11th Nov 2013

CR IP TI ON BS SU

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2013

Government to review KD 4.5bn in subsidies

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MUHARRAM 7, 1435 AH

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Abdullah to grill Dashti over development delay Adasani threatens to quiz seven other ministers

Max 31º Min 21º High Tide 04:22 & 18:53 Low Tide 12:01

By B Izzak conspiracy theories

Food obsession

By Badrya Darwish

badrya_d@kuwaittimes.net

I

am very glad that for a change we have been ranked in the top 10 spots globally. Guess where we hit the top ten spot? It was in a study about the number of fast food outlets that a fast-food chain has per capita. In it, Kuwait came 10th amongst densely populated countries such as the US (a country of over 310 million), Canada (with a population of nearly 40 million) and Japan (with a population of around 120 million).

What do these findings mean? Kuwait, a country of around 3 million, is a fast-food consuming nation. Such a discovery is scary because the other day I read a study on the Gulf region stating that Kuwait is crowned as the world’s leader in diabetes. Now these statistics are terrifying. Unfortunately, diabetes is not a disease that only adults in Kuwait suffer from. It is affecting young children too.

The study I mentioned earlier, by the way, was done just for just one fast-food chain. Forget the other 1,001 restaurants, take-away sandwich places, falafel outlets or restaurants. I think that by now you are getting hungry sitting in your offices. Accept my apologies but this is a fact of life here in Kuwait. You might argue with me that there are many restaurants in any city around the world. I understand that. People need to eat and people need to run a business. I object to the fact that food has become the way of life here. It has become an obsession. There is no awareness. And to prove my words, you can just check our ranking on diabetes in the world.

Add to the many restaurants in Kuwait housewives who cook at home trying to make more money. They have cooks and chefs at home. Just browse through Instagram and Facebook and you will see a flood of advertisements about kibba, vine leaves, pastries and cakes. Don’t ever forget cupcakes! They are very important for the nation. Of course, these home-run operations where Mama cooks with her entourage of maids who are not professional, are often unlicensed. The municipality cannot control these operations because they cannot enter the kitchens in these houses. And you wonder why are we obese and rank high in diabetes - one of the most dangerous diseases which has scary side effects.

On a serious note, guys. I think all of us - the government and nation - should rethink our way of life; if not for us, we should do this for the kids. Schools should have educational programs for children teaching them how to eat and what to eat. These programs should be in both private and government schools. I would like to see an awareness campaign for the whole nation done by the government, ministry of health, ministry of education, the ministry of no-ministry or whoever. At least let’s encourage walking, jogging and sports to balance our love for food.

AGRA, India: Kuwaiti Prime Minister HH Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah poses in front of the landmark Taj Mahal monument yesterday. Sheikh Jaber arrived in Pakistan later yesterday after a four-day state visit to India. — AFP

Development is key, IMF warns Kuwait Lagarde defends critical report on state’s economy

By Sajeev K Peter

KUWAIT: International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde speaks during a joint press conference with Governor of the Central Bank of Kuwait Mohammad Al-Hashel yesterday. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat

Ethiopians threaten to protest in Kuwait Police, workers clash in Riyadh

By A Saleh and Agencies KUWAIT/RIYADH: Ethiopian workers in Kuwait threatened to protest yesterday after they were fired by their company.

The Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour is investigating the matter after a cleaning company terminated 1,000 Ethiopian workers. The fired workers have filed a complaint at the ministry and asked to return to their duties or transfer to other companies. If their demands are not met, they threatened to stage a protest in Kuwait. The threats come a day after Saudi Arabian police clashed with foreign workers in a poor district of Riyadh, nearly a week into a visa crackdown in which thousands have been detained and an Ethiopian killed by police.

Yesterday, hundreds of illegal migrants targeted in the Saudi nationwide crackdown turned themselves in yesterday after security forces besieged the Riyadh neighbourhood. Men,

KUWAIT: In a new development that could strain Assembly-government relations even before the actual start of the new parliamentary term, MP Khalil Abdullah yesterday filed to grill State Minister for Planning and Development Rola Dashti over alleged mismanagement, the third grilling in less than two weeks. Abdullah accused Dashti of failing to perform her duties as a minister responsible for development and planning and charged that she undermined Kuwait’s “national economic security” and putting at risk the “present and the future of Kuwait”.

The lawmaker said he had drawn the attention of the minister to the mistakes and errors and “she did nothing to rectify them”, thus forcing him to file the grilling request. He said he sent a copy of the grilling to Rola Dashti the minister before submitting it officially to the National Assembly. Assembly speaker Marzouk Al-Ghanem said the grilling will be listed on the agenda of tomorrow’s session along with the two previous grillings filed against the prime minister and the health minister. The three grillings will be placed on the top of the agenda and could be debated tomorrow but the most likely scenario is that the premier and the two ministers will use their constitutional right of delaying the debate for two weeks.

Continued on Page 2

women and children lined up carrying their belongings to board police buses transferring them to an assembly centre before their deportation, a week after a seven-month amnesty expired. Police said they intervened on Saturday following riots in the poor Manfuhah neighbourhood of the capital after foreigners attacked Saudis and other foreign expats with rocks and knives.

One Saudi and another person, whose nationality and identity remains unknown, were killed, said a police statement carried by the SPA state news agency. Another 68 people - 28 Saudis and 40 foreigners - were injured and 561 were arrested. The Manfuhah district of Riyadh is home to many illegal migrants, mostly from east Africa.

Yesterday, police laid siege to the district while units from the National Guard and special forces were sent in, an AFP photojournalist said.

Continued on Page 2

KUWAIT: Kuwait’s national development plan is not just a nice recipe of success that lies on the shelf to accumulate dust. It needs to be implemented on the ground and it will be to the credit of the authorities that have designed it to actually implement it, said IMF chief Christine Lagarde yesterday. “To the extent that the plan advocates diversification of the economy, education of the best possible quality for all and investment of public funding in infrastructure for the country, we applaud it. But it needs to be implemented,” the International Monetary Fund Managing director said at a press conference flanked

by Governor of Kuwait Central Bank Mohammad Al-Hashel.

Lagarde said if Kuwait continues to have the same level of production of oil and the same level of prices, and if nothing changes, the country will be exposed to a potential deficit in 2018. “We are not advocating austerity. What we are saying is that the policy makers will be well-advised to

spend public funding in areas that are good for its economy going forward.

Which means investing in infrastructure, education, health and housing rather than expanding the public service and letting public wages out of sensible control,” she pointed out.

Earlier in the day, the IMF delegation attended a meeting at the Centre for Economy and Finance (CEF), Kuwait hosted by the Kuwait Investment Authority where the delegation discussed the current economic situation in the country in addition to the financial and geopolitical situation in the region. “I was able to express my gratitude to the Kuwaiti authorities for the generosity of the country in trying to be a broker of education and stability in the region.

Kuwait has had a long history of being a pioneer in many respects. But on the issue of education and capacity building, the Kuwaiti authorities are doing a lot to make sure that as many officials as possible in the region are taught and receive technical assistance and training,” she explained.

Continued on Page 2

Philippines typhoon toll over 10,000 TACLOBAN, Philippines: The death toll from a super typhoon that decimated entire towns in the Philippines could soar well over 10,000, authorities warned yesterday, making it the country’s worst recorded natural disaster. The horrifying estimates came as rescue workers appeared overwhelmed in their efforts to help countless survivors of Super Typhoon Haiyan, which sent tsunami-like waves and merciless winds rampaging across a huge chunk of the archipelago on Friday. Hundreds of police and soldiers were deployed to contain looters in Tacloban, the devastated provincial capital of Leyte, while the United States announced it had responded to a Philippine government appeal and was sending military help.

“Tacloban is totally destroyed. Some people are losing their minds from hunger or from losing their families,” high school teacher Andrew Pomeda, 36, told AFP, as he warned of the increasing desperation of survivors. “People are becoming violent. They are looting business establishments, the malls, just to find food, rice and milk... I am afraid that in one week, people will be killing from hunger.”

Authorities were struggling to even understand the sheer magnitude of the disaster, let alone react to it, with the regional police chief for Leyte saying 10,000 people were believed to have died in that province alone. “We had a meeting last night with the governor and, based on the government’s estimates, initially there are 10,000 casualties (dead),” Chief Superintendent Elmer Soria told reporters in Tacloban. “About 70 to 80 percent of the houses and structures along the typhoon’s path were destroyed.” — AFP (See Page 9)

TACLOBAN, Philippines: Residents walk past destroyed houses and dead bodies littered along a road on the eastern island of Leyte yesterday after Super Typhoon Haiyan swept over the Philippines. — AFP

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2013

LOCAL

KUWAIT: Indonesian Ambassador to Kuwait Ferry Adamhar, his wife and Kuwait’s Minister for Planning and Development Rola Dashti cut the ceremonial cake to mark Indonesia’s Independence Day.—Photos by Joseph Shagra

Kuwait-Indonesia relations ‘getting better every day’ Embassy celebrates Independence Day

By Ben Garcia KUWAIT: Indonesia and Kuwait have recorded a rapid trade growth during the last five years. Speaking with Kuwait Times on the sidelines of their Independence Day celebration held at Regency Hotel in Salwa on Wednesday, Indonesian Ambassador to Kuwait Ferry Adamhar noted trade volume between the two countries stands at $2.4 billion, a 52 percent increase in two years.

“Indonesia imports oil and related products from Kuwait while we export furniture and agricultural products. Brands like ‘Indomie’ are very famous here, and we have a noodle factory in Saudi Arabia just to cover the demand of GCC countries. We also export vehicle tires to Kuwait,” he said.

The growth, according to Adamhar, can

be attributed to strengthening relationship in all aspects. “We considered this country as our non-traditional market (US and Europe being traditional markets), but recent developments and the continuing exchange of trade between us is really commendable,” he added.

On a political level, the relationship between the two countries is excellent and getting better every day. “The former PM of Kuwait (Sheikh Nasser Al-Sabah) visited Indonesia in 2009 and our president (Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono) also visited Kuwait in a show of growing political ties and peopleto-people contact,” Adamhar said. “We are both members of international bodies like the UN, OIC, ACD and other regional groupings. We have a common desire to reach out to other people and strengthen our relation-

ships. A ministerial meeting was held in Jakarta for OIC member states last week and next month, an ACD meeting will be held in Bahrain where we shall be taking part too,” he said. Tourism is also part of a growing market, especially from Kuwait. “We had about a 30 percent increase in tourists from Kuwait compared to last year. This is not very accurate because many Kuwaitis visit neighboring countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines and pass by Jakarta too, so perhaps the number is even higher,” he mentioned.

According to Adamhar, Kuwaitis visit Indonesia because they want to experience the culture and the hospitality of its people.

“We are majority Muslim but we are a secular country. We are investing heavily in the tourism sector and the prize is more tourists

every year,” he said. “The country is very unique - we have rainforests, more than 17,000 islands and perfect landscapes for tourists to enjoy. We also have many ancient cities and places that are stunning. We have Bali and the oldest temples, but most of all we have the kind of hospitality that we want our visitors to experience,” he added.

In terms of manpower export, Adamhar said Indonesians are moving from one place to another. There has been a temporary halt in the deployment of domestic helpers, but according to Adamhar, and MOU has been reached and are just awaiting formalities.

“We are not banning manpower, but we are currently applying for a temporary moratorium. It was a decision by the central government in 2009 and it is applied not just to Kuwait but also in other parts of the world.

But the rest of our workers are moving in and out and many companies from Kuwait and GCC countries are hiring our workers,” he said. “But the attitude of Indonesians are quite different now - they are not very interested in applying for a job abroad and prefer to stay home closer to their families,” he said, stressing there are people who are looking for jobs and many of them are applying for jobs in the health sector. According to the Indonesian Embassy record, there are about 12,000 Indonesians in Kuwait from about 60,000 before the ban in 2009. Indonesia celebrates its Independence Day on Aug 17, but it was moved to November in Kuwait since many are people are vacationing in August. Rola Dashti, Kuwait’s Minister for Planning and Development, graced the occasion.

Abdullah to grill Dashti over development...

Continued from Page 1 Abdullah’s grilling is expected to further strain the relations between the Assembly and the government amid statements by the speaker of the previous Assembly MP Ali Al-Rashed that the current Assembly is expected to be dissolved soon over constitutional errors and expected the next polls will be held in February. And opposition MP Riyadh Al-Adasani, who opened the way for grillings by asking to question the prime minister just two days after the Oct 29 opening of the Assembly, warned yesterday that he could file to grill seven ministers together. Adasani said that if his grilling was transferred to the Assembly’s legal and legislative

committee to establish if it was in line with the constitution, he would “submit another grilling of the premier in addition to separate grillings for seven other ministers”. The warning came as some parliamentary sources said the grillings could be referred to the legal and legislative committee to review them, which means delaying the debate for an unspecified duration.

In yesterday’s grilling, Abdullah accused Dashti of neglecting her duties of preparing the development plan and following up its implementation, “which has increased the gap of mistrust between the people and the government”. He also charged that the minister “toyed” with the development file and related legislation, particularly

the government’s action program and projects under it. Abdullah said the minister has prevented highly-qualified staff in the planning field from performing their duties and instead appointed employees who are either not specialized or non-Kuwaitis.

The grilling charged Dashti of issuing false statements about the development status in the country, and that the latest government program lacked statistics and the exact duration for implementing development projects.

Abdullah said the minister has failed to include in the development program in a suspicious way a large number of oil projects which indicates that she is deliberately hiding details of mega investments.

Development is key, IMF warns Kuwait Continued from Page 1 The IMF has various hubs in the world for capacity building, training and technical assistance such as Singapore, Mauritius, Austria and Kuwait. “Kuwait has received more than 2,000 officials in the last couple of years from 22 different countries for learning the art of public finance, macro-economic policies, macro prudential measures etc,” Lagarde said.

She also lauded Kuwait’s efforts as a broker of peace and stability in Arab countries in transition.

On economic legislation and whether it is contributing to the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Kuwait, she said, “Clearly what is needed is strong governance, as much transparency as possible, a monetary policy that is predicable and macro prudential measures that will rein in unnecessary and overly speculative investment that could contribute to the formations of a bubble,” she said.

The IMF delegation also had an interactive session with university students at Kuwait University where they exchanged views on IMF’s views on a range of issues. “This gave me a chance to really give our view about the stability of the Kuwaiti economy. What we see is a necessity going forward in a country that does not have fiscal imperatives because it generates fiscal surpluses and relies on significant resources. But it faces the necessity to look at diversification for the future and it needs also to spend public funding wisely to make sure that it is invested heavily in infrastructure,” she argued. “When we talk about infrastructure, most people think about bridges, highways or public works. It is also about education, health and making sure that here is a safety net that is available to the entire population,” she remarked.

Defending the critical view of the IMF in its recent review of the Kuwait economy, Lagarde gave a detailed account of how the mission prepares its reports. The annual reviews are conducted by its mission comprising of economic experts,

monetary policy experts, government experts and policy experts from IMF departments. “They come, spend time and talk to members of government officials, central bank representatives, members of the civil society, MPs and representatives of non-governmental organizations,” she said. “We try to reach out as much as possible not only to the public sector in the economy, but also to the civil society and the private sector. We go to everybody who has a view on the economy.

Then from all that we prepare the IMF report. It is not the single view of the government,” she argued.

Regarding the criticisms of IMF’s engagement in Egypt, she said, “I went to Egypt in August 2012 very shortly after the new government was put in place. We held talks with them.

But we have to do it in accordance with the rules as we are an institution that is bound by the rule of law,” she said. She expressed IMF’s readiness to continue engagement with the country. “We recognize that a lot of work is being done there and a lot of stability is being restored. The country needs more stability and support in order to restore its economic fundamentals. But still my personal view is that this effort requires a lot of consultations between Egypt, communities and neighboring countries, friends and international institutions including the IMF. We are prepared to play our part,” she said.

Talking about partnerships in the region, she said, the IMF has partnerships in place in Tunisia, Morocco and Jordan. “We know how much Jordan suffers. How many refugees they receive on a weekly basis. We have been renegotiating the terms of their programs so that Jordan can cope with the situation on the ground,” she said. While expressing gratitude to the authorities, she said, “We seek to deepen our partnership in Kuwait, be it the CEF, training, education or capacity building that will help the country establish as a hub for that expertise,” she mentioned. Lagarde expressed condolences on behalf of the IMF to the people of Philippines over the death and devastation caused by the typhoon.

Ethiopians threaten to protest in Kuwait Continued from Page 1 The Ethiopian government said on Saturday it was repatriating citizens who had failed to meet the deadline of a seven-month amnesty, citing reports that an Ethiopian had been killed by police. “They were trying to get them in the camp before repatriation and in that process... an Ethiopian has been killed with a police bullet, but we are verifying it,” foreign ministry spokesman Dina Mufti told AFP in Addis Ababa. Saudi police said on Saturday illegal migrants in Manfuhah have been given the chance to come forward and that accommodation has been made available while their repatriation is arranged.

Last Monday, the authorities began rounding up thousands of illegal foreign workers following the expiry of a final amnesty for them to formalise their status. Those considered to be illegal range from overstaying visitors and pilgrims seeking jobs to shop assistants and day labourers working for someone other than their sponsor. Having an official sponsor is a legal requirement in Saudi Arabia and

most other Gulf states. Nearly a million migrants Bangladeshis, Filipinos, Indians, Nepalis, Pakistanis and Yemenis among them - took advantage of the amnesty to leave.

Another roughly four million were able to find employers to sponsor them, but in so doing virtually emptied the market of cheap freelance labour. Expatriates account for a full nine million of the oil-rich kingdom’s population of 27 million. The lure of work, even in low-paid jobs as domestics or construction workers, has made the country a magnet for migrants from Asia as well as from poorer Arab states.

Saudis and expatriates say that casual workers who used to queue in public squares for odd jobs have virtually disappeared since police began strictly enforcing tough labour laws. The labour ministry said on Saturday it will continue to accept applications from undocumented foreigners seeking to legalise their status, but that they will be fined for the elapsed period since the amnesty ended on Nov 3.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2013

LOCAL

NoufEXPO launches e-Government Forum KUWAIT: Nouf for General Trading & Contracting Co. — exhibitions and conferences branch — (NoufEXPO), announced the launching of the activities of “e-Government Forum: Recent trends , security risks, and implementation”, at 6 pm today, at Rayah hall, Marriott Courtyard, under the patronage of His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al-Hamad Al Sabah. Minister of Communication and the Chairman of the Central Agency for Information Technology (CAIT ), Issa Ahmad Al -K andari will attend the opening ceremony on behalf of the

premier. An official source from the company said that it is for the first time in the State of Kuwait that the private sector coordinates a forum about eGovernment. The Forum attracts major international specialized companies for the first time in Kuwait , thanks to the efforts done by the work team at the company as well as in the Central Agency for Information Technology, who moved to a new phase in this path, i.e. the start of the implementation of the second phase of the project of the official portal of the State of Kuwait, which is to see the start of the develop-

ment of integrated governmental electronic services, where more than a single governmental agency is contributing to its development. The Forum also comes at a time when information technology witnesses many new variables and an increasing risk concerning information security in an unprecedented manner.

The spokesperson for NoufEXPO , added that “the company hopes that by holding this forum it contributes to building the local technical capacity and to inform the concerned Kuwaiti authorities in all governmental agen-

cies about the latest trends and technologies of e-Government applications available in the world , in addition to the challenges and difficulties that can be encountered by those projects and how to overcome them, including the information security risks, and that we are happy for holding such Forum in cooperation with the Central Agency for Information Technology based on the pivotal role it plays in the development of the of e-Government systems in Kuwait.”

The spokesperson stated that the company is always seeking to play an

‘Long-term car rentals’ become more popular More beneficial than buying

By Nawara Fattahova KUWAIT: Automobile companies have noticed an increased demand for long-term car rentals that ends with possession (ijaara). For many people, this system is more beneficial than buying a car on installments as the procedure is less complicated and can be used even by those who can’t take a loan from the bank due to Central Bank regulations.

KUWAIT: Five officers participating in the command and staff course were injured during an exercise with the air force yesterday.

The Defence Ministry said the incident took place south of Abateh area during an air support operation nearby. The incident took place when the tire of an Apache chopper hit a vehicle used in the exercise, and its five passengers were injured. The injured were taken to Jahra hospital with one sustaining extensive injuries.

This kind of rental is known in Kuwait since many years. New similar or improved version of this rental have come to the market in the past few years such as ‘rental promising to buy’, ‘operational rent’ and other kinds. The monthly payments of these longterm rentals compared to regular installments are more expensive but cheaper than regular monthly car rent. According to Ahmad Al-Fadli from Ayan Auto, long-term car rental has become more popular recently for various reasons among different categories of people. “The culture of Kuwaiti society encourages people to frequently change their vehicles so they will always be driving a new car of the newest model. And the operational rent that we offer gives them this chance as they change the car after a year or two according to their contract without being obliged to buy it. Of course, we also offer them the option of buying it after the contract expires for beneficial prices as they are our customers, so they will get it for a price less than the market price,” he told Kuwait Times.

“We also have many customers who would like to buy a new vehicle for their children who have just obtained their driving license. Especially girls who have just started driving are more likely to get involved in accidents according to their parents and need to train. So they prefer to give them a car with full insurance, and don’t have to worry as it will be sold easily later as the company will take it back after the contract expires,” he added.

Operational rent has different benefits. “The vehicle has total insurance, free maintenance including changing the oil and filter, 24-hour road assistance service and a spare car for the client in case the rented car is taken for service. We also have added a new feature to our services called ‘Value Service’ which is not available for ijaara at other

companies. This service allows the client to travel with the car outside Kuwait. Currently we only offer this service to GCC countries,” explained Fadli. This kind of rental is in demand due to its flexible way of payment. “The client is not obliged to pay through deduction from his bank account monthly, and can pay cash through online transfer, so he can still take loans or other installments. We rarely face problems with clients not paying. Usually we are patient, but after the third month of delay, the company will take legal action against the client,” he noted. “We deal almost with all car agencies so we have a wide range of vehicles both brand new and used. In general, we don’t have some kind of sports cars for instance, but we can make exceptions and upon an approval of the administration department, we can also include certain kinds of vehicle that the client demands,” stressed Fadli.

The company also provides other long-term rental programs. “We also have the ‘Rent Promising to Buy’ program, which is not in great demand by our clients. This program is for three years and the vehicle will be transferred to the client at the end of the contract. In this kind of renting, there is no free maintenance for the vehicle,” he concluded.

Mina from the rental section of Ali Alghanim and Sons Automotive confirmed an increased demand for long-term rental. “We only offer vehicles from our agency that includes BMW, Range Rover, Land Rover, Mini Cooper, and the newly added Jac. The client can choose between a brand new car or a used one, which makes a difference in price. The rental is for one or two years and the client has to pay with bank deduction or the client can pay cash in advance, and he will get a discount on the total amount. After paying the last installment, the car will be registered in his name,” she pointed out.

Teen brutally assaulted at mall KUWAIT: Shoppers at a mall in Al-Rai stepped in to save a teenager who was brutally assaulted by a group of muscled men including a person who reportedly attempted to stab him with a knife. The incident took place Saturday night when around 20 men began to beat up a teenager for reasons that remain unknown. Shoppers quickly stepped in and managed to free the 15year-old from the attackers, moved him to a corridor and shielded him. While security men were able to capture some of the attackers, their large number prevented them from maintaining order.

Soon enough, the attackers managed to reach the kid again and resume their assault before police finally arrived at the scene and put the situation under control. The victim was hospitalized with multiple injuries while police arrested some of the attackers who were taken in custody for questioning to reveal their motives. Meanwhile, investigations are ongoing in search for the remaining attackers.

Fatal accidents Three people died in three separate accidents reported over the weekend.

The first accident took place at Kabd road where a sports utility vehicle lost balance and overturned for reasons that are currently under investigation. The driver, a 41-year-old Kuwaiti man, was pronounced dead on the scene.

Meanwhile, a 25-year-old Egyptian man was killed in a similar accident on Jahra Road, and an investigation was opened to determine the circumstances behind it. In the third accident, a 13-year-old Syrian boy sustained fatal injuries when he was run over on Kabd Road. The driver who hit him is in police custody to face legal action.

‘Passport switching’ A Gulf national tried to help his brother’s bedoon fiance leave the country by using his wife’s passport, but their plan was foiled by Salmi border checkpoint officers. Police escorted the cou-

ple for questioning after the man identified his female companion as his wife, whereas an identity check revealed that the picture in the passport the woman gave was of another person.

Investigations revealed that the passport indeed belonged to the man’s wife, while the woman in the car was engaged to the man’s brother. The woman was hoping meet her fiance in his home country where they planned to get married. The two were taken to the authorities to face forgery charges.

Harasser in trap A teenager was arrested in Salmiya after a woman he harassed lured him to a trap set up with police’s help. The married Kuwaiti woman had called police to report that a man had been following her since she left a market in the area.

Police asked her to lure the harasser back to the market where security officers would be waiting in the parking lot.

The youngster was placed under arrest after he stopped near the woman’s car and walked towards her. Police found out that the harasser was 18 years old and had received his driving license recently. The woman explained that she called police because she feared that her husband might lose his temper and attack the harasser had she driven home.

KD18,000 car destroyed A man was extremely upset after he found his luxury vehicle in Kabd a few days after he reported it stolen at a Jahra police station, and that’s because the car was burned to a piece of junk.

The Kuwaiti had gone for a lookout mission in search of his KD 18,000 car simultaneously with police’s investigations.

While searching the jakhours (livestock farms) area, he found a burned car that, with difficulty, he was able to identify as his own. The man called police who sent crime scene investigators to take fingerprints from the burned vehicle.

Investigations are ongoing to identify and arrest the suspect.

Driver mugged Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh police are looking for three suspects who committed a robbery in the area while impersonating police detectives. An Asian man approached local police to report that three men in traditional dress (dishdashas) stopped him while he was driving in the area and searched him after they identified themselves as police detectives. He added that the three took his cell phone and wallet that contained KD 110, then returned to their car and drove away. He gave descriptions of the suspects and their car and investigations are ongoing.

Car thief A search is on for a man who stole a woman’s luxury car when he offered to help park it but instead drove away with it. The incident took place in Salmiya when the suspect approached the woman who was struggling to park her vehicle in a mall’s parking lot. The woman gave her car keys to the man after he offered to help, but stood and watched as he drove away with her vehicle which also had her smartphone and handbag inside.

The woman headed to Salmiya police station immediately and filed a case.

Jewelry stolen A woman confessed that she stole her mother’s jewelry and gave it to her boyfriend who sold it to buy a new car.

Ahmadi police had launched investigations after a middle-aged woman reported that her jewelry, worth KD 8,000, were stolen. The Kuwaiti woman accused her Asian housemaid of theft - based on which police summoned the worker for questioning. Police then summoned the complainant’s daughter after the maid categorically denied any charges. The 18year-old eventually admitted that she took the jewelry and gave it to her boyfriend who she said convinced her to ‘help him financially’ so that he can ask her family to marry her. Police obtained the young man’s information to summon him for investigations.

Conscription off parliament, govt priorities

By A. Saleh KUWAIT: The parliament and cabinet agreed to delay discussion on the conscription law while instead discuss amendments to the buy-operatetransfer (B.O.T) law as a top priority. This was announced by MP Ali Al-Omair, who heads a parliamentary team that lists topics in order of priority in sessionsí agendas. Al-Omair said that the schedule has been prepared to discuss topics of priority until the first week of

May, after which the parliament moves to discuss the national budget.

Also yesterday, repporteur of the public facilities committee MP Adel AlKhurafi announced that the panelís priorities include amendments to the Municipal Council elections law, and also pointed out that requests were made to the government to ëclarify the work mechanismí regarding draft laws to establish public authorities for telecommunications and transportation. Separately, MP Faisal Al-Duwaisan

criticized the ëredundancyí in grilling motions which he says ìweakens the political tool and creates public frustration from political questioningî. MPs Riyadh Al-Adasani and Husain AlQuwaiían filed grilling motions against Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah and Health Minister Sheikh Mohammad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah respectively, while MP Khalil Abdullah announced yesterday that he submitted a request to grill Minister of Development Dr. Rola Dashti.

active role in society, and to contribute to its development and growth and to shed lights on what might hinder its path, and that the Forum of e Government: Recent Trends, security risks, and the implementation Challenges comes in this context. The programs of e-Government and the information technology are to determine the shape and the development and effectiveness of government services that can offer us the future, and NoufEXPO can only play its role and contribute in shaping that future of Kuwait.

Trademarks offer ‘legal cover’ to visa traffickers KUWAIT: The Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor struggles to control visa trafficking that is made available through loopholes in labor regulations, a senior ministry official admitted in statements published by Al-Qabas daily yesterday.

The source who spoke on condition of anonymity revealed that cases have been discovered in which small companies obtained trademarks through the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, then used the license to apply for work permits to recruit foreign workers.

The MSAL had closed foreign recruitment since 2007, with exception given to some fields including large companies with multiple activities in the local market. An exception is also given to companies who own trademarks in the market. “A small company can obtain a trademark for around KD24 which gives it the right to recruit labor forces freely from outside”, the source explained.

Visa trafficking is often mentioned in debate about human rights in Kuwait, and reports indicate that the problem persist despite the government’s repeated efforts to tackle this problem in recent years. Traffickers use loopholes in labor regulations, primarily the sponsorship system, to release work permits on fake companies or nonexistent job openings (the sponsorship system sets a cap for the maximum number of employees a company can hire) then sell them to unskilled labor forces looking for a chance to work in the oil-rich Gulf region. The

‘trademark loophole’ that the ministry insider revealed could indicate that some traffickers are also capable of providing some sort of ‘legal cover’ for their practices.

The parliament passed a bill earlier this year to establish the Public Labor Authority, and a report last month suggested that the government could launch it after the beginning of new fiscal year on April 1, 2014. The new authority is hyped as a ‘natural replacement’ for the sponsorship system by exclusively handling the affairs of expatriate labor forces including hiring in local companies. It was passed to answer demands which call for scraping the present system that has fallen under pressure for years and is continuously blamed for injustice workers often complain about.

In most cases, victims of visa traffickers end up with no physical jobs after reaching Kuwait, which leaves them vulnerable to hard labor and mistreatment. Several human rights reports in recent years highlighted stories for workers ‘living in constant fear of arrest’ because they could not afford paying money that the trafficker requests to renew their visas. Local authorities launched extensive campaigns since April against ‘residency violators’, or people without valid visas, during which thousands of expatriate labor forces were arrested and deported.

Kuwait is home to 2.6 million expatriates who make 68 percent of the country’s 3.8 million population.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2013

LOCAL kuwait digest

In my view

Are we there yet?

Impasse in Arab world

By Jamal Doumani

By Jaafar Rajab

T

I

ndia launched its first mission to Mars as our prime minister arrived in India. How did India achieve this accomplishment before us? It is because India is the largest democratic country in terms of population. They practice true democracy in which the prime minister is held accountable before state employees are. They removed their historic leader Indira Gandhi when she thought she could become bigger than the state and the system.

Yes, India - much like the rest of the Third World countries - does suffer corruption, poverty and underdevelopment, but you can stay optimistic there because there are laws and institutions that truly fight corruption.

It is because not only are there Sunnis and Shiites in India, but there are thousands of religions and beliefs which are all practiced freely under the umbrella of the Indian spirit. Yes, there are extremists who are found everywhere around the world, but at the end of the day, there is a state that protects minorities and majorities alike. Regardless of how serious tensions escalate, the government cannot act in accordance with what extremists want.

It is because India recognizes thirteen languages as ‘official languages’, not mentioning dialects, while everyone understand each other. In our countries, we use the languages of distrust, discrimination and arrogance in dealing with each other.

It is because official audit reports in India do not mention millions of dinars that no one knows where they went, or ministers who deliberately refuse to collect fees from people with influence. In many cases, influential people are the reason behind appointing ministers here, and sometimes you discover that an influential person has become a senior state official. Meanwhile, parliament members are too busy holding the government accountable over the silliest of issues.

It is because the government in India is not silly enough to arrest young people dancing inside a tent. The ‘inter-gender partying in a tent’ criminal offense which often creates a buzz here does not exist in India. Such stupidity does not exist in India where people dance day and night without anyone in the government becoming offended. It is because India tackles poverty by reducing expenses as well as food and technology costs. It has been successful in doing that; and also in exporting productive minds to the whole world.

It is because India has a Hindu majority and had a Muslim president, who succeeded a Sikh president.

No one asks the other about their religion, sectarian belief or race as long as they serve their country as a top priority. There is no doubt that India is not exactly heaven on earth, and it does suffer a lot of problems, but it is moving with steady steps forward, whereas we continue to take several steps backwards. — Al-Rai

kuwait digest

MoH corruption part of system

By Dr Bader Al-Daihani

T

he angry public reaction to the interference of the health minister in technical and administrative procedures and his arbitrary and unfair transfer of Dr Kefaya Abdul Malek from the Amiri Hospital’s ICU to the Infectious Diseases Hospital for doing her job duties honestly and refusing the minister’s orders that were made in coordination with an MP only reflect how far people are getting fed up with political corruption in both powers and not only in the health ministry where the minister interfered in a routine technical and administrative procedure that is part of heads of departments’ job duties.

What happened with Dr Kefaya is but another explicit example of administrative corruption resulting from the corruption of the whole political system. Many public servants in various state apparatuses are regularly subjected to similar administrative injustice and abusive law enforcement. Unfortunately, many of these cases cannot find their way to the media in a way that win them public reactions and demands to alter or stop such measures the way that happened with Dr Kefaya.

In this regard, it is very awkward that Kuwait Medical Association (KMA), that should defend the rights of its members, is keeping silent about the whole matter. Such silence forced a number of doctors to organize a peaceful demonstration after their official working hours to support their colleague.

Political corruption begets administrative and financial

corruption that has many symptoms and forms such as appointing incompetent people in leading positions, abusing powers, conflicting interests and illegal earnings made through a public position. Such ailments will not, partially or collectively, end by mere criticism or complaining about them. Getting rid of them requires diagnosing their reasons correctly and then handling them once and for all.

All developed countries are run by professional politicians and not amateurs who aren’t qualified to run a state and who might think their role as ministers is to follow up arriving to and leaving work, transferring employees, deputizing or transferring them, paying outstanding performance rewards and speaking to the media almost daily about technical and administrative issues that form the core of specialized technicians and administrative officials.

A minister ’s position is political, not technical.

Therefore, he is defined as a ‘statesman’ who is supposed to be the first who abides by his ministry’s regulations.

In 2004, the former British Home office secretary David Blunkett had to resign from office despite being the strongest candidate to success PM Tony Blair for the premiership. This happened when his contacts with the immigration department to discuss accelerating the procedures of granting his housemaid a residency visa were exposed and considered a violation of others’ rights! — Al-Jarida

kuwait digest

‘Millionaires’ with no bank balance

By Thaar Al-Rasheedi

W

ith a maximum salary of KD 1,000, including all incentives and allowances, one quarter of which goes for paying for car installment and a bank loan, another quarter goes for rent while the remaining half ends before the middle of the month for the majority of Kuwaitis. They all go through the same story of spending the whole salary before the tenth of the month. This story applies to around two million people, which makes it the most famous story in Kuwait.

Two months ago a man received a phone call informing him that he had won the grand prize of a big raffle wining half a million dinars. Well, there is no need to talk about the details of the winning or how he got the news. What matters is that he bought a house for KD 300,000, paid off his bank loan and car installments amounting to KD 35,000, which left him a balance of KD 165,000. The man’s financial status changed to the

The average annual per capita income of Kuwaitis is KD 20,000, which means that he would have to work hard for twenty years without eating, drinking or even breathing to save enough money to buy a house, even with the KD 70,000 loan the government provides. better 180 degrees. Yet, the moral of the story of this man, whom I met by accident in a hotel and told me about his unexpected winning, is that it is a living proof to the government that, in order to get a house, pay off your obligations of car installment and loans, a citizen needs at least half a million dinars in cash.

This huge sum is not because we, citizens, run bad monthly budgets because of our extravagant consumption rates as we are accused by hotshot economists. The terrible financial conditions we are going through are caused by weak government control that has led to many problems such as bank loans, skyrocketing rents and soaring prices. The average annual per capita income of Kuwaitis is KD 20,000, which means that he would have to work hard for twenty years without eating, drinking or even breathing to save enough money to buy a house, even with the KD 70,000 loan the government provides.

Through those wise economists, the government has been asking us to give up our culture of consumption and manage our budgets in a better way while the government itself has been incapable of running its annual budget wisely for over 20 years. So, dear government, manage your own budget first then ask citizens to do theirs! — Al-Anbaa

he more we Arabs relied on and trusted in the United States, the more the US failed us, sweettalked us and - yes, let’s call a spade a spade betrayed us.

From May 14, 1948 when under the stewardship of President Harry S. Truman the US became the first nation that recognized Israel, to the time earlier this year when President Barack Obama gave an approving nod to Israeli colonization of Arab land, Washington continued to string us along.

And what about the visiting secretaries of state? We had a surfeit of them, from William Rogers in 1970 to John Kerry earlier this week, who visited Arab capitals armed with their nation’s professions of impartiality and evenhandedness.

Oh, yes, John Kerry. Consider this: Last Tuesday, on the eve of his arrival in Tel Aviv in a quest to create “two states for two peoples,” he was greeted by the news that many in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling coalition and many more in his party, the Likud, along with a substantial number of Knesset members, not only opposed the idea of a Palestinian state but put forward their own plans to annex larger swaths of Palestinian land in the West Bank.

Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Zeev Elkin, a staunch annexationist, said, “regardless of the world’s opposition, it’s time to do in (the West Bank) what we did in (Arab East) Jerusalem and the Golan.”

And Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon, another Greater Israel nutcase, was quoted as saying: “I think we should no longer think of Jewish settlements in the West Bank but of Palestinian settlements in Israel.” And not a peep from Kerry, who remained deferential, as all his predecessors had been in the face of Israeli provocations.

Imagine the hell that would break loose, if say a majority in the Palestinian Parliament and in President Mahmoud Abbas’ Cabinet had greeted a secretary of state, on the eve of his official visit to their country, by suggesting that since historic Palestine had been Arab for 13 centuries, Israel itself is a large colonial settlement grafted on their homeland, and no way would they bring themselves to accept or legitimize its existence as a state.

It’s irrelevant here to ask as to why the US has eaten humble pie in response to Israeli excesses all these years.

The US sees Israel as a vital strategic asset in our part of the world?

The answer to that question is: The Jewish lobby in Washington wields enormous power. The Americans have been quoted as saying, “Israelis are a people who share our values.”

If we, the Arabs, have learned anything over the last six decades, it is that the United States is wholly committed to Israel, right or wrong, will fight for it tooth and nail at international forums, and forgive whatever transgressions it may be guilty of - even when those transgressions are directed at American interests, or at Americans themselves. (A case in point is the deliberate attack in June 1967 against the USS Liberty by Israeli fighter jets that killed 34 crew members and wounded 171 others, and severely damaged the ship, an incident that was swept under the rug, meriting not one single congressional investigation.)

Truth be told, I do not blame the US, a big power, for this posture, anymore than I blame the canary for singing or the beast of prey for preying. Nor, for that matter, do I blame Zionism for its territorial ambitions, its messianic pretensions and its blatant racism. That is the nature of the beast, a nature that was well defined, well declared and well articulated at the First Zionist Congress in Basel in August 1897, long before Zionism transplanted itself to Palestine. Rather, I blame us and us alone for having failed to chart a path that would’ve led us to be the only determining force in our political destiny by drawing on our own resources in order to regroup our own national interests. Before we became free nations, our grim history as colonized peoples had imposed a cruel yoke on our process of socialization, locking a majority of us into the belief that we are what the Italian theoretician Antonio Gramsci had called “subalterns,” a community without access to political power, dependent on rulers in some foreign capital to solve its problems.

It’s about time, I say, that we freed ourselves from this straightjacket and recaptured for ourselves the ethos of that “assabiyeh” (Ibn Khaldun’s term) that for centuries had defined our civilizational core. In those days, we were tough, independent and free Arabs who allowed no one to mess with their rights, their land, their property and their social practices and religious beliefs. Thus, for example, when the Crusader Kingdom in Jerusalem stepped on our toes in 1187, the punishment we meted out to it that year was heavy indeed - and we did it without calling 911 in Washington.

US Secretary of State John Kerry has been a guest in our part of the world last week. Let’s listen to him and treat him with respect - as is Arab wont toward their guests - but we should tell him clearly and bluntly what we think of that charade known as American foreign policy in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, it pains one to imagine that one’s region may have become like Blanche Debois, the character in Tennessee Williams’s play, A Street Car Named Desire, who proclaims on stage: “I’ve always depended on the kindness of strangers.” When will we ever learn that to go wrong in one’s own way is better than to go right via another’s direction - or dictates?

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2013

LOCAL Sheikha Rima ranks among most powerful women in Washington WASHINGTON: Once again, Sheikha Rima AlSabah, wife of Kuwaiti Ambassador to the United States Sheikh Salem Al-Sabah, ranked among the 117 most powerful women in capital on Washingtonian magazine’s annual list of most influential women for her very strong presence in the humanitarian work.

Sheikh Rima Al-Sabah, who topped the list in the category of “International Powers”, was recognized as a “fixture” on the Washington philanthropy scene through hosting the highly-coveted Kuwait America Foundation gala dinners for humanitarian causes in many fields.

Sheikha Rima made the list alongside other influential females in the area in government, business, health, media, law, education and the arts, such as First Lady Michelle Obama, national security adviser Susan Rice, senior adviser to President Barack Obama Valerie Jarrett and IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde.

Sheikha Rima is always grateful to her country Kuwait and the support it continuously gives her that she is able to do the philanthropic work she does.

She believes that the philanthropic work she does is a “continuation of a Kuwaiti tradition as Kuwait is a model for its philanthropic work and the assistance it provides to needy countries.”

Over the last eight years, Sheikha Rima and Ambassador Sheikh Salem Al-Sabah have undertaken many philanthropic endeavors, the latest being a fundraiser that raised $1.5 million to benefit Georgetown University and the establishment of an endowment fund at its Center for Contemporary Arab Studies that will provide graduate studies scholarships to women from the Arab World based on merit and need.

Every year, Kuwait’s Ambassador Sheikh Salem Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and Sheikha Rima AlSabah hold a gala dinner to raise money for a different beneficiary.

The Kuwait gala dinners have raised nearly $13.5 million for causes ranging from microcredit loans to women in the Middle East, the care of America’s wounded, to establish schools and promote girls’ education in remote regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan, to benefit the fight against climate change in Indonesia and Brazil, to support the fight against malaria in Africa, to fund the Basrah Children’s Hospital in Iraq, to build schools for girls in Afghanistan and to assist Iraqi women and children refugees wishing to return home.

Keynote speakers and special guests at the annual gala dinners have included former U.S. Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, former first lady Laura Bush, former Secretaries of State Hillary Clinton, Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell, Hollywood stars Ben Affleck, Leonardo Dicaprio, Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta Jones and Angelina Jolie.

Sheikha Rima’s gala dinners with their star-studded guest list have become one of Washington’s most sought-after and exclusive event. — KUNA

Kuwait Flour Mills sponsors HORECA KUWAIT: The Kuwait Flour Mills and Bakeries Company announced taking part as a diamond sponsor in the 2014 HORECA Kuwait; an exhibition for hospitality and catering organized by the Leaders Group in cooperation with Hospitality Services Company. The event takes place at the Badriya Ballroom in the Jumeirah Hotel from Jan 27 to 29.

On that regard, Chief Executive Officer Mutlaq Al-Zayed indicated that the decision came “to continue efforts to share our experience with experts and specialist in hospitality and catering companies”, something he said helps “discuss visions and plans that protect Kuwait’s prestigious level in this field”.

Established in 1961, the Kuwait Flour Mills and Bakeries Company plays a major role in maintaining food security in Kuwait through large industry that allowed the state to stop importing the local needs of flour. “The KFMBC grew to become one of the largest producers of flour products in the Middle East as it provides high quality products for reasonable prices which earned it people’s trust”, Al-Zayed said.

Kuwait marks World Science Day for Peace KUWAIT: The State of Kuwait and other member countries of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) celebrated the World Science Day for Peace and Development yesterday.

Since its proclamation by the UNESCO in 2001, the Day has been an opportunity for the world countries to demonstrate the great significance of science for public health and build bridges between science and society, two Kuwaiti academics said.

This year’s celebration, the 10th anniversary of the Day was themed “Science for water cooperation: sharing data, knowledge and innovations” in keeping with the celebration of the UN International Year of Water Cooperation 2013, Dr Othman Al-Fleij, professor of chemistry at Kuwait University said.

“It’s an opportunity for governments to engage intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, scientific research institutions, professional associations, universities, and the mass media in activities geared to promote science and peace,” he said.

“The scientific sector, represented by the academia, doctors, engineers and managers, plays a pivotal role in improving the quality of life and promoting the culture of peace in the community,” Dr Al-Fleij pointed out.

He highlighted the need to innovate the educational and scientific curriculums in a way that could reflect positively on all sectors and produce cadres, better qualified for contributing to technological advancement and comprehensive development.

On his part, Dr. Ghazi Al-Rashidi, professor of education at the KU, said information is a key factor in development since no project in any field, whether healthcare, education, tourism, or infrastructure, could succeed without accurate surveys, data and practical planning. —KUNA

UK to facilitate Kuwaiti investments in London Mayor Johnson optimistic LONDON: The Mayor of London Boris Johnson said his country welcomes Kuwaiti investments, both state and private, in London as well as in other British cities and is willing to iron out any difficulties. The mayor, due on a two-day official visit to the State of Kuwait today, said it was his duty as mayor to encourage Kuwaiti investments in London. He noted the announcement of the Kuwaiti Government of increase of investments in the UK and in London in particular was most welcome.

The Kuwaiti Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, Mustafa Al-Shimali, had back in July announced the intention to hike investments in the UK and other countries in the infrastructure sector through Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA).

Mayor Johnson recalled the landmark visit by His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber AlSabah in November last year and the impact it had on bilateral relations, most specifically on the economic and investment aspect of relations.

He stressed the two nations and peoples share time-

honored bonds and relations shall continue to prosper, based on grounds of friendship and mutual respect.

On the goal of his first Kuwait visit, Johnson said he is to meet with senior officials in government and in KIA, as well as with businessmen to discuss good investment opportunities in the British capital. He said he hopes to attract new investments to London, while at the same time providing London-based businesses and companies the opportunity to find partners in Kuwait.

On volume of Kuwaiti investments in London, Johnson said, “We insist on seeing even higher volume, and so the Kuwait visit program is rich in important meetings, befitting the strong relations between the two nations.”

The official said he would be conveying a message to Kuwaiti officials; “that the British Capital is a city open to investment and would provide all required facilities to attract foreign capital.”

The mayor said he is to discuss the technical assistance London authorities could provide in the trans-

portation sector and most particularly in the field of managing bus and subway service, in which London boasts an internationally recognized expertise which spans over 150 years.

“There are also projects in clean energy aiming to curb gas emissions and pollution,” the mayor said, expressing personal interest in working out difficulties that stand to impede Kuwaiti investments.

The official stressed he would work hard on finding distinguished partners for Kuwaiti investors in London who enjoy appropriate expertise and excellence in the fields chosen for investment and cooperation.

Represented by Kuwait Investment Office in London, the State of Kuwait is among the top investors in the British capital, and the office is a main player in the British market as it manages investment projects worth no less than 150 billion pound sterling.

UK exports to Kuwait had increased by 17 percent in 2012, following an official visit to Kuwait by British Premier David Cameron in 2011. —KUNA

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2013

LOCAL

NBK launches museum highlighting history KUWAIT: For the first time in Kuwait and the GCC, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) has launched the first-of-a-kind Museum presenting Kuwait’s history and the evolution of NBK since its establishment in 1952 as the first indigenous bank and Shareholding Company in Kuwait and the GCC. NBK Museum is the first in the region to use audio-visual and interactive displays to present the history of Kuwait and NBK in an innovative manner. NBK Museum received on Saturday journalists, bloggers and social media activists on the occasion of NBK’s 61st anniversary of day one of operations on Nov 15, 1952.

“The establishment of NBK Museum stands as a landmark to reserve Kuwait’s History and present it to the coming generations”, said Isam Al-Sager, NBK Deputy Group Chief Executive Officer. “Since its establishment 61 years ago, NBK has played a significant role in the development and progress of Kuwait. NBK grew from a small local bank to one of the largest financial institutions in the region.”

Al Sager added “the Museum highlights NBK’s history and contributions in the development of the national economy. It also high-

lights the main periods in Kuwait’s history. NBK Museum serves as an academic research location for the next generations.”

On Nov 15, NBK celebrates the 61st anniversary of day one of operations following the famous Amiri Decree issued by the late Amir Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah on May 19, 1952 promulgating the incorporation of the National Bank of Kuwait as the first national bank and the first shareholding company in Kuwait and the Gulf.

The Museum presents the evolution of NBK from a small bank that occupies the area of three shops and a handful of employees relying on traditional and manual banking tools to one of the largest and most profitable banks in the region.

The museum also shows how Kuwait’s economy developed from the pre-oil period towards today’s economy. The museum accommodates different specialty sections for Kuwait history, currency, Souk Al-Manakh crisis, Iraqi invasion in addition to other features.

The walls of the Museum display social, economic and political timelines. The Museum contains a range of audio-visual and interac-

tive displays, including interviews with Bank officials and influential economists as well as and short film clips. NBK Museum presents a collection of interesting artifacts such as histor-

KCCC hosts Canadian cancer specialists KUWAIT: The Kuwait Cancer Control Center (KCCC) hosts till Nov 21, a Canadian medical team specialized in cancer tumors and breast cancer from Princess Margaret Cancer Centre.

KCCC Director Dr Ahmad Abdulrahham Al-Awadi said yesterday that this visit is part of a signed agreement between Kuwaiti Ministry of Health and the Health Network in Toronto.

The team consists of 20 members of various specialties including chemotherapy, radiation therapy, surgery, breast cancer and breast reconstruction, he said, also indicating the team includes anesthetists, nurses, pharmacists and nutritionists.

This visits comes to improve the services offered to patients suffering from breast cancer, being the mostly

spread among women in Kuwait, in cooperation with doctors in the KCCC, especially the Kuwaiti staff, he added. The first two weeks of the visit will include a number of lectures and workshops, besides receiving breast cancer patients, and contributing in treating them by offering the needed medical consulting, besides conducting surgeries and breast reconstruction surgeries, he said.

This visit is considered the third for the Canadian team to the KCCC, for the third consecutive year.

Princess Margaret Cancer Centre is a teaching hospital in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, affiliated with the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine as part of the University Health Network. The hospital now stands as the largest cancer research center in Canada. — KUNA

ical documents and the first office instruments used at that time.

The Museum displays a range of selected items from NBK’s notes and coins collection.

NBK played a major role in replacing the local currency twice; the first in 1959 when the Indian rupee was replaced by what became known as the Gulf rupee, and again in 1961 when the Kuwait Monetary Council withdrew the rupee in favor of the Kuwaiti dinar.

The Museum shows Souk Al-Manakh crisis that took place in 1982. An audio visual display sheds the light on the conservative culture of NBK that led it to be the only bank that was not adversely affected by the crash.

Another audio-visual display shows the Iraqi Invasion to Kuwait. During this period NBK proved itself as an unrivalled partner to the people and the government of Kuwait. NBK continued executing its work outside Kuwait and met all its commitments towards clients and banks abroad.

One of the audio-visual displays sheds the light on NBK’s performance, stability and ability to manage through difficult times, backing on its sound risk management policies and conservative culture. NBK’s performance remains solid and impressive despite the challenging environment for financial institutions worldwide.

Indian community’s role in Kuwait lauded NEW DELHI: The contribution of the 700,000 strong Indian community in Kuwait was extolled by the prime ministers of both the countries at their banquet speeches on Friday night at the Hyderabad House here.

Speaking first, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, while talking about Kuwait’s linkages “from time immemorial”, with commerce, culture and religion of India, said: “The seven hundred thousand Indians in your country are a living bridge between Kuwait and India. They are building their lives, supporting families at home and contributing to Kuwait’s pluralism and progress.”

“Your present visit has added fresh winds to our sails. We value your contribution to the cause of peace in the region, and we look for ward to Kuwait’s leadership in seeking solutions to the region’s many challenges,” he said.

Visiting Kuwaiti Prime Minister His Highness Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak AlHamad Al-Sabah, while echoing the Indian prime minister’s sentiments, said Kuwait was “proud to have the Indian community among us”. He said they not only form the largest foreign

NEW DELHI: Visiting Kuwaiti Prime Minister His Highness Sheikh Jaber AlMubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah pictured during his visit to the Hyderabad House. community in Kuwait, but are participating in various vocations and have made “notable contributions, particularly in the private sector”.

Apart from the accompanying Kuwait delegation, Cabinet ministers including Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, Home Minister Sushil

Kumar Shinde, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, Commerce Minister Anand Sharma, Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahmed, FICCI President Naina Lal Kidwai and renowned businessman Yusuff Ali MA were among other dignitaries who attended the dinner reception.

Kuwait forms panel to rationalize subsidies Beginning of countdown KUWAIT: The government has formed a committee to review subsidies that the state provides to citizens and then present recommendations to ërationalizeí them, an issue that is occasionally mentioned in debates over excessive spending in the stateís budget. Annual subsidies for goods and services is over KD 4.5 billion - 75 percent of which goes to subsidize electricity and fuel which are sold for the lowest prices compared to other countries in the region.

According to sources quoted in an Al-Qabas report that was published yesterday, the decision to form the committee was based on a recommendation from the Finance Ministry which will head the committee that also includes members from the Ministry of Electricity and Water, Ministry of Oil, Ministry of Commerce

and Industry, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Higher Education, the Savings and Credit Bank, the Public Authority for Youth and Sports and the Public Authority for Agricultural Affairs and Fish Resources.

Al-Qabas described the step ìprobably signals the beginning of the countdown for the governmentís plan to rationalize subsidiesî. In addition to electricity and fuel subsidies, the sources mentioned other subsidies that the committee will be considering, which include ìscholarship and educational grants with a current value of KD 195.1 millionî, and ìrent allowances with a current value of KD 192 millionî. The sources also mentioned health services for Kuwaitis treated abroad ìwith a current value of KD 175.2 millionî, farmers and fishermen allowances ìwith a current value

of 29.6 millionî, jet fuel subsidies ìwith a current value of KD16 millionî and marriage allowances ìwith a current value of KD15.3 millionî.

The step comes around two weeks after the Cabinet announced its work program in which it underlined the need to rationalize government spending and diversify sources of national income, which currently relies on oil revenues by approximately 95 percent.

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Sheikh Salem Al-Sabah has been vocal in supporting rationalization since assuming office last August, and during his 26-year tenure as president of the Central Bank. Sheikh Salem had cited ìchallenges of the local economy and expectations in light of growing general expenditureî in his resignation letter from the Central Bank in Feb 2012.

Panel to consider Audit Bureau report on PIFSS KUWAIT: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Sheikh Salem Abdulaziz Al-Sabah issued a ministerial directive yesterday to set up a committee that would consider the 2012-2013 report of the Audit Bureau on performance of the Public Institution for Social Security (PIFSS).

Virtue of the decision, the committee is to submit its final report within three months.

The minister told KUNA that this is a specialized committee with far-reaching competencies and members representatives from the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK), the Ministry of Finance, and Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA).

This selection of members from several bodies aimed to guarantee utmost professional objectivity and the names were selected based on competence, high qualification, and nature of duties of the committee. Sheikh Salem added this step is part of an overall effort to improve performance of bodies within his competence, including PIFSS. He stressed actual measures towards reform could only be taken following thorough assessment. The committee’s main focus is the observations of

the Audit Bureau regarding PIFSS performance and the violations it recorded in its report. It is to link each detail with the relevant regulation or law. The main dossiers to be considered are investments, financial and administrative affairs, and warehouses and procurement, he indicated.

When it comes to investment, this dossier would be given extra focus, he said, since it is instrumental in securing return and profit for the institution. The minister further said the mechanisms of the institution must be brought to par with international standards.

Financial issues must be addressed on scientific and methodological bases in order to accurately pin-point weaknesses and suggest technically and professionally-sound remedies, Sheikh Salem said, “which would take PIFSS to a higher institutional level.”

In order for the committee to work with full knowledge of all details of issues concerned, “It has the right to review administrative and financial decisions, as well as to call in PIFSS officials when it deems necessary.” —KUNA

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2013

India PM to skip Sri Lanka summit amid war crimes row

Iran rejects threats, cites red lines in nuclear talks Page 10

Page 11

TACLOBAN: Children cycle past a dead body on a street in Tacloban, eastern island of Leyte yesterday. — AFP

Survivors ‘like zombies’ in Philippines Vietnam authorities evacuate 883,000 people TACLOBAN: One of the most powerful storms ever recorded killed at least 10,000 people in the central Philippines, a senior police official said yesterday, with huge waves sweeping away coastal villages and devastating one of the main cities in the region. Super typhoon Haiyan destroyed about 70 to 80 percent of structures in its path as it tore through Leyte province on Friday, said police chief superintendent Elmer Soria, before weakening and heading west for Vietnam. As rescue workers struggled to reach ravaged villages along the coast, where the death toll is as yet unknown, survivors foraged for food or searched for lost loved ones.

“People are walking like zombies looking for food,” said Jenny Chu, a medical student in Leyte. “It’s like a movie.”

Most of the deaths appear to have been caused by surging sea water strewn with debris that many said resembled a tsunami, levelling houses and drowning hun-

water, medicines and tarpaulins for the homeless.

International aid agencies said relief efforts in the Philippines were stretched thin after a 7.2 magnitude quake in central Bohol province last month and displacement caused by a conflict with Muslim rebels in southern Zamboanga province.

Witnesses and officials described chaotic scenes in Leyte’s capital, Tacloban, a coastal city of 220,000 about 580 km (360 miles) southeast of Manila which bore the brunt, with hundreds of bodies piled along roads and pinned under wrecked houses. The city lies in a cove where the seawater narrows, making it susceptible to storm surges.

The city and nearby villages as far as one kilometre (just over half a mile) from shore were flooded, leaving floating bodies and roads choked with debris from fallen trees, tangled power lines and flattened homes. Many Internet

TACLOBAN: A prosthetic leg (right) is seen beside two dead bodies inside the Fisherman’s Village Elementary School yesterday. — AFP dreds of people in one of the worst disasters to hit the typhoon-prone Southeast Asian nation.

The national government and disaster agency have not confirmed the latest estimate of deaths, a sharp increase from initial estimates on Saturday of at least 1,200 killed by a storm whose sustained winds reached 195 miles per hour (313 km per hour) with gusts of up to 235 mph (378 kph). “We had a meeting last night with the governor and the other officials. The governor said, based on their estimate, 10,000 died,” Soria told Reuters. “The devastation is so big.”

About 300 people died in neighbouring Samar province, where Haiyan first hit land on Friday as a category 5 typhoon, with 2,000 missing, said a provincial disaster agency official. Nearly 480,000 people were displaced and 4.5 million “affected” by the typhoon in 36 provinces, the national disaster agency said, as relief agencies called for food,

users urged prayers and called for aid for survivors in the largely Roman Catholic nation on social media sites such as Twitter.

Aquino considers martial law “From a helicopter, you can see the extent of devastation. From the shore and moving a kilometre inland, there are no structures standing. It was like a tsunami,” said Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas, who had been in Tacloban since before the typhoon struck the city. “I don’t know how to describe what I saw.

It’s horrific.” Looters rampaged through several stores in Tacloban, witnesses said, taking whatever they could find as rescuers’ efforts to deliver food and water were hampered by severed roads and communications. A TV station said ATM machines were broken open.

Mobs attacked trucks loaded with food, tents and water on Tanauan bridge in Leyte, said Philippine Red Cross chair-

man Richard Gordon. “These are mobsters operating out of there.” President Benigno Aquino said the government had deployed 300 soldiers and police to restore order and that he was considering introducing martial law or a state of emergency in Tacloban to ensure security.

“Tonight, a column of armoured vehicles will be arriving in Tacloban to show the government’s resolve and to stop this looting,” he said. Aquino has shown exasperation at conflicting reports on damage and deaths and one TV network quoted him as telling the head of the disaster agency that he was running out of patience.

“How can you beat that typhoon?” said defence chief Voltaire Gazmin, when asked whether the government had been ill-prepared. “It’s the strongest on Earth. We’ve done everything we can, we had lots of preparation. It’s a lesson for us.” The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said aerial surveys showed “significant damage to coastal areas” with heavy ships thrown ashore, houses destroyed and vast tracts of agricultural land “decimated”.

The destruction extends well beyond Tacloban. Officials had yet to make contact with Guiuan, a town of 40,000 that was first hit by the typhoon. Baco, a city of 35,000 people in Oriental Mindoro province, was 80 percent under water, the UN said. There were reports of damage across much of the Visayas, a region of eight major islands, including Leyte, Cebu and Samar. Many tourists were stranded. “Seawater reached the second floor of the hotel,” said Nancy Chang, who was on a business trip from China in Tacloban City and walked three hours through mud and debris for a militaryled evacuation at the airport. “It’s like the end of the world.”

Six people were killed and dozens wounded during heavy winds and storms in central Vietnam as Haiyan approached the coast, state media reported, even though it had weakened substantially since hitting the Philippines. Vietnam authorities have moved 883,000 people in 11 central provinces to safe zones, according to the government’s website. Tacloban city airport was all but destroyed as seawaters swept through the city, shattering the glass of the airport tower, levelling the terminal and overturning nearby vehicles. The European Commission said it would provide 3 million euros to help in relief efforts in the worst affected areas.

The US embassy said it would provide $100,000 for health, water and sanitation support. Australia said it would provide an initial 15.5 million pesos ($358,900) in relief supplies. The World Food Programme said it was airlifting 40 tonnes of high-energy biscuits, enough to feed 120,000 people for a day, as well as emergency supplies and communications equipment. — Reuters

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2013

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

Twitter account linked to Iran’s leader slams France DUBAI: A Twitter account Iran experts believe is run by the office of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reiterated criticism of France yesterday after Paris expressed reservations about a proposed deal to end a dispute over Tehran’s nuclear programme.

A message posted in English on the account @khamenei_ir said: “French officials have been openly hostile towards the Iranian nation over the past few years; this is an imprudent and inept move.”

A second tweet said: “A wise man, particularly a wise politician, should never have the motivation to turn a neutral entity into an enemy.”

The authenticity of the messages, published a

day after talks in Geneva ended without clinching a deal to curb Tehran’s nuclear programme, could not immediately be confirmed. The comments appear to cite part of a speech Khamenei gave in March 2013 for Iranian new year, in which he said: “We have never had problems with France and the French government, neither in the past nor in the present era.”

“However, since the time of (former President Nicolas) Sarkozy, the French government has adopted a policy of opposing the Iranian nation and unfortunately the current French government is pursuing the same policy. In our opinion, this is a wrong move. It is ill-advised and unwise.”

France has traditionally taken a tougher line on

Iran than most other world powers and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has accused it of being more intransigent in talks than the United States.

Clear divisions emerged among the US and European allies on the final day of the Geneva talks as France hinted that the proposal under discussion did not sufficiently neutralise the threat of an Iranian nuclear bomb. Despite the failure of the discussions, Iran and six world powers said differences had narrowed - a softening that may worry Iranian hardliners - and they would resume negotiations in 10 days to try to end the decade-old standoff.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on

Friday denounced the outline of an accord leaked to the media, saying Tehran would be getting “the deal of the century” if world powers carried out proposals to grant Iran temporary respite from sanctions.

Israel, which is believed to have the Middle East’s only nuclear arsenal and regards Iran as a mortal threat, has repeatedly suggested it may take military action against Tehran if it does not mothball its entire nuclear programme. Iran dismisses such demands, saying it has a sovereign right to a nuclear energy industry. Most diplomats say that, as Tehran has expanded its nuclear capacity exponentially since 2006, the time for demanding a total shutdown has passed. — Reuters

Iran rejects threats, cites red lines in nuclear talks Paris won’t accept ‘fool’s game’: France’s Fabius

MANAMA: Bahraini Shiite Muslim women stand in front of portraits of detained political activists during a ceremony marking Ashura. — AFP

Bahrain jails 4 for car bomb outside mosque MANAMA: A Bahraini court sentenced two men to life in prison and two others to 15 years for a car bomb attack outside a mosque in July, state news agency BNA said yesterday. Bahrain, a Western ally which hosts the U.S. Fifth Fleet, has been in political turmoil since a 2011 uprising led by majority Shi’ites. They demand reforms and more share in running the kingdom, which is ruled by the Sunni Muslim alKhalifa dynasty.

Several vehicles were destroyed but no one was hurt in the explosion outside a Sunni Muslim mosque in al-Riffa, south of the capital Manama, where some members of the royal family live. Government officials said at the time the attack, which took place during evening prayers in the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, was an attempt to inflame sectarian tensions.

Among other charges, the defendants

were convicted of setting up and joining an organisation “that uses terrorism as a means to achieve its aims”, setting off an explosion to terrorise innocent people, stealing cars and training to make explosives, BNA said. The authorities have quelled the revolt in the island kingdom, which sits between Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia and Washington’s main regional antagonist, Shiite power Iran.

But protests and small-scale clashes continue, and bomb attacks have been increasing since mid-2012. At least one policeman was killed and five security officers were wounded by explosions and homemade bombs in recent months. Bahraini Shiites complain of discrimination in areas such as jobs and public services - something the government denies. Talks between the government and opposition have failed to end the political crisis. — Reuters

Israel in global push to thwart Iran nuclear deal JERUSALEM: Israel was pulling out all the stops yesterday to prevent what it considers a looming bad deal with Iran over its nuclear programme, before the talks resume on November 20. The diplomatic offensive was aimed not only at the world powers engaged in negotiations with Tehran, after three days of talks ended early yesterday without a deal, but will also extend to the US Congress with which Israel retains close ties.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he spoke to the US, Russian, French, German and British leaders-five of the six world powers negotiating with Iran-and “told them that according to the information reaching Israel, the looming agreement is bad and dangerous”. According to Netanyahu, the mooted deal would remove sanctions on Iran while still enabling the Islamic republic to enrich uranium and advance works on a plutonium reactor.

“I asked them what was the rush? I suggested they wait, and seriously consider things,” he said at the opening of the weekly cabinet meeting. “I hope they reach a good agreement, and we will do all we can to convince world powers to avoid a bad deal.”

Economy Minister Naftali Bennett said earlier he would lobby the US congress. “Before the talks resume, we will lobby dozens of members of the US Congress to whom I will personally explain during a visit beginning on Tuesday that Israel’s security is in jeopardy,” he told army radio.

Later yesterday, Netanyahu was also to address the general assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America. Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and Home Front Minister Gilad Erdan late Saturday issued statements calling for world powers not to rush into an agreement.

Yaalon called the accord believed to be in the

works “a historical mistake”, and Livni said that “a much more favourable agreement could be signed”. Erdan said: “The pressure is showing results-it would be a grave mistake to give the Iranians what they wanted now.”

Significant progress in Geneva: diplomats Netanyahu spoke yesterday in the southern town of Sde Boker where Israel’s founding prime minister David Ben Gurion is buried.

His remarks came after Iran and world powers failed to reach a deal on Tehran’s nuclear programme despite three days of talks, dashing hopes of an immediate long-sought agreement in the decade-old standoff.

However, diplomats also said significant progress had been made in the marathon negotiations and that talks would resume in Geneva on November 20. Bennett said there were “differences” within US President Barack Obama’s administration on reaching a deal with Iran.

“If in 10 years an atomic bomb hidden in a suitcase explodes in New York, or a nuclear missile hits Rome, one could say it is because of concessions that would have been made” to Iran, he said.

Tensions between Israel and the United States were running high after Netanyahu on Friday publicly slammed a proposed interim nuclear deal with Iran as “very bad” and urged US Secretary of State John Kerry “not to rush and sign”.

Later that day, Obama telephoned Netanyahu to update him, with a White House statement saying the president “underscored his strong commitment to preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon”. Before their conversation the White House had rejected Israeli criticism, calling it “premature” because there was still “no deal”. —AFP

BASRA: Civilians and security forces inspect the site of a car bomb attack yesterday.

Many people were wounded. — AP

DUBAI/GENEVA: President Hassan Rouhani, architect of Iran’s diplomatic opening to big powers, said on Sunday it would not yield to any threats or discrimination in an apparent bid to keep hardliners on side as Tehran edges toward a deal on its nuclear programme. He was speaking to the Iranian parliament, a bastion of conservatives, a day after the Islamic Republic and the six powers narrowed differences at talks in Geneva and decided to resume them on Nov. 20 to try to defuse a decade-old stand-off and fears of a drift towards a new Middle East war.

The sides seemed on the verge of a breakthrough before cracks materialised among US and European allies as France declined to endorse the proposal under discussion, believing it did not adequately neutralise the risk of an Iranian atom bomb. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told France Inter radio that Paris desired a nuclear settlement with Iran but could not accept a “fool’s game” - in other words, a weak deal.

Diplomats said the main stumbling blocks included the status of Iran’s Arak heavy-water reactor of potential use in making bomb-grade plutonium, the fate of Iran’s stockpile of higherenriched uranium - both acute issues for France and the extent of relief from trade sanctions demanded by Tehran. Israel, which calls Iran’s nuclear activity a mortal threat, denounced the interim deal taking shape in Geneva as it would have let Iran retain some enrichment capacity rather than dismantle it, while giving Tehran respite from sanctions.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu served notice that Israel would not feel bound by such a deal, unmistakably reiterating a veiled threat to take military action if it deems diplomacy to restrain Iran’s nuclear ambitions a dead end.

Rouhani told the Iranian parliament that his negotiators had told their big power interlocutors in Geneva, “We will not answer to any threat, sanction, humiliation or discrimination.”

He did not elaborate on his reference to threats against Iran, but Netanyahu’s condemnation of the talks loomed large, as did the ideological resistance of Iranian conservatives to any mending of fences with the West. By “discrimination” and “humiliation”, he may have been alluding to pressure from hawks in the West for Iran to scrap its entire nuclear programme, which Tehran says is wholly peaceful in nature. “The Islamic Republic has not and will not bow its head to threats from any authority,” Rouhani said. “For us there are red lines that cannot be crossed. National interests are our red lines that include our rights under the framework of international regulations and (uranium) enrichment in Iran.”

Diplomatic opening from Tehran The fact that any deal might be feasible after a decade of increasingly vitriolic confrontation between Iran and Western powers, shows the striking shift in the tone of Iranian foreign policy since Rouhani’s landslide election victory in June.

Rouhani, a relative moderate, opened diplomatic windows to a nuclear compromise to alleviate economic sanctions that have throttled the OPEC giant’s lifeblood oil industry and cut it off from the international banking system.

He has won crucial public backing from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s ultimate authority, who - despite his profound suspicion of Washington - has warned hardline loyalists not to challenge the negotiating path.

GENEVA: Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (right) gestures next to EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton during a press conference closing three days of talks on Iran’s nuclear programme yesterday. — AFP

Rouhani has repeated Iran’s longtime insistence on a right to a sovereign nuclear energy industry as a member of the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Most diplomats concede that, as Tehran has expanded its nuclear capacity exponentially since 2006, the time for demanding a total shutdown - although enshrined in several U.N. Security Council resolutions - has now passed.

The Islamic Republic says its nuclear activities are purely peaceful and its negotiators say they are ready to take steps necessary for a deal if their nuclear “rights are recognised” and world powers reciprocate by relaxing sanctions. Fabius’s sharp remarks rankled with others in the Western camp.

But US Secretary of State John Kerry played down suggestions of a rift as the talks ended late on Saturday, saying, “I think tonight there is a unity in our position and a unity in the purpose as we leave here.”

European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said senior political officials from Iran and the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany would meet again on Nov. 20 to work on a deal. Kerry told reporters that an agreement could be within reach. “There is no question in my mind that we are closer now as we leave Geneva than we were when we came and that with good work and good faith over the course of the next weeks, we can, in fact, secure our goal,” Kerry said.

Gaps narrowed, differences clarified “We came to Geneva to narrow the differences and I can tell you without any exaggeration we ... narrowed the differences and clarified those that remain,” he said. But he warned Tehran that Washington’s desire for a diplomatic solution to the long-running dispute over Iran’s nuclear programme was not infinite, saying the window for diplomacy “does not stay open indefinitely.”

Ministers from Iran and the major powers held a series of meetings late on Saturday in a final push for an outline of a deal that would freeze parts of Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief. In the end, however, they chose to adjourn for 10 days. Ashton and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said they hoped an agreement would be signed later this month.

“We have done some intense negotiations and discussions and our objective is to reach a conclusion and that’s what we will come back to try and do,” Ashton told reporters. Zarif said: “We had a very good three days, very productive three days, and it is something we can build on.” The latest talks began on Thursday and Kerry unexpectedly arrived on Friday to help bridge differences and secure an agreement. From the time he arrived in Geneva, Kerry played down expectations of a deal.

Fabius, British Foreign Secretary William Hague and their counterparts from Russia and Germany, Sergei Lavrov and Guido Westerwelle, also attended, along with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Li Baodong, demonstrating the six-nation group’s commitment to reaching an agreement.

“On same wavelength” Zarif, asked about the role Fabius played in the talks, did not criticize the French minister, saying disagreements at this stage of the negotiations were to be expected. “It was natural that when we start dealing with the details there will be differences of views and we expect it,” he said. “I am not disappointed at all because the meeting we just had ... was a good meeting.

“I think we are all on the same wavelength and that is important and that gives us the impetus to move forward when we meet again next time.”

The powers remain concerned that Iran is continuing to amass enriched uranium not for future nuclear power stations, as Tehran says, but as potential fuel for nuclear warheads.

They are searching for a preliminary agreement that would restrain Iran’s nuclear programme and make it more transparent for UN anti-proliferation inspectors. In exchange, Tehran woul unexpectedly arrived on Friday to help bridge differences and secure an agreement.

From the time he arrived in Geneva, Kerry played down expectations of a deal. Fabius, Hague and counterparts from Russia and Germany, Sergei Lavrov and Guido Westerwelle, also attended, along with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Li Baodong, demonstrating the sextet’s commitment to striking a long-elusive deal. — Reuters

Luxury Geneva hotel hosts Iran diplomacy in action GENEVA: For hour after hour a swish Geneva hotel was the centre of intense diplomacy this weekend, as high-powered officials huddled in rooms seeking to resolve the decade-old problem of Iran’s nuclear programme.

Convoys of black limousines, lights and horns blaring, swept up to the hotel’s imposing doors, carrying top diplomats from Europe, the United States and Iran in a flurry of unexpected activity.

The surprise arrival in Geneva on Friday of US Secretary of State John Kerry, who cut short a visit to the Middle East to join negotiations between world powers and Iran already underway, raised the stakes to another level.

The British, French and German foreign ministers-all from the group known as the P5+1 — also rushed to Geneva to join the diplo-fest.

Running the gauntlet of a barrage of cameras and crowds of journalists, they strode into the Intercontinental Hotel, just steps from the United Nations in the Swiss city, before meeting for hours of marathon talks. Russia’s Sergei Lavrov arrived Saturday and China’s vice foreign minister Li Baodong was the last straggler, arriving when early hopes of a deal to rein in Iran’s uranium enrichment program were already beginning to fade.

Kerry’s out-of-the-blue decision to join the talks triggered a frenzy, amid speculation that after 10 years of virtual stalemate, Iran was

ready to scale back some of its nuclear programme feared to be a grab for an atomic weapon. Tehran denies the charges, but with its economy crippled by layer upon layer of sanctions and the new leadership of President Hassan Rouhani elected on a pledge to ease the hardship, it wants some kind of resolution to the standoff.

After meeting on Friday in the EU mission in Geneva, the talks relocated to the hotel’s plush conference rooms. Messages arrived from the press attaches of the various delegations saying talks between one leader or another had begun, but that was the only sign of the fierce haggling happening just floors away.

The mob of reporters were kept well at bay, until the officials had to walk through the grand hotel lobby, when they pounced, firing off questions hungry for any tidbits about how things were going. Exasperated hotel security staff called in the police, and time and again fought a losing battle to kick the reporters back into the cold outside, behind barriers set up in the hotel entrance.

Even those paying for rooms were told they “could not continue their professional activities” in the lobby area. If they ordered a $37 cheeseburger however and closed up their laptops they were welcome to stay put.

The hotel is no stranger to high-stakes diplo-

macy-it was here that Slobodan Milosevic was prodded into the Dayton accords in 1995.

And for many diplomats and journalists it was a case of deja-vu, for only a few weeks ago Kerry and Lavrov spent three days negotiating the Syrian chemical weapons deal, something the two men recalled at the top of their bilateral talks. Kerry’s talks on Friday stretched almost to midnight, and he was up early Saturday for breakfast with EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who has been chairing the discussions. From then on there was a whirlwind of meetings, as rumours began circulating of divisions between the French and other Europeans and the US. In some surreal moments, dinner guests in ballgowns and tuxedos picked their way through the lounging reporters as they made their way to a benefit for a Greek charity. A press conference, scheduled for 8:00 pm, finally took place around 1:00 am but French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius had already stolen Ashton’s thunder.

“We have not yet managed to conclude (a deal), because there are still some questions remaining to be dealt with,” Fabius said. All sides agreed however to meet again on November 20, presumably in Geneva, when most likely the Intercontinental will once again be the backdrop for what could be history in the making. — AFP

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2013

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

India PM to skip Sri Lanka summit amid war crimes row Lanka detains Aussie, NZ lawmakers over rights probe NEW DELHI/COLOMBO: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will skip this week’s Commonwealth summit in Sri Lanka, the foreign ministry said yesterday, as pressure grows for a boycott of the event over alleged war crimes by Colombo. Singh sent a letter to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse yesterday telling him of his decision not to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), which has become mired in controversy over demands for Colombo to address the allegations. The prime minister was “unable to attend personally” the 53-nation summit which Sri Lanka is hosting from November 15-17, foreign ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin told AFP. Singh’s move is seen as bowing to pressure from India’s own large population of ethnic Tamils to stay away in protest at the alleged massacre of Tamil civilians by Sri Lankan forces in the final months of the Tamil separatist war in 2009. Several ministers from within Singh’s government had urged him to stay away from the event, amid concerns about upsetting Tamil voters-an important constituencymonths before India holds national elections. Singh is sending his top foreign official, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, to head the Indian delegation.

Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Gamini Lakshman Peiris said Singh’s decision was not a setback for the hosts. “If he came, we would have been very happy.

But he has taken this decision considering domestic political compulsions,” Peiris told reporters in the southern town of Hambantota. “But it is not going to diminish the success of the CHOGM in any way.”

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has already announced he would boycott the summit, to protest at Sri Lanka’s failure to investigate its troops over allegations they killed up to 40,000 civilians in 2009.

British Prime Minister David Cameron has said he will attend, but has pledged to push for an international investigation into the allegations of war crimes. Cameron said earlier yesterday that he would put “serious questions” to Rajapakse, after watching a “chilling documentary” about the events of 2009 that shows footage of alleged war crimes.

“It (the documentary) brings home the brutal end to the civil war and the immense suffering of thousands of innocent civilians who kept hoping that they would reach safety, but tragically many did not,” Cameron said. “I will raise my concerns when I see President Rajapakse next week in Colombo. “And I will tell him that if Sri Lanka doesn’t deliver an independent investigation, the world will need to ensure an international investigation is carried out instead.” Sri Lanka responded by repeating its denial that its troops committed any such abuses.

“If a foreign head of government raises any issue with us, we will respond appropriately,” Rajapakse’s spokesman Mohan Samaranayake told AFP. “We deny that there were war crimes. What we tell them is, please provide the evidence and we will look into

TORONTO: In this photograph, India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh meets with US President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Toronto. — AFP it.” United Nations rights chief Navi Pillay last month warned Sri Lanka to show clear progress towards reining in rights abuses and investigating the suspected war crimes by next March, or face an international probe.

India has 62 million Tamils in its southern state of Tamil Nadu. They share close religious and cultural ties with their Sri Lankan counterparts. The ruling Congress party is keen not to alienate potential supporters with elections due by May 2014. Singh’s move comes amid concerns about a crackdown in Sri Lanka against journalists, rights activists and others before CHOGM. Sri Lankan immigration authorities on Sunday briefly detained an Australian and a New Zealand politician who were making a fact-finding mission into alleged rights abuses. Immigration officials held Australian Senator Lee Rhiannon and New Zealand MP Jan Logie at their hotel shortly before they were to hold a press conference about their mission, an opposition lawmaker said.

The pair were questioned about alleged visa violations before they were allowed to leave and fly home, officials said. The move came less than two weeks after Sri Lanka kicked out two Australian media rights activists who were meeting local rights activists. CHOGM is held every two years.

Britain’s Prince Charles will represent his mother Queen Elizabeth II, who is head of the bloc of mainly former British colonies.

Meanwhile, Sri Lankan immigration authorities yesterday briefly detained an Australian and a New Zealand politician on a fact-finding mission into alleged human rights abuses, officials said. The move came days before the country hosts a Commonwealth summit, amid pressure on visiting leaders to boycott the event over alleged war

crimes. Immigration officials held Australian Senator Lee Rhiannon and New Zealand MP Jan Logie shortly before they were to hold a press conference about their mission, an opposition Sri Lankan lawmaker said.

“They were accused of breaching visa conditions, but they had ‘special projects visas’ to be in Sri Lanka on a fact-finding mission,” Tamil lawmaker M A Sumanthiran told AFP. An immigration official confirmed the pair were detained briefly at their hotel room for questioning, but declined to give details.

The Australian High Commission (embassy) said the senator had been questioned about an alleged breach of her visa conditions but was later released.

“We understand that they are on their way back home according to their travel plans,” a high commission official said. Sumanthiran of the Tamil National Alliance said the pair had been questioned because the government was “paranoid” about foreigners looking into the country’s dismal rights record. “Publicly, the government says anyone can come here and see for themselves, but actually they don’t want the world to know what is happening here,” he said. He said the two were eventually freed because they were scheduled anyway to leave the country yesterday. The pair had travelled to the island’s former northern war zone to look into cases of human rights abuses, four years after government forces crushed Tamil rebels to end a decadeslong separatist war. The move came less than two weeks after Sri Lanka kicked out two Australian media rights activists who were meeting local rights activists. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has already said he will not attend the November 15-17 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. — Agencies

India-Pak border rows disrupt village life DHAMALA: Clashes between nuclear-armed Pakistan and India are always unnerving, but for Tanveer Ahmed, the latest border flare-up is personal: It’s harming his marriage prospects. The 20year-old Pakistani’s village, Dhamala, is just a few hundred meters (yards) from the barbed wire and watchtowers. He says he has approached three families in other towns with marriage proposals and all demurred.

“They said ‘We can’t take this risk. You could be killed at any time,’” said Ahmed. “I think I will have to move away from this village.” The gunfire and mortar shelling along the border of disputed Kashmir that erupted in August and peaked again in late October is the worst in a decade, killing eight Indian army soldiers and a border guard, and five military personnel and six civilians on the Pakistan side. The Indians say they are trying to deter Pakistani militants crossing into Kashmir, where India has been fighting a decades-long insurgency. Pakistan says its soldiers are under strict orders to fire only if fired upon and accuse the Indians of firing into civilian areas. Kashmir is a perennial flashpoint. Two of the three wars India and Pakistan have fought have been over this part-Himalayan region. India accuses Pakistan of arming and training rebels fighting for independence or a merger with Pakistan. Pakistan denies giving any backing beyond moral and diplomatic support.

The recently elected Pakistani government says it wants to improve ties with India, and analysts say Pakistan’s military has little interest in rocking the boat right now. India says militants are trying to infiltrate into the territory, and as the war in Afghanistan winds down, some worry that the militants who

DHAMALA: In this photo, Pakistani villager Sakina Bibi (right) narrates her ordeal during artillery shelling by the Indian army in Dhamala, along the Indian border. — AP fought there are starting to shift to Kashmir.

Pakistan says that from Oct 17 through Oct 25 Indian forces unleashed more than 8,500 mortar shells and more than 20,000 rounds of small-arms fire in one area which includes Ahmed’s village and others. Indian officials would not give figures but generally they say they are responding to incoming fire, and in “equal measure.” On each side of the line are villages where people grow wheat, rice and corn amid the firefights.

Indian forces are so close to Dhamala that villagers can see their watchtowers. During a visit by The Associated Press arranged by the Pakistani military to villages near the Pakistani city of Sialkot, Nazeer Ahmed told how Indian shelling woke him one night. He grabbed his children and was running to safety when a friend shouted that his neighbor had been wounded. He found the neighbor with his stomach ripped open by shrapnel. Families have been overnighting with relatives in villages farther from the border. Mothers keep their children indoors and men pray at home instead of in the mosque.

Children are warned not to pick up stray objects in case they

blow up. Villagers say they are used to the small-arms fire but the use of mortars is much more disturbing. They point to recently patched-up ceilings and brick houses that they say were hit by Indian mortar fire. They accuse the Indians of targeting civilian areas, and deny they are working with the Pakistani army.

“If they think the villagers are working with the army, they are foolish,” said Muhammed Jamil in Charwa, a village roughly 800 meters (yards) from the border. On the Indian side, people reached by telephone from Srinagar, the capital of Indian-held Kashmir, give similar accounts of the hardships they are enduring.

In the village of Garkhal, Sushma Devi, 24, said she was warming milk for her two kids on Oct 24 when she heard a blast.

“I thought our roof crumbled, she said.

“Then I saw four of our family members, including my husband, in blood all around me, crying for help. I too started crying. Then border guards came after a while and took them to the hospital.” In Pindi Chakran, 200 meters (yards) from the border, 40-year-old Rajinder Singh said people are afraid to work their fields. “Border guards have a post in our village.

Pakistani troops target them, but we are the victims. Our homes are damaged, villagers are hit and our cattle suffer. This time, we had to spend nights in a temporary shelter for a week,” he said. Things have calmed down in recent days, but no one knows for how long.

“Throughout my life I have seen the uncertainty,” said 60-year-old Asghar Ali from the Pakistani village of Charwa. “No one can say how long this lull will last.” — AP

Pakistani schools ban Malala’s book ISLAMABAD: Pakistani education officials said yesterday that they have banned teenage activist Malala Yousafzai’s book from private schools across the country, claiming it doesn’t show enough respect for Islam and calling her a tool of the West. Malala attracted global attention last year when the Taleban shot her in the head in northwest Pakistan for criticizing the group’s interpretation of Islam, which limits girls’ access to education. Her profile has risen steadily since then, and she released a memoir in October, “I Am Malala,” that was co-written with British journalist Christina Lamb.

While Malala has become a hero to many across the world for opposing the Taleban and standing up for girls’ education, conspiracy theories have flourished in Pakistan that her shooting was staged to create a hero for the West to embrace.

Adeeb Javedani, president of the All Pakistan Private Schools Management Association, said his group banned Malala’s book from the libraries of its 40,000 affiliated schools and called on the government to bar it from school curriculums.

“Everything about Malala is now becoming clear,” Javedani said. “To me, she is representing the West, not us.”

Kashif Mirza, the chairman of the All Pakistan Private Schools Federation, said his group also has banned Malala’s book in its affiliated schools. Malala “was a role model for children, but this book has made her controversial,” Mirza said.

“Through this book, she became a tool in the hands of the Western powers.”

He said the book did not show enough respect for Islam because it mentioned Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) name without using the abbreviation PBUH - “peace be upon him” - as is cus-

tomary in many parts of the Muslim world. He also said it spoke favorably of author Salman Rushdie, who angered many Muslims with his book “The Satanic Verses,” and Ahmadis, members of a minority sect that have been declared non-Muslims under Pakistani law.

In her reference to Rushdie, Malala said in the book that her father saw “The Satanic Verses” as “offensive to Islam but believes strongly in the freedom of speech.” “First, let’s read the book and then why not respond with our own book,” the book quoted her father as saying. Malala mentioned in the book that Pakistan’s population of 180 million people includes more than 2 million Ahmadis, “who say they are Muslim though our government says they are not.”

“Sadly those minority communities are often attacked,” the book said, referring also to Pakistan’s 2 million Christians. The conspiracy theories around Malala reflect the level of influence that right-wing Islamists sympathetic to the Taleban have in Pakistan. They also reflect the poor state of education in Pakistan, where fewer than half the country’s children ever complete a basic, primary education.

Millions of children attend private school throughout the country because of the poor state of the public system. The Taleban blew up scores of schools and discouraged girls from getting an education when they took over the Swat Valley, where Malala lived, several years ago. The army staged a large ground offensive in Swat in 2009 that pushed many militants out of the valley, but periodic attacks still occur. The mastermind of the attack on Malala, Mullah Fazlullah, recently was appointed the new head of the Pakistani Taleban after the former chief was killed in a US drone strike. — AP

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Founder of new China party aims to work within system BEIJING: For someone who has just set up a new political party in the face of a de facto ban by a Chinese government that tolerates no dissent, Wang Zheng has surprisingly modest aims. Wang and other supporters of disgraced senior politician Bo Xilai, who has been jailed for corruption, formed the China Zhi Xian Party - literally “the constitution is the supreme authority” party - last week. It named Bo as “chairman for life”.

The Communist Party has not allowed any opposition parties to be established since it came to power following the 1949 revolution. So history suggests it will not look kindly on this new party, especially when its titular head is a former member of the Communist Party’s top ranks. But Wang, one of the party’s founders, insisted in an interview that she is no anti-government revolutionary and is not challenging the Communist Party’s right to govern, which she accepts is enshrined in the constitution.

Instead, the Zhi Xian Party simply wants the government to guarantee freedom of assembly and elections. “There are many important systems provided for in the constitution, like the National People’s Congress and representatives of the people at various levels, but this is not happening according to the constitution. That’s what I want to stress,” she told Reuters by telephone.

According to China’s constitution, the “people’s representatives”, the equivalent of members of parliament in other countries, should be directly elected by the people. But that does not happen in practice.

Elections that do take place occur without any opposition candidates and official candidates are pre-

approved and pre-screened by the Communist Party.

It is widely suspected that votes cast against candidates are not counted.

The constitution “says that the Communist Party will lead for the long-term, and in the present circumstances we accept that ... It’s in the constitution, so we have to accept it,” said Wang, 48, an associate professor of international trade at the Beijing Institute of Economics and Management.

The new party plans to hold its first congress next year to elect a vice-chairman, Wang said, declining to say how many members her new party had. She described herself as an “initiator” of the party and accepted that forming it was a sensitive move ahead of a meeting of top leaders that started in Beijing on Saturday to map out a long-term economic plan for the country. Wang said that she is currently under surveillance with police and plainclothed security outside her house. Asked earlier if she was worried that she might be arrested, she said: “We are not afraid. I don’t think we will be arrested.”

“Exercising her rights” Despite being a supporter of Bo, Wang says she was originally driven to speak up for him because of a simple sense that he had been legally wronged. Bo was dramatically sacked last year as Communist Party chief of the Chongqing metropolis following a scandal involving the murder of British businessman, for which Bo’s wife was convicted.

Wang wrote two open letters last year decrying what had happened to Bo, after which she was detained. Upon being released, Wang was flooded

with messages from supporters and sympathisers of Bo, someone about whom she admitted she had previously known little.

“Everyone told me what kind of man Bo Xilai was they were all ordinary people. Only then did I start to understand him,” Wang said. “I went from having an objective, legal point of view when talking about him, to becoming a supporter.” “But I’m not a fan because fans are not rational and I’m rational.”

Wang said she had never met Bo but declined to comment when asked if she had met any of Bo’s relatives following his dismissal. She went to Chongqing to meet Bo supporters in June last year, but was forced back to Beijing and put under house arrest for about a week, during which time she staged a hunger strike and ended up in hospital.

Bo, a “princeling” son of a former vice premier, was once a rising star in China’s leadership and had cultivated a following through his populist, quasi-Maoist policies. He was jailed in September for life on charges of corruption and abuse of power after a dramatic fall from grace that shook the ruling Communist Party. Bo had denied the charges. It was not immediately clear if Bo would accept the chairman’s role in the new party.

Han Deqiang, a Beijing academic who has been one of the most ardent defenders of Bo’s policies when he was Communist Party chief of Chongqing, knows Wang as a passionate supporter of Bo. Han said he was not a member of her new party. “She’s been very brave and very resolute. She’s really an astonishing person,” Han told Reuters. “I know she is not worried about being taken away. She believes

that everything she is doing is in accordance with the constitution. She’s simply a citizen who is exercising her rights in accordance with the constitution, including the right to set up a party.”

Totally different Activists have been jailed in the past for setting up political parties, although parties have never before coalesced around fallen top political figures. One of China’s most prominent dissidents, Xu Wenli, was sentenced to 13 years in prison in 1998 for helping to organise the opposition China Democracy Party.

More recently, a group of dissidents helped organise the “Charter 08” movement, calling for sweeping political reforms. One of their leaders, Liu Xiaobo, was jailed for 11 years in 2009. A year later he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Wang said her party was totally different because she was not seeking to repudiate the Communist Party.

“There was Charter 08 - I think their motives were good, but the way they went about things was definitely wrong,” she said, adding she was in favour of direct elections for the country’s rubber stamp parliament, the National People’s Congress. The Zhi Xian Party was formed on Nov 6, just three days before the opening on Saturday of a key conclave of top Communist Party leaders to discuss muchneeded economic reforms, including how to further push back the state’s involvement of the economy, something leftists have fought hard against.

“Privatisation is against the constitution. Stateowned enterprises are the lifeblood of China’s economy,” Wang said. — Reuters

Maldives postpones presidential runoff Oppn leader accuses court of sabotaging polls

TARAKAN: Relatives weep as they wait for the bodies of the victims of a military helicopter that crashed during a mission to build a border post on Borneo to arrive at the airport in Tarakan, Indonesia yesterday. — AP

Indonesia evacuates bodies after deadly chopper crash TARAKAN: Indonesian rescuers yesterday flew to the jungles of Borneo island to bring back the bodies of 13 people killed when an army helicopter crashed and burst into flames a day earlier. Six people were also injured when the aircraft, carrying construction workers to build a military outpost, smashed into a cliff as it tried to land at the remote site near the Malaysian border.

The start of the mission to retrieve the bodies was delayed for several hours yesterday by bad weather but clouds cleared later, allowing a helicopter to fly to the remote area. It was carrying mountaineering equipment so that rescuers-mainly military and search and rescue agency personnel-could reach the wreckage on a cliffside in Malinau district in North Kalimantan province.

Rescuers quickly found 11 of the 13 bodies in the helicopter, which had been reduced to a charred wreck, and put them in body bags, military spokesman Legowo Jatmiko told AFP. “It’s bright and sunny now and rescuers said they did not face much of a problem. We believe we will be able to evacuate all the bodies today and airlift them” to Tarakan, a town in northern Borneo, he added.

Three other aircraft were on standby to help if needed. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono expressed his “deep sorrow” at the deaths. “Hopefully the families of the soldiers and other victims will find fortitude in the face of this tragedy,” he said in a tweet.Jatmiko said rescuers must also retrieve the black box flight data recorders from the Russian-made Mi-17 aircraft, which was completely burnt out following the accident. Once the bodies have been evacuated, an investigation into the cause of the crash will begin. Military officials said they suspect it was caused both by bad weather and a problem with the back rotor blades, which appeared to spin out of control just before the helicopter hit the cliff.

Eight of those killed were civilian construction workers and five were crew members, who were military personnel. The six survivors were still in hospital receiving treatment for burns. Borneo is a vast island shared between Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei, covered in lush jungle and home to rare animals such as orangutans. There have been numerous fatal air crashes over the years in Indonesia and some have involved military aircraft. — AFP

MALE: The first democratically elected president of the Maldives and the brother of the country’s former autocratic ruler have qualified for a runoff, according to results in the island nation’s presidential election.

But the Supreme Court postponed Sunday’s runoff by six days, setting the stage for a constitutional crisis in this tourist paradise nation, which has been buffeted by political turmoil for the past five years. Mohamed Nasheed, who resigned as president of the Indian Ocean archipelago last year, won nearly 47 percent of the popular vote in Saturday’s election, while Yaamin Abdul Gayoom, the brother of 30-year autocratic ruler Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, trailed with 30 percent. A third candidate, businessman Qasim Ibrahim, had 23 percent.

A runoff between the top two candidates was required because neither received at least 50 percent of the vote. The runoff was supposed to be held Sunday, but hours earlier the Supreme Court ruled in favor of a petition filed by a member of Ibrahim’s Jumhoory Party who asked for a postponement, arguing there was little time to campaign or forge alliances. The court set the runoff election for Nov 16 as it was originally scheduled before it was moved up on President Mohamed Waheed Hassan’s behest to avoid a constitutional crisis.

Hassan’s term ends Monday, and the constitution requires an elected president be in office by that day.

The Supreme Court on Saturday reiterated its previous ruling that Hassan will stay in office until a runoff election is held if no clear winner emerged from the first round, ignoring the possibility of a political logjam.

On Sunday, Nasheed demanded Hassan’s resignation before his term ends at midnight, which would enable the parliamentary speaker to be caretaker and oversee the runoff. The constitution provides for the speaker to take over powers if both the president and vice president vacate their positions.

Vice President Mohamed Waheed Deen already resigned on Sunday, presidential spokesman Masood Imad said. Imad said Hassan would make a decision after getting legal advice because the Supreme Court has asked him to continue. Nasheed said the international community was wrong in recognizing Hassan, his former deputy, as president when he resigned controversially last year and urged it to compensate by facilitating a power transfer to the speaker. He also called for the government and the armed forces to support the transfer.

The US Embassy in neighboring Sri Lanka expressed concern over the court order and said the Supreme Court’s efforts to “repeatedly and unduly interfere in the electoral process subverts Maldives’ democracy and takes decision-making out of the hands of the people.” The Maldives, which is known for

MALE: Former Maldivian president and presidential candidate Mohamed Nasheed speaks to the press yesterday. — AFP its luxurious resorts, has faced much upheaval in the five years it has been a multiparty democracy. Society and even families have been divided along party lines, and institutions like the judiciary, public service, armed forces and police have worked in different directions and been accused of political bias. There is fear that continued political turmoil could harm the Maldives’ reputation for stability and its economy. The country is heavily reliant on tourism, which contributed 27 percent to the gross domestic product in 2012. The next president faces huge challenges in building public confidence in government institutions and dealing with pressing issues including high unemployment, increasing drug addiction among young people and improving transportation among the far-off islands.

Gayoom also told reporters late Saturday that he wanted a postponement of the runoff to sort out alleged discrepancies in the voters’ list. Nasheed had said the elections were fair. There is deep mistrust between Nasheed, Hassan and the Supreme Court because the former president believes the other two are under the influence of Maumoon Abdul Gayoom himself.

The integrity of the Supreme Court has been called into question, with the United Nations’ human rights chief, Navi Pillay, last week accusing it of interfering

with the presidential election and subverting the democratic process. Saturday’s elections were the third attempt to elect a president this year. Two previous attempts since September failed with questions over the accuracy of the voters’ list prepared by the Elections Commission. The chaos left voters isolated and divided, and their country’s new democracy under threat.

Observers had regarded the September election as largely free and fair, but the Supreme Court said it found the voters’ register included fake names and those of dead people. Police stopped a second attempt to hold the election last month, claiming all the candidates had not endorsed the voters’ list as mandated by the Supreme Court.

Some 240,000 people were eligible to vote in the predominantly Muslim nation, and about 86 percent voted. Nasheed defeated Maumoon Abdul Gayoom in the country’s first multiparty election in 2008, ending his 30-year autocratic rule. But Nasheed resigned last year after weeks of public protests and signs of declining support from the military and police after he ordered the arrest of a senior judge he perceived to be biased. Nasheed claimed that he was ousted in a coup and accused his then-deputy, Hassan, of backing it. An inquiry commission set aside his claim of a coup but the country has since been in political turmoil. — AP

Chinese villagers move in from the country

TAICHUNG: Prosecutors take part at a protest outside the national congress of the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) party in Taichung yesterday. — AFP

Irate protesters hurl shoes as Taiwan’s ruling party meets TAICHUNG: Hundreds of angry protesters threw shoes at riot police yesterday as Taiwan’s ruling Kuomintang party held a congress to call for unity as public discontent grows with the government. The demonstrators-some of them jobless after factory shutdowns and others independence activists and supporters of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party-vented their anger at President Ma Ying-jeou, who is also the Kuomintang chairman.

“Ma Ying-jeou, step down!” the crowd chanted while hurling shoes at riot police behind barricades. A man was detained by police after climbing over barbed wire outside a gymnasium in the central city of Taichung, where the Kuomintang was meeting. Pressure on Ma’s administration has mounted after workers lost their jobs following the mass shifting of assembly lines from the island to

the Chinese mainland to capitalise on cheap manpower and land prices there.

Inside the gymnasium, Ma urged party representatives to unify under the party banner. Only with the Kuomintang’s continued rule could Taiwan “walk on the right path and thus give the people the most benefits”, Ma said. “But your support and unity is needed if we are to reach the goals.” A row sparked by the expulsion from the Kuomintang of parliamentary speaker Wang Jin-pyng-the second most powerful politician in the party-had sparked fears the party would split.

Ma had accused Wang of influence-peddling and said he was unfit to head the legislature, but was overruled by a court ruling which allowed Wang to keep his post. The party decided not to appeal the ruling, in the interests of unity. Wang was present at yesterday’s congress. —AFP

QIYAN COMMUNITY: After her husband started making good money as an electrician here in central China, Cao Qin ended years of working as a migrant laborer hundreds of kilometers (miles) away and came back home to better care for their school-age boy. But Cao, 30, didn’t return to the family’s rugged adobe home in the hills. Instead, they all moved into a new third-floor apartment in this planned community of Qiyan that has been going up in a valley in southern Shaanxi province over the past couple of years as a new home for villagers scattered throughout nearby mountains.

Shops, markets, health clinics, the boy’s school and government offices are all within walking distance or a short motorcycle ride - a stark contrast from before for Cao. “It always felt far away. I think it took me two hours on foot to come to the nearest town,” said Cao, one of the newest residents among the neat rows of white-and-gray townhomes and apartment blocks of Qiyan Community. “We are very satisfied.”

Originally started as a disaster resettlement in 2010, the newly minted community has since been swept into China’s massive push to move millions of country folk into more urban settings to improve access to services and to shift from a factory-based economy to a consumer-driven, service-oriented one.

But there is one big problem: For most families there is no work here, meaning that most of the region’s working-age people, as before, travel elsewhere for jobs. Some families are still holding out in the mountains because they can’t afford the new apartments and don’t have enough flexibility in how to use - let alone sell - the land they would leave behind.

China has no private land ownership, and rural lands are owned by village collectives. Mountain villager Huang Tianbing is locked into a farm collective deal arranged by local officials that involves subleasing his land for a tea tree business and caring after the trees. He said he only makes about $350 a year from the arrangement. “We can hardly make a living and

QIYAN: In this photo, Chinese women chat near a housing block built for rural citizens, in Qiyan in China’s Shaanxi province. — AP have no means to move out,” Huang said, sitting near the door to his adobe home up on a hill, a vegetable garden behind him. Scholars argue that successful urbanization requires a reform of China’s rural collectives and land laws to give farmers like Huang more opportunities for success.

China’s Communist Party leaders huddled in a high-level plenum in Beijing are expected to discuss these kinds of reform during consultations through Tuesday, with more comprehensive plans to be rolled out by year’s end. Beijing sees urbanization as China’s next biggest engine for economic growth, with plans to turn 300 million rural folks into urban dwellers by 2030 - equivalent to relocating nearly the entire popu-

lation of the United States.

“Imagine their demands as they become urbanized. That’s unprecedented in human history,” said Hu Angang, a professor at the School of Public Policy & Management at Tsinghua University. “We are turning urbanization from the biggest potential for consumption into the biggest drive for consumption.” China’s urbanization first picked up pace with market reforms in the early 1980s. By 2011, half the country’s population had moved into cities, but a rigid, decades-old household registration system that assigns either urban or rural status under the old planned economy created a new class of second-class people: rural laborers working in cities. —AFP

NEWS

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2013

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2013

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

Bulgaria cracks down on illegal immigrants as tensions rise SOFIA: Bulgaria has turned back more than 100 clandestine immigrants at its border with Turkey at the weekend, an interior ministry official said yesterday, amid rising nationalist tensions in the European Union’s poorest member. The group of migrants was stopped in the Strandzha mountains in the southeast of the country, the ministry’s secretary general Svetlozar Lazarov told public radio.

About 1,200 police officers were deployed in the mountainous and wooded region on Friday where around

100 migrants have been trying to cross the border every day for months. With an influx of nearly 10,000 people so far this year, Bulgarian authorities are struggling to accommodate the migrants and Interior Minister Tsvetlin Yovchev on November 4 announced plans aimed at speeding up expulsions of economic migrants, notably from northern Africa and Afghanistan.

Lazarov said he expected the situation to ease. “We blocked the border and new centres will open” to accommodate

the migrants, but those set to be expelled or whose asylum request is being processed will not be allowed to leave the shelters at will. “People who visibly have a humanitarian problem, in particular mothers with children, will be housed in shelters” and their requests examined in a fast-track procedure, the minister had said Monday.

Polling institute Alpha Research has found that the refugee crisis-which has taken the Bulgarian authorities by surprise-is fanning nationalist tensions in

the country. A new nationalist party that said it aims to “clean up the country of this scum, these immigrants” was founded on Saturday by one of several extremist groups, one of which calls itself Blood and Honour.

In the northern village of Telish residents are protesting against the opening of a shelter in a former army barracks and residents are standing guard at night to stop any arrivals. Two men have warned they will set themselves on fire if authorities open a reception centre.

And on Friday night skinhead extremists beat up a Bulgarian Muslim, who are often of Turkish descent, because they mistook him for a Syrian. The man was hospitalised with serious injuries, Lazarov said, warning of “rising tensions” in the country. In another such incident a Cameroonian woman told public television she was hit in the head while waiting at a bus stop in the capital Sofia. A saleswoman meanwhile was wounded in a knife attack when she tried to stop a migrant from robbing her till. —AFP

NY’s new mayor vows different leadership NYC moves to vacate judge’s stop-frisk decisions

HYANNIS PORT: In this file photo, Sen. John F Kennedy (D-Mass.) sits with wife, Jacqueline, who reads to their daughter Caroline, at Hyannis Port, Mass. — AP

Europe still spellbound

by Kennedy star quality PARIS: An immoral womaniser and an ineffective US president? Or a courageous visionary who laid the foundations for victory in the Cold War?Whatever the answer to those questions, it’s fair to say John F Kennedy’s reputation has not come through the last 50 years unscathed. Or at least not in the United States. However In Europe, the JFK brand is as strong as ever, his star quality undimmed in the harsh light of historical hindsight.

Five decades on, the man who stood at the heart of a divided continent and declared “Ich bin ein Berliner” remains synonomous with the charismatic, dynamic leadership that the Europe of the time sorely lacked. Who else was going to stand in the shadow of the Berlin Wall, erected two years earlier, and voice the democratic world’s determination to resist the Soviet Union’s suffocating grip over eastern Europe?

Berliner Werner Eckert, 81, was there that day. “The highest and strongest man in the western world, JFK, the American president, came specifically to Berlin, to make us Berliners courageous, and to demonstrate to the East that the strong men, the Americans, would not let us go,” Eckert recalled in an interview with AFP. “(To say) ‘We hold on to Berlin, to Germany, we have not given in’.

“Fifty years is a long time, but that was unforgettable.”

The Europe that was enthralled by the handsome great grandson of Irish emigrants and his glamorous French-speaking wife was led by politicians of a very different stripe.

Spain and Portugal were under the thumb of dictatorships, Greece was recovering from civil war and Italy was run by a mafia-entangled Christian Democrat cabal.

West Germany was still emerging from the nightmare of Nazism and its aftermath.

France was preoccupied with its retreat from colonialism and stuffy aristocrats held sway in Britain. When Kennedy was elected, in 1960, the first Beatles album was still three years away. But he offered Europe a glimpse of what was to come once the 60s as we now know them got underway.

“I remember perfectly that sense of freshness that this young and handsome president transmitted to the world,” said veteran Italian politician Walter Veltroni. “There was a feeling that the winter of the post-war period was coming to an end.” Kennedy had youth on his

side and he was fortunate to have found fame during a period whose fashions have remained timeless.

The JFK look remains a staple of contemporary politicians. Tony Blair liked to work it, and former French president Nicolas Sarkozy was so keen to capture it he got suits made

by Brooks Brothers. The Agnelli dynasty, owners of the Fiat auto giant, are still referred to as the Italian Kennedys, partly because the family patriarch, Gianni, accompanied Jackie on trips to the Amalfi Coast and was rumoured to have had an affair with her.

In France, JFK basked in the reflected glory of a nation’s infatuation with his Dior-loving wife, famously referring to himself as “the man who accompanied Jacqueline Kennedy to Paris.”

“What Kennedy did was establish the idea that you could have a head of state who was rather young, not necessarily hugely experienced, but full of energy and ambition,” says French journalist Philippe Labro, the author of “On a tire sur le President” (They Shot the President). “Giscard (France’s 1970s president), Tony Blair and Sarkozy in his way, they are all children of Kennedy.

“Especially in the years after his death, if someone new emerged, from Normandy for example, they’d be the Norman Kennedy-his name became an adjective, which in itself is quite astonishing and it explains why, 50 years later, he still fascinates people.” Old Europe’s more permissive attitudes to personal morality have also helped to preserve Kennedy’s hero status.

The president’s bed-hopping antics were recently extensively documented by Italy’s Il Giornale newspaper. But, rather than to condemn, the objective was to put Silvio Berlusconi’s notorious sex parties into perspective by comparing them to what the Berlusconi-owned daily described as “The most Democratic bunga bunga in the world.”

All over Europe, Kennedy avenues and public squares testify to his impact, which e ve n p e r m e a t e d t h e i ro n c u r t a i n .

Zbigniew Lewicki, an American studies professor in Warsaw, recalls Kennedy ’s death. “People were very moved and you could actually enter the American embassy at the time to sign the commemorative book, so we all went and people were grief-stricken.”—AFP

Rwanda silent after defeat of DR Congo’s M23 rebels NAIROBI: Rwanda, under intense international pressure over its alleged covert aid to M23 rebels in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, has maintained total silence since the group’s defeat. The March 23 Movement (M23) announced this week it was ending its 18-month insurgency after suffering a resounding rout at the hands of the Congolese army with key backing from a special UN intervention brigade. The rebels are now under pressure to sign a formal peace deal today in Uganda, to where most of its fighters have fled. Scores of wounded fighters have also fled to Rwanda.

UN experts have accused Uganda and in particular Rwanda of backing the rebels, and despite angry denials, officials in Kigali have been clearly anxious over the turn of events. On the eve of M23’s formal surrender, Rwandan Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo warned in a radio interview that Kigali’s arch-foe, the DRC-based Rwandan Hutu rebels of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), were moving into positions abandoned by the M23.

“Our intelligence reports indicate that FDLR is coming close to the Rwandan border as M23 is chased out of the territory,” she said on local radio KFM today. The FDLR, one of a myriad of rebel outfits operating in the Kivu region, is a descendant of Rwandan Hutu extremist groups that carried out the 1994 genocide, during which some 800,000 people, mostly ethnic Tutsis, were murdered while the world stood by.

Kigali’s minority Tutsi-led government sees them as a continuing threat to Rwanda’s security, which goes some way to explaining their alleged support for the M23 — a Tutsi-dominated outfit.

Rwanda’s recent silence contrasts conspicuously with its threats of retaliation made just a couple of weeks earlier when shells allegedly fired by the DR Congo army hit its territory, raising fears that the conflict could widen. Rwanda’s first venture into the former Zaire came in 1996, aimed at preventing the perpetrators of the 1994 genocide from re-arming. That drew little or no criticism at the time-partly because of Western guilt over failing the stop the genocide.— AFP

NEW YORK: New York City’s newly elected mayor says he will run the nation’s largest city with a very different leadership style: a hands-on approach that draws upon two decades in politics, with significant input from his poet-activist wife. “I think it’s fair to say the most important voice in my life is Chirlane McCray,” Bill de Blasio said after a landslide victory Tuesday that made him the city ’s first Democratic mayor since 1989. “In terms of a formal role, in terms of what kind of specific issues she may focus on, that will take some time to work out.”

De Blasio, who is white, and McCray, who is African-American, met while they both worked for former Mayor David Dinkins in the early 1990s. The couple often draw comparisons to Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton, and de Blasio has worked for both. DeBlasio and McCray worked closely on strategy during de Blasio’s mayoral win.

McCray joined most political meetings and had the final edit of major speeches.

Their working relationship is a new one for City Hall. “It’s unusual for New York City,” said Jamie Chandler, political science professor at Hunter College. “He’ll need to be careful. ... She is not mayor, he is.

They need to walk a fine line.” De Blasio, an outspoken liberal, ran as the opposite of billionaire Mayor Michael Bloomberg, pledging to listen to the working-class New Yorkers who felt Bloomberg’s 12 years in office were biased toward Manhattan elites.

Bloomberg ran the city like the CEO he was, empowering his commissioners and deputy mayors to handle day-to-day operations.

Bloomberg, who never worked in government before taking office in 2002, surrounded himself with likeminded people from the corporate world, who believed that data-driven solutions could be found for most city problems.

That engineer-like approach helped drive down crime and improve most city services, but its implementation sometimes seemed cold. De Blasio, 52, wants it clear that all lines of authority run to him. “Having worked in New York City government as long I have, I’m going to take a ver y hands on approach,” de Blasio said while announcing the first members of

NAPLES: A picture shows a Christmas figurine by Italian craftsman Gennaro Di Virgilio depicting New York City’s new mayor Bill de Blasio†in a shop in the via San Gregorio Armeno, in Naples, a street where many nativity scene craftsmen have their workshops. — AFP his transition team.

He learned his management methods from some of his party’s power players. He worked in Bill Clinton’s administration, where his boss was Andrew Cuomo, now New York’s governor. De Blasio later managed Hillary Rodham Clinton’s Senate campaign. De Blasio’s first four appointments to his transition staff - three women, two of them minorities - were an obvious nod to make his team look like the city it serves. But more tellingly, the way those people were selected revealed the outsized role his wife could play in the administration.

“The people who are standing here are standing here because she and I made that decision together,” de Blasio said, “and we’ll continue that practice.”

Meanwhile, attorneys for New York City asked a federal appeals court Saturday to vacate a judge’s orders that require the police department to change its stop-andfrisk practice that critics argue unfairly targets minorities. The city said in filings with the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan that US District Judge Shira Scheindlin’s orders this summer should be thrown out largely for the same reasons a three-judge panel of the appeals court gave in staying her decision on Oct 31,

pending an appeal. The panel stayed her order and removed her from the case, saying she misapplied a related case ruling that allowed her to take the stop-andfrisk case and gave media interviews during the trial, calling her impartiality into question. “At a minimum, the District Court’s misconduct makes it reasonable to question the impartiality of the District Court Orders, and at a maximum represents a violation of Appellant’s Due Process rights to a neutral arbiter and to present a defense,” the filings said. “In either case, the District Court Orders must be vacated.”

Scheindlin ruled in August that the city violated the civil rights of tens of thousands of blacks and Hispanics by disproportionally stopping, questioning and sometimes frisking them. She assigned a monitor to help the New York Police Department change its policy and training programs regarding the tactic. An attorney for Scheindlin last week asked the three-judge panel to reconsider its unusual step of ordering her off the case or pass the issue along to the full circuit.

Advocates for changing stop and frisk blistered at the city ’s request to vacate the judge’s orders Saturday. “Voters overwhelmingly

rejected (Mayor Michael) Bloomberg’s stop-and-frisk policy by choosing a mayor committed to reforming stop-and-frisk, so fighting reform now not only adds injury to those subjected to the policy but is a waste of taxpayer money and counterproductive to public safety,” said Joo-Hyun Kan, a spokeswoman for Communities United for Police Reform.

Mayor-elect Bill De Blasio has said he would drop the city ’s appeal of Scheindlin’s ruling but he could also settle with those urging reforms, which would eliminate federal oversight. Stop and frisk has been around for decades. To make a stop, police must have reasonable suspicion that a crime is about to occur or has occurred, a standard lower than the probable cause needed to justify an arrest. Only about 10 percent of the stops result in arrests or summonses, and weapons are found about 2 percent of the time.

But recorded stops increased dramatically under Bloomberg’s a d m i n i s t r a t i o n to a n a l l - t i m e high in 2011 of 684,330, mostly of black and H ispanic men. A lawsuit was filed in 2004 by four minority men, who said they were targeted because of their r a ce s, a n d i t b e c a m e a c l a s s action case. — Agencies

Schools for Burundi but little education BUJUMBURA: Burundi’s President Pierre Nkurunziza has built more schools in his eight years in power than all of his predecessors put together, but education levels are still at an all-time low. When Nkurunziza came to power in 2005, he immediately declared primary education free, a widely welcomed policy which resulted in the number of children registered for primary school tripling in a year. In some schools, as many as 200 children piled into classrooms built to accommodate a fraction of that number. “It was one of the biggest rushes to get children into school that we’ve ever seen,” said Johannes Wedenig, UN children’s agency Unicef’s chief for Burundi.

Soon, Burundi ran into the problem of insufficient schools, said Willy Nyamitwe, one of

Nkurunziza’s spokesmen. Undeterred, Nkurunziza decided to set an example to encourage local communities to build more schools. He adopted a hands-on approach, criss-crossing the country to give a helping hand, even making bricks and jumping onto school roofs to hammer down sheets of corrugated iron.

His opponents accused him of neglecting to run the country, but the results are there, at least as official statistics. Between independence from Belgium in 1962 and Nkurunziza’s coming to power in 2005, 1,723 primary schools and 173 secondary schools were built, according to Nyamitwe. The small central African nation was left devastated by decades of on-off civil war, but reconstruction began in earnest after 2006.

NGOZI: Burundi’s President Pierre Nkurunziza (center) helps on the construction site of a school in the province of Ngozi in northern Burundi. —AFP

Since 2007, Burundians have “built some 2,500 primary and secondary schools... and the percentage of children in school shot up from 59.8 percent to the very impressive figure of 95 percent,” he said.

President Nkurunziza loves to boast of his achievements in the sector and his entourage goes as far as talking about the “Burundian miracle”. Unicef has praised “an initiative that allowed education to become virtually universal.”

But the quality of that education has suffered.

According to Unicef, a third of children retook a year of school in 2012, while 38 percent dropped out. One of the reasons for the drop-out rate is that schooling is not actually free, as parents have to make a “voluntary” financial contribution to the cost of building the school.

In addition, they have to buy uniforms and school materials, while more children in school means there are fewer pairs of hands to help with subsistence farming and chores. In what is one of the world’s poorest countries, and where most families count six or seven children, those fees can easily prove too much. “We see it every day in the results of tests or even in the answers children give in class, the level of education is at an all-time low,” said Eulalie Nibizi, who heads Burundi’s main teachers’ union.

She said the education ministry had had to drastically lower the bar for admission to secondary school, slashing the minimum grade required on the country’s national exam-perhaps by as much as half. Teachers’ unions and civil society organisations say the main problem is the spate of reforms rushed in with no preparation. Five years ago the government introduced the teaching of English and Swahili at primary school, refusing to recognise that teachers were already struggling to teach both French and the local Kirundi, the two official languages. “It’s a nightmare for me, I don’t know a word of Swahili and I can barely say ‘good morning’ in English,” complained Marie-Claire, a primary school teacher at Giheta, a town in the centre of the country. —AFP

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Putin damning Russia to low growth trap

By Dr James J Zogby ussia’s failure to significantly change its energydependent economic model under President Vladimir Putin is consigning the country to potentially decades of low growth and eroding its status as a top emerging economy. The Russian economy ministry on Thursday dramatically confirmed what was obvious to many, by downgrading its estimate of Russia’s average growth to 2030 to a paltry 2.5 percent, a far cry from over seven percent rates in the early Putin years. “The pace of Russia’s economic growth will fall behind the global average in the forecast period,” admitted Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukayev. This year even Russia’s official forecast puts 2013 growth at just 1.8 percent. But most worrying for the Kremlin is that the weakness cannot just be blamed on external factors but stems from domestic shortcomings.

The Russian economy faces a daunting list of troubles - a declining population, the re-emergence of the United States as a rival energy superpower due to shale gas, and the government’s colossal spending on defence that stretches the budget. These factors are compounded by Russia’s failure to stimulate private enterprise, reform the judicial system, improve labour productivity and turn the Russian economy into more than a lumbering energy producer. Russia’s weakness this year alone can be linked to this failure, which has damaged the investment climate, economists say.

The revisions by the economy ministry were the “clearest signal yet that Moscow believes that economic weakness over the past year has been structural rather than cyclical in nature,” said Neil Shearing, Chief Emerging Markets Economist at Capital Economics.

“Without a major shift in policy we suspect that Russia will go from being one of the world’s fastest growing economies to one of its biggest underperformers.”

The forecasts by his own ministry made Putin’s aim of Russia becoming one of the world’s top five economies by 2020 look almost laughable and also undermined its credibility as a member of the BRICS groups of supposedly fast-growing emerging markets. An October survey of 21 top economists by Russia’s Higher School of Economics (HSE) showed not only a low consensus forecast of 1.6-percent growth this year, but also growth expectations of three percent or less for every year up to 2022. “Three percent growth, which would have seen unjustifiably low until recently now seems almost unreachable,” said Sergei Smirnov, deputy director of the HSE’s Development Institute. He said that forecasts of “a decade of lean years” would mean growth of 29 percent in the decade from 2013-2022, making a mockery of the government’s ambition to double GDP in 10 years.

Russia’s central bank, which has long kept a hawkish eye on inflation, on Friday warned about Russia’s growth prospects after keeping key interest rates unchanged at 5.5 percent. “Due to weak investment activity and the slow recovery of external demand, the Central Bank expects low Russian economic growth rates to remain in the medium-term perspective,” it said. The International Monetary Fund warned Russia in October that unless more was done to address reform, growth in the medium term would be no more than 3.5 percent due to Russia’s weak investment climate. But it said that Russia could achieve medium-term growth of 5.0 percent with reform. “Under a reform scenario, Russia’s medium-term growth could rise considerably,” it said.

Putin built his popularity on giving many Russians a new prosperity after the torrid 1990s. According to the IMF, this meant that since 2000 Russia has increased its per capita income from 33 to 51 percent of the OECD average. But Russia was helped in the period up to the 2008-2009 global financial crisis by two one-off factors unusually high oil prices and the using up of the spare capacity created by the dismantling of the inefficient Soviet economy. But this capacity has now been used up, with no slack. The IMF forecasts growth of just 1.5 percent in 2013 with a pick-up to three percent in 2014.

Troublingly for the Kremlin, the IMF says the economy is working at close to full capacity with inflation and employment high.

“The activation of spare capacity and rising oil prices that drove a decade of average annual growth in excess of five percent are not replicable,” the IMF said in a report. With Putin set to stay in the Kremlin until at least 2018 - and maybe even 2024 if he seeks another mandate - the Russian authorities will want to ensure a maximum of economic stability to prevent handing a new cause to the still-nascent protest movement. — AFP

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France winning Gulf friends, influence

By John Irish rance’s tough line in major power talks with Iran may frustrate those looking for an early deal over Tehran’s nuclear program, but is helping Paris to seal strategic new links with Gulf states and Israel.

Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius emerged just after midnight from Saturday’s talks in Geneva to insist more work was needed to remove the risk of an Iranian nuclear bomb, rankling those Western allies who believed they were on the brink of an accord that has eluded negotiators for a decade. France’s bottomline position should have come as little surprise to other negotiators heading to Geneva last week.

While President Francois Hollande’s decision to pose for a photo opportunity with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani at September’s UN General Assembly raised concerns in Israel, French officials were quick to insist that their negotiating stance would remain tough. Fabius stressed then that Iran must suspend construction of its Arak heavy-water reactor and halt uranium enrichment to a concentration of 20 percent to win an easing of international sanctions that are strangling its economy.

Those were the same demands he cited at the start of the last day of talks on Saturday when he insisted France could not accept a “fool’s game” handing Iran a cheap victory. “We have not changed our position. It has always been clear and constant,” a French diplomatic source said. “If the perception of Saudi Arabia and Israel is that the United States is more inclined for a deal without firmness, that is their analysis - but our position has always been the same.” US Secretary of State John Kerry, alluding to criticism of the US approach in Geneva, said on US television: “We are not blind, and I don’t think we’re stupid. I think we have a pretty strong sense of how to measure whether or not we are acting in the interests of our country and of the globe.”

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France, a UN Security Council veto-holder, has long held out for strict terms trading a loosening of international sanctions on Iran’s oil-based economy in return for commitments by Tehran to show its nuclear work is as peaceful as it asserts. But the new element is the fear among Iran’s foes Israel and the Gulf states that the United States has turned softer on Iran, leaving Paris as the leading defender of their interests. As France struggles to reform its weak domestic economy and watches Germany increasingly shape European Union policy, that is a realignment full of welcome trade and diplomatic promise for Hollande’s government. “This is not just about arms sales ... but about strategic influence in the region,” said Middle East specialist Shashank Joshi at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London. “France can win influence with Saudi Arabia and Israel.”

Kerry was quick to play down differences among the Western allies within the so-called “P5+1” grouping - Security Council veto-wielders Russia, China, the United States, Britain and France, plus Germany - that are stewarding the Iran diplomacy. But one diplomat close to the talks accused Fabius of grandstanding.

Veteran diplomat Carl Bildt, foreign minister of Sweden, tweeted: “Seems as if the most difficult talks in Geneva are not with Iran but within the Western group.”

While Franco-US relations have long since recovered from the lows reached in 2003 when Paris marshalled world opposition to the US-led war in Iraq, new tensions have emerged. French officials were disappointed when they saw Washington as being hesitant to support Hollande’s January intervention in Mali to quash an insurgency by Al-Qaeda-linked rebels. But they were even unhappier in August when, after much US encouragement, they put French fighter jets within hours of bombing Syria to punish its use of chemical arms - only to be told by Barack Obama to stand down while he consulted the US Congress, then

to watch as his ardour for ac tion cooled. “Our American partners used to lecture us 15 years ago,” said a senior French official. “Now, when it comes to the Middle East they are filled with uncertainty and doubt. That uncertainty gives us a card to influence our policy.”

Paris points to a longstanding hard line on weapons proliferation as proof it is acting from a point of principle rather than to curry favour with the Gulf and Israel. Yet with France only last week hit by a second sovereign debt downgrade from ratings agency Standard and Poor’s over its failure to kickstart its sluggish economy, Paris does not hide the fact that it regards exports to the Middle East as a precious source of growth and jobs. In October, France sealed a contract to modernise six naval ships and tankers from Saudi Arabia, having won in July one billion euros wor th of contrac ts with the United Arab Emirates for anti-aircraft radars and military observation satellites.

French officials say they are also optimistic on securing a large deal to deliver anti-aircraft defence missiles to Riyadh and the sale of Rafale fighter jets to neighbouring Qatar. “The international context, our consistent position on Syria and our relations with Saudi Arabia have contributed to addressing the unimpressive military ties we once had,” Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said just after the Saudi deal. The question now is to what extent France is ready to go out on a limb and veto any possible nuclear deal with Iran, with a new round of talks set for Nov 20 - just as Hollande is scheduled to visit Israel and the Palestinian territories. “The most difficult part of this conflict is not between France and Iran, it is between the United States and Iran,” former defence minister Paul Quiles, a Socialist ally of Hollande, told Reuters. “If the US president is willing to seek a compromise, then it would be terrible if France prevents it.” — Reuters

Egypt relies on Gulf aid: Then what?

By Asma Alsharif and Shadia Nasralla gypt is engaged in a high stakes gamble, using billions of dollars from Gulf Arab allies to stimulate the economy and keep its politically charged streets calm in the hope that investors and tourists will return. The biggest Arab country’s finances are in a precarious state with a massive deficit but the government, armed with billions of Gulf petrodollars, has rejected the conventional wisdom of IMF-prescribed austerity measures. If the plan fails, a new government expected to be elected early next year could find itself deep in debt, its currency overvalued and an economy in crisis.

“Now we are living on a ventilator, (with) aid from neighbouring countries and that is understandable in the midst of a meagre tourism industry and reluctance of direct foreign investment,” Sherif Samy, Egypt’s Financial Supervisory Authority head, said.

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates pledged more than $12 billion in aid to Egypt after the army toppled Islamist President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood on July 3 following mass protests against his rule. “Nobody can live, in the long term, on aid,” Samy said. “It is not sustainable.” Since the 2011 uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak, Egypt has burned through $20 billion dollars in foreign reserves, borrowed billions from its allies and racked up billions in debts to foreign oil companies to prop up its currency.

The Morsi government worked out an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that would have included austerity measures, higher taxes and a reduction of subsidies that eat up a quarter of the budget. It was never implemented. Egypt is going a different way from many European countries such as Greece whose cash-strapped governments have enforced repeated rounds of austerity measures, squeezing households, to rein in huge budget deficits.

The army-backed government, well aware that IMF conditions could cause a huge popular backlash before elections, has avoided austerity measures. In a country

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where protests have forced out two presidents in three years and sent the economy into a tailspin, the interim leaders, appointed after Morsi’s ouster, have internalised this risk.

“The government is faced with a big challenge, especially as it faces coming elections within months,” Samy said. “They must not be excessive with the social subsidy programmes and wage and pension increases that might titillate the feelings of ordinary citizens in the short term but have a severe impact on the state budget and on the deficit.” Western powers want a return to democracy in Egypt, which has a peace treaty with Israel and controls the strategic Suez Canal, a global trade route. What happens in Egypt could have a ripple effect on the rest of the region, which has also suffered from political and economic turmoil since the Arab Spring uprisings. The government says it is still on track to rewrite the constitution and hold parliamentary and presidential elections in early 2014, part of a political roadmap the army announced after it removed Morsi.

Supported by the Gulf aid pledges, the government announced a 22.3 billion Egyptian pound ($3.2 billion) stimulus package in August. It later increased it by a third to 29.6 billion pounds and plans yet another 24 billion pound package early next year. But the government has not spelled out details of any other long-term plans to strengthen the economy. The interim government has raised the public sector minimum wage and pensions, and the central bank has lowered its key interest rates by a full percentage point since August to encourage growth.

In addition, the government has said it would focus on a series of labour-intensive infrastructure projects and unfinished public projects designed to quickly improve living standards of Egypt’s 85 million citizens.

Some businessmen say there are indications that investors and tourists, once its main source of foreign exchange, will return once the political turmoil subsides. “Foreign investors are primarily concerned about stability, no violence, where they feel their investments

are safe, where there is an ease of going in and out,” said Hussein Choucri, head of Cairo-based HC Securities, a mid-sized investment bank. “You have some big companies in the Gulf that have discounted the economic and political risk already.”

However, many investors are not only worried about security but recoil from the way Egypt has treated businessmen since the uprising. State companies that Gulf investors bought under the Mubarak administration have been renationalised and property sales renegotiated after private lawyers challenged the transactions in court. The interim government has been taking steps to reassure investors. “We are revising all economic legislation,” Investment Minister Osama Saleh said. “The bids and tenders law, which resulted in many complaints against investors, has been amended so that those who sign contracts with the government will be safe from complaints or lawsuits.”

Egypt’s tourism minister said last month the government plans to launch a marketing campaign in the hope of attracting 13.5 million tourists next year. Only 9.8 million tourists came in 2011, down from 14.7 million the previous year. If the measures don’t succeed, the country could find its finances in even worse shape than before Morsi’s ouster, forcing it to return to its Gulf benefactors for even more aid. During Morsi’s year in power, Egypt’s budget deficit widened to almost 14 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), a number the government, backed by Gulf aid, hopes to reduce to around 10 percent this year.

It also hopes investors and tourists will bring dollars, taking pressure off the Egyptian pound, which has lost almost 16 percent of its value since the uprising and even more on the black market. The country may not be able to count on its Gulf allies forever. When an Egyptian delegation visited the Gulf last month, the United Arab Emirates deputy Prime Minister Mansour bin Zayed AlNahayan said Egypt can’t live on Gulf aid alone to fix its economy. “Egypt must think of innovative and unusual ways (to boost the economy),” he said. — Reuters

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2013

S P ORTS

Pietersen knee trouble flares ahead of Ashes

Nuremberg fumes after German goal blunder

Under-fire Bayern boss sees no reason to resign

SYDNEY: England have fresh injury concerns ahead of next week’s Ashes series opener, with star batsman Kevin Pietersen sent for treatment on a sore knee following a scare over wicketkeeper Matt Prior. Pietersen would have a cortisone injection, coach Andy Flower said, adding that he hoped the pivotal batsman would feature in England’s final warm-up match against an Invitational XI starting in Sydney on Wednesday. Flower added that he was confident that Pietersen, who put off surgery to play in the Ashes, would be fit for the first Ashes Test in Brisbane, which starts on Nov 21. The 33year-old has been working overtime in the gym to strengthen his knee, which he damaged on England’s tour of New Zealand earlier this year. “Kevin has had a slight recurrence of that knee issue, and he’ll be going to Melbourne for a scan and a cortisone injection - so he won’t be travelling with the rest of the team,” Flower said late Saturday. “I don’t think it’s going to be a huge issue. He’s had a couple of these injections before, and they’ve been successful.” Flower said the effects of the cortisone injection lasted for months and there was no concern about Pietersen’s condition in the England camp.

BERLIN: Bottom side Nuremberg have added to calls to introduce goal-line technology into the Bundesliga after they were denied a goal, even though the ball had bounced over the line. With his side 2-1 down after 81 minutes at Borussia Moenchengladbach on Saturday, Nuremberg’s Josip Drmic saw his shot hit the crossbar, then bounce behind the line and out into play. To his dismay, the goal was not given by referee Christian Dingert and Nuremberg went on to lose 3-1 and stay bottom of the Bundesliga. “The ball must be a full diameter behind the line, which it wasn’t,” insisted Dingert, although replays looked like it was. With Hawkeye goal technology having been introduced in England’s Premier League this season, there are growing calls in Germany for it to be introduced to the Bundesliga as well. It remains a hot topic here after Bayer Leverkusen beat Hoffenheim 2-1 last month, only for replays to show Stefan Kiessling’s winning header entered the goal through a hole in the side netting. While Drmic was left holding his head in the hands after his goal was not given, Nuremberg coach Gertjan Verbeek was fuming as a point would have kept them off the bottom. “The referee was asleep,” said the 51-year-old Dutchman, who took charge of struggling Nuremberg three weeks ago. —AFP

BERLIN: Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness said yesterday he sees no reason to resign from his position despite his looming trial next March for alleged tax evasion. “Why should I?” the 61-year-old told German broadcaster ZDF. “There has never been a reason, as I have the full support of the fans, the members and the advisory board.” Hoeness said he had “not yet found anyone within the club” who had asked him to resign. “There were only a few journalists, who obviously didn’t like the idea that the club and its president could stand together as one,” he added. Hoeness, who is accused of hidings millions of euros from tax authorities in a Swiss account, is due to go on trial at Munich’s higher regional court on March 10. The former 1974 World Cup winner with West Germany has said he would work tirelessly to convince the court of his innocence, having spent more than 40 years at the Bavarian giants. Despite widespread criticism, Hoeness’ initial offer to resign in May was rejected by the club’s supervisory board. In a statement earlier this month, the club said an independent inquiry by legal experts has advised the Bayern board that it does not have to request Hoeness’ resignation from a legal point of view.

Dubuisson too good for Woods and company

NEW DELHI: Mohammad Siddikur of Bangladesh poses with the trophy after winning the Indian Open yesterday. — AP

Nervy Siddikur hangs on to win Indian Open NEW DELHI: Bangladesh’s Siddikur claimed a nerve-wracking one-stroke victory over local hopes S S P Chowrasia and Anirban Lahiri at the 50th Hero Indian Open yesterday for his second career title on the Asian Tour. Leading by four shots overnight, Siddikur made life difficult for himself with a wobbly final round of three -over-par 75 at Delhi Golf Club, allowing the chasing pack to hound him down. Chowrasia, who has won twice before at the fabled Delhi venue, agonisingly missed a five-foot birdie chance on the last hole to force a play-off, as Siddikur ended a three-year winless run following

his career breakthrough at the 2010 Brunei Open. Lahiri, who closed with a 70, shared second place with Chowrasia in the $1.25 million tournament as he also rued a missed birdie chance on the last hole to force extra time in front of a large gallery.

“I am so happy. After I won in Brunei, I struggled to win a tournament,” Siddikur was quoted as saying by organisers. “It was a long day for me but it’s been the best golf of my life this week. “Honestly, I didn’t put pressure on myself but I had some bad shots for bogeys. But I had a good feeling that I would win this tournament.” — AFP

No top player should be denied spot: Molinari BELEK, Turkey: Ryder Cup player Francesco Molinari joined the debate over the controversial Final Series rules yesterday by saying no one in the top-60 of the money list should be denied a place in the season-ending event in Dubai. The 31-yearold Italian also wants the 20 percent bonus pool money that is awarded to players who compete in all four Final Series events to be scrapped. The European Tour ’s new FedExCup-style competition has been golf’s hot topic in the last week and a half with leading players like Ernie Els, Sergio Garcia and Charl Schwartzel complaining the regulations are unfair.

“It’s not easy to get it right first time, we saw that in America too when the FedExCup started,” Molinari told Reuters in an interview during the final round of the $7 million Turkish Airlines Open. “All four tournaments have good potential, it’s a lot of money especially for the European Tour so it’s just a matter of making the rules slightly better. I don’t think anyone should be forbidden from playing at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai even if they don’t want to play in the first three events of the Final Series,” said Molinari after a closing 67 gave him a share of 25th spot in Turkey. “I don’t think there’s any need to say you have to play in two out of the three events before Dubai to be eligible for Dubai. If you are in the top 60 in the money list...nobody should tell you that you can’t play.” South African Els, a member of the tour for almost two decades, has described the system as “farcical” while Schwartzel said this week he was thinking about his future on the circuit. Molinari, who played in the triumphant Ryder Cup sides of 2010 and 2012, said the bonus pool awarded to

those who participate in both Shanghai events and the Turkish Open that precede Dubai was a waste of time. “They brought in the bonus to try to get all the top players in all the Final Series tournaments but it’s obvious to everyone that it didn’t work,” added the Italian.

“I think we just need to stress that and not have any sort of bonus. It’s silly ... and not really fair for the players. “I think what would probably make the difference is to increase the bonus pool for the leading 10 in the money-list to get the top players to play in the last few events,” said Molinari. “If you can make more money from your position in the overall money-list I’m sure the top guys will be more involved in these last few tournaments.”

Molinari said there was too much golf on the calendar right now and something had to give for the elite of Europe who try to divide their time equally between their own tour and the US PGA circuit. “There are too many tournaments and each player decides when and where he will play but nobody plays all of them,” he explained. “I think we should be doing our best to keep the best European players competing in Europe, if not for all the tournaments then at least a few of them.”

Molinari has been consistency personified this season, chalking up a string of top20 finishes without managing to add to his tally of three European victories. “I wasn’t really playing my best in the first half of the season but now I feel a lot closer,” said the Italian who occupies 14th position in the money list. “It’s just a matter of getting the breaks at the right time, trying hard on the course and making the most of my chances.” —Reuters

BELEK, Turkey: Little-known Frenchman Victor Dubuisson showed no signs of stage fright as an exemplary exhibition of front-running earned him his maiden European Tour win at the inaugural $7 million Turkish Airlines Open yesterday.

The 23-year-old started the final 18 holes with a five-shot lead and plotted his way carefully round the Montgomerie Maxx Royal course to finish with a three-under-par 69 and a 24-under aggregate of 264. Britain’s Jamie Donaldson, helped by a hole-in-one at the par-three 16th, was two strokes adrift in second spot after a dazzling nine-under 63.

World number one Tiger Woods (67) never really threatened and had to be content with a share of third place on 268 with US Open champion Justin Rose (65) in the penultimate event of the European season. Dubuisson grinned like a Cheshire Cat at the presentation ceremony and was almost lost for words after picking up the first prize of Ä848,930 ($1.13 million), the biggest payday of his fledgling career. “I wanted to cry there on the 18th green,” he said after being doused with champagne by a posse of his fellow French players. “I don’t really know what’s happening right now. I was so busy concentrating on my game that it hasn’t sunk in that I’ve won such a big event. I’m just so happy.”

Dubuisson was a model of consistency early on, reeling off nine straight pars before picking up his first shot of the day at the 10th. He remained in front until he suffered his first bogey of the round at the 14th, at the same time as Donaldson produced a bolt from the blue at the 165-yard 16th. His seven-iron pitched six feet short before rolling gently into the cup to earn the Abu Dhabi Championship winner one million air miles from the tournament sponsor.

“It’s mad, it’s weird, when it goes in,” said Donaldson. “You hit it right down the flag and you’re hoping in the air that it’s going to be close. “When it lands and vanishes it’s like, ‘Where’s that gone?’. The fact you get something extra for it as well, is nice.” No sooner was Dubuisson caught on 21-under by Donaldson than the Welshman’s playing partner Rose made it a three-way tie for the lead by knocking in an 18-footer for a matching birdie.

The bearded Frenchman responded in the manner of a true champion at the 308-yard 15th, powering his tee shot to the fringe of the green before restoring his lead with a chip and a putt for birdie. Dubuisson then added the icing on his victory cake by converting putts of 25 and 15 feet for birdies at the 17th and 18th. “The start was a little bit difficult for me today,” he said. “I wasn’t playing too well and wasn’t mak-

ANTALYA, Turkey: Victor Dubuisson of France smiles as he holds his trophy after his victory in the Turkish Open golf tournament at the Montgomerie Maxx Royal Course yesterday.— AP ing any putts on the front nine. “I was watching the leaderboard and seeing all the good players getting nearer to me. I spoke to my caddie and he just said, ‘If we make one or two birdies at the end we’ll be fine’.” Fourteen-times major winner Woods said he thoroughly enjoyed his trip but simply did not collect enough birdies to challenge for the title. “On a golf course like this where you have to make so many birdies, I just didn’t make enough,” said the 37-year-old American. “You just had to be so aggressive all of the time and that is reflected by how many guys made runs of four or five birdies in a row.”

Asked whether he would return to Turkey in 2014, Woods replied: “I don’t know. I got better as this week went on. Yesterday I didn’t hit it that great on the back nine but overall it was pretty good.” Woods was in scintillating form in the second round, shooting a nine-under 63, but he lost ground after returning a 68 on Saturday. The 14-times major champion is continuing to confound the critics who said when he slid down the world rankings in 2011 that he would never regain his former glories. “A couple of years ago there were a lot of you guys who

were saying I could never win again,” said Woods. “I’ve got eight wins since then, five this year, so I’m very happy with the progress I’ve made. I’ve won on some venues that were very tough this year and being par t of the US Presidents Cup win with (captain) Freddie (Couples) was another special moment.” Woods has one more tournament appearance this season, at his own World Challenge event in California next month. “I’m going to hang up the clubs for a little bit, that’s going to be nice,” he said, “then we have another great field (in December) so I’m looking forward to getting there and competing.”

Rose’s joint third-place finish sets up a thrilling climax to the season at next week’s $8 million DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.

The second-placed Englishman is now 213,000 euros ($284,300)behind money-list leader Henrik Stenson, who finished joint seventh in Turkey, with all to play for in the Middle East.

“I’ve gained some ground for sure and it’s nice to be able to control your fate next week,” said Rose. “The exact scenario I’m looking for is to go to Dubai and win.” — Reuters

Scott romps to 4-shot Australian PGA victory

GOLD COAST: Australian golfer Adam Scott holds up the Joe Kikwood Cup after winning the Australian PGA Championship at RACV Royal Pines yesterday. — AFP

GOLD COAST, Australia: Masters champion Adam Scott defied a lengthy weather suspension midway through the final round of the Australian PGA Championship to win by four shots at Royal Pines yesterday. Scott completed the sixth career Triple Crown in Australian golf after he recovered from a two-hour weather delay, making an eagle and two birdies to complete a final-round fourunder-par 67 on the Gold Coast.

Scott’s emphatic win, along with last year’s Australian Masters and the 2009 Australian Open, means he joins Greg Norman, Peter Senior, Craig Parry, Robert Allenby and Peter Lonard as winners of all three domestic majors. It also adds a home triumph to his three international tournament wins and more than US$5 million in earnings for the year.

“It feels amazing to kind of tick the boxes down here in Australia now. I guess they’ve come fast in the end but it’s been a long road to get them all,” said Scott, 33, the world number two. “Really proud the PGA’s meant a lot to me and my family so I think this is an incredible win, a very memorable one for me being here on the Gold Coast as well. “This is the icing on the cake.” Scott, who became the first Australian to win the Masters earlier this year, topped the leaderboard ahead of young American Ricky Fowler (63-72-71-

68) while Australian Jack Wilson was six shots off Scott in third.

Sensational approach shots on the par-5 12th and par-5 15th were the highlights of Scott’s final round as he romped to the trophy.

It was a different Scott who emerged from the clubhouse following the thunderstorm after he had struggled to hold onto his overnight three-shot lead. Before the weather delay he was just one shot up over the closing Fowler. “A special win for me. I’ve felt incredible support from the crowd... I could feel them getting nervous as it got close out there for the first 10 or 12 holes,” said Scott.

“Them cheering me on to get the win was a good feeling as well.”

Scott will chase further glory as he continues his homecoming tour at the Australian Masters at Royal Melbourne on Thursday, before lining up in the World Cup at the same venue the week after and then the Australian Open at Royal Sydney the following week.

Fowler, 24, who began the tournament with an eight-under 63, made six birdies in Sunday’s final round but his second bogey of the day, at the 13th, ended his hope of spoiling Scott’s homecoming party. Young trainee professional Wilson, who hit four birdies before the storm to surge into contention, carded a final-round 68 to finish behind the tournament’s top two. —AFP

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2013

S P ORTS

Bergeron scores winner as Bruins beat Leafs 3-1 BOSTON: Patrice Bergeron scored a powerplay goal early in the third period and Tuukka Rask stopped 33 shots, lifting the Boston Bruins to a 3-1 win over Toronto on Saturday night in the teams’ first meeting since their playoff series last spring. Bergeron also added an empty-netter with 22 seconds to play, and Zdeno Chara also had a power-play goal for Boston.

The Bruins won for only the third time in seven games. Joffrey Lupul scored for the Maple Leafs, who lost for just the second time in six games. Skating during the closing part of James van Riemsdyk’s double-minor penalty for high-sticking Johnny Boychuk late in the second period, Bergeron jumped in on a rebound in front and fired it past sprawling goaltender James Reimer 1:06 into the final period. Winger Carl Soderberg backhanded the puck on net from near the bottom of the right circle. Reimer made 31 saves.

SENATORS 3, PANTHERS 2 Kyle Turris had a goal and an assist to help Ottawa beat Florida, spoiling Peter Horachek’s debut as the Panthers’ coach. Horachek was promoted from the team’s American Hockey League affiliate in San Antonio on Friday after the club fired Kevin Dineen and assistant coaches Gord Murphy and Craig Ramsay. The Panthers have lost eight in a row to fall to 3-104. Original Florida captain Brian Skrudland who had been serving as the team’s director of player development - and former Panthers center John Madden replaced Murphy and Ramsay. Mika Zibanejad and Clarke McArthur also scored for Ottawa, and Robin Lehner made 25 saves. The Senators have won three straight to improve to 7-6-4. Nick Bjugstad and Marcel Goc scored for Florida. Tim Thomas made 28 saves in his first game back after missing six straight because of a lower-body injury.

BLUES 2, PENGUINS 1 Kevin Shattenkirk’s first goal of the season midway through the third period sent St Louis over Pittsburgh. Ryan Reaves also scored for St Louis and Jaroslav Halak stopped 19 shots as the Blues won for the 11th time in 15 games to start the season. It’s the first time they’ve done that since 2003-04, also the best start in franchise history. It was St Louis’ first regulation victory against the Penguins since a 4-1 win Dec. 19, 2006, in Pittsburgh. Jussi Jokinen scored and Marc-Andre Fleury made 30 saves for the Penguins, who have dropped two straight after a four-game winning streak. The 20 shots were a season low for Pittsburgh.

COYOTES 4, CAPITALS 3, SO Shane Doan scored his second goal to cap a rally late in regulation and Phoenix scored on both attempts in the shootout to end Washington’s five-game winning streak. Troy Brouwer and John Carlson scored two of Washington’s three goals on power plays in a strange second period that included a string of penalties and rare delay of game call against Phoenix goalie Mike Smith for playing the puck across the red line. Trailing 3-1, Phoenix rallied late in the third period on goals by Lauri Korpikoski, who scored as he was falling to the ice, and Doan’s fourth goal in three games on a power play with 1:46 left. Antoine Vermette and Mikkel Boedker scored in the shootout and Washington failed on its two attempts to lose for the first time in five shootouts. Joel Ward also scored for the Capitals, who have scored seven power-play goals in three games.

LIGHTNING 4, RED WINGS 3, OT Teddy Purcell’s goal at 3:51 of overtime gave Tampa Bay a win over Detroit. Ryan Malone and Steven Stamkos also scored for Tampa Bay, which got its first win in Detroit since Jan 12, 1994. Ben Bishop stopped 25 shots. Henrik Zetterberg scored both goals for Detroit, which lost its fifth straight at home. Jimmy Howard made 31 saves. Purcell got his fifth goal, from the slot, after a turnover by Kyle Quincey behind the Detroit net. Zetterberg tied the game with 4:12 left in the third on a slap shot from the right circle for his second of the game and 10th goal of the season.

BLACKHAWKS 5, STARS 2 Marian Hossa scored two goals and Chicago defeated Dallas. Patrick Sharp assisted on the first four goals for Chicago. Patrick Kane added a power-play goal and Niklas Hjalmarsson had a short-handed empty-net goal and Jonathan Toews also scored for Chicago. The Blackhawks used two short passes across the ice, from Sharp and Andrew Shaw across the ice to Kane, to set up the game-winning shot at 18:15 of the second period. Against Chicago’s penaltykilling unit, which ranked last in the NHL, Dallas failed to score on six power plays. The Stars are 0 for 24 at home this season. Hossa evened the score 1-1 in the first period after Cody Eakin had scored for Dallas. Toews scored midway through the second period, after a goal by Tyler Seguin.

KINGS 5, CANUCKS 1 Tyler Toffoli had two goals and an assist in his third game back from the minors, and Mike Richards had a goal and two assists in Los Angeles’ victory over Vancouver. Richards, Justin Williams and Toffoli scored in a 2:33 span midway through the second period for the Kings, chasing Vancouver goalie Roberto Luongo in the process. Jonathan Quick made 25 saves, and Linden Vey earned his first NHL point with an early assist in Los Angeles’ 10th victory in 14 games. Luongo stopped 14 shots before getting pulled after the Kings’ fourth goal midway through the second period. Dan Hamhuis scored in the Canucks’ first game against Los Angeles as division rivals since 1998. The Sedin twins were held scoreless for the second straight night.

WILD 3, HURRICANES 2, SO Jason Pominville scored a goal in regulation and the game-winner in the shootout to lift Minnesota over Carolina. All three Wild players scored in the shootout: Zach Parise, Mikko Koivu and Pominville. Justin Fontaine got the tying goal midway through the second period and Josh Harding made 27 saves for Minnesota, which won for the seventh time in nine games. Jiri Tlusty and Ryan Murphy scored for the Hurricanes, who had won two straight.

Justin Peters stopped 28 shots.

FLYERS 4, OILERS 2 Philadelphia captain Claude Giroux ended his 21-game goal drought and Jay Rosehill, Scott Hartnell and Vinny Lecavalier also scored in a win over Edmonton. David Perron and Taylor Hall scored for the Oilers. Philadelphia’s win was its first at home since Oct. 24 against the New York Rangers and ended a stretch of 175:22 without a goal at home. Flyers goalie Steve Mason finished with 24 saves. Giroux connected at 11:26 in the third period, giving the Flyers a 3-1 lead. The crowd gave him an extended ovation.

BLUE JACKETS 5, ISLANDERS 2 Ryan Johansen and Brandon Dubinsky each had a goal and two assists, and Columbus beat New York to snap a five-game losing streak.

Cam Atkinson and R J Umberger also scored for the Blue Jackets, who pulled away with three goals in the third period. James Wisniewski added an empty-net goal and an assist. The line of Dubinsky, Johansen and Atkinson led the way, ending Columbus’ longest skid in two years. Last season’s Vezina Trophy winner, Sergei Bobrovsky, who had struggled of late, played his second consecutive strong game. He made 24 saves and punctuated his performance with an assist on Wisniewski’s goal. The Blue Jackets went 2 for 4 on the power play and now hit the road for seven of their next eight games, including a long-distance swing through Western Canada. — AP

Photo of the day

Peter Besenyei performs during the Red Bull Air Race press conference in Gdynia, Poland .—www.redbull.com

Pacers beat Nets to improve start to 7-0 NEW YORK: Paul George scored 24 points and the Indiana Pacers improved the NBA’s only undefeated record and the best start in franchise history to 7-0 by beating the Brooklyn Nets 96-91 Saturday night. David West added 18 points and hit the clinching free throws for the Pacers, who had won their first six games in 1970-71, when they played in the ABA. They have the longest winning streak to open an NBA season since both the Lakers and New Orleans were 8-0 in 2010-11, according to STATS. Roy Hibbert finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds, and Lance Stephenson also scored 15 points. Deron Williams and Joe Johnson each had 17 points for the Nets, who fell to 2-4 and lost at home for the first time this season. Brook Lopez scored 16 and Paul Pierce had 15.

CELTICS 111, HEAT 110 Jeff Green hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer and Boston beat Miami for its third straight win. Gerald Wallace’s pass found Green in the right corner, where he unleashed a shot over the outstretched hands of LeBron James. The shot was confirmed after a video review. Wallace hit a layup with 1.6 seconds remaining and fouled Dwyane Wade with 0.6 seconds remaining. Wade missed the first free throw and deliberately bounced the second attempt off the backboard. Green finished with 24 points and was 5 of 8 on 3-pointers. Avery Bradley scored 17 points and Jordan Crawford added 15 for the Celtics. James led Miami with 25 points and 10 assists. Chris Bosh had 20 points and Wade finished with 18.

CAVALIERS 127, 76ERS 125, 2OT Kyrie Irving scored a season-high 39 points and hit the winning layup with 0.6 seconds remaining in the second overtime to lift Cleveland over Philadelphia. The Cavaliers called time out after rookie Michael Carter-Williams’ 3-pointer Irving tied the game with 11.3 seconds remaining in the second overtime. Irving, who missed potential game-winning shots at the end of regulation and the first overtime, took the inbounds pass, avoided a double team near the top of the key, drove the lane and scored on a left-handed lay-in.

Philadelphia called timeout, but Carter-Williams’ inbounds pass went out of bounds. Thaddeus Young’s lay-in with 5.5 seconds remaining tied the game in regulation and Evan Turner’s baseline drive tied it with 8.7 seconds left in the first overtime. Turner led the Sixers with 31 points and Young had 29.

CLIPPERS 107, ROCKETS 94 Blake Griffin and J J Redick scored 22 points apiece and Los Angeles used an 18-0 run in the second half to rally for the victory over Houston.

Jamal Crawford had 16 points, Chris Paul added 14 points and 13 assists, and DeAndre Jordan had 12 points and 18 rebounds for the Clippers. Griffin had seven rebounds and Redick shot 8 for 15 from the field. Los Angeles shot 14 for 23 on free throws, but just 9 for 24 on 3-pointers. Dwight Howard had 21 points and eight rebounds for the Rockets, but was just 5 for 11 on free throws. Chandler Parsons added 23 points and eight rebounds, while Patrick Beverley scored 19 points. James Harden, who was a game-time decision with a bruised left foot, had 12 points on 4-for-15 shooting.

ST LOUIS: St Louis Blues’ Barret Jackman (5) is hit by Pittsburgh Penguins’ Deryk Engelland (second left) as Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury (left) and Brooks Orpik (right) get in on the play during the second period of an NHL hockey game on Saturday. Engelland was charged with high-sticking on the play. —AP

NHL results/standings Los Angeles 5, Vancouver 1; St. Louis 2, Pittsburgh 1; Dallas 2, Chicago 5; Boston 3, Toronto 1; Detroit 2, Tampa Bay 3 (OT); Carolina 2, Minnesota 3 (SO); Columbus 5, NY Islanders 2; Phoenix 4, Washington 3 (SO); Ottawa 3, Florida 2; Philadelphia 4, Edmonton 2.

Western Conference Pacific Division W L OT GF Anaheim 14 3 1 63 Phoenix 12 4 2 60 San Jose 10 2 4 59 Vancouver 11 6 2 53 Los Angeles 11 6 0 50 Calgary 6 9 2 47 Edmonton 4 12 2 44 Central Division Colorado 13 2 0 50 Chicago 11 2 4 61 St. Louis 11 2 2 52 Minnesota 10 4 4 48 Nashville 8 6 2 37 Dallas 8 7 2 46 Winnipeg 7 9 2 45

GA PTS 44 29 56 26 36 24 51 24 41 22 61 14 70 10 27 45 34 40 49 52 51

26 26 24 24 18 18 16

Eastern Conference Atlantic Division Tampa Bay 12 4 0 54 39 Toronto 11 6 0 51 40 Detroit 9 5 4 45 48 Boston 10 5 1 45 30 Ottawa 7 6 4 53 51 MontrÈal 8 8 1 44 38 Florida 3 10 4 34 60 Buffalo 3 15 1 33 61 Metropolitan Division Pittsburgh 11 6 0 50 40 Washington 9 7 1 56 48 NY Rangers 8 8 0 35 43 Carolina 6 7 4 32 48 NY Islanders 6 8 3 49 56 New Jersey 4 7 5 30 44 Columbus 6 10 0 41 46 Philadelphia 5 10 1 26 44 Note: Overtime losses (OT) worth 1 pt included in loss column (L).

24 22 22 21 18 17 10 7 22 19 16 16 15 13 12 11 and not

TRAIL BLAZERS 96, KINGS 85 LaMarcus Aldridge had 22 points and 14 rebounds, Wesley Matthews scored 21 points, and Portland beat Sacramento to earn its fourth win in five games. Robin Lopez had 12 points and 14 rebounds and Nicolas Batum also scored 12 points to help the Blazers sweep the home-and-home series with the Kings. Portland also won at home, 104-91 Friday night. DeMarcus Cousins had 15 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter and also grabbed 12 rebounds to lead the Kings, who have lost five straight since beating Denver in the season-opener. Cousins had 35 points in Friday night’s game in Portland. Ben McLemore scored 13 points and Isaiah Thomas had 12 points for the Kings, who were outrebounded 52-33.

RAPTORS 115, JAZZ 91 Tyler Hansbrough scored a season-high 23 points, DeMar DeRozan added 18 and Toronto snapped a seven-game home losing streak against Utah. Jonas Valanciunas scored 14 points and Rudy Gay had 11 as the Raptors earned their first home victory over the Jazz since Dec. 22, 2004. Raptors guard Kyle Lowry sprained his right ankle on the final play of the first half and did not return. He finished with nine points. Playing for the fourth time in five days, struggling Utah was no match for a

TORONTO: David Clarkson #71 of the Toronto Maple Leafs skates against the New Jersey Devils at the Air Canada Centre on Friday in Toronto, Canada. —AFP Raptors team that had lost four of its previous five, including three straight. Gordon Hayward scored 24 points and Derrick Favors had 17 for the Jazz.

HAWKS 104, MAGIC 94 Jeff Teague had 19 points and 13 assists and Paul Millsap scored 18 points with 11 rebounds to lead Atlanta past Orlando. Arron Afflalo finished with 21 points for Orlando, which has dropped 15 straight on the road dating to March 4. Mike Scott had 17 points in a reserve role for Atlanta and Al Horford scored 15 and Kyle Korver added 14.

Korver made a 3 in his 79th consecutive game to surpass Dennis Scott and tie Michael Adams for second place on the NBA career list. The Hawks have won nine straight over the Magic at Philips Arena.

MAVERICKS 91, BUCKS 83 Monta Ellis got the best of his former team, shaking off boos from the crowd while contributing 18 points and five assists to help Dallas hold off Milwaukee. Dirk Nowitzki had 16 points and Shawn Marion added 14 for the Mavericks, who blew a big first-half lead with sloppy offensive play. O J Mayo

had 28 points and Caron Butler added 19 for the Bucks, who were playing their second straight game without forward Larry Sanders. Mayo also was facing his former team. It was the first time back since leaving Milwaukee for Ellis, who signed with Dallas as a free agent in the offseason after playing for the Bucks last season and a portion of the 2011-12 season GRIZZLIES 108, WARRIORS 90 Zach Randolph had 23 points and 11 rebounds, and six Memphis players reached double figures in the rout of Golden State. Mike Conley added 20 points and six assists, Marc Gasol had 18 points and Memphis won its 10th straight over the Warriors.

Mike Miller finished with 15 points, connecting on all but one of his five shots outside the 3-point arc.

Stephen Curry, who returned after missing Friday night’s loss at San Antonio with a bruised left ankle, led the Warriors with 22 points. Andre Iguodala had 19 points, hitting 8 of 10 shots. David Lee finished with 13 points and nine rebounds before fouling out in the fourth quarter. Memphis dominated the inside game all night with a 54-18 advantage in the paint, outrebounding the Warriors 44-33. —AP

NBA results/standings Milwaukee 83, Dallas 91; Atlanta 104, Orlando 94; Brooklyn Nets 91, Indiana 96; Cleveland 127, Philadelphia 125 (OT); Miami 110, Boston 111; Sacramento 85, Portland 96; Houston 94, LA Clippers 107; Memphis 108, Golden State 90; Toronto 115, Utah 91.

Eastern Conference Atlantic Division W L PCT Philadelphia 4 3 .571 Toronto 3 4 .429 Boston 3 4 .429 New York Knicks 2 3 .400 Brooklyn Nets 2 4 .333 Central Division Indiana 7 0 1.000 Cleveland 3 4 .429 Detroit 2 3 .400 Milwaukee 2 3 .400 Chicago 2 3 .400 Southeast Division Miami 4 3 .571 Atlanta 3 3 .500 Charlotte 3 3 .500 Orlando 3 4 .429 Washington 2 3 .400

GB 1 1 1 1.5

Oklahoma Minnesota Portland Denver Utah

4 4 4 4

Phoenix LA Clippers Golden State LA Lakers Sacramento

0.5 0.5 1 1

San Antonio Houston Dallas New Orleans Memphis

Western Conference Northwest Division 4 1 .800 4 2 .667 4 2 .667 1 4 .200 0 7 .000 Pacific Division 4 2 .667 4 3 .571 4 3 .571 3 4 .429 1 5 .167 Southwest Division 5 1 .833 4 3 .571 4 3 .571 3 3 .500 3 3 .500

0.5 0.5 3 5 0.5 0.5 1.5 3 1.5 1.5 2 2

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2013

S P ORTS

Raikkonen to miss last two races of F1 season LONDON: Kimi Raikkonen has pulled out of the last two races of the Formula One season in Texas and Brazil after deciding to have back surgery next week, the Lotus driver’s management said yesterday. The decision ended the 2007 world champion’s two seasons with Lotus on a controversial note, with the Finn already warning the team a week ago that he could walk out if his wages were not paid. Raikkonen is returning to Ferrari next year, the glamour team with which he won his world title, and had a seat fitting with them last week.

Manager Steve Robertson said in a statement that Raikkonen would have

surgery this week with “the consequent four weeks recovery time forcing him to miss the forthcoming United States and Brazilian Grands Prix. Raikkonen has a long-standing back problem, which flared up in Singapore in September and is understood to be a legacy from a crash he suffered in testing with Sauber during his 2001 rookie season. “A reoccurence of this problem has forced him to have surgery now to help prevent ongoing problems in the future and to ensure he is at full fitness for the 2014 season,” the statement added. “Kimi and his management are saddened that Kimi will not be able to complete the 2013 season with Lotus.”

However, the Finn has also complained about Lotus’s failure to pay his wages, telling reporters at this month’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix that he had received “zero euros the whole year”.

Raikkonen added that he had considered not racing in Abu Dhabi, where he ultimately retired at the first corner after a collision having been sent to the back of the grid, and could skip the last two rounds if the problem was not resolved.

“You have to put the line somewhere and if it goes over that...it’s not really my fault any more,” Raikkonen, who is currently third in the championship, had said.

There was no immediate comment

from Lotus, who have been trying for months to finalise an investment deal to secure the team’s future. The team have Italian Davide Valsecchi, last year’s GP2 champion, as their reserve. If handed Raikkonen’s seat for the last two rounds, he would be the first Italian on the grid since Jarno Trulli in 2011. Lotus said in a statement yesterday that they would make an announcement on who was to replace Raikkonen “in due course”.

Mansoor Ijaz, chairman of a consortium of private investors that has said it wants to buy 35 percent of Lotus, told reporters in Abu Dhabi Raikkonen’s situation had been resolved and he would be paid in full. “I am confident that he will

run the last two races and fulfil his professional obligations to us and to him,” the businessman declared last weekend.

Lotus principal Eric Boullier also told reporters in Abu Dhabi that he was confident Raikkonen would race and the problems had been settled. The team had also issued on Friday a preview for next week’s race in Austin, quoting Raikkonen saying how much he was looking forward to it. “After going there for the first time last year - like everyone I’m particularly looking forward to this one. I like the American atmosphere, it’s just a relaxed environment. They know how to have fun, and most of all they love racing,” the Finn had said. — Reuters

Choupo-Moting strike lifts Mainz BERLIN: Cameroon striker Eric ChoupoMoting scored a late goal to lift Mainz up to ninth in the Bundesliga on Sunday with a 10 win over Eintracht Frankfurt. The 24-yearold came off the bench to head home at the far post and kick off the party, with carnival season due to begin in Mainz on Monday, by giving Thomas Tuchelís side three points. The result leaves Frankfurt 15th in the league, just above the relegation places after their fourth straight defeat. Later VfB Stuttgart moved up to eighth after picking up their first win in five games with a 3-1 win at Freiburg, who stay in the bottom three.

Stuttgart raced into a 2-0 lead with striker Vedad Ibisevic firing home after nine minutes before 17-year-old forward Timo Werner added a second a minute later.

Germany striker Mike Hanke pulled a goal back for Freiburg 12 minutes from time before Werner, a Germany Under-19 international, added his second with a superb finish following a strong run. On Saturday, European champions Bayern Munich set a new record for the longest unbeaten run in Bundesliga history with a 3-0 victory at home to Augsburg.

Bayern have now gone 37 league matches since their last defeat, at Bayer Leverkusen in October 2012, breaking Hamburgís previous record of 36 from Jan 1983. Pep Guardiolaís Bayern face their biggest test in a fortnight when they travel to second-placed Borussia Dortmund in a repeat of last seasonís Champions League final. Guardiola also set a personal record as he celebrated his 12th league match without defeat - with 32 points, itís the best start by a new Bundesliga coach in the leagueís history.

The Champions League holders opened the scoring at Munichís Allianz Arena when Germany centre-back Jerome Boateng headed home from a corner after just five minutes. France winger Franck Ribery then smashed home a free-kick on 42 minutes before Germanyís Thomas Mueller netted a penalty in the fifth minute of injury time.

Bayern, who have won 31 of their last 37 Bundesliga matches, were without Germanyís Bastian Schweinsteiger, who will miss the forthcoming internationals against Italy and England with an ankle injury.

It was Bayernís second milestone of the week after they equalled Barcelonaís record from the 2002/03 season of nine consecutive Champions League wins with a 1-0 midweek success at Viktoria Pilsen.

Breaking records is nothing remarkable for Bayern these days having set or equalled 25 league markers under Guardiolaís predecessor Jupp Heynckes last season. Bayern also extended their lead at the top of the table to four points as second-placed Dortmund went down 2-1 at VfL Wolfsburg.

It was Dortmundís second defeat of the week after losing 1-0 at home to Arsenal in the Champions League. After Germany winger Marco Reus put Dortmund ahead with a thunderbolt of a free-kick on the stroke of half-time, Wolves hit back to pick up their fourth straight victory to leave them fifth. Swiss defender Ricardo Rodriguez smashed home a free kick before Croatia striker Ivica Olic hit a great goal in off the far post with 20 minutes left.

Third-placed Bayer Leverkusen are level with Dortmund on 28 points after beating Hamburg 5-3 with South Koreaís star striker Son Heung-Min scoring a hat-trick. Son completed his hat-trick within 55 minutes before setting up Stefan Kiessling for Leverkusenís fourth.

Borussia Moenchengladbach scored three goals in the last 18 minutes to come from behind and seal a 3-1 win at home to Nuremberg to stay fourth. Schalke 04 bounced back from their Champions League defeat at Chelsea as they came from behind to beat Werder Bremen 3-1, with Ghana midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng netting two headers. Hertha Berlin stayed seventh after their 3-2 win at Hoffenheim, with Colombiaís Adrian Ramos scoring two goals, including the winner six minutes from time. — AFP

MAINZ, Germany: Mainz’s Shinji Okazaki of Japan (right) and Frankfurt’s Sebastian Jung (center) and Marco Russ (top) challenge for the ball during a German first division match between FSV Mainz 05 and Eintracht Frankfurt yesterday. —AP

VALENCIA: Repsol Honda Team’s Spanish rider Marc Marquez celebrates becoming World Champion after the MotoGP at Ricardo Tormo racetrack in Cheste yesterday. — AFP

Marquez youngest MotoGP champion VALENCIA, Spain: Spanish rookie Marc Marquez held his ner ve became the youngest MotoGP world champion at the age of 20 when he finished third in the final race of the season in Valencia yesterday. The Honda rider, who started from his ninth pole position of the year, played it safe by avoiding a thrilling tussle between defending champion Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa, who went on to finish the race first and second.

Marquez secured the title with 334 championship points, four ahead of twice former winner and Yamaha rider Lorenzo, and 34 in front of Pedrosa.

He passed Freddie Spencer’s 30year-old record from when the American won his maiden crown at the age of 21, also on a Honda, pipping compatriot Kenny Roberts in the final race of the year at Imola in 1983. “Congratulations Marc to you and the team! I couldn’t be happier for you! Enjoy this moment!,” the 51-year-old Spencer said on his Twitter feed. The Catalan-born Marquez also became only the fourth rider in the 65-year history of Grand Prix racing to win world titles in three different categories, along with Mike Hailwood, Phil Read and Valentino Rossi.

“It was the longest race of the year for me,” Marquez told Spanish broadcaster Telecinco with a grin from ear to ear. “I was very nervous at the start. I know I had said I wasn’t, but I was. Jorge started very

well and I wasn’t sure quite what to do. The first 10 laps were the worst with Jorge and Dani in front and the others right behind, but I settled into it after that. It has been a great year. This has arrived earlier

fans with a battle for first place with Marquez watching from third, as the two rivals in front of him swapped positions with breath-taking passes over the opening laps.

With 10 laps gone Marquez hit the

than I expected. Maybe too early, but I want to thank everyone from my team and the fans.”

Lorenzo, who had cranked up the pressure on Marquez by winning the last two races in Australia and Japan, flew off the grid to hit the front at the first bend with Spanish compatriot Pedrosa in second, and Marquez third. Pedrosa and Lorenzo went on to delight the

front, cutting inside the bend as the front two came together and Pedrosa was forced wide, dropping down to fifth. Race officials said they would investigate the incident on the MotoGP’s official Twitter feed.

The 26-year-old Lorenzo muscled his way back to the front a lap later and the title rivals pulled away from the rest of the field, while

Pedrosa recovered ground to pressure his Honda team mate in second. Marquez appeared to let Pedrosa pass him with five laps remaining and cruised across the line, Lorenzo’s third successive victory being too little, too late. “It’s been a great championship. To have two Spaniards fighting for the title at the end is something special,” said Lorenzo, who became the first MotoGP rider to win at least eight races in a season and not take the title. “Marc has been the deserved winner. We also deserved to win, having won so many races and had so many podiums, but for a rookie to win six and have so may podium finishes you cannot take anything away from him.”

Marquez went over to where his fans were massed, waving red flags emblazoned with his number 93, climbed on a barrier and threw his gloves into the crowd as he punched the air before bowing to them all. In Moto2, newly-crowned world champion Pol Espargaro crashed, leaving Spanish compatriot Nico Terol to win followed by Jordi Torres and Johann Zarco.

Another Spaniard, Maverick Vinales, was crowned world champion on a KTM in the Moto3 race, hitting the front on the final lap to finish ahead of Jonas Folger and Alex Rins who was runner-up in the championship. Spaniard Luis Salom, who had led the rankings going into the final race, crashed out and limped home in 14th place.— Reuters

Roma drop points as Sassuolo level late MILAN: Serie A leaders Roma dropped t wo p re c i o u s p o i n t s to t i t l e - c h a s e r s Napoli and Juventus after being stunned by an injury-time leveller at home to top flight new boys Sassuolo yesterday. Roma looked set to take their lead over Napoli and Juventus, who kick off later in Turin, to six points after Alessandro Longhi’s 19th-minute own goal gave the hosts a 10 lead at the Olympic Stadium. However, Sassuolo refused to give up and were rewarded in the fourth minute of injury time when Domenico Berardi smashed the ball high into Morgan De Sanctis’s net as confusion reigned in the Roma area.

Ahead of Napoli’s visit to Juventus, Roma now lead both by four points having slumped to their second draw in as many games, a week after Torino brought an end to the Giallorossi’s record 10-

match winning streak. Elsewhere, Marko Livaja scored a late winner for Atalanta to give the Bergamo side a 2-1 win at home to struggling Bologna while Cagliari moved up two places in the table to 13th a f te r a D a n i e l e Co n t i d o u b l e h e l p e d secure a 2-1 win at home to Torino.

Parma also grabbed a share of the points at home to Lazio after Alessandro Lu c a re l l i l e ve l l e d K e i t a B a l d e’s 5 0 t h minute opener.

The goals were few and far between in yesterday afternoon’s matches, however, with basement side Chievo securing a precious point while holding under-pressure AC M ilan to a scoreless draw at home. Milan, who had Ignazio Abate sent off late in the second half, moved up to 10th but Massimiliano Allegri’s side are 19 points behind Roma and 15 off the

first Champions League places. Roma dominated Sassuolo for the opening 60 minutes and should have scored several goals to put the match beyond reach.

The leaders took an early lead when Longhi turned the ball into his own net after what looked like an attempt to clear ove r t h e c ro s s b a r a f te r g o a l k e e p e r Gianluca Pegolo had saved Alessandro Florenzi’s shot. Rudi Garcia’s side suffered a b l ow d u r i n g t h e h a l f w h e n M a rco Borriello was forced off with an ankle injury and replaced by American midfielder Michael Bradley.

However, the hosts spurned several scoring chances and were left to pay the price late on when Berardi smashed the ball home as Roma’s defence panicked with the ball running loose in the area. —AFP

ROME: Sassuolo defender Luca Antei (left) and AS Roma midfielder Kevin Strootman of the Netherlands fight for the ball during a match between AS Roma and Sassuolo at Rome’s Olympic stadium yesterday. — AP

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2013

S P ORTS

Under par Atletico held at Villarreal

SUNDERLAND: Sunderland’s Ki Sung Yueng (right) vies for the ball with Manchester City’s Martin Demichelis (left) at the Stadium of Light yesterday. — AP

City suffer fresh away loss at Sunderland SUNDERLAND, United Kingdom: Manuel Pellegrini saw Manchester City’s troubles on the road continue as they slid to a surprise 1-0 defeat at struggling Sunderland on Sunday, their fourth reverse in six Premier League away games this season. A first-half winner from former Manchester United defender Phil Bardsley underlined the stark contrast in fortunes enjoyed by City this term. They boast a 100 percent record from their five home games, but have now taken just four points from a possible 18 on their travels, with Sunday’s loss meaning they missed an opportunity to climb into the top three.

In-form forward Sergio Aguero drew a first blank in seven games, but the Argentinian was not alone among those in blue to experience a day to forget, as Sunderland deservedly earned a victory to pull within three points of safety. It was only their second league win of the season, but their third in four games in all competitions as they continue to show signs of life under new coach Gus Poyet. City have now lost by the only goal on their last four visits to Wearside, with Sunderland’s winner yesterday coming in the 21st minute. Wes Brown’s searching ball from the back met the run of Bardsley, and when the full-back brushed-off the challenge of James Milner he was left with time and space to break the deadlock from a narrow angle with a composed finish into the bottom corner past Costel Pantilimon, again preferred by City manager Pellegrini to England’s Joe Hart.

After scoring in the midweek League Cup victory over Southampton, it was the first time in his 10-year career the Scotland international had found the net in back-toback domestic games. In addition to his

valuable goal assist, Brown, in his first Premier League start for almost two years thanks to an injury-plagued spell since joining from Manchester United in 2011, added a calming influence so often lacking at the back for Sunderland this season.

Nevertheless, City still squandered several good chances, notably before half-time when Aguero, with nine goals in his previous six outings, met an Aleksandar Kolarov cross unmarked at the far post, only to head wide from inside the six-yard box. In the second half, Aguero dispossessed John O’Shea before advancing into the area to cut-back for Kolarov, who looked certain to level from fewer than 12 yards until Bardsley underlined his value at both ends with a goal-line block as the Black Cats shut-out a side that had scored 12 goals in its previous two games.

Sunderland benefited from some eyecatching service from both flanks, and from one such centre from the Swedish midfielder Seb Larsson, Steven Fletcher, the Scot preferred to Jozy Altidore as a lone forward, should have done better with a header. To their credit, Sunderland refused to sit back in an attempt to defend their lead, and Ki Sung Yueng fired just wide after bursting forward from midfield to try his luck from the edge of the area. Vito Mannone cemented a fully merited clean sheet on his full Sunderland league debut thanks to a fine save low to his left late on from Aguero. Substitute Edin Dzeko headed wide from a corner at the death, and when Kolarov raked the side-netting from distance, Sunderland, roared on by a vociferous 40,000 Stadium of Light crowd, had deservedly hung on for a crucial win which could have repercussions at both ends of the table come May. —AFP

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE STANDINGS English Premier League table after yesterday’s matches (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points): Arsenal 11 Liverpool 11 Southampton 11 Chelsea 11 Man United 11 Everton 11 Tottenham 11 Man City 11 Newcastle 11 Bromwich 11 Aston Villa 11

8 7 6 6 6 5 6 6 5 3 4

1 2 4 3 2 5 2 1 2 5 2

2 2 1 2 3 1 3 4 4 3 5

22 21 15 18 18 14 9 28 15 12 11

10 10 5 10 13 10 6 12 16 12 12

25 23 22 21 20 20 20 19 17 14 14

Hull City

11

4

2

5

9

14

14

Swansea City 11

3

3

5

15 15

12

Cardiff City

11

3

3

5

9

15

12

Norwich City 11

3

2

6

9

21

11

West Ham

11

2

4

5

9

11

10

Stoke City

11

2

4

5

10 14

10

Fulham

11

3

1

7

10 19

10

Sunderland

11

2

1

8

8

22

7

Crystal Palace 11

1

1

9

6

21

4

Messi suffers injury setback MADRID: Four-time World Player of the Year Lionel Messi had to be withdrawn due a muscle injury for the third time this season after just 20 minutes of Barcelona’s clash with Real Betis yesterday. Messi pulled up as he tried to accelerate with the ball at his feet and immediately walked to the sidelines before being replaced by Andres Iniesta. The Argentine was also substituted with a hamstring problem against

Atletico Madrid in August and pulled up with a thigh problem in Barca’s win over Almeria at the end of September.

Messi has failed to score in La Liga since returning from that injury, marking his longest run without a league goal in over two years. However, he had appeared to have returned to form when he scored twice in Barca’s 3-1 win over AC Milan in midweek. —AFP

SEVILLE, Spain: Barcelona’s Lionel Messi from Argentina (left) and Betis’ Antonio Caro fight for the ball during their La Liga soccer match at the Benito Villamarin stadium yesterday. — AP

MADRID: Atletico Madrid missed the chance to move top of La Liga for a few hours at least as they were held to a 1-1 draw away to Villarreal yesterday. Mario’s own goal less than two minutes in gave Atletico the perfect start, but Villarreal went on to dominate the game and were rewarded 12 minutes from time when Juanfran also turned into his own net under pressure from Ikechukwu Uche. Atletico are now level on points with Barcelona having played a game more, but the Catalans can open up a three point gap at the top of the table with a win against Real Betis later on Sunday.

With left-back Filipe Luis suspended and Diego Godin away on international duty with Uruguay, Atleti boss Diego Simeone was forced into two changes from the side that booked their place in the Champions League last-16 on Wednesday and Emiliano Insua and Toby Alderweireld were handed rare starts. However, Atletico still made the best possible start as Juanfran picked out Koke at the back post and in his attempt to stop the Spanish international, Mario headed into his own net.

Villarreal should have been level instantly as Cani fired wastefully wide when completely unmarked inside the area. Courtois was then forced to parry Bruno Soriano’s free-kick as the hosts continued to threaten. However, as the half wore on, Atletico began to create chances on the counter-attack and from one such move Diego Costa picked out David Villa and his effort was straight at Sergio Asenjo.

Villarreal continued to press after the break, but struggled to break down the visitors’ well-organised defence.

Jonathan Pereira pulled his shot

VILLARREAL, Spain: Atletico Madrid’s Brazilian forward Diego da Silva Costa (left) vies with Villarreal’s Brazilian defender Gabriel Paulista at Madrigal stadium yesterday. — AFP just wide with a rare opening on 64 minutes before Courtois collected Manuel Trigueros’ effort from the edge of the area at the second attempt. But the hosts did finally get a deserved equaliser 12 minutes from time when substitute Jeremy Perbet got to the by-line and his low cross was also turned into his own net by Juanfran.

Simeone then introduced Adrian Lopez for the tired looking Costa suggesting he would be happy to settle for a point. And that is how it finished as Atletico dropped points for just the second time this season.

Second-placed Atletico moved on to 34 points from 13 games, the same as unbeaten leaders Barcelona, who visit struggling Real

Betis in yesterday’s late game. Real Madrid sit third with 31 points after Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat-trick in their 5-1 home rout of Real Sociedad on Saturday. Promoted Villarreal are fourth with 24. Earlier, there were whistles at Mestalla after Miroslav Djukic’s Valencia came from behind to draw 2-2 against his former club Real Valladolid with a 75th-minute strike from substitute Sofiane Feghouli.

The hosts got off to a woeful start, Ever Banega hoofing a penalty over the bar after only five minutes, and they then conceded a ninth-minute Javi Guerra header. Colombia striker Dorlan Pabon’s long-range effort put Valencia level in the 29th, and after Valladolid notched a second

through Gilberto Garcia just after the re-start, Feghouli rescued a point for Djukic’s inconsistent side.

Sevilla ended a run of 22 consecutive road games in La Liga without a win when they triumphed 3-1 at Espanyol. The Andalusians last won an away league fixture in September 2012, beating Deportivo La Coruna 2-0, and coach Unai Emery was feeling the heat af ter five games without a win in all competitions.

Quick goals from Federico Fazio and Vitolo gave Sevilla the advantage and Carlos Bacca made sure of the points with an impressive third in the 58th minute, running from the halfway line to fire home. — Agencies

Krul luck for Spurs as Newcastle win LONDON: Tim Krul was Newcastle’s star as the Magpies won 1-0 away to Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane in the Premier League yesterday. On a day when goalkeepers dominated talk before kick-off and during the match, the Dutchman produced a string of brilliant saves as Newcastle followed up their win over Chelsea with another victory over a top London club. Loic Remy scored the only goal of the game as Newcastle went ninth, three points behind Spurs, who would have gone level on points with second-placed Liverpool if they had won this match.

Tottenham went into the last international break on the back of a home defeat to West Ham and their players will join up with their countries this week with further doubts over the club’s top-four prospects.

For Spurs, France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris was a frustrated spectator yesterday. Lloris was knocked unconscious a week earlier at Everton and Spurs manager Andre Villas-Boas was heavily criticised for letting him finish that game.

Portuguese boss Villas-Boas had insisted Lloris would play against Newcastle but the former Lyon goalkeeper was told to rest after medical advice.

Spurs’ head of medical services Wayne Diesel said: “We’ve continued to monitor Hugo all week and after discussions, Andre and the medical department have agreed to afford the player a couple more days rest. “Hugo is naturally disappointed as he was keen to return to

action however we feel this decision is in the players’ best interest.”

Brad Friedel started in goal and Lloris watched the game from the bench. The American veteran was involved in the early action and had to tip away Mathieu Debuchy’s volley, then block Yohan Cabaye’s effort when he collected the rebound.

Remy had already gone close when he raced through, from Cabaye’s pass, and was tackled by Vlad Chiriches as he attempted to shoot. But the French striker grabbed the lone goal of the game in the 13th minute. Paulinho was robbed of the ball in dangerous territory by Yoan Gouffran, who then slid the ball through for Remy to breeze past Friedel and pass into an open goal. Spurs were getting increasingly frustrated as they tried to get back into the game. They were limited to long-range efforts, with Jan Vertonghen trying his luck unsuccessfully from open play and a free-kick. Krul also saved superbly from Roberto Soldado’s backwards header after he met a free-kick.

And the second half saw Krul pull off more stunning saves to keep Spurs at bay. Paulinho set up a chance by feeding Andros Townsend on the right, and when the cross was dummied for Christian Eriksen it needed Krul to save with his trailing leg. Krul then kept out Gylfi Sigurdsson’s free-kick after a wicked deflection and immediately denied Younes Kaboul before Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa pulled off a spectacular goal-line clearance. Townsend was also denied

twice by Krul with efforts from the close-range effort from Paulinho LONDON: Tottenham Hotspur’s Christian Eriksen fights for the ball with Newcastle United’s Cheik Ismael Tiote at the White Hart Lane stadium yesterday. — AP edge of the penalty area. In the final stages, Krul also blocked a

while Vertonghen headed against the bar from a corner. — AFP

Swansea, Stoke in six-goal thriller SWANSEA, United Kingdom: Swansea and Stoke were both left frustrated after a dramatic 3-3 Premier League draw at the Liberty Stadium yesterday. It seemed Stoke were on the verge of ending their seven-match winless run when goals from Jonathan Walters and Stephen Ireland put the visitors 2-0 up inside half an hour in south Wales. But the second half saw Swansea bounce back after both Wilfried Bony and Nathan Dyer scored. And when Bony made it 3-2 just four minutes from time, it seemed Swansea had completed a remarkable come from behind victory.

But the Swans, who let slip leads in both their Europa League meetings with Kuban Krasnodar, again failed to close out the win when referee Robert Madley, controversially, decided Wayne Routledge had handled a Ryan Shawcross header and Charlie Adam scored from the ensuing stoppage-time penalty. It took Mark Hughes’s Stoke just eight minutes to break the deadlock, with Swansea’s Ben Davies and Chico Flores getting in each other’s way to allow Walters to finish following a Peter Crouch flick-on. And they were 2-0 up when two excellent passes

from Walters and Crouch set up Ireland.

However, it was a different story in the second half as Swansea rediscovered their touch. The home side’s recovery started in the 56th minute when, after Stoke had failed to clear a corner, Jonathan de Guzman’s header found Bony, with the Ivorian powering in a close-range header.

Swansea were on a roll and their persistent pressure told once more when Routledge surged past Geoff Cameron to the byline. Walters managed a headed clearance but the ball fell invitingly to Dyer, with the substitute striking an excellent volley which went in via a slight deflection. As the game reached its climax, players on both sides lost their cool and Swansea’s Angel Rangel was fortunate to avoid being sent off after slapping Crouch in the midst of a touchline flareup. Bony then struck what appeared to be the winning goal, following a pull-back from Jonjo Shelvey, only for Scotland international Adam to rescue a point for Stoke, who climbed out of the bottom three on goal difference on the back of this result, with Swansea just two points above the relegation zone. — AFP

SWANSEA: Swansea City’s Angel Rangel shows his anger at referee Robert Madely after he gives a penalty to Stoke in the final minutes of the game at the Liberty Stadium yesterday. —AP

Marquez seals historic MotoGP world title

18

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2013

Juanfran own goal keeps Atletico away from Liga summit

19

Dubuisson upstages stars to win Turkish Open

Page 16

CAIRO: Egyptian Al Ahly club team players celebrate after beating South Africa’s Orlando Pirates at the Arab Contractors stadium yesterday to retain the African Champions League title. — AP

Ahly crowned African champions CAIRO: Egypt’s Al Ahly won an eighth African Champions League trophy when they beat Orlando Pirates of South Africa 2-0 in the second leg of the final in Cairo yesterday. Ahly, who have previously won Africa’s foremost club competition in 1982, 1987, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2012, won 3-1 on aggregate after a 1-1 stalemate in the first leg. ‘The Red Devils’ of Cairo pocketed the cash prize of $1.5 million and will also represent Africa at the FIFA Club World Cup in Morocco next month. “I’m very happy we won. It was a difficult game and a good test for us,” said Al Ahly coach Mohamed Youssef.

“Orlando Pirates are a strong side having eliminated Esperance and TP Mazembe on their journey to the final. We were focused on creating chances and capitalizing on the mistakes of our opponents.” Pirates coach Roger De Sa admitted the Egyptians had been the better side over the

two legs. “Their experienced showed in the game. We knew it was going to be difficult. We lost the tie when the first leg ended 1-1.

Nevertheless, we played well and created some chances,” he said. “I’m very disappointed because I believed we could have achieved it but I’m very happy though with the way we carried ourselves.”

Mohamed Aboutrika opened the scoring in the 54th minute when he stabbed home from just outside the six-yard box. Ahmed Abdul Zaher doubled the Ahly lead in the 78th minute when unmarked inside the box he shot past the Pirates goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwa. The Egyptian champions were reduced to 10 men six minutes from time when defender Sherif Abdel Fadil was sent off for a foul on Daine Klate.

Pirates, champions in 1995, put up a spirited fight but Ahly’s second goal seemed to kill them

off inside a packed Arab Contractors Stadium in Cairo. The South African champions created several chances, but could not take them. The best chance of the first half fell to The Buccaneers in the 35th minute when somehow Tlou Segolela failed to convert from inside the six-yard box, after a superb pull back by Klate from the right, with the Ahly goalkeeper well beaten.

Pirates failed again in front of goal in the 63rd minute when Lennox Bacela dribbled past goalkeeper Sherif Ekramy, but his final ball screamed across the face of goal after the Ahly shot stopper forced him wide. There were no clear-cut chances in front of goal in the first 15 minutes until Mohamed Nagieb’s header flashed across the Pirates goal. On 20 minutes, Ahly goalkeeper Ekramy had to come out to block Segolela inside the penalty area. Two minutes later, Abdul Zaher’s dipping shot forced Pirates goalkeeper

Meyiwa to turn it away for a corner. The Pirates goalkeeper then made a brave save inside his goal area nicking the ball off the feet of goalbound Zaher a minute before the interval.

Aboutrika, playing his last home game before retiring at the end of the year, has featured in five of Al Ahly’s Champions League-winning sides in the last eight years, consistently delivering talismanic performances. He swept home a loose ball from close range after a shot from Ahmed Fathi was blocked by the Pirates defence but fell fortuitously into his path, underlining Aboutrika’s uncanny ability to pop up in the right place at the right time. The goal came at a crucial time for Ahly, who had spent most of the game on the back foot before breaking the spirit of the South Africans and allowing the Cairo club to assume command.

The Egyptian side’s success came against a

backdrop of political upheaval in the north African country, which has had a major impact on Ahly who have not played outside the Champions League since the domestic league was cancelled in June. It was only a special concession by the country’s military authorities that allowed the final to be played in Cairo, where all major football had been stopped since the overthrow of president Mohamed Mursi’s government in July.

Some 30,000 spectators were allowed into the Arab Contractors Stadium, with clashes reported outside between police and ticketless supporters seeking entry. Aboutrika, who has also won three African Nations Cup titles with Egypt, was substituted to an emotional send off in stoppage time, swamped by the collective embrace of his bench, policemen and photographers as he left the field in triumph. — Agencies

United sink Arsenal to kick-start season Nadal downs old rival Federer to reach final Man United 1

Arsenal 0

MANCHESTER: Manchester United reinvigorated their Premier League title defence by winning 1-0 at home to leaders Arsenal yesterday to close to within five points of the early-season pace-setters. Robin van Persie claimed the game’s only goal in the first half, scoring against his former club for the third match running, to condemn Arsene Wenger’s side to a first league loss since their defeat by Aston Villa on the opening day. Victory allowed United to climb to fifth in the table, with defeats for Tottenham Hotspur and local rivals Manchester City earlier in the day enabling them to move above both of their fellow title contenders.

Having seen his side pick up just a point from earlier games against Chelsea, Liverpool and City, United manager David Moyes will hope yesterday’s victory marks the end of an awkward bedding-in period at Old Trafford. He will also have drawn strong encouragement from the performance of Phil Jones, who began the game in midfield but deputised magnificently at centre-back after Nemanja Vidic had to go off through injury. Arsenal remain top going into the international break, two points above Liverpool, but having overseen an impressive win at Borussia Dortmund in mid-week, Wenger is likely to have been concerned by their toothlessness.

Illness deprived Arsenal of the services of centreback Per Mertesacker, with Thomas Vermaelen deputising, while Mathieu Flamini replaced Tomas Rosicky after overcoming a groin problem. United made four changes to the team held 0-0 by Real Sociedad in the Champions League on Tuesday, with Jonny Evans, Michael Carrick, Jones and Van Persie coming into the side. The stakes, and the opposition, made for an untypically raucous atmosphere inside Old Trafford and the home side made a vigorous

MANCHESTER: Manchester United’s Dutch forward Robin van Persie (center) vies with Arsenal’s French defender Laurent Koscielny (left) at Old Trafford Stadium yesterday. — AFP start. Chances were scarce in the game’s early stages, save for a deflected Wayne Rooney effort that was comfortably saved by Wojciech Szczesny, but in the 27th minute, United struck. Rooney curled a corner into the box from the left and Van Persie stole between Aaron Ramsey and Olivier Giroud to glance a header over defender Kieran Gibbs and into the top-right corner. Seeking to atone, Giroud headed over moments later, but the Frenchman could have handed United a second goal when he appeared to impede Rooney inside the Arsenal box, only for referee Michael Oliver to wave play on. Szczesny and Vidic each sustained heavy bangs to the head prior to halftime, but whereas the Arsenal goalkeeper was able to continue, Vidic had to go off, with Tom Cleverley coming on and Jones dropping into defence.

Arsenal began to make inroads after the break, with Vermaelen bending a free-kick over the bar and

Mesut Ozil hitting the side-netting, before Ramsey struck a low effort straight at David de Gea. They were unable to get in behind United’s defence though, and Rooney came within inches of doubling his side’s lead when he drilled narrowly wide with his left foot after Van Persie helped on a Shinji Kagawa flick-on.

Wenger packed an extra creative body into his midfield by sending on Jack Wilshere for Flamini, but although Arsenal continued to push, United’s defence held firm. Chris Smalling squandered a chance to give United breathing space when he miscued a header from a Van Persie free-kick, but he proved more adept at the other end with a superb tackle to thwart Giroud. Bacary Sagna gave Moyes one last scare with a cross from the right that needed just a touch, but substitute Nicklas Bendtner could not make contact, and United were safe. — AFP

LONDON: Rafael Nadal won the latest instalment of his epic rivalry with Roger Federer as the Spaniard swept into the final of the ATP World Tour Finals with a 7-5, 6-3 victory yesterday. Nadal was in commanding form in the last four showdown at London’s O2 Arena and his 22nd win in 32 meetings with Federer booked the world number one’s place in Monday’s final against either Novak Djokovic or Stanislas Wawrinka. But there was nothing routine about Nadal’s latest show of force against Federer as it marked the first time he had ever beaten the Swiss great indoors after four defeats, including a loss in the 2010 final of the Tour Finals.

That was the 27-year-old’s only previous appearance in the final of this prestigious season-ending event, but he looks in the mood to finally end his long wait to lift the trophy after halting Federer’s remarkable run of success in the tournament in just 79 minutes.

Federer, a six-time winner of the event, had reached the last three finals, winning twice before losing to Djokovic last year. But this has been Nadal’s year and the 13-time Grand Slam winner, who has also won Olympic gold and the Davis Cup, is now just one more victory away from finishing a glorious campaign by adding the last major prize missing from his glittering CV. “It’s the perfect way to finish the season, probably one of the best seasons of my career,” Nadal said. “This is a special tournament but I have lost here before and not had the most luck, so it’s great to be in the final.”

Federer added: “I just struggled to stay consistent enough throughout the match and that’s why he deserved to win. He was better today. “It’s unbelievable that he gets away with playing so far back indoors these days, but that’s the conditions. So credit to him for making that work for him.”

Nadal has now reached 14 finals since his return from seven months out with knee ten-

dinitis, winning 10 titles including the French and US Opens. But, while Nadal has thrived over the last 11 months, Federer has endured arguably the worst season of his career, dropping to seventh in the world, winning just one title and failing to reach a Grand Slam final for the first time since 2002. After a tight opening to the first set, Federer had Nadal under pressure in the sixth game, but his failure to push home his advantage proved the decisive moment of the match.

Federer had a break point on three occasions and twice Nadal was able to hit his way out of trouble before the Swiss star missed with a wild and wayward forehand. It was the kind of mistake, caused by a desperate desire to create a winner from nothing, that Nadal so often provokes in Federer. Nadal quickly doubled the frustration for Federer, breaking for a 5-4 lead when yet another top-spin bullet from the baseline flashed past the Swiss star’s defences.

Both players were mixing some breathtaking play with occasional sloppy play and the result was a rollercoaster end to the set. When Nadal tried to close out the set, Federer pushed the Spaniard out of his comfort zone and broke back. But, not for the first time in his troubled season, Federer lost his composure at the crucial moment and Nadal broke again. Given the chance to serve out the set for a second time, Nadal delivered in ruthless fashion, crashing a series of winners to take the game without dropping a point.

Federer couldn’t make any impact on Nadal’s serve in the second set and the match started to slip from his grasp when the Spaniard punished another sloppy game from the Swiss to break for a 3-2 lead. That was all the incentive Nadal needed to race to the finish line and, with Federer’s unforced error total climbing to 32, it wasn’t long before the Spaniard was punching the air in celebration. — AFP

Business

Mexico aims to lure millions out of informal economy Page 24

Philips: A phoenix with lessons for industrial lame ducks

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2013

Page 25 Al-Ghanim Tires launches new Falken products

China builds reforms hopes at key meeting Page 22

Page 22

KUWAIT: Clouds envelop the Al-Hamra tower yesterday. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat

Gulf energy subsidies slammed Omani minister blasts culture of waste ABU DHABI: Subsidised petrol and electricity programs are causing a huge waste of energy across the Gulf and threatening economies, Oman’s oil and gas minister said on Sunday, in a rare official warning over surging demand in the region. Energy prices are heavily subsidised in the six member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), giving little incentive for their fast-growing populations to moderate use of big gas-guzzling cars or around-the-clock air conditioning.

As a result, top crude oil exporter Saudi Arabia is the world’s sixth biggest consumer of oil, despite being only the 20th largest economy, and GCC members are all among the least energy-efficient countries globally. The United Arab Emirates and Oman have already seen their gas exports constrained by ballooning domestic demand.

“We are wasting too much energy in the region and the

barrels that we are consuming are becoming a threat now, for our region particularly...I think we have a serious problem,” Oman’s oil and gas minister Mohammed bin Hamad Al Rumhy told the ADIPEC energy conference in Abu Dhabi.

“What is really destroying us right now is subsidies...We simply need to raise the price of petrol and electricity. In some countries in our region electricity is free and you leave your air conditioning for the whole summer when you go on holiday. That is really a crime,” he said. “Our cars are getting bigger, our consumption is getting bigger and the price is almost free. So you need to send a signal to the pockets of the public.”

It was not clear whether Rumhy’s remarks indicated any fresh change to Oman’s domestic energy pricing policies, which would be politically sensitive. His comments were

Gulf markets mixed, Egypt bourse down MIDEAST MARKET REPORT DUBAI: Egypt’s bourse fell 0.9 percent yesterday as investors started taking profits after a long rally, while other markets in the region moved little in the absence of fresh catalysts. “Since Thursday, the market is witnessing a small bout of profit-taking,” Chamel Fahmy of Cairo-based HC Securities and Investment said of Egypt’s pullback. “It was expected.” The index is up 42 percent from its late June low and has been gaining steadily since early September as investors were encouraged by relative political stability following the ouster of former president Mohamed Morsi in July. But the rally may be over now and the market is likely to trade sideways for a while, Fahmy said. “At lower levels for the index, we might again see appetite back in some stocks,” he said. The index, which closed at 6,356 points, has immediate technical support around 6,200 points, which was a ceiling in late October.

Elsewhere in the region, Bahrain’s index slipped 0.2 percent, dragged down by a pull-back of Aluminium Bahrain’s share price. The stock fell 1.9

percent on profit-taking after jumping 4.9 percent last Thursday following an earnings report that showed it had returned to profit in the third quarter.

Kuwait’s index climbed 0.5 percent to 7,980 points. United Arab Emirates bourses were mixed. Dubai’s benchmark gained 0.2 percent with the biggest index movers being construction firm Drake and Scull and property developer Emaar.

“The next big catalyst on the horizon is the Expo (2020) decision on Dubai’s bid,” said Amer Khan, fund manager at Shuaa Asset Management. The decision on whether Dubai can host the world’s fair is expected on Nov 27, and some investors believe a victory for Dubai would bring more business for developers and construction companies. Abu Dhabi was down 0.1 percent.

Heavyweight Etisalat fell 0.4 percent; Reuters reported that international banks Standard Chartered Plc and Citigroup had fallen out with the telecommunications firm over $400 million which they lent to its now defunct Indian affiliate. — Reuters

unusually strong for a Gulf minister - officials in the region generally tend to avoid public criticism of long-established policies. In a rare reform, Oman announced plans in early 2013 to double its industrial gas price to $3 per million British thermal units, still cheap by international standards, by 2015.

Oman is under more immediate pressure to reform than its wealthy Gulf neighbours as its energy resources are less ample. The International Monetary Fund has warned that Oman’s state finances could slide into deficit in coming years because of recent public spending rises. In 2010, the UAE government hiked its domestic gasoline price to 1.72 dirhams ($0.47) per litre to cut the burden of subsidies on public finances and promote efficiency. But after the Arab Spring uprisings began in the following year, plans for further price rises were put on hold to avoid stoking public

discontent. Omani diesel is still so cheap that trucks from the UAE drive over the border to fill up on it.

Population growth and artificially low energy prices in the GCC member countries - Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE - mean the countries that the world has long relied upon for oil and gas need to spend heavily over the next decade just to meet their own energy needs. According to a study published by consultants IHS on Sunday, over $1 trillion of investment is needed over the next 17 years to meet demand for gas and electricity in the Middle East and North Africa. IHS estimates that demand for natural gas in the GCC is likely to rise more than 50 percent, from 256 billion cubic metres (bcm) in 2011 to 400 bcm in 2030. Oil demand will also grow more than 50 percent in the next 17 years, from around 4 million barrels per day to over 6.2 million bpd, IHS said. — Reuters

US shutdown’s surprise effect on jobs numbers WASHINGTON: The government shutdown may have affected October’s jobs numbers. But not how you think. For weeks, the White House had braced for a dour report on hiring, with economists and aides lowering expectations and blaming last month’s partial shutdown for the inevitable bad news to come. Then Friday’s numbers materialized: Employers appeared to have ignored the shutdown and hired away, to the tune of 204,000 jobs in October. The shutdown, it seemed, had had no effect. Not so fast.

In the height of irony, the 16 days of federal worker furloughs and government disruptions may have helped, not hurt, the improved jobs picture. Typically, jobs numbers are announced on the first Friday of the month. Because of the shutdown, the Bureau of Labor Statistics delayed the release of the jobs numbers by one week to allow more time to collect payroll and household data. That extra time resulted in an above average response rate for payroll data.

So, not to get hung up on numbers, but the average participation rate by employers in payroll surveys for the nine months before October was 76.4 percent. That meant that in subsequent months, as more data was collected, the hiring numbers were adjusted, often upward. In October, with an extra week to collect data, the participation rate was 83.5 percent, the highest ever. A robust hiring number, to some economists, now felt slightly inflated. “It seems that

when the initial response rate is high, the initial payroll number is often, though certainly not always, stronger than the prior trend,” Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, wrote in a research note. In other words, if the jobs numbers in prior months were based on a lower participation rate, a stronger participation rate would skew the number up. “Tentatively, we think the effect of this could explain all the overshoot in payrolls,” Shepherdson wrote.

As a result, some economists are predicting that when the October numbers are updated, they might be in for a downward revision and that November could yield a lower number as well. “Businesses may have inadvertently counted employment for an extra week,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics.

“That could juice up the number. That may mean that we actually get surprised next month with a much weaker number.” The shutdown had another effect on the employment data. Besides conducting a survey of employers, which gives data on actual hiring, the government also surveys households to determine the unemployment rate.

Furloughed federal employees were considered unemployed during the shutdown and thus contributed to the increase in the unemployment rate in October from 7.2 percent to 7.3 percent. Without the furloughs, the unemploy-

ment rate would have dropped. Complicating things, some furloughed employees were counted as still employed. As a result, if they had been properly listed as unemployed, the jobless rate for October could have been higher than 7.3 percent.

But those are temporary anomalies and they won’t affect the November unemployment rate.

Even with data showing more hiring in the month, President Barack Obama on Friday stuck with the White House theme that the shutdown “harmed our jobs market.” “The unemployment rate still ticked up and we don’t yet know all the data for this final quarter of the year, but it could be down because off what happened in Washington,” he said.

The data did have some warnings.

Americans’ participation in the labor force went down. “Even factoring out the impact of the shutdown, we have a lot fewer people in the labor force than you’d expect,” said Jared Bernstein, senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and former economic adviser to Vice President Joe Biden. “That pushed the unemployment rate down because they are not looking and it takes away from growth.” Then he apologized for being a two-handed economist: “I consider the ( jobs) report evidence of a resilient American economy on the one hand, but some pronounced remaining weaknesses on the other.” — AP

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2013

BUSINESS

Al-Ghanam Tires launches new Falken products

Takeshi Adachi

Takashi Hara (right) receiving flowers from organizer.

By Ben Garcia KUWAIT: Al-Ghanam Tires hosted a gathering for their dealers and sales agents and launched their new Falken Tires range on Friday.

The event was held at Radisson Blu Hotel in Salwa and attended by Takeshi Adachi, General DirectorSumimoto Rubber ME and Takashi Hara General Manager (Sales-ME).

Falken Tires, which conforms to the standards and features of automobiles worldwide, offers a wide range of tires from passenger, 4WD & RV, light truck and the heavy truck and bus tires. Rajesh

KUWAIT: Cross-section of attendees.—Photos by Yasser Zayyat

keting of their products produced and distributed in different parts of the world. “We are indeed very thankful to Al-Ghanam for their relentless support and marketing of our brand in the market, especially in Kuwait and in the region. This is an annual event to meet everyone in person - not just agents and dealers but also interact with customers,” he added.

Falken Tires, according to Adachi, has been in the market for quite some time now and is recognized by customers for years. “AlGhanam helped us a lot. We have delivered about 100,000 Falken

Panjwani, Countr y Head-AlGhanam Tires, welcomed visitors and promised to deliver the best Falken Tires products. “Falken Tires has been established as a leading brand for many customers not only in Kuwait but the rest of the region too. We shall continue to provide respected brands and products accordingly,” he said.

Atulya Gupta, CEO-Automotive Business-Kapico Group Holdings Co, Jithin Jayachandran, Technical Service Manager Sumimoto Rubber ME and Suresh NS also addressed the event. Adachi thanked AlGhanam Tires for their active mar-

Tires units in Kuwait, and this is a huge number. So we are here to thank them. Falken Tires are also well-respected, and this product is growing very fast,” he added. He admitted business has been slow in the last two years due to political developments in the region, but he expects a bigger share in 2014.

“Falken Tires in terms of sales in 2014 will be better. In Kuwait it was steady because of a much better economic situation here, but there are countries in the GCC where we recorded slower demand, but we expect to recover in 2014 and in the years to come,” he said.

China builds reforms hopes at key meeting Crucial economic changes are on agenda

Anu Mamman Abraham, winner of the “Diwali Campaign” weekly draw by Malabar Gold & Diamonds, receives 1/4 kg of gold from Traffic Dept Col Ali Hamdan Zayd AlDihani in the presence of Afsal Khan, Zonal Head, Lukman Alavi, Branch Head Malabar Gold & Diamonds and a Ministry of Commerce & Industry official at their Souk Al Watya outlet.

Al-Tijari announces winners of Najma Account draw KUWAIT: Commercial Bank of Kuwait held the Al-Najma Account Daily draw yesterday.

The draw was held under the supervision of the Ministr y of Commerce & Industr y represented by Abdulaziz Ashkanani.

The winners of the Najma Daily Draw are : Fatma Ali Mohammed Buariki KD 7000, Shahed Mahmoud Khaled Borwez KD 7000, Fandi Atta Abu Hashish KD 7000, Eman Radhi Hunaidi Al-Shammari 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 worth 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, customers 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.

BEIJING: Chinese state media yesterday raised expectations for major reforms at a Communist Party meeting which is setting the course for the world’s second largest economy over the next decade. Leaders on Saturday began a four-day meeting, known as the Third Plenum, to chart the country’s future as it faces a series of challenges ranging from environmental degradation to a widening income gap.

In a front-page editorial, party mouthpiece the People’s Daily praised past economic reforms for bringing prosperity to the world’s most populous country and called for more.

“China needs to deepen reform... opening up on all fronts in order to forge ahead,” it said, but added the country faced an “uphill road” as it seeks to address new challenges. Analysts say China remains committed to economic reform, launched more than three decades ago in the communist country, but the pace slowed under the previous leadership of President Hu Jintao.

The new leaders, President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang, have in recent days raised expectations for economic reform. But few details have emerged from the secretive meeting which ends Tuesday. The economy expanded an annual 7.7 percent for all of 2012, the worst performance since 1999. Although economic growth rebounded to 7.8 percent yearon-year in the third quarter of this year, officials say China must adjust to slower development to carry out structural changes.

“In a society with rapid transformation and accumulating contradictions... every step we take towards the peak is a perilous climb that bears risk and even crisis,” the People’s Daily

BEIJING: A balloon vendor waits for customers outside a market in Beijing yesterday. Chinese state media yesterday raised expectations for major reforms at a Communist Party meeting which is setting the course for the world’s second largest economy over the next decade. — AFP

said. Although economic changes are on the agenda for the party meeting, officials and state media say, Western-style political reforms have been ruled out. But in a rare challenge to the ruling Communist Party, supporters of jailed politician Bo Xilai have established a new political party, one of the founders said yesterday.

Scholar Wang Zheng said the party was set up on Wednesday to support the former high-ranking official who was given a life sentence for corruption in September. Bo, the former Communist Party chief of the city of Chongqing

and a member of the elite politburo, won admirers among the so-called “New Left” for a revival of “red” culture, harking back to the days of leader Mao Zedong.

Chinese authorities view organizations set up without express authorization as illegal and have cracked down on similar groups in the past. Analysts have played down the prospect of firm measures emerging from the party meeting, since such gatherings tend to unveil general principles rather than concrete policies.— AFP

EXCHANGE RATES Al-Muzaini Exchange Co. ASIAN COUNTRIES 2.870 4.549 2.646 2.165 2.850 229.270 36.676 3.650 6.584 9.076 0.271 0.273 GCC COUNTRIES Saudi Riyal 75.884 Qatari Riyal 78.147 Omani Riyal 738.830 Bahraini Dinar 755.410 UAE Dirham 77.455 ARAB COUNTRIES Egyptian Pound - Cash 41.100 Egyptian Pound - Transfer 40.817 Yemen Riyal/for 1000 1.327 Tunisian Dinar 172.090 Jordanian Dinar 401.640 Lebanese Lira/for 1000 1.908 Syrian Lira 3.090 Morocco Dirham 34.671 EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 284.300 Euro 385.510 Sterling Pound 458.330 Canadian dollar 274.160 Turkish lira 140.160 Swiss Franc 311.730 Australian Dollar 272.080 US Dollar Buying 283.100 GOLD 20 Gram 245.000 10 Gram 124.000 5 Gram 64.000 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 273.41 Canadian Dollar 276.55 Swiss Franc 315.70 Euro 386.12 US Dollar 283.30 Sterling Pound 455.35 Japanese Yen 2.95 Bangladesh Taka 3.643 Indian Rupee 4.592 Sri Lankan Rupee 2.166 Nepali Rupee 2.878 Pakistani Rupee 2.657 UAE Dirhams 77.20 Bahraini Dinar 754.03 Egyptian Pound 41.11 Jordanian Dinar 403.20 Omani Riyal 736.76 Qatari Riyal 78.23 Saudi Riyal 75.68

SELL CASH 272.000 276.000 316.000 388.000 286.000 458.000 3.000 3.800 4.910 2.600 3.400 2.770 77.500 754.900 41.200 408.300 742.900 78.600 75.900

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 Thai Bhat

Selling Rate 283.400 274.600 456.300 383.840 311.200 748.315 77.135 78.690 76.440 399.495 41.085 2.161 4.581 2.641 3.641 6.545 696.086 3.870 10.110

Syrian Pound Nepalese Rupees Malaysian Ringgit Chinese Yuan Renminbi

3.055 3.855 90.952 46.880

Singapore Dollar South African Rand Sri Lankan Rupee Taiwan Thai Baht

0.224883 0.021668 0.001903 0.009530 0.008789 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 Canadian Dollar US Dollars US Dollars Mint 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

BUY SELL Europe 0.007391 0.008391 0.449036 0.458036 0.006694 0.018694 0.046916 0.051916 0.375223 0.382723 0.042340 0.047540 0.082035 0.82035 0.008166 0.018166 0.039035 0.044035 0.302596 0.312796 0.139655 0.14655 Australasia 0.258726 0.270226 0.228395 0.237895 America 0.266258 0.274758 0.280200 0.284550 0.280700 0.284550 Asia 0.003400 0.004000 0.045260 0.048760 0.034582 0.037332 0.004450 0.004851 0.000021 0.000027 0.002788 0.002968 0.003414 0.003414 0.000257 0.000272 0.085323 0.091323 0.003045 0.003215 0.002521 0.002801 0.006472 0.006752 0.000070 0.000076

0.230883 0.030168 0.002483 0.009710 0.009339

Bahraini Dinar 0.747655 Egyptian Pound 0.038630 Iranian Riyal 0.000079 Iraqi Dinar 0.000184 Jordanian Dinar 0.396776 Kuwaiti Dinar 1.0000000 Lebanese Pound 0.000139 Moroccan Dirhams 0.022798 Nigerian Naira 0.001205 Omani Riyal 0.732410 Qatar Riyal 0.077380 Saudi Riyal 0.075177 Syrian Pound 0.002179 Tunisian Dinar 0.166879 Turkish Lira 0.139655 UAE Dirhams 0.076423 Yemeni Riyal 0.001291

0.755655 0.041730 0.000080 0.000244 0.404276 1.0000000 0.000239 0.046798 0.001840 0.738090 0.078593 0.075877 0.002399 0.174879 0.146655 0.077572 0.001371

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) 283.700 382.500 456.850 273.100 4.530 41.170 2.160 3.648 6.565 2.645 755.450 77.250 75.750

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2013

BUSINESS

New Fujitsu scanners set new standard for desktop scanning DUBAI: The new fi-7180/fi-7280 and fi-7160/fi-7260 document scanners have been launched in the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East and Africa). With its new series of scanners, Fujitsu is pursuing a comprehensive approach to document scanning: hardware and supporting software finely tuned to work together for perfect results.

Featuring the new Fujitsu PaperStream IP driver and image enhancement software PaperStream Capture, the new generation of scanners will boost both efficiency and quality in the scanning of documents. Fujitsu devised the whole package to make clean, compact, and clear digital images from a wide range of document types, saving users’ time and demonstrating Fujitsu’s commitment to making document capture simple.

The new models can capture up to 80 sheets/160 pages per minute (A4, colour, double-sided, 300 dpi) placing them amongst the fastest scanners for knowledge workers’ desktops. At launch, users have the choice between two pure ADF scanners (fi-7160 and fi-7180) and two models that feature an integrated flatbed unit (fi-7260 and fi-7280).

“We have devised a completely new package of hardware and software for our new generation of fi Series scanners. The components are perfectly complementary and coordinated from the ground up”, says Mike Nelson, General Manager for Sales and Marketing at PFU Imaging Solutions Europe Ltd. “We have optimised the capture process so that users can now integrate important information into downstream document-management processes more quickly and without the need for special training.”

Critical for perfect results: The interplay between hard- and software Both hardware and software are equally important in the new Fujitsu fi-7180/fi-7280 and fi-7160 /fi-7260 scanners. The newly developed PaperStream IP driver and image processing middleware combined with the PaperStream Capture software offer

simplified and automated batch scanning routines that intelligently convert batches of documents into predetermined work routines.

“Together, our new hardware and PaperStream software delivers images of extraordinary quality and a capture process that produces optimum results that can flow directly into your business processes”, explains Klaus Schulz, Manager of Product Marketing for EMEA at PFU Imaging Solutions. iSOP – ‘senses’ the feeding process In addition to the industry leading paper protection feature of the previous generations, the new models introduce a premium feature into a desktop scanner – the intelligent Sonic Paper Protection mechanism iSOP. This is an acoustic noise sensor module that monitors the feeding process. It detects the sound emission of every document, recognising any sound indicating an irregularity and immediately stops the paper feed motion, saving users’ time and protecting important and valuable originals.

Top results, quickly and reliably These new fi Series models offer USB 3.0 support and are designed to make end-to-end scanning processes faster. The fi-7180/fi-7280 models (without/with flatbed) capture up to 80 sheets/160 pages per minute (A4, colour, duplex, 300 dpi), while the fi-7160/fi-7260 models process up to 60 sheets/120 pages per minute (A4, colour, duplex, 300 dpi).

Additional functions also help deliver top results. For example, it is easy to scan a mixed batch containing sheets of different sizes and thicknesses. The scanners mechanically straighten any documents that may have been fed askew and PaperStream IP also automatically corrects any remaining irregularities.

An ultrasonic sensor recognises whether two or more sheets have fed in and issues an error message. Even sticky notes do not delay the workflow as the system

recognises them automatically. Further, user support is provided through the scanners’ LCD panel which provides straightforward operation flows and allows users to select profiles directly on the device, check the quantity of scanned documents or review any status messages.

Scanner central administration lowers operating costs The scanner central administration function allows management of all of the new fi Series scanners efficiently. For example, administrators can determine scan profiles, install drivers or applications with ease and perform updates centrally. Error messages or maintenance status updates also appear in the central management functions. The result is a much lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).

PaperStream IP – top-quality image processing and enhancement PaperStream IP represents a totally new type of driver middleware. Advanced black and white and colour processing automatically converts every document into an image of extraordinary quality. Users need not worry about individual scanning parameters but are able to adjust any parameter to suit their needs to specific jobs.

PaperStream IP prepares digitised data for subsequent processing such as OCR (Optical Character Recognition) and connects with common scanning applications that would regularly control the scanner via either the TWAIN or ISIS interface. PaperStream IP also provides a unique triple stream capability.

PaperStream Capture – optimises batch scanning PaperStream Capture allows users to fine-tune their document work flow (including batches) at every step.

Once users have scanned a batch they can instantly release it to the defined destination or place it into a queue for subsequent validation and additional processing.

The software also brings flexibility when users need to add more documents to an existing batch at a later point in time: newly scanned documents of the same class or belonging to the same logical batch can be appended without the need to re-scan the entire set.

Users of ECM (Enterprise Content Management) and DMS (Document Management System) applications can use PaperStream Capture as a versatile onramp for document batches being fed into their productivity applications with less effort and offering better quality performance.

ScanSnap Manager for fi Series – universal everyday use In addition to offering full-featured document capture and batch processing, the fi Series is also on hand for more ad-hoc daily tasks through the ScanSnap Manager for fi Series. This allows users to undertake individual tasks at their desks such as Scan-to-PDF, Scan-toEmail or Scan-to-Word.

Ford Focus extends streak as best-selling vehicle nameplate DUBAI: Ford Focus, the best-selling vehicle nameplate in the world in 2012, retains the title for the first half of 2013. In addition, Ford Fiesta ranks as the fourth best-selling vehicle making Ford the only brand to have two nameplates among the global top five bestsellers, according to Ford analysis of Polk global vehicle registration data. Ford Focus grew 20 percent in the first half of 2013 from the same period last year, to 589,709 vehicle registrations, driven primarily by increasing demand from customers in China and other Asian countries. Focus in China is up 137 percent from 2012, to a total of 202,380 vehicles, making China the single biggest global market for the car with one-third of Focus sales.

Customers are responding enthusiastically to Focus in other Asian countries, as well. Through September, Ford reports Focus sales are up 193 percent

in Indonesia, 72 percent in both the Philippines and Vietnam, and 42 percent in Thailand.

Fiesta also a best-seller Ford Fiesta joins Focus among the five global bestsellers, and earns the top spot as the best-selling subcompact car globally, with 356,434 units registered in the first half of 2013.

“Fiesta is off to a terrific start, and Focus just keeps getting better - especially in China,” said Jim Farley, Ford executive vice president, global marketing, sales and service and Lincoln.

“This is One Ford at its best: great-looking vehicles with great fuel economy, leading quality, technology and funto-drive personalities.” Combined, global registrations of Ford’s small cars - Fiesta and Focus - total 946,143 vehicles for the first six months of the year, representing an 8 percent increase.

Famed M badge adorns flagship BMW 7 Series DUBAI: The BMW 760Li V12 M Bi-Turbo, conceptualized and produced exclusivity for the Middle East market, made its Middle East debut on the BMW stand at the Dubai International Motor Show, that took place from the 5-9th Nov 2013 at the Dubai World Trade Centre.

The BMW 760Li V12 M Bi-Turbo is the first 7 Series model to wear the famed M badge.

Powerful to its core, the 760Li is powered by a 6.0-litre V12 Twin-Turbo charged engine that produces 544hp, 750 Nm of torque and an eight-speed automatic transmission that catapults the sedan from 0 to 100km/h in 4.6 seconds.

The bespoke interior is upholstered in premium materials that include 100% leather in Nappa Oyster and features a choice of orange, blue, red or black contrasting M colour stitching and iDrive controller, air conditioning vents and other levers in a ceramic finish. In addition, the interior trim is in BMW Individual Piano black wood with “V12” stitched into the headrests.

External design features include a choice of eight BMW M exterior colours that have taken

inspiration from some of the most famous Formula One tracks from around the world such as Monte Carlo Blue, Silverstone II and Imola Red. In addition other external touches that make the BMW 760Li M Bi-Turbo special edition stand out from the crowd include the “V12 M BiTurbo” and “M” badging engraved in dark chrome on the rear boot lid and door sills and door handles for an added sense of luxury.

Adding to its purposeful stance are the exclusive M Sport 19 or 20-inch alloy wheels with double spoke.

A byword for luxury, elegance and innovation, the BMW 7 Series currently ranks as the third biggest market worldwide for BMW 7 Series sales with the flagship model consistently amongst BMW’s best-sellers across all GCC markets. Demand for the 7 Series model continues to grow with year-to-date sales (Jan-Oct) increasing 26% compared to the same period last year. The BMW 760Li V12 M Bi-Turbo is expected to enhance the popularity of the BMW 7 Series, and is available from all BMW Group importers across the GCC region.

Agility announces Q3 results KUWAIT: Agility (AGLTY) yesterday announced financial results for the third quarter of 2013. The company reported a net profit of KD 12.1 million for the third quarter of 2013, and Earnings per Share (EPS) of 11.62 fils, up 26 percent over the same period last year. Revenues and EBITDA stand at KD 326.7 million and KD 23.6 million respectively. For the nine month period ended Sept 30, 2013, the company reported a net profit of KD 33.8 million a 40 percent increase from same period last year. Revenues remained flat compared to the first nine months of 2012, but EBITDA improved by 23 percent standing at KD 68.9 million.

“We continue to make steady progress in improving the bottom line, by controlling costs and improving productivity across our business.

That said, the slowdown in the global economy impacted our revenues however, yet we were still able to report better on the net revenues level.

Our infrastructure group is showing good progress and we are excited about our most recent wins.” We cannot control the market, but we can control our productivity and efficiency.

Our focus will continue to be on staying agile to adapt to changing market conditions, while driving steady improvement in our core business,” said Tarek Sultan.

Agility Global Integrated Logistics (GIL) Agility Global Integrated Logistics (GIL) revenues are KD 267.1 million, down 9 percent compared to the same quarter last year. Revenues have dropped as a result of the Global environment and the challenging trade conditions compared to the same period last year. However, despite this fact, we were able to maintain the same level of net revenues. GIL’s net revenue margins this quarter improved to 23 percent up

from 21 percent in Q3 2012. Agility GIL has maintained financial discipline, and continues to drive a major transformation effort to boost productivity and improve customer service.

Agility Infrastructure Agility’s Infrastructure group contributed KD 61.3 million to total revenue in Q3 of 2013. The group’s NR has improved by 8 percent compared to same period last year. Agility’s Real Estate business, the most significant financial contributor among the Infrastructure group of companies, improved its revenues by 12 percent relative to Q3 of 2012. Tristar, the second biggest contributor to the Infrastructure group, is also showing promising growth potential after securing new business wins. Other entities within the Infrastructure group also continue to show healthy growth.

Recapping Financial Performance • Net profit is KD 12.1 million in the third quarter of 2013, a 26 percent increase over Q3, 2012. Earnings per Share were 11.62 fils in Q3, compared with an EPS of 9.20 fils in Q3 2012.

• EBITDA was KD 23.6 million for the third quarter of 2013, an increase of 10 percent from

the same period a year earlier. * Agility’s revenues in Q3 2013 were KD 326.7 million, a 10 percent decrease over Q3 2012. Net revenues stand at KD 94.3 million a 2 percent increase from Q3 2012. * Agility Global Integrated Logistics (GIL) Net revenues in Q3, 2013 reached KD 61.1 million in line with the same period in 2012. * Agility’s Infrastructure companies’ net revenue stood at KD 33.8 million in Q3 2013 an increase of 8 percent over Q3, 2012. * Operating cash flow and free cash flow generated during Q3 were KD 18.3 million and KD 14.1 million, respectively.

Future Outlook “The nature of our business is closely tied to world trade flows. Global economic growth continues to be sluggish. Our focus will continue to be on remaining flexible and responsive to changing market conditions, on holding costs steady and maintaining financial discipline, while continuing to transform and improve our underlying business,” said Sultan. “We thank our customers for their custom, our employees for their commitment, and our shareholders for their faith in us. We are continuing to make steady progress

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2013

BUSINESS

Mexico aims to lure millions out of informal economy MEXICO CITY: Alfredo Barrueta has worked in the streets of Mexico City since childhood, graduating from ball juggler to car windshield cleaner before scratching a living by selling roses. Barrueta, 37, is among 30 million Mexicans, or 60 percent of workers, toiling in the informal economy-a massive workforce that the gov-

ernment is trying to convince to pay taxes in return for wider social security.

“I sell in the street to survive,” said Barrueta, who has sold roses at the same roundabout in the capital’s ritzy Polanco district for two decades. “If we get run over, we don’t have any insurance,” he said before walking

between a stream of cars for a job that earns him a bit more than the $140 monthly minimum wage. In Mexico City, every sidewalk, street corner, metro station and park is bustling with an array of workers: The cook frying pork tacos for office workers; the woman selling balloons next to a playground; the fire breather enter-

taining motorists at a red light.

Luring them into the formal economy is one of the biggest challenges that President Enrique Pena Nieto has taken on as part of his vast structural reform agenda. Mexico has one of the highest rates of off-the-books workers in the hemisphere, with the International Labor Organization estimating that 47 percent of Latin America’s non-agricultural employment is in the informal sector.

improve their businesses. Tenorio estimates that between 120,000 and 240,000 people may be convinced to join the formal economy. David Lozano, economics analyst at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, has a higher but barely better estimate of 400,000 to 600,000 people. “The (new tax) system is destined for failure,” said Senator Mario Delgado of the leftist opposition Democratic Revolution Party.

Experts voice doubts Last week, Congress passed a fiscal reform championed by Pena Nieto to increase the government’s meager tax haul through a raft of new levies. The reform would exempt those entering the new “incorporation regime” from paying taxes in the first year that they join the formal economy. They would then contribute gradually, not paying the full normal rate until the 10th year.

In return, they would get social security from the start, including public health care coverage. The Senate is now debating a bill, which passed the lower house, to expand coverage by providing unemployment insurance and a nationwide pension of between $43 and $81 per month.

Experts doubt the legislation will make a dent in the vast informal sector, while several workers interviewed by AFP in the streets of Mexico City were not convinced that paying taxes would be to their advantage. “It would marginally reduce the number of people in the informal economy,” said Raymundo Tenorio Aguilar, economic programs director at the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education. “The incentives that they are offering are too flexible, very lax. They are not coercive,” he told AFP, adding that the government should offer workers financial help to

It takes time But the government estimates that two million informal and semi-formal workers will join the new tax regime in its first year in 2014. After that, around 200,000 and 300,000 people will come into the fold every year, Miguel Messmacher, deputy finance minister for revenue, told AFP. “The phenomenon of informal work is very complex and it will take time to reduce,” Messmacher said.

“It’s a gradual process,” he said, adding that it would take more time to take hold in less developed regions.

But informal workers said they want reassurances before they consider paying taxes, which start at a rate of six percent for the lowest incomes.

They want a guarantee that they can stay at their street corner. They want credit to grow their business. And they want health insurance for their families.

“We would be convinced if they let us work where we are and if they guarantee health insurance,” said Esteban Flores, 46, who sells sodas, snacks and cigarettes outside a metro station.

But some say they government cannot be trusted. “The government will take our money to give it to others,” said Joaquin Reyes, 64, who boils corn and sells each ear for less than $1. “How can I pay taxes if I barely make enough to survive?” — AFP

LISBON: A demonstrator holds a flag during a protest called by the Portuguese Federation of Transportation and Communication Unions (FECTRANS) against austerity measures and the government’s 2014 draft budget, in Lisbon.

Hundreds of people protested against planned reductions in transport workers’ pay as well as the privatization of public sector projects. — AFP

US seeks $864m from BofA over Countrywide loans NEW YORK: Federal prosecutors want Bank of America Corp to pay about $864 million over losses incurred by the government after it bought thousands of home loans made by Countrywide Financial during the housing boom. US attorney Preet Bharara made the request in documents filed late Friday with the US District Court in Manhattan.

A jury last month found Bank of America Corp., which acquired Countrywide in 2008, liable for knowingly selling thousands of bad home loans to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac between August 2007 and May 2008.

The panel also returned the verdict against Countrywide and a former executive, Rebecca Mairone.

The trial related to mortgages the government said were sold at breakneck speed without regard to quality as the economy headed into a tailspin. The government had accused the financial institutions of urging workers to churn out loans, accept fudged applications and hide ballooning defaults through a loan program called the Hustle, shorthand for high-speed swim lane, which operated under the motto, “Loans Move Forward, Never Backward.”

Bank of America, based in Charlotte, NC, denied there was fraud. Thousands of loans made through the Hustle program were sold to Fannie and Freddie, which packaged loans into securities and sold them to investors. The companies were effectively nationalized in 2008 when they nearly collapsed from mortgage losses. In the filing Friday, Bharara asked the court to make the penalty on BofA equal to the maximum losses racked up from the Hustle pro-

gram by the government-run mortgage buyers. Bank of America spokesman Lawrence Grayson said Saturday that the lender plans to respond to the government’s penalty filing before a Nov 20 deadline. “We believe the filing overstates the volume of loans and the appropriate measure of damages arising from one narrow Countrywide program that lasted several months and ended before Bank of America acquired the company,” he said.

Bharara also wants the court to impose a penalty on Mairone - who prosecutors say was the driving force behind the Hustle program - that is in line with her ability to pay.

Mairone’s lawyer, Marc Mukasey in New York, said Saturday that he intends to file papers with the court arguing there should be no penalties imposed on his client. Countrywide, once the country’s largest mortgage lender, played a major role in the collapse of the housing market because of its heavy reliance on subprime mortgages.

Facing serious financial challenges, it was acquired by Bank of America in 2008 in an all-stock deal valued at about $4 billion.

In 2010, Bank of America agreed to pay $600 million to settle class-action lawsuits claiming that Countrywide officials concealed mounting financial risks as they loosened lending standards during the housing boom. That same year, former Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo agreed to pay $67.5 million to settle accusations by the Securities and Exchange Commission that he had misled investors and engaged in insider trading.—AP

Euro can only succeed via political union: Greenspan FRANKFURT: The euro can ultimately only succeed if EU countries agree to a political union, the former head of the US Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan, said in an interview yesterday. The single currency “can only be saved via a political union”, Greenspan told Welt am Sonntag newspaper.

“I don’t believe that a common economic and currency area can function in the long term if it is made up of 17 countries with 17 different social systems,” Greenspan

said in comments reproduced in German. “The euro-zone needs a complete political union, comprising either all member states or a core Europe. That is the only way the euro-zone isn’t going to break up,” Greenspan told the newspaper.

Asked whether the global financial crisis that erupted in 2008 could happen again, Greenspan replied: “Absolutely.

No question.”

Greenspan, 87, was chairman of the Federal Reserve between 1987 and 2006. — AFP

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2013

BUSINESS

Europe remains in easing mode; US QE tapering seen NBK MONEY MARKETS REPORT KUWAIT: In 2013, the majority of market movements came after Central Banks meetings, mainly the Fed and the ECB. This week was the turn for the ECB President Mario Draghi to surprise markets while least expected and cut the refinancing rate to 0.25 percent from 0.50 percent, a move not anticipated by most market participants.

Indeed, almost two month ago, the market had totally misread the Fed tapering, hence went into the ECB meeting with mostly status quo in terms of policy announcement.

The ECB surprised and proved the market wrong with the refinancing rate cut: the decision was mostly justified by this week’s weaker than-expected inflation report. In summary, 68 out of 70 economists had not expected the ECB to lower the rate.

Of course, the major winner was the US Dollar following the decision. After reaching over 1.38 on October 29, the Euro tumbled to be the worst performing currency as investors took the rate cut as a dovish sign from the ECB. Market interpreted the cut as a move that could potentially be followed by other potential announcement from the ECB to spur growth in Europe, such as a new LTRO. After spending the whole week trading around the 1.35 level, the euro collapsed to a low of 1.3295 on Thursday and the US payroll numbers reiterated the fact that the US dollar weakness has ended at least for the near future. The Euro ended the week at 1.3367.

In the UK, economic data continued to print better than expected with PMI Construction and Services beating estimates and industrial production coming above expectations. Although the euro dropped sharply on Thursday, the British Pound was better supported and ended the week lower against the Dollar at 1.6017 In Asia, the US data remain the main driver of the dollar yen direction. After a volatile week, the yen closed on the low side following stronger US payroll numbers. The pair closed on Friday at 99.05 while the US was mostly stronger across the board against the other Asian currencies.

Although it has come on the stronger side, the job report has not been sufficiently convincing for investors to buy the Dollar. The latest housing data, earnings and consumer confidence have been coming on the weaker side in recent weeks. Also, the government shutdown in October, continue to distort coming economic data and create uncertainties that could push the Fed to remain on the sideline until 2014. In the commodity complex, the strong US job report had a large negative effect on metals especially Gold. As the weak September US non-farm payroll pushed gold and silver prices higher last month, there has been no follow through in Asia even with the Indian celebrations. The data on Friday gave the final go ahead for investors to sell gold. In summary, both gold and silver closed at the lows this week, respectively at $1,288.50 and $21.51

US growing at 2.8 percent US GDP growth came at +2.8 percent in Q3, the fastest pace of growth since Q1 2012. Importantly, the Q3 expansion was driven by a wide array of categories. Even government posted a modest increase following three quarters of contraction and this was driven local and state spending not the federal government.

Business inventories increased by $86 bn. Nominal GDP grew 4.8 percent in Q3, the fastest pace in four quarters. Although some analysts cut their Q4 forecasts, Initial jobless claims came at 336k this week as expected.

The US jobless rate rose to 7.3 percent from 7.2 percent in September. Still, the change in Nonfarm

payrolls increased more than forecast. The addition of 204,000 workers followed a revised 163,000 gain in September that was larger than initially estimated.

Economists had called for a 120,000 advance.

The payroll breakdown came on the strong side, with gains in payrolls broadly based. With the upward revisions, the payrolls data is now well within the zone consistent with a December tapering start, especially that we have been hearing lately upbeat rhetoric from different Fed members.

In addition, the strong data will make the Fed’s job more difficult similar to the Bank of England where economic data have been coming better than expected, yet the Central bank has kept its commitment for low interest rate for the foreseeable future.

Along with the surprise cut from Mario Draghi, the US Dollar gains should sustain into the next couple of

weeks at least until the December Fed meeting.

ECB cut rates Draghi press conference started dovish as he was acknowledging lower inflation in the euro-zone, but did not sound like he was to change the price stability assessment of the ECB. The ECB also did not mention the need to do any additional Long term Refinancing Operation (LTRO) for now. Investors initially sold the euro heavily as the council maintained an easing bias while expecting the inflation at below target for prolonged time.

The press conference however ended with mixed views and the currency gained ground as the council reiterated its assessment to the current price stability

in the euro zone and did not expect to do more unless a negative growth or inflation surprise hits the Euro zone.

France downgraded This week, S&P rating agency downgraded France to AA from AA+, on the back of weak growth prospects and fiscal policy constraints. However, at the same time S&P raised the outlook to stable. In addition to the downgrade, French Industrial production came at -0.5 percent versus expectations of 0.1 percent and trade numbers at Ä5.8bn versus Ä5.09bn for September.

German trade surplus As expected, Germany remains the pillar of the euro-zone. Germany’s trade surplus widened in

September to a record high as the country’s exports continue to beat expectations and imports continue lagging behind. Indeed, exports were up 1.7 percent to 92.8 billion euros in September over August.

Imports on the other hand dropped 1.9 percent to 73.9 billion euros.

In the latest IMF meeting, the United States continued its criticism towards Germany for its large trade surplus, saying it was causing problems for its other European partners.

UK data continues to outperform, placing the BoE in an uncomfortable situation The strong UK data as of late continue to support the currency.

Indeed, Britain’s business association, the CBI, revised up its forecast for the country’s economic growth to 1.4 percent this year, and 2.4 percent next year, predicting a rebound in business and housing investment.

Assuming these forecasts are realized, it would make the UK one of the fastest growing economies in the developed markets. The UK also reported stellar services PMIs supported the currency. The UK then provided the market with even more strong data with Sept Industrial Production coming at the strongest annual rate since Jan 2011 of 2.2 percent.

According to analysts, these figures put the BoE in a very uncomfortable position with the market continually being encouraged to price hikes sooner than official guidance, with the market pricing the first hike now priced for Q2 2015 versus Q3 2015 in August.

The Australian Dollar came under some pressure this week as Reserve Bank of Australia Guy Debell spoke at the IMF in Washington. He suggested the rise in the Australian Dollar was not in line with the country’s fundamentals.

This week, during their interest rate meeting, the RBA left the cash rate unchanged at 2.5 percent but all the eyes and ears were tuning into the finer details of the statement and currency concerns.

China growth rate China’s growth stories are back in the news this week after Chinese Premier Li remarks were published highlighting the need for China to sustain a growth rate of at least 7.2 percent to ensure a stable job market. Following that, China’s official manufacturing PMI rose to 51.4 in October, up from 51.1 in September.

A stronger PMI could be a precursor to a stronger GDP growth in Q4. Meanwhile, the recent squeeze in money market rates by the People Bank of China indicates the Bank is maintaining a strong position to put a brake on easy credit standards in the country.

Kuwait Kuwaiti dinar at 0.28345 The USDKWD opened at 0.28345 yesterday morning.

Al-Hilal Bank honors new generation of bankers in special graduation ceremony

BEIJING: A family ride past a poster of the fictional character Tintin in Beijing yesterday. Chinese state media yesterday raised expectations for major reforms at a Communist Party meeting which is setting the course for the world’s second largest economy over the next decade. — AFP

Maduro government ‘occupies’ Venezuela electronics chain CARACAS: Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s socialist government “occupied” a chain of electronics stores on Saturday in a high-profile crackdown on what it views as price-gouging hobbling the country’s economy. Authorities arrested various managers of the five-store, 500-employee Daka chain, sent soldiers into the shops and forced the company to start selling products at cheaper prices.

That brought crowds of bargain-hunters to Daka outlets and sparked looting at one store in the central city of Valencia. “Inflation’s killing us. I’m not sure if this was the right way, but something had to be done,” said Carlos Rangel, 37, among about 500 people queuing outside a Daka store in Caracas. “I think it’s right to make people sell things at fair prices.”

Maduro, who accuses rich businessmen and right-wing political foes backed by Washington of waging an economic “war” against him, said the occupation of Daka was simply the “tip of the iceberg” in a nationwide drive against speculators. In a speech to the nation on Saturday evening, he condemned the looting reported in Valencia but said it was an isolated incident and the real criminals were unscrupulous businessmen exploiting Venezuelans with unjustified price hikes. “The ones who have looted Venezuela are you, bourgeois parasites,” Maduro said, accusing Daka of raising some prices of products beyond 1,000 percent of cost. He showed particular astonishment at a washing-machine on sale for 54,000 bolivars ($8,571 at the official exchange rate of 6.3 to the dollar). “We’re going to comb the whole nation in the next few days. This robbery of the people has to stop,” Maduro said. “You’ve not seen anything.” communications experts were blocking a clutch of websites that publish the illegal black-market price of the dollar. “They’re going off the air!” he exclaimed,

to applause from supporters. Minutes after his announcement, however, some of the sites could still be seen by a Reuters reporter in Venezuela.

Maduro’s move against Daka, after weeks of warnings of a pre-Christmas push against private businesses to keep prices down, recalled the sweeping and often theatrical takeovers during the 14-year government of his predecessor, Hugo Chavez. The late president frequently took the nation by surprise announcing expropriations on live TV. He used soldiers to secure oil fields, power stations, supermarkets and other targets while nationalizing large swathes of Venezuela’s economy. But Maduro, who took over in April after Chavez’s death from cancer, has stopped short of any more of the outright nationalizations that characterized his mentor’s rule. Economic officials were fanning across Venezuela on Saturday, entering Daka and other privately-owned shops to check prices in a pre-Christmas offensive by the government. At Daka’s flagship store in Caracas, soldiers organized hundreds of people into queues, making lists before calling them in one-by-one. Rangel had waited overnight with various relatives and was hoping to find a cheap TV. In Valencia, Twitter users posted images of people running out of the Daka shop with TVs and boxes of goods. Critics say Venezuela’s runaway inflation - the annual rate is now 54 percent, the highest since Chavez came to power in 1999 - is due to economic mismanagement and the failure of socialist policies rather than unscrupulous retailers. Opponents say excessive government controls and persecution of the private sector are to blame for shortages of basic goods ranging from flour to toilet paper, and for price distortions and corruption caused by a black-market currency rate nearly 10 times higher than the official price. —Reuters

ABU DHABI: Al-Hilal Bank honored the exceptional efforts and performance of 115 of its staff who have successfully graduated from an intensive two-year ‘Boot Camp’ via a special Graduation Ceremony held lately at the Dusit Thani Abu Dhabi.

Running since 2009, Al-Hilal Bank’s two-year training program consists of 15 modules covering various banking subjects. This Boot Camp is intended for all staff members up to the bank’s Senior Officers. It lasts for 35 training days which are spread over two years, with trainees attending one module every two months. Participants are imbibed with Al-Hilal Bank’s passion for innovation, motivation, and customer-centric service in keeping with the organization’s spirit as a progressive Islamic bank. The ongoing fourth batch will complete their term by 2015 “Al-Hilal Bank considers its people its major asset and so we constantly provide progressive education for all our members. We are very proud of the achievements of the fourth batch of our program graduates, who represent the next generation of Islamic banking in the UAE. We would like to thank the trainers, and all the people behind the success of this group. They will play key roles in changing not only our bank’s future but the face of Islamic banking in Abu Dhabi and throughout the UAE as well,” said Mohamed Jamil Berro, Group CEO, Al-Hilal Bank Berro welcomed the graduation attendees, followed by a ‘This is Where You Belong’ video tribute to past and future achievements. A

Student Ambassador addressed the crowd afterwards. A student video was also shown, proceeded by the formal presentation of Graduation Certificates and the handing out of awards to the top graduates. The activity ended with a group photo session and cocktails.

A special twist to the event was the inversion of the usual orange square-within-a-circle logo of Al-Hilal Bank throughout the ceremonial theme. By putting the circle inside instead, AlHilal Bank expressed the importance and confidence it places on its people.

Al-Hilal Bank was established in June 2008

with an authorized capital of AED 4 billion and is fully owned by the Abu Dhabi Investment Council, the investment arm of the Government of Abu Dhabi.

The bank is Shariah compliant and operates through a network of 22 branches strategically located across the United Arab Emirates as well as 3 other branches in major cities of Kazakhstan. Al Hilal Bank aims to become the leading financial institution in the region and is committed to increase the growth of Islamic banking by providing new direction, new technologies and special services.

Philips: A phoenix with lessons for industrial lame ducks THE HAGUE: Back in 1978 in a boardroom near Lake Geneva, a bunch of nervous Philips inventors demonstrated a device that was to revolutionize the entertainment industry for the next three decades. Called the “Pinkeltje” after a small Dutch gnome in a children’s story, the device performed flawlessly-and so the world’s first Compact Disc (CD) player was born.

Thirty-five years later the Netherlands’ Philips, once one of Europe’s best-known brands for radios and televisions, is ditching the consumer electronics business that used to be its bread and butter, and is thriving. The Philips story is a business case of how a leading global industrial group, with leading technology, went through several rocky years of restructuring, and found a successful strategy to re-invent itself in time. Now the company is reaping the rewards of emerging from the restructuring cycle.

In January, Philips announced the sale of its lifestyle entertainment branch, which makes stereos and DVD players, after selling its troubled TV-making arm in 2012. In February, Philips said it intended to drop the word “Electronics” from its name to indicate its shift in strategy.

Faced with dwindling margins and fierce competition from Asia, the manufacturer born in southern Dutch city Eindhoven is refocusing on high-end health care, space-age lighting and the global explosion of a middle class interested in healthy living. This example of transformational strategy is working, analysts say. Profits are strong despite the

recent financial and euro-one debt crises, and in a high-stakes roller-coaster climate for high-tech companies which has claimed high-flyers such as Nokia of Finland and BlackBerry of Canada.

Last month, Philips announced that its thirdquarter profits jumped almost three-fold from the equivalent 2012 figure ,to 282 million euros ($380 million) this year. The latest results were even driven by sales of household appliances in the emerging markets from whence came much of the new competition which threatened Philips.

Marc Schauten, assistant finance professor at the Erasmus School of Economics in Rotterdam, said the company is doing well because “they made the shift into areas where they really have a competitive advantage.” “Combined with the fact that they involve their clients (in development) and the reliability of their products they really have the cutting edge,” he told AFP. At Theodoor Gilissen bank in Amsterdam, senior analyst Tom Muller said: “It was a tough choice for Philips to exit consumer electronics.” He added: “This segment was one of its old pillars.” But competition had become “murderous, with all kinds of Asian producers on the market,” he said.

Even Asian giants such as Japan’s Sony, Panasonic and Sharp have been undergoing major restructuring to keep up in the low-margin television business.Over the last two years Philips “has taken decisive steps to move away from low-growth, low-value businesses,” the company’s chief executive Frans van Houten said in London in September.

Science fiction The company is now focused on three segments: healthcare, lighting and consumer well-being.

Nowhere is the shift in Philips more visible than in its healthcare division, which now accounts for about 43 percent of investments. Philips has seen a steady rise in full-year figures for its healthcare solutions, from 6.6 billion euros in sales in 2007 to a staggering 9.9 billion euros last year.

From innovative operating theatres to remotelymonitored Intensive Care Units, Philips has clinched a series of mega-deals with hospitals around the world to provide medical equipment.

Analysts draw another lesson from the case: Philips is constantly collaborating with smaller innovative companies, such as Israel’s RealView Imaging to develop 3D holographic projections for surgeons.

The system was used for the first time last month, bringing the world of sci-fi films into the reality of saving lives. Another lesson, in Philip’s case, is to build on positions which have strong potential.

Philips shipped its first lightbulb shortly after being founded in 1891 and the company today pins its hopes on innovative lighting ideas such as lightemitting diode (LED).

As eco-friendly LED technology becomes more popular, lighting everything from hospital operating theatres to headlights on the latest cars, Philips expects to benefit: it owns most of the world’s LED patents, thanks to years of research and development. —AFP

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2013

BUSINESS

Air Arabia launches Hofuf as tenth Saudi destination First International airline to serve Hofuf Airport SHARJAH: Air Arabia, the first and largest low-cost carrier (LCC) in the Middle East and North Africa, today announced that it has launched flights to Hofuf, making it the tenth destination in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that the airline serves from its main base in Sharjah. The regular service to the Eastern Province in the Kingdom marks the airline’s 87th global destination.

Starting November 18, 2013, Air Arabia will offer ser vices to Hofuf on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, departing from Sharjah International Airport at 17:20 and arriving at Hofuf International Airport at 17:50. Return flights will depart from Hofuf on the same days at 18:30 and arrive in Sharjah at 20:55.

“We are delighted to launch the regular service to Hofuf-Al Ahsa’a, which testifies our promise to expand our Kingdom-wide presence,” said, Adel Ali, Group Chief Executive Officer, Air Arabia. “As we are committed to offering our value-for-money servic-

es to even more destinations in the Kingdom, we will continue to evaluate opportunities in this vibrant market. That said, we are confident that the increased air connectivity between the UAE and Saudi Arabia will further contribute to the ever strengthening social and economic ties between both nations.”

Air Arabia currently operates over 80 non-stop weekly flights from its Sharjah hub to Riyadh, Jeddah, Madina, Dammam, Qassim, Yanbu, Taif, Hail and Abha in Saudi Arabia. The low-cost pioneer also flies over 10 times weekly to Riyadh, Dammam and Jeddah from its Alexandria hub in Egypt. Air Arabia (PJSC), listed on the Dubai Financial Market, is the Middle East and North Africa’s leading low-cost carrier (LCC). Air Arabia commenced operations in October 2003 and currently operates a total fleet of 34 new Airbus A320 aircraft, serving 87 routes from three hubs in UAE, Morocco and Egypt.

DMCC signs MoU with Dubai World Central Deal to explore mutual benefits for its free zone members DUBAI: Dubai Multi Commodities Centre Authority (DMCC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Dubai Aviation City Corporation (DACC), the entity responsible for the development of Dubai World Central (DWC), to further explore cooperation between the two parties to enhance the ease of doing business for members.

The MoU signing ceremony was attended by DMCC and DWC officials who discussed ways of enhancing cooperation between them to further cement Dubai’s status as a global hub for trade and enterprise.

Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman, DMCC, said:”Part of being the largest and fastest growing free zone in the UAE is to continue innovating and improving efficiencies for the DMCC Free Zone members to enable them to operate at the fast pace required in today’s era.

Signing an MoU with Dubai World Central marks the next natural step in mutual cooperation between free zones in the region, creating an optimum environment for the trade of commodities in Dubai for the benefit of economic growth across the Emirates.”

Under the terms of the MoU, the DMCC and DWC will explore ways for members to avail of products and services provided by both parties under one licence, also referred to as a ‘joint passport’ initiative. Members operating under such a license would also benefit from access to warehouse facilities in addition to a logistics centre appropriate for but not limited to perishable goods.

Members could also benefit from DMCC Tradeflow, the online exchange for physical commodities in the UAE. The platform offers a formal warehouse inspection and ratings program to mitigate risk for financiers and commodity owners.

Commenting on the MoU, Rashed Bu Qara’a, Chief Operating Officer, Dubai Aviation City Corporation said: “This MoU with the DMCC will enable clients and members to explore future projects that could enable businesses operating from either parties to take advantage of a host of products and services. The integrated model of DWC with excellent connectivity and modern facilities will enable customers to establish and expand their business in the UAE and the region.

Ahmed Bin Sulayem The partnership is a testimony of our efforts to continue to offer a business friendly platform with access to world-class infrastructure”.

Urban sophistication energizes new Movenpick Hotel Jumeirah Lakes Towers DUBAI: Movenpick Hotels & Resorts announces the opening of the first international five -star hotel in Jumeirah Lakes Towers, one of the fastest-growing business bases in the United Arab Emirates and Dubai’s newest district.

The newly open Movenpick Hotel Jumeirah Lakes Towers is a landmark in the dynamic residential and commercial quarter and is the sixth hotel in Dubai to be managed by the upscale Swiss hospitality company.

“Many major global corporations are relocating to Jumeirah Lakes Towers and this is creating a diverse, exciting neighborhood,” said Andreas Mattmuller, chief operating officer for Movenpick Hotels & Resorts Middle East and Asia. “Movenpick Hotels & Resorts believes there is exceptional potential here and we expect to thrive as a major hospitality and social hub at the heart of this energetic environment.” Jumeirah Lakes Towers is a lakefront community that is just minutes from the city’s most important business districts, commercial free zones and airports including the new Dubai World Central Al Maktoum International Airport.

With large man-made lakes and 64 contemporary towers, Jumeirah Lakes Towers has become one of Dubai’s fastest growing new districts with more than 50,000 people working and living in the area and 6,500 companies using it as a business base.

It is a perfect location for the 168-room Movenpick Hotel Jumeirah Lakes Towers, which offers expansive views of the Dubai Marina skyline and the tranquil waters of the lakes while being easily accessible from The Palm Jumeirah, Burj Khalifa and Dubai’s famous beaches.

“Our setting is striking and we have worked hard to ensure that the personality of the hotel is relaxed, inviting and unpretentious as well as providing a lively atmosphere that reflects our inspirational surroundings,” says General Manager Hayden Edgtton.

The hotel’s three dining and entertain-

ment options with their emphasis on relaxed sophistication will undoubtedly become neighborhood hotspots. The urban bar & kitchen (ubk) is a modern bar offering a warm fun-loving ambience while serving grills, roasts and classic comfort food from lunch until the early hours.

Meanwhile, the lakeside views of ‘nosh’ offer the options of an alfresco terrace or an indoor setting with open kitchens serving refined international fusion cuisine. In the lobby is Crema, the hotel’s meeting point and perfect place for getting together over coffee and snacks. Even the hotel’s contemporary meeting facilities channel the vitality of this urban location. The hotel’s eight meeting rooms offer wonderful views of the lakes and skyscrapers of Dubai’s architecturally futuristic Sheikh Zayed Road, while two private function rooms with glass walls and terrace access provide a refreshing business perspective.

For guests looking to relax, Movenpick Hotel Jumeirah Lakes Towers offers seven spa treatment rooms, a state-of-the-art gym, an intimate outdoor infinity pool and access to the Riva Beach Club on The Palm Jumeirah.

The city’s most popular golf courses and shopping malls are all within easy reach.

The hotel is the sixth Movenpick property in Dubai following openings in the city areas of Deira, Bur Dubai, Jumeirah Beach, Ibn Battuta Gate and Al Mamzar.

The hotel is owned by IFA Hotels & Resorts, an acknowledged leader in the development of premium hotels and residential resort projects as well as luxury leisure services.

Joe Sita, chief executive officer, IFA Hotel Investments, the asset management arm of IFA Hotels & Resorts, concluded: “This is the first M?venpick property in our portfolio and we are eager to celebrate its success with not only the development and operational teams, but most importantly, with our guests, owners and area residents. We have no doubt that this property will become the most desirable place to stay within Jumeirah Lakes Towers.”

Bridgestone presents future technologies Dubai International Motor Show DUBAI: Bridgestone Middle East and Africa, the Official Tyre of 2013 Dubai International Motor Show, yesterday presented the company’s latest technological innovations: Air Free concept tyre, the tyre with ologic technology and the HalfWeight concept tyre. The three new tyre concepts, unveiled for the first time in the region, are showcased at the Bridgestone stand in Hall 2 at Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre, until November 9, 2013.

During the official press preview, Bridgestone Middle East and Africa President, Shoichi

Burgan Bank announces names of Yawmi account winners KUWAIT: Burgan Bank announced yesterday the names of the four lucky 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. Yousef Moustafa Aljallab 2. Musaed Saleh Mihawesh Salman 3. Jehan Qasem Mohammad Jragh 4. Abduljabar Halem 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 bankís Call Center at 1804080 where customer service representatives will be delighted to assist with any questions on the Yawmi account or any of the bankís products and services.

Customers can also log on to Burgan Bankís www.burgan.com for further information.

Sakuma, said: “The Bridgestone Group is committed to helping ensure a healthy environment for current and future generation; this means that we are progressively adapting our technologies and developing new products to go towards the realization of a safer and more sustainable society. The three innovative tyre concepts that we are presenting today, set a new standard in terms of environmental friendliness, safety, and comfort and are evidence of Bridgestone putting words into action”.

The Bridgestone Air Free concept tyre is a non-pneumatic eco-friendly tyre which requires less maintenance while eliminating the worry of

punctures. The structure of load-bearing spokes stretching along the inner sides of the tyre is designed not to go flat and never need inflating.

Moreover the spoke structure is made from a thermoplastic resin which, along with the rubber in the tread portion, can be 100 percent recycled.

Narrower and featuring a larger diameter than conventional tyres, Bridgestone’s ‘Ologic tyre’ helps vehicles achieve improved fuel efficiency while contributing to reductions in CO2 emissions. The tyre has a higher air pressure and is designed with a new pattern technology and compounds which allow it to have significantly lower levels of rolling resistance, while maintaining substantially higher levels of wet grip performance. This new category of tyres has been conceived specifically for electric and hybrid vehicles in an effort to support the direction taken by the automotive industry towards more eco-friendly mobility.

The Bridgestone Half-Weight concept tyre is a solution for car manufacturers striving to reach stricter fuel consumption targets. The new concept tyre reduces the vehicle’s weight contributing to improved fuel efficiency, and by reducing

the usage of resource it lowers energy requirements for manufacturing.

The world’s largest tyre and rubber company’s stand at the 2013 Dubai International Motor Show features three distinctive zones to support visitors in their journey from current to future.

Along with the new tyre concepts - displayed in the future zone of the stand - the booth hosts in the current zone Bridgestone’s latest range of tyres.

Also featured at the stand is the Red Bull Chevrolet Camaro which is fitted with Potenza tyre. This is the same vehicle that Abdo Feghali used to break the Guinness World Record for the Longest Vehicle Drift in March. Bridgestone is also one of the main sponsors of the Red Bull Car Park Drift finals that will be held on 8 November 2013 at Dubai World Trade Centre.

Bridgestone will also host the ‘Bridgestone 4D Theatre’ where visitors to the stand will also experience the per formance of some of Bridgestone tyres on a simulated road trip. While seated in special moving chairs, visitors will watch a 3D movie that will be played through a head mount display and will feel like being in a real car fitted with Bridgestone tyres.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2013

technology

Nokia: a lesson in how high-tech flyers can fall fast HELSINKI: In just five years Nokia fell from dominating the mobile phone industry to abandoning the handset business, a swift fall from grace with lessons for market leaders. The story of Nokia, now at the toughest stage of the restructuring cycle, is a particularly salutary business case about the fastmoving, high-risk, high-reward, tech sector for hip consumer goods. The rapid decline, which is ending with the 5.44 billion euro ($7.5 billion) sale of the mobile phone division to Microsoft, owed much to Nokia growing too big, too fast and its management getting drunk on their own success, analysts say. Looking back after years of Apple iPhone dominance, some may have difficulty in recalling that Nokia, in its heyday in 2007 took more than 50 percent of the world market for early smartphones. “They had become arrogant at Nokia and as a result they were too slow to react to changes in the world around them,” Petri Rouvinen, a researcher at the economic think tank ETLA, told AFP. The technology of the iPhone upended the mobile handset business. It also highlighted the critical importance in any business, but particularly in the high-tech sector, of getting the timing right.

Not only did the iPhone, with its touch screen, become a hot fashion item worldwide, but also the operating system with paid-for applications invented a new revenue stream for Apple. When Google’s Android took off in 2009, it became clear that handset manufacturers had lost dominance to the operating systems which generated revenue from applications sold to users. Commenting on the business lessons, Rouvinen said: “Since 2007 it’s no longer possible to consider telecommunications, consumer electronics and computers as separate sectors. Now there’s just one industry and it’s digital.”

That is where Apple had an all-important lead: it brought the right hardware and software together at just the right time. “If Apple had shut down its heavily loss-making PC business in 2000, it would

never had been able to launch iPod, iTunes, iPad etc,” said Kuittinen. Nokia’s management was aware that a digital revolution was underway but in a recent book it’s former chief executive Jorma Ollila said the company peaked too soon-investing heavily in smart phone technology before operators were ready to offer services.

Analysts said another lesson is to have the appropriate expertise on the board. They said that Nokia had suffered from a culture of sycophancy towards Ollila-at the helm for 14 years until 2006.

“During times of transition, the board must have real industry experts-not random executives,” said Tero Kuittinen at Alekstra consultancy. He held that Ollila had been surrounded by “sycophants who had no competence to address software challenges.” Nokia kept developing its Symbian operating system but was slow to introduce touchscreen capability. In 2010 it made a partnership with Intel to develop a different operating system, but abandoned this after a year and turned to Microsoft’s new mobile Windows platform.

Nokia is just one example of the high stakes in high-tech consumer goods. Telecommunications equipment manufacturers Ericsson and Motorola suffered a similar fate and sold their handset businesses after being overtaken by innovation.

Canadian firm BlackBerry is the latest example of a market leader fallen by the wayside. Sony, which picked up Ericsson’s handset business, has also had difficulty making money out of mobile despite its consumer electronics pedigree. Companies sometimes need to make tough, radical choices to refocus their business.

Analysts say that the response adopted by Nokia is to develop the profitable mobile network equipment segment with Nokia Solutions and Networks (NSN). “Now Nokia can concentrate on its other business-NSN,” said Rautanen, adding to speculation about what the company might do with the 5.44 billion euros from Microsoft.

HELSINKI: A photo taken on September 7, 2012 shows a company flag outside the flagship store of Finnish mobile phone manufacturer Nokia .— AFP Creditrating agency Moody’s said recently that Nokia had emerged a winner from the sale, gaining much needed revenue and off-loading a loss-making business.But the agency added that it will not be easy to reposition the company as a credible actor in an industry with very short product lifespans and rapid changes.

Nokia was already a business case of how to engineer corporate transformation. The company started as a wood pulp mill, then bought a rubber business making boots and tyres. A cable business

led to Nokia venturing into electronics and then telecommunications. When mobile telecommunications boomed in the early 1990s, Nokia sold the other business to focus on handsets and networks.

Rouvinen said the conditions which led to the downfall of Nokia and others are not likely to change soon. “The fact that so much happened in only five years does not mean that the next five years will see the same turmoil,” he said. “But I predict that the turmoil will continue at the same or even at accelerated speed.” — AFP

Africa’s great ‘white spaces’: Tech’s new frontier Microsoft, Google running tests in three African countries

JAPAN: Japan’s Kawasaki Heavy Industries displays vehicle assembling robots at the annual International Robot Exhibition in Tokyo on November 6, 2013. Some 100,000 people are expected to visit the four-day robot exhibition. — AFP

‘Nigerian’ spammers look to Syria DUBAI: The ongoing conflict and complex political situation in Syria have created the perfect conditions for new ‘Nigerian’ scams.

According to Kaspersky Lab data, recent months have seen a surge in the number of Nigerian letters that contained some sort of reference to Syria. Spammers sent messages in the names of representatives from banks, humanitarian organizations as well as private individuals.

The scam messages, made to look like they come from reputed Syrian and UK banks, state that some of their clients would like to transfer their multi-million savings from their accounts because of the unrest in Syria, and were looking for a partner who would help them do so.

Naturally, those that reply are guranteed a reward. The scammers usually provide a contact phone number and the personal email of the “bank client” allegedly looking for a partner. After a recipient shows an interest and responds to the message, the scammers ask him to transfer a small amount of money to pay for the mediator’s services, and then disappear.

In some case, the scammers have posed as members of the International Red Cross, telling the sad story of an oil trader who died in the Syrian conflict, and whose fortune was saved by a Red Cross employee. The sender then asks for help in transferring and looking after the money. The recipient is told a parcel will be sent containing the millions in cash.

The recipient is promised half of the money if they help and is given a personal email

address for contacting the scammers.

Some of the emails detected by analysts at Kaspersky Lab appear to have been sent using the names of “ordinary” Syrians, and had a variety of themes. In one, a “teacher from Syria” asks recipients to help orphaned children who have inherited a large sum from their parents to leave the country and invest the money. Other ‘Nigerian’ letters also came from allegedly critically ill people who want to donate some of their money and ask the recipients for help in doing so.

Tatyana Shcherbakova, Senior Spam Analyst, Kaspersky Lab, commented: “We came across very brief messages in which the author merely wanted to get to know the recipient better. The texts of the messages made frequent use of words such as ‘turmoil’, ‘crisis’ or ‘revolution’. Having got the recipient’s attention, the scammers play on people’s natural desire for easy money and to help people in distress. Users shouldn’t respond to these types of emails because once you are in communication with a ‘Nigerian’ scammer, you risk being cheated.”

According to the data in Kaspersky Lab’s spam report for September, Asia (59%) remained the leading regional source of spam - its contribution increasing by 4 percentage points from the previous month. Asia is followed by North America (20%), whose share grew by 2 percentage points, and Eastern Europe (12%), whose share fell 2 percentage points. Western Europe (4%) and Latin America (2.4%) complete the top five rating.

CAPE TOWN: At Cape Town’s Elswood Secondary School, even the metal grills welded into its walls did not deter burglars from ripping out the copper cables that delivered Internet to the students of this tough neighborhood. But Elswood’s pupils were saved by alternative technology - free wireless connection via unused parts of the TV spectrum known as white space. It’s being provided by a consortium led by Google as part of a wider trial. Elsewhere in the country Microsoft is operating similar pilots. Both are racing to fine tune a technology that could ultimately bring cheap broadband to the entire continent.

“Using white spaces will definitely be a more cost effective way to take Internet to the masses,” said Spiwe Chireka, an analyst at research firm IDC. Africa is the world’s last major untapped market for Internet access. Only 16 percent of its billion people use the Internet - half the penetration rate of Asia, according to the International Telecommunication Union. Most Africans who can access the Internet do so via mobile phones because few have the landlines that have been the means of connecting in Western countries.

This has pushed broadband usage to 11 percent this year from just 2 percent in 2010. But mobile phone companies are reluctant to build costly masts and networks in remote rural areas - meaning hundreds of millions of Africans have little prospect of ever going online.

Google and Microsoft are chasing this massive new market, aiming to provide white space Internet access to rural swathes with no coverage and in megacities where overcrowding and built up areas can mean frustratingly poor phone reception. Africa’s thinly populated airwaves Zimbabwe, for instance, has only one TV station make it ideal for this technology because of the abundance of available spectrum. Microsoft is running pilot schemes in Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa with the aim of launching commercial projects thereafter. Google is sponsoring trials in schools, including Elswood, across South Africa.

While for both firms the logic of developing cheaper ways to access new customers is clear, the incentive for governments is also compelling.

World Bank research shows that a 10 percent increase in broadband penetration can result in an extra 1.4 percentage points of annual eco-

nomic growth. “This is really welcome,” said Patrick Muinda, a spokesman at Uganda’s education ministry. “We need as much bandwidth as we can get. More children are being taught computer studies as a subject and more computers are being purchased for use on e-learning platforms. This would just hasten that process.”

South Africa’s biggest mobile phone company, said it was following the technology closely. “It’s an interesting initiative. At this stage it’s not clear how it will be managed from a regulatory perspective, so it’s difficult to speculate on how it may impact the overall provision of connectivity,” spokesman Richard Boorman said.

How it works Television networks leave idle gaps between channels in order to protect themselves from interference from other networks. The technology uses these “white spaces” to transmit and receive wireless data signals. The adapted TV radio waves can travel up to a 10-kilometre radius, making them ideal for connecting off-grid villages. They penetrate walls better than mobile signals. And they’re cheap to provide: building a white spaces mast costs a tenth of the amount needed for a normal telecoms base station, said Arno Hart, project manager for the Cape Town white spaces trial being funded by Google.

“It’s a great medium for ... wifi hotspots anywhere, so that any population or demographic profile can have access to good affordable Internet,” Hart said. Local Internet service providers are helping: In Tanzania Microsoft has partnered with UhuruOne to provide connection to students at the University of Dar es Salaam. In January the project will be expanded to four universities, giving more than 72,000 students broadband access for $5 a month.

In Kenya, Indigo Telecom and the United States Agency for International Development are working with Microsoft to provide wireless broadband to rural schools, a health clinic and government office in remote areas of the Rift Valley province. Indigo is currently providing free Internet to schools but plans to charge those living in the surrounding community $1.50 per month for connectivity in future. It has provided the infrastructure - fibre, masts and radios - while Microsoft supplies the software and applications.

“We’ve started in areas that economically are not viable for mobile phone companies to start in,” said Indigo’s chairman Peter Henderson. “The strength of our operation is low cost of connectivity that lends itself to the areas that previously would digitally have been forgotten.” Vodacom,

Regulators watch Governments have largely welcomed the technology though some officials have expressed reservations about whether it could affect or cross into bandwidth reserved for the military, emergency services and air traffic control. African regulators are also watching closely to allay concerns that broadcasters could be affected by interference, said Whitney Cubbison, communications director for Microsoft’s Africa initiatives.

One country, which Microsoft declined to name, has warned that the process to change its regulations could take another couple of years.

Google’s Cape Town trial is backed by the South African regulator, which is using the test case as the basis of future regulation, and has said Google can continue the project past its original September end-date. Regulators in Malawi and Senegal, countries with only a handful of broadcasters and plenty of available spectrum, have also expressed keen interest in the technology, Google said.

Microsoft says it is in talks with 10 more African governments to start trials but will not say which ones or how much the tests will cost.

“At this point, we feel there is ample proof that white space radios can coexist with incumbent licensees without any risk of interference,” Cubbison said.

Back in Cape Town, schools participating in the trials hope everything works out. They are keen to hang on to their new, faster and more reliant Internet. “We don’t mind paying for it because it works for us,” said Paul Haupt, head of IT at The Settlers High School, a more affluent school in the Cape Town trial. “We’ve gotten used to a good service.” Tyler Jacobs, an Elswood 10th grader working on his homework during a break in a packed computer room, summed it up: “It makes life so much easier.” — Reuters

Xbox, can you hear me now? One requires repetition LOS ANGELES: Like a stubborn family member or insubordinate employee, Xbox One owners might need to tell their fancy new console what to do more than once. In flashy commercials that began airing last week to promote Microsoft’s upcoming video game system, an array of users verbally command their Xbox Ones to do stuff like answer a Skype call, fire up a “Titanfall” match or play the latest “Star Trek” film. The ads leave out one detail: They probably had to repeat themselves a couple of times for it to work.

At a demonstration of the Xbox One this week organized by Microsoft, the new version of the company’s voice-and-motion-detecting Kinect sensor didn’t work nearly as flawlessly in real life. The Xbox 360 successor, which is scheduled for release Nov 22, required several commands to be repeated for the response to pop up on screen.

During a private 45-minute presentation showcasing the console’s media and entertainment capabilities, about 10 of 45 voice commands issued had to be repeated by a Microsoft spokesman - some as many as four times. Kinect didn’t immediately detect such orders as “Xbox, watch ESPN” and “Xbox, Bing movies with Sandra Bullock” during the demo.

“Everything you’re seeing here is going to get better,” promised Jose Pinero, senior director of marketing and public relations for Xbox, at the conclusion of Wednesday’s demo. “Right

now, we’re still a couple of weeks away but voice, the more you use it and the more the system learns, the more accurate it becomes.

We’re still working on fit and finish.”

When the company unveiled the Xbox One at its Redmond, Wash, headquarters last May, Microsoft hyped the machine not as a superpowered gaming console but as an all-in-one entertainment solution for living rooms that would allow users to easily switch between and snap together - activities on a TV screen, without needing to mash buttons. The previous Kinect sensor was equally billed as a game changer when it debuted in 2010 but was considered by many gamers to ultimately be a gimmick.

Unlike the last Kinect, Microsoft is including the new sensor with each Xbox One system, which will cost $499. The updated version of the camera has a field of vision that’s 60 percent wider than Kinect for Xbox 360. It can also detect more bodies, as well as heart rates and facial expressions.

Sony Corp will similarly release an updated PlayStation Camera when its PlayStation 4 debuts a week ahead of the Xbox One, but that sensor is optional for the PS4, which cost $100 less than the Xbox One. “Microsoft got so intoxicated by the first generation of Kinect that I think they’re just assuming people are still really excited about Kinect,” said James McQuivey, Forrester Research analyst and

author of “Digital Disruption: Unleashing the Next Wave of Innovation.”

McQuivey said because Microsoft has turned its attention to other audiences besides just gamers, they could potentially sell half as many Xbox Ones as they did Xbox 360s over the next-gen console’s lifetime, especially if the system doesn’t work as advertised.

While the Xbox One’s voice detection did not function properly during Wednesday’s demo, other Xbox One features operated without fault. Graphically, the slick Xbox One interface was able to almost seamlessly switch between such features as playing “Forza Motorsport 5,” watching a live episode of “Let’s Make a Deal” and viewing a channel guide.

Microsoft calls its listings OneGuide, and users can curate which TV channels and media apps appear - and in what order. The Xbox One can play live TV and provide listings if hooked up to a TV receiver, but it can’t act as a TV recording device, although the Xbox One can record and upload footage captured from games and with the Kinect sensor.

Microsoft announced Friday that streaming content apps like Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Instant Video, VUDU and Crackle would be among the first batch coming to the console before spring 2014. Others bringing apps to Xbox One include the networks ESPN, Univision, Fox, CW and HBO, as well as the NFL. — AP

WASHINGTON: In this May 21, 2013 file photo, the Kinect motion-sensing device for Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox One entertainment and gaming console system is on display at an event in Redmond. — AP

LAS VEGAS: The Microsoft Xbox One console is on display at the GameStop Expo.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2013

H E A LT H & S C I E N C E

Great Lakes cleanup initiative making significant progress TRAVERSE CITY: An Obama administration program that has spent more than $1.3 billion on healing the troubled Great Lakes needs a better scorecard for measuring its performance, a government watchdog report released yesterday says.

The analysis by the Government Accountability Office does not pass judgment on how well the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative is working, while acknowledging that federal officials and advocacy groups believe it’s making significant progress on pollution cleanup and other problems.

But it says a plan for running the program devised by the Environmental Protection Agency and other federal departments is short on yardsticks for

confirming those impressions.

“Without useful measures, EPA may not be able to determine that GLRI efforts are producing the desired results,” says the report by the GAO, the investigative arm of Congress.

The Obama administration began funding the program in 2010, based on a priority list compiled by state, local and tribal officials, academics and advocacy groups. It’s based on scientific findings that the lakes face pervasive threats - primarily invasive species, toxic contamination, runoff from farms and cities, and loss of wildlife habitat - that could devastate fish populations and undermine ecosystems.

The lakes provide drinking water to more than 30 million people and are an

economic pillar for eight states and two Canadian provinces.

The initiative has funded more than 1,700 projects, from wetland restorations to removal of contaminated sediments from harbors and river mouths. It has supported the fight to ward off Asian carp - ravenous fish that have infested the Mississippi River and are moving toward the lakes.

Some scientists say the program has devoted too little money to basic research and monitoring needed to make sure the hands-on projects serve broad goals as well as local needs. The GAO report appears to echo those concerns. “We recognize the potentially significant contributions that individual GLRI projects can make to resolving spe-

cific environmental and public health stresses that threaten the Great Lakes,” it says. “However, we believe that these contributions need to be viewed in the context of larger factors affecting the Great Lakes” so strategies can be developed “to help ensure the best possible outcome.” Achieving the program’s goals could be hampered by factors beyond its control, such as climate change and substandard infrastructure that allows polluted wastewater and storm runoff to reach the lakes, the report said.

Susan Hedman, EPA’s Great Lakes National Program Manager, told the GAO in a letter that her agency agrees with most of its findings.

Hedman said a management plan for the next five-year phase of the program,

scheduled to begin in 2015, will include more progress measurements and take climate change into greater account. But linking broad environmental change to any specific project is difficult, she said.

When the program began four years ago, there was such a huge backlog of cleanup projects that monitoring was less of a priority, said Todd Ambs, director of the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition, which lobbies for continued funding.

“We know now that it’s money well spent and producing great site-specific results,” Ambs said. “So now is a good time to tie those results together with broader measurements of how these investments are affecting the overall health of the Great Lakes basin.” —AP

Amid austerity, Denmark remains happiest nation Completely satisfied with life

LONDON: There is a panic as a second outbreak of measles in the UK.

Panic, fear over new measles outbreak LONDON: Thousands of children are in danger of catching measles because their parents still refuse to let them have proper vaccinations.

Health chiefs have warned Britain is on the brink of a second major epidemic just four months after the previous outbreak which claimed one life and more than 1,200 victims. The virus is highly contagious. Experts say one child with measles sitting in a classroom for just an hour will pass it on to at least 70 per cent of other pupils who are not vaccinated.

Cases have once again soared in Swansea, the area which was hit earlier this year. Health chiefs in Wales have warned parents to give their children the MMR booster jab [GETTY] To prevent this outbreak spreading even further, it’s crucial that unvaccinated children and young people receive two doses of MMR urgently.

Health chiefs in Wales warned last month that a renewed flare-up was likely to spread rapidly unless children have the vital secondary measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) booster jab. At that point, the total stood at 13 cases but this has already risen to 36. “Parents and young people should not underestimate how serious measles can be and how quickly it can spread,” said Dr Jorg Hoffmann, Public Health Wales consultant in communicable disease control.

“To prevent this outbreak spreading even further, it’s crucial that unvaccinated

children and young people receive two doses of MMR urgently and that those with symptoms do not attend school.” The epidemic which swept the greater Swansea area earlier this year triggered a huge vaccination programme.

While many children got their first dose of the MMR injection, a significant number failed to get a booster jab within a month.

Although more than 70,000 catch-up MMR jabs were given across Wales during the epidemic, 30,000 children and young people aged from 10 to 18 remain unprotected. Health officials emphasised that the only protection against the infection is two doses of the MMR jab.

All cases in the new outbreak, affecting four schools, date from the start of October.

Several of the new cases have been spread as a result of pupils attending school already with the symptoms of measles.

Where sufficient numbers of children remain unprotected in a school where there has been measles, school vaccination sessions will be arranged.

Dr Hoffmann added: “Parents who have decided not to vaccinate their children are not only risking their children’s health but are putting other children at risk.

“We are very frustrated to see more cases so soon after the large outbreak earlier this year and we are very keen for this to be stopped before we return to a position where children are admitted to hospital or die.” —AP

Sea turtle deaths alarm Central America SAN SALVADOR: Hundreds of sea turtles are washing up dead on the beaches of Central America and scientists don’t know why.

One hypothesis is that the killer is a potent neurotoxin that can be produced by algae during red tides, which are large accumulations of algae that turn sea water red or brown.

The puzzling thing, though, is that red tides have come and gone before without taking such a deadly toll on turtles.

Making things worse, some o f the turtles dying are from endangered species. In El Salvador, for instance, from late September to the middle of October, 114 sea turtles were discovered dead on Pacific coast beaches, according to the environment ministry.

They were black turtles (Chelonia agassizii), Olive Ridley turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) and ones that are a cross between the two.

Scientists throughout Central America are alarmed, and the only laboratory that specializes in these creatures is taking tissue and organ samples to figure out what is going on.

The death toll in other countries is just as ugly — 115 so far this year in Guatemala, 280 in Costa Rica and an undisclosed number in Nicaragua.

Another 200 died in late 2012 in Panama.

And in Nicaragua there is yet another problem: turtles showed up weeks late, at the end of September, to crawl up onto the beach and lay their eggs.

“Some say it could be due to climate change, sea currents or the techniques used by fishermen,” said biologist Ivan Ramirez of the Foundation for the Sustainable Development of Nicaragua (Fundenic).

The head of wildlife and ecosystems at the Salvadoran environment ministry, Nestor Herrera, said the strongest hypothesis over the death of the turtles is that they were killed by saxitoxinwhich affects the nervous system and

can be produced by a red tide.

In one area of El Salvador’s coast, dogs that started eating dead turtles stopped breathing and died almost instantly.

In 2006, saxitoxin killed about 500 sea turtles in El Salvador, and four years later, another 100 died of the same cause.

However, there is a red tide almost every year, while such widespread turtle deaths have never happened before, said Angel Ibarra, coordinator of Ecological Unity of El Salvador, who added more study is needed to shed light on the phenomenon. Others worry that the recent spate of turtle deaths can be traced more directly to human activity.

In Guatemala, the National Council of Protected Areas said some turtles are caught up by industrial-size fishing boats that drag nets along the sea bed and capture everything in their path, a process called trawling.

And drift net fishing, in which very long nets float behind a ship and near the surface of the water, could also be a threat to turtles.

Jose Leonidas Gomez, who works with a sea turtle conservation project in El Salvador, said turtles discovered dead on one beach were found not to have eaten, so it is presumed they got caught in nets.

Biologist Fabio Buitrago of Nicaragua’s Fundenic said turtles are also being killed by fishermen who use explosives, among other techniques.

“The fishermen themselves say so,” he said. Antonio Benavides, a veteran turtle conservationist in El Salvador, said protecting the creatures is all the more difficult because the mortality rate for juveniles is already high.

Only one out of a thousand babies that hatch and make it out into the sea ever returns to the beach as an adult to lay eggs.

Fertility is yet another issue: in September scientists in Honduras said turtles on one beach laid 40 percent fewer eggs. —AFP

COPENHAGEN: They are the most indebted people in the world, live through long, dark winters and have a shorter life expectancy than several Mediterranean countries. Yet for the past four decades, the Danes have consistently rated themselves as the happiest people on earth.

Among foreigners in Denmark, theories as to why the host population is so content range from its egalitarian policies to its history to grumblings that some people are simply easier to satisfy than others.

“You can reach a high-ranking politician or a director here even if you are an ordinary person,” said Josephine Hoegh, a woman from the Philippines who moved to the Scandinavian country 40 years ago.

The Danes themselves are more puzzled by their purported happiness, sometimes referring to it facetiously when data paint a less rosy picture-like when the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said they were the third-largest consumers per capita of antidepressants. Denmark first topped the happiness table in 1973, when a European Union survey found that people there were more satisfied with life than in any other member state.

This year, it held on to the top spot in the United Nations’ annual World Happiness Report even as it suffered through the worst economic crisis of its post-World War II history.

In the study, respondents were asked to evaluate the current state of their lives using a scale of zero to 10, where a top rating signified the best possible life for them, and zero the worst.

Denmark scored an average 7.693.

“One of the most important things making the Danes happy is the security in Danish society,” said Meik Wiking, director of the Happiness

Research Institute, a Danish think-tank aiming to improve the quality of life in Denmark and abroad. “There is a high degree of financial security. If we lose our jobs we get support, when we fall ill we can go to the hospital, and so on,” he added.

Denmark has the highest taxes in the world as a percentage of the overall economy, but many Danes value the social security net they get in return, including subsidised childcare and unemployment insurance that guarantees 80percent wages for two years if they lose their jobs. The centre-left government has had to cut back on some benefits-including student grants and unemployment insurance, which used to last four years-but it still presides over one of the most generous welfare states in the world.

The second pillar of happiness is a high level of trust between people, even for a stranger on the street, according to Wiking.

This could be a spillover effect from people’s high level of trust in the government, which is underpinned by a low level of corruption. “We have a belief that our democratic institutions protect us and that the state... wants what is good for us,” he said.

Denmark’s welfare state isn’t radically different from other Nordic countries’, but in surveys the nation scores higher than its neighbours on social relationships, another reason for being happy. “Danish society is more cohesive. The quality of social relations is somewhat stronger” than in the rest of Scandinavia, Wiking said.

The country has a large number of clubs and associations where membership often transcends class barriers. At a chess club, a chief executive could be playing against someone working in a shop. Other explanations for the

Danes’ self-reported wellbeing can be found in history.

Denmark was a European great power between the 13th and 17th centuries. But as the country’s official website states, today its size and influence “is the result of 400 years of forced relinquishments of land, surrenders and lost battles.” “They haven’t won anything for the last 200 years, they’ve only lost, and that’s created a mentality in Denmark of looking inward and of valuing what you have left,” said Michael Booth, a British expatriate who has written a book on his adopted Nordic home called “The Almost Nearly Perfect People”.

Danes also have a knack for denying unpalatable truths, he said. “They have the highest level of private debt in the world... but they’re very good at putting their hands over their ears and going la-la-la,” he said. “One aspect of that is they’re very good at forgiving public figures who transgress. Like Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the prime minister who took them into two terrible wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and also permitted terrible economic policies.

“He’s really wrecked the economy, but you never hear a bad word said about him,” Booth said. There’s also the fact that the Danes don’t work very much, putting in an average of only 33 hours a week, according to the Rockwool Foundation.

Still, after initially hating the taxes, the weather and a “suffocating embarrassment about individual ambition and success,” Booth admitted that since becoming a parent, there was nowhere else he’d rather live. “Denmark is if not one of the best, maybe even the best country to have kids. Everything is geared to the family in Denmark,” he said. —AFP

Europe at risk of polio outbreak as thousands of refugees flee Syria LONDON: Syrian refugees fleeing from their country’s devastating civil war could inadvertently bring the paralysing disease of polio back to Europe, experts have warned.

Although Europe was declared polio-free by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2002, the type of immunisation used is vulnerable to prolonged exposure to the disease. As a result, in parts of Europe where vaccine coverage is low, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ukraine, and Austria, immunisation levels may not be high enough to prevent sustained transmission of the polio virus, two German experts has warned.

Polio is a potential fatal disease which can lead to paralysis and disability within a matter of hours in extreme cases. Symptoms include fever, vomiting and stiffness in the arms and legs, but the vast majority those infected display no symptoms.

Writing in The Lancet medical journal Professor Martin Eichner, from the University of Tubingen, and Dr Stefan Brockmann, from the Department of Infection Control in Reutlingen, warn: “Vaccinating only Syrian refugees - as has been recommended by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control - must be judged as insufficient; more comprehensive measures should be taken into consideration.” The polio vaccine used in most European countries today is the inactivated polio vaccine (IPC), which is injected. It usually forms part of a combined diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough and polio jab. While good at preventing paralysis, IPC provides only partial protection from infection, Prof Eichner and Dr Brockmann point out.

Once children were routinely vaccinated with an oral polio vaccine (OPV), taken in the form of mouth drops, which uses a live virus and is more effective. But this was discontinued in the UK and many other countries because in rare cases it can trigger paralysis.

Since only one in 200 polio infections cause symptoms, the virus could be circulating for nearly a year before a single case of paralysis occurs, according to the experts. By this time, hundreds of individuals may be carrying the virus. Prof Eichner and Dr Brockmann wrote: “Hundreds of thousands of people are fleeing Syria and seek refuge in neighbouring countries and Europe. Because only one in 200 unvaccinated individuals infection with WPV1 (wild-type polio virus 1) will develop acute flaccid paralysis, infected individuals can spread

JALALABAD: An Afghan health worker administers a polio vaccination to a child on the second day of a vaccination campaign on the outskirts of Jalalabad in Nangarhar province yesterday.

A new three-day nationwide immunisation campaign against polio began supported by Afghanistan’s Ministry of Public Health country wide, officials said. —AFP the virus unrecognised. “Oral polio vaccination provides high protection against acquisition and spreading of the infection, but this vaccine was discontinued in Europe because of rare cases of vaccination-related acute flaccid paralysis.

“Only some of the European Union member states still allow its use and none has a stockpile of oral polio vaccines. Routine screening of sewage for polio virus has not been done in most European countries, but this intensified surveillance measure should be considered for settlements with large numbers of Syrian refugees.”

Lebanon, which hosts more than 800,000 Syrian refugees, is vaccinating all children under five.

Where war goes, pestilence, famine and death often follow. Each new baby who is born is at risk of polio until vaccinated, and conflict inevitably disrupts local vaccination efforts.

The WHO has confirmed an outbreak of at least 10 cases of polio in Syria, where vaccination coverage has dramatically decreased because of the civil war. Dr Benjamin Neuman, a virologist at the University of Reading, said: “Where war goes, pestilence, famine and death often follow. Each new baby who is born is at risk of polio until vaccinated, and conflict inevitably disrupts local vaccination

efforts. “Poliovirus has been nearly eradicated for almost a decade now. Most of the last pockets of poliovirus in Somalia, Pakistan, Afghanistan and now Syria have been centres of conflict.

“It is likely that poliovirus will continue to linger, following conflict around the globe until it is eradicated once and for all. “ The Syrian outbreak puts Europe at risk because of the way we give vaccines.

“In parts of the world where it is still possible to catch a wild strain of poliovirus, children are usually vaccinated with a live but genetically weakened poliovirus which gives excellent protection but has a tiny risk of changing back to the more dangerous form. “However, in parts of the world where polio has been eradicated, like the UK, children are usually given a killed vaccine. It doesn’t protect quite as well but it cannot mutate, so it protects reasonably well while preventing polio from being accidentally reintroduced to a country.

“Vaccination is never perfect, so despite being vaccinated, a small percentage of children in the UK would be at risk of contracting polio if they were exposed to the virus. Until the virus is completely extinct, it is essential that we continue to vaccinate our children.” — AP

Sweet news for young diabetics CHENNAI: Here’s some good news for young diabetes patients. A breakthrough study in the diagnosis and treatment of early onset of diabetes by Christian Medical College may soon allow some youngsters, who were misdiagnosed to be suffering from type 1 or 2 diabetes, to be taken off insulin. This may come as relief for several young patients suffering from Maturity Onset Diabetes of the Young (MODY), who are unnecessarily taking insulin shots.

Researchers attached to the Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism claimed that understanding the genetic data of patients would help identify the right type of diabetes and treatment.

Dr Nihal Thomas, HoD, said, while it is well known that multiple genes caused type 1 and 2 diabetes, a defect in single gene reportedly affected around 2 per cent of diabetic patients with a subset type called MODY. This type of dia-

betes is found to be prevalent among youngsters below the age of 30, with the family history of diabetes. The interesting finding is that this type could be treated with diet and exercise or with less medication and without insulin, he pointed out.

At present these patients are misdiagnosed to be suffering from type 1 or 2 and could be receiving inappropriate treatment. In fact some may be receiving insulin unnecessarily.

H E A LT H & S C I E N C E

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2013

Tea helps in weight loss, improved bone health Second most consumed beverage NEW YORK: That moment in the morning when tea drinkers take their first warm sip can be amazing. And now, 12 new articles from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition show that tea may indeed be a magical elixir, as it was shown to promote weight loss, prevent chronic illnesses and improve mood.

Whether iced or hot, on any given day, over 158 million people in the US drink tea, according to the Tea Association of the USA. And our British counterparts consume 165 million cups daily.

Tea is the second most consumed bever-

age in the world, according to the Tea Association, beaten only by water. Though there have been a multitude of studies about antioxidants in tea and the resulting human health effects, these recent studies in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (AJCN) shed light on just how helpful tea is for our health.

Experts from the US Department of Agriculture, National Institutes of Health, UCLA and the University of Glasgow - among others - contributed to the AJCN body of evidence. Jeffrey Blumberg, PhD, compendium editor for the issue, says: “The scientists who

NEW YORK: Along with promoting weight loss, studies found that drinking tea reduces cancer and cardiovascular risks and it also provides psychological benefits.

contributed their original research and insights are among the best in the world, and together, this body of research has significantly advanced the science of tea and human health.” Along with promoting weight loss, studies found that drinking tea reduces cancer and cardiovascular risks and it also provides psychological benefits.

Researchers who looked at polyphenols natural compounds in tea - found that they, along with the caffeine content, increased energy expenditure and fat oxidation, which resulted in weight loss and helped maintain a healthy body weight.

One study shows that subjects who consumed green tea and caffeine lost an average of 2.9 pounds over 12 weeks, all while maintaining their normal diet.

Other studies show that regular tea drinkers have lower body mass indexes (BMIs) and waist-to-hip ratios, along with less body fat, compared with non-tea drinkers.

Additionally, another review showed that the increase in calories burned as a result of drinking tea equates to around 100 calories during a 24-hour period.

Another set of researchers found that the polyphenols in green tea may help to stop the progression of certain cancers.

In one study, scientists observed that after a year, 30% of men in a placebo group progressed to prostate cancer, compared with only 9% of men who were in a tea-supplemented group.

Other cancers for which tea provides protective health benefits are cancers of the gastrointestinal tract, lung, breast and skin, researchers say. A study conducted by Dr.

Claudio Ferri in Italy showed that black tea reduced blood pressure in patients with hypertension and also neutralized negative effects of high-fat meals on arterial blood flow and blood pressure. Dr. Ferri comments on his findings: “Our studies build on previous work to clearly show that drinking as little as one cup of tea per day supports healthy arterial function and blood pressure. These results suggest that on a population scale, drinking tea could help reduce significantly the incidence of stroke, heart attack and other cardiovascular diseases.”

Another benefit of the polyphenols in green tea includes improving bone quality and strength, particularly in the wake of osteoporosis. Tea drinking in one study was associated with a 30% reduced risk of hip fractures in men and women aged 50 years or older. And if that fails to put individuals in a good mood, drinking tea will. In one study in particular, drinking tea was found to improve attention and facilitate better focus on tasks.

Subjects in the study drank 2-3 cups of tea within 90 minutes, and this resulted in more accurate results during an attention task and feelings of being more alert, compared with subjects drinking a placebo.

Researchers note that the amino acid theanine and caffeine in tea are thought to confer psychological benefits to drinkers, strengthening attention, mood and performance. “Humans have been drinking tea for some 5,000 years, dating back to the Paleolithic period,” says Prof. Blumberg.

“Modern research is providing the proof that there are real health benefits to gain from enjoying this ancient beverage.”

Soft drinks may cause kidney dysfunction OSAKA: A diet including soft drinks and sugar could negatively affect your kidneys, new research has found. Two new studies highlight the potential negative effects that soft drinks and sugar can have on kidney health.

In one study, researchers led by Ryohei Yamamoto from Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, in Japan, found that consuming at least two soft drinks per day is linked with proteinuria - or increased excretion of protein in the urine, which is a hallmark of kidney dysfunction. Among 3579, 3055, and 1342 university employees with normal kidney function at the start of the study who reported that they drink zero, one, and two or more soft drinks per day, 301 (8.4 per cent), 272 (8.9 per cent) and 144 (10.7 per cent) employees developed proteinuria during a median of 2.9 years of follow-up, respectively.

Another study led by Agustin Gonzalez-Vicente, from the Case Western Reserve University in US, conducted in rats found that moderate fructose intake increases the kidney’s sensitivity to angiotensin II, a protein that regulates salt balance. This leads to increased salt re-absorption by cells in the kidneys, a finding that might help explain why consumption of high-fructose corn syrup as a sweetener may contribute to the epidemic of diabetes, obesity, kidney failure, and hypertension, researchers said. Results of these studies were presented during ASN Kidney Week 2013 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, US. —AP

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2013

W H AT ’ S O N Star singer Preethi Warrier finds better half in Kuwait SEND US YOUR INSTAGRAM PICS

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

Announcements ALMASS-Kuwait anniversary irst Anniversary & Annual General Meeting of ALMASS-Kuwait (The alumni association of St Stephens College, Uzhavoor; Kuwait Chapter) shall be held on Friday November 22, 2013 at 4pm onwards at Indian Community School, Khaitan. Lalu Alex an indispensable part of Malayalam cinema in the past 35 years & a proud alumni of St.Stephen’s College will be the chief guest. Expecting all the former students of St.Stephen’s College- Uzhavoor across Kuwait shall participate in the meet.

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Gokulotsavam, 2013 eva Darshan Kuwait’s children’s wing Bala Darshan Kuwait will hold a day-long competition for its children tomorrow named ‘Gokulotsavam’ at the Khaitan 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.

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By Sunil Cherian

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opular Indian singer of Idea Star Singer fame Preethi Warrier found her life partner on a stage in Kuwait. The bridegroom, Biju Padinhareveedu, an employee at Kharafi National and also a popular singer in Kuwait, met the visiting crooner last year at a program organized by Friends of Kannur, Kuwait. The acquaintanceship blossomed when the celebrity singer came for another program.

‘It’s an arranged love marriage,’ said Biju who is preparing to go for the greatest event of his life. The wedding, scheduled for Dec 8, is in Mumbai where Preethi’s family is settled. The couple is planning a reception in Kalyaseri, Kannur,

Biju’s hometown. Preethi is expected to move to Kuwait in February, Biju said. ìSheíll continue her music tours and she has all my support,’ said an excited Biju.

IBA-KUWAIT holds inter-school basketball

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he Indian Central School grounds reverberated with sky-high enthusiasm and cheers as the Indian Basketball Association of Kuwait (IBA-KUWAIT) organized it’s first Inter school basketball tournament wherein a total of ten school teams took part in the boys & girls category together. The ground witnessed the true team spirit, competitiveness, fervor of vying participants splashing all through the basketball court to clench their winning titles. The one day tournament was declared open by the Indian Central School Principal, Mrs. Santa Maria James. The president of IBA Kuwait Mr. Koshy Abraham delivered the presidential address and .D.K. Dileep, Gen. Secretary of IBA Kuwait gave a briefing about the Association. The tournament was conducted on a league cum knock out format, In the Pool (A). UIS & ICS, from Pool (B), Bhavans & DPS became the winners & Runners up respectively in the Boys category.

In the most exciting semifinal matches, UIS defeated DPS and ICS defeated Bhavans to sweep their way into the finals.

Furthermore adding color and flavor to the

tournament came the most awaiting final match played between UIS & ICS where UIS grabbed the winning titles. In the losers final match Bhavans defeated DPS. In the girls deciding match the UIS defeated DPS to clench the winning crown.

At the end of every match the man of the match award was given to the best performer. The most outstanding performance of the tournament were honoured with the ‘PLAYER OF THE TOURNAMENT AWARD’. Arjun Shibu & Roshni Mathew of UIS received the awards for the same.

As always all great things have to come to an end and so also the first basketball tournament came to an amazing close with a vibrant jampacked crowd, the dias adored & blessed by the presence of Mrs. Sheena Rajan, Sales head of Amaz International General Trading Company, Mr K.S.Varughese, MD of Gulf Advanced Trading Co,, Mr Koshy Abraham, President IBA-Kuwait, Mr.Raghunathan Nair, Mr.Chessil Ramapuram and Mr.Raju Zachariahs among others. The dignitaries gave away the prizes for the winners.

Henkel’s international student competition kicks off across GCC

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oinciding with the start of the new academic year, Henkel’s international student competition - the Henkel Innovation Challenge - kicks off once again. For the seventh time, Henkel calls on students from all over the world to submit their visionary ideas and concepts for new Henkel products and technologies. Under the slogan - “Create, Learn, Grow.” student teams from the GCC have been invited to submit their innovative and sustainable ideas

by Dec 11, 2013 on www.henkelchallenge.com.

Developing a visionary product or a new technology for one of the three Henkel business sectors Beauty Care, Laundry & Home Care or Adhesive Technologies is the main aim of the Henkel Innovation Challenge.

Registering in teams of two, students from a wide variety of disciplines will adopt the role of creative, sustainability-aware business development managers. Throughout the competition, Henkel will provide extensive support: once they have registered, each team will be given access to professional e-learning programs that are also part of Henkel’s internal Learning Management.

All teams that qualify for the semifinal are assigned an experienced Henkel manager, who acts as a mentor, advising the participants on further developing their innovative concepts.

This allows the young visionaries to gain priceless, wide-ranging business experience and a detailed insight into the company. At the same time, the students have the opportunity to establish an invaluable personal contact with

managers at Henkel.

“The Henkel Innovation Challenge allows us to meet top talents from the GCC, who get into the role of a business development manager and work closely with Henkel managers to come up with innovative ideas in line with our vision.

Through Henkel Innovation Challenge, we offer students the possibility to translate theoretical knowledge into practice and gain valuable business experience. This challenge also offers the students to compete with the best talents from across the globe and to showcase their creativity and innovation,” said Ralph Branderhorst Head of Human Resources at Henkel GCC The top three teams of the seventh Henkel Innovation Challenge will be invited to attend a personal meeting with Henkel CEO, Kasper Rorsted. In addition to this, the overall winners will receive an around-the-world-ticket with a value of Ä10,000, the runners-up will receive Ä4,000 and the team that comes third will receive Ä2,000. The Henkel Innovation Challenge is open to students of all subjects, whether economics, engineering or the natural sciences. This year, teams from 30 different countries are invited to take part in the competition.

Students who are interested in the international competition can get an initial idea of what it’s all about on www.henkelchallenge.com and on the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/henkelchallenge. Videos from previous years can be found on YouTube.

See the world in a whole new way with Marriott

First ever TESOL conference set for Kuwait

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istory is being made in Kuwait very soon with the areas first ever TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of other Languages) conference to be held on Nov 15 and 16. The conference aims to serve teachers at all stages and levels of English instruction.

Special components of the conference include a pre-conference seminar on Nov 14 and a dinner with the keynote speaker on Nov 15. Organized by TESOL Kuwait, the conference is being hosted at the Gulf University for Science and Technology (GUST) in Mishref and will feature some of the biggest names in the English-teaching sector. The pre-conference event on Nov. 14 will be at the neighboring Australian College of Kuwait (ACK).

TESOL is an organization with members all over the world. Until last year though, English-teaching professionals in Kuwait had to travel elsewhere in the world to enjoy conferences. In the past 12 months, a dedicated team of professionals from educational institutions all over the country have established Kuwait’s first TESOL association. The group now boasts about 500 members, from pre-school teachers to university instructors and everything in between.

The conference, which runs from 9 am to 3 pm on Nov. 15 and 9 am to 1 pm on Nov. 16, is the culmination of months of hard work and planning. It also tops off a busy year for TESOL president Yvonne Johnson, an academic English instructor at GUST who is positively passionate about supporting, inspiring and upskilling English teachers. “We’re so excited about this event,” she says. “Now there’s no need for English teachers to get on a plane. We can enjoy all the benefits of an international conference expert advice and input, networking with colleagues and the encouragement and motivation of cumulative years of experience - here in Kuwait.” As well as input from leaders in the field, the conference, which is being sponsored

by GUST, Growmore Books, AmidEast and the US Embassy in Kuwait, will feature a panel discussion, workshops, papers, poster presentations, exhibitors and fun activities. Over 30 different presentations will be highlighted with many educational opportunities. To register please go to www.tesolkuwait.org.

KERA holds painting competition

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ERA (Kuwait Ernakulam Residents Association) conducted painting & drawing competition “KERA Mazhavillu 2013” for children from Ernakulam district. Prominent artist John Arts Kalabhavan inaugurated the competition by sketching the caricature of Kunjunni Maash. The competition was based on Thiruvonam Theme.

Children participated in Sub Junior, Junior & Senior categories. Angela Soni Babu, Evano Darwin, Benhin Benni, Anna Mariya Jophy, Sreehari Anil & Rithin Roy Mannual are the winners of Sub Junior category. Paul Jojo Angelin Theresa Peter, Irin Liz Abraham, Ashlin Samuel Varghese & Allen Augustine are the winners of Juniors category.

Amritha Pai, Jakson Painadathu, Pritha Mary Jacob, Serin Sebastian are the winners of Seniors category.

John Arts, Anilkumar Panicker, Tito Joseph, Abraham Jacob evaluated the drawings & paintings.

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

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ocused on celebrating relationships and rewarding loyalty, the JW Marriott Hotel Kuwait City, the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel Kuwait City and the Arraya Ballroom managed by Marriott International in Kuwait embarked on a week-long celebration that’s an annual tradition of the company thanking a large number of top accounts and companies for their business, while also inviting them for an exclusive luncheon at the renowned Terrace Grill steakhouse at the JW Marriott hotel, to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the hotel, followed by gifting a personalized limited edition of a new book by Bill Marriott - ‘Without Reservations’ - to the guests.

Beautiful cakes were also sent off to surprise top clientele in the comfort of their offices, while “Thank you” calls were made to catch up with customers and thank them for their business Since its inception in 1996, Marriott International executives and sales staff worldwide have taken time out from their busy schedules to call guests and thank them for their patronage, and get involved in charitable endeavors. In Kuwait, GCAW involved a list of events designed to make Marriott associates and customers ‘see the world in a whole

new way’ - the tagline of the scheme.

The Global Customer Appreciation Week this year comes at a time of nonstop celebrations and announcements for Marriott in Kuwait, since it also celebrates the 30th anniversary of the global brand, Courtyard by Marriott. In addition to that, the company followed its clientele requests and launched Arabic.marriott.com online portal, to reach out to more customers at the touch of a button, along with a recently launched portal dedicated to the prestigious Arraya Ballroom arrayaballroomkuwait.com.

“We are delighted to celebrate our traditional annual celebration Global Customer Appreciation Week and proudly take this opportunity to say a warm thank you to all our customers in Kuwait and all over the world for their continuous support and loyalty” said Ahmed Shaban,

Cluster Director of Sales & Marketing, Kuwait Marriott Hotels.

The final event of the exciting week included a “Spirit to Serve” visit to the NBK Cancer Children’s Hospital at the Sabah Medical district, to share happy moments with children suffering from permanent ailments. Spirit to Serve is part of Marriott’s Social Responsibility & Community Engagement.

Guests can follow the events of Global Customer Appreciation Week on photo-sharing website, Flikr.com (Global Customer Appreciation Week) and on the hotel’s official Facebook pages www.facebook.com/jwmarriottkuwait and www.facebook.com/courtyardmarriottkuwait.

W H AT ’ S O N

Ice Skating Rink hosts Shadow Land

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2013

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.

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The Ice Skating Rink prepares to host the Shadow Land Show between the 21st and 23rd of November in cooperation with Event Media. Shadow Land performer Christopher Gant announced that he will be ready for the show despite suffering a broken arm during an accident last weekend. Gant also revealed that he has prepared ‘surprises’ which he promised “will be loved by the audience”. After huge success in shows around the world, Shadow Land will stop by Kuwait for the first time in the Middle East. The show is organized in two performances, the first at 5:00 pm and the second at 9:00 pm. The first show will start at 3:00 pm on the second and third day; during which the second show starts at 7:00 pm.

Saeed represents Jaber Al-Ali in oral fluency competition

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: abdbiim-enquiry@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

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

KUWAIT: Eleventh grade student Abdul Aziz Essam AlSaeed recently represented Jaber Al-Ali Secondary School for boys in the annual oral fluency competition organized by Mubarak Al-Kabeer educational area ELT supervision. The competition was held under the auspices of Mubarak Al-Kabeer Educational Zone’s ELT senior supervisor Ayesha Al-Awadhi at Khaled Soud AlZaid Secondary school for boys where students from

the area’s seven secondary schools for boys took part.

A panel of adjudicators comprising of ELT supervisors Habib Rezouq, Mohammed Taha Samaha and Mahmoud Al-Najjar supervised the competition escorted by the head of the organizing committee, Khaled Soud Al-Zaid’s English department HoD Ahmed Abdullah.

Taking into consideration the sophistication of the

topic he presented, the judging panel highly appreciated Saeed’s presentation about a purely scientific topic: Masses, their measuring units, comparing the largest to the smallest ones so far known to man and giving examples supported by Einstein’s theory of relativity. Abdul Aziz also explained the black holes phenomena. The panel also admired Abdul Aziz’s fluency, self-confidence and simplicity in presenting the topic.

TEC is platinum sponsor of children’s festival

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

The Touristic Enterprises Company (TEC) participated as a platinum sponsor in the 2nd Children Festival which took place under the patronage of Sheikha Suad Al-Sabah. The three-day event which concluded yesterday featured an entertaining program during which lectures, competitions and other activities were held.

“The TEC is committed to taking part in children activities as we aspire to serve the society and provide entertaining services to people of all ages”, Public Relations and Media Director Saqer Al-Bader said in a statement.

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 11, 2013

TV PROGRAMS

03:25 Sharkbite Beach 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 Dogs/Cats/Pets 101 09:15 The Most Extreme 10:10 Dogs/Cats/Pets 101 11:05 Lion Man: One World African Safari 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 Snow Leopards Of Leafy London 15:40 Lion Man: One World African Safari 16:30 My Cat From Hell 17:30 The Most Extreme 18:25 Breed All About It 19:20 The Magic Of The Big Blue 20:15 Bull Shark 21:10 Swamp Brothers 22:05 Lion Man: One World African Safari 23:00 Too Cute!

03:15 Luther 04:10 Kidnapped 05:00 Me Too! 05:20 The Green Balloon Club 05:45 Jollywobbles 05:55 Tweenies 06:15 Me Too! 06:35 The Green Balloon Club 07:00 Jollywobbles 07:10 Tweenies 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 18:05 The Weakest Link 19:00 My Family 19:30 Little Britain 20:00 Spooks 20:50 Threesome 21:15 Jekyll 22:05 Carrie’s War 23:35 Roger & Val Have Just Got In 00:05 My Family 00:35 The Weakest Link 01:20 Eastenders 01:45 Doctors 02:15 Carrie’s War

03:25 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition Specials 04:45 Antiques Roadshow 06:30 Come Dine With Me: Supersized 08:00 Raymond Blanc’s Kitchen Secrets 08:25 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 09:10 Bargain Hunt 09:55 Marbella Mansions 10:40 Come Dine With Me: Supersized 12:10 Masterchef: The Professionals 13:00 Masterchef: The Professionals

13:30 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 14:15 Antiques Roadshow 15:05 Homes Under The Hammer 16:00 Homes Under The Hammer 16:55 Bargain Hunt 17:40 Cash In The Attic 18:30 Antiques Roadshow 19:20 Marbella Mansions 20:10 Bill’s Kitchen: Notting Hill 20:35 Come Dine With Me: South Africa 21:30 Come Dine With Me 22:20 Antiques Roadshow 23:15 Bargain Hunt 00:00 Cash In The Attic 00:45 Marbella Mansions 01:35 Come Dine With Me 02:30 Celebrity MasterChef

03:25 04:15 05:05 06:00 07:00 07:50 08:40 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

Bear Grylls: Escape From Hell Bear Grylls: Escape From Hell Bear Grylls: Escape From Hell Mythbusters Mythbusters Extreme Fishing Overhaulin’ Border Security Storage Hunters Dirty Money How Do They Do It? How It’s Made Fast N’ Loud World’s Biggest Ship Wheeler Dealers Border Security Storage Hunters Dirty Money Flying Wild Alaska Overhaulin’ Ultimate Survival Dirty Jobs Mythbusters Sons Of Guns Storage Hunters Dirty Money How Do They Do It? How It’s Made Diamond Divers Bush Pilots Jungle Gold Diamond Divers Bush Pilots Jungle Gold

03:45 James May’s Man Lab 06:15 Gadget Show - World Tour 06:40 The Tech Show 07:05 Weird Connections 07:30 Weird Connections 08:00 Bigger, Better, Faster, Stronger 08:25 Bigger, Better, Faster, Stronger 08:50 Weird Or What?

09:40 Gadget Show - World Tour 10:05 The Tech Show 10:30 James May’s Man Lab 11:25 Mega World 12:20 Punkin Chunkin 2011 12:45 Punkin Chunkin 2011 13:10 Through The Wormhole 14:00 Building The Future 14:50 Weird Connections 15:20 Gadget Show - World Tour 15:45 The Tech Show 16:10 Nextworld 17:00 James May’s Man Lab 17:55 Mega World 18:45 Junk Men 19:10 Junk Men 19:35 Through The Wormhole 20:30 Mighty Ships 21:20 Mighty Planes 22:10 The Gadget Show 22:35 The Tech Show 23:00 Mighty Ships 23:50 Mighty Planes 00:40 Dark Matters: Twisted But True 01:30 Weird Connections 02:00 The Gadget Show

02:25 The Tech Show 02:50 Mighty Ships

03:30 04:25 05:20 08:00 08:50 09:15 09:45 10:35 11:30 12:20 13:10 13:35 14:05 14:55 15:50 16:45 17:40 18:35 19:25 20:20 21:10 21:35 22:05 With...

23:00 23:55 00:50 01:45 With...

02:35

Trashopolis Trashopolis Timewatch I Shouldn’t Be Alive The Aviators The Aviators Trashopolis Daredevils Ultimate Warfare Timewatch The Aviators The Aviators Trashopolis Danger Hunters Crime Scene Wild The Real Inglorious Bastards Timewatch I Shouldn’t Be Alive Altered Statesmen World’s Busiest The Aviators The Aviators World’s Toughest Expeditions

03:00 03:20 03:45 04:05 04:30 04:50 05:15 05:35 06:00 06:25 06:45 07:10 07:35 07:55 08:20 08:45 09:05 09:30 09:55 10:15 10:40 11:05 11:25 11:50 12:15 12:35 13:00 14:35 Fairies 15:05 15:25 15:50 16:10 17:00 17:20 17:45 18:10 18:30 18:55 19:20 20:05 20:30 20:50 21:15 21:40 22:00 22:25 22:50 23:10 23:35 00:00 00:20 00:45 01:05 01:30 01:50 02:15 02:35

The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody Jonas Jonas Suite Life On Deck Suite Life On Deck Wizards Of Waverly Place Wizards Of Waverly Place Austin And Ally Austin And Ally A.N.T. Farm A.N.T. Farm Jessie Good Luck Charlie Sofia The First Doc McStuffins Mickey Mouse Clubhouse A.N.T. Farm A.N.T. Farm Jessie Jessie Suite Life On Deck Suite Life On Deck Shake It Up Shake It Up Austin And Ally Teen Beach Movie The Adventures Of Disney

Altered Statesmen The Fight Most Evil World’s Toughest Expeditions Altered Statesmen

That’s So Raven Gravity Falls Jessie Violetta Dog With A Blog Austin And Ally Gravity Falls Shake It Up Good Luck Charlie A.N.T. Farm Violetta Jessie My Babysitter’s A Vampire Good Luck Charlie Gravity Falls Shake It Up Austin And Ally A.N.T. Farm Good Luck Charlie Wizards Of Waverly Place Wizards Of Waverly Place The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody Sonny With A Chance Sonny With A Chance Suite Life On Deck Suite Life On Deck Wizards Of Waverly Place Wizards Of Waverly Place

DREW PETERSON: UNTOUCHABLE ON OSN MOVIES HD

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 11:21 The Gruffalo 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 13:45 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 The Gruffalo 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 00:05 Winnie The Pooh: Tales Of Friendship 00:10 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 00:35 Jake And The Neverland Pirates 00:50 Zou 01:25 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 01:50 Jungle Junction 02:10 Handy Manny 02:25 Winnie The Pooh: Tales Of Friendship 02:30 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 02:55 Winnie The Pooh: Tales Of Friendship 01:10 Doc McStuffins

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 11:10 Pokemon Bw: Adventures In Unova 11:35 Max Steel 12:00 Zeke & Luther 12:50 Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja 13:15 Scaredy Squirrel 13:40 Pair Of Kings 14:30 Phineas And Ferb 15:20 Pokemon Bw: Adventures In Unova 15:45 Kickin It 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 22:10 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 THS 05:05 Extreme Close-Up 05:30 Extreme Close-Up 06:00 15 Remarkable Celebrity Body Bouncebacks 07:50 Style Star 08:20 E! News 09:15 Scouted 10:15 Married To Jonas 10:40 Chasing The Saturdays 11:10 What Would Ryan Lochte Do? 11:35 What Would Ryan Lochte Do? 12:05 E! News 13:05 Extreme Close-Up 13:35 E!ES 14:30 Style Star 15:00 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 16:00 Keeping Up With The

Island 22:00 The Adventures Of Scooter The Penguin 23:30 Elf 01:15 Rh+ The Vampire Of Seville 02:45 Alex & Alexis

04:00 The Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants 06:00 Do No Harm 08:00 The Makeover 09:45 George Harrison: Living In The Material World 13:15 The Three Stooges 15:00 Horrid Henry 16:30 The Makeover 18:15 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 21:00 Jeff, Who Lives At Home 22:30 Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter 00:15 George Harrison: Living In The Material World

06:30 Futbol Mundial 07:00 PGA Tour 10:30 International Rugby Union 12:30 International Rugby Union 14:30 Futbol Mundial 15:00 Rugby League World Cup 17:00 Rugby League World Cup 19:00 PGA Tour Highlights 20:00 PGA European Tour Highlights 21:00 International Rugby Union 23:00 Live Rugby League World Cup 01:00 PGA Tour Highlights 02:00 PGA European Tour Highlights

LONDON BOULEVARD ON OSN MOVIES ACTION HD Kardashians 17:00 Ice Loves Coco 18:00 E! News 19:00 E!ES 20:00 Hello Ross 20:30 Married To Jonas 21:00 Eric And Jessie: Game On 21:30 Eric And Jessie: Game On 22:00 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 23:00 E!ES 00:00 Chelsea Lately 00:30 The Spin Crowd 01:25 THS 02:20 E!ES

03:10 03:35 04:25 04:50 05:15 05:40 06:30 07:10 08:50 09:15 09:40 10:05 10:30 11:20 11:45 12:10 12:35 13:00 13:50 14:15 15:05 15:30 16:20 16:45 17:35 18:25 18:50 19:40 20:05 20:30 20:55 21:20 22:10 23:00 23:50 Feasts 00:40 01:30 01:55 02:20 02:45

Charly’s Cake Angels Amazing Wedding Cakes Unique Eats Food Crafters United Tastes Of America Chopped Iron Chef America Unwrapped Food Crafters United Tastes Of America Extra Virgin Barefoot Contessa Food Network Star Reza, Spice Prince Of India Aarti Party Unwrapped Unique Sweets Food Network Challenge Tyler’s Ultimate Barefoot Contessa Siba’s Table Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Symon’s Suppers Chopped Barefoot Contessa Roadtrip With G. Garvin Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Guy’s Big Bite Reza, Spice Prince Of India Siba’s Table Charly’s Cake Angels Chopped Iron Chef America Siba’s Table Andy Bates American Street Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Heat Seekers Meat & Potatoes Outrageous Food 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 08:30 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 15:50 Bondi Rescue 16:20 Scam City 17:15 Deadly Arts 18:10 Banged Up Abroad 19:05 Deadly Arts 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

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 Two And A Half Men 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 Two And A Half Men 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 How I Met Your Mother 18:30 Go On 19:00 Two And A Half Men 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

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 23:00 00:00 01:00 02:00

Treme Top Gear (US) C.S.I. Touch 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 Treme Touch The Blacklist Boardwalk Empire

04:00 Striking Distance 06:00 The Tourist 08:00 The Rescue 10:00True Justice: Violence Of Action 11:45 Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows 14:00 Tombstone 16:15 True Justice: Violence Of Action 18:00 Burden Of Evil 19:45 Tombstone 22:00 How I Spent My Summer Vacation 00:00 London Boulevard

04:00 The Tourist 06:00 The Rescue 08:00 True Justice: Violence Of Action 09:45 Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows 12:00 Tombstone 14:15 True Justice: Violence Of Action 16:00 Burden Of Evil 17:45 Tombstone 20:00 How I Spent My Summer Vacation 22:00 London Boulevard 00:00 Boogeyman 02:00 How I Spent My Summer Vacation

04:00 Love Birds 06:00 I Don’t Know How She Does It 08:00 My Dog’s Christmas Miracle 10:00 Falling Star 12:00 Love Birds 14:00 Today’s Special 16:00 Falling Star 18:00 Mad Buddies 20:00 Why Stop Now 22:00 What’s Your Number?

00:00 Tucker And Dale vs Evil 02:00 Why Stop Now

03:00 04:45 07:00 09:00 10:30 12:00 15:00 17:15 19:00 21:00 00:00 02:00

My Own Love Song Dreamgirls A View From Here Blue Lagoon: The Awakening The Wishing Well Neverland Here Will The Lucky One Birdsong Snowtown Will

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

Straw Dogs Rabbit Hole The Year Dolly Parton Was My The Prey Ceremony Happythankyoumoreplease Incendies Ceremony Something Borrowed The Door In The Floor Mahler On The Couch True Love

05:00 Drew Peterson: Untouchable 07:00 American Girl: McKenna Shoots For The Stars 09:00 The Big Year 11:00 Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted 13:00 Pop Star 15:00 Madea’s Big Happy Family 17:00 The Big Year 18:45 Les Miserables 21:30 The Campaign 23:00 House At The End Of The Street 00:45 Age Of Heroes 02:30 Les Miserables

04:15 Who Framed Roger Rabbit 06:00 Gaturro 08:00 Alex & Alexis 10:00 Scooby-Doo! Music Of The Vampire 11:30 Rh+ The Vampire Of Seville 13:00 Who Framed Roger Rabbit 14:45 The Adventures Of Scooter The Penguin 16:15 Elf 18:00 Scooby-Doo! Music Of The Vampire 20:00 Journey 2: The Mysterious

03:00 07:00 09:00 11:00 11:30 15:30 17:30 19:30 22:00

Darts Grand Slam Rugby League World Cup Rugby League World Cup Top 14 Highlights Darts Grand Slam International Rugby Union International Rugby Union NFL Live Darts Grand Slam

04:00 06:00 07:00 11:00 12:00 12:30 13:30 14:30 18:00 19:00 21:00 23:00 23:30 00:30 01:00

Rugby League World Cup Trans World Sport Darts Grand Slam Golfing World Top 14 Highlights World Cup Of Pool World Cup Of Pool PGA Tour Golfing World Rugby League World Cup Rugby League World Cup Total Rugby Golfing World Futbol Mundial International Rugby Union

04:00 UFC - Belfort vs. Henderson 07:00 WWE Bottom Line 08:00 WWE Experience 09:00 Ping Pong World Championship 10:00 U.S Bass Fishing 13:00 Motor Sports 14:00 Triathlon UK 15:00 Triathlon UK 16:00 WWE Smackdown 18:00 WWE Experience 21:00 UFC Prelims 23:00 UFC - Belfort vs. Henderson 02:00 UFC - The Ultimate Fighter Season 18

03:00 Airport 24/7: Miami 05:00 Descending 06:00 Wild Carpathia 07:00 Globe Trekker 09:00 Departures 10:00 Airport 24/7: Miami 10:30 Airport 24/7: Miami 11:00 World’s Greatest Motorcycle Rides 12:00 Wild Carpathia 13:00 The Food Truck 14:00 Bizarre Foods America 15:00 International House Hunters 17:00 Hotel Impossible 18:00 The Ethical Hedonist 19:00 The Food Truck 19:30 The Food Truck 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 Wild Carpathia

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

Warrior Road Trip Trapped Predator CSI Warrior Road Trip The Numbers Game How Hard Can It Be? Lockdown Alaska State Troopers Warrior Road Trip Helicopter Wars Dogtown Warrior Road Trip Blow Your Mind How Hard Can It Be? Lockdown Alaska State Troopers Ultimate Disaster Naked Science Hunter Hunted Ultimate Disaster Family Guns Blow Your Mind Brain Games Brain Games Brain Games Brain Games

Classifieds MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2013

Prayer timings

Kuwait SHARQIA-1 ENDER’S GAME (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) ENDER’S GAME (DIG) ENDER’S GAME (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:30 PM 2:45 PM 5:30 PM 7:45 PM 10:00 PM 12:45 AM

SHARQIA-2 THOR: THE DARK WORLD (DIG-3D) THOR: THE DARK WORLD (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) THOR: THE DARK WORLD (DIG-3D) THOR: THE DARK WORLD (DIG-3D) THOR: THE DARK WORLD (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

SHARQIA-3 DJINN (DIG) DJINN (DIG) ESCAPE PLAN (DIG) DJINN (DIG) KALBY DALILI (DIG) KALBY DALILI (DIG) DJINN (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:45 PM 2:30 PM 4:15 PM 6:30 PM 8:15 PM 10:15 PM 12:15 AM

MUHALAB-1 DJINN (DIG) DJINN (DIG) ENDER’S GAME (DIG) DJINN (DIG) ENDER’S GAME (DIG) DJINN (DIG) MUHALAB-2 ESCAPE PLAN (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) KALBY DALILI (DIG) KALBY DALILI (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) MUHALAB-3 THOR: THE DARK WORLD (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) THOR: THE DARK WORLD (DIG) THOR: THE DARK WORLD (DIG-3D)

12:30 PM 2:15 PM 4:00 PM 6:15 PM 8:00 PM 10:15 PM

12:30 PM 2:45 PM 5:30 PM 7:30 PM 9:30 PM

2:00 PM 4:15 PM 7:00 PM 9:45 PM

FANAR-1 KALBY DALILI (DIG) ENDER’S GAME (DIG) KALBY DALILI (DIG) KALBY DALILI (DIG) ENDER’S GAME (DIG) ENDER’S GAME (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

2:00 PM 4:15 PM 6:30 PM 8:30 PM 10:30 PM 12:45 AM

FANAR-2 CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) ESCAPE FROM PLANET EARTH (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:45 PM 4:30 PM 6:30 PM 9:15 PM 12:05 AM

THE PUBLIC AUTHORITY FOR CIVIL INFORMATION Automated enquiry about the Civil ID card is

KNCC PROGRAMME FROM THURSDAY TO WEDNESDAY (07/11/2013 TO 13/11/2013) FANAR-3 DJINN (DIG) DJINN (DIG) KRRISH 3 (DIG) (HINDI) KRRISH 3 (DIG) (HINDI) DJINN (DIG) DJINN (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:15 PM 3:30 PM 5:15 PM 8:15 PM 11:15 PM 1:00 AM

FANAR-4 THOR: THE DARK WORLD (DIG) THOR: THE DARK WORLD (DIG-3D) THOR: THE DARK WORLD (DIG-3D) THOR: THE DARK WORLD (DIG) THOR: THE DARK WORLD (DIG) THOR: THE DARK WORLD (DIG-3D) 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

1:30 PM 3:30 PM 5:45 PM 7:45 PM 10:00 PM 12:05 AM

MARINA-1 ESCAPE FROM PLANET EARTH (DIG) ESCAPE FROM PLANET EARTH (DIG) ESCAPE PLAN (DIG) KALBY DALILI (DIG) KALBY DALILI (DIG) ESCAPE PLAN (DIG)

1:45 PM 3:45 PM 5:45 PM 8:00 PM 10:00 PM 12:05 AM

MARINA-2 DJINN (DIG) THOR: THE DARK WORLD (DIG) DJINN (DIG) THOR: THE DARK WORLD (DIG) THOR: THE DARK WORLD (DIG) THOR: THE DARK WORLD (DIG) THOR: THE DARK WORLD (DIG)

12:30 PM 2:15 PM 4:30 PM 6:15 PM 8:30 PM 10:45 PM 1:00 AM

MARINA-3 CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) THOR: THE DARK WORLD (DIG-3D) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED AVENUES-1 GRAVITY (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) AVENUES-2 KALBY DALILI (DIG) KALBY DALILI (DIG) QALB AL ASAD (DIG) (ARABIC)

2:00 PM 4:45 PM 7:30 PM 9:45 PM 12:30 AM

12:45 PM 3:00 PM 5:45 PM 8:30 PM 11:15 PM

1:30 PM 3:45 PM 6:00 PM

KALBY DALILI (DIG) KALBY DALILI (DIG) KALBY DALILI (DIG)

8:15 PM 10:30 PM 12:45 AM

AVENUES-3 ENDER’S GAME (DIG) ENDER’S GAME (DIG) ENDER’S GAME (DIG) ENDER’S GAME (DIG) ENDER’S GAME (DIG)

2:15 PM 4:45 PM 7:15 PM 9:45 PM 12:15 AM

1889988

AL-KOUT.4 ENDER’S GAME (DIG) KALBY DALILI (DIG) KALBY DALILI (DIG) ENDER’S GAME (DIG) KALBY DALILI (DIG) ENDER’S GAME (DIG)

1:15 PM 3:30 PM 5:30 PM 7:30 PM 9:45 PM 11:45 PM

BAIRAQ-1 THOR: THE DARK WORLD (DIG-3D) THOR: THE DARK WORLD (DIG) THOR: THE DARK WORLD (DIG-3D) THOR: THE DARK WORLD (DIG-3D) THOR: THE DARK WORLD (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:45 PM 4:15 PM 6:45 PM 9:15 PM 11:45 PM

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

12:45 PM 3:30 PM 6:15 PM 9:00 PM 11:45 PM

360º- 2 ESCAPE PLAN (DIG) ESCAPE PLAN (DIG) ESCAPE PLAN (DIG) ESCAPE PLAN (DIG) ESCAPE PLAN (DIG) ESCAPE PLAN (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

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

BAIRAQ-2 CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2 (DIG) 12:45 PM CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2 (DIG) 3:00 PM DJINN (DIG) 5:00 PM KALBY DALILI (DIG) 7:00 PM DJINN (DIG) 9:00 PM KALBY DALILI (DIG) 11:00 PM DJINN (DIG) 1:00 AM NO SUN+TUE+WED

360º- 3 CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG)

2:00 PM 4:45 PM 7:30 PM 10:15 PM

BAIRAQ-3 CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

360º- 4 KALBY DALILI (DIG) KALBY DALILI (DIG) KALBY DALILI (DIG) KALBY DALILI (DIG) KALBY DALILI (DIG) KALBY DALILI (DIG)

12:30 PM 2:45 PM 5:00 PM 7:15 PM 9:30 PM 11:45 PM

AL-KOUT.1 THOR: THE DARK WORLD (DIG) THOR: THE DARK WORLD (DIG-3D) THOR: THE DARK WORLD (DIG) THOR: THE DARK WORLD (DIG-3D) THOR: THE DARK WORLD (DIG) THOR: THE DARK WORLD (DIG-3D)

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

AL-KOUT.2 ESCAPE FROM PLANET EARTH (DIG) ESCAPE PLAN (DIG) ESCAPE FROM PLANET EARTH (DIG) DJINN (DIG) DJINN (DIG) ESCAPE PLAN (DIG) DJINN (DIG)

12:45 PM 2:45 PM 5:00 PM 7:00 PM 8:45 PM 10:30 PM 12:45 AM

AL-KOUT.3 CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG)

12:45 PM 3:45 PM 6:30 PM 9:15 PM 12:05 AM

1:15 PM 4:00 PM 7:00 PM 9:45 PM 12:30 AM

PLAZA CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) KALBY DALILI (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG)

5:30 PM 8:15 PM 10:15 PM

LAILA THOR: THE DARK WORLD (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) THOR: THE DARK WORLD (DIG)

5:30 PM 7:45 PM 10:30 PM

AJIAL.1 AARAMBAM (DIG) (TAMIL) AARAMBAM (DIG) (TAMIL)

6:30 PM 9:30 PM

Fajr: Shorook Duhr: Asr: Maghrib: Isha:

04:47 06:08 11:32 14:34 16:55 18:15

97743826. (C 4560) FOR SALE Nissan Pathfinder 2003 model, in good condition, white. Serious buyer may contact 97277135

Ford Expedition 2011, 43,000 km, perfect condition, expat owned, asking KD 6,500 on best offer.

Contact: 97743826. (C 4561) 10-11-2013

Mitsubishi space Wagon, 2004 model, dual A/C, 145000 km, 7 seater, maroon metallic color car in excellent condition for urgent sale within a week, at KD 1400 o.n.o. Contact: 99775373. (C 4562) GMC Acadia 2012 Panorama, seats leather, excellent condition, low mileage 10000 km, DVD/CD/AUX. Contact: 67669382. (C 4563) Volkswagen EOS 2008, only 47,000 km, sports convertible, excellent condition, expat owned. Contact:

CHANGE OF NAME I, Bommry (sur name), Manjunathan, (given name), S/o Bommini Raghava Reddy, date of birth: 24.07.1980, residing at No. 31, Nemilli, Nemili village & Post, Thiruvalluvar District, Pincode-631201, holder of Indian Passport No. J0365702, shall hencefore be known as Bommini (sur name), Manjunathan,

(given name) Bommry (sur name), Manjunathan, (given name). (C 4564) 11-11-2013 I, Muruganandham Asokan S/o Muruganandham, Indian Passport No. E6570385, address: Kothanda Raman Nagar, Ponnavarai main road, Kalyana Puram (PO), Thiruvaiyaru (TK), Thanjavur (Dt) hereby change my name to Sam Ashok Sam. (C 4558) 7-11-2013

LOST Lost driving license (No. 256040602005), if found please contact Tel: 97732317 or 97732318.

(C 4559) 7-11-2013

No: 15983

AJIAL.2 KRRISH 3 (DIG) (HINDI) 6:00 PM ALL IN ALL AZHAGU RAJA (DIG) (TAMIL) 9:00 PM AJIAL.3 KRRISH 3 (DIG) (HINDI) KRRISH 3 (DIG) (HINDI)

6:45 PM 9:45 PM

AJIAL.4 PANDIANADU (DIG) (TAMIL) PANDIANADU (DIG) (TAMIL)

7:00 PM 10:15 PM

METRO-1 AARAMBAM (DIG) (TAMIL) AARAMBAM (DIG) (TAMIL)

7:00 PM 10:00 PM

METRO-2 PANDIANADU (DIG) (TAMIL) KRRISH 3 (DIG) (HINDI)

6:30 PM 9:45 PM

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 FDB JZR BAW KAC FDB KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC UAE ABY QTR ETD FDB KAC KAC GFA MSC MSC JZR IRC MEA SYR UAE MSR MSR FDB QTR KAC

Arrival Flights on Monday 11/11/2013 Flt Route 43 DHAKA 574 MUMBAI 539 CAIRO 267 BEIRUT 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 69 DUBAI 503 LUXOR 157 LONDON 412 MANILA 53 DUBAI 206 ISLAMABAD 382 DELHI 302 MUMBAI 284 DHAKA 362 COLOMBO 855 DUBAI 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 57 DUBAI 1078 DOHA 546 ALEXANDRIA

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 07:40 07:55 07:55 08:50 08:45 08:40 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 13:50 13:55 14:05

KAC SVA KNE NIA QTR KAC OMA QTR KAC UAE ETD RJA SVA ABY GFA MPH KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC JZR JZR RBG MSC QTR FDB GFA OMA FDB JAI ABY AXB DLH ALK MEA ETD UAE GFA QTR FDB JAI JZR JZR AIC TAR JZR

672 500 472 252 8321 788 645 1072 118 857 303 640 510 127 215 93 786 674 104 542 742 618 774 777 177 553 405 1080 63 217 647 61 572 129 489 636 229 402 307 859 219 1074 59 576 135 239 975 327 185

DUBAI JEDDAH JEDDAH ALEXANDRIA BEIRUT JEDDAH MUSCAT DOHA NEW YORK DUBAI ABU DHABI-INTL AMMAN-QUEEN ALIA RIYADH SHARJAH BAHRAIN AMSTERDAM JEDDAH DUBAI LONDON CAIRO DAMMAM DOHA RIYADH JEDDAH DUBAI ALEXANDRIA SOHAG DOHA DUBAI BAHRAIN MUSCAT DUBAI MUMBAI SHARJAH COCHIN FRANKFURT COLOMBO BEIRUT ABU DHABI-INTL DUBAI BAHRAIN DOHA DUBAI COCHIN BAHRAIN AMMAN-QUEEN ALIA CHENNAI TUNIS DUBAI

14:00 14:30 14:35 15:50 15:15 15:10 15:55 16:40 16:35 16:40 16:50 16:55 17:15 17:25 17:30 17:50 18:45 19:25 19:35 18:05 18:20 19:00 18:45 17:55 18:20 18:15 18:30 18:40 18:45 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 22:10 22:05 22:20 22:30 23:15 23:20

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 RAB GFA KAC KAC MSC MSC KAC JZR IRC MEA KAC SYR JZR MSR MSR UAE FDB

Departure Flights on Monday 11/11/2013 Flt Route Time 982 AHMEDABAD 00:05 981 WASHINGTON 00:55 206 LAHORE 01:05 573 MUMBAI 01:10 44 CHITTAGONG 01:45 635 FRANKFURT 02:10 621 ADDIS ABABA 02:45 773 ISTANBUL-ATATURK 02:55 416 KABUL 03:30 854 DUBAI 03:50 306 ABU DHABI 04:00 613 CAIRO 04:10 1085 DOHA 04:15 68 DUBAI 04:40 1077 DOHA 05:15 70 DUBAI 06:30 164 DUBAI 06:55 765 ISTANBUL-SABIHA 07:05 212 BAHRAIN 07:15 545 ALEXANDRIA 07:15 771 ISTANBUL-ATATURK 07:30 54 DUBAI 08:30 156 LONDON 08:45 787 JEDDAH 09:25 671 DUBAI 09:30 126 SHARJAH 09:40 856 DUBAI 09:55 302 ABU DHABI 10:05 1071 DOHA 10:10 56 DUBAI 10:20 303 BAGRAM 11:00 214 BAHRAIN 11:25 541 CAIRO 11:30 165 ROME 11:50 406 SOHAG 11:50 404 ASYUT 12:15 103 LONDON 12:20 776 JEDDAH 12:25 6522 LAMERD 12:45 405 BEIRUT 12:55 785 JEDDAH 13:00 342 DAMASCUS 13:30 176 DUBAI 13:45 580 SOHAG 13:50 611 CAIRO 14:00 872 DUBAI 14:15 58 DUBAI 14:30

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

QTR KAC KAC KAC KAC KNE SVA QTR 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 673 741 773 617 473 501 8321 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 DUBAI DAMMAM RIYADH DOHA JEDDAH JEDDAH DOHA ALEXANDRIA MUSCAT AMMAN ABU DHABI DOHA DUBAI CAIRO AMMAN SHARJAH RIYADH BAHRAIN DUBAI BEIRUT ALEXANDRIA BAHRAIN AL MAKTOUM INTERNATIONAL DUBAI ALEXANDRIA DOHA BAHRAIN DHAKA DUBAI MUSCAT TRIVANDRUM COLOMBO SHARJAH MUMBAI KOCHI DAMMAM BAHRAIN COLOMBO BEIRUT ABU DHABI BAHRAIN MUMBAI DUBAI DUBAI ISLAMABAD ABU DHABI DOHA LUXOR BANGKOK

14:55 15:05 15:20 15:20 15:30 15:30 15:45 16:45 16:50 16:55 16:55 17:35 17:40 17:50 17:50 17:55 18:05 18:15 18:20 18:40 18:50 18:55 19:10 19:20 19:25 19:30 19:40 20:15 20:30 20:45 20:55 20:55 21:00 21:00 21:10 21:10 21:35 21:50 22:10 22:20 22:20 22:30 22:35 22:40 22:50 22:55 23:10 23:10 23:30 23:55

34

s ta rs CROSSWORD 365

STAR TRACK Aries (March 21-April 19) ARIES Faith, optimism and a yearning to explore all kinds of new subjects are some of the thoughts coming up in your mind now. It is possible that, like many of us— you are just ready to put on the feedbag and watch the games or just enjoy the break from the usual routine. Travel, education and other ways to stretch your horizons open new doors of opportunity. Religious, philosophical and cultural matters are likely to have a special appeal for you now; transmitting ideas on a broad scale brings gain. Marriage and other close relationships give rise to great expectations now, as a new cycle gets underway in your life. This is a time to enjoy and appreciate your ties to others. Your support system—family, home and those who give you nourishment—becomes more secure.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) You may find your attention drawn to subjects like law, politics, education, travel or religion. Perhaps there is some special crime story you have been following lately.

You have a real appreciation for ideas and thoughts and common sense seems to rule with you. You may enjoy reading true crime stories for the ability to learn more of the psychology side of humanity. Whatever the case, this is the area of the library or bookstore where you may find yourself during your day. When discussing the latest crime you may find yourself listening carefully to other insights. Most of your day is most positive and this little sidetrack is just a helpful pathway to solving and understanding the many personalities that live in this world.

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

ACROSS 1. Vigorous and enthusiastic enjoyment.

5. A percussion instrument consisting of a pair of hollow pieces of wood or bone (usually held between the thumb and fingers) that are made to click together (as by Spanish dancers) in rhythm with the dance.

11. A wound made by cutting.

15. An island of central Hawaii (between Molokai and Kauai).

16. Pertaining to one of the small sacs (as in a compound gland).

17. United States chemist who discovered deuterium (1893-1981).

18. (computer science) A graphic symbol (usually a simple picture) that denotes a program or a command or a data file or a concept in a graphical user interface.

19. Affectedly modest or shy especially in a playful or provocative way.

20. An artificial source of visible illumination.

21. A cloth used as a head covering (and veil and shawl) by Muslim and Hindu women.

23. A university town in southeast Wyoming.

25. United States screenwriter who was blacklisted and imprisoned for refusing to cooperate with congressional investigations of communism in America (1905-1976).

27. Form metals with a swage.

28. A bachelor's degree in science.

30. A public promotion of some product or service.

31. A small cake leavened with yeast.

35. The month following July and preceding September.

37. A gradual decline (in size or strength or power or number).

39. Someone with an aggressively negative attitude.

43. (often followed by `of') A large number or amount or extent.

45. (Babylonian) God of storms and wind.

47. Having winglike extensions.

48. A member of the Muskhogean people who moved into Florida in the 18th century.

50. Extremely robust.

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

54. The universal time coordinated time on board the spacecraft.

55. A power unit equal to the power dissipated when 1 abampere flows across a potential difference of 1 abvolt (one ten-thousandth of a milliwatt).

58. Of or like a cecum.

60. A unit of surface area equal to 100 square meters.

61. English economist noted for his studies of international trade and finance (born in 1907).

63. (Old Testament) In Judeo-Christian mythology.

65. A district of ancient Greece northwest of Athens.

68. Crustaceans characteristically having five pairs of locomotor appendages each joined to a segment of the thorax.

72. Make oneself subject to.

73. An assertion of a right (as to money or property).

76. Plant with an elongated head of broad stalked leaves resembling celery.

77. (computer science) A coding system that incorporates extra parity bits in order to detect errors.

78. The capital and largest city of Greece.

80. Bound or secured closely.

81. A recurring sleep state during which dreaming occurs.

82. Egg-shaped terra-cotta wind instrument with a mouthpiece and finger holes.

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

DOWN 1. Pertaining to animals or animal life or action.

2. (used of count nouns) Every one considered individually.

3. A young pig.

4. A vast treeless plain in the arctic regions between the ice cap and the tree line.

5. A woman of refinement.

6. Sour or bitter in taste.

7. The shape of a raised edge of a more or less circular object.

8. (Babylonian) The sky god.

9. A town in southeastern New Mexico on the Pecos River near the Mexican border.

10. A passageway between buildings or giving access to a basement.

11. A Russian prison camp for political prisoners.

12. An edilbe seaweed with a mild flavor.

13. (prefix) Half or partial.

14. Blatant or sensational promotion.

22. A clay pipe with a short stem.

24. An intensely radioactive metallic element that occurs in minute amounts in uranium ores.

26. A Russian river.

29. Of surpassing excellence.

32. (Irish) Mother of the ancient Irish gods.

33. An asset of special worth or utility.

34. Make or cause to be or to become.

36. United States physicist (born in Russia) who was a proponent of the big-bang theory and who did research in radioactivity and suggested the triplet code for DNA (1904-1968).

38. With no effort to conceal.

40. An enclosed space.

41. By bad luck.

42. West Indian evergreen with medium to long leaves.

44. Heavy-bodied small-winged South American game bird resembling a gallinaceous bird but related to the ratite birds.

46. Make or become free of frost or ice.

49. The academic world.

52. A rare heavy polyvalent metallic element that resembles manganese chemically and is used in some alloys.

53. An early French settler in the Maritimes.

56. Type genus of the Tetraonidae.

57. Of or relating to or characteristic of Thailand of its people.

59. Resinlike substance secreted by certain lac insects.

62. Russian country house.

64. A blanket that is used as a cloak or shawl.

66. Belonging to some prior time.

67. Electronic warfare undertaken to insure effective friendly use of the electromagnetic spectrum in spite of the enemy's use of electronic warfare.

69. A roughly cylindrical that is vessel open at the top.

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

71. An informal term for a father.

74. (Irish) The sea personified.

75. Black tropical American cuckoo.

79. A crystalline metallic element not found in nature.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2013

A time of expanding your mental horizon is at hand. Religion, philosophy, law and education are some of the things that may have special importance for you at this time. You may have become involved with some new realm of learning.

Being in touch with faraway people and places satisfies an intellectual yearning—curiosity will take you anywhere and maybe everywhere. You love new or different theories and insights from people but you may discover that there is nothing new under the sun.

Perhaps that is your life lesson; it could be only part of the lesson. It is about time you show off your creative work and an art gallery may have an interest in representing you. A friend might even help you sell your work. You will soon profit from your creative abilities.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) A meeting with someone older or in authority is in order today. You may spend a great deal of time planning or worrying about the results for this person. The end may not go the way you think. You must realize that you are not in control—even if you have a piece of paper that says you are in control. As long as you do everything to create a positive outcome with this senior, everything will be positive. You will be pleased with your success in the sharing and receiving of new family information this afternoon. Your timing is perfect and others will find you most capable. Travel plans can be discussed or an event can be planned. This evening you can relax and just sit back and enjoy what you have, to live life. Romance is possible tonight.

Leo (July 23-August 22) You appreciate a winner and are drawn to the successful and powerful— politics and such. You may make your living by virtue of your good taste, sense of quality and discrimination. New ways to organize and discipline yourself are possible. Here is an opportunity to get some insight into some of your problems and responsibilities that may prove very valuable in the years to come. 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, most likely. Seeing both sides of issues and finding resolutions to opposing views take on more importance in your life. You are determined to break up old habits—get out of ruts, etc. Bravo!

Virgo (August 23-September 22) Plans for travel, social get-togethers and other ways to enjoy the people and things that you have acquired in your life may be considered now. Philosophical and cultural matters are likely to have a special appeal. Research brings you ideas of a mystical approach to health. Perhaps this is like a placebo effect to help a weak person overcome an ailment that might be nebulous at this time. Limit health risks arising from exposure to chemicals, drugs or seafood. Making your home situation more pleasant and attractive is a project you enjoy, particularly around the holidays. Today you may find an article that could guild you in constructing a centerpiece for the table at family dinners. You could make a beautiful centerpiece, which would be a great gift.

Word Search

Libra (September 23-October 22) Your grasp for abstract and spiritual ideas helps you to convey important messages to others. Your value system may receive a challenge. You may not appreciate the restlessness inside you and you will want to take some time to try and figure out what is happening. As this seems to be a busy time of year and people from many directions put in bids for your attention, it could be time for priorities. Where do you want to startmake a list of how you want to proceed as well as whom you want in your life in the long-term. In other words, it is time for a little goal setting. If you are dating, date because you are looking for a mate, not because you might be bored. Pay attention to your words and make an effort to enjoy the results that come from positive behavior.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) A searing vision that cuts through what passes for conventional religion comes to your attention today—perhaps a vision of the endless process of life is on your mind. There is great acceptance and faith in the natural process of life and the next generation. Your love of children and animals may put you in charge of someone’s safety today.

Invitations are beginning to come in with regard to social activities—you may do some careful planning. There is always the push to reciprocate. Picking and choosing your activities becomes an important issue. You have a renewed appreciation for the commitment of a relationship and will do everything in your power to make things positive. Your own growth and success may be linked to questions of security.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) You may feel like exercising or getting out this morning. Walking around the house is a good way to check for problems or repairs that may be needed before winter weather comes. If you do not have a house, you might have a vehicle that will need care soon. You are on your own and this time marks the start of increased responsibility. Deep thoughts about goals may come into play—review of self. You can expect some sort of major reevaluation of your likes and dislikes, how and what you enjoy or appreciate about yourself and life: your value system. You may find that your appreciation for the quality of everything is stronger. A reappraisal could be in order with concern to some upcoming celebrations. Focus on priorities.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19) A visitor in your home today may compliment you on your tastes or belongings. It is a fine day for tinkering with the high-tech stuff that is still in boxes.

You are unusually motivated or driven in new and unexpected directions. You could receive unexpected backing and, in general, your efforts are successful and reach new heights of originality—creative. New and unexpected emotions may arise. There is an urge to change and try new things that may prove challenging but fun. A kind of romantic nostalgic approach characterizes life this evening. This could mean a longing for a soul mate or a yearning to save the world; it could mean carrying a torch, as well. Secret loves, lost loves— all you need is love.

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) It could be a difficult time to solve problems or to look for insights and solutions, especially if you are feeling in great shape and ready for fun and fun activities. You may feel that your originality and independence are stifled or just not available to you.

Sometimes you have to exert more energy to be patient and this could be one of those days. Know that all of this is short term so that you can get down to the job at hand as quickly as possible. You will benefit from analytical insights, getting to the heart of things— penetrating. Later this afternoon while visiting with a friend, you may find that you will want to reflect on your own youth or some event in the past. Continue to get feedback from your family; they will support your future plans.

Pisces (February 19-March 20) You could find yourself on top of the roof, decorating for the winter season.

This is a great time to be with others and to work in a group toward some fun happening.

Just being yourself, living your life for the moment, being here—is your attitude today.

Others sense that your life is important. You are very sensitive, even vulnerable when it comes to expressing yourself. This creative intensity is good for music, poetry and art—particularly today. You go shopping with young people this afternoon to show them the importance of organic shopping. Most pesticides collect in apples, bell peppers, peaches, peanuts, raisins, spinach, strawberries and tomatoes—you encourage organic purchases that do not have these pesticides.

Yesterday’s Solution

Yesterday’s Solution

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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2013

i n f o r m at i o n For labor-related inquiries and complaints: Call MSAL hotline 128 GOVERNORATE Sabah Hospital

24812000

Amiri Hospital

22450005

Maternity Hospital

24843100

Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital

25312700

Chest Hospital

24849400

Farwaniya Hospital

24892010

Adan Hospital

23940620

Ibn Sina Hospital

24840300

Al-Razi Hospital

24846000

Physiotherapy Hospital

24874330/9

PHARMACY

ADDRESS

PHONE

Ahmadi

Sama Safwan Abu Halaifa Danat Al-Sultan

Fahaeel Makka St Abu Halaifa-Coastal Rd Mahboula Block 1, Coastal Rd

23915883 23715414 23726558

Jahra

Modern Jahra Madina Munawara

Jahra-Block 3 Lot 1 Jahra-Block 92

24575518 24566622

Capital

Ahlam Khaldiya Coop

Fahad Al-Salem St Khaldiya Coop

22436184 24833967

Farwaniya

New Shifa Ferdous Coop Modern Safwan

Farwaniya Block 40 Ferdous Coop Old Kheitan Block 11

24734000 24881201 24726638

Tariq Hana Ikhlas Hawally & Rawdha Ghadeer Kindy Ibn Al-Nafis Mishrif Coop Salwa Coop

Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St Salmiya-Amman St Hawally-Beirut St Hawally & Rawdha Coop Jabriya-Block 1A Jabriya-Block 3B Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St Mishrif Coop Salwa Coop

25726265 25647075 22625999 22564549 25340559 25326554 25721264 25380581 25628241

Hawally

Al-Madeena

22418714

Al-Shuhada

22545171

Al-Shuwaikh

24810598

Al-Nuzha

22545171

Sabhan

24742838

Al-Helaly

22434853

Al-Faiha

22545051

Al-Farwaniya

24711433

Al-Sulaibikhat

24316983

Al-Fahaheel

23927002

Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh

24316983

Ahmadi

23980088

Al-Mangaf

23711183

Al-Shuaiba

23262845

Kaizen center

25716707

Rawda

22517733

Adaliya

22517144

Al-Jahra

25610011

Khaldiya

24848075

Al-Salmiya

25616368

Kaifan

24849807

Shamiya

24848913

Shuwaikh

24814507

Abdullah Salem

22549134

Nuzha

22526804

Industrial Shuwaikh

24814764

Qadsiya

22515088

Dasmah

22532265

Bneid Al-Gar

22531908

Shaab

22518752

Qibla

22459381

Ayoun Al-Qibla

22451082

Mirqab

22456536

Sharq

22465401

Salmiya

25746401

Jabriya

25316254

Maidan Hawally

25623444

Bayan

25388462

Mishref

25381200

W Hawally

22630786

Sabah

24810221

Jahra

24770319

New Jahra

24575755

West Jahra

24772608

South Jahra

24775066

North Jahra

24775992

North Jleeb

24311795

Ardhiya

24884079

Firdous

24892674

Omariya

24719048

N Khaitan

24710044

Fintas

23900322

INTERNATIONAL CALLS

PRIVATE CLINICS Ophthalmologists Dr. Abidallah Al-Mansoor 25622444 Dr. Samy Al-Rabeea 25752222 Dr. Masoma Habeeb 25321171 Dr. Mubarak Al-Ajmy 25739999 Dr. Mohsen Abel 25757700 Dr Adnan Hasan Alwayl 25732223 Dr. Abdallah Al-Baghly 25732223 Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT) Dr. Ahmed Fouad Mouner 24555050 Ext 510 Dr. Abdallah Al-Ali 25644660 Dr. Abd Al-Hameed Al-Taweel 25646478 Dr. Sanad Al-Fathalah 25311996 Dr. Mohammad Al-Daaory 25731988 Dr. Ismail Al-Fodary 22620166 Dr. Mahmoud Al-Booz 25651426 General Practitioners Dr. Mohamme Y Majidi 24555050 Ext 123 Dr. Yousef Al-Omar 24719312 Dr. Tarek Al-Mikhazeem 23926920 Dr. Kathem Maarafi 25730465 Dr. Abdallah Ahmad Eyadah 25655528 Dr. Nabeel Al-Ayoobi 24577781 Dr. Dina Abidallah Al-Refae 25333501 Urologists Dr. Ali Naser Al-Serfy 22641534 Dr. Fawzi Taher Abul 22639955 Dr. Khaleel Abidallah Al-Awadi 22616660 Dr. Adel Al-Hunayan FRCS (C) 25313120 Dr. Leons Joseph 66703427 Psychologists /Psychotherapists

Paediatricians

Plastic Surgeons Dr. Mohammad Al-Khalaf

22547272

Dr. Khaled Hamadi

Dr. Abdal-Redha Lari

22617700

Dr. Abd Al-Aziz Al-Rashed

Dr. Abdel Quttainah

25625030/60

Family Doctor Dr Divya Damodar

23729596/23729581

Psychiatrists Dr. Esam Al-Ansari

22635047

Dr Eisa M. Al-Balhan

22613623/0

Gynaecologists & Obstetricians DrAdrian arbe

23729596/23729581

Dr. Verginia s.Marin

2572-6666 ext 8321

Endocrinologist

25665898 25340300

Dr. Zahra Qabazard

25710444

Dr. Sohail Qamar

22621099

Dr. Snaa Maaroof

25713514

Dr. Pradip Gujare

23713100

Dr. Zacharias Mathew

24334282

(1) Ear, Nose and Throat (2) Plastic Surgeon Dr. Abdul Mohsin Jafar, FRCS (Canada)

25655535

Dentists

Dr. Fozeya Ali Al-Qatan

22655539

Dr. Majeda Khalefa Aliytami

25343406

Dr. Shamah Al-Matar

22641071/2

Dr. Ahmad Al-Khooly

25739272

Dr. Anesah Al-Rasheed

22562226

22618787

Dr. Abidallah Al-Amer

22561444

Dr. Faysal Al-Fozan

22619557

Dr. Abdallateef Al-Katrash

22525888

Dr. Abidallah Al-Duweisan

25653755

Dr. Bader Al-Ansari

25620111

General Surgeons Dr. Amer Zawaz Al-Amer

22610044

Dr. Mohammad Yousef Basher

25327148

Internists, Chest & Heart Dr. Adnan Ebil Dr. Latefa Al-Duweisan

22666300 25728004

Dr. Nadem Al-Ghabra

25355515

Dr. Mobarak Aldoub

24726446

Dr Nasser Behbehani

25654300/3

Soor Center Tel: 2290-1677 Fax: 2290 1688

Neurologists

22639939

Dr. Mousa Khadada

info@soorcenter.com www.soorcenter.com

3729596/3729581

Dr. Sohal Najem Al-Shemeri

25633324

Dr. Jasem Mola Hassan

25345875

Gastrologists Dr. Sami Aman

22636464

Dr. Mohammad Al-Shamaly

25322030

Dr. Foad Abidallah Al-Ali

22633135

Kaizen center 25716707

25339330

Dr. Ahmad Al-Ansari 25658888 Dr. Kamal Al-Shomr 25329924 Physiotherapists & VD Dr. Deyaa Shehab

25722291

Dr. Musaed Faraj Khamees

22666288

Rheumatologists: Dr. Adel Al-Awadi

Dr Anil Thomas

Dr. Salem soso

Dr. Abd Al-Naser Al-Othman

25330060

Dr. Khaled Al-Jarallah

25722290

Internist, Chest & Heart DR.Mohammes Akkad

24555050 Ext 210

Dr. Mohammad Zubaid MB, ChB, FRCPC, PACC Assistant Professor Of Medicine Head, Division of Cardiology Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital Consultant Cardiologist Dr. Farida Al-Habib MD, PH.D, FACC Inaya German Medical Center Te: 2575077 Fax: 25723123

2611555-2622555

William Schuilenberg, RPC 2290-1677 Zaina Al Zabin, M.Sc. 2290-1677

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

Iran 0098 Iraq 00964 Ireland 00353 Italy 0039 Ivory Coast 00225 Jamaica 001876 Japan 0081 Jordan 00962 Kazakhstan 007 Kenya 00254 Kiribati 00686 Kuwait 00965 Kyrgyzstan 00996 Laos 00856 Latvia 00371 Lebanon 00961 Liberia 00231 Libya 00218 Lithuania 00370 Luxembourg 00352 Macau 00853 Macedonia 00389 Madagascar 00261 Majorca 0034 Malawi 00265 Malaysia 0060 Maldives 00960 Mali 00223 Malta 00356 Marshall Islands 00692 Martinique 00596 Mauritania 00222 Mauritius 00230 Mayotte 00269 Mexico 0052 Micronesia 00691 Moldova 00373 Monaco 00377 Mongolia 00976 Montserrat 001664 Morocco 00212 Mozambique 00258 Myanmar (Burma) 0095 Namibia 00264 Nepal 00977 Netherlands (Holland) 0031 Netherlands Antilles 00599 New Caledonia 00687 New Zealand 0064 Nicaragua 00505 Nigar 00227 Nigeria 00234 Niue 00683 Norfolk Island 00672 Northern Ireland (UK) 0044 North Korea 00850 Norway 0047 Oman 00968 Pakistan 0092 Palau 00680 Panama 00507 Papua New Guinea 00675 Paraguay 00595 Peru 0051 Philippines 0063 Poland 0048 Portugal 00351 Puerto Rico 001787 Qatar 00974 Romania 0040 Russian Federation 007 Rwanda 00250 Saint Helena 00290 Saint Kitts 001869 Saint Lucia 001758 Saint Pierre 00508 Saint Vincent 001784 Samoa US 00684 Samoa West 00685 San Marino 00378 Sao Tone 00239 Saudi Arabia 00966 Scotland (UK) 0044 Senegal 00221 Seychelles 00284 Sierra Leone 00232 Singapore 0065 Slovakia 00421 Slovenia 00386 Solomon Islands 00677

36

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2013

LIFESTYLE G o s s i p

Beckham set to be

ABBA mulls possible

knighthood in New Year’s Honors List

reunion

T

he legendary Swedish pop group ABBA is mulling a possible reunion next year, singer Agnetha Faltskog said in a German newspaper interview Sunday. Next year marks the 40th anniversary of the band’s first hit “Waterloo”, which won them the Eurovision song contest and catapulted them to fame. ABBA subsequently became one of the world’s best-selling pop bands with a string of number one hits such as “Mamma Mia”, “Dancing Queen” and “Super Trouper”. “Of course it’s something we’re thinking about,” 63-year-old Faltskog told the weekly Welt am Sonntag. “There seem to be plans to do something to mark this anniversary in some way. But I can’t say at this point what will come of them,” she said. Faltskog formed ABBA in 1972 with guitarist and songwriter—and later husband— Bjorn Ulvaeus, as well as Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The group’s Eurovision success with “Waterloo” came in Brighton, England, two years later. The band, whose last album “The Visitors” appeared in 1982, has sold more than 380 million records worldwide, making them one of the most successful pop bands in history.

D

avid Beckham is set to be given a knighthood in the New Year’s Honors List. The retired soccer and showbiz icon will become a ‘Sir’ with final approval reportedly due later this month. According to reports in The Sun on Sunday newspaper, his £165 million finances are being assessed - as is the norm before any knighthood. A source said: “HM Revenue and Customs look at the higher honors - specially at high earners like sports people - to see if there is anything they want to double check.” It is expected Britain’s Prince William will perform the annual ceremony, which would be attended by David’s wife Victoria, their daughter Harper, two, and their sons Brooklyn, 14, Romeo, 12, and eight-year-old Cruz. It is said the former Manchester United and Real Madrid player’s name was put forward after he ended his 20-year-old career earlier this year after he won the French soccer league with Paris Saint-Germain. However, his role as an ambassador for Britain and excessive charity work - along with the part he played in bringing the Olympics to London last summer - will also be honored.

ABBA

Delevingne set for New

Year’s Eve world trip

C

ara Delevingne reportedly wants to celebrate New Year’s Eve around the world. The 21-year-old model is said to be inundated with party invitations all over the globe, and so she is considering using a private jet in an attempt to chase midnight across different time zones. A source told the Sunday Mirror newspaper; “Cara’s had so many invites for New Year’s Eve, she’s trying to work out if she can follow the clock in a private jet and fit them all in. “Ideally she’d love to try and follow midnight across the different time zones while carrying on the party in the place. “By flying in a private jet it may help her overcome the obstacle of the time zones as it will reduce her flight time.” The star’s plans would see her start in Brazil with model Alice Dellal before partying with Rihanna in the Caribbean. After this, Cara would head to Mustique with Georgia May Jagger, before partying at Richard Branson’s bash on Necker Island where One Direction are set to perform - before bringing it to a close in Las Vegas with Rita Ora It’s now down to her team to figure out the “logistics” of the night, with the star “determined” to end 2013 “in style”. The insider added: “Everyone is now trying to work out logistics and if it works out then it will definitely be one hell of a party to remember. “Otherwise Cara will have to make a choice and choose one country to see in the New Year in. “Whatever happens, Cara’s had an amazing 2013 so she’s determined to party in style.”

Willem Dafoe loves adventure Willem Dafoe

Johansson opens up about fiancé

T

he 58-year-old actor - who almost had a wallaby explode in his face on the set of 2011’s ‘The Hunter’ - thinks his biggest personality trait is having the energy for any adventure and puts his success down to “pressing forward.”

Talking to Madame Figaro magazine, he said: “I’m like a jack rabbit: I jump at the chance of adventure!” Quizzed on his biggest success, he added: “I’m always pressing forward. But my life is far from over!” Willem recently confirmed he is returning for ‘Finding Dory’ where he will reprise the role of animated fish Gill, who he portrayed in 2003 movie ‘Finding Nemo.’ After starting work on the Disney motion picture he insists it is much better than the original film. He previously said: “Yeah I’ve already started. It’s even better than the first. It’s fantastic. It’s good to say I think it’s going to be better than the first; that’s good advertising!”

S

Cara Delevingne

Mackie charged with drunken driving in NYC A

nthony Mackie has been arraigned on two misdemeanor counts of drunken driving in New York City. The 35-year-old actor was arrested in Harlem and was released after appearing in Manhattan Criminal Court on Saturday. His next court date is Dec 19. A publicist for “The Adjustment Bureau” co-star had no comment. Mackie also has appeared in the Oscar-winning “The Hurt Locker,” in “Pain & Gain” and numerous other movies. A criminal complaint charges him with operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated and while impaired by alcohol. It says Mackie had the smell of alcohol on his breath, bloodshot eyes and slurred speech. The complaint says he told an officer he’d had one beer. It says Mackie refused to take a Breathalyzer test to measure his blood-alcohol level.

Kidman befriends

Anthony Mackie

Holmes

Larry King returns

David Beckham

carlett Johansson admits she puts pressure on her fiancé to change as a person. The ‘Don Jon’ actress is set to marry French former journalist Romain Dauriac soon, but says she - like many other people - has to work hard to understand and respect who he is as a person, rather than try and change him into the man she would ideally like him to be. She said: “I can certainly relate to this habit of wanting your partner to just kind of fit into this mould you’ve made for them. We do place pressure on somebody to just do it the way we think it should be done. “It takes a lot of growth and searching to understand that it is the differences in relationships that enrich and strengthen the relationship; that help us evolve as people and partners. I understand that conviction - I know that is something I am guilty of.” Scarlett, 29, is very happy in her personal and professional life at the moment. The 29-year-old actress - who was previously married to Ryan Reynolds - is particularly happy in her career and feels blessed to be able to do something she loves for a living. Speaking to Marie Claire magazine, she explained: “I think I’ve always been, by nature, a happy person. You know, everybody has their moments, but I do what I love and my job is very satisfying and I get paid to do it. I live in New York, I live in Paris, I get to travel a lot. I work with people I admire. How can I complain?”

Scarlett Johansson

N

icole Kidman has become friends with Katie Holmes. The actresses - both ex-wives of Hollywood star Tom Cruise - have reportedly been in contact by phone and enjoy gossiping with each other about their families and careers. A source said: “[They had] a really nice conversation. They talked a little about what it was like being married to Tom and have stayed in touch ever since. “They haven’t discussed intimate issues like sex, and mostly chit chat about their kids and what’s going on in their lives.” Nicole has adopted Isabella, 20, and Connor, 18, with Tom and Sunday, five and Faith, two, with her present husband Keith Urban, while Katie - the ‘Top Gun’ star’s third wife -has daughter Suri, seven, with the star, who she split from in June 2012. The insider says they would even consider starring in the same movie together.

They friend added to National Enquirer magazine: “It would blow people’s minds to have two of Tom’s exes in the same film.”

to the radio

L

arry King is coming back to radio in the form of minute-long, daily reports starting from today. The former CNN host will be featured on more than 50 stations owned

by Cumulus across the US AARP, a seniors advocacy group, will also feature it on its website, along with additional audio. This will mark King’s return to radio after six decades, according to a statement released Saturday by his representative and AARP. The 79-yearold King was a staple on CNN with “Larry King Live” for years, interviewing luminaries ranging from celebrities to politicians, until he left the cable network in 2010.

Larry King

Nicole Kidman

37

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2013

LIFESTYLE G o s s i p

Pharrell Williams:

Friendship is important

P

harrell Williams says “being besties” is key to a happy relationship. The ‘She Wants To Move’ hitmaker married model and designer Helen Lasichanh last month and says their union is built on a strong friendship. Asked what he values in a partner, he said: “Being besties is the most important thing - you have to be best friends.” Pharrell says he is having the best time ever since turning 40 in April as everything in his life, both personal and professional, is going so well. He said: “I’ve been totally happy for a few months now - since I turned 40. It wasn’t the fact of turning 40, it was the sequence of events that followed. It’s been crazy with everything that’s happened this year. I’ve always been thankful, but now I’m thankful and super-happy.” While he is happy with his life, the rapper-andproducer has one regret - his lack of language skills. He told Grazia magazine: “My biggest regret is not learning foreign languages in school.”

Pharrell Williams

T

he ‘Applause’ singer might be known as Mother Monster to her fans, but she would love to have some biological children of her own one day. Speaking at the SiriusXM studios in New York City, Gaga said: “I want to have tons of kids, actually. I think at least three. I really want to have a family and I really want to nurture my children. “To be honest, having my own kids will be like having three little monsters with me all the time. They probably won’t be fans.” The 27-year-old star didn’t mention whether she envisaged her boyfriend Taylor Kinney being the father of her children, but hinted she wanted a brood of her own soon. Gaga - real name Stefani Germanotta - added: “I grew up with a very strong family and I just cannot imagine not having a normal nuclear family.” The pop star - who recently confessed to smoking 15 joints of marijuana a day to numb the pain of her hip injury - also confessed she feels happier about her weight since falling for ‘The Vampire Diaries’ actor Taylor. Having previously suffered from eating disorders, Gaga says she now happily indulges in her cravings for deep-dish Chicago pizzas.

She joked: “I love ordering Chicago pizza. My boyfriend caught me once eating it in the bathroom in the middle of the night.

I woke up in the middle of the night ... and I walked it into the bathroom and I was eating it. And I heard the ... door opening. “I had the pizza in my mouth and he just shook his head at me and he was like, ‘That is just shameful.’ “

M

iley Cyrus and Cara Delevingne visited one of Amsterdam’s infamous coffee shops on Friday night. The ‘We Can’t Stop’ hitmaker and the model of the moment hit popular café Greenhouse in the Netherlands to unwind after a long day of rehearsals for the MTV Europe Music Awards. The stars enjoyed a late night outing to the coffee shop, famed for its large array of cannabis products, arriving at 11pm and staying for two hours. Miley is clearly a fan of the establishment, having visited it the previous night with DJ Afrojack. Had she sampled anything from the marijuana section of the menu, she wouldn’t have been breaking any laws since the drug is legal in Amsterdam. Greenhouse is a firm favorite with celebrities, having hosting the likes of Snoop Dog, Rihanna, Wiz Kahlifa and Katy Perry over the years.

Miley has been vocal about her love of weed in the past, saying: “I think weed is the best drug on earth. One time I smoked a joint with peyote in it, and I saw a wolf howling at the moon. “Hollywood is a coke town, but weed is so much better. And molly, too. Those are happy drugs - social drugs. They make you want to be with friends. You’re out in the open. You’re not in a bathroom.”

T

he supermodel has sparked speculation she could reconcile with the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ actor, despite announcing they had split last month after three years of marriage. The stunning brunette was hounded by paparazzi as she rocked up at LAX airport this weekend, and let slip she would always be a family with Orlando and their two-year-old son, Flynn. Asked if there was any chance of a reconciliation by TMZ, Miranda replied, “We love each other as family, forever.” After further questioning her about the definitive nature of the split, the 30-year-old star quipped, “I didn’t say that... I said we would always be family. We love each other and support each other and we love our son.”

Since announcing their separation and Orlando setting up home alone in New York City, the former couple have been seen out and about on play dates with Flynn. The actor recently echoed the former Victoria’s Secret Angel’s sentiments, saying: “We’re a family. We’re going to be in each other’s lives for the rest of our lives. There’s no question that, you know, for the sake of our son and everything else, we’re going to support one another and love each other as parents to Flynn.”

Miranda Kerr and Orlando Bloom

Cyrus visits

Amsterdam coffee shop

Lady Gaga wants to Kerr will love Bloom ‘forever’

have at least three kids

Miley Cyrus

Edwards and Malik adopt kitten

P

errie Edwards and Zayn Malik have adopted a kitten. The couple - who got engaged this summer - have become proud parents to an adorable cat called Prada, introducing their new feline friend via the official Little Mix Twitter page. They captioned the snap: “Say hello to the new member of the family, Prada :) Perrie&Zayn <3.” The besotted stars, both aged 20, then uploaded a Vine video of Perrie cooing over the long-haired kitty. They wrote: “DespicableMeMoment She’s so fluffy I’m gunna die! :D <3.(sic)” Perrie was no doubt responsible for naming the kitten Prada, since the Little Mix singer has the most high-end fashion tastes out of all her bandmates and boasts wardrobe full of designer labels. She recently said: “I adore my Prada handbag. And I love my Louis Vuitton shoes.” The ‘Move’ singer has already invited her fellow Little Mixers Jesy Nelson, Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Jade Thirlwall to be her bridesmaids, even though she and the One Direction hunk have yet to set a date for the wedding. She revealed: “It’s going to be a massive circus. I actually wanted to have quite a small wedding, but then all the girls in my family are desperate to come and would like to be bridesmaids too. “I realize my wedding is every journalist’s dream. It’s going to be like the movie ‘27 Dresses’ where the bride has like a billion bridesmaids.”

Lady Gaga

Lavigne’s ex-husband

Perrie Edwards and Zayn Malik

finally drops her last name

A

vril Lavigne’s ex-husband is finally dropping her last name.

Sum 41 singer Deryck Whibley has filed legal documents asking to revert back to his old surname - three years after the pair divorced. Deryck adopted ‘Lavigne’ as one of his middle names after they tied the knot in 2006, but the ‘In Too Deep’ hitmaker only petitioned to drop the moniker on Thursday, E! Online is reporting. Avril remarried this summer, swapping vows with Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger in July. The ‘Complicated’ singer chose to not take her husband’s surname in both marriages. While the 29-year-old star has remained on good terms with her ex, blaming their young age for their divorce in 2009, Chad appears to have a fraught relationship with his fellow rocker. Last year, Deryck and his girlfriend Ari Cooper dressed as Avril and Chad for a Halloween party, and the Nickleback star didn’t respond well to the joke. Chad wrote on Twitter at the time: “Hey Deryck loved the costumes! We were going to dress up as you guys this year but all the parties had celebrity themes haha!”

Avril Lavigne

Kardashian and West’s

Robert Pattinson and Dylan Penn

Pattinson enjoying blossoming ‘romance’ with Penn

R

obert Pattinson is enjoying a blossoming “romance” with Dylan Penn. The ‘Twilight’ actor appeared to have moved on from Kristen Stewart when he took blonde beauty Dylan – who is Sean Penn’s daughter – to a book launch party in Los Angeles last week, and a source has now confirmed that the pair are definitely seeing each other. While the couple aren’t calling each other “boyfriend and girlfriend” yet, Robert is reportedly attracted to the 22-year-old star’s intelligence.

The insider told E! Online: “[They] appear to be well suited for each other. Dylan doesn’t want to be famous. “She doesn’t want to be an actress. She wants to be a screenwriter. She’s been approached about acting work, but it’s not her thing. You won’t see her becoming a regular at Bootsy Bellows.” The British actor was first spotted out in public with Dylan in September at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood, and Robert is said to be smitten. Rumours were rife the 27-year-old hunk had rekindled his romance with Kristen last week after they met up for several hours in Los Angeles. However, the former couple are now thought to have met up as friends. Robert and Kristen are said to have called off their four-year romance in May as the actor struggled to get past the actress’ “momentary indiscretion” with her ‘Snow White and the Huntsman’ director Rupert Sanders in July 2012.

romantic weekend

K

im Kardashian and Kanye West are enjoying a romantic getaway this weekend. The newly-engaged couple are spending some quality time together away from the cameras at the infamous Kennedy Cottage at the San Ysidro Ranch resort in Montecito, California. The 2,000 square foot cottage, which has its own gated entrance, is where former US President John F. Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy spent part of their 1953 honeymoon.

According to RadarOnline.com, Kim and Kanye’s four-month-old daughter North is staying with her nanny stayed in a smaller cottage about 100 yards away to give the couple some much-needed privacy.

An eye-witness told the website: Kim Kardashian and Kanye West “Kim and Kanye never left the Ranch property. Kim was also spotted cuddling little Nori on the upper level of their private deck.” The pair have been making the most of the luxury two bedroom suite, which is decorated with antiques, crystal chandeliers and Persian rugs, for the cost of $3,500 per night. Kim has clearly been enjoying the relaxing trip, gushing on Twitter, “Moms- do u ever want to wake up your baby to give him or her kisses?

I want to soooooooo bad right now, but she’s so peaceful sleeping (sic)” The A-list couple have been lying low since last month when the rapper got down on one knee on Kim’s 33rd birthday, hiring out the AT&T Park baseball stadium in San Francisco for the romantic proposal. Kim enthused: “It was a pretty crazy proposal.

I’m still freaking. It was so phenomenal to be there. It was pretty amazing. It was honestly the best night of my life.”—Bang Showbiz

38

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2013

LIFESTYLE F a s h i o n

Rockers Wood, Taylor play

blues for NY celeb crowd

Musician Ronnie Wood, left, of the Rolling Stones performs with guitarist Mick Taylor, and drummer Simon Kirke in a rare club appearance at The Cutting Room on Thursday.—AP photos

A

Musician Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones performs.

nother Rolling Stones rumor bites the dust. Hours before Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood took the stage with former band member Mick Taylor at a club in Manhattan on Saturday night, a crowd gathered outside amid speculation that they would be joined by fellow guitarist Keith Richards and, possibly, Mick Jagger. Inside the Cutting Room was a mix of celebs - musician and actor Steven Van Zandt, Monkees member Micky Dolenz, fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger, among

Mary-Kate Olsen and boyfriend Olivier Sarkozy in the audience at The Cutting Room to see Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones perform.

others. But the standing-room-only crowd of a few hundred got what was originally promised: A 90-minute set of guitar-grinding Jimmy Reed blues songs from Wood and Taylor. The duo played a few shows at the club earlier in the week, too, tearing into the likes of “Bright Lights Big City” and “Going to New York.”—AP

Famous art collection to make debut at Ark museum

A

fter years of legal wrangling, a renowned art collection that includes pieces by the famed American modernist painter Georgia O’Keeffe and her late husband, Alfred Stieglitz, will make its debut at a museum in northwest Arkansas this weekend. O’Keeffe gave the 101-piece collection to Fisk University in Tennessee in 1949. Then, last year, a Tennessee judge approved a deal for Fisk to sell a 50 percent stake in the collection to the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art created by Wal-Mart heiress Alice Walton. The university received $30 million as part of the agreement, which calls for the collection to be rotated every two years between the school and the museum.

Tennessee’s attorney general had argued that selling any part of the collection would violate O’Keeffe’s wishes.

But officials with Fisk and Crystal Bridges say the deal accomplishes things that were very dear to O’Keefe. “When Georgia O’Keeffe gifted these works to Fisk in Nashville, she did so because she felt very strongly that you did not have to live in a big city to have access to great art,” Crystal Bridges’ director of education and exhibitions, Niki Stewart, said Friday. “Crystal Bridges was built on almost the same idea. We wanted to be here in Bentonville, not in New York or LA.” Located about 220 miles northwest of Little Rock, In this file photo visitors look at artwork during a media preview for “The ArtThis photo copy of an oil on canvas painting “Abstraction-Landscape,” by Bentonville, Ark, is far from a big city. Home to about 35,000 ists’ Eye: Georgia O’Keeffe and the Alfred Stieglitz Collection” exhibit at Crystal artist Charles Duncan, date unknown. people, the community is best known for housing Wal-Mart’s Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Ark.—AP photos headquarters. But it’s been becoming more cosmopolitan since Crystal Bridges opened, attracting a boutique hotel and trendy restaurants that cater to locavores. It’s in that setting where officials at Fisk hope the Alfred Stieglitz Collection will find new viewers. “It’s a big deal in terms of having a partner who we know will care about these works and that will reach out to new audiences,” Victor Simmons, director and curator of Fisk’s galleries, said Friday.

The Alfred Stieglitz Collection first will be shown at Crystal Bridges in a temporary exhibition, “The Artist’s Eye: Georgia O’Keeffe and the Alfred Stieglitz Collection.” The collection features work from some of photographer and gallery owner Stieglitz’s favorite artists, including O’Keeffe, Marsden Hartley and John Marin, alongside some of the early European modernists who inspired them: from Paul Cezanne to PierreAuguste Renoir and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.

Admission to Crystal Bridges is free, but tickets to “The Artist’s Eye” cost $5 for adults. The exhibition opens to the public Saturday. It will be on display through Feb 3. After that, Crystal Bridges will set aside some of works in the collection that involve delicate, light-sensitive materials, Stewart said.

“Some of those works will go to rest, particularly those that are paper or fabric or wood,” Stewart said. “Those will go to rest in the vault, which would leave ... maybe slightly less than In this platinum print photo entitled “Self In this photo provided by Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art half of the exhibition to continue to be shown.” Then, like a Portrait” provided by Crystal Bridges Muin Bentonville, Ark, artist Georgia O’Keeffe poses in a gelatin silver child at the center of a complicated divorce, the collection seum of American Art in Bentonville, Ark, the photographic print for her photographer husband, Alfred Stiegwill go back to Tennessee in 2015.—AP photographer Alfred Stieglitz poses in 1907. litz, in 1932.

This photo copy of the 1927 Georgia O’Keeffe oil on canvas painting “Radiator Building-Night, New York”.

White Musk Smoky Rose – dare to wear

The Body Shop introduces bold addition to iconic cruelty-free White Musk range

T

he Body Shop announced the launch of the tantalizing floriental fragrance White Musk Smoky Rose, the new addition to the brand’s iconic cruelty-free White Musk range. This addictive scent opens with an elegant fusion of bergamot, pink pepper and blackcurrant before rising to a floral-musky heart. Here, a beguiling bouquet of bitter-sweet tobacco flower and a unique black smoky rose accord is tempered by delicate orange flower. This melts into a sophisticated blend of crueltyfree musks, immortelle flower and olibanum to create a daring fragrance like no other.

Launched in 1981 by The Body Shop, the White Musk range has not only been the brand’s best seller, it also represented a daring landmark in the fragrance indus-

try. It was one of the first man-made, cruelty-free musk fragrances to arrive on the market in replacement of real musk, which is extracted from the civet deer via cruel and painful methods. The Body Shop was one of the first beauty brands in the world to use man-made musk, and has now trademarked White Musk in over 63 countries around the world in order to protect the unique, heritage scent.

“At The Body Shop, we realize that it would be cheaper to use standard alcohol; but we have always dared to do things differently. The Body Shop began sourcing organic, Community Fair Trade alcohol in 2009 to use in its fragrances. That helped farmers in marginalized communities to pay for food, health and education; and to

plan for the future,” said Brett Lilley, Business Manager at The Body Shop.

“We are very proud of the success that the White Musk range received and is still receiving throughout the different markets. We are very confident that the White Musk Smoky Rose with its cruelty-free ingredients will have the same success in the Middle East region,” he added.

39

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2013

LIFESTYLE M u s i c

&

M o v i e s

Clooney, Cumberbatch honored at BAFTA Britannia awards

Actor/filmmaker George Clooney accepts the Stanley Kubrick Britannia Award for Excellence in Film.

(From left) Britannia Award recipients actor Benedict Cumberbatch, actor Sacha Baron Cohen, director Kathryn Bigelow, actor Sir Ben Kingsley, actor/filmmaker George Clooney, and actor Idris Elba pose onstage during the 2013 BAFTA LA Jaguar Britannia Awards presented by BBC America at The Beverly Hilton Hotel.—AFP photos

G

Actor Benedict Cumberbatch accepts the Britannia Award for British Artist of the Year presented

by GREAT Britain Campaign.

Actor Sir Ben Kingsley accepts the Albert R Broccoli Britannia Award for Worldwide Contribution to Entertainment.

eorge Clooney, Benedict Cumberbatch and Sir Ben Kingsley led the winners at the annual Britannia awards, held by the Los Angeles arm of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts for those making an impact in Hollywood. Clooney, 52, picked up the Britannia excellence in film award for his long body of work. Not one to shy away from the laughs, he took a jab at his own personal life, heavily scrutinized by fans and media. “I rather famously don’t have children - that I know of - but I do have a family of writers, actors and directors,” he said when accepting his award.

Actor Cumberbatch was given a rousing introduction by his “12 Years a Slave” co-star Chiwetel Ejiofor, who said of the actor: “whether I’ve seen him on stage, TV or film, he is completely mesmerizing”.

Cumberbatch, who stars in three fall films, “The Fifth Estate,” “12 Years a Slave” and “August: Osage County,” used his acceptance speech to praise people he has worked with. Winners of the Britannia awards are chosen by members of the Los Angeles arm of the British film and TV academy. Past winners include Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks and Kate Winslet.

Welsh comedian Rob Brydon hosted the evening, keeping the audience entertained with impressions of British veteran actor Michael Caine and barbs about NSA spying. Kingsley, who had A-listers including Jake Gyllenhaal, Caine, Spielberg, Bruce Willis and Robert Downey Jr pay tribute to him in a video clip and Sigourney Weaver introducing him on stage, dedicated his Britannia award to young actors. “My dear young

actors, I know how difficult it can be being you ... may your craft remain undiminished, untarnished, bright and hard like a diamond,” said the “Gandhi” star.

Other winners of the night included “Zero Dark Thirty” director Kathryn Bigelow, and Idris Elba, TV star of “The Wire” and “Luther”, who received the humanitarian award for his work with The Prince’s Trust charity, which helped him pursue his love of acting after growing up in a poor part of East London. Elba, soon to be seen as Nelson Mandela in a biopic, was introduced by Sean Penn and Mandela’s daughter Zindzi. She called Elba “a man who not only plays my father beautifully but who also shares a passion for the human spirit.”

The big laughs of the night came from Sacha Baron Cohen, star of “Borat” and “The Dictator”. Known for appearing in character and pulling comedic stunts at awards shows, he told Reuters on the red carpet that he had changed his ways. “Those frivolous days are behind me, very childish. All that being funny and trying to amuse people, it’s beneath me.” However, the actor, who won the Charlie Chaplin award for excellence in comedy, managed to pull a prank involving knocking an old lady out of a wheelchair and off the stage next live.—Reuters

Actor Chiwetel Ejiofor speaks onstage.

Rob Brydon hosts the 2013 BAFTA Los Angeles Britannia Awards.

Actress Sigourney Weaver speaks onstage.

Director Kathryn Bigelow accepts the John Schlesinger Britannia Award for Excellence in Directing.

Actor Idris Elba accepts the Britannia Humanitarian Award.

Actress Julia Roberts is wheeled onstage.

Salma Hayek presents onstage.

Zindzi Mandela and actor Sean Penn speak onstage.

Sacha Baron Cohen, right, pretends to fall on a presenter while accepting the “Charlie Chaplin Award for Excellence in Comedy”.

Clooney, Cumberbatch honored at BAFTA Britannia awards

39

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2013

Venezuelan crowned Miss Universe in Moscow

Participants take part in the 2013 Miss Universe competition in Moscow on November 9, 2013.—AFP photos

A

25-year-old Venezuelan television presenter, Gabriela Isler, on Saturday was crowned Miss Universe in Moscow in a glittering ceremony.

Judges, including rock star Steven Tyler from Aerosmith, picked the winner from a total of 86 contestants at the show, watched by millions of viewers around the world. Last year’s winner Olivia Culpo of the United States placed a diamond crown on the head of Isler, who wore a silver rhine-stone studded evening dress. Isler’s triumph was the seventh Miss Universe win for Venezuela, where beauty pageants are a major source of national pride.

After the show, she beamed and waved to journalists, wearing the Miss Universe sash and standing next to the show’s owner, US tycoon Donald Trump. “I feel a lot of emotions,” she said. “I’m still in shock. I feel so blessed, so happy to be here.” “It’s been a lot of fun and a great success,” said Trump.

In the decisive interview round that concludes the competition, Tyler asked Isler, who won Miss Venezuela last year, what her greatest fear was. She did not give any details, but said: “I believe we should overcome all our fears and this in turn will make us stronger,” speaking in Spanish through an interpreter. Isler is now set to pose on Sunday in a specially created jewelled

swimsuit that the organizers said was worth $1 million.

The previous Miss Universe, Culpo, earlier appeared on stage wearing the white cutaway swimsuit studded with diamonds, rubies and emeralds.

“That swimsuit travels with an armed security guard 24/7,” commented co-host Thomas Roberts, an American television presenter. Roberts, who co-hosted the final with ex-Spice Girl Melanie Brown, dedicated the show to the people suffering from the typhoon in the Philippines.“We send our very best, our thoughts. We dedicate tonight’s show to you” he said.

The presenters greeted the audience in unison in Russian: “Privet!” or hi. The show included a performance by Tyler, who sang “Dream on, dream until your dream comes true,” while standing on top of a white grand piano. All 86 contestants initially appeared on stage in red and black cocktail dresses. They then changed into red and black bikinis. The judges then whittled down the contestants to a final 16, who faced off in a bikini round, carrying white fur stoles.

Then a final 10 women strutted on the stage in elaborate sequinned evening gowns, before the final five answered questions in the interview round. Host country Russia was eliminated immediately, prompting boos in

Participants take part in the 2013 Miss Universe competition.

the audience. The contest, whose slogan is “confidently beautiful,” was first held in 1952 in Palm Beach in the United States. It still requires the women not to be married or pregnant. Complete with a swimsuit round, the contest remains hugely popular, particularly in Central and South America.

‘I empathize with the LGBT people here’ The decision to stage the show in Moscow has sparked debate over Russia’s new law banning “homosexual propaganda”, a measure that prompted the original US co-host to pull out. His replacement Roberts, who is also openly gay, told AFP that he sympathised with Russia’s gay community.

“I certainly think that discriminatory laws are just that, discriminatory and they marginalize the LGBT community,” he told AFP on the red carpet ahead of the ceremony. “I empathize with the LGBT people here.” Roberts did not refer to the issue of gay rights on stage, however. Russia won Miss Universe in 2002, but the policewoman Oksana Fyodorova was dethroned after US shock jock Howard Stern provoked her into chatting about her sex life. She now presents a children’s television show.—AFP

Gabriela Isler in Celebration.

Miss Ecuador Constanza Baez

Miss Brazil Jakelyne Oliveira, left, receives a bouquet.

Miss Philippines Ariella Arida

The finalists of the 2013 Miss Universe competition (from left) Gabriela Isler of Venezuela, Ariella Arida of Philippines, Patricia Yurena Rodriguez of Spain, Jakelyne Oliveira of Brazil and Constanza Baez of Ecuador wait for the judges’ decision in Moscow.

Miss Venezuela Gabriela Isler competes.

Yamamay Million Dollar Swimsuit for Miss Universe.

Aerosmith frontman Steven Tylor performs.

Miss Universe 2013 Gabriela Isler, from Venezuela, left, and pageant owner Donald Trump, of the United States, point to each other while posing for a photo.