25th Nov

CR IP TI ON BS SU

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2013

Secret US-Iran talks set stage for nuke deal

Egypt prez signs law restricting protests

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MUHARRAM 21, 1435 AH

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Afghan assembly backs US troops pact, Karzai sets terms

Pacquiao beats Rios, lifts spirits of Filipinos

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Powers, Iran clinch ‘historic’ nuke deal Tehran hails enrichment ‘right’, gets some sanctions relief conspiracy theories

Historic or hysteric?

By Badrya Darwish

badrya_d@kuwaittimes.net

M

any years of embargo is over. Three decades of political gridlock is over. Iran and the six world powers, led by the United States, of course, succeeded to broker a deal yesterday. The deal was in favour of Iran which suffered gargantuan losses by the sanctions which struck the Iranian people very hard. The lifestyle in the country has changed. Their hardships can be felt everywhere in Tehran. The embargo took a bite off the rich oil producer having the world’s third proven crude oil reserves. Iran will now receive around $7 billion in sanctions relief.

There will be no more side deals for Iran now to sell its oil and get its revenues through opportunistic merchants. Now goods can come in and out of Iran openly without the threat of the embargo which was led by the United States. Now the two foes have befriended each other. Of course the news which was blessed nearly by the whole world hit Netanyahu, so he called the historic deal a “historic mistake”. What is considered a historic moment for Iran is a historic mistake for Israel but it is not a historic mistake for the whole world.

In his panic, Netanyahu even gave himself the right to speak on behalf of Saudi Arabia. I do not think that the Saudis gave him a proxy to do that.

But Mr Netanyahu was hysterical and wanted to show that many people were upset with the warming relationship between his best ally, the United States, and his worst nightmare - Iran. It is high time Tel Aviv cools down and starts realizing that it cannot dictate to the world who is to be their friend or enemy. As the proverb goes: “You can fool some people all the time but you cannot fool all the people all the time.” Israel cannot continue manipulating the whole world for its own interests.

Of course, Netanyahu stated that he will take matters in his own hands. So we will now wait and see what he can do on his own.

GENEVA: (From left) British Foreign Secretary William Hague, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, US Secretary of State John Kerry, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius give a statement early yesterday. — AFP (See Page 14)

KUWAIT: MP Kamel Al-Awadhi yesterday asked the interior minister about the number of expatriates legally residing in the country, those who own vehicles and the number of these vehicles. He also

GENEVA: Iran and six world powers clinched a deal yesterday curbing the Iranian nuclear programme in exchange for initial sanctions relief, signalling the start of a game-changing rapprochement that could ease the risk of a wider Middle East war. Aimed at ending a long festering standoff, the interim pact between Iran and the United States, France, Germany, Britain, China and Russia won the critical endorsement of Iranian clerical Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. US President Barack Obama said the deal struck after marathon, tortuous and politically charged negotiations cut off Tehran’s possible routes to a nuclear bomb.

But Israel, Iran’s arch-enemy, denounced the agreement as an “historic mistake”.

Halting Iran’s most sensitive nuclear work - its highergrade enrichment of uranium - it was tailored as a package of confidence-building steps towards reducing decades of tension and ultimately create a more stable, secure wider Middle East. Indeed, the United States held previously undisclosed, separate direct talks with Iran in recent months to encourage diplomacy towards a nuclear deal, a senior US official said. Washington and Tehran have lacked diplomatic relations and been locked in hostility since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.

So detente between the two - opposed by Washington’s Israeli and Saudi allies - could reshape Middle East geopolitics.

Tehran boasted at home that the accord recognised its “right” to enrich uranium - which it says is for peaceful purposes - but Western leaders said the deal made Continued on Page 15

Deal fuels anger, jitters in Mideast Isolated Israel furious • Arab nations uneasy JERUSALEM: Israel’s prime minister harshly con- world had become a “more dangerous place” as a demned the international community’s nuclear result of the deal. He reiterated a long-standing deal with Iran yesterday while Saudi Arabia threat to use military action against Iran if needed, remained conspicuously quiet, reflecting the jitters declaring that Israel “has the right and the duty to felt throughout the Middle East over Iran’s accept- defend itself by itself.” ance on the global stage.

For Iran, keeping the enrichment Elsewhere, many welcomed the program active was a critical goal. agreement as an important first Iran’s leaders view the country’s step toward curbing Iran’s suspect ability to make nuclear fuel as a nuclear program. Israel and source of national pride and an Western-allied Gulf countries led by essential part of nuclear self-suffiSaudi Arabia have formed an ciency. But Israel views any enrichunlikely alliance in their opposition ment as unacceptable, saying makto yesterday’s deal, joined together ing low-level enriched uranium by shared concerns about a weapons grade is relatively simple.

Benjamin Netanyahu nuclear-armed Iran and the Tehran’s It demands all enrichment be haltgrowing regional influence. ed, and that Iran’s abilities to proWhile most Gulf countries remained silent in the duce uranium be rolled back. first hours after the deal was reached in Geneva, Netanyahu had also called for economic sancIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wasted tions to be increased. Israel fears that Iran will use little time in criticizing it, calling it a “historic mis- the diplomatic process as cover to trick the internatake” and saying he was not bound by the agree- tional community, much the way North Korea did Continued on Page 15 ment. Speaking to his cabinet, Netanyahu said the

MP questions expatriate numbers and their cars

By B Izzak

Max 24º Min 14º High Tide 03:12 & 17:42 Low Tide 10:25 & 22:59

asked about the number of expatriates with article 20 residence permits (domestic workers including maids, cooks, drivers and others), those who own vehicles and the number of these vehicles. He asked about rumours that 8,500 people of this Continued on Page 15

KUWAIT: African penguins are pictured at the aquarium of the Scientific Center yesterday. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat

Bahrain arrests 2 ex-Gitmo suspects DUBAI: Bahraini authorities have arrested two Gulf citizens who were former Guantanamo detainees on suspicion of preparing a “terrorist act”, state media reported yesterday. A police chief, quoted by official news agency BNA, said the two suspects, whose names and nationalities were not disclosed, had entered Bahrain with fake passports from Saudi Arabia. The two exdetainees of the US detention centre for terror suspects in Guantanamo were found in possession of a large amount of money after crossing from the King Fahd Bridge linking the two Gulf states, he said.

“They are suspected of wanting to carry out a terrorist act, posing a threat to the security of the kingdom of Bahrain,” he said, adding the two would be referred to the courts. BNA noted the arrests came days before a meeting in Manama of interior ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council which groups Bahrain and Saudi Arabia with Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

Security forces have been on alert in Bahrain, a Sunni-ruled kingdom destabilised since Feb 2011 by protests led by the country’s Shiite majority to demand a constitutional monarchy. — AFP

Kuwait trying to ease Saudi-Qatar tensions on Egypt RIYADH: Kuwait is trying to ease tensions between Saudi Arabia and Qatar after the Egyptian military’s overthrow of Doha-backed Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, which was welcomed in Riyadh, a diplomatic source said yesterday. While Saudi Arabia and Qatar are both suspicious of Iran’s regional ambitions and support Syria’s rebels, they were bitterly split over Egypt. Saudi Arabia hailed the military’s ouster in July of Morsi and promised billions in aid, while Qatar, which had strongly supported his year-long rule, has seen its influence in Cairo evaporate.

On Saturday, during a tripartite meeting in Riyadh, HH the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah tried to ease tensions between Saudi King Abdullah and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani. “Saudi Arabia is very irritated by the policy of Qatar in Egypt,” the source said, and wants other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to “condemn the actions of Qatar” in Egypt, where it has supported Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood. —AFP

Saudi Juliet wants to marry Yemeni Romeo SANAA: A young Saudi woman yesterday urged a Yemeni court to let her stay and marry the man she loves, defying norms in both deeply conservative countries. In a case reminiscent of Shakespeare’s starcrossed lovers Romeo and Juliet, Huda AlNiran, 22, defied her family and crossed the border illegally to be with her beloved. As she pleaded her case to be able to stay and marry Arafat Mohammed Tahar, 25, her supporters demonstrated outside the Sanaa courthouse, sporting headbands proclaiming “We are all Huda”.

The lovers’ plight has gripped imaginations in both Yemen and Saudi Arabia, where the young woman’s courage is seen as astonishing. She not only went against the wishes of her family, who said she could not marry Tahar, but also dared to flee the country and follow him to Yemen. In court, she refused to accept a lawyer provided by the Saudi embassy, fearing pressure to return home.

But Huda did accept to be represented by a lawyer appointed by a Yemeni non-government organisation called Hood, who said he hoped for a favourable outcome. “This is a humanitarian case, and must not raise tensions between the two countries,” lawyer Abdel Rakib Al-Qadi told AFP. He indicated that Sanaa had come under pressure from the

Saudi authorities to ensure Huda’s return.

She is currently under arrest and on trial for illegal entry. If found guilty, she faces expulsion.No decision was announced yesterday, and the court set the next hearing for Dec 1 as it awaited a UN High Commissioner for Refugees ruling on a request for asylum. —AFP

SANAA: A Yemeni has a sticker on his face of Saudi woman Huda AlNiran and her boyfriend Arafat Mohammed Tahar during a gathering in her support outside the courthouse yesterday. — AFP

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2013

LOCAL

KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah pictured at the opening ceremony of the seventh meeting of parliament speakers of the states of the Gulf Cooperation Council yesterday.

Gulf states urged to unite in the face of ‘obstacles’ Parliament speakers meet in Kuwait KUWAIT: The opening ceremony of the seventh meeting of parliament speakers of the states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) was held yesterday, under the auspices of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber AlSabah. His Highness the Amir was received at the meeting of GCC Speakers of Shura, House of Representatives and National Assemblies by Kuwaiti National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Ali AlGhanim and Deputy Speaker Mubarak Al-Khurainej.

The opening ceremony of the event was also attended by His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Ali AlGhanim, Former National Assembly Speaker Jassem Mohammad Al-Kharafi and senior sheikhs, as well as His Highness Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, and the Deputy Minister of Amiri Diwan Affairs Sheikh Ali Jarrah Al-Sabah, besides senior state officials. The ceremony started with the national anthem, followed by a recital of the Holy Quran.

Speeches by the Speaker of the Council of Representatives of Bahrain Khalifa bin Ahmed Al-Dhahrani, Arab Parliament President Ahmad Mohammad Al-Jerwan, GCC Secretary General Dr Abdullatif bin Rashid AlZayyani and Kuwaiti National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Ali Al-Ghanim followed. In his speech at the gathering,

Kuwait’s National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim said he was delighted to have attended a meeting held under the auspices of “a man of great wisdom and diplomacy,” referring to His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.

Thanking his visiting counterparts for their efforts on GCC integration, he described the goal as starting as “a philosophy, a unity and a mechanism of joint action,” which later developed into a “strategic depth that has become an irreplaceable component of our (Arab Gulf) security.”

The union has provided the Arab Gulf national with many benefits, which should be “safeguarded, enhanced and built upon,” he added. On the meeting, he said it would include several important issues such as activating the meeting on an annual basis, coordinating the meeting’s role of media and website characteristics, and specialised committees. He also stressed the need to unite in the face of “obstacles” including political instability in the Arab world and the global financial crisis.

The Kuwaiti chief parliamentarian also stressed that the country stood by the GCC on regional Gulf and wider Arab and Islamic issues like the ArabIsraeli issue, supporting the United Arab Emirates in its three-island dispute with Iran and on clearing the Middle East from weapons of mass destruction.

Secretary General of the GCC Dr Abdullatif Al-Zayyani praised the efforts of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah

Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawwaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah for hosting the meeting..

He also thanked His Highness the Amir for granting them the honor of his presence during the meeting, describing him as a wise and experienced leader. Moreover, he praised the Kuwaiti government’s prominent efforts to support the legislative councils of the GCC for more developments in those countries. Speaker of the Bahraini Parliament Khalifa Bin Ahmad AlDhahrani said that the initiative of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques

King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud for the GCC to transform from a just cooperation stage into a union one, was due to his thorough analysis and far-sighted vision of the current events.

Speaker of the Arab Parliament Ahmed Al-Jarwan noted the important role played by Kuwait’s National Assembly in founding the Arab Parliament. He mentioned the impact of the joint efforts of the GCC parliaments on the wider Arab scale, in addressing issues like the Palestinian Cause and national security.

He said the Arab Parliament follows diplomacy in resolving important issues

of the Arab states, adding that it supports the UAE’s demands of regaining control over its islands occupied by Iran.

He noted that the Parliament aims to end this conflict by holding talks during a certain period of time, or taking the issue to the International Court of Justice.

Al-Jarwan also said that the parliament pays huge attention to the Syrian crisis and the suffering of the refugees, especially with winter approaching, calling on the international community to take full responsibility to end this crisis.

He praised the successful Afro-Arab Summit held in Kuwait last week, saying

that due to the positive results of that event, the parliament announced holding an economic summit early 2014 to support Somalia, Djibouti, and the Comoro Islands, with the presence of speakers of Arab parliaments.

The summit aims to come up with projects to develop commerce, industry, health sector, education, and agriculture in those countries, in order to give people a better life, he said.

Al-Jarwan also expressed his gratitude for HH the Amir for hosting this event, which shows a true tendency towards developing cooperation between the GCC parliaments. —KUNA

Jahra student diagnosed with TB KUWAIT: The Ministry of Education confirmed that a high school student was affected with tuberculosis in Jahra, but denied rumors that the disease has been transmitted to other students or teachers in her school.

“The student is recovering in the hospital since she went absent from school for a month after being diagnosed with TB”, acting director of the Jahra Educational Directorate Talaq Al-Haim said in a statement Saturday.

He added that the students’ classmates and

teachers were tested as a precautionary measure, and the results came negative.

According to the senior official, the education ministry refused demands made by teachers and students’ parents to test the entire teaching staff and students in the school. “The state of panic at the school is unjustifiable since the student was diagnosed a month ago”, Al-Haim said, adding that a random sample was tested “only as a precautionary measure”.

Huge participation at Kuwait book fair

By Nawara Fattahova KUWAIT: The 38th book fair kicked off on Wednesday with 308 participants from countries including Kuwait, United Kingdom, Japan, Sweden, Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Iraq, Qatar, UAE, Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, Tunis, Jordan and others. The majority of books are in Arabic, but there is also a wide selection of English books in addition to some other languages.

The fair is held over three halls - 5, 6 and 7 at the International Fair Ground in Mishref. Hall No 7 contains books for children and other educational aids. Hall No 6 includes international and Arab participants, while Kuwaiti participants are located in Hall No 5 along with participants from GCC countries. Various cultural activities are accompanying the fair including a photography and art exhibition in Hall 5, and poetic evenings and talks at the cultural cafe in Hall 6.

And on the concluding day on Nov 30, prizes for the short story competition will be handed out.

This year the fair got off smoothly without any protests or complaints of banned books unlike last year when many participants complained of having their books banned by the censorship depar tment of the Ministr y of

Information. Also, many Syrian booths were seen empty as they didn’t manage to attend the fair due to the political situation in their country.

People in Kuwait still read books. “This fair has been successful since the first day. I’m participating in this fair every year since it was held for the first time 38 years ago. All the books we offer at our booth are from abroad, and all are in English, yet none of them was banned. Since I’m participating since a long time, I know the rules and prohibitions, and I only import books that I know do not include violations,” Sameer Najeeb, partner of Saeed & Sameer Bookshop, told Kuwait Times.

He is participating with 1,500 titles this year.

“Our books suit all ages. I noticed a high demand for English books for kids, especially educational ones, and since the majority of booths offer Arabic books, we are in demand.

The bestselling book is on arts and crafts, which women like the most and come to the fair to search our booth for and similar books. The organization of the fair is very good and I thank the administration for their efforts that made this fair successful,” added Najeeb.

Young Kuwaiti author and Executive Director

of Platinum Books Ahmad Al-Fadhli expressed his satisfaction on the sales of his newly released romantic novel “Rabia la yanbi azaharan”. “I expect to sell about 2,000 copies of my new novel during these 10 days. I also have my older publications available at our booth, but the new novel was especially released for this fair,” he pointed out. The Platinum Books booth is very crowded due to the huge number of Kuwaiti authors publishing with them. “This year we offer 80 new publications during this fair, mostly by Kuwaiti authors but also of other Arab authors. We also have two new English novels by Kuwaiti authors. All the books available at our booth were approved by the censorship department. I think that the previous protests about banning books were a kind of marketing and advertising gimmicks to promote banned books whose demand increases after such news,” he added.

Romantic and horror novels are the most in demand at the Platinum Books booth. They also offer the opportunity for young, talented writers to publish and print their books. They also are conducting a Kuwait Novel Competition for youth under 30, for which participation is open till April 30, 2014.

Iranian authorities to release Kuwaiti soon KUWAIT: Negotiations are ongoing between Kuwaiti authorities and their Iranian counterparts over the release of a Kuwaiti citizen who is held in Tehran for security reasons which according to government sources familiar with the talks are forming the biggest obstacle to negotiate his release.

Speaking to Al-Rai on the condition of anonymity, the sources said that Kuwaiti authorities launched negotiations to secure the release of citizen Adel Al-Hawal since he was arrested nearly two months ago, before the case was reported by the local press and in social media. “Despite the ongoing talks, no results have been reached due to lack of response from the Iranian authorities”, the sources said.

According to the sources, Kuwait’s foreign min-

istry summoned the Iranian chargÈ d’affaires “and held him along with the Iranian authorities responsible for the safety of the Kuwaiti citizens and his return as soon as possible”. The sources further indicated that citizen Al-Hawal is held on charges of suspected link to terrorism, and that the Kuwaiti authorities assured their Iranian counterparts that he was in a touristic visit to Iran. On his possible release date, the sources expect “a breakthrough in negotiation within the upcoming two days as the case is given high level of attention by the foreign ministry and Kuwait’s ambassador in Iran”.

Meanwhile, Annahar daily quoted Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Khalid Al-Jarallah who said that he received words from the Iranian authorities that Al-Hawal will be released “within hours”, adding at the same time that “Kuwait’s ambassador

in Tehran Majdi Al-Thufairi is closely following up with the case”. He further confirmed news that AlHawal’s mother travelled to Iran with hopes of meeting her son “but was not able to do so”.

According to the detainee’s brother, the Iranian authorities refused to allow Al-Hawal’s mother to meet him at his prison. “Adel headed to Iran for treatment from Vitiligo, and we decided to go there to search for him after we never heard anything from him for two weeks”, Ali Al-Hawal said.

Al-Rai daily also quoted Adel’s second brother, Abdurrahman Al-Hawal, who said that his brother was arrested at a Shiraz hotel he was staying in during his tourism trip. According to Abdurrahman, ambassador Al-Thufairi told their mother that Adel was arrested “after he offended the Iranian people and leadership, and called them ‘infidels’”.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2013

LOCAL

Algonquin College to start operation in September Cornerstone formally laid

Saud Jafar

By Ben Garcia KUWAIT: The cornerstone was formally laid yesterday of the new Algonquin College in Taima in Jahra. Although the building is already under construction and the first phase is half-finished, the laying of the foundation stone symbolizes their strong determination to start their operation as early as September next year. Algonquin and their local partner, Orient Education Services Company, want to begin classes in the upcoming academic year of 2014. The groundbreaking ceremony was graced

by Canadian Ambassador to Kuwait Douglas George and Algonquin College President & CEO Dr Kent D MacDonald with local partner and Orient Education Company Algonquin Kuwait Chairman Saud A Jafar.

The project, according to MacDonald, took about eight years in the making before it actually materialized. “We are all excited on the opening. I am particularly excited on the impact it will have on the local economy here. It’s important to have a world-class university, but for the economy to prosper, it is also necessary for a country to have a world-class college of applied learning. That is what we are offering,” he said.

Algonquin College was first established in Ottawa in 1967. Currently they’ve got around 20,000 local and international students in different

Douglas George campuses in Canada. Algonquin College also has branches in various countries around the world including China, India, Montenegro and Saudi Arabia.

“I am here particularly to check out on the progress and to formally lay the foundation stone for the college. The first phase is almost complete, and it’s impressive. Students will be in the campus by September next year,” he said. Algonquin College will offer preparatory courses for college followed by preparatory business and technology programs. “Algonquin is known for hands-on applied programming. We are clear in our objective - to provide programs that are badly needed in the industry right now. Hands-on education will prepare the workforce for the real world,” MacDonald mentioned.

The President & CEO pointed out that Algonquin is not in Kuwait only to offer educational programs to fill the gaps, but to identify the real need of the country’s workforce. “Our college has an advisor y committee and researchers to study the industry’s needs and we know exactly what the community and industry need,” he explained. With regards to college competition, MacDonald said with their 50-year record in providing the highest quality of programs which help individuals get employed and prosper, he believes Algonquin will do

Dr Kent MacDonald well in this part of the world.

Canadian Ambassador George said Algonquin’s reputation is known to many as having an excellent record in providing world-class, quality education. “I am pleased to see Algonquin in Kuwait. They are an excellent institution back in Canada. I myself took some programs at Algonquin. This college will bring Canadian-style education here and I am quite happy because it will allow local students to enroll and get the wide range of diplomas greatly needed by Kuwait’s workforce,” he added. The envoy also lauded their countries’ growing cooperation in education. “Their (Algonquin’s) presence can boost students from this part of the world. When they experience the educational system we offer, it will encourage more students from Kuwait to continue their higher studies in Canada. We have hundreds of universities offering the same quality of education. We are an oil producing country like Kuwait so perhaps we could share the best education we’ve got in Canada,” he pointed out.

Canada hosts hundreds of students from Kuwait who are enrolled in various colleges and universities. The ambassador also revealed another well-known university in Canada expects to join the roster of foreign universities in Kuwait by 2015. “We both appreciate value education and we are happy to host many Kuwaitis

KUWAIT: Officials pose at the groundbreaking ceremony at the site of new Algonquin College in Taima.— Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat pursuing their education in Canada. In return, they are also welcoming Canadian students here. Visas will be issued in Kuwait very soon for both tourism and students. If you are a student in Canada, you’ll be allowed to study and work at the same time. You will be in world-class institutions in an open and friendly environment.”

Algonquin College -Kuwait Chairman Jafar also expressed delight on the groundbreaking ceremony.

“This is a happy moment for us - our focus now is in recruiting for the next academic year. We expect to admit students this winter for the opening come September. Our focus will be on enhancing disciplines in Information Technology, Marketing and Business Administration. I also expect that through this college we will be able to transfer not only knowledge to our youth but also the technology greatly needed by the workforce,” he concluded.

Algonquin College of Applied Arts and Technology is a publicly funded English-language college and member of Polytechnics Canada located in Ottawa. The college serves the National Capital Region and the outlying areas of Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec. The college has three campuses - a primary campus located in Nepean, Ontario, and secondary campuses located in Perth, Ontario and Pembroke, Ontario.

KU instructor penalized over ‘harassment’ statements KUWAIT: Kuwait University issued a statement yesterday to announce that “proper measures will be taken” against a teaching staff member who spoke to a local daily about the presence of sexual harassment and homosexual students in campus. “The university’s administration represented by the teaching staff, administrative body and students expressed their criticism and deep regret on the statements of sociology instructor at the Faculty of Sociology Dr Haifa Al-Kandari which contains accusations against teaching staff members and Kuwait University students,” the statement reads.

It called teaching staff and administrators “role models” and reasserted “students’ high level of moral behavior”. “The university’s administration will undertake procedures in accordance with laws and regulations,” the university said.

Kandari said in an inter view published by Al-Rai yesterday that several female students were subjected to sexual harassment, and also called for replacing doors of teachers’ offices with “glass doors

with see -through cur tains that allows seeing what goes on inside”.

Kandari further claimed that she was approached by multiple students “who spoke about sexual harassment they were subjected to at the hands of teachers and male students,” adding that fear of damaging public image prevented most girls from lodging complaints.

Meanwhile, Kandari admitted that there are homosexual students in Kuwait University “but their numbers are very small”, insisting at the same time that KU regulations do not allow a teacher to expel them from class “or deal with them from a personal or religious standpoint”.

Asked about the way to handle this issue, Kandari proposed an amendment to the KU’s regulations to “make it mandatory” for male and female students suffering from gender identity disorders to visit the psychological and social counseling offices in their respective colleges “to receive necessary treatment”. “Students in this case can be referred to the Psychological Hospital if needed to save their university career,” she added.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2013

LOCAL

kuwait digest

In my view

The problem is general

The solution in Syria

By Abdullatif Al-Duaij

I

Al-Anbaa

By Labeed Abdal

local@kuwaittimes.net

W

e cannot accept theories that suggest that the American influence to find a solution in Syria has ended, or others that speculate that Russia, France, China and other superpowers cannot play a significant role on the pretext that we still are living in the unipolarism era. The reality says - especially with the ongoing economic rivalry - that we already are living in a multipolarism era in which the level of competition between rivaling powers eager for glory days or looking to make their presence felt at the international scene is nearing a climax.

Powerful countries are returning to the international and regional scenes after they felt that the world can no longer continue to be controlled by a single superpower, especially in the aftermath of the global economic crisis that affected the entire world.

On top of that, observers of the situation in Syria cannot overlook the impact of the grueling rivalry in the armed struggle inside the troubled country.

These countries are working silently to solidify their positions and build more positions that can enable them to have more control worldwide. Not only are they eager to take control over natural resources, but also to have a share in the global arms market - for example by signing arms deals with one country then signing a similar deal with an enemy state.

Powerful countries are returning to the international and regional scenes after they felt that the world can no longer continue to be controlled by a single superpower, especially in the aftermath of the global economic crisis that affected the entire world. On top of that, observers of the situation in Syria cannot overlook the impact of the grueling rivalry in the armed struggle inside the troubled country.

For the sake of the innocent people in Syria and those who sleep in shelters under terrible conditions, efforts are needed to rebuild Syria’s internal fabric and prevent outside interference that comes directly and indirectly from the West, Far East and even the Near East. The effect of foreign intervention that fuels horrible scenes of armed struggle, killing and mutilation should motivate efforts to stop supporting chaos which jeopardizes the fate of innocent civilians. After all, history teaches us that what goes around comes around. Fueling more chaos in Syria serves only those who do not wish stability in the troubled country.

A serious intervention is also needed to ensure the success of the Syrian opposition’s convention - especially that it gives an opportunity for superpowers to meet and settle their differences in the oppositionists’ attendance. An immediate halt of violence, killing and human right violations in Syria should always be the common goal.

In my view

Arabs’ Iran dilemma

By Salah Nasrawi

T

he world powers and Iran agreed on an interim deal on Iran nuclear issue this week in Geneva, a move widely seen as a potential breakthrough for a broader discussion of the Middle East regional security.

While there has been much focus on Israel’s opposition and its anxiety over a prospective deal with Iran, there has been little attention paid to the analysis of the implications of any compromise on the security in the Arab world, which is at the heart of this geopolitical struggle.

Since the beginning, Arab countries have been sidestepped from the talks with Iran although Iranian nuclear proliferation constitutes a threat to their security and their population. It is also a “tipping point” in the region with many Arab states likely to respond with efforts to acquire nuclear capabilities if they found themselves between two regional nuclear powers - Iran and Israel.

Arabs bear special responsibility for being sidelined from the negotiations with Iran. In an interview with the pan Arab newspaper Al-Hayat on Dec 20, 2008, Mohamed ElBaradei former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) revealed that he had warned Arab leaders of the consequences of staying away from this multilateral process. “What worries me is that there will be a solution to the Iranian problem and an essential part of (that solution) will be associated with the (Arab) national security and Iran’s role in the region.”

The harsh reality is that Arabs have never been party in the more than decade-long international diplomatic effort to resolve one of their region’s key security challenges.

As conflicts continue to build up and a political transformation gets under way in the Middle East, the main challenge in the years ahead will be to establish a sustainable regional security order.

However, the Arabs’ vital interests lie in seeing their region stable with no country posing a threat to other states or to wider regional interest. Nuclear proliferation is the most serious threat to regional security and it should be a corner stone of any effective security strategy. Yet while Arab diplomacy for decades focused on the threats of Israel’s nuclear weapons to their security and efforts to create a Middle East zone free of weapons of mass destruction, they have been less vocal on Iran’s nuclear activities. Sometimes, they were even divided on whether Israel or Iran should be their enemy number one.

Iran’s Arab neighbours, though suspicious of Tehran’s nuclear programme, thought that the problem might resolve itself. And that even if Iran had obtained a nuclear weapons capability, the oil-rich countries were prepared for any contingency by buying a nuclear defence umbrella to deter Iran.

Saudi Arabia, traditionally worried about Iran’s sectarian influence, remained focused on dealing with a second major problem, the rise of the Muslims Shia in the region and its effect on internal instability.

The US-Iran rapprochement and the potential nuclear deal with Tehran have underlined a major difference in perceptions between Washington and its Arab allies on Iranian power and regional security. While the United States, its Western allies, and Israel, place top priority on stripping Iran of weapons of mass destruction capabilities, the Arab countries fear that a deal will allow Iran to make further strides in its endeavours at regional expansion.

Saudi Arabia and some other some Gulf countries believe that Iran is not looking for an agreement regarding its nuclear programme, but rather, a comprehensive deal with the US that would empower it to become more of a regional superpower. Given the regional sectarian divide, these countries share fears about a shift in the regional balance of power towards Iran and its allies, such as the Iraqi governmet of Nuri Al-Maliki, Lebanese movement Hezbollah, and Muslim Shia communities in the Gulf. A victory for the regime of Bashar alAssad in Syria will further consolidate this ad hoc regional alliance.

One of the main concerns of the so-called Sunni Arab gov-

ernments is that Iran will now adopt a broader agenda and will then be able to use Iraq as a springboard to assume hegemonic control over the Gulf region. Iran’s influence in Iraq, which has been on the rise since the ouster of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein more than 10 years ago, looms large in the political, economic, social, religious and security interactions with the current Shia-led government. Even Kurds and Muslim Sunni Arabs now turn to Iran for help to resolve disputes and for assistance in coalition-building negotiations to form governments in post-Saddam Iraq.

The goal of the Arab camp remains to weaken Iranian power, undermine its allies, and roll back its regional designs.

However, Saudi-led Gulf efforts to undermine the government in Iraq and the Assad regime have been futile. The conflicts in both Iraq and Syria have made it clear to all regional actors that they don’t have much to gain from the polarisation that exacerbates instability in the region.

As conflicts continue to build up and a political transformation gets under way in the Middle East, the main challenge in the years ahead will be to establish a sustainable regional security order. The Arab world and Iran, together with Turkey, have to work closely together at this crucial juncture to contribute to the stabilisation of regional flashpoints before the sectarian polarisation becomes too dangerous for everyone.

The road to a full agreement, or a super deal, between Washington and Tehran will be long and arduous but Arabs should learn to come to grips with a US-Iran detente.

Ineffectual plans Over the past few years we have seen several proposals to try to deal with the region’s uncertainty as Iran rose in power and reverence due to a series of geopolitical changes brought on by the US invasion of Iraq, and the new dynamics it has unleashed. Efforts to initiate a broad dialogue on balancing various security interests foundered due to competition and jealousies between regional powers.

In 2008, Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid Bin Ahmed al-Khalifa proposed a gathering of Arab states with Israel, as well as Iran and Turkey to solve the region’s problems.

The following year, Iran’s current President Hassan Rouhani, who was then an adviser to spiritual leader Ali Khamenei unveiled a 10-article plan for collective security arrangement in the crisis-ridden region. In 2010, former Arab League head Amr Moussa suggested that the 22-nation bloc engage Iran in a forum for regional cooperation and conflict resolution that would also include Turkey.

Also, a broader frame for a new order in the Middle East overturning the status quo which has been in place since the end of World War I and founded on the European model has been in circulation at academic and research forums. This regional order would be based on the example of the Treaty of Westphalia, which ended European wars waged by competing dynasties in the 17th century and separated international relations from domestic politics.

The road to a full agreement, or a super deal, between Washington and Tehran will be long and arduous but Arabs should learn to come to grips with a US-Iran detente.

Frustration and feeling a sense of betrayal by the US does not help their assorted political and security woes. Some Arab countries have doubts about whether the US’ commitment to the regional partnership was genuine. Others started to reevaluate their alliances and began to consider deepening their ties to China and Russia. An idea about Israel and Arab regional powers banding with the French against Iran’s challenges has also been floated.

All these are naive and unworthy ideas for discussion. The best way to keep Iran in check, and to address the rise of sectarianism and its threats to internal security, would be to enact the long overdue democratic reforms that are vital for stability and to reduce tensions in the region through a new effective security and cooperation framework.

believe I owe Kuwaiti women an apology for my column published in Al-Qabas on Wednesday and in which I blamed them solely for failing to use their voting powers to influence change from the parliament towards more rights for female citizens. I say sorry not because I no longer believe that they deserve blame, but because the article sounded like their male counterparts are free from responsibility when it comes to the bad results of the Kuwaiti voters’ choices in general.

Female voters in Kuwait followed in the footsteps of their fathers, brothers and husbands.

They voted as per Kuwaiti traditions anchored by male citizens years before. While Kuwaiti women deserve blame for their neglected rights in the parliament because they failed to elect MPs who can stand up for their causes, Kuwaiti men were unfortunately the ones who ignored public rights from the start.

Since the beginning of parliamentary life in

Since the beginning of parliamentary life in Kuwait, the government sought to take advantage of it in order to maintain their superiority and power control. There is no need to repeat incidents and clinical details on the tampering that the government practiced in the election process all this has been documented many times. It is also a fact that conservative groups took advantage of religious and tribal heritage to control voters’ choices, and shape their ideologies in accordance with their own theories that in most cases go against efforts to renovate and develop.

Kuwait, the government sought to take advantage of it in order to maintain their superiority and power control. There is no need to repeat incidents and clinical details on the tampering that the government practiced in the election process - all this has been documented many times. It is also a fact that conservative groups took advantage of religious and tribal heritage to control voters’ choices, and shape their ideologies in accordance with their own theories that in most cases go against efforts to renovate and develop.

Furthermore, it is a fact that the government in cooperation with the conservatives used all kinds of temptations to ‘buy’ voters’ alliances and change their political views. In the meantime, they put obstacles in front of efforts to achieve conciliation with other groups unless they announce submitting to their political approach.

All these are facts, but at the end of the day, the Kuwaiti citizen always had freedom of political choice and free will. Unfortunately, the level of challenges, temptations and manipulation was greater than that of voters’ awareness and free will - which both became lost and under the control of the government and antidemocratic groups.

The conclusion is - our problem is general.

Kuwaiti women are not alone to blame; their male counterparts bear the main and biggest responsibility for laying the foundations of the current election tradition. Kuwaiti women deserve more blame for ignoring their personal rights, whereas their male counterparts did not leave any door unopened en route to seizing what they do or do not deserve. — Al-Qabas

kuwait digest

In my view

Political accountability

Absence of govt teams

By Labeed Abdal

W

hat is common between annoying neighbors at night, smoking in no-smoking areas, jumping the red traffic light, mall fights, medical errors, political bribes, suspicious deals, the Mishref sewage plant breakdown and floods as a result of heavy rains? All these are problems that happened in Kuwait during the past few years - but this is not the only thing they have in common. They are problems that continue to happen - in different shapes and forms. The actual problem is not when something bad happens, but when it happens over and over again. We have heard so much about holding ministers accountable, but what does that actually mean? In legal and sharia jurisprudence, the punishment’s level is equal to that of the crime. The type of crime determines how the sentence is made. Punishments in both sharia law and legal ideology range between reprimand to execution.

Going back to the definition of political accountability, what has been done in Kuwait in this regard more than parliamentary questions and filing a grilling motion? In the past years, filing a grilling motion was the highest form of ‘punishment’, which is today taken against actions that include a doctor’s arbitrary transfer, sectarian instigation, lack of security, thefts of billions of dinars, vote buying, etc. Errors or actions that result in the death of human beings are put on the same level politically as a decision to transfer an employee or ban a musical

concert. Is it logical to put all political crimes on the same level by dealing with them only through grilling motions? It is normal after that to struggle to develop or improve public respect of the law.

There are three things that I believe need to be done - first, political accountability needs to be improved. Filing a grilling motion is the farthest level in which this process is currently done. MPs need to find a more effective solution to deal with a government that no longer finds it a deterrent. The second thing is to find a mechanism to address the criminal side of issues of which grilling motions only tackle the political side of.

What do we get when a minister resigns after a student dies?

Does that provide solace to the child’s family? What do we get when the interior minister resigns after grudges spread between children of the same land? Does that improve relations between people? Legal accountability and prosecution of state officials is needed. The third thing is to distinguish between crimes on their level of intensity. A grilling motion would be of no good after the country already lost $2.5 billion paid as a fine for an unprofessional contract, after people die and schools close for a week because the Ministry of Public Works failed to drain rainwater for two days, or when we have the world’s largest level of engineers but transactions in the municipality are finalized through the janitor! — Al-Rai

By Waleed Al-Ghanim

T

he country went into a state of turmoil following an hour of heavy rain which God Almighty blessed us with. Traffic stopped, people became trapped on roads, areas were flooded and chaos reigned in some buildings. Meanwhile, Um Al-Haiman barely avoided a catastrophe after it became the area most affected by the floods - a position that is normally taken by Jahra which was significantly less affected.

Obviously, we cannot put the blame on heavy rains which we in Kuwait are eager for, but the experience was made difficult by the absence of the government’s personnel and officials. I do not understand how the government still to this day lacks a mechanism to deal with common natural events that can easily be forecast. Luckily for us, the situation in Kuwait is a lot better than countries that are affected with real floods, typhoons and other natural disasters. But unlike Kuwait, governments in those countries prepare beforehand and work hard to reduce the level of damage as well as to undertake repairs after calamities.

Where was the General Department of Civil Defense?

We hear about this department a lot but never see it when

it is time for it to act. What is the purpose for all expenses spent on the department when it fails to help during cases of emergency? Where were the rapid intervention teams?

Where were the official state media outlets whose failure in dealing with the rain was on par with the Ministry of Public Works’?

I don’t think it is too hard to set up an operations room that receives live feeds from affected areas and is viewed by work teams prepared for these kind of circumstances.

Those teams include members from the General Department of Civil Defense, the Kuwait Fire Services Directorate, the Interior Ministry and others. Not only can this room help provide immediate assistance for people in need for rescue, but it can also provide up-to-date updates to the public about the situation, the safest places to be in, etc.

The crisis Kuwait suffered that day was not a day of heavy rains, but the absence of government teams. That being said, I would like to thank firefighters as well as young volunteers for their honest efforts during the heavy rains. — Al-Qabas

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2013

LOCAL

Cabinet ready for grilling debates in an open session Reshuffle plans put on hold

KUWAIT: Participants of the National Transport and Strategy meeting in Kuwait yesterday.

South African trade delegation visits Kuwait KUWAIT: In pursuit of the mutual objective of strengthening economic trade and investment relations between South Africa and the State of Kuwait a South African Trade and Investment delegation will visit Kuwait City from Nov 26 to 29. The delegation comprises of SA business entities from the food, chemicals and engineering sectors.

The visit by representatives from South African business enterprises and officials from the national Department of Trade and Industry is in accordance with the constructive outcomes of the highly successful Africa-Arab Summit recently hosted by HH the Amir and the government of Kuwait under the theme “Partners in Development and Investment”.

The visit of the South African Trade and Investment Promotion Mission to Kuwait is also a concrete expression by the SA government in support of the Kuwait Declaration issued at the end of the Summit.

The Kuwait Declaration received unanimous support from all African and Arab Heads of State and Government. The document expresses the political will of both sides to work closely together in various fields of cooperation that, amongst others, cover the following areas: trade and investment, infrastructural development, transport, energy, private sector development and enhancing the role of women in development.

The SA visits is also in support of the resolutions of the Arab Africa Economic and Development Forum which emphasised that the Forum should focus on identifying areas of cooperation to promote productive capacity of both regions. It emphasised the need to cooperate on agriculture and agro-industry, to promote food security, promote trade and investment with a focus on beneficiation and valueadding activities at source, as well as the promotion of investment in infrastructure and cooperation between the private sector.

Relations between SA and Kuwait remain cordial and solid. Bilateral trade in 2011 amounted to over $100 million. For Kuwait investors South Africa offers significant and serious long-term growth and development potential for direct investment and partnerships. The country presents proven potential on the basis of its own comparative advantages and economic strengths including the rich trading history between African and the Middle East spanning many centuries. South Africa offers a prag-

NA panel supports doctor’s transfer KUWAIT: The National Assembly Committee of Health Affairs yesterday upheld a decision by Minister of Health Sheikh Mohammad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah transferring Dr Kefaya Abdul Malak from the Amiri Hospital to Infectious Diseases Hospital.

MP Saadoun Hammad, the rapporteur of the commission, also in charge of social and labor affairs, said in a statement to reporters after the committee meeting yesterday that its members reached a conclusion that the minister’s decision was on a sound basis after examining previous identical resolutions regarding civil servants’ transfer and reassignment.

The committee recommended that Dr Kefaya retain all her employment privileges, with no deduction of any financial allowance, in line with the Civil Service Commission Resolution Number 5 (2010).

It has also advised that Dr Kefaya be allowed to carry on practicing her academic activities, namely training at Kuwait University’s College of Medicine, and taking necessary procedures in this respect.

At a Cabinet meeting on Nov 12, Sheikh Mohammad Al-Abdullah, who doubles as State Minister for Cabinet Affairs, defended his decision to re-assign the doctor, affirming that the move was not made on basis of personal considerations. He also asked the parliament to set up a special committee to investigate the matter. —KUNA

matic opportunity for Kuwaiti investors seeking sustainable returns and a strategic foot-hold on the Continent in the following sectors: Tourism infrastructure, Agriculture and agro processing, Mining and minerals, Financial and banking services, Telecommunications, Petrochemicals and renewable energy, Transport and infrastructure South Africa’s relationship with the Arab States remains substantive and strong with ongoing engagements at various political and economic levels that are anchored by the strategic objective of strengthening SouthSouth relations.

The Africa-Arab Partnership is of strategic importance to South Africa. This is due to the fact that both the African and Arab regions have huge potential to play meaningful roles of mutual benefit in their respective socio-economic development processes. The aim of the Partnership would be to create the necessary conditions for creating decent and sustainable jobs, promote intra and inter-regional trade and investment between Africa and the Arab World, as well as ensuring equitable and sustainable economic growth and development.

Within the states of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC), Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are South Africa’s biggest trading partners. South African multifunctional companies such as SASOL and MTN, amongst others, have large investments in the Middle East, including in some of the GCC states.

According to 2011 statistics, trade between the GCC and seven sub-Saharan African countries (South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Uganda and Zambia) amounted to close $17 billion. The GCC-Africa two-way trade increased from approximately $2.7 billion in 1990 to about $6.8 billion in 2008.

The South African Trade Mission will conduct meetings with amongst others, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Kuwait Union of Consumer Cooperative Societies.

A Trade and Investment Seminar will be held on Wednesday 27 November 2013 at the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Al Boom Hall, Floor 11, at 10h00. The Seminar will be followed by business to business meetings where interested Kuwait businessmen can meet with their South African counterparts to discuss and facilitate potential business cooperation opportunities.

KUWAIT: Prime Minister HH Sheikh Jaber AlMubarak Al-Sabah is ready to debate a grilling motion filed by MP Riyadh Al-Adasani in an open session, but is likely to request that a grilling filed

by MP Safa Al-Hashem be discussed behind closed doors. This was reported by Al-Qabas yesterday quoting sources who also indicated that Minister of Planning Rola Dashti is leaning towards requesting a merger of two grillings filed against her by Hashem and MP Khalil Abdullah.

The four grillings are set for debate during the parliament’s session tomorrow in which two grilling motions filed against Minister of Housing and Minister of Municipality Affairs Salem AlOthaina are also scheduled for debate. In this regard, the sources who spoke to Al-Qabas on the condition of anonymity said that the plan calls for Othaina to answer to Adasani’s grilling in an open session and request secrecy for the interpellation filed by MPs Abdullah Al-Tamimi and Faisal Al-Duwaisan. The sources also indicated that Cabinet reshuffle plans are put on hold “until all grillings are debated”, noting at the same time that a reshuffle is likely to affect four portfolios.

Othaina spoke with Al-Jarida daily in the meantime and announced that he is ‘fully prepared’ to face both grilling motions which tackle issues ranging between the housing crisis and removing licensed tents near Shiite mosques. The minister further indicated that he has no plans to request that any of the grillings be debated in a secret session.

MPs are also scheduled to vote on a no-confidence motion against Health Minister Sheikh Mohammad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah during tomorrow’s session which could last until the late hours of the night or even early Wednesday morning if necessary, according to Speaker Marzouq AlGhanim in earlier statements. Al-Jarida daily also spoke with MP Hamdan Al-Azmi who reiterated that he continues to wait for ‘the right moment’ to file his announced grilling against Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Thekra Al-Rashidi.

Meanwhile, Al-Qabas quoted MP Osama AlTahous who noted that a grilling motion “is in the works” against Minister of Public Works AbdulAziz Al-Ibrahim over the ministry’s failure to cope with last week’s heavy rains.

Meanwhile, parliament supervisor MP Saud Al-

Huraiji that sessions will likely be held on Thursday to compensate for those held to discuss grilling motions, and that to prevent delay of topics listed on the parliament’s agenda. In this regard. parliament secretary Yaqoub Al-Sane told Al-Rai daily that the debates will be followed by discussing the aftermath of the penalty the government paid for scrapping the K-Dow project with Dow Chemical. The housing issue which came on top of topics in a public survey carried out to determine people’s priorities is scheduled to be discussed during a special session on Dec 12.

Separately, rapporteur of the parliament’s foreign affairs committee MP Hamdan Al-Azmi called the government to “summon the Kuwaiti ambassador in Iraq to determine how serious threats were that were made by leader of the Iraqi Chosen Army militia Wathiq Al-Battatt who threatened to invade Kuwait and other Gulf states”. He further urged the government to “reconsider its position” of improving relationship with the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki which he argued “has connections with such militias”.

Geneva nuclear deal sparks concern among Gulf nationals MANAMA: Analysts in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have sounded a loud cautionary note, saying that the first-step nuclear deal struck in Geneva between Iran and the six world powers could spell ominous developments in the region. “We are and we should be concerned because what will happen is that Iran and the West will now reach an accord on how to divide their influences in the Gulf,” Jaber Mohammad, a Bahraini political analyst, said. “A nuclear Iran will be more confident and bolder in its attempt to boost its expansionist policy and to increase its influence in the region. It already has a lot of leverage in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon and it is working on Bahrain and Yemen, countries that are neighbours of Saudi Arabia. We have every right to feel concerned.

The West does not have such feelings because they are not within the Iranian reach and they are thinking mainly about lucrative contracts,” he said.

Ahmad Juma, a political activist, said that the agreement would not last and that it would not be able to weather the test of time and the complexities of the region. “This is a very odd agreement that is rather focused on tactical goals and objectives,” he said. “It has been brokered by countries that want to achieve their tactical interests without really looking at long-term strategies. That makes it odd,” he said.

Ahmad, also a columnist in a local daily, said that the accord at the same time showed that the Gulf countries were weak. “Instead of crying today over what is happening, the Gulf countries should have been ready to confront such a development. After all, the move by Iran and the 5+1 powers has been in the making for months and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) should have been ready for it.

Zain hails youth empowerment conference KUWAIT: Zain Telecom, the largest advanced telecommunications company in Kuwait, announced the conclusion of their sponsorship to the second Youth Empowerment Conference which was hosted last week at Crowne Plaza hotel, featuring Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and Starbucks co-founder Zev Siegl.

“The decision to sponsor this academic initiative for the second consecutive year reflects our commitment to supporting national initiatives that aim to improve and utilize the skills of Kuwaiti young men and women”, reads a statement issued by the

company yesterday. The statement further credits the large attendance to workshops held as part of the conference “which proves that the Kuwait young people are keen on development and improvement”.

Zain participated in a seminar that discussed the private sector’s impact on commercial growth for small projects. It was represented by Public Relations and Telecommunications Manger Waleed Al-Khashti who spoke about the company’s experience in the ‘Zain Great Idea II’ program for small projects.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2013

LOCAL

Mom leaves newborn in car, escapes negligence charges Teenager claims kidnap, rape KUWAIT: No charges were pressed against a woman who locked her baby inside her car during a one -hour shopping spree in Al-Rai Saturday. Shoppers and mall security noticed the baby crying inside a car parked in the parking lot, and eventually had to break the passenger ’s seat’s window to free the baby, who according to an eyewitness, “was crying in a heartbreaking way”. The mother soon came out of the mall and ran towards her car when she noticed a crowd around it. She realized what happened as the mall security handed the baby over to her. She admitted that she left her 5month-old in the car sleeping. She added that she did not expect he would wake up before she finished what she described as a ‘short shopping tour’ that according to witnesses’ estimations lasted for nearly an hour. Police were not called to the scene and therefore the mother was allowed to leave without facing legal action.

Abusive dad Two siblings were taken to Sharq police station Saturday as investigations are ongoing over accusations of physical abuse by their father.

Police had headed to a location which a teenage boy provided in an emergency call, saying that he escaped there with his underage sister from their abusive father. The officers found the siblings seeking help from security personnel outside the house of a political figure, and helped them to the police station where a case was filed. Preliminary investigations revealed that the two live with their father since he separated from their mother, and that they were escaping punishment he planned to give them.

The man is being summoned as part of ongoing investigations.

Julaia rape Investigations are ongoing in a case in which a teenager accused a young man of kidnap and rape while he insisted that the they were romantically involved. The 16-year-old Kuwaiti girl arrived at the Abdullah Port police station Saturday with a young man who she said had helped her after she escaped to a camp and asked for help. The girl said that a young man kidnapped her and then drove to a camp in the Julaia desert where he and others sexually assaulted her before she managed to escape and seek help in a nearby camp. Police headed

to the camp where the alleged assault happened and placed the suspect under arrest. The young man denied the kidnap and rape charges, and insisted that the two are in a longterm relationship and that the girl accompanied him to the camp willingly. To support his claim, the man showed police his phone record which he said contains several calls with the girl made for long periods. The case was handed over to criminal investigators for further investigations.

Hospital fight Fifteen people were arrested inside Jahra Hospital where they resumed a fight that started earlier in the area and left a number of them injured. According to the police report, the fifteen youngsters were part of two feuding teams who engaged in a vicious brawl in Jahra that left some of them in need for medical attention.

The injured men met in Jahra Hospital where they headed for treatment, and the fight resumed briefly before police put them under control. The men were taken to Jahra police station to face legal action.

Forgery case Kuwait International Airport police arrested an Iraqi man who arrived from Norway with a forged passport to evade an entry ban. The arrest took place after the police commander received information that a man who was deported in 1991 on accusations of cooperating with the invading Iraqi army was about to enter Kuwait using a forged Norwegian passport.

Inspection revealed that the man had changed his name in the passport, a trick which he said had helped him enter Kuwait three times since he was deported to visit family members. The man was referred to the authorities for investigation to determine his motives for entering Kuwait.

Jewelry theft A woman dropped theft charges pressed earlier against her housemaid and later accused her husband of stealing her jewelry to sell it and use the money to buy drugs. The Asian maid was held in police custody after her employer took her to the police station and accused her of stealing jewelry worth KD 2,800. The middleaged Kuwaiti woman returned a day later and dropped the charges, adding that her husband admitted that he sold the jewelry to buy drugs.

In statements to police, the woman explained that her teenage son first confronted her and said that their maid was subjected to injustice.

After a brief conversation, the boy told his mother that he saw his father steal the jewelry, after which she confronted her husband who admitted to the theft. The woman said that her husband told her that that he had bought the jewelry for her and therefore decided to sell it when he needed money. The husband is being summoned for questioning.

Road accident A man was hospitalized and another was unharmed in an accident that happened at the Artal (military convoy) Road when their car fell off the unfenced highway. Police and paramedics rushed to the scene following an emergency call reporting that a car was stuck in a tunnel near the road after falling off the street.

The driver was taken to the hospital after he was freed from the car wreck, while his companion was able to escape unharmed. A case was filed.

Pedestrian killed A pedestrian died when she was hit by a speeding vehicle in a street between Shuwaikh and Kaifan Friday night. According to eyewitness reports, the 35-year-old Filipina was trying to catch a bus on the other side of the road when a Kuwaiti man who was accompanied by his family hit her accidently. The woman was pronounced dead at the scene from fatal head trauma, and the body was taken to the forensic department after criminal investigators examined the site. The driver was taken to the nearest police station for questioning.

Suicide attempt A teenager was hospitalized with severe bleeding after she attempted suicide inside her family ’s home in Far waniya governorate.

Paramedics and police rushed to the scene in response to an emergency call made after the 14-year-old’s father broke into his daughter’s room and found her lying in a pool of blood.

The girl had reportedly locked herself inside her room and then used a sharp tool to cut her wrists, but her family intervened when they heard her cries. Doctors at Farwaniya Hospital described the girl’s condition as stable after receiving treatment. A case was filed for investigations.

TOKYO: Guests at the reception organized by Kuwaiti Ambassador to Japan Abdulrahman Al-Otaibi to mark Afro-Arab Summit.

Japan extols Kuwait-hosted Afro-Arab Summit TOKYO: Kuwaiti Ambassador to Japan Abdulrahman Al-Otaibi lauded the latest achievement made by Kuwait observing the Third Africa-Arab Summit, and emphasized the importance and necessity to encourage Arab-African joint work for the benefit of both regions and their peoples.

Al-Otaibi made the remarks in a speech at a reception, which he organized on the occasion of Kuwait’s initiative to host the Nov 19-20 summit, the embassy said in a statement yesterday.

Representatives from 26 African and 15 Arab countries, as well as officials from Japanese government institutions attended the gathering at the Embassy, which was also joined by journalists from prominent mass media here.

“Both regions enjoy common characteristics including the geographical overlap, the rich heritage and the huge population amounting to 1.2 billion, intermingling with each other. These traits make it imperative on both sides to think and communicate in a single language within the framework of their mutual interests,” the ambassador highlighted.

“Hosting the summit also reflects the principles of Kuwait’s foreign policy which is based on the civilized dialogue and cooperation with all nations in order to achieve the progress, prosperity and the decent living of all mankind in peace.” According to AlOtaibi, the meeting might be the first to gather Ambassadors of the Arab and African nations in Tokyo.

“This should be a unique opportunity to strengthen cooperation among the Arab and African counties and to further encourage the exchange of viewpoints in order to achieve our common interests especially being in Japan, a friendly country to all, generous in its unlimited cooperation with

Kuwait’s fresh commitment to its partners in Africa and Arab regions, announced at the opening speech of the summit by HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, pledging $2 billion to African countries, in a way of translating the theme of the summit “Partners in

TOKYO: Kuwaiti Ambassador Abdulrahman Al-Otaibi with Zimbabwean Ambassador and Dean of African Diplomatic Corps Stuart Harold Comerbach and Palestine Ambassador and Dean of Arabic Diplomatic Corps Waleed Siam. both African and Arab nations,” he added. At the reception, Stuart Harold Comerbach, Zimbabwean Ambassador and Dean of the African Diplomatic Corps in Tokyo, expressed appreciation to Kuwait for hosting the Africa Arab Summit with great success.

The Zimbabwean envoy also lauded

Development and Investment” into deeds. “The summit should be a turning point and course of the relations between Africa and Arab countries,” Comerbach stressed.

“Today’s reception organized by Ambassador Al-Otaibi is the great opportunity to exchange the points of

views among the ambassadors to draw out means and ways to maximize the result of the summit,” he commended. Waleed Siam, Palestinian Ambassador and Dean of the Arab Diplomatic Corps here, also appreciated Kuwait’s initiatives during the summit and congratulated Kuwait for its great success.

On behalf of the Arab diplomatic corps here, Siam appreciated the reception as “a unique opportunity” and expressed his keenness to enhance mutual relations among the Arab and African countries.

The diplomats and the officials were briefed on the result of the summit by Third Secretary of the Kuwaiti Embassy Mohammad Al-Othman.

“Around 71 nations participated in the summit that is considered to be the first to focus on economic issues solely and far from discussing political issues,” Al-Othman explained to the participants. “The summit also adopted the Kuwait Declaration voicing the collective desire to promote cooperation in the political, economic and socio-cultural field” Al-Othman explained to the participants.

Representing the Japanese government, Hiroshi Oka, Deputy Director General of the Foreign Ministry’s Middle East and African Affairs Bureau, expressed his gratitude and congratulations to Kuwait for successful hosting of the summit. “Japan continues to be the strong partner and friend of the countries of the regions,” Oka pledged.—KUNA

Libraries federation honors Al-Babtain KUWAIT: The Arab Federation for Libraries and Information (AFLI) granted yesterday its award for the year 2013 to the President of the Foundation of Abdulaziz Saud Al-Babtain’s Prize for Poetic Creativity Abdulaziz Saud Al-Babtain in appreciation for his contribution to libraries, information, and culture on the local, regional and international scales.

A statement by Al-Babtain Central Library quoted AFLI president Dr Hasan bin Awad Al-Surayhi as saying that Al-Babtain awarding comes in recognition

of Al-Babtain foundation contributions to Libraries, Information, and culture fields.

Al-Surayhi added the Award for 2013 will be held at a ceremony next Tuesday in the holy city of AlMadina Al-Munawarah, along an International Conference of the Federation, including a celebration ceremony to city of Al-Madina as the capital of Islamic culture. The Federation chief pointed out efforts by Al-Babtain, support, and care for libraries and culture at various levels, such as creating Al-Babtain Central

Library for Arabic Poetry in Kuwait and Kuwait AlBabtain Library on the campus of the Faculty of Arts at Jerusalem University. Established in the Tunisian city of Al-Qairowan on 19 January 1986, the federation now relocated into Al-Madina city, has presented a number of awards to various prominent figures in the Arab world, most recently Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz in 2009, Dr Sultain bin Mohammad AlQassimi in 2012, Suzan Mubarak in 2010, and Sheikh Mouza bin Nasser in 2011. — KUNA

Renowned architect Tehrani speaks at KU KUWAIT: Internationally celebrated American-based architect Nader Tehrani visited Kuwait last week and gave a lecture at the School of Architecture at Kuwait University. The visit comes in association with Pace, one of Kuwait’s leading architecture and engineering firms.

Tehrani held a lecture under the title “Building Pedagogies: Learning Spaces of the Future”, offering students the benefit of a firsthand account of someone with extensive ears of experience in the industry of architecture. The lecture addressed the rapid changes taking place in the global market and economy as brought on by the internet revolution, online education, and the democratization of information. It evaluated the impact of these changes on teaching methods and how educational institutions should adapt to change and evolve their methods.

The lecture focused on three different institutions who are tackling the challenge of changing their ways of teaching and learning. It inspected new technologies in the world of architecture and design, and how they be incorporated into a more contemporary methods of learning.

In its association with a global expert such as Nader Tehran, Pace aims to make good use of its status as an industry leader in Kuwait to actively encourage development and growth in the field along international standards. Tarek Shuaib, Managing Partner at Pace had this to say about the visit: “After decades of proving itself a cornerstone of the local market, Pace has set its sights towards expanding to establish a presence both regionally and internationally. As a result, the firm has been actively seeking association and partnerships with global leading institutions and individuals such as Tehrani”.

The holder of a Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) and a Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch) from the Rhode Island School of Design , as well as a Master of Architecture and Urban Design (MAUD) from Harvard Graduate School of Design , Nader Tehrani currently heads the celebrated architecture and urban design firm NADAAA in the United States. The firm which he founded and where he currently assumes the role of principle designer, has recently been named the top firm in design excellence in the United States by Architect Magazine.

He also currently holds the position of Head of the Department of Architecture at Massachusetts Institute for Technology (MIT ). Tehrani has received numerous industry awards and recognitions including a total of 14 Progressive Architecture

Awards, the Cooper Hewitt National Design Award in Architecture, the United States Artists Fellowship in Architecture and Design and the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Architecture.

Over the past few years, Tehrani has coauthored several books on a wide range of topics in the realm of design. During his twenty-five year tenure at leading design firm Office dA, another firm he founded and principled, Tehrani took part in intensive research that was acknowledged to be some of the best in the field of architecture and was honored with multiple industry awards.Before his current stint at MIT, he has also taught at several prestigious universities including his alma maters the Rhode Island School of Design and the Harvard Graduate School of design.

Pace is a multi-disciplinary professional firm dedicated to providing excellence in architecture, engineering and urban planning founded by Hamid Abdulsalam Shuaib and Partners in 1986 in Kuwait City.

Pace’s collaborative ethos pursues a visionto improve the urban environment in the State of Kuwait. Pace’s philosophy centers around providing architectural and engineering solutions that prioritize project functionality and user needs, integrity and innovation through design.

Working with clients from inception to completion, the scope of work extends across various sectors, including mixed use developments, healthcare, public institutions, educational, commercial, retail and recreational leisure. Notable projects for Pace on a local level include: Arab Organization Headquarters, Arraya Center and Marriott Courtyard Hotel, Kuwait Cancer Center, College of Basic Education, The Avenues, etc

NBK sponsors Arab Open University conference KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) sponsors the first Arab Open University International Conference on Open Learning: Role, Challenges, and Aspirations.

The conference will take place in Kuwait from Nov 25 to 27, under the auspices of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah AlAhmad Al Jaber Al Sabah “NBK’s sponsorship and support comes in line with the Bank’s customary and ongoing spirit of corporate responsibility as well as the vital role it plays in supporting all students, youths and educational initiatives,” said Manal Al-Mattar, NBK Public Relations Executive Manager.

Al-Mattar added: “NBK is committed to supporting youths and empowering them to realize their potentials. NBK provides career and training opportunities to encourage youths to assume roles and obtain the required tools to Create an environment ripe for their leadership.”

The Arab Open University (AOU) headquarter in Kuwait is organizing the international conference on open and blended learning in collaboration with the Regional Center for Development of Educational

Manal Al-Mattar Software (ReDSOFT). This conference will bring together a range of academics, psychologists, researchers, practitioners and decision makers from different countries and institutions. The conference will be an excellent opportunity to discuss the new trends in open learning and technology and to recommend solutions to the challenges of open learning.

Praise for Gulf security cooperation RIYADH: A senior Kuwaiti security official said here yesterday aspects of cooperation and coordination among GCC security agencies are well-established.

Speaking following the conclusion of a preparatory meeting for the 32nd gathering of GCC Ministers of Interior, Undersecretary of the Kuwaiti Ministry of Interior General Suleiman Al-Fahad said there is high-level security coordination among the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states in order to properly respond to the current circumstances.

He voiced satisfaction with the out-

comes and recommendation of the meeting, saying that the participating officials shared the same views and visions on single security policies and plans. Several key issues such as disaster and crisis management, a single GCC police agency, and a permanent GCC police office in Vienna for coordination with the EU prominently figured out during the Riyadh meeting, he pointed out. Recommendations and overtures produced by the participants are scheduled to be put on the agenda of the 32nd meeting of GCC Ministers of Interior due here on Thursday. —KUNA

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2013

100,000 anti-government protesters in Bangkok

Wintry blast hits West Page 12

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GENEVA: Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (left) and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius (right) react after a statement yesterday. — AFP

Secret US-Iran talks set stage for nuke deal WASHINGTON: The United States and Iran secretly engaged in a series of high-level, face-to-face talks over the past year, in a high-stakes diplomatic gamble by the Obama administration that paved the way for the historic deal sealed early yesterday in Geneva aimed at slowing Tehran’s nuclear program, The Associated Press has learned. The discussions were kept hidden even from America’s closest friends, including its negotiating partners and Israel, until two months ago, and that may explain how the nuclear accord appeared to come together so quickly after years of stalemate and fierce hostility between Iran and the West.

But the secrecy of the talks may also explain some of the tensions between the US and France, which earlier this month balked at a proposed deal, and with Israel, which is furious about the agreement and has angrily denounced the diplomatic outreach to Tehran. President Barack Obama personally authorized the talks as part of his effort promised in his first inaugural address - to reach out to a country the State Department designates as the world’s most active state sponsor of terrorism.

The talks were held in the Middle Eastern nation of Oman and elsewhere with only a tight circle of people in the know, the AP learned. Since March, Deputy Secretary of State William Burns and Jake Sullivan, Vice President Joe Biden’s top foreign policy adviser, have met at least five times with Iranian officials. The last four clandestine meetings, held since Iran’s reform-minded President Hassan

Rouhani was inaugurated in August, produced much of the agreement later formally hammered out in negotiations in Geneva among the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China, Germany and Iran, said three senior administration officials. All spoke only on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss by name the highly sensitive diplomatic effort.

The AP was tipped to the first US-Iranian meeting in March shortly after it occurred, but the White House and State Department disputed elements of the account and the AP could not confirm the meeting. The AP learned of further indications of secret diplomacy in the fall and pressed the White House and other officials further. As the Geneva talks appeared to be reaching their conclusion, senior administration officials confirmed to the AP the details of the extensive outreach.

The Geneva deal provides Iran with about $7 billion in relief from international sanctions in exchange for Iranian curbs on uranium enrichment and other nuclear activity.

All parties pledged to work toward a final accord next year that would remove remaining suspicions in the West that Tehran is trying to assemble an atomic weapons arsenal.

Iran insists its nuclear interest is only in peaceful energy production and medical research.

The diplomatic gamble with Iran, if the interim agreement holds up and leads to a final pact preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, could avert years of threats of US or Israeli military intervention. It could also

prove a turning point in decades of hostility between Washington and Tehran - and become a crowning foreign policy achievement of Obama’s presidency. But if the deal collapses, or if Iran covertly races ahead with development of a nuclear weapon, Obama will face the consequences of failure, both at home and abroad. His gamble opens him to criticism that he has left Israel vulnerable to a country bent on its destruction and that he has made a deal with a state sponsor of terrorism.

The US and Iran cut off diplomatic ties in 1979 after the Islamic Revolution and the storming of the US Embassy in Tehran, where 52 Americans were held hostage for more than a year. But Obama has expressed a willingness since becoming president to meet with the Iranians without conditions. At the president’s direction, the United States began a tentative outreach shortly after his inauguration in January 2009. Obama and Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, exchanged letters, but the engagement yielded no results.

That outreach was hampered by Iran’s hardline former president, Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, whose re-election in a disputed vote in June of that year led to a violent crackdown on opposition protesters.

The next month, relations seemed at another low when Iran detained three American hikers who had strayed across the Iranian border from Iraq. Ironically, efforts to win the release of the hikers turned out to be instrumental in making the clandestine diplomacy possible.

Oman’s Sultan Qaboos was a key player, facilitating the eventual release of the hikers - the last two of whom returned to the United States in 2011 - and then offering himself as a mediator for a US-Iran rapprochement. The secret informal discussions between mid-level officials in Washington and Tehran began.

Officials described those early contacts as exploratory discussions focused on the logistics of setting up higherlevel talks. The discussions happened through numerous channels, officials said, including face-to-face talks at undisclosed locations. They included exchanges between then US Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice, now Obama’s national security adviser, and Iran’s envoy to the world body, the officials said. National Security Council aide Puneet Talwar was also involved, the officials said.

The talks took on added weight eight months ago, when Obama dispatched the deputy secretary of state Burns, the top aide Sullivan and five other officials to meet with their Iranian counterparts in the Omani capital of Muscat. Obama dispatched the group shortly after the six powers opened a new round of nuclear talks with Iran in Almaty, Kazakhstan, in late February. At the time, those main nuclear negotiations were making little progress, and the Iranians had little interest in holding bilateral talks with the United States on the sidelines of the meeting out of fear that the discussions would become public, the US officials said. —AP

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2013

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

Egyptian president signs law restricting protests Thousands in streets as new law announced CAIRO: Egypt’s president signed a new bill into law yesterday restricting rallies and other public gatherings, a move likely to raise fresh questions about the armybacked government’s democratic credentials. Thousands of anti-government protesters were on the streets of Cairo and other cities when the new bill was announced on state media, as they have been regularly in the nearly three years since autocrat Hosni Mubarak was ousted.

The new legislation will require them to get advance permission from the

police before gathering in the future, according to a draft seen by Reuters. “This is quite dangerous ahead of elections - in normal times also, but (par ticularly) ahead of elections,” said Ziad Abdel Tawab of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights, adding it could disrupt public meetings including debates and rallies. President Adli Mansour’s approval of the law came as a 50-member committee prepared to vote on an amended constitution that will be put to a referendum expected in coming months. Parliamentary and presiden-

tial elections are due next year. Rights groups had urged Mansour to reject the draft presented to him by the cabinet installed af ter the army over threw Mubarak’s successor, Islamist President Mohamed Morsi, in July.

“The draft law seeks to criminalise all forms of peaceful assembly, including demonstrations and public meetings, and gives the state free hand to disperse peaceful gatherings by use of force,” read a joint statement issued on Friday by 19 Egyptian organisations.

Thousands of supporters of Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood demonstrated in Cairo and in several other cities, marking 100 days since security forces crushed two pro-Morsi sit-ins in Cairo, killing hundreds. Police fired teargas to disperse some of the demonstrations yesterday.

There was no immediate sign of any reaction to the new legislation on the streets.

The Brotherhood has faced a harsh security crackdown since Morsi’s ouster.

Thousands have been arrested and its senior leaders jailed. —Reuters

Clashes to break Syrian blockade kill over 160 BEIRUT: Fierce fighting to the east of Damascus has killed more than 160 people in the past two days as Syrian rebels struggle to break a months-long blockade by forces loyal to President Bashar AlAssad, activists said yesterday. It began on Friday when rebel units attacked a string of military checkpoints encircling the opposition-held suburbs in an area known as Eastern Ghouta, which has been under siege for more than six months.

Local and international aid workers say Assad’s forces appeared to be trying to starve out residents - indiscriminately affecting civilians as much as rebel fighters. The block ade has cut off rebels’ weapons supplies and helped turn the tide of fighting around the capital in Assad’s favour.

The battle has also drawn in hundreds of foreign fighters on both sides, underlining how Syria’s civil war has stirred SunniShiite sectarian tensions across the region.

“It is a ferocious fight between the two sides because it’s a struggle over our ultimate fate here,” said Bara Abdelrahman, a media activist with the rebel Islam Army brigades in the area.

The conflict in Syria has killed more than 100,000 people, according to the United Nations, and is also destabilising Syria’s neighbours. Foreign powers are trying to bring the warring sides together for a peace conference in Switzerland before the end of the year, dubbed ‘Geneva 2’.

Yesterday, Syria’s peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi met with members of the opposition to discuss the talks, which many rebel groups have rejected without a clear guarantee that Assad will step down. Assad’s

government says it welcomes talks but will not accept any preconditions.

Meanwhile, Assad’s forces, emboldened by gains in central Syria in recent months, have been seizing back towns in the rebels’ northern stronghold.

The Syrian Obser vator y for Human Rights said rebels had advanced in Eastern Ghouta in recent fighting, seizing some small villages and the once governmentheld town of Deir Attiya. Assad’s forces responded with three air raids, it said. The mainly Sunni Muslim rebels have drawn support from radical Sunni groups such as Al-Qaeda and other foreign militants.

Shiite governments and militias have thrown their weight behind Assad, who is from Syria’s minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiism.

Rebels say Lebanon’s Shiite guerrilla movement Hezbollah has joined the Eastern Ghouta battle on Assad’s side, as has the Abu Fadl Al-Abbas Brigade, a militia that includes Shiite fighters from around the Middle East. The Britain-based Observatory, a pro-opposition group with a network of activists across Syria, said it had documented about 100 deaths on the rebel side on Friday and Saturday in Eastern Ghouta, and more than 60 among forces fighting for Assad.

But it said there were likely to be more deaths that had not been documented.

“This battle has been one of incredible human losses,” said Rami Abdelrahman, head of the Observatory. “The fighting is spreading all over the eastern suburbs.”

There was no comment on casualty figures from government spokesmen. The United States, which backs the opposition,

HOMS: A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) shows a tank burning after an alleged mortar attack led by rebel fighters against Homs oil refinery, central Syria. —AFP and Russia, Assad’s main arms supplier, have been pushing for peace talks but a major sticking point has been the role of Shiite power I ran, Assad’s main ally.

Opposition forces fear a deal curbing Tehran’s nuclear programme will lead Washington to ease pressure on Iran and Assad in Syria. Brahimi held separate t alks wit h I ran’s fo reign minis ter,

Mohammad Javad Zarif, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Geneva in the past two days but did not meet US Secretary of State John Jerry as expected. The envoy is to host talks in Geneva today bet ween US Under S ecreta r y Wendy Sherman and Russia’s deputy foreign ministers, Mikhail Bogdanov and Gennady Gatilov. —Reuters

News

in brief

Bahrain jails 13 Shiites over attacks on police DUBAI: A Bahraini court sentenced 12 Shiites yesterday to 10-year jail terms after convicting them of trying to kill policemen in a village near the capital, a judicial source said. Another defendant was handed down a three-year prison sentence and four more were acquitted. The 17 had all been charged with attempted murder of police officers, taking part in an unauthorised demonstration and possessing petrol bombs.

They were arrested after unrest on May 1, 2012 in a Shiite village where a policeman suffered burned hands when his patrol was attacked. In a separate case in another Manama court yesterday, a policeman was acquitted of attempting to murder a protester because of insufficient proof, the source said. The officer, a Pakistani employed by the interior ministry, was charged after Saleh Abbas, a Shiite, was shot dead during a demonstration in Shakura village on April 19 last year.

The source said lawyers cited medics as saying the dead man was hit in the heart, lung, stomach and spleen by buckshot. Under cross-examination, the policeman admitted he was the only member of his patrol to have opened fire on the day of the killing, lawyers said in challenging the acquittal. A Shiite-led uprising to demand democratic reforms in Sunni-ruled but Shiite-majority Bahrain was crushed in March 2011. King Hamad in August this year ordered stiffer penalties for “terror acts”. These include a minimum 10-year jail term for an attempted bombing. If such attacks cause casualties, the sentence can be life imprisonment or the death penalty.

2 shot dead at ‘Gangnam Style’ wedding in Yemen SANAA: A Yemeni wedding ended in disaster after a guest firing celebratory shots in the air with his AK-47 accidentally killed two men while they were dancing to pop hit “Gangnam Style”, according to a police source and a video posted online. The police source said the guest at the wedding in the southern city of Taiz lost control of his rifle, leading to the deaths. Two other people were being treated in hospital. A video circulating on the web purportedly shows the incident, which happened late last week. Its authenticity could not be immediately verified. The footage shows a man shooting a gun in the air and then starting to dance with several other guests to the hit song. The rattle of gunfire is then heard and when the camera pans down, bodies are seen lying in pools of blood. The music stops as the guests rush to help the victims. Celebratory gunfire is common at Yemeni weddings.

Turkey mending ties with Shiite powers as regional clout wanes Disputes with Israel, Cyprus, Armenia linger ANKARA: Turkey’s ambitions to become a regional leader with a “zero problems” foreign policy have been left in tatters by the Syrian civil war, rising sectarian tensions and a fresh diplomatic fallout with Egypt. The predominantly Sunni Muslim NATO member state is now seeking to mend fences with Shiite powers Iraq and Iran to restore its waning clout in the Middle East in the wake of the Arab spring uprisings. The Syrian conflict has upset the balance of power in Turkey’s backyard and dealt a blow to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s lofty regional goals, his stature on the international stage also tarnished by the wave of anti-government protests that gripped the country in June.

Disputes with Israel, Cyprus and Armenia also linger on, while the spat with Cairo came to a head Saturday when Egypt’s military rulers expelled Turkey’s ambassador over Erdogan’s support for ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi. “Today Turkey is a country which is drifting alone in a vacuum,” said Faruk Logoglu, deputy head of the secular Republican People’s Party (CHP) and a former ambassador to Washington.

Turkey now has no ambassadors in three key regional states: Egypt, Israel and Syria. “In fact there is ‘no zero problem’ policy left to talk about,” said Sinan Ulgen, chairman of the Istanbul Centre for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies. “Turkey failed to respond through realistic diplomatic moves to the changes in the region in the aftermath of the Arab spring,” he told AFP. Erdogan, accused by critics of becoming increasingly authoritarian after 11 years at the head of a government with its roots in conservative political Islam, defiantly defended his actions as ensuring that Turkey was on the side of the righteous. “We have supported the struggle for democracy in the world. We never respect those who do not respect the people’s sovereign rights,” he said.

But Ulgen warned the crisis with Egypt would also have wider repercussions, including an impact on Ankara’s partnership with the oil-rich Gulf monarchies. Turkey, he said, was now on a “quest for a new balance” in its foreign policy, hence the overtures to Iraq and Iran. Ankara’s relations with the two Shiite Muslim-led powers have been strained since the Syrian uprising erupted in 2011, leaving them on opposite sides of the war.

Faysal Itani from the Atlantic Council, a US think tank, said Turkey’s “early aggressive stance” against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime and its fervent support for the rebels had alienated its neighbours. “Turkey probably saw this as a price worth paying.

But I imagine they did not expect the regime to hold out against the rebels for so long,” Itani told AFP. “Erdogan is re-evaluating Turkey’s regional posture in light of the disappointments of its Syria policy.”

Turkey felt sidelined when the United States, its close NATO ally, decided against military strikes on Syria after an August chemical weapons attack. Ankara in turn has faced accusations from some quarters in the United States that it is turning a blind eye to radical Al-Qaeda fighters crossing its long border to join the battle against Assad.

Erdogan’s government is now looking to Iran and Iraq to help contain the conflict as it grapples with the mass influx of an estimated 600,000 refugees from across the border, warning that Syria could become a Mediterranean Afghanistan or Somalia if world powers fail to act. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu is heading to Tehran today, barely three weeks since his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif paid a visit to Ankara, where both men said they were ready to work together against ethnic and sectarian strife in the Middle East. “We have more agreements than disagreements on regional

issues,” Zarif said. Both sides have been pushing for a thaw after the June election of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, which has seen Tehran open the door for dialogue with the West and renew talks with world powers on its contested nuclear programme. And Turkey, which has little energy resources of its own, has shrugged off US pressure for it to reduce its imports of oil and gas from sanctions-hit Iran, its major supplier along with Russia.

Earlier this month, Davutoglu also visited Iraq to seek a “fresh start” after two years of tensions. The two governments had locked horns on issues ranging from Syria to the Kurds of Iraq.

Turkey is also alarmed by the growing influence of Kurdish militants in northern Syria and fears a de facto Kurdish state there-similar to one already established in Iraq-could provide a rear base of operations for Turkish Kurd fighters. Earlier this month, a Kurdish militia dominated by a party close to Turkey’s main Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) declared provisional self-rule in Syrian areas under their control.

Ankara said it cannot accept a fait accompli. “Turkey may be feeling it needs to balance its hostility towards the Syrian regime with developing options to contain the Syrian Kurds, and could be shoring up relations with Iraq and Iran to that end,” said Itani.

With Turkey on the hunt for new friends, opposition lawmaker Muslim Sari labelled Davutoglu as the “least successful foreign minister in the history of the Turkish republic”. — AFP

ANKARA: A group of teachers stage a sit-in at Guven Park in central Ankara yesterday, a day after police used water cannons and pepper gas to disperse Turkish teachers who were protesting against the government’s education and economic policies. —AFP

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2013

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

8 killed; storms head East Wintry blast hits West

BAMAKO: Mali’s president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita casts his vote at a polling station yesterday. — AFP

Mali goes to polls under Islamist violence threat BAMAKO: Malians trickled to the polls amid high security for a legislative ballot yesterday, in the second set of elections since France intervened this year to oust Al-Qaedalinked militants from the country’s north. The West African country has suffered a surge in Islamist violence since President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was elected in August in polls that marked a return to democracy after a March 2012 coup. The military putsch plunged Mali into chaos and allowed Islamists to seize its desert north.

Polls opened at 0800 GMT. Some 6.7 million people were registered to cast their vote in 25,000 bureaux across the nation twice the size of France. Initial turnout appeared much lower than in August’s vote. Voting stations were due to remain open until 1800 GMT. Malian soldiers, French troops and UN peacekeepers protected voting stations in the north following a resurgence of Islamist violence. Gao, the largest city in northern Mali, was targeted in a rocket attack on Thursday by suspected Islamists.

The election of a new parliament will complete the democratic transition in the wake of last year’s coup.

Donors have pledged $3.25 billion to rebuild the impoverished country and develop its lawless desert north. “I came to vote because without a parliament there are no laws, there is no democracy,” said Bakary Berthe, 52, the first person to vote in the Banakabougou neighbourhood of Bamako. “I voted without any problems. It was transparent.”

Unlike the presidential elections, when long lines snaked outside voting stations, Berthe was the only voter waiting to cast his ballot early yesterday.

IBK expected to win Some 1,087 candidates from 410 electoral lists will compete for the 147 seats in the national assembly. A second round will be held on Dec. 15 in constituencies where there is no majority winner yesterday. Political analysts expected Keita, commonly known by his initials IBK, and his allies to comfortably win the election after he swept the Aug 11 presidential runoff by a landslide.

“The aim of my vote is to give a comfortable majority to the president and his allies,” said Boubacar Ouedrago, a butcher in Bamako. “IBK needs this majority to complete his mission.” His losing presidential rival, Soumaila Cisse, at the head of a coalition of parties, aims to secure the post of parliamentary speaker and has pledged to present Keita with a real opposition, according to sources close to him.

The unity governments of former president Amadou Toumani Toure, which curtailed political debate and accountability, have been blamed for damaging faith in Mali’s political system, thereby encouraging the 2012 coup.

Keita’s RPM party was the only one on the electoral list in the far north region of Kidal, where it has enlisted the political support of some of the leaders of last year’s uprising.

Opposition candidates say it has been too dangerous to campaign there.

Some 100 supporters of separatist parties staged a march in Kidal’s dusty centre to protest against the elections but were prevented from entering voting stations by members of the UN peacekeeping mission, residents said.

France, which has more than 2,000 troops stationed in Mali, aims to reduce its military presence to 1,000 by February as it hands security responsibilities to the Malian army and the UN force. The UN mission, launched in July, is still at roughly half its 12,600 planned strength. —Reuters

In violent world, US firms must plan for ‘unthinkable’ WASHINGTON: Companies and diplomats operating in some of the world’s most dangerous and unstable places must plan for the unthinkable as terror groups arm up and form alliances to strike Western targets. That was the message at a gathering of top multinationals and US government security experts from those who experienced firsthand this year’s attack on an Algerian gas plant, and the 1979 Iran hostage-taking.

Islamist militants attacked the remote In Amenas complex in the Algerian desert in January, taking hundreds of foreigners and Algerians hostage, in a raid that left 39 dead. It ended after three days when Algerian forces stormed the facility. Despite years of detailed security assessments and planning, the plant’s deputy general manager Mark Cobb said the assault came out of nowhere, adding that the takeaway from the assault was that “you have to think the unthinkable.”

“I was as shocked as anyone by what happened. It was unprecedented certainly in Algeria and the industry as a whole,” Cobb told a meeting of the Overseas Security Advisory Council, which promotes security cooperation and information-sharing between US businesses and the State Department. Cobb had just made his first cup of coffee when he heard a single gunshot, and then heavy machine gun fire. He managed to phone BP offices in London to raise the alarm.

But he was unprepared for the 35 militants, armed with rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and Kalashnikovs, who stormed the plant jointly run by Britain’s BP and Norway’s Statoil, and hunted down foreigners to kill. And despite managing to escape into the nearby sand dunes, he knew that as soon as Algerian forces became involved in the rescue attempt, the situation would get bloodier.

“Algerians do not negotiate with terrorists... and we assumed that the Algerians would take a swift response and that’s what they did,” agreed Nicole Deal, who was the regional security officer at the US embassy in Algiers. “In Amenas was a game-changer. It changed the bottom line assumptions that security officers going there work with.

“Now you have to plan and you have to prepare for the worst type of attack, the Westgate type of attack, the In Amenas type of attack... that might be the new normal,” she said, referring to a Nairobi shopping mall siege. —AFP

ALBUQUERQUE: Stormy weather across the West blamed in eight deaths moved steadily eastward, prompting alerts of wintry conditions in New Mexico and Texas. Forecasters said the storm system in the West would sweep across the South and toward the Atlantic coast the coming week, causing problems for holiday travelers. The “Nordic outbreak” will “produce a mixed bag of wily weather that will end up impacting much of the nation,” National Weather Service meteorologist Joe Harris said.

With a winter storm warning in effect for parts of New Mexico, snow was falling across much of the state early Sunday and forecasters predicted up to 5 inches for many areas. The state Department of Transportation said motorists on several major roadways, including parts of Interstate 40, faced difficult driving conditions because of packed snow and ice, while some roads in the south were closed. Low temps were predicted to be mainly in the 20s statewide.

Station KOB reported strong winds and near white-out conditions late Saturday night along a stretch of I-40, about 80 miles west of Albuquerque. Parts of the state had already been hit with snow and freezing rain that caused a rollover accident that killed a 4-year-old girl in the eastern part of the state. Three other storm-related deaths were reported Saturday in a crash in the Texas Panhandle involving nearly a dozen vehicles.

In California, where the storm system hit first, prompting flooding and water rescues in recent days, three deaths have been linked to the storms since Thursday, as authorities found one body near downed power lines, one man crashed his vehicle

into a tree and a woman was killed when a tree fell on a parked car.

In Arizona, firefighters recovered the body of a man who was swept away by high waters Friday in the Santa Cruz River in the southern part of the state. The storm already has affected much of the West, causing hundreds of rollover accidents and prompting officials to cancel events and close roads. In Nevada, snow in high elevations temporarily bogged down travel.

In Arizona, more than 8,000 cyclists competed Saturday in rainy conditions in the annual El Tour de Tucson. One cyclist died in a collision with a vehicle, but there was no immediate indication that the accident was storm related. Also, high school football games, soccer tournaments and parades were cancelled across the state.

Forecasters said parts of both California and Arizona could expect severe weather with winter storm warnings through Saturday.

In Texas, freezing rain and cold temperatures have already hampered travel and much of the “heavy stuff ” will hit south of I-20, Harris said.

Several traffic accidents were reported, including the fatal crash late Friday that left several injured hurt in Vega, about 30 miles west Amarillo, and one that injured three members of singer Willie Nelson’s band when their bus struck a pillar on Interstate 30 near Sulphur Springs, about 75 miles northeast of Dallas. The National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory for much of the Texas Panhandle until Monday morning, while the Dallas-Fort Worth area was under a winter storm warning until Monday. —Reuters

LAGUNA HILLS: Jacob Melville, 4, of Irvine, California, catches rain drops as he holds the umbrella for his mother, Brandie, at the farmer’s market. — AP

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2013

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

India fails to heed Mumbai attack lessons 5 years on MUMBAI: The author of an acclaimed new book on the 2008 Mumbai attacks warns India has failed to learn the lessons of the deadly assault by Pakistani militants-even five years after they traumatised the city. Adrian Levy, whose book “The Siege” highlights striking failures in Indian authorities’ response to the attacks, said he feared security had barely improved since the three-day onslaught that left 166 people dead. “Because there’s been no post-mortem of any calibre, there are no lessons learnt,” said Levy, who spent four years researching and writing the book with fellow British journalist Cathy Scott-Clark.

“The feeling you get from the police, the intelligence agencies, is that they would struggle again. Not from lack of ability but poor resources, lack of political will,” he told AFP. “The Siege” gives a blow-by-blow account of the attack on Mumbai’s luxury Taj Mahal Palace hotel, one of several high-profile targets that were overrun on November 26, 2008.

Pakistan activists search trucks for NATO supplies PESHAWAR: Demonstrators protesting US drone strikes roughed up drivers yesterday as they sought to stop trucks carrying NATO troop supplies and equipment from passing through northwest Pakistan. The rally came a day after a party led by politician and cricket star Imran Khan said it would prevent NATO supply trucks making their way to and from Afghanistan from travelling through Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province until the US stops drone strikes. The US leads the NATO coalition of troops battling the Taleban in neighboring Afghanistan. Close to 100 protesters on the outskirts of Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, checked the documents of truck drivers headed toward Afghanistan as they passed through a toll booth. They shouted at the drivers, and pulled one man, Gul Zaman, out of his truck when he told them that he was carrying commercial goods to Afghanistan, not NATO supplies. Video of the incident was shown by Pakistan’s GEO TV. “Without waiting for me to take my documents out of the glove compartment, they dragged me out,” Zaman said. “We are also concerned about drone attacks, but they shouldn’t come down heavy on us like this.” Police were present at the scene but did not intervene to stop the protesters, some of whom were carrying wooden batons. Khan, whose Tehreek-e-Insaf party controls the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial government, has been a vocal critic of drone attacks. He and other officials say the strikes are a violation of the country’s sovereignty, although the federal government is known to have secretly supported some of the attacks in the past.

Khan led thousands of supporters in a protest near Peshawar on Saturday in which they blocked a road that led to one of two border crossings used by trucks carrying NATO supplies in and out of Afghanistan. The other crossing is in southwest Baluchistan province. The demonstration had more symbolic value than practical impact because there is normally very little NATO supply traffic on the weekend.

Federal Information Minister Pervez Rashid accused Khan yesterday of trying to damage Pakistan’s relationship with NATO countries and neighboring Afghanistan.

“Anyone who wants to disturb our relations with neighbors is not serving the country,” Rashid said. “Because of Imran Khan we could be isolated in the world.”

Rashid said on Saturday that the federal government’s anti-drone stance was clear and accused Khan of “playing politics” with the issue. Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has also been a vocal critic of drone strikes since he took office in June. He pushed President Barack Obama to end the attacks during a visit to Washington in October, but the US has shown no indication it will stop using a tool it views as vital for battling Al-Qaeda and the Taleban.

Khan has pushed the federal government to block NATO supplies across the country to force the US to end drone strikes, but it has shown little interest in doing so.

While Sharif has said he wants the attacks to end, he has also made clear that he values a friendly relationship with the US It’s unclear if the government will take action to prevent Khan’s supporters from stopping NATO supply trucks. The land routes through Pakistan have been key to getting supplies to NATO troops in Afghanistan. They now increasingly are being used to ship equipment out of Afghanistan as the US seeks to withdraw most of its combat troops from the country by the end of 2014. The routes have been closed in the past. The Pakistani government blocked the routes for seven months following US airstrikes that accidentally killed two dozen soldiers on the Afghan border in November 2011.—AP

Despite their lack of preparedness, the book says Indian authorities received 26 prior US intelligence alerts that such an attack could occur, with all but one of the targets identified. Levy described as “dismal” the 64page report by the Pradhan Commission, a two-man probe set up to examine the attacks, which was precluded from cross-examining intelligence services, politicians or the National Security Guard (NSG).

He contrasts this report with the thorough reviews of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States and the July 2005 bombings in London, which led to “systemic changes” in security operations. “India too often just walks on, it doesn’t reflect,” said Levy. The young gunmen who conducted the attacks, from the Islamist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, came to the shore of south Mumbai after hijacking an Indian trawler out at sea. In touch with a control room back in Pakistan, they launched their assault on the Taj and Oberoi Trident hotels, a popular cafe, a busy train station and a Jewish

Tarun Tejpal

Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).” The Siege” relates how men from the ISI, such as a “Major Iqbal”, helped the attackers and boasted of a super-agent working in New Delhi, known as “Honey Bee”, who allegedly provided key information. The ISI has officially denied any involvement in the attacks. Also explored in-depth is the role of David Headley, an American who spent two years scouting Mumbai for the attackers, and was sentenced by a US judge in January to 35 years in jail. The book says that there is “overwhelming evidence” that Headley, whose father was Pakistani, was working not only for Lashkar-e-Taiba but also the US intelligence community, which hoped he could lead them to Osama bin Laden.“In time, Headley would have had access to the inner circles of Al-Qaeda. So that was a very enticing proposition for the US,” Levy said. Many of the US intelligence warnings of an attack on Mumbai appear to have been based on Headley’s information, although their source was not revealed. —AFP

Afghan president again delays signing US deal US to pull out all troops?

KABUL: An assembly of Afghan elders endorsed a crucial security deal yesterday to enable US troops to operate in the country beyond next year, but President Hamid Karzai left the matter up in the air by refusing to say whether he would sign it into law. The gathering, known as the Loya Jirga, had been convened by the president to debate the pact which outlines the legal terms of continued US military presence in Afghanistan. It voted in favour and advised Karzai sign it promptly.

But Karzai, in his final remarks to the four-day meeting, said he would not sign it until after a presidential election due next April.

“If there is no peace, then this agreement will bring misfortune to Afghanistan,” he said. “Peace is our precondition. America should bring us peace and then we will sign it.” The president did not elaborate, but has previously said a free and fair vote is needed to guarantee peace in the country and his spokesman later said Karzai had not changed his mind.

As the meeting ended, assembly chairman Sibghatullah Mojeddedi told Karzai: “If you don’t sign it, we will be disappointed.” Karzai responded “Fine!” and left the stage. Failure to clinch the deal could mean a full US pullout, leaving Afghanistan to fight the Taleban insurgency on its own. US troops have been in Afghanistan since leading a drive to remove the Taleban in late 2001. US officials, including Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, said the deal must be signed by year-end to begin preparations for a post-2014 presence. In his remarks, Karzai acknowledged there was little trust between him and US leaders while saying signing the pact was broadly in Afghanistan’s interests. Backing from the Jirga, handpicked by his administration, had been widely expected.

Most speakers were muted in their criticism of the thorniest issues in the document, including a US request for immunity for its troops from Afghan law. Critics say Karzai’s recalcitrance on the date might reflect his desire to distance himself from any deal with the United States and avoid speculation that he has sold out to the West. A former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, Ronald Neumann, said Karzai is known to use 11th hour demands to press for concessions from the United States during negotiations.

“He has to be the one ... to sign off on this loss of Afghan sovereignty. He knows intellectually that this is in Afghanistan’s interest, but at the same time it’s distasteful to him,” Neumann said.

He’s done it again The deal took a year to bash out and Karzai’s volte-face threw the entire process into doubt just hours after both sides announced they had agreed on its terms. Even in Afghanistan, where some view the security agreement with the United States with contempt, many officials were unsettled. Some believe Karzai is simply concerned that the United States and other Western countries may attempt to interfere in next year’s presidential election. Having served two terms, he is ineligible to run again. By withholding his signature until after the vote, Karzai could also use ratification as leverage to ensure the United States does not try to back a candidate not to his liking. Opposition leader Abdullah Abdullah, who dropped out of a run-off against Karzai in the 2009 elections, citing concerns about fraud, was among those who shared this suspicion. “What he is asking for is a guarantee about the elections and most probably his favourite candidate,” Abdullah told Reuters.

Karzai accused the international community of meddling during the 2009 election that he won, saying they had tried to encourage Afghans to vote for an opposition candidate. Others were concerned that Karzai’s reluctance to sign the agreement could jeopardise Afghanistan’s relations with its international allies and its economic future.

Journalist in India magazine scandal alleges harassment NEW DELHI: The woman at the centre of a sexual assault scandal involving a top Indian investigative news magazine has publicly pleaded with her editor to halt what she called intimidation and harassment. Police have begun investigating the editor of Tehelka after the woman claimed she had been sexually assaulted twice in a hotel in the holiday state of Goa during a conference organised by the magazine last month.

Tehelka, which pioneered undercover sting operations in

centre, with the dramatic scenes unfolding on televisions around the world. The poor equipment and World War II-era weapons used by Mumbai’s police were widely criticised after the attacks, but Levy said the force remained “under-funded, under-armed”.

He details how members of the special force NSG were 12 hours late on the scene from New Delhi, owing to “political infighting and incompetence in the home ministry”. “The frustration that built up was one of the things that allowed us a wide range of access to people desperate to tell their story,” Levy added. He and ScottClark conducted hundreds of interviews in India, Pakistan and eight other countries, piecing together a chronology with the help of text messages, CCTV footage, police and court documents, and recordings from wiretaps on the gunmen’s phones.

In Pakistan, they visited the villages and training camps of the men from Lashkar-e-Taiba, an outfit that has been closely linked to Pakistan’s spy agency, the

India, has been embroiled in the scandal since Wednesday when it was leaked that the editor Tarun Tejpal had agreed to take six months’ leave for “misconduct”. In a statement to local media late Saturday, the woman said a member of Tejpal’s family had visited her mother’s house in New Delhi on Friday evening and asked her mother to “protect” the editor.

The relative also “demanded to know who I was seeking legal help from and what I wanted as the result of my complaint of sexual molestation by Mr Tejpal”, the statement said.

The woman said the visit had placed “tremendous emotional pressure” on her family at an “intensely traumatic time”.

“I fear this may be the beginning of a period of further intimidation and harassment,” said the statement, carried on the front pages of several Indian newspapers yesterday. “I call upon all persons connected to Mr Tejpal and his associates to refrain from approaching me or my family members,” the statement said. Tejpal, 50, is the founding editor of Tehelka, known for its hard-hitting investigations into sexual violence against women and gender inequality, as well as into corruption and other lawbreaking.

With the media newly sensitised to sexual assault cases after a string of widely publicised gang-rape cases this year, the incident has been front-page news and the magazine has been accused of hypocrisy. The fatal gang-rape of a student on a New Delhi bus last December touched off sometimes violent demonstrations and a long period of introspection in India about the treatment of women and rising crime against them.

In an email to staff of the New Delhi-based magazine, Tejpal admitted that “a bad lapse of judgement, an awful misreading of the situation, have led to an unfortunate incident that rails against all we believe in and fight for”. But Tejpal has denied the assault allegation and offered to cooperate with police. As part of their preliminary investigation, police in Goa have sent a team to Delhi to question magazine staff and Tejpal. — AFP

KABUL: Afghan president Hamid Karzai (left) and the head of the Loya Jirga Sebghatullah Mujaddidi chat on the last day of the four-day long Loya Jirga yesterday. — AFP “If we keep talking about signing the agreement after the election, we will lose our biggest ally,” said Freshta Amini, an MP from southwestern Nimroz province. But some Loya Jirga members supported Karzai’s comment about delaying ratification. “If

the Americans want to sign this pact with Afghanistan, then they should also respect our demands for a transparent election, and peace and security in the country,” said Farid Alokozai, provincial council chief in Wardak, outside Kabul. —Reuters

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2013

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

Indonesian VP probed in corruption case JAKARTA: Indonesian Vice President Boediono has said he was questioned as a witness by anti-graft investigators over a controversial bank bailout, in a case that could prove problematic for the government ahead of polls next year.

The case centres on a 6.76 trillion rupiah ($584 million) government bailout of small lender Bank Century at the onset of the financial crisis in 2008. The total amount paid out to save the bank was

far higher than the initial proposal of just 680 billion rupiah, and bailout money was allegedly siphoned off by well-connected depositors.

The case rocked the government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and renewed attention on it comes as his beleaguered party seeks to claw back popularity ahead of elections in 2014 following a string of corruption scandals.

Boediono was central bank governor at

the time of the bailout and along with other top officials, including then finance minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, authorised the bank rescue.

Indrawati now works for the World Bank in Washington and was questioned over the case earlier this year as a witness. The vice president, who like many Indonesians goes by on name, said late Saturday that he was questioned by investigators from the Corruption

Eradication Commission (KPK) for 10 hours that same day as a witness in the case. “The focus was on a short-term loan facility,” said Boediono, who himself is not a member of any political party.

“There were many questions which I answered as thoroughly as I could, from the early stages until after the bailout,” he said. He did not provide details, saying that they “would disturb the law enforcement process”. Defending the

move, he told reporters the period was “very explosive”. “I can only say that I had carried out my responsibility with all sincerity, with the aim of contributing the best for the nation in the face of extraordinary challenges,” he said. Boediono’s questioning followed the detention of former central bank deputy governor, Budi Mulya, last week by the KPK for his role in the same case. He has been named a suspect in the case. — AFP

100,000 anti-government protesters in Bangkok Biggest demonstrations since 2010

TACLOBAN: A victim of super typhoon Haiyan holds her one-year-old daughter overlooking her flattened home and devastated waterfront community from a partial standing building in Tacloban yesterday. —AFP

Slogging hard to rebuild Philippines’ wastelands MANILA: A frantic campaign to reach millions of hungry, injured and homeless people in the Philippines following one of the world’s strongest storms is almost over. Now the grinding slog of rebuilding begins.

Experts say it will cost billions of dollars and take years to revive communities that were destroyed when Super Typhoon Haiyan swept in from the Pacific Ocean more than a fortnight ago, killing at least 5,200 people.

At 315 kilometres (195 miles) an hour, Haiyan’s winds were the most powerful ever recorded to make landfall. Tsunami-like storm surges that crashed hundreds of metres (yards) inland were even more devastating, wiping out entire towns. Ensuring those who survived the storm did not perish in its immediate aftermath has been the top priority, with the main focus on the eastern islands of Leyte and Samar that were already among the poorest in the developing country.

The armed forces of more than a dozen countries joined a giant international relief effort, which continues to rush food, water and medicines and other emergency supplies to millions of people in isolated wastelands. With aid flowing in more easily, the Philippine government, its international partners and the survivors themselves are starting to address the overwhelming task of rebuilding so many shattered communities.

“When you have these kind of problems that are so large, everybody is actually apprehensive,” said Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla, the former governor of Leyte, who has been appointed head of the government’s reconstruction taskforce. There is no official estimate for the recovery and rehabilitation cost, but Socio-Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan has suggested it could be as high as $5.8 billion.

One of the most immediate priorities in the rehabilitation effort is rebuilding or repairing homes for the 4.3 million displaced people. More than 536,000 homes were completely destroyed, with another 500,000 damaged, according to the government. Reestablishing a means of employment is an equally urgent task, with five million workers

having lost their livelihoods, according to the International Labour Organization (ILO).

Before the storm, most of the four million people living on Samar and Leyte endured near-subsistence lifestyles focused on rice and coconut farming, or fishing. ILO country director Lawrence Jeff Johnson said the immediate focus on the employment front was to provide emergency jobs such as working on the clean-up operation.

In the long-run, Johnson said the reconstruction effort should not be about restoring fragile livelihoods, “but about taking the opportunity to help reduce poverty”. “We’re going to help them build back better by teaching them new skills as carpenters, electricians, plumbers and welders,” he told AFP. “We will also work with them on how to set up businesses, so they learn how to run a business.” However, farming and fishing will inevitably remain a mainstay of the economies in Samar and Leyte, and others involved in the relief effort are rushing to provide short as well as long-term support to the agriculture sector. Rodrigue Vinet, the UN food agency ’s representative for the Philippines, said seeds for vegetables were being sent to farmers so they and their families would be able to have their own food grown within a few months.

Vinet said work must also start immediately to fix irrigation channels and other farming infrastructure so rice crops could be grown in time for harvest in October next year. “If they do not have that harvest, they will rely on very expensive food aid for a long time,” he said.

An over-arching theme of the reconstruction effort is trying to ensure communities are less vulnerable to future storms. “We should look at disaster resiliency... recovery has to happen within the context of better development,” United Nations Development Programme regional disaster adviser Sanny Jegillos said at a news conference in Manila.

While Haiyan was one of the strongest typhoons on record, the Philippines is hit by about 20 major storms each year-with Samar, Leyte and other mostly poor eastern islands on the frontline.—AFP

Thousands flee as Indonesia volcano erupts eight times JAKARTA: A volcano in western Indonesia has erupted eight times in just a few hours, “raining down rocks” over a large area and forcing thousands to flee their homes, officials said yesterday. Mount Sinabung has been erupting on and off since September, but went into overdrive late Saturday and early yesterday, repeatedly spewing out redhot ash and rocks up to eight kilometres (five miles) into the air.

Several thousand people left their homes overnight, taking the total number of those who have fled since the volcano rumbled to life to around 12,300, said the national disaster agency. “People panicked last night as the eruption was accompanied by a loud thunderous sound and vibrations. Then it started raining down rocks,” said local government official Robert Peranginangin.

“They ran helter-skelter out of their homes and cried for help.” He added there were no

known casualties from the latest eruptions.

The volcanology agency raised the alert level for the volcano, on the northern tip of Sumatra island, to the highest point on a four-stage scale, meaning a hazardous eruption is imminent or under way.

National disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said the government was calling for people living within five kilometres (3.1 miles) of the volcano to leave their homes. Sinabung, one of dozens of active volcanoes in Indonesia which straddles major tectonic fault lines known as the “Ring of Fire”, erupted in September for the first time since 2010. In August five people were killed and hundreds evacuated when a volcano on a tiny island in East Nusa Tenggara province erupted. The country’s most active volcano, Mount Merapi in central Java, killed more than 350 people in a series of violent eruptions in 2010. — AFP

BANGKOK: About 100,000 anti-government protesters gathered in Thailand’s capital yesterday, as simmering tensions between Bangkok’s middle classes and the mostly rural supporters of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra threatened to boil over. The protests led by the opposition Democrat Party mark the biggest demonstrations since deadly political unrest in April-May 2010, when Thaksin’s red-shirted supporters paralysed Bangkok to try to remove a Democrat-led government.

Thaksin’s sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, is now in power after winning a 2011 election that was seen as a victory for the working poor and a defeat for the traditional Bangkok elite that includes top generals, royal advisers, middle-class bureaucrats, business leaders and old-money families. After a delicate calm for the past two years, fissures between those two rival political forces are opening once again.

The rally was their biggest turnout yet. About 15 km (9 miles) away, in a stadium at the opposite end of the city, about 40,000 pro-government “red shirts” rallied in a show of support of the prime minister. Many came by bus from rural provinces in the north and northeast. Yingluck has been pilloried by her critics as a puppet for her brother, who was ousted in a 2006 military coup and convicted two years later of graft, which he has denied. He has lived in self-imposed exile since 2008, but exerts enormous influence on the policies of his sister’s government.

“We have stood by silently while her brother calls the shots and she runs the country into the ground with loss-making policies,” said Suwang Ruangchai, 54, who drove over nine hours from Surat Thani in the south to attend the rally. Few people in modern Thai history have been as polarising as Thaksin, a billionaire former telecommunications tycoon revered by the poor and reviled by the elite. In 2001, he became the first leader in Thai history to win a parliamentary majority on its own, and formed the first elected government to serve a full term, after which it was re-elected. The 2006 coup that ousted him plunged Thailand into four years of sometimes violent political turbulence. The

BANGKOK: Thai pro-government “Red Shirts” hold pictures of Thaksin and Yingluck Shinawatra as they gather at Rajamangala stadium yesterday. — AFP relative calm Thailand has enjoyed since Yingluck became prime minister has faded during weeks of Democrat-led opposition rallies triggered by a government-backed amnesty bill that could have led to Thaksin’s return to Thailand.

The political tensions come as Thailand’s economy, Southeast Asia’ second biggest, is suffering from weak export growth, soft consumer spending and rising household debt.

Demonstrations which began more than three weeks ago have spread even after Thailand’s senate rejected the amnesty bill on Nov 11. Suthep Thaugsuban, a former deputy prime minister under the previous Democrat-led government and now leader of the biggest anti-government rally, has called for all-out regime change. His group plans to march along 12 routes in Bangkok on Monday to urge civil servants to join the protests.

“If even one of you still serves Thaksin, you will have us to reckon with,” Suthep told whistle-blowing crowds yesterday. Observers say Suthep could be holding out for military or judicial intervention.

Thai courts brought down two Thaksin-aligned governments in 2008.

“We have not yet reached crisis point like in 2006 so the military would be unwise to intervene at this juncture and Suthep should know this, but he might be waiting for some form of judicial intervention,” said Siripan Nogsuan Sawasdee, a political analyst at Chulalongkorn University. Yingluck’s ruling Puea Thai Party received a blow last week when the Constitutional Court rejected its proposals to make the Senate fully elected. That could have strengthened her government given her widespread support among voters in the heavily populated north and northeast.— AFP

US, Japan slam China ‘destabilizing’ move Japan warns of ‘unexpected events’ over China’s new air-zone TOKYO/WASHINGTON: Japan and ally the United States sharply criticized China’s move to impose new rules on airspace over islands at the heart of a territorial dispute with Tokyo, warning of an escalation into the “unexpected” if Beijing enforces the rules. China’s government-run Xinhua news agency published coordinates for a newly established “East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone,” which covers most of that sea and includes the skies over the disputed islands. Beijing warned that it would take “defensive emergency measures” against aircraft that failed to identify themselves properly in the airspace.

Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said the move was unacceptable. “It could well lead to an unforeseen situation,” he told reporters yesterday. Ties between the Asian powers, the world’s second and third biggest economies, have been strained for months by the dispute over the islands in the East China Sea, called the Diaoyu by China and the Senkaku by Japan. The islands are currently under Japanese administrative control.

Saturday’s announcement suggests that foreign aircraft merely passing through that zone would have to follow China’s procedures - or face unknown, potentially dangerous consequences. US Secretary of State John Kerry urged China to exercise caution and restraint, saying freedom of overflight was essential to stability and security in the Pacific. “We urge China not to implement its threat to take action against aircraft that do not identify themselves or obey orders from Beijing,” he said in a statement.

“We remain steadfastly committed to our allies and partners, and hope to see a more collaborative and less confrontational future in the Pacific.” A US-Japan security treaty commits

Washington to intervene in defense of Japan if there is an attack on Japanese-administered territory. The United States has a hefty military presence in Japan, including on the southern island of Okinawa, which is close to the disputed isles.

Xinhua said in a commentary the “air zone could contribute to regional peace and security by curbing the increasing rampancy of Japan’s right-wing forces, as well as the continuous and dangerous provocations of Japanese politicians, which even Washington should be vigilant against”.

Tensions flared last year when the government bought three of the islands from a private landowner to fend off a potentially more inflammatory purchase by the Tokyo metropolitan government, at the time headed by nationalist governor Shintaro Ishihara. Tokyo lodged a strong protest through the Chinese embassy, calling the action “totally unacceptable” and warning that the overlap of the air defense identification zone could lead to an “unexpected occurrence of accidents in the airspace”.

A senior diplomat in China’s Tokyo embassy, Han Zhiqiang, dismissed Tokyo’s protests, saying in a statement that “Japan has no right to make irresponsible remarks”. Han said the Chinese government’s aim was to defend its national sovereignty and territorial airspace and was not aimed at a specific country or target. He added it did not affect the freedom to pass through the airspace.

Xinhua said the latest rules came into force on Saturday and China’s air force conducted its first patrol over the zone. The patrol included early warning aircraft and fighters, it said. Japan, for its part, scrambled fighter jets on Saturday afternoon against two Chinese reconnaissance

planes over the East China Sea, the Japanese Defense Ministry said.

In a strongly worded statement, US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel called Beijing’s move a “destabilizing attempt to alter the status quo in the region”. “This unilateral action increases the risk of misunderstanding and miscalculations,” he said. One U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Beijing’s move was being interpreted as “a direct challenge” to Japan’s operations in the area, believed to be surrounded by energy-rich seabed.

Security experts echoed the concerns about an escalation, saying that if China were to enforce the air defense identification zone, a non-military Chinese aircraft’s flying into it could lead to a military face-off between the two sides.

“If two fighter aircraft - one from their side and one from our side - meet in the air, that would create a precarious situation,” said Narushige Michishita, director at Japan’s National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies. “That’s very dangerous.”

Tensions in the region are expected to be a topic of discussion when Vice-President Joe Biden travels to China, Japan and South Korea in early December. The United States has not taken a position on sovereignty issues in the regional maritime disputes, but has stressed the need for the free flow of commerce, a reduction in tensions, and peace and stability in the region.

China’s move comes on the heels of a visit there last week by a delegation of Japanese business leaders in the hopes of improving economic ties. Trade between the two countries amounts to $250 billion annually, but Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping have yet to hold an official meeting.—Reuters

China president visits injured in oil blast

KARO: Mount Sinabung Sinabung spews volcanic material as seen from Karo, North Sumatra, Indonesia yesterday.— AP

BEIJING: China’s president yesterday visited hospitalized victims of deadly explosions that ripped through residential and commercial roads from a ruptured pipeline owned by the country’s largest oil refiner. The official death toll from the blasts rose to 52 earlier in the day after rescuers found more bodies in the aftermath of Friday’s industrial accident in eastern China. Eleven people were still missing, according to the information office of the government of the port city of Qingdao. Rescue efforts were continuing, the information office said. It said earlier that 136 people had been injured, 10 of whom were in critical condition.

The accident was the deadliest involving state-owned company Sinopec. State broadcaster CCTV showed President Xi Jinping visiting a hospital in Qingdao. He spoke with and held the hand of an elderly patient, and talked and patted the arm of another. He also told a group of doctors and nurses to put all their efforts into helping the injured.

The pipeline ruptured and leaked for about 15 minutes onto a street and into the sea before it was shut off. Hours later, as workers cleaned up the spill, the oil caught fire and exploded in two locations, the city government said. Sinopec’s expansion of petro-

chemical projects has met with resistance from members of the public, and Friday’s blasts will likely add to growing concern about safet y and environmental risks.

Sinopec apologized Saturday for the explosions, which ripped slabs of pavement and overturned vehicles. It said it would investigate and “give timely reports.” About 18,000 residents were evacuated following the explosions, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. It was China’s second-deadliest industrial accident of the year, after a chicken factor y fire in June in nor theastern Jilin province that killed 121 people. — AP

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2013

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2013

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Focus

Gulf states fear deal will boost Iran ambitions

By Acil Tabbara

unni-ruled Gulf monarchies feel let down by their US ally and want good relations with their Shiite neighbour Iran but also fear the Geneva nuclear deal will boost its regional ambitions, analysts say. Saudi Arabia and the oil- and gas-rich nations of the Gulf were weighing their reactions on Sunday hours after the agreement was signed between Iran and Western powers. Tehran agreed to curb its nuclear program in the breakthrough interim deal that world powers claimed was the biggest step in decade-long efforts to deny Iran an atomic bomb.

But Gulf states have never made a secret of their concerns about Iranian regional ambitions. “In principle, the Gulf states want good relations with Iran,” Saudi analyst Jamal Khashoggi told AFP. “But the (Geneva) agreement has reduced the Iran problem to the nuclear level only, while its regional interference is of key concern to these countries.” Khashoggi said Gulf states “fear Iran will see this accord as encouragement to act with a free hand in the region”. Tehran is a key backer of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, of the Shiite Alawite sect, in his fight against a nearly three-year insurrection. The Islamic republic is also seen as feeding instability in Bahrain and Yemen through the Shiite communities there.

But President Barack Obama moved quickly to reassure US allies on Sunday, saying Washington “will remain firm, as will our commitment to our friends and allies - particularly Israel and our Gulf partners, who have good reason to be sceptical about Iran’s intentions”. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed the nuclear agreement, calling it “not a historic agreement but rather a historic mistake”. He reiterated Israel’s right to defend itself, and his hawkish foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman said “all options are on the table”.

The Gulf states and Israel do not see eye-to-eye on Iran, said Khashoggi, adding that “the main problem of the Jewish state is (its own) nuclear” capability. For Saudi analyst Anwar Eshki, head of the Jeddah-based Middle East Centre for Strategic and Legal Studies, the deal “is not negative, but it is not enough”. Under the Geneva agreement, Iran will limit its nuclear program in exchange for $7 billion in sanctions relief.

Over the next six months, Iran and the United States, China, Russia, France, Britain and Germany are to negotiate a more comprehensive deal. “We are worried,” said Eshki, pointing to the $7 billion. “We need to know whether these funds will be used by the Iranian regime for its own people, or to further finance crises in the region,” he said, listing Gulf nations’ grievances with Iran. Tehran “stokes sectarian tensions between Sunnis and Shiites and fuels crisishit areas of the Arab world, in Syria, Lebanon and Yemen”, in addition to its territorial dispute over Gulf islands with the United Arab Emirates.

Distrust of Iran among Gulf states is fed by the fear that their traditional protector and ally the United States has abandoned them. Saudi Arabia, main backer of the Syrian opposition, took issue with Obama for not attacking Syria in September despite evidence the regime used chemical weapons against its own people, killing hundreds of civilians.

According to Khashoggi, officials in Gulf countries feel the Obama administration “is no longer interested in regional problems” in the Middle East.

This stand-off approach by Washington to the oilproducing region comes with the United States set to become the world’s top oil producer by 2015, because of booming shale oil output. “Countries in the region no longer have any confidence in the United States,” said Emirati analyst Abdulkhaleq Abdullah. For him, Washington “was over-zealous” in seeking to reach a speedy agreement with Iran’s new president, Hassan Rouhani. “But they (Gulf states) do retain confidence in other allies France and Germany,” he said, noting that the deal is “good in that it was agreed between Iran and the international community, not Iran and the US”. Abdullah said Gulf nations “may end up being the main beneficiaries of this agreement as it should defuse tensions in the region”. — AFP

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All articles appearing on these pages are the personal opinion of the writers. Kuwait Times takes no responsibility for views expressed therein. Kuwait Times invites readers to voice their opinions. Please send submissions via email to: opinion@kuwaittimes.net or via snail mail to PO Box 1301 Safat, Kuwait.

The editor reserves the right to edit any submission as necessary.

Iran deal leaves Israel few options

By Josef Federman fter feverishly trying to derail the international community’s nuclear deal with Iran in recent weeks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu now has little choice but to accept an agreement that he has derided as deeply flawed. Netanyahu believes the six-month deal leaves Iran’s military nuclear capabilities largely intact, while giving Iran relief from painful economic sanctions, undermining negotiations on the next stage. At the same time, Israel’s strongest piece of leverage, the threat of a military strike on Iran, seems to be out of the question despite Netanyahu’s insistence it would remain on the table.

“Today the world became a much more dangerous place because the most dangerous regime in the world made a significant step in obtaining the most dangerous weapons in the world,” Netanyahu told his Cabinet on Sunday, calling the deal a “historic mistake”. He said Israel was not bound by the agreement, and reiterated Israel’s right to “defend itself by itself,” a veiled reference to a possible military strike against Iran.

Netanyahu has spent years warning the world against the dangers of a nuclear-armed Iran, calling it an existential threat due to Iranian references to Israel’s destruction, its support of hostile militant groups on Israel’s borders and its development of missiles capable of reaching Israel and beyond.

Israel also believes that a nuclear-armed Iran will provide militant groups like Lebanon’s Hezbollah an “umbrella” of protection that will embolden them to carry out attacks. As momentum for a deal built the past week, Netanyahu delivered speech after speech and held meeting after meeting, urging the world to seek better terms from Iran. Last week, he

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hosted French President Francois Hollande, then rushed off to Moscow for talks with President Vladimir Putin in a last-ditch attempt to alter the agreement.

Netanyahu had said that any deal must ensure that Iran’s enriching of uranium - a key step toward making a nuclear bomb - must end. He also said all enriched material should be removed from the Islamic Republic, and called for the demolition of a plutonium reactor under construction. But after the deal was announced, it was clear that Netanyahu made little headway. While freezing parts of Iran’s enrichment capabilities, it will leave others, including the centrifuges that are used for enrichment, intact. The deal relies heavily on Iranian goodwill, a still-to-be-defined system of international inspections and the continued pain of sanctions that remain in place.

Yoel Guzansky, who used to monitor the Iranian nuclear program for Israel’s National Security Council, said a deal that would satisfy Israel was unlikely from the outset due to differing “red lines” between Israel and the US. While Israel sees any enrichment as a cause for concern, the US was willing to tolerate nuclear development as long as it was unable to produce weapons, said Guzansky, who is now an analyst at the Institute for National Security Studies, a Tel Aviv think tank.

“It’s a bad agreement because of what it symbolizes,” he said.

“It means Iran is getting an acceptance, a signature that it’s a legitimate country.” Even worse for Israel, he added, the agreement amounts to “acceptance of Iran as a nuclear threshold state.” US officials said Sunday’s deal was just a first step and further negotiations aim for a final agreement that would prevent any threat from Iran’s nuclear program. They said the relief from sanctions was minimal and that the most biting economic measures, including sanctions on Iran’s vital oil

industry, remained in place and more could be imposed if Iran fails to follow through. Guzansky predicted that despite the tough rhetoric, Israel would move quickly to repair relations with the US, its closest and most important ally, and do everything possible to influence the outcome of the world’s finalstatus talks with Iran. That could include speeches, threats of military action or behind-the-scenes diplomacy. Israel is not a direct participant in the talks but remains in close contact with many of the negotiators.

The relationship with the US will be critical as Israel conducts peace talks with the Palestinians in the coming months.

US Secretary of State John Kerry, who is mediating the talks, has set an April target date for reaching an agreement, and there is widespread speculation that the Americans will step up their involvement as the deadline approaches. Guzansky also said Israel’s main card - military action - appears to be out of the question right now. “How can Israel, after the entire international community sat with Iran, shook hands with Iran and signed an agreement, operate independently?” he said. “It will be seen as someone who sabotages 10 years of trying to get Iran to the table and trying to get a deal.”

Enrichment is at the heart of the dispute because it can be used for peaceful purposes or for producing a nuclear bomb.

Tehran insists its nuclear program is for civilian usage such as energy production and cancer treatment. Uranium at low levels of enrichment, up to 20 percent, is used in research or generating electricity. Uranium must be enriched to a far higher level - above 90 percent - to produce a warhead. So far, Iran is not known to have produced any at that level, but Israel argues that the technology for doing so is the same as that for enriching at lower levels.—AP

Thaw reshaping Mideast power balance

By William Maclean n interim international deal on Iran’s nuclear program could tilt the balance of power in the Middle East towards Tehran after two years of popular revolts that have weakened leading Arab nations.

Sunday’s agreement opens the way for a thaw in US-Iranian confrontation that has lasted almost as long as the US-Soviet Cold War, alarming Israel and Gulf Arab rulers who fear a new regional hegemon deeply hostile to their interests. The deal to curb but not scrap Iranian uranium enrichment, which the West has long believed was meant to develop a bomb, has implications far beyond weapons proliferation in a war-scarred region critical to world oil supplies.

For some Gulf Arab states, which see Tehran as a regional troublemaker, and for Israel, which regards Iran as a mortal threat, the Geneva agreement means they have failed to dissuade Washington from a course they suspect will end in tears, such is their distrust of the Islamic Republic. Iran will grow richer and stronger through the easing and eventual lifting of sanctions that have shackled its economy, emboldening its Islamist rulers to step up support to Shiite allies in Arab countries, critics of the deal say.

In contrast, supporters of the accord say a rapprochement between two powers so long at odds could help stabilise a region in turmoil and reduce sectarian strains that have set Shiite and Sunni Muslims bloodily against each other.

Mistrust has been mutual, as it was in the postWorld War Two impasse between the West and the Soviet Union. The United States and Iran have had no official ties since 1980 after Iranian students occupied the US embassy in Tehran, taking 52 diplomats hostage in protest against Washington’s admission of the former Shah after he was toppled by the Islamic revolution.

With the historic Arab power centres of Egypt, Syria and Iraq all weakened by uprisings and sectarian strife, a new start with Tehran has emerged as an enticing potential win for a US administration in search of a foreign policy success. Rami Khoury of the American University of Beirut described the interim deal restricting Iran’s nuclear work as a “very good thing” that could eventually lead to rapprochement between Tehran’s clerical rulers and US-allied Gulf Arab states.

“If the negotiations continue on and keep

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working, and the sanctions are slowly removed, it will revive Iran’s economy, and eventually its liberal movement and I think we will slowly see social and political progress in the country,” Khoury said. “In the short run it encourages cooperation between the United States and Iran to try and deal with Syria and stop the violence there. Right now there is a common threat developing, the (Sunni militants) who will bomb the Iranians, bomb the US, as we’ve seen, so they’re everybody’s enemy right now.”

Experts say Gulf Arab countries will try to piece together a diplomatic and security strategy with like-minded countries to reduce their vulnerability to a resurgent Iran now eagerly contemplating a future free of crippling sanctions. For his part, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the interim deal was a historic mistake because “the most dangerous regime in the world took a significant step towards obtaining the world’s most dangerous weapon.” He reaffirmed a long-standing Israeli threat of possible military action against Iran, although a member of his security cabinet

acknowledged the interim accord limited that option.

At the heart of Gulf Arab concerns is a belief that the moderate Iranian officials who negotiated the nuclear deal are not the hard men in charge of what they see as Shiite meddling in Sunni Arab countries. Those forces remain dominant in the Revolutionary Guards and intelligence services. Gulf Arabs cite as a prime example Iranian support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, member of a sect that is an offshoot of Shiism, who has waged a 2-1/2-yearold war against mostly Sunni rebels backed in part by Gulf Arabs. A senior Gulf Arab official close to Saudi government thinking told Reuters the kingdom’s attitude continued to be characterised largely by “suspicion”, based on Iranian involvement in Syria, Yemen and Bahrain. “The atomic arsenal is not their only arsenal - it is the mischief arsenal they have that worries us,” he said. “We have had a lot of accords and promises from them in the past.

Now, we hope to see a corrective process with this deal.” The disclosure that senior US officials held secret bilateral talks with Iranian counter-

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (left) reacts next to EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton as US Secretary of State John Kerry (second right) embraces French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius early yesterday in Geneva. — AFP

parts in recent months to prepare for the nuclear agreement may exacerbate Gulf Arab rulers’ fears that Washington is willing to go behind their backs to do a deal with Iran. Many Gulf Arabs suspect that the commercial imperatives that have driven decades of US engagement with them are similar to those driving US outreach to Tehran - business. “The US has its interests - Iran is a lucrative market. Iranians need a lot of infrastructure for rebuilding that could generate billions of dollars for US and UK oil companies,” said Abdullatif Al-Mulhim, a retired Saudi navy commodore and now a newspaper commentator.

In addition, some Gulf Arabs fret that a United States increasingly self reliant in energy thanks to domestic shale gas might be less committed to guarding the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow artery through which 40 percent of global sea-borne oil exports pass. Sami Al-Faraj, a security adviser to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), said Gulf Arab governments would now work diplomatically and on the security level to ensure they were adequately protected against any resurgent Iranian ambitions. Gulf Arabs felt slighted by the deal, he suggested. “Iran is sitting at the high table. We are left with the leftovers.” He added: “We will acquire more weapons...We are going to check if our shopping list is adequate to respond to this.” “We are going to rally other nations that are hurt by this action into a unified diplomatic campaign,” Fajr said.

Warming US-Iranian relations could help Assad in Syria. Some analysts speculate that Washington’s need to protect what could become one of its few diplomatic achievements in the region will mean that it will do whatever it needs to keep the Iranian thaw on track. “Now, the US is even less likely to put serious pressure on Iran over their support of the Assad regime during the negotiations,” said Shadi Hamid of the Brookings Doha think-tank.

“And, obviously, with everyone’s attention on Iran, Assad has cover to do pretty much whatever he wants.”

Emile Hokayem of the International Institute of Strategic Studies, played down the idea that Israel and Gulf Arab states would make common cause in any systematic way against Iran. “It’s a convergence of interest, it’s not an alliance,” he said. “Each of them could reinforce messages on Capitol Hill, but don’t be too carried away by the possibility of direct cooperation.” — Reuters

NEWS

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2013

KUWAIT: A family stands next to a tank at the aquarium of the Scientific Center yesterday. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat

Deal fuels anger, jitters in Mideast Continued from Page 1 in its march toward a nuclear bomb. “Today the world became a much more dangerous place,” Netanyahu said.

Israeli officials acknowledged they would have to turn their focus toward affecting the outcome of the final negotiations. Israel is not part of the Geneva talks but remains in close touch with the US and other participants.

Israel feels especially threatened by Iran, given Tehran’s repeated references to destroying Israel, its support for hostile militant groups on Israel’s borders and its development of long-range missiles. Israeli President Shimon Peres, a Nobel Peace laureate, expressed cautious optimism that yesterday’s deal could change the region. “I would like to say to the Iranian people: You are not our enemies and we are not yours. There is a possibility to solve this issue diplomatically. It is in your hands. Reject terrorism. Stop the nuclear program. Stop the development of long-range missiles,” he said.

Another Nobel peace laureate, Mohammed ElBaradei, Egypt’s pro-democracy leader and former director of the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency, welcomed the deal. In a tweet on his official account, he wrote: “After decade of failed policies, world better off w/ Iran deal.

Equity, trust building, respect & dialogue R key to any conflict resolution.”

The muted response in the Gulf came after the rulers of Qatar and Kuwait met Saudi King Abdullah over the weekend to discuss regional issues, foremost Iran. Saudi Arabia and Iran’s regional enmity increasingly has played out as a proxy war in Syria with both countries providing lethal support for the warring sides.

Saudi Arabia also accuses Iran of backing Shiite unrest across the region. Bucking the trend, the tiny Gulf countries of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates praised the agreement. Hamas called the deal a sign of Iran’s rising power and prominence. “We welcome this agreement if it will the end of the fear of any weapons of mass destruction

in the region,” Bahrain Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa told reporters in Manama.

Across Europe, countries welcomed the deal. Britain and France, which both participated in the negotiations, said they were committed to seeing the deal succeed, while Spain, Norway and Sweden expressed hope for a broader solution. “The agreement represents an important step toward the normalization of relations between the international community and Iran, and toward a general agreement that promotes stability and security in the region,” Spain said.

Herman Van Rompuy, president of the European Council, called it an important step toward “providing assurances that guarantee the peaceful nature of the Iranian nuclear program”. Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose government also participated in the talks, said the agreement vindicated Russia’s calls for a diplomatic solution. “The result of Geneva is a win for all, showing once again that by working collectively and with mutual respect it is possible to find answers to current international challenges and threats,” Putin said in a statement released by the Kremlin.

Iran’s eastern neighbor Pakistan, a declared nuclear power, said the deal “should augur well for peace and security in our region and the world at large.” Turkey, which borders Iran to the west, called it a “new start”.

Pakistan’s rival India, another nuclear power, also welcomed the deal. Iran’s allies, meanwhile, lined up behind the deal. Iraqi government spokesman Ali Al-Moussawi called it a “step forward in order to solve other regional problems.”

The Syrian government, which relies on Iran’s support in its battle against rebels fighting to topple President Bashar Assad, also said it was proof that negotiations were the best way to resolve a conflict. The Western-backed Syrian opposition, the Syrian National Council, said they feared the deal would give Iran “legitimacy” to keep up its support of Assad’s forces in Syria.

MP questions expatriate numbers...

Continued from Page 1 category own more than 10,000 vehicles. Awadhi, who was director of the immigration department before he was elected MP, also asked for the number of expatriates who own two cars and more, and inquired about reports that 15 Arabs and foreigners own between 300 and 1,000 vehicles each. The lawmaker asked for the number of Kuwaitis who own three cars and more, and the number of Gulf citizens and bedoons who own more than two cars and if it was true that Gulf citizens own more than 110,000 vehicles. “Are there 110,000 Gulf citizens actually living in Kuwait?” he wondered. Awadhi also demanded the number of roaming taxi offices, and the number of cars registered by them.

Meanwhile, State Minister for Housing and Municipality Salem Al-Othaina said yesterday he was ready for the debate of the two grillings filed against him in tomorrow’s session and insisted that he will not demand a secret session. MPs filed the two grillings against the minister for allegedly failing to implement the housing strategy, thus causing the number of applications from citizens for houses to reach a record number of around 107,000 applications. The grilling request was filed by MP Riyadh Al-Adasani.

Two other MPs - Abdullah Al-Tameemi and Faisal AlDuwaisan - also filed another request to grill Othaina holding him responsible for ordering the municipality to remove a number of tents erected by Shiites to mark Ashura. Othaina said he will not demand the second grilling to be debated behind closed doors amid reports that a number of MPs will demand that the grilling be debated in a secret session because of its sectarian sensitivity.

The minister yesterday presented to the National

Assembly housing committee a plan that will greatly ease the housing problem. He said that he also informed the committee the legislation and measures needed to resolve the crisis. The Assembly is scheduled to hold a special debate on the housing issue next month.

In another development, the Assembly’s health committee ruled yesterday that the controversial transfer of a senior Kuwaiti doctor from the Amiri hospital to the Infectious Diseases Hospital was “a correct decision” and taken without any violation on part of the minister. Health Minister Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah Al-Sabah took the decision earlier this month to move Dr Kefaya Abdulmalek, who alleged that the decision was politically motivated to appease a lawmaker.

Her colleagues said the decision was taken after the MP complained to the minister that the doctor did not keep his ailing father in the ICU for a sufficient time although the doctor said she did what was medically required.

Committee Rapporteur MP Saadoun Hammad said that the committee discussed the issue in detail and found the transfer decision was normal and correct.

Head of the committee MP Saad Al-Khanfour said that the panel found that the minister had taken similar decisions and Abdulmalek was not singled out.

However, MP Hussein Al-Quwaiaan, who grilled the health minister, said he has registered his objection to the committee decision being a member in the panel, adding that the panel’s probe was not neutral. He said that the committee refused to review a text message sent by the health ministry undersecretary to Dr Kefaya on her mobile telling her to keep the lawmaker’s father in the ICU on the instructions of the minister.

Powers, Iran clinch ‘historic’ nuke deal Continued from Page 1 no such reference. European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who has been coordinating diplomatic contacts with Iran on behalf of the major powers, said the accord created time and space for follow-up talks on a comprehensive solution to the dispute. “This is only a first step,” said Iranian Foreign Minister and chief negotiator Mohammad Javad Zarif.

“We need to start moving in the direction of restoring confidence, a direction which we have managed to move against in the past.”

Downtrodden by sanctions, many Iranians expressed joy at the breakthrough and prospect of economic improvement. Iran’s rial currency, decimated earlier this year due to sanctions, jumped more than 3 percent on news of the deal yesterday. Obama said that if Iran did not meet its commitments during the six-month period covered by the interim deal, Washington would turn off the tap of sanctions relief and “ratchet up the pressure”.

“There are substantial limitations which will help prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon,” he said in a late-night appearance at the White House after the deal was sealed. “Simply put, they cut off Iran’s most likely paths to a bomb.”

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the deal as it left the nuclear fuel-producing infrastructure of its arch-foe intact. “What was achieved last night in Geneva is not a historic agreement, it was a historic mistake,” he said. “Today the world has become a much more dangerous place because the most dangerous regime in the world took a significant step towards obtaining the world’s most dangerous weapon,” he said in public remarks to his cabinet. He reiterated a long-standing Israeli threat of possible military action against Iran - even as a member of his security cabinet conceded that the interim accord limited this option.

Some analysts pointed out the risk of hardliners in both Iran and the US Congress acting to scuttle the breakthrough. But big power foreign ministers seemed relieved and elated after Ashton read out a statement proclaiming the deal in the middle of the night at the United Nations office in Geneva. Ashton and Kerry US Secretary of State John Kerry hugged each other. Kerry and Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov shook hands.

Minutes later, as Iran’s delegation posed for photos, Zarif and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius embraced. France had taken the hardest line on Iran in recent talks.

The West has long suspected that Iran has been seeking covertly to develop a nuclear weapons capability.

The Islamic Republic, a major oil producer, denies that, saying its nuclear program is a peaceful quest for an alternative source of electricity to serve a rapidly expanding population. The United States said the deal halts advances in Iran’s nuclear program, including construction of the Arak heavy-water reactor that deeply worries the West as it could yield plutonium, another atomic bomb ingredient, once operational.

It would neutralise Iran’s stockpile of uranium refined to a concentration of 20 percent, which is a close step away from the level needed for weapons, and calls for enhanced, more frequent UN nuclear inspections, a senior US official said. A US fact sheet said Iran has also committed to suspending enrichment above a fissile purity of 5 percent - the threshold suitable for running nuclear power stations, which is Iran’s stated purpose.

Refined uranium also provides the fissile core of an atomic bomb if refined to a high degree. In return, Iran could obtain access to $1.5 billion in revenue from trade in gold and precious metals and the suspension of some sanctions on its automotive sector, and see its petrochemical exports revive.

But the deal, while freezing US plans for deeper cuts to Iranian oil exports, will not allow any more Iranian oil into the market or let Western energy investors into the country, US officials said. Iranian oil exports will remain

for now at currently markedly reduced levels. “$4.2 billion from these sales will be allowed to be transferred in instalments if, and as, Iran fulfils its commitments,” a White House fact sheet said. Much of the sanctions infrastructure, anchored by a Western embargo on Iranian crude oil and a ban on Iranian use of the international banking system, would remain in place pending a final deal aimed at removing all risk of an Iranian atom bomb.

“The approximately $7 billion in relief is a fraction of the costs that Iran will continue to incur during this first phase under the sanctions that will remain in place,” the White House said. “The vast majority of Iran’s approximately $100 billion in foreign exchange holdings are inaccessible or restricted.” Relief from sanctions is to begin in two to three weeks, Iran’s Mehr news agency quoted Zarif as saying.

“Important and encouraging first stage agreement with Iran. This ... shows it is possible to work with Iran, and through diplomacy address intractable problems,” British Foreign Secretary William Hague said via his Twitter account. “(It is) good for the whole world, including Middle Eastern countries and the people of Iran themselves. Negotiations were painstaking. Tomorrow, hard work begins of implementing and building on the agreement.”

The deal does not recognise an Iranian right to enrich uranium, US officials said. Leaders of the Islamic Republic, nevertheless, welcomed the accord and insisted it did amount to a recognition of what they say is Tehran’s right to enrich uranium. “This can be the basis for further intelligent actions. Without a doubt the grace of God and the prayers of the Iranian nation were a factor in this success,” Khamenei, who has the ultimate say on policy in Iran, wrote in a letter to President Hassan Rouhani published by the state news agency IRNA. Rouhani, a moderate elected by a landslide in June promising “constructive engagement” with the world and relief from sanctions, said the “outcome of these negotiations is that the ... world powers have recognised Iran’s nuclear rights”. Rouhani’s attempts to repair diplomatic bridges broken by his bellicose predecessor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his success in winning the backing of Khamenei reignited negotiations which had dragged on inconclusively, with the two sides talks reciting irreconcilable positions to each other, for 10 years.

“Ultimately, it is the Iranian people and the American people who deserve the most credit. Both are responsible for this initial victory by rejecting defeatists who said that a brighter future was not possible (and) diplomacy could not succeed,” said Trita Parsi, president of the National Iranian American Council (NIAC) thinktank. But many obstacles remain, he cautioned.

“Hardliners in both countries will work harder than ever to sabotage this pivot towards a diplomatic path. Those whose only currency is confrontation will search for any opportunities they can find to undermine and sabotage this interim deal.”

For now though, many Iranians were joyful. A post in Farsi by Zarif announcing the deal on his Facebook page received 47,979 “likes” in two hours. There was an outpouring of gratitude and many described him as a “national hero”. “I am writing this comment with my eyes filled with tears. Thank you for everything ... After many years, you have returned happiness to the people.

You have restored hope in our hearts and pride in my country,” commented Mehrnoosh Mohebi.

Kerry said the agreement would make it harder for Iran to make a dash to build a nuclear weapon and would make Israel and other US allies safer. He also told a late night Geneva news conference that while Obama would not take off the table the possible use of force against Iran, he believed it was necessary first to exhaust diplomacy. He stressed that the limited sanctions relief could be rescinded if Iran did not fully carry out the deal. — Agencies

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2013

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Canale sidelined for 6 months: Federation

FIFA calls for new Iraq football vote

Injured Hamsik ruled out of Dortmund trip

MILAN: Italy centre Gonzalo Canale is facing more than six months on the sidelines after suffering a fracture to his right leg in the 19-14 defeat to Argentina in Rome, the Italian rugby federation said yesterday. Canale was forced off in the final minutes of the game and replaced by Tommaso Benvenuti, before being immediately taken to hospital. The La Rochelle centre spent the night in hospital where he has been diagnosed with a “fracture of the tibial plateau on the right leg”, according to the statement issued by the federation (FIR). It added that Canale, one of Italy’s most experienced players, who picked up his 86th cap on Saturday, was facing a “functional recovery” time of around six months. That would rule the Argentine-born back out of Italy’s Six Nations campaign in February and March. Italy enjoyed perhaps their best ever Six Nations campaigns last season after securing wins over France and Ireland and coming within seven points of what would have been a momentous victory over England. However that was mitigated by an unspectacular November series-following on the back of a poor June tour to South Africa-with the Azzurri losing heavily to Australia (50-20), missing out against Argentina and claiming only one unconvincing win (37-31) over an ill-disciplined Fiji, who were at one point reduced to briefly to 11 men. — AFP

BAGHDAD: World football’s governing body has told Iraq’s embattled football association to hold leadership elections next year after a court ruled a July vote involved multiple problems, an Iraqi football official said. “On Friday, we received an official notice from FIFA recommending the new elections be held on January 20,” Iraqi Football Association (IFA) Vice President Abdulkhaliq Massud told AFP. “We are waiting for additional recommendations from both FIFA and the Asian association regarding the supervision of these elections,” he added, referring to the Asian Football Confederation. FIFA’s decision comes after contested IFA elections in 2011, and amid a string of negative news for sport in football-mad Iraq. They range from decisions earlier this year to bar the country from hosting international friendlies to the increased targeting of football pitches by militant groups carrying out attacks. The decision was made after a ruling by the Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration for Sport, an international court that settles sports-related disputes, after claimants alleged multiple problems with the IFA’s last leadership elections in June 2011. —AFP

MILAN: Attacking midfielder Marek Hamsik has been ruled out of Napoli’s Champions League trip to Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday after suffering a foot injury against Parma, the Serie A side said yesterday.

Slovakian Hamsik came on as a late substitute against Parma on Saturday but was forced off just nine minutes later after suffering the knock.

Napoli said in a post on Twitter Hamsik had suffered a “serious knock on his left foot” and “is not included on the squad list for the Borussia-Napoli (game).” A late goal by former Inter Milan striker Antonio Cassano stunned Napoli 1-0 to hand Parma a precious away win and leave the southerners in danger of dropping to fourth place later yesterday. Rafael Benitez’s men will be looking to regroup ahead of a trip to Dortmund where a draw will be enough to send them into the knock-out stages ahead of their final Group F game at home to Arsenal on December 11. —AFP

Group pictures with officials and winners.

Sheikh Ali Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah shooting tournament

Results of the tournament

Large participation from club shooters

By Abdellatif Sharaa KUWAIT: The tournament of late Sheikh Ali Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah that was held at Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Olympic Shooting Complex came to a conclusion on Saturday in the presence of sheikhs Sabah Bader Sabah AlSalem, Sabah Ahmad Sabah Al-Salem, Nasser Bader Sabah Al-Salem and Sabah Mohammad Sabah Al-Salem along with Kuwait Shooting Club Vice-president Mohammad Mustafa Karam, Secretary General of Arab and Kuwait Shooting Federations Obaid Al-Osaimi, Assistant Secretary Engr Mohammad Al-Ghurba, Assistant Treasurer Adnan Al-Ibrahim and Board Member Dr Nidal

Al-Sayyed Omar.

The tournament witnessed large participation from club shooters, National Guard, juniors and Sheikh Saad Shooting Academy students, as well as Kuwait handicapped club. Shooters from Qatar’s Shooting Federation also participated.

The tournament included rifle, pistol and shotgun events.

Tournament sponsor, Head of the National Security Department Sheikh Tamer Ali Sabah AlSalem, visited the complex, and toured the ranges during competition, and expressed his satisfaction towards the level of the shooters and the strong competition between shooters, to get the best results.

KSSC Secretary General Obaid Al-Osaimi said during the closing ceremony the late Sheikh Ali Al-Sabah was instrumental in launching Kuwait shooting in the international arena, as he headed the first shooting delegation that represented Kuwait in the (CISM) military championships.

He said Sheikh Ali took the responsibility of rebuilding Kuwait Army after the liberation of Kuwait from the Iraqi occupation. He added that the shooting club is keen on organizing the tournament to remember the late sheikh and his stands.

Al-Osaimi thanked the family of the late sheikh for their continued support of this annual event and congratulated the winners.

Skeet-men: Zaid Dakhil Al-Mutairi, Saud A. Habib, Abdelaziz M. Al-Saad.

Trap-men: Fuhaid Al-Daihani, Nasser B. Al-Miqlid, Abdelrahman Al-Faihan.

Double-trap men: Mishal S. Al-Thafiri, Fuhaid Al-Daihani, Ahmad M. Al-Afasi.

Trap-women: Shahad Al-Hawal, Sarah Al-Hawal, Asmaa Al-Qatani.

Skeet-women: Sheikha A. Al-Rashid, Afrah A. Abdelrahman, Iman S. Al-Shamma.

Skeet-juniors: Abdelaziz A. Al-Saad, Nasser M. Al-Azmi, Nasser Al-Mutairi.

Trap-juniors: Talal A. Al-Rashidi, Mohammad Al-Hamly, Khalid T. Al-Murad.

Skeet-shooting School: Ali Al-Rashidi, Khalid Al-Najdi, Abdelrahman Mohammad.

Trap-shooting School: Ali Al-Rashidi, Mubarak Al-Maimooni, Mohammad Al-Hajiri.

Air pistol-men: Hamad A. Al-Mamshan, Mideth A. Al-Sahli, Hassan A. Al-Mulla.

Air rifle-men: Ali F. Al-Mutairi, Abdallah A. Al-Harbi, Mohammad A. Abdelrahman.

Air pistol-women: Iman A. Bouland, Israa A. Dashti, Huthama A. Al-Baghli.

Air rifle-women: Mariam Irzouqi, Ayat Al-Dowaikhi, Heba Irzouqi.

Air rifle-junior women: Ayat H. Al-Dowaikhi, Heba M. Irzouqi, Zahra K. Al-Saffar.

Air rifle-juniors: Ali Farhan Al-Mutairi, Bandar N Al-Mutairi, Mohammad A Abdelrahman.

Air pistol-juniors: Sami Wasmi, Khalifa Al-Thafiri, Sultan Al-Thafiri.

Air pistol-Shooting School Men: Kareedi M. Kareedi, Mushari A. Al-Enezi, Fahad A. Saleh.

10m pistol - handicapped: Tawfiq Ashkanani, Khalid Khalaif, Ali Khalifa.

Dwyer lifts Sporting into MLS Cup final

HONG KONG: Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia prepares to hit a shot against Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia during the men’s singles final match at the Hong Kong Open badminton tournament yesterday. Lee won 21-13, 21-9. — AFP

Lee victorious at Hong Kong Open HONG KONG: Malaysia’s world number one Lee Chong Wei stormed to victory in the Hong Kong Open yesterday, whipping Indonesia’s Sony Dwi Kuncoro in straight games to bag his sixth tournament of the season.

Amid raucous support at the Hong Kong Coliseum, top-seeded Lee needed only 33 minutes to inflict a 21-13, 21-9 bruising on his three-time Asian champion opponent. The victory means the 31-year-old goes into next month’s Badminton World Federation (BWF) finals on home soil having won six of the Superseries’ 12 rounds.

Lee’s dominant display against the Indonesian, which included 24 winning smashes, capped a superb tournament in which he did not drop a single game. “I never thought I would do so well. It’s a final. Sony has been doing well,” Lee, who is feted in his homeland as a celebrity, told reporters after his match.

“Six is my lucky number. I like number six,” he joked, referring to his tournament wins this season. In the women’s draw, China’s Wang Yihan was made to toil hard for her 21-13, 1621, 21-15 victory against compatriot Wang Shixian, in the day’s longest match.

The third-seed easily won the first game before Wang mounted a comeback in the second. In the final, the two players took turns to lead until they were tied at 11-11, when the determined former world champion pulled

ahead, increasing her lead before taking the match with a smash.

She admitted, however, victory had not come easy. “I am not in my best shape. I had been satisfied for getting into the final,” she told reporters after the match, adding though that her knee injury has been recovering well. In the mixed doubles, British newly-weds Chris Adcock and Gabrielle White beat China’s Bao Yixin and Liu Cheng 21-14, 24-22, overcoming nerves in their prolonged second game.

It was the couple’s first BWF victory since tying the knot in September. Adcock said they would allow themselves only a short break before resuming training for next month’s finals in Kuala Lumpur.

“It’s definitely our first championship since marriage so we’re really really happy about it,” Adcock told reporters after the match. “A long flight home, a few days off and then I am going to have to get training for the finals in Malaysia,” Adcock said.

In the all-Korean men’s doubles final, Lee Yong-Dae and Yoo Yeon-Seong fought back from one game down to claim victory against fourth seeded countrymen Kim Ki-Jung and Kim Sa-Rang 12-21, 21-15, 21-18. In the women’s doubles, fifth-seeded Chinese pair Bao Yixin and Tang Jinhua came from behind to beat their younger compatriots Ou Dongni and Tang Yuanting 18-21, 21-16, 21-15. — AFP

KANSAS CITY: Dominic Dwyer’s second-half goal lifted Sporting Kansas City to a 2-1 victory over the Houston Dynamo and into Major League Soccer’s MLS Cup final on Saturday.

After a draw without goals in the first leg of their Western Conference playoff final in Houston, Saturday’s victory gave Sporting a 2-1 aggregate triumph and their first appearance in Major League Soccer’s title match since the 2004 season. Kansas City will host either Real Salt Lake or the Portland Timbers in the MLS Cup final on December 7.

Real Salt Lake posted a 4-2 home win in the first leg of the Western Conference final and visit Portland on Sunday for the return leg.

Saturday’s win was sweet revenge for Sporting, who were knocked out of the post-season

by Houston in each of the past two seasons. The winner came in the 63rd minute as Benny Feilhaber drove to the heart of the Houston defense, drawing three defenders before lofting the ball to an onrushing Dwyer.

Early on it looked like Dynamo again had Sporting’s number, the visitors scoring just three minutes in. Andrew Driver got the scoring play started with a crisp ball from the left into the penalty area.

It was headed by Brad Davis to Boniek Garcia, who worked his way past several Kansas City defenders and fired it past Sporting goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen. The hosts equalized in the 14th minute when C.J. Sapong pounced on a poor clearance in the penalty area and beat Houston keeper Tally Hall. — AFP

MELBOURNE: Jason Day, left, of Australia and compatriot Adam Scott pose with the World Cup of Golf trophy for photographers after winning the team event at Royal Melbourne Golf Course in Australia, yesterday. — AP

Day wins World Cup as Australia take team title MELBOURNE: Jason Day helped end a 24-year winless drought for Australia at the World Cup yesterday and took the event’s individual honour in an emotional double-triumph after losing eight relatives to Typhoon Haiyan.

He combined with reigning US Masters champion Adam Scott in storming to “team” victory by a massive 10 shots over the United States, claiming an Australian success for the first time since Wayne Grady and Peter Fowler captured the title in 1989 in Spain.

The Filipino-Australian also won the individual honour along with a $US1.2 million first prize cheque in posting a final round 70 to defeat Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn by two shots with a 10-under par tally. The 27-year-old started the final round one shot ahead of Bjorn and despite a bogey at the first, he was never behind after holing a 95-yard wedge shot for eagle at the par four, sixth hole.

It was Day’s first victory on home soil since turning professional in 2006 and it came just days after learning his grandmother, uncle and six cousins were among thousands killed by Typhoon Haiyan which struck the Philippines on November 8.

“It feels great to win in Australia for a first time but then I really don’t know what to think about right now,” said Day, whose Filippino-born mother Dening and sisters broke into tears in witnessing his triumph.

“All the hard work and dedication I have put into my game, especially over the last five to 10 years when I have really taken it seriously, is paying off. “It has taken me a while to get my second wind and it just seems fitting to

have Scotty by my side and for the two of us to share victory in the World Cup down here in Melbourne.

“Even though it was very difficult conditions again today out there, it was a lot of fun, and today I learnt a lot about myself and I am just really excited for next week to get started, as well.”

Scott commenced his round in brilliant fashion, holing a 120-yard wedge shot for eagle at the first and birding his next two holes to continue his scintillating form having won the the Australian PGA and Australian Masters already this month.

Both Day and Scott now head to Sydney for Thursday’s Australian Open where Scott will be looking to become only the second player in the history of Australian golf to win the “Australian Grand Slam”-winning all three main Australian events in the same year.

“I now have to get myself ready for the Australian Open and it’s something that means so much to all the Australian golfers, and at a great venue like Royal Sydney,” he said.

“I am looking forward to the challenge and obviously Jason is playing great, while there is a host of other players who would badly love to win this coming week. “So I am going to have my work cut out.”

Despite Scott’s third place individual finish, he will remain in second place on the World Rankings behind 14time Major winning Tiger Woods. Bjorn had led after two rounds with a pair of 68s but could manage no better than a pair of 71s over the weekend, but the Dane was gracious in defeat.—AFP

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2013

S P ORT S Photo of the day

All Blacks make history in cruel fashion against Irish NZ complete perfect year with last-gasp Ireland win

David Coulthard of Scotland performs in a Red Bull Racing Formula One car on the helipad of the Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on October 30, 2013. — www.redbullcontentpool.com

Vettel takes record ninth win in a row SAO PAULO: Red Bull’s quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel won the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix yesterday to chalk up a record ninth victory in a row and 13th of the year.

Australian team mate Mark Webber bowed out of Formula One with second place, anchoring a Red Bull onetwo in his 215th and final race for the champions before heading to Le Mans sportscars with Porsche.

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, this season’s overall-runnerup, finished third on a day when the skies over Interlagos failed to deliver the rain that had forced delays to qualifying on Saturday. Vettel is the first Formula One driver to win nine successive races in a single season although Italian Alberto Ascari strung together nine in a row over two campaigns in 1952-53.

“Guys, I am so proud of you. I love you. Remember this, enjoy this moment. Yes. We did it. This is unbelievable,” the 26-year-old German said, his voice wavering over the team radio after he took the chequered flag.

Vettel’s victory equalled compatriot Michael Schumacher’s 2004 record with Ferrari of 13 wins in a season. “I am actually quite sad that this season is coming to an end,” he said in a podium interview after he and Alonso had doused Webber, who ends the year third in the championship, in champagne.

Vettel and Red Bull had secured their fourth successive drivers’ and constructors’ titles in India last month. Jenson Button, the 2009 world champion and last before Vettel, finished fourth for McLaren - a result that rescued the team from suffering their worst season since their debut in 1966 even if they failed to stand on the podium at any point in 2013.

Nico Rosberg was fifth for Mercedes, who end the championship as overall runners-up and six points ahead of Ferrari. Mexican Sergio Perez was sixth, after starting 19th following a five place grid penalty, in his final appearance for McLaren with his future uncertain.

Brazilian Felipe Massa, angry and incredulous after being handed a drive-through penalty, brought down the curtain on eight years as a Ferrari driver with seventh place in front of his home fans.

Mercedes’s Lewis Hamilton was ninth and was also handed a drive-through penalty for a coming together with Finland’s Valtteri Bottas that left the Briton limping back to the pits with a puncture while the Williams shed a rear tyre and retired. Marussia won the battle with Malaysian-owned Caterham for 10th place in the constructors’ championship - a position with considerable financial implications for both with only the top 10 getting a share of the revenues. — Reuters

DUBLIN: World Champions New Zealand became the first team in the professional era to win all their Test matches in a calendar year as Aaron Cruden converted with the last kick of the game to beat Ireland 24-22 in a pulsating encounter at Lansdowne Road yesterday. The Irish had stormed into a 22-7 half-time lead but they failed to score a point in the second-half and a missed penalty by Johnny Sexton four minutes from time cost them their first ever victory over the All Blacks.

It was the fifth time the Irish had conceded a half-time lead to their opponents and leaves them with just a draw and 27 defeats in their head to head meetings, while the All Blacks finish with 14 wins from 14 Tests in 2013.

The Irish early fire was rewarded in the fifth minute as, having driven deep into All Black territory, Conor Murray went over and following a video review the try was awarded for his second Test score in his 22nd appearance, although it appeared he may have dropped the ball.

Sexton converted to take him over the 300-point mark with 301. Incredibly, the Irish were over again for a second try in the 11th minute as Rory Best scored the sixth of his 70-Test career. It stemmed from a superb move orchestrated by the scrum, with Sean O’Brien making the decisive break but Murray did brilliantly to keep it alive, taking a great catch low down, and the ball ended up with Best to touch down.

Sexton converted to unbelievably give the hosts a 14-0 lead.

The Irish were rampant and had a third try in the 19th minute as Rob Kearney, who had been a doubt through the week with a rib injury, ran it back from inside his 22 after Israel Dagg spilled the ball into his hands. Sexton’s conversion hit the post to leave Ireland leading 19-0 and bringing back memories of the last Test under Warren Gatland’s reign in 2001 when they led 21-7 at the break only to lose.

Finally this appeared to spark the flat All Blacks into putting together some fluent running rugby, which produced a try.

Cruden spotted a huge gap behind the Irish defence, chipped through and the prolific Julian Savea, who was unmarked on the wing, ran onto the ball to touch down in the 26th minute.

Cruden converted for 19-7. The Irish, though, were not deflated by that in the least and stormed back deep into All Black territory, only prevented from going over by some gritty defence and were eventually rewarded with a penalty which Sexton slotted over for 22-7.

The Irish came out equally fired up for the second-half but it was their defence that held up as Dagg thought he had got over in the 50th minute only for Murray to be judged to have had his arm under the ball as it was grounded. However, Irish lock Devin Toner handed Cruden an easy three points, for 22-10, as he obstructed Wyatt Crockett when the Irish were about to clear their lines.

Cruden, though, missed an opportunity to reduce the deficit further with a long range penalty as the rampaging O’Brien attracted the ire of referee Nigel Owens.

Nevertheless, the All Blacks started to really test the Irish resilience and with 15 minutes remaining they went over through replacement prop Ben Franks and Cruden converted for 22-17, with the scent of an unlikely victory filling their nostrils.

However, the indomitable spirit of the Irish shone as they drew on their last dregs of energy, pressuring the All Blacks into conceding a penalty which Sexton took an age over, but to gasps of disbelief he sent it wide of the posts.

The costliness of that miss was laid bare in the final remarkable passage of play by the All Blacks as Ryan Crotty went over in the corner and Cruden, at the second time of asking, slotted over the conversion to achieve that unlikely victory. — AFP

DUBLIN: New Zealand’s outside half Aaron Cruden (C) is tackled by Ireland’s No 8 Jamie Heaslip (L) during the international rugby union test match between Ireland and New Zealand at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin yesterday. — AFP

Nuggets hang on to beat Mavs 102-100 Celtics end 6-game skid with 94-87 win over Hawks DENVER: Randy Foye made a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:11 left, and the Denver Nuggets hung on to beat the Dallas Mavericks 102-100 on Saturday night. Ty Lawson scored 20 points to lead the Nuggets, who won their fifth straight at home while ending Dallas’ four-game winning streak. Kenneth Faried had 18 points and 14 rebounds, and Foye finished 17 points.

Dirk Nowitzki had 27 points but missed a shot at the end that would have sent the game into overtime. Monta Ellis added 25 points and Vince Carter had 16 for the Mavericks, who were without coach Rick Carlisle for most of the game after he drew two technical fouls in succession and was ejected by referee Tony Brothers with 5:14 remaining in the second quarter.

Carlisle was initially upset that officials didn’t send Nowitzki to the free throw line, ruling the Mavericks forward was in the act of passing, not shooting, when he was fouled by Wilson Chandler.

Moments later, Ellis took a hard foul from Foye and was sent to the line, but Carlisle apparently was upset the foul wasn’t considered flagrant and let Brothers know it, leading to his ejection.

Assistant coach Monte Mathis took over on the bench for Carlisle. The Mavericks trailed by as many as 17 points early in the game and were down 65-53 at the half. But they fought back to 84-78 with 19 seconds remaining in the third quarter on a 3-pointer by Carter, his third 3-pointer in the period.

Carter hit another 3-pointer, pulling Dallas within 86-85 with 10:13 left to play. Faried answered with a short jumper but Dallas got consecutive baskets from DeJuan Blair and Ellis to go in front 89-88, its first lead since midway through the first quarter. The game remained tight in the final minutes, with the teams alternately taking the lead. Dallas put together a 6-0 run that included consecutive jumpers by Nowitzki that put the Mavs up 100-98 with 2:02 remaining.

That set the stage for Foye’s go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:11 left to play as the Nuggets regained the lead 101-100. After Nowitzki missed a jumper, Faried rebounded and was fouled by Blair, making one of the two free throws with 14.7 seconds left. Nowitzki missed a long jumper in the final seconds as the Nuggets hung on.

the fourth. Last season the Wizards did not pick up their fifth win until Jan. 7 after an infamous 4-28 start.

Clippers 103, Kings 103 All things considered, the Los Angeles Clippers figured they caught a break playing the struggling Sacramento Kings on the front end of a back-to-back, two-game set that culminates with a visit from the Chicago Bulls yesterday. Only someone forgot to tell the Kings they were playing tune-up in the Clippers’ weekend production. As a result, what was supposed to be a minimum day for Los Angeles ended up much more complicated ordeal than originally planned. The Clippers finally gathered themselves thanks to a careless foul by Kings center DeMarcus Cousins and some lategame heroics by point guard Chris Paul to pull out a 103-102 win.

Rockets 112, Timberwolves 101 Guard Aaron Brooks scored a season-high 26 points off the bench as the Houston Rockets drained 17 3-pointers in a 112-101 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves at Toyota Center. The Rockets (9-5) relied on a balanced scoring attack to offset another fabulous performance from Timberwolves forward Kevin Love, whose 27 points and 15 rebounds paced a resilient effort bolstered by the Rockets’ miscues. Minnesota scored 37 points off 24 Houston turnovers.

Celtics 94, Hawks 87 Guard Jordan Crawford had 12 points and 10 assists to help

the Boston Celtics erase a 12-point deficit in the fourth quarter and end their losing streak at six games with a 94-87 win over the Atlanta Hawks. Atlanta led 76-64 with 11:14 remaining but went cold from the field and watched Boston battle back to take the lead for good at 86-85 on a pair of free throws by forward Brandon Bass with 3:12 left.

The Celtics (5-10) had six players, including all five starters, in double figures. Bass scored 17, guard Jeff Green scored 16 and forward Jared Sullinger scored 15 and secured a team-high nine rebounds.

Spurs 126, Cavaliers 96 Guard Danny Green had 17 points to lead the San Antonio Spurs to their 10th straight victory with an easy 126-96 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. Off to their best start in franchise history, the Spurs (13-1) had four other players in double figures, including starting guard Tony Parker with 12 points and center Tiago Splitter with 10. Guards Patty Mills and Marco Belinelli came off the bench to score 15 and 10 respectively for the Spurs, who have won their last eight games by an average 15-point margin.

Bobcats 96, Bucks 72 Five Bobcats scored in double figures as Charlotte rolled to a 96-72 victory over the Bucks at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

Center Al Jefferson led Charlotte with 19 points on 8 of 15 shooting, pacing a Bobcats offense that shot just under 50 percent from the field. Guard Gerald Henderson added 17 points while forward

Trail Blazers 113, Warriors 101 Backup center Joel Freeland hit consecutive jumpers to break a 92-all tie and the Portland Trail Blazers overcame the ejection of two of their guards to record a 10th consecutive victory, 113-101 over the Golden State Warriors. Power forward LaMarcus Aldridge had 22 of his 30 points and 12 of his game-high 21 rebounds in the second half as the Trail Blazers (12-2) rallied from 14 down to hand Golden State its third consecutive defeat. — Agencies

NBA results/standings LA Clippers 103, Sacramento 102; Indiana 106, Philadelphia 98; Washington 98, NY Knicks 89; Boston 94, Atlanta 87; Miami 101, Orlando 99; Houston 112, Minnesota 101; Charlotte 96, Milwaukee 72; San Antonio 126, Cleveland 96; Denver 102, Dallas 100; Portland 113, Golden State 101.

Toronto Philadelphia Boston NY Knicks Brooklyn Indiana Chicago Detroit Cleveland Milwaukee Miami Atlanta Charlotte Washington Orlando

Heat 101, Magic 99 Although it was much closer, the Miami Heat beat the Orlando Magic for the second time in four days, winning 101-99 at AmericanAirlines Arena. The Heat (10-3) have won six games in a row, and their three losses are by a combined total of six points.

They beat the Magic 120-92 on Wednesday. Orlando fell to 4-8, including 0-5 on the road. The Magic and the Utah Jazz (0-8) are the only winless road teams in the NBA so far this season.

Portland Oklahoma City Minnesota Denver Utah

Pacers 106, 76ers 98 Roy Hibbert scored a season-high 27 points to help the Indiana Pacers defeat the Philadelphia 76ers, 106-98. Hibbert, a 7foot-2 center, also had 13 rebounds and six blocked shots, while making 13-of-16 free throws. Forward Paul George scored 19 points, guard Lance Stephenson added 18 and forward David West had 17 points, 11 rebounds and six assists for the Pacers (121), who won their third straight and improved to 7-0 at home.

Wizards 98, Knicks 89 Point guard John Wall continued his scoring surge with 31 points and the Washington Wizards extended the New York Knicks’ losing streak to five games with a 98-89. Forward Martell Webster scored 19 points and center Marcin Gortat had 16 points and 17 rebounds for the Wizards (5-8), winners of three of four games this week. Washington took the lead for good during a 197 third quarter run and fended off New York’s attempted rallies in

Josh McRoberts had 12 with nine rebounds. Guard Ramon Sessions had 13 off the bench and guard Kemba Walker scored 11 for Charlotte, which had lost three of its last four.

LA Clippers Golden State Phoenix LA Lakers Sacramento

MILWAUKEE: Charlotte Bobcats’ Kemba Walker shoots in traffic during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Milwaukee Bucks, Saturday, in Milwaukee. — AP

San Antonio Dallas Houston Memphis New Orleans

Eastern Conference Atlantic Division W L 6 7 6 9 5 10 3 9 3 9 Central Division 12 1 6 5 4 8 4 10 2 10 Southeast Division 10 3 8 6 7 7 5 8 4 8

PCT .462 .400 .333 .250 .250

GB 1 2 2.5 2.5

.923 .545 .333 .286 .167

5 7.5 8.5 9.5

.769 .571 .500 .385 .333

2.5 3.5 5 5.5

Western Conference Northwest Division 12 2 .857 8 3 .727 8 7 .533 6 6 .500 1 13 .071 Pacific Division 9 5 .643 8 6 .571 6 6 .500 6 7 .462 4 8 .333 Southwest Division 12 1 .923 9 5 .643 9 5 .643 7 6 .538 6 6 .500

2.5 4.5 5 11 1 2 2.5 4 3.5 3.5 5 5.5

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2013

S P ORT S

Pacquiao victory lifts spirits of typhoon-ravaged Philippines TACLOBAN: Filipinos in the storm-ravaged city of Tacloban joined the nation in celebration yesterday after watching boxing hero Manny Pacquiao defeat American Brandon Rios in a comeback fight he dedicated to victims of Super Typhoon Haiyan.For a brief moment, those who lost their homes, their livelihoods and even loved ones in the storm forgot their misery as they watched a free, live broadcast of Pacquiao’s overwhelming points victory over Rios in Macau.

“I’m so happy that he won. This is a win for all Filipinos. It will surely uplift our spirits, especially the victims of typhoon (Haiyan),” said Mario Penaflor, 41, amid the joyful crowds in Tacloban.

The World Boxing Organisation (WBO) International welterweight title clash was broadcast in four public areas in Tacloban to lift the spirits of residents who suffered the brunt of Super Typhoon Haiyan’s fury.

The super typhoon has left almost 7,000 dead and missing after its rampage through the central Philippines earlier this month. Whole families, including children and the elderly, had trooped into Tacloban’s main sports stadium-which served as a major evacuation centre during the storm-in a festive mood, ushered in by police and military.

Spirits were high despite the grim evidence of the storm’s destruction that, more than two weeks on, still surrounded them: the damp seats, the stadium’s ruined ceiling, and the crowded conditions.

The crowd proudly sang the national anthem as it was played in Macau and then cheered wildly all through the fight. The celebration began in the last round as Pacquiao’s victory became obvious. Despite their troubles, people jumped up and down, cheering and laughing in jubilation.

President Benigno Aquino’s spokesman, Herminio Coloma congratulated Pacquiao, saying: “As our people’s hearts and minds were united in facing the challenges of the numerous tragedies that faced our country, just like Manny, we will triumph over our current problems by working together.” He added: “In the face of a tough fight, he has displayed the strength and the character of the Filipino.”

Rainier Panquinco, 29, who lost his home in the storm, said: “It’s a super good day. For awhile, I forgot my suffering.”

He had prayed hard for Pacquiao and did not line up for relief goods yesterday just so he could watch the fight.

“It will give us hope here in Tacloban, and in Leyte and Samar,” he said, referring to the two islands that suffered the worst of the typhoon. Haiyan was just the latest in a series of calamities to hit the Philippines this year. In October, a 7.1magnitude quake left over 200 dead and tens of thousands displaced while a bloody, three-week long siege of a southern city by Muslim rebels in September left at least 244 dead with over 100,000 homeless.—AFP

Pacquiao beats Rios in unanimous decision ‘Pacman’ dominates in comeback fight MACAU: Manny Pacquiao reversed the decline in his boxing career and provided some desperately needed inspiration to the disaster-stricken Philippines with an authoritative victory over Brandon Rios yesterday.

Pacquiao entered the fight coming off successive defeats, having spent a year out of the ring and with his own trainer publicly declaring he should retire unless he convincingly beat Rios.

In addition, Pacquiao carried the burden of being the favorite son of the Philippines and the man the nation looked to as a source of joy and hope in the wake of deadly Typhoon Haiyan.

Thousands of fans watched the fight on screens set up in the plaza of Tacloban, the Philippine city hit worst by the Nov. 9 disaster that killed more than 5,000 people and left huge numbers of the population homeless.

If Pacquiao felt pressure, he didn’t show it in the ring at The Venetian casino in Macau, putting on a vintage display of his trademark combinations to wear down a gallant Rios and take a unanimous decision, claiming the WBO international welterweight title.The judges scored it 120-108, 119-109 and 118-110.

The Associated Press scored it 119-109. “This is not about my comeback,” Pacquiao said in the ring. “My victory is a symbol of my people’s comeback from a natural disaster and a national tragedy. “My journey will continue. I said we will rise again, and that’s what happened.” Pacquiao’s points loss to Timothy Bradley last year was widely regarded as a judging error, but when that was followed by a severe knockout at the hands of veteran Juan Manuel Marquez, many doubted the Filipino lawmaker could get back to the kind of form that had made him the world’s pound-for-pound champion.

Once again he failed to stop his opponent - he has not done so since 2009 - but everything else about Pacquiao’s performance suggested he could revive his career, even with his 35th birthday looming next month.

Problems still exist in setting up a much-discussed bout with Floyd Mayweather Jr., but Pacquiao remains eager for it to happen. “Anybody who wants to fight with me, I can fight,” Pacquiao said. “I am willing to fight Floyd, but it’s up to him, if he is willing also.”

Pacquiao got the better of Rios over the first two rounds, sending the American to the canvas in the opening frame, although the referee ruled it as a slip rather than a knockdown.

Rios asserted himself in the third, landing some crisp blows that raised hopes of a genuine contest. But Pacquiao - spurred on by a capacity crowd at the 13,000-seat Cotai Arena dominated by Filipino fans - controlled the remainder of the contest.

Rios was game, absorbing plenty of punches and continually walking forward to challenge Pacquiao, but was unable to land any significant blows. After seven rounds, Rios was getting attention to cuts under both eyebrows, and with the scores

MACAU: Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines (R) competes against Brandon Rios of the US during a welterweight boxing bout in Macau yesterday. —AFP going against him, needed something special.

Pacquiao was on guard throughout the closing rounds, mindful of getting knocked out in his previous fight when he walked into a savage right by Juan Manuel Marquez. He didn’t have to worry. A tiring Rios offered little threat.

“Recovering from the knockout and giving a good show was what I wanted to prove to myself and everyone,” Pacquiao said. “I am so happy, my time is not over.” Rios trained for the bout with the quickest sparring partners his camp could find, but even that could not prepare him for the fusillade of Pacquiao punches from all angles.

“What got me was just the speed and his awkwardness,” Rios said. “He never hurt me at all, and I never got stunned at all, but the quickness just caught me off guard.” Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach, was frustrated by another fight without a knockout, but was enthusiastic about his fighter’s performance.

“Manny looked great tonight,” Roach said. “There were no

signs of him slowing down whatsoever. “Manny let him off the hook, I wanted the knockout and it was there, but I was very happy with the way he performed.”

Promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank said the tentative date for Pacquiao’s next fight is April 12, likely in the United States. A rematch with Bradley or a fight against Russian Ruslan Provodnikov looms as more likely than a rematch with Marquez due to the Mexican’s high asking price. Arum also holds out hope that the Mayweather fight could happen.

“I know it’s a fight that should happen and where there is a will there is a way,” Arum said, expressing his frustration that the fighters’ conflicting affiliations continued to be an impediment.

“If all sides cut out the crap, it can be done.”

Rios, who has now lost his past two bouts after having previously being undefeated, had come up two weight classes in three fights, but said he would now stay at welterweight and perhaps even move up to super welterweight. — AP

McGinn’s OT goal lifts Avalanche over Kings LOS ANGELES: Jamie McGinn scored 2:32 into overtime and Semyon Varlamov won his third straight start with 19 saves, leading the Colorado Avalanche to a 1-0 vic tor y over the Los Angeles K ings on Saturday night.

Varlamov’s 12th career shutout came one day after prosecutors in Denver filed a misdemeanor assault charge against him because of a complaint by his girlfriend that he attacked her on Oct. 30. McGinn’s fourth goal of the season and first game-winner helped the Avalanche (17-5-0) improve the best start in franchise history. They are 15-0 when they score first.

The Kings, coming off a 2-1 overtime loss to New Jersey on Thursday, were shut out for the first time this season and ended an eight-game stretch in which they recorded at least one point. Ben Scrivens made 32 saves in his sixth straight star t for the injured Jonathan Quick. He got a bad break when a rebound trickled into the net off the elbow of teammate Jarret Stoll after Scrivens made the initial save on John Mitchell.

Los Angeles received a 4-minute power play with 77 seconds left in the second period after John Mitchell cut Willie Mitchell with a high stick, but the Kings got only two shots during that stretch and finished 0 for 4 with the man advantage. Colorado was 0 for 3 on the power play.

Metropolitan Division, including a 3-2 win Friday in Washington against the second-place Capitals.

Pittsburgh left winger James Neal scored twice, including his third goal on a power play 5:44 into the third period to ruin Price’s shutout bid and draw the Penguins to within 3-1.

Flyers 5, Islanders 2 Right winger Matt Read scored two goals for the second straight game to help the Philadelphia Flyers beat the New York Islanders 5-2. Right winger Wayne Simmonds and centers Claude Giroux and Brayden Schenn also scored goals for Philadelphia. Center John Tavares and left winger Eric Boulton had New York’s goals. The Flyers (10-10-2) improved to 6-0-1 and are 9-3-2 since a 1-7 start. The Islanders (8-13-3), who are last in the Metropolitan Division, have lost eight of 10.

Rangers 2, Predators 0 Returning home to start a two-month long stretch where they’ll rarely have to leave town, the Nashville Predators ran into an old problem: A lack of goalscoring. Rookie goaltender Cam Talbot gave Henrik Lundqvist a night off and turned away 17 shots for his second consecutive shutout as the New York Rangers posted a 2-0 victory over the Predators at sold-out Bridgestone Arena. It was the fifth time in 23

Blues 6, Stars 1 Goalie Brian Elliott, making only his fifth start in the Blues’ 23 games as he splits the goalie duties with Jaroslav Halak, stopped 33 of 34 Dallas shots and the Blues got goals from six different players in a 6-1 victory over the Stars. Elliott raised his record to 4-0-1 when he has started in goal. In his five November games, he has allowed only six goals on 119 shots.

Ducks 4, Coyotes 2 Anaheim’s power play had managed just three goals in 47 road opportunities entering Saturday’s game against the Phoenix Coyotes. But the Coyotes had allowed power play goals in eight of their last 10 games and sported the league’s third-worst home penalty-killing unit (75 percent). Even without spiritual leader Teemu Selanne in the lineup, the Ducks got two power-play goals on their first three chances and a superb effort from goalie Jonas Hiller (42 saves) en route to a 4-2 win over the Coyotes in a battle of Pacific Division powers.

games that Nashville was blanked, and the third time in the last eight. The Predators (11-10-2) scored 13 goals in winning their last three games, all against Original Six foes.

Maple Leafs 2, Capitals 1 (SO) Left winger Joffrey Lupul scored the decisive goal in a shootout as the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Washington Capitals 2-1. While goaltender James Reimer kept the Maple Leafs in the game by stopping 49 of 50 shots before the shootout, Washington goaltender Braden Holtby stopped 27 of 28 shots. Right winger David Clarkson scored midway through the second period to give the Maple Leafs the lead. Left winger Alex Ovechkin scored for the Capitals late in the third period to tie game. The shootout was 1-1 after the first round of three shooters, then Lupul scored as Toronto’s fourth shooter and right winger Troy Brouwer missed for the Caps to give the Leafs the win.

Senators 4, Red Wings 2 Left winger Clarke MacArthur scored twice and right winger Bobby Ryan broke a third-period tie and added an assist and the Ottawa Senators beat the Detroit Red Wings 4-2 at Joe Louis Arena. Right winger Chris Neil also scored for Ottawa (9-10-4), which broke a three-game losing streak. Defenseman Erik Karlsson and Patrick Wiercioch each had two assists and goaltender Robin Lehner stopped 34 shots for Ottawa. It was the Senators’ second win in two games in Detroit this season.

Blackhawks 2, Canucks 1 The Chicago Blackhawks scored a pair of thirdperiod goals nine seconds apar t to defeat the Vancouver Canucks 2-1 at Rogers Arena. Ten seconds after the Canucks killed a hooking minor to center

Wild 3, Jets 2 (SO) Niklas Backstrom made 37 saves in a surprise start as the Minnesota Wild continued its dominance over the Winnipeg Jets. The Wild goalie also had all the goal support he needed. Center Charlie Coyle had the shootout winner as the Wild defeated its Central Division rivals for the third time this season in a 3-2 win. Backstrom, sidelined for four games with an upper-body injury, was called upon when fellow netminder Josh Harding was injured in warmups.

Sharks 2, Devils 1 San Jose goaltender Antti Niemi outdueled his New Jersey counterpart Martin Brodeur as the Sharks chalked up a hard-earned 2-1 win over the Devils.

Niemi stopped 18 of 19 shots, including one late beauty to rob center Travis Zajac with 2:28 left as San Jose improved to 7-1-1 against Eastern Conference opponents. Brodeur, who was shaken up late when struck in the back of his mask on a shot by right winger Brent Burns, displayed his Hall of Fame form with 28 saves. — Agencies

NHL results/standings Boston 3, Carolina 2 (OT); Minnesota 3, Winnipeg 2 (So); Toronto 2, Washington 1 (So); Montreal 3, Pittsburgh 2; Ottawa 4, Detroit 2; Philadelphia 5, NY Islanders 2; St. Louis 6, Dallas 1; NY Rangers 2, Nashville 0; Anaheim 4, Phoenix 2; Chicago 2, Vancouver 1; Colorado 1, Los Angeles 0 (OT); San Jose 2, New Jersey 1.

Anaheim San Jose Los Angeles Phoenix Vancouver Calgary Edmonton Chicago St. Louis Colorado Minnesota Dallas Nashville Winnipeg

Boston Toronto Tampa Bay Montreal Detroit Ottawa Florida Buffalo

Bruins 3, Hurricanes 2 (OT) The Boston Bruins held Carolina without a shot on goal for a stretch of almost 23 minutes but had to go to overtime to beat the Hurricanes 3-2. Right winger Jarome Iginla, who hit both posts with an open net in the third period, set center David Krejci up for the winner 1:28 into the overtime, allowing the Bruins to beat goalie Cam Ward, who played an outstanding game in the Carolina goal. The loss was the fourth straight overall and sixth in a row on the road for the Hurricanes. The Bruins are leading the Eastern Conference with 32 points.

Canadiens 3, Penguins 2 Montreal left winger Max Pacioretty scored twice and goalie Carey Price made 29 saves as the Canadiens held on to end the Pittsburgh Penguins’ four-game winning streak with a 3-2 victory. Center Tomas Plekanec also scored for Montreal, which won its third in a row. It was the Canadiens’ second win in as many nights against the top two teams in the

Ryan Kesler, Chicago center Andrew Shaw redirected a shot by right winger Patrick Kane to make it 1-1 at 4:40 of the third. Nine seconds later, center Marcus Kruger beat Vancouver goaltender Roberto Luongo between the legs to make it 2-1.

Pittsburgh Washington NY Rangers New Jersey Philadelphia Carolina Columbus NY Islanders

LOS ANGELES: Robyn Regehr #44 of the Los Angeles Kings and Brad Malone #42 of the Colorado Avalanche vie for position on the wing during a Kings zone face-off in the third period of the NHL game at Staples Center on Saturday in Los Angeles, California. The Avalanche defeated the Kings 1-0 in overtime. — AFP

Western Conference Pacific Division W L OTL GF 17 6 3 80 15 3 5 79 15 6 3 64 14 5 4 78 12 9 4 65 8 11 4 64 7 15 2 64 Central Division 16 4 4 87 16 3 3 79 17 5 0 69 15 5 4 64 11 9 2 61 11 10 2 52 10 11 4 66 Eastern Conference Atlantic Division 15 6 2 64 14 8 1 66 14 8 1 67 13 9 2 64 10 7 7 60 9 10 4 67 6 13 5 53 5 18 1 43 Metropolitan Division 15 9 0 69 12 10 2 72 12 11 0 48 9 9 5 49 10 10 2 49 8 10 5 45 8 12 3 56 8 13 3 68

GA 65 52 51 74 65 84 84

PTS 37 35 33 32 28 20 16

70 50 45 55 65 67 75

36 35 34 34 24 24 24

43 54 61 51 69 73 80 76

32 29 29 28 27 22 17 11

54 68 54 55 53 66 71 82

30 26 24 23 22 21 19 19

Note: Overtime losses (OTL) are worth one point in the standings and are not included in the loss column (L).

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2013

S P ORT S

Milan leave stadium after players meet angry ‘ultras’ MILAN: An angry protest launched by hardline “ultra” fans finally ended outside AC Milan’s San Siro stadium on Saturday nearly two hours after a 1-1 draw with Genoa, but only after demands to speak to players had been met.

Milan have endured a disastrous start to the campaign for the second successive season and had targeted a win against Genoa to end a run of four games without a win that has left the Serie A giants in the second half of the table.

But despite Genoa being reduced to 10 men just after the half hour when Thomas Manfredini was sent off for a foul on Mario Balotelli in the box, Milan failed to capitalise. Italy striker Balotelli, who has not scored a league goal in two months, stunned the hosts when he missed from the penalty spot for only the second time in 23 career attempts.

Despite having the man advantage, Milan went on to spurn a series of chances in a dominant second-half to claim an unwelcome share of the points. Subjected to angry banners in the hardline Curva Sud (South Stand) throughout the game, almost the entire San Siro turned against Milan at the final whistle when jeers and insults rained down on Massimiliano Allegri’s men.

A reported 400 fans then gathered outside the stadium to block the exit of Milan’s squad bus, in doing so preventing the small party of fans who had travelled to support Genoa from leaving the stadium.

Milan, and the Genoa supporters, were finally allowed to leave shortly after midnight (2315 GMT) but not before the disgruntled supporters’ demands for an audience with key players was met.

Television pictures later showed club icon Kaka,

who returned to the club at the start of the season, and veteran goalkeeper Christian Abbiati meeting with fans in a bid to calm the situation.

Reports on domestic agency ANSA said during the meeting an ultras “leader” hit out at the “unprofessional” attitude of a number of Milan’s side and demanded improvements.

It added that Kaka, who scored in the fourth minute for the Rossoneri, and Abbiati-who had failed to stop an eighth-minute penalty strike from Alberto Gilardino-had pledged to pass on the message to the squad. Milan’s fifth draw in 13 games left the seventimes European champions 18 points off the pace of leaders Roma and 14 behind the first Champions League qualifying place occupied by Napoli.

The pressure has increased on Allegri, who, after winning the scudetto (league title) in his first season

in charge, in 2011, and a runner-up place in 2012 had to drag Milan fighting and kicking to a third-place finish last season.

Ironically, Allegri may have benefited from Saturday’s incident, which appeared to show that a growing number of fans are angry with the performances of players and not necessarily the coach’s tactical choices.

Allegri, who escaped a pre-Christmas sacking last year, was given immediate backing by club vice-president Adriano Galliani, who called on fans to support the club in a difficult time.

“The fans shouldn’t get dramatic, because all of this is not just down to the last game (that was played),” Galliani he told the Milan Channel. “We have to stand up and be proud of this Milan squad, even if things are not going well at the moment.” — AFP

Llorente, Tevez send Juvetus top

CAPE TOWN: Pakistan’s cricketer Anwar Ali and Ahmed Shahzad (back) celebrates the wicket of South Africa’s David Miller during the first One day International (ODI) Cricket Match between Pakistan and South Africa at Newlands Cricket Ground in Cape Town yesterday. — AFP

Debutants spur Pakistan to victory over S Africa CAPE TOWN: Debutants Bilawal Bhatti and Anwar Ali spurred Pakistan to victory after their team had been in deep trouble in the first one-day international against South Africa at Newlands yesterday.

The newcomers shared an eighth wicket stand of 74 to rescue Pakistan from a precarious 131 for seven, then shared five wickets as Pakistan won by 23 runs. Pakistan made 218 for nine in their 50 overs after winning the toss. Despite a half-century from returning veteran Jacques Kallis, South Africa were bowled out for 195.

SCOREBOARD CAPE TOWN: Final scores in the first one-day international between South Africa and Pakistan at Newlands yesterday.

Pakistan Nasir Jamshed c Kallis b Steyn 24 Ahmed Shehzad c De Kock b Kallis 35 Mohammad Hafeez c Amla b Steyn 5 Sohaib Maqsood c Imran Tahir b Kallis 22 Misbah-ul-Haq c De Kock b Morkel 13 Umar Akmal c De Kock b Philander 0 Shahid Afridi b Steyn 26 Bilawal Bhatti lbw b Morkel 39 Anwar Ali not out 43 Saeed Ajmal c Duminy b Morkel 3 Junaid Khan not out 0 Extras (b2, lb1, w5) 8 Total (9 wkts, 50 overs) 218 Fall of wickets: 1-49 (Jamshed), 2-58 (Hafeez), 3-73 (Shehzad), 4-97 (Misbah), 5-98 (Akmal), 6-124 (Maqsood), 7-131 (Afridi), 8-205 (Bhatti), 9-213 (Ajmal) Bowling: Steyn 10-2-33-3 (2w), Philander 100-37-1 (2w), Morkel 10-0-39-3, Duminy 5-023-0, Imran Tahir 7-1-30-0, Kallis 8-0-53-2 (1w) South Africa G. Smith st Umar Akmal b Mohammad Hafeez 12 H. Amla b Junaid Khan 3 Q. de Kock b Bilawal Bhatti 19 J. Kallis b Anwar Ali 50 A. de Villiers b Shahid Afridi 10 J. Duminy c Umar Akmal b Saeed Ajmal 49 D. Miller c Umar Akmal b Anwar Ali 4 V. Philander c Sohaib Maqsood b Saeed Ajmal 14 D. Steyn b Bilawal Bhatti 15 M. Morkel b Bilawal Bhatti 17 Imran Tahir not out 0 Extras (w2) 2 Total (48.1 overs) 195 Fall of wickets: 1-12 (Amla), 2-20 (Smith), 3-62 (De Kock), 4-79 (De Villiers), 5-115 (Kallis), 6123 (Miller), 7-155 (Philander), 8-168 (Duminy), 9-192 (Steyn) Bowling: Junaid Khan 8-0-38-1, Anwar Ali 6-024-2 (1w), Mohammad Hafeez 10-0-34-1, Bilawal Bhatti 7.1-0-37-3, Saeed Ajmal 10-028-2, Shahid Afridi 7-0-34-1(1w).

Result: Pakistan won by 23 runs Series: Pakistan lead the three-match series 1-0.

Bhatti (39) and Ali (43 not out) prospered after Pakistan’s recognised batsmen struggled against a strong South African pace attack. Bhatti, 22, took three for 37 in South Africa’s innings, while Ali, 25, claimed two for 24, including the crucial wicket of Kallis, bowled for 50. Bhatti and Ali shared the man of the match award and earned high praise from captain Misbah-ul-Haq. “I am very happy, especially as the two youngsters set it up. The plan was to negotiate the new ball, then accelerate but we kept losing wickets at the wrong time. It was not a good total but the bowlers did really well,” said Misbah.

For the first time since South Africa began their rise to the top of the Test rankings, the hosts fielded all three of their leading fast bowlers - Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander and Morne Morkel - in the same one-day side.

With Kallis returning for his first oneday international since February 2012, South Africa applied relentless pressure as Pakistan struggled. But Bhatti and Ali, who have both scored first-class centuries despite primarily being picked as bowlers, went for their shots to keep their side in the game.

Steyn took three for 33 and Morkel three for 39, while Philander claimed one for 37. Bhatti and Ali put on 74 off 70 balls. Bhatti made his 39 off 25 balls, hitting three fours and two sixes, while Ali hit six fours in a 55-ball innings.

“We spoke about batting out the 50 overs,” said Ali. “We have played together a lot in domestic cricket so that helped.”

South Africa suffered an early blow when Hashim Amla exposed his leg stump and was bowled by Junaid Khan in the third over of their innings. Graeme Smith followed in the next over, stumped by Umar Akmal off Mohammad Hafeez, although it was a fortuitous dismissal for the wicketkeeper as the ball bounced off his gloves, onto the ground and into the stumps while Smith’s foot was momentarily off the ground.

Kallis and Quinton de Kock put on 42 for the third wicket before De Kock was bowled by Bhatti. Batting with calm assurance, Kallis reached 50 for the 103rd time in one-day internationals but was then bowled by Ali, edging an in-swinging delivery from Ali off the bottom of his bat into the stumps.

When David Miller edged Ali to Akmal, South Africa were 123 for six. JP Duminy made 49 before he was caught behind, attempting a reverse sweep against Saeed Ajmal and Bhatti claimed the last two wickets to seal a memorable win for the tourists, who were beaten 4-1 by the same opponents in a recent series in the United Arab Emirates.

“The bowlers did a brilliant job in getting them seven down but we let it slip at the end,” said South African captain AB de Villiers. — AFP

MILAN: Second-half strikes from Fernando Llorente and Carlos Tevez secured a 2-0 win away to Livorno yesterday to send champions Juventus top of Italy’s Serie A for the first time this season.

Elsewhere, Lazio escaped with a 1-1 draw away to 10-man Sampdoria while Fiorentina’s hopes of challenging for a place in Europe next season were dented by a 1-0 defeat away to dominant Udinese.

Juventus now have a two-point cushion on overnight leaders Roma ahead of the capital side’s home game against struggling Cagliari on Monday.

Napoli, stunned 1-0 at home by Parma on Saturday, are now six points off the pace in third and could see Inter Milan match them on 28 points if the Nerazzurri win away at Bologna in Sunday’s late game.

Llorente, who also set up Tevez’s strike, said: “We have to take it a game at a time but, for sure, overtaking Roma can add a little pressure to them.

“But we have to keep on winning, concentrate on our own jobs and continue doing what the coach asks us to do.” Juventus travelled to Tuscany looking for their fourth successive league win, with goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, making his 500th Serie A appearance, having kept clean sheets in their three previous games.

Despite missing several defenders due to injury and suspension, prompting coach Antonio Conte to slot midfielder Arturo Vidal in the middle of his back three, the Bianconeri weathered a frustrating first period and made the difference in 12 secondhalf minutes.

Goalscoring action was scarce in a frustrating first half for both sides. However, Juventus saw claims for a penalty waved away just before the hour despite the ball clearly coming off the arm of Federico Ceccherini.

Minutes later Llorente broke the deadlock when he smashed a volley past Francesco Bardi from Paul Pogba’s cross from the right, and the Spaniard then held up several defenders to lay the ball off for Tevez to hit a low drive past the goalkeeper at his near post.

Conte said: “We struggled to find the openings at first, but when the goals came it was from situations that we had worked on in training.”

LIVORNO: Juventus’ Argentinian foward Carlos Alberto Tevez vies with Livorno’s defender Federico Ceccherini during the Serie A footballmatch Livorno vs Juventus at Armando Picchi stadium yesterday in Livorno. — AFP Although Roma could regain top spot with a win on Monday, results elsewhere would be welcomed by Juventus, who host FC Copenhagen on Wednesday in a Champions League clash they cannot afford to lose if they harbour any hopes of qualifying from Group B. Two weeks after a 3-0 rout away to Juve, Napoli’s second successive defeat also left them without influential midfielder Marek Hamsik, who suffered a foot injury, ahead of their crucial Champions League clash away to Borussia Dortmund.

Fiorentina were dominated throughout a 1-0 defeat away to Udinese that left ‘La Viola’ with their third defeat of the campaign, but still in fifth place.

Coach Vincenzo Montella said: “We just couldn’t get going in the second half. We were far too frenetic.” Sampdoria suffered a blow from the opening minute of the second half when Nenad Krsticic saw red for a challenge on Cristian Ledesma which left the Italian midfielder.

However, with new coach Sinisa Mihajlovic in charge, the hosts rallied and substitute Roberto Soriano headed Samp into a shock 67th minute lead after keeper Federico Marchetti had fumbled at the crossbar following a poor clearance.

Samp looked to have secured all three points until their defence allowed Lorik Cana to weave his way towards the edge of the area where he beat Angelo Da Costa at his near post with a low drive.

Mihajlovic, who appeared as a player for both Sampdoria and Lazio, was disappointed but buoyed by his side’s performance.

“It’s never pleasing to concede a goal in the dying seconds. I’m more sorry for the lads because they showed how they can play, how they can fight,” said Mihajlovic, who quit as Serbia coach in midweek.

“But we shouldn’t let the heads go down, we’ve shown what we’re capable of and I’m sure we will fight our way back up the table.” — AFP

England crumble to defeat against Australia

BRISBANE: England’s Stuart Broad (C) fails to plays a delivery off Australian players Mitchell Johnson (R) and caught behind out during the day four of the first Ashes cricket Test match between England and Australia at the Gabba Cricket Ground in Brisbane yesterday. — AFP

BRISBANE: England suffered one of their heaviest-ever Ashes Test defeats yesterday when Australia trounced them by 381 runs at the Gabba and went one-up in the series with a day to spare. The tourists collapsed under the searing pace of Mitchell Johnson and were all out for 179 late on the fourth day after they were skittled out for 136 off 52.4 overs in the first innings.

It was England’s second-biggest loss at the Gabba, after the tourists crashed by 384 runs there in 2002. Johnson, the match of the man, finished with five for 42 in the second innings and nine wickets for 103 for the match, along with his spirited knock of 64 in Australia’s first innings.

It was Australia’s first Test victory after nine win-less matches. They lost the last Ashes series 3-0 in England in July-August. “It was obviously a long time between drinks, but the boys are very excited,” said skipper Michael Clarke.

“A good victory. A lot of hard work has gone into preparation ... we’ve been preparing since losing the series in England. But we know England will come back harder.” Alastair Cook’s dismissal for 65, six balls after play resumed following a heavy afternoon hailstorm, signalled the end for England.

The England skipper tried to cut spinner Nathan Lyon, only to edge to wicketkeeper Brad Haddin, exposing his team’s tail-end to the fired-up Australian bowlers. Wicketkeeper Matt Prior followed two overs later, caught close in by David Warner off Lyon for four.

Stuart Broad (4) and Graeme Swann (0) went in the next over from firebrand Johnson.

Another burst of rain kept the players off the field for 45 minutes and then Chris Tremlett fell to a short ball from Ryan Harris for seven. James Anderson was the last man to fall, top-edging high into the air for Johnson to take the catch off his own bowling. Joe Root remained unbeaten on 26 off 86 balls.

“It’s just one loss, it’s a five-match Test series so there’s plenty of time to fight back,” Cook said. “We all need to be honest with each other as a group, it’s not just three players who have had a bad game. We really need to improve if we want to win this series.

“We’ll go away, regroup, be honest with ourselves and come back. We’ve done it before. There won’t be any hiding.” England

looked at one stage as if they might be saved by the weather, when a fierce hailstorm drove the players from the field and an early tea was called with the tourists on 142 for four.

But it was only a brief respite and the relentless Australians pushed on to a welldeserved victory ahead of the second Test starting in Adelaide on December 5. Kevin Pietersen and Cook had safely negotiated the opening hour of the day. But Johnson struck two balls after the first drinks break, when Pietersen on 26 injudiciously hooked a bouncer straight to backward square leg.

Substitute fielder Chris Sabburg, on for Harris, claimed the catch to a huge roar from the home crowd. England’s situation worsened when Ian Bell was beaten by Peter Siddle’s extra bounce in the 54th over and edged to Haddin for 32.—AFP

SCOREBOARD BRISBANE: Scoreboard after Australia beat England by 381 runs on the fourth day of the first Ashes test at the Gabba yesterday: Australia won the toss and elected to bat Australia 295 & 401-7 declared England first innings 136 England second innings (overnight 24-2) A. Cook c Haddin b Lyon 65 M. Carberry b Harris 0 J. Trott c Lyon b Johnson 9 K. Pietersen c sub b Johnson 26 I. Bell c Haddin b Siddle 32 J. Root not out 26 M. Prior c Warner b Lyon 4 S. Broad c Haddin b Johnson 4 G. Swann c Smith b Johnson 0 C. Tremlett c Bailey b Harris 7 J. Anderson c & b Johnson 2 Extras (lb-2, w-1, nb-1) 4 Total (all out, 81.1 overs) 179 Fall of wickets: 1-1 2-10 3-72 4-130 5-142 6-146 7-151 8-151 9-172 Bowling: Harris 19-4-49-2, Johnson 21.17-42-5 (w-1), Siddle 15-3-25-1 (nb-1), Lyon 20-6-46-2, Smith 4-1-15-0, Watson 2-2-0-0 Australia lead five-match series 1-0.

Pacquiao beats Rios in unanimous decision

All Blacks make history against Irish

18

17

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2013

Llorente, Tevez send Juvetus top

Page 19

CARDIFF: Cardiff City’s South Korean midfielder Kim Bo-Kyung (3L) turns to celebrate after scoring the equalising goal during the English Premier League football match between Cardiff City and Manchester United at Cardiff City Stadium in Cardiff, south Wales yesterday. The game ended in a 2-2 draw. — AFP

Kim curbs Man United surge in Cardiff Cardiff City 2

Man United 2

CARDIFF: Wayne Rooney scored one, made one and was perhaps fortunate not to be sent off as Manchester United were denied a fourth successive league win by Kim Bo-Kyung’s last gasp 2-2 equaliser in Cardiff yesterday.

The England striker opened the scoring in the 15th minute and delivered the perfect corner for Patrice Evra in the 43rd, after Cardiff City had equalised through the former United youngster Fraizer Campbell.

However, Rooney was, perhaps, a touch fortu-

nate to be on the pitch at the time after kicking out at Jordon Mutch in the eighth minute. Referee Neil Swarbrick brandished a yellow card after speaking with the United star, but would have been wholly justified in showing him red.

In the end, Rooney and United returned home after their first visit to the south Wales outfit with only a point after substitute Kim headed home a 91st minute free kick. There was plenty of bite, on and the field, as the game unfolded. Cardiff, as they had against Swansea prior to the international break, closed down United’s space and made life increasingly difficult for the likes of Marouane Fellaini and Tom Cleverley in a seriously congested midfield third.

However, when Antonio Valencia picked out Rooney on the penalty spot in the sixth minute, United might have been a goal to the good.

Unfortunately, for the 3,000-strong group of travelling fans, Rooney took a touch too many and his shot was easily blocked by Ben Turner.

At the opposite end, a typically precise free kick from Peter Whittingham saw Mutch head straight at David de Gea. Moments later, Rooney appeared to lose his cool after being dispossessed. He took an unnecessary swipe at Mutch and looked mighty relieved when the choice of card was yellow.

He might have been a touch fortunate to be on the pitch, but he finished with aplomb to put United ahead. Ben Turner gave away the ball in his own half and when Valencia’s cross was flicked on

by Xavier Hernandez, Rooney cut back inside and beat Marshall with a shot that deflected off the body of Gary Medel.

United had found their stride by now and with Cardiff beginning to find the pace and movement of Rooney and Hernandez difficult to cope with, there might have been a second shortly after.

A Fellaini header was beaten away by Marshall before Cleverley’s back post volley was blocked by Andrew Taylor. Cardiff stuck to their task and 12 minutes before the interval came up with the move

of the game and an equaliser through Campbell.

Whittingham and Mutch combined in midfield before the latter threaded the most sumptuous ball into the path of Campbell who made no mistake from a dozen yards. United were ruffled and needed something to settle themselves. It came two minutes before the interval when Evra headed Rooney’s corner past Marshall via the chest of Taylor.

It was another header, this time from Fellaini, that caused Cardiff an early scare in the second half.

Rooney’s dipping free kick provided the pace, but Marshall, somehow, pushed the Moroccan’s header around the post.

Cardiff might have been level for a second time, three minutes after that, when Campbell seized on a poorly weighted pass from Cleverley to Rooney.

With de Gea stuck in no-man’s land, the once capped England striker could barely believe his misfortune as his deft lob, came back off the crossbar. A Whittingham free kick was Cardiff’s next best

Home sweet home for Man City in Spurs rout Man City 6

Hotspur 0

MANCHESTER: Manchester City reaffirmed their Premier League title credentials in stunning fashion with a sensational 6-0 demolition of fellow championship contenders Tottenham Hotspur yesterday.

Jesus Navas exploited a blunder from Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris to give City the lead after just 14 seconds, with a Sandro own goal and a Sergio Aguero strike putting Manuel Pellegrini’s side 3-0 up at half-time.

Aguero and Alvaro Negredo struck early in the second half before Navas added a sixth in injury time to complete a memorable victory that sent the 2012 champions into the top four, six points below leaders Arsenal.

Beaten 1-0 at Sunderland in their previous

outing, City once again looked more at ease at the Etihad Stadium and have now won all six of their home games to date in the league this season, scoring 26 goals.

Spurs, meanwhile, are without a win in three games, having succumbed to defeat by a six-goal margin for the first time in the league since a 7-1 loss at Newcastle United in December 1996. However, although they trail Arsenal by eight points in ninth place, they are only two points below City.

City made five changes to the team beaten by Sunderland, with Fernandinho and Navas coming into midfield, while Joe Hart started his fifth successive game on the bench as Costel Pantilimon continued in goal. Spurs manager Andre Villas-Boas made six alterations to his starting line-up, meanwhile, with record signing Erik Lamela making his first league start in place of England star Andros Townsend. Lloris was making his first club appearance since being concussed in Spurs’ 0-0 draw at Everton earlier this month, but his return to the starting XI quickly went awry.

The Frenchman sent a scuffed clearance straight to Aguero and although he saved the Argentine’s subsequent shot, Navas followed up by brilliantly lofting the ball into the topleft corner from wide on the right.

It was the second-fastest goal of the season to date, following Stoke City goalkeeper Asmir Begovic’s freak goal after 13 seconds against Southampton three weeks ago.

Lamela had a shot kicked off the line by Martin Demichelis, but City continued to pour forward, with Lloris saving from Aguero and Sandro producing a last-ditch tackle to thwart Samir Nasri.

Two goals in seven minutes took the game beyond Spurs, with Lloris again culpable in the 34th minute. Another poor kick invited City forward and although Lloris again saved from Aguero, Negredo was on hand to dispatch a volley that was blocked by Younes Kaboul, struck Sandro, and rolled into the net for an own goal.

Four minutes before half-time it was 3-0, Aguero tucking away an inviting low cross from Navas, and the best Spurs could muster

in response before the break was a wild effort from Paulinho that flew wide.

Villas-Boas gambled by introducing Emmanuel Adebayor for Lewis Holtby at halftime-the Togolese striker’s first appearance of the season-while an injury to Matija Nastasic obliged City to send on Joleon Lescott. The changes had no effect on the pattern of the game, however, with Yaya Toure squaring for Aguero to tuck away his second goal after five minutes of the second half following a surging run down the inside-left channel.

After Nasri had hit the bar with a miscued cross, Negredo added a fifth, bewitching Michael Dawson with an exquisite back-heel turn before beating Lloris from just inside the area.

Negredo and Toure each threatened to extend City’s lead, set up on both occasions by the industrious Navas, while City old boy Adebayor was prevented from claiming a late consolation by Pantilimon. The misery was not over for Spurs, however, with Navas running through and beating Lloris in the second minute of stoppage time. — AFP

opportunity, only this time, Cleverley came to the rescue with a desperate header, over his own bar.

Cue a City onslaught that left United with no option but to employ a greater number of bodies in their own half. Moyes introduced Ryan Giggs with 17 minutes remaining in a bid to provide a touch of stability to a side that looked a touch vulnerable.

With Danny Welbeck on too, United almost extended their advantage when the substitutes combined to create a golden chance. Giggs, having pitched up on the right, sent in the most delightful assist for Welbeck, but the striker’s first touch was heavy and Marshall pounced to avert the danger.

Here were one or two further opportunities at either end, thereafter, but nothing to write home about until Kim popped up to earn City a point.

United sit seven-points adrift of leaders Arsenal in sixth with Cardiff City three points above the drop zone. — AFP

EPL results/standings Manchester City 6, Tottenham Hotspur 0; Arsenal 2, Southampton 0; Everton 3, Liverpool 3; Fulham 1, Swansea City 2; Hull City 0, Crystal Palace 1; Newcastle United 2, Norwich City 1; Stoke City 2, Sunderland 0; West Ham United 0, Chelsea 3.

P W D L F A Pts Arsenal 12 9 1 2 24 10 28 Liverpool 12 7 3 2 24 13 24 Chelsea 12 7 3 2 21 10 24 Man City 12 7 1 4 34 12 22 Southampton 12 6 4 2 15 7 22 Everton 12 5 6 1 17 13 21 Man United 11 6 2 3 18 13 20 Newcastle United 12 6 2 4 17 17 20 Tottenham 12 6 2 4 9 12 20 Swansea City 12 4 3 5 17 16 15 West Bromwich 11 3 5 3 12 12 14 Aston Villa 11 4 2 5 11 12 14 Hull City 12 4 2 6 9 15 14 Stoke City 12 3 4 5 12 14 13 Cardiff City 11 3 3 5 9 15 12 Norwich City 12 3 2 7 10 23 11 West Ham United 12 2 4 6 9 14 10 Fulham 12 3 1 8 11 21 10 Crystal Palace 12 2 1 9 7 21 7 Sunderland 12 2 1 9 8 24 7

Business

Etisalat stalls $800m payment to Pakistan Page 22 Araba Al Mulla launches campaign for Mitsubishi cars Page 25

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2013

Wataniya launches new prepaid offers

Mashreq leads OSN’s syndicated financing facility for $200m Page 26 Page 23

TOKYO: People admire Japanese auto giant Toyota Motor’s vehicles at the Tokyo Motor Show in Tokyo yesterday. Japanese brands such as Toyota and Nissan enjoy huge success in China and the US, the world’s top two car markets, overseas names that also include Renault, Peugeot-Citroen and their South Korean rivals accounted for just 4.5 percent of the 5.37 million vehicles sold in Japan last year. — AFP - (See Page 23)

Iran oil, energy sanctions in force: US Tehran’s multi-billion dollar losses continuing DUBAI: The nuclear deal signed yesterday will not allow any more Iranian oil into the market, or let western energy investors into the country, but it does freeze US plans for deeper cuts to Iranian crude exports, Washington says. Iran and six world powers reached a breakthrough deal early yesterday to curb Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for limited sanctions relief.

But US and EU sanctions on Iran’s energy sector, which have prevented western energy companies from dealing with Tehran, and slashed its oil exports from 2.5 million barrels per day (bpd) to around 1 million bpd, will remain in place. “In the next six months, Iran’s crude oil sales cannot increase,” a fact sheet posted by the White House on the US State Department’s website yesterday said. “Under this first step, the EU crude oil ban will remain in effect and Iran will be held to approximately 1 million bpd in sales, resulting in continuing lost sales worth an additional $4 billion per month, every month, going forward.”

Western pressure on Iran’s mainly Asian oil customers to find other suppliers has supported global oil prices over the last two years. Rising US and Saudi production has helped dampen the impact of around 1.5 million barrels per day of Iranian oil being shut out. US lawmakers had planned further cuts in Iran’s oil exports but Washington has pledged not to impose new nuclearrelated sanctions over the next six months, so long as Iran sticks to its side of the deal. Less crude from Iran would increase pressure on regional rival Saudi Arabia to squeeze more out of oilfields that

have already been pumping at record levels this year.

Benchmark Brent crude hit a six-week high of $111.40 on Friday on early uncertainty over whether an agreement over Iran’s nuclear program would be reached.

Brent eased late on Friday on renewed hopes that the longawaited deal would be struck, closing the week on $111.05 a barrel. Oil markets were closed yesterday.

The White House estimates that Iran has lost more than $80 billion since the beginning of 2012 because of lost oil sales. It also estimates Tehran’s earnings over the next six months will be $30 billion down compared with a six-month period of 2011, before sanctions were imposed. US sanctions effectively bar Iran from repatriating earnings from oil exports, forcing customers to pay into a bank in their country. Washington estimates that Iran has around $100 billion in foreign exchange earnings trapped in such accounts. Under the terms of the deal, Iran will be allowed access to $4.2 billion of oil export revenues. But nearly $15 billion will still flow into accounts overseas over the next six months, according to the US government. “We expect the balance of Iran’s money in restricted accounts overseas will actually increase, not decrease, under the terms of this deal,” the White House fact sheet said.

The US government has also suspended some restrictions on gold and precious metals trade and lifted sanctions on Iran’s petrochemical exports that were imposed earlier this year.

Iran is home to some of the world’s largest oil and gas reserves

but US energy firms have been barred by Washington from Iran for nearly two decades. Several European oil and gas companies had planned multi-billion dollar investments over the last decade to help develop Iranian reserves. However US pressure drove European energy companies away from Iran in the late 2000s, for fear of jeopardizing their interests in the US market if they stayed.

Western companies, whose technology Tehran needs to fully exploit its oil and gas riches, are keen to go back into Iran when sanctions are lifted. Despite the landmark deal struck yesterday, US restrictions on trade, including those banning long-term investment or provision of technical services to Iran’s energy sector, are still in place.

Sanctions preventing the sale of petroleum products to Iran, which needs to import such fuels because it lacks refining capacity, also remain in effect. Potential buyers of Iranian crude have found it difficult to insure their multi-million dollar shipments, because of wide-ranging restrictions on providing financial services for Iranian trade. The White House fact sheet says that financial sector sanctions remain intact, along with those affecting Iranian shipping companies. However, a senior western official said yesterday that relief on EU sanctions on oil shipping insurance was included in the deal. The EU could relax insurance restrictions without causing a rebound in Iranian oil exports by only allowing customers to insure their current volume of oil purchases and no more. It is unclear how the EU would police this. — Reuters

Kuwait bourse company seen a key step forward KUWAIT: Saleh Al-Falah, President of the Board of Commissioners of the Capital Markets Authority, said yesterday the establishment of a Kuwaiti shareholding company, under the name “Kuwait Securities Bourse,” was a new step forward on the path of transforming Kuwait into a regional financial center.

In an exclusive interview with Kuwait News Agency (KUNA), Al-Falah said the CMA had tackled all obstacles facing establishment of the company, which would “replace Kuwait Stock Exchange.” A specific and explicit road-map has been drawn up for actual execution and practical steps have begun with the license issuance, he added..

The commissioners’ board decision to establish the company has been taken as a basis for realizing the state strategies, Al-Falah said.

Explaining, he said the authority will own all the company stocks in a transitional period, during which the company will be prepared at the administrative and financial levels as well as for sake of making it eligible to obtain a permit to start operating the bourse. Following this phase, its shares will be floated for subscription by Kuwaiti citizens and KSE-listed companies, according to Law Number 7 (2010).

Shedding further light on mechanisms of forming the company, he said the board had decided to step up a committee grouping its founders to take all relevant legal procedures, as a prelude to electing the first board that will manage the company in the interim period of time.

Abovementioned law has assigned the authority with the task of launching the company, specifying its capital and floating its stocks at a rate of 50 percent for citizens’ subscription and 50 percent for auctioning, equally, by the listed companies.

The authority and consultants, who were employed for the task, had been involved in consultation and examination with the founding commission. Moreover, meetings in this respect had been held with the KSE Committee, the Ministry of Commerce and the Public Investment Authority

Saleh Al-Falah (PIA). Subsequently, the authority worked out the executive plan, set the timetable and mechanisms for assets’ transfer to render the company ready for activity in the bourse, according to the authority law and the best internationally-accredited “practices in this regard.”

In accordance with Articles 32 and 33, the board, at its

18th meeting in 2013, decided to launch the new company with a declared total capital of KD 60 million, subscribed capital of KD 6 million and paid-up capital of KD1.5 million.

The Capital Markets Authority will possess the newlyborn company, totally, in the interim phase, during which the (first and transitional) board would act upon recommendations, included in the advisors’ reports.

This board will take important decisions related to stetting-up structural systems for the company and staff, mechanisms of employment, with preference for employees currently serving in the KSE. It will also forward proposals on means for promoting the bourse, according to bestpracticed international mechanisms. Al-Falah added that the board of commissioners decided, on basis of Artcile 70 of the authority law, to form the founders’ committee, grouping Abdullah Ahmad Al-Qabandi and Dr Salah Abdullah Al-Othman, for sake of taking legal procedures to set up the company according to terms of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, with no breach of rules of the authority law No. 7 (2010) and the corporates’ law No. 25 (2012).

Illustrating further, Al-Falah said the authority, in its capacity as the sole owner of the company at the founding stage, will appoint an interim eight-member board, including the chairman and vice chairman, in accordance with the conditions mentioned in the authority law and executive regulations. This board will manage the company in the transitional stage and prepare it for subscription for the nationals and the KSE-listed companies. Following accomplishment of these tasks, the company will increase its publicized capital. The authority will invest in the company capital, at a proportion equal to the shares allocated for the citizens-half of the declared total capital-estimated at 300 million shares of the stocks floated for public subscription.

These shares will be equally distributed to the citizens, namely those whose names are registered in the Public Authority for Civil Information. The remaining stocks will be auctioned for the listed companies. — KUNA

Iran’s rial jumps on nuke deal DUBAI: Iran’s currency jumped more than 3 percent against the US dollar yesterday as news of a breakthrough deal to curb Tehran’s nuclear program raised hopes that the economy would start recovering from international sanctions. The deal provides for Iran to receive temporary, conditional access to several billion dollars of blocked funds over the next six months as diplomats try to negotiate a final agreement. By itself, this will not come close to offsetting the tens of billions of dollars which Iran has lost over the past two years as the sanctions have slashed its oil sales and largely frozen it out of the global banking system. But by reducing the chance of military action against Iran and raising the prospect of more sanctions relief in future, the Geneva pact may stem capital flight from the country and encourage a partial revival of domestic investment.

This could be enough to pull the economy out of the recession which has gripped it for most of the past two years, while encouraging Iranian and foreign businessmen to begin rebuilding trade ties.

“We are feeling the positive sentiment in Iran,” Nariman Aflani, a foreign exchange trader at AFI Group, an Iranian civil engineering firm in Tehran, said by telephone. Prices of construction materials such as ceramics and cement in Iran are already coming down because people hope a gradual loosening of sanctions will make it easier for the country to obtain supplies from abroad, he said.

But this comparison underestimates the importance of the Geneva deal to the economy of 75 million people, as the Iranian rial’s jump against the dollar on Sunday underlined.

The rial traded at around 29,000 against the dollar in Tehran’s free market, up from about 30,000 before the nuclear deal was announced, Iranian traders said. Heavy supplies of dollars appeared as speculators anticipated capital flight from Iran would slow with the easing of diplomatic tensions. At some times yesterday, nobody in the market was willing to buy dollars, traders said - a dramatic contrast from last year, when the rial lost about a third of its value in a few months. A firmer outlook for Iran’s currency could help to revive its foreign trade in a range of agricultural and consumer goods other than oil, by reducing the foreign exchange risks which have deterred many traders over the past two years. Also, foreign and Iranian businessmen may become more willing to do deals - even under the existing sanctions framework - if they feel that political trends have shifted in their favour, and that they will not face even harsher sanctions or enforcement from Western governments in the future. “Up to now, the trend has been towards more restrictions on trade,” said Hossein Asrar Haghighi, a founder of the Iranian Business Council in Dubai, which is a major conduit for Iran’s trade with the rest of the world.

“What we can say now is that the restrictions are not going to increase still more. And if people do not expect them to increase, they will gradually look at ways to develop business under the current situation.”

Dubai’s non-oil trade with Iran has shrunk by over a third in the past 18 months, totalling $2.9 billion in the first half of 2013, according to Dubai customs data.

Iranian-born economist Mehrdad Emadi, of the Betamatrix consultancy in London, said Western oil firms and other companies had been contacting Iranian officials and businessmen for months to discuss how trade and investment ties might eventually be restored. Such contacts look set to accelerate in the wake of the Geneva deal. —Reuters

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2013

BUSINESS

Stock pickers are rewarded handsomely Acquisitions activity or the outright takeover of undervalued companies. Also, it means that the bull market that started back in 2008 may be getting into maturity.

It can become quite difficult for stock pickers too. At the start of any bull market, equity indices go up and the rise will be lead by the main index stocks. These are usually big capitalization companies that make most of the index. When the bull market start cooling off the disparity in corporate performance becomes quite clear. Why? Over the past few years’ companies benefited tremendously from the rising market. Some companies took advantage of this bull market by using stock buyback and increasing dividends and some actually borrowed money to buy their stock back at the time

between stocks and the main equity indices. When the correlation is high then investors are better off just to buy the indices. However, when the implied correlation is falling or it is very low then there is quite big diversion between stocks and the indices. At this point stocks behave quite differently from the main indices. Simply put, that instead of the returns of most stocks getting very close to the index returns, there is a much broader spread on how individual shares are performing.

A very low implied correlation can be interpreted as good or bad. It can be good because it means that stock pickers are actively searching for good stocks and are pouring money into the market. Also, it can signal the start of the Mergers &

By Hayder Tawfik

I

t is easier said than done! Stock picking is not easy job for the retail investors. It requires a lot of research and patience.

Most active professional investors this year have beaten the main indices by a good margin. Stock pickers do well in a rising market, where some stocks start behaving differently from the overall index and they do separate themselves quite clearly. This is what we call leaders and laggards. Investors can see this quite clearly when companies start reporting their earnings. Those that continuously beat market estimates by good margins are rewarded and those that disappoint are punished harshly.

Investors should look at the correlation

when their earnings were disappointing.

Now, it has become all clear to smart active investors, which companies are doing well and delivering above estimate earnings and top line sales and which ones are not.

Stock pickers and smart investors always reward stronger companies and they punish those that show weakness or disappoint investors. I have to admit, it is not easy to look through thousands of companies to find the stars of the future, unless, you have a strict investment criteria for stock selection and you have a very discipline approach when you finally select those stocks. One mistake is quite common among investors in a bull market is that they look for stocks that underperformed.

This approach can be quite costly.

Etisalat stalls $800m payment to Pakistan PTCL in property dispute

PAMPLONA: A demonstrator protests against austerity measures and financial crisis which affect the country as he’s surrounded by flags, in Pamplona, northern Spain on Saturday. Around the all country, thousands of citizens protested against to Spanish Government’s economic policy. —AP

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 Saquer AlManaie.

The winners of the Najma daily draw are: Anwaar Mustafa Hassan KD 7,000, Tariq Mahmoud Raja KD 7,000, Smaa Amer Yagoub KD 7,000, Samy Mekhlef Al-Shimmari 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 KD7,000 daily prize which is the highest in the country and another four mega prizes during the year wor th

KD100,000 each on different occasions: The National Day, Eid Al-Fitr, Eid Al-Adha and on June 13 which is the date of the bank’s establishment. With a minimum balance of KD500, 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 KD25 a customer can get one chance for winning instead of KD50.

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.

Egypt to sign new deals with foreign gas firms CAIRO: Egypt is revising the prices it pays to buy gas from foreign energy companies operating in the country and plans to sign new contracts to “reassure” the firms, al-Mal newspaper quoted the oil minister as saying. Sherif Ismail said state-run Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) would sign seven new contracts and modify seven others within two weeks, in comments published yesterday.

He said that the effort is aimed at “finding the required balance between the interests of the government and the companies”, explaining that the price that Egypt pays foreign firms for gas they produce in

the country is “no longer appropriate in the current time”. The oil minister did not say how the prices would change or which companies were involved in the negotiations.

Egypt pays offshore gas producers on average around $2-$3 per million British thermal units, according to industry estimates. Comparable payments for UK gas are currently above $10 and for Asian supply above $17. Because the amount the government pays them for fuel barely covers their investment costs, exploration companies are not developing untapped finds in Egypt’s gas-rich waters. —Reuters

ISLAMABAD/DUBAI: Etisalat has told Pakistan it will not pay the $800 million it owes the government from buying a stake in the country’s state telecom operator until a property dispute is entirely resolved, two senior finance ministry sources said.

The money owed, which dates back to last decade, would provide vital funds for Pakistan’s cash-strapped government, but Etisalat will not pay up until affiliate Pakistan Telecommunication Co Ltd (PTCL) receives ownership of the final 10 properties out of about 3,000 it is due, the sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters.

Etisalat, the United Arab Emirates’ top telecom company, did not respond to requests for comment. PTCL’s chief executive Walid Irshaid could not be reached for comment. An Etisalat consortium bought a 26-percent stake in PTCL for $2.6 billion in 2005 that also gave Etisalat

majority voting rights.

The UAE firm paid an initial 6.6 billion dirhams ($1.80 billion) as per the deal terms, which also included transferring ownership of the properties to PTCL from the government.

Etisalat was to pay the remaining $800 million it owed in six twice-yearly installments of $133 million, but has withheld payment as the transfer of some of these properties stalled.

The dispute continues while PTCL’s mobile unit Ufone, the country’s No.3 operator, waits to hear if its bid for smaller rival Warid has succeeded. The UAE firm has been working with various ministries including those for finance and privatization since July to resolve the dispute, the two sources said.

The government had hoped to reach a final agreement by November-end, but this was now unlikely. “It is being carried out on a fast track basis and being followed up at the highest level,”

said one source. PTCL’s current market value is $858 million, according to Reuters data, a little more than what Etisalat owes the government.

Etisalat owned 90 percent of the acquiring consortium, giving it a 23.4 percent stake in PTCL. The consortium’s bid was $1.2 billion more than the next highest offer and Etisalat took an impairment of 2.37 billion dirhams on PTCL in 2012. Profits at PTCL, which is majority government-owned, have slumped since Etisalat took management control and the sector was opened up for more competition.

In the financial year ending June 30, 2005, the Pakistani operator made a net profit of 27.3 billion rupees ($257.78 million), according to Reuters data, but seven years later its annual profit was 11.4 billion rupees.Ufone had 24.8 million subscribers as of Sept. 30, giving it a market share of 19 percent, data from Pakistan’s telecom regulator shows. — Reuters

TNI names new CEO to replace Osmansoy DUBAI: Abu Dhabi-based investment firm, The National Investor (TNI), has appointed a new chief executive officer to replace Orhan Osmansoy, who resigned after nine years at the helm, the company said in a statement yesterday.

The new chief, Yasser Geissah, joins TNI after working with commercial and investment banking firms in the United Arab Emirates, including Abu Dhabi Invest Co, National Bank of Abu Dhabi and CAPM Investment. The statement did not mention where Geissah was most recently working.

Sources had told Reuters last week that Orhan Osmansoy resigned after expanding the company into a regional investment firm, operating in private equity, investment advisory and asset management businesses. The management change at TNI may ignite new life into the company that has been hard hit during the global financial crisis. It shed dozens of jobs - more than half of its workforce - last year as, like a number of rival Middle Eastern investment firms, it struggled to boost revenue and remain profitable in depressed capital markets.

Privately-owned TNI’s net profit rose to 3.9 million dirhams ($1.06 million) in the 2011/2012 fiscal year after plummeting to 2.2 million dirhams the year before from 30.8 million dirhams in 2009/2010. Consolidated revenue rose 5 percent to 107.1 million dirhams in 2011/2012.

Under Osmansoy’s leadership, the firm advised on the initial public offerings of companies such as Aldar Properties and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank during the boom years.—Reuters

Gulf Bank announces winners of Al-Danah daily draws KUWAIT: Gulf Bank held its Al-Danah daily draws on November 17, 2013, announcing the names of its winners for the week of November 10th to November 14. The Al-Danah daily draws include draws each working day for two prizes of KD1000 per winner.

The winners are: (Sunday 10/11): Ashraf Mohammed Atiya Abdullah, Abdulaziz Salah Nazih Nafea (Monday 11/11): Abdulrahman Haji Ali Ahmed Al-Mahdi, Salim Cyclewala Kalimuddin (Tuesday 12/11): Khaled Khaleefa Hussain Abdullah, Noof Hamad Mekhled Al-Azmi ( Wednesday 13/11): Fadel Abbas Ali Ahmed, Hameed Ahmed Mohammed AlResheed (Thursday 14/11): Nawaf Ahmad Majed Al-Shaheen, Abdulateef Al-Sayed Abbas Al-Sayed Yousef Gulf Bank’s Al-Danah 2013 draw lineup includes daily draws (2 winners per work-

ing day each receive KD1000), as well as three draw prizes per quarter. The final draw will be held on January 9, 2014 announcing winners of KD50,000, KD250,000 and the Al-Danah millionaire.

Gulf Bank’s Al-Danah allows customers to win cash prizes and simultaneously encourages them to save money.

Chances increase the more money is deposited and the longer it is kept in the account.

Al-Danah also offers a number of unique services including the Al-Danah Deposit Only ATM card which helps account holders deposit their money at their convenience; as well as the AlDanah calculator to help customers calculate their chances of becoming an AlDanah winner.

To be part of the Al-Danah draws, customers can visit one of Gulf Bank’s 56 branches, transfer on line, or call the Customer Contact Center on 1805805 for assistance and guidance.

EXCHANGE RATES Al-Muzaini Exchange Co. ASIAN COUNTRIES 2.836 4.535 2.635 2.162 2.818 228.930 36.593 3.641 6.513 8.978 0.271 0.273 GCC COUNTRIES Saudi Riyal 75.670 Qatari Riyal 77.969 Omani Riyal 737.140 Bahraini Dinar 753.690 UAE Dirham 77.278 ARAB COUNTRIES Egyptian Pound - Cash 40.950 Egyptian Pound - Transfer 40.726 Yemen Riyal/for 1000 1.324 Tunisian Dinar 171.080 Jordanian Dinar 400.720 Lebanese Lira/for 1000 1.904 Syrian Lira 3.083 Morocco Dirham 34.718 EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 283.650 Euro 386.050 Sterling Pound 458.800 Canadian dollar 272.350 Turkish lira 141.150 Swiss Franc 313.600 Australian Dollar 268.050 US Dollar Buying 282.450 GOLD 20 Gram 244.000 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 Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc Euro US Dollar Sterling Pound Japanese Yen Bangladesh Taka Indian Rupee Sri Lankan Rupee Nepali Rupee Pakistani Rupee UAE Dirhams Bahraini Dinar Egyptian Pound Jordanian Dinar Omani Riyal Qatari Riyal Saudi Riyal

SELL DRAFT 270.24 275.99 315.01 386.57 283.30 460.99 2.89 3.644 4.498 2.162 2.812 2.642 77.20 754.03 41.12 403.20 736.76 78.23 75.68

SELL CASH 268.000 274.000 313.000 386.000 286.200 461.000 2.900 3.800 4.890 2.600 3.400 2.770 77.600 755.3000 41.200 408.500 743.300 78.600 76.000

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd Rate for Transfer US Dollar Canadian Dollar Sterling Pound Euro Swiss Frank Bahrain Dinar UAE Dirhams Qatari Riyals Saudi Riyals Jordanian Dinar Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupees Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Pesso Cyprus pound Japanese Yen Thai Bhat

Selling Rate 283.650 274.575 458.005 386.530 311.135 748.980 77.205 78.760 76.510 399.850 41.126 2.162 4.559 2.636 3.644 6.501 696.700 3.830 09.965

Syrian Pound Nepalese Rupees Malaysian Ringgit Chinese Yuan Renminbi

Singapore Dollar South African Rand Sri Lankan Rupee Taiwan Thai Baht

3.025 3.805 89.415 46.975

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 Europe 0.007373 0.450823 0.006661 0.047539 0.379388 0.042615 0.081847 0.008136 0.038871 0.305791 0.138622 Australasia 0.258822 0.230688 America 0.265788 0.279550 0.280050 Asia 0.003292 0.045191 0.034498 0.004355 0.000020 0.002755 0.003360 0.000258 0.085400 0.003038 0.002515 0.006449 0.000069

SELL 0.008373 0.459823 0.018661 0.052539 0.386888 0.047815 0.81847 0.018136 0.043871 0.315991 0.145622 0.270322 0.240188 0.274266 0.283900 0.283900 0.003892 0.048691 0.037248 0.004756 0.000026 0.002935 0.003360 0.000273 0.091400 0.003208 0.002795 0.006729 0.000075

Bahraini Dinar Egyptian Pound Iranian Riyal Iraqi Dinar Jordanian Dinar Kuwaiti Dinar Lebanese Pound Moroccan Dirhams Nigerian Naira Omani Riyal Qatar Riyal Saudi Riyal Syrian Pound Tunisian Dinar Turkish Lira UAE Dirhams Yemeni Riyal

0.225002 0.021959 0.001898 0.009505 0.008725 Arab 0.745931 0.038395 0.000078 0.000186 0.395856 1.0000000 0.000139 0.022718 0.001201 0.730722 0.077202 0.075003 0.002174 0.167006 0.138622 0.078246 0.001288

0.231002 0.030459 0.002478 0.009685 0.009275 0.753931 0.041495 0.000080 0.000246 0.403355 1.0000000 0.000239 0.046718 0.001836 0.736402 0.078415 0.075703 0.002394 0.175006 0.145622 0.077395 0.001388

Al Mulla Exchange Currency US Dollar Euro Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar Indian Rupee Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupee Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso Pakistan Rupee Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham Saudi Riyal *Rates are subject to change

Transfer Rate (Per 1000) 283.300 386.650 458.750 272.550 4.530 41.075 2.161 3.643 6.505 2.635 753.800 77.100 75.600

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2013

BUSINESS Commodities weekly update

Brent crude returns to $110 and gold slips

By Ole Hansen, Head of Commodity Strategy, Saxo Bank

G

rowth-dependent commodities such as energy and industrial metals found support from improved US economic data which also helped global stock markets continue their positive performance. The strength was particularly apparent in the US where the Dow Jones Industrial Index reached a new record high, further adding to the fear of overheated stock markets which continue to be driven by the wall of money being pumped out by several central banks.

The focus on improved economic data increased the uncertainty as to when the US Federal Reserve eventually would begin to scaling back its stimulus measures. This, combined with the continued rise in stocks and bond yields, put precious metals under some continued selling pressure with gold heading for its sharpest weekly drop in more than two months.

Energy’s strong performance The energy sector was the best performing sector as demand for gasoline and crude oil in the US began showing signs of improving. This helped WTI crude to recover from a near five-month low while also receiving a pull from Brent crude which moved back up to the $110/barrel area which coincides with the average price for the past three years. Supporting Brent crude is the continued supply disruption in Libya, combined with other supply concerns related to Nigeria and Iraq. The negotiations between Iran and a group of other countries has so far not yielded any breakthrough and any expectations of Iranian oil flooding the global market seems very premature at this stage.

Upwards for softs Soft commodities also received a boost, especially Robusta coffee which jumped by more than six percent as adverse weather in Vietnam, the world’s largest grower of this bean variety which is primarily used in instant coffee, has been hampering the ongoing harvest. The price has been getting an extra boost from hedge funds covering a short position which at November 12 stood at an almost two year high. Sugar dropped for a fifth week in a row as the US Department of Agriculture saw record inventories during the 2013/14 season. Cocoa has got the opposite problem as forecasts of a shortage during the current season has resulted in it being one of the best performing commodities year-to-date and during the week it reached the highest level in two years.

Copper rout halted The improved economic data in the US but also in Europe and elsewhere helped stopped the recent rout in copper leading it to the first weekly gain in four weeks. Stockpiles of copper held in and monitored by the two major exchanges in London and Shanghai have been declining more or less non-stop since early September. According to Bloomberg copper stocks in London Metal Exchange warehouses are down by 35 percent since reaching the year’s high in June and 64 percent of the metal held is waiting to be delivered which points towards continued demand. Hedge funds turned net-short in HG Copper as of November 12 and the technical break back above $3.2/pound would have triggered shortcovering.

Precious metals hurt Gold, which together with silver has been one of the biggest casualties of the changing macroeconomic environment this year, ran into some additional selling this week and in the process reached the lowest level since early July and is now just five percent away from the low point at $1,180/oz which was reached on June 30. With momentum and the current trend pointing towards lower prices hedge funds and investors in exchange traded products have been net-sellers during November. Especially the net-long position in gold futures on COMEX in New York was almost halved during the first couple of weeks of November.

Technically, gold has found some support below $1,240 which may trigger some covering of short positions after an almost ten percent sell-off over the past five weeks. I would still not look at entering long positions unless we manage to climb back above $1,272/oz and preferably $1,300/oz which is something i consider unlikely near-term as a correction may not take it much higher than $1,265/oz.

Oil ahead WTI Crude oil futures for delivery in January returned to winning form after four consecutive weeks of losses. Refinery demand for Crude oil has begun to pick up and rising prices for products should help maintaining this demand. The rise however was outdone by that of Brent crude which manage to climb back above $110/barrel en route to the October high at $112/barrel. The rally in Brent crude let to a further breakdown in the correlation to WTI Crude with the premium rising to $15.5/barrel, the highest level in eight months.

While the US market is dealing with rising inventories of non-exportable crude oil, several supply disruptions and geopolitical incidents continue to apply upside pressure to the price of Brent crude for spot delivery. This can be seen in a widening of the time spreads between spot and deferred crude. For example, the premium of spot crude over the delivery for April has moved from flat to a backwardation of $1.53/barrel in just two weeks while the oversupply of WTI Crude means that this is trading at a contango of USD -0.33/barrel for the same period.

Technically, WTI Crude is currently stuck in a range between $93/barrel and $96/barrel but the continued pull from rising Brent Crude prices and the improved demand outlook may trigger a move higher. Such a break could signal a move towards the first key Fibonacci level at $98.8/barrel being the 38.2 percent retracement of the August to November sell-off.

Mashreq leads OSN’s debut syndicated financing facility for $200 million DUBAI: OSN, the leading pay-TV network in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), has successfully closed its first syndicated fiveyear financing facility for $200 million.

Mashreq, UAE’s leading financial institution, acted as the sole Mandated Lead Arranger, Bookrunner and Underwriter for this syndication.

The transaction received an overwhelming response from international and regional banks and was heavily oversubscribed. The participating banks include: Barclays Bank PLC, BNP Paribas Fortis SA/NV, Citibank N.A., HSBC Bank Middle East Ltd, and National Bank of Kuwait SAK. The proceeds of the facility will be utilised

by OSN to further grow and strengthen its core business in line with the company’s objective to provide viewers with the ultimate entertainment experience.

A signing ceremony was held for the deal and attended by His Excellency AbdulAziz AlGhurair, CEO Mashreq and Faisal Al-Ayyar, Chairman of OSN and Vice Chairman of KIPCO, David Butorac, CEO of OSN and senior officials from the participating banks.

AbdulAziz Al-Ghurair congratulated OSN on the success of the syndicated facility and the leadership position achieved in the regional pay-TV market. He said: “OSN has been a remark able growth stor y, and Mashreq is indeed proud to be associated with one of the most successful businesses

in the media sector in the region. In leading this syndication Mashreq has once again reinforced its leadership position in the loan syndication market and its established track-record in closing high-profile transactions in conjunction with global institutions.

Faisal Al-Ayyar added: “The overwhelming response from the financial institutions to our first syndicated financing facility underlines OSN’s robust fundamentals and its tremen-

dous growth potential. We are thankful to Mashreq for its work in managing this process and to the other banks for supporting this facility. Mashreq has been instrumental in OSN’s success story and has been playing an increasingly important role in the network’s strategic growth initiatives.”

Julio De Quesada, Head of Corporate and Investment Banking Group at Mashreq, said: “This successful transaction demonstrates the strong relationship that OSN has with its

banking partners. With its sophisticated platform to provide services to cater to the diverse cultural and ethnic mix for both expatriates and GCC nationals, OSN is well positioned to remain a market leader and further grow and expand its foothold, leveraging the low penetration rates in the pay-TV industry in MENA.” De Quesada explained: “Our partnership with OSN has been steadily growing over the years with Mashreq working closely with OSN on key initiatives to help consolidate its market position”. He appreciated the support from participating banks and added that the strong take-up reflects OSN’s growing standing in the financial community.”

David Butorac, Chief Executive Officer of OSN, added: “The pay-TV industry in the MENA region is fast-growing and has enormous growth potential. Given the changing preferences of television audiences who value premium and exclusive content that OSN is consistently focused on delivering, this potential is becoming increasingly tangible.

“The successful debut of our financing facility highlights the trust which financial institutions place in our competencies and prospects. This transaction strengthens OSN’s commitment to provide truly world-class television experiences for our subscribers, build long-term partnerships, expand our technological base and, in turn, add long-term value for our stakeholders.”

Swiss voters reject proposal to limit executives’ pay Outrage over rising income inequality ZURICH: Swiss voters rejected a proposal yesterday to cap the salaries of top executives at 12 times that of a company’s lowest wage, heeding warnings from industry leaders that the measure could harm the country’s economy. The wealthy nation, which is home to some of the world’s biggest companies including food group Nestle and commodities giant Glencore Xstrata, voted 66 percent against imposing the limit, according to a projection from Swiss television.

The so-called “1:12 initiative for fair pay,” was brought about by the youth wing of the Social Democrats (JUSO).

The idea behind the proposal was that nobody should earn more in a month than others earn in a year. “Of course we are disappointed. But I also believe that we have an achievement nonetheless,” JUSO President David Roth told Reuters. “A year ago, opponents were defending high salaries. Today’s no-one doing that. No-one in Swiss politics would dare say that million salaries are justified.”

Sunday’s vote is just one of several initiatives being put to Swiss voters to try to address the widening income gap in the country. Switzerland will also hold a vote on whether to introduce a basic living wage of $2,800 per month from the state, though a date has not yet been set.

While anger at multi-million payouts for executives is not limited to Switzerland, the Swiss system of direct democracy - which allows for up to four national referenda per year - means popular outrage can more easily be translated into action.

Deborah Warburton, a partner at executive search consultants Hedley May said the issue has resonated in other parts of Europe. “Even though it was a ‘no’ vote, the question of how to make executive pay fairer is still very much a live issue,” she said, adding Britain has implemented a law

to give shareholders a binding vote on executive pay while France and Germany are weighing similar measures.

Opponents to the proposal had warned it would harm Switzerland by restricting the ability of firms to hire skilled staff, forcing firms to decamp abroad, resulting in a shortfall in social security contributions and higher taxes. “It’s an important decision for the Swiss business location,” Valentin Vogt, president of the Swiss Association of Employers told Swiss television SRF. “The Swiss people have clearly decided that it’s not up to the state to have a say on pay.”

The Swiss have a history of voting against proposals they feel could hurt the country’s economic success story or threaten competitiveness. Initiatives to increase workers’ annual paid holiday allowance to six weeks from four and to cut the working week to 36 hours from 42 both have failed at the ballot box in the past.

Yet anger over pay had tapped a nerve in Switzerland, a generally egalitarian country, where citizens have grown increasingly unhappy with rising wealth inequality as wages of executives balloon while those of low-skilled workers lag.

A referendum in March this year to give shareholders a binding say over executive pay and ban golden handshakes and parachutes was overwhelmingly backed by voters. Some Swiss firms have acknowledged the public anger. Last month, Credit Suisse said it made a “mistake” by paying Chief Executive Brady Dougan 19.2 million francs ($21 million) in cash and stock in 2009, plus 70 million francs($76.75 million) worth of stock under a bonus plan for 2004. That meant his total pay was 1,182 times that of the bank’s lowest paid employee, according to Travail.Suisse. - Reuters

Engine-makers powering eye-popping aircraft orders PARIS: Behind the eye-popping aircraft deals-Boeing received over a $100 billion in orders at last week’s Dubai air show-it is in large part the engine makers who are driving the mega sales say experts. They may not be as well-known as Boeing or Airbus, but the major engine manufacturers-US companies General Electric and Pratt and Whitney, Britain’s Rolls-Royce and France’s Safran-account for major part of the aviation market. Engines account for about a quarter of the total cost of an aircraft, according to Richard Aboulafia at the aerospace and defense consultancy Teal Group.

The numbers are not insignificant-GE took in $26 billion orders in one day at Dubai. But engines have been also been a major source of innovation-it is the gains in fuel economy that are boosting orders of new aircraft by airlines. While carriers need to add aircraft to meet air traffic growth, which is doubling every 15 years, sustained high oil prices have pushed airlines to seek competitive advantage by acquiring new-generation models that promise savings on fuel.

At Dubai, Boeing’s new long-haul 777X struck a record product launch for a commercial airliner by value, with a debut of $95 billion in orders. Boeing says the new version of its biggest commercial success will burn 20 percent less fuel while carrying more passengers. Like the 787 Dreamliner, some of the gains in efficiency will be from using lightweight composite materials, but mostly they will come from the engines.

“When a manufacturer announces a new aircraft model, the engine makers draws upon the technologies it feels are ready to propose a motor that offer a performance gain of 10 to 20 percent” from existing models, said Marc Ventre, Safran’s deputy chief executive for operations. “For engine makers it’s an ongoing process, because if you don’t have new technologies ready, you can’t offer a new engine,” he added. Ventre said it can take 20 to 25 years to develop a new motor.

“The jet engine development program typically

takes longer than an aircraft development program,” said Rick Kennedy, spokesman for GE Aviation, whose GE9X motors will power the twin-engined, twin-aisle 777X, which is to enter service around 2020. “Now, there are clear examples where jet engines drive aircraft designs,” he added. He pointed to the 1980s, when the reliability of the new motors pushed the International Civil Aviation Organization to allow aircraft with two engines to make transoceanic trips. “So jet engine technologies drove the move toward larger twin-engine aircraft, such as the 777, 787, and A350 aircraft,” said Kennedy.

Ventre said engine manufacturers conduct their own studies of the aviation market to be able to help anticipate what aircraft makers will want. Sometimes, they get an engine design ready before aircraft makers are ready. “In the case of the Leap, it is clearly the engine which precedes the plane,” Ventre said of the motor which Safran is manufacturing with GE Aviation in a joint venture.

“When in 2008 we announced at the Farnborough air show that we were capable of offering a new engine with new technologies that would reduce fuel use by 15-16 percent, none of the aircraft manufactures was launching a new plane,” said Ventre. But the next year China’s Comac announced it would use the Leap for its entry into mid-size single-aisle segment, the C919.

Airbus followed in 2010 with the announcement of the new version of its medium-haul workhorse, the A320neo-the moniker stands for new engine option.

The builder offers airlines the option of the Leap or Prat and Whitney’s Geared Turbofan engine which will be ready in 2015, with the Leap due for delivery the following year.

Boeing followed suit some six months later, announcing in 2011 it would update the 737 into the 737MAX, whose main change is the adoption of the Leap. - AFP

TOKYO: People admire French auto giant Renault’s “Lutecia” at the Tokyo Motor Show in Tokyo yesterday. — AFP

Foreign brands minnows in Japanese car market TOKYO: Spotting a foreign car on Japanese streets is a rare sight-save for the odd luxury brand like Ferrari or Jaguar-a point underscored at the Tokyo Motor Show this week.

It was the third time major US automakers including General Motors and Ford have skipped the show, which is held every two years and which kicked off Wednesday. Critics say their puny presence gives them little incentive to spend time and money trying to crack the world’s third-largest car market.

While Japanese brands such as Toyota and Nissan enjoy huge success in China and the US, the world’s top two car markets, overseas names that also include Renault, Peugeot-Citroen and their South Korean rivals accounted for just 4.5 percent of the 5.37 million vehicles sold in Japan last year.

Some critics pin the imbalance on non-tariff barriers they say effectively shut foreign automakers out of the market-a key issue in ongoing free-trade talks. Others counter that most overseas brands offer few models and have failed to come up with cars that Japanese drivers want to buy. Among the exceptions are Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Volkswagen and Volvo but even their sales are a small fraction of the market.

Light vehicles known as “kei” cars which have small engines of 660 cc or less account for about one-third of sales in Japan, a category almost non-existent among US and European manufacturers.

Frederic Bourene, head of Japanese marketing for France’s Renault, chalked up the challenge to the dominance of Japan’s domestic manufacturers with their well-established supply chains and thousands of dealerships.

“The Japanese market is highly competitive,” Bourene told AFP on the sidelines of the motor show.

“There are eight domestic manufacturers that already have plants here and don’t need to import with the logistical issues and time that goes with that.” Renault, which owns more than 40 percent of Nissan, has doubled its sales in Japan over the past four years, but it still expects to sell just 3,600 vehicles in 2013.

“Between the logistics costs and the exchange rate, foreign brands are about 20 percent more expensive than Japanese cars in the same range,” Bourene added.

Still, foreign automakers have long complained that Japanese authorities erect huge barriers to entry into the lucrative market. Those walls include requiring firms to change the headlights on Japan-bound cars or install extra and costly electronics, they say. “We often have to add equipment to get approval for our models,” said Tomohiko Yoshioka, an executive at Peugeot-Citroen’s Japanese unit.

That is a key hurdle in trade talks between the European Union and Japan as well as separate negotiations involving Tokyo and Washington, which is leading the charge for the mooted Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The proposed trade pact’s dozen members account for about 40 percent of the world’s economy.

General Motors, which last year was overtaken by Toyota as the world’s biggest automaker, has just 34 dealerships in Japan for its Cadillac and Chevrolet brands-and sold only around 1,000 cars there last year-against 4,700 locations for its Japanese rival.—AFP

Babcock in talks to buy stake in Avincis LONDON: Engineering services group Babcock is in exclusive discussions to take a stake in helicopter transport services company Avincis, a source close to the situation said yesterday. The source said the joint venture would mean Babcock taking a stake in Avincis alongside its two current shareholders. Britain’s Sunday Times said the firm is expected to pay 1 billion pounds ($1.6 billion) in cash and take on about 500 million pounds of Avincis’ loans as part of the deal.

Part-ownership of Avincis would give the FTSE 100 contractor, which began an international expansion drive three years ago, access to potentially lucrative defense contracting markets, par ticularly in Spain and Italy.“Babcock International Group PLC confirms that it is in exclusive discussions regarding the establishment of a joint venture with respect to Avincis,” the company said in a statement.

“However, there can be no certainty that these discus-

sions will lead to any transaction or any certainty as to the terms upon which any such transaction might proceed.”

Avincis, which provides air services from search and rescue to oil rig passenger transport in 10 countries, confirmed in a statement that talks are underway.Shares in Babcock have risen 37 percent so far this year, compared with a 21 percent rise in the FTSE 100, and are near an alltime high, seemingly defying a backdrop of austerity and greater scrutiny of public contractors in Britain. — Reuters

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2013

BUSINESS

Road builder Sata enthuses Zambians Foreign investors unnerved by disputes KATOBA, Zambia: John Moyo is at the end of the road. At least now it’s paved.

“I never imagined a paved road coming to my village,” said the spry and bespectacled 82-yearold Zambian as he sat in the shade of a tree. About 42 km (26 miles) of freshly tarred road, replacing a

gravel one, end exactly at his homestead.

President Michael Sata’s drive to upgrade the country’s rough roads, which often become impassable in the rainy season, is popular with many Zambians like Moyo. But foreign investors, who must partly fund such ambitious schemes,

are less keen on his costly promises and very public dust-ups with business.

Sata swept to power in 2011 on a platform to defend workers’ rights, create jobs - and pave roads. The government plans to continue paving a winding route beyond Moyo’s home about 50 km

south of Lusaka for another 400 km to the Zimbabwean border, part of the campaign to seal 8,000 km of dirt roads in the landlocked southern African country.

Sata is pursuing his vision with gusto, building on a legacy of reforms in Africa’s top copper producer that are helping many of the 14 million Zambians to climb out of poverty. With annual economic growth rates of 7 percent and more, the World Bank now classifies Zambia as a lower-middle-income nation rather than low-income, meaning its gross national income per person has risen above about $1,000. His government has tapped global capital markets - unthinkable a few years ago - to help fund the 31.4 billion Zambian kwacha ($5.6 billion) road project. Zambia’s debut $750 million Eurobond last year was oversubscribed 15 times.

Now Sata, nicknamed “King Cobra” for his sharp tongue, is unnerving investors, threatening his ability to raise the affordable capital required to meet his development promises.

His disputes with South African retailer Shoprite and Konkola Copper Mines - Zambia’s biggest private sector employer which is owned by Vedanta Resources - over their plans to fire or lay-off workers, has cooled what was becoming one of Africa’s more promising investment climates.

At the same time, Sata is pursuing costly budget policies. The government has increased civil servants’ pay by between 4 and 200 percent to close salary gaps, while sacrificing revenue by raising the threshold where Zambians start paying income tax to 3,000 kwacha a month from 2,200. Next year’s budget deficit is forecast to double to 8.5 percent of gross domestic product. As the risk of lending to Zambia rises, so will its commercial borrowing costs, ultimately making Sata’s mega-projects less affordable.

A treasury official said last month that Zambia may issue a second Eurobond to finance the 2014 budget. However, these funds would be considerably dearer than the first Eurobond which yielded 5.625 percent when it launched in September 2012. It is now yielding 7.37 percent, having risen close to 8 percent in September this year.

Many of the roads are being built

by Chinese contractors who arrange soft loans to fund them. While cheaper, few details of this debt are published, making it hard to determine what Zambia owes China, according to AidData, a research initiative tracking development finance. Sata has also criticized the Chinese and scolded road contractors earlier this month for not hiring more Zambians to work on their projects.

Zambia, which AidData estimates borrowed over $1 billion from China between 2010 and 2012, is looking increasingly at other sources of funding. However, yields on its 12-month debt have also risen steadily from around 9.50 percent in January to 15.25 percent last week, underscoring the fiscal fragility. Last month the Fitch agency cut Zambia’s credit rating to B from B-plus, citing “crumbling government finances”. Just when Lusaka might be wooing markets, the public rows with companies have rattled investors.

In October the government threatened to shut Shoprite’s Zambian stores for firing 3,000 workers who went on strike over pay.

Africa’s biggest retailer quickly backtracked. Earlier this month, Sata tilted at Konkola chief executive Kishore Kumar over KCM’s plan to lay off around 1,500 workers as it mechanizes some of its mining operations.

“If he is threatening to lay off people, let him lay off one and we will take away the license from him,” Sata said.

Such comments are helping to boost Sata’s working-class support in mining communities. “We asked him to intervene and stop what KCM was doing. And for us as a union we were very glad that he stepped in and defended the workers,” Joseph Chewe, the General Secretary of the Mineworkers Union of Zambia, told Reuters in an interview.

Mines Minister Chris Yaluma told Reuters the government was angry at management’s “unilateral decision” which by-passed the board, where the top civil servant from the mines ministry sits. KCM’s owner Vedanta, an Indian energy and mining conglomerate which bought KCM a decade ago, described the incident as a “misunderstanding”.

Interventionist Sata’s moves revive memories of heavy state control of the Zambian economy for almost three decades under founding president Kenneth Kaunda, who nationalized the copper mines, leading to a dive in production. “It harkens back to the policies of the 1970s, which were interventionist and which is what held Zambia back as a low-income country,” said Tara O’Connor of Africa Risk Consulting. Kaunda’s successors reprivatised the mines, lifting annual copper output from 257,000 tons in 2000 to around 900,000 tons this year with a target of 1.5 million tons by 2015.

As the economy opened up, Johannesburg-listed firms poured in.

The malls dotting Lusaka are now dominated by South African names: Shoprite, retail rival Pik N Pay, fastfood chain Spur and lenders such Standard Bank.

Sata, who renamed Lusaka’s main airport after Kaunda, is signalling his government will take an active role in the economy and defend jobs - no matter what it costs investors.

Deputy Labour Minister Rayford Mbulu, whose union background gives him political clout in Sata’s Patriotic Front party, told Reuters in an interview that “as government we have a mandate to control the economy”. He went on to say that under Zambian law, an employer can make an employee redundant only if the operation is closing or if “there is a shrinkage in business”.

“But none of these reasons were given by KCM. All they were saying is that the copper prices have dropped and costs have gone up,” Mbulu said.

Zambian labor law is ambiguous, stating that a business can make an employee redundant “due to the business ceasing or reducing the requirement for the employees to carry out work”.

Much is at stake for Vedanta; its Zambian unit is underperforming with margins lagging other divisions.

Asked if maintaining profitability was a legitimate reason to lay off workers, Mbulu replied: “In business, my brother, it’s not every day that you make a profit.”

Protecting jobs is a likely vote winner for Zambians who have a steady wage. Road improvements, however, also reach much of the majority who still work the land in subsistence farming. Only about 8,000 km of Zambia’s 67,000-km road network are paved and the government’s plan is to double that by 2017. Several Zambians interviewed

by Reuters in two areas where tarred roads are replacing gravel had only praise for Sata.

A new 20 km paved road from Lusaka’s main airport to the town of Chongwe will soon be complete. “ We are ver y happy they are upgrading this road; we use it to take our vegetables to market in Lusaka. President Sata has done a great job because this will make life easier for us,” said 31-year-old Simon Phiri, a small-scale farmer in the area. — Reuters

KABUL: An Afghan laborer chops wood for fuel in Kabul yesterday. Over a third of Afghans are living in abject poverty, as those in power are more concerned about addressing their vested interests rather than the basic needs of the population, a UN report said. — AFP

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2013

BUSINESS

Araba Al Mulla launches campaign for new Mitsubishi cars KUWAIT: Al Mulla Rental & Leasing is one of the specialized leasing companies offering vehicle rental services on daily, monthly and yearly contracts. It has more than 20 different locations around Kuwait and provides the latest car models ranging from sedans, sports cars to four wheel drives in addition to commercial vehicles, in order to offer a variety of vehicles with unique leasing benefits to satisfy all its clients.

For the first time through this unique leasing campaign, customers can now enjoy access to individual leasing programs which offer them the latest Mitsubishi cars that are well known for their practicality and economical rates.

In addition, to the multiple benefits enjoyed upon leasing such as:

• Golden Maintenance • Free Insurance • Free Replacement • 24-Hour Road Assistance • Convenient locations This new campaign allows customers to get the highest added value and choose from a variety of new Mitsubishi vehicles such as; the new Pajero that is available for KD 189 per month, the Outlander for KD 159 per month, Mitsubishi ASX for KD 139 per month, the family car Z7 for KD 139 per month and the Fortis which is available for KD 99 per month.

In a bid to provide the best service to its clients, and based on the increasing demand for economical and practical cars in Kuwait, Araba Rental &

Leasing par t of Al Mulla Rental & Leasing of Vehicles & Equipment Company, launched its new campaign ‘leasing options with multiple benefits’.

This campaign offers unique benefits thus allowing clients the opportunity to lease their favorite Mitsubishi cars at unbelievable rates whilst facilitating the leasing process.

This special initiative is added to the existing batch of cars offered for individual leasing such as Dodge, Jeep, Chrysler, Hyundai and Kia, Chevrolet 7 Nissan which are all available under Araba’s individual leasing program; thus reassuring customers that Araba offers only the best cars at the lowest rates, to enhance the relationship with its clients.

Optimism as Seychelles readies for WTO entry Local businesses cautious, jittery

Fed is committed to easing policy NBK MONEY MARKETS REPORT

F

ederal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke stated last week that the central bank is committed towards the easing policy for as long as needed, adding that the Fed will only begin to taper the bond-buying program after assurance that the labor market improvements will continue. Chairman Bernanke has said, “While the economy had made significant progress, it is still far from where officials want it to be”. The Chairman added, “That the surest path to a more normal approach to monetary policy is to do all we can today to promote a more robust recovery”. On the other hand, the FOMC meeting minutes stated that officials “might reduce their $85 billion in monthly bond purchases in the coming months as the economy improves”. The minutes showed that policy makers “generally expected that the data would prove consistent with the Committee’s outlook for ongoing improvement in labor market conditions and would thus warrant trimming the pace of purchases in coming months”. The Federal Open Market Committee face the dilemma of when and how to reduce the quantitative easing program, without causing a rise in interest rates that could hinder economic growth and diminish the gains of the labor market. On the FX markets, the euro opened the week at 1.3496, rising steadily to touch the weeks high of 1.3579, as economic figures from Europe’s powerhouse, Germany, signaled optimism in the euro area, backed by dovish comments from the Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. The single currency dropped significantly on Wednesday, as talks surfaced that the European Central Bank is considering a negative deposit rate for commercial lenders who park excess cash at the ECB to minus 0.1 percent. Members of the ECB have stated that negative rates is a “potential tool” for sustainability.

The news pushed the euro to a low of 1.3400.

The EUR managed to reverse its trend, gaining all the way up to 1.3527 against the USD, after better than expected German Ifo beats estimates. The euro ended the week at 1.3558. The Sterling Pound enjoyed a positive week, as it opened at 1.6118, rising towards the middle of the week to 1.6178, amid speculation that the Bank of England might raise the benchmark interest rate. The Pound dropped after the minutes from the BoE disappointed investors. Cable regained all its losses as UK data continues to outperform. The GBPUSD closed the week at 1.6226. The Japanese Yen had weakened significantly, sustaining the 100 barrier. The JPY opened the week at 100.19, dropping below the 100.00 mark only slightly, as the USD deteriorated. The Yen then fell against the greenback, breaking major technical levels, as orders from crosses with the EUR and GBP trigger a selloff.

The USDJPY broke past the 101 mark for the first time since July, as monetary policy talks in both countries widened the gap between the two countries’ bond yields to the biggest since September. The Japanese Yen closed at 101.27.

The Australian Dollar endured a tough week, as it opened at 0.9369, rising to a high of 0.9448.

The Aussie then crumbled to touch a low of 0.9157, as the Reserve Bank of Australia Governor stated that the central bank is “openminded” about intervening to weaken its currency. The Australian dollar ended the week at 0.9183.

Core retail sales Retail sales in the US rose in October by the most in 3-months, a sign that the US Government shutdown had minimal effect on consumer spending, ahead of the holiday season where shopping peaks. The 0.4 percent gain followed a 0.1 percent decrease in September, and exceeding expectations by 0.3 percent points. The American consumer sponsored the strengthening in retail sales growth as they snapped up goods such as furniture and cars, while others were preparing for the holidays, buying up electronics and clothes. The figures boost the holiday sales outlook for retailers,

signaling that consumer spending, that accounts for almost 70 percent of the economy is picking up from a third quarter slowdown.

Existing home sales Sales of previously owned American houses unexpectedly dropped more than forecasted last month to the lowest level in 4-months, as the higher mortgage rates and limited supply hindered the housing market recovery.

Purchases of existing houses dropped by 3.2 percent, to 5.12 million homes, the lowest level since June. The figure came lower than the forecasted 5.14 million, and significantly lower than the previous months’ figure of 5.29 million. The increase in borrowing costs amid expectations that the Federal Reserve will soon taper he economic stimulus, ignited concerns in the housing market, slowing the recovery.

Unemployment claims Claims in the US for unemployment benefits declined more than forecasted last week to the lowest level in almost 2-months, signaling that the labor market is recovering. Applications for unemployment benefits fell by 21,000 to 323,000 last week, from a revised 344,000 the previous week. Forecasts stood at a drop to 335,000. Employers are hiring more workers to meet the increasing demand by the US consumer ahead of the holidays. The US labor market has shown steady improvement according to Fed officials.

German Business Confidence surged to the highest level in more than a year this month, showing optimism that Europe’s largest economy will continue to expand, even after growth slowed in the third quarter. The Ifo business climate index, based on a survey of 7,000 executives, rose from 107.4 in October to 109.3 this month, the highest level since April 2012. The figure surpassed all economists’ expectations.

The Bundesbank stated this week that the German economy remains on a “solid growth path”, as factory orders exceeded expectations in September, unemployment remained near a two-decade low, and investor confidence soared to the highest level in 4-years.

German manufacturing German manufacturing index rose more than forecasted this month, as Germany continued to drive the euro-zone’s recovery out from its record long recession. The Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to 52.5 in November, exceeding estimates of 52.0. The figure rose from October’s number of 51.7. A reading above 50 indicates growth, and below 50, contraction.

The Bank of England’s minutes were released last weeks, showing a dovish approach to interest rate changes. The minutes showed that the Monetary Policy Committee would not debate an increase in borrowing costs for some time, as the economy gains momentum. The minutes also showed that even if unemployment drops below the 7 percent mark, it does not mean an automatic tightening of the monetary policy.

The November meeting minutes showed that all nine members of the committee agreed to keep the official interest rate at the record low of 0.5 percent, and keeping the asset purchase program unchanged at GBP 375 billion.

Gold plummets Gold continued to drop since the end of October, as investors weighed signals from the Federal Reserve that it might cut its stimulus program in the coming months. The precious metal dropped to the lowest level since July, touching a low of 1,236.92, from 1,361.82 on October 28. Gold is set for the first annual drop in 13-years, as the US economy gains traction.

Kuwait Kuwaiti dinar at 0.28280 The USDKWD opened at 0.28280 yesterday morning.

VICTORIA, Seychelles: The Indian Ocean archipelago of the Seychelles is pinning its hopes of economic recovery on its expected membership of the World Trade Organization, but the impending move is also causing jitters for local businesses.

After 18 years of negotiations, the tourist destination-famed for its white sandy beaches and luxury hotels-is set to join the global trade body by the end of April 2014, said Cillia Mangroo, head of the finance ministry’s trade division.

For the authorities of the island nation, membership equals commercial security. “Being a member of the WTO, for a small country like Seychelles, provides the opportunity to have a body that can defend their rights in case of a trade dispute with another countr y,” said Charles Morin, the islands’ chief negotiator.

Aside from pulling in tourists and honeymooners, the main export is canned tuna to the European Union. The EU is also the country’s main trading partner, taking 61 percent of exports and the source of 30 percent of imports.

The Seychelles also exports copra-coconut kernels that are ground down to extract oil-and furniture to Asia and Africa. Ahead of joining the 159 member bloc, officials in Victoria has been busy signing bilateral agreements with Canada,

Mauritius, Oman, Switzerland, and, more recently, the EU and Thailand. According to the WTO, the country has been particularly committed to cutting export subsidies to zero.

But not everyone in the small nation of just 90,000 inhabitants is convinced of the benefits of casting off trade barriers. “Architects, engineers and lawyers are worried about the opening up of the market, because once the Seychelles becomes a member of the WTO, any business can come and invest in the country,” said Marco Francis, president of the country’s chamber of commerce. There are fears too for the country’s poultry and pig farmers, already badly struggling since the authorities began to open the market, including allowing meat imports from Brazil.

“I fear that the country’s entry into the WTO will result in the end of such farming... and that could put the country’s food security at risk,” Francis added.

He said many livestock breeders have also closed shop because the Seychelles does not have the means to make “mass rearing such as Brazil and China.”

Francis hopes that a list of “protected” products will be reserved for key Seychelles companies, arguing Victoria should retain a monopoly on traditional fishing.

But the government will not budge, arguing that WTO accession is key to putting the economy back on track after skirting close to bankruptcy during the peak of the financial crisis.

Becoming a member “will help us attract the right direct investment,” Mangroo added. In a statement issued at the conclusion of bilateral negotiations in late October, the European Commission said it believed accession “would be the last step on the process of economic reform and development of the Seychelles”. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) ends in December its fiveyear program of assistance to Seychelles, an austerity plan that has resulted in a major restructuring of the debt, privatization and slashing the government staff.

At the end of 2008, the Seychelles faced a balance of payments crisis and liquidity problems. Its public debt reached 130 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), inflation stood at 37 percent and GDP grew by just 0.1 percent.

The following year, prices soared by over a third while GDP tumbled by 9.6 percent.

For 2013, the IMF now expects the Seychelles to post growth of 3.3 percent and inflation of 4.9 percent. Victoria should also have cut public debt to 70 percent of GDP, and hopes to see this ratio fall to 50 percent by 2018. — AFP

Greek economic recovery ‘fragile’: IMF ATHENS: The economic recovery touted by Greece’s embattled government is “fragile”, the nation’s IMF auditor said yesterday as he called for new, targeted cuts in the next two years.

“The recovery (in Greece) is fragile and will be hurt if the government does not stay the course of fiscal adjustment and structural reform,” Poul Thomsen, the IMF’s point man in the creditor mission to Greece, told the Kathimerini daily. “More measures will be needed in 2014-2016,” he added, whilst noting that “horizontal” cuts should be avoided in a country now gripped in a six-year recession.

“The measures should focus on sectors where there is still excessive spending, and be carefully targeted so as to protect vulnerable social groups,” he said.

Thomsen said results were “mixed” on longdelayed structural reforms and expressed amazement that civil service layoffs were still “a taboo of sorts” when youth unemployment stands at around 60 percent. The interview was published a day after German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said they saw “light at the end of the tunnel” for Greece thanks to painful reforms.

Greece unveiled a budget this week in which it said the deep recession in the economy would end next year with 0.6 percent growth, following a 4.0percent contraction in 2013. However, auditors from the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank and the European Commission concluded their latest visit to Greece to review progress on the country’s economic program without reaching a full agreement, according to an IMF statement. Such audits determine whether or not Greece receives the next instalment of rescue funding, with the troika of creditors now expected to return to Athens in early December.

The troika predicts a 2014 fiscal gap will exceed 1.5 billion euros ($2.0 billion), while the Greek government estimates the sum to be slightly more than 500 million euros. — AFP

Zambia-Tanzania copper railway re-opens LUSAKA: A rail line carrying passengers and freight between Zambia and Tanzania reopened yesterday after a week-long closure that affected copper exports from Africa’s biggest producer, officials said. The TAZARA line, a key route for copper exports from Zambia and neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, was closed on Monday after a truck hit a railway bridge in Tanzania and damaged part of the track.

“Engineers on site have advised that the line shall reopen, a day earlier than originally expected,” TAZARA spokesman Conrad Simuchile said.

In March, the national railways of Zambia, Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania signed an agreement to make it easier to transport goods such as copper by rail between the three countries. — Reuters

SAL LAKE CITY: US Senator Orrin Hatch joined Utah business leaders for a news conference in Salt Lake City. Hatch talked about the ongoing Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) meetings taking place in Utah this week. — AP

Dire economy forces Ukraine to shun EU MOSCOW: Ukraine’s stunning refusal to sign a historic trade deal with the European Union highlights the perilous state of the ex-Soviet state’s economy and its continued reliance on its old master Russia.

The country once known as the breadbasket of Europe is quietly suffering through some of the worst pain known anywhere on the continent outside of Greece. Its economy has shrunk for five successive quarters. The vital industrial sector has contracted by nearly six percent in annual terms.

And massive external debt commitments have seen gold and hard currency reserves dip to levels supporting fewer than three months of imports-a red line for most economists. Add to that the danger of losing crucial Russian markets with no immediate benefit from the 28 EU nations and the choice facing Ukrainian leaders-still publicly committed to closer political ties with Brussels-was dire.

“The International Monetary Fund’s position was the final straw,” a seemingly-exasperated Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said in reference to IMF pressure on Ukraine to raise its subsidized domestic gas prices before it gets access to a frozen financial lifeline. “The decision was hard, but the only possible one in the economic situation,” he told parliament to cries of “shame” from the pro-Western opposition bloc.

The end result is that the Eastern Partnership summit kicking off in Vilnius on Thursday will not see Kiev and Brussels sign an Association Agreement that would have pulled Ukraine out of Russia’s orbit and put it on a path to eventual EU membership. “In the short term, it makes sense for Ukraine to have withdrawn from the deal,” Liza Ermolenko of the London-based Capital Economics consultancy remarked.

“It looks like (Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych) came out thinking that the economic cost now would be too big to take the risk.” EU leaders have almost unanimously blamed the blunt threat of Russian retaliation against its western neighbor for Ukraine’s ultimate change of heart.

“Hard to overlook in reasoning for today’s decision impact of Russia’s unjustified economic and trade measures against Kiev,” EU enlargement commissioner Stefan Fuele wrote in an angry Twitter message after Ukraine formally broke off the talks on Thursday.

“Ukraine government suddenly bows deeply to the Kremlin,” Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt added on his own Twitter account. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s hopes of keeping Ukraine tied to a Moscowled Customs Union that restores trade along old Soviet routes have been an open secret.

Moscow banned imports of Ukraine’s most popular chocolates and imposed unforgiving customs checks along the border as the Vilnius summit approached.

Natural gas giant Gazprom-seen by critics as the Kremlin’s main weapon against uncooperative partners-stepped in late last month by slapping Ukraine with a whopping bill of nearly $1 billion.

The mounting pressure prompted Yanukovych to rush to Russia over a November weekend for hush-hush talks with Putin that prompted immediate opposition calls in Kiev for him to be impeached.

His meeting with Putin forced Yanukovych to realize that a deal with the European Union “would have produced many immediate negatives in exchange for uncertain benefits,” said Russia in Global Affairs foreign policy magazine editor Fyodor Lukyanov.— AFP

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2013

BUSINESS

QFB gold sponsor of Global Islamic Economic Summit DOHA: Qatar First Bank, the first independent Sharia-compliant bank authorized by the QFC Regulatory Authority (QFCRA), has announced the Gold sponsorship of the Global Islamic Economic Summit to be held at Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai, UAE on 25-26 November 2013.

Ahmed Meshari Attracting more than 1600 delegates, the conference is held under the patronage and the attendance of Sheikh Mohamed Bin Rashed Al-Maktoum UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai and organized by Thomson Reuters and the Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry. The two-day event is poised to be the region’s largest event aimed at promoting the Islamic economy and examining the constraints facing its development and growth.

Ahmed Meshari, Acting CEO, QFB commented, “We are proud sponsors of the Global

Islamic Economic Summit. The Islamic finance industry continues to grow substantially with many major financial cities competing to become the hub of Islamic finance. As a leading Sharia compliant financial institution, we are looking forward to joining other global Islamic financial experts, policy makers and stakeholders of the US$8 trillion Islamic economy in addressing the challenges facing this vibrant financial system.”

Islamic Finance witnessed considerable growth since the financial crisis of 2008 with Islamic finance assets reaching $1.32 trillion at the end of 2012. In spite of this growth, which is 50% more than the conventional banking, there is a great potential for further development specifically in terms of products and regulatory framework.

Qatar First Bank is the only bank from Qatar joining regional banks like Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Dubai Islamic Bank and Emirates NBD in sponsoring the event. The summit will bring together experts from all facets of the Islamic Economy and will address themes as the role of the Islamic economy in the evolving global economic landscape, future strategies for its adoption and the takaful industry.

Qatar First Bank (QFB), formerly known as Qatar First Investment Bank, is the first independent Sharia compliant investment bank authorized by the QFC Regulatory Authority (QFCRA). Launched in 2009, the bank offers Principal Investments, Asset Management, Corporate Finance Advisory and Commercial Banking services. The bank plans to list on the Qatar Exchange in the near future.

QFB has an authorized capital of QAR 2 billion ($550mn) and a paid up capital of QAR 1.7 billion ($486 million), providing the financial strength to capitalize on lucrative investments.

It operates to the highest international regulatory and corporate governance standards and is ISO 27001 certified. Adopting an investment strategy that centres on sector and geographical diversification, QFB’s target sectors include energy, financial services, industrials, real estate and health care. It has invested QAR 1.8 billion in 16 transactions since inception, in five different sectors across seven geographies spanning the broader GCC, MENA and Turkey.

The bank was recognized by CPI Financial as the “Best Investment Bank in the GCC” in the Islamic Business & Finance category in 2011.

Wataniya Telecom launches new prepaid offers with lifetime validity KUWAIT: Wataniya Telecom has launched three new offers for all prepaid customers. These offers are the most rewarding in Kuwait.

Customers can choose a handset which is tailored to their budget, needs and usage.

Wataniya said “These new offers stem from the company’s strategy which aims at providing opportunity for its subscribers to connect and communicate at competitive prices. The offers are catered to the needs and requirements of our loyal customers”.

The first offer brings customers a Nokia 105 handset for KD 5.250 along a free SIM card and free welcome credit worth KD 2.This offer comes

with no commitment or contracts.

The second offer is a prepaid value pack.

Customers can get any of the 4 phones (Nokia 110 at KD11, Nokia Asha 205 at KD 16, Nokia Asha 206 at KD 16 and Nokia Asha 210 at KD 20) for a one-time payment. Customers would have to recharge their line for a minimum of 500fils every month and in return they will get KD 1per month of free credit which can be used for calls, SMS and My Net Basic internet. This offer is valid for 12 months.

While the third offer gives customers the chance to get a smartphone with free internet.

Here, the customer can get any of these three

smartphones (Samsung Pocket Neo at KD 24,Nokia Asha 501 at KD24 or the Nokia Lumia 520 at KD 40) for a one-time price. Customers will receive 200 MB of free internet for 12 months; while they must recharge their lines for KD 1 every month. This recharge amount can be used for anything and will not apply to the free internet. All these prepaid offers are available across Wataniya plus its authorized dealer in Kuwait.

Wataniya Telecom will continue to bring the latest in technology and innovative pricing packages to all its customers in the most affordable and valuable way.

Burgan Bank wins ‘Best Private Bank in Kuwait 2013’ for third year in row KUWAIT: Burgan Bank announced yesterday that it has once again received the coveted “Best Private Bank in Kuwait” award by Capital Finance International, one of the world’s leading journals on banking and finance which provides news, analysis and commentary on emerging markets.

The award comes in recognition of the nominations and referrals that Burgan Bank continued to receive, along with its continuous commitment towards implementing international best practices to ensure the delivery of a trusted premium private banking services to its clients.

The bank has been commended for proving its strong financial indicators that are pointing in the right direction, along with a robust balance sheet and high asset quality. Moreover, its share price has outperformed competing peer banks.

It is important to note that Burgan Bank won the “Best Private Bank” award by World Finance for two consecutive years. The bank, in 2007, was also awarded by Euromoney as the “Best Local Private Bank in Kuwait” and as “The Best Private Bank” in 2011. These accolades are a testament to our commitment to attain trust through excellence Established in 1977, Burgan Bank is the youngest commercial Bank and third largest by assets in Kuwait, with a significant focus on the corporate and financial institutions sectors, as well as having a growing retail and private bank customer base.

Burgan Bank has five majority owned sub-

sidiaries, which include Gulf Bank Algeria - AGB (Algeria), Bank of Baghdad - BOB (Iraq & Lebanon), Jordan Kuwait Bank - JKB (Jordan) Tunis International Bank - TIB (Tunisia), and fully owned Burgan Bank - Turkey, (collectively known as the “Burgan Bank Group”).

The Bank has continuously improved its performance over the years through an expanded revenue structure, diversified funding sources, and a strong capital base. The adoption of stateof-the-art services and technology has positioned it as a trendsetter in the domestic market and within the MENA region.

Burgan Bank’s brand has been created on a foundation of real values - of trust, commitment, excellence and progression, to remind us of the high standards to which we aspire.

‘People come first’ is the foundation on which its products and services are developed. Earlier this year, ‘Brand Finance’ - the international brand valuation company- rated Burgan Bank brand as AA with positive outlook.? The rating places Burgan Bank Brand at 2nd amongst the most valuable banking brands in Kuwait.

Excellence is one of the Bank’s four key values and Burgan Bank continually strives to maintain the highest standards in the industry.

The Bank was re-certified in 2010 with the ISO 9001:2008 certification in all its banking businesses, making it the first bank in the GCC, and the only bank in Kuwait to receive such accreditation. The Bank also has to its credit the distinction of being the only Bank in Kuwait to have won the JP Morgan Chase Quality Recognition Award for twelve consecutive years.

Burgan Bank won the prestigious “Banking Web Awards” prize in the commercial and corporate Category for Kuwait. In 2010 Burgan Bank was awarded with the “Best Internet Banking Service award” from Banker Middle East Awards. Burgan Bank was recognized in 2011 as Kuwait’s “Best Private Bank”, by World Finance. The bank also won, in 2011, the coveted “International Platinum Star for Quality” award from Business Initiative Directions, and “The Best Technical Award” from Banking Web Awards. In 2012, Global Banking and Finance Review online magazine recognized Burgan Bank as the “Best Banking Group in the MENA” as well as the “Best Corporate Bank in Kuwait”.

Al-Zayani: The F-type coupe: Faster, stiffer, sharper KUWAIT: The all-aluminium F-TYPE Coupe - the most dynamically capable, performance-focused sports car that Jaguar has ever produced - is available in three versions: F-TYPE R, F-TYPE S and the F-TYPE; all to be presented soon at AlZayani.

The range-topping F-TYPE R Coupe is powered by Jaguar’s 5.0-litre supercharged V8 engine in 550PS/680Nm tune, delivering acceleration to 60mph in 4.1 seconds, and a top speed of 186mph (electronically limited).

The F-TYPE S Coupe and F-TYPE Coupe are powered by Jaguar’s 3.0-litre V6 supercharged petrol engines in 380PS/460Nm and 340PS/450Nm forms respectively, giving 060mph in 4.8/5.1-seconds and top speeds of 171/161mph.

The F-TYPE Coupe embodies the uncompromised design vision of the stunning Jaguar CX16 concept sports Coupe that debuted at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show, its dramatic cabinrearward stance being defined by three heartlines. The first two heartlines - shared with FTYPE Convertible - form the muscular front and rear wings, the third heartline being the sweeping Coupe roof profile which provides an unbroken silhouette while emphasizing the visual drama of the tapered cabin sitting between powerful rear haunches.

Jaguar’s expertise in aluminium technology has enabled the design vision for the F-TYPE Coupe to be delivered in a lightweight yet extremely strong bodyshell. Torsional rigidity for all F-TYPE Coupe variants is 33,000 Nm/degree greater than in any previous production Jaguar this rigidity providing the basis for excellent dynamic attributes.

The F-TYPE Coupe’s body side is made from a single piece aluminium pressing, probably the most extreme cold-formed aluminium body side in the automotive industry, eliminating the requirement for multiple panels and cosmetic joints. The roof panel itself is available in either aluminium or panoramic glass form. A deploy-

able rear spoiler sits within the tapered shut-line of the F-TYPE Coupe, while slim, wrap-around LED lamps flank a beautifully engineered tailgate, with optional powered open/close functionality.

To deliver assured, progressive handling in line with its 550PS output, the range-topping FTYPE R Coupe features a bespoke suspension set-up and new dynamic technologies. These include a second-generation Electronic Active Differential (EAD) and - for the first time on a Jaguar - Torque Vectoring by braking, these systems working in parallel to provide immediacy of response and exploitable handling. The EAD system automatically redistributes engine torque between the rear wheels to ensure excellent on-the-limit control, while Torque Vectoring by braking intelligently applies precisely metered braking force to the inner wheels as necessary during cornering to enhance agility.

Sports suspension with Adaptive Dynamics damping and Configurable Dynamic Mode further enhance the F-TYPE R’s immediacy of

response, providing an exhilarating and involving driving experience.

F-TYPE R and F-TYPE S Coupe models also have the option of Carbon Ceramic Matrix (CCM) brakes which offer absolute consistency of performance and excellent fade resistance, as well as a total unsprung-weight saving of 21kg.

Every F-TYPE Coupe model utilises Jaguar’s eight-speed close-ratio Quickshift transmission which is optimised for sporting performance, with full manual sequential control from the central SportShift selector or steering wheelmounted paddles.

The F-TYPE Coupe range complements the existing three-car F-TYPE Convertible model line-up; the V6-engined F-TYPE (340PS) and FTYPE S (380PS), and the 495PS F-TYPE V8 S. “We will be anxiously waiting for that unique sports car. We are positive that the F-TYPE Coupe will generate high demand in the Kuwaiti market with its seductive design, cutting-edge technology and breathtaking performance,” said Derek Davies, Automotive Director, Al-Zayani.

Logistics leaders partner around relief for the Philippines Agility, Maersk, TNT Express, and UPS help set up supply chains KUWAIT: Logistics leaders Agility, Maersk, TNT Express, and UPS are offering vital warehousing, transport, and logistics support in the current emergency in the Central Philippines, to ensure that critical relief supplies reach those affected by Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda. The four companies make up the Logistics Emergency Teams (LETs), a cross-company partnership that supports humanitarian relief efforts during natural disasters.

The LETs are responding to a request for assistance by the United Nations World Food Program (WFP). In addition to being the frontline agency fighting hunger, WFP also leads the Logistics Cluster, which coordinates the logistical response of the humanitarian community in times of disaster.

Super typhoon Haiyan, the fourth most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded and possibly the strongest to have ever hit land, began life as a cluster of thunderstorms in the warm Northwest Pacific waters of the Federated States of Micronesia. According to the UN, more than 11 million people have been affected, almost a

million people have been displaced, and 4,460 people are reported dead.

“Partnership and close coordination of relief efforts is essential during a large-scale disaster such as Typhoon Haiyan,” explains Thomas Thompson, Head of the WFP-led Logistics Cluster. “We are fortunate to have the expertise and many offers of support from our LET partners, who have come together to help the Filipino people.” * The assistance from the LET partners includes logistical support, such as the facilitation of customs guidance for relief goods brought in by the humanitarian community. In addition to staff and expertise, LET partners have also offered access to operational assets such as trucks, vessels, barges, forklifts, refrigerated containers and warehouses.

“Agility and its LET partners are ready to help the Philippine government speed assistance to the areas and people most in need,” said Tarek Sultan, Chairman of Agility. “Chaos and disorder inevitably follow a tragedy of this magnitude. The LET teams can deploy experienced

logistics professionals and pool resources in a way that increase the efficiency of efforts led by the government and humanitarian groups.”

“UPS has a long history of working with disaster relief organizations to deliver critical, life-saving aid to communities in need around the world,” said Eduardo Martinez, President, The UPS Foundation. “The victims of Typhoon Haiyan are facing many hardships. Last week, UPS pledged $1 million in financial and logistical support to organizations that will provide assistance in the days, weeks and months ahead. By doing so, we are helping ensure impacted citizens have a reliable, efficient and predictable path back to recovery.”

“TNT Express appreciates this opportunity to offer logistical support to the victims of typhoon Haiyan. By delivering assistance where it’s most needed, we can help the victims rebuild their lives,” said Jan Ernst de Groot, Managing Director External Affairs and Corporate Responsibility, TNT Express.

“The efficient deployment of logistics expertise in the

first phase of an emergency can be crucial in providing medicine, food and shelter to minimize human suffering.

With our logistics and transport expertise and equipment, the Maersk Group is ready to assist the Philippine government and the UN to respond to this tragic disaster and help pave the way for a speedy recovery,” said Nils S. Andersen, CEO of the Maersk Group.

In addition to providing warehousing and transport assets, the LET partners provide expertise and local knowledge to support the response of the entire humanitarian community in getting food, shelter, and health and water sanitation items to the communities most affected.

The LET initiative is the first multi-company commitment to the humanitarian sector and was launched in 2008 at the World Economic Forum Meeting in Davos, Switzerland. Central to the LET model is the partnership of otherwise competing companies utilizing their corporate expertise, local resources, and relationships in support of humanitarian relief efforts in response to natural disasters.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2013

TECHNOLOGY

ILLINOIS: Emanuel Jumatate, from Chicago, hugs his new Xbox One after he purchased it at a Best Buy on Friday in Evanston. Nikolai Vacca, left, explains Xbox One accessories to customers at a Best Buy store in Evanston. — AP photos

To spin or not to spin: Does Microsoft need Xbox?

LOS ANGELES: Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates donned a cool leather jacket when he first introduced the Xbox onstage in 2000. More than a decade later, the video game console is still the hippest brand in Microsoft’s portfolio.

But as the company began selling its first new Xbox in eight years on Friday, some critics say Microsoft should spin the gaming unit off.

They argue that Xbox distracts management from the company’s fast-growing cloud computing business and its effort to catch up to rivals in tablet and smartphone sales. Here are Xbox’s pros and cons: PRO: It is profitable in the long term: The Xbox business has been profitable for the past few years, according to Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft’s vice president of strategy. Mehdi says the company sees the gaming industry growing from an annual $66 billion to $78 billion in 2017.

And Microsoft hopes to broaden the Xbox’s appeal with features that make it more of an entertainment hub.

CON: It will be a short-term profit drag: Nomura analyst Rick Sherlund estimates that the Xbox platform will lose at least $1 billion for Microsoft in 2014 and may not be profitable for another year or so after that. He says a spinoff, even to existing shareholders, would immediately boost Microsoft’s profits and stock price. And the timing is right. The company is expected to name a new CEO to replace Steve Ballmer soon and is re-examining its future. “I can understand the emotional attachment people have to Microsoft owning Xbox,” he says. “But if you’re trying to bring in new management here and have a course correction, I think this is one of the places you’ve got to take a look at and reassess.”

PRO: Its audience is huge: The Xbox Live online gaming and entertainment service has some 48 million members worldwide, many of whom pay $5 a month. More than 80 million Xbox 360s have been sold worldwide, providing a user base for Microsoft to sell things like music subscriptions, video rentals, more

games and the new Xbox One. The platform is also a window into Microsoft services such as Bing search, Skype Internet calls and SkyDrive cloud storage.

CON: But it’s not as big as Windows: More than a billion people worldwide use Windows personal computers, and focusing efforts on polishing Windows 8.1 could have a bigger payoff.

PRO: It’s a popular brand: “There are not a lot of products that Microsoft makes that people are pumped and excited about. Xbox is one of them,” says Mike Hickey, a games industry analyst with The Benchmark Co. “To punt that would be a mistake.”

CON: It’s slightly off-brand: Microsoft prides itself on making software and products that help people to be more productive. But Ballmer, at his final shareholders meeting as CEO on Tuesday, acknowledged the common sentiment that video games can suck up huge

amounts of time. “I’m sure we’ll lose my 14-yearold for the better part of the next weekend,” he said referring to the Xbox One’s launch.

PRO: It’s a source of innovation: If Microsoft hadn’t entered the hardware business, it might not have been able to build the Surface tablet on its own, says Dean Takahashi, author of “Opening the Xbox” and “Xbox 360 Uncloaked.”

The company has also developed gesture- and voice-recognition technology with its Kinect sensor for Xbox. “They developed some very useful skills in moving into this business,” Takahashi says.

CON: Innovation has been costly: Microsoft took a $1 billion charge in 2007 on Xbox hardware defects and a $900 million charge on unsold Surface inventory this year. And it’s not clear whether the company’s new user-interface technologies are as advanced as they need to be to make money. As several reviewers have noted, Kinect’s voice-recognition ability is hit and miss.

PRO: It positions Microsoft in the living room: Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Sony ’s PlayStation 3 each sold more than 80 million units globally. Pulling even with the game console leader was a key strategic win for Microsoft because it prevented Sony from taking over the living room. The strategy was intended “to create a halo effect for other Microsoft consumer devices,” according to Evercore analyst Kirk Materne.

CON: But the world’s gone mobile: By pouring time and energy into a home-bound console, Microsoft largely missed the mobile devices revolution. IHS predicts Microsoft’s Windows platform will be the operating system in just 6.5 percent of tablets and 3.9 percent of smartphones shipped worldwide this year.

Together those devices will account for 1.2 billion unit shipments. Sherlund says dominating the living room “was a good idea 10 years ago.”

“Apple and Google did an end run around you with smartphones and tablets,” he says. “You had your eye on the wrong ball.”—AP

Review

Top games for Microsoft’s new Xbox One NEW YORK: Gadget junk ies love a new machine. The Xbox One is fun to mess around with, whether you’re experimenting with the voice and motion controls of its Kinect camera or using such apps as YouTube and Netflix to feed Internet video to your big-screen TV.

“Forza Motorsport 5” ($60) is the system’s visual showstopper, from the chrome of an exotic Ferrari to the vistas of Australia’s iconic Mount Panorama racetrack. Its most intriguing innovation is Drivatar, which creates digital doppelgangers based on the driving tendencies of each human player. The result: Even when you’re competing against computer-controlled cars, it feels like you’re racing against other people. It’s exhilarating.

But most early buyers will want to know what games they can play. The Xbox One launches with 22 games you can buy online and download. You can also buy 18 of them - the good ones - the old-fashioned way, on disc. The Xbox One itself went on sale in Nor th

“Ryse: Son of Rome” ($60) is a classic sword-and-sandals epic about a soldier named Marius Titus who seeks vengeance against those who killed his family. It has a lovely cinematic sweep, but may end up being best remembered for its copious bloodshed, as Titus finds ever more dramatic ways to eviscerate his opponents.

America and Europe on Friday for $500.

The standouts are high-definition versions of games that have already been available on Microsoft’s previous console, the Xbox 360.

They include Ubisoft’s “Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag,” Activision’s “Call of Duty: Ghosts,”

“Dead Rising 3” ($60) doesn’t deviate much from previous entries in Capcom’s zombie-survival franchise, but it makes up for its lack of originality with sheer scale.

Instead of sending a dozen or so zombies your way, “Dead Rising 3” fills the screen with hundreds of them. And each one seems as though it has a different way of getting to your tasty brains.

“Zoo Tycoon” ($60) is much more family-friendly. The goal of this easygoing simulation game is to build an animal sanctuary. It doesn’t get so bogged down in business details that kids won’t enjoy it.

Besides, they’ll be too busy using the Kinect to interact with the gorgeous tigers, elephants, giraffes and other critters that populate this virtual Eden. The four download-only titles in the online Xbox store are a mixed bag.

Electronic Arts’ “Need for Speed Rivals” and 2K Sports’ “NBA 2K14.” All of those are also available on Sony’s competing new console, the PlayStation 4.

There are a few Xbox One exclusives:

“Killer Instinct” is a solid one-on-one brawler that’s free to play, but if you want to expand your roster of fighters, they cost $5 each.

“Crimson Dragon” ($20) briefly promises the thrill of flying your own winged beast, but the flight paths are so tightly controlled that it never takes off. — AP

Smartphone shoppers see app-y holiday season WASHINGTON: When Georgia Benjamin goes holiday shopping this year, her smartphone will be her guide, pointing her to the items she is seeking and the best deals.

A transplanted Londoner working in New York as a fashion design intern, Benjamin said she has been using Snapette, a mobile app that allows her to find items in nearby retail stores. “There are things on the app that I might not see otherwise,” she said. “If I’m looking for a pair of sunglasses, I will type in the brand name, and it will show me what is nearby. And it will alert me if a store nearby has a promotion.”

In the past, Benjamin told AFP, she would “trudge from store to store on Oxford Street” in London, or “go through website after website” to search for holiday gifts. As the holiday shopping season opens, shoppers will be armed with smartphones and an array of apps. Some will compare prices, offer gift suggestions, provide price alerts and more. Snapette says nearly two million people have downloaded the app for iPhones or Android handsets to fill a need for people who want to use online tools but shop in local stores.

“Over 85 percent of retail sales is happening in stores but there wasn’t a great way to search for or discover products nearby,” said Sarah Paiji, co-founder and president of Snapette. “We want to enable that shopper to shop in the real world as well as online.” Snapette, which was acquired this year by online commerce site PriceGrabber, has data from some 270 US retailers and can direct a consumer to an in-store product, but also allows them to

buy online directly from the app.

Scores of other smartphone apps also can be used by on-the-go shoppers.

Amazon has one allowing a price check with the online retailer. Others can deliver digital coupons. One called RedLaser will scan a bar code and tell a shopper if the product is less expensive somewhere else.

Smoopa will similarly tell a consumer if the store price is a bargain. Zoomingo helps find sales in local retail stores and allows consumers to share ideas. ShopSavvy, a mobile shopping assistant that is one of the first apps developed for Android phones four years ago, has had some 40 million downloads and has data from 40,000 retailers in Austria, Britain,

A passerby uses her smartphone. — AFP

Germany, Japan and the United States.

“It gives the retailer a new way to communicate with the customer,” co-founder and chief executive John Boyd told AFP. “I think it helps people buy products and to some extent it drives new sales. People are really well-armed with ShopSavvy. If there is a big price discrepancy, they have a local price check. We also let them know if they find a better price online.” ShopSavvy, which is available for iPhones and Windows Phone as well as Android, also provides reviews and product details, and helps people organize shopping lists.

It partners with a wide range of retail stores, including grocery, apparel and home improvement, but Boyd called it a “a

“Powerstar Golf” ($20) is a lighthearted trip around the links. It’s cute and challenging, but doesn’t put much strain on the Xbox One’s high-powered graphics chips.

neutral aggregator.” The growing app use comes with retailers struggling to keep pace with surging online shopping. An NPD survey found 75 percent of smartphone users will use the device as part of their holiday shopping, with many helped by in-store apps from retailers like Target or Macy’s, as well as external ones like Snapette. The National Retail Federation said it expects 97 million people to shop on Black Friday, the traditional start of the holiday shopping season after Thanksgiving Day. That will kick off a holiday season expected to see some $600 billion in sales, including $80 billion online. But the lines between online and offline shopping are blurring: consumers may research a product online and then buy it in a store, or view something in a store and then buy from a mobile device. “We want to be a comprehensive, one-stop shop where you can browse products online as well as nearby,” said Paiji. In recent years, consumers have been driven to a practice known as “showrooming,” or visiting a store to see a product, then purchasing it online at a lower price.

But Paiji said apps like Snapette “are the reverse of showrooming” because they encourage people to buy products in stores. Boyd said apps like ShopSavvy show that online buying is not always the best deal, especially considering shipping costs and new rules requiring many e-commerce sites to collect sales taxes. “I think the playing field is more equal,” he said. “This is an opportunity for retailers.” — AFP

LocoCycle” ($20) combines clunky, repetitive vehicular combat with a story that’s supposed to be campy but comes off as racist, particularly against its hapless Hispanic protagonist. I consider it the worst game I’ve seen on any game system this year, and I’ve played more than 100.

Web inventor: Surveillance threatens democracy LONDON: The scientist credited with inventing the World Wide Web spoke out Friday against what he called a “growing tide of surveillance and censorship,” warning that it is threatening the future of democracy. Tim Berners-Lee, who launched the Web in 1990, made the remarks as he released his World Wide Web Foundation’s annual report tracking the Web’s impact and global censorship. The index ranked Sweden first in Web access, openness and freedom, followed

by Norway, the UK and the United States.

“One of the most encouraging findings of this year’s Web Index is how the Web and social media are increasingly spurring people to organize, take action and try to expose wrongdoing in every region of the world,” said Berners-Lee, 58. “But some governments are threatened by this, and a growing tide of surveillance and censorship now threatens the future of democracy,” he said, adding that steps need to be taken to protect privacy rights and ensure users can continue to gather and speak out freely online.

The warning from Berners-Lees is the latest in a global debate about surveillance and privacy, sparked by the release of classified documents leaked by former National Security Agency analyst Edward Snowden that showed the extent of government spying on people’s online lives. While the leaks focused on the work of the NSA, scrutiny has since spread to other Western intelligence agencies. Friday’s report said online spying and blocking are on the rise around the world, and politically sensitive Web content is blocked in almost one in three countries. Despite their high overall rankings, the US and Britain both received mediocre scores for safeguarding users’ privacy.

Mexico was the highest ranking emerging economy at 30th.

Russia came in 41st, China was at 57th, and Mali, Ethiopia and Yemen were at the bottom of the list. Rich countries did not necessarily do better than poorer ones - Estonia, for example, ranked higher than Switzerland, while Qatar and Saudi Arabia performed far worse than their income ranking would suggest. Many of the 81 countries surveyed have failed to use the Web to properly disseminate basic information on health and education, and the majority of governments hide important data such as information about land ownership and company registration, the report said. About 39 percent of the global population was online in 2013 - more than double from 2005, which recorded 16 percent. In Africa, fewer than one in five people are using the Internet, with many saying they cannot afford it.— AP

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2013

H E A LT H & S C I E N C E

Dark side of psychology in abuse, interrogation NEW YORK: This week the Institute on Medicine as a Profession (IMAP) and the Open Society Foundations (OSF) have published the most comprehensive study on the role of psychologists in the War on Terror. At 269 pages, the full report is as detailed as it is grim, concluding that American psychologists collaborated extensively with the Department of Defense, the Department of Justice, and the CIA to develop a range of interrogation methods used in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay. The list of methods is horrifying: beatings, exposure to extreme cold, shackling, repeated slamming into walls, sleep deprivation, sensory deprivation, exposure to prolonged white noise and yelling, forced nakedness, exploitation of phobias, slaps to the face and abdomen, cramped confinement, prolonged stress positions (such as having hands and feet chained to the floor), forced feeding via gas-

trointestinal tubing, sexual and religious humiliation, forcible restraint of the head, deprivation of basic items such as sheets, blankets and mattresses (termed “comfort items”), threats to the detainee’s family, asphyxiation, and waterboarding.

The report documents how psychologists consulted with the military under the Orwellian euphemism of “safety officers”. Their official role was to work in Behavioral Science Consultation Teams to “identify vulnerabilities of detainees and collaborate with interrogators in exploiting them”. Psychologists were selected for these positions based on professional training in clinical and forensic psychology.

Yet while clearly valuing these qualifications, the military classified the psychologists as “combatants” rather than health practitioners, a move which enabled them to bypass normal ethical standards.

Those ethical standards themselves are unclear.

The American Psychological Association (APA) - the

official professional body for psychologists in the US - officially rejects torture but it also supports the role of psychologists in interrogation: “It is consistent with the APA Ethics Code for psychologists to serve in consultative roles to interrogation and information-gathering processes for national-security related purposes”. The APA has yet to indicate which, if any, of the methods listed in the IMAP/OSF report would be consistent with its ethical policy.

The position of the British Psychological Society is even less clear. On the one hand the Society condemns torture yet at the same time remains silent on whether psychologists can assist with interrogation or other military objectives. As with the APA’s policy, the point at which interrogation becomes abuse is left unsaid, the boundaries of unethical conduct given room to move.

The report makes a number of concrete recommendations, calling for US president Barack Obama

Watching sport can make people fitter Physiological responses to exercise SYDNEY: Watching sport can make you fitter, according to research yesterday that said viewing other people exercise increases heart rate and other physiological measures as if you were working out yourself. The study, published in the international journal Frontiers in Autonomic Neuroscience, showed that when watching a first person video of someone else running, heart rate, respiration, skin blood flow and sweat release all increased.

They returned to normal at the conclusion of the “jog”. Researchers said that importantly, for the first time, it was shown that muscle sympathetic nerve activity increased when people watched physical activity.

“Recording this nerve activity provides a very sensitive measure of the body’s physiological responses to physical or mental stress,” said one of the lead researchers Vaughan Macefield, from the School of Medicine at the University of Western Sydney. “We know that the sympathetic nervous system-which supplies the heart, sweat glands and blood vessels, as well as other tissues-increases its activity during actual exercise.

“Now we have shown that it increases when you are watching a moving scene as if you were running yourself.”

During the study, very fine needles were inserted into an outer nerve of nine volunteers to record the electrical signals of nerve fibres directed to blood vessels, providing a very sensitive measure of the body ’s physiological responses to physical or mental stress.

The participants were initially shown a static image on a computer screen while the researchers monitored their muscle sympathetic nerve activity and other physiological parameters. These measurements remained constant while watching the non-moving landscape image, but that changed when shown a 22minute video shot by a runner on a vigorous jog.

SYDNEY: This undated handout photo released by the University of Western Sydney over the weekend shows Vaughan Macefield professor of Integrative Physiology in the School of Medicine at UWS, conducting research with student Ric Romero (R) and Phd student Khadigeh El Fayed. Watching sport can make you fitter, according to research that said viewing other people exercise increases heart rate and other physiological measures as if you were working out yourself. — AFP “Although these changes were small, they were all appropriate physiological responses to exercise,” said Rachael Brown, who conducted the study with Macefield, considered a top world expert in recording human sympathetic neurones in health and disease.

“As the volunteers were sitting relaxed with no muscle activity it indicates that the responses were psychogenic-that is they originated from the mind and not the body. “This dovetails with our recent work on the emotions, where we

found that viewing emotionally charged images, such as erotica, increases our sympathetic nerve activity and sweat release.”

While the study concluded that your body will get a small workout from simply watching others exercise, Macefield cautioned that nothing compared to real physical activity. “While watching other people exercise may increase your heart rate and have other physiological effects, nothing can replace the health benefits of getting off the couch,” he said. — AFP

Cold environment makes cancer grow, spread faster NEW YORK: A cold environment, which is known to induce suppression of the anti-tumor immune response, was found to encourage cancer growth in an animal study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

When it gets cold, the human body gradually goes into survival mode, blood vessels narrow in order to maintain body heat and our extremities start to suffer. Our metabolism speeds up and we shiver. When it is very cold the body focuses on just keeping the brain, heart and other vital organs functioning at a cost to the rest of the body. Kathleen M. Kokolus and team also found that a cold environment alters how cancer cells grow and metastasize (spread) in mice. The researchers say their finding has implications for cancer research using mice, as well as cancer therapies. In most animal experiments the mice tend to be housed in colder-than-normal temperatures. The team compared cancer progression and metastasis in mice housed at 22∞C (72∞F) and 30∞C (86∞F). They found that several types of cancers, including those of the pancreas, colon, skin and breast developed more rapidly and start-

ed spreading earlier and more aggressively in the colder environment.

The tumors grew more rapidly even in the mice that were used to cold temperatures - ones that had lived in the cold from the day they were born. T cells (T lymphocytes) are a type of white blood cell that help the body fight disease.

The human body’s anti-cancer immune response is largely driven by T cells. T cells are a type of white blood cells we call T lymphocytes and are part of our immune system, they help the body fight diseases, including cancer.

Cancer cells try to outsmart T cells when they are attacked by releasing signals telling the body to suppress the T cells, the T cells respond with counter-measures.

This struggle continues until one of them - the T cells or the cancer cells - wins. Many cancer therapies are aimed at helping the immune system stay on top. The scientists, from the Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, New York, explained that although both sets of mice had the same number of T cells before they developed cancer, the T cells in the animals housed in a warm environment

were much faster and better able to burrow into the tumor to destroy it. The T cells in the warm mice also secreted higher quantities of anti-cancer substances compared to those in the cold mice.There were significantly more cells that suppress the anti-tumor response in the cold mice, i.e. the bodies of the mice in the cold environment were much more likely to accept the tumor than to fight it. If most mice in research facilities are housed in colder-than-normal environments, findings may be distorted and possibly invalid. In an Abstract in the journal, the authors wrote: “Therefore, the common approach of studying immunity against tumors in mice housed only at standard room temperature may be limiting our understanding of the full potential of the antitumor immune response.”

If you give a group of mice the choice of five environments ranging in temperature from 22∞C to 38∞C, most of them will go for the “comfortable” 30∞C one. Humans are similar; in the wintertime we all have our ideal setting for the thermostat. If the room temperature drops we get up and check the setting.

Philippines to plant more mangroves

‘Dentists must know how to handle emergencies’

MANILA: The Philippines said yesterday it will plant more mangrove areas to prevent a repeat of the deadly storm surges that claimed hundreds of lives during Super Typhoon Haiyan earlier this month.

President Benigno Aquino’s spokesman Herminio Coloma said the move was among the measures that will be part of the “comprehensive programme of environmental protection”, that is being forged in the wake of the killer typhoon.

Environment Secretary Ramon Paje is readying the programme which will include “no-build zones” in coastal areas, even if it means moving people who already live in such places, said Coloma.

“Among the directives of the president is to restore the mangroves which are natural protection of coastal areas,” he told reporters.

“We have already prepared mangrove plantations and we hope to begin planting soon because it takes five to seven years for these things to grow,” he added. Mangroves refers to trees and bushes that grow in marine coastal areas like marshlands with the plants standing out of the water during high tide.

Super Typhoon Haiyan left almost 7,000 people dead or missing when it swept through the central Philippine islands earlier this month, many of them killed by storm surges that hit coastal areas sending five-metre, tsunami-like waves deep inland, destroying buildings.

Coloma said “geohazard mapping” by the environment department would identify which areas are vulnerable to natural disasters like storms and floods. The Philippine government has been encouraging the protection of mangrove areas not only for protection against storm surges and waves but also because they prevent erosion of coastlines, act as nurseries for marine life and even serve as carbon sinks against global warming.

However the environment department has said many mangrove areas have already been lost due to conversion to other purposes like commercial fishponds and cutting of the plants for firewood and timber. — AFP

NAGPUR: In UK, it is mandatory for every dentist to take a course in emergency medicine every year to be able to handle emergencies like heart attack, reactions of medicines, effect of anaesthesia, etc. in dental patients under treatment. And India too should follow suit as it is something basic not only for doctors but also for common man who should be trained in basic life support (BLS) systems.

Dr Chetan Trivedy from Yardley Birmingham on Friday proposed this. He was in the city for a training course in BLS at the VSPM Dental College and the Government Dental College (GDC). Speaking to TOI, he said that it was the duty of a dentist to be able to render at least cardiac pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) until help arrives. He should also be able to handle cases of asthma, epilepsy attacks in dental patients during treatment.

“In UK, every dentist has to undertake a ‘certificate of competency’ annually in emergency medicine. He is not allowed to practice if he doesn’t participate in fresh training every year. You can’t learn it once and continue to use the certificate for ever,” said Trivedy. “A hospital and its doctors do not get a clearance certificate from the UK government to practice unless they have the BLS kit and trained staff. Routine dental patients could be suffering from common diseases like diabetes which generally the dentists do not take into consideration while treating their dental problems. They should actually be able to handle situations arising due to low as well as high blood sugar levels,” he said. Trivedy said that though he had been practicing basic emergency medicine for long, it was the 7/7 London bombings which prompted him to take it up in a dedicated manner. “Dealing with injured persons of bombings was a shaking experience and it motivated me to take it up as a career,” he said. Dr Vinay Hazarey, the GDC dean, said, “Though the Dental Council of India too has been thinking of including emergency medicine in curriculum, I will write to the council to speed up the process. He also presented a joint study of GDC ‘Copper stimulated submucous fibrosis caused due to consumption of betel nut’ with Trivedy.

to apply more strict prohibitions on the use of “sleep deprivation, isolation, exploitation of fear, and other interrogation methods that violate international standards”. It also urges the APA to clarify its ethical policy and “repudiate the report of its Presidential Task Force...that condones the participation of psychologists in interrogation”.

These are undoubtedly vital reforms, but the facts uncovered by this study raise even more fundamental questions. In the quest for national security, is there a genuine balance to be met between the ideologies of “do no harm” and “prevent harm being done”? At what point (if any) is it morally acceptable for psychologists to be deployed as weapons of war? As important as it is for the psychological profession to clarify its policies on these issues, it is also not for psychologists alone to provide the answers. That responsibility is shared by all citizens of a free society. — Reuters

Heart health calculator may overestimate risks NEW YORK: A new calculator aimed at figuring out heart health is being called into question. YNN Health Reporter Erin Billups filed the following report.

You may have heard the news about a new way to calculate your heart attack and stroke risk. Those guidelines, out last week from the American Hear t Association and the American College of Cardiology, are making waves in the medical community. “ There is cer tainly a question of whether this risk calculator is going to double the number of people that are taking statins who may not need to be taking statins,” says Dr Tara Narula, a cardiologist at Lenox Hill Hospital.

A New York Times article questions whether that calculator greatly overestimates the risk for folks between the ages of 40 and 75 with no history of heart disease, saying the data behind the calculator is outdated.

“It’s not just about the items that are in the calculator, but it’s how much weight each of those items is given,” explains Dr. Narula. “So if that risk calculation is off, then you can imagine that you’re going to end up over treating people.” In a statement, the ACC says its standing by the guidelines and its related tools, saying it’s based on the best evidence available. Some exper ts though urge further evaluation of the

calculations. But doctors who spoke with YNN say the recommendations are a step in the right direction, taking the heart health conversation beyond cholesterol scores.

“It’s surprising everyone including the patients who think they’ve been doing a really good thing knowing their numbers. Instead we’re telling them to know their risk for heart disease,” says Dr Nieca Goldberg, a cardiologist at NYU Langone Medical Center.

Experts agree with the other new guidelines that say folks with heart disease, diabetes, and LDLs or bad cholesterol - over 190 - should be on statin therapy.

The new recommendations also stressed that medication is no substitute for regular exercise and eating healthy, including diets with less meat and saturated fats.

“People also need to watch their carb intake. A lot of sugar and starches not only raises your blood sugar, it raises your blood pressure,” says Dr Goldberg.

But the doctors stress the guidelines are just that.

“They’re a road map that should help physicians figure out what they want to do, working one on one on a case by case basis with their patients. They’re not meant to replace a physicians clinical judgment,” adds Dr Narula.

Calm solar cycle prompts questions about impact on Earth WASHINGTON: The surface of the sun has been surprisingly calm of late-with fewer sunspots than anytime in in the last centuryprompting curious scientists to wonder just what it might mean here on Earth.

Sunspots have been observed for millennia-first by Chinese astronomers and then, for the first time with a telescope, by Galileo in 1610. The sunspots appear in roughly 11-year cycles-increasing to a daily flurry and then subsiding drastically, before amping up again. But this cycle-dubbed cycle 24 — has surprised scientists with its sluggishness.

The number of spots counted since it kicked off in December 2008 is well below the average observed over the last 250 years. In fact, it’s less than half.

“It is the weakest cycle the sun has been in for all the space age, for 50 years,” National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association physicist Doug Biesecker told AFP. The intense electromagnetic energy from sunspots has a significant impact on the sun’s ultraviolet and X-ray emissions as well as on solar storms. Solar storms can interrupt telecommunications and electronic networks on Earth. Sunspot activity can also have an impact on the Earth’s climate.

Cycle 23 hit its maximum in April 2000 with an average of 120 solar spots a day. The cycle then wound down, hitting bottom around December 2008, the point at which scientists marked the start of the current cycle.The minimal solar activity at the end of cycle 23 led astronomers to predict a slow cycle 24. But the reality fell even below expectations.

In the first year of the cycle, during which solar activity should have risen, astronomers counted 266 days without a single sun spot. “ The forecast peak was 90 sunspots,” Biesecker said, noting that even though the activity has risen over the past year, “it’s very clear it is not going to be close to 90.”

“The sunspots number peaked last year at 67, almost half a typical cycle,” he added.

The last time a sunspot cycle was this slow

was in February 1906, the peak of cycle 14, with just 64 spots a day.

The “very long minimum: three years, three times more than the previous three cycles of the space age” was a major surprise, said University of Montana physicist Andres Munoz-Jamillio.Cycle 24 has also diverged from the norm in another surprising way.

Typically, around the end of each 11-year sunspot cycle, the sun’s magnetic fields switch direction. The northern and southern hemispheres change polarity, usually simultaneously. During the swap, the strength of the magnetic fields drops to near zero and reappears when the polarity is reversed, scientists explain.

But this time, something different seems to be happening. The north pole already reversed its polarity several months ago-and so it’s now the same polarity as the south pole.According to the most recent satellite measurements, “the south hemisphere should flip on the near future,” said Todd Hoeksema, director of the Wilcox Solar Observatory at Stanford University.

He didn’t seem concerned about the phenomenon.But scientists are watching the sun carefully to see whether cycle 24 is going to be an aberration-or if this solar calmness is going to stretch through the next cycle as well.“We won’t know that for another good three or four years,” said Biesecker.

Some researchers speculate this could be the start of a prolonged period of weak solar activity.The last time that happened, during the so-called “Maunder Minimum” between 1650 and 1715, almost no sunspots were observed. During the same period, temperatures dropped sharply on Earth, sparking what is called the “Little Ice Age” in Europe and North America.As the sunspot numbers continue to stay low, it’s possible the Earth’s climate is being affected again.

But thanks to global warming, we’re unlikely to see another ice age. “Things have not started to cooling, they just have not risen as quickly,” Biesecker said. — AFP

Damaged blood vessels in eye early sign of risky heart rhythm WASHINGTON: People with damage in the small blood vessels of the retina and kidneys are at increased risk to develop the most common type of abnormal heart rhythm, a new study has warned.

Atrial fibrillation raises the risk of stroke and causes heart-related chest pain or heart failure in some people.

Researchers in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study (ARIC) followed 10,009 middle-aged people for an average 13.6 years.

Atrial fibrillation developed at a rate of 5.7 incidents per 1,000 person-years in those with no retina or kidney changes.

There were 8.9 incidents per 1,000 person-years in those with signs of small vessel damage in the retina, such as microbleeds or micro-aneurysms.

There were 16.8 incidents per 1,000 person-years in those with signs of vessel damage in the kidneys, allowing tiny amounts of protein to be released into their urine (micro-albuminuria) and 24.4 incidents per 1,000 person-years in those with both retinopathy and micro-albuminuria. Though reasons for the association are unclear, changes in other vascular beds may serve as a representation of coronary micro-vascular changes and the observed association may be mediated via inflammation, endothelial dysfunction, autonomic dysfunction, and electro -mecha nical remodelling, the researchers said.

The research was presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2013 in Dallas.

H E A LT H & S C I E N C E

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2013

Lonely seniors forge life-saving friendships ‘Little brothers’ campaign MONTREAL: Researchers say the impact on health of being lonely is comparable to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Lonely elders are more likely to die of a heart attack and are at a higher risk for dementia, depression and anxiety.

And it all happens far from public view, behind closed doors. In Quebec, an organization called “Les Petits FrËres: La grande famille des personnes ‚gÈes seules” is trying to break through that isolation. More than 1,000 Quebec seniors are matched with younger volunteers, with the idea of creating a real and ongoing friendship.

Everything Les Petits FrËres does is rooted in the idea that human connection is essential to life. Their motto is “Les fleurs avant le pain,” which translates as Flowers Before Bread.

Les Petits FrËres was founded in France by Armand Marquiset, a wealthy, debonair Catholic intellectual. In 1939, while praying at Notre-Dame Cathedral, Marquiset decided to dedicate the rest of his days to helping out “les petits frËres,” little brothers who were less fortunate than he was.

At the end the Second World War Marquiset signed up volunteers. They began feeding impoverished elderly people who had lost all their close family members in the war.

Marquiset believed that loneliness was as great a problem as hunger. He began inviting isolated seniors to vacation at his elegant family estate. He renamed it Le Ch‚teau de Bonheur - The Chateau of Happiness - where he threw lavish parties, making sure there were lots of flowers and laughter.

Today, Little Brothers - Friends of the Elderly as it is known in English - flourishes in

eight countries, including the United States.

It’s almost impossible to keep up with the growing demand for what it has to offer.

But while it has been in Canada now for 50 years, it hasn’t spread beyond Quebec.

At noon on a weekday afternoon, there is a traffic jam of walkers and wheelchairs in the front hallway of the downtown Montreal headquarters of Les Petits FrËres. The air smells of perfume, roast beef and home-made apple pie. Every few minutes the front door swings open. Another guest is gently led in, welcomed with smoked salmon hors d’oeuvres, and then led to the dining room where there are bouquets of fresh cut roses and lilies on every table. Benny Valente is a volunteer driver. “I have nothing to do, they have nothing to do, so we get together and we have something to do.” For others, Les Petits FrËres is about much more than that. In between forkfuls of mashed potatoes, 78-year-old Henri Gauthier tells a table-mate about life in his two room apartment in a rent-subsidized residence. “I feel lonely, you know, and I don’t want to talk about it. Sometimes I hate that, la vie c’est la vie, life is life. Sometimes I say, ‘I do not care,’ I hate myself, you know.”

Susan Valente is a volunteer, and many conversations with the seniors she meets have convinced her how important these lunch dates can be. “Without Les Petits FrËres a lot of people would commit suicide,” she says.

Her husband Benny agrees. “Somebody should start off the organization on the English side, because the way it is now it is only the French side doing this.”

There are few English speakers - either sen-

iors or volunteers - involved with Les Petits FrËres. The organization is very much oldschool French-Canadian.

Les Petits FrËres has no religious or government affiliation. The organization is financed by private donations and is fiercely independ-

alone or in a residence, whether they are sick or healthy, rich or poor - they just have to say they are lonely.

Peter McGrail is one of the people who draws support from the organization. He’s pretty good at steering his electric wheelchair

MONTREAL: Volunteers and seniors share a noon meal in the Petits Freres dining room in Montreal. The Quebec chapter of the organization called Les Petit Freres matches more than 1,000 seniors with younger volunteers to combat feelings of isolation that can be harmful to a person’s health and well-being. ent. To get help you must be 75 years old and have no family members living nearby. Seniors are referred by social workers, nurses or neighbours. It doesn’t matter whether they live

through the narrow halls of his senior’s apartment tower in Montreal’s east end, which Les Petits FrËres helped him find when others didn’t work out. McGrail is a bachelor: he worked

for decades at Eaton’s, decorating store windows from Toronto to Halifax. After he retired he enjoyed attending concerts, tinkering with antique clocks and gardening at his cabin. But then McGrail’s health and his finances went south. By the time he was 80, life was grim.

His only friends were the birds and chipmunks he fed in the park.

“I thought of suicide a few times,” he says, “When you are down and out at Christmas time, you look out the window and see a cement wall, and it is snowing out and you don’t know what to think, what to do, so you just lie down.”

Nathalie Brunet is the the program coordinator at Les Petits FrËres. She remembers the phone call from a social worker asking if the organization could see one of her clients - an Anglophone - who was in trouble. “ McGrail has diabetes,” she says, and he was not eating the foods he needed. “His eyes were getting weaker, so of course he could not see if something was dirty, if something was misplaced.” McGrail was in a difficult situation and like many seniors was “depressed and starting to think suicidal thoughts.”

Les Petits FrËres helped McGrail get medical help and found a home suited to his needs and his budget. He also became a regular guest at the organization’s fancy four course meals. But most importantly, Les Petits FrËres twinned McGrail with a volunteer.

“They got me a gentleman,” he says “to come and see me once a week, just to talk. It takes the weight off you, worrying. If it wasn’t for Les Petits FrËres, I don’t know where I would be.”

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2013

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YMCA Kuwait holds a week of prayer

Y Enjoy the taste of true Espresso at Vergnano Cafe at Olympia Complex

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espresso to everyday life at home.

Espresso is now available in Kuwait, through Al-Sanabel Al-Thahabiya Est. Tel: 22413795/98. Espresso Vergnano can be ordered through www.taw9eel.com Espresso Vergnano capsules are compatible with other espresso machines.

MCA Kuwait conducted week of prayer and world fellowship meeting presided over by Mathew Eapen (Vice President). The YMCA week of prayer is a tradition dating back to 1904. Each year in the month of November, the YMCA movements issue a joint call for prayer, building upon the prayers that have been spoken for over 100 years. The theme for this year’s week of prayer is “BE THE CHANGE”. Rev Samji K Sam, Vicar of St Peters CSI church, gave the message based on the theme. The Week of Prayer and World Fellowship of

the YMCA and YWCA is a tradition and an important tool for us to reaffirm our commitment to be co-creators with God of a better world we all aspire to.

Parimanam Manoj (general secretary), Ajosh Mathew (treasurer), Deacon Santhosh Mathew, Saji Varghese Palakkunnel, Raju Karukavelil, Satheesh John, Koshy Alexander, James Varghese, Mathew Varkey and Dr AT Varghese also shared their words on this occasion.

Discover the newly-launched ‘Waves Health Club & Spa’ at Courtyard by Marriott Hotel

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appy birthday to Jannatul Jalal, who celebrates her 6th birthday today. We wish you good health and happiness throughout your life. Best wishes from father, mother and relatives in Kuwait and angladesh.

Nandhanam Kuwait to hold ‘Arangetram 2013’

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andhanam Kuwait, a socio-cultural organization promoting India’s rich culture and values in Kuwait, is conducting its second “Arangetram”, a students’ debut on stage dance performance, at the American International School, Maidan Hawalli - Kuwait on Friday, November 29.

Kavya Madhavan, an eminent and an accomplished film artist and a dancer, Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress twice, will be a special guest for this event. The ‘Arangetram’ will be conducted in its traditional format by experienced professional artists from India including Bijeesh Krishna (vocal), Venugopal Kallamparambil (mridangam), Suresh Krishnannambudiri (violin) and Cherthala Sreenath (edakka).

Nandhanam Kuwait commenced its classical dance programs from April 2010, with the traditions of Kerala Kalamandalam and with trained faculties from the very same Kerala Kalamandalam. The entry will be regulated through guest passes.

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ocated at the heart of the country, Courtyard by Marriott hotel Kuwait City has successfully launched its new ‘Waves Health Club and Spa’ to meet the rising needs of the business and downtown community with the provision of various offers and massage treatments.

Inspired by bright, refreshing surroundings of the nearby Arabian Gulf, one can enjoy an extensive range of fitness, massage and body treatments in a friendly and refreshing environment. A special launch offer is now available at the downtown Waves Health Club & Spa for only KD499, along with corporate and VIP deals with free valet parking , generous discounts and deals on healthy food at over four restaurants in the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel, to mark the new begin-

12th grader makes short film ‘Soul’

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

ning. This offer is valid until December 31, 2013 and for those interested, should quote the code XY1 when availing the offer at the hotel. Moreover, guests can also relax in one of the four massage treatment rooms, explore separate steam and sauna facilities along with the world class massage and aromatherapy treatments by the international brand MATIS. For massage treatments, guests are invited to try one of the 90 minute massage therapies and benefit from a free 30 minute reflexology treatment for future use, by quoting the code XY1. Moreover, with the Early Bird offer, guests can look forward to 25% off on original prices for sessions from 10 am to 1 pm. Additionally, the “Couple’s Weekend” offer allows couples to book a massage session from Thursday to Saturday while paying

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ction, start camera and cut were familiar words for Vrishchik Lazar, a grade 12 student at United Indian School, Jleeb since he is a voracious film buff. However, when he made his own short film, Soul, he did not have to use these buzz words. Not because the actor being filmed is his friend Joel but the director handled the camera by himself. All he had to wait for was his principal’s permission to shoot in the school premises, and a holiday to film the silence.

The 8-minute short film Soul is ready, the little-big director said. The post-production works were completed last week at his Abbassiya house all on a laptop.

‘Soul’ follows a boy who goes to classroom 10 as if he is in search of something accompanied by soulful music and a piece of voiceover. “The short film has flashes of brilliance, something I had not expected from these kids” , said Sreekumar Bhaskar who helped with the post production.

only for one.

Aside from the new offers, guests are also welcome to try a rejuvenating Thai massage, where one can improve flexibility and stimulate blood circulation, while maximum relaxation would be driven with the hot stone massage, which offers a variation on classic massage therapy as heated, smooth, flat stones are placed on key points on the body for a calming effect.

The Thai herbal compression techniques are also trusted with invigorating oils that sooth all aches and ease muscles into relaxation and flexibility.

Additionally, guests can unwind at the 25-meter beautiful rooftop swimming pool with whirlpool while entranced by the grand view of downtown Kuwait City, Kuwait Towers, the Liberation Tower and the sea.

Vrischik, the director

W H AT ’ S O N

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2013

Embassy

Greetings

Information

Greetings to Darweesh Mustafa Qamhiya who graduated as Business Accountant from Gulf University for Science and Technology (GUST).

Greetings to Mohammed Abbas Bastaki who graduated in Public Relations and Advertising from the Gulf University for Science and Technology (GUST).

Movenpick celebrates prestigious win

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atural Enjoyment’, an ambitious program implemented globally by Movenpick Hotels & Resorts, won ‘Best Initiative in People and Talent Management’ at the 2013 Worldwide Hospitality Awards.

Movenpick Hotels & Resorts strolled away with top honors at last week’s Worldwide Hospitality Awards when the company’s integrated training program was awarded ‘Best Initiative in People and Talent Management’.

The award follows a detailed submission by the upscale hospitality company, who competed with five other international hotel group finalists. Each candidate’s submitted Human Resources initiative was studied against criteria which included originality and measurable efficiency.

‘Natural Enjoyment’ successfully engaged all Movenpick Hotels & Resorts’ 16,000 employees worldwide. A need for consistency in service delivery, though fluid and not identical from property to property, was the inspiration for the initiative.

Identified in 2011 as the new brand promise for customers and a key differentiator of Movenpick Hotels & Resorts, ‘Natural Enjoyment’ is about delivering a personalised, relaxed and uncomplicated experience that makes guests happy. It amalgamated the current needs and perceptions of guests at the company’s hotels, with the unique heritage of the brand, yet allowing for cultural diversity and adaption at the same time.

Development of the new brand promise was initiated by Jean Gabriel Peres, president and chief executive officer of Movenpick Hotels & Resorts. “Providing a fantastic quality of service and creating great stories for our guests to take away with them, is what is most important for the company. ‘Natural Enjoyment’ has now embedded this ideal within our culture and it has beenwonderful to see our exceptional employees striving to make a difference and continuously increasing quality benchmarks,” said Peres.

One of the objectives of ‘Natural Enjoyment’ was to train all employees of Movenpick Hotels & Resorts on

practical ways to consistently deliver the company’s brand promise. Three ‘Service Ingredients’ were created and supported with practical ways in which to make each of these come to life. The interactive program was rolled out in 2012 with “Discovery” sessions and followed up with progress sessions in 2013. Results are measured through guest feedback, employee surveys and mystery guest audits.

Alex Rawson, vice president learning and talent development for Movenpick Hotels & Resorts, managed the research, design and ultimate creation of the training program ‘Discovery’: “Phase one of the program zeroed in several hands-on possibilities our employees could take ownership of, while phase two made sure this new approach was also reflected in actual day-to-day behavior. We are now shaping

phase three with the objective to inspire employees through storytelling and sharing hero stories,” said Rawson.

The Worldwide Hospitality Awards is an international competition established in 2000 by Paris-based MKG Group. It represents an opportunity for hotels to highlight their teams’ exemplary achievements in communication, marketing, innovation, human resources, customer loyalty programs, social and environmental responsibility. Winners are chosen by an international jury composed of around 40 renowned figures of the business world, tourism industry and marketing sector.

BSK hosts textile exhibition in aid of Pink Tuesday Cancer Awareness Day

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s part of their assembly, Year 6 students at The British School of Kuwait (BSK) took part in an exhibition of winter fashions in aid of the BSK Pink Tuesday Cancer Awareness campaign. The week-long series of events raised more than KD4000 in aid of the Hyatt Foundation, Kuwait and was supported by staff and students throughout the school.

The clothing for the event was supplied by Juniors at

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.

Centrepoint, which included fashion brands Posh, Lee Cooper for boys and Lee Cooper for Girls. Although the theme was ëpinkí other colours were worn. However, the main focus of the exhibition was to highlight the Pink Tuesday campaign. The event took place in the BSK Shakespeare Theatre where a catwalk was set up for models and audience to enjoy this spectacular display of clothes. All of the models chose their outfits with the

guidance of the ëLandmarkí team which was led by Anup Nazareth, the Assistant Marketing Manager, supported by a team of skilled staff.

As part of their corporate social responsibility, Landmark made a donation to the BSK Cancer Research Fundraiser. Thanks to Landmark, a mundane Thursday was transformed into an afternoon of fun and glamour for a very good cause.

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

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 PGA, Everton Senior Squad, sponsored by Porsche Centre Kuwait, Behbehani Motors Company, received their new playing strips and matchballs from Sports Direct and have now commenced their weekly match schedule. Games have recently been played against Arsenal and AC Milan Academies and the players are looking forward to competing in tournaments both in Kuwait and overseas international events. Players in the senior squad are aged from 15 to 18 years and attend training sessions at bayan three times a week. For further information see http://www.pga-kuwait.com.kw/

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 25, 2013

TV PROGRAMS

03:25 Shamwari: A Wild Life 03:50 Shamwari: A Wild Life 04:15 Outback Rangers 04:40 Outback Rangers 05:05 North America 05:55 Animal Cops Houston 06:45 Animal Airport 07:10 Animal Airport 07:35 Call Of The Wildman 08:00 Monkey Life 08:25 Panda Adventures With Nigel Marven 09:15 The Most Extreme 10:10 Baby Planet 11:05 Shamwari: A Wild Life 11:35 Shamwari: A Wild Life 12:00 Animal Cops Houston 12:55 Monkey Life 13:20 Call Of The Wildman 13:50 Swamp Brothers 14:15 Swamp Brothers 14:45 Ned Bruha: Skunk Whisperer 15:15 Ned Bruha: Skunk Whisperer 15:40 Shamwari: A Wild Life 16:05 Shamwari: A Wild Life 16:30 My Cat From Hell 17:30 The Most Extreme 18:25 My Pet’s Gone Viral 18:50 My Pet’s Gone Viral 19:20 Growing Up...

20:15 Outback Rangers 20:40 Outback Rangers 21:10 North America 22:05 Cheetah Kingdom 22:35 Cheetah Kingdom 23:00 Swimming With Monsters: Steve Backshall 23:55 Gator Boys 00:50 Animal Cops Phoenix 01:45 After The Attack 02:35 Untamed & Uncut

03:00 03:55 04:30 05:00 05:15 05:20 05:40 05:50 06:10 06:25 06:30 06:50 07:00 07:25 08:00 08:30 09:15 09:45 10:15 11:05 11:50 12:20 13:10 13:40 14:10 14:45 15:30 16:25 17:10 17:40 18:10 19:00 19:30 20:00 20:50 21:20 21:45 22:20 23:10 23:40 00:10 00:40 01:35 02:05 02:35

Luther Absolutely Fabulous One Foot In The Grave Nina And The Neurons Poetry Pie The Green Balloon Club Bobinogs Tweenies Nina And The Neurons Poetry Pie The Green Balloon Club Bobinogs Tweenies One Foot In The Grave Come Fly With Me Doctor Who Eastenders Doctors Drop Zone The Weakest Link One Foot In The Grave Doctor Who Come Fly With Me Eastenders Doctors The Weakest Link Drop Zone Doctor Who Eastenders Doctors The Weakest Link Keeping Up Appearances The Office Luther Gavin & Stacey The Cafe Hebburn Daddy Daycare Keeping Up Appearances The Office Gavin & Stacey Luther Eastenders Doctors Daddy Daycare

03:15 Fantasy Homes Down Under 04:00 The Boss Is Coming To Dinner 04:25 Cash In The Attic

05:10 The Hairy Bikers’ Cookbook 05:40 Bargain Hunt 06:25 Celebrity Fantasy Homes 07:10 Chef At Home 07:35 The Boss Is Coming To Dinner 08:00 Bargain Hunt 08:45 DIY SOS: The Big Build 09:40 The Hairy Bikers’ Cookbook 10:05 Nigel Slater’s Simple Cooking 10:30 Baking Mad With Eric Lanlard 10:55 Baking Mad With Eric Lanlard 11:20 Come Dine With Me 12:10 Masterchef: The Professionals 12:55 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition Specials 14:15 Antiques Roadshow 15:10 Holmes On Homes 16:00 Holmes On Homes 16:45 Bargain Hunt 17:30 Cash In The Attic 18:20 Antiques Roadshow 19:15 Homes Under The Hammer 20:10 The Restaurant Inspector 21:00 Planet Cake 21:30 Come Dine With Me 22:20 Antiques Roadshow 23:15 Bargain Hunt 00:00 Cash In The Attic 00:50 Homes Under The Hammer 01:40 Come Dine With Me 02:30 Masterchef: The Professionals

03:00 Mythbusters 03:50 Border Security 04:15 Storage Hunters 04:40 Dirty Money 05:05 How Do They Do It? 05:30 How It’s Made 06:00 American Guns 07:00 Mythbusters 07:50 Finding Bigfoot 08:40 Overhaulin’ 2012 09:30 Border Security 09:55 Storage Hunters 10:20 Dirty Money 10:45 How Do They Do It? 11:10 How It’s Made 11:35 You Have Been Warned 12:25 Dynamo: Magician Impossible 13:15 Mythbusters 14:05 Border Security 14:30 Storage Hunters 14:55 Dirty Money 15:20 World’s Top 5 16:10 Overhaulin’ 2012 17:00 Ultimate Survival 17:50 Dirty Jobs 18:40 Mythbusters 19:30 American Guns 20:20 Storage Hunters 20:45 Dirty Money 21:10 How Do They Do It? 21:35 How It’s Made 22:00 Sons Of Guns 22:50 Amish Mafia 23:40 Inside The Gangsters’ Code 00:30 Sons Of Guns 01:20 Amish Mafia 02:10 Inside The Gangsters’ Code

03:10 04:00 04:45 05:30 06:20 07:10 08:00 08:50 09:40 10:05 10:30 11:20 12:10 13:00 13:50 14:40 15:30 16:20 16:45 17:10 18:00

Disappeared Deadly Sins Killer Kids Dr G: Medical Examiner Ghost Lab Nightmare Next Door Deadly Sins Nightmare Next Door I Was Murdered Stalked: Someone’s Watching On The Case With Paula Zahn Extreme Forensics Dr G: Medical Examiner I Almost Got Away With It Deadly Sins Nightmare Next Door On The Case With Paula Zahn I Was Murdered Stalked: Someone’s Watching Couples Who Kill Extreme Forensics

18:50 19:40 20:30 21:20 22:10 23:00 23:50 00:40 01:30 02:20

Dr G: Medical Examiner On The Case With Paula Zahn On The Case With Paula Zahn I Almost Got Away With It Deadly Sins True CSI Deadly Women Killer Kids Couples Who Kill Ghost Lab

03:45 Stephen Hawking’s Grand Design 04:35 Unchained Reaction 05:25 Space Pioneer 06:15 The Gadget Show 06:40 Tech Toys 360 07:05 X-Machines 08:00 Junkyard Wars 08:50 Rocket City Rednecks 09:15 Rocket City Rednecks 09:40 The Gadget Show 10:05 Tech Toys 360 10:30 Invisible Worlds 11:25 X-Machines 12:20 Unchained Reaction 13:10 Space Pioneer 14:00 Stephen Hawking’s Grand Design 14:50 Weird Connections 15:20 The Gadget Show 15:45 Tech Toys 360 16:10 Prophets Of Science Fiction 17:00 Invisible Worlds 17:55 X-Machines 18:45 Unchained Reaction 19:35 Space Pioneer 20:30 Weird Or What?

21:20 Prank Science 21:45 Prank Science 22:10 The Gadget Show 22:35 Tech Toys 360 23:00 Weird Or What?

23:50 Prank Science 00:15 Prank Science 00:40 Colony 01:30 Weird Connections 02:00 The Gadget Show 02:25 Tech Toys 360 02:50 Weird Or What?

03:30 04:25 Stroud 05:20 06:15 07:05 08:00 Stroud 08:50 09:45 10:35 11:30 12:20 13:10 14:05 14:55 15:50 16:45 17:40 18:35 Stroud 19:25 20:20 21:10 22:05 23:00 23:55 00:50 01:45 02:35

03:00 03:20 03:45 04:05 04:30 04:50 05:15 05:35 06:00

Zero Hour Beyond Survival With Les Victory By Design Aircrash Confidential Timewatch Beyond Survival With Les Victory By Design Extreme Engineering In Search Of The King’s Head Marley Africa Road Trip Timewatch Victory By Design Extreme Engineering Aircrash Confidential Commander In Chief Marley Africa Road Trip Timewatch Beyond Survival With Les Daredevils Extreme Engineering Victory By Design Marley Africa Road Trip Daredevils Zero Hour Crimes That Shook The World Marley Africa Road Trip Daredevils

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 Austin And Ally

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

07:00 Max Steel 07:25 Phineas And Ferb 07:50 Phineas And Ferb 08:15 Crash & Bernstein 08:40 Kickin It 09:05 Ultimate Spider-Man 09:30 Phineas And Ferb 09:40 Phineas And Ferb 09:55 Phineas And Ferb 10:05 Phineas And Ferb 10:20 Lab Rats 10:45 Lab Rats 11:10 Pokemon Bw: Adventures In Unova 11:35 Max Steel 12:00 Zeke & Luther 12:25 Zeke & Luther 12:50 Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja 13:15 Scaredy Squirrel 13:40 Pair Of Kings 14:05 Pair Of Kings 14:30 Phineas And Ferb 14:40 Phineas And Ferb 14:55 Phineas And Ferb 15:20 Pokemon Bw: Adventures In Unova 15:45 Lab Rats 16:10 Lab Rats 16:35 Crash & Bernstein 17:00 Lab Rats 17:30 Kickin It 18:00 Dude, That’s My Ghost 18:25 Camp Lakebottom 18:50 Supa Strikas 19:15 Lab Rats 19:40 Monsters University: Behind The Screams 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 21:55 Phineas And Ferb 22:10 Phineas And Ferb 22:20 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 Style Star 03:40 Extreme Close-Up 04:10 THS 05:05 THS 06:00 THS 07:50 Style Star 08:20 E! News 09:15 Opening Act 10:15 Married To Jonas 10:40 Chasing The Saturdays 11:10 Eric And Jessie: Game On 11:35 Eric And Jessie: Game On 12:05 E! News 13:05 Extreme Close-Up 13:35 THS 14:30 Style Star 15:00 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 16:00 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 17:00 What Would Ryan Lochte Do? 17:30 The Soup Investigates 18:00 E! News 19:00 E!ES 20:00 The Wanted Life 21:00 Hello Ross 21:30 Fashion Police 22:30 E! News 23:30 Chelsea Lately 00:00 Chelsea Lately 00:30 The Dance Scene 00:55 The Dance Scene 01:25 THS 02:20 E! Investigates

DO NO HARM ON OSN MOVIES ACTION

03:10 03:35 04:00 04:25 04:50 05:15 05:40 06:30 07:10 08:00

13:15 Jelly T 14:45 Luke And Lucy: The Texas Rangers 16:15 Santa Paws 2: The Santa Pups 18:00 Three Investigators And The Secret Of Terror...

20:00 Jumanji 22:00 Luke And Lucy: The Texas Rangers 23:30 Santa Paws 2: The Santa Pups 01:00 Marco Macaco 02:30 Luke And Lucy: The Texas Rangers

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 A.N.T. Farm That’s So Raven Dog With A Blog Good Luck Charlie My Babysitter’s A Vampire 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

Charly’s Cake Angels Unique Sweets Unique Sweets Food Wars Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives United Tastes Of America Chopped Iron Chef America Food Network Challenge Unwrapped

04:00 Paranorman 06:00 Mandie And The Secret Tunnel 08:00 Super Buddies 09:45 Mission: Impossible III 12:00 People Like Us 14:00 Burden Of Evil 16:00 Super Buddies 17:45 Think Like A Man 20:00 Snow White And The Huntsman 22:15 Butter 00:00 Burden Of Evil 02:00 Think Like A Man

03:00 03:30 04:00 05:00 07:00 11:00 16:00 16:30 17:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 21:30 22:00 01:00

European Tour Weekly Inside The PGA Tour LPGA Tour Highlights Rugby League World Cup Darts Grand Slam Live PGA European Tour Inside The PGA Tour Total Rugby Rugby League World Cup Trans World Sport LPGA Tour Highlights European Tour Weekly Inside The PGA Tour Live PGA Tour PGA European Tour

THE APPARITION ON OSN MOVIES HD ACTION 08:25 08:50 09:15 09:40 10:05 10:30 11:45 12:10 12:35 13:00 13:50 14:15 Basics 14:40 Basics 15:05 15:30 15:55 16:20 16:45 17:35 Basics 18:00 Basics 18:25 18:50 19:15 19:40 20:05 20:30 20:55 21:20 22:10 23:00 23:50 00:15 00:40 01:05 01:30 01:55 02:20 02:45

Unwrapped Food Crafters United Tastes Of America Extra Virgin Barefoot Contessa The Next Food Network Star Aarti Party Unwrapped Unique Sweets Food Network Challenge Tyler’s Ultimate Barefoot Contessa - Back To Barefoot Contessa - Back To Siba’s Table Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Symon’s Suppers Chopped Barefoot Contessa - Back To Barefoot Contessa - Back To Tastiest Places To Chowdown Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Guy’s Big Bite Reza, Spice Prince Of India Siba’s Table Charly’s Cake Angels Chopped Iron Chef America Amazing Wedding Cakes Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Heat Seekers Meat & Potatoes Outrageous Food Amazing Wedding Cakes

03:00 Market Values 03:30 Eat Street 03:55 Street Food Around The World 04:25 Extreme Tourist Afghanistan 05:20 Banged Up Abroad 06:15 The Witch Doctor Will See You Now 07:10 Market Values 07:35 My Sri Lanka With Peter Kuruvita 08:05 Street Food Around The World 08:30 Don’t Tell My Mother 09:00 Travel Madness 09:25 Delinquent Gourmet 09:55 Eat Street 10:20 Market Values 10:50 Eat Street 11:15 Street Food Around The World 11:45 Extreme Tourist Afghanistan 12:40 Banged Up Abroad 13:35 The Witch Doctor Will See You Now 14:30 Market Values 14:55 My Sri Lanka With Peter Kuruvita 15:25 Street Food Around The World 15:50 Don’t Tell My Mother 16:20 Travel Madness 16:45 Delinquent Gourmet 17:15 Eat Street 17:40 Market Values 18:10 Eat Street 18:35 Street Food Around The World 19:05 Somewhere In China 20:00 Banged Up Abroad 21:00 Eat Street 21:30 Market Values 22:00 Scam City 22:55 Warrior Road Trip 23:50 Ultimate Traveller 00:45 Don’t Tell My Mother 01:10 Deadliest Journeys 01:40 Banged Up Abroad 02:35 Don’t Tell My Mother

03:00 Britain’s Greatest Machines 04:00 The Known Universe

05:00 World’s Deadliest Animals 06:00 Britain’s Greatest Machines 07:00 Megacities 08:00 Ultimate Airport Dubai 09:00 Pirate Patrol 10:00 Machines Of War 11:00 Britain’s Greatest Machines 12:00 The Known Universe 13:00 World’s Deadliest Animals 14:00 Ultimate Survival Alaska 15:00 Megacities 16:00 Mega Breakdown 17:00 Pirate Patrol 18:00 Machines Of War 19:00 Alaska Wing Men 20:00 A Traveler’s Guide To The Planets 21:00 Nordic Wild 22:00 Alaska Wing Men 23:00 World’s Toughest Fixes 00:00 Mad Scientists 00:30 Mad Scientists 01:00 Salvage Code Red 02:00 Wild Russia

03:00 How I Met Your Mother 03:30 Last Man Standing 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 How I Met Your Mother 09:30 Family Tools 10:00 Happy Endings 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 Last Man Standing 14:30 Family Tools 15:00 Happy Endings 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 Last Man Standing 19:00 Family Tools 19:30 Happy Endings 20:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 21:00 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 21:30 The Colbert Report 22:00 Weeds 22:30 It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia 23:00 The League 23:30 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 00:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 01:00 The Colbert Report 01:30 Weeds 02:00 It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia 02:30 The League

03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 12:30 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 16:30 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 22:00 23:00

The Client List Perception Warehouse 13 Psych Necessary Roughness White Collar Perception Marvel’s Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. Warehouse 13 Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show White Collar Psych Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show White Collar The Carrie Diaries The X Factor U.S. Downton Abbey The Client List

00:00 Psych 01:00 The Carrie Diaries 02:00 Downton Abbey

04:00 06:00 08:00 Action 09:30 11:15 Factor 14:15 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00 00:00 02:00

The Wrath Of Cain The Fog True Justice: Violence Of Riddle Covert One: The Hades The Apparition Riddle Do No Harm The Apparition The Killing Jar The Corruptor The Task

04:00 06:00 Action 07:30 09:15 Factor 12:15 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00 00:00 02:00

The Fog True Justice: Violence Of

03:00 05:00 07:00 09:00 11:00 12:45 15:00 17:00 19:00 21:00 23:00 01:00

Shadow Dancer I’ve Loved You So Long Look Again Beneath Hill 60 Shadow Dancer The Terminal Would Be Kings The Wishing Well In Time This Must Be The Place Rabbit Hole The Wishing Well

03:45 05:15 07:30 09:30 11:15 13:00 15:00 17:00 19:00 21:00 23:15 01:15

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

Riddle Covert One: The Hades The Apparition Riddle Do No Harm The Apparition The Killing Jar The Corruptor The Task The Killing Jar

The Entitled Across The Universe Dog Day Afternoon Teenage Paparazzo Golden Christmas 3 Kathmandu Lullaby Jakob The Liar The Woman In The Fifth Yelling To The Sky Flesh And Bone Out Of Sight The Crucible

Mary & Martha Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax The Three Stooges The Lucky One A View From Here One Life Arrietty The Lucky One The Girl Mama Violet & Daisy Blue Lagoon: The Awakening

04:30 Jelly T 06:00 Arthur 3: And The War Of Two Worlds 08:00 Marco Macaco 10:00 Three Investigators And The Secret Of Terror...

11:45 Santa’s Magic Crystal

03:00 UFC Fight For The Troops 06:00 UFC - The Ultimate Fighter Season 18 07:00 International Rugby Union 09:00 Total Rugby 11:30 Rugby League World Cup 13:30 Total Rugby 14:00 Darts Grand Slam 18:00 Futbol Mundial 18:30 NFL Gameday 19:00 WWE NXT 20:00 UFC - Primetime 20:30 UFC - Primetime 21:00 UFC - The Ultimate Fighter Season 18 22:00 Live Darts Grand Slam 02:00 WWE NXT

03:30 ICC Cricket 360 04:00 World Pool Masters 05:00 Live World Cup Of Golf 07:00 Snooker Champion Champions 11:00 Golfing World 12:00 World Pool Masters 20:00 Total Rugby 20:30 Futbol Mundial 21:00 Inside The PGA Tour 21:30 European Tour Weekly 22:00 PGA European Tour 02:30 Trans World Sport

Of

04:00 Mass Participation U.K 04:30 Ping Pong World Championship 05:30 U.S Bass Fishing 06:30 Porsche GT 3 Cup Challenge Middle East 07:00 WWE Smackdown 09:00 Ping Pong World Championship 10:00 U.S Bass Fishing 13:00 WWE Vintage Collection 14:00 WWE Bottom Line 15:00 This Week In WWE 19:30 Prizefighter 23:00 UFC Prelims 01:00 UFC - Belfort vs. Henderson

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

Off Limits Armed & Ready Armed & Ready Man vs World Airport 24/7: Miami Airport 24/7: Miami World’s Greatest Motorcycle Globe Trekker Descending Airport 24/7: Miami Airport 24/7: Miami World’s Greatest Motorcycle Bert The Conqueror Trip Flip The Food Truck The Food Truck Bizarre Foods America International House Hunters International House Hunters International House Hunters International House Hunters Hotel Impossible Soul Seeker The Food Truck The Food Truck Bizarre Foods America International House Hunters International House Hunters Luxury Uncovered Luxury Uncovered Monumental Mysteries Airport 24/7: Miami Airport 24/7: Miami World’s Greatest Motorcycle Xtreme Waterparks Xtreme Waterparks

Classifieds MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2013

Kuwait SHARQIA-1 THOR: THE DARK WORLD (DIG) ROMEO AND JULIET (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) THOR: THE DARK WORLD (DIG) ROMEO AND JULIET (DIG) THOR: THE DARK WORLD (DIG) SHARQIA-2 THE HUNGER GAMES:CATCHING FIRE (DIG) THE HUNGER GAMES:CATCHING FIRE (DIG) THE HUNGER GAMES:CATCHING FIRE (DIG) THE HUNGER GAMES:CATCHING FIRE (DIG) THE HUNGER GAMES:CATCHING FIRE (DIG) SHARQIA-3 PARKLAND (DIG) FREE BIRDS (DIG) PARKLAND (DIG) PARKLAND (DIG) PARKLAND (DIG) PARKLAND (DIG) MUHALAB-1 ROMEO AND JULIET (DIG) GORI TERE PYAAR MEIN (DIG) (Hindi) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) THOR: THE DARK WORLD (DIG) ROMEO AND JULIET (DIG) THOR: THE DARK WORLD (DIG) MUHALAB-2 PARKLAND (DIG) PARKLAND (DIG) FREE BIRDS (DIG) PARKLAND (DIG) PARKLAND (DIG) PARKLAND (DIG) MUHALAB-3 THE HUNGER GAMES:CATCHING FIRE (DIG) THE HUNGER GAMES:CATCHING FIRE (DIG) THE HUNGER GAMES:CATCHING FIRE (DIG) THE HUNGER GAMES:CATCHING FIRE (DIG) FANAR-1 PARKLAND (DIG) PARKLAND (DIG) PARKLAND (DIG) PARKLAND (DIG) PARKLAND (DIG) PARKLAND (DIG) PARKLAND (DIG)

12:45 PM 3:00 PM 5:15 PM 8:00 PM 10:15 PM 12:30 AM 1:15 PM 4:00 PM 6:45 PM 9:30 PM 12:15 AM 1:45 PM 3:45 PM 5:45 PM 7:45 PM 9:45 PM 11:45 PM 12:30 PM 3:00 PM 3:00 PM 6:00 PM 8:15 PM 10:30 PM 12:45 PM 2:45 PM 4:45 PM 6:45 PM 8:45 PM 10:45 PM 2:00 PM 4:45 PM 7:30 PM 10:15 PM 12:30 PM 2:30 PM 4:30 PM 6:30 PM 8:30 PM 10:30 PM 12:30 AM

KNCC PROGRAMME FROM THURSDAY TO WEDNESDAY (21/11/2013 TO 27/11/2013) THE HUNGER GAMES:CATCHING FIRE (DIG) THE HUNGER GAMES:CATCHING FIRE (DIG) THE HUNGER GAMES:CATCHING FIRE (DIG) THE HUNGER GAMES:CATCHING FIRE (DIG)

3:30 PM 6:15 PM 9:00 PM 11:45 PM

FREE BIRDS (DIG) FREE BIRDS (DIG-3D) PARKLAND (DIG) PARKLAND (DIG) PARKLAND (DIG)

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

MARINA-1 PARKLAND (DIG) PARKLAND (DIG) PARKLAND (DIG) PARKLAND (DIG) PARKLAND (DIG) PARKLAND (DIG)

2:00 PM 4:00 PM 6:00 PM 8:00 PM 10:00 PM 12:05 AM

AL-KOUT.1 THE HUNGER GAMES:CATCHING FIRE (DIG) THE HUNGER GAMES:CATCHING FIRE (DIG) THE HUNGER GAMES:CATCHING FIRE (DIG) THE HUNGER GAMES:CATCHING FIRE (DIG) THE HUNGER GAMES:CATCHING FIRE (DIG)

1:00 PM 4:00 PM 6:45 PM 9:30 PM 12:15 AM

MARINA-2 ROMEO AND JULIET (DIG) FREE BIRDS (DIG) THOR: THE DARK WORLD (DIG) ROMEO AND JULIET (DIG) THOR: THE DARK WORLD (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG)

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

AL-KOUT.2 FREE BIRDS (DIG) THOR: THE DARK WORLD (DIG) ROMEO AND JULIET (DIG) THOR: THE DARK WORLD (DIG) ROMEO AND JULIET (DIG) THOR: THE DARK WORLD (DIG)

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

MARINA-3 THE HUNGER GAMES:CATCHING FIRE (DIG) THE HUNGER GAMES:CATCHING FIRE (DIG) THE HUNGER GAMES:CATCHING FIRE (DIG) THE HUNGER GAMES:CATCHING FIRE (DIG) THE HUNGER GAMES:CATCHING FIRE (DIG)

1:00 PM 4:00 PM 6:45 PM 9:30 PM 12:15 AM

AL-KOUT.3 PARKLAND (DIG) PARKLAND (DIG) PARKLAND (DIG) PARKLAND (DIG) PARKLAND (DIG) PARKLAND (DIG) PARKLAND (DIG)

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

AL-KOUT.4 LAST VEGAS (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) LAST VEGAS (DIG) LAST VEGAS (DIG) LAST VEGAS (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG)

12:45 PM 2:45 PM 5:30 PM 7:45 PM 9:45 PM 11:45 PM

BAIRAQ-1 THE HUNGER GAMES:CATCHING FIRE (DIG) THE HUNGER GAMES:CATCHING FIRE (DIG) THE HUNGER GAMES:CATCHING FIRE (DIG) THE HUNGER GAMES:CATCHING FIRE (DIG) THE HUNGER GAMES:CATCHING FIRE (DIG)

12:30 PM 3:30 PM 6:15 PM 9:00 PM 11:45 PM

BAIRAQ-2 PARKLAND (DIG) PARKLAND (DIG) PARKLAND (DIG) PARKLAND (DIG) PARKLAND (DIG) PARKLAND (DIG)

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

BAIRAQ-3 FREE BIRDS (DIG) FREE BIRDS (DIG) THOR: THE DARK WORLD (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) THOR: THE DARK WORLD (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG)

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

PLAZA PARKLAND (DIG) THE HUNGER GAMES:CATCHING FIRE (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG)

6:00 PM 8:00 PM 10:45 PM

LAILA THE HUNGER GAMES:CATCHING FIRE (DIG) PARKLAND (DIG) THE HUNGER GAMES:CATCHING FIRE (DIG)

5:30 PM 8:15 PM 10:15 PM

AVENUES-1 LAST VEGAS (DIG) LAST VEGAS (DIG) LAST VEGAS (DIG) LAST VEGAS (DIG) LAST VEGAS (DIG) SUN+TUE+WED THE HUNGER GAMES:CATCHING FIRE (DIG)

11:15 PM

AVENUES-2 ROMEO AND JULIET (DIG) ROMEO AND JULIET (DIG) ROMEO AND JULIET (DIG) ROMEO AND JULIET (DIG) LAST VEGAS (DIG)

1:30 PM 4:00 PM 6:30 PM 9:15 PM 11:45 PM

2:15 PM 4:30 PM 6:45 PM 9:00 PM 11:15 PM

AVENUES-3 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) NO SUN+TUE+WED

2:00 PM 4:30 PM 7:00 PM 9:30 PM 12:05 AM

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

FANAR-2 THOR: THE DARK WORLD (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) THOR: THE DARK WORLD (DIG) THOR: THE DARK WORLD (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG)

2:30 PM 4:45 PM 7:30 PM 9:45 PM 12:05 AM

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

FANAR-3 LAST VEGAS (DIG) ROMEO AND JULIET (DIG) ROMEO AND JULIET (DIG) GORI TERE PYAAR MEIN (DIG) (Hindi) LAST VEGAS (DIG) LAST VEGAS (DIG)

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

360º- 2 ALL IS LOST (DIG) ALL IS LOST (DIG) ALL IS LOST (DIG) ALL IS LOST (DIG) ALL IS LOST (DIG) ALL IS LOST (DIG)

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

1:30 PM

360º- 3 FREE BIRDS (DIG-3D)

1:30 PM

FANAR-4 FREE BIRDS (DIG-3D)

SITUATION VACANT A Kuwaiti family is looking to hire a driver with a valid driver’s license.

Contact: 99401126.

(C 4581) 25-11-2014 Professional cook for house, good knowledge of all kind of food, specially Arabic and Indian food, good salary, part time. Call: 23901053, 66519719, 67079253.

(C 4577) 23-11-2014 CHANGE OF NAME My wife name in passport Sameera. Sameera is my daughter name. My wife name is Sainaba Mohammed Kunih, P.P.No. F8710673, issued in Kuwait on 16.11.2006, address: Sameera Manzil Poolappe, PO Elambach, Kosaragode Dt, Kerala. (C 4576) 17-11-2013

Salam International Hospital, Benaid Al-Gar, rent KD 90. Please contact: 66612378, 97879611.

(C 4582) Sharing accommodation for couple Filipino only near Indian school Jabriya.

Available November 25, 2013. Contact: 99537639.

(C 4581) 25-11-2014 Sharing accommodation available in Khaitan for a single Mangalorean/Goan R/C bachelor (furnished studio flat) opposite jamiya, rent KD 30. Contact: 66036893. (C 4578) 24-11-2013 In Abbassiya, sharing accommodation available for a small family or work-

ing ladies, in a C-A/C building with separate bathroom, in Sreeragam furniture building (opposite to “Spencerice bakery) from 1st December. Contact: 99750711, 97168646 or 24348730. (C 4575) 17-11-2013

FOR SALE Nissan Pathfinder 2003 model, in good condition, white. Serious buyer may contact 97277135 25-11-2013 KIA Optima model 2006, excellent condition, maintained with company price KD 1200. Tel: 99839511.

(C 4579) 24-11-2013

THE PUBLIC AUTHORITY FOR CIVIL INFORMATION Automated enquiry about the Civil ID card is

ACCOMMODATION

1889988

Single room, central A/C available. Very near to Al-

No: 15997

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

Airlines BBC JAI THY QTR JZR JZR ETH GFA THY AFG UAE ETD MSR QTR FDB THY DHX JZR FDB BAW KAC KAC KAC FDB KAC UAE KAC KAC ABY QTR ETD KAC FDB GFA KAC MSC MSC JZR IRC MEA SYR UAE MSR MSR KNE FDB QTR

Arrival Flights on Monday 25/11/2013 Flt Route 43 DHAKA 574 MUMBAI 772 ISTANBUL 1084 DOHA 539 CAIRO 267 BEIRUT 620 ADDIS ABABA 211 BAHRAIN 764 SABIHA 416 JEDDAH 853 DUBAI 305 ABU DHABI-INTL 612 CAIRO 1076 DOHA 67 DUBAI 770 ISTANBUL 170 BAHRAIN 503 LUXOR 69 DUBAI 157 LONDON 412 MANILA/BANGKOK 301 MUMBAI 382 DELHI 53 DUBAI 206 ISLAMABAD 855 DUBAI 362 COLOMBO 284 DHAKA 125 SHARJAH 1070 DOHA 301 ABU DHABI-INTL 352 COCHIN 55 DUBAI 213 BAHRAIN 344 CHENNAI 401 ALEXANDRIA 403 ASYUT 165 DUBAI 6521 LAMERD 404 BEIRUT 341 DAMASCUS 871 DUBAI 610 CAIRO 579 SOHAG 480 TAIF 57 DUBAI 1078 DOHA

Time 00:05 00:10 00:45 00:55 00:40 00:40 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 07:55 07:55 07:50 07:40 08:40 08:45 08:50 09:00 09:10 09:20 09:50 09:40 10:40 10:40 10:50 11:15 11:30 11:45 11:55 12:30 12:50 13:00 13:05 13:15 13:50 13:55

SVA KNE KAC KAC NIA OMA KAC QTR UAE ETD RJA SVA ABY GFA MPH JZR KAC RBG JZR MSC QTR FDB KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC GFA OMA FDB JAI ABY AXB DLH ALK MEA ETD UAE GFA QTR FDB JAI JZR JZR AIC PIA TAR JZR

500 472 546 788 252 645 118 1072 857 303 640 510 127 215 93 777 542 553 177 405 1080 63 742 774 786 674 618 104 217 647 61 572 129 489 636 229 402 307 859 219 1074 59 576 239 135 975 205 327 185

JEDDAH JEDDAH ALEXANDRIA JEDDAH ALEXANDRIA MUSCAT NEW YORK DOHA DUBAI ABU DHABI-INTL AMMAN-QUEEN ALIA RIYADH SHARJAH BAHRAIN AMSTERDAM JEDDAH CAIRO ALEXANDRIA DUBAI SOHAG DOHA DUBAI DAMMAM RIYADH JEDDAH DUBAI DOHA LONDON BAHRAIN MUSCAT DUBAI MUMBAI SHARJAH COCHIN/MANGALORE FRANKFURT COLOMBO BEIRUT ABU DHABI-INTL DUBAI BAHRAIN DOHA DUBAI COCHIN/ABU DHABI-INTL AMMAN-QUEEN ALIA BAHRAIN CHENNAI/GOA LAHORE/PESHAWER TUNIS DUBAI

14:30 14:35 14:05 15:10 15:50 15:55 16:35 16:40 16:40 16:50 16:55 17:15 17:25 17:30 17:50 17:55 18:05 18:15 18:20 18:30 18:40 18:45 18:20 18:45 18:45 19:25 19:00 19:35 19:30 19:55 20:05 20:10 20:20 20:35 20:55 21:10 21:20 21:35 21:40 21:45 22:00 22:00 22:15 22:20 22:05 22:30 23:05 23:15 23:20

Airlines AIC 00:05 UAL PIA JAI BBC DLH ETH THY AFG UAE ETD MSR QTR FDB QTR FDB JZR THY GFA KAC THY FDB BAW KAC ABY UAE ETD QTR FDB GFA KAC MSC KAC MSC KAC JZR IRC MEA KAC SYR JZR MSR MSR KNE UAE FDB QTR

Departure Flights on Monday 25/11/2013 Flt Route Time 982 AHMEDABAD/HYDERABAD/CHENNAI 981 206 573 44 635 621 773 416 854 306 613 1085 68 1077 70 164 765 212 545 771 54 156 787 126 856 302 1071 56 214 541 406 165 404 103 776 6522 405 785 342 176 580 611 481 872 58 1079

WASHINGTON DC DULLES LAHORE MUMBAI CHITTAGONG/DHAKA FRANKFURT ADDIS ABABA ISTANBUL KABUL DUBAI ABU DHABI-INTL CAIRO DOHA DUBAI DOHA DUBAI DUBAI SABIHA0 BAHRAIN ALEXANDRIA ISTANBUL DUBAI LONDON JEDDAH SHARJAH DUBAI ABU DHABI-INTL DOHA DUBAI BAHRAIN CAIRO SOHAG ROME/PARIS ASYUT LONDON JEDDAH LAMERD BEIRUT JEDDAH DAMASCUS DUBAI SOHAG CAIRO TAIF DUBAI DUBAI DOHA

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

00:55 01:05 01:10 01:45 02:10 02:45 02:55 03:30 03:50 04:00 04:10 04:15 04:40 05:15 06:30 06:55 07:05 07:15 07:15 07:30 08:30 08:45 09:25 09:40 09:55 10:05 10:10 10:20 11:25 11:30 11:50 11:50 12:15 12:20 12:25 12:45 12:55 13:00 13:30 13:45 13:50 14:00 14:10 14:15 14:30 14:55

KAC KAC KAC KAC KNE SVA NIA OMA JZR ETD QTR UAE JZR RJA ABY SVA GFA JZR JZR RBG JZR MPH 19:20 FDB MSC QTR GFA KAC FDB OMA KAC KAC ABY JAI KAC DLH DHX ALK MEA ETD GFA KAC FDB UAE KAC QTR JAI JZR KAC

673 773 741 617 473 501 251 646 238 304 1073 858 538 641 128 511 216 184 266 554 134 93

DUBAI 15:05 RIYADH 15:20 DAMMAM 15:20 DOHA 15:30 JEDDAH 15:30 JEDDAH 15:45 ALEXANDRIA 16:50 MUSCAT 16:55 AMMAN-QUEEN ALIA 16:55 ABU DHABI-INTL 17:35 DOHA 17:40 DUBAI 17:50 CAIRO 17:50 AMMAN-QUEEN ALIA 17:55 SHARJAH 18:05 RIYADH 18:15 BAHRAIN 18:20 DUBAI 18:40 BEIRUT 18:50 ALEXANDRIA 18:55 BAHRAIN 19:10 AL MAKTOUM INTERNATI/HONG KONG

64 402 1081 218 283 62 648 331 361 120 571 351 636 171 230 403 308 220 301 60 860 205 1075 575 502 411

DUBAI ALEXANDRIA DOHA BAHRAIN DHAKA DUBAI MUSCAT TRIVANDRUM COLOMBO SHARJAH MUMBAI COCHIN DAMMAM BAHRAIN COLOMBO BEIRUT ABU DHABI-INTL BAHRAIN MUMBAI DUBAI DUBAI ISLAMABAD DOHA ABU DHABI-INTL/COCHIN LUXOR BANGKOK/MANILA

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 23:15 23:30 23:55

34

s ta rs CROSSWORD 379

STAR TRACK Aries (March 21-April 19) ARIES You have an appreciation for responsibilities today and will carry out your fair share of the work on the home front. There is a feeling of being at peace and stable on the emotional level. You are learning some valuable tools to having better relationships.

Remember that the frustrations you may experience from time to time are opportunities to use your new problem-solving techniques. Stability satisfies a deep emotional need.

There could be insight regarding your support system—your mother or other females may be included in this. You could discover a young person that opens up to you today, perhaps with a young people’s volunteer group. Visiting with friends this evening promotes happy times and future memories.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) Some of the issues that come to your attention now are in making peace with the past and coming to terms with any karmic debts you may have accrued in this life. Some might suggest a backward walk or a review of each day and then letting go of any negative thought patterns. Mother nature might appreciate it if all people would look backward into how they care for the land, and make positive changes. Learning how you take care of the planet you will once again move through each day with renewed appreciation filling your life. Whatever we do has a ripple effect on our lives for good or bad—for some time to come. Take care and encourage others to do the same. Someone you know may be asking your advice on legal matters tonight.

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

ACROSS 1. The month following September and preceding November.

4. A game played with young children.

12. A flexible container with a single opening.

15. The 22nd letter of the Greek alphabet.

16. A short moral story (often with animal characters).

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

18. Thigh of a hog (usually smoked).

19. A midnight meeting of witches to practice witchcraft and sorcery.

20. Be in accord.

22. Climbing garden plant having fragrant pastel-colored flowers.

24. English monk and scholar (672-735).

25. Being two more than fifty.

26. Expresses conditionality or possibility.

28. An event resulting in great loss and misfortune.

32. An inflammatory disease involving the sebaceous glands of the skin.

35. One of the often brightly colored and branching hornlike structures on the back of the nudibranch (and other related mollusks) that serve as gills.

36. A city in southern Turkey on the Seyhan River.

39. An amino acid that is found in the central nervous system.

41. A German man.

43. Of greater importance or stature or rank.

44. 100 avos equal 1 pataca.

45. Evergreen tree of eastern Asia and Philippines having large leathery leaves and small green-white flowers in compact cymes.

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

48. Vacuum flask that holds liquid air or helium for scientific experiments.

51. An inactive volcano in Sicily.

53. Any of several Orthodox Jewish sects who reject modern secular culture and many of whom do not recognize the spiritual authority of the modern state of Israel.

55. Stout-bodied insect with large membranous wings.

57. A large fleet.

61. Material used to daub walls.

65. Mild yellow Dutch cheese made in balls.

69. A condition (mostly in boys) characterized by behavioral and learning disorders.

73. Primitive predaceous North American fish covered with hard scales and having long jaws with needle-like teeth.

74. Characterized by extravagance and profusion.

76. Step on it.

77. A period marked by distinctive character or reckoned from a fixed point or event.

78. Not having a stem.

79. Resinlike substance secreted by certain lac insects.

DOWN 1. United States newspaper publisher (18581935).

2. A wad of something chewable as tobacco.

3. An instance or single occasion for some event.

4. A pair of adhesive patches worn to cover the nipples of exotic dancers and striptease performers.

5. Any of numerous venomous fanged snakes of warmer parts of both hemispheres.

6. A river in central Europe that arises in northwestern Czechoslovakia and flows northward through Germany to empty into the North Sea. 7. Cubes of meat marinated and cooked on a skewer usually with vegetables.

8. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey).

9. A landlocked republic in south-central Africa that became independent from British control in the 1960s.

10. A state in northwestern United States on the Pacific.

11. A Japanese supervisor.

12. Having the head uncovered.

13. In bed.

14. (Greek mythology) Goddess of the earth and mother of Cronus and the Titans in ancient mythology.

21. Small genus of Eurasian herbs.

23. British composer (1857-1934).

27. South American wood sorrel cultivated for its edible tubers.

29. Female ruff v 1.

30. A mark to indicate a direction or relation.

31. A sharply directional antenna.

33. On a ship, train, plane or other vehicle.

34. Xerophytic evergreen shrubs.

37. Marked by features of the immediate and usually discounted past.

38. Italian violin maker in Cremona.

40. A genus of Platalea.

42. A public promotion of some product or service.

46. Tropical American tree producing cacao beans.

49. According to the Old Testament he was a pagan king of Israel and husband of Jezebel (9th century BC).

50. A unit of absorbed ionizing radiation equal to 100 ergs per gram of irradiated material.

52. (of complexion) Blemished by imperfections of the skin.

54. An intensely radioactive metallic element that occurs in minute amounts in uranium ores.

56. Being one more than one.

58. Measuring instrument in which the echo of a pulse of microwave radiation is used to detect and locate distant objects.

59. Ritual hand movement in Hindu religious dancing.

60. A telegram sent abroad.

62. (trademark) A liquid that temporarily disables a person.

63. Starch resembling sago that is obtained from cuckoopint root.

64. A telephone connection.

66. Tropical woody herb with showy yellow flowers and flat pods.

67. Type genus of the Amiidae.

68. One thousandth of a second.

70. A caustic detergent useful for removing grease.

71. Separated into parts or laid open or penetrated with a sharp edge or instrument.

72. The part of the nervous system of vertebrates that controls involuntary actions of the smooth muscles and heart and glands.

75. A very poisonous metallic element that has three allotropic forms.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2013

You are most persuasive with others and a communication attempt with a difficult person is successful. Your patience with the elderly is commendable and you may decide to choose some form of volunteer work or take on a business for yourself that includes care or service for the elderly—making their life easier. There are good opportunities for you to work outside this afternoon. Perhaps you will be applying some mulch or some other product that will protect your garden this winter. Visiting with neighbors or young people this afternoon provides you with a stage for self-expression and lends itself to your particular ideas and thoughts. You may find yourself serving or guiding a friend in matters of importance this evening.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) This morning you are ready, willing and able to be the speaker in a religious meeting. You are charming, witty and know just what to say when it comes to the question and answer period. The energies later today lend themselves to lecturing, traveling and study. You explore many social opportunities that will help to highlight or bring attention to your teachings. Participating in groups and organizations and accepting all types of invitations will bring you wonderful rewards in the future. Remain optimistic about a relationship. You have a lot in common with each other, making it fun to be together.

Marriage can also be in the works once you consider some change or plans that could be important. You remain the center of attention all day long.

Leo (July 23-August 22) You are a good friend and you enjoy being with your friends in an inspiring environment this morning. You have insight into your emotions and you can talk about your feelings with great understanding. You may find that today you are most imaginative, at least when it comes to ideas and thoughts. Music is an important aspect of this day as well. You may discover a new method of expressing yourself in some creative endeavor. This could be in the way you draw or paint or you could create a new melody or poem. Whatever you choose to create, today can be successful and enjoyable for you and others. This is a day that should find everything running smoothly. You are moved to appreciate and discover the beauty in your life and in those around you.

Virgo (August 23-September 22) You enjoy visiting with friends and playing a guessing game that includes the question of what might happen if you had a different life. If we ever want things to be different, we can change our life situation in most cases. The better questions are how to include talents and skills into everyday life and in what ways to be of service to your fellow man. All good and responsible choices can be yours for the taking today. Success is nearby for you. Almost anything you become involved with calls for patience and perseverance. Now is a good time to show your appreciation to others and perhaps correspond to family members out of town in order to keep in touch. Give yourself credit for your many accomplishments and enjoy the evening.

Word Search

Libra (September 23-October 22) You are in the mood for some fun and adventure today. There are plenty of opportunities to spend your money. In order to do all the things you want to do, you will probably benefit from some planning. You will want to have some money set aside for the unexpected as well. Music fills the air while you tend to your duties this morning. Group activities are highlighted and move you into favorable directions this afternoon. You are upbeat and ready for interaction with others and will find plenty of opportunities to communicate with friends. You are aware of the needs of others during this time and you are agreeable to the purchase of a new piece of furniture or some other item that has been previously discussed. Be sure to include all in the decision making.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) Difficulties from the past seem to clear up quite nicely. Where others have tried to sway you into another way of thinking, you can now reply and respond with the love, warmth and understanding that were always yours. You may gain some ideas of ways in which you could earn extra money or go into a business for yourself. Real estate may be a subject you become particularly interested in these days. Your own growth and success may be linked to questions of security—home and family, in particular. This may be a time during which you can get ahead by finding your limits. Be very careful with the words you use when you are around children today—they will notice the words or concepts and may not understand the meaning.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) A favorite hobby or skill takes priority this morning and occupies your mind until you eat your next meal. Your many interests may include reading, trains, dolls, model building, miniatures, etc. There may be an opportunity to attend an art show later this afternoon, perhaps a public showing of collections and hobbies. You will enjoy being with some of your friends that have the same sort of hobby interest as you.

Working with hobbies is a wonderful way to get to know someone better. A common interest in spiritual values among family members may occur as well. You happily involve yourself in many conversations with great people today. You may be called upon to settle a debate this evening. You know just how to direct the conversation.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19) Your scope of friends are forward moving and upward climbing and while you enjoy the ride-along, there are times when you just need to hang out on a more peaceful level with slower-paced friends. This is the general pattern of the day.

Gathering and exchanging information with friends and family becomes a more important part of your life. Neighbors or siblings have a big impact on your goals and make a big impression. A friend of yours, the wild and crazy one, would love to drag you off for the afternoon. You could make arrangements. Be sure to take some suntan lotion if you are to be outside for long, no matter the season. The sun is still something of a problem to your skin type. This is a mentally and socially active time; enjoy.

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) You exhibit the ability to focus and make spiritual ideas a practical matter, bringing them down to everyday life. You have great discipline when it comes to working with spirituality and unity—whatever binds or links all of us together. You would be able to teach and show others these realms. You may be teaching a religious class to a group of young people this morning. Later today you may find that a friend’s ideas need adjusting and you seem to be able help them create a smooth adjustment—almost undetected.

You are not afraid to get into the most interesting situations—you always come up with the essence of the matter at hand. You enjoy playing with some computer games. Lighthearted stories are shared this evening.

Pisces (February 19-March 20) Put your mind to work and take care of any details or chores around the house that that you may have left undone for another day. Problems and obstacles that have previously been difficult should find easy explanation. Your inner resources and emotions are accented. Expect a sense of support and goodwill from those around you. This afternoon you will take care of important communications. Answer an rsvp; speak out about something in which you believe. Getting close and opening up to friends can be most therapeutic at this time. This afternoon you may become involved in some trivia game. While the whole family is together, you may decide that now is the best time to talk about party plans for the next holiday. Preparation is a plus.

Yesterday’s Solution

Yesterday’s Solution

Daily SuDoku

Yesterday’s Solution

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 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 25, 2013

LIFESTYLE G o s s i p

Jagger to become great-grandpa

Beckhams plan £5m renovation on £40 million home

H

e may still be strutting about onstage giving his fans “Satisfaction”—but at 70 the Rolling Stones’ frontman Mick Jagger is about to become a great-grandfather, his daughter confirmed Sunday. The British singer’s grand-daughter Assisi, 21, is due to give birth early in the new year, her mother Jade Jagger told the Sunday Times newspaper. “It is true. I am going to be a grandmother,” the 42-year-old socialite told the broadsheet. The Rolling Stones marked their 50th anniversary last year with huge stadium shows in Britain and North America. Despite all being old enough to collect their state pensions, they this week announced a fresh tour in Australia and New Zealand for 2014.

Jagger has seven children by four different mothers. Jade is his only daughter with his first wife, the Nicaraguan model and human rights campaigner Bianca Jagger, who he wed in 1971 and divorced eight years later. The baby will be Assisi’s first child with her boyfriend Alex, a chef, the Sunday Times said.

D

Mick Jagger

Jones reveals he and wife battling skin cancer

avid and Victoria Beckham have spent £40 million on their new home, and will spend a further £5 million on renovations. The couple reportedly have huge plans for their mansion, which includes two rooms for the former Spice Girl’s shoes and every bathroom will have a waterproof plasma TV. Speaking to The Sun on Sunday newspaper, a source said: “They have been working to a new schedule since David retired from football. “The new place is a project - and a place for the kids, particularly Harper. “It will be hear memories of a childhood home when she is older. And what a childhood she is going to have.” The stars - who also have sons Brooklyn, 14, Romeo, 11, and eight-yearold Cruz - want to convert the west London town house to meet their every need, which also reportedly includes a room dedicated to “hairdressing manicures and make up”. While, the second floor is said to be for the children - with each bedroom coming with its own en-suite bathroom - guests on the floor above will ever have their own bar. Parking is situated under the home, with the lower ground floor said to include a study, a gym and massage room, three service rooms and a garden.

Robbie wants Ayda to stay at home

V

innie Jones has revealed he and his wife are battling skin cancer. The 48-year-old star - whose partner Tanya is also fighting the disease - found a lump in February before it was removed and diagnosed as melanoma, and he has had two further operations since. Speaking to The Sun on Sunday newspaper, he said: “Cancer is a horrible word to hear. It frightens the life out of you. “I’ve faced the biggest and ugliest lads on the football field and been in some nasty bar brawls. But this is my toughest and scariest opponent yet.” The footballer-turned-actor has admitted his first thought when he was told the bad news was how long he had to live. He added: “First I found this little lump under my eye.

I didn’t know if it as a blackhead or a little wart. “When the doctor said I had skin cancer, the first thing I thought was, ‘How long have I got left?’ A million and one things go through your head. “They have cut out three bits so far and I’m constantly worried about where I could find it next. It’s weighing very heavily on me all the time. It’s really knocked me for six.” Vinnie also discussed his wife’s own battle with cancer, which she was diagnosed with as a side effect of drugs she has taken after having a heart transplant 26 years ago. He explained: “She has dealt with health issues every day since. They now think her skin cancer is a result of the drugs she’s been taking since the heart transplant. “When it comes to things like this, women are stronger. Suddenly I’ve gone from the one helping her to the one that needs support. “I’m trying to take the world in a bit more and appreciate my family and friends.”

Vinnie Jones

Zayn Malik: One Direction will be ushers at wedding

Z

ayn Malik has chosen his One Direction band mates as his ushers. The heart throb has opened up about his upcoming wedding with Little Mix singer Perrie Edwards, and he has admitted he can’t choose between friends Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Liam Payne and Niall Horan. Speaking to Yahoo during 1D Day, he said: “It is going to have to be a bit unconventional - it’s just not fair to pick one.” His band mates also weighed in on music for the eventual ceremony, with Liam saying Simon Cowell and Ed Sheeran will perform at the nuptials. He joked: “Simon is going to do a little solo song and we should have Ed there too.” However, Zayn wasn’t entirely convinced, admitting Perry would prefer to have Journey front man Neal Schon on hand. He added: “My missus wants the lead singer from Journey there.” While Zay is preparing for his wedding day, fellow ‘Story of My Life’ hitmaker Niall is said to be getting close to ‘X Factor’ UK contestant Tamera Foster. According to reports in the Sunday Mirror, the pair have shown “instant chemistry”, and she has admitted to getting on well with the star. She said: “Yes, Niall and I have been talking in private ... I spent most of my time with Niall.

He’s really fun.”

R Adele

Adele orders £100,000 custom car

A

dele has invested in a £100,000 luxury custom car. The ‘Skyfall’ hitmaker - who recently passed her driving test - has bought the Porsche Cayenne and has kept both her own needs and those of her son Angelo. An insider told the Sunday Mirror: “Since passing her test, driving has become one of Adele’s favourite activities and she loves to cruise around London. “She could afford to buy any mega-expensive sports car but now she’s a mum, safety and reliability are her new priorities. Her car is a 4x4 and extremely safe but it’s also slick and luxurious.

“She’s decided to treat herself and has joked that it’s a Christmas present after she managed to pass her test.” It is said the singer’s vehicle is currently being custommade in Germany to her exact specifications - and it is “exactly the same” as one just ordered by Miley Cyrus. The source added: “The cars are custom built based on the owner’s individual specifications so Adele has chosen the leather and stitching she prefers. “She chose a black car because she doesn’t want to be noticed and can retain her privacy. Because the cars are custom built, she would have had to have put down a hefty deposit to secure it. “It is now being built for her in Germany and will be shipped after Christmas with a 2014 number plate ...Adele will be in good company as exactly the same car has been ordered by Miley Cyrus.”

Murray blames Jackson for death

C

onrad Murray has denied killing Michael Jackson and says they were like “family”. The disgraced former doctor - the ‘Thriller’ hitmaker’s private physician who was charged with involuntary manslaughter when the singer died in 2009 - has claimed he and the late star were like “brothers”. He told the Mail on Sunday newspaper that Michael had held his hand and said: “There are only four people in my family now. Paris, Prince, Blanket and you, Dr Conrad.” Conrad added: “[It was] one of the happiest days of my life. This man who had been so lonely, who had spent so many long nights telling me about his pain and anguish, finally felt he could trust someone in his life apart from his children. “We were family. We loved each other as brothers.” He has also insisted he did not kill the iconic singer, instead claiming he overdosed himself on propofol as he was suffering from insomnia, which Conrad claims could have been because of withdrawals from demoral, which he was apparently given by another doctor. He said: “I never gave Michael anything that would kill him. I loved him. I still do. I always will ... That night he just couldn’t sleep. “I prescribed him drugs to help, including valium and lorazepam, but he was begging, pleading ... I told him, ‘This is not normal. What I’ve given you would put an elephant to sleep’. “In the other bedroom [Michael’s private chamber], the police found an open bottle of lorazepam. They found tablets in his stomach. I didn’t give him those.

Michael took extra tablets. And he injected himself.”

Conrad Murray Zayn Malik

David and Victoria Beckham

obbie Williams says he is a “caveman” and doesn’t want his wife to go back to work. The singer’s partner Ayda Field gave birth to their first daughter Theodora Rose 14 moths ago and he admitted he has tried to stop her from returning to her acting career because he needs “supporting”.

Speaking to The Sun yesterday, he joked: “Ayda wants to go back to work but I don’t want her to. I’m a bit caveman about it all. “I say, ‘You won’t leave the cave. I don’t want you to leave the cave. I want you to stay here with me and do the supporting thing ... Not having her there does scare me a bit. “But she’s really talented and incredibly charismatic. But, selfishly, I want her to be at home with me.”Robbie had Ayda with him when he was on his recent UK tour, and it meant he found it easy to balance work and family because “mummy took care of everything”. He said;: “The purpose of the tour was not only to entertain people and get my confident back, but also to take care of us as a family, financially. “So my responsibility to my family was to get enough sleep and perform the best that I can perform. “Me and Teddy hung out in the dressing room during the afternoon and early evening then she went off to bed ... I didn’t have to juggle anything because mummy took take of everything.”

Robbie Williams and Ayda Field

Alexa Chung ‘exhausted’ at 30

A

lexa Chung felt “exhausted” when she turned 30. The brunette beauty has just reached the milestone age and although she enjoyed celebrating, she admits entering a new decade has made her feel old. She said: “Turning 30’s been good in the sense that I’ve had three parties. But each one had a two-day hangover attached so, yes, I’m old. “Turning 30 felt inevitable. I woke up and said out loud, ‘I’m 30’ and then went to a Turkish baths in the East Village [of New York]. “Actually, you know when you wake up from a big night out and think, ‘that was tough’? I woke up on my 30th birthday and felt the fatigue of my twenties set in. I sort of exhaled and thought, ‘What a trip?’ I just felt a bit exhausted. Oh man, I’ve packed a lot in.” Alexa enjoyed seeing her friends and family together at her birthday party because it was such a surreal occasion, and she admits to feeling sorry for her friend Harry Styles after seeing the level of attention he received at the bash. She wrote in Grazia magazine: “The London party was like speed-dating my friends - I talked to everyone for about 90 seconds. But I loved seeing my family, especially my parents, in the same room with my friends. It was really funny to watch Harry Styles high-fiving my mother. “My Instagram was flooded with his mug next day. Poor guy, must spend the whole time feeling like he’s Mickey Mouse at Disney World.”

Alexa Chung

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2013

lifestyle G o s s i p

Moretz doesn’t need to rebel C

hloe Moretz says “maybe later” she’ll go off the rails. The 17-year-old actress is into healthy living and determined not to fall foul of the pitfalls of fame, so is steering clear of drink and drugs to ensure her career stays on track. When asked if she plans to go off the rails, she replied: “No, not now! Maybe later, who knows? But for now, I’m so happy with my life that I don’t need to be rebellious. I wouldn’t want to jeopardise what I’ve accomplished. I could do drugs and drink, but why would I want to do something that can strip away everything I’ve spent my life working for?” ‘Carrie’ star Chloe added she had a huge wake-up call about what was important when the health of her grandmother, who suffers from Alzheimers, took a turn for the worse. She explained: “I got this call from my aunt to say my grandma had had a stroke. Meanwhile, that day I’d been worrying about whether to book a project, an audition or a photoshoot. I just realized how idiotic it all is, cancelled everything and went home. This ‘I’m fat, I’m skinny, I’m ugly, I have a pimple,’ it’s all so irrelevant.”

Victoria Beckham excited by title

V Lutz couldn’t get as bigas Johnson for Hercules

K

ellan Lutz jokes he can’t match rival Hercules Dwayne Johnson’s physique. The two actors play the Greek hero in separate movies, and the ‘Hercules: The Legend Begins’ star joked his body could never match up to The Rock’s. He told E! News: “I wanted to get big, but then you have The Rock playing in the other Hercules. There’s not enough ‘extra-curricular’ stuff for that.” The 28-year-old star has still put himself through a tough and “rigorous” training regime to getting into top shape for the film. He added: “I wanted to put on weight. Renny [Harlin] the director, he just wanted me cut, so I had to get cut ...

For me, it was very rigorous training. “I had to learn how to ride a horse while wielding a sword and fighting mercenaries, as well as giving a badass speech and in the rain. And horses don’t like the rain. It was very rigorous.” Kellan also revealed while he can’t match the ‘Hercules: The Thracian Wars’ star in terms of his physique, he’s been glad to let himself indulge in some sweet treats on set. He said: “If you’ve ever been on a movie set, there’s food all the time. It’s hard to stay healthy because I had milk chocolate bars three times a day, and I’d just eat the whole bar.”

ictoria Beckham is delighted at the prospect of being given a title. The 39-year-old fashion designer’s husband, David, is set to be given a knighthood in the British New Year’s Honours List making him ‘Sir David Beckham’ which would mean she would then become ‘Lady Beckham’. Although the list has not been confirmed the brunette beauty is said to be proud of the couple’s achievements and delighted at the prospect of being recognized by Queen Elizabeth. A source told Closer magazine: “Being a Lady would be the crowning glory for Victoria. It means a lot to her. She and David have achieved so much as a couple, but the knighthood would give them aristocratic status. Victoria’s already part of the super rich and loves the idea of joining the aristocracy. She’s thrilled at the prospect of getting the Lady title - she thinks it’ll be a big two fingers up to anyone who has ever doubted or criticized her.” Victoria thinks the title will mark the success of their hard work and she is extremely proud of her retried soccer star husband, who also does a lot of work for charity. The source added: “Victoria really wants this knighthood for David and it would mean a lot to her to be given a title. She feels they have worked so hard over the years, it really would be the icing on the cake. She’s so proud of David - she thinks he’s a national hero.”

Radcliffe

‘hopes’ to die on a film set

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he ‘Kill Your Darlings’ actor - who shot to fame playing the titular boy wizard in the ‘Harry Potter’ movie franchise loves his work and can’t imagine ever wanting to give it up.

He said: “Acting’s too much fun. I love it too much to stop. And it’s what I do, what I’ve grown up doing. “There’s an assumption that people make where if you’ve grown up on a set, surely you must be tired of that or want to go somewhere else. “But actually I’ve never known anything but being on film sets and I love them.

They are places of immense comfort and familiarity. I hope I get to die on one. Honestly. Later rather than sooner.” Despite his multi-million pound fortune, the 24-year-old actor insists he doesn’t spend a lot of money. He told the Guardian newspaper: “Anyone who is my friend knows that I don’t spend money. So they can hang around with me as much as they like and they still ain’t going to get anything. Haha! They barely even get a birthday gift - if they’re lucky.”

Harry isn’t dating Kendall

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arry Styles insists he isn’t dating Kendall Jenner. The One Direction hunk was seen having dinner with the reality TV star earlier this week, but he claims there is nothing romantic about their relationship. Asked by Piers Morgan on 1D Live - the band’s seven-hour live streaming event - if he is dating Kendall, Harry replied: “We went out for dinner, but no, I guess. I don’t know.” Despite being linked with a string of high-profile women, including Cara Delevingne and Taylor Swift in the past, Harry admitted during the chat - made up of questions from twitter followers - that he had only kissed eight people. The singer - who split with Taylor Swift in January before being linked to model Cara Delevingne - was spotted enjoying a cosy meal with the ‘Keeping Up with the Kardashians’ star inside Craig’s restaurant in West Hollywood on Wednesday night and later made a swift exit from the posh restaurant through the back door in a bid to keep their date under wraps, but Harry, 20, was later pictured driving Kendall, 18, home in a black Range Rover.

Simon Cowell likes his own space

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imon Cowell likes to be on his own when he gets down, according to Louis Walsh. The ‘X Factor’ UK judge has revealed his boss has “dark days” like everyone else, but the media mogul prefers to spend time alone when he gets in bad moods. He told the Daily Mail Weekend magazine: “Yes, he’s human and he has dark days like everybody else. “I don’t see him when he’s like that; he goes off and keeps to himself.” Although the music manager might not see much of his friend during those moments, he insisted the pair are very close and have an understanding based on trust and “honesty”. He said: “Simon loves honesty. I’m always critical of him, and he’s always slagging me off. “That’s why we get on so well.

We’re very loyal to each other, which is important.”

Louis also spoke about the 54-year-old star’s relationship with his pregnant lover Lauren Silverman, and insisted their son will be great for Simon, who he describes as “a big child”. He added: “There’s a spark between them that I hadn’t seen with him and anyone else. “They’re like teenagers in love, having fun. She lights up when he’s with her.

“Simon’s a big child himself, so I think the boy they’re expecting is going to be brilliant for him.

He seems happier.”

Pauly D was nervous with daughter

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auly D worried his baby daughter wouldn’t like him. The former ‘Jersey Shore’ star, who recently discovered he fathered a baby girl, Amabella, in May after a fling in Las Vegas with Amanda Markert, met the tot earlier this month and despite admitting to feeling nervous ahead of their meeting, he said being with her for the first time was “amazing”. He said: “I was nervous if she wasn’t going to like me. But the second I saw the baby her eyes just lit up, it’s almost like she knew. “It was amazing. I knew she was mine right off the bat too because she looks just like me. She came right over to me and put her arms right up to me. [She] grabbed my hair! That’s the first thing she went for. And then she was biting my nose.” And the 33-year-old reality TV star was amazed at how natural fatherhood came to him. He added to Us Weekly:”I didn’t know what to expect, and then you know, it’s almost like I knew what to do. I felt comfortable holding her. It was an exciting feeling [and] all the nervousness went away.” Pauly and Amanda are currently “working out” custody arrangements and he hopes to spend as much time as possible with her. He said: “That’s what we’re working out now.

I’m going to see [Amabella] as much as I possibly can, but there’s a process because of the way that everything happened. So it’s in the lawyer’s hands, but I just want to give the baby the best life possible.

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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2013

LIFESTYLE F e a t u r e s

5 free things in Venice from bridges to a basilica

Photo shows the Bridge of Sighs in Venice.

Photo shows Campo di Ghetto Nuovo, the main square of the former Jewish Ghetto in Venice.

Photo shows the Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute at sunset as seen from the water to the south. The church, built after plague broke out in the 17th century, is a fixture of the city’s skyline. —AP

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n a sunny day, when the Grand Canal is a sparkling ribbon of aquamarine embossed with boats ancient and modern, Venice can steal your heart. And it can do a number on your wallet, too. Knocking back a Bellini cocktail at the Hemingway

The square

Photo shows the view looking east from the Academy Bridge in Venice, one of several free sights in the city.

haunt of Harry’s Bar will cost you beaucoup euros. And taking a gondola ride? You don’t want to know how much. But here are five things to do in La Serenissima — as the serene city is sometimes called — that don’t cost a dime, or a pound of flesh.

The bridges

Centrally located St Mark’s Square — Piazza San Marco — is lined with shops and restaurants and is a must-see. Go early or late to avoid the worst crowds. You can go into the church for free, although there are fees to see the museum and other areas. Completely free: window shopping, people-watching and posing for selfies with the very friendly pigeons. Church hours, weekdays 9:45 am to 5 pm; Sundays and holidays 2 pm-4 pm, http://www.basilicasanmarco.it/ .

For a good map of the city, visit http://www. veniceonline.it/Maps/Maps.asp .

Venice is brimming with bridges. The Rialto, a stone arch lined with shops that crosses the Grand Canal at about the halfway point, is the most famous. The Academy Bridge — Ponte dell’ Accademia — between the Campo di San Vidal and Campo della Carita, also offers great views of the Grand Canal.

The Bridge of Sighs connects the interrogation rooms at the Doge’s Palace (just around the corner from St Mark’s) with its historic prison cells. The bridge’s name described the sighs of prisoners as they were led to their fate. You have to pay to walk inside the covered bridge, but can get a good, free, view of the outside from the Paglia Bridge (Ponte della Paglia).

The Ghetto

The Music Museum

The word ghetto originated in Venice where a gated part of the city was designated as the Jewish quarter from the 16th century until 1797.

A commonly cited explanation is that the word stems from an Italian word “getto” associated with an old foundry in the area. A bas relief sculpture

by Arbit Blatas in the main square — Campo di Ghetto Nuovo in the Cannaregio district — commemorates the deaths of Venetian Jews killed in World War II. In addition to walking around the area, you can visit the Jewish Museum of Venice for 4 euros, http://www.museoebraico.it/english/ .

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Classical music enthusiasts will enjoy the Museum of Music — Museo della Musica — a collection of instruments from the 17th to 19th centuries. The museum is in the Church of St Maurizio, about a 15-minute walk from St Mark’s Square, and celebrates Venice’s history as a center of instrument making. Open daily 10 am-7 pm, http://www. interpretiveneziani.com/en/museo-della-musica.php .

The basilica

The Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute — St Mary of Health — was built after an outbreak of the plague in 1630. Its ornate dome is a feature of the city skyline. Works inside include art by Tintoretto and Titian.

Located in the Dorsoduro district, across the Grand Canal from St Mark’s; take the No. 1 water bus to the Salute stop. Open 9 am -12 pm and 3 pm -5:30 pm most days.

Photo shows antique cellos on display at the Music Museum in Venice.

Photo shows St Mark’s Square in Venice in the early evening.

Season’s key trends highlighted this autumn winter’13 at Centrepoint

t is a season of re-invention, rejuvenation and exploration and Centrepoint the leading fashion retailer in Kuwait once again promises to bedazzle you this winter with its wide array of vibrant and stylish new designs. As mesmerizing is the season; so is the collection to take a pick from – be it winter wear or accessories, footwear, kids wear or even those delightful gifts for the home. Centrepoint has them all…the one stop shopping destination to cater to all of your needs.

In anticipation of the shopping frenzy, Juniors launches its Autumn/ Winter 2013 collection for children aged zero through to 16 years, ‘Classic Prep’ and ‘Street Smart’ looks for boys and the ‘Enchanted’ and ‘Autumn Haze’ looks for girls which headline the collection, reflect top global trends in children’s wear. The collection is spread across its in-house brands Juniors and Giggles, and its licensed brands such as Hello Kitty, Barbie, Lee Cooper and Maui & Sons. There is a range of character merchandise from Disney and other popular brands as well. Junior’s is a leader in the niche segment of 0-16 year olds and offers an exhaustive selection of products to suit their varied needs complying with the highest quality standards to ensure its products are child-safe.

The Splash AW’13 collection picks on key trends like ‘Dark Romance’, ‘Just’ and “Marvel’ for women while ‘Town & Country’ remains common to both and specific trends to men are ‘Winter Dandy’, ‘Bespoke & Varsity Sports’. A season of re-invention, rejuvenation and exploration the wardrobe reflects prominent shades of classy, and classic. ‘Varsity’ was a carryover of preppy influences that aptly capture the feeling of 90’s street wear & creates a link between street sports from urban city and great outdoors. Taking the ideals of functionality and simplicity a step further Splash translates non-fussy silhouettes and unisex shapes. Oversized jackets and tops in drop shoulder or boxy cuts are teamed with longer length skirts and dresses in a colour palate of muted shades. Timeless pieces which are rich but not extravagant find favor with the urban fashion aficionado.

With Autumn in full bloom, ladies can get their fashionable footwear fix as Shoe Mart unveils their seasonal must-haves for Winter. Shoe Mart embraces this season by highlighting intrinsic detailing in fabric design and elevates beauty keeping in mind, style and comfort. The ladies footwear range encompasses a soft feminine look defining natural tones with delicate fabric and pastel, earthy shades mixed with trims and a suede finish. Shoe Mart’s Autumn Winter 2013 men’s collection is a daring selection of all things practical. A perfect combination of extraordinary styles that focus on

key trends comprising classic formals, comfortable moccasins, city casuals, mid cut sneakers, active sportswear, formal and lifestyle boots that define every fashion conscious man.

Shoe Mart’s Autumn-Winter Collection for boys and girls displays chic and sophistication. Crafted keeping in mind its comfort and ease of use, this collection defines global contemporary style with a difference. With so much to choose from, it sure is the time to look fashion-chic this season.

Shoe Mart’s Autumn-Winter Collection is available across all stores in the region.

Lifestyle’s in-house brand Adore specializes in innovative and quality products ranging from decorative gift candles, reed diffuser, and potpourri.

Indulge in the gorgeous new scents by Adore - Arabian Nights and Luxury Temptations, ideal for any room at home. These stylish diffusers fill your home with a sublime fragrance to relax, indulge and exhilarate your senses.

With a scalloped edge bottle presented in a luxury gift box, this will make a wonderful gift for your loved ones. Fill your home with a fresh, clean scent with reed diffusers from Adore, now exclusively available across all Centrepoint & Standalone Lifestyle stores.

Contemplating a touché royale to your interiors? Adore brings to you an artsy Midas touch to enliven those boring corners and shelves. The Gold Flora Collection offers a captivating compilation of vases with detailed golden accents and gold flower surfaces to flatter any ambience. Style them pretty on coffee tables, centre tables, displays or place them in corners; these gold vases are crafted exquisitely for that stunning and captivating look. Complement them with flower arrangements, pot pourri or just by themselves; these vases take on a unique character that’s pleasant and regal.

So adorn those nooks, corners and brighten your living space. Also, ideal to gift your loved ones! This season, strike gold with Adore only at Lifestyle.

Centrepoint has it all this autumn winter season to keep you warm and cozy! So stop by at any of the stores located at Al Rai, Hawally, Salmiya, Kuwait City, Fahaheel, Jahra, Fintas, Sulaibikhat and The Avenues for a wonderful shopping experience that will last for the time to come.

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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2013

LIFESTYLE M u s i c

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M o v i e s

Shadow Land has Kuwait enthrall

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he Ice Skating Rink, a Touristic Enterprises Company facility, hosted the Shadow Land show which was performed for the first time in the Middle East in front of a soldout crowd led by the American Ambassador to Kuwait Matthew Tueller and his wife.

“The event has been a great success due

to the efforts of the Touristic Enterprises Company,” said Sheham Shahatah, the Executive Director of the show’s host, Event Media. Shahatah added after welcoming the American ambassador that the envoy “appreciated the large crowd which he said reflects Kuwaitis’ deep interest in fine arts”.

American Ambassador Mathew Tueller and his spouse being received by Sheham Shahatah.

Photos by Sherif Ismail

Stars of ‘Anchorman 2’ hit burgundy carpet in Australia premiere

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Actors, from right, Will Ferrell, David Koechner, Paul Rudd, and Steve Carell pose at the Australian premiere of movie “Anchorman 2” in Sydney, Australia, yesterday.—AP

ill Ferrell and the rest of the cast of “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues” crossed live to Australia yesterday, walking down a burgundy carpet at the comedy’s premiere in Sydney to the cheers of swarming fans. Following the news team as they adapt to working at a 24-hour channel, the highly anticipated sequel to “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy” reunites Farrell, Steve Carell, Paul Rudd, David Koechner and Christina Applegate.

The 2004 original, with the dapper Burgundy challenged by the arrival of the ambitious Veronica Corningstone, won cult-like status on the back of plucky one-liners and satirical commentary on the ingrained sexism of the 1970s. It made about $90 million at the box

office. Ferrell, who plays the central character, said he thought fans would enjoy the sequel. “Each one has a new life to itself and I think they’re all fun in their own way,” said Ferrell.

“I think what’s fun about these characters is they really don’t show any emotional growth whatsoever.”

Director Adam McKay, known for his collaborations with Ferrell, was already holding out the possibility of a third movie. Due for public release on Dec. 20, the sequel features cameos by a raft of celebrities including Liam Neeson, James Marsden, Nicole Kidman and Kanye West.

“I think if you liked the first one you’ll like this one. It raises the bar a little from the first one.

I don’t think the writers rested on their morals. They took this idea and amplified it,” said Carell,

who returns as not-so-bright weatherman Brick Tamland. In character as Burgundy, Ferrell has conducted a guerrilla marketing campaign by cycling with electronic music duo Daft Punk, presenting at the MTV European awards, releasing a short video before the Australian elections and serenading embattled Toronto Mayor Rob Ford on television.

“We tend to shoot it as written and we work around it. Will is such an incredible improviser and Adam likes to work like that and there’s always crazy stuff happening,” said Paul Rudd, who plays reporter and ladies’ man Brian Fantana. “I don’t think these characters evolve too much. But things have happened in the interim.”—Reuters

5 free things in Venice: from bridges to a basilica

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2013

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“Dead Rising 3” zombies cross over Manhattan Bridge as they head to Best Buy Theater in Times Square for the launch of Xbox One on Thursday.—AP

Zombies

throw scare into Mexico City

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ore than 7,000 “zombies” crammed Mexico City’s streets Saturday for the popular Zombie Walk Mexico, celebrating connections with the dead.

Decked out in masks and costumes, participants brought out their best fake blood and makeup for a tongue-incheek walk with fear, one of several such events internationally.

Mexico’s Day of the Dead in November is one of the country’s beloved holidays. People honor their dead with pre-Hispanic traditions of bringing food and parties to their gravesides. It is not uncommon to see people in skeleton- and zombie-like costumes on those days.—AFP

People dressed as zombies pose for a photo during the Zombie Walk in Mexico City, Saturday.—AP

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Vienna museum denies Jewish owner sold Klimt frieze under duress

he Viennese museum that houses one of Gustav Klimt’s greatest artworks says it has evidencethat its previous Jewish owner sold it to the Austrian state in an amicable transaction, rather than too cheaply under duress. The Secession museum is defending itself against a claim from some of the heirs of art collector Erich Lederer, who sold the monumental 1902 Beethoven Frieze to the state for $750,000 in 1973. Lederer’s family, prominent collectors who were friendly with Klimt and fellow artist Egon Schiele, fled to Switzerland and Hungary after Hitler’s Germany annexed Austria in 1938, and their collection was seized by the Nazis.

The frieze was returned to Lederer after the war but, despite decades of trying, he was unable to export the rapidly deteriorating work to Switzerland because of a ban on exports of objects of historic, artistic or cultural significance. He sold some works to the state in return for export licences for other paintings. But he was never reunited with the 2.15 meter by 34.1 meter (7 foot by 111 foot) frieze, homage to Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony that was originally painted onto the wall of the Secession for an exhibition, and later kept in storage for decades, in eight pieces.

Last month, a lawyer acting for a Swiss branch of Lederer’s family said heirs were reclaiming the frieze because its sale had been effectively forced

at too low a price. The case is set to test Austria’s laws on restitution of looted art, which it amended in 2009 to include property that was acquired at a discount because of the export ban. The discovery this month in Munich of a billion-dollar art hoard, much of it believed to have been looted or extorted by the Nazis, has reignited a debate over how Germany and Austria have dealt with restitution claims.

Detailed defence This week, the Secession published a detailed defence of Austria’s ownership of the frieze, including correspondence that it said showed Lederer had agreed freely to sell the work after the personal intervention of Chancellor Bruno Kreisky. “I thank you ... for your friendly lines,” Lederer wrote in 1970 to the newly elected chancellor, according to documents sent to Reuters by the historian Oliver Rathkolb, whose research formed part of the museum’s case.

“May I also thank you for that fact that you have personally taken on the case of the Klimt Frieze, especially as talks over the possible acquisition of the frieze have been going on since the year 1946 - which is 24 years, after all.” The museum said Lederer had sold the frieze for a price “voluntarily

negotiated by him and considered by him to be reasonable”.

Rathkolb, who has written books on Austria’s Nazi legacy, said that although Lederer was “absolutely badly treated, like many other Jewish victims and survivors”, things changed after Kreisky, himself of Jewish origin, became chancellor in 1970. Rathkolb said the deal to sell the frieze was agreed in 1972 with Austria’s then science minister, Hertha Firnberg, over dinner at Lederer’s home in Geneva, at which Lederer gave Firnberg an original Klimt drawing as a thank-you gift.

Marc Weber, the lawyer for Lederer’s Swiss heirs, said the documents proved nothing, and that Lederer had sold only because he believed there was no chance of getting the frieze out of Austria. He called the Secession’s argument “truly cynical”. “The government had previously refused for decades to allow the export. Without signals to the contrary, Lederer, in making his decision to sell, must have assumed that Austria would not change its attitude on this decisive point,” he said.

A commission of art provenance experts will now look into the case and make recommendations to an advisory board on art restitution, probably next year. The final decision will be made by the minister of culture.—Reuters