate Step goes a step further by adding the ability to also act as a cargo cradle - lifting and holding extralong cargo items above the truck and freeing valuable bed space • Trailer Backup Assist: This segment-first

innovation allows drivers to back a trailer with the twist of a knob. Ford research shows that backing a trailer is often the most intimidating task a truck customer can face • Dynamic Hitch Assist: Hitching a trailer can be time consuming and difficult. Dynamic Hitch Assist helps precisely line up the truck’s hitch with the trailer coupling, eliminating maneuvering guesswork by showing visual cues in the truck’s center display screen • 360-Degree Point-of-View Camera: A Ford truck first, the system gives a bird’s-eye view of the truck to help position the vehicle in tight places or when there are obstacles near the truck - such as on a busy job site or grocery store parking lot • LED Headlamps and Taillamps: Advanced LED lighting offers better road illumination than conventional halogen or HID lights and lasts longer. LED lamps also offer near instant response, giving valuable extra warning time for following traffic • LED Cargo Box and Side Mirror Lighting: Advanced, powerful yet efficient LED lighting brightly lights the cargo box and job site after the sun goes down with minimal battery drain compared to standard headlights or plug-in lights • Hidden Cargo Ramps: Lightweight, durable loading ramps stowed below the cargo box can be quickly removed and set up to assist with loading wheeled items into the bed - from landscaping equipment to dirt bikes Ford truck enthusiasts can check out the Atlas Concept on the Ford stand located inside Hall 1 of the Dubai World Trade Centre, and get their photo together with friends and the legendary truck by taking part in the Ford Atlas studio and share on their social channels.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2013

technology

TOKYO: Robot guitarist “Mach” and robot drummer “Ashura” (L), members of a robot rock band “Z-Machines”, perform music during the two day art and technology event “Maker Faire Tokyo” at the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Tokyo yesterday. The Z-Machines, with a robot drummer and a robot keyboard player made their debut live performance last July. — AFP

Hackers deface Philippine websites in call for protests MANILA: Hackers have posted a message on several Philippine government websites urging the public to join a mass protest against corruption, an official said yesterday.

The websites of at least five government agencies, including the anti-graft office of the government Ombudsman, have been hacked by a group calling itself “Anonymous Philippines”, said Roy Espiritu of the science department’s IT section.

The message called on the public to join a protest at the gates of the Philippine legislature on Tuesday-the latest Internet appeal for such demonstrations as anger grows over official corruption.

The hackers condemned “this false democracy (and) this government and the politicians who only think about themselves”. The message did not name any politician but it warned: “To the corrupt-fear us”. In August an appeal for an anti-graft street protest, aired on social media like Twitter and Facebook, drew tens of thousands of protesters to a central park in Manila. Several smaller protests, also publicized via Internet, have since been held.

Anger has grown since a newspaper in August reported that a businesswoman connived with opposition legislators to syphon off some 10 billion pesos ($230 mil-

lion) from a special fund allocated to the pet projects of lawmakers.

The businesswoman has been jailed as graft charges are readied against her while the Justice Department has asked for the cancellation of the passports of three opposition senators and their alleged conspirators.

President Benigno Aquino, elected in 2010 on an anticorruption platform, has also become ensnared in the controversy as opposition and government critics have charged that he was also misusing special funds. In response, Aquino went on national television last Wednesday to declare “I am not a thief”. He accused the opposition of trying to divert public attention from their own alleged corruption.

Previous hacking attacks on Philippine government websites have been the work of foreign groups angry over diplomatic disputes or-as in September 2012 — by those angry at a restrictive cybercrime law. “There is forensic work being done on our end to find out who did this because it is still a crime,” Espiritu said.

Those who deface government websites could face up to six months in prison, he added. However since government agencies maintain individual websites with no uniform standards, it is difficult to secure them from hacking, Espiritu said. — AFP

Chip designers see dollar signs in Bitcoin miners SUNNYVALE: Tucked away in an air conditioned data center in Silicon Valley is a hodgepodge of black boxes, circuit boards and cooling fans owned by 27-year-old Aaron Jackson-Wilde, a modern-day prospector looking for Bitcoins.

Since discovering the digital currency a few months ago, Jackson-Wilde has paid about $2,000 for his “rigs,” which are powered by specialized computer chips. They are designed to help operate and maintain the Bitcoin network - and, in return, generate a small reward in a process known as “Bitcoin mining.”

A form of electronic money independent of traditional banking, Bitcoins started circulating in 2009 and have since become the most prominent of several fledgling digital currencies. While they quickly gained a reputation for facilitating drug deals and money laundering, Bitcoins have of late garnered attention from investors, such as venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. The volume of transactions using Bitcoins today remains miniscule, but enthusiasts believe the peer-to-peer currency will play a major role in e-commerce and could eventually become as ubiquitous as email.

Bitcoin mining is based on a unique feature of the digital currency. Unlike traditional currencies, where a central bank decides how much money to print based on goals like controlling inflation, no central authority governs the supply of Bitcoins.

Instead, Bitcoin transactions are tracked by a network of computers that solve complex mathematical problems to validate transactions and prevent counterfeit. The system automatically generates new Bitcoins as the math problems are solved and rewards them to the computer operators.

In a key twist that keeps inflation in check, the difficulty of the cryptographic math that leads to newly minted coins grows as more computers join the network.

That has led some technology professionals to target a new market in souped-up computers and specialized chips aimed at the growing ranks of Bitcoin “miners.”

Consider Ravi Iyengar, who first heard of Bitcoins about six months ago. Since then he has quit his job as a senior chip architect at Samsung Electronics and raised $1.5 million to launch CoinTerra. He says he has already pre-sold more than $5 million worth of the hardware he has designed for Bitcoin mining.

“I’ve been in arms races throughout my career - AMD, ARM, Intel,” said Iyengar, referring to prominent semiconductor companies, “but none of them match the intensity of Bitcoin mining. Each month in Bitcoin mining is like a year.”

Little is known about exactly who started Bitcoin, but the

concept was introduced in a 2008 paper written under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. Since then, Satoshi Nakamoto has become sort of a patron saint among advocates pushing for Bitcoins as an alternative to national currencies.

Bitcoin is not backed by physical assets, is not run by any person or group, and its value depends on people’s confidence in the currency. The dollar price of Bitcoins has spiked over the past year as more people became aware of the currency and speculators jumped into the market, which remains highly volatile. Bitcoin recently broke $200, compared to $12 a year ago.

The goal of Bitcoin miners is to pull in more than what they spend on their rigs - some cost over $20,000 - and the electricity they need to keep the machines running 24 hours a day.

That is no easy feat. In the past three months, miners added so much gear with drastically improved chips that processing power on the network jumped from 289 terahashes per second to more than 4,000 terahashes per second, according to The Genesis Block, a blog that collects Bitcoin data.

In reaction, the network drove up the difficulty of verifying each cryptographic block of transaction data, making it even harder to break even on investments in costly mining gear.

“Bitcoin makes silicon perishable,” said Andreas Antonopoulos, a digital currency entrepreneur in San Francisco. “Your mining rig rots away in front of your eyes every day you have it.”

It has become so hard to make a profit that comparisons to the 19th century California gold rush, when money was often made selling shovels to naive prospectors, have become a running joke among Bitcoin miners.

“It’s the guys who sell the equipment who are making the money, not the Bitcoin miners,” said Jackson-Wilde, a manager at a company that makes motorcycle batteries.

CoinTerra believes spending on new Bitcoin mining chips could easily hit $100 million a year for the next three years, assuming no change in prices. While that is peanuts for large semiconductor companies like Intel Corp and Qualcomm Inc, it is a lucrative market for a handful of small developers.

About 11.9 million Bitcoins, worth $2.4 billion at recent prices, have been minted since the currency began circulating. Based on recent activity, the network is on track to create around 1.4 million new Bitcoins annually over the next three years, the equivalent of more than $280 million a year at recent exchange rates. — Reuters

Twitter genesis shrouded in mystery Twitter’s influence mounts as reach grows SAN FRANCISCO: The story of Twitter’s creation is a murky tale complete with betrayed trusts and dueling claims for credit. Local lore, backed by Jack Dorsey, has it that he proposed the idea to fellow Twitter co-founders at a playground in San Francisco.

But journalist Nick Bilton, author of “Hatching Twitter: A True Story of Money, Power, Friendship and Betrayal,” says the history is not quite that simple. Dorsey was a key member of Twitter’s founders, but it was a collective effort, The New York Times journalist argues.

“In fact, Dorsey forced out the man who was arguably Twitter’s most influential co-founder before the site took off, only to be quietly pushed out of the company himself later,” Bilton wrote. Dorsey, who turns 37 this month, has spoken in interviews of boyhood fascination with emergency services radio dispatch chatter impressing on him the power of communicating with short bursts of words.

“They were always talking about where they were going, what they were doing, and that is where the idea for Twitter came from,” Dorsey said in CBS News interview. “Suddenly, we had these phones and I could update where I am, what I’m doing and how I feel.”

Dorsey was a recent transplant to San Francisco when spotting locally renowned entrepreneur Evan Williams in a cafe prompted him to email a resume that landed him a job at Odeo. Williams had sold Web diary service Blogger to Google and worked at the Internet titan before launching podcasting platform Odeo with his friend Noah Glass.

Dorsey earned a reputation as an engineering star at Odeo.

In Silicon Valley style, Dorsey mixed social and work life, becoming close with Glass, according to Bilton’s book. After Apple added podcasts to iTunes, knocking the legs from under Odeo, Williams considered shutting down the company and Glass turned to co-workers for ideas regarding a new path for the company, according to Bilton. Dorsey is credited with coming up with the idea for Twitter when Williams gave workers at Odeo two weeks to work on new projects. The way Dorsey tells it in interviews, he was in a park playground with fellow programmer Florian Weber and another Odeo peer when he pitched the idea for what is now Twitter. BThe platform let people fire off one-to-many text messages limited to no more than 140 characters. The book tells of a night of drinking in early 2006 winding up with Glass and Dorsey talking in a parked car. In the eyes of Glass, the story goes, the idea could fly if people connected in conversations instead of merely posting updates about themselves.

In a recent New Yorker magazine story, Dorsey was quoted as recalling the chat and how Glass finally “got it” when it came to seeing his vision. Glass portrays himself as championing the idea at Odeo, where Williams and others were already at work on a similar idea involving audio messages.

Meanwhile, online encyclopedia Wikipedia describes Twitter’s origin as the result of a day of “brainstorming” by members of the Odeo board.

Glass headed the ensuing project, with Christopher “Biz” Stone working on designs, and Dorsey and Weber focused on computer coding. Glass’s version of the naming story involves him scouring a dictionary until he perched on “Twitter.”

In March of 2006, Dorsey fired off the first tweet. A year later, Twitter won the adoration of techno trendsetters at an annual South by Southwest gathering in Texas and began rocketing to global popularity. According to the New Yorker story, those involved with Twitter agree overall that Dorsey played a key role in its origin. “When it comes to driving the vision and pushing it through, that’s absolutely Jack,” Weber is quoted as telling New Yorker. The book tells of Dorsey capitalizing on a power struggle between Glass and Williams to get Glass ousted and grab more power at Twitter. The tables later turned on Dorsey, who was pushed out after the public launch only to be later brought back to help run the company.

“As luck would have it, Dorsey was able to weave a story about Twitter that was so convincing that he could put himself back in power just as it was ready to become a mature company,” Bilton said in the magazine article.

“And, perhaps luckiest of all, until now only a handful of people knew what really turned Twitter from a vague idea into

a multibillion-dollar business.” Dorsey and Williams, whose Twitter handles are @jack and @ev respectively, are on the Twitter board and have done stints as chief executive.

Stone, whose Twitter account is @biz, left the San Francisco-based startup about two years ago. “Some people have gotten credit, some people haven’t,” Glass was quoted as saying in a Business Insider story about two years ago.

A self-description atop his @noah Twitter account reads “I started this.” “The reality is, it was a group effort,” Glass was quoted as saying by Business Insider.

“I didn’t create Twitter on my own. It came out of conversations. I do know that without me, Twitter wouldn’t exist. In a huge way.” — AFP

Twitter facts and figures SAN FRANCISCO: Twitter came to life on March 21, 2006, when the account of co-founder Jack Dorsey (@jack) automatically sent out the first tweet: “just setting up my twttr.” Dorsey followed up with the first “human-generated” tweet: “inviting coworkers.” More than 350 billion tweets have since gone out worldwide from some 232 million active users, as of June. Some 77 percent are outside the United States.

Some facts about a global phenomenon: • Pop star Justin Bieber (@justinbieber) leads the pack with more than 46.37 million followers, followed by Katy Perry (@katyperry) with 46.30 million and Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) with 40.36 million.US President Barack Obama (@barackobama) is fourth with 39 million followers. The announcement of his re-election victory in November 2012 was re-tweeted more than 800,000 times.

• Twitter is blocked in China and yet still has some 35 million users in the country, according to the research firm Global Web Index.

• Around three-fourths of Twitter users access the platform on a mobile device, and 70 percent of ad revenues come from mobile.

• Twitter documents show a loss of $133 million in the first nine months of 2013 on $422 million in revenue. In 2012, it lost $79 million on $317 million in revenue and has accumulated losses of $483 million since 2010.

• About five percent of Twitter accounts are believed to be fake, according to the company.

• The hashtag (#) feature on Twitter that groups tweets by subject debuted in August 2007, having been proposed by a user.

• A tweet is limited to 140 text characters, designed to fit easily in a standard text message of 160 characters.

• In October 2009, Google and Microsoft began integrating tweets into their search products.

• In January 2013, Twitter introduced Vine, which enabled users to make and tweet six-second looping videos. Some 12 million Vine videos are uploaded every day.

• Twitter is based in San Francisco, with additional employees in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington. Its total payroll exceeds 2,300 and says it “expects to grow head count for the foreseeable future.”

• The IPO sets a value for Twitter of between $9.3 billion and $11.1 billion.

• Twitter was incorporated in April 2007, the month after it stole the show at the influential South by Southwest technology and indie music festival in Austin, Texas.

• It was co-founded by Biz Stone, Evan Williams and Jack Dorsey - @biz, @ev and @jack. Williams is the biggest shareholder with around 12 percent of Twitter capital. Asked by AFP in March 2011 why Twitter is such a hit, Stone replied: “A big part is that it is just very simple and connects people to other people they would not otherwise be connected to.” — AFP

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2013

H E A LT H & S C I E N C E

Insects making eco-friendly buzz in Dutch kitchens SITTARD: Cecile’s latest batch of students watched attentively as she launched into the last step of the dishswirling grasshoppers around in a frying pan before setting them on the coucous.

In their bid to find an environmentally-friendly alternative to meat, Richard, 41, Mariet, 53, and Seppo, 43, are looking to insects. And they are counting on Cecile to show them how to cook a menu of couscous, hamburger and baklava pastries with mealworms, grasshoppers or other insect larvae as key ingredients.

“The point is to find an alternative to meat. Not necessarily to replace it, but to reduce it,” said Mariet, who has paid 50 euros ($68)for tonight’s course.

“It’s easier if someone teaches you,” she said, at Cecile’s kitchen in southeastern Netherlands’ Sittard. A smiling Richard confesses that, for him, insects offer a perfect middle-path between being a carnivore and a herbivore.

“I want to live in a healthy way, but being vegetarian is a bit too hard for me,” said Richard, who acquired a taste for creepy crawlies while travelling in southeast Asia. With the meat industry stricken with problems, from horsemeat labelled as beef to the environmental impact of growing animal feed, protein-rich and fat-poor insects are increasingly seen as a viable alternative.

Ten times more feed is required to grow the comparable weight in cows than in insects, according to the Netherlands’ Wageningen University, which has a special insect department and was a pioneer at promoting their consumption. Insect eating has not yet won mainstream acceptance in Europe, although around two billion people elsewhere in the world consume them regularly. Most Europeans remain reluctant to bite into a grasshopper, grub or other insect even if they are dry, clean and disease free. “Seriously, I don’t understand

why people are so disgusted by insects,” said Seppo, sprinkling a handful of grasshoppers over his steaming couscous dish.

“Frankly, I know what I’d prefer if I had to choose between an insect or seafood such as an oyster or mussel,” he said.

Meanwhile Mariet is mixing mealworms with minced beef to make burgers, renamed here “hambuggers”, a potentially problematic name in English-speaking countries, while Richard browns some grasshoppers marinated in soya sauce in the frying pan.

The freeze-dried insects can be stored for up to a year, said Arno Snellens, who founded the Insectable wholesale bug business, which helps organises these pedagogical evenings with Cecile Lormans.

“It’s inevitable, insects are the future, we can’t go on producing meat on such a scale,” said Snellens, who claims his company’s turnover doubles every six

months. “It takes time for mentalities to change.” Insect sales are still paltry in the Netherlands compared to meat, but Marcel Dicke, entomologist at Wageningen University, insists that change is afoot.

Insects are slowly acquiring a culinary niche, from cooking books to increased supply and demand, he says. “Fifteen years ago, people said ‘what, insects, really?’ but today people say ‘oh yes, where can I get some?” said Dicke.

“Of course it takes time for mentalities to chance, but they can change, and I think the fact that people want to learn to cook is representative of this trend.”

The Meertens insect production business, also in the southeastern Netherlands, sells just 2-3 percent of its production for human consumption, the rest is for animal feed. Nevertheless, the amount of production for humans has been steadily rising since production began in 2008.

The major problem is cost: the market, and therefore production, is still far too small to make it as profitable as selling meat. Arno sells 30 grammes (around an ounce) of freeze-dried grasshoppers for 12.50 euros (around $17), while 50 grammes of mealworms costs 8.50 euros.

“There are several ways to convince people, it depends on the individual: some prefer not to see they’re eating insects, for them to be powdered in a quiche for instance, while others prefer to insect still to be whole when eaten,” said Dicke. Meanwhile, three newly qualified insect chefs are licking their lips as they sampled what they have just prepared. “It tastes slightly nutty, like hazelnuts,” said Seppo, biting into his burger. “It’s like nothing I’ve ever tasted, but it’s tasty, and crunchy,” said Richard. “You shouldn’t try to compare it to anything else, I’d just say it tastes of insects.” — AFP

India reaches for Mars on prestige space mission

THESSALONIKI: Mothers breastfeed their babies during a celebration of World Breast feeding Week, in Thessaloniki, Greece yesterday. Mothers breast fed their babies in the 4th Panhellenic public breastfeeding taking place simultaneously in 39 cities of Greece. About 550 lactating mothers took part. — AP

Obama’s health law finally gets real for America WASHINGTON: Now is when Americans start figuring out that President Barack Obama’s health care law goes beyond political talk, and really does affect them and people they know.

With a cranky federal website complicating access to new coverage and some consumers being notified their existing plans are going away, the potential for winners and losers is creating anxiety and confusion. “I’ve had questions like, ‘Are they going to put me in jail if I don’t buy insurance? Because nobody will sell it to me,’” said Bonnie Burns, a longtime community-level insurance counselor from California. “We have family members who are violently opposed to ‘Obamacare’ and they are on Medicaid - they don’t understand that they’re already covered by taxpayer benefits.

“And then there is a young man with lupus who would have never been insurable,” Burns continued. “He is on his parents’ plan and he’ll be able to buy his own coverage. They are very relieved.” A poll just out from the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation documents shifts in the country in the month since insurance sign-ups began.

Fifty-five percent now say they have enough information to understand the law’s impact on their family, up 8 percentage points in just one month. Part of the reason is that advertising about how to get coverage is beginning to register. “The law is getting more and more real for people,” said Drew Altman, the foundation’s president. “A lot of this will turn on whether there’s a perception that there have been more winners than losers. ... It’s not whether an expert thinks something is a better insurance policy, it’s whether people perceive it that way.”

A look at three groups impacted by the law’s rollout: LOSING CURRENT PLAN The Obama administration insists nobody will lose coverage as a result of cancellation notices going out to millions of people. At least 3.5 million Americans have been issued cancellations, but the exact number is unclear. Associated Press checks find that data is unavailable in a half the states.

Mainly they are people who buy directly from an insurer, instead of having workplace coverage. Officials say these consumers aren’t getting “canceled” but “transitioned” or “migrated” to better plans because their current coverage doesn’t meet minimum standards. They won’t have to go uninsured, and some could save a lot if they qualify for the law’s tax credits.

Speaking in Boston’s historic Faneuil Hall this past week, Obama said the problem is limited to fewer than 5 percent of Americans “who’ve got cut-rate plans that don’t offer real financial protection in the event of a serious illness or an accident.” But in a country of more than 300 million, 5 percent is a big number - about 15 million people. Among them are Ian and Sara Hodge of Lancaster, Pa., in their early 60s and paying $1,041 a month for a policy.

After insurer Highmark, Inc., sent the Hodges a cancellation notice, the cheapest rate they say they’ve been able to find is $1,400 for a comparable plan. Ian is worried they may not qualify for tax credits, and doesn’t trust that the federal website is secure enough to enter personal financial information in order to find out. “We

feel like we’re being punished for doing the right thing,” he said.

Their policy may not have met the government’s standards, “but it certainly met our minimum standards,” Hodge added. “The main thing that upsets us is the president ... said over and over and over again: If you like your health plan, you will be able to keep your health plan, guaranteed.”

There’s a chance the number of people getting unwanted terminations may grow. In 2015, the law’s requirement that larger companies provide health insurance will take effect. It’s expected that a small share of firms will drop coverage, deciding that it’s cheaper to pay fines imposed under the law.

GAINING COVERAGE Before the law’s online health care markets launched Oct. 1, the administration estimated nearly 500,000 people would enroll for subsid private insurance within the first month. Despite high consumer interest, a computer system beset by gremlins has kept most from doing so.

The administration refuses to release enrollment numbers until mid-November, when a crash program of computer fixes may be showing results. The numbers are expected to be disappointingly low; officials acknowledge as much.

A different prong of Obama’s coverage expansion seems to be doing fairly well. It’s an expanded version of Medicaid, embraced so far by 25 states and the District of Columbia. An informal survey of 14 of those states by The Associated Press shows that at least 240,000 people had enrolled in or applied for the expanded safety-net program as of the third week of October.

Private coverage is what interests Cecilia Fontenot of Houston, a part-time accountant in her early 60s. She has diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Though she manages well, she has been unable to find affordable insurance. Under Obama’s law, insurers will not be able to turn away people with medical problems or charge them more.

Fontenot gave up on HealthCare.gov and instead applied through a call center on Oct. 19. “They said it may take a while because so many people had called in,” Fontenot explained. “I’m a very patient person, and I’m looking forward to getting that insurance.”

She wants a plan that covers a better diabetes drug than the one she can afford now by paying out of pocket. Her doctor has also recommended a high-tech imaging test for a breast lump.

WHETHER COVERAGE WILL CHANGE Americans are still divided over the Affordable Care Act, with negative views outweighing positives. But they also lean against repealing it. The final judgment may be in the hands of people who now have employerprovided health insurance. They’re about half the population, and they’ve noted Obama’s assurances that their coverage won’t be disrupted.

Up to now, the changes for employer plans have been incremental. They tend to expand benefits, not take things away. For example, young adults can stay on a parent’s coverage until they turn 26. Employers cover women’s birth control as a preventive service, free of charge. Screening tests such as colonoscopies are also free.—AP

NEW DELHI: India began a countdown yesterday to the launch of its most ambitious and risky space mission to date, sending a probe to Mars which was conceived in just 15 months on a tiny budget.

After a recent Chinese attempt flopped, India is seeking to make a statement of its technological prowess by becoming the first Asian power to reach the Red Planet more than 200 million kilometres (124 million miles) away.

An unmanned probe, weighing 1.35 tonnes and about the size of a large refrigerator, will leave earth strapped to an Indian rocket which is set to blast off from the southeast coast on Tuesday afternoon.

Wrapped in a golden film, the orbiter will carry advanced sensors to measure the Martian atmosphere, hoping to detect traces of methane which could help prove the existence of some sort of primitive life form. “Any interplanetary probe is complex. As we can see for Mars, there were 51 missions so far around the world and there were 21 successful missions,” chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), K. Radhakrishnan, told AFP last Thursday.

Undeterred by the failure rates, he laughed off any suggestion of last-minute nerves, saying: “If it is a failure, then learn. Failure is a stepping stone for success.” Success would be a source of national pride for Indians, whose 2008 unmanned mission to the moon helped prove the existence of water in another leap forward, 39 years after Neil Armstrong set foot there.

It would also bolster the reputation of India, the land of the world’s cheapest car, as a leader in low-cost innovation. The project was announced in August 2012 with a budget of only 4.5 billion rupees ($73 million). Lacking a rocket large enough to fire the satellite directly out of earth’s atmosphere, ISRO has also had to rely on another famed Indian specialism of “Jugaad”-confecting a cheap work-around solution. Instead of flying directly, the 350-tonne rocket will orbit earth for nearly a month, building up the necessary velocity to break free from the earth’s gravitational pull.

“Don’t underestimate it because it

BANGALORE: In this file picture taken on September 11, 2013, scientists and engineers work on a Mars Orbiter vehicle at the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) satellite centre in Bangalore. India began a countdown yesterday to the launch of its most ambitious and risky space mission to date, sending a probe to Mars which was conceived in just 15 months on a tiny budget. — AFP is a low-cost mission that is being done for the first time,” Indian science journalist Pallava Bagla, author of the book “Destination Moon”, told AFP. “Yes, there is Jugaad in it, there is innovation in it... and everyone wants to do low-cost missions nowadays.” NASA is under budget pressure and has faced cuts to proposed Mars missions in 2016 and 2018 despite having an overall objective, set by US President Barack Obama, of sending an astronaut there by 2030.

The United States is the only nation that has successfully sent robotic explorers to land on Mars, the most recent being Curiosity, a nearly one-tonne vehicle which touched down in August 2012.

One of its discoveries appeared to undercut the purpose of the Indian mission after a study published in September revealed Curiosity detected only trace elements of methane in the Mars

atmosphere.

NASA will help ISRO with ground monitoring from three deep-space facilities after the launch at 02:38pm (0938 GMT) on Tuesday. The American space agency will send its own probe, Maven, 13 days later.

The official countdown for blastoff of the Indian orbiter, nicknamed “Mangalyaan” in local media, began at 06:08am yesterday, which is the Hindu festival of lights known as Diwali. Only the US, Russia and the European Union have succeeded in reaching Mars before. China failed in 2011 with its probe aboard a Russian rocket and Japan’s effort floundered in 2003.

Radhakrishnan denies that India is competing with China despite speculation that India accelerated its Mars mission to prove a point against its militarily and economically superior Asian rival. He also defends ISRO and its 16,000-strong workforce against suggestions that

New Delhi should not be spending on space when more than a third of all children are malnourished and half of Indians have no toilets.

“Space is one area right from the beginning that has been contributing to the development process of the country,” he said, pointing to better weather forecasting for farmers and satellite communication networks.

Upendra Choudhury, an associate professor at Aligarh Muslim University who is an expert on India’s ballistic missile programme, says the spending has also boosted national security. “India’s achievements in space technology are contributing to its missile technology, including the Agni-V,” he told AFP. The Agni-V, capable of reaching Beijing and eastern Europe, was test fired for the first time in April 2012 and catapulted India into a small group of countries with such long-distance missile technology. — AFP

Space pioneer recalled as curious, adventuresome

BAIKONUR: US astronauts, the ISS Expedition 38/39 prime crew member Rick Mastracchio (L) and his backup crew mate Greg Wiseman (R), speak during a break in the preflight training in the Russian leased Kazakhstan’s Baikonur cosmodrome yesterday. The three-man crew, including Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin and US astronaut Rick Mastracchio, is scheduled to blast off to the International Space Station (ISS) from Baikonur on November 7. — AFP

BOULDER: Astronaut Scott Carpenter had an adventuresome spirit and was driven to know everything he could about the universe, fellow space pioneer John Glenn said Saturday at Carpenter’s funeral.

“Scott’s curiosity knew no bounds,” said Glenn, who preceded Carpenter into space 51 years ago as a member of the Mercury 7 program, America’s first corps of astronauts.

Glenn was the first American to orbit Earth and Carpenter was the second, both traveling in one-person capsules. Glenn, now the last surviving Mercury astronaut, delivered Carpenter’s eulogy.

Carpenter, who lived in Vail, Colo., died Oct. 10 of complications from a stroke he suffered in September. He was 88. When Carpenter orbited the Earth in 1962, he had to take manual control of his spaceship because of instrument problems and low fuel, and he splashed down hundreds of miles offtarget. That troubled flight created a rift between Carpenter and NASA bosses, and he never flew in space again. But he turned to sea exploration, and in 1965, he spent 30 days under the ocean off the California coast in the Navy’s SeaLab II program.

On Saturday, nine other astronauts, Colorado politicians and dozens of friends and family members joined Glenn at Carpenter’s funeral at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Boulder.

Glenn and Carpenter became friends during astronaut training, and it was Carpenter who gave Glenn his memorable blessing as Glenn prepared to launch into space: “Godspeed, John Glenn.”

“Godspeed, Scott,” Glenn said Saturday,

and then paused as emotion overtook his voice. “You are missed.” Carpenter was born May 1, 1925, in Boulder and graduated from high school there before serving in the Navy in World War II and the Korean War. He was chosen for the Mercury space program in 1959. Glenn recalled NASA subjecting the astronauts to a barrage of punishing tests and probing psychiatric questions. Most of the astronauts considered it something they had to endure to fly in space.

“Scott seemed to really enjoy these tests,” Glenn said, drawing laughter. Carpenter loved music, Glenn said, and requested the hymn “Be Still My Soul” be sung at his funeral.

Glenn also recalled a time he and Carpenter tried to harmonize on the song “Yellow Bird.”

“We weren’t much good,” Glenn recalled Carpenter saying, “but we were loud.”

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, who also spoke at the funeral, called Carpenter a tireless explorer and an unforgettable character. Bolden said he was just a teen when Carpenter orbited the Earth and remembered “being tremendously moved by his bravery.”

“Today, we bear witness as he soars once more into the heavens on his journey to eternity,” Bolden said. Carpenter’s flag-draped casket was carried into the church by six Navy officers as a bell tolled from the church tower. After the service, four F-18 fighter jets flew the missing-man formation over the church against a cloudless autumn sky.

Carpenter is survived by his wife, Patty Carpenter, and six children. Two other children died before him. His ashes will be interred at his ranch near Steamboat Springs, Colo. — AP

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2013

H E A LT H & S C I E N C E

Warming report sees violent, sicker, poorer future WASHINGTON: Starvation, poverty, flooding, heat waves, droughts, war and disease already lead to human tragedies. They’re likely to worsen as the world warms from manmade climate change, a leaked draft of an international scientific report forecasts.

The Nobel Peace Prize -winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change will issue a report next March on how global warming is already affecting the way people live and what will happen in the future, including a worldwide drop in income. A leaked copy of a draft of the summary of the report appeared online Friday on a climate

skeptic’s website. Governments will spend the next few months making comments about the draft.

“We’ve seen a lot of impacts and they’ve had consequences,” Carnegie Institution climate scientist Chris Field, who heads the report, told The Associated Press on Saturday.

“And we will see more in the future.”

Cities, where most of the world now lives, have the highest vulnerability, as do the globe’s poorest people. “Throughout the 21st century, climate change impacts will slow down economic growth and poverty reduction, further erode food security and trigger

new poverty traps, the latter particularly in urban areas and emerging hotspots of hunger,” the report says. “Climate change will exacerbate poverty in low- and lower-middle income countries and create new poverty pockets in upper-middle to high-income countries with increasing inequality.”

The report says scientists have high confidence especially in what it calls certain “key risks”: People dying from warming- and sea rise-related flooding, especially in big cities.

Famine because of temperature and rain changes, especially for poorer nations.

Farmers going broke because of lack of water.

Infrastructure failures because of extreme weather. Dangerous and deadly heat waves worsening.

Certain land and marine ecosystems failing. “Human interface with the climate system is occurring and climate change poses risks for human and natural systems,” the 29-page summary says.

Pennsylvania State University climate scientist Michael Mann, who wasn’t part of the international study team, said the report’s summary confirmed what researchers have known for a long time: “Climate change threatens our health, land, food and water

GlobeMed Kuwait launches new website

Nicaragua’s dengue death toll rises to 16 MANAGUA: A dengue epidemic sweeping Nicaragua has claimed the life of a 13-yearold boy, raising the disease’s death toll there to 16 people, according to officials.

The death is the second in less than 24 hours due to dengue, health authorities reported. The disease has infected some 5,795 people in Nicaragua this year. bThe boy was from Matagalpa, located 127 kilometers (79 miles) north of Managua, said presidential spokeswoman and first lady Rosario Murillo.A total of 1,128 people have been hospitalized suspected of having dengue, with 43 of the instances confirmed by laboratories and 36 serious cases, according to official reports. Murillo also announced the arrival of specialists from Cuba to assess whether a product, which

she did not identify but that has been used in other countries, could be used in Nicaragua.

She also said she regretted that campaigns to eliminate mosquitos in combination with modern science and technology hadn’t made a bigger dent in fighting the disease or ending suffering.

Dengue results in fever, muscle and joint ache. The disease is caused by four strains of virus that are spread by the mosquito Aedes aegypti. There is no vaccine, so medical authorities in the region, where poverty is widespread, have been trying to stamp it out by focusing on mosquito control.

The illness can be fatal, developing into hemorrhagic fever, which can lead to shock and internal bleeding.— AFP

security.” The report details specific effects of warming and how countries and people can adapt to some of them. Field said experts paint a dramatic contrast of possible futures, but because countries can lessen some of the harms through reduced fossil fuel emissions and systems to cope with other changes, he said he doesn’t find working on the report depressing.

“The reason I’m not depressed is because I see the difference between a world in which we don’t do anything and a world in which we try hard to get our arms around the problem,” he said. —AP

COLOMBO: In this Nov. 4, 2011, photo, a group of cataract patients wait in line for surgery at the Sri Lanka Eye Donation Society in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The gift of sight has become an unwritten symbol of Sri Lanka’s pride and culture. Nearly 900,000 people have also signed up to give their eyes in death through the Eye Donation Society’s longstanding eye bank. — AP

KUWAIT: GlobeMed Kuwait, the leading healthcare benefits management company in the country, announced recently the launch of its newly developed website, designed with a fresh user-friendly experience and providing a broad array of services, core capabilities and partner solutions.

The new site features a clean, modern design, creating an intuitive experience for the user. It will also be updated regularly with project information and milestones as well as other news concerning GlobeMed Kuwait involvement in the community and personnel.

This website will showcase GlobeMed Kuwait experience in the industry with its solid partners, hoping that it will bring to the user an enjoyable and informative experience such as policy information and healthcare benefit details. There are a number of new features that will be added online over the coming period. Constant updates are forecasted for user convenience.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2013

W H AT ’ S O N Announcement

VOICE KUWAIT Vanitha Vedhi celebrates Onothsavam - 2013

Gokulolsavam, 2013

S

eva Darshan Kuwait’s children’s wing Bala Darshan Kuwait will hold a day-long competition for its children tomorrow named ‘Gokulotsavam’ at the Kahitan Indian Community school. Over 300 children will compete in various categories based on the study classes they attend every week. The off-stage competitions was held on November 1 at various locations in Abbasiya, Salmiya and Fahaheel. Vichar Bharati Kuwait in association with PART (Progressive Art Realization Troop Kuwait) will be holding an open canvas exhibition on Swami Vivekananda as part of the Swami Vivekananda Jayanti 150th year celebrations at the venue. For further details contact at sevsadarshan@gmail.com.

V

iswakarma Organisation for Ideal Career and Education (VOICE KUWAIT) Vanitha Vedhi, celebrated its 4th Anniversary and “Onothasavam - 2013” in the traditional style on the Friday, 18th of October ,2013 at Rhytham AuditoriumAbbasiya. Lighting the traditional lamp, the program was inaugurated by The President of VOICE KUWAT, PG Binu. Saritha Rajan,President of Vanitha Vedhi, presided over the inauguration, while Mrs. Lathika Dileep Kumar, Program General Convener welcomed the Gustes. Usha Lakshmi, General secretary,vanitha Vedhi, proposed vote of thanks. K Chandra Mohanan, Surendran Mathur, AR Sathyan, Raghunathan Achari, Sarojini Mohandas, M Sreenivasan, Rejimon, MK Haridasan and Bibin Das made

APAK Onam Fest-2013

A

ngamaly Pravasi Association Kuwait celebrated Onam Fest-2013 at ‘Indian Central School Auditorium’, Abbassiya.The programmes started at 11.30 am on arrival of the Chief Guest VJ Kurian-I.A.S (Managing Director of Kochin International Airport) accompanied by Mahabali, with Thalapoli, Chenda Melam & PuliKalli. The festival celebrations started with prayer song followed by welcome speech by the General Secretary Martin Kurian. The function was inaugurated by the Chief Guest VJ Kurian by lighting the traditional lamp. President Bacon Joseph presided over the meeting and delivered presidential speech. Felicitation speeches and Onam messages were given by APAK Advisory Board Chairman Jacob Pynadath, Abey Varicad and M Mathew(Sunnychayan) to APAK members and invitees. Vote of thanks was delivered by the Treasurer Sajeev Paul. Chief Guest VJ Kurian Released APAK Onam Souvenir 2013 by handing over a copy to the Souvenir Committee Convener Baiju Poulose. During the function the Chief Guest, the CIAL Managing Director, VJ Kurian was honoured for his outstanding performance in bringing up the Cochin International Airport to International acclaim. The Association honoured the outstanding students, Shriram Unnikrishnan Vadakkini of class X and Kevin Thomas Edassery of Class 12 for their meritorious performance in the Board Exams. The main cultural events were staged by Kerala famous Cine/Comedy Artists Saju Kodiyan and Sajan Palluruthy by presenting the Comedy Show. Apart from the Songs and dances by our talented APAK family members and their children, the program also included group Dances and Kerala traditional Thiruvathira etc. The programmes were anchored by Varsha Nigi and Jose Augusthy with the support of Johnson Ouesph Program Convener and Arts Convener, Pappachan TS Social Welfare Convenor and Jose Panjikaran Volunteers Convener, the Directory Committees, all other Advisory Committee members and Managing Committee Members.

felicitation speech on the occasion.

Reception of King Mahabali was also done in its traditional style. Members of Vanitha Vedhi and Children presented variety of entertainment which include Thiruvathirakali, Onapattu, Vanchipattu, Comedy skit, Cinematic Dance, Film song etc. The program was coordinated by P Dileep Kumar, K Gopinathan, Pramod Mannukkara, Mohanakumar, Girish Vayanad, V Shanil, Radhamadhavi, Latha, Suja Rejimon, K Vijayan, Keloth Vijayan, MK Mohandas. Pramod Kakkoth, Mini Krishna, Anil Kumar Kakkoth, Jithendhra and Chanrashekar controlled the program. Girive P Kumar did the comparing. Onam Sadhya with customary delicacies was served to all attendees.

Enjoy the taste of true Espresso at Vergnano Cafe at Olympia Complex

T

he superior quality of the blends comes from the meticulous selection of the best raw materials available, and from an extraordinary production process. Cafe Vergnano is the first to introduce an innovation that brings all the passion and pleasure of the perfect

espresso to everyday life at home.

Espresso is now available in Kuwait, through Al-Sanabel Al-Thahabiya Est. Tel: 22413795/98. Espresso Vergnano can be ordered through www.taw9eel.com Espresso Vergnano capsules are compatible with other espresso machines.

BBS and UAS co-host ISAC Varsity Volleyball tournament

Shutz American School in Alexandria boys won first place in the 2013-2014 ISAC Volleyball Tournament.

A

l Bayan Bilingual School (BBS), in collaboration with the Universal American School (UAS),hosted this year the ISAC Varsity Volleyball Tournament for the 2013-2014 academic year. The tournament included 44 games played by six participating teams from Kuwait, Lebanon, UAE and Egypt.

The ISAC tournament gameskicked offon Thursday, October 31 in a round robin play which took place at the BBS Hawally campus, between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. During the Tournament’s three-day period, the 44 gameswere equally played by allboys teams and all-girls teams. All games were alsoheld at the BBS premises between the high school and elementary school gyms.

It is the first time that BBS hosts the ISAC Volleyball Tournament.

However,it has previously held a number of other ISAC athletic activities including the varsity basketball and JV basketball tournaments for

two consecutive years each.

Athletic Director of BBS, Zachary Slayton, explains that the spirit of this tournament mainly focuses on nourishing the belief of fair play among all members involved in sports including student participants, coaches, officials, spectators and sponsors. “Fair play has at its core value the development of a pure competitive spirit and true sportsmanship, and it applies in just about all circumstances.”

“Currently, there are 14 ISAC events held each school year that cover sports activates, academic games, forensics and debate, and band and choir. BBS now has 12 out of these 14 teams in total, and we are currently in the process of completing the final two teams. Over the past years, BBS has earned 10 top three placements and five ISAC championships in just about a threeyear period,” he said.

BBS Director, Dr Paul Sheppard,

BBS volleyball captain receives the best sportsmanship trophy on behalf of his team.

also added: “BBS is very proud to have the opportunity to host its very first ISAC Volleyball Tournament this year, and to watch all the prestigious schools who have joined us from across the region and in Kuwait compete in a high spirited arena.The ISAC tournaments illustrate three of the best qualities in sports; team work, hard work and sportsmanship, and it is a true joy for me as an educator and a member of the BBS community to see these young athletes and their coaches demonstrate all that in the heated match-ups and competitions this year.”

The final two gamesof the tournament took place on Saturday, November 2, in heated encounters between the four finalist teams; Schutz American School (SAS) Alexandria boys vs.American Community School (ACS) Beirut boys, andACS Beirutgirls vs.AmericanInternational School (AIS)Abu Dhabi girls. Thegames con-

American Community School in Beirut girls won first place in the 2013-2014 ISAC Volleyball Tournament.

cluded with a final score of 25 to18 on the boys teams, and 25 to 14 on the girls teams, making SAS boys and ACS girls the new champions of the tournament. In second place came ACS boys and AIS girls, and in third came BBS boys and Universal American School (UAS)girls. BBS boys and girls, and the American Creativity Academy (ACA) boys, also won the team sportsmanship trophy for demonstrating the best sportsmanship on and off the field over the course of three days, one of the very core values which ISAC aims to embed within all participants involved in the tournament.

The International School Activities Conference (ISAC) was established in 1994 with a clear mandate of designing, implementing and promoting superior athletics and activities events through inter-school collaboration and leadership initiatives among its member schools and student participants. ISAC further aims

BBS volleyball boys review game plan with coach Ryan before the start of the game. to encourage membership of region- of schools through the additional al schools who qualify while concurgrowth and development of ISAC in rently facilitating, as necessary, conthe years ahead. ference expansion to meet the needs

Kuwait Bilingual School holds assembly on cooperation

K

uwait Bilingual School, Jahra grades 1 and 2 had a special assembly last Wednesday on the theme of cooperation. Songs and roleplay added flavor to the mood of the topic which went delightfully well across the audience. Primary school principal Ms Janice Dennis told the allegorical story of some people who were in a room with food aplenty but could not help themselves because of the rule of spoon etiquette they had to abide by.

The spoons were so long that the hungry people could not use them for their use. On the third day of hunger and frustration, they stumbled upon the idea of cooperation and fed the food each other. The parable and its enactment brought a smile on everyone’s face on Wednesday morning. Cooperation and such value-based topics are part of the curricula Kuwait Bilingual School follows after it got approval to run the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program (IB PYP).

KIG conducts conference

T

he social awareness among the children are comparatively less and more efforts to raise the awareness is very much needed said Jamaat-e-Islami Kerala Assistant Ameer Shaikh Mohamed Karakunnu. He was delivering the keynote address at the public conference conducted by Kerala Islamic Group as part of the campaign ‘Family is Heaven’. Family is the base unit of society and when each family prospers, the society and the nation too prosper.

Family relations start from marriages, which are considered sacred. Marriage is not just a relation between two individuals, this is the union of two families and of two places. The only relative where man can exercise his freedom of choice is his spouse, hence it is very important. Love, mercy and forgiveness between the partners are the necessities in a relation. A home where peace and happiness do not exist is just

a building. The partners need to exercise self-restraint in the presence of their children. Children need to be encouraged and congratulated instead of reprimanding or criticizing them. The Holy Quran, which does not teach how to pray or the details regarding Zakath, which are the pillars of Islam, details very much on the relations between parents and children and for spouse and the prayers for each of them. This shows the importance of family and relations in human civilizations. Lack of financial planning and discipline will lead to indebtedness and make life difficult, he said. Kerala Islamic Group President Sakkeer Hussain Thuvvoor presided over the program. KIG Secretary Shareef PT welcomed the audience and Vice President K Abdurahman proposed the vote of thanks in the event which started earlier with verses from the Holy Quran recited by Zaid.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2013

W H AT ’ S O N

KNES participates in Education Day organized by KOGS

K

uwait National English School students of Year 11 and 12 attended the Education day which was organized by Kuwait Oil and Gas Show (KOGS) at The Regency Hotel in October 2013. Our students successfully performed many challenging scientific activities related to the petroleum industry and its refineries.

The following were some of the scientific activities which our students experienced: 1. Getting Oil Out: An experiment to show that oil is brought up through a long tubing system. Our students concluded that a more viscous liquid is harder to move up through narrow tubing than a less viscous liquid.

2. Exploring Sound waves: An illustration to show how sound waves travel using metal spring and foam cups (one small and one large)

Embassy Information EMBASSY OF AUSTRALIA The Embassy of Australia has announced that Kuwait citizens can apply for and receive visit visas in 10 working days through www.immi.gov.au.

All other processing of visas and Immigration matters are handled by the Australian Visa Application Centre located in Al Banwan Building, 4B, 1st Floor, Al Qibla Area, Ali Al Salem Street, Kuwait City. Visit. www.vfs-au-gcc.com for more info. The Embassy of Australia does not have a visa or immigration department.

All processing of visas and immigration matters is conducted by the Australian 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.

3. Perforated Well Casing: An activity to illustrate how adding holes to a well casing will influence the amount of petroleum or natural gas that the well can produce.

4. Cartesian Diver: An activity to illustrate that compressing a material, thereby increasing the material’s density, will therefore increase its buoyancy.

In addition, there were presentations on interesting topics such as: Future Aspirations towards a Career as a petroleum engineer, Importance of Science and Math for careers in Engineering, etc.

Kuwait National English School students ended their eventful day by visiting the Exhibition which was displayed

by KOGS. We would like to thank KOGS for giving our students the opportunity to experience science in the real world.

nnnnnnn

IIS honours its director Malayil Moosa Koya

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

2

4th October 2013, was an occasion to rejoice and celebrate the greatest event in the life of our Director, Malayil Moosa Koya who completed meritorious 30 fruitful and glorious years in serving the Indian community in different fields. His marvelous contribution is evident particularly in the field of journalism.

With the outstanding span of dedicated service, untiring efforts, perseverance and diligence its praise worthy to note that he contributed with utmost commitment and steadiness in the field of education and administration.

Management, staff and students of India International School (IIS) take in legitimate pride in organizing, honoring ceremony for the Director to acknowledge and felicitate his tremendous accomplishments in his unprecedented journey of three decades.

To mark the significance for the very purpose, 24th October 2013, was made pretentious emphasizing his successful completion of meritorious 30 years of glorious service in Kuwait in various fields. His outstanding span of dedicated service is a milestone for pace group of institutions too, which is run under the chairmanship of Dr P.A Ibrahim. To honor and celebrate for same, special assembly was held at our sprawling ground with a humble intention to enrich and enlighten our students in particular to follow the footsteps of role model Malayil Moosa Koya and emulate his qualities in their day-to-day life.

The programme was divided in two sessions dedicated to the Director to acknowledge his glorious achievements and gratifying accolades. In the first session under the guidance of the teacher students organised exclusive assembly. The programme commenced with guard of honour given to the chief guest of the day,

Malayil Moosa Koya, by school contingent.

Following this was the recitation of Holy Quran to invoke blessings of the Almighty.

As a token of love and appreciation a bouquet of flowers was presented for his exceptional demeanor.

At the outset Principal, F.M.Basheer Ahmed expressed his gratitude to the chairman Dr.P.A.Ibrahim for choosing an honest, hardworking and a good administrator, Malayil Moosa Koya to look after the affairs of IIS, Kuwait. Further, in his welcome speech, he congratulated the director on behalf of the management, staff and students for successfully completing 3 decades of outstanding service in Kuwait in different scenarios. He highlighted his distinguished qualities as a human being who inspired the student community with counseling, guidance and blessings. He instructed the students to emulate his good qualities, to cherish the dream and achieve the vision of our chairman and Director - to make IIS a center of excellence and to maintain the dignity and uphold the honour of school which bloomed to its present magnificence under the guidance of our beloved director.

Director addressed the gathering. In his speech he expressed his joy and happiness for organizing a special programmme in his honour and instructed the students to imbibe good human values and work hard to maintain the glory of school.

In the second session teachers devoted their love and honour to venerate director with utmost reverence and dedication.

Senior Vice Principal, Narender Kaur took up the charge as the master of ceremony.

Programme commenced with a warm red carpet welcome to the Director, Malayil Moosa Koya by Kindergarten teachers. Vice Principals Indulekha Suresh, Sophy John, Sapna Raoof and Saleem presented vibrant

greeting card that reflected their heartfelt wishes and accolades in congratulating him on his tremendous success. Sr vice principal presented a bouquet for his noteworthy success and a blossoming future ahead. Keeping in pace with the tradition, ponnada was attired by the principal to felicitate the Director for the same.

Teachers too expressed their love and happiness characterized by intense joy to make the day extraordinary one. A stupendous dance performance was presented by the teachers which left everyone awe struck. The highlight of the programme was well explicated video presentation by IT department under the auspices of Saleem that briefed up the golden era of 3 decades of our director.

Principal addressed the gathering in his speech he proposed his hearty congratulations to the Director for successfully completing meritorious 30 years of glorious service in Kuwait in different streams. He proudly promulgated the achievements and accomplishments of the director. He is a prolific writer, a journalist and an orator.

From 1975 to 1980, he worked in the capacity of director and member of reputed institution like C.M.M Higher Secondary School, Calicut. Besides he served as the Managing Director of C.H.Mohammed Koya Hospital. He rendered his selfless service from sub-editor to Managing Editor in Kuwait Times Daily in Malayalam section of Keralites from 1983 to 2010. Indeed! He is a benchmark for whatever activity he chooses to pursue. His association in the field of Administration, Education, Politics, Arts, Literature and sports spanning for more than 3 decades were worth appreciating and praiseworthy. Besides, he is a good human being with exceptional qualities which is evident in dealing with the people. His humbleness and simplicity

made him a very endearing personality to the staff as well as to the student community. As a person he displays brilliance and depth of sensitiveness. Whenever we need him he is always there for us, ready to support us appreciate and encourage seeing the goodness in us, ready to lend an ear to our problems. It is his indomitable spirit and energy that gives a moral boost to the staff to put their best foot forward and excel in their entire task.

Malayil Moosa Koya extended his sincere thanks for the management and staff in organizing the ceremony and making it a cherished one. He was overwhelmed with the honour bestowed upon him and focused on the point that as a person he is very simple & approachable. Further, he assured everyone that IIS is one family and appealed to vow sincerely for the noble contribution of uplifting the institution with utmost dedication and commitment, which will be the best gift for him. He proudly appreciated the dynamism and indomitable spirit of the teachers. The glory of the day doubled with a highly motivating note by one his well wisher, F.M.Nazeer Ahmed, wishing him good luck & health in future endeavous on this solemn occasion. Management, staff and students extend heartfelt congratulations, warm greetings, prayerful wishes and cordial felicitations to their Director. His hardwork and simplicity spells success in all his accomplishments. This stands as a testimony for IIS to reach the pinnacle of success under the guardianship of director Malayil Moosa Koya. Under his supervision, guidance and trust India International School is marching ahead under his compassionate care to take education and ethical behavior to laudable heights of excellence.

OICC- Kuwait commemorates Indiraji

O

ICC Kuwait, co-ordination committee of different congress organisations commemorate Indiraji’s death anniversary with pushparchana and hymns on October 31st Thursday evening at Abbasiya Successline auditorium.

Senior Congress leader Rajan Daniel mentioned in his inagural speech that Indira’s India was a story of self-reliance and a confident India which fought for the poor and the deprived of the third world.

Indira’s India drew a new and lasting outlines of humanness and self respect on the world map including the Indian sub-continent. The India of those days needs to be understood in great depth by the present generation. OICC Coordination committee member Mr. Abey Varicad presided the

function.

The function was attended by over 100 prominent civil society figures. It was highly auspicious with the presence of distinguished guests from various sectors of the society which included political, social, cultural, religious, Media, and large number of humanitarians.

Sherafuddin Kannethu, Safeer P Harris, Basheer Batha, Chacko Georgekutty, Joy John Turittikkara, Hamid Kelothu, Iqbal Kuttamangalam, Binoy Chandran, KV Beeran Koya and AI Kurian shared there valuable thoughts during the auspicious occasion. The welcome speech was rendered by Krishnan Kadalundy and RN Shaukat Ali who delivered the vote of thanks.

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 BANGLADESH The Embassy of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh in Kuwait will remain closed on 05 November 2013 on the occasion of Arabic New Year 1435. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF US

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

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

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

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

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

EMBASSY OF VATICAN The Apostolic Nunciature Embassy of the Holy See, Vatican in Kuwait has moved to a new location in Kuwait City. Please find below the new address: Yarmouk, Block 1, Street 2, Villa No: 1. P.O.Box 29724, Safat 13158, Kuwait.

Tel: 965 25337767, Fax: 965 25342066. Email: nuntiuskuwait@gmail.com.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2013

TV PROGRAMS

03:25 Shark Feeding Frenzy 04:15 Roaring With Pride 05:05 Lion Man: One World African Safari 05:55 Animal Cops Houston 06:45 North America 07:35 Wildlife SOS 08:00 Monkey Life 08:25 My Cat From Hell 09:15 The Most Extreme 10:10 My Cat From Hell 11:05 Wildwives Of Savannah Lane 12:00 Animal Cops Houston 12:55 Monkey Life 13:20 Call Of The Wildman 13:50 ER Vets 14:15 ER Vets 14:45 Swimming With Monsters: Steve Backshall 15:40 Wildwives Of Savannah Lane 16:30 Lion Man: One World African Safari 17:00 Monkey Life 17:30 The Most Extreme 18:25 Breed All About It 19:20 The Magic Of The Big Blue 20:15 Best Bites: 25 Greatest Shark Moments 21:10 Swamp Brothers 21:35 Swamp Brothers 22:05 Wildwives Of Savannah Lane 23:00 Too Cute!

03:15 Luther 04:10 Kidnapped 05:00 Me Too! 05:20 The Green Balloon Club 05:45 3rd & Bird 05:55 Nuzzle & Scratch: Frock n Roll 06:15 Me Too! 06:35 The Green Balloon Club 07:00 3rd & Bird 07:10 Nuzzle & Scratch: Frock n Roll 07:30 The Impressions Show With Culshaw...

08:00 Gates 08:30 The Weakest Link 09:15 Big Cat Diary 09:45 Doctors 10:15 Daddy Daycare 11:05 Casualty 11:55 The Impressions Show With Culshaw...

12:25 The Weakest Link 13:10 Gates 13:35 Big Cat Diary 14:05 Doctors 14:35 Casualty 15:25 Daddy Daycare 16:15 The World’s Toughest Driving Tests 17:10 Eastenders 17:40 Doctors 18:10 The Weakest Link 19:00 My Family 19:30 Little Britain 20:00 Spooks 20:50 Threesome 21:15 The Children 22:05 South Riding 22:55 Roger & Val Have Just Got In 23:25 My Family

03:30 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition Specials 04:50 Antiques Roadshow 06:40 Come Dine With Me: Supersized 08:10 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 08:50 Bargain Hunt 09:35 Marbella Mansions 10:20 Come Dine With Me: Supersized 11:50 Masterchef: The Professionals 12:40 Celebrity MasterChef 13:35 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 14:15 Antiques Roadshow 15:05 Homes Under The Hammer 16:55 Bargain Hunt 17:40 Cash In The Attic 18:30 Antiques Roadshow 19:20 Marbella Mansions

20:10 20:35 Africa 21:30 22:20 23:15 00:00 00:45 01:40 02:30

03:25 06:00 07:00 07:50 08:40 Junior 09:30 09:55 10:20 10:45 11:10 11:35 12:25 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 23:40 00:30 01:20 02:10

Bill’s Kitchen: Notting Hill Come Dine With Me: South Come Dine With Me Antiques Roadshow Bargain Hunt Cash In The Attic Marbella Mansions Come Dine With Me Celebrity MasterChef

Jungle Gold Mythbusters Mythbusters Dirty Dozen Extreme Fishing American Chopper: Senior vs Border Security Storage Hunters Baggage Battles How Do They Do It? How It’s Made Fast N’ Loud World’s Biggest Ship Wheeler Dealers Border Security Storage Hunters Baggage Battles Flying Wild Alaska Overhaulin’ Ultimate Survival Dirty Jobs Mythbusters Dirty Dozen Sons Of Guns Storage Hunters Baggage Battles How Do They Do It? How It’s Made Diamond Divers Bush Pilots Jungle Gold Diamond Divers Bush Pilots Jungle Gold

Discovery ID 03:10 Deadly Women 04:00 On The Case With Paula Zahn 04:45 Blood Relatives 06:20 Dr G: Medical Examiner 07:10 Disappeared 08:00 Mystery Diagnosis 08:50 Street Patrol 09:40 Real Emergency Calls 10:05 Who On Earth Did I Marry?

10:30 On The Case With Paula Zahn 11:20 Solved 12:10 Disappeared 13:00 Mystery Diagnosis 13:50 Street Patrol 14:40 Nightmare Next Door 15:30 On The Case With Paula Zahn 16:20 I Was Murdered 16:45 Stalked: Someone’s Watching 17:10 Forensic Detectives 18:00 Extreme Forensics 18:50 Dr G: Medical Examiner 19:40 True Crime With Aphrodite Jones 21:20 I Almost Got Away With It 22:10 Deadly Sins 23:00 Deadly Devotion 23:50 Deadly Sins 00:40 Killer Kids 01:30 Couples Who Kill 02:20 Ghost Lab

03:45 06:15 06:40 07:05 08:00 08:50 09:40 10:05 10:30 11:25 12:20 13:10 14:00 14:50 15:20 15:45 16:10 17:00 17:55

Sport Science Gadget Show - World Tour The Tech Show How Do They Do It? Prototype This X-Machines Gadget Show - World Tour The Tech Show Sport Science Kings Of Construction Thunder Races How The Universe Works X-Machines Weird Connections Gadget Show - World Tour The Tech Show Prototype This James May’s Man Lab Mega World

18:45 19:35 20:30 21:20 22:10 22:35 23:00 23:50 00:40 True 01:30 02:00 02:25 02:50

Punkin Chunkin 2010 Through The Wormhole Mighty Ships Mighty Planes Gadget Show - World Tour The Tech Show Mighty Ships Mighty Planes Dark Matters: Twisted But Weird Connections Gadget Show - World Tour The Tech Show Mighty Ships

03:30 Inventions That Shook The World 05:20 Trashopolis 08:00 I Shouldn’t Be Alive 08:50 Classic Car Club 09:15 Ultimate Cars 09:45 Inventions That Shook The World 10:35 True Stories 11:30 Ultimate Warfare 12:20 Trashopolis 13:10 Classic Car Club 13:35 Ultimate Cars 14:05 Inventions That Shook The World 14:55 Danger Hunters 15:50 Crime Scene Wild 16:45 The Rise And Fall Of The Japanese Empire 17:40 Trashopolis 18:35 I Shouldn’t Be Alive 19:25 Altered Statesmen 20:20 Trashopolis 21:10 The Aviators 21:35 The Aviators 22:05 Ultimate Warfare 23:00 Altered Statesmen 23:55 Human Sacrifice 00:50 Murder Shift 01:45 Ultimate Warfare 02:35 Altered Statesmen

03:00 The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody 03:20 The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody 03:45 Jonas 04:05 Jonas 04:30 Suite Life On Deck 04:50 Suite Life On Deck 05:15 Wizards Of Waverly Place 05:35 Wizards Of Waverly Place 06:00 Austin And Ally 06:25 Austin And Ally 06:45 A.N.T. Farm 07:10 A.N.T. Farm 07:35 Jessie 07:55 Good Luck Charlie 08:20 Sofia The First 08:45 Doc McStuffins 09:05 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 09:30 A.N.T. Farm 09:55 A.N.T. Farm 10:15 Jessie 10:40 Jessie 11:05 Suite Life On Deck 11:25 Suite Life On Deck 11:50 Shake It Up 12:15 Shake It Up 12:35 Austin And Ally 13:00 Good Luck Charlie: The Road Trip Movie 14:15 Monsters University: Behind The Screams 14:35 The Adventures Of Disney Fairies 15:05 That’s So Raven 15:25 Good Luck Charlie 15:50 Good Luck Charlie 16:10 Violetta 17:00 Dog With A Blog 17:20 Austin And Ally 17:45 Gravity Falls 18:10 Shake It Up 18:30 Good Luck Charlie 18:55 A.N.T. Farm 19:20 Violetta 20:05 Jessie 20:30 Good Luck Charlie 20:50 Good Luck Charlie 21:15 Gravity Falls 21:40 Shake It Up 22:00 Austin And Ally 22:25 A.N.T. Farm

ree

DAMSELS IN DISTRESS ON OSN MOVIES HD

22:50 23:10 23:35 00:00 00:20 00:45 01:05 01:30 01:50 02:15 02:35

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

03:00 Little Einsteins 03:25 Special Agent Oso 03:50 Imagination Movers 04:20 Handy Manny 04:35 Winnie The Pooh: Tales Of Friendship 04:40 Special Agent Oso 05:00 Timmy Time 05:10 Imagination Movers 05:35 Little Einsteins 06:00 Jungle Junction 06:30 Little Einsteins 06:50 Special Agent Oso 07:15 Jungle Junction 07:45 Handy Manny 08:00 Special Agent Oso 08:15 Jungle Junction 08:30 Higglytown Heroes 08:45 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 09:10 New Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 09:35 Jake And The Neverland Pirates 09:50 Doc McStuffins 10:05 Doc McStuffins 10:20 Zou 10:35 Henry Hugglemonster 10:45 Mouk 11:00 Sofia The First 11:25 Zou 11:40 Jake And The Neverland Pirates 11:55 The Hive 12:05 Doc McStuffins 12:20 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 12:45 Mouk 13:00 Winnie The Pooh: Tales Of Friendship 13:05 Higglytown Heroes 13:20 The Hive 13:30 Doc McStuffins 14:00 Zou 14:15 Jake And The Neverland Pirates 14:30 Henry Hugglemonster 14:55 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 15:20 New Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 15:45 Higglytown Heroes 15:55 The Hive 16:05 Doc McStuffins 16:20 Zou 16:35 Jake And The Neverland Pirates 16:50 Mouk 17:05 Art Attack 17:30 Goof Troop 17:55 Tarzan 18:20 Quack Pack 18:45 Mouk 19:00 Zou 19:10 The Hive 19:20 Jake And The Neverland Pirates 19:35 Sofia The First 20:00 Winnie The Pooh: Tales Of Friendship 20:05 Pajanimals 20:25 Doc McStuffins 20:40 Winnie The Pooh: Tales Of Friendship 20:45 Zou 21:00 Pajanimals 21:15 Jake And The Neverland Pirates 21:30 Goof Troop 21:55 Tarzan 22:20 Quack Pack 22:45 Lilo And Stitch 23:10 Sofia The First 23:35 Doc McStuffins 23:50 Pajanimals

07:00 Max Steel 07:25 Phineas And Ferb 08:15 Crash & Bernstein 08:40 Kickin’ It 09:05 Ultimate Spider-Man 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 13:15 Scaredy Squirrel 13:40 Pair Of Kings 14:05 Pair Of Kings 14:30 Phineas And Ferb 15:20 Pokemon Bw: Adventures In Unova 15:45 Phineas And Ferb 16:35 Crash & Bernstein 17:00 Lab Rats 17:30 Kickin It 18:25 Phineas And Ferb 19:15 Slugterra 19:40 Crash & Bernstein 20:05 Ultimate Spider-Man 20:30 Kickin It 20:55 Pair Of Kings 21:20 Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja 21:45 Phineas And Ferb 22:35 Lab Rats 23:00 Kickin’ It 23:30 Scaredy Squirrel 00:00 Programmes Start At 7:00am KSA

03:15 04:10 05:05 06:00 07:50 08:20 09:15 10:15 10:40 11:10 Do? 12:05 13:05 13:35 14:30 15:00 Miami 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00

E!ES THS Extreme Close-Up THS Style Star E! News Opening Act Married To Jonas Chasing The Saturdays What Would Ryan Lochte E! News Extreme Close-Up E!ES Style Star Kourtney And Kim Take Ice Loves Coco E! News E!ES Hello Ross

03:45 Mission: Impossible III 06:00 Ip Man 2 08:00 A Monster In Paris 10:00 Nacho Libre 12:00 Alvin And The Chipmunks: Chipwrecked 14:00 Stealing Paradise 16:00 A Monster In Paris 18:00 Premium Rush 20:00 Underworld: Awakening 22:00 Excision 00:00 Nacho Libre 02:00 Premium Rush

03:30 Live NHL 06:30 Futbol Mundial 07:00 World Golf Championships 12:30 ICC Cricket 360 13:00 Futbol Mundial 13:30 Rugby League World Cup 15:30 Rugby League World Cup 17:30 Top 14 Highlights 18:00 ICC Cricket 360 18:30 Futbol Mundial 19:00 World Golf Championships Highlights 20:00 Top 14 22:00 Trans World Sport 23:00 Live Rugby League World Cup 01:00 ICC Cricket 360 01:30 Top 14

CARJACKED ON OSN MOVIES ACTION HD 20:30 Married To Jonas 21:00 Married To Jonas 21:30 Eric And Jessie: Game On 22:00 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 23:00 E!ES 23:30 E!ES 00:00 Chelsea Lately 00:30 The Dance Scene 00:55 The Dance Scene 01:25 E!ES 02:20 E! Investigates

03:10 Charly’s Cake Angels 03:35 Amazing Wedding Cakes 04:25 Unique Eats 04:50 Food Crafters 05:15 United Tastes Of America 05:40 Chopped 06:30 Iron Chef America 07:10 Unwrapped 07:35 Unwrapped 08:00 Unwrapped 08:25 Unwrapped 08:50 Food Crafters 09:15 United Tastes Of America 09:40 Extra Virgin 10:05 Barefoot Contessa 10:30 Food Network Star 12:10 Unwrapped 12:35 Unique Sweets 13:00 Rachael vs. Guy: Celebrity Cook Off 13:50 Tyler’s Ultimate 14:15 Barefoot Contessa 15:05 Siba’s Table 15:30 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 16:20 Symon’s Suppers 16:45 Chopped 17:35 Barefoot Contessa 18:00 Barefoot Contessa 18:25 Roadtrip With G. Garvin 18:50 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 19:40 Guy’s Big Bite 20:05 Reza’s African Kitchen 20:30 Siba’s Table 20:55 Charly’s Cake Angels 21:20 Chopped 22:10 Iron Chef America 23:00 Siba’s Table 23:25 Siba’s Table 23:50 Andy Bates American Street Feasts 00:15 Andy Bates American Street Feasts 00:40 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 01:30 Heat Seekers 01:55 Meat & Potatoes 02:20 Outrageous Food 02:45 Siba’s Table

03:30 Banged Up Abroad 04:25 Mega Food 05:20 Banged Up Abroad 06:15 Market Values 06:40 Eat Street 07:10 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 07:35 Eat Street 08:05 Bondi Rescue 09:00 Scam City 09:55 Deadly Arts 10:50 Banged Up Abroad 11:45 Mega Food 12:40 Banged Up Abroad 13:35 Market Values 14:00 Eat Street 14:30 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 14:55 Eat Street 15:25 Bondi Rescue 16:20 Scam City 17:15 Deadly Arts 18:10 Banged Up Abroad 19:05 Mega Food 20:00 Banged Up Abroad 21:00 Deadly Arts 22:00 Banged Up Abroad 22:55 Eat Street 23:20 Delinquent Gourmet 23:50 Eat Street 00:15 Street Food Around The World 00:45 My Sri Lanka With Peter Kuruvita 01:10 Market Values 01:40 Chefs Run Wild 02:05 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 02:35 Bondi Rescue

22:00 Sultanes Del Sur 00:00 Scream Of The Banshee 02:00 Wrong Turn 4: Bloody Beginnings 03:00 The Simpsons 03:30 Go On 04:00 Seinfeld 04:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 05:30 The War At Home 06:00 All Of Us 06:30 Friends 07:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 08:00 Seinfeld 08:30 The War At Home 09:00 The Simpsons 09:30 Guys With Kids 10:00 Modern Family 10:30 Friends 11:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 12:00 All Of Us 12:30 Seinfeld 13:00 The War At Home 13:30 Friends 14:00 Go On 14:30 Guys With Kids 15:00 Modern Family 15:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 16:00 The Colbert Report 16:30 All Of Us 17:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 18:00 The Simpsons 18:30 Go On 19:00 Guys With Kids 19:30 Modern Family 20:00 That Mitchell And Webb Look 20:30 Don’t Trust The B**** In Apartment 23 21:00 The Daily Show Global Edition 21:30 The Colbert Report Global Edition 22:00 South Park 22:30 Brickleberry 23:00 Family Guy 23:30 That Mitchell And Webb Look 00:00 Don’t Trust The B**** In Apartment 23 00:30 The Daily Show Global Edition 01:00 The Colbert Report Global Edition 01:30 South Park 02:00 Brickleberry 02:30 Family Guy

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

04:00 06:00 08:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00

American Horror Story Top Gear (US) C.S.I. 24 Drop Dead Diva Royal Pains Zero Hour C.S.I. Top Gear (US) Emmerdale Coronation Street Royal Pains Touch Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show Royal Pains Once Upon A Time Revenge The Blacklist Boardwalk Empire American Horror Story Touch The Blacklist Boardwalk Empire

Seconds Apart Carjacked And Soon The Darkness Brake Wrath Of The Titans Interview With A Hitman Brake Romancing The Stone Interview With A Hitman

04:00 Carjacked 06:00 And Soon The Darkness 08:00 Brake 10:00 Wrath Of The Titans 12:00 Interview With A Hitman 14:00 Brake 16:00 Romancing The Stone 18:00 Interview With A Hitman 20:00 Sultanes Del Sur 22:00 Scream Of The Banshee 00:00 Wrong Turn 4: Bloody Beginnings 02:00 Sultanes Del Sur

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

Sorority Wars Gabe The Cupid Dog Chasing Liberty Johnny English Reborn Sorority Wars Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot Johnny English Reborn Brewster’s Millions Norbit 30 Minutes Or Less Under New Management Norbit

03:15 Cinderella PT 1 05:15 Cinderella PT 2 07:15 No Surrender 09:00 Dirty Teacher 11:00 Reign Over Me 13:30 Hindenburg 17:00 The First Grader 19:00 Flying Lessons 21:00 Pariah 22:30 Peacock 00:00 The First Grader 01:45 Flying Lessons OSN Movies Festival 03:00 Wind Chill 04:45 Dying Young 06:45 Oscar And Lucinda 09:00 Golden Christmas 3 11:00 Trust 13:00 Wuthering Heights 15:00 An Inconvenient Truth 17:00 Trust 19:00 Joyful Noise 21:00 The People vs Larry Flynt 23:15 Trishna 01:15 Heavy Duty

03:00 World Golf Championships Highlights 04:00 International Rugby Union 06:00 Trans World Sport 07:00 Rugby League World Cup 09:00 Rugby League World Cup 11:00 NHL 13:00 Trans World Sport 14:00 Top 14 Highlights 14:30 Champions Tour 17:00 World Golf Championships Highlights 18:00 NHL 20:00 NFL 22:30 WWE Bottom Line 23:30 WWE Experience 00:30 World Golf Championships Highlights

03:00 Trans World Sport 04:00 Frankfurt Marathon 07:00 Golfing World 08:00 Top 14 Highlights 08:30 World Cup Of Pool 09:30 World Cup Of Pool 10:30 ICC Cricket 360 11:00 Pro 12 13:00 World Golf Championships Highlights 14:00 Frankfurt Marathon 17:00 Trans World Sport 18:00 Golfing World 19:00 Rugby League World Cup 21:00 Rugby League World Cup 23:00 Golfing World 00:00 Total Rugby 00:30 Pro 12 02:30 Futbol Mundial

04:00 UFC 166 - Velasquez vs. Dos Santos III 07:00 WWE Bottom Line 08:00 WWE Experience 09:00 Ping Pong World Championship 10:00 U.S Bass Fishing 11:00 Triathlon UK 12:00 Triathlon UK 13:00 Mass Participation Series 14:00 NHL 16:00 WWE Smackdown 18:00 WWE Experience 19:00 NHL 21:00 World Aquabike Championships 21:30 UFC - Machida vs. Munoz 00:30 UFC - The Ultimate Fighter Season 18 01:30 European Le Mans Series Highlights 02:30 European Le Mans Series Highlights

03:15 Will 05:15 Carnage 07:00 Class 09:00 Damsels In Distress 11:00 Love Will Keep Us Together 13:00 Planet Ocean 15:00 The Pirates! Band Of Misfits 17:00 Damsels In Distress 19:00 Moonrise Kingdom 21:00 The Watch 23:00 Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters 01:00 Smashed

03:00 Airport 24/7: Miami 05:00 Descending 06:00 Globe Trekker 09:00 Departures 10:00 Airport 24/7: Miami 11:00 World’s Greatest Motorcycle Rides 12:00 Bert The Conqueror 12:30 Trip Flip 13:00 Jonathan Phang’s Caribbean Cookbook 13:30 Jonathan Phang’s Caribbean Cookbook 14:00 Bizarre Foods America 15:00 International House Hunters 17:00 Hotel Impossible 18:00 The Ethical Hedonist 19:00 Jonathan Phang’s Caribbean Cookbook 19:30 Jonathan Phang’s Caribbean Cookbook 20:00 Bizarre Foods America 21:00 International House Hunters 22:00 Hotel Impossible 23:00 Rock My RV With Bret Michaels 00:00 Airport 24/7: Miami 01:00 World’s Greatest Motorcycle Rides 02:00 Bert The Conqueror

04:15 06:00 08:00 09:45 11:30 13:00 14:45 16:15 18:00 20:00 22:00 23:30

03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 08:00 08:30 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00

Blue Elephant 2 Daddy Day Camp Freddy Frogface Jumanji The Happets Big Top Scooby-Doo! Marc Logan Krazzy Planet Jumanji The Little Rascals Marc Logan Krazzy Planet

Huge Moves Trapped Predator CSI Warrior Road Trip The Numbers Game Brain Games Brain Games Lockdown Alaska State Troopers Warrior Road Trip Trapped

Classifieds MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2013

Kuwait

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

SHARQIA-2 CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:30 PM 4:15 PM 7:00 PM 9:45 PM 12:30 AM

SHARQIA-3 ESCAPE FROM PLANET EARTH (DIG) KALBY DALILI (DIG) KALBY DALILI (DIG) DJINN (DIG) KALBY DALILI (DIG) DJINN (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:45 PM 4:00 PM 6:00 PM 8:00 PM 10:00 PM 12:05 AM

MUHALAB-1 DJINN (DIG) ENDER’S GAME (DIG) DJINN (DIG) ENDER’S GAME (DIG) ENDER’S GAME (DIG)

1:30 PM 3:30 PM 5:45 PM 7:30 PM 9:45 PM

MUHALAB-2 ESCAPE PLAN (DIG) ESCAPE PLAN (DIG) KRRISH 3 (DIG) (HINDI) KALBY DALILI (DIG) KALBY DALILI (DIG)

12:30 PM 2:45 PM 5:00 PM 8:00 PM 10:00 PM 1:00 PM 3:45 PM 6:30 PM 9:15 PM

FANAR-1 ESCAPE PLAN (DIG) KALBY DALILI (DIG) BANI ADAM (EMIRATHI FILM) KALBY DALILI (DIG) KALBY DALILI (DIG) ESCAPE PLAN (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

2:00 PM 4:15 PM 6:15 PM 8:45 PM 10:45 PM 12:45 AM

FANAR-2 ESCAPE FROM PLANET EARTH (DIG) ENDER’S GAME (DIG) ESCAPE FROM PLANET EARTH (DIG) ENDER’S GAME (DIG) ENDER’S GAME (DIG) ENDER’S GAME (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

FANAR-3 DJINN (DIG) DJINN (DIG) DJINN (DIG) KRRISH 3 (DIG) (HINDI) KRRISH 3 (DIG) (HINDI) DJINN (DIG)

KNCC PROGRAMME FROM THURSDAY TO WEDNESDAY (31/10/2013 TO 06/11/2013) NO SUN+TUE+WED

SHARQIA-1 ENDER’S GAME (DIG) DIANA (DIG) KRRISH 3 (DIG) (HINDI) ENDER’S GAME (DIG) ENDER’S GAME (DIG) ENDER’S GAME (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

MUHALAB-3 CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG)

ACCOMMODATION

12:45 PM 2:45 PM 4:30 PM 6:15 PM 9:15 PM 12:15 AM

KALBY DALILI (DIG) KALBY DALILI (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

FANAR-4 CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:30 PM 4:15 PM 7:00 PM 9:45 PM 12:30 AM

10:30 PM 12:45 AM

AVENUES-4 ENDER’S GAME (DIG) ESCAPE PLAN (DIG) ENDER’S GAME (DIG) ENDER’S GAME (DIG) ENDER’S GAME (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

2:00 PM 4:30 PM 7:00 PM 9:30 PM 12:05 AM

3:30 PM 5:45 PM 7:45 PM 10:00 PM 12:05 AM

360º- 1 ENDER’S GAME (DIG) ENDER’S GAME (DIG) ENDER’S GAME (DIG) ENDER’S GAME (DIG) ENDER’S GAME (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

2:00 PM 4:30 PM 7:00 PM 9:30 PM 12:05 AM

MARINA-1 ESCAPE FROM PLANET EARTH (DIG) ESCAPE FROM PLANET EARTH (DIG) KALBY DALILI (DIG) KALBY DALILI (DIG) KALBY DALILI (DIG) ESCAPE PLAN (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:45 PM 3:45 PM 6:00 PM 8:00 PM 10:00 PM 12:05 AM

360º- 2 ESCAPE PLAN (DIG) ESCAPE PLAN (DIG) ESCAPE PLAN (DIG) ESCAPE PLAN (DIG) ESCAPE PLAN (DIG) ESCAPE PLAN (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

MARINA-2 DJINN (DIG) ENDER’S GAME (DIG) DIANA (DIG) ENDER’S GAME (DIG) DJINN (DIG) ENDER’S GAME (DIG) DJINN (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:45 PM 2:30 PM 4:45 PM 7:00 PM 9:15 PM 11:00 PM 1:15 AM

360º- 3 CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2 (DIG-3D) CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2 (DIG-3D) CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2 (DIG-3D) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG)

MARINA-3 CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:15 PM 4:00 PM 6:45 PM 9:30 PM 12:15 AM

AL-KOUT.1 CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:00 PM 4:00 PM 6:45 PM 9:30 PM 12:15 AM

AVENUES-1 GRAVITY (DIG) GRAVITY (DIG) GRAVITY (DIG) GRAVITY (DIG) GRAVITY (DIG) GRAVITY (DIG) GRAVITY (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

AL-KOUT.2 DJINN (DIG) ESCAPE FROM PLANET EARTH (DIG) ESCAPE FROM PLANET EARTH (DIG) DJINN (DIG) DJINN (DIG) DJINN (DIG) DJINN (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:45 PM 3:00 PM 5:00 PM 7:00 PM 8:45 PM 11:00 PM 12:45 AM

AVENUES-2 KRRISH 3 (DIG) (HINDI) KRRISH 3 (DIG) (HINDI) KRRISH 3 (DIG) (HINDI) KRRISH 3 (DIG) (HINDI) KRRISH 3 (DIG) (HINDI) NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:30 PM 3:30 PM 6:30 PM 9:30 PM 12:30 AM

AL-KOUT.3 ENDER’S GAME (DIG) ESCAPE PLAN (DIG) ENDER’S GAME (DIG) ESCAPE PLAN (DIG) ENDER’S GAME (DIG) ENDER’S GAME (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

FANAR-5 CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2 CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2 GRAVITY GRAVITY GRAVITY GRAVITY NO SUN+TUE+WED

AVENUES-3 KALBY DALILI (DIG) KALBY DALILI (DIG) KALBY DALILI (DIG) KALBY DALILI (DIG)

1:30 PM

1:30 PM 3:45 PM 6:00 PM 8:15 PM

One room with attach bathroom available in Hawally, Tunis Street, near Sadique roundabout, behind Tijari bank, for single executive or couple.

Contact: 69302121.

(C4551) 31-10-2013 Sharing accommodation available in Hawally Tunis Street, dowra Sadique, near bank Tijari, with attach bath for single executive or couple. Contact 69302121.

(C 4545) 26-10-2013

CHANGE OF NAME

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

AL-KOUT.4 GRAVITY (DIG) KALBY DALILI (DIG) KALBY DALILI (DIG) BANI ADAM (EMIRATHI FILM)

1:30 PM 3:30 PM 5:30 PM 7:30 PM

I, Anandharaj son of Subbaiyan, holder of Indian Passport No: F4197628, converted to Islam, do hereby change my name from Anandharaj to Abdul Rehman with immediate effect.

(C 4552) 2-11-2013 I, Sivanandam S/o Karuppayan, holder of Indian Passport No: G2904164 converted to Islam do hereby change my name to Mohamed Ali. (C 4552) 31-10-2013

LOST Original document policy no. 633004321-8 Mr. Imran Qammer the State Life Insurance Corporation of Pakistan, Gulf zone is reported to have been lost.

Anyone finding the same or claiming any interest in it should communicate with the manager Kuwait State Life office Ph: 22452208.

(4553) Original document policy no. 6330034920 Mrs. Haleema Agha the State Life Insurance Corporation of Pakistan, Gulf zone is reported to have been lost.

Anyone finding the same or claiming any interest in it should communicate with the manager Kuwait State Life office Ph: 22452208.

(4553) 3-11-2013

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

04:39 06:00 11:32 14:40 17:03 18:21

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

Airlines BBC JAI JZR JZR THY QTR ETH GFA THY AFG UAE ETD MSR QTR FDB THY DHX JZR FDB BAW KAC FDB KAC KAC KAC UAE KAC KAC ABY QTR ETD FDB KAC KAC GFA MSC MSC JZR IRC MEA SYR UAE MSR MSR KNE FDB QTR

Arrival Flights on Monday 4/11/2013 Flt Route 43 DHAKA 574 MUMBAI 267 BEIRUT 539 CAIRO 772 ISTANBUL 1084 DOHA 620 ADDIS ABABA 211 BAHRAIN 764 SABIHA 416 JEDDAH 853 DUBAI 305 ABU DHABI-INTL 612 CAIRO 1076 DOHA 67 DUBAI 770 ISTANBUL 170 BAHRAIN 503 LUXOR 69 DUBAI 157 LONDON 412 MANILA 53 DUBAI 302 MUMBAI 206 ISLAMABAD 382 DELHI 855 DUBAI 362 COLOMBO 284 DHAKA 125 SHARJAH 1070 DOHA 301 ABU DHABI-INTL 55 DUBAI 352 COCHIN 344 CHENNAI 213 BAHRAIN 401 ALEXANDRIA 403 ASYUT 165 DUBAI 6521 LAMERD 404 BEIRUT 341 DAMASCUS 871 DUBAI 610 CAIRO 579 SOHAG 480 TAIF 57 DUBAI 1078 DOHA

Time 00:05 00:10 00:40 00:40 00:45 00:55 01:45 02:10 02:15 02:20 02:35 02:45 03:10 03:45 04:00 05:35 05:40 05:50 05:50 06:40 06:45 07:50 07:55 07:40 07:55 08:40 08:45 08:50 09:00 09:10 09:20 09:40 09:50 10:40 10:40 10:50 11:15 11:30 11:45 11:55 12:30 12:50 13:00 13:05 13:15 13:50 13:55

SVA KNE KAC KAC KAC NIA OMA KAC QTR UAE ETD RJA SVA ABY GFA MPH JZR RBG KAC JZR MSC QTR FDB KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC GFA OMA FDB JAI ABY AXB DLH ALK MEA ETD UAE GFA QTR FDB JZR JAI JZR AIC JZR TAR

500 472 672 546 788 252 645 118 1072 857 303 640 510 127 215 93 777 553 742 177 405 1080 63 786 542 774 618 674 104 217 647 61 572 129 489 636 229 402 307 859 219 1074 59 135 576 239 975 185 327

JEDDAH JEDDAH DUBAI ALEXANDRIA JEDDAH ALEXANDRIA MUSCAT NEW YORK DOHA DUBAI ABU DHABI-INTL AMMAN-QUEEN ALIA RIYADH SHARJAH BAHRAIN AMSTERDAM JEDDAH ALEXANDRIA DAMMAM DUBAI SOHAG DOHA DUBAI JEDDAH CAIRO RIYADH DOHA DUBAI LONDON BAHRAIN MUSCAT DUBAI MUMBAI SHARJAH COCHIN FRANKFURT COLOMBO BEIRUT ABU DHABI-INTL DUBAI BAHRAIN DOHA DUBAI BAHRAIN COCHIN AMMAN-QUEEN ALIA CHENNAI DUBAI TUNIS

14:30 14:35 14:00 14:05 15:10 15:50 15:55 16:35 16:40 16:40 16:50 16:55 17:15 17:25 17:30 17:50 17:55 18:15 18:20 18:20 18:30 18:40 18:45 18:45 18:05 18:45 19:00 19:25 19:35 19:30 19:55 20:05 20:10 20:20 20:35 20:55 21:10 21:20 21:35 21:40 21:45 22:00 22:00 22:05 22:10 22:20 22:30 23:20 23:15

Airlines AIC UAL PIA JAI BBC DLH ETH THY AFG UAE ETD MSR QTR FDB QTR FDB JZR THY GFA KAC THY FDB BAW KAC KAC ABY UAE ETD QTR FDB GFA KAC KAC MSC MSC KAC JZR IRC MEA KAC SYR JZR MSR MSR KNE UAE FDB

Departure Flights on Monday 4/11/2013 Flt Route 982 AHMEDABAD 981 WASHINGTON 206 LAHORE 573 MUMBAI 44 CHITTAGONG 635 FRANKFURT 621 ADDIS ABABA 773 ISTANBUL-ATATURK 416 KABUL 854 DUBAI 306 ABU DHABI 613 CAIRO 1085 DOHA 68 DUBAI 1077 DOHA 70 DUBAI 164 DUBAI 765 ISTANBUL-SABIHA 212 BAHRAIN 545 ALEXANDRIA 771 ISTANBUL-ATATURK 54 DUBAI 156 LONDON 787 JEDDAH 671 DUBAI 126 SHARJAH 856 DUBAI 302 ABU DHABI 1071 DOHA 56 DUBAI 214 BAHRAIN 541 CAIRO 165 ROME 406 SOHAG 404 ASYUT 103 LONDON 776 JEDDAH 6522 LAMERD 405 BEIRUT 785 JEDDAH 342 DAMASCUS 176 DUBAI 580 SOHAG 611 CAIRO 481 TAIF 872 DUBAI 58 DUBAI

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

Time 00:05 00:55 01:05 01:10 01:45 02:10 02:45 02:55 03:30 03:50 04:00 04:10 04:15 04:40 05:15 06:30 06:55 07:05 07:15 07:15 07:30 08:30 08:45 09:25 09:30 09:40 09:55 10:05 10:10 10:20 11:25 11:30 11:50 11:50 12:15 12:20 12:25 12:45 12:55 13:00 13:30 13:45 13:50 14:00 14:10 14:15 14:30

QTR KAC KAC KAC KNE KAC SVA NIA OMA JZR ETD QTR UAE JZR RJA ABY SVA GFA JZR JZR RBG JZR MPH FDB MSC QTR GFA KAC FDB OMA KAC KAC ABY JAI KAC DLH DHX ALK MEA ETD GFA KAC FDB UAE KAC JAI QTR JZR KAC

1079 673 741 773 473 617 501 251 646 238 304 1073 858 538 641 128 511 216 184 266 554 134 93 64 402 1081 218 283 62 648 331 361 120 571 351 636 171 230 403 308 220 301 60 860 205 575 1075 502 411

DOHA 14:55 DUBAI 15:05 DAMMAM 15:20 RIYADH 15:20 JEDDAH 15:30 DOHA 15:30 JEDDAH 15:45 ALEXANDRIA 16:50 MUSCAT 16:55 AMMAN 16:55 ABU DHABI 17:35 DOHA 17:40 DUBAI 17:50 CAIRO 17:50 AMMAN 17:55 SHARJAH 18:05 RIYADH 18:15 BAHRAIN 18:20 DUBAI 18:40 BEIRUT 18:50 ALEXANDRIA 18:55 BAHRAIN 19:10 AL MAKTOUM INTERNATIONAL19:20 DUBAI 19:25 ALEXANDRIA 19:30 DOHA 19:40 BAHRAIN 20:15 DHAKA 20:30 DUBAI 20:45 MUSCAT 20:55 TRIVANDRUM 20:55 COLOMBO 21:00 SHARJAH 21:00 MUMBAI 21:10 KOCHI 21:10 DAMMAM 21:35 BAHRAIN 21:50 COLOMBO 22:10 BEIRUT 22:20 ABU DHABI 22:20 BAHRAIN 22:30 MUMBAI 22:35 DUBAI 22:40 DUBAI 22:50 ISLAMABAD 22:55 ABU DHABI 23:10 DOHA 23:10 LUXOR 23:30 BANGKOK 23:55

34

s ta rs CROSSWORD 358

STAR TRACK Aries (March 21-April 19)

ARIES Cleaning out, trashing the unnecessary, giving away the extras and setting the unessential are what this morning is all about. This is a kind of spiritual or philosophical rebirth and it is not always easy. Answers may not always be available. A new cycle begins signaling a greater than usual interest in relationships, social connections and the arts, on a more intellectual level than in the past. Seeing both sides of an issue and figuring out resolutions to opposing views are important issues for you now. This just may have to do with family inheriting property and the division or sale of the property. Work, health, diet and the other things that take care of us, if we take care of them, can provide a lot of satisfaction as a new life phase begins.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) Close relationships and other ties between people become a focus for much of your thinking process now. You may find yourself on the phone with a friend talking about marriage and the things that go into the mix to make a good marriage work. Compassion, respect and the willingness to share are probably at the top of the list for requirements. You help guide a confused friend in the right direction today. Travel and adventure are compelling temptations as you dare to stretch your horizons. You may find yourself being put to good use by your friends this afternoon. You may have to reorganize your plans so that you can lend a helping hand. This could mean helping someone to move. All of this should go rather smoothly.

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

ACROSS 1. Tear or be torn violently.

5. Resembling or characteristic of or appropriate to an elegy.

12. A watery solution of sugars, salts, and minerals that circulates through the vascular system of a plant.

15. A member of the Siouan people inhabiting the valleys of the Platte and Missouri rivers in Nebraska.

16. Tropical American aroid having edible tubers that are cooked and eaten like yams or potatoes.

17. Canadian hockey player (born 1948).

18. Widely cultivated plant having a large fleshy edible white or yellow root.

19. Goods (or wreckage) on the sea bed that is attached to a buoy so that it can be recovered.

20. A toilet in England.

21. Capital and largest city and economic center of Peru.

22. Scale-like structure between the base of the wing and the halter of a two-winged fly.

24. A linguistic element added to a word to produce an inflected or derived form v 1.

26. In the recent past.

29. Adroitness in using the hands.

32. Used of a single unit or thing.

33. An ugly evil-looking old woman.

34. An expression of greeting.

37. Freedom from difficulty or hardship or effort.

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

43. An antibiotic (trade name Azactam) used against severe infections.

45. A city in western Germany.

47. Type genus of the Lacertidae.

48. Wife or mistress of Zeus and mother of Apollo and Artemis in ancient mythology.

49. A drawing illustrating the relations between certain quantities plotted with reference to a set of axes.

51. Being one more than two.

52. A doctor's degree in religion.

55. A plant hormone promoting elongation of stems and roots.

60. A device (trade name Aqua-Lung) that lets divers breathe under water.

63. A cut of pork ribs with much of the meat trimmed off.

65. An area in Germany around the upper Elbe river.

69. A genus of Malayan tree.

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

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

74. Harsh criticism or disapproval.

76. Money in the form of bills or coins.

77. The cry made by sheep.

78. A line of text serving to indicate what the passage below it is about.

79. (prefix) Opposite or opposing or neutralizing.

DOWN 1. A unit of weight used in some Moslem countries near the Mediterranean.

2. Small ornamental ladies' bag for small arti-

cles.

3. A standard or model or pattern regarded as typical.

4. A mountain in south central Alaska.

5. Showing empathy or ready comprehension of others' states.

6. A white soft metallic element that tarnishes readily.

7. The twelfth month of the civil year.

8. In a gay manner.

9. Any tree or shrub of the genus Inga having pinnate leaves and showy usually white flowers.

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

11. An ancient country is southwestern Asia on the east coast of the Mediterranean.

12. A system of solmization using the solfa syllables.

13. (botany) Relating to a plant of the family Araceae.

14. Acting as substitute for another.

23. A serve that strikes the net before falling into the receiver's court.

25. The wool of a sheep or similar animal.

27. The ninth month of the Hindu calendar.

28. Brittle flat bread eaten at Passover.

30. No longer active or practicing.

31. Eliminate from the body.

35. An African river that flows northwest into Lake Chad.

36. A high-crowned black cap (usually made of felt or sheepskin) worn by men in Turkey and Iran and the Caucasus.

38. (nautical) Of an anchor.

39. French composer noted for his experimentalism and rejection of romanticism (18661925).

40. (computer science) A system of world-wide electronic communication in which a computer user can compose a message at one terminal that is generated at the recipient's terminal when he logs in.

42. The corporate executive responsible for the operations of the firm.

44. A radioactive element of the actinide series.

46. 1/10 gram.

50. An associate degree in applied science.

53. Turn pale, as if in fear.

54. Someone who operates a barge.

56. A city of southeastern Mexico.

57. The capital and largest city of Yemen.

58. A constellation in the southern hemisphere near Telescopium and Norma.

59. English aristocrat who was the first wife of Prince Charles.

61. A member of a Turkic people of Uzbekistan and neighboring areas.

62. A soft silvery metallic element of the alkali earth group.

64. A metabolic acid found in yeast and liver cells.

66. A port city in northwestern Algeria and the country's 2nd largest city.

67. A structure in which animals lay eggs or give birth to their young.

68. A member of an extinct North American Indian people who lived in the Pit river valley in northern California.

70. A user interface based on graphics (icons and pictures and menus) instead of text.

71. Bulky grayish-brown eagle with a short wedge-shaped white tail.

75. A state in north central United States.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2013

Some updates in your home may be lots of fun to tackle. You have a garage or storage shed that you may decide to turn into a room for a young person. Depending on the responsibility of this young person, the room may be enjoyed as a game room. Family, home, relatives and real estate play a part in making this day exciting. Think about the goals you and your family may want in the future and start planning on how you want to reach those goals. Make short- and long-term goals. You and your family members may cease to waste time and money acquiring that which is worthless and you may develop an eye for that which is lasting. Marriage, contracts and partnerships are possible and plans with these things in mind will be very successful.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) There is a feeling of being at peace and stable on the emotional level.

Music is likely to play a more important role for you this morning. Some of you have the music writing talent and if not you will enjoy listening or performing. You might consider a class in music writing. Family members may call on you to help make decisions concerning group issues this afternoon. By giving others some time to think through your ideas, positive results will happen; do not push. You have a natural sense of what others want at this time. This is also a great time to reflect and understand your own situation.

You may spend some time this afternoon in fulfilling some earlier promise made to a young person. You may be a mentor or a coach to several youngsters.

Leo (July 23-August 22) You are looking forward to expressing yourself at the next church or family meeting on the topic of some new project. This is an excellent time to add your own ideas to the mix. People want to know opinions and smart ways to grow and advance as well as having options for events and activities. This afternoon you may find yourself having a good time, surrounded by friends and young people. You appreciate your particular situation and enjoy support from those around you. Conversations surrounding dreams, psychic phenomena, flying saucers and the like may be fun to delve into this afternoon.

You may find yourself creating and experimenting with colors through your art. Your artistic talents are complimented—rewards are possible.

Virgo (August 23-September 22) Unusual approaches to philosophy, religion, law and politics come to into play today and you may find that you have a bigger interest in some community role in your life now. You are fascinated with these subjects and there may be talk among you and your friends about sitting in on some of these city meetings. Developments in these fields can have a big impact on you. Spiritual studies bring questions to mind that you may study to find answers to your own questions relating to religion. Knowledge that has been withheld may now be presented to you and you may want more. This is a kind of spiritual or philosophical rebirth. Exchanging information is an important activity today. Neighbors gain your attention in fun ways tonight.

Word Search

Libra (September 23-October 22) Your attention may be on investments today as a neighbor or friend brags or shows off a few pictures of an investment. You may decide you like the idea of real estate as an investment and will seek to create some time to investigate the matter. Give yourself plenty of time before making any decision regarding this matter. The universal forces around you are positive; however, research carefully before you sign any contract.

You could find yourself at a bazaar, selling your special recipe or helping at some booth in an art show this afternoon. If not, it is certainly a time for garage sales and cleaning out closets. Lovers, children and other people dear to your heart are emphasized this evening; whatever is current gains your attention.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) Instant gratification is one of the temptations you are subject to now: you want things, and you want them this instant. Learning what really counts is an important lesson for all of us and it may be that budgeting and balance have come to your attention. Someone older or in authority may disapprove of your actions or decisions today.

Try not to react too suddenly. Slow down, dive into some busy activity that includes creating a budget plan and soon you will have that desired item. It may be very productive to look for those coupons that you can double or special days to shop when you can triple the coupon. This evening is a good time to enjoy long phone conversations, a book you had put aside some time ago or a bit of letter writing.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) You are a very sensitive person who can depend on feelings and intuition to get around in life. Fortunately, as intelligent as you are, you also seek proof for things you sense have meaning. You are involved in some type of research and may want to visit a bookstore or library later today. Loved ones will ask for your attention and might enjoy going with you on your expedition. Later today you could be more available to the people around you, particularly the young ones. You could teach the young ones a recipe and let them put together a treat for the family tonight. Cooking, growing things and music will keep you happily busy. You may encourage a young person to enjoy a hobby or teach him or her a science experiment this evening.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19) A charitable organization is brought to your attention this morning, perhaps through an announcement in your church bulletin or through some other form of information. An interest in this charity may go as far as some volunteer work. You seem to be involved with the care of children most of this day. Outer circumstances are favorable and it should be easy for you to handle whatever comes across your path at this time. Things may seem almost magical in the way situations work out favorably. At home, later today you find time to organize and tend to the weekend chores that were previously left undone. There is time to enjoy catching up on phone calls before a date with your sweetheart. This evening you may enjoy a most relaxing time.

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) You may find yourself teaching a class within your religious organization this morning. Others value you for your ability to make some difficult topics easy to understand. You may have some brilliant ideas that would help an elderly or handicapped person you know. You have considered inventions along this line for some time.

There may be several ways to receive contributions for what you want to do and that might be through a city awareness fund, several garage sales from different individuals with a sign posted for the cause, etc. Keep a door open for new ideas. If you are not in a permanent relationship a polite individual may introduce himself or herself this afternoon. Perhaps you could take some time out for a two-person bicycle ride in the park.

Pisces (February 19-March 20) Phone calls, news broadcasted from the radio and taken from the newspaper, plus visits with friends in your religious circle all seem to pass your checkpoint today.

Reports show that everything is doing fine in your world; it’s all good news. Whatever project you decide to dive into today gets encouragement. You and your family or friends may discuss a project that each person can contribute time and money into and gain as a result. A group of you may decide to create a time-share agreement with rules from which the arrangement can be enjoyed. Final decisions can be made in the future; for now, the ideas are multiplying. Eventually, everyone will agree and a legal contract can be signed. Music is relaxing this evening.

Yesterday’s Solution

Yesterday’s Solution

Daily SuDoku

Yesterday’s Solution

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 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

LIFESTYLE G o s s i p

Hurley and Warne

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2013

Brand set for romantic reunion with reality star

reconcile

R

ussell Brand is planning a romantic reunion with British reality TV star Ferne McCann after it emerged they secretly dated years ago. The 38-year-old funnyman previously went out with the 23-year-old stunner - who appears on reality show ‘The Only Way is Essex’, on which she recently split with boyfriend Charlie Sims before he married Katy Perry and moved to the US, but they are planning to meet up in Los Angeles next month. A source said: “They clicked straight away when they met a few years back and went on quite a few dates. “Things only fizzled out when Russell moved to LA and Ferne started to get close to Charlie from the show.” Ferne was recently left devastated after splitting form Charlie and has been in tears several times on the show as a result of their break up, but she has found some solace after she started texting Russell again. The source added to the Sunday Mirror newspaper: “It was after they both found themselves single that they started exchanging messages again. “Nothing is certain, but they’ll definitely be catching up. Watch this space.”

Russell - who split from Katy in December 2011 after 14 months of marriage - was recently romantically linked with magazine editor Jemima Khan, but in late September he told the crowd at his stand-up show in Atlanta, Georgia, he is single.

E

lizabeth Hurley and Shane Warne have reconciled. The 48-year-old star and the retired cricketer have got back together after the brunette beauty called time on their engagement in September - two years after he popped the question - when the actress reportedly found intimate text messages on the ex-sportsman’s mobile phone while packing for a trip to his native Australia. A source told the Mail on Sunday newspaper: “The row between them was a bad one after Elizabeth came across a mobile phone. “When she took a look there were things which made her a bit suspicious - including some text messages to people she didn’t know. “But everything has been glossed over now - Elizabeth has forgiven him. They’re very happy as a couple and desperate to make things work.” Elizabeth and Shane, 44, are now said to be keen to get their wedding plans finalised as soon as they can. The ‘Austin Powers’ star was said to be “deeply upset” following their split, which was initially blamed on their busy schedules and long periods apart. A source said at the time: “Elizabeth is deeply upset about recent events and is hibernating socially for a while, only seeing her old and trusted friends.”

Elizabeth Hurley and Shane Warne

Kirkpatrick marries Skladany

‘N

Sync singer Chris Kirkpatrick has married his fiancee Karly Skladany. The 42-year-old star tied the knot at a star-studded ceremony in Orlando, Florida, yesterday and the event turned out to be somewhat of a reunion for the group as all five ‘N Sync band members, Justin Timberlake, J.C. Chasez, Lance Bass, Joey Fatone and Chris, were in attendance.

The ‘Tearin’ Up My Heart’ hitmakers were all groomsmen at the nuptials, and Justin brought his wife Jessica Biel along for the celebration. Lance joked last week about the ceremony and found it “hilarious” that Chris had bought the boy band the cheapest tuxedos “he could possibly get” from US clothing company Men’s Warehouse for his big day. Speaking on his Sirius XM radio show ‘Dirty Pop’, he quipped: “Can you believe Chris Kirkpatrick is getting married? “He just never seemed like the marrying type. “What’s really hilarious to me is that we went to get fitted for our tuxes at Men’s Warehouse. “He got us the cheapest tuxes there he could possibly get, which I think is so Chris and very lovely. I mean that’s just who he is. “I think it’s hilarious to know that Justin Timberlake is going to be in a Men’s Warehouse tux ushering the wedding.”

Chris Kirkpatrick and Karly Skladany

Russell Brand

Cowell ‘binges’ on fish and chips T

he music mogul famously has multivitamin injections to help stay healthy but Amanda Holden - who is a judge alongside Simon on ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ - says he also can’t resist a calorific meal now and again. Speaking about her autobiography to new! magazine, she said: “I have so much respect for Simon.

He’s my friend. But there are some fun bits about how he likes to binge on fish and chips and how he has multivitamin injections. I tried one once while drinking a glass of champagne and it felt like I’d had eight gin and tonics!” Meanwhile, the 42-year-old actress is confident that the ‘X Factor’ boss - who is expecting his first child with his lover Lauren Silverman - will make a brilliant father because he will be forced to change his ways for the sake of his little one. She explained: “I don’t want to sound patronizing when I say that I feel very proud of him for embracing fatherhood. I know it’s going to change him for the better. He’s a natural.” However, Amanda - who has children Lexi, seven, and 21-monthold daughter Hollie with husband Chris Hughes - is slightly envious that Simon won’t have to suffer with sleepless nights when the tiny tot arrives because he’ll have a team of nannies on hand to help out. She said: “He won’t have sleepless nights. He will have a team of people around him - there is no denying that.”

Johansson wants to shed ‘sexy’ image

S

carlett Johansson wants to shed her “sexy” image. The ‘Don Jon’ actress wishes she wasn’t revered for her femme fatale looks and is deliberately trying to take on roles that will change people’s minds about her. She said: “I think as I get older I can transition away from characters like that. It’s alright for now, but I’m convinced that in a couple of years’ time it’ll be somebody else.

“But the characters I play aren’t really traditionally sexy, it’s probably a reaction to the fact that I’m curvy and confident about it. I think people are kind of a little out of touch with that.” The blonde bombshell insists she doesn’t feel like an overly “sensual” person and doesn’t understand why she constantly tops ‘sexiest women’ lists. Scarlett, 28, told LOOK magazine: “I don’t think of myself in that way - I’m only aware of it because people ask me questions like that, or when I’m shown a ‘sexy list’ of ‘sexy people’. “In normal life I don’t think I’m any more aware of my femininity or sexuality than any other woman. I mean, I don’t walk around feeling sensual.”

Scarlett Johansson

Katie thinks she’s Whitney

Simon Cowell

Tempah took love advice from Richie

K

T

Tinie Tempah

inie Tempah says Lionel Richie warned him to never get married. The ‘Pass Out’ hitmaker has revealed the legendary singer once advised him to never tie the knot with a woman after his own two failed marriages to Brenda Harvey, which ended in 1993, and to Diana Alexander, who he divorced in 2004. Quizzed about his best cast-iron ‘guy tip’, Tinie quipped: “Never get married - Lionel Richie.” The 24-year-old singer is currently single and finds it difficult to form a deep connection with women. He said: “We will never completely understand them, and its pointless even trying.” The rapper also touched upon his most surreal moments since his debut album ‘DiscOvery’ topped the charts in 2010, and said being called up by U2 frontman Bono was a particular highlight.

Tinie said: “Bono called me one time about a dinner he was having that he wanted me to attend, we spoke for about 20 minutes and he said he was really impressed that I was already doing venues like the O2 in London.

I was so nervous!” The singer claims it will be hard to top his best ever day - 7 November 2011 in future, but has high hopes for his second album ‘Demonstration”.

He reminisced to Britain’s GQ magazine: “In the middle of a sold-out UK arena tour, on my birthday, touring an already double-platinum album, to then have your manager stop your set and get 10,000 people in the MEN Arena to sing ‘Happy Birthday’...”

Katie Price

atie Price thinks she’s Whitney Houston when she’s drunk. The former glamour model - who has made several attempts to launch a music career - has a karaoke machine in her house and admits her nights out always end with her singing her favourite tracks by the late pop diva. She told Britain’s OK! magazine: “I do the same routine at the end of every night. I’ll go, ‘Ooh I’ve got goosebumps coming!’ “And I’ll always sing five Whitney Houston songs, I love it. I’ve got a karaoke machine at my house and all my friends are like, ‘Oh no, Kate!’ because I make them all sit there and watch me. “I say to my manager all the time: ‘Come on, let me record music!’ It’s not that I’m going to do it for a career, I’m not a pop star, but I always wanted to be a model or a pop star, and in my head I’m Whitney Houston when drunk. Katie - who has children Harvey 11, Junior, eight, and Princess, six, from previous relationships, and two-month-old Jett with current husband Kieran Hayler - recently admitted she is so comfortable with her spouse she is happy to fart in front of him. She said: “I really feel complete with him, protected and looked after. That feeling of insecurity I’ve always had with other men, I don’t have with Kieran. I feel more content now than I’ve ever been.

37

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2013

LIFESTYLE G o s s i p

Sheen denied access to sons

Klum

C

Charlie Sheen

harlie Sheen was allegedly denied access to his own sons on Saturday. The ‘Anger Management’ star’s ex-wife Denise Richards, who has temporary custody of his four-year-old twins, Bob and Max, with Brooke Mueller, was reportedly informed by the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) that she was not allowed to take the children over to the actor’s house for a visit.

A source told gossip website TMZ.com that officials told the 42-year-old actress that they were annoyed with Charlie after he claimed his sons were in danger and were not being protected by the department. Bob and Max, who were removed from Brooke’s care by the DCFS in May amid allegations her drug use had resulted in an “unsafe environment,” spent their first over-night stay with her on Friday since she was released from rehab. The 48-year-old actor blasted Brooke on Twitter on Friday as an “evil and pathetic uber loser” and slammed the DCFS as being “inept.” He also said: “She’s as awful a parent and a person as you can possibly draw up.” The troubled socialite is reportedly seeking legal advice about Charlie’s comments as her everyone involved in the custody and guardianship cases has been ordered not to discuss the situation.

Heidi Klum

Emile Hirsch welcomes first child

still feels young

H

eidi Klum is fed up of people asking her how it feels to be 40. The German supermodel has revealed she dressed up as a wrinkly old woman for Halloween because she wanted to prove to people she is still in her prime. The mother-of-four told People.com: “There was so much talk about me turning 40 this year and what it felt like to be older. I thought, really? I will show you old!” Heidi enlisted the help of Oscarwinning makeup artist Bill Corso for her geriatric transformation, whom she asked to make a cast of her face. She said: “The rest of my ideas - the grey hair, yellow-stained teeth, lots of wrinkles, a hunchback, arthritic hands, age spots and milky eyes – he just made happen!” The blonde beauty, who has previously dressed up as Cleopatra and a Hindu goddess, completed her costume with pear necklace and a vintage designer suit, because, “you can never go wrong with Chanel, no matter how old you are.” Heidi, who celebrated her 40th birthday in June, hosted her 14th annual bash to celebrate the spooky holiday on Thursday night at the Marquee nightclub in New York City.

Lana Del Ray insulted by Kanye West

Allen suffers allergic to

L

Emile Hirsch

E

mile Hirsch has become a father for the first time.

The ‘Savages’ star is “so excited and happy” after his former flame gave birth to a baby boy, Valor, last Sunday. A source told E! News: “The baby was born at a Florida hospital on Sunday, Oct 27. It is a boy. His name is Valor and he was six pounds and two ounces. He is a beautiful, healthy baby boy. Everyone is so excited and happy.” Although Emile allegedly wasn’t present for the birth, he plans to be a hands-on dad. The source added: “Emile showed up after the baby was born and he is spending time bonding with his new child.” The actor was spotted with his newborn son for the first time today.

The ‘Into The Wild’ star looked happy and relaxed as he brought his baby boy with him to run errands in Cape Canaveral, Florida, according to gossip website JustJared. com. A source previously revealed the 28-year-old star had a brief fling with his baby’s mother after they “met at an Oscar after party this year.” Emile has previously dated actresses Amanda Seyfried, Ellen Page and Elisha Cuthbert.

Dolly

ana Del Ray has hinted she refused to perform at Kanye West’s surprise proposal to Kim Kardashian because he didn’t get in contact with her personally. The 27-year-old singer, who “politely declined” a request to perform her track ‘Young & Beautiful’ before the rapper proposed at AT&T Park in San Francisco on October 21, says she would never have turned him down, sparking speculation she was insulted he didn’t approached her directly about the private performance. The singer-songwriter told gossip website TMZ.com: “I would never deny his request. That’s not true. No.” Lana refused to be drawn further on the subject when asked if she would consider performing at the couple’s wedding.

An insider previously revealed that Kanye, 36, was forced to pay an orchestra $50,000 to play Lana’s hit, which is one of Kim’s favorites, after Lana turned him down. The source said: “(Kanye) asked Lana to perform for Kim at surprise marriage proposal in San Francisco. “Lana politely declined, and didn’t give any reason for not being able to perform. It was a very firm no from Lana and her camp. Kanye did try to push it, but didn’t get anywhere. Kanye decided to hire an orchestra to perform the song for Kim, and he was much happier with how it turned out.” The insider added: “Kim was bummed that Lana didn’t perform for the big event, but she is still a huge fan.

Lana Del Ray She just loved that Kanye tried to make it happen.

Kim is jokingly saying Lana will want to perform at their wedding.”

Parton defends

Dolly Parton and Miley Cyrus

D

Miley

dare give the 20-year-old star advice about her career. She said: “She’s just trying to find her own place and wings and learn to fly. “If she needs my opinion on something I will surely give it and there have been times we’ve talked. “But I would never dream of calling her and saying, ‘Well why are you doing this?’ or, ‘You shouldn’t do this or that’. I know that she has thought this all through.

We’ll let her go and do her own thing.”

Miley recorded a live video version of Dolly’s 1974 hit ‘Jolene’ in her backyard and released it via YouTube and Twitter on Christmas Eve in 2012, and the legendary singer “would love for her to sing my songs.” She added: “I would love to do some duets with her. I would love to sing with her and write with her because I think she is so gifted.”

J

K

Kendra Wilkinson

Lily Allen

Followill selling bachelor pad

children

endra Wilkinson says her unborn baby will be her last. The reality TV star, who is almost in her second trimester and already has a three-year-old son, Hank Baskett IV, with her former NFL star husband Hank Baskett, only wants two children and is thinking about having her tubes tied after her second pregnancy. The 28-year-old blonde beauty told People.com: “No more. I might tie [my tubes] or take them out or whatever you do with it!” The former Playboy model is planning to find out the sex of her baby soon but doesn’t care if it is a boy or a girl. She said: “There’s nothing on our minds that makes us say, ‘I really want a girl or I really want a boy. “I always said I will not have another baby until I’m in the happiest place I’ve been since the birth of Little Hank and this is it. It’s the four-year age difference -- [our son] understands and he’s asking for [a sibling].” The ‘Kendra On Top’ star is more laid-back during this pregnancy even though she is battling severe morning sickness. She said: “The first time around, I was like ‘How many months am I? What day am I at?’ This time, I don’t even know [exactly] when this baby is due! I have about two more weeks, maybe three [until I’m in my second trimester].”

L

ily Allen has had an allergic reaction to her Halloween costume. The 28-year-old singer’s skin has broken out in a rash after she painted herself green to dress up as an alien for the spooky celebration on Thursday night. She tweeted on Saturday: “It’s Saturday night and I’ve had a bad reaction to the green paint from Halloween, my face is covered in hives. I’m also sat in a Harvester.” She then added: “In Portsmouth.

Jessie J is on the radio, suddenly everything’s fine. #alltimelow” The ‘Hard Out Here’ hitmaker’s misery is the result of a good cause as she dressed up to attend the 2013 UNICEF UK Halloween Ball in London, where she performed with Robbie Williams to help raise vital funds for the organization’s work for children affected by the current Syria crisis. Lily is in the midst of staging a comeback ahead of the release of her new album next year. A lot has changed for the star since she released her last album, ‘It’s Not Me, It’s You’ in 2009, with her marrying Sam Cooper and becoming a mother to daughters Ethel, 23 months and Marnie, nine months, but she recently insisted her new album isn’t a “mum” record. She said: “It’s not an earnest ‘I’m a mum’ kind of record. It’s empowering. There’s some feminist vibes going on. It’s the same old me with a bit of swearing going on.”

Cyrus

olly Parton thinks young singers, like Miley Cyrus, almost have to sacrifice their souls to make an impact. The 67-year-old star has defended her goddaughter against her critics following a string of controversial performances and photo-shoots, and doesn’t think people realize how talented the ‘Wrecking Ball’ hitmaker is. The country singer told the London Evening Standard: “It’s not easy being young.

It’s hard to know what to do. You’ve almost got to sacrifice your damn soul just to get anything done. “I’ve loved her through the years and watched her grow up, and I’ve seen how smart she is and how talented she is. “I don’t think people really realize yet what a great singer and writer she really is.” Although she and Miley are close, Dolly said she wouldn’t

Wilkinson only wants two

Halloween costume

Jared Followill

ared Followill is selling his former bachelor pad. The Kings of Leon bassist, who married American model Martha Patterson in September 2012, has listed his mansion in the affluent Green Hills area of Nashville, Tennessee, for $3.5 million. The 25-year-old star is reportedly eager to buy a bigger house in the same neighborhood, sparking speculation he is preparing to start a family in the near future. The ‘Rock City’ hitmaker is clearly hoping to make a tidy profit on the property, as he bought it in 2009 for $1.85 million. The three-storey residence sits on more than one acre of land and has five bedrooms and seven bathrooms, formal living and dining rooms, a home cinema, gym and floor-to-ceiling windows with panoramic views of the countryside, according to real estate site RealEstalker.blogspot.com. Jared’s brother and bandmate Nathan welcomed his first child, Violet, with his wife Jessie Baylin in December, while their other sibling Caleb – the group’s singer - and his supermodel wife Lily Aldridge welcomed daughter Dixie Pearl into the world in June 2012. The rockers recently declared that “having babies saved our band” because it made them want to make their children proud.—Bang Showbiz

38

Istanbul

LIFESTYLE

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2013

T r a v e l

5 free things

to do in

File photo shows Sultan Ahmed Mosque, better known as the Blue Mosque, left, and Hagia Sophia in the historic Sultanahmet district in Istanbul.

L

ast summer, Istanbul’s Taksim Square was the scene of confrontations between police and protesters. But protests have faded, and contrary to some lingering perceptions, it’s calm now — except for the normal hustle and bustle found in this vibrant city. And it’s as safe for tourists as it ever was. Istanbul is a thoroughly modern place, but it traces its roots back to 660 BC. It’s the former seat of the opulent Byzantine and Ottoman empires and is divided into European and Asian sides by the Bosporus Strait, offering a wealth of history and stunning scenery.

Entry to imperial palaces, museums and most other monuments and sites is not free, and “Istanbul prices” are notoriously higher than the rest of Turkey. Still, residents say that the most pleasurable pastimes in Istanbul — such as walking along the Bosporus or through the Grand Bazaar — cost next to nothing. Here are five things to do in Istanbul that are free.

Time travel walk Take an estimated one-hour long walk from Taksim Square into Istiklal Avenue and down to the Galata Bridge for a time-travel experience. Taksim, considered the city’s main business and entertainment center, hosts a monument to Turkey’s ubiquitous national hero, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, and other founders of the modern Turkish Republic.

Istiklal, once home to Christian traders and European diplomats, is still lined with consulates and churches.

The bustling area is alive well into the night with street performers, peddlers and music coming from shops and cafes. Walk past Tunel, the subway line dating back to 1875, to Galata, one of the oldest — now gentrified — neighborhoods and home to the Galata Tower, a stone medieval observation tower. Walk down to Galata Bridge spanning Istanbul’s Golden Horn waterway past a line of fishermen and take in the thrilling views.

People walk inside the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, better known as the Blue Mosque, in the historic Sultanahmet district in Istanbul.

Galata Tower, a stone medieval observation tower, in Istanbul, Turkey.—AP photos

The Galata Tower, a stone medieval observation tower, rear, and Galata Bridge spanning city’s Golden Horn waterway, are seen in Istanbul.

39

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2013

LIFESTYLE F e a t u r e s

File photo shows the Bosporus Bridge which connects the Asian, right, and European sides of the city.

Spice market and grand bazaar Across the Galata Bridge, on Eminonu Square, is the 17th century Spice Market, or the Egyptian Bazaar, with stalls beautifully displaying spices, dried fruit, nuts, apple tea, essential oils, and “Turkish Delight” candy. Shop owners who will greet you in some 15 different languages, will let you taste the delights for free but try and refuse politely if you are just window shopping.

A 20-minute walk leads to Beyazit Square, home to the 15th century Grand Bazaar. Listed among the United Nations’ World Heritage sites, the Bazaar consists of a maze of covered streets and alleyways with some 4,500 boutiques selling traditional crafts, carpets, leather goods and jewelry. Wander around the crowded alleyways and watch shopkeepers try and woo customers and haggle with shoppers. Visitors are often treated to free tea, especially at carpet shops. A note of warning: Some shopkeepers can be overly persistent.

Mosques and churches Istanbul is scattered with religious sites and most of them, particularly Muslim and Christian houses of worship, are free. There are many to choose from but the Sultanahmet Mosque, better known as the Blue Mosque, in the historic Sultanahmet district should be on top of anyone’s list. The mosque stands out with its six minarets and a cascade of domes, and derives its name from the blue-and-white tiles that decorate the inside.

Hagia Sophia Museum, the former Byzance cathedral, in the historic Sultanahmet district.

Suleymaniye Mosque, near Sultanahmet Mosque, built in honor of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent, is considered one of the masterpieces of the famed Ottoman architect Sinan. A hidden gem that should not be missed is the 16th century Rustem Pasa Mosque in Eminonu Square near the Spice Market, boasting exquisite floral-design tiles.

Istanbul’s Balat district is home to various Christian churches, including St George’s Church, the main cathedral of the Greek Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarchate, which is open to visitors. Situated on Istiklal Avenue, St Anthony of Padua Church is one of the oldest Christian churches in Istanbul.

Walk along the Bosporus The narrow waterway — lined with Ottoman palaces and waterside mansions called “yali” — connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara and bisects Istanbul into European and Asian sides. Scores of large oil tankers, cargo ships, and other vessels sail through the waterway each day. The best stretch for a walk is on the European side of the shore from the small former waterfront village of Ortakoy to the 15th century Ottoman fortress of Rumelihisar. Walk north toward the Bosporus Bridge to reach the districts of Arnavutkoy (Albanian village) and Bebek (Baby), which boast beautiful promenades and priceless shoreside mansions and houses. The park above Bebek offers impressive views of the waterway and is a good stop for a picnic. Lucky visitors can sometimes catch a glimpse of dolphins frolicking in the water.

Princes’ Islands Though visitors have to splurge on a cheap ferry ride (around $2) to get there, the Princes’ Islands in the Sea of Marmara are a throwback to Turkey’s multicultural past. Initially a place of exile during the Byzantine era, Turkey’s Christian and Jewish minorities eventually settled on the group of islands making them their home. The four main islands are today weekend retreats for Turks looking to escape the hustle and bustle of the city. With some exceptions, motor vehicles are not allowed on the islands and the main forms of transport are horse-drawn carriages and bicycles.

The largest and most popular of the islands is Buyukada where visitors can climb to the top of a hill to reach the 12th century Monastery of St George. Locals like to light a candle and make a wish. Burgazada offers a long beach for those interested in a swim in the cold Bosporus waters. Heybeliada is home to the Holy Trinity Monastery, a majestic hilltop building which served as the Greek Orthodox seminary until it was shut down in 1971.—AP

A man rides a horse cart in Buyukada, the largest and most popular of the Princes’ Islands in the Sea of Marmara near Istanbul.

The Maiden’s Tower in the Bosporus with the city’s landmark mosques in the background are seen.

People walk at Taksim Square, considered the city’s main business and entertainment center that hosts a monument to Turkey’s ubiquitous national hero, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, and other founders of the modern Turkish Republic.

People walk inside the 15th century Grand Bazaar.

A tramway heads from Istiklal Avenue to the Taksim Square.

The Galata Tower, a stone medieval observation tower.

A man sits in his shop in the 17th century Spice Market, or the Egyptian Bazaar, with stalls beautifully displaying spices, dried fruit, nuts, apple tea, essential oils, and “Turkish Delight” candy.

A shopkeeper in the 17th century Spice Market.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2013

5 free things to do in Istanbul

38

Photos by Sherif Ismail

Minat Aishatah performs in Kuwait

By Sherif Ismail

T

he National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters hosted a concert of the Minat Aishatah band of ‘Hassani’ art, which displayed elements of Moroccan culture and mixed Arabic music with African rhythms. The concert took place at Dasma Theater and came as part of activities held in preparation of the 3rd Arab-African Summit that takes place in Kuwait later this month.

The band performed songs in the Hassani language that is spoken in some African countries as band members dressed in traditional costume gave performances which reflected Morocco’s Hassani culture. In an unusual sight for a traditional band performance, the keyboard was featured as a key instrument in Minat Aishatah’s songs. Lead vocalist Minat Aishatah said that her band tries to inject modern instruments into their performances “in a way that does not affect the traditional essence of the Hassani song”.

O

And they call this studio Moriah

ne Hollywood film studio has commanded only A-list talent since its inception Elizabeth Taylor, Morgan Freeman, Sandra Bullock, Michael Douglas, Nicole Kidman - and they all worked for free. What kind of studio head has such pull? It’s Rabbi Marvin Hier, the minimogul of Moriah Films, the movie division of the Simon Wiesenthal Center. Founded by Hier in 1981, Moriah Films has won two Academy Awards for its historical documentaries. Its latest effort, “The Prime Ministers: The Pioneers,” featuring the voices of Bullock and Christoph Waltz, opens Wednesday in Los Angeles and expands to more cities next month.

“We just finished our 13th film, and every top name in Hollywood that has recorded - and it’s an A list - has done it as a public service,” Hier said during an interview at his office at the Wiesenthal Center. “We’ve never paid any one of them. That was a tradition set (early on) and it was quite remarkable.” It all started with Elizabeth Taylor.

Hier established Moriah Films just a few years after opening the Wiesenthal Center in 1977. He was planning a slide show about the Holocaust when Fay Kanin, then president of the film academy, suggested he consider making a movie instead.

US Senator John Warner was involved with the Wiesenthal Center at the time - and was married to Taylor - so she became the narrator of its inaugural film “Genocide,” which won the Oscar for documentary feature.

The dozen movies Moriah Films made since have attracted such stars as Kevin Costner, Whoopi Goldberg, Brooke Shields, Dustin Hoffman and Ben Kingsley. “I think they understand the Simon Wiesenthal Center is an organization dedicated to perpetuating the memory of the Holocaust and also to fighting anti-Semitism and the campaigns in the world to discredit Israel, so they want to help in that manner,” Hier said. “And I think it helps them that they’re following a long tradition of what some of the greatest names in the entertainment community have done.”

The Wiesenthal Center, a human-rights organization that provides Holocaust education and fights anti-Semitism, began its deep ties to Hollywood when Frank Sinatra and Taylor were on the original board of directors and made introductions throughout the entertainment industry. Today, movie moguls Jeffrey Katzenberg and Ron Meyer link the Wiesenthal Center to the Hollywood community.

Hier said it’s important for the Wiesenthal Center to put Jewish history on film to reach worldwide audiences for years to come. “We’ve been very lucky with all the celebrities, but the reason why the rabbi started this and saw the value of film early on wasn’t to meet celebrities,” said Richard Trank, who has directed nine Moriah movies. “We wanted to have a reach to all walks of life: young and old, Jews and non-Jews.”

Hier has fond memories of watching Roy Rogers’ pictures at New York’s Palestine Theater

as a boy and remains a movie fan today. But Moriah Films aims to do more than entertain.

“If you want to impact Jewish history, you have to say something to the world, the world out there,” he said. “We need friends in the non-Jewish community. They need to know what happened to the Jews; that 6 million were murdered in the Nazi Holocaust, and even after 6 million were murdered in the Holocaust, Israel doesn’t have a peaceful month.”

That sense of social justice and fostering human understanding is also a draw for top talent, including those in “The Prime Ministers,” which is based on a book by former speechwriter Yehuda Avner and focuses on Israeli prime ministers Golda Meir and Levi Eshkol and then-ambassador Yitzhak Rabin. Bullock, who voices Meir in “The Prime Ministers,” even mastered some Yiddish for the role. “After that reading, she can come into any (synagogue) and people will really think she’s Jewish!” Hier said.

Some stars, including Kingsley, Douglas and Waltz, have volunteered their talents more than once. “I love narrating the material,” Kingsley told The Associated Press. “It’s enlightening, passionate, mature and deals with the ravages of the 20th century in a very articulate way that hopefully will reach the eyes and ears of young minds who will see the lessons of history and not ignore them.”—AP

This March 2013 photo released by Moriah Films shows, from left, Rabbi Marvin Hier, actress Sandra Bullock, and Moriah Films director Richard Trank, during a recording session at DreamWorks Animation Studio in Burbank, Calif.—AP photos