29 Jan

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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014

Get your own wild animal in Kuwait

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Qaradawi urges Saudis to stop backing Egypt army

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RABI ALAWWAL 28, 1435 AH

Influential cleric speaks out on turmoil

Plane stuck on closed taxiway KUWAIT: A Saudi airplane mistakenly entered a taxiway which was under construction and got stuck in the sand yesterday, but no one in the aircraft was hurt, Kuwait International Airport’s Operations Director said. Essam Al-Zamel, speaking to KUNA, said the taxiway has been closed for a long time because of maintenance works. He said there were many warning signs around the taxiway and visibility was clear when the National Air Services (NAS) plane entered the closed pathway. None of the 103 passengers was hurt, he said. Passengers were taken back to the airport while NAS sent another plane to fly them to Jeddah. — KUNA

KUWAIT: HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah holds the national flag before hoisting it during a flag-raising ceremony at Bayan Palace yesterday. The ceremony was attended by HH the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and other dignitaries. — KUNA (See Page 3)

Max 22º Min 13º High Tide 11:33 & 21:59 Low Tide 04:55 & 16:23

DOHA: A prominent Gulf-based Muslim cleric called on Saudi Arabia to stop backing Egypt’s military-dominated authorities, accusing them of using Saudi money to kill Egyptians protesting at the overthrow in July of an elected Islamist president. Most US-aligned Gulf Arab monarchies, rattled by the rise of Islamists in the Middle East, were relieved when the Egyptian military stepped in to topple President Mohamed Morsi after mass protests against his rule.

But Youssef Al-Qaradawi, an Egyptian-born cleric based in Qatar, said the strong backing that Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam, had provided militarybacked Egyptian authorities which had crushed Islamist opposition since Morsi’s removal was wrong and should be withdrawn. “It’s surprising that the Saudi government gave billions of dollars to support the (anti-Mursi) coup and the coup leaders and those who are far from God and Islam,” Qaradawi, one of the most influential Sunni Muslim clerics in the Middle East, told Reuters in an interview conducted by email.

“The only thing that links them to their neighbouring countries is the language of interests and benefits,” said Qaradawi, who heads the International Association of Muslim Scholars, a grouping close to the Muslim Brotherhood. Qaradawi said the Egyptian military, led

by Field Marshal Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi who is now expected to run in Egypt’s pending presidential election and win it, was using Saudi funds to “kill innocent Egyptians” instead of helping the poor.

“I call upon the people of Saudi Arabia and on the Saudi regime to stand with the Egyptian people against Continued on Page 13

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014

LOCAL

Consumer-centric approach seen as key for pay-TV network OSN adapts to latest entertainment trends

By Velina Nacheva KUWAIT: The ever-increasing demand for entertainment in sync with the present-day technological zeitgeist has spurred the need for diversity of content and constant evolution of services. For OSN, one of the region’s leading destination for entertainment and leading pay-TV network, investment is pivotal. There is a lot of investment in technology from OSN, said Hamad Malik, Chief Marketing Officer, OSN. Malik was speaking to Kuwait Times on the sidelines of the InfoConnect 2014 exhibition, the largest IT and Communication forum in Kuwait that is being held at the International Fairground in Mishref until Feb 1.

Having participated at the InfoConnect forum for 13 consecutive years, this year OSN is showcasing three major innovations - OSN Plus HD (the Middle East first 3D), HD (Internetenabled satellite receiver and recorder) and OSN Play - the region’s first online viewing platform. “From a marketing point of view, InfoConnect is a cornerstone for our marketing plans,” explained Malik. “As a regional entertainment leader, it is our job to be able to understand our customers and consumer needs,” he

understand the consumer trends, what they need and what they are looking for. Then you try what is the most appropriate for you in terms of size, profitability etc. Then you develop a product proposition,” observed Malik, adding that OSN follows these steps throughout the region quite extensively.

Nowadays, however, consumer lifestyles and consumer needs are changing. Hence, players like OSN need to adapt. “The type of content that you bring and the type of platforms that you have to deliver that content, as well as the ways in which you deliver that content has to be in line with the consumer’s lifestyle,” opined Malik. In order to illustrate the latest trends, he provided an example of viewing habits. “If viewers wanted to watch a program, they would sit in front of the TV at a specific time. When I was growing up, my parents would sit in front of the TV to watch the news at 9 pm,” he said. “Now nobody wants to do that. As an entertainment platform, you have to provide customers the ability to watch what they want to watch at the time they want to watch and not on scheduled times as per your convenience as a platform.”

In order for this to happenm technology comes into play. The OSN HD box, for instance,

KUWAIT: Hamad Malek, chief marketing officer at OSN, is pictured at the OSN booth at the Infoconnect 2014. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat asserted, adding that consumers within the GCC region are very diverse. “With the influx of many foreigners and expats into the region, entertainment has become a very diverse industry,” he said stressing that currently OSN provides content in English, Arabic, Tagalog and Hindi.

OSN is the home of nearly 140 channels of entertainment, offering viewers in the MENA region exclusive access to the latest blockbuster movies, top-rated series, sports, documentaries, news, children’s entertainment and live talk shows. Their movie offerings include over a 100 uncut and uninterrupted movie premieres a month so viewers can watch them the way they were meant to be watched.

Customer-centricity The OSN approach is based on three steps segmentation, targeting and positioning. “You look at the whole population and you try to create large enough groups which you can target and for which you can develop some sort of a proposition. Once you have done this, you

can record programs, shows or series, amongst other things, that a viewer can watch it at his or her convenience.

Binge-viewing Change of viewing habits, quality-conscious customers who are aware of the entertainment world and a strong appetite for watching HD content are some of the new trends spotted by OSN. Binge-viewing is one of the changes of the present-day habit trends. “People no longer want to watch one episode a week. They want to watch all the 13 episodes from a series at one go,” he explained. That is why OSN Play puts all 13 episodes of a certain series at one time and people who want can sit over the weekend and watch them all.

Customers are becoming very quality-conscious too. “They are aware at what time content is offered in the UK, the US and elsewhere, and they want to see that very same content at the same time as the US. As an entertainment platform, we try and ensure that we bring the

series at the same time as in the US. We try to bring our movies within three months of their theatrical release - almost two years ahead of other channels,” says Malik. “Customers want to watch everything in HD, high quality,” said Malik elaborating that 37 of OSN’s channels provide the opportunity to their customers to watch high definition content.

Viewing online is a big trend, says Malik.

“People want to watch things online and that is why we launched our online platform OSN Play so that customers have the opportunity to watch on their iPads or iPhones. The synergies between entertainment platforms like OSN and smartphones or telecommunication companies are growing stronger due to the unique place of the TV in every household. “People want to watch. If you look at technology trends, on the one hand people want to watch from their devices, on the other hand T V screen sizes keep increasing,” Malik said.

Strategy OSN is known for its consumer-centric strategy. “We try and understand what our consumers want. In line with their needs, we try to provide the technology, content and service to fit their lifestyle,” explains Malik stressing that they continue doing consumer-engagement programs for all their customers through which they can win prizes. “We provide opportunities to our customers to engage with our brand and content in a meaningful way and in a way that is different from our competitors.

We try and understand their needs beyond content and technology. We try to engage them in a way that no other brand can engage them.”

Staying informed is the number one need of consumers. “Consumers are not in front of TV 24 hours a day and they want to stay up to date. They want to stay connected. They want to know what is happening around the world.

That is why watching TV programs online on iPads and other devices is popular,” said Malik, explaining that online viewing will not become a substitute for TV. Catering to 24 markets in the MENA region, expansion for OSN means concentrating more on the markets where they are currently operating. “We are becoming active in Qatar; Saudi Arabia is a big market for us. We do well in Kuwait, where there is room for expansion. We feel that there is enough scope within the GCC for us to grow,” said Malik.

According to Malik there is huge appetite for Hollywood movies in good HD quality. In order to satisfy this appetite, OSN recently signed a deal with Sundance Channel to launch a regional version of the Sundance Channel for the MENA region. The channel established by Robert Redford will bring content which many leading networks do not pick up, says Malik. “Our formula is to bring unique content to the market.” In addition recently, OSN established a par tnership with TFC Filipino network mak ing them a hub for Filipino subscribers in the region. “We feel we are the link between the Philippines and the Pinoy population in the Middle East through the channels that we provide. There is a lot of new content that is coming through,” said Malik. Increasing brand awareness is one of OSN’s key focuses this year. “The brand should become very relevant to various segments of the population. The OSN band has grown substantially. But to go to the next level of growth, it has to be a brand that is loved and respected in the region. This is our focus in the region.”

Own your own cheetah

By Nawara Fattahova KUWAIT: Buying wild or illegal animals in Kuwait is easier than finding a place to park your car in some areas. You can find them on the Internet, on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, at the Friday Market and even at the zoo. Up for sale and ready to be taken home. Wild animals like cheetahs, lions, tigers or even alligators and crocodiles can be picked up here and in other GCC states with a click of the mouse. It’s not strange anymore to see a guy driving his car with a cheetah or lion riding shotgun or walking through a Salmiya mall and finding a man with a monkey on his shoulder.

Some people not only breed and raise wild animals at the farms in Wafra or Kabd, but even own menageries at their chalets. Reports of roaming crocodiles in Salwa or loose lions in Khairan are becoming all too common. But they are also all completely illegal. According to the law, people are not allowed to possess, breed, or trade wild animals in Kuwait. The Public Authority for Agriculture Affairs and Fish Resources (PAAAFR) is in charge of seizing any wild animal if it receives notification of such animals in a public place.

“PAAAFR has trained staff to deal with wild animals and is responsible for confiscating them in public places. The staff can also confiscate them from animal markets, pens, or farms,” explained Shakir Awadh, public rela-

KUWAIT: A monkey for sale at an account on Instagram for KD 350.

Hyenas available for sale on social media.

tions spokesman at PAAAFR. But PAAAFR cannot raid private homes to retrieve wild animals without support from the Interior Ministry.

Once seized, wild animals are quarantined for 21 days and then placed at the zoo if there is room. “ The problem is that we don’t have enough space as the zoo is small and we have limited abilities,” an employee at the Kuwait Zoo who preferred to stay anonymous told

Kuwait Times.

The Municipality is also involved. “Our inspectors are in charge of penalizing any seller or shop owner trading in forbidden or wild animals in a shop, animal market, or a booth at any public place. But we don’t seize the animals as we are not in charge of that. We also have no authority over online wildlife sellers,” stated Mohammed from the PR department.

Governorates devolution mulled KUWAIT: Kuwait is looking to improve the governorates’ administrative system by allocating extra authorities for governors in order to boost decentralization in the government, a local daily reported yesterday.

Kuwait’s six governorates have assigned governors with nominal authorities, but there has been talk in recent years of establishing separate ‘governorate councils’ with more executive powers over their respective areas. Debate on that subject, including proposals currently in discussion inside the parliament, are often criticized in the Municipal Council out of fear that elected governorate councils could serve as future replacements for the Municipal Council itself.

But with mounting pressure on ministers and senior officials at state departments, the govern-

ment has been looking for ways to alleviate some of the responsibilities and improve the quality of the executive authority’s performance. “The cabinet is studying a project which helps reduce the burden of the ministerial job and at the same time improve the governor’s role by making him responsible for executive authority works”, said sources quoted by Al-Rai daily yesterday.

“The project comes as part of the government’s decentralization plans and to reduce the long paperwork process in government work”, said the sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The project stipulates that a minister can authorize to a governor to carry out certain tasks required in accordance with his or her respective ministry’s needs. It further demands establishing governorate councils with independent budgets,

and consists of ‘Mokhtars’ (headmen) of districts and appointed representatives from service departments.

The cabinet said in a statement following its weekly meeting on Monday that it discussed “recommendations sent by the National Assembly (parliament) committee on legal affairs regarding a draft decree authorizing a fresh governorate system”. “The new system mainly aims to cope with modern changes in the society and update the powers and competence of governors in a way that should match their due role in pushing forward executive work in different areas and in embodying decentralization in all public services,” Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah said following the meeting.

KUWAIT: The Environment Voluntary Foundation honored the paramedical department in the Ministry of Health for their cooperation in beach cleaning campaigns organized in recent months. The department provided ambulances and paramedics at the site of every campaign featuring public and private school students.

Meeting seeks one e-govt network for all GCC states KUWAIT: GCC states are keen on setting a firm foundation for Gulf e-government and Information Technology cooperation with the objective of conflating all the states’ egovernment systems into one network, said an expert here yesterday.

Director of the Central Apparatus for Information Technology in Kuwait, Abdullatif Al-Serayea, told reporters here on the sidelines of a GCC meeting on egovernment and IT, that the meeting would result in ideas that would be further probed into in another meeting set for next March.

He emphasized that the meeting today would deal with ways to enhance establishing a GCC e-government network, noting that Kuwait and some of the other GCC states have achieved with varying degrees of success a modicum of linking various government ministries and agencies through an e-government network.

In Kuwait, he pointed out, up to 56 such agencies have been linked and more are in the pipeline for the future.

Besides, he said that the official Kuwaiti government portal offers its users 830 eservices. — KUNA

‘Young writers are taboo challengers’ CAIRO: The renowned Kuwaiti novelist, Ismail Fahad Ismail, has voiced satisfaction at the solid bonds among Arab literature writers, expressing his belief that young writers have much more courage than senior ones in tackling taboo topics.

The short-story writer and literary critic affirmed necessity of interaction among the Arab novelists, particularly the young writers, expressing his belief that the junior authors are much more bolder than the senior novelists in addressing taboo issues.

Ismail was speaking during a seminar, held in Cairo late on Monday, as part of Cairo International Book Fair.

Said Al-Kafrawy, an eminent Egyptian short-story writer, praised, in remarks to KUNA, the Kuwaiti novelist, noting “his major role in the Arab literature creativity.

“His works have contributed to development of the modern Arab literature.”

“Ismail’s novels have substantially added to the Arab cultural heritage for he tackles

Kuwaiti novelist, Ismail Fahad Ismail sensitive issues.” Laila Al-Othman, a veteran Kuwaiti novelist and writer, expressed her satisfaction for taking part in the cultural event in the Egyptian capital. She also echoed Al-Kafrawy’s opinion of “the robust and bold style” of her fellow Kuwaiti novelist. —KUNA

Burgan Bank supports richness of local art KUWAIT: Burgan Bank announced yesterday that it will be sponsoring the ‘Universities Art Competition’ exhibition under the theme of ‘The Power of Life’.

The event is organized by Argana Resorts & Hotels in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The event will be attended by University deans, prominent society figures and a group of fine artists. The exhibition will be inaugurated on Feb 6 at the C Club, where an award ceremony will take place to recognize students for their outstanding paintings.

Visitors are welcome to visit the open exhibition on Feb 7 and 8, where they can view the students’ artistic work and also purchase their favorite pieces. The art competition is open for the participation of all students who wish to showcase their creative skills and in turn, receive a chance to win prizes. Sharing a similar objective, the UNDP will be jointly supporting the competition entitled ‘Power of Life from Generation to Generation’ to advocate for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The event will be honoring the three outstanding students for their productive participation in the arts competition by offering a 100% financial scholarship to the first winner and 50% to the second

winner followed by a fully paid trip to Italy for the third winner.

Commenting on the bank’s participation, Bashir Jaber Assistant General Manager Group Corporate Communications at Burgan Bank, said: “We are pleased to be the prime sponsor of the annual Arts Competition Awareness exhibition which reflects our mission to encourage the young people’s creative capabilities. Supporting similar national events that empower the students while capturing their present work, will reflect their identity to future generations. As part of our corporate social responsibility strategy, and as a leading financial institution, we will continue to support similar local and regional efforts to grow the country.”

Burgan Bank’s sponsorship of the ‘Universities Art Competition’ exhibition comes in line with its corporate social responsibility strategy that focuses on youth’s capabilities in enriching the national art landscape by capturing the country’s culture and history through gifted handiwork. The bank’s dedication to promoting a more prosperous Kuwait arises from its own commitment of developing young people to realize their ambitions and support the community as a whole.

Lecture on traditional music in Gulf KUWAIT: Dar Al-Athar Al-Islamiyyah (DAI) held a lecture Monday evening, part of its 19th Cultural Season, about traditional music in the Gulf region and its influence on culture.

Lebanese researcher Paul Matar, who gave the lecture, said the traditional and popular music in the Arabian Gulf region was always spontaneous, and usually linked to special occasions either daily or seasonally.

The music in the Arabian Gulf, he added, “are passed orally from generations to others, reflecting the spirit of the society. They

are made of the people who are the audience too.”

Matar spent around 18 months in the Gulf region in late 1970s in order to learn the dialect of the people of the area.

During that time he did interviews and took photos to document different kinds of music that people used to sing whether sea or desert.

He said in his book, the Gulf of songs, that the region was an integrated junction of culture and economy, which combined Arabic, Indian and African traditions “to form a special blend.” — KUNA

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014

LOCAL

anniversary of Amir’s accession to nation’s rulership Hard work to build Kuwait into a modern state KUWAIT: Kuwait marks today the eighth anniversar y of the accession of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah to the rulership of the State of Kuwait. On Jan 26, 2006, the National Assembly held a special session where he was constitutionally sworn in for his new post.

He began his political career on July 19, 1954 when he was appointed a member of the executive committee tasked with overhauling and streamlining all government departments and agencies at the time.

A few years later, in February 1959, he became head of the government’s department for publications and social services, following which in 1962, he was appointed a member in the council in charge of drafting a constitution for the newly-indepen-

dent state of Kuwait.

By 1962, all government departments had been changed to ministries and His Highness Sheikh Sabah was given the post of minister of the ministry of news and guidance and in 1963 he became minister of of foreign affairs.

In December 1965, besides his post at the foreign ministry, he was also given the task to be acting minister of oil and finance and on Feb 2, 1971 he was acting minister of information and on Feb 16, 1978 he was acting minister of interior.

By July 13, 2003 he was entrusted with the post of prime minister in a cabinet he formed.

His Highness Sheikh Sabah held the post of foreign minister longer than anyone in the history of Kuwait, gaining through it

extensive experiences which became useful in dealing with other nations’ policies and relations. He nurtured a well-deserved reputation for the ability to mediate and solve problems affecting other nations.

In his long stint in the diplomatic corps, he was able to develop long-lasting relationships with numerous foreign dignitaries with beneficial reflections on Kuwaiti interests as evidenced in his wide contacts with world leaders during the 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

Unprecedented initiatives “Having been anything but an average official throughout his long career, His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah always addressed his duties out of full realization of how pre-

cious the homeland is and how we need to serve and preserve it and safeguard its stability and security,” said the Information Ministe Sheikh Salman Sabah Al-Salem AlSabah yesterday.

He was speaking to KUNA as the state marks the eighth anniversary of the Amir’s taking the helm as the 15th Amir of the State of Kuwait on Jan 29.

“His Highness Sheikh Sabah worked hard to build Kuwait into a modern state and served his nation and people with utmost wisdom, giving, commitment, selfsacrifice, prudence, and foresight. Such attitude also rendered His Highness a distinguished mediator and diplomat with a great role to play in realizing regional and international peace and security and bolstering stability.

“His Highness’ gestures and initiatives in the fields of international cooperation and peace are well recognized and greatly admired by the international community.

His Highness the Amir succeeded in bringing world leaders onboard on several unprecedented initiatives serving humanitarian goals, so often that Kuwait is now known as a world diplomacy center and that His Highness was fittingly called, “humanitarian leader” by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

“His Highness the Amir had long been in the forefront on all issues of the Arab and Muslim Ummah. He shares Kuwaitis’ innate philanthropy and spontaneous support of and rally in the aid of those in need, wherever they may be,” the minister stressed. — KUNA

KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and other dignitaries at the flag-hoisting ceremony.

—Photos from the Amiri Diwan

Amir attends flag-hoisting ceremony KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah sponsored and attended a flag-hoisting ceremony at Bayan Palace yesterday. The ceremony was attended by His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-

Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Speaker of the National Assembly Marzouq Ali Al-Ghanim, senior sheikhs, the Deputy Chief of the National Guard Sheikh Meshaal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber AlSabah, Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad

Al-Sabah, His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, Minister of Amiri Diwan Sheikh Nasser Sabah AlAhmad Al-Sabah and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-

Court reinstates sacked KPC officials KUWAIT: Three former senior officials of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation are set to return to their old jobs after the administrative court overruled decisions released last year to refer them to retirement in the aftermath of the Dow Chemical fine payment.

The International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) had awarded the US based firm a $2.16 billion on June 2012 to be paid by state-run Petrochemical Industries Co (PIC) after the Kuwaiti govern-

ment unilaterally pulled out of a multibillion-dollar joint venture that was to be known as K-Dow. The KPC announced paying the fine last year after an agreement was reached as per which Dow Chemical agreed to waive interests on the original fine.

The payment drew strong criticism in the parliament since Kuwait was still in the process of appealing the court order. In the aftermath of the outcry, then oil minister Hani Husain referred a number of senior officials in the oil sector to retirement, before his resignation.

But on Monday, the court ordered the return of Sheikha Shatha Al-Sabah as Managing Director for Training, Ali Al-Hajri as managing director for Financial Affairs, and Nasser Al-Mudhaf as Managing Director for Global Marketing. The plaintiffs had argued that the KPC’s board of directors does not have the authority to refer them to retirement without consulting with the Civil Service Commission.

They further argued that their service are yet to reach the maximum legal period of 35 years.

KUWAIT: Ahmadi Governor Sheikh Dr Ibrahim Al-Duaij Al-Sabah congratulated His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah on the eighth anniversary of his accession to power in Kuwait.

His statements came during a flag hoisting event to signal the beginning of Kuwait’s national celebrations.

He further expressed pride for HH the Amir being named the ‘Leader of Humanity’ by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

Hamad Al-Sabah.

Also present at the ceremony were ministers, senior state advisors, officials, and senior Army, Police, and National Guard officers.

His Highness the Amir was greeted upon

arrival at the venue with cheers by the officers and fire department staff, and was met with a 21-Gun Salute. His Highness the Amir hoisted the flag after playing of the National Anthem of the State of Kuwait. — KUNA

No guarantees in bedoon law amendment KUWAIT: The parliament and government reached a preliminary agreement on Monday that could naturalize 4,000 stateless residents by the end of this year.

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister and Interior M inister Sheik h Mohammad Al-Khalid Al-Sabah requested a two-week period to provide a ‘comprehensive vision’ regarding the naturalization issue, said interior and defense committee member MP Mohammad AlEnezi.

Last year, the parliament passed a law that gave the government the option to naturalize a batch of stateless residents qualified to receive citizenship every year. The law stipulates an increase in the number of people the government can naturalize each year from 2,000 previously to a maximum of 4,000, 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.

Since then, MPs proposed an amendment to the law that makes it mandatory for the government to naturalize at least 4,000 bedoons every year. Yesterday, AlJarida daily quoted sources familiar with the meeting, who said that the committee members agreed to keep the ‘maximum 4,000 persons’ condition as it is, but in return the law would be

amended so as to make that number exclusive to bedoons only. But the law and its proposed amendments provide no guarantees so far to ensure an effective solution to the problem. When asked about the reasons why the government failed to naturalize bedoons last year as the law recommends, the interior minister reportedly told committee members that the Cabinet had received a list of 504 stateless people with recommendation to naturalize them, and gave word to provide answers to lawmakers’ questions during next week’s meeting.

If the government grants citizenship to 4,000 bedoons every year, it would take eight and a half years to naturalize around 34,000 people whom the government says are qualified for consideration to receive Kuwaiti citizenship.

On the other hand, it does not address the situation of thousands of others who are deemed to be unqualified.

Despite government promises and MPs’ effor ts to end the decades-long bedoon dilemma, Kuwait is yet to grant citizenship to thousands that the government says meet naturalization conditions which includes carr ying 1965 census documents, having ancestors who served in the military as well as being children of Kuwaiti women. A recent newspaper report suggested that there are around 111,500 stateless resi-

dents 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 fiveyear ultimatum to sort out the stateless residents’ community and find those who meet conditions of naturalization, including residents whose bedouin ancestors failed to register for citizenship following Kuwait’s independence more than fifty years ago.

The stateless residents’ community, estimated in some international repor ts at around 120,000, demands citizenship as well as civil and social rights they are deprived from given their illegal 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 passpor ts 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 driving 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.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014

LOCAL In my view

in my view

I found a solution for reform. Open garages and mend each other!

Give priority to people’s needs

Fate of Egypt presidents

By Dr Mahammad Al-Moqatie

E

By Labeed Abdal

local@kuwaittimes.net

kuwait digest

60% willing to immigrate?

By Waleed Al-Ghanim

A

small but very important survey carried out by a young Kuwaiti man has revealed a very shocking result in terms of the answers, numbers and quality of the people surveyed. More than 4,000 people took part in the survey which contained one direct question: “Would you accept taking your share from the oil wealth and migrate out of Kuwait?”

The results, which were posted on Twitter along with other details, show that 62 percent of people said ‘yes’. This means that a huge number - 2,500 Kuwaitis - are thinking of leaving the country for better opportunities. What is further alarming is that the majority of those are aged between 25 and 40 years receive a minimum salary of KD 1,500 and have diplomas, university degrees and high academic qualifications.

Our ancestors endured the hardships of life during Kuwait’s pre-oil era. Now, their children are thinking of leaving the country despite living a life of luxury and convenience. Can you not see the irony here? Money and materialistic things are not the source of stability and national loyalty.

What are these numbers telling us? When has the term ‘immigration’ become common among Kuwaitis? When did young people, especially educated ones with good salaries, start talking about ‘our’ share of oil instead of the state’s share? Since when has people become so frustrated to the point in which they see no future whatsoever for their own country?

Our ancestors endured the hardships of life during Kuwait’s pre-oil era. Now, their children are thinking of leaving the country despite living a life of luxury and convenience. Can you not see the irony here? Money and materialistic things are not the source of stability and national loyalty.

The Twitter user @KasekYaWatan did a huge favor to the Cabinet and parliament by doing a survey addressing two pressing topics that official state departments continue to ignore - the citizen’s share of the oil wealth and the idea of Kuwaitis’ migrating. These issues expose to the whole world the fact that Kuwait’s main problem lies in general administration and the inability to build a future for the country.

If you do not like the survey or do not trust its standards, that’s fine. Do your own survey and you will receive the same shocking results - then you will discover how far from reality and from understanding citizens’ concerns you are. —Al-Qabas

Al-Anbaa

T

he meeting between the Syrian government and opposition is a step forward as the two sides meet face to face to determine the future of their country alone and without outside interference. It has been almost three years since the Syrian crisis was sparked over the death of a child in Daraa and people’s reaction to police officers’ handling of the case.

The events in Syria share something in common with the events in Tunisia, Iraq, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Turkey and even Ukraine. It is the emergence of social networks that offered a vehicle by which people can express what’s on their minds online using revolutionary devices that connect millions of people around the world.

Governments need to find the instigator behind every action instead of finding excuses to escape from reality. What matters now is to make sure that people’s rightful needs are not obliterated, and to handle people’s grievances fairly and equally. People’s wealth is for the people.

Managing people’s wealth must not be done recklessly through a ruling system that involves corruption and state funds, or a regime that inherits power or forces itself through dictatorship and violates basic human rights.

All humans are mortal, and so are countries regardless of their power. Governments are required to provide the best solutions for their people, instead of conspiring with strangers against their own people.

in my view

The young activist’s guide

By Ramzy Baroud

I

tify your subject: It doesn’t matter how worthy a cause is, if it is n a recent radio interview with a National Public Radio affiliate in Juneau, Alaska, I was asked if I had advice for a 16-year- too distant or disconnected from people. It is essential that you allow your audience the chance to relate to your cause as that old Palestinian student, Haitham. He had just arrived in the of people, with names and stories, beautiful, inspiring, but also US as part of a school exchange program and admirably began reaching out to his peers in his and other schools to teach them disheartening and complex. But it is important that you don’t about Palestine, its people and its ongoing struggle for freedom provide a sanctified, thus unrealistic narrative either, for your audience will disown you and question your credibility. and rights.

Humanize your subject, but remain truthful in your presentaThere was not enough time to convey much to Haitham, tion. Be educated and strive for intellect: Education will give you whose voice expressed the personality of a gentle, smart and access to otherwise inaccessible platforms. It will empower you driven young man. And since I have been asked that question and your message with the articulation you need to widen your on more than one occasion, mostly coming from young people circle of support. But you are also an intellectual. The right eduin Palestine, here are a few thoughts that are an outcome of my cation could further develop your intellect. And when it is done own experiences and nothing else. with sincerity, both education and intellect will feed on one Beat your ego to a pulp: “Ego” is Latin for “I”, but its implicaanother. While there is no harm in adhering to an ideology that tions are common to every language. If an activist doesn’t learn to control his ego, he is likely to suffer numerous consequences, you may perceive to hold the answers to the dilemmas with which you contend, be wary of becoming an ideologue, a slave and perhaps ultimately fail in his mission. An activist, especially to stubborn dogmas. That will stifle your intellect and will make one who represents causes deemed “controversial,” will find your education a mere platform to serve unworthy, elitist caushimself under repeated attacks and unwarranted accusations es. targeting his “self” not his ideas. And while there are those who Keep an open mind: No matter how powerful your arguwill try to thrash your confidence, there are also those who will hail your perceived success and heroism even. Both are danger- ment may seem, how high your education and how insurmountable your intellect is, remain humble and open-minded. ous to the ego, for they could upset the balance necessary to If you close your mind, it will cease keep us focused and involved as grow. Your ideas will eventually members of a larger community People who live for a higher tobecome outdated, and your ability and moral in our behavior and conduct. cause are happier than those to imagine a world beyond your own will wither and die under the Define and internalize your who don’t. May you always weight of your own sense of selfmessage: It is easy to get pulled into all sorts of directions that may find your happiness in allevi- importance.

Have an action plan: It is not separate you from your original mission. To ensure that you always ating the pain of others by enough that you want to change world. Sure, do that, but you find your way back, you must be standing up for what is right the must have a clear notion of what clear on what you stand for and that actually means, and how you why. Thus it is essential that you and honorable. wish to bring it about. Such a define your cause, first and foreroadmap can always help you reexmost to yourself before you present it to others. Internalize it as an enduring part of your charac- amine your work and reassess your actions, and, if ever necessary, alter or entirely change your direction. ter before you stand in front of a crowd, hold a microphone or Don’t get swayed by success: The fight for justice is unendcarry a banner. If you are not fully convinced of your message, ing, as is the struggle against racism, and inequality. So “success” you will not be able to influence others.

Be guided by universal values and human rights: Even if your in this context, by definition is relative. While you must acknowledge, even celebrate achievements along the way, let “success” message pertains to a local cause, find the universal aspect of your drive to bring about change, and embrace it. “Injustice any- be a milestone toward another goal, and not an end in itself.

This way you can always keep moving forward, with a vision where is a threat to justice everywhere,” said Martin Luther King that passes the immediate goal, on to a greater one, where the Jr. If you adhere to this notion alone, you know that you will “rendezvous of victory” is an idea, so coveted, yet unattainable. remain true, not just to your cause but also to the underlying Live a balanced life: Only by living life you contribute to it. values that give it meaning. Universal human rights can always Don’t estrange yourself from your surroundings. Learn from the serve as a gauge by which you can assess matters within a largmistakes others make, and from your own. Don’t be afraid or er moral framework. feel guilty if you try to find balance in your life. Enjoy a sustainFind a frame of reference - relate to your audience: The onus able life, but without excess. The fight is long, at times arduous, is not on your audience to relate to you as much as it is on you but you are here, along with millions of others, for the long haul. to relate to their frame of reference: Their history, their political They say people who live for a higher cause are happier than reality and other dynamics that operate within and control their those who don’t. May you always find your happiness in allevisociety. Only then, can you tailor your words and expectations ating the pain of others by standing up for what is right and but never the morality of your message - in ways that they may honorable. understand, relate to and act upon. Humanize - but don’t sanc-

in my view

Ambassadors of Islam

By Sabria Jawhar

W

e live in an era of increasing communalism and sectarianism in which Muslims and Christians in the Middle East and Africa are slaughtered in the name of something. Something, because whatever murders we are witnessing it is certainly not in the name of religion. Even intolerance in its mildest form - when people get all lathered up when a religious group wants to be left alone to celebrate their holiday in peace whether its Eid or New Year’s Eve - is commonplace.

It is difficult to keep hope alive when there is a steady stream of us versus them. In Saudi Arabia, people are fortunate that violence inside their borders has not touched them for many years, but I sense violence in the hearts of certain elements that have lost their way from the path of Islam. Then a gesture occurs that renews my faith in man. Saudi students at Boston University, with the support of the Saudi Arabia Cultural Mission in Washington, DC, honored Rabbi Michael Beyo with a certificate of appreciation for his efforts to serve Saudi students in the United States.

The Boston University Saudi Club, headed by Yousef AlRajhi, honored the rabbi because he always stood by Saudi students’ side and was the first to request that the university administration hire a Muslim imam and allow Muslims to perform their daily prayers in congregation. The rabbi told the students that Saudi men and women are among the best international students in the United States and have an excellent rapport with their American and non-Muslim counterparts. He thanked Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah for his support for the international interfaith dialogue center. Last year, the rabbi attended Eid celebrations with Saudi students and the deputy attache of the Saudi cul-

tural mission. Nearly 1,000 people had attended the Eid event.

The relationship between the Saudi scholarship students and the Jewish community in Boston gives me a sense of who are the real ambassadors of Saudi culture and Islam. It is certainly not the haters who would deny non-Muslims the simple pleasures of freely exercising their right to celebrate their holidays. Rather, the real ambassadors are students who have a clear understanding of the message of the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) of tolerance. No matter how much we invest in public relations, Saudi Arabia continues to be the target of a barrage of Islamophobic rhetoric. And the haters of non-Muslims only feed that phobia. Yet, when Saudi students, like those at Boston University, are open-minded and well educated, they serve as the perfect ambassadors for their country and their faith.

We should not forget that the rabbi has shown understanding and faith toward the Saudi students. His relationship with Saudis to support them while they struggle in a foreign country is an effective way to bridge the gap among different cultures and religions. The rabbi’s message, and the message of the Saudi students, should be sent abroad to build bridges and show the tolerant face of Islam and Saudi Arabia. We do not want our students to become preachers, but to learn and come back with that knowledge of other cultures and apply that knowledge here.

The media are strong and effective weapons often used against Muslims in general and particularly Saudis. We are often portrayed as violent, intolerant and vulgar. The hateful online comments on social media reinforce that stereotype.

Well, the Boston University Saudi students had proved who the real Muslims are.

gypt now has a unique legal and political phenomenon in the Arab world, and it is worth studying and monitoring. The phenomenon is the presence of two former presidents in temporary jail, until the court decides on their felony cases. One of them is in jail since April 2011 on several charges, some of them go to the first periods of his rule in 1981, and others that coincide with the Jan 25, 2011 revolution - he is Hosni Mubarak. The second is in jail since July 3, 2013 for charges that preceded his time as president, and some during his presidency - he is Dr Mohamed Morsi.

Whatever the reasons behind jailing the two presidents, political or legal, their imprisonment at the same time gives one confirmed message - that the lives of peoples, nations and leaders change and there is no security or stability if it is not backed by true and deep people’s loyalty, and this is what has been said by the history of nations, and this is what the European contemporary history tells us and the situations of our countries today, so do we read it right?!

Egypt is heading for new presidential elections during the next two months, and it is clear that the elections in Egypt are shrouded with caution and surrounded by prearrangements, which may bring us back to presidential elections during Mubarak, because it may be limited to one person, or there may be nominations only for formality by others, and this will not be positive in making the change the Jan 25 revolution aimed for, nor the promises and slogans that came with the July 3 coup, which is being described as a revolution.

If things went what way, then the hope for democratic change through the election ballot boxes has finished as far as Arab people and countries are concerned, even after the waves and revolution of the Arab Spring. This may lead to the saying that “changing the situation is impossible in our world”. This way, the West would have succeeded in controlling the will of the Arab people through its arrangements in installing autocratic regimes that are the reason behind our backwardness and having our Zionist enemy go ahead of us, and will be in the interest of the new West’s ally Iran, that is conspiring against us with Maliki of Iraq and the devilish Hezbollah party in Lebanon.

It seems that the fate of Egypt’s next presidents as things are going will also be prison, due to the circumstances Egypt is going through now, and the indication is the immunity given to the defence minister in the new constitution, to prevent court cases for two terms. Yet that will not stop making it three presidents in jail if things keep going as they are. —Al-Qabas

kuwait digest

Biggest loser is our country

By Dr Shamlan Y Al-Essa

T

he Arab region is being swept by very important Arab and regional developments that will decide the fate of our small country, such as the Russian-American cooperation to finding peaceful solutions for the Syrian problem and fighting terrorism in the region. Also the American agreement with Iran to resolve lingering issues including the Iranian nuclear one.

All these important events are taking place around us, while we, in Kuwait, are occupied with our domestic issues, and divided on how to deal with our accumulated issues. One of the disputed issues lately is the government-parliament differences over the budget, as MPs adopted expensive popular projects despite the deficit in the budget. The government explained to members of parliament and public opinion that the deficit reached KD 6.6 billion in the new budget while revenues are KD 20.4 billion.

Members of parliament are not stupid, so they resorted to the media to embarrass the government and gain public opinion. We read in the first page of Al-Sabah newspaper on Jan 24 that 11 MPs confirmed that all grants including the rent allowance are deserved demands, and must be met without delay, and there will not be any wavering on children or military personal allowances. MP Tana said if the government returns the law of children allowance, the nation’s representatives will approve it with an absolute majority.

The front page of Aalam Al-Yawm said “the government’s justification for refusal are not the first of its kind: MPs to government - children’s increase and rent allowance or escalation”. What is the threat MPs plan to scare the government and make it bow to their popular demands? Annahar newspaper explained “the grilling of public works minister soon by MP Adel Al-Khorafi, and MP Safaa Al-Hashem plans to submit a new grilling against the Prime Minister.” Al-Kuwaitia newspaper spoke about a hot week at the committees, as MPs Shimmari, Quwaian, Azmi, and Hamdan are optimistic that the interior minister will agree to naturalize 4,000 bedoons.

It is very clear from the newspapers headlines that MPs are not thinking about the principle of cooperation and reaching compromises on complicated problems - if an understanding takes place between the two authorities, the big loser will be the country, because the budget will be exhausted, until the country goes bankrupt or makes distorted deals at the expense of the general budget - and pay money to gain MPs’ loyalty.

We believed as youth that democracy and realistic dialogue between the two authorities will solve the country’s problems, but we discovered that the mechanism of making a decision at the executive authority is wrong and does not rely on any objective studies, although the government uses the best consultation offices in the world in the field of economy. The government also has a Higher Planning Council, where the best Kuwaiti brains are, but no one at the ruling establishment complies with the advisors’ recommendations despite their many studies. The individualism in political decisions is a dilemma in the Third World.

What about the legislative authority that is elected by the people? We say it very frankly, our MPs are not much better than our government, because they come from the same backward origin. All what MPs care for is remaining for the longest period possible, and get rich and gain influence. The biggest loser is the country, as long as the government keeps competing with the National Assembly for popularity, despite the fact that it is not elected, and this is a tragedy, because no one holds it to account for squandering funds. —Al-Watan

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014

LOCAL

Unifying GCC media themes a pressing necessity: Kuwait Sheikh Salman sees a qualitative leap

KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah with Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah and Dr. Hilal Musaed Al-Sayer at Bayan Palace yesterday.

Amiri donation to medical encyclopedia KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah has granted a $ one million donation in support of the medical encyclopedia by anatomist Andreas Vesalius.

His Highness the Amir received at Bayan Palace yesterday Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah and Dr. Hilal Musaed AlSayer who handed His Highness a copy of the internationally renowned encyclopedia. His Highness the Amir has donated $ one million to publish the encyclopedia on a wider scale, out of his tendency to support science, said Al-Sayer, in a statement as he emerged from the meeting.

He noted that he had given the medical encyclopedia as a gift for His Highness the Amir.

Dr Al-Sayer described the book as a valuable masterpiece written in 1543 by the founder of

anatomy, adding that the encyclopedia which contains drawings about the human body was originally written in Latin.

Vesalius was the special doctor of the King of Spain George the fifth, before working for King Philip II. The encyclopedia was taught in medical schools at the time, and later on it was translated into English by two professors, who spent 20 years in the process, before finally printing the book in a publishing company in Basel, Switzerland.

Meanwhile, His Highness also received former Lebanese prime minister Fouad AlSiniora and his accompanying delegation.

The meeting was attended by Deputy Minister of Amiri Diwan Affairs Sheikh Ali Jarrah Al-Sabah.—KUNA

DUBAI: Kuwaiti Health Minister Dr Ali Al-Obaidi and UK Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Quality, Lord Howe, pictured after signing the MOU.

RIYADH: Unifying themes of the GCC media and cultural efforts have become an urgent necessity to portray a realistic image about the Gulf communities vis a vis external tarnishing campaigns, affirmed the Kuwaiti Minister of Information. Sheikh Salman Sabah Salem Al-Humoud Al-Sabah, also the Minister of State for Youth Affairs, said in an an interview with the Saudi newspaper, Okaz, published yesterday, the Gulf media rhetoric “is being interacted due to diplomatic and political coordination” among the GCC states.

Their Highness, the GCC top leaders, have devoted particular attention to this issue after adoption of the GCC media strategy, Sheikh Salman added.

In line with this approach, the GCC information ministers have hastily taken “the necessary executive and strategic steps” to serve this purpose, the Kuwaiti minister said in the remarks to Okaz. A team of experts is currently “working to implement” the GCC strategy, Minister Sheikh Salman affirmed.

“There is a qualitative leap as to involving the Gulf media in the modern information,” he said, alluding to the launch of pan-GCC cooperation at this level many years ago. The first meeting to coordinate the GCC media policies had been held in Bahrain.

Right direction Development of the GCC media “is proceeding in the right direction,” Sheikh Salman said, expressing his satisfaction at the effective messages, being transmitted to the public via the GCC media outlets.

Sheikh Salman told Okaz he is pleased with annual meetings of the GCC ministers of information, also noting significance of other regular meetings, grouping undersecretaries and tackling joint programs and strategic issues.

These meetings are distinguished “and I sense that good steps have been taken and the GCC General Secretariat has placed the media on top of the priorities, particularly for sake of tackling the youth issues, with support and particular care by the top leaders.”

Affirming that the GCC states’ strategists jointly sense necessity of harmonizing the media message and language, Sheikh Salman said Kuwait is part “of any media establishment that serves such common GCC message.” However, he acknowledged that there is a need to update the resources, particularly those for the “guided (programs’) production.”

Joint programs Elaborating, he indicated that work is underway to develop joint programs tackling the youth affairs, boosting the sense of belonging to the Gulf, but this approach could not be fruitful if “is adopted in a traditional manner.”

Minister Sheikh Salman touched on the issue of upgrading TV and radio services in the GCC countries, noting that the ministry “is exerting relentless efforts to upgrade Kuwait Television in terms of content and presentation,” also noting the state-run audio-visual media role of promoting the government news and broadcasting objective and accurate

Al-Obaidi signs MoU with British official DUBAI: Visiting Kuwaiti Health Minister Dr Ali AlObaidi signed a Memo of Understanding (MoU) for cooperation in the field of quality of health service with the UK Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Quality, Lord Howe. The MoU was signed yesterday during the four-day “Arab Health 2014”, which kicked off at Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre.

The minister said the MoU affects several aspects of health services and most importantly those to do with infrastructure, digital infrastructure, transfer of data and know-how, education and training, primary health care, and managing hospitals and health facilities.

Lord Howe, who is responsible for quality at the Department of Health, said this agreement builds on time-honored relations and exchange between the two nations and is a start of a new more focused relationship aiming to revamp health care in Kuwait. Minister Al-Obaidi arrived here on Monday and was greeted upon arrival by Kuwait Consul General in Dubai Thiab Al-Rishidi and Second Secretary Salem Al-Jeeran.

Arab Health 2014 is the 39th such gathering and this year is seeing the participation of some 3,900 companies from 64 countries. The activities during the event include a series of conferences in specialized fields of health care with over 10,000 participants from around the world. —KUNA

Human, environment safety ‘priority to oil companies’ KUWAIT: Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) CEO Nizar Al-Adsani said that the wellbeing and safety of people and the environment are a priority for petroleum companies in the country.

Al-Adsani said during a meeting with contractors entitled “Safety 2014” organized by the KPC, that everyone should follow safety measures to prevent any type of negative effects. Executive Manager of Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) Mohammad Al-Mutairi on his part said the company had developed its safety system in 2000 by following international safety measures. —KUNA

news, also underscoring their key role in “bolstering the national identity.”

There is a pressing need nowadays for purposeful programs to educate the youth “and guide them to be supportive of the state and fathom the concept of the GCC unity,” he said.

Sheikh Salman, who has been in the key post since two years and a half ago, indicated that “the picture has become clear and development projects have been prepared by competent staff and academic experts.

“Some of these projects have been executed and the ministry is currently working for implementation of the remaining ones, namely those that are designed to enhance effect of the purposeful media that boosts the national identity and promotes accomplishments made by the state for the citizens’ welfare as well as strengthening the external media message,” he said.

Sheikh Salman, in the extensive interview with Okaz, also underlined the GCC and Kuwaiti media role for portraying a positive picture about the Arab and Islamic culture abroad, noting the need to protect it against orchestrated mud-slinging campaigns.

Moreover, the ministry of information is seeking to produce up-to-date cultural, literary and technical programs, as among the priorities.

As to MPs’ criticisms of the government and the state media, Sheikh Salman affirmed the legislators’ right to inquire about the media policies, asserting his readiness to cooperate and provide the lawmakers with any information they require. —KUNA

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014

LOCAL

Sour loser, wild celebrator fight at Hawally cafe Woman accuses in-law of scam KUWAIT: Police were called to a Hawally cafe Sunday night after two sports fanatics engaged in a fight while watching a Spanish League football match. According to eyewitness’ reports, one of the men was celebrating wildly with every goal that his favorite team Barcelona scored during its match against Malaga which ended 3-0 for the Spanish League leaders. The scene irritated a Real Madrid fan, who watched in frustration as his favorite team lost the top spot in the standings to its archrival. The two engaged in an altercation which soon escalated into a fistfight in which the Real Madrid fan clearly had the upper hand, before people intervened to stop the brawl. Police arrived after waiters made an emergency call, and later left when both fans agreed to not press charges against each other.

Woman’s rights Investigations are ongoing in a case involving a woman who accuses her mother-in-law of cheating her husband, or the accused’s son, of his financial rights. In her statements to Hawally police, the Kuwaiti woman said that her husband suffers a mental illness and receives regular treatment at the Psychological Hospital. She claimed that her mother-in-law took the man’s mental condition to her advantage and persuaded him to concede his share of the family house, estimated at KD 1 million to his sister (the wife’s sister-in-law).

The complainant showed medical reports to claim that her husband was not mentally fit to sign the concession document, and demanded her children’s right in their father’s share. The medical reports were reportedly used to grant the man early retirement given his mental state, according to the police report. Detectives are looking to summon the other parties in the case to hear their side of the story.

Fugitive escapes A fugitive managed to escape after he was identified at Kuwait International Airport recently. The Kuwaiti man was reportedly finishing his travel procedures when an identity check at the passport counter revealed that a warrant for his arrest was issued over drug-related charges. Officers secretly informed airport security officers, but the man grew suspicious as he was told to wait. Eventually, the man ran away after sensing police officers approaching him, and managed to melt into the crowds and escape out of the airport.

Twitter offense A senior government official pressed libel charges against a person she accused of making offensive remarks against her on Twitter. The assistant undersecretary provided police with screenshots showing the offensive ‘tweets’ made on an account that carries a nickname rather than the user’s real name. Investigations are ongoing to identify and apprehend the user for questioning.

Two dead in collisions A man died and another was injured in an accident on Nuwaiseeb Road. Paramedics headed to the scene with police as soon as the accident was reported, but pronounced the Kuwaiti man dead shortly after they arrived.

The body was taken to the forensic department after criminal investigators examined the scene, while the other Kuwaiti man was taken to Adan Hospital for treatment.

In a similar accident, a driver was killed in a two-car collision on Fahaheel Road. Paramedics and police arrived at the scene in response to an emergency call, but discovered that the Pakistani man had already succumbed to his injuries.

The other driver was taken to Adan Hospital, as criminal investigators were called to examine the scene and transfer the body to the forensic department. A case was filed.

Bribe case A man got himself in trouble after he offered a police officer a bribe to release his friend who was caught with an expired visa. The incident took place at Jahra police station where the officer played along and pretended to accept the offer. The Bangladeshi man was lured to a trap and arrested red-handed, then put in the same cell with his friend.

Maid abuse A woman is being summoned for questioning on robbery and threat allegations pressed by her domestic helper in Hawally recently. In her statements to local police, the Filipina housemaid accused her employer of stealing her cell phone and forcing her to sign promissory notes under threat. She further added that her employer told her to pay KD 100 if she wanted a ticket to go home. Investigations are ongoing.

Kosovo thankful for Kuwait support SARAJEVO: President of the Islamic chiefdom in Kosovo Sheikh Naim Ternava expressed sincere gratitude, on behalf of the people of Kosovo, to Kuwait for its efforts in supporting development, cultural and Islamic projects in his country.

This came during his meeting with Kuwait’s Ambassador to the Republic of Albania, Najeeb Abdulrahman Al-Bader, at the embassy headquarters in the Albanian capital, Tirana, where he also praised efforts of His Highness the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah for the substantial support for the charitable institutions.

For his part, Ambassador Al-Bader said that he discussed with Ternava activities carried out by the chiefdom in Kosovo, namely regulating the religious affairs of Muslims, who constitute 99 percent of the total population.

He also praised efforts of the chiefdom in Kosovo to raise Islamic, intellectual and social awareness.

Kosovo announced its independence in February 2008. The Islamic chiefdom in Kosovo, which is the highest religious authority for Muslims, is headquartered in the capital Pristina. —- KUNA

KUWAIT: NBK staff and Margaret Al-Sayer, the founder and director of KACCH celebrating with Almira and her family.

NBK initiative grants wishes of children in hospitals KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) launches its first-of-akind initiative “I dream to be” as part of its social responsibility program. This new initiative grants wishes of children in all hospitals around Kuwait and gives them the chance to live their dream. NBK works closely with the Kuwait Association for the Care of Children in Hospitals (KACCH) and Bayt Abdullah for the Care of Children in Hospice (BACCH) to maximize its reach all the children in numerous hospitals.

“NBK gives top priority to children through its commitment to corporate social responsibility,” said Maryam Al-Qatami, NBK public relations officer. “The “I dream to be” initiative is a lifetime experience for children with life-threatening conditions. It’s a great way to spread joy and show that there’s always a positive side to a difficult situation. We ask children what they want to be and try to fulfill that for them.”

12 year old Almira Grace Metro, who’s currently undergoing treatment, loves baking and one day hopes to become a pastry chef. To help fulfill Almira’s dream, NBK organized a day at the Sheraton Hotel’s pastry kitchen for her and her family.

She spent her time with the head pastry chef baking and cake decorating. Almira’s family, Mrs. Margaret Al Sayer, the founder and director of KACCH, NBK’s PR team, and members of the hospital joined Almira to celebrate her efforts and share the desserts she prepared.

“To see Almira happy and doing something she always wanted to do was amazing. She is now even more determined to become a pastry chef,” added Al-Qatami.

NBK has been at the forefront of supporting Kuwait’s community through a range of initiatives towards education, health, sports and social responsibilities. The establishment of NBK’s Children Hospital for Oncology and Hematology at AlSabah Medical Area stands as one of many ongoing corporate social initiatives towards health and children. “I dream to be...” aims at focusing and supporting NBK’s efforts towards children and addressing their needs.

‘Chef’ Almira

Gulf seeks harmony in job markets DUBAI: The outflow of oil in the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) was accompanied by the flow of investments and millions of expatriate workers, touching its peak after the first and second oil booms - in the mid-1970s and early 1980s. The expat base included highly qualified manpower as well as unskilled workers. This soon led to radical changes in the structure of the GCC, transforming them into modern societies that use cutting-edge technology and enjoy one of the highest living standards and most sophisticated infrastructure in the world. However, these created a significant imbalance in the population structures and resulted in expatriates constituting more than 50 per cent of the total population, a situation unlike any other. According to the latest stats, the total workforce in the GCC amounted to 13.7 million, split into 4.15 million Gulf citizens and 9.55 million expatriate workers.

Clearly, there are three expatriate workers for every single Gulf worker. This percentage varies from one Gulf country to another. For instance, expatriate workers in Kuwait constitute 82 per cent, while nationals and foreign workers make up an equal 50 per cent in Saudi Arabia.

Workers coming from East Asia constitute the overwhelming majority because they represent cheap labour, while the Arab manpower work in office jobs. Most expatriates coming from Europe and America hold high-profile executive positions. Gulf citizens with degrees from top universities occupy leading positions in business management. In principle, this situation may provide evidence of the economic progress achieved by the GCC, which within three decades turned into a major regional trading and financial hub.

Furthermore, the Gulf economies achieved unprecedented growth making the most of the oil revenues. Foreign expertise and manpower played a key role in realising these economic leaps. It is difficult to imagine achieving all this without significant contribution from expatriates.

The other side of the picture is that the GCC’s achievements coincided with the rapid changes that characterised the globalisation era, which has led to a situation where Gulf countries have come under the microscope with regard to anything related to the rights of foreign workers. In fact, the GCC has made great progress in this field over the past 10

years, which tends to be overlooked by many.

Transfers by expatriates in the GCC touched $73 billion in 2013, thus topping the world in the volume of such remittances, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

These have contributed to supporting the economies of many countries. Despite objections made sometimes by foreign workers, the Gulf economies have taken a neutral stand to resolve problems arising between workers and employers.

The GCC also have taken measures against companies that have tried to evade paying dues of workers or failing to comply with rules set by the labour ministries in respect of their rights. They have also penalised companies for failing to pay salaries on time. There are measures to protect the rights of foreign workers, supervised by the ministries of labour and competent bodies, so as to halt any violations by their employers. These rights require foreign workers to respect the rules in force. At a time when GCC states work to ensure their rights, the workers have to refrain from any action that might harm the state’s interests.

These developments have also led to more attention being vested to the issue of “Emiratisation” after the relative decline in the number of nationals in the workforce.

The GCC need to accelerate the process towards preparing for the post-oil era by diversifying sources of income and the development of non-oil sectors. This means the states need to continue bringing in more foreign workers.

Development cannot be done without trained manpower, especially as the available national manpower cannot meet the shortage of workers in all sectors. Creating a compromise formula to balance high growth rates and strategic economic diversity with preserving national identity is possible. At a minimum, a formula can help reduce the growing external pressure to grant equal rights to national and foreign workers.

The mosaic of the Gulf job market is complicated and there are no ready recipes. As such they may not be appropriate with the realities of dealing with such difficult equations.

However, this issue should be reconsidered and modifications sought according to local and global changes, taking into account the interests of all parties... an approach currently sought by GCC states.— Gulf News

Available at Sultan Center branches & Carrefour

KUWAIT: A citizen and his son sustained burns on their hands when they attempted to put out a fire that broke out in their tent near their house in Taima area yesterday. Jahra fire center responded to the call and dealt with it. Paramedics were called in to take the injured for treatment. — By Hanan Al-Saadoun

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014

Israel barrier threatens to split West Bank villages Page 8

S African oppn unites, Ramphele to challenge Zuma Page 9

CAIRO: Supporters of Egypt’s army chief Field Marshal Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi (portrait) hold military boots on their heads in a sign of support for military rule as they wear the Egyptian flag during a demonstration outside the Police Academy in Cairo where a new hearing in the trial of deposed president Mohamed Morsi opened yesterday. —AFP

Morsi tried for jailbreak Top Egypt police officer killed CAIRO: Ousted president Mohamed Morsi was defiant as he went on trial yesterday for a prison break during the 2011 uprising, as a top police official was murdered in another sign of Egypt’s instability. The trial, and other violence in which a police guard was gunned down outside a Cairo church, came a day after the military backed army chief Field Marshall Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who led Morsi’s ouster in July, to run for office in his place. Morsi, dressed in a white prison uniform, gesticulated angrily from the glass cage in which he and 21 co-defendants were held. “Who are you,” he demanded to know,

adding, “Do you know who I am?” “I am the president of the republic. Who are you? Let me hear your voice; I don’t hear you,” he shouted defiantly. In response, a judge said “I am the president of the Cairo Criminal Court.”

Among those in the dock was the supreme guide of Morsi’s now-banned Muslim Brotherhood, Mohamed Badie.

In all, 131 people are on trial, including dozens of members of the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist Palestinian movement Hamas and Lebanon’s Shiite militant group Hezbollah. Most of them are being tried in absentia. Reading the charges, a prosecutor said the “Muslim

HON. VICE CHAIRMAN

Brotherhood defendants coordinated with Hamas and Hezbollah to spread chaos and trigger the downfall of the state”. “Eight hundred foreign militants and jihadists infiltrated through illegal tunnels and seized a 60 kilometre border stretch. They attacked security and government buildings and killed many police officers.” He said “three prisons were attacked and more than 50 policemen and prisoners were killed, while more than 20,000 criminals escaped”.

The trial was later adjourned until February 22.

In the latest bloodletting, police General Mohamed Saeed was leaving his Cairo home when gunmen on a motorbike opened fire at him, hitting him in the head and the chest before fleeing, security officials said.

Saeed, who was the head of interior minister Mohamed Ibrahim’s “technical department”, died in hospital. Hours later gunmen opened fire from a car at policemen guarding a church in the capital, killing one and wounding two. One was arrested, while two others fled on foot. Since July, Egypt’s Christian community has faced several attacks, with pro-Morsi Islamists accusing them of backing his ouster. Interior minister Ibrahim himself was targeted by a car bomb in September, but he escaped unhurt.

Al-Qaeda inspired group Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, or Partisans of Jerusalem, claimed that attack and has also said it was responsible for some of the deadliest bombings in Egypt since Morsi was deposed. It said it carried out four bombings against police that killed six people Friday, a day before the third anniversary of the popular uprising that toppled long-time dictator Hosni Mubarak.

Yesterday’s shootings reiterate the precarious security situation prevailing across Egypt since then, which has worsened since July. At least 1,400 people, mostly Morsi supporters, have been killed in a relentless crackdown on Islamists, according to Amnesty International, while scores of policemen and soldiers have also fallen to militant attacks across Egypt.

Since Thursday, at least 13 policemen have been killed across the countr y, while four soldiers were killed in Sinai, according to an AFP tally. — AFP

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014

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Barrier threatens to split West Bank villages BATTIR: Israel’s separation barrier could soon destroy the livelihoods and redraw the demographics of two Palestinian villages south of Jerusalem, locals say, should an imminent court ruling approve its planned route. Two separate cases against the West Bank barrier are to be heard by Israel’s highest court today morning to decide whether to approve the defence ministry’s planned route or to heed a flurry of appeals by locals and activists who have requested it be changed. If approved, the barrier in parts an eight-metre-high concrete wall -could cut through ancient irrigation systems relied upon by the West Bank village of Battir, separate residents of nearby Beit Jala from their olive groves and divide a local Christian community.

The ministry insists the barrier, whose construction began in 2002 during the bloody second Palestinian intifada (uprising) and which now snakes some 440 km through the West Bank, is essential for Israeli security. But in Battir, which straddles the 1949 Green Line south of Jerusalem, the barrier threatens the livelihoods of a 5,000-strong Palestinian community that depends on a Romanera irrigation system, residents say. The ancient system channels water from natural springs down stone terraces and through sluice gates to water villagers’

orchards and gardens. “The building of the wall will destroy parts of the water system that has been here for 2,500 years, including the stone channels that lead to the village,” said Akram Badr, head of Battir village council.

Battir’s produce is a key source of income for the village, as is the tourism generated by the Roman irrigation system itself, a proposed UNESCO world heritage site that attracts Holy Land visitors and historians. “The wall’s route will destroy the area and wreck an important historical site that still serves a crucial practical purpose for the people of Battir,” said Friends of the Earth Middle East’s Nader Al-Khatib, warning it would inevitably lead to a loss of tourism. Only 15 percent of the separation barrier is built along the Green Line, which is recognised by the international community as the border of Israel proper, according to figures from the UN humanitarian agency OCHA, with most of it jutting into the occupied West Bank.

If completed as planned, the barrier will isolate 9.4 percent of the land in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, the agency says.

Two-thirds of Battir lies in Palestinian territory with the other third in Israel.

The villagers’ case has won the support of the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, which has said that building the barrier

there would cause irreversible damage to the terraces. But the defence ministry denies it would have a significant effect on the irrigation system. “The ministry ... values the protection of both human life and the environment... However, (it) is committed first and foremost to maintaining the safety and security of the citizens of Israel,” it said in a statement. “The route was relocated to an area where the impact on the terraces and the view will be most limited,” it said, adding that “only the first row of (water) terraces will be partially affected.”

Splitting monks from nuns A few kilometres down the road, the barrier threatens to separate Christian and Muslim residents of the town of Beit Jala from their olive groves and divide the Christian community. A Supreme Court ruling on that section of the barrier is likely to be handed down today. The barrier would split the Roman Catholic Salesian order by leaving the monastery on the Israeli side and the convent in Palestinian territory. The order runs the Cremisan valley’s famous vineyards, which provide wine to churches throughout the Holy Land.

“The wall endangers all the people of Beit Jala, Christians and Muslims alike,” says Beit Jala’s parish priest Father Ibrahim Al-Shamali who has been hold-

‘Elders’ group meets Rouhani TEHRAN: Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani called yesterday for unity in trying to end the Syrian civil war in a meeting with a former United Nations secretary-general and his delegation.

Kofi Annan is in Tehran with former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari,

Nobel Peace laureate Desmond Tutu and Mexico’s former President Ernesto Zedillo as part of “The Elders,” a group convened by the late Nelson Mandela.

They met Tuesday with Rouhani, who spoke afterward with journalists.

“We should get united for ending

TEHRAN: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (right) meets members of a group of ex-global leaders known as the Elders, including former UN chief Kofi Annan (second right) and South Africa’s Nobel Peace Laureate Desmond Tutu yesterday. — AFP

war and massacre in Syria,” Rouhani said in remarks reported by the semiofficial ISNA news agency. “Stopping both support and deployment of arms to terrorist groups by some regional countries is the most important step.”

Shiite regional powerhouse Iran is a major backer of embattled Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad in his battle against largely Sunni rebel forces.

Rouhani also assured Annan’s delegation that Iran’s contested nuclear program won’t be used militarily. “All our activities have been peaceful and will remain peaceful,” Rouhani said. “Iran does not need anything more than its rights based on non-proliferation treaty.” Meanwhile yesterday, state television reported that a team of inspectors from the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency had arrived in Iran to visit the southwestern Gachin uranium mine today. In December, Iran allowed inspectors to visit Iran’s Arak heavy water plant. —AP

BATTIR: A picture taken on July 5, 2012 shows Palestinian farmers working on their land in this ancient West Bank town southwest of Jerusalem.— AFP ing weekly protest masses. “It will affect Christians more because 99 percent of the land there belongs to some 58 Christian families... This could push the community to leave, because after losing their land they’ll have nothing to stay for.” The defence ministry told AFP it had “taken into account all the requests of the different parties, especially the monastery,” in planning the route, without elaborating.

Meanwhile, a group of Catholic bishops said plans to build the barrier in the Cremisan Valley “should be abandoned” saying its route there “deviates sharply from the Green Line”.

“Our deep concern.. is that this planned security wall is more about consolidating the settlement areas and permanently choking off Bethlehem from Jerusalem,” said the group, which represents 12 nations. —AFP

Aid stalled as regime demands assurances UN seeks to break deadlock at Syria talks GENEVA: The fate of a UN aid convoy for thousands of Syrians besieged in the city of Homs was in the balance yesterday as the government said it wanted assurances the supplies would not end up in the hands of “terrorists”. Efforts to get food and medical supplies into the city have become a test case on whether peace talks in Switzerland can produce any practical measures on the ground almost three years into the conflict.

The United Nations said yesterday it was ready to deliver a month’s worth of rations to about 2,500 people trapped inside rebel-held Homs, which has largely been reduced to rubble by months of shelling and fighting.

But the government said it first wanted to know who would receive the assistance. “We are still waiting for assurances that these convoys will not go to armed groups, to terrorist groups inside the city. We want them to go to the women and children. We are still waiting for these assurances,” said Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad. He said the UN resident coordinator in Damascus, Yacoub Al-Helou, was shuttling between the two sides and the government was waiting for his latest feedback.

An afternoon session in talks to end the war in Syria was cancelled yesterday, the opposition delegation said, citing differences over the goal of the talks. UN agencies said the aid convoy was still waiting to go in, but declined to give details on the reasons for the delay. Opposition delegate Murhaf Jouejati said the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross had all necessary guarantees from anti-government forces.

“The only obstacle to the movement of these convoys is the decision of the regime, which as of yet has not been given,” he said.

Families in Syria’s third biggest city are a small fraction of the quarter of a million Syrians who are living under siege in the country, according to UN estimates. Opposition activists living in Homs’ Old City posted a letter on social media saying that unless the siege by troops backing the govern-

DAMASCUS: A man holds the corpse of one-year old baby Adbul Jalil Mohamed Hamis wrapped in shrouds, who reportedly died of hunger in the besieged Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp, during a funeral ceremony on Monday. — AFP ment was fully broken, all other measures will be “superficial”. “We assure you and the world that the demands of the besieged are not limited to humanitarian aid,” it said, adding that there are dozens of medical cases that require surgery. It called for “secure safe corridors to enter and exit (Homs) for those who want to, without their having to go through regime checkpoints that surround the besieged area.”

Plumpy’doz, Medical Supplies The UN World Food Programme ( WFP) wants to deliver 500 family rations and 100 boxes of “Plumpy’Doz”, a specialised nutrition product that helps to treat children suffering from acute malnutrition, spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs said. The UN Children’s Fund UNICEF has sent Syria’s government a list of medical supplies it wants to send to civilians trapped in the Old City, just 10 km from its warehouse. “All of these supplies are available at our warehouse in Homs and can go in as soon as we have a green light. At this stage we have no clarity yet on when that may be,” UNICEF spokeswoman Marixie Mercado told a news briefing in Geneva. A binding UN Security Council resolution could formally oblige the authorities to let aid agencies into

besieged areas. But divisions between Western powers, backing the rebels, and Russia, have paralysed the world body over Syria since the conflict began in 2011. The government has encircled hundreds of thousands of people across the country, blocking off food and medicine. Rebels fighting President Bashar Al-Assad have also besieged 45,000 people in two Shiite towns in the north.

The Syrian opposition is willing to lift a siege on three pro-government villages in the north of the country as part of a wider agreement to relieve besieged towns on both sides, its spokesman said yesterday. Edgar Vasquez, a US State Depar tment spokesman, accused the Syrian government on Tuesday of poisoning the atmosphere of peace negotiations with the opposition by denying aid deliveries. He called for the government to approve the full list of proposed convoy movements requested by the United Nations to the Old City of Homs, Mouadamiyah, Douma, Yarmouk, Mleiha, and Barzeh.

“Demanding opposition forces leave an area or put down their weapons before allowing the delivery of food and other much needed humanitarian assistance does not constitute an acceptable offer of humanitarian access,” he said. —Reuters

Bashir seeks ‘renaissance’ for Sudan KHARTOUM: Sudan’s President Omar AlBashir on Monday appealed for a political and economic renaissance in his country ravaged by war, poverty and political turmoil. It was the latest call Bashir has made in the past year for a broad political dialogue, including with the country’s armed insurgents. But this time, he made his appeal directly to opposition figures -including breakaway members of his own party - who joined the audience of government-linked parties, cabinet members and foreign diplomats for his speech at a conference hall along the Blue Nile. “We in the National Congress Party are calling for all Sudanese to participate in this renaissance,” he said in the speech designed to address urgent calls for reform in his 25year-old regime, but which fell short of critics’ expectations.

His speech, billed as a major event by his party, follows a December cabinet shuffle which analysts said left the president more firmly in control. Critics of Bashir’s regime have become increasingly vocal since the government slashed fuel subsidies in September, leading to the worst urban unrest of his rule. The Islamist Hassan Al-Turabi, a leading figure behind the 1989 coup that brought

Bashir to power, was among those present on Monday, marking the first time in 14 years that he has attended an NCP event. He broke away in 2000 and formed the opposition Popular Congress.

“The speech did not meet our expectations,” Turabi told reporters after. “I didn’t hear anything about freedom of political activities, nor did I hear anything

about media freedom.” Turabi sat beside a more recent NCP dissident, Ghazi Salahuddin Atabani, a former Bashir adviser who in December launched a new “Reform” party. Next to the two dissidents was opposition Umma Party leader Sadiq Al-Mahdi, who was overthrown as prime minister by Bashir’s bloodless coup.— AFP

KHARTOUM: Sudan’s President Omar Al-Bashir (center right) greets supporters while Hassan Al-Turabi (left), a leading Islamist figure, smiles in the Sudanese capital. — AFP

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014

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Ukraine premier, govt resign to ease crisis Parliament revokes anti-protest laws

PALE: This picture taken on Aug 5, 1993 shows Radovan Karadzic (right) listening to Ratko Mladic during a meeting with the press. — AFP

Mladic refuses to testify for old ally Karadzic THE HAGUE: Former Bosnian Serb army leader Ratko Mladic yesterday refused to testify at the trial of his political alter ego Radovan Karadzic, repeatedly dismissing the UN’s Yugoslav war crimes tribunal as “satanic”.

The hearing before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was supposed to shed light on the relationship between Karadzic and Mladic during the 1995 fall of Srebrenica and the siege of Sarajevo during Bosnia’s bloody three-year war.

Instead, it turned into a theatre of the absurd, with Mladic first calling the tribunal “satanic”, then asking for security personnel to fetch his false teeth, and finally flatly refusing to answer Karadzic’s questions. “I do not want to testify and refuse to testify for reasons of my health and that it would prejudice my own case,” replied a belligerent Mladic to five questions put by Karadzic - who was defending himself - about the July 1995 massacre at the eastern Bosnian enclave of Srebrenica and the bloody 44-month siege of the Bosnian capital Sarajevo.

Almost 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys died at the hands of the Bosnian Serb army after the supposedly safe UN enclave at Srebrenica was overrun by troops commanded by Mladic. Some 10,000 people died in Sarajevo in what prosecutors said was a “campaign of terror” through sniping and shelling, starting in May 1992. “I do not recognise this hate court. It is a satanic court,” Mladic said as he waved a seven-page statement around which he demanded he be allowed to read to the judges. He was speaking loudly in Serbian as he was finally escorted out of the courtroom, still waving his statement after judges refused his request.

“You have confirmed my theory that the tribunal is not a court of law but a satanic court,” Mladic said as he was led away. As he walked past Karadzic, he told him in Serbian: “Radovan, thank you. I am sorry, but these idiots won’t allow me to speak. They defend NATO.” Presiding Judge O-Gon Kwon had however told Mladic he would not be compelled to testify if the former commander believed it would prejudice his own case.

Mladic requests false teeth Earlier, Mladic, dressed in a grey suit took the oath before the tribunal before asking for

his false teeth, a request met with laughter from the public gallery. “Could the security people please bring my teeth so that I can speak better?” asked Mladic, in an apparent attempt to ridicule the court. The court was subsequently adjourned for 20 minutes so as to locate the dentures belonging to the man known as the “Butcher of Bosnia” for his alleged role in the Srebrenica massacre.

Both Mladic and Karadzic have been charged with genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity over their roles in the 1992-1995 Bosnian war, in which 100,000 people died and at least 2.2 million others were displaced. Karadzic had hoped that Mladic would testify that they did not agree or plan to expel Muslims or Croats from areas under Serb control. The court had to subpoena Mladic, 71, to force him to testify as a defence witness in Karadzic’s trial, with his lawyer Branko Lukic yesterday making a final attempt to prevent him from having to speak.

“We believe Mr Mladic is unfit for testimony,” Lukic said. People with “deception of memory”, “they make up facts and believe those facts are the truth,” he said. “He is not able to concentrate on a single document.”

In his refusal to testify, Mladic had also cited his health, the amount of time taken up by his own trial and the fact that he might incriminate himself. But judges previously rejected the arguments, saying Mladic was in a unique position to recount the information he had given the accused in relation to incidents he was allegedly involved in. Karadzic “is trying to do his best to get all the information from all available sources as to what happened during the war in Bosnia,” his legal advisor Peter Robinson told journalists outside the court. “He is disappointed that the trial chamber did not allow general Mladic to contribute,” Robinson said.

The 68-year-old Karadzic is accused of authorising so-called “ethnic cleansing” in the bitter war against Bosnia’s Muslim-led government. The ICTY was created in 1993 to try perpetrators of war crimes committed during the former Yugoslavia’s bloody break-up.

Karadzic and Mladic could have been tried together had they been arrested around the same time. But Karadzic was arrested in July 2008 and Mladic in May 2011. The two men are currently housed in the same detention unit in The Hague. — AFP

KIEV: Prime Minister Mykola Azarov and his entire goverment resigned yesterday in a bid to defuse Ukraine’s deadly crisis, giving in to months of pressure as parliament scrapped anti-protest laws that had infuriated the opposition. Azarov said he had taken a “personal decision” to resign to keep Ukraine together as a state, as parliament met in an emergency session to vote on reforms and amendments backed by President Viktor Yanukovych.

Parliament overwhelmingly voted to scrap antiprotest laws that sparked the current crisis when the ruling party pushed them through the Verkhovna Rada in a shambolic show-of-hands vote on January 16.

The dramatic twists in Ukraine’s two months of turmoil came as Russian President Vladimir Putin met with EU chiefs at a summit in Brussels expected to be dominated by the turmoil. The European Union and United States cranked up pressure on Yanukovych to impose serious reforms to end a standoff that has turned parts of Kiev into a war zone patrolled by masked protesters and that has left three activists dead.

In a morning announcement that took the opposition by surprise, Azarov yielded to months of pressure from the opposition who made his resignation a key demand of protests based in Independence Square in Kiev. Azarov said that he hoped his resignation would create “an additional possibility for a political compromise to peacefully resolve the conflict”. “Today the most important thing is to preserve the unity and integrity of Ukraine,” he said.

A decree issued Yanukovych confirmed he had accepted the resignation of Azarov and of the entire government. The current cabinet will remain in place as caretakers until a new government is appointed. The leader of the UDAR (Punch) party, world boxing champion Vitali Klitschko, said Azarov’s move would only partially satisfy the opposition. “This is not victory but a step to victory,” said Klitschko. The opposition still wants to oust Yanukovych from power, possibly through early elections which are currently due only in 2015. Kiev has buzzed with speculation over the last days that the government was planning a state of emergency. But Justice Minister Olena Lukash confirmed Tuesday there were currently no plans for this.

Parliament scraps protest laws Applause broke out in parliament including from opposition benches after the vote to scrap the protest laws, which passed with 361 deputies in favour and two against. The laws ridiculed as absurd by activists, had outlawed protest convoys of more than five cars and imposed a ban on oppo-

KIEV: Supporters of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych rally in central Kiev. The placards read: ‘Stop Maidan’. — AP sition activists wearing masks or helmets.

Fatherland Party leader Arseniy Yatsenyuk said: “We have repealed the laws against which the entire country rose up.” With other concessions on the agenda including an amnesty for jailed activists, parliament adjourned until an afternoon session starting at 1400 GMT. Amid a fast-evolving political situation the streets of Kiev were calm yesterday in contrast to days of clashes last week. However the barricades built by protesters out of sandbags and which reach several metres high were still in place with the city centre now clearly divided between areas controlled by protesters and those by security forces. It is not clear who could replace Azarov as prime minister. Opposition chiefs including Klitschko have rejected joining the government and some analysts Tuesday floated the idea that pro-opposition tycoon Petro Poroshenko might step into the seat.

Ashton to Kiev, Biden worried Amid growing international concern on, Ukraine EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton brought forward a visit to Kiev by several days and is expected to arrive later Tuesday after attending the Brussels summit with Putin. US Vice President

S African opposition unites CAPE TOWN: South Africa’s centrist opposition parties joined forces yesterday to challenge the ruling ANC at upcoming elections, with black consciousness stalwart Mamphela Ramphele tapped as their presidential candidate. The opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) announced it would field Ramphele the partner of slain South African hero Steve Biko - to face beleaguered incumbent president Jacob Zuma. It is the first time that the DA is fielding a black presidential candidate in an election, providing a shield against persistent charges they are a vessel for white interests.

DA leader Helen Zille described the decision as a “gamechanging moment” in South African politics. A year ago Ramphele had launched her own political platform, Agang. But in a crowded political field the party has struggled to garner funds and votes. In Ramphele, the DA appears to believe it has found a leader that can nudge the dial in its favour, or at least neutralise the African National Congress’s (ANC) attack and tap into deep voter unease. “I am the bridge between my generation that fought for freedom and the generation that needs to lead,” said Ramphele.

The death of former ANC leader Nelson Mandela and the upcoming 20th anniversary of democracy have only served to underscore the ruling party’s failings. Around one in three workers has no job or has stopped looking, many South Africans live without water or other basic services and inequality has increased since the end of apartheid. Still the ruling party, having garnered around two thirds of the vote in every election since the advent of democracy in 1994, will be confident of victory.

Despite scandal and division, the ANC remains the preeminent force in South African politics, counting on unparalleled grass roots and donor support. The ANC won 2009 polls with 65.9 percent of the ballots, while its strongest contender the DA garnered just 16.66 percent.

“Even if the ANC is weakened and divided, it is not at a point of collapse,” said political analyst Susan Booysen.

Ramphele’s arrival “could add a two percentage points to the DA’s support,” Booysen added.

Mamphele, a medical doctor, was once a senior figure in the World Bank, but her anti-apartheid credentials are equally strong. The girlfriend of Biko, an anti-apartheid activist who was murdered by policemen in 1977, she has been a vociferous critic of Zuma and his party. —AFP

Joe Biden called Yanukovych on Monday and warned him that “declaring a state of emergency or enacting other harsh security measures would further inflame the situation and close the space for a peaceful resolution.” The concessions by the authorities received a cautious welcome in the West with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier saying he hoped Azarov’s resignation was a “signal” for further dialogue.

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, a prominent critic of the Ukrainian authorities’ actions in the last days, said on Twitter he “warmly welcomed” the moves by parliament and was hoping for further steps. Russia has expressed outrage at the role of Russophobic radicals in the Ukraine protests but Putin may also be hoping the situation calms in time for the Sochi Olympics which begin on Feb 7.

The protests began in November as a drive for EU integration after Yanukovych under Russian pressure ditched a key deal with the bloc. They have since snowballed into a wider movement against his rule and have spread far beyond Kiev to outlying regions starting with the traditionally pro-EU west of the country. Most worryingly for Yanukovych, the protests have spread into his heartland in majority Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine. —AFP

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014

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Latin American unity

F

or Miguel Alvarado, a Costa Rican academician who studies the work of Cuban independence hero Jose Marti, the best tradition of his thoughts is the unity of Our America, a region ranging from Mexico to Chile and Argentina, as that visionary patriot defined.

Latin America is a historic, cultural, political and social reality, and in that perspective, obviously the achievement of its unity is a key moment to reach the real sovereignty, autonomy, and emancipation, Alvarado told Prensa Latina, during an academic event held in this capital.

Consulted about if the founding of ALBA, Petrocaribe, UNASUR, and CELAC has a relationship with what Marti (1853-1895) and Simon Bolivar (1783-1830) stated, the academician said those integration projects of the 21st century are an autonomous response from our peoples, as those heroes desired.

What is happening in Latin America in that sense is how Marti and Bolivar’s influence have come into force today. He stated that interesting political processes such as those of Bolivia and Ecuador are passing through subjectivities, as native and contemporary cultures, which the US Empire left in the invisibility.

Marti was precisely concerned to reveal and recover the dignity of those main men in Our America, the professor of the University of Costa Rica-Venue of the Pacific headquarters, said. CELAC was emerged during a meeting held on Dec 2-3, 2011 in Caracas, Venezuela, in the presence of the then President Hugo Chavez, statesmen, and heads of State and Government from other 32 Latin American and Caribbean nations. CELAC seeks to deep political, economic, social and cultural integration of Latin American and the Caribbean, based on the full respect to democracies and human rights, as Marti’s thoughts stated.

Obama speech to challenge Congress on minimum wage WASHINGTON: Challenging lawmakers to help him create greater economic opportunity, President Barack Obama will use his State of the Union address to announce he’s raising the minimum wage for new federal contract workers to $10.10 an hour, underscoring a go-it alone strategy in an election year critical to Democrats’ hopes for gains in Congress.

Obama’s speech to a joint session of Congress will be wrapped in a unifying theme: The federal government can play a key role in increasing opportunities for Americans who have been left behind, unable to benefit from a recovering economy. Yet the president will deliver a split message, pressing issues that will distinguish him and Democrats from Republicans, critical in a year of midterm elections.

Illustrating his willingness to act on his own, the White House says Obama will announce that he will sign an executive order increasing the minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 for new federal contracts. The measure affects only future contracts, not existing ones, and would only apply to contract renewals if other terms of the agreement changed.

As a result, the order would benefit far fewer workers than the number foreseen by advocates of federal contract employees. Still, the issue dovetails with what will be Obama’s broader call for an increase in the national minimum wage to $10.10 and for future increases to be tied to inflation. Obama last year had called for an increase in the minimum wage to $9.

Even as he argues that low income Americans and many in the middle class lack the means to achieve upward mobility, Obama will also feel compelled to take credit for an economy that by many indicators is gaining strength under his watch. As a result, he will talk positively about a recovery that remains elusive to many Americans.

Tightrope walk Some Democrats are warning Obama to tread carefully.

“We hope that he does not dwell on the successes of the economy, which may be apparent in employment statistics,

the GDP and stock market gains, but which are not felt by folks at the grocery store,” Democratic political analysts James Carville and Stan Greenberg wrote in a recent strategy memo.

The president will present Congress with an agenda largely unchanged from what he called for a year ago, but one that nevertheless fits neatly into this year’s economic opportunity theme. He will continue to seek an overhaul of immigration laws, an increase in the minimum wage and expanded pre-school education. But after a year in which those proposals languished and gun control failed, the White House is eager to avoid letting Obama be defined by quixotic ambitions. As a result, h2e will stress success through executive actions, though their reach would be far more modest than what he could achieve through legislation.

“Congress is slow to action and we’re not going to wait for that,” White House chief of staff Denis McDonough said in an interview on “CBS This Morning.” He told NBC’s “Today” show that Obama is not concerned about his public approval ratings as he enters the sixth year of his presidency: “The president doesn’t come down to work every day or go up to the residence every night worried about poll numbers.” Obama’s biggest and most lasting accomplishment of his second term could be immigration legislation. House Republican leaders lately have sent signals that they are willing to act on piecemeal legislation, and Obama has given them room to work without prodding.

How immigration gets resolved will depend much on what the House is able to pass and if and how it can be reconciled with bipartisan Senate legislation that passed last year. Conservatives are pushing back against any bill that gives legal status to immigrants who are in the country illegally. And some Democrats would prefer to use the unresolved issue to mobilize Hispanic voters for this year’s midterm elections. Eager not to be limited by legislative gridlock, Obama on Tuesday is also expected to announce executive actions on job training, retirement security and help for the long-term unemployed in finding work.—AFP

JACKSON: A lone bicyclist makes his way down a snow covered street on the northeast side Jackson, Michigan on Monday. Gusting winds and blowing snow caused whiteout conditions Monday that made travel treacherous on some Michigan roadways, and hundreds of schools closed because of the severe weather. —AP

Southerners warned of icy mess in days ahead Storm moves in to southern region ATLANTA: Across the South, residents stocked up on fuel and groceries, schools and offices closed, and road crews were at the ready as a storm moved in yesterday from the central US, threatening to bring snow, ice and subzero temperatures to a region more accustomed to air conditioners and sunscreen than parkas and shovels.

Even with the timing and severity of the blast of freezing precipitation uncertain, officials from parts of Texas to southeastern Virginia warned motorists to stay off the roads. Popular warm-weather tourist destinations Charleston, SC; Savannah, Georgia; Pensacola, Florida; Virginia Beach, Virginia.; and New Orleans - expected ice and snow over the next two days, rare occurrences in places that seldom even see prolonged sub-freezing temperatures.

At an Ace Hardware store in the north Georgia town of Cumming, snow shovels were in short supply, but manager Tom Maron said feed scoops - often used in barns - could be substituted. Workers expected brisk business, with patrons buying insulation, faucet covers, portable heaters and other cold-weather gear. “We’re fixing to put the ice melt out, and we’ve got plenty of sand here to mix in,” Maron said shortly before dawn. Much of Georgia was placed under a winter storm watch for Tuesday and Wednesday, with some areas forecast to see as much as 3 inches of snow. But Jason Deese with the National Weather Service said the snow totals would “matter very little in this situation because of the ice potential.”

“Some parts of the state may end up seeing the greatest impact just because they get more ice than snow,” he said. In Mississippi, amid warnings about snow and ice, four people died when an early morning fire destroyed a mobile home in Itawamba County, near the Alabama border. Investigators believe a space heater was to blame.

Sheriff Chris Dickinson said nine people were in the mobile home at the time, using the heater for warmth. Officials didn’t identify the victims but said they ranged in age from 3 months to 30 years.

Snowfall Snow began falling before dawn yesterday in the extreme northwest portion of Alabama. In Montgomery, Bradley Thrift sat in a hotel parking lot letting his truck warm up before heading out with a crew to work on sewers. “We’ve got a job to do. We’ll just be out in it,” said Thrift, wrapped up in a thick coat. “We’ll be safe. When the boss man says that’s it, it’s too slippery, we’ll just come back here and wait.” At a nearby Publix grocery story, shoppers

had cleaned out three shelves of bottled water, and all the boxed fire logs were gone. The milk cabinet had big gaps where rows of gallon jugs were missing.

“We kept having to replenish the milk yesterday - people were buying it so quickly,” worker Jeneen Gabson said.

In the Hampton Roads area of Virginia - which forecasters said could see a foot of snow - store shelves started emptying of staples such as bread by Monday night. Schools and businesses planned to close early, with the storm expected to further clog an already-busy afternoon commute.

In coastal Charleston, it was a balmy 62 degrees Monday. But the approaching weather led the College of Charleston to cancel classes yesterday. There was a forecast of rain, and sleet in the late afternoon, with the first snow expected today morning. Delta Air Lines officials said 1,850 flights have been canceled ahead of the storm. The airline is offering travelers the opportunity to make one-time changes to tickets without a fee if they’re traveling through Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, the Carolinas and Texas.

Meanwhile, in the Midwest, plummeting temperatures and increasing winds took root for another day even as the storm moved south. Several states in the central US saw schools and other facilities close for a second consecutive day as dangerous wind chills were predicted. In Minnesota, forecasters said wind chills could reach 35 to 50 degrees below zero. In the Carolinas, many school districts were running on half-day schedules yesterday so students could head home before the worst of the storm system hit. In North Carolina’s Outer Banks, barrier islands that are popular with tourists during the warm seasons, residents were bracing for as much as 8 inches of snow.

Several inches also were expected in South Carolina, where the state department of transportation planned to send crews out yesterday to treat roads with sand and brine to ease any troubles caused by ice. In Louisiana, state Public Service Commission Chairman Eric Skrmetta told residents to be prepared by stocking up with food, fueling cars and making sure to have cash on hand, calling the icy forecast for the next couple of days “decidedly grim.” State police said freezing rain was falling in the central part of the state early yesterday, but most highways remained open. The heaviest snowfall was likely to be 1 to 3 inches just north of the Baton Rouge metro area Donna Vidrine, a cashier at Simcoe Food World in Lafayette, said her store was already busy Monday. “They’re buying things like canned goods - nonperishable items - and bottles of water and diapers for their baby,” she said. — AP

WESTMINSTER: A police cruiser blocks the entrance to Standley Lake High School, where classes were cancelled after an apparent suicide attempt by a student, in Westminster, Colorado on Monday. — AP

After US suicide by fire try, counselors to help WESTMINSTER: Classes were canceled but counselors will be available to students after a 16-year-old boy set himself on fire at a suburban Denver high school in an apparent suicide attempt. Counselors were at Standley Lake High School yesterday morning. Investigators had combed through the school with bomb detection dogs as a precaution, and no devices were discovered, Westminster Police Department spokeswoman Cheri Spottke said. “We don’t have any indication that there’s any threat against the high school. We do believe that this is a suicide attempt,” she said. Investigators were also talking to students, faculty members and family members to find out what happened, she said.

The incident happened at a tense time for Colorado schools.

On Thursday, Columbine High School, where two gunmen killed 13 people in 1999, went on high security alert after receiving a series of threatening phone calls. The alert applied to a half-dozen other schools in the area, in the same school district as Standley Lake, but was lifted the same day. On Dec. 13, student gunman Karl Pierson, 17, fatally shot Claire Davis, a 17-year-old classmate at Arapahoe High School in Centennial before killing himself in the school’s library. Pierson reportedly

had threatened a teacher and librarian who had disciplined him last year and allegedly was seeking that teacher when he entered the school, investigators have said. The boy at the suburban Denver school, whose name has not been released, was critically injured when he started the fire in the school’s cafeteria at about 7:15 am local time Monday. Spottke said he did not make any threats before he lit himself ablaze. A custodian used a fire extinguisher to put out the fire before it could spread, Spottke said. Several other students were in the cafeteria at the time, but none were injured. Spottke didn’t know how the student set the fire, which caused extensive smoke in the building.

The school was closed for the day and students were sent home, Jefferson County Public Schools spokeswoman Lynn Setzer said. Students without cars were taken by buses to a local middle school, where they were picked up by their parents. Monday’s incident was the latest to affect a Denver-area school in recent weeks. Colorado state lawmakers are considering a bill to spend about $250,000 to continue a hotline students and teachers can use to report threats and bullying anonymously. State officials say the hotline has prevented more than two dozen school attacks since its creation in 2004.—AP

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014

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

India court refuses plea to review gay sex ban NEW DELHI: India’s top court yesterday rejected a plea filed by the government and activist groups to review its shock ruling which reinstated a colonial-era ban on gay sex. A Supreme Court bench dismissed petitions filed by the government and rights groups against a verdict last month that recriminalized gay sex and made it an offence punishable by up to life imprisonment.

“We see no reason to interfere with the order impugned. The review petitions are dismissed,” Supreme Court Justices H L Dattu and S J Mukhopadhaya said in their decision. In its

December 11 ruling, the top court reversed a lower court verdict from 2009 which had set aside a 1860 law outlawing “carnal intercourse against the order of nature”. The Congress-led government filed the so-called review petition amid an outcry among activists against the December judgment. It asked the Supreme Court to reconsider its decision to “avoid a grave miscarriage of justice to thousands of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) individuals”. The government added in its petition that the ruling upholding the more than 150-year-old law was “violative of the

principle of equality”.

Anand Grover, lawyer for the gay rights activist group Naz Foundation, said he was “shocked” by the Supreme Court’s decision Tuesday to reject the review petitions. But Grover told AFP that though “this battle may be lost, the war will still go on”. The Supreme Court said in its December 11 ruling that responsibility for changing the law rested with lawmakers and not the courts in the sexually conservative nation. The government and gay rights groups now have the option of filing a “curative petition”, which is the last stage of

the legal appeal process and is intended to remedy gross miscarriages of justice. But lawyers say the chances of success for such petitions are slim and the controversial issue now will likely land in parliament’s lap, meaning the law could take years to change.

Observers say they see virtually no possibility parliament can reverse the law in the immediate future before national elections due by May. The conservative nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party looks set to form the next government, according to polls. — AFP

Rahul under attack over remarks on Sikh riots Modi slammed for orchestrating attacks on Muslims

MUMBAI: Valerie Trierweiler, the ex-partner of French President Francois Hollande, holds a child during her interaction with local residents at the Ekta Nagar slum area in Mumbai yesterday. — AFP

Trierweiler embraces glamorous goodwill role MUMBAI: After losing her title as France’s first lady, Valerie Trierweiler has begun forging a new role as a goodwill ambassador, with her glamour and media savvy guaranteeing her maximum publicity on a charity trip to India.

Only hours after President Francois Hollande announced the couple were separating, Trierweiler boarded a plane in Paris for a twoday visit to Mumbai that saw her chat with sick children in hospital and see how some of India’s poorest people eke out a living in an overcrowded slum. While polls showed the 48-year-old was the most unpopular first lady in recent French history, her work on behalf of the French charity Action Contre La Faim (Action Against Hunger) has generated some welcome front-page publicity both for herself and her organization.

In an echo of the coverage that Britain’s Princess Diana generated as a self-styled ‘Queen of Hearts’ after divorcing Prince Charles, Trierweiler was snapped cradling an ailing child and tasting a nutritional supplement. “Former French First Lady finds separation balm in charity work,” said the Times of India daily while a picture of a smiling and elegant Trierweiler dominated the front-page of the Indian Express.

The 48-year-old, who is still employed as an arts writer by the French magazine Paris Match, appeared to be well aware of her capacity to generate publicity for a good cause. “I would like to thank the French journalists for showing so much interest in malnutrition,” she said in tongue-in-cheek comments to a crowded press conference on Monday, when she told her erstwhile colleagues that it was her third trip to India. “I came here for the first time as a journalist, the second as a first lady and the third time-well call it what you want,” she added.

Ashwini Kakkar, head of the Fight Hunger Foundation (the local offshoot of Action Against Hunger), said that the publicity generated by Trierweiler had been a great way of raising the organisation’s profile.

“This is a big plus for us,” Kakkar said. “She has brought us a lot and is committed to continue supporting us as best she can in the

fight against hunger and malnutrition.” During a visit to India with Hollande last year, Trierweiler also spent time at a shelter for street children in New Delhi and spoke of her desire to become a champion of children’s rights. The late princess Diana, Bianca Jagger and Jemima Khan have all demonstrated over the years how to generate publicity for a good cause long after splitting from their famous husbands-with benefits for all parties.

‘Newsy angle’ Rajesh Chaturvedi, chairman of Adfactors, one of India’s largest public relations firms, said the press were fascinated by Trierweiler not only because she is an “attractive lady” but also because her separation gave her visit a “newsy angle”. But Chaturvedi said the choice of her cause was also a key to understanding why she could command column inches in India.

In dealing with malnutrition, she picked a topic “close to millions of hearts in India” Chaturvedi said. “Today we may not realise it, but going forward to build a healthy society we need healthy people,” he told AFP. A recent poll in France found only eight percent of respondents opted for Trierweiler when asked who was their favourite first lady-well behind the 28 percent rating for her predecessor Carla Bruni-Sarkozy.

While Nicolas Sarkozy’s wife is now modelling for the jewellery firm Bulgari, Trierweiler appears to feel comfortable in her new role.

“I’m feeling very good about being here,” she said of her visit to Mumbai. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.”Hollande announced to AFP on Saturday that he was splitting from Trierweiler, his partner of eight years, following intense media scrutiny over his relationship with French actress Julie Gayet, 41. The break-up followed revelations a fortnight ago in Closer magazine that the 59year-old leader had been having an affair with Gayet, whom he allegedly visited late at night on a motor scooter. Trierweiler, a twice-married career journalist, never married Hollande but assumed the role of first lady at official functions after his election in 2012. — AFP

NEW DELHI: India’s opposition criticized ruling party leader Rahul Gandhi yesterday for avoiding any expression of regret for the killings of Sikhs in riots three decades ago, a sensitive issue that threatens to dog him in a tight election due by May. Gandhi said the government led by his Congress party did everything it could to control the violence against minority Sikhs in retaliation for the assassination of his grandmother, then prime minister Indira Gandhi, by her Sikh bodyguards in 1984.

Nearly 3,000 people were killed in the riots and rights activists accuse the Congress of having turned a blind eye and say some of its leaders helped orchestrate the violence.

“It is tragic that so many died but there is no tribute, no remorse, no apology,” said Prakash Singh Badal, the chief minister of Sikh-dominated Punjab state whose party is a member of the

main opposition alliance. Gandhi in a rare interview broadcast on Monday night said the riots were horrible and that some members of the Congress party may have been involved. But they had been punished and the government had, at the time, tried to stop the attacks.

He said he had nothing to do with the violence when asked if he would apologize or at least express regret. “I think that riots, as all riots, were a horrible event. Frankly I was not in operation in the Congress party,” said Gandhi, the fourth generation member of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty.

Instead, he targeted the opposition’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, accusing his administration in the western state of Gujarat of abetting attacks against Muslims there in another series of riots in 2002. But Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party

(BJP), rejected the accusation and said Gandhi was wrong to draw a comparison between the two incidents.

“Congress leaders were seen leading the mobs,” senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley said of the 1984 violence. “Sikhs were massacred at thousands of places. Nowhere did the police fire a single bullet to disperse mobs. Cases were not investigated.”

“Where did Rahul Gandhi get this idea that in 1984 there was no participation of the state?”

Sikhs make up about 2 percent of Hindu-majority India’s population of 1.2 billion. Indira Gandhi’s assassination, in October 1984, was carried out in revenge for her decision to send the army in to flush Sikh separatist militants out of the Golden Temple - Sikhism’s holiest shrine in the northern city of Amritsar in June that year. — Reuters

Bhutto’s son urges action against Pakistani Taleban ISLAMABAD: Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the son of Pakistan’s assassinated premier Benazir Bhutto, has urged military action against the Taleban as the country debates how to respond to a surge in militant attacks. Zardari, the patron-in-chief of the main opposition Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), told the BBC that Pakistan must “wake up” to the threat posed by militancy. Pakistan, battling a homegrown Taliban insurgency since 2007, has endured a bloody start to the year with 110 people killed in attacks in January, according to an AFP tally. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ’s government has been under fire for failing to make a strong response to the upsurge in violence.

The government has for months said it favored talks with the Taleban but Zardari, 25, said he would only be willing to negotiate terms for the militants’ surrender. “I think we’ve exhausted the option of talks. Dialogue is always an option but we have to have a position of strength,” he told the BBC. “How do you talk from a position of strength?

You have to beat them on the battlefield. They’re fighting us.” Ministers held talks on Monday to discuss how to deal with the growing militant threat, nearly a week after air force jets bombarded suspected Taleban hideouts in North Waziristan tribal district. North Waziristan is a major stronghold for groups linked to the Taleban and Al-Qaeda, and debate is raging about whether a full-scale military ground offensive should be launched to rid the area of militants once and for all. The United States has long pressured Pakistan to do more to wipe out militant strongholds, saying insurgents were using rear bases in North Waziristan to mount attacks on US troops in Afghanistan.

Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in December 2007 after leaving a PPP campaign rally. Her husband and Bilawal’s father Asif Ali Zardari was president from 2008-2013. — AFP

COLOMBO: Members of the media and their supporters hold placards, carrying portraits of killed and abducted journalists, during a protest in Colombo yesterday. —AP

Protest against Sri Lanka govt COLOMBO: Thousands of protesters from opposition parties, human rights groups and media activist groups marched in Sri Lanka’s capital in a rare show of dissent against the government.

They marched yesterday in the capital, Colombo, accusing authorities of corruption and mismanagement. Holding ban-

ners that read “Stop Suppressing Media,” they also protested attacks on journalists who have been critical of the government. Tissa Attanayake, an opposition lawmaker, said there has been a breakdown of law and order in the country, and that the government has politicized institutions that dispense justice. — AP

Pakistan provincial govt halts Malala book launch

RAWALPINDI: Pakistani schoolchildren watch a camel eat leaves from a tree as they return from school in Rawalpindi yesterday.—AFP

PESHAWAR: A launch ceremony for education activist Malala Yousafzai’s book at a university in her native Pakistan was cancelled after pressure from the provincial government, organizers and officials said yesterday.

Malala, now 16, survived a Taleban assassination attempt in the country’s restive northwest in 2012 and has become a global champion for the struggle for all children to go to school.

An event to launch her memoir “I am Malala” at the Area Study Centre of Peshawar University on Monday was called off after police refused to provide security, organizers said. She had not been due to attend in person. “We were forced to cancel it. We were pressurized by provincial ministers and university vice chancellor,” Sarfaraz Khan, the Area Study Centre director, told AFP. “When I refused to follow this illegal order (to cancel the event) police refused to provide security.”

Peshawar is the capital of the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which has borne the brunt of Pakistan’s bloody homegrown Islamist insurgency. Khan said he received numerous phone calls from two provincial ministers, followed by the university vice-chancellor, registrar and senior police officers.

The government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is led by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) party of former cricketer Imran Khan. Provincial information minister Shah Farman confirmed the administration had halted

the ceremony.

“It is true that we stopped them and there were many reasons for that,” Farman told AFP. He said the venue was “not suitable” for the launch and accused organizers of using the event as a way to get money from the United States. “It was just to get more US funding,” Farman said.

But his party chief Imran Khan said via his official Twitter account he was baffled at the news. “I am at a complete loss to understand why Malala’s book launch in Peshawar was stopped. PTI stands 4 freedom of expression & debate,” he tweeted.

Khadim Hussain, the head of the Bacha Khan Education trust, a local charity which was supporting the launch ceremony, said the pressure to cancel the event was a sop to militants. “They stopped us to please Taliban, we will soon announce another date for the book launching,” Hussain said.

The book describes Malala’s life under the Taleban’s brutal rule in the Swat valley in the mid-2000s and hints at her ambition to enter Pakistani politics. While it has had a positive reception around the world, reaction to the book inside Pakistan has been mixed. Some private schools banned it from their premises in November due to what they called its “anti-Pakistan and anti-Islam content”.

A senior police official said allowing the ceremony to go ahead would have meant attracting Taleban attacks in future. — AFP

RAWALPINDI: A Pakistani drug user injects narcotics into the veins of another user in Rawalpindi yesterday. Pakistan has an estimated one million heroin users, half of whom use needles. — AFP

China activist Xu to appeal jail term BEIJING: Prominent Chinese activist Xu Zhiyong will appeal against a four-year jail term for organizing protests, his lawyer said yesterday, with proceedings still underway against many members of his rights movement.

China’s dissent-wary authorities have cracked down on Xu’s New Citizens Movement over the past year, so far detaining at least 20 and trying 10 on charges of disrupting public order. Xu was the first to be sentenced, on Sunday. The loose network of activists mounted small-scale demonstrations and dinner discussions, for causes ranging from government corruption to education equality. Many held banners in public

urging officials to disclose their assets.

Xu’s lawyer Zhang Qingfang told AFP that the Beijing court would probably not overturn Xu’s sentence, but lodging an appeal might help or at least prolong the cases of other activists, who are being tried in a lower court. “He will appeal within 10 days, the allowed time period for doing so,” Zhang said of Xu. “Not appealing would be to say that these New Citizens Movement cases have already been declared guilty by a higher court.”

Zhang added that three people involved with the movement had been released on bail, including its wealthy backer Wang Gongquan and two other participants. — AFP

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014

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

US to press Sri Lanka at UN rights council WASHINGTON: The United States said Monday it will sponsor a resolution at the UN Human Rights Council that Sri Lanka is worried could call for an international investigation into allegations of war crimes during the island nation’s civil conflict. Hoping to head off that threat, a top aide to Sri Lanka’s powerful president is in Washington this week, trying to persuade the Obama administration and lawmakers that Sri Lanka is on a path toward national reconciliation, nearly five years after crushing a quarter-century rebellion by ethnic Tamil fighters.

While Sri Lanka has enjoyed relative peace since then, it hasn’t satisfied concerns, principally from Western nations, over the fate of tens thousands of Tamil civilians in the dying months of the war in 2009, when government forces were closing in on Tamil Tiger rebels cornered on a sliver of land in the island’s northeast. A UN report previously said as many as 40,000 Tamil civilians died, mostly in govern-

ment attacks, but Sri Lanka denies such a high toll and has repeatedly denied it deliberately targeted civilians.

In November, British Prime Minister David Cameron said he would call for a UN-backed investigation into allegations of war crimes unless there was progress on postwar reconciliation by March, when the U.N. Human Rights Council holds a bi-annual session. During the past two years, the council passed resolutions calling on Sri Lanka to conduct its own investigations into war crimes allegations against both government troops and the Tigers. The US State Department said Monday it would be sponsoring a resolution on Sri Lanka this March, but wouldn’t say whether it would call for an international investigation. But officials said that the fact the US is pushing a third resolution in as many years reflects concern over a lack of progress in addressing outstanding issues of accountability and reconciliation, as well as over land

seizures, religiously motivated attacks and unsolved cases of attacks on journalists.

Photo row Earlier this month, the US Embassy in Colombo prompted Sri Lankan anger when it posted a photograph on Twitter of US Ambassador for Global Criminal Justice Stephen Rapp visiting a site in the country’s north where it said hundreds of families were killed by army shelling in 2009.

Human Rights Watch has reported that a makeshift hospital in that area came under repeated fire during the conflict. But Lalith Weeratunga, secretary to Sri Lanka’s president and his point man on the government’s own reconciliation efforts, said there was no record that hundreds of people were killed there. “You can’t just pass judgment like that,” he told The Associated Press. He denied any such targeting of civilians by the Sri Lankan armed forces, or even the use of

heavy weapons in the final months of the war, although he acknowledged there could have been “collateral damage” during the fighting when the Tamil Tigers were using civilians as human shields.

Weeratunga, speaking ahead of a meeting with the top US diplomat for South Asia, Nisha Biswal, likened the threat of an international inquiry into war crimes to a sword of Damocles hanging by a thread over Sri Lanka - a reference to mythical story from ancient Greece. He argued the government has only had 18 months to implement the recommendations of its own reconciliation commission. He warned that if that process was mishandled, it could trigger renewed conflict. “I can’t use an American method for resolving issues in my country. I have a Sri Lankan way of doing it,” he said. “I have seen some of the assertions from the State Department that the international community is losing their patience with Sri Lanka. It’s not fair. We are trying our level best to push this.”— AP

Thai govt denies delay in Sunday election Shinawatra meets election commission

JAKARTA: Pakistani Javaid Mahmood (center), also known as Hasan Billu, arrives at East Jakarta’s court yesterday to hear a verdict in a deadly people smuggling case. — AFP

Indonesia court jails people-smuggler JAKARTA: An Indonesian court yesterday jailed a people-smuggler for seven years after he arranged an asylum boat voyage to Australia which ended when the vessel sank with the loss of some 90 lives. Javaid Mahmood, a 54-year-old Pakistani who organized the voyage which was supposed to take asylum-seekers from Indonesia to Australia in June 2012, was found guilty of people-smuggling. The boat left Indonesia’s main island of Java carrying some 200 Afghan and Pakistani asylum-seekers but almost half drowned when it went down.

Hundreds of would-be refugees have died in recent years trying to make the sea voyage from Indonesia to Australia, with peoplesmugglers charging huge sums for passage on rickety wooden fishing boats.

Chief judge Nasir Simanjuntak told the East Jakarta District Court that Mahmood had caused the “loss of many lives” by organizing the voyage to the Australian territory of Christmas Island.

He was also found to have organized a second voyage in February 2013, which made it safely to Christmas Island. “The defendant Javaid Mahmood has been proven legally and convincingly guilty of

committing people-smuggling activities,” the judge said, as he handed down the sevenyear sentence.

He also ordered Mahmood to pay a fine of 800 million rupiah ($65,600). The sentence was three years lighter than the 10 years sought by prosecutors.

The judge said an Afghan man, Dawood Amiri, who was jailed in 2013 for six years for people-smuggling, helped organize the fatal voyage. Mahmood was arrested in May 2013.

He worked with agents in Pakistan and Afghanistan to arrange trips for asylum-seekers trying to reach Australia, according to his indictment. He charged the would-be refugees between $5,000 and $12,000 each.

Indonesia is a major transit hub for asylum-seekers from countries including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Myanmar. The conservative government in Canberra has implemented a navy-led operation to stem the flow of asylum-seeker boats by turning them back to Indonesia when it is safe to do so, a policy which has angered Jakarta. Australia Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said Friday that asylum-seeker arrivals had dropped to their lowest level in almost five years. — AFP

BANGKOK: Thailand’s government announced yesterday it will go ahead with an election this weekend despite an opposition boycott, months of street protests and the likelihood of more violence in the country’s political crisis.

The government made the announcement after a meeting between Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and the Election Commission, which had sought a delay in the polls. The decision to hold Sunday’s parliamentary balloting will further inflate tensions and chances of violence. A protest leader was killed and about a dozen others were injured in a clash last Sunday as protesters swarmed dozens of polling stations to stop advance voting. Since Nov. 30, 10 people have died and at least 577 have been injured. The crisis pits followers and opponents of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra against each other. Thaksin, a billionaire who is Yingluck’s older brother, was deposed by a military coup in 2006 after being accused of corruption and abuse of power, and since then the two sides have been engaged in a sometimes violent struggle for power.

Anti-government protesters occupying parts of Bangkok are demanding that Yingluck step down before any election, and that she be replaced by a non-elected interim government that would institute reforms to remove her family’s influence from politics. The opposition Democrat Party, which backs the protests, is boycotting the election.

Yingluck’s supporters, including many people in the countryside who benefited from Thaksin’s populist policies, are demanding that they be allowed to vote. Several hundred protesters laid siege to yesterday’s meeting between Yingluck and the Election Commission. Two people were injured, one seriously with a gunshot wound, as violence broke out on the fringes of the crowd.

The Election Commission said more violence was likely during the polls and would further damage the country. “I think Thailand has suffered enough and no one should be hurt or die from this election,” Commissioner Somchai Srisutthiyakorn told reporters.

Deputy Prime Minister Pongthep

Thepkanchana said the commission and government had different views and the election would therefore go ahead. A court ruled last week that the election could only be postponed by mutual agreement between the prime minister and the Election Commission.

BANGKOK: Thailand’s Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra speaks to media as she leaves a meeting with election commissioners at the Army Club, yesterday. — AP “If we postpone the election, will the problems go away? The people who are causing trouble didn’t say they would stop if it’s postponed,” Pongthep said. “The longer it is postponed, the more damage it will cause the people and the country.” Some protesters pushed their way onto the compound of the Army Club, where the meeting was held. They did not enter any buildings, which were guarded by police and soldiers.

The protesters are seeking to stop the govern-

Family of Pakistan ‘blasphemy’ Briton appeals for help

TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (right) listens to Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Taro Aso (left) during the lower house parliament session in Tokyo yesterday. — AFP

Japan gives teachers new orders on disputed isles TOKYO: Japanese education chiefs will for the first time instruct schools to teach children that islands disputed with China and South Korea belong unequivocally to Tokyo, the government said yesterday. The announcement immediately prompted anger in Seoul, which called in the Japanese ambassador and warned of “reciprocal countermeasures” if the changes are not withdrawn immediately.

Revised teachers’ manuals for junior and senior high schools will be issued to education boards across the nation, a Japanese education ministry official said. “From the educational point of view, it is natural for a state to teach its children about integral parts of its own territory,” Education Minister Hakubun Shimomura told a news conference. The move comes as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has stirred controversy with his unabashed nationalism, including a visit to a war shrine widely viewed by neighboring countries as a symbol of Tokyo’s wartime aggression.

Japan is embroiled in a row with China over the Tokyo-controlled Senkaku islands in the East China Sea, claimed as the Diaoyus by Beijing.

The dispute regularly sees standoffs between paramilitary ships and has also involved military vessels and planes. Some observers say the islands represent a key fault line for the region and could be the spark for an armed conflict.

Beijing’s reaction was muted, with foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying saying the Chinese government was “severely concerned” and had launched “solemn representations”.

“We want to stress that the Diaoyu islands and their affiliated islands have been China’s inherent territory since ancient times,” she said.

Tokyo and Seoul, meanwhile, are at odds over the sovereignty of a pair of sparsely-inhabited rocks in waters between them, administered by Seoul as Dokdo but claimed as Takeshima in Japan. The new manuals describe both sets of islands as “integral parts of Japanese territory” for the first time, the official said. The manuals will also note that the Takeshima islands are “illegally”occupied by South Korea, and that Japan does not even recognize the existence of a territorial dispute over the Senkaku islands, the official said. The current manuals instruct teachers only to refer to a difference in Japanese and South Korean positions on Takeshima, while there were no remarks on the Senkakus. “We called in the ambassador to lodge a strong protest ... after the Japanese education ministry maliciously included groundless allegations in textbook teaching manuals,” South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kyou-Hyun told reporters invited to witness the convocation of Ambassador Koro Bessho.—AFP

ment from operating, and have occupied major intersections in Bangkok and closed down many government buildings.

Increased protest-related violence spurred the government last week to declare a state of emergency covering Bangkok and surrounding

ISLAMABAD: The family of a mentally ill British man sentenced to death in Pakistan for blasphemy have urged London to intervene to seek his release. Mohammad Asghar was sentenced by a court in Rawalpindi, near the capital Islamabad, last week for writing letters claiming to be a prophet of Islam.

The special court inside Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail, where Asghar is being held, rejected defence claims that Asghar has mental health problems.

But a statement from the British charity Reprieve, which is helping Asghar’s family, said the 69-yearold was detained by authorities in Scotland in 2010 because of mental problems and diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.

“We are really upset and concerned that they will never release him and that he will die in jail.

He has already attempted suicide unsuccessfully,” Asghar’s family said in the statement released on Monday.

“We just want him back home where hopefully he can be treated for and recover from his mental illness. “We urge the British Government to intervene and bring him home to us where he will be safe.” Blasphemy is an extremely sensitive issue in Pakistan, where 97 percent of the population is Muslim and insulting the Prophet Mohammed can carry the death penalty.

But the country has had a de facto moratorium on civilian hangings since 2008. Only one person has been executed since then, a soldier convicted by court martial.

Pakistan’s tough blasphemy laws have attracted criticism from rights groups, who say they are frequently abused to settle personal scores. The family say the allegations against Asghar stem from a property dispute with one of his tenants.

Reprieve also complained that Asghar’s legal team had been denied access to him since his conviction. — AFP

areas. The measure allows curtailment of many normal civil liberties and criminalizes many of the activities carried out by the protesters, but no substantive action has yet been taken.

Protesters are likely to try to block the voting on Sunday. If the election fails to fill 95 percent of the lower house seats, Parliament will be unable to convene. Yingluck and her ruling Pheu Thai party are also facing several lawsuits that could eventually force them from office. — AP

China visa woes for NYT as govt ups pressure BEIJING: The government is intensifying efforts to control foreign media coverage of China, blocking websites, harassing reporters trying to cover trials of activists in Beijing and thwarting efforts by The New York Times to station new journalists on the mainland. The government under President Xi Jinping has taken an increasingly hard line on controlling information within the country as its traditional means of doing so come under threat from social media and mobile Internet messaging services.

Although foreign media reports are aimed mostly at audiences outside China, the moves against international journalists reflect both wariness of their reports seeping into the domestic audience and sensitivity about the country’s reputation abroad. This is especially so following reports in recent years about the wealth accumulated by relatives of top Communist Party leaders.

“International coverage is no longer simply damaging to China’s international image,” said David Bandurski, a researcher with the University of Hong Kong’s China Media Project. “It’s also damaging to China’s domestic image of the ruling party.” China last week blocked access on the mainland to the websites of several European and North American news outlets that participated in or carried reports of an investigation that showed the relatives of China’s president and other business and political leaders were linked to offshore tax havens.

Harassment In the past week, police and plainclothes security officers harassed reporters in Beijing who staked out courthouses where grassroots activists of the New Citizens movement were on trial, pushing them away from the buildings and confiscating press cards. In addition to such rough treatment, foreign reporters working in China also generally deal with official intimidation of interviewees as well as bars on going to Tibet or troubled parts of ethnic minority regions. In recent years, however, the government has added a

new form of pressure, press freedom groups say, by delaying or denying journalism visas for organizations whose coverage it dislikes.

China says it handles the foreign media according to its laws. Austin Ramzy, a reporter who left Time magazine to work for the Times last April, is set to leave China on Thursday because authorities have not approved his application for a resident journalist visa. Ramzy will be the second Times reporter in 13 months to leave the mainland over visa issues after Chris Buckley, a reporter who joined the Times’ China team in 2012, similarly departed for Hong Kong at the end of that year. The Times’ designated China bureau chief Philip Pan has been waiting for a journalist visa since early 2012.

The Times’ visa woes come despite US Vice President Joe Biden’s efforts last month to raise the problems faced by journalists working for US news organizations in China in his talks with Xi, Premier Li Keqiang and other officials while on a visit to Beijing. Patrick Ventrell, a spokesman for the White House’s National Security Council, said US officials have contacted Chinese officials at the highest levels repeatedly to raise the treatment of journalists and media organizations, including that they expected visas to be issued for US outlets. The Chinese government late last year delayed the annual visa renewal applications for reporters working for the Times and Bloomberg, seen as retaliation for the outlets’ investigative stories on the enormous wealth accumulated by the relatives of Xi and former Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.

The visas eventually were issued for the companies’ journalists already based in China, weeks later than for many other news outlets. But Ramzy, a new hire, did not get one. The Foreign Ministry denied that Ramzy was being forced to leave China, saying Monday that he had violated Chinese regulations by not applying to amend his visa after the cancellation of the press credentials he held under Time magazine. Chinese regulations say that to be done within 10 days of the cancellation. — AP

NEWS

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014

For UN’s patient Brahimi, no war is irresolvable GENEVA: Lakhdar Brahimi has seen faces like these before, barely able to remain in the same room, much less speak to each other. Lebanese, Afghans, Iraqis, now Syrians. Even, two decades ago, Algerians like himself. For days now, the veteran UN mediator has presided over peace talks intended to lead the way out of Syria’s civil war. He brought President Bashar Assad’s government and the opposition face to face for the first time on Saturday, while still ensuring that they don’t have to enter by the same door or address each other directly. He is 80. He is patient. “I am often accused of being too slow. But I think that being slow is a better way of going fast than precipitation. If you run, you may gain one hour and lose one week,” he told journalists at the end of another long day. “So, we are going slow, and I hope we will continue to go slow.”

He speaks deliberately and fluently in French, English and Arabic, often switching among the three. Without a microphone, he would be nearly inaudible. By the end of several days of negotiating in Geneva, the creases in his face seem deeper and he enters the room slowly before easing into a chair. But he inevitably has enough spark left for a gently sarcastic comment or two - just enough to draw laughs. Brahimi’s negotiating style is famous among diplomats. Young ones emulate him, and veterans hope for favorable comparisons.

“One of the keys to his success is that he is, I would call, strategically patient. And he knows when to be firm, and he knows when to be patient, and he understands the dynamics of peace processes,” said Michael Moller, a Danish diplomat who is acting head of the UN office in Geneva.

Brahimi has lived through two dark periods in his own homeland of Algeria, during the country’s battle for independence from France and later in the 1990s when an estimated 200,000 people died in a civil war between the government and Islamists. Officially retired, he lives much of the time in Paris, where he was educated as a young man. Outside Algeria, he has been involved in some of the world’s most intractable conflicts. During seven years as undersecretary-general of the Arab League, Brahimi served as the organization’s special envoy trying to mediate an end to Lebanon’s civil war. There were several failed attempts to end the fighting, he said, but he negotiated a cease-fire on Sept. 24, 1989, that finally held, leading to the Taif agreement that ended the 15-year conflict.

He went to South Africa as apartheid ended, ultimately seeing the election of Nelson Mandela.

Brahimi worked in Afghanistan both during and after the Taleban’s fall. And, with the support of the second Bush administration, he negotiated an interim government in Iraq after the US ousted Saddam Hussein. His daughter, Rym, was a CNN correspondent who covered the war until her marriage to a Jordanian prince. He is also a member of The Elders, the international group of prominent statesmen founded by Mandela.

His work in Afghanistan was not without criticism. The 2001 negotiations in Bonn, Germany, helped solidify the place of warlords in the country’s leadership - and allowed them to avoid trial for human rights abuses. Human rights defenders express concerns about that in the current talks.

Collected man “We have not seen appropriate emphasis that there will be accountability and Mr Brahimi’s track record in a comparable situation - in Afghanistan - leaves us concerned,” said Richard Dicker, director of the international justice program at Human Rights Watch. “My point is not that this be the first order of business but rather it be in the room.” Members of the Syrian opposition, who have seen Brahimi every day during the talks, are respectful. “He is a calm and collected man and he tries to be as just as possible,” said Murhaf Joueijati, who was at Monday’s session. “He is a man who is doing his job and I think he is doing it well. I do not think he could have done better than he is doing today.”

Brahimi came out publicly against a military response to the chemical weapons attack in August that the US and others blamed on Assad, and his ties to Syria’s ruling family date to the 1980s. “Brahimi is a man of consensus. He’s a cool, distant man who does not voice his opinions strongly in public,” said Hasni Abidi, director of the Geneva-based Arab and Mediterranean Studies Center. “Today he finds himself dealing with a crisis which is much graver than the Lebanese war, but the players are almost identical.”

He tends to avoid negotiations without strong international backing for his cause, and nowhere is this more true than in Syria, where even the US and Russia - backing opposite sides are pressuring the antagonists to stick it out in Geneva, whatever the result. “I think Brahimi and the Geneva conference represent the last life-vest, the last political and diplomatic chance for a solution,” said Abidi, “but Brahimi without the help of the Americans and the Russians cannot do much.” — AP

Palestinian children play in concrete pipes in Gaza City yesterday. — AFP

Qaradawi urges Saudis to stop backing ...

Continued from Page 1 the murders and executioners, to stand with the right against wrong, to stand with the slain against the killer, to stand with the oppressed against the oppressors,” he said. “These rulers hate Saudi Arabia and its ruling regime. They do not believe in sharia,” he added, referring to strict Islamic law applied in Saudi Arabia.

The military-backed authorities have cracked down hard on Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood since July, smashing sit-in protest camps in Cairo and killing hundreds of demonstrators. Most Brotherhood leaders including Morsi have also been arrested and the group has been designated a terrorist organisation, although it formally renounced violence four decades ago. The United States said in October it would withhold deliveries of military hardware and $260 million in cash aid for Egypt’s military-backed government pending progress on democracy and human rights.

The hereditary rulers of most Gulf Arab states were close allies of longtime Egyptian autocratic president

Hosni Mubarak before his fall to a popular uprising in 2011, and they saw the subsequent the rise to power of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt as a dangerous precedent that could embolden Islamists at home. But Qatar, where Qaradawi is based, kept close ties with the Egyptian Brotherhood and lent or gave Egypt $7.5 billion during his Morsi’s one year in office.

Asked about who he thinks was behind the wave of bombings that targeted security compounds in Cairo on the third anniversary last Friday of Mubarak’s downfall, Qaradawi said the Muslim Brotherhood was distant from such practices and suggested that Egyptian intelligence services might have provoked the attacks to stoke popular anger against Islamists. “It is unreasonable to leave those buildings..., such as the Directorate of Security in Cairo, unguarded in the circumstances that have prevailed...This act has the fingerprints of Egypt’s intelligence service all over it. I condemn these bombings, and we condemn violence in all its colours, and we know that a peaceful revolution is the way to success. To pursue violence is not in their interest.” — Reuters

In this July 17, 1990 file photo, Arab League mediator Lakhdar Brahimi (right) talks to the media after his 90minute meeting with Christian Lebanese forces militia chieftain Samir Geagea (left). — AP

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014

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Issues

A ruling for the media

By Alison Frankel

C

an corporations use copyright laws to block news organizations from publishing their own information about themselves? Not according to a ruling Monday from the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in an intriguing case called Swatch v Bloomberg. The appeals court said that Bloomberg was entitled to publish an audiotape of an invitation-only analyst call with Swatch officials, even though Swatch held a US copyright on the recording and told analysts who participated in the call that the audio could not be published or broadcast.

The 2nd Circuit’s extremely broad view of the media’s fair use of copyrighted corporate information - which gives primacy to the investing public’s interest in financial reports and data - is good news indeed for financial news reporters and their employers. In combination with the appeals court’s 2011 holding in Barclays v.

Theflyonthewall, the Swatch opinion makes it clear that when a corporation’s statements constitute news, the corporation doesn’t have the right to control how that news gets out.

Under Monday’s decision, that’s true even when a news organization uses the copyrighted material for commercial purposes - and even when the information isn’t transformed in any way before publication. The investing public’s right to know, according to the 2nd Circuit, can’t be trumped by corporate copyrights.

“Whether one describes Bloomberg’s activities as ‘news reporting,’ ‘data delivery,’ or any other turn of phrase, there can be no doubt that Bloomberg’s purpose in obtaining and disseminating the recording at issue was to make important financial information about Swatch Group available to American investors and analysts,” wrote Chief Judge Robert Katzmann for a panel that also included Judges Amalya Kearse and Richard Wesley. “Bloomberg’s overriding purpose here was not to ‘scoop’ Swatch...but rather simply to deliver newsworthy financial information to American investors and analysts. That kind of activity, whose protection lies at the core of the First Amendment, would be crippled if the news media and similar organizations were limited to authorized sources of information.”

Uninvited Pretty resounding language, and that’s despite good arguments by Swatch and its lawyers at Collen IP that Bloomberg’s publication of the audiotape didn’t amount to fair use. I’ve written before about the unusual facts of the case, but here’s a brief recap.

Foreign-based companies like Swatch aren’t subject to the same disclosure requirements as US corporations, so when Swatch released its 2010 earnings in Feb 2011, it organized an invitationonly call with analysts who track the stock.

Reporters were not invited to participate, but very shortly after the conclusion of the 132-minute call, Bloomberg posted an audiotape and transcript to subscribers of its financial research service.

When Swatch found out, it demanded that Bloomberg take down the materials; when the news organization refused, Swatch obtained a copyright on its executives’ statements during the earnings call and sued Bloomberg for infringement.

US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein of Manhattan ruled in August 2011 that Swatch could proceed with its case, denying a motion to dismiss by Bloomberg’s lawyers at Willkie Farr & Gallagher. But in May 2012, after listening to the audiotape, Hellerstein changed his mind about Swatch’s infringement claims. The judge granted Bloomberg’s motion for judgment on the pleadings, ruling that the news company made fair use of the copyrighted material. “(Bloomberg’s) work as a prominent gatherer and publisher of business and financial information serves an important public interest, for the public is served by the full, timely and accurate dissemination of business and financial news,” Hellerstein said.

Court Not Swayed On appeal, Swatch argued (with not a little justification) that several of the considerations judges must weigh in fair use analysis actually tilted in its favor. Bloomberg wrongfully obtained the audiotape, Swatch asserted, and published it despite an admonition against distribution at the beginning of the call. There was no educational purpose for the publication; Bloomberg makes money from its research service. Nor could the audiotape be fairly described as reporting, according to Swatch, because Bloomberg posted the entire audiotape and transcript, without any transformative editing, additions or commentary.

Swatch argued that at the very least, it should have been permitted to conduct discovery on Bloomberg’s profit motive.

The 2nd Circuit was not at all swayed. “A use of copyrighted material that serves (a) public purpose is very closely analogous to ‘news reporting,’ which is indicative of fair use,” the appeals court said. “We agree with the district court, moreover, that this important public purpose underlying Bloomberg’s use overcomes the countervailing weight we would otherwise give to Bloomberg’s clandestine methods and the commercial, nontransformative nature of its use.” (As an aside, this opinion deserves plaudits for its clarity and readability; even if you disagree with Katzmann’s conclusions, you have to admire his writing.) —Reuters

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

Politics, legacy loom over Obama decision

By Jeff Mason

U

S President Barack Obama was to lay out an agenda on jobs, the economy and the environment during his State of the Union speech yesterday. But he is unlikely to mention the Keystone XL oil pipeline, a politically charged project that could shape his legacy in each area. Some five years after Keystone XL was proposed, Canadian officials, Republicans and some Democrats in conservative US states are expressing frustration over the lack of a decision by the White House on the initiative. The TransCanada Corp project involves construction of a 1,900-km pipeline from Alberta, Canada, to Steele City, Nebraska, where it would connect with a previously approved line. That would create a system that could move more than 800,000 barrels of crude from Alberta’s oil sands to refineries on the US Gulf Coast each day.

Supporters say Keystone XL would create thousands of jobs and cut US fuel costs by reducing the nation’s reliance on oil imports from nations that are less friendly than Canada. They also point to US government reports about the dangers of moving crude oil by rail as an alternative to the pipeline.

Critics of the pipeline plan say it would harm the environment and hasten climate change by promoting oil-harvesting methods in Alberta that produce high levels of carbon dioxide emissions.

The project is in limbo while the US State Department finalizes an environmental review, a long-delayed process that has irked allies in Ottawa and advocates on both sides of the issue in the United States.

Behind the scenes, a complex political calculus is at play on everything from the timing of the decision to the outcome. For Obama, a decision in favor of the pipeline could undermine the Democratic president’s environmental credentials and anger activists who have supported him just as his administration is writing new rules to reduce heattrapping carbon dioxide emissions from

power plants.

A decision against the pipeline could undercut Obama’s pledge to boost employment and US energy security while alienating an important international ally and oil supplier. No matter what Obama decides, an announcement before the midterm congressional elections in November - which many observers expect - could make Keystone a big issue in the races that will determine control of the US Congress. The Keystone project is a particularly sensitive subject for several Democratic senators from politically divided states who support the pipeline, are under pressure from Republican critics who back the project, and are frustrated with what they see as the administration’s reluctance to decide the matter. Democratic Senators Mark Begich of Alaska, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Kay Hagan of North Carolina are prominent Keystone backers and have supported past Republican-led efforts to circumvent Obama on the decision.

A ‘Progressive’ Legacy?

For Obama, the political calculus on Keystone extends well beyond the issue of the pipeline itself. As he enters his sixth year in office, Obama has become increasingly focused on building his legacy as a “progressive” president. The cornerstone of that legacy is Obama’s healthcare overhaul, which continues to face attacks from Republicans.

But Obama also wants to have an enduring impact on the nation’s efforts to counter climate change. “The president doesn’t have to run for election ever again, increasingly he’s going to be thinking about his legacy,” said Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club, an environmental group. “It’s clear that one of the most important ways that he will be judged is what actions has he taken on climate change.”

Environmentalists and young people key segments of the Democratic Party’s political base - have worked for years to block the Keystone pipeline plan because of

what they see as the project’s potential to increase climate-warming emissions.

Obama needs support from that base for other second-term initiatives such as immigration reform, and a potential Democratic successor such as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would need it to gain traction in the 2016 election. “The president wants to make sure his legacy on climate is solid,” a former administration official told Reuters.

“The degree to which this decision impacts the way he’s viewed by the progressive community, that’s certainly something they need to weigh.”

Decision Coming ‘Soon’ So when will Obama make the call? “You have to make a basic decision to answer that question, and that is: How political will the timeline be?” said Jason Grumet, a former energy adviser to Obama’s 2008 campaign and now president of the Bipartisan Policy Center. A decision by summer would give the issue legs in the 2014 congressional campaigns. A decision after the November midterms would thrust it into the beginning of the primary season for the 2016 presidential race.

Administration officials say the timeline is being determined by the State Department, which has a say in the matter because the proposed pipeline would cross the USCanada border. On Jan. 17, Secretary of State John Kerry said he hoped an analysis of the thousands of public comments on the project’s environmental impact would be done “soon”. The American Petroleum Institute, the oil industry’s top lobbying group and a big Keystone backer, said it expects the State Department’s report to come out as early as Thursday.

“It’s our expectation it will be released next week,” the group’s chief executive, Jack Gerard, said last week during an interview, citing sources within the administration.

“We’re expecting to hear the same conclusion that we’ve heard four times before: no significant impact on the environment,”

Gerard said. The report will be critical in determining how the Keystone process plays out this year. “If the analysis suggests that there are not substantial increases in carbon emissions, then it’s not a tough call. If the analysis suggests that there are significant increases, it tilts the other way,” Grumet said.

Sources inside and outside the administration said they did not expect Obama to discuss the project in his speech. “We have no expectation he’ll find the courage to address it on Tuesday. That doesn’t mean we won’t keep talking about it,” said Brendan Buck, spokesman for John Boehner, the Republican speaker of the US House of Representatives. All 45 Republican US senators urged Obama on Friday to end the delays and noted in a letter that he had told them in March that a decision would be made before the end of 2013. “We are well into 2014 and you still have not made a decision,” they said.

A senior administration official said the president viewed the issue as one that had become disproportionately symbolic and super-charged for both sides. He does not believe it is the job creator that its backers suggest or the environmental nemesis that its objectors fear, the official said. In June, while announcing a plan to cut US carbon emissions, Obama brought up the pipeline unexpectedly and used words that both sides claimed backed up their arguments.

“Our national interest will be served only if this project does not significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution,” he said then. “The net effects of the pipeline’s impact on our climate will be absolutely critical to determining whether this project is allowed to go forward.”

When Obama makes a decision on Keystone XL, Chief of Staff Denis McDonough and Kerry are likely to be his top confidants. John Podesta, a former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton and a Keystone critic who recently returned to the White House as a counselor to Obama, has recused himself from the process. —Reuters

Egypt back to square one as army returns

By Jay Deshmukh

T

hree years after a popular uprising forced out ex-general Hosni Mubarak, Egypt’s army is again pushing a commander to stand for president after he ousted the first civilian head of state. On Monday, the army endorsed its Field Marshall Abdel Fattah AlSisi’s candidacy for an election he is expected to win amid a strong nationalist fervour since he overthrew president Mohamed Morsi. In just over six months, Sisi has managed to win accolades from a vast section of Egyptians for leading the ouster of Morsi and crushing the Muslim Brotherhood movement to which the Islamist belongs.

Morsi was toppled after one turbulent year in office following mass street protests amid allegations of grabbing power and ruining an already deteriorating economy. Announcing its backing for Sisi, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces said that “the people’s trust in Sisi is a call that must be heeded as the free choice of the people”. Sisi is soon expected to resign as army chief and announce his candidacy in a presidential election scheduled to be held by mid-April.

A victory for the 59-year-old would keep alive a tradition of Egyptian presidents being drawn from the armed forces. Mubarak and all of his predecessors came from the military, starting with the charismatic colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser, who ruled Egypt between 1954 and 1970. And after Mubarak’s ouster, it was Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi who ruled Egypt until the election of Morsi in June 2012.

But Tantawi’s tenure was marred by deadly street protests before Morsi was elected. Sisi is

riding a wave of nationalist fervour, however, amid a heavy handed crackdown on Morsi’s supporters, which according to Amnesty International has left at least 1,400 people dead.

To Sisi’s supporters, he is the best option for

man to the forefront after civilian leaders blew their shot at power. “There is definitely a political vacuum with no civilian parties able to throw up a good leadership,” said Mohamed Ghorab, an activist from a group that campaigns against military trials of civilians. “We

A supporter of Egypt’s military commander Field Marshal Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi (portrait), who is to run for the presidency in the upcoming elections, flashes the V-sign of victory in Cairo’s landmark Tahrir Square yesterday. —AFP ending three years of political instability following the 2011 uprising that ended Mubarak’s reign. And to his critics and experts it is the military’s decades-old iron grip on Egypt that has once again brought an army

saw this with the Muslim Brotherhood, (and) they failed. We hoped that another liberal party would come up and fill the vacuum, but that didn’t happen. “Hence given the backing from a section of the society, the military is

now filling the vacuum,” he said in his personal capacity.

‘Old demons of repression’ returning Since Morsi’s ouster, Sisi has emerged as a nationalist icon, but simultaneously Egypt is also witnessing the return of the feared security services which were widely hated under Mubarak. In recent months a deadly crackdown that began against Morsi’s Brotherhood has widened, with activists who spearheaded the anti-Mubarak revolt finding themselves behind bars. Top anti-Mubarak campaigners Ahmed Douma, Ahmed Maher, Mohamed Adel and Alaa Abdel Fattah have been detained for organising protests the military-installed authorities say were illegal. The authorities had defended the removal of Morsi on the back of mass street protests against his rule. “Their current policies are a betrayal of all the aspirations of bread, freedom and social justice” of the anti-Mubarak revolution, said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui of Amnesty International in a statement marking the third anniversary of the 2011 revolt. She charged the security forces had also not been held to account for using “excessive” force in dealing with protests staged by Morsi’s supporters who continue to demand his reinstatement.

Analysts say the repressive old regime of Mubarak is returning to the fold, but that it is unleashing even more force on dissent than before, now that the military is clearly at the helm. “Even if the military authorities try to maintain a democratic face, it is now clear that Egypt is being overtaken by old demons of repression, authoritarianism and personal power,” said Karim Bittar of the Institute of International Strategic Relations. “The hopes aroused by the revolution of January 25, 2011 among the liberals and progressive (people of Egypt) are about to go up in smoke.” —AFP

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014

S P ORTS Skiers lose selection appeal

Referee sees red, only red

Lotus shrug off controversy

SYDNEY: Two Australian male skiers who protested against their non-selection for the Sochi Games on gender grounds have had their appeals to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) dismissed, the country’s Olympic Committee said.

Mike Rishworth and Luke Laidlaw had challenged the inclusion of female skiers Emily Bamford and Lavinia Chrystal in the 60-strong squad heading to Russia for the Olympics which start next week.

“The CAS arbitrator Mr Malcolm Holmes has dismissed the appeal submitted by Mr Mike Rishworth and Mr Luke Laidlaw in respect of their nonnomination by SSA (Ski and Snowboard Australia) to the AOC (Australian Olympic Committee) for selection to the team,” a statement read yesterday. “Emily Bamford and Lavinia Chrystal have been selected to the 2014 Australian Olympic Winter Team, taking the total number of athletes in the Team to 60 - the largest ever Australian Olympic Winter Team.” Slalom skiers Laidlaw and Rishworth believed that SSA had failed to use the correct nomination criteria when selecting Chrystal and Bamford, saying they were more worthy candidates because of higher rankings. The SSA said that gender was used in the allocation of quotas in accordance with the International Ski Federation (FIS) guidelines.—Reuters

ARGENTINA: Referee Carlos Maglio realised that even after dishing out eight bookings in a friendly between bitter Argentine rivals Estudiantes and Gimnasia the players were not getting the message, so he relinquished his yellow card to send a clear warning: the next one’s red.

“Retiring the yellow was a spur of the moment decision. I had already booked eight players and I didn’t want them to keep on hitting each other,” Maglio told La Red radio on Monday.

Maglio handed over his yellow card to one of his assistants during the second half of Sunday’s 1-1 draw in the seaside resort of Mar del Plata in a friendly played during the season’s summer break.

Sooner afterwards, Maglio sent off Estudiantes midfielder Israel Damonte for violent play. “The fourth official asked me to give it to him so that everyone should see (the decision),” he added. “That way it was clear to everyone that the yellow was no longer in play.”

Maglio said the decision worked out well. There were no further cards issued after Damonte’s dismissal in the 84th minute. “Even if I’d had the yellow card he would still have gone off,” said the ref of Damonte. “It was a red (card) offence.”

There is rarely anything amicable about summer friendlies in Argentina, often between classic rivals like the two clubs from La Plata, who use them to gear up for the second half of the season starting in February.—Reuters

JEREZ: The Lotus Formula One team have shrugged off controversysurrounding the eye-catching split nose on their 2014 car. “We have passed all the necessary crash tests and are very confident our design complies with all the FIA legal requirements,” technical director Nick Chester told the team website (www.lotusf1team.com) yesterday.

“We have just taken an innovative direction and one that’s different to the other teams. “Where there are so many variations in design, there is always bound to be a little talk, but we remain relaxed and focused on our design and progression.” Lotus, who finished fourth overall last year despite financial difficulties, are the only team of the 11 contenders to be absent from the first pre-season test of the season in southern Spain. They have however released a computergenerated image of the new E22 car which shows a nose that ends like a pair of unequal tweezers.

The Lotus solution, in response to new regulations from the FIA governing body that lower the tips of cars for safety reasons, was questioned on Monday by Toro Rosso’s technical director James Key. “The Lotus nose needs a bit of clarification. It’s a very clever idea. The question really is ‘is it within the spirit?’ but we’ll see,” Key told reporters.—Reuters

Penguins blank Sabres PITTSBURGH: Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 24 shots for his fourth shutout and Chris Kunitz and Deryk Engelland scored second-period goals, helping the Pittsburgh Penguins defeat the Buffalo Sabres 3-0 Monday night. Kunitz scored his 26th goal and Engelland netted his fourth. Tanner Glass scored his first goal in 26 games, a late empty-netter that sealed it for the Penguins, who won for the 15th time in 16 games at home.

Sidney Crosby, who leads the NHL with 74 points, added two assists to extend his points streak in games against Buffalo to 16 games, matching his longest streak against any team.

Fleury, who leads the NHL with 29 wins, registered his 27th career shutout.Ryan Miller stopped 31 shots for last-place Buffalo, which has lost seven of nine.

LA JOLLA: Tiger Woods tees off in this file photo. —AFP

Tiger and Rory set for showdown in Dubai DUBAI: Top draws Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy will go head-to-head over the first two rounds of the 25th anniversary Dubai Desert Classic tomorrow and Friday.

They will be hoping for a better showing than a year ago when both opted to start their season in nearby Abu Dhabi and, playing together, miserably missed the cut. This time, both players have already lit the fuse to their new seasons with contrasting fortunes. The 38-year-old Woods missed a Saturday, third round cut at Torrey Pines after matching his worst-ever score on US soil, a seven-over 79 for the most inauspicious of starts. He made no comment afterwards other than a - “No I’m done” - when asked to comment on his round.

Of course Woods has rebounded from a poor showing in double-quick time before, notably last year when he went straight from Abu Dhabi to win the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines - the first of five titles in the year en route to another Player of the Year award.

In contrast, McIlroy came within a twostroke rules violation of winning in Abu Dhabi which would have seen him take back-to-back titles following his victory in the Australian Open late last year.

He believes all is in place for him to produce another stellar year, rebounding from his travails of 2013 when an equipment change and business-related distractions left him befuddled.

“I have started off the year well,” McIlroy said. “I was a little disappointed coming off the second place in Abu Dhabi. I felt like I should have won but there were a lot of

positives to take from the week. I played very well.

“I felt like I could have done a few things better which I have worked on over the last week to go into this tournament in Dubai but all in all I am in a good place and really looking forward to 2014.”

What is sure is that he will be wary of the wounded Tiger, missed cut or no missed cut. The two biggest names in golf have played together in tournaments several times but never down the home stretch in a major and they have yet to produce fireworks when in the same grouping.

“It’s great to have him here [in Dubai],” said McIlroy of Woods’ return to the bustling emirate after a two-year absence.

“He got off to a bit of a slow start to the season so he will be wanting to make up for that this week. I think he has still got a few good years left so I am looking forward to battling with him down the stretch a few times.”

Joining Woods and McIlroy will be defending champion Stephen Gallacher of Scotland, who is desparate to stash up some big Ryder Cup points to give himself a chance of making the European team for the showdown with the United States on home turf at Gleneagles in September.

In the strongest European Tour field of the season so far, world number three Henrik Stenson of Sweden, the 2007 champion, will be one to watch along with record three-time former winner Ernie Els, in-form Jamie Donaldson of Wales and 2012 champion Rafael Cabrera-Bello of Spain. —AFP

Dubai Desert Classic turns 25 in style DUBAI: The Dubai Desert Classic celebrates its 25th anniversary this week with another flourish — in keeping with a tournament that blazed a trail for European Golf and indelibly marked sport in the Gulf region. A quarter of a century ago in 1989, Dubai was little more than a sleepy United Arab Emirates (UAE) trading post with a couple of high-rise buildings and almost no standing or profile in sport.

But led by Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice-president and prime minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, ambitions were high and the starting point was the development of the region’s first all-grass golf course at Emirates Golf club, hewn out of desert scrub on the long road out to Abu Dhabi.

Eyebrows were raised when the European PGA Tour accepted an invitation to stage a tournament, known initially as the Karl Litten Desert Classic, far from its heartlands in western Europe.

England’s Mark James was the first winner of what was initially a fairly low-key event. But with its iconic Arab tent clubhouse, spectacular layout and finishing hole and the superb early year weather, television coverage soon had the golfing world sitting up and paying attention to what was heppening in Dubai. The big names in golf started to beat a path to the emirate. Seve Ballesteros won in 1992, Ernie Els in 1994, Freddie Couples in 1995 and Colin Montgomerie the following year.

And then the biggest name in world sport, Tiger Woods, descended on Dubai for the first time in 2001, for a reported appearance fee of around $3 million, sparking even more international interest.

The DDC soon became a fixture on the

circuit and all around the course, Dubai sprouted up at an incredible speed to become a thriving international metropolis offering the very best of business, tourism and sporting experiences.

Others in the region tried to follow Dubai’s example with some success notably the Qatar Masters and Abu Dhabi Championship - but the Desert Classic remains the jewel in golf’s Gulf Swing.

“The modern day Omega Dubai Desert Classic is simply one of the greatest golf tournaments in the world which consistently attracts the planet’s greatest players to one of the great modern courses,” commented European PGA chief George O’Grady in the official programme for this week’s event.

To mark the occasion of the 25th anniversary, organisers invited all 21 previous winners - Els won three times and Woods twice - to take part on Tuesday in a special Champions Challenge, an 18-hole stroke-play showpiece. The only former winner missing from the line -up was Ballesteros, who died from a brain tumour at the age of 54 in May 2011. But his son Javier, who made his debut on the Challenge Tour in April last year, was invited to take his place.

Also invited to take part in the tournament proper was 53-year-old Englishman Barry Lane, the only ever-present in the 24 previous editions, having finished sixth in the inaugural 1989 tournament.

Now playing on the seniors tour, Lane accepted the invitation but said it would be his last. “Realistically, if I play my best I could finish in the top 10, but I would have to play my very best. This course is very long for me now,” he said.—AFP

KINGS 1, SHARKS 0 Anze Kopitar broke a long scoreless drought for Los Angeles and Jonathan Quick earned his third shutout of the season to help the Kings snap a five-game losing streak with a victory over the Sharks.

Kopitar’s goal late in the second period ended a stretch of more than 154 minutes without a score for the Kings, who avoided their first sixgame skid since December 2007. They did it with defense as Quick needed to make only 23 saves, stopping a flurry in the final seconds to seal the win. Alex Stalock made 20 saves for the Sharks, who had won six straight games.

BRUINS 6, ISLANDERS 3 The line of Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and Reilly Smith combined for three goals and six assists to lead the Bruins to a seesaw victory over the Islanders.

All three linemates scored, and Loui Eriksson, Carl Soderberg and Zdeno Chara added goals. Chad Johnson gave Tuukka Rask the night off and made 34 saves. Boston, which has won four of five (4-0-1), has 12 goals in two games. Kyle Okposo, moved off the top line, had a goal and two assists for the Islanders, and Frans Nielsen and Michael Grabner also scored for New York, which lost its third straight (0-21). Kevin Poulin made 30 saves.

HURRICANES 3, BLUE JACKETS 2 Jordan Staal scored the tiebreaking goal with 5:55 remaining to help the Hurricanes rally for a win over the Blue Jackets. Eric Staal scored twice in the third period as the Hurricanes erased a two-goal deficit for their fourth consecutive victory. Anton Khudobin made 22 saves.

RJ Umberger and Derek MacKenzie scored for the Blue Jackets. Columbus lost its second straight after stringing together eight wins in a row.

AVALANCHE 4, STARS 3 Alex Tanguay scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period, and Semyon Varlamov

VANCOUVER: Goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov No. 80 stops a shot against Brad Richardson No. 15 of the Vancouver Canucks during the third period of an NHL game at Rogers Arena. —AFP made it stand up for the Avalanche in a victory over the Stars.

Colorado led twice, but both times Tyler Seguin scored to tie the game for Dallas.

Seguin, the Stars’ leader with 23 goals, had not scored in 13 games. He also had an assist on Jamie Benn’s first-period goal. Varlamov made 41 saves.

Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon scored on the game’s first shot. Jamie McGinn also scored in the first period, and Paul Stastny connected on a power play in the second.

OILERS 4, CANUCKS 2 David Perron scored three goals as the Oilers beat the Canucks. Jesse Joensuu’s goal at 2:20 of the third period made it 3-2 before Perron completed his hat trick with an empty-netter with just over a minute left. The Oilers (17-32-6) have consecutive wins for the first time this season. The Canucks (27-18-9) have lost two of three. Edmonton posted its first win in four tries against Vancouver this season. Jordan Schroeder had two goals for Vancouver, his first since March 21, 2013. —AP

NHL results/standings Boston 6, NY Islanders 3; Carolina 3, Columbus 2; Pittsburgh 3, Buffalo 0; Colorado 4, Dallas 3; Edmonton 4, Vancouver 2; Los Angeles 1, San Jose 0.

Western Conference Tampa Bay 31 16 5 155 128 67 Pacific Division Toronto 27 21 6 155 168 60 W L OTL GF GA PTS Montreal 27 20 5 128 134 59 Anaheim 39 10 5 182 130 83 Detroit 23 18 11 135 144 57 San Jose 34 13 6 165 126 74 Ottawa 22 20 10 147 165 54 Los Angeles 30 18 6 133 113 66 Florida 21 24 7 127 158 49 Vancouver 27 18 9 137 138 63 Buffalo 14 30 7 97 147 35 Phoenix 24 18 10 151 160 58 Metropolitan Division Calgary 18 27 7 119 165 43 Pittsburgh 37 14 2 171 128 76 Edmonton 17 32 6 144 190 40 NY Rangers 28 23 3 139 138 59 Central Division Chicago 32 10 12 190 149 76 Carolina 24 19 9 134 147 57 St. Louis 35 11 5 177 119 75 Columbus 26 22 4 152 148 56 Colorado 33 14 5 153 137 71 Philadelphia 25 22 6 142 158 56 Minnesota 28 20 6 129 133 62 New Jersey 22 20 11 127 132 55 Dallas 24 21 8 154 157 56 Washington 23 21 8 148 154 54 Winnipeg 25 24 5 152 158 55 NY Islanders 21 26 8 157 185 50 Nashville 23 23 8 132 163 54 Note: Overtime losses (OTL) are worth one point in the Eastern Conference standings and are not Atlantic Division included in the loss column (L).

Boston 33 15 3 153 113 69

England set to unleash rookie backline in Paris LONDON: England appear set to field a rookie backline with two debutants and a one-cap winger when they begin their Six Nations campaign away to France on Saturday.

A series of injuries have forced coach Stuart Lancaster’s hand but he is also expected to

drop established winger Chris Ashton to make way for uncapped 20-year-old flyer Jack Nowell.

Luther Burrell is in line for a first start at centre, while Jonny May should add to the solitary cap he won on last year’s tour of Argentina,

Jack Nowell

edging out uncapped 19-year-old Anthony Watson on the other wing. The long injury list always meant that some new faces were likely to be involved in Paris but last week, Lancaster hinted that he would not want to throw in too many and that Ashton would probably hold on to his place.

However, British media reported yesterday that Ashton would be cut, with some suggesting he would not even be among the replacements.

Ashton, 26, made a stunning start to his international career having switched from rugby league, scoring 15 tries in his first 17 games following his debut against France in 2010.

However, his formed dipped last year and he was set to be replaced in the November internationals - only for injuries to Marland Yarde and Christian Wade to spare him.

Nowell has terrific pace and though he has scored only two tries in his 16 games for Exeter, Lancaster has seen enough in training to think him ready for a baptism of fire in the Stade de France.

“There is a balance to strike, but I’ve always been reasonably confident to pick inexperienced players if I feel they’re ready,” said Lancaster, who gave seven players their debuts in his first match in charge against Scotland two years ago.

“For me, it’s exciting to give young players opportunities, particularly if they’ve been performing well and showing it consistently at their clubs.” Lancaster will name his team on Thursday. —Reuters

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014

S P ORTS

Tough drug-testing net in place for Sochi Olympics LONDON: Go ahead - just try to get away with it. If you’re willing to take the risk, you’ll pay the price. That’s the challenge laid down to drug cheats thinking they can dope their way to success at the Winter Olympics in Sochi.

International Olympic and anti-doping officials are implementing the toughest drug-testing program in Winter Games history, using intelligence to target athletes and events considered most at risk. Authorities are focusing their efforts on weeding out dopers through rigorous pre-games and pre-competition tests. Armed with an improved scientific method that can detect drug use going back months rather than days, the International Olympic Committee will conduct a record number of tests.

Urine and blood samples will be stored for eight years for retroactive testing, providing further deterrence to anyone thinking they can avoid being caught. “I think it would be stupid to try to cheat,” IOC medical director Dr. Richard Budgett told The Associated Press. “If there are any doping cases in Sochi, some of them may be because athletes are being stupid.” The Russian doping lab, which had faced possible suspension by the World Anti-Doping Agency for inadequate procedures, has been fully accredited for the games and

will be analyzing samples around the clock.

The Winter Olympics have produced only a small number of positive tests over the years as they involve far fewer athletes than the Summer Games and fewer sports with a record of doping.

SCREENED OUT Olympic officials hope any cheats will have been screened out already through extensive out-of-competition testing carried out around the globe in the months, weeks and days leading up to the games.

Don’t think, though, that nobody’s cheating or that Sochi will be doping-free.

“You’d be foolish to write off the Winter Games as having any lesser risk,” said Andy Parkinson, chief executive of Britain’s national anti-doping agency.

The IOC plans to carry out 2,453 tests in Sochi, including 1,269 pre-competition controls. That’s a 57 percent increase in pre-games tests from the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver.

The majority of the 1,184 in-competition tests will be done in sports like cross-country skiing and biathlon, endurance events with a history of blood doping and EPO use. About 20 percent of the doping controls will be blood tests.

Much of the testing will be based on intelligence gathered from law-enforce-

ment agencies, whistle-blowers and previous suspicious blood level results.

The testing program begins on Jan. 30, the day the athletes village opens.

From then until the close of the games on Feb. 23, Olympic athletes can be tested at any time and at any place, including training sites anywhere in the world.

The games open on Feb. 7.

About 2,000 of the 3,000 athletes competing in Sochi are expected to be tested - some of them two, three or even four times. The top five in all medal events are tested, as well as others chosen at random. Since testing began at the Winter Olympics in 1968, only 20 doping cases have been reported by the IOC. Only one was reported at the 2010 Vancouver Games, with Polish crosscountry skier Kornelia Marek disqualified after testing positive for EPO. Two hockey players were reprimanded for minor violations after testing positive for stimulants.

STRIPPED OF MEDAL There was one positive test during the 2006 Turin Games, with Russian biathlete Olga Pyleva stripped of a silver medal.

However, there was a wider doping scandal in Turin. Acting on a tipoff from the IOC, Italian police raided the lodgings of the Austrian cross-country and biathlon

team, seizing blood doping equipment.

While no Austrians tested positive at the time, four later received life bans from the IOC. The IOC freezes and stores Olympic samples for eight years at the lab in Lausanne, Switzerland. The samples can be retested when new methods become available. The storage period will be extended to 10 years starting in 2016. The IOC recently retested 350 samples from the Turin Olympics, but said it will wait until after the Sochi Games to announce the results.

“The rules from Torino say the IOC cannot discuss any details about that until the full doping control process is completed, and it’s not completed yet,” Budgett said. “What we can say is that it doesn’t affect any athletes who are competing in Sochi.”

While testing has improved, there remains a loophole in the system: no reliable test exists for detecting the transfusion of an athlete’s own blood. Several sports federations, however, have adopted the “biological passport” program, which monitors an athlete’s blood parameters over time to detect changes that could indicate doping.

SENSITIVE TIME The Olympics come at a sensitive time for Russia, which has a dubious

record on doping. Scores of Russian athletes in various sports have tested positive in recent months. A scandal in Sochi would be a huge embarrassment for the host country. Russia’s doping lab has also come under scrutiny, with WADA threatening to suspend the Moscowbased facility late last year unless it improved its procedures. The lab has since passed inspection and has set up a satellite facility in Sochi for the Olympics.

The lab will be staffed by 90 personnel, including 18 international experts appointed by the IOC to help oversee the operations. The main novelty is the “long-term metabolite” test for steroids, expanding the detection window by weeks or months. The WADA lab in Cologne, Germany, has found hundreds of positive cases with the new test in the past year. Also in use will be tests for human growth hormone, which had been on hold following challenges to the system for measuring blood limits.

“You can’t say there are no cheats,” WADA director general David Howman said. “People are having a go where they can, but the risk is heightening and the approach is better. “We keep saying: ‘You’d be stupid if you tried to cheat at the Olympics because you’re going to be found out.’”—AP

Room for other ski racers to earn victories, grab attention

Shiva Kesavan

No flag is no problem for India’s Winter Olympian NEW DELHI: India’s top competitor at the upcoming Winter Olympics in Sochi says not being able to compete under the national flag because of a political dispute will not harm his performance.

“In my heart and mind I’m competing for India,” luge competitor Shiva Kesavan told The Associated Press in an email interview. “Every day I’m flooded with messages from Indians all over the world telling me they are supporting me. This is enough to push me forward.”

The Indian Olympic Association was banned in December 2012 for not adhering to its own constitution and for electing tainted officials.

Though the IOA has re-drafted its constitution as directed, the ban can be lifted only after post-Sochi elections, so the Indian flag will not be used at the Feb. 7-23 games.

“I’ve never been motivated by external fame or attention. I love my sport which is why I have been doing it for 17 years. If I do well, people will notice. My focus is my

sport,” said the 32-year-old Kesavan, who is competing in his fifth Winter Olympics.

Kesavan, who set an Asian record of 49.590 seconds in the Japanese city of Nagano in December 2012, conceded that winning India’s first medal at the Games may not be realistic.

“A medal is my aim but seems just a little out of reach at this time,” Kesavan said. “I’m simultaneously working with my in-house engineering team to build a sled which will be hopefully the fastest I have ever been on. But this will take some time to develop.

Right now, I have to focus on getting four clean runs in Sochi, and be the fastest I can.”

“This season did not go according to plan due to lack of high level technological inputs, which I had hoped to get on time from certain companies. However, this has not deterred me, and I am determined, as always, to put up my best performance.”

The other two Indian competitors who will participate in Sochi are alpine skiers Himanshu Thakur and Nadeem Iqbal. —AP

SOCHI: Before the races actually start, the biggest story line in Alpine skiing at the Sochi Olympics centers around someone who will not be there: Lindsey Vonn, the reigning downhill gold medalist and a four-time overall World Cup champion.

If not for her surgically repaired right knee, Vonn would have been the one to watch, not only on the slopes - where she might have been expected to at least match her two-medal showing from Vancouver in 2010 - but also off them, in part because of her boyfriend, Tiger Woods.

“We want to grow as a sport, and like every other sport, we are dependent on the international stars,” said Atle Skaardal, the International Ski Federation women’s race director. “And Lindsey Vonn is definitely an international star.”

Her injury-forced absence means there will be room for other ski racers to earn victories, grab attention and have their stories told. In some respects, the 10 events in the mountains starting with the men’s downhill on Feb. 9, weather permitting - turn into a referendum on the next possible face of the sport.

On the women’s side, Maria Hoefl-Riesch of Germany, Lara Gut of Switzerland, Tina Maze of Slovenia, Tina Weirather of Liechtenstein, and 18-year-old Mikaela Shiffrin of the United States all have the potential to win more than one medal. Among the men, Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway, Marcel Hirscher of Austria, and Ted Ligety of the United States probably are the likeliest to exit these Winter Games as household names around the globe. Here are five Alpine skiing story lines to follow during the Sochi Olympics: THE NEXT VONN: Already given that label by some, Shiffrin might be a bigger favorite in the slalom than any other woman is in any other event. She owns a World Cup title and world championship gold in slalom.

“Mikaela is very, very success-oriented in her approach. It really reminds you of someone like Lindsey,” US women’s Alpine coach Alex Hoedlmoser said. “She is training a lot. She puts everything aside. The focus is all on the sport.”

Still, Shiffrin leaves time for being a typical teen - well, one who travels the World Cup circuit with her mother - such as when she mashed up Lupe Fiasco’s “Battle Scars” and Coldplay’s “The Scientist,” then had that musical combo in her head while finishing second in a giant slalom at home in Colorado.

GROZNY: Chechen regional leader Ramzan Kadyrov holds an Olympic torch during a welcome ceremony of the Olympic torch relay in Chechnya’s provincial capital Grozny.—AP As another American teen, swimmer Missy Franklin, made clear at the London Olympics, there’s something about success at a very young age that captivates an audience.

AKSEL’S RISE: Svindal already enjoys rockstar status in Europe, thanks to his pair of overall World Cup titles and his three medals at the Vancouver Games. Even he’ll tell you he’s got a shot at medals in four of the five events this time: downhill, super-G, super-combined and giant slalom. “I have really good chances in two events,” Svindal said, “and I have decent chances in the two other events.”

AUSTRIA’S COMEBACK: Skiing is a big deal in Austria, which has won nearly twice as many Olympic Alpine medals as any other country, including 14 in 2006. But in 2010, Austria came away with only four medals - and zero for their men for the first time at an Olympics they entered.

Hirscher is expected to play a big part in rectifying that. He’s the two-time reigning overall World Cup champion and took gold in slalom and silver in giant slalom at last year’s world

Seahawks forced to move Super Bowl practice indoors

Napier content with life after war and Olympics LAKELAND: John Napier used to race for America. And he used to fight for America.

These days, he misses both. The former US Olympic bobsledder was once thought of as someone who would be a top contender for a medal at next month’s Sochi Olympics. Instead, he’s studying biochemistry at Florida Southern College, dabbling with some competitive water skiing on the side, continuing his transition each day from life as both a slider and a soldier who fought in Afghanistan.

And he’s not regretting anything. “I miss going down the hill. I miss going down the hill with my friends,” Napier said, sitting outside sipping coffee one recent morning before class.

“But I’m in a really good place and I’ve been given amazing opportunities right now to succeed in life. So I would say this is most important right now, school, college.”

He joined the National Guard in 2007 and became part of the Army’s World Class Athlete Program, which meant he got support in exchange for a small time commitment and being a military ambassador through bobsledding. Thing is, Napier didn’t want to shortchange the arrangement, so he looked for ways to keep doing more with the military.

UNUSUAL DECISION That led him to make an unusual decision.

After the Vancouver Olympics four years ago, here’s how he stunned friends inside and outside the Army world: He asked to go to war.

Eventually, the Army granted his wish and didn’t just deploy him to Afghanistan, but gave him the opportunity - also as he insisted - to see battle. His first night there, bullets flew his way.

“I see the world from a different angle,”

Napier said. “There were days when you’re driving around on roads or on patrol and you know you’ve got probably a 50 percent chance of getting blown up on this road. There’s terrifying moments. I drive bobsleds at 90 mph, I go over water ski jumps, I’ll do any sport known to man.

And I was scared. Anybody would be. But you get the brotherhood experience, and there’s no price you can pay for that.”

So he traded his bobsled for an M249 light machine gun, strapped 70 pounds of water and ammunition onto his 180-pound frame, read his Bible in tough moments and did the job. When it was over after nearly 61/2 months, he came back to bobsledding. It just wasn’t the same, and after two seasons where results just weren’t what he wanted, he retired.

“It was my time,” Napier said. “I still felt the need to win, but there was something else too.

There was a frustration, a thorn, a sadness almost. It was almost depressing for me to be there. I would say it was time. I got led out of the sport. One thing led to another, leading me to where I am right now, and I’m happy where I’m at.”

IMMOBILIZED He chose biochemistry for a reason: “Because it’s hard,” he said. That’s pretty much been his reason for choosing almost everything. Bobsledding isn’t easy, even for those like him who got started as an 8-year-old. War wasn’t easy; Napier speaks openly about friends who were either killed there or committed suicide after coming home, unable to deal with the transition back to a normal life. Water skiing competitively isn’t easy, as evidenced by how he was immobilized for three months after shredding one of his hamstrings. —AP

championships.

WOMEN TO WATCH: Hoefl-Riesch, not Vonn, was the only woman to leave Vancouver’s slopes with two golds, and the German is still as good as anyone out there. If Hoefl-Riesch doesn’t dominate, Maze (who broke the record for most World Cup points last season), Gut (who missed the 2010 Olympics with a dislocated hip) or Weirather (whose mother, Hanni Wenzel, won two gold medals at the 1980 Lake Placid Games) could.

AMERICAN VETERANS: The US left Vancouver with eight Alpine medals, their best showing at an Olympics and twice as many as any other nation collected in 2010. That won’t be easy to replicate, especially without Vonn, but there are folks with plenty of experience and success on the team, including Ligety (an Olympic gold medalist in 2006, and three-time world champion in 2013), Bode Miller (owner of five Olympic medals, including three in 2010 gold in super-combined, silver in super-G, bronze in downhill), and Julia Mancuso (one gold in 2006, two silvers in 2010). —AP

NEWARK: Seattle Seahawks’ Kam Chancellor answers a question during media day for the NFL Super Bowl XLVIII football game. —AP

JERSEY CITY: The Seattle Seahawks were forced to move their Super Bowl practice inside on Monday as frigid temperatures left fields frozen ahead of Sunday’s outdoor NFL championship game.

Outdoor practice fields were left covered in snow and frozen after a spell of arctic weather in the New Jersey area, although temperatures rose above freezing on Monday.

“We did not go outside today. We had a great workout today,” Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll told reporters about using the New York Giants’ indoor facility at the Meadowlands complex next to MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

“It was a little more than you normally get during a normal week’s practice, so the guys really took to it. We had a great tempo and enthusiasm and everything was really cool, so we’re off to a good start.” Wide receiver Golden Tate said the weather Sunday would not be a factor. “We’ve had a chance to practice in it, play in it, be ready,” Tate said, alluding to the Seahawks’ 23-0 victory over the Giants at MetLife last month.

Defensive end Michael Bennett, Seattle’s leader in sacks with 8.5 this season, said he was not even bothering to check weather forecasts for Sunday’s game.

“I don’t think we’ll feel the snow. We’re ready for the snow,” he said about the chance of falling flakes. “We’re ready to play on rocks.” Tate said their winning experience in New Jersey, in which Seattle intercepted Giants quarterback Eli Manning five times, has been discussed.

“I definitely don’t think it hurts at all,” Tate said about practicing indoors. “We’re familiar with the stadium, the turf (and) what to expect from the weather.”

Carroll said big-play wide receiver Percy Harvin was on board for Sunday’s game after missing the NFC title clash against the San Francisco 49ers due to a concussion. “We’re in a phase of Super Bowl right now,” Carroll said about an all hands on deck approach. “He’s in. (Harvin) had another great day today and a great week last week. He’s part of the game plan.”—Reuters

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014

S P ORTS

Lee banned for missing dope tests SEOUL: South Korea’s Olympic badminton gold medallist Lee Yong-dae has been hit with a one-year ban for missing doping tests, the Badminton World Federation (BWF) said yesterday. The 25-year-old won mixed doubles gold at the 2008 Games in Beijing and a bronze medal in the men’s doubles in London four years later. Another Korean player, Kim Ki-jung, was also banned for one year.

The ban was effective until Jan. 23, 2015, the federation said in a statement, meaning the players would miss the Asian Games in Incheon later this year.

“Korean badminton players Kim Ki-jung and Lee Yong-dae have each received a one-year sanction for violating the requirements relating to filing whereabouts information and resulting missed tests under the BWF Anti-Doping Regulations,” the BWF said.

“Kim and Lee were required to provide whereabouts information for the BWF to conduct out-of-competition testing. In 2013, both athletes accumulated three whereabouts failures in connection with this administrative process.”

The BWF said it chose not to dish out the maximum two-year ban “due to the Badminton Korea Association’s failure ... to make diligent efforts to keep the BWF informed about the players’ whereabouts.”

A doping hearing panel recommended that the Korean association should be fined and the BWF said it would determine

whether additional sanctions were appropriate.

Both players had the right to appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, the statement said.

FAILURES Kim Jung-soo, executive director of Korean badminton, told a news conference later yesterday that the two players would never intentionally miss doping tests.

“When the WADA inspectors visited the Taeneung National Training Centre in March and November last year, Lee and Kim were not there as they were participating in local and international competitions,” Kim said.

“We failed to submit a whereabouts report online last September as well. “Kim and Lee have never used banned substances and did not reject or intentionally avoid testing. They have participated in a number of international competitions and passed all the tests every time.

“It is hard to understand that they are punished just because they were not present when the inspectors came to check their whereabouts without prior notice.”

Kim said the association would “aggressively” appeal the case to seek a reduction in the bans to three-six months from one year so the players Kim could compete in the Sept. 19 to Oct. 4 Asian Games on home soil. —Reuters

OSN, the home of cricket, launches ‘OSN Cricket Cup’ in Kuwait KUWAIT: OSN, the region’s leading pay-TV network and the home of cricket, has teamed up with the Kuwait Cricket Association to launch the first ‘OSN Cricket Cup,’ set to kick off on Jan 31, 2014.

Promoting cricketing talent in Kuwait, the ‘OSN Cricket Cup’ will see 24 local teams battle it out over 36 league matches at the Sulaibiya Cricket Ground in Kuwait.

The ‘round robin league’ of one day internationals will be played in Twenty20 format, every Friday, with the finals taking place in April 2014. Hamad Malik, Chief Marketing Officer, OSN, said: “As the undisputed home of cricket, OSN is committed to promoting the sport across the region especially in Kuwait, which has a strong following of cricket. OSN will continue to invest in cricket and young talent bringing live cricketing action closer to fans. I would like to thank the Kuwait Cricket Association for their support and wish all the teams good luck.”

As the undisputed home of cricket, OSN Sports Cricket HD offers cricket fans across the region thousands of hours of live international cricket in true high definition. In 2014, OSN cricket fans can look forward to

OSN Cricket Cup logo the hugely popular Indian Premier League, ICC World T20, The Asia Cup, Champions League T20, Big Bash league and all India, England, Australia, Bangladesh and New Zealand home series. Subscribers can also catch OSN’s live cricketing action on-the-go anytime, anywhere via OSN Play where OSN Sports Cricket HD is streamed live alongside OSN Sports 1 HD and OSN Sports 2 HD.

ICC backs ‘principles’ for cricket shake-up LONDON: World cricket was set for a shake-up after the International Cricket Council gave “unanimous support” for “principles” to change its structure and governance.

Leaked draf t proposals from the sport’s most financially power ful ‘Big Three’ nations argued for more power to be placed in the hands of India, England and Australia.

But yesterday’s statement, following the first of a two-day ICC meeting at its Dubai headquarters, ruled out talk of the ‘Big Three’ being spared relegation in any new two-division Test set-up because of their commercial importance. It even indicated the likes of Ireland might join the existing 10 Test nations but without any details. “There will be an opportunity for all Members to play all formats of cricket on merit, with participation based on meritocrac y ; no immunit y to any country, and no change to membership status,” the ICC statement said.

Delayed Launch But the statement was clear in signalling the end of the proposed World Test Championship. Its delayed launch was supposed to happen in England in 2017. But instead it has been replaced by the reprieved one - day Champions Trophy, a more commercial and broadcast-friendly proposition.

The ‘mini World Cup’ was spared after a successful ‘final’ edition in England last year. Plans to give the ‘Big Three’ a greater say in running ICC include the formation of a new five-man executive committee, with three seats reserved for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and Cricket Australia (CA).

Meanwhile the ICC board agreed to discontinue the centralised Future Tours Programme — a well-meaning if not always well-enforced scheme-designed to ensure the 10 leading countries hosted and toured one another during an eightyear span. Instead there will be a return to bilateral agreements between nations.

These will run from 2015-2023 in common with the ICC ’s nex t commercial rights cycle. Trying to allay fears about a lack of top-class cricket for the likes of ‘commercially unattractive’ countries such as Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and even New Zealand, the ECB and CA have said they will play a minimum number of fixtures against all other full members.

But the BCCI which generates some 80 percent of the ICC’s global revenue, has yet to declare its hand. Indeed yesterday’s statement said a further meeting has been scheduled for February to work out the details of the new structure.

‘Nevertheless, ICC president Alan Isaac insisted yesterday : “I t is ex tremely encouraging that the ICC board has unanimously suppor ted a set of farreaching principles that will underpin the long-term prosperity of the global game.

“These principles emphasise the primacy of Test cricket and that for the first time in cricket’s history participation will be based entirely on meritocracy, giving everyone powerful incentives to play better cricket and develop better cricketers,” the New Zealander added.

“Extensive work will now be undertaken in advance of a follow-up board meeting next month.” The fact ICC used the words “unanimous support” rather than gave a breakdown of figures indicates no formal vote took place in a closed meeting that lasted several hours.

Cricket South Africa had said the ‘position paper’ was “fundamentally flawed, with Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh weighing in behind CSA’s stance.

But CSA, whose side top the world Tet rankings, may have been mollified by being included in a ‘Test Cricket Fund’, created by the ‘Big Three’ to benefit the other seven nations in which the five-day game struggles for support.

There were reports the BCCI, cricket’s financial powerhouse, had threatened the ‘nuclear option’ of quitting ICC events if more money and authority did not cone its way.

That already powerful India should have an even greater say in running world cricket was acknowledged when the ICC spoke Tuesday of the “BCCI taking a central leadership responsibility”.

Meanwhile Isaac insisted he’d “encouraged” the ‘Big Three’ to devise their ‘position paper, adding he’d been disappointed by a leak that led to “unwarranted” criticism of their motives.

“These leading cricket nations have worked tirelessly to produce a document which provided the basis for the past few weeks of extremely constructive discussions,” Isaac said.

“The principles agreed today provide clear evidence that...over the coming weeks we can be increasingly confident in achieving consensus.” —AFP

AUCKLAND: India’s Ambati Rayudu (left) and Ravindra Jadeja clash as they drop a catch off the bat of New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum in the fourth one day International cricket match at Seddon Park. —AP

Taylor’s ton seals N Zealand ODI series victory over India HAMILTON: New Zealand sealed their one-day international series against India with a game to spare yesterday when a Ross Taylor century set up a convincing seven-wicket victory in the fourth ODI. It was New Zealand’s third win in the five-match series, with one match tied and one remaining. At Hamilton’s Seddon Park, they chased down India’s 278-5 for the loss of only three wickets and with 11 balls to spare after Taylor paved the way with a masterful 112 not out. He received sound support from Kane Williamson (60) as they rebuilt the innings and then from Brendon McCullum (49 not out), who finished the match with a colossal six.

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who had won the toss and opted to bowl in the first three games, won the toss again and this time decided to bat.

But the change of tactics did not improve their fortunes. In addition to losing the series, India also slipped from number one in the world one -day rankings to number two, behind Australia.

New Zealand improved from a lowly eighth to seventh. McCullum described Taylor’s innings as the “match-winning performance” on a wicket that tends to favor the partnership first.

“We knew someone was going to have to get a big 100 and we saw it from Rosco (Taylor).

Obviously his partnership with Kane was the backbone of our innings.” Dhoni paid credit to the New Zealand bowlers whom he said set up the victory.

“They put pressure on the batsmen to play the big shots and at times it doesn’t pay (to play them). We lost wickets at the wrong time, which put pressure on the middle order,” the Indian captain said.

Faced with a target of 279 on a run-laden wicket, New Zealand opened at a rapid rate with Jesse Ryder and Martin Guptill clocking up 54 in seven overs before falling in quick succession.

Ryder was bowled by Varun Aaron for 19 and Guptill was trapped leg before by Mohammed Shami for 35, leaving Williamson and Taylor to consolidate the innings as they have done so often before.

Their cautious approach to India’s spin twins Ravi Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja saw the run rate slump, although New Zealand still reached 100 in 22 overs compared to 25 overs for India.

Williamson and Taylor put on 130 for the third wicket, taking New Zealand to 188, when the partnership was broken by a slick piece of fielding by Jadeja.

Williamson prodded a Jadeja deliver y towards mid on but the bowler fielded, turned and threw down the stumps-leaving Williamson well short of an attempted quick single.

McCullum, coming in off back-to-back ducks, offered Mohammed Shami a tough caught and bowled chance on one, then joined Taylor in a

92-run stand to close out the game.

Taylor, who has not hit a six all series, had 15 fours in his 112 off 127 deliveries, while McCullum faced 36 balls and hit three sixes and four fours in his 49.

India’s innings was built around an unbeaten 127-run stand between Dhoni (79 not out) and Jadeja (62 not out). Rohit Sharma (79) and Ambati Rayudu (37) were the only other India batsmen to reach double figures. The experiment of promoting Virat Kohli to opener failed to pay off when he was dismissed for two in the fourth over.

Ajinkya Rahane went for three and Ambati Rayudu for 37 as the first three Indian wickets to fall all resulted from uncontrolled hook shot.

For New Zealand, Southee was the most economical bowler with two wickets for 36.The final ODI is in Wellington on Friday, to be followed by two Tests. —AFP

SCOREBOARD HAMILTON, New Zealand: Completed scoreboard in the India at Seddon Park in Hamilton yesterday: India: R. Sharma c Ronchi b Williamson 79 V. Kohli c Neesham b Southee 2 A. Rahane c Southee b Mills 3 A. Rayudu c Ronchi b Bennett 37 M.S. Dhoni not out 79 R. Ashwin c Bennett b Southee 5 R. Jadeja not out 62 Extras: (lb4, w7) 11 Total: (five wickets; 50 overs) 278 Fall of wickets: 1-5 (Kohli), 2-22 (Rahane), 3-101 (Rayudu), 4-142 (Sharma), 5-151 (Ashwin) Did not bat: S. Binny, B. Kumar, M. Shami, V. Aaron Bowling: Mills 10-2-42-1, Southee 10-1-36-2 (2w), Bennett 9-0-67-1 (3w), Neesham 8-0-59-0 (1w), N. McCullum 10-0-44-0, Williamson 3-0-26-1

fourth one-day international between New Zealand and New Zealand: M. Guptill lbw Shami 35 J. Ryder b Aaron 19 K. Williamson run out (Jadeja) 60 R. Taylor not out 112 B. McCullum not out 49 Extras (b1, w3, lb1) 5 Total (three wickets: 48.1 overs) 280 Fall of wickets: 1-54 (Ryder), 2-58 (Guptill), 3-188 (Williamson) Did not bat: J. Neesham, L. Ronchi, N. McCullum, T. Southee, K. Mills, H. Bennett Bowling: Kumar 10-0-62-0, Shami 8-0-61-1 (1w), Aaron 6.1-0-51-1 (1w), Jadeja 10-2-33-0, Ashwin 10-0-41-0 (1w, 1nb), Binny 1-0-8-0, Rayudu 3-0-23-0.

Silva puts Sri Lanka in command DHAKA: Opener Kaushal Silva hit a maiden Test century to lead a dominant batting display by Sri Lanka on the second day of the first Test against Bangladesh in Dhaka yesterday.

Silva scored 139 as the tourists reached 375-5 by stumps at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium, a lead of 143 over Bangladesh’s first innings total of 232 with five wickets in hand.

The right-hander put on 118 for the first wicket with Dimuth Karunaratne (53) and then teamed up with veteran Kumar Sangakkara (75) to add a further 155 runs for the second wicket.

Sri Lanka will resume on Wednesday looking to grab a really sizeable lead and have the hosts on the ropes in the first match of the two-Test series. “This has been a good day for us as a team and for me personally,” a delighted Silva told reporters. “We now need to bat at least two more sessions and put up a big score. “The wicket will slow down as the match progresses. If it starts to turn it will be hard work for the batsmen. The spinners will have a better chance on this pitch.” Bangladesh’s bowlers, who managed just one wicket in the morning session on the even-paced pitch, claimed four in the post-tea period to slow Sri Lanka’s run spree.

Vital wicket Left-arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan was the pick of the bowlers with three for 94, including the vital wicket of Silva. Sri Lanka, who started the day on 60-0, had moved to 118 when lefthander Karunaratne was snapped up at short cover off Shakib just before lunch.

After a barren post-lunch period, Bangladesh removed Silva and Sangakkara in quick succession in the final session. They claimed two more wickets as Sri Lanka slipped from a comfortable 273-1 to 375-5. Mahela Jayawardene was unbeaten on 42 when play was called off soon after the dismissal of nightwatchman Suranga Lakmal in the final over, from Sohag Gazi.

Silva reached the three-figure mark in his seventh Test after making 95 and 58 in the Dubai Test against Pakistan earlier this month.

But he was lucky to achieve the landmark after being dropped by Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim behind the stumps and again

by Shamsur Rahman early in his innings.

Silva had another reprieve before lunch when he was caught behind off seamer Al-Amin Hossain. But the umpire called a no-ball because the bowler’s foot had hit the stumps just as the ball was being delivered.

He moved from 85 to 97 with a flurry of

DHAKA: Sri Lanka’s Kaushal Silva (left) celebrates with teammate Kumar Sangakkara after scoring a century on the second day of the first Test cricket match against Bangladesh.—AP boundaries and then reached his century by pulling Shakib to the fine-leg fence for another four.

Sangakkara looked set for his 34th Test hundred until he edged a catch to the slips off AlAmin, who was finally rewarded for his hard work in unresponsive conditions.

Silva, who hit 16 boundaries and two sixes, was dismissed five overs later when he was trapped leg-before by Shakib. Dinesh Chandimal helped Jayawardene add 72 for the fourth wick-

et before being bowled by Shakib for 40.

Al-Amin said his team was not out of the Test yet. “The first session tomorrow is very important because we need to bowl them out within 450,” the seamer said.

“I don’t think our batsmen played to their full potential in the first innings. All of them can bat well. It is still possible to draw this match.” The two Test matches will be followed by two Twenty20 matches and three one-day internationals. —AFP

SCOREBOARD DHAKA: Scoreboard at the close of play on the second day of the first test between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in Dhaka yesterday.

Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to field Bangladesh first innings 232 Sri Lanka first innings (overnight 60-0) D. Karunaratne c Robiul b Shakib 53 K. Silva lbw b Shakib 139 K. Sangakkara c Nasir b Al-Amin 75 M. Jayawardene not out 42 D. Chandimal b Shakib 40 S. Lakmal c Nasir b Gazi 0

Extras (b-8, w-12, nb-6) 26 Total (for 5 wickets) 375 Still to bat: A. Mathews, K. Vithanage, D. Perera, S. Eranga, R. Herath Fall of wickets: 1-118 2-273 3-302 4-374 5-375 Bowling: Robiul 14-1-43-0, Al-Amin 25-2-87-1, Rubel 17-0-74-0, Gazi 16.2-3-44-1, Shakib 27-4-94-3, Mominul 6-0-20-0, Nasir 3-0-5-0.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014

S P ORTS

Spurs vs City - surely not another 6-0?

By Ahmad Al-Othman KUWAIT: Fasten your seatbelts, sit back and enjoy - you are about to witness one hell of a game! At 10:45 pm local Kuwait time, White Hart Lane is primed to host one of the classics of the current campaign, filled with entertaining attacking football and endless chances. Both teams are in red hot form and looking unbeatable at the moment - Manchester City fighting for the title and Tottenham for the most wanted 4th place that guarantees a Champions League qualifying spot. The Citizens, with 50 points, sit second in the Barclays Premier League table while Spurs are fifth with 43 points.

Some would argue that a 7-point difference isn’t that huge of a margin, but it’s fair to say that it is a clear indication of how powerful and enjoyable this league has been for the past 6 months.

Manchester City’s lethal attack looks unplayable at this moment of time, astonishingly netting more than 100 goals in all competitions until this period of the season. Unbeaten in 19 games, with the most recent defeat coming in November at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light, today’s battle could end this terrific run which included clashes against Bayern Munich and Arsenal. Arguably, their defense looked leaky at times against mediocre sides such as Watford,

Cardiff City, Swansea and West Bromwich Albion by conceding two goals, but it was the forward line in the shape of Sergio Aguero, Edin Dzeko and Alvaro Negredo that prevented them from being second best.

Quite strangely, they bagged 17 points on the road out of a possible 33, but it was their all-win home streak that aided their fortunes. It took them 4 matches to record their first away win in the league against a much troubled West Ham side, but it evidently seems that Manuel Pellegrini put his finger on the wound and rectified the defensive lapses. One thing is for sure - today’s opponents are not Watford or West Ham,

but a resurgent Tottenham side.

Spurs on the other hand have been below par until the sacking of current beIN Sports pundit, Portuguese Ander Villas Boas. Since the shocking appointment of rookie Tim Sherwood until the end of the season, the North Londoners have won 16 points out of a possible 18, including a famous win at Old Trafford. It is crystal clear that the signing of Sherwood restored belief in their side, especially when looking at the form of the once forgotten Emmanuel Adebayor and Danish Christian Eriksen, who has been hitting top form since the manager’s replacement.

The FA Cup exit to derby rivals

Arsenal earlier this month could be a blessing in disguise in their quest for 4th place or even 3rd if the opportunity beckons. Tottenham’s faithful fans have been bewildered by their away form, which until yesterday was joint top with the Gunners, but they surely would be demanding the same consistent form on home soil and today ’s match is no exception. Whether the lack of signings during the current transfer window would come to haunt them back is yet to be seen but one thing is certain tonight’s encounter won’t be a 6-0 whitewash or anything of that sort, but end-to-end attacking football with passion, desire and redemption.

Self-belief inspires Lampard LONDON:Frank Lampard believes there is a growing self-belief within the Chelsea squad ahead of their London derby against his former club West Ham in the Premier League at Stamford Bridge today.

Chelsea lie third in the division, currently two points behind leaders Arsenal, who could increase their advantage if they win away to Southampton late yesterday.

But the Blues’ seventh consecutive victory in all competitions-a 10 victory against Stoke last weekend in the fourth round of the FA Cup thanks to Oscar’s match-winner-has enhanced the everincreasing confidence at Stamford Bridge.

And Lampard, who skippered the team against the Potters, insists his team-mates, who have not lost at home under Jose Mourinho in a remarkable 72 fixtures, are developing the mentality required to win silverware come the end of the season.

“There’s a good feeling around the place,” said Chelsea midfielder Lampard. “With the manager coming back it probably took a while for him to get his points across but, in the last couple of months we’ve found that mentality and feeling in the dressing room where we’re going out there with more confidence. “We have to keep that up because the minute you drop that the results will turn, so we need to keep at it and carry on this form.

“As a team, we were all at it against Stoke and we were disappointed not to be two or three up at half-time because we would have cruised it. But at 1-0, you have to keep on your guard all the way.”

Chelsea’s newly-signed player Nemanja Matic everyone at West Ham-the fact that these players are coming back and that new players have signed on. “ There are some big games coming up and if we start to get on a bit of a roll, which is an undefeated run to begin with because

not losing games is critical for us now, then hopefully we will start producing more goals and victories.

“We are top of the league in terms of quality crosses which suggests our finishing has been our Achilles heel this season.” —AFP

Crisis club Marseille out to stop the rot

Bayern Munich’s defender Philipp Lahm

No place for egos in Bayern’s title march BERLIN: Captain Philipp Lahm has said there is no room for egos in Bayern Munich’s squad as they bid to go 13 points clear in the Bundesliga at Stuttgart today.

Pep Guardiola’s Bayern take on strugglers VfB Stuttgart in a re -arranged league fixture looking to extend their record unbeaten run to 43 matches.

Guardiola clamped down on any complacency by dropping top-scorer Mario Mandzukic for Friday ’s 2-0 win at Borussia Moenchengladbach for poor performances in training.

Lahm has said Bayern’s star-studded squad can expect a few more tough-luck stories to come in the following weeks in their quest for a 24th league title.

“We have an enormous squad and when everyone is fit, there will be more hard-luck cases for those not involved,” said Lahm. “I don’t judge the other players. “The coach chooses the team, we have to accept that and stand behind his decision.”

One of the stars who will definitely not feature at 12th-placed Stuttgart is Germany midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger who has an inflamed knee ligament.

The 29-year-old had surgery for an ankle injury late last year, but aggravated a knee ligament in the winter training camp in Doha.

Bayern insist there is no risk of Schweinsteiger missing June’s World Cup in Brazil, but Guardiola wants his midfield general back as soon as possible.

“This is a problem for us and for him.

We need him and so does the national team. I hope he will be back as soon as possible,” said Guardiola.

Having last lost in the Bundesliga in October 2012, it would be a major shock if Bayern stumble in Stuttgart. Stuttgart coach Thomas Schneider insists “it’s a bonus game”, while captain Christian Gentner sees it as “probably our easiest match”, so low are the expectations on the hosts.

“Perhaps it’s better if we don’t look at the table at the moment and concentrate on the game,” said attacking midfielder Alexandru Maxim referring to the

Following the derby showdown with relegation-threatened West Ham, Chelsea will test their title credentials with the trip to Manchester City, presently second, on Monday.

Chelsea will have to deal quickly with life after Juan Mata, who joined Manchester United in a £37.1 million ($61.2m, 44.8 million euros) deal last weekend-a club record signing for faltering champions United. But while Lampard was full of praise for his former team-mate, the England international said Chelsea had the quality to cope without the Spaniard.

“Juan Mata’s an absolutely fantastic player and, more than that, he’s a great lad, so I wish him all the best personally,” Lampard said.

“The difficult thing here is that there are so many brilliant players.

“Oscar’s been fantastic this season, as has Hazard. Willian’s shown it as well and we’ve got so many riches in that position, but you need performances like the one we got from Oscar and his free-kick was top drawer.”

Chelsea have scored 43 goals in the Premier League but the Hammers are averaging one goal a game from their 22 matches so far this term. “ We need somebody in that box to be productive and to start scoring goals, someone who only needs one or two chances,” said West Ham manager Sam Allardyce.

“At the moment we are needing six or seven. “You have got to try and see light at the end of the tunnel and stay positive.

“The re-introduction of Andy Carroll and with the (signing) of Marco (Borriello) now, it should bring a bit more optimism to

28 points that separate Bayern Munich and Stuttgart. With five defeats in their last seven games, Stuttgart are looking to bounce back from consecutive defeats and try and sew some doubt in the Bayern players minds over the ultimate destination of the title.

However, Bayern’s three main rivals need all the help they can get from other teams, as they hardly helped their cause in collectively picking up a combined total of just one league point over the weekend. Guardiola’s side by contrast is showing no sign of dropping points.

They are on course to break their own record last season for the earliest title win when they were confirmed champions in April with six games to spare. “ This is a huge oppor tunit y to extend our lead,” said Lahm. “Then it would be hard to catch us. We wouldn’t be against winning the championship title early.” —AFP

Matches on TV

MARSEILLE: French giants Marseille will aim to stop the recent rot when they host struggling Valenciennes in a Ligue 1 match initially postponed earlier this month.

Having sparred earlier in the season with top two Paris Saint-Germain and Monaco, Marseille have now slumped to ninth in the table following a dismal run of form that also saw them bundled out of both the French Cup and League Cup competitions over the last two weeks.

They have only one win in their last six league matches and three defeats in a row in all competitions. What’s more, their notoriously fiery fans turned viciously against them last week with one hardline ultra group blasting the players as “sub-human” in an internet posting that was later taken down.

Not only are matters on the pitch and in the stands causing concern but rumours are rife that the dressing room is far from a harmonious place. Jose Anigo’s team, the 1993 European champions, currently sit nine points off the Champions League qualifying positions, although they do have a game in hand.

Their one saving grace today is that they will be entertaining a team in dire straits having recently dropped into the relegation zone.

With home matches against Toulouse and Bastia next up, a victory is a must if the ninetime champions are to star t to turn their increasingly miserable season around.

Even so, Anigo is far from confident, saying: “Winning twice in a row at home is not easy, so

Marseille’s French coach Jose Anigo three times!” As for Valenciennes, their coach Ariel Jacobs is wary of a potential backlash from the angered home side. “I don’t like to speculate on the level of morale at our opponents,” he said. “Marseille are coming off three matches without a win, being eliminated from two cup

competitions, will there be a revolt? “We don’t know. Do they have pressure and doubts? We don’t know that either. “We can’t rely on that, we have to be ready physically and mentally; Marseille’s quality will ensure this is a tough match.” —AFP

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Asian Cup expansion sparks debate PHILIPPINES: A proposal to expand the Asian Cup to 24 teams has sparked a debate among the region’s football bodies, with commercial and developmental considerations on one side, and on the other a fear that it will dilute the quality of the competition.

The Asian Football Confederation’s Competitions Committee recommended on the weekend that the quadrennial tournament be expanded from 16 to 24 teams.

Advocates say it will increase the likelihood that big commercial markets like China, India and Southeast Asian nations would be involved in the tournament, while also fasttracking the development of smaller nations by exposing them to higher-quality opponents.

If China loses in February to Iraq in the final round of qualification for the 2015 Asian Cup, and with India already eliminated, then the Australia-hosted tournament would be without representation from the two most populous countries in the world and probably Southeast Asia too - with a shared population

of around three billion.

“In the end, all will benefit in terms of tournament profile and exposure and it will also provide significant commercial benefits that will help Asia as a whole,” said Philippines Football Federation president Mariano Nonong Araneta.

The more powerful nations of Asia are concerned it will damage their teams’ development to play against minnow nations, and harm the Asian Cup’s image as an elite competition. “The standards at the Asian Cup have improved in recent times and if Asian teams are to compete at the world level then it is important for everyone that it continues to improve,” said Park Yong-soo, the head of the Korea Football Association’s International Deparment.

“Having more teams is likely to reduce the overall quality. While we recognize that we have a duty to help the smaller nations develop, we need more time to discuss the issue.”

According to the Philippines chief, the drop in quality will not be as severe as some may fear.

“We and other teams in Asia are catching up with the traditional powers such as Japan, Korea and Iran,” said Nonong. “These teams need the chance to show what they can do and a bigger Asian Cup would be a great chance to do so.”

For the smaller nations, a short-term drop in standard is a price worth paying. Guam has been one of the fastest-improving teams in Asia in recent years. The tiny Pacific island nation has climbed from 201st in FIFA rankings in 2004 to its present standing of 162 and within sight of the continent’s top-ranked 24 teams..

Gary White, the national team’s English coach, has been at the helm for two years and believes that competing in the Asian Cup would help the national team go to the next level.

“Expansion would be a positive move from our standpoint as we are extremely aggressive in regards to being competitive,” White said.

“We believe we would claim one of the extra spots into future tournaments.” —AP

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014

S P ORTS

JEREZ: Infiniti Red Bull Racing driver Sebastian Vettel of Germany exits his garage to drive his new RB10 Formula One car at the Circuito de Jerez yesterday in Spain. —AP

Hamilton crashes as F1 starts new turbo era JEREZ: Lewis Hamilton walked away from a heavy crash after putting in the first laps of Formula One’s new turbo era in testing with Mercedes yesterday.

Twin black streaks of scorched tyre rubber at the end of the Jerez pit straight marked the asphalt where the 2008 world champion had locked up and careered into the tyre wall.

Mercedes blamed a car failure, on the Briton’s 18th lap of the day, for the crash and were investigating. Witnesses said the front wing appeared to break off.

Hamilton also crashed last year in his first test for Mercedes after moving from McLaren, whose car had yet to break cover on a remarkably quiet today with all teams grappling with the new power units. By lunchtime only Hamilton and Toro Rosso’s Frenchman Jean-Eric Vergne had set timed laps and only five cars had been seen in action.

One of them was Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari, that brought out the first red flag of the day when it stopped out on the circuit early on.

With a thin new moon still visible over the circuit, Hamilton eased the sleek looking F1 W05 out of the pitlane shortly after 0900 local (0800 GMT) for an installation lap before silence resumed. Formula One has ditched the ear-splitting 2.4 litre V8 engines for a new turbocharged 1.6 litre V6 with complex energy recovery systems and more

emphasis on fuel economy. Hamilton’s opening lap, the first public appearance of a new car on track, indicated the whinier and less rasping sound would take some getting used to.

Mercedes, who carried out a private 40km shakedown at Silverstone with Germany’s Nico Rosberg on Friday, presented the car in the pitlane shortly after dawn with champions Red Bull taking the wraps off their RB 10 challenger minutes later.

More than four hours after the test started, Red Bull’s quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel had still to appear on track as the team worked on an unspecified problem that had emerged overnight. “Obviously the car is still extremely new and still being completed as we speak and I think there was just a small setup issue that the guys want to have correct before we go out on track,” principal Christian Horner told reporters.

“Hopefully that will be in the very near future.” Hamilton, in his second season with the team and now with the chosen number 44 on his car, said before getting down to work that his car looked fantastic.

“So aggressive but full of really nice details as well. I’m excited to find out how the new power unit feels to drive, to hear how it sounds from the cockpit and to compare the job we have done

relative to the competition,” he added.

“I think this is probably the season with the most unknowns that I have faced in my career and that’s just so exciting for all of us.”

While some of the new cars have been startling in appearance, with eyecatching protruding ‘noses’ to meet new regulations dictated by safety considerations, the top two teams from 2013 came up with neater solutions.“The new car is an elegant but aggressive design and, as is often the way, it’s beauty is much more than skin deep,” commented Mercedes technical executive director Paddy Lowe.

INNOVATIRE “The internal engineering of the car is extremely innovative and intelligent.”

Ten of the 11 teams - all but Lotus - are in Jerez for the test but tail-enders Marussia and Caterham hit early problems. Marussia’s car was still on it’s way to Jerez after being delayed at the factory by what team principal John Booth called a “small but frustrating teething problem”.

Malaysian-owned Caterham delayed their car presentation due, according to their Twitter feed, to “some last minute issues bolting it together”. “The trials and tribulations of a completely new car have conspired against us today,” they added. —Reuters

Vera Zvonareva in action in this file photo

Zvonareva into second round at Pattaya Open

Red Bull unveils car for 2014 season JEREZ: Red Bull unveiled the car it hopes Sebastian Vettel will steer to a fifth consecutive Formula One world championship yesterday, but chief designer Adrian Newey said a major switch to six-cylinder engines means “all bets are off.”

Four-time defending world champion Vettel and new teammate Daniel Ricciardo pulled the tarp off the RB10 yesterday at the Jerez circuit, just before the start of preseason testing yesterday. They then posed for photos with Newey team boss Christian Horner.

F1 tweaks the rules governing the engineering of cars each season, but this year’s changes have required a major change in design. That has led to speculation Red Bull may have trouble to extend its four-year dominance of the competition, which last year saw Vettel match Michael Schumacher’s record of 13 wins in one season as he cruised to the title.

Red Bull said its new car was “our first interpretation of F1’s radical new technical

regulations” and that it “has little in common with its predecessors.”

Newey agreed that the new rulebook may give Ferrari, Mercedes and Lotus a better chance at finally ending Red Bull’s reign.

“I can’t see there are any favorites,” said Newey, who is widely recognized as F1’s leading designer. “It’s so new and open. All bets are off.”

“I guess with our performance of last year we could have been happier if the regulations hadn’t changed,” said Newey, who said the main pressure falls on Red Bull’s engine manufacturer, Renault, as well as competitors Ferrari and Mercedes, to revamp the engines.

FOCUS “Probably all three feel they could have done with another six months,” said Newey.

Newey said that Red Bull would focus on working out the kinks of its new car first, and then worry about pushing its performance level. Vettel said that meant the first

few races of the seasons may not indicate who finally emerges as title hopefuls.

“It’s all guessing at the moment,” said Vettel. “Whether it favors myself or other drivers is very tricky to tell. In previous years it was the same toys under the cover. This year there’s a lot of new things and everyone is struggling. It’s a massive challenge.”

Besides switching to a 1.6-litre V6 turbo engine instead of last year’s 2.4-litre V8 engine, the rule changes focus on boosting cars’ energy recovery systems, which generate energy from braking and through waste heat from the engine. F1 has also lowered fuel to 100kg per race, down from 160kg, increased the car’s weight, and forced alterations to gearboxes, exhaust, wings and nose height.

Mercedes and Force India also presented their cars for the new season in chilly conditions in southern Spain on Tuesday morning. Toro Rosso, Red Bull’s sister team its uses to develop drivers, launched its car on Monday.—AP

PATTAYA: Two-time champion Vera Zvonareva was through to the second round of the Pattaya Open yesterday, claiming the first victory of her comeback following an 18-month absence from the game due to illness and injury.

The Russian won 6-3, 6-2 over the tenacious Peangtan Plipuech of Thailand, who saved 14 of 19 break points she faced and engaged Zvonareva in some lengthy rallies to stretch the match to one hour 42-minutes.

Both top-seeded German Sabine Lisicki and second seed Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia withdrew with injur y, and sixth-seeded Spaniard GarbiÒe Muguruza was beaten 6-7 (2), 7-5, 7-6 (6) by 43year old Kimiko Date-Krumm of Japan. But there were victories for Romanian third seed Sorana Cirstea as well as Ekaterina

Makarova and Elena Vesnina from Russia.

Zvonareva, who has been out of the game due to an upper respiratory illness and a right shoulder injury, is playing only her third event since Wimbledon 2012.

Earlier this month the 29-yearold Russian, who required surgery on her shoulder, lost her opening round matches in Shenzhen and at the Australian Open, so her win in Pattaya came as a relief.

“I’m just so happy... I haven’t expected anything from myself. I just wanted to go out and try to focus, try to fight for every ball,” said Zvonareva.

“After such a long time it is very difficult, not game-wise but mentally, to stay focused for a long period of time,” she said.

Zvonareva continues to wear strapping on her shoulder and

admitted that the injury is still at the back of her mind.

“I wouldn’t say I’m worried, but I’m hesitating a little bit on certain shots,” she said. “It’s still a little bit mental obviously, after you have surgery. I know I will never have the same shoulder I had before so I’ll just have to get used to that feeling.” Lisicki had struggled in her first round match on Monday, taking two hours to overcome Croatia’s Donna Vekic in three sets, and admitted after the match that it had been almost impossible for her to serve effectively.

“It was pretty obvious I wasn’t able to serve in the second and third sets,” she said yesterday. “I tried everything and won the match yesterday and was hoping it could get better overnight, but unfortunately it didn’t. —AFP

92 Kuwaiti shooters sign up for Fazza Championship DUBAI: The Fazza Championship for Shooting Shotgun category, is set to commence today in Dubai and has already attracted interest from a record number of Kuwaiti nationals. A staggering 92 Kuwaiti nationals have registered so far.

The Championship is being organised by the UAE-based Hamdan Bin Mohammed Heritage Center and has

witnessed a total of 200 registrations todate including 15 women. This is in comparison with 120 participants last year.

Sheikh Ahmad bin Mohammad bin Hasher Al Maktoum, Olympic shooter and the head of the organising committee of the Fazza Championship for Shooting said: “ The growth of the Championship is thanks to the Hamdan

Bin Mohammed Heritage Center’s rigorous and dedicated efforts to enhance the quality of the competition every year.”

“The unique feature of the competition is that each participant will be provided with 150 bullets that he can use the bullets over the course of three days. It is the largest number of bullets used in the histor y of the

Championship. “ We thank Sheik h Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, for supporting and encouraging the sport practiced by our forefathers.”

Meanwhile Souad Darwish, Director of the Fazza Championships added: “ The Shooting Championships have witnessed a fantastic response and are

attracting shooters from across the GCC and especially from Kuwait. We realize the importance of reviving traditional Arabian sports and strive to execute the directions of Sheik h Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, to enhance our national identity and maintain traditions that resonate across the Gulf region.”

Tiger and Rory set for showdown in Dubai

Taylor’s ton seals N Zealand ODI series victory over India

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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014

No place for egos in Bayern’s title march

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KUWAIT: His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah greets an Al-Arabi player. (Right) Qadsiya SC players celebrate with the HH Crown Prince cup. — KUNA

Qadsiya SC wins HH Crown Prince football Cup KUWAIT: Qadsiya SC won His Highness the Crown Prince Football Cup for the eighth time in the club history after beating rival Al-Arabi SC 2-1 yesterday held at the Kuwait Sporting Club.

Qadsiya’s first goal was scored by Syrian international Omar Soma who shot a penalty in the 79th minute of the

final which was patronized and attended by HH the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Parliament Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim and other officials.

Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah was welcomed to the stadium by Minister of Information and Minister of State for Youth Affairs Sheikh Salman Sabah Al-Salem Al-

Sabah and Kuwait Football Association Chairman Sheikh Dr. Talal Fahad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, Qatari Football Federation Chairman Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and the chairmen of Al-Qadisiya and Al-Arabi clubs.

Saif Al-Hashan added Qadsiya’s second goal. Al-Arabi’s Syrian international Mahmoud Mawwas reduced the margin

in the 93th minute. The match stopped for 18 minutes because Al-Arabi players were protesting against the referee’s calls.

Al-Arabi is the second most winning team of HH the Crown Prince’s Cup with six titles. Kuwait SC won it five times, while Samliya and Kazma won the Cup once. — KUNA

Thunder bring down Hawks OKLAHOMA CITY: Kevin Durant scored 41 points, including the gamewinning jumper with 1.5 seconds left, and the Oklahoma City Thunder rallied from a 14-point deficit in the second half to beat the Atlanta Hawks 111109 Monday night for their eighth straight victory.

Durant scored 13 in the fourth quarter, including a 16-foot, step-back jumper with 25.5 seconds remaining that put Oklahoma City ahead for the first time since the opening 2 minutes.

Paul Millsap tied it for Atlanta before Durant knocked down the decisive 12footer while being guarded by DeMarre Carroll. Shelvin Mack tried to throw a pass to Millsap on the final play, but Thabo Sefolosha knocked it away. Millsap led the Hawks with 23 points.

Durant’s 11-game streak of 30 or more points is the longest in the NBA since Tracy McGrady did it in 14 straight games in March and April 2003.

Durant had another efficient outing, shooting 15 of 25 from the field and 5 for 7 from 3-point range. During his streak, the star forward has had four 40-point outings.

Reggie Jackson had 18 points for Oklahoma City (36-10), which takes the Western Conference’s best record into a showdown Wednesday at

Miami, the two-time defending NBA champion.

RAPTORS 104, NETS 103 Patrick Patterson stole Deron Williams’ inbounds pass and made the go-ahead jumper with 6 seconds left, and Toronto stopped a five-game winning streak by Brooklyn for the second time this month.

Brooklyn had a three-point lead with 17 seconds left behind Paul Pierce in his best game with the Nets, but John Salmons scored on a drive with 12 seconds remaining before Brooklyn took its last timeout to move the ball into the frontcourt.

Patterson stole the pass and fed Kyle Lowry, who got it back to Patterson for his jumper. Pierce was well off on a final attempt.

Lowry finished with 31 points and seven assists for the Raptors, who moved 21/2 games ahead of the Nets for the Atlantic Division lead.

Pierce scored 33 points, making seven 3-pointers in a strong bounceback performance after going just 2 for 10 in his emotional return to Boston on Sunday. He had the Nets in position to win after scoring their last nine points before Toronto stole it.

TIMBERWOLVES 95, BULLS 86 Kevin Love scored 31 points to lead

NBA results/standings Phoenix 124, Philadelphia 113; Toronto 104, Brooklyn 103; Minnesota 95, Chicago 86; LA Clippers 114, Milwaukee 86; Oklahoma City 111, Atlanta 109; Utah 106, Sacramento 99.

Eastern Conference Atlantic Division W L PCT GB Toronto 23 21 .523 Brooklyn 20 23 .465 2.5 NY Knicks 17 27 .386 6 Boston 15 31 .326 9 Philadelphia 14 31 .311 9.5 Central Division Indiana 34 9 .791 Chicago 22 22 .50012.5 Detroit 17 27 .38617.5 Cleveland 16 28 .36418.5 Milwaukee 8 36 .18226.5 Southeast Division Miami 32 12 .727 Atlanta 23 21 .523 9 Washington 21 22 .48810.5 Charlotte 19 27 .413 14 Orlando 12 33 .26720.5

Western Conference Northwest Division Oklahoma City 36 10 .783 Portland 33 12 .733 2.5 Denver 22 21 .51212.5 Minnesota 22 22 .500 13 Utah 16 29 .35619.5 Pacific Division LA Clippers 32 15 .681 Golden State 27 18 .600 4 Phoenix 26 18 .591 4.5 LA Lakers 16 29 .356 15 Sacramento 15 29 .34115.5 Southwest Division San Antonio 33 11 .750 Houston 29 17 .630 5 Dallas 26 20 .565 8 Memphis 22 20 .524 10 New Orleans 18 25 .41914.5

Minnesota over Chicago. Ronny Turiaf added 14 points off the bench for the Timberwolves, who snapped a sevengame losing streak to the Bulls and won for the fourth time in five games overall.

Carlos Boozer had 20 points and 14 rebounds for the Bulls, who played without ailing center Joakim Noah (illness) and guard Kirk Hinrich (strained right hamstring). D.J. Augustin added 19 points.

The Timberwolves were also missing their starting center. Nikola Pekovic exited with a sore right Achilles tendon midway through the first quarter. He had one point and one rebound in 6 minutes.

SUNS 124, 76ERS 113 Gerald Green scored 30 points and Goran Dragic had 24 to lead Phoenix past Philadelphia. The Suns led all the way over the hapless 76ers, one night after rallying from an 18-point halftime deficit to win at Cleveland.

Phoenix made its first six shots and 10 of 11, and raced to a 16-point lead.

Green made his first seven shots until he botched a fast-reak dunk.

Markieff Morris scored 13 points and had four blocks. The Suns blocked 12 shots. Green and Dragic, Phoenix’s starting backcourt, combined to make 19 of 25 shots and the Suns shot around 60 percent for most of the game. Michael Carter-Williams had 22 points and 11 assists for the Sixers, who have lost 10 of 12.

CLIPPERS 114, BUCKS 86 Blake Griffin dominated the paint with 20 points, Jamal Crawford scored 25 and Los Angeles ended its sevengame road trip with a win over Milwaukee.

Darren Collison added 15 points and seven assists in place of Chris Paul for the Clippers, who improved to 9-3 while their star point recovers from a separated shoulder.

Los Angeles finished its trip 5-2, a franchise best for its annual sojourn away from Staples Center to make way for the Grammy Awards. No better place these days than Milwaukee to end such a journey. The Bucks, an NBA-worst 8-36, were doomed by a 21-2 run in the second quarter. Ersan Ilyasova had 16 points and eight

OKLAHOMA CITY: Atlanta Hawks forward Paul Millsap (4) looks to pass in front of Oklahoma City Thunder forward Serge Ibaka during the third quarter of an NBA basketball game. — AP rebounds for the Bucks.

JAZZ 106, KINGS 99 Derrick Favors had 17 points and 12 rebounds, and Marvin Williams added 16 points and 11 rebounds to power Utah past depleted Sacramento.

Enes Kanter added 16 points and Jeremy Evans had 14 points and 10 rebounds as the Jazz took advantage of injuries that have left Sacramento without frontcourt starters DeMarcus

Cousins and Rudy Gay for the past three games.

After the Jazz sent their starters to the bench with the game seemingly in hand, the Kings mounted an unlikely comeback that fell just short.

Sacramento trimmed a 20-point lead to five in the final minute but came up empty on three of its final four possessions.

Jason Thompson scored a seasonhigh 19 points and grabbed 11

rebounds for the Kings, who lost their fourth consecutive game. Derrick Williams had 17 points and 15 boards.

The Jazz set an NBA season high with 53 free throw attempts, topping the previous mark of 52 set by Houston against the Lakers on Nov. 7 and the Los Angeles Clippers against Brooklyn on Dec. 12. Utah went 12 for 25 at the line in the fourth quarter, allowing the Kings to make things interesting. — AP

Jazeera Airways reports net profit of KD16.7m for 2013

Business

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Kuwait’s CMA to bring multifold benefits

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014

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Hollande aide dismisses German labor reforms

Basel Manasrah appointed CEO of Zain South Sudan

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DETROIT: The 2014 Mazda 3 sedan is seen during a press preview at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan. New orders for US manufactured durable goods fell 4.3 percent last month, dragged down in part by declines in orders for aircraft and autos, official data released yesterday. — AFP

US durable goods orders stumble Consumer confidence hits five-month high in January WASHINGTON: Orders for long-lasting US manufactured goods unexpectedly fell in December as did a gauge of planned business spending, casting a shadow on an otherwise bright economic outlook.

The economy, however, has not completely lost its luster. Consumer confidence hit a fivemonth high in January and house prices posted their biggest year-on-year gain in almost eight years in November, other reports showed yesterday. “This isn’t news that says the economy has lost upward momentum. It is steady as she goes for the economy,” said Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ in New York.

Durable goods orders dropped 4.3 percent in December, weighed down by weak demand for transportation equipment, primary metals, fabricated metal products, computers and electronic products and capital goods. Last month’s decline was the largest since July and reversed November’s revised 2.6 percent rise.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected orders for durable goods - items from toasters

to aircraft meant to last three years or more - to rise 1.8 percent in December after November’s previously reported 3.4 percent advance.

The report put a wrinkle on the economy’s outlook, which had been bolstered by upbeat data on consumer spending and industrial production, and it raised concerns of slower growth in the first quarter. Those concerns, however, were tempered by the rise in consumer confidence and house prices. The Conference Board said its index of consumer attitudes rose to 80.7 this month from 77.5 in December. January’s reading was the highest since August and reflected rising optimism among households about the labor market and business conditions.

Separately, the Standard & Poor’s/Case Shiller gauge of house prices in 20 metropolitan areas increased 13.7 percent in November from a year ago, the largest rise since February 2006. “Things have continued to look good at the end of 2013 and beginning of 2014,” said Gus Faucher, a senior economist at PNC Financial Services Group in Pittsburgh. “I would

expect that we are going to continue to see growth this year that’s above what we observed in 2014.”

Stocks on Wall Street were trading up in the aftermath of the data. The dollar rose against a basket of currencies, while US Treasury debt prices were marginally weaker. The mixed batch of data came as officials from the Federal Reserve were due to start a two-day policy meeting.

The Fed in December give the economy a vote of confidence with an announcement that it would start dialing back its monthly bond purchases this month. It is expected announce further cuts to the bond-buying program today.

Factory activity cooling?

Durable goods orders fell last month despite a strong rise in aircraft orders at Boeing. The company had reported receiving orders for 319 planes last month compared with 110 in November. Orders may have dropped because the model used by the government to iron out

Egypt surges after Sisi nod, UAE shares rise MIDEAST STOCK MARKETS DUBAI: Egypt’s stock market climbed to a 44-month high yesterday after the army chief was given the green light to run for president, while markets in the United Arab Emirates snapped a two-session decline.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces cleared Field Marshal Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi to run in upcoming elections, which he looks sure to win. Many Egyptians see him as the best chance for political stability.

“Sisi still didn’t officially announce his bid for presidency, but all roads are leading in that direction because of popular demand,” said Mohamed Radwan, director of international sales at Pharos Securities in Cairo. “People are more comfortable having Sisi as president rather than anyone else because it creates a sense of stability.”

Sentiment was also helped by Finance Minister Ahmed Galal saying the interim government would soon launch a second stimulus package of about the same size as the first one, 30 billion Egyptian pounds ($4.3 billion). In a sign that Sisi may have to face a growing Islamist militant campaign, gunmen killed a senior Egyptian Interior Ministry official outside his home in Cairo

yesterday, according to security officials.

But for now at least, many investors feel the level of violence is tolerable. Cairo’s benchmark index rose 1.5 percent to 7,368 points, its highest level since May 2010. It climbed above strong technical resistance at 7,248 points, the January 2011 high; a weekly close above that level would confirm a break. The index faces another major resistance at 7,693 points, the peak in April 2010.

Shares in EFG-Hermes rose 3.3 percent after the investment bank said it was arranging three initial public offers of shares with a combined value of over $300 million this year - Egypt’s first IPOs since 2010.

UAE In the United Arab Emirates, Dubai’s bourse jumped 3.2 percent to 3,805 points, halting a two-day drop that was triggered by the global sell-off in emerging markets.

It ended just short of Thursday’s five-year, intra-day peak 3,826 points. Blue-chip Emaar Properties jumped 6.3 percent to 8.24 dirhams, its highest close since

September 2008, after EFG-Hermes raised its price target for the stock to 10.1 dirhams and upgraded it to a ‘buy’, citing improved sentiment towards growth stocks in the region and the strengths of Emaar’s own business, which saw strong gains in leasing and hospitality revenues during the first nine months of last year.

“Emaar represents a pure exposure for many investors who want to play these two themes and the increase in liquidity (into both the capital market and real economy) is supporting asset price appreciation which is reflecting positively on Emaar’s value,” EFG-Hermes said.

Some traders also cited talk that construction was starting on Dubai Hills Estate, a flagship development which is part of the Dubai government’s mega project Mohammed Bin Rashid City. “ The move in the market today was mainly retail-driven,” said Ali Adou, portfolio manager at The National Investor.

“Overall, there is a strong momentum in the market as it is backed by a solid economic story.” Abu Dhabi’s measure also ended its decline, climbing 1.3 percent. — Reuters

seasonal fluctuations likely anticipated a big increase in aircraft orders in December anyway.

Excluding transportation, orders fell 1.6 percent, the biggest decline since March, after edging up 0.1 percent in November.

While durable goods data is volatile, details of the report could support views that factory activity will cool off early this year after output grew at its fastest pace in nearly two years in the fourth quarter. Non-defense capital goods orders excluding aircraft, a closely watched proxy for business spending plans, fell 1.3 percent after rising by a revised 2.6 percent in November.

Economists had expected orders for these so-called core capital goods to increase 0.5 percent in December after a previously reported 4.1 percent surge in November. Shipments of core capital goods, which are used to calculate equipment spending in the government’s measure of gross domestic product, slipped 0.2 percent last month. They had increased 2.3 percent in November, with farm machinery accounting for much of the rise. “These data will

throw some cold water on the widespread optimism regarding capital spending,” said Michelle Girard, chief economist at RBS in Stamford, Connecticut.

While the decline in shipments suggests a less sturdy pace of equipment spending in the fourth quarter, that was offset by a solid rise in inventories, indicating a fairly strong fourthquarter GDP reading. Durable goods inventories increased 0.8 percent last month, pushing the inventory-to-shipments ratio to an eightmonth high.

“Real inventories now look to have been accumulated at a heady $132 billion annual pace last quarter - an unsustainably strong rate which should pose some headwinds for growth in the early part of this year,” said Michael Feroli, an economist at JPMorgan in New York. The government will release its advance fourthquarter GDP report tomprrow. The economy likely grew at a 3.2 percent annual pace in the fourth quarter, according to a Reuters survey of economists, after expanding at a 4.1 percent rate in the prior period. — Reuters

Dubai’s Emirates to move to new airport after 2020 DUBAI: Dubai’s flagship airline Emirates is expected to move all of its operations to the emirate’s new Al-Maktoum International Airport after 2020, a senior executive at AlMaktoum said yesterday.

Big international carriers, including Emirates, have so far not indicated any plans to move to the new airport, which officially launched passenger services in October last year. “Emirates have to move to the new airport at some point. They will move some time after 2020, when we have the capacity to accommodate them,” Khalifa Al-Zaffin, executive chairman of Dubai Aviation City Corp, which built the Dubai World Central logistics complex housing the new airport, told reporters.

Zaffin, speaking on the sidelines of a conference organized by business information firm MEED, added that phase one of the expansion of Al-Maktoum would be completed by 2020, when the airport would be able to handle 130 million passengers.

Emirates currently operates from Dubai International, an older airport; it includes a terminal dedicated to Airbus A380 super-

jumbos, which Emirates uses extensively.

“Any decision to move Emirates’ current operations from DXB to DWC is one for the Dubai government to make,” an Emirates spokesman said in response to the comments by Zaffin, adding that nothing had been announced so far.

If Emirates and other big airlines eventually move to Al-Maktoum, it could free up a massive area for redevelopment near Dubai’s downtown. Al-Maktoum can currently handle up to 7 million passengers a year and is being expanded to eventually accommodate over 160 million. Dubai International’s current capacity is 75 million; passenger traffic has been growing at double-digit rates because of booming tourism and trade.

Only a handful of carriers operate from Al-Maktoum so far, including European budget carrier Wizz Air and Kuwait’s Jazeera Airways. Al-Maktoum’s passenger terminal was initially slated to launch in 2009, but its opening was pushed back after Dubai’s debt crisis. Cargo operations started there in June 2010. — Reuters

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014

BUSINESS

Upheaval in Ukraine sparks fears for fragile economy KIEV: Ukraine’s crisis is endangering the prospect of a desperately needed economic recovery from recession and raising fears of a currency collapse, analysts said.

The struggle between President Viktor Yanukovych and the opposition comes after more than a year of recession and the economy is currently staying afloat mainly thanks to a Russian bailout and grain exports. “There are indications that business activity, investment activity is getting slower because people are quite uncertain on what will come next,” said Dmytro Sologub, an economist at Raiffeisen Bank Aval. Ukraine came close to bankruptcy in 2013 before Russia stepped in with a controversial $15billion (11-billion-euro) credit that the opposition says will limit the country’s national sovereignty.

The protests initially touched off after Yanukovych rejected a European Union free trade agreement that had been in preparation for years, angering the many Ukrainians who want closer ties with Europe. After five quarters of contraction, the government said the economy improved at the end of 2013 and Sologub said he was

Reforms delayed In Zagreb, Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic said the EU’s move would help force Croatia to make reforms which had been “postponed in this country for almost two decades.” Milanovic said his goal was to “create a stable and healthy economy that will reach a high level of readiness to enter the euro-zone.” He vowed to reform the “unsustainable” health and education systems, overhaul labor laws, and restructure public services and the judicial system.

The EU’s Rehn insisted that the process was “about partnership.” “It’s a partnership between Croatia and the European Union,” he said, adding that the bloc would “work closely with them in their efforts to address the challenges their economy is facing.”

Croats celebrated their EU entry on July 1, 2013 as a sign of progress following the bloody break-up of the ex-communist federation in the 1990s. But even then there were fears that membership could add to the country’s economic burden. Croatia’s membership has given hope to others, especially neighbor Serbia, which has just started its EU accession talks.

As well as the 3.0-percent public deficit rule, the EU requires member states to keep accumulated debt at no more than 60 percent of GDP and on this measure Croatia is doing better than most with 62 percent expected in 2014. Many members have breached both limits-and by a considerable margin in some cases-but the debt crisis has forced the bloc to tighten up so as to make sure government’s stabilize strained public finances.—AFP

Ukrainian economy still has long-term potential.” Business circles are more nervous, however, particularly since the outcome of the standoff is so difficult to call-with predictions ranging wildly from political agreement to bloodbath. “When my clients call from London to ask me for advice, I have trouble answering them, predicting the outcome,” one European investment banker told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity. A fellow American banker said: “At this point, it is not so much about economics but about politics”.

Risk of ‘out of control’ currency fall In the short-term, the crisis has already had a disturbing effect on the currency, the hryvnia.

In just a few days of deadly clashes in Kiev, the dollar has risen to 8.5 hryvnias from 8.3 hryvnias-a fall of over 3.0 percent for Ukrainian money. Depreciation in itself would not necessarily be bad news, as it could help actually stimulate exports. The hryvnia is also not any worse off now than other emerging market currencies, which have all been badly hit on the financial markets in recent weeks.

But the drop was surprising since the central bank has been intervening massively on the market, showing it has decided to “loosen its grip”, said Capital Economics, a London-based research group.

“With the devaluation coming against the backdrop of violent political protests and thin foreign exchange reserve coverage, the biggest threat is that the devaluation spirals out of control,” it said. What households will do is a concern as Ukrainians tend to convert their savings into dollars or euros in a crisis situation, particularly when they notice any major shifts in the exchange rates.

Demand for the two currencies is currently double what it would normally be and more falls could increase this trend, creating a vicious circle. The other unknown for the economy will be Russia’s attitude in case the proRussian Yanukovych makes major concessions or is even forced to resign.

Moscow has so far sent only $3.0 billion of the $15 billion it has promised and major change could hinder the deal, plunging the economy once more. — AFP

Jazeera Airways reports net profit of KD16.7m for 2013

EU takes Croatia to book over deficit BRUSSELS: The European Union launched disciplinary proceedings yesterday against newest member Croatia for having an excessive budget deficit, giving it until 2016 to obey the bloc’s rules.

Croatia finds itself in trouble just seven months after it became the 28th member of the bloc amid huge fanfare and great hopes. European finance ministers meeting in Brussels said that Zagreb had to present plans to redress the problem by the end of April and urged it to take “decisive” action to curb spending. EU rules set the ceiling for member states’ annual budget deficit at 3.0 percent of gross domestic product but Croatia’s is running at 5.5 percent.

“We have today opened an excessive deficit procedure for Croatia ... as well as recommendations setting out measures to correct the deficit by 2016,” Greek finance minister Yannis Stournaras, the current chairman of the EU’s Economic and Financial Affairs council, told a press conference.

The EU could potentially impose big fines on the former Yugoslav republic if it fails to cut its deficit within the next two years. EU Economic Commissioner Olli Rehn said Croatia needed to restore confidence in the economy. In the meantime Brussels was in “close and continuous contact with the Croatian government” about its proposals to cut the deficit. “We want to look at them more closely, precisely, before we will make any kind of assessment,” Rehn said.

He added: “We will make profound assessments on whether any progress has been achieved by Croatia by the spring.” Croatia’s highly tourism-dependent economy has been either in stagnation or in recession since 2009, hobbled by a rigid labor market and weak business environment.

forecasting zero growth for 2014 — an improvement but hardly the hoped-for upturn.

“The tendency has become positive for the economy in the last months. Our duty is to support this,” Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said earlier this month.

“All this disorder and appeals for chaos worsen the economic situation for our citizens,” he said. The widening protest movement has brought the centre of the capital Kiev to a halt, with many businesses forced to shut and several ministries blockaded. The movement has also spread out from Kiev and is now affecting a majority of regional governments, raising questions about normal economic activity.

The agriculture ministry, which has been seized by radicals, said the occupation would have “destructive consequences” for the sector. But experts say that the immediate effects of this type of demonstrative protest action on the real economy will actually be relatively limited.

Sologub predicted “short-term pain” but added: “The economy can still revive because fundamentally the

Strategy continues to perform with double digit growth “flagship index ... designed to be a bellwether indicator of the Kuwaiti economy and to track the performance of the Kuwait stock market”.

Jazeera Airways launched two weekly flights to Dubai’s new Al Maktoum International Airport at Dubai World Central. The results reflect the ongoing success of the Group’s Strategic Master Plan (STAMP). STAMP is a business plan for the years 2012 to 2014.

KUWAIT: In a webcast attended by local and international analysts, Jazeera Airways Group yesterday announced a net profit of KD16.7 million for the year 2013, beating once again previous years’ record earnings for three years in-arow despite ongoing regional political unrest and fuel price volatility. Jazeera Airways Chairman Marwan Boodai said, “The year 2013 was an eventful year. In addition to sustaining good results for three years in a row, we were able to secure our funding for three aircraft, essentially closing our lending requirements for two years, we were able to reduce the Group’s debt to equity ratio from 1.7 in 2012 to 1.4 in 2013, and to close the year with the best performance in the Group’s history.” Earlier today, the company’s Board recommended cash dividend to shareholders of 15 fils per share, which will be reviewed in the AGM that is due to be held in the next weeks.

• • • • • • •

• • • •

FY 2013 financial highlights Operating revenue: KD65.6 million, up 4.7 percent from FY2012’s KD62.6 million Operating profit: KD20.6 million, up 11.4 percent from FY2012’s KD18.5 million Net profit: KD16.7 million, up 19.6 percent from FY2012’s KD13.9 million Average yield: up 5.1 percent from FY2012 Q4 2013 financial highlights Operating revenue: KD14.8 million, up 5.9 percent from Q4’12’s KD13.9 million Operating profit: KD3.4 million, up 3.6 percent from Q4’12’s KD3.3 million Net profit: KD2.6 million, up 4 percent from Q4’12’s KD2.5 million Balance-sheet highlights Hard assets of KD158 million Maintained cash and deposits above the KD40 million level Equity improved by KD17 million Debt to equity ratio down to 1.4 from 1.7 in 2012

Established in 2005, Jazeera Airways Group is a Kuwait Stock Exchange-listed company. The company has 14 fullyowned Airbus A320s in operation, distributed between its airline business, Jazeera Airways (eight aircraft), and its fullyowned leasing business, Sahaab Aircraft Leasing (six aircraft). Sahaab has assets placed with Virgin America, SriLankan Airlines, Nasair and Jazeera Airways.

Key 2013 developments Jazeera Airways Group secured funding for the three remaining aircraft on an order of 15 A320s. The structured loan was led by Kuwait’s NBK and DVB Bank SE. As a result of the loan, the company has secured its financial commitments for the next two years.

Jazeera Airways Group received two brand new Airbus A320 from the manufacturer. To date, Jazeera Airways Group has taken delivery of 14 Airbus A320s since 2005, as part of

an order for 15 aircraft of the same type. The remaining aircraft of the order is scheduled to be delivered in May of 2014.

Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) inducted Jazeera Airways into the ‘Kuwait 15 index KSX15’ - an index of the 15 top performers on the KSE. The KSX15 is defined by the KSE as their

2014 outlook Following the last three record-breaking years, the Group is well-positioned for another growth year in line with the Strategic Master Plan (STAMP), which is set to conclude by the end of 2014. During the course of the year, Jazeera Airways Group is planning to place an aircraft order as part of a phased fleet modernization program. Boodai said, “Our business is based on operating new and modern aircraft at all times and we look forward to making an announcement about our fleet modernization program, including the selected manufacturer, in the next six to eight months.”

The airline operates a two-class cabin comprising of a Business Class and an Economy Class. Jazeera Airways’ Business Class offering includes a separate cabin for passengers, exclusive check-in counters, business lounge access at airports, in-flight ‡ la carte menu, and 60 kilograms in free baggage allowance. The airline’s Economy Class offers travelers free baggage allowance of 40 kilograms, free on-board meals with a changing menu every month, and year-round value fares. Jazeera Airways is based in Kuwait and operates a network comprising high-demand business, leisure, family, and weekend destinations such as Dubai, Bahrain, Beirut, Alexandria, Amman, Istanbul, Sharm El Sheikh, Assiut, Luxor, Mashhad, Sohag, Jeddah, Riyadh, Cairo and Al-Najaf. Jazeera Airways is an IATA-member airline and operates one of the youngest Airbus A320 fleets in the Middle East.

Dubai’s GEMS Education to build more schools DUBAI: Dubai schools operator GEMS Education, fresh from a $200 million fundraising, plans to build about six schools a year to take advantage of the United Arab Emirates’ booming private education industry, its finance chief said yesterday. Along with healthcare, education is viewed as one of the fastest-expanding industries in the Middle East as growing populations and burgeoning wealth create demand for high-quality services previously in short supply locally. Expatriates account for the vast majority of the UAE population, with demand for schooling rising alongside a gradual shift from short-term residents chasing tax-free wages to workers settling and bringing up families in the region.

“There’s a much more stable population base here now,” Nicholas Guest, the GEMS Education chief financial officer, told reporters on the sidelines of a company event. “There’s big demand at the primary age group, but people are staying in the UAE longer, so that is filtering through into secondary (education). And people used to send their kids home to boarding school, but less and less of that is happening.” The company,

which has 39 schools catering for about 90,000 students, is aiming to create 10,000 new school places a year. Most will be in the UAE, which accounts for about 95 percent of its business.

Some of the expansion will happen in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Africa, Guest said, but the UAE will continue to represent more than 90 percent of its business. GEMS is the largest education provider in the UAE and Guest said that earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) are expected to continue to grow by about 20 percent a year. The company sold a $200 million sharia-compliant hybrid bond in November and says it can fund its $100-150 million of annual capital expenditure needs through cashflow generation and some property finance.

An initial public share offering could happen in the future but it has no firm plans at this point, Guest said. The sale of a minority stake in the company to an investor is more likely, though there are no talks in progress. “There’s always the option of equity raising,” Guest said, adding that GEMS regularly receives approaches about a possible stake sale.—Reuters

Syrian Pound Nepalese Rupees Malaysian Ringgit Chinese Yuan Renminbi Thai Bhat Turkish Lira

Philippine Peso Sierra Leone Singapore Dollar South African Rand Sri Lankan Rupee Taiwan Thai Baht

EXCHANGE RATES Al-Muzaini Exchange Co.

UAE Exchange Centre WLL

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

2.718 4.591 2.688 2.167 2.888 222.600 36.576 3.643 6.276 8.648 0.271 0.273 GCC COUNTRIES

Saudi Riyal Qatari Riyal Omani Riyal Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham

75.684 77.982 737.270 753.820 77.292

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 253.57 262.97 315.94 387.44 283.25 469.23 2.78 3.644 4.611 2.170 2.890 2.693 77.19 753.89 40.68 403.13 736.63 78.22 75.66

SELL CASH 250.57 263.97 313.94 388.44 286.25 472.23 2.80 3.914 4.911 2.605 3.425 2.790 77.65 755.96 41.28 408.78 743.93 78.77 76.06

2.985 3.880 86.870 47.290 9.625 127.300

Bahrain Exchange Company CURRENCY Belgian Franc British Pound Czech Korune Danish Krone Euro Norwegian Krone Romanian Leu Slovakia Swedish Krona Swiss Franc Turkish Lira

BUY Europe 0.007379 0.458819 0.005977 0.047415 0.378102 0.041998 0.081904 0.008145 0.039845 0.305450 0.130434

SELL 0.008379 0.467819 0.017977 0.052415 0.385802 0.047198 0.81904 0.018145 0.044845 0.314740 0.137434

Australasia 0.240776 0.227712

0.252276 0.237212

America 0.254129 0.279750 0.280250

0.262629 0.284100 0.284100

Asia 0.003570 0.045692 0.034512 0.004273 0.000019 0.002647 0.003389 0.000257 0.083257 0.002984 0.002495

0.004170 0.049192 0.037262 0.004674 0.000025 0.002827 0.003389 0.000272 0.089257 0.003154 0.002775

ARAB COUNTRIES Egyptian Pound - Cash Egyptian Pound - Transfer Yemen Riyal/for 1000 Tunisian Dinar Jordanian Dinar Lebanese Lira/for 1000 Syrian Lira Morocco Dirham

39.700 40.347 1.324 173.300 400.790 1.040 2.022 35.463

EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer Euro Sterling Pound Canadian dollar Turkish lira Swiss Franc Australian Dollar US Dollar Buying

283.700 385.830 468.810 259.560 126.140 312.620 252.350 282.500 GOLD

20 Gram 10 Gram 5 Gram

236.000 120.000 62.000

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

Selling Rate 283.600 261.685 466.275 386.095 311.250 748.845 77.190 78.745 76.495 399.680 40.678 2.168 4.607 2.687 3.643 6.276 696.580 3.715

0.008511 0.000069 0.219253 0.020230 0.001879 0.009418 0.008378

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

Arab 0.746461 0.037574 0.000078 0.000185 0.396139 1.0000000 0.000139 0.023842 0.001202 0.731241 0.077256 0.075057 0.002175 0.168180 0.130434 0.076300 0.001289

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

0.006791 0.000075 0.225253 0.028730 0.002459 0.009598 0.008928

0.754461 0.040674 0.000080 0.000245 0.403639 1.0000000 0.000239 0.047842 0.001837 0.736921 0.078469 0.075757 0.002395 0.176180 0.137434 0.077449 0.001369

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

Transfer Rate (Per 1000) 283.100 385.650 467.600 259.800 4.575 40.345 2.165 3.642 6.265 2.686 753.850 77.100 75.600

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014

BUSINESS

Kuwait’s CMA to bring multifold benefits IAA hopes to open Kuwait chapter soon

By Sajeev K Peter KUWAIT: Kuwait’s market regulator, the Capital Market Authority (CMA), has embarked on a three-to-four-year journey that will bring in multifold benefits for the country as well as the organizations that are operating in Kuwait, said experts attending a panel discussion at a seminar yesterday.

Speaking to Kuwait Times in an interview on the sidelines of the seminar organized by Protiviti Kuwait, Adnan Zakaria, Managing Director, Protiviti, said, “The CMA as the regulator will make a difference in organizations in the country with basic benefits of internal audit starting to appear soon. In terms of reaping the reward, the requirements for these will go live on January 1, 2015, from the perspective of the CMA authority,” he said.

The National Assembly enacted a legislation in Feb 2010 establishing the Capital Market Authority and Regulating Securities Activities (Securities Market) law. The accompanying executive regulations entered into force on March 13, 2011. “This is a preparatory period for organizations to get ready, set up their functions and charters and find heads for their departments. Because, on January 1, 2015, these will become mandatory requirements,” said Zakaria.

The CMA, similar to that of the Security Exchange Commission (SEC) in the US, basically monitors and governs the activities within the Kuwait Stock Exchange as well as regulates the operations of the companies listed on the KSE. Giving an overview of the

Abdulqader Obaid Ali makes a point during the interview.

CMA’s objectives and how it is going to impact the corporate world in Kuwait, he said, “You are not going to see the effects of a regulation and an initiative of this quantum this soon and sudden. You are currently see-

ing the continuation of the great initiative the CMA has taken following the executive decision.”

One of the requirements for CMA regulation is internal audit apart from conditions such as risk management function, compliance department, anti-money laundering systems, etc. “In any organization, the management is its first line of defense followed by risk management. The third is internal audit that acts as the third defense. The whole essence of the internal audit function is that it gives an independent objective assurance on what is going on in an organization. It is independent and not working with the management unlike risk management,” Zakaria said.

Evolution The CMA is also on a learning path, said Zakaria.”The next leg of its journey will take it to internal audit functions through quality assurance review. They review their progress as they move ahead along with the financing community and the corporate world. It is an evolving process,” he added.

Abdulqader Obaid Ali, president, Internal Audit Association, the UAE, underlined the importance and the role played by internal auditing in good governance in the financing community. “We are not

policemen. We are here to enhance good governance and ensure good performance.

We started the journey with a passion to bring about good governance not only in governments, but also in the private sector,” he said.

Adnan Zakaria — Photos by Sajeev K Peter The banks across the GCC, both international and local, follow international standards. All the regulators in the GCC have adopted regulations introduced by the Western world. Similarly, all the listed com-

panies worldwide, by default, will have board of governors and their own internal audit,” Ali said. Ali expressed optimism that soon Kuwait will also have a chapter of the Internal Audit Association. Kuwait and Bahrain are the only Gulf countries without an IAA chapter.

Sanjeev Agarwal, Managing Director, Protiviti, Risk and Business Consulting, said though the Internal Audit Association started its Dubai chapter in 1995, it took 18 years for the chapter to reach where it is today. We hope to establish a Kuwait chapter in two to three years, he added. “Our Kuwait chapter should be up and running in two to three years,” he added.

Stephen Vink, Head of Risk & Internal Audit at Global Investment house, Tanu Goel, Head of Internal Audit at Ahli United Bank, Basil Al-Baker, Head of Internal Audit at Kuwait Middle East Finance Investment Company, Balwant Bains, Head of Internal Audit at Ahli Bank of Kuwait, Mansoor Shastari, Head of Internal Audit at United Real Estate Company, Wissan Alqari and Acting Head of Internal Audit were the others who participated in the panel discussion that addressed the challenges being faced by the internal audit professionals across the globe.

India raises interest rate to curb inflation Rupee jumps from two-month low

ISTANBUL: People walk past a foreign exchange shop yesterday in Istanbul.

The central bank headed into a crisis meeting on raising rates to defend the lira, defying the government which says the economy is doing well. —AFP

Turkey’s central bank signals crisis rate rise ISTANBUL: The Turkish central bank headed into a crisis meeting yesterday on raising rates to defend the lira, defying the government which says the economy is doing well. The lira and stock market rallied in ahead of a decision around midnight. The bank said it was ready to tighten monetary policy in a “lasting way”.

“Nobody should have any hesitation that the central bank will use all available tools,” the bank’s governor Erdem Basci told a press conference.

“The bank will not hesitate to take steps to make lasting tightening in monetary policy if deemed necessary,” he said. “The central bank is independent and can be held accountable...”

The bank also raised its outlook for inflation. Some analysts estimated in July last year when the bank began intervention that it had about $46 billion (34 billion euros available but since then it has spent heavily, using up $4 billion in the last few days alone.

The central bank gave an insight into the cost, saying: “A steep decline in forex reserves may cause other concerns, thus the interest rate weapon should be put into use in this environment.”

Although the lira is the focus of attention, Basci said that the purpose of the meeting was to “ensure price stability.” The bank is expected to raise its overnight rate to at least 9.0 percent.

The meeting comes as Turkey is rocked by a mounting political crisis which threatens Erdogan and the country’s oncebooming economy.

Erdogan reassures The government has applied strong pressure to prevent a rise in base rates, and on Tuesday Erdogan played down the tensions. “The Turkish economy is quite robust and it is pressing ahead in a resilient way,” he told a parliamentary gathering. The government wants rates held down to sustain growth ahead of an election cycle beginning with March local polls.

Until now, the bank has avoided a sharp rise in the base rate, using a big increase in the overnight rate-held at 7.75 percent last week-and intervening heavily on the foreign exchange market.

But these costly measures have failed to protect the lira. The Turkish currency has been hitting record lows almost daily and has lost about 10 percent since mid-December, when a corruption scandal ensnaring key government allies

became public.

Like other emerging market currencies, the lira has also been hit from the US Federal Reserve’s decision to reduce its stimulus measures, of which Turkey has been one of the main beneficiaries.

But amid expectations of an increase in base rates, the currency recovered to 2.2583 on Tuesday, after hitting an all-time low of 2.3331 to the dollar and 3.1950 to the euro.

The main Istanbul stock index, which has lost about 20 percent of its value over the past year, gained 1.26 percent to 65,382.07 points.

Higher interest rates The central bank raised sharply its inflation forecast for 2014 to 6.6 percent from 5.3 percent. The bank assured that inflation would slow from the second half of 2014, but analysts said it was likely to remain high this year. “Core inflation in Turkey is high and, with tax hikes and the weaker lira, inflation is likely to remain persistently high this year,” economist William Jackson at the London-based Capital Economics told AFP. Jackson also said: “As for our expectation from the central bank meeting, it seems that higher interest rates are on the cards.” He said: “It’s always difficult to predict movements in Turkish monetary policy, but our best guess is that it might involve a 100-300 basis point (1.0-3.0 percentage point) hike in the O/N (overnight) lending rate. “For now, though, we suspect that a hike in the O/N lending rate (perhaps to 9.0 percent) is the most likely outcome.”

Neil Shearing, chief emerging markets economist at Capital Economist, also said the meeting had to result in a substantial tightening of policy. “Restoring the oneweek repo rate as the key monetary policy tool, and then hiking it from 4.5 percent to 10 percent would be a good start,” he said.

“Tightening policy via reserve requirements or the operation of the late liquidity window would strengthen the impression that the CBRT is fiddling around the edges and bowing to government pressure to at least appear to keep interest rates low,” he added.

“In many respects, this is a make or break meeting for the bank.” Inan Demir, chief economist at Istanbul-based Finansbank, said: “We think that any rate hike needs to be aggressive enough to push short term rates firmly into double digit territory.” —AFP

MUMBAI: India’s central bank yesterday announced a surprise quarter-point rise in its key interest rate, signalling that taming inflation is the priority rather than spurring growth months before an election.

After a meeting in the financial hub Mumbai, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) lifted the benchmark repo rate, at which it lends to commercial banks, to 8.0 percent. The cash reserve ratio, the amount banks must keep in hand to withstand financial shocks, was left unchanged at 4.0 percent.

The currency rose on the news, firming by about half a rupee to 62.66 rupees to the dollar from Monday’s more than two-month low. The unit has come under renewed pressure amid investor fears about the impact of a rollback in the US Federal Reserve’s easy money policy on India and other emerging markets.

“The decision was a close one this time around,” RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan, who has steered a hawkish course since he took over last year, told reporters. “But we chose to act,” he said, adding, “some aspects of inflation continued to be

sticky despite a fall in vegetable prices that suggested to us some more medicine was required.” The rate hike was unexpected, with

MUMBAI: Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan listens during a news conference at the RBI headquarters in Mumbai. —AFP most economists forecasting borrowing costs would remain on hold, especially after a fall in the widely watched Wholesale Price Index last month to 6.16 percent year-on-year

Spain upgrades economy outlook, sees new jobs MADRID: Spain predicted yesterday a faster-than-expected economic recovery and net job growth in 2014 as it emerges from five years of stop-start recession with a 26-percent unemployment rate.

Economy Minister Luis de Guindos said Spain’s battered economy would generate jobs growth next year, a first since a decade-long property bubble imploded in 2008, ushering in a double-dip recession. “In 2014, the Spanish economy will not only grow-growth in the order of one percent is expected-but Spain will also create net jobs,” De Guindos told a conference in Brussels. De Guindos said he expected the euro-zone’s fourthlargest economy to expand by about 1.0 percent in 2014, compared to an official growth forecast of 0.7 percent. An official revision will not be released until late April, he said. Analysts say the big question remains whether the economy will be strong enough to create jobs for many of the 5.9 million people unemployed in the last quarter of 2013, equal to more than 26 percent of the workforce. Spain’s economy crawled out of recession with 0.1-percent growth in the third quarter of 2013.

But both the government and the Bank of Spain estimate that growth picked up to a better-than-expected 0.3-percent pace in the final quarter, leading to the upward revision for 2014.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s conservative government credits its tough economic reforms and austerity policies for pulling Spain back from the precipice of a full-blown bailout, widely feared in mid-2012. “Two years ago we were on the brink of collapse but thanks to the difficult measures we took internally, the situation is now totally different,” De Guindos said.

“We are beginning to see the results,” he boasted ahead of a meeting of European Union finance ministers. Beside slashing spending to rein in Spain’s yawning public deficits, the government reformed the labor market in 2012 by cutting dismissal costs and making it easier to change work conditions. Raj Badiani, Britain-based senior economist for research house IHS Global Insight, said the Spanish government’s 2014 growth revision was probably justified.

Will growth generate jobs?

But even if the economy grows by 1.0 or 1.5 percent in 2014, it still faces formidable structural problems, he said, citing a lack of jobs growth, falling house prices, bad loans in Spanish banks, rising public debt and an austerity squeeze. “A recovery with growth of 1.0 percent with no employment is really not a spectacular result,” Badiani said in an interview, warning that even Spain’s encouraging export performance could suffer if emerging economies stumble. Christian Schulz, senior economist at German private bank Berenberg, was more optimistic. “Spain is recovering quite nicely, driven by exports and increasingly investment,” he said. —AFP

in December from 7.52 percent in November. Yesterday’s announcement disappointed business leaders, who have been clamoring for a rate cut to spur an economy which has been growing at a decade low.

Chandrajit Banerjee, director general of the Confederation of Indian Industry, said he was “surprised” by the decision. “This is an opportune time to accord a precedence to growth over inflation,” he said. But Rajan said there were still upward pressures on inflation from factors such as rising services prices, which needed addressing “resolutely” even while “recognizing the economy is weak and substantial fiscal tightening is likely” in the January-March quarter.

Madan Sabnavis, chief economist, Care Ratings, said: “Usually the RBI talks about growth and inflation. But this time it was just inflation and inflation. “The signal is, corporates should not expect growth to be driven by interest rate adjustments.” The RBI raised rates in both September and October to fight inflation, but then surprised markets by holding them steady in December even after inflation accel-

erated to a 14-month peak.

According to a macroeconomic report yesterday the central bank expects headline consumer price index inflation to remain above nine percent for the rest of this financial year to the end of March.

“Today’s decision suggests the RBI is not going to be overly focused on the growth angle unless of course (growth) collapses,” said Ashutosh Datar, economist at India Infoline brokerage.

Shares on the Bombay Stock Exchange closed down just 23.94 points or 0.12 percent at 20,683.51 points. India must by hold by May a general election in which the scandal-tainted Congress-led government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is expected to fare poorly.

Singh, a renowned economist, is desperate to see signs of an upturn in the economy, which some analysts forecast will grow below five percent in the year to March-a far cry from near-double digit levels just a few years ago.

The RBI said it expects growth of five to six percent in the financial year 2014-15. Its next policy review will be on April 1. —AFP

Pakistan CB steps up Islamic banking push ISLAMABAD: The central bank of Pakistan is stepping up its push to develop Islamic banking, encouraging lenders to expand their operations in the world’s second most populous Muslim nation.

Pakistan was one of the first countries to introduce Islamic banking at a national level in the 1970s, but the industry’s share of the overall banking system has lagged levels in some other countries.

As of September, Islamic banks held 926 billion rupees ($8.8 billion) of assets or 9.5 percent of the total, up from 8.1 percent a year earlier, central bank data showed. That compares with around 25 percent in the Gulf Arab region. The central bank aims to double the industry’s branch network and reach a 15 percent share of the banking system in the next five years, and is taking fresh steps to achieve that. This month, the central bank named a new deputy governor to focus on Islamic banking and enlisted renowned scholar Muhammad Taqi Usmani to its sharia board, part of efforts to improve consumers’ perception of the industry.

“The emphasis on sharia compliance has increased and there is a demand for more sharia-based Islamic banking rather than simply sharia-compliant banking,” Shakir Ullah, a member of the central bank’s Islamic banking focus group, told Reuters. “I expect that Pakistan will soon become a key player in Islamic banking globally and will probably take the role it played in the 1980s as the pioneer of Islamic banking.”

Sharia-compliant banking merely obeys the industry’s rules, while sharia-based business also follows the spirit of Islamic principles such as an emphasis on transactions based on real economic activity rather than monetary speculation. Last year, the central bank launched a media awareness campaign and said it would revise rules on sharia governance and liquidity management for Islamic banks.

EXPANSION Pakistani lenders currently include five fullfledged Islamic banks and 14 which operate Islamic windows, and some appear to be responding. A number of conventional banks aim to grow or spin off their existing Islamic windows, while new entrants are expected.

One of them is Summit Bank, which last year

said it would convert itself into a full-fledged Islamic bank over a three- to five-year period.

It has 111.9 billion rupees of assets and 187 branches, which at present would make it Pakistan’s second largest Islamic bank after Meezan Bank, taking second spot away from the Pakistani unit of Dubai Islamic Bank.

“Summit is actively working on their groundwork, like finalising manuals, product papers, etc. They will soon convert one of their conventional branches here in Karachi and will start operations,” said a central bank source.

The bank did not respond to Reuters requests for comment.

Other banks plan to expand their existing branch networks. This is seen as key because 56 percent of the Islamic industry’s 1,161 branches are in the five largest cities, leaving smaller cities underserved, the central bank said in a report.

National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) added 10 branches to its Islamic window last year and plans seven more by the end of this quarter, to reach a total of 25, said Zubair Haider, NBP’s group chief of Islamic banking. “Our business plan calls for over 100 branches in the next three years. The environment is quite positive and banks are quite keen to push into Islamic banking.”

Other conventional banks such as Allied Bank will soon offer Islamic banking, while Bank of Punjab opened its first Islamic branch last year, said Haider.

“From an awareness point of view this will help the industry,” he added. This month, MCB Bank was given regulatory approval to spin off its Islamic window into a separate subsidiary with 10 billion rupees in paid-up capital, using its existing 27 Islamic banking branches to form the new entity.

COMPETITION Competitive pressures are expected to increase, said Suleman Muhammad Ali, vice president of product development and sharia compliance at Meezan Bank. “There has been renewed aggressiveness from existing participants like Alfalah Islamic and Dubai Islamic Bank through expansion of branches and revamping of divisions. “This may result in eroding the conventional share in the long term and increase competitiveness among Islamic banks in the near term,” said Ali. —Reuters

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014

BUSINESS

Oil rises to $107 as chill drains US fuel stocks LONDON: Brent crude oil rose to $107 a barrel yesterday as the steepest fall in three weeks prompted buying, but concerns over turmoil in emerging markets and a slowdown in China kept gains in check. Oil also drew support from expectations of a drop in US distillate inventories as consumers burn heating oil during the bitter northern hemisphere winter.

Asian shares remained near five-months lows after a huge selloff in emerging markets on worries over the health of China’s economy and the withdrawal of US monetary stimulus.

“In contrast to equity markets, oil prices have been able to hold their own pretty well so far, partly thanks to the cold snap in the United States, which is generating higher heating demand and likely to result in further

depletion of the already low distillate stocks,” said Carsten Fritsch, senior oil analyst at Commerzbank in Frankfurt.

US light crude oil gained 50 cents to $96.22.

Data from China suggested the world’s second-biggest economy and the powerhouse of global growth over the last decade, may not be recovering as strongly as forecast. China’s factory activity may have cooled in January to a six-month low, a Reuters poll showed, underscoring views that a slowdown has continued into 2014. But US oil inventory data was expected to be supportive. In the middle of the US winter, a forecast fall in distillate inventories is overshadowing a likely rise in crude stockpiles in the world’s top oil consumer. A Reuters survey of analysts, taken ahead of inventory reports for last week from the

American Petroleum Institute (API) and the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), revealed expectations that distillate stocks, including heating oil and diesel fuel, fell by 2.4 million barrels on average.

US crude stocks may have risen about 2.7 million barrels in the week ended Jan. 24, the survey also indicated, gaining for a second straight week. The API will release its figures on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. EST (2130 GMT), while the EIA will publish its data today at 10:30 am EST (1530 GMT).

Investors are awaiting the outcome of a US Federal Reserve policy meeting, at which the central bank is expected to scale back its monthly bond buying further. A rollback will support the dollar, weighing on commodities priced in the currency. — Reuters ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani vendor sells corn to motorists waiting in a long queue to refuel their vehicles with compressed natural gas in Islamabad yesterday. Cashstrapped Pakistan, plagued by a bloody homegrown Taliban insurgency, is battling to get its shaky economy back on track and solve a chronic energy crisis that cripples industry. — AFP

Emerging market rout pauses ahead of Fed LONDON: Emerging markets steadied after three days of intense selling yesterday, as investors waited to see if Turkey, one of the epicentres of the rout, would hike interest rates to defend its battered lira. Investors have been shaken this week as jitters about the withdrawal of US monetary stimulus and slowing Chinese growth have amplified country-specific political turmoil from Turkey to Thailand.

Relative calm in Asia overnight meant European shares and periphery euro zone government bonds were able claw back some recent lost ground, although with this week’s Federal Reser ve meeting approaching confidence remained fragile.

The immediate focus was on whether the central bank of Turkey would bow to market pressure and hike interest rates at an emergency policy meeting later. India surprised markets earlier by doing just that, and despite its reluctance to unsettle Turkish voters ahead of elections this year, a new Reuters poll showed analysts now expect the central bank to lift rates by 225 basis points.

The Turkish lira remained volatile ahead of the decision which will be announced at midnight in Istanbul (2200 GMT). It was trading at 2.2640 lira to the dollar, though it kept some distance from the record low of 2.3900 hit on Monday. Istanbul’s main stock market, which has lost almost 20 percent over the last four months, also rose, climbing 1 percent at one point to help MSCI’s main emerging market index see its first gains in three sessions.

“We think there is room for the central bank to use more conventional monetary policy and that is clearly what the market expects,” said Fergus McCormick, head of sovereign ratings for rating agency DBRS.

Investors also drew comfort from the news that a Chinese trust firm had reached an agreement to resolve a troubled highyield investment product. The deal came just days away from what could have been a precedent-setting default in China’s alternative, non-bank lending system.

“The deal to avert default is a source of relief for many, but it’s a clear warning on the scale of the risks that still remain with other trust products due to mature this year,” said Jackson Wong, Tanrich Securities’ vice-president for equity sales in Hong Kong.

Major currencies marked time ahead of the conclusion of Fed’s two-day policy meeting on Wednesday, with both the euro and the yen down slightly at $1.3650 and 103.12 yen to the dollar respectively.

Despite the market turmoil of the last week, expectations are still for the central bank to slice another $10 billion off the $75 billion it spends each month on buying U.S bonds to help the banking system and economy strengthen.

Johannes Jooste, head of the London investment office at Julius Baer, said the reduction in U.S stimulus was one of the key factors behind the emerging market nervousness.

Investors poured their cash into developing economies when emergency rate cuts during the financial crisis meant US, European and other developed market bonds offered little in the way of interest.

They are now pulling it back out again as the prospects of higher developed market rates re-emerge. “We keep getting asked about EM market valuations and whether they have become cheap enough to make them attractive,” Jooste said. “Our view is basically not.”

Sour apple Slowing sales at gadget giant Apple had soured U.S. markets on Monday, but Asia’s rebound and a rise in first quarter profits at German engineering behemoth Siemens helped European shares off near onemonth lows. Futures prices pointed to Wall Street bouncing 0.4-0.5 percent when trading resumes in New York, with data and company earnings set to enliven the wait until the Fed’s decision.

Fragile five India’s surprise move to hike rates saw the rupee rise 0.7 percent to 62.65 to the dollar and though Mumbai’s main stock market grumbled, benchmark 10-year Indian government borrowing costs improved a shade. Expectations are growing that more emerging central banks will follow suit in a bid to stabilize tumbling currencies that can help exporters but also put upward pressure on inflation. — Reuters

Gold prices steady as markets recover LONDON: Gold prices steadied yesterday, after falling 1 percent in the previous session, as European stock markets rebounded from their lowest in a month and emerging markets stabilised after three days of intense selling. Moves were muted ahead of the start later in the day of a two-day meeting by the US Federal Reserve, which is expected to continue tightening monetary policy.

Policymakers will almost certainly make a second $10 billion cut to the Fed’s $75 billion monthly bond-buying program, analysts said. Expectations that the programmed would be cut were a major factor in gold’s 28 percent price crash last year. Spot gold was down 0.1 percent at $1,254.74 an ounce at 1241 GMT, while U.S. gold futures for February delivery were down $7.40 an ounce at $1,256.20.

“We are looking more and more at the relationship between the movements of the major international stock markets and gold. That seems to be what’s shaping the movement of prices,” Peter Fertig, a consultant at Quantitative Commodity Research, said.

“Last year institutional investors sold gold significantly, because they expected higher returns on equities,” he said. “The precious metals will only profit as an investment vehicle if there is now a reallocation out of stock markets into commodities.” Investors have been shaken this week by a huge sell-off in so-called risk assets due to jitters about the withdrawal of US monetary stimulus, slowing Chinese growth and country-specific political tensions. Emerging markets steadied after sharp falls as investors waited to see whether Turkey, one of the epicentres of the rout, would raise interest rates to defend its battered lira.

European shares rose 0.5 percent.

Major currencies marked time ahead of the end of the Fed’s policy meeting

today, with the dollar edging up 0.2 percent against a basket of major currencies.

Lunar new year Demand for physical gold in China is expected to wind down this week as the Lunar New Year holiday approaches.

China is expected to have taken over from India last year as the world’s biggest bullion consumer. “With the start of the Chinese New Year holiday beginning on Friday, the market will lose a key supporting sector in Chinese physical demand,” MKS said in a note overnight.

Premiums for 99.99 percent purity gold on the Shanghai Gold Exchange slipped to $7 yesterday from $10 in the previous session. Among other precious metals, spot platinum was up 0.6 percent at $1,414.99 an ounce, recovering from the previous session’s three-week low.

Government-brokered talks between South Africa’s AMCU union and the world’s top three platinum producers ended on Monday with no breakthrough in efforts to end a strike, which has hit half of global output of the precious metal. “The strike in the South African platinum mining industry is now into its sixth day, though the platinum price is failing to profit,” Commerzbank said in a note. “On the contrary, it has actually shed nearly 3 percent since the strike began.”

“By their own account, platinum producers had already built up considerable stocks ahead of the strike, allowing production outages to be absorbed. What is more, ETF investors have been exercising greater restraint of late. Since the beginning of the year, outflows have totalled nearly 20,000 ounces.” Silver was up 0.2 percent at $19.72 an ounce, while spot palladium was down 0.5 percent at $716.50 an ounce. — Reuters

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014

BUSINESS

US debt ceiling looms, but battle may not be bitter WASHINGTON: The world’s largest economy once more faces the threat of default unless the US Congress raises the debt ceiling, but feuding between Barack Obama and foes may not push the nation to the brink this time. Republicans on Capitol Hill are keen to avoid a repeat of the kind of crippling fiscal showdown like the one in October that brought the government to the brink of default and prompted a 16-day shutdown.

But, with a budget deal now concluded and campaigns kicking off for mid-term November elections, conservatives are nevertheless staking out their positions with a February debt ceiling deadline looming. They want the Democratic president to agree to debt reduction measures in exchange for any extension of borrowing, and say such a move is simply prudent politics.

The White House calls such efforts “ransom threats.” By law, Congress sets a cap on the level of public debt, beyond which the US Treasury cannot borrow.

Lawmakers regularly raise that ceiling to allow government to pay its bills notably creditors on international financial markets but also the pensions and benefits of Americans and state expenditures. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew has warned that the debt ceiling will be reached in late February.

In October, Congress authorized borrowing through February 7, but Treasury estimates it can use extraordinary measures to provide an additional three weeks of cushion. “I really don’t expect the same kind of melodramatic confrontation as in October,” Steve Bell, senior director of economic policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, told AFP on Monday. In last year’s standoff, Republicans tried in vain to torpedo Obama’s health care

reform law as part of the debt ceiling deal.

The president did not flinch, and Republicans were left licking their wounds.

“When push comes to shove they’re not going to come close to defaulting on the debt again,” Bell added. “They’re going to take a more prudent course.” The White House is signalling once again that it will not waver. “We’re doing it the exact same way we’ve done this from before, which is we were not going to pay them ransom.

Nothing has changed in our position,” White House senior advisor Dan Pfeiffer told Fox News.

But top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell made clear it was “irresponsible” for Obama to ask for a clean debt ceiling hike with the country mired in $17 trillion in debt and counting. “We ought to attach something significant for the country to his request to increase the

debt ceiling,” McConnell told Fox. Waning Tea Party influence After losing by the October fight, conservatives are opting for more modest measures, like legislation to prohibit the government from bailing out insurance companies if they suffer losses within the health care system’s framework. But Bell said it would be highly unlikely for Democrats to cave on any aspect of Obamacare, the president’s signature domestic initiative.

He predicted instead they could move on something that Obama could do with the stroke of a pen: approving construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, on hold for years over environmental concerns.

“We need not have a default,” McConnell said, citing Keystone as a possible element of a deal. But McConnell said the stagger-

ing size of the debt-which at 2013 stood at 106 percent of gross domestic product, according to the Congressional Budget Office-should force spending cuts. With a potential showdown lingering, eyes were on Tea Party conservatives in the House, where the faction’s few dozen intransigent lawmakers have played a key role in congressional paralysis. “We shouldn’t just write a blank check,” Senator Ted Cruz, a Tea Party favorite who coordinates with House conservatives, warned on CBS. The Republican image took a hit from October’s crisis and party leaders sought to re-assert control of the troops, recently backing a compromise that brings some stability back to the budgeting process. House Republicans meet today for a three-day retreat outside Washington. The goal: game out the strategy of the coming weeks and emerge united on the debt-ceiling front. —AFP

Hollande aide dismisses German labor reforms ‘Unemployment turnaround could be months away’

WASHINGTON: An American Airlines plane and a US Airways plane are parked at Washington’s Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington. —AP

American Airlines posts $2bn loss on charges DALLAS: American Airlines reported a $2 billion loss for the fourth quarter because of $2.4 billion in special charges, mostly related to its bankruptcy reorganization and merger with US Airways.

The company said yesterday that excluding those one-time charges, American and US Airways would have earned a combined profit of $436 million, or 59 cents per share.

Analysts, who usually exclude items, were expecting 55 cents per share. The airlines merged on Dec. 9 as American came out from two years under bankruptcy protection and formed a new company called American Airlines Group Inc., the world’s biggest airline operator.

Yesterday’s results were the first from the company and were complicated by the timing of the merger, two-thirds into the quarter. Official figures included less than one

month of US Airways’ operations. The company also gave figures as if the airlines had merged at the beginning of the quarter, and compared those to the separate results of American and US Airways during the same period in 2012.

The combined profit of $436 million, which excluded the one-time restructuring items, compared with a combined loss of $42 million a year earlier. “The early returns on our merger are very positive,” CEO Doug Parker said in a statement. He said the company expected results to improve further in 2014.

American and US Airways will operate as separate airlines with their own fleets and reservations systems for up to two years before phasing out the US Airways brand. In trading before the market opened, the company’s shares were up 52 cents to $30.70. —AP

Pfizer’s 4Q net plunges on charges, sales drop WASHINGTON: Drugmaker Pfizer’s fourth-quarter profit plunged 59 percent because of discontinued operations, restructuring and other charges, and generic competition continuing to bleed sales of former blockbuster medicines.

Despite those pressures and unfavorable curren-

A sign for pharmaceutical company Pfizer Incorporated headquarters is displayed on 42 Street in New York. — AFP cy exchange rates reducing revenue by 3 percent, Pfizer easily topped Wall Street’s expectations.

Pfizer’s stock rose 69 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $30.35 in morning trading. The world’s secondbiggest drugmaker said yesterday that net income was $2.57 billion, or 39 cents per share, down from $6.32 billion, or 85 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, the maker

of Viagra, arthritis drug Xeljanz and pneumonia vaccine Prevnar said net income would have been $3.69 billion, or 56 cents per share. Analysts expected 52 cents.

Net income was reduced by the animal health business spinoff last year and the sale of Pfizer’s nutrition business in late 2012. Revenue totaled $13.56 billion, down 2 percent. Analysts expected $13.36 billion. Sales of primary care drugs fell 10 percent to $3.44 billion, mainly on generic competition for Viagra in Europe and for cholesterol fighter Lipitor.

Lipitor, the world’s top-selling drug until U.S. generic competition hit two years ago, now faces cheaper copycats in Europe and Australia, too.

Those smaller revenues were shifted to the established products unit, where sales edged up 2 percent to $2.42 billion.

Specialty drug sales dropped 7 percent to $3.4 billion, on generic competition overseas for two other drugs. Meanwhile, royalties from immune disorder drug Enbrel fell as Pfizer’s copromotion deal winds down. The bright spot was Pfizer’s fledgling cancer drug business, up 26 percent to $468 million.

New York-based Pfizer forecast 2014 adjusted profit of $2.20 to $2.30. “We enter 2014 with confidence in the competitive positioning of our commercial businesses, the prospects for our recently launched products and the strength of our research pipeline,” CEO Ian Read said in a statement. —AP

PARIS: Francois Hollande has met the architect of Germany’s labor market reforms, an aide to the French president said yesterday, drawing criticism from unions who decried the contact as undue influence from Chancellor Angela Merkel. The aide denied German press reports that Hollande was advised by Peter Hartz in his fight against France’s stubbornly high unemployment during the meeting two months ago.

However, the mere suggestion that Hollande took inspiration from Hartz’s labour reforms, which included reining in jobless benefits and more flexibility on working time, was enough to make unions see red. “The president is always hiding in Angela Merkel’s skirts. He’s got to get out,” said the head of the left-wing CGT union, Thierry Lepaon. “He’s got to stop taking lessons from others.”

Hollande said earlier this month that more needed to be done to fight unemployment and, in a stark shift of policy, announced plans to offer French companies 30 billion euros ($41 billion) of tax breaks by 2017 in exchange for accepting hiring targets.

The Socialist leader cast the plan as an overt move towards more business friendly policies, prompting comparisons from some unions and even Berlin with the reforms former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder pushed through a decade ago. “Peter Hartz wanted to invite the president to a conference. The rest is not true,” the aide said, confirming Hollande met the architect of the reforms that economists credit with turning round the German economy but denying he had been advised by him. Adding fuel to the fire, Sigmar Gabriel, a former protege of Schroeder who is now the vice-chancellor of Germany’s coalition government and in charge of a powerful new Economics Ministry, said at an event in Paris on Monday that Hollande’s plans were “ver y close” to the measures Germany under took in the 2000s under Schroeder.

Hollande’s government was quick to insist that it had its own recipe for bringing down unemployment, running at nearly 11 percent.

French Labour Minister Michel Sapin described Hartz as “interesting”, but added: “I don’t think there is any question of him offering political advice to the president.”

ISTANBUL: French President Francois Hollande delivers a speech at the French Turkish Economy forum in Istanbul yesterday. —AFP BROKEN PROMISE Sapin rejected pressure from the opposition to resign over the government’s failure to get unemployment falling last year as promised, insisting jobless totals had finally peaked. In a setback for Hollande, data showing a rise in jobless claims to record levels in December crushed his promise of reversing a rise in unemployment by the end of 2013. “We didn’t reach the target,” Sapin, one of Hollande’s closest political allies, told France Inter radio. “The overall unemployment trend was not reversed, but we are very close to doing it,” he said, adding that the turnaround could be “a few days, a few months” away.

Sapin seized on the fact that the rise in jobless claims slowed in recent months as a sign that the government’s efforts to fight unemployment were bearing fruit. However, economists say that any improvement was mostly because of statesponsored jobs rather than the strength of the economy, which the government forecasts will

grow a mere 0.9 percent this year.

December’s increase prompted calls from the conservative UMP opposition for Sapin to stand down for not meeting what Hollande had cast as his Socialist government’s top priority.

“That’s just low-ball politics as tends to be the case with Jean-Francois Cope,” Sapin said, referring to the UMP’s president. A monthly survey by the official INSEE statistics agency found that the number of households concerned about unemployment rose again this month, although that did not prevent consumer confidence from rising.

In a further discouraging sign, temporary employment - considered as a bellwether for future hiring trends - eased in December, the Prism’Emploi recruitment association said.

French unions and employers met yesterday in their latest round of negotiations over reforming the heavily indebted state jobless fund with an end-March deadline to wrap up the talks looming. —Reuters

Egypt stimulus package almost ready CAIRO: Egypt will announce details of its second stimulus package since Islamist President Mohamed Morsi was ousted in July within days, its finance minister said yesterday, aiming to boost tepid growth and reassure investors. Egypt’s economy has continued to suffer from investment outflows and a drop in tourism during political turmoil since autocrat President Hosni Mubarak was toppled in an uprising in 2011. The economy grew by just 1.04 percent in the three months through last September from a year earlier, according to

latest central bank data.

In the latest sign of turmoil, a senior Egyptian Interior Ministry official was killed outside his home in Cairo yesterday, putting pressure on the military-backed government as it struggles to contain an Islamist insurgency.

The interim government is trying to give out assurances that the country is safe for investors.

Bolstered by a pledge of more than $12 billion in aid from Gulf countries since Morsi was ousted, the government introduced a 30 billion Egyptian pound ($4.3 billion) stimulus package in 2013

and said it would follow up with a second package, also of around $30 billion, this month.

Finance Minister Ahmed Galal previously said that 20 billion pounds of the new stimulus package would be spent on public investment. The rest would be used to cover a public sector minimum wage being introduced. “It is ready, we just have a part missing with the oil ministry, ... and we’ll announce it within days,” Galal told reporters at an investment conference yesterday.

Army chief Field Marshal Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, who deposed Morsi

Iran eyes Asian, Swiss banks for sanctions-free trade TEHRAN: Iran wants to use Japanese, South Korean and Swiss banks to handle international trade exempted from Western sanctions under a landmark nuclear deal, a senior official said yesterday.

Intensifying US sanctions since 2008, mirrored by the European Union in 2012, had effectively shut Iran out of the international banking system, making all foreign trade difficult. But under the November agreement, which went into effect last week, major powers agreed Iran could set up a financial channel to pay for the import of goods already exempt from Western sanctions.

The same designated banks will be used to handle income Iran receives from the partial easing of EU and US sanctions over the next six months in return for its scaling back of its controversial nuclear program. “Under the Geneva agreement, a banking mechanism is to be designated by the United States and Western countries.. for purchases of food products, medicines and medical equipment,” said

Abbas Araqchi, one of Iran’s top negotiators.

“Banks from Japan, South Korea and Switzerland have been selected,” Araqchi told Iranian media, without naming the banks.

Araqchi said the move would facilitate some 18 billion dollars a year in food and medical imports that are not themselves subject to Western sanctions but which Iran has struggled to make payment for because of the Western banking sanctions.

The same mechanism would be used to handle revenues from the slightly more than one million barrels per day in oil exports Iran is allowed to make under the agreement, which are expected to generate some $15 billion in revenues. It would also handle Iran’s petrochemical exports, now fully exempted from Western sanctions, which were previously running at just over $8 billion a year but which Araqchi said could now rise to $20 billion a year. —AFP

NEW YORK: Trader John Panin (left) and specialist Jay Woods work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange yesterday. Stocks are higher in early trading on Wall Street as the stock market turns positive after three days of losses. —AP

after mass protests against his rule, could also announce within days that he will run for the presidency, a vote he is almost sure to win. Khalil Ibrahim, managing director in asset management at EFG Hermes, said the killing of the Interior Ministry official could unnerve investors.

“They get assurances and this puts them back,” he said. Galal said the government aimed to launch the second stimulus package without increasing the budget deficit, which stood at around 14 percent of gross domestic product in June, the end of the last fiscal year. The government aims to bring the deficit down to 10 percent of GDP by next June.

Galal said the deficit would shrink to 8 percent of GDP within the next two to three years.

Speaking at the same conference, Investment Minister Osama Saleh said that Egypt expects to beat its target of attracting $4 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) in the year ending in June 2014, but did not say by how much. FDI totalled $3 billion in the year ending June 2013, almost $1 billion less than in the previous year. Before the 2011 revolution, Egypt was attracting net foreign direct investment of around $8 billion annually, according to central bank data.

George Kazakos, a partner in Levant Partners, a Greece-based asset management firm, said political turmoil was still a problem for foreign investors.

“There are opportunities in Egypt but only under conditions,” he said on the sidelines of the conference. “I will wait. You have to see the political situation start to settle in order to see foreign investment.” —Reuters

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014

BUSINESS

Basel Manasrah appointed CEO of Zain South Sudan JUBA: Zain Group announced the appointment of Basel Manasrah as Chief Executive Officer of Zain South Sudan, replacing Wassim Mansour, who returns to his role as advisor to the Group CEO after a successful eight-month assignment transforming the new mobile operation.

With 13 years of telecommunications experience, Manasrah joins Zain South Sudan with very strong credentials in commercial, technical and operational aspects after holding several key senior positions within Zain Group since joining the company in 2000, including Chief Operations Officer of Zain Jordan, Marketing and Customer Care Director of Zain Kuwait, Commercial Consultant for Zain Iraq, and Commercial Consultant

Basel Manasrah

of Zain Bahrain prior to the launch of commercial operations.

Under the outgoing CEO, Mansour’s short but comprehensive tenure, Zain South Sudan achieved several milestones including the continued expansion of its 3G network to cover all regions of the country, and the implementation of many new marketing programs that have seen the mobile operation enhance its market leadership in all key areas. In addition, Mansour’s focus on implementing community programs as a core strategy for Zain saw the operator enter several significant partnerships, including with ‘ The Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative’; the ‘Vodafone Foundation Instant Network’, and signing of the United Nations’

Broadband Commission’s Manifesto for Sustainable Development.

Scott Gegenheimer, CEO of Zain Group commented, “With Basel Manasrah now at the helm and the compelling support of Zain Group’s resources in all facets of the business, I am confident that Zain South Sudan will enter a new and prosperous era, playing a key role in the growth of the telecommunications sector and the economic and social development of the newest nation on the planet.”

G e g e n h e i m e r a l s o n o te d, “ We appreciate Wassim Mansour’s effective work in the successful turnaround of Zain South Sudan, fulfilling the mission that was set when he was as s igned the tas k . He leaves the mobile operation ideally positioned

for the new CEO to place a greater focus on commercial and customer centric activities, and lead the business onto the next phase of its development.”

On his part, Basel Manasrah, CEO of Zain South Sudan said, “South Sudan is a promising country on many levels and my objectives are to capitalize on my predecessor’s outstanding work, to continue to expand the network and to further enhance the customer experience and ser vice offerings to the South Sudan market. I am also keen to develop and invest in local talent in order for them to be future leaders and to further strengthen relationships with community leaders and all telecommunication stakeholders.”

Al-Mazaya Holding reports net profit of KD6 million KD26m revenues in 2013 l Total assets stood at KD228m KUWAIT: Al-Mazaya Holding Company (KSC) announced its financial results for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2013. The Kuwait-based company reported total revenues of KD 26 million in 2013, with a net profit of KD 6.0 million, compared to KD 291,000 in 2012. Earnings per share amounted to 10.27 fils in 2013, as compared to 0.5fils in 2012.

Following a board meeting that was held on 26th January 2014 in the presence of the CEO and Members of the Board, Rashid AlNafisi, Chairman of Al-Mazaya Holding, said that Al-Mazaya Holding has taken a giant step forward in its operation by increasing occupancy rate in its income generating projects, a strategy that helped generate an additional amount of KD 4 million in year 2013, a 39 percent growth in the company’s rental revenues. The list of income generating projects includes the DIFC situated Sky Gardens, where occupancy reached an impressive 95 percent, and its flagship Al Mazaya Towers in the heart of the capital of Kuwait which recorded 75-100 percent occupancy, in addition to its other projects in Saudi Arabia and Dubai which already posted 100 percent occupancy.

Speaking about the other side of the company’s activities, namely the projects already sold by the company, Al-Nafisi said that Al-Mazaya was able to achieve good revenues from the sale of residential villas in the Dubai Land situated ‘The Villa’, with many villas already delivered to clients, and from the sale of residential units in Queue Point and office

spaces in Mazaya Business Avenue.

He added that revenues from sale operations were KD21.4 million.

Financial results Speaking about the company’s financial results in 2013, Al-Nafisi said that the company was able to maintain its solid balance sheet, strong operational performance and leading market position, as part of an ambitious strategy, carefully planned and astute objectives and

Rashid Al-Nafisi a longstanding conservative policy that has been maintained since the inception of the company. He affirmed that the company has managed to overcome several challenges and continues making progress as is evident from the recent growth in profit in 2013. He added that the company’s total liabilities to third parties have decreased by 84 percent.

Al-Nafisi revealed that the company’s total assets stood at KD228 million in 2013 compared to KD221

million in 2012. Shareholders’ equity amounted to KD 91 million, 9.2 percent up compared to the KD 83.3 million disclosed in 2012.

Achievements in 2013 Speaking about the major achievements in 2012, Al-Nafisi added that the last period of the year 2013 witnessed a wide work plan to reschedule the credit facilities of the company and convert them into long-term facilities, which has resulted in the decrease of financing expenses by 19.2 percent starting from the beginning of 2013 up until the year end. The company was able to acquire new finance of KD14.75 million from Kuwait International Bank that is used to repay existing dues towards certain conventional banks, as part of the company’s plan to transfer its dues to the banks from conventional to Islamic structure. He added that the company was able to achieve numerous successful deals that significantly contributed to further improving the company’s financial position and increase its assets. AlMazaya Holding completed a swap deal through which the company sold office spaces in Mazaya Business Avenue and acquired Mazaya Tower3, its third tower in the heart of Kuwait, as well as two plots in Queue Point, making a profit of KD600 thousand. Furthermore, Al-Mazaya has reached settlement with contractors, which resulted in profits of over KD1.4 million.

Al-Nafisi added that Al-Mazaya has commenced construction of a KD6 million industrial units project in Bahrain. Upon completion, the project will be to be added to the

list of income generating projects.

The company has recently finalised the licensing process, master plan and designs and has invited bidders for steel works tenders. The project is scheduled for completion by end of 2014.

Speaking about the company’s internal achievements, Al-Nafisi referred to the organizational restructure completed in 2013 in consultation with renowned international firms. Al-Mazaya has established new internal rules and guidelines that serve the interests of internal stakeholders and support the company’s business activities.

Al-Mazaya plan Speaking about Al-Mazaya Holding’s plan for the coming three years, Al-Nafisi said: “After taking all the required provisions during the last five fiscal years, completing most of the projects that were under development and changing them into income generating projects, currently the company is studying a number of new projects that fall in two main categories: income producing projects and those offered for sale. Accordingly, Al-Mazaya had conducted an indepth study of the local, Gulf, and regional markets, in an endeavor to enter the right sectors - sectors where the highest return on investment and the least risk exist. In its three-year plan, the company will capitalize mainly on its previous experience and the current market factors. Al-Nafisi concluded that AlMazaya has still a number of investment opportunities under study, which will see light soon, in compliance with the company strategy.

Air Arabia launches Antalya to mark second Turkish destination SHARJAH: Air Arabia, the Middle East and North Africa’s first and largest low-cost carrier, yesterday announced the launch of nonstop services to the city of Antalya,on the Mediterranean coast, in the South West of Turkey. The new service from the carrier’s primary hub in Sharjah marks Air Arabia’s second destination in Turkey and89thworldwide. FromJuly 29, 2014, Air Arabia will offer three weekly flights to Antalya, making it a convenient holiday destination for passengers travelling from the UAE. “The new regular service to Antalya is a testament to Air Arabia’s commitment to providing affordable holiday destinations to passengers travelling from the UAE,” said, Adel Ali, Group Chief Executive Officer, Air Arabia. “Antalya, our second Turkish destination, is one of the most visited cities in terms of international arrivals, behind Paris and London, and this route provides a great opportunity for visitors to experience the rich culture and beauty of the Turkish

Riviera.” Flights will depart Sharjah International Airport on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 21:30 arriving at Antalya International Airport at 00:45.

Return flights will depart Antalya at 01:25 arriving in Sharjah at 06:25.

The launch of Antalya complements Air Arabia’s seven weekly flights to the historic city of Istanbul, a route launched in 2006. In June 2009, the airline expanded Turkish operations to connect Istanbul to its Casablanca hub in Morocco. Today, the low cost pioneer operates over 4 weekly nonstop ser vices between Istanbul and Casablanca.

Air Arabia (PJSC), listed on the Dubai Financial Market, is the Middle East and North Africa’s leading low-cost carrier (LCC).

Air Arabia commenced operations in October 2003 and currently operates a total fleet of 34 new Airbus A320 aircraft, serving 89 routes from three hubs in UAE, Morocco and Egypt.

Emerging currencies hit as time runs out for US easy-money LONDON: Emerging economies scrambled to prop up their currencies yesterday as time runs out for US Federal Reserve stimulus, exposing them to capital outflows. The prospect of a further tightening of US monetary policy today brings closer the risk that stimulus tapering would vacuum more cash from emerging economies, slow global growth and dent the euro-zone’s recovery.

Several top emerging markets have already suffered from capital outflows as the US central bank curbs its so-called quantitative easing (QE) bondbuying stimulus. That policy had fed flows of US money abroad in search of high returns. The currency turmoil is hurting emerging economies in Asia, Latin America, Russia and South Africa as investors pull out funds out of riskier investments, analysts said.

India’s central bank announced a surprise quarter-point increase in its key rate to 8.0 percent yesterday. The worries over markets such as Argentina, Brazil, India, Russia, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey, Russia and Ukraine come as the euro-zone is emerging from the worst of its sovereign debt crisis.

In addition, Turkey, Thailand and Ukraine have all faced political unrest in recent weeks. The Fed has already cut its stimulus this month by $10 billion (7.3 billion euros) to $75 billion a month on signs of a pick-up in the US economy, the world’s biggest.

Traders are now on tenterhooks to see whether the Fed will announce further stimulus cuts at the conclusion of its two-day monetary policy meeting on Wednesday. Economists are also pricing in tighter monetary policy from the Bank of England (BoE), with Britain’s economic recovery expected to pick up more speed this year.

“Quantitative easing can be likening to a tide of cheap money across risky assets. So, when the tide goes out we can see who is swimming naked,” Rabobank analyst Jane Foley told AFP. “If cheap money is being wound down, emerging market counties will be more exposed.” She added: “These countries rely on foreign savings to finance their deficits and when foreigners lose their nerve and pull their money out, the currencies adjust lower.”

Argentina adds to pressures The turmoil intensified last week when Argentina implemented a sharp devaluation in an attempt to stabilise its peso currency, which held steady yesterday.

However, the fallout of Argentina’s problems and global monetary tightening continued to hit other emerging markets this week, most notably neighbor Brazil where the real currency hit a five-month trough. South Africa’s rand hit a five-year low point on Monday, while Turkey’s central bank called a crisis meeting after its heavy intervention failed to halt a run on the lira.

“The Fed’s decision to taper QE, combined with the increasing likelihood that the BoE is moving closer to tightening monetary policy, is serving to further reinforce investor concerns over external financing for countries such as Turkey and South Africa with elevated current account deficits,” said economist Lee Hardman at The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ in London.

All eyes on Turkey rate decision The beleaguered Turkish lira recovered from alltime lows yesterday amid expectations that the

nation’s central bank will raise interest rates at midnight, a move that could support the lira.

The Turkish lira has plunged further in recent weeks, pressured also by the political crisis rocking Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government.

“Emerging markets continue to be the economic front line in the current market,” said Alistair Cotton, analyst at traders Currencies Direct.

“Fed tapering is driving capital flight and putting downward pressure on many emerging market currencies.” However, despite growing emerging markets turmoil, eurozone nations are not worried about contagion, Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem insisted this week.

“Of course we are worried about this from the perspective of the emerging countries,” said Dijsselbloem, whose Eurogroup comprises the finance ministers of countries that use the single currency. “I am not particularly worried about the risk of contagion. I think the position of the euro-zone is different and that we have to maintain our progress.”

He added that recent tapering of the US stimulus program was partly responsible, but that emerging economies also had to tackle “structural imbalances”.

Analysts expressed caution over the euro-zone outlook. “Dijsselbloem and other politicians probably feel obliged to give reassuring messages to investors,” said Foley. “Although it can not be said with complete certainty that there will be no contagion into the euro-zone, the region’s large current account surplus, the fact that there has been little sign of systematic risk on the euro-zone for a while, and the improving economic data are reassuring.” —AFP

KAMCO is platinum sponsor at 6th annual Charter Award ceremony KUWAIT: KAMCO - KIPCO Asset Management Company - has announced its platinum sponsorship of the 2014 Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Award Ceremony in Kuwait. This is the fifth consecutive year that KAMCO sponsors this event out of its commitment to supporting higher education and financial analysis.

Coming from robust grounds in the fields of investment banking and asset management, KAMCO is constantly on the lookout for opportunities that encourage highlymotivated individuals who are seeking advanced education and are dedicated to ethics and the enhancement of the financial industry. Mohammed Al-Hubail, KAMCO’s Chief Resources Officer, said, “Our goal is to

recognize excellence in the field of finance and to inspire others to strive for outstanding performance. KAMCO embraces many charterholders, and the proficient skills that these individuals have reflect positively on our economy, creating a healthy and ethical financial environment. As such, we continuously provide special training to our employees to maintain the highest professional standards in our organization.”

He added, “As part of KAMCO’s Corporate Social Responsibility Agenda, we are strong supporters of education, which is mirrored through our sponsorship of different activities in the American University of Kuwait, Kuwait University, Gulf University of Science and Technology and Foziya Al-Sultan School.”

Britain grows at fastest annual rate since pre-crisis LONDON: Britain’s economy expanded at the fastest rate last year since before the financial crisis but growth dipped in the final quarter of 2013, official data showed yesterday.

Gross domestic product expanded by 1.9 percent in 2013, the biggest expansion since 2007, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in a statement. GDP had grown by only 0.1 percent in 2012, while the IMF recently said it expect the British economy to grow by 2.4 percent this year.

Economic output meanwhile grew by 0.7 percent between October and December last year compared with the

third quarter of 2013, when GDP increased by 0.8 percent, the ONS added.

Finance minister George Osborne said that overall, yesterday’s data was “more evidence that our long term economic plan is working”. He added in a statement: “But the job is not done, and it is clear that the biggest risk now to the recovery would be abandoning the plan that’s delivering jobs and a brighter economic future.”

Prime Minister David Cameron’s coalition government has embarked on a massive austerity drive since coming to power in 2010, two years after the start of the

financial crisis, in a bid to bring down a record deficit inherited from the previous Labor administration. Britain, which is a member of the European Union but not of the single-currency euro-zone, faces a general election in mid-2015. The fourthquarter growth slowdown meanwhile took the shine off Britain’s recent recovery.

“The 0.7-percent rise in UK GDP in the fourth quarter is a touch disappointing given the recent strength of the business surveys,” said Martin Beck, economist at Capital Economics research group. “But it still takes full-year growth in 2013 to 1.9 percent, the best performance since 2007

and possibly the strongest growth in the G7”, which comprises also the United States, Germany and Japan. In the fourth quarter, Britain achieved increases in output from the industrial and services sectors, while construction fell, according to the ONS data.

The slowdown could meanwhile dampen expectations of the Bank of England raising its main interest rate this year, analysts said yesterday. Bank of England chief Mark Carney last week played down speculation that its key rate was due to rise from a record-low British level of 0.50 percent following a shock fall in unemploy-

ment. The possibility of a rise in the bank’s key rate rose after official data showed that British unemployment fell to 7.1 percent, just above the 7.0 percent threshold that Carney set as a potential trigger for a tightening of monetary policy.

In a note to clients, Barclays said it expected the Bank of England “to start hiking in the second quarter of 2015 given the strong turnaround in the economy and labor market, although ... a hike as soon as 2014 would be premature in the current environment of subdued inflation pressures and would risk choking off the recovery”. —AFP

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014

technology

Report: Spies use smartphone apps to track people LONDON: Documents leaked by former NSA contactor Edward Snowden suggest that spy agencies have a powerful ally in Angry Birds and a host of other apps installed on smartphones across the globe.

The documents, published Monday by The New York Times, the Guardian, and ProPublica, suggest that the mapping, gaming, and social networking apps which are a common feature of the world’s estimated 1 billion smartphones can feed America’s National Security Agency and Britain’s GCHQ with huge amounts of personal data, including location information and details such as political affiliation or sexual orientation.

The size and scope of the program aren’t publicly known, but the reports suggest that U.S. and British intelligence easily get routine access to data generated by apps such as the Angry Birds game franchise or the Google Maps navigation service.

The joint spying program “effectively means that anyone using Google Maps on a smartphone is working in support of a GCHQ system,” one 2008 document from the British eavesdropping agency is quoted as saying.

Another document - a hand-drawn picture of a smirking

fairy conjuring up a tottering pile of papers over a table marked “LEAVE TRAFFIC HERE” - suggests that gathering the data doesn’t take much effort.

INTELLIGENCE COLLECTION The NSA did not directly comment on the reports but said in a statement Monday that the communications of those who were not “valid foreign intelligence targets” were not of interest to the spy agency. “Any implication that NSA’s foreign intelligence collection is focused on the smartphone or social media communications of everyday Americans is not true,” the statement said. “We collect only those communications that we are authorized by law to collect for valid foreign intelligence and counterintelligence purposes - regardless of the technical means used by the targets.”

GCHQ said it did not comment on intelligence matters, but insisted that all of its activity was “authorized, necessary and proportionate.”

Intelligence agencies’ interest in mobile phones and the networks they run on has been documented in several of Snowden’s previous disclosures, but the focus on

apps shows how everyday, innocuous-looking pieces of software can be turned into instruments of espionage.

Angry Birds, an addictive birds-versus-pigs game which has been downloaded more than 1.7 billion times worldwide, was one of the most eye-catching examples.

The Times and ProPublica said a 2012 British intelligence report laid out how to extract Angry Bird users’ information from phones running the Android operating system.

Another document, a 14-page-long NSA slideshow published to the Web, listed a host of other mobile apps, including those made by social networking giant Facebook, photo sharing site Flickr, and the film-oriented Flixster.

It wasn’t clear precisely what information can be extracted from which apps, but one of the slides gave the example of a user who uploaded a photo using a social media app. Under the words, “Golden Nugget!” it said that the data generated by the app could be examined to determine a phone’s settings, where it connected to, which websites it had visited, which documents it had downloaded, and who its users’ friends were. One

of the documents said that apps could even be mined for information about users’ political alignment or sexual orientation.

ANGRY BIRDS Google Inc. and Rovio Entertainment Ltd., the maker of Angry Birds, did not immediately return messages seeking comment on the reports.

The Times’ web posting Monday of a censored U.S. document on the smartphone surveillance briefly contained material that appeared to publish the name of an NSA employee. Computer experts said they were able to extract the name of the employee, along with the name of a Middle Eastern terror group the program was targeting and details about the types of computer files the NSA found useful.

Since Snowden began leaking documents in June, his supporters have maintained they have been careful not to disclose any intelligence official’s name or operational details that could compromise ongoing surveillance. The employee did not return phone or email messages . —AP

Parenting in an iPhone age Toddlers love selfies

MOUNT LEBANON: In this Thursday, Jan. 9, 2014, file photo, a Comcast cable truck works in front of a home. — AP

Comcast gains video subscribers PHILADELPHIA: Comcast Corp. added 43,000 video subscribers in the fourth quarter - the first quarterly gain in six and a half years - as the nation’s top cable TV company said that uptake of its X1 set-top box helped it retain customers and boost video-on-demand spending.

Net income in the three months through December rose 26 percent to $1.91 billion, or 72 cents per share, from $1.52 billion, or 56 cents per share a year ago. However, the increase was partly due to a one-time tax windfall of $158 million.

Excluding the tax gain, earnings per share came to 66 cents, slightly below the 68 cents per share expected by analysts polled by FactSet. Revenue rose 6 percent to $16.93 billion, beating the $16.65 billion expected by analysts.

Philadelphia-based Comcast is rolling out its X1 platform to new customers who sign up for at least three services Internet, video and voice - and to other top customers where it has supplies. The set-top box allows users to navigate a slick interface like a website which can be controlled through mobile device apps and gives access to more content delivered via the Web. For the upcoming Winter Olympics from Sochi, for example,

Comcast is bringing the breadth of NBC’s live online coverage to big screen TVs for the first time through the X1 platform.

The company is likely to caution against too much optimism for a turnaround in video, however.

Cable operators have been losing market share to rival telecoms and satellite competitors for years, and fourth-quarter results are generally boosted by college students re-hooking up TVs as they start school and by higher TV use during cold winter months. For the full year, Comcast still lost 305,000 video customers to end the year with 21.7 million.

It added 379,000 Internet customers to finish the year with 20.7 million.

Overall cable revenue rose 5 percent to $10.66 billion in the fourth quarter.

NBCUniversal posted a 7 percent gain in revenue to $6.46 billion, helped by bigger audiences for broadcast network NBC, which has been bolstered by hits “The Voice,” ‘’The Blacklist” and “Sunday Night Football” from the NFL. The company also said it is boosting its share buyback authorization to $7.5 billion - up from $1.5 billion authorized currently - with $3 billion to be spent in 2014.

It raised its quarterly dividend by 15 percent to 22.5 cents per share. — AP

LOS ANGELES: Every so often, Brandi Koskie finds dozens of photos of her 3-year-old daughter, Paisley, on her iPhone - but they aren’t ones Koskie has taken.

“There’ll be 90 pictures, sideways, of the corner of her eye, her eyebrow,” said Koskie, who lives in Wichita, Kan. “She’s just tapping her way right into my phone.”

The hidden photos, all shot by Paisley, illustrate a phenomenon familiar to many parents in today’s tech-savvy world: Toddlers love selfies.

Observant entrepreneurs have caught on to these image-obsessed tots, marketing special apps that make taking photos super-easy for little fingers. You can even buy a pillow with a smartphone pocket so toddlers can take selfies during a diaper change.

But toddlers aren’t the only ones taking photos nonstop. It’s not unusual for doting parents to snap thousands of digital photos by the time their child is 2. Today’s toddlers think nothing of finding their own biopic stored in a device barely bigger than a deck of cards.

While the barrage of images may keep distant grandparents happy, it’s not yet clear how such a steady diet of self-affirming navel-gazing will affect members of the first truly “smartphone generation.” Tot-centric snapshots can help build a healthy self-image and boost childhood memories when handled correctly, but shooting too many photos or videos and playing them back instantly for a demanding toddler could backfire, said Deborah Best, a professor of cognitive developmental psychology at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC. HARD TO OVERCOME The instant gratification that smartphones provide today’s toddlers is “going to be hard to overcome,” she said. “They like things immediately, and they like it short and quick. It’s going to have an impact on kids’ ability to wait for gratification. I can’t see that it won’t.”

Julie Young, a Boston-based behavioral analyst, has seen that firsthand. She was recently helping her 3-year-old son record a short birthday video for his cousin on her iPhone when he stopped mid-sentence, lunged for her phone and shouted, “Mom, can I see it?”

“It’s caught on the end of the video. He couldn’t even wait to get the last sentence out,” said Young, who has two sons. “ The second the phone comes out, they stop, they look and they attack.”

Now Young and her husband make their sons wait to look at a new video or photo until after dinner or until the other parent comes home, when everyone can watch together. They are careful to sit with their kids when looking at

Google hopes designer frames will sharpen Glass NEW YORK: Google Glass is getting glasses. Google is adding prescription frames and new styles of detachable sunglasses to its computerized, Internet-connected goggles known as Glass.

The move comes as Google Inc. prepares to make Glass available to the general population later this year.

Currently, Glass is available only to the tens of thousands of people who are testing and creating apps for it. Glass hasn’t actually had glasses in its frame until now.

Glass is basically a small computer, with a camera and a display screen above the wearer’s right eye. The device sits roughly at eyebrow level, higher than where eyeglasses would go.

It lets wearers surf the Web, ask for directions and take photos or videos. Akin to wearing a smartphone without having to hold it in your hands, Glass also lets people read their email, share photos on Twitter and Facebook, translate phrases while traveling or partake in video chats.

Glass follows some basic voice commands, spoken after the worlds “OK, Glass.”

The gadget itself is not changing with this announcement. Rather, Google plans to make various attachments available. Starting yesterday, the Mountain View, Calif., company is offering four styles of prescription frames and two new types of shades available to its “explorers” - the people who are trying out Glass.

The frames will cost $225 and the shades, $150. That’s on top of the $1,500 price of Glass. Users can take the frames to any vision care provider for prescription lenses, though Google says it is working with insurance provider Vision Service Plan to train eye-care providers around the US on how to work with Glass. Google says some insurance plans may cover the cost of the frames.

Isabelle Olsson, the lead designer for Google Glass, says the new frames open the spectacles up to a larger audience. She demonstrated the new frames to The Associated Press last week at the Google Glass Basecamp, an airy loft on the eighth floor of New York City’s Chelsea Market. It’s one of the places where Glass users go to pick up their wares and learn how to use them. Walking in, visitors are greeted, of course, by a receptionist wearing Google Glass.

NEW YORK: A prototype of Google Glass frames complete with exposed circuit boards and wiring rests on a table at the Google Glass Basecamp space at Chelsea Market. — AP “We want as many people as possible to wear it,” she said. To that end, Glass’s designers picked four basic but distinct frame styles. On one end is a chunky “bold” style that stands out. On the other is a “thin” design - to blend in as much as possible.

Olsson said Google won’t be able to compete with the thousands of styles offered at typical eyeglasses stores.

Instead, Glass’s designers looked at what types of glasses are most popular, what people wear the most and, importantly, what they look good in.

The latter has been a constant challenge for the nascent wearable technology industry, especially for something like Google Glass, designed to be worn on your face.

When Google unveiled Glass in a video nearly two years ago, it drew unfavorable comparisons to Bluetooth headsets, the trademarks of the fashion-ignorant technophile.

In designing Google Glass, Olsson and her team focused on three design principles with the goal of creating something that people want to wear. These were lightness, simplicity and scalability. That last one means having different options available for different people just as there are different styles of headphones, from inear buds to huge aviator-style monstrosities. —AP

BOSTON: Julie Young, a Boston-based behavioral analyst (center) sits with her sons Nolan, 3 (left) and Jameson, 4 (right) while looking at a smart phone at their home. Child development experts say it’s natural for toddlers to be fascinated with their own image, and that interest plays an important developmental role. — AP photos and have adopted the phrase “practice “Someday it’s all going to come back to bite me or she’s going to come back and say, ‘Wow, patience” as a family mantra.

It’s natural for toddlers to be fascinated with there’s this whole encyclopedia of my whole life.’ their own image (think mirrors), and that interest We’re very plugged in, for better or for worse.”

Still, parents who remember the days before plays an important developmental role as they develop a sense of self, child development iPhones wonder if their children will ever really experts say. Watching a video again and again understand the power of a cherished photocan also help move events from short- to long- graph. Jason Michael, a 32-year-old father of two term memory, Best said. But like any other fun in Denver, has taken so many photos of his 11thing kids get obsessed with, too much of it can month-old son and 4-year-old stepdaughter be bad. Parents should make sure some photos (about 4,000) that his iPhone’s memory has filled show the child with other family members or up three times. His stepdaughter takes plenty of friends. Parents can also sit with kids and narrate selfies and loves to film herself singing favorite songs, then watches the videos again and again. the photo or video as if it were a bedtime story.

“When we read a book to a child, it’s the same thing we do with these photos,” Best said. Koskie VISUAL NOISE has noticed that cuddling in bed on a lazy Michael worries that all that visual noise may Saturday morning and swiping through digital photos is one of Paisley’s favorite activities, and keep them from treasuring that one special it seems to encourage her to ask about her place image that can evoke memories decades later. in the world. They look at photos and videos For him, it’s a photo of himself as an 8-monthtogether on the iPad going back to Paisley’s old baby lying on a pink blanket decorated with birth and “she’ll start to ask questions: ‘When I a rabbit eating a carrot. He remembers the phowas a little tiny baby did I do this? Did I do that?’” to so vividly that he asked his mother for the Paisley and the iPad are almost the same age: blanket when his son was born.

“I know everything about that photo. But She was born two weeks after it came out.

“That’s a base-level, foundation technology for there are 20,000 photos of my kids, so will it her,” said Koskie, who handles marketing and have that same emotional impact for them?” content strategy for the email app EvoMail. Michael said. — AP

Gov’t, Internet companies reach deal on disclosure WASHINGTON: Technology companies and privacy advocates are praising a new government compromise that will allow the Internet’s leading companies to disclose more information about how often they are ordered to turn over customer information to the government in national security investigations. The Justice Department on Monday reached agreements with Google Inc., Microsoft Corp., Yahoo Inc., Facebook Inc. and LinkedIn Corp. that would allow them to disclose data on national security orders the companies have received under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. While the compromise doesn’t allow companies to disclose everything they wished, and allows them to disclose more than the government originally wanted them to, both sides seemed relatively satisfied with the agreement filed with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which has the final say.

REFORMS The five companies welcomed the deal, but said more needs to be done. “We filed our lawsuits because we believe that the public has a right to know about the volume and types of national security requests we receive,” the companies said in a joint statement. “While this is a very positive step, we’ll continue to encourage Congress to take additional steps to address all of the reforms we believe are needed.” Apple said on its website, “We believe strongly that our customers have the right to understand how their personal information is being handled, and we are pleased the government has developed new rules that allow us to more accurately report law enforcement orders and national security orders in the US.”

Federal officials also seemed pleased with the agreement, which follows discussions about government digital spying after leaks about National Security Agency surveillance by former NSA systems analyst Edward Snowden.

“Permitting disclosure of this aggregate data addresses an important area of concern to communications providers and the public,” Attorney General Eric Holder and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said in a joint statement.

Some of those companies signing the agreement were among several US Internet businesses identified as giving the NSA access to customer data under the program known as PRISM. The companies had said they wanted to make the disclosures in order to correct inaccuracies in news reports and to calm public speculation about the scope of the companies’ cooperation with the government. The providers wanted to show that only a tiny fraction of their customers’ accounts have been subject to legal orders.

Following the Snowden leaks, the FBI allowed communications providers to report in a limited way the number of orders for data they received from the government and the number of accounts affected by such orders. However, the FBI only agreed to disclosure of a single, aggregate number of criminal and national security-related orders to the companies from all US governmental entities, plus local and state entities. Under the compromise announced Monday, Internet companies will be able to release more information, but still only in very general terms when it comes to national security investigations. They can report

the number of criminal-related orders from the government. They also will be able to release, rounded to the nearest thousand, the number of secret national security-related orders from government investigators; the number of national security-related orders from the FISA court; and the number of customers affected by both. In the FISA orders, the companies will be able to say the number of requests for personal information about their customers versus their actual emails.

REPORTING PROCESS The companies can also choose a simplified reporting process that allows them to report the number of criminal-related orders; then, national security or intelligence orders in increments of 250; and the total number of customers targeted, also in groups of 250.

The companies will have to delay releasing the number of national security orders by six months. They also had to promise that if they come up with new technology or new forms of communication, they are not able to reveal that the government can tap into that new technology for two years.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., called it a “positive first step.” “Though there is still a great deal of work to do, today’s announcement is good for American companies and the Americans they employ and serve,” he said.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which filed a brief supporting the tech firms in their bid to disclose more information, said the deal “partially” lifted an information gag on the companies. But the group praised the agreement as “a victory for transparency.” — AP

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014

H E A LT H & S C I E N C E Health law tricky for parents of Medicaid kids CONCORD: Families shopping for health insurance through the new federal marketplace are running into trouble getting everyone covered when children are eligible for Medicaid but their parents are not.

Children who qualify for Medicaid, the safety-net program for the poor and disabled, can’t be included on subsidized family plans purchased through the federal marketplace, a fact that is taking many parents by surprise and leaving some kids stuck without coverage. A California man says he was given false assurances that his children could be covered by the same plan he picked for his wife and himself, and a Florida father says his daughter is going without coverage while he waits for answers.

And in New Hampshire, some parents who’ve enrolled in private plans for themselves alone are finding out later that their children aren’t eligible for Medicaid after all, leaving their kids with no options.

“The children are getting stuck in this spot where we’ve enrolled the parent, but we can’t bring the children back on the family plan,” Maria Proulx, senior legal counsel for Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Hampshire, told a state advisory board panel this month.

The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services declined to say how the system is supposed to work for families and what problems have emerged. But a regional manager for CMS acknowledged the problem at the same New Hampshire meeting and said the agency is working on it, as did Proulx in a later interview.

“This is an important issue, and we’re not taking it lightly,” she said. “Even if this impacts only one family ... it’s a big deal and we want to get it resolved as quickly as possible.”

Minimum guidelines The federal government sets minimum guidelines for Medicaid eligibility, but states can choose to expand coverage beyond that. In some states, parents must have significantly lower incomes to gain Medicaid coverage for themselves than they would to get coverage for just their children, either through Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program - also known as CHIP - the low-income health insurance program for children who don’t qualify for Medicaid.

In North Port, Fla., Russell Clouden was thrilled to find a better, cheaper family plan through the new marketplace, then stunned to realize his 14-year-old daughter wouldn’t be enrolled because she might qualify for Florida Healthy Kids, the state’s version of CHIP. The federal government still hasn’t transferred roughly 90,000 Medicaid files over to Florida officials, including Clouden’s daughter’s, so she still doesn’t have insurance.

“Based on your income, they’ll separate your kids from your primary policy and they shift them off to Medicaid or Healthy Kids and there’s no way you can bring them back,” said Clouden, whose daughter is an accomplished equestrian jumper.

“I’m kind of in limbo with her because I’m just hoping she doesn’t get injured or sick,” said Clouden, 53, who runs a restaurant franchise. “Without insurance, you’ve kind of got a knot in your stomach watching her jumping.” Insurance broker Matthew Dinkel in Fort Myers, Fla., said he has about 15 clients in Clouden’s position.

“I have worried parents literally calling and texting me every day asking for an update,” said Dinkel.

“They canceled their old plans that covered their entire family and now they have coverage but their kids don’t.”

Significant coverage Jessica Waltman of the National Association of Health Underwriters said her group has raised the problem, and others, with federal officials and asked for a dedicated hotline or email address for insurance brokers to get answers.

“It’s a nationwide issue that we’ve heard time and again, and it could have very significant coverage issues for families,” she said.

Marc Jobin, a construction consultant in southern New Hampshire, said the process has been so confusing, he’s put off a decision for himself, his wife and their two children, even though he’s seen premiums that are significantly lower than what they pay now.

“We’ve been hesitating for two months now because the information is not clear,” he said.

“Around the holidays, we were thinking, ‘let’s do this, let’s sign up,’ and then the latest problem is now our children will probably be thrown into the state health care system, but nobody knows what that means.”

Mary Ann Cooney, associate commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, urged those awaiting Medicaid decisions to call their state offices directly. She said her office has been getting incomplete application information from the federal government, making it harder to contact people to determine their Medicaid eligibility, but situations are improving and the office is reaching out to hundreds of people each day.

“There’s a real light at the end of the tunnel,” she said. But in the meantime, children are going without coverage. In California, Robert Clark said when he applied by phone through the Covered California marketplace, he was assured that his two children would be on the plan he picked. But he later got separate notices from the insurance company and MediCal, the state’s Medicaid program.

He called Covered California again and was told the person he’d previously talked to there was wrong and that his children had to be enrolled in Medi-Cal. Clark, the president of a Menlo Park technology company, doesn’t like that prospect because the doctors his children have seen since their births don’t take Medicaid.

“It’s pretty frustrating,” he said. “We’ve probably spent several days’ worth of time on hold.”

Instead, he’s exploring whether he can enroll his children in individual, unsubsidized plans through Covered California. He recently found out his original application was “hung up,” so he plans to resubmit a fresh application, but in the meantime has lost out on coverage for January.

“My daughter is in gymnastics,” he said. “If she falls on her head, we need to be covered.” —- AP

HONG KONG: Officials wearing masks and protective suits pile dead chickens into black plastic bags in Hong Kong yesterday. — AFP

HONG KONG: A health worker in full protective gear throws a killed chicken into a rubbish bin after suffocating them by using carbon dioxide at a wholesale poultry market in Hong Kong yesterday. — AP

Hong Kong culls 20,000 birds in H7N9 scare Chicken off menu HONG KONG: A cull of 20,000 chickens was under way in Hong Kong yesterday after the deadly H7N9 bird flu virus was found in poultry imported from mainland China, days before Lunar New Year. Fears over avian flu have grown following the deaths of two men from the H7N9 strain in Hong Kong since December. Both had recently returned from mainland China.

The number of human cases in China this month is 102 with 22 deaths, according to a tally, and the worst-hit province of Zhejiang has closed live poultry markets in major cities there. Officials wearing masks and protective suits piled dead chickens into black plastic bags at Hong Kong’s Cheung Sha Wan market yesterday, where the virus was found, television footage showed.

Cheung Sha Wan-Hong Kong’s only wholesale poultry market —- is now shut for 21 days for disinfection. Vendors are unable to buy live chickens and farmers have nowhere to send their stock, leaving traders and shoppers disappointed in the holiday period. Traditionally Hong Kongers buy a live chicken for Lunar New Year celebrations with family.“I wanted to buy one for my mother for the festival,” one shopper in the city’s bustling Wan Chai Road food market said.

“But now there is none, I will have to buy something else. Live chickens just taste better than frozen chickens.

The texture is different,” said the woman, who gave her name as Monica. At a nearby live chicken stall the normally full cages were empty. “Of course there is inconvenience because we still need to pay the rent and we want to get paid. The sales volume will be affected”, a 59-year-old trader who gave his surname as Law said.

Protest at slaughter The mass cull started at 10:00 am and was set to last for 10 hours, the agriculture department spokesman said.

Chickens would be given a “chemical treatment” to kill them, after which they would be sent to a landfill, he added. The move comes days after Hong Kong introduced widespread testing of imported live poultry following growing public concern over the safety of imports, particularly from the mainland.

Local chicken farmers and wholesalers questioned why chicken imports suspected to contain viruses had not been stopped at border checkpoints, but a government spokesman said that there was nowhere to keep them.

“The government should be held fully responsible. It

should have stopped the chickens at the border until they were confirmed to be clear of bird flu,” wholesaler Cheng Chin-keung told the South China Morning Post yesterday.

“Now the chickens from China get mixed with local chickens in the wholesale market and all of them have to be culled.” He said he would lose HK$5 million ($650,000).

A dozen chicken traders protested outside the residence of Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying on Monday night. But Leung called into question the tradition of buying live chickens for fresher meat.

“In the long run, should we keep the customs of eating live chickens? Hong Kong people should look into this issue,” he told reporters. The H7N9 outbreak began in China in February 2013 and reignited fears that the virus could mutate to become easily transmissible between humans, potentially triggering a pandemic. Hong Kong is particularly alert to the spread of viruses after an outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome swept through the city in 2003, killing 299 people and infecting around 1,800.The city culled 17,000 chickens in December 2011 and suspended live poultry imports for 21 days after three birds tested positive for the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu. — AFP

China’s human H7N9 bird flu cases pass 100 in January

AUSTIN: In this July 18, 2013 file photo abortion rights supporters demonstrate outside the Capitol auditorium in Austin after Gov. Rick Perry signed sweeping abortion restrictions _ being appealed in federal court _ that forced the closure of several clinics by requiring doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. — AP

New Arizona rules would limit abortion drug use PHOENIX : Arizona moved yesterday to implement new abortion rules limiting the use of the most common abortion-inducing drug and requiring doctors to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospitals.

The rules require that the most common abortion-inducing drug be administered only at the FDA-approved dosage no later than seven weeks into a pregnancy, and that both doses be taken at the clinic. The usual dose is lower, decreasing the chance of complications and the cost, and used up to nine weeks. The second dose is usually taken a day later at the woman’s home.

The rules also require that physicians who perform surgical abortions have privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of the clinic and that doctors administering abortion-inducing drugs have admission rights.

It also required abortion clinics to report complications that require ambulance transport of a patient.

The proposed rules published Monday by the Health Services Department were required under a 2012 law passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature and signed by Gov. Jan Brewer. A portion of the law banning abortions after 20 weeks was struck down last year, but the other provisions remain in effect. The new regulations will go into effect April 1.

Most problematic The limits on using the drug mifepristone, commonly called RU-486, are the most problematic of the new rules, said Elizabeth Nash, state issues manager at the

New York-based Guttmacher Institute, a pro-abortion rights research organization. “ This would mean that it would be incredibly difficult to provide medication abortion in Arizona,” Nash said. “They’re both effective, and they’re both safe. But the off-label protocol is simply a better protocol when you consider the costs and the side effects. And the limit with the FDA protocol, that one can only be used up to seven weeks, and the off-label can be used up to nine weeks of pregnancy.”

Cathi Herrod, president of the anti-abortion group Center for Arizona Policy, hailed the new rules.

“The new regulations are important to protect women’s health and safety when they enter an abortion clinic,” Herrod said.

She said following the Food and Drug Administration-approved protocol is the safest use of RU-486, even though many other drugs are used “off-label.”

“In the abortion context, the (FDA) approved a very specific protocol for how women should be given the abortion pill,” Herrod said. “The intent of the Arizona regulations is that this protocol would be followed in order to provide for women’s health and safety when they’re having an abortion.”

Bryan Howard, president of Planned Parenthood of Arizona, said the regulations require “physicians to use an inferior, outof-date method of care for medication abortion instead of the guidelines supported by the most trusted professional and scientific organizations.”—AP

BEIJING: The number of human cases of H7N9 bird flu in China this month has passed 100, according to a tally, as the worst-hit province ordered live poultry markets in major cities to be closed.

H7N9 cases and deaths dropped significantly after the end of June last year but have spiked recently with the onset of winter.

So far this month there have been 102 cases in mainland China, including 22 deaths, according to a tally of reports by local authorities. In the whole of last year, China had 144 confirmed cases including 46 deaths.

The H7N9 human outbreak began in China in February 2013 and reignited fears that a bird flu virus could mutate to become easily transmissible between people, threatening to trigger a pandemic.

But there has been no evidence so

far of sustained human-to-human transmission, say both Chinese authorities and the World Health Organisation.

More than half of this month’s deaths, 12 fatalities, have been in the eastern province of Zhejiang, where state media said Tuesday live poultry markets would be permanently closed in major cities.

Live poultry markets are common in China and elsewhere in Asia, and present an ideal environment for virus spread between birds held together in very high concentrations.

Such facilities will be closed in major cities and affected smaller towns in Zhejiang for three months by February 15, and permanently in major cities from July 1, the Zhejiang Daily said, citing authorities.

It said the “painful” measure was being taken as part of efforts to combat the disease. — AFP

Cruise ship returning to US after illness outbreak KINGSTON, Jamaica: A Royal Caribbean cruise ship headed back to its home port in the US yesterday after hundreds of passengers and crew members fell ill with vomiting and diarrhea during what was supposed to be a 10-day getaway in the sun.

The Miami-based company announced Sunday evening that it was cutting short the Explorer of the Seas’ jaunt in the Caribbean a few hours after officials from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention boarded the ship during its US Virgin Islands port call to investigate the illness.

According to the CDC, 577 out of 3,050 passengers reported being ill during the voyage that left Bayonne, New Jersey, last Tuesday. That’s nearly 19 percent of the vacationers. Forty-nine crew members also got sick.

Royal Caribbean’s medical team said the symptoms were consistent with the common and highly contagious norovirus. It is rarely fatal, but the CDC says it can be serious, especially for youngsters and older adults. The virus spreads quickly in closed quarters through contaminated food or liquids, contaminated surfaces, and direct contact with an infected person.

CDC spokeswoman Bernadette Burden said tests would have to confirm what caused the illness outbreak on the 15-deck ship. Five samples were shipped to the US health agency’s lab Sunday.

“We won’t know for a couple of days what the pathogen is. Cruise ships are unique. It can be difficult to identify a spe-

cific source,” she said in a Monday email.

She said there had been no fatalities and no one was removed from the ship.

An Explorer of the Seas passenger named Arnee Dodd fell ill aboard the ship last week and was quarantined like the other sick people. In a Sunday tweet to The Associated Press, the Connecticut woman said: “We are all better, quarantine is over and ship has been sanitized every day.”

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. said Sunday evening that “new reports of illness have decreased day-over-day, and many guests are again up and about.

Nevertheless, the disruptions caused by the early wave of illness means that we were unable to deliver the vacation our guests were expecting.”

It said a full sanitization program would be carried out after the Explorer of the Seas reached its home port today.

The CDC team of two epidemiologists and one environmental health officer are aboard as the ship sails to New Jersey.

Aubrey Manzo of the online cruise reviews guide Cruise Critic said all the passengers are traveling back to the US on the Explorer of the Seas. “They do not have the option of getting off the ship prior to its arrival” in Bayonne, she said in an email.

Royal Caribbean said it was “taking several steps” to compensate passengers for the shortened trip and the inconvenience.

It also sought to assure customers scheduled for the ship’s next voyage that “all possible measures will have been taken to prevent further problems.” —- AP

H E A LT H & S C I E N C E

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014

DNA from ancient plague points to modern peril Different from the Black Death PARIS: “In some cases death came immediately; in others, after many days,” the historian Procopius wrote as a terrifying disease scythed through Constantinople in 542 AD. “With some, the body broke out with black pustules about as large as a lentil and these did not survive even one day, but all succumbed immediately. Vomiting of blood ensued in many, without visible cause, and immediately brought death.” What Procopius observed first hand was the Plague of Justinian, named after the Eastern Roman emperor he served and who contracted the disease but survived. The first of three plague pandemics to have ravaged humanity, it killed between 25 and 100 million people across Asia, North Africa and Europe.

After an initial two-year rampage, it returned in waves before mysteriously disappearing in the middle of the eighth century.

Using DNA teased from 1,500-year-old teeth of plague victims buried in Germany, scientists have reconstructed the genetic profile of the killer and say its ability to mutate is a warning for people today.

Reservoir of germs The strain of Yersinia pestis germ which caused the Plague of Justinian was different from the strain that triggered the Black Death

in the 14th century, killing an estimated 30 million Europeans, they found. It is also distinct from the Y. pestis strain that caused a third outbreak of plague in the late 19th century, and which was likely to have been a genetic offshoot from the Black Death microbe.

The evidence confirms, as expected, the role of rats as the germ’s “reservoir” or natural source, according to a paper published in the journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases.

It also throws up new avenues for exploring the dynamics of plague: why a pandemic erupts and dies out, and how a novel strain emerges, becoming a threat against which the immune system has no defence.

“We know the bacterium Y. pestis has jumped from rodents into humans throughout history, and rodent reservoirs of plague still exist today in many parts of the world,” said Dave Wagner, an associate professor in the Center for Microbial Genetics and Genomics at Northern Arizona University. “If the Justinian plague could erupt in the human population, cause a massive pandemic, and then die out, it suggests it could happen again.”

Wagner added: “Fortunately we now have antibiotics that could be used to effectively treat plague, which lessens the chances of another large scale human pandemic.”

‘Intrinsically high virulence’ The samples used in the research came from two individuals buried in a mediaeval graveyard in Aschheim, Bavaria, and whose remains were dated to around 504 and 533 AD respectively. Assembling their genomes is a feat, for they are the DNA codes of the old-

est pathogens obtained to date.

Comparing the mediaeval strain to 131 Y. pestis bacteria in a database of the Black Death and 19th century plagues, the investigators concluded the Plague of Justinian came to the West out of Asia, as did the two later pandemics. The 6th-century germ came

HAMILTON: In this Jan 17, 2014 photo provided by McMaster University, graduate biology student Jennifer Klunk examines a bone sample at McMaster University’s Ancient DNA Centre in Hamilton, Canada. Scientists say two of the deadliest pandemics in history were caused by strains of the same plague and warn new versions of the bacteria could spark future outbreaks. —- AFP

equipped with a tool kit “of intrinsically high virulence,” they write.

Helped by trade, poor hygiene and lack of immune defence among the host populations, this made the bacterium extraordinarily lethal, killing up to 40 percent of those it infected.

Less clear, though, is whether the pandemic germ was a cataclysm that almost literally came out of nowhere, or the culmination of a buildup-possibly over centuries-from isolated outbreaks. As to why the plague disappeared and re-emerged seven centuries later, two theories are held. One is that after infecting so many people, levels of immunity built up in the population, making it difficult for the germ to spread successfully. Another is natural variation in climate which disrupted the conditions in which the germ spread. Before each of the three plague pandemics, there was a spell of exceptional rainfall, and the climate was also unstable when these outbreaks ended, the study says. Plague remains a background problem in some countries. Between 1,000 and 2,000 cases of plague are reported to world health watchdogs each year, although this figure is probably conservative, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). —AFP

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014

W H AT ’ S O N Announcements Maha Quizzer Middle East ITCAA-Kuwait announces the second edition of Maha Quizzer ME - Kuwait, extension of Maha Quizzer, the annual solo quiz conducted by Karnataka Quiz Association (KQA) simultaneously across several Indian cities. This is a solo open general written quiz contest for participants, irrespective of age, nationality or affiliation.

The quiz is on 31st January 2014, from 2 to 3.30 pm with centers in Salmiya, Ahmadi & J’leeb Shyoukh. Special prizes for ladies and students. For further details & free online registration log on to http://www.nitcaakuwait.org/mahaquizzer Hurry!!!

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TIES Center - Where cultures meet IES Center cordially invites all those interested to the following events: Qur’an Quotes and Tafseer class: On Monday Februay 3, 2014 we we will focus on Surat Al-Qadr (The Night of Honor and Decree) at 7 pm. After listening to the recitation of that Surah, I (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 setting with the aim of reflecting and pondering over the verses of that Surah. After that, we will focus on the lessons that we learn from that Surah. If you are intereted, TIES Center is the best place to visit today Monday February 3, 2014 at 7 pm.

Lecture on stress: Lecture entitled, “Can I Love an Alien?” by Suzanne Rechlin. Learn to get the love and support you want by learning to understand the innate difference between men and women in how we communicate, think, and handle stress. Bridge the gap between you and your significant other and discover a variety of new and practical ways to create a lifetime of love and harmony. If you are interested in the topic, TIES Center is the best place to visit on Tuesday February 4 at 7:00pm. Susanne Rechlin is a preschool principal by profession who likes to see individuals and couples be the happiest and most content they can be through understanding each other’s differences and makes those work for them instead of against them. She believes that many challenges in a relationship may be overcome by not expecting the other person to behave according one’s own pattern.

Albanian Cultural Day: In cooperation with the Albanian embassy, the TIES Center will be hosting an Albanian cultural day. The activities will include a presentation about tourism and life in Albania, recitation of poetry related to the country’s rich traditions, a gallery of photos, and some delicious traditional food. This event promises to be exciting, educational, and entertaining. When?

Thursday, February 13 from 6:00pm to 8:30pm

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Advisory to Indian nationals in Kuwait 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 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).

Ambassadors praise 2014 HORECA Kuwait

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everal ambassadors underlined the economic importance of the 2014 HORECA Kuwait exhibition which features more than 50 participating companies in the hospitality, food industry and catering fields.

“The exhibition plays an important role in touristic development and boosts cooperation between companies which in turn gets the economy moving”, said Abdul-Ahad Embake, the Dean of Diplomatic Corps and Ambassador of

Senegal to Kuwait.

Meanwhile, the Japanese Ambassador Toshihiro Tsujihara said that the exhibition provides a ‘comprehensive vision’ to cope with the developing market “as it boost communication between decision makers, manufactures and market requirements”. The Iraqi Ambassador Mohammad Bahrululom appreciated the exhibition and hoped that similar events are held in his home country. On the other hand,

Lebanese Ambassador Dr. Khedhr Helwe pointed out that the exhibition is a “successful example for cooperation between the private sector in Kuwait and Lebanon”.

Ambassadors of Malaysia, the Netherlands, Palestine and Turkey also commended the event which is organized by the Leaders Group in cooperation with Hospitality Services Company. The event takes place at the Badriya Ballroom in the Jumeirah Hotel, and concludes today.

Sabah Al Ahmed Center wins awards

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ix students from the Sabah Al Ahmed Center for Giftedness and Creativity won awards in the ‘Smart Brain’ World Program competition which takes place in Chiang Mai, Thailand through January 31, 2014 featuring 800 students from around the world.

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Santhwanam anniversary anthwanam Kuwait announces its 13th anniversary-cum-Annual General Body meeting on Friday, 31st January at Abbasiya United Indian School Auditorium at 5 pm.

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Sixth form students at BSK enter Carnival Al-Khayal

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he Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah (DAI) has come to represent the very best of cultural activities within Kuwait.

Founded in 1983 by Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah and his wife, Sheikha Hussa Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah to house their private art collection, the DAI now hosts musical and drama productions, the Junior Docents and most recently the Carnival Al-Khayal. The DAI is an internationally recognised cultural organization, ensuring that all facets of society have the opportunity to experience and get involved in cultural activities.

The first Carnival Al-Khayal took place on 18 January 2014 at the DAI Americana,

housed in what was formerly the American hospital. Open to secondary schools across Kuwait, students had the opportunity to participate in a variety of challenges; mechanical, classical, structural, simulation and technical. Accompanied by Miss Patricia Whelan and John Lambert, students from Years 12 and 13 at The British School of Kuwait entered two challenges, the structural and mechanical respectively.

The team of Year 12 students, led by Abbas Ali had to construct a tower out of wooden tongue depressors; those used by a doctor. The depressors had to be glued together and the tower then gradually loaded up with weights, theoretically, until

it destructs. Thankfully, the supply of weights was exhausted and the tower remained intact, despite its burden of 68KG. To liven up the challenge the team had to present their challenge through a movie and skit. The BSK movie showed a secret agent, incarcerated by his captors and psychologically tormented by his guards who ate their way through 100 ice creams. He used the discarded sticks to build the tower; just high enough to reach a window and secure his freedom much to the amusement of the audience.

Zeyad Al-Tamimi and the Year 13 students used their creativity to construct an ancient lock. Using just wood and screws

they designed an ingenious combination lock that would not have looked out of place on a pair of huge old wooden doors.

Again, through the production of a movie that chronicled the lock’s design and construction, the audience were able to understand the internal working of what initially appeared such a simple device.

Both teams thoroughly enjoyed their involvement, from design and construction to teamwork and the final presentations that enabled them to compare notes and share anecdotes with the other participating teams. This is certainly an event that will become part of the annual BSK calendar.

Harlem brasserie’s Johnson celebrates West African cuisine SEND US YOUR INSTAGRAM PICS

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

Write to us Send to What’s On upcoming events, birthdays or celebrations by email: local@kuwaittimes.net Fax: 24835619 / 20

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oseph “JJ” Johnson, chef de cuisine at The Cecil, an Afro-Asian-American brasserie in Harlem, was seven years old when he saw a TV commercial for the Culinary Institute of America and announced that he would attend the famous cooking school.

“My mother laughed,” said the Pennsylvania-born chef whose love of cooking was fired in the kitchen of his Caribbean grandmother. “But 10 years later I went to school there,” he added.

Stints in trendy New York eateries like Jane and the Tribeca Grill followed graduation. Last year, Johnson travelled to Ghana to study West African cuisine. The Cecil opened in September.

Johnson, 29, spoke to Reuters about the restaurant’s cuisine, which integrates the culinary traditions of the African diaspora with traditional Asian and American dishes, taking risks in the kitchen and the future of Harlem as a food destination.

Q: What is Afro-Asian American cuisine?

A: Afro-Asian American cuisine focuses on the migration of Western Africans. It’s a bit of a history lesson. The Chinese migrated into Western Africa and influenced the African cuisine with their grains and rices, and the Africans migrated into the Caribbean and into the United States.

Q: What characterizes it?

A: The spices, the merging of flavors and being able to take Asian characteristics and flavors and African spices and merging them together in a dish. It’s the vision of Alexander Small, one of the owners (of The Cecil). We’re using local ingredients and fish that is in season, and we’ll use an African grain, say, and merge these things together.

Q: Did you always want to be a chef?

A: I was always in the kitchen with my grandmother, sometimes eating things

like beets and butternut squash that I hated then but love to cook now. What drew me I think was that my grandmother used to make it fun. There was always music playing and smiles.

Q: You’ve worked in some very trendy restaurants. Do you think Harlem is becoming a food destination?

A: I think it should be and I think it is coming along. A few places, like The Cecil, are bringing a lot more awareness to the community ... People dine very early on weekends here. They’ll come in between 5:00 p.m. and 9, finish eating and go downtown, probably to go out or see a show.

Downtown, people would eat mainly between 9 and 11. We get a lot of people from downtown now, but more development needs to happen in the next few years and it will be more of a destination.

We have two or three places where people come to eat. Everything else is Mom

and Pop, but it’s getting there.

Q: Which ingredients do you always have at hand?

A: The foundation of our cuisine is onion, garlic, ginger, chili, black garlic, really mild curry, pink peppercorns, palm sugar ...

Q: Is it spicy?

A: No. I give you hints of spice but I’m all about balance.

I think you should get some sweet and some spicy flavors in all your dishes.

Q: What’s your best advice to home cooks?

A: Put a little more imagination into it.

Experiment with flavors you can merge together. Sometimes it might not work, but try it. If you think things might go well together, they probably will. Sometimes cooking is about taking a risk and not just cooking inside the borders. —Reuters

W H AT ’ S O N

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014

Embassy Information

Fire trucks arrive to the scene during the drill.

Firefighters in action during the evacuation drill.

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-augcc.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

EMBASSY OF INDIA

Firefighters during the training.

The evacuation drill in motion.

The Avenues holds evacuation drill

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he Avenues management, in collaboration with Emergency Medical Services - Ministry of Public Health, organized a successful evacuation drill yesterday morning. The drill was jointly exercised with other entities to include Kuwait Fire Service Directorate, General Civil Defense Department, and General Department of Traffic.

The evacuation drill reflects The Avenues management endeavors in raising high awareness of crises management through exercising high measures of safety and security during these conducted evacuation drills in order to implement preventative procedures and limiting number of causalities in times of emergencies and disasters for the safety of The Avenues visitors

along with the staff and tenants as well.

Commenting on this event, The Avenues management emphasized the importance of exercising such periodic drills as part of its commitment towards enhancing health, safety and security measures to The Avenues visitors in times of crises and emergencies along with loss or casualties prevention management.

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: S.No. Type of visa Duration No. of entries Revised Indian Visa fee in KD(*) w.e.f 01.01.2014 (i) Business 5 Years Multiple 63.500 (ii) Business 1 Year Multiple 38.500 (iii) Tourism 6 months Multiple 13.500 (iv) Medical 1 year Multiple 38.500 (v) Student Period As required 24.500 of study (*) In addition, a service charge of KD 3 will also apply for each visa service provided w.e.f 17.12.2013.

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. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF SOUTH AFRICA

US universities to visit Kuwait on Feb 12

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n Wednesday, February 12, 2014, from 6-9 pm, admissions representatives from a diverse selection of United States colleges and universities will visit the Marina Hotel for a US University Fair hosted by Linden Educational Services. Perspective students will have the opportunity to speak face-to-face with representatives from these institutions and gather important information about degree options, the application process and possible scholar-

ship opportunities.

The fair is free and open to the public, but students who register online at linden.trcrent.com will have instant access to the fair, giving them more time to interact with the university officials.

Additionally, Linden is expanding its program to include panel discussions this season. These presentations are designed to provide valuable information on a variety of pertinent topics such as Choosing a University, Essay Writing as well as to

answer a wide range of applicant questions. For more details on these sessions, please visit www.lindentours.com University representatives visiting Kuwait this year represent a variety of schools in the United States, from large, public universities to small, private colleges. The range of academic programs at these schools is also extensive with degrees in business, engineering, the sciences, health fields, and fine artsand liberal arts. To learn more about participat-

ing universities and to register for the fair, please visitus online at www.lindentours.com or www.facebook.com/LindenFairs.

Remember to print your registration barcode and bring it with you to the Marina Hotel opposite the Marina Mall on Arabian Gulf Road.

For more information about this university fair, contact AMIDEAST/Kuwait by phone at 965-2247-0091 ext. 6819/6820 or by email at Kuwait@amideast.org

K’S PATH WEEKLY ADOPTION

DMCP organizes last clean-up for 2013-14

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ow’s Marine Conservation Program (DMCP) will hold its last clean-up for year 2013-2014 on Friday January 31, 2014 at Sulaibikhat beach, fondly dubbed by volunteers as ‘Mangrove’ beach for its high ecological value as home to mangroves, flamingo, gerboa, several species of lizard and beetle, and many species of migratory bird. This fragile intertidal zone running down Sulaibikhat along the bay of Kuwait sees high tidal deposition of terrestrial marine waste, mostly plastic (PET, HDPE and PS/Styrofoam).

Dow’s Marine Conservation Program has worked relentlessly to protect the habitat at Sulaibikhat since April 2011, having conducted a total of 55 clean-ups at this site to date. In 2013-14, DMCP held eight cleanups at Sulaibikhat, engaging total 325 volunteers from 12 different volunteer groups and educational institutions including American International School (AIS), Al-Bayan Bilingual School (BBS), Kuwait National English School (KNES), Universal

American School (UAS), American University of Kuwait (AUK), Kuwait English School (KES), The I Am Challenge Group, representatives of the US Embassy, Kuwait’s Motorbikers Club, K’S PATH and en.v. One of DMCP’s noteworthy accomplishments is mangrove regrowth along a 20 meters by 5 meters stretch of formerly barren beach which was cleared of close to 2000 kgs topsoil plastic waste by a group of 20 volunteers from American International School and K’S PATH in 2011. By summer 2012, the once-barren stretch had given way to new plant growth which withstood seasons and still flourishes.

To date DMCP has cleared over 14 tons of terrestrial marine waste from Sulaibikhat. In 20132014, DMCP cleared 4912 kgs (close to five tons) waste across 518 heavy duty garbage bags from the same stretch as well as Kubbar island across 8 clean-ups conducted over a total of 22 hours. The Friday, January 31 clean-up will be held from 8 am to 10 am and will see the participation of four student volunteer groups from:

(1)The American International School, led by their Environmental Club head Prof Elsa Baptista: Total approx 15 students and teachers (2) The Bayan Bilingual School, led

by Prof (to be confirmed): Total approx 30 students and teachers (3) The Universal American School, led by their Green Studies/Sustainability/Green Ambassadors head Natalie Moore: Total approx 15 students and teachers (4) The ARTronauts, a group of university students and graduates who create art with a social message, led by their mentor Prof Roma Soni of Box Hill University: Total 15 members, who will create a live art installation using samples of plastic waste found at the beach in Sulaibikhat Other groups lending their support to the clean-up include en.v and K’S PATH. The clean-up operation will be complemented by a photo-exhibit on the beach of before-after progress images from site as well as species of flora and fauna documented at this precious ecosystem over the years.

South African citizens, who are out of the country who are not already registered and wish to apply for registration to vote in the upcoming general elections, are hereby invited to apply for registration.

Registration is open daily during working hours from 08h30 to 15h30 at the SA Embassy at Villa No 3, House No 91, Street 1, Block 10, Salwa.

The last day for registration will be 7 February 2014.

In addition, special registration will take place on Friday, 24 January 2014, from 09h00 to 13h00, for those SA citizens who are not yet registered and cannot come to register during normal working hours.

To be eligible to register at the SA Embassy, a person must: l Be a SA citizen and be 16 years of age and older; l Submit a valid green bar-coded Identity Document, a valid Temporary Identity Certificate (valid for 2 months) or a Smart Card; l Submit a valid SA passport; and l Submit in person the application form, (available from the IEC website or at the Embassy), the identity document and a valid passport.

NOTE: If you are already registered to vote in SA but are now living abroad, you are NOT required to re-register - please check your registration status on www.elections.org.za. For any further enquiries, please phone Tel: 25617988 during working hours or visit the IEC Website at www.elections.org.za. Special Registration Officers at the Embassy are: First Secretary, L van der Walt and Third Secretary, MC Kekae. nnnnnnn

F

aro is a 4 year-old male Shepherd mix. He is super sweet and friendly, loves his walks and cannot wait to play his favorite game - fetch!

He would do best in a home with kids over 5. For more information about Faro call (+965) 67001622 or email info@kspath.org.

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 +965-2227-1673).

5. If you need to change or cancel your appointment, please do so 24 hours beforehand, as a courtesy to other applicants. For more information, please visit the US Embassy website - kuwait.usembassy.gov - as it is the best source of information regarding these changes. nnnnnnn

M

andy is a 4 year-old female Persian mix.

She is affectionate, mellow and loves some precious lap time! She would be a sweet addition to a family with kids over 10. For more information about Mandy call (+965) 67001622 or email info@kspath.org.

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.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014

TV PROGRAMS 00:25 00:50 01:45 02:35 03:25 04:15 05:05 05:30 05:55 06:45 07:35 08:00 08:25 09:15 10:10 11:05 12:00 12:55 13:20 13:50 14:15 14:45 15:40 16:30 17:30 18:25 18:50 19:20 19:45 20:15 21:10 21:40 22:05 23:00 23:55

Steve Irwin’s Wildlife Warriors Animal Cops Houston Killer Crocs Untamed & Uncut Wildest Africa Bondi Vet Steve Irwin’s Wildlife Warriors Steve Irwin’s Wildlife Warriors Animal Cops Houston Roaring With Pride Swamp Brothers Monkey Life Bondi Vet Wildest Islands Growing Up...

Wildest Africa Animal Cops Phoenix Monkey Life Swamp Brothers Outback Rangers Outback Rangers Into The Pride Wildest Africa My Cat From Hell Wildest Islands Steve Irwin’s Wildlife Warriors Steve Irwin’s Wildlife Warriors Meet The Sloths Meet The Sloths Bondi Vet Steve Irwin’s Wildlife Warriors Steve Irwin’s Wildlife Warriors Wildest Africa Wildest India Wild Alaska

00:15 Doctors 00:45 Last Of The Summer Wine 01:15 Moone Boy 01:40 Life On Mars 02:30 Absolutely Fabulous 03:00 Stella 03:45 Last Of The Summer Wine 04:15 The Weakest Link 05:00 Me Too! 05:20 Nina And The Neurons: In The Lab 05:35 Bobinogs 05:45 Boogie Beebies 06:00 Garth And Bev 06:10 Poetry Pie 06:15 Me Too! 06:35 Nina And The Neurons: In The Lab 06:50 Bobinogs 07:00 Boogie Beebies 07:15 Garth And Bev 07:25 Poetry Pie 07:30 The Weakest Link 08:15 Last Of The Summer Wine 08:45 Moone Boy 09:15 Eastenders 09:45 Doctors 10:15 The Fat Fighters 11:05 Tess Of The D’urbervilles 12:00 The Weakest Link 12:45 Last Of The Summer Wine 13:15 Moone Boy 13:40 Eastenders 14:10 Doctors 14:40 The Fat Fighters 15:30 Tess Of The D’urbervilles 16:25 The Weakest Link 17:10 Eastenders 17:40 Doctors 18:10 The Fat Fighters 19:00 One Foot In The Grave 19:30 Absolutely Fabulous 20:00 Stella 20:45 Alan Carr: Chatty Man 21:30 The Office 22:00 The Shadow Line 23:00 The Weakest Link 23:45 Eastenders

00:00 00:55 01:40 02:30 03:15 03:40

Homes Under The Hammer Cash In The Attic Come Dine With Me MasterChef Australia MasterChef Australia Rachel Khoo’s Kitchen

Notebook: London 04:05 Fantasy Homes By The Sea 04:50 Cash In The Attic 05:35 Bargain Hunt: Famous Finds 06:20 Homes Under The Hammer 07:15 Fantasy Homes By The Sea 08:00 Bargain Hunt: Famous Finds 08:45 Homes Under The Hammer 09:40 Masterchef: The Professionals 10:25 Tareq Taylor’s Nordic Cookery 10:50 Tareq Taylor’s Nordic Cookery 11:20 Rachel Khoo’s Kitchen Notebook: London 11:45 Come Dine With Me 12:35 Gok’s Fashion Fix 13:25 Fantasy Homes By The Sea 14:10 Antiques Roadshow 15:00 Homes Under The Hammer 15:55 Homes Under The Hammer 16:45 Bargain Hunt: Famous Finds 17:30 Cash In The Attic 18:20 Antiques Roadshow 19:15 Homes Under The Hammer 20:10 Baking Mad With Eric Lanlard 20:35 Baking Mad With Eric Lanlard 21:00 Rick Stein’s French Odyssey 21:30 Come Dine With Me 22:20 Antiques Roadshow 23:15 Bargain Hunt: Famous Finds

00:30 Bear’s Mission Everest 01:20 Driven To Extremes 02:10 River Monsters 03:00 Man, Cheetah, Wild 03:50 Border Security - Series 6 Specials 04:15 Auction Kings 04:40 Baggage Battles 05:05 How Do They Do It? 05:30 How It’s Made 06:00 Sons Of Guns 07:00 Man, Cheetah, Wild 07:50 Alaska: The Last Frontier 08:40 Fast N’ Loud 09:30 Border Security - Series 6 Specials 09:55 Auction Kings 10:20 Baggage Battles 10:45 How Do They Do It? 11:10 How It’s Made 11:35 Bear’s Mission Everest 12:25 Driven To Extremes 13:15 River Monsters 14:05 Border Security - Series 6 Specials 14:30 Auction Kings 14:55 Baggage Battles 15:20 Finding Bigfoot 16:10 Fast N’ Loud 17:00 Ultimate Survival 17:50 Dirty Jobs 18:40 Glory Hounds 19:30 Sons Of Guns 20:20 How Do They Do It? 20:45 How It’s Made 21:10 Auction Kings 21:35 Baggage Battles 22:00 What Happened Next?

22:25 What Happened Next?

22:50 Head Games 23:40 Mythbusters

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

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

07:10 07:35 07:55 08:20 08:45 09:05 09:30 09:55 10:15 10:40 11:05 11:25 11:50 12:15 12:35 13:00 13:25 13:45 14:10 14:35 15:00 15:25 15:50 16:10 17:00 17:20 17:45 18:10 18:30 18:55 19:20 20:05 20:30 20:50 21:15 21:40 22:00 22:25 22:50 23:10 23:35

A.N.T. Farm Gravity Falls My Babysitter’s A Vampire Jessie Good Luck Charlie Dog With A Blog Shake It Up Austin And Ally A.N.T. Farm Dog With A Blog 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 Mako Mermaids Dog With A Blog Jessie Jessie Good Luck Charlie Dog With A Blog Violetta Jessie 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

00:00 Chelsea Lately 00:30 The Spin Crowd 00:55 The Spin Crowd 01:25 Style Star 01:50 Style Star 02:20 THS 03:15 Extreme Close-Up 03:40 Extreme Close-Up 04:10 E!ES 05:05 THS 06:00 THS 07:50 Style Star 08:20 Fashion Police 09:15 Scouted 10:15 Married To Jonas 10:40 Chasing The Saturdays 11:10 The Drama Queen 12:05 Fashion Police 13:05 Extreme Close-Up 13:35 THS 14:30 Style Star 15:00 Kourtney And Kim Take Miami 16:00 E!ES 17:30 E! News 19:00 Live From The Red Carpet 21:00 Fashion Police: The 2014 Grammy Awards 22:00 E! News 23:30 Chelsea Lately

00:15 00:40 01:05 01:30 01:55 02:20 02:45 03:10 03:35 04:00 04:25 Feasts 04:50 05:40 06:30 06:50 07:10 08:00 08:25 08:50

Unique Eats Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Tastiest Places To Chowdown Easy Chinese: San Francisco Charly’s Cake Angels Unwrapped Unwrapped Unwrapped Unique Eats Unique Eats Andy Bates American Street The Next Iron Chef Chopped Unwrapped Tastiest Places To Chowdown Food Network Challenge Luke Nguyen’s Vietnam Roadtrip With G. Garvin Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives

Neil Young honored at Grammy event

N

SIGHTSEERS ON OSN MOVIES COMEDY HD 09:15 The Next Iron Chef 10:05 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 10:30 Amazing Wedding Cakes 11:20 Easy Chinese: San Francisco 11:45 Andy Bates American Street Feasts 12:10 Tastiest Places To Chowdown 12:35 Grill It! With Bobby Flay 13:00 Reza, Spice Prince Of India 13:25 Charly’s Cake Angels 13:50 Siba’s Table 14:15 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 14:40 Healthy Appetite With Ellie Krieger 15:05 Food Network Challenge 15:55 Roadtrip With G. Garvin 16:20 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 16:45 Chopped 17:35 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 18:00 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 18:25 Symon’s Suppers 18:50 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 19:15 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 19:40 Siba’s Table 20:05 Reza’s African Kitchen 20:30 Tastiest Places To Chowdown 20:55 Roadtrip With G. Garvin 21:20 Chopped 22:10 Food Network Challenge 23:00 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 23:25 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 23:50 The Next Iron Chef

00:00 Rebuilding Titanic 01:00 Apocalypse: The Second World War 02:00 Battleground Brothers 03:00 Untamed Americas 04:00 Aftermath 05:00 Raptor Force 06:00 Untamed Americas 07:00 World’s Toughest Fixes 08:00 Rebuilding Titanic 09:00 Apocalypse: The Second World War 10:00 Battleground Brothers 11:00 Untamed Americas 12:00 Aftermath 13:00 Dino Death Trap 14:00 Air Crash Investigation 15:00 World’s Toughest Fixes 16:00 Rebuilding Titanic 17:00 Convoy: War For The Atlantic 18:00 Battleground Brothers 19:00 Wild Russia 20:00 One Ocean 21:00 Animal Autopsy 22:00 Wild Russia 23:00 Mystery Files 23:30 Mystery Files

THE TASK ON OSN MOVIES HD ACTION

00:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 01:00 The Colbert Report 01:30 Girls 02:00 Family Guy 03:30 Melissa & Joey 04:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 06:00 Two And A Half Men 07:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 09:30 The Crazy Ones 10:00 Trophy Wife 11:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 12:00 Two And A Half Men 14:00 Melissa & Joey 14:30 The Crazy Ones 15:00 Trophy Wife 15:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 16:00 The Colbert Report 16:30 Two And A Half Men 17:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 18:30 How To Live With Your Parents 19:00 Guys With Kids 19:30 Hot In Cleveland 20:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno

21:00 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 21:30 The Colbert Report 22:00 Girls 22:30 Family Guy 23:30 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

Heist 18:00 20:00 22:00 23:30

Super Buddies Dragon Hunters Supertramps Krazzy Planet

15:00 17:00 19:00 22:00

01:00 03:00 05:00 07:00 09:00 11:00 13:00 15:00 17:00 19:00 21:00 22:45

Beastly-PG15 Arthur Christmas-PG Playdate-PG15 Fastest-PG15 Remember Sunday-PG15 Here Comes The Boom-PG15 Klitschko-PG15 Red Dawn-PG15 Remember Sunday-PG15 Gambit-PG15 The Possession-PG15 The Bourne Legacy-PG15

00:00 02:00 04:00 06:00 08:00 10:00 11:45 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00

Crisis Point-PG15 Cash-PG15 Paranorman-PG Barnyard-PG Just Crazy Enough-PG15 Gnomeo & Juliet-PG Jack Reacher-PG15 Burden Of Evil-PG15 Just Crazy Enough-PG15 Moonrise Kingdom-PG15 Colombiana-PG15 The Campaign-18

C.S.I. New York The Ellen DeGeneres Show Twisted Hannibal

00:00 The Task-18 02:00 Breaking Point-18 03:45 Snow White And The Huntsman-PG15 06:00 Special Ops-PG15 08:00 The Rescue-PG15 10:00 Sins Expiation-PG15 12:00 Broken Path-PG15 14:00 The Rescue-PG15 16:00 Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows-PG15 18:15 Broken Path-PG15 20:00 How I Spent My Summer Vacation-PG15 22:00 Fertile Ground-18

00:15 Sightseers-18 02:00 Superbad-18 04:00 Hit List-PG15 06:00 Another Stakeout-PG15 08:00 Falling Star-PG15 10:00 I Don’t Know How She Does It-PG15 12:00 Hit List-PG15 14:00 Daddy Day Camp-FAM 16:00 I Don’t Know How She Does It-PG15 18:00 Mad Buddies-PG15 20:00 Calendar Girls-PG15 22:00 Your Sister’s Sister-18

01:30 03:15 05:00 07:00 09:00 11:00 13:00 15:00 17:00 19:00 21:00 23:00

My Own Love Song-PG15 One Angry Juror-PG15 Class-PG15 Love Takes Wing-PG15 My Own Love Song-PG15 The Speed Of Thought-PG15 A View From Here-PG15 Virtual Lies-PG15 A Woman-PG15 Gone-PG15 Albert Nobbs-18 The Bang Bang Club-18

01:00 L.A I Hate You-18 03:00 Citizen Gangster-PG15 05:00 Broken-PG15 07:00 Courage-PG15 09:00 Someday This Pain Will Be Useful To You-PG15 10:45 Prosecuting Casey AnthonyPG15 12:15 George Harrison: Living In The Material World-PG15 15:45 The Wild Girl-PG15 17:30 Prosecuting Casey AnthonyPG15 19:15 Dreaming Of Joseph LeesPG15 21:00 The Whistleblower-18 23:00 The Paperboy-18

01:00 02:45 04:30 06:00 08:00 10:00 11:30 13:00 14:30 16:00

Kim The River Of Peace The Land Before Time Jelly T Fly Away Home Teo: The Intergalactic Hunter Super Buddies Santa’s Magic Crystal Jelly T Supertramps Home Alone: The Holiday

02:30 PDC World Darts Championship 05:30 Cricket ODI Series Highlights 06:30 Futbol Mundial 07:00 Top 14 09:00 Top 14 Highlights 09:30 Futbol Mundial 10:00 ICC Cricket 360 10:30 Cricket ODI Series Highlights 11:30 Live Cricket Twenty20 15:00 Top 14 17:00 LV Cup 19:00 LPGA Tour 20:00 PGA European Tour Weekly 20:30 Inside The PGA Tour 21:00 Futbol Mundial 21:30 Trans World Sport 22:30 ICC Cricket 360 23:00 Cricket ODI Series Highlights

00:00 02:00 03:00 03:30 05:30 06:30 07:00 08:00 09:00 11:00 13:00 13:30 14:00 17:00 19:00 22:00

NHL Trans World Sports Futbol Mundial LV Cup Trans World Sports ICC Cricket 360 Cricket ODI Series Highlights Trans World Sports LV Cup NHL Futbol Mundial Top 14 Highlights HSBC Sevens World Series NHL Darts LV Cup

02:30 Top 14 Highlights 03:00 ICC Cricket 360 03:30 Trans World Sport 04:30 PGA Tour Highlights 05:30 PGA European Tour Highlights 06:30 Top 14 Highlights 07:00 Golfing World 08:00 Asian Tour Highlights 09:00 PGA Tour Highlights 10:00 PGA European Tour Highlights 11:00 Top 14 13:00 LV Cup 15:00 Golfing World 16:00 Asian Tour Highlights 17:00 PGA Tour Highlights 18:00 Futbol Mundial 18:30 HSBC Sevens World Series 21:30 Top 14 Highlights 22:00 European Tour Weekly 22:30 Inside The PGA Tour 23:00 LPGA TOUR highlights

eil Young is still rockin’ in the free world.

The legendary 68-year-old musician was celebrated Tuesday night by the producers and engineers wing of the Recording Academy.

Young received his award on stage during the group’s seventh annual Grammy week celebration at The Village, a historic Los Angeles recording studio that’s hosted the likes of the Beach Boys, Mariah Carey, Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, Eric Clapton and Elton John.

The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences honored Young for his artistic creativity, philanthropic efforts and sonic integrity for a career that’s spanned more than four decades, including his time with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.

“You’re honoring me, you’re honoring yourself,” Young told the crowd of music industry professionals. “It’s not me. It’s you.” Young recalled working on the recording of his 1975 song “Like a Hurricane” at The Village and lamented the rise of digital recording. He also used his acceptance speech to plug his upcoming high-fidelity audio service Pono, which translates to “righteousness” in Hawaiian.

The singer-songwriter, who’s sometimes referred to as “the godfather of grunge,” didn’t pick up his guitar at the event, but Dave Matthews made a surprise appearance to pay tribute to the musician.

Accompanied by only his guitar, Matthews crooned the folk song “Rye Whiskey” and played Young classics “My My, Hey Hey” and “ The Needle and the Damage Done.” “As a person, you’re one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met in my life,” Matthews said after performing the trio of tunes. “I hope that I’m half the inspiration to people that you have been to me.”

Other artists in attendance at Tuesday’s event included Colbie Caillat, Kris Kristofferson and Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Young and his band Crazy Horse’s recent album “Psychedelic Pill” is up for best rock album at Sunday’s Grammys against Black Sabbath’s “13,” David Bowie’s “The Next Day,” Kings of Leon’s “Mechanical Bull,” Led Zeppelin’s “Celebration Day” and Queens of The Stone Age’s “... Like Clockwork.”

Meanwhile, fFolk music has always been hard to nail down to a certain style or sound.

This year’s nominees for best folk album at the Grammy Awards prove there’s also no age limit for musicians in this category, either.

At just 22, singer and mandolin player Sarah Jarosz represents the genre’s steady growth in popularity among younger fans. She counts fellow nominee, 72-year-old singer-songwriter Guy Clark, among her influences growing up in Texas.

“I think the coolest part this year has been actually being in these categories with some people that I really love, some musicians that are really good friends and heroes of mine,” Jarosz said. “And that’s kind of the coolest part, to get to share in the excitement with them, you know.”

Jarosz earned one of her two nominations for her album “Build Me Up From Bones.” Clark, the West Texas songwriter who penned such country hits as “L.A. Freeway” and “Desperados Waiting for a Train,” is nominated for his album “My Favorite Picture of You.” Other nominees in the folk album category include a bluegrass band, The Greencards, and an indie folk duo, The Milk Carton Kids.

Jarosz started learning the mandolin at 10 and had a record deal by 16. Her first album, released in 2009, also was nominated for a Grammy.

“I think all these kinds of awards are really exciting and fun and a big honor,” Jarosz said.

“But I think for me to have that happen so early on, it was like, ‘OK, that is really great,’ but it just made me want to work harder to keep growing and keep moving even further and pushing myself as an artist and musician.”

Clark said that the wide swath of music and backgrounds nominated in this year’s folk category is fitting for the genre. “That’s what folk music is,” he said. “That’s what it’s supposed to be.”

This is the seventh time Clark is up for a Grammy. He joked that he faced Bob Dylan each time before. But Dylan’s not nominated: “So I think this year I’ll send him a thank you note.” — AP

Classifieds WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014

Kuwait

SHARQIA-1 PHILOMENA (DIG) RAZE (DIG) JAI HO (DIG) (HINDI) PHILOMENA (DIG) PHILOMENA (DIG) RAZE (DIG)

2:00 PM 4:00 PM 6:00 PM 9:00 PM 11:00 PM 1:00 AM

SHARQIA-2 THE NUT JOB (DIG-3D) THE LEGEND OF HERCULES (DIG) FROZEN (DIG-3D) THE NUT JOB (DIG-3D) THE LEGEND OF HERCULES (DIG) THE LEGEND OF HERCULES (DIG) THE LEGEND OF HERCULES (DIG)

12:30 PM 2:15 PM 4:15 PM 6:30 PM 8:30 PM 10:30 PM 12:30 AM

SHARQIA-3 HOMEFRONT (DIG) JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT (DIG) RIDE ALONG (DIG) JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT (DIG) RIDE ALONG (DIG) RIDE ALONG (DIG)

1:45 PM 3:45 PM 6:00 PM 8:00 PM 10:15 PM 12:15 AM

MUHALAB-1 PHILOMENA (DIG) HOMEFRONT (DIG) PHILOMENA (DIG) JAI HO (DIG) (HINDI) PHILOMENA (DIG)

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MUHALAB-2 JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT (DIG) RIDE ALONG (DIG) JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT (DIG) RIDE ALONG (DIG) RIDE ALONG (DIG)

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MUHALAB-3 THE LEGEND OF HERCULES (DIG) THU+MON THE NUT JOB (DIG-3D) FRI+SAT THE NUT JOB (DIG-3D) RAZE (DIG) THE LEGEND OF HERCULES (DIG) THE LEGEND OF HERCULES (DIG)

1:45 PM

KNCC PROGRAMME FROM THURSDAY TO WEDNESDAY (23/01/2014 TO 29/01/2014) 10:45 PM 12:45 AM

PHILOMENA (DIG) PHILOMENA (DIG)

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360ยบ- 3 FROZEN (DIG-3D) FROZEN (DIG) FROZEN (DIG-3D) RAZE (DIG) RAZE (DIG) RAZE (DIG)

MARINA-1 THE WOLF OF WALL STREET (DIG) PHILOMENA (DIG) HOMEFRONT (DIG) PHILOMENA (DIG) PHILOMENA (DIG) THE WOLF OF WALL STREET (DIG)

1:45 PM 4:15 PM 6:15 PM 8:15 PM 10:15 PM 12:15 AM

AL-KOUT.1 THE NUT JOB (DIG) THE NUT JOB (DIG) HOMEFRONT (DIG) PHILOMENA (DIG) PHILOMENA (DIG) THE WOLF OF WALL STREET (DIG)

2:00 PM 4:00 PM 5:45 PM 7:45 PM 9:45 PM 11:45 PM

MARINA-2 RIDE ALONG (DIG) JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT (DIG) RIDE ALONG (DIG) JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT (DIG) RIDE ALONG (DIG) RIDE ALONG (DIG)

1:30 PM 3:30 PM 5:45 PM 7:45 PM 10:00 PM 12:05 AM

AL-KOUT.2 RAZE (DIG) THE LEGEND OF HERCULES (DIG) RAZE (DIG) THE LEGEND OF HERCULES (DIG) THE LEGEND OF HERCULES (DIG) THE LEGEND OF HERCULES (DIG) RAZE (DIG)

1:00 PM 3:00 PM 5:00 PM 7:00 PM 9:00 PM 11:00 PM 1:00 AM

MARINA-3 THE NUT JOB (DIG-3D) THE LEGEND OF HERCULES (DIG) FROZEN (DIG-3D) THE NUT JOB (DIG-3D) THE LEGEND OF HERCULES (DIG) THE LEGEND OF HERCULES (DIG) THE LEGEND OF HERCULES (DIG)

1:00 PM 2:45 PM 4:45 PM 7:00 PM 8:45 PM 10:45 PM 12:45 AM

AL-KOUT.3 JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT (DIG) FROZEN (DIG) RIDE ALONG (DIG) JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT (DIG) RIDE ALONG (DIG) RIDE ALONG (DIG)

1:45 PM 4:15 PM 6:30 PM 8:30 PM 10:45 PM 12:45 AM

AVENUES-1 JAI HO (DIG) (HINDI) JAI HO (DIG) (HINDI) JAI HO (DIG) (HINDI) JAI HO (DIG) (HINDI) JAI HO (DIG) (HINDI)

12:30 PM 3:30 PM 6:30 PM 9:30 PM 12:30 AM

AL-KOUT.4 12 YEARS A SLAVE (DIG) HOW I LIVE NOW (DIG) HOW I LIVE NOW (DIG) HOW I LIVE NOW (DIG) HOW I LIVE NOW (DIG) 12 YEARS A SLAVE (DIG)

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AVENUES-2 HOW I LIVE NOW (DIG) HOW I LIVE NOW (DIG) HOW I LIVE NOW (DIG) HOW I LIVE NOW (DIG) HOW I LIVE NOW (DIG)

2:15 PM 4:30 PM 6:45 PM 9:00 PM 11:15 PM

BAIRAQ-1 THE NUT JOB (DIG-3D) THE NUT JOB (DIG-3D) THE NUT JOB (DIG-3D) THE LEGEND OF HERCULES (DIG) THE LEGEND OF HERCULES (DIG) THE LEGEND OF HERCULES (DIG) THE LEGEND OF HERCULES (DIG)

12:30 PM 2:30 PM 4:30 PM 6:30 PM 8:30 PM 10:30 PM 12:30 AM

BAIRAQ-2 PHILOMENA (DIG) THE WOLF OF WALL STREET (DIG) FROZEN (DIG) PHILOMENA (DIG) PHILOMENA (DIG) RAZE (DIG)

1:15 PM 3:30 PM 6:00 PM 8:15 PM 10:15 PM 12:15 AM

BAIRAQ-3 RIDE ALONG (DIG) JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT (DIG) RIDE ALONG (DIG) JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT (DIG) RIDE ALONG (DIG) JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT (DIG)

1:30 PM 3:30 PM 5:45 PM 7:45 PM 10:00 PM 12:05 AM

RIDE ALONG (DIG) JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT (DIG) FANAR-5 RAZE (DIG) PHILOMENA (DIG) RAZE (DIG) PHILOMENA (DIG) PHILOMENA (DIG) RAZE (DIG)

1:45 PM 3:45 PM 5:30 PM 7:30 PM 9:30 PM

FANAR-1 THE NUT JOB (DIG) THE LEGEND OF HERCULES (DIG) THE NUT JOB (DIG) THE LEGEND OF HERCULES (DIG) THE LEGEND OF HERCULES (DIG) THE LEGEND OF HERCULES (DIG) THE LEGEND OF HERCULES (DIG)

1:30 PM 3:15 PM 5:15 PM 7:00 PM 9:00 PM 11:00 PM 1:00 AM

AVENUES-3 JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT (DIG) JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT (DIG) JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT (DIG) JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT (DIG) JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT (DIG) JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT (DIG)

1:30 PM 3:45 PM 6:00 PM 8:15 PM 10:30 PM 12:45 AM

FANAR-2 HOW I LIVE NOW (DIG) FROZEN (DIG) HOW I LIVE NOW (DIG) HOW I LIVE NOW (DIG) HOW I LIVE NOW (DIG) THE WOLF OF WALL STREET (DIG)

1:15 PM 3:45 PM 6:00 PM 8:00 PM 10:00 PM 12:05 AM

AVENUES-4 RIDE ALONG (DIG) RIDE ALONG (DIG) JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT (DIG) RIDE ALONG (DIG) RIDE ALONG (DIG) RIDE ALONG (DIG)

1:45 PM 4:00 PM 6:15 PM 8:30 PM 10:45 PM 1:00 AM

FANAR-3 HOMEFRONT (DIG) HOMEFRONT (DIG) JAI HO (DIG) (HINDI) JAI HO (DIG) (HINDI) HOMEFRONT (DIG)

2:00 PM 4:15 PM 6:15 PM 9:15 PM 12:15 AM

360ยบ- 1 THE LEGEND OF HERCULES (DIG) THE LEGEND OF HERCULES (DIG) THE LEGEND OF HERCULES (DIG) THE LEGEND OF HERCULES (DIG) THE LEGEND OF HERCULES (DIG) THE LEGEND OF HERCULES (DIG)

1:00 PM 3:15 PM 5:30 PM 7:45 PM 10:00 PM 12:15 AM

FANAR-4 RIDE ALONG (DIG) RIDE ALONG (DIG) RIDE ALONG (DIG) JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT (DIG) RIDE ALONG (DIG)

12:30 PM 2:30 PM 4:30 PM 6:30 PM 8:45 PM

360ยบ- 2 PHILOMENA (DIG) PHILOMENA (DIG) PHILOMENA (DIG) PHILOMENA (DIG)

1:30 PM 3:45 PM 6:00 PM 8:15 PM

10:30 PM 12:45 AM 1:45 PM 4:00 PM 6:15 PM 8:30 PM 10:30 PM 12:30 AM

Nissan Pathfinder, 2003 model, white, in good condition. Please call 97277135.

Mitsubishi Lancer 2011, GLX, dark grey color, excellent condition, km 53,000.

KD 1,800. Tel: 66729295.

(C 4628) 27-1-2014 2012 Mazda 2, white exterior, beige interior, mileage 52,000, price KD 1,500. Tel: 99748591, 99240654.

(C 4626) 25-1-2014

ACCOMMODATION One spacious furnished bedroom neat and clean available with all facilities, phone, coolplex and Internet upon request.

Central AC building, 1 no common toilet looking for couples without kids or decent executive bachelor non-smoking and nondrinking. Preference for south Indians. Contact George 99072651. (C 4627) 27-1-2014

BABY SITTING Baby sitting, behind Dar AlQuran, Farwaniya. Contact: 66246403.

27-1-2014 CHANGE OF NAME

PLAZA EZHU SUNDARA RATHRIKAL (DIG) (Malayalam) 6:00 PM JAI HO (DIG) (HINDI) 9:00 PM LAILA JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT (DIG) THE LEGEND OF HERCULES (DIG) RIDE ALONG (DIG)

FOR SALE

6:00 PM 8:15 PM 10:15 PM

I, Asger Ali Vadliwala, holder of Indian Passport No: J4442606, hereby change my name to Ali Asger Vadliwala. Address: Mohammediya Golony Galiyakot Dist. Dungarpur, Rajasthan. Pin 314026.

(C 4630) 28-1-2014 I, Rushda Durfishan Fatima, born on 15-07-1997 holder of Indian Passport with number J 4440800 issued at Kuwait on 12-01-2011 hereby change my name to Durfishan Fatima Rushda.

My address in India is Dariapur, P.O. Kood, Dist.

Cuttack, Orissa. (C 4629) 27-1-2014

MATRIMONIAL Marriage proposal invited for Kuwait resident, Pakistani Muslim family daughter, age 18 tall smart Hafiza, student BSc. Chemistry, from matching status boy through parents.

Email: contact9132000@gmail.com (C 4631) 29-1-2014

Prayer timings Fajr: Shorook Duhr: Asr: Maghrib: Isha:

05:18 06:40 12:01 15:02 17:23 18:42

112

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

Airlines JAI JZR THY QTR DLH JZR THY ETH GFA THY UAE ETD JAI JZR OMA MSR QTR FDB THY DHX FDB JZR BAW KAC KAC QTR FDB KAC KAC KAC KAC UAE ABY IRM ETD FDB QTR GFA IRA IAW DHX JZR MEA TMA MSC IRM UAE JZR MSR KAC KAC CLX IYE FDB QTR

Arrival Flights on Wednesday 29/1/2014 Flt Route 574 MUMBAI 539 CAIRO 772 ISTANBUL 1084 DOHA 637 DAMMAM 267 BEIRUT 5520 SABIHA 620 ADDIS ABABA 211 BAHRAIN 764 SABIHA 853 DUBAI 305 ABU DHABI-INTL 576 COCHIN 555 ALEXANDRIA 643 MUSCAT 612 CAIRO 1076 DOHA 67 DUBAI 770 ISTANBUL 170 BAHRAIN 69 DUBAI 529 ASYUT 157 LONDON 412 MANILA 206 ISLAMABAD 1086 DOHA 53 DUBAI 302 MUMBAI 352 COCHIN 362 COLOMBO 344 CHENNAI 855 DUBAI 125 SHARJAH 1186 TEHRAN 301 ABU DHABI-INTL 55 DUBAI 1070 DOHA 213 BAHRAIN 603 SHIRAZ 157 NAJAF 870 BAHRAIN 165 DUBAI 404 BEIRUT 213 BEIRUT 403 ASYUT 1188 MASHAD 871 DUBAI 561 SOHAG 610 CAIRO 522 NAJAF 382 DELHI 792 LUXEMBOURG 826 SANAA 57 DUBAI 1078 DOHA

Time 00:10 00:40 00:45 00:55 01:10 00:40 02:30 01:45 02:10 02:15 02:35 02:45 02:50 02:25 03:05 03:10 03:45 04:00 05:35 05:40 05:50 06:20 06:40 06:45 07:40 07:50 07:50 07:55 08:10 08:45 08:35 08:40 09:00 09:15 09:20 09:40 09:55 10:40 10:45 11:00 11:15 11:30 11:55 12:10 12:20 12:40 12:50 12:55 13:00 13:45 13:05 13:15 13:30 13:50 13:55

MSR FDB KAC KAC SVA IRC KNE NIA KNE KAC KNE JAV QTR KAC UAE ETD RJA SVA ABY GFA JZR JZR FDB JZR RBG KAC QTR FDB KAC JZR KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC GFA OMA FDB MSC JAI ABY ETD AXB MSR DLH ALK MEA ETD UAE KNE GFA QTR FDB AIC JZR JZR JZR

575 8055 672 790 500 6692 472 253 462 788 460 621 1072 538 857 303 640 510 127 215 777 787 8053 357 553 786 1080 63 542 177 284 166 674 102 774 618 217 647 61 405 572 129 919 489 606 634 229 402 307 859 480 219 1074 59 975 239 135 185

SHARM EL SHEIKH DUBAI DUBAI MEDINAH JEDDAH MASHAD JEDDAH ALEXANDRIA MEDINAH JEDDAH RIYADH AMMAN-QUEEN ALIA DOHA SHARM EL SHEIKH DUBAI ABU DHABI-INTL AMMAN-QUEEN ALIA RIYADH SHARJAH BAHRAIN JEDDAH RIYADH DUBAI MASHAD ALEXANDRIA JEDDAH DOHA DUBAI CAIRO DUBAI DHAKA PARIS DUBAI NEW YORK RIYADH DOHA BAHRAIN MUSCAT DUBAI SOHAG MUMBAI SHARJAH ABU DHABI-INTL COCHIN LUXOR FRANKFURT COLOMBO BEIRUT ABU DHABI-INTL DUBAI TAIF BAHRAIN DOHA DUBAI CHENNAI AMMAN-QUEEN ALIA BAHRAIN DUBAI

14:15 14:45 14:00 14:25 14:30 14:35 14:35 15:50 15:45 15:10 15:55 15:55 16:40 16:05 16:40 16:50 16:55 17:15 17:25 17:30 17:55 17:00 17:20 17:55 18:15 18:45 18:40 18:45 18:05 18:20 18:00 19:10 19:25 19:35 19:30 19:00 19:30 19:55 20:05 20:05 20:10 20:20 20:25 20:35 20:45 20:55 21:10 21:20 21:35 21:40 21:45 21:45 22:00 22:00 22:30 22:20 22:05 23:20

Airlines AIC UAL JAI DLH ETH THY UAE KAC ETD OMA MSR QTR THY FDB QTR KAC JZR FDB JAI JZR THY GFA THY KAC FDB BAW QTR KAC KAC ABY KAC UAE KAC KAC ETD FDB IRM KAC QTR GFA KAC IRA JZR IAW KAC JZR MEA KAC DHX MSC JZR JZR TMA MSR IRM UAE

Departure Flights on Wednesday 29/1/2014 Flt Route 982 AHMEDABAD 981 WASHINGTON 573 MUMBAI 637 FRANKFURT 621 ADDIS ABABA 773 ISTANBUL-ATATURK 854 DUBAI 381 DELHI 306 ABU DHABI 644 MUSCAT 613 CAIRO 1085 DOHA 5421 ISTANBUL-SABIHA 68 DUBAI 1077 DOHA 283 DHAKA 560 SOHAG 70 DUBAI 575 ABU DHABI 164 DUBAI 765 ISTANBUL-SABIHA 212 BAHRAIN 771 ISTANBUL-ATATURK 537 SHARM EL SHEIKH 54 DUBAI 156 LONDON 1087 DOHA 787 JEDDAH 671 DUBAI 126 SHARJAH 789 MADINAH 856 DUBAI 117 NEW YORK 521 AL NAJAF 302 ABU DHABI 56 DUBAI 1187 TEHRAN 175 FRANKFURT 1071 DOHA 214 BAHRAIN 541 CAIRO 602 SHIRAZ 356 MASHHAD 158 BAGHDAD 103 LONDON 776 JEDDAH 405 BEIRUT 785 JEDDAH 521 BAGRAM 406 SOHAG 786 RIYADH 176 DUBAI 223 AL MAKTOUM INTERNATIONAL 611 CAIRO 1189 MASHHAD 872 DUBAI

DIAL161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

Time 00:05 00:55 01:10 02:10 02:45 02:55 03:50 03:50 04:00 04:05 04:10 04:15 04:30 04:40 05:15 05:30 06:20 06:30 06:35 06:55 07:05 07:15 07:30 08:10 08:30 08:45 08:50 09:25 09:30 09:40 09:45 09:55 10:00 10:05 10:05 10:20 10:30 10:45 10:55 11:25 11:30 11:45 11:55 12:00 12:20 12:25 12:55 13:00 13:00 13:20 13:35 13:45 13:45 14:00 14:05 14:15

IYE FDB CLX QTR MSR KAC FDB KAC KNE IRC SVA KAC KNE KNE NIA JZR JAV ETD QTR UAE JZR RJA ABY FDB SVA GFA JZR JZR RBG JZR JZR FDB QTR GFA FDB KAC OMA KAC ABY MSC JAI KAC MSR DHX ALK MEA ETD ETD KNE GFA KAC FDB UAE KAC QTR JZR JZR KAC

827 58 792 1079 576 673 8056 617 473 6693 503 773 463 481 254 238 622 304 1073 858 538 641 128 8054 511 216 184 266 553 134 554 64 1081 218 62 331 648 361 120 404 571 351 619 171 230 403 308 920 461 220 301 60 860 205 1075 528 502 415

RIYAN MUKALLA DUBAI GIALAM DOHA SHARM EL SHEIKH DUBAI DUBAI DOHA JEDDAH MASHHAD MADINAH RIYADH MADINAH TAIF ALEXANDRIA AMMAN AMMAN ABU DHABI DOHA DUBAI CAIRO AMMAN SHARJAH DUBAI RIYADH BAHRAIN DUBAI BEIRUT ALEXANDRIA BAHRAIN ALEXANDRIA DUBAI DOHA BAHRAIN DUBAI TRIVANDRUM MUSCAT COLOMBO SHARJAH ASYUT MUMBAI KOCHI ALEXANDRIA BAHRAIN COLOMBO BEIRUT ABU DHABI ABU DHABI RIYADH BAHRAIN MUMBAI DUBAI DUBAI ISLAMABAD DOHA ASYUT LUXOR KUALA LUMPUR

14:30 14:30 14:45 14:55 15:00 15:05 15:25 15:30 15:30 15:35 15:45 16:05 16:35 16:40 16:50 16:55 17:15 17:35 17:40 17:50 17:50 17:55 18:05 18:05 18:15 18:20 18:40 18:50 18:55 19:10 19:20 19:25 19:40 20:15 20:45 20:55 20:55 21:00 21:00 21:05 21:10 21:10 21:45 21:50 22:10 22:20 22:20 22:25 22:30 22:30 22:35 22:40 22:50 22:55 23:10 23:25 23:30 23:55

34

stars CROSSWORD 443

STAR TRACK Aries (March 21-April 19) ARIES You have a great deal of compassion for others and you are appreciated or valued for your feelings or your ability to act and get things done. If you are not in the healing business, you will often be the healer without even realizing it. Gentle and honest, people know just where you stand with most any issue. Although your comments are not usually made until you are asked, you can be frank in a matter-of-fact sort of way. This is a time when you can expect a little boost--some extra support or recognition from those around you. You may feel your wishes come true when a loved one or friends reach agreements. Harmony is easy to find. Leave work early, if possible, and enjoy the time in a pet store, flower shop or nearby park.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) You may receive some recognition or special attention regarding your particular skills and abilities. You might be so elated that you forget some of the responsibilities; however, in time, reality demands that you tend to business. The type of work you do may change--or at the very least, your attitude toward it could change. The internet, computers, communications and related sciences may figure more notably into your career future. Your resourceful capabilities gain the attention of many, and most companies would be happy to have you on their team! This evening you are motivated by happy, harmonious times with friends or family--perhaps both. A card game or other fun sort of group entertainment brings much laughter to the ears.

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

ACROSS 1. An Indian unit of length having different values in different localities.

5. Any organic compound formed by adding alcohol molecules to aldehyde molecules.

11. Little known Kamarupan languages.

15. An organization of countries formed in 1961 to agree on a common policy for the sale of petroleum.

16. Any of several ornamental shrubs with shiny mostly evergreen leaves and clusters of small bell-shaped flowers.

17. Type genus of the Ranidae.

18. Being on the left side.

19. Any of various small plant-sucking insects.

21. A professional killer who uses a gun.

23. (astronomy) The reappearance of a celestial body after an eclipse.

25. A toxic nonmetallic element related to sulfur and tellurium.

26. Naked freshwater or marine or parasitic protozoa that form temporary pseudopods for feeding and locomotion.

27. The fifth month of the civil year.

28. A state in northwestern North America.

29. An associate degree in nursing.

30. Wild sheep of northern Africa.

34. The fourth month of the Hindu calendar.

40. Bulky grayish-brown eagle with a short wedge-shaped white tail.

41. Someone (especially a woman) who annoys people by constantly finding fault.

42. (Greek mythology) One of the three Graces.

44. A useful or valuable quality.

46. A festival featuring African-American culture.

49. A Tibetan or Mongolian priest of Lamaism.

50. A person who descends down a nearly vertical face by using a doubled rope that is wrapped around the body and attached to some high point.

51. Covered with or as if with a glossy and usually brightly colored coating.

55. Military barracks in a garrison town.

56. 300 to 3000 kilohertz.

57. The blood group whose red cells carry both the A and B antigens.

59. A bottle with a stopper.

68. A port city in southwestern Iran.

70. Electrical conduction through a gas in an applied electric field.

71. A spacecraft that carries astronauts from the command module to the surface of the moon and back.

72. An official award (as for bravery or service) usually given as formal public statement.

74. A decree that prohibits something.

75. A federal agency established to regulate the release of new foods and health-related products.

76. Order of mammals having few or no teeth including.

77. (Hawaiian) A small guitar having four strings.

DOWN 1. Music composed for dancing the conga.

2. An addictive narcotic extracted from seed capsules of the opium poppy.

3. (music) A notation written at the beginning or end of a passage that is to be repeated.

4. (slang) A batch of things that go together.

5. A city in southern Turkey on the Seyhan River.

6. A tight-fitting headdress.

7. Small moths whose larvae spin silken tunnels and feed on stored food products.

8. The part of the leg between the hip and the knee.

9. Brown or blackish Alpine mosses having a dehiscent capsule with 4 longitudinal slits.

10. A chronic inflammatory collagen disease affecting connective tissue (skin or joints).

11. Bristlelike process near the tip of the antenna of certain flies.

12. A flexible container with a single opening.

13. An onerous or difficult concern.

14. Not widely known.

20. North American republic containing 50 states - 48 conterminous states in North America plus Alaska in northwest North America and the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean.

22. A member of the Circassian people living east of the Black Sea. 24. The compass point that is one point north of due east.

31. The selling of something purchased.

32. Either of a pair of thick-walled tubes that carry urine from the kidney to the urinary bladder.

33. An advanced student or graduate in medicine gaining supervised practical experience (`houseman' is a British term).

35. The fifth month of the Hindu calendar.

36. Small terrestrial lizard of warm regions of the Old World.

37. A flat wing-shaped process or winglike part of an organism.

38. African tree with edible yellow fruit resembling mangos.

39. Indigo bush.

43. A Gaelic-speaking Celt in Ireland or Scotland or the Isle of Man. 45. A landlocked federal republic in central Europe.

47. An embroidered rug made from a coarse Indian felt.

48. Edible terrestrial snail usually served in the shell with a sauce of melted butter and garlic.

52. Remove completely from recognition or memory.

53. (Akkadian) God of wisdom.

54. A logarithmic unit of sound intensity.

58. An irrational but irresistible motive for a belief or action.

60. In bed.

61. Avatar of Vishnu.

62. A town in north central Oklahoma.

63. A United Nations agency created by a multinational treaty to promote trade by the reduction of tariffs and import quotas.

64. (Irish) Mother of the Tuatha De Danann.

65. (Babylonian) God of wisdom and agriculture and patron of scribes and schools.

66. A republic in the Middle East in western Asia.

67. An inflammatory disease involving the sebaceous glands of the skin.

69. Cooking utensil consisting of a wide metal vessel.

73. A brittle silver-white metalloid element that is related to selenium and sulfur.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014

You will not want to waste a minute of this supercharged day. New solutions and inventions are easy for you now. You have co-workers or friends that you trust to help or support you with your ideas. Your abilities in guiding groups may find you interested in helping a youth group. If this does not fit your definition of a fun volunteer program--find one. It is important to share your knowledge in a volunteer program--now is a good time to begin. Start slowly and add more volunteer days when you can. You will find that whatever seems difficult now, may take on little importance in the future. Albert schweitzer once said, "the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve."

Cancer (June 21-July 22) You are looking great. Perhaps you have acquired a new hairstyle or dropped a few pounds because you will find yourself feeling much improved physically today. At any rate, people notice and appreciate your changes, particularly your great smile.

The desire for you to achieve success is what sets you apart from others. Learn good study skills as well as perhaps a speed-reading course to improve your absorption of information.

This can be important to your earning power and you may find someone that will enjoy joining with you in this endeavor. Your vitality is continuing to be strong--you will see results from any health program you may have. Domestic matters gain your attention this evening.

You may experiment with a new recipe.

Leo (July 23-August 22) You may find a co-worker is supportive of your efforts today. There is optimism and faith and a tendency to take chances and agree to new work opportunities as they become available. If you are relying on others for support, this can be a difficult time.

However, if you are actively working by your own instincts, you will see some positive results in many different areas of your life. Keep in mind that you may not be able to stay with an old routine. Invest in yourself and review your skills from time to time. You may want to take a class or two each year that will keep you as the most popular employee, employer, teacher or advisor in town. Preparations you have been making for your future are about to pay off with much power. Observe people tonight.

Virgo (August 23-September 22) This is not a time to force issues. There could be undercurrents of negative activity in business today--you may have noticed this earlier--patience. The afternoon is much more pleasant and although the negative undercurrents have nothing to do with you, the ripple effect is far reaching. Do not become involved in any negative conversations or gossip. Surprise information regarding a business venture may have you thinking along the lines of change. This is a better time for planning than for actually taking the plunge into a change. Overall timing could be a bit off just now. You will enjoy a sense of support and harmony later this evening. Phone conversations, letters and e-mail communications increase.

Good news from a distance encourages travel.

Word Search

Libra (September 23-October 22) Nothing much happens at work until the noon hour. Then you may need to deal with a few proud individuals. An instinctive imperative to be needed in the workplace will get you where you need to go. Because you think you can--you will succeed. Keep those positive thoughts flowing. Going home is a relief. There are mechanical problems at home but you have time to give them the attention that is needed for repairing.

Someone will probably pitch in and help you. Some of the leftover parts are perfect to add to an ongoing hobby of yours. Through artistic work, there is insight. There is good news about a family member's health this evening. A timely chat with your sweetheart this evening has you in a terrific mood.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) Intuition hits again today and you can log your thoughts into that notebook of yours. Your talents or the way in which you perform your work will pay off soon. You will have authority figures watching as you successfully deal with problems in the workplace. An urge for social interactions with your friends may have to be placed on hold.

You are much more intensely focused on accomplishing your job quickly, which may mean you cancel a noon lunch date. You may find yourself working into the evening hours. You certainly will not be bored with any part of the day; the evening is full of opportunities to use your mind, your creativity, your emotions and your desires. A nice change of pace of music becomes a big part of your evening.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) It is time to review and rework some story or hobby that has taken up your spare time lately. Advice in the area of your hobby would be helpful--if that is what you need. Probably, you would most enjoy showing others what you have done. Have some fun with the unveiling of your masterpiece and encourage others to be creative. There could be some plans toward lessening some of the income responsibilities today. You may need to let go of a relationship at this time. There is never a good time to let go of someone that is, perhaps--leaving the nest. You can always see this as an expansion of the family.

Romance and creative ideas are a focus for this evening. There is optimism, faith and a tendency to take chances.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19) You will feel support when it counts but advice in the workplace may be hard to find just now. You are able to handle your own advice. If you are in advertising, there could be some huge demand for packaging improvement with some product.

Product packaging will give you some indication of what is going on inside the package-that is your hint. You will be extremely diligent today. No stranger to hard work--you are successful in your profession. A practical and conscientious attitude takes on a special importance. Taking care of the necessary underpinnings of life, health, work and such, becomes a greater preoccupation. Sorting things out and getting them organized keeps you busy. A niece or nephew gains your attention this evening.

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) You are the one to catch any mistakes at work; there may be a few. You could be most convincing with others today. You may find yourself in a teaching position with regard to co-workers, especially the new ones. Later today, you decide to involve yourself in some neighborhood meeting. Your ideas prove successful and you may decide to head up a committee to help improve your community relations with the young people in your area. You are good at allocating duties to get this project started. Good for you! An emphasis on close relationships and a preoccupation with ideas of fairness and harmony are part of the period you have just begun. You take special interest in those close to you. Listening is the secret to closeness.

Pisces (February 19-March 20) It's a busy day at work and your optimism brings about successful endings before they are even started. You may be working within a regular routine today but you will make a discovery or become enamored with a fantastic idea. Whatever the case, this idea can be quite beneficial for a multitude of people. It may be your job to bring out the best in others and to spot what works best. You should see results from your own work quickly. Someone else will gain notice if you hold back, so keep your momentum.

Fun company at dinner this evening spurs you into doing something different from your usual evening meal, perhaps a special wine. There is never a dull moment at your work or at home--you enjoy expressing yourself at this time of your life.

Yesterday’s Solution

Yesterday’s Solution

Daily SuDoku

Yesterday’s Solution

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 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

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Dr. Bader Al-Ansari

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General Surgeons Dr. Amer Zawaz Al-Amer

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Internists, Chest & Heart Dr. Adnan Ebil Dr. Latefa Al-Duweisan

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Dr Nasser Behbehani

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Soor Center Tel: 2290-1677 Fax: 2290 1688

Neurologists

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Dr. Mousa Khadada

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Kaizen center 25716707

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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

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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014

lifestyle G o s s i p

Rihanna

refused to speak to Rita Ora at Grammy Awards

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he ‘Diamonds’ hitmaker happily chatted to her rival’s boyfriend Calvin Harris at several pre and post-ceremony bashes - including a brunch thrown by Jay Z’s Roc Nation, which manages both their careers - but “deliberately” snubbed Rita because she “isn’t a fan” of her. A source told The Sun newspaper: “Rita and Rihanna were at the same parties all weekend. “Rihanna deliberately kept her distance. She talked with Calvin at length but didn’t acknowledge Rita. “It was awkward because they have the same management team and move in exactly the same circles. “Rihanna’s never been much of a fan of Rita because her style is so similar and they compete over songs.” Rihanna didn’t attend the Grammy Awards at Los Angeles’ Staples Center on Sunday despite winning Best Urban Contemporary Album for ‘Unapologetic’ but later admitted she was thrilled to win the prize. She tweeted: “$weet $urprise, pretty ph*cking rad!

Thank you.(sic)” Instead of attending the awards, Rihanna was spotted at The Young Money Cash Money Records party at Greystone Manor with rumoured boyfriend Drake instead. And during that bash she will have likely been avoiding another rival, as Karrueche Tran was also in attendance. Both Rihanna and the aspiring model have had on/off relationships with Chris Brown - who was convicted of assaulting the ‘We Found Love’ singer in 2009 - and had a war of words on twitter.

Heidi Klum splits from Martin Kirsten

Justin Bieber could be heading for a meltdown

T

T

he model has reportedly decided to call time on her relationship with the bodyguard a few weeks ago, after a year and a half of dating. The couple had initially got together shortly after Heidi, 40, had split form her husband Seal in January 2012 after seven years of marriage. A source told People.com: “Martin was there for her during a challenging time in her life and it was something she will always be grateful for. “Life is about timing. He was incredibly supportive and they were there for each other, but they’re moving on now.” Heidi - who has Lou, four, Henry, eight and Johan, seven from her marriage to Seal and Leni, nine, from her relationship with Flavio Briatore - has also cut professional ties with Martin, 41. When the couple initially got together, Heidi said of Martin: “He’s been helping me for four years now, and he takes wonderful care of the kids. He plays with them, he protects them. I trust him.” He was also on hand when to help saved Henry and two nannies from a riptide in Hawaii which could have drowned them in early 2013.

he 19-year-old singer was arrested for driving under the influence (DUI), driving with an expired license, drag-racing and resisting arrest last week, but the brunette model believes his entourage are to blame for leading him astray and she fears the consequences will be “severe”. Speaking to the MailOnline, Carmen said: “I feel like he doesn’t have good people around him. I fear for him, of course, if he doesn’t make the right choices, it can lead to bad things. “Look at Britney, or Amanda Bynes, or even worse Michael Jackson. He could end up dead. He needs to be near his family or the consequences could be severe. “This episode is really messing him up, it’s so difficult right now to be Justin Bieber as he’s surrounded by people who are giving him bad advice and egging him on to do crazy things. He’s a sweet kid, but he’s alienating his whole family.” Meanwhile, the stunning model believes the Justin - who is allegedly dabbling in drugs - needs to seek therapy in rehab before it’s too late. She explained: “I think rehab would be so good for him. He needs help. He needs therapy. As someone who knows Justin, I’m asking his management or mum to intervene now before it’s too late.” The ‘Believe’ hitmaker is currently in Panama, where it is believed his manager Scooter and mentor Usher are trying to persuade him to seek professional help.

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Stevie Wonder and P Diddy performed at Alicia Keys’ birthday party

he ‘No One’ hitmaker’s husband Swizz Beats threw a private party for her 33rd birthday after the Grammy Awards on Sunday (26.01.14), with 75 guests in attendance. Insiders told the New York Post newspaper that the party-goers had to check in their phones when they arrived at the couple’s Hollywood Hills home so no pictures could be leaked online. Once inside, the revellers enjoyed Nas and Diddy performing ‘Hate Me Now’, before Alicia joined Nas on stage to sing Lauryn Hill’s part of his hit single ‘If I Ruled the World’. ‘Happy Birthday’ hitmaker Stevie then performed a set, with tracks including ‘My Cherie Amour’. Guests - which included rapper Busta Rhymes and music moguls Steve Stoute, Andre Harrell and Russell Simons - were also entertained by a set from DJ Cassidy. Alicia - who has three-year-old son Egypt with her spouse - later revealed she had had a great time at the bash. She posted on Twitter: “I’m humbled by all the love around me! My beautiful husband @THEREALSWIZZZ, my friends & fam blew my mind this bday!”

Courteney Cox Jason Derulo has ‘really grown up’ since breaking his neck T

he ‘Talk Dirty’ singer suffered a huge setback when he snapped one of his vertebrae while rehearsing for a tour in 2012 - an injury that could have left him paralysed - and since he has healed he looks upon life differently. Speaking at the US edition of OK! Magazine’s PreGrammys Party this weekend, He said: “It was a very, very crazy experience, obviously breaking your neck is not something you think is ever going to happen to you, but I learned a lot from it man, and I feel like I’ve really grown up from it. Life is a little bit different, I don’t’ take moments for granted, but the journey has been really cool. Since then I’ve had all these top ten records, and number ones, and I’m in a really good place.”

Jason - who also performed at the party, singing hits including ‘Ridin’ Solo’, ‘In My Head’, ‘The Other Side’ and ‘Whatcha Say’ - has previously said his relationship with Jordin Sparks, who introduced him on stage, got serious when she helped him with his recovery, and they both have matching tattoos to show their commitment to each other. Jason added: “Jordin and I both have the same tattoo, saying ‘more than yesterday’ and it means I love you more than yesterday, and also means I strive to be more than yesterday.” Other stars to attend the event included Lance Bass, Mike Posner and the stars of reality show ‘Vanderpump Rules’.

wants David Arquette to be happy

T

he ‘Cougar Town’ actress split from her husband in 2010 and they divorced in May 2013, but she still wishes the best for him. She told the US edition of More magazine: “When you love someone, you want them to be happy, even if it’s not with you.

“In divorce you always have regrets. We were married for a long time, so it’s not like we didn’t try.”

Courteney and David remain on good terms and are both committed to doing the best thing for their daughter, Coco, nine, so still spent lots of time together. She added: “Obviously, kids always want their parents to be together. But as divorces go, this is the best one we could provide.” David’s new girlfriend, Christina McLarty, is pregnant with a baby boy after two years of dating, and he has previously said how he is looking forward to some bonding time with Coco in Puerto Rico when he films his show ‘Cleaners’ before the new arrival. He said: “Whenever you get to do that you have to take them out of school for a few days, but it’s such a great bonding experience because she gets to see what we do on the set. It’ll be a really good time.”

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014

lifestyle G o s s i p

Miley Cyrus set to perform with Madonna

T

he ‘Wrecking Ball’ hitmaker has roped in the pop veteran to duet with her on her upcoming MTV ‘Unplugged’ special.The unlikely pair were rehearsing on the Hollywood soundstage yesterday, with the collaboration due to air tonight. MTV commented: “The performance will showcase a more intimate side of Cyrus and feature surprise guests for an unexpected re-invention of the songs that have defined her career, including several from her #1 critically acclaimed album, ‘Bangerz’. “Miley and her fans have always had an intimate and direct connection through her music, personality and no-holds-barred attitude and the ‘Unplugged’ stage will serve as the perfect platform for her to show viewers what inspires and ignites her music and her passions.” Miley, 21, has compared herself to Madonna in the past and believes they share the same love of controversy and risk-taking. She recently reflected: “Last night, I was talking about some Madonna performances, and I said, ‘At some point, everything becomes irrelevant.’ Like, no one even thinks about when she did ‘Like a Virgin’ at the VMAs. “That just becomes a standard, where it’s just like, ‘Oh, that’s her thing.’ So, I feel like now that I did the VMAs, that just kind of became a standard for me, and then any time I do anything else, they’re like, ‘Miley kept it tame tonight.’”

Peter Andre still haven’t got a name for new baby

T

he star’s fiance Emily MacDonagh delivered their first child last week and although they had a number of names lined up for the tiny tot they didn’t think any of them suited her one she arrived. He explained: “We still haven’t got a name for the baby! We’d narrowed it down to a list of names, but when she was born, she didn’t look like any of them when we saw her! So we had to go back to the drawing board.” There were rumours the pair had settled on Rebecca but Peter says that wasn’t true and they are still undecided. He added in his column for new! magazine: “There was a story last week claiming we’d chosen the name Rebecca. It’s a lovely name but it’s not true. Emily’s mum’s name is Rebecca and because of my old traditions, that’s probably how they came up with it. We’ve still got four weeks left to decide, so she will have a name soon.”

Justin Bieber has been parasailing with Chantel Jeffries in Panama

Felicity Jones says watching herself on screen is a process of s‘ elf-hatred’

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he 30-year-old actress - whose latest film ‘The Invisible Woman’ will be released in Britain next month following its premiere at the Telluride Film Festival last August - is extremely self critical when she has to see her movies an and always picks faults with her performances. Speaking at ‘The Invisible Woman’ UK premiere at London’s Kensington Odeon cinema on Monday evening (27.01.14), she told BANG Showbiz: “[When I watch myself back] It’s horrible. It’s horrible. You’re just going, ‘I wish I had done that differently, don’t like that, that looks awful’. It’s just a process of self-hatred.” Felicity plays female lead Nelly Ternan - mistress of Charles Dickens who is played by director Ralph Fiennes - in the period drama and she was drawn to her character’s “strength”. The brunette beauty also looks to her alter-ego when she has key decisions to make contemplating how Nelly would cope with the situation. She added: “I felt like there was a very quiet strength to her.

When I’m in a difficult situation I still think what would Nelly do in this situation. I think she was someone who in society she didn’t have a lot of options, she was rather strained by the society of the time but she’s someone who fought for her sense of self and independence. It was just a great thing to play for an actress.” Felicity was joined on the red carpet by her co-stars Ralph - who also directed the project - Kristin Scott Thomas and Tom Burke.

T

he ‘Never Say Never’ singer fled his legal woes in the US - where he was charged with driving under the influence (DUI), driving with an expired license and resisting arrest after he was caught drag racing in Miami last week - to go to Central America, where he is enjoying some down time with his rumoured new girlfriend.

Chantel, 21, was riding alongside Justin, 19, when his rented Lamborghini car was stopped by police in the early hours of last Thursday (23.01.14) and is thought to have been accompanying the star for a whole week. She wrote on Twitter earlier today: “God’s plan is the best plan,” and aside a picture of her in a bikini: “Panamanian tan.” As well as soaking up the sun, Justin has been having crisis meetings with his mentor Usher, manger Scooter Braun and mother Pattie Mallette about his career. As well as facing legal problems in Miami, Justin could also potentially face felony charges after an incident where one of his neighbours’ homes was egged, causing $20,000 of damage.

Officers for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s department said they will soon be submitting evidence to the District Attorney, who will then decide whether to press charges.

Kim and Kanye’s wedding will air on ‘Keeping Up with the Kardashians’

T Trent Reznor hits out at Grammy Awarda organisers

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he 48-year-old singer closed the 56th Annual Grammy Awards on Sunday where he was joined on stage by Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl, Queens of the Stone Age star Josh Homme and Fleetwood Mac’s Lindsey Buckingham. He blasted the producers of the awards ceremony when he realised credits cut into the final minutes of the performance shortening their version of ‘My God Is the Sun’ - which is from the Queens of the Stone Age’s sixth studio album ‘...Like Clockwork’, released last year.

Trent wrote on Twitter: “Music’s biggest night ... to be disrespected. A heartfelt F**K YOU guys. (sic)” Trent kicked off the set with ‘Copy of A’, a single from Nine Inch Nails’ eighth studio album, ‘Hesitation Marks’. Last year Trent - who founded the hard rock band in 1988 - won the Grammy for the Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media for ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ alongside Atticus Ross.

he ‘Bound 2’ rapper had been reluctant to have his nuptials filmed for the reality show, but his fiancÈe has managed to change his mind because it will be much “easier” for network E! - who shot Kim’s 2011 wedding to Kris Humphries - to arrange their dream day in France than if they were to organise it themselves. A source said: “Kim persuaded Kanye to let the cameras roll because E! will pick up most of the cost of the wedding and it’s a lot easier for a network to deal with logistics of a foreign wedding than if it were just the two of them planning it. “Even though Kim’s marriage to Kris Humphries was a disaster, she was very happy with how the wedding and reception turned out. It was flawless. “Both Kim and Kanye have very high expectations for their wedding. It will be an over-the-top affair and there will be pre-wedding festivities leading up to the big day for their guests. It’ll be like a festival!” The wedding is likely to take place in June, with the couple - who have seven-month-old daughter North together - currently narrowing down locations after having their request to marry at the Palace of Versailles turned down. The source told RadarOnline.com: “Kim and Kanye have narrowed down the wedding location, which is being kept a secret at this point. It will be on the outskirts of Paris.

“Kim and Kanye really wanted to get married at Versailles and were both hoping to persuade officials during their visit there ... ultimately it backfired. It was still a firm no. “The couple are looking for something grand, but something that can offer privacy and security.”

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014

lifestyle M o v i e s

Quentin Tarantino sues website over leaked script

Q

uentin Tarantino sued the news and gossip website Gawker yesterday over a post that directed readers to a leaked copy of the Oscar-winning screenwriter’s latest movie. Tarantino’s lawsuit accuses Gawker Media LLC of contributory copyright infringement for posting a link to the 146-page script for a planned film titled “The Hateful Eight” last week. A link to the script was posted on Gawker’s Defamer blog and remained active Monday afternoon, despite demands from Tarantino’s lawyers to take it down, the lawsuit states.

“There was nothing newsworthy or journalistic about Gawker Media facilitating and encouraging the public’s violation of (Tarantino’s) copyright in the screenplay, and it’s conduct will not shield Gawker Media from liability for their unlawful activity,” the lawsuit states.

Gawker Editor-in-Chief John Cook said the company would fight the lawsuit and pointed out that the company was being sued for posting a link to the script, not the actual document. “News of the fact that it existed on the Internet advanced a story that Tarantino himself had launched, and our publication of the link was a routine and unremarkable component of our job: making people aware of news and information about which they are curious,” Cook said.

Tarantino is also suing an anonymous file-sharing site that is linked in the post for copyright infringement. The contributory copyright infringement claim against Gawker contends the site’s link allowed more people to find the script and infringe Tarantino’s copyright by downloading and copying it.

The writer-director blasted the leak last week in an interview with Deadline.com and said he would abandon the project as a film. His lawsuit states he planned to publish the screenplay and that practice in the past has earned him hefty royalties and advances. His lawsuit states his damages as a result of the Gawker post will be more than $1 million.

The leak of Tarantino’s script was initially limited to a few people, his lawsuit states, and “The Hateful Eight” script did not appear online until after Gawker posted an item encouraging anyone who had a copy to leak it to them.

Tarantino has won screenwriting two Academy Awards for his films “Pulp Fiction” and “Django Unchained.” He also received best director Oscar nominations for “Pulp Fiction” and “Inglourious Basterds.”

In October 2012, former wrestler and reality TV star Hulk Hogan sued Gawker after it posted a video of him having sex with the wife of his best friend. A Florida judge ordered the site to remove footage, story and comments about the video, but a state appellate court overturned that order Jan. 17 after determining the ruling violated the First Amendment. — AP

Award-winning actor applies for asylum in Berlin N azif Mujic flashes a toothless smile and his entire face lights up when he recalls how he won the best actor award at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2013: “I went up on stage, everybody was cheering, everybody wanted to talk to me - it was like walking on clouds.”

Mujic, a gypsy from a small village in Bosnia, won the Silver Bear for his role in “An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker” by director Danis Tanovic. The film is about Mujic’s real-life struggle to save his wife’s life after she had a miscarriage. Now, almost a year later, the movie star has turned into an asylum seeker. He returned to Berlin in November, this time with his family to make his asylum bid, although he was vague about what grounds he was basing his application on. He was rejected by the German authorities and is now desperately fighting his deportation, slated for March.

Sitting in a coffee shop near the asylum center in a forest on the outskirts of Berlin, Mujic looks defeated. He has dark circles under his eyes, wears two black coats on top of each other, but is still shuddering from the cold Berlin winter. “ They promised me money, a job, a good home, an education for my children but instead I was betrayed,” Mujic, 43, said bitterly during an inter view with The Associated Press. More than anything he feels that Tanovic, the director, turned his back on him. “Everywhere he is showing the movie about my poverty and making money with it,” he said. “But I’m still poor.”

He and his wife made only 100 euros per day during the shooting which lasted 27 days, he said, and he did not get any cut of the movie’s sales. Repeated calls to Tanovic and producer Amra Baksic-Camo seeking comment went unanswered. Last week, Tanovic told Germany’s tageszeitung newspaper that he always treated Mujic with love and respect and wishes he could have helped him more.

“Real actor’ The production company said the movie cost 17,000 euros, and that most of the crew worked for free because it was an important story to tell. When Mujic returned to his village of Poljice after the awards ceremony last February, the neighbors welcomed the nearly illiterate gypsy with a big celebration. Everybody was proud of him. A butcher from Sarajevo even promised to buy him a set of dentures, but the stardom didn’t last long.

Mujic said he had initially hoped to become a “real actor,” but nobody came and offered him a new role. Soon other gypsies, or Roma, did not let Mujic work in his old job as a scrap metal collector any-

more because they were convinced he had become a rich movie star, he said. After a while, Mujic found a job as a garbage collector in the nearby town of Lukavac, only to be humiliated by people in the streets who, he said, laughed that a film star would pick up trash.

He said he eventually hurt his back so badly that he quit the job. “At the end of autumn, we were so poor that we didn’t have anything left to eat,” Mujic said.

“That’s when I decided to go back to Berlin.”

But things turned out to be quite different this time.

Last year, a limousine picked him up for the awards ceremony; he had a bodyguard and walked down the red carpet with journalists begging him for interviews. Now he is sharing one cramped room with his wife Senada and their three little children. The guards at the asylum center don’t allow him to invite reporters on the compound, and he is always afraid that somebody is going to steal his silver bear. Mujic therefore keeps the 20 centimeter- (8 inch-) high trophy - a bear standing on its back legs as if it were dancing - in a black bag that he carries with him at all times. He affectionately calls it “my teddy bear.”

Dancing bear Germany has not accepted asylum seekers from Bosnia in years, because it considers the country politically stable. Mujic now hopes to get help staying in Germany from the Berlin Film Festival - the people who made him famous to begin with.

“When we found out a week ago that Mujic is back in town, we contacted him immediately,” said Frauke Greiner, a spokeswoman for the Berlin Film Festival.

She said the family has been invited to this year’s festival, which starts on Feb. 6, and staff members have privately raised money to pay for a lawyer. “His situation is difficult, but we’re hoping the lawyer can help him.”

Lately, Mujic said, he feels like a dancing bear himself - like the ones that gypsies put on leashes and forced to entertain crowds.

“I don’t have any influence on my life.”

Despite the problems Mujic encountered since winning the award last year, he still believes the prize was more blessing than curse.

“The teddy bear is my visa to Germany,” he said, caressing its shiny head. — AP

Picture shows Sandra Bullock in a scene from “Gravity.” With the tightest three-way Oscar race in years, the 66th Directors Guild of America Awards could give ‘Gravity,’ ‘American Hustle’ or ‘12 Years a Slave’ the edge in the home stretch to the Oscars. — AP

‘Gravity’ Oscar buzz showcases UK special effects industry

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ome viewers love Alfonso Cuaron’s space thriller “Gravity” and others think it pales in comparison with classics like Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey”, but pretty much anyone who has seen it agrees the special effects are stunning.

While the film was financed and produced in the United States, the studio that created the special effects - which have been nominated for an Academy Award - is British, adding to the accolades UK firms have accumulated in the field. “It’s not a movie where we’re putting visual effects into a film,” said Tim Webber, who was visual effects supervisor for “Gravity”. “It’s a movie that is created using visual effects from the ground up.”

British talent was propelled into the special effects limelight by the “Harry Potter” series, which involved UK companies Cinesite, Double Negative and Framestore, where Webber is director of visual effects. “The Harry Potter series was a sort of backbone but the industry grew up to be quite significant around it and by the time it ended there was plenty of other work going through London to keep it going,” Webber said in an interview.

In “Gravity”, which has been nominated for a total of 10 Oscars, producers had to contend with the challenges posed by a film set entirely in space as well as replicating the look and feel of weightlessness in a 3D movie environment. “Gravity affects every tiny movement,” Webber said.

To ensure the film looked as realistic as possible, “an awful lot” of the film had to be created on the computer and shots of the actors’ faces would then be added in, meaning the lighting had to be perfect, Webber said.

The first step was to create a previsualisation of the whole film, basically an animated version of the movie where everything, from lighting to the actors’ movements, was planned out in advance.

“When we got to the set ... we knew exactly what the movement was going to be at every moment and exactly what the lighting was going to be so that we could make sure that we were filming

US film director Ron Howard (R), Australian actor Chris Hemsworth (2nd L), German actor Daniel Bruhl (L), and a guest Kazuhiro Kiyohara (2nd R), a former professional baseball player in Japan, break a barrel during a press conference to promote their latest film Rush. The film will open across Japan on February 7. — AFP File photo shows actor Nazif Mujic holds up his Silver Bear Best Actor award for his role in ‘An Episode In the Life of an Iron Picker’ at the 63rd edition of the Berlinale, International Film Festival in Berlin, Germany. Mujic, a Roma from a tiny village in Bosnia, won the Silver Bear award in 2013. Now, almost a year later, the movie star has turned into an asylum seeker. — AP

George’s and Sandra’s faces to fit in with that movement,” he said, referring to stars George Clooney and Sandra Bullock.

To achieve the perfect effect, Webber’s team devised a “light box”, a 10x10-foot box with giant, bright screens on the inside, to replicate the environment around the actors.

Cuaron’s shooting style compounded the difficulties. About 70 percent of the 91-minute film consisted of just 17 shots, Webber said, meaning a significant number of shots were several minutes long, in sharp contrast to most films in which shots only last a few seconds each.

ing to Framestore and saying ‘I saw what you did on “Gravity” and it was amazing and makes me keen to work with you’,” said Webber.

The company has its hands full with a new film for Disney-owned Marvel Studios, “Guardians of the Galaxy”, as well as two films that will be released later this year, “RoboCop” and “Dracula Untold”.

The fact that the companies are all within walking distance of each other has fostered a healthy sense of competition which encourages innovation, Webber said. “We all bump into each other down at the pub, that’s a very strong environment

Oscar-nominated ‘Gravity’ puts focus on British studios The opening scene is almost 13 minutes long, starting with an awe-inspiring view of Earth from space and gradually zooming in to three astronauts working on the Hubble telescope.

The camera rotates seamlessly around the telescope, following Clooney’s stomach-turning orbits and alternating between close-up views and more panoramic ones. “All of those different types of shots would be rolled into one so we had to find solutions that worked across all (of them),” Webber said. When Bullock says that keeping her lunch down in zero gravity is no easy feat, it is hard not to sympathise as the rolling movements of the camera recalls the nausea-inducing swell of the ocean.

Competition at the pub The success of “Gravity” has highlighted the work going on in the special effects industry in London, centred in the small, buzzing district of Soho. “Lots of film studios or film directors are com-

for visual effects to develop in,” he said.

Britain’s creative industry, including film, TV, software and music, was a bright spot in the economy in 2012, contributing 5.6 percent of the total number of jobs, according to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

While total employment rose by less than 0.7 percent between 2011 and 2012, jobs in the creative industry increased by 8.6 percent, it said.

The UK government has shown its willingness to support the industry in its half-yearly budget in December by offering more generous terms in its Film Tax Relief scheme. — Reuters

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014

lifestyle M u s i c

Billy Joel begins Madison Square Garden residency B illy Joel began his Madison Square Garden residency Monday night with an energetic show that covered a wide swath of music from his five-decade career. Shortly before 9 p.m., the piano man and his band came out to thunderous applause and launched into “Miami 2017,” a song Joel wrote in the early 1970s about post-apocalyptic New York City. His performance put him in the record books as the fourth franchise of the famed venue, along with the Knicks, Rangers and Liberty.

Throughout the evening, Joel seemed to touch on at least one song from most of his studio albums. The only notable omission was 1989’s “Storm Front.” While he didn’t hold back on the classics like “New York State of Mind” and “Allentown,” Joel also performed the lesser played tracks “The Entertainer” and “Zanzibar” that included a sultry trumpet solo by Carl Fischer.

Joel performed the a capella “The Longest Time,” and after he finished said: “It sounds better in a men’s room.” And when he introduced “Everybody Loves You Now,” as a song from his first album, “Cold Spring Harbor,” he told the audience: “I doubt you have it. I don’t have it.”

Throughout the night, the 64-year old main-

tained a strong stage presence and his voice never seemed to waver. For most of the night, though, he remained seated at his baby grand piano; on previous tours, Joel would play guitar and organ, and run around the stage. He did manage to leave the piano during the encore to perform “You May Be Right,” opting to work the microphone stand.

Before beginning some of his songs, Joel favored a throat spray. At one point he joked: “I saw Madonna do this once, but it didn’t help her much.” After loud applause, Joel played it down and launched into “Summer Highland Falls.”

Early in the show, he acknowledged the first night of the franchise shows and his long career.

“I have no idea how long this is going to go,” he told the crowd. “2014 is my 50th year in show business. What was I thinking?”

He also poked fun at himself when he saw his face on the video screen, remarking that he never imagined he would look like his father. “I thought I was going to look like Cary Grant,” he joked to the crowd.

For the last song of the set, he channeled Derek and the Dominos by playing the piano coda from “Layla,” before launching into “Piano Man.” He altered the lyric toward the end to

reflect the evening by saying: “It’s a pretty good crowd for a Monday night,” to enthusiastic cheers. Perhaps the evening’s most poignant performance was the spirited version of “Scenes From an Italian Restaurant,” that had the entire arena singing along, and even waving during the line, “Here we are waving Brenda and Eddie goodbye.”

By the last of four encores, “Only the Good Die Young,” audience members seemed fulfilled, raving about the show as they left. For many of them, this clearly wasn’t the first time they’d seen the performer, and during the franchise run, it probably won’t be the last.

The Grammy Award winner announced in December that he would perform at Madison Square Garden every month for as long as New Yorkers demand. He’s set to perform sold-out shows until September with more being added later in the year. His May 9 show commemorates his 65th birthday. — AP

Billy Joel performs his first show of his Madison Square Garden residency, on Monday, in New York. — AP

US folk singer

Pete

Seeger dies at 94 P L-R: Toshi Reagon, Warren Haynes and Pete Seeger perform during a concert marking folk music legend Seeger’s 90th birthday at Madison Square Garden in this May 3, 2009 file photo.

Pete Seeger during a concert at Madison Square Garden.

Pete Seeger performing “When the Saints Go Marching In” with the Saint Rose Chamber Singers during commencement ceremonies for the College of St. Rose at the Empire State Plaza in Albany, NY.

ete Seeger, who helped create the modern American folk music movement and co-wrote some of its most enduring songs such as “If I Had a Hammer”, died on Monday at the age of 94, US media reported.

He was variously hailed in social and traditional media as a “hero”, “America’s conscience” and “A man of the people”. Seeger, a Woody Guthrie protege whose songwriting credits included folk classics “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” and “Turn! Turn!

Turn!”, died of natural causes at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, his grandson Kitama Cahill Jackson told the New York Times.

Seeger also was known for his liberal politics, working as an environmentalist, protesting against wars from Vietnam to Iraq.

He was sentenced to prison for refusing to testify to Congress about his time in the Communist Party.

He performed at a concert marking Barack Obama’s presidential inauguration in January 2009. Seeger’s 90th birthday was celebrated in May 2009 with a concert in New York’s Madison Square Garden that drew 15,000 spectators and performers, including Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp, Emmylou Harris, Arlo Guthrie, Joan Baez and Kris Kristofferson. Proceeds went an environmental group Seeger founded.

Seeger and Woody Guthrie started the Almanac Singers in the early 1940s and in 1949 Seeger was a founding member of another key folk group, the Weavers. Those groups opened the way for Bob Dylan and another generation of folk music singer/songwriters in the 1960s and ‘70s.

The Weavers had a No. 1 hit with a version of Leadbelly’s “Good Night, Irene” and by 1952 the group had sold more than 4 million records. The members soon drifted apart, however, after being blacklisted for links to the Communist Party.

Seeger and Lee Hays wrote “If I Had a Hammer” for the Weavers, along with the hit “So Long, It’s Been Good to Know You”. Seeger also wrote the modern classic “Turn! Turn! Turn!” with lyrics from the Bible’s Ecclesiastes and “Where Have All the Flowers Gone” with Joe Hickerson. But he was modest about his songwriting.

“Hardly any of my songs have been written entirely by me,” he once said in an interview. “I swiped things here and there and wrote new verses” to old tunes.

‘Lost my heart to the banjo’ Seeger, born on May 3, 1919 in Patterson, New York, was the son of two teachers at the famed Juilliard School of Music - his father an ethnomusicologist and his mother a violinist. He became interested in folk music through his father, who directed family friend Aaron Copland to the music of West Virginia coal miners, resulting in the classical music works “Appalachian Spring” and “Fanfare for the Common Man.” Another of his father’s friends was folk archivist Alan Lomax, who hired the younger Seeger to classify recordings at the Library of Congress in Washington. A key moment in Seeger’s life was attending a mountain dance festival in North Carolina with his father.

“I lost my heart to the banjo,” he said later. “It was an exciting sound and there was a kind of honesty in country music that I didn’t find in pop music.”

In 1938, Seeger dropped out of Harvard University and took his banjo on the road. During his travels he met Guthrie at a benefit concert for California migrant farm workers. Seeger’s career was derailed in 1951 when a book listed the Weavers as Communists. During the next year, the group’s record company dropped them and they were refused radio, television and concert appearances.

Seeger had been a Communist Party member but left about 1950. Still, he refused to answer questions from the U.S. House of Representatives Un-American Activities Committee in 1955, was prosecuted and sentenced to a year in jail in 1961. The conviction was overturned on appeal but Seeger’s career did not begin to recover until the Smothers Brothers invited him to appear on their television show in 1967.

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Seeger spent the next two decades performing on college campuses, at folk festivals and political rallies. Despite his impact on American music, Seeger won just one Grammy for an album, 1997’s “Pete” in the best traditional folk album category. He also received a Lifetime Achievement Grammy in 1993.

In 2007 Springsteen won the best traditional folk Grammy for “We Shall Overcome - the Seeger Sessions,” a collection of songs popularized by Seeger.

He was a founder of Clearwater, a group to clean up the Hudson River, and wrote children’s books. Seeger’s wife Toshi, who he married in 1941, died in 2013. They lived in upstate New York and had three children. — Reuters

File photo shows President Clinton presenting folk musician Pete Seeger with a 1994 National Medal of Arts, in Washington at the White House. — AP/ AFP photos

US folk singer Pete Seeger dies at 94

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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014

Actor Jeff Bridges speaks onstage during “The Night That Changed America: A GRAMMY Salute To The Beatles” at the Los Angeles Convention Center on Monday in Los Angeles, California. — AFP photos

Stars line up to pay tribute to T

here’s an easy way to give pop music’s most performance-hardened stars a case of the butterflies: Ask them to perform in front of The Beatles. Many of today’s top artists gathered Monday night to honor The Beatles’ legacy, with Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr in attendance and late members John Lennon and George Harrison always in mind, at The Recording Academy’s taping of “The Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute to The Beatles.”

John Legend and Alicia Keys sang “Let It Be.” Katy Perry performed “Yesterday,” while her boyfriend, John Mayer, teamed with Keith Urban on “Don’t Let Me Down.” And Brad Paisley and Pharrell Williams took on the challenge of “Here Comes the Sun,” a song well-known to millions of music fans.

“We are honoring the most important band of all time, and trying to do justice to their song while two of them sit there,” Paisley said in an interview before his performance.

“We know, going in, we’re not going to sing like them, and we’re going to try to do our own thing with it. But ... there’s reasons why people get blasted when they cover Beatles songs in any situation. But here we are, we’re all doing that tonight. So, I guess it’s an even playing field in that sense.” It was until McCartney and Starr took the stage, turning what had been a fairly sedate affair into an arm-in-arm sing-along of hits “Hey, Jude,” “Sgt. Pepper” and “Yellow Submarine” that prompted movie stars and Grammy Award-winning musicians alike to sing along like giddy kids.

The telecast will air Feb. 9, 50 years after The Fab Four made their first appearance in front of an American television audience on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” It was a historic moment with more than 73 million Americans tuning in, changing pop culture in profound ways.

Kate Beckinsale

John Mayer, left, and Keith Urban

Recording artists Paul McCartney (L) and Ringo Starr perform onstage during “The Night That Changed America: A GRAMMY Salute To The Beatles”.

Joe Walsh, Jeff Lynne and Dhani Harrison

Amazing evening Even so, McCartney told the crowd he was hesitant to agree to commemorate it. “What can I say about this evening, it’s just amazing,” he said. “At first when I was asked to do the show, I was wondering if it was the right thing to do. Was it seemly to tribute yourself? But I saw a couple of American guys who said to me, ‘You don’t understand the impact of that appearance on the show on America.’ I didn’t realize that.”

Grammy producer Ken Erlich said the tribute event was more than a decade in the making and was produced at the Los Angeles Convention Center with archival footage from the band’s “Ed Sullivan” era as well as their psychedelic and hirsute, hipster periods.

Maroon 5 kicked off the show by re-creating the opening moments of the Feb. 9, 1964, appearance with “All My Loving,” then “Ticket to Ride.” Keys and Legend faced each other as they sat at matching black baby grand pianos.

Mayer and Urban traded guitar licks, as did Gary Clarke Jr. and Joe Walsh on “As My Guitar Gently Weeps.” Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart of The Eurythmics reunited to play “The Fool on the Hill.”

Dave Grohl and Jeff Lynne hammered deep cut “Hey, Bulldog,” and Harrison’s son Dhani joined Lynne and Joe Walsh on his father’s classic “Something.” Stevie Wonder performed “We Can Work It Out” twice, asking for a retake after a slow start on his first attempt.

“Fire me, sue me,” he joked with the crowd. Starr took the stage next and marveled at Wonder’s appearance: “I’ve got to tell you, what a thrill following Stevie Wonder.” The drummer performed three songs alone, including “Yellow Submarine” at the request of Grohl’s young daughter.

McCartney took the stage next for five songs of his own before Starr returned for a finale that included a group sing-a-long of “Hey, Jude.” It was the first time the two had performed together since 2010.

“We were in a band. It’s called The Beatles,” Starr said near the end of the show. “And if we play, John and George are always with us. It’s always John, Paul, George and Ringo.” — AP