2nd Jan

CR IP TI ON BS SU

THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2014

New efforts to control egg prices in Kuwait

Bill de Blasio sworn in as 109th mayor of NYC

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SAFAR 30, 1435 AH

Latvia rings in euro for New Year

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Arsenal late show keeps Man City waiting

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Blast kills Palestinian ambassador in Prague Exploding safe hadn’t been opened in 30 years

Max 16º Min 07º High Tide 13:15 & 23:00 Low Tide 06:40 & 18:30

PRAGUE: The Palestinian ambassador to the Czech Republic died yesterday after a blast at his Prague residence that police said was an accident rather than a terror attack. The blast was likely caused by an anti-theft system on the door of a safe that Jamal Al-Jamal was opening at the time, Prague police said. The 56-year-old suffered “very serious injuries” in the blast and was taken to Prague’s military hospital in an artificial coma, said Jirina Ernestova, spokeswoman for the emergency services. Police later confirmed that he had died.

“The evidence the police has doesn’t suggest anything like a terror attack or that a specific person would set up a system with the intention to hurt or kill anyone,” police spokeswoman Andrea Zoulova told AFP. Daniel Langer, surgeon at the Prague military hospital to which Jamal was Jamal Al-Jamal taken, told Czech television the ambassador had suffered devastating “head, belly and chest injuries following an explosion”.

Jamal, who took office in October, had only recently moved to the new residence on the northern outskirts of Prague. The Palestinian foreign ministry said the blast occurred yesterday morning as Jamal “was opening an old safe which had been brought from the previous Continued on Page 15

Saudi vice police may relax rules on prayer times RIO DE JANEIRO: People react to fireworks during new year celebration at Copacabana beach yesterday. — AFP (See Pages 4, 5, 38, 39 & 40)

Dubai snatches Kuwait fireworks crown DUBAI: Dubai shattered the world record for the largest ever pyrotechnic display on New Year’s Eve with a show involving more than half a million fireworks, Guinness World Records said yesterday. “Ten months in planning, over 500,000 fireworks were used during the display which lasted around six minutes, with Guinness World Records adjudicators on hand to confirm that a new record had been set,” the Guinness website said. The display spanned 94 km of the Dubai coast, which boasts an archipelago of man-made

islands and Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest tower, Guinness said.

Enough fireworks were launched in the first minute of the display to break the previous record, set by Kuwait in 2011 with an hour-long show of 77,282 fireworks. The main displays took place at Burj Khalifa and the luxurious Atlantis hotel located in Palm Jumeirah, one of three palm-shaped islands. US firm Fireworks

by Grucci designed the display, Guinness said, using 100 computers and 200 technicians to synchronise the

Bill Burns and the secret Iran talks WASHINGTON: The night before a round of high-stakes nuclear talks with Iran, US President Barack Obama told his chief of staff he had “absolute confidence we have the right team on the field”. Obama was not referring to his public negotiating team, led by senior State Department official Wendy Sherman, nor even to his secretary of state, John Kerry, who was soon to sweep in from Tel Aviv to join the early November discussions in Geneva.

Rather, White House chief of staff Denis McDonough recalled, Obama was talking about a secret group led by Bill Burns, Kerry’s discreet, disciplined and self-effacing deputy.

At times using US military aircraft, hotel side entrances and service elevators to keep his role under wraps, Burns undertook arguably the most sensitive diplomatic mission of Obama’s presidency: secret talks with Iran to persuade it to curb its nuclear program. In picking Burns, seen by his peers as a leading US diplomat of his generation, Obama gave the envoy, who speaks Arabic, French and Russian, a chance to ease more than 30 years of estrangement between the United States and Iran.

If it ensures Tehran does not build a nuclear bomb, the Iran deal could stand as the capstone to Burns’ 31-year diplomatic career. If it fails, it could bring Israel or the United States closer

to a military strike on Iran and fuel criticism that Washington squandered its best opportunity for a peaceful solution by appeasing Iran rather than pressuring it further. Current and former US officials, including four former secretaries of state, describe Burns as well suited to dealing with the Iranians, with the sensitivity to see Tehran’s perspective and the tenacity not to compromise US interests.

“He is steady, reliable, intelligent, disciplined and - in his understated way - persuasive,” said former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. “I like to hear his judgments and can learn from them,” Kissinger told Reuters. “That’s not something I volunteer very often.” He said he saw Burns’ deft touch in the discreet way the diplomat, then ambassador to Russia, reported private conversations between Kissinger and Russian President Vladimir Putin back to Washington. “I wanted to make sure they were not in the cable traffic lest they leak,” Kissinger said. “He handled that with great skill.”

Even those who square off across the table speak well of Burns. He “knows Iran very well and also understands Iran’s culture, expectations and position in the region,” said a senior Iranian official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Continued on Page 15

pyrotechnics at a reported cost of around $6 million.

Dubai boasts the world’s tallest tower, its largest man-made island and one of the world’s busiest airports. It set its latest record in May last year with Dubai, Princess Tower, recorded by Guinness as the world’s tallest residential building. Dubai has been vying to become a permanent fixture on the world map of New Year celebrations, staging spectacular shows since the opening of the 828-m Burj Khalifa tower in 2010. — AFP

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s morality police may relax the kingdom’s strict rules on closing shops and businesses for prayer five times a day, the force’s head Sheikh Abdullatif Al-Sheikh was quoted as saying by local press yesterday. All shops in Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam and the world’s top oil exporter, are supposed to shut for half an hour during the daily prayers, which take place at dawn, midday, mid afternoon, sunset and evening.

However, Sheikh, a moderate appointed to the post a year ago, said he did not think they needed to close for such a long period, in comments on television carried in the English-language daily Arab News, which is owned by a leading prince. Sheikh added that Muslim shop staff could pray at their places of work rather than having to spend time walking to the mosque and back. The comments are the latest sign of Sheikh’s attempts to improve the image of the morality police, officially Continued on Page 15

Bonds form online as woman dies MICHIGAN: A nurse in a Michigan hospital kissed the patient’s forehead. More than 6,000 miles away, Sanaz Nezami’s family in Iran watched the simple act over a laptop computer and wept. Nezami, a vibrant 27-year-old woman who could speak three languages, wanted to pursue an advanced degree in engineering at Michigan Technological University. Instead, she was brain dead just a few weeks after unpacking her bags in a remote area of the United States, a victim of a fatal beating by her new husband, according to police.

Nezami’s time in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula can be marked in days. Her impact, however, will last much longer. Technology allowed family in Iran to watch her final hours and build an emotional bond with nurses whose compassion for a stranger from an unfamiliar culture gave great comfort to shocked, grieving relatives a world away. The family’s faith in the staff led to consent for an extraordinary donation: Nezami’s heart, lungs and other life-saving organs were transplanted to seven people in the US, a remarkable gift that occurs in less than 1 percent of all cases.

“We wanted God to perform a miracle and bring Sanaz back to life,” her sister, Sara Nezami, said in a phone interview from Tehran. “But this is a miracle. Sanaz gave her life in order to give life.” A nurse who took care of Sanaz said her brief stay, especially the high-tech way of communicating with family, was “eye-opening” for staff at Marquette General Hospital. “The family was willing to trust us to know she wasn’t coming back,” Kim Grutt said.

Nezami’s arrival in Michigan was part of a personal odyssey that took her from Iran to

This recent but undated photo provided shows Sanaz Nezami. — AP Turkey to the US in just months. In August, November in Dollar Bay, a small town near she married Nima Nassiri in Turkey and lived campus. Nezami was familiar with cold winwith him temporarily in the Los Angeles area, ters in Iran, but folks in her new community where he was born and raised. Her sister said still liked to remind her about what to expect the two met over the Internet. Nezami, a on the Keweenaw Peninsula in northern native of Tehran, had a bachelor’s degree in Michigan’s Lake Superior. “The bank clerk told engineering and a master’s in French transla- her the snow will fall until April,” her sister tion. She wanted a doctorate degree in envi- said. ronmental engineering and settled on Nezami planned to take her first classes Michigan Tech in Houghton, about 550 miles after the holidays. Meanwhile, she stayed in northwest of Detroit. touch with family through email, text mesThe newlyweds drove their Toyota from sage and video.

California and found a rental home in Continued on Page 15

THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2014

LOCAL

Non-Kuwaiti tag for bedoon servicemen ‘Illegal’ causes technical problems KUWAIT: The interior and defense ministries were told to refrain from using the term ‘illegal residents’ for stateless people hired in the police force or the military, and instead use the term ‘nonKuwaiti’ in order to avoid technical problems that may arise in the future, a local daily reported yesterday quoting sources with knowledge of the issue.

The instructions were sent by the Fatwa and Legislative Department (FLD), the highest legislative body in the government, and two months after both ministries started referring to its ‘bedoon’ recruits officially as illegal residents. “The FLD explained that using the term ‘illegal residents’ is an acknowledgment from the government that [stateless residents] are living illegally in the country, which makes hiring them illegal and prone to being challenged in the future,” said the sources who spoke to Al-Rai daily on the condition of anonymity.

The FLD believes that using the term ‘nonKuwaiti’ helps the interior and defense ministries, as well as the entire government, avoid a situation in which “a court order forces them to cancel bedoons’ hiring based on illegal status”, the sources added.

The FLD further indicated that the term ‘nonKuwaitis’ is mentioned in the law that gives the interior and defense ministers exception to hire stateless residents in the police force or army respectively when needed. “Using a different term

in official records could subject ministers to questioning in the future for violating military regulations”, the sources noted. They added also that the FLD demanded that ‘non-Kuwaiti’ continues to be used to refer to bedoons hired as non-military personnel in both ministries “in order to avoid international, legal, or financial obligations the state might sustain” if ‘illegal residents’ is used.

In other news, MP Mohammad Al-Enizy announced that he is working on a draft law which makes it obligatory for the government to naturalize a number of stateless residents on an annual basis. The law would replace one that was passed last year and gave the government the option to naturalize a batch of stateless residents qualified to receive citizenship every year.

The law stipulates an increase for the people the government can naturalize each year to a maximum of 4,000 (from 2,000 previously), and was approved after the cabinet agreed to give priority in granting citizenship to stateless residents who meet the required conditions. No naturalization batches were announced before the end of 2013, however.

Despite government promises and MPs’ efforts to end the decades-long bedoons’ dilemma, Kuwait is yet to grant citizenship to thousands that the government says meet naturalization conditions which includes carrying the 1965 Census documents, having ancestors who served in the military as well as being a child of a Kuwaiti

woman. A recent newspaper report suggested that there are around 111,500 stateless residents registered with the Central Apparatus for Illegal Residents; a state-body established in 2010 to find a solution to the problem.

The apparatus was given a five-year 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 fifty years ago. The stateless residents’ community, estimated in some international report at around 120,000, demands citizenship as well as civil and social rights they are deprived from 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 oil-rich country.

The apparatus adopted measures within a year after its creation to grant stateless residents numerous rights such as obtaining marriage, birth and death certificates as well as driver’s licenses. But all measures failed to provide significant improvement in living conditions or cut unemployment rates among bedoons, prompting several protests in the past couple of years which saw around 200 stateless men arrested for illegal gathering.

Six new road-side first-aid centers opened in Kuwait KUWAIT: The Ministry of Health has opened six new road-side first aid centers on major highways throughout the country, said a ministry official yesterday. The centers will offer emergency medical attention to motorists and especially picnickers in outlying areas in the desert where medical help may not reach them in case of an injury or accident, said Undersecretary of the Ministry of Health Dr Khalid al-Sahlawi.

He said that ministry statistics showed that there were increasing numbers of accidents and

emergencies that required speedy medical care to people who lived near the border regions of the country or those who every fall and winter sought the outdoors in the desert to camp out for extended periods of time, far away from any hospital or clinic. The new first aid centers will be fully equipped with medical staff and emergency vehicles who could answer a medical emergency in a ver y shor t time. Last November and December, 126 such emergencies were noted which were taken care of at hospitals whereas

618 others were treated on site, he said, adding that with the advent of the new centers, the time to treat the patients would be cut by a large margin.

He further said that 20 ambulances were ready to transport any patient from outlaying desert locations to the first aid centers or a hospital if need be. These six new centers are, in addition to eleven existing ones in various parts of the country, ready to help any desert picnickers or dwellers alike. —KUNA

KUWAIT: Some participants of the NBK special lunch buffet.

NBK hosts lunch for all staff to mark New Year KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) hosted a special lunch buffet for all staff on the occasion of the New Year in appreciation for their commitment, initiative and unremitting efforts in serving the bank as well as its clients and shareholders.

Lunch buffets were held in NBK main head offices. NBK Executive Management

congratulated the employees on the occasion of the New Year and thanked them for their efforts and excellence.

An annual tradition, the end of year lunch buffets help strengthen the NBK family and serve as a token of appreciation for the staff’s professionalism, dedication and hard work.

Mother, daughter killed in highway accident KUWAIT: A mother and her daughter were killed while a female relative was critically wounded in an accident on Tuesday on the King Fahd Highway.

Paramedics and police arrived at the scene in response to an emergency call, but discovered that two victims had already succumbed to their injuries. The mother was 53 years old, while her daughter was 18. The third victim was rushed to the Mubarak Hospital and admitted in the intensive care unit.

Preliminary investigations indicate that the SUV lost balance and overturned after another SUV swerved at it, according to an eyewitness’s report. The bodies were taken to the forensic department after criminal investigators examined the crash site. Investigations are ongoing to determine the circumstances behind the accident.

Drug abuse A Drug Control General Department officer faces charges after he was caught abusing drugs outside the department’s building recently. According to the police report, detectives in department had suspected that their colleague was taking drugs. The man was monitored and arrested red-handed as he was abusing drugs inside his car in the department’s parking lot. He was referred to the public prosecution for legal action.

‘Viral video’ officer An Ahmadi police officer was released from jail after he was detained briefly as part of investigations in a case filed by a woman who accused him of confiscating her cell phone illegally. The decision was made by Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Mohammad AlKhalid Al-Sabah after inspecting a video that went viral on social media and which recorded his altercation with the Kuwaiti woman. The officer had filed a grievance against his detention, prompting the minister to look into the case and

order his release, said a security source with knowledge of the investigations.

Meanwhile, the source revealed that the officer plans to sue the woman for libel.

The incident reportedly happened when the officer headed to the woman’s house in response to a theft report.

Fugitive nabbed A fugitive was arrested in Farwaniya and is set to face new charges after drugs were found in his car. The incident took place Tuesday when patrol officers went in pursuit of the suspect who drove away as soon as he noticed their car approaching his parked vehicle. The man was eventually forced to stop in Omariya, and police learned that he is wanted to serve a 17-year jail sentence over a KD 1,000 theft case. Heroin, shabu (methamphetamine), drug paraphernalia and KD 520 in cash were found in the suspect’s car. He was taken to the authorities for further action.

Ahmadi thieves Investigations are ongoing to identify and arrest three people who mugged a company representative and stole KD 6,000 out of KD 33,000 he was carrying.

According to the police report, the victim carried the money in his car and stopped near a bank branch in Ahmadi to deposit the cash in his company ’s account.

Before he could step outside his vehicle, the man was approached by a person who identified himself as a police detective and asked for his ID. Two other suspects used the distraction to enter the car and forced the man outside. One of the suspects then stabbed the man with a pocket knife on his right thigh, which caused him to start bleeding heavily. In his statements to local police after the incident, the man said that the suspects looked confused at the sight of him bleeding, and even started arguing with each other, eventually taking only some of the money and escaping.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2014

LOCAL

LeScribbler’s Notebook

Economics and tribe

By Jamie Etheridge

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KUWAIT: The traffic department carried out several inspection campaigns on all roads to maintain traffic control. Around 100 officers, 440 policemen, 190 patrols, 64 traffic detectives patrols, 10 najda patrols and five general security patrols participated in the campaigns.

New efforts to control egg prices in Kuwait Suppliers offer cooperation KUWAIT: With the start of 2014, consumers began to complain about the low stocks of eggs in cooperatives and the rise of prices compared to other markets. Some local egg producers are accused of hiking prices deliberately and cutting supplies to cooperatives. Head of the cooperatives union Abdelaziz Al-Samhan said the union pays special attention to this issue, and said many meetings were held with egg suppliers and there are positive indicators to solve the problems both sides face.

Al-Samhan said there are promises from local companies to improve the situation and meet the required demand, along with controlling prices without increases. He lauded the cooperation of these companies and hoped cooperation continues for the sake of the consumer.

Chairman of Al-Salam and AlSiddiq cooperative Jassm Al-Kandari confirmed that egg supplies were down lately, though the co-op is keen to make everything available so that the consumer does not feel something is missing, bearing in mind that eggs are fast-moving items. He hoped that quick solutions are available between the coops and companies, as eggs are a vital item that consumers buy on a daily basis.

Vice-chairman of Yarmouk Co-op Khalid Al-Habib expressed displeasure towards the decision by Commerce and Industry Ministry that increased eggs prices by 5 percent at a time when consumers are still dealing with the latest increase four months ago. He said this increase will cause the rise of other food prices and the victim is the

consumer. Habib found it strange for the Commerce Ministr y to approve the unjustified hike in eggs prices, especially that the ministry is supposed to confront any artificial increase in prices. He said the ministry blocked attempts by co-ops to face the increase.

He said it is clear that businessmen have strong influence at the Commerce Ministry, and this is clear through its agreement with their justification of price increases, which is increased feed prices and that co-ops charge companies rent, adding these justifications are absolutely false as “eggs are the only product that have no fees are imposed on it”.

He said “we at Yarmouk co-op buy eggs from the market for cash at company prices, and this disproves the justifications.

60,000 spend holiday abroad KUWAIT: Nearly 60,000 people are expected to leave Kuwait and spend the New Year Holiday abroad, said a senior official at the Kuwait International Airport who announced that 13 extra flights were added to 322 scheduled ones to cope with the large number of passengers.

Dubai, Jeddah, Egypt and Najaf (Iraq) are the most popular destinations for those who chose to spend the four-day holiday outside Kuwait, said Essam Al-Zamel, the operations manager at the Directorate General for Civil Aviation. He further told AlQabas daily on Tuesday that 104 flights left Kuwait on that day, in addition to six extra flights, carrying a total of 19,327 passengers.

He added that 18,565 passengers were set to leave yesterday on 106 flights plus three extra flights, whereas 22,178 are set to leave today on board of 122 scheduled

flights plus four extra ones.

Preparations for the holiday started early in Kuwait as 80 percent of students in public and private schools skipped class on Tuesday, according to educational sources quoted by Al-Qabas. The high nonattendance rate highlights once again the Ministry of Education’s inability to stop students’ mass absence ahead of every official holiday throughout the year.

The situation was not better in the public sector, as Tuesday’s attendance rate at the Ministries’ Compound was estimated at 56 percent, according to officials there.

The government tried to tackle this problem by linking the Ministry of Health’s database for public medical facilities with the Civil Service Commission’s database in order to have more control over sick leaves.

This measure does not stop people from having sick leaves signed

at private clinics, however.

Kuwait welcomed the New Year quietly compared to other countries, as lack of ‘New Year’s Eve’ celebrations and events resulted in drop in restaurant and hotel reservations locally according to officials working in the field. “The government informed restaurants that speakers, artistic displays or any forms of celebration on New Year ’s Eve are banned, which naturally reflects negatively on clients who are seeking a special atmosphere that we are unable to provide”, a restaurant manager told Al-Rai daily, preferring to keep his identity anonymous.

Meanwhile, Waseem Mahdi, the sales manager at Safir Hotel and Residences - Fintas, attributed the notable drop in hotel bookings on New Year’s Eve (40 percent compared to last year according to AlRai) to “people preferring to celebrate the occasion outside Kuwait”.

Corvette festival at Entertainment City

KUWAIT: The Arabic Language Department in the Ministry of Education hosted an event recently to celebrate the World Arabic Language Day, in cooperation with the Al-Marefa (knowledge) Exemplary Company For Educational Services.

— Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat

KUWAIT: The Entertainment City hosts a festival for Chevrolet Cor vette lovers in Kuwait tomorrow: in coordination with the Kuwait Corvette Club. “ The event translates the Touristic Enterprises Company’s commitment to support youth and which serves the same goals that the TEC always seeks to achieve in Meshari Al-Sanousy society”, Meshari AlSanousy, vice-president for the Entertainment City Affairs, said in a statement yesterday.

At least 30 Corvettes of different models are expected to attend the festival which is also set to feature an entertaining program featuring competitions and other activities held at the Entertainment City’s theater.

he UK this week announced that it was studying a plan to charge tourists and migrants for emergency healthcare. The British press has been full of stories this week about ‘maternity ’ tourism, where women from abroad fly to the UK days before their due dates so that they can deliver in a British hospital.

The reports offer varying estimates of the costs to the British taxpayer - from $20 million to $3 billion - and the strain it places on hospital budgets and staff. Given the difficulties facing the British economy, it’s understandable that the government would look to ways to reduce spending and limiting free services to foreigners will likely be popular or at the least not as controversial as cutting services for citizens.

On the one hand I agree with London’s stance. It’s hard to watch a foreigner abuse and exploit a system meant for citizens and paid for by hard earned tax dollars.

On the other hand, you have to wonder why women who are on the verge of delivery would go through the arduous journey of flying half way around the globe (the ar ticle mentioned West African migrants) while heavily pregnant to deliver their children away from friends and family. It’s hard enough giving birth when you can count on the love and support of those you call dear.

But imagine being in a foreign countr y, with nothing but strangers in white uniforms to offer you encouragement or support?

People will also seek loopholes to the law. In the States, a child born in the country is automatically a citizen and because of this law, there are women who travel to the US to deliver there only in order to get the American nationality for their kids. As an American, I disagree with this ‘gaming’ of the system. At the same time, as a mom, I can understand doing something extraordinary in order to help ensure a better future (or at least more options) for my children.

Beneath the questions of finance, tourism, subsidies and discrimination is the central issue of tribe. (I’m not talking about Kuwait’s tribal vs hadar but tribe in the large sense of the word.

Tribe being a group of people who all claim a common identity, be it national or racial or familial.)

In this sense, it is tribe that determines who should be included and who excluded.

Every country in the world is founded upon the agreement of its citizens to band together as a group and work - in some ways toward a collective good and a collective identity. People seldom select their tribe but are born into it.In other words, as human beings we naturally support our tribe over those we view as foreigners. This often translates into working to keep the financial

gains, benefits and money within the tribe rather than allowing it to flow too freely beyond the tribe’s control.

A similar debate has been taking place in Kuwait for the last few years now. The issue centers around subsidies: Should the government grant subsidies and services to locals only as a way to curb government spending? Here the issue isn’t one of tourists, however, but of foreign residents who benefit from the incredibly cheap petrol or subsidized state health care.

There are arguments for both sides. Citizens rightly expect the government to utilize state revenues for their benefit.

Alternatively, foreigners expect fair treatment from the country where they work and live and feel discriminated against to have to pay extra for basic services (or have alternative hours for public services, as in clinics that allow foreigners only in the evening).

That xenophobia (fear of foreigners), politics and nationalism often gets added to the mix seems inevitable. But at the end of the day, it’s simply a matter of how resources are shared and who can take part in the sharing.

The 15 years of consecutive budget surpluses in Kuwait mean that there is no real financial difficulty. But that doesn’t mean the withholding of subsidies from foreigners would necessarily be unfair. After all it’s a question of tribe, not economics, and that is another matter entirely.

Violence among students ‘on the increase’ K U WA I T: E d u c a t i o n M i n i s t r y Undersecretary Mariam Al-Wutaid ye s te rd ay s a i d t h a t v i o l e n ce among students in schools is on the increase. It also increased in homes, streets and various state establishments, he said.

Al-Wutaid was speaking following the opening of a workshop a n d a n aw a re n e s s e x h i b i t i o n

about the dangers of school violence, that was organized by the public relations department.

Al-Wutaid said the event was to provide a form of social culture to h e l p m i n i s t r y e m p l oye e s reduce cases of violence, adding that such cases have also reached the leaders. She said that as an u n d e r s e c re t a r y s h e a l s o f a ce s

such cases of ‘verbal violence’.

“But we try to calm them down and explain to them where they should go to finish their jobs,” she added.

Al-Wutaid denied that the role of the psychological specialist is marginalized, adding “whoever say that does not know the procedures of the ministry”.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2014

LOCAL

Dubai 2014 firework display

DUBAI: Fireworks explode from the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest tower, in Dubai on January 1, 2014 to celebrate the new year.

breaks world

record

DUBAI: Fireworks explode over Palm Jumeirah in Dubai to celebrate the new year. — AFP

THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2014

LOCAL

Fireworks explode over the Jumeirah Palm Island at midnight to celebrate the New Year, yesterday in Dubai. —AP

Fireworks explode over Palm Jumeirah in Dubai on January 1, 2014 to celebrate the new year.

DUBAI: Fireworks explode from the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest tower, in Dubai to celebrate the new year. — AFP

THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2014

LOCAL kuwait digest

in my view

Al-Duwailah’s comments

Believe in your heart

By Nabil Al-Fadhl

I

By Dr Ibtihal Al-Khateeb

Excuse me: I just want to know when is my turn!

W

Housing Files

Al-Anbaa

n an interview with a satellite channel, Mubarak AlDuwailah said that the Constitutional Movement is part of the Muslim Brotherhood which is facing increased adversaries lately as he admits, and this comes after two years have elapsed on his insistence that Hadas is not part of the Brotherhood! During the same interview, while defending the Muslim Brotherhood, Al-Duwailah claimed that Saddam Hussein offered the Brotherhood to rule Kuwait during the invasion, but they refused and said they will not change the rule of Al-Sabah because they are the safety valve!

We spoke about some of Al-Duwailah’s comments during an interview on Scope TV earlier in the week the means through which Saddam delivered his offer to the Brotherhood - was it a text message, by Whatsapp, Viber or by pigeon?! We also said if this story was true, the Brotherhood would have bored us for 20 years with the story, and we said that this story is being mentioned today as part of defending the description of the Brotherhood as terrorists.

We added that we hope Al-Duwailah is lying about this story, because if it is true, it will be confessing to committing a crime that carries capital punishment, because it is included in treason, mentioned in law 31/1970, under the communicating with the enemy clause.

Al-Duwailah used well known names as witnesses in his story - Faisal Al-Sane, Jassem Al-Oun and Hmoud AlRoumi! As for Al-Sane, only God knows what happened to him, and for Oun, we find it strange for him to be part of the Brotherhood affairs especially since he was raised as a Salafi. As for Roumi, he may have been involved because he is a seasoned Brotherhood member.

We also heard and accepted the credibility of the story that Saddam asked Faisal Al-Sane to rule Kuwait because he was a Baath representative in Kuwait, but the patriotism of Sane overcame his intellectual belonging, and he rejected the offer and was arrested and disappeared since that day! Yet we ask Duwailah today why did Saddam choose to speak with the Muslim Brotherhood on ruling occupied Kuwait? Was Saddam aware of the Brotherhood’s intellectual readiness to jump to the rule? Or was Saddam a fool who did not know how attached are the Brotherhood to Kuwait’s land and its rulers?

Did not Saddam hear about the signing of Kuwait Brotherhood’s Abdelwahid Aman on the statement of the Brotherhood that rejected the help of foreign forces to liberate Kuwait? If Saddam offered the Brotherhood to rule Kuwait, and Duwailah in particular, and they rejected that offer, then why didn’t he arrest them as the case was with Sane? The most important question, why did Saddam go to Duwailah and Roumi to offer them to rule Kuwait and leave other Kuwaitis?! Unless Saddam knew of the Brotherhood’s ambitions, or that he had previous communications with them through which he measured their thinking and readiness.

Or maybe the entire story is a bald lie by the Brotherhood. We challenge Roumi to declare the credibility of Duwailah’s story about the Brotherhood’s contacts with Saddam Hussein. Maybe the most beautiful thing in Duwailah’s interview is his claim that the Muslim Brotherhood in the Gulf has no ambitions to rule! We ask, why then, are Brotherhood members being tried in UAE? Are they being tried for having a bad taste in clothes, or their ugly faces?

Mubarak Al-Duwailah: God and the people know that the Brotherhood members in UAE are being tried for attempting to topple the regime, and we call upon the Brotherhood to stop their lies. If Al-Duwailah’s story is true, then it shows how bad Saddam was, who ignored his gang and children, and offered others from the Brotherhood to rule. May God curse the traitors of Kuwait! —Al-Watan

H ap ous pli ing cat ion

kuwait digest

Praying for a new invasion

By Abdullatif Al-Duaij

I

am asking anyone to do a favor to all of us I plead with anyone to invade Kuwait so that Kuwaiti people and government, and invade Sunni, Shiite, bedouin and hadar citizens become our country the same way Saddam Hussein united and are only known as ‘Kuwaitis’. The invadid, so that we can be displaced - the people and sion showed Kuwaitis’ true worth, which was government - outside Kuwait. Don’t worry, we will more pure and precious than gold. We want an invasion that can do what the previous one did not consider it a crime, and will not hold hard when it guided our leaders and politicians to feelings against the invaders. We will not even unite with themselves and their people. Today, blame or admonish anyone. If there is anything those leaders and politigood that Saddam Hussein did during his life and I plead with anyone to invade cians returned back to their ivory towers, looking deserves to be thanked for, Kuwait so that Sunni, Shiite, down on us with an eye it was his ability to bedouin and hadar citizens filled with pride, and strengthen our unity and at each other with help our government see become united and are only known sneakily an eye of suspicion. the right path. as ‘Kuwaitis’. The invasion showed Invade our country Please, someone invade today before we would our lands, occupy our Kuwaitis’ true worth, which was have nothing worth invadcountry and displace us.

We found our identity dur- more pure and precious than gold. ing for tomorrow. We are losing Kuwait, or in fact ing the invasion, and we already have did and the country’s time of worked harder than any other time. I still remember seeing my brother Abdullah washing clothes death has already been set at 2020. Someone after his maids disappeared. My wife’s statements please send your invading troops to our country so that we can at least tell our children that we still ring through my ears when she said at the sight of a Kuwaiti man carrying his children at the had the guts to face the invader, and that the invaders were the ones who destroyed Kuwait side of the road: “we won’t be seeing this when while we, the people and government, are innohousemaids return”. Or maybe she should have cent. —Al-Qabas said when Kuwait returns instead.

kuwait digest

Happy New Year, but...

By Waleed Al-Rujaib

kuwait digest

Take bold decisions

By Dr Sulaiman Al-Khadhari

A

ll countries around the world face problems of political, economic or other nature. The volume of problems each country faces differs of course, same as a country’s ability to either contain those problems either through legal, administrative and social systems, or allow them to escalate into security problems and armed struggle. In general, the outcome is decided by the nature of the problem, the ability of the government and political elite to face it, and sometimes their desire to end it.

In Kuwait, citizens have the right to raise questions about the nature of problems that the country faces, and the nature of the proposed solutions. The country faces several problems including the endless tensions between the legislative and executive authorities and their reflection on political stability, as well as the general low administrative level in state departments.

This issue has been discussed a lot, and many proposals have been debated. So instead of adding to the discussion, I would like to say clearly and realistically speaking that Kuwait is capable and qualified to wake up from its slumber and catch up with the development race which nearby countries have already taken. I am not overoptimistic, but fully aware of the presence of the elements to achieve that goal, including financial and human resources, plans and solutions that are ready to be implemented, as well as the presence of honest intentions to serve this country.

“Did you say honest intentions?!” Yes, honest intentions from different social and political categories. The main issue is to transform all good intentions into reality. In other words, we need a bold decision to adopt the policies required to take our country out of its miserable situation.

The problem is that the decision can only be made by certain authorities in light of our political system.

The only thing we can do is provide advice and conceptions of solutions. We lack constitutional tools that makes us able to ‘force’ the government to follow those proposals, though. We can only hope that the decision makers start listening to those who give them good advice, because the situation cannot continue like this any longer. —Al-Rai

A

new year arrived, and it is still too early humanity achieved were superficial technoloto decide what way will it take. Will it gies, as we continue to be prisoners of evil, selflead us towards happiness? Or will it ishness and mounting egos, as well as animalistake us to the unknown and misery? Are we tic instincts and the ‘survivor of the fittest’ logic going to repeat the same mistakes and refuse which justifies wealth control to feed an endto learn from our experiences in 2013 and the less obsession for control. years before it? Or is evil going to continue preIsn’t there any positive results or victories for vailing while people enjoy seeing others in humanity? Yes there are, but while we take one pain? Will we correct our own deficits and step forward, we take two steps backwards. improve ourselves to become helpful for ourRegardless of what is shown on the surface, our selves and others? Can we, with all honesty, souls remain primitive. The superficiality on the remove evil from within and learn to speak one surface fails to cover our inability to curb our language and follow one value — the language fury, greed, hate and desire for control. All the of love and value of peace? smiles, tact, and wisdom that we show fail to A year has passed and humanity is still the cover evil that lives within our souls, which same, following the same inheritance that has explains why we are still far away from civility not changed throughout the years, decades, and humanity. centuries or millennia.

We feel remorse many What is the value of a times, but make sure not With the beginning of a new new year when we to show it. We are weak year, we often promise ourselves from the inside but refuse haven’t added anything aside from hours and that we will become better and to show this weakness. We days that come and go, not immune from pain, transform into better human are leaving only marks on yet find joy in inflicting beings in the new year. But the pain upon others. And our bodies and souls?

A new year arrives, even after we discover sentiments remain the same with a new name and a years later how ridiculous year after year, which explains our mistakes were, we are new number, but bringing nothing new with it why humanity continues to go taken by pride to even aside from an imaginary admit or learn anything back to its primitive roots. line that separates days, from mistakes we commityears and centuries. Yet ted with our own hands. at the same time, it adds a new line to our time What do we want to see in the new year and on earth for a year during which our experithe year after? I am certain that none of us ence, knowledge and level of awareness should knows what they actually want - and instead all have improved. But have they? Can we apolleave it to time to fix what we have committed. ogize because we have lived only for ourselves, But time alone does not solve anything or prorejected all other opinions, and decided that vide answers, and therefore most of us decide we know everything, and can judge others and to live and accept whatever is thrown at them must decide everyone else’s fate? day after day until the day they depart this With the beginning of a new year, we often world without knowing what their message in promise ourselves that we will become better life was. and transform into better human beings in the Happy New Year to you and I - a wish that new year. But the sentiments remain the same we make at the beginning of every year as we year after year, which explains why humanity continue to search for love and peace and a continues to go back to its primitive roots. life free from our own evil. Peace is the ultiSince the dawn of history and through the somate human value that humanity is yet to called ‘advanced ages’, the only advancements achieve. —Al-Rai

hile listening to a speech of Chimamanda Adichie about the situation of women in Africa and Nigeria in specific, a thought came to my mind about the situation of women in developing countries. This thought resembles the masculine idea about the situation as well as the usual comments and lack of true understanding of the situation of women in these societies.

“What is lacking for women?” is a cynical question often asked in our society during a debate about feminine rights. It could be understandable asked by someone who does not live as a female in ultramasculine societies such as ours. A man does not know the meaning

Can men close their eyes for a moment and imagine living this life?

Of course, some of these are real sufferings, and some others are trivial ones. But those moments of suffering - the more they are repeated daily and remind women of their humiliation - eventually destroy people from within and make them devalue themselves. of living a restricted life, perhaps only during the childhood phase and to a certain degree. Soon enough, the society and family give them freedom that their masculinity guarantees. A man doesn’t know the meaning of being not allowed to get out of the house, to have a deadline for when to come back, to be forced on appearing in a certain appearance and wear certain clothes, and to be ordered to sit ‘right’, to not laugh out loud, and to speak with a soft voice as if he was acting in a boring movie that never ends. A man doesn’t know the meaning of being under the mercy of ‘looks’; sick and perverse looks that follow them wherever they go, as if the society punishes them instead of punishing the beholder.

A man doesn’t know the meaning of serving people at his father’s house, then later at the marital home. He doesn’t have to serve and obey brothers only because they are of a different sex. A man doesn’t know the meaning of signing a marriage contract under which he surrenders his life and wellbeing, leaving him even without the right of self-determination. A man doesn’t know the meaning of the law that gives his spouse control over his body and wellbeing, living constantly as a ‘possession’ of someone who can divorce him and return back whenever she wants.

A man doesn’t know the meaning of having no custody over his children, no decision over their fate, no authority over their lives or possessions, and being unable to pass their nationalities, religions or even names down to them. He doesn’t know the meaning of being unable to get full respect because of his gender, or being called off for being ‘intellectually deficient’. A man doesn’t know the details of women’s daily lives, the duties put on them because of their gender which include having patience with the man who, in total contradiction, accuses them of being ‘emotional’ and ‘reckless’.

A man doesn’t know the meaning of being a second-class human being, a second-class citizen. To be enslaved or suffer under disadvantage of duties because of his sexual category, to be subjected to sick looks and harassments, to be a ‘subordinate’ all his life that must follow traditions made by others and make him someone else’s possession. A man doesn’t know the feeling that his lineage will end by his death - no child can carry his name or nationality, as if they are a being alien from this world.

Can men close their eyes for a moment and imagine living this life? Of course, some of these are real sufferings, and some others are trivial ones. But those moments of suffering - the more they are repeated daily and remind women of their humiliation - eventually destroy people from within and make them devalue themselves.

This leads many women in our societies to have an inferiority complex and believe that they can never be in men’s high status. He is the man who has laws, customs and traditions by his side. Should she deny all that and believe in herself, her intuition and human strength? Yes, she should deny all that and believe in her intuition and human strength. —Al-Jarida

kuwait digest

Not all that glitters is gold!

By Sajed Al-Abdali

T

wo days ago and in view of appointing a new Cabinet, someone demanded banning quotas, expanding MPs’ participation in it and forming a technocrat Cabinet. Such terms amazingly glitter and have some brightness in them because there is nothing better than avoiding dividing the Cabinet, widening lawmakers’ presence and forming a technocrat Cabinet whatever this word technocrat means!

However, let’s examine these demands and how enlightened they might be. We know that Kuwait’s current parliament came to office through the one-vote electoral system, which brought a mixture of lawmakers who do not share any ideologies or programs. This was exactly what the regime wanted by passing such an electoral system. This means that this parliament is nothing more than an automatic process of giving shares or quotas to certain ethnicities and sects.

Accordingly, demanding a bigger share for lawmakers in the new Cabinet is but indirect emphasis of such ugly quotas.

We also know, through experiences with previous unsuccessful cabinets, that ministers are but high-ranking officials who are far from being leaders or decisionmakers. Our ministers do not have the privilege of selecting their own undersecretaries nor dismissing or referring any of them for retirement. They are not even authorized over much more sensitive issues.

Therefore, and in view of such facts, the idea of appointing technocrat ministers is an absolute failure that will kill the technical creativity of a person who will ever accept a ministerial post with which a minister will absolutely lose sight of all previous experience as a doctor, an engineer, an economist or others. The post will also and definitely kill his political and administrational skills in view of lack of effective action and reform.

Give a political post to even the best in any field and at the same time deprive him of all abilities needed to make effective decisions and necessary reforms - such as the way with most our ministers - and they will all end up as highly paid scarecrows wearing bishts. —Al-Jarida

THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2014

S Sudan govt, rebels set for truce talks Page 9

Tensions high in Western Sahara despite new plan Page 8

SRINAGAR: Kashmiri Muslim boatmen make a snowman to attract customers after fresh snowfall yesterday. — AP

India scraps Italy helicopter deal New Delhi appoints former judge as arbitrator NEW DELHI: India agreed to take its $770 million helicopter deal with Italian defence group Finmeccanica’s AgustaWestland unit to arbitration while formally cancelling the agreement yesterday over what it termed a breach of integrity. India’s Defence Ministry appointed a former judge as its arbitrator yesterday but said in a statement it believed “integrity-related issues are not subject to arbitration”. India froze payments for the 12 AW101 helicopters after Finmeccanica’s then chief executive was arrested in February for allegedly paying bribes to secure the deal, embarrassing the New Delhi government before parliamentary elections due

by May 2014.

India’s defence minister, A K Anthony, has said he did not believe AgustaWestland’s denial that it paid bribes to swing the deal. Anthony had a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh hours before the latest decisions were announced. Finmeccanica

spokesman Roberto Alatri, commenting on India’s decision, said the company would defend its position.

It invoked the arbitration, which would be conducted in India under the Indian Arbitration and Conciliation Act of 1996. “We’ve not received any official communication yet but we will do everything that would be necessary to defend the correctness of our position,” Alatri said. “We’re sure our behaviour was ethically correct.”

India in October had issued a final “show cause” notice to AgustaWestland seeking to terminate the contract. Sources told Reuters in November the deal would be scrapped. “The Government of India has terminated with immediate effect the agreement that was signed with M/S. AugustaWestland International Ltd (AWIL) on 08 February, 2010 for the supply of 12 VVIP/VIP helicopters on grounds of breach of the Precontract Integrity Pact and the agreement by AWIL,”

Lebanon arrests head of Qaeda-linked group BEIRUT: Lebanese troops have arrested the leader of the AlQaeda-linked group that claimed a double suicide bombing at the Iranian embassy in Beirut in November, the defence minister told AFP yesterday. Majid Al-Majid, the “emir” of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, “was arrested by the intelligence services of the Lebanese army in Beirut”, Defence Minister Fayez Ghosn said, without specifying when the arrest took place. “He was wanted by the Lebanese authorities and is currently being interrogated in secret,” the minister added.

Saudi Arabia’s interior ministry also confirmed that Majid Mohammed Abdullah Al-Majid, a Saudi citizen, was on a list of 85 suspects wanted by the kingdom. The Azzam Brigades was designated in the United States as a “terrorist organisation” in 2012, and has in the past claimed responsibility for firing rockets into Israel from Lebanon. The group was formed in 2009 and is believed to have branches in both the Arabian Peninsula and Lebanon, with the latter named after Ziad Al-Jarrah, a Lebanese citizen who participated in the Sept 11, 2001 attacks.

The Lebanon branch has sporadically fired rockets into northern Israel since 2009 and the Brigades also claimed responsibility for the 2010 bombing of a Japanese oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz. It is named for the Palestinian mentor of the late Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden. He was killed in a 1989 bomb blast. According to Islamist sites, Majid was revealed to be the leader of the Brigades in 2012. Yesterday, a Twitter account belonging to Sirajeddin Zreikat, a member of the Sunni extremist group, appeared to have been sus-

pended. Zreikat had claimed responsibility in the group’s name for the Nov 19 double bombing at the Iranian embassy in Beirut that killed 25 people.

The attack came amid rising tension in Lebanon over the role of the Iran-backed Shiite movement Hezbollah in the war in neighbouring Syria. Hezbollah, which like Iran is allied with the Syrian regime, has dispatched its fighters to battle the uprising alongside government troops. In claiming the Iran embassy bombing, Zreikat warned of more attacks in Lebanon if Hezbollah kept sending troops to support Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad’s regime.

In 2009, Lebanese authorities sentenced Majid in absentia to life in prison for belonging to a different extremist group, the Al-Qaeda-inspired Fatah al-Islam. That organisation was involved in heavy fighting with the Lebanese army in 2007 in the Palestinian Nahr al-Bared camp in northern Lebanon, in which more than 400 people were killed, including 168 soldiers. After the fighting, many members of the group took refuge in the Ain al-Helweh Palestinian camp, which is believed to house numerous Islamist extremists.

A Palestinian official in the camp told AFP yesterday that Majid had left Ain al-Helweh in mid-2012 for Syria. “With the war in Syria, we decided that (non-Palestinian) Arab citizens would not be allowed to remain in the camp, after information that jihadists were fighting alongside the rebels,” the official said on condition of anonymity. “He left the camp with five Saudis and Kuwaitis and they went to Syria. We didn’t know that he had returned to Lebanon.” — AFP

the Defence Ministry said in its statement yesterday.

Indian defence deals have been hit by a number of corruption allegations over the past two decades but a Defence Ministry spokesman said this was the first cancellation of a major deal.

Window for Others Paying or accepting bribes is prohibited by India’s defence procurement rules. The government can cancel a contract if an integrity pact in the rules is violated, and the seller has to forfeit any security money it deposited as a bidder. India’s federal auditor said in August the ministry had initially stipulated that the helicopters should be able to fly to an altitude of 6,000 m, which meant that AgustaWestland could not compete since the AW101 was certified to fly only to 4,572 m.

Italian prosecutors suspect kickbacks worth around 10 percent of the deal - $67.6 million - were paid to

Indian officials to swing the deal in favour of AgustaWestland, according to Italian media reports.

Indian detectives raided the home of former air force chief S P Tyagi as part of the probe into the allegations of bribery. Tyagi has denied any wrongdoing. Cash was allegedly handed to Tyagi’s cousin, with more money funnelled via a web of middlemen and companies in London, Switzerland, Tunisia and Mauritius. The purchase also came under scrutiny from Italian investigators probing allegations the Italian group had broken the law by bribing foreign officials.

India took delivery of three of the helicopters before the deal stalled but the Defence Ministry spokesman said the fate of those aircraft was “uncertain”. United Technologies Corp’s Sikorsky Aircraft, EADS’ Eurocopter and Lockheed Martin may now be in line to provide helicopters for the country’s defence forces.— Agencies

Militants burn police stations, free prisoners RAMADI, Iraq: Militants freed more than 100 prisoners, clashed with security forces and burned police stations in cities west of the Iraqi capital yesterday, police and an AFP journalist said. Gunmen attacked the headquarters in the city of Fallujah but gave the police a chance to leave, which they took, officers said, after which the militants freed 101 prisoners and stole weapons. In Ramadi, farther west, security forces clashed sporadically with militants, who burned four police stations in the city, an AFP journalist said. The journalist saw four torched police stations in Ramadi, one of which was still on fire, and said two military vehicles had also been burned.

Clashes erupted in the Ramadi area yesterday as security forces dismantled the country’s main Sunni Arab anti-government protest camp, which was located on a nearby highway. At least 14 people, all but one of them militants, died in violence in the area on Monday and Tuesday. Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki said on Tuesday that troops would pull out of cities in Anbar province, of which Ramadi is the capital, in a move apparently aimed at defusing tensions in the wake of the camp’s closure. The AFP journalist said that soldiers had moved to an area west of Ramadi yesterday.

The withdrawal was one of the demands that 44 MPs made on Monday at a news conference during

which they announced they had submitted their resignations. In another move apparently aimed at placating Anbar residents, the cabinet decided on Tuesday to provide aid to the province. The oil, trade and health ministries were to provide food, fuel and medical items, and other ministries would also give “support and necessary services to Anbar province”, the cabinet said.

The removal of the camp was a victory of sorts for M alik i, who had long wanted it gone and had termed it a “headquarters for the leadership of AlQaeda”. But while its closure removed a physical sign of deep-seated grievances among Sunni Arabs, their complaints of being marginalised by Shiite-led authorities and unfairly targeted by security forces remain unaddressed. Protests broke out in Sunni Arab-majority areas of Iraq late last year after the arrest of guards of then-finance minister Rafa AlEssawi, an influential Sunni Arab, on terrorism charges. The arrests were seen by Sunnis as yet another example of the Shiite-led government targeting one of their leaders.

In the northern city of Mosul, a car bomb exploded near an army checkpoint yesterday, killing a civilian, four soldiers, among them three officers, and wounding 11 people. Violence in Iraq has reached a level not seen since 2008, when the country was just emerging from a brutal period of sectarian killings. — AFP

THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2014

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

Spectre of settlers’ return looms over Hebron HEBRON: Before they were evicted, the Israeli settlers threw bottles of urine, attacked children and poisoned a horse, according to Palestinian residents in Hebron- who now fear their former neighbours will return. When Israeli soldiers evicted the settlers in 2008 and took over the Rajabi building in the West Bank city which is still home to hundreds of radical Israeli settlers - even the daily drag of inspections seemed civilised by comparison. But the nightmare looks set to resume for Palestinians living near here and another flashpoint property called the Abu Rajab house, both of which have been claimed by settlers in the heart of the tense city considered holy by both Jews and Muslims.

The settlers were forced out of the Abu Rajab house last year, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently ordered they be allowed back in after a soldier was shot dead by a Palestinian sniper. And Israel’s Supreme Court is set to rule on the ownership dispute over the Rajabi building, with a verdict in the settlers’ favour likely to bring back the violence and abuse. Both properties are located close to a contested holy site known to Muslims as the Ibrahimi Mosque and to Jews as the Cave of the Patriarchs in an area called H2 - a tightly-controlled Israeli enclave where many key streets are off-limits to Palestinian cars.

Jewish settlers forced their way into the four-storey Rajabi building in 2007 but were evicted by Israeli troops the follow-

ing year after a week of violence. Settler community spokesman David Walder said the buildings were legally acquired “through a purchasing agent for the Jewish community.” Palestinians view the selling of property in occupied territory to Jewish settlers as a betrayal of their national cause, so such purchases are nearly always conducted in secret or through middlemen, increasing the potential for disputes.

Palestinians fear the court will rule in favour of the settlers, despite the fact that police said some of the documents had been forged. “We’re already living in a prison,” said local shoemaker Bassem AlJabbari, who lives opposite the property. “I can’t park my car outside my own shop because the army has closed this road to most Palestinian vehicles,” he told AFP, motioning towards a roadblock set up when troops took over the contested property. “But when the settlers were there it was worse... They would physically attack us, including throwing bottles of urine at us and our children,” he said.

“The settlers also poisoned my horse.

They tried to steal it from me by telling the police it was theirs, but when I produced the paperwork showing I owned it, they got angry and came to poison it.” Walder denied settler responsibility for the horse poisoning, and blamed much of the violence on Israelis “from outside Hebron”.

“People who came in from outside Hebron behaved in ways we opposed, caused problems and did not abide by our

guidelines,” he said.

Calls for resettlement ‘purely for revenge’ The Rajabi building itself is deserted, although soldiers occupy a concrete bunker on the roof. Its windows are smashed, its doors boarded up and barbed wire is stretched across the balconies.

Down the sides hang two large Israeli flags.

A short walk away, down deserted streets with barricaded shopfronts, sits the Abu Rajab house. Last year, the defence ministry ordered 15 settlers out of the property, known to Israelis as the Machpela House.

But two months ago, Netanyahu called for the three-storey property to be resettled.

Here too there is a dispute over ownership, which must eventually be decided by the court, with settlers claiming they legally purchased the top two floors.

The property’s Palestinian owners, who say they’ve been confined to the ground floor since the settlers moved in, insist letting the settlers back in would mean a return of past violence, including against local schoolchildren. “The top two floors are now empty since they’re controlled by the Israeli state. It’s ruling our area with an iron rod,” said 26-year-old Hatim Abu Rajab, who lives with seven members of his family.

Netanyahu’s call to resettle the house in the wake of the shooting was “purely for revenge”, he said. “But they have the weapons and we don’t, so what can we do?

And in the meantime, settlers still come by regularly and try to get in, or just come by to insult us.” The house’s Jewish claimants

have pinned a notice to Abu Rajab’s door reading: “We paid. We bought it. It’s ours!!”

The headmistress of the girls’ school next door recalls the abuse her pupils suffered when the settlers were in residence, with settler children hurling both stones and verbal abuse at the schoolgirls. But Ibtisam Al-Jundi has resigned herself to the harsh realities of living in a city under military occupation, where teachers and pupils have to cross multiple checkpoints just to get to school.

“They’re regularly searched, sometimes more than doubling the time it takes them to get here. What should be a 10-15 minute walk can take 40 minutes,” she told AFP. “The children are used to it, it’s been happening all their lifetime,” she added. Walder said it was not the policy of Hebron settlers to attack Arabs.

“Whether or not our children initiated attacks against Arabs, we were very careful to make sure there were no incidents,” Walder said. —AFP

HEBRON: An Israeli settler walks past the Abu Rajab house, a particularly contentious house in this West Bank city, on Nov 4, 2013. —AFP

Tensions high in Western Sahara despite new plan Stakes higher than Morocco’s internal problems

BAGHDAD: An Iraqi woman carries a load on her head on New Year’s day in the capital yesterday. —AFP

Iraq suffers worst year of violence since 2008 BAGHDAD: Violence in Iraq surged in 2013 to its worst level in five years, figures released yesterday showed, fuelled by discontent among the Sunni Arab minority and the civil war in neighbouring Syria. Bombs tore through markets, cafes, football fields and mosques, militants assaulted prisons, police stations and other government facilities, and families were killed in their homes. And while Iraqi security forces carried out widespread operations targeting militants, they have yet to curb the violence, and the mass arrests they sometimes make may ultimately contribute to the problem.

“One has to go back to 2008 to find comparable levels of violence,” Iraq Body Count, a Britain-based NGO that tracks violence in Iraq, said in a statement. “In 2008, however, that was a declining total from the much higher levels of 2006-2007, with the second half of 2008 less violent than the first,” IBC said. “In 2013, the trend is in the opposite direction, with around two thirds of the deaths occurring in the second half of the year,” it said. “If current violence levels continue unabated throughout the coming year, then 2014 threatens to be as deadly as 2004, which saw the two sieges of Fallujah (by US forces) and Iraq’s insurgency take hold.”

Death tolls vary widely, but all point to a sharp rise in violence. IBC said it recorded 9,475 civilian deaths in Iraq in 2013, compared to 10,130 in 2008, while Iraqi government figures indicated 7,154 people died in 2013 violence, including security forces and militants, while 8,995 were killed in 2008. Tolls for intervening years were much lower, sometimes less than half the 2013 figures. The United Nations meanwhile said 7,818 civilians and police were killed in 2013, even more than the 6,787 in 2008. “This is a sad and terrible record which confirms once again the urgent need for the Iraqi authorities to address the roots of violence to curb this infernal circle,” UN envoy Nickolay Mladenov said in a statement.

In 2013, militants repeatedly targeted civilians but also hit targets that should have been highly secure. In July, for instance, militants carried out coordinated assaults on the Abu Ghraib and Taji prisons near Baghdad, freeing hundreds

of inmates and leaving dozens of people dead.

Tensions rising since 2012 Two main factors have fuelled the spike in violence, experts say. One is widespread discontent among Iraq’s minority Sunni Arab community, members of which say they are marginalised by the country’s Shiite-led government and unfairly targeted by heavy-handed security tactics. Sunni anger has made it easier for militant groups to recruit and operate, while eroding the public’s cooperation with security forces. Anti-government protests broke out in Sunni-majority areas of Iraq at the end of 2012 and continued for over a year.

On April 23, security forces moved on a protest site near the northern town of Hawijah, triggering clashes in which dozens died, sparking a wave of revenge attacks and sending death tolls soaring. “Tensions have been gradually rising since late 2012, but the storming of the anti-government protest camp in April and subsequent killing of protesters prompted a violent backlash by armed members of the Sunni community,” said John Drake, a security specialist with risk management firm AKE Group. “Radical Islamists have taken advantage of this by escalating their attacks, gradually eroding the effectiveness of the security forces,” he said.

On Monday, security forces tore down the country’s main anti-government protest camp west of Baghdad. Clashes broke out in the area as the camp was removed, and continued into yesterday. The Syrian conflict has also played a role in the heightened violence, with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, an AlQaeda linked group, launching attacks in both countries. “The rise in fighting in neighbouring Syria has given (militants) a strategic boost.

They now have the opportunity to create some sort of a safe-zone crossing the border of the two countries in which they can operate with minimal interference from the authorities,” Drake said. “This will allow them to conduct training, build bombs, raise funds and gather recruits, allowing them to bolster their power and prepare for more” attacks. —AFP

LAAYOUNE: Helmeted Moroccan riot police waded into the small crowds of women in brightly colored shawls who chanted slogans for independence on the streets of Laayoune, the capital of the disputed territories of the Western Sahara. Every time one group of the mostly women and children protesters was dispersed, another would appear farther down the street, attracting phalanxes of police. The confrontations continued long after dark and degenerated into stone-throwing contests.

The harsh police response against the Sahrawis, as the region’s native inhabitants are known, contrasted with the conciliatory gestures the Moroccan government have been extending to the restive desert territory that it annexed 38 years ago. Just weeks before the demonstrations, the government announced a potentially groundbreaking, 10-year economic plan to boost the standard of living and increase respect for human rights - but that has done little to defuse tensions.

The stakes are higher than Morocco’s internal problems. The Western Sahara neighbors Mauritania and Algeria are both at the center of the West’s fight against terrorism in the deserts of north Africa. The presence of up to 100,000 angry refugees from the Western Sahara in camps in neighboring Algeria has attracted the concern of UN chief Ban Ki-moon, who described the refugees as a regional source of instability.

In 1975, Morocco annexed the former Spanish colony of Western Sahara and fought a local independence movement called the Polisario. The UN brokered a ceasefire in 1991, pending a referendum over the territory’s fate that has never taken place. Now the Moroccan government is presiding over a population with nearly twice the unemployment as the rest of the country, amid growing international unease over the situation.

Disgruntled Youth At dusk in Laayoune’s Sahrawi neighborhoods, the tension is palpable, with security trucks on every corner surrounded by riot police in helmets and shields. El-Ghali Djimi, a former political prisoner and a founder of local human rights groups, said she fears her children growing up in this atmosphere may turn to violence, radicalized by the harsh tactics of security forces.

Terrorism has been absent from the Sahrawi conflict since the 1991 ceasefire, but concerns are rife that disgruntled youth in the cities or the refugee camps may turn to violence or even become recruits for Al-Qaeda.

“My generation, the older ones, we have a tolerance, but the youth don’t,” she said. Djimi’s rights groups, like others founded by the Sahrawis, are not recognized by the state, which is very sensitive over who monitors human rights in the territories. Proposals by the US in April to expand the mandate of the UN monitoring mission to include human rights provoked strong protest from Morocco. Instead, the government said, the state-founded National Council for

Human Rights performs that function.

Sidi Mohammed Salem Saadoun, the executive director of the council’s local branch, said that after a demonstration in October, police broke into some 70 homes of people in retaliation. He noted that this didn’t happen after the most recent protests Dec 10, calling it a step in the right direction. Saadoun admitted, however, that “much still needs to be done.” Out of the 442 complaints the group has submitted to the government on behalf of people since 2011, it has only received seven responses. The new development plan was publicly backed by King Mohammed VI during a speech in November

ing how Western Sahara’s rich phosphate and fishing resources are used for Morocco’s benefit.

“They haven’t done it in the last 37 years - no one in the Western Sahara trusts Morocco.”

The new plan, devised at the request of the king, tacitly acknowledges that things aren’t going well. It proposes restoring the trust between authorities and the people by “affirming the primacy of human rights, respecting the authority of the law and guaranteeing access to justice.” Yet the powerful governor of the territory, the man who will be leading the implementation of the plan, denied there was any lack of trust between the people and the authorities. He

LAAYOUNE: In this photo taken Dec 10, 2013, Western Saharan women confront riot police in the capital of the disputed territory of the Western Sahara. —AP and calls for overhauling how Morocco manages this desert territory of 500,000 people.

“There’s just a general consensus that things were not working and I think this plan just laid it out,” said Anouar Boukhars, an expert on the region working with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “If the plan is buttressed by judicial and police reforms, which must be done, it has the potential to address the grievances of the local population.” Morocco faces an uphill battle, however, to convince many disaffected Sahrawis of its commitment to human rights and cutting unemployment in half.

Harsh Treatment Years of harsh treatment by security forces has left a legacy of bitterness among many inhabitants, some of whom maintain that selfdetermination through a UN-supervised referendum is the only way to improve their fate. “If we get self-determination, all the problems can be solved - with another 10 years they are just playing for time,” said Dalil Lehcen, an activist study-

expressed bafflement at the claims that the proposal implies shortcomings in the justice system.

“Everyone has equal access, I really don’t know what they are saying with that - there is no problem,” said Khalil Dkhil from his office. He also presented a very different vision of the periodic protests that wrack the city of Laayoune. “People have sold their souls to the devil Algeria,” he said, describing the protesters as a small minority taking money from regional rival Algeria, which host the pro-independence Polisario movement and supports Western Saharan independence.

“They pay children to throw rocks and women to go into the street and provoke police. It’s just a question of money.” As seen by the harsh reaction to the Dec 10 demonstration, which left dozens injured, the authorities fear losing control, said one prominent human rights activist.

“They don’t really want to open the area to human rights because they know it is like dominos,” said Mohammed Salem Lakhal, founder of the CODESA human rights group. “You touch the first piece and all the pieces will fall down.” —AP

Syria casualties rushed to Lebanon BEIRUT: Syrian warplanes carried out air strikes near the Lebanese border yesterday, wounding at least 10 Syrians who were rushed to hospital in a nearby Lebanese town Beirut’s state-run National News Agency said. The agency said the bombing hit near Arsal, where thousands of Syrians have fled to escape their country’s civil war over the past months. The state news agency did not say whether the bombing occurred on Lebanese territory. But the area they mentioned, Jroud Arsal, refers to the barren rugged hills east of the town that are within Lebanon.

Two Arsal residents said a wounded woman brought to the town after Wednesday’s air raid had died. They said three others are in critical condition. The residents spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing for their safety. Arsal is on the other side of Syria’s rugged Qalamoun region where the government has been on the offensive for weeks, capturing a number of towns and villages in the area. Military officials were not immediately available for comment. The Lebanese army did not respond to the shelling.

On Monday, the Lebanese army fired on Syrian aircraft that violated the country’s airspace. It was the first time Lebanon had defended its borders from Syria’s military since the uprising broke out nearly three years ago. Syrian forces often chase rebels sneaking in and out of Lebanon.

Communities on the Lebanese side of the border dominated by Sunni Muslims have become safe havens for rebels battling the rule of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad.

It is one way that the Syrian conflict has been expanding into Lebanon. The conflict has exacerbated tensions between Lebanon’s Sunni and Shiite Muslims, and prompted shadowy groups to conduct attacks that have killed dozens this year. Also Wednesday, state media and activists reported heavy clashes in the Damascus suburb of Adra, part of which was stormed by rebels last month. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said opposition fighters battled with troops from Assad’s army as well as pro-government militias known as the National Defense Forces and fighters from Lebanon’s militant

Hezbollah group. Hezbollah started openly backing Assad’s forces in May. The Observatory said a number of government forces were killed as well as two Hezbollah fighters.

State TV said 21 rebels were killed in the latest fighting in Adra. Such conflicting death tolls are common.

Electricity meanwhile was cut off in the entire northern province of Aleppo due to a “terrorist” attack against main power lines, the state news agency SANA said. Syrian state media refer to rebels as terrorists. Attacks on the country’s infrastructure have occurred periodically since Syria’s crisis began in March 2011.

More than 130,000 people have been killed so far in the war, now in its third year, according to the Observatory.

The group closely monitors the violence in Syria through a network of activists across the country. The UN said in July that 100,000 Syrians have been killed, and has not updated that figure since. Millions of Syrians have been uprooted from their homes because of the fighting. —AP

BAALBEK, Lebanon: The coffin of Hussein Salah Habib, a Lebanese Hezbollah commander missing for months in Syria, is carried during his funeral yesterday in an eastern area of Lebanon that is a bastion of the Shiite militant group Hezbollah. —AFP

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

THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2014

Chinese iron trade fuels clash with Mexico cartel LAZARO CARDENAS, Mexico: When the leaders of Mexico and China met last summer, there was much talk of the need to deepen trade between their nations.

Down on Mexico’s Pacific coast, a drug gang was already making it a reality. The Knights Templar cartel, steadily diversifying into other businesses, became so successful at exporting iron ore to China that the Mexican Navy in November had to move in and take over the port in Lazaro Cardenas, a city that has become one of the gang’s main cash generators.

This steelmaking center, drug smuggling hot spot and home of a rapidly growing container port in the western state of Michoacan occupies a strategic position on the Pacific coast, making it a natural gateway for burgeoning trade with China. Lazaro Cardenas opened to container traffic just a decade ago, and with a harbor deep enough to berth the world’s largest ships, it already aims to compete with Los Angeles to handle Asian goods bound for the US market.

But that future is in doubt unless the government can restore order and win its struggle with the Knights Templar, who took their name from a medieval military order that protected Christian pilgrims during the Crusades. Mexico’s biggest producer of iron ore, Michoacan state is a magnet for Chinese traders feeding demand for steel in their homeland. But the mines also created an opportunity for criminal gangs, such as the Knights Templar, looking to broaden their revenue base into more legitimate businesses. “The mines were mercilessly exploited, and the ore was leaving. But not in rafts or launches - it was going via the port, through customs, on ships,” said Michoachan’s governor, Fausto Vallejo, soon after the Navy occupied the port on Nov 4.

Already a thriving criminal enterprise adept at corrupting local officials and squeezing payments from businesses, developers and farmers, the Knights took to mining with aplomb, according to entrepreneurs and miners working around the port. Hidden behind mountain roads about an hour from Lazaro Cardenas, one small town mustered hundreds of trucks this year to lead the gang’s scramble to the port, a local miner said. That town - Arteaga - is the birthplace of Servando Gomez, the former school teacher who leads the Knights Templar.

Lazaro Cardenas’ Potential Gomez understood the potential of Lazaro Cardenas, which was a village best known for its coconuts until the government decided to build a steelworks there 40 years ago. The gang’s trucks sped around Michoacan’s iron mines to supply Chinese buyers, helping to push ore exports to 4 million tonnes

by October from 1-1.5 million tonnes a year previously. Their business rests on several pillars, according to accounts of local officials, miners and entrepreneurs.

Firstly, the Knights controlled how the ore moved, having imposed protection charges on local transport unions after becoming the dominant gang in the city a few years ago. It also helped local prospectors stake claims to mine areas either unclaimed by others or beyond the control of the existing concessionholders. Then the Knights took their cut.

Finally, the gang pressured customs officials to ensure the ore passed through the port smoothly. “Most of the groups mining are Knights Templar or belong to them. They have the whole chain,” a local official told Reuters.

Fueled by the appetite of Chinese buyers, about half the mining in the area was done without proper permits this year, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity. Those who talk openly can pay dearly. In April, an official at steel maker ArcelorMittal who local businessmen said had reported illegal mining to authorities was shot dead. One prospector from Arteaga, who asked to remain anonymous, said he ran a mine selling unprocessed iron ore to Chinese traders for $32 per tonne, giving him a profit of about $5-7 per tonne. By the time it reached China, the buyers could expect to sell the ore for a profit of around $15 per tonne, he estimated.

Because the Knights Templar control much of the local iron supply, the gang has pressured Chinese buyers to purchase ore from them or face reprisals, said a Mexican government security official who spoke on condition of anonymity. The combination of organized crime and Chinese buying of Mexican iron ore poses a problem for President Enrique Pena Nieto, who has gone out of his way to cultivate ties with China.

China’s President Xi Jinping has been in office only since March, but Pena Nieto has already met him three times. In June, Pena Nieto welcomed Xi to Mexico, signing a string of economic cooperation deals. But at the top of the agenda was how to narrow the massive trade imbalance between the two nations. Bilateral trade was worth $62.7 billion in 2012, up from just $431 million two decades ago, Mexican data shows. But 90 percent is accounted for by Chinese exports to Mexico, most of it goods such as computers and component parts.

Chaos, Lockdown, More Chaos Much of that trade goes directly through Lazaro Cardenas. In 2012, it had the biggest rise in traffic in North America’s 20 top container ports, handling 1.2 million 20-foot equivalent units, or teus. Most of the port is still a dusty

plain above which birds of prey soar in stifling heat. In a few years, though, projects started by Maersk-unit APM Terminals and Hutchison Port Holdings could expand its capacity to about 8 million teus - the amount moved in 2012 by the continent’s top container hub, Los Angeles.

But Michoacan is not California. Seven years ago, then-President Felipe Calderon began a nationwide crackdown on organized crime in Michoacan, sending in the army to tackle increasingly violent drug cartels. Over 80,000 people have since died in gang-related killings across Mexico, and assurances Pena Nieto gave that he would stop the rot when he took power a year ago are wearing thin. Although parts of Mexico have become safer since Pena Nieto took office, Michoacan has fallen into even more chaos.

Over half of the state lives in poverty.

Traditional work like resin production is dying out due to competition from China and elsewhere. That creates new recruits for organized crime. In October, a local bishop likened Michoacan to a failed state. A few days later, assailants temporarily knocked out power for hundreds of thousands in the state with a string of attacks on installations of the national electricity utility. Many blamed the Knights, though signs posted in Michoacan accused a small rival gang of staging the attack.

The Navy took over the port authority and reinforced Lazaro Cardenas shortly afterward. All the local police and customs officials were initially suspended and the caravans of trucks carting ore started to thin out. But the lull is unlikely to last unless the government can regain control of the city beyond the port gates and open up mining to legitimate prospectors not controlled by the gang.

Miners complain that the main concession-holders such as ArcelorMittal, which did not respond to requests for comment, use only a fraction of their land and are reluctant to let others mine it.

The Knights have turned that dispute into money. Days after the Navy moved in, state governor Vallejo said criminal enterprise around Lazaro Cardenas could be worth up to $2 billion a year - or about half Michoacan’s 2012 budget.

‘Everyone is Paying’ Some involved in the mining industry say the area has become safer since the Knights Templar started to take control.

But the facts suggest otherwise: government figures show kidnappings in Michoacan reached a record level in 2013, and murders climbed to a 15-year peak. Gomez has appeared in several YouTube videos trying to portray his Knights Templar as defenders of Michoacan. In one posted in August, he said the Knights had provided paid protection at the request of avocado farmers but that they did not extort businesses.

However, he also conceded that some “foolish” members of his gang probably had engaged in extortion.

The Knights’ power in Lazaro Cardenas is often subtle. Unlike parts of northern Mexico living under the threat of violence, the restaurants, taco stands and bars on the city’s main palm-lined boulevard are alive with people as night falls. Some residents say they are not squeezed by the cartel, and big companies say they can operate without fear of extortion. “We don’t pay a cent to anyone,” said Jose Zozaya, head of Kansas City Southern Mexico, which operates the rail link that connects the port with the United States.

But others quickly vent their anger about the Knights. “Everyone is paying, but they won’t tell you,” said a local entrepreneur. “The people here are destroyed.”

The port is no stranger to crime, and during Calderon’s presidency it became a big entry point for chemicals from China and other parts of Asia used to make methamphetamine. Some locals say chemicals have even been used to pay gangs for the iron ore. Asked if Mexico had discussed the iron ore issue with Beijing, a senior government official said: “The Chinese government doesn’t always know what the companies are doing. The occupation of the port ... was the control measure adopted.”

Hua Chunying, a Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman, said she was unaware of the situation in Lazaro Cardenas, adding: “But I can tell you that the Chinese government has consistently educated and asked Chinese companies to respect the law in other countries when they carry out business and trade cooperation.” Successful Chinese firms are growing quickly in the region. Since setting up in 2009, Desarrollo Minero Unificado de Mexico (DMU), a Chinese iron mining company in Lazaro Cardenas, has gone from three employees to 600 nationwide, nearly all of them Mexicans, Director General Luis Lu told Reuters.

With more than 30 concessions, Lu said his company mined all of its own iron and had not had any trouble with organized crime. He said he could not say how other Chinese firms fared. Still, Chinese success in Michoacan has caused friction with the Knights Templar.

In the August YouTube video, gang leader Gomez had some strong words for them. “We have an excessive invasion of Chinese. An excess of Chinese,” he said, surrounded by armed men. “It may suit the interests of various corporations, I don’t know. But they’re here with us now. And these people have their mafias too.” — Reuters

NEW YORK: Bill de Blasio (right) is sworn in as the mayor of New York City by State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman while his family, Chiara de Blasio (second left), Dante de Blasio (center) and Chirlane McCray look on at the start of the new year yesterday. — AP

Bill de Blasio sworn in as mayor of NYC Joyous day for city Democrats NEW YORK: Bill de Blasio was sworn in as the 109th mayor of New York City yesterday, becoming the first Democrat to occupy City Hall in nearly two decades while vowing to pursue a sweeping liberal agenda for the largest US city. De Blasio took the oath of office moments after midnight in front of his modest Brooklyn home. His inauguration was to be celebrated on a far grander scale at noon on the steps of City Hall when he takes the oath again, administered by former President Bill Clinton.

The new mayor was elected two months ago by a record margin on the promise of being a sharp break from billionaire Michael Bloomberg.

Bloomberg leaves office after 12 years that reshaped New York, making it one of the nation’s safest and most prosperous big cities but also one that has become increasingly stratified between the very rich and the working class.

De Blasio, 52, was joined in the first minutes of 2014 by his wife, Chirlane McCray, and their two teenage children, a close-knit interracial family who played a central role in his campaign and to some are a further symbol of a new era after the data-driven, largely impersonal Bloomberg years.

“To everyone, this is the beginning of a road we

will travel together,” de Blasio said after taking the oath which was administered by New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.

Dozens of staffers and supporters - including actor Steve Buscemi, former Vermont Gov Howard Dean and US Ambassador to South Africa Patrick Gaspard - braved the frigid temperatures to crowd 11th Street in the Park Slope neighborhood. De Blasio waved to the crowd after taking the oath and hugged his wife and children, each of whom dressed for the festive event: Chiara, 19, was wearing a party hat while Dante, 16, was sporting jeans. Standing in the same spot where he launched his then-long-shot mayoral bid in January, the new mayor signed the oath and paid the requisite $9 fee to the city clerk.

The inauguration portended to be a joyous day for city Democrats, who outnumber Republicans in the city by a margin 6-to-1 but have been shut out of power since David Dinkins left office on New Year ’s Eve 1993. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is mulling a presidential run in 2016, also planned to attend Wednesday’s ceremony at City Hall. Both Clintons have ties to de Blasio: the new mayor worked for

the former president’s administration in the Department of Housing and Urban Development and helped manage Hillary Clinton’s successful 2000 Senate campaign.

De Blasio, an unabashed progressive who touts his Brooklyn roots, takes office at a crucial juncture for the city of 8.4 million people. As New York sets record lows for crime and highs for tourism, and as the nearly completed One World Trade Center rises above the Manhattan skyline, symbolizing the city’s comeback from the Sept 11, 2001, terror attacks, many New Yorkers have felt left behind during the city’s renaissance.

De Blasio reached out to those he contended were left behind by the often Manhattan-centric Bloomberg administration, and he called for a tax increase on the wealthy to pay for universal prekindergarten. He also pledged to improve economic opportunities in minority and workingclass neighborhoods and decried alleged abuses under the police department’s stop-and-frisk policy. He and his new police commissioner, William Bratton, have pledged to moderate the use of the tactic, which supporters say drives down crime but critics claim unfairly singles out blacks and Hispanics. — AP

S Sudan govt, rebels set for truce talks ADDIS ABABA: South Sudan’s warring parties were yesterday set to begin peace talks in Addis Ababa aimed at bringing an end to a nearly three-week-old civil war that has already left thousands dead. Government and rebel negotiating teams both arrived in the Ethiopian capital by yesterday evening, a source close to the talks said and diplomats said they expected formal discussions on a possible ceasefire to begin today, although informal contacts may take place later yesterday. Ethiopian government spokesman Getachew Reda said the talks would focus on “monitoring mechanisms for the ceasefire”.

“It’s positive that they are sending delegations,” UN special envoy Hilde Johnson said in Juba, underscoring the dire need for “reconciliation and healing” at the talks, which are being brokered by Ethiopia on behalf of IGAD, an East African regional grouping. “Negotiations also need to be accompanied by something else, a deeper process that focuses on national reconciliation between the communities. We have seen terrible acts of violence in the past two weeks... and as we know, if there is no one held account-

able, there is a major risk that the violence can continue,” she added.

Fighting erupted in South Sudan Dec 15, when President Salva Kiir accused his former deputy Riek Machar of attempting a coup.

Machar has denied this, in turn accusing the president of conducting a violent purge of his opponents. The fighting has spread across the country, with the rebels seizing several areas in the oil-rich north. On Tuesday the rebels recaptured Bor, the capital of Jonglei state and situated just 200 kilometres (125 miles) north of the capital Juba, and fighting was reportedly continuing in the area on Wednesday.

Thousands of people are feared dead, UN officials say, while close to 200,000 civilians have been forced to flee their homes - many seeking refuge with badly overstretched UN peacekeepers. The International Committee of the Red Cross said residents continue to pour by the thousand out of Jonglei and across the White Nile into Awerial county in neighbouring Lakes state. “The road to the river is lined with thousands of people, with others waiting for boats to carry them across,” said Francois Moreillon, ICRC

deputy head of delegation.

The UN last week estimated that some 70,000 people had already fled into Awerial. The conflict has also been marked by an upsurge of ethnic violence pitting members of Kiir’s Dinka tribe against Machar’s Nuer community, and the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) said that “atrocities are continuing to occur” across the country. “UNMISS is gravely concerned about mounting evidence of gross violations of international human rights law that have occurred in South Sudan during the past 15 days,” it said in a statement, reporting “extra-judicial killings of civilians and captured soldiers” and the “discovery of large numbers of bodies” in Juba, Bor and Malakal, the main town in oil-producing Upper Nile state. The UN mission also said it was “actively collecting information” on the atrocities to be used for future official investigations. On Tuesday, Machar told AFP via satellite phone that he was not yet ready to agree to an immediate ceasefire nor hold face-to-face talks with Kiir, and that his forces were marching on the capital Juba. “There is no cessation of hostilities yet,” Machar said. —AFP

Duggan to take bankrupt Detroit’s oath of office DETROIT: Mike Duggan was sworn in as Detroit’s mayor shortly after 11 am on New Year’s Day, and began a four-year term with limited powers in an insolvent city whose finances are controlled by a state-appointed overseer. He planned to start work immediately, holding initial staff meetings yesterday at City Hall. But Duggan already has been busy on Detroit’s behalf since voters elected him in November.

The former Detroit Medical Center chief has attended a meeting of new mayors hosted by the White House, put together his own administration and lobbied with emergency manager Kevyn Orr for a greater role in the city’s immediate turnaround. “He’s been engaged on issues and has been preparing to hit the ground running,” former Detroit Councilwoman Sheila Cockrel said of Duggan.

So far, mayoral-type celebrations have been muted, something Cockrel said is noteworthy.

“We’re broke. There is no money. Streetlights are still not on. Cops do not come on time,” said Cockrel, who is founder of a government relations advocacy firm. “When you’re in the middle of a bankruptcy, how much celebrating should you be doing? It’s about the city. The most important thing for all of us now is getting the city’s organization and finances in operating order.”

Under Michigan’s emergency manager law,

Orr has control over Detroit’s finances. He filed the city’s bankruptcy petition in July. On Dec 3, federal Judge Steven Rhodes made Detroit the largest US city to enter bankruptcy. Orr, who was appointed by Gov Rick Snyder in March, says Detroit has at least $18 billion in debt. He’s negotiating with the city’s many creditors and is expected to release a plan of adjustment for Detroit’s restructuring early this month.

Mayor Dave Bing, Duggan’s predecessor who didn’t seek re-election, had complained of his diminished role since Orr was hired. Duggan announced Dec 19 that he and Orr agreed to share some of the duties in running the city, with the bulk of financial responsibilities still under the emergency manager’s control. “You’re going to see a lot of activity, even in the next two weeks,” Duggan said then.

Under the deal with Orr, Duggan takes on blight removal, public lighting and the Fire Department, and will control financial matters relating to the day-to-day function of city government. “I’m hopeful that with the tools that he was given ... we will see an improvement in service delivery,” said Gabe LeLand, who was elected in November to his first term on the Detroit City Council. The nine council members already have taken their official oaths of office. Duggan will officiate a ceremonial swearing-in for the council on Tuesday, said LeLand. The powers of the

DETROIT: Mike Duggan speaks in this Oct 23, 2013 photo. — AP council also are restricted under the state’s emergency manager law. — AP

THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2014

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

ETA prisoners’ shift raises disarmament hopes MADRID: Jailed Basque separatists have raised hopes that they may be moving towards disarming ETA, western Europe’s last major armed secessionist group, by softening their stance on key demands. The prisoners gave ground on one of the most sensitive aspects of the stand-off between ETA and the Spanish and French authorities-the terms of their jailing and potential release. In a statement on December 28, EPPK, a collective representing hundreds of jailed ETA members, dropped its long-standing demand for a general amnesty.

The collective, representing prisoners who constitute most of ETA’s active surviving membership, said it would consider letting them negotiate individually for release. Previously, they had refused to play ball with the prison

authorities since they rejected the terms of their imprisonment. In its new statement, the EPPK said however: “We could accept that our return home-our release from jail and as a priority our transfer to the Basque Countr y-be done through legal channels even if this, for us, implicitly entails the acceptance of our sentence.”

The statement, published in the Basque newspaper Gara, said EPPK would be willing to “study the possibility of a process where our return home takes place in stages, through individual commitments”. ETA is blamed for the deaths of 829 people in a fourdecade campaign of shootings and bombings for an independent Basque homeland in nor thern Spain and southwestern France. The prisoners’ message was hailed by the left-wing

political groups that have gained influence in the Basque Country since 2011 when they formally renounced violence.

The conservative president of the region, Inigo Urkullu, meanwhile noted “significant changes” in the prisoners’ stance. He called for the “urgent” disarming of E TA. E TA announced in October 2011 “the definitive end to its armed activity”, but refused to formally disband or disarm as the Spanish and French governments demand. The group has been severely weakened in recent years by the arrests of its senior leaders in Spain and France. The two countries’ governments have ignored ETA’s request to negotiate its disbandment on conditions such as transferring prisoners to jails closer to home.

‘TURNING POINT’ The pro-independence party Sortu, formed by former members of the outlawed party Batasuna, hailed the statement as “a top-level contribution to the process of resolving the Basque political conflic t ”, said its spokesman Pernando Barrena. He called it “a turning point for a change in the penitentiary policy and an end to dispersal” of ETA prisoners in distant jails.

A committee supporting the prisoners, Etxerat, says there are 520 prisoners who remain affiliated to ETA, most of them spread across 79 jails in Spain and France. Experts estimate there are only a few dozen active members still at large. Around 60 others have been freed from jail since October, when the European Court of Human Rights overturned a Spanish judicial doctrine that

curbed their right to early release.

Supporters of the prisoners plan to hold a rally for them in the Basque city of Bilbao on January 11. That annual gathering will be particularly sensitive this year in light of the October ruling, which outraged victims’ families.

Online newspaper El Confidencial, citing anti-terrorism sources, said ETA might move before January 11 “to lay down some of its arms and explosives” by revealing the locations of caches in France while demanding negotiations in return. Paul Rios, a spokesman for Lok arri, an association of Basque nationalists calling for a “peace process” for the Basque Countr y, doubted that such a major gesture was imminent. “I do not think the time is ripe enough for ETA to take a decisive step towards disarming,” he said.—AFP

Pope urges the world to listen to ‘cry for peace’ What is happening to humanity? Pontiff asked

SCHEVENINGEN: Two men take part in the traditional sea bathing to mark the start of the new year yesterday in Scheveningen. — AFP

Thousands take icy New Year’s dip in Netherlands THE HAGUE: Tens of thousands of revelers across the Netherlands braved the chilly winter weather yesterday to take a traditional New Year’s plunge in the North Sea’s icy waters. Around 10,000 swimmers-most dressed only in shorts and bikinis-stormed the waves at The Hague’s historic Scheveningen beach, while around 36,000 others did the same in 125 locations around the country, organizers said. The socalled “Nieuwjaarsduik” (New Year’s Dive) started in 1960 when a few friends decided to go for a swim to herald in a fresh start to the New Year, the organizer spokeswoman Esther Okker said.

Since then it has grown into an annual tradition, with swimmers receiving a coveted orange beanie hat and a tin of Dutch pea soup as a reward from the event’s sponsors. In total some 12,000 liters of pea soup had been handed out, Okker said.

She added conditions were “relatively warm” this year with the ocean around 7.5 degrees Celsius (45.5 degrees Fahrenheit) and outside temperature at around 8.0 degrees. However, the omnipresent wind on the beach chilled things down to around 3.0 degrees, she added.

“You have to do it at least once in your life,” said Dennis Smit, 20, who was “sunbathing” with his girlfriend Nicole Timmerman, 17, after returning from the water’s edge. Brothers Beau and Jarvey de Graaff, who was dressed in a tiger outfit said it was the first time they were taking part in the swim. “Yes, we may be crazy, but we are Dutch and this is tradition,” Jarvey de Graaff, 22, said. “It may be tradition, but it still was very, very, very cold,” a shivering bikini-clad swimmer who declined to give her name, quipped afterwards before running into a heated tent to get dressed.—AFP

VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis made an impassioned New Year’s peace address yesterday, saying the heart of humanity seemed to have gone astray and too many people were still indifferent to war, violence and injustice. The pontiff, who took his papal name from St Francis of Assisi, the saint most associated with peace, urged the world to listen to the “cry for peace” from suffering peoples. “What on earth is happening in the hearts of men? What on earth is happening in the heart of humanity?” he said to tens of thousands of people in St Peter’s Square on the day the Roman Catholic Church celebrates its World Day of Peace.

“It’s time to stop!” he said, departing from his prepared text. Francis was speaking from the window of the Apostolic Palace overlooking St. Peter’s Square that popes traditionally use for their addresses. Unlike his predecessors, Francis has not used the spacious apartment behind the window since his election in March, shunning pomp and preferring instead to live in small quarters in a Vatican guest house. “Everyone must be committed to building a society that is truly just and caring,” he told the crowd on Wednesday, acknowledging the many peace banners and blue balloons held aloft.

In a message for the World Day of Peace sent to world leaders last month, Francis said that huge salaries and bonuses were symptoms of an economy based on greed and inequality. In that letter, the former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina again urged nations to narrow the gap between rich and poor, more and more of whom were getting only “crumbs”. Francis, named Person of the Year by Time magazine and a number of other publications, has urged his own Church to set an example by being more fair and frugal and less pompous, and to get closer to the poor and afflicted.

VATICAN CITY: People wave to Pope Francis at St Peter’s square during the Angelus prayer yesterday at the Vatican. — AFP The new year is expected to bring concrete changes to the Vatican, plagued by a series of mishaps and scandals under Pope Benedict XVI, who in February became the first pontiff to resign in 600 years. Francis has appointed a committee of eight cardinals from around the world to advise him on how to reform the central Vatican administration. He has also named commissions to advise him on what to do with the scandal-plagued Vatican bank, on transparency in other parts of Vatican finance and

on how to deal with the Church’s many sexual abuse scandals. Vatican officials expect changes to start taking shape in late February, when his council of advisors has a pivotal meeting in the Vatican. On Feb 22, Francis will name his first batch of cardinals to join the exclusive group that will one day choose his successor.

The names of the new cardinals are expected to be disclosed sometime in late January, and will offer another indication of the type of humbler Church that Francis wants.—Reuters

Russian leader denounces Volgograd ‘abomination’

QUNU: Mnikelo Ndagankulu is draped in a South African flag as he sits on a hill overlooking the place where former South African President Nelson Mandela was laid to rest in his ancestral home of Qunu. —AFP

S Africa’s right still fears post-Mandela apocalypse PRETORIA: In South Africa, right-wing prophesies that Nelson Mandela’s death will be followed by a racial apocalypse refuse to be quashed by events. Ever since the mostly peaceful transition to majority rule in 1994, right-wing South Africans have claimed the moment would spell an end to reconciliation and unleash untold bloodshed. So engrained was the idea of a “Night of the Long Knives” that it even seeped into mainstream thinking. Some plotted elaborate evacuation plans, radio programs discussed whether it was remotely possible and one journalist even visited a town where whites would supposedly gather before fleeing, just in case anyone turned up.

When nothing happened after South Africa’s first black president drew his last breath on December 5, or after his burial 10 days later, most were unsurprised, but for some it was nothing more than apocalypse deferred. “They are definitely planning something. It won’t happen over one night, but will be gradual,” said Neil, 40, while on a recent visit to an Afrikaner memorial, the Voortrekker Monument in Pretoria. The belief that one day whites would be slaughtered en masse is tenacious and can be traced back to the earliest white settlers on the tip of Africa.

Later, in the early 1900s, in the wake of the second Anglo-Boer War, the idea was propagated by soothsayer Nicolaas van Rensburg, who has obtained cult status among radical Afrikaner groups. Van Rensburg was a farmer who only read the Bible and was unable to write anything

besides his own name. Among believers he is credited with predicting World War II and the rise of a black leader who some believe to be Mandela. The “siener”, or “seer” in the Afrikaans language, had a number of visions that his daughter and friends wrote up in notebooks which today lie in a cultural history museum in the northwestern town of Lichtenburg.

In 1915, Van Rensburg had a vision of “a coffin lowered into a grave, multiple fires coming out, led by one big blaze”.

“Someone important is buried, and then a revolution breaks out,” explained Tollie Vreugdenburg, a police investigator who has worked on cases involving the far right.

Van Rensburg’s prophesies were among those adopted by white terrorist group the Boeremag, who plotted to kill Mandela and overthrow the government in the late 1990s and early 2000s. One member of the group who turned state witness against his 20 co-accused revealed how they used the prophesies to plan and recruit new members. “ They relied heavily on the Seer ’s visions,” Vreugdenburg said. “The Night of the Long Knives, Mandela’s death, was the main reason.” After killing Mandela, the Boeremag would use the black uprising as a pretext for retaliatory attacks. “ They would then be the saviours acting to save whites,” Vreugdenburg said. This month two more right-wingers were on trial accused of plotting to bomb government leaders, also inspired by Van Rensburg’s prophecies, according to Vreugdenburg, who investigated that case as well.—AFP

MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin yesterday called Russia’s deadliest bombings in three years an “abomination” as he inspected the site of twin suicide strikes that killed 34 and raised alarm over security at the Sochi Winter Olympic Games. The Kremlin chief laid a thick bouquet of red roses on a heap of stuffed toys and flowers assembled at one of the blast locations and exchanged commiserations with bandaged survivors at a hospital in the shell-shocked southern city of Volgograd.

He then convened an urgent pre-dawn meeting of local officials and national security chiefs aimed at finding the root cause of Islamist-linked violence that has shadowed his dominant 14-year rule. “ The abomination of the crime that was committed here in Volgograd needs no extra commentary,” Putin told officials in a televised meeting on the banks of the Volga River. “No matter how the criminals may justify their actions, there is no justification for crimes committed against civilians, especially against women and children.”

A powerful blast in the waiting hall of Volgograd’s main railway station killed 18 people on Sunday while a second strike that hit a packed trolleybus during morning rush hour on Monday claimed 16 lives. The attacks were Russia’s deadliest since a suicide raid on Moscow’s Domodedovo airport that was claimed by North Caucasus militants killed 37 people in January 2011. The latest violence has laid bare the unchecked threat posed by insurgents who have vowed to target civilians in a bid to undermine Putin’s preparations ahead of the Games’ opening ceremony on February 7.

Putin in his first comments on the attacks on Tuesday promised to “toughly and consistently con-

tinue to fight against terrorists until their total destruction”.

Investigators have opened a criminal probe into a suspected act of terror as well as the illegal carrying of weapons. The chief spokesman for the Investigative CommitteeRussia’s equivalent to the US FBIsaid the signature of the two bombings suggest they were plotted by the same group. The identical makeup of the explosives “confirms the theory that the two attacks are linked. It is possible that they were prepared in the same place,” Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said.

SECURITY MEETING Putin has issued a string of directives ordering security be stepped up at public transit points across the nation and extra police deployed on the streets of

Volgograd. But the same city-resting just 690 kilometers northeast of Sochi-was also hit by a suicide blast on a bus in October that killed six people and first alerted the authorities about the possible return of terror strikes linked to the North Caucasus that hounded Russia in the last decade.

North Caucasus guerrilla chief Doku Umarov vowed in July that his fighters would use “any means possible” to keep Putin from staging the Sochi Games.

The feared fighter-pronounced dead by Russia on repeated occasions-is seeking to carve out an Islamist republic across the North Caucasus and has claimed the region around Sochi as part of his self-proclaimed ancestral land.

The twin bombings have sparked some media speculation that Putin may take the axe against

top security officials both in Volgograd and Moscow for failing to prevent more carnage less than six weeks before the Games’ February 7 start.

Putin on Wednesday praised the mass security sweep that Volgograd police and interior ministry soldiers launched in the wake of the bombings. But he also said sternly in nationallytelevised comments that he would like to have a separate talk later on Wednesday with the head of Russia’s powerful Federal Security Service (FSB) Alexander Bortnikov and Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev. Putin said he wanted to be briefed personally by the two security chiefs “about the measures they were taking to improve security across the entire territory of the Russian Federation”.— AFP

VOLGOGRAD: President Vladimir Putin (center) visits a clinic where terror attack victims undergo treatment in Volgograd yesterday. — AFP

THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2014

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

Musharraf no show in court; bomb found ISLAMABAD: Former Pakistani president and army chief Pervez Musharraf failed to appear in court yesterday for the second hearing in his high-profile treason case after authorities said they found an explosive device near his home. His lawyers, citing the bomb scare, said it was too dangerous for Musharraf to appear in court. It was the third time since the high treason proceedings began that explosives have been found along the path the former strongman is supposed to take to court.

The security concerns and Musharraf ’s refusal to attend have stalled the landmark trial, which is an unusual high-profile case against the former top general in a country where the military’s authority is rarely questioned. It’s the most serious of the legal troubles the 70-year-old Musharraf has faced since he returned to Pakistan in March. He came back hoping to run in elections but instead had been faced with a barrage of court cases connected to his rule and barred from taking part in elections. The case has also brought some grumbling from within the military’s supporters, wary that one of their own is in court.

For their part, Musharraf ’s lawyers have contended that the judiciary trying him and the government bringing the

case are biased against the former general. The current Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, was the man deposed by Musharraf in the 1999 coup and the recently retired chief justice was also detained by Musharraf in 2007. The judge in yesterday’s hearing, Faysal Arab, was sympathetic to the defense’s security concerns and adjourned the hearing until Thursday. But he pointed out the security arrangements and suggested he could issue an arrest warrant for Musharraf if he fails to appear today.

Police officer Nayyar Saleem said officials scanning the route to court spotted the device yesterday along a road about two kilometers (a mile) from Musharraf’s farmhouse on Islamabad’s outskirts. One of Musharraf’s lawyers, Ahmed Qasuri, told the three-member panel of judges hearing the case that there were “many security issues” preventing the former leader’s appearance and that the court would be responsible if anything went wrong.

Islamabad police officials said 1,000 security personnel were deployed to protect Musharraf but said they could not guarantee a bomb-proof vehicle for the former general to ride in.

Musharraf ’s lawyers have also argued that the special court hearing his case was not properly formed, that the indi-

vidual judges are biased and that the case against him is a vendetta by the prime minster and the recently retired chief justice. At one point during the sometimes testy proceedings, Qasuri pointed his finger at the prosecutor, Akram Sheikh, and said: “He’s not a prosecutor. He’s a persecutor!” Musharraf took power in a 1999 coup and ruled Pakistan for nearly a decade. But he’s not on trial for the coup. Instead he’s accused of high treason in connection with the state of emergency he imposed in 2007 and the detention of judges.

Those actions sparked widespread demonstrations by lawyers around the country that eventually weakened the rule of the already unpopular Musharraf so much that he was forced to step down. Musharraf’s legal ups and downs have riveted a country that has experienced three military coups and where top generals and army chiefs have traditionally been above the law. The scenes of Musharraf going into and out of court rooms - essentially being treated like a common citizen - has underlined how much prestige the power the Pakistani military has lost in recent years. The army has said nothing publicly about the Musharraf trial but many retired military officers - sometimes a barometer for opinion within the service - have stood

ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani police officer scans an area near the residence of Pakistan’s former president and military ruler Pervez Musharraf in Islamabad yesterday. — AP up for Musharraf.

A group of retired military officers met Tuesday in Islamabad in what was essentially a show of solidarity. Zuha Saeed, a retired major in the Pakistan army, said Musharraf was a “good general” and that he was worried that the trial would not be “free and fair.” The govern-

ment pushed back yesterday against any suggestion that Musharraf may have the support of the military. Information Minister Pervaiz Rasheed said Musharraf is trying to use the army to cover up his crimes and that the army is a “national institution” that is devoted to serving their nation, not one individual.—AP

Thousands rally on New Year’s Day for Hong Kong democracy HONG KONG: Thousands marched in Hong Kong yesterday to demand a greater say in choosing their future leaders, expressing fears China will limit long-awaited political reforms, but turnout fell short of expectations. Organizers said around 30,000 people took part in the annual New Year’s Day march for democracy, while police put the figure at 11,100 - less than half their estimate last year.

Marchers carried banners reading “Democracy will prevail” as they sang and shouted slogans against the government of the semi-autonomous Chinese city. “Because we are Hong Kong citizens, we must vote,” said Sharon Tang, a 49-year-old trading company employee, adding that residents of the former British colony have the intelligence to choose their leaders. Mainland Chinese tourists took pictures of the march as protesters chanted “END ONE-PARTY RULE!” China, which took back Hong Kong in 1997, has promised that its people will be able to vote in 2017 for their next chief executive. Currently the leader is elected by a 1,200-strong pro-Beijing committee. But many pro-democrats fear that China will control the choice of candidates to secure the election of a sympathetic official. They say the public should have the right to nominate candidates, something which China rejects.

Joseph Cheng, professor of political science at City University of Hong Kong, said the lower turnout did not indicate that Hong Kong had put the democracy issue on the backburner. People have adopted a “wait-and-see attitude” after an official public consultation period on a future electoral system began less than a month ago, he said.

A survey by Hong Kong University in December put “constitutional development” as the second most important problem, after housing, that the government should tackle in 2014. “Hong Kong people have been on the streets over the years to strive for what we deserve, and what the Chinese govern-

ment has not given us,” marcher Charles Tam, 25 said. One protester had red tape wrapped around her arms and covering her mouth to symbolize an inability to express one’s views.

The marchers left Victoria Park - named after the 19th century British monarch who oversaw Hong Kong’s seizure from China-in mid-afternoon and staged a rally in the Central financial district afterwards. A huge poster depicting the city’s current chief executive Leung Chun-ying with an egg plastered on his head was hung over the park lawn.

Marchers aim to let the Hong Kong government and China’s ruling Communist Party know “that Hong Kong people need and want real democracy”, Johnson Yeung, convener of rally organizers the Civil Human Rights Front said.

THE “BATTLE” MUST BE WON Hong Kong has its own government and legal system, and its residents enjoy rights and freedoms unknown on the Chinese mainland. But there are frequent protests in the city of seven million over slow progress towards full democracy, and discontent is also growing over sky-high housing prices and a growing wealth gap. Yeung said he saw this year and the ongoing debate over the city’s future democratic system as a “battle” that must be won. “This rally will give the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) a clear message that if you don’t give us real democracy, there will be direct action from the people,” he said.

Mimicking the Occupy protests of 2011 in cities such as New York and London, some activists have threatened to take over the streets of Hong Kong’s business district later this year to try to force officials to guarantee a fair electoral system. A “New Year Civil Referendum” was also conducted in Victoria Park and over the Internet yesterday, and drew over 62,000 voters. The poll showed more than 94 percent of respondents think that there should be an “element of civil nomination” when choosing the city’s leader.—AFP

Washington seeks to block Afghan prisoners’ release KABUL: The United States wants Afghanistan to halt the release of 88 prisoners from an Afghan jail because they pose a serious threat to security, US officials said yesterday, adding to strains between the two sides. The United States only recently transferred the prison at Bagram to Afghan control after it had become a serious source of tension with the government in Afghanistan which is fighting a Taleban-led insurgency.

Relations with Afghanistan have grown particularly strained over President Hamid Karzai’s refusal to sign a bilateral security deal that would keep around 8,000 US troops in the country after 2014, when most foreign forces are due to leave. A US army official said the release of the 88 contravened a presidential decree to complete investigations at the prison and prosecute individuals when required. “The Afghan Review Board has exceeded its mandate and ordered the

release of a number of dangerous individuals who are legitimate threats and for whom there is strong evidence supporting prosecution or further investigation,” said Colonel Dave Lapan, a spokesman for US forces in Afghanistan. The United States long resisted handing over the facility - because it feared individuals it considered dangerous would be released - but ultimately reached a deal with the Afghan government in early 2013.

About 40 percent of the prisoners were directly responsible for wounding or killing 57 Afghan civilians and security forces, and 30 percent had participated in direct attacks that killed or wounded 60 US and coalition troops, a US official said. The head of the Afghan commission charged with reviewing the cases denied that the 88 posed a threat. “In many cases, detainees were wrongly linked to certain incidents they were not involved in,” said Abdul Shakor Dadras.—Reuters

NEW DELHI: Delhi policemen baton charge a member of the youth wing of the Congress party in an attempt to stop him from marching towards the official residence of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Rajnath Singh during a demonstration in New Delhi yesterday. — AP

Indian president signs historic anti-graft law India, Pakistan exchange nuclear facilities lists NEW DELHI: India’s president took the final step to create a powerful anti-graft watchdog yesterday, signing it into law two years after a mass anti-corruption movement swept the country and galvanized politicians into action.

Parliament saw rare unity last month when the ruling Congress and main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) approved the bill creating a corruption ombudsman with sweeping powers to prosecute all politicians and civil servants.

President Pranab Mukherjee’s final approval of the law comes as the world’s largest democracy gears up for general elections due by May. Voters have become increasingly incensed by a string of corruption scandals that have engulfed the nation. Anti-graft hero Arvind Kejriwal, now Delhi chief minister, and his upstart Aam Aadmi (“Common Man”) party, whose mission is to clean up pervasive corruption and create a “bribe-free India”, trounced the Congress party in Delhi state polls last month.

Kejriwal, 45, was a key member of the grassroots anti-corruption movement launched by 76-year-old social crusader Anna Hazare who demanded the tough law back in 2011.

Legislation was stalled by political bickering and debate about the extent of the bill’s scope.

The Congress-led national government has been hit by a series of multi-billion-dollar graft scandals, from allegations of illegal distribution of cut-price telecom licenses to the 2010 corruption-tainted Commonwealth Games.

NUCLEAR FACILITIES LISTS In another development, India and Pakistan exchanged lists of their nuclear facilities yesterday as part of a 1988 pact that bars them from

NEW DELHI: Indian President Pranab Mukherjee interacts with schoolchildren during New Year’s celebrations in New Delhi. — AFP attacking each other’s nuclear installations. The exchange, occurring in New Delhi and Islamabad, has been held each New Year’s Day since 1992. The Indian External Affairs Ministry also said each country shared a list of prisoners each country has who are citizens of the other.

The ministr y ’s statement gave fur ther no details. India and Pakistan have fought three wars since they won independence from Britain

in 1947. They have been trying to improve relations seriously damaged by the Mumbai terror attack in 2008 that killed 166 people. India blamed the attack on Pakistani insurgents, a charge Pakistan denies. India has long accused Pakistan of arming and training militants who fight in Kashmir, but Pakistan has consistently said it gives the rebels only moral and diplomatic support.—Agencies

Thai PM returns to Bangkok as protest showdown looms

KABUL: Afghan men look after a fighting rooster as they wait to bring the bird into a ring for a match against another cock on the outskirts of Kabul. Even though Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries in the world where 1 in 3 people live in poverty betting on animal fights is a favored pastime of many Afghans. Cockfighting, known as “Murgh Janghi” in the Afghan Dari language, is a popular game among Afghans during the winter season which was banned by the Taleban rulers. —AFP

BANGKOK: Embattled Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra returned to the capital, Bangkok yesterday for traditional New Year celebrations in a display of unity alongside military chiefs before a looming showdown with anti-government protesters. Demonstrators who accuse Yingluck of being the puppet of her self-exiled brother, former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, have vowed to occupy government ministries and other key sites in Bangkok in their bid to scuttle a snap Feb 2 election.

The protests since late November have pitted the brother and sister’s political machine with its base among the rural poor in the north against Bangkok’s conservative elite. It has flared into sporadic violence, and army chief General Prayuth Chan-Ocha refused to rule out a coup after wild

clashes outside an election registration centre a week ago. Three people have been killed since Thursday.

Yingluck, who is caretaker leader after calling the snap poll in a bid to defuse the crisis, had spent more than a week outside Bangkok shoring up support in the north but returned to the capital yesterday. She joined Prayuth and other senior military leaders in paying their respects to retired general Prem Tinsulanonda, the president of King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s Privy Council. Prayuth’s warning last week was a sobering reminder that the military has staged or attempted 18 coups in 81 years.

In a New Year message aired overnight, Thailand’s revered King Bhumibol urged peace, prosperity and unity among Thais. “Everyone’s

wishes do not seem to be very different, either for their own sake or for the peace of the country,” he said. Yesterday’s largely ceremonial duties were a prelude to what are shaping as rougher days ahead for Yingluck, whose Puea Thai Party normally would be expected to win the election.

The demonstrators, led by fiery former deputy premier Suthep Thaugsuban, have vowed to derail the ballot and demand instead an appointed “people’s council” before a future vote. Suthep has vowed to seize ministries and other sites across the capital, although it is not clear when that will start.

The main opposition Democrat Party has also declared it will boycott the election. Thailand’s Electoral Commission has offered to act as a mediator between Puea Thai, the Democrats and the protesters. —Reuters

THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2014

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

Ferocious, Weak and Crazy: The North Korean Strategy SEOUL: North Korea’s state-run media has reported that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has ordered the country’s top security officials to take “substantial and high-profile important state measures,” which has been widely interpreted to mean that North Korea is planning its third nuclear test. Kim said the orders were retaliation for the US-led push to tighten UN sanctions on Pyongyang following North Korea’s missile test in October. A few days before Kim’s statement emerged, the North Koreans said future tests would target the United States, which North Korea regards as its key adversary along with Washington’s tool, South Korea.

North Korea has been using the threat of tests and the tests themselves as weapons against its neighbors and the United States for years. On the surface, threatening to test weapons does not appear particularly sensible. If the test fails, you look weak. If it succeeds, you look dangerous without actually having a deliverable weapon. And the closer you come to having a weapon, the more likely someone is to attack you so you don’t succeed in actually getting one. Developing a weapon in absolute secret would seem to make more sense. When the weapon is ready, you display it, and you have something solid to threaten enemies with.

North Korea, of course, has been doing this for years and doing it successfully, so what appears absurd on the surface quite obviously isn’t. On the contrary, it has proved to be a very effective maneuver. North Korea is estimated to have a gross domestic product of about $28 billion, about the same as Latvia or Turkmenistan. Yet it has maneuvered itself into a situation where the United States, Japan, China, Russia and South Korea have sat down with it at the negotiating table in a bid to persuade it not to build weapons.

Sometimes, the great powers give North Korea money and food to persuade it not to develop weapons. It sometimes agrees to a halt, but then resumes its nuclear activities. It never completes a weapon, but it frequently threatens to test one.

And when it carries out such tests, it claims its tests are directed at the United States and South Korea, as if the test itself were a threat. There is brilliance in North Korea’s strategy. When the Soviet Union collapsed, North Korea was left in dire economic straits. There were reasonable expectations that its government would soon collapse, leading to the unification of the Korean

Peninsula. Naturally, the goal of the North Korean government was regime survival, so it was terrified that outside powers would invade or support an uprising against it.

It needed a strategy that would dissuade anyone from trying that. Being weak in every sense, this wasn’t going to be easy, but the North Koreans developed a strategy that we described more than 10 years ago as ferocious, weak and crazy. North Korea has pursued this course since the 1990s, and the latest manifestation of this strategy was on display last week. The strategy has worked marvelously and is still working.

A THREE-PART STRATEGY First, the North Koreans positioned themselves as ferocious by appearing to have, or to be on the verge of having, devastating power. Second, they positioned themselves as being weak such that no matter how ferocious they are, there would be no point in pushing them because they are going to collapse anyway. And third, they positioned themselves as crazy, meaning pushing them would be dangerous since they were liable to engage in the greatest risks imaginable at the slightest provocation.

In the beginning, Pyongyang’s ability to appear ferocious was limited to the North Korean army’s power to shell Seoul. It had massed artillery along the border and could theoretically devastate the southern capital, assuming the North had enough ammunition, its artillery worked and air power didn’t lay waste to its massed artillery.

The point was not that it was going to level Seoul but that it had the ability to do so. There were benefits to outsiders in destabilizing the northern regime, but Pyongyang’s ferocity-uncertain though its capabilities were-was enough to dissuade South Korea and its allies from trying to undermine the regime. Its later move to develop missiles and nuclear weapons followed from the strategy of ferocity-since nothing was worth a nuclear war, enraging the regime by trying to undermine it wasn’t worth the risk.

Many nations have tried to play the ferocity game, but the North Koreans added a brilliant and subtle twist to it: being weak. The North Koreans advertised the weakness of their economy, particularly its food insecurity, by various means. This was not done overtly, but by allowing glimpses of its weakness. Given the weakness of its economy and the difficulty of life in North

Korea, there was no need to risk trying to undermine the North. It would collapse from its own defects.

This was a double inoculation. The North Koreans’ ferocity with weapons whose effectiveness might be questionable, but still pose an unquantifiable threat, caused its enemies to tread carefully. Why risk unleashing its ferocity when its weakness would bring it down? Indeed, a constant debate among Western analysts over the North’s power versus its weakness combines to paralyze policymakers.

OVERSIGHT LEFT TO TOP CONTRACTORS Part of the problem in monitoring taxpayer money in Fukushima is the sheer number of companies involved in decontamination, extending from the major contractors at the top to tiny subcontractors many layers below them. The total number has not been announced. But in the 10 most contaminated towns and a highway that runs north past the

CAUTIOUS NUCLEAR PROGRAM Hence, we have North Korea’s eternal nuclear program. It never quite pro-

program. After more than a decade of very public ferocity, the North Koreans have not come close to a deliverable weapon.

But since if you upset them, they just might, the best bet has been to tread lightly and see if you can gently persuade them not to do something insane. The North’s positioning is superb: Minimal risky action sufficient to lend credibility to its ferocity and craziness plus endless rhetorical threats maneuvers North Korea into being a major global threat in the eyes of the

PAJU: A South Korean army soldier stands guard at a military checkpoint near the border village of Panmunjom, which has separated the two Koreas since the Korean War, in Paju, South Korea, yesterday. —AP The North Koreans added a third layer to perfect all of this. They portrayed themselves as crazy, working to appear unpredictable, given to extravagant threats and seeming to welcome a war. Sometimes, they reaffirmed they were crazy via steps like sinking South Korean ships for no apparent reason. As in poker, so with the North: You can play against many sorts of players, from those who truly understand the odds to those who are just playing for fun, but never, ever play poker against a nut. He is totally unpredictable, can’t be gamed, and if you play with his head you don’t know what will happen.

So long as the North Koreans remained ferocious, weak and crazy, the best thing to do was not irritate them

Japan homeless recruited for murky Fukushima clean-up SENDAI: Seiji Sasa hits the train station in this northern Japanese city before dawn most mornings to prowl for homeless men. He isn’t a social worker. He’s a recruiter. The men in Sendai Station are potential laborers that Sasa can dispatch to contractors in Japan’s nuclear disaster zone for a bounty of $100 a head.

“This is how labor recruiters like me come in every day,” Sasa says, as he strides past men sleeping on cardboard and clutching at their coats against the early winter cold.

It’s also how Japan finds people willing to accept minimum wage for one of the most undesirable jobs in the industrialized world: working on the $35 billion, taxpayer-funded effort to clean up radioactive fallout across an area of northern Japan larger than Hong Kong. Almost three years ago, a massive earthquake and tsunami leveled villages across Japan’s northeast coast and set off multiple meltdowns at the Fukushima nuclear plant. Today, the most ambitious radiation clean-up ever attempted is running behind schedule. The effort is being dogged by both a lack of oversight and a shortage of workers, according to a Reuters analysis of contracts and interviews with dozens of those involved.

In January, October and November, Japanese gangsters were arrested on charges of infiltrating construction giant Obayashi Corp’s network of decontamination subcontractors and illegally sending workers to the government-funded project. In the October case, homeless men were rounded up at Sendai’s train station by Sasa, then put to work clearing radioactive soil and debris in Fukushima City for less than minimum wage, according to police and accounts of those involved. The men reported up through a chain of three other companies to Obayashi, Japan’s second-largest construction company.

Obayashi, which is one of more than 20 major contractors involved in governmentfunded radiation removal projects, has not been accused of any wrongdoing. But the spate of arrests has shown that members of Japan’s three largest criminal syndicates Yamaguchi-gumi, Sumiyoshi-kai and Inagawa-kai - had set up black-market recruiting agencies under Obayashi. “We are taking it very seriously that these incidents keep happening one after another,” said Junichi Ichikawa, a spokesman for Obayashi. He said the company tightened its scrutiny of its lower-tier subcontractors in order to shut out gangsters, known as the yakuza. “There were elements of what we had been doing that did not go far enough.”

too much and not to worry what kind of government they had. But being weak and crazy was the easy part for the North; maintaining its appearance of ferocity was more challenging. Not only did the North Koreans have to keep increasing their ferocity, they had to avoid increasing it so much that it overpowered the deterrent effect of their weakness and craziness.

gates of the wrecked plant in Fukushima, Reuters found 733 companies were performing work for the Ministry of Environment, according to partial contract terms released by the ministry in August under Japan’s information disclosure law. Reuters found 56 subcontractors listed on environment ministry contracts worth a total of $2.5 billion in the most radiated areas of Fukushima that would have been barred from traditional public works because they had not been vetted by the construction ministry.

The 2011 law that regulates decontamination put control under the environment ministry, the largest spending program ever managed by the 10-year-old agency. The same law also effectively loosened controls on bidders, making it possible for firms to win radiation removal contracts without the basic disclosure and certification required for participating in public works such as road construction.

Reuters also found five firms working for the Ministry of Environment that could not be identified. They had no construction ministry registration, no listed phone number or website, and Reuters could not find a basic corporate registration disclosing ownership.

There was also no record of the firms in the database of Japan’s largest credit research firm, Teikoku Databank.

“As a general matter, in cases like this, we would have to start by looking at whether a company like this is real,” said Shigenobu Abe, a researcher at Teikoku Databank. “After that, it would be necessary to look at whether this is an active company and at the background of its executive and directors.” Responsibility for monitoring the hiring, safety records and suitability of hundreds of small firms involved in Fukushima’s decontamination rests with the top contractors, including Kajima Corp, Taisei Corp and Shimizu Corp, officials said.

“In reality, major contractors manage each work site,” said Hide Motonaga, deputy director of the radiation clean-up division of the environment ministry. But, as a practical matter, many of the construction companies involved in the clean-up say it is impossible to monitor what is happening on the ground because of the multiple layers of contracts for each job that keep the top contractors removed from those doing the work.

“If you started looking at every single person, the project wouldn’t move forward. You wouldn’t get a tenth of the people you need,” said Yukio Suganuma, president of Aisogo Service, a construction company that was hired in 2012 to clean up radioactive fallout from streets in the town of Tamura. The sprawl of small firms working in Fukushima is an unintended consequence of Japan’s legacy of tight labor-market regulations combined with the aging population’s deepening shortage of workers. Japan’s construction companies cannot afford to keep a large payroll and dispatching temporary workers to construction sites is prohibited. —Reuters

duces a weapon, but no one can be sure whether a weapon might be produced. Due to widespread perceptions that the North Koreans are crazy, it is widely believed they might rush to complete their weapon and go to war at the slightest provocation. The result is the United States, Russia, China, Japan and South Korea holding meetings with North Korea to try to persuade it not to do something crazy.

Interestingly, North Korea never does anything significant and dangerous, or at least not dangerous enough to break the pattern. Since the Korean War, North Korea has carefully calculated its actions, timing them to avoid any move that could force a major reaction.

We see this caution built into its nuclear

great powers. Having won themselves this position, the North Koreans are not about to risk it, even if a 20-something leader is hurling threats.

CHINA ANGLE, IRANIAN PUPIL There is, however, a somewhat more interesting dimension emerging.

Over the years, the United States, Japan and South Korea have looked to the Chinese to intercede and persuade the North Koreans not to do anything rash. This diplomatic pattern has established itself so firmly that we wonder what the actual Chinese role is in all this. China is currently engaged in territorial disputes with US. allies in the South and East China seas. Whether anyone would or could go to war over

islands in these waters is dubious, but the situation is still worth noting.

The Chinese and the Japanese have been particularly hostile toward one another in recent weeks in terms of rhetoric and moving their ships around. A crisis in North Korea, particularly one in which the North tested a nuclear weapon, would inevitably initiate the diplomatic dance whereby the Americans and Japanese ask the Chinese to intercede with the North Koreans. The Chinese would oblige.

This is not a great effort for them, since having detonated a nuclear device, the North isn’t interested in doing much more.

In fact, Pyongyang will be drawing on the test’s proverbial fallout for some time. The Chinese are calling in no chits with the North Koreans, and the Americans and Japanese-terribly afraid of what the ferocious, weak, crazy North Koreans will do next-will be grateful to China for defusing the “crisis.” And who could be so churlish as to raise issues on trade or minor islands when China has used its power to force North Korea to step down?

It is impossible for us to know what the Chinese are thinking, and we have no overt basis for assuming the Chinese and North Koreans are collaborating, but we do note that China has taken an increasing interest in stabilizing North Korea. For its part, North Korea has tended to stage these crisesand their subsequent Chinese interventions-at quite useful times for Beijing.

It should also be noted that other countries have learned the ferocious, weak, crazy maneuver from North Korea. Iran is the best pupil. It has convincingly portrayed itself as ferocious via its nuclear program, endlessly and quite publicly pursuing its program without ever quite succeeding. It is also persistently seen as weak, perpetually facing economic crises and wrathful mobs of iPod-wielding youths. Whether Iran can play the weakness card as skillfully as North Korea remains unclear-Iran just doesn’t have the famines North Korea has.

Additionally, Iran’s rhetoric at times can certainly be considered crazy: Tehran has carefully cultivated perceptions that it would wage nuclear war even if this meant the death of all Iranians. Like North Korea, Iran also has managed to retain its form of government and its national sovereignty.

Endless predictions of the fall of the Islamic republic to a rising generation have proved false. —Stratfor

North Korea’s Jong Un claims strength after removing ‘filth’ Kim hails execution of powerful uncle SEOUL: Kim Jong Un boasted yesterday that North Korea enters the new year on a surge of strength because of the elimination of “factionalist filth” - a reference to the young leader’s once powerful uncle, whose execution last month raised questions about Kim’s grip on power. Kim’s comments in an annual New Year’s Day message, which included a call for improved ties with Seoul but also a warning of a possible “nuclear catastrophe,” will be scrutinized by outside analysts and governments for clues about the opaque country’s intentions and policy goals.

Already widespread worry about the country has deepened since Kim publicly humiliated and then executed his uncle and mentor, one of the biggest political developments in Pyongyang in years, and certainly since Kim took power two years ago after the death of his father, Kim Jong Il. North Korea’s “resolute” action to “eliminate factionalist filth” within the ruling Workers’ Party has bolstered the country’s unity “by 100 times,” Kim said in a speech broadcast by state TV. He didn’t mention by name his uncle, Jang Song Thaek, long considered the country’s No 2 power. But Kim included rhetoric that some analysts saw as a first step to renewing dialogue with rival Seoul. Kim called for an improvement in strained ties with South Korea, saying it’s time for each side to stop slandering the other and urging Seoul to listen to voices calling for Korean unification. That language, which is similar to that of past New Year’s messages, is an obvious improvement on last year’s threats of nuclear war, though there is still skepticism in Washington and Seoul about Pyongyang’s intentions.

North Korea’s authoritarian, secretive government is extremely difficult for outsiders to interpret, and analysts are divided about the meaning of Jang’s execution on treason charges. Many, however, believe that the purge shows Kim Jong Un struggling to establish the same absolute power that his father and grandfather enjoyed. The public announcement of Jang’s fall opened up a rare and unfavorable window on the country’s inner workings, showing an alleged power struggle between Kim and his uncle after the 2011 death of Kim Jong Il. Jang’s public downfall was seen as an acknowledgement of dissension and loss of control by the ruling Kim dynasty. That has caused outside alarm as Kim Jong Un simultaneously tries to revive a moribund economy and pushes development of nuclear-armed missiles.

Seoul worries that instability could lead to provocations meant to help consolidate internal unity. Attacks blamed on North Korea killed 50 South Koreans in 2010, and tension on the Korean Peninsula still lingers, although Pyongyang has backed away from war rhetoric from early last year that included threats of nuclear attacks against Washington and Seoul.

Recent indications that North Korea is restarting a mothballed reactor that can produce plutonium for bombs has left Washington and Seoul skeptical about Pyongyang’s recent calls for a resumption of longstalled nuclear disarmament talks. The country conducted its third nuclear test in February. It’s estimated to have a handful of crude nuclear devices and to be working toward building a warhead small enough to

PYONGYANG: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un delivers an annual New Year’s Day message in Pyongyang, North Korea. —AP

PYONGYANG: Jang Song-Thaek (2nd right) is being escorted in court on December 12, 2013 before being executed. —AFP mount on a long-range missile, although most experts say that goal may take years to achieve. Lim Eul Chul, a North Korea expert at South Korea’s Kyungnam University, said there was a stronger push in this year’s message for improved ties with Seoul, but that doesn’t mean North Korea will take any dramatic steps anytime soon.

Observers say Kim’s vow to improve his people’s living standards could be linked to the comments on better inter-Korean ties, which are seen as necessary to winning badly needed investment and aid. Robert Carlin, a North Korea expert and contributor to the 38 North website, said Kim’s speech suggests more con-

crete North Korean proposals are coming. “Many times over the past 30 or 40 years, the two sides have started dialogue by agreeing to stop slander of the other,” Carlin said in an email.

“It’s a relatively easy (and verifiable) first step.” In comments that mirror past North Korean propaganda, Kim also warned of an accidental conflict that could trigger “an enormous nuclear catastrophe,” which would threaten US safety. The 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty, leaving the peninsula technically in a state of war. About 28,500 American troops are deployed in South Korea to help deter North Korean aggression.—AP

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

THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2014

Outgoing Muslim envoy seeks accord with Christians OIC head urges Muslims to respect other religious minorities PARIS: The outgoing head of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) said yesterday some Muslim states should broaden rights for religious minorities. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, who stepped down on Monday after nine years as secretary general of the 57-country group representing the Islamic world, also said Western countries should do more to combat an increase of prejudice against Muslims there.

Concern among churches worldwide for fellow Christians in the Middle East has risen in recent years as wars and Islamist rebels have killed or driven many from their homes there.

The Jeddah-based OIC’s religious diplomacy was long focused on a fruitless effort to have the United Nations pass a global ban on insults to Islam. The fate of Christian minorities in Muslim countries rarely figured in its declarations. “I have no doubt that there is room for religious freedom improvements in some parts of the Muslim world with regard to allowing non-Muslims to have access to their religious facilities or construction of such facilities,” Ihsanoglu wrote in response to questions by email from Reuters.

Christians in the Middle East frequently complain of restrictions or bans on churches there and their leaders, alarmed by the rise of hardline Islamists in the wake of Arab Spring uprisings, have tried to emphasise their long histo-

ries in the region and have urged their communities not to leave. At his Dec 13 Vatican meeting with Pope Francis, Ihsanoglu said he stressed the need for “greater efforts from OIC member states to foster respect for religious pluralism and cultural diversity and to counter the spread of bigotry and prejudice”.

ENCOURAGEMENT FROM ROME Ihsanoglu said both Pope Francis and Sheikh Ahmed El-Tayeb, grand imam of the prestigious al-Azhar centre of Sunni learning in Cairo, expressed support in recent meetings for his proposal to foster better ties between the world’s two largest faiths. He first floated the idea in 2005, urging Western countries to recognize Islam as an official religion and promote better understanding of it through education.

The focus then was mostly on what they should do to answer Muslim complaints. Relations Muslims and the Vatican, which weighs heavily in the inter-faith balance because its 1.2 billion Catholics make up just over half of all the world’s Christians, worsened dramatically the following year.

Pope Benedict’s Regensburg speech, which implied Islam was violent and irrational, sparked protests in the Muslim world and cast a shadow over inter-faith relations despite his apology and efforts by leading Muslims and

Catholics to mend fences. Ihsanoglu’s meeting with Francis was the first between an OIC head and the pope. After his election in March, Francis said he was especially interested in improving ties with Muslims. Ihsanoglu said his proposals, for which details would have to be worked out, aimed at a reconciliation as farreaching as that reached by Christians with Judaism in recent decades.

INCREASED INTER-FAITH ACTIVITY A Vatican envoy recently visited al-Azhar to discuss resuming relations cut off in 2011 after Benedict condemned attacks on Christians in Egypt, Iraq and Nigeria and said they showed the need for better protection for religious minorities. Francis is preparing a visit to Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Territories which would have Vatican relations with the Muslim world on its agenda. The date has not yet been set but officials say some time in May seems most likely.

The Chaldean Catholic patriarch in Iraq, where about half the 850,000-strong Christian minority there in 2003 has since fled or been killed, proposed this month that the Vatican make a new effort to help Muslims understand Christianity. “Among other things, this document should explain, in language compatible with Islam, the magnificent doctrine of religious

Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu freedom,” Baghdad Archbishop Louis Sako said.

The OIC, now led by Iyad Ameen Madani of Saudi Arabia, is an intergovernmental organization of 57 states that aims to protect the interests of the Muslim world. Ihsanoglu, a Turk, said he hoped his successor would follow up on his proposal.-— Reuters

THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2014

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Egypt Christians hope for peace

By Jay Deshmukh and Haitham El-Tabei gypt’s Christians rang in the new year yesterday with prayers for peace after months of unrest, but expressed no regrets over backing the military’s overthrow of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.

Coptic Christians, who make up about 10 percent of Egypt’s 86 million people and constitute the largest Christian community in the Middle East, have long complained of official discrimination and feared attacks by radical Islamists. After security forces violently dispersed two pro-Morsi sit-ins in Cairo in August, setting off clashes in which hundreds of demonstrators were killed, Islamist mobs unleashed their fury on Copts, setting fire to homes, shops and churches, mainly in central Egypt.

But Copts interviewed this week stood by their decision to support the massive protests demanding the ouster of Morsi, who many Christians feared was trying to transform Egypt into an Islamic state. “I don’t regret supporting the military against Morsi, whatever the price I have to pay,” Ibrahim George, 37, told AFP at his cramped apartment on the outskirts of Cairo. Four members of his family, including his mother, were gunned down on Oct 20 outside the Church of the Virgin in Cairo’s working class neighbourhood of AlWarrak as they stepped out of a wedding party. The victims also included two young daughters of his cousins.

“I received a call that the church was attacked. I first thought someone was kidding,” he said, choking up as he described the aftermath of the night-time shooting. “When I rushed there, I saw a massacre and my mother covered in a blanket soaked with blood. I was devastated,” he said. Despite the tragedy, the AlWarrak church on Tuesday was a scene of joy. Boys and girls, dressed in colourful clothes and wearing red Santa Claus hats, ran merrily in the church’s compound, while volunteers distributed sweets and cakes to worshippers as they marked the New Year. A brightly lit Christmas tree added to the celebratory mood, while several Egyptian flags hung from the inside walls of the church’s courtyard.

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‘Paying the price’ The attack on Al-Warrak church was one of several targeting Christians as enraged Islamists blamed the community over the overthrow of Morsi, Egypt’s first democratically elected leader, after just one year in office. Morsi’s ouster left Egypt bitterly divided, with more than 1,000 people killed in street clashes and other violence and thousands more arrested in a massive crackdown on Islamists by the military-installed government. The perception that Copts were behind Morsi’s July 3 overthrow was fuelled by the appearance of Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II along with Muslim leaders and other politicians on television when army chief General Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi announced the decision.

“The church did not bar Copts from participating in the June 30 protests against Morsi,” said priest Daoud Ibrahim of the Al-Warrak church, referring to the massive demonstrations in Cairo demanding his resignation. “We are now paying the price of this decision.... but we don’t regret it. We are not scared. The doors of my church are open to all,” said the priest, stroking his long white beard as worshippers greeted him, while nearly a dozen policemen guarded the building.

Authorities have blamed much of the violence targeting Copts on the Muslim Brotherhood, charges denied by the Islamist movement. The Copts have complained of persecution and systematic discrimination for decades, including during the 30-year rule of Hosni Mubarak, who was toppled by an Arab Springinspired uprising in 2011. After a New Year’s Eve mass three years ago, when Egypt was still ruled by Mubarak, more than 20 people were killed in a suicide bombing as worshippers left the Al-Qidissin (The Saints) Church in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria.

Emad Gad, a Copt and an analyst with Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, said that despite the retaliation Copts were determined to back the new constitution drafted under the militaryinstalled authorities. “The Copts are satisfied with the new constitution as it has removed hardline interpretations of the Islamic sharia law that were present in the previous one,” he said. The 2012 charter, suspended when Morsi was ousted, was written by a panel dominated by Islamists. — AFP

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Israel, Palestinians face hard choices

By Karin Laub s US Secretary of State John Kerry returns to the region today, the American message to the Israeli and Palestinian leaders is clear: It’s time to start making hard decisions. Kerry is bringing his own ideas for the outlines of a peace deal, and early indications are that the plan will include hard-to-swallow choices for both sides. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would likely have to recognize Israel’s pre-1967 war frontier as the starting point for border talks with the Palestinians, an ideological reversal that would put him on a collision course with his hardline base.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas fears he’ll be pressured to recognize Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people, a step he believes would abrogate the rights of Palestinian refugees and their descendants.

A senior State Department official said Kerry would not impose ideas or seek final answers on this trip. Instead, he is allowing time for debate during the visit, which includes meetings with Netanyahu on Thursday and Abbas on Friday. However, the official suggested that the leaders will eventually have to decide whether they are on board and that qualified acceptance watered down by reservations is not sufficient.

Israeli and Palestinian negotiations resumed last summer, and just four months remain until a US-set target date for a final agreement. Underlying the ongoing impasse is the lack of agreement on ground rules. Kerry hopes that progress will be possible once the two sides agree on the out-

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lines of a deal. Kerry has kept his ideas for a framework under wraps, but has said the contours of a deal are known after two decades of intermittent negotiations.

The US says a Palestinian state should be established alongside Israel, with the border between them based, with some modifications, on Israel’s 1967 frontier, before it captured the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem. The Palestinians seek all three areas for their state, but agree to minor land swaps. “I think that if you’re going to be realistic about what the solution is, it’s hard to see how you can end up anywhere else than there,” the State Department official said Tuesday. Netanyahu has so far refused to accept the 1967 lines as a reference.

Doing so would imply Israeli willingness to partition Jerusalem and its sensitive religious sites, give up most of the West Bank and uproot tens of thousands of close to 600,000 Israeli settlers living on occupied land. Such ideas are anathema to Israel’s right-wing, including many in Netanyahu’s Likud Party. Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, following a dramatic decision by Israel’s most famous hawk, then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

Conflicting Signals Netanyahu has sent conflicting signals, accelerating settlement plans in recent months but also telling Likud legislators this week that a leader is measured by his ability to make tough decisions. Trying to divine Netanyahu’s intentions has become a national obsession. Ofer Shelah, a legislator in the centrist Yesh Atid party, Netanyahu’s largest coalition partner, said Netanyahu is

still hedging. “There aren’t any signs that he already made a Sharonian decision and is moving toward it,” said Shelah. Still, Netanyahu is aware of the risks of a collapse of the negotiations, including Israel’s growing international isolation, Shelah added.

Others said Netanyahu is struggling with the decision. “If he decides to say yes to the ‘67 lines, he has to say no to his party,” said political commentator Akiva Eldar. “This is as difficult (for him) as it is for ... an Orthodox Jew to eat pork on Yom Kippur. It goes against everything he believes in.” Those favoring a partition deal say Netanyahu can move forward even without the support of his political allies. Opposition lawmakers have said they would support him. “It depends on one person, the prime minister,” said Meir Shetreet, a former Likud legislator and now the parliamentary chairman of Hatnua, the dovish party of chief Israeli negotiator Tzipi Livni. “If he accepts it, he will have the full support of a majority in the Knesset and (the) majority of the people.”

An opinion poll yesterday indicated that a majority of Israelis and Palestinians favor a Palestinian state alongside Israel, but that support drops when respondents are given specifics to ponder. For Abbas, the biggest concern is that he will be asked to make concessions on the fate of refugees by recognizing Israel as the Jewish homeland, his aides said. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were expelled in the war over Israel’s creation in 1948. These refugees, and their descendants, now number several million people. The refugee issue is so charged that Palestinian leaders have largely avoided public debate on the matter,

while insisting that Israel recognize at least the principle of a “right of return”.

Right of Return Israel has emphatically ruled out absorbing large numbers of refugees, saying this would dilute the state’s Jewish majority.

Abbas aides said they don’t know what Kerry will propose on this trip. However, during a policy speech last month, Kerry listed “recognition of Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people” as one of the elements of a deal.

Israeli officials say they need such recognition as proof of Palestinian intentions. “We have to know that once a Palestinian state is to be established, it is going to end the conflict and not just be a platform for continuing conflict,” said government spokesman Mark Regev. Palestinians argue that recognizing Israel as a Jewish state would mean dropping the demand for a right of return and also forfeiting the rights of Israel’s 1.7 million Arab citizens. The Palestinians have already recognized the state of Israel and believe this is sufficient. “Israel also wants us to accept its narrative of history and to give up our narrative, culture and history,” former Palestinian negotiator Mohammed Ishtayeh told reporters last month.

Analysts said Abbas would find it hard to make such a concession up front, without any actual gains in negotiations. For now, Abbas is talking tough. He informed President Barack Obama in a recent letter that recognition of a Jewish state is one of his red lines. In a New Year’s speech, he warned that “we will not hesitate for moment to say no, regardless of the pressure, to any proposal that contradicts ... the national interests of our people.” — AP

Struggle to clean up Indonesia forestry

By Angela Dewan eep in the forests of Borneo island, workmen from an Indonesian timber company fell a tree with a chainsaw, stick a red tag with a serial number onto it and attach a corresponding stub to the stump. This is all part of an arduous auditing process, one of many government attempts to clamp down on illegal logging and clean up one of the country’s most corrupt and mismanaged sectors as Western countries demand proof their timber imports are legal.

Following an agreement signed with the European Union in September, Jakarta is rolling out a system under which companies holding government-issued permits are given a certificate to prove their wood is harvested within the law. Indonesia, Asia’s leading exporter of timber to the EU, is hoping the pact will help it double timber exports to Europe to the tune of $2 billion a year. But critics say logging permits considered legal are often obtained through illegal means, and laws passed in Europe, the US and Australia to give consumers a clear conscience do little to tackle under-the-table transactions that compromise the sector.

“This system is basically asking, do you have a permit, and if you do, that box is ticked. It’s saying anything that the government does is considered legal,” said Emily Harwell, lead author of “The Dark Side of Green Growth”, a recent report by Human Rights Watch. “It is silent on corruption.”

Indonesia is rapidly losing its forests, mostly to make way for plantations for timber products such as paper and palm oil. According to a map released by Google Earth in November, two million hectares (20,000 km2) are lost annually, the equivalent of 10,000 football fields every day.

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Bribery for permits The forestry ministry is considered the country’s most corrupt institution, according to a 2012 survey by the country’s respected

Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), which found permits being bought from officials with bribe money was the most common act of corruption. Timber companies in Indonesia, which has the world’s third-largest expanse of rainforests, are legally obliged to comply with strict guidelines before being granted permits, such as carrying out environmental impact assessments and consulting communities affected by their operations.

But permits are handed out even when such requirements are not fulfilled, critics say, while even government data shows only 16 percent of such permits have been through the process of consulting affected communities. Law enforcement is not only lax, it is often part of the problem. In May, mid-ranking police officer Labora Sitorus was arrested for allegedly running a $150 million illegal logging ring in the remote, eastern Papua region - seen as Indonesia’s last bastion of vast untouched rainforest.

Sitorus was caught after state financial auditors linked him to 115 containers of illegally-logged timber in Surabaya on Java island, a hub for hand-made furniture exports.

Critics like Harwell say this all means that even with Indonesia’s new Timber Legality Assurance System, the mountains of cardboard packaging, dining tables and timber flooring being sent abroad with a stamp of approval are not necessarily legal at all.

Nevertheless there are some companies striving to ensure their timber is genuinely legal.

Sumalindo Lestari Jaya - the timber company on Indonesian Borneo tagging its logs and tree stumps - has spent years engaging with the local indigenous Dayak communities affected by its 60,000-hectare concession near the city of Berau.

Sharing the wealth The company shares the benefits of its harvests in cash handouts, school tuition for chil-

This photo taken on Nov 13, 2013 shows a worker checking for identity tags on logged trees in Berau, East Kalimantan. — AFP

dren and basic infrastructure with four of five communities affected by its operation, and involves them in operational decision-making. “Sumalindo didn’t at first engage with the communities. But they realised that by communicating better with them, they could come up with something fair that respects everyone’s rights,” said Joko Sarjito from WWF, which facilitated the agreements.

The company exports construction timber, wood panelling and timber flooring to Germany, Britain, the Netherlands, Australia and Japan, and it is hoping to qualify for a superior certificate from the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), which also ensures sustainability and fair trade. “To be honest, it doesn’t really make financial sense to go for the FSC certificate. It’s about 30 percent more expensive to produce, and the returns are only around five percent higher,” Sumalindo board director Rudi Gunawan said. “But we do it for our name, for pride.”

While some big companies have the funds to venture into the brave new world of clean timber, artisan furniture makers have trouble even registering as a business, a basic requirement for a certificate of legality. “In many cases, the artisan doesn’t want to register formally. They are often asked for costly fees and they might not feel comfortable in that formalised environment,” said Agus Djalaili, technical adviser for the Multistakeholder Forestry Programme funded by Britain’s Department for International Development.

Sources in the industry said there have been several cases where artisans have simply bought certificates of legality and that the auditing process could be compromised. The forestry ministry admits there is room for improvement in the new initiative, which is not set in stone until the agreement with the EU is ratified. “We are still developing it and we are completing the text, so we are open to views from NGOs and we want to ensure our timber is truly legal,” said Dwi Sudharto, the ministry’s director general of processing and marketing of forest products. — AFP

NEWS

THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2014

Tourists ride horses along the seashore in a beach in Cadiz in southwest Spain yesterday. — AP

Erdogan calls to thwart ‘plot’ against success ISTANBUL: Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan urged Turks to rally around him in fighting what he termed a dirty plot by foreign-backed elements targeting “the bread on your table, the money in your pocket, the sweat of your brow”.

“History will not forgive those who have become mixed up in this game,” Erdogan said in a televised end of year address devoted almost entirely to a corruption investigation he says has been engineered in police and judiciary to undermine his government and sap its influence in the Middle East and beyond.

Police raided offices and homes and detained businessmen close to the government and the sons of three ministers on Dec 17. Erdogan responded by purging some 70 officers connected with the inquiry and blocking a second investigation into big infrastructure projects promoted by Erdogan. “I invite every one of our 76 million people to

stand up for themselves, to defend democracy and to be as one against these ugly attacks on our country,” he said.

The scandal poses the biggest challenge to Erdogan in 11 years as leader, raising fears of a fracture in his AK Party in the run-up to elections and damage to strong economic growth. It also pitches him against a U.S.-based Turkish cleric with strong influence in the police and judiciary, accused by Erdogan’s backers of conniving at the investigation. The former ally, Fethullah Gulen, denies the allegation. “Whichever party you support, this plot targets all of you without exception, the bread on your table, the money in your pocket, the sweat of your brow,” he said.

Erdogan, who has won three elections, casts the scandal as a campaign by domestic dark forces and foreign financial organisations, media and governments resentful of a foreign policy more independent of NATO and the United

Bonds form online as woman dies Continued from Page 1 On Dec 7, she asked her sister to proofread some English-to-Persian translation she was doing on the side.

“I was shocked,” Sara Nezami said. “Sanaz was a very precise girl, but she omitted some lines. I asked, ‘Are you OK?’ She told me there was no problem.”

The next day Sanaz was rushed to a hospital with severe head injuries and was transferred 100 miles to Marquette General. Police believe she was assaulted by her husband, who has been charged with seconddegree murder. His attorney, David Gemignani, declined to comment. “Her brain was so swollen and so damaged, there was no longer any blood flow,” explained Gail Brandly, who supervises nurses at Marquette General.

There were other problems, too. No one knew anything about Nezami, so Brandly ran her name through Google. Suddenly, the stranger who couldn’t speak for herself was coming alive through a resume posted online. Nezami was fluent in French, English and Persian. She volunteered to cook for charities. As a teen, she wrote for youth newspapers and magazines and won first place in a 2001 literature competition with an essay on “friendships and the differences between us.”

After about 24 hours, the hospital reached relatives in Iran. Immediate travel to the US was impractical due to visa requirements, so a laptop was set up so the family could see Nezami on life support and talk to nurses and doctors over Yahoo Messenger. “It isn’t something we’ve done in the past. It’s not every day we’re dealing with family members so far-flung,” said Dave Edwards, spokesman for the hospital. In Tehran, relatives drifted

in and out of the living room at Nezami’s father’s home to watch what was unfolding in Michigan.

“We cried a lot,” her sister said. “We prayed in Persian, Arabic and English. The nurses told us Sanaz had brain damage - her brain was dead.” At one point, Grutt, the nurse, was asked to stroke Nezami’s head and kiss her forehead. “They wanted us to do things for Sanaz that they would have done,” Grutt said. “They said, ‘Let her know we love her. We’re here.’ I felt completely comfortable.”

Nezami died on Dec 9, but her critical organs - heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, pancreas and small intestine could be used by others. With the family’s consent, they were removed and transplanted to seven people in five states. No other details were released. “The family was very clear. They want Americans to know Sanaz loved America,” said Wendy Mardak of UW-Organ and Tissue Donation in Madison, Wisconsin, a regional organ donation agency.

Nezami was buried Dec 18 in Marquette’s Park Cemetery. As a light snow fell, the hospital’s chaplain, the Rev Leon Jarvis, read Muslim prayers over the casket while about 20 people, mostly nurses and others who cared for her, watched. Jarvis, an Episcopal priest, said he pledged to Nezami’s father that “as long as I draw breath and live in this city, your daughter will never be alone”. “I’ve never seen anyone so quickly adopted by so many,” Jarvis said. “Considering our season right now, this was an incredible gift by Sanaz, but also a gift from the community as well. It’s realizing the goodness of humanity and what people can do in a real cynical time.” — AP

Blast kills Palestinian ambassador...

Continued from Page 1 embassy (building) to the new one”. “Minutes after opening the safe the explosion took place, causing serious injury to Ambassador Jamal who was taken to hospital and operated on,” the ministry said in a statement.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki said no foul play was suspected, noting that the safe hadn’t been opened in at least 30 years. “The ambassador decided to open it. After he opened it, apparently something happened inside (the safe) and went off,” Malki told AP. It was not immediately clear how Malki knew the safe hadn’t been opened in at least 30 years or why the safe would have contained explosives. It was also unclear where the safe had been three decades ago - during the Cold War, the Palestinian Liberation Organization maintained a presence in many eastern bloc countries.

Zoulova said police were searching a building next door which also belongs to the Palestinian embassy. But she said she was unable to confirm a report on the Novinky.cz news site that police had found “a significant quantity of weapons and explosives” in the building.

“We cannot rule out mishandling the device. The victim has died so it will be harder to prove the cause,” she said. Police advised people living in the area to leave their homes while the investigation is under way, but said there was no danger of another explosion. Some safes can be fitted with small charges to destroy secret documents in the event of the lock being tampered with. However, the Czech police appeared to leave open the possibility that the diplomatic mission might have been storing explosives.

The ambassador’s 52-year-old wife “was taken to another hospital because of smoke inhalation and a stress reaction,” Ernestova told AFP. The wife was released from hospital later yesterday. Embassy spokesman Nabil Al-Fahel told Czech radio that the ambassador’s entire family had been in the residence when the blast occurred. The Palestinian foreign ministry said it would send a high-level delegation to Prague today to cooperate in the investigation into the cause of the explosion. The ambassador’s apartment is in Prague’s Suchdol neighborhood. It’s part of a new complex that includes a new Palestinian Embassy and the ambassador’s residence, Fahel said. He said the new embassy has not been opened yet and the ambassador spent only two nights in the new residence.

The Czech Republic is a staunch ally of Israel, and when Jamal arrived in Prague, he had to ask the outspoken Czech President Milos Zeman to correct his suggestion that the Czech embassy in Israel should move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Such a move suggesting Jerusalem is the true capital of Israel is unthinkable for most Palestinians who claim rights to the eastern part of the city. Zeman, the first-ever directly elected Czech president in office since last March, was criticised by the Arab League for the statement.

Born in Beirut to a refugee family, Jamal joined Yasser Arafat’s Fatah faction of the PLO in 1975 and served in PLO missions to Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia in the 1980s. Part of the diplomatic corps of the Palestinian Authority that governs the West Bank under interim peace accords with Israel, he had been its consul in Alexandria since 2005. — Agencies

States. Foremost in his suspicions is Gulen, who has no political party but great influence in key state institutions based widely on his global network of private schools and media. Though their differences are not argued in public, the two have differed over foreign and domestic policies and the fate of the schools which Erdogan recently moved to close down.

“Circles uncomfortable with Turkey’s successes, its growing economy, its active foreign policy, its global-scale projects, implemented a new trap set against Turkey,” Erdogan said, sitting at a desk before the red Turkish national flag.

So great has been Erdogan’s dominance since his AK Party was first elected in 2002 on promises to banish corruption that his removal from power could prove traumatic for Turkey. He could yet call early elections to demonstrate his continued popularity and increase his power to handle the

accusations. Erdogan also said the investigation aimed to undermine “the picture of brotherhood” in a fragile peace process with Kurdish militants, launched in 2012 and aimed at ending a conflict which has killed 40,000 people.

Erdogan said June anti-government protests across Turkey, triggered by a heavy-handed police crackdown on a demonstration against plans to redevelop Istanbul’s central Gezi Park, were part of the same conspiracy. “Just as the Gezi incidents were dressed up in the cover of trees, parks and the environment, the Dec 17 plot was hidden in the cover of corruption.” He said it was no coincidence that the attacks coincided with what he called one of the most successful years in modern Turkey’s 90-year history. The year has seen record highs in Turkish financial markets, credit rating upgrades and the paying off of the country’s IMF debt. — Reuters

Bill Burns and the secret Iran talks Continued from Page 1 “Sometimes during the talks Iranian negotiators get angry and pressure him, but he remains calm and patient.”

Burns, 57, who has a lanky frame that he used to good effect on the basketball court in his youth, has executed the rarest of Washington careers. He has taken on politically perilous assignments such as heading the State Department’s Middle East shop during the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, all without a hint of personal failure or personal controversy. Running the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, which handles Middle East policy, from 2001-2005 made him a participant in the epic struggles between the State and Defense Departments over the war and its aftermath - battles the Pentagon largely won.

Burns, who declined to be interviewed for this article, is no stranger to bureaucratic infighting, though colleagues sometimes conduct skirmishes on his behalf. “If an elbow has to be thrown, usually it’ll be thrown by someone else for him,” said one US official. In recent years, officials say, Burns has acted as liaison between the Obama White House, which directs foreign policy with a firm hand, and the State Department, where mid-level officials sometimes complain of being kept in the dark.

Over the past nine months, Burns, along with Jake Sullivan, Vice President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, met secretly with Iranian officials five times in Oman and Switzerland. Their assignment became public only when Tehran and six major powers reached a Nov 24 agreement for Iran to constrain its nuclear program for six months in exchange for sanctions relief that Washington estimates at $7 billion.

Critics have targeted the deal rather than Burns. Some argue that the sanctions relief is worth more than the White House says, and will undercut US economic leverage on Iran. Former President George W Bush was skeptical of talking directly about the nuclear issue with Iran.

But in 2008, his final year in office, Bush sent Burns to meet with the Iranians, joining envoys from Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia. “There was some skepticism in some quarters of the administration,” former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told Reuters. “When I said to the president, ‘Well it’s going to be Bill Burns,’ he said: ‘He’ll be able to handle it.’”

Asked if Burns had any faults, Rice could only think of one: A demeanor so low-key that he sometimes does not generate headlines that could advance an administration’s agenda. His style is in sharp contrast to that of another top diplomat of the era, the late Richard Holbrooke, known for his outspokenness and self-promotion. “I sometimes think that if Bill were more demonstrative publicly, it could be helpful,” Rice said. “It takes a little

pressure off the secretary. But Bill is just so understated that that doesn’t happen.”

Burns’ understated style was evident as an honors student at Philadelphia’s LaSalle University, which his father, an Army general and former head of the US Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, also attended. “Bill would sit on the right side, near the back of the room, with his head looking down at the floor, his hands clasped between his knees, and I don’t think he ever took a note,” said George Stow, who teaches history at LaSalle. “I thought, oh this boy’s in trouble come the first exam. “Well, I opened the blue book for the first exam and it was astounding. It was page after page after page and filled with references and quotations from books and sources that I had never mentioned,” he added, saying Burns had “a capacious mind.”

Stow later sponsored Burns for a Marshall Scholarship, to study in Britain. The idea came from the professors, Stow said. “Bill would never, if I may use such a term, be that pushy.” Despite the absence of obvious self-promotion, Burns has had an almost gilded career, spent more in Washington than abroad. A string of staff jobs that are coveted, if exhausting, plums, put Burns at the right hand of officials such as Colin Powell, President Ronald Reagan’s national security adviser, and Warren Christopher and Madeleine Albright when they were secretaries of state.

Powell said Burns had a soft-spoken confidence as a young man and offered unvarnished advice behind closed doors. “I don’t have people around me who pull their punches. I have people around me who will tell me when I have got no clothes on,” Powell told Reuters.

Richard Armitage, Powell’s deputy secretary of state, said Burns was part of a State Department leadership team that did not so much oppose the 2003 Iraq invasion, as favored a less unilateral approach to ousting dictator Saddam Hussein. “Was he unhappy? Yes. We were all unhappy with the way we were going to war,” Armitage said, adding he, Powell and Burns favored obtaining a second UN Security Council resolution to explicitly authorize the use of force in Iraq.

While known for his courtesy, Burns is not shy about advocating for his preferred policies. Jim Jeffrey, Bush’s deputy national security adviser, said Burns had swum against the tide in a skeptical Republican administration to make the case for engaging Tehran. “He pushed very hard in 2008 to have contact with the Iranians,” making his case through then Secretary of State Rice and informally lobbying the national security council staff, Jeffrey said. Those 2008 dealings with the Iranians helped pave the way to the November nuclear deal, Jeffrey said. “This was one of the first steps that laid the ground work for what we have today, and laid the groundwork for the Iranian sympathy for and trust in Bill Burns.” — Reuters

Saudi vice police may relax rules on prayer...

Continued from Page 1 known as the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice.

King Abdullah appointed him a year ago after a clip went viral on YouTube showing a morality police patrol harassing a family in a shopping mall. The organisation enforces the kingdom’s rigid interpretation of Islamic law, including strict gender segregation, modest dress and restrained public behaviour. In 2002 it triggered international outrage when its officers prevented schoolgirls leaving a burning building because they were not wearing veils, leading to several

deaths. Its officers have also been accused inside Saudi Arabia of taking the law into their own hands.

“I will continue with the most moderate and tolerant view to lead this organisation,” he was quoted as saying

by Arab News. King Abdullah is praised by his supporters as having introduced cautious social and economic reforms designed to modernise ultra-conservative Saudi Arabia without causing social unrest. Some of the monarch’s critics say these changes merely provide an illusion of reform while the political system in which the ruling family shares power with conservative Muslim clerics, remains unaltered. — Reuters

THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2014

S P ORTS

West Brom president John Silk dies aged 89

Toure shortlisted for African Footballer of the Year title

LONDON: West Bromwich Albion club president John Silk has died at the age of 89 following a short illness, the Premier League club announced yesterday. Silk served as club chairman between 1988 and 1992 before succeeding the late Bert Millichip as president in 2003. “John was very proud to be club president and took his duties very seriously,” said Chairman Jeremy Peace. “Until his illness, he was a constant presence at home and away matches. Notably, he was in attendance for our 2-1 win at Old Trafford (against Manchester United) in September.

“John was a quiet but very honorable man and he will be greatly missed. Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this difficult time.” West Brom announced that they would observe a minute’s applause in memory of Silk, who died on Tuesday, prior to their Premier League home game with Newcastle United later.— AFP

CAPE TOWN: Yaya Toure remained on course to be named African Footballer of the Year for a record-equaling third successive time after being named yesterday as one of the three finalists for the award to be handed out later this month. The Confederation of African Football (CAF) cut the list of candidates for the 2013 award down from 10, with Toure up against his Ivory Coast teammate Didier Drogba and Chelsea’s Nigerian midfielder John Obi Mikel. A poll of national team coaches from all 54 African countries will decide the winner, who will be named at a gala ceremony in Lagos on Jan 9. Among those dropped from the list were Mohamed Aboutrika, the veteran Egyptian midfielder who in November steered his club Al Ahli to a fifth Champions League successes inside a decade. Also missing out was Jonathan Pitroipa, the star of the Burkina Faso side who fell just short at the African Nations Cup in South Africa at the start of the year and the World Cup qualifying playoffs. Both were expected to be the closest challengers to Toure, the favorite in a year in which there were no outstanding individual achievers. Toure helped the Ivory Coast to World Cup qualification and reaffirmed his position as a leading figure in the English Premier League with Manchester City.—Reuters

China’s star Li advances amid upsets at Shenzhen BEIJING: Chinese tennis star Li Na beat Nadiya Kichenok of Ukraine in straight sets yesterday on a day of upsets at the Shenzhen Open. The 31year-old Li, the tournament’s top seed, downed Kichenok 6-1 6-4 in second-round action at the Longgang Tennis Centre in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen. Li, Asia’s highest-ranked player in tennis history, was coming off a victory Tuesday over Russia’s Vera Zvonareva, once ranked number two in the world. In the day’s biggest upset, Vania King of the United States downed number two seed Sara Errani of Italy 2-6 7-6 6-3. Patricia MayrAchleitner of Austria, meanwhile, upset third-seeded Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic in straight sets 7-6 6-4. Romania’s Monica Niculescu came from behind to beat Taiwan’s Chan Yung-jan after dropping the first set 2-6. Niculescu took the last two 6-3 6-0. In quarter-final doubles action, Niculescu and Zakopalova beat top seeds Zhang Shuai and Zheng Saisai of China 6-3 6-4.—AFP

Devils down Penguins

AUGUSTA: Northern Ireland golfer Rory McIlroy (right) and his girlfriend tennis star Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark speak as they play in the Par 3 Contest in this file photo. — AFP

Golf star McIlroy, tennis star Wozniacki ‘engaged’ WASHINGTON: Two-time major golf champion Rory McIlroy and former women’s tennis world number one Caroline Wozniacki announced their engagement yesterday in postings on Twitter. McIlroy, the 24-year-old former world number one from Northern Ireland, posted pictures of himself and Wozniacki and a diamond ring on a woman’s left ring finger. “Happy New Year everyone! I have a feeling it’s going to be a great year!! My first victory of 2014 #shesaidyes!!” On her Twitter page, Wozniacki posted the same pictures with the caption “Happy New Year everyone! Rory and I started 2014 with a bang! ... I said YES!!!!”

Wozniacki, 23, withdrew from a WTA event in Brisbane last weekend due to a shoulder injury but the Dane was looking forward to playing at Sydney in a tuneup event for the Australian Open. McIlroy captured his first major title at the 2011 US Open and added another at the 2012 PGA Championship.

Wozniacki still seeks her first Grand Slam title, her deepest run in a major event being to the 2009 US Open final. The romance has endured through a whirlwind year with rumors they were engaged a year ago, then speculation they had broken up in 2013. And both players struggled through a difficult 2013 season.

McIlroy endured a winless US PGA season, his best showing a runner-up effort at the Texas Open last April just ahead of the Masters. His best major showing was a share of eighth in defending the PGA Championship title. The frustrating campaign brought critics, who questioned McIlroy’s decision to switch to new equipment in 2013. Some even questioned if he still had the passion for the sport.

But McIlroy, now sixth in the world rankings, ended a win drought of more than 12 months at the Australian Open a month ago and said in early December that he was pleased with how many times he had put himself in con-

tention in a troubled season.

“Did I need the win? Probably not,” McIlroy said. “Was it nice to get the win? Of course. But I felt like I saw enough good golf in there to know that it was very close, and it wasn’t going to be long before I did win. “What I was happy with the most was the limited amount of times that I have gotten in contention this year, I have played well. I have played well down the stretch. I’ve played well under pressure.” Wozniacki has slid to 10th in the WTA world rankings, taking her only title of 2013 with a victory in the last week of the regular season at Luxenbourg. Her only other 2013 final was at Indian Wells, where she lost to Maria Sharapova.

She reached the fourth round at the 2013 Australian Open and the third round at the US Open but was ousted in her second match at the French Open and Wimbledon. In the last days of 2012, Wozniacki appeared at the WTA event in Brisbane with a large ring on her left ring finger, sparking a flurry of engagement rumors. Last February at Kuala Lumpur before the Malaysian Open, Wozniacki said that engagement was a question for McIlroy to answer but added, “I enjoy everything that’s happening right now and how things are.

Marriage? We’re still young and we have many years in front of us.”

But by October, with both mired in slumps as sports competitors, there was talk of a romantic split. That talk faded after Wozniacki won at Luxembourg to end her own win drought of more than a year, with McIlroy tweeting his congratulations saying “#21 #luxembourg #mygirl @CaroWozniacki” and Wozniacki using a picture of the couple on her Twitter profile. Competition figures to pull the couple apart in January with Wozniacki bound for the Australian Open in Melbourne and McIlroy planning to play at Abu Dhabi and Dubai in late January.—AFP

Refreshed Federer makes encouraging start to 2014 BRISBANE: A refreshed Roger Federer’s clinical demolition of Jarkko Nieminen in his first match of 2014 suggested he could be a factor in the first major of the year. His debut appearance at the Brisbane International was rapturously greeted by tournament organizers and fans alike, but following his first year without a grand slam final appearance since 2002 it was not certain what stage of decline the Swiss ace was in.

A 6-4 6-2 victory over his tough Finnish opponent hinted that he was ready to put on a competitive showing at Melbourne Park, now relieved of the back problems that dogged his 2013 campaign and contributed to his second and fourth-round exits at Wimbledon and the US Open. “I’m actually very clear in my mind,” Federer told reporters. “Now it’s just down to forehands and backhands and tactics and movement.

That’s kind of what you want it to be, because unfortunately it hasn’t always been that way last year with my issues.”

The scoreline flattered Federer in some ways. Both men eked out four break points over the two sets and Nieminen fought on level terms at the baseline, hitting eyecatching forehand winners throughout.

Federer’s mastery of the pivotal points of the match showed the steel behind the game’s most graceful player remained firmly in place and his preference for playing new tournaments is far from a retirement tour. For the crucial break of the first set he came from 0-40 down in the fifth game and then saved a break point on his own serve to build a two-game cushion.

IMPERIOUS BEST In the second stanza he immediately grabbed the initiative, breaking in the first game and with his serve at near its imperious best he never looked like letting the advantage slip. “I expect myself to play a bit better in the next match, even though today was already very good for a first match in so many weeks,” Federer said. “You don’t want to overrate, it but you also don’t want to underrate it. “The worst thing that can happen is if you lose early and then you have to go back on the practice courts, and you think you’re actually playing okay and then the matches roll around and you don’t end up.”

The 17-times grand slam champion next meets Australian Marinko Matosevic, who beat Sam Querrey 5-7 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 in an entertaining match. Bulgarian fifth seed Gregor Dimitrov was beaten in straight sets 7-5 7-5 by Croatia’s Marin Cilic and number two seed Japan’s Kei Nishikori had no problem easing past Australia’s Matthew Ebden 6-2 6-4.

Women’s number two seed Victoria Azarenka easily defeated home favorite Casey Dellacqua 6-3 6-1 and will play Stefanie Voegele next after the Swiss player was handed a last-eight berth following the withdrawal of 2013 Wimbledon finalist Sabine Lisicki due to a gastric illness.

German fifth seed Angelique Kerber progressed past Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova after the Russian pulled out with a left injury when 6-2 4-3 down. Kerber will now face fourth seed Jelena Jankovic of Serbia.—Reuters

NEWARK: Adam Henrique scored 1:38 into the game and Michael Ryder connected 2:45 into the second period, sparking the New Jersey Devils to a 2-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday. Martin Brodeur had an assist for the Devils (17-16-1) and made 19 saves in gaining his second win of the season against Pittsburgh. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 28 shots for the Penguins (29-12-1) Henrique scored his ninth goal with a nifty finish off a pass from Ryan Clowe. Ryder was also credited with an assist. Henrique earned an assist, along with Brodeur, on Ryder’s 11th goal. Brodeur has 44 career NHL assists. New Jersey lost veteran forward Patrik Elias after he was knocked to the ice by Pittsburgh’s Tanner Glass in the first period. He got up slowly to his knees and then skated off but didn’t return. Matt Niskanen cut it to 2-1 for Pittsburgh at 6:58 of the second off a pass from Sidney Crosby.

DUCKS 6, SHARKS 3 Ryan Getzlaf scored his 20th goal and added two assists, Francois Beauchemin got his first goal of the season, and Anaheim beat San Jose for its 11th victory in 12 games. Nick Bonino and Matt Beleskey each had a goal and an assist, and Jonas Hiller made 33 saves in his ninth consecutive win as Anaheim improved to 15-0-2 at Honda Center, remaining the only NHL team without a regulation loss at home.

Andrew Cogliano and Kyle Palmieri also scored for the Ducks, who shredded their Pacific Division rivals with five goals in an 111/2minute span of the final two periods, chasing Antti Niemi. Dan Boyle and Bracken Kearns scored power-play goals for the Sharks, whose four-game winning streak ended. Logan Couture also scored for San Jose. The Ducks avenged San Jose’s 3-1 victory at the Shark Tank on Sunday that snapped Anaheim’s franchise-record winning streak.

RANGERS 2, PANTHERS 1, SO Brad Richards scored the lone goal in the shootout, and the New York Rangers rallied to top Florida. Richards beat Tim Thomas with a wrist shot to the top left corner after Thomas stopped the first two New York attempts in the tiebreaker. Henrik Lundqvist made a save against Brad Boyes to seal the Rangers’ victory.

New York defenseman Dan Girardi scored with 2:10 left in regulation to send the game to overtime. Boyes had given the Panthers a 1-0 lead with a second-period goal after Girardi turned over the puck. Thomas made 30 saves through overtime, and Lundqvist stopped 21, including one in the closing seconds of overtime on Tomas Fleischmann. Rangers defenseman Marc Staal made his return to the ice after missing 10 games because of a concussion.

BLUES 2, WILD 1 Jaden Schwartz scored for the sixth straight game and St. Louis hung on to beat Minnesota.

TJ Oshie also had a goal for St. Louis, which is 5-0-2 in its past seven road games. The Blues are 8-1-2 in their last 11 games overall. Ryan Suter scored in the closing seconds for the Wild, who have lost a franchise-record six straight games in regulation and are 5-12-1 in their past 18. They have gone 10 straight games without a win in regulation. St Louis, 130-1 against the Central Division, hadn’t allowed a goal to the Wild for 212 minutes, 52 seconds until Suter scored with 8.3 seconds left in the game. Brian Elliott (10-1-2), who made 24 saves, went 6-0-1 with a 1.67 goals-against average in December. The Blues are 5-0-2 in their last seven games against Minnesota, outscoring the Wild 22-8. Minnesota had allowed 24 goals in its previous five games.

ISLANDERS 5, BRUINS 3 John Tavares scored 32 seconds into the third period and added a power-play goal with 6:43 left as the New York Islanders rallied for a win against Boston. Frans Nielsen also scored twice, Kyle Okposo had a goal and two assists, and Thomas Vanek had a pair of assists for the Islanders, who scored four straight goals after falling behind 3-1 with 8:02 left in the second.

Evgeni Nabokov stopped 31 shots, and Tavares added two assists as New York scored four power-play goals against the Bruins, who entered with the third-best penalty kill in the NHL. The Islanders earned their fourth straight road win. The Bruins appeared to be in command after Patrice Bergeron and Zdeno Chara scored 25 seconds apart to put Boston up 3-1 midway through the second period. David Krejci broke a scoreless tie 5:25 into the game for his 100th NHL goal.

FLYERS 4, FLAMES 1 Brayden Schenn had a goal and two assists to lead Philadelphia over Calgary. Mark Streit, Scott Hartnell and Braydon Coburn also scored for the Flyers (20-16-4), who have won four

DETROIT: Goaltender Manny Legace #34 of the Detroit Red Wings stops a shot from Gary Roberts #7 of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first period during the 2013 Hockeytown Winter Festival Alumni Showdown on December 31, 2013. — AFP

straight and six of seven. Philadelphia beat Edmonton, Vancouver and Calgary on its Western trip. Wayne Simmonds added two assists, and backup goalie Ray Emery made 23 saves. Rookie Sean Monahan scored the lone goal for the Flames (14-20-6), who have lost three straight. They were beaten 2-0 at home

by Edmonton on Friday and Vancouver on Sunday. Starting his fourth straight game for the Flames, Reto Berra made 17 saves in a losing cause.

JETS 3, SABRES 0 Al Montoya made 27 saves and led Winnipeg over Buffalo. Keaton Ellerby, Jacob Trouba and Anthony Peluso provided all the offense necessary for Montoya, who earned his second shutout of the season. Winnipeg tied a season best with its third straight win.

Montoya (8-2-1), making his second straight start after relieving No 1 goalie Ondrej Pavelec in the first period of a game last week against Minnesota, has won six consecutive decisions.

Sabres backup Jhonas Enroth got his 12th start of the season and handed the Jets (19-18-5) the lead when a weak point shot from Ellerby got past his blocker in the first period. Enroth finished with 23 saves. The Sabres (11-25-4), owners of the NHL’s worst record, had earned points in seven of their previous nine games, including a win against the Jets.

HURRICANES 5, CANADIENS 4, OT Alexander Semin scored 3:27 into overtime, and Carolina snapped a five-game losing streak with a come -from-behind victory against Montreal. Manny Malhotra scored the fourth goal in a seven-minute span for the Hurricanes, who had trailed 3-0 in the second period. Montreal defenseman PK Subban tied the game 4-4 with 9:44 remaining in regulation. Jeff Skinner scored a pair of power-play goals 37 seconds apart, and Eric Staal tied the game at 3 just 4:07 into the third period. Cam Ward made 21 saves in the win. Max Pacioretty scored two goals, and Carey Price stopped 37 shots in a losing cause. Montreal’s Lars Eller and Pacioretty scored in the opening eight minutes, and the Hurricanes failed on their first seven power plays in the first 35 minutes.

STARS 3, KINGS 2 Erik Cole scored twice and Tyler Seguin netted his 20th goal of the season as Dallas edged struggling Los Angeles. Jeff Carter and Anze Kopitar scored for Los Angeles, which has lost four straight. The Kings, beaten at Chicago on Monday, will end a four-game trip on Thursday at St Louis. The Stars have earned five points during the first three games of a five-game homestand. Kari Lehtonen (16-8-7) stopped 23 shots for Dallas. Cole notched his second twogoal game of the season, and both have come within Dallas’ past three games. Seguin reached 20 goals for the second time in his four-year NHL career. Carter and Kopitar tied Justin Williams for the team lead with 13 goals.

AVALANCHE 5, BLUE JACKETS 3 Ryan O’Reilly and Gabriel Landeskog scored power-play goals, helping Colorado snap a four-game losing streak by beating Columbus.

Nathan MacKinnon, Jamie McGinn and Jan Hejda also scored for the Avalanche, who won despite being outshot 38-23. MacKinnon’s goal, also on the power play, came with just over a minute remaining. Semyon Varlamov had 35 saves for Colorado. Nick Foligno, Boone Jenner and Ryan Johansen scored Columbus’ goals.

COYOTES 4, OILERS 3, OT Keith Yandle scored his second goal with 6.5 seconds showing on the overtime clock and set up Mikkel Boedker’s tying goal with 70 seconds left in regulation, helping Phoenix rally to beat Edmonton. Phoenix dominated most of the opening period, ripping off 15 shots, before the Oilers scored three goals in a little over seven minutes spanning the first and second periods. The Coyotes tied it after pulling goalie Thomas Greiss, with Yandle setting up Boedker on a nifty give-and-go. Yandle ended it when he fought off a defender to beat former teammate Ilya Bryzgalov. Phoenix earned a point in its sixth straight game, all in overtime. David Perron had a goal and assist, and Taylor Hall set up all three of Edmonton’s goals.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Nick Schultz also scored. Tim Kennedy had Phoenix’s other goal, and Greiss stopped 15 shots after replacing Mike Smith in the second period.— AP

NHL results/standings New Jersey 2, Pittsburgh 1; NY Rangers 2, Florida 1 (So); St. Louis 2, Minnesota 1; NY Islanders 5, Boston 3; Carolina 5, Montreal 4 (OT); Winnipeg 3, Buffalo 0; Dallas 3, Los Angeles 2; Colorado 5, Columbus 3; Anaheim 6, San Jose 3; Philadelphia 4, Calgary 1; Phoenix 4, Edmonton 3 (OT).

Eastern Conference Western Conference Atlantic Division Pacific Division Boston 26 12 2 117 86 54 W L OTL GF GA PTS Tampa Bay 23 12 4 110 93 50 Anaheim 29 8 5 137 106 63 Montreal 23 14 4 103 94 50 San Jose 25 9 6 131 104 56 Detroit 18 14 9 107 117 45 Los Angeles 25 12 4 110 83 54 Toronto 20 16 5 115 118 45 Ottawa 17 18 7 118 135 41 Vancouver 23 11 7 111 97 53 Florida 15 20 6 96 130 36 Phoenix 20 10 9 120 120 49 Buffalo 11 25 4 71 113 26 Calgary 14 20 6 96 126 34 Metropolitan Division Edmonton 13 24 5 109 143 31 Pittsburgh 29 12 1 131 96 59 Central Division Washington 20 15 5 122 119 45 Chicago 28 7 7 158 115 63 Philadelphia 20 16 4 105 111 44 New Jersey 17 16 8 97 103 42 St. Louis 27 7 5 139 93 59 NY Rangers 20 19 2 96 109 42 Colorado 24 11 4 114 100 52 Carolina 15 16 9 96 118 39 Dallas 20 12 7 115 113 47 Columbus 17 19 4 109 117 38 Minnesota 20 17 5 97 109 45 NY Islanders 13 21 7 107 138 33 Winnipeg 19 18 5 114 121 43 Note: Overtime losses (OTL) are worth one point in the standings and are not included in the loss column (L).

Nashville 18 18 4 95 119 40

THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2014

S P ORTS

Famous sporting deaths in 2013 PARIS: Famous sportspeople who died in 2013: ATHLETICS SAMSON KIMOMBWA First Kenyan indeed African to break the 10,000 meters world record died aged 57 in January of cardiac arrest caused by acute hemorrhagic pancreatitis leaving behind a widow and 10 children. The high school teacher, who was a US college star athlete, broke the record in Helsinki, Finland in June 1977, but it was to last only a year before it was bettered by compatriot Henry Rono.

PIETRO MENNEA Italy’s 1980 Olympic 200 metres champion and long-time world record holder died on March 21 aged 60 of an as yet unknown incurable disease. Known as the “Arrow of the South” and the then world recordholder-it would last nearly two decades-he edged out 100 metres Olympic champion Allan Wells in the dying strides of the 200m final in Moscow, a Games boycotted by the United States over the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Competed in a staggering five Olympics though he later confessed he had used Human Growth Hormone (HGH) which then was not illegal. Paying tribute, Livio Berruti - the Olympic 200m gold winner at the 1960 Games in Rome - said: “He epitomised resistance, tenacity and suffering.”

ALAIN MIMOUN France’s 1956 Olympic marathon champion died aged 92 on June 27 just a month after his wife Germaine passed away. Born Ali Mimoun Ould Kacha in Algeria it was thanks to his stubbornness in World War II that he even had a running career. Fighting for the Free French Forces he was badly wounded in his left leg by German shelling during the fight for Monte Cassino in 1944 and an American surgeon recommended it be amputated but showing the obstinacy that he was to display in his career he refused to permit him to. Eventually a French surgeon saved his leg and aside from climaxing his career with the gold in Melbourne in sweltering conditions, in what was his first attempt at the distance, prior to that he also won three Olympic silver medals at 5,000m and 10,000m in the 1948 and 1952 Games behind the legendary Czechoslovak Emil Zatopek.

BASEBALL STAN MUSIAL ‘Stan the Man’ one of baseball’s greatest hitters and a St. Louis Cardinals icon, died on January 19 aged 92. The father of four played his entire 22-year Major League Baseball career with the Cardinals. He was a 24-time All-Star and a first-ballot Hall of Fame selection in 1969. Musial won seven National League batting titles, was a threetime Most Valuable Player and helped St. Louis win three World Series titles in the 1940s. Musial was the first $100,000 player, had a ready smile and a knack for playing the harmonica and would pay unannounced visits to boost the morale of sick children in hospitals when the team was on the road.

BASKETBALL SERGEI BELOV Member of the Soviet Union’s 1972 Olympic gold medal-winning basketball team died on October 3 aged 69. Belov, who was widely considered one of the best non-American players of all time, scored 20 points in the epic Olympic final in Munich in 1972 at the height of the Cold War as the Soviets overcame the United States 51-50.

He also won two world championship titles, in 1967 and 1974, and four European titles (1967, 1969, 1971 and 1979).

JERRY BUSS Los Angeles Lakers owner, top class poker player and philanthropist, who transformed the team, when he bought them in 1979 on the back of a successful real estate business, into the glamour franchise of a revitalized NBA, died on February 18 aged 80 of cancer. Buss, whose son Jim and daughter Jeanie retain control of the franchise, made the Lakers one of the biggest draws in Los Angeles with a combination of shrewd personnel moves on and off the court and a feel for show business glamour.

The Lakers have the highest payroll in the NBA at $100 million, but they were valued

by Forbes magazine as being worth $1 billion-second in the NBA only to the New York Knicks. The Lakers-the first NBA team to have a dance squad, the Laker Girls-won 10 NBA titles a record under the same owner.

BOXING KEN NORTON Former boxing champion nicknamed the ‘Black Hercules’ and considered one of the greatest heavyweights of his era, died on September 18 of a heart attack aged 70.

Norton, who suffered a stroke in 2012, was best known for beating Muhammad Ali in 1973, breaking Ali’s jaw in the process and ended his brilliant career with a record of 42 wins, seven losses, one draw and 33 knockouts. “They called us handsome. Muhammad they called pretty. But the fairest of them all Ken Norton,” said fellow heavyweight legend George Foreman in a tribute. ‘Father of the Year in 1977 one of his sons, Ken Jr. played in the NFL for the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers winning three successive Super Bowls (1992-94 the first two with the Cowboys). Norton Senior went on to appear in 20 films but withdrew from blockbuster ‘Rocky’ where he was due to play Apollo Creed. Humble throughout as exemplified

by this quote in his biography: “Of all the titles that I’ve been privileged to have, the title of ‘dad’ has always been the best.”

TOMMY MORRISON Former world heavyweight boxing champion who was diagnosed with the HIV virus that causes AIDS in 1996 died on September 1 aged 44. Was one of a long line of ‘great white hopes’ in the heavyweight division in the 1980’s and 90’s but rarely threatened to fulfil that save when he won the WBO world title on points against 44-year-old George Foreman in 1993 only to lose it in his first title defence. Son of a native Indian Morrison claimed to be the great nephew of Hollywood legend John Wayne and went by the nickname of ‘Duke’ as a result. Had numerous run-ins with the law and served time.

JACOB ‘BABY JAKE’ MATLALA Two-time world champion died aged 51 on December 7. Shortest ever world champion at 4ft 10inches (1.47metres) was WBO flyweight champion from May 1993February 1995 and Light flyweight champion from November 1995 to 1997.

Apparently was the favourite boxer of former South African president Nelson Mandela, who died two days before him.

CRICKET MIKE DENNESS Former England captain died aged 72 on April 19 after a long battle with cancer.

Remains the only Scotland-born player to

once by England-made his United debut in 1952 and played 688 times for the club-a figure surpassed by only Ryan Giggs, Bobby Charlton and Paul Scholes. He was a coalminer originally and continued working in the mines even when he became a regular first choice under Matt Busby. Went on to be part of the United team that won the club’s first European Cup in 1968. “He was as hard as nails, as tough as teak. I was always glad I didn’t have to play against him,” remarked former team-mate Charlton on hearing of his death.

GILMAR AND NILTON SANTOS Both members of the outstanding Brazil side that won the 1958 World Cup and retained the trophy in 1962 died aged 83 and 88 on August 25 and November 23 respectively. Gilmar was the goalkeeper who ended his career with 94 caps while Nilton, capped 75 times, was nicknamed ‘the Encyclopaedia’ for his deep knowledge of tactics. He was also named in FIFA’s team of the 20th century.

BRIAN GREENHOFF Former Manchester United and England defender died suddenly aged 60 on May 22.

Capped 18 times by England he formed a reliable central defensive partnership with Martin Buchan for United under the charismatic managership of Tommy Docherty which saw them win the 1977 FA Cup final beating Liverpool 2-1 his brother Jimmy was also part of the side-having lost the 1976 one in a shock defeat to Southampton.

mates like Valery Karpin he never made the move abroad. Capped 28 times by Russiascoring four goals-he appeared at the 1992 World Cup and Euro ‘96. “Tsymbalar had a reputation as the most talented player in contemporary Russian football history,” the state daily Rossiyskaya Gazeta wrote on its website.

brother David also died of cancer, was a much loved character, whose courageous battle with the illness had endeared him further with the public. Indeed when Frankel ran his final race at Ascot in October 2012, the suitably named Champion Stakes, the 32,000 capacity crowd gave him three cheers both before and after the race, moving him to tears.

BERT TRAUTMANN Manchester City goalkeeper who played on in the 1956 FA Cup final despite having fractured his neck, died on July 19 aged 89.

A decorated veteran of the Eastern Front in World War II, who was later captured having ser ved in Normandy following D-Day, Trautmann was held as a prisoner-of-war until 1948. Trautmann wrote himself into English football folklore after being injured diving at the feet of Birmingham City striker Peter Murphy with 17 minutes left of the FA Cup final-he said the impact felt like a ‘plane crash’-which resulted in five dislocated vertebrae, one fractured in two, which almost cost him his life. He played on and City won 3-1. “He came to England as a soldier, and thus an enemy, but was later a celebrated hero in the country,” commented German federation president Wolfgang Niersbach.

RUGBY UNION CLIFF MORGAN Former Wales and British and Irish Lions fly-half died on August 29 aged 83. The diminutive fly half from a mining family in the Rhondda Valley joined Cardiff straight from school in 1949 and he went on to win 29 caps for his country between 1951 and 1958 and also captain the Lions. Morgan was notably one of the heroes of the British Lions tour of South Africa in 1955 which was drawn 2-2. After retiring from rugby, he became well-known as a television broadcaster with the BBC and his commentary of the famous Barbarians victory over the mighty All Blacks in 1973 - including the memorable try by Gareth Edwards-has entered broadcasting legend.

FORMULA ONE MARIA DI VILLOTA Spanish former Formula 1 test driver died from natural causes aged 33 on October 11 in Seville. The daughter of former Formula 1 driver Emilio De Villota, she was the first Spanish female to enter the sport when she

ROBERT SORO Former France lock known as the ‘lion of Swansea’ died aged 90 on April 28. Capped 20 times between 1945 and 1949, he was given the nickname after a towering performance against the Welsh in Swansea, where on a snow-covered pitch on February 7, 1948, he inspired his side to their first ever win over their hosts in Wales.

SHOWJUMPING RAIMONDO D’INZEO Legendary Italian rider who brought the house down at the Rome Olympics in 1960 when he won indvidual gold died aged 88 on November 15. Silver Olympic medalist in 1956 he always competed in his Carabinieri Cavalry uniform and was one half of a formidable fraternal partnership with his elder brother Piero, who won silver in Rome and is still alive aged 90. Both brothers created another piece of Olympic history when they became the first athletes to compete in eight Olympics (1948-76). Raimondo, the more impetuous rider of the two, also won two world individual titles.

Maria Di Villota

captain England, though, other captains such as Tony Greig have had Scottish parentage, leading the team in 19 of his 28 Tests between 1969 and 1975. He went onto become an ICC match referee and his controversial decision to sanction six Indian players in Port Elizabeth during the 2001/2002 tour prompted the Indian and South African boards to ban Denness from officiating in the next match. The ICC responded by withdrawing Test status from the game.

REG SIMPSON The oldest sur viving player to have played in an England Test match died aged 93 on November 22. Simpson, made his first class cricket debut in India while on leave from his duties as a World War II pilot, made 27 Test appearances for England, the highlight of which was an unbeaten 156 against Australia in Melbourne in the final Test of the 1950-51 Ashes series which inspired England to their first post-War Test victory in Australia. His test career came to an end in 1955 having scored 1,401 runs at an average of 33.45.

CYCLING PHILIPPE GAUMONT Talented French cyclist who epitomised the culture of doping in the sport in the 1990’s and early part of this century died after lapsing into a coma following a massive heart attack aged 40 on May 17.

Olympic bronze medalist in the 2000 Games in team time-trial and winner of prestigious Ghent-Wevelgem one day race he retired from the sport in 2004 after confessing to habitual doping. Wrote a warts and all book ‘Prisoner of doping’ divulging the tricks of the dopers and remarked: “I doped so I could survive...but I lost a lot in the process.”

On his enforced retirement he ran first a cafe in Amiens and then became manager of a brasserie with 33 employees in the northern city of Lens when the Louvre opened a branch of their museum there.

Extrovert and bon viveur he commented shortly before his death: “I always lived life to excess.”

FOOTBALL BILL FOULKES Former Manchester United defender and a survivor of the 1958 Munich air disaster which killed 23 people including several of his team-mates, died aged 81 on November 25. A no-nonsense centreback-only capped

Went on to play for Leeds and Rochdale where he was player-coach but fell out with Jimmy after the latter was dismissed as manager. “It was a little family argument. It’s the only one we ever had,” commented Jimmy, though, bad enough for them not to speak for 15 years.

CON MARTIN Irishman who played in several positions and nicknamed the ‘yellow canary’ whose appearances for both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland prompted a rule change by FIFA died on February 24 aged 89.

After Martin’s last appearance for Northern Ireland, his sixth in all while he played 30 times for the Republic, in a Home International against Wales but also counting towards 1950 World Cup qualification, FIFA ruled that turning out for the two sides could not be repeated. His Gaelic football career had also come to a controversial end in 1941.

When it was discovered by the Gaelic football authorities he was also playing football he was banned as soccer was considered a garrison sport - one that had its origins in former colonial power England and been imposed on their then-Irish subjects.

joined the Marussia team in 2012 as a test driver. However, just four months later De Villota suffered severe injuries, including the loss of her right eye in a crash while testing at Duxford Air field in Cambridgeshire, England. Admired for her courage on the day she died she had been due to take part in a conference organised by the “What Really Matters” foundation promoting human values and was due to launch her book titled “Life is a gift” in Madrid a few days later.

GOLF KEN VENTURI 1964 US Open champion and runner-up in the 1956 Masters who despite having a severe stammer enjoyed a highly successful broadcasting career for 35 years on US television died on May 17 aged 82. Venturi, who prided himself in having Frank Sinatra as his best friend, overcame severe dehydration in sweltering temperatures, at Congressional Country Club just outside Washington, to claim his only major title. “Ken Venturi’s victory in the 1964 US Open remains one of the greatest moments in the championship’s 112-year history,” US Golf Association executive director Mike Davis said.

BRUNO METSU French coach best known for leading Senegal into the quarter-finals of the 2002 World Cup died of cancer aged 59 on October 14. Instantly recognizable on the touchline with his dapper suits and long hair, Metsu caused a sensation at the 2002 World Cup when Senegal defeated reigning champions France in the opening match.

Just months ahead of the World Cup, Metsu also guided Senegal to their only appearance in the final of the 2002 Africa Cup of Nations where they were beaten on penalties by Cameroon. “An important personality from French football has left us. He gave the impression of a man able to convince others that French football had values. He was an example to follow in his convictions and the missions he undertook,” said French Football Federation (FFF) president Noel Le Graet.

GYMNASTICS NOBUYUKI AIHARA Japan’s double Olympic champion at the 1960 Games died on July 16 of pneumonia aged 79. Aihara won gold on the floor and in the team combined event as he helped break the Soviet stranglehold on the sport at the Rome Games. Aihara, whose son Yutaka showed the sport flowed in the family genes by winning bronze in the team event in the 1992 Games, had won silver in both events in Melbourne and was crowned world champion in the same categories in 1962. The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) paid a warm tribute: “With him departs a trace of Japanese culture which fashioned an artistic school that still lasts today through the talent of his worthy successor, Kohei Uchimura (the 2012 Olympic champion and triple world champion).”

ILYA TSYMBALAR Highly-gifted Russian international midfielder died of a suspected heart attack aged 44 on December 28. Tsymbalar was one of the stars of a glorious Spartak Moscow squad that won seven titles in the 1990s and was renowned for its skillful passing reminiscent of Lionel Messi’s present Barcelona side. Unlike several of his club-

HORSE RACING SIR HENRY CECIL Legendary horse trainer died on June 11 aged 70 after a long battle with cancer.

Cecil, who was British champion trainer 10 times and trained the winner of the Epsom Derby four times, had a memorable time on the track over the last three seasons with the unbeaten Frankel. Cecil, whose twin

SPORTS POLITICS BERTHOLD BEITZ International Olympic Committee vicepresident from 1984-88 died aged 99 on July 30. A keen sailor, shooter and rower and a member of the organizing board of the tragedy-hit Munich Olympics in 1972, the German industrialist saved hundreds of Jews from Nazi persecution during World War II. Beitz became a manager at an oil company in Boryslav, now in Ukraine but during World War II part of Nazi-occupied Poland. With a relatively large Jewish population, Beitz witnessed their persecution, deportations and murder by the Nazis and still only in his 20s, decided to act along with his wife Else, making his company a refuge. “Thus in August 1942, he extricated 250 Jewish men and women from the transport train to the Belzec extermination camp by claiming them as ‘professional workers’,” the website of Israel’s Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial said. Yad Vashem later honoured the couple, designating them as ‘Righteous Among the Nations’.

TENNIS JELENA GENCIC Serbian tennis coach who unearthed the talent of Novak Djokovic died aged 77 on June 1. She nurtured Djokovic’s talent when he was six years old and with the agreement of his parents trained him for five years before he left for further coaching in Germany. Her eye for talent had already been finely-honed as she also coached fellow Grand Slam champions Monica Seles and Croatia’s Goran Ivanisevic. “Jelena was like my second mother and we were very close. She gave so much knowledge and I feel I have a responsibility to carry on that work,” said Djokovic.

PETER GRAF Coach and manager of daughter Steffi died aged 75 of cancer on November 30.

Disciplinarian-she would apparently feel the back of his hand if he judged her practice sessions below par-and thus acquired nickname of ‘Papa Merciless’ but his methods produced results as his daughter went on to dominate the women’s game and win 22 Grand Slam events. His claim to an American magazine ‘I think we can afford the taxes,’ referring to why they stayed in Germany came back to haunt him as he was sentenced to three years and nine months in jail for tax fraud in 1997. Fairly chaotic private life saw him divorce Steffi’s mother and marry his daughter’s former babysitter in 1999.

YACHTING ANDREW ‘BART’ SIMPSON Two-time Olympic medal winning yachtsman-gold in Beijing in 2008 and silver in London in 2012 - died on May 9 aged 36 when the Swedish catamaran and America’s Cup hopeful capsized in San Francisco Bay. The Briton-nicknamed after “The Simpsons” character-started sailing at the age of six, first in the Laser class before switching to the Finn single-handed class boat in his mid-20s. “Yesterday I lost my closest friend of over twenty five years, the friendliest and kindest man I have ever met,” said Iain Percy, who was his partner in both medal winning exploits.—AFP

THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2014

S P ORTS

UCLA rout Virginia Tech in Sun Bowl EL PASO: Brett Hundley and the UCLA Bruins made it look easy in the Sun Bowl at the expense of Virginia Tech’s fourth-ranked defense. The UCLA quarterback had 86- and 7-yard touchdown runs and finished with 161 yards on 10 carries in the No 17 Bruins’ 42-12 victory over the Hokies on Tuesday. “I guess he can run a little,” UCLA coach Jim Mora said. “He played well. He was poised.”

Hokies coach Frank Beamer quickly summed up the humbling loss. “UCLA made the plays it had to and you have to give them credit,” Beamer said. “I was disappointed that we didn’t execute better.”

Hundley also completed 16 of 29 passes for 226 yards and two scores. “It was a special game,” Hundley said. “We played well as an offense. We had to make adjustments. When we did, we got things going.” Hundley and UCLA linebacker Jordan Zumwalt shared MVP honors. Zumwalt had 10 tackles and returned an interception 43 yards to set up a touchdown. “It’s the best game I’ve ever seen him play,” Mora said about Zumwalt. “He was unbelievable from start to finish.

The Bruins (10-3) outscored the Hokies (8-5) 28-2 in the fourth quarter.

After Virginia Tech cut it to 14-10 on Michael Branthover’s 22-yard field goal with 3:53 left in the third quarter, UCLA answered with a 12-play, 85-yard drive, capped by Paul Perkins’s -yard run early in the fourth. Hokies backup quarterback Mark Leal then threw a pass under heavy pressure that linebacker Myles Jack intercepted and returned 29 yards for a touchdown that made it 28-10. “In

the second half we blocked things up better,” Mora said. “ We got back to doing what we do best. We played with great tempo. We were not as uptight.”

Virginia Tech, which lost starting quarterback Logan Thomas to an injury in the second quar ter, got its final points when UCLA punter Sean Covington stepped on the end line for a safety with 9:38 left. Thomas, Virginia Tech’s career passing leader, left after taking a big hit along the UCLA sideline early in the second quarter. The hit resulted in a 15-yard penalty on the Bruins. “It was tough to miss time on the field, the worst feeling of my career,” Thomas said. “I would have rather you guys talk bad about me than miss time on the field. We were doing some good things on offense. I thought we were right on the verge of doing some good things.”

UCLA pushed it to 35-12 on Hundley’s 8-yard touchdown pass to Thomas Duarte with 7:31 to play. The Bruins stayed aggressive late, and Hundley fired a 59-yard scoring strike down the right sideline to Shaquelle Evans for another score with 5:49 remaining. It wasn’t that easy early on, though, for UCLA, which led 14-7 at the half. Hundley had six carries for 168 yards in the half. He set the Sun Bowl record for rushing yards by a quarterback by halftime, even though he lost 7 yards in the second to finish at 161.

The Bruins rushed for 202 yards in the first half, and finished with 197. The win in the first meeting between the teams allowed UCLA to post its first 10win season since 2005, and helped the

NBA results/standings Atlanta 92, Boston 91; Indiana 91, Cleveland 76; Golden State 94, Orlando 81; Sacramento 110, Houston 106; San Antonio 113, Brooklyn 92; Portland 98, Oklahoma City 94; Toronto 85, Chicago 79; Milwaukee 94, LA Lakers 79.

Eastern Conference Atlantic Division Toronto 14 15 .483 Boston 13 18 .419 Brooklyn 10 21 .323 Philadelphia 9 21 .300 NY Knicks 9 21 .300 Central Division Indiana 25 5 .833 Detroit 14 19 .424 Chicago 12 18 .400 Cleveland 10 21 .323 Milwaukee 7 24 .226 Southeast Division Miami 24 7 .774 Atlanta 18 14 .563 Washington 14 14 .500 Charlotte 14 18 .438 Orlando 10 21 .323

2 5 5.5 5.5 12.5 13 15.5 18.5 6.5 8.5 10.5 14

Western Conference Northwest Division Oklahoma City 25 6 .806 Portland 25 7 .781 Minnesota 15 16 .484 Denver 14 16 .467 Utah 10 24 .294 Pacific Division LA Clippers 21 12 .636 Phoenix 19 11 .633 Golden State 20 13 .606 LA Lakers 13 19 .406 Sacramento 10 20 .333 Southwest Division San Antonio 25 7 .781 Houston 21 13 .618 Dallas 18 13 .581 New Orleans 14 15 .483 Memphis 13 17 .433

0.5 10 10.5 16.5 0.5 1 7.5 9.5 5 6.5 9.5 11

Trail Blazers overcome Oklahoma City Thunder OKLAHOMA CITY: LaMarcus Aldridge had 25 points and 14 rebounds and the Portland Trail Blazers rallied from a 13-point, second-half deficit to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 9894 in a showdown of Western Conference heavyweights Tuesday night. Damian Lillard added 21 points and 11 assists and hit a pair of clinching free throws with 2.1 seconds left for Portland, which beat Oklahoma City for the second time in December. Portland (25-7) snapped a two-game losing streak but still trails Oklahoma City (25-6) by a half-game in the Northwest Division standings. Kevin Durant had 37 points and 14 rebounds for the Thunder, which had won 12 of its last 13 and 20 of its last 22 games before Tuesday. But Durant managed only one point in the fourth quarter and missed an 11-foot jumper that would have tied the game in the final seconds.

PACERS 91, CAVALIERS 76 Paul George scored 21 points, Roy Hibbert added 19 and Indiana used a dominant fourth quarter to blow out Cleveland. Indiana has won five straight overall to improve to 25-5. The Pacers have won eight in a row against Cleveland, their longest active streak against any opponent. They limited the Cavs to 3-of-16 shooting and forced seven turnovers in the final period. Cavaliers star Kyrie Irving injured his left knee in the third quarter and will have an MRI on Wednesday. Anderson Varejao led Cleveland with 14 points and 11 rebounds.

Cleveland has lost six straight to fall to 10-21.

KINGS 110, ROCKETS 106 Rudy Gay had 25 points and DeMarcus Cousins took over late in the fourth quarter to lift Sacramento past Houston. The Kings trailed by three points before Cousins scored four quick points to make it 105-104. He then stole the ball from James Harden and passed to Ben McLemore for an easy layup. On the next play, Cousin took a charge from Harden to give the Kings the ball back. The late comeback ruined a big night by Harden, who finished with a season-high 38 points and had 10 rebounds and two steals.

SPURS 113, NETS 92 Tony Parker had 18 points and San Antonio

rolled past listless Brooklyn. Manu Ginobili and Tim Duncan had 15 points each and Tiago Splitter and Patty Mills each had 12. Miles Plumlee and Shaun Livingston had 15 points each to lead Brooklyn. Kevin Garnet was held to two points, failing to make a field for only the second time in his 19-year career and the first time since 1996.

HAWKS 92, CELTICS 91 Paul Millsap had season highs with 34 points and 15 rebounds in Atlanta’s comeback victory over Boston. Jeff Teague added 16 points for Atlanta, including a pair of free that put Atlanta up 92-91 with 1:30 left in the fourth quarter. Kyle Korver scored 14 points and extended his NBA-record 3-pointers streak to 101 games. Kelly Olynyk scored a career-high 21 points for Boston, and Kris Humphries had 18 points and 10 rebounds.

WARRIORS 94, MAGIC 81 David Lee had 22 points and Klay Thompson added 15 in Golden State’s victory over Orlando. Kent Bazemore scored 12 points, and Marreese Speights had 10 to help the Warriors win their sixth straight game.

Stephen Curry had nine points, eight assists and five rebounds, but he and the rest of the Warriors’ starters sat out the entire fourth quarter. Arron Afflalo led Orlando with 15 points.

BUCKS 94, LAKERS 79 Brandon Knight scored 18 of his careerhigh 37 points in the third quarter and Milwaukee handed Los Angeles its sixth straight loss. Pau Gasol and Nick Young each scored 25 points for Los Angeles. The Lakers shot 35.8 percent from the field and dropped to 13-19.

RAPTORS 85, BULLS 79 Jonas Valanciunas scored 15 points and Toronto rallied to beat Chicago. Valanciunas made two free throws to seal the game in the final minute after Toronto had missed three of four from the line down the stretch. Luol Deng led Chicago with 16 points in his return to the court after missing five games due to a sore left Achilles tendon.—AP

LOS ANGELES: Los Angeles Lakers guard Jodie Meeks (20) collides with Milwaukee Bucks guard Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) during the second half of an NBA basketball game on Tuesday, Dec 31, 2013. — AP

Bruins forget last season’s 49-26 loss to Baylor in the Holiday Bowl. Virginia Tech had its second-worst loss in a bowl game. Its worst was a 42-3 loss to North Carolina in the 1998 Gator Bowl. The 42 points the Hokies allowed were the second-most in a bowl game behind the 52 they gave up in a 52-49 loss to California in the 2003 Insight Bowl.

ADVOCARE V100 BOWL ARIZONA 42, BOSTON COLLEGE 19 BJ Denker threw for 275 yards and two touchdowns and Ka’Deem Carey rushed for 169 yards and two touchdowns as Arizona beat Boston College.

Arizona (8-5) never trailed, leading 21-6 by halftime and 42-6 early in the fourth quarter. Carey had his 16th straight game with at least 100 yards rushing while Denker added a 14-yard touchdown run. The game was billed as a matchup between two of the nation’s top running backs - Arizona’s Carey and Boston College’s Andre Williams. But the duel between AP All-America first team selections was one -sided.

Williams, who won the Doak Walker Award over Carey, was held to 75 yards rushing and a touchdown. Boston College (7-6) didn’t score a touchdown until Williams’ 4-yard run early in the fourth quarter. Arizona’s Nate Phillips caught nine passes for 193 yards while redshirt freshman Trey Griffey the son of former baseball star Ken Griffey Jr. caught two touchdown passes.

LIBERTY BOWL MISSISSIPPI STATE 44, RICE 7 Dak Prescott threw three touchdown

TEXAS: UCLA quarterback Brett Hundley goes airborne after being upended by Virginia Techs’ Kyshoen Jarrett (bottom) during the second quarter of the Sun Bowl NCAA college football game Tuesday on Dec 31, 2013 in El Paso, Texas. —AP passes and ran for two more scores and Mississippi State trounced Rice in the most one-sided Liberty Bowl victory in the game’s 55-year history. Mississippi State (7-6) wrapped up its four th straight winning season and prevented Rice (10 4) from winning bowl games in back-to-back years for the first time.

Prescott accounted for five touchdowns

to set a Liberty Bowl record. He was 17 of 28 for 283 yards and ran for 78 yards on 14 carries. Mississippi State’s Jameon Lewis caught nine passes for 220 yards to break the Liberty Bowl receiving record of 201 set by Houston’s Vincent Marshall against South Carolina in 2006.

Lewis also set the school single-game record.

Ton-up Younis, Misbah give Pakistan control ABU DHABI: Experienced batsmen Younis Khan and Misbah-ul Haq hit sparkling hundreds as Pakistan took command of the first Test in Abu Dhabi yesterday. Younis hit 136 for his 23rd hundred while Misbah was 105 not out for his fifth as Pakistan reached 327-4 at the close on the second day in reply to Sri Lanka’s first innings total of 204. Asad Shafiq was the other not out batsman with 12 as Pakistan dominated the day after Sri Lanka took two early wickets in the first session. Pakistan now lead by a healthy 123 runs, primarily because of Younis and Misbah sharing 218 runs for the fourth wicket. Younis hit spinner Rangana Herath for his 13th boundary to complete his hundred, taking just 47 balls for his second 50 runs. He also hit a six.

Younis equalled Javed Miandad’s record of 23 centuries, the third highest for Pakistan in the list topped by Inzamam-ul Haq (25) and Mohammad Yousuf (24). Younis was finally bowled by paceman Shaminda Eranga after his 198-ball knock which included 19 fours and a six.

Younis was happy with his performance. “I tried to motivate Misbah and he tried to do the same to me, saying that we must stay at the wicket and that’s how our partnership developed and gave the team a good position,” said Younis, who has now scored 1,659 runs in 22 matches against Sri Lanka-the most in Tests for Pakistan.

Former captain Inzamam-ul Haq scored 1559 in 20 Tests. Younis is hoping Pakistan can build on the lead on Thursday. “If we bat for another one hour tomorrow and add as many runs as possible, it will be good because Sri Lanka has some good players and I remember the last time we played them here (in 2011), Kumar Sangakkara got double hundred in the second innings (to draw the match).” Misbah had luck on his side as he was dropped by Mahela Jayawardene when on 69, as he tried to paddle sweep Herath and the fielder, moving to leg-slip, failed to hold an easy chance. Misbah had also survived a close leg-before appeal on 48 off a luckless Herath as Sri Lanka’s referral was wasted as TV umpire Ravi Sundaram adjudged the ball had hit the bat.

The Pakistani skipper reached his hundred with a single off spinner Sachitra Senanayake, taking 297 minutes for the century which included 12 boundaries. He has so far hit 13 boundaries in his chancy innings and once again proved to be the mainstay for Pakistan. Sri Lanka had taken the second new ball with Pakistan

ABU DHABI: Pakistan batsman Younis Khan plays a shot during the second day of the first cricket Test match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium yesterday. — AFP 251-3 but they only bagged one wicket in the last two sessions. Eranga was the best bowler with 2-63. Sri Lanka had started the day by dismissing Mohammad Hafeez (11) and Ahmed Shehzad (38) after Pakistan resumed at 46-1.

Hafeez had started well, hitting two straight boundaries off Lakmal before miscuing a drive off the same bowler and was smartly caught at short cover by Kaushal Silva. Silva, also a wicket-

keeper but selected as opener in this Test, dived to his left and caught the ball inches from the ground. Shehzad also miscued a hook shot and was caught at forward square-leg by Dimuth Karunaratne after hitting three boundaries. But after those two wickets, Misbah and Younis led Pakistan’s recovery. The second Test will be played in Dubai (January 8-12) and the third in Sharjah (January 16-20).—AFP

SCOREBOARD ABU DHABI: Scoreboard at close on the second day of the first cricket Test between Pakistan and Sri Lanka played at Sheikh Zayed Stadium yesterday.

Sri Lanka 1st innings 204 (A. Mathews 91; Junaid Khan 5-58, Bilawal Bhatti 3-65) Pakistan 1st innings (overnight 46-1) Khurram Manzoor run out 21 Ahmed Shehzad c Karunaratne b Eranga 38 Mohammad Hafeez c Silva b Lakmal 11 Younis Khan b Eranga 136 Misbah-ul-Haq not out 105 Asad Shafiq not out 12

Extras: (lb1, nb2, w1) 4 Total: (four wkts; 109 overs) 327 Fall of wickets: 1-46 (Manzoor 23), 2-59 (Hafeez), 3-83 (Shehzad), 4-301 (Younis) Bowling: Lakmal 27-7-84-1 (1nb, 2w) Mathews 9-0-36-0, Eranga 24-5-63-2, Herath 31-9-77-0, Senanayake 18-266-0 To bat: Adnan Akmal, Bilawal Bhatti, Rahat Ali, Saeed Ajmal, Junaid Khan.

SPL ROUNDUP

Celtic maintain 11-point lead GLASGOW: Celtic started 2014 with a narrow 10 win over Partick Thistle in the Glasgow derby to maintain their 11-point lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership. After early chances for Teemu Pukki and Kris Commons for the home side, Thistle began to cause problems for Celtic with Fraser Forster producing a string of saves to deny Stuart Bannigan, Chris Elliot and James Craigen.

However, it was the Hoops who took a 39thminute lead when Joe Ledley expertly dispatched a low shot beyond the outstretched Scott Fox from 20 yards out. In a quiet second half Charlie Mulgrew had an effort ruled out for offside before Celtic survived a late scare when Adam Matthews had to clear a shot from Thistle substitute Steven Lawless off the line.

It is the third consecutive 1-0 win for Celtic, who are still unbeaten 19 games into the league campaign and haven’t conceded in their past seven domestic matches. Nevertheless, Celtic manager Neil Lennon said it had been a flat performance from his side. “We looked tired and we lacked a spark particularly in the final third,” he said. “There were some good bits of play but I,

and the supporters, expect better. However, it is a win and obviously a clean sheet as well.”

Meanwhile, Thistle manager Alan Archibald thought his side deserved something from the game. “I thought we did enough in the game and created enough chances to at least get a point,” said Archibald, whose team were beaten 5-1 at home by Motherwell at the weekend. “It’s frustrating but the results will come and I’m just delighted to get a good response and reaction from them after such a disappointing result against Motherwell the other day.” Things could have been different if Thistle hadn’t been denied on a number of occasions in the first half by Forster.

Stuart Bannigan stung the palms of the English ‘keeper with a fierce strike before Forster produced a fantastic save to keep the scores level as his reflex stop kept out a bullet header from the diving Elliot. Thistle threatened again minutes later as Craigen connected with Gabriel Piccolo’s delivery into the box but Forster dived to turn his header round the post. However, with half-time looming Celtic took the lead through Ledley. Efe Ambrose cut in from the right and

squared the ball to the Welsh midfielder who lashed a low angled shot into the bottom lefthand corner from 20 yards.

Mulgrew had the ball in the net again in the 58th minute when he collected a Commons pass and fired the ball past Fox but his effort was ruled out for offside. Pukki then shrugged off two Thistle defenders to get away a shot from the edge of the box that the ‘keeper turned round the post. Thistle were screaming for a penalty on the hour mark when Ledley appeared to push Elliot to the ground after he turned inside him in the box but referee Kevin Clancy waved away their protests.

Thistle’s attacks had been limited in the second half but substitute Lawless came close to grabbing an 85th-minute equalizer when his low shot through a crowded penalty box was blocked on the line by Matthews. Elsewhere, Motherwell stayed second with a 4-0 win over St Johnstone, Aberdeen came from behind to defeat Dundee United 2-1 at Tannadice and Ross County triumphed in the Highland derby against Inverness Caledonian Thistle with a 2-1 win at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium.— AFP

THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2014

S P ORTS

Suarez puts Liverpool back on track Liverpool 2

Hull 0

SWANSEA: Swansea City’s Wilfried Bony and Manchester City’s Vincent Kompany (left) jump for the ball during their English Premier League soccer match yesterday. —AP

Man City show title credentials Man City 3

Swansea 2

LONDON: The goals continued to flow for Manchester City who subdued a spirited Swansea City 3-2 at the Liberty Stadium yesterday to move top of the Premier League. Second-half strikes from Yaya Toure and Aleksandar Kolarov after Swansea’s Wilfried Bony had cancelled out Fernandinho’s early opener helped City record their fifth consecutive Premier League win.

Bony grabbed a stoppage-time consolation and his second of the match with a skidding drive into the bottom corner, but there was to be no dramatic rescue for Swansea who are now without a win in six Premier League games. City moved to the top of the table with 44 points from 20 games, two clear of Arsenal who can retake the lead with victory at home to Cardiff City later. Manchester City, who have now recorded back-to-back away league wins for the first time this season, have taken 25 points from their last 27 and scored 57 goals in the opening 20 games to lay down a marker in the congested tussle at the top of the table.

Swansea’s home form has been their Achilles heel this season, having recorded only two wins at the Liberty Stadium, and

coming into the game memories were still fresh of their 3-0 defeat in the reverse fixture last month. Injuries to key players Michu, Michel Vorm and Nathan Dyer did not help their cause against the league’s most impressive array of talent. City started brightly and made their superiority tell in the 14th minute when Fernandinho, left unmarked on the edge of the area from a corner, drilled home with a raking low drive.

They took their foot off the gas, however, as the rain lashed down in south Wales, allowing Swansea to claw a foothold in the game and equalize in first-half stoppage time. Bony, who looked to be in an offside position, got between Vincent Kompany and Pablo Zabaleta to head home an Angel Rangel cross. At that point it looked as if City’s suspect away form, having already lost four times on the road, may come back to haunt them, but nerves were steadied with a typically emphatic strike from midfield powerhouse Toure.

He picked up the ball on the edge of the box and spun away from two defenders before firing low into the bottom corner, a moment of quality that framed the difference between the two sides. City’s third had an element of good fortune about it as Kolarov’s powerful strike from the edge of the area, after a lung-busting burst forward down the left flank, found the net due to poor keeping from Gerhard Tremmel. Bony, by far Swansea’s most threatening player on the day, smacked home a skidding drive that seemed to pick up pace of the slippery turf, but there was to be no dramatic finale. — Reuters

Berbatov boost Fulham survival Fulham 2

West Ham 1

LONDON: Dimitar Berbatov dragged Fulham out of the Premier League relegation zone as the Bulgarian’s second half goal clinched a crucial 2-1 win over fellowstrugglers West Ham yesterday. Rene Meulensteen’s side started 2014 third bottom of the table following an embarrassing 6-0 loss at Hull on Saturday. And the west Londoners looked up against it again when Mohamed Diame put West Ham ahead early in the first half at Craven Cottage. But Steve Sidwell equalized and West Ham’s Kevin Nolan was sent off before half-time, setting the stage for former Manchester United striker Berbatov to bag the winner midway through the second half. Fulham climb to 16th, two points above the relegation zone, while West Ham remain second bottom and are now three points adrift of safety. Meulensteen had reacted to the rout at Hull by making seven changes, among them the return of Berbatov and Adel Taarabt from injury.

Fulham’s overhauled line-up made a purposeful start amid awful conditions as wind and rain lashed Craven Cottage, but they were soon undone as some weak defending allowed Diame to snatch the lead in the seventh minute.

Berbatov strayed offside and the resultant free-kick was floated long into the box where Diame was given the time and space to pick his spot and stab the ball home. Fulham almost drew level when Modibo Maiga nodded Fernando Amorebieta’s header off the line and the equalizer eventually arrived in the 32nd minute. Damien Duff took a corner and Sidwell, arriving late with a good run, powered in the header.

The awful weather further deteriorated but the rain failed to dim Fulham’s endeavor as Taarabt hit the a post. The turning point came in first half stoppage-time when Amorebieta and Nolan tangled.

Nolan took exception to being nudged and kicked out at Amorebieta, whose tumble to the tur f convinced referee Mark Clattenburg to reach for the red card It was the West Ham captain’s second dismissal within a month after also departing early in the 4-1 defeat at Liverpool on December 7.

The second goal looked imminent as Irish winger Duff steered a shot just over the crossbar and was then denied by Jussi Jaaskelainen. Fulham continued to pepper the opposition goal and Jaaskelainen was the savior once more as he got fingertips to an attempt by Taarabt to turn it onto the woodwork. West Ham were rocking and they finally cracked in the 66th minute when substitute Alexander Kacaniklic marauded down the left wing and found Scott Parker. Showing superb awareness, Parker played the ball in to the unmarked Berbatov who was on target from six yards out.— AFP

LIVERPOOL: Luis Suarez fired Liverpool back into the Premier League’s top four as the Reds returned to form with a 2-0 victory against Hull yesterday. Brendan Rodgers’ team had lost their previous two matches against title rivals Chelsea and Manchester City, but they were able to put those disappointing results behind them thanks to the continued excellence of Uruguay forward Suarez. Reds defender Daniel Agger headed his side into the lead in the first half before Suarez sealed the victory in the 50th minute with another superb free-kick to add to his evergrowing collection of stunning goals this season.

Suarez’s 20th goal of the campaign ensured Liverpool climbed back above local rivals Everton into fourth place. Hull may have thought their victory over the Reds just four weeks ago at the KC Stadium gave them a chance of starting 2014 with a shock win at Anfield. It was Steve Bruce’s side who did threaten first as Yannick Sagbo fired over from distance, but his wastefulness would prove to be costly considering Hull’s lack of opportunities.

The Reds thought they had the lead in the 19th minute when Suarez rose to head in Philippe Coutinho’s free-kick, yet the assistant referee had his flag raised and the television replays suggested the striker was marginally offside. Soon after Raheem Sterling perhaps should have given his side the opener when Suarez cleverly nodded the ball into his path, but after racing clear the winger could only shoot straight at the on-rushing Allan McGregor in the Hull goal. Liverpool’s opener eventually arrived in the 36th minute as Coutinho’s corner was met by Agger.

Jordan Henderson attempted to divert it but

LIVERPOOL: Liverpool’s Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez (second left) scores but the goal is disallowed as he is ruled offside during the English Premier League football match between Liverpool and Hull City yesterday.—AFP missed the ball only for Maynor Figueroa to then fail miserably with a goal-line clearance. Hull had managed to contain the hosts but after the goal their defense looked ragged and out of sorts.

Henderson should have doubled Liverpool’s lead as a well-worked move between Coutinho and Iago Aspas put the former Sunderland midfielder in, only for him to slide the ball wide with McGregor diving the wrong way. The game certainly could have been over before the break but Coutinho was the culprit this time as despite sublime control to take down Henderson’s pass, he could not find the target.

Suarez, who had been slightly below his best against City and Chelsea, announced his return to peak form with a simply sublime goal five minutes after the interval. The striker was fouled about 25 yards out from goal by James Chester

Villa end their winless run 1-0

LONDON: Crystal Palace’s Damien Delaney (left) is challenged by Norwich City’s Leroy Fer and Sebastien Bassong during their English Premier League soccer match yesterday. —AP

Palace drop back into bottom three Crystal Palace 1

Norwich 1

LONDON: Crystal Palace’s recent revival under new manager Tony Pulis faltered again yesterday when they were held to a 1-1 draw at home by fellow-strugglers Norwich City. It means Palace dropped back into the Premier League bottom three as they are overtaken by Fulham, who won 2-1 at home to second-from-bottom West Ham United. The conditions were far from conducive to flowing football as Pulis had warned before the game, which only went ahead on a soggy Selhurst Park pitch after a late inspection by referee Mike Dean.

Pulis, who ironically lost his first match in charge after replacing Ian Holloway away at Norwich, said: “There are certain areas of the pitch which will be difficult, but it seems as though the ball is rolling OK.” And so it proved, although Palace seemed to have mastered the conditions slightly better than their opponents in the early

stages, but had little to show for their efforts before they fell behind shortly before half-time.

Norwich went in front in the 38th minute from their first real attack as Wes Hoolahan set Gary Hooper away and his knock back for Bradley Johnson teed up the midfielder for a right-foot shot from outside the box which cannoned off Julian Speroni’s left-hand post and into the top right corner. But Palace fought back to equalize a minute before the break when Leroy Fer fouled Mile Jedinak in the area and Jason Puncheon stepped up to convert the resulting penalty left-footed into the bottom right corner.

There was little more to shout about in the second half beyond Fer getting his marching orders nine minutes from the end for another bad foul on Jedinak.

Norwich held out and will have been marginally the more satisfied with the point even though it extended their winless run to five games - a poor return for their £20 million ($33.1m) summer spending spree.

The draw keeps them just above the drop zone and under-pressure manager Chris Hughton will be glad to have got something from a ground where the Canaries have now failed to win in 14 visits.— AFP

Chelsea report £49.4m losses LONDON: Chelsea made a £49.4million ($81.8m, 59.9m euro) loss in the last financial year, the English Premier League club announced yesterday.

Turnover for the year ending June 30, 2013 was a record £255.8m ($424m, 308m euro), but the club’s early Champions League exit contributed to the loss in income. Jose Mourinho’s side will still however satisfy UEFA’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations as the twoyear monitoring period includes the £1.4million ($2.3m, 1.6m euro) profit made in the 2011/12 season. The club also saw a 19 per cent rise in commercial income from £67m ($111m, 80m euro) to £79.6m ($132m, 95.8m euro) as they won the Europa League.

Chelsea chief executive Ron Gourlay said: “For Chelsea FC to achieve a record level of turnover despite our first group-

stage elimination from the Champions League shows we have structured our business and are growing in the correct way for long-term stability. “Our philosophy is we build upon success on the pitch and although in these financial results we haven’t repeated the sizeable profits made the previous year from player transfers, we believe the age profile of the existing squad means we will benefit from that investment for many years to come.

“A successful team builds awareness around the world and our increased commercial revenues in 2012/13 and new or extended par tnership deals demonstrate we are working hard to capitalize on that.” Chairman Bruce Buck added: “A long-term objective was financial sustainability, and the subsequent implementation of Financial Fair Play by

and he brushed himself down before curling a powerful free-kick into the top corner. Hull boss Bruce made three changes soon after, bringing on forwards Matty Fryatt, Danny Graham and George Boyd in a bid to get something from the game but with little service, they were struggling for opportunities as Liverpool continued to dominate possession.

When a chance did present itself, it fell to defender Curtis Davies and from 20 yards he delivered a shot befitting of a centre half as it bobbled harmlessly wide. Suarez would have a late free-kick from distance that he ballooned into the famous Kop stand behind the goal which brought good-natured jeers from the home faithful. Coutinho’s run at the end almost brought a third, but McGregor pushed away his shot to deny the Brazilian.—AFP

UEFA and by the Premier League has brought that to the top of the agenda for football clubs.

“We are pleased therefore that we will meet the stipulations set down by UEFA in their first assessment period, and by our own analysis we are progressing from a commercial viewpoint as well as continuing to add trophies to our collection, which we never lose sight of as our most impor tant goal.” The next financial year’s results will be boosted by, amongst other things, a new 10year kit deal with Adidas. The deal with the sportswear manufacturer is worth a reported £300m ($497m, 361m euro) and, while announced in June, will be recorded from the 2013/14 accounts.

Chelsea are third in the Premier League, two points behind leaders Arsenal.— AFP

SUNDERLAND: Aston Villa started Sunderland 0 the New Year with a much-needed win, beating Sunderland 1-0 at the Stadium of Aston Villa 1 Light thanks to Gabriel Agbonlahor’s early strike.

Agbonlahor pounced on poor defending to give Villa the lead and the visitors then held on to end a run of five games without a win and inflict a first defeat in six matches in all competitions on the home side. Gus Poyet’s Sunderland remain bottom of the table and see the gap to safety increase to four points, while Villa rise to 11th with a victory that eases some of the pressure on manager Paul Lambert.

The visitors were looking to continue their good recent record against Sunderland, with whom they drew 0-0 at Villa Park in late November, and Sunderland’s hopes of extending their impressive festive period form were not helped by the absence of several key performers. Defensive duo John O’Shea and Wes Brown were absent while both Fabio Borini and Adam Johnson were only on the bench having been pre-match doubts, and while Sunderland started brightly, poor defending saw them gift Villa the opener with a quarter-of-an-hour played.

Lee Cattermole was caught out after Valentin Roberge attempted a pass across defense and Agbonlahor pounced to round goalkeeper Vito Mannone and put Villa into the lead with his second goal in as many games. Villa captain Ron Vlaar then deflected a goal-bound shot from Jack Colback behind for a corner as Sunderland toiled, despite monopolising possession in the first half.

Indeed, while visiting ‘keeper Brad Guzan had little to do in the opening period, only a good Mannone save prevented Agbonlahor from making it 2-0 following a neat flick by Christian Benteke, who started the game having been a fitness doubt before kick-off. The pattern was much the same after the break as Mannone - who had been outstanding in the Boxing Day victory at Everton - got down well to beat clear Leandro Bacuna’s shot from 25 yards which took a deflection off Roberge.

Sunderland, who had not won any of their nine games against bottom-half opposition this season coming into this encounter, were denied an equalizer when Borini, on as a half-time substitute for Cattermole, converted a Steven Fletcher knock down only for the offside flag to cut short his celebrations. And Villa again missed chances to add to their lead as a Benteke effort was cleared off the line by Phil Bardsley and Mannone thwarted substitute Marc Albrighton. Lambert’s side continue to average less than a goal a game this season but their margin of victory would certainly have been greater without the inspired form of Sunderland’s Italian ‘keeper.— AFP

Everton grabs late draw at Stoke 1-1

STOKE ON TRENT: Everton’s Leighton Baines (centre) is challenged by Stoke City’s Steven N’Zonzi (left) and Jermaine Pennant during their English Premier League match yesterday. —AP

STOKE: Leighton Baines converted an Stoke 1 injury-time penalty to earn Everton a 1-1 draw at Stoke yesterday as his side Everton 1 dropped out of the top four of the Premier League.

Everton enjoyed plenty of possession and hit the woodwork twice in the first half before Oussama Assaidi gave Stoke a 49th minute lead against the run of play. The visitors were rewarded for all their pressure at the very end, though, when Jermaine Pennant fouled Leon Osman and Baines made no mistake with the spot kick. Everton slipped to fifth in the standings, a point behind Merseyside rival Liverpool - which moved up after beating Hull 2-0.— AP

Golf star McIlroy and tennis star Wozniacki ‘engaged’

16

THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2014

Suarez puts Liverpool back on track

19

Chelsea report £49.4million losses

Page 19

LONDON: Arsenal’s English midfielder Theo Walcott (left) shoots over the bar during the English Premier League football match between Arsenal and Cardiff City yesterday. — AFP

Arsenal kick off New Year with a bang Arsenal 2

Cardiff 0

LONDON: Arsenal kicked off the New Year with a last-ditch 2-0 win at home to struggling Cardiff City yesterday that confirmed their credentials as Premier League title contenders.

Arsenal looked to have run out of ideas as they were frustrated by Cardiff’s blue wall of resistance before substitute Nicklas Bendtner struck in the 88th minute. Theo Walcott sealed the win in injury time to complete a gritty victory

that suggests that this could yet be the year that Arsene Wenger’s side end their nine-year trophy drought with the biggest prize in English football.

The late goals enabled Arsenal to return to first place, after Manchester City had taken provisional control of the title race with a 3-2 success at Swansea City earlier in the day.

Missing so many key players, it looked as though Cardiff would come away with a precious point before their crushing late heartbreak. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was in the stands as he edges closer to taking charge of Cardiff following Malky Mackay’s sacking.

The former Manchester United striker, now managing in his native Norway with Molde, would have been impressed with his potential new side in spells at the Emirates Stadium. Few would have given Cardiff a chance, given their

Chelsea cruise to 3-0 win at Southampton Southampton 0

Chelsea 3

SOUTHAMPTON: Chelsea recorded a third straight Premier League victory as second-half goals from Fernando Torres and substitutes Willian and Oscar earned a 3-0 New Year’s Day win at Southampton. Jose Mourinho’s side remain in third place in the table after the game at St Mary’s Stadium, a point behind Manchester City and two adrift of leaders Arsenal. Chelsea made six changes from the side that beat Liverpool 2-1 on Sunday, with Torres replacing Samuel Eto’o as the lone striker and Juan Mata and Andre Schuerrle included in an attacking midfield three.

Southampton, who won this fixture 2-1 last season and were beaten 3-1 at Stamford Bridge exactly a month ago, made two changes by bringing back Morgan Schneiderlin and Gaston Ramirez. Ramirez gave the ball away cheaply early on to give Torres a sight of goal, but Jose Fonte did well to slide in and deflect the resulting shot behind. Schuerrle then sent a low drive just wide from the corner, which saw Dejan Lovren accidentally hit in the face by teammate Fonte in an incident that left the Croatia international requiring lengthy treatment.

Southampton goalkeeper Kelvin Davis made a good save to deny Ramires, who had won the chase to latch onto a Torres through ball. Southampton’s first chance fell to Adam Lallana, but Ashley Cole-back in the side because of injury to Branislav Ivanovic-did well to block as torrential rain continued to fall on the St Mary’s pitch. Torres was looking

lively and cut inside from the left to beat two challenges before firing just over.

Southampton had a strong wind behind them, however, and that allowed Jay Rodriguez to get behind the Chelsea backline, only for Cole to dispossess him at the last moment.

Lallana saw another good chance blocked by a defender, but Chelsea remained dangerous on the counter-attack and Davis did well to tip over a fierce drive from Ramires before Lovren headed away a Schuerrle effort. Southampton began the second period strongly, with Fonte, Lovren and Rodriguez all seeing shots blocked in the space of a few frantic seconds and the half was just eight minutes old when Mata and Schuerrle were replaced by Brazilian duo Oscar and Willian.

Within seconds, Eden Hazard had sent Oscar clear and the Brazilian took the ball round Davis before going down as the goalkeeper challenged. Referee Martin Atkinson was quick to make a decision, and booked the Chelsea man for diving. A goal was coming, however, and Torres was the man who netted it in the 60th minute. Oscar’s cross was deflected onto the far post off Calum Chambers and the Spain striker headed home the rebound from close range.

Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech had to be alert to get behind a close-range header from substitute Rickie Lambert, but the visitors’ reply was a clinching second in the 71st minute from Willian, who took a touch from Oscar’s pass before bending a low shot past Davis. Oscar made the margin of victory even more emphatic with an 82nd-minute third. Hazard’s perfect first-time pass put the substitute clear and he had no difficulty firing past Davis. Southampton were left deflated after that and Chelsea were able to negotiate the rest of the game with little alarm, apart from a Ramirez effort in stoppage time that flew just wide. — AFP

current struggles at the wrong end of the table. Arsenal, on the other hand, would have considered this a home banker. Sitting at the top of the tree heading into 2014, this was a game they were expected to canter through.

However, an unremarkable opening 45 minutes saw Arsenal fail to bring a save out of Cardiff goalkeeper David Marshall.

Walcott came the closest when he volleyed Jack Wilshere’s cross into the side-netting after 13 minutes. That besides, Arsenal looked a pale imitation of the side that had previously dismantled so many teams at the Emirates. The home side dominated territory and possession, but everything was done at such a slow tempo that Cardiff were able to pile bodies behind the ball. Santi Cazorla and Walcott lost their radars by shooting wide when well-placed and the midfielders were not the only Arsenal players

to suffer a similar fate.

Cardiff were defending resolutely, but they were fortunate to escape in the 25th minute when Wilshere fell under Gary Medel’s clumsy challenge in the penalty area. There were few complaints from Arsenal when a penalty was not given, but replays suggested that the England midfielder, celebrating his 22nd birthday, had a strong case despite referee Jon Moss waving away his appeals. Cardiff’s ploy was to frustrate, but a rare venture forward saw Jordon Mutch produce a jinking run and shot that was blocked by the legs of Arsenal’s largely redundant goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny.

Wenger would have spoken of the need to quicken his side’s passing during the half-time interval, although Cardiff had visibly grown in confidence. Wilshere did finally threaten in the 65th minute when he struck the outside of the

post with an angled drive. It was the start of a concerted spell of pressure and Arsenal were coming ever closer to the breakthrough as they laid siege with wave after wave of attacks.

Per Mertesacker headed wide before wasting another chance when he escaped his marker but could only nod against the post.

Arsenal were becoming increasingly desperate, but with two minutes remaining they finally scored through Bendtner. Bacary Sagna’s header from Nacho Monreal’s cross finally brought a save out of Marshall, but the ball fell kindly for the Denmark striker to rifle into the roof of the net. It proved to be his final contribution as he limped off after turning his ankle in scoring, but the game was up for Cardiff and Arsenal were able to rest easy after Walcott skipped through to clip home in added time. — AFP

English Premier League table LONDON: English Premier League table after yesterday’s matches (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points): Arsenal Man City Chelsea Liverpool Everton Tottenham Man Utd Newcastle Southampton Hull Aston Villa Stoke Swansea West Brom Norwich Fulham Cardiff Crystal Palace West Ham Sunderland

20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20

14 14 13 12 10 11 10 10 7 6 6 5 5 4 5 6 4 5 3 3

3 2 4 3 8 4 4 3 6 5 5 7 6 9 5 1 6 2 6 5

3 4 3 5 2 5 6 7 7 9 9 8 9 7 10 13 10 13 11 12

39 57 38 46 32 24 33 29 26 22 19 19 26 23 17 21 15 13 19 15

18 23 19 23 19 25 24 25 23 25 25 30 28 27 33 42 32 29 30 33

45 44 43 39 38 37 34 33 27 23 23 22 21 21 20 19 18 17 15 14

MANCHESTER: Tottenham Hotspur’s Danish midfielder Christian Eriksen (left) beats Manchester United’s Ecuadorian midfielder Antonio Valencia to head their second goal during the English Premier League football match between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur yesterday. — AFP

United lose again at home, to Spurs Man United 1

Spurs 2

MANCHESTER: Tottenham claimed a second straight Premier League win at Old Trafford by beating Manchester United 2-1 yesterday to drop the champions further out of title contention. Emmanuel Adebayor put Spurs ahead with a header in the 34th minute before Christian Eriksen turned from supplier to scorer to leave United 2-0 down in the 66th. Danny Welbeck responded a minute later with his fifth goal in his last five league matches, but United slipped to a fourth home defeat of the campaign and is now 11 points behind leader Arsenal.

Spurs, who had gone 23 years without a league win at Old Trafford until a 3-2 victory last season, is unbeaten in four matches under new manager Tim Sherwood. They climb above

United to sixth, two points behind fourth-place Liverpool. Both teams had experienced a turbulent first half of the season, and were lying in sixth and seventh place in the standings.

However, impressive sets of results over Christmas had left confidence high at both clubs of bridging the gap on their title rivals.

While Tottenham’s revival under Sherwood had seen the team pick up seven points out of a possible nine, United was seeking a fourth straight win over the festive period and was further buoyed by the return to the starting team of Wayne Rooney after a groin strain. Yet David Moyes’ side lacked its sharpness of late, with Spurs crisper with its passing and sturdy in defense, while Adebayor continued his purple patch since his return to the first team.

His goal was a classic striker’s finish, drifting to the back post and beating back-pedaling full back Chris Smalling with a downward header into the corner from Eriksen’s pinpoint cross. Adebayor has now scored three goals and set up two others in his last four games. It was one of a number of good chances created

by Spurs in a low-key first half in which Aaron Lennon was denied by the feet of United goal-

keeper David De Gea and Roberto Soldado just failed to apply a back-post finish from Lennon’s cross.

United’s frustrations were building. Rooney was booked for a blatant tug on Eriksen and Welbeck also should have been yellow-carded for a dive in the penalty area just before the hour. Moyes removed Smalling and holding midfielder Michael Carrick to go all-out attack for the final 30 minutes but United was caught on the counter-attack for Eriksen’s goal.

Adebayor launched the move and Soldado fed Lennon, who burst into the box and sent in a cross that deflected up off Nemanja Vidic.

Eriksen nipped ahead of Antonio Valencia to head home from six yards out.

The two-goal cushion lasted barely a minute as Adnan Januzaj curled through a pass that Welbeck seized upon, before chipping the outrushing Hugo Lloris for a fine finish. Spurs hung on in the final stages, with Lloris escaping punishment for a reckless lunge at Ashley Young, before denying Rooney with a sprawling save to his left. Lennon also cleared off his own line as United’s foibles at home continued. — AFP

Business

Latvia caps years of austerity with euro-zone entry Page 22

Scarred consumers a hard sell for US retail

THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2014

Page 23 Numbers improve, problems worsen for Greece in 2014

The crisis of American middle class Page 24

Page 25

RIGA: Young people display euro banknotes in Riga yesterday ringing in the New Year with its entry into the troubled euro-zone. — AFP (See Page 22)

Cameron trumpets British recovery PM scoffs at ‘France’s disastrous economic policies’ LONDON: Prime Minister David Cameron boasted yesterday that Britain would become a post-recession flagship in 2014, in what was reported as a swipe at France’s “disastrous” economic policies.

Writing in The Times newspaper, Cameron said Britain was a country on the rise as he warned against “the great mistakes that led up to the great recession-more borrowing, more spending and more debt”. Though Cameron did not name the “countries currently following that approach”, The Times said it was a “swipe at France” and an “apparent gibe” at President Francois Hollande.

“Cameron’s dig at France in warning over debt”, said the front page. His remarks “will be widely interpreted as an

attack on Mr Hollande, who is under pressure as France’s economy continues to struggle,” the daily said. Cameron wrote: “2014 is when we start to turn Britain into the flagship post-great recession success story.

“With record numbers of new businesses, we can be the enterprise capital of Europe. “We must not resurrect the dangerous thinking that got us into the mess from which we are now recovering,” the centre-right Conservative leader warned. Blaming the previous centre-left Labor government, which lost power in 2010, he said the British economy contracted by 7.2 per cent during the economic downturn.

“If you doubt how disastrous a return to Labor-style

economics would be, just look at countries that are currently following that approach,” he wrote. “They face increasing unemployment, industrial stagnation and enterprise in free-fall. The opposite of what’s happening here.

“Our recovery is real, but it’s also fragile, and there are more difficult decisions ahead. A return to that economic madness would devastate this country.”

While Britain is predicting economic growth of 1.4 percent in 2013 and 2.4 percent in 2014, France’s national economics statistics institute INSEE predicted growth of 0.2 percent for 2013, while the country’s belt-tightening budget is based on projected growth of 0.9 percent in 2014.

France’s economy contracted 0.1 percent in the third

quarter of 2013. Socialist French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said last month that his government would not copy British economic policies, saying they had created poverty and inequality. In Britain, unemployment has hit a four-year low, at 7.4 percent. INSEE said the French unemployment rate rose by 0.1 percent in the three months to September to 10.5 percent. Cameron said his government would reduce the national deficit further in 2014, cut income taxes, slash red tape for small businesses and invest in infrastructure projects.

He pledged to cap Britain’s overall welfare budget. “New year is a time for resolutions. Here’s mine: to make 2014 the year in which Britain begins to rise,” he said. — AFP

China’s manufacturing index slips in December Economy faced headwinds in 2013

KARACHI: A Pakistani stockbroker monitors share prices during a trading session at the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) in Karachi yesterday. The benchmark KSE-100 index closed at 25608.85 points, with an increase of 347.71 points during the day’s trade. — AFP

India to open up more to foreign investors NEW DELHI: India aims to throw open its doors wider to overseas investors in coming weeks, a minister said yesterday, as it seeks to spur a weak economy before the general election.

The government has already relaxed foreign direct investment (FDI) rules in such sectors as civil aviation, retail, telecommunications, defense and state-owned oil refineries as it tries to loosen the shackles on the still mainly inward-looking economy.

“The government will continue its endeavor for liberalizing the FDI policy further in the coming weeks to ensure India retains its leadership position for attracting foreign investments,” Commerce Minister Anand

Sharma said. India is struggling to increase its attractiveness to overseas business and to support growth with the election due by May. Five percent annual growth-the slowest in a decade-a string of graft scandals and project approval delays have soured the investor mood on Asia’s third-largest economy.

But in a welcome vote of confidence in the country ’s long-term potential, interest in India has shown signs of picking up lately. Earlier this week the foreign investment regulator cleared plans by British retail Tesco and Vodafone, the world’s largest mobile phone operator, to invest more than $1.5 billion in India. “The

bold decisions of the government (to liberalize the economy) have resonated with the global community and we have seen results in the last few months,” Sharma said in a New Year’s Day message. But data showed that overall between April and October of this financial year, India’s FDI fell 15 percent to $12.6 billion from the same period a year earlier.

Officials say the government is working to relax a ban on FDI in the cashhungry colonial-built railways and improve dilapidated lines to ports and industrial hubs. But the outlook on India’s economic prospects for the financial year to March 2014 still remains downbeat, economists said. — AFP

BEIJING: China’s manufacturing growth slowed in December for the first time in six months, official figures showed yesterday, suggesting the world’s secondlargest economy faced headwinds at the end of last year. The purchasing managers’ index (PMI) was at 51.0, down from November’s 51.4, the National Bureau of Statistics said on its website. A reading above 50 signals expansion while a figure below indicates contraction.

It marked the 15th straight month of growth but it is the first time the figure has dipped from the previous month since June. The result came in below the median 51.2 forecast of eight economists by The Wall Street Journal as reported by Dow Jones Newswires.

“The fall in the weaker-than-expected official PMI reinforces our view that growth momentum entered a downtrend” in the fourth quarter from a peak in the third, Nomura International analysts said in a research note. British bank HSBC last month said China’s manufacturing activity in December expanded at its slowest rate in three months, in its preliminary PMI index.

The bank’s final PMI reading for December is scheduled to be released on Tuesday. China’s economy, an important driver of regional and global growth, expanded 7.8 percent from July to September, snapping two quarters of slowing, but analysts warn vulnerabilities remain. The December PMI indicates “that real activity could have slowed in the month due to continued liquidity tightness”, ANZ bank economists Liu Li-Gang and Zhou Hao wrote in a separate note.

China was hit last month by a liquidity squeeze that sent interest rates soaring in a development widely seen as engineered by officials aiming to increase financial discipline over the country’s banks. The financial system experienced a similar cash crunch in June.

Liu and Zhou also stressed that slides in the new

orders and export orders components of the PMI in December indicate a weak demand environment.

A government report cited by state media last week suggested China’s economy grew 7.6 percent in 2013, slightly above its official target for the year and just below the 7.7 percent expansion in gross domestic product in 2012 the worst growth rate for 13 years.

In March, China announced an official target of 7.5 percent GDP growth for 2013. The government usually announces a conservative number that it regularly surpasses. Liu and Zhou maintained their forecast that China’s economic growth may have slowed to as low as 7.5 percent in the fourth quarter while expecting a figure of 7.6 percent for all of 2013. The Nomura analysts-Zhang Zhiwei, Hua Changchun and Wendy Chenexpect economic growth to slow to 7.6 percent in the fourth quarter before weakening further to 7.5 percent in the first three months of this year and 7.1 percent in the April-June period.

“We remain concerned about the sustainability of investment by local government financing vehicles (LGFVs) and property developers given elevated interest rates,” they added.

China on Monday announced that liabilities carried by local governments ballooned to 17.9 trillion yuan ($2.95 trillion) as of the end of June. The figure was included in the results of a long-awaited nationwide debt probe by the National Audit Office and compared with 10.7 trillion yuan as of the end of 2010 — an increase of 67 percent.

Local authorities have long used debt to fuel growth in their regions, often by pursuing projects that are not economically viable or sustainable. The burgeoning liabilities at the local level have raised concerns of a potential drag on its economy unless steps are taken to rein them in. — AFP

THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2014

BUSINESS

Brent crude ends 2013 nearly flat US crude up 7% on year NEW YORK: Brent crude fell on Tuesday, ending 2013 almost unchanged following a year in which traders balanced a spate of supply disruptions from Middle East and Africa against surging output from the United States.

Weighed down by expectations oil shipments from some shuttered Libyan ports would resume soon, Brent finished the year just 31 cents its end-2012 level of $111.11 a barrel.

The international benchmark traded in a $22 range from $96.75 to $119.17 this year, the narrowest band since 2006.

US crude closed the year 7.2 percent firmer as traders headed into 2014 eyeing improving demand, the end of the Federal Reserve’s monetary stimulus and the dramatic overhaul of the world’s largest oil market caused by the shale revolution.

US crude traded within a $27 range throughout 2013, also the narrowest band since 2006. US crude stocks fell by 5.7 million barrels last week as imports dropped, while gasoline and distillate inventories rose, data from industry group the American Petroleum Institute showed on Tuesday. Analysts had forecast a decrease of 3 million barrels.

Brent’s premium to US crude, or West Texas Intermediate (WTI) traded at just over $12 a barrel on Tuesday, down from more than $19 a barrel at the end of last year. In July, the two benchmarks reached parity and WTI briefly rose above Brent for the first time since 2010.

“We saw quite a lot of drama in those spreads in 2013; that was the trade of the year,” said Katherine Spector, head of commodities strategy at CIBC World Markets. “It’s still trying to

find that equilibrium. I think we’ll continue to see WTI trade $10 to $12 under Brent.”Brent crude fell 41 cents on the day to end 2013 at $110.80 a barrel, 0.3 percent lower on the year.

US oil fell 87 cents on Tuesday to end at $98.42 a barrel, after closing 2012 at $91.82 a barrel. “There’s been some optimism about the potential return of supplies from South Sudan and Libya, and that’s probably what’s helped Brent down,” said Amrita Sen, chief analyst at consultants Energy Aspects.

Violence in South Sudan has reduced crude output by about a fifth to 200,000 barrels per day (bpd), but the South Sudanese government and rebels loyal to former Vice President Riek Machar agreed on a ceasefire on Tuesday as they prepare for talks to end the bloodshed.

In Libya, where protests have slashed output to less than 250,000 bpd from 1.4 million bpd in July, the Sarir and Messla oilfields are up and running.

But the Hariga oil port they connect with, which officials had said was to open soon, needs to reopen before exports can resume. In addition to the Libyan disruptions, unrest in Iraq and tensions between Iran and the West over Tehran’s disputed nuclear program supported crude prices throughout 2013. These factors have offset concerns over a weak demand outlook in industrialized nations and a slowdown in consumption in China, the world’s second-biggest oil consumer. Chris Tevere, senior strategist at Gain Capital, said the Middle East remained a focus for 2014. “The key concern is still ‘Are there any further troubles brewing in the Middle East?’” — Reuters

Oman oil production Oman’s oil output rose 2.5 percent between January and November of 2013 compared to the same period of the previous year, according to the National Center for Statistics and Information. Daily output rate of the crude and condensates had increased 2.8 percent till end of November, 2013, in contrast to the same period in 2012. Omani crude price reached $105.40 per barrel in contrast to $109.69 pb of the same period the year before.

Indian markets posted noticeable growth of its imports of Omani crude, 177. 2 percent till end of November, 2013, followed by the Chinese markets, where Omani oil exports to Beijing amounted to 28.6 of China’s overall crude imports. Oman’s oil output is unofficially estimated at some half a million barrels per day. — KUNA

Gold closes out worst year since 1981 NEW YORK: The price of gold closed out its worst year since 1981 Tuesday as the US economy improved, inflation remained at bay and worries about the financial system and gridlock in Washington faded. Gold slumped 28 percent in 2013. The price peaked at $1,900 an ounce in August 2011 and has been declining more or less steadily ever since. Traders had bid the price of gold higher partly out of fear that the Federal Reserve’s aggressive easy-money policies would lead to inflation and weaken the US dollar.

When that didn’t happen, demand for gold fell.

On Tuesday, the actively traded February contract for gold fell $1.50, or 0.1 percent, to $1,202.30 an ounce. Silver for March delivery declined 24.5 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $19.37 an ounce. Silver also had a bad year, falling 36 percent.

In other metals trading: Copper for March delivery rose 1.4 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $3.3965 a pound. Copper fell 7 percent for the year.

Platinum for April delivery rose $6.60, or 0.5 percent, to $1,373.80 an ounce. It’s down 11 per-

Latvia caps years of austerity with euro-zone membership Country recovers from worst recession in EU

Kuwaiti oil price drops to $106pb KUWAIT: Kuwaiti Oil price dropped 78 cents to $106.64pb on Tuesday compared to $107.42 pb the day before, said Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) in a statement.

Forward contracts of the Brent crude slightly dropped in the London market, on the last day of the year 2013, lower by 31 cents from its 2012 level of $111.11pb.

Brent crude was affected with predicted resumption of Libyan oil exports, losing yesterday 41 cents thus ending the year at $110.80pb, with a 0.3 percent loss during the year.

Meanwhile, the American crude prices in New York market fell 87 cents closing at $98.42pb compared to $91.82pb in the end of the 2012 trades. The American crude oil ended the year 2013 rising by 7.2 percent, amid noticeable changes in the world largest oil market due to substantial hike of shale oil output.

VILNIUS: Fireworks light the sky above Cathedral square in Vilnius yesterday ringing in the New Year and Latvia’s entry into the troubled eurozone. — AFP

cent for the year. Palladium for March delivery rose $7.50, or 1 percent, to $718.30 an ounce.

For the year, it’s up 2 percent. Other commodities also had a bad year. The price of corn plunged 40 percent in 2013 as it became clear that the US crop would be huge, bouncing back from a severe drought the year before. The price of wheat also fell 23 percent for the year.

On Tuesday, the price of corn for March delivery fell 1.5 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $4.22 a bushel. It started the year at about $7 a bushel.

Wheat for March delivery rose 4.75 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $6.0525 a bushel.

Soybeans for March delivery fell 16.25 cents, or 1 percent, to $12.925 a bushel. In energy trading, the price of crude oil fell 87 cents, or 1 percent, to $98.42 a barrel. Wholesale gasoline lost 2 cents to $2.79 per gallon, heating oil was unchanged at $3.08 per gallon and natural gas fell 20 cents to $4.23 per 1,000 cubic feet. For the year, oil gained about 7 percent, heating oil and gasoline each rose 1 percent while natural gas jumped 25 percent. — AP

RIGA: Latvia joined the euro-zone yesterday, banking on its experience of austerity to bring it prosperity in a currency union where other economies have floundered.

The Baltic country of just 2 million people became the bloc’s 18th member at midnight (2200 GMT ), taking a step further out of the shadow of neighboring Russia a decade after joining the European Union and NATO. Latvia’s acting prime minister, Valdis Dombrovskis, who led his country through its worst economic crisis since it left the former Soviet Union in the early 1990s, said euro adoption was an opportunity, but not a guarantee of wealth, and the country should not relax its fiscal policy.

“It’s not an excuse not to pursue a responsible fiscal and macroeconomic policy,” he said after withdrawing the first euro banknote after midnight from a cash machine in Riga.

The euro switchover ceremony took place at a site where Latvia’s crisis began - the former headquarters of the collapsed Parex bank, now headquarters of state-owned Citatele bank, which emerged from Parex’s ruins. Parex, the country’s second-biggest bank by assets, went bust at end-2008, forcing the Baltic state to seek an international rescue to keep its currency, the lat, pegged to the euro at the same rate. Its economy shrank by a quarter during 2008-2010, but then grew at the fastest pace in the EU, expanding by 5.6 percent in 2012, after the government slashed spending and wages and hiked taxes in one of the harshest austerity programs in Europe.

Latvia’s efforts have won praise from EU policymakers, who have pointed numerous times to the Baltic state as an example that austerity can work. “Thanks to these efforts ... Latvia will enter the euro area stronger than ever, sending an encouraging message to other countries undergoing a difficult economic adjustment,” European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said on Tuesday.

Still, a few concerns remain. The European Central Bank has warned Latvia that the high level of foreign deposits, mostly from Russia, in Latvian banks, as in Cyprus, was a risk factor.

Latvia also enters the euro-zone without a permanent government after Dombrovskis

RIGA: From left, Governor of Bank of Latvia Ilmars Rimsevics, Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip, Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis and Latvian Finance Minister Andris Vilks hold euro notes in Riga, Lavia, yesterday. — AP resigned in December, taking political responsibility over a supermarket collapse in Riga that killed 54 people. Latvia enters the euro zone as the single currency bloc marks its 15th anniversary, and the euro is now used by 333 million Europeans.

Even so, neighboring Lithuania is the only remaining EU country showing much enthusiasm for euro admission after the temptations and strains of sharing a currency forced Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Cyprus to seek international bailouts for their government finances or their banks.

Estonia joined the euro zone in 2011, and Lithuania aims to do so in 2015. Among the exCommunist EU countries that have yet to adopt the euro, Croatia is stuck in recession while bigger economies such as Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary have become reticent about currency union. Latvia, which becomes

the fourth smallest economy in the euro zone after Malta, Estonia and Cyprus, expects the euro to lower its borrowing costs and encourage investors by eliminating currency risk. Both Standard & Poor’s and Fitch have raised the country’s credit ratings in anticipation of its euro entry. But opinion polls show ordinary Latvians are divided on the euro’s merits, with many worried that its adoption will be an excuse to raise prices. “In all other countries which had switched to the euro, prices rose. Most likely, they will rise here as well, which is bad,” said Oleg Bachurin, 62, a pensioner.

Latvia’s central bank expects euro-zone entry to lift consumer prices by 0.2-0.3 percentage point in 2014, taking inflation to 2 percent.

“I’m not worried (about euro adoption). I believe it’s progress. We should not look back, we should go forward,” said Anita Linde, 57, a retailer. — Reuters

EXCHANGE RATES Al-Muzaini Exchange Co. ASIAN COUNTRIES 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

2.694 4.574 2.679 2.161 2.862 224.100 36.485 3.633 6.414 87.653 0.271 0.273 GCC COUNTRIES

Saudi Riyal Qatari Riyal Omani Riyal Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham

75.470 77.763 735.190 751.690 77.074

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 254.91 268.22 322.04 392.27 282.50 469.52 2.74 3.634 4.569 2.164 2.857 2.685 76.98 751.90 40.75 402.07 734.68 78.01 75.46

SELL CASH 255.000 268.000 323.000 395.000 285.200 473.000 2.800 3.800 4.880 2.600 3.400 2.760 77.300 752.700 41.100 407.100 740.800 78.400 75.700

ARAB COUNTRIES Egyptian Pound - Cash Egyptian Pound - Transfer Yemen Riyal/for 1000 Tunisian Dinar Jordanian Dinar Lebanese Lira/for 1000 Syrian Lira Morocco Dirham

40.450 40.264 1.320 172.920 399.660 1.899 2.017 35.363

EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 282.900 Euro 391.820 Sterling Pound 467.490 Canadian dollar 266.510 Turkish lira 133.440 Swiss Franc 320.390 Australian Dollar 253.760 US Dollar Buying 281.700 GOLD 20 Gram 10 Gram 5 Gram

230.000 118.000 60.000

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

Selling Rate 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

Bahrain Exchange Company COUNTRY SELL CASH Belgian Franc British Pound Czech Korune Danish Krone Euro Norwegian Krone Romanian Leu Slovakia Swedish Krona Swiss Franc Turkish Lira

Australian Dollar New Zealand Dollar

Canadian Dollar US Dollars US Dollars Mint

Bangladesh Taka Chinese Yuan Hong Kong Dollar Indian Rupee Indonesian Rupiah Japanese Yen Kenyan Shilling Korean Won Malaysian Ringgit Nepalese Rupee Pakistan Rupee Philippine Peso Sierra Leone

SELLDRAFT Europe 0.007353 0.459122 0.006221 0.048186 0.384323 0.042422 0.086970 0.008101 0.039928 0.311793 0.133173

0.008353 0.468122 0.018221 0.053186 0.391823 0.047622 0.86970 0.018101 0.044928 0.321993 0.140173

Australasia 0.244371 0.225968

0.255871 0.235468

America 0.260076 0.278800 0.279300

0.268576 0.283150 0.283150

Asia 0.003557 0.045068 0.034393 0.004342 0.000019 0.002607 0.003267 0.000258 0.082300 0.002974 0.002486 0.006396 0.000062

0.004157 0.048568 0.037143 0.004743 0.000025 0.002787 0.003267 0.000273 0.088300 0.003144 0.002766 0.006676 0.000088

Bahraini Dinar Egyptian Pound Iranian Riyal Iraqi Dinar Jordanian Dinar Kuwaiti Dinar Lebanese Pound Moroccan Dirhams Nigerian Naira Omani Riyal Qatar Riyal Saudi Riyal Syrian Pound Tunisian Dinar Turkish Lira UAE Dirhams Yemeni Riyal

0.219977 0.021059 0.001871 0.009322 0.008376 Arab 0.743942 0.037440 0.000078 0.000187 0.394793 1.0000000 0.000138 0.022626 0.001198 0.728773 0.076996 0.074803 0.002168 0.168662 0.133173 0.076041 0.001285

0.225977 0.029559 0.002451 0.009502 0.008926

0.751942 0.040540 0.000080 0.000247 0.402293 1.0000000 0.000238 0.046626 0.001831 0.734453 0.078209 0.075503 0.002388 0.176662 0.140173 0.077190 0.001365

Al Mulla Exchange CurrencyTransfer 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

Rate (Per 1000) 282.300 391.050 468.350 266.850 4.575 40.610 2.158 3.632 6.376 2.678 751.850 76.850 75.400

THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2014

BUSINESS

Scarred consumers a hard sell for us retail Economic gains fail to resonate with Americans NEW YORK: If there was one lesson from this year’s holiday shopping season, it is that many traditional retailers are having to work a lot harder to persuade Americans to open their pocketbooks.

A lot of stores had to discount heavily to eke out a modest increase in sales, likely squeezing profit margins in the process.

Some improvement in the US economy and declines in the jobless rate, plus gains in stock and home prices, are failing to resonate with many Americans whose incomes are struggling to catch up to where they were before the financial crisis. But to many retail experts and economists there are other less cyclical factors at play.

Consumers are spending more.

Government figures show monthly personal consumption has risen for seven straight months, with November’s outlay marking the fastest increase in five months. But they just are not spending in the shopping malls like they used to.

And that means that, even if the economy picks up significantly, retailers of many products could still struggle.

“We are in a something of an evolutionary process, said Bill Martin, founder of data firm ShopperTrak, which monitors foot traffic in about 60,000 retail stores.

Americans are spending more online and becoming more careful about what they buy, he said.

Some of this has been unfolding over a long period, although the changes might be picking up pace. For example, department stores have found themselves on the wrong end of trends for some time. According to data compiled

by Reuters, they now capture just $3.37 of every $100 of US retail spending, the lowest since records began in 1992, when the number was nearly $9. Some of that is explained by the rise of WalMart Stores Inc and other big box discount retailers. But the pace of decline has picked up, with department stores losing about 0.28 percentage points of market share at an annualized rate between 2002 and 2011, compared with 0.22 in the prior 10 years.

Middle Class The problem is two-fold. The middle class consumers to whom the likes of JC Penney Co Inc and Kohl’s Corp cater have struggled with stagnant wages and a payroll tax rise, prompting them to reduce spending on apparel, said Scott Tuhy, a retail analyst at Moody’s Investors

Service in New York.

People have also gravitated toward spending on services such as travel - airline ticket prices and hotel room rates are up - as well as movie downloads and other content for their TVs, smart phones and tablets. Prices to attend live sports events, theme parks, movies and rock concerts have also been rising. In addition, increasing healthcare costs have been eating up discretionary income,

on services - travel, entertainment.” As data from MasterCard showed last week, it took deep discounts and hefty promotions to spur a 2.3 percent rise in holiday sales between Nov. 1 and Dec. 24 compared with a year earlier. The figures include apparel, jewelry, electronics, luxury goods and home furnishings.

“Given how promotional the season turned out to be, profits are likely to be flat because retailers had to provide

gage rates cooled things off a bit this fall.

Some of the gains reflected a longanticipated release of pent-up demand as the economic recovery has gained momentum, but it might also be partly a reflection of changing attitudes, with the focus on more practical purchases.

According to the National Association of Realtors, more than half of home buyers between July 2012 and June 2013 made some sacrifices, such as reducing

NEW YORK: Shoppers walk past windows at a Joe Fresh clothing store in New York. US consumer confidence jumped in December 2013 on a better outlook for hiring and growth, supporting other signs that show the economy could accelerate in 2014. —AP with many employers seeking higher contributions from their staff.

According to the Commerce Department, spending on services hit an annual rate of $7.1 trillion in November, by far the biggest slice of overall consumption.

“There was a day you bought your TV, refrigerator, furniture, everything in a department store, whereas today, it’s really just apparel and maybe jewelry,” said Stuart Hoffman, an economist at PNC Financial Services Group in Pittsburgh. “But as incomes rise over time, people spend more

quite a lot of discounts to get those sales,” said Moody’s Tuhy.

Big-ticket items And it’s not as if people aren’t doing some serious shopping. US sales of bigticket items such as autos and homerelated goods such as washing machines, as well as purchases in homeimprovement stores, surged in 2013, boosting overall retail sales. Homes sales also increased pretty steadily from mid2012, although a summer spike in mort-

spending on luxury items, entertainment and clothing. “Pent-up demand has helped on housing and autos, but consumers are still cautious. Things are getting better, yes, but even if you have a job, things are still tight,” said Sam Bullard, an economist at Wells Fargo in Charlotte.

In its 2014 retail industry outlook, Moody’s said it expects the auto and home improvement sectors to outperform again in 2014, good news for Home Depot Inc and General Motors Co ,

whose stocks are up 32 percent and 41 percent, respectively, this year. It’s been a different story with more ordinary purchases. An Ipsos/Reuters poll released just ahead of the Christmas holiday found consumers plan to spend about a third less this year than last year on items such as jewelry, toys and electronics.

Sluggish sales of toys and packaged foods pushed down sales at Wal-Mart’s US stores in the third quarter and prompted the company to forecast disappointing holiday sales results, while Target Corp blamed “constrained” consumer spending for a tepid rise in quarterly sales.

One factor is that the giant T V is much cheaper than it was, and tablets and many of today’s laptop and desktop PCs are cheaper than their predecessors of a few years ago, again not helping store sales. Shoppers are also increasingly likely to buy such items online from the likes of Amazon.com Inc and Apple Inc. Participants in Deloitte’s 2013 holiday shopping survey for the first time named the Internet as their number one shopping venue, with 68 percent of smart phone users and 63 percent of tablet users planning to use their devices to help them. As people check out goods online before heading to the store impulse buying can take a hit, said Martin. ShopperTrak data shows mall shoppers visited an average of 3 to 3-1/2 stores this year, down from 4-1/2 to 5 in 2007.

The improvement in the economy and gains in asset prices have also clearly not trickled down to large segments of the broader population.

Hiring has picked up, helping to push the jobless rate to a five-year low of 7 percent in November, but some 11 million Americans are still unemployed, and many are earning less than before the recession. When adjusted for inflation, average weekly wages have barely budged since late 2008.

That has made Americans, particularly those in middle- and lower-income brackets, far more discerning when it comes to their spending. “There’s been psychological scarring for people from this recession, much like how some people who lived through the Depression said they were scarred,” said Hoffman.

“There are still a lot of people who can’t afford to do much, and those who can are holding back.” —Reuters

S Korea trade surplus hits new high in 2013 SEOUL: South Korea’s trade surplus widened to a new high of $44.19 billion in 2013, helped by steady growth in exports, government data showed yesterday.

Total exports in 2013 rose 2.2 percent from a year ago to a record high of $559.72 billion while imports fell 0.8 percent to $515.53 billion, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The trade bal-

ance has been in the black since February 2012. In December alone, exports climbed 7.1 percent year-on-year to $48.05 billion and imports rose 3.0 percent to $44.38 billion. Economic officials said Asia’s fourthlargest economy would remain on track for recovery. The government has predicted the economy would grow 2.8 percent in 2013 and 3.9 percent in 2014 —AFP

Taiwan president calls for further market-opening TAIPEI: Taiwan must open its markets wider to secure free trade deals which are badly needed in the face of stiff regional competition, President Ma Ying-jeou said yesterday.

His appeal came as a controversial services sector trade agreement with China is stalled in parliament.

In a New Year address, Ma said regional and bilateral free trade agreements were now playing greater roles than the World Trade Organization. He said Taiwan had been slow to follow the trend and could end up marginalized and struggling to compete with rivals such as South Korea and Japan.

Ma, who initiated political detente with former bitter rival China, said regional economic integration required trade-offs. “We have to abide by the principles of equality and reciprocity. If we expect other countries to deregulate and open their markets to trade and investment from Taiwan, we ourselves have to do the same,” he said.

Ma said Taiwanese must not be “overly concerned” at trade deals, noting that the agricultural sector survived the impact of

market-opening when the island joined the WTO in 2002.

Under the service trade agreement signed in June, China will open 80 of its service sectors to Taiwanese companies, while Taiwan will allow Chinese investment in 64 such sectors.

The pact is a follow-up to a sweeping Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement signed in 2010 to reduce trade barriers between China and Taiwan. Ma’s Kuomintang government says the services pact will boost the economy but the opposition Democratic Progressive Party says it will hurt smaller services companies.

Ma said the trade pacts with China are part of efforts to bolster the economy, and his administration hopes to join proposed multinational free trade blocs such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.

Taiwan forged free trade pacts with Singapore and New Zealand last year even though neither officially recognizes the island. —AFP

Poverty in Italy hits record levels ROME: Poverty in Italy has reached its highest level in at least 16 years as the economic crisis has bitten, driving up unemployment and cutting wages, according to a report on social cohesion issued yesterday. Relative poverty, defined as a family of two living on a monthly income of 991 euros ($1,400) or less, affected 12.7 percent of families, the highest level recorded since the current series of data began in 1997, the report by statistics agency ISTAT said.

The report, a compendium of data on issues ranging from employment to demographics, said poverty had deepened in all areas of Italy between 2011 and 2012. Relative poverty rose from 4.9 percent to 6.2 percent in the richer north and from 23.3 percent to 26.2 percent in the poorer south. The report painted a grim picture of the impact of the country’s worst postwar recession, with joblessness at record levels, incomes squeezed and permanent, full-time employment declining.

“As one of the countries most affected by the crisis, Italy registered a progressive decline

in the main macroeconomic and social indicators in 2012,” Labor Minister and former ISTAT chief Enrico Giovannini said in the introduction to the report. “Nonetheless social cohesion has held up, enabling the country to support sacrifices aimed at recovering financial stability and passing important reforms,” he said. The relatively optimistic tone contrasted sharply with recent comments from employers’ federation Confindustria, which warned this month that the recession had inflicted damage on the Italian economy comparable to that left by a war.

The hardships caused by unemployment and measures taken to keep straining public finances under control have fed mounting discontent, typified by a long series of occasionally violent street protests earlier this month.

Unemployment in Italy is at its highest level since at least the late 1970s with the overall jobless rate at 12.5 percent and youth unemployment as high as 41.2 percent in October, according to the latest ISTAT figures. —Reuters

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian protesters gathered in front of Independence Square during a protest against the rising cost of living in Kuala Lumpur. Thousands of demonstrators clad in black flooded a square in the centre of the Malaysian capital late on December 31 to protest at increases in petrol and other prices, putting pressure on a government struggling to reduce debt. —AFP

Thousands protest price hikes in Malaysia KUALA LUMPUR: Thousands of demonstrators clad in black flooded a square in the centre of the Malaysian capital late Tuesday to protest at increases in petrol and other prices, putting pressure on a government struggling to reduce debt.

Demonstrators gathered at Kuala Lumpur’s Independence Square in defiance of police warnings not to rally and caused a New Year Eve’s performance held there by the city to be cut short.

The protest ended peacefully after midnight. Organizers said some 15,000 people attended the rally, while police put the number at 5,000. Wearing black T-shirts and Guy Fawkes masks-a symbol of antiestablishment defiance worldwide-

the protestors carried posters that read “Drop prices” and “Defending our rights” and chanted “Long live the people”.

“Today is a signal. We hope the government realizes that the people are angry and can listen to our demands-reduce the cost of living for the people,” Bukhairy Sofian, chairman of youth group Student Solidarity Movement Malaysia, said after giving a speech together with other activists and opposition politicians. “There is too much corruption,” he said, adding there could be more protests.

Prime Minister Najib Razak, whose Barisan Nasional (National Front) coalition won May elections with its worst showing yet in its 56year rule, has been struggling to

reduce the debt of Southeast Asia’s third largest economy. In his New Year message, Najib said cutting subsidies of essentials, such as petrol and sugar, which cost the government billions of dollars, and raising other prices were “necessary”. “We must accept that we have to make changes to keep our finances under control,” he said, adding low-income earners would continue to receive handouts to help them. Petrol prices rose 10.5 percent when the government cut fuel subsidies for the first time since 2010 in September, while electricity tariffs have been increased by some 15 percent.

Malaysia has one of Asia’s highest debt-to-GDP ratios, and Fitch ratings agency in July warned the country to get its financial house in order or

face a possible sovereign-debt downgrade.

Malaysian critics say the government has failed in its pledge to fight endemic corruption. Authorities had urged people not to gather, alleging protesters would cause unrest, but hundreds of police on stand-by allowed them to rally. A 2012 electoral reform demonstration at the square ended in violence when protesters broke through a barricade and police retaliated with tear gas, water cannon and mass arrests. “The government earns a lot. There are many things that they can do to take care of the people. But the cost of living is getting higher and higher,” said Shafiq Baik, 23, who earns about 800 ringgit ($240) a month selling chicken rice. —AFP

BUSINESS

THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2014

MARIETTA, Georgia: Retired US Army Sgt 1st Class Duane Stubbs (right) of Morrow shakes hands with retired US Army 1st Sgt Leland Smith, CEO of SolidHires, during a job fair for veterans at the VFW Post 2681, in Marietta, Georgia. — AP

Crisis of the American middle class US economic trends point to longer term geopolitical problem

By George Friedman WASHINGTON: When I wrote about the crisis of unemployment in Europe, I received a great deal of feedback.

Europeans agreed that this is the core problem while Americans argued that the United States has the same problem, asserting that US unemployment is twice as high as the government’s official unemployment rate.

My counterargument is that unemployment in the United States is not a problem in the same sense that it is in Europe because it does not pose a geopolitical threat. The United States does not face political disintegration from unemployment, whatever the number is.

Europe might.

At the same time, I would agree that the United States faces a potentially significant but longer-term geopolitical problem deriving from economic trends.

The threat to the United States is the persistent decline in the middle class’ standard of living, a problem that is reshaping the social order that has been in place since World War II and that, if it continues, poses a threat to American power.

The median household income of Americans in 2011 was $49,103. Adjusted for inflation, the median income is just below what it was in 1989 and is $4,000 less than it was in 2000. Take-home income is a bit less than $40,000 when Social Security and state and federal taxes are included. That means a monthly income, per household, of about $3,300. It is urgent to bear in mind that half of all American households earn less than this.

It is also vital to consider not the difference between 1990 and 2011, but the difference between the 1950s and 1960s and the 21st century. This is where the difference in the meaning of middle class becomes most apparent.

In the 1950s and 1960s, the median income allowed you to live with a single earner-normally the husband, with the wife typically working as homemaker-and roughly three children. It permitted the purchase of modest tract housing, one late model car and an older one. It allowed a driving vacation somewhere and, with care, some savings as well. I know this because my family was lower-middle class, and this is how we lived, and I know many others in my generation who had the same background. It was not an easy life and many luxuries were denied us, but it wasn’t a bad life at all.

Someone earning the median income today might just pull this off, but it wouldn’t be easy. Assuming that he did not have college loans to pay off but did have two car loans to pay totaling $700 a month, and that he could buy food, clothing and cover his utilities for $1,200 a month, he would have $1,400 a month for mortgage, real estate taxes and insurance, plus some funds for fixing the air conditioner and dishwasher. At a 5 percent mortgage rate, that would allow him to buy a house in the $200,000 range.

He would get a refund back on his taxes from deductions but that would go to pay credit card bills he had from Christmas presents and emergencies. It could be done, but not easily and with great difficulty in major metropolitan areas. And if his employer didn’t cover health insurance, that $4,000-5,000 for three or four people would severely limit his expenses. And of course, he would have to have $20,000-40,000 for a down payment and closing costs on his home. There would be little else left over for a week at the seashore with the kids.

And this is for the median. Those below him-half of all households-would be shut out of what is considered middle-class life, with the house, the car and the other associated amenities. Those amenities shift upward on the scale for people with at least $70,000 in income. The basics might be available at the median level, given favorable individual circumstance, but below that life becomes surprisingly meager, even in the range of the middle class and certainly what used to be called the lower-middle class.

Expectation I should pause and mention that this was one of the fundamental causes of the 2007-2008 subprime lending crisis. People below the median took out loans with deferred interest with the expectation that their incomes would continue the rise that was traditional since World War II. The caricature of the borrower as irre-

sponsible misses the point. The expectation of rising real incomes was built into the American culture, and many assumed based on that that the rise would resume in five years. When it didn’t they were trapped, but given history, they were not making an irresponsible assumption.

American history was always filled with the assumption that upward mobility was possible. The Midwest and West opened land that could be exploited, and the massive industrialization in the late 19th and early 20th centuries opened opportunities. There was a systemic expectation of upward mobility built into American culture and reality.

The Great Depression was a shock to the system, and it wasn’t solved by the New Deal, nor even by World War II alone. The next drive for upward mobility came from post-war programs for veterans, of whom there were more than 10 million. These programs were instrumental in creating post-industrial America, by creating a class of suburban professionals. There were three programs that were critical: The GI Bill, which allowed veterans to go to college after the war, becoming professionals frequently several notches above their parents. - The part of the GI Bill that provided federally guaranteed mortgages to veterans, allowing low and no down payment mortgages and low interest rates to graduates of publicly funded universities. - The federally funded Interstate Highway System, which made access to land close to but outside of cities easier, enabling both the dispersal of populations on inexpensive land (which made single-family houses possible) and, later, the dispersal of business to the suburbs.

erates, with a management frequently unable to keep up with the complexity of multiple lines of business.

For these and many other reasons, the corporation became increasingly inefficient, and in the terms of the 1980s, they had to be re-engineered-which meant taken apart, pared down, refined and refocused. And the re-engineering of the corporation, designed to make them agile, meant that there was a permanent revolution in business.

Everything was being reinvented. Huge amounts of money, managed by people whose specialty was reengineering companies, were deployed. The choice was between total failure and radical change. From the point of view of the individual worker, this frequently meant the same thing: unemployment. From the view of the economy, it meant the creation of value whether through breaking up companies, closing some of them or sending jobs overseas. It was designed to increase the total efficiency, and it worked for the most part.

This is where the disjuncture occurred. From the point of view of the investor, they had saved the corporation from total meltdown by redesigning it. From the point of view of the workers, some retained the jobs that they would have lost, while others lost the jobs they would have lost anyway. But the important thing is not the subjective bitterness of those who lost their jobs, but something more complex.

As the permanent corporate jobs declined, more people were starting over. Some of them were starting over every few years as the agile corporation grew more efficient and needed fewer employees. That meant that if they got new jobs it would not be at the munificent corporate pay rate but at near entry-level rates in the

The Great Depression was a shock to the system, and it wasn’t solved by the New Deal, nor even by World War II alone. The next drive for upward mobility came from post-war programs for veterans, of whom there were more than 10 million. These programs were instrumental in creating post-industrial America, by creating a class of suburban professionals.

There were undoubtedly many other things that contributed to this, but these three not only reshaped America but also created a new dimension to the upward mobility that was built into American life from the beginning. Moreover, these programs were all directed toward veterans, to whom it was acknowledged a debt was due, or were created for military reasons (the Interstate Highway System was funded to enable the rapid movement of troops from coast to coast, which during World War II was found to be impossible). As a result, there was consensus around the moral propriety of the programs.

The subprime fiasco was rooted in the failure to understand that the foundations of middle class life were not under temporary pressure but something more fundamental. Where a single earner could support a middle class family in the generation after World War II, it now took at least two earners. That meant that the rise of the double-income family corresponded with the decline of the middle class. The lower you go on the income scale, the more likely you are to be a single mother. That shift away from social pressure for two parent homes was certainly part of the problem.

Re-engineering corporation But there was, I think, the crisis of the modern corporation. Corporations provided long-term employment to the middle class. It was not unusual to spend your entire life working for one. Working for a corporation, you received yearly pay increases, either as a union or non-union worker. The middle class had both job security and rising income, along with retirement and other benefits.

Over the course of time, the culture of the corporation diverged from the realities, as corporate productivity lagged behind costs and the corporations became more and more dysfunctional and ultimately unsupportable. In addition, the corporations ceased focusing on doing one thing well and instead became conglom-

small companies that were now the growth engine. As these companies failed, were bought or shifted direction, they would lose their jobs and start over again.

Wages didn’t rise for them and for long periods they might be unemployed, never to get a job again in their now obsolete fields, and certainly not working at a company for the next 20 years. The restructuring of inefficient companies did create substantial value, but that value did not flow to the now laid-off workers.

Some might flow to the remaining workers, but much of it went to the engineers who restructured the companies and the investors they represented.

Statistics reveal that, since 1947 (when the data was first compiled), corporate profits as a percentage of gross domestic product are now at their highest level, while wages as a percentage of GDP are now at their lowest level. It was not a question of making the economy more efficient-it did do that-it was a question of where the value accumulated. The upper segment of the wage curve and the investors continued to make money.

The middle class divided into a segment that entered the upper-middle class, while another faction sank into the lower-middle class. American society on the whole was never egalitarian. It always accepted that there would be substantial differences in wages and wealth.

Indeed, progress was in some ways driven by a desire to emulate the wealthy. There was also the expectation that while others received far more, the entire wealth structure would rise in tandem. It was also understood that, because of skill or luck, others would lose.

What we are facing now is a structural shift, in which the middle class’ center, not because of laziness or stupidity, is shifting downward in terms of standard of living. It is a structural shift that is rooted in social change (the breakdown of the conventional family) and economic change (the decline of traditional corporations and the creation of corporate agility that places individual workers at a massive disadvantage). The inherent crisis rests in an increasingly efficient economy and a pop-

ulation that can’t consume what is produced because it can’t afford the products. This has happened numerous times in history, but the United States, excepting the Great Depression, was the counterexample.

Obviously, this is a massive political debate, save that political debates identify problems without clarifying them. In political debates, someone must be blamed. In reality, these processes are beyond even the government’s ability to control. On one hand, the traditional corporation was beneficial to the workers until it collapsed under the burden of its costs. On the other hand, the efficiencies created threaten to undermine consumption by weakening the effective demand among half of society.

The long-term threat The greatest danger is one that will not be faced for decades but that is lurking out there. The United States was built on the assumption that a rising tide lifts all ships. That has not been the case for the past generation, and there is no indication that this socio-economic reality will change any time soon. That means that a core assumption is at risk. The problem is that social stability has been built around this assumption-not on the assumption that everyone is owed a living, but the assumption that on the whole, all benefit from growing productivity and efficiency.

If we move to a system where half of the country is either stagnant or losing ground while the other half is surging, the social fabric of the United States is at risk, and with it the massive global power the United States has accumulated. Other superpowers such as Britain or Rome did not have the idea of a perpetually improving condition of the middle class as a core value.

The United States does. If it loses that, it loses one of the pillars of its geopolitical power. The left would argue that the solution is for laws to transfer wealth from the rich to the middle class. That would increase consumption but, depending on the scope, would threaten the amount of capital available to investment by the transfer itself and by eliminating incentives to invest. You can’t invest what you don’t have, and you won’t accept the risk of investment if the payoff is transferred away from you.

The agility of the American corporation is critical. The right will argue that allowing the free market to function will fix the problem. The free market doesn’t guarantee social outcomes, merely economic ones. In other words, it may give more efficiency on the whole and grow the economy as a whole, but by itself it doesn’t guarantee how wealth is distributed. The left cannot be indifferent to the historical consequences of extreme redistribution of wealth. The right cannot be indifferent to the political consequences of a middle-class life undermined, nor can it be indifferent to half the population’s inability to buy the products and services that businesses sell.

The most significant actions made by governments tend to be unintentional. The GI Bill was designed to limit unemployment among returning serviceman; it inadvertently created a professional class of college graduates.

The VA loan was designed to stimulate the construction industry; it created the basis for suburban home ownership. The Interstate Highway System was meant to move troops rapidly in the event of war; it created a new pattern of land use that was suburbia.

It is unclear how the private sector can deal with the problem of pressure on the middle class. Government programs frequently fail to fulfill even minimal intentions while squandering scarce resources. The United States has been a fortunate country, with solutions frequently emerging in unexpected ways. It would seem to me that unless the United States gets lucky again, its global dominance is in jeopardy. Considering its history, the United States can expect to get lucky again, but it usually gets lucky when it is frightened.

And at this point it isn’t frightened but angry, believing that if only its own solutions were employed, this problem and all others would go away. I am arguing that the conventional solutions offered by all sides do not yet grasp the magnitude of the problem-that the foundation of American society is at risk-and therefore all sides are content to repeat what has been said before. People who are smarter and luckier than I am will have to craft the solution. I am simply pointing out the potential consequences of the problem and the inadequacy of all the ideas I have seen so far. — Stratfor

THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2014

BUSINESS

Wall St ends best year since 1990s NEW YORK: US stocks closed out their best year in more than 15 years on Tuesday, with major indexes advancing throughout 2013 on the back of the Federal Reserve’s massive stimulus and expectations for accelerating growth going forward. Wall Street ended 2013 with its positive momentum intact, advancing in its final trading day of the year on the back of positive consumer confidence data.

The S&P 500 rose 29.6 percent over the year, its best annual performance since 1997, while the Dow climbed 26.5 percent in its best year since 1995. The Nasdaq jumped 38.3 percent, its best year since 2009. Both the Dow and the S&P 500 finished the final trading day of 2013 at record closing highs. In a sign of improving sentiment, the CBOE Volatility Index or VIX fell 23.9 percent over the year, the biggest annual drop for the so-called “fear index” since 2009.

All 10 S&P 500 sector indexes ended the year with gains as investors rode the Fed’s extraordinary stimulus in a year that had only the slightest of hiccups. Wall Street even weathered a partial shutdown of the US government, as well as the recent announcement that the Fed would trim its monthly bond purchases in response to an improving economic picture.

“This has been a terrific year, with all the concerns we had in January (2013) proving unfounded, and with current economic growth giving us a strong outlook for 2014,” said John Carey, portfolio manager at Pioneer Investment Management in Boston.

Trading volume was once again light in US markets, which will be closed Wednesday for the New Year’s holiday. Still, investors found reasons to buy after a read on consumer confidence rose more than expected in December. The S&P/CaseShiller composite index of home prices in 20 metropolitan areas gained 0.2 percent in October from September, but posted the strongest annualized gain in October in more than seven years.

“There’s been a generally positive trend to news, including the confidence report, which bodes well for conditions next year and gives us really no reason to sell,” said Carey, who helps oversee $220 billion in assets. About 63 percent of stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange closed higher for the day, while 55 percent of the

shares traded on the Nasdaq ended in positive territory.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 72.37 points, or 0.44 percent, to end at 16,576.66. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index advanced 7.29 points, or 0.40 percent, to finish at 1,848.36. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 22.39 points, or 0.54 percent, to close at 4,176.59.

The Dow also touched an all-time intraday high of 16,588.25 on Tuesday, while the S&P 500 set a record intraday peak of 1,849.44. In the fourth quarter, the Dow rose 9.6 percent, the S&P 500 gained 9.9 percent and the Nasdaq climbed 10.7 percent. In December alone, the Dow advanced 3 percent, the S&P 500 rose 2.4 percent and the Nasdaq shot up 2.9 percent. It was the fourth straight monthly rally for all three. Gains in the year were led by consumer discretionary stocks, with the sector index up 40.4 percent. The sectors with the slimmest gains of the year - telecom, which rose 6.6 percent, and utilities, up 16.5 percent - are both considered defensive groups.

Among specific names, Netflix Inc was the S&P 500’s biggest gainer, soaring 295.6 percent. Newmont Mining was the index’s biggest loser, falling 50.6 percent in 2013.

Only 38 stocks in the S&P 500 ended the year in the red.

Few investors expect 2014 to deliver the same scale of returns. According to the most recent Reuters equity poll, the S&P 500 is seen rising to 1,925 by the end of 2014, which represents an upside of 4.1 percent from current levels. In the corporate arena, Hertz Global Holdings Inc surged 10.5 percent to close at $28.62 after the company said it had adopted a oneyear shareholder rights plan in response to “unusual and substantial activity” it has observed in its shares.

Marvell Technology Group Ltd jumped 4.5 percent to end at $14.38 after private equity firm KKR & Co LLP reported a 6.8 percent stake in the chipmaker, according to a regulatory filing.

Twitter Inc broke its steep two-day losing streak, gaining 5.2 percent to close at $63.65. The stock’s price had tumbled 17 percent between Thursday and Monday.

About 4.31 billion shares traded on all US platforms, according to BATS exchange data, well below the December average of 5.89 billion shares. —Reuters

GREECE: A man holding an umbrella walks past the Parliament in Athens yesterday. Greece yesterday began a six-month stint as president of the European Union, as it continues its own struggle against recession and social unrest. —AFP

Numbers improve, problems worsen in 2014 for Greece Credit rating began long journey out of junk territory ATHENS: Greece assumed the presidency of the European Union yesterday, starting 2014 with a promise by the government to pull the country out of a six-year recession, keep a balanced budget, and effectively end a financial crisis that rattled the euro.

“In 2014, Greece will return to the markets and start to become a normal country again,” Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said in a televised New Year’s address. “After six unending, painful years, 2014 will herald the prospect of growth ... What’s important is that we’ve avoided the worst.”

But have they? With most of the 240 billion euros ($330 billion) in bailout loans already paid out, Greece still has an unsustainably high national debt, faces the threat of renewed political instability, and has more than one-in-four jobless and steadily sliding into poverty.

Greeks greeted the New Year after many spent hours lining up in tax offices to pay austerity levies on time. And heavy smog has returned to the country’s capital after decades this winter as households left with no heating throw scrap wood and garbage onto the fireplace to try to keep warm.

axing long-standing labor rights and market protection rules - liberalizing everything from truck licenses to permits for neighborhood bakeries.

But unemployment numbers continued to get worse, and critics argue the system remains bogged down in excessive bureaucracy.

Unemployed barber Spyros Priftis has been trying to open his own hair salon for nearly three years at a holiday resort on his native island of Corfu, with rules still unclear on the status of his hairdressing diploma obtained from a private college.

“It takes you five years to open up a barber shop in Greece: Two years

the parties backing them.

Conservative Prime Minister Samaras heads the current coalition government and has seen his support in the 300-seat parliament dwindle in the past 18 months from 179 lawmakers to 153.

Samaras recently fell behind in the polls to the left-wing Syriza party that wants to radically renegotiate or even tear up bailout deals, arguing they have failed to deliver recovery and are socially catastrophic.

Syriza has vowed to try to topple the government at twin elections in May for local government and the

size of the once-massive public sector reduced. There’s more good news: The country’s credit rating has begun a long climb out of junk territory. Shares on the Athens Stock Exchange closed at 1,162.68 on the year’s last day of trading Tuesday, still well short of prerecession prices but up an impressive 28 percent on the year. And borrowing rates continued to ease from sky-high crisis levels, the yield on 10-year bonds ending 2013 at 8.42 percent, from nearly 13 percent in late March. Still, the weakened economy is set to be burdened by a national debt of 176

Here’s a look at some of Greece’s most pressing problems:

KARACHI: Pakistani stockbrokers converse during a trading session at the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) in Karachi yesterday. The benchmark KSE-100 index closed at 25608.85 points, with an increase of 347.71 points during the day’s trade. —AFP

S&P 500 index has its best year since 1997 NEW YORK: The stock market closed out a record year with more all-time highs on Tuesday, giving US indexes their biggest annual gains in almost two decades. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index notched its best year since 1997; The Dow Jones industrial average rose the most since 1995.

While trading was light on the last day of the year, investors were able to rally behind a report that showed US consumer confidence improved significantly in December.

The early signs for the stock market in 2014 are also encouraging. “I expect a lot of good things for the new year,” Karyn Cavanaugh, market strategist with ING US Investment Management, said. “The economy is getting better and corporate earnings are improving. That’s going to drive the market higher next year as well.”

On Tuesday the Standard & Poor’s 500 rose 7.29 points, or 0.4 percent, to 1,848.36. The index ended 2013 up 29.6 percent. With dividends included, the total return was 31.9 percent. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 72.37 points, or 0.4 percent, to 16,576.66. The blue chips ended the year up 26.5 percent.

Lastly, the Nasdaq composite rose 22.39 points, or 0.5 percent, to close out 2013 at 4,176.59. The Nasdaq did far better than the Dow and S&P, rising 38.3 percent for the year. While stocks clawed higher for most of 2013, the rally accelerated into the end of the year. The Federal Reserve’s announcement on Dec. 18 that it would start paring back, or “tapering,” its economic stimulus pushed stocks further into record territory.

“Since the Fed announced it was tapering its stimulus program two weeks ago, investors that were underinvested in

stocks have pulled out of gold and bonds and moved it into stocks,” said J J Kinahan, chief strategist with TD Ameritrade. “It’s been a quiet rally.” All 10 sectors of the S&P 500 ended the year higher, but the year’s biggest gainers were companies most exposed to the US economic recovery. Consumer discretionary stocks in the S&P 500 rose 40 percent this year. Close behind were industrial stocks with a gain of 37 percent.

As it has been for the last two weeks of the year, trading volume was very low Tuesday. Roughly 2.3 billion shares were traded on the New York Stock Exchange, about 40 percent below average. Most investors closed their books before the week of Christmas.

2013’s rally took many investors by surprise. Any number of things could have derailed the market’s rally: The US government shutdown, the possibility of a default, the threat of military action in Syria, budget cuts and new worries about European government debt. Instead, the market just kept on going.

Skittish investors who jumped out of stocks this year not only lost out, but were punished for it.

Bond investors lost money this year, according to Barclays Capital US Aggregate Bond Index, a broad measure of the debt market. The index fell 3 percent this year, the first decline since 1999.

If bond investors had a disappointing year, gold investors got slammed. Gold lost 28 percent of its value in 2013, its worst year since 1981. With the US economy improving and stocks performing so well, gold is likely to remain under pressure, Kinahan said. US financial markets will be closed on Wednesday for New Year’s Day. —AP

No job, no insurance Greece’s financial tailspin wiped out nearly a quarter of its economy and roughly a million jobs. From 7.2 percent before the recession in 2008, unemployment exploded, reaching 27 percent in the third quarter of 2013, giving Greece the worst job rating among the 34 advanced economies in the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

More than 70 percent of the unemployed have been out of work for more than a year, leaving most to rely on charity after losing monthly benefit payments and health insurance.

“It’s inconceivable that someone with the misfortune of having no work cannot have proper access to state health care,” said George Patoulis, head of the Athens Medical Association.

Worst affected, he said, are those with chronic illnesses, unemployed parents seeking vaccinations for their newborn children, and patients in need of expensive drugs including cancer treatment.

“We estimate that about 2 million people are without health insurance, out of a total of nearly 8 million who require insurance ... and the problem looks set to continue in 2014,” Patoulis said. “It’s like planting dynamite under a country’s public health.”

Barber’s bureaucracy Pro-bailout governments have tried to stimulate employment by slashing the minimum wage and

ATHENS: A man prepares to hand back his vehicle’s plates outside a tax office in Athens on Tuesday. A few hours before the New Year, the Greek administration is as full as department stores with motorists coming to hand back their vehicles’ plates since they do not or can no longer afford to pay the taxes. —AFP for a diploma, two years for an apprenticeship, and one year to get your papers sorted out,” the 37-yearold said.

“Five years! What am I, a heart surgeon? I just want to open a barber shop.” In desperation, Priftis began writing dozens of letters of complaint and faxing them to Greek authorities, as well as European Union finance commissioner Olli Rehn and International Monetary Fund managing director Christine Largarde. Some of his letters got an answer. And the usually stern EUIMF negotiators even promised to take up his case with the government during their inspections in Athens. He’s still waiting for news.

European Parliament. “In (2014) we will leave behind the decadent political establishment that left the country bankrupt, an establishment of graft and corruption,” said Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras, who turns 40 this year. Surveys strongly suggest the two main parties both lack the support to govern outright.

Public sympathy for the far-right Golden Dawn party, meanwhile, remains strong - polling at around 9 percent - despite the jailing of its leadership on charges of criminal activity and recently emerged videotape showing senior party officials greeting newly sworn in members with Nazi salutes.

Political peril Greece is being run by its third pro-bailout government in two years, as unpopular austerity measures wear out public support for

Debt mountain Despite all the bad news, few people doubt that Greece’s fiscal situation is slowly improving, with overspending under control and

percent of gross domestic product this year, leaving Athens in vital need of additional debt relief from its emergency creditors. Samaras wants to avoid seeking additional loan money to cover an expected budget shortfall in 2014 and instead hopes to return to bond markets after a four-year absence.

“A critical factor is the whether there can be at least a modest bond issue on the international markets.

That would mark the end of the bailout program and could have a significant political effect,” said Theodore Krintas, managing director at Attica Wealth Management.

“So I think 2014 will be a year with no middle-ground scenario.

Things will either go well, or they will go badly. Either they will develop much more positively than 2013, or it’ll be a year of great turbulence.

It won’t be business as usual, that’s for sure.” —AP

Turkey hikes consumption taxes ISTANBUL: Turkey has raised the special consumption tax on new passenger cars, alcoholic drinks, tobacco products and mobile telephones, the country ’s Official Gazette announced yesterday. The brief announcement did not explain the move or say how much new revenue it was expected to generate. The central bank is struggling to curb inflation, which is expected to end the year around 7 percent, and support the lira currency, which lost 17 percent of its value against the US dollar last year.

The country’s banking watchdog has proposed curbing consumers’ use of credit cards to pay for goods such as cars with monthly instalments, as a step to raise the domestic savings rate and reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign capital to finance consumption. The consumption tax on passenger cars was raised by between 5 and 15 percentage points, depending on the size of engine, bringing it to a range of 45 to 145 percent.

The same tax was increased by 15 percent in lira terms on beer and 10 percent on other

alcoholic beverages. The minimum tax on a packet of cigarettes was lifted to 3.75 lira ($1.75) from 3.22 lira, while the tax on mobile phones was raised to 120 lira from 100 lira, the official state publication said. The Turkish Statistics Institute will release nationwide December inflation data on Friday. Figures from the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday showed retail prices in Turkey’s largest city rose 7.98 percent year-on-year last month while wholesale prices climbed 5.97 percent. —Reuters

THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2014

BUSINESS

DFSA signs agreements with Italian regulators ROME: The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) entered into two important agreements, last week, with the Commissione Nazionale per le Societa e la Borsa (Italian Securities and Exchange Commission) or CONSOB and Bank d’Italia (Bank of Italy), in Rome.

CONSOB is the public authority responsible for regulating the Italian securities market and protecting the investing public. It also conducts investigations with respect to potential infringements of insider dealing and market manipulation law.

The Bank of Italy is the central bank of the Republic of Italy and is

MENACORP bags 2 awards at 2013 GCC Investment & Development event DUBAI: MENACORP, the UAE’s leading investment bank, received two major recognitions - ‘Best Securities Dealing Services’ and ‘Best Financial Research

Hamad Ghanem Bin Hamoodah Firm’ - at the 2013 GCC Investment and Development Awards held recently by London-based World Finance Magazine, one of the financial industry’s most prestigious publications.

World Finance has been recognizing industry achievement, innovation and brilliance through its annual awards since 2007. A judging panel with a collective experience of 230 years of financial and business journalism picks out winners through the support of a research team and the key insights of readers. In this year’s awards, MENACORP tied for the most number of awards won

under its category in the company of other prominent winners such as the International Petroleum Investment Company, Kuwait Investment Company, Khalifa Port Abu Dhabi, and Saudi Industrial Development Company.

MENACORP CEO Fathi Ben Grira personally accepted the company’s two awards during a ceremony held at the London Stock Exchange in the presence of senior representatives of World Finance Magazine.

“It is indeed a great achievement for our team and for our shareholders of the Bin Hamoodah Group overall to be honored by a publication as prestigious as World Finance Magazine, and for two awards at the GCC level at that.

This recognition is a testament to MENACORP’s emergence as a respected player within the regional financial services industry. It also reflects our successful realization of the visions of our Chairman, Hamad Ghanem Bin Hamoodah.” said Ben Grira.

MENACORP has consistently ranked first in terms of trade value on both the Dubai Financial Market and the Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange. It currently handles the largest team of brokers in the MENA region. The brokerage house is a preferred resource for daily technical analysis reports in both the English and Arabic languages on several listed companies.

For 2014, MENACORP plans to engage in several high-profile Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) across the UAE markets and continue to provide critical research support for clients.

REC launches Saudi Logitrans 2014 and Saudi Rail 2014 RIYADH: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s (KSA) infrastructure spending continues to surpass expectations. The Kingdom is especially committed to a nationwide transportation infrastructure expansion program which will feature one of the world’s most sophisticated rail and metro networks.

Spending on rail projects alone is forecast to reach around $79 billion in the next 10 years.

The total value of logistics projects connected to such developments across the GCC is projected to reach $3.7 billion by 2015. Last year GCC countries signed the biggest number of logistics contracts in the Middle East, fueled by large investments, high consumer spending, and rapid economic growth. The magnitude and multimodal scope of regional transport investment initiatives are creating huge opportunities for developers, contractors, transport facility operators and their related industries.

To highlight Saudi Arabia’s market potential, Riyadh Exhibitions Company (REC), the leading exhibitions and conferences organizer, recently announced the launch of Saudi Logitrans 2014 The International Exhibition for Transport, Logistics and Freight, and Saudi Rail 2014 - The International Exhibition for Rail, Metro Lines and Urban Transportation.

The two events will be held from October 27 to 29, 2014 at the Riyadh International Convention and Exhibitions Center (RICEC), showcasing the latest products, equipment, technologies and services from international businesses from respective industries and providing an effective networking forum.

Zeyad Al-Rukban, Deputy General Manager, Riyadh Exhibitions Company, said: “The aggressive pace of transportation infrastructure development in Saudi Arabia offers a conducive environment for regional and international logistics service providers to establish and expand their presence here. By providing integrated supply chains, freight forwarding services and spe-

Financial Centre (DIFC). These just completed arrangements will give confidence to investors that both home and host supervisors are working closely together in Dubai and in Rome to ensure sound supervision of these institutions.”

The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) is the independent regulator of financial and ancillary services conducted in or from the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), a purpose-built financial freezone in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The DFSA’s regulatory mandate covers asset management, banking and credit services, securities, collec-

responsible, among other issues, for the stability and efficiency of the financial system, regulating, co-ordinating, and controlling the provision of credit.

Ian Johnston, Chief Executive of the DFSA said: “The DFSA is very pleased to have settled these protocols with each of Italy’s financial supervisors. In doing so, our Italian counterparts have expressed their confidence in the DFSA’s equivalence with international standards and our willingness and ability to share information and assist. This is especially important as two of Italy’s largest financial institutions have branches in the Dubai International

cialized warehousing zones, these organizations can in turn boost the Kingdom’s industrial growth. Saudi Logitrans 2014 and Saudi Rail 2014 will facilitate the development of this rapidly expanding sector and highlight the wealth of existing and future opportunities that the kingdom and wider GCC have to offer. It is an ideal

Zeyad Al-Rukban, Deputy General Manager, Riyadh Exhibitions Company platform to assess market needs and challenges as it will gather leading businesses and professionals from the industry.”

Saudi Logitrans 2014 and Saudi Rail 2014 are being organized under the patronage of the Saudi Ministry of Transport and Saudi Railways Organization. The Saudi Transport and Logistics seminars will be hosted concurrently. They will provide a forum for key government decision makers, transportation bodies, port authorities and industry professionals to announce initiatives, formulate strategies, discuss the latest case studies, and exchange information on global best practices.

tive investment funds, custody and trust services, commodities futures trading, Islamic finance, insurance, an international equities exchange and an international commodities derivatives exchange.

In addition to regulating financial and ancillary services, the DFSA is responsible for supervising and enforcing Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and CounterTerrorist Financing (CTF)requirements applicable in the DIFC. The DFSA has also accepted a delegation of powers from the DIFC Registrar of Companies (RoC) to investigate the affairs of DIFC companies and partnerships.

Drake & Scull eyes strategic growth in India in 2014 Company wins $16m contract for 4 luxury towers in Mumbai MUMBAI: Drake & Scull International PJSC (DSI), a regional market leader in the integrated design, engineering and construction disciplines of

General Contracting, Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing (MEP), Water and Power, Rail and Oil and Gas, has been awarded a $16 million contract to provide turnkey MEP solutions in the New Cuffe Parade project in Mumbai, India. The win reflects DSI’s aggressive expansion drive across India.

Under the terms of its agreement with the Lodha Group, a premier real estate developer, DSI will perform MEP works for four towers in the development spread across 23 acres of area located in the new Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Area (MMRDA) near the IMAX Dome Wadala, , near South Mumbai.

The New Cuffe Parade project is the latest in a series of infrastructure deals signed by the company in India. It is a key addition to DSI’s portfolio of projects in India

aligned with its strategic growth plans in the country. Khaldoun Tabari, CEO of Drake & Scull International PJSC (DSI), said: “We are achieving significant progress with our expansion drive in India where the government has launched widespread initiatives to speed up private investment in infrastructure sector through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs).

DSI is well-positioned to provide expertise, technologies and resources especially in Hospitality, Aviation, Railways, Urban Infrastructure and Housing, Thermal and Renewable Energy and Water and Wastewater sectors

via our Water & Power and MEP business units” “India is familiar territory for DSI as we have already delivered a $25 million thermal power project in Orissa and a solar power project in Tamil Nadu. We are currently working on two major projects including a Coal Power project and the World Crest,( one of the tallest towers in India) collectively worth USD 67 million. The new contract with the Lodha Group further strengthens our market position as we consolidate our stronghold in the subcontinent.

We expect to secure more project wins from India in 2014 and hope

it becomes one of our major markets in the near future.” concluded Tabari.

The Indian government has implemented a series of measures to accommodate and accelerate private investments through PPPs. In August 2013, the government approved 36 projects in the energy, power and infrastructure sectors worth $27.8 billion. With an announced $154 billion worth of infrastructure projects to be funded via PPPs along with DSI’s proven track record in India, the company is poised to win more projects and firmly establish its presence in the country.

European labor market opens for Romanians, Bulgarians No major rise in emigration seen BUCHAREST: Romanians and Bulgarians have the right to work in any of the European Union’s 28 countries from January 1 but “no major increase” in emigration is expected, the European Commission said. The lifting of work restrictions has prompted fears of an “invasion” in Britain and Germany.

“There are over three million people from Bulgaria and Romania already living in other Member States and it is unlikely that there will be any major increase following the ending of the final restrictions,” European Commissioner for employment Laszlo Andor said in a statement yesterday. “In hard times, mobile EU citizens are all too often an easy target”, he added.

Britain rushed through a series of measures to ban EU migrants from claiming unemployment handouts from the moment they arrive, while German lawmakers raised concerns about social benefits fraud. But Bucharest and Sofia slapped down the fears, saying their countrymen are not planning an exodus en masse.

In Sofia, President Rosen Plevneliev asserted in his New Year’s Eve speech that Bulgarians “would like to have a worthy job” at home, and “not to buy a one-way ticket and leave Bulgaria”.

Bulgarian and Romania joined the European Union in 2007, becoming the bloc’s poorest members.Since then, 17 EU countries including Italy and Sweden have lifted restrictions on their work markets. Analysts believe therefore that Bulgarians and Romanians who are looking to work elsewhere would already have done so, rather than wait until yesterday, when the nine remaining EU countries-Austria, Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands and Spain-lift restrictions. Nevertheless, the move was watched with trepidation in Britain, where hundreds of thousands migrants have made their home since the EU expanded to eastern Europe in 2004.

Underestimation The Labor government in power at the time vastly underestimated the number who would come and admitted it should have done more to limit the influx. Members of Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservative party pressed up until the last moment for restrictions to be extended but party chairman Grant Shapps said Britain had done all it can “within the law” by already extending the restrictions by two years.

In Germany, the Christian Social Union

(CSU), sister par ty to Merkel’s Christian Democrats, also raised concerns about “social benefits fraud” and drew up a list of proposals to make it more difficult for newcomers to receive state help. But German government spokesperson Steffen Seibert noted that “the free movement of persons is also a chance for the Germans and Germany”. German state secretary for migration, refugees and integration Aydan Ozoguz also argued that “by saying that all people from Bulgaria and Romania are poor and come here only to get benefits, we just ignore the numerous highly qualified people who work here, for instance as doctors and nurses”.

Elsewhere in the EU-including in crisis-hit Spain, which is already home to over a million Romanians-there was little talk about the lifting of restrictions.

In Bucharest, many people told AFP they were unaware of the changes to come into effect on Wednesday and that they did not plan

to leave.

A number of analysts in Bucharest and Sofia were unable to give estimates about number of people who plan to emigrate, but said they believed the big waves have already passed.

About three million Romanians and one million Bulgarians have emigrated, not just to the EU, in search of a better life since the fall of communism over two decades ago. The main push factor was low wages; most doctors in the two countries earn around 400 euros ($550) a month, a fraction of what they would get elsewhere in the EU. “I would have stayed if I could earn more in Romania because I prefer to be in my country and with my family,” said 32-year-old Titu Ionut, who is a construction worker in Spain.

Others felt differently. “It is important to believe that you can succeed here and I think this is possible. Other countries also have their flaws,” said Bucharest university lecturer Simona Mazilu, 34. —AFP

People walk by the Commercial Bank of Romania in Bucharest.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2014

technology

Researchers propose first design of invisibility cloak Undetectable to radio sensors AUSTIN: Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have proposed the first design of a cloaking device that uses an external source of energy to significantly broaden its bandwidth of operation.

Andrea Alu, associate professor at the Cockrell School of Engineering, and his team have proposed a design for an active cloak that draws energy from a battery, allowing objects to become undetectable to radio sensors over a greater range of frequencies.

The team’s paper, “Broadening the Cloaking Bandwidth with Non-Foster Metasurfaces,” was published Dec 3 in Physical Review Letters. Alu, researcher Pai-Yen Chen and postdoctoral research fellow Christos Argyropoulos co-authored the paper. Both Chen and Argyropoulos were at UT Austin at the time this research was conducted.

The proposed active cloak will have a number of applications beyond camouflaging, such as improving cellular and radio communications, and biomedical sensing.

Cloaks have so far been realized with so-called passive technology, which means that they are not designed to draw energy from an external source.

They are typically based on metamaterials (advanced artificial materials) or metasurfaces (a

flexible, ultrathin metamaterial) that can suppress the scattering of light that bounces off an object, making an object less visible. When the scattered fields from the cloak and the object interfere, they cancel each other out, and the overall effect is transparency to radio-wave detectors. They can suppress 100 times or more the detectability at specific design frequencies. Although the proposed design works for radio waves, active cloaks could one day be designed to make detection by the human eye more difficult.

“Many cloaking designs are good at suppressing the visibility under certain conditions, but they are inherently limited to work for specific colors of light or specific frequencies of operation,” said Alu, David & Doris Lybarger Endowed Faculty Fellow in the Depar tment of Electrical and Computer Engineering. In this paper, on the contrary, “we prove that cloaks can become broadband, pushing this technology far beyond current limits of passive cloaks. I believe that our design helps us understand the fundamental challenges of suppressing the scattering of various objects at multiple wavelengths and shows a realistic path to overcome them.”

The proposed active cloak uses a battery, cir-

GCC companies failing to fully protect themselves DUBAI: Attacks that employ a variety of malicious programs, phishing attacks, and spam remain the cyber threats most frequently encountered by companies.

These are the findings published in the Global Corporate IT Security Risks 2013 survey, conducted by B2B International in collaboration with Kaspersky Lab. About 66% of the surveyís respondents reported that their companies were targeted in attacks involving viruses, worms, spyware, and other types of malicious programs. The volume of spam attacks is noted by 55% of companies.

While phishing attacks,that remains in the top three most prevalent threats in external attacks against corporations,were launched against 33% of companies. Companies in South America were the most frequent targets of malicious attacks: 72% of respondents from that region ranked viruses and spyware the number one external threats.

Russian companies were also frequent targets, with 71% of Russian companies reporting attacks. North America was the third most-attacked region, with 70% of companies reporting attacks. Japanese companies suffered the least, with only 47% of survey participants reporting any malware attacks.

Meanwhile, spam is most frequently encountered by North American and Russian companies (69% and 67%, respectively). The companies dealing with the least amount of spam are located in the Middle East (55%) and in Japan (42%).

Companies from North America are subjected to phishing attacks more often than in other regions (51%), followed by

the Asian Pacific (46%). The companies with the lowest phishing rate are located in Russia, Japan, and South American countries (an average of 26%).

Malicious attacks are actually the number one reason behind serious leakages of confidential data ó 22% of companies globally and 18% in the GCC reported that they have suffered data leakages after these types of attacks. The global average indicated that these incidents are more common among small and midsized companies (23%), while large companies are targeted less frequently (17%).

Data leakages Data leakages are less frequently the result of phishing attacks, with an average of just 5% of companies both globally and in the GCC encountering these types of incidents. However, the percentage of large companies that lost data due to phishing attacks is a bit higher (6%) than the number of SMEs in the same situation (5%) as reported globally.

The number of cyber threats is growing constantly, for example Kaspersky Lab is discovering 315,000new malware samples ever y day, compared to 200,000last year. This is forcing companies to pay more attention to their security, especially after they experience a cyber-incident. However, according to the survey only 64% of businesses have fully-implemented anti-malware (antivirus and anti-spyware) protection in place. That is a small improvement on last yearís figure of 62%. The corporate security situation is changing ñ more and more companies are turning to complex security solutions.

NY suit challenging laptop searches dismissed NEW YORK: US border agents should have the authority to search laptop computers carried by news photographers and other travelers at international border crossings without reasonable suspicion, a federal judge in Brooklyn ruled this week.

In a written decision, US District Judge Edward Korman granted a government motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by civil rights attorneys that claimed the practice was unconstitutional and sought to have it halted.

Korman found that the plaintiffs hadn’t shown they suffered injury that gave them standing to bring the suit. He also cited previous rulings finding that the Fourth Amendment constitutional right against unreasonable searches doesn’t apply to the government’s efforts to secure international borders from outside threats.

The American Civil Liberties Union, the New York Civil Liberties Union and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers had filed the suit on behalf of the National Press Photographers Association, criminal defense lawyers and a college student: Pascal Abidor, a French-American citizen whose laptop computer was confiscated at the Canadian border.

In a statement, an ACLU attorney said the organization was considering an appeal.

“Unfortunately, these searches are part of a broader pattern of aggressive government surveillance that collects information on too many innocent people, under lax standards, and without adequate oversight,” said the lawyer, Catherine Crump.

The decision on Tuesday took sharp aim at claims by the photographers and the others that the searches by the US Immigration Customs and Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection could unmask confidential news sources or reveal sensitive professional or personal information. Abidor alleged that an inspection of a computer containing research he’d done abroad on the modern history of Shiites “had an extreme chilling effect on my work, studies and private life.”

Abidor “cannot be so naive to expect that when he crosses into Syrian or Lebanese border that the contents of his computer will be immune from searches and seizures at the whim of those who work for Bashar Al-Assad or Hassan Nasrallah,” the judge said, referring to the president of Syria and leader of Hezbollah. — AP

NEW YORK: This publicity photo released by Rockstar Games shows a screen shot from the video game, “Grand Theft Auto V.” Spike is dispensing with all the trappings of a typical award show for its 11th annual ceremony honoring the year’s best video games by doing away with the ceremony part altogether, instead opting for a livestreaming affair with a focus on upcoming games. — AP

cuits and amplifiers to boost signals, which makes possible the reduction of scattering over a greater range of frequencies. This design, which covers a very broad frequency range, will provide the most broadband and robust performance of a cloak to date. Additionally, the proposed active technology can be thinner and less conspicuous than conventional cloaks.

In a related paper, published in Physical Review X in October, Alu and his graduate student Francesco Monticone proved that existing passive cloaking solutions are fundamentally limited in the bandwidth of operation and cannot provide broadband cloaking. When viewed at certain frequencies, passively cloaked objects may indeed become transparent, but if illuminated with white light, which is composed of many colors, they are bound to become more visible with the cloak than without. The October paper proves that all available cloaking techniques based on passive cloaks are constrained by Foster’s theorem, which limits their overall ability to cancel the scattering across a broad frequency spectrum.

In contrast, an active cloak based on active metasurfaces, such as the one designed by Alu’s team, can break Foster’s theorem limitations. The

team started with a passive metasurface made from an array of metal square patches and loaded it with properly positioned operational amplifiers that use the energy drawn from a battery to broaden the bandwidth.

“In our case, by introducing these suitable amplifiers along the cloaking surface, we can break the fundamental limits of passive cloaks and realize a ‘non-Foster ’ sur face reactance that decreases, rather than increases, with frequency, significantly broadening the bandwidth of operation,” Alu said.

The researchers are continuing to work both on the theory and design behind their non-Foster active cloak, and they plan to build a prototype.

Alu and his team are working to use active cloaks to improve wireless communications by suppressing the disturbance that neighboring antennas produce on transmitting and receiving antennas. They have also proposed to use these cloaks to improve biomedical sensing, near-field imaging and energy harvesting devices.

The Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency and a National Science Foundation CAREER Grant provided support for this research. —- AP

CEO predictions for the next 100 years of flying NEW YORK: Millions of people step aboard airplanes each day, complaining about the lack of legroom and overhead space but almost taking for granted that they can travel thousands of miles in just a few hours.

Today marks the 100th anniversary of the first commercial flight: a 23-minute hop across Florida’s Tampa Bay. The St Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line was subsidized by St Petersburg officials who wanted more winter tourists in their city. The alternative: an 11-hour train ride from Tampa.

Pilot Tony Jannus had room for just one passenger, who sat next to him in the open cockpit.

Three months later - when tourism season ended - so did the subsidy. The airline had carried 1,204 passengers but would never fly again.

With the anniversary in mind, The Associated Press reached out to today’s aviation leaders to see what they are predicting for the future of flying. Answers have been edited for length and clarity.

IN FIVE YEARS • Richard Anderson, CEO Delta Air Lines: “Just over a decade ago airlines seemed to be buying every 50-seat aircraft they could get their hands on. But the real utility of those small jets has come and gone and in the next five years we’ll see their numbers in the US continue to dwindle.”

• Gary Kelly, CEO Southwest Airlines: “We’ll have fewer airlines, but they will be bigger, stronger and healthier.”

• Maurice J. Gallagher, Jr., CEO Allegiant Travel Co.: “The next five years will be all about increasing automation and decreasing labor cost. The industry is already implementing mobile boarding passes, bag drops, even self-boarding. These processes will become more prevalent and significantly reduce the number of employees the customer needs to interact with.”

IN 25 YEARS • David Barger, CEO JetBlue Airways: “The freedom to travel between any two points in the world will be commonplace. There will be billions of travelers every year flying on new aircraft that will be environmentally friendly; in fact, they will be making zero-carbon travel maybe even a reality.”

• Mark Dunkerley, CEO Hawaiian Airlines: “Many of today’s consumers will be priced out of the air: a sad legacy to 30 years of massive progress in democratizing air travel. Failure to invest in aviation infrastructure and the insa-

LOS ANGELES: A plane takes off from Los Angeles International Airport. With Jan 1, 2014, marking the 100th anniversary of the first commercial flight in mind, The Associated Press reached out to today’s aviation leaders to see what they are predicting for the future of flying. — AP tiable appetite for regulation will not be offset by relatively modest further improvements in aircraft efficiency.”

• James Hogan, CEO Etihad Airways: “A new generation of airlines, who have the vision and willingness to be different, will succeed in cutting costs, improving productivity and finding affordable ways of accessing new markets. The emerging markets - the Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia - will become established markets and Abu Dhabi will be one of the uniting global hubs.”

• Sir Richard Branson, president Virgin Atlantic Airways: “I have no doubt that during my lifetime we will be able to fly from London to Sydney in under two hours, with minimal environmental impact. The awe-inspiring views of our beautiful planet below and zero-gravity passenger fun will bring a whole new meaning to in-flight entertainment.”

• Jeff Smisek, CEO United Airlines: “The airframe and engine manufacturers continue to develop aircraft that are more fuel-efficient, have lower maintenance costs and have greater range and utility. Longer term, I believe manufacturers will explore engine and airframe technology that could significantly reduce travel times, but

advances in this area would have to be safe and economical to make a real impact on our industry.”

IN 100 YEARS • David Siegel, CEO Frontier Airlines: “The first flight was just 18 miles long, but now look how far we can go. Perhaps in the future, experts will be designing futuristic propulsion systems. We could see innovations in aircraft design, local community-based air transport with smaller, higher efficiency aircraft, and maybe even pilotless commercial aircraft.”

• Doug Parker, CEO American Airlines: “I am quite certain that Tony Jannus never could have imagined the size and importance of commercial aviation today, or the impact it had on changing our world. Similarly, I cannot imagine what commercial aviation will look like in 2114. I imagine whatever state it is, though, it will be extremely important and its continued development will be a key part of the story that built that world.”

• Ben Baldanza, CEO Spirit Airlines: “Google’s ‘put me there’ technology implemented into its maps software renders all airlines obsolete.” —- AP

Privacy advocate exposes NSA spy gear at gathering LONDON: A well-known privacy advocate has given the public an unusually explicit peek into the intelligence world’s tool box, pulling back the curtain on the National Security Agency’s arsenal of high-tech spy gear.

Independent journalist and security expert Jacob Appelbaum told a hacker conference in Germany that the NSA could turn iPhones into eavesdropping tools and use radar wave devices to harvest electronic information from computers, even if they weren’t online.

Appelbaum told hundreds of computer exper ts gathered at Hamburg’s Chaos Communications Conference that his revelations about the NSA’s capabilities “are even worse than your worst nightmares.”

“What I am going to show you today is wrist-slittingly depressing,” he said.

Even though in the past six months there have been an unprecedented level of public scrutiny of the NSA and its methods, Appelbaum’s claims - supported by what appeared to be internal NSA slideshows - still caused a stir.

One of the slides described how the NSA can plant malicious software onto Apple Inc.’s iPhone, giving American intelligence agents the ability to turn the popular smartphone into a pocket-sized spy.

Another slide showcased a futuristicsounding device described as a “portable

FORT MEADE: This June 6, 2013 file photo shows a sign outside the National Security Agency campus in Fort Meade. A federal judge says the NSA’s bulk collection of phone records violates the Constitution’s ban on unreasonable searches. The judge put his decision on hold pending a nearly certain government appeal. —AP

continuous wave generator,” a remote-controlled device which - when paired with tiny electronic implants - can bounce invisible waves of energy off keyboards and monitors to see what is being typed, even if the target

device isn’t connected to the Internet.

A third slide showcased a piece of equipment called NIGHTSTAND, which can tamper with wireless Internet connections from up to 13km away. — AP

THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2014

H E A LT H & S C I E N C E

Vitamin E may slow early Alzheimer’s decline NEW YORK: Taking vitamin E during the early stages of Alzheimer ’s disease slowed declines in patients’ ability to perform basic tasks by about six months in a new study. “It will be very interesting to see to what extent this will change practice,” Dr Maurice Dysken said. “I think it will, but we’ll have to see how people in the field such as providers view the findings and patients too.” Dysken is the study’s lead author and former director of the Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center at the Minneapolis VA Healthcare System. Researchers have studied vitamin E for possible benefits in slowing the progression of Alzheimer ’s, but those studies have yielded mixed results.

For example, the researchers write in JAMA, past research has found the vitamin slowed disease progression in people with moderately severe Alzheimer’s.

But the vitamin was not effective at slowing the transition to Alzheimer’s for people with so-called mild cognitive

impairment, which typically precedes Alzheimer’s. To see whether vitamin E or a combination of the vitamin with memantine, a drug approved in the US to treat Alzheimer’s - would slow the rate of decline in people with mild to moderate forms of the disease, the researchers recruited 613 trial participants from 14 Veterans Affairs medical centers.

Increasing risks The patients were recruited between August 2007 and March 2012. People taking blood thinning drugs were excluded from the study because those drugs are tied to an increased risk of bleeding when combined with vitamin E. At the start of the study, the participants were randomly assigned to one of four groups. One group received 2,000 International Units (IU) of vitamin E every day. That’s a considerably larger dose than the 30 IU typically found in multivitamins. A second group received the drug memantine. A third group took

both vitamin E and memantine and the final group took inert pills for comparison. The researchers used a scale to measure the participants’ ability to perform tasks of daily life. After an average of about 2.3 years, Dysken and his colleagues found that only the group taking vitamin E alone had a significantly slower decline in the ability to perform daily tasks, compared to the participants taking the inert pills. The difference represented a delay in functional decline of about six months. In practical terms, the difference could represent a person’s ability to dress or bathe themselves for that much longer.

People who took care of the study participants taking vitamin E alone also repor ted a smaller increase in the amount of time the patients needed assistance, compared to the other groups. “I think it’s a well done study, but I think the results are modest,” Dr Ronald Petersen, who was not involved in the new work, said. Petersen is director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research

Center at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He noted that the benefits need to be weighed against potential risks - for example, a previous study showed an increased risk of death among people taking vitamin E. The current study didn’t detect any such increase. “Nevertheless, it’s out there and it’s published,” he said. “You have to let people know it could be a small risk.”

Both Petersen and Dysken cautioned that the study doesn’t suggest people should take vitamin E to prevent or stop Alzheimer’s disease. “This is not a prevention trial,” Dysken said. “We were enrolling patients with a diagnosis and what we’re looking at is slowing the rate of progression. It does not stop it.”

Modest effect In an editorial accompanying the new study, Dr Denis Evans of Rush University Medical Center in Chicago agreed that the results show a modest effect on treating symptoms of Alzheimer’s. “Considering the difficulties

inherent in trying to treat rather than prevent very high-prevalence diseases and the limitations thus far of the therapeutic efforts for people with AD, shifting to more emphasis on prevention seems warranted,” he wrote. While a lot of research is being focused on prevention of the disease itself, rather than of its progression, Petersen said the new study shows researchers are not abandoning people who already have Alzheimer’s.

“I think this is an example that we’re really doing research across the entire spectrum of the disease,” he said. He added that the new findings will probably not cause him to treat patients differently, but he said it’s something he would mention if they asked if there’s anything else that can be done. “I think a six-month delay will be meaningful for many - if not most - patients,” Dysken said. “But it really does depend on the conversation that needs to be had between patient and primar y care provider.”—AP

Teen eating disorders may impact weight later

INDIA: Indian policemen laugh as they participate in a ‘laughing yoga’ session in Jalandhar yesterday. The laughing yoga sessions have been introduced into the Punjab state police force as a stress management method for its servicemen.—AFP

New molecular discovery provides clues to cause of schizophrenia NEW YORK: For decades, scientists have been working toward discovering the cause of schizophrenia. Now, new research may provide further clues, as scientists have uncovered a molecular process that may contribute to the development of the disorder. This is according to a study published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), schizophrenia affects approximately 24 million people worldwide. At present, there is no single test for schizophrenia. The condition is usually diagnosed with an assessment by a mental health specialist. It is usually treated with a combination of therapy and medication, such as antipsychotics. But the team of study researchers from Tel Aviv University in Israel say that antipsychotics are often ineffective, stressing the need for better medication.

However, the investigators say that their new discovery may lead to the development of new diagnostic tests for the disorder, as well as new drug treatments.

Autophagy ‘reduced in schizophrenics’ The research team discovered that in the brains of schizophrenics, a process called autophagy is reduced. Authophagy is described as a “cell-maintenance” mechanism. It ensures the clearance of dysfunctional and needless cellular components.

But the investigators explain that when the autophagy process is blocked, this can cause cell death. They found that schizophrenic patients had reduced levels of a protein called beclin-1 in the hippocampus of their brains. The hippocampus is a brain region linked to learning and memory.

Beclin-1 plays an important role in autophagy, the researchers say. Therefore, they note this finding suggests that autophagy is blocked in the brains of schizophrenic patients. The researchers say cre-

ating drugs that increase beclin-1 levels and trigger autophagy could be a potential way forward in the treatment of schizophrenia. Prof Illana Gozes, of Tel Aviv University and lead author of the study, adds: “It is all about balance. Paucity in beclin1 may lead to decreased autophagy and enhanced cell death. Our research suggests that normalizing beclin-1 levels in schizophrenia patients could restore balance and prevent harmful brain-cell death.” When looking at beclin-1 levels in the blood of schizophrenic patients, the investigators found they were normal. They say this suggests that reduced levels of the protein are confined to the hippocampus.

But the blood tests revealed that schizophrenic patients had increased levels of a protein called activity-dependent neuroprotective protein (ADNP) in their white blood cells. Prof Gozes discovered this protein in 1999 and found that it was crucial for function and formation of the brain. The team notes that previous research has also shown that ADNP is deregulated in the brains of schizophrenics.

They hypothesize that when beclin-1 levels drop and autophagy is halted, the body increases ADNP levels to help protect the brain. From this, the investigators suggest that ADNP could be used as a biomarker, meaning a blood test could be used to diagnose schizophrenia.

Further biochemical tests on the brains of mice revealed that ADNP collaborates with LC3 - a protein also known to be involved in autophagy regulation. The researchers say that this interaction may play a role in the way ADNP protects the brain. They hope their research will lead to further discoveries that may help to better understand the mechanisms and treatment of schizophrenia.-www.medicalnewstoday.com

NEW YORK: Young teens who binge eat and those who are fearful of weight gain may be more likely to become overweight later in adolescence, according to a new study from the United Kingdom. Researchers looked for early symptoms of eating disorders among more than 7,000 13-year-olds and found certain symptoms predicted which children would have weight problems at age 15. Girls who engaged in binge eating at 13 had an average increase in body mass index (BMI), a measure of weight relative to height, of 24 percent two years later.

Both boys and girls who severely restricted their eating at 13 had lower BMIs when they were two years older. “The most important message is that even at this young age, a high percentage of boys and girls have worrying eating disorders symptoms,” Dr Nadia Micali told Reuters Health in an email. Micali led the study from the Institute of Child Health at University College London. She and her colleagues gathered data from an ongoing UK trial that includes parents and kids. From surveys filled out by parents, the researchers collected information on eating disorder symptoms among 7,082 teens at age 13 - such as binging, excessive concerns over body weight or shape and behaviors like restricting food intake.

Teens’ lifestyle The team also looked at links between these symptoms and other aspects of the teens’ social, academic, extracurricular and family lives.

Overall, 63 percent of girls and 39 percent of boys were afraid of gaining weight or getting fat.

Extreme levels of fear of weight gain or concerns about body shape or weight were seen among 11 percent of girls. Girls avoided fatty foods more often than boys, while boys were more likely to do intense exercise for weight loss.

Even at age 13, overeating and binging was strongly linked to negative impacts on the child’s life and burden to family among both boys and girls, the researchers report in the Journal of Adolescent Health. Binging and

overeating were especially linked to emotional and behavioral troubles for both genders.

Cutting back on food was linked to mental health disturbances among boys more than girls.

Excessive concern over weight and shape also had a significant impact on girls, Micali notes, “but parents probably don’t recognize the impact of this pattern on a child’s life in boys,” Micali said. The findings are a reminder that boys do suffer from eating disorders and related problems (see Reuters Health article of November 5, 2013 here: reut.rs/1cOa04x.

According to Kathleen Merikangas, chief of the Genetic Epidemiology Branch at the N a t i o n a l I n s t i t u te o f M e n t a l H e a l t h , t h e results suggest that “lack of regular eating patterns could be a target for intervention

and prevention of obesity in youth.”

Importance of guidance Merikangas, who was not involved in the research, added, the take -home message remained clear for parents: eating disorders during the teen years offer a window into the risk of obesity later. Parents need to be aware if their child has a distorted image of their body, Merikangas said. “Pretending not to notice or thinking that eating disorders behavior will go away” are not good strategies, Micali said. “Talk to them to understand if their eating disorder behaviors are a reflection of other more deepseated problems,” Micali said. “Try not to be confrontational but supportive and firm.” “If they are worried, parents should seek help from a health professional,” she said. —Reuters

Unclear why cholesterol linked to Alzheimer’s protein NEW YORK: Patterns of “good” and “bad” cholesterol usually associated with heart risks also predicted the levels of Alzheimer’s-related beta amyloid protein seen in the brains of study participants. “One of the important themes emerging from dementia research over the past 15 years is that there are intriguing connections between vascular disease and Alzheimer’s disease,” Bruce Reed, who led the research, told Reuters Health by email.

Reed is a professor and associate director of the University of California Davis Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. “It has become increasingly clear that what have been traditionally thought of as vascular risk factors - things like hypertension, diabetes and elevated cholesterol - are also risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease,” Reed said.

In previous work, Reed and his colleagues found a connection between overall vascular risk and levels of brain amyloid. “Amyloid deposition is important because it is widely believed by scientists to be a key event that initiates a chain of events that eventually, years later, results in the dementia of Alzheimer’s disease,” Reed said.

“There was also previous work in cell cultures and with animals that suggested that cholesterol plays an important role in promoting the deposition of amyloid in the brain,” Reed said.

For the new study, published in JAMA Neurology, the researchers examined the cholesterol levels of 74 elderly people who had normal to mildly impaired cognitive function.

Researchers also measured brain deposits of beta amyloid protein with positron emission tomography (PET scanning).

They found that on average, participants who had higher levels of the “bad” LDL cholesterol and lower levels of “good” HDL cholesterol also had higher levels of amyloid in the brain.

Elevated LDL-cholesterol is associated with cardiovascular disease while high levels of HDLcholesterol are thought to protect against heart disease. “We think this is a very important finding, but as with all novel findings it needs to be replicated,” Reed said. “Assuming that the basic pattern is found in other groups of patients, it is urgent that we try to understand the mechanism(s) behind this finding.”

“Cholesterol in blood and cholesterol in brain are separate ‘pools,’ walled off from one another by the blood brain barrier. We measured choles-

terol in blood. So that is one question that needs to be answered - how do cholesterol levels in blood and in brain influence each other,” Reed said. “And in the brain, it is not entirely understood how changing cholesterol levels might reduce amyloid deposition. We are very interested in the idea that higher HDL (‘good’) cholesterol levels may help the brain more efficiently clear the toxic amyloid at an early stage,” Reed said.

“If those questions were understood we could begin to think about how to change cholesterol levels so as to prevent the buildup of amyloid,” Reed added. In other studies, some researchers have found evidence that LDL cholesterol-lowering drugs, such as statins, might offer some protection against Alzheimer’s disease, but the results have been inconsistent.

Reed’s team didn’t see any associations

between current use of cholesterol medication by the participants and their amyloid levels. In their report, Reed and his coauthors caution that the study does not prove cholesterol is directly affecting amyloid deposition. For instance, they write, unhealthy cholesterol could be linked to vascular damage, such as small strokes, and those micro-injuries could be the reason for the protein deposits.

He encourages people to follow the advice of their doctor and try to achieve the cholesterol guidelines set by the American Heart Association. “A remarkable number of people who are alive now will live into their 80s or beyond - the period of highest risk for Alzheimer’s. This study is one more piece of evidence that what we do now can shape our health positively in those years,” Reed said.—Reuters

THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2014

H E A LT H & S C I E N C E

New Year means new challenges for health care law WASHINGTON: This could be the year that things finally turn around for President Barack Obama’s health care law. Yet it could start with another round of glitches that vex consumers and leave Republicans crowing, “We told you so.” The law’s major benefits take effect with the New Year, along with an unpopular insurance mandate and the risk of more nerve-racking coverage disruptions. Big improvements are in store for some, including Howard Kraft of Lincolnton, NC. A painful spinal problem left him unable to work as a hotel bellman. But he’s got coverage because federal law now forbids insurers from turning away people with health problems.

“I am not one of these people getting a policy because I’m being made to,” Kraft said. “I need one to stay alive.”

What’s good for millions like Kraft is secured through what others see as an imposition: requiring virtually ever y American to get covered, through an employer, a government program or direct purchase of a plan.

But the biggest health care headlines early this year could come from continued uncertainty over the insurance program’s messy rollout. The consumer-facing side of the HealthCare.gov website appears to be largely fixed - with 2.1 million enrolled

through federal and state websites.

But on the back end, insurers say they are still receiving thousands of erroneous sign-ups from the government.

That means early in the year insured patients could go for a medication refill - or turn up in the emergency room - only to be told there is no record of their coverage.

‘Ghosts’ the new customers One of the main worries is over certain error-tainted enrollment records that insurers call “orphans” and “ghosts.” “Orphans” are sign-ups that the government has a record of, but they do not appear in insurer systems. Insurers say those customers never left the government’s “orphanage” to “go and live” with the carrier they selected. “Ghosts” are new customers that the insurer does have a record of, but whose information mysteriously does not appear in the government’s computers. The Obama administration says the rate of such errors has been reduced dramatically, and insurers agree. The catch is that the volume of sign-ups has surged in the meantime, which means even with a lower error rate the number of problem cases keeps growing. And there is no automated way to clear up mistakes quickly. “There are going to

NEW YORK: Howard Kraft discusses signing up for health insurance as he sits in his home.—AP photos be problems for any number of people who thought they had signed up, and it won’t work right off the bat,” said Mark McClellan, who oversaw the rollout of Medicare’s prescription drug benefit - a program that also had its share of issues. “It would be particularly disruptive for people in the midst of treatment.”

Anticipating disruptions, major drug store chains like CVS and Walgreens have announced they will help customers who face coverage glitches, even providing temporary supplies of medications without insisting on up-front payment. Many smaller independent pharmacies are also ready to help. White House health

care adviser Phil Schiliro told reporters the administration was working with insurers and health care ser vice providers to minimize disruptions “as we deal with what are always going to be unexpected problems where there is a transition.”

Obama had envisioned that the arrival of the Affordable Care Act’s major benefits in 2014 would be like a national seminar, showcasing his philosophy that government can and should smooth the rough edges off an unforgiving economy for struggling working people. The goal was that in a midterm election year, Democrats would be able to point to millions of newly insured Americans, thanks to subsidized private plans and an expanded version of Medicaid. Media reports would feature compelling cases of people handed a lifeline.

That’s indeed happening, but it seems to be only part of the story. The Republican portrayal of “Obamacare” as government inept and out of control appears to be unfolding right alongside. Legal challenges still lie ahead for the health care law.

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, acting Tuesday night on a request from an order of Catholic nuns in Colorado, blocked implementation of portions of the law that

would have forced some religion-affiliated organizations to provide health insurance for employees that includes birth control. Several other Catholic groups won similar stays in the lower courts.

Not measuring up to new requirements Although the stated goal of the law was to cover the uninsured, at least 4.7 million insured people had individual policies canceled because they didn’t measure up to new requirements. That forced an apology from the president, who had famously promised that if you like your health plan, you can keep it. The administration says it believes most of those people have secured new coverage.

Americans with job-based health plans are also worried. A recent Associated Press-GfK poll found that most people who’ve seen their employers scale back coverage blame that on Obama’s law, even though businesses were shifting health costs to workers before the law passed.

The nation’s divisive debate over health care could go on for years.

Having failed to repeal the entire law, Republicans may start targeting pieces of it, such as a Medicare cost control board, or various taxes.—AP

THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2014

W H AT ’ S O N Advisory to Indian nationals in Kuwait

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he Embassy of India has been receiving often reports from the members of Indian community residing in Kuwait regarding thefts, robberies assaults and damages to their property etc. All such incidents should be immediately reported to the local police station. In order to extend help the members of our community, please contact us with the following information so that the matter could also be taken up by the Embassy with Kuwaiti authorities:(a) Brief details of the incident; (b) Civil ID of the affected member(s) and their passport details; (c) Contact telephone number and the proof of residence of the person(s) affected; (d) Copy of FIR along with address of the Police station.

2. Please contact either Ms Hend, Ambassador’s office at Telephone No. 22561276, Fax No. 22546958 (E-mail: amb.kuwait@mea.gov.in OR ambss@indembkwt.org) or Balram Kumar Upadhyay, Counsellor (Consular and Chief Welfare Officer) on Telephone No. 22533125, Fax No.22573910 (E-mail: counsellor@indembkwt.org).

Indian passport, visa fees reduced

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s a goodwill gesture, BLS International Visa Services Company Co (KSCC), which is operating as a sole partner for the Embassy of India in Kuwait to handle Passport and Visa Services, has reduced the Indian Passport processing fee from KD 1.500 to KD 1.000 and Indian Visa processing fee from KD 5.000 to KD 3.000. These rates have been implemented with effect from 17/12/2013.

GPCC leaders submit memo to Indian ambassador

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he leaders of Gulf Pravasi Cultural Congress (GPCC) Kuwait called on the new Indian Ambassador Sunil Jain to draw his attention towards the 13 suggestions which can help to resolve various issues faced by the Indian community in Kuwait. l Embassy may arrange monthly meetings with Indian associations l Propose government of India to start a centralized recruitment system l Need to provide law assistance for Indian expats in jail/ custody. l Involvement in medical issues of expatriates. l Suggest to the Kuwait Government to verify educational qualification of the teachers as per norms. l Suggest to the Kuwait government to fix rent for apartments to avoid frequent increases. l Need to start a dedicated section in Indian Embassy to interfere day-to-day issues of Indian expats in Kuwait. l While recruiting personnel from India, Government needs to make sure that the company is providing proper insurance, accommodation, medical and other basic requirements. l Proposing to start a Central School undertaking by the government due to the increase of population of expatriates. l Aadhar card registration facility in Kuwait for expatriates. l Reduction of passport renewal fees. l To highlight discrepancies related to the airlines to the ministry of aviation. l Suggest to the Kuwait government to allow Indian expatriates to bring

Indian maids.

GPCC President Rajeev Naduvilemuri introduced the members to the Ambassador. GPCC General secretary Jomon Thomas Koikkara explained the activities and aims of GPCC. GPCC Vice President Bacon Joseph explained about the upcoming family meet 2014. GPCC spokesperson Binoy Chandran gave the memorandum to

the Ambassador and explained about the 13 suggestions that can help the Indian community’s common problems. GPCC Patron Kochappally Vijayabhanu also explained the problems facing by the Indian community especially in Salmiya and Abbassiya.

Sunil Jain gave assurance to GPCC leaders that the embassy will take care of issues that are noted by GPCC leaders.

Ambassador immediately arranged a meeting to GPCC leaders with the officials of Indian embassy including Deputy Chief of Mission & Counsellor Shubashis Goldar, Second Secretary J S Dangi. The embassy will publish all the welfare activities and contact persons’ details soon in the embassy website and also offer all help for the Indian community.

Embassy of India holiday notice The Embassy of India will be closed on the following dates during the month of January 2014.

14 January 2014, Tuesday - Eid - E - Milad 26 January 2014, Sunday - Republic Day

TIES Center - Where cultures meet

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IES Center cordially invites all those interested to the following events:

1- A Brainstorming Session by TIES Staff, volunteers, and well-wishers. Do our activities spark your interest? Do you feel that there are some areas where TIES needs to improve? Do you feel that TIES is important? For decades, people have used brainstorming to generate ideas and to creatively solve problems. With that in mind, this session will try to solicit valuable feedback from everyone involved. Please join us as we look at our Center’s strengths, weaknesses, and potential opportunities. Join us and have your say regarding the direction that TIES will be headed for the coming 2014 year. It is essential that we meet the needs of expatriates and so we really need your help to asses our focus. All those interested are welcome tomorrow Tuesday, December 31 at 7pm 2- Quran Quotes and Tafseer class by By Hassan T Bwambale. After reading Qur’anic verses aloud and exploring them very briefly, Hassan will explain the various connotations of some words and phrases to show the literary beauty and miracle of the Qur’an. The class will involve an open discussion in a casual, relaxed setting with the aim of reflecting and pondering verses from the Noble Quran, as well as learning how to recite some short surahs. On Monday January 6th, 2014 we will discuss surat Al-Qaaria (The Striking Calamity) at 7:00pm. This surah has profound teachings.

3- A lecture entitled, “Creative Writing and Storytelling,” By Quade Herman Kilpatrick. Do you dream of being a writer? Do you want to put pen to paper but don’t know how to start?

This six-session creative writing workshop will give you an introduction to the basic elements of writing fiction and creative non-fiction. Class discussions and exercises are designed to kickstart your writing, and develop your own writer’s “voice”. Come prepared to write! A good command of written and spoken English are required to participate in the workshop.

Quade Kilpatrick has a Master’s Degree of Fine Arts in creative writing from the University of British Columbia, Canada. She was a writer and editor at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation for several years, and has produced radio documentaries and written for over a dozen newspapers and magazines. Her favorite genre is creative non-fiction. She is at work on her first novel.

For more information, please call 25231015/6 or log onto: www.tiescener.net

Write to us Send to What’s On upcoming events, birthdays or celebrations by email: local@kuwaittimes.net Fax: 24835619 / 20

ABS fire safety assembly A

BS Fire Safety Week saw our KG students take part in a special Fire Safety Assembly and our special guests were the firefighters from the Farwaniya Fire Station. The firefighters spoke about fire safety and taught the children how to “Stop, Drop, and Roll. “The firefighter spoke about what they should do in case an

alarm goes off at home, they taught the students how to crawl to the door, shut it, and crawl to the corner of the room. Also they told them that when a firefighter, mom or dad comes through the door, the children are to crawl to them and yell “I’m here, I’m here.” Firefighter Mohammed talked about being careful in the kitchen

when hot pans are on the stove and that you should never play with fire. The firefighters put on their firefighting gear so we could see that there was a real person under all the gear and not to be afraid of them. Thank you Farwaniya Firefighters for an informative and exciting assembly!

THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2014

W H AT ’ S O N

Embassy Information EMBASSY OF AUSTRALIA The Embassy of Australia has announced that Kuwait citizens can apply for and receive visit visas in 10 working days through www.immi.gov.au. All other processing of visas and Immigration matters are handled by the Australian Visa Application Centre located in Al Banwan Building, 4B, 1st Floor, Al Qibla Area, Ali Al Salem Street, Kuwait City. Visit. www.vfs-au-gcc.com for more info. The Embassy of Australia does not have a visa or immigration department. All processing of visas and immigration matters is conducted by the Australian Consulate-General in Dubai. Email: Info.ausdxb@vfshelpline.com (VIS), immigration.dubai@ dfat.gov.au (Visa Office), Tel: +971 4 205 5900 (VFS), Fax: + 971 4 355 0708 (Visa Office). Notary and passport services are available by appointment. Appointments can be made by calling the Embassy on 22322422. nnnnnnn

GUST welcomes Colonel Robin Blanchard presentation on how Leaders Motivate

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UST was honored by the visit of renowned leadership expert Colonel Robin Blanchard where she delivered a dynamic and inspirational interactive presentation to the students on “How Leaders Motivate.” Drawing on her considerable experience as a high ranking US military officer hav-

ing managed individuals in many high-pressure as well as regular-life situations, Colonel Blanchard took the class through a series of exercises and discussions designed to illustrate effective leadership techniques and insights.

She emphasized the importance that people you are leading (1) must feel valued through

multiple modalities and (2) must be equipped with respect to orientation, expectations and training. GUST would like to thank Colonel Blanchard for a highly memorable and informative presentation. Colonel Blanchard spoke to two sections of the MGMT 481 Strategic Management students of Dr. Kathleen Park,

GUST Assistant Professor of Strategic Management and International Management.

Colonel Blanchard was invited to GUST through the US Embassy Speaker Series arranged by the GUST Library Director Mrs. Shobhita Kohli in coordination with the US Embassy.

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

EMBASSY OF SLOVAK The Embassy of the Slovak Republic in Kuwait would like to inform the public that 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:

‘The Scratches of Syria’ at AUK sheds light on Syrian humanitarian situation

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he Scratches of Syria initiative, in cooperation with Syria Club at AUK held a short movie evening shedding light on the humanitarian situation in Syria. The movies shown were by Syrians directors, including Nader Makki (Death Time Story), Wessam Khwaji (Assi Alhawan), Kotaiba Al-Khoos (Love in a Hurry), Bassel Chehadeh (Saturday Morning), Taeem Henawe (Where are they?) and Abdulrahman Nahlawi (Darwash).

The movies carried different messages reflecting the life of Syrian children during the war, the new street language and war terminologies, and the life of refugees away from home. The evening ended with a movie rating by the audience.

For the second consecutive year, Scratches of Syria maintained its unbiased

political stance, a practice it always emphasized since the launch of its first event last March. Supporting this position, Enas Al-Halawani, Scratches of Syria Coordinator stressed that “the Most Important matter right now is that Syrians get along together and forget about their political views because the existing fragmentation among Syrians is the main reason behind their weakness”. Mohammad Naji, Scratches of Syria Coordinator, also agrees with the same argument confirming that “focusing on the armed solution makes us forget who are fighting and why we are fighting”. Naji also added that “Scratches of Syria started and will keep following this trend of focusing entirely on the Syrian humanitarian situation”.

The event ended by announcing the upcoming Scratches of Syria event next March 2014.

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

NAFO to hold seminar for Indian students

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ational Forum (NAFO-Kuwait) is organizing a comprehensive exemplary career guidance program ‘Joytrigama- 2014’, on Friday, January 31, 2014, from 9AM to 1PM at Salmiya Indian Model School (SIMS) auditorium. The mega career guidance program is envisioned exclusively for students of Class 9 to 12 of all Indian schools in Kuwait. The internationally renowned and eminent career guide and consultant, Amrita TV fame, Prof Dr P R Venkitaraman, having more than 25 years of hand-on experience covering every scholastic level from school to the University, will be flown to Kuwait for leading the program.

Dr Venkitaraman has conducted more

than 3000 career related seminars including more than 900 elite career guidance sessions in India and abroad. Dr Venkitaraman having 33 years of academic experience is a recognized international project consultant and has served for the Governments of Maldives, Mauritius and Kuwait. He is also a known corporate trainer dealing special titles in motivation, organizational skills, leadership development, team building and positive thinking. ‘Jyotirgama - 2014’ which is aimed at empowering aspiring students, will address academic apprising, availability and range of higher educational courses across a variety of subjects in various Universities and colleges in India, opportunities about rider courses, the deadline for

applying to various courses, detailed information regarding admission procedures and tuition fees on fresh courses, calendars of entrance examinations to professional courses, including advise and recommendations on how and when to choose a successful career.

Admission to this formal interactive workshop is open for students and parents; restricted through online registration at www.nafoglobal.org/jyot14.html.The last date for registration will be 25th January 2014. Further information will be announced and shall be available at www.nafoglobal.org and through all Indian schools and print/electronic media in Kuwait.

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

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.

Prof Dr P R Venkitaraman

THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2014

TV PROGRAMS

00:50 Animal Cops South Africa 01:45 I’m Alive 02:35 Untamed & Uncut 03:25 Africa’s Outsiders 04:15 North America 05:05 Wild Hawaii 05:55 Animal Cops South Africa 06:45 Meet The Sloths 07:10 Meet The Sloths 07:35 Swamp Brothers 08:00 Monkey Life 08:25 Pandamonium 09:15 Wild France 10:10 Steve Irwin’s Wildlife Warriors 10:35 Steve Irwin’s Wildlife Warriors 11:05 Africa’s Outsiders 12:00 Animal Cops Philadelphia 12:55 Monkey Life 13:20 Swamp Brothers 13:50 Swamp Brothers 14:15 Swamp Brothers 14:45 Rogue Nature With Dave Salmoni 15:40 Predator’s Playground 16:30 My Cat From Hell 17:30 Wild France 18:25 Chris Humfrey’s Wildlife 18:50 Chris Humfrey’s Wildlife 19:20 Ray Mears’ Wild Britain 20:15 North America 21:10 Wild Hawaii 22:05 Saving Rhino Phila 23:00 Glory Hounds 23:55 Gator Boys

00:00 Alan Partridge’s Mid-Morning Matters 01:40 Eastenders 02:10 Doctors 02:40 Absolutely Fabulous 03:10 Absolutely Fabulous 03:40 Absolutely Fabulous 04:10 Alone In The Wild 05:00 Boogie Beebies 05:15 Little Human Planet 05:20 Charlie And Lola 05:35 The Green Balloon Club 06:00 Nina And The Neurons 06:15 Boogie Beebies 06:30 Little Human Planet 06:35 Charlie And Lola 06:50 The Green Balloon Club 07:15 3rd & Bird 07:25 The Weakest Link 08:10 Alone In The Wild 09:00 Eastenders 09:30 Doctors 10:00 One Foot In The Grave 13:00 Eastenders 13:30 Doctors 14:00 Absolutely Fabulous 15:30 Famous, Rich & In The Slums 16:20 Famous, Rich & In The Slums 17:15 Eastenders 17:45 Doctors 18:15 Born To Royalty 19:30 The Office 20:00 The Shadow Line 21:00 After You’ve Gone: Xmas Special 2008 21:40 Keeping Up Appearances: Xmas Special 22:10 Dara O Briain Live From The Theatre Royal 23:00 Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle 23:30 Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle

00:40 01:30 01:55 02:20 05:00 05:55 11:55 12:45 13:35 14:05 14:30

Hairy Bikers’ Bake-ation Delicious Iceland Perfect Day Antiques Roadshow Hairy Bikers’ Bake-ation Antiques Roadshow Come Dine With Me Hairy Bikers’ Bake-ation Delicious Iceland Perfect Day Phil Spencer - Secret Agent

16:55 17:40 18:30 19:20 20:10 21:05 21:30 22:20 23:15

00:30 01:20 02:10 03:00 03:50 04:15 04:40 05:05 05:30 06:00 07:00 07:50 08:40 09:30 09:55 10:20 10:45 11:10 11:35 12:25 13:15 14:05 14:30 14:55 15:20 16:10 17:00 17:50 18:40 19:30 20:20 20:45 21:10 21:35 22:00 22:50 23:40

00:00 00:20 00:45 01:05 01:30 01:50 02:15 02:35 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 09:35 11:05 11:25 11:50 12:15 12:35 13:00 13:25 13:45 14:10 14:35 15:00 15:25 15:50 16:10 17:05 18:30 18:55 19:20 20:05

Bargain Hunt Cash In The Attic Antiques Roadshow Marbella Mansions Bill’s Kitchen: Notting Hill Food & Drink Come Dine With Me Antiques Roadshow Bargain Hunt

You Have Been Warned Treehouse Masters Mythbusters Mythbusters Border Security Storage Hunters American Digger How Do They Do It? How It’s Made Sons Of Guns Mythbusters Finding Bigfoot Fast N’ Loud Border Security Storage Hunters American Digger How Do They Do It? How It’s Made You Have Been Warned Treehouse Masters Mythbusters Border Security Storage Hunters American Digger Dirty Great Machines Fast N’ Loud Ultimate Survival Dirty Jobs Mythbusters Sons Of Guns Storage Hunters American Digger How Do They Do It? How It’s Made Sons Of Guns Street Outlaws Hellriders

The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody Sonny With A Chance Sonny With A Chance Suite Life On Deck Suite Life On Deck Wizards Of Waverly Place Wizards Of Waverly Place The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody Sonny With A Chance Sonny With A Chance Suite Life On Deck Suite Life On Deck Wizards Of Waverly Place Wizards Of Waverly Place Austin And Ally Austin And Ally A.N.T. Farm A.N.T. Farm Gravity Falls My Babysitter’s A Vampire Jessie Good Luck Charlie Dog With A Blog Avalon High Jessie Wolfblood Suite Life On Deck A.N.T. Farm Austin And Ally Shake It Up That’s So Raven Jessie Good Luck Charlie Dog With A Blog Wolfblood Gravity Falls Jessie Violetta Hercules Good Luck Charlie Dog With A Blog Violetta Jessie

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My Babysitter’s A Vampire Wolfblood Gravity Falls Shake It Up Austin And Ally A.N.T. Farm Good Luck Charlie Wizards Of Waverly Place Wizards Of Waverly Place

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f your social media networks contain film critics, film fans or filmmakers, it’s likely you spent the week after Christmas reading less about what people received from Santa and their resolutions for 2014 and more heated posts about “The Wolf of Wall Street.” Martin Scorsese’s latest epic of male bad behavior, starring Leonardo DiCaprio as real-life stockbroker and fraudster Jordan Belfort, was always destined to generate controversy, from its three-hour running time to its explicit depiction of drugs, sex and overspending among financial titans.

The donnybrook that has emerged online, however, covers much broader ground: Is Scorsese, some viewers ask, satirizing the outrageous behavior he’s portraying onscreen, or is he celebrating it? Belfort, after all, gets off (spoiler alert) with a slap on the wrist for his crimes, and the film never takes a pronounced stance regarding Belfort and his colleagues bilking their clients out of millions of dollars.

The brouhaha erupted Dec 26, just one day after the film’s Christmas opening, when CinemaScore revealed the rating that “Wolf of Wall Street” got from first-night audiences: a lowly C, considerably below “Grudge Match,” a critically lambasted movie that opened the same day. As The Dissolve’s Matt Singer lamented on Twitter, “GRUDGE MATCH Cinemascore: B+. WOLF OF WALL STREET Cinemascore: C. HahahahahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAhahahahehehohgod why”

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Lack of support That lack of support from audiences, leading to less-thandazzling word of mouth, drove “Wolf” from being second place on Christmas Day to several notches behind for the fiveday weekend. CinemaScore, it should be noted, has drawn heat this year for not necessarily reflecting the overall response of the moviegoing public; as Movies.com’s Erik Childress observed, only eight films in 2013 scored less than a C+, meaning that “Wolf” was nestled at the bottom of the list with “The Counselor,” “The Family,” “The Last Exorcism Part II,” “Movie 43,”“The Purge,”“Runner Runner” and “Scary Movie V.” “The Wolf of Wall Street,” it bears noting, scored a strong 76% among film critics on aggregrator site RottenTomatoes.com, with an even more impressive 79% from fans. That still leaves one-fourth of critics giving the movie a “Rotten,” of course; Alynda Wheat of People magazine wrote, “There’s nothing exotic or empathetic about a bunch of scheming, loathsome creeps given a whole movie in which to play (again) on our dime. There are no wages of sin on this ‘Street’ - in fact, it looks like sin pays pretty damned well.”

Meanwhile, Joe Morgenstern at the Wall Street Journal called the film “three hours of incessant shouting and sensationally bad behavior ... It’s meant to be an entertaining, even meaningful representation of the penny-stock maestro’s life and times. But I couldn’t buy it, and couldn’t wait for the hollow spectacle to end.”

Scorsese himself was on the receiving end of an early attack following a screening at the Academy before the film’s release. Actress Hope Holiday posted on Facebook that an Oscar voter yelled “Shame!” at Scorsese after the Dec. 21 screening. (Holiday, as film critic David Ehrenstein later noted, appeared in Billy Wilder’s “The Apartment” and “Irma La Douce,” both of which were considered shocking and envelope-pushing in their day.)

Anti- ‘wolf’ The anti-”Wolf” sentiment really heated up with the Dec 26 publication of “An Open Letter to the Makers of ‘The Wolf of Wall Street,’ and the Wolf Himself” in LA Weekly. Written by Christina McDowell - daughter of Tom Prousalis, who went to jail because of Belfort’s testimony - the article attacks Scorsese and DiCaprio, making clear much her family has suffered due to Belfort’s machinations and her father’s complicity.

She calls Scorsese and DiCaprio “dangerous,” the film “reckless,” and asks, “Did you think about the cultural message you’d be sending when you decided to make this film?

You have successfully aligned yourself with an accomplished criminal, a guy who still hasn’t made full restitution to his victims, exacerbating our national obsession with wealth and status and glorifying greed and psychopathic behavior.”

McDowell’s letter - and an accompanying piece by Paul Teetor, “10 Reasons Why the Real-Life ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ Is a Schmuck Who Shouldn’t Be Glamorized” - made their way onto a lot of Facebook news feeds, which in turn drew response from defenders of the film who have pointed out that merely portraying behavior is not the same as endorsing it.

“I still remember Jonathan Demme saying, ‘I want to make this clear: I support making skin suits out of dead people,’” tweeted Cinema Styles and Turner Classic Movies writer Greg Ferrara about the “Silence of the Lambs” director. And filmmaker David Kittredge posted on Facebook, “It is singularly depressing that anybody has to point out that ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ is a satire. I mean - seriously? In other news, “Dr. Strangelove” was not pro-Armageddon, Jonathan Swift did not want anybody to eat babies and “Network” didn’t advocate live television assassinations. [NYT critic] A.O. Scott’s wrestling with whether or not Scorsese ‘glorifies’ Jordan Belfort’s insane life in the first half of the film makes me want to strap him down and make him watch ‘Salo.’”

Perhaps the most full-throated defense of Scorsese’s methods came from critic Nick Pinkerton, blogging at SundanceNow.com. It’s must reading for anyone who’s got a dog in either side of this hunt, but in a nutshell, he warns against assuming that you, the viewer, understand the artist’s intent while “they,” the rest of the audience, will take everything at face value.

Pinkerton writes, “While smart critics generally make a virtue of ‘ambiguity’ and ‘shades of gray’ in festival fare or films that play for the self-selecting cinephile set, this sort of hand-wringing censure seems to be reserved for movies that, like ‘Wolf,’ have a certain amount of entertainment value, and will potentially play for large, diverse audiences that, unlike cinephile sophistos, presumably aren’t so well equipped to navigate the straits of moral ambiguity without binary lighthouses to guide their way.”

Freedom of storytellers Back in the days of the Motion Picture Production Code, filmmakers were forbidden from telling any stories in which crimes were not punished, and it always had to be made clear that criminal behavior was unacceptable. We now live in an era in which storytellers are free to portray such behavior without overtly moralizing about it or telling the audience what they’re supposed to think. Scorsese freely admits his film is brutal, acknowledging to TheWrap that it is definitely “not for everyone’s taste.”

“It’s not made for 14 year olds,” he observed then. On Monday, DiCaprio spoke up for “Wolf of Wall Street,” telling one trade publication, “I hope people understand we’re not condoning this behavior, that we’re indicting it. The book was a cautionary tale and if you sit through the end of the film, you’ll realize what we’re saying about these people and this world, because it’s an intoxicating one.” Back in August, though, he certainly endorsed Belfort’s skills as an orator and motivator of men. Whether or not “The Wolf of Wall Street” is ultimately considered a successful or important film - and whether or not Belfort becomes the kind of antihero role model that the fictional Gordon Gekko of “Wall Street” became in some circles - is up to film history to decide. —Reuters

Classifieds THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2014

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One year used furniture bedroom set, double coat with custom made special mattress, side table, four door cupboard with mirror.

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(C 4605) 30-12-2013 SITUATION WANTED Supply and Logistics Management Specialist seeking employment with reputable company in Kuwait. For more information contact at cell # 66282384 or e-mail at gallesps37@hotmail.com (C 4606) 1-1-2014

LOST Wallet, including civil ID, ATM bank card, money and other importance receipt.

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1-1-2014 It is notified for the information that my original qualifying examination certificate of mains CBSE Secondary School Examination Grade Sheet cum Certificate of Performance (2010-2012) and roll number 8106218, issued by CBSE (Govt of India) has been actually lost. Govind Shajan, Civil ID No: 296120701624, flat 31, building 1, street 2, block 12, Salmiya, Kuwait, Phone: 96614238. (C 4604) 28-12-2013

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Time 00:05 00:10 00:40 00:40 00:30 00:45 00:55 01:30 02:10 02:15 02:35 02:45 03:10 04:20 03:45 03:45 05:50 05:35 05:40 05:45 05:45 05:50 06:20 06:40 06:45 08:10 07:40 08:15 08:45 07:55 7:50 7:50 7:50 7:55 8:15 8:40 9:00 9:20 9:30 9:40 9:55 10:35 10:40 11:15 11:20 11:55 11:30 12:55 12:30 12:35 12:50 12:45 13:00 13:05 13:05 13:15 13:50 13:55

KAC SVA KNE KAC JZR KAC GFA KAC KNE NIA OMA JZR KAC QTR UAE ETD RJA SVA JZR JZR ABY GFA UAL KAC KAC JZR JZR QTR FDB KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC GFA OMA TAR FDB MSR JAI AXB JZR ABY DLH ALK MEA JZR ETD UAE GFA QTR KLM JAI AIC JZR FDB UAL PIA JZR

546 500 472 671 257 562 221 788 470 251 645 535 118 1072 857 303 640 510 777 787 127 215 982 284 542 135 177 1080 63 786 614 104 674 176 618 774 217 647 328 61 618 572 393 189 129 634 229 402 181 307 859 219 1074 417 576 981 239 59 981 205 185

ALEXANDRIA JEDDAH JEDDAH DUBAI BEIRUT AMMAN-QUEEN ALIA BAHRAIN JEDDAH JEDDAH ALEXANDRIA MUSCAT CAIRO NEW YORK DOHA DUBAI ABU DHABI-INTL AMMAN-QUEEN ALIA RIYADH JEDDAH RIYADH SHARJAH BAHRAIN WASHINGTON DC DULLES DHAKA CAIRO BAHRAIN DUBAI DOHA DUBAI JEDDAH BAHRAIN LONDON DUBAI GENEVA DOHA RIYADH BAHRAIN MUSCAT DUBAI DUBAI ALEXANDRIA MUMBAI KOZHIKODE DUBAI SHARJAH FRANKFURT COLOMBO BEIRUT AL MAKTOUM INTERNATI ABU DHABI-INTL DUBAI BAHRAIN DOHA AMSTERDAM COCHIN CHENNAI AMMAN-QUEEN ALIA DUBAI BAHRAIN LAHORE DUBAI

14:05 14:30 14:35 14:00 14:45 14:50 15:00 15:10 15:35 15:50 15:55 15:50 16:35 16:40 16:40 16:50 16:55 17:15 17:55 17:00 17:25 17:30 18:00 18:00 18:05 18:00 18:20 18:40 18:45 18:45 19:35 19:35 19:25 19:15 19:00 19:30 19:30 19:55 20:00 20:05 20:05 20:10 20:15 20:15 20:20 20:55 21:10 21:20 21:30 21:35 21:40 21:45 22:00 22:05 22:15 22:30 22:20 22:30 23:10 23:15 23:20

Airlines AIC AXB JAI KLM BBC DLH SAI THY KAC UAE ETD MSR QTR MSC FDB QTR KAC JZR FDB JZR THY GFA KAC QTR QTR JZR THY FDB BAW IRA QTR JZR JZR SVA THY KAC KAC KAC ABY KAC UAE ETD IRA FDB QTR GFA KAC IZG KAC MSC MSC JZR MEA KAC SYR JZR JZR TBZ MSR

Departure Flights on Thursday 2/1/2014 Flt Route Time 976 GOA 00:05 490 MANGALORE 00:15 573 MUMBAI 01:10 411 AMSTERDAM 01:45 44 DHAKA 01:45 635 FRANKFURT 02:10 442 LAHORE 02:30 773 ISTANBUL-ATATURK 02:55 381 DELHI 03:50 854 DUBAI 03:50 306 ABU DHABI 04:00 613 CAIRO 04:10 1085 DOHA 04:15 406 SOHAG 04:45 68 DUBAI 05:00 1077 DOHA 05:15 283 DHAKA 05:30 560 SOHAG 06:20 70 DUBAI 06:30 164 DUBAI 06:55 765 ISTANBUL-SABIHA 07:05 212 BAHRAIN 07:15 545 ALEXANDRIA 07:15 8525 DOHA 07:15 8650 DHAKA 07:15 240 AMMAN 07:20 771 ISTANBUL-ATATURK 07:30 54 DUBAI 08:30 156 LONDON 08:45 616 AHWAZ 08:50 1087 DOHA 08:50 256 BEIRUT 08:55 534 CAIRO 09:00 513 RIYADH 09:15 6512 ISTANBUL-ATATURK 09:25 561 AMMAN 09:25 787 JEDDAH 09:25 671 DUBAI 09:30 126 SHARJAH 09:40 101 LONDON 09:50 856 DUBAI 09:55 302 ABU DHABI 10:05 606 MASHHAD 10:20 56 DUBAI 10:20 1071 DOHA 10:55 214 BAHRAIN 11:25 541 CAIRO 11:30 4162 MASHHAD 11:35 165 ROME 11:50 404 ASYUT 12:15 402 ALEXANDRIA 12:20 776 JEDDAH 12:25 405 BEIRUT 12:55 785 JEDDAH 13:00 342 DAMASCUS 13:30 786 RIYADH 13:35 176 DUBAI 13:45 5484 MASHHAD 13:50 580 SOHAG 13:50

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

MSR KNE UAE FDB QTR JZR KAC KAC KNE JZR GFA SVA KAC KAC KNE KAC NIA OMA JZR JZR ETD QTR UAE JZR RJA ABY SVA GFA JZR JZR UAL JZR FDB QTR GFA FDB TAR OMA KAC ABY MSR JAI KAC AXB KAC KAC DHX ALK MEA ETD GFA KAC UAE KAC KLM QTR FDB JAI JZR KAC KAC

611 481 872 58 1079 134 673 617 473 188 222 505 773 501 471 613 252 646 238 180 304 1073 858 538 641 128 511 216 184 266 982 554 64 1081 218 62 328 648 331 120 619 571 351 394 343 543 171 230 403 308 220 301 860 205 417 1075 60 575 528 415 411

CAIRO TAIF DUBAI DUBAI DOHA BAHRAIN DUBAI DOHA JEDDAH DUBAI BAHRAIN JEDDAH RIYADH BEIRUT JEDDAH BAHRAIN ALEXANDRIA MUSCAT AMMAN AL MAKTOUM INTERNATIONAL ABU DHABI DOHA DUBAI CAIRO AMMAN SHARJAH RIYADH BAHRAIN DUBAI BEIRUT BAHRAIN ALEXANDRIA DUBAI DOHA BAHRAIN DUBAI TUNIS MUSCAT TRIVANDRUM SHARJAH ALEXANDRIA MUMBAI KOCHI KOZHIKODE CHENNAI CAIRO BAHRAIN COLOMBO BEIRUT ABU DHABI BAHRAIN MUMBAI DUBAI ISLAMABAD DAMMAM DOHA DUBAI ABU DHABI ASYUT KUALA LUMPUR BANGKOK

14:00 14:10 14:15 14:30 14:55 15:00 15:05 15:30 15:30 15:40 15:45 16:00 16:05 16:30 16:30 16:35 16:50 16:55 16:55 16:55 17:35 17:40 17:50 17:50 17:55 18:05 18:15 18:20 18:40 18:50 19:15 19:20 19:25 19:40 20:15 20:45 20:50 20:55 20:55 21:00 21:05 21:10 21:10 21:15 21:30 21:40 21:50 22:10 22:20 22:20 22:30 22:35 22:50 22:55 23:05 23:10 23:10 23:15 23:25 23:55 23:55

34

s ta rs CROSSWORD 417

STAR TRACK Aries (March 21-April 19) ARIES Round table discussions are possible today. Family members want better budgeting. You may gratefully chip in some ideas but they may not be appreciated. You could give an example from books and show how much a thoughtful plan is needed. Plan first and then talk again later in the day with new ideas. Productive answers are near.

Agree to meet again in about six weeks to see how all is going; mark it on the calendar.

You may have an opportunity to solve a mystery this afternoon. It is easier to deal with the facts when you find them and you will help a loved one find a new understanding.

Involving yourself in ongoing social activities will provide you with some good connections in the workplace. Networking is a good idea.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) Do not try to prove a point with your vehicle and you will be safe this day.

You may find yourself driving or preparing to drive a distance to your home or a friend’s home after a long holiday. If you are not driving a vehicle, you are driving yourself in motivation. You desire to clear away the old and make room for the new. That includes mental activity as well as physical, putting the body in shape or promising yourself you will get into a more organized exercise routine. You are surprised that there are a few stores open today and you may decide to take some food to an elderly couple near your home. Your ability to get along with the elderly as well as with young people deserves attention as you are interested in the care of people’s welfare.

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

ACROSS 1. A thrusting blow with a knife.

5. A member of the Semitic speaking people of northern Ethiopia.

11. The capital and largest city of Yemen.

15. The basic unit of money in Bangladesh.

16. Having two axes.

17. (Babylonian) God of storms and wind.

18. A woman hired to suckle a child of someone else.

19. Horned vipers.

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

22. A language spoken by the Atakapa people of the Gulf coast of Louisiana and Texas.

24. Mild yellow Dutch cheese made in balls.

25. Enthusiastic approval.

27. An independent group of closely related Chadic languages spoken in the area between the Biu-Mandara and East Chadic languages.

28. (trademark) An alloy of iron and nickel having a low coefficient of thermal expansion.

30. A federal agency established to coordinate programs aimed at reducing pollution and protecting the environment.

32. The United Nations agency concerned with atomic energy.

35. A city in northwestern Syria.

40. The act of scanning.

41. Type genus of the Alcidae comprising solely the razorbill.

44. A graphical recording of the cardiac cycle produced by an electrocardiograph.

46. (Old Testament) The first of the major Hebrew prophets (8th century BC).

47. Female ruff v 1.

49. The (prehensile) extremity of the superior limb.

51. Avatar of Vishnu.

52. Suggestive of the supernatural.

55. A sharp abrupt noise as if two objects hit together.

61. Being eight more than forty.

66. The capital of Lombardy in northern Italy.

68. (computer science) A measure of how densely information is packed on a storage medium.

69. A condition (mostly in boys) characterized by behavioral and learning disorders.

70. A smooth prominence of the frontal bone between and above the eyebrows.

72. The longest division of geological time.

73. A colloid that has a continuous liquid phase in which a solid is suspended in a liquid.

74. A plaster containing powdered black mustard.

75. Fish eggs or egg-filled ovary.

DOWN 1. A right or legal share of something.

2. Brought from wildness into a domesticated state.

3. Jordan's port.

4. Of or relating to or characteristic of the Bahama Islands or their inhabitants.

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

6. An incorrect deal.

7. An accidental happening.

8. Of or relating to or resembling an axis of rotation.

9. Follower of Rastafarianism.

10. A silvery ductile metallic element found primarily in bauxite.

11. A mountain peak in the Andes in Bolivia (21,391 feet high).

12. (Babylonian) A demigod or first man.

13. Sole genus of the family Naiadaceae.

14. A city in southern Turkey on the Seyhan River.

20. A state in northwestern North America.

23. Goddess of criminal rashness and its punishment.

26. Evergreen mat-forming shrub of North America and northern Eurasia having small white flowers and red berries.

29. A Spanish unit of length (about a yard) having different values in different localities.

31. The 17th letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

33. Red pear-shaped tropical fruit with poisonous seeds.

34. Having or showing keen interest or intense desire or impatient expectancy.

36. Appeal or request earnestly.

37. (Greek mythology) Goddess of the earth and mother of Cronus and the Titans in ancient mythology.

38. Burrowing marine mollusk living on sand or mud.

39. A Loloish language.

42. A resource.

43. A government tax on imports or exports.

45. Emotional or moral sensitivity (especially in relation to personal principles or dignity).

48. Widely distributed genus of annual or perennial and often climbing herbs.

50. A silvery soft waxy metallic element of the alkali metal group.

53. The district occupied entirely by the city of Washington.

54. A deep bow.

56. Garlic mayonnaise.

57. A bar or bars of rolled steel making a track along which vehicles can roll.

58. A river of central Italy.

59. A city in southern Finland.

60. United States parapsychologist (18951980).

62. (British) A recreational facility including a swimming pool for water sports.

63. Large lipoproteins rich in triglycerides.

64. Relatively deep or strong.

65. (Norse mythology) Goddess of old age who defeated Thor in a wrestling match.

67. A master's degree in business.

71. An associate degree in nursing.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2014

Rest from the activities of the last two weeks is the most important thing on your mind this morning. A leisure walk or a visit to the park to exercise your dog and your feet may be the only big activity you want to think about during your day at home. Looking around you, you may notice things that you can do the next few weeks, hopefully with friends that will help to clean up the neighborhood park or a walkway. New signs, plantings or a neighborhood planning committee will be helpful. It is wonderful what can result from a few people getting together to create a positive. Before you know it, others will join the task force. A brainstorm among your friends may bring in some cash this afternoon. Your group project will be successful.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) By living your life fully and setting positive examples for others to follow, you automatically attract people to you. Many people ask your opinion about how they should proceed through life. If you ask people if they want to trade places with anyone in the room, they would most likely say no. Your profession may be to counsel people and your understanding is that life is a classroom from which we all learn. We each have our own lessons. Today, you ponder on the above issues and wonder if you would change places—with anyone. Although many people judge others, you do not; you create and you encourage others to create. Continue to create in positive ways. Tonight is for love and romance. Enjoy the winter sky and all that fresh air.

Leo (July 23-August 22) Whether you are working or not, it will probably be a busy day. Your optimistic attitude always wins friends and influences people; keep it going. Make the most of this time, as it is very important to put your best foot forward and take care of any blocks that may slow you from your goals. Establish your loyalties with your friends and loved ones. Pinpoint any physical problems and make an effort to take care of any discomfort.

Change as best you can any living or working environment that could weaken your stamina. It is good to combine your need to stay in shape along with your need for success.

Begin to express your own thoughts clearly by listening to yourself when you speak.

Tonight you enjoy a romantic dinner; relax.

Virgo (August 23-September 22) Study what you think might have spurred you into a particular dream. Your current crop of dreams may not feel right to you or may seem to go against what normally motivates you. It may be easy to be misled and to find you are pouring energy and effort into directions that will bring no return. Since you’ve had little sleep lately, much of the confusion today can be ignored. You can be assured that the day will get better as it moves along. You are very happy that this is not a workday for you. You should find that children and young people bring you pleasure all day long. There may be news of a pregnancy among your circle of friends. Your imagination is very powerful this evening. Your thoughts will turn to romantic issues—a loved one agrees to share.

Word Search

Libra (September 23-October 22) Make room now for the new things as well as the usual for this new year.

There is some change, the change is good change coming—you need to be prepared physically. Enjoy a healthy variety of foods and as far as the rich foods are concerned—cut down on the amount. This time is a much more positive phase for you than in the past.

Over the next three weeks or so, you will spend a fair bit of time writing letters, phoning people and traveling around the neighborhood in order to become acquainted and to get others interested in future neighborhood improvements and activities. You share information about conservation and recycling. Social opportunities are just perfect today. You show others your appreciation and your attention to others is rewarded.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) You are not really quite ready to give up that extra holiday job and you have no problem dressing for the occasion and showing up early to make that extra dollar. Later this afternoon you continue with some hobby or task you have set for yourself. You could be involved in a writing project in which there is some likelihood of having positive results.

This could mean an interview for the news or research for a project. You could be most persuasive with others and persuasive in speech. The situation will eventually lead to your analyzing a subject and opening a path for your self-expression. You make a difference through the written word—other people are informed. You have the power to change people’s minds, make them think, cry or laugh.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) Other people’s money helps you succeed. You only have about eight possible stressful days this month and this is not one of them. You are positive and think of today as one of the better days for accomplishing whatever you decide to set out to do. You are going to see some improvements in your work this next week; it is a time when you can expect a little boost and some extra support. You may feel that you are in harmony with others; the lines of communication are open. A friend or family member may really depend on your opinion. Honesty strengthens friendships and today you will find an opportunity happens that will deepen your relationship with a friend. Keep your promises. Your sweetheart is your best friend.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19) A good sense of balance can improve the possibilities of this day. Coming together with friends and family, perhaps to watch a sports game or play indoor games of chance, puts everyone in a cozy mood and the day progresses in a most fulfilling way. You might have a movie lined up for later in the day. If you are by yourself, this day is the perfect opportunity to enjoy a creative day. An internet game or an out-ofdoor walk will energize you to just let go of all the old and take on a new attitude of balance and steady movement. This would be important when moving forward to reach a goal, teach a class or run a race, etc. Young people around you learn, enjoy and gain new ways to see the world from your good attitude. One day at a time, you can do anything.

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) You may find yourself in a dreamy mood today; enjoy it because a new animal may keep you very busy. You seem devoted to the animal world at this time. Perhaps you got a new pet recently or have decided to teach an old dog some new tricks.

Interruptions from whatever you do today will distract you from losing yourself in your own private thoughts. Visitors, animals, phone calls, your own agenda will all be fun ways to spend your first day of the new year. Invite a neighbor to your place for an early evening meal and to learn about someone new. Before the evening is over you will enjoy the exchange of recipes, movie star gossip, etc. You have an entertaining personality with a witty side that is quite enjoyable.

Pisces (February 19-March 20) You and your family may look for decisions regarding the home, budgeting or landscaping. It may be a few days before any decision can be agreed upon, however.

You could be entertaining this evening but it may be to bring attention to community concerns—the first neighborhood meeting. Perhaps you will want to see a particular street light installed or the repair of streets or new identifying laws regarding homeland security. By expressing your opinion and then showing facts, statistics or examples, you may have others thinking your way in no time; patience. Married life or marital prospects continue to be in the spotlight. Work on building a better security for your future. You might decide to nap this afternoon. Tonight is delightful.

Yesterday’s Solution

Yesterday’s Solution

Daily SuDoku

Yesterday’s Solution

THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2014

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

THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2014

LIFESTYLE G o s s i p

Cole’s

international beauty regime

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Oprah Winfrey and Stedman Graham to get married?

heryl Cole gets her skincare products flown in from outside of the UK. The 30-year-old star enjoys exfoliating her skin to make sure she maintains a flawless complexion so when cosmetics brand L’Oreal Paris stopped producing Pure Zone Exfoliating Gel Wash, the brunette beauty made sure she had a supply at hand. She said: “I like an exfoliator to get all that gunk off. In fact L’Oreal discontinued my favorite face wash - they got me 23 bottles from another country but I want them to bring it back!” The star hasn’t always been happy with her skin as she went through a phase as a teenager where she had an outbreak of spots and this made her more adept to skincare. Cheryl explained: “As a teenage I went through a hormonal spell of spots and I hated it. It made me conscious of taking care of my skin.” The ‘Call My Name’ hitmaker thinks younger women should take care of their skin to keep a youthful look, rather than think they need to resort to treatments like Botox. She added: “I think it’s important to let women in their twenties know that actually there are alternatives to injectables and stuff like that. It’s about prevention at this stage, rather than putting poison in your face.”

O

prah Winfrey’s fiancé is preparing for them to finally marry, more than 20 years after they got engaged. The talk show legend originally agreed to Stedman Graham’s proposal in 1992 after six years of dating and he is now planning to ask her a second time, spurred by an emotional trip to South African political figure Nelson Mandela’s funeral on December 15. A source told National Enquirer magazine: “It was a highly emotional journey for Oprah, who loved Mandela and everything he stood for.

During this time of grief there was only one person in the world she turned to - her Stedman. “It was a spiritual mission and Stedman held her close during the funeral service.

He realized right then and there he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Oprah as a married couple.” Friends have been urging motivational speaker Stedman to ask Oprah to marry him again on her 60th birthday, this January. The source added: “Stedman feels the two are soul mates, they’ve lasted together this long and should finally make it official.

Stedman also realized that when their days end, he wants to be buried next to Oprah and knows that will only happen if they wed.”

Morrison wants to be good fiancé in 2014

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atthew Morrison’s New Year’s resolution is to be a good fiancé.

The 33-year-old actor - who proposed to girlfriend Renee Puente earlier this year - admits he usually resolves to be healthier and work out more with the beginning of another year, but his plans for 2014 are all focused on his relationship. He said: “My New Year’s resolutions are normally always getting rid of the bad stuff I ate over the holidays and getting to the gym, but this year’s will be geared towards my relationship and just trying to be the best partner that I can be.” Matthew has just released a festive album, ‘A Classic Christmas’, and loved getting the chance to work with a big orchestra. He said: “We orchestrated some Christmas songs with a 60-piece orchestra - it was great to hear the beautiful violins and saxophones together.” Matthew previously revealed that he hopes his musically talented friends will perform at his wedding, although it won’t take place until 2015 because of his hectic schedule. He said: “We’re planning it together but it won’t be until early 2015 because my schedule is so busy.

“It’s going to be a small wedding but we definitely have a lot of musical friends so I’d love to have a whole bunch of my friends get up and sing.”

J

Jenna worked out pregnant

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enna Dewan Tatum called her personal trainer “the second” she found out she was pregnant. The health conscious actress and dancer - who has seven month old daughter, Everly, with husband Channing Tatum says working out helped her keep focused while pregnant with her first child. She told Us Weekly magazine: “The second I found out I was pregnant, I called [my trainer] Jen Johnson. We found areas we wanted to target: arms and legs. I wanted to keep the muscles alive. Plus, I felt so much better. Working out kept me sane. I would feel a burst of energy and all my hormones would regulate.” Even during her third trimester, while she was with Channing filming ‘Jupiter Ascending’ in London, Jenna, 33, kept up her routine. She added: “It was tough doing anything strenuous, so I did yoga and a lot of walking. I must have walked the city four times over! I’m sure people thought I was crazy - I’d be walking my dogs on Hampstead Heath park, I’d grab a tree and do 10 squats. By the end I was so ready for her to come out. I was reading old wives tales and eating spicy food and pineapple.” Even after Everly’s birth in May, Jenna didn’t slow down, and even exercises while rocking her to sleep. She added: “My doula [childbirth assistant] gave me the best tip: When I’m rocking Everly to sleep, I do lunges across the nursery, squats or calf raises. Suddenly 45 minutes have gone by, she’s asleep and I got a little workout!”

Houghton vows to have more spray tans in 2014

C

hantelle Houghton’s New Year’s resolution is to have more spray tans.

The reality TV star thinks she has let her appearance “slide” since giving birth to her daughter Dolly - whom she has with her ex-fiancÈ Alex Reid - 18 months ago, and she has vowed that she will take better care of herself next year. Asked about her New Year’s resolutions, she said: “To be more organized about myself, to have a blow-dry once a week and to do my fake tan once a week. “I feel like I’ve let my appearance slide because all my attention has been on Dolly.” Chantelle who was previously married to Ordinary Boys singer Preston - admits she would like to get married again in the future, but looking for love isn’t a priority for 2014.

She explained: “I’m really happy on my own at the moment. If I meet someone, I meet someone. I’m not desperate. “I’d love to get married again, 100 per cent and have more kids. I wanted me and Preston to last forever, but stuff happened and we were too young.”

Jay Z and Beyonce’s seafood feast

ay Z and Beyonce enjoyed a seafood feast this weekend after ending their vegan diet. The rapper and his wife undertook a 22-day challenge to eliminate all animal products from their diet earlier this month, and following its success they are back to eating meat, dining at Miami restaurant Seasalt and Pepper over the weekend. According to the New York Post newspaper, the restaurant’s chef, Alfredo Alvarez, arrived at the couple’s table personally to take their order and they dined on pappardelle, lobster risotto and seafood casserole. On Monday the couple and their 11-month-old daughter, Blue Ivy, were photographed leaving another non-vegan hotspot, Joey’s Italian CafÈ, which claims to have the best pizza in Miami. It is unknown if Jay and Beyonce also enjoyed a traditional Christmas turkey dinner to mark the end of their diet, which started on December 3. Explaining why they took up the challenge on his Life and Times blog, Jay wrote: “On December 3rd, one day before my 44th birthday I will embark on a 22 Days challenge to go completely vegan, or as I prefer to call it, plant-based!! “This all began a few months back when a good friend and vegan challenged me to embrace a “plant-based breakfast” every day. It was surprisingly easier on me than I thought... “I don’t know what happens after Christmas. A semi-vegan, a full plant-based diet? Or just a spiritual and physical challenge? We’ll see... (sic)”

Perry left speechless by Nicks’ tribute Charlize to adopt second child

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harlize Theron is getting ready to adopt a second child. The ‘Monster’ star is keen for her son, Jackson, two, to have a sibling, and already started the process. A source told National Enquirer magazine: “Charlize admits it’s a lot to go through, but she definitely wants Jackson to have a little brother. She wants Jackson to have a sibling who isn’t four or five years younger than him - she wants to raise them together.” The South Africa-born actress has not yet decided which country to adopt the child from or whether he or she will share Jackson’s AfricanAmerican heritage. The source added: “She’s made no decision about that yet. She is eyeing the possibility of adopting a child from South Africa this time, but she hasn’t decided. She just knows she wants another baby.” Charlize - who split with long term partner Stuart Townsend after nine years together in 2010 - became mother to Jackson in 2012 and claims she always knew she would adopt. She said at the time: “My mother found a letter I wrote. It said, ‘Would you please take me to orphanage, so that I can go and adopt a baby?’ I always knew I would adopt. Always.” Speaking of being a single parent, she added: “You know, I don’t think any mother aims to be a single mom. I didn’t wish for that, but it happened.”

K

aty Perry was left speechless when Stevie Nicks dedicated a song to her on Monday. The ‘Roar’ singer and her boyfriend, John Mayer, were honored by the Fleetwood Mac star - who played the song ‘Landslide’ especially for them - at their show in Las Vegas, leaving Katy so excited she couldn’t express herself. Using his girlfriend’s Twitter account, John wrote: “John here. Katy can’t write because she’s getting over Stevie Nicks dedicating Landslide to us at the Fleetwood Mac concert. Unforgettable. “While I’m at it I have a couple things I’d like to get off my-oh, she’s motioning for the phone back. Gotta go!! -JM (sic)” Katy, 29, has previously spoken of her love for Stevie, 65, and her music, and told how earlier this year they met for tea in London. She said: “She is a beautiful woman. She just has so many little nuggets of wisdom and sees straight through my soul. “And she’s very kind ... I’m so honoured that she would make time for me. I like hearing what people who have gone before me have to say about all this stuff.” The respect is mutual, as Stevie has previously said she could relate to Katy’s song ‘The One That Got Away’. Speaking of that track, she said: “About a minute in, I just began to cry. “It reminded me of my own life and losses, and of the last fight that [Fleetwood Mac bandmate and ex-partner] Lindsey Buckingham and I had. By the time it ended, I said, ‘Well, that’s just the saddest thing I’ve ever seen!’ That was exactly the reaction she wanted.” —Bang Showbiz

37

THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2014

LIFESTYLE F e a t u r e s

Secret Machines founding guitarist Curtis dead at 35

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enjamin Curtis, the Dallas-based indie rock guitarist and drummer who was a part of the Secret Machines during their 2004 breakout “Now Here is Nowhere,” has died after a yearlong battle with cancer. He was 35.

According to the Dallas Observer, Curtis died Sunday night in New York.

Curtis, a native Oklahoman, was a staple in the Dallas music scene, where he and brother Brandon played for local band UFOFU in the mid 1990s. Benjamin played drums for Tripping Daisy for a few years before the Curtis brothers reteamed with Josh Garza to form Secret Machines, whose new take on spacerock was a critical darling in the mid to late Aughts.

Though it never sold gangbusters, the band’s 2004 album “Now Here is Nowhere” made Rolling Stone’s list of overlooked gems from that year. They opened for U2 s Vertigo Tour in Mexico in 2006; the Irish supergroup’s guitarist The Edge called “Now Here is Nowhere” “the last record he fell in love with” in an interview for the Uncut magazine.

Curtis left the band in 2007 to form

In this Nov 13, 2006 file photo, Benjamin Curtis with the band Secret Machines performs at a launch party for Microsoft’s new music player Zune at Westlake Park in downtown Seattle. —AP School of Seven Bells with Alejandra Deheza. He announced his diagnosis with T-cell Lymphoblastic Lymphoma in February. —Reuters

File photo shows Beyonce performs during the Pepsi Super Bowl XLVII Halftime Show football game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens, in New Orleans. —AP

NASA responds to Beyonce’s

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Challenger sample use

ASA officials say the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster “should never be trivialized” in response to a new song from Beyonce that features an audio sample recorded just after the craft exploded on takeoff in 1986, killing all seven crewmembers. The space agency issued the statement late Tuesday after the pop star began to receive criticism from Challenger families and others for using the short sample that includes the words “major malfunction” as an allusion to a failed relationship.

“The Challenger accident is an important part of our history; a tragic reminder that space exploration is risky and should never be trivialized,” said the statement from Lauren B Worley, NASA’s press secretary. “NASA works every day to honor the legacy of our fallen

astronauts as we carry out our mission to reach for new heights and explore the universe.”

NASA’s response came after Beyonce explained the use of the short snippet in a statement to ABC News Tuesday that stopped short of an apology. The sample appears at the beginning of her song “XO” from her new self-titled album. Among those critical of the sample was June Scobee Rodgers, widow of Challenger commander Dick Scobee. She told ABC in a statement that she was disappointed and described the use of the sample as “emotionally difficult.”

“My heart goes out to the families of those lost in the Challenger disaster,” Beyonce’s statement said. “The song ‘XO’ was recorded with the sincerest intention to help heal those

Armani’s

E

nchanted, suspended visions of gardens at the beginning of time, where stretches of calm or rippling water reflect shadows of plants, flowers and clouds.

This is the legendary natural scene that inspires the new Emporio Armani collection, which through the use of colours and elementary shapes conjures up a symbolic modernity. Poised between realism and abstraction, Emporio Armani suggests an evocative future in which nature is reflected in the rigors of high technology.

who have lost loved ones and to remind us that unexpected things happen, so love and appreciate every minute that you have with those who mean the most to you. The songwriters included the audio in tribute to the unselfish work of the Challenger crew with hope that they will never be forgotten.”

Beyonce released her new self-titled “visual album” earlier this month that included 14 songs and 17 videos. Much of the initial discussion about the album had to do with its surprise release and platinum sales until the reaction to the Challenger sample began to circulate. “XO” is about a failing relationship and taking the time to appreciate what one has in the moment because life changes.

Beyonce’s publicist did not return messages left Tuesday by The Associated Press. —AP

Joseph Ruskin

‘Prizzi’s Honor’ actor Ruskin dead at 89

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ilm, television and stage actor Joseph Ruskin has died of natural causes at the age of 89. Ruskin garnered 124 television credits, including “Mission: Impossible” and “Star Trek,” and appeared in 25 films, namely “The Magnificent Seven,” “Prizzi’s Honor” and “Smokin’ Aces.” The Screen Actors GuildAmerican Federation of Television and Radio Artists said Tuesday that Ruskin died at UCLA Santa Monica Hospital on Saturday.

His last performance was on the stage this year in the Anteus Theatre Company’s production of “The Crucible.”

Ruskin was born in Haverhill, Mass. He studied drama at Carnegie Mellon University and began his professional acting career at Pittsburgh Playhouse and the Rochester Arena Stage before finding success in television. He served as SAG’s 1st national vice president for eight years and was the first western regional vice president of Actors Equity Association.

new floral women collection

Colours and shades A horizon of bright blue, bluegrey and dawn pink. Floral designs in leaf green and the intense shades of tropical blooms.

Different floral patterns juxtaposed with minimal black micro motifs, such as geometric shapes reduced to their pure essence.

Line and proportions The lightness of the fabrics and materials creates subtle shapes for women of apparent fragility. Soft, flowing jackets, sometimes made

of technical fabric, flaunt a flawlessly clean line achieved by means of heat-sealing in the place of seams. In the Guru version, they are matched with slim-hip trousers with double pleats and flared legs stretching as far as the ankles.

Look out for the sandals with floral motifs and the lightweight leggings that cover the skin like a tattoo and complete the look of dresses and skirts, conveying the effect of an uninterrupted brushstroke that heightens the sense of the entire figure.

Visions and allusions The flower effect is recreated with pleats, biases, fabric movements, iridescent ribs, and inlays on openwork leather jackets, or at times even just with a pocket square, shaped like a small water lily, peeping out of the Guru jacket pocket.

A dusting of crystals, heat sealed on tulle, brightens up the garden by night - on dresses flowing off the body, accentuating a joyfully happy nature.

Hank Williams, Jr performs at the Fifth annual New Year’s Eve Bash on Broadway in Nashville, Tennessee. —AP

Modern Etiquette: Interjections hurt your image

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emember the kids who used to pepper their conversations with “uh”? Or the next generation, which started generously sprinkling in “you know”? Canadians have their own seasoning, which they liberally apply to the end of sentences. An “eh” here and there is a dead giveaway. Now the rage among the 11-to-30 year-old-set is “like”. When added to an ample pinch of “omigawd”, “totally”, and “whatever”, what you end up with is a tasteless stew of words.

Many of us find ourselves counting the number of times “like” is used in a single sentence, instead of understanding what the conversation was supposed to be all about.

Interjections such as “uh”, “you know”, and “like” are used to allow the speaker’s mouth to catch up with his or her brain, or to make sure the listener has a chance to at least try to attempt to get the meaning of what is being said. People tend to use “like” more when they are relating something which is of particular interest to them, when the words just seem to want to tumble out.

Most people are so inured to such a manner of speaking that they do not even realize how often they are using these interjections.

The problem is that this type of speech will brand the speaker as an airhead or clueless and uneducated. If you speak this way, people just won’t take you seriously. This becomes especially important in job interviews when our verbal skills are being judged for a myriad of bottom-linebased reasons. Remember that we communicate

in three ways: what we say, how we say it, and what we look like as we speak. You may have fascinating anecdotes to relate as you sit in an interview. Yet, if all the “likes” you spew forth outnumber all the other words - or even come close to it you are in trouble. What can a person do to expunge such poor parts of speech from their personal usage? Do note that it takes approximately three weeks to create a habit - even longer for behavior to become automatic.

Try tape recording For one thing, try tape recording yourself. Just turn on the recorder and forget about it as you go about your activities. Play it back at day’s end.

You will be surprised how much you are abusing this four-lettered word. Ask your best friends, trusted colleagues or significant others to correct you every time you use the dreaded word. And do not get angry with them when they stop you short every sentence or two. In the long run, they are doing you a favor.

Try consciously slowing down your talking speed. Wear a rubber band on your wrist and snap it every time you catch yourself using the unwanted word again. Your wrist will be pretty sore at first, but, as William Wordsworth said: “Man must suffer to be wise.” While you are at it, get rid of the equally ignorant-sounding “totally” and “whatever”. And, omigawd, persuade everyone you know to do the same, before it is, like, too late! —Reuters

THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2014

lifestyle F E A T U R E S

Miley Cyrus performs as thousands of revelers gather in New York’s Times Square to celebrate the ball drop at the annual New Year’s Eve celebration in New York City. — AP/ AFP photos

New Year’s in

Times Square

an endurance contest C

rowds jammed Times Square on Tuesday to ring in 2014, braving bone chilling cold and ultra-tight security for the chance to see Miley Cyrus, a final countdown from a US Supreme Court justice and the drop of the shimmering crystal ball. The sea of horn-tooting, hat-wearing humanity that filled the Crossroads of the World was part celebration, part endurance sport because post-Sept 11 security measures force spectators into pens at least 12 hours in advance, with no food, no warmth and no place to go to the bathroom. “We’ve got adult diapers. We’re wearing them right now,” said teenager Amber Woods, who came with friends from the New York City’s suburbs to experience the event for the first time. They entered their corral at 10 am. For nourishment, they brought lollipops and popcorn. For the cold, they did a lot of jumping in place.

“Every time I say, it’s the last. But then I come back,” said Yasmina Merrir, a Washington, DC, resident attending her fourth Times Square ball drop. In 2009, the cold was so bad, she got hypothermia. Her legs swelled up like balloons. She was also fasting and not drinking anything to deal with the lack of restrooms. As for the cold, she recommends vigorous dancing for as long as you can stand on your feet. “At a point,” she said, “your brain is not working anymore.”

New York’s midnight celebration came as millions of people welcomed the New Year in cities around the world, including jubilant events in London, where the fireworks came packed with edible confetti, and Dubai, which attempted to stage the world’s largest fireworks display. Brianna Becerril, a singer and songwriter from Chino, Calif, persuaded her grandparents to join her at Times Square. As evening fell, they huddled together for warmth under big, furry hats, dined on cold

Fireworks explode over the financial district at midnight in Singapore. chicken nuggets and drank nothing so they wouldn’t have to leave to find a toilet. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience!” Becerril said.

“Once in a lifetime for me, for sure. I mean, if I even survive. I can’t wait to get out of here,” said her smiling grandfather, Jerry Bender. But, he said, he was enjoying getting to know their neighbors in the pen, many of whom hailed from distant countries. Even when she lived in

Artist Macklemore performs.

Algeria in North Africa, Merrir said, she knew that Times Square was the place the world celebrated best on New Year’s Eve. “It’s Times Square! It’s the ball!” she said. “The fireworks may be better in Dubai, or in London, but this is extra special.”

On the other side of the Atlantic, Britain welcomed 2014 with a mixture of futuristic fireworks and torch-lit tradition. For those in

London, the event offered the opportunity to taste the fireworks. The city’s mayor, in conjunction with telecommunications company Vodafone, said this year’s explosive display came packed with peach-flavored snow, edible banana confetti and orange scented bubbles.

The evening also included scratch-and-sniff programs, LED wristbands and fruit-flavored sweets. In Dubai, a Persian Gulf city known for

Revelers cheers under falling confetti at the stroke of midnight.

Fireworks explode over Juche Tower and the Taedong River in Pyongyang, North Korea to celebrate the New Year.

Seen from the Marriott Marquis, confetti flies over Times Square.

glitz, glamour and over-the-top achievements like the world’s tallest skyscraper, officials sought to break another record by creating the largest fireworks show. The Dubai skyline was a canvas for a dazzling 30-minute show. The display capped off with six minutes of fireworks that engulfed the city’s man-made, palmshaped island, with its fronds and trunk shimmering in thousands of lights.

Organizers had promised that the fireworks would form a flying falcon, a sunrise and the United Arab Emirates flag. It was not immediately clear if the promised designs or world record had been achieved. The effort attempted to surpass the current world record held by another Gulf Arab state in just the first 60 seconds. Kuwait has held the record since last year, when it fired more than 77,000 fireworks in a display lasting more than an hour.

Guinness World Record officials were on hand to measure the scale of Dubai’s event, which needed to be longer than five minutes to qualify. More than 260 people were injured by firecracker blasts and celebratory gunfire in the Philippines, a nation marking the end of a year of tragic disasters, including a Nov 8 typhoon that left more than 6,100 dead and nearly 1,800 missing. “Many here are welcoming the new year after losing their mothers, fathers, siblings and children so you can imagine how it feels,” said village chief Maria Rosario Bactol of Anibong community in Tacloban, the city worst hit by Typhoon Haiyan. “I tell them to face the reality, to move on and stand up, but I know it will never be easy.” Back in New York, outgoing Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who hobnobbed with celebrities during past Times Square celebrations, was sitting out this year’s festivities to spend time with family and friends. Mayorelect Bill de Blasio was to be sworn in at 12:01 am. —AP

THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2014

lifestyle F E A T U R E S

Thousands of revelers gather in New York’s Times Square to celebrate the ball drop.

Fireworks light up Times Square as the Countdown Ball drops.

Performer Macklemore dives into the crowd.

US Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, center, dances during New Year’s Eve celebrations in Times Square.

People celebrate in Times Square during the New Year’s celebration.

Thousands of revelers gather in New York’s Times Square.

Actress Jane Lynch attends New Year’s Eve 2013 With Carson Daly in Times Square.

Caroline Hjelt and Aino Jawo of Icona Pop perform on stage ahead of midnight at The New Year’s Eve 2014 celebration in Times Square.

Blondie performs as thousands of revelers gather in New York’s Times Square.

Laser lights shoot from a tower during a New Year’s Eve count down to 2014 held at the Great Wall of China in Beijing, China.

New Year’s in Times Square an endurance contest

38

THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2014

Fireworks light up the sky in down town Beirut close to the Mohammed Al-Amin mosque as Lebanon rings in the New Year. — AFP

Thousands sing national anthem at Kiev’s Maidan A

Pro-European Union activists hold lights as they sing the Ukrainian national anthem, celebrating the New Year in the Ukrainian capital Kiev’s main square. — AP

t least 100,000 Ukrainians sang the country’s national anthem together at Kiev’s main square on New Year’s Eve in a sign of support for integration with Europe. Kiev’s Maidan has been the scene of massive pro-European protests for more than a month, triggered by President Viktor Yanukovych’s decision to ditch a key deal with the European Union. Opposition leaders had called on Ukrainians to come to the Maidan on the New Year’s Eve and sing the national anthem in an act of defiance and what they expected could be the recordbreaking live singing of an anthem.

Tens of thousands, who thronged to Maidan and nearby streets, sang “Ukraine Has Not Died Yet” seconds after the New Year’s countdown. So far the greatest number of people - 121,653 - singing a national anthem at the same time was recorded in India in May 2013, according to the Guinness World Records. Ukrainian activists said on Monday they have invited a Guinness official to attend the singing at the Maidan in order to log the attempt at the record.

Hundreds of thousands have been rallying at the Maidan since November when Yanukovych decided to ditch a key deal with the European Union. Many in Europe had

Ukrainians dance and sing songs during a mass demonstration marking the approaching New Year on Independence Square in Kiev. hoped for closer ties with the EU, favoring Europe’s democratic institutions over Russia’s authoritarian government led by President Vladimir Putin for nearly 15 years. ProEuropean activists have been living in tents on Kiev’s barricaded main square for over a month now. Many Ukrainians at the Maidan said they were expressing their political views by coming to celebrate the New Year there.

Serhiy Holota, who was at there with his wife and son, said they came because “it’s important to be here with our people” as well

as setting an example “for children to live in a free civil society.” Sixty-four-year-old Tamara Tivonenko, who has taken part in protests at the Maidan since they began in November, said for her spending the New Year’s there was her sign of support for the opposition.

“It’s nice to be here on an ordinary day, and it’s important to be here together with others on a holiday,” she said. Like in Russia and many other former Soviet republics, the New Year is the most popular holiday of the year, often more widely celebrated than Christmas. — AP

Celebrations

around the world

Fireworks light up the sky over the Scheepsvaart museum (Shipping museum) on New Year’s Eve in central Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Fireworks light the sky above the London Eye and the Houses of Parliament over the river Thames during the New Year celebrations in central London just after midnight.

Kenyan children with painted faces enjoy a ride on a toy horse during New Year’s celebrations at Uhuru Park in Nairobi, Kenya.

In this photo provided by the Las Vegas News Bureau, visitors crowd the Las Vegas Strip at midnight. Las Vegas officials expect to welcome approximately 335,000 visitors for the holiday.

Katie Gabbia, 11, laughs in front of a light sculpture setup that is part of the New Year’s Eve celebrations in Boston.

A man in fancy dress does a flip on the beach beside the North Sea at the annual New Year’s Day sea swim in Whitley Bay, northeast England. — AFP