6th Dec 2013

Falconers fly high as season kicks off

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Red Bull’s Felix Baumgartner to visit Kuwait

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FR EE

6

Car bomb hits Yemen’s defense ministry

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NO: 16008- Friday, December 6, 2013

Carnage in CAR as UN steps in PAGE 10

Local FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2013

Kuwait’s my business

Here’s what’s wrong with your business

Conspiracy Theories

Is it the air we breathe or the water we drink?

By John P Hayes

By Badrya Darwish local@kuwaittimes.net

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reviously I’ve written about DISC, an amazingly simple, but accurate tool that helps you identify your personality traits, and perhaps more importantly, helps you identify the personality traits of employees, spouses, relatives and friends. In a way, it lets you spy into the lives of people, but with their permission because they agree to complete the DISC assessment. It takes all of ten minutes, and reveals insightful information.

As a matter of fact, hiring an employee without first knowing his or her DISC profile is every bit as risky as gambling in a casino.

At least in a casino you realize you’re probably going to lose. But in business, does anyone ever hire an employee thinking, “This probably won’t work out to my benefit”? Why would anyone do that?

Most don’t know about DISC Possibly because most employers don’t know about DISC, and of those who do, many (they are the C personalities) don’t believe in it, or they think it’s an invasion of privacy. Others (S personalities) say it “pigeonholes people” and that always gives me a good laugh. Newsflash: We’re already pigeonholed! Your DISC personality is like your DNA - you’re not going to change it, and most people who know your personality have already figured you out!

The “figuring out” is where trouble erupts. “Had I known she had THAT personality I wouldn’t have hired her.” Even worse: “I wouldn’t have married her!” What’s sad is that you could have known the personality before the hiring or the marriage. Imagine how many jobs could be saved, and how many divorces avoided!

Who do you want working for you?

In case you’re wondering, DISC stands for the dominant, influencer, steady and competent personality traits. Each of us has at least some of each trait, but most of us score higher in one or two of the traits. I, for example, am a dominant/competent personality. You want me on your team if you need to get things done quickly and correctly. You don’t want me on your team if you can’t keep pace with me, and if you’re going to get between my goals and me. Once you tell me what you want done, and we agree on a goal, step back, don’t interfere, and don’t ask me questions if you don’t want to hear the truth.

Now on the other hand, if you want a compliant personality who will do as you say, pretty much when you say, who is not goals driven, but loyal, patient, and a good listener, then hire a steady personality. They do not take risks, and they will not rock the boat, but with training they are extremely capa-

ble and productive.

Should you hire the Influencer?

If you prefer a people person, someone who can be an ambassador for your business or product, who likes meeting other people and hearing about their personal stories, then you need the influencer personality. These folks never meet anyone they don’t like! Of course, they also lack objectivity, and they tend to lose track of time and tasks, but everyone loves an influencer. They’re good politicians and they can get things done, especially if they have some D traits. The I/D combo is a powerhouse.

Suppose that you’re concerned about facts and only facts. Or maybe you want to protect your financial department. You should hire a competent personality. These are the “black and white” folks. There’s no in-between for them. It’s either all or none, good or bad, right or wrong. (If a student dislikes me, it’s for my competent personality). The Cs hate making mistakes and will check and double check to avoid them. Of course, their work pace is slower than the high D personality, but in areas of finance, law, accounting, and human resources, a high C saves the day.

Check the boss’s profile When business owners say to me, “Something’s just not working in my business, but I don’t know what’s wrong,” the first thing I do is check the personalities of the employees. Usually, the boss hired a C to do the job of the D, or an S to do the job of an I, and neither works. Some hired Ds in their finance and human resource departments - that’s almost always a huge mistake. By the way, I also check the boss’s personality. Fish stink beginning at the head! (Only a D will say that).

You might think personalities don’t matter, or the DISC is a waste of time and money, but you’re wrong on both counts. I was the CEO of a major franchise company in the USA and we never sold a franchise unless the candidate matched the personality profile of our top franchisees. Consequently, we rarely had failures. When you match the personality to the position, you win almost every time! You should try it.

Dr John P Hayes teaches marketing at GUST where he frequently profiles his students, much to their delight. Interested in bringing DISC to your company? Send Dr Hayes an email with a description of your business. He will select one business for a free DISC profile.

Contact him at questions@hayesworldwide.com.

badrya_d@kuwaittimes.net

L

ast week, I was lucky enough to meet a group of friends who I have not met for 15 years. It was by sheer accident I ran into one of them while shopping.

She invited me to a group meeting that was held a few days later in her house. Naturally, I was thrilled and enthusiastic to catch up with my old friends and hear their life updates.

Once we met I was both happy and sad. Happy to meet all of them and sad to be told that most of them had diabetes and they could not enjoy the rich buffet my friend had displayed. One of them refused a cake. Another one shied away from fatty foods. A third one did not want to touch the sweets, etc etc.

I know that as we get older we cut down on things. Age has an effect on our energy, thoughts and appearance. We become more vulnerable to fever and allergies. Despite modern technologies to stretch or botox our faces and necks or remove spots from our hands or do liposuction on our thighs still we can tell if somebody is 20, 40 or older.

It doesn’t matter how many operations somebody experiments with - surgical or non-surgical. That is normal.

What is not normal is that I never hear of other countries where a large section of the population has diabetes. I wrote about diabetes in Kuwait before, especially amongst youngsters. I haven’t realized how bad it is till I met my friends. Are we facing a serious problem in Kuwait and the Gulf? The statistics also shows that other Gulf countries have similar problems. What do we share in common that leads to the high prevalence of the disease?

Is it the air we breathe or the water we drink? Or is it our lifestyle or something that I do not know about? Is it because we do not cut down on food and do not exercise at an early age - something which does not apply to kids.

What do we share that makes us prone to this disease? I think that a government organization should start studying this phenomenon seriously. The seriousness of the issue calls for more awareness and action.

Wishing you all a healthy life! @Badryad

Local Spotlight

Kuwait needs air ambulances

By Muna Al-Fuzai

muna@kuwaittimes.net

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very country suffers traffic jams and I can’t think of a country that doesn’t have this problem or never had it at some point. While some have figured out ways to solve it, most of us in Kuwait put up with it in the hope that one day we will wake up and find this problem solved.

With traffic jams come other problems like an increase in car accidents. This is because we have more cars than the roads can possibly handle as they have limited capacity.

Recently, the Ministry of Health came up with a plan

to ease traffic jams during accidents. Minister of Health Dr Ali Saad Al-Obeidi made a presentation on the ministry’s plans to improve medical care services, especially in the emergency rescue sector.

The minister revealed plans to launch air ambulance services for medical evacuations and to transfer critical cases to medical centers outside the country. The Cabinet instructed Dr Al-Obeidi to take all necessary measures to execute these plans as soon as possible.

I couldn’t agree more that we have a have a big mess on the roads and the drivers’ behavior is the reason behind these accidents. For instance, when some of them put their kids on their laps when they’re behind the wheel or don’t use seat belts, they are endangering not just their lives but others’ lives too.

These actions can cause serious accidents and the law should never let these people escape scot-free without penalties. They are a threat to everyone on the road.

Sorry to say this but in the Arab world, many prefer

to just slow down and watch an accident unfold like it’s a movie to see who is injured or killed. This is very careless and irresponsible as they come in the way of ambulances and prevent medical help from quickly reaching the accident victims. It’s also very sad when some drivers choose to drive in the emergency lane when the road is blocked, despite knowing that this lane must be kept free at all times for real emergencies.

They couldn’t care less about how an ambulance will make its way to the accident site if this lane is blocked also. Such reckless people are a major part of the traffic problem and the law should come down hard on them.

There are so many of them that it sickens me.

Air ambulances are clearly needed in Kuwait and to change public behavior, we need awareness campaigns and penalties to be enforced on traffic rule violators.

Now let’s wait and pray for the health minister’s plans to become a reality.

Local FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2013

aged

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

Local FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2013

Falconers fly high as season kicks off Al-Enezi with one of his falcons

By Ben Garcia

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t is that time of the year again when falconloving breeders gather to enjoy the pleasant weather, test their falcon’s skills and let the birds fly free in the desert. Falconry, the most luxurious hobby in the Gulf, attracts many enthusiasts. Even though falcon hunting season started in September, it usually peaks towards the end of October and lasts till April, according to Khalid Al-Enezi, a falcon enthusiast. Enezi, who owns three rare falcons, got into falconry on his father’s insistence that he should go into business.

Enezi paid KD 1,250 for his falcon Saheen, KD 1,000 for his second bird and paid KD 750 for his third winged-baby called Sagger from Spain.

“Saheen is a great falcon which I got last year. I loved his wings and that’s the reason I paid such a high amount,” he said. His Spain purchase, Sageer, is black colored and he said that it’s one of his favorites also because of its “lovely appearance”.

Enezi’s falcon affair started when he was very young. “My father did not like me picking up falconry as a hobby. He’s very strict and wanted us to focus on business instead but my brother loves falcons and I developed an interest in them too,” he said.

He explained that they go falcon hunting in the deserts in Wafra, Salmi, Nuwaisib and Jahra.

“I am particularly fascinated by the way these birds fly. I love them so much that sometimes I go by myself to the desert to watch all kinds of birds. Birds are so beautiful when you set them free and they represent freedom,” added Enezi.

Enezi’s favorite place to observe birds is Nuwaisib desert. He usually goes there in the evening and heads home only the next morning. Enezi’s four kids have the same interest in falcons, especially one of his sons who is extremely fascinated by desert birds. “I am happy that they love falcons and come with me whenever I visit the desert to hunt and birdwatch,” he said. One day, Enezi left his son at home and went to the desert alone, only to return home and discover that he had bawled the entire day. “That’s when I knew he likes birds as much as I do”.

When asked about the falcon sold to an Emirati at a whopping price of KD 209,000 at an auction last month, Enezi said that he was present at the bidding. “I saw the falcon and it was

the talk of the town for a few days”. Despite admitting that he was intimidated by that amount, he said that if he had that kind of money, even he would have bought that bird. “I cannot afford such an expensive falcon but just adore it from a distance. It was worth that price because it hunts the best desert birds down”.

Enezi said that the bird was valued at that amount because of its extraordinary hunting abilities.

Falcons are fed pigeon meat and sometimes they are taken to the desert to hunt small birds.

“The falcon is a wild bird but if you train it, it returns to its master. Two of my falcons are trained well so I leave them in the desert to fly free and hunt their own food down,” said Enezi.

Finally caught

Local FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2013

Patient, heal thyself Dr Al-Fadhli explores clinical psychology treatment “Understanding your own psychology translates to a longer lifespan. The average lifespan in the West is 80, whereas in Kuwait it is about 60. This is mainly because people here don’t understand themselves. Nobody knows how to deal with life’s pressures from a mental and physical perspective which is really important,” Dr Al-Fadhli says

By Nawara Fattahova

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sing psychology to treat physical ailments is a new field which is being explored in Kuwait. Dr Athary Al-Fadhli is the first Kuwaiti clinical psychologist who has been practicing this at the Family Center for Psychological and Social Consultancy and helping people overcome their physical problems which may affect their overall well-being.

Clinical psychology focuses on mind, behavior, feelings, thoughts, emotions, and hormones and studies implications of mental health on an individual’s physicality. “It analyses psychological factors to improve physical health and can treat different diseases like irritable bowel syndrome, depression, heart diseases and anxiety amongst others” she added.

Dr Athary Al-Fadhli studied medicine and psychology and graduated from Oakland

University in New Zealand in 2008. “I found this field very interesting and liked it. Although it’s new to Kuwait, I decided to specialize in it. It’s complicated and may be difficult if a student doesn’t like this field. In Kuwait, only 40 percent of people are aware of the effect of words on the human body. For instance, they can’t differentiate between sadness and depression. They don’t understand that the best way to deal with work pressure is to take a break for an hour and feel much better after that,” she explained.

Dr Fadhli said that many people in Kuwait don’t know how to control their anger, nervousness, emotions or behavior. “Most of my patients (about 99 percent) are dealing with marital issues. Usually these women are in the process of getting divorced and their families want them to get back to their husbands or sometimes the women will be trying to deal with a cheating husband,” said Dr Fadhli.

Understanding your own psychology translates to a longer lifespan. According to Dr Fadhli, the average lifespan in the West is 80, whereas in Kuwait it is about 60. “This is mainly because people here don’t understand themselves. Nobody knows how to deal with life’s pressures from a mental and physical perspective which is really important,” she said.

When compared to New Zealand, Dr Fadhli says that the cases in Kuwait are not very complicated or serious. “In New Zealand, most people turn self-psychologists and treat themselves. The cases I get are usually of people facing new changes in life. Here in Kuwait, many patients come to me with simple problems which start affecting their work, sleep and even eating habits. All they have to do is change the way they look at life,” Dr Fadhli said.

“Here in Kuwait, drug addicts or homosexuals don’t come to our clinic though they require the help of a psychologist. They also need treatment for longer but unfortunately, these cases are referred to the local police stations or psychiatric hospitals in the end. They are patients, not criminals, who need medical attention,” she noted.

Dr Fadhli remembers a particular patient who came in complaining of a heart problem.

“She said her heart was beating fast and she had trouble breathing easy. She underwent medical checks before approaching me and they told her that she was fine. After she consulted with me, I found out that she was having panic attacks and was constantly living in the past and worrying about it which was causing her physical problems and affecting her breathing and heart rate,” revealed Dr Fadhli.

Even cases of paralysis can be treated physically. “I treated a patient who had hemiplegia which was caused by a physical shock. Despite visiting many doctors, she didn’t get better but after she learned to accept reality, her health improved and now I see her driving and talking normally,” Dr Fadhli said.

Dr Athary Al-Fadhli

Local FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2013

Hague visit to strengthen Kuwait-UK bilateral ties British Foreign Secretary to arrive today KUWAIT: William Hague MP, United Kingdom secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, will pay a visit to Kuwait today. The Foreign Secretary will be accompanied by the Director of Middle East and North Africa Department, Edward Oakden.

The Foreign Secretary will hold bilateral talks with Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs. Hague will hold a meeting with Marzouq Al-Ghanim, Speaker of the National Assembly and Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah Al-Sabah, Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs and Minister of Health.

During his meetings Hague will discuss the latest developments in the region and how to deepen cooperation between the UK and Kuwait, as historic allies, in pursuit of the shared goal of regional stability. Hague’s visit to Kuwait aims to deepen mutual trust and understanding and further bilateral cooperation, whether political, economic or more broadly between Kuwait and the United Kingdom.

The Foreign secretary will also attend an event organized by Sout Al-Kuwait to experience the open nature of Kuwaiti politics and get an insight into the important role played by civil society.

The invited participants will engage in a lively discussion on democracy, political participation and youth empowerment.

Hague will also answer questions put to him on Twitter during this event- all are invited to contribute using the hashtag #askFS. Sout Al-Kuwait is a civic lobby group advocating personal and social freedoms through the activation and preservation of the

Kuwait’s lenders banking on broader expansion KUWAIT: Banks will be looking to end 2013 on a high note, after most of Kuwait’s lenders recorded encouraging results for the first three quarters of the year, with profits and lending activity on the rise, and prospects appearing sound for the final quarter and on into 2014.

With a dozen local banks operating in the market, divided almost equally between Islamic and commercial lenders, along with one specialized industrial bank, the sector is not crowded, even when the 10 foreign commercial banks are taken into account. While there is competition in the market, the expanding asset holdings, profits and loan activity of the domestic banks suggest that the economy has the strength to sustain the level of operation, with little pressure for a round of mergers or acquisitions.

The UK Foreign Secretary, William Hague rights stipulated in the Kuwaiti Constitution. The Group meets its target through organized media campaigns, public relations and direct communication with Parliament members and other decision makers. They lead several educational activities in schools, colleges and universities, introducing students to concepts like citizenship, human rights and constitutional rights, and encouraging their involvement in volunteer, civic and social work.

Private aviation sector flourishing in Kuwait KUWAIT: With its wide-range of services, private aviation is becoming a “developing” business which attracted individuals and corporations in Kuwait. Services such as private jets, VIP airline, air ambulance, aircraft management, aviation consultants, flight training, technical publications, flight crew employments, and aircraft sales made private aviation into a compelling service that is unique from other types of civil aviation. CEO of Connection Aviation Consultants Captain Faisal AlObaidi said that private aviation provided alternative options for clients who use private jets at their on disposal, traveling more freely.

Contrary to popular belief, private jets are not only for the “high and mighty”, individuals and families could also afford to rent aircrafts for leisure, said Al-Obaidi who added that businessmen could also hire planes to take them to their important business appointments across the globe. He indicated that expenses varies according to the duration of the flight and other services, revealing that prices, for example, start from USD4,000 for every hour of flight. He also said that the number of seats differs according to the purpose of hire, revealing that some small jets have 13 seats while others have 128 seats.

The air ambulance service also is one of the key attractions that led many to hire private jets to transfer the patients who are in need in of medical attention, said Al-Obaidi. The connection group was founded in the US in 1999 and started operating in Kuwait in 2004. — KUNA

CEO of Connection Aviation Consultants Captain Faisal Al-Obaidi

Positive results so far for 2013 Third quarter earnings reports showed positive results across the board. The largest lender, the National Bank of Kuwait (NBK), posted net profits of $702m for the first three quarters of the year, representing a 34.7% increase while assets rose by 15.5% to $67bn. Loan activity also jumped, rising by 9.3% year-on-year (y-o-y), with deposits up by 16%.

Burgan Bank’s operating profit of $373m represented a 21% increase over the same nine-month term in 2012, with loan growth up by 17% and deposits rising by 20%, according to a statement issued in mid-November. Others that reported positive results included Gulf Bank, Boubyan Bank and Kuwait Finance House, which saw profits up by 7%, 22% and 17%, respectively.

Another feature in the banks’ financial statement was high levels of provisions set aside to cover non-performing loans (NPLs) and capital adequacy ratios, with some reporting coverage well in excess of 150% of inactive credits, while many noted a drop in NPLs. Good growth outlook The IMF has estimated that the non-oil component of the Kuwaiti economy will expand by 4.5% in 2014, and on November 9 IMF chief Christine Lagarde said the country had built up significant economic buffers to shield itself from exogenous shocks, such as a fall in oil prices.

Meanwhile, the degree of expansion for the non-oil sector and the economic stability forecast by the IMF should see a steady rate of growth in banking activity in the coming year.

One of the key factors in the banks’ rising loan activity is consumer demand. Some $502m in personal loans were written in September, as household credit increased by 18% y-o-y.

This growth in demand has been fed to some degree by a rise in employment levels and strong consumer confidence, with a recent MasterCard survey finding Kuwaitis the most confident in terms of economic outlook in the Middle East and Africa region. At 96.8 out of a maximum 100 points, consumer confidence in Kuwait points to positive sentiment when it comes to both borrowing and spending.

Indeed, such is the appetite for loans, especially for real estate, that the Central Bank of Kuwait in mid-November issued a directive to banks to tighten up lending criteria.

Among the requirements are that no loan for a real estate transaction can be given until a full report on the potential borrower’s financial status is prepared. Banks must also ensure that a loan for a real estate transaction is used for that purpose, rather than the funds being directed elsewhere.

It was not just the household segment of the market that saw strong loan growth; there were also solid business lending gains in September, with the non-financial business sector posting credit expansion of $697m for the month, the highest increase in more than a year, according to a report released by NBK in early November. This took the rate of lending growth in the sector to 4.4% y-o-y.

With Kuwait’s banks stocked with cash and well-provisioned against any external shocks, they should be well placed to extend profits through 2014 as the economy appears set to continue its solid rate of expansion. - Oxford Business Group

Local FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2013

40-day cold wave to start tomorrow KUWAIT: “The annual 40-day cold wave, locally known as the ‘Merbeaniya’, is due to commence next week, probably from tomorrow”, said astronomer Dr Saleh Al-Ojairi pointing out that this time of the year is usually characterized by below-ten degree temperatures that might drop to zero level on the outskirts.

Ojairi urged everybody to wear warm clothes to avoid a negative effect of the harsh weather that is due to last until mid-January. “However, this year’s cold is going to be less virulent than last year’s”, he remarked.

Astronomer Adel Al-Sadoun said that the cold wave would start tomorrow (December 7) marking the beginning of one of 12 annual weather seasons in the region.

“Temperature is expected to drop to an average of 8 degrees at night. Sometimes it might reach zero when northern wind blowing from Siberia hits the region”, he explained. Al-Sadoun also said that after the recent heavy rainfall, this year’s spring will be very flowery. —Al-Qabas

Subscribers asked to pay phone bills KUWAIT: The Ministry of Communications called subscribers of phone services to pay their bills in order to avoid automatic coder disconnect, slated to be implemented during current month against those who are lagging on payment.

A first warning note would be sent to subscribers on December 8 before applying coder disconnect, followed by a second warning note to be sent to subscribers’ phone numbers on December 15, Dr Ahmad Al-Hussaini, Director of public relations department at the ministry said in a press statement.

Then, the ministry will go ahead and disconnect the service from subscribers who lagged on paying their bills, Al-Hussaini added, noting that financial rates for overdue bills are KD50 for home phone services and KD100 for business phone service.

Also, he indicated that the automatic coder disconnect will include phone numbers that agreed on leasing their overdue payments and were late in making their monthly payment, adding that phone numbers of those late in paying their annual subscriptions, over six months, will include homes and businesses for non-Kuwaitis, and business for Kuwaitis.

In addition, Al-Hussaini stressed importance of commitment of paying the ministry financial bills for the continuation of phone services and avoidance of automatic coder disconnect, expressing at the same time his appreciation to subscribers who showed their cooperation with the ministry in the past months. — KUNA

Kuwaitis top property owners in GCC: Data RIYADH: Up to 8,651 Kuwaiti citizens own 50 percent of properties belong to nationals in the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, showed statistics released by the GCC Secretariat yesterday.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) was the first destination for GCC nationals to buy properties in 2012, or 71.9 percent of overall property ownership, said the statistics.

Oman came second with 3,374 properties or 20.6 percent, followed by Bahrain with 544 real estate properties, or 3.3 percent. Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait followed with 2.1, 1.2 and 0.8 percent respectively.

The Saudi nationals came next to the Kuwaitis in term of property ownership with 2,366 people. They are followed by UAE citizens with 1,786 people, then Qatar with 1,279 people, Bahrain with 1,179 people and finally Oman with 1,086 people. Allowing GCC citizens to buy properties in other member countries is part of the 10 criteria of the common Gulf market that were set by the economic agreement of 2001, which stipulates that Gulf citizens are treated equally in all member countries. The six GCC countries are keen on full economic integration and have adopted many measures in that direction, for example the common market, facilitation of transfer of goods, people and unification of the custom tariffs at borders. — KUNA

Hoodlums create reign of terror near Jahra school Iraqi trawler detained, 7 arrested KUWAIT: Jahra detectives are currently looking for group of reckless hoodlums who created a reign of terror when they turned a school parking lot into a shooting range after firing their weapons, said security sources. Police received many complaints from the people living near the school. Though they immediately rushed to the scene, the anti-social elements had fled the scene leaving several empty bullets behind.

Robbery gang Following up the case of a firefighting officer who was recently arrested for robbery, informed security sources said that the officer led the police to his main accomplice, a Saudi national, whose role was to sell stolen mobiles in the kingdom.

The sources noted that the first suspect had led the police to his accomplice who was later arrested.

Citizen arrested A citizen was arrested while trying to flee Kuwait through Al-Nuwaiseeb land border exit, said security sources.

Bike stolen A citizen reported that his motor bike had been stolen from the doorsteps of his house where he left it overnight to find that it was missing the following morning, said security sources.

Iraqi trawler stopped An illegal Iraqi fishing boat was stopped by Kuwaiti Coastguard for trespassing into Kuwaiti waters with seven Iraqi fishermen on board, said security sources noting that the fish-

ermen were using illegal fishing methods.

Pakistani killed A Pakistani was killed and an Egyptian was injured when they stepped on a landmine that was left over by the retreating Iraqi troops back in 1991, said security sources.

Sexual assault Mubarak Al-Kabeer detectives are currently in pursuit of the driver of an American vehicle for allegedly raping a female Kuwaiti citizen, said security sources.

Female fisticuff Three female citizens and an Arab expatriate woman were arrested for fighting with each other, said security sources.

Case papers indicate that the four ladies were neighbors who were living in same building and that they were divided into two teams and fought over some unsettled old scores. The ladies’ husbands were summoned and the dispute was unofficially handled.

A gas station attendant reported that a vehicle driver fled the station without paying the bill for filling the fuel tank. A case was field.

Policeman robbed A policeman reported that his mobile phone had been stolen when was spending some off-duty time in a Salmiya café, said security sources. The policeman said that he had only gone to the toilet and when returned the phone was missing. A case was filed.

KUWAIT: Hawalli traffic police team that erected checkpoints outside various schools in Salwa and Bayan areas.

25 minors caught driving

By Hanan Al-Sadoun KUWAIT: Hawalli traffic police yesterday erected several checkpoints outside various schools in Salwa and Bayan areas. They also caught 25 minors driving. They had driver’s licenses in their possession and two of them had been driving recklessly.

Drug-addict arrested A citizen, who is drug-addict with a criminal record, was recently arrested for stealing a vehicle, resisting arrest, damaging a police patrol on purpose and trying to stab a police officer, said security source. Case papers indicate that a police patrol noticed a vehicle parked suspiciously at dawn with two people inside. Checking out on the vehicle’s license plate number, policemen found out that it had been reported stolen. Noticing the police, the men inside the car drove off in an attempt to escape. The suspect later parked the vehicle in a building’s parking lot to avoid being was spotted. In another attempt to flee, he drove into a patrol car, causing malfunction to his vehicle. Running on foot, the suspect tried to stab a police officer but he Confiscated vehicles being towed away. was eventually overpowered and arrested.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2013

Morocco Islamists slammed over women violence bill

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Burns unit reveals Bangladesh violence toll

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Michelle Obama unveils X-Mas décor

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BANGUI: A young man lies dead amidst wounded people on the floor of Bangui’s hospital, Bangui, Central African Republic yesterday. — AP

80 bodies found in Bangui UN authorizes French, African troops in CAR BANGUI: Around 80 bodies were found lying in a mosque and its surrounding streets in the Central African capital Bangui yesterday after overnight violence, AFP reporters saw. At the PK 5 mosque, 54 bodies with what appeared to be knife and gun wounds, were laid out in the prayer hall and the courtyard. In the streets nearby, journalists counted 25 abandoned corpses. “The bodies were brought here this morning by people from the surrounding area,” a mosque official who requested anonymity told AFP. The mosque was full of distraught men and women who had come to look for missing loved ones. In a sign of continuing tensions in the city, men ringed the mosque carrying machetes. Streets nearby were deserted apart from the bodies lying in them.

The group Doctors Without Borders gave a toll in one of Bangui’s hospitals of 10 dead and 65 hurt, all from gunshots or blade wounds. It was presumed that other city hospitals also had corpses and wounded from the new wave of violence. Yesterday began with the sound of gunfire before dawn in a northern neighbourhood of the

city. The violence soon spread to other areas, with automatic gunfire and the boom of heavy weapons heard, before shooting subsiding gradually as the day wore on to leave just sporadic shots in some districts. Some 250 French soldiers deployed in the streets a few hours before the UN Security Council approved a big Franco-African military intervention in the country to halt the unrest.

The Central African Republic has been caught up in chaos and sectarian violence between its Christian and Muslim communities since a majority rebel movement, Seleka, toppled president Francois Bozize in March. In New York, the UN Security Council unanimously backed a Frenchdrafted resolution authorising the deployment of up to 3,600 African and 1,200 French troops to try and contain the violence. The country’s prime minister, Nicolas Tiangaye, had earlier urged France to start moving extra troops in as soon as the UN Security Council issued a green light. That looked set to happen with French President Francois Hollande having called a meeting with

his military top brass for 1700 GMT. “Given the urgency, my desire is that the intervention happens as soon as possible, immediately after the resolution”, Tiangaye-who is in Paris for a Franco-African summit that kicks off todaytold AFP in an interview. Hollande was expected to order a further 600 French troops to move into CAR over the weekend to back up the MISCA, a 2,500-strong African force already on the ground.

The CAR has plunged into chaos after the mostly Muslim Seleka rebels ousted the president in a coup in March, with Muslim and Christian groups fighting each other and tens of thousands of terrified people taking refuge in churches and mosques, fearing sectarian attacks.

Reports have described a litany of horrors, with security forces and militia gangs razing villages, carrying out public execution-style killings and perpetrating widespread rapes. In a radiotelevision broadcast, President Michel Djotodia told scared residents to “keep calm” and extended a curfew in the capital by four hours, from 6:00 pm (1700 GMT) to 6:00 am, compared to 10 pm

previously.

The UN resolution also orders an arms embargo against the huge, impoverished nation. The intervention will be France’s second military operation in Africa this year, after Hollande sent more than 4,000 troops to oust Islamist rebels in control of northern Mali in January. Tiangaye said international forces would likely be able to quickly secure Bangui but emphasised that troops had to go to other parts of the country where massacres are being committed without any witnesses.

The UN resolution highlights the “total breakdown in law and order” in the state which, it adds, risks “degenerating into a countrywide religious and ethnic divide, with the potential to spiral into an uncontrollable situation.” The council gave the French-backed African force a 12-month mandate and the right to use “all necessary measures” to restore order. United Nations leader Ban Kimoon has warned that up to 9,000 troops could be needed if the crisis blows up and a full UN force has to take over. — Agencies

12

International FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2013

Beheadings and spies help Qaeda gain ground in Syria AMMAN: Armed with machine guns, black-clad Al-Qaeda fighters drove their pick-ups calmly into the northern Syrian town and took over its imposing agriculture ministry building.

They beheaded a sniper from a rival rebel unit, displayed his head in the main square and put roadblocks on major routes.

Not a shot was fired in the takeover, in which informants, including a preacher from a local mosque, played key roles. The scene in Termanin, recounted by an activist who witnessed it last week, is being repeated in towns along the border with Turkey and at road junctions further inside Syria that have fallen out of President Bashar Al-Assad’s control.

Whether through weakness or a desire to focus on Assad, rebel units are making way for the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), an al Qaeda affiliate led by foreigners hardened by guerrilla warfare in Iraq, Chechnya and Libya. The landgrab has given radical jihadists a large territorial base in the heart of a Middle East convulsed by the civil war raging in Syria since 2011.

While constant conflict and shifting alliances mean Syria is a long way from becoming a centre for global jihad, Western and Arab states backing moderate opponents of Assad are alarmed. The ISIL is taking over supply lines to rebel areas and attracting members of less organised opposition units by its efficiency, undermining efforts by Washington to contain it ahead of talks in Geneva on a possible peace deal, opposition sources and Middle East security officials say.

As well as an end to Assad’s rule, a key aim of such a deal would be to establish a government and moderate army capable of fighting off the ISIL, a Middle East-based diplomat said.

“Realistically it will be very difficult. We could be looking at a proxy sectarian war - whether Assad stays or goes - in which the ISIL will be a major player.”

Asked about the group’s goals, an ISIL commander in the town of Armanaz in northern Syria who had fought in Libya said it is fighting for “the downfall of the tyrant Bashar” but also seeking to impose Islamic law. Learning lessons from the 2011 war in Libya, he said ISIL was more determined to hold on to territory under its control. “Our mistake as mujahideen is that we were preoccupied with fighting Gaddafi and did not pay enough attention to how to hold on territory,” said the commander, who goes by the nickname al-Jazaeri, or the Algerian.

In a sign of concern over ISIL’s gains, the United Arab Emirates, a staunch U.S. ally, convened a meeting last week for dozens of tribal leaders from the oil-producing region of east Syria bordering Iraq’s Sunni heartland.

The ISIL and the Nusra Front, a smaller affiliate of al Qaeda seen as less intent on spreading jihadist ideology, occupy most oil fields in the eastern province of Deir Al-Zor, although they lack the ability to operate the wells. The UAE meeting aimed to gauge the possibility of setting up a force similar to the Sahwa movement that fought al Qaeda in Iraq and rolled back some of its influence, opposition sources said, although neither the tribes nor the Islamists appear ready for a sustained fight.

“There have been some clashes over oil but the ISIL has sought not to mess with the tribes. At the same time the tribes are seeing how the ISIL likes to chop heads and they too are not keen on a confrontation,” one of the sources said.

Areas under ISIL control include towns across the northern Syrian provinces of Idlib and Aleppo, parts of the eastern provincial capital of Raqqa and, to a lesser extent, of central Syria and the southern province of Deraa. In some of these it is trying to implement a rigid Islamist social agenda and has also won new recruits, attracted more by its effectiveness than its ideology, local activists say.

In the al-Rouge plain in Idlib, bordering Tukey, Hassan Abdelqader said ISIL has set up training camps for local recruits and has distributed head to toe veils in areas southeast of Idlib city to be worn by women there. In al-Bab in Aleppo province, where Abu Mouawiya, an ISIL commander, is the effective governor, the group has enforced an Islamist school curriculum imported from areas under al Qaeda control in Yemen, activists said.

They said thousands of poor Sunnis from rural Idlib and rural Aleppo have joined the ISIL in the last few months, including fighters who had left Nusra and the Free Syrian Army-the Western-backed force that aims to unite moderate rebels. A Free Syrian Army report prepared for the US State Department and quoted by the Washington Post said the ISIL has a backbone of 5,500 foreign fighters, including 250 Chechens in Aleppo, and 17,000 recruited locally.—Reuters

25 dead in Yemen Suicide car bombing targets military complex SANAA: A suicide bomber rammed an explosives-packed car into Yemen’s defence ministry complex yesterday, allowing gunmen to launch an assault which killed 25 people including three foreign doctors, officials said. The brazen attack on the sprawling facility follows a spate of hit-and-run strikes on military personnel and officials, as the country struggles to complete a thorny political transition. The attacks in the capital and in the south have generally been blamed on Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which Washington regards as the jihadist network’s most dangerous branch.

“At least 25 people have been killed,” a security official said shortly after the defence ministry had put the death toll at 20. Six doctors, including a Venezuelan and two from the Philippines, and three Yemenis, along with five patients including a judge, were among the dead, medical sources said. They were at a hospital within the ministry’s complex, and which bore the brunt of the attack. “A car bomb driven by a suicide bomber forced its way into the western entrance of the ministry complex,” a security official told AFP. “It was followed by another car whose occupants opened fire at the complex of buildings,” he said.

The attack comes as Defence Minister Mohammed Nasser heads a military dele-

gation on a visit to the United States. The ministry said gunmen occupied the hospital after the explosion, but that security forces had regained control of the building. “The assailants took advantage of some construction work that is taking place to carry out this criminal act,” it said without elaborating. A security source said that in another apparently coordinated attack a gunfight raged outside the complex after the explosion, before government forces regained control and cordoned off the area. State television aired gory footage of mangled bodies of what it said were suicide bombers, strewn in the hospital yard amid charred vehicles. It also showed massive destruction within the hospital and floors stained with blood.

The channel broadcast appeals for blood donors to come to hospitals treating the wounded. Smoke billowed across the complex on the edge of Baba AlYaman neighbourhood after the blast and as the firefight erupted. “I heard a series of explosions, and then an exchange of fire,” a wounded soldier told AFP. President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi visited the hospital where his 90-year-old brother, Ahmed, was apparently an inpatient.

He ordered an investigation into the attack, state television said. Yemen has been going through a difficult political

transition since veteran president Ali Abdullah Saleh was ousted in February 2012 after a year of deadly protests against his 33-year rule. The transition aims to culminate in a new constitution and pave the way for parliamentary and presidential elections slated for February 2014, but many hurdles remain.

There are growing demands for the secession of the formerly independent south, in addition to on-off fighting in the far north between Shiite rebels and hardline Sunnis. A national dialogue that began in March and was originally due to end on September 18 has yet to conclude.

“The terrorists behind this heinous crime aim to shake the security of Yemen... and hinder the political solution,” said Abdullatif Al-Zayani, secretary general of the Gulf Cooperation Council, which brokered Saleh’s exit deal. Yemen is also battling AQAP which often attacks the security forces, despite suffering setbacks in a major army offensive last year and repeated US drone strikes targeting its commanders. In an attempt to halt hit-and-run attacks, the authorities last week imposed a temporary ban on motorbikes in Sanaa to prevent shootings that have killed dozens of officials.

Last week, two gunmen on a bike killed a Belarussian defence contractor and wounded another. — AFP

Morocco Islamists slammed over women violence bill RABAT: A long-awaited law to combat violence against women is currently under study in Morocco, but the Islamistled government has had to revise its proposals after sharp criticism from rights groups. A preliminary version of the bill, which is still in the drafting stage, threatens prison sentences of up to 25 years for perpetrators of violence against women.

In addition, the bill would take unprecedented steps towards criminalising sexual harassment, with those convicted risking possible three-year jail terms.

As in numerous other Arab countries, sexual harassment of women is commonplace in Morocco, despite the adoption of a new constitution in 2011 that enshrines gender equality and urges the state to promote it. But despite the progress that this new law would represent, women’s associations have strongly criticised the proposed legislation.

In particular, they accuse Bassima Hakkaoui, the minister for women’s affairs-herself a member of the ruling Islamist Party of Justice and Development-of excluding them from the drafting of the bill. “We have waited for years for this law and we are now very disappointed by its content,” said Najat Errazi, who heads the Moroccan Association for Women’s Rights, speaking in Casablanca at a meeting to discuss the bill.

According to a study published by the state planning commission (HCP) this week, nearly nine percent of women in Morocco have been physically subjected to sexual violence at least once. Sexual

RABAT: Two young Tunisian women walk past men attempting to engage them in conversation in this file photo. —AFP violence of a physical or psychological nature has affected some 25 percent of women overall, and a startling 40 percent among 18- to 24-year-olds.

Last year, Hakkaoui acknowledged the problem by stating that six million women have suffered physical or verbal violence, more than half inflicted by their husbands. Sara Soujar, another activist speaking at the meeting in Casablanca, argued that the bill fails to include provisions relating to single women. “This category is totally absent... Reading the text,

you get the impression that violence basically only affects married or divorced women, even though others may be more exposed,” she said.

Her concerns resonate with the findings of the HCP study, that around one in every two unmarried women in Morocco was subjected to sexual violencewhether physical or verbal-during the year that it was carried out. “Young women who work in factories or as housemaids, many of whom are minors, are no less exposed,” Soujar said.—AFP

International FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2013

Israel security is ‘at top of agenda’ in Iran talks: Kerry JERUSALEM: US Secretary of State John Kerry insisted yesterday that Israel’s security is a top priority for Washington, both in nuclear talks with Iran and peace talks with the Palestinians. Kerry is in Israel for a day of talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders aimed at driving forward peace negotiations which appear to have made little headway since they began under his patronage in late July.

But Iran was also high on the agenda when he met for more than three hours with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in what was their first face-to-face meeting since a fallout over the Iran nuclear deal. “I can’t emphasise enough that Israel’s security in this negotiation (with Iran)

is at the top of our agenda,” Kerry said at a joint news conference in Jerusalem.

“The United States will do everything in our power to make certain that Iran’s nuclear programme of weaponisation possibilities is terminated.” Kerry stressed the two men had spent “a very significant amount of time” discussing the peace talks with the Palestinians. “Israel’s security is fundamental to those negotiations,” he said. Netanyahu had been briefed by US special envoy on security General John Allen, Kerry said, describing his role as that of “assessing the potential threats to Israel, to the region, and ensuring

that the security arrangements that we might contemplate in the context of this process will provide for greater security for Israel”. Kerry said he and Allen had offered Netanyahu “some thoughts about that particular security challenge” in a discussion which would be continued at a dinner meeting, and possibly into today morning.

US and Israeli media reports have suggested Allen was to present Netanyahu with an outline of how Israel’s security arrangements might look as part of a peace deal. A State Department official had said the American update would include “many details and specifics” but denied Allen was to present Netanyahu with a ready-made plan. — AFP

International FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2013

India polls forecast string of wins for opposition BJP NEW DELHI: Voters may have handed India’s ruling Congress party a crushing defeat in four states in the heartland while ending its majority in a remote northeastern state, exit polls showed on Wednesday, in a final test of popularity before the 2014 national election. The Bharatiya Janata Party led by the business-friendly prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi was the biggest gainer in the election, the polls said, lifting Indian shares to a one-month high and the rupee to its strongest level in five weeks.

Both the ruling Congress and its Hindu nationalist rival are hoping to build momentum from the state elections held over the past month in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh as well as in far-off Mizoram as they head into the national election due by May. Votes for the five state assemblies will be counted on Sunday and Monday. But most surveys showed that the BJP

Indian food vendors get lessons in hygiene NEW DELHI: The millions of food vendors peddling tasty morsels from roadside stalls and rickshaws across India have long been an emblem of the country’s boisterous, chaotic spirit.

But now, Indian officials have a stern message for these oftenunregulated roadside chefs: Wash your hands after using the toilet. Don’t sneeze into the food. And, above all, please don’t pick your nose.

“A lot of street food guys are not very scrupulous,” said Tejinder Singh, 48, who serves up spicy black lentils known as daal makhani from a stand in New Delhi. “We are not sons of gods. We have a lot to learn.” Singh was among about 500 vendors who took part in an October training seminar in New Delhi on the basics of food safety and hygiene, an attempt to curtail the infamous “Delhi belly” that has struck down many an adventurous snacker in India.

Launched by India’s Food Safety and Standards Authority and the National Association of Street Vendors of India, the seminar offered a primer on safe drinking water and disposable gloves, along with a list of food-handling do’s and don’ts.

Number one on the forbidden list? Don’t pick your nose. Also banned are cleaning one’s ears, smoking while handling food and spitting into the wash basin or sink.—AP

Delaying security deal a risk to Afghan forces WASHINGTON: The US military could wait months for a political decision on whether troops stay or leave Afghanistan, but delaying a security pact would damage the confidence of Afghan forces and undermine NATO’s plans, the top US military officer said on Wednesday. The comments by General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the US military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, came amid an impasse over the security pact, which would allow American troops to stay in Afghanistan beyond the end of 2014. President Barack Obama’s administration has said the pact needs to be signed this year, despite resistance from Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who has suggested the deal might not be concluded before presidential elections in April 2014.

Dempsey also said the pact “really needs to be done now.” But he added that the US military’s logistical constraints weren’t the main obstacle, warning of other factors, such as the need by many allies - some of whom need parliamentary approval for any future troop presence - to make plans soon. A delay would also erode the confidence of Afghan security forces as they fight a still-potent Taleban insurgency, he said.

“We’re not the limiting factor,” Dempsey told a Pentagon news conference when asked how long he would need logistically to get troops out of Afghanistan by the end of 2014. “We wouldn’t be to a level where it would begin to affect the options (facing the U.S. military) until probably early summer,” he added.

The United States has 46,000 troops in Afghanistan, but that figure is set to fall to 34,000 by early 2014. Dempsey noted that the Afghan mission included some other NATO nations “who have a different set of requirements to make their decisions” regarding their troops contributions. There are approximately 27,000 non-U.S. NATO-led troops in Afghanistan.—Reuters

would oust the Congress in the desert state of Rajasthan, retain its majority in the large state of Madhya Pradesh as well as Chhattisgarh and emerge as the single biggest party in Delhi, though not enough to form a government on its own. To add its problems, the Congress may lose its majority in tiny Mizoram where it faces regional groups, the surveys run by television channels at the end of voting on Wednesday showed. Opinion and exit polls, though, have a patchy track record in India. Most surveys forecast the wrong outcome in the 2004 general election.

In the past, exit polls have at times failed to capture late trends on voting day.

The latest surveys were carried out on election day with sample sizes ranging from a few hundred to several thousand voters, depending on the size of the states. Still, the BJP, which is fighting to return to power after 10 years of Congress rule, exulted in the surveys, saying they

only showed the depth of people’s anger against the ruling coalition. “The ground reality is people are upset with the government. There is a growing anti-incumbency against the Congress,” said BJP senior leader Arun Jaitley.

The Congress has faced a string of corruption scandals and a lacklustre economy that has fed discontent in a nation with one of the world’s youngest populations. In Delhi - which the Congress has ruled for 15 years - the polls showed a strong finish for the Aam Aadmi Party, or the Common Man’s Party, that was born in the crucible of the anti-corruption movement that swept India. Three polls showed the one-year-old party, which ran a shoestring campaign funded by ordinary Indians, winning anything from six to 16 seats in the 70-member Delhi assembly behind the BJP and the Congress while a fourth said it might emerge as the biggest party in a hung assembly. — Reuters

Burns unit reveals terrible toll of Bangladesh violence Bangladesh’s besieged ex-dictator threatens suicide DHAKA: Saleha Begum touches the burnt skin on the face of her 23-year-old son and again bursts into tears. Ever since she came to the burns ward of Dhaka Medical College Hospital, Bangladesh’s biggest, she has been unable to stop crying and constantly curses herself. She said it was her “grave sin” and “greed” that prompted her to send her son out to buy a chicken and the 23-year-old street hawker defied an opposition transport blockade to make his mother happy.

Riyad, who uses one name, was the victim of violence that has left dozens dead in Bangladesh since late October, when an 18party opposition movement led by former prime minister Khaleda Zia launched a wave of protests calling on her bitter rival Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to resign ahead of national elections in January. “There has been no supply of chicken in our market. I asked Riyad to buy one for the family from another market. It has been weeks we haven’t eaten a chicken,” Begum said, wiping away more tears.

“Little did I know that he would take a bus to go to Karwanbazar to buy that bloody chicken.” Riyad did not complete the journey.

Two suspected opposition supporters threw a petrol bomb into the bus on November 29, burning him and 17 other people. Three of those have already died and others are fighting for their lives.

At the crowded and filthy DMCH Burn Unit, where overwhelmed nurses are working 12-16 hours a day, Riyad was one of more than 120 victims being treated, with many battling life-threatening injuries. With 20 percent or more of their bodies burnt, the bandaged patients are the living reminders of the costly toll of Bangladesh’s increasingly deadly politics.

An election in doubt Hasina and Zia, known as the battling Begums-Begum is a Muslim honorific have alternated power in the impoverished country since 1991. But their latest battle has left the country on the brink. The opposition wants the return of a “caretaker system” under which a neutral government took over during an election period-used successfully in the coup-plagued country four times in the past 20 years. Hasina scrapped it in 2011 and instead in November formed a multi-

party interim cabinet-comprising her allies-to oversee the general election on January 5, leading to fears among the opposition that she will use her influence to rig the result.

At least 67 people have died in the clashes-mostly from police firing-as opposition activists have targeted buses, cars and trains to enforce transport strikes. On Wednesday, suspected opposition activists derailed a train by removing metal links holding the tracks together, killing at least three people and injuring dozens. “Whatever their differences, political leaders on both sides must halt their destructive brinkmanship, which is pushing Bangladesh dangerously close to a major crisis,” UN rights chief Navi Pillay said at the weekend.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s former military dictator Hussain Muhammad Ershad threatened to kill himself yeterday after security forces besieged his home following his decision to boycott next month’s elections. “I have loaded four pistols and I’ve told the government that if they play any tricks with me, I will kill myself,” Ershad told a local television crew during an interview inside his home in the early hours. “I will die before the RAB (the paramilitary Rapid Action Battalion) or the police can lay a finger on me,” he said, before making a trigger-pulling gesture towards his head.

The 83-year-old said Tuesday that he would not take part in the January 5 polls, further undermining the credibility of a contest which is also being boycotted by the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its allies. Large numbers of security forces then gathered on Wednesday outside his home in the upmarket Baridhara neighbourhood of the capital Dhaka, fuelling expectations the general was about to be arrested.

However Deputy Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police Lutful Kabir told AFP officers were deployed in the neighbourhood “to enhance security” around foreign embassies in Baridhara. Ershad’s secretary Khaled Akhter said RAB and plainclothes officers were still massed outside the general’s home yesterday morning, although the numbers had thinned slightly. Ershad ruled Bangladesh from 1982-90 before he was ousted by a popular movement. Despite the boycotts by Ershad’s Jatiya party and the BNP, as well as widespread political violence, the ruling Awami League is so far insisting the elections will go ahead as scheduled on January 5. However there is strong pressure from key foreign players, including from the United States, for a compromise between the parties which could lead to the polls being pushed back. — Agencies

DHAKA: Bangladeshi man Riad who suffered burn injuries during an ongoing blockade organised by Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) activists and their supporters, is consoled by his mother at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital. — AFP

International FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2013

Thailand secretly dumps Myanmar refugees into trafficking rings RANONG: One afternoon in October, in the watery no-man’s land between Thailand and Myanmar, Muhammad Ismail vanished. Thai immigration officials said he was being deported to Myanmar. In fact, they sold Ismail, 23, and hundreds of other Rohingya Muslims to human traffickers, who then spirited them into brutal jungle camps. As thousands of Rohingya flee Myanmar to escape religious persecution, a Reuters investigation in three countries has uncovered a clandestine policy to remove Rohingya refugees from Thailand’s immigration detention centers and deliver them to human traffickers waiting at sea.The Rohingya are then transported across southern Thailand and held hostage in a series of camps hidden near the border with Malaysia until relatives pay thousands of dollars to release them. Reporters located three such camps - two based on the testimony of Rohingya held there, and a third by trekking to the site, heavily guarded, near a village called Baan Klong Tor. Thousands of Rohingya have passed through this tropical gulag. An untold number have died there. Some have been murdered by camp guards or have perished from dehydration or disease, survivors said in interviews. The Thai authorities say the movement of Rohingya through their country doesn’t amount to human trafficking. But in interviews for this story, the Thai Royal Police acknowledged, for the first time, a covert policy called “option two” that relies upon established humansmuggling networks to rid Thailand of Rohingya detainees.

Ismail was one of five Rohingya who said that Thai immigration officials had sold him outright or aided in their sale to human traffickers. “It seemed so official at first,” said Ismail, a wiry farmer with a long narrow face and tight curly hair. “They took our photographs. They took our fingerprints. And then once in the boats, about 20 minutes out at sea, we were told we had been sold.” Ismail said he ended up in a camp in southern Thailand. So did Bozor Mohamed, a Rohingya whose frail body makes him seem younger than his 21 years. The camp was guarded by men with guns and clubs, said Mohamed, and at least one person died every day due to dehydration or disease. “I used to be a strong man,” the former rice farmer said in an interview, as he massaged his withered legs.

Mohamed and others say they endured hunger, filth and multiple beatings. Mohamed’s elbow and back are scarred from what he said were beatings administered by his captors in Thailand while he telephoned his brother-in-law in Malaysia, begging him to pay the $2,000 ransom they demanded. Some men failed to find a benefactor in Malaysia to pay their ransom.

The camp became their home. “They had long beards and their hair was so long, down to the middle of their backs, that they looked liked women,” said Mohamed.

“Holding bays” What ultimately happens to Rohingya who can’t buy their freedom remains unclear. A Thai-based smuggler said some are sold to shipping companies and farms as manual laborers for 5,000 to 50,000 baht each, or $155 to $1,550. “Prices vary according to their skills,” said the smuggler, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The Arakan Project, a Rohingya advocacy group based in Thailand, says it has interviewed scores of Rohingya who have passed through the Thai camps and into Malaysia. Many Rohingya who can’t pay end up as cooks or guards at the camps, said Chris Lewa, Arakan Project’s director. Presented with the findings of this report, Thailand’s second-highestranking policeman made some startling admissions. Thai officials might have profited from Rohingya smuggling in the past, said Police Maj-Gen Chatchawal Suksomjit, Deputy Commissioner General of the Royal Thai Police. He also confirmed the existence of illegal camps in southern Thailand, which he called “holding bays”. Tarit Pengdith, chief of the Department of Special Investigation, Thailand’s equivalent of the U.S. FBI, was also asked about the camps Reuters discovered. “We have heard about these camps in southern Thailand,” he said, “but we are not investigating this issue.”

Besieged by a political crisis and violent street protests this week, Thailand faces difficult questions about its future and global status. Among those is whether it will join North Korea, the Central African Republic and Iran among the world’s worst offenders in fighting human trafficking.—Reuters

Thai king appeals for stability Adulyadej declines comment on crisis BANGKOK: Thailand’s revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej urged the nation to work together for “stability” in a speech yesterday on his 86th birthday, as protesters prepare for fresh anti-government rallies following a temporary lull in unrest. The kingdom remains on edge following several days of street clashes during demonstrations aimed at overthrowing Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and curbing the political influence of her brother Thaksin.

Demonstrators and police in Bangkok have observed a temporary truce since Wednesday for birthday celebrations for King Bhumibol, who is treated as a near-deity by many Thais.

But protesters, who maintain their occupation of the finance ministry and a key government complex on the outskirts of Bangkok, have vowed to gear up their rallies again from today. At a formal ceremony attended by dignitaries including the embattled premier, her political rivals and the nation’s military heads, the king said the country “has been peaceful for a long time because everybody worked together”. “Every Thai should be aware of this and should perform their role for the benefit of the country, which is the stability and security of the country,” he said in the speech broadcast on all television channels, without specifically mentioning recent unrest.

King Bhumibol, seen as a moral authority in the deeply divided nation, commonly delivers an annual address, but this year’s remarks were eagerly awaited for any message to the country’s opposing factions. The streets near his seaside palace were awash with yellow yesterday as thousands of people wearing his signa-

ture colour turned out to celebrate in the central coastal town of Hua Hin, where he has lived since leaving hospital in August.

Kneeling supporters wept and shouted “Long live the King!” as the royal convoy made a brief tour of the town’s streets before returning to the palace. Any political action or violence during the public holiday would be seen as a serious sign of disrespect and demonstrators had tidied up a key rally site in Bangkok in preparation for the birthday festivities. A huge portrait of the monarch had been erected at Democracy Monument near the capital’s Grand Palace, where the tub-thumping speeches of a month-long antigovernment rally briefly gave way to cheerful celebrations.

Hundreds gathered to watch the official birthday ceremony on big screens, cheering loudly at the appearance of the king, the world’s longest-serving monarch. But demonstrators, who erupted into angry jeers when Yingluck appeared on screen, were insistent that they had not abandoned their fight to oust the government.

“Tomorrow we will protest,” said Khieu, who gave only one name and sported a large, neon yellow “We Love the King” headband.

“I will come back until we win victory for the Thai people,” she added. Satit Wongnongtauy, a leading figure in the anti-government rallies, told the crowd that after the anniversary had passed “we will carry on”, with protests expected to intensify over the weekend. While numbers have fallen sharply since an estimated 180,000 people joined an opposition rally on November 24, demonstrators have besieged high profile buildings in what some observers believe is an attempt to provoke a military putsch.—AFP

This handout photo shows Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej reading a statement at the Rajapracha Samakhom Pavillion of Klai Kanwon Palace in Hua Hin resort yesterday. — AFP

Japan set to pass secrets law despite public outcry TOKYO: A Japanese state secrets bill toughening penalties for leaks came a step closer to becoming law yesterday when ruling parties forced it through a parliamentary panel amid protests it will muzzle the media and help cover up official misdeeds. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says the law is vital to the smooth operation of a new National Securities Council that will strengthen the hand of the prime minister over foreign and security policy and persuade foreign countries such as close ally the United States to share key information. Media, publishers, lawyers and even entertainers have denounced the bill, which drastically expands the definition of state secrets and for some has echoes of Japan’s harsh authoritarian regime before and during World War Two. Abe’s drive to pass the law coincides with a worldwide debate on secrecy after former U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden leaked documents and a U.S. Army private leaked information to anti-secrecy group Wikileaks.

“This is the way the reign of terror begins!” shouted opposition lawmaker Hirokazu Shiba when a member of Abe’s ruling bloc broke off questioning and motioned for a vote by a panel in parliament’s Upper House. Opponents of the measure circled the committee chairman, with one leaning over his desk, waving a sheaf of

papers directly in his face as he called for the vote.

Abe wants to pass the bill before parliament’s session ends on Friday, and Japanese media said it was unlikely to come to a vote before then. It has already passed the lower chamber. Under the bill, public servants or others with access to state secrets could be jailed for up to 10 years for leaking them. Journalists and others in the private sector convicted of encouraging such leaks could get up to five years if they use “grossly inappropriate” means to solicit the information.

“I think we have had exhaustive debate,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference. “If we explain this carefully, the public’s concerns should be resolved.” But critics said the bill’s proponents had failed to address doubts that oversight mechanisms would ensure independent review.

Top officials in all ministries will be able to designate special state secrets in four categories - defence, diplomacy, counter-terrorism and counter espionage - that can be kept secret for up to 60 years and in some cases longer. More than 7,000 people gathered outside parliament yesterday in the largest protest yet, many harking back to Japan’s harsh state secrecy regime before and during World War Two. —Reuters

International FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2013

Michelle Obama unveils White House X-Mas décor WASHINGTON: The familiar black dog with the white chest and white front paws starred in past Christmases in President Barack Obama’s White House, but America’s first pooch had to let someone else in the picture this holiday season: his little sister, Sunny.

Sunny stole the spotlight outright when 2year-old Ashtyn Gardner, of Mobile, Alabama, lost her balance and dropped to the carpet when Michelle Obama led the leashed puppy (a separate handler held Bo) into the State Dining Room, where the first lady and military children had been decorating cookie ornaments, making tissue-paper flowers and using dried fruit to make tiny wreaths.

Two life-sized replicas of the Portuguese water dogs, made from black satin ribbon, are one of the first things people will see this month as an expected 70,000 visitors stream in to the White House for tours and holiday functions. Both dogs wag their tails and Bo gives a high-five. They are surrounded by Christmas trees made of books. The pets, dark chocolate miniature versions, are also part of the annual gingerbread White House display.

Both dogs hang out near a functioning replica of the fountain on the North Lawn. The illuminated, edible White House sits on top of a lifesized fireplace fashioned from more than 1,200 Springerle cookies. The entire display weighs about 300 pounds and is trashed after the holidays due to its prolonged exposure to so many people.

Michelle Obama, who has emphasized support for military families, gave some of them a first look at the decked-out White House halls on Wednesday. She asked Americans gathering with friends and family

for the holidays to also remember the men and women in uniform. “During this holiday season, as we gather with our loved ones, I’d ask every American to remember what our military families and service members often experience during this time of year,” Mrs Obama said. “Let us all remember the sacrifices they make to proudly serve all of us.”

An annual highlight of the decorations is the official White House Christmas Tree. This year it’s a towering 18 1/2-foot Douglas fir from Lehighton, Pa, that fills the oval-shaped Blue Room. It honors military families, a holiday tradition of Mrs Obama’s, and among its trimmings are photos of their joyous homecomings. This year’s White House Christmas theme, “Gather Around: Stories of the Season,” focuses on stories behind American holiday traditions.

“Our goal is for every room and every tree to tell a story about who we are and how we gather around one another to mark the holidays,” Mrs Obama said. Wednesday’s event ushers in a month of holiday entertaining at the White House, with the president and first lady playing host at parties for volunteers, members of Congress, White House staff, Secret Service, White House reporters and others from around the country. There will be a reception practically twice a day, every day, until just a few days before Christmas, Mrs Obama told Ladies’ Home Journal in a holiday-themed interview.

Visitors will see a total of two dozen Christmas trees on display, all of them exquisitely decorated by some of the 83 volunteers who flew in from around the country to participate in the annual weekend marathon of

WASHINGTON: First lady Michelle Obama reacts as Ashtyn Gardner, 2, from Mobile, Alabama, loses her balance when she was greeting Sunny, one of the presidential dogs, as children of military families participate in a holiday arts and crafts event in the State Dining Room at the White House. — AP tree trimming, wreath hanging and other dec- House that are decorated by volunteers, is orating. Somewhere, in the midst of all that that they decorate one of the trees themhustle and bustle, the Obamas, including selves. Usually it’s the tree in the Yellow Oval daughters Malia and Sasha, will take time to Room,” Mrs Obama told Ladies’ Home decorate a 25th tree: their very own upstairs Journal. “We’ll have hot chocolate, light a fire in the residence on the second floor. “One of no matter what the weather is, get out a basthe things the kids always request, because ket of decorations, and then I’ll put on the first we have dozens of trees all over the White holiday music of the season.” — AP

NY’s Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lights up 45,000 LED lights decorate Christmas tree

NEW YORK: Singer Leona Lewis performs. — AP

NEW YORK: With a flick of the switch, a 76-foot Norway Spruce officially became the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree after it was illuminated for the first time this holiday season in a ceremony that’s been held since 1933. Mayor Michael Bloomberg turned on the lights just before 9 pm Wednesday, setting off a dazzling 45,000 multi-colored LED lights and a 9 1/2-foot-wide Swarovski star that topped the 12-ton tree. Adam Connery, 41, and his wife Kristy Connery, 37, from Tyngsborough, Mass, watched the ceremony on their first vacation to New York City.

“It’s gorgeous, it’s enormous,” said Kristy Connery of the massive tree towering above the hundreds of thousands of people who gathered to watch the ceremony. “Christmas is my favorite time of the year.” The holiday event in midtown Manhattan also was watched by millions on television. The tree will be on display until Jan 7, after which it’ll be milled into lumber for Habitat for Humanity. Artists such as Mary J. Blige, the Goo Goo Dolls, Jewel, Mariah Carey and Leona Lewis performed.

Lamar Lakins, 37, a housekeeper from Queens, brought his wife, mother, 10year-old daughter Shanel, and newborn son to watch the performances and see the tree lighting. He and Shanel danced together in the plaza during a performance of “Jingle Bells.” “I just love this,” he

NEW YORK: Angels made of wire and light frame the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree after it was lit during a ceremony. — AP said of the gathering. “It’s just people out enjoying themselves. I’m definitely a fan of the holiday season.” The approximately 75-year-old tree made the 70-mile trip to New York City on a tractor-trailer from its home in Shelton, Conn., last month.

Danbury, Conn., resident Mary Hynes, 60, declared the show to be “outstanding.” “The excitement of the crowd, the brilliance of the lights. It was great,” she said. “Today Show” personalities Matt

Lauer, Al Roker, Savannah Guthrie and Natalie Morales co-hosted “Christmas in Rockefeller Center,” which aired on NBC. They dedicated the broadcast to James Lovell, 58, a married father of four and a sound and lighting expert who worked on the tree. Lovell was one of four people killed when a Metro-North commuter train derailed in the Bronx on Sunday. He was on his way to work on the tree when the accident occurred. — AP

International FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2013

Mexico finds stolen radioactive material

WYOMING: A man walks in Laramie, Wyo, Wednesday, Dec 4, 2013. — AP

Nearly week of frigid temperatures for West DENVER: The jet stream hunkered to the south Wednesday, promising to bring nearly a week of temperatures that could dip to minus 20 or worse in the northern midsection of the country, and forcing much of the rest of the nation to deal with unexpectedly cool temperatures. In Minnesota, the cold has forced Salvation Army bell ringers inside and canceled holiday parties, while dense, cold air sunk into Rocky Mountain valleys and kept some lower elevations freezing in the West.

The dip in the jet stream is allowing Arctic air to plunge deeper into the United States. To add to the cold weather trouble, AccuWeather senior forecaster Paul Walker said a new storm will likely develop in New Mexico and west Texas on Thursday and head east, bringing ice and potentially power outages. Extreme cold is nothing new in the Rockies, with temperatures regularly dropping each winter to minus 20 or minus 25 degrees annually.

The difference this year is how long the cold snap is expected to last.

National Weather Service meteorologist Dave Bernhardt said the last extended cold period in Montana he could recall was in the winter of 1996. Low temperatures in Denver were expected to drop just below zero through Friday but remain below 20 through the middle of next week. The storm dumped several inches of snow in Denver, and parts of Colorado’s mountains could get up to 3 feet by the end of the day. Heavy overnight snow canceled a men’s World Cup downhill training in Beaver Creek because the skiers need a clean, slick surface to practice on.

Snowfall totals could also approach 3 feet in northeastern Minnesota, where the weather has contributed to hundreds of traffic accidents around the state, including at least five fatal crashes since Monday. Two other fatal crashes in Montana and North Dakota were blamed on the weather.

At the Denver Zoo, which was closed due to the weather, the polar bears were playing and lying in the snow and the Mongolian camels seemed friskier than normal, spokeswoman Tiffany Barnhart said. But many other animals remained in the indoor section of their quarters, close to their hay beds. Workers kept the lions occupied with toys and videos of African predators.

“It’s a snow day for them too,” she said. The risk of frostbite is high for people doing every day activities, like waiting for a bus, unless they’re bundled up. Tyler Elick wore a hat and gloves as he played with his dog, Coconut, in a parking lot downtown. “It’s fun, but my cheeks are frozen, so I may be slurring my words,” he said. In a switch from the norm, lower elevation valleys could see lower temperatures than the mountains in the West.

“It actually gets a little warmer as you go higher up in the mountains because cold air tends to be dense and heavy, so it may cool faster up in the mountains but then it just flows downhill and pools in the valley,” said Richard Emanuel, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Cheyenne. Laramie, the home of the University of Wyoming, sits in a valley between two mountain ranges and could see temperatures dip to minus 29 Wednesday night and early Thursday. The record low for Dec. 5 at Laramie is 33 below zero, set in 1972. — AP

TEPOJACO: Mexican soldiers Wednesday set up a safety perimeter around a cancer-treating device containing dangerous radioactive material that was stolen along with a truck from a gas station. The people who stole the truck and removed the device from a steelreinforced wooden box and left it in a rural area north of Mexico City are probably already dead or dying, the national nuclear safety board said. But the danger of contamination is minimal because the area where the device was found is so uninhabited, it added. No evacuations were necessary.

There was no immediate word on who might have stolen the truck. It was on its way to dispose of the disused medical device at a nuclear storage facility. Experts are trying to figure out the best way to recover the device safely, the National Commission for Nuclear Safety and Safeguards (CNSNS) said in a statement Wednesday evening. The thieves apparently just wanted the truck, which was stolen Monday, without knowing about the cargo it carried, officials said.

The device containing cobalt-60 was taken out of its container and left hundreds of meters (yards) from the truck in Hueypoxtla, said Mardonio Jimenez, operations director at the CNSNS. “It’s almost absolutely certain that whoever removed this material by hand is either already dead or about to die,” CNSNS director Juan Eibenschutz told Milenio television.

Eibenschutz said the transport company failed to live up to its commitment,

saying the truck lacked a tracking device or proper security despite the firm’s experience. He said the matter should be investigated. The white Volkswagen Worker truck was transporting the device from a hospital in the northwestern city of Tijuana when it was stolen at a service station in central Hidalgo state.

The vehicle was supposed to deliver the material to a radioactive waste disposal facility in the central state named Mexico. The International Atomic Energy Agency warned that the material was “extremely dangerous” if removed from its shielding. Experts also said the 60 grams of cobalt-60 inside it was enough to make a “dirty bomb”, designed to spread radioactivity.

Authorities had searched for the truck in six states and the capital, delivering radio messages for people to call an emergency number in case they saw the truck. The driver told investigators that two gunmen approached him at a Pemex service station, tied him up and drove away with the truck, according to a text of the testimony shown by the Hidalgo state prosecutor’s office.

The manager of the Pemex service station, an hour’s drive north of Mexico City, told AFP the driver appeared to have parked across the street to rest overnight. The material was on its way to the Radioactive Waste Storage Center in Maquixco, Mexico state. The facility is surrounded by a white fence topped with barbed wire, but no armed guards were visible outside, an AFP correspondent said. An official from the center said

the truck driver had been waiting for the facility to open at 8:00 am on Tuesday.

Mexico’s drug cartels have diversified their illegal activities in recent years, stealing oil and minerals, but officials have not said who the cobalt-60 thieves might be.

‘Sufficient’ for dirty bomb Experts have long warned about the risks posed by the large amounts of radioactive material held in hospitals, university campuses and factories, often with little or no security measures to prevent them being stolen. In an incident involving a teletherapy device in Thailand in 2000, 425 Curies-the measure of radioactivity-of cobalt-60 was sufficient to make 10 people very ill, three of whom died, according to the IAEA. The equipment stolen in Mexico contained nearly 3,000 Curies, CNSNS radiological security director Jaime Aguirre Gomez told AFP. Cobalt-60 is a radioactive isotope of the metallic element cobalt and the gamma rays it emits destroy tumors. But contact or just being near it can cause cancer if not properly handled and sealed. More worryingly, though, such material could in theory be put in a socalled “dirty bomb”-an explosive device designed to spread the radioactive material over a wide area. The quantity stolen in Mexico was “sufficient” to make a dirty bomb, said Michelle Cann, an analyst at the Partnership for Global Security. “But the ultimate level of damage and contamination hinges on many factors,” she said. — AFP

NSA tracks billions of cell-phones daily WASHINGTON: The National Security Agency tracks the locations of nearly 5 billion cellphones every day overseas, including those belonging to Americans abroad, The Washington Post reported Wednesday. The NSA inadvertently gathers the location records of “tens of millions of Americans who travel abroad” annually, along with the billions of other records it collects by tapping into worldwide mobile network cables, the newspaper said in a report on its website. Such data means the NSA can track the movements of almost any cell-phone around the world, and map the relationships of the cell-phone user.

The Post said a powerful analytic computer program called CO-TRAVELER crunches the data of billions of unsuspecting people, building patterns of relationships between them by where their phones go. That can reveal a previously unknown terrorist suspect, in guilt by cell-phone-location association, for instance.

As the NSA doesn’t know which part of the data it might need, the agency keeps up to 27 terabytes, or more than double the text content of the Library of Congress’ print collection, the Post said. A 2012 internal NSA document said the volumes of data from the location program were “outpacing our ability to ingest, process and store” it, the newspaper said. The program is detailed in documents given to the newspaper by former NSA systems analyst Edward Snowden. The Post also quotes unidentified NSA officials, saying they spoke with the permission of their agency.

Shawn Turner, a spokesman for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence,

MADRID: In this file photo, a man looks at his cell-phone as he walks on the street. — AP declined to comment on the report. The DNI’s general counsel, Robert Litt, has said that NSA does not intentionally gather bulk location data on US cell-phones inside the US - but NSA Director Keith Alexander testified before Congress his agency ran tests in 2010 and 2011 on “samples” of U.S. cell-site data to see if it was technically possible to plug such data into NSA analysis systems. Alexander said that the information was never used for intelligence purposes and that the testing was reported to congressional intelligence committees. He said it was determined to be of little “operational value,” so the NSA did not ask for permission to gather such data.

Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democrat and a mem-

ber of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said at the time that Alexander could have explained more. “The intelligence leadership has decided to leave most of the real story secret,” Wyden said, though he would not elaborate on the extent of the program.

Wyden and two other Democratic lawmakers have introduced an amendment to the 2014 defense spending bill that would require intelligence agencies to say whether the NSA “or any other element of the intelligence community has ever collected the cell-site location information of a large number of United States persons with no known connection to suspicious activity, or made plans to collect such information.” — AP

International FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2013

Arizona links state agency to firefighter deaths PHOENIX: An Arizona commission linked the state’s Forestry Division to the deaths last summer of 19 wild land firefighters, issuing the ruling after its investigative agency reported on its probe and recommended financial penalties. The state Industrial Commission, which oversees workplace safety, said Wednesday that state fire officials knowingly put protection of property ahead of safety and should have pulled crews out earlier.

The report by the Arizona Division of Occupational Safety and Health was a stinging rebuke of an earlier investigation commissioned by the Forestry Division, which found that state fire officials communicated poorly but followed proper procedures when 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots were killed in a blaze near the small community of Yarnell northwest of Phoenix.

The Hotshots were trapped as the flames they were battling changed direction in a fierce thunderstorm June 30. All but one member of the crew died. The Arizona State Forestry Division oversaw the fight against the blaze that sparked on state land. The ADOSH investigation found that state fire officials lacked key personnel to battle the Yarnell Hill Fire at critical times. Marshall Krotenberg, the safety agency’s lead investigator, told the commission there should have been officers to ensure firefighters’ safety, a planning section chief and a division supervisor, who wasn’t replaced after he abandoned his post.

Family members who attended the hearing sobbed softly when the names of the dead were read. Juliann Ashcraft, whose husband, Andrew Ashcraft, was killed, said the report provides important insight. “Finally, people that are educated, that are experienced, that have researched it and have a less biased opinion - they’re just there objectively - that they get it,” she said. Krotenberg told commissioners that fire managers should have removed firefighters an hour before the thunderstorm arrived.

“The storm was anticipated, it was forecasted, everybody knew it,” he said. “But there was no plan to move people out of the way.” In addition, senior fire managers had already determined that the town itself was indefensible, he said. The commission’s chairman, David Parker, said he believed the fire management team on site did everything in its power to defend the community and provide for the safety of people.

“But it’s not the intention of the people that (is) in question, it’s that employees remained exposed after they no longer should be exposed,” he said. Carrie Dennett, a spokeswoman for the Forestry Division, said the agency fully cooperated with the investigation and declined comment. The Forestry Division has 15 working days to appeal. Gov Jan Brewer’s office also declined comment, citing pending litigation. The mother of one of the firefighters has filed a $36 million notice of claim against the state, Yavapai County and the city of Prescott, saying their negligence led to the death of her son.

The safety agency’s review occurred simultaneously but separately from a three-month investigation by national experts into the circumstances surrounding the deaths. That report was released in September and found lapses in communication from the crew in the hour before the firefighters died. It also found that proper procedure was followed but did not say whether deaths were avoidable nor did it place blame.

The ADOSH investigation found that the state Forestry Division didn’t respond to a request the evening before for two safety officers, key positions in large firefighting efforts. Krotenberg said the oversight was the result of an unknown mistake. “Apparently, it got dropped,” he said.

“The ball got dropped.”

Firefighting crews were still battling the fire even after the incident command post was evacuated, according to the ADOSH report. The bulk of the proposed fine is $475,000 - $25,000 for each of the 19 deaths. That money will be paid to the firefighters’ families. They were employed by the city of Prescott but working under a standing contract with the state Forestry Division for the Yarnell Hill Fire. The ADOSH investigation found that the city of Prescott was in compliance with standards for training and crew rest. — AP

NY train wreck could be case of highway hypnosis Rockefeller suspended without pay NEW YORK: It’s sometimes called highway hypnosis or white-line fever, and it’s familiar to anyone who has driven long distances along a monotonous route. Drivers are lulled into a semi-trance state and reach their destination with little or no memory of parts of the trip. But what if it happened to an engineer at the controls of a speeding passenger train? A man driving a MetroNorth Railroad commuter train that went off the rails Sunday in New York, killing four passengers, experienced a momentary loss of awareness as he zoomed down the tracks, according to his lawyer and union representative, who called the episode a “nod,” a “daze” or highway hypnosis.

Their accounts raised questions about just how widespread the problem is in the transportation industry and what can be done to combat it. At the time of the crash, the train was going 82 mph into a sharp turn where the speed limit drops to 30 mph.

That’s when the engineer says he snapped out of it and hit the brakes, but it was too late. The train hurtled off the tracks, leaving a chain of twisted cars just inches from a river in the Bronx.

The engineer, William Rockefeller, has been suspended without pay. A spokesman for Metro-North Railroad said Thursday that Rockefeller is “out of service, and not being paid.” While the term highway hypnosis has been around for decades, there’s no technical definition of it and scant specific medical study of it, although multiple studies have found that long driving times on straight roads can cause people to lose focus.

Some experts equate highway hypnosis with a sort of autopilot state - performing a task, usually competently, without awareness of it. Sleep experts say the daze could really be a doze, especially if a driver has undiagnosed sleep problems. Whatever it is, nearly every bus or train driver has experienced the feeling of being momentarily unaware while driving long hours, said Larry Hanley, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union.

Hanley, who spent eight years driving a bus in New York, recalled spending a week on the midnight-to-8 am shift and sometimes stopping to pick up passengers who weren’t there. “You find yourself stopping, and you open the doors, and all you see is a mailbox,” he said, adding that fatigue and work schedule changes play a role. The National Transportation Safety Board, which has yet to determine the cause of the crash, concluded talking with the engineer Tuesday. Investigators continued interviewing the train’s other crew members.

Investigators have said Rockefeller had enough time off for a full night’s rest before the crash, but they were looking at his activities in the previous days.

Highway hypnosis doesn’t show up often in medical literature, but numerous researchers have looked at the effect that monotonous driving can have on alertness and reaction time. In one early paper on the phenomenon, published in 1962, retired Rutgers University psychologist Griffith Wynne Williams wrote that the modern superhighway’s smooth, uninterrupted stretches of concrete could put people in a daze.

“Driving under these conditions makes

NEW YORK: A Metro-North passenger train pulls into the Spuyten Duyvil station in the Bronx borough. — AP little demand on the driver’s orientation to reality,” he wrote. “The distracting stimuli are few.” It’s the “Where did those 10 miles go?” sensation of realizing you’ve been driving apparently without paying attention to the road or yourself, said Stephen J Morse, a professor of law and psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania.

Many sleep experts see highway hypnosis as micro-sleep, a phenomenon often attributed to fatigue or sleep deprivation.

Most people don’t even realize when they’ve been micro-sleeping - for example, “resting their eyes” for a few seconds, said Dr James Maas, a sleep expert and retired Cornell University psychology professor.

“Many of those times you were asleep.

You’re just not going to remember it,” he said.

Transportation safety advocates also have long been concerned about fatigue in all modes of transportation. In 2008, the operator of a transit train was killed after she fell into a micro-sleep and collided with another train in Newton, Mass. Fatigue also was a factor when two trains collided in Red Oak, Iowa, in 2011, killing two crew members. A survey of transportation workers last year by the National Sleep Foundation found 26 percent of train operators said sleepiness affected their job performance at least once a week, compared with only 17 percent of non-transportation workers. About 18 percent of train operators reported having a “near miss” at work because of fatigue, and 44 percent of train operators said their work schedule did not allow enough time for sleep.

Rockefeller’s schedule, which had recently switched from the afternoon shift to the day shift, could be a cause for concern about fatigue, said Patrick Sherry, executive director of the National Center for Intermodal Transportation at the University of Denver, which studies national transportation issues. “Did he make an appropriate transition from his previous shift to this new shift?” Sherry said. How long that transition takes is highly individual - think jet lag, which levels some people while others adjust easily, said Dr Clete Kushida, a neurologist and sleep specialist at Stanford University Medical Center.

Federal investigators would not comment on Rockefeller’s level of alertness. The

NTSB had found no problems with the brakes or rail signals. Alcohol tests on crew members were negative, and investigators are awaiting the results of drug tests. The NTSB has issued more than 200 recommendations addressing fatigue, including scheduling problems that disrupt sleep patterns, Chairman Deborah Hersman said Wednesday in a telephone interview.

Hersman said positive train control technology, which can slow or stop a train that’s speeding or otherwise not being operated correctly, might have forestalled the derailment. Railroads are facing a congressional deadline to install such systems by December 2015. “This is the type of accident that positive train control is designed to prevent,” Hersman said.

As for how to avoid micro-sleeping, a 10- to 20-minute nap or a cup of coffee can help in a pinch, suggested Kushida. But experts agree there’s no substitute for getting good sleep. Truck driver Alex Gordon agrees. He drives for no more than 10 hours at a time and makes sure to get enough sleep, and he says he’s never experienced highway hypnosis. “I drive 10 hours, sleep 11,” the Miami-based Gordon said Wednesday during a break at a truck stop in Kearny, NJ “You just can’t” put people in danger, he said.

In case of an engineer becoming incapacitated, the train’s front car was equipped with a dead man’s pedal, which must be depressed or the train will automatically slow down. Trains also can have alarms, sometimes called alerters, which sound if the operators’ controls haven’t been moved within a certain timeframe. If an engineer does not respond, often by pressing a button, brakes automatically operate. But the train that derailed didn’t have such a system, a Metro-North spokeswoman said.

Rockefeller, 46, has worked for the railroad for 15 years and has been an engineer for 10. Crews are rebuilding the damaged track where Rockefeller’s train crashed. One of three tracks on the affected line reopened Wednesday, and commuters said they were grateful service was restored fairly quickly. “We don’t get to complain,” said Elite Rubin, who does marketing for an accounting firm. “We weren’t on that train where people died.” —- AP

Business FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2013

Tokyo launches $53.8 bn stimulus package PAGE 20

ECB holds rates, focus shifts to new forecasts Page 21

NUSA DUA: A South Korean activist holds a poster while activists around the world called La Via Campesina - Social Movement for an Alternatif Asia - hold a peace protest outside the venue of the 9th World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference in Nusa Dua yesterday. — AFP

Bleak outlook for WTO deal; rifts widen India under fire as food impasse imperils WTO NUSA DUA: Divisions over food subsidies widened among members of the World Trade Organization yesterday, making it unlikely a landmark trade deal could be reached with just a day left to the end of talks. After 12 years of fruitless negotiation, diplomats warned that failure at a meeting this week on Indonesia’s resort island of Bali would devastate the body’s credibility as developed nations turn towards regional and bilateral trade talks.

A Bali trade deal, already diluted to the “low-hanging fruit” of the moribund Doha round of talks, largely hinges on India and whether the world’s second most populous country can find common ground with the United States and other developed countries on food subsidies. India has repeatedly said it will not compromise on its policy of subsidizing food for hundreds of millions of

poor citizens. The tough stance has started to gain backers from developing countries in Asia, Africa and South America, India’s trade minister said. “Countries with maybe more than 75 percent of the world’s population stand by India on this issue,” Anand Sharma told reporters. “It is better to have no agreement then to have a bad agreement.” Around 20 countries were in favor of India’s position, said a diplomat, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue.

India will next year fully implement a welfare program to provide cheap food to 800 million people that it fears will fall afoul of WTO rules curbing farm subsidies to 10 percent of production. The program, which relies on large-scale stockpiling and purchases at minimum prices, is a central plank of the government’s bid to win a third term

in office next year. A proposal led by the United States offered to waive the 10 percent rule until 2017. But India has rejected it, demanding the exemptions continue indefinitely until a solution is found.

A TRILLION DOLLARS ON THE LINE The trade talks also involve less contentious issues, such as assistance for the least developed countries and setting standards for handling the cross-border shipment of goods. Estimates of the value of the Bali deal to the world economy vary, with some as high as $1 trillion. Experts say it would be far more important than abolishing import tariffs globally, since bureaucracy and opaque rules are a bigger brake on trade.

If talks fail, the WTO may see its role as global custodian of the world’s trade rules

being eroded by regional pacts now being negotiated, such as the US-led 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership and a US-EU tie-up known as TTIP. “Let us not sugar-coat reality: leaving Bali this week without an agreement would deal a debilitating blow to the WTO as a forum for multilateral negotiations,” US Trade Representative Michael Froman said on Wednesday.

“And if that happens, the unfortunate truth is that the loss will be felt most heavily by those members who can least afford it.”

Yemen, poised to become the body’s 160th member next year, remained optimistic for a last-minute deal to help open up much needed investment in the second-poorest Arab state. “I don’t see a complete collapse of the WTO,” Yemen’s trade minister Saadaldeen Talib told Reuters. “That is not going to happen. Wisdom will prevail.” —Reuters

20

Business FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2013

Tokyo launches $53.8 bn stimulus package TOKYO: Tokyo approved a spending package worth almost $54 billion yesterday in a bid to offset a tax hike that comes into effect next year and which critics fear will derail Japan’s economic recovery. The 5.5-trillion-yen ($53.8 billion) stimulus is loaded with public works spending, including construction projects for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, rebuilding coastal communities shattered by the 2011 quaketsunami and updating the country’s ageing infrastructure. Many of Japan’s roads, bridges and water systems date back to the 1960s and 70s and have seen few upgrades since.

The package also includes investment and tax-incentives for business, low-income earner subsidies and assistance for disaster victims. The spending is expected to impact the world’s third-largest economy to the tune of 18.6 trillion yen including private-sector and local government spending. Finance Minister Taro Aso said the government would draft a new budget next week to account for the stimulus package, which would not require fresh borrowing. The spending “should continue” to boost Japan’s economy beyond next year, Aso told reporters yesterday.

The move came as concern grows that

April’s sales tax hike-to 8.0 percent from 5.0 percent-will stall Japan’s recovery that has been achieved by a policy blitz launched by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Economists estimate the impact on households at some 8.0 trillion yen, dealing a blow to consumer demand just as the economy is picking up.

The scheme, a mix of government spending and central bank monetary easing, has been credited with helping stoke a sharp decline in the yen, in turn boosting exporters, and stoking the best economic growth among G7 nations in the first half of the year.

Abe’s plan also calls for big reforms in the long-laggard economy, including shaking up the labor market and signing free-trade pacts.

But Japan’s sizzling growth-which has earned Abe high approval ratings slowed in the thirdquarter and analysts have warned consumers may close their wallets after the tax hike. The increase is seen as crucial to shrinking a mammoth national debt. Standing at more than twice the size of the economy, Japan has the heaviest debt burden among industrialized nations. The International Monetary Fund, among others, has been calling on Tokyo to gets its fiscal house in order.— AFP

OPEC alert to risk of lower oil prices VIENNA: World oil prices could head lower next year as higher OPEC output coupled with increased shale production risks oversupplying the market despite upbeat Asian demand for crude, according to analysts. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) on Wednesday agreed to hold its crude production ceiling at 30 million barrels per day, citing the current balance between world oil supply and demand following a meeting in Vienna.

But OPEC production could increase in the coming months as Iraq and Iran look to export more crude after sizeable falls in recent years. Libyan oil supplies may also recover from a current plunge in output. The cartel, with a dozen member nations from the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, pumps out about one third of the world’s oil, with the bulk coming from top crude producer Saudi Arabia.

OPEC on Wednesday said that “although world oil demand is forecast to increase during 2014, this will be more than offset by the projected increase in non-OPEC supply” amid a boom in oil and gas being extracted from North American shale rock.

OPEC secretary general Abdullah El-Badri refused to be drawn on the prospect of lower oil prices caused by higher output, telling journalists that the group would simply wait to see if an oversupply situation occurs.

Analysts said that while higher supplies could push down benchmark oil prices currently trading at an average of $100 a barrel-in turn weighing on OPEC revenues-solid demand would continue to lend support. “I still see (Brent oil) prices ranging between 95 and 115 dollars for most of the next year,” Jason Schenker, chief economist at consultants Prestige Economics said. “The global economy is improving modestly and global oil demand growth is poised to rise especially with improvements in emerging markets next year and 2015.”

Schenker meanwhile pointed to the possibility of “a lot more oil coming on the market” should economic sanctions be lifted on Iran. The country’s Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said this week that Iran would be able to “immediately” export 4.0 million barrels per day (bpd) once sanctions are lifted in the wake of the international deal to roll back its nuclear program.

Iranian crude oil exports have been slashed to about 1.2 million bpd from 2.5 million bpd in 2011, according to Zanganeh.

Capital Economics research group noted: “The upshot is that we expect increased production from shale and Iran, combined with a weak economic recovery, to drag oil prices to $90 by the end of the (next) year.” Badri said OPEC could accommodate US shale output, currently at 2.7 million bpd and set to rise further, but admitted cartel concerns regarding the rival production. Gary Hornby, an analyst at energy consultants Inenco, said that New York crude prices could be weighed down additionally by high stockpiles of US crude.—AFP

TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (left) shares a light moment with Finance Minister Taro Aso prior to a meeting of the economy and fiscal policy council at Abe’s office yesterday. —AFP

European shares stabilize Asian shares subdued LONDON: European shares steadied yesterday after three days of selling, as focus turned to whether the European Central Bank will offer any new economic stimulus after the Bank of England left its interest rates at a record low. Markets remained under pressure amid peculation about the future of US monetary stimulus. That kept bond yields elevated and left shares struggling to recover from this week’s declines.

European shares were virtually flat before the 1245 GMT ECB rate decision and 1330 GMT news conference, as traders waited to hear what the head of the bank, Mario Draghi, had to say. The euro was biding its time around $1.36. Benchmark German government bond yields stabilized after they were pushed to a six-week high by a rise in US yields on Wednesday.

The ECB is expected to hold off any new policy action after delivering a surprise rate cut last month. Attention is shifting to the bank’s new economic forecasts, amid worries the euro zone is slipping towards Japan-style deflation.

“The main focus will be the forecasts and what will 2015 look like,” said Ned Rumpeltin, the head of G10 FX strategy for Standard Chartered. “If the inflation midpoint is below 1.5 percent, I think that is an affirmation of their easing bias through next year.” The Bank of England left its rates and bond buying unchanged, as expected. Markets still remained cautious before the ECB meeting and US economic data, particularly the non-farm payrolls report today. After suffering its biggest

one-day fall in six weeks on Wednesday, the Nikkei ended down another 1.5 percent, retreating further from this week’s six-year closing high.

“Starting from two days back, people are starting to get quite nervous about the market,” a Tokyo-based senior trader at a European bank said. The dollar has also faded below 103.00 yen, giving investors an excuse to book profits on the market’s gains. The Nikkei is up 8 percent since early November, and 46 percent on the year so far. Offshore funds appeared to be cheering for the market. Foreigners bought a net 368 billion yen worth of Japanese shares in the week through Nov. 30, on top of 709 billion yen in the week before that.

Caution had also ruled elsewhere in Asia, with MSCI’s broadest index of AsiaPacific shares outside Japan off 0.4 percent, and Shanghai down 0.2 percent.

Australia’s main index shed 1.4 percent as Qantas Airways tumbled as much as 15 percent. The carrier Fissued a profit warning and announced job cuts. Wall Street was indecisive on Wednesday, and early futures prices pointed to another subdued start in New York later.

Strong US data this week has triggered a stock market and bond sell-off on expectations an improved economy means monetary stimulus will be withdrawn. A strong reading on private hiring has led to speculation payrolls could be upbeat, hastening the day when the Federal Reserve starts trimming its asset buying. Although

data on services and housing were more mixed, the risk was enough to leave 10year Treasury yields near three-month highs at 2.82 percent by 1200 GMT. But rising long-term yields are exactly what the Fed wants to avoid, so the gain argues against a start of tapering this month.

The lift in yields helped the US dollar regain some ground on the yen, though it had faded back below 102 as Europe gathered pace. It may get further support if US gross domestic product data gets revised up later. A major mover was the Canadian dollar, which sagged to 3 1/2-year lows after the Bank of Canada issued a dovish policy statement, highlighting the risks of weakening inflation. The euro was steady at just under $1.36, after rebounding from a low of $1.3527 on Wednesday. Service sector data had showed activity in Italy and France shrinking in November but expanding in Spain and Germany, highlighting the divergence in the bloc.

There was more good news for Spain as Moody’s upgraded its credit outlook to stable from negative, citing a rebalancing of and a brighter medium-term view for the country’s economy. In commodity markets, spot gold edged back to $1,233 an ounce, giving up some of Wednesday’s 1.7 percent rally. US crude added another 25 cents to $97.45, on top of a 1.2 percent rally on Wednesday after data showed domestic crude stocks fell by 5.6 million barrels, snapping 10 straight weeks of builds. Brent crude hovered at $111.87.—Reuters

Saudi petrochemical duo eying share-swap merger DUBAI: Saudi Arabia’s Sahara Petrochemical and Saudi International Petrochemical Co (Sipchem) hope to complete a share-swap merger in the first half of 2014 that would create a firm valued around $5 billion.

The duo said in bourse filings late on Wednesday they had signed a memorandum of understanding relat-

ing to the merger and that due diligence had begun, although they cautioned that this was not an announcement of an intention to make an offer and that talks were still non-binding. Talks about a possible merger have been ongoing since June. Mergers between two listed Saudi entities are rare: consolidation

in the Gulf is often scuppered by major shareholders who are unwilling to cede control of businesses except for very high price tags. However, both firms have The Zamil Holding Co Group, one of the kingdom’s most prominent family businesses, as a significant shareholder so this could help the process.—Reuters

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Business FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2013

China bars banks from bitcoin transactions SHANGHAI: China’s government banned financial institutions from trading in bitcoin yesterday, in what analysts said was a restrained first step towards regulating the digital currency that has exploded in popularity in China and soared in value in recent months. A statement by the central bank and four other agencies said that, while the computer-generated currency does not yet pose a threat to China’s financial system, it carries risks. It did not, however, curtail the use of bitcoin by individuals.

“I think it’s measured and it’s positive,” said Zennon Kapron, of the financial consultancy Kapronasia. “It does add legitimacy to the idea that it could be a nationwide accepted currency.” The value of bitcoins on Chinese exchanges fell after the announcement, however, with one expert

predicting the price could halve in the short-term. Digital currencies are generally highly volatile.

Bitcoins have seen their value relative to the dollar skyrocket some 800 percent in the past two months as speculators have piled into the currency, according to bitcoinity.org. While there is no official data available, bitcoin market operators say Chinese nationals are major participants in the market and hold an outsized share of the total number of bitcoins in circulation. Shanghai-based BTC China has recently become the world’s largest bitcoin exchange by volume.

A statement on the website of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) said that the government would act to prevent money laundering risks from bitcoin, which is not backed by a government or

central bank. The PBOC may have cause to be concerned about bitcoins, which are anonymous, untraceable, and can be carried on memory sticks or transmitted electronically, because they represent a potential hole in the country’s capital controls.

However, analysts point out that, given the tiny value of the total bitcoins in circulation relative to other currencies, it is unlikely to have much impact on the wider economy. More cause for worry is the way these digital currencies have engendered a new wave of creative criminality focused on hacking online platforms and stealing bitcoins stored there, and their potential for use in money laundering, bribery and purchases of illicit products such as drugs and weapons. The government will require trading platforms that deal in virtual currencies such as bitcoin to register with

telecommunications authorities, it said.

The notice was issued jointly by the PBOC, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the China Banking Regulatory Commission and the China Securities Regulatory Commission and China Insurance Regulatory Commission.

“This is an industry that will need to be governed or regulated. The safety and the well-being of the common user has to be taken into consideration. All this is expected,” said Ron Cao, Managine Director at Lightspeet Venture Partners, which recently invested $5 million in BTC China. “‘We’ve got a long way to go. This thing needs to be regulated at some point. We’re studying it. Don’t jump into it.’ My read is that’s the tone of the message.” Bitcoin traders sold on the Chinese government’s announcement.—Reuters

ICD buys Atlantis Dubai state fund buys hotel from debt-laden peer

FRANKFURT: President of European Central Bank, ECB, Mario Draghi is on his way to a news conference in Frankfurt, Germany yesterday, following a meeting of the ECB governing council. — AP

ECB holds rates, focus shifts to new forecasts FRANKFURT: The European Central Bank left interest rates unchanged yesterday, pausing to assess the health of the eurozone recovery after taking action a month earlier in response to falling inflation, which is now abating. The decision to hold the main refinancing rate at a record low of 0.25 percent was widely expected after the ECB’s surprise decision to cut borrowing costs last month.

“This is in line with expectations as the ECB’s action last month was seen to have rebalanced risks to price stability and also pre-empted the publication of what we think will be weak inflation projections,” said Nomura economist Nick Matthews. Markets’ attention now shifts to ECB President Mario Draghi’s 1330 GMT news conference, at which he will present updated projections from the ECB’s staff, which will include their first forecasts for 2015.

The new estimates will give markets insight into the ECB’s view on inflation over the medium term, the horizon over which it aims to deliver price stability in line with its target. Should the new projections point to price growth still clearly undershooting the ECB’s target in 2015 - analysts expect a forecast of 1.3 or 1.4 percent - expectations will grow that the bank will take fresh action early next year. Berenberg bank economist Christian Schulz expected the new forecasts to show inflation staying below the ECB goal

in 2015.

“That will raise questions next time Draghi goes to the European Parliament as to why they are not doing more to achieve their own target, and could raise the pressure on the ECB to do more over the coming months,” he said. However, the ECB’s hawks would resist further easing. November’s cut followed a fall in euro-zone inflation to 0.7 percent in October - far below the ECB’s target of just under 2 percent. It has since picked up to 0.9 percent and unemployment fell in October, offering the ECB a reprieve.

In the run-up to yesterday’s meeting, several senior policymakers have flagged the ECB’s readiness to ease policy further if needed, while at the same time playing down the prospect of immediate action. Peter Praet, the bank’s chief economist who begins the rate meetings with a policy recommendation, last month put the possibility of the ECB embarking on asset buys - or quantitative easing (QE) - on the agenda.

However, another senior ECB policymaker, Benoit Coeure, said last week the ECB does not need to make large-scale asset purchases like the US Federal Reserve given the euro-zone’s inflation outlook. The bank’s vice-president, Vitor Constancio, has also said the ECB would only cut the deposit rate it pays banks for holding their money overnight - now at zero - into negative territory in an extreme situation.—Reuters

DUBAI: A unit of Dubai World has sold its Atlantis resort, which sits at the head of a palm tree-shaped island in the emirate, as the state-owned group raises funds to meet huge debt repayments after a $25 billion restructuring in 2011. Investment Corp of Dubai (ICD), a holding company of some of the emirate’s top groups which is also state-owned, has bought the resort from the unit, Istithmar World, for an undisclosed sum, ICD said yesterday.

“Our acquisition of an asset that is a major contributor to the domestic tourist industry is in line with our overall strategy to support long-term sustainable growth for Dubai,” Khalifa Al Daboos, deputy chief executive officer of ICD, said in the statement. A spokesman for Istithmar in Dubai declined to comment. The sale adds to a series of disposals by Dubai World, which had promised to sell non-core assets under the debt-restructuring plan drawn up when the group fell victim to a property market crash in the emirate and the after-effects of the global financial crisis.

The firm needs to repay $4.4 billion in May 2015 under its restructuring terms. Dubai’s economy is recovering due to renewed investor optimism in its trade, tourism and real estate sectors but the freewheeling emirate still faces debt repayments of about $50 billion over the next three years. Economic recovery is bolstering finances of some state entities which are stepping in to reduce the debt burden. Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (DEWA), a state-owned utility, plans to buy Palm Utilities, a district cooling compa-

ny owned by Dubai World, according to local media reports.

Dubai World’s restructuring plan envisaged that it would raise $1.3-$2.3 billion between 2010 and 2012, and a further $3.9$5.3 billion in 2013-2015 through sales of holdings such as P&O Ferries and MGM Resorts International. However, unfavourable conditions for selling assets and the fall in valuations since the global financial crisis meant Dubai World had to sit on its hands and began offloading bits of its portfolio only this year. Atlantis was set up in 2008 as a joint venture between Istithmar World and Kerzner International. In April 2012, Istithmar acquired Kerzner’s 50 percent stake in the property for $250 million. The Atlantis sale is Dubai World’s second disposal this year after selling British logistics warehouse developer Gazeley in June. It is close to selling The Fontainebleau hotel in Miami Beach, Florida.

State-owned ICD has holdings in some of the emirate’s most high-profile brands, including Emirates airline, Emaar Properties and lender Emirates NBD. Istithmar World’s investment portfolio spans consumer, industrial and financial services, hotels and commercial property sectors.

Among its assets are entertainment group Cirque du Soleil and the Mandarin Oriental hotel in New York. The investment arm, which made a spate of overseas purchases during the early part of the decade, was hard hit by global financial crisis as asset values dropped sharply and access to credit dried up. The firm named veteran banker Ziad Makkawi as its new chief executive in September. — Reuters

Britons to work longer under austerity plans LONDON: Britons may have to work for longer before claiming a state pension, under further austerity plans to be presented by finance minister George Osborne in a budget update yesterday. Chancellor of the Exchequer Osborne will deliver his so-called autumn statement in parliament at 1115 GMT, but has already written to ministers explaining that another £3.0 billion ($4.9 billion, 3.6 billion euros) will be cut from public spending over the next three years.

He is also expected to unveil upgraded official economic growth forecasts, as Britain’s recovery picks up speed. The Conservative-

Liberal Democrat coalition government will seek to bring forward plans to extend the retirement age to 68 before they are entitled to a state pension, according to a government source. The state pension age was due to rise to from 65 to 68 by 2046. However, Osborne will reportedly propose to bring the change forward to the 2030s, and will aim to lift the age to 69 in the 2040s. That means Britons might have to work until the age of 70.

Under the new rules, people would spend no more than a third of their expected lifespan drawing a state pension.—AFP

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Business FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2013

Nigeria struggles to end fuel subsidy Attempt to end subsidy provoke strikes, protests ABUJA: Nigeria’s drive to clean up a gasoline subsidy scheme that soaks up a fifth of federal spending is mired in confusion, with the government, anti-graft investigators and fuel importers at odds over attempts to root out massive fraud. President Goodluck Jonathan has promised that importers will be prosecuted if either of Nigeria’s two anti-corruption bodies finds evidence they are defrauding the scheme, the total cost of which was 1 trillion naira ($6.3 billion) last year.

Yet some firms under investigation by anti-graft officials are still receiving cash, even though Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has said that only those whose subsidy claims are proven legitimate will be paid. A parliamentary inquiry said last year that it had found evidence of huge fraudulent payments in the fuel subsidies, provoking a public outcry.

Under the scheme, importers apply to the government for subsidy payments. If successful they buy gasoline on the international market which is then sold in filling stations at the heavily subsidized price of about 60 US cents a litre. Last year’s inquiry by the lower house of parliament found that dozens of importers had claimed up to $6.8 billion between 2009-11 for fuel that was never delivered or diverted to neighboring countries where prices are unregulated.

Subsidies were being claimed for almost twice as much gasoline than Nigeria consumed, it reported. A separate presidential inquiry produced similar findings. OkonjoIweala has since tried to bring transparency to the scheme by withholding payments for claims until they are verified, and periodically publishing what Nigeria pays to fuel importers. She acknowledged that some firms felt unfairly treated but said they had to prove their claims genuine.

“Some people thought they were being witch hunted and the government said: ‘no, if you produce evidence to exonerate yourself, you’ll be cleared and can claim’,” she told Reuters. Yet late last month the finance ministry announced subsidy payments to three importers that anti-graft officials are investigating for fraud. While such payments don’t break any rules, they are contrary to the ministry’s own policy of not paying firms under suspicion.

Estimates show the gap between subsidy claims and likely actual consumption is shrinking, but discrepancies remain.

Nigeria plans to import 3.5 million tons of gasoline in the fourth quarter of this year from nearly 50 companies, up from 30 used last year, say industry sources. UK-based consultancy CITAC estimates Nigeria’s gasoline demand at 30,000 tons a day, or only 2.7 million a quarter, and industry sources were unable to explain the discrepancy.

The petroleum regulator did not respond to a request for comment.

Buying more gasoline than the country needs from a large number of small companies was partly what enabled fraud in 2009-2011.

THIRSTY ECONOMY Nigeria is the biggest African importer of motor fuel even though it is also the continent’s top crude oil producer. This is because its refineries, which are decrepit if they are operating at all, meet only about a fifth of gasoline demand.

The subsidies which are supposed

had been cleared, contradicting the investigating authorities. Others declined to comment. In an announcement published in newspapers on Nov 26, the finance ministry said it had approved subsidy payments totalling 5.5 billion naira to importers Pinnacle Contractor, Somerset Energy Services and Top Oil & Gas. EFCC spokesman Wilson Uwujaren told Reuters in an email that the anti-graft agency is investigating Pinnacle and Somerset. He

ing Top Oil. She did not respond to an emailed request to see that letter. She added that she had had no communication from the separate EFCC agency on the other firms.

“How I’m I supposed to know? I have nothing from the EFCC saying that these people are being investigated ... I have nothing from SFU saying they (Top Oil) have been investigated on another charge,” she said by telephone. Reuters later tried to contact the EFCC to ask whether it had communicated the

SFU was not investigating them, making no mention of the EFCC. Fargo declined to comment.

Ontario did not respond to requests for comment. Downstream could not be contacted for comment.

Nwankwo said that the firms in the letter were either not being investigated by the SFU or had been cleared.

“We have no communication from EFCC that they are investigating any oil marketers based on the report,” he said, adding that he had

PARIS: French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici (right) speaks with Nigeria’s Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala during the opening session of the Franco-African economic conference at the Economy ministry in Paris on December 4, 2013. —AFP to protect Nigerians from global market prices have become a huge drain on the economy, consuming 20 percent of the 2012 federal budget. Jonathan and OkonjoIweala tried to scrap them in January 2012 but a jump in pump prices to market rates provoked strikes and protests. These forced the government to back down, although it managed to raise the regulated fuel price by half. Reuters has reviewed details of inquiries into importers being conducted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), an independent anti-corruption agency, and the police Special Fraud Unit (SFU).

Attempts by Reuters to get to the bottom of payments under the scheme led anti-graft officials, Okonjo-Iweala and importers to contradict each other over who is under criminal investigation and who has been cleared. The firms that agreed to speak to Reuters all denied wrongdoing. Some said they

gave no details, but last year the presidential inquiry referred Pinnacle to the EFCC over claims amounting to 8.7 billion naira and Somerset over 2.7 billion of claims, in both cases for fuel it suspected may not have been delivered.

Pinnacle told Reuters the transactions had been cleared by the EFCC, contradicting what Uwujaren said, while Somerset did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

CONFUSION OVER PROBES The third company, Top Oil, is being investigated by the police’s SFU for suspected fraudulent transactions, two senior police investigators said.

Top Oil said its transactions had been cleared as non-fraudulent, but did not provide any proof. OkonjoIweala told Reuters that to her knowledge the three companies were not under investigation. She said by telephone that she had received a letter from the SFU clear-

Pinnacle and Somerset cases to the finance ministry, but officials were not available for comment. The finance ministry has tightened the scheme with 359 billion naira paid out so far this year, little more than a third of the 2012 total. However, this reflects delayed payments which may be made eventually as back pay.

DEBT OFFICE REQUEST Reuters has also reviewed a letter from Nigeria’s Debt Management Office (DMO) requesting that the finance ministry make subsidy payments to a number of importers. In the letter dated Nov 6, DMO chief Abraham Nwankwo asked the ministry to pay firms including three that are subject to criminal prosecution cases brought by the EFCC - Downstream Energy, Fargo Petroleum and Ontario Oil & Gas - with total claims of 4.3 billion naira between them. He gave as a reason in the letter that the police

requested a list from the agency. He also noted that the three firms had not been paid. The EFCC did not respond to a request for further comment. The police declared Fargo director Seun Ogunbambo a wanted man on Nov 27 in a criminal case brought by the EFCC, which accused Fargo of fraudulently claiming 976 million naira.

“We went to immigration to put him on a watch list,” SFU lead investigator Martin Nwogoh told Reuters in Lagos. Ogunbambo was not available for comment and it was not possible to track down his lawyer. A senior police source said the SFU was investigating potentially fraudulent subsidy claims by another company, Imad Oil and Gas, which has been given a licence to import gasoline in the fourth quarter, according to an unpublished allocation list reviewed by Reuters.

Imad said it has been cleared of all wrongdoing, contradicting the police.—Reuters

Pe t s FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2013

Barking up the right tree

I

How to choose your pup’s name and welcome him home

n exchange for all the love and pleasure dogs give their families, they do require various kinds of care in return, many of them several times a day. But don’t be scared-these will quickly become part of your familiar routine, and the better you get at caring for your pooch, the more pleasure you’ll both derive from your relationship.

Dog-naming tips One of the most enjoyable parts of dog ownership is giving your pooch a special name.

But once you’ve done that, you also need to take steps to give your dog proper identification, in case he’s lost. Here are extensive details on naming and identifying your dog.

What’s in a name?

One of the most important ways you communicate with your dog is through her name.

When your dog hears her name, she should jump to attention, ready for good times-even if it’s just mealtime. Choosing the right name is a special part of dog ownership, so consider your choices carefully. Here are some things to consider to get you on the right track.

Your dog’s looks. Spot, Blaze, Tiny, or Blackie are all tried and true dog names. The upside is they’re descriptive, making it easier to identify your dog if she gets lost. The downside is there are a lot of other dogs with those names. You might want to be more creative so your dog stands out from the crowd. A tall, leggy dog with a brindle coat-a Greyhound, for instance-might be named Savanna or Tiger, after the flat grasslands of Africa that might have produced an animal with this striped coat pattern.

Your dog’s heritage. Investigating breed history is a great way to find the perfect name.

A Scottish breed, such as a West Highland White Terrier, Scottish Terrier, or Cairn Terrier, might be named Murray or Stuart. Safari is a suitable moniker for a Basenji, the barkless

breed from Africa. Tundra is a favorite name for Northern breeds like Alaskan Malamutes and Samoyeds.

Your dog’s breed. Beagles, Bloodhounds, and Basset Hounds will follow their noses to the ends of the earth. Sniffer is a good name for one of these dogs, as is Sherlock or Gypsy.

Lots of terriers are named Digger, and it’s easy to see why. These dogs were once bred to go after varmints that lived in underground dens, hence their tendency today to excavate their yards.

Your pup’s special traits. Why did you get your pup? If the two of you will be hunting or fishing together, you might go with the name Pal or Amigo. Border Collies are said to be the smartest of all breeds, so consider giving yours a name to match her intellect: Einstein or

Newton, for instance.

Your puppy’s registered name. Breeders often give litters a theme or names beginning with the same letter. A litter with a country music theme might have pups named Nashville’s Yoakam, Nashville’s Dolly, Nashville’s Reba, and Nashville’s Waylon.

Registered names may include the kennel name or the names of the sire and dam. Thus you might have Cloverhill’s Indian Summer, Craigwood Higgins of Switchbark, or Magnolia’s Prince of Thieves. Although these names appear on the dog’s registration papers, they obviously aren’t good choices to use around the house. The breeder or owner gives the dog a nickname, or call name. Craigwood Higgins of Switchbark probably goes by Woody to his friends.

Your hobbies and special interests. If you’re a sports fan, you have lots of great names to choose from, whether your game is golf, tennis, basketball, football, track and field, or hockey. You might name a fleet-footed Greyhound or Whippet Carl, Jesse, or FloJo. Naming a Boxer is almost too easy: How about Frazier, Ali, or Sugar Ray? Your favorite books, movies, or television shows. Lots of dogs are named Lassie in honor of the Collie of literary, film, and television fame. But you don’t have to name your pet after another dog in a movie or TV show. Pick the name of any one of your favorite characters for your dog.

Dog supplies You’ve spent months thinking about getting a dog. You’ve done the research and found the dog who’s just right for you. Now the day has finally come for you to take home the pooch of your dreams, but you may still not be quite ready yet. Before you bring your dog or puppy home, be sure you have the following supplies on hand: Collar and tag. Order a tag engraved with your name and phone number several weeks before you bring your puppy home. Attach it to an adjustable buckle dog collar, and place the collar and tag on your puppy before you leave the breeder or shelter. As a puppy grows, check the collar frequently to make sure it isn’t too tight. You should be able to slip two fingers between the collar and the puppy’s neck.

Collars can be made of leather or nylon, both of which are durable. However, puppies love to chew, and leather has an attractive scent and texture. If leather is your choice, wait until your puppy is past the teething stage.

If you have a puppy or are training your dog, you will need a training collar (also known as a choke collar). These collars are training devices to teach your dog not to pull as you walk him. These types of collars should only be

Pe t s FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2013

used for training your dog; they are not substitutes for a regular collar. Also, never leave any kind of collar on a dog who’s in his crate, unless you’re there to supervise-it can snag and cause fatal choking. For the same reason, never leave a choke collar-whether nylon or metal-on an unsupervised dog.

Carrier. We’re all familiar with the classic image of a dog riding with his head stuck out the car window, ears flapping in the breeze, and tongue hanging out; but a car in motion is not the place for a dog of any age to be roaming free. You’ll need a crate (portable kennel) to safely contain your pooch during the ride to his new home as well as for future visits to the veterinarian and groomer.

Choose a sturdy carrier to hold your dog comfortably and keep it safe in case of an accident. Plastic airline carriers are lightweight, long lasting, and easy to clean. They are suitable for air travel if your dog will be living a globe-trotting lifestyle, and they can be secured in a car by running the seat belt through the handle. Wire crates are well ventilated and fold up flat when not in use. They can be covered to offer privacy or protection from the elements. Soft-sided carriers are comfortable and easy to transport. The zippered top and end closures make it easy to place the dog in and remove him from the carrier, and it’s durable and easy to clean. On most airlines, soft-sided models are acceptable carriers for dogs traveling in the cabin, but they can’t be used in the cargo area. Whichever style you choose, make sure latches are sturdy and edges are smooth, and be sure all screws, nuts, and latches are securely and properly fastened.

Don’t scrimp on quality to save a few bucks-it isn’t worth risking your dog’s life and safety.

Leash Leash. Learning to walk on a dog leash is one of the first lessons of canine etiquette. Buy a lightweight, well-constructed leash. Leather leashes are handsome and durable, but skin oils can stain them and puppies delight in chewing on them. Nylon leashes are lightweight, colorful, and strong. Leashes made of chain are practically indestructible, but they are heavier than nylon or leather and can be noisy. A retractable leash gives your puppy the illusion of freedom but allows you to reel him in when necessary.

Food. A healthy dog needs the proper fuel.

A dog’s nutritional needs change over his lifetime-a puppy needs a different balance of nutrients than an adult or elderly dog-so talk to your veterinarian, breeder, or shelter for recommendations of the right food for your dog or puppy. Be sure you choose a food labeled as complete and balanced. Ideally, the label will state that the manufacturer has used feeding trials to substantiate the food’s nutritional value.

Before you leave for home with your dog, find out the last time he ate, how frequently he’s been fed, and what he’s used to eating. If you plan to use a different food, introduce it gradually, over a two- to three-week period, by mixing the new food with the old food. An abrupt change in diet can cause diarrhea or vomiting.

Dishes. Food and water dishes come in a variety of materials. Each has advantages and disadvantages. Metal bowls are practical, last for years, and are easy to clean; but if you use canned food that has to be refrigerated, they can’t be used to reheat a meal for your pup in the microwave. They’re also fairly lightweight, making spills more likely. Ceramic dishes are decorative, can be personalized, and are generally both dishwasher and microwave safe.

They’re heavy, cutting down on spills and tipping, but they’re also breakable. Some ceramic dishes made outside the United States contain high amounts of lead and shouldn’t be used by people or animals. Plastic dishes are lightweight, colorful, inexpensive, and easy to clean

and are also dishwasher and microwave safe.

However, food odors can cling to plastic, and some dogs love to chew on them.

Grooming items. The basic items you need are a flea comb, a wire slicker brush, pin brush or rubber grooming mitt (depending on your dog’s coat type), and a nail trimmer. A dog toothbrush and “doggie” toothpaste or cleaning solution are wise additions, too.

First-aid kit. You can buy a ready-made kit or put one together yourself. A complete firstaid kit should include a rectal thermometer, gauze bandages, scissors, bandaging tape, tweezers, antibiotic ointment, a needleless syringe for liquid medication, cotton swabs and cotton balls, hydrogen or syrup of ipecac to induce vomiting, and activated charcoal tablets to absorb poisons. Other useful items include a blanket and towel, a cold pack or a plastic bag to use as an ice pack, and rubber gloves. It’s also a good idea to include your veterinarian’s phone number, the phone number of the animal emergency hospital, and a firstaid handbook in the kit.

Toys. If you don’t provide dog toys to help your canine burn his boundless energy, he’ll find some of his own-like your shoes, your tennis racquet, or even your portable radio. To channel his energy in the right direction, provide toys to exercise not only your pup’s body but also his brain. A sturdy chew toy made of hard rubber will satisfy the urge to chew and soothe a puppy’s aching mouth when new teeth are coming in. The noise from a squeaky toy is a surefire canine attention grabber-just be sure the noisemaker inside can’t be detached and swallowed. A soft stuffed animal is the toy of choice for many dogs. Some curl up with it; others shake it and toss it in the air.

Always choose a well-made stuffed toy, with no button eyes, bells, ribbons, or other attachments that could be easily chewed and swallowed. Finally, never give your dog anything as a toy resembling something you want him to leave alone-an old shoe, for instance. It’s almost impossible for him to make the distinction between the shoe you want him to chew and the closet full of shoes you don’t.

Bed. Your puppy will enjoy having a soft place to curl up and nap after playtime. From cushions to custom couches, paisley to plaid, there is an infinite variety of beds to suit not only each dog but also each decor. Choose a well-constructed, machine-washable bed. A wicker bed is classic, but remember, a puppy is a chewer and can easily destroy this kind of bed.

Vaccinations You can start your puppy’s vaccinations from 8 weeks of age and they will usually have the final part of the primary course 2 weeks later. Your puppy can go out for walks 7 days after the final vaccination.

Diseases covered by vaccination include: Distemper A highly contagious viral disease that can affect all unvaccinated dogs. It affects all of the main organ systems, producing symptoms of coughing, sneezing, vomiting, diarrhoea and in the later stages fits and paralysis.

Hepatitis A serious and often fatal disease that infects the liver and is often fatal. Symptoms include; vomiting, diarrhoea, dehydration, abdominal pain and jaundice.

Parvovirus A highly contagious viral disease.

Symptoms include; vomiting, diarrhoea usually

with blood that leads to dehydration, shock and is usually fatal. The virus can be infective for many weeks in the environment, so no direct contact with infected dogs is needed to catch the Parvovirus.

Leptospirosis Two forms of this disease exist: one form that affects the kidney and another that attacks the liver. Both forms can affect humans (“Weil’s” disease). The bacteria is caught from rats/mice directly or through their urine or from drainage water. Infection can result in kidney damage in later life.

Para influenza and Bordetella Both these diseases are part of the kennel cough or contagious respiratory syndrome and are highly infectious, producing a severe inflammation of the windpipe. This is similar to “Whooping Cough”.

There is a myth that dogs only contract Kennel Cough from being in kennels - this is not the case! Your dog can contract it anywhere it is in contact with other dogs - training classes, dog shows, and even out on walks.

— www.animal.discovery.com

26

Opinion FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2013

Anarchy at door, West tries to rebuild the Libyan army

By Patrick Markey

O

n a dusty parade ground outside Tripoli, young recruits march and bark out slogans for the new Libyan army that Western powers hope can turn the tide on militias threatening to engulf the North African country in anarchy. Their boots are new and their fatigues pressed, but Libya’s army recruits will need more than drills to take on the hardened militiamen, Islamist fighters and political rivalries testing their OPEC nation’s stability.

Two years after NATO missiles helped rebels drive out Muammar Gaddafi, Libya is under siege from former rebel fighters who now flex their military muscle to make demands on the state, seize oilfields and squabble over postwar spoils. With Libya’s army still in the making, Western powers are keen to halt chaos in the key European oil supplier and stop illicit arms spilling across North Africa.

Prime Minister Ali Zeidan last month stood by in London as US Secretary of State John Kerry and Britain’s William Hague pledged support. Just weeks earlier, Zeidan himself was briefly abducted from a Tripoli hotel by militiamen. Everyone agrees Libya needs help. But after four decades of Gaddafi rule, Libya’s stuttering decision-making, fragile leadership and chronic disorganization hamper cooperation.

Infighting between broadly liberal and Islamist camps in the assembly, and their network of militia allies, muddies Western efforts to stabilize a country where NATO’s intervention was seen as a model two years ago. “What happens next depends on outside pressure. If we don’t make a compromise, we’ll lose Libya,” said Tofiq Al-Shahibi, a leader with the National Forces Alliance party. “If we think we can build our country without outside help, we will fail.”

Libya’s new army is already being tested.

The worst clashes in Tripoli since 2011 killed more than 40 people last month, forcing quasilegal militias to withdraw from the capital and leave the nascent army to patrol for now. In Benghazi, where Islamist militants assaulted the US consulate last year killing four Americans including the ambassador, Libya’s special forces are now taking on the same hardline group Washington blames for the September 2012 attack.

Turkey, Italy, and Britain are leading the way with promises to train around 8,000 troops and police in skills from infantry basics to forensics.

Other recruits are graduating from programs in Jordan. But Western military support is in its infancy. The army struggles even to pin down how many troops it has, including new recruits, ex-Gaddafi soldiers and militiamen drafted into the ranks. As in other countries where Arab Spring revolts ousted autocrats, Libya’s messy path from Gaddafi’s rule is complicating Western efforts.

Parliament is deadlocked between the mainly liberal National Forces Alliance, often linked to militia fighters from the mountain redoubt of Zintan, and the Justice and Construction party or JCP, a wing of the Muslim Brotherhood, frequently associated with fighters from coastal Misrata and Tripoli.

Disputes run deep through the interior and defense ministries, where former rebels, including hardline Islamists, have been reintegrated and put on the state payroll in an attempt to control their fighters. “We can do capacity building and training and advice, but

BENGHAZI: Protesters raise up a placard reading in Arabic ‘I love Benghazi’ during a demonstration in front of the Tibesti hotel in support of the Libyan Army and Police and against unlawful militia groups in the eastern city of Benghazi, Libya. — AFP ultimately if the Libyans don’t sort out the basic political problem then it is all on the margins,” one Western diplomat said. “They need to come to some national consensus about what kind of country they want.”

BAGGAGE Former fighters have plagued Libya’s central government since the fall of Tripoli in August 2011 when rebels from rival cities into the capital and entrenched themselves in fiefdoms. This year former rebel commanders in the east and tribes in the west have taken over gas pipelines, ports and oilfields, cutting off crude shipments to demand ethnic or regional rights. Balanced against those militia, officials say the army has 5,000 troops in training overseas and 10,000 in Libya. At least 3,000 were in Tripoli after the militia withdrawal last month and special forces units are in Benghazi, one diplomat said.

Italy and Turkey are training police. Britain will start early next year giving training to 2,000 infantry troops with instruction mostly given overseas. Washington is still considering cooperation proposals, including a plan for groups of Libyan soldiers to rotate though Bulgaria for training. Adm William McRaven, the commander of US Special Operations Command, has said the U.S. military was working to train 5,000 to 7,000 Libyans. He acknowledged a risk that some recruits tied to militias may not have “clean records.”

“We all recognize the circumstances that are here. This is a new state, this is a developing state, that carries some baggage with it,” US Ambassador Deborah Jones told reporters this week. “I am very optimistic.” So much of the training takes place overseas because few of

Libya’s partners are willing to commit advisors on the ground. Turkey trained 800 police cadets who graduated in February, but so far Libya has been unable to send a second batch because of state “decision-making” problems, one official said.

“We set up training. On day one, no one shows up. The second day, they promise us eight recruits, and only two show up. It’s frustrating,” another diplomat said. Lack of modern equipment, basic skill levels and limited army facilities make training difficult; Gaddafi-era rivalries between departments mean coordination is often non-existent.

Some Libyan forces start from scratch. Coast guards, for example, often went out without life-jackets before training started and borrowed fishing vessels to make voyages to sea.

“They are trying to reform a non-system, they are trying to reform what didn’t operate and make it into a rational system at break-neck speed,” said Peter Rundell, deputy head of an EU mission that trains border guards and customs workers.

GUNS AND DISTRUST Increasing Western aid could not come too soon for Zeidan’s fragile government. The Libyan premier may now see a chance to capitalize on growing popular discontent with the militias to speed up recruitment and regain some control of the capital. Tripoli’s residents are frustrated. Gunmen armed with anti-aircraft cannons on trucks earlier this year besieged ministries to force political demands on the assembly and have fought turf wars in the capital and Benghazi.

One Tripoli battle at the start of November was sparked by a personal feud after one mili-

tia briefly arrested a leader from a rival group for driving an unlicensed car. He was freed, but returned with his militiamen and a gun battle broke out. Armed protests at oil ports and production facilities have cut the country’s oil exports to 10 percent of the normal 1.4 million barrels per day output and forced the government to import fuel and cut back on electricity in the capital.

November’s clashes in Tripoli were sparked when angry residents marched on the base of a militia from Misrata to demand they leave the capital. Gunmen opened fire with anti-aircraft guns fastened to a truck. Faced with popular anger, the Misratans and rival Zintani brigades pulled out of their bases, where army patrols and police are now stationed. Some fighters agreed to join the regular army; others left with their heavy weaponry. “Each one wants to keep their weapons, not because of the government, but because they are aware the others didn’t hand theirs over yet. To be on the safe side,” said Saleh Gaouda, a lawmaker allied to Libya’s Islamists. At the 2nd Brigade army camp outside Tripoli, recruits are keen to sign up, dumping their bags, blankets and baseball caps on the parade ground before drill officers in aviator glasses run them through their first day of training. Officers complain of a lack of space at the camp, where recruits get three months of basic training in army discipline and fitness before they get near any weapons. But they sense a shift in the military’s fortune. “We are getting more and more everyday,” base commander, Brigadier Faituri Gabil said.

“Everything needs time, we are just starting and it is difficult. We have lots of militias and lots of different ideas, now the army is winning.”—Reuters

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2013 www.kuwaittimes.net

SPAIN,SEVILLA. A rider performs a show with a horse at the Sicab International Horse Show of Spain, on December 4, 2013 in Sevilla. — AFP

Beauty FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2013

Go for gold!

The surprising anti-aging benefits of a gold facial

G

old has always been renowned for its value, various uses and beauty properties. Every culture viewed gold as a sign of wealth. The ancient Greeks valued gold especially, and believed it had the ability to rejuvenate their skin. Even Cleopatra was rumored to sleep in a gold mask nightly to keep her skin youthful. In modern times you can find gold put to use for your beauty in the form of the gold facial. Learn how this luxurious treatment works, and how it lives up to the Greeks long held belief that gold would help rejuvenate the skin.

What is the gold facial?

This facial is a mask made of 24 carat gold foil. This treatment is useful in reducing the appearance of wrinkles and lines. The soft composition of the metal makes it easily absorbed into the skin. All skin types benefit from this procedure. The gold facial mask will eliminate toxins and reduce the appearance of sun damage. In studies this gold facial mask helped cells regenerate better. It also helped reduce acne because of its antibacterial properties.

Before the gold facial is applied your skin is exfoliated and a turmeric mask may be applied to prep the way for the gold mask.

The gold facial then commences with a gold based cream or gel.

These usually also contain honey, saffron and sandalwood powder. It is then followed by the application of thin sheets of gold foil.

This facial should only be applied by trained aesthetician although there are now various products for sale for home use.

What are the benefits of gold?

Gold has been used since ancient times because it offers various medicinal benefits. One of these benefits it its ability to be absorbed into the skin. It is an anti-bacterial and anti-microbial which makes it perfect for pulling out toxins and impurities from the skin to make your skin healthy, glowing and bright. Gold increases the blood flow of the skin helping with collagen and elastin. Gold is very good at firming and tightening the skin.

Here are other benefits that a 24k gold facial mask has: Quickens cell renewal leaving you glowing Fades age spots Makes the skin more elastic It reverses environmental damage Eliminates the look of tired skin Increases oxygen in the skin Are there any side effects?

There are no known side effects of undergoing the gold facial.

The gold facial is a safe non-invasive alternative to cosmetic surgery. Because of all of these fine qualities that gold has this makes it ideal when used in the gold facial treatment to make the skin look younger. The cost of this treatment varies depending on the spa that you choose to go to, but there is one catch: the results are not instant. And by not instant this means that you have to keep going for a total of 6 times to get the optimum results from the gold mask facial. With the price per treatment starting at around $95 dollars the cost will add up considerably after 6 times before you start to see the results that people are praising it for. If you want to keep your skin youthful there are other, more affordable methods, that offer quicker results. The LifeCell moisturizer, for example, costs $189.00 for 2.54 ounces and offers immediate results. If you want to get rejuvenated skin there is no need to turn to gold, many creams out there have already proved themselves far more effective and affordable.

The gold facial sounds very, very tempting but there are mixed reviews. Some people claim that the facial’s results doesn’t show up until days later while some people report that they saw no improvement and were disappointing that they wasted their money. Gold does have many wonderful skin enhancing properties, but as of now there are still many other skin care products that rival it. It seems like a gold facial is more popular because of the fact that it contains gold rather than its true effectiveness.

Nevertheless, it will probably remain a very popular treatment due to the fact that it contains real gold and is viewed as a luxury treatment. Would you ever get this facial made out of gold? — www.lifecellantiagingtips.com

Benefits of gold facial mask

G

old is known to be one of the softest metals, which is readily absorbed by the skin. Thus, gold facial is primarily preferred for reducing file lines on the face and to prevent ageing. Given below are some of the other benefits of such a facial.

Gold facial penetrates the skin and is believed to have revitalizing and rejuvenating effects Such a facial is touted to facilitate the removal of toxins and wastes Gold facial is also said to assist lymphatic drainage It can help improve blood circulation and bring a glow to the face Enhanced skin elasticity is another one of the benefits of gold facial Gold facial is renowned for accelerating cell renewal It is touted as a product that can reverse oxidation damage

The next step would comprise of removing the dead cells, by making use of a cream that is mixed with gold dust and honey.

Now is the time to use the cream that is mixed with saffron, gold foil and sandalwood powder. Use it to massage the face for 10 minutes.

The combination of gold foil, aloe vera gel and turmeric pack will be used for the next 10 minutes, with the help of a special instrument. This will melt the gold foil and help the skin absorb all of its good qualities.

Next, you have to apply a cold compression on the entire face, this time making use of the lavender lotion.

The final step will comprise of applying a face pack of honey, mixed with the gold foil. Keep it on for 10 minutes and then rinse off.

Find your face glowing with the radiance of gold! www.beautyfacemasks.co.uk

How to do a gold facial First of all, you have to cleanse the skin properly, by making use of a cleanser that has been made with marigold extract.

Food FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2013

All things

chocolatey White-Hot Hot Chocolate Ingredients Original recipe makes 4 servings 3 1/4 cups 2 percent milk 6 ounces white chocolate, chopped 1 egg, beaten 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon Directions 1. Place the white chocolate in a medium metal bowl over a pan of barely simmering water, or in the top half of a double boiler. Allow the chocolate to melt, stirring occasionally until smooth. Stir in cayenne pepper and cinnamon. Whisk in the egg until smooth.

2. Gradually whisk in one cup of the milk until completely incorporated, about 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in remaining milk, and heat until hot, but not simmering. You do not want a skin to form on top of the milk. It will be ready to drink when either the taste of the cayenne is masked by the temperature of the milk (the spiciness of the pepper will remain), or when the hot chocolate is at your desired temperature. Ladle the hot chocolate into mugs and garnish with a sprinkle of cinnamon.

Creamy Hot Cocoa Ingredients Original recipe makes 4 servings 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 3/4 cup white sugar 1 pinch salt 1/3 cup boiling water 3 1/2 cups milk 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 cup half-and-half cream Directions 1. Combine the cocoa, sugar and pinch of salt in a saucepan.

Blend in the boiling water. Bring this mixture to an easy boil while you stir. Simmer and stir for about 2 minutes. Watch that it doesn’t scorch. Stir in 3 1/2 cups of milk and heat until very hot, but do not boil! Remove from heat and add vanilla.

Divide between 4 mugs. Add the cream to the mugs of cocoa to cool it to drinking temperature.

Peanut Buttercup Hot Chocolate Ingredients Original recipe makes 1 serving 1 (1 ounce) envelope instant hot chocolate mix 2 teaspoons creamy peanut butter Directions 1. In a mug, prepare chocolate mix as directed on package. Stir

in 1 or 2 teaspoons peanut butter.

1

Caramel Mocha Hot Chocolate Ingredients Original recipe makes 6 servings 4 cups whole milk 1/4 cup sugar 2 teaspoons instant coffee 6 ounces chopped bittersweet chocolate (reserve some for drink garnish) 10 pieces Werther’s Original Baking Caramels, unwrapped 1/2 cup whipped cream Directions 1. Heat milk, sugar and coffee in a medium saucepot over medium-high heat until boiling. Reduce heat to low and add caramels. Stir frequently until the caramels have completely melted. Pour into mugs or cups and top with whipped cream and chocolate.

Caramel Cream Swirl Hot Chocolate Ingredients Original recipe makes 4 servings 1/2 cup Smucker’s(r) Chocolate Sundae Syrups Ice Cream Topping 4 cups milk 2 tablespoons Smucker’s(r) Caramel Sundae Syrups Ice Cream Topping 1 cup Extra Creamy whipped topping, thawed

tablespoon granulated sugar Cinnamon Whipped Cream (see below) Stick cinnamon Cinnamon Whipped Cream: 3/4 cup whipping cream 2 tablespoons powdered sugar 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions 1. Combine chocolate syrup and milk in a 2 quart saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the chocolate milk begins to steam and mixture is well blended. Remove from heat.

2. Drizzle caramel syrup into a bottom corner of a 1 quart resealable plastic bag. Place 2 heaping tablespoons whipped cream over caramel syrup. Repeat drizzling syrup and adding whipped cream two more times. Close bag gently removing all air. Cut a 1/2 inch wide corner off the bottom of the bag.

3. Ladle the hot chocolate into four serving cups. Squeeze topping from the bag in a circular motion creating a caramel cream swirl over each drink.

Directions 1. In a 3-quart heavy saucepan, combine half-and-half, Ghirardelli(r) 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Chips, Ghirardelli Sweet Ground Chocolate and Cocoa, and sugar.

Cook over medium-high heat, whisking constantly, until just boiling and mixture is smooth.

2. Serve immediately in demitasse cups or shot glasses with Cinnamon Whipped Cream and stick cinnamon.

3. In a chilled medium bowl, combine whipping cream, powdered sugar, and cinnamon. Beat with chilled beaters of an electric mixer on medium speed until soft peaks form (tips curl).

Hot Sipping Chocolate with Cinnamon Whipped Cream Ingredients Original recipe makes 12 servings 4 cups half-and-half, light cream, or whole milk 1 cup Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Chips 1/2 cup Ghirardelli Sweet Ground Chocolate and Cocoa

— www.allrecipes.com

Tr a v e l FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2013

Germany is wunderbar!

What to see when you’re in Germany

T

hough it remains far less well known or understood by outsiders than some of its neighbours, since reunification Germany has at last gained a higher profile as a place to visit, thanks partly to the remarkable resurgence of Berlin, one of the most fascinating and exciting cities in Europe. But the appeal of the reunified Germany is not limited to the capital. The 2006 football World Cup was something of a turning point, both with regards to Germany’s image abroad and to its own self-image, rehabilitating the idea of German patriotism for the first time since the war. When football fans descended on cities all over the country, they discovered a friendly, multiethnic and multicultural nation that was, for the most part, at ease with itself, finally happy to fly its own flag in a harmless display of national pride.

It’s now two decades since the events of 1989 swept away the Berlin Wall and brought to an uplifting end a turbulent and agonizing century for Germany, ill-served at crucial points in its brief history as a united nation-state by erratic and adventurous rulers who twice led it into disaster - in 1918, as Kaiser Wilhelm II’s vainglorious dream of empire ended in defeat, starvation and revolution; and at the end of World War II, as Hitler’s vile race-war rebounded in terrible fashion on the German people who had chosen him as their leader. There followed a period of forty-five years in which not one Germany but two faced each other across a tense international divide - the so-called Iron Curtain - throughout the years of the Cold War. Political fragmentation is nothing new in Germany. From the tenth century until the early nineteenth, the Holy Roman Empire provided only a loose semblance of sovereignty over a vast collection of states, and it’s this jumbled history, as much as the country’s varied geography, that explains Germany’s sheer diversity. According to an old German expression, city air makes you free, and for centuries many of Germany’s cities governed themselves without feudal overlords.

In stark contrast was the absolutist yoke of the feudal states, which ranged from substantial kingdoms like Prussia, Saxony or Bavaria to tiny landgraviates and prince-bishoprics. Yet each made its contribution to Germany’s heritage, in the architectural and cultural splendour of many a former Residenzstadt. The Lutheran Reformation and its aftermath left their mark too: northern Germany is predominantly Protestant, the south more Catholic, yet the division is not clear cut. Staunchly Protestant towns alternate with devoutly Catholic ones, while in some places the two traditions share a single church.

Germany’s contribution to the world of classical music is undeniable, and provides a powerful pretext for a visit, whether to experience the glories of the Berlin Philharmonic or of Wagner’s Ring at Bayreuth, or to follow in the footsteps of great composers: Bach in Leipzig, Beethoven in Bonn. Germany’s reputation as the cradle of modernism is also well deserved, and a pilgrimage to the Bauhaus in Dessau or the Weissenhofsiedlung in Stuttgart is sure to please design fans. German modernism was preceded by the older traditions of the Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and Rococo, each of which left a rich legacy of artistic and architectural treasures. Germany’s prowess in fine art is less well known, yet from the pioneering realism of Albrecht Durer to the ethereal Romanticism of Caspar David Friedrich, it’s a powerful tradition that is well worth discovering. Most German cities of any size have excellent galleries, with Berlin and Cologne hubs of the European contemporary art scene.

The pleasures of a visit to Germany are not only intellectual.

Germany’s food culture is traditionally characterized by wholesome but hearty dishes, a vast array of items and excellent but calorific cakes. Yet the impact of immigration, travel and increasing culinary ambition has been powerful, and most towns nowadays offer a wide selection of international options, usually including Balkan, Greek, Italian and Turkish.

Though the dangers of over-indulgence are ever present, so too is the antidote. The tradition of the Kur or spa visit has endured to a far greater extent in Germany than elsewhere, and if you want to unwind in saline or hot springs there are innumerable spa towns up and down the country. In summer, the nation’s endless forests and mountains play host to hikers and cyclists while the Alps tempt international visitors with an excellent array of downhill ski runs in winter.

One unsung pleasure of a visit to Germany is the opportunity to meet its people. The officious neighbour who complains if you don’t hang your socks out to dry in alphabetical order may not be entirely fictional, but you’re far more likely to be struck by the warmth and open-mindedness of Germany’s people - and particularly its young people. You can have fun testing how liberal a place is by observing how the locals react to the red Ampelmann when crossing the street: the bigger and more laidback the city, the more likely they are to ignore the no-jaywalking rule. In contrast, the sight of upright citizens waiting patiently for the green light despite an absence of traffic as far as the eye can see is still one of the more comic pleasures of small-town Germany.

BERLIN AND BRANDENBURG As Germany’s largest, most happening city, Berlin’s lure is obvious. Its pace is frantic: new buildings sprout up; nightlife is frenetic, trends whimsical; the air crackles with creativity and graffiti is ubiquitous; even brilliant exhibitions and installations are quickly replaced. The results are mesmerizing and couldn’t contrast more with the sleepy, marshy lowlands of the surrounding state of Brandenburg, whose small regional towns, empty rambling churches, crumbling Gothic monasteries and faded palaces hint at a mighty Prussian past.

Today, as the frantic forces of renewal and regeneration calm and Berlin enters the final phase of patching itself up after its tem-

Tr a v e l FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2013

pestuous twentieth century, an exciting mix of modern buildings, thoughtful monuments and world-class museums has emerged from the jungle of cranes. Thankfully many fascinating reminders of the city’s past have been left intact too. Yet it’s not all heavyweight history and high culture; Berlin is also endlessly vibrant: there’s always something new, challenging and quirky going on and every year it seems to be a little more cosmopolitan, international and mesmerizing.

Though rubbing shoulders with Berlin, Brandenburg’s capital, Potsdam, is a staid and provincial world apart, if nevertheless attractive and rewarding thanks to generations of Hohenzollerns who favoured the city and effectively doubled its size with their fabulous palaces and gardens, royal piles and follies. This provides a lovely breather from Berlin’s intoxicating pace, as does the rest of its sleepy Brandenburg hinterland. Here the main workaday cities - including Brandenburg an der Havel, Frankfurt an der Oder and Cottbus - are best avoided in favour of cruising Brandenburg’s flat, tree-lined minor roads through a gentle patchwork of beech forests, fields of dazzling rapeseed and sunflowers and heathland, all sewn together by a maze of rivers, lakes and waterways.

This landscape forms the backdrop for a disparate collection of attractions which include the former concentration camp Sachsenhausen; the bucolic town of Rheinsberg, with its palace, lakes, forests and earthy pottery; a dignified ruined monastery at Chorin; an impressive ship hoist at Niederfinow; and the Unteres Odertal Nationalpark, an ecologically important wetland environment on the Polish border. It’s the countryside that’s likewise the main attraction east of Berlin, where a series of low hills interrupt Brandenburg’s plains, ambitiously known as the Markische Schweiz, or the Switzerland of Brandenburg. Finally, Brandenburg’s most heavily touristed area is the Spreewald, centred on L¸bbenau. Its web of gentle waterways is particularly popular for punting and canoeing, and the region is made all the more interesting by the presence of Sorbs, Germany’s largest indigenous non-German community, while the astonishing array of local gherkins, sold as snacks on the streets, adds an off-beat attraction.

THE ALPS AND EASTERN BAVARIA All the images that foreigners think most typically Bavarian accumulate in profusion in the region south of Munich, where “Mad” King Ludwig’s palaces preside over dramatically scenic alpine settings. Here, onion-domed church towers rise above brilliant green meadows, impossibly blue lakes fringe dark forests and the sparkling snow-capped peaks of the Bavarian Alps define the southern horizon. Villages are tourist-brochure quaint, while traditional Tracht is by no means the fancy dress it can sometimes seem in Munich. Politically and socially, this is Bavaria at its most Catholic and conservative, though sheer numbers of visitors nowadays add a certain cosmopolitan sheen, particularly to major resorts such as Fussen or Garmisch-Partenkirchen - Germany’s highest, and most famous ski centre.

Eastern Bavaria could scarcely be more different: in place of a wall of mountains, it is defined by one of the great cultural and trading thoroughfares of Central Europe, the River Danube.

Consequently its ancient cities - notably the perfectly preserved, former imperial free city of Regensburg and the prince-bishopric of Passau - bear the legacy of Rome and the influence of Italy with considerable grace, while even relatively modest towns such as Straubing and Landshut preserve architectural wonders from their distant golden ages. Only along its eastern boundary with the Czech Republic do natural wonders again triumph over cultural richness, in the vast, relatively sparsely populated forests of the Bayerischer Wald (Bavarian Forest).

Getting around the region is remarkably easy: Regensburg, Passau, Garmisch-Partenkirchen and the Berchtesgadener Land are all linked into the Autobahn network, while train services connect Munich with the major towns and reach into the Alps as far as Fussen, Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Berchtesgaden. Where train services end, buses take over, with services linking at least the most important tourist sites relatively frequently.

MUNICH AND CENTRAL BAVARIA “Laptop and Lederhosen” is the expression Germans use to explain the Bavarian paradox: the unlikely combination of social conservatism and business acumen that has made it a powerhouse of the European economy. Nowhere is the contrast sharper than in its capital. Munich is much loved by the cashmere-clad Schickies (yuppies) for whom it is, self-evidently, the “northernmost city in Italy”. Yet to detractors it’s also the food-obsessed Millionendorf - a village with a million inhabitants. Beyond Munich, the urbanized and industrialized heartlands of Bavarian Swabia and Upper Bavaria display similar contrasts, with perfectly preserved old towns alongside world-beating manufacturing industries. This is not yet the Bavaria of popular clichÈ: there aren’t even any mountains.

It is, above all, a region of urban glories. As capital of the Duchy that Napoleon expanded and raised to the status of a king-

scape that reaches near-mountainous heights in the Taunus and Rhon.

Other than Frankfurt, the towns are mostly small, but they’re an appealing bunch, from picture-book cathedral towns such as Fritzlar, Limburg an der Lahn and Wetzlar to the proud university town of Marburg or the handsome former prince-bishopric of Fulda. Smaller than them all, yet well worth a visit, is the tiny ducal seat of Weilburg. In the north, Kassel lures visitors for the documenta contemporary art fair, but then surprises with its exceptional Baroque gardens and excellent museums.

dom, Munich has the air - and cultural clout - of a capital city to this day, though its heyday as capital of the kingdom of Bavaria lasted little more than a century. To the west, the Swabian city of Augsburg has far older claims to urban greatness, which have left their mark in the city’s splendid Renaissance core. In the north, Ingolstadt balances respect for its history with pride in its industrial prowess, notably as the home of the car manufacturer Audi.

Smaller towns too retain memories of past glories, from the picture-book Residenzstadt of Neuburg an der Donau to the little ecclesiastical city of Eichstatt. Only south of Munich does the landscape come to the fore, in the rolling lakeland of the FunfSeen-Land, where the Alps are at last a discernible presence, if only on the horizon. Yet even in the south, Landsberg am Lech provides a glorious urban counterpoint to the approaching mountains.

Getting around this densely populated part of Bavaria is relatively straightforward, with Munich’s suburban rail system extending far out into the surrounding countryside and the other major population centres linked to it by Autobahn and rail.

Moreover, Munich’s airport - Germany’s second busiest after Frankfurt - ensures it couldn’t be easier to get into, or out of, the region. Yet even here, the Bavarian paradox holds true; the efficient modern airport is named after one of postwar Germany’s most reactionary politicians, the long-time Bavarian premier and leader of the conservative CSU party, Franz Josef Strauss.

HESSE For many visitors - particularly those arriving at Frankfurt airport - Hesse is their first taste of Germany. It can be a disconcerting experience, for at first sight there’s little about Frankfurt’s steel-and-glass modernity or its easy internationalism to summon up childhood notions of a Hansel-and-Gretel Germany. Yet dig a little deeper and you’ll find reminders of the world-famous German figures who were either born here, made their home in Hesse or passed this way: of Goethe in Frankfurt; of the Brothers Grimm in Marburg and Kassel; and of St Boniface - the English bishop who became the patron saint of Germany - in Fritzlar and Fulda. In Darmstadt, meanwhile, there are reminders of Germany’s complex relationship to the British royal family.

The modern Land of Hesse was created by the occupying Americans after World War II, who joined the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau - itself an amalgamation of the old Electorate of Hesse-Kassel, the comic-opera statelet of Hesse-Homburg and the Duchy of Nassau - to the former Grand Duchy of HesseDarmstadt. Confusing? Perhaps. But the complexity of its history helps explain the richness and diversity of Hesse’s attractions. If it’s big-city buzz that you crave, then Frankfurt - Germany’s fifth largest city and the financial capital of the euro-zone - has much to offer, from heavyweight museums to evocative reminders of its literary, imperial and Jewish pasts. In the south, laidback Darmstadt is unmissable for fans of Jugendstil, and also a base for visiting a brace of UNESCO World Heritage sites - the Messel fossil site and the monastery at Lorsch. The genteel spa-towns of Wiesbaden and Bad Homburg make the perfect antidote to Frankfurt’s urban stress. Away from the Rhine-Main region, Hesse is archetypal Germany, with a rolling and often forested land-

THURINGIA Culturally as much as geographically Thuringia (Thuringen) is the heartland of Germany. When the Iron Curtain pulled back, West Germans were relieved to find the nation’s “green heart” was spared the social realism of which the GDR was so fond. It remains the sort of place Germans have in mind when they talk of Fruher, a time past when things were less complicated - a bucolic state where slow travel rules, and no city is over 200,000 people.

The surprise, then, is that were there a competition to decide Germany’s cultural big-hitter, flyweight Thuringia would be a finalist. This is a state of Martin Luther, Bach and Schiller. More than anyone else it is the state of Goethe. With nowhere more than a couple of hours’ drive away, Thuringia is touring country par excellence. Factor in scenic backroads that slalom through valleys and you have a bucolic state that is all about a finger on the steering wheel, sunshine-sounds on the stereo and the gentle art of pottering about, whether in small towns or on trails. Slow travel has never been so much fun.

As ever, the reason Thuringia punches far above its weight is historical. As the ruling Saxon House of Wettin bequeathed land equally between male heirs, an area that was far from large to begin with fragmented into a mosaic of small duchies - SaxeWeimar and Saxe-Gotha, for example, or Saxe-Coburg, better known in Britain as the House of Windsor. An upshot of these tinpot fiefdoms was an arts race that saw the area’s dukes woo the finest musicians, painters, poets and philosophers to their courts as testament to their learning and magnificence.

Nowhere expresses this better than Weimar, a Thuringia-inmicrocosm that lobbed the intellectual atom-bomb of the German Enlightenment, whose shockwaves were felt throughout Europe. Most cities would struggle to make such an impact, let alone a small, courtly town. Adjacent Jena has maintained its academic tradition and the student nightlife that goes with it, while Gotha and especially Eisenach have a cultural weight far above their modest size. The state capital is Erfurt, Luther’s university city and perhaps the most underrated capital in Germany thanks to its marriage of historic looks and university dynamism.

The Thuringian Forest to the south could not be more different. This is the state’s rural core, whose sleepy villages are tucked into the folds of an upland blessed by good walking and cycling trails. You can lose a happy week crisscrossing the area by bike on labelled routes or journey through its heart on the well-marked 168km Rennsteig, which traverses it. The state’s many green landscapes also include the Saale Valley at the eastern fringe of the forest region, and the Kyffhauser uplands to the north, site of the sixteenth-century Peasants’ War sparked in the overlooked historic town of Muhlhausen.

— www.roughguides.com

Health FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2013

Sweating it out in winter: Tips to stay safe outdoors D

ressing in layers, protecting your hands and feet, and paying attention to the forecast can help you stay safe and warm while exercising outdoors in cold weather.

So you don’t like grinding out miles on the treadmill or power walking the malls, but you dread exercising during cold weather. Unfortunately, cold weather can discourage even the most motivated exercisers. And if you’re not so motivated, it’s all too easy to pack away your workout gear along with your warm-weather clothing.

You don’t have to let cold weather spell the end of your exercise. With these tips for exercising during cold weather, you can stay fit, motivated and warm when the weather turns chilly.

Stay safe during cold-weather exercise Almost everyone can exercise safely during cold weather.

But if you have certain conditions, such as asthma, heart problems or Raynaud’s disease, check with your doctor before you work out in cold weather. Your doctor can review any special precautions you need based on your condition or medications you might take. The following tips can also help you stay safe and warm - while working out in the cold.

Dress in layers One of the biggest mistakes you can make while exercising in cold weather is to dress too warmly. Exercise generates a considerable amount of heat - enough to make you feel like it’s much warmer than it really is. Yet, once your sweat starts to dry, you can get chilled. The solution?

Dress in layers that you can remove as soon as you start to sweat and then put back on as needed. First, put on a thin layer of synthetic material, such as polypropylene, which draws sweat away from your body. Avoid cotton, which stays wet next to your skin. Next, add a layer of fleece or wool for insulation. Top this with a waterproof, breathable outer layer. A heavy down jacket or vest may cause you to overheat if you’re exercising hard. If you’re lean, you may need more insulation than someone who is heavier. If it’s very cold, consider wearing a face mask or scarf to warm the air before it enters your lungs.

You may need to experiment before you find a combination of clothing that works well for you based on your exercise intensity. Keep in mind, too, that stop-and-go activities, such as mixing walking with running, can make you more vulnerable to

the cold if you repeatedly work up a sweat and then get chilly.

Protect your hands, feet and ears When it’s cold, blood flow is concentrated on your body’s core, leaving your hands and feet vulnerable to frostbite. Try wearing a thin pair of gloves under a pair of heavier gloves or mittens lined with wool or fleece. Don the mittens or gloves before your hands become cold and then remove them if your hands begin to sweat.

Considering buying exercise shoes a half-size or one size larger than usual to allow for thick thermal socks or an extra pair of regular socks. And don’t forget a hat or headband to protect your ears, which also are vulnerable to frostbite.

Pay attention to weather conditions and wind chill Exercising when it’s cold and raining can make you more vulnerable to the cold. If you get soaked, you may not be able to keep your core body temperature high enough, and layering won’t help if your clothes are wet. If it’s extremely cold, you may need to take your exercise indoors or skip it for a day or two.

Wind chill extremes can make exercising outdoors unsafe even if you dress warmly. The wind can penetrate your clothes and remove the insulating layer of warm air that surrounds your body, and any exposed skin is vulnerable to frostbite.

If the temperature dips well below 0 F (-17.8 C) or the wind chill is extreme, consider taking a break or choosing an indoor activity instead, or take extra precautions if you choose to exercise outdoors anyway.

Choose appropriate gear If it’s dark when you exercise outside, wear reflective clothing. To stay steady on your feet, choose footwear with enough traction to prevent falls, especially if it’s icy or snowy. Wear a helmet while skiing, snowboarding and snowmobiling.

Consider using chemical heat packs to warm up your hands or feet.

Remember sunscreen It’s as easy to get sunburned in winter as in summer - even more so if you’re exercising in the snow or at high altitudes.

Wear a sunscreen that blocks both UVA and UVB rays and has an SPF of at least 30. Use a lip balm that contains sunscreen.

And protect your eyes from snow and ice glare with dark glasses or goggles.

Head into the wind If possible, do the second half of your workout with the wind at your back. This way, you’re less likely to get chilled, especially if you’ve worked up a sweat. This may take some planning of your exercise route before you head out the door.

Drink plenty of fluids You need to stay well hydrated when exercising in cold weather just as you do when exercising in warm weather.

Drink water or sports drinks before, during and after your workout, even if you’re not really thirsty. You can become just as dehydrated in the cold as in the heat from sweating, breathing and increased urine production, but it may be harder to notice during cold weather.

Know the signs of frostbite and hypothermia Frostbite is most common on exposed skin, such as your cheeks, nose and ears, but it also can occur on hands and feet.

Early warning signs include numbness, loss of feeling or a stinging sensation. If you suspect frostbite, get out of the cold immediately and slowly warm the affected area - but don’t rub it since that can damage your skin. If numbness continues, seek emergency care.

Exercising in cold, rainy weather increases the risk of hypothermia, as does being an older adult. Hypothermia signs and symptoms include intense shivering, slurred speech, loss of coordination and fatigue. Seek emergency help right away for possible hypothermia.

Putting it all together for cold-weather safety These tips can help you safely - and enjoyably - exercise when the weather turns chilly. But as you exercise during cold weather, continually monitor how your body feels to help prevent cold-weather injuries, such as frostbite. Consider shortening your outdoor workout or skipping it altogether during weather extremes, and know when to head home and warm up. Also, be sure to let someone know your exercise route and your expected return time, in case something does go wrong. www.mayoclinic.com

Lifestyle FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2013

This undated handout image provided by the Library of Congress shows a scene from Cecil B DeMille’s silent film ‘Male and Female’. — AP photos

This undated handout image provided by the Library of Congress shows a motion picture lobby card for DW Griffith’s’Broken Blossoms’ (1919), showing sailors standing over two bodies, lying on the dirt street in Chinatown.

Study finds most US silent films have been lost

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he vast majority of feature-length silent films made in America have been lost due to decay and neglect over the past 100 years, allowing an original 20th century art form to all but disappear, according to a study released Wednesday. The Library of Congress conducted the first comprehensive survey of silent films over the past two years and found 70 percent are believed to be lost. Of the nearly 11,000 silent feature films made in America between 1912 and 1930, the survey found only 14 percent still exist in their original format. About 11 percent of the films that survive only exist as foreign versions or on lower-quality formats.

During the rise of silent films between 1912 and 1929 - before network radio or television - going to the movies became the most popular form of entertainment. Movie theater attendance in United States averaged 46 million admissions per week in the 1920s in a country of 116 million people, according to the report.

Historian and archivist David Pierce, who conducted the study for the library, said few defunct art forms have the resonance of silent films.

“It’s a lost style of storytelling, and the best of the films are as effective with audiences today as they were when they were ini-

Police: Keri Russell’s Brooklyn home burglarized

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ew York City police say thieves broke into Keri Russell’s Brooklyn home while she was sleeping and stole a laptop, jewelry and a purse. The 37-year-old star of the FX show “The Americans” was asleep when she heard footsteps and voices at about 3 a.m.

Wednesday. Police say she then found a window and front door open and her belongings missing. She called 911 but didn’t see the intruders. It wasn’t clear if anyone else was home at the time.

Soon after, a 70-year-old neighbor awoke to find a burglar inside and called 911 with a description. Police canvassed the area and arrested a father and son. Some of the stolen property was recovered. Police say the two are being investigated as possible suspects in the burglary at Russell’s home. — AP

tially released,” he said. “When you take away dialogue from a narrative story, it actually puts quite a challenge upon the creative people involved to tell the story entirely in a visual fashion.

And it’s that limitation, I think, which makes the films so effective.” Notable films now considered lost include “Cleopatra” from 1917, “The Great Gatsby” from 1926, Lon Chaney’s “London After Midnight” from 1927, and “The Patriot” from 1928.

Films featuring early stars, including Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin and Mary Pickford still exist. The Museum of Modern Art in New York City, the Library of Congress and other archives have been preserving early films for decades. But the study notes that for every classic that survives, a half dozen have been lost. Nitrate film stock’s vulnerability to fire and deterioration contributed to the losses, along with the movie industry’s practice of neglecting or destroying prints and negatives, Pierce wrote.

Of the major film studios, MGM stood out for its early work to preserve silent films. The studio also held “Gone with the Wind” and “The Wizard of Oz” in its collection and found ongoing commercial value in old films with theatrical rereleases and TV distribution, Pierce said. So the studio invested in its film library, unlike any other, and saved 113 silent films it produced or dis-

tributed. MGM also gave prints and negatives to archives, primarily the George Eastman House in Rochester, New York. Now, 68 percent of the studio’s silent films still survive.

At the same time, Paramount Pictures, the early dominant movie studio, stands out for how few of its 1,222 silent-era features survive. The study noted Paramount had no preservation program until the 1980s, and now only 29 percent of its silentera titles or fragments can be located. Few if any other films will be found in movie studio vaults, Pierce wrote. Preservationists are now looking to foreign archives and private collections to identify any other remaining films that might be saved. Librarian of Congress James Billington wrote in the report that the nation has already lost much of the creative record from an era that brought American movies to the heights of cinematic achievement. “The loss of American silent-era feature films constitutes an alarming and irretrievable loss to our nation’s cultural record,” he wrote. — AP

Post-revolt Egypt’s TV soaps tackle taboos, real life

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hady political types, police abuses, corruption at the heart of the state: “new” topics tackled in Egypt’s popular soap operas are far removed from traditional family sagas and classic comedies. Revolution and regional competition have spurred the change in a country long the largest provider of television series to the Arab world. “Now we can talk about what Egyptians go through in real life,” said film critic Tareq El Shennawi.

It all started with Egypt’s January 2011 uprising, in the tumult of the Arab Spring, that ended up toppling president Hosni Mubarak after 30 undisputed years in power. Egyptproduced serials swung the spotlight onto previously taboo topics such as state institutions and the security forces. Light caricatures of everyday life switched to ambitious projects reflecting the political and social changes sweeping the country. “Before, it was impossible to discuss the police without the unions getting involved,” said Ahmed Fuad Selim,

who played a corrupt general in the hit 2012 serial “Taraf Talet” (Third Party, in Arabic).

Such a role would not have existed before the revolution, said Selim, who featured in several films by the celebrated late director Youssef Chahine. Now, “all state institutions are game.” When he first began writing for the small screen, Mohammed Amin-one of a new generation of Egyptian scriptwriters-had to be careful about how he depicted police characters. “You couldn’t talk about police corruption,” he said. “At least not directly.” The image of the force was sacrosanct and any “bad” policeman had to be counterbalanced by a “good” one. “But now anything goes,” said Amin.—AFP

Lifestyle FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2013

Sundance reveals 2014 dramatic film lineup

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British musician Phil Collins gestures as he talks to a reporter about his Little Dreams Foundation, Wednesday in Miami Beach, Fla Co.—AP

Phil Collins says he is writing songs again

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hil Collins, the former Genesis drummer whose earnest ballads made him a star in the 1980s, is penning songs again. Although he dreads the idea of extended touring because it would take him away from his five children, Collins says he has missed the creativity of music since he retired in 2010. Collins spoke in Miami Beach on Wednesday. He was in town to promote the expansion of his nonprofit Little Dreams Foundation, which he cofounded with his now ex-wife Orianne Collins to help youth realize their artistic, musical and athletic dreams.

“I’ve decided I kind of missed that writing creative stuff, so I’m trying to get back into writing, and that’s getting into a certain headspace and personal drive,” he said. There’s no magic for getting into the groove, “just banging away at it,” he said.

Sometimes the lyrics come first, sometimes the music. “I’ve got some lyrical ideas on paper that are good. I’ve started to thrash around at the piano. A lot of it is hit and miss,” he said. “All you need is something to hang an idea on and you’re off.”

Collins got his start as the drummer for Genesis in the 1970s before becoming a solo star with hits such as “In the Air Tonight” and “Against All Odds.” Collins said putting on live shows is fun, but he doesn’t like missing his children’s birthdays. “I’ve been like that pretty much most of my life, and I don’t want to do that anymore,” he said.

Collins has three adult children from his first two marriages and two young sons with Orianne.

They divorced in 2008. Pressed when he might it the road again, he said it wouldn’t be before the end of next year. He didn’t say whether it would be a solo show or a Genesis reunion. Collins said he gets a kick out of watching his concerts with his young sons Nicholas and Matthew.

He said they ask him tough questions, like why he makes a crazy laugh on the single “Mama” from Genesis’ 1983 self-titled album. The answer: It was tribute to the granddaddy of hip hop Grandmaster Flash.

“But they don’t know who Grandmaster Flash is,” he said. Collins credits his boys’

interest in his concerts for encouraging him to even consider getting back on the stage.

Critics also give him pause about returning.

“I can’t believe that amount of hate that is out there,” he said, referring to the online reaction to his declaration earlier this year that he might consider touring.

Even after all these years, the Grammyand Oscar-winning artist still takes critics to heart. Over the years, they’ve often panned his pop tunes for being safe, bland and overproduced.”Knowing that I’m just thinking of it, and someone saying, ‘No, God, please don’t do that!’ It kind of undermines your confidence,” he said. “We’re all sensitive chaps, you know.” Collins said he was pleasantly surprised at how certain songs have held up over time, such as “Easy Lover” and “In the Air Tonight,” which was featured in the 1980’s hit TV show “Miami Vice.”

“That’s going to be on my headstone. He came. He wrote ‘In the Air Tonight.’ He ... died.” As for his charity, Collins said he often used to receive letters from kids asking how to break into the music business, so he and Orianne decided to create the nonprofit to help those without resources get coaching, training and advice. At first, they turned to their friends in the music industry to serve as mentors and later expanded to sports and visual arts.

The Miami chapter is the first in the US Children are selected based on talent, motivation and enthusiasm. Once accepted, they work with mentors, who have in the past included Tina Turner, Natalie Cole and others. Collins doesn’t promise the 10 or so youth who will be selected each year a guaranteed path to fame. “But we’re giving kids with the same kinds of ambitions I had solid ways to prepare,” he said. Collins said he was a lucky man. “All I set out to do was to earn living playing drums, you know?

And as luck would have it, I’ve surpassed that.”—AP

“Song One,” starring Anne Hathaway, is cenadies will continue to drive the feature lineup at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival tered in Brooklyn’s music scene. And the 1970s-set “Low Down” features a stellar cast, as Robert Redford’s independent-cinema including Elle Fanning, Glenn Close, Red Hot fair celebrates its 30th anniversary next month Chili Peppers bassist Flea and “Game of in Park City, Utah. At the 2013 festival, female Thrones” stars Peter Dinklage and Lena directors dominated the competition and for Headey.

2014, women once again reign supreme - only Sundance is known for launching the this time, comedians eclipse the layout. careers of promising new talent, like first-time Actresses like Amy Poehler, Kristen Wiig, Molly Shannon, Aubrey Plaza, Amy Sedaris and writer-director Ryan Coogler, who premiered Jenny Slate all appear in features playing at the the harrowing “Fruitvale Station” at last January’s festival - a film that earned three upcoming fest, according to a list released Independent Spirit Award nominations, includWednesday. And In the case of Wiig, Shannon ing best first feature. This time around, potenand Plaza, we have funny gals turning serious. tial breakouts include first-time actor Josh Following her dramatic turn in the upcoming Wiggins, who plays opposite Aaron Paul in a “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” Wiig will play film about a reckless and displaced teen. the twin sister of fellow SNL alum Bill Hader in And in the festival’s Next category, Desiree “The Skeleton Twins.” In the film, which also Akhavan, who wrote, directed and stars in the stars Luke Wilson and Ty Burrell, the siblings Brooklyn-set coming-of-age “Appropriate coincidentally cheat death on the same day.

Behavior,” is poised to be a fierce triple-threat.

Shannon and Plaza will star in “Life After “We showed Lake Bell’s film ‘In a World...’ last Beth,” which focuses on a mysterious second chance at love after death.

“Comedians are big this year, especially with what we are calling ‘Funny ladies,’” said Sundance Director John Cooper. “A lot of these roles are setting up typical comedic actresses in roles that are a little deeper. In general a lot of actors are being drawn to independent film because of the quality of interesting roles that they can play.”

Altogether, 117 feature-length films, selected out of 12,218 titles submitted (72 more than for 2013), are scheduled for Sundance 2014.

Some 37 countries and 54 firsttime filmmakers will be represent- This photo provided by the Sundance Institute shows ed. Sundance films typically offer Dane DeHaan, left, and Aubrey Plaza in a scene from the ideal fabric and draw for perthe film, “Life After Beth.”—AP formers who are departing from year and Akhavan’s work this year is in that Bell their usual Hollywood formulas. and Lena Dunham ilk,” said Cooper. Sixteen “Girls” sitcom creator Lena Dunham, whose American documentaries will also debut at the debut movie “Tiny Furniture” won best narrafestival. “Many deal with very contemporary tive feature when it premiered at the South by issues that are still in the headlines right now,” Southwest film festival in 2010, will appear in said Sundance Director of Programming Trevor writer/director Joe Swanberg’s “Happy Groth.

Christmas,” also starring Anna Kendrick. In her “The ability to turn films around so quickly first feature since “The Twilight Saga: Breaking is really notable.” Documentarians Ben Cotner Dawn - Part 2,” Kristen Stewart plays a guard and Ryan White took a look at the campaign to stationed at Guantanamo Bay in budding overturn California’s ban on same-sex marriage writer/director Peter Sattler’s “Camp X-Ray.” in “The Case Against 8,” while “The But this is not to say men won’t get their share of attention at Sundance, which runs Jan. Overnighters,” from director Jesse Moss, examines the manpower boom in the oil fields of 16-26. Sam Shepard, Michael C. Hall and Don the Northwest. Sundance will announce its Johnson team for the violent small-town corpremiere lineup on Monday.—AP ruption tale “Cold in July.” Stories with music themes make up a notable portion of the list.

This photo provided by the Sundance Institute shows, from left, Lena Dunham, Anna Kendrick, and Jude Swanberg in a scene from the film, “Happy Christmas.”—AP

Lifestyle FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2013

Young American sings classical Arabic music, wows audiences

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oung American Jennifer Grout doesn’t speak a word of Arabic, but has taught herself to sing the Arab world’s best-known, most difficult songs, and could even win its major music competition. Her blonde hair loose and without a sign of make-up, the 23-year-old appeared before a panel of judges to audition for the Arabs Got Talent show. When Egyptian film star and panel member Ahmed Helmy asked her in Arabic what her name was, she didn’t have a clue what he was saying.

But then she began to play the oud and sing a classic by Egyptian diva Umm Kalthoum, “Baeed Annak” (Far from you).

Jennifer Grout, the American contestant in the pan-Arab TV program “Arabs Got Talent” waves at the MBC television station studios.

She stunned the audience, enunciating every word to perfection as her voice effortlessly navigated the quarter-notes that make Arabic music so distinctive. Grout, who grew up in a musical home in Boston, Massachusetts and has studied piano and violin since the age of five, only discovered her passion for Arabic music three years ago.

As a 20-year-old student in Boston, Grout says she “came across an online article about Fairouz,” whose unique, angelic voice rings out on radio stations across the Arab world every morning. “I listened to her and watched a video of her, and I was just really intrigued and mesmerized by her voice. So I decided to start exploring Arabic music more,” Grout told AFP. Ever since, she has learned to sing not only songs by Umm Kalthoum-whose voice is still considered the Arab world’s finest three decades after her death but also Syrian star Asmahan and the compositions of Egypt’s Mohammad Abdel Wahab.

Quietly confident, Grout’s is a rare presence on the hugely popular Arabs Got Talent, which usually hosts artists more likely to choose pop music, either Arabic or Western. Asked why she didn’t choose that path, she laughed: “That would be like asking an opera singer why she sings opera as opposed to Britney Spears.” Although the music she loves best is decades old, it would have been well-nigh impossible for Grout to develop her passion without the Internet, with its wealth of videos of classical Arabic songs and their lyrics.

She says that although she doesn’t speak Arabic, she understands the lyrics because she has found the translations

An image taken from a video uploaded by MBC (Middle East Broadcasting Center) on YouTube, shows Jennifer Grout, the American contestant in the pan-Arab TV program “Arabs Got Talent” performing at the MBC television station studios in Zouk Mosbeh, north of Beirut.—AFP photos for many of the songs online. At the same time, she has asked her Arabic-speaking friends to help. “Of course it’s essential to understand what you’re singing about,” she said while preparing for rehearsal at a production studio of MBC broadcaster in Zouk Mosbeh, north of Beirut. Several teachers have taught her to play oud, which she sometimes plays as an accompaniment.

The final of the show will be held on Saturday, when Grout will compete for first place against 11 other contestants.

Voters will call in to name their favorite, and Grout says that, if she wins, she will use the opportunity to get more exposure. “I guess I would just see what opportunities rise out of this.

Hopefully this will give me enough exposure to get performance opportunities, because that’s really all I want to do, if I can, for the rest of my life,” she said. —AFP

One Direction makes chart history with third No. 1 album debut

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ritish boy band One Direction made chart history on Wednesday as its third album debuted at No. 1 on the weekly US Billboard 200 album chart, the only group to have its first three albums top the chart in opening week sales.

The quintet’s “Midnight Memories” sold 546,000 copies, according to figures from Nielsen SoundScan. The group’s first album, “Up All Night” and second record “Take Me Home,” both released in 2012, also debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, but with smaller opening week sales.

One Direction, comprised of singers Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan, was formed on the U.K. reality singing television show “The X Factor” in 2010 and has gone on to conquer the United States with songs such as “What Makes You Beautiful” and “Story of My Life.”

The band’s music is targeted at a young audience, and its fans are mainly teenage girls, dubbed “Directioners.” The group has more than 16 million Twitter followers and 22 million Facebook fans. One Direction’s big opening week marks an increase in overall album sales for the week ending Dec 1, due to the shopping boost during the US Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

Total album sales were 8.6 million for the week, up 14 percent from the comparable week in 2012, according to Billboard. Only one other new album debuted in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 this week. Country singer Garth Brooks came in at No. 3 with a box set of music called “Blame It on My Roots,” which sold 164,000 copies in an exclusive deal with retailer Walmart.

On the digital songs chart, which measures single track downloads, rapper Pitbull’s song “Timber” featuring Ke$ha climbed from No. 4 to No. 1 with 237,000 downloads, benefiting from the duo performing the song at the Nov. 24 American Music Awards. Eminem’s “Monster” featuring Rihanna

One Direction dropped one spot to No. 2, while A Great Big World’s “Say Something” featuring Christina Aguilera climbed three spots

to No. 3 this week, also benefiting from a performance at the AMA.—Reuters

Digital music service Beats Music to launch in Jan

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eats Music, the digital music spinoff from the maker of Beats by Dr Dre headphones, is set to launch in January.

The launch date - slightly later than the late 2013 target set earlier - was announced by CEO Ian Rogers in a blog post Wednesday. He acknowledged the delay, attaching a video of

an Orson Welles pitch in which the late actor says, “We will sell no wine before its time.”

Rogers didn’t offer details on the Beats Music model. It will likely compete with streaming subscription services like Spotify, Rhapsody and Rdio. Beats Music is based on the platform of MOG. MOG, a subscription

music service, was bought in July 2012 by Beats Electronics LLC, the headphones maker founded in 2008 by hip-hop producer Dr Dre and music executive Jimmy Iovine. Beats Music became a stand-alone company in March after a $60 million investment led by Access Industries, which also bought Warner

Music Group Corp in June 2011.

MOG costs $10 a month for unlimited playback of more than 15 million tracks on mobile devices, or $5 a month for ad-free listening on computers. MOG subscribers were sent emails Wednesday encouraging them to save usernames on BeatsMusic.com.—AP

Lifestyle FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2013

Transport intersects with art in Naples metro

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ommuting has never been so arty-taking the metro in Naples is an increasingly cultural experience with its ever-expanding network of “art stations” created by international designers. For the price of a 1.3 euro ($1.8) metro ticket, tourists and locals have access to 16 stations filled with 200 colorful works of art-including sculptures, murals, mosaics and floor decorations. Beneath the smog-filled streets and faded beauty of this bustling southern Italian city, officials boast of “an underground contemporary art museum” complementing the city’s ultra-modern transport system.”It is one of the most beautiful metro systems in the world,” said Naples Mayor Luigi de Magistris.

At Toledo station, travelers descend into a tunnel clad in sparkling blue mosaic-like an underwater sea cavern-lit from above by a funnel of daylight pouring a rainbow of colors into a vast hall. At the foot of the escalator is the installation “Waves” by Catalan artist Oscar Tusquets Blanca and Robert Wilson from the United States with a bas-relief of waves in a passageway lit with a line of LED lights.Fuchsia-pink and limegreen tones dominate the University station, the only stop entirely designed by one artist-Anglo-Egyptian Karim Rashidwho used light boxes to create the illusion of floating figures.

Beyond the floor and walls bathed in light, two giant portraits are projected onto stairways: one features the sharp nose and piercing eyes of Italy’s most famous poet Dante Alighieri, author of the Divine Comedy. The other is of his beloved muse, Beatrice. The architects, artists and designers

behind the metro stations were hand-picked from around the globe by Achille Bonito Oliva, artistic coordinator for MetroNapoli, the company that runs the underground. “The idea is for beauty and transportation to meet. We ask artists to create a work to become a part of the station,” he told AFP. “We wanted to make what I call an ‘obligatory’ museum, where people are obliged to look at their surroundings. Here it’s not about people going to museums; the museum travels along with the public,” he said. In a city plagued by unemployment and poverty-ranked the worst place to live in Italy in a survey this week by the Il Sole 24 Ore business daily-”it is important to bring art into people’s lives,” said Giannegidio Silva, head of MetroNapoli.

On Monday, officials inaugurated the latest installation of the project at the metro stop of the main Garibaldi railway station, a hub for the city’s two metro lines which is expected to double passenger numbers from the estimated 200,000 who currently use the underground daily. At the foot of the escalators, some 40 meters (130 feet) underground, Italian artist Michelangelo Pistoletto has created a wall of mirrors with photos of life-sized travelers going to and fro along the platform, standing in groups and conversing.

The 80-year-old artist, who was present at the inauguration, said he had long thought of creating something in a transport system. “The travelers, the viewers, become a part of the work... it’s a relationship between life and art, art and the station,” he said. The project launched a decade ago with

A visitor looks at reproductions of painting of Caravaggio, Leonardo Da Vinci and Raffaello as part of ‘The Impossible Exhibition’ at the San Domenico Maggiore convent in Naples.

People visit ‘The Impossible Exhibition’ at the San Domenico Maggiore convent in Naples.

Visitors look at a reproduction of a painting by Italian artist Caravaggio part of ‘The Impossible Exhibition’ at the San Domenico Maggiore convent in Naples.—AFP photos a budget f 1.5 billion euros ($2.0 billion), half of which came from the European Union. Two more instalments are planned by 2015 — Duomo by Italy’s Massimiliano Fuksas and Municipio by Portuguese winners of the prestigious Pritzker architecture prize Alvaro Sizo and Eduardo Souto de Moura.—AFP

People are reflected on the ceiling of the Garibaldi metro station in Naples.

‘Fast and Furious’ star died of impact, fire “F ast and Furious” star Paul Walker died from ‘traumatic and thermal injuries” in a fiery car crash, coroners said Wednesday, fueling suggestions he may have survived the initial impact. The initial autopsy results came as the makers of the blockbuster franchise announced they were stopping production for now as they discuss how to proceed with the seventh installment, due out next year.

A preliminary report confirmed that Walker, 40, was the passenger in a $400,000 red 2005 Porsche Carrera GT driven by his friend Roger Rodas when it crashed at speed Saturday in Santa Clarita, north of Los Angeles. Rodas died of “multiple traumatic injuries,” according to the autopsy results, while Walker’s cause of death was listed as the “combined effects of traumatic and thermal injuries.”

The blunt description, in a one-page document released by coroners, gave no more details. A spokesman declined to comment on suggestions that it indicated Walker may have survived the initial crash but been killed when flames took hold. CNN has aired surveillance camera footage of the crash suggesting there was a one-minute gap between the crash itself and fire taking hold of the wrecked vehicle.

Media reports also suggest that many people ran from a nearby charity event the two men had been attending, but arrived too late to do anything for them as the blaze engulfed the car.

The results of toxicology tests are still pending,

and could take six to eight weeks, the Los Angeles County coroner’s office said, ruling both deaths as accidental.

The star’s death stunned fans of the highoctane series who have flocked to the spot where he died, contributing to a growing makeshift shrine where co-stars, including Vin Diesel, have come to pay their respects in the days since the crash. It was a major blow to studio giant Universal Pictures, for whom the franchise is a huge money maker, in an industry increasingly dependent on lucrative blockbuster sequels. Universal announced the studio has shut down production of “Fast and Furious 7” following Walker’s death.

“Right now, all of us at Universal are dedicated to providing support to Paul’s immediate family and our extended ‘Fast & Furious’ family of cast, crew and filmmakers,” a statement said.

“At this time, we feel it is our responsibility to shut down production on ‘Fast & Furious 7’ for a period of time so we can assess all options available to move forward with the franchise.” The filmmakers promised to keep fans informed but in the meantime urged them to “join us in mourning the passing of our dear friend Paul Walker.”

Shortly before the crash, Walker had been at an event to raise money for victims of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines for Reach Out Worldwide, a non-profit disaster relief group the actor founded. The actor was taking a

Photos and messages are seen at a roadside memorial at the site of the auto crash that took the life of actor Paul Walker and another man, in the small community of Valencia, Calif.—AP Thanksgiving break from filming the “Fast and Furious” sequel, which had been scheduled for release in July. Walker raced cars, described himself on Twitter as an “outdoorsman, ocean addict” and “adrenaline junkie,” and did many of his own movie stunts.

In a departure from his action movie roles, Walker was due to appear in “Hours,” an independent movie set for mid-December release

about a father who struggles to keep his ailing infant daughter alive after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans in 2005. The first “Fast and Furious” movie appeared in 2001. The series, with its focus on fast cars, tough guys, sexy starlets and exotic locales, is one of Hollywood’s most successful global franchises.—AFP

Lifestyle FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2013

Bruce Lee’s famous jumpsuit fetches over $100,000 in HK auction

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yellow-and-black jumpsuit from Bruce Lee’s final movie was sold for more than double its expected hammer price at an auction in Hong Kong yesterday commemorating the 40th anniversary of his death. The onepiece suit from “Game of Death”, which was specially designed by a Hong Kong tailor to fit Lee, was sold at the evening auction for HK$780,000 ($100,595) to an anonymous telephone bidder. His matching yellow nunchaku, also used in the film, sold at HK$540,000 to a collector in the room, where around a dozen bidders were seated.

“It would have been nice to have the suit but I prefer this most of all, more than any other thing,” 49-year-old British investment manager George Philips, who also bid on the suit said after winning the nunchaku. “I think everybody loves Bruce Lee items, I did karate when I was five or six years old,” Philips said, adding that he used to practice with the nunchaku while wearing a motorcycle helmet at the time.

Bidding was “very strong for an auction this size” Spink China vice chairperson Anna Lee

said after the event. The auction fetched HK$2.19 million, double Spink’s estimate of HK$1 million. All 14 lots were sold with other items including a punch pad Lee used to refine his one-inch punch, which sold for HK$50,400.

Lee’s bamboo whip used in “Game of Death” also sold for HK$96,000.

All the items belonged to a private collector but originally came from Lee or his friends and family. Lee died in 1973 after a severe reaction to medication, before “Game of Death” could be completed, although a version of it was later released using stand-in actors. Lee is credited with catapulting the martial arts film genre into the mainstream with movies including “Fist of Fury” and “The Big Boss”.—AFP

In a file picture Spink auction house vice chairman Anna Lee briefs the press on a jumpsuit worn by Bruce Lee during the filming of ‘Game of Death’ in 1972 during a preview of the Bruce Lee 40th anniversary collection auction in Hong Kong. — AFP

‘Aamby Valley India Bridal Fashion Week 2013’

Indian models showcase creations by designer Rohit Bal during the grand finale at the ‘Aamby Valley India Bridal Fashion Week 2013’ fashion show in Mumbai.

— AFP photos

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2013

Kuwait

SHARQIA-1 DEVIL’S PASS (DIG) CARRIE (DIG) DEVIL’S PASS (DIG) CARRIE (DIG) DEVIL’S PASS (DIG) CARRIE (DIG) DEVIL’S PASS (DIG) SHARQIA-2 THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE (DIG) THE FROZEN GROUND (DIG) THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE (DIG) THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE (DIG) THE FROZEN GROUND (DIG) THE FROZEN GROUND (DIG)

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MUHALAB-3 SAVING SANTA (DIG-3D) SAVING SANTA (DIG-3D) SAVING SANTA (DIG-3D) THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE (DIG) THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE (DIG) FANAR-1 DELIVERY MAN (DIG) 1911 (DIG) PARKLAND (DIG) DELIVERY MAN (DIG) 1911 (DIG) 1911 (DIG) FANAR-2 CARRIE (DIG) DEVIL’S PASS (DIG) CARRIE (DIG) DEVIL’S PASS (DIG) CARRIE (DIG) DEVIL’S PASS (DIG) CARRIE (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED FANAR-3 THE FROZEN GROUND (DIG) WADJDA (DIG) (Arabic) WADJDA (DIG) (Arabic) R... RAJKUMAR (DIG) (Hindi) THE FROZEN GROUND (DIG) THE FROZEN GROUND (DIG) FANAR-4 THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE (DIG) SAVING SANTA (DIG-3D) SAVING SANTA (DIG-3D) SAVING SANTA (DIG-3D) THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE (DIG) THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE (DIG) FANAR-5 CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG)

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KNCC PROGRAMME FROM THURSDAY TO WEDNESDAY (05/12/2013 TO 11/12/2013) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) THOR: THE DARK WORLD (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) THOR: THE DARK WORLD (DIG)

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MARINA-2 SAVING SANTA (DIG) SAVING SANTA (DIG) SAVING SANTA (DIG) CARRIE (DIG) DEVIL’S PASS (DIG) CARRIE (DIG) DEVIL’S PASS (DIG)

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AL-KOUT.4 DEVIL’S PASS (DIG) CARRIE (DIG) DEVIL’S PASS (DIG) CARRIE (DIG) DEVIL’S PASS (DIG) CARRIE (DIG) DEVIL’S PASS (DIG) BAIRAQ-1 SAVING SANTA (DIG) SAVING SANTA (DIG) SAVING SANTA (DIG) THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE (DIG) THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE (DIG) CARRIE (DIG)

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AVENUES-3 THE FROZEN GROUND (DIG) THE FROZEN GROUND (DIG) THE FROZEN GROUND (DIG) THE FROZEN GROUND (DIG) THE FROZEN GROUND (DIG) THE FROZEN GROUND (DIG)

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360º- 1 CARRIE (DIG) CARRIE (DIG) CARRIE (DIG) CARRIE (DIG) CARRIE (DIG) CARRIE (DIG)

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LAILA SAVING SANTA (DIG) 6:00 PM THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE (DIG) 8:00 PM CARRIE (DIG) 10:45 PM 6th Dec 2013 Laila Cinema is booked for Korean Film Festival

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AJIAL.1 THIRA (DIG)(Malayalam) THIRA (DIG)(Malayalam)

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AJIAL.2 THAGARAARU (DIG)(TAMIL) THAGARAARU (DIG)(TAMIL)

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AJIAL.3 R... RAJKUMAR (DIG) (Hindi) R... RAJKUMAR (DIG) (Hindi)

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AJIAL.4 SAVING SANTA (DIG) SAVING SANTA (DIG) BULLETT RAJA (DIG)

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METRO-1 THAGARAARU (DIG)(TAMIL) R... RAJKUMAR (DIG) (Hindi)

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AL-KOUT.2 THOR: THE DARK WORLD (DIG) WADJDA (DIG) (Arabic) DELIVERY MAN (DIG) WADJDA (DIG) (Arabic) DELIVERY MAN (DIG) THOR: THE DARK WORLD (DIG)

360º- 2 CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED 360º- 3 DELIVERY MAN DELIVERY MAN DELIVERY MAN DELIVERY MAN DELIVERY MAN DELIVERY MAN

(DIG) (DIG) (DIG) (DIG) (DIG) (DIG)

AL-KOUT.1 SAVING SANTA (DIG-3D) SAVING SANTA (DIG-3D) SAVING SANTA (DIG-3D) THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE (DIG) THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE (DIG) THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE (DIG)

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BAIRAQ-2 DEVIL’S PASS (DIG) CARRIE (DIG) PARKLAND (DIG) DEVIL’S PASS (DIG) CARRIE (DIG) DEVIL’S PASS (DIG)

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BAIRAQ-3 DELIVERY MAN (DIG) THE FROZEN GROUND (DIG) DELIVERY MAN (DIG) THE FROZEN GROUND (DIG) DELIVERY MAN (DIG) THE FROZEN GROUND (DIG)

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PLAZA R... RAJKUMAR (DIG) (Hindi) CARRIE (DIG) DEVIL’S PASS (DIG)

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CHANGE OF NAME Saravanan Subramaniyan S/o Subramaniyan holder of Indian Passport No. G9950267 born on 2nd March 1976 (native district: Thiruvarur), residing at No. 112/219, Mariamman Kovil street, Maruthangavali, Muthupet. Thiruvarur District, shall henceforth be known as Sameer Mohamed. (C 4593) 5-12-2013 FOR SALE Pajero for sale, model 1996, color red, engine good condition, used by a lady. Contact: 97277139.

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Rent KD 90. Please contact: 66047733. (C 4589) 2-12-2013 SITUATION WANTED Indian looking for job as computer eng & Asset.

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Te c h n o l o g y FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2013

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f your loved ones are looking for an easy way to watch Internet content on their big-screen TVs, Google’s Chromecast ($35) is an inexpensive choice. Owners use their smartphones, tablets or computers as a remote control to tune in Netflix, Hulu Plus, Pandora and other online content.

For a much wider range of online content, check out Roku’s latest line of digital players ($50 to $100). For iPhone and iPad owners, a better choice might be Apple TV ($100). While the box itself remains the same as last year, it has added PBS and some other new channels and connects with Apple’s new iTunes Radio service.

For the gamers in your life, you could make this holiday season a happy one by picking up one of the new game consoles.

Microsoft’s Xbox One ($500) includes a new version of the motion-sensing Kinect, can serve as a set-top box for pay-TV services, and offers a strong assortment of new games. Sony’s PlayStation 4 ($400) offers comparable power and an optional camera system that’s similar to Kinect.

If you’ve got the money to spend, you could upgrade their boob tube. Some of the latest televisions offer a new screen technology that’s been called 4K or ultrahigh-definition, which offers super-sharp pictures on extra-large screens. There’s not

a lot of 4K video to watch, but some of the TVs will upgrade standard HD television to make it appear sharper on their screens. At your local Best Buy or Fry’s, you can find a 55-inch Sony 4K TV for around $3,500 and a 65-inch model for around $5,000.

Smartphones, smartwatches and tablets: Apple’s latest iPhone, the 5S (starting at $200 with a two-year contract), is my favorite smartphone. It’s got a superfast processor and a snazzy new operating system. But you can find a far greater range of choices if you go for an Android device.

Among the tops are Samsung’s Galaxy S4 (starting at $100 with a two-year contract), HTC’s elegantly designed One ($50 with a two-year T-Mobile payment plan) and Motorola’s Moto X ($0 with a two-year Sprint contract). If you don’t want to saddle your loved one with a two-year contract, take a look at Google’s Nexus 5, which costs $350 without any kind of service agreement.

You could also help your significant others outfit their smartphones with accessories and media. One way to go is with a set of add-on camera lenses for smartphones, such as the four-in-one system ($70) from Olloclip that includes both macro and wide-angle lenses. Another is to purchase gift cards from Amazon, Apple’s iTunes, or the Google Play store to help

your loved ones stock up on apps, music and movies for their devices.

Among the newer gadgets on the mobile scene are smart watches. Samsung’s Galaxy Gear ($300) is among the most capable of the devices, with a built-in camera and the ability to run smartphone apps, but it only works with a handful of Samsung phones. The Pebble smart watch ($150) is more versatile - it works with both iPhones and Android devices - but doesn’t have a camera. The Fitbit Force ($130) is for fitness fanatics who want to track their every step.

In terms of tablets, Apple has scored again with its iPad Air (starting at $500), which is significantly thinner and lighter than its previous tablets. If you’re an Amazon fan, check out the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 (starts at $379), which is even thinner and lighter than the Air, but is closely tied to the e-commerce giant’s digital services.

If you’re looking for something less expensive or smaller, the Google’s Nexus 7 (starting at $230) is an excellent choice, with a beautiful high-resolution display and an unadulterated version of Android.

Bots and drones: Lego has a long history of offering robot-building kits for tinkerers and kids. Its latest, the Mindstorms EV3 ($350), offers a big leap forward in capabilities, including allowing users to pilot their

creations with their smartphones or tablets.

If you’re looking for a robot that’s already put together, take a look at the new Sphero 2.0 ($130), a robotic ball that can be used to play augmented reality games via a smartphone or tablet.

Another option is Romo ($150), a robot that looks like an iPhone dock with tank treads. After docking an iPhone into Romo, you can use the device to take pictures or video of its surroundings, play games or remotely interact with your kids.

Remotely controlled smart devices don’t have to be earthbound. You’ll find a large number of remote-controlled helicopters and drones at a wide variety of prices. But the pacesetter for consumer-grade unmanned flying vehicles has long been Parrot’s AR.Drone. The latest model, version 2.0 Power Edition ($300), can stay in the air for 36 minutes, three times longer than before. An optional flight recorder accessory ($130), allows users to preprogram the drone’s flight path on a map and have it return automatically to where it took off. — www.phys.org

Stars

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2013

Aries (March 21-April 19) It's a super day to get things accomplished. Good handeye coordination makes almost any task run well--especially with your determination to see things through to the end. There could be a window in time that opens now, making insights possible this afternoon; take a look. Something that you thought was above your understanding seems to be quite simple. Also, this is a very lucky day. You may feel like exercising or getting mobile this afternoon. A loved one is encouraged by your words and by your attention. A bicycle ride or walk together is a wonderful way to devote some focused time together. This evening is for building family memories--you will not want to wander too far from home, no matter what the temptation.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) You may wake up to the fact of just how much beauty you have in your life and in those around you. Similarly, everything could take on value and importance. There could be a lot of temptation to overspend or indulge too much. Just remember that you must pay to play and the bills still come due. Enjoy this time, but be realistic. Things are definitely happening in your vocation or path and will depend upon your own ambition and effort, which are strong now. Being in a position to use your good wisdom helps you to feel the trends and to make the right moves. It's a time to get ahead by taking action. Let your intuition be your guide. This evening is about money and resources, what you personally bring to the table and what you share.

Gemini (May 21-June 20) It's not hard to see what you value and care about. Your sense of appreciation is sharpened and in high focus. Being able to talk with superiors and describe what you see is a big plus in your favor. This is a good day for practical job-related thoughts and ideas. You are able to make good decisions and may decide this is the time to appraise your holdings. Understanding those around you almost assures you of a special time with special people. Great feelings and a sense of support and harmony make this a happy time. You may find a kind of romantic sentimentality characterizing your approach to life now. Possibly you are longing for a soul mate or yearning to save the world; it could mean carrying a torch, as well. All-you-need-is-love.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) You may find it easy to bring together a group of people with your words or ideas that move others. Your mental focus is strengthened and you feel more disciplined. By increasing your efforts and becoming more responsible for your actions, you can accomplish a great deal, as well as gain respect and admiration of others. After this workday has ended, you may take on a more introverted approach to your life. You may feel more like sharing some time with your lover or with close friends. This may not be a time when you feel like being very outgoing or wanting to present yourself to the world. Your whole world may seem trancelike or dreamy. Movies, books and all forms of escape could prove very enjoyable this afternoon.

Leo (July 23-August 22) A group meeting first thing this morning finds you expressive. Your self-expression is at a high--you naturally find expressions for your particular ideas and thoughts. You could be most convincing with others and powerful in your communications. There is an abundance of energy behind what you say and think. You can make quick and sharp decisions. You communicate with feeling and strength.

It's a great time to think about your own situation, exactly how you feel about where you want your life to go. Your emotions in particular--or the feelings of those around you--may be very clear. You attach more importance to friendships now and enjoy taking part in group activities that center on visionary goals.

Virgo (August 23-September 22) There is a nagging feeling that you have forgotten something today. At this time you need to tend to any unfinished business-there is a tendency to forget your place in a past project. Establishing a sound program of organization might be your first consideration. A list will help you gain a focus. Your ambition is high at this time. Those around you truly appreciate your ability to make commonsense decisions and may interrupt you from time to time today in order to gain your advice. You will find plenty of opportunities to exert your problemsolving abilities--for others and for yourself. A romantic involvement seems less tense at this time. Perhaps you have grown more comfortable with each other. Enjoy the giving and receiving of hugs.

COUNTRY CODES Libra (September 23-October 22) One thing comes to an end and another begins. A burdensome business partnership or situation lets up now. Listen carefully to advice from a third person. There is insight for moving forward in a new adventure. Finances are about to increase! You have many needs but also sense the needs of those around you. You encourage a friend to seek help in caring for an ill or elderly person in his or her life. Mentally, you are very perceptive, your analytical abilities are at a pique and that could find you engaged in some very in-depth discussions and exploratory conversations. Being able to communicate and get your message across to others is at a crest. Your timing should be just about as good as it can get. You can indulge in a personal whim this evening.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) Working with others in a team effort sort of atmosphere should be quite pleasurable today. Someone in charge of a special task could be seeking you out to take on the responsibility of managing and directing the project. Your management abilities are in high focus. Push too long and too hard and you could blow a fuse. You and the project will be fine if you pace yourself by setting up reasonable schedules. Other people's money and resources are readily available for the work you will be doing today. Everything, including you, has a positive beginning--you will definitely see successful endings. You may have to rearrange your priorities this evening. A young person wants to involve you with a ball game or some other activity.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) To get the things accomplished that you feel are necessary, you will probably have to take the first step today. You could find that circumstances dictate your taking action. To be more specific, a teacher could be absent at the last minute. Because you are an assistant teacher, you can step in to help. Perhaps a lecturer did not show up and someone has to entertain the crowd, etc. These situations may not be your specialty, but you will be pleased at the positive results by the end of this day. You should feel healthy and ready for any project.

Someone may pay you a very nice compliment on your courage. There is a need to be entertained this evening and two or three loved ones have plenty of suggestions--of course, they would like to tag along!

Capricorn (December 22-January 19) You may find that it is difficult to concentrate on work issues this day. A young person in your family may have a performance or some other member of your family may be in front of an audience or jury--your thoughts are in the positive mode for them. It is possible that both your personal growth and your career depend on how you handle some very sensitive psychological material. You will benefit from perceptive insights and getting to the heart of a matter. An estate sale this afternoon gains your attention. Attractive antiques could be worth more than their advertised prices. Appreciating things of value and even the idea of value itself could be the order of the day. Material things will be important to you at this time.

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) You feel close to others--even those you do not know. The lines of communication are wide open. You have the right words when you need them and possibly a few too many words when you do not need them. Be wise in your criticisms. It is a time when you can expect some kind of extra support or recognition from those around you. You appreciate what is aboveboard and sincere and have a special abhorrence of what is secret, intense and private. Mental concentration should come easily to you just now; so put your mind to work and take care of any details that you may have. Problems and obstacles should find some easy explanations under your keen examination. This evening has many relaxing possibilities; look around and enjoy the fun stuff!

Pisces (February 19-March 20) You could feel that you are left out of the loop when it comes to something important in the workplace today-consider yourself blessed! Higher-ups may think there is not enough work.

Changes are eminent and the less you lend to the situation the better.

Patience is required and patience you have; smile. A love song comes into your mind and the rest of your day is spent in trying to keep the sound of your humming low. An after-work meeting with friends or family may create an opportunity to enjoy the evening meal away from home. You will be wishing for anything that is new, different and unique to come into your life this evening. This may just come through simple pleasures. Do you see the stars this evening?

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 Republic 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 Somalia 00252 South Africa 0027 South Korea 0082 Spain 0034 Sri Lanka 0094 Sudan 00249 Suriname 00597 Swaziland 00268 Sweden 0046 Switzerland 0041 Syria 00963 Taiwan 00886 Tanzania 00255 Thailand 0066 Toga 00228 Tonga 00676 Tokelau 00690 Trinidad 001868 Tunisia 00216 Turkey 0090 Tuvalu 00688 Uganda 00256 Ukraine 00380 United Arab Emirates00976

Stars

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2013

Word Search

Yesterday’s Solution

C R O S S W O R D 3 9 0

ACROSS 1. An anxiety disorder characterized by chronic free-floating anxiety and such symptoms as tension or sweating or trembling of light-headedness or irritability etc that has lasted for more than six months.

4. An order in the subclass Telosporidia.

12. Estrangement from god.

15. United States musician (born in Japan) who married John Lennon and collaborated with him on recordings (born in 1933).

16. The act of contributing to the funds of a church or charity.

17. Grass mowed and cured for use as fodder.

18. An enzyme secreted in the digestive tract that catalyzes the breakdown of fats into individual fatty acids that can be absorbed into the bloodstream.

20. 100 penni equal 1 markka.

21. The basic unit of electric current adopted under the System International d'Unites.

22. A blank leaf in the front of back of a book.

24. A state in New England.

25. Arboreal snake of central and southern Africa whose bite is often fatal.

27. A landlocked desert republic in north-central Africa.

30. A rare chronic progressive encephalitis caused by the measles virus and occurring primarily in children and young adults.

33. Large African forest tree yielding a strong hard yellow to golden brown lumber.

38. A sweet innocent baby.

41. The most common computer memory which can be used by programs to perform necessary tasks while the computer is on.

42. The persistence of a sound after its source has stopped.

44. Informal abbreviation of `representative'.

45. Having a pattern of fretwork or latticework.

48. Goddess of the dead and queen of the underworld.

49. An associate degree in applied science.

50. Having the leading position or higher score in a contest.

52. A contorted facial expression.

55. Toward the mouth or oral region.

56. French writer who generalized surrealism to literature (1897-1982).

60. Essential oil or perfume obtained from flowers.

63. Made by polymerizing butadiene.

65. Cubes of meat marinated and cooked on a skewer usually with vegetables.

66. Very dark black.

68. Offering fun and gaiety.

72. Type genus of the Anatidae.

75. Toxic to the organs of hearing or balance or to the auditory nerve.

77. Greenish-yellow pear.

78. Be appropriate or necessary.

80. Being one more than two.

81. A particular geographical region of indefinite boundary (usually serving some special purpose or distinguished by its people or culture or geography).

82. Of or relating to Aram or to its inhabitants or their culture or their language.

83. Either of two folds of skin that can be moved to cover or open the eye.

DOWN 1. A game played on a large open course with 9 or 18 holes.

2. A blue dye obtained from plants or made synthetically.

3. (informal) Having or revealing stupidity.

Daily SuDoku

4. Ratio of the hypotenuse to the opposite side.

5. A religious belief of African origin involving witchcraft and sorcery.

6. Being ten more than one hundred forty.

7. A tight-fitting headdress.

8. A distinct part that can be specified separately in a group of things that could be enumerated on a list.

9. Have supper.

10. An electrically charged particle.

11. (Jungian psychology) The inner self (not the external persona) that is in touch with the unconscious.

12. A painful emotion resulting from an awareness of inadequacy or guilt.

13. A metrical unit with unstressed-stressed syllables.

14. Monotypic genus of palms of Australasia.

19. Cause to change.

23. The United Nations agency concerned with the international organization of food and agriculture.

26. American novelist (1909-1955).

28. A person forced to flee from home or country.

29. Act of correcting an error or a fault or an evil.

31. (physics) A deformation of an object in which parallel planes remain parallel but are shifted in a direction parallel to themselves.

32. Pepsi Cola is a trademarked cola.

34. A member of an Iroquoian people formerly living on the south shore of Lake Erie in northern Ohio and northwest Pennsylvania and western New York.

35. Large burrowing rodent of South and Central America.

36. The fifth month of the civil year.

37. An especially luminous meteor (sometimes exploding).

39. Relating to or near the ulna.

40. A soft silvery metallic element of the alkali earth group.

43. Green algae common in freshwater lakes of limestone districts.

46. A city in southeastern South Korea.

47. The fifth day of the week.

51. Island in West Indies.

53. Small bitter fruit of the marasca cherry tree from whose juice maraschino liqueur is made.

54. A compartment in front of a motor vehicle where driver sits.

57. Used of a single unit or thing.

58. Small tree of dry open parts of southern Africa having erect angled branches suggesting candelabra.

59. A soft white precious univalent metallic element having the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of any metal.

61. (of a musical instrument) Intermediate between alto and baritone or bass.

62. Lower in esteem.

64. A statistical method for making simultaneous comparisons between two or more means.

67. A member of the Siouan people inhabiting the valleys of the Platte and Missouri rivers in Nebraska.

69. The upper angle between an axis and an offshoot such as a branch or leafstalk.

70. Being three more than fifty.

71. Harsh or corrosive in tone.

73. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth.

74. An emotional response that has been acquired by conditioning.

76. Being one more than nine.

79. (astronomy) The angular distance of a celestial point measured westward along the celestial equator from the zenith crossing.

Yesterday’s Solution

Yesterday’s Solution

Sports FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2013

Cavaliers snap Nuggets winning streak 98-88 CLEVELAND: Kyrie Irving scored 23 points and the Cleveland Cavaliers snapped the Denver Nuggets’ seven-game winning streak with a 98-88 victory Wednesday night. Tristan Thompson had a career-high 21 rebounds and 17 points for the Cavaliers, who won back-to-back games for the first time this season. The Nuggets, playing the third game of six-game road trip, lost for the first time since Nov 18. The trip began with a 14-point win in Toronto on Sunday and a 24-point victory in Brooklyn on Tuesday. Randy Foye led Denver with 16 points, while JJ Hickson had 15 points and 11 rebounds. Anderson Varejao scored a season-high 18 points and had 13 rebounds for Cleveland, which recorded its largest margin of victory this season.

TRAIL BLAZERS 111, THUNDER 104 LaMarcus Aldridge had a season-high 38 points and added 13 rebounds and Portland snapped Oklahoma City’s eight-game winning streak. Nicolas Batum hit a 3-pointer with 29.9 seconds to go that all but sealed it for Portland, which has won 14 of its last 15 games. The win also snapped Oklahoma City’s seven-game winning streak against the Blazers. Kevin Durant finished with 33 for the Thunder, who were playing the second game of a back-to-back after defeating Sacramento 97-95 Tuesday night.

Batum and Lillard both added 14 points for the Blazers, who were coming off a 106-102 victory over Indiana on Monday. Portland is 8-1 at home this season.

HAWKS 107, CLIPPERS 97 Kyle Korver tied the NBA record for consecutive games with a 3-pointer and scored a season-high 23 points in the Hawks’ victory over the Clippers.

Korver, returning from a bruised rib that sidelined him the last four games, tied Dana Barros’ NBA 18-year-old record by hitting a 3-pointer in his 89th straight game. Barros set the mark during stints with Philadelphia and Boston from Dec. 23, 1994, to Jan 10, 1996. He made his first attempt in the game’s first minute and finished 6 for 9 beyond the arc. Paul Millsap finished with 25 points and Al Horford added 21 to help the Hawks snap a two-game losing streak. Blake Griffin scored 24 points and Chris Paul had 19 points and 11 assists as the Clippers lost their second straight.

SUNS 97, ROCKETS 88 Eric Bledsoe had 20 points and seven assists to lead Phoenix over the Rockets. PJ Tucker added 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting with six rebounds.

Channing Frye had 14 points on 6-of-12 shooting and grabbed six rebounds, and Goran Dragic chipped in 19 points on 6-of-11 shooting for the Suns, who shot 45.6 percent from the field, including 45.8 percent from behind the arc. Dwight Howard had 15 points and 18 rebounds, Aaron Brooks added 17 points and six assists, and Omri Casspi had 14 points and seven rebounds for the Rockets, who lost their second straight game. James Harden finished with 14 points, hitting 3 of 17 from the field and going 0 for 10 from behind the arc. Patrick Beverley had 12 points and eight rebounds.

PACERS 95, JAZZ 86 Paul George scored 19 points and Indiana returned to its defensive ways to defeat the Jazz in Utah for the first time since an 84-60 victory on Nov 29, 2005. Lance Stephenson scored 15 points, Luis Scola had 14 and Roy Hibbert added 13 points for the Pacers. Indiana outscored the Jazz 27-19 in the fourth quarter and parlayed 14 Utah turnovers in 20 points. Gordon Hayward’s 3-pointer cut the Indiana lead to 79-76 before the Pacers scored nine straight points, capped by West’s 20-foot jumper that just beat the shot clock, and never looked back. Derrick Favors led Utah with 22 points and 13 rebounds and Enes Kanter had 20 points and 10 boards for the Jazz, who had won three of their last four games.

MAVERICKS 100, PELICANS 97 Dirk Nowitzki scored 11 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter, and the Mavericks beat the Pelicans 100-97 Wednesday night. Nowitzki gave Dallas the lead with a free throw to make the score 98-97 with 32.3 seconds left.

He then got a piece of Eric Gordon’s driving floater, grabbed the rebound and hit two more free throws with 8 seconds left. The Pelicans’ Ryan Anderson missed an open 3-pointer that would have tied it with 2 seconds left. Reserve Vince Carter had 15 points for Dallas and Monta Ellis added 14 points. Jrue Holiday had a season-high 26 points for the Pelicans, who played without injured forward Anthony Davis for the second consecutive game.

PISTONS 105, BUCKS 98 Andre Drummond had 24 points and 19 rebounds and the Pistons rode a strong second-half performance to beat the Bucks. Greg Monroe contributed 18 points and 17 rebounds for the Pistons, who had three players with double-doubles and five score 15 or more points. Ersan Ilyasov scored a season-high 22 points and had 10 rebounds to lead the Bucks, who have lost 13 of 14. Khris Middleton added 14 points for Milwaukee. Pistons point guard Brandon Jennings had 17 points and 11 assists in his return to Milwaukee. — AP

Disciplined England hold Australia ADELAIDE: A disciplined England attack shrugged off the challenge of a bland Adelaide Oval wicket to limit Australia to 273-5 and leave the second Ashes test delicately poised after the opening day yesterday. Trailing 1-0 in the five-test series, England could do little about the coin-toss, but will rue some poor fielding late in the day, with three dropped catches letting Australia off the hook.

Australia captain Michael Clarke was dropped twice in the final session and staggered to 48 not out at stumps, with Brad Haddin at the other end on seven. Blessed to bat first on a gentle Adelaide Oval wicket, Australia failed to cash in with four of their five batsmen throwing away their wickets after making promising starts. George Bailey became the third Australian batsman to score a half-century in the final hour’s play but smacked a short Stuart Broad delivery to backward square leg where Graeme Swann leapt into the air to bring down a fine catch.

Bailey’s 53, which included three sixes, followed a 51 from Shane Watson and a 72 from opener Chris Rogers.

The England selectors’ decision to pick a second spinner was validated as Swann and the recalled Monty Panesar gleaned some encouraging turn from a flat deck that offered little for seamers Stuart Broad and James Anderson. Captain Alastair Cook would have been heartened by his bowlers’ discipline in the conditions, but may rue the loss of a second straight toss with the wicket likely to break up later in the match.

DROPPED CATCHES He would certainly have bemoaned the dropped catches that would have seen both Clarke and Bailey trudge back to the dressing room and expose Australia’s tail.

Panesar spilled a knee-high chance off his own bowling in the seventh over after lunch, granting Bailey a life on 10.

Clarke was then dropped on 18, with a diving Joe Root unable to bring down a flick to mid-wicket from the Australian captain off Swann. He was put down again by Michael Carberry at backward point off the bowling of Panesar when he had reached 43. England’s task could have been yet steeper, however, with Australia having cruised to 155-1 midway through the second session before Watson underlined his habit of failing to convert starts by spooning a catch back to bowler James Anderson.

That ended a 121-run partnership with Rogers and

sparked a collapse as Australia lost three wickets for 19 runs and were reduced to 174-4 at tea. Rogers was caught behind for 72 the next over after Watson’s departure and Panesar bowled all-rounder Steven Smith for six to prompt an early tea-break. The quick wickets breathed life into a meandering contest which had seen the fast bowlers enjoying little reward from the new drop-in pitch.

Barring seamer Stuart Broad’s removal of David Warner for 29, when the opener gave up a simple catch to Carberry at point in the morning, England were made to work hard for their wickets. New Zealand-born all-rounder Ben Stokes, who was handed his first cap by former England captain Andrew Strauss before the toss, and finished with 0-26 off his eight overs. England brought Root up the order to replace Jonathan Trott at number three after the South Africa-born batsman left the tour this week to deal with a stress-related illness.— Reuters

Scoreboard Australia first innings C. Rogers c Prior b Swann 72 D. Warner c Carberry b Broad 29 S. Watson c & b Anderson 51 M. Clarke not out 48 S. Smith b Panesar 6 G. Bailey c Swann b Broad 53 B. Haddin not out 7 Extras (b-5, nb-2) 7 Total (for five wickets, 91 overs) 273 Still to bat: M. Johnson, P. Siddle, R. Harris, N. Lyon Fall of wickets: 1-34 2-155 3-155 4-174 5-257 Bowling (to date): Anderson 21-9-56-1 (1nb), Broad 19-3-63-2, Swann 19-2-55-1, M. Panesar 24-4-68-1, Stokes 8-2-26-0 (1nb) England: A. Cook, M. Carberry, J. Root, K. Pietersen, I. Bell, M. Prior, B. Stokes, S. Broad, G. Swann, J. Anderson, M. Panesar

Flyers roll past Red Wings DETROIT: Sean Couturier had two goal and two assists and the Philadelphia Flyers scored four goals in third period to rally for a 6-3 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday night. Couturier got the winner at 8:28 of the third period by tipping in a shot. Scott Hartnell and Matt Read had a goal and two assists and Steve Downie and Claude Giroux had a goal and an assist each for Philadelphia. Steve Mason stopped 32 shots. Philadelphia finished 3 for 3 on the power play. Tomas Tatar scored twice and center Johan Franzen also scored for Detroit. Jimmy Howard made 28 saves.

CANADIENS 4, DEVILS 3, SO David Desharnais scored the tying goal with 37 seconds left in the third period and added a goal in the shootout and Montreal rallied for a victory over New Jersey. Lars Eller also scored in third period and shootout for Montreal, which also beat the Devils in Montreal on Monday night. Rookie Reid Boucher, making his NHL debut, scored for the Devils in the shootout, breaking a string of 20 straight missed chances by the Devils, who are 0-5 in shootouts this season. Patrik Elias’ unassisted goal at 18:54 had given the Devils a 3-2 edge, but Desharnais redirected a slap shot by Brian Gionta to score at 19:23 for Montreal and force overtime. The teams com-

bined for five goals in the third period. The Devils led 2-1 before Eller scored on a backhand to tie the score at 2-2 at 16:10. Andrei Loktionov and Michael Ryder each scored in the third period to give the Devils a 2-1 lead. Boucher assisted on Ryder’s goal.

Gionta scored in the first period to give Montreal a 1-0 lead and goalie Peter Budaj made it hold until Loktionov scored 4:19 into the third period to tie it at 1-1.

FLAMES 4, COYOTES 1 Mark Giordano and TJ Brodie each had a goal and an assist to lead Calgary over Phoenix.

Giordano’s goal extended the Flames’ lead to 3-1 at 11:46 of the second period. On the power play, Giordano’s shot from the blue line changed direction off the stick of Antoine Vermette and eluded goaltender Thomas Greiss. Calgary has been without Giordano, its captain, since he broke his ankle Oct 21 in a win in Los Angeles. At the time, the Flames were 4-2-2. While he was absent, the club struggled going just 5-11-2. Mikael Backlund and Lee Stempniak also scored for Calgary. The Flames have won consecutive games for the first time since Oct. 9 and 11 and won on home ice for just the second time in their past nine games (2-5-2). Keith Yandle scored for Phoenix. —AP

43

Sports FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2013

Court gags Philippines, Pacquiao in tax war MANILA: A Philippine court yesterday slapped a gag order on boxing hero Manny Pacquiao and the tax bureau as they battle over his allegedly unpaid taxes worth tens of millions of dollars. The tax appeals court ordered both sides not to make any public comment on the dispute during a hearing about the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s allegations that Pacquiao owes $50 million in unpaid taxes in 2008 and 2009.

Judge Ramon del Rosario told lawyers for both sides “to make no public pronouncements that may create opinion for or against” in the dispute that broke out just after Pacquiao scored a comeback victory over American Brandon Rios on November 24. “There is a gag order. It was for the best interest of both parties,” said internal revenue lawyer Felix Velasco after the brief hearing.

He said the order followed a joint motion by both parties as the court postponed the next hearing to January 16. The boxing star, who was at his home in the southern Philippines, did not attend the hearing. Pacquiao, who was listed by Forbes magazine last year as the 14th highest-paid athlete globally with an estimated $34 million in earnings, had accused the tax bureau of freezing his bank accounts and forcing him to borrow money to pay his staff. He says he paid taxes in the United States on earnings from his fights there.

The boxer, who has parlayed his sports fame into election to Congress and has expressed ambitions to run for president, has also accused the tax bureau of harassing him for political purposes. But the internal revenue commissioner Kim Henares has said only two bank accounts had been frozen. Henares said the bureau had been giving Pacquiao enough leeway to pay his back taxes but he has not complied. Sources involved in the case said the postponement of the hearing was intended to give both sides time to try to reach a settlement without going to court.

Pacquiao’s sporting career took a nosedive after he suffered two losses last year, the second in a humiliating knockout to Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez that prompted questions over whether the ageing warrior should retire. But his victory over Rios has revived both his image and the sentiments of Filipinos who have been battered by a series of disasters in recent months. Super Typhoon Haiyan flattened whole towns and left more than 7,500 people dead or missing when it hit on November 8.—AFP

Woods motivated by Snead, Nicklaus, kids THOUSAND OAKS: As Tiger Woods eyes the twilight of a remarkable career, he has his sights on records posted by Jack Nicklaus and Sam Snead and a growing pleasure that his children are starting to understand what he does on the course. World number one Woods, comfortably the greatest player of his generation, has long targeted the 18 major titles claimed by fellow American Nicklaus and the 82 career victories piled up on the PGA Tour by the sweet-swinging Snead. Woods, who celebrates his 38th birthday at the end of this month, trails Nicklaus’s record mark by four and Snead’s milestone by three. Yet just as significant for Woods as he contemplates his ‘bucket list’ of future golfing achievements is the burgeoning knowledge of his two children, daughter Sam and son Charlie, for what he does for a living.

“It’s exciting for me to have my two kids now starting to understand what Daddy does,” Woods told Reuters on Wednesday as he prepared for the opening round of the Northwestern Mutual World Challenge, which he hosts. “It was cool for me this year for the first time to have Charlie there to watch me win. He understood it for the first time, that Daddy is always in the gym lifting weights to be able to get the ball out of the rough and out the trees. “Or that’s how he explains it,” Woods added with a flash of his trademark smile. Charlie was on site at Firestone Country Club in August when his father eased to a seven-shot victory at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, earning his 79th win on the PGA Tour. “He gets it now,” Woods said of his son. “He is excited about the game and he has even told me he wants to caddie for me one day. But that was never a reality until that event (at Firestone).

“So that gives me a little extra incentive to continue playing and continue working because they get so much enjoyment out of watching me on TV and playing.” While Snead’s target is well within reach, the four majors Woods needs to draw level with Nicklaus represent a tally achieved by very few golfers in an entire career. “Certainly the easier goal is going to be to get to Sam’s record,” Woods said, speaking on the balcony of the imposing clubhouse at Sherwood Country Club which hosts the World Challenge this week for a 14th and final time.— Reuters

PREDAZZO Japan’s Sara Takanashi soaring through the air at the Women’s Normal Hill Training event of the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships at the Ski Jumping stadium in Predazzo, northern Italy. —AFP

Japanese teen jumps to Olympic history TOKYO: She’s only 17 and barely five feet tall, but schoolgirl ski jumper Sara Takanashi is already eyeing her second world title and could be set to make history at the Sochi Winter Olympics.

Takanashi, who comes from a family of ski jumpers in the snowy Japanese island of Hokkaido, begins her World Cup defence this week after taking the sport by storm last season.

Blessed with effortless technique honed alongside her ski jumping brother and father, Takanashi won eight out of 16 World Cup events to become the series’ youngest winner at age 16. Her performances put American star Sarah Hendrickson, winner of the inaugural World Cup series in 2011-2012 but out of sorts this year after knee surgery, in the shade. And with world champion Hendrickson, 19, again struggling with injury, Takanashi has a strong chance of becoming the first ever women’s Olympic ski jumping champion when the category debuts at the Sochi Games in February.

Far from being daunted by the Olympics where, presuming she qualifies, she will be Japan’s best gold medal hope, Takanashi appears to revel in the pressure. “I don’t think I can feel more pleasure than the moment when I manage to do my best jump while feeling pressure,” she told the public broadcaster, NHK. “I want to do the best jump possible if I get to stand on such a stage,” she added, referring to the Olympics.

Hendrickson will be absent when Takanashi begins her World Cup defense in the Norwegian resort of Lillehammer on Friday. The American recovered from knee surgery to edge Takanashi at the world championships in February and she also won the last two World Cup events of the season.

However, she is now recovering from a cruciate ligament injury after a fall in

August, and is not expected to return to competition until mid-January.

By contrast, Takanashi, who trains with squats and jumps carrying weights of 40 kilos - a little less than her own bodyweight-said she couldn’t be in better condition. “Around this time of the year, I used to have something wrong with my legs or elsewhere. But I have no such things this year,” Takanashi told Japanese media last week before leaving for a training camp in Austria. “It’s not so much fun jumping without her,” she added, referring to Hendrickson. “I have learned a lot of things from her. To me, she is a sort of icon rather than a rival.”

Women’s ski jumping has come a long way in Japan since Izumi Yamada became the first female to compete with the males in an official domestic competition in 1992. Yamada, then aged 13, finished eighth and second-last in the junior category in the event in Sapporo, on Hokkaido island. She jumped 59.5 meters and 57.5 meters. “Those were the days when people would say without hesitating, ‘If a girl does ski jumping, she can’t have a child in the future,’” Yamada, now a national team coach, recalled in the book “Flying Girls” by Takaomi Matsubara. Takanashi’s emergence comes at a time of drought for Japan at the Winter Olympics, since their historic high of five gold medals-including two for ski jumping-when they hosted the 1998 Nagano Games.

Since Nagano, when Takanashi was just a toddler, Japan have won only one Winter Olympics gold medal, through women’s figure skater Shizuka Arakawa at Turin 2006. And in Sochi, with figure skater Mao Asada seen as likely to struggle again against South Korea’s Kim YuNa, who beat her to Olympic gold in 2010, Takanashi shapes as the country’s best chance of success. Takanashi was

born in Kamikawa in Hokkaido’s hilly back country, which is also home to Masahiko Harada, a successful men’s ski jumper in the 1990s.

After growing up watching her father and older brother take to the sky on skis, it was only natural that she should follow suit. “I started ski jumping because my brother did it,” Takanashi said in “Flying Girls”.

“I found it was really fun when I jumped,” said Takanashi, who also did ballet and learned the piano as a child. “I enjoyed flying like a bird.” Takanashi started competing domestically at senior level in 2009 and she made her international debut in early 2011, finishing fifth at the world junior nordic skiing championships.

Yamada attributed Takanashi’s strength to her “simple moves” in takeoff which help her buoyancy. “Sara is the simplest among the active competitors,” she said. Takanashi admits she still needs to master “telemark” landings, in which the jumper touches down with one foot in front of the other with arms spread horizontally. Hendrickson is skilled in this element, an important advantage since the sport’s scoring system is based on style as well as distance.

“I lunged forwards too much at times in the summer,” Takanashi said. “I will try to jump with great stability and accuracy.” Despite this flaw, her approach to the Olympic season has been smooth, easily retaining her Grand Prix summer jumping title contested on porcelain tracks and plastic grass. Now, with national enthusiasm for ski jumping at levels not seen since Nagano, Takanashi remains modest about her achievements so far. “I don’t consider myself champion,” she said. “The level of women’s ski jumping has been really going up. I don’t want to miss the tide.”— AFP

Sports FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2013

Felix Baumgartner to visit Kuwait Fans will have the chance to meet Felix at 360 Mall

KUWAIT: Over a year ago Red Bull Athlete Felix Baumgartner captured the world’s attention when he free fell from the edge of space. After flying to an altitude of 39,045 meters (128,100 feet) in a helium-filled balloon, Felix Baumgartner completed in 2012 a record breaking jump from the edge of space, exactly 65 years after Chuck Yeager first broke the sound barrier flying in an experimental rocket-powered airplane. The 43-year-old Austrian skydiving expert also broke two other world records (highest freefall, highest manned balloon flight), leaving the one for the longest freefall to project mentor Col Joe Kittinger.

Felix, who set several records, will be in Kuwait on Wednesday December 11 as part of a world tour to celebrate the first anniversary of the Red Bull Stratos. In Kuwait he will

Sports FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2013

conduct a press conference at Badriah Ballroom at Jumeirah Messilah Beach Hotel & Spa where members of the media and VIPs will have the chance to listen to the details of his historic jump along with the preparations that preceded it. Felix also will meet during his visit to Kuwait all his fans at the 360 Mall at 6:30pm. Lucky winners from competitions held on social media @redbullkuwait will have the chance to take photos with Felix.

Felix Baumgartner broke the speed of sound reaching an estimated speed of *833.9 mph (1,342.8 km/h) jumping from the stratosphere, which when certified will make him the first man to break the speed of sound in free fall while delivering valuable data for future space exploration. Felix climbed to 128,100 feet (39,045 meters) in a helium-filled balloon Sunday morning Oct 14, 2012. This is exactly 65 years after Chuck Yeager first broke the sound barrier flying in an

experimental rocket powered airplane.

Felix broke two other world records (highest freefall, highest manned balloon flight), leaving the longest freefall record to project mentor Col Joe Kittinger.

Felix’s entire trip back to earth lasted 9:09 minutes, with 4:22 of that time in freefall (without drogue). Countless millions of people around the world watched his ascent and jump live on television broadcasts and live stream on the Internet. At one point during his freefall Baumgartner appeared to spin rapidly, but he quickly re-gained control and moments later opened his parachute as members of the ground crew cheered and viewers around the world heaved a sigh of relief. Baumgartner and his team spent five years training and preparing for the mission that is designed to improve our scientific understanding of how the body copes with the extreme conditions near space.

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Lazio problems mount ROME: Plagued by injuries, prone to defensive blunders and unsettled by speculation over the future of their coach, Lazio have stumbled into a crisis while watching their arch-rivals AS Roma sail off into the distance. Last season, which ended with a triumphant victory over Roma in the first-ever Coppa Italia final meeting between the pair, now seems a distant memory as they slither down the table following a run of five games without a win.

A 4-2 home defeat by Napoli on Monday, the third time this season they have leaked four goals in a game, exposed the glaring weaknesses in the Lazio rearguard. The players were jeered when they went to acknowledge the ultras in the Curva Nord at the end of the match and had to endure cries for more guts and determination.

“The players didn’t deserve the protests because we saw a Lazio team that wanted to win,” said coach Vladimir Petkovic after Monday’s defeat, where he admitted that all the Napoli goals came from mistakes. “I don’t think the relationship with the fans is broken,” he added. “We are all sorry that we have so few points. I don’t think the team deserved the protests because... but there has to be engagement with the fans, whether it’s positive or negative.”

Petkovic’s future is already in doubt and the team appears to have been unsettled by speculation that the Bosnian will leave at the end of the season to take charge of the Swiss national side.

It is a far cry from last season when Petkovic, who had done most of his coaching in Switzerland before being launched into the more cutthroat world of Serie A, surprised observers by keeping Lazio near the top of the table for most of the season.

In attack, Germany forward Miroslav Klose has been dogged by a series of niggling injuries and Lazio have struggled to find an adequate replacement. Brayan Perea, a 20-year-old Colombian, has shown some promise as has 18-year-old Barcelona youth product Keita Balde, who scored a stunning goal against Napoli, but both remain promises for the future rather than reliable replacements. Brazilian playmaker Hernanes has struggled to find his form, something that is also threatening to undermine his chances of making his country’s World Cup team.

Club directors have not escaped the criticism, either, and the ultras boycotted the start of their team’s Serie A match against Chievo in September in protest at the club’s allegedly poor performance in the transfer market. Lazio are now no better off than crisis-hit AC Milan, with the teams equal ninth on 17 points from 14 games, and face a difficult visit to Torino on Sunday (1400) where they hope to glean their first domestic away win of the season.

Leaders Juventus will begin at least a month without playmaker Andrea Pirlo when they visit Bologna today night (1945) to kickoff the weekend. The 34-year-old suffered a grade two strain of the medial collateral ligament in his right knee in the win over Udinese. Although, with Paul Pogba and Arturo Vidal, Juventus still have arguably the strongest midfield in the league.

Second-placed AS Roma, still struggling in the absence of injured talisman Francesco Totti, host Fiorentina, joint fourth, in the weekend’s top fixture on Sunday (1130). Roma remain unbeaten on 34 points, three behind Juventus, but, having started with a spectacular run of 10 games in a row, have drawn their last four, a run which has coincided with Totti’s absence. “Totti is something special for Roma,” midfielder Miralem Pjanic said. “When he’s not here, the team plays differently. “I’m not saying we lose confidence without him, but we are accustomed to always having him on the field. When he’s not there, we are missing a reference point. All the play goes through him, so Roma have to play differently without Totti.”— Reuters

ROME: Napoli’s Spanish forward Jose Maria Callejon (right) lies on the ground next to Lazio’s Brazilian midfielder Anderson Hernanes during the Serie A football match between the Lazio and Napoli at Rome’s Olympic Stadium on December 2, 2013. — AFP

Celtic aim to extend unbeaten run GLASGOW: Celtic defender Virgil van Dijk hopes Celtic can carry on the momentum of last weekend’s massive win over Hearts when they take on Motherwell at Fir Park today. Neil Lennon’s rampant side ran riot at Tynecastle last Sunday as they racked up a record 7-0 win over the Jambos to book their place in the last 16 of the Scottish Cup. The Hoops are back on Scottish Premiership duty today and Dutch defender van Dijk is focused on securing another win for the league leaders and extending their unbeaten start to the season to 14 games. “It was a good result, of course, and we were very happy to go through to the next round so it was a good day,” van Dijk said of the Hearts win. “I didn’t feel that it was coming but I knew we were capable of it as we have very good players in the team.

“In every game we want to play like that and win the game like that, but every game is different. “I was disappointed after the Milan game, especially the day after when you see the game back. But you can’t keep thinking about it and you have to move on and that¥s what I did. “We all wanted a reaction after the game and we knew that it could be a difficult game away at Hearts, but we played very well and won the game. We have to make sure we are ready for today and win that game as well.”

One man not on the scoresheet in the 7-0 win over Hearts was striker Teemu Pukki. The Finnish international made an instant impact when he arrived at Celtic after he scored in his first two matches. However, Pukki has failed to find the back of the net since then and he is aiming to put that right. “I have been playing a lot so I have been really enjoying it, but the only thing bothering me is I haven’t scored enough goals yet. I truly believe they are coming, though,” the Celtic striker said.

“It has frustrated me but I know I will score eventually. Strikers always want to score but the more I play the more chances I will have to score goals.” The Hoops will face a wounded Motherwell side today’s night. Stuart McCall’s side exited the Scottish Cup last Saturday after suffering an embarrassing defeat to League Two side Albion Rovers and will be desperate to make amends when they face Celtic.

Elsewhere, on Saturday new Inverness Caledonian Thistle boss John Hughes will take his side to Paisley to face St Mirren. Hughes’ new side sit in second place, having won their past five matches, while St Mirren are without a win in three games. Partick Thistle will attempt to halt a run of five straight defeats when they travel to take on Hibernian at Easter Road, Kilmarnock are away to Ross County who are without a win in six games, St Johnstone host Aberdeen at McDiarmid Park while Hearts will attempt to put their humiliating defeat by Celtic behind them when they face Dundee United at Tannadice.—AFP

Barcelona seek to lift sagging morale BARCELONA: Barcelona have an ideal opportunity to lift their sagging morale and return to winning ways when they face lower league side Cartagena away in the King’s Cup, according to defender Gerard Pique.

The La Liga champions will take part in the fourth round of the Cup as the top flight Spanish league takes a break from action this weekend.

Barcelona recently lost 2-1 at Ajax Amsterdam in the Champions League before going down 1-0 at Athletic Bilbao in the La Liga. “In Cartagena, we want to demonstrate that we are not in the deep depression that it appears and that we can lift ourselves and get back to winning,” Pique told a news conference.

“It is a good chance to play a good game again and that will build our confidence and morale. “We either sink or we respond. We are getting better all the time but we need to improve our confidence and in games we have not been able to fight back which has been a problem. “There have been ups and down like in Amsterdam which was unacceptable.” The defeats have added fire to the constant debate about the more direct approach of coach Gerardo Martino and also over the training methods with a recent spate of injuries to the players, including Lionel Messi and goalkeeper Victor Valdes. The centre back defended the Argentine coach, who took over from Tito Vilanova. “It is impossible to press the whole game and before we had the ball and we were able to rest in possession,” Pique said. “Now it is more difficult but the team still wants to press. “Our aim is always to be at our best when we are fighting for the titles and it is not possible to maintain that level throughout the season. “The coach has known how to adapt to the Barca style and support the people that were already here. We should be grateful that he has done that and been prepared to change his approach.”

For footballers plying their trade in the lower echelons of the game, the Cup offers the unique chance to pit their skills against the best. It is a similar story for the players of Olimpic de Xativa, another third tier side, who face Real Madrid tomorrow. Olimpic left-back Jose Peris works on a market stall and it is a dream come true for him to face the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale. “I keep on waking up at three in the morning and my girlfriend said to me ‘what are you doing Jose?’ and I told her ‘I don’t know whose shirt to ask for’,” Peris told Spanish daily Marca.

Real will arrive having won their last seven games in all competitions, scoring 30 goals in the process, but Peris is not ready to give up hope. “In the Murta (stadium) we can scrape something,” he added. Atletico Madrid have made a fine start to the season and will play another third-tier side, Sant Andreu, as they start the defence of their title.—Reuters

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African champions upbeat ahead of World Cup draw ABUJA: Nigeria may have flopped at their last two World Cups but expectations are high of a better showing in Brazil next year, irrespective of the first-round group they are drawn in today. The Super Eagles have not won a World Cup finals match since a 1-0 win over Bulgaria at the 1998 World Cup in France. But defender Efe Ambrose said they should not dread clashing with any team in the first round in Brazil. Instead other sides should a meeting with the African champions.

“We are African champions and instead of trying to avoid any team in the group stage, it should be the other teams trying to avoid us,” the Celtic defender told AFP this week. “All we need to do is to prepare very well for the competition by playing some top friendlies and making sure that we the players are fit and playing for our various clubs in Europe. “We must be ready to play against the best teams in the world if we wish to make an impact at the World Cup.” Sporting Braga ace Elderson Echiejile meanwhile said confidence was running high in Nigeria’s squad since they won a third Africa Cup of Nations in February, making them ready for the challenge.”I can confidently say we have a good team right now. We have more confidence as a team and that is what I think is going for us right now and that would really help us at the World Cup,” said the defender. “As a team, we do not have a limit to what we could achieve. I believe so much in this team to shock the world in Brazil. “But we should not expect the best draw because there are a lot of great teams going to the World Cup. “But whatever team we would be paired against in the draw would be a difficult team because they all went through the qualifiers, so they would be tough to play against.” Nigeria are now a settled side under former skipper Stephen Keshi and suggestions of hiring a foreign coach for the World Cup, as was the case for the 2010 competition, have been dismissed by officials. The Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) have also promised a good build-up for the World Cup, with the government equally promising a financial lifeline for the cash-strapped association.

The NFF said it was working on proposals for a training base in either Colombia, Argentina or the United States before the kick-off in June next year. “The task ahead is a very huge one and as champions of the continent, we must have the best preparation as a lot is expected of this team,” said Chris Green, the head of the NFF technical committee. Brazil will be Nigeria’s fifth time in the World Cup finals. Their best performances at the tournament was on their debut in 1994 and 1998 when they reached the knockout round of 16.— AFP

Ronaldo hoping to avoid big guns MADRID: Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo believes Spain, Brazil and Germany are the favorites to win next year’s World Cup and is keen to avoid all three in today’s draw for the group stages. The Real Madrid forward ensured his country will be represented in Brazil next summer with a stunning individual performance as he scored all four goals in Portugal’s 4-2 aggregate playoff win over Sweden last month.

However, having been eliminated by Spain in each of the last two major tournaments, he is keen to avoid some of his club teammates along with Brazil and three-time winners Germany in the early stages.

“The candidates to win the World Cup are Brazil, Spain and Germany. Ideally it is not a good moment to be drawn with them, but we are not thinking about that just now,” he told Spanish sports daily Marca.

“We will see what the draw presents us with. We are confident, in good shape and we have achieved our objective of getting to Brazil. Hopefully we will not be drawn with any of these really strong teams from the start.”

Ronaldo has paid slightly for his efforts in the match against Sweden as he has missed Real’s last two games due to a slight muscle problem. However, Madrid have continued their rampant form of late even without their star man as Gareth Bale took centre stage with his first hat-trick since joining the Spanish giants in a 4-0 win over Valladolid last weekend. The treble took Bale’s tally to eight goals in his last seven games, whilst he also teed up Karim Benzema for Madrid’s other goal to add his sixth assist of the campaign.—AFP

BAHIA: Brazilian football star Ronaldo gives a press conference on the eve of the Brazil 2014 FIFA Football World Cup final draw, in Costa do Sauipe, state of Bahia yesterday. The official ball of the World Cup “Brazuca” is seen in the foreground. —AFP

Putting delays aside, FIFA set for World Cup draw COSTA DO SAUIPE: Rising above delays and reports of planned public protest, FIFA is finalizing preparations for today’s draw for next year’s World Cup. The draw at the northeastern Brazil resort of Costa do Sauipe will see world football’s governing body draw eight groups of four in a complex system designed to separate teams from the same continent as far as possible. But some groups will contain two European sides, with the Old Continent having 13 of the 32 qualifiers. FIFA has shrugged off Brazilian admissions that six of the 12 venues are running late.

Brazilian Sports Minister Aldo Rebelo said the six would not meet a December 31 deadline but would be ready for pretournament tests in late January. The exceptions are Curitiba, set only to be fully ready in February, and Sao Paulo, scene of a fatal accident which left two construction workers dead last week and where an investigation is under way. Work at Cuiaba remains behind schedule and Rebelo says the stadiums in Porto Alegre, Manaus and Natal will only be inaugurated in January, partially owing to President Dilma Rousseff’s full pre-Christmas agenda as she plans to attend.

“There are delays but they will not be significant. What matters is that we are ready to go in January,” Rebelo said.

“Due to the reduced timeline, FIFA, the LOC (local organizing committee), government and stadium authorities are

adjusting the stadium operational program to ensure that the stadiums are delivered and host events prior to the FIFA World Cup without compromising on safety or quality,” FIFA said in a statement. A further headache-albeit one at arm’s length-was a Wednesday announcement by the “anonymousbrasil” protest group that they plan to make plain their opposition not only to government corruption but also the estimated $11 billion cost of staging the World Cup with a march. The group said Wednesday that hosting the draw in the chic Costa do Sauipe resort, well away from urban populations, was a means of “avoiding the formation of protests (whose images) would be beamed round the world by TV.” The pressure group urged supporters: “If you don’t agree with corruption take to the streets of Salvador on the sixth and tell people.” For the draw, one random unseeded European team will go into a different pot from its fellow non-seeded continental rivals and avoid playing a European seed. The five South American countries will also make up a sub-pot in a bid to ensure that three Europeans cannot meet at the group stage.

“It’s not easy to understand - the first take it took me some time,” admitted FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke.

England coach Roy Hodgson says geography, rather than who one’s rivals are, is the factor on his mind as the team

drawn second in Brazil’s group faces a marathon travel schedule in the huge host nation. After playing five-times champions Brazil in the June 12 opener in Sao Paulo, that team will then have to fly almost 3,000km to Manaus in sultry Amazonia for their next match.

They would then face a similar haul to equally sticky Recife in the northeast for their third group game. By contrast, a luckier draw would entail enjoying far cooler conditions in southern city Porto Alegre. Italy are proposing a two-minute timeout per half to lessen the risk of dehydration in the heat with FIFA maintaining several lunchtime kick-offs in some of the hottest venues. Valcke will oversee the draw-which gets underway at 1600GMT-and will be joined on stage by eight former star players, including Englishman Geoff Hurst, the only man to score a World Cup final hat trick.

The eldest former player set to appear is 86-year-old Alcides Ghiggia, the last survivor of Uruguay’s shock win over Brazil in the deciding match of the 1950 World Cup at the Maracana Stadium. Meanwhile, FIFA has dismissed suggestions that a decision to choose light-skinned model Fernanda Lima and her white TV presenter husband Rodrigo Hilbert to host the event instead of darkskinned pair Camila Pitanga and Lazaro Ramos was racist. Brazilian officials have stressed the country’s racial diversity and multicultural identity are among its major selling points.—AFP

Platini wants ‘sin bins’ to replace yellow cards MADRID: UEFA chief Michel Platini has called for football to scrap yellow cards, saying players who flout the rules should instead be sent to a ‘sin bin’. “I would change the system of cautions, the cards,” the head of European football’s governing body told Spanish sports daily AS in an interview published yesterday.

“I would make it like rugby, punishing the offender with 10 or 15 minutes out of the game,” Platini said. “That way, the

benefit goes to the team he is playing against, in the same match, instead of a sanction by cards which is carried out against a third team, the next on the calendar.” Under the existing system, a player who gets a straight red card or two yellow cards in the same game is immediately sent off and cannot be replaced.

But a player who accumulates a certain number of yellow cards over several

matches can be suspended for future games in the same tournament. In the UEFA Champions League, for example, two yellow cards in a stage of the tournament leads to a one-game suspension.

Platini stressed that the sin bin was just a proposal.

“It is an idea,” Platini said. “Now it needs to mature and see if it really is good for the game. It is a proposal to be explored.”—AFP

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