23rd Dec 2013

CR IP TI ON BS SU

MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2013

New law in works to protect environment

Khodorkovsky to stay out of Russia, help jailed dissidents

NO: 16025

150 FILS

3 40 PAGES

SAFAR 20, 1435 AH

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Gold facing first annual price drop since 2000

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www.kuwaittimes.net

Hat-trick hero Pedro revives Barca with win over Getafe

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Cabinet ‘resigns’ before decisive court verdicts MPs warn against dissolving Assembly for third time

Max 17º Min 03º High Tide 02:12 & 16:14 Low Tide 09:23 & 21:42

By B Izzak

KUWAIT: HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah meets National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem (left) and HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah at Bayan Palace yesterday. — KUNA

Shamali denies Khafji project pullout Committee formed to probe deadly wall collapse

By A Saleh and Agencies KUWAIT: MP Abdullah Al-Tamimi yesterday warned the government from going ahead with plans to withdraw from a joint oil production venture with Saudi Arabia in the shared neutral zone in Khafji. But Oil Minister Mustafa Al-Shamali told the official state news agency KUNA that the rumors, first revealed by the Wall Street Journal, were “very inaccurate”.

Shamali said that both Kuwait and Saudi Arabia are “working hard” to develop the Khafji oilfield, besides other oilfields in the joint region to reach the targeted production rates that were agreed by the

Joint Executive Committee ( JEC ) on Dec 5.

Operations in the Khafji joint zone are implemented based on the agreement signed between the two countries to boost cooperation and deep-rooted relations, especially in the oil sector. JEC is the supreme decision making body deciding the Joint Operations policies.

Separately, the Kuwait Human Rights Society demanded an immediate investigation into the death of two Asian workers who died at a historical site in Kuwait City on Saturday. KUNA announced yesterday that Minister of Information and Youth Affairs Sheikh Salman Al-Humoud Al-Sabah formed

an investigation committee to look into the details of a structural collapse at the historic palace of Sheikh Abdullah Al-Jaber, also known as Diwan Khazal, which is run by the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters (NCCAL).

The committee, consisting of lawyers and engineers, will take administrative measures against those responsible for the tragic incident to prevent its reoccurrence. A report will be submitted “as soon as possible”. The minister, who is also the head of NCCAL, had rushed to the scene of the accident soon after it took place. He expressed his deepest condolences to the families of the victims.

KUWAIT: The constitutional court, whose rulings are final, is scheduled to issue a number of decisive verdicts that could lead to scrapping the July parliamentary polls for the third time in just 18 months. Unconfirmed reports meanwhile said all Cabinet ministers have tendered their resignations to Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah, who is expected to make the announcement immediately after the court rulings.

National Assembly speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem however said that he has not been informed of any Cabinet or ministers’ resignation, a customary practice that happens after the Cabinet resigns. Under the Kuwaiti law, it is HH the Amir who accepts or rejects the resignation of ministers or the Cabinet.

The developments came on the eve of a number of decisive rulings expected to be issued by the constitutional court regarding dozens of challenges to the election results or procedures that threaten to nullify the whole election process. But the two most important rulings relate to two petitions demanding the election process be nullified and for abolishing the single-vote electoral law.

The first petition challenges that procedures to invite Kuwaiti voters to elect a new National Assembly in July had been flawed and breached the constitution, and accordingly the July election should be nullified and the current Assembly scrapped. If the court accepts the petition, it will order scrapping the Assembly for the second time in around six months and for the third in about 18 months.

The second petition challenges that the amendment to the electoral law to cut the number of candidates a Kuwaiti voter can pick from four to just one is unconstitutional and must be scrapped despite a ruling by the court six months ago to uphold the amendment as constitutional. If the court accepts the petition, it will scrap the Assembly, order dissolving the house and call for amending the law. Observers and legal experts however believe that the chances of the court accepting either of the two challenges is “absolutely slim”, although it is not totally ruled out.

Continued on Page 13

King appoints son as governor of Makkah RIYADH: Saudi King Abdullah appointed one of his sons Prince Salman bin Abdul-Aziz, as crown prince last year yesterday as the new governor of Makkah, a prestigious to succeed him. Salman had previously served for and influential position that includes oversight of almost 50 years in the influential post of governor of Islam’s holiest shrine, the state media reported. The 43- Riyadh. After Salman, most analysts believe only two of year-old Prince Mishaal, who is the king’s sixth son, will Ibn Saud’s living sons, Prince Ahmed and Prince Muqrin might have a chance to become king. govern the province of Makkah which After that, one of Ibn Saud’s hundreds is home to the Kaaba, as well as the of grandsons must be chosen. large Red Sea city of Jeddah. The Saudi Before yesterday’s appointment, the Press Agency reported that Mishaal will king’s son Mishaal was governor of take over the job from Prince Khalid, Najran, a southwestern mountainous who oversaw Makkah’s affairs for six region of Saudi Arabia that borders years. Khalid was named the new eduYemen and has a significant populacation minister. The outgoing minister, tion of Ismaili Shiites, an offshoot of Prince Faisal, who is also the king’s sonthe kingdom’s Shiite minority. in-law, requested he be relieved of the “Appointing a son of the king to one of post, the report said. the major governorates in the kingAnother of the king’s sons, Prince dom is noteworthy. He is giving his Mutaib, is head of the Saudi Arabian sons a big chance to have a place in National Guard, while his son Prince the succession process,” said Khaled AlAbdulaziz is the deputy foreign minisDakhil, a Saudi political scientist. And ter and another son, Prince Turki, is by moving Prince Khalid to the deputy governor of the capital Riyadh.

Education Ministry, King Abdullah may Besides his own sons, Abdullah has also also be signalling that he intends to promoted nephews to other top jobs, Prince Mishaal revive stalled reforms to the country’s including interior minister, intelligence creaking school system. “Khalid Alchief, Eastern Province governor, Faisal was very critical of extremism in our educational Riyadh governor and deputy defence minister.

But unlike in Western monarchies, the throne passes system. But fixing education is a hard job that requires through brothers who are the sons of modern Saudi years and years,” said Jamal Khashoggi, head of a televiArabia’s founder, King Abdul-Aziz Al Saud. King sion news channel owned by billionaire Prince Abdullah named his half-brother, Defense Minister Alwaleed bin Talal. — Agencies

Israelis demand end to US spying JERUSALEM: Israel’s intelligence minister called reported US wiretapping of an Israeli premier “unacceptable” amid renewed calls yesterday for the release of jailed Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard.

“We have of late exceptional intelligence relations with the United States and the British, it’s almost one intelligence community,” Yuval Steinitz told private television Channel 2’s “Meet the Press” late Saturday. “Under such condi-

tions I think it is unacceptable,” Steinitz said. “We do not spy on the president of the United States or the White House. The rules have been made clear.

We have made certain commitments on the matter and we honour them.”

The New York Times reported Friday that in monitoring more than 1,000 targets in upwards of 60 countries between 2008 to 2011, US and British Continued on Page 13

CAIRO: Egyptian activicts Mohamed Adel (left), Ahmed Douma (center) and Ahmed Maher stand in the dock during their trial yesterday in the capital. — AFP

Egypt jails key figures of anti-Mubarak revolt CAIRO: An Egyptian court yesterday sentenced three activists who spearheaded the 2011 uprising against Hosni Mubarak to three years in jail for organising an unlicensed protest, judicial sources said. It was the first such verdict against non-Islamist protesters since the overthrow of president Mohamed Morsi in July and was seen by rights groups as part of a widening

crackdown on demonstrations by military-installed authorities. Ahmed Maher, Ahmed Douma and Mohamed Adel were also convicted of rioting and assaulting security forces during an unauthorised protest last month, and were fined 50,000 Egyptian pounds ($7,100) each, the sources said.

Continued on Page 13

MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2013

LOCAL

Over 111,000 registered bedoons living in Kuwait Interior minister invited to meeting KUWAIT: More than 111,000 stateless residents living in Kuwait are officially registered in state records according to a recent report quoting a letter released by the Central Apparatus for Illegal Residents. This is up from the 93,000 number that the apparatus’ President Saleh Al-Fadhalah announced last May in a press statement in which he also indicated that they were able to identify the original nationalities of 67,000.

The recent letter was attached with a document that Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Mohammad Al-Khalid Al-Sabah sent to MP Adnan Abdulsamad, and contained answers to questions regarding benefits that the apparatus provides to stateless residents. It indicates that there are 111,493 registered ‘bedoons’ as of the release of the letter before Al-Jarida daily published it yesterday.

“This figure is subject to change as the apparatus continues to cooperate with the Interior Ministry to update information of stateless residents”, the letter reads.

According to the letter, there are 3,195 stateless men who are married to Kuwaiti women. It also indicates that the government paid more than KD3 million between September 2003 and the end of 2012 for the treatment of stateless residents who are holders of ID cards released by the apparatus, and more than KD3.5 million for bedoons’ education in the 2012/2013 academic year. The letter also indi-

cates that 22,415 birth certificates were released as of the end of September 2013, and that 2,046 driver’s licenses were issued in 2012, whereas 43,142 temporary passports (article 17) were issued between November 2010 and March 2013.

Kuwait’s community of stateless residents, estimated in most international reports between 100,000 and 120,000, demands citizenship as well as civil and social rights they are deprived of given their illegal residence status. The government in the meantime argues that only 34,000 qualify for consideration while the rest are Arabs or descendent of Arab people who deliberately disposed their original passports after coming to Kuwait to seek citizenship in the oilrich country.

The Kuwaiti government established the Central Apparatus for Illegal Residents in 2010 with a fiveyear ultimatum to sort out the stateless residents’ community and find those who meet conditions of naturalization, including residents whose Bedouin ancestors failed to register for citizenship following Kuwait’s independence more than 50 years ago. The Apparatus adopted measures within a year to grant stateless residents numerous rights which include obtaining marriage, birth and death certificates, but inability to provide significant improvement in living conditions prompted several protests in the past couple of years

which saw around 200 stateless men arrested for illegal gathering.

The government also adopted last year a new form of security IDs given to stateless residents and used as their main form of identification. The cards contain colored tags referring to the category under which a holder is recognized in state records; including those eligible for naturalization and others the government claims to have proof that they belong to other countries. For example, a bearer of a redtagged card is classified under ‘people with criminal restrictions’ which renders naturalization applications automatically disqualified.

The parliament passed a bill last March doubling the number of people the government can naturalize each year to a maximum of 4,000, and that after the cabinet agreed to give priority in granting citizenship to stateless residents who meet the required conditions. President of the parliament’s bedoon’s committee MP Abdullah Al-Tamimi was quoted yesterday announcing that interior minister Sheikh Mohammad Al-Khalid AlSaleh will be invited to next week’s meeting “to answer questions over the government’s failure to naturalize at least 4,000 who meet conditions as previously announced”.

The term ‘bedoon’ is Arabic for without, and is often used as a loose reference to the fact that stateless residents live without nationality since birth.

KUWAIT: Minister of Justice and Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Shareeda Al-Mousherji and other dignitaries at the opening the 20th Awqaf Forum yesterday.

Strategy to encourage more charity work KUWAIT: Kuwait Awqaf Public Foundation (KAPF) is working on setting up a comprehensive strategy that invloves the investment sectors to encourage more charity activities in all domains, Minister of Justice and Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Shareeda Al-Mousherji told the press yesterday.

After opening the 20th Awqaf Forum, the Minister said that KAPF has contributed tremendously to the development of society and meeting its various needs since its inception in 1993. It’s accomplishments are also

renowned regionally and internationally.

He added that the Forum aims to shed light on the many aspects of the charity body that has been playing a vital role in carrying out various donation campaigns inside and outside the country, especially those which went to help the Syrian people recently.

The Minister added that the latest vision of KAPF involves bringing the investment sectors into charity activities to give them more professional and efficient perspective. It also seeks the engagement of waqf banks where

they could set up waqf funds in more innovative means.

On his part, KAPF’s General Secretary Abdulmohsen Al-Kharafi said that the foundation tries to implement waqf fundamentals in Islamic countries as means of comprehensive development tool, locally, and a role module to be followed, internationally.

KAPF engages in wholesome developmental role that covers all facets of societies and their needs in religion, education, health and social sectors. —KUNA

KUWAIT: The civil defence department conducted a mock evacuation at 360 Mall, Public Authority for Applied Education and Sama Mall to make sure about the readiness of workers and machines in case of a fire. The evacuation took place as soon as the sirens went off and concerned teams evacuated the mall, offices and facilities and directed the people to the assembly points. —Photos by Hanan Al-Saadoun

DUBAI: Kuwait’s Ambassador to the UAE Salah AlBuaijan receiving the commemorative shield from the Chairman of the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority Sheikh Majid bin Mohammed AlMaktoum.

Kuwait honored in Dubai for pioneering cultural role DUBAI: The Dubai Culture and Arts Authority honored yesterday the State of Kuwait for its historic role in supporting the activities of the Dubai Public Library and its programs, particularly in the first years of its founding.

Kuwait’s Ambassador to the UAE Salah Al-Buaijan received a commemorative shield from the Chairman of the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority Sheikh Majid bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, in a ceremony organized on the 50th anniversary for the establishment of the Dubai Public Library.

Al-Buaijan said that this gesture reflects the depth of cultural and intellectual cooperation between Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates since ancient times, expressing pride in this honor, which comes as confirmation of the pioneering role of Kuwait in support of culture and thought in the Arabian Gulf region.

Guard attackers expelled from school KUWAIT: Director of Ahmadi Education Zone Muna Al-Sallal is following the case of those who stormed Dherar bin Al-Azwar School in Umm Al-Haiman and attacked its security guard.

Informed sources said the zone sent the report to Public Education Undersecretary Dr Khalid Al-Rashid and recommended that both students be permanently expelled as they participated with their father in the attack against the guard.

The recommendation did not ask for terminating the third brother, but moved him to another school.

The sources said that Sallal referred the teacher who videoed the incident for investigation because it violated the rules. As for the guard, he is in good health and dropped charges against the attackers.

He pointed to Kuwait’s significant contributions in support of the march of culture in different regions of the world. —KUNA

News

in brief

Kuwaiti citizens safe KUALA LUMPUR: All Kuwaiti citizens in Thailand are safe following the political unrest witnessed by the country, said Kuwait’s Ambassador to Thailand Abdullah Al-Sharhan yesterday. “Kuwaiti citizens currently in Thailand should steer clear of locations of the protests, main roads and government buildings, due to the unstable political situation in the country,” Al-Sharhan said. AlSharhan stressed that all Kuwaitis in Thailand are urged to provide the Embassy with their names and contact details by contacting its emergency hotline (+66) 918 90 9998 and the Embassy’s number (+66) 263 66 600.(end) Nepal’s Foreign Secretary KUWAIT: Kuwait’s Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Khaled Suleiman Al-Jarallah received yesterday Foreign Secretary of Nepal Arjun Bahadur Thapa. The meeting discussed ways to enhance bilateral relations between the two countries as well as regional and international developments. Director of Asia department Ambassador Mohammed Al-Mejrin AlRoumi and Director of the Undersecretary’s Office Ayham Abdul-Latif Al-Omar attended the meeting.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2013

LOCAL

Crackdown on expats dominates 2013 news Yearend report (Labor)

By Ben Garcia KUWAIT: For many expatriates, a crackdown on illegal workers dominated the news of 2013 in Kuwait. The crackdown was preceded by an announcement by the Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Thekra Al-Rasheedi in which she promised to reduce the number of expats by 100,000 yearly or one million in ten years. The ministry later denied having ordered the crackdown, however the Ministry of Interior continued the campaign even though it has been mired by alleged abuses, mistreatment and even rape by allegedly some men in uniform.

Since the crackdown began, thousands of expatriates have been deported, mainly low-paid Asian workers working without the correct visa or residency papers or for repeat traffic offences.

It was the first time in the history of Kuwait that so many expats were rounded up and deported. As a result, expatriates were in a state of fear, especially after random house-to-house checking in several buildings and accommodations. Kuwait City was literally deserted of expats as they experienced intermittent police checking as they rounded up people walking, in the bus or in private cars. The city was emptied of expatriates for several months from March till August as a result of crackdown.

It mellowed a bit after Ramadan, but checking continues, although on a much lesser scale.

Kuwait relies heavily on foreign workers to perform low-paying and strenuous jobs in sectors such as construction and services - foreigners make up about 69 percent of Kuwait’s 3.8 million population. Pressure to limit expat numbers has been growing among some Kuwaitis who argue that too many workers are a burden to security and on the state. They argued instead of bringing in foreigners, Kuwait should try harder to cut unemployment among its own natives, estimated at above 3 percent. The crackdown has been criticized by some economists who argue it could have a major effect on Kuwait’s economy by limiting access to low-cost labour, while reducing flows of money to countries which supply foreign workers such as India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and the Philippines.

Kuwait’s effort to limit expatriate workers is mirrored in several other Gulf countries, which want to curb large foreign populations to address demands for jobs among their own citizens.

Kuwait has deported more than 3,000 Indians, more than a thousand Filipinos and thousands of Bangladeshis. Many expats, especially those who are residing here for years, have said that such a police crackdown has never been seen in the history of Kuwait before.

KUWAIT: His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah received Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Oil Mustafa Al-Shimali at Bayan Palace yesterday. Al-Shimali was accompanied by Environment Public Authority Director General Dr Saleh Al-Mudhi who presented to His Highness the Premier team members of EPA’s official e-gate that won four local, regional, and international awards.

Kuwait’s foreign aid, grants KD 1.2 billion: Minister KUWAIT: Deputy PM and Finance Minister Sheikh Salem Al-Abdul Aziz Al-Sabah said that the total cost of grants and aid given to brotherly countries, other than the loans given by the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, over the past five years was KD 1,210,700 and that the total cost of special and secret expenses for the same period was KD 236.9 million.

Responding to a parliamentary inquiry from MP Ali Al-Omair, Sheikh Salem explained that the total cost of official Jinan Bushihri. — Photos by Joseph Shagra

Khalid Al-Mutawa

assignments and missions abroad for the same period was KD 246.1 million while the total cost of salaries for various ministries and government establishments was KD 46,006,600.

He said that amount paid to Kuwaitis working in the private sector was KD 1,286,600, the cost of subsidies was KD 15,729,700 and that the total sums paid as end of ser vice indemnity to nonKuwaitis was KD 66,400,000 for the same period. — Al-Jarida

Dr Salah Al-Mudhi

New law soon to protect Kuwait environment

By Nawara Fattahova KUWAIT: Environmental violations in Kuwait are decreasing as more institutions undertake initiatives to protect the environment and spread awareness about preserving it. The Environment Public Authority (EPA) held a conference on the Kuwaiti environment, its problems and solutions, titled ‘Our Environment is our Wealth and Responsibility’ yesterday at the Regency Hotel.

The purpose of this conference is to connect environment protection with team work of all parties in order to preserve natural resources.

“We aim to put a strategy that will transform environment disasters into economic projects and sustainable development. We hope that this conference will reach its goals and find the ideal applicable solutions for the environment crisis that is threatening the community,” said Dr Salah Al-Mudhi, Chairman and Director General of EPA, during the conference.

He also announced that a new environmental law is being prepared. “EPA is currently finalizing a new law in cooperation with some MPs that will correct the mistakes and shortcomings in the present legislation. This law will increase sanctions on violators of the environment. We should work on spreading environmental awareness among citizens and expats. It’s time to adopt sustainable development and invest in green economy,” added Mudhi.

Khalid Al-Mutawa, head of the organizing

committee, addressed a presentation on economic environment and environment economy.

“The instable political situation in Kuwait for the past few years has affected the economy including environmental projects, and we don’t have long-term vision in this matter. Kuwait is the only GCC country that hasn’t launched alternative energy projects. In this conference, we focus on an economic environmental vision much deeper than monitoring a factory, cleaning a beach or collecting garbage,” he noted.

According to him, the public sector should cooperate with the private sector to set an awareness strategy with an execution plan to launch mega environment projects. “This will preserve the wealth and health of the future generations. It will also offer work opportunities.

This is real sustainability and a successful solution for environmental problems,” stressed Mutawa.

Environmental problems have been transformed into projects in developed countries.

“Sweden is importing waste to be used in recycling projects. The historical interest in environment started with economic failure and poverty, so some countries started collecting metal and waste from wars for recycling So the base of environment ideology was economic, and if it isn’t transformed from social issue into an economic one, we won’t improve,” he added.

Mutawa also criticized the present legislation and dealing with waste. “In Kuwait we are still

using the old techniques of getting rid of waste, as dumping waste in landfills is a very dangerous process that produces toxic emissions. The landfills here lie in a space of 18 km, and are considered time bombs, while young businessmen are not given land to build a factory for recycling according to safety criteria. Also, oil lakes under the sand may cause a disaster since they haven’t been treated for more than 20 years. In addition, there are remaining wastes of the American army from the Gulf War which are stored in a Jahra landfill till today although it has cost us $150 million,” concluded Mutawa.

Attorney Fayez Al-Kandari, a law teacher at Kuwait University, spoke about the necessary legislation to protect the environment and launch environmental projects, while Jenan Bushehri, former member of the municipal council, spoke about dealing with electronic waste and possible projects.

Frank Clary, Director of CSR at Agility, explained the aspects of environment and its impact on logistics. “I will speak about understanding logistics and logistic operations - how our logistics company is going to improve the impact on the environment. We look at the value of each transaction. At Agility, we want to focus on reducing our impact on the environment and make sure that all our employees are aware it’s important for us. We are also offering solutions to our customers,” he told Kuwait Times.

KUWAIT: Ambassador of Ukraine and Mrs Volodymyn Tolkach held a reception on the occasion of the Independence Day of their country at the Regency Hotel, in the presence of Ukraine’s Vice Prime Minister Kostyantyn Gryshchenko, a number of diplomats and dignitaries. —- Photos by Joseph Shagra

DMCP continues beach, island clean-ups KUWAIT: The Dow Chemical Company , in partnership with the en.v Initiative (en.v) and implementing partner Kuwait Society for Protection of Animals and Their Habitat (K’S PATH), have collected a combined total of 1795 kilograms of terrestrial marine waste during the latest cleanup efforts of the Dow Marine Conservation Program (DMCP), an initiative dedicated to marine conservation and the protection of Kuwait’s rich marine ecosystem.

The first of three recent clean-ups took place on Oct 4 at the Sulaibikhat Mangrove beach, with the help of 35 volunteers from three different groups - the Kuwait Riders Club, the Kuwait Motorcyclers Group and the Phoenician Riders club. The group collected approximately 200 kilograms of terrestrial marine waste in less than two hours.

With the help of students from the American International School (AIS), and a crew of 84 volunteers and one dog, a second

clean-up at Sulaibikhat beach followed on Nov 15. Over the course of two hours, the volunteers were able to collect about 1250 kilograms (72 large trash bags) of waste. Most recently, on Nov 29, a group of 11 volunteers ventured on a six hour trip to Kubbar Island for a two hour clean-up initiative. This latest cleanup was able to collect approximately 345 kilograms of terrestrial marine waste, enough to fill 35 bags.

“Following the successful summer awareness campaign, we saw an increase in participants who are more committed than ever to helping achieve DMCP’s mission to protect Kuwait’s marine ecosystem,” said Jamel Attal, Managing Director, Dow in Kuwait. “The results of these last clean-ups were impressive and a true testament to the hardwork of all those involved. Additionally, we are immensely pleased at the community engagement the initiative is constantly able to achieve and the dedication of the vol-

unteer groups that it attracts. A major part of the DMCP philosophy is the active involvement of the public, helping to educate them about the positive role they can play in preserving Kuwait’s marine environment and coastal habitats.”

Ayeshah Al Humaidhi, Founder and Chairperson of K’S PATH, said “Conservation requires sustained collective efforts to be successful. This fall as we resume clean-ups at Sulaibikhat beach, we’ve seen a new crop of mangrove saplings taking root along the stretch that was once barren. Several volunteer groups have joined us over the years to conserve this stretch, clearing tonnes of plastic and terrestrial marine waste over hundreds of hours even in peak summer. It’s encouraging to see what relentless teamwork can achieve once you lend nature a hand to heal itself.

I’m glad to see the program mobilize different interests for people to participate in.”

To date, the activities carried out by the DMCP have resulted in the manual collection of over 22000 kilograms (22tons) of waste.

The clean-up efforts have been aimed at restoring the natural marine habitats along the Bay of Kuwait and its island shores, helping to protect the multiple species of flora and fauna indigenous to these ecosystems. As part of Al Yaal, over the past year, the DMCP has been involved in several awareness and engagement activities, including beach clean-ups, island clean-ups and awareness events. Managing Director at The en.v Initiative, Zahed Sultan,said: “The DMCP continues to play an important role in the environmental conservation movement in Kuwait. In educating the community and offering them the chance to be active participants in the reshaping of the country’s environmental landscape, the DMCP is helping encourage a more environmentally conscious and aware future for Kuwait.”

MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2013

LOCAL kuwait digest

In my view

Sawaber tragedy

Sad reality of Kuwait

By Ahmad Al-Sarraf

local@kuwaittimes.net

T

he title above summarizes the suffering of everyone living in Kuwait, which is the result of negligence and indifference on the part of government officials.

Traffic jams, worn-out vehicles, reckless driving and accidents everywhere. Seeing a vehicle - especially a bus or taxi - driving on the shoulder of a highway with a police vehicle nearby has become common. Meanwhile, it was revealed that there are 20,000 forged driving licenses in Kuwait, and there are rumors which indicate that the actual number is double this amount.

Medical services - or lack of, that is - are still terrible.

Long waiting periods, misdiagnoses, expired medications and lack of parking spaces are common features of public hospitals. At the Mubarak Hospital for example, it is noticed that the parking lot has become dominated by taxi drivers, leaving little room for patients who could be facing emergency cases.

A friend told me recently about an incident he experienced at the Rumaithiya polyclinic. He went to the pharmacy, gave the prescription to the pharmacist and waited to receive his medication. However, the pharmacist refused to give him the medication under the pretext that he received the same medication only four days earlier.

The man explained that the prescription is for his mother who suffers swelling and chronic knee pain which requires taking medications every day. My friend says that he had to leave the polyclinic without receiving the medication that the doctor prescribed for him.

The situation at co-operative societies is not different.

And don’t get me wrong - I am not going to talk about the prices. They are reasonable and co-ops make a decent amount of profit. However, there is little effort to monitor their social activity, something that is of the duties of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Each co-op has a social committee whose job includes providing financial and moral support to shareholders. A friend told me that he once obtained KD 300 in support to print a publication.

Years later, the man received a call from the co-op’s new board inquiring about the case. Despite reassuring them that he only received KD 300, the board told the man that the documents in their hands show that KD 1000 was paid, and added that his signature was not found on the document. It was later discovered that the issue involved financial irregularities to make money illegally.

These examples are drops in the sea of violations found in the majority of state departments in Kuwait.

T

Al-Anbaa

By Abdullah Buwair

here are nearly 200 capitals around the world, and Kuwait alone is distinguished with its capital that is totally void of its citizens. Except for the Al-Sawaber complex, that was, or will be evacuated soon to be demolished, there is no real presence of citizens in the capital! It was possible for the Sawaber complex to be the nucleolus for housing a larger number of citizens in the capital after increasing its size and fill the embarrassing open areas in it, but the project failed because of government laxity on one hand, and lack of laws that protect occupants of this miserable complex’s apartments on the other.

The Sawaber tragedy - the complex was left to its fate for 40 years without plants, gardens, maintenance, management or protection - will be repeated with other complexes in which those who built it sold its units, while the new owners do not have an idea about how the complex will be managed, especially after its original owner sold it or died. The issue becomes really confusing in the presence of the increase of citizens who wish to own apartments in high-rise buildings in various parts of the state, as the waiting lists for government homes remain long, yet all of them do not enjoy enough protection as far as their rights and responsibilities are concerned, or about how to manage the complex and its maintenance or ensuring it.

Increases in such residential projects need a quick government intervention to regulate the process of owning and managing flats in buildings, either from the point of owners rights or their commitments towards each other, each according to the percentage of his ownership and other things. This, apart from the lack of explanation to whom they should go in case of a dispute. In Al-Sawaber Complex, for example, the situation was for each one fending for himself. The state spent tens of millions to build AlSawaber Complex, and will pay more in compensation to its residents, that besides the costs of its demolition. If we compared its situation to Al-Marzouq Pearl Complex, for example, which was built a few years before Al-Sawaber, bearing in mind the difference in ownership, we find out that it is still habitable and will remain for many years to come, and its price has risen tens of times, all because its maintenance did not stop for even one day.

The right of hundreds of apartment owners, who are on the increase, because of the lack of government homes, will be lost, and they will get into disputes with the rest of the owners and project owners. They will finally find themselves having to resort to the government to solve their problems, so it is necessary for the Fatwa and Legislation Department to prepare the necessary laws that are related running and maintaining private property in a way that preserves the rights of each owner. The preparation of such a law does not require great efforts as it has been implemented for hundreds of years in many of the world’s countries, and only needs the assistance of one of them and make the necessary amendments. This does not relieve our legislators who are busy today with grilling the government, or standing with it. It does not relieve them from the responsibility of tabling an urgent proposal to pass this vital law. — Al-Qabas

In my view

Persian Summer vs Arab Spring?

By Ali Ansari

I

n Iran, reactions to the Arab Spring very much reflected the political divisions within the country. Interestingly, both sides in the debate - the government and the opposition - sought ownership over the popular uprisings that have shaken the Arab world since 2011, though the early enthusiasm has been dented by the various failures that have prevented the Arab Spring from realising its initial promise. Moreover, each side has learned distinct and different lessons from the unfolding political drama, not all of which are immediately apparent.

In the aftermath of the Green Movement that rocked the foundations of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the summer of 2009, many among the opposition saw themselves as the precursors of the Arab Spring. For them, in a very real sense, the Persian Summer preceded the Arab Spring. This could be seen in the similar aspirations and demands that the movements articulated in regard to democratic governance and the rule of law.

There was indeed some indignation among Iranian opposition circles that this intellectual genealogy had not been recognised, as well as some internal frustration that their Arab brethren had appeared to succeed where they had not.

The lesson they drew from this was that they needed a strategy that was consistent and persistent. For the government, the interpretation and lessons were twofold and not necessarily complementary. During the first flush of success when Westernbacked authoritarian regimes were apparently crumbling, the authorities in Tehran were quick to claim the Arab Spring as belated Islamic revolutions finally taking hold. Iranian hardliners were not only taking credit for the Arab uprisings, but all popular movements - including the Occupy movement which they all credited to the wise leadership of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

It has been argued that the conflict in Syria represents a broader Western strategy to unseat unfriendly regimes and that Syria is now the frontline in the war between America and its allies and Iran and its allies.

Changing narrative That this view did not last had much to do with the debacle in Syria and Iran’s determined support for beleaguered Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad.

The uprising in Syria never fit the Iranian template.

Instead, it has been argued that the conflict in Syria represents a broader Western strategy to unseat unfriendly regimes and that Syria is now the frontline in the war between the US and its allies, and Iran and its allies.

More problematically of course, was the fact that many of the new “Islamist” governments that had emerged in the Middle East - most obviously Egypt - took the opposite side in the Syrian conflict from Iran. The narrative of belated Islamic revolutions was, therefore, quietly dropped and instead replaced by the narrative of resistance.

It was this narrative that explained and justified the intervention of Hezbollah in Syria, a move that further widened the gap between Iran and the new regimes of the Arab Spring. Added to this is the manifest antagonism between Iran and traditional Arab governments, most obviously Saudi Arabia. As a result, the struggle was being defined in both sectarian and ethnic grounds. That the promise of the Arab Spring appeared to stall also encouraged many in the Iranian opposition to disassociate themselves from the movement.

Spring is coming Yet, in a broader sense, the popular movements that have shaken governments from the Middle East to Asia and the former Soviet Union have undoubtedly had an effect on the way in which the authorities in Tehran have navigated their politics.

While the Persian Summer was crushed, the regime felt increasingly vulnerable in the face of growing economic weakness - made more acute by sanctions - and the possibility of copycat demonstrations which might have followed. All these factors and, most obviously, the anxiety of the political elite to avoid at all costs a rerun of 2009, encouraged Khamenei to take a more flexible approach to this year’s elections.

What is most remarkable, however, is that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani ran on a platform that both reflected and sought to capitalise on the popular mood gripping the streets not only in Iran, but also in the Middle East. This had been anticipated by former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who

sought to announce the arrival of his protege, Esfandiar Mashai, with the slogan “spring is coming”.

Given Ahmadinejad’s complicity in crushing the uprising in 2009, few took him seriously. Rouhani was nonetheless the one who ran with it, using such popular slogans about governance and the rule of the law that might have made the most committed reformist blush. In a dynamic electoral campaign, Rouhani swept to victory and many who had decided to vote assumed that Iran had achieved its own spring through the ballot box.

Unfortunate parallels But here, regrettably, the parallels with the Arab Spring continue. As in the broader Middle East, a diverse coalition had gathered in suppor t of change, but just what sort of change was, and continues to be, a matter of some dispute. Like their Arab counterparts, Iranians came away from the experience of “change” - whether through the ballot box or the street - with a surfeit of hope and expectation, and crucially, often with a sense that the major work had been done. In the Iranian case, this was again the triumph of hope over experience.

The lessons of the reformist administration of Mohammad Khatami should have taught Iranians that winning elections and changing administrations is but a single step towards the work of institutionalising democratic change. And here, it must be recognised that the understanding of “democracy” is often shallow.

In some cases, this is deliberately so. Many within the establishment, be they the targets of a movement, or the erstwhile leaders, arguably entertain a narrow interpretation that a successful election or street protest that results in the replacement of one government and administration by another, is sufficient. What people effectively experience is the replacement of one authoritarian regime by another, though this time dangerously empowered by the view that he has been elected by the people.

But it must also be added that in many of these cases the people are also complicit when thinking that the act of change means their work is done, and they may all go home now. Democracy, of course, is not simply a question of a change in personnel, it requires both institutional and attitudinal change; a belief in accountability, transparency and the rule of law; and the rights of citizens as well as the rights of the state.

Democracy, of course, is not simply a question of a change in personnel, it requires both institutional and attitudinal change; a belief in accountability, transparency and the rule of law; and the rights of citizens as well as the rights of the state.

Rouhani’s challenges We can see that Rouhani has sought to make the right noises, to address this dangerous and prolonged deficiency in Iranian political culture by proposing a citizens’ charter and arguing that the security state that has emerged over the last decade must end. There is undoubtedly a palpable sense of relief among the populace that the suffocating blanket of security during the Ahmadinejad years is finally being removed. Yet anxieties persist, not least because experience has taught Iranians to be wary of the promises of politicians.

Rouhani, to be fair, needs to operate in a complex and contradictory political environment. Not all of those who supported him are interested in political change, and many within the establishment are indeed vehemently opposed to it.

Rouhani himself has fuelled that anxiety by arguing that his victory in the elections itself was sufficient proof of change. Others have argued that economic recovery is paramount and that political change must wait, which will inevitably flow from the economic reforms that must be put in place. There is undoubtedly a logic to this if structural reform to the economy is pursued. There is, however, little indication of this at present.

But perhaps the greatest cause for concern is that the rhetoric of rights - which at least recognises the social demand that exists - is not matched by a clear understanding of how those rights should be articulated. The Iranian state regularly argues for Iran’s inalienable right to enrich uranium, but there is little equivalent language with respect to the rights of its citizens, which, if the recent draft charter is to be believed, is much predicated on qualifiers such as Islamic norms, and the rights of the state.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2013

LOCAL

Kuwait keen on success of Syria donors conference AL chief to play a big role

KUWAIT: More than 150 Boy Scouts participated in a cleaning campaign carried out recently at the Al-Salam Square. The campaign was part of the ‘Mobile Beach Cleaning Program’ that was organized by the Kuwait Dive Team.

KHARTOUM: Kuwaiti Ambassador Talal Mansour Al-Hajri presenting a memento to Khartoum Mayor Abdulrahman Al-Khodr yesterday.

Kuwait, Khartoum plan twinning agreement KHARTOUM: Kuwaiti Ambassador to Khartoum Talal Mansour Al-Hajri discussed here yesterday with the Mayor of Khartoum Abdulrahman Al-Khodr ways to develop relations between the two countries and the possibility of establishing a twinning agreement between Kuwait City and Khartoum State.

Al-Hajri said that the meeting dealt with bilateral relations between Kuwait and Sudan, in addition to the investment opportunities Sudan can offer to Kuwaiti investors.

He said he discussed with Al-Khodr the

possibility of initiating a twinning agreement between the City of Kuwait and Khartoum State to serve the bonds of cooperation and to contribute to the upgrading of the distinguished relations between the two countries.

For his part, Al-Khodr expressed full readiness of Khartoum to sign such an agreement for the sake of exchanging experiences and to become acquainted with the great development witnessed in Kuwait over the past years in various fields. —KUNA

KUWAIT: Hawally Fire Service Directorate carried out a fire evacuation exercise yesterday at the Hind Intermediate School in Jabriya area, in coordination with school director Wafa Al-Munaie, to increase student’s awareness. —Photos by Hanan Al-Saadoun

CAIRO: Kuwait Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid AlHamad Al-Sabah said Saturday Kuwait and the Arab League were keen on creating the suitable atmosphere for the Second Syria donors conference, the Geneva II and the upcoming Arab summit. Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid, speaking shortly beforely leaving Cairo where he attended an Arab foreign ministerial meeting, said he discussed with Arab League Secretary General Nabil Al-Araby the implementation of resolutions adopted by the Arab-African summit that was held in Kuwait last month.

They also discussed the 2nd donors conference for Syria, due in Kuwait next month, and the role of the Arab League vis-a-vis the conflict in Syria that killed more than 100,000 people and displaced millions others.

“We want the Arab League secretary general to play a big role” in next month’s donors conference, Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid said.

It is important that the Arab League have a special department for humanitarian affairs, and that it submits a report to the donors conference over the Arab countries that are hosting large numbers of Syrian refugees, said Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid.

Asked about the Geneva II conference, due on Jan 22, the Kuwaiti top diplomat said 10 Arab countries would participate in the meeting but there should be coordination over level of representation.

On the Arab Summit in Kuwait next March, Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid said Al-Araby’s visit to Kuwait would largely contribute to the preparation for the high-level meeting.

Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid, meanwhile, said his meeting with Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas touched upon the peace process and the US efforts to bring about success to the peace talks with the Israelis.

The State of Kuwait has many obligations as the rotating president of the GCC and the host of the 2nd donors conference, he added.

Kuwait also hosted the first donor meeting last January.

Regarding the foreign ministers’ meeting, Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid said the officials held deep discussions over the peace negotiations and how to deal with the timetable of the talks.

Meanwhile, the Arab countries reaffirmed overwhelming support for the Palestinians in their negotiations with the Israelis with the objective of establishing the independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital in line with a specific time frame. Arab League Secretary General Nabil Al-Araby and Libyan Foreign Minister Mohammad Abdulaziz, chair of the meeting, reiterated backing to the Palestinian side during negotiations with Israel.

In a joint press conference following the foreign ministers’ meeting, the two officials said the negotiations should lead to the establishment of the independent state with East Jeursalem as its capital.

In response to question on Arab stance, AlAraby said the Arab support was based on relevant international resolutions and Arab peace initiative, “which is what the Palestinian authority insists on.”

Al-Araby asserted that the Palestinian side should not offer concessions to the Israelis, noting there are no guarantees on success of negotiations. The Arab League chief warned Israel against using the time factor, which has been a strategic policy by Israel since 1967.

Al-Araby added that to confront such an

Israeli policy, an agreement was reached with the US, to supervise negotiations with the Palestinian side, including setting a time frame of nine months.

The official explained the US did not present a security plan, but only ideas which were not accepted by the Palestinians, who insisted that not a single Israeli soldier should exist on Palestinian territories after a peace agreement was reached.

For his part, Abdulaziz said the ministers were briefed extensively by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on the ongoing negotiations that did not have any concrete results so far.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyadh Al-Malki said President Abbas briefed the top diplomats about the peace talks in addition to the Israeli systematic killing and destruction of houses.

He underlined importance of such meetings because they would rally support for the Palestinian negotiators.

“The message of the Arab foreign ministers ... should be clear to all parties and the American sponsors that the Arab support of the Palestinian position continues,” he told reporters after the meeting.

“Israel should realize that when it negotiate the Palestinian side it should know there is a full Arab support for all Palestinian matters,” added Al-Malki.—KUNA

Pay hike for bedoon doctors KUWAIT: The Health Ministry is studying the possibility of asking the Civil Service Commission to authorize exceptional increases for its bedoon doctors like expat doctors.

Informed sources said this move comes after receiving many requests from bedoon doctors asking for the increase.

The ministry wants to know the mechanism and if the increase is approved.

Meanwhile, the health ministr y renewed its requests from all sectors not to send any applications to increase salaries of expat doctors that are not completely filled, including that five years must have elapsed of the doctor’s service or from the last increase the doctor received, in addition to two “outstanding” evaluations in the last two reports along with other requirements.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2013

LOCAL

Motorcyclist dead in Sulaibiya accident KD10,000 jewelry theft in Jahra KUWAIT: A motorcyclist was killed in an accident in the Sulaibiya farms. Paramedics and police headed to the scene in response to an emergency call made Friday night reporting an accident between a motorcycle and a car. The victim, a bedoon, was pronounced dead at the scene before criminal investigators were called.

The body was taken to the forensic department and a case was filed for investigations.

Meanwhile, a child was injured when a water tanker ran over his all-terrain-vehicle (ATV) on Kabd Road Friday afternoon. According to the police report, the accident happened when the kid was trying to cross the road on his small ATV, but was too slow to avoid colliding with the truck. The child was taken to Farwaniya Hospital where his condition was described as stable. A case was filed for investigations.

Jewelry theft Investigations are ongoing to identify and arrest a thief who broke into a Jahra apartment and stole jewelry worth thousands of dinars. In his statements to local police, the tenant explained that he came back from a family visit

to discover that the front door of his apartment had been broken. He went to the bedroom immediately and discovered that his wife’s jewelry, which he said is worth KD10,000, was missing. Crime scene investigators lifted fingerprints from the apartment to be used in the investigations.

Driver arrested A family driver was arrested after throwing a violent tantrum inside his employer’s house while being under the influence of alcohol. The arrest happened after the Asian man’s employer filed a case at the Jahra police station and handed his driver over to officers. The middle-aged Kuwaiti man said that the driver started yelling and breaking items in his room while drunk. On the potential motive, the employer explained that he had denied his driver’s request for a short leave to visit his brother, after which the driver went out, then came back and began his outburst. The suspect remains in custody pending further action.

Murder threat Sabah Al-Salem police are looking into a case

Disaster predictions in Gulf could help ocean industries ABU DHABI: The UAE’s history is intertwined with that of the Arabian Gulf. It provides the country’s food, livelihood and access to trade.

In the modern age, the Gulf provides most of the UAE’s water through desalination, while also being a source of seafood and recreation. Its importance can hardly be understated.

But the high marine traffic that comes with it exposes the UAE’s vulnerable coastal resources to several hazards.

In 2008, for instance, a major red tide bloom significantly affected the region and disturbed the desalination on which the country relies for its drinking water.

Red tides happen when colonies of algae grow out of control, producing toxins harmful to people, fish, shellfish, marine mammals and birds. Fishing, swimming and desalination all must be halted until the seas clear.

The Arabian Gulf also faces a high risk of oilspills from tankers, offshore platforms and submerged pipelines. Leaks also hit the desalination and fishing industries.

It is important to monitor water quali-

ty in the Arabian Gulf so that scientists can quickly detect and even forecast red-tide outbreaks and other hazards along the UAE’s coastline.

Local ship-based observations of water quality are not enough.

The Masdar Institute is leading research that combines high-resolution satellite data with 3D models of ocean currents to monitor and ultimately forecast water quality in the Arabian Gulf, in real time.

This way, the country aims to monitor and forecast coastal hazards with enough accuracy - and far enough ahead - to be able to give operators and managers of coastal facilities the advance warning they need to plan and prepare for those potential threats.

Not only that, the country aims to help develop emergency and contingency plans that allow such facilities to recover more quickly after such disasters.

The result will be enormous savings from reduced loss of productivity in affected sectors and a lowered risk to human health.—The National

Kuwait, Iraq universities discuss cooperation BAGHDAD: A delegation representing Kuwait University and the Centre for Islamic Studies paid a visit to the University of Kufa in Najaf and discussed ways to boost scientific and cultural cooperation, said the Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research yesterday.

“The university is keen on enhancing relations and cooperation with Kuwait in the scientific and cultural fields”, a statement by the ministry said University Rector Dr. Aqeel Abd Yassin spoke about ways of

advancing the collaboration in practical training for administrative staff for both universities.

Kufa University is keen to activate scientific cooperation program between the faculty of fiqh (Jurisprudence) on one side and Kuwait University and the Centre for Islamic Studies on the other, he added.

On the other hand, the Kuwaiti delegation expressed its determination and readiness to cooperate with Kufa University in all domains. — KUNA

involving a woman who accuses a man of murder threats and other charges. In her statements to police, the Kuwaiti woman said that the suspect pulled over near her parked car in a street in the area and made threats that included killing her and destroying her car for reasons that remain unknown. The man escaped by the time police arrived at the scene based on the woman’s emergency call. Investigations are ongoing to identify and arrest the suspect as well as reveal the motives behind his threats.

Illegal relationship Police are waiting for a domestic worker to be discharged from Jahra Hospital in order to be taken for questioning regarding a relationship which resulted in delivering a baby out of wedlock. The Ethiopian woman was hospitalized by her employers who found her in a bad state inside their house in Qasr. After delivering her baby, the woman admitted being involved in an illegal relationship, and gave the man’s information to the hospital’s detective. A case was filed and investigations are ongoing in search for the father.

KUWAIT: A huge fire broke out in a Hasawi carpentry shop covering 1000 sq meters near Jaber Stadium. Five fire centers fought the blaze.

— Photos by Hanan Al-Saadoun

Zain sponsorship of Diplomatic Institute meeting ‘a big success’ KUWAIT: Zain, the leading telecommunications company in Kuwait, hailed its sponsorship of a cycle meeting that was organized by Saud Nasser Al-Sabah Diplomatic Institute, a success.

The cycle targeted the Kuwaiti Diplomats of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and came under the theme of ‘In the field of economic diplomacy’.

The rich and informative sessions that were attended by senior Kuwait diplomats from across the globe, tackled a number of important subjects and enriched the attendees’ overall knowledge towards trade and economic diplomacy that serves the national economy for both public and private sectors, under the Foreign Affairs of Kuwait umbrella.

Zain applauded the organizers of the event and the lecturers, who included CEO of Zain Kuwait Omar Al-Omar, for their endless efforts of enriching the attendees’ knowledge. The event witnessed the participation of two senior academics in the sectors of trade and economy in the United States, along with significant involvement of private sector companies, the leading and the leaders and experts from the economic sector, the Kuwaiti head body foreign investment, Dr Sheikh Meshaal Jaber Al-Ahmad AlSabah, Mohammed Alshaya, Bader Al-Humaidhi, former Finance Minister, Nader Sultan former CEO of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation and Dr Fahad Al-Rashed.

From his end, Omar Saud Al-Omar praised the economic dialogue sessions for this initiative, which he considers a step forward towards an affluent future with a particular focus on the various information relating to trade and economic strategies.

Commenting on this occasion, Al-Omar said: “”This trend reflects an overwhelming desire to promote economic diplomacy of the state, and vigorous follow-up for all the efforts that serve the national economy and that also contributes to the development of private business sector” “The Economic diplomacy uses full spectrum of the state’s economic tools to achieve its national interest both in the public and private sectors. There are also many national institutions that have regional presence and significant international investment in communities and economic development” added Al-Omar.

Zain’s sponsorship of this session came from its high interest in the initiatives that are in favor

of strengthening the national economy, and which is the fulcrum of the heart of the society.

The company believes that such events provide vital topics, and alongside, works to find mechanisms and solutions that serve the goals that are

addressed.

As a leading telecommunications company, Zain will continue sponsoring similar events that fall under its responsibility towards the society and its wellbeing.

Praise for media role in supporting municipality KUWAIT: Board Chairman and Director General of Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) Sheikh Mubarak Al-Duaij Al-Ibrahim Al-Sabah received yesterday Kuwait Municipality officials where they discussed the national news agency’s role in promoting municipal works.

This came during Sheikh Mubarak’s reception of Municipal Council Speaker Muhalhal Nasser Al-Khaled and members of the council.

During the meeting, they discussed KUNA’s role in the dissemination of facts and information to the citizens with great credibility, in addition to highlighting government efforts in serving citizens and the homeland.

Al-Khaled praised the efforts of the agency in supporting the activities and works of the Municipal Council, pointing to the importance of the media role in supporting the plans and achievements of various state institutions.

For his part, Sheikh Mubarak emphasized KUNA’s keenness in communicating and interacting with the government institutions and the dissemination of accurate and credible information and news with objectively.

He also pointed out that KUNA has introduced a variety of services to reach out to the citizens and to highlight the accomplishments and services rendered by the government to citi-

zens. For his part, head of the Frawaniya Governorate Committee Nayef Al-Soor praised KUNA’s media achievements at the local and international arenas.

He said that KUNA is replete with competent journalists, extolling the agency’s various helpful publications which are used as important references, whether political, economic, social or environmental.

The meeting was also attended by Deputy Director General for Administrative and Financial Affairs Abdulhameed Malak and Deputy Director General for Editorial Division Saad Ali Mohammad.—KUNA

KUWAIT: Interior Ministry Assistant Undersecretary for Border Security Maj Gen Sheikh Mohammad Al-Yousuf received Assistant Director General of Saad Al-Abdallah Security Sciences Academy Dalal Al-Ruwaished along with a number of officers and students who will be serving in the Coast Guard department.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2013

Storms kill 2 in southern US, 22K lose power in NY

Protesters demand Thai PM’s resignation Page 12

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BENGHAZI: A member of the Libyan security forces stands next to burnt-out vehicle yesterday after a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a security checkpoint outside this restive city. — AFP

Bomber kills 7 outside Benghazi First suicide attack since the revolution BENGHAZI: A suicide bomber detonated a truck packed with explosives at an army checkpoint outside the city of Benghazi yesterday, killing seven soldiers in the first such attack in Libya’s deepening turmoil. Car bombs and assassinations of army and police officers are common in Benghazi, where troops have clashed regularly with militants from the hardline Islamist group Ansar al-Sharia. But a suicide bombing would mark a shift in tactics to fit a pattern common in other Islamist struggles in the Middle East, but not in Libya either during or since the uprising that brought down Muammar Gaddafi.

The attacker blew himself up in front of the military base in Barsis, some 50 km outside Benghazi. “A Toyota truck approached the checkpoint and parked there. There was a young man driving, but when the army troops went to check it out, the vehicle exploded,” said Aymen Al-Abdlay, a Benghazi army officer. No group claimed responsibility for the attack. But Ansar al-Sharia last month fought with soldiers who drove Islamists from Benghazi, where growing violence has further increased concerns at a wider descent into disorder in oil-producing Libya. The militants are determined to impose their ultraconservative vision of Islam.

All those killed in the attack yesterday were soldiers, medical sources and security sources

said. Ansar al-Sharia in Libya, an affiliation of Islamist and ultraconversative Salafist groups, has been blamed for the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi in Sept 2012 when the US ambassador and three other Americans were killed. An American school teacher was shot and killed by gunmen earlier this month while he exercised in the city.

Most countries have closed their consulates in Benghazi and some foreign airlines have stopped flying there. Western diplomats worry that the violence in Benghazi will spill over to the capital Tripoli which last month saw the worst fighting in months between militias. Much of Libya’s oil wealth is located in the east where many demand autonomy from the Tripoli government. Protesters in the east have taken over key ports, blockading much of the North African country’s oil exports for months.

The government of Prime Minister Ali Zeidan is struggling to control militias and tribesmen which helped topple Gaddafi in a NATO-backed uprising in 2011 but kept their guns and often resort to force to make political demands. Oil exports, Libya’s lifeline, have fallen to 110,000 barrels a day, a fraction of the more than 1 million bpd in July as armed militias, tribesmen and minorities have seized oilfields and ports to press for more rights. — Reuters

Khodorkovsky to help jailed dissidents BERLIN: Russia’s former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky said yesterday after walking free from a decade in prison he would stay away from his homeland but help free political prisoners still behind bars in the country. In an astonishing turn of events, the Kremlin critic surfaced in Germany hours after his release on Friday from a prison in an obscure corner of northern Russia, following a pardon by President Vladimir Putin. Mobbed by reporters at his first news conference in Berlin since his release, Khodorkovsky admitted he had been given no choice over his final destination and thanked German Chancellor Angela Merkel for aiding his liberation.

Khodorkovsky, formerly Russia’s richest man, said he had no intention of becoming involved in Russian politics and could not return to the country so long as a court order for him to pay $550 million in damages was still in place. “A fight for power is not for me,” said Khodorkovsky, wearing a sharp business suit but almost shaven-headed, at the news conference at the Berlin Wall museum at the symbolic Cold War location of Checkpoint Charlie. He said he would focus his energies on helping political prisoners walk out of Russian jails. “I will do everything so that there are none left, do everything I can.” He added that Western governments should “remember I am not the last political prisoner in Russia,” adding it would be wrong if he was seen as a “symbol” that there were no longer political prisoners in his country.

Rights groups are still seeking to secure the release of around a dozen protesters arrested for their role in a rally in 2012 on the eve of Putin’s inauguration for a third term, who many see as political prisoners.

Khodorkovsky’s co-accused, business partner and friend Platon Lebedev also remains behind bars. The former chief executive and founder of the Yukos oil giant said he had no plans to return to business but had enough means to live on. He thanked Merkel for working on his release. He said that he had been granted a German visa for one year but had not decided on his future travel plans. “She (Merkel) made it possible for me to be free today,” he said as well as thanking former German foreign minister Hans Dietrich Genscher who held secret talks with Putin to win the release. — AFP

MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2013

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

Bulgarians, Romanians mostly want to stay put SOFIA: Petya Kocheva can’t wait for Jan 1 to kiss goodbye to the grinding poverty of Bulgaria and get a bar job in an Amsterdam nightclub. But for most others in Bulgaria and Romania, the bright lights of Western Europe no longer have the appeal of a few years ago, casting serious doubt on predictions of an exodus when restrictions are lifted in the new year. “It’s pointless getting a diploma that leads only to unemployment or a salary of 450 leva a month ($315),” Kocheva, 24, who abandoned her studies in public administration, told AFP. “I would rather take a less prestigious job in a stable country if it allows me to live decently.”

In 2014, nine countries including Germany, Britain and France lift all remaining curbs on workers from Bulgaria and Romania, giving them full freedom of movement in the 28-nation European

Union. This has raised fears that legions of them will take jobs in labour markets barely recovering from recession and overburden hospitals, schools and social security systems. But amid anger at the sometimes shrill tone of the debate, not least in Britain, experts, surveys and anecdotal evidence suggest that any new arrivals will form a benign trickle rather than a devastating flood.

“The ones who wanted to leave have already left,” Adriana Iorga, director of the employment agency in Giurgiu, a deprived town in southern Romania, told AFP. People from the two countries, which joined the EU in 2007, can already work without permits in 17 countries in the bloc in whatever sector they can find a job. About three million Romanians and one million Bulgarians have already upped sticks since the fall of communism

24 years ago, according to official estimates. The overwhelming majority, including members of the Roma minority, have settled in Spain and Italy, working in construction, agriculture or looking after the elderly and the disabled.

France and Britain recruited doctors and nurses while the United States has lured IT specialists. Large numbers left in 1989, followed by a second wave in 2001 when visa requirements were lifted and then just before EU membership in 2007, Mila Mancheva of the Sofia-based Centre for the Study of Democracy told AFP. “The opening of some labour markets on January 1 will generate far less migration,” she predicts.

A recent survey showed that 200,000 Bulgarians - between three and four percent of adults - might make use of their new freedoms. But mostly they are any-

thing but unskilled or potential “benefit tourists”, as labelled in the British media.

Some 85 percent are under 40, and threequarters with a high-school diploma or a university degree. Another study by AFIS Institute showed that 78 percent of the would-be migrants wanted to work while 13 percent think of studying and only 0.5 percent were just eyeing social handouts.

“I do not want to take the bread out of anyone’s mouth,” said Romanian mechanic Marian Arabagila, 44, who earns less than $540 a month and wants to leave - but not for Britain. “I want to work to help producing more wealth for the host country.”

Young, gifted and staying “Britain will not be invaded by Romanians and Bulgarians”, Simina, a student at the Bucharest university of economics and cybernetics, told AFP to nods

of agreement from IT classmates Maria and Florentina. “We would go to Western Europe to study but we do not want to settle there, especially as we see the discriminating comments against us,” she said. Bulgarian computer engineer Georgy Dinchev, 30, who works for a foreign firm in Sofia, agreed: “I will not migrate to the West to serve as a scapegoat.”

Recent anti-government protests in Bulgaria and Romania have also shown a young urban middle class determined to stay home and press for change in their home countries. “Even if corruption is disgusting, if the education system does not stimulate people to think for themselves and if public healthcare is in a terrible state (...) it is important to stay to put pressure on the political class,” Dinchev said. —AFP

Erdogan challenges rivals over massive graft probe Thousands protest in Istanbul ANKARA: Turkey’s prime minister threw down the gauntlet to his rivals yesterday, warning he will “break their hands” if they use allegations of high-level corruption to undermine his rule.

“Everyone will know their place,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a boisterous crowd of supporters of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the Black Sea province of Giresun.

“Whoever dares to harm, stir up or set traps in this country, we will come to break those hands,” he said.

His heated remarks came as riot police fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse thou-

lishment, exposing a bitter feud between the AKP and influential Muslim scholar Fethullah Gulen whose followers hold key positions in the police, judiciary and secret services.

Twenty-four people have been charged so far in connection with the investigation, including the sons of Interior Minister Muammer Guler and Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan, as well as the chief executive of state-owned Halkbank. Police also reportedly seized $4.5 million in cash hidden in shoeboxes in Halkbank CEO Suleyman Aslan’s home, local media reported last week.

Erdogan has described the sweeping corruption

ISTANBUL: Protestors throw stones as riot police use tear gas and water cannon during a demonstration yesterday in the Asian side of Istanbul. — AFP sands of anti-government demonstrators in Istanbul calling for the government’s resignation. Many were protesting against grandiose urban development projects, but some held up shoeboxes to show their anger over recent claims of widespread bribery by members of Erdogan’s Islamic-leaning government. The mass graft probe has shaken Turkey’s political estab-

probe, which comes ahead of crucial March municipal polls, as a smear operation against his government.

A day after judges charged their sons with acting as intermediaries in order to give and take bribes, the interior and economy ministers broke their silence to deny the accusations. “It is out of the question for us to be involved in any

unlawful affairs,” Guler wrote on Twitter yesterday, while Caglayan railed against a “big trap” set for the AKP government. Observers have linked last week’s police raids targeting scores of people to tensions between Erdogan and followers of the Gulen movement which boiled over when the government announced plans to shut down a network of private schools run by the Islamic cleric, a major source of revenue for the group.

Gulenists were previously key backers of the AKP, helping it to win three elections in a row since it first took office in 2002. “Let’s not become one of those who shoots his brother, let’s not become one of those who plays with his brother’s honour,” the Turkish premier said, apparently referring to the Gulen movement.

‘We will emerge stronger’ Erdogan has responded to the mass detentions by sacking dozens of police officials, including the Istanbul police chief, for cooperating with the investigation without permission.

Local media reported on Sunday that another 25 police chiefs had been fired in the fast-moving saga. A lawyer for Gulen, who lives in selfimposed exile in the US state of Pennsylvania, has denied that he was involved in the graft investigation, and Gulen himself has lashed out at those responsible for the police purge, saying that the assault was aimed at “finishing off” his Hizmet (Service) movement.

Erdogan, who has said he is battling “a state within a state”, on Sunday again blamed international plotters and “very dirty alliances” for attempting to create chaos and stood firm behind the ministers named in the probe. “It is not all about corruption,” he said. “The nation will respond to those who attempt to set traps in order to tarnish ministers.”

Erdogan, whose image was already bruised by massive anti-government protests in June, is facing a key test as the country braces for an election cycle next year starting with the local polls in March. “The nation will win on March 30, democracy will win,” he said. “ We will emerge stronger as long as we remain united.”

In the midst of the worst scandal of his 11-year rule, the premier is due to leave the country late yesterday for a two-day official visit to Pakistan. — AFP

TEL AVIV: Israeli police officers inspect the scene of an explosion inside a bus yesterday in the coastal suburb of Bat Yam. — AFP

Bomb explodes on Israeli bus JERUSALEM: A bomb that Israeli authorities suspect was planted by Palestinian militants exploded in a bus near Tel Aviv yesterday after passengers were evacuated, and police said no one was hurt. “There were about 12 passengers on the bus. The driver stopped immediately when he was alerted to a suspicious object. It was a bag on the back bench, and he immediately ordered everyone off,” Eitan Fixman, a spokesman for the Dan bus company, was quoted as saying on the YNet news site.

Photographs from the scene, in the Tel Aviv suburb of Bat Yam, showed the blast blew out the vehicle’s windows. “It seems that the bomb that exploded on a public bus near Tel Aviv was indeed a terrorist attack,” Ofir Gendelman, a spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said on Twitter. Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said: “We confirm the explosion on the bus today was a terror attack, based on assessments and evidence gathered at the scene.” Police were searching for suspects, he said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast, the first such incident since Israeli-Palestinian peace talks - which have shown few signs of progress resumed in July. Violence in the West Bank has increased in recent months, and at least 19 Palestinians and four Israelis have been killed in the occupied territory since the negotiations got under way after a three-year break. Rosenfeld said one of its bomb experts was examining the explosive “from a distance” when the bag blew up.

He was taken to hospital for observation but was not listed as injured. One of the passengers on the bus had alerted others to the bag, prompting them to leave the bus before the explosion, he said. Israeli media reports said one person was slightly hurt. The last time a bomb exploded on an Israeli bus was in Nov 2012, when 15 people were wounded near the Defence Ministry compound in Tel Aviv. An Israeli Arab pleaded guilty earlier this month to planting the bomb and said it was for political reasons. —Reuters

Fears grow of civil war in South Sudan JUBA: Fighting spread in South Sudan and the UN said it was trying to move more peacekeeping forces there in the hope of averting full-blown ethnic civil war in the world’s newest state. The government said it had sent more soldiers to retake the flashpoint town of Bor from rebels and had kept control of the oilfields crucial to the economy of the impoverished country. Foreign Minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin said the army in Bor had spotted former Vice President Riek Machar - the man the government accuses of trying to seize power by force - on the battlefield, but he had escaped by boat. It was impossible to verify the minister’s account independently and Machar could not be reached for comment.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told a news conference in Manila the UN planned to send resources from other peacekeeping missions in the region to South Sudan. “We are now actively trying to transfer our assets from other peacekeeping missions like MONUSCO (in the Democratic Republic of Congo) ... and some other areas,” he said. “And we are also seeking support from other key countries who can provide the necessary assets.”

Clashes between rival groups of soldiers in the capital Juba a week ago have spread across the landlocked country, which won its independence from Sudan in 2011 after decades of war. The army acknowledged losing Bor in the northern Jonglei State on Wednesday, and a day later the United Nations said oil workers had taken refuge in its bases in neighbouring Unity State. Foreign governments have urged both sides to stop fighting, fearing for the stability of an already fragile region.

President Salva Kiir, from South Sudan’s Dinka ethnic group, has accused Machar, a Nuer who he dismissed in July, of trying to launch a coup. The two men

have long been political rivals. Machar dismissed the charge but has since said he is commanding troops fighting the government. Government soldiers had come across Machar with a group of fighters in Bor, Foreign Minister Benjamin said, without going into details of where or when the encounter took place. “Riek managed to escape, used his boat along the Nile and ended up in his village of Ado and went into Bentiu (the administrative capital of Unity) ... the night before, he attacked government institutions,” Benjamin added.

‘Renegades’ Reuters television footage showed the government sending more troops on Saturday to Bor - the scene of an ethnic massacre of Dinka in 1991 by Nuer fighters loyal to Machar. “The government had to assert its sovereignty and send in troops in order to push out these renegades in the main city centre ... they are being cleared from this city now,” he

added. Benjamin said Machar had not seized oilfields in Unity. “Of course there is a threat. But ... he is not occupying the oilfields. The oil has been running. It is just because the workers there are frightened because of what is happening. I am sure this is an area that must be properly protected,” he said.

Information Minister Michael Makuei said on Saturday an army divisional commander in Unity State, John Koang, had defected and joined Machar, who had named him the governor of the state.

Speaking in Khartoum, South Sudan’s Ambassador Mayen Dut Wol said oil was flowing normally. South Sudan’s output of 245,000 barrels per day supplies almost all of its government revenues and hard currency to buy food and other vital imports. The United Nations said around 62,000 people had been forced to flee their homes in five of South Sudan’s 10 states. Around 42,000 of them were seeking refuge at UN bases, it added.— Reuters

JUBA: South Sudanese shelter at a makeshift IDP camp at the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) compound yesterday where people continue to flock amid fighting in the capital. — AFP

MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2013

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

In Hawaii, Obama tries for uninterrupted vacation HONOLULU: An ocean away from Washington worries, President Barack Obama opened his annual Hawaii vacation Saturday on a quiet note - and hoped it would stay that way for the next two weeks.

Every year, Obama and his family prepare to return to his birth state here on the sunscorched shores of Oahu. And every year until now - congressional squabbling has forced the Obamas to delay their trip. This year, Obama was cleared for an on-time

departure by Congress, which defied pessimistic expectations last week by passing a bipartisan budget deal, all but ensuring the government won’t shut down over the next two years. It was a far cry from presaging a new era of cooperation, to be sure, but a silver lining for Obama a day earlier as he acknowledged a year of frustrating “ups and downs” in an end-of-year news conference.

The president, first lady Michelle Obama, daughters Sasha and Malia, and first dogs

Colorado student hurt in school shooting dies DENVER: A 17-year-old Colorado student shot in the head earlier this month by a gunman at her high school died on Saturday at a hospital with her family at her side, the facility and her family said.

Claire Davis was the only person wounded by gunfire when Karl Pierson, an 18year-old senior at Arapahoe High School in suburban Denver, entered the school on Dec 13 and opened fire with a shotgun, police said. “Despite the best efforts of our physicians and nursing staff, and Claire’s fighting spirit, her injuries were too severe and the most advanced medical treatments could not prevent this tragic loss of life,” Littleton Adventist Hospital posted on the facility’s official Facebook page.

Pierson shot Davis in the face at pointblank range as she sat outside the library with a friend during in the 80-second rampage, police said. Pierson committed suicide in the library as an armed deputy stationed at the school cornered him, police said.

He had targeted the school’s debate coach and librarian, Tracy Murphy, over a dispute the pair had, Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson said shortly after the attack.

Pierson acted in retaliation for discipline he received months ago from Murphy, who escaped harm in the shooting, Robinson has said. Students who knew Pierson said he was heavily involved in the speech and debate club, until he was placed on some kind of restriction by the coach.

Pierson came armed to create carnage at the 2,000-student school. Aside from his 12-gauge pump-action shotgun, Pierson had 125 rounds of steel-shot, buckshot and slug ammunition, a machete and three Molotov cocktails, police said. In recent days, a number of prayer vigils were held for Davis, a skilled equestrian, in her community. She had

Sunny and Bo hopped an overnight flight Friday aboard Air Force One to Honolulu, where they were whisked by motorcade to a beachside home in Kailua, a sleepy suburb with a five-mile stretch of beach popular among windsurfers and tourists.

The next morning Obama, typically an early riser, got a late start, staying at the home until early afternoon, when he headed to the golf course at a nearby Marine Corps base. Joining Obama for the round of golf

were Sam Kass, the White House chef; Marvin Nicholson, Obama’s trip director; and presidential friend Bobby Titcomb, the White House said. Obama, in white golf shirt, hat and sunglasses, was all smiles as he drove past reporters accompanying him to the coastal golf course. The president has no public events scheduled during his vacation, which is expected to last through Jan 5. In previous years, frequent golf outings have accompanied trips to local restaurants and

other island outings.

A few weeks of low-key rest and relaxation would be a welcome change of pace for Obama, who reflected on a high-stakes year of brinkmanship and health care woes as he packed his bags for Hawaii.

“The end of the year is always a good time to reflect and see what can you do better next year,” Obama said Friday. “I’m sure that I will have even better ideas after a couple days of sleep and sun.” —AP

Storms kill 2 in southern US, 22K lose power in NY Massive, sloppy system snarls holiday travel

Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson holds a picture of Claire Davis, the 17-year-old student who was shot in the head by a classmate, during a briefing at Arapahoe High School in Centennial, Colorado. —AP been in a coma after the shooting.

“The grace, laughter and light she brought to this world will not be extinguished by her death - to the contrary, it will only get stronger,” the Davis family said in a statement.

The shooting in the Denver suburb of Centennial occurred just eight miles (13 km) from Columbine High School, where in 1999 two teenagers shot dead a teacher and 12 students before committing suicide. —Reuters

MONROE, Los Angeles: A storm system swept across the central and southern US on Saturday, bringing tornadoes and wind gusts that ripped roofs from barns and hurled trees into power lines, officials said. At least two people were killed. A man died after his mobile home overturned in northern Mississippi, said Coahoma County Coroner Scotty Meredith.

Another man was killed when his car hit a tree that had fallen across a county road in southeastern Mississippi. A woman who was in the car was critically injured, Jasper County Coroner Randy Graham said.

Meanwhile, a winter storm bringing ice a whipping winds to the northernmost reaches of New York and Vermont knocked out power to thousands as officials urged motorists to avoid traveling in dangerously slick conditions.

In upstate New York’s St Lawrence County, almost 2 inches of ice had accumulated in the early morning hours of yesterday, coating tree limbs and power lines, county dispatch operations supervisor Jim Chestnut said.

Winds were expected to pick up, increasing the chances of outage issues, but a state of emergency was keeping roads clear of hapless motorists, Chestnut said. “It’s a big party weekend, the Saturday before Christmas,” Chestnut said. “This put a little bit of a hamper onto that.”

Wind caused the roof of a fitness center in a strip mall to collapse in Senatobia, 40 miles south of Memphis, Tenn. No injuries were reported. “I think it buckled the back part of it,” Tate County Emergency Management director Kim Brownlee said. “There’s water pouring in the back of that place.”

At the storm’s height, more than 22,000 people lost power in northern Mississippi, though that number was beginning to fall late Saturday night.

Those who got a jump on their holiday travels this year apparently got it right. Those who didn’t may have to wait a bit. The large storm system moved into the Midwest on Friday for

TULSA: Richard Chase from Tulsa walks carefully along a pedestrian bridge in Tulsa, Oklahoma after attempting to fish during the ice storm. —AP the start of one of the busiest travel periods of the year, but things didn’t really get messy until Saturday, when it delivered a bit of everything freezing rain, snow, ice, flooding and even tornadoes - to an area that stretched from the Louisiana Gulf Coast to eastern Canada.

Those who took to the roads or skies before midday Saturday likely got where they wanted without a major hitch, but by midafternoon, roads had become slick in many places and flight cancellations and delays star ted to mount.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of residents lost electricity after heavy rain and strong gusts

of up to 60 mph whipped northern Louisiana.

Some areas had as much as three inches of rain, said National Weather Service meteorologist Bill Adams. High winds ripped the front facade off the Books-a-Million bookstore in the northern town of Monroe, 100 miles east of Shreveport. The area in front of the store was full of storm debris. To the northwest in Union Parish, Sheriff Dusty Gates said damage was widespread across the parish of 28,000 residents. Trees fell on houses, across roads and on power lines. No injuries were reported by late Saturday, although some areas were cut off and not accessible due to bad weather. —AP

MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2013

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

Protesters demand Thai PM’s resignation 3 bombs explode in southern Thailand, injuring 27 BANGKOK: Tens of thousands of anti-government demonstrators massed peacefully across Thailand’s capital yesterday in their latest bid to topple Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra before a February election the main opposition party will boycott.

Meanwhile, three bombs have exploded in southern Thailand, injuring more than two dozen people in what appears to be an attack by Islamic insurgents. Songkhla’s provincial governor told state-run NBT television that 27 people were hurt, four seriously, in yesterday’s bombings.

Police said a car bomb outside a hotel in Songkhla caused the most damage. They said two other bombs concealed on motorcycles exploded outside two police stations. More than 5,000 people have been killed in predominantly Buddhist Thailand’s three Muslim-dominated southernmost provinces since an Islamic insurgency erupted in 2004.

Yingluck has called a snap poll for Feb. 2 to try to cool tension and renew her mandate, but protesters reject any election until the implementation of vague reforms ostensibly aimed at weakening the influence of the Shinawatra family. Thailand remains in an all-too-familiar deadlock after eight years of on-off conflict broadly between supporters and opponents of Yingluck’s selfexiled tycoon brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, whose populist political machine has won every election since 2001.

Chanting “Yingluck, get out”, whistle-blowing protesters gathered at locations around the city and set up stages in at least four places, bringing traffic to a halt at three main intersections and in two commercial districts.

“I hate Yingluck and I want to get rid of her because she does everything for her brother, not for Thai people,” said Chaloey Thanapaisan, a 75-year-old protester.

Among the main protagonists in Thailand’s turmoil is a Bangkok establishment with influence among judges and generals and which backs protests against govern-

ments controlled by Thaksin, who they see as a tax-dodging crony capitalist who enriches his family and his network of business friends. Thailand’s near-term future became more uncertain on Saturday when the opposition Democrat Party announced it would boycott the election, saying the democratic system had been distorted by Thaksin and was failing Thais. The boycott adds to concern that forces allied with the Democrats would try to scuttle an election that is otherwise likely to return Yingluck’s Puea Thai Party to power.

Hundreds surrounded Yingluck’s house yesterday and demanded she quit. Yingluck, now caretaker premier, was not in Bangkok and has been visiting the northeast, her party’s stronghold. Firebrand protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban, a former Democrat heavyweight, was feted like a rock star while he gave speeches on stages across the city, renewing his calls for an appointed “people’s council”.

Political misstep His campaign is less about policies and more about ridding Thailand of both Yingluck and Thaksin. “Today, we have shut down Bangkok for a half day. If Yingluck remains in office, next time we will shut Bangkok down again for the whole day. We will fight until we win, we will not back down,” Suthep told tens of thousands of demonstrators.

Yingluck had enjoyed a smooth two years in office but that unravelled in November when Puea Thai tried to push through an amnesty bill that would have nullified Thaksin’s 2008 graft conviction, allowing him to return home from Dubai. It proved to be a political miscalculation by her party. Questions remain about how the protesters can remove Yingluck when the rallies, which have attracted as many as 160,000 people, have remained largely peaceful and have failed to stop her government

BANGKOK: Thai anti-government protesters gather outside Lumpini park during a rally yesterday in Bangkok. — AP from functioning.

Sathit Wongnongtoey, a Democrat party member, said the rallies would end by nightfall and demonstrators would return to their base in the city’s historic quarter.

“We just marched to show our strong intention to oust Yingluck,” he told Reuters. “We don’t want to cause violence.” Suthep has asked for the heavily politicised military that overthrew Thaksin in a 2006 coup to intervene on their behalf, but the top brass has so far refused to

step in. Thailand’s Election Commission had suggested the poll could be delayed, fearing it could be marred by violence, but on Friday it ruled out a postponement.

Registration for candidates is due to start today. The Democrats boycotted an election called during similar protests in 2006, when Thaksin tried to renew his mandate. His party won in a landslide, but the result was annulled on a technicality and he was later overthrown in a coup. — Reuters

India anti-graft crusader set to form Delhi govt Kejriwal vows to clean up dirty politics

TACLOBAN CITY: Philippine President Benigno Aquino III (center) shakes hands with workers at a temporary shelter for typhoon victims during his visit to Tacloban city, central Philippines, Esterda. — AP

Don’t let Philippines become a ‘forgotten crisis’: UN chief MANILA: United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on donor nations yesterday to ramp up aid to typhoon-battered Philippines as it grapples with a funding shortfall on the long road to recovery.

“We must not allow this to be another forgotten crisis,” Ban told reporters a day after touring the storm-ravaged city of Tacloban.

He said the UN had only achieved 30 percent of the $791 million in aid it had appealed for to boost relief and rehabilitation efforts in areas devastated by Super Typhoon Haiyan last month.

“I am appealing (to) the donor community, to speed up, scale up their support,” Ban said, adding that he had met with the ambassadors of key donor countries in Manila on Sunday.

He said he was deeply moved and inspired by his visit to Tacloban on Saturday, where despite the many challenges “people

are working hard to recover”. Ban acknowledged some bottlenecks in relief efforts in the immediate aftermath of the typhoon owing to logistical challenges in reaching remote central Philippine islands impacted by the typhoon.

However, he said the UN stood firm in its commitment to help the Philippines as it lays out an ambitious plan to rebuild storm battered areas. Super Typhoon Haiyan walloped the central Philippines on November 8, triggering giant tsunami-like waves that swallowed entire communities. The typhoon, one of the strongest ever to hit land, left 6,102 people dead and 1,779 others missing, according to a government tally. Ravaging an area the size of Portugal, it inflicted $12.9 billion in damage and left 4.4 million people homeless. The Philippine government said it would need $8.17 billion over four years in a massive rebuilding effort. — AFP

NEW DELHI: India’s anti-corruption crusader Arvind Kejriwal vowed yesterday to clean up “dirty politics” in a fiery speech suggesting that his party will team up with the Congress party to form a state government in Delhi. Kejriwal, a former civil servant turned politician, has been under pressure to form a government with support from a major party since the stunning performance of his Aam Aadmi (Common Man) Party in the December 4 state election.

The party won 28 of the 70 seats, trouncing Congress which previously ruled the state but took only eight seats and depriving the biggest winner-the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with 31 — of an overall majority. But Kejriwal has been wary of accepting support from either the nationally ruling Congress or the main national opposition BJP, after voters flocked to him because they were disillusioned with mainstream politics and angry at rampant corruption.

“If we form the government, we will pass an anti-corruption law and send corrupt BJP and Congress leaders to jail,” Kejriwal told a rally in Delhi of several hundred supporters. “We are not after political power. We want to change the system and cleanse the dirty politics,” Kejriwal said, adding that he expected to make an announcement on forming a state government today.

The success of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), only a year after its formation, signalled its emergence as a new political force which poses a threat to the two main parties in a general election due by May. With the BJP declining to form a state government without an overall majority, the AAP was invited by Delhi’s governor to take on the job. In an unusual move it asked supporters whether it should do so, holding public meetings and urging them to telephone or SMS their views.

NEW DELHI: India’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), or Common Man’s Party leader Arvind Kejriwal speaks at a public meeting in New Delhi yesterday. — AP

With yesterday the last day for supporter input, media speculation was mounting that Kejriwal would finally team up with Congress. The Hindustan Times newspaper and other media said the AAP has received an overwhelming response in favor of forming a new state administration.

“We have got a very positive and clear response. If things go the same way (today), we will definitely form the government,” the daily quoted an AAP leader, Manish Sisodia, as saying.

Congress, in power at the national level for a

Momentum gains to unite ancient Cambodian statues

Bangladesh police charge 13 over garment factory fire DHAKA: Bangladesh police yesterday brought charges over the nation’s deadliest-ever garment factory fire, accusing the owners and 11 others of negligence that led to the loss of 111 lives. Police charged owners Delwar Hossain and his wife, along with security guards and managers, over the blaze 13 months ago that gutted the nine-storey Tazreen factory on the outskirts of Dhaka where workers stitched clothes for Western retailers.

“Delwar and his wife Mahmuda Akter ... and 11 others have been charged with death due to negligence,” A K M Mohsinuzzaman Khan, the police investigator in the case, said.

The factory, in the Ashulia industrial district, supplied clothes to a variety of international brands including US giant Walmart, Dutch retailer C&A and ENYCE, a label owned by US rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs.

The fire on November 24 last year was the country’s worst at a garment factory and shone an international spotlight on appalling safety conditions in an industry worth more than $20 billion a year. The industry suffered an even greater tragedy just months later when the Rana Plaza garment factory complex collapsed in Dhaka’s outskirts, killing 1,135 people in the world’s worst industrial disaster.

Bangladesh pledged to clean up the industry after that disaster in April, and more than 100 top Western retailers have signed up to new safety agreements to allow greater scrutiny of their operations. Victims of the factory fire, mostly women who were paid as little as $37 a month, found themselves overcome by smoke or were forced to jump from windows on upper floors.

Managers and security guards were charged over their insistence that workers return to their duties even though smoke was billowing from the ground floor where the fire started, said Khan, the police investigator. “Fire alarms rang as soon as the blaze broke out. Panicked workers tried to leave the factory before the fire spread,” Khan told AFP. “But the managers and the security guards told the workers that it was nothing serious. The alarms were meant for fire drills,” Khan said. Khan said it was “possibly the first time” a gar-

ment plant owner has been charged over a fire at one of the nation’s 4,500 factories, where deadly accidents are common.

Factory owners are rarely charged over such tragedies in the sector, which is a mainstay of the impoverished country’s economy, accounting to up to 80 percent of Bangladesh’s exports.

Negligence The 13 people are charged with committing culpable homicide not amounting to murder and causing death due to negligence, said police Inspector Mohammad Asaduzzaman.

All 13 could face life in prison if convicted. But a union leader reacted angrily to the charges, saying they were too lenient, and predicted that the cases would drag on for years.

“The owners were directly responsible for the murder of more than 100 workers. Yet they are not charged with murder,” Babul Akter, head of the Bangladesh Garment and Industrial Workers Federation, said. “The charges they’ve been accused of are bailable and will be hard to prove. The case will drag on for years in lower and higher courts and will eventually lead to lighter sentences or no conviction at all.” A magistrate and prosecutors will scrutinise the charge sheet, filed with the senior judicial magistrate’s court in Dhaka, at a hearing on December 31 to decide whether to proceed with a trial and issue arrest warrants. The owner, who since the tragedy has been barred from leaving the country, has been accused of breaching construction rules including building staircases that were too narrow and unsafe.

An engineer employed by the factory was also charged over faulty factory construction, Khan added.The industry, where four million workers sew clothes for the world’s top retailers for low wages, is the world’s second largest after China. The government last month raised minimum wages for workers by 76 percent and launched inspections of factories in the wake of mounting criticism that authorities were failing to improve the sector. The new minimum wage of $68 a month still makes Bangladesh one of the lowest paid garment sectors in the world. — AFP

decade, has seen its popularity plummet following a series of corruption scandals, and policy paralysis that has been partly blamed for India’s faltering economy. The BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi tore into Congress during a rally yesterday, saying its corruption scandals and poor governance have ruined the country. “Corruption has assumed enormous proportions in the country. The country can free itself of corruption if it throws out Congress from power,” Modi told the rally in the financial hub Mumbai. — AFP

MUMBAI: A supporter waves a placard as she attends a public rally addressed by India’s Gujarat state Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi in Mumbai yesterday.

Modi is the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate for the forthcoming 2014 general elections. — AFP

PREAH VIHEAR PROVINCE: Rising out of the jungle on white pillars, the new Preah Vihear Museum’s largest building stands empty. But Cambodian officials hope that one day it will be the place where nine ancient statues depicting a dramatic battle scene are reunited from around the world. They came a step closer to that goal last week, when Sotheby’s auction house in New York agreed to return one of the statues to Cambodia, ending a heated legal battle that began when the US government filed a lawsuit last year at Cambodia’s initiative to press for its return.

The decision marks the latest progress in efforts to bring back together the nine figures that once formed a tableau in a tower of the 1,000-year-old Prasat Chen temple. The scene captured a famous duel in Hindu mythology in which the warrior Duryodhana is struck down by his cousin Bhima at the end of a bloody war of succession while seven attendants look on.

Experts say that looters hacked the life-sized sandstone figures off their bases during the country’s brutal civil war in the early 1970s. Some of the statues were apparently smuggled out of the country and eventually wound up in the hands of private collectors or in museums abroad, as did many statues from other temples that the Cambodian government now hopes to reclaim.

The footless figure of Duryodhana, valued at $2 million-$3 million, was placed in Sotheby’s auction catalog in 2011 after its former private Belgian owner’s widow gave it up for sale.

Discussions are now under way between the Cambodian government and the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, California, about the possibility of returning the statue of Bhima, which has been on display there for over 30 years. “The spirits of the Khmer ancestors are not at peace when they see artifacts that were either looted or being commercialized, so we hope that others will follow the very good example of what Sotheby’s has done,” said Ek Tha, a government spokesman.

The figures of three onlookers to the duel are now in Cambodia, including two that were returned in June by New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. The remaining four are still missing.—AP

NEWS

MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2013

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The same court scrapped the election process in June 2012 and again in June 2013 on the grounds that the procedures that led to the election were flawed and breached the constitution. In both cases, the court nullified the polls, ordered the dissolution of parliament and called for fresh polls. The court is also expected to rule on a number of petitions challenging the results of the election and could disqualify at least two MPs and announce two candidates as new winners.

MP Ali Al-Omair said in a statement yesterday that the arguments used to support the challenges to the election results were not solid. “The parliament’s annulment will not be to Kuwait’s benefit,” he said, adding “I do not believe that there is anything that justifies annulling the parliament for the third straight time”. MP Khalil Abdullah warned that the parliament’s annulment would result in a “wide boycott” of the next elections.

And as was anticipated, reports on social media and parliamentary sources said all the 15 ministers have tendered their resignations to the prime minister. Some sources said the resignations will be submitted today and officially announced by the government. The resignations were expected to take place to give the prime minister freedom to undertake a Cabinet reshuffle in which he is expected to axe around five ministers who are likely to include State Minister for Development Rola Dashti who is facing a no-confidence vote on Dec 24.

If the ministers resign, the Cabinet will not attend the Dec 24 and 25 sessions of the Assembly, and according the two sessions will be cancelled. The two Assembly sessions two weeks later may not be held too, depending on whether the new Cabinet is formed or not. A number of ministers in the Cabinet have come under fire by MPs who grilled them over alleged corruption and mismanagement. Since the start of the current parliamentary term, about 10 grillings have been filed against the premier and several ministers.

intelligence agencies tapped the communications of then Israeli premier Ehud Olmert, among other foreign leaders, according to secret documents revealed by intelligence contractor Edward Snowden. MP Nachman Shai, a diplomat in Israel’s Washington embassy in the early 1980s, said yesterday that he had called a debate on the affair in an influential parliamentary committee.

“Our working assumption was that we are being listened to, including by the Americans, but that doesn’t make it permissible or... ethical, and at the end of the day, when it is discovered, it cannot be ignored,” he told public radio. “I have asked for a debate by the Knesset foreign affairs and defence committee,” he added. “We need to know if the US listened in to us, what it listened to and what should be our response.” Shai said Israel and its close strategic ally had agreed not to spy upon one another in the wake of the 1985 arrest in Washington of former US Navy analyst Pollard, who gave Israel thousands of secret documents about US espionage in the Arab world.

Pollard was sentenced to life imprisonment, and repor ts that the US also spied on its friends brought fresh calls for his release. These were amplified by a report in the daily Yediot Aharonot on Sunday that in 2007, when Ehud Barak was defence minister, the US embassy in Tel Aviv rented an apartment opposite Barak’s penthouse and moved in “a large quantity of electronic equipment”. “If it’s true it is very, very grave,” MP Tzahi Hanegbi of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party told Israeli army radio. “That’s classic espionage, (the same activity) for which Jonathan Pollard has been in prison for almost 30 years. If it’s

true, Pollard’s cell door should be opened and he should be allowed to go home before this day is out,” Hanegbi added.

Netanyahu yesterday said that he was constantly working for Pollard’s release, but he did not directly comment on the Times story. “We do not need any special event in order to discuss the release of Jonathan Pollard. We are dealing with it. I deal with it with all US presidents, including President Obama, all the time, including at this time,” he told yesterday’s weekly cabinet meeting. “This is neither conditional on, nor related to, the latest events, even though we have given our opinion on these developments,” he said, without elaborating.

Veteran Israeli diplomatic writer Shimon Shiffer, commenting in Yediot, said Israeli leaders, assuming that their communications were bugged, sometimes sought to turn that to their advantage. He recalled Ariel Sharon’s brief term as defence minister under late premier Menachem Begin, when he went on missions to Egypt after the two countries signed their historic 1979 peace treaty. Sharon, Shiffer wrote, would make calls to Israel complementing progress in Egypt and heaping praise on president Hosni Mubarak, in the expectation that Cairo would be listening in.

But the ruse backfired when on one trip Sharon called home to speak to his mother, Vera. “Don’t believe a single word from those Arabs, they’re all liars,” the paper quoted her as telling Sharon - and Egyptian intelligence eavesdroppers. Maariv’s Nadav Eyal made a tongue-in-cheek reference to allegations that the US also tapped German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s phone. “If Angela Merkel’s personal phone was tapped by the Americans, what can Israel expect? It would almost be an insult if the US didn’t try it.” — AFP

The three activists chanted “down with the military regime”, as the court gave its verdict, official news agency MENA reported. Maher is the founder of the April 6 youth movement that led the revolt against Mubarak. All three defendants were leading dissidents under Mubarak, but they also supported the military’s overthrow of Morsi, whom they accused of betraying the 2011 “revolution”.

Maher and Douma were arrested after Maher’s supporters allegedly scuffled with police outside a Cairo court on Nov 30, when Maher handed himself in for questioning on suspicion he had organised an illegal protest.

Adel was absent from the first hearing on 8 but was captured this week in a midnight police raid on a non-governmental organisation in Cairo. They were found guilty of violating a disputed law enacted last month that requires police authorisation for protests, less than three years after Mubarak was toppled by massive pro-democracy demonstrations. Another prominent pro-democracy activist, Alaa Abdel Fattah, has also been arrested for allegedly taking part in a violent and illegal protest. The date for his trial has yet to be determined. More recently, the military justified its overthrow of Morsi - Egypt’s first freely elected president as a response to massive protests against his turbulent yearlong reign, which critics said was marked by power-grabbing and economic mismanagement.

Amr Ali, general coordinator of the April 6 youth movement, said the court verdict “aims to terrorise political activists so they would stop demonstrating against the failings of this regime”. He said the “roadmap” outlined by the new authorities for Egypt’s transition to democracy “has become meaningless”. “The roadmap was to put in place a government which was to be the foundation of a democratic state, but what we see is a return to the practices of the repressive state of Mubarak,” Ali told AFP. “We don’t recognise the roadmap. We appeal for a demonstration tomorrow (Monday) and on January 25 against the protest law and to demand release of pro-democracy activists.” — AFP

MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2013

ANALYSIS

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Issues

US toughens resolve on diplomat labor

By Shaun Tandon

W

hen an Italian consular official in San Francisco was arrested on charges of abusing his Brazilian servant, he reached a deal to escape prison with barely a whimper from Rome. That same year, 2011, US authorities arrested Taiwan’s envoy in Kansas City on charges of trafficking Filipina maids. The Taipei government at first demanded her release but soon relented and the chastened diplomat spent three months in jail before being deported.

The United States is now embroiled in an intense row with India over Dec 12 authorities’ arrest of its deputy consul general in New York on allegations she paid her servant below minimum wage and lied on her visa form.

But while the dispute is unusually public and bitter, the case marks part of a growing, and often quiet, effort by the United States to curb what activists see as widespread abuse of servants by diplomats. In a case that led outraged US lawmakers to tighten rules, a Tanzanian diplomat in Washington was accused of enslaving a woman who allegedly worked non-stop at his home without pay. A court in 2008 ordered the diplomat, Alan Mzengi, to pay more than $1 million.

But the woman received no payment until earlier this year, when the Tanzanian government paid her a smaller amount to settle the row ahead of a visit by President Barack Obama to the East African country, said Martina Vandenberg, a lawyer who represented the woman for free.

“Getting that took five years, but the reality is that lawyers in these cases are working pro bono and we have all the time in the world and we will never stop fighting to get and enforce judgments,” she said.

Vandenberg praised the arrest of the Indian diplomat, Devyani Khobragade, as proof that the United States would not let diplomatic “immunity mean impunity”. “This case shows in a much more public way than usual that the US government’s rhetorical statements that it will not tolerate exploitation and abuse of domestic workers will actually be backed by efforts to prosecute,” she said. India’s government has insisted that Khobragade was the real victim and voiced fury that the 39-year-old was strip-searched by US Marshals, treatment that, while routine for new US inmates, would be unthinkable by Indian law enforcement toward a prominent woman. Secretary of State John Kerry voiced regret over Khobragade’s treatment as India retaliated with moves including removing barricades near the US Embassy.

‘Dozens and dozens’ of cases After appeals by activists, the US Congress in 2008 barred visas for domestic servants unless consular officials interviewed them out of earshot from their employers, informed them of their rights and verified that they had written contracts. Lawmakers took action after a government report that said that at least 42 household workers employed by US-based foreign diplomats or officials at international organizations had alleged abuse in the eight previous years.

“These protections are now showing that they are really working,” said Tiffany Williams, advocacy director for the Break the Chain Campaign which assists domestic workers.

“Now it’s just a matter of making sure that they are fully enforced and implemented every time.”

Williams said it was impossible to know how many servants have alleged mistreatment but said that her group was aware of “dozens and dozens” of cases. In 2010, more than 900 domestic servants received visas to work for foreign diplomats in the United States. In an extreme case, a US judge in 2012 ordered that a New York-based Indian diplomat and her husband, Neena and Jogesh Malhotra, pay nearly $1.5 million to a maid. The worker was forced to survive on leftovers from meals she prepared and was only allowed outside to run errands, according to court documents.

The weight of the maid, Shanti Gurung, dropped from 67 to 38 kg during her 40 months employed by the Malhotras, who allegedly told her that US authorities would beat, rape and deport her if she tried to escape. However, she has not received payment due to a counter-action in a New Delhi court that said the diplomat and her servant were both employed by the Indian government and hence subject to its laws. Gurung remains in New York, doing domestic work as she studies to complete a high school equivalency degree, said Prarthana Gurung of Adhikaar, a New Yorkbased group that supports Nepali-speaking workers. Many workers are unaware of their rights in the United States and have little recourse as their employers took away their personal documents, Prarthana Gurung said. “We want to make sure everybody understands that when you bring someone over, you should be treating them in a way that is humane and in line with the labor laws here,” she said. —AFP

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

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

Netanyahu seeks to slow Iran-US thaw

By Dan Williams

B

y ramping up his demands of any final nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears determined to stem the tide of international diplomacy which has turned against him in recent weeks. Netanyahu was stung by an interim agreement last month for Tehran to curb its nuclear program in return for a limited easing of sanctions, calling it a historic mistake. His reaction has been to call for the dismantling of Iran’s nuclear projects, as opposed to their containment, and a halt to its development of ballistic missiles, an issue not addressed in the interim accord signed in Geneva on Nov. 24.

Taking even wider aim, Netanyahu said negotiators should demand a change to Iran’s “genocidal policy” toward Israel, manifested through its supply of thousands of missiles to Palestinian and Lebanese militants, and its calls for the Jewish state’s destruction. The wish list has received a cool reception in Washington, will be given short shrift by Iran and was described as “crazy” by a senior Western diplomat. But experts believe the Israeli leader wants to put pressure on President Barack Obama and prevent USIranian ties from thawing too far, too fast.

One way to do that would be to send a message to Israel’s supporters on Capitol

Hill. The Senate has already sparred with Obama over whether new sanctions against Iran should be prepared. A former Netanyahu adviser, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said US legislators were Netanyahu’s target audience. “It’s one thing for Congress to hold off on imposing sanctions, quite another for it to cancel sanctions under a final deal with Iran.

Netanyahu wants to help set the tone in Congress and he doesn’t mind if Obama notices.”

There is a growing sense in Washington that Netanyahu has accepted it is unlikely he can derail the negotiations, so he may have reverted to spoiling tactics, however unpopular they may be in Obama’s administration. “I can’t believe the Americans are happy about (Netanyahu) sounding off the way he is at this critical point in time,” said one Israeli official, who has direct knowledge of recent White House consultations between US and Israeli experts on Iran.

The United States views engagement with the new, relatively moderate government in Iran as a chance to defuse more than three decades of tensions. Asked about Netanyahu’s push to broaden Geneva negotiations, White House National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said talks were focused exclusively on the nuclear issue.

“However, it is important to note that progress on the nuclear issue does not

change our resolve in pushing back against Iranian support for terrorism, threats against our friends and partners, and violations of human rights,” she said.

‘Too High a Bar’ Independent experts doubt that Iran, already clinging to nuclear projects it insists are only for peaceful purposes, would agree to a wider clampdown on missile technologies which it could argue are crucial for its civilian space program.

Isaac Ben-Israel, an aerospace expert and former strategic weapons designer with Israel’s Defence Ministry, said Netanyahu was setting “too high a bar” on Iran’s ballistic missiles. He said those were developed in parallel with Tehran’s fledgling space program, and predicted the Iranians would treat any move against their missile arsenal as undermining a national scientific endeavour. “They won’t give up the space missiles. That will never happen,” said Ben-Israel, who is now a professor of security and diplomacy studies at Tel Aviv University.

Earlier this month, Iran said it sent a second live monkey into space and brought it back safely, in a fresh demonstration of the country’s missile capabilities. The West worries that long-range ballistic technology used to propel Iranian satellites into orbit could be put to use dispatching nuclear warheads to a target. An Israeli official said the

Netanyahu government regarded Iran’s space program as cover for its ballistic missile programme: “It’s not peaceful just like Iran’s nuclear projects aren’t peaceful.

There’s no reason to draw fake distinctions.”

The official did not offer how Iran might reform its enmity toward Israel.

The Iranians, who deny their nuclear program is aimed at developing weapons, accuse Israel and its own assumed atomic arsenal of being the real menace to Middle East security. Gary Samore, Obama’s former nuclear non-proliferation czar and now a Harvard University scholar, saw value to Israel’s calls even if they ultimately go unmet. “I think it’s unlikely that Iran will agree to include its ballistic missile program as part of a nuclear deal,” he said. “However, ballistic missiles and many other issues, such as Iran’s hostile policy toward Israel, should be on the agenda if and when we ever reach agreement to resolve the nuclear issue.”

A senior Western diplomat said Netanyahu was making “crazy maximalist demands” that even people in his inner circle recognised could not be met. Giora Eiland, a former Israeli national security adviser, inferred another tactical tack on the part of Netanyahu. “He might be introducing a demand to the negotiations that could later be removed as a kind of concession, with Iran expected to make concessions in turn,” Eiland said. —Reuters

Bethlehem seeks tourists after dark decade

By Philippe Agret

A

fter a decade of unrest, Bethlehem has seen a surge in visits to Christ’s traditional birthplace, raising hopes of a tourism bonanza in the West Bank town despite Israel’s separation barrier. The Palestinian territories’ top tourist destination is a victim of the barrier which cuts off the town from nearby Jerusalem, just 10 km away. Israel began work on its sprawling barrier dubbed the “apartheid wall” by Palestinians - in 2002 at the height of the second intifada, or uprising. It defends the construction as a crucial protective measure, pointing to a drop in attacks inside Israel as proof of its success.

Palestinian tourism minister Rola Maayah sees the barrier as a key obstacle to encouraging visitors to the town. “Bethlehem, one of our main tourist attractions is circled by 27 settlements. As a result, we are surrounded by high walls, fences and menacing checkpoints which put tourists off,” Maayah said. “We could develop tourism, attract people from all over the world, but it’s not possible because of the Israeli occupation,” she added.

The expansion of nearby Israeli settlements has deliberately helped to isolate the city, Palestinians say. But since a UNESCO decision in June

Christian worshipers visit the Church of the Nativity in the West Bank biblical town of Bethlehem yesterday. —AFP 2012 to grant world heritage status to Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity - hailed as a “historic” diplomatic victory by the Palestinians - the town has been eyeing a tourist bonanza that could boost the local economy. In Bethlehem, where nearly one quarter of its 25,000 residents are unemployed, two out of three households rely on tourism for their income. Between 2011 and 2012, more than two million people visited the

town. The record crowds brought much-needed revenues after a tough decade for tourism during the second intifada. “There was a significant jump in tourism in Palestine in 2012 with an 18 percent rise in the number of visitors,” Maayah said. A little over half of these were foreigners.

‘Bethlehem is not a museum’ With 3,800 rooms, Bethlehem accounts for nearly half of the

West Bank’s hotel capacity. But the occupancy rate (65 to 70 percent) is unevenly distributed throughout the year. “We are booked up in advance for Christian holidays, but there are lots of empty rooms the rest of the year,” said the deputy head of the Bethlehem board of commerce, Fairouz Khoury. To redress this imbalance, Vera Baboun, a Palestinian Catholic and Bethlehem’s first female mayor since 2012, aims to encourage visitors to stay longer.

“Our visitors should know that Bethlehem is not just about the nativity,” said Baboun.

The pilgrims - who mostly come from Russia, the United States and Poland descend on the town by the coachload, queueing to see the Church of the Nativity, one of Christianity’s oldest and holiest, leaving immediately afterwards.

Those who linger for more than a few hours are rare. “This year our motto is ‘Come home for Christmas,’ which means: take the time to wander around the alleys of the Old City, talk to the residents, help them to live here,” Baboun explained. “Bethlehem is not a museum,” she said.

Palestinian tourist guides have also complained they suffer because of the favourable treatment granted to their Israeli competitors. Some 150 Israelis are authorised to work as guides in Bethlehem, compared with 42 Palestinians permitted to work in Israel and east Jerusalem, the chamber of commerce said.

“They take more than 80 percent of the market,” complained Mohammed Awadallah, a Palestinian guide. But Israeli authorities, who have long courted the lucrative market in catering to Christian pilgrims in the Holy Land, deny the accusations. “We do everything we can so that Christians can visit the holy sites,” Israeli Tourism Minister Uzi Landau said. —AFP

MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2013

S P ORTS

Hoddle confirms interest in Spurs job LONDON: Tottenham Hotspur great Glenn Hoddle yesterday confirmed his interest in returning to the club to succeed Andre Villas-Boas as manager. Villas-Boas was sacked last Monday following a 5-0 defeat at home to Liverpool, with technical coordinator Tim Sherwood placed in charge of first-team affairs on a temporary basis.

Hoddle has not managed a team since leaving Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2006, but the former England manager says he would be prepared to step into the vacancy at White Hart Lane. “I supported Tottenham at eight years of age, I went there aged 12, left when I was 28, went back to manage-it’s in my blood and my bones. Yes, I would want to go back,” he told Sky Sports.

“Even if they felt they wanted me to go to the end of the season and wanted something else long-term, I would be prepared to do that for the sake of the football club.” Hoddle spent 12 years at Spurs as a player, making 490 appearances, and returned to the club as manager between 2001 and 2003. —AFP

Pellegrini ends Hart’s City exile

Moyes defends Januzaj amid diving claims

LONDON: Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini has revealed Joe Hart has finally been restored as his club’s first choice goalkeeper. Hart made his first Premier League start since October 27 as City kept their title challenge on track with a 4-2 win at Fulham on Saturday and he is set to keep his place for the immediate future. The England international was dropped by Pellegrini after a series of errors culminated in a costly blunder in City’s 2-1 defeat at Chelsea and he had only appeared in three Champions League and League Cup ties until the weekend visit to Craven Cottage. His spell as back-up to Romania international Costel Pantilimon appears to be over for now, with Pellegrini confirming after Saturday’s match that Hart would keep his place for the next game.

That fixture could hardly be more crucial as Liverpool, who moved top of the Premier League with a 3-1 victory over Cardiff on Saturday, are the visitors to Eastlands for Thursday’s Boxing Day clash. City are up to second place ahead of Arsenal and Chelsea, who meet on Monday, and Pellegrini said: “Joe Hart did very well and we will see what will happen. —AFP

MANCHESTER: Manchester United manager David Moyes has defended young winger Adnan Januzaj against allegations that he could be developing an unwanted reputation for diving. The 18-year-old was booked for simulation in the first half of United’s breezy 3-1 win over West Ham United on Saturday after going down in the general vicinity of James Collins, but also scored a superb goal and might have earned a penalty. However, while Moyes accepted Januzaj’s yellow card was justified, he was more concerned that referee Michael Jones only handed out a booking to West Ham defender George McCartney following a horrendous stamp on the ankle of Javier Hernandez late in the contest. “He (Jones) saw a bit of simulation in another one, but didn’t see that,” said Moyes. “I think Adnan was expecting a challenge from (James) Collins, but if you look at the last two games, the amount of tackles he has had to take, he has taken more tackles than any other player. “So we’ll talk to him about it, but you (journalists) might be picking on the wrong person today. “I said last week there were a lot of people having a kick at him, because he’s very difficult to mark, he’s elusive the way he moves, it can bring defenders into tackles. —AFP

Blaze of fireworks and dance show Myanmar’s new face at SEA Games

Kuwait’s Salah bin Idan

Saudi driver tops second round of Kuwait int’l rally KUWAIT: Saudi driver Saeed Al-Mawri and co-driver Omar Al-Refaei came in first place in the second round of Kuwait International Rally 2014 held here Saturday evening.

Kuwait’s Salah bin Idan and Qatar co-driver came in second place while Qatar ’s Abdullah Al-Kuwari and British co-driver Steve Lancaster came in third place.

In the four-wheel drive, Qatari driver Mohammad Al-Hargan and his UAE co-dri-

ver Mohammad Aaref came in first place.

Chairman of the rally racing committee at the quarter mile motorsports club Sheikh Athbi Al-Sabah told KUNA that the race is going smoothly, noting that the 19 drivers and co-drivers, partaking in the event, were contributing to the success of the rally.

There are three rounds left in the rally, revealed the official who wished all the participants the best of luck. —KUNA

Muirhead leads Britain’s gold-medal hopes in Sochi STIRLING: She has taken to the catwalk at a New York fashion show, has been lined up for a photo shoot by a British tabloid and is possibly the most famous sportswoman in Scotland.

The words “curling” and “celebrity” aren’t usually found in the same sentence, but brilliant play on the ice is ensuring plenty of exposure off it for British women’s skip Eve Muirhead. “I enjoy it, although it’s a bit weird,” Muirhead said of her glamorous life away from the rink. “But we’re trying to get the sport to grow because it’s a sport that needs to grow. So it’s always good to promote curling.”

Already a world and European champion with Scotland, Muirhead is heading to February’s Winter

Olympics in Sochi looking to fill the gap on her curling resume. And for the second straight games, she and her British teammates will be the favorites for the gold medal.

Muirhead was only 19 when she competed at the Vancouver Olympics in 2010. She lost five straight games after a good start and failed to make it past the round-robin stage. “I’ve looked back at it and we didn’t train hard enough, didn’t practice hard. We just weren’t good enough,” Muirhead said after a practice session at the Scottish Institute of Sport training base in Stirling. “I think I learnt from that, and for this cycle I’ve really stepped up everything. It’s actually probably the best thing that could have happened to me.” —AP

NAYPYIDAW: A blaze of fireworks and colour brought the curtain down on the Southeast Asian Games in Myanmar yesterday-an event which marked the formerly cloistered country’s return to the international stage.

A spectacular closing ceremony illuminated by fireworks, animation and thousands of dancers delighted the crowd at the 30,000-capacity stadium in the sprawling capital Naypyidaw. The raising of the Singapore flag-the city-state will host the regional showpiece in 2015 — marked the end of 11 official days of competition which saw Thailand top the medals table with 107 golds.

The event was hailed as Myanmar’s ‘coming out’ party and was given to the hosts as a reward for reforms overseen by President Thein Sein, who was present at the closing and opening ceremonies.

Concerns over Myanmar’s readiness to host a large international standard event had been raised ahead of the Games, while the distances between venues in the vast capital also raised eyebrows.

But Myanmar has basked in its host status and a rare moment in the international limelight after years in isolation under military rule.

“Some local and international observers thought Myanmar could not host the SEA Games,” said the president’s spokesman Ye Htut on his Facebook page. “They were wrong.”

The closing ceremony saw thousands of dancers perform scenes from Myanmar’s history to an animated background broadcast on vast screens flanking one side of the stadium.

At one point hundreds of teenage boys and girls delighted the crowd with a syn-

NAYPYIDAW: Fireworks explode during the closing ceremony of the 27th Southeast Asian Games (SEA GAMES) in Naypyidaw yesterday. The regional sporting extravaganza has returned to Myanmar after a 44-year absence. —AFP chronised demonstration of chinlone-a local cane-ball game-which was followed by scores of elaborately-dressed drummers pounding a rhythm for an array of dancers.

The opening and closing ceremonies were supported in cash and know-how by Chinawhich confirmed its own re-emergence onto the international platform with the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008.

A SEA Games official thanked China at the closing ceremony for its “tremendous support” which officials said amounted to $33 million. While little known outside the

region, the Games are a source of local bragging rights for the 11 competing nations and give athletes from lesser sporting nations the chance to shine.

While Thailand topped the medals, winning many leading track and field events as well as the flagship men’s football gold, Myanmar came in a respectable second with 86 gold medals.

It had been accused of cherry-picking non-Olympic sports such as chinlone to ensure a strong showing on home soil. —AFP

Gridiron Football .. A dream come true KUWAIT: The Gridiron Football or American Football will soon have new fans in Kuwait, but the question is whether it would push over ancient football or soccer played all over the world.

The establishment of the Gridiron Football team in Kuwait has always been a dream for Sheikh Mishal Talal AlFahad Al-Sabah, Deputy Chairman of the Asian Federation of American Football (AFAF), member of the Rugby and American Football Committee in Kuwait.

Sheikh Mishal has been a basketball player and also an enthusiast of American Football. One day, he saw a bunch of young people throwing a ball amongst themselves playing American Football and was tempted to join in and share their hobby. But, unfortunately, the players lacked experience and knowledge of the rules of the game.

This had prompted Sheikh Mishal to think seriously about making their dream of having a place to train and an efficient coach come true. Sheikh Mishal then promised the young Kuwaitis he would work hard to realize their dream. He searched for players and succeeded in collecting 30 athletes to start with. However, those he found wanted to start playing immediately without going through the harsh training, which resulted in their pullout.

What happened next? Sheikh Mishal fought on and managed to arrange for training at Kuwait University’s Stadium, and he invited Kuwaiti and non-Kuwaiti players to join in. Starting with just four players in the initial training session, the group surprisingly became 100, and later on 400 players.

However, seeing and experiencing first-hand the lack of equipment and absence of a coach, the number began to diminish and reached just 70 players in the first team and 45 players in the under-19 category.

After that, things finally kicked off the ground and Sheikh Mishal finally managed to obtain international recognition for his Federation as the first internationally-recognized Federation for Gridiron Football in Kuwait, in addi-

tion to an American coach from the United States Army.

More assertive than before, Sheikh Mishal now wanted to prove that Kuwait has the ability to attain a leading position internationally. He managed to invite the ‘Neuchatel Knights’ team to play a friendly match as part of the National Team’s preparations for the Asian qualifier game to the IFAF World Cup (Sweden 2015), against South Korea in Seoul on April 12, 2014.

The friendly game against the Swiss club will be held January 18, 2014, 6: 30 pm at Kuwait University Stadium Shuwaikh campus. Sheikh Mishal urged Kuwaiti fans and spectators to come to the stadium and boost the morale of their national team which plays for the first time against a recognized team from Switzerland.

He also thanked the families of the players who have given all support to make this game a success. He also urged the bodies in charge of sports in Kuwait to support the national team in its bid to prove its worth.

Gridiron Football, or North American Football, is a game primarily played in the United States and Canada. The predominant forms of Gridiron Football are American Football and Canadian Football.

Gridiron refers to the sport’s characteristic playing field, which is marked with a series of parallel lines resembling a gridiron. Gridiron Football evolved from English rugby and soccer (association football); it differs from soccer chiefly in allowing players to touch, throw, and carry the ball with their hands, and it differs from rugby in allowing each side to control the ball in alternating possessions.

The sport, played with 11 on each side, originated in North America, primarily in the United States, where it eventually became the country’s leading spectator sport. It also developed simultaneously in Canada, where it evolved into a 12-man game, though it never achieved the great popularity and status of ice hockey there.

Gridiron Football has not been taken up in the rest of the world to the same degree as other American sports such

Part of Kuwaiti American team training. —KUNA as basketball and baseball. Since the 1980s, however, primarily through the marketing efforts of the National Football League, teams and leagues have been established in Europe, and the game has achieved a degree of international popularity through television.

The spirit of early football can be glimpsed in the introduction of a rule in 1894 that banned projecting nails or iron plates in shoes and any metal substance on the player’s person. Rules establishing boundaries between permissible and impermissible violence have been continually revised over the years, sometimes in response to periods of heightened concern over deaths and injuries (in the early 1930s as well as the 1890s, for example).

Improvements in equipment also provided more safeguards against serious injury. In the 1890s, players’ only protection against blows to the head came from their own long hair and leather nose guards. The first headgear, in 1896, consisted simply of three leather straps. It evolved into close-fitting leather caps with ear flaps.

The suspension helmet, which used straps to create space between the helmet shell and the head of the wearer, was introduced in 1917. However, helmets were not required in college football until 1939 (1943 for the National Football League). Improved equipment sometimes increased rather than curtailed risk to players.

To start a game, a coin toss determines which team will kick off the ball

to their opponent. Each team lines up on opposite halves of the field, with a minimum ten yards of space between them for the kickoff.

At this point, play from scrimmage begins. The team in possession of the ball is on offense, and is given a set amount of time of up to forty seconds, depending on the governing body, during which the teams can set up a play in a huddle and freely substitute players. During that time, offense is to set into formation and remain perfectly still at it for at least one second. The formation requirement does not apply to Canadian football.

At least half the players (seven in standard American and Canadian football) on the offense must line up on the line of scrimmage, including the snapper, who handles the ball before play commences. The rest can and almost always line up behind the line.

Neither offense nor defense can cross the line of scrimmage before the play commences. Once formation is set, the snapper snaps the ball to one of the players behind him. The play has now commenced, and the offense’s goal is to continue advancing the ball toward their opponent’s end zone.

This can be done either by running with the ball or by a pass unique to gridiron football known as the forward pass. In a forward pass, a player from behind the line of scrimmage throws the ball to an eligible receiver (another back or the player on either end of the line), who must catch the ball before it touches the ground. The play stops when a player with the ball is tackled to the ground, runs out of the boundaries of the field, or a forward pass hits the ground without being caught. In the last case, the ball returns to the spot it was snapped.

At any time, the player with the ball can attempt a backward or lateral pass to any other player in order to keep the ball in play; this is generally rare. A typical play can last between five and twenty seconds, and as a result, the majority of the time in a gridiron football game is eaten up between the plays, when there is little to no on-field action. —KUNA

MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2013

S P ORT S Photo of the day

Young Mexican team takes hoop dreams to South California

Kyle Strait competes during the finals of Red Bull Rampage in Virgin, UT, USA on October 13, 2013. — www.redbullcontentpool.com

LOS ANGELES: Their Southern California itinerary is a 10year-old boy’s dream: Disneyland, a Lakers game and a visit to the Santa Monica beach. But most of the players from a basketball academy in the mountains of southern Mexico haven’t heard of Mickey Mouse. They grew up in isolated villages, and for them, basketball is a ticket to a better life.

At home in Oaxaca, the youngsters are so poor that they play without shoes. But they were all wearing sneakers on Friday as they got to slap hands with Lakers players.

And after winning an international tournament in Argentina, they’ve been dubbed the “barefoot giants of the mountains.”

“Despite having everything against them, these children have shown their strength on the basketball court and won,” said Gerardo Vasquez, president of a federation of Oaxacan immigrant groups in Southern California.

“They’ve shown the world that despite their circumstances, they are a light of hope for Oaxacans and Mexicans.”

While many Mexicans are soccer fans, in the rugged hills of Oaxaca there are more ball courts than soccer fields. Some say that the modern game echoes the traditional ceremonial game of “ulama,” which was played to the death in stone courts that now stand in ruins.

At home in southern Mexico, the 7- to 11-year-old team members live at a boarding school, study Spanish and their native language of Triqui and attend daily three-hour practices. The 17 players come from some of the poorest

areas, where “it looks like they’re stuck in the 18th century,” said Sergio Zuniga, chief coach and founder of the Mexican Academy of Indigenous Basketball in the city of Oaxaca.

“To see children who only have one meal a day, sharing a plate of beans and one tortilla between three people, isn’t rare,” Zuniga said. Zuniga said his program uses basketball to teach discipline and pride, to help the children graduate high school and perhaps even attend a university.

On their first US tour, the youngsters are playing teams from Los Angeles-area Catholic schools, recreation leagues and even an ad-hoc team of reporters from Spanish-language news media. They arrived Tuesday and will leave after Christmas. The children are usually shorter than their opponents. Zuniga and his team of coaches, teachers and social workers can’t do anything about their genes, and even the 11-year-olds look years away from a teenage growth spurt.

On Wednesday night, while Zuniga shouted from the sidelines in Spanish and Triqui, the boys played a scrappy game and kept the score tight against their taller rivals in the Woodland Hills area of Los Angeles. They won.

Tobias de Jesus Bautista, 11, said he was undaunted by his opponents’ size. “We have to give double, triple the effort,” Bautista said. “But I think we can compensate for our height by concentrating on our free throws, by being in better physical condition and by being more sure of what we’re doing. We can reach our dreams.” — AP

Warriors start slow, rout depleted Lakers 102-83 OAKLAND: David Lee had 19 points and 10 rebounds, Andrew Bogut grabbed 20 rebounds and the Golden State Warriors shook off a slow start to rout the depleted Los Angeles Lakers 10283 Saturday night.

Stephen Curry scored 18 points and Klay Thompson added 17 points to help the Warriors pull away with a 26-8 spurt to start the third quarter. Golden State went ahead 83-70 early in the fourth to put the game out of reach. Pau Gasol sat out with an upper respiratory infection for the Lakers, who already were missing Kobe Bryant (fractured left knee), Steve Nash (nerve root irritation in back), Steve Blake (torn ligament in right elbow) and Jordan Farmar (torn left hamstring).

Nick Young scored 20 points, and Chris Kaman had 17 rebounds and 10 points for the Lakers in a sloppy game by both teams. The Lakers committed 24 turnovers, while the Warriors had 18.

Golden State shot 38.8 percent and Los Angeles shot 32.5 percent.

Even though the Lakers were undermanned, the Warriors had failed to consistently take advantage of opportunities against short-handed teams lately. Golden State had lost three of its last four games, including Thursday night at home against a San Antonio team playing without Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. The lone win during that stretch was against New Orleans, which played without injured starters Anthony Davis and Tyreke Evans.

The Lakers have been decimated even more by injuries. Los Angeles used its 12th different starting lineup this season: Xavier Henry, Jodie Meeks, Wesley Johnson, Jordan Hill and Kaman.

Gasol was the only player to start the first 26 games. Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni was hoping Gasol would be healthy enough to play Monday at Phoenix.

At this point, the Lakers need anybody they can get. Los Angeles beat Minnesota on Friday night in its first game since Bryant fractured his left knee, but the Warriors - who struggled for long stretches again - were too much to overcome on consecutive nights.

Neither team led by more than six points in a forgettable first half, and both sides hovered just above 30 percent shooting for most of the game.

The only drama left had little impact on the final score. Officials called a flagrant-2 foul and ejected Marreese Speights for hitting Young around the neck from behind to prevent the Lakers’ reserve from a breakaway dunk. Los Angeles never got closer than 16 points in the final quarter.

Thunder 113, Spurs 100 Guard Russell Westbrook had 31 points and

eight assists to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to an emphatic road victory over the San Antonio Spurs. Westbrook was 13-of-22 from the field as the Thunder won their eighth in a row. Guard Reggie Jackson added 21, and forward Kevin Durant chipped in with 17 as the Thunder (22-4) captured their second win over San Antonio this season. Tony Parker, who missed the last two games with a right shin contusion, led the Spurs (21-6) with 23 points.

Wizards 106, Celtics 99 The Washington Wizards erased an 18-point first-half deficit and rallied again in the fourth quarter to defeat the Boston Celtics. Guard John Wall and forward Trevor Ariza powered a 16-2 run down the stretch that gave the Wizards their third straight victory, all on the road, and ended their seven-game overall and four-game road losing streaks against Boston.

Grizzlies 95, Knicks 87 The Memphis Grizzlies halted a five-game losing streak when they beat the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Power forward Zach Randolph topped Memphis (11-15) with 25 points and 15 rebounds as New York’s home woes continued. The Knicks are 4-9 at Madison Square Garden after going 31-10 at home last season.

Kings 105, Magic 100 Recently acquired guard Rudy Gay scored 23 points, including nine in the fourth quarter, to lead the Sacramento Kings to victory over the Orlando Magic. The Kings (8-18) won the final game of a four-game road trip that included losses to Charlotte, Atlanta and Miami.

Rockets 114, Pistons 97 Center Dwight Howard scored a season-high 35 points and grabbed 19 rebounds as the shorthanded Houston Rockets bounced back from their worst loss of the season with a thumping of the Detroit Pistons. The Rockets were coming off a 33-point loss to Indiana.

Bulls 100, Cavaliers 84 The Chicago Bulls scored 100 points for the first time in nine games and cruised to a home victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers. Forward Carlos Boozer led six players in double figures with 19 points as the Bulls (10-16) shot 53.6 percent and knocked down 10-of-15 attempts from three-point range.

Jazz 88, Bobcats 85 Guard Trey Burke scored 20 points and hit two free throws with 10.2 seconds left as the Utah

OAKLAND: Los Angeles Lakers’ Nick Young drives to score over Golden State Warriors’ Kent Bazemore and Draymond Green (23) during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Saturday, in Oakland, California. — AP

Jazz beat the Charlotte Bobcats on the road. The Jazz, who entered the game with the worst record in the NBA, won for just the eighth time this season. Charlotte guards Kemba Walker and Gerald Henderson missed three-point attempts in the final 10 seconds.

Bucks 116, 76ers 106 Forward Khris Middleton scored 27 points as the Milwaukee Bucks snapped a five-game losing streak with a victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.

Middleton did much of his damage in the second half when he scored 20 of his points on 8 of 10 shooting.

Suns 123, Mavericks 108 Guard Eric Bledsoe scored a game-high 25 points and guard Gerald Green had 22 points as the Phoenix Suns rang up their seventh win in their last eight games with a home victory over the Dallas Mavericks.Phoenix set a season high for points and margin of victory and followed Friday night’s rally from a 21-point deficit in Denver.

Trail Blazers 110, Pelicans 107 Guard Damian Lillard scored 29 points as Portland eked out a home victory over the New Orleans Pelicans. The Trail Blazers were down by as many as 13 points in the first half but recovered as the Pelicans dropped their fourth straight game.

Clippers 112, Nuggets 91 Guard Jamal Crawford scored 27 points and forward Blake Griffin had 24 points and 16 rebounds as the Los Angeles Clippers routed the Denver Nuggets at home. Crawford hit 10 of his 20 shots from the floor, including 6-of-12 from behind the arc, as the Clippers (19-9) captured their fourth consecutive win and dropped Denver (14-12) to its third straight defeat. — Agencies

NBA results/standings Memphis 95, NY Knicks 87; Washington 106, Boston 99; Sacramento 105, Orlando 100; Houston 114, Detroit 97; Utah 88, Charlotte 85; Chicago 100, Cleveland 84; Milwaukee 116, Philadelphia 106; Oklahoma City 113, San Antonio 100; Phoenix 123, Dallas 108; Portland 110, New Orleans 107; Golden State 102, LA Lakers 83; LA Clippers 112, Denver 91.

Eastern Conference Atlantic Division W L PCT Boston 12 16 .429 Toronto 10 14 .417 Brooklyn 9 17 .346 NY Knicks 8 18 .308 Philadelphia 8 20 .286 Central Division Indiana 21 5 .808 Detroit 13 16 .448 Chicago 10 16 .385 Cleveland 10 16 .385 Milwaukee 6 21 .222 Southeast Division Miami 20 6 .769 Atlanta 15 12 .556 Washington 12 13 .480 Charlotte 13 15 .464 Orlando 8 19 .296 Western Conference Northwest Division Oklahoma City 22 4 .846 Portland 23 5 .821 Denver 14 12 .538 Minnesota 13 14 .481 Utah 8 22 .267 Pacific Division LA Clippers 19 9 .679 Phoenix 16 10 .615 Golden State 15 13 .536 LA Lakers 13 14 .481 Sacramento 8 18 .308 Southwest Division San Antonio 21 6 .778 Houston 18 10 .643 Dallas 15 12 .556 New Orleans 11 14 .440 Memphis 11 15 .423

GB 2 3 4

BELGRADE: Brazil’s players pose with the trophy after beating Serbia in their 2013 Women’s Handball World Championship final match in Kombank Arena in Belgrade yesterday. Brazil won 25-23. — AFP

Kelly Clark wins to make fourth US Olympic team COPPER MOUNTAIN: Kelly Clark made it from the couch to the Olympics, all in the span of a few hours. Hurting with a stomach bug that left her couch-bound most of the day, the snowboarder secured a spot on her four th Olympics team Saturday night with a near-perfect run on the halfpipe at the US Grand Prix.

“To be honest, it’s hard for me to compute right now,” said the 2002 Olympic champion and 2010 bronze medalist. “You plan, you dream, you train and it happens and you’re kind of in awe.” Clark had the contest wrapped up when nobody in the second round could beat the score of 95 she had posted on her first trip down the pipe. Instead of coasting down to collect the winner’s check, she increased the degree of difficulty on the second run, mixing a frontside 1080 spin into the routine - considered one of the toughest tricks the women try.

She got rewarded: A 98.0 - two points short of perfect. “That was the first 10 I did all day,” said Clark, who didn’t get off the couch until about two hours before the contest. “Usually, I’d be out in practice working on it. It was more of a conserving-energy mission tonight.”

Clark topped Arielle Gold by 6.75 points for the victory. Gretchen Bleiler, the 2006 Olympic silver medalist, finished third to complete an American sweep.

Bleiler is less than two years removed from a training accident in which she fractured her eye socket while practicing a trick on a trampoline.

“That put me back a long, long way,” she said. “I’ve had to rebuild, start from

scratch, it feels like. It feels real good to have come out here and done this.” Gold’s brother, Taylor, won the men’s event. The lowest-ranked qualifier, Gold went first in the men’s contest and scored a 90.25; the mark held up over the next 31 runs, as none of the other 15 finalists could beat it in two tries.

“I wasn’t really expecting anything coming into the year,” Gold said. “I was just stoked to have enough tricks to be able to compete. This is unbelievable for me.”

The victory puts him in good position for an Olympic spot, as did the secondplace finish for Greg Bretz, who pairs that with his win over Shaun White last week at the Dew Tour.

White, the two -time defending Olympic champion, didn’t compete, choosing to focus on Sunday’s slopestyle contest while he brings his hurting left ankle back to 100 percent.

Earlier in the day, N ick Goepper became the first American to wrap up a spot on the U.S. Olympic slopestyle skiing team. Goepper finished second behind Andreas Haatveit of Norway, who is also going to Sochi.

“It’s all downhill from here,” Goepper said. “And then it gets real uphill in February.” On the women’s side, Canada’s Dara Howell got her career victory. Her score of 87.6 put her ahead of a trio of Americans: 16-year-old Darian Stevens, six-time X Games medalist Grete Eliassen and 15-year- old Maggie Voisin, who added the fourth-place to a third -place finish last week. — AP

9.5 11 11 15.5 5.5 7.5 8 12.5

8 9.5 16 2 4 5.5 10 3.5 6 9 9.5

COPPER MOUNTAIN: (L-R) Gretchen Bleiler in third place, Kelly Clark in first place and Arielle Gold in second place take the podium in the women’s FIS Snowboard Halfpipe World Cup at the US Snowboarding and Freeskiing Grand Prix on Saturday in Copper Mountain, Colorado. — AFP

MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2013

S P ORTS

Swann retires from England while on Ashes tour LONDON: With the Ashes gone and an admission that his stamina might be in the same category, England spinner Graeme Swann decided to call it quits on his international and first-class cricket career yesterday.

Once touted as potentially England’s greatest spinner, Swann retired with 255 wickets from 60 tests. Critics might say he retired too soon, but Swann said it wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment decision just four days ahead of the fourth Ashes test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground beginning Thursday.

“It’s quite simple. When I came out on this trip I half expected it to be my last tour for England,” Swann told a news conference in Melbourne. “But with the Ashes gone now in those three test matches ... I think to selfishly play just to experience another Boxing Day test match, a Sydney test match, would be wrong ... wrong for the team ... wrong for me.”

The 34-year-old Swann says age may have caught up with him. “My body doesn’t like playing five-day cricket anymore and I don’t feel like I can justify my spot

in the team in the last stages of a game,” Swann was quoted as saying. “As a spinner, that’s when you need to come into your own ... hanging around with a decision already made in my head wouldn’t be right.”

Swann said he struggled to tell England coach Andy Flower and captain Alastair Cook of his decision on Saturday, and broke the news to the rest of the team on Sunday morning. “It should have been a very easy conversation, but it actually made it doublyhard just to sit down over a coffee and blurt it out,” Swann said.

After England lost the third test in Perth last week to give Australia an unbeatable 3-0 lead in the five-match series, Swann was forced to apologize for making comments on Facebook in which he compared his team losing the Ashes series with rape.

“I did apologize for that, it had nothing to do with it (the retirement),” Swann said. Swann has had a terrible series by his own standards, taking just seven wickets for 560 runs in three lopsided losses. He struggled to adapt to the bouncy Australian pitches

and the lack of sideways spin. He returned 1-92 in the second innings in steamy conditions in Perth last week after taking two key wickets in the first innings.

The England squad will miss

At his news conference, Swann said he wanted to be remembered primarily as someone who loved playing the game. He said since his England test debut in 2008 “I’ve treated every day like a

Graeme Swann Swann, who was distinguishable on the field because he bowled with his sunglasses on and collar turned up and who always challenged opposing batsmen to take him on.

lottery win.”

“It really annoys me when people out there take it for granted and get above their station ... it’s the most privileged thing any man can do.” Swann said in hind-

sight he could have retired after England’s win in the previous Ashes series at home in August.

“Why didn’t I stop then? I knew more or less that the time was coming up,” he said. “But I’d never forgive myself - we had the chance to potentially come out here and win four Ashes series on the bounce. It’s easy to wish you’d gone out taking 10-for in your last game and being hoisted on people’s shoulders.”

England coach Andy Flower said Swann made an “outstanding contribution” to the team. “His commitment, competitive spirit and sense of humor have been recognized and admired by team mates and supporters alike and he has played a big part in England’s success over the last five years,” Flower said. “The dressing room will be a very different place without Graeme’s unique personality.” Australia coach Darren Lehmann said “it was a bit of a surprise, but he’s been a great cricketer for England over many years.” “It’s mid-tour, I don’t know what’s going on, but obviously he’s decided he’s had enough, so congratulations on a

great career and he’ll go home as one of the England greats,” Lehmann added. Swann played 79 limited-overs internationals, making his debut in 2000 at the age of 20 against South Africa in Bloemfontein. While some critics suggested that Swann retired because he may have been dropped for the fourth test, former England captain Michael Vaughan had nothing but positive words. “ Too soon ... for Graeme Swann 2 retire but it’s been a absolute pleasure watching him perform,” Vaughan posted on Twitter. Australia test player George Bailey says he’s always enjoyed Swann’s company, on or off the pitch. “He’ll always be considered one of the good fellows of international cricket,” said Bailey.

Swann is the second England player to leave the tour. After the opening Brisbane test, batsman Jonathan Trott returned to England with a stress-related illness. Swann’s departure leaves Monty Panesar as the experienced spin option for Melbourne and for the fifth test in Sydney, which traditionally favors spin. — AP

New Zealand cruise to series win over Windies HAMILTON: New Zealand eased to an eight-wicket win over the West Indies yesterday to claim their first victory in a threeTest series in nearly eight years. The home side, needing just 122 runs to seal the series 2-0, reached their target for the loss of two wickets after the West Indies collapsed in the face of hostile New Zealand swing bowling.

The rapid end to the match surprised New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum after his side trailed by 18 runs on the first innings following a mesmerising spell of spin bowling by Sunil Narine. “I certainly didn’t expect it to end up as quickly as this,” McCullum said, admitting he probably made the wrong decision to bowl first.

“In hindsight we should have batted first. We misread the wicket and once we saw it turning and bouncing the way it did there was a bit of concern.” But once New Zealand seamers Trent Boult and Tim Southee tore through the West Indies’ second innings, scuttling the tourists for a paltr y 103, it became easy work for New Zealand to bat out the win.

Hamish Rutherford, who sealed victory with a boundary to take New Zealand to 124-2, finished on 48 not out, with Ross Taylor on two. Peter Fulton was the first wicket to fall on Sunday, caught and bowled by Darren Sammy for 10, and Kane Williamson was dismissed for 56, bowled

by Veerasammy Permaul.

New Zealand take the series 2-0 after the first Test in Dunedin was drawn and they won the second by an innings and 73 runs in Wellington. It is the first time New Zealand have achieved back-to-back Test victories against a top-eight side since March 2006 — also against the West Indies.

The Black Caps also won that three-Test series 2-0.

New Zealand resumed their second innings on the fourth morning at 6-0 and although Narine, who took six wickets in the home side’s first innings, bowled

unchanged throughout the first session, he went without reward. Rutherford, who was stuck at the spinner’s end for a prolonged spell, offered a chance on 20 but Permaul did not see the ball early enough and it landed short of his grasp.

When he was on 24, Rutherford was given out caught behind, but the decision was overturned on appeal with the video replay showing the sound was the bat hitting the ground.

It was a remarkable change in the complexion of the match after the West Indies restricted New Zealand to 349 in their first innings, with the home side struggling to handle Narine on a turning wicket. But the tourists suffered from questionable shot selection against the swing bowling of Boult and Southee in their second innings on Saturday, leaving New Zealand with a straightforward task.

“It looked like they had a plan for each and every batsman and the way their bowlers bowled on that wicket put us under a lot of pressure and we just did not have a response,” captain Darren Sammy said. “I’m most disappointed with our performance. We did not foresee what happened. We were thinking above 200 on the last day when we got spinning with the Narine factor it would be an interesting game.” Boult and Southee, along with the batting of Ross Taylor, laid the foundations for New Zealand’s success.

Taylor, with 131 in the first innings, scored 495 in five innings in the series and he was only dismissed twice. From 10 Tests in the 2013 calendar year he averages 72.16. Boult (four for 23) and Southee (312) destroyed the West Indies’ second innings. Over the three Tests, Boult took 20 wickets at 15.40 and Southee claimed 18 scalps at 18.11. The sides will now play five one-day internationals and two Twenty20 fixtures before India arrive in New Zealand next month for five one-day internationals and two Tests. — AFP

JOHANNESBURG: South African batsman Faf du Plessis bats with Indian wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni behind on the 5th day of a first cricket Test match between South Africa and India in Johannesburg at Wanderers Stadium yesterday. — AFP

South Africa baulk at chance to make history JOHANNESBURG: South Africa gave up on the chance to set a new world record in chasing down 458 for victory against India on day five of the first test at the Wanderers yesterday, falling eight runs short as they settled for a draw in the closing overs.

The Proteas ended the match on 450 for seven, the third highest fourth innings score in test history, but played out successive maidens in the second and third last overs of the game to ensure they would not lose the match rather than go for the historic win.

It was a massive anti-climax on one of the great days of test cricket as South Africa went into the final day needing 320 runs to win with eight wickets remaining.

“We showed a lot of mental strength not to fade away,” South Africa captain Graeme Smith said in a television interview.

“We played it beautifully until Faf got run out and after that you have to respect the decision of the guys in the middle.

“Chasing it down would have been incredible. It went down to the last hour which was great for test cricket.

“At the start of the day we wanted to make sure we went to Durban with a chance of winning the series.”

After the loss in the morning session of Alviro Petersen (76) and Jacques Kallis (34) had put India on top, a 205-run fifth wicket stand between Du Plessis (134) and AB de Villiers (103) laid the platform for what would have been an extraordinary win.

SCOREBOARD JOHANNESBURG: Scoreboard after the first test between South Africa and India ended in a draw at the Wanderers yesterday.

V. Philander not out 25 India first innings 280 D. Steyn not out 6 South Africa first innings 244 Extras: (b-2, lb-7, w-8, nb-2) 19 India second innings 421 Total (for seven wickets, 136 overs) 450 South Africa second innings (overnight 138-2) Fall of wickets: 1-108 2-118 3-143 4-197 5-402 A. Petersen b Shami 76 6-407 7-442 G. Smith run out 44 Did not bat: M. Morkel, Imran Tahir H. Amla b Shami 4 Bowling: Z. Khan 34-1-135-1, I. Sharma 29-4F. Du Plessis run out 134 91-1 (nb2, w1), M. Shami 28-5-107-3 (w1), R. J. Kallis lbw Khan 34 Ashwin 36-5-83-0 (w1), M. Vijay 1-0-3-0, MS AB de Villiers b I. Sharma 103 Dhoni 2-0-4-0, V. Kohli 8-0-18-0.

JP Duminy b Shami 5 The partnership was ended when De Villiers chopped an Ishant Sharma delivery onto his stumps with 56 runs still needed, and the jitters star ted in the home dressing room as JP Duminy (five) was bowled by the impressive Mohammed Shami.

Vernon Philander (25 not out) and Du Plessis took South Africa to within 16 runs of the win before the latter was run out with a direct hit by Ajinkya Rahane as he attempted a quick single.

At seven wickets down South Africa decided to play for the draw, with Philander and Dale Steyn (six not out) shouldering arms in the closing overs.

SCOREBOARD

Pakistan beat S Lanka in third one-dayer HAMILTON: New Zealand celebrate their series win over the West Indies in the third cricket test, at Seddon Park, in Hamilton, New Zealand, yesterday. — AP

SCOREBOARD HAMILTON, New Zealand: Completed scoreboard on day four of the third Test between New Zealand and the West Indies at Seddon Park in Hamilton yesterday: H. Rutherford not out 48 West Indies 1st innings 367 (S. Chanderpaul 122 K. Williamson b Permaul 56 not out, D. Ramdin 107, K. R. Taylor not out 2 Brathwaite 45; T. Southee 4-79, C. Anderson 3-47) Extras: (b7, nb 1) 8 New Zealand 1st innings 349 (R. Taylor 131, K. Total: (2 wickets, 40.4 overs) 124 Williamson 58; S. Narine 6-91. D. Sammy 2-69) Fall of wickets: 1-33 (Fulton), 2-116 (Williamson) West Indies 2nd innings 103 (D. Sammy 24; T. Bowling: Best 7-3-22-0, Narine 16-6-39-0, Sammy Boult 4-23, T. Southee 3-12) 9-3-21-1 (1nb), V. Permaul 7-1-29-1, Deonarine 1.4-0-6-0 New Zealand 2nd innings (overnight 0-6) Result: New Zealand won by eight wickets.

P. Fulton c & b Sammy 10

SHARJAH: Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by a convincing 113-run margin in the third day-night international in Sharjah yesterday. Mohammad Hafeez notched a career best 140 not out for his eighth one -day hundred to help Pakistan to 326-5 in 50 overs before Sri Lanka were dismissed for 213 in 44.4 overs.

Tillakaratne Dilshan scored 59 while skipper Angelo Mathews made 44. The win gave Pakistan a 2-1 lead in the five-match series. The remaining two matches will be played in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday and Friday. — AFP

Steyn lofted the final deliver of the match over the boundary for six to howls of disapproval from the Wanderers crowd, who could scarcely believe their side had baulked at the opportunity to make history.

There was history of sorts made earlier in the day though, when India paceman Zaheer Khan claimed his 300th test wicket with the scalp of Kallis.

Zaheer became the fourth Indian bowler to claim 300 test wickets behind Anil Kumble (619), Kapil Dev (434) and Harbhajan Singh (413). The second test of the two-match series starts in Durban on Dec 26. —Reuters

SHARJAH, United Arab Emirates: Complete scoreboard in the third day-night international between Pakistan and Sri Lanka played at Sharjah stadium yesterday:

SHARJAH: Pakistan batsman Sharjeel Khan plays a shot during the third one day international (ODI) cricket match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka at The Sharjah Cricket Stadium in Sharjah yesterday. — AFP

Pakistan Sharjeel Khan b Kulasekara 2 Ahmed Shehzad run out 81 Mohammad Hafeez not out 140 S Maqsood c Senanayake b Thisara 21 Misbah-ul Haq c Karuna b Thisara 40 Shahid Afridi b Malinga 2 Umar Akmal not out 23 Extras: (lb 10, w 7) 17 Total: (for five wkts; 50 overs) 326 Fall of wickets 1-2 (Sharjeel), 2-162 (Shehzad), 3-200 (Maqsood), 4-275 (Misbah), 5-281 (Afridi) Bowling: Kulasekara 10-1-67-1, Malinga 10-0-58-1 (1w), Senanayake 10-0-58-0 (3w), Thisara 8-0-58-2 (2w), Prasanna 8-046-0, Mathews 4-0-29-0 (1w),

D. Karunaratne c Akmal b Gul K. Sangakkara c Maqsood b Junaid D. Chandimal c Maqsood b Hafeez

0 14 36

A. Mathews c Akmal b Ajmal

44

N. Kulasekara c Akmal b Ajmal

1

S. Prasanna c Ajmal b Hafeez

22

T. Perera c Afridi b Junaid

2

S. Senanayake not out

4

L. Malinga b Gul

19

Extras: (lb2 w 3)

5

Total: (all out; 44.4 overs)

13

Fall of wickets: 1-17 (Perera), 2-17 (Karunaratne), 3-44 (Sangakkara), 4-103 (Dilshan), 5-132 (Chandimal), 6-136 (Kulasekara), 7-163 (Prasanna), 8-187 ( Thisara), 9-192 (Mathews) Bowling: Junaid 9-0-40-2(1w), Gul 5.4-0-19-3, Afridi

Sri Lanka K. Perera c Shehzad b Gul T. Dilshan b Afridi

9-0-41-1(1w), Bhatti 6-0-39-0(1w), Ajmal 7 59

10-1-37-2, Hafeez 5-0-35-2.

Result: Pakistan won by 113 runs.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2013

S P ORTS

Club world champions Bayern eye more titles MARRAKECH: Coach Pep Guardiola has already targeted more silverware for Bayern Munich next year after the European champions claimed their fifth title of 2013 by lifting the Club World Cup. Bayern’s 2-0 win over Moroccan champions Raja Casablanca in Saturday’s final in Marrakech came at a canter with goals by Brazil’s Dante and Spain’s Thiago Alcantara in the first 22 minutes.

The Bavarians now go on a two-week holiday before their winter breaking training camp starts in Qatar in January as Guardiola looks to fine-tune his allconquering squad. “Five titles in one year is a great achievement for Bayern,” said Guardiola, who took charge in June having won 14 titles in four years as Barcelona coach.

“I am very pleased for the club and I

am very proud of the players and the fans. “Now we have a two-week break, then we come back to take on our next challenges. “We are very excited about our achievements, but I am also looking to the future - 2013 is already behind us.”

This was the third time Guardiola has won the Club World Cup after his 2009 and 2011 successes with Barcelona. But for his Bayern players, the title of ‘club world champions’ is a welcome novelty.

“We are pleased to be club world champions, it’s a perfect end to an excellent year and a great reward for the way we played,” said Thomas Mueller. “You can’t get much better in a calendar year.”

After Jupp Heynckes steered Bayern to the treble of Champions League, Bundesliga and German Cup last season, Guardiola has now added the Club

World Cup to the UEFA Super Cup that Munich won in August.

Bayern’s success has seen them laughing all the way to the bank in 2013 with 125 million euros (US$171m) of prize money. The Champions League title alone accounted for 55 million euros. The Bavarians are on course to defend the German league title, lying seven points clear with a game in hand at the halfway stage in the season. They were buoyed before kick-off in Marrakech as news came through that their main Bundesliga rivals Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen had both suffered defeats on Saturday to lose more ground.

“It’s too early to talk (about the title) being decided, but it was another absolutely beautiful Saturday for us,” said

captain Philipp Lahm. The 30-year-old had a busy time after the final whistle as he was repeatedly called up to the quickly-assembled stage on the pitch to claim numerous awards.

Lahm ended up collecting the tournament’s Fair Play Award, the silver ball for the second best player - behind winner Franck Ribery - a framed award for the world’s best club and the Club World Cup itself. “I had to chuckle a bit,” said Lahm who ended up shaking hands with both FIFA President Sepp Blatter and Morocco’s King Mohammed VI four times. “I am sure one or two of the presentations could have been done together.” The only dark cloud on Bayern’s horizon for 2014 is the March court case for president Uli Hoeness, who faces allegations of tax evasion.

The 61-year-old is accused of hiding millions of euros from tax authorities in a Swiss account and his trial starts on March 10 in Munich.

With Christmas looming, Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has said he has “only one wish: that the story with Uli Hoeness has a happy ending.”

Meanwhile, Raja coach Faouzi Benzarti urged his side to do everything to return next year, when the tournament will again be held in Morocco.

“We need to come back down to earth now. There will be a second edition in Morocco next year and we have to win the league and get back there, because it is an extraordinary competition,” said the Tunisian Benzarti, whose side qualified this time around as champions of the host nation.—AFP

Goals galore as Juve, Roma distance Napoli

MARSEILLE: Marseille’s French midfielder Florian Thauvin controls the ball with Bordeaux’s French defender Marc Planus, left, during their League One soccer match, at the Velodrome Stadium, in Marseille, southern France, yesterday. — AP

Marseille battle back to draw with Bordeaux PARIS: For the second week running, Marseille fought back from two goals down to draw 2-2 yesterday, sharing the spoils with Bordeaux in an engaging contest at the Stade Velodrome.

A week after showing great spirit to hold Lyon in their first Ligue 1 match since sporting director Jose Anigo was asked to replace the sacked Elie Baup in the dugout, OM were rescued by two goals a minute apart in the second half in a game played on a poor pitch.

The hosts had looked the more likely side in the first half but were denied by a combination of poor finishing and good goalkeeping from Cedric Carrasso. And it was Bordeaux who seized the lead 11 minutes before the interval when Brazilian forward Jussie - again standing in for top scorer Cheick Diabate - headed in from Ludovic Obraniak’s corner. It was Jussie’s third goal in as many games but he went off injured at half-time. Nevertheless, the visitors went on to increase their lead on 66 minutes when Kassim Abdallah failed to cut out a cross at the back post and Nicolas MauriceBelay pounced to score.

At that point, Bordeaux seemed set for a fifth successive win, but OM got a goal back in the 73rd minute, Alaixys Romao scrambling the ball over the line after Carrasso had pushed away a Florian Thauvin free-kick. And the equaliser followed immediately after, Benjamin Mendy

lifting the ball into the box for Andre-Pierre Gignac to convert despite the presence of two defenders.

They might even have won it had Carrasso not produced a superb save to keep out a Souleymane Diawara header, but it is Bordeaux who are in the better position after this result.

The French Cup holders are fourth, a point clear of Saint-Etienne and two ahead of Marseille, who lie in sixth place. “I have mixed feelings after this match,” Anigo told French television. “We conceded the first goal from a set-piece when we knew that could happen against Bordeaux, and the second goal...it’s Christmas, the time for gifts, and we gave them one. And then we score twice but take just a point.”

Later yesterday, in-form Lorient entertain Lyon before leaders Paris SaintGermain play host to third-placed Lille at the Parc des Princes. PSG, who are already certain to finish the year on top of the table and claim the symbolic crown of autumn champions, are without Edinson Cavani, who travelled to his native Uruguay on Thursday, reportedly to settle his divorce, and has not returned in time.

The capital club’s nearest challengers Monaco suffered a shock 2-1 home defeat at the hands of struggling Valenciennes on Friday, with Radamel Falcao missing a penalty in his first appearance after almost a month on the sidelines. — AFP

Sharks rally to beat Stars 3-2 SAN JOSE: Joe Thornton scored the lone shootout goal in the fifth round, and Alex Stalock stopped all five tries as the San Jose Sharks overcame a two-goal deficit to beat the Dallas Stars 3-2 on Saturday night.

Joe Pavelski and Jason Demers scored in regulation for the Sharks, who had lost six of eight before rallying for this win. Stalock made 44 saves and got the win in his first career shootout.Ray Whitney and Antoine Roussel scored for the Stars, who were in position to win their third straight game but couldn’t hold a third-period lead. Kari Lehtonen made 37 saves. After neither team scored in the first four rounds, Thornton beat Lehtonen for his second shootout goal in as many tries this season. Stalock sealed the win when he stopped Whitney.After a lackluster start that led to a 2-0 deficit, the Sharks fought back and tied the game early in the third period shortly after failing to convert on the power play. Thornton did a good job keeping the puck in the zone at the blue line and fed Pavelski, who skated from the boards to the middle and beat Lehtonen with a backhand for his 14th goal.

That is where the game stood until the shootout. Stalock got his first career start at home in place of Antti Niemi, who got a night off after allowing four goals in a loss at Los Angeles on Thursday night. Stalock had four road starts this season, mostly playing on the back end of back-to-backs.

He was shaky at times as the Sharks fell behind 2-0 early in the second period. It is the second straight game and fifth this month that San Jose has allowed the first two goals after not doing it in the first two months.

Whitney, who played on the original Sharks team in 1991-92, capitalized on a bad clearing attempt by San Jose when he sent a backhand from the circle through Brad Stuart’s legs and over Stalock’s shoulder to

give him points in 10 straight games against his former team.Each team failed on a pair of power-play chances, and that is where the game stood after the first period.

But Dallas struck again early in the second on a delayed penalty when Alex Goligoski’s centering pass from a bad angle deflected off Roussel and into the net. The Stars nearly added another but referee Mike Leggo blew his whistle even though the puck was loose in the crease, negating a potential goal by Colton Sceviour.

MILAN: Title chasers Juventus and Roma piled on the goals on the final Serie A matchday before the festive break yesterday to leave misfiring Napoli frustrated with a 1-1 draw against Cagliari.

Champions Juventus conceded their first goal in nine games but saw Carlos Tevez, Paul Pogba, Fernando Llorente and Arturo Vidal all hit the net in a 4-1 win away to Atalanta. Early season pacesetters Roma had no trouble disposing of basement side Catania, with Mehdi Benatia hitting a brace and Mattia Destro and Gervinho adding one apiece in a 4-0 win at the Olympic Stadium.

Juventus’s 15th win in 17 games means Antonio Conte’s men will enjoy a five-point lead over Roma during the Christmas break. The champions host Roma on Januar y 5, and Llorente said: “It was a difficult game but we were able to play the way we wanted to.

“Atalanta are a very strong side at home, so we’re very happy with the win. Now we’ll try to enjoy some holidays before starting to prepare for the visit of Roma.” Roma sit second with a five-point lead on Napoli, who saw Fiorentina edge to within three points of third place after Giuseppe Rossi hit an 80th-minute winner for La Viola away to struggling Sassuolo.

With Francesco Totti back from injury and making his first start since October, Roma coach Rudi Garcia sent out a 4-2-3-1 formation designed to score goals. “In the second half we were great, that’s the Roma I want to see all the time,” said Garcia.

“We’ve used this formation several times since the start of the season, it’s not an experiment. With Totti, Gervinho and Destro all playing, it’s a lot easier to win games.” Juventus and Roma were not the only sides in goalscoring mood, however, with Verona claiming a 4-1 win at home to Lazio and Torino beating Chievo by the same scoreline at the Olympic Stadium.

Ciro Immobile also struck twice, with further goals from Giuseppe Vives and Alessio Cerci, as Torino outclassed Chievo 4-1 to reinforce their grip on seventh place. Elsewhere, Bologna claimed a precious 1-0 home win over Genoa, their third win of the season, to move out of the relegation zone.

Parma were one of the biggest winners on the day, Roberto Donadoni’s men securing a 1-1 draw away to Sampdoria which, thanks to results elsewhere, moved them from 13th to eighth. Two weeks after exiting the Champions League group stages at the hands of Galatasaray and ahead of beginning their Europa League campaign, Juventus turned their attention firmly back on winning a third consecutive scudetto.

BERGAMO: Atalanta’s Giacomo Bonaventura, left, is challenged by Juventus’ Paul Pogba, center, of France, and Kwadwo Asamoah, of Ghana, during a Serie A soccer match in Bergamo, Italy, yesterday. Juventus won 4-1 at Atalanta in Serie but Roma eased to a 4-0 victory over bottom club Catania to keep up the pressure on the league leader and two-time defending champion. — AP Atalanta had conceded defeat only once at home this season, but when a bobbling, low strike from Tevez beat goalkeeper Andrea Consigli in the sixth minute the Bergamo-based side looked to be in for a long afternoon.

The hosts were back on level terms less than 10 minutes later when Maxi Moralez sent a superb curling strike past the outstretched Gianluigi Buffon to end the goalkeeper’s eightmatch, 745-minute unbeaten streak.

Juve, however, moved up a gear after the interval and after just a minute Pogba beat Consigli from close range after Kwadwo Asamoah’s cross from the left was chested down into the Frenchman’s path by Llorente.

Llorenta made it three on 75 minutes when he collected Giorgio Chiellini’s pass inside the area and turned his marker before beating Consigli at his far post. Four minutes later Vidal virtually sealed Juve’s ninth win on the trot when

he was given space at the back post to first-time Stephan Lichsteiner’s weighted pass beyond the ‘keeper. Inter will reclaim fifth place if they at least draw with Milan in Sunday’s late game although the Rossoneri, languishing in 13th, will be motivated by the chance to move up to eighth in the event of a win.—AFP

Matches on TV (Local Timings)

English Premier League Arsenal v Chelsea Aljazeera Sport HD 1 Aljazeera Sport +9

Gladbach’s draw knocks Dortmund to fourth BERLIN: Borussia Moenchen gladbach went third in the Bundesliga yesterday as their 2-2 draw at home to VfL Wolfsburg knocked Borussia Dortmund out of the automatic Champions League places.

After Dortmund suffered a third straight home defeat against Hertha Berlin on Saturday, Gladbach’s point-extending their unbeaten run to eight matches-was enough to see them move above last season’s Champions League finalists. Brazil midfielder Diego

gave Wolves a 53rd-minute lead at Borussia Park on what was the last round of fixtures before the winter break. But the hosts roared back with two goals in five minutes after Brazil’s Raffael fired home with 59 minutes gone, then Venezuelan Juan Arango curled a direct freekick inside the near post.

Wolves’ Dutch striker Bas Dost grabbed the equaliser four minutes from time as he scored his first goal since returning from injury. The point moves ‘Gladbach up to third

ahead of Dortmund, but leaves them 11 points adrift of league leaders Bayern Munich.

With Bayern away in Morocco winning Saturday’s Club World Cup final, both their Bundesliga rivals Leverkusen and Dortmund suffered shock defeats. Bayern could go ten points clear if they beat VfB Stuttgart in their catch-up fixture on January 29.

Dortmund crashed at home to Hertha, which leaves them with a return of just four points from their

Penguins 4, Flames 3 Sidney Crosby scored his 20th goal of the season, helping Pittsburgh beat Calgary for its season-high seventh straight victory. The Penguins led 4-1 late in the second period and had to hold off the Flames for their 10th straight win at home and 12th victory in their last 13 games. Crosby had a goal and two assists to extend his season-high points streak to 10 games. He leads the NHL with 54 points.

Pascal Dupuis, Harry Zolnierczyk and James Neal also scored. Mike Cammalleri, Jiri Hudler and Paul Byron scored for Calgary. The Flames have lost four straight and six of their last nine.

Red Wings 5, Maple Leafs 4, SO Daniel Alfredsson scored the shootout winner for Detroit against Toronto Maple Leafs in a Winter Classic preview. The Red Wings had lost 11 straight shootouts, six this season. Tomas Tatar scored for Detroit with 6:16 left in regulation to tie it at 4. Pavel Datsyuk, Joakim Andersson and Tomas Jurco had first-period goals for the Red Wings. David Clarkson, Dion Phaneuf, Joffrey Lupul and Cody Franson scored for Toronto. The Maple Leafs have lost six of their last eight games.

The teams will meet again in the Winter Classic at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor on Jan. 1.— Agencies

23:00

MOENCHENGLADBACH: Moenchengladbach’s Venezuelan midfielder Juan Arango (R) shoots a free kick during the German first division Bundesliga football match Borussia Moenchengladbach vs VfL Wolfsburg in the German city of Moenchengladbach yesterday. — AFP

last six league games. Borussia took an early lead through Germany winger Marco Reus, but Hertha got back on level terms when striker Adrian Ramos hit his 11th goal of the season. Tunisia forward Sami Allagui hit Hertha’s winner after pouncing on a mistake, rounding goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller and firing into an empty net on the stroke of half-time. Second-placed Leverkusen went down to their second successive defeat losing 1-0 at Werder Bremen after the hosts Argentinian right-back Santiago Garcia hit the late winner.

Nuremberg finish 2013 as the only team in a major European league without a win so far this season after they were held to a goalless draw at home to Schalke 04.

The Royal Blues were without coach Jens Keller, who has been told a decision on his future will be made over the winter break, as the 43-year-old was suffering with flu.

The point was enough to see Nuremberg stay 17th, leaving Eintracht Braunschweig bottom on goal difference despite their 1-0 win over Hoffenheim. Freiburg extended Hanover 96’s appalling away record to eight consecutive defeats with a 2-1 win to help the hosts in their bid to escape the bottom three.

Like Schalke’s Keller, Hanover coach Mirko Slomka has been told a decision on his future will be made over the winter break .

Japan striker Shinji Okazaki hit a late winner after Mainz 05 had scored two goals in three minutes to bounce back from conceding an early goal for a 3-2 win at tenman Hamburg. — AFP

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Goals galore as Juve, Roma distance Napoli

South Africa baulk at chance to make history

19

MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2013

Gridiron Football .. A dream come true

Page 16

GETAFE: Barcelona’s Chilean forward Alexis Sanchez (L) vies with Getafe’s defender Sergio Escudero during the Spanish league football match Getafe vs Barcelona at Coliseum Alfonso Perez stadium in Getafe near Madrid yesterday. — AFP

Hat-trick hero Pedro revives Barcelona MADRID: Barcelona ensured they will finish 2013 on top of La Liga as a Pedro Rodriguez hat-trick helped them come from 2-0 down to win 5-2 at Getafe yesterday.

The hosts had got off to a flying start as goals from Sergio Escudero and Lisandro Lopez put them 2-0 up inside 14 minutes. However, the Catalans responded like champions as Pedro scored three times in eight minutes before the break.

Cesc Fabregas gave Barca breathing space when he volleyed home Pedro’s cross 22 minutes from time and the former Arsenal captain doubled his tally from the penalty

spot moments later. Barca’s comeback means they edge ahead of Atletico Madrid on goal difference at the top of the table, whilst Real Madrid can cut the gap on the top two to five points with a win at Valencia later on Sunday.

Without the suspended Neymar and injured Lionel Messi, the spotlight was on the Catalans’ fringe players in attack to make their claim for a regular starting spot.

However, it was the visitors’ defence that was shredded early on as Escudero played a wonderful one-two with Angel Lafita before firing home from close range.

Four minutes later Lisandro rose highest to power

home Pedro Leon’s corner. Getafe could have even been further ahead had Ciprian Marica chosen the right option and passed to a teammate when the Barca defence was outnumbered moments later. Instead the Barca revival began 10 minutes before half-time when Fabregas released Pedro in behind the defence and his chipped finish had just enough elevation to take it past Miguel Angel Moya. Pedro then curled home into the top corner from the edge of the area and pounced on a defensive error by Juan Valera to give his side the lead at half-time. Diego Castro should have restored parity for Getafe when he

Ross Barkley beauty fires Everton fourth

Spurs edge Southampton to get back on track Southampton 2

Tottenham 3

LONDON: Tim Sherwood claimed his first victory as interim Tottenham Hotspur coach yesterday as his side came from behind to win 3-2 at Southampton in the Premier League. Tottenham lost at home to West Ham United in the League Cup in mid-week, following the sacking of manager Andre Villas-Boas, and Sherwood saw his side fall behind against Southampton to an early goal from Adam Lallana.

Emmanuel Adebayor equalised for Spurs and a Jos Hooiveld own goal put the visitors in front, only for Rickie Lambert to draw Southampton level, but Adebayor struck again to seal the first win of the post-VillasBoas era. “In the second half they (the players) took it on. We showed we have real quality,” Sherwood told Sky Sports.

On Adebayor, who made his first league start of the season, Sherwood added: “Emmanuel Adebayor has not been playing, so he did not require much motivating. You put him back in because of what he has done in history.”

Beaten 5-0 at home by Liverpool in

their last league outing, Spurs moved above Manchester United to seventh place in the table, three points below the top four, while Southampton remained ninth after a sixth successive game without victory.

As he had done against West Ham, Sherwood made a bold team selection, with Adebayor partnering Roberto Soldado up front and Mousa Dembele, Christian Eriksen, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Erik Lamela playing in midfield. Initially, Spurs struggled to get a foothold in the game, and the gaps in the visitors’ midfield were much in evidence as Lallana broke the deadlock in the 13th minute.

Danny Fox’s pass found the England international in a pocket of space between Spurs’ defence and midfield, and he cleverly shifted the ball away from Vlad Chiriches before drilling home a low shot from outside the box.

Sherwood watched the opening exchanges from a directors’ box high in the stands at St Mary’s, but having raced down to the pitch after Southampton went ahead, he saw Spurs level in the 25th minute.

Adebayor’s pass to the left sent strike partner Soldado wider than he would have preferred, but he curled in a superb cross that the Togolese striker converted with an agile airborne volley from close range. Spurs went ahead nine minutes into the second half when

curled inches wide of the far post after turning Gerard Pique inside the area on the hour mark.

And that miss was to prove crucial as Barca killed off the contest with a wonderful team move eight minutes later that culminated with Fabregas volleying home Pedro’s cross at the back post.

Pedro could have had his fourth seconds later as his attempted lob of Moya drifted just over, but he was also involved in Barca’s fifth as was clipped inside the area by Borja Fernandez and Fabregas sent Moya the wrong way from the resultant spot-kick. — AFP

Swansea 1

Everton 2

SOUTHAMPTON: Tottenham Hotspur’s Emmanuel Adebayor, left, is tackled by Southampton’s Calum Chambers during their English Premier League soccer match at St Mary’s stadium, Southampton, England, yesterday. — AP Hooiveld inadvertently prodded Danny Rose’s low cross past goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga, but Southampton equalised just six minutes later. Jack Cork’s incisive through ball found the excellent Lallana and he showed magnificent awareness to square the ball for Lambert, who had the simple task of rolling it into an empty net.

Spurs needed only four minutes to restore their lead, however, with Adebayor sweeping home his second goal with his left foot after the hosts failed to clear Kyle Walker’s long throw-in.

In Sunday’s other game, Everton manager Roberto Martinez visits former club Swansea City looking for a victory that will take his side into the top four. Liverpool deposed Arsenal as league leaders on Saturday with a 3-1 win at home to Cardiff City, while Manchester City moved up to second place by winning 4-2 at Fulham.

Arsenal can return to the top of the table by beating Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium today, but Jose Mourinho’s visitors will draw level on points with Liverpool if they prevail. — AFP

SWANSEA: Ross Barkley enhanced his growing reputation by firing Everton into the Premier League’s top four with a sublime 84th-minute free-kick in a 2-1 win at Swansea City yesterday.

The 20-year-old England midfielder, his head newly shaved, shaped a magnificent shot into the top-right corner after Seamus Coleman’s 30-yard opener for Everton had been cancelled out by a Bryan Oviedo own goal.

Barkley’s strike gave manager Roberto Martinez victory over his former club and left Everton a point above Chelsea in fourth place, having extended their unbeaten run to 10 league games.

Swansea, meanwhile, missed out an opportunity to move into the top half of the table and have now gone three matches without victory.

Swansea manager Michael Laudrup made five changes to the team held 1-1 at Norwich City in their last outing, with Gerhard Tremmel, Dwight Tiendalli, Chico Flores, Wilfried Bony and Wayne Routledge coming into the XI. There were two changes for Everton, with James McCarthy returning from suspension in place of Leon Osman and Kevin Mirallas taking over from the injured Gerard

Deulofeu.

With both sides renowned for the quality of their passing, the match had rich potential for entertainment, but the first half was a disappointment.

Routledge, Bony and Pablo Hernandez all failed to hit the target from promising positions for Swansea, while Everton’s one sight of goal saw Mirallas denied by a block from Ashley Williams after Chico lost possession.

Everton began to turn the screw after the break, with Gareth Barry volleying over before Tremmel had to push a rising drive from Barkley onto the crossbar. The visitors broke through in explosive fashion four minutes later, with Coleman taking aim from 30 yards and surprising Tremmel with a vicious shot from wide on the right that swerved inside the right-hand post.

The breakthrough was in keeping with Everton’s mounting momentum, but their lead lasted just four minutes.

Ben Davies tossed a high cross into the Everton box from the left and Tiendalli stole in front of Routledge to send a volley past Tim Howard via a sizeable deflection off Oviedo. Both managers made changes in pursuit of a winning goal, with Alvaro Vazquez entering the fray for Swansea and Steven Naismith and Osman coming on for the visitors.

It was Barkley, however, who delivered the knockout blow, arcing a glorious freekick over the wall and in off the crossbar with six minutes to play. He was the matchwinner, but Everton were indebted to Howard in the closing stages after the American goalkeeper produced a pair of excellent stops to thwart Hernandez and then Roland Lamah. — AFP

Business

Lean years leave banks short of dealmakers Page 22

India-US diplomat row fuels investment fears

MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2013

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Memac Ogilvy PR wins big at MEPRA Awards

Cypriots turn to handouts after decades of ‘good life’ Page 26 Page 25

NUSRAJAYA: Workers prepare for the launch of a new condominium in Nusajaya, in the southern state of Johor Bahru bordering Singapore. Construction cranes are sprouting across southern Malaysia’s Johor state as investment flows into “Iskandar”, a development zone that aims to draw Singaporean capital to its larger neighbor’s cheaper land and labor costs. (Inset) Ismail Ibrahim, head of Malaysia’s Iskandar Regional Development Authority, poses at his office in the southern state of Johor Bahru bordering Singapore —AFP

Hopes of shared boom ride on ‘catalytic’ projects Ambitious development zone on Malaysia-Singapore border NUSAJAYA, Malaysia: Rising from a former palm plantation, the towering Astaka complex will cast its shadow across the Malaysia-Singapore border by 2017, a symbol for an ambitious development zone linking the economies of the two former rivals.

Construction cranes are sprouting across southern Malaysia’s Johor state as investment flows into “Iskandar”, a development zone that aims to draw Singaporean capital to its larger neighbor’s cheaper land and labor costs.

The zone has been dogged by skepticism since its inception in 2006, due in part to Johor’s reputation in Singapore as a backward hotbed of car thieves. But soaring costs in Singapore are causing a re-think.

Anthony Phillips moved his family across the narrow Johor Straits to Iskandar, lured by property prices that are less than half those of Singapore and cheaper schooling. He

now commutes to his Singapore communications consultancy, a trip that takes less than an hour.

“Last year’s move to Iskandar has been a great success all round.

Iskandar offers the best of both worlds,” he said. Authorities say Iskandar-named after a revered former Johor sultan-landed $40.5 billion in investment commitments by endOctober, one-third of the way toward an ambitious 2025 target of $123 billion.

Singaporeans are already a key market for a $280 million Legoland theme park that opened in 2012 and brand-outlet shopping. Other projects include a branch of UK-based movie makers Pinewood Studios and an “Edu-city” bringing together several European universities on one campus.

A Singaporean-funded $1.1 billion Motorsports City being built will include racing circuits, a driving

school, and is intended as a regional hub for development of the sport.

Healthy ‘co-opetition’ Bilateral relations have long been prickly. But Ismail Ibrahim, head of Malaysia’s Iskandar Regional Development Authority, notes a “reversal of tide,” saying Iskandar allows each to leverage its strengths amid an uncertain world economy.

“We like to describe our relationship with Singapore through this simple term: ‘co-opetition,’” said Ismail, standing beside scale models of the Iskandar area. “ We compete, but at the same time we cooperate.” With a worldclass financial centre and port, hightech Singapore’s five million residents create a GDP equal to Malaysia’s 28 million. But soaring prices have crimped competitiveness. A 120square metre condominium in the centre of Singapore fetches well over

$2 million while the Johor Bahru equivalent rarely tops $400,000.

Malaysia, meanwhile, views Iskandar as a new inlet for the foreign investment that has been vital to its development. It offers a range of tax breaks and other inducements in Iskandar’s designated 2,217 square kilometres (855 square miles) — three times Singapore’s size-of mostly plantation land. Concerns are rising, however, that Malaysian, Singaporean, and Chinese money is fueling a speculative property bubble while more balanced economic development lags. Johor housing prices have jumped more than 20 percent in the past year, double the national average and causing some local grumbling, yet Iskandar has one of Malaysia’s lowest retail and office occupancy rates.

Units in places like Astaka, which at 301 metres (987 feet) will be the tallest residential block in either

Qatar slips, Saudi jumps MIDEAST STOCK MARKETS DUBAI: Shares in Dubai interior furnishing firm Depa surged to a near two-week high yesterday because of bets that builder Arabtec might increase its stake in the firm.

Qatar’s market fell on plans for its first IPO since 2010. Arabtec yesterday said it was looking for investments, partnerships and acquisitions. It did not name potential targets but already owns a 24 percent stake in Depa, which it bought late in 2012.

Depa shares jumped 8.4 percent to their highest level since Dec 9. “Arabtec has more board members now on Depa - which gives an indication to the market of its interest in recapitalizing and restructuring the company to benefit from the recovery in the real estate sector,” said Marwan Shurrab, fund manager and head of trading at Vision Investments. Arabtec shares ended flat, outperforming Dubai’s index , which slipped 0.6 percent from Thursday’s fiveyear high.

In Qatar, the benchmark slipped 0.6 percent to a two-week low as investors cut positions to free up cash for the initial public offer of Mesaieed Petrochemical Holding

Co, a unit of state-owned energy giant Qatar Petroleum. It will conduct a 3.2 billion riyal ($880 million) IPO of its shares in the local market next month, officials said yesterday.

The offer is likely to attract solid demand, considering the strong performance of the Qatar market, said Shurrab.

“We’re expecting IPOs to come in 2014, which makes sense after Qatar’s year-todate performance. Companies are wellpositioned to capitalize from that. IPOs in Qatar and other regional markets will be the main focus in mid-2014.” Oman’s index retreated 0.3 percent; that market may also soon face a major cash call, a planned $600 million sale by the government of a 19 percent stake in Oman Telecommunications.

The Oman Tribune quoted Muscat Securities Market director-general Ahmed bin Saleh Al- Marhoon as saying the sale was likely to occur this month.

Saudi rises In Saudi Arabia, the bourse climbed 0.5 percent to a 63-month high in a traditional

year-end rally. The market has gained during December for the last three years.

Heavyweight lenders Al Rajhi Bank and Samba Financial Group climbed 1.0 and 1.5 percent respectively. Saudi Arabia’s 2014 state budget is expected to be announced today, some Saudi media reported, and this could spur some buying in infrastructurerelated firms. Also, analysts expect the market to rise ahead of full-year earnings announcements as investors position for annual dividend payments.

The insurance sector index rose 2.8 percent to a near four-month high. The sector - a favourite for investors looking to make quick profits - is rebounding from a 15-month low hit in September in response to tighter rules against speculation introduced by the Capital Market Authority.

“The insurance sector has witnessed a severe correction - investors will be split between speculators and longer-term investors,” said Mohammad Omran, president of Riyadh-based private firm Gulf Centre for Financial Consultancy. — Reuters

country, can go for upwards of $2.5 million.

Hopes Analysts said recent Malaysian measures to cool speculation would have little impact, especially with huge Chinese developers now eyeing Iskandar. Country Garden, one of China’s top property firms and among a handful of cash-flush Chinese developers in Iskandar, has broken ground on a $5.6 billion residential township. Of the project’s 9,000 luxury condominiums, one-quarter were sold to China buyers.

Malaysian officials express hope that “catalytic” projects like Legoland and the motorsports facility will stimulate other business growth.

“There was a property play in the beginning, now we have to focus on job creation... to migrate to a vibrant economic zone,” said Wan Abdullah Wan Ibrahim, chief executive of Malaysian government-owned UEM

Sunrise, a key Iskandar developer.

International business consultancy Frost & Sullivan has announced plans to invest $176 million to house its backend operations in Iskandar.

But few other major corporate names have taken the plunge, causing some concern. Johor business leaders complain the area’s Malaysian labor base is short on skills and that many still prefer better-paying work in Singapore. A speculated linking of Singapore’s mass-transit system with Iskandar has been cited as a potential shot in the arm, but no firm plans have yet emerged.

Observers believe, however, that economic fundamentals will ensure the area’s makeover is eventually completed. “Iskandar will succeed because it has to,” said Johor ruling-party parliament member Nur Jazlan Mohamed.

“Malaysia needs it economically and Singapore needs it politically to release the cost pressure.” — AFP

Qatar plans first IPO since 2010 for unit of Qatar Petroleum DOHA: Mesaieed Petrochemical Holding Co, a unit of state-owned energy giant Qatar Petroleum, will conduct a 3.2 billion- riyal ($880 million) initial public offering of its shares in the local market next month, officials said yesterday.

It would be the first IPO since 2010 in Qatar’s stock market, after the global financial crisis froze issuance.

Authorities want to revive IPOs as a way to develop Qatar, the world’s top exporter of liquefied natural gas, into a regional financial hub. For political reasons, the government also aims to use IPOs to spread more of its energy wealth among its citizens.

“We encourage citizens to take part in this investment and also to await other opportunities in the pipeline,” Energy and Industry Minister Mohammed Saleh Al-Sada told a news conference.

Qatar plans to conduct IPOs worth 50 billion riyals in its stock market over the next 10 years, he said. The tiny country has a population of about 2.1 million, roughly 250,000 of whom are local citizens.

The Mesaieed Petrochemical offer, open only to Qatari citizens, will be conducted between Dec. 31 and Jan. 21. Trading in the shares is expected to start in February, Finance Minister Ali Shareef Al-Emadi said. The offer price of the shares will be 10 riyals each, plus listing costs of 0.2 riyal per share; the IPO will comprise about 26 percent of the company. The offer is likely to attract solid demand, considering the strong performance of the Qatar market, said Marwan Shurrab, a fund manager and head of trad-

ing at Vision Investments, a regional firm. The main stock index is up 24 percent year-to-date and near five-year highs. “We’re expecting IPOs to come in 2014, which makes sense after Qatar’s year-to-date performance,” he said. “Companies are well-positioned to capitalise from that. IPOs in Qatar and other regional markets will be the main focus in mid-2014.”

Mesaieed Petrochemical holds stakes in ventures that manufacture polyethylene, caustic soda and other chemical products. Its partners in the ventures include the US company Chevron Phillips Chemical Co. The stakes held by Mesaieed Petrochemical generated total revenue of 4.3 billion riyals and net profit of 1.6 billion riyals in 2012, officials said.

The Qatari stock market, which has a capitalization of about $150 billion, is preparing for a new influx of foreign money next May, when international equity index compiler MSCI has said it will upgrade Qatar to emerging market from frontier market status. New stock listings would help the market absorb the funds. Emadi said foreigners would be allowed to buy a total of up to 15 percent of Mesaieed Petrochemical in the secondary market. The government will buy 750 of the company’s shares as a gift for each disadvantaged Qatari citizen - those receiving social insurance payments and people with special needs. Qatari citizens will be entitled to allocations of additional free shares in coming years if they keep the bulk of the Mesaieed Petrochemical shares that they buy in the IPO. — Reuters

MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2013

BUSINESS

Lean years leave banks short of dealmakers Volatile markets deter firms from raising funds LONDON: Years of quiet deal markets in Europe have left a generation of junior investment bankers with little opportunity to cut their teeth, and, with many senior staff let go, banks are finding themselves short on experience as business stirs again.

With stock markets volatile during the financial crisis and European sovereign debt woes, many companies have held back from raising new funding, going public, or attempting big merger deals. While the European mergers and acquisitions market is still sluggish, with 2013 its slowest year in a decade, the volume of share sales has picked up, according to Thomson Reuters data, with companies raising more this year than any year since 2009.

Bankers working in the sector say this has already exposed some of their junior counterparts as a little wet behind the ears. “For the next couple of years the people point will be key.

There really is a lack of experienced talent almost everywhere. It will be a real issue. Only a few banks have kept senior teams,” said one senior London-based investment banker.

Bankers say the size of many equity capital

MADRID: People walk past the Bankia headquarters tower in Madrid

Spain’s Bankia rides rollercoaster from ruin to riches MADRID: Bankia, after dragging the entire Spanish financial system to the brink of catastrophe, is about to make a remarkable comeback to the top ranks of the Madrid stock market. Today, Bankia will enter the IBEX-35 index of top listed companies, capping a rollercoaster ride for the bank, and the country. Born in 2010 from the merger of seven troubled savings banks, including Caja Madrid, Bankia listed in July 2011 with great ceremony, touting its “enormous potential” and its likely role in “dynamising” the Spanish economy.

Less than a year later, in May 2012, Spain’s government had to nationalize Bankia and pump in 20 billion euros ($27 billion) to avert its collapse as the lender drowned in bad loans and revealed ever deeper financial losses.

Soon after, Spain’s euro-zone partners agreed to offer the country a rescue loan of up to 100 billion euros to shore up Bankia and other shaky lenders threatening the whole economy.

Spain ended up using 41 billion euros of the loan in a reform program, which expires January 23.

“Bankia was part of the problem of the Spanish economy,” Economy Minister Luis de Guindos admitted recently in a news conference. “Today, it is part of the solution.” On January 2 of this year, as Bankia restructured, it was removed from the IBEX-35 index. Its return to the index on Monday comes exactly one month before Spain completes the banking reforms agreed with Europe.

Now the fourth largest Spanish bank with a market value of 12 billion euros, “it was an obvious candidate to return to the IBEX-35,” said Javier Urones, analyst at the XTB brokerage.

“It is a good sign because it gives the stock a lot of visibility, opening it up to the interest of many international investors,” Urones added. Jorge Soley, financial management lecturer at the IESE Business School, said the return to the IBEX-35 index was a reward for the bank’s clean-up under a new team.

“It has done its homework,” he said. In shedding doubtful property-related assets and selling several investments, it

emerged from the red to post a net profit of 161 million euros in the third quarter.

Now Bankia, which boasts seven million customers, is “a solvent and well-capitalized entity,” said its chief executive, Jose Ignacio Goirigolzarri. “We should make it profitable.” The turnaround has had a social cost: the group has cut its branches from 3,100 to fewer than 2,000. By 2015 it will have cut 6,000 jobs, 28 percent of the total.

Shareholders, too, have had to swallow bitter medicine, watching the stock crash 90 percent since listing. When the Bankia chief gives speeches, he is regularly greeted by dozens of pensioners decrying the loss of their savings in preferential shares that the bank had persuaded them to buy.

Image makeover “It is a bank with a very bad image in Spain,” said XTB’s Urones. “It still has a long way to go to be on a similar footing to other heavyweights of the Spanish financial sector.” Bankia’s greatest liability? “Its property investment portfolio,” Urones said. It is almost entirely based in Spain, which is groaning with unsold homes.

“It still has a lot to do,” warned Lloyds Bank analyst Alberto Roldan. “It has to finish restructuring, sell branches, reorganize the size of the group, optimize its client portfolio and, don’t forget, the last stage: returning the (public) money that was injected.” At the same time, Bankia’s legal problems remain.

Some 30 former Bankia executives are being pursued in the courts for fraud, embezzlement and falsifying accounts.

What does the future hold for Bankia?

Being sold. The European Union has given the Spanish government, which owns 70 percent of the capital, until 2017 to privatise the bank.

The government says it has already seen signs of interest, though some analysts say there is no hurry with much of the bank’s restructuring still to be completed in 2014. “It has until 2017 to try to clean up its image, push up its share price and regain investor trust,” said XTB’s Urones. —AFP

markets (ECM) teams, who run deals ranging from new stock market flotations to sales of secondary shares by already listed companies, has shrunk by around 30 percent during the years of lean deal flow, and the pick-up in volumes has not yet spurred new hiring.

“It takes a long time to build a team that works,” said the banker. The 2014 outlook for investment banking services survey published

by Thomson Reuters and Freeman Consulting this month found corporate decision makers ranked detailed industry knowledge as by far the most important factor when selecting a bank.

Of those surveyed, 80 percent in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region ranked this as a critical factor, versus just 15 percent citing a competitive fee structure as key.

Bankers say fewer advisors are now being invited to pitch to work on upcoming deals, with the higher ranked advisory banks widening the gap within the European top 10 league table. The ECM rankings for 2013 showed an almost $7 billion gap between the financing raised for clients by sixth-placed UBS and seventh-placed Citi. At the same point in 2012, the

top 10 banks were more closely matched, with gaps of only $2-3 billion.

No risk appetite “The bulge bracket is getting smaller, not bigger,” said one senior ECM banker, adding that a willingness to commit capital to deals was also contributing to the widening of this gulf.

“If you do not want to play the risk deals it has an impact on the ranking.” In M&A, some are adapting to the lack of activity by moving down the size scale. “We have a strategy of doing smaller deals,” said a banker. “It’s important to be in the flow and follow clients even on smaller deals ... and the deal flow is also important for our junior bankers to get experience.” But fewer banks are now offering all investment banking products across all regions and are instead narrowing their focus, a decision some bankers say is not sustainable as clients will choose those able to offer them the full range. “If you are not a top-tier advisor it is going to be increasingly difficult to make a go of it in Europe,” said one senior banker. “You will continue to see large banks pulling out of things, restructuring their business model.” — Reuters

Gold facing first annual Burgan Bank price drop since 2000 sponsors Kuwait LONDON: Barring a late price surge, point is very important-the concept of gold’s value will suffer its first annual QE leading to inflation has not really Yacht Show 2014 drop since the start of the millennium, happened.” Gold is seen also as a hedge while the precious metal risks further losses in 2014. Gold stood at $1,205 an ounce Friday on the London Bullion Market, down almost 27 percent in 2013 on weaker demand and easing inflation-snapping twelve years of uninterrupted annual price growth.

That leaves gold, whose twin drivers are jewellery demand and investment buying, set for its the first annual price loss since 2000 when its value had fallen by 5.6 percent. “There are two distinct factors behind the gold price decline this year,” Macquarie banking group analyst Matthew Turner told AFP. “ The first one is obviously the investor sell-off,” he said, citing a sharp slump in demand from so - called exchange -traded funds (E TFs) that allow investment without trading on the futures market. According to Turner, ETFs are on course to have sold 840 tons of gold this year with the metal’s haven status dented by signs of economic recovery despite ongoing strains across the euro-zone.

Gold’s value took a knock during 2013, also from growing speculation that the US Federal Reserve would start to scale back its quantitative easing (QE) stimulus program that propped up the world’s biggest economy by billions of dollars. Gold in June hit a three-year low at $1,180.50 an ounce on Fed speculation, before bouncing back.

It came close to matching this level at the end of last week as the US central bank ended months of speculation by finally announcing it would start to scale back its stimulus next month.

Turner said gold demand had fallen for a variety of reasons, including “a growing anticipation of the Fed ending QE... a reduced sense of crisis around the world and the fact that inflation has fallen in most countries this year, especially in the US”. He added: “This last

against rising prices. Fed tapering of its $85-billion-a-month QE policy is meanwhile set to boost the greenback, making dollar-priced gold more expensive for countries using other currencies, further weighing on demand.

Demand crunch Gold has been pushed lower also by rising supply, Turner said, noting that global gold mine output was increasing amid falling purchases by central banks.

In a further blow, the government of top consumer India has hiked gold customs duty three times this year to curb imports and rein in its current account deficit. “In the very near term, Fed monetary policy stimulus will continue to be the big driver of gold prices, with improving economic data in the US increasing bets of (further) stimulus withdrawal,” said National Australian Bank (NAB) economist James Glenn.

The US central bank last Wednesday announced that it would cut QE by $10 billion (7.3 billion euros) a month to $75 billion from the start of 2014. Analysts are forecasting further $10-billion cuts throughout the course of next year.

While NAB predicts that the price of gold will drop to $1,050 an ounce by late 2014/early 2015, Commerzbank is forecasting the metal to reach $1,400 by the end of next year as global monetary policy stokes inflation. “Gold is... likely to gain greater acceptance again from Western investors as a means of hedging against a loss of purchasing power due to inflation and currency devaluation,” they said in a research note. Gold has fallen back sharply from a record high of $1,921.15 an ounce recorded in September 2011, when investors rushed to snap up the precious metal on fears of a fresh global recession amid the euro-zone debt crisis. —AFP

KUWAIT: Burgan Bank recently announced its platinum sponsorship of the second edition of the much anticipated luxurious Kuwait Yacht show, attrac ting visitors and luxur y marine enthusiasts from all over the world. The high-end yacht exhibition and show, which is scheduled to take place from Februar y 2 - 5, 2014 at the Marina, will contain some of the most exclusive super yachts in the world, and is geared to be three times bigger with an increased number of prestigious international dealers. The exhibition and show are expected to be one of the most popular events held in Kuwait this year, giving visitors the chance to explore the latest and most modern maritime craft, check on new developments in the industry, while also enjoying fine and exclusive services.

Burgan Bank’s keen participation this year serves as a platform to offer its elite customers a distinct opportunity to view high-end yachts and brands showcased in one location. The Bank accordingly has setup a VIP Lounge to welcome and cater to its clients and visitors. Bashir Jaber, Assistant General Manager - Group Corporate Communications at Burgan Bank said: “Burgan Bank is proud to sponsor an exhibition that brings visitors from all over the world and puts Kuwait, its long love and history with the marine culture, on the international map as a hub and premier destination and integrates such diverse offerings on local grounds. Kuwait’s long history with the sea makes it the perfect location to continue hosting such luxurious functions on an international level.”

Sponsoring such events falls in line with Burgan Bank’s overall approach of delivering exclusive award winning services that cater to the varied needs of its wide customer base. The Bank was recently recognized as the “Best Private Bank in Kuwait 2013” for the third consecutive year, from Capital Finance International, an added testimony to its strong private banking operations, exclusive and tailored customer services, and successful track record of international recognitions of excellence.

EXCHANGE RATES Al-Muzaini Exchange Co. ASIAN COUNTRIES 2.722 4.569 2.667 2.164 2.859 225.600 36.541 3.639 6.372 87.030 0.271 0.273 GCC COUNTRIES Saudi Riyal 75.590 Qatari Riyal 77.886 Omani Riyal 736.360 Bahraini Dinar 752.890 UAE Dirham 77.197 ARAB COUNTRIES Egyptian Pound - Cash 40.000 Egyptian Pound - Transfer 40.570 Yemen Riyal/for 1000 1.322 Tunisian Dinar 172.410 Jordanian Dinar 400.300 Lebanese Lira/for 1000 1.902 Syrian Lira 2.020 Morocco Dirham 34.981 EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 283.350 Euro 390.460 Sterling Pound 465.830 Canadian dollar 268.960 Turkish lira 135.700 Swiss Franc 319.810 Australian Dollar 255.580 US Dollar Buying 282.150 GOLD 20 Gram 231.000 10 Gram 117.000 5 Gram 61.000 Japanese Yen Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Srilankan Rupees Nepali Rupees Singapore Dollar Hongkong Dollar Bangladesh Taka Philippine Peso Thai Baht Irani Riyal transfer Irani Riyal cash

UAE Exchange Centre WLL COUNTRY Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc Euro US Dollar Sterling Pound Japanese Yen Bangladesh Taka Indian Rupee Sri Lankan Rupee Nepali Rupee Pakistani Rupee UAE Dirhams Bahraini Dinar Egyptian Pound Jordanian Dinar Omani Riyal Qatari Riyal Saudi Riyal

SELL DRAFT 262.45 270.72 323.46 392.54 282.25 468.20 2.81 3.631 4.610 2.161 2.885 2.640 76.91 751.23 40.97 401.71 734.03 77.94 75.40

SELL CASH 262.000 271.000 323.000 395.000 285.000 471.000 2.800 3.800 4.850 2.600 3.400 2.760 77.200 752.100 41.100 406.800 740.100 78.300 75.600

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd Rate for Transfer US Dollar Canadian Dollar Sterling Pound Euro Swiss Frank Bahrain Dinar UAE Dirhams Qatari Riyals Saudi Riyals Jordanian Dinar Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupees Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Pesso Cyprus pound Japanese Yen Thai Bhat

Selling Rate 282.700 269.510 461.550 390.375 319.945 746.465 76.945 78.500 76.255 398.510 40.993 2.160 4.567 2.652 3.632 6.379 694.370 3.745 09.800

Syrian Pound Nepalese Rupees Malaysian Ringgit Chinese Yuan Renminbi

3.010 3.855 88.370 46.975

Singapore Dollar South African Rand Sri Lankan Rupee Taiwan Thai Baht

0.222116 0.021594 0.001872 0.009439 0.008519 Arab

Bahrain Exchange Company CURRENCY

BUY

SELL

Europe 0.007354 0.008354 0.454152 0.463152 0.006128 0.018128 0.048075 0.053075 0.383235 0.390735 0.041694 0.046894 0.081644 0.81644 0.008104 0.018104 0.039000 0.044000 0.311563 0.321763 0.139334 0.146334 Australasia Australian Dollar 0.244783 0.256283 New Zealand Dollar 0.227901 0.237401 America Canadian Dollar 0.261903 0.270403 US Dollars 0.278850 0.283200 US Dollars Mint 0.279350 0.283200 Asia Bangladesh Taka 0.003522 0.004122 Chinese Yuan 0.045114 0.048614 Hong Kong Dollar 0.034408 0.037158 Indian Rupee 0.004414 0.004815 Indonesian Rupiah 0.000020 0.000026 Japanese Yen 0.002670 0.002850 Kenyan Shilling 0.003349 0.003349 Korean Won 0.000259 0.000274 Malaysian Ringgit 0.084066 0.090066 Nepalese Rupee 0.002974 0.003144 Pakistan Rupee 0.002444 0.002724 Philippine Peso 0.006405 0.006685 Sierra Leone 0.000069 0.000075 Belgian Franc British Pound Czech Korune Danish Krone Euro Norwegian Krone Romanian Leu Slovakia Swedish Krona Swiss Franc Turkish Lira

0.228116 0.030094 0.002452 0.009619 0.009069

Bahraini Dinar 0.744074 Egyptian Pound 0.037518 Iranian Riyal 0.000078 Iraqi Dinar 0.000187 Jordanian Dinar 0.394864 Kuwaiti Dinar 1.0000000 Lebanese Pound 0.000138 Moroccan Dirhams 0.022632 Nigerian Naira 0.001197 Omani Riyal 0.728903 Qatar Riyal 0.077009 Saudi Riyal 0.074817 Syrian Pound 0.002168 Tunisian Dinar 0.166061 Turkish Lira 0.139334 UAE Dirhams 0.076055 Yemeni Riyal 0.001285

0.752074 0.040618 0.000080 0.000247 0.402364 1.0000000 0.000238 0.046632 0.001832 0.734583 0.078222 0.075517 0.002388 0.174061 0.146334 0.077204 0.001365

Al Mulla Exchange Currency US Dollar Euro Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar Indian Rupee Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupee Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso Pakistan Rupee Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham Saudi Riyal *Rates are subject to change

Transfer Rate (Per 1000) 282.800 388.750 463.500 267.550 4.555 40.915 2.161 3.638 6.356 2.668 753.000 77.050 75.500

MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2013

BUSINESS Weekly commodity report

Taper impact: Precious metals hit as energy gets a FOMC boost

By Ole Hansen Head of Commodity Strategy, Saxo Bank

T

he last major roll of the financial dice in 2013 was carried out by the US Federal Reserve on December 18 when it sprang a semi-surprise on the market deciding to begin tapering its asset purchase program. Although the market had spent the past six months getting ready for this announcement, precious metals took it badly and ended up being the worst performing sector on the week while the energy sector once again performed well with the six best performing commodities all belonging to this sector.

As the table shows, the energy sector was generally positive while metals were negative and the agriculture sector, though unaffected by the Fed taper announcement, ended up a bit all over the place. With the year coming to a close, the sector performances of the two major commodity indices, the Dow Jones UBS and S&P GSCI clearly shows what a difficult year it has been.

Precious metals lost more than 30 percent while industrial metals and agriculture also suffered losses primarily due to increased availability of supply. On top is the energy sector, which has seen a general positive performance among its major components, not least natural gas and both crude oils.

This week gasoline and natural gas led the gainers as demand for both rose resulting in lower supplies.

Gasoline’s rise was due to a pickup in demand ahead of the holiday season and natural gas due to ver y cold weather across the US which has seen demand from gas driven power plants rise strongly. Last week stockpiles of natural gas in underground storage facilities across the US fell by a record 285 billion cubic feet as production was being disrupted by shutins caused by the current frosty weather conditions. This highlights the risk of increased gas volatility during the peak winter period as supply is increasingly driven by inland production compared with off-shore which in the past led to heightened volatility during the peak hurricane season over the summer.

Robusta coffee, which rallied by one -quar ter during November and reached a three-month high on December 13, ended up the biggest loser the following week on signs that Vietnamese growers had finally begun to release supplies. The recent rally was driven by a slump in stockpiles in exchange tracked warehouses to the lowest since 2002 primarily due to lack of supply from Vietnamese farmers holding back what is expected to be a record production in order to achieve higher prices.

Gold loses shine Gold’s downward trajectory was extended following the US Federal Reserve’s announcement that tapering was now beginning from January. The selling below 1,210 USD/oz. has so far resulted in the lowest close in three years and it has returned the focus to this year’s low at 1,180 USD/oz. while a potential break will put the next level at 1,155 USD/oz. into focus as shown on the chart below. The renewed selling has, however, lacked the sense of panic witnessed during similar situations over the past year and it could be explained by the fact that those investors wanting to leave the metal behind have already done so.

Technical selling and some weak longs bailing out and booking their losses before year-end, has so far been the main drivers.

Liquidity across all markets, not least gold, is increasingly becoming scarce as trading books are closed and traders vacate their desks to spend the festive season with their friends and family.

The early stages of the New Year will undoubtedly become another challenging time for precious metals as positive fundamental price drivers are hard to come by. Investment holdings in exchange traded products backed by gold have seen increased reductions during December and whether this is a sign of investors gearing up to another year of losses or just some long liquidation in order to book losses and meet 2014 with fresh eyes remains to be seen.

One silver lining during this latest round of weakness has been the relative resilience of silver which has managed to outperform gold this past week. Silver is currently down by more than 36 percent in the year-to-date and some selling fatigue may have started to emerge. Investor sentiment is already very negative which the sharp reduction in ETP holdings and limited netlong positioning in futures bears witness to.

A year ago, most analysts were busy outbidding each other in their expectations for how high gold could climb while this year, expectations are all over the place. The majority expect continued weakness with one looking for 900 USD/oz while others won’t rule out a move higher towards 1,500 USD/oz. With such a wide spectrum of expectations, it is no wonder investors are confused and feel uncertain about what happens next.

I believe 2014 will be a year of consolidation following a dramatic slump at the end of a 12-year bull market. We could see some additional weakness during the first quarter as the taper theme and some potential dollar strength erode support but later in the year, gold could well recover as some of the negative drivers fade and finish up on the year. A more detailed outlook will be available on January 7.

Crude oil - another January rally?

The week turned out to be a dead heat between WTI and Brent crude with both seeing a positive performance. Traders concluded tapering was a good thing since it confirmed that economic activity is picking up which would help stimulate demand.

We are in other word’s once again beginning a year with raised growth expectations, something that together with geopolitical tensions helped drive Brent crude higher during January for the past three years by an average of 4.7 percent. We suspect that this time round it will not be that easy to repeat this strong performance. Not least due to the lack of any new geopolitical issues but also the fact that supply is expected to outstrip demand over the coming year with non-Opec production continuing to rise strongly.

Brent crude, first month cont The move higher recently was also supported by increased refinery demand as the winter begins to bite together with the continued removal of Libyan oil from the market. Brent crude has returned to the $110/barrel area which corresponds with the average price for the past three years. Although we have seen peaks and troughs in 2013, they have all been smaller than what was seen in previous years.

Will this trend of lower volatility continue? Probably it will not from looking at the chart. It shows how the room for maneuver within its current support and resistance is diminishing and eventually fireworks will return. The current expectation is that the market may once again run ahead of itself during the early stages of 2014 but with supply being plentiful together with some uncertainty about the outlook for some emerging market economies, we expect to see oil spending most the time at the lower end of the range seen during 2013.

Happy holidays everyone.

India-US diplomat row fuels investment fears Anti-American backlash may scare off investors NEW DELHI: A furious anti-US backlash in India over the arrest and strip-search of one of its diplomats threatens to further scare off foreign investors already baulking at what they see as a hostile climate, analysts say.

The economic fallout from the spat, which led to the unprecedented sight of India bulldozing security barricades outside the US embassy in New Delhi last week, will only become evident in months to come. But “it is clear this is not a PR victory that will help attract investors to India”, Rajiv Kumar, director of the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations, said.

The diplomat, Devyani Khobragade, arrested on charges of lying on a US visa application about how much she paid her Indian maid, said she had been strip-searched and “cavity-searched” and was detained with “common criminals and drug addicts”. The diplomat’s detention in New York has prompted outrage in the emerging global economic power which sees her treatment as a blow to its national sovereignty and pride.

One of the most startling reactions came from Yashwant Sinha, a former foreign and finance minister, who said India should now arrest the same-sex partners of American expats in the wake of a court ruling which upheld a colonial era ban on homosexuality. Sinha’s nationalist Bharitaya Janata Party (BJP) is favorite to win next year’s Indian elections.

Reforms fail to click The surge of anti-US sentiment comes at a time when some American businesses appear to be getting cold feet

about investing in India. The government unveiled a raft of measures late last year aimed at attracting more foreign investment, including reforms to allow foreign supermarkets chains to operate in India. But citing restrictive foreign investment rules, Walmart-the world’s biggest retailer-suspended plans to open stores in India and scrapped a partnership deal in October with local telecom giant Bharti Enterprises. International firms which are trying to break into the Indian market have also found themselves falling foul of the country’s often labyrinthine tax laws as well as red tape.

The local unit of US technology services giant IBM is among those to have been caught up in a tax battle, vowing last month to “aggressively defend itself” against a demand for a reported $865 million.

D H Pai Panandiker, president of private economic think-tank RPG Foundation, acknowledged that while the backlash over the diplomat was understandable, it could present dangers if things did not cool down soon. “I think Americans are intelligent enough to understand what is going on in India but if it (the dispute) worsens, then it can create problems for the investment climate,” Panandiker said. The Confederation of Indian Industry, a leading business lobby, said the row over the diplomat “should have no bearing on bilateral economic relations if there is a quick resolution”.

But the bulldozer incident in particular has the potential of unnerving American businesses from getting involved in a country which has been the target of a number of high-profile attacks by Islamist militants. “The bull-

dozer incident was very graphic” for a global audience, Kumar said, adding it “exposes” Americans “to the outside” threats in what is considered one of the world’s most dangerous regions. India aims to attract $1 trillion in foreign direct investment by 2017 to upgrade shabby infrastructure. But foreign investment is still politically suspect in many quarters in India where it is seen as taking away jobs, especially in the retail sector, dominated by small momand-pop stores.

When India and the United States clinched their breakthrough 2005 civilian nuclear pact ending New Delhi’s atomic pariah status, it was believed commerce would blossom between the two big democracies, often at odds during the Cold War. But US nuclear plant sales have been stymied by Indian liability laws while India’s $60-billion annual trade with the United States is seen as far below potential-equivalent to just one-eighth of US trade with China. From the US side, there is a belief the economic benefits from ties with India may have been overhyped, analysts say, while in India there is a sense Washington can be overbearing in trade and other matters.

The national president of the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce, Chella Srinivasan, said he believes bulldozing the barricades outside the US embassy was necessary to show India cannot be pushed around. “The US is so good at arm-twisting-India is just playing their game,” Srinivasan said. “The US government will realise we’re following the same tactic the US has been using globally.” — AFP

Swiss banks sign up to reveal hidden accounts

MINNEAPOLIS: A Target store near Target headquarters in Minneapolis. Target says that about 40 million credit and debit card accounts customers may have been affected by a data breach that occurred at its US stores between Nov 27 and Dec 15. — AP

Weak US card security made Target a juicy target NEW YORK: The US is the juiciest target for hackers hunting credit card information. And experts say incidents like the recent data theft at Target’s stores will get worse before they get better. That’s in part because US credit and debit cards rely on an easy-to-copy magnetic strip on the back of the card, which stores account information using the same technology as cassette tapes.

“We are using 20th century cards against 21st century hackers,” says Mallory Duncan, general counsel at the National Retail Federation. “The thieves have moved on but the cards have not.”

In most countries outside the US, people carry cards that use digital chips to hold account information. The chip generates a unique code every time it’s used. That makes the cards more difficult for criminals to replicate.

So difficult that they generally don’t bother. “The US is the top victim location for card counterfeit attacks like this,” says Jason Oxman, chief executive of the Electronic Transactions Association. The breach that exposed the credit card and debit card information of as many as 40 million Target customers who swiped their cards between Nov. 27 and Dec. 15 is still under investigation.

It’s unclear how the breach occurred and what data, exactly, criminals have. Although security experts say no security system is fail-safe, there are several measures stores, banks and credit card companies can take to protect against these attacks.

Companies haven’t further enhanced security because it can be expensive. And while global credit and debit card fraud hit a record $11.27 billion last year, those costs accounted for just 5.2 cents of every $100 in transactions, according to the Nilson Report, which tracks global payments.

Another problem: retailers, banks and credit card companies each want someone else to foot most of the bill. Card companies want stores to pay to better protect their internal systems. Stores want cards companies to issue more sophisticated cards. Banks want to preserve the profits they get from older processing systems.

Outdated Card payment systems work much the way they have for decades. The magnetic strip on the back of a credit or debit card contains the cardholder’s name, account number, the card’s expiration date and one of two security codes. When the card is swiped at a store, an electronic conversation is begun between two banks. The store’s bank, which pays the store right away for the item the customer bought, needs to make sure the customer’s bank approves the transaction and will pay the store’s bank. On average, the conversation takes 1.4 seconds.

During that time the customer’s information flows through the network and is recorded, sometimes only briefly, on computers within the system controlled by payment processing companies. Retailers can store card numbers and expiration dates, but they are prohibited from storing more sensitive data such as the security codes printed on the backs of cards or other personal identification numbers.

Hackers have been known to snag account information as it passes through the network or pilfer it from databases where it’s stored. Target says there is no indi-

cation that the three or four-digit security codes on the back of customer credit cards were stolen. That would make it hard to use stolen account information to buy from most Internet retail sites. But because the magnetic strips on cards in the U.S. are so easy to generate, thieves can simply reproduce them and issue fraudulent cards that look and feel like the real thing. “That’s where the real value to the fraudsters is,” says Chris Bucolo, senior manager of security consulting at ControlScan, which helps merchants comply with card processing security standards. Once thieves capture the card information, they check the type of account, balances and credit limits, and sell replicas on the Internet. A simple card with a low balance and limited customer information can go for $3. A no-limit “black” card with the security number printed on the back of the card can go for $1,000, according to Al Pascual, a senior analyst at Javelin Strategy and Research, a security risk and fraud consulting firm.

To be sure, thieves can nab and sell card data from networks processing cards with digital chips, too, but they wouldn’t be able to create fraudulent cards. Credit card companies in the US have a plan to replace magnetic strips with digital chips by the fall of 2015. But retailers worry the card companies won’t go far enough.

They want cards to have a chip, but they also want each transaction to require a personal identification number, or PIN, instead of a signature.

“Everyone knows that the signature is a useless authentication device,” Duncan says. Duncan, who represents retailers, says banks want to preserve the higher profits they can get when a signature is needed because there are fewer signature processing networks, and less price competition. The higher profits outweigh the cost of fraud, Duncan says. “Compared to the tens of millions of transactions that are taking place every day, even the fraud that they have to pay for is small compared to the profit they are making from using less secure cards,” he says. Even so, there are a few things retailers can do, too, to better protect customer data.

The most vulnerable point in the transaction network, security experts say, is usually the merchant. “Financial institutions are more used to having high levels of protection,” says Pascual. “Retailers are still getting up to speed.” The simple, square, card-swiping machines that consumers are used to seeing at most checkout counters are hard to infiltrate because they are completely separate from the Internet. But as retailers switch to faster, Internet-based payment systems they may expose customer data to hackers. Retailers need to build robust firewalls around those systems to guard against attack, security experts say. They could also take further steps to protect customer data by using encryption, technology which scrambles the data so it looks like gibberish to anyone who accesses it unlawfully.

These technologies can be expensive to install and maintain, however. Thankfully, individual customers are not on the hook for fraudulent charges that result from security breaches. But these kinds of attacks do raise costs -and, likely, fees for all customers. “Part of the cost in the system is for fraud protection,” Oxman says. “It costs money, and someone’s going to pay for it eventually.” — AP

GENEVA: Swiss banks are scrambling ahead of a December 31 deadline to decide whether to join a US program aimed at zooming in on lenders that helped Americans dodge taxes.

Around 40 of Switzerland’s some 300 banks have already said publicly they will take part in a US program set up to allow Swiss financial institutions to avoid US prosecution in exchange for coming clean and possibly paying steep fines. “What are the others going to do? That is the very big question,” Swiss business lawyer Douglas Hornung told AFP. Washington alleges that Swiss banks have helped US citizens hide billions of dollars in assets from tax authorities, in a row that has soured relations between the two in recent years.

The two countries reached a deal in August aimed at ending the dispute, piercing a significant hole in the tradition of secrecy upon which the Swiss banking industry was built. The banks have until the end of the year to decide whether to fess up to potential wrong-doing and hand over their files to US authorities, and thereby shield themselves from legal action, or take their chances outside the program. Picking the wrong option could saddle a bank with crippling fines, fees or a US indictment. Banks that opened undeclared accounts for US clients-especially the ones that actively wooed such clients-definitely should join the program, experts say. Washington in 2009 fined Switzerland’s biggest bank, UBS, $780 million for complicity in tax evasion.

“If one of the 10 to 15 banks the US Department of Justice already has in its files does not show up..., you can be sure there will be a BOOM in January,” Hornung said.

Switzerland’s one-time oldest bank Wegelin & Co, founded in 1741, discovered earlier this year the price of not coming clean to US authorities when given the chance: it was pushed out of business after being slapped with a $74-million fine for helping wealthy clients avoid at least $20 million in taxes. Fourteen banks, including Switzerland’s second-biggest bank, Credit Suisse, are already officially under US investigation and will have no chance to skirt legal action. The other banks can however opt in to the program by determining which of the three remaining categories they belong in. Most so far are signing up for category two and thereby acknowledging they may well have had US clients with undeclared accounts. “More banks have said they will go for category two than would be expected,” said Walter Boss, a tax lawyer with Poledna Boss Kurer AG in Zurich. Category three, reserved for banks that aim to prove their innocence, “won’t be crowded, it looks like,” he said. Especially surprising perhaps is that a large majority of the publicly backed cantonal banks, which are regionally based and have long insisted they never went after US clients, have opted for category two.—AFP

MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2013

BUSINESS

Women make 2013 gains, but glass ceiling still there NEW YORK: In two high-profile firsts, women were named to lead General Motors and the US Federal Reserve this year-posts that had always been held by men. Yet women are still rarely found at the top. In addition to Mary Barra at GM and Janet Yellen at the Fed, 2013 also saw Marillyn Hewson chosen to take charge of Lockheed Martin.

In Europe, Inga Beal was named to head British insurance firm Lloyd’s and Daniele Nouy was picked to lead the euro-zone banking supervisor. “We finally have role models,” cheered Tami Polmanteer, director of human resources for the Daymon marketing group.

Stanford University sociologist Marianne Cooper said “each time a woman gets a position like this, it is a victory because there are so few of them.” But a similar wave of high-profile nominations a decade ago failed to trigger major changes. Cooper contributed to Facebook top exec Sheryl Sandberg’s bestseller “Lean In,” which encouraged women to take on more responsibility in business.

Today, more women graduate with four-year college degrees than men. Women hold around half of the mid-level management positions in big companies.

But the presence of women in top-level man-

agement tapers sharply: women hold just 15 percent of the top posts. And the numbers drop even further in the biggest companies.

Just 4.5 percent of the bosses in Fortune 1000 companies are women, including Meg Whitman at the head of Hewlett-Packard, Virginia Rometty at IBM, Indra Nooyi at PepsiCo and Ellen Kullman at DuPont, according to Catalyst consultants.

“We would have to see a lot of women” named CEO, before “it even changes the percentage,” said Columbia University professor Katherine Phillips.

That said, over the past two decades, the numbers are improving, if slowly. In 1995, not one of the Fortune 1000 companies was run by a woman, and just two percent were in 2005, according to Phillips. Worldwide, women hold 11 percent of board seats, according to GMI Ratings.

But some countries are doing far better than others. In Finland, Norway and Sweden, where the governments have created parity quotas, women hold 30 percent of board positions. “Italy and France are seeing significant increases in women’s representation following the passage of recent laws on board diversity,” GMI Ratings said. But outside Europe, progress is slow, especially in the United States and Canada. And the

developed country with the worst record of women in the top levels of business is Japan, where just one percent of board member positions are held by women.

Few cracks in the ceiling Certain sectors are particularly behind in promoting women, including finance and the sciences, where the number of women in top positions is actually decreasing.

Experts trace the difficulties in increasing parity to a lack of support from management, insufficient childcare, distrust in abilities and a stubborn cultural bias against women. “Women are being judged more harshly,” said Marianne Cooper, referring to a study by consulting firm McKinsey.

“Women are more likely to get into leadership roles in times of crisis, (which) highly increases the likelihood of failures.” In a perfect example, Hewson was promoted at Lockheed Martin as the company faced major budget cuts from the Pentagon and only after revelations of an “inappropriate” relationship by the previous pick for CEO. And “women tend to earn less” than men in equivalent jobs across the board, said Cooper. In the United States, the difference is around six

Janet Yellen percent.

There’s also a “mommy penalty,” said Phillips, citing a study by a Stanford researcher that found women earn less as soon as they have children, because they are viewed as less invested. The opposite is true when men have children. A study of 130 countries on salary equality

Mary Barra by the World Economic Forum found the countries with the best records were Malaysia and Singapore. The United States was somewhere in the middle of the pack, and France, where women earn 27 percent less than men in the private sector, was second to last ahead of just Mauritania. — AFP

EU banking union too complicated, too slow BRUSSELS: An EU system to prevent a repeat of the massive bank bailouts which crippled the economy is a major step but it is also too complicated when speed is absolutely essential, analysts said. “From the moment a bank is identified as being at risk, up to the moment it is closed, the new system might require approvals from as many as 100 people,” said Annalisa Piazza of Newedge.

The authorities must wind up a failing bank as quickly as possible, and above all, while the markets are closed if they want to limit the fallout and the possibility of a run on deposits. Fail to do that and the risk is one problem bank will bring down others, setting off a disastrous chain reaction and sucking in governments, as in Ireland, which eventually had to seek an international bailout.

EU finance ministers agreed Wednesday a Single Resolution Mechanism to close problem banks, with the cost covered by a special bank levy to be phased in by 2025.

The SRM will work alongside an already agreed new supervisory regime run by the European Central Bank.

The last element, a common deposit guarantee system to reassure nervous savers, was put in place Tuesday after European Parliament approval. This banking union system was drawn up in response to the financial and then debt crises which brought down many banks and drove the euro-zone into a deep and damaging recession. It involves possibly the biggest transfer of national sovereignty to Brussels since the euro was created and as a result, required painful compromises which show up clearly in its workings.

For example, some countries such as EU powerhouse Germany were reluctant to give Brussels too much power over their banking system. France, in contrast, pushed for a fully centralised ‘single system’ covering all euro-zone banks, not just the larger ones, arguing that problems often

arise first in the smaller lenders.

For Paris, it was the European Commission that should oversee the SRM and so have the last word on a bank closure decision. In the event, an SRM board will decide and while the Commission has the right to object, it will have to get the EU finance ministers to back it up-a process likely to take much too long to be a practical option.

‘Everyone for themselves’ A Berenberg Bank research report said the banking union was a “historic step” but also a compromise between countries “worried about the stability of their banks and those unwilling to put their taxpayers’ money at risk”.

In the end, it was the latter-championed

by Germany-which largely won out but with the result that there are “certain weaknesses in the small print of the plan,” it said.

“The Single Resolution Mechanism is ‘single’ only in name compared with the Single Supervisory Mechanism at the ECB,” said Nicolas Veron of the Bruegel Institute in Brussels.

“In the supervision system, there is real pooling of sovereignty but (with the SRM), it is still everyone for themselves,” Veron said. Martin Schulz, head of the European Parliament which must now approve the accord, warned bluntly the SRM could not work fast enough, precisely because the Commission has been effectively sidelined.

The process “is comparable to dealing with an emergency admission to hospital by first convening the hospital’s board of directors instead of giving the patient immediate treatment,” Schulz told an EU leaders summit Thursday. “If a bank cannot be wound up within a weekend in order to prevent a run on the banks, the system is too complicated,” he said.

A banking union built on this basis “would be the biggest mistake yet in the resolution of the crisis” and could even “jeopardise financial stability”. — AFP

Spaniards seek free food as soaring costs bring cruel Christmas BARCELONA: After dropping off her children at school in Barcelona, Esmerelda Ingles eats out for breakfast, not at one of the Spanish Mediterranean city’s swanky cafes but at a soup kitchen.

The 31-year-old mother of three survives the winter on free food, as the soaring cost of heating her family’s home is devouring her meagre budget. Each morning Ingles joins around 100 other diners-drug addicts, the homeless, unemployed families and battered wives-at the Caliu centre, a church-run soup kitchen operated by volunteers in the city’s humble district of Horta.

Ingles resorted to charity after three years without work when her right to unemployment benefits expired. None of the family’s relatives knows of their plight. “I open the mail box fearing new bills to pay,” she said. For her family of five-including daughters aged three and 10 and an eight-year-old son-the water, gas and electricity bills amount to about 100 euros ($136) a month, she said.

“Sometimes we go for a week and a half without electricity or gas because we cannot pay.”

After three years of unemployment, Ingles’s husband managed to find a temporary gardening job with a monthly salary of 800 euros. But the New Year looks bleak. When the two-month contract ends, Ingles’s husband will be without work again in January.

“I don’t know what we are going to do,” she said. Her husband is not alone.

Spain posted a 26-percent unemployment rate in the third quarter of 2013 even as it celebrated the technical end of a two-year economic downturn, a turnaround that is hard to perceive on these streets.

Usually, Ingles’s children are spared seeing their mother in the soup kitchen.

She leaves them at school before entering the Caliu centre, which gives her the children’s dinner and the next day’s breakfast. But this day, her youngest is

sick and sits on her lap drinking chocolate milk as others look on tenderly. “The eldest can understand. But the others?

Christmas is coming now and they are asking for presents. What can I do?” asked Ingles, forcing a smile.

“I am a mother of three. If I am bitter and crying at home it will affect them.

That cannot be.” Besides giving food, the Caliu centre offers clothing and even financial aid to cover household expenses. For the past three years, the soup kitchen has been serving up hot breakfasts to the needy. Unlike most of Spain’s economy, it is experiencing high demand.

“Our greatest success would be to close,” said Josep Lluis Espunya, a lawyer and voluntary coordinator of the kitchen.

“But unfortunately, we have more work every day.”

Poverty signs A 2013 survey found that 17 percent of Spanish households say they get to the end of the month “with great difficulty”, and 9.2 percent have been late on paying their bills, according to the National Statistics Institute. One-fifth of families said they could not warm their homes sufficiently in winter.

Another survey by Intrum Justitia said one-third of Spaniards had no money left after the bills.

The situation could get worse in January, when utility companies have announced an 11-percent rise in electricity costs. The Spanish government vowed to intervene to rein in that sharp hike, ordering regulators to investigate whether the bidding process that sets the tariffs was fixed. In the northeastern region of Catalonia, where Barcelona is the capital, the government has banned utilities from cutting electricity to the poorest homes in winter. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s conservative government rejected a similar measure that had been proposed for the whole country. — AFP

MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2013

BUSINESS

Investors push firms to flex M&A muscle ... carefully JPMorgan puts global cash pile at over $5tn

Dollar rises as Fed begins unwinding NBK MONEY MARKETS REPORT KUWAIT: Last week the US Federal Reserve reduced its monthly bond purchases from $85 billion to $75 billion, the first step towards undoing the extraordinary stimulus that the Fed Chairman Bernanke initiated to help the US economy recover from the worst recession since more than 80years. The decision came after an “improved outlook for the jobs market”, as stated by Bernanke. The US Dollar gained significantly against most of its major counterparts, after the US announced the beginning of the reduction of the QE program, which is seen to have debased the US currency, reinforcing prospects that the world’s largest economy is improving. The move also prompted investors to take on more risk as the Fed improved their outlook for the economy, pushing stocks to reach record highs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 292.71 points to touch a high of 16,174.05, while the S&P 500 rose to a high of 1,811.08 following the Fed’s announcement. The Dollar maintained its strong footing despite a higher-than-expected surge in initial jobless claims. Additionally, commodity currencies, especially the Australian Dollar, continued to tumble in spite of the strong stock market rally in the US. The Euro started the week at 1.3735 and reached a high of 1.3811. The single currency then quickly dropped against the US dollar amid the Fed’s tapering announcement and after S&P’s downgrade of the European Union’s long-term rating. The Fed’s decision signals improvement in the labor market signaling higher rates in the near future, which boosted the US dollar against the single currency. on the other hand, the eurozone’s lackluster economic recovery forces the European Central Bank to keep rates at historical lows driving the euro lower. The single currency dropped to a low of 1.3623 and closed the week at 1.3671.

Pound drops The sterling pound also dropped against the greenback amid the Fed’s decision.

However, the currency maintained its strong footing and closed the week higher.

Cable is benefiting from the string of positive economic data, pushing investors to believe in a possible rate hike by the Bank of England. The focus is on the UK’s Labor market, since Carney, BoE Governor, linked the bank’s bond purchases program to improvements in the unemployment rate.

The pound opened the week at 1.6294 and surged to a high of 1.6483 amid volatile trading during the Fed’s announcement.

The currency reached a low of 1.6219 for the week and closed at 1.6333.

The Japanese yen continued to drop against the US dollar as the BoJ kept their monetary policy unchanged. The central bank also maintained its view that the economy is continuing to recover moderately. The greenback reached 104.59, a five year high against the Yen, supported by higher US treasury yields after the Fed stated that it would reduce its monthly stimulus by $10 billion. Additionally, the market is expecting the BoJ to continue its ultra-easy monetary policy in spite of the Fed’s decision. The pair opened the week at 103.13 and dropped to a low of 102.47. the Dollar then surged to 104.59 and closed the week at 104.07.

The Australian dollar was one of the biggest losers last week as it dropped dramatically amid the Fed’s decision to taper its stimulus program. The Aussie opened the week at 0.8946 and dropped to a low 0.8820, a 31/2-year low. The currency traded

near its low on Friday and closed the week at 0.88XX. Unchanged consumer prices The US cost of living was unchanged in November, signaling that it will take time for inflation to approach the level desired

by Federal Reserve officials. Lower gasoline, new cars and clothing prices held the consumer-price index unchanged after a 0.1 percent drop the prior month. Expectations were for a 0.1 percent rise. Meanwhile, prices rose by 1.2 percent in the 12 months to November after a 1 percent year-overyear advance in October Existing home sales Previously owned US home sales declined for the third consecutive month in November to the lowest level of the year as rising mortgage rates and a limited supply of properties discouraged buyers. .

Purchases dropped 4.3 percent to a 4.9 million annual rate, the National Association of Realtors reported. Investors expected the pace to slow to 5.02 million. However, the group projects that 2013 will be the best year for the industry in seven years, with an estimated 5.1 million properties sold. Rising prices and borrowing costs have put homes out of reach for many first-time buyers and a partial federal government shutdown in October may have delayed some purchase decisions. At the same time, builder confidence has picked up along with new construction, signaling gains in housing might be well sustained.

Unemployment claims The number of applicants for US unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week to an almost nine-month high, showing fluctuation in the filings that typically occurs around the year-end holidays.

Jobless claims climbed by 10,000 to 379,000 in the previous session, the most since the end of March.

The Federal Reserve trimmed its monthly bond purchases to $75 billion from $85 billion, taking the first step toward unwinding the unprecedented stimulus that Fed Chairman Bernanke put in place to help the economy recover from the worst recession since the 1930s. “Reflecting cumulative progress and an improved outlook for the job market, the committee decided to modestly reduce the monthly pace at which it is adding to the longer-term securities on its balance sheet,” Bernanke said at a press conference after the meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee. The Fed also stated that its benchmark interest rate is likely to stay low “well past the time that the unemployment rate declines below 6.5 percent, especially if projected inflation continues to run below” the Fed’s 2 percent target.

“The action today is intended to keep the level of accommodation the same overall and to push the economy forward,” Bernanke said. “We are committed to doing what is necessary to getting inflation back to target,” he added. “The steps that we take will be data dependent,” he said. “If we’re making progress in terms of inflation and continued job gains, then I imagine we’ll continue to do, probably at each meeting, a measured reduction” in purchases. If the economy slows, the Fed could “skip a meeting or two,” and if the economy accelerates it could taper a “bit faster,” he said. The Fed has said it will keep buying bonds until the outlook for the labor market has “improved substantially.” Bernanke said that the program was on its way to meeting that test.

Arabtec plans property arms; eyes M&A, Egypt DUBAI: United Arab Emirates builder Arabtec signalled yesterday that it aimed to participate more directly in Dubai’s property market boom, announcing plans to establish real estate development arms.

The firm, whose shares are up 52 percent this year because of expectations for increased business as the UAE spends heavily on infrastructure and residential projects, said it would set up real estate development units in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Arabtec will partner with other firms to undertake projects in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and the Gulf states, it said in a statement detailing the resolutions of a Dec 19 board of directors meeting. It also said it would search for new investments, partnerships and acquisitions in the Gulf, though it did not name potential targets. “The board of directors decided to start searching for new investments and entering into new partnerships and acquisitions that would

enhance and boost the group’s activities and companies.”

Last week, the company denied market speculation that it was looking to buy local engineering firm Drake & Scull. The Dubailisted firm, which built the emirate’s famous palm islands, has been on a push for growth after it replaced its chief executive earlier this year in a shake-up led by Abu Dhabi fund Aabar, its largest shareholder, which has been tightening its control of the group.

Arabtec also said it would start discussions with authorities in Egypt to work on “affordable” or low-income housing projects there - an important part of the Egyptian government’s efforts to stimulate the economy and reduce social discontent.

The company already has several projects in Egypt including a contract to build a 23storey hotel and residential complex in Cairo called The Nile Towers. —Reuters

LONDON: Investors have received billions of euros from European companies so cautious about the economic outlook they could find nothing better to do with spare cash, but many now want boards to snap up rivals instead - and are rewarding them when they do. Years of financial crisis meant companies used any surplus first to pay down debt and then keep shareholders sweet with dividends and share buybacks. They spent nearly $3 trillion on buybacks globally since 2008, Thomson Reuters data shows, a rise of more than $150 billion from the 2002-2007 period.

Now the pressure is on firms to put excess cash to work. European M&A is down nearly a quarter on last year to $511 billion, according to Thomson Reuters data. But globally, the shares of active buyers have enjoyed their best run since the financial crisis kicked off, beating quiescent peers by 4.7 percentage points, say consultants Towers Watson.

UK engineer Kentz, for example, rose 13 percent after buying U.S. firm Valerus Field Solutions, and French retailer Carrefour beat its sector, up 1.9 percent, on the day it announced plans to buy 127 malls from real estate group Kleppiere.While the share price of the target company usually rises to reflect the attractive premium a suitor typically has to pay to secure a deal, it is less common for the buyer’s stock to gain. “The share prices of buyers have generally reacted positively to the announcement of acquisitions this year. That shows that investors want companies to put money to work and not to hoard cash,” said Wolfgang Fink, head of investment banking at Goldman Sachs in Germany and Austria.

For companies worth $1 billion and more, JPMorgan research puts that hoard of cash or cash equivalents at $5.3 trillion globally, up from $5.2 trillion in 2012.

Swedish telecom Ericsson, for example, was carrying net cash of 24.7 billion Swedish crowns ($3.75 billion) at the end of the third quarter, while carmaker Volvo had 20.8 bilion crowns.

More deals And in a sign that a broader range of investors expect more deals, hedge funds that bet on the outcome of M&A - and need a healthy stream of deals to make money - have pulled in $16.4 billion this year after seeing $6.6 billion take flight last year. Christer Gardell, co-founder of Cevian Capital, one of Europe’s largest activist investors, told Reuters last month he expected rising corporate confidence to spark a burst of deals.

KABUL: An Afghan shopkeeper drinks tea as he waits for customers in Kabul yesterday. Over a third of Afghans are living in abject poverty, as those in power are more concerned about addressing their vested interests rather than the basic needs of the population, a UN report said. — AFP Hernan Cristerna, global head of M&A at Sensible deals The dilemma for many firms is what to buy. JPMorgan. “But if you keep returning cash to Executives remain wary after being forced to shareholders, you then take the risk of comprowrite down the value of assets bought pre-crisis, mising the future.” The safest bet for many and while the economic outlook is improving, it boards looking to hit the spot for investors is patchy and slow. “Assuming the economy is would be to focus on smaller deals, said Ed getting better, there are a fair number of compa- Shing, global equity portfolio manager at BCS nies sitting on cash that should be employed Asset Management. “People are prepared to more gainfully,” said Nick Williams, head of stump up money for a sensible deal where Baring Asset Management’s small and mid-cap you’re not paying a ridiculous multiple - big takequity team, which has 1 billion pounds in assets ing over smaller, where the valuations are still reasonable, particularly in Europe.” under management.

And when pitching the financial logic of the Recent earnings suggest buyers will be well served by a skeptical eye when assessing value. deal, boards had better focus on more than just European companies lagged expectations on earnings, said Bertie Thomson, senior fund manboth revenues and profits in 2013, and many ager at Aberdeen Asset Management.

Picking a point when the merged company analysts said earnings growth needed to improve in order to see European share indexes finally contributes to the bottom line is a add much to the double-digit gains many are favoured point of reference for executives looksitting on this year. While some firms will invest ing to justify a deal, but as most deals should in upgrading existing assets, still-weak demand boost earnings, investors are more concerned in many sectors means companies have to be with the return on each pound, euro or crown careful not to add capacity where it is not need- spent by the company.

Deals should improve your return on capital, ed.

“Investing and adding capacity can be dan- Thomson said. “Some companies do it better gerous in times of relative economic uncertainty than others, but it’s still quite amazing how because you don’t really know if there is enough many focus more on earnings accretion than on demand to absorb this extra capacity,” said returns.” — Reuters

ECB’s Praet says Italy must work towards lower debt

NICOSIA: A man collects bags containing food items from a food bank in Nicosia, the capital of the east Mediterranean island of Cyprus. — AFP

Cypriots turn to handouts after decades of ‘good life’ NICOSIA: “I would never have thought we’d come to this,” sighed Chris, collecting a bag of free food from a Nicosia church as the economic crisis in Cyprus bites. “I was a carpenter, my wife was in the catering industry.

We had two cars, our life was easy until we lost our jobs” earlier this year, he said. “Now we use a candle at night because we can’t even pay the electricity, and I come and take food here”-something that would have been unthinkable in what had for decades been an affluent country.

The east Mediterranean island, whose economy thrived on tourism and as a financial services centre, has been dragged down for the past two years by recession.

It was rescued from the brink of bankruptcy in March by an EU bailout that saw its banking sector drastically downsized while imposing an austerity regime and sharp curbs on public spending.

Unemployment which had long hovered at around five percent has shot up this year to a record 17 percent and is still rising.

Adding to the squeeze, many employees have at the same time been forced to take pay cuts, along with civil servants and pensioners.

“I have no other choice as no one is working anymore in my family,” said Eleni, a healthy-looking woman in her 50s, picking up a bag of oil, flour and other basics from the Red Cross.

The supplies will have to help feed three sons who have come back home to live because like her, a former van driver, they are jobless. Once the maximum six months of unemployment benefits have run out, more and more Cypriots are having to turn to charities that previously ser ved the island’s large number of foreign workers.

“Since March, the number of Cypriots has increased dramatically,” said Red Cross director Takis Neophytou. “We used to have mainly migrants. Now the number of Cypriots has increased to 50 percent” of the thousands of families receiving aid from the

Red Cross.

According to the Cyprus Statistical Service, 48,000 people-almost six percent of the population-now depend on food banks run by the Greek Orthodox Church, municipalities or individual donors.

The crisis has given risen to a spirit of solidarity likened to the shock of the 1974 Turkish invasion of northern Cyprus that displaced tens of thousands of people who lost everything overnight.

Since last spring, an association of doctors who normally venture to crisis zones abroad has instead focused its humanitarian efforts on their own country’s five cities, offering consultations free of charge.

‘I can’t go to hospital’ In the capital, dozens of patients turn up every weekend at a makeshift surgery run

by Volunteer Doctors in Nicosia’s Venetianwalled Old City. A doctor and a nurse operate out of a chilly, spartan room, with a stock of medicine and impressive-looking medical equipment provided mainly by private surgeries. “The doctor last week diagnosed my daughter with pneumonia,” a father said, warmly thanking the volunteers for the treatment.

“I can’t go to hospital. I lost my job and with it my social security. They’re good professionals here and it ’s free.” The NGO, financed by company and private donations, is made up of dozens of doctors who give up their time on weekends. It is backed up by a network of specialists to whom patients are referred. “Lately, our patients are 25 percent foreigners, including many illegal migrants, and 75 percent Cypriots, mostly retired and unemployed-and many children,” said the head of Volunteer Doctors, George Macriyiannis.

“Some people have trouble paying even the few euros charged since two months ago by public hospitals for each test and appointment,” said Macriyiannis, a cardiologist. —AFP

ROME/MILAN: Italy must keep its public accounts in check and stay on its planned path to lower debt as its economy shows signs of emerging from recession, European Central Bank Executive Board member Peter Praet said in interview yesterday. Praet said there was still risk of another slowdown in the euro-zone’s third-biggest economy if economic reforms were not brought in. “To stay on a sustainable path, it’s essential that the government maintain its commitments,” the economist told Italy’s La Stampa newspaper. “You cannot afford any slippage on the public accounts.”

Praet said fundamental issues such as labor market flexibility and bureaucracy had to be addressed, particularly in an economy that included a large number of small businesses.

“The cost of labour is too high,” Praet said. “That is not to say wages are too high - in fact they are low on average, compared with many other countries. The problem is that productivity has grown too little.”

Praet also said the ECB was ready to act if banking credit dries up and threatens a recovery in the euro zone, although he added that the outlook for investments in the region was improving. “We think that spending on investments will start to pick up in 2014,” he said. Asked how he would respond to those who proposed leaving the euro as an option for Italy, Praet said discussions about abandoning the single currency “do not reflect reality”. Italy’s economy remained flat in the third quarter after two years of contraction, but a spokesman for national statistics bureau ISTAT said earlier this month that was insufficient to show the recession was over. Before rounding, GDP showed another marginal decline between July and September, he added. —Reuters

Britain’s housing market not out of control: Bailey LONDON: The Bank of England is watching Britain’s fast-rising housing market closely and has the tools to take the heat out of it if it gets out of control, the central bank’s Deputy Governor Andrew Bailey said in a newspaper interview published yesterday. The central bank was pleased Britain’s economy was showing signs of sustained growth, but policymakers had to make sure the recovery did not rely too much on property and related consumption, he told the Sunday Telegraph.

“We are very focused on the housing market,” Bailey said.

“We don’t think that at this stage the situation is out of control. We have laid out the tools that we can use. The thing I stress is that we will use those tools.” Keeping rising property prices under control without holding back the rest of the economy is one of the biggest challenges facing the Bank of England. “We have to be very careful about the balance of growth. It is very much dominated by the housing market and the consumption that is attached to that,” he said.

“Our job now of course it to ensure that recovery is sustained and it is sustained in a way that does not become imbalanced and stack up problems for the future.” Record low mortgage rates and a sharp economic upturn have lifted annual house price inflation in Britain to almost 8 percent, according to mortgage lender Halifax. London and parts of southeast England are recording even steeper gains, stoking fears of a bubble. BoE Governor Mark Carney warned earlier this month that Britain’s housing market had a history of moving “from stall speed to warp speed”. Carney has been clear that he wants to use macro-prudential tools, which target systemic risks, rather than interest rates to rein in the property market. Bailey also told the Sunday Telegraph that Britain’s banks had substantially strengthened their capital positions during 2013. — Reuters

MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2013

BUSINESS

Car Bazar names Cadillac ATS, the Entry Luxury Sedan of the Year KUWAIT: Yusuf A Alghanim & Sons is once again proud to announce that Cadillac ATS the brand’s entr y into the world’s most significant luxury compact car segment - was named the Entry Luxury Sedan of the Year at the 2013 Dubai International Motor Show by the leading regional automotive magazine, Car Bazar.

“We are incredibly proud to have received such high recognition,” said Maurice Williams, President and Managing Director of General Motors Middle East. “The Cadillac ATS is able to challenge the world’s best compact luxury cars. This accolade is without doubt, further testament to the vehicle’s incredible roster of revolutionary features.”

The Cadillac ATS -Powered by 3.6 liter ,V6 engine & 321 horsepower- boasts a sophisticated driving experience, enhanced with Cadillac CUE - a comprehensive, in-vehicle user experience that merges intuitive design with industry-first

controls and commands for information and media data.

Developed on all-new, lightweight rear-drive architecture, the ATS reflects a new expres-

sion of Cadillac’s Art & Science execution philosophy, centered on a foundation of driving dynamics and mass efficiency.

It is the most agile and light-

weight Cadillac, with one of the lowest curb weights in the segment - 1,504 kg on the 2.5L I4.

Bazar Award was the latest chapter of Cadillac ATS’s ongo-

ing story of success, as the car was recently also named the Best Executive Sedan in the 2013 Middle East Motor Awards, 2013 North American

Car of the Year, Esquire Car of the Year, Popular Mechanics Automotive Excellence Award, and the Motor Press Guild’s Car of the Year.

Nissan Al-Babtain successfully concludes vehicle safety campaign KUWAIT: Abdulmohsen Abdulaziz AlBabtain Co, the sole authorized distributor of Nissan Motor Co in Kuwait successfully concluded its “Nissan Vehicle Safety Campaign” on December 12, 2013.

Mohamad Shalaby, Chief Operating Officer of Al-Babtain group of companies, commented “It was satisfying to note that “Nissan Safety Clinic Yr. 2013” met its objective to raise awareness amongst the Nissan users about consistently maintaining safe driving condition of the vehicle through its regular maintenance, during and after the warranty period”. A Nissan car, when well maintained at its distributor - Al-Babtain, ensures safety of its occupants, long trouble free driving experience and better resale value of the car. Today, Nissan Al-Babtain is proud to have the largest aftersales network in Kuwait consisting of 8 Nissan Service Centers and 4 Nissan Parts outlets, conveniently located throughout Kuwait. Passionate about providing the vehicles with the best services, Nissan factory-trained tech-

Etihad Airways celebrates holiday season with festive photo competition KUWAIT: Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, will capture the spirit of the upcoming holiday season with an exciting photo competition on its social media channels.

Launched today, the competition invites people across the globe to submit original photos from their travels on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, using the hashtag #EYFollowYou. The background of the photo can reflect any aspect of the holiday experience, such as visiting a world-famous landmark, having dinner at a local restaurant, or relaxing onboard an aircraft.

The competition guidelines provide full details of the specific pose to be adopted in the photos, along with terms and conditions. The competition is open until 31 January 2014 and a selection of the best entries will be showcased on Etihad Airways’ global Facebook page.

The lucky winner will receive a pair of Coral Economy return tickets to any desti-

nation in the Etihad Airways network, subject to terms and conditions.

Peter Baumgartner, Chief Commercial Officer of Etihad Airways, said: “Through our social media channels, we engage with a fast-growing community of followers across the globe. Over 600,000 people now like us on Facebook alone, almost double the number from a year ago.

“At the heart of a successful social media strategy is two-way communication. We can update our followers on the very latest brand, product and sponsorship news, while receiving their valuable feedback in return. “We know our followers have some incredible holidays planned in the coming weeks, so this is a great opportunity for them to share their travel experiences with us and potentially win an exciting prize along the way.”

For more information on the terms and conditions of the#EYFollowYouco-mpetition, please visit: www.facebook.com/etihadairways.

Prestige account with exclusive benefits from ABK KUWAIT: Al-Ahli Bank of Kuwait presents its special services for Prestige account customers, those with salaries at KD 1000 or above, or for deposit holders with not less than KD 25,000.

The Bank distinguishes its Prestige account customers by offering them several advantages like a credit card, homedelivered free of charge, free of charge money transfers, 50 percent discount on monthly deductions as well as services to link and cover accounts.

ABK offers Prestige account holders free membership to Skywards. They earn Skywards Miles on every KD spent on purchases using ABK credit cards, and receive discounts via the ABK Advantage program.

Stewart Lockie, General Manager of Retail Banking stated, “ABK’s Prestige account gives exceptional, unmatched benefits to KD 1000 and above salary holders. They can receive a prior approval on a loan up to KD70,000, SMS Banking service, daily cash withdrawal up to KD 2000 from ATMs, Online banking, in addition to receiving a statement of account, a check-

book and a safe deposit box free of charge”.

Lockie added, “ The safe deposit box service allows customers to save their documents, important jewels and valuables in a safe place, especially while traveling,” pointing out that the service provided by ABK stands out in the sense of how easy it is to have peace of mind. Safe deposit boxes are all the more convenient as they are available in many branches including Ahmadi, Fahaheel, Farwaniya, Hadeya, Main Branch, Jabriya, Jleeb Al-Shoyoukh, Salmiya, Sharq, Shuwaikh, Qurain, Zahra, Andalus and Sabah”.

To make Prestige an even more luxurious experience, ABK offers Prestige cardholders valet parking services at 3 gates at the Marina Mall, PF Changs Restaurant on the Arabian Gulf Road, Slider Station Restaurant opposite Al-Seif palace, Fish Market Restaurant on the Arabian Gulf Street, Marina Hotel, in addition to Starbucks - Keifan and Jabriyah. To avail valet parking free of charge all you have to do is show your Prestige card.

nicians’ ensure that the customer enjoys trouble free motoring.

Rauf Mohammed, National Service manager, was pleased to note that many Nissan owners availed of this offer, for a Free 13 point’s vehicle Safety check-up and received the diagnostic evaluation of recommended repairs. He observed that many customers repaired their vehicles by availing offer of 25 percent discount on Nissan Genuine parts and 10 percent discount on labor charges. Nissan Aftersales Service & Parts continuously comes out with different promotions and campaigns throughout the year to ensure Nissan ownership is most satisfying during its lifecycle.

Nissan Al-Babtain is committed to continuously offer high vehicle service standards in Kuwait and offer the best after-sale ser vices to its customers. Nissan recommends that regular servicing and general vehicle maintenance is integral to reliability roadworthiness - safety of the vehicle, driver & their family and the society at large.

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

The draw was held under the supervision of the Ministry of Commerce & Industry represented by Saquer Al-Manaie.

The winners of the Najma daily draw are : Haider Maseh Attaey KD 7,000 Jyothi Ramachandran KD 7000, Ali Khaled Ali Boukhan KD 7000, Khan Mohammed Haji KD 7000, Naseem Akhter Parvez KD 7000.

The Commercial Bank of Kuwait announces the biggest daily draw in Kuwait with the launch of the new Najma account. Customers of the bank can now enjoy a KD7,000 daily prize which is the highest in the country and another 4 mega prizes during the year worth KD100,000 each on different occasions: The National Day, Eid Al-Fitr, Eid Al-Adha and on the 19th of June which is the date of the bank’s establishment.

With a minimum balance of KD500, cus-

tomers will be eligible for the daily draw provided that the money is in the account one week prior to the daily draw or two months prior to the mega draw. In addition, for each KD25 a customer can get one chance for winning instead of KD50. Commercial Bank of Kuwait takes this opportunity to congratulate all lucky winners and also extends appreciation to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry for their effective supervision of the draws which were conducted in an orderly and organized manner.

Memac Ogilvy PR wins big at MEPRA Awards ‘Best overall campaign of the year’ KUWAIT: For the second consecutive year, Memac Ogilvy Public Relations shined at Middle East PR Association (MEPRA) awards ceremonythe leading public relations industry awards program in the Middle East. The night’s final earnings included 3 prestigious awards: the ‘Highly Commended award for Best practice in the Healthcare and Service’ won by Pfizer-Hidden Faces of Diabetes (HFD) Awareness Campaign in Algeria, the ‘Best Use of Social Media/ Digital PR’ and ‘Overall Campaign of the Year’ won by Sprite Min Al-Akhercampaign created by Dubai office.

Dubai “Sprite “Min Al Akher” Campaignfor Coca-Cola created a series of comic mini webisodes, each around 5 minutes that took a refreshingly honest spin on life with bold views of Saudi’s social struggles. The campaign was leveraged on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter accounts. The campaign used the online stratosphere (Sprite and sa7i.com) as it offers limited filtering, facilitates freedom of expression providing consumers with the opportunity to be heard. While the “no sugar coating policy”

evoked a lot of criticism, Sprite remained true to its brand personality, meeting resistance with persistence. Within eight weeks, haters turned into loyal followers and the campaign reached epic proportions winning 2 prestigious awards in MEPRA. “ The Hidden Faces of Diabetes” was an awareness campaign created for Pfizer by Memac Ogilvy Algeria. An interactive two-day event was organized to make people experience the daily life of a diabetic patient. As a result 13 percent of attendees subscribed to the Algiers Association of Diabetics while 65 percent confirmed their appointment with the specialized doctors. The campaign aimed at raising awareness on the complications of diabetes won the ‘Highly Commended Award for Best practice in Healthcare and Service’.

Edmond Moutran, chairman and CEO of Memac Ogilvy Middle East and North Africa, voiced his pride towards the teams who achieved great results: ‘Itmakes me feel so gratified to see the efforts of our hard work recog-

nized. Creativity is the core element of our business and these awards are testament to the efforts and dedication that we invest in each campaign we develop. Grabbing three awards by our largest office and our smallest one is a benchmark for next year’s ceremony where we aim to maintain our success and win bigger in MEPRA’.

SaadaHammad, Regional PR Director, Memac Ogilvy PR MENA said:”Bringing home again the award of’Best Use in social Media/ Digital PR’ is an excellent proof of our persistence to develop award winning campaigns that answer our clients’ expectations”, adding: “However, winning the “Overall Campaign of the Year” -a category you cannot choose to enter and offered to one campaign that stands out above all others, is a significant milestone especially that the jury’s decision was unanimous”. Memac Ogilvy PR is a part of Memac Ogilvy group established in Bahrain in 1984. Since then, it has grown from one person to more than 60, and expanded to include 16 offices across the region.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2013

technology

Affinity casino company warns of data breaches LAS VEGAS: A Las Vegas company that owns casinos in Nevada, Colorado, Iowa and Missouri fell victim to a cyberattack earlier this year, compromising the credit and debit card information of patrons at 11 sites, company officials said Friday.

Affinity Gaming officials said its system is now secure, but it recommended that customers who visited its casinos and hotels between March 14 and Oct. 16 check their card statements for suspicious activity and put a fraud alert on their accounts. “Affinity regrets any inconvenience this incident may cause and has established a confi-

dential, toll-free inquiry line to assist its customers,” the company said in a statement Friday.

The company was notified Oct. 24 about fraudulent charges that may have been linked to an Affinity casino in Iowa. Affinity said it immediately began an investigation that determined the system used throughout the casino chain was infected by malware.

A notice was posted on the company’s website Nov. 14, while Friday’s notice was distributed more broadly. It wasn’t clear how many cardholders are affected, but Affinity’s lawyer, Jim

Prendergast, estimated it was fewer than 300,000.

Authorities were still investigating the source of the hack. Las Vegas police and officials from the FBI and Nevada Gaming Control Board weren’t immediately available to comment on the situation.

Affinity Gaming owns five casinos in Nevada: Silver Sevens Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas; Rail City Casino in Sparks; and Buffalo Bill’s Resort & Casino, Primm Valley Resort & Casino, and Whiskey Pete’s Hotel & Casino, in Primm, near the California state line. The company also owns

Golden Mardi Gras Casino, Golden Gates Casino and Golden Gulch Casino in Black Hawk, Colorado; Lakeside Hotel & Casino in Osceola, Iowa; Mark Twain Casino & RV Park in La Grange, Montana.; and St. Jo Frontier Casino in St. Joseph, Montana.

Affinity also announced a separate breach at the large Primm Center Gas Station in Primm.

Prendergast said skimmers that can surreptitiously read debit and credit card data were placed on three gas pumps on an unknown date, and the situation was cleared by Nov 29. — AP

Robots to the rescue at international trials

NEW YORK: A Nook GlowLight, top, a Kindle Paperwhite (right) and a Kobo Aura, in New York. E-readers are cheaper than full-fledged tablets. —AP

Finnish city Oulu sees light at end of Nokia tunnel OULU: From early December, the Finnish city of Oulu is trapped in darkness for all but a few murky midday hours, a darkness some feared might be matched by its economic prospects after big local employer Nokia hit the skids.

Oulu, with a population of about a quarter million, was once a key Nokia R&D site, before the mobile maker was left for dead in the global smartphone race by Apple’s iPhone and handsets running Google’s Android software.

Nokia and its networks venture at one point employed about 5,000 people in Oulu, more than three times the next biggest private sector employer, but now it has work for less than half that.

The city’s unemployment rate topped 16 percent in the summer, a level not seen since the Finnish financial crisis of the early 1990s. But despite the gloom, and an average annual temperature of 2 degrees Celsius (36F), the buds of a recovery are visible in Finland’s biggest northern city, 600 kilometres from Helsinki.

It is becoming a model for the rest of the country as it fights to fill the gap left by Nokia’s tumbling sales and the tens of thousands of job cuts that preceded the former world beater’s September decision to give up the mobile business and sell to Microsoft.

Oulu is now a leading candidate to host a new data centre for Microsoft, which wants to invest $250 million on such facilities in Finland after it takes over the Nokia business next year. Former “Nokians” are starting to land on their feet, too.

Pasi Leipala, a former senior manager at Nokia, is now chief executive at Haltian, which designs electronics and software products and is one of the city’s most successful start-ups. Last year you could count its employees on the fingers of one hand.

Now it has a staff of 70.

“The best thing about Oulu is that there are so many skilled people; it’s easy to hire some of the best talents,” said Leipala. US wireless chipmaker Broadcom is expected to save hundreds of jobs by buying the Finnish wireless modem division of Japan’s Renesas Electronics, which previously planned to dismiss all employees in Oulu, most of whom had transferred from Nokia back in 2010.

Telecom equipment maker Nokia Solutions and Networks, which will account for 90 percent of group turnover after the sale of the handset division, also plans to keep its 2,300 workers in Oulu, and there is talk of hiring more.

Oulu’s resilience is in part a national story, the fruits of a determined focus on educational standards, which keeps the nation of 5.4 million people competitive. Finnish students score highly in international proficiency tests, and an OECD test in October showed its adults second only to the Japanese in both literacy and numeracy.

But even by Finnish standards, Oulu outperforms. A high concentration of technology and science researchers, including those at the University of Oulu and Oulu University of Applied Sciences, means that head for head it outperforms Helsinki by more than two to one in terms of the volume of registered intellectual property

rights, according to city officials.

Make local, sell global The city doesn’t just depend on hi tech, however. Many residents take a short drive to the nearby industrial neighbourhoods to work in traditional businesses such as forestry and machinery.

These sectors have struggled through Europe’s long period of economic stagnation. Finnish industrial output fell for the 12th straight month in October, and the Bank of Finland expects GDP to contract 1 percent in 2013. Some local businesses, however, are finding ways round that weakness. Johanna Koskelainen, CEO of Kymppi-Eristys, a family-owned business specialising in industrial scaffolding and insulation for mining and industrial projects, managed to grow sales this year thanks to overseas contracts.

Its biggest customer has been Stora Enso’s new pulp plant in Uruguay, and more than half the company’s sales comes from outside Finland. “We have to be more global. In Finland I don’t see many big projects in the future,” she said. “The growth is now coming 100 percent from abroad.”

Honkamajat, which makes log houses, has also been growing in overseas markets such as Japan and Russia, while incorporating automation technologies to make the manufacturing and delivery process more efficient.

“We’re now exporting log houses to more than 30 countries,” said CEO Kari Tolvanen in the company’s plant in the outskirts of Oulu. “For example, that one will be taken to Moscow by truck,” he said, pointing to logs being machine-cut with millimetre precision.

He expects sales this year will be near levels before the global financial crisis of 2008, thanks to strong overseas sales.

Without exports, he would be at the mercy of a local factory-made log house market that by total turnover is still around 25 percent lower than pre-crisis levels.

Winter blues While Oulu’s light summer nights and quirky events such as the Air Guitar World Championships attract visitors, some local entrepreneurs have even managed to capitalise on the long dark winters.

Valkee, a company that sells headsets designed to relieve seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a depressive condition that peaks in the cold sunless months, was founded by former Nokia engineer Antti Aunio and his scientist friend Juuso Nissila.

Like many Finns, Aunio struggled with SAD and asked Nissila for advice.

They went on to develop portable devices that treat the condition by channelling bright light directly to photosensitive regions of the brain through the ear canal. It raised 7.4 million euros from investors in June, adding to a previous round in which angel investor Esther Dyson took part.

Others are hoping to emulate their success, helped by funding from Nokia’s Bridge programme for former employees looking to start new businesses, as well as the state’s Tekes fund, which grants money to technology start-ups. —Reuters

HOMESTEAD: As a squat, red-and-black robot nicknamed CHIMP gingerly pushed open a spring-loaded door a gust of wind swooped down onto the track at the Homestead-Miami Speedway and slammed the door shut, eliciting a collective sigh of disappointment from the audience.

The robot, developed by the Tartan Rescue team from the National Robotics Engineering Center at Carnegie Mellon University, was one of 17 competing in the US military’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Robotics Challenge.

The agency, which funded basic science research for now commonplace technologies like the Internet and global positioning satellites, hopes the competition will spur the development of robots that can work in places too dangerous for humans.

The challenge was launched in 2011 in response to the meltdown of Japan’s Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant after it was hit by a massive earthquake-spawned tsunami. Nearly 160,000 people were forced to flee the area.

The backup power systems needed to cool the plant’s reactors failed and an emergency team from Tokyo Electric Power Company was unable to enter the damaged reactor building due to the intense radiation.

DARPA sent robots designed to disarm improvised explosive devices in Iraq to Japan, yet by the time workers were trained to use them it was too late to prevent a nuclear meltdown.

“What we realized was ... these robots couldn’t do anything other than observe,” said Gill Pratt, program manager for the DARPA Robotics Challenge. “What they needed was a robot to go into that reactor building and shut off the valves.”

Hydrogen continued building in the days that followed, fueling a massive explosion.

During the two-day trials at a south Florida professional race car track, the platoon of robots faced obstacles designed to mimic the challenges following a disaster. Robots had to cut through a reinforced concrete wall, navigate debris-strewn terrain and locate and turn off leaking valves. Officials from DARPA also disrupted the link between robots and their operators, further simulating a disaster.

The eight teams with the highest scores will be awarded $1 million in funding to prepare for the final round in late 2014, where a winner will take $2 million.

While Carnegie-Mellon’s CHIMP eventually opened the door, leading the field on Saturday was a two-legged robot from Japan’s team SCHAFT, which finished first in the test, according to the DARPA Challenge website.

The Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition, based in Pensacola, Florida, took second place. Third went to Carnegie Mellon and CHIMP. Successes in the challenges are about as common as failures. Many robots tumbled off an industrial ladder designed to test sight and balance.

“Murphy’s law is very big in robotics,” said Daniel Lee, a robotics professor at the University of Pennsylvania and program director for Team THOR, an agile, human-form robot, whose acronym stands for Tactical Hazardous Operations Robot. “It’s very difficult to account for all of the uncertainties that you’re going to face,” he said.

A handful of teams, including ones from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Lockheed

FLORIDA: Members of Team Valkyrie, NASA Johnson Space Center, try to repair Valkyrie after it stopped responding during the wall task at the Homestead-Miami Speedway, Friday, in Homestead, Florida. Seventeen teams from the United States, China, Japan, and Korea are participating in the DARPA Rpbotics Challenge Trials. The event is a test of some of the most advanced robots in the world. — AP Martin, used a six-foot-two-inch, 330-pound humanoid robot named Atlas that DARPA contracted from Boston Dynamics, a company that was spun out of MIT in 1992 and recently acquired by Google.

A team from NASA’s Johnson Space Center competed with a robot called Valkyrie covered in white plastic and vinyl, looking like a human wearing a robot suit.

Some robots looked highly mechanized, while others had four legs and resembled a dog.

“The goal is to make it comfortable for people to

work with and to touch,” said Christopher McQuin, NASA’s chief engineer for hardware development.

After the final round next year Pratt said there are plans for another robotics challenge, possibly to be hosted in Japan.

For the next advance in robotics, he said, “the amount of intelligence inside the robots needs to be able to handle small tasks.”

“We don’t want to burden human operators with saying put your foot here, put your other foot here, put your hand there,” he added. — Reuters

Streaming players project video to TV NEW YORK: I was happy watching television shows and movies on my computer - until I realized what I was missing. Streaming video devices such as Roku, Apple TV and Google’s Chromecast project video from Netflix, YouTube and other services onto the big-screen TV. Suddenly, the computer seems inadequate. Internet television will never be the same.

Internet-connected TVs, TiVo digital video recorders and various game consoles also come with apps for video services. But frequent users of these services will likely want a device that focuses on doing that one thing well.

People must still subscribe individually to Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Instant Video, Major League Baseball and other services, though that can often be done right from the TV screen. Some services require a subscription with certain cable or satellite TV providers. With HBO Go, for instance, Comcast and DirecTV subscribers can use Apple TVs but not Rokus, while it’s the other way around with Charter.

Roku 3: Roku started as a project within Netflix, which was looking for a cheap way for subscribers to get Internet movies and TV shows onto regular TVs. Roku was spun out into a separate company, and the device now works all major video services except Apple’s iTunes.

It also plays games such as “Angry Birds,” offers language lessons, supports music services such as Pandora and Spotify and lets you browse photos on Smugmug, Flickr and other services. All told, there are more than 1,000 apps available from Roku’s store, many of them free.

Apps often replicate the experience on the services’ websites. With Hulu, for instance, you can browse video by genre or play items in your queue.

With Netflix, you get profiles for up to five individuals, with separate recommendations and watch lists.

With each service designing its own app, it feels as though I have 1,000 devices in one. Each app has its own on-screen keyboard when searching for video. The remote’s up button gets me options such as closed captioning on Hulu, but it exits the video

on Amazon and Netflix.

Roku’s remote control has an unconventional headphone jack. Plug a pair in, and sound on the TV will automatically turn off. That’s great if others in your household are trying to read or sleep.

Like Apple TV and Chromecast, the Roku 3 requires a high-definition TV with an HDMI port.

Roku has cheaper models that work on older TVs, but they have slower processors and require Wi-Fi. The Roku 3 and Apple TV let you plug in an Internet cable if your wireless connection is fussy.

Apple TV: Think of Apple TV as a Roku with fewer apps only 27, plus Apple’s own services. Apple is constantly adding new ones, and those get installed automatically. Apple wants to keep the device clean and focus on the services people use most. It offers Netflix, Hulu, PBS, HBO, ESPN, YouTube and more though Amazon’s service is missing.

However, Apple TV is alone in supporting Apple’s services. You can buy or rent iTunes content right from the device, or you can play music and video stored on iCloud or your computer, iPhone or iPad. Instead of Pandora or Spotify, you get Apple’s streaming music service, iTunes Radio.

Where Apple TV excels is in consistency. The keyboard is the same whether you’re on HBO Go, Hulu Plus or Netflix, and the menu layout is similar from app to app. You can subscribe to many of the services right from the device and have that billed to your iTunes account. No need to search for your credit card each time, as Roku requires.

Apple TV works fine as a stand-alone device, but much of its power comes from working with other Apple products. Place an iPhone or an iPad with iOS 7 near the Apple TV to bypass the initial setup and transfer account information wirelessly. With AirPlay, your iPhone, iPad or Mac can launch content not available through the included apps. That’s the way I watched “Margin Call” on Amazon. Charter subscribers can watch HBO that way, too. Unfortunately, DVDs are blocked because of rights issues. You’ll have to figure out a way to hook up your computer

to the TV directly, or buy a DVD player. On Windows computers, AirPlay is limited to iTunes content and photos. In many cases, you can keep using your phone or tablet while the video plays on the TV. With the latest Mac system, Mavericks, you also can turn the Apple TV into an extension of your desktop, though your Mac and Internet connection both need to be strong.

Chromecast: Google’s device is a third the price of the others, but it’s also quite dumb by design. It is the size of a USB flash drive and plugs into an HDMI port. Turn on the TV - and nothing happens.

It’s more of a conduit between the TV and your mobile device. Start by downloading Google’s Chromecast app on your Apple or Android device.

Then download one or more of the 17 apps supported. The list is short, but growing. As with Apple TV, Amazon’s service isn’t supported. Neither is Apple’s iTunes. But it’s alone among the three devices to support music and video through Google Play. The Chromecast is the best option when individuals in a household have separate accounts for Hulu and other services. Each person controls the device from his or her phone; with Apple TV and Roku, it’s annoying to sign in and out each time.

Once you have content running on your phone or tablet, you tap a button to fling it to the TV. You can then use your device for other things. You can forward, rewind or pause video from the phone, but you’re stuck with that video once the phone loses its connection with the Chromecast, which happened often. The Wi-Fi connection needs to be strong, and Chromecast offers no wired alternative, as the others do.

From a personal computer, you can mirror a Chrome browser tab on the big screen. Again, the connection often cuts out. With all three devices, I have occasional problems with audio and video not syncing properly, making it seem as though I’m watching a badly dubbed foreign film. It happened most often on the Chromecast and the least on Apple TV. — AP

MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2013

H E A LT H & S C I E N C E

Spain govt approves new restrictive abortion law MADRID: Spain’s conservative government on Friday approved tight restrictions on abortion, allowing the practice only in the case of rape or when there is a serious health risk to the mother or fetus. The previous government made abortion widely legal before the 14th week only three years ago. But the ruling Popular Party has long sided with the Roman Catholic Church on moral and social issues and made changing the law one of its main promises in the 2011 vote that brought it to power.

Justice Minister Alberto RuizGallardon said the change was necessary to provide greater protection for both women and the unborn. “What the government understands is that in the dramatic circumstances of an abortion the woman is not guilty. The woman is always the victim,” he said.

The bill has been vigorously opposed by most opposition parties and women’s

groups, who see it as an attack on women’s rights and a step backward compared to Spain’s neighbors in Europe. The legislation must still be approved by parliament, but the Popular Party’s large majority means it is almost certain to pass.

More than 1,000 people marched to the Justice Ministry late Friday and scuffles with police broke out after a life-size effigy of Ruiz-Gallardon was burned. An Associated Press photographer saw four protesters arrested and at least one covered in blood and being treated for injuries after police charged toward them.

Women seeking abortions will need approval from two doctors who are not performing the procedure and doctors can decline to perform an abortion for reasons of conscience, Ruiz-Gallardon said. The likelihood of a child being born with disabilities will not be an accept-

able justification for abortion. RuizGallardon said 16- and 17-year-olds will once again have to obtain permission from their parents - and be accompanied by them - to have an abortion.

The minister stressed that the reform was a campaign pledge, though critics say that the party has broken nearly every election promise, including his pledge not to increase taxes or cut public sector pensions, as it imposes biting austerity to try to get Spain out of its crippling economic crisis.

Francisca Garcia of the Association of Accredited Abortion Clinics, which represents the vast majority of Spain’s abortion clinics, said that about 100,000 of the 118,000 abortions carried out last year would be illegal under the new legislation. Women’s groups across the country have called on women in parliament, regardless of their party membership, to reject the legislation.—AP

SPAIN: A man pushes a stroller past an activist holding a poster reading “help me go to London to have an abortion” to raise money for a women’s organization in Spain as a protest against the government’s recently approved tightening of restrictions on abortions in Madrid.—AFP

Dads to diapers and more, myth-busting survey says

NEW YORK: Mayor Michael Bloomberg stands in the doorway of the 7 subway train as he leaves a news conference on the platform where he discussed the extension of the line, Friday.—AP

Bloomberg leaves rich public health legacy in NYC NEW YORK: Michael Bloomberg steered New York City through economic recession, a catastrophic hurricane and the aftermath of the Sept 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, but he may always be remembered, accurately or not, as the mayor who wanted to ban the Big Gulp - a super-sized soda drink. After 12 years, Bloomberg leaves office Dec 31 with a unique record as a public health crusader who attacked cigarettes, artery-clogging fats and big sugary drinks with as much zeal as most mayors go after crack dens and graffiti. And while Bloomberg’s audacious initiatives weren’t uniformly successful, often leading to court challenges and criticisms that he was turning New York into a “nanny state,” experts say they helped reshape just how far a city government can go to protect people from an unhealthy lifestyle.

“He has been a transformative leader,” said Dr Linda Fried, dean of Columbia University’s school of public health. “He has created a model for how to improve a city’s health.” Coming into office as a billionaire businessman who made his fortune selling data to Wall Street, Bloomberg was accustomed to using hard, cold research to drive decisions, and it was an approach he used effectively on matters of public health.

Bloomberg pushed to ban smoking in indoor public spaces and prohibit cigarette sales to anyone under 21. He got artificial trans-fat banned from restaurant food - an action that led fast food giants like McDonald’s and Dunkin Donuts to change their recipes rather than lose access to the New York market.

He got restaurant chains to start posting calorie counts on their menus, lobbied food processors to add less salt to their products and got city schools to start serving healthier meals. The city distributed millions of free condoms, emblazoned with an “NYC” logo, in an attempt to cut down on teen pregnancy and HIV transmission. One of his pet ini-

tiatives essentially created a new public transportation system built around bicycles.

Bloomberg also put new data collection and analytical tools in place to track all the new policies.

Bloomberg’s successful efforts Among the results: The adult smoking rate has declined from 21.5 percent in 2002 to 15.5 percent today. Childhood obesity rates inched down among schoolchildren.

Life expectancy has increased in the city by three years since Bloomberg took office, compared to 1.8 years in the rest of the country. “We’ve shown that local government can take on the biggest public health problems of our time, and win,” said the city’s health commissioner, Dr Thomas Farley. Along the way, he influenced national policy. President Barack Obama’s signature health care reform law contained a provision, modeled after the one in New York that will require chain restaurants nationwide to post calorie counts on their menus.

The Food and Drug Administration said last month that it was adopting its own trans-fat ban, and would phase the substance out of the food supply for good.

Bloomberg launched his career as a health policymaker almost immediately on taking office in 2002. At the time, the municipal cigarette tax was 8 cents a pack.

Bloomberg got it increased to $1.50, saying he wanted to make cigarettes so expensive people would be forced to quit. Subsequent increases in the state tax have since raised the per-pack tax to $5.85 within city limits.

Banning smoking in restaurants Then he went after smoking in public places. New York wasn’t the first place to ban smoking in bars and restaurants. California had done it in 1998. But the cultural impact of New York’s ban seemed to resonate further.—AP

Past sperm and egg donors split on losing anonymity NEW YORK: People who donated sperm and eggs before 1998 in one Australian state were able to remain anonymous, but potential new laws could have changed that. A recent study found those donors were split on the idea of possible contact from their donor children.

Victoria, Australia introduced legislation to ban anonymous sperm and egg donation in 1998. “This means that donor-conceived children who were born after 1998 have a legal right to access information about their donor,” Karin Hammarberg told Reuters Health by email.

Hammarberg is a postdoctoral research fellow at the School of Public Health and Preventative Medicine at Monash University in Melbourne. It was also suggested that the government change the law to allow everyone conceived through sperm and egg donations to find information about their donor including pre-1998 donors who thought they could stay anonymous, she said. But before deciding, the government wanted to ask people who donated in the past how they would feel about no longer being anonymous, and reached out to Monash University researchers.

During early 2013, Hammarberg and her colleagues interviewed 42 people who had donated eggs or sperm anonymously before 1998. Just under half of the donors supported the recommendation to retrospectively remove their anonymity. They emphasized

the needs of donor-conceived people to understand who their biological parents are.

Some of those people also suggested donors should have access to identifying details about their donor offspring, according to findings published in Human Reproduction.

The rest of the donors rejected the recommendation, saying it would violate the terms of a contract and undermine trust in privacy and confidentiality guarantees. Many of them thought revealing their identities to donor children would harm them and their families.

About half of the donors who rejected the recommendation were themselves willing to supply information to their donor offspring.

They suggested the compromise of persuading donors to voluntarily release information to donor-conceived people. Many of them also thought parents should be encouraged to tell their children about their donor conception, and some thought it should be required.

It’s impossible to know if the views of these 42 donors represent the views of all Australians who donated eggs or sperm before 1998, the researchers noted. In August 2013, the Victorian government considered the sur vey findings. Although acknowledging the right of donor-conceived people to have information about their donors, the government decided identifying information should only be released with a donor’s consent.—Reuters

CHICAGO: The detached dad, turning up his nose at diapering and too busy to bathe, dress and play with his kids, is mostly a myth, a big government survey suggests. Most American fathers say they are heavily involved in hands-on parenting, the researchers found. The nationally representative survey shows fathers’ involvement has increased slightly since the government first asked in 2002, coinciding with research since then that bolsters the benefits of hands-on fathering.

The results are encouraging and important “because others have found the more involved dads are, the better the outcomes for their children,” said researcher Jo Jones of the National Center for Health Statistics, part of the Centers for Disease Control Prevention. She co-authored the report released Friday. More academic success, fewer behavior problems and healthier eating habits are just some of the ways fathers’ involvement has been linked with children’s well-being.

“Times have changed,” said Robert Loftus, 34, of Yonkers, NY. He quit a six-figure sales job a year ago to care for his two young children while his wife works full time. “We’re trying to rethink our priorities and family seems to be the No. 1 priority whereas in the past maybe people were more focused on career.” The results build on volumes of research showing changes in the American family since the baby boom years and before, when women were mostly stay-at-home moms and dads were the major breadwinners.

As those roles shifted, so did the view that moms are the only nurturers.

University of Chicago sociologist Jennifer Bellamy, who also studies fathering, said some old stereotypes persist, “that dads are sort of the co-pilots in their families,” absent or less involved than moms. But she said the survey confirms that fathers “are quite involved in a variety of different and important ways.” The study involved nearly 4,000 fathers aged 15 to 44 who were interviewed in person between 2006 and 2010.

One caveat: They self-reported their involvement, without input from their partners or others. Most men were married or living with a partner.

Key findings among fathers living with children younger than 5: 9 in 10 bathed, diapered, helped them use the toilet or get dressed at least several times weekly.

Even higher numbers played with them and ate meals with them that often.

Almost 2 out of 3 read to them at least several times weekly.

Among dads living with kids aged 5-18: More than 9 out of 10 ate meals with them at

CHICAGO: File photo shows Matt Redmond, 3, and his father, Mike, ride a sled down a hill after an overnight snowfall in Baltimore.—AP least several times weekly and talked with them about what happened during the kids’ day that often.

Almost 2 out of 3 helped with homework several times weekly.

About half took their kids to or from activities that often.

Overall, almost 90 percent of dads said they thought they were doing at least a good job of fathering.

The researchers noted that during the study years, 45 percent of US men - 28 million - aged 15 to 44 had a biological child. About the same number had a biological, adopted or non-related child living with them or an adopted or biological child living elsewhere. Survey questions were based on whether dads were living with their biological or unrelated kids, or apart.

Most lived with their kids. Not surprisingly, men who didn’t were less involved with parenting activities. Even so, several times weekly, at least 1 in 5 still managed to help bathe, diaper, dress, eat or play with their kids. Fathers of older children were generally less involved than those with kids younger than 5 but that’s at least partly due to the changing nature of parenting as children mature.

The survey suggests black fathers may be more involved than whites or Hispanics with some activities, including homework, but Jones downplayed racial differences and said some

were not statistically significant. Men with at least some college education were generally more involved with their kids than less educated fathers.

The CDC did a similar survey in 2002 that showed slightly less father involvement.

Previous CDC surveys relied only on mothers’ responses about family life so aren’t comparable.

A national parenting survey by University of Maryland researchers found that in 2000, married US fathers spent about two hours weekly interacting with their kids aged 18 and younger, more than double the time spent in 1965.

Dr David Hill, a Wilmington, NC, pediatrician and author of “Dad to Dad: Parenting Like a Pro,” said the survey echoes what he’s seen among his patients’ fathers. Increasingly, fathers rather than mothers take their kids to the doctor, he said.

Some “are anxious about changing a diaper,” he said, but the study offers reassuring evidence “that everybody’s doing this.”

Men weren’t asked about employment, or whether they were stay-at-home dads, who still are rare though their ranks have increased.

Census numbers show almost 190,000 nationwide last year versus 93,000 in 2000. Those numbers only include men whose wives have been employed for at least one year Loftus, the New York stay-at-home dad, said he feels lucky to be able to be such a hands-on father. “I’m doing the most important job in the world,” he said.—AP

Australia to monitor Japanese whalers as conflict looms SYDNEY: Australia will send a government jet to conduct aerial surveillance of the Southern Ocean as an annual showdown brews between Japanese whalers and militant conservationists, the environment minister said yesterday. Greg Hunt said Canberra would dispatch an Airbus A-319 Customs and Border Protection crew to monitor exchanges between Japan’s harpoon fleet and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. “The purpose of the Customs mission will be to record the incidents on the high seas. It will be to ensure there is a

presence to make sure that there is no conflict between the parties,” Hunt said.

“It will also be to ensure that there is awareness from all parties that the world is watching.” The government had promised to send a ship to tail the clashing groups, but Hunt said he had settled on aerial surveillance as a more effective way of covering the vast area in which the whalers hunt.

“The flexibility and the range of the A319 allows it to operate across a large area at great speed and therefore it can identify any breach-

es,” he said. “So this is an important asset... it gives us the ability to cover not just one point in the fleet but a variety of points within the whaling fleet.” The aerial mission will run between January and March 2014.

Sea Shepherd activists left Australia for their 10th annual harassment campaign of the Japanese last week as the international community warned against violence from either side.

High-seas clashes between the groups are common and Sea Shepherd, which has sent three ships to the Antarctic this year, reg-

ularly pelts the whaling ships with stink bombs, attempts to foul their propellers and manoeuvres vessels between harpoons and whales.

Last year, the environmental group claimed that a Japanese boat had rammed its vessels on multiple occasions-destroying masts and a radar on the Bob Barker and leaving it without power.

The Japanese claimed their boats had been rammed by the campaigners as tensions in the Southern Ocean soared, two years after a January 2010 collision in which Sea Shepherd’s Ady Gil sank.

Their hunt-conducted under a loophole permitting harpooning for “scientific research”-netted just 103 minke whales, less than half the tally in the previous year, and no fin whales, with Japanese authorities blaming “unforgivable sabotage” by activists.

Australia, the Netherlands, New Zealand and the United States issued a joint memo Friday “unreservedly condemn(ing) dangerous, reckless or unlawful behavior by all participants on either side, whether in the Southern Ocean or else where”. “We will deal with unlawful activity in accordance with relevant international and domestic laws,” the four anti-whaling nations said.

Australia has taken Japan to the International Court of Justice seeking a ruling that its whaling program is illegal. A decision is expected in early 2014.—AFP

MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2013

H E A LT H & S C I E N C E

French implant firm Carmat could seek investors PARIS: France’s Carmat, developer of an artificial heart implanted into its first patient last week, may seek an injection of funds from fresh investors to help tap a potential multi-billion-euro global market, a senior executive said. “We could, at some point, call on new investors,” Carmat co-founder Philippe Pouletty was quoted saying by Le Monde newspaper on Saturday. “Our aim, if possible, is to remain independent.” The company said after Friday’s stock market close it had carried out its first implant of an artificial heart that can beat for up to five years, marking a potential breakthrough for patients with heart conditions.

Company officials warned it was too early to draw firm conclusions from the operation carried out in a Paris hospital on Wednesday, but noted the male patient in his 70s was conscious and talking in intensive care. Pouletty told Le Monde that, once put on sale, the 130,000 euro ($177,700) device had a potential market of 100,000 patients in the United States and Europe. “The medical need is significant, with a market potential of several billion euros,” Pouletty said. “The issue is whether it will be reimbursed by healthcare systems. We are confident about that (as) much less sophisticated artificial hearts of comparable cost are already authorized and reimbursed in a number of countries.”

Shares in the company closed at 102.86 euros on Friday, to give it a stock market value of about 436 million euros. The stock was listed on the Paris bourse in 2010 at 18 euros.

Pouletty, director of investment fund Truffle Capital which funded Carmat’s launch, said the group had raised 16 million euros with its initial stock market flotation and a further 30 million via a share issue in 2011. It also won 33 million funding from France’s Public Investment Bank (BPI).

Pouletty said the company hoped to implant the device into a further three patients in coming weeks and expand trials to around 20 patients next year. If results are positive, it would seek the rights to market the artificial heart in Europe.

Heart-assistance devices have been used for decades as a temporary solution for patients awaiting transplants, but Carmat’s product is designed to replace the real heart over the long run. Among Carmat’s competitors for artificial heart implants are privately-held SynCardia Systems and Abiomed, both of the United States.—Reuters

Teasing tied to less physical activity among kids NEW YORK: Children who are teased while playing sports tend to have a worse quality of life than their non-teased peers, a new study suggests. Some of them may also become less active over time. Teasing not only influences psychological functioning but may reduce physical activity and lead to poorer physical, social, and emotional functioning for children,” Chad D Jensen told Reuters Health in an email. He led the study at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.

The link between teasing and less physical activity is particularly concerning considering most children are already not exercising as much as they should. Previous research shows less than one in 10 children meets the US Department of Health and Human Services’ recommendation to participate in at least one hour of moderate or vigorous physical activity every day.

Jensen and his colleagues surveyed 108 kids, aged nine to 12, in 2010 and again in 2011. They asked kids about their participation in 21 different types of physical activity before, during and after school and how often they had been teased while playing sports or exercising since kindergarten.

The researchers also asked the kids how well they functioned physically, emotionally, with friends and at school. Together those measures were used to determine children’s health-related quality of life. Children who were teased reported a worse quality of life than those who were not. In particular, overweight and obese kids who reported being

teased on the first survey had a poorer quality of life both initially and again one year later, the researchers write in the Journal of Pediatric Psychology.

“Negative effects of teasing appear to be persistent, affecting important outcomes one year after teasing is reported,” Jensen said. Normal-weight kids who reported being teased on the first survey were more likely to become less active over the next year. For overweight and obese children, teasing reported in year two was linked to less physical activity the same year.

“School policy makers are encouraged to think of this form of peer victimization as a direct threat to children’s health outcomes,” write Jensen and his co-authors. “These findings provide support for comprehensive bullying prevention programs and suggest that efforts to reduce peer victimization in the context of physical activity participation may be helpful in promoting physical activity participation and children’s quality of life,” Jensen said. David Palmiter, a psychologist at Marywood University in Scranton, Pennsylvania, said the findings are not surprising.

“Being teased or being bullied in any kind of an ongoing way itself is a symptom . . . and worsens symptoms,” he said. Kids who are teased “often have vulnerabilities,” such as low self-esteem, before the teasing starts.

“Any kid, no matter how healthy they are, can have isolated instances of bullying,” he told Reuters Health. But a pattern of consistent

bullying probably points to inner pain in the child who is bullied, said Palmiter, who wasn’t involved in the new research.

He said one way to address or prevent repeated teasing is to increase the size of children’s friend circles, so they’re not always on the fringes. That way, “They can travel from class to class with a pack,” he said.

Parents can arrange sleepovers and other activities with children’s peers outside of school and boost their children’s confidence

by identifying their areas of strength and making sure they are regularly exposed to these areas.

In addition, Palmiter stressed the importance of parents spending one-on-one time with their children, focused entirely on what the child is doing or saying. He also echoed Jensen’s sentiment about the importance of comprehensive bullying prevention programs. “Every school should have an anti-bullying program,” Palmiter said.—Reuters

MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2013

W H AT ’ S O N

Bulgarian school celebrates Christmas

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he Bulgarian school in Kuwait that is adjacent to the Bulgarian embassy held a Christmas celebration on December 20th. In the wake of Christmas students from the school performed traditional folklore dances and entertained their parents and teachers with songs and Christmas carols. Santa Claus also paid a visit and brought presents to all students.

Hilton Kuwait Resort recognized as a global winner

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ilton Kuwait Resort has been recognized as a global winner in the “Luxury Beach Resort” category at the World Luxury Hotel Awards 2013.

Over 1,000 hotels from 87 countries were nominated to participate in one of the world’s most prestigious hotelier awards in 2013. The upscale Hilton Kuwait Resort raised the bar, outshining top resorts to receive this high profile recognition.

Ziad Tantawi, general manager of

Hilton Kuwait Resort, said:”To be nominated alongside such well-regardedresorts is truly an honor. To have won is a real testament to the outstanding hospitality and high quality facilities we provide at Hilton Kuwait Resort. It is an amazing achievement to receive such recognition and I am thankful to Hilton Kuwait Resort team members for their ongoing commitment to exceeding guest expectations.”

Designed to take full advantage of the sea-facing views, Hilton Kuwait

Resort enjoys direct access to a private 1.75km white sandy beach, where visitors can soak up the sun and unwind; all while enjoying the impeccable service standards of the award-winning Resort.

To indulge their senses, guests can move onto The Spa, to enjoy the aqua-medic pool, sauna, steam room, ice room and tropical showers with a range of exotic treatments.

Combining extensive leisure amenities with top-class MICE facilities, the Resort provides the perfect setting for gatherings in Kuwait City.

From small meetings to large and lavish occasions, the hotel features 11 conference spaces and the exquisite Al Dorra Ballroom, which can host up to 1,250 people.

Marriott opens its doors to ACK students

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n an effort to support the developmental goals of the country, Kuwait Marriott Hotels recently welcomed students from the Australian College of Kuwait (ACK) as interns to develop the local youth in Kuwait by arming the community’s next generation of leaders with extensive knowledge and hands on experience of the hospitality sector.

This internship program is part of Marriott’s Spirit-to-Serve initiative, aiming to serve the local community and reach out to the educational sector.

ACK students were trained to gain practical experience, complementing the theories they’ve been taught at university. A two full day orientation program has also been conducted to them, together with the newly hired associates of the hotel, to introduce them to Marriott’s brands and culture.

As a result of the recently launched Voyage program, a new global university relations program

by Marriott International, Kuwait Marriott Hotels was urged to add more to the educational sector and

influence the youth interested in this significantly growing sector.

George Aoun Cluster General Manager of Kuwait Marriott Hotels said: “This internship program will help secure and maintain our need for excellence by building a strong fort of next generation leaders developed on local grounds. As part of our ongoing famous Spirit-to-Serve community initiative, we seize every opportunity to nurture our young adults in Kuwait and enhance their overall personal and professional experience in the hospitality sector.”

Special needs Sports Day SEND US YOUR INSTAGRAM PICS

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

YMCA Kuwait Christmas Carol

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MCA Kuwait is conducting its 4th Christmas Carol Celebrations on Thursday 2nd January 2014 at Indian Community School (Senior), Salmiya from 6.45 pm onwards. Along with the presence of heavenly angels in our hearts, various Choir groups in Kuwait will sing glory to the new born King. All are heartily invited. For more information please contact: 97542985, 66321499

Write to us Send to What’s On upcoming events, birthdays or celebrations by email: local@kuwaittimes.net Fax: 24835619 / 20

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or the second consecutive year, McDonald’s Kuwait and BOCA Juniors football academy of Kuwait held a special needs sports day at the Boca Juniors Football Academy field at the Salmiya Sports Club. In partnership with the Ideal Education School, 280 special needs children and their families took part in a day of fun games and exciting sports activities.

The children participated in some friendly competition in a wide range of sport activities, surrounded by family and friends who cheered them on. At the end of the day, every child who took part was

awarded a medal in recognition of their participation.

“McDonald’s Kuwait is dedicated to championing a healthy and balanced lifestyle, and sports is of course an integral part of that. With events such as this sports day, we are hoping to encourage the community to make sports and physical activity a permanent part of their lives,” said Adel Fahmy, Marketing Manager at McDonald’s Kuwait. “To demonstrate our commitment to a balanced lifestyle and healthy living, we started out the day by providing the children with a hearty McDonald’s breakfast to fuel their energy for all the long, fun

day ahead”.

The sports day comes as part of the activities carried out under the umbrella of the Yellow Alliance, the collaboration between McDonald’s Kuwait and BOCA Juniors Football Academy Kuwait. The alliance, now in its second year, encourages children to adopt a healthy and active lifestyle, and focuses on bringing families together through the shared love of football.

“Every child deserves to experience the joy that comes from sports and physical activity. This is a joy that brings families together and communities together. The

sports day was an unforgettable experience for the children, and we look forward to more events of the same in years to come” commented Ruben Lineiro, Managing Partner of Boca Juniors Academy Kuwait.

McDonald’s Kuwait continuously supports local youth sports programs, sponsors major sports competitions and focuseson promoting and encouraging an active and balanced lifestyle. McDonald’s has been a proud supporter of the Olympic Movement for the past 40 years and is an official partner of the FIFA World Cup since the 1994 tournament in the United States.

W H AT ’ S O N

MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2013

Embassy Information

Festive offers at Jumeirah Messilah Beach

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or a memorable festive season and New Year celebrations, enjoy a luxury break and feast with family and friends at the Jumeirah Messilah Beach Hotel & Spa. Take your pick from the resort’s restaurants and welcome in the New Year with the ‘Festive Season Package’ at the Talise Spa. This includes a traditional massage, an oxygen awakening facial treatment, plus a Dead Sea body scrub. Complete your break with a stay in a Grand Deluxe room with breakfast at the Garden Café for two.

On Dec 24, try a lavish buffet with international and traditional cuisine including a turkey carving section at the Garden Café. To celebrate this season of gift-giving, presents will be offered to children.

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Both Olio, the hotel’s signature Italian restaurant and Pepper, the hotel’s premium steakhouse, will offer a three-course set menu with welcome drinks.

At the Tea Lounge, guests can try a ‘Holiday Afternoon Tea Buffet’ on 24 and 25 December with traditional sandwiches, cakes, cookies, scones and tea or coffee accompanied by live piano entertainment.

As the year 2013 comes to a close, guests can celebrate at the hotel’s Garden Café with an extravagant selection of buffets and grills offering Indian, Italian, Arabic dishes and an impressive selection of desserts.

Celebrate the New Year ‘family style’ at Pepper with a stylish five course set menu or for Italian flavours head to Olio for a four course set menu.

EMBASSY OF SOUTH AFRICA The Embassy of the Republic of South Africa has the honour to inform that on the occasion of the Christmas and New Year, the Embassy will remain closed from 24 December 2013 and will reopen again on 5th January 2014. nnnnnnn

AIP officials visit new Indian ambassador

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xecutive Committee Members of the Association of Indian Professionals (AIP) welcomed the Ambassador of India, Sunil Jain by a recent courtesy visit to his office. General Secretary of AIP, Umesh Sharma welcomed the ambassador and extended all possible support to the embassy as and when required. Sharma apprised the envoy of the welfare activities AIP undertakes exclusively for the Indian Community in Kuwait and particularly Indian students in Kuwait. AIP is a unique organization that functions regardless of the profession, religion, politics or region.

Dr Kamlesh Kumari apprised the ambassador of the facilities for higher education in Kuwait and the standard of the education and stated that most of the Indian students prefer to pursue their education outside of Kuwait after 10+2. Jadish Joshi enumerated the role of Indian Chartered Accountants and general working environment in Kuwait.

Jain commended the services rendered by AIP to the Indian community in Kuwait and suggested to explore new dimensions to boost up bilateral relations between India and Kuwait. In addition, he suggested to AIP to probe possibilities and facilities of higher education in Kuwait for Indian students after 10+2 especially in the light of the new massive construction of Kuwait University City undertaken by the Government of Kuwait.

EMBASSY OF AUSTRALIA The Embassy of Australia has announced that Kuwait citizens can apply for and receive visit visas in 10 working days through www.immi.gov.au. All other processing of visas and Immigration matters are handled by the Australian Visa Application Centre located in Al Banwan Building, 4B, 1st Floor, Al Qibla Area, Ali Al Salem Street, Kuwait City. Visit. www.vfs-au-gcc.com for more info. The Embassy of Australia does not have a visa or immigration department. All processing of visas and immigration matters is conducted by the Australian Consulate-General in Dubai. Email: Info.ausdxb@vfshelpline.com (VIS), immigration.dubai@ dfat.gov.au (Visa Office), Tel: +971 4 205 5900 (VFS), Fax: + 971 4 355 0708 (Visa Office). Notary and passport services are available by appointment. Appointments can be made by calling the Embassy on 22322422.

EMBASSY OF SLOVAK The Embassy of the Slovak Republic in Kuwait would like to inform the public that on the occasion of the Christmas holidays the Embassy will he closed on Monday 24, Tuesday 25 and Wednesday 26, December 2013, on the occasion of the New Year and the Independence Day of the Slovak Republic, the Embassy will be closed on Tuesday, December 31, 2013 and on Wednesday, January 01, 2014 and on the occasion of Catholic Epiphany Holiday, the Embassy will be closed on Monday, January 06. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF INDIA India and Kuwait have enjoyed historically close, warm and friendly ties. The visit of His Highness Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, Prime Minister of Kuwait to India in November 2013 has imparted a new thrust to the strengthening further of the bilateral ties. To facilitate travel of Kuwaiti nationals to India for business, tourism, medical and study purposes, the embassy has adopted the following visa structure for Kuwaiti nationals with immediate effect:

AIP officials are seen in the photograph with Indian Ambassador Sunil Jain

Marina Hotel offers unique experiences Please apply Indian visa online at www.bls-international.com and deposit visa application, with applicable visa fee and service charge, at either M/s.

BLS International Services, Emad Commercial Centre, Basement floor Ahmed Al-Jaber Street, Sharq, Kuwait city (Telephone: 22986607 - Fax: 22470006) or M/s. BLS International Services, Mujamma Unood, 4th floor, Office No.25-26 Makka Street, Entrance 5, Fahaheel, Kuwait (Telephone: 22986607 - Fax: 22470006). For additional information, please contact Second Secretary (Consular) in the Embassy at sscons@indembkwt.org.

In addition, a service charge of KD 5 will also apply for each visa service provided. nnnnnnn

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rom a New Year’s Eve reception and dinner to rejuvenating accommodation package, Marina Hotel Kuwait is offering unique experiences for guests to welcome 2014. The Hotel offers the perfect venue for the festive celebration with your family, friends and loved ones under the twinkling lights and the cool breeze of the Arabian coast.

This year Marina Hotel Kuwait has fabulous feasts lined up with mouth-watering

menus and special entertainment to make your holiday’s unforgettable. Guests can celebrate the end of 2013 in style at the Six Palms restaurant or the Atlantis restaurant.

Six Palms restaurant will host an evening to remember with an extravagant selection from the International buffet dinner, a live Oriental band and shisha available, all in true Marina style. The countdown of the festivities also features a buffet dinner with Oriental music and cotillions at

the Atlantis restaurant. Stimulate your appetite with a mouth-watering assortment of appetizers, soups, signature dishes as well as desserts prepared by team of culinary experts.

Indulge in a deserving year-end getaway with your loved one with a host of privileges which includes a New Year room package of one night stay starting from KD 145 inclusive of buffet breakfast and buffet dinner at the Six Palms restaurant or

Atlantis restaurant for two persons.

What better way than to start the first day of the year with your loved-ones through a delectable selection of special treats and surprises for the entire family at a delightful lunch buffet at the Atlantis restaurant. At Marina Hotel Kuwait each distinctive restaurant, unique in its culinary mastery, will enchant guests with speciallydesigned menus amid an atmosphere of good cheer and company.

IOMF completes 40 Mercy Homes project

EMBASSY OF US The US Embassy in Kuwait has new procedures for obtaining appointments and picking up passports after visa issuance.

We now provide an online visa appointment system, live call center, and in-person pick-up facilities in Kuwait. Please monitor our website and social media for additional information.

This new system offers more flexibility for travelers to the US and to meet the increase in demand for visa appointments.

The general application steps on the new visa appointment system are: 1. Go to www.ustraveldocs.com/kw (if this is the first time on ustraveldocs.com, you will need to create a profile to login).

2. Please complete your DS-160 Online Visa Application which is available at ceac.state.gov/genNIV. 3. Please print and take your deposit slip to any Burgan Bank location to pay your visa application fee.

4. Schedule an appointment for your visa interview online at www.ustraveldocs.com/kw or by phone through the Call Center (at +965-22271673).

5. If you need to change or cancel your appointment, please do so 24 hours beforehand, as a courtesy to other applicants. For more information, please visit the US Embassy website kuwait.usembassy.gov - as it is the best source of information regarding these changes. nnnnnnn

I

ndian Orthodox mercy Fellowship (IOMF) a charitable and spiritual organization of the St.Gregorios Orthodox Maha Edavaka ,Kuwait completed Mercy Homes-2012, a project under which 40 houses were given to 40 poor people who did not have a house of their own . Of these 40 houses 38 are located at various places in the state of Kerala and the others in the states of Goa and Madhya Presdesh .

The project was jointly executed by IOMF and MGOCSM of India.

In the closing function held at Rajdhani Palace Hotel on 23rd November 2013, the chief Guest HG Dr. Joseph Mar Dionysius, Metropolitan, Calcutta Diocese congratulated the

IOMF members on completing such a humanitarian project and exhorted the members to undertake similar projects to help the fellow human beings in future. His Grace formally closed the project by symbolically receiving the project file from Mr.P.C. George(General Convenor) and handing over to Mr.Samkutty George(Vice president). Sponsors who contributed towards the project and advertisers in the Mercy Homes Souvenir were the guests of honour at the function.

Rev. Fr.Jose Mathew in his presidential address lauded the achievements of IOMF during the past 40 years of its existence. The General Convenor, in his project report, explained the various stages of the project and its funding. A

video presentation of the project was done by IOMF secretary Mr. James Peter. Felicitation speeches were given by Rev. Fr. P.T. Thomas and Rev. Fr. Reji C Varghese. The musical treat by Deena , Rinie, Mariam and Lavenia added colour to the function. Mementos were presented to the top sponsors by the chief guest assisted by the sponsorship convenor Mr.Jacob Zachariah. IOMF vice president Mr.Samkutty George welcomed the audience andMr. Ninan Joseph convenor of Closing function presented the vote of thanks.

IOMF treasurerMr. Mathews Varghese handed over “kaimuthu” to the Chief Guest. The programme was efficiently compered by IOMF member Mr.Shibu Alex.

EMBASSY OF VATICAN The Apostolic Nunciature Embassy of the Holy See, Vatican in Kuwait has moved to a new location in Kuwait City. Please find below the new address: Yarmouk, Block 1, Street 2, Villa No: 1. P.O.Box 29724, Safat 13158, Kuwait. Tel: 965 25337767, Fax: 965 25342066.

Email: nuntiuskuwait@gmail.com.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2013

TV PROGRAMS 00:30 02:00 02:45 03:15 03:30 04:15 05:00 05:20 05:40 05:45 06:10 06:15 06:35 06:55 07:00 07:25 07:30 08:15 08:45 09:15 10:05 10:55 11:45 12:30 13:15 13:45 14:15 14:45 15:15 15:45 16:30 17:15 18:30 19:00 19:30 20:00 20:50 21:40 23:05 23:35

Sherlock Alan Carr: Chatty Man Absolutely Fabulous Doctor Who Confidential Doctor Who Robin Hood Me Too! Balamory Spot’s Musical Adventures Teletubbies Buzz & Tell Me Too! Balamory Spot’s Musical Adventures Teletubbies Buzz & Tell Robin Hood Absolutely Fabulous Hebburn Hustle Hustle Hustle Doctor Who David Copperfield Doctors Doctors Doctors Doctors Doctors Doctor Who David Copperfield Lapland: Christmas 2011 Last Of The Summer Wine Hebburn My Family: Christmas 2004 Spooks Spooks Hitler On Trial Last Of The Summer Wine My Family: Christmas 2004

00:00 DIY SOS: The Big Build 01:00 The Restaurant Inspector 01:45 Hairy Bikers’ Christmas Party 02:35 Nigel Slater’s Christmas Suppers 03:25 Rick Stein’s Far Eastern Odyssey: Christmas 04:20 The Hairy Bakers’ Christmas Special 05:15 Nigel Slater’s Simple Suppers 05:40 Kirstie & Phil’s Perfect Christmas 06:25 Kirstie & Phil’s Perfect Christmas 07:10 Kirstie & Phil’s Perfect Christmas 08:00 Kirstie & Phil’s Perfect Christmas 08:45 Kirstie & Phil’s Perfect Christmas 09:35 Kirstie & Phil’s Perfect Christmas 10:20 Kirstie & Phil’s Perfect Christmas 11:05 Kirstie & Phil’s Perfect Christmas 11:55 French Food At Home 12:40 Rick Stein’s Taste Of Italian Opera 13:35 Nigel Slater’s Simple Cooking: Xmas 2011 14:30 Nigel Slater’s Christmas Suppers 15:25 Rick Stein’s Far Eastern Odyssey: Christmas 16:15 The Restaurant Inspector 17:00 The Restaurant Inspector 17:45 The Restaurant Inspector 18:30 The Restaurant Inspector 19:15 The Restaurant Inspector 20:00 The Restaurant Inspector 20:45 The Hairy Bakers’ Christmas Special 21:35 Hairy Bikers’ Christmas Party 22:25 Antiques Roadshow 23:15 Bargain Hunt

00:05 Bugs, Bites And Parasites 00:55 Life Or Death: Medical Mysteries

01:45 02:35 03:00 03:25 03:50 04:15 04:40 05:05 05:30 06:00 06:30 07:00 07:50 08:40 09:30 10:20 11:10 12:00 12:25 12:50 13:15 13:40 14:05 14:30 14:55 15:20 15:45 16:10 16:35 17:00 17:25 17:50 18:15 18:40 19:05 19:30 19:55 20:45 21:35 22:25 23:15

World’s Strangest How It’s Made How It’s Made How It’s Made How It’s Made How It’s Made How Do They Do It? How Do They Do It? How Do They Do It? How Do They Do It? How Do They Do It? Kings Of Crash World’s Top 5 Wheeler Dealers Man, Cheetah, Wild Bush Pilots Ultimate Survival Destroyed In Seconds Destroyed In Seconds Destroyed In Seconds Destroyed In Seconds How It’s Made How It’s Made How It’s Made How It’s Made How It’s Made Storage Hunters Storage Hunters Storage Hunters Storage Hunters Storage Hunters Border Security Border Security Border Security Border Security Border Security Mythbusters Treehouse Masters You Have Been Warned Man, Cheetah, Wild Bush Pilots

00:40 Dark Matters: Twisted But True 01:30 Stunt Junkies 02:00 Smash Lab 02:50 Smash Lab 03:45 Smash Lab 04:35 Smash Lab 05:25 Smash Lab 06:15 The Gadget Show 06:40 Tech Toys 360 07:05 Stunt Junkies 07:30 Stunt Junkies 08:00 Mighty Planes 08:50 Rocket City Rednecks 09:15 Rocket City Rednecks 09:40 The Gadget Show 10:05 Tech Toys 360 10:30 The World’s Strangest UFO Stories 11:25 The World’s Strangest UFO Stories 12:20 The World’s Strangest UFO Stories 13:10 The World’s Strangest UFO Stories 14:00 The World’s Strangest UFO Stories 14:50 Stunt Junkies 15:20 The Gadget Show 15:45 Tech Toys 360 16:10 Future Firepower 17:00 Bang Goes The Theory 17:25 Bang Goes The Theory 17:55 Game Changers 18:20 Game Changers 18:45 Junkyard Wars 19:35 Rocket City Rednecks 20:00 Rocket City Rednecks 20:30 Bang Goes The Theory 21:20 Bang Goes The Theory 22:10 The Gadget Show 22:35 Tech Toys 360 23:00 Bang Goes The Theory 23:50 Bang Goes The Theory

00:00 00:20 00:45 01:05 01:30 01:50 02:15 02:35

The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody Jonas Los Angeles Jonas Los Angeles Suite Life On Deck Suite Life On Deck Wizards Of Waverly Place Wizards Of Waverly Place

03:00 03:20 03:45 04:05 04:30 04:50 05:15 05:35 06:00 06:25 06:45 07:10 07:35 07:55 08:20 08:45 09:05 09:30 09:55 10:15 10:40 12:05 12:15 12:35 13:00 13:25 13:45 14:10 14:35 15:00 15:50 16:10 16:35 17:00 17:20 17:45 18:10 18:30 18:55 19:20 19:40 20:30 21:15 22:00 22:50 23:35

The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody Jonas Los Angeles Jonas Los Angeles Suite Life On Deck Suite Life On Deck Wizards Of Waverly Place Wizards Of Waverly Place Austin And Ally Austin And Ally A.N.T. Farm A.N.T. Farm That’s So Raven Shake It Up Good Luck Charlie Dog With A Blog Gravity Falls Wolfblood My Babysitter’s A Vampire A.N.T. Farm Princess Protection Program Prank Stars That’s So Raven Shake It Up A.N.T. Farm Jessie Austin And Ally Good Luck Charlie Mako Mermaids Abominable Christmas Wolfblood Gravity Falls A.N.T. Farm Good Luck Charlie Austin And Ally Dog With A Blog My Babysitter’s A Vampire Wolfblood Gravity Falls Mako Mermaids Violetta Violetta Violetta Violetta Violetta Wizards Of Waverly Place

00:15 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 00:40 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 01:05 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 01:30 Tastiest Places To Chowdown 01:55 Tastiest Places To Chowdown 02:20 Unwrapped 02:45 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 03:10 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 03:35 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 04:00 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 04:25 Unique Eats 04:50 Food Crafters 05:15 United Tastes Of America 05:40 Chopped 06:30 Amazing Wedding Cakes 07:10 Unwrapped 07:35 Unwrapped 08:00 Everyday Italian 08:25 Everyday Italian 08:50 Everyday Italian 09:15 Everyday Italian 09:40 Aarti Party 10:05 Aarti Party 10:30 Aarti Party 10:55 Aarti Party 11:20 Reza’s African Kitchen 11:45 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Special 12:35 Charly’s Cake Angels 13:00 Charly’s Cake Angels 13:25 Charly’s Cake Angels 13:50 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 14:15 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 14:40 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 15:05 Reza’s African Kitchen 15:30 Reza’s African Kitchen 15:55 Siba’s Table 16:20 Siba’s Table 16:45 Amazing Wedding Cakes 17:35 Siba’s Festive Table 18:00 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Special 18:50 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 19:15 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 19:40 Iron Chef America Special 20:30 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Special 21:20 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Special

NICK OF TIME ON OSN MOVIES ACTION

Italy’s Oscar hopeful Sorrentino plugs film in LA

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MESKADA ON OSN MOVIES HD ACTION 22:10 23:00 23:25 23:50

Chopped Charly’s Cake Angels Charly’s Cake Angels Amazing Wedding Cakes

00:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 01:00 The Colbert Report 01:30 Saturday Night Live 02:30 Brickleberry 03:00 Hot In Cleveland 03:30 Baby Daddy 04:00 The Simpsons 04:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 05:30 1600 Penn 06:00 Last Man Standing 06:30 Friends 07:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 08:00 The Simpsons 08:30 1600 Penn 09:00 Hot In Cleveland 09:30 Two And A Half Men 10:30 Friends 11:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 12:00 Last Man Standing 12:30 The Simpsons 13:00 1600 Penn 13:30 Friends 14:00 Baby Daddy 14:30 Two And A Half Men 15:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 16:00 The Colbert Report 16:30 Last Man Standing 17:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 18:30 Go On 19:00 Two And A Half Men 19:30 The Mindy Project 20:00 The Cleveland Show 20:30 Web Therapy 21:00 2 Broke Girls 21:30 2 Broke Girls 22:00 New Girl 23:00 Brickleberry

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:30 14:00 15:00 16:30 17:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

Royal Pains Red Widow Alphas Rescue Me The Glades Almost Human Royal Pains Drop Dead Diva Bones Almost Human Red Widow The Glades Coronation Street Bones Royal Pains Coronation Street The X Factor U.S. Bunheads Zero Hour Red Widow The Newsroom Rescue Me

00:00 03:00 04:00 07:30 09:00 10:30 12:00 14:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

Switched At Birth Scandal Boardwalk Empire Coronation Street C.S.I. Coronation Street C.S.I. Switched At Birth Live Good Morning America C.S.I. Switched At Birth Parenthood C.S.I. Switched At Birth Boardwalk Empire Scandal

00:00 Beverly Hills Cop 02:00 Wrong Turn 4: Bloody Beginnings 04:00 Diggstown

06:00 08:00 10:15 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00

Darkman Jurassic Park Pizza Man Vanishing On 7th Street Nick Of Time Pizza Man Ultraviolet Nick Of Time Meskada

00:00 Wrong Turn 4: Bloody Beginnings-18 02:00 Diggstown-PG15 04:00 Darkman-PG15 06:00 Jurassic Park-PG15 08:15 Pizza Man-PG 10:00 Vanishing On 7th StreetPG15 12:00 Nick Of Time-PG15 14:00 Pizza Man-PG 16:00 Ultraviolet-PG15 18:00 Nick Of Time-PG15 20:00 Meskada-PG15 22:00 Beverly Hills Cop 2-18

04:15 Free Birds 06:00 Marco Macaco 08:00 The Apple & The Worm 10:00 Three Investigators And The Secret Of Terror...

11:45 Valentina 13:00 Scooby-Doo! Music Of The Vampire 14:30 A Fairy Tale Christmas 16:00 Kim The River Of Peace 18:00 Three Investigators And The Secret Of Terror...

20:00 Freddy Frogface 22:00 A Fairy Tale Christmas 23:30 Kim The River Of Peace

00:00 02:00 04:00 06:00 08:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00

Meteor Storm-PG15 The Makeover-PG15 Charlotte’s Web-PG Super Buddies-FAM Interview With A Hitman-PG15 Arrietty-FAM Shark Tale-PG Crisis Point-PG15 Interview With A Hitman-PG15 Outlaw Country-PG15 50/50-PG15 Machine Gun Preacher-PG15

00:00 Another Stakeout-PG15 02:00 The Ringer-PG15 04:00 The Decoy Bride-PG15 06:00 Sorority Wars-PG15 08:00 Lemony Snicket’s A Series Of Unfortunate-PG 10:00 Love Birds-PG15 12:00 The Decoy Bride-PG15 14:00 Bushwhacked-PG 16:00 Love Birds-PG15 18:00 Mad Buddies-PG15 20:00 Superbad-18 22:00 Another Stakeout-PG15

02:00 Futbol Mundial 02:30 PGA European Tour Highlights 03:30 Live NHL 06:30 Inside PGA Tour 07:00 PDC World Darts Championships 11:00 Trans World Sport 12:00 PGA Tour Highlights 13:00 Top 14 15:00 Futbol Mundial 15:30 Live PDC World Darts Championship 19:30 Trans World Sport 20:30 NFL Game Day 21:00 Live NFL

01:00 03:00 05:00 07:15 09:00 10:45 13:45 15:15 17:00 19:00 21:00 23:00

Remember Sunday-PG15 Hideaways-PG15 The Terminal-PG15 A Better Life-PG15 Remember Sunday-PG15 Hindenburg-PG15 Love Takes Wing-PG15 Wild Card-PG15 Another Harvest Moon-PG15 Flying Lessons-PG15 Dark Tide-PG15 Bel Ami-18

00:00 ICC Cricket 360 00:30 Live Cricket Test Match 08:30 Total Rugby 09:00 Top 14 11:00 Darts 15:00 NHL 17:00 Trans World Sports 18:00 ICC Cricket 360 18:30 Total Rugby 19:00 Top 14 21:00 PGA Tour Highlights 22:00 Inside The PGA Tour 22:30 PGA European Tour Highlights 23:30 PGA European Tour Weekly

01:00 03:00 05:15 07:15 09:15 11:30 13:15 15:00 17:00 19:00 21:00 23:15

Color Of Night-18 Amour-PG15 Out Of Sight-PG15 The Field-PG15 The Tree Of Life-PG15 Raggedy Man-PG15 Flower Girl-PG15 Buck-PG15 Raggedy Man-PG15 Once Fallen-PG15 J. Edgar-18 Vincere-18

00:00 01:30 03:30 05:30 07:30 09:00 11:00 13:00 15:00 17:00 19:00 21:00 23:45

Columbus Circle-PG15 Sparkle-PG15 Cool It-PG15 A Christmas Kiss-PG15 Mary & Martha-PG15 Waiting For Forever-PG15 Sparkle-PG15 Chimpanzee-PG The Wishing Well-PG15 Waiting For Forever-PG15 Red Dawn-PG15 The Dark Knight Rises-PG15 Looper-18

01:00 Marco Macaco 02:30 Curious George

00:30 Total Rugby 01:00 TOP 14 03:00 PDC Worlds Darts Championship 07:00 Futbol Mundial 07:30 Asian Tour Golf 08:00 Pro 12 10:00 Pro 12 12:00 Total Rugby 12:30 ICC Cricket 360 13:00 Trans World Sport 14:00 Pro 12 16:00 Asian Tour Golf 16:30 World Match Racing Tour 18:30 Futbol Mundial 19:00 Asian Tour Highlights 20:00 Pro 12 22:00 Live PDC Worlds Darts Championship

01:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 05:30 06:00 09:30 10:30 11:00 14:30 15:00

talian director Paolo Sorrentino was in Hollywood this month to promote his latest movie, which he is hoping will make it on to the foreign film Oscar nominees’ shortlist. In an interview with AFP ahead of the Friday US release of “The Great Beauty,” he told how its setting in Rome gave him a particular challenge-forgetting how masters such as Fellini captured the Eternal City before him. The film, premiered in Cannes earlier this year, is Italy’s candidate for foreign film Academy Award, in a long list that will be slashed down to five nominees on January 16, when all the nominations are announced.

“The Great Beauty” evokes the decline of one side of Italy through the eyes of a cynical journalist played by Sorrentino’s favorite actor Toni Servillo.

The director is returning to his homeland after a detour to the US for 2011’s “This Must Be The Place” (2011) with Sean Penn. Sorrentino, from Napoli, said the Italian capital was the obvious choice to set his latest project-but acknowledged the shadow of all the greats led by Fellini who have brought Rome to the big screen.

“I tried to imagine that it’s the first film shot in this city and in these surroundings, about these people,” he told AFP. “Being a film buff can be dangerous: if you spend too long thinking about films that have already been made, it can paralyze you, because you constantly have these references in your head. “So it’s very important to make oneself believe that it’s the one and only time that this has been done. Therefore I had to avoid watching other films or other ways in which the city has been presented.”

The music which provides the film’s soundtrack also evokes the city’s “duality,” mixing pop songs with madrigals. “Rome is a city which has an enormous capacity to have the sacred and the profane side by side, and I had the same philosophy for the music. I tried to mix the two, and to see how they could work together,” he said. Among the most powerful scenes are orgiastic parties which the cynical journalist, Jep Gambardella, holds on his terrace overlooking the Colosseum. “It was something new for me, as I had never filmed parties. I really liked shooting it because I love watching people dancing.

It’s one of the things I want to see in a film, as a director.”— AFP

NHL Ping Pong World US Bass Fishing Futbol Mundial ICC Cricket World Live Cricket Twenty 20 WWE Experience WWE This Week Live Cricket Twenty 20 ICC Cricket World WWE This Week

‘Downton Abbey’ gets fifth season

T

he fourth season of “Downton Abbey” hasn’t even arrived in the United States, but a fifth season is already on the way, PBS announced yesterday. “As American audiences ready themselves for the January 5th premiere of Season 4, our devoted Downton fans will rest easy knowing that a fifth season is on the way,” said Masterpiece executive producer Rebecca Eaton.

The show’s fourth season recently completed its run in the UK, where it drew 11.8 million average viewers - making it Britain’s highest-rated television drama this year.

More than 24 million viewers watched the third season of the series in the US, making it PBS’s most-watched drama ever. “Like millions of other ‘Downton’ fans, I can’t wait to see what’s next for the Crawley family,” said Paula Kerger, president and CEO of PBS. “We’re proud to be the home of this extraordinarily entertaining series, and, along with our stations, we look forward to sharing Season 5 with U.S. audiences.”

Added Gareth Neame, executive producer of “Downton Abbey ” and managing director of Carnival Films: “Audiences have enjoyed their regular Sunday evening visits back to ‘Downton’ once again this autumn and we are thrilled to produce a new series of the show next year. We promise all the usual highs and lows, romance, drama and comedy played out by some of the most iconic characters on television. All the actors and makers of the show continue to be humbled by the extraordinary audience response and want to take the show from strength to strength next year.” “Downton” will air on Masterpiece on Sundays beginning Jan 5 through Feb 23 on PBS. — Reuters

Classifieds MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2013

Kuwait THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (DIG) THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG (DIG) NO FRITHE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (DIG) HATOULY RAGEL (DIG) HATOULY RAGEL (DIG) THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (DIG) THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (DIG)

KNCC PROGRAMME FROM THURSDAY TO WEDNESDAY (19/12/2013 TO 25/12/2013) 1:45 PM 1:15 PM 4:15 PM 6:30 PM 8:30 PM 10:30 PM 12:45 AM

SHARQIA-2 FROZEN (DIG-3D) FROZEN (DIG-3D) TARZAN (DIG-3D) FROZEN (DIG-3D) THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG (DIG) THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG (DIG)

12:30 PM 2:45 PM 5:00 PM 7:00 PM 9:15 PM 12:15 AM

SHARQIA-3 HOURS (DIG) HAUNTER (DIG) DHOOM 3 (DIG) (HINDI) HAUNTER (DIG) HOURS (DIG) HAUNTER (DIG) HOURS (DIG)

2:00 PM 4:00 PM 6:00 PM 6:00 PM 9:15 PM 11:15 PM 1:15 AM

MUHALAB-1 HOURS (DIG) HOURS (DIG) DHOOM 3 (DIG) (HINDI) HOURS (DIG) HATOULY RAGEL (DIG) HOURS (DIG)

12:45 PM 2:45 PM 4:45 PM 5:45 PM 8:00 PM 10:00 PM

MUHALAB-2 THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (DIG) BLOOD OF REDEMPTION (DIG) THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (DIG) BLOOD OF REDEMPTION (DIG) THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (DIG)

1:00 PM 3:30 PM 5:30 PM 7:45 PM 9:45 PM

MUHALAB-3 FROZEN (DIG-3D) FROZEN (DIG-3D) THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG (DIG-3D) THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG (DIG-3D) FANAR-1 HOURS (DIG) BLOOD OF REDEMPTION (DIG) HOURS (DIG) HOURS (DIG) BLOOD OF REDEMPTION (DIG) HOURS (DIG) BLOOD OF REDEMPTION (DIG) FANAR-2 FROZEN (DIG) FROZEN (DIG) FROZEN (DIG) THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (DIG) THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (DIG) THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (DIG) FANAR-3 DHOOM 3 (DIG) (HINDI) DHOOM 3 (DIG) (HINDI) DHOOM 3 (DIG) (HINDI)

1:30 PM 3:45 PM 6:00 PM 9:00 PM 12:30 PM 2:30 PM 4:30 PM 6:30 PM 8:30 PM 10:30 PM 12:30 AM 1:30 PM 3:45 PM 6:00 PM 8:15 PM 10:30 PM 12:45 AM 12:30 PM 3:45 PM 7:00 PM

DHOOM 3 (DIG) (HINDI) THE FROZEN GROUND (DIG) THE FROZEN GROUND (DIG) HATOULY RAGEL (DIG) THE FROZEN GROUND (DIG)

10:15 PM 12:30 PM 3:45 PM 7:00 PM 10:15 PM

FANAR-4 TARZAN (DIG-3D) TARZAN (DIG-3D) THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG (DIG-3D) THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG (DIG-3D) THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG (DIG-3D)

2:15 PM 4:15 PM 6:15 PM 9:15 PM 12:15 AM

OLDBOY (DIG) OLDBOY (DIG) OLDBOY (DIG)

1:00 PM 4:15 PM 7:30 PM

AVENUES-4 DHOOM 3 (DIG) (HINDI) THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG (DIG) THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG (DIG) DHOOM 3 (DIG) (HINDI) THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG (DIG) THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG (DIG)

2:30 PM 2:30 PM 5:45 PM 9:00 PM 9:00 PM 12:15 AM 2:30 PM 5:00 PM 7:30 PM 7:30 PM 7:30 PM 10:00 PM 12:30 AM

FANAR-5 A MADEA CHRISTMAS (DIG) HAUNTER (DIG) A MADEA CHRISTMAS (DIG) A MADEA CHRISTMAS (DIG) HATOULY RAGEL (DIG) HAUNTER (DIG)

1:30 PM 3:45 PM 5:45 PM 8:00 PM 10:15 PM 12:30 AM

360º- 1 THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (DIG) THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (DIG) THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (DIG) Special Show “FROZEN (DIG)” Special Show “THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (DIG)” THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (DIG) THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (DIG)

MARINA-1 THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG (DIG) THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (DIG) HATOULY RAGEL (DIG) HATOULY RAGEL (DIG) THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (DIG) THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (DIG)

12:30 PM 3:45 PM 6:00 PM 8:00 PM 10:00 PM 12:15 AM

360º- 2 A MADEA CHRISTMAS (DIG) A MADEA CHRISTMAS (DIG) A MADEA CHRISTMAS (DIG) A MADEA CHRISTMAS (DIG) A MADEA CHRISTMAS (DIG) A MADEA CHRISTMAS (DIG)

1:45 PM 4:00 PM 6:15 PM 8:30 PM 10:45 PM 1:00 AM

MARINA-2 HOURS (DIG) SAVING SANTA (DIG) HAUNTER (DIG) HOURS (DIG) HOURS (DIG) HAUNTER (DIG) HOURS (DIG)

12:45 PM 2:45 PM 4:45 PM 6:45 PM 8:45 PM 10:45 PM 12:45 AM

360º- 3 THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (DIG) SAVING SANTA (DIG) SAVING SANTA (DIG) SAVING SANTA (DIG) THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (DIG) THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (DIG)

12:30 PM 3:00 PM 5:00 PM 7:00 PM 9:00 PM 11:30 PM

AL-KOUT.1 TARZAN (DIG-3D) TARZAN (DIG-3D) THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG (DIG) THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG (DIG-3D) THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG (DIG)

2:00 PM 4:00 PM 6:00 PM 9:00 PM 12:05 AM

MARINA-3 FROZEN (DIG-3D) TARZAN (DIG-3D) FROZEN (DIG-3D) THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG (DIG) THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG (DIG)

2:00 PM 4:30 PM 6:30 PM 9:00 PM 12:05 AM

Prayer timings Fajr: Shorook Duhr: Asr: Maghrib: Isha:

05:14 06:39 11:47 14:37 16:55 18:17

ACCOMMODATION

AVENUES-1 A MADEA CHRISTMAS (DIG) A MADEA CHRISTMAS (DIG) A MADEA CHRISTMAS (DIG) THE CITIZEN (DIG) A MADEA CHRISTMAS (DIG) A MADEA CHRISTMAS (DIG)

12:45 PM 3:00 PM 5:15 PM 7:30 PM 9:45 PM 12:05 AM

AL-KOUT.2 HOURS (DIG) SAVING SANTA (DIG) HOURS (DIG) HATOULY RAGEL (DIG) HOURS (DIG) HATOULY RAGEL (DIG) HOURS (DIG)

AVENUES-2 HAUNTER (DIG) SAVING SANTA (DIG) HAUNTER (DIG) HAUNTER (DIG) HAUNTER (DIG) HAUNTER (DIG)

2:00 PM 4:15 PM 6:30 PM 8:45 PM 11:00 PM 1:15 AM

AL-KOUT.3 FROZEN (DIG) FROZEN (DIG) FROZEN (DIG) THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (DIG) THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (DIG) THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (DIG)

1:15 PM 3:30 PM 5:45 PM 8:00 PM 10:15 PM 12:30 AM

AVENUES-3 DHOOM 3 (DIG) (HINDI) DHOOM 3 (DIG) (HINDI) DHOOM 3 (DIG) (HINDI) DHOOM 3 (DIG) (HINDI) THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (DIG)

1:00 PM 4:15 PM 7:30 PM 10:45 PM 10:45 PM

AL-KOUT.4 BLOOD OF REDEMPTION (DIG) THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG (DIG) BLOOD OF REDEMPTION (DIG) HAUNTER (DIG) BLOOD OF REDEMPTION (DIG)

1:30 PM 3:30 PM 6:30 PM 8:30 PM 10:30 PM

1:00 PM 3:00 PM 4:45 PM 6:45 PM 8:45 PM 10:45 PM 12:45 AM

Sharing accommodation available for decent bachelor non-smoking, Amman Street, one big room, opposite to Al Rashid hospital.

Please contact: 66232356/55862576.

(C 4600) 18-12-2013

FOR SALE Selling Mazda 6 (2004 model) white color car, mileage 124,000 kms only.

Body, chassis, engine, gear, A/C, exteriors etc all in good condition and well

maintained. Expecting KD 550. Call 66596645.

(C 4601) 18-12-2013 Pajero jeep model 1996, color red, used by a lady.

Contact: 66152130.

17-12-2013 LOST I, Nita Kishore Bhatkar, holder of Indian Passport No. Z1171971 have lost my Bachelors in Business Administration degree certificate issued by the Madurai Kamraj University.

If you find it please contact 66095560.

16-12-2013

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

Airlines BBC JAI KAC JZR JZR THY QTR ETH GFA THY AFG UAE ETD MSR QTR FDB JZR THY DHX FDB BAW KAC KAC FDB KAC UAE KAC SYR ABY QTR ETD FDB KAC KAC GFA MSC MSC JZR IRC MEA UAE MSR KAC MSR KNE FDB QTR KAC SVA

Arrival Flightson Monday 23/12/2013 Flt Route 043 DHAKA 574 MUMBAI 502 BEIRUT 267 BEIRUT 539 CAIRO 772 ISTANBUL 1084 DOHA 620 ADDISABABA 211 BAHRAIN 764 SABIHA 416 JEDDAH 853 DUBAI 305 ABUDHABI-INTL 612 CAIRO 1076 DOHA 067 DUBAI 503 LUXOR 770 ISTANBUL 170 BAHRAIN 069 DUBAI 157 LONDON 412 MANILA 206 SLAMABAD 053 DUBAI 302 MUMBAI 855 DUBAI 362 COLOMBO 1455 DAMASCUS 125 SHARJAH 1070 DOHA 301 ABUDHABI-INTL 055 DUBAI 352 COCHIN 344 CHENNAI 213 BAHRAIN 401 ALEXANDRIA 403 ASYUT 165 DUBAI 6521 LAMERD 404 BEIRUT 871 DUBAI 610 CAIRO 382 DELHI 579 SOHAG 480 TAIF 057 DUBAI 1078 DOHA 546 ALEXANDRIA 500 JEDDAH

Time 00:05 00:10 00:15 00:40 00:40 00:45 00:55 01:45 02:10 02:15 02:20 02:35 02:45 03:10 03:45 04:00 05:50 05:35 05:40 05:50 06:40 06:45 07:40 07:50 07:55 08:40 08:45 09:05 09:00 09:10 09:20 09:40 09:50 10:40 10:40 10:50 11:15 11:30 11:45 11:55 12:50 13:00 13:05 13:05 13:15 13:50 13:55 14:05 14:30

KNE GFA KAC SYR NIA OMA KAC QTR UAE ETD RJA SVA ABY GFA MPH ZR KAC KAC RBG JZR KAC MSC QTR FDB KAC KAC KAC KAC GFA KAC OMA FDB JAI ABY AXB DLH ALK MEA ETD UAE GFA QTR FDB JZR JAI AIC PIA TAR JZR JZR

472 221 788 341 251 645 118 1072 857 303 640 510 127 215 093 777 284 542 553 177 742 405 1080 063 786 774 618 674 217 104 647 061 572 129 489 636 229 402 307 859 219 1074 059 135 576 975 205 327 239 185

JEDDAH BAHRAIN JEDDAH DAMASCUS ALEXANDRIA MUSCAT NEWYORK DOHA DUBAI ABUDHABI-INTL AMMAN-QUEENALIA RIYADH SHARJAH BAHRAIN AMSTERDAM JEDDAH DHAKA CAIRO ALEXANDRIA DUBAI DAMMAM SOHAG DOHA DUBAI JEDDAH RIYADH DOHA DUBAI BAHRAIN LONDON MUSCAT DUBAI MUMBAI SHARJAH COCHIN FRANKFURT COLOMBO BEIRUT ABUDHABI-INTL DUBAI BAHRAIN DOHA DUBAI BAHRAIN COCHIN CHENNAI LAHORE TUNIS AMMAN-QUEENALIA DUBAI

14:35 15:00 15:10 15:20 15:50 15:55 16:35 16:40 16:40 16:50 16:55 17:15 17:25 17:30 17:50 17:55 18:00 18:05 18:15 18:20 18:20 18:30 18:40 18:45 18:45 18:45 19:00 19:25 19:30 19:35 19:55 20:05 20:10 20:20 20:35 20:55 21:10 21:20 21:35 21:40 21:45 22:00 22:00 22:05 22:15 22:30 23:05 23:15 22:20 23:20

AIC UAL PIA PIA JAI BBC DLH ETH THY AFG UAE KAC ETD MSR QTR FDB QTR KAC FDB JZR THY KAC GFA THY FDB BAW KAC ABY UAE ETD SYR QTR FDB GFA KAC KAC MSC MSC KAC JZR IRC MEA KAC JZR MSR MSR KNE UAE FDB

Departure Flightson Monday 23/12/2013 982 AHMEDABAD 981 WASHINGTON 206 LAHORE 206 LAHORE 573 MUMBAI,INDIA 044 CHITTAGONG 635 FRANKFURT 621 ADDISABABA 773 ISTANBUL 416 KABUL 854 DUBAI 381 DELHI,INDIA 306 ABUDHABI 613 CAIRO 1085 DOHA 068 DUBAI 1077 DOHA 283 DHAKA 070 DUBAI 320 DUBAI 765 ISTANBUL 545 ALEXANDRIA 212 BAHRAIN 771 ISTANBUL 054 DUBAI 156 LONDON 787 JEDDAH 126 SHARJAH 856 DUBAI, 302 ABUDHABI 1456 DAMASCUS 1071 DOHA 056 DUBAI 214 BAHRAIN 541 CAIRO 165 ROME 406 SOHAG 404 ASYUT 103 LONDON 776 JEDDAH 6522 LAMERD 405 BEIRUT 785 JEDDAH 176 DUBAI 580 SOHAG 611 CAIRO 481 TAIF 872 DUBAI 058 DUBAI

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

00:05 00:55 01:05 01:05 01:10 01:45 02:10 02:45 02:55 03:30 03:50 03:50 04:00 04:10 04:15 04:40 05:15 05:30 06:30 06:55 07:05 07:15 07:15 07:30 08:30 08:45 09:25 09:40 09:55 10:05 10:05 10:10 10:20 11:25 11:30 11:50 11:50 12:15 12:20 12:25 12:45 12:55 13:00 13:45 13:50 14:00 14:10 14:15 14:30

QTR KAC KAC KAC KAC KNE GFA SVA SYR NIA OMA JZR ETD QTR UAE JZR RJA ABY SVA GFA JZR JZR RBG JZR MPH FDB MSC QTR GFA FDB OMA KAC KAC ABY JAI KAC DLH DHX ALK MEA ETD GFA KAC FDB UAE KAC QTR JAI JZR KAC

1079 673 773 741 617 473 222 501 342 252 646 238 304 1073 858 538 641 128 511 216 184 266 554 134 093 064 402 1081 218 062 648 331 361 120 571 351 636 171 230 403 308 220 301 060 860 205 1075 575 502 411

DOHA DUBAI RIYADH DAMMAM, DOHA JEDDAH BAHRAIN JEDDAH DAMASCUS ALEXANDRIA MUSCAT AMMANAL ABUDHABI DOHA DUBAI CAIRO AMMANAL SHARJAH RIYADH BAHRAIN DUBAI BEIRUT ALEXANDRIA BAHRAIN ALMAKTOUMINTERNATIONAL DUBAI ALEXANDRIA DOHA,QATAR BAHRAIN DUBAI MUSCAT,OMAN TRIVANDRUM COLOMBO SHARJAH MUMBAI KOCHI DAMMAM BAHRAIN COLOMBO BEIRUT ABUDHABI BAHRAIN MUMBAI,INDIA DUBAI DUBAI ISLAMABAD DOHA,QATAR ABUDHABI LUXOR BANGKOK,THAILAND

14:55 15:05 15:20 15:20 15:30 15:30 15:45 15:45 16:20 16:50 16:55 16:55 17:35 17:40 17:50 17:50 17:55 18:05 18:15 18:20 18:40 18:50 18:55 19:10 19:20 19:25 19:30 19:40 20:15 20:45 20:55 20:55 21:00 21:00 21:10 21:10 21:35 21:50 22:10 22:20 22:20 22:30 22:35 22:40 22:50 22:55 23:10 23:15 23:30 23:55

34

MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2013

stars CROSSWORD 407

STAR TRACK Aries (March 21-April 19) You may take pleasure from a good movie or book or feel like escaping from day-to-day realities for a bit. You comprehend an imaginative approach and may value collective or unconventional ideas. In a religious setting, there may be a need for your help with young people. This could be a choir or youth group. Those around you may appreciate your ability to take charge and organize. You may find your volunteer choices put real magic in your life--this may even be something that you will want to do permanently. Sorting things out and getting them organized keep you busy. You are deeply aware of interconnections between the present and other lives--perhaps history and future brush up against each other as one works with children.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) Children, close family and many friends are dear to your heart. Knowing that you are appreciated and esteemed for your gifts and talents is a powerful need. Assuming risks can bring you trouble or big rewards. You may find that someone older has his or her own opinion about one or two of your ideas. With patience you will be able to make your point. You may think on any great development of the past and realize that adjustments are not always easy or quick to happen. Conditions may cause you to rethink a few things but with a few adjustments and time, you will succeed. You are the first to help a neighbor this evening. Water, flashlights or batteries may be difficult to come by for your neighbor but you are quick to the rescue.

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

ACROSS 1. Neckwear consisting of a long narrow piece of material worn (mostly by men) under a collar and tied in knot at the front.

4. Large stork-like bird of the valley of the White Nile with a broad bill suggesting a wooden shoe.

12. An independent agency of the United States government responsible for collecting and coordinating intelligence and counterintelligence activities abroad in the national interest.

15. (Babylonian) The sky god.

16. Of or relating to or characteristic of Honduras or its people.

17. A condition (mostly in boys) characterized by behavioral and learning disorders.

18. (New Testament) One of the three sages from the east who came bearing gifts for the infant Jesus.

20. Any of numerous low-growing cushion-forming plants of the genus Draba having rosetteforming leaves and terminal racemes of small flowers with scapose or leafy stems.

21. A zodiacal constellation in northern hemisphere between Cancer and Virgo.

22. An upward movement or trend as in business activity.

23. A very poisonous metallic element that has three allotropic forms.

25. (music) Used of string or hole or pipe of instruments.

27. Characterized by friendship and good will.

30. A member of a North American Indian people living east of the Sacramento river in California.

31. Small genus of mediterranean shrubs.

32. A river that rises in central Germany and flows north to join the Elbe River.

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

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

39. A state in northwestern North America.

41. Large genus of erect or climbing prickly shrubs including roses.

45. A member of an agricultural people of southern India.

49. A Kwa language spoken in Ghana and the Ivory Coast.

51. A port city in southwestern Iran.

52. A member of an extinct North American Indian people who lived in the Pit river valley in northern California.

53. According to the Old Testament he was a pagan king of Israel and husband of Jezebel (9th century BC).

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

55. Small terrestrial lizard of warm regions of the Old World.

57. Tropical American tree with large peltate leaves and hollow stems.

60. Any of numerous local fertility and nature deities worshipped by ancient Semitic peoples.

61. A small cake leavened with yeast.

66. A gonadotropic hormone that is secreted by the anterior pituitary.

70. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey).

73. (of complexion) Blemished by imperfections of the skin.

74. An affirmative.

75. English literary critic who collaborated with C. K. Ogden and contributed to the development of Basic English (1893-1979).

77. An agency of the United Nations affiliated with the World Bank.

78. A sweetened beverage of diluted fruit juice.

79. A great raja.

80. A boy or man.

DOWN 1. A European river.

2. Not elegant or graceful in expression.

3. Small genus of herbs of warm regions of southern North America to northern South America.

4. An alert and energetic person.

5. Having a horn or horns or hornlike parts or horns of a particular kind.

6. In operation or operational.

7. Tropical starchy tuberous root.

8. The treasurer at a college or university.

9. A self-funded retirement plan that allows you to contribute a limited yearly sum toward your retirement.

10. Any of various burrowing animals of the family Leporidae having long ears and short tails.

11. A nucleic acid consisting of large molecules shaped like a double helix.

12. West Indian tree having racemes of fragrant white flowers and yielding a durable timber and resinous juice.

13. Conforming to an ultimate standard of perfection or excellence.

14. Love intensely.

19. Of the insects in the chrysalis (cocoon) or post larval stage.

24. Informal terms for a mother.

26. Failing to detonate.

28. A woman sahib.

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

33. Jordan's port.

35. Colonial siphonophore of up to 130 ft long.

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

38. Tropical American trees with palmately compound leaves and showy bell-shaped flowers.

40. (Irish) Mother of the Tuatha De Danann.

42. A Turkish unit of weight equal to about 2.75 pounds.

43. Of the appetites and passions of the body.

44. A Loloish language.

46. An official prosecutor for a judicial district.

47. A city in southern Turkey on the Seyhan River.

48. Mentally or physically infirm with age.

50. An official language of the Republic of South Africa.

56. The capital and largest city of Bavaria in southeastern Germany.

58. The dialect of Malay used as the national language of the Republic of Indonesia or of Malaysia.

59. Lower in esteem.

62. Advanced in years.

63. An elaborate song for solo voice.

64. A law passed by US Congress to prevent employees from being injured or contracting diseases in the course of their employment.

65. Essential oil or perfume obtained from flowers.

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

68. English monk and scholar (672-735).

69. (Babylonian) God of storms and wind.

71. A human limb.

72. A constellation in the southern hemisphere near Telescopium and Norma.

76. A person who announces and plays popular recorded music.

You could be looking deep within yourself for some answers to spiritual questions that you have just now. This should be a good time for analysis, as you will be able to discover new areas of your inner self or mind that have been closed to you before now. Worry is the opportunity to review and overcome a difficulty and today you have the opportunity to review some of your worries of the past. Using the past as a guide, you are becoming more pleased with the progress of finding solutions. Your inner resources and emotions are accented. This could conceivably be a time to make some changes in your environment. There is a learning curve and you are there. You also apply spiritual teaching to your life. You have an inner glow that others can see.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) You attach more importance to friendships and taking part in group activities that center on optimistic goals. You are now setting out on a journey into a land of dreams--not inactive daydreams, but vibrant visions of future adventures. It may have come to your attention that you could write an adventure book without going on an adventure . . . You have maps. You must believe and dare to make things happen!

This means expanding your mind, your belief system and your whole base of knowledge and experience. It is now time to create that excitement about the possibilities in others.

Some writers of fiction had to get ideas from somewhere. You can get your ideas from studying pictures and weather forecasts. You may have a large following.

Leo (July 23-August 22) Striving to be the best that you can be will be uppermost in your life at this time. You enjoy where you are in your life and you enjoy thinking about how to move forward with new ideas. You may become interested in political issues as well as become involved in a bit of remodeling to your home or perhaps there is a decision to purchase a new home. You also enjoy reading and may find yourself at a book sale or library sometime this afternoon. A good book or movie relaxes and refreshes your creative energies.

You will feel a great deal of pride for your accomplishments. You learn a great deal from the leisure time pursuits that you undertake at this time. A fireplace, bright lights and warm drinks chase away any gloom or chill this evening.

Virgo (August 23-September 22) You would really like to be out and about and socializing with your friends today, but you must be careful, as you could be walking a fine line between good company and discontent. You may find that you are working against the values of another, going against the proverbial flow of things. You want very much to be the center of everyone's attention. You crave a need to be appreciated for your talents. This can be seen as a time of fondness, a comprehensive, creative and perhaps a romantic phase. An important relationship, possibly with a young person or someone in your near surroundings, may come into focus later today. There could be an emotional overtone to all of this that requires your understanding.

Word Search

Libra (September 23-October 22) Enlarging your intellectual and spiritual horizons takes on a high priority.

You are intent on seeing the big picture and getting to the point. Travel and further education could help bring this to fruition. Keeping in touch with ideas and people on a large scale helps you keep your mind busy. You may enjoy testing your intuition while riding in some sort of public transportation or moving around in a crowded room; careful, someone intuitive will probably respond to you. You may come up with a new way to go forward with some plan or a decision regarding your life circumstance. The time you spend throughout this day is beneficial to your future and to the future of a few very kind and interested bystanders.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) You should find no problem in communicating with regard to groups and society in general. You demonstrate the ability to understand and be sensitive to other people's needs. Your emotional security and stability are due mainly to your friends, morals and social interaction. There may be a need for you to make some important changes in your life, break with the old ideas of the past and move toward anything new, different and unique. You are a very kindhearted and generous person and you like to be recognized for your contributions--as most of us do. It is possible that you may remember this time as an aesthetic and possibly even romantic time--one in which you will have a great deal of self-satisfaction and appreciation.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) You really use your head to your advantage when it comes to dealing with others. You seem to know just what to do and can act without hurry or worry. You are called upon to make use of your natural abilities and common sense. For anything to be accomplished in the manner you think it should be could require that you show the way. This is only right, as the projects you may be undertaking may be more important to you. You feel healthy and very capable of handling almost any situation.

Intensive and penetrating analysis, especially with a group or in relation to your situation, may be in order. A family discussion may involve voting for the best place to hold a wedding or anniversary reception--how about renting?

Capricorn (December 22-January 19) A song, story, poem or simply a project may be going on in your head and you seek to carry through and complete your thought process. An outline may begin the process for guiding you to accomplish whatever you set out to do at this time. With the year winding down there are still a lot of errands left for you to tend to this afternoon. Introduction to new communication tools helps you get your ideas over to more people than you can imagine. What you have to say may be of interest to a movie studio so you might want to understand the art of copyrighting in order to secure your art.

When getting gifts, you might check out the garden shops as they would have those organic gifts for those friends of yours that love gardening the organic way.

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) Keeping in touch with friends, being involved socially and keeping your morals above reproach lead to your social interactions now. You have an opportunity to catch up on a few phone calls and visit with friends that have come back to town. You find it a challenge to keep conversations brief and simple because you enjoy long conversation and detailed information about the smallest things. Enjoy a bit of humor and take a timer. Let each person know you are timing the conversation and will get back to them with more news later. This way you will be able to meet your goals for the day and visit with people that you love and do not see often. Abandoned animals have your attention later today and you work to find them homes.

Pisces (February 19-March 20) Being able to understand those around you almost assures you of a special time with someone you love. Good feelings and a sense of harmony make this a pleasant time. Your almost charismatic behavior and eloquence in communication and speech should find others following your lead, wherever you go. Things are uninhibited for self-expression and work very well with your special ideas. Expect a good conversation with someone you love today. Being with others and playing together should be particularly nice.

Someone older may come to you with a plan for a particular project. They are familiar with your organizational style. You might have the first annual neighborhood garage sale or plant sale. The project will be finished and enjoyed.

Yesterday’s Solution

Yesterday’s Solution

Daily SuDoku

Yesterday’s Solution

MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2013

i n f o r m at i o n For labor-related inquiries and complaints: Call MSAL hotline 128 GOVERNORATE Sabah Hospital

24812000

Amiri Hospital

22450005

Maternity Hospital

24843100

Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital

25312700

Chest Hospital

24849400

Farwaniya Hospital

24892010

Adan Hospital

23940620

Ibn Sina Hospital

24840300

Al-Razi Hospital

24846000

Physiotherapy Hospital

24874330/9

PHARMACY

ADDRESS

PHONE

Ahmadi

Sama Safwan Abu Halaifa Danat Al-Sultan

Fahaeel Makka St Abu Halaifa-Coastal Rd Mahboula Block 1, Coastal Rd

23915883 23715414 23726558

Jahra

Modern Jahra Madina Munawara

Jahra-Block 3 Lot 1 Jahra-Block 92

24575518 24566622

Capital

Ahlam Khaldiya Coop

Fahad Al-Salem St Khaldiya Coop

22436184 24833967

Farwaniya

New Shifa Ferdous Coop Modern Safwan

Farwaniya Block 40 Ferdous Coop Old Kheitan Block 11

24734000 24881201 24726638

Tariq Hana Ikhlas Hawally & Rawdha Ghadeer Kindy Ibn Al-Nafis Mishrif Coop Salwa Coop

Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St Salmiya-Amman St Hawally-Beirut St Hawally & Rawdha Coop Jabriya-Block 1A Jabriya-Block 3B Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St Mishrif Coop Salwa Coop

25726265 25647075 22625999 22564549 25340559 25326554 25721264 25380581 25628241

Hawally

Al-Madeena

22418714

Al-Shuhada

22545171

Al-Shuwaikh

24810598

Al-Nuzha

22545171

Sabhan

24742838

Al-Helaly

22434853

Al-Faiha

22545051

Al-Farwaniya

24711433

Al-Sulaibikhat

24316983

Al-Fahaheel

23927002

Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh

24316983

Ahmadi

23980088

Al-Mangaf

23711183

Al-Shuaiba

23262845

Kaizen center

25716707

Rawda

22517733

Adaliya

22517144

Al-Jahra

25610011

Khaldiya

24848075

Al-Salmiya

25616368

Kaifan

24849807

Shamiya

24848913

Shuwaikh

24814507

Abdullah Salem

22549134

Nuzha

22526804

Industrial Shuwaikh

24814764

Qadsiya

22515088

Dasmah

22532265

Bneid Al-Gar

22531908

Shaab

22518752

Qibla

22459381

Ayoun Al-Qibla

22451082

Mirqab

22456536

Sharq

22465401

Salmiya

25746401

Jabriya

25316254

Maidan Hawally

25623444

Bayan

25388462

Mishref

25381200

W Hawally

22630786

Sabah

24810221

Jahra

24770319

New Jahra

24575755

West Jahra

24772608

South Jahra

24775066

North Jahra

24775992

North Jleeb

24311795

Ardhiya

24884079

Firdous

24892674

Omariya

24719048

N Khaitan

24710044

Fintas

23900322

INTERNATIONAL CALLS

PRIVATE CLINICS Ophthalmologists Dr. Abidallah Al-Mansoor 25622444 Dr. Samy Al-Rabeea 25752222 Dr. Masoma Habeeb 25321171 Dr. Mubarak Al-Ajmy 25739999 Dr. Mohsen Abel 25757700 Dr Adnan Hasan Alwayl 25732223 Dr. Abdallah Al-Baghly 25732223 Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT) Dr. Ahmed Fouad Mouner 24555050 Ext 510 Dr. Abdallah Al-Ali 25644660 Dr. Abd Al-Hameed Al-Taweel 25646478 Dr. Sanad Al-Fathalah 25311996 Dr. Mohammad Al-Daaory 25731988 Dr. Ismail Al-Fodary 22620166 Dr. Mahmoud Al-Booz 25651426 General Practitioners Dr. Mohamme Y Majidi 24555050 Ext 123 Dr. Yousef Al-Omar 24719312 Dr. Tarek Al-Mikhazeem 23926920 Dr. Kathem Maarafi 25730465 Dr. Abdallah Ahmad Eyadah 25655528 Dr. Nabeel Al-Ayoobi 24577781 Dr. Dina Abidallah Al-Refae 25333501 Urologists Dr. Ali Naser Al-Serfy 22641534 Dr. Fawzi Taher Abul 22639955 Dr. Khaleel Abidallah Al-Awadi 22616660 Dr. Adel Al-Hunayan FRCS (C) 25313120 Dr. Leons Joseph 66703427 Psychologists /Psychotherapists

Paediatricians

Plastic Surgeons Dr. Mohammad Al-Khalaf

22547272

Dr. Khaled Hamadi

Dr. Abdal-Redha Lari

22617700

Dr. Abd Al-Aziz Al-Rashed

Dr. Abdel Quttainah

25625030/60

Family Doctor Dr Divya Damodar

23729596/23729581

Psychiatrists Dr. Esam Al-Ansari

22635047

Dr Eisa M. Al-Balhan

22613623/0

Gynaecologists & Obstetricians DrAdrian arbe

23729596/23729581

Dr. Verginia s.Marin

2572-6666 ext 8321

Endocrinologist

25665898 25340300

Dr. Zahra Qabazard

25710444

Dr. Sohail Qamar

22621099

Dr. Snaa Maaroof

25713514

Dr. Pradip Gujare

23713100

Dr. Zacharias Mathew

24334282

(1) Ear, Nose and Throat (2) Plastic Surgeon Dr. Abdul Mohsin Jafar, FRCS (Canada)

25655535

Dentists

Dr. Fozeya Ali Al-Qatan

22655539

Dr. Majeda Khalefa Aliytami

25343406

Dr. Shamah Al-Matar

22641071/2

Dr. Ahmad Al-Khooly

25739272

Dr. Anesah Al-Rasheed

22562226

22618787

Dr. Abidallah Al-Amer

22561444

Dr. Faysal Al-Fozan

22619557

Dr. Abdallateef Al-Katrash

22525888

Dr. Abidallah Al-Duweisan

25653755

Dr. Bader Al-Ansari

25620111

General Surgeons Dr. Amer Zawaz Al-Amer

22610044

Dr. Mohammad Yousef Basher

25327148

Internists, Chest & Heart Dr. Adnan Ebil Dr. Latefa Al-Duweisan

22666300 25728004

Dr. Nadem Al-Ghabra

25355515

Dr. Mobarak Aldoub

24726446

Dr Nasser Behbehani

25654300/3

Soor Center Tel: 2290-1677 Fax: 2290 1688

Neurologists

22639939

Dr. Mousa Khadada

info@soorcenter.com www.soorcenter.com

3729596/3729581

Dr. Sohal Najem Al-Shemeri

25633324

Dr. Jasem Mola Hassan

25345875

Gastrologists Dr. Sami Aman

22636464

Dr. Mohammad Al-Shamaly

25322030

Dr. Foad Abidallah Al-Ali

22633135

Kaizen center 25716707

25339330

Dr. Ahmad Al-Ansari 25658888 Dr. Kamal Al-Shomr 25329924 Physiotherapists & VD Dr. Deyaa Shehab

25722291

Dr. Musaed Faraj Khamees

22666288

Rheumatologists: Dr. Adel Al-Awadi

Dr Anil Thomas

Dr. Salem soso

Dr. Abd Al-Naser Al-Othman

25330060

Dr. Khaled Al-Jarallah

25722290

Internist, Chest & Heart DR.Mohammes Akkad

24555050 Ext 210

Dr. Mohammad Zubaid MB, ChB, FRCPC, PACC Assistant Professor Of Medicine Head, Division of Cardiology Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital Consultant Cardiologist Dr. Farida Al-Habib MD, PH.D, FACC Inaya German Medical Center Te: 2575077 Fax: 25723123

2611555-2622555

William Schuilenberg, RPC 2290-1677 Zaina Al Zabin, M.Sc. 2290-1677

Afghanistan 0093 Albania 00355 Algeria 00213 Andorra 00376 Angola 00244 Anguilla 001264 Antiga 001268 Argentina 0054 Armenia 00374 Australia 0061 Austria 0043 Bahamas 001242 Bahrain 00973 Bangladesh 00880 Barbados 001246 Belarus 00375 Belgium 0032 Belize 00501 Benin 00229 Bermuda 001441 Bhutan 00975 Bolivia 00591 Bosnia 00387 Botswana 00267 Brazil 0055 Brunei 00673 Bulgaria 00359 Burkina 00226 Burundi 00257 Cambodia 00855 Cameroon 00237 Canada 001 Cape Verde 00238 Cayman Islands 001345 Central African 00236 Chad 00235 Chile 0056 China 0086 Colombia 0057 Comoros 00269 Congo 00242 Cook Islands 00682 Costa Rica 00506 Croatia 00385 Cuba 0053 Cyprus 00357 Cyprus (Northern) 0090392 Czech Republic 00420 Denmark 0045 Diego Garcia 00246 Djibouti 00253 Dominica 001767 Dominican Republic 001809 Ecuador 00593 Egypt 0020 El Salvador 00503 England (UK) 0044 Equatorial Guinea 00240 Eritrea 00291 Estonia 00372 Ethiopia 00251 Falkland Islands 00500 Faroe Islands 00298 Fiji 00679 Finland 00358 France 0033 French Guiana 00594 French Polynesia 00689 Gabon 00241 Gambia 00220 Georgia 00995 Germany 0049 Ghana 00233 Gibraltar 00350 Greece 0030 Greenland 00299 Grenada 001473 Guadeloupe 00590 Guam 001671 Guatemala 00502 Guinea 00224 Guyana 00592 Haiti 00509 Holland (Netherlands) 0031 Honduras 00504 Hong Kong 00852 Hungary 0036 Ibiza (Spain) 0034 Iceland 00354 India 0091 Indian Ocean 00873 Indonesia 0062

Iran 0098 Iraq 00964 Ireland 00353 Italy 0039 Ivory Coast 00225 Jamaica 001876 Japan 0081 Jordan 00962 Kazakhstan 007 Kenya 00254 Kiribati 00686 Kuwait 00965 Kyrgyzstan 00996 Laos 00856 Latvia 00371 Lebanon 00961 Liberia 00231 Libya 00218 Lithuania 00370 Luxembourg 00352 Macau 00853 Macedonia 00389 Madagascar 00261 Majorca 0034 Malawi 00265 Malaysia 0060 Maldives 00960 Mali 00223 Malta 00356 Marshall Islands 00692 Martinique 00596 Mauritania 00222 Mauritius 00230 Mayotte 00269 Mexico 0052 Micronesia 00691 Moldova 00373 Monaco 00377 Mongolia 00976 Montserrat 001664 Morocco 00212 Mozambique 00258 Myanmar (Burma) 0095 Namibia 00264 Nepal 00977 Netherlands (Holland) 0031 Netherlands Antilles 00599 New Caledonia 00687 New Zealand 0064 Nicaragua 00505 Nigar 00227 Nigeria 00234 Niue 00683 Norfolk Island 00672 Northern Ireland (UK) 0044 North Korea 00850 Norway 0047 Oman 00968 Pakistan 0092 Palau 00680 Panama 00507 Papua New Guinea 00675 Paraguay 00595 Peru 0051 Philippines 0063 Poland 0048 Portugal 00351 Puerto Rico 001787 Qatar 00974 Romania 0040 Russian Federation 007 Rwanda 00250 Saint Helena 00290 Saint Kitts 001869 Saint Lucia 001758 Saint Pierre 00508 Saint Vincent 001784 Samoa US 00684 Samoa West 00685 San Marino 00378 Sao Tone 00239 Saudi Arabia 00966 Scotland (UK) 0044 Senegal 00221 Seychelles 00284 Sierra Leone 00232 Singapore 0065 Slovakia 00421 Slovenia 00386 Solomon Islands 00677

36

MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2013

LIFESTYLE G o s s i p

g on in o g n o s k Paris Jac reak? b s a m t is r r family for family Ch

he ol and be with who e boarding scho the late Michael Jackson - ol av le ill w n so of ho er sc ht e aris Jack ug at iv da 15-year-old erapeutic pr Christmas. The g at a $14,000-per-month th tempt in June - will at in e ay id st ic su tly is curren ever, an apparent her family. How cause covers from an re ith e w sh i ai le hi aw w H in be r on te as in Utah, in se w e e iv d the fest home for th anently by reportedly spen s she won’t be back at her stay there perm t Paris ld ou ew N sh E! e sh ld to insider esn’t wan ince them r to try to conv : “The family do they expect he tten better”. The source said e they don’t want her getus go k at home beca to talk her way into staying showing “she’s tire winter brea try other to spend her en .” The family thinks Paris will tter.” Her grandm le ting comfortab ing the family she’s gotten be ow home after sh previously s ha e in Kather her intent spoken abou and insistt en tm ea sive tr much betng ed she is “doi ed: “She is ter”. She reveal getting e, ac in a good pl s. She is ed ne e sh lp the he . “The er tt be doing much good, g in go is t en treatm y m e’s Sh . really good me, r fo rd ha s It’ . baby I want really hard. All is hapbe to ds ki these py.”

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Boyle to go sailing on Christmas Eve

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usan Boyle is going sailing on Christmas Eve. The Scottish singer is looking forward to returning to her hometown of Blackburn, West Lothian, for the festive break and will be joining in with traditional community activities. She said: “This year I’m going to be spending Christmas with my friends and family and I’m doing the Christmas Santa Claus sail down the canal in my hometown on Christmas Eve.”Christmas is about giving and being with family and friends. It’s magical and very special to me.” The ‘Wild Horses’ singer is a huge fan of the festive season and says one of her best ever gifts was a doll she was given when she was eight years old. She told OK! magazine: “One of my earliest memories is coming downstairs at 5am when I was about eight years old and discovering all the presents laid out. I opened one of them and it was a doll called Giggles - you pressed its tummy and it let out a rather loud giggle.”

Hanks

to buy wife toaster for Christmas

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om Hanks is getting his wife a toaster or a rice cooker for Christmas.

The ‘Captain Phillips’ star has been married to Rita Wilson for over 20 years, and although his choice of gift may seem more practical than glamorous, he ensures it will be a top-of-the-range model. He said: “What am I going to get her? I’ll go the toaster oven route, but a really cool toaster oven. Like, one you can just set and it’s automatic. Maybe a rice cooker.

She’s handy in the kitchen, that wife of mine.” Hanks, 57, is also looking forward to a functional gift from Santa this year. He added: “I could use some running pants.” The Oscar winner recently had to grow a moustache to play Walt Disney in ‘Saving Mr. Banks’ and says his face fuzz was not something his wife took to. He lamented: “She hates every time I have to grow facial hair. She says, ‘So when are you done with this job?’ And what she really means is, ‘When are you shaving that off?’ “

Hor an plans to get ‘fat’ this Christmas

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iall Horan plans to get “really fat” this Christmas. The One Direction singer is taking a well-deserved break from the limelight next week and intends to undo all his personal trainer’s hard work by stuffing his face with as much festive food as possible. Speaking after their live performance on ‘The X Factor’ USA final last night, Niall joked: “I think we’re all just going to go home be with our families for a little bit, eat lots of food and get really fat.” Quizzed by host Mario Lopez whether the boys had been naughty or nice for Santa this year, notorious womanizer Harry Styles - who has dated Taylor Swift, Cara Delevingne and most recently Kendall Jenner in 2013 - suggested he deserved presents for his glowing behavior. He joked: “I think I’ve been pretty nice this year actually, yeah.” The British boy band - who came third on the British ‘X Factor’ in 2010 - took to the stage to perform their new single ‘Midnight Memories’ and caused a frenzy amongst the female members of the audience. The group - also formed of Louis Tomlinson, Liam Payne and Zayn Malik - are expected to head their separate ways this weekend to celebrate Christmas next week with their loved ones.

Niall’s mother, Maura Gallagher, recently revealed: “It’s always a big deal. Niall loves a family Christmas and all the food. We keep it very traditional, with turkey, ham and all the veg. I spend the day steeping the peas and mash and roast potatoes!”

Cowell vow s to sto

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Nash wants a telescope for Christmas

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he 26-year-old singer-songwriter is hoping to find the space gadget under her tree this year so she can keep a watchful eye out for UFOs because she has an obsession with aliens and non-earthly living creatures. Speaking exclusively to BANG Showbiz, she said: “I’m really obsessed with space and aliens so I want a telescope so I can look out for UFO’s.” The ‘Foundations’ hitmaker, who is currently pursuing a career in acting, has had a busy year working on her new movie ‘Powder Room’, while juggling her UK tour and is looking forward to unwinding for the festive season. She explained: “I’m actually really looking forward to it I’ve been away for like the whole year basically, so I’m just looking forward to vegging out and being at my mum and dad’s house and having my dogs and my bunny rabbit. “It’s been going really well, it’s been a lot of hard work this year so I’m looking forward to having a Christmas break actually because I’ve been on tour all year.”

p or baby s on

smoking f

imon Cow ell will try to baby son.

The media quit smoking aroun d his m Lauren Silv erman is p ogul’s girlfriend child, and regnant w he has no it h their first intention o arette in fr f li on down on h t of their offspring, ghting up a cigan is smoke in fr habit. Asked by LBC d plans to cut o 9 that, I’ve le nt of his son, he said 7.3 radio if he’ll arnt that.”I’m : “No, I won ’t do arettes, th trying to d ey better.” The ’re not bad. But mod o electronic cige ‘X while he w Factor’ boss had p ration would be rev o already loo uldn’t kick the habit iously insisted fo k proof so h ing at ways to make r good, he was e ca h environme n raise his son in th is home babyn e he’ll have t. Recently talking a best possible bo to dedicated make Simon, 54, no ut the changes te “s booze and moking room”, while d he will have a cigarettes. hiding aw ay his ing things H that happe e said: “There are a lot of born when yo have to ge u t ri then there d of sharp edges, ci have a baby. “You ’s the toile garettes, a t to make safe. But I’l lcohol ... l have a sm oking room !”

White plans to gain weight at Christmas

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anessa White knows she will gain weight during the Christmas holidays. The Saturdays beauty is usually health conscious throughout the year, but plans a big blowout next month and will indulge in all her favorite festive treats over the holiday period. She said: “I’ll put on loads of weight over Christmas. I’ll be on the wine, turkey, pudding - everything!” While she is planning a short indulgence, Vanessa, 24, will surely lose the holiday weight quickly as she is a keen gym enthusiast and admits she feels “guilty” if she doesn’t work out on a regular basis. She added: “I love the gym, but sometimes I feel sick and want to run away from my trainer!”If I don’t go to the gym, I feel guilty.

It’s paid off ... I look a lot more toned.” Meanwhile, it appears Vanessa who was known as the biggest night owl in The Saturdays - will have a much quieter 2014 after giving up partying. She previously said: “I’d been partying way too much, not taking care of myself and I felt rubbish. We’re all very honest with one another and we will sit each other down and say, ‘This is getting out of control.’ “If I hadn’t had them, it would have been so easy to have gone off the rails and kept up the partying until it became a problem. You need people around you to say, ‘Right, this is too much now,’ and fortunately, I have that.”

Ellie Goulding’s racy Christmas gift

Beyonce kisses Madonna’s daughter at concert

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adonna’s daughter got a kiss from Beyonce at her concert. The Queen of Pop was among the thousands of fans who enjoyed the latest stop on the ‘XO’ singer’s ‘Mrs Carter Show’ world tour at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, on Thursday and Beyonce even took a moment to acknowledge nine-year-old Mercy James, Madonna’s adopted tot, and planted a big kiss on the forehead. The ‘Hung Up’ singer documented the sweet moment on her Instagram account, captioning the picture: “Mercy James gets a big fat one from the Queen. B! (sic)” It appears pop royalty Madonna, 55, approves of her younger contemporary as she gave Beyonce, 32, a glowing review for her show-stopping concert. She captioned another Instagram picture: “Mrs Carter crushes the BK with her bad ass show! Girls run the world! #srtforfreedom (sic)” Mercy isn’t Madonna’s only child to get a moment in the spotlight this week as Lourdes, the star’s 17-year-old daughter with Carlos Leon, played Betty Rizzo in her school’s production of ‘Grease’. Proud parent Madonna - who also has 13-yearold son Rocco with ex-husband Guy Ritchie and adopted eight-year-old son David - celebrated with Lourdes and her friends following the LaGuardia High School production at the Hudson Hotel.

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llie Goulding was given nipple tassels last Christmas. The singer was left redfaced during her ‘Halcyon Days’ tour last year when she received the kinky boudoir accessory as a Secret Santa gift from a mystery crew member, and quickly stashed them away after her initial look of “excitement”. Reminiscing about their time touring with Ellie, Sons & Lovers’ guitarist Tim Hillier-Brook exclusively told BANG Showbiz: “We hung out quite a bit. It was Christmas on the last day of tour in Southampton, we did a big Christmas dinner with the whole of crew. “We did Secret Santa and our van driver got Ellie. He’s a bit of a numpty, bless him, he’s a good mate.

He kept saying, ‘I’ve got no idea what to get her!’ So on a whim he thought, ‘I’ll get her some nipple tassles!’ So by proxy he got intimate with Ellie.” The indie band revealed Ellie was shocked at being given the naughty gift, but detected a mischievous glint in her eyes. Quizzed about her reaction upon seeing them, Tim joked: “Sort of dismay but slight excitement!” Drummer Josh Gimber chimed in: “She was trying to work out who gave them to her! I don’t think she ever knew.” The boys had a blast touring with Ellie, who was extremely supportive of their music and actively helped them gather a fan base of their own. Singer Tom Lillywhite explained: “It was unbelievable. It was our first ever tour. You talk about things you want to tick off your list like Brixton Academy. I’ve been to see loads of shows there growing up so that was a real buzz.” Josh added: “Everywhere we’ve played since, it was like, ‘We saw you at the Ellie tour.’ It’s amazing to have built a fan base.” —Bang Showbiz

37

MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2013

LIFESTYLE G o s s i p

Sheen buys girlfriend Mercedes C

harlie Sheen has bought his girlfriend a new Mercedes Benz car. The ‘Anger Management’ actor treated porn star Brett Rossi - who he has been dating for around a month - to the expensive vehicle earlier this month to show he is serious about her. A source told RadarOnline.com: “Charlie always buys his girlfriends new cars when they begin dating, or gives them access to one of the vehicles in his fleet. Two weeks ago, Charlie bought Brett the Mercedes.” However, Charlie has registered the car in his own name not Brett’s. The source added: “It’s not in Brett’s name, though. It’s in Charlie’s. He never puts the cars in his girlfriend’s name!” The motivation for the 48-year-old star having the vehicle in his name is that he gets his purchase back if the relationship doesn’t work out. Brett - the star of such adult movies as ‘My Sister’s Husband’, ‘Kiss and Tell’ and ‘Fantasy Girls’ - has also been given a credit card by Charlie to spend on herself and the romantic actor is taking her to Europe for the Christmas holidays. The source revealed: “Brett is so excited to be spending Christmas with Charlie in Europe and is loving the lifestyle of private jets, fancy dinners and designer clothes.” Charlie booked the festive break after learning he won’t be able to see his daughters Sam, nine, and eight-year-old Lola - his children with ex-wife Denise Richards - or his five-year-old twin sons Bob and Max with third wife Brooke Mueller over Christmas.

Pink names favorite

Keating won’t buy Christmas gifts

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onan Keating isn’t doing any Christmas shopping this year.

The Boyzone singer - who has three children, Jack, 14, Marie, 12, and eight-year-old Ali with ex-wife Yvonne - is leaving gift buying to his girlfriend Storm Uechtritz as he did it in 2012, but he will be helping out with other festive tasks. He said: “I’ll be at home in Ireland for Christmas - I’m spending the big day with my girlfriend Storm and my kids. I’m really looking forward to it. “Storm will do the shopping beforehand - it’s her turn this year because I did it last year - and we’ll both cook.” While Ronan still remembers the best gift he received when he was a child, he insists he isn’t interested in material possessions this year. He added to Britain’s OK! magazine: “Christmas is a special time of year for everyone - I remember getting my first BMX bike when I was a kid and it was the best present ever. “What do I want to receive this time around? Happiness. My wish for everyone is happiness this coming year.”

Christmas films

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ink has named ‘Love Actually’ among her favorite Christmas films. The ‘Just Give Me a Reason’ singer has been getting into the festive spirit and has shared her top five seasonal movies with her fans, listing the 2003 romantic comedy from Richard Curtis and 1946 classic ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ as some of the flicks she chooses to enjoy around during December. Pink wrote on Twitter: “Top 5 holiday movies - GO ... Not in order... 1. It’s a wonderful life 2. Scrooged 3. Love actually 4. Family man 5. Elf (sic)” The 34-year-old singer isn’t the only star who’s a big fan of Will Ferrell comedy ‘Elf’ and ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’, as ‘X Factor’ judge Simon Cowell also recommended the festive favorites to his Twitter followers. He wrote: “And if you want to make yourself happy over Xmas watch wonderful life and elf. (sic)” Pink completed the final 2013 date on her ‘Truth About Love’ world tour in Atlanta, Georgia, this week and is looking forward to spending some quality time with her husband Carey Hart and their two-year-old daughter Willow during the festive season. She tweeted: “And that’s a wrap ... thank you everyone for a non stop year or two or fourteen of awesomeness. See you in January... (sic)” The singer previously revealed her daughter has requested a car and a “small building” as Christmas gifts. She revealed on the social networking site: “I’ve just been informed by my two year old that she would like a small building, a lake, a hill and a car for Xmas. Oh, and turkey bacon. (sic)”

Dwayne Johnson named highest grossing actor of 2013

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Beckhams spend £50,000 on X-mas decorations

wayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson has been named 2013’s top-grossing actor. The four movies the 42-year-old star appeared in this year ‘Fast & Furious 6’, ‘G. I Joe: Retaliation, ‘Pain & Gain, and ‘Snitch’ banked a collective $1.3 billion at the global box office, putting him just ahead of second-placed Robert Downey Jr., who only released one movie in 2013, the highest-grossing production ‘Iron Man 3’, which took $1.2 billion. ‘Despicable Me 2’ star Steve Carrell ranked third, with his work including ‘The Way Way Back’ and “The Incredible Burt Wonderstone’ bringing in $964 million, while WWE Superstar Dwayne’s ‘Fast & Furious 6’ co-star, ‘Riddick’ actor Vin Diesel placed fourth with $887 million. ‘Gravity’ and ‘The Heat’s successes with audiences helped propel Sandra Bullock to number five in the list - compiled by Forbes - with her movies grossing a total of $862 million this year. In sixth place was another ‘Fast & Furious 6’ actor, the late Paul Walker, who passed away last month after a car accident, bringing in $789 million, all of which came from the latest installment of the action franchise. In joint seventh place were ‘Monsters University’ stars Billy Crystal and John Goodman, with the animated tale bringing in $743 million. ‘Thor: The Dark World’ and ‘Rush’ actor Chris Hemsworth’s 2013 work grossed $701 million, ranking him ninth, and ‘Hunger Games: Catching Fire’ actress Jennifer Lawrence completed the top 10 with box office takings of $700 million.

Forbes’ Top 10 Highest-Grossing Actors of 2013.

1. Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson - $1.3 billion 2. Robert Downey Jr - $1.2 billion 3. Steve Carrell - $964 million 4. Vin Diesel - $887 million 5. Sandra Bullock - $862 million 6. Paul Walker - $789 million 7= Billy Crystal - $743 million 7 = John Goodman - $743 million 9. Chris Hemsworth - $701 million 10. Jennifer Lawrence - $700 million

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ictoria and David Beckham have spent £50,000 on Christmas decorations. The couple reportedly called in prestigious department store Fortnum & Mason to deck out the mansion they are currently renting in west London and the lavish festive makeover took two days to complete. According to heat magazine, Victoria, 39, and David, 38, didn’t waste time untangling Christmas lights or picking their own tree, as the couple had a creative director who “visualized the concept” for their gold and white themed display. The elaborate decorations include three large Christmas trees, two smaller ones and a number of designer accessories that reportedly “look like diamonds”. As well as the Fortnum’s makeover, Victoria, 39, also ordered her personal assistants to scour stores in fashion capitals such as New York and Paris in a bid to find the perfect decorations such as specially commissioned Lalique baubles and Swarovski crystal stars which cost £1,500 each. Victoria was determined to make the house as Christmassy as possible for the couple’s kids Brooklyn,14, Romeo,11, Cruz, eight, and Harper, two, and decided money was no object when it came to this year’s holidays.

Rihanna’s style icon is Princess Diana

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he superstar is crazy about the late British royal’s “gangsta” fashion sense and loves all the structured pieces the princess wore in the 80s. Listing the celebrities on her bestdressed list, she enthused: “Nicole Richie. She just pisses me off, she’s so good. But you know who is the best who ever did it? Princess Diana. She was gangsta with her clothes. She had these crazy hats. She got oversized jackets. I loved everything she wore.” The Bajan singer’s passion for clothes began as a child when she would watch her mother experimenting with daring looks, and she aspired to be as stylish as her when she grew up. Rihanna said: “My love for fashion - let me say, my admiration for fashion - started with my mum. I used to watch her get dressed. She was around my age now, and she was so fly. I remember not even knowing how to do that because I was such a tomboy.” The ‘Pour It Up’ hitmaker has several fragrances to her name as well as a clothing line for high street store River Island and she says the ventures are close to heart. She explained: “I’m a bit of a workaholic. I’m afraid of opportunities passing me by. I love being creative and have these different outlets now. But these are things that I actually care about. “My mum was a make-up artist and she sold perfume. I knew all the fragrances as a kid and I would know them by heart just by the smell.”

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George Clooney hasn’t met the love of his life yet

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he hunky ‘Gravity’ actor has dated a string of beautiful women in his years as a star - including recently splitting from former wrestling star Stacy Keibler and being linked to model Monika Jakisic - but claims he’s yet to have his greatest romance. When asked who has been the love of his life, George told W magazine: “I haven’t met her yet.” The 52-year-old star - who was married to actress Talia Balsam from 1989 to 1993 - named classic Hollywood stars Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly as his ideal women.

He explained: “When I was a kid, I was in love with Audrey Hepburn. I watched ‘Roman Holiday’ when I was 11, and I thought she was as elegant as anything I’d ever seen. And I fell madly in love with her. “I also always loved Grace Kelly. I mean, when she comes out of the water in ‘To Catch a Thief’, I thought, ‘That’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.’ “ George also claims no matter where he is filming he doesn’t get homesick as long as he is surrounded by his friends. He said: “Home is where my friends and family are ... no city, no space fails to be a home if your family or friends can find the time to visit. “I get desperately, depressingly homesick if I can’t find a way to be near the people that bring joy wherever they go. “Spend a night with my parents battling over who was the rottenest child [My sister or me]...Or my friends pointing out how badly I destroyed a certain bat franchise.”

Pitt to star in Tom Cruise’s Go Like Hell?

rad Pitt may star alongside Tom Cruise in ‘Go Like Hell’. The ‘World War Z’ actor is being eyed for a reunion with his ‘Interview with the Vampire’ co-star in 20th Century Fox’s new racing movie, which will be directed

by Joseph Kosinski, who directed Cruise in ‘Oblivion’. Pitt was attached to star in the project in 2009 when Michael Mann was on board as director, according to The Hollywood Reporter, and has remained interested in the film. The movie will focus on the real-life rivalry between American car manufacturer Ford Motor Company and Italian car brand Ferrari, which culminated at the 1966 Le Mans race. Cruise is set to play car designer Carroll Shelby in the feature, which was scripted by Jez and John-Henry Butterworth. The movie is based on A.J. Baime’s book, ‘Go Like Hell: Ford, Ferrari and Their Battle for Speed and Glory at Le Mans’. Pitt is currently putting together a sequel to his hit summer zombie film ‘World War Z’, which he produced and starred in. The actor also has a brief role in awards favourite ‘12 Years a Slave’. Cruise will soon begin shooting ‘Mission: Impossible 5’ and is also developing a sequel to his hit action thriller ‘Jack Reacher’. —Bang Showbiz

MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2013

lifestyle M u s i c

&

M o v i e s

Beyonce talks surprise album, success at NYC event D

Entertainer Beyonce attends a release party and screening for her new self-titled album “Beyonce” at the School of Visual Arts Theater on December 21, 2013 in New York City. — AFP

espite all the hard work she put in on the songs and videos from her new album, Beyonce had her doubts minutes before its surprise release. “I was terrified. I was so scared. I already envisioned like the worst things that could happen,” Beyonce said Saturday at a screening for her new music videos. “I was really nervous because this was a huge risk.” The singer’s fifth album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard charts this week after it was released without the public knowing. “Beyonce” sold 617,000 units in the US in a week; it has sold more than 1 million albums worldwide. The album includes 14 songs and 17 videos, which fans were able to see during the screening at the School of Visual Arts in New York.

Beyonce answered fans’ questions via Instagram, including one about her opening up personally on the new album. “I’m very private and I’m very respectful, and I think it just took me no longer being someone’s child once I became a mother, I felt like I could tear those fourth walls and I just felt like it was time,” she said. “I completely

feel liberated.” The album features collaborations with her husband Jay Z, Justin Timberlake, Drake and her daughter, Blue Ivy. “Beyonce” is the follow-up to 2011’s “4,” the first album the singer released on her production company, Parkwood Entertainment, after parting ways professionally with her father-manager, Mathew Knowles.

“I felt like I wanted follow in the footsteps of Madonna and be a powerhouse and have my own empire,” she said to cheers from the crowd. “And (to) show other women when you get to this point in your career, you don’t have to go sign with someone else and share your money and your success, you can do it yourself.” The album’s unconventional release became one of the year’s top pop culture and social media moments. Beyonce, 32, said she became bored in the music industry after her last release, and the new album is a reflection of experimentation and growth.

“Honestly I was at a point where I felt like, you know, everything feels the same ... that’s how I felt and if I could not challenge that, then maybe it’s time for me to do

something else or develop more artists, which is something I want to do,” she said. “I just hope that I continue to move forward and challenge myself, and I think now that I’ve become a mother, I just want my legacy to inspire people.” She added that the goal of the new album was not to produce No. 1 hits, but to showcase her evolution and create her own lane. “I took all of my insecurities, all of my doubts, all of my fears and everything I’ve learned over the 17 years and I applied it into this project,” she said. “But more than the music - I’m proud of myself as a woman ... the biggest message is owning your imperfections and all the things that make you interesting, because I refuse to allow someone to put me in anyone’s box.”— AP

Tom Cruise, tabloids settle defamation lawsuit

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he publisher of two tabloid magazines said it never intended to imply that Tom Cruise had cut all ties to his daughter after his divorce and announced Friday that it had reached a settlement with the actor over two stories it published. Bauer Publishing and Cruise’s lawyer wrote in a joint statement that the terms of the settlement were confidential. “Bauer Publishing, as well as In Touch and Life & Style magazines, never intended to communicate that Tom Cruise had cut off all ties and abandoned his daughter, Suri, and regret if anyone drew that inference from anything they published,” the statement read.

Cruise sued the company over stories published in its Life & Style and In Touch magazines in 2012 that claimed the actor hadn’t been in contact with his daughter for several weeks after his divorce from actress Katie Holmes. The actor sued Bauer in October 2012 seeking tens of millions of dollars in damages. His lawyer, Bert Fields, called the stories outrageous and said that Cruise spoke to his daughter frequently while working on a pair of movie shoots that kept him overseas. In a declaration filed in November, Cruise rejected the notion that he had abandoned his daughter, as the tabloid stories suggested.

“I have in no way cut Suri out of my life - whether physically, emotionally, financially or otherwise,” Cruise wrote. He said despite filming back-to-back movies in the second half of 2012, he spoke to his daughter nearly every day and got frequent updates about her from Holmes.—AP

File photo shows celebrity chef, Nigella Lawson, arrives at Isleworth Crown Court in London. — AP

British TV chef Nigella Lawson faces drugs probe

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ritish police are reviewing evidence that celebrity chef Nigella Lawson took cocaine, they said yesterday. Claims that the self-styled Domestic Goddess was habitual cocaine and cannabis user emerged during the trial of two personal assistants who were cleared Friday of defrauding Lawson and her ex-husband, the millionaire art collector Charles Saatchi. Lawson, 53, insisted during the trial that she was not addicted to drugs and had only used cocaine and cannabis occasionally in the past.

London’s Metropolitan Police said after the verdict that they would not be investigating the drug claims.

But on Sunday the force said a team of specialist officers would be reviewing the evidence, though there is “no imminent prospect” of Lawson being prosecuted. “The Senior Investigating Officer received legal advice that the witness’s admissions did not by themselves provide sufficient evidence to bring charges,” police said in a statement.”On that basis therefore, and in absence of any other corroboration, there is no imminent prospect of a prosecution being mounted.”As we said however, should any evidence come to light that can be investigated further, we will review this decision.”

Lawson, who has made millions with her TV series and cookbooks in Britain and the United States, is battling to restore her reputation after a trial which saw details of her private life splashed across the newspapers. Elisabetta and Francesca Grillo, Italian sisters who worked as assistants to Lawson and Saatchi, claimed she allowed them to spend £685,000 ($1.12 million, 820,000 euros) on designer handbags, first-class flights and other luxuries in exchange for keeping quiet about her cocaine use.—AFP

Live opera, stage broadcasts - warts and all - win viewers P erhaps the most famous kiss in opera, when the temptress witch Kundry seduces the know-nothing hero of Richard Wagner’s “Parsifal”, went off without a hitch in a close-up shot for a global live transmission from the Royal Opera House in London. Then came the glitch. “Where is the follow spot?” exasperated live transmission director Jonathan Haswell, monitoring the outgoing feed in a studio deep in the bowels of the opera house, grumbled to his small crew hunched over vision mixers and a “Parsifal” score.

Spotlights above the stage had failed to come on instantly to track New Zealand-born tenor Simon O’Neill and German soprano Angela Denoke disengaging from one another. They flicked on within seconds and it is unlikely that many in the Covent Garden audience earlier this month, or in the cinemas in 28 countries where the Royal Opera screened the transmission, noticed much, if anything, amiss.

But the incident showed the intensity of the effort behind the scenes to bring live performances to audiences in cinemas where the camera reveals intimate details - and snags - invisible even from the best opera house seats. It underscored what Peter Gelb, general manager of the Metropolitan Opera in New York and acknowledged global guru of live opera broadcasts, has called their “reality show” allure.

“There is this cultural kind of gladiatorial aspect to opera singing and opera singers because they are out there, they are singing into (hidden) microphones for the purpose of the audiences in movie theatres but they are not being amplified, they are on their own,” Gelb, 60, told Reuters in a telephone interview.

Box office That is one reason more and more people watch live stage performances. The Royal Ballet’s live “Nutcracker” was number one in the British box office the day of broadcast on Dec 12.

“You see it on big screens with big emotions and also it’s direct,” said Katerina Novikova, head of press for Russia’s Bolshoi Theatre whose ballets reach up to 1,000 cinemas. “It’s quite touching because you see what’s going on on our stage.”

Live transmissions have become potential or actual big sources of revenue for the Met, the Bolshoi, the Royal Opera and Ballet, Britain’s National Theatre and others that may only have done one or two shows but want to do more. The Met, which spends $1 million per production for live broadcasts of 10 to 12 operas a year, says it made $17 million from them in its 2013 fiscal year. To emphasise the “liveness”, the Met even shows the scenery changes in its broadcasts to be seen this

year by about three million people in 64 countries.

“We’re not censoring the action and things happen which are fun for the audiences. The audience knows it’s all kind of live and spontaneous,” Gelb said. That is a selling point for people who trek to the Barbican Cinema in London to watch “Met Live” from New York, sipping wine and eating smoked salmon sandwiches with friends in the lobby during the interval, or who fill up a theatre in Budapest for a transmission of Shakespeare’s “Othello” or Kenneth Branagh in “Macbeth” presented by Britain’s National Theatre.

“It’s about being part of the larger audience and also that it’s happening right there and now,” said Michael Mansell, 54, a British translator who regularly attends the National Theatre broadcasts in the Hungarian capital. He likes the quality of acting and the live theatre experience - even from a distance.

“You don’t want things to go wrong but things could go wrong. There’s the feeling it’s happening in front of you, it’s not happened before, it’s different from a film,” he said.

Warts and all Things go wrong even for the Met, which has the benefit of years of experience, having made its first live transmission on Dec. 30, 2006. A 10-to-15 second transmission blackout at the Barbican in Verdi’s “Falstaff” this month had the audience holding its breath. Gelb is said to track sunspot activity for advance warning of possible satellite transmission disruptions. But while the high-gloss, high-cost world of opera may want its broadcasts to be as close as possible to perfection, David Sabel, the Washington, DC-born head of digital broadcast for Britain’s National Theatre, doesn’t have any qualms about spittle issuing from an actor’s mouth. “It’s sort of warts and all - this is the theatre,” Sabel, 34, told Reuters in an interview.

“If you’re in the front row in the theatre you do sometimes get spat on and I think people love that. I think audiences in cinemas, they want it to be like they are there. They can’t be in London or they couldn’t get a ticket to the show, so isn’t it great they can get an opportunity like this?” If the Met, under Gelb, is now the biggest brand in the live opera world, the National Theatre, whose outgoing artistic director Nicholas Hytner hired the fresh-out-of-business-school Sabel to write a business plan for live theatre transmissions, and then to manage it, is coming up fast.

to look into live broadcasts in 2008, Sabel said. Since then the number of cinemas showing broadcasts from the National’s stage, and from other theatres that have signed on board, has doubled every year. A transmission of the popular “War Horse” in February is expected to be shown on 1,000 screens, he said.

“It’s growing really quickly and luckily it has been a huge success artistically and with audiences,” Sabel said. “We find that some people are sceptical the first time because you think filmed theatre hasn’t worked in the past, but we’ve found a way to do it that works.”

What the National does, but the Met and Royal Opera do not, is to take over the best seats for its cameras, effectively turning the theatre into a studio for a night, and charging the theatre clientele a bit less per ticket for the inconvenience. At a cost of about 250,000 pounds ($410,000) per transmission, the National makes a small profit and fulfils its mission of bringing theatre to people throughout Britain, and now the world, Sabel said.

The opera productions, on the other hand, are made with the utmost decorum. The live transmissions are choreographed and scripted down to the last detail. The cameras, while visible inside the opera house, are placed so as not to ruffle the feathers of people spending sometimes $300 a ticket - perhaps ten times what it might cost to attend a cinema screening.

Haswell, 53, who worked as a director for the BBC before going freelance, said enormous advances in high-definition digital cameras and sound capture and editing have made a lot of the magic possible, but preparation is everything. He pores over DVD recordings of rehearsals, and the score of the opera, to come up with a shot list for his camera crews. With the blessing of stage director Stephen Langridge, he consults the singers about subtle changes in their movements or position on stage to provide better camera shots at specific moments - especially for that kiss.

“Parsifal, when you come down stage left to Kundry, please be within arm’s length so you don’t have to move your feet,” Haswell said he had told tenor O’Neill. “The reason is I have a tight two-shot here with the two of them in frame and if he steps away the camera has to ease out and you lose that intimacy. — Reuters

Leapfrog growth It was the Met’s leapfrog growth that inspired the National

Review: ‘Mitty’ Stiller’s strong dramatic turn

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arketed as Ben Stiller’s bend toward drama, “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” finds the actor, who also directed the feature, seemingly exuding superhuman strength while jumping between buildings and battling his nemesis as they surf asphalt. The lampoon-like scenarios seem far too fanciful when attempting to take Stiller seriously. But these are just the narratives the title character weaves in his mind. In reality, Walter Mitty, played by a poised and sincere Stiller, is an insecure photo editor with an affinity for daydreaming.

Adapted from a short story of the same name, which was written by James Thurber and was published in 1939 in The New Yorker, the outlandish scenes in “Mitty” bring the most memorable element of the original tale - reality bending - to the forefront. Thurber’s sarcastic narrative found Walter Mitty at odds with his bickering wife and escaping his humdrum life by daydreaming he was a war hero, surgeon and sharp shooter. The first rendering of “Mitty,” which maintained Thurber’s comedic tone, was realized on film in 1947. It starred Danny Kaye, who this time, battled with an overbearing mother.

Written by Steven Conrad, the contemporary rendition, in which Jim Carey was originally supposed to star, sees the real

world altered with such wild inflection that it’s hard to digest.

Visual techniques like interspersing the text of the opening credits into Walter’s surroundings, prove to be the most innovative and clever effect of the picture. Luckily, the CGI-marred moments flood only the first 30 minutes of the film, allowing for a loaded, inspiring experience familiar to other serious Conrad works like “The Pursuit of Happyness.”

In the new “Mitty,” Stiller’s Walter works at Life magazine, which is transitioning from print to digital. A brilliantly vexing Adam Scott plays Ted Hendricks, the ringleader of a band of executives who’ve come to supervise the completion of the last issue and fire a large chunk of the magazine’s staff. In this take, the women aren’t nags. Shirley MacLaine, who plays Stiller’s mother, Edna, and Kathryn Hahn, who plays his sister, Odessa, are quite pleasant and supportive. It’s Ted who acts as the villain. He takes to bullying Walter, who must pin down the negative image for the final issue’s cover. Walter consistently spaces out, especially when he’s fantasizing about his co-worker, Cheryl (played sweetly by Kristen Wiig).—AP This film image released by 20th Century Fox shows Ben Stiller in “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.”— AP

MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2013

lifestyle F e a t u r e s

This file photograph shows parked Continental GT motorcycles by Royal Enfield at Siridao in Goa during a launch event for the Indian market. — AFP photos

Motorbike makers turn to 1960s in ‘cafe racer’ revival

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otorbike manufacturers are riding a wave of swinging 60s nostalgia with new models seeking to capture revived interest in the classic looks of the period-with demand helped by fashionista-in-chief David Beckham. Royal Enfield, an Indian-owned manufacturer of British heritage, is the latest to try its luck with a new bike inspired by the “cafe racers” seen around London in the late 1950s and 60s. These single-seater two-wheelers were some of the quickest of their day, modified and driven at the highest speeds possible by their young male riders dressed in the “rocker” fashion of the era. After a trip in search of the mythical “ton” — 100 miles per hour-they would retire to the Ace Cafe in northwest London for cups of tea, making it a famous meeting point for bikers which remains to this day.

“We believe that cafe racing was around in the most beautiful and the best time of motorcycling,” Enfield chief executive Siddhartha Lal said at a launch event for the bike in India last month. The looks were very specific and have been reproduced faithfully in the new versions: striped back, dropped handle bars, long fuel tank and a single seat. Leather jackets and open-face helmets come as optional accessories.

Royal Enfield, whose sales have quadrupled in the last four years thanks to booming demand for its classic “Bullet” model in its home Indian market, is following in the footsteps of other famous British names. Triumph sells a “Thruxton” cafe racer, a beefed up and modified version of its classic “Bonneville” model, while Norton has a waiting list for its equivalent, the “Commando 961”. With new launches and fashion on their side, both companies are putting past bankruptcies behind them. For Enfield, owned by heavy vehicle and bus maker Eicher, net profit totalled 2.1 billion rupees (34 million dollars) in the nine months to September, up 91 percent on the same period in 2012.

Other companies looking to bygone years for inspiration for their latest models include Moto Guzzi and its “V7 Racer” and BMW with its recently unveiled “NineT”. Triumph’s sales and marketing director Paul Stroud referred to a “resurgence in classic motorbiking” at a recent company event.

Niche becomes mainstream The new branded bikes are themselves production-line versions of one-off retro models that have been made by

niche customizers in Europe, Australia, the United States and Japan for decades. Known variously as cafe racers, brat-style or bobbers, these bikes are ridden by enthusiasts or hipsters seeking to ape the looks of legendary silver screen bikers of the mid-20th century like Steve McQueen or Marlon Brando.

Their ranks were joined recently by former England football captain and model David Beckham who has been pictured riding a bobber, a fully customized model based on a modified Harley-Davidson.

The editor of Bike, Britain’s biggest-selling monthly motorbiking magazine, told AFP that Harley Davidson had been the most successful over the years in selling the heritage of their brand. “What’s been building for a while is people like Triumph and Enfield delivering a cafe racer version of that,” editor Hugo Wilson told AFP. He says the popularity of classic-looking bikes can be attributed to two factors, firstly that “modern bikes are getting to the point that are way beyond the capability of most people.” “But there are also retro design themes in so many things now. People are looking for established brands to deliver them a retro package,” he explained. Nick Clements, from the

vintage fashion magazine Men’s File, says that the interest in retro bikes that can be customized is linked to developments in the fashion industry.

“Very, very expensive menswear has turned into handmade artisanal objects that come out of tiny workshops which look like they’re from the 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s” he explained. “It’s almost completely sidelined the high fashion of the Pradas and the Guccis and all that. “And people that wear that want transport to go with it,” he said. — AFP

Why 2013 was our year of guilty pleasures

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his year, Hollywood reminded us of one long Kanye West rant - somewhat intelligible yet completely nonsensical; intriguing but annoying; and something you wanted to ignore but just could not look away. How else to describe the feeling we had after watching West and Kim Kardashian simulate the conception of their daughter North West with the video “Bound 2”? Or hearing about another profane Alec Baldwin meltdown?

Or watching Lady Gaga and R Kelly grinding up against each other on “Saturday Night Live”? Miley twerking with little people? Or digesting the news that Simon Cowell will be someone’s father?

It was bewildering, off-putting, jarring - yet entertaining at the same time. As bad as celebrity antics were this year, they remained our guilty pleasure. We’ll never admit it, but these are the moments that had us riveted in 2013.

Isn’t the cover of us weekly enough?

Kanye West had many righteous things to rage about this year, from the fashion industry not giving him credit for brilliant, life-changing designs like leather jogging pants, to not getting respect from President Obama. But nothing seemed to upset him more than Vogue’s apparent refusal to put his baby mama, Kim Kardashian, on the magazine cover. He likened her to this generation’s Marilyn Monroe, called her the most beautiful woman on the planet, and scoffed that two-time Vogue cover girl Michelle Obama couldn’t Instagram a selfie photo of her nearly bare backside like Kim and cause the stir that Kardashian did.

We see a rant about an IRS audit coming in 2015.

At least he got out of the kardashian Christmas card Khloe Kardashian called it quits with troubled basket-

In this March 31, 2013 file photo, Canadian singer Justin Bieber performs on stage during the ‘I Believe Tour‘ in Berlin, Germany. ball star Lamar Odom after four years of marriage and months of endless tabloid headlines juicier than anything we’d seen in their reality show. The last straw for Kardashian allegedly came after video surfaced of a shirtless Odom and a male friend rapping semi-incoherently about smoking weed and scoring with lots of women. It doomed their marriage, but is a pretty good pilot for another Odom TV show.

Can we stop now. Please?

This year felt like Miley Cyrus plowed into our consciousness with a concrete wrecking ball - oh wait, that really did happen. From her twerk-a-thon at awards shows to her nearly nude poses to that now- infamous tongue, we saw too many different sides (not to mention the backside) of the former teen queen. Please tell us that it was all a dream - and that Billy Ray is going to pop out and explain to Hannah Montana what can happen when you eat brownies but you don’t know who baked them.

We stopped Bieblieving a while ago What happened to our favorite teen moppet? Over the past year, Justin Bieber went on a world tour of mayhem, from speeding in the streets of Los Angeles, to suggestions of smoking weed to spraying illegal graffiti in Colombia to stepping on the Argentinian flag (he said he meant no offense). We expected more from a young Canadian lad.

Let’s hope Toronto mayor Rob Ford hasn’t become his new role model.

and have an honest conversation about race relations (and vowed never to have Deen write his lyrics again).

Paying tribute, al Jolson style Julianne Hough’s decision to don blackface for Halloween to portray her favorite character from the Netflix show “Orange is the New Black” sparked an uproar, and drew an eventual apology from the actress, who said she never intended to hurt anyone (and that’s the last time she’ll let Deen come up with her costume).

This May 6, 2013 file photo shows Kim Kardashian and Kanye West at The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute benefit celebrating ‘PUNK: Chaos to Couture’ in New York.

Best performance on film Goes to Reese Witherspoon. Unfortunately for her, it was on a police video cam, not a movie screen.

Witherspoon made headlines when she was arrested for drunkenly interfering in an officer’s attempt to arrest her husband on a DUI charge. In the video, Witherspoon immediately went into character development, telling the officer she was pregnant (an admitted lie). She also trotted out that well-worn line of fading stars: “Do you know my name?” Given the box-office performance of her last few films, she should have expected that he wouldn’t. — AP

Is that why her recipes call for white sugar?

Paula Deen let fly a career-ender when, during a deposition in a racial discrimination case, she admitted to using the N-word and described the vision she had of using allblack waiters to serve in a mock plantation scenario. Deen fell on her butter knife during a tearful, defiant interview with Matt Lauer on the “Today” show, but her empire crumbled, with everyone from Walmart to the Food Network dropping her like a hot cinnamon roll. Perhaps Deen can find a new gig catering holiday meals for the “Duck Dynasty” clan.

This Oct 7, 2013 file photo shows Miley Cyrus performing on NBC’s ‘Today’ show in New York. — AP photos

We’re cringing on purpose Brad Paisley and LL Cool J’s “Accidental Racist,” designed to be an ode to racial understanding, united people of all colors: We recoiled together after hearing lines like “If you don’t judge my do-rag/I won’t judge your red flag” and perhaps the topper, “If you don’t judge my gold chains/I’ll forget the iron chains.” Paisley said he’d only wanted to try

Simon Cowell

This April 30, 2012 file photo shows TV personality Khloe Kardashian Odom and professional basketball player Lamar Odom from the show ‘Keeping Up With The Kardashians’ at an E! Network upfront event in New York. — AP

Motorbike makers turn to 1960s in ‘cafe racer’ revival

MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2013

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In this Saturday Dec 21, 2013 photo, a large Christmas tree is displayed at a shopping mall in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. — AP

Angels have no wings, says Catholic ‘angelologist’ A

ngels exist but do not have wings and are more like shards of light, at least according to a top Catholic Church “angelologist” who says the heavenly beings are now back in vogue thanks to New Age religions. “I think there is a re-discovery of angels in Christianity,” Father Renzo Lavatori told AFP on the sidelines of a conference on angels in a lavishly-frescoed Renaissance palace in Rome. “You do not see angels so much as feel their presence,” said Lavatori, adding: “They are a bit like sunlight that refracts on you through a crystal vase.”

The senior clergyman was taking part in a debate this week on angelic art by the Fondazione Archivio Storico, an Italian

art foundation, and was held in the Vatican-owned Palazzo della Cancelleria. Professor Valerio Massimo Manfredi, an art historian taking part in the conference, said the first mention of the word “angelos” came from the Mycenaean civilization in Greece more than 3,000 years ago.

The word means “messenger” in ancient Greek. Monsignor Giovanni Tonucci, head of the Loreto Marian sanctuary, said that angels were “pure souls” whose lack of a defined form had allowed artists through the ages to let their creative imagination run wild. “Following the cultural history of angels is following the history of humanity, or at least of our civilization,” the organizers said.

“Angels have helped drive religious and philosophical thought and have given birth to sublime forms of poetic and artistic expression,” they said. Lavatori said the popularized image of angels is a necessary result of their being “back in fashion” but is dismissive of all the angel art around Christmas.

“There is space for that, but you have to understand that these are not real representations. Angels do not have wings or look like cherubs,” he said.

The widely-published Catholic clergyman is also a “demonologist” and says angels are more needed than ever because increasing secularization and materialism in society have left an “open door” for the devil. “There is a lot more interference

from diabolical forces. That is why you see queues of people outside the exorcists’ offices in churches,” he said. “Pope Francis talks more about the devil than about angels and I think rightly so. But it’s still early, he will get round to the angels too.”— AFP

Hypnotist claims he can make people believe in Santa

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A man holds a first prize winning ticket in Spain’s Christmas lottery named ‘El Gordo’ (Fat One) outside a lottery administration shop in Sanlucar la Mayor near Sevilla yesterday.

Maria Isabel Ruiz Farray, center, shows her lottery tickets after winning the second price of the Christmas lottery ‘El Gordo’ (‘The Fat One’).— AP/AFP photos

‘Fat One’ jackpot brings Christmas cheer to crisis-hit Spain C

elebrations spread across Spain yesterday as the annual “Fat One” Christmas lottery, which has the world’s biggest total pay-out, spread 2.24 billion euros ($3.1 billion) in prizes around the country, where one in four is out of work. Millions of people were glued to TV sets as children from a Madrid shool that used to be a home for orphans picked wooden balls bearing the winning numbers and prizes out of two giant golden tumblers and then sang them out in a live draw lasting over three hours.

Television reporters rushed to towns and villages across the country to capture scenes of winners breaking open champagne bottles inside bars or celebrating by singing and dancing in the streets. Unlike other big lotteries that generate just a few big winners, Spain’s Christmas lottery aims for a share-the-wealth system rather than a single jackpot, and thousands of numbers yield at least some kind of return. It is known as “El Gordo” in Spanish, or the “Fat One.” Prizes range from the face value of a 20-euro ticket-in other

Workers of a gas station celebrate with friends and clients after winning the second prize of the Christmas lottery ‘El Gordo’ (‘The Fat One’).

words you get your money back-to the top prize of 400,000 euros which this year went to the number 62246. A total of 1,600 “decimos” with that number were put up for sale. A decimo is a stub for the tenth of the price of a 200-euro full ticket.

But this year winners will get slimmed down prizes as a new austerity tax takes a bite for the first time.

A 20-percent tax will be slapped on all winnings above 2,500 euros, meaning the holder of a winning decimo will pocket just 320,500 euros. A winner of one of the second prizes worth 125,000 euros was sitting in the front row of Madrid’s Teatro Real opera house where the draw was held when the winning number 79712 was sung out. “I bought the decimo at a gas station last week because I liked the number,” Jesus Lorente told reporters as he held up his smart phone with a photo of the winning decimo, his hand trembling with emotion.

Lorente, a 27-year-old hotel worker from Spain’s Canary Islands who was wearing a red Santa Claus hat, said he would use the money to pay off his mortgage. The tax on this year’s Christmas lottery prizes will generate 188 million euros for state coffers, according to tax inspectors union Gestha. As in other years the Spanish government, which has launched tough economic reforms to stabilise the public finances, will also get 30 percent of the revenues from ticket sales, less the running costs, meaning the state will collect around 900 million euros from the draw.—AFP

hypnotist has claimed he can make people believe in Father Christmas again. Jon Patrick insists those who watch an 18minute video he has uploaded on YouTube will believe in Santa Claus again or at least “come away much less Grinch-like”.

The footage features him hypnotizing four people to believe Santa is real and is “designed to take you back to a simpler and happier time and trigger the memories and feelings of Christmas that have long been forgotten”.

What’s more, there is also a disclaimer that states: “By watching this video you are thereby showing willingness to be hypnotized and accept all side effects that the belief in Santa Claus may bring.” — Bang Showbiz

A Palestinian man dressed up as Santa Claus carries a Christmas tree and rings a bell as he walks in Jerusalem’s Old City distributing trees on behalf of city’s municipality yesterday as Christians around the world prepare to celebrate the holy day. — AFP