22nd Nov

CR IP TI ON BS SU 40 PAGES

NO: 15635

150 FILS

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2012

www.kuwaittimes.net

MOHARRAM 8, 1434 AH

Israel, Hamas agree on truce to end bloodshed Egypt brokers ceasefire • Bus blast rocks Tel Aviv

CAIRO: Israel and Hamas agreed on a truce that took effect yesterday evening in a bid to end a week of bloodshed in and around Gaza that has killed more than 150 people, Egypt and the United States said.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohammed Kamel Amr, speaking at a joint news conference in Cairo with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, said the cessation of hostilities would begin at 1900 GMT. The accord, a copy of which was obtained by AFP, calls on Israel to “stop all hostilities... in the land, sea and air including incursions and targeting of individuals” and the Palestinian factions urged to end “rocket attacks and all attacks along the border”. If it holds, within 24 hours, Israel would be required to open crossings and allow the movement of people and goods across the Gaza frontier, according to the text.

“This is a critical moment for the region,” Clinton said as she welcomed the agreement. “In the days ahead, the United States will work with partners in the region to consolidate this progress”. Clinton thanked Egypt’s new Islamist President Mohamed Morsi for his peace efforts, saying his government was assuming “responsibility, leadership” in the region. Nearly 24 hours after a truce had been expected to take hold, and after a day of violence that killed another 18 Palestinians, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said he was prepared to give peace a chance. “Netanyahu spoke with (US) President Barack Obama and agreed to his recommendation to give a chance to an Egyptian proposal for a ceasefire and thereby give an opportunity for the stabilisation of the situation and a calming of it,” said a statement.

It won him praise from Obama. “The president commended the prime minister for agreeing to the Egyptian Continued on Page 13

Amir calls on Kuwaitis to vote, not wail KUWAIT: Kuwaitis should use the ballot box to express their demands in a parliamentary election on Dec 1 and not take to the streets “screaming and wailing” in protest, HH the Amir said yesterday.

Thousands of people have staged regular demonstrations since late October against Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah’s emergency decree reducing the number of votes allowed per citizen from four to one for the sake of Kuwait’s “security and stability”. “This tension and stress and anxiety, which hangs over our country and our society, hurts you as it hurts me,” Sheikh Sabah said during a meeting with Kuwaiti academics and university professors at Bayan Palace.

“It is a great tragedy to have calls to take to the street,” the Amir said. “Why the chaos and riots? Why the screaming and wailing and disrupting the business of the state and harming the interests of the people?” he said. “We have a duty to protect our country from the dangers surrounding us, the earthquakes that are shaking the Arab world.”

Rallies outside parliament have been held regularly and peacefully for years, but three big marches since mid-October were broken up by police using tear gas. Protesters say they seek reform, not an Continued on Page 13

Palestinians shout and flash victory signs as they celebrate the beginning of the truce with Israel in Gaza City yesterday. (Inset) US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meets Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi (right) and Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohammed Kamel Amr in Cairo yesterday. Amr later announced that a truce had been agreed between Israel and Hamas. — AFP

Pampered but restless, many young Kuwaitis want more KUWAIT: They enjoy scholarships, secure jobs and generous salaries at a time when so many young people around the world have dim prospects and are underemployed. So why are thousands of young Kuwaitis so dissatisfied? The answer, for Abdullah Ashkanani, who like more than half of Kuwaitis is under 25, is about fairness and the freedom to speak out. Despite the many benefits that accrue to all Kuwaitis, the authorities do not seem to distribute the country’s wealth and power fairly, said Ashkanani, a student, and this is something he wants to change for the next generation. “One day we will get married and have children and we want them to have a fair, equal life,” the 24-year-old said at a protest in the capital this month. “It is not about money. It is also about freedom and freedom of speech. Do not think you can give us money and we will sit at home and shut our mouths.”

Thousands of Kuwaitis have taken to the streets in the state since late October ahead of a parliamentary election set for Dec 1. Although the rallies have been about new voting rules, young people have joined in to protest about wider Continued on Page 13

CAIRO: A studio used by the Al Jazeera TV network was set on fire yesterday in central Cairo as security forces and protesters fought in the streets of the Egyptian capital for a third day. Police said they had arrested three men on suspicion of being involved in the attack and gave no details on their identity or any affiliations. The violence that has wounded dozens and led to more than 100 arrests grew out of protests called this week to mark the first anniversary of deadly street battles between police and protesters opposed to army rule.

Egypt’s streets have been calmer since President Mohamed Morsi took power from the generals in July, after winning a democratic presidential vote. Demonstrations by political and labour activists remain frequent however, as Egyptians exercise their new right to protest. State TV referred to the violence in central Cairo as

Oppn requests permission for demonstration

By B Izzak

KUWAIT: Kuwaitis look down at a large interactive satellite image of Kuwait’s map printed on the ground inside the Avenues Mall yesterday. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat

Jazeera Cairo studio set ablaze “organised sabotage”. In a statement, the government condemned the violence and listed restoring security as a priority. “Everybody is a citizen of this nation, be they security men, sol-

diers or others. All should be aware that the stone that is thrown wounds everyone, and the Molotov (petrol bomb) that is lit burns the nation,” a cabinet statement said. — Reuters

CAIRO: Egyptian protesters run for cover during clashes with security forces yesterday. — AP

Max 25º Min 12º High Tide 05:34 & 19:24 Low Tide 12:31

KUWAIT: Organizers of the Nov 30 opposition demonstration yesterday submitted a request to the Interior Ministry seeking a permit to stage a peaceful demonstration on the eve of the election. Former MP Waleed Al-Tabtabaei and member of the scrapped 2012 Assembly Ammar AlAjmi accompanied by several youth activists submitted the request to the Capital governor as per the law.

They were not given an answer immediately.

Tabtabaei said initially, the office of the governor refused to accept the application and asked the team to submit it to the interior minister although the law clearly states that the application should be submitted to the governor. Following contacts, the office accepted the application signed

by Tabtabaei, Ajmi and a number of youth activists requesting a permit to

stage the demonstration to protest against holding the election on the basis of the amended electoral law.

The opposition decided to hold the procession on the eve of the election day to show that a large number of Kuwaitis are opposed to the amendment of the electoral law. Sources however said that the interior ministry is unlikely to agree to grant the permit since the procession is scheduled to be staged just one day before the election when the security forces will be preoccupied in the preparation for the polls.

In case the ministry does not grant the permit, the security forces will certainly use force to prevent the demonstration or to disperse any gathering like what happened during the two previous rallies. Organizers have warned on their Twitter account that if the security forces attempt to prevent the rally on the Arabian Gulf Road as Continued on Page 13

Mumbai attacks gunman hanged MUMBAI: The sole surviving gunman from the 2008 Mumbai attacks was executed Wednesday to the relief of victims’ families, nearly four years after 166 people died in a three-day rampage that traumatised India.

Pakistani-born Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, 25, was hanged at a prison in western India for his role in the assaults that targeted luxury hotels, a Jewish centre, a hospital and commuters at Mumbai’s main train station.

“Kasab deserved the extreme punishment... I think one sad, sorrowful chapter has come to an end,” said P Chidambaram, who took over as home minister following the attacks with a brief to reform the police and domestic intelligence agencies.

Kasab - a school dropout who became a member of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant group blamed by India for the attacks - was executed and buried at the Yerwada prison in the city of Pune. Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid said they sent the news to a Pakistani address Kasab gave during confessions. The Press Trust of India news agency reported that he had asked prison guards to inform his mother of his fate.

Continued on Page 13

MUMBAI: In this Nov 26, 2008 file photo, gunman Ajmal Kasab walks at the Victoria Terminus railway station. India executed Kasab yesterday. — AP

2

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2012

LOCAL

New single-vote system increases responsibility Citizens express optimism KUWAIT: A number of citizens said they felt a great responsibility towards the new single-voting system, which will be conducted in the next National Assembly elections. “We will be searching for the most qualified candidate to represent us in the parliament as voting will be harder, since the current election is witnessing a large number of candidates in all constituencies,” a citizen said.

Mohammad Al-Shatti, a voter in the first constituency, said that the decision in the past was not as difficult as it will be this session, due to the previous option of voting for four candidates.

With the current voting system, paying more attention to the candidates’ curriculum vitae becomes an urgent necessity along with following up with their election programs to see if they are serious and ready to find solutions for the challenges Kuwait is currently facing, he added.

Al-Shatti wished that the singlevote system would succeed as it is a new parliamentary experience in Kuwait, and that “Kuwaiti voters will get used to it with time.”

For his part, Yousif Al-Nijada said that the new system will let the voter vote for whomever he/she thinks will serve his/her interests the best.

The single-vote system will place reason above sentiment and make the voter study the biography of the candidates carefully prior to voting, he added. Al-Nijada said that this new system is widely used in developed countries as it contributes in elevating the democracy in Kuwait after the 50th anniversary of constitution.

Furthermore, Abdulwahab AlQattan said that the new system made it difficult to vote for considerations other than the national ones such as ties of kinship, stressing that voters will put Kuwait’s interest above all.

He predicted that the single vote will consolidate the national spirit, wishing that there will be media campaigns carried out by the Ministry of Information for clarifying the advantages of the new system.

A Fifth Constituency hopeful for the 2012 National Assembly election urged eligible voters to use their constitutional right to partake in the forthcoming parliamentary polls.

Speaking after opening his electoral headquarters on Tuesday evening, Saud Al-Khureinj said his electoral pro-

gram is centered on housing, women, joblessness and illegal residents.

He wished there could be genuine and effective cooperation between both executive and legislative authorities once the next parliament is elected. The candidate voiced confidence that the single-vote system would surely produce efficient members of parliament. Another candidate of the same constituency expounded on his electoral program as focusing on two key aspects: e-government and how to help youth manage their free time.

Mohammad Qambar, speaking to KUNA, said e-government would help in streamlining procedures, saving time and effort and wiping out bureaucracy. Kuwait has adequate potential to have its own e-government since most developed countries have e-governments which link all state institutions together, he noted.

For his part, Najeeb Al-Adwani, who comes from the Fifth Constituency, underlined the significance of boosting cooperation among all Kuwaiti citizens and giving a top priority to the country’s higher national interest.

Also speaking while commencing his campaign, he said he was upbeat about Kuwait’s future under the leadership of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, hailing him for instructing law enforcement bodies to apply law strictly.

Al-Adwani vowed to attach more attention to the issues of education, housing, health, human development, youth and women.

A First Constituency candidate for the 2012 National Assembly election stressed on Tuesday the necessity of ensuring the rule of law and responsible democracy in the country.

Speaking on his program, Amer AlNaseem said: “Although Kuwait is experiencing a critical and crucial stage, it should remain to be a state of law and responsible democracy.”

He vowed that should he win a parliamentary seat in the coming legislative polls, he would attach more attention to national development in order to cope with growing advancement and progress in sisterly and friendly countries. He also promised to heavily support major development projects provided that the prospective contractors should employ Kuwaitis in their projects at a minimum rate of fifty percent. Samie Al-Munaia, another candi-

date for the First Constituency, stressed the significance of stability in Kuwait as the key to national development. “Development flourishes wherever stability exists,” the hopeful said.

He called for cutting red-tape, simplifying procedures, investing capital and speeding up the implementation of development projects.

For his part, Saud Al-Masoud, also from the First Constituency, urged youth and civil society activists in the five constituencies to seek to form unofficial committees for monitoring their prospective deputies’ performance. Such committees would oblige deputies to be always in touch with their constituencies and to be keen on fulfilling the expectations and hopes of their voters, he said.

He also called on eligible voters to choose their members of parliament in line with efficiency criteria.

On his electoral plank, Al-Masoud said he would focus on protecting and safeguarding public funds, accelerating the implementation of development projects in health, housing and educational sectors and overhauling laws. Abdul-Qader Al-Humoud, also a First Candidate hopeful, spoke highly of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah’s decree on the single-vote system.

Al-Humoud underscored the necessity of fighting corruption with all types, applying law to all and establishing justice and equality and achieving development.

He believed that justice, equality and development would be ensured only when both executive and legislative bodies work together.

For his part, Hashem Bushehri of the same constituency said it is necessary to revitalize the economic sector in Kuwait by revising the law on building, operating and transferring (BOT).

“This significant law, once amended, would contribute to drawing investors from the private sector, thus propping up the sector of projects in the State, “ he said.

He also called for keeping abreast of scientific technological advancement by means of revamping curricula starting from primary stages. Bushehri also stressed the significance of paying more heed to the health sector by boosting the bedding capacity of all public hospitals and increasing the capabilities of medical staff. —KUNA

The US Ambassador Matthew H Tueller with Dasman Institute staff

‘Let’s get healthy today, Kuwait’

By Abdellatif Sharaa KUWAIT: Diabetes is attracting more and more attention from doctors, dieticians, physiotherapists, nurses and so on. Kuwait had taken the initiative a few years earlier to raise awareness about it as it was apparent that the prevalence of diabetes was approaching epidemic proportions, something that has already happened at the global level. Experts and health care providers find it necessary to spread awareness about diabetes from an early age among children. The Dasman Diabetes Institute, in cooperation with the United States Embassy in Kuwait, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health and Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences, launched the “Let’s get healthy today, Kuwait” program, which aims at preventing diabetes among the youth.

Director General of Dasman Diabetes Institute, Dr Kazem Behbehani, said today’s activity aims at attempting to push back the menace from where it has reached.

Dr Kazem Behbehani lauded the efforts of all those involved in making the program possible.

He said the prevalence of diabetes is the highest in Kuwait among the Gulf countries, and it is on top of the affected nations worldwide.

Dr Behbehani said it is alarming to see that the average age group in which Type 2 diabetes occurred has dropped from the expected 40 years of age to less than 10 year olds, and the complications in the future can be significant. Type 2diabetes does not manifest symptoms during its early stages, and these

Dr Kazem Behbehani

Ambassador Matthew H Tueller

become apparent only a few years later when one needs to frequent hospitals a lot.

He said Dasman institute is running different activities, looking after diabetics, obesity, pre-diabetics and those who want to learn about it. He said the best impact comes from prevention, and this happens through learning about what to do and what and how much to eat in order not to have diabetes.

He said 70 percent of the population is either overweight or obese, and this has a big impact on having Type 2 diabetes. Its complications can be grave in the long run. Dr Behbehani said the changing lifestyle with less activity and more food has complicated matters.

Meanwhile, the US Ambassador to Kuwait, Matthew H Tueller, said that it is so often that “great things start with small steps” adding that “what we embarked on here today has the potential to make a profound difference in the future well being, prosperity and productivity of young Kuwaitis.”

He said, this particular program

combines education and healthcare, and those speak directly to the strength of US-Kuwaiti relationships.

Ambassador Tueller said he was particularly pleased that the funding of this project has come from the very prestigious fund for the innovation and public diplomacy, and it is administered by the undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs in the state department.

“Let’s get healthy todayKuwait” reflects the combined efforts of the embassy staff and the staff of the diabetes institute.

The American school of Kuwait was the first school to participate in the program with information about diabetes and good health, the importance of physical activity and encouraging sports and outdoor games.

There will be 18 schools and about 1000 children participating in the “Let’s get healthy today, Kuwait” program over the next five months to teach them about how to combat diabetes.

Asian drug trader in custody

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: Drug enforcement agents arrested a Bangladeshi for being in possession of heroin for trading purpose. After information was received about his activities, agents went through the legal protocol and then proceeded to arrest the suspect.

They recovered five medium sized bags of heroin, each carrying 50 grams of heroin. The suspect and the recovered drugs were sent to the concerned authorities.

Liquor destroyed In the presence of General Director for Prosecution, Lt. General Essa Al-Misbah, the concerned committee destroyed 8,130 bottles and tins of liquor smuggled into Kuwait. The courts had issued the final verdict in the case. The contraband was destroyed yesterday. Al-Misbah said that a work team was formed for the purpose. It spent more than two months working with the court and destroying the stocks confiscated from different areas of Kuwait. Al-Misbah warned about the menace of liquor in the society and its ill effects. He hailed the role of drug enforcement agents and others in fighting this problem.

Drunk husband A GCC woman working in the Ministry of Education complained to the Taima police that her Kuwaiti husband came home drunk, and after a domestic quarrel, beat her up severely. She backed her complaint with a medical report, and said she tried calling her brother for help but her husband threatened to shoot her with a gun that he had. He later took away her mobile and ran away. A case was registered.

Syrian assaulted A 20-year-old Syrian expat reported to the police that he was stopped at Salmiya by a man posing as a detective who accused him of having set aflame a vehicle. This selfproclaimed detective then asked the Syrian to accompany him, and took him to the Jahra desert where he said the vehicle was burnt. Once there, he threatened him with a gun, sodomized him, and then took him to a mobile shop to sell off his mobile. Later, he left him in the street.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2012

local

Gaza people getting stronger, no matter what happens Doctor sheds light on attachment

By Abdellatif Sharaa

KUWAIT: Dr Christophe Oberlin speaking at the Graduates Society.

Kuwait to restore status as ‘role model’ for democracy ANKARA: A renowned Turkish political researcher has praised the democratic process in Kuwait which he described as an example for political advancement in the Gulf region. Ali Bakir, a researcher at the Turkish Center for Mideastern and African Studies of the International Strategic Studies Association (ISSA), said that Kuwait, when it opted in 1961 to “place itself on the right track toward democracy,” was among a few states in the Arab region that took that path.

“Throughout the past decades, Kuwait constituted an example for progress in the realm of constitutional activities at the region’s level in general and the Gulf in particular,” he said. However, he added “there has been recent slack at this level due to rapid changes of parliaments and governments.” He also cautioned that such political turbulence might undermine the country’s stability and obstruct progress at various levels. “Nevertheless, Kuwait, with its constitutional and political experience, would overcome such impeding factors and absorb current changes.”

He expressed confidence that Kuwait would restore its status as an example for freedoms and democracy in the Arab region, due to its particular features as a society, as well as the wisdom of its leaders. Bakir affirmed that the upcoming parliamentary elections, due on December 1, would constitute yet another major move forward on the democratic path. — KUNA

KUWAIT: Dr Christophe Oberlin, who hails from France and has been making three visits a year to the Gaza Strip for the last one decade, was in Kuwait and spoke about his experience there. Dr Christophe, who was invited to speak at the Graduates Society on Monday, introduced himself as a hand surgeon practicing for the last 30 years. He said it was important for him to go and teach in various countries, as he specializes in post traumatic paralysis.

Explaining how his life long attachment with Gaza started, he said that he has operated in many countries but it was more than ten years ago when a friend of his told him that he should go to Gaza. In December 2002, during the Israeli attack, more than 1,000 people were killed and 30,000 injured.

“As soon as I arrived in Gaza, I was literally caught by some Palestinian surgeons who told me, ‘You are a specialist, and we have a lot of injured people,’ and they gave me dozens of names, their ages, types of injury and they told me they tried to repair some nerves, but it did not work out very well. They asked me to try to do something.

“So, in January 2002, I started, with help of friends from UK, Spain, Germany and Switzerland, a program in surgery and training as we have to train the surgeons. We started a micro-surgery laboratory, and we visit the area on a regular basis three times a year.”

Dr Christophe said he teaches anatomy in France, along with hand and micro surgeries, and humanitarian medicine. He said since he talked about Gaza, he got into trouble with the university. He said the Palestinian doctors whom he trains in Gaza get the same diploma as given by his university. He said ten Palestinian surgeons graduated in hand surgery.

He said he wanted to speak about his first friend in the Gaza Strip, a man called Mohammad Al-Ranteesi, who is now the most active hand surgeon in Palestine. He is one of seven brothers. Another one of the seven, Abdulaziz Al-Ranteesi, was assassinated by Israel in 2004. Mohammad was invited by the French Hand Society and spent three months in France working with

me in the hospital. Then, in 2006, Hamas won the elections and since then, it has become impossible for Al-Ranteesi to travel because he is considered as someone connected to a so called terrorist organization.

Dr Christophe said he was expelled from several associations because he speaks about the situation in Gaza, as well as about Hamas.

Dr Christophe wrote a book on what he saw in Gaza in the form of chroniclers. He said they were written just as the events happened in 2001 and 2002, and were not a narrative written afterwards. He said he finds full acceptance in Gaza which amazes him as a westerner.

“I consider the people largely open minded, and we used to live together over the ten years whenever I was in Gaza. What is fascinating is that despite the siege and the bombings, they kept going on. When I asked about some medical organization, they named Mohammad Al-Kashif who was responsible for all international cooperation. They said if I wanted to supply some money or instruments etc, he was the man

sors and their assistants, and they had fanned out all over Gaza Strip. This was important because Israel had cut Gaza Strip into three parts. Yet, I observed that everybody was working without panicking, and I appreciated those people because they came to work every day. They did not come with journalists taking pictures and doing interviews, because in that case, when the cameras are off, people tend to take things easy.

Those people belonged to the Union of Arab doctors and they had come only to help, not with any other motive. When I asked them how long they were going to stay, they said as long as it was necessary.

“In 2005, when the Israelis withdrew from the settlements, I noticed that the Palestinians were happy, and they were able to move. Gaza had been cut into three parts and people could not go to universities, nor could they pass food from north to the south. The employees could not go to hospitals to work. It was only after the withdrawal that the Gaza people began to live somewhat normally.

“I saw the extraordinary development

A partial view of the audience.— Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat to be consulted.

During the bombings of 2008-2009, the organization worked very well. For example when we arrived during the war, we discovered that 60 surgeons from Egypt were already there. The specialists that you need during bombings, namely cardiac, thoracic, and brain surgeons, were all there. In fact, there were top surgeons, university profes-

they did at the former settlements, as the Israelis had destroyed them completely.

The Gaza people re-utilized every material and in few years, more than 50,000 lodges were built in those former colonies. I have seen the farms with millions of trees that were planted. What is amazing is that when this development was happening during the closure, they did whatever they had to

do to beat the hurdles that closure posed.

“The target was to have self sufficiency in food. That was the aim of farming, not for exporting the produce. They did achieve self sufficiency in some items. This is a very good example of what one can do in a bad situation with whatever help they could get from some countries.

“In fact, Gaza does not need wheel chairs, they need political support, and they need money to pay people every month, and for specific medical support. You call Mohammad Al-Kashif and he can tell you what they need. When Israelis invaded the Gaza strip in 1967, it stopped the access to Egyptian universities. There was no access to Israeli universities. Since there was a need for high level training, they built the Islamic University. I must tell you that they are now champions in e-learning, and are gaining diplomas through that. Now that the Mubarak regime is gone, they are working hard to develop good relations with Egypt to make it easier to travel to and from Gaza freely.

“Gaza was breaking the siege through the tunnels, as the aim always was to break free of Israelis from various points. The first issue is electricity as there is a shortage from eight to twenty hours a day. There is a plan to build a power station on the Egyptian side, and get fuel at the Egyptian price, not the Israeli international price. The opening of a free zone and the opening of the borders between Gaza and Egypt is crucial, and this means that Gaza will be able to import and export just as a free country, and it will have connection with the rest of the world.

“Now the situation is very sad because of the new war. We are hearing about the ceasefire, which must have conditions including one about opening of the borders through Egypt. The visits by prominent politicians to Gaza are very important, and it makes me sad to hear western politicians say that they want to solve the problem, but they do not want to talk to the elected people in Gaza. It is a must to talk to them to solve the problem.

“The situation is sad, but there is hope since the people of Gaza are becoming stronger and stronger, and no matter what happens, they will keep going on.”

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2012

LOCAL

Iranian held at seaport with forged documents Airport employees in custody KUWAIT: An Iranian man was arrested on Tuesday after arriving from his home country when he was found carrying forged official documents bearing government stamps, apart from stamps belonging to various state departments, a customs official at the Doha Port said. The man was referred to the State Security Service on charges of forgery. “We received information about an Iranian man arriving in Kuwait being in possession of forged state documents,” Customs Supervisor at the Doha Port Khalid Al-Failakawi said, explaining the operation that led to the arrest. “Customs officials searched passengers arriving from Iran and eventually caught the suspect who was in possession of entrance and exit clearances for ships sealed by the Customs General Department, in addition to stamps belonging to the same Department, as also those belonging to Interior Ministry and Health Ministry,” he added.

Passport forgery In another case, a female employee at the Kuwait International Airport was arrested for forgery after she put an entry stamp on her passport for her child with the help of an officer who, too, was detained.

Investigations went under way after an Egyptian man told the police that he suspected that his ex-wife had sent their fiveyear-old son back to their home country in violation of the court order, a move that entitled her to child custody. When summoned for interrogation, the Egyptian woman was asked about her ex-husband’s claim that whenever he tried to meet his child, the woman always told him that the child was unavailable. She showed her passport showing an entry stamp dated last August proving that the child was ver y

much in Kuwait. When asked to disclose where the child was, the woman first tried to stall before eventually admitting that she had forged the stamp with the help of her coworker who works at the passport counter. The officer, who was summoned, claimed during interrogation that he stamped the passpor t “without paying attention to whether the child was with her” at the time.

The two were referred to the proper authorities to face charges.

Unfaithful wife A physician filed a case with Salmiya police accusing his wife of cheating on him with his best friend after he caught them red handed inside his own apartment. The man had returned home following a sentry duty and heard weird noises coming from the bedroom. He opened the door to find his wife in bed with his best friend, with drug paraphernalia lying nearby. He locked the door back and called the police who arrested the two. Both were still under the influence of liquor or drugs. They were taken to the Salmiya police station where they remain in custody pending legal procedures.

Two accused of sodomy Investigations are on to identify and arrest two male suspec ts who sexually assaulted a teenager they abducted in Salmiya recently. The Syrian boy was reportedly driven to the Jahra desert where he was repeatedly assaulted before the suspect dropped him off near his home. The victim told officers that he was walking alone near his home when a car pulled over and two people forced him inside. He was able to read the license plate number of the suspect’s vehicle. The detectives are now

working to identify the victims with the help of that.

Kidnap attempt Search is on for two male suspects who tried to kidnap a woman going on foot in Salmiya recently but left her injured after she fought back fiercely. After the assault, the Filipina woman went to the Mubarak Hospital and obtained reports about her condition that she later presented to officers at the Salmiya police station. A case was filed after she explained that an SUV approached her while she was walking alone in the area, and t wo suspec ts attempted to force her inside the vehicle.

She put up strong resistance, thus stalling the kidnap attempt and forcing the suspects to let her go. No one passed by or witnessed the scuffle. The medical repor t showed bruises on the head which the woman said resulted when the suspects “slammed the car’s door repeatedly” on her head during the fracas.

Domestic violence Saad Al-Abdullah police station officers are looking to arrest a resident in the area accused of assaulting his wife and stealing her phone at gunpoint. The case was filed o n Tu e s d ay a f te r a S a u d i wo m a n approached the police to press charges of domestic violence, murder threat and theft against her Kuwaiti husband. She said he put an AK47 to her head and took away her cell phone before beating her up at home and then running away. She explained that the conflict was triggered by domestic disputes. Police charged the man with possess i o n o f a n u n l i ce n s e d we a p o n a s we l l b a s e d o n h i s w i fe’s te s t i m o ny.

Investigations are on.

Americana opens first Olive Garden Restaurant in the ME

K

uwait Food Company - Americanaopened the first Olive Garden in the Middle East at the Avenues Mall - stage 3 (Grand Avenue), on Wednesday the 14th of November 2012 .

At Olive Garden, the food is inspired by the fresh, simple and delicious cuisine of Italy. You’ll find traditional favorites like lasagna, ravioli and pizza. You will also find new dishes created by Olive Garden Chefs to celebrate Italian traditions in new ways, like Lobster cannelloni with shrimps, chicken caprese, and steak

gorgonzola-alfredo, all served with our signature breadstix and Soup or Salad.

Bill Darden started Olive Garden in Florida, 1982 to provide every guest with authentic Italian dining experience. Olive Garden has over 750 restaurants in the USA and holds many awards.

Best Italian Restaurant in Annual “Milwaakee Magazine” Awards Americana plans to open 25 restaurants in the coming five years in Kuwait, UAE, KSA, Qatar, Bahrain, Egypt and ebanon.

VIVA Celebrates Lebanon Independence Day KUWAIT: VIVA, Kuwait’s newest and most advanced mobile telecommunications ser vice provider, announced yesterday the launch of a special promotion for its prepaid and postpaid customers in celebration of the Independence Day of Lebanon. For every five minutes during a call made to families and friends in Lebanon on this occasion, VIVA will grant customers five free minutes in return. This promotion is

valid for the 24 hours of 22 November, 2012.

This promotion was designed by VIVA for this special occasion and in an effort to grant its fellow Lebanese citizens the opportunity to speak to their loved ones at half price and share the joys of this celebrated day.

VIVA congratulates the Lebanese community on this occasion and reaffirms its commitment towards offering all that is pioneering and

advanced in the telecom industry, and to continue presenting its customers with an exceptional experience. Customers interested in this special offer can visit any of the VIVA branches for additional information and activation. To find out more about VIVA’s numerous competitive promotions, products and packages visit any of the 14 VIVA branches.

VIVA is the newest, most advanced mobile telecommunications service

provider in Kuwait. Launched in December 2008, VIVA makes things Possible for our customers by transforming communication, information and entertainment experiences.

The company has rapidly established an unrivalled position in the market through our customer and employee centric approach. VIVA’s quest is to be the mobile brand of choice for Kuwait by being transparent, engaging, energetic and fulfilling. VIVA

continues to take a considerable share of the market by offering an innovative range of best value products, services and content propositions; a state of the art, nationwide network and world-class service.

VIVA offers Internet speed up to 42.2Mbps due to the implementation of the most advanced third generation (3G and HSDPA) network in Kuwait resulting in superior coverage, performance and reliability.

5

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2012

Local

Canadian ship at Shuwaikh port

By Nawara Fattahova

KUWAIT: The Scientific Club is holding the International Inventions Fair in the Middle East, which is held in Kuwait for the fifth time. This fair is held under the patronage of His Highness the Amir and is titled ‘Inventors Meeting Investors’. Around 144 inventors from 37 countries are presenting 225 inventions including 12 from Kuwait.

Opposition urges Amir to end political crisis

By A Saleh KUWAIT: The opposition reiterated its calls to HH the Amir to withdraw the emergency decree that altered the voting mechanism just before the upcoming parliamentary elections, in order to “end the current turmoil” and “return the governance back to the right track instead of resorting to autocracy.” A number of opposition leaders expressed similar views during a public gathering on Tuesday night even as they continued pressing for a boycott of the Dec 1 elections in a bid to prevent the decree from gaining political legitimacy.

“We had warned before the decree that issuing it after going to the Constitutional Court would be a coup against the constitution,” former Parliament Speaker Ahmad Al-Saadoun said. He was referring to last September’s judgment which upheld the then existing electoral law that divided Kuwait into five constituencies and entitled each citizen to four votes.

HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad AlSabah passed an emergency decree after that, altering the election mechanism to entitle each voter to a single vote, triggering the opposition’s current protests. The opposition believes that the verdict had ‘immunized’ the five seats-four votes law and claims that changing the voting mechanism amounted to a “governmental plot” to limit oppositionists’ electoral chances and ultimately pave the way for a pro-government majority to dominate the parliament. The parliament has the authority to repeal the decree after it is elected, but Al-Saadoun reiterated on Tuesday that “a par-

liamentary majority is unlikely to refuse a system based on which they were elected in the first place.”

Former Deputy Speaker Dr. Khalid Al-Sultan reiterated Al-Saadoun’s calls for “making the public boycott successful,” by saying that allowing the next parliament to be elected as per the amended law “solidifies autocracy and lead to a direct confrontation between police and the public, which is an unusual approach for the ruling family.” Meanwhile, former MP Khalid Al-Tahous chose to directly refer to HH the Amir as being “the first one responsible and capable of ending the crisis.” “[HH the Amir] is the red line, and we are his children,” Al-Tahous said. “We ask you to withdraw the decree to avoid further escalations... The public rejection of the decree is a rejection of autocracy.”

Other opposition figures who spoke on the occasion included Musallam Al-Barrak, Mubarak Al-Waalan, Badr Al-Dahoum and Khalid Shukhayyer. Tuesday night’s gathering, which was hosted at the dewaniya of former MP, the late Mubarak Al-Dabous in Fahaheel, was set to be followed by similar gatherings at other dewaniyas around Kuwait to explain to the public why they believe the elections should be boycotted. Youth groups affiliated to the opposition announced plans to stage a procession on the eve of the election day (December 1) as part of the protest activities. In other news, the Criminal Court yesterday adjourned a case filed by fourth constituency candidate Badr Al-Mutairi against recently disqualified candidate Nabeel Al-Fadhl, who is accused of offending the Mutair tribe during a live interview.

KUWAIT: The Canadian Ambassador to Kuwait, Douglas George, held a reception on board Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship Regina at the Shuwaikh Port, which is visiting Kuwait from Nov 20 to 22. He welcomed the guests including the Minister of International and Intergovernmental Relations, Cal Dallas, and his team from Alberta, the Vice President of the CCC, Canadian Commercial Corporation, Martin Zablocki, Commander Jason Boyd, the Commanding Officer, as also Regina.

“It is a great honor for me to host this special reception on board Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship Regina which is visiting Kuwait to say thank you to its government and people for their great efforts in supporting the Canadian forces. The Canadian Navy remembers with pride its role in the coalition that liberated Kuwait,” he pointed out.

He underscored the importance Canada accords to the close relations with Kuwait. “We are ready to work together with the Kuwaiti Government and people to further strengthen our political trust, enhance our bilateral exchanges, and promote our mutually beneficial cooperation in all fields. I firmly believe that our friendship and cooperation will surely enjoy a brighter future,” George said.

On his part, Commanding Officer Jason Boyd said that the men and women of the Royal Canadian Navy have a shared history of sailing in these waters over the last two decades. “First, a task group of Canadian ship was amongst the coalition allies that aided in the liberation of Kuwait.

Later, in the years since Sept 11, warships from Canada have regularly sailed in these waters as part of the international coalition against terrorism. We are proud to work alongside our partners from the Kuwait Armed Forces as members of the Combined Maritime Forces,” he stated.

He thanked Kuwait for their hospitality and permitting HMCS Regina to visit the country. “As a

sign of cooperation between our armed forces and the friendship between our countries, I note that this is the second visit by a Canadian warship in the past five months. Our sister ship, HMCS Charlottetown visited Kuwait in July of this year. And we look forward to opportunities to cooperate with the Kuwaiti Armed Forces in the future,” added Boyd.

During its visit to Kuwait, the ship’s company of HMCS Regina is

tional maritime security operation, and provides the CF with the situational awareness required to rapidly respond to future crises as directed by the Government of Canada.

HMCS Regina’s mission overview: Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship (HMCS) Regina - with her 250member crew including a Sea King helicopter detachment, and

and protect against terrorist activity by patrolling and conducting maritime security operations in her area of responsibility. Her presence in the Arabian Sea also gives Canada the flexibility and capability to respond quickly to emerging crises in the region.

Operation Artemis is the CF’s participation in maritime security and counter-terrorism operations in the Arabian Sea region with CTF 150. This undertaking clearly

KUWAIT: Cutting cake ceremony by the Canadian Ambassador to Kuwait Douglas George, Abdulrazaq Al-Awadi, commander Jason Boyd, Cal Dallas, Martin Zablocki on board HMCS REGINA. —Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat looking forward to hosting a reception for Kuwaiti business and military leaders as well as visiting the sites and attractions that Kuwait offers.

Operation Artemis is the Canadian Forces’ (CF) participation in maritime security and counterterrorism operations in the Arabian Sea region with the multinational CTF 150. The deployment of HMCS Regina to CTF 150 contributes significantly to the important ongoing interna-

an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) detachment - is deployed on Operation Artemis to serve with Combined Task Force (CTF) 150, the multinational maritime counter-terrorism force operating in the Arabian Sea. She departed her home port of Esquimalt, British Columbia on July 3, 2012 to begin the long transit to the operational area by way of the Pacific Ocean, arriving on August 19, 2012.

During this deployment, HMCS Regina’s task is to detect, deter

demonstrates Canada’s solidarity with partners and allies to work together for peace and security in the maritime environment of the greater Middle East region.

On Oct 18, while operating the Gulf of Aden, HMCS Regina responded to a Yemeni dhow in distress. The dhow had run out of fuel and the crew was without food or water. HMCS Regina was able to provide food, water and sufficient fuel for the dhow to reach the port.

6

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2012

LOCAL kuwait digest

in my view

Israel will lose, but what will Egypt do?

An easy search

By Abdullatif Al-Duaij edia houses affiliated to the opposition are active these days, trying to find what they believe are contradictory statements or positions in my writings. They are doing so by comparing my earlier articles with what I write these days. Their search is going to be an easy one because I did change, after gaining experience and knowledge with time and practice. Either that has happened, or perhaps others have changed, since we see how many have shifted their positions as opposed to me changing my ‘principles’.

Either way, I am a human being, and people are prone to change. It is the one who remains obdurate and fails to comprehend the changes around him who needs to be criticized. There is an old saying which says that “You can never step into the same river twice, because the water is always flowing.” How can I stick to a single position when politicians are ever changing and political events move so fast?

The people who need to be held accountable are those who are inconsistent and tend to adapt their positions and principles to serve their personal interests. This, by the way, is something that is characteristic of the media houses affiliated to the opposition and the ‘geniuses’ they represent. Need an example?

They demand that the government prosecute the so called ‘corrupt media’, but protest when the same law is applied to them. They demand freedom and dignity but deny others’ right of expression and self-determination. Their leaders claim to be safeguarding the constitution while at the same time they violate a majority of its articles. I think there is no need to waste your time with any more examples.

People’s positions, and even those of the political groups, often change, and so have mine. As a human being, I try hard to make an impartial critique by acknowledging those who in my opinion deserve praise, and criticizing those who I believe do not measure up.

My analysis might be correct or not, but I do not waste an opportunity to acknowledge someone who is given to the general good even though I may have criticized him in the past, and vice versa.

I write what I believe and know that I will be held politically accountable for it. Therefore, I have also criticized people who I had praised before, and they include individuals close to me, either politically or personally. Do the opposition and media outlets affiliated to them share a similar commitment? I highly doubt it. — Al-Qabas

By Khaled Al-Dakheel

W

M

kuwait digest

New laws and constitution

kuwait digest

Necessary questions

By Dr Terki Al-Azmi ast Friday, Nov 16, 2012, marked the first anniversary of the incident in which a number of lawmakers led dozens of Kuwaiti citizens in storming the parliament building. To this date, the incident is still often referred to as a political case rather than being a criminal case.

Meanwhile, less than ten days separate us from parliamentary elections being held as per the single vote system, with discussions among the people focusing on whether to take part in or boycott the polls. You might even find advocates for both sides within the same family. Meanwhile, there are others who go with the ‘blank paper’ vote.

In my opinion, casting a voting card without choosing a candidate is necessary. If you cannot find someone you believe is competent for the parliamentary post, then do not vote at all. You either vote, or you don’t because there is no such thing as a ‘grey area vote’, which begs me to say that the hazy mindset is what led us to the current political turmoil in the first place.

I also do not know why some people insist to picture the current situation as being a ‘plot to kidnap the country by the opposition which is controlled by the Muslim Brotherhood’. If they insist that the Muslim Brotherhood or their representatives in Kuwait, the Islamic Constitutional Movement, are really behind what is happening, then why would not they go to court so that legal action can be taken against people plotting such ill intentions against Kuwait?

Otherwise, spreading conspiracy theories about the opposition being ‘puppet in foreign hands’ without providing proof is something that might actually drive more people into supporting the opposition.

L

As a person who has chosen to boycott the elections - not only in protest against the emergency decree that altered the voting mechanism, but also due to the corruption prevailing in most of the state departments - there are some questions which I feel must be asked: * What does the acquittal of former MPs accused in the multimillion-dinars corruption scandal mean? * What is not being told by investigation committees in this case and the case of alleged foreign transfers of multimillion-dinars of state funds? * Why are people being prosecuted for statements posted on Twitter, and lawsuits are being filed against former MPs? * Why is a security agreement among Gulf Cooperation Council countries being signed during the absence of the parliament? * What is the meaning of recent statements in which former speaker Ahmad Al-Saadoun warned about “putting too many miseries on the back for them to be able to vent out through peaceful means”? * What does it mean when a former MP comes out and claims that he received millions of dinars in cash? * What does it mean when someone appears at an election hall with a briefcase filled with cash? * Why do tribal citizens find themselves under pressure to take part in the elections? * Is the Muslim Brotherhood truly behind the violence that erupted during the Karamat Watan (Dignity of the Nation) procession and Iradah Square gathering?

These are some questions that not only are begging for answers, but also for explanations to why they are being asked by people at this time. —Al-Rai

By Thaar Al-Rashidi t is very hard to find someone judging a candidate or any political personality morally and then attributing many bad things to him but when you ask him if he had ever met the candidate concerned, the answer is no. If someone so critical of a politician whom he had never met, then how did he come to know so many bad things about the candidate or the politician? This is our problem in Kuwait.

People are analyzing other’s intentions so intensely and then passing judgments, but all this is based on a rather peculiar news agency that can only go by the name of “They say”.

All such character pronouncements are based on what one is told, not what one has seen or experienced. Therefore, the general picture of all those who nominated themselves for elections is based on what people have agreed upon. The other side of the picture is no less worse. Those who have boycotted are, in the opinion of the “Blue” side, against the state of Kuwait and a party to a conspiracy to destroy the state. Both sides have mentioned certain things, and have forgotten certain others.

Most of those whose names were struck off from the list of candidates were accused of notoriety. There is no law about labeling someone as being good or bad. I think we are facing a real problem - one that we will now face in every election - that any future government will be able to cancel the names of any candidates it found inconvenient.

Therefore, in order that things get some kind of legality or constitutional clarity, there should be an unequivocal law. In the absence of any precise law, I believe it is the right of every candidate whose name was cancelled because someone accused him of notoriety to sue his detractors unless they can come up with proof to back their claims.

The constitution states that any law or amendment to any law that is in conflict with or curtails any public freedom is considered void under the constitution. It is time to ask how many laws were rushed through that encroached upon constitutionally guaranteed freedoms.

It is good to implement law, and that is even the popular demand, but the mistake is to bring in a law that contradicts the constitution, and then implement it.

NOTE: 1. Is the public suspect until proven innocent?

2. The political scene in Kuwait is like 64 square chessboard. The people are today able to see what is happening in one of the squares, while they are unable to fathom what is happening in the remaining 63 squares or they are not allowed to see. — Al-Anbaa

I

hat can the Hebrew state achieve from the current aggression on Gaza? Not much more than the destruction and shedding of more Palestinian blood. Israel cannot impose choices or political concessions, neither on the Palestinians, nor on the Arabs. They have all already offered what they can.

This current aggressive war confirms once again that Israeli leaders still think in the same way as during its bloody stage of establishment and applies the same logic of the 1967 war, which is a logic of overwhelming military superiority. This logic is supported by the immunity of the internal front, and by always engaging in battle on the territory of the enemy in order to diminish its own human loss and increase the loss of humans among Arabs. While even this logic is eroding slowly, it is eroding in a continuous and cumulative form. Missiles entered the battledfield, and this technology is out of control. Hamas rockets are not annoying, but they are not destructive. The horizon has changed, and tomorrow these rocks will be annoying and destructive, too. Time is not in Israel’s interest at all, and the course of the conflict confirms this.

The logic of inflicting war for the sake of war constituted a great deal of pressure on the Arab side, particularly on the Palestinian side. But this pressure is no longer much useful. Israel does not have the elements of a state neither human, nor economic, nor historical - to be able to rely on a policy of occupation and to perpetuate the war option. In fact, there is no state that can afford such. There is chronic Arab weakness, and there is a sharp Palestinian split. Additionally, there is unlimited and unprecedented Western support, in particular by the US. All of this is true.

But despite that it is in combination with its military oppression, Israel cannot take advantage of all these features politically more than it already has and benefited. It cannot do so because it is governed by the plight of its nature and composition as an occupying power characterized as being racist, aggressive, bloody and brutal. It achieved three peace agreements with Egypt, the Palestinians, and Jordan followed by the Arab initiative, which includes full recognition of Israel by Arabs and normalization of relations if it withdraws to the 1967 borders and allows for an establishment of independent Palestinian state within these limits. Yet despite the unprecedented, and illegal US immunity and guarantees, Israel lacks sense of security and therefore cannot deal with all these privileges via the logic of a state that respects the law and looks forward to peace. It does not already have this logic, and thus it deals with the Arab concessions and the US guarantees as a cover for more land theft and settlement expansion. Faced with this reality, the horizon is closed for reaching a reasonable and balanced political solution with Israel, and all who think or believe in this possibility are delusional.

What the Hebrew state wants is to impose an impossible equation: A Palestinian quasi-state with temporary borders under Israeli hegemony, to provide cover to the perpetuation of occupation, expansion of settlements and the waiver of Jerusalem.

Israeli aggression puts all Arab Spring countries in front of a new challenge, but the greatest challenge is to the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt at the moment. Gaza is located on the northeastern border of Egypt and represents the country’s direct gateway to the entire Levant region. The aggression tells the Egyptians that the peace agreement should remain as a cover, as it was before for the Israeli policies in Palestine now and in the region. The Muslim Brotherhood and other opposition forces were right in their criticism of the foreign policy of the government of former President Hosni Mubarak, particularly his reluctance, which greatly weakened Egypt and almost resulted in its exit of the regional equation. Now the question is: What are they going to do after becoming the ruling party, and how will they face their first real test in the Arab-Israeli conflict? Netanyahu’s government chose this timing for aggression so that it is at a critical moment for Egypt’s new rulers. Not only have they been in power for only three months, but the country is going through a severe economic crisis and a raging political crisis about the writing of the Constitution that seems intractable.

Egypt needs regional calm, economic aid and stable relations with the US and Europe in order to devote itself to addressing its accumulated internal crises, and thus, it is difficult for President Muhammad Mursi to take risks in such circumstances.

However, he differs from the three presidents who preceded him, Nasser, Sadat and Mubarak. Mursi came to power by the voice of the people, and with great promises. It is obvious that Netanyahu wanted to achieve two goals with one aggressive strike: First, to say to the Israelis that security policies with the Palestinians will not change even with all that changes in the region occurring after the Arab Spring, and that Israel is out of context, and will remain so. He believes that such a position will let him win the elections next January. The second objective, as I pointed out, is to test the commitment of the new leadership of Egypt to the peace agreement at a critical moment, and the real test can only be done in such a moment. Netanyahu, through his logic, cannot realize that he is venturing by going far in this test. The region is changing, including Egypt, but he is acting according to old accounts. This will make Israel the biggest loser from all this. The Brotherhood cannot be a copy of the Mubarak regime, which is what Israel is used to. If they do, or act in a manner even close to that, the Brotherhood is risking their political future. It is not required for the Brotherhood to undertake a military adventure, but they can utilize the peace agreement according to the new variables, and reverse the regional equation.

Egypt must not remain hostage to this agreement. It is likely that Israel is the one to be a hostage to this agreement, because it is the greatest beneficiary of it. The peace agreement has a price, and the greatest beneficiary is the first one who should pay the price. The Egyptian leadership must be aware currently that the Israeli aggression embarrasses Egypt, which is trying to emerge from its revolutionary state. This aggression also eases the pressure on the Syrian regime, which is facing a popular revolution.

This creates a seemingly surreal scene: Israeli aircraft pounded Gaza at the same moment that Syrian regime planes are tamping Syrian cities. The strangest thing about this is that the daily victims of the Syrian regime are much more than the Palestinians victims of the Israeli aggression.

The current aggression proves what was known before, which is that the “Arab Spring” is an internal movement. It has nothing to do with what is being echoed by the supporters of the Syrian regime that it is part of the American-Israeli plan to redraw the map of the region, absorbing the “Brotherhood” within this scheme.

If so, why Israel is venturing with such blatant aggression three months after the Brotherhood came to rule Egypt? The fact is that Egypt is the second target in the current war after Gaza. What is the new leadership in Cairo going to do?

kuwait digest

What should Gulf Arabs do?

By Dr Shamlan Al-Essa here is a misunderstanding in the Arab Gulf pursued the wrong economic policies with even countries that reduces security related issues to more vigour though these caused financial waste. mere internal security issues in the context of The government subsidies for all goods and services the ongoing debate about GCC interior ministers made citizens shirk work and avoid production. signing the security agreement that aims at achiev- Instead, these made them rely on foreign labor in ing coordination to fight terrorism and drugs, and to their lives. face developments regarding security in the region.

The Gulf countries followed costly revenue poliDespite the importance of security agreements, cies, with each country pursuing its own way to gain the true security will come only when the Gulf coun- the loyalty of its citizens, until it reached a point as in tries guarantee their own existence and livelihood the case of Kuwait where even daily food of citizens for their people in the wake of reports that the is subsidized by the government. The Kuwaiti govInternational Energy Agency expected the United ernment subsidizes all food items including meat States to become number one exporter of oil in the and eggs. It subsidizes prices of services such as world instead of Saudi Arabia, and the first exporter power, water and car fuel. The price of a gas cylinder of natural gas in 2015 surpassing Russia in that field. is KD 1 only while in Jordan it costs only KD 4. Since As a result of these reports, the price of gas it is a poor Arab country, is it realistic to sell gasoline dropped by 40 percent to 50 percent. These scientif- for KD 0.100 per liter while it is sold in Europe and ic developments come after the United States America for nearly $2? expanded the use of Now, what should fossil-fuel and rock-gas the Gulf Arab counThe Gulf countries followed costly revenue and the investment in tries do? And how will policies, with each country pursuing its own getting oil from rocks they face the problem because it costs $70of such a plunge in oil way to gain the loyalty of its citizens, until it $100. prices? Some Gulf reached a point as in the case of Kuwait What is the meancountries succeeded where even daily food of citizens is subsiing of these discoverin diversifying their ies and how accurate income from sources dized by the government. The Kuwaiti govare these scientific other than oil by ernment subsidizes all food items including news reports for the opening their marmeat and eggs. It subsidizes prices of servicArab Gulf countries? kets to the world, and How will the Gulf making their counes such as power, water and car fuel. The countries face this new tries open for re price of a gas cylinder is KD 1 only while in dilemma, especially export, as UAE did. In Jordan it costs only KD 4. when they totally Saudi Arabia, there is depend on oil and gas a flourishing industry, for their national but all those indusincome? The GCC countries have not issued any tries depend in the end on oil energy. statement so far, or carried out a study to explain The Gulf countries are required to reduce or their stand on how they plan to deal with the latest freeze salaries and find quick alternatives for revdevelopments as if the matter does not concern enue other than oil. They encourage citizens to work them. in the private sector to reduce reliance on the state Gulf countries have said several times that they in everything. The World Bank and International will face economic and social problems if oil prices Monetary Fund, and all the think tanks about ecodrop below $100 p/b. The Gulf countries followed nomics in the world warned the Gulf countries wrong economic policies, as instead of utilizing the against over spending on subsidies, salaries and large revenues of oil to find economic alternatives to wages, but no one listened. It is time we thought reduce the major reliance on oil, and find new alter- seriously about the future of our countries after the natives to reduce our dependence on oil, we actually reduction in oil prices. — Al-Watan

T

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2012

Al-Qaeda leadership ‘decimated’ Page 9

Man’s best friend takes on Afghanistan’s enemy Page 8

DIRAZ: Bahraini antigovernment protesters gesture toward riot police during a march in Diraz, Bahrain in this file photo. (Below) A masked Bahraini anti-government protester sits on an overturned dumpster with a petrol bomb. Marchers called for freedom for political prisoners and honored those killed in the uprising from Bahrain’s western villages. — AP

Washington worried over Bahrain violence Conflict could widen - to Iran’s benefit WASHINGTON: US officials have voiced concern that Bahrain’s failure to implement key reforms outlined in an independent 2011 report is making political dialogue more difficult and widening fissures in society in ways that would benefit Iran.

Bahrain, where the US Fifth Fleet is based, has been under Western pressure to implement recommendations for police, judicial, media and education reforms made by the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquir y (BICI), an independent commission of international legal experts. “ We are worried that this society is moving apart rather than coming together in a way that would ensure both human rights and stability,” said a senior US official, speaking to reporters on condition he not be identified by name. “It’s absolutely clear that if society breaks apart, Iran will be the big winner and beneficiary,” added the official. Shiite protesters complain they continue to be marginalized by Bahrain’s Sunni rulers. The strategically located island state is a key US ally in Washington’s stand-off with Shiite Iran. The BICI report, issued last year, said 35 people died during unrest which erupted in the Persian Gulf monarchy in February 2011 after revolts overthrew dictators in Egypt and Tunisia. The US official said Bahrain had “followed a number of the recommenda-

tions” including allowing Red Cross access to prisoners, issuing arrest protocols and modest police training and setting up an ombudsman in the Ministry of Interior. “On the hardest issues, the government has not followed through,” he said, citing people still being held in prison or facing prosecution for the early 2011 demonstrations. “We remain concerned about increasing violence in Bahrain, by limits on free expression and assembly and a political environment that’s become increasingly difficult and that’s made reconciliation and political dialogue more difficult,” said the official.

Washington also lamented fresh violence in the past month, including Molotov cocktails and other violent actions by protesters, as well an “excessive use of force by police and security forces,” said the official. A second US official said the 60-year-old US security relationship with Bahrain was critical to regional stability and required a balancing act by Washington. American policy aimed to “balance those requirements and those interests with those we have at the same time in encouraging reform, given our commitment to the fact that reform is the only way we can see that genuine stability and prosperity will emerge in the region,” said he second official.— Reuters

Syrian jets pound Damascus suburb AMMAN: Syrian warplanes bombed a Damascus suburb yesterday, opposition activists said, as heavy fighting raged for the second day on the outskirts, challenging President Bashar Al-Assad’s hold on the capital. MiG fighter jets hit the suburb of Daraya, a major opposition centre of the 20-month revolt situated amid farmland near the main southern highway, where rebels have been battling elite Republican Guard units.

The pro-government Al-Ekhbariya television said the army had begun a campaign to “cleanse” Daraya of what it described as terrorists, and showed troops on the edge of the town, where activists reported 23 people killed in two days. But rebels and activists suggested that President Bashar AlAssad’s forces were finding it harder to dislodge the rebels than when they last entered the suburb in August.

After months of slow progress, the rebels have in the last few weeks captured several army positions on the outskirts of Damascus and outlying regions, including a Special Forces base near Aleppo, Syria’s commercial hub, and an air defense position near the southern gate of the capital, according to activists, video footage and diplomats following the military situation.

Assad’s opponents are also gaining some support internationally as a newly formed coalition of opposition and rebel groups seeks recognition as the legitimate voice of the Syrian people, with Britain becoming

the ninth country to grant it such status.

Shashank Joshi of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London said the developments of the last few weeks were shifting the balance in favor of the rebels.

“The use of the world ‘stalemate’ to describe the conflict may no longer be appropriate,” he said by phone. “The rebels have moved up the ladder of warfare.” Fighting was also reported in Damascus’s eastern suburb of Irbin, where rebels said they had destroyed one tank and killed two Republican Guards.

Irbin is one of many Sunni Muslim suburbs in the farmland around Damascus known as Al-Ghouta. “The whole eastern Ghouta is basically a liberated area.

Assad’s army still has superior firepower, but is being eroded. It can no longer push forward with a lot of troops,” said Abu Ghazi, an activist-turned-fighter in Irbin. Severe restrictions on non-state media make it impossible to verify such reports independently. A major offensive to oust Free Syrian Army fighters from Daraya in August killed 1,000 people after rebels took over the town, established a local administration and began attacking loyalist targets in Damascus, according to opposition sources.

But there were suggestions that the latest fight for the suburb might be following a different course. Live footage broadcast by the opposition on the Internet showed heavy smoke rising from a built-up area in Daraya and carried the sound of automatic gun fire. — Reuters

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2012

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

Egypt’s ‘dream revolution’ still looks distant CAIRO: A rainbow-colored mural on the wall of a cafe in Egypt’s busy capital teems with optimism. Yet the aptly-titled “dream revolution” fresco draws a mock smile from customers. The country doesn’t have a functioning police force, suffers from daily strikes, and religious tension is on the rise. Nearly two years after Hosni Mubarak was ousted, high expectations from the popular uprising are yet to be fulfilled. The new government doesn’t seem to know where it’s going, and the economy is sinking slowly.

“We’ve hit a bottleneck”, grumbles the chief executive of a large business as he sips coffee on a hotel terrace. Egypt elected a moderate Islamist president, Mohamed Mursi, and the government of his Muslim Brotherhood movement has been in power almost five months. But the country still doesn’t have constitution, nor a parliament.

The divide between conservatives and liberals is growing. Government advisors privately talk about the difficulty of working with the existing bureaucracy and acknowledge that the new regime has been reluctant to make tough decisions. “We knew it would take time”, says a senior professional woman holding her hands to her head in frustration, “and we were willing to give the Islamists a chance but we’re not even on the right track”. The complaint is sympto-

News

in brief

Rockets fired from Lebanon to Israel MARJAYOUN, Lebanon: Two rockets were fired from south Lebanon towards the Israeli border yesterday evening, a Lebanese security official told AFP. “Two rockets were fired, one fell in what was clearly Lebanese territory, the other went towards Israel,” the official said on condition of anonymity. In Israel, an army spokeswoman said: “There are no rockets on Israeli territory.” Lebanese troops on Monday defused two rockets in the south of the country that were poised for launch towards Israel. Israel fought a devastating 2006 conflict with Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement and the two countries remain officially at war.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah pledged on Monday the Lebanese Shiite group’s support for the Hamas rulers of Gaza in the face of Israel’s air war, insisting it was unaffected by differences over the conflict in Syria.

20 killed in South Sudan JUBA: South Sudanese troops attacked a rebel base in the latest violence in troubled Jonglei state, killing at least 19 rebels for the loss of one soldier, officials said yesterday. Troops launched an attack on a base of rebel commander David Yau Yau on Monday, firing “rocket-propelled grenades and mortar shells”, said army spokesman Philip Aguer. “On the battleground 15 bodies of militia were killed during the attack, later another four were found in the grass”, he added. “We lost one killed in action and four wounded....the militia have been chased away.” After losing out on a seat in April 2010 elections, Yau Yau rebelled against Juba’s government, but accepted an amnesty in June 2011, a month before South Sudan won independence from Sudan after decades of civil war. Yau Yau, a former theology scholar and civil servant who comes from the Murle ethnic group, later returned to rebellion in April. Local estimates suggest Yau Yau commands between 50 to 300 men, according to the Small Arms Sur vey, although other analysts suggest that he can draw on as many as 3,000 youth at maximum strength.

Plane crash kills 10 SANAA: A military plane crashed in Sanaa yesterday, killing all 10 people on board as it tried to make an emergency landing when an engine failed, Yemen’s defense ministry and an airport source said. “An Antonov crashed following a technical problem. The pilot and nine other people were killed,” a statement on the defense ministry’s website 26sep.net said. A civil defense source said five officers were among the victims.

The plane crashed into an empty lot in Sanaa’s northern neighborhood of Al-Hassaba, according to an AFP photographer who saw three charred bodies lying on the ground at the crash site. The airport source said the Antonov came down while trying to land at an air base near Sanaa’s main airport. “The military aircraft, which was on a training mission, tried to make an emergency landing after its engine failed but crashed at Al-Hassaba,” the source said. A resident said three explosions occurred as the plane crashed, followed by plumes of smoke.

4 Pakistani troops slain QUETTA: A bomb attack killed at least four Pakistani soldiers and wounded six others yesterday, targeting an army vehicle that was escorting school children in the southwestern city of Quetta, police said. The attack came one day before Pakistan welcomes Muslim leaders at the Developing Eight summit in the capital Islamabad, which rarely hosts international conferences due to the Taleban and Al-Qaeda-linked violence plaguing the country. “Four soldiers were killed and six wounded. The target was an army vehicle which was escorting a school bus carrying children of local army officers from different schools,” Quetta city police chief Hamid Shakeel said. He said the bomb had been planted on a motorbike and was detonated by remote control, indicating that the toll could rise further. “There are also civilian casualties but I can’t give details immediately because the area has been cordoned off by army troops,” he said. “It was a remote controlled bomb.

The device was planted on a motorbike. It exploded soon after the army vehicle came there,” Shakeel said.

December. That will allow banks that have made handsome profits financing the government by buying its T-bills at sky-high rates to resume lending to the private sector. It might also help shore up the pound, which is trading at its weakest level in almost eight years. It also provides some hope that the government will start to tackle the country’s twin deficits. The current account deficit is hovering around 3 percent of GDP and the fiscal shortfall stands at 11 percent.

But other than vague talk about tax reforms there are still few details about the specific measures being considered, especially on the politically thorny reform of the country’s wasteful energy subsidies. Subsidy reform is what could make or break the economy and the Brotherhood’s reputation, argues a Western diplomat. The majority of the 80 million population rely on subsidies that account for one quarter of the state’s budget and which must be overhauled to allow an increase in priority areas such as education and healthcare.

Confidence that the government can execute these reforms is low. The Brotherhood could soon destroy the business-friendly reputation it acquired by showing moderation in the wake of the revolution. Already, a plan to force shops to close at 2200 hours local to save on the government’s electricity bill

matic of how support for The Freedom and Justice Party, the political arm of the Brotherhood, is waning.

The Brotherhood’s success in wrestling power from the military after Mubarak’s ouster has been undermined by its failure to tackle basic problems such as energy shortages, garbage collection, and security. As pointed out by one fund manager, political mistakes the failure to form a competent government, or the appointment of an Islamistdominated constitutional assembly - will have economic consequences as well.

The country seems as paralyzed as the traffic in central Cairo’s gridlocked streets, which is made worse as crowds of all sizes now routinely hold protests against a whole range of issues. But the basic complaint is the same in boardrooms as it is in the streets. Egypt needs a sense of movement and “direction”, as one investment banker summed up.

Hopes for a rapid rebound have vanished as the government dithers. The economy will grow 2 percent this year, according to the International Monetary Fund, one third of the average during the last five years of Mubarak’s rule - and Egypt needs at least that 6 percent growth to contain its double -digit unemployment. A preliminary deal with the IMF worth $4.8 billion has been agreed and will be finalized in

CAIRO: Egyptian protesters run past a bonfire during clashes with security forces in Cairo yesterday.—AP has provoked widespread ridicule and had to be postponed.

The government’s sloppy efforts and mixed-messages are a deterrent to longterm investment, says a senior analyst.

Investors were promised that contracts would be honored. Yet President Morsi announced last month that Egypt would seek to recover around $16 billion from unnamed firms that allegedly benefited

from corruption. Senior executives think that the Brotherhood is on a money hunt after failing to find the Mubarak family’s billions, long presented as the pot of gold that would help return the nation to prosperity. But even those who accept the government must review some deals struck under the previous regime long for an approach that doesn’t add to confusion.—Reuters

Tehran admits sending ‘military aid’ to Hamas Hamas leader decries gory killing of alleged spies TEHRAN: Iran has sent military aid to the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in Gaza that has been locked in a week-long war with Israel, parliament speaker Ali Larijani said yesterday. “We are proud to defend the people of Palestine and Hamas ... and that our assistance to them has been both financial and military,” he said without elaborating, in remarks reported by parliament’s website, ICANA.ir. Iran has never made a secret of its support for Israel’s foes Hamas and the Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip but generally eschews mention of sending military aid.

The Jewish state has accused Iran of supplying Hamas with its Fajr 5 missile, used to target Tel Aviv since an Israeli offensive on Gaza was launched on November 14.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards chief General Mohammad Ali Jafari said yesterday that Tehran was only responsible for having shared the missile’s “technology.”

Jafari said: “Iran provides technical assistance to all Muslims who fight against world arrogance,” a term used by Iranian officials to describe the West and Israel, the ISNA news agency reported. The

Fajr 5 missiles launched at Tel Aviv “have not been delivered from Iran, but their technology has,” Jafari said, adding that the missiles were being “rapidly produced” in Gaza.

In another development, Hamas’s deputy leader has condemned the “unlawful” killing of six Palestinians in the Gaza Strip who were suspected of giving information to Israel. Moussa Abu Marzouk, in comments posted on his Facebook page yesterday, urged the Islamist Hamas administration ruling Gaza to ensure that no one takes the law into their own hands. “Punishing collaborators and especially those involved in the killing of our leaders must only be carried out in accordance with the law and through the legal procedures,” Abu Marzouk said.

Citing an unidentified security source, Hamas’s Al-Aqsa radio station said the six men were shot dead on Tuesday after being “caught red-handed” working for Israel, which has battered Gaza with air strikes for the past eight days in an offensive it says is meant to stop rocket fire from the Palestinian enclave. “They possessed hi-

GAZA: The body of two-year-old Abdel Rahman Majdi Naim is made ready for burial after he was killed in an Israeli strike in Gaza City yesterday.—AFP tech equipment and filming equipment to take footage of positions,” Al-Aqsa radio station said.

Gunmen chained the body of one of the alleged collaborators to a motorcycle and dragged it

throughout the main streets of Gaza City. At least one body was beaten, kicked and trampled. Troubled by graphic photographs and footage of the incident, Abu Marzouk added: “The way those collaborators

Man’s best friend takes on Afghanistan’s enemy KABUL: As NATO forces gear up to withdraw, Afghans are preparing to counter one of their deadliest enemies using man’s best friend: dogs. At the Mine Detection and Dogs Centre (MDC) a few kilometers from Kabul’s presidential palace, it looks like chaos with dogs yelping and crashing playfully into each other in their playground. A dog handler throws balls and around a dozen puppies streak off in hot pursuit. The dogs catch the balls and proudly fetch them.

But it is not a game-it is the first step in an 18-month training program that will transform the dogs into highly skilled mine detectors. They will then help to save lives in a country where thousands of people have been killed by old landmines and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) used by Taliban insurgents. “Using dogs in Afghanistan, which is one of the most heavily-mined countries in the world, is a very efficient way to detect mines,” MDC’s training manager Abdul Jabar Baser told AFP.”Dogs can find mines faster than humans. Dogs can also find explosives around 13 centimeters deep in soil. They can find plastic land mines that cannot be discovered by metal detectors.”

The centre has around 200 dogs, some of them operational, some under training. Breeding also takes place at the centre. “The dogs can learn anything you teach them,” Baser said. It is not only old mines left after three decades of war that take a toll, roadside bombs used by the Taleban remain one the biggest killers in Afghanistan. The militants use as

NIJRAB: A French soldier gestures to a dog as he and his comrades prepare to depart for Kabul following a handover ceremony at the French military Camp Nijrab in Nijrab district of Kapisa province. — AFP bombs unused artillery shells, explosives in containers such as pressure cookers and devices made from the common fertilizer, ammonium nitrate.” The mines are made in different countries such as Pakistan, Italy, Russia, China and Iran. There are also NATO’s unexploded ordnance that we collect,” Baser said.

The US-led NATO force has more than 100,000 troops in Afghanistan, but combat soldiers will withdraw by the end of 2014 and hand responsibility for security to Afghan forces.

According to a recent UN report, in the first six months of 2012, 1,145 Afghan civilians were killed and around 2,000 were wounded, mostly by roadside bombs. Women and children accounted for about 30 percent

of this year’s casualties.

NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) says around 1,800 IED attacks were executed between July and September alone.

“The mines and IEDs still hit between 20 and 30 people daily in different parts of the country,” MDC’s operations manager Shah Wali Ayubi said.

“There are still a lot of insecure areas where our teams cannot go... we only clear the abandoned IEDs in some parts of the country. We can only have access to those areas after the fighting ends there,” he said.

There are more than a dozen organizations and contractors and around 13,000 deminers working to eliminate forgotten mines in Afghanistan. —AFP

were k illed and the images after their death were completely unacceptable.” “Those who did it should be punished and it must not be repeated,” said the Hamas official, who is currently in Cairo.—Agencies

world powers map out plans for Iran BRUSSELS: Officials from six world powers met in Brussels yesterday to plan for a possible new round of talks with Iran, the latest effort to resolve a decade-long stand-off over its nuclear program and avert the threat of a military conflict. The re-election of US President Barack Obama this month has cleared the way for new talks and Western diplomats are eager to start soon as signs grow that Iran is still building up its nuclear capacity. But the window of opportunity for a negotiated solution is narrowing because of growing alarm over Tehran’s nuclear course in Israel, which has threatened to bomb Iranian installations.

Any Israeli strike, which would spark more fighting in the Middle East, is unlikely before the country’s Jan 22 election, experts say, giving the six powers some room for maneuver. “There certainly is a window to do a deal, but that window is closing, and closing fast. Ultimately it depends on the Iranians meeting their international obligations,” said Ariel Ratner, former Obama administration political appointee on Middle East issues at the State Department.

In hopes of a breakthrough, and despite deep skepticism a deal with Tehran can be reached, the powers Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States - are revising their strategy after three inconclusive rounds of negotiations this year. Their plan could be presented to Iran in talks, convened by EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, which diplomats say may take place in the coming months in Istanbul. “ The idea of the (Wednesday) meeting is to coordinate on what kind of offer we are going to go forward with to Iran,” said one senior Western official, familiar with the planning.

Iran denies international accusations it is seeking nuclear weapons and has so far refused to meet demands to scale back its atomic activity, insisting on immediate relief from sanctions. Western powers have rejected that in previous rounds, instead offering limited incentives focused on technology cooperation. They have also ramped up punitive measures intended to get Iran, one of the world’s biggest oil producers, back to the table for meaningful talks. Sanctions pressure increased last month when European Union governments stepped up restrictions on trading with Tehran and banned imports of Iranian gas, to complement this year’s crippling embargo on Iran’s crude oil.—Reuters

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2012

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

Qaeda leadership ‘decimated’ Militia affiliates gaining in Mali, seek foothold in Libya

CORONADO: US Interior Secretary Ken Salazar (left) signs a document of agreement as Mexican Commissioner Roberto Salmon looks on regarding Minute 319, which is an agreement between the United States and Mexico on how water from the Colorado River will be shared by the two countries.—AP

US, Mexico ink rules on sharing Colorado River CORONADO: The United States and Mexico have signed a pact for new rules on sharing water from the Colorado River, capping a five-year effort on how to spread the pain of drought and reap the benefits of wet years. The far-reaching agreement gives Mexico badly needed water storage capacity in Lake Mead, which stretches across Nevada and Arizona. Mexico will forfeit some of its share of the river during shortages, bringing itself in line with western US states that already have agreed how much they will surrender when waters recede. Mexico also will capture some surpluses when waters rise.

Also under the plan, water agencies in California, Arizona and Nevada will buy water from Mexico, which will use some of the money to upgrade its canals and other infrastructure. The agreement, coming in the final days of the administration of Mexican President Felipe Calderon, is a major amendment to a 1944 treaty considered sacred by many south of the border. The treaty grants Mexico 1.5 million acre-feet of river water each year - enough to supply about 3 million homes - making it the lifeblood of Tijuana and other cities in northwest Mexico.

The pact represents a major departure from years of hard feelings in Mexico about how the US manages the 1,450mile river, which runs from the Rocky Mountains to Mexico. In 2001, US states established rules on how to divide surpluses but set aside nothing for Mexico.

Several years later, the US government lined a border canal in California with concrete to prevent water from seeping through the dirt into Mexican farms.

“We have chosen collaboration over conflict, we have chosen cooperation and consensus over discord,” said US Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, who called the new pact the most important international accord on the Colorado River since the 1944 treaty. Mexico will begin to surrender some of its Colorado River allotment when Lake Mead drops to 1,075 feet above sea level and begin to reap surpluses when it rises to 1,145 feet.

Mexico will be allowed to store up to

250,000 acre-feet of water in the reservoir and draw on nearly all of those reserves whenever needed.

The agreement expires in five years and is being billed as a trial run, potentially making it more palatable in Mexico.

“These are big political steps for Mexico to take,” said Jeffrey Kightlinger, general manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which will buy some of Mexico’s water. “Chances are we won’t have a surplus and we won’t have a shortage but, if we do, we’ll have the guidelines in place on how we’re going to handle it.” In 2007, facing an eight-year drought, California, Arizona and Nevada agreed on how much each state should sacrifice during shortages on the river. That same year, the US and Mexico promised to work on ways to jointly address shortages.

The negotiations gained a sense of urgency for Mexico in 2010 after a magnitude-7.2 earthquake damaged canals and other infrastructure, forcing it to store water temporarily in Lake Mead.

“No matter how sacred the treaty is, and it is, the evidence is overwhelming that you have to adjust it,” said Carlos de la Parra, who advised the Mexican government on the agreement. Los Angelesbased Metropolitan and two other agencies - the Southern Nevada Water Authority and the Central Arizona Water Conservation District - will buy water from Mexico as part of $21 million in payments from the US to Mexico that also call for wetland preservation and other environmental measures south of the border.

California’s largely agricultural Imperial Irrigation District, the largest single recipient of Colorado River water, refused to sign the agreement because it felt it should have been allowed to buy some of the water from Mexico. US officials said they hoped to address those concerns. “This is such a historic arrangement that I think, at the end of the day, it’s going to be difficult for Imperial not to sign on,” Salazar said. The river is also a major source of water for Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.—AP

Unions flexed muscles in US state campaigns WASHINGTON: From California to Maine, unions used their political muscle in the recent elections to help install Democratic governors, build labor-friendly majorities in state legislatures and defeat ballot initiatives against them. The combination of union money and member mobilization helped Democrats take control of state legislatures in Maine and Minnesota. In Michigan, voters repealed a law that allowed cities in financial distress to suspend collective bargaining contracts. But unions lost there on an effort to make collective bargaining rights a part of the state constitution.

In New Hampshire, unions helped Maggie Hassan win the governor’s race. Unions spent millions backing Hassan with television ads and an extensive get-out-the-vote operation because she opposes a right-to-work bill to ban labor-management contracts that require affected workers to be union members or pay union fees. In perhaps their most important victory, unions defeated a California ballot measure that would have prohibited them from collecting money for political purposes through payroll deductions.

“The unions must be fairly happy with themselves,” said Gary Chaison, professor of industrial relations at Clark University in Worcester, Mass. “These are positive signs, particularly saving their political life in California.” While re-electing President Barack Obama was labor’s highest Election Day priority, unions invested major resources in state races where they have been fighting efforts by governors and state lawmakers to restrict bargaining rights or dilute union power.

The victories could mark a turnaround of sorts for unions nearly two years after Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker announced plans to strip teachers, nurses and other public employees of most collective bargaining rights. Walker, a Republican, justified the move as necessary to trim the state’s budget shortfall. Since then, unions have been fighting dozens of measures around the country

targeting labor rights. They failed earlier this year to recall Walker from office, but a judge has declared parts of the Wisconsin law unconstitutional.

It wasn’t all good news for unions on election night. They lost a first-of-its-kind ballot effort in Michigan that would have enshrined collective bargaining rights in the state constitution. Unions saw the measure as a way to prevent Republicans from passing a right-towork law that would have ended unions’ ability to collect fees from nonunion workers.

Critics said it would cause the repeal of dozens of state laws and interfere with local officials trying to control their budgets. One union-backed group spent at least $6.5 million on TV ads supporting it.

Labor’s victories came at a steep cost.

Unions and other Democratic interests poured at least $75 million into the effort to defeat California’s Proposition 32.

Unions are not so much thriving as surviving. “Thanks to union dues, it’s a self-replenishing stream,” said Bill Whalen, a fellow at the conservative Hoover Institution. “They still have a sea of money to spend and they prove quite adept at winning political arguments.”

After playing defense in more than a dozen states for the past two years, unions see no other choice. Public employee unions now make up a majority of the nation’s 14.8 million union members, but they have taken a hit as state and local budgets shrink, forcing layoffs and cuts to salaries and pension benefits. The 1.3-million-member American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the nation’s largest public employee union, has lost about 10 percent of its active members since 2009. The National Education Association, which represents public school teachers, lost more than 100,000 members since 2010. “I’m not going to be cocky about anything,” AFL-CIO political director Mike Podhorzer said. “There are still plenty of Republicans in office and we don’t expect them to change their spots overnight.”—AP

WASHINGTON: US forces have decimated Al-Qaeda’s leadership and made gains against some of its affiliates, but the fight has shifted in new directions that will require persistent US efforts to truly end the threat, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Tuesday. Panetta, in a speech to the Center for a New American Security, said while the United States had achieved progress against Al-Qaeda affiliates in Yemen and Somalia, associated groups had made inroads in Mali and Nigeria and were trying to gain a foothold in Libya.

He said the United States had “decimated core Al-Qaeda,” killing leaders like Osama bin Laden, Sheikh Saeed Al-Masri and Abu Yahya Al-Libi. It also has made strides against affiliated groups like Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in Yemen and Al Shabaab in Somalia, he said.

“These gains are real, but it is important to point out that even with these gains, the threat from Al-Qaeda has not been eliminated,” he said. “We have slowed the primary cancer, but we know that the cancer has metastasized to other parts of the global body.”

As a result of US pressure, Panetta said, Al-Qaeda has become even more “widely distributed, loosely knit and geographically dispersed.” “The fight against Al-Qaeda has taken a new direction - one that demands that we be especially adaptable and resilient as we continue the fight,” he said. Panetta said disrupting and ultimately defeating AlQaeda would remain a key priori-

FLORIDA: (Left to right) US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta stands with US Army General Martin Dempsey, US Air Force General Douglas Fraser and US Marine General John F Kelly during a change of command ceremony at United States Southern Command in Doral, Florida. US Marine Gen John Kelly takes over the command from US Air Force Gen Douglas Fraser.— AFP ty even as US forces draw down require continued commitment nership with local forces, he in Afghanistan over the next two by the international community said. “ To truly end the threat years and renew their focus on and the United States to help from Al-Qaeda, military force the Asia-Pacific region as part of a Afghan forces achieve it,” he said, aimed at k illing our enemy adding, “We have come too far alone will never be enough,” new military strategy.

He said the key to achieving and invested too much blood and Panetta added. “ The United States must stay involved and “the end of Al-Qaeda” was to fin- treasure” not to finish the job.

He said the United States also invested through diplomacy, ish the job in Afghanistan in a way that ensured the group could would have to keep the pressure development, education and never again establish safe havens on Al-Qaeda in Pakistan, Yemen trade in those regions of the world there. Panetta said dealing with and Somalia. It would also have where violent extremism has government corruption in to work to prevent the emer- flourished.” He said that included Afghanistan and eliminating mili- gence of Al-Qaeda safe havens Afghanistan and Pakistan as well tant safe havens in Pakistan were elsewhere in the world, using US as countries in the Middle East crucial to Afghan stability. “It will special operations forces in part- and Africa. — Reuters

San Francisco outlaws nudity amid protests SAN FRANCISCO: San Francisco lawmakers voted Tuesday to outlaw most public nudity, despite protests in the famously free and easy California city-including a naked demo outside City Hall. The city ’s Board of Super visors approved a ban proposed by Scott Wiener; its Castro neighborhood is a gay hub where socalled Naked Guys regularly hang out. The law was approved by 6 votes in favor to 5 against at an afternoon meeting, at which Wiener said the move was long overdue. “Free expression in the abstract is really nice... until it comes to your neighborhood,” Wiener told the meeting. “I guarantee people would not have waited as long as we waited in the Castro.”

A small group of clothed protestors had gathered outside City Hall for the meeting, and within seconds of the law being approved boos went up, and one of the female demonstrators took her clothes off. Police rapidly moved in with a blanket to take her off. But as they did several other protesters also undressed, some of them entering City Hall, before coming back outside, according to an AFP photographer on the spot. After a while some 5-7 naked protestors put a blanket down and one got out a guitar, playing for passersby on the City Hall steps.

One held a placard reading “Nude doesn’t equal lewd.” Wiener had said before the vote that he expected it to pass, while stressing that nudity would still be allowed on San Francisco’s beaches and at various festivals and parades.

The city law bans anyone over five years old from exposing his or her genitals in public, with fines starting at $100 for a first offense, but rising to $500 and a year in jail for a third offense.

“A person may not expose his or her genitals, perineum, or anal region on any public street, sidewalk, street median, parklet, or plaza, or in

SAN FRANCISCO: A protester who disrobed inside City Hall during a meeting is escorted away in San Francisco.— AFP any transit vehicle, station, platform, or (public transport) stop,” it says. The law “shall not supersede or otherwise affect existing laws regulating nudity,” and violating it “does not require lewd or sexually motivated conduct,” according to the statute, a copy of which was obtained by AFP. Wiener, a 15-year resident of the neighborhood who has long fought for laws to be tightened, condemned a lawsuit launched last week to try to pre-empt his new ordinance. “The lawsuit is ... from what I can tell a publicity stunt, it

seems pretty frivolous to me,” he said, adding that nudity restrictions were already common across the United States and in par ts of California. California state law prohibits exposing one’s genitals “with lewd intent” but under the way the law is applied in San Francisco, what is lewd is in the eye of the beholder. Home to the gay rights movement of the 1960s and 1970s, the Castro-where sex shops coexist with trendy cafes and bars-is still one of the most free-thinking neighborhoods in this famously liberal city.—AFP

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2012

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

Dutch ditch controversial ‘weed pass’ law THE HAGUE: Dutch cities are to decide themselves whether to bar foreign drug tourists from so-called coffee -shops, after the government scrapped its unpopular “weed pass” law. The move will allow Amsterdam to keep pulling in millions of foreign soft-drug users, while allowing border towns to clamp down on crime related to drug tourism. “ The best way of seeing which measures are effective is at local level,” Justice Minister Ivo Opstelten said in a letter sent to parliament late Monday.

“We are abandoning the ‘cannabis card’,” he added. The Dutch govern-

ment announced a year ago that it was introducing a law to ban foreigners from entering dope-dealing “coffee-shops”, also forcing local smokers to show identification and register in a database. Called the “cannabis card” law, it rolled out in May in three southern Dutch provinces that attract many Belgian, French and German drug tourists.

The move was aimed at curbing drug-related phenomena like latenight revelry, traffic jams and dealing in hard drugs. But its critics said it simply pushed drug peddling onto the streets of southern cities like

Maastricht and Tilburg and led to a rise in crime. Coffee-shop owners in the south were pleased that tourists could now at least buy drugs somewhere, but lamented the fact that their own establishments remained off-limits. “ This legislation won’t change much for us,” said Willem Vugs, who heads the coffee-shop association in Tilburg.

“It’s less than an hour’s drive further for tourists to go from a city where they can’t buy to a city where they can,” Vugs said. “The Netherlands is a small country.” Around 65 percent of customers at coffee -shops in

Maastricht, which lies close to the German and Belgian borders, used to be foreigners. “We will continue to apply the residence criteria,” Maastricht town hall spokesman Gertjan Bos said. Bos said the ban on non-residents buying cannabis since May 2011 had been “a success”. Away from the Dutch border cities-which suffer most from drug-tourism related incidents-Amsterdam said it would simply keep allowing foreigners access.

Roughly a fifth of the city’s seven million annual visitors visit one or more of its 220 cannabis cafes.

Amsterdam mayor Eberhard van der Laan had strongly criticized the cannabis card plan, saying it would have “undone the advantages of Amsterdam’s coffee-shop system” and increase health and safety risks if drug sales moved onto the streets.

Opstelten wrote in his letter: “Local authorities can (now) determine their policies on coffee-shops and ensure its implementation.” Although cannabis is technically illegal in The Netherlands, the countr y in 1976 decriminalized possession of less than five grams (around a sixth of an ounce) of the drug.— AFP

M23 vows to ‘liberate’ Congo as Goma falls 2,100 Congolese troops, 700 police defect

Nicolas Sarkozy

Sarkozy’s comeback hopes in the balance Corruption probe widens

BORDEAUX: Nicolas Sarkozy will be questioned today on suspicion of taking financial advantage of a frail old lady in a case threatening to wreck the former French president’s hopes of a political comeback. Sarkozy is due to appear before examining magistrate JeanMichel Gentil in Bordeaux on suspicion of having illegally obtained funding for his 2007 electoral campaign from elderly L’Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt. Judicial sources have said that the 57-year-old could be formally indicted on a charge of taking advantage of someone in a position of weakness, although the magistrate also has the option of interrogating him as a witness under caution.

Bettencourt, France’s richest woman, is 90 years old and has been in poor health since 2006. The allegation against Sarkozy is two-fold: that the money obtained from her took his campaign financing over legal limits and that it had been secured without her full knowledge or consent. This latter claim was made by Bettencourt’s former accountant, Claire Thibout, who told police that she had handed 150,000 euros in cash to Bettencourt’s right-hand man, Patrice de Maistre, on the understanding it was to be passed on to Sarkozy’s campaign treasurer, Eric Woerth.

Maistre, one of the biggest backers of Sarkozy’s UMP party, withdrew a total of four million euros in cash from Bettencourt’s Swiss bank account in seven installments between 2007 and 2009.

Investigators suspect some or all of the money could have found its way to Sarkozy or his party. In July, the examining magistrate ordered the seizure of Sarkozy’s diaries in order to establish

what he was doing around the time the cash was being moved. The Bettencourt case is one of at least two criminal probes in which Sarkozy is embroiled.

French authorities confirmed this week they have also opened a preliminary investigation over the management of opinion polls carried out during his 2007-12 term as president.

That probe was triggered by anti-graft organization Anticor, which suspects the former president of having handed the contract for the polls to a company, Publifact, run by his former advisor Patrick Buisson, and of using public funds to carry out his own party political electoral research. Sarkozy is now pursuing a career on the international conference circuit but has not ruled out another tilt at the presidency in 2017. Aides refused to comment on either case.

Separately, Sarkozy is pursuing a defamation suit against online news website Mediapart over a report that former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi provided 50 million euros for his 2007 campaign. Whether or not that is true, Sarkozy subsequently went on to become the architect of the military campaign that ousted Kadhafi from power last year. That greatly enhanced his international reputation and despite his defeat by Socialist Francois Hollande in this year’s presidential election, he remains very popular with supporters of the UMP, France’s main centre-right party.

The UMP this week elected Jean-Francois Cope as its new leader but allegations of ballot rigging marred an acrimonious battle with rival Francois Fillon. The debacle further enhanced Sarkozy’s status as the favorite to be the right’s candidate for the 2017 presidential vote.— AFP

GOMA: Thousands of Congolese soldiers and policemen defected to the M23 rebels yesterday, as rebel leaders vowed to take control of all Congo, including the capital Kinshasa. “We are now going to Kinshasa. No one will divide this country,” said Col Vianney Kazarama, the M23 spokesman, to a cheering crowd of thousands. The rebels organized the rally at Goma’s Stadium of Volcanoes after seizing control of the strategic city in eastern Congo Tuesday.

Kazarama first welcomed the crowd in Swahili by shouting “Goma Jambo !” meaning “Hello Goma!” Kazarama said the M23 rebels’ next goal is Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province on the other side of Lake Kivu. He claimed the rebels already control the town of Sake, 27 kilometers from Goma on the road to Bukavu, and will soon take Minova, a lakeside town in South Kivu. More than 2,100 army troops and 700 police turned in their weapons, according to M23’s Col Seraphin Mirindi. The former army troops and policemen piled up their arms and ammunition in the stadium.

In Bukavu people are already demonstrating against the Kinshasa government and in support of the rebels, according to local residents reached by phone.

The Congo soldiers remaining in the government army near Goma said they are not sure what to do.

“We are waiting for orders now.

We don’t know what we are supposed to do. It’s hard. My comrades who defected in Goma, we’re going to fight them,” said a Congolese army major reached by phone in Kanyabayonga, 106 kilometers to the south, where the troops have regrouped. The major required anonymity because of the uncertain situation. In neighboring Uganda, Congo President Joseph Kabila met with Rwanda President Paul Kagame, for emergency talks prompted by the fall of Goma and the progress of the M23 rebels. Rwanda is blamed for

GOMA: Residents of Goma walk past a body of a man killed on the roadside the previous day after M23 rebels seized control of Goma.— AFP backing the M23 by Congo and by the United Nations. The talks between Kabila and Kagame are being mediated by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, according to a top Ugandan diplomat with knowledge of the talks, who insisted on anonymity because he was not authorized to give information about the talks.

Kabila may be compelled to enter into direct negotiations with M23 rebels, said the diplomat. Kabila had previously rejected talks with the M23, but that was before they seized Goma.

“We take it as an emergency meeting,” said the diplomat of the talks. “President Kabila is the one who sought the meeting with President Kagame. Museveni had been pressing them to talk. We believe that this is the last chance to solve this thing. The time has come for Congo either to talk or fight (the rebels). You can’t do both.” The United Nations accuses the M23 of grave crimes including recruiting child soldiers, summary executions and rape, according to an experts report to be released on Friday.

“propagating extremism”. “Kozlov’s sentence established that the activity of the unregistered Alga! and Halyk Maidany movements, as well as the activity of a number of mass media outlets, was extremist,” he said. Suindikov said prosecutors in Kazakhstan’s commercial capital, Almaty, had asked a court to ban the two movements as well as the media outlets.

Suindikov said prosecutors were seeking the closure of eight newspapers and 23 Internet sites that operated under the umbrella of the Respublika publisher, as well as the Vzglyad newspaper and its Internet sites. Kazakhstan’s marginalized opposition enjoys little support among voters. The country has never held an election that Western monitors have deemed fair, but Nazarbayev is popular in the country of 17 million for presiding over relative stability. Oksana Makushina, deputy editor-in- chief of the Golos Respublik i newspaper - par t of the Respublika group - said her publication would try to get round any court order.

“They may close the paper in legal form, but given the presence of the Internet, it is hard to do so in reality,” she told Reuters.

“We will continue fighting, unless we are put in a prison cell next to Kozlov.” Mikhail Sizov, another leader of the Alga! party, said he believed Kozlov’s imprisonment for his part in the Zhanaozen riots was the beginning of a wider campaign to destroy the entire opposition movement in Kazakhstan. “There is virtually an undeclared war going on between Mukhtar Ablyazov and Nursultan Nazarbayev,” Sizov said.—Reuters

accused by Congo of supporting the rebels: Rwanda and Uganda.

The council demanded that the M23 rebels withdraw from Goma, disarm and disband, and insisted on the restoration of the crumbing Congolese government authority in the country’s turbulent east.

The resolution also calls for an immediate end to external support to the rebels and asks the UN secretary-general to report on the allegations of foreign support while expressing its readiness to take appropriate measures. The rebels are believed to be backed

by Rwanda, and to a smaller extent by Uganda, which are accused of equipping them with sophisticated arms, including night vision goggles and 120 mm mortars. Evidence is mounting of the involvement by the neighboring country and on Friday, the United Nations Group of Experts is expected to release its final report, detailing the role the neighboring nations played in the recruitment, financing and arming of the rebel movement, which was launched in April.— AP

Anglicans in crisis talks

Kazakhstan govt squeezes opposition, media outlets ALMATY: The Central Asian state of Kazakhstan has moved to ban two opposition movements critical of President Nursultan Nazarbayev and to close dozens of opposition media outlets for “propagating extremism”. In a step the opposition denounced as an attack on dissent in the oil-exporting former Soviet republic, prosecutors linked their request to last month’s jailing of Vladimir Kozlov, leader of the unregistered Alga! or “Forward!” party.

Kozlov was sentenced to seven-and-ahalf years for trying to rally workers in a failed attempt to topple the government.

After his trial, the United States accused Kazakhstan of using its justice system “to silence opposition voices”. Nazarbayev, 72, has run Central Asia’s most successful economy and largest oil producer for more than two decades, but has tolerated little dissent as he has pursued market reforms and attracted more than $150 billion in foreign investment.

As well as leading Alga!, Kozlov, a fierce critic of Nazarbayev, was leader of the country ’s unofficial Halyk Maidany, or People’s Front movement, which tried to unite groups with specific grievances against the government. He was found guilty of colluding with fugitive anti-government billionaire Mukhtar Ablyazov and of orchestrating dissent among striking oilmen in the prelude to riots last December that killed 15 people and dented Kazakhstan’s reputation for stability.

Nurdaulet Suindikov, a spokesman for the prosecutor-general’s office yesterday accused the two opposition movements Kozlov led and various media outlets of

The United Nations peacekeepers, known by their acronym MONUSCO, did not help the Congo government forces during Tuesday’s battle because they do not have a mandate to engage the rebels, said Congolese military spokesman Olivier Hamuli, who expressed frustration over the lack of action by the peacekeepers. A UN spokesman in New York said that the nearly 1,500 UN peacekeepers in Goma held their fire to avoid triggering a battle.

The peacekeepers “cannot substitute for the efforts of national forces” in Congo, said spokesman Eduardo del Buey.

Yesterday the Security Council will review the mandate of the UN peacekeeping force in Congo.

A resolution adopted Tuesday by the Security Council asks the UN secretary-general to recommend possible redeployment, and possible “additional force multipliers.”

The resolution approved unanimously by the council imposes targeted sanctions, including a travel ban and assets freeze on the M23 rebel group leadership.

But it did not name two countries

Church of England rejects women bishops

MANZINI: Photo shows Ellinah Wamukoya (right), the first woman bishop on the African continent, being ordained by the Anglican Church of Southern Africa. The consecration of Wamukoya, originally from the diocese of Swaziland, took place in the country’s economic capital Manzini in front of more than 3,000 worshippers. She had previously served as mayor of the city. — AFP

LONDON: The Church of England held an emergency session yesterday after a vote rejecting the appointment of women bishops that exposed bitter divisions in the worldwide Anglican communion. The meeting of senior bishops in London came a day after the General Synod, the church’s governing body, narrowly voted against the move following years of wrangling between traditionalists and liberals.

Archbishop of York John Sentamu said there would be women bishops “in my lifetime”, but added that the church needed to find legislation to push through what would be its biggest change since allowing female priests 20 years ago. The church will in theory not be able to even discuss the plans again for years-but a group of core bishops could give special permission to revive them as early as February. “The principle has already been accepted by the General Synod. It has already been accepted by all the dioceses,” Sentamu told BBC radio.

“So what we need to do is find the legislation - 99.9 percent of the legislation is there-it’s this little business of provision for those who are opposed.” Outgoing Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams-the spiritual head of around 80 million Anglicans around the world, who had strongly backed the introduction of women bishops-was due to give a speech after yesterday’s meeting. The vote was one final setback for liberal theologian Williams, who steps down in December after 10 years of battles to keep the Church’s various factions united.

The result also appears to strike at the authority of his successor Justin Welby, the

Bishop of Durham, a former oil company executive who was named just weeks ago. Welby tweeted: “Very grim day, most of all for women priests and supporters, need to surround all with prayer & love and cooperate with our healing God.” The legislation needed a twothirds majority among each of the three houses in the 470-member General Synod but fell short by just six voters among ordinary lay members of the church.

The bishops voted 44 in favor and three against, while two abstained (almost 90 percent), the clergy voted 148-45 (almost 77 percent), while the laity voted 132 in favor and 74 against (64 percent). The proposals would have allowed a woman bishop to delegate duties to a stand-in male bishop if a parish rejected her authority. Some who back women bishops voted against as they felt this plan was a messy compromise. Around a third of the clergy in the Church of England are women.

But conservatives in the church welcomed the result, which they said would have avoided further splits between the Church of England and evangelical elements of the Anglican communion, especially those in Africa. “We thank God that the Church of England has avoided making a big mistake which would have led to real division and a less inclusive Church,” Rod Thomas of the evangelical group Reform said.

The Church of England will not formally be able raise the plans again until 2015 when a new General Synod comes in. But the “Group of Six”, a body which includes the church’s two archbishops, could give special permission to revive the initiative at the next Synod meeting, set for July-though an extraordinary one could be called in February. — AFP

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2012

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

Baby-faced Pakistan gunman secretly hanged NEW DELHI: When police asked Mohammad Ajmal Kasab whether he felt pity for the people he gunned down during one of India’s bloodiest militant attacks, he said he had given it some thought beforehand. He had been assured “you have to do these things, if you’re going to be a big man and get rewarded in heaven”, according to video footage of his interrogation, in which he talked of his training and handlers. Captured as he tried to escape in a stolen car, Kasab was the only survivor among ten gunmen who killed 166 people on a three-day rampage across Mumbai in 2008, spraying bullets and throwing grenades as they hit some of the city’s most famous landmarks.

Kasab was hanged in secret yesterday in the western city of Pune, just days before the fourth anniversary of the attacks. He had no last request.

Friends in his home village in Pakistan’s Punjab province remember a boisterous, playful boy who loved films and karate. His aunt said she was proud of him. But the image of Kasab, a baby-faced youth, filmed toting an AK-47 as he embarked on a killing spree at a crowded Mumbai railway station, became the face of the carnage that is often described as India’s equivalent of the Sept 11 attacks on the United States.

The violence, which India blames on the Pakistani militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, temporarily ruptured a fragile peace process between the traditional foes. Kasab was charged with 86 offences including murder and waging war against the Indian state as part of a charge-sheet that filled more than 11,000 pages.

The twists and turns of his trial captivated a country that remained jittery for fear of further attacks. “For the lives of the innocents who were killed in the attacks perpetrated by Mr Kasab, justice has been done,” Sanjeev Dayal, director general of Maharashtra police, told Reuters. “Their souls may now find some solace.”

At the start of his trial, Kasab smiled and occasionally broke into laughter. He initially confessed

ORISSA: Indian sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik gives final touch up on his sand sculpture of Pakistanborn Mohammed Kasab following news of his execution at Talasari beach in Balasore district yesterday. — AFP to the killings, only to later retract his statements and claim that he had travelled to Mumbai in the hope of landing a Bollywood film role. Reports of his tantrums while in prison, including his chucking his prison food into the bin and demanding mutton biryani, sparked outrage in the Indian media.

“Though Kasab has been hanged, our sorrows continue and we have to live a painful life,” said Kalpana Shah, the wife of a real estate developer who was killed in the attacks. “It was such a cruel incident. But what can be done? We have to live with it,” she told Reuters, wiping back tears as she spoke.

KARATE KID Kasab was from the village of Faridkot in

Pakistan to host Muslim leaders in a rare summit D8 groups seek to boost trade, investments ISLAMABAD: Muslim leaders gather today for a rare summit in Pakistan designed to increase trade and investment but likely to be overshadowed by the Gaza conflict as diplomats scramble to arrange a ceasefire. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Egyptian leader Mohamed Morsi and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, key players in the Middle East, are scheduled to be among those attending the Developing Eight (D8) summit.

The D8 groups Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey, with an estimated total population of one billion people.

Nigerian leader Goodluck Jonathan arrived in Islamabad yesterday.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is also due to attend.

Bangladesh and Malaysia will be represented at adviser- and ministerial-level respectively.

The summit will mark the first visit by an Egyptian president to Pakistan in four decades and by the first by a Nigerian leader in 28 years. Its ambitious goal is to increase trade between member countries from $130 billion to $507 billion by 2018. D8 leaders are set “to discuss ways to cushion the effects of the global economic recession and climate change and tackle ways to boost trade among themselves”, the Pakistani government said in a statement. Islamabad rarely hosts major international gatherings given the Taleban and Al-Qaeda-linked violence that has plagued the country since the 9/11 attacks. Security will be stepped up significantly, not least as the summit coincides with the holy month of Muharram, a magnet for sectarian attacks in Pakistan. Thousands of extra police and paramilitaries will deploy and construction work has been suspended around the diplomatic enclave to provide “God willing, foolproof security”, Islamabad police chief Bani Amin said.

Pakistan wants the summit to boost trade and investment, strengthen its international standing and help “remove misconceptions (about Pakistan) created in a section of international media”, the statement said.

The D8 is also due to adopt a charter at what will be its eighth summit. But commentators believe proceedings could be overshadowed by events in the Middle East, where 136 Palestinians and

ISLAMABAD: Pedestrians walk past flags of D-8 member nations ahead of the D8 summit in Islamabad. The biannual summit, established in 1997, will focus on economic challenges, development and peace in the region and among member countries. — AFP five Israelis have been killed in eight days. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has flown to Israel to help secure a truce. Egypt, Iran and Turkey have been angry critics of Israel as it bombards the Gaza Strip to try to end Hamas rocket launches from the enclave. Egypt, which crucially maintains relations with both Hamas and Israel, has been a key player in trying to negotiate a ceasefire.

Morsi is scheduled to address a joint session of the Pakistani parliament on Friday.

Iran’s Ahmadinejad will likely use the

meeting to ease his country’s isolation due to sanctions over its contested nuclear program. Many in the West suspect the program masks a covert attempt to develop nuclear weapons, something vehemently denied by Iran.

Pakistan will also likely press Iran over a multi-billion dollar deal to import Iranian gas despite US pressure to abandon the project because of the sanctions.

Analysts say the summit is an opportunity for Pakistan to make diplomatic headway and overcome its reputation as a hub of global terrorism. —AFP

News

in brief

‘The Alien’ quits politics TOKYO: Former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said yesterday he would retire from politics at next month’s election and leave the party he founded. Hatoyama, whose wild-eyed expression contributed to his being dubbed “The Alien” by the Japanese press, met Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda yesterday.

Noda told reporters that Hatoyama had said he “will not run in the general election, and is retiring from politics”. Commentators say the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) will get a drubbing at the December 16 poll. Hatoyama’s opposition to Noda’s sales tax rise and plans to join a trans-Pacific free trade deal were instrumental in the decision, earlier reports said. “I don’t have a choice but to leave the party because the party’s policy is way too different from my ideals,” he told supporters, according to the Asahi Shimbun.

Symbolic funeral rites KATHMANDU: Veterans of Britain’s Gurkha brigade lit candles and burned incense yesterday to mark the deaths of 60,000 Nepalese soldiers who they say have been forgotten by the country they fought for. Gurkhas who served in the British Army and died in battle in two world wars and other conflicts across the

globe are being honored in three days of ceremonies at Syangja district in western Nepal. Padam Bhadur Gurung, president of the Gurkha Army Ex-servicemen’s Organization, said that Britain was reluctant to publicize the huge sacrifice that Gurkhas had made.

Gurkhas had played a crucial part in “saving Britain and the whole world from most dangerous dictators of history like Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini”, he said. Led by British actress Joanna Lumley, a 2009 campaign won Gurkhas who had retired before 1997 with at least four years’ service the right to settle permanently in Britain.

Australia pulls ET troops SYDNEY: Australia said yesterday it was pulling hundreds of troops out of East Timor, ending a six-year operation to support peace in Asia’s youngest nation. Defense Minister Stephen Smith said the Australian-led International Stabilization Force (ISF) will cease its security operations on November 22 and start withdrawing from East Timor, also known as Timor-Leste. The ISF, which includes soldiers from New Zealand, was deployed when violence broke out in 2006 and currently has some 460 personnel, 390 of whom are from Australia.

Pakistan’s farming belt in Punjab province. Indian authorities say he was born in 1987, although his age became the subject of a dispute at the trial, as his lawyers argued he was not even 17 during the attacks and should be tried in a juvenile court. A classmate, speaking to Reuters by phone and not wanting to be identified, said Kasab had left his village in search of work when he was a poor teenage laborer. Another schoolmate remembers taking karate lessons with him.

“He comes from a very humble but noble, honest family. His father was a street vendor selling snacks on a cart. Kasab did not send any money home and his family is still as poor as they were before he left. He was probably trapped by some

religious group,” recalls Haji Mohammad Aslam, Kasab’s neighbor who owns a shop where his family lived.

“He was very active, always jumping around. He loved watching films,” Aslam said by phone. “He would stay out until midnight watching TV in shops and street restaurants. He grew up in our hands; he was a playful boy and it’s not possible that he did all this.” According to investigators, Kasab said he had undergone months of commando-style training in an Islamist training camp organized by Lashkar-e-Taiba and conducted by a former member of the Pakistani army.

Lashkar made its name fighting Indian rule in Kashmir but was also blamed for an attack on the Indian parliament in 2001 that brought the two nuclear-armed rivals close to a fourth war. Kasab was one of a squad of ten who crept into Mumbai on three inflatable speedboats shortly after nightfall on Nov 26, 2008. The group had sailed across the Arabian Sea from Karachi for days, hijacking an Indian trawler on their way and killing its crew. The group fanned out in the city, attacking targets including two luxury hotels, a bar popular with tourists, and a Jewish centre. Kasab was filmed walking through the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, a gothic train station, in an attack in which nearly 60 people were killed and left to lie in pools of blood.

An effigy of Kasab, with a noose around his neck, was hung from the entrance gate of the station by a right-wing local party. A crowd of about 30 shouted “Pakistan murdabad” (death to Pakistan) as they beat the effigy, which had shoes hung around its shoulders. In contrast, a senior commander of Lashkar celebrated Kasab as a “hero” who would inspire others to follow in his footsteps. “This news is hell for us,” Shahnaz Sughra, Kasab’s aunt, told Reuters by phone. “...Even if he did something wrong, we just want his body. Even if he did something wrong, I am proud that he taught the enemy a lesson in their own country.” — Reuters

How Indian attackers escape the hangman NEW DELHI: Mohammed Kasab was hanged weeks after his mercy plea was denied. But others involved in some of India’s most infamous attacks have languished on death row for years because governments are wary of triggering unrest. Pakistan-born Kasab, one of ten gunmen who laid siege to India’s financial capital Mumbai in November 2008 and left 166 people dead, was one of more than 400 people on death row in India before his execution yesterday.

His hanging was remarkably swift in a country where the death penalty is now extremely rare, and where experts say successive governments have been fearful of a violent communal or ethnic backlash. Even three Tamils convicted for their role in the 1991 assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi have yet to be executed. Their hanging was stayed after huge protests in the southern state of Tamil Nadu last year.

Prior to Kasab, only one execution had taken place in India in the last 15 years, when a former security guard was hanged in 2004 for the rape and murder of a 14-yearold girl. Sanjay Hegde, an advocate at the Supreme Court, said there was widespread popular support for Kasab’s execution and it would likely have few domestic repercussions. “Kasab is a one-off case in that it’s not politically divisive at all. The national sentiment was overwhelmingly in favour of handing down the death penalty to him,” Hegde said.

Petitions for clemency in other high-profile cases involving attacks on Indian soil have been awaiting the presidential signature for years, as there is no set time limit for the president to look over the appeal. Among those

awaiting consideration is the case of Mohammed Afzal Guru, a Kashmiri Muslim sentenced to death for his role in the 2001 attack on India’s parliament which left 15 people dead, including five militants. Any decision to grant Afzal Guru clemency would risk a backlash, especially from Hindu right-wingers. However his execution risks igniting Muslim separatist sentiment in volatile Kashmir.

And the scheduled execution of a Sikh radical over the 1995 assassination of a chief minister was stayed at the last minute last year after large-scale protests prompted the Punjab state government to file an appeal to the president. “In other cases, whether in Tamil Nadu or Punjab, the attackers have benefited from local support from statelevel politicans,” Delhi-based political commentator R Jagannathan said. “Kasab has no godfather in India. It was a politically expedient hanging and the government played its cards, knowing fully well that no one was going to stand up and protest it.”

According to advocate Hegde, the government was pushed to act quickly in Kasab’s case, as “any delay would have cost them politically”. “He was caught red-handed on camera. If he had sat on death row for years, the political repercussions for the government would have been troublesome, with lots of people raising a fuss over why he was kept alive,” he said. Kasab’s execution came two days after India voted against a UN resolution to abolish the death penalty.

Human Rights Watch issued a statement in response to the hanging, calling for India to “join the rising ranks of nations that have taken the decision to remove the death penalty from their legal frameworks”. — AFP

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2012

international

China’s backroom powerbrokers block reformists BEIJING: Retired leaders in China’s Communist Party used a last-minute straw poll to block two pro-reform candidates from joining the policymaking standing committee, including one who had alienated party elders, sources with ties to the leadership said. Two sources said the influential retirees flexed their muscles in landmark informal polls taken before last week’s 18th party congress, where the seven-member standing committee, the apex of China’s power structure, was unveiled.

The clout of the elder statesmen, who include former party chief Jiang Zemin and ex-parliament head Li Peng, underscores the obstacles to even limited reform within senior levels of the party, which has held continuous power since 1949. The informal polls are the first time the party has flirted with “intra-party democracy” to settle factional fighting over the line-up of the standing committee. It held informal polls in 2007 to decide the larger Politburo.

Two of the candidates voted out of the standing committee were widely viewed as reformers: Wang Yang, the party chief of export powerhouse Guangdong province in the south, and Li Yuanchao, minister of the party’s organization or personnel department. Neither Wang nor Li could be reached for comment. The party spokesman’s office declined immediate comment. Shedding light on the opaque backroom process, the two sources said votes on the new standing committee were taken among the outgoing 24 members of the Politburo and more than 10 party elders, who had retired from senior posts.

The group held more than 10 rounds of deliberations, including at least two informal polls, over several months at the military-run Jingxi hotel in Beijing and other venues, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject. Elders wielded considerable influence over the process and forced a second poll in October to push out Li Yuanchao, the sources said. Eight people were in the running for the five slots on the standing committee beneath Xi Jinping, named party chief, and Li Keqiang, who will be the next premier.

Wang, 57, lost out because of the scandal over ousted Chongqing party boss Bo Xilai earlier this year. Bo was known for promoting “red” culture inspired by Mao Zedong’s era, and many private businessmen in Chongqing came to see him as

hostile to their interests. The two sources said party seniors decided to drop Wang, who has favored private enterprise in Guangdong and was seen as a rival of Bo, to avoid further upsetting pro-Mao factions in the party, government and military.

“Wang Yang was ousted to avoid Bo supporters creating trouble,” one of the two sources said. Bo, in the running to join the standing committee until his downfall earlier this year, was expelled from the party in September and faces possible charges of corruption and abusing power in China’s worst political scandal in more than three decades. His wife was jailed for the murder of a British businessman.

FORCED Li Yuanchao, 62, was selected in the initial polls in May but party elders forced another vote just weeks before the congress to replace him, the sources said. Liu Yandong, the lone woman candi-

date, was also denied a promotion. The sources said Li was dumped because he alienated some elders by promoting too many of outgoing President Hu Jintao’s allies in his capacity as head of the party’s personnel department and by ignoring recommendations by retirees keen to elevate their own men. Reuters reported on Oct 19 that Xi, Hu, and Hu’s immediate predecessor, Jiang Zemin, agreed on a “preferred list” of standing committee members that included Li. But party elders were unhappy and forced another vote in their group in late October, about two weeks before the congress, the sources said.

The result: Li was dropped in favour of Shanghai party boss Yu Zhengsheng. “Li was voted out in a multi-candidate election in late October. He was out because he did not respect party elders enough,” the second source said. There was broad consensus on Xi taking over from Hu as party and military chief in the once-in-a-decade generational

BEIJING: An elderly man exercises at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. The Temple of Heaven, built nearly 600 years ago, was where the emperor came to pray for good harvests. It is now a popular park where the elderly gather to socialize, dance, sing and do other cultural activities. — AP

leadership change. Xi is likely to succeed Hu as state president in March.

Li is now tipped to become either a vice chairman of parliament or vice president in March, while Wang is a shoo-in to become a vice premier, the sources said. Both men, as well as Liu, the sole woman candidate, retained their seats in the new 25-member Politburo, from which standing committee members are drawn. Yu, the Shanghai party chief who made it to the standing committee, is the oldest at 67.

SENIORITY Before his promotion, Yu’s chances were believed to be dim because his brother defected to the United States in the 1980s while working as an intelligence official. Yu is expected to head an advisory body to parliament. “Priority was given to seniority,” the second source added. Five of the seven standing committee members can only serve one five-year term due to the compulsory retirement age of 68.

Liu, also 67, did not make it because the standing committee had never had a woman member since 1949, and the party elders were unwilling to change that, the sources said. She is tipped now to become a vice premier. State news agency Xinhua said last week that senior party cadres met in Beijing in May and “democratically recommended” standing committee and Politburo members.

It did not reveal the results. Leadership changes in China are thrashed out in advance through horsetrading between party elders and retiring leaders anxious to preserve clout and protect family interests, but must also go through a choreographed selection process at the congress.

In previous congresses, held every five years, there was no competitive voting: the number of candidates on the ballot matched the number of seats available in the Politburo and on the standing committee.

The straw polls hardly signal a desire for democratic political reform. But they did provide a vehicle through which some of the infighting between factions could be resolved. Reuters reported last week that Hu and Xi were pushing for a more democratic process to choose top leaders. Both have said the party is under threat from corruption and abuse of power and that reforms are needed. — Reuters

Five runaway boys seeking shelter die in garbage bin Deaths of prompt soul search in China

BEIJING: A girl stands on her hands while workers move boxes at the 798 Art District in Beijing, China yesterday. — AP

2 detained in China for ‘inciting unrest’ online BEIJING: Chinese police have detained two people accused of inciting unrest in online postings, state media and a rights group said yesterday in a sign of official concern over potential social instability.

Police in south China’s Guangdong province detained a car owner for posting messages online trying to organize a bumper sticker campaign against rising vehicle licensing fees, the Global Times reported. The owner, publicly identified only by an online name, hoped for 100 cars to parade around Yangjiang city to protest a proposed new 400 yuan ($65) annual vehicle licensing fee, the report said. The driver printed bumper stickers depicting a clenched fist and reading: “To hell with the annual fee” and “Say no to corruption!”, the state-owned paper said, and was detained by the authorities.

BEIJING: Zhai Xiaobing sits at a restaurant in Beijing. Hundreds of Chinese Internet users are rallying around the Beijing blogger who has been detained by police after posting a joke on Twitter about the pivotal Communist Party congress. Zhai’s Nov 5 tweet suggested the next movie in the “Final Destination” horror franchise would be about the Great Hall of the People collapsing on party delegates. — AP

No protest took place and the license fee has yet to be approved. In the second case, police in Beijing took away Zhai Xiaobing on November 7 after he posted a joke about the collapse of the Great Hall of the People, where the Communist Party held a once-a-decade leadership transition this month, the Chinese Human Rights Defenders said. Zhai wrote on Twitter that the collapse would happen in an upcoming film in the “Final Destination” horror franchise starting on November 8, the same day the party meeting started, the group said.

Twitter is blocked inside China and only web users who know how to circumvent the censors’ “Great Firewall of China” can access it.Zhai’s disappearance has led several hundred people, including dissident artist Ai Weiwei, to sign an online petition for his release, the group said. Both cases have raised concerns among lawyers, who say the detentions are not legal, while social media commentators have raised fears over curbs on civil liberties. “The car owner shouldn’t be detained as there was no parade or gathering,” the Global Times quoted Xie Jiajun, a lawyer in Guangdong, as saying.

Police in Yangjiang refused to comment on the case when contacted by AFP. Beijing police were not immediately available for comment on Zhai’s case.

The Chinese Human Rights Defenders said Zhai was being investigated for the crime of “spreading terrorist information”. The Nanfang Rural News identified the car owner as going by the name Zhu Fu 4321 and said the detention was for “inciting and planning illegal gatherings, protest marches and demonstrations and refusing to listen to warnings”.

It added that Zhu Fu 4321’s protest call came in late October, when police nationwide were on alert to quash all unrest ahead of the once-in-a-decade communist leadership handover. The ruling party keeps a tight grip on dissent and China’s vast security apparatus attempts to curb social unrest before it gathers momentum, while controlling reporting and online discussion of such events. Academics estimate China saw 180,000 protests last year over a wide range of issues including corruption, government-backed land grabs, police brutality and unpaid wages. — AFP

BEIJING: On the day China unveiled its new leadership in Beijing with promises of a better life for all, five runaway boys seeking shelter and warmth died in a garbage bin in the south. The boys were all brothers or cousins aged 9 to 13.

Surnamed Tao, they were the sons of three brothers - two of whom are migrant workers with jobs far from home - and most of them lived largely unsupervised in the care of their blind grandmother.

They had been missing for more than a week when, police say, they lit a fire to stay warm on a cold, damp night Nov 15 in the city of Bijie and died from carbon monoxide poisoning. As details of the tragedy emerged this week, it touched off the country’s latest soul-searching about social responsibility. It renewed concern over the “leftbehind” rural children who are often left with grandparents while parents seek work in thriving coastal cities, and the failure of the country’s social services to adequately care for them.

“Though you departed from us in a garbage bin, you are not garbage,” children’s book author Zheng Yuanjie wrote in his microblog, adding that the fault lies with “adults who failed their responsibilities.” Questions have been raised about how the children - found about 25 kilometers from their home village of Caqiangyan could have gone missing for 10 days without more of an effort launched to find them. Six local officials, including two school principals, were sacked on Tuesday.

“We have failed in our management work,” said Tang Guangxing, a spokesman for Bijie city, where the boys’ bodies were found Friday. “Our work was not attentive enough.” State media outlets, giving the deaths broad coverage, have joined in the hand-wringing. “This is a shame that cannot be washed away by a civilized society,” the Beijing Youth Daily wrote in an editorial this week. The official Xinhua News Agency said the boys had poor grades at school and had essentially dropped out of their classes. Xinhua faulted China’s education system for putting too much stress on academic excellence at the expense of caring for less successful students.

“Please do not forget the mission of compulsory education. Please spread love and responsibility like sunshine,” Xinhua wrote in an editorial.

“This is also a tragedy of ‘left-behind children,’ which is a sign of the time and requires introspection from family, society and government.”

Many critics in China have fretted over decaying public morality as the country’s economy rapidly grows and its people enjoy unprecedented wealth. A similar outcry erupted last year when a toddler in Guangzhou was run over by two vehi-

BEIJING: Visitors spend time in the late afternoon at a zoo in Beijing, China. — AP online posting said on Wednesday that local officles and then ignored by at least 18 passers-by.

The latest incident has focused concern on cials in Bijie were not pleased with the coverage the plight of families in impoverished rural areas. and that police there told him to leave the city An estimated 58 million children countrywide for four or five days. Some observers have faulted lack sufficient supervision or stay in the care of the family for not keeping closer watch over their grandparents when their parents seek work in children. “How could grandparents take care of China’s booming cities. Some details of the boys’ your child when you are away?” asked Beijing home life remain unclear. Their relatives lack parking attendant Liang Hongjin, a migrant telephones and could not be contacted, though worker from Henan province. However, much of some were quoted by Chinese media outlets the criticism has been directed at the governwho sent journalists to the extremely poor, ment and educational system. The family reportmountainous region of mud huts where farmers ed the boys missing Nov 5. Beijing lawyer Li Fangping said the failure of local officials to earn about 3,000 yuan ($475) a year.

The boys - Zhongjin, Zhonghong, Zhonglin, launch a proper search was “horrific.”

The boys died hours after Xi Jinping gave his Chong and Bo - were found in a 1.5-meter-by-1.3 meter garbage container in Bijie after a night of first speech as China’s new leader in Beijing’s drizzling rain when temperatures were about 4 Great Hall of the People. Xi underlined the Celsius. Two of the fathers, ironically, are garbage Communist Party’s mission to improve the councollectors in the boom city of Shenzhen near try’s education, employment, social security, Hong Kong, according to a Xinhua report. One of housing and health care. “Our people have an the mothers lives in Shenzhen and another ardent love for life,” Xi said in the speech. “They reportedly left the family. The third brother and want their children to have sound growth, have his wife are farmers in the Bijie area, though they good jobs and lead a more enjoyable life.” The apparently often left the boys to fend for them- boys’ death reflects a systematic failure of chilselves, Xinhua said. Former journalist and Bijie dren services, Beijing Normal University social resident Li Yuanlong posted online that the chil- welfare expert Wang Zhenyao said on state-run dren had been spotted living in a temporary China Central Television. The system lacks shelshelter with plastic cloth, bricks and plywood at a ters, social workers and volunteers, and there is poor communication with those in need, he said. nearby demolition site.

Li, who broke the story on the deaths in an “That’s a blank in China,” he said. — AP

Bikini-clad child models spark outrage in China BEIJING: A company that featured bikini-clad child models as young as five years old at a Chinese car show sought yesterday to defuse the controversy but also defended its actions.

“We hope that (the controversy) will calm down as soon as possible, and we do not wish to keep discussing this,” said an employee of of 7-Wind Model Costume reached by AFP. Many Chinese expressed outrage at the photos posted online that showed girls wearing high boots and swaying their hips in front of gleaming sedans at a car show last week in the central city of Wuhan.

“The morals of 30 years ago are gone, is this

not the result when money is king?” said a user on the popular Twitter-like service Sina Weibo.

“This is the picture of moral decay.” “What a disgrace, using little girls in bikinis to sell cars,” said another. Car shows in China-the world’s largest auto market-often feature scantily clad models, while adult beauty pageants are often held around the country, including six Miss World contests. “If you type ‘children’ and ‘bikini’ into an Internet search engine, you will find tens of thousands of results of bikini contests for children,” the company director Zhang Ping was quoted in Chinese media as saying.

Zhang said that all of the models had participated with their parents’ consent and that only two were as young as age 5. Such an experience could “boost their self-confidence”, she said. But many Weibo users disagreed. “Little girls wearing bikinis at an auto show, is this one of the great achievements of Reform and Opening?” one asked, referring to China’s three-decade effort to modernize its economy. The historic overhaul brought years of roaring growth and dramatically improved living standards, but the rapid change was also criticized for upending social values. — AFP

NEWS Israel, Hamas agree on truce to end...

Continued from Page1 ceasefire proposal, which the president recommended the prime minster do, while reiterating that Israel maintains the right to defend itself,” the White House said.

In Cairo, Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal was due to give a news conference following the announcement, Hamas sources told AFP. The agreement came after a day of shuttle diplomacy - led by Clinton and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon - which was marred by more deadly cross-border violence between Israel and militants in Gaza.

Hopes for a truce appeared to have been faint just hours earlier as a blast tore through a bus in Tel Aviv and Israel hit back with deadly air raids on Gaza City and elsewhere in the coastal Palestinian territory. The conflict had threatened to take a new turn yesterday when the bomb struck the commuter bus in Israel’s commercial capital, injuring 17 people and sparking panic. The blast occurred very close to the Israeli defence ministry and was quickly denounced by Netanyahu’s spokesman, who tweeted: “This was a terrorist attack”.

The windows of the bus were blown out and its seats contorted from the force of the explosion, in scenes reminiscent of the second Palestinian intifada. “I am speechless. This is scary,” said Sigalit, a 22-year-old waitress working nearby. Condemnation poured in, with Washington branding it “outrageous,” Moscow denouncing it as a “criminal,” and France and Germany calling for an urgent

and lasting ceasefire in Gaza.

Soon after, another six Palestinians were killed in air strikes on Gaza City, raising the day’s toll to 11, Palestinian medics said. One of the strikes hit the building housing AFP’s offices, killing a toddler in a neighbouring building, a health ministry spokesman said. No AFP journalists were inside at the time. The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the strike, the second to hit the building in 24 hours. Another air strike shortly afterwards on central Gaza killed a four-year-old girl, medics said.

The chances of a ceasefire appeared dim only hours earlier, with UN chief Ban saying after talks in Egypt with Morsi that there were still “many details to work out”. “We all know there are many details to work out but while that happens, civilians continue to die and cities continue to be targeted. And that’s why we need a ceasefire right now, immediately,” he told reporters in Cairo. Israel launched its offensive on Nov 14 with the targeted killing of a Hamas military chief, hitting more than 1,500 targets.

At least 148 Palestinians and five Israelis have been killed.

Gaza militants fired more than 1,500 rockets at the Jewish state, killing three people and injuring dozens, and Israel’s vaunted Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepted 421 of them. The conflict came as Israel heads towards a general election in January, and raised the spectre of a broader military campaign along the lines of the Jewish state’s devastating 22-day operation launched at the end of Dec 2008. — Agencies

Pampered but restless, many young Kuwaitis...

Continued from Page 1 issues, such as corruption, the accountability of government ministers and elected officials as well as a lack of infrastructure development due to a legislative deadlock. “Some people here have the best life, but others do not,” said 34-year-old law researcher Abrar AlMugahwi. “It is about what is relative.”

She said she is fed up with people using their family connections to jump waiting lists for benefits such as housing and says education is substandard. “When I look at league tables for schools, Qatar is always near the top and Kuwait right near the bottom - maybe in place 100.

We know we are richer than other countries in the region, so why is this?”

Like many protesters, she voiced a fear about the future of the country, which while fiscally sound for now, depends on oil for more than 90 percent of its revenues and has struggled to diversify its economy for years. A longrunning row between the government and parliament has stalled implementation of major parts of a KD 30 billion ($107 billion) development plan announced in 2010, including projects to build a refinery, a new airport and hospitals. “I know that oil will end one day, but for now we only eat and drink and live without action. But what will happen afterwards?” Mugahwi said.

Tensions between the government and opposition groups have intensified,

triggering protests, but Kuwait has been spared the kind of severe unrest that toppled three veteran Arab leaders in 2011. It boasts the most open political system in the Gulf and allows a greater measure of dissent than its neighbours.

Last year, to mark three major anniversaries, HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah AlAhmad Al-Sabah granted KD 1,000 ($3,500) to each of the country’s 1.2 million citizens and as well as free food rations for 13 months.

Young people, who can vote from 21, are offered generous scholarships to study abroad and many choose universities in the United States, Canada and Britain, allowing them to also perfect their English and gain exposure to foreign cultures. Once they graduate, most can go into a stable government job or wait for one and get state support in the meantime. If they choose to work for the private sector, the state often supplements their salary. Salaries are also good by the standards of most countries.

Under government plans announced in March, customs inspectors get a starting salary of KD 1,200 ($4,310) a month taxfree, while a junior law clerk gets around KD 840. All this may sound like a dream come true to young people in the West who these days can expect to face long periods of joblessness or underemployment on graduating. A global downturn has led to some of the highest unemployment figures in the euro zone since the formation of the single currency in

1999. US unemployment has eased but the economy is still about 4.5 million jobs short of where it stood when the 2007-09 recession started.

But those who are looking for something a bit less prescribed - who have entrepreneurial ambitions, for example say Kuwait is far from a paradise. A bloated public sector with a strict hierarchy means Kuwait can be a bureaucratic headache, full of complicated paperwork and red tape. Family and social connections are often used to fast-track the system. Jassim, 28, said getting a business license through normal channels can take up to seven months. “And look at the lack of development in the past ten years. We contribute to the development of hospitals in other countries but we do not build new ones here,” he said, asking to be identified only by his first name.

Some young Kuwaitis say they are also frustrated by restrictions on behaviour in their country, which has strong social and political ties to Saudi Arabia, its more conservative neighbour. Men and women sit segregated in Kuwaiti universities and relationships before marriage are generally taboo, with courting either done in the presence of family members or in secret for those from more traditional backgrounds.

Many get around the rules online, and some of the more daring gather on the main roads at the weekend to flirt in traffic jams. — Reuters

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2012

Amir calls on Kuwaitis to vote, not wail Continued from Page 1 Arab Spring-style revolution like those that have ousted four Arab autocratic rulers since early last year.

The Amir, who is referred to as “immune and inviolable” in the constitution, said he changed voting rules to fix problems with the system, citing his “civic duty and constitutional right”. “I see this as serving the interests of the country and to enhance its security and stability within the framework of the constitution and law,” he said. Sheikh Sabah however pointed out that there are different constitutional means to challenge the decree. “The constitution has enshrined the right to challenge necessity decrees before the reputable, independent and fair constitutional court,” he said, stressing that he will abide by the court’s verdict whatever it entailed.

The Amir even hailed the move by some people to challenge the decree before the constitutional court. “I laud this civilized behavior and announce my complete

abidance by the court’s ruling if it came contrary to my assessment,” he said. He added that the coming National Assembly can also turn down the decree. “The necessity decree is not a normal law but is subject to review from the National Assembly as well as challenges before the constitutional court... and I say it clearly that I will accept the National Assembly and the court’s view. So where is the problem?”

Sheikh Sabah said national unity was needed to tackle internal challenges and to protect against external threats. “We have anti-corruption challenges, and (need) comprehensive reform of all state organs, the education system, public services, health, electricity and water,” he said. Work was also needed on transport, housing and providing thousands of jobs for young people. The Amir underscored that these major issues and dangers cannot be addressed through protests and gatherings and the insistence on violating laws, “but through cooperation, unity, collective and hard work, development, constructive dialogue and good governance”. — Agencies

Oppn requests permission for demonstration Continued from Page 1 specified, they will change the location and go ahead with the protest.

Meanwhile, the administrative court yesterday heard petitions of eight candidates who were among 37 candidates disqualified by the National Election Commission for a variety of reasons, including lacking “good reputations”. The court set Monday to issue its verdict on the petitions, just five days before election day. The court will continue hearing other petitions today as the court must issue its verdicts before the Dec

1 elections.

The criminal court meanwhile will start the trial of four young tweeters who have been arrested on the accusation of insulting HH the Amir. The tweeters have been detained since Nov 14. Three other tweeters were arrested with them but were freed on a KD 1,000 bail each. There have been calls by opposition leaders and activists for the release of the tweeters and deploring what they called the oppressive action against them.

Former Islamist MP Khaled Al-Sultan said that the use of oppressive measures against tweeters may lead to raising the ceiling of demands by activists.

Mumbai attacks gunman hanged Continued from Page 1 His death at 7:30 am (0200 GMT) - which was kept a secret until it was announced about an hour later - was almost universally welcomed in India, which last carried out an execution in 2004 and faces a shortage of hangmen.

On the streets of Mumbai, the city’s famous “dabbawallas” or lunchbox deliverers let off firecrackers on hearing the news. Activists with the hardline Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party celebrated with music, dancing and placard-waving, while a local rightwing party hung a Kasab effigy at the station that came under siege. Chidambaram, who is now finance minister, said victims’ families would now have “some sense of satisfaction that justice has been done in the case of the one perpetrator who we were able to capture alive”.

Kasab, a former labourer and small-time criminal, was one of 10 heavily-armed Islamist gunmen who began their siege of Mumbai on Nov 26, 2008. All except him died during what was intended as a suicide mission. Kasab has been immortalised in photographs and video footage presented during his trial showing him at Mumbai’s train station wielding an automatic weapon and throwing grenades. Devika Rotwan was the youngest eyewitness at his trial, aged just 10 when a bullet hit her right leg as Kasab and a fellow gunman

opened fire at the train station during one of the bloodiest phases of the attacks. “I am very happy that Kasab has been hanged. I had always felt and said that it should have happened earlier, but it is good,” Rotwan told AFP. The Mumbai attacks traumatised India as the siege unfolded live on television, exposing the antiquated weapons and methods of the local police force and revealing crucial gaps in the country’s defences. They also derailed a nascent peace process between nucleararmed India and Pakistan, with New Delhi accusing elements of the Pakistani state - notably the ISI intelligence agency - of abetting the attacks. Pakistan’s failure to convict anyone over the carnage continues to bedevil efforts for a lasting peace agreement. “Frankly speaking, we have allowed the rule of law to prevail,” Khurshid told reporters. “Similarly we hope and expect rule of law to prevail in Pakistan as well.”

In Kasab’s former home village in Pakistan, farmers lashed out at India over the news and hounded out journalists who asked about their notorious son, while Islamabad was tight-lipped, issuing a statement condemning terrorism. Kasab was sentenced to death in May 2010 after being found guilty of a string of charges, including waging war against India, murder and terrorist acts. The verdict was upheld by the Supreme Court in August and President Pranab Mukherjee rejected Kasab’s pleas for mercy earlier this month.— Agencies

14

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2012

ANALYSIS

THE LEADING INDEPENDENT DAILY IN THE ARABIAN GULF ESTABLISHED 1961

Founder and Publisher

YOUSUF S. AL-ALYAN Editor-in-Chief

ABD AL-RAHMAN AL-ALYAN EDITORIAL : 24833199-24833358-24833432 ADVERTISING : 24835616/7 FAX : 24835620/1 CIRCULATION : 24833199 Extn. 163 ACCOUNTS : 24835619 COMMERCIAL : 24835618 P.O.Box 1301 Safat,13014 Kuwait.

E MAIL :info@kuwaittimes.net Website: www.kuwaittimes.net

Issues

China courts friends in region; for others a show of strength

By Stuart Grudgings and Terril Yue Jones hen US President Barack Obama and more than a dozen leaders arrived in Cambodia for a regional summit meeting this week, only one of them was feted with banners strung from the venue gates. “Welcome Prime Minister Wen Jiabao!” one proclaimed. “Long live the People’s Republic of China!” read another. As the leaders left, the green-and-white banners were still festooned outside Phnom Penh’s Peace Palace, a fitting reminder of China’s powerful and growing clout as Beijing uses its influence - and money - to win friends and frustrate those uneasy about its sweeping territorial claims and rising military strength.

“Some states are easily swayed by money. If they see cash, they easily throw away their principles,” said one Asian diplomat at the East Asia Summit, which included heads of state from 10 Southeast Asia countries and counterparts from the United States, China, Japan and other Asia-Pacific nations.

“China has been throwing its weight around and buying the loyalties of some Asian states.”

A prime example is Cambodia, whose prime minister, Hun Sen, helped China to notch up a succession of diplomatic victories at the summit. China stalled debate on a resolution of maritime disputes in the South China Sea, rebutted attempts

by Southeast Asian nations to start formal talks on the issue and avoided any rebuke from Obama over territorial ambitions. Commentators declared China a clear summit winner. A closing statement by Hun Sen, this year’s chair of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), made no mention of the South China Sea, another victory for China’s attempts to prevent multilateral talks on the dispute.

China has poured investments and loans into Cambodia in recent years, becoming its biggest trade partner and bilateral creditor. Cambodia’s debt to China now totals at least $4.7 billion, about a third of its economy. The price of that largesse has become clear this year, say analysts, as Cambodia has used its powers as ASEAN chair to restrict debate over the vexed issue of China’s maritime claims, dividing the group and infuriating US ally the Philippines.

The 45-year-old ASEAN group has been built on a foundation of unanimity and unity, but that has unravelled as it struggles to cope with its biggest security challenge. In July, a meeting of the region’s foreign ministers broke down in unprecedented acrimony and failed to agree a communique for the first time. This week’s ASEAN meetings again deteriorated into bad-tempered sniping and came close to a breakdown when Hun Sen adopted a draft statement saying there was a consensus not to “internationalise” the South China Sea dispute beyond ASEAN and China.

The Philippines, which sees its alliance with the United States as a crucial check on China’s claims at a time when Washington is shifting its military focus back to Asia, made a formal protest to Cambodia and succeeded in having that clause removed from the final statement. China then poked fun at Manila’s assertion that there had been no consensus.

Eight out of 10 leaders had agreed not to internationalise the dispute, meaning there was a consensus, said Qin Gang, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman. “I suggest that people when attending the EAS (East Asia Summit) meetings have to be very good at mathematics,” he said. “That’s 10 minus two, so which is bigger?”

Beijing claims a vast U-shaped line around the South China Sea that brushes up against the coasts of the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei and Malaysia. The area is thought to hold vast, untapped reserves of oil and natural gas, and naval flashpoints between Chinese vessels and the Philippine and Vietnamese navy have become increasingly common.

Hopes for a diplomatic resolution within the ASEAN-China framework look bleak in the next two years as tiny Brunei and then Myanmar take up the chairmanship of the group.

Cambodia, like fellow “Mekong” countries Laos and Myanmar, has been rapidly pulled into China’s economic orbit through rocketing trade and investment ties. It has become customary for Chinese officials to arrive in Cambodia bearing “gifts”, such as the $100 million investment that Wen announced on his arrival this week to build the emerging country’s biggest cement plant. China has moved nimbly to set up free trade deals with Southeast Asia nations and has played a dominant role in financing and building big infrastructure projects in Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar.

After the summit, Wen visited Thailand where he signed an understanding to buy rice, which should strongly lift Beijing’s standing with a government that is a close ally of the United States. Bangkok has built up record stockpiles of 14 million tonnes of milled rice after a populist programme to pay farmers more for their crops made exports unprofitable.

If diplomatic efforts stall, China’s options to back its claims with force if needed are steadily growing with a military budget that outstrips the combined spending of Southeast Asia. —Reuters

W

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

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

In Gaza conflict, Hezb stays on sidelines

By Zeina Karam hile the death toll from the Israel-Gaza conflict has mounted, Hezbollah has offered quiet words of encouragement to the Palestinians, pledging support and calling on Arab states to send them weapons to fight Israel. But beyond that, the Lebanese militant group appears to be staying firmly on the sidelines. Despite its own formidable missile arsenal and its reputation as the region’s leading anti-Israel resistance force, Hezbollah is approaching the Gaza crisis with caution, mindful that any action it takes could backfire at a time when the group faces unprecedented challenges at home.

The military option appears off the table for Hezbollah. If it were to join Gaza’s Hamas miliants in firing rockets at Israel, it would likely raise an outcry from many in Lebanon accusing the Shiite guerrillas of dragging the country into a war with Israel. When Hezbollah sent an Iranian-made reconnaissance drone over Israel last month, the group boasted of its capabilities - but critics in Lebanon slammed it for embarking on a unilateral adventure that could provoke Israel. Hezbollah is also hamstrung by the civil war in Syria, which has heavily damaged its reputation. Once praised across the Arab world as its champion against Israel, now many - particularly in the region’s Sunni Muslim majority see it foremost as the backer of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad in his bloody crackdown on the uprising that erupted against his rule in March 2011. Anything Hezbollah says against Israel’s campaign will ring hollow for many. Already Syrian regime opponents have drawn parallels between Israel’s bombardment of Gaza and Assad’s crackdown, posting gruesome pictures on social media sites showing dead children in Syria and Gaza.

“Condemning Israeli violence while standing by a Syrian regime that is killing its own people

W

definitely highlights the hypocrisy of Hezbollah’s Syria stance. It will further sink its standing in the Arab street,” said Randa Slim, a research fellow at the New America Foundation in Washington. Activists say close to 40,000 people have been killed in 20 months of fighting in Syria. The brutal campaign by Assad’s regime against the Sunni-dominated uprising has undermined the so-called “Axis of Resistance” the anti-Israeli and anti-American alliance of Syria, Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas. Embarrassed by the bloodshed, leaders of Sunni Hamas who had been based in Damascus since the late 1990s broke with Syria, sided with the rebels and left for Egypt and Qatar, though Hamas’ fighters in Gaza have continued to receive weapons from Iran.

Still, Hezbollah has tried to use Israel’s campaign in Gaza - launched in an attempt to stop militant rocket fire - to shift the narrative away from Syria and back to its familiar ground of “resistance”.

Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah pledged his group’s support for Gaza’s Hamas rulers, insisting it was unaffected by disagreements over the conflict in Syria. “Iran, Syria and Hezbollah will not abandon Gaza and its people, and just as we were with them over the past several years we will continue to stand by them.

This is our religious and moral and humanitarian obligation,” he said in a speech to his supporters Monday night.

But far from his traditionally fiery speeches, the blackturbaned Hezbollah chief appeared subdued and bitter. He even implicitly suggested Hamas

was ungrateful for the Iranian and Syrian role in supplying it with the longer-range rockets it has used to target Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, adding a jibe at Egypt for its help to Israel in closing the Gaza Strip. “Despite the blockade imposed by some Arabs, how did the weapons reach Gaza, how did Fajr 5 missiles reach Gaza? ... Who sent them? And who transported them?” he said. “We need to ask who enabled Gaza to stand on its feet today, to fight and make surprises and to shell Tel Aviv and Jerusalem and to fire at planes and battleships.” He also accused Arabs of a double standard. “The Arabs are sending truckloads and shiploads of weapons to the Syrian opposition, but they do not even dare to send one bullet to Gaza for fear of upsetting Israel and the Americans,” he said. Founded in 1982 with Iranian support to fight Israel’s invasion of Lebanon, Hezbollah has since grown into one of the most robust, organized and sophisticated resistance groups in the world with a small army of about 6,000 fighters.

In 2000, it succeeded in driving Israeli occupation forces out of south Lebanon following an attrition war that eventually led to the withdrawal. In 2006, the group fought Israel to a standstill, raising the group in the eyes of many in the Arab world to almost iconic status. Hezbollah also gained political power, dominating the current government, which was formed after the group forced the ouster of its Western-backed prede-

cessor. But at the same time, Hezbollah has come under increasing pressure at home to disarm. Lebanon has become increasingly polarized along multiple lines - Sunnis versus Shiites, the anti-Syrian camp versus the proSyrian camp - and pro-Western groups in the country have accused Hezbollah of facilitating political assassinations of anti-Syrian figures in Lebanon. The uprising in Syria, the main transit point of weapons bought from Iran to Hezbollah, presents the group with its toughest challenge since its inception. Assad’s fall would be a nightmare scenario for Hezbollah.

Any new regime led by the country’s majority Sunni Muslims would likely be hostile to Shiite Muslim Hezbollah. Iran remains the group’s most important patron, but Syria is a crucial supply route. Without it, Hezbollah will struggle to get money and weapons as easily.

Given all the potential dangers, Hezbollah will likely stay on the sidelines of the HamasIsrael fight, the US security think tank Stratfor said in a report this week. “With Hezbollah uncertain how the Israel-Hamas battle will play out, the group appears to be taking a cautious approach,” it said. The Texas-based intelligence analysis firm also said it has received indication that Hezbollah has deployed operatives in plainclothes along the border with Israel to monitor the situation and prevent radical Palestinian groups from firing rockets into northern Israel, which would potentially force Hezbollah into a fight if Israel responded.

A Hezbollah official in south Lebanon confirmed the group was on full alert in case of any Israeli attack in light of the Gaza situation, but denied members were policing the border to prevent attacks on Israel. “This is a job for the army and United Nations peacekeeper, not Hezbollah,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss security issues. —AP

Gaza conflict undermines Palestinian prez

By Alistair Lyon alestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has cut a lonely figure while his Islamist Hamas rivals in the Gaza Strip have battled Israel, gaining kudos in the West Bank and de facto Arab recognition. Hamas leaders received Arab and Turkish foreign ministers in Gaza on Tuesday, following similar trips by Egypt’s prime minister and Tunisia’s foreign minister, as well as one by the emir of Qatar last month before the eruption of a weekold conflict that now seems to be heading into a ceasefire. “These diplomatic gains strengthen Hamas’s argument that it is an integral part of the future of the region, while the Palestinian Authority is part of the past,” said Ghassan Al-Khatib, an academic and a former spokesman for Abbas’ PA. Western leaders still shun Hamas, which seized control of Gaza from Abbas’ Fatah movement in 2007 after winning Palestinian parliamentary elections a year earlier. Yet while a visit to Ramallah, near Jerusalem, by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday will acknowledge Abbas’ formal status, it can hardly disguise his near absence from the diplomacy that is going in to halting the war in Gaza. “It simply accentuates how irrelevant Abu Mazen is in regard to the Gaza Strip,” Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said on Israel Radio, using Abbas’ familiar name.

Mediation efforts have focused on Egypt, whose new Islamist leaders are seeking a ceasefire, juggling their sympathy for Hamas with the practical need not to upset Cairo’s peace treaty with Israel or alienate the United States, its main aid donor. Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal, unwelcome in Hosni Mubarak’s Egypt, is now in favour in Cairo, where he demanded that Israel make the first step if it wanted a Gaza truce. “Whoever started the war must end it,” he told a news conference on Monday. US President Barack Obama, while shunning Hamas leaders deemed terrorists by Washington, spoke three times to Egypt’s President Mohamed Morsi in the day leading to

P

Tuesday’s truce move, the White House said. He appeared not to have called Abbas at all.

The spotlight on Hamas’s unequal military struggle with Israel has also upstaged a diplomatic initiative that Abbas plans to take to the United Nations General Assembly this month. And demonstrations in solidarity with Gaza have broken out in Abbas’s West Bank fiefdom in the last few days, in which two people were reported killed, testing the PA’s security grip. “The Gaza confrontation is having a radicalising effect in the West Bank,” Khatib said. “It is embarrassing the PA, which is having difficulty in preventing the growing protests. If these expand, it will be at the expense of law and order.”

Anger at Israel’s assault on Gaza, directed at rockets fired from the densely populated enclave, does not mean pro-Hamas fervour is sweeping the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where economic discontent has already hurt Abbas’ waning popularity. The mood in Ramallah was subdued on Tuesday, with no pop music blaring from shops or young men’s cars, as the Gaza death toll climbed beyond 115. Five Israelis have also been killed. “People don’t feel increasing support for Hamas per se, but when they heard Hamas rockets had landed in Tel Aviv, they felt someone was finally doing something to challenge the Israelis,” said Ahmad Sliman, 24, at a Ramallah coffee shop where he works. “It gave people

hope that we are not completely defenceless.”

Gaza militants have fired at least four rockets towards Tel Aviv since the start of the seven-day conflict, but the missiles have either missed their target or been shot down by the Iron Dome interceptor system, the Israeli military said. Shireen Yehiya, 26, a student working on her thesis, agreed that Hamas rocket-firing was seen as more defiant than the quest for “futile” negotiations pursued by Abbas’ Fatah movement. “But in the end I think most Palestinians in the West Bank are against the idea of imposing Hamas’ religious ideals here.”

In the Gaza Strip, people were predictably more scathing about Abbas’ non-violent approach, which has calmed the West Bank but brought Palestinians no closer to their dream of statehood.

“Talks and security cooperation with our enemy is always a failure for the Palestinian people, but it is a greater shame when Israel is slaughtering us in this way,” said Imad Abu Shaweesh, 40, a moustachioed bank employee in the city of Gaza.

Abbas himself has said the Gaza violence is designed to scupper his plan to ask the UN General Assembly to grant the Palestinians non-member observer state status. But he has vowed to press on. The 77year-old president has few other options and his initiative, following last year’s failed attempt to get the UN Security Council to recognise Palestinian statehood, offers at least a slim hope of getting his cause back on the world agenda. “Negotiations are at a dead end,” said Palestinian analyst George Giacaman, arguing that Abbas could try to galvanise the United States and European Union into a serious search for peace only by taking a pugnacious diplomatic

approach. For example, as a UN observer member, the Palestinians could press for Israelis to be prosecuted for war crimes at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Giacaman said Abbas had been sidelined by the Gaza campaign, but could regain the initiative by “implementing a political form of resistance, a confrontational route with Israel”. Israel has berated Abbas’ plan as “diplomatic terrorism” and its finance minister has threatened to stop collecting taxes for the PA and not hand over any money if he persists. The United States says only direct talks with Israel, not manoeuvres at the United Nations, can produce a Palestinian state.

Yet two decades of on-off US-sponsored negotiations, punctuated by bouts of violence, have failed. Many Israelis and Palestinians say the goal of a two-state solution is no longer viable. For hardliners on both sides, it is not even desirable.

The last direct negotiations between Israel and Palestinian leaders in the West Bank broke down in 2010 over the issue of Jewish settlement building. Hamas does not recognise Israel, although it has indicated willingness to accept a long-term truce with the Jewish state if it returned to pre1967 borders.

Abdullah Abdullah, a senior Fatah official, said this means that Hamas shares much with Fatah politically, although its Islamist ideology contrasts with its rival’s secular approach. “Resistance is not only firing a gun, there are many forms of resistance,” he said, noting the high price in lives and destruction Palestinians had paid for armed struggle before. Such talk cuts little ice in Gaza, despite the Israeli battering it has endured for the past week. “Abu Mazen is a weak political personality.

UN membership won’t change anything on the ground for us, so why bother with this game?” asked Rami Daoud, 37, sipping coffee in his guard post at a construction site. “It’s time he left the scene.” For him, Hamas had brought a sense of pride and dignity. “They act like a state. They don’t just ask other countries for one,” he said. “Hamas has taken over. They’re in charge now.” —Reuters

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2012

sp orts Sun wants own team BEIJING: China’s double Olympic swimming gold medallist Sun Yang is planning a quiet revolution by freeing himself from the state-run system and choosing his own commercial agency. The 20-year-old shot to fame by winning two gold medals at this year’s London Games and is well on his way to becoming one of his country’s most recognisable - and richest - athletes.

“I don’t have my own professional agency team. But it’s my wish,” Sun told the China Daily before a photo shoot for Esquire magazine, which underlined his new celebrity status. “I hope I can realise it. I’ve been in discussions with leaders of the centre (Chinese swimming’s governing body - Aquatic Sports Administrative Centre).”

“But swimming is not as professional as other sports like basketball and tennis,” added Sun, who completed a 400 and 1,500 metres men’s freestyle double in London. “We still belong to the nation and can only be managed by the centre. I’d love to push for changes, but it won’t be easy.” Sun’s stock soared after becoming the first Chinese man to win an Olympic swimming gold medal, transforming him into one of China’s hottest sporting commodities.—Reuters

Leeds United’s takeover deal LONDON: Dubai-based GFH Capital has signed a deal to buy former English soccer champions Leeds United, the latest foreign group to invest in one of the clubs with hopes of promotion to the lucrative Premier League.

Leeds were one of the top names in English soccer in the 1970s and won the Premier League in 1992 but are now struggling in the second-tier Championship. “The signing of this deal marks the start of a one-month transitional period in terms of full change in ownership and control of the club,” the Yorkshire club said in a statement on its website (www.leedsunited.com).

“Following Football League approval, GFH Capital Limited will be

100 percent shareholders,” it added.

Leeds majority shareholder Ken Bates, the former Chelsea owner, will remain as chairman until the end of the season and will then become club president.

“Neil Warnock will continue as manager with more support than the present owners have been able to give and we look forward to a smooth transition,” said Bates. Leeds have not won in their last seven league games, sliding down the table and putting pressure on Warnock.

GFH Capital Deputy CEO David Haigh, a Leeds fan, said the company had injected further funds into the club. Questions have been raised about the financial firepower of GFH Capital and its Bahrain parent firm Gulf Finance House. —Reuters

Etzebeth takes his place LONDON: Lock forward Eben Etzebeth has taken his place in an unchanged South Africa side for Saturday’s test against England at Twickenham after being cleared of eye gouging in last weekend’s match against Scotland.

Coach Heyneke Meyer, whose team have already beaten Ireland and Scotland, stuck with a winning combination on Wednesday for the final match of the Springboks’ northern hemisphere tour with Etzebeth retaining his place in the second row.

“I probably think he’s close to being one of the best locks in the world,” Meyer told a news conference at the team’s hotel. “He’s really grown as an individual and he’s one of the enforcers in our team, so it’s great to have him.”

Experienced winger JP Pietersen and prop Gurthro Steenkamp were also named in the South African team after overcoming niggling injuries.

In the reserves, prop Pat Cilliers replaces the injured CJ van der Linde while flyhalf Morne Steyn is out of the matchday squad altogether. Elton Jantjies has been selected instead. “I really want the guys to dig deep, I need one more great performance out of them,” Meyer said.—AP

New coach, but Lakers still Kobe’s team NEW YORK: Right after Kobe Bryant made every one of his first five shots, you knew the Lakers weren’t going to let new coach Mike D’Antoni lose his debut. As it turned out, just enough good things happened after that to produce Tuesday night’s 95-90 win over the visiting Brooklyn Nets. The Lakers shot the ball well enough from the floor for most of the game, but managed all of three baskets in the final period, and didn’t get the first until 4:33 remained.

They weren’t much better beyond the 3point arc for most of the game and (6 of 21) and the free-throw shooting was a disaster (19 of 37), owing mostly to Dwight Howard’s miserable 7-of-19 performance. Once the Nets figured out the Lakers’ new big man was having even more problems than his career free-throw 60-percent mark would suggest, they began fouling him every time his teammates crossed half court with the ball. “I don’t know who’s in charge of free throw shooting. Wait until I find out,” D’Antoni joked afterward. “It happens some nights. ... They started hacking Dwight and he made one of two (free throws) a couple of times, so that’s one point per possession.

That’s pretty good basketball, especially down the stretch. So it’s fine. If they want to do that, that’s great. I got no problem.”

On the contrary. The Lakers looked a lot like they did through both the 1-4 start that got his predecessor, Mike Brown, fired, and the 4-1 run under interim coach Bernie Bickerstaff in between. The games always come down to how invested Bryant is, and on this night at least, that was plenty. Often drawing doubleteams, but stubbornly shooting anyway, he scored six of his 25 points in the final period, including four free throws in the final 17 seconds. Asked to describe what’s been a brief but eventful season so far, Bryant replied, “I would say it’s been weird, but in Los Angeles, there’s no such thing. If you’ve ever been down to Venice Beach, you know what I’m talking about. “It’s unfortunate every time you see a coach lose his job,” he added, turning serious for a moment. “It’s always tough.”

D’Antoni has never been in charge of a team this good, and things could get tough for him in a hurry if the Lakers don’t start winning

consistently and banking style points in the bargain. His recent knee surgery kept him off the sideline until now, but he’s run a couple of practices already and the ball movement and offensive flow usually associated with D’Antoni-coached teams was not much in evidence Tuesday. Howard got his points and rebounds - 23 and 15, respectively - and both Pau Gasol and World Metta Peace contributed 17 points. But Los Angeles got clobbered in fast-break points and routinely settled for longand mid-range jump shots. What saved them was a surprisingly strong defensive effort, especially from the bench players starting the fourth quarter, and the Nets’ cold-shooting stretch at the end, missing five of their last six.

If any of that bothered D’Antoni, he wasn’t about to let on. He understands he’s at the front end of a process that should become considerably easier once he gets point guard Steve Nash back from injury. But even that didn’t entirely explain his good mood. “You’ve got 15 minutes before the Vicodin wears off,” is how D’Antoni began his postgame news conference. You could count on one hand the number of times D’Antoni has coached a team good enough to win with less than their best stuff, but he knows he’s got one of those now.

Not quite as good as the U.S. Olympic team that took home the gold last summer, though Bryant and Howard were both part of it.

“With this team, there’s no reason not to win every game. That’s our goal,” he said. “It’s not, ‘Let’s get two out of three.’ We can win every game we play. ... I feel like we’re the best team in the league. We’ve got the most talent, so they can do what they want. We’ve just got to keep perfecting things.”

Until they get a lot closer, D’Antoni is going to keep leaning on Bryant and let him continue running the team anyway he wants. The Lakers got Howard and Nash in the offseason to take some of the load off Bryant who, considering how many minutes he’s already logged, might be the oldest 34-year-old the NBA has ever seen. But Brown couldn’t figure out how to ease that burden and considering D’Antoni is on the front end of what already feels like a long season in LA, he’s going to have to do his learning on the job in a hurry.—AP

NBA results/standings Philadelphia 106, Toronto 98; NY Knicks 102, New Orleans 80; LA Lakers 95, Brooklyn 90.

NY Knicks Brooklyn Philadelphia Boston Toronto

LOS ANGELES: Brooklyn Nets’ Deron Williams (right) drives against Los Angeles Lakers’ Dwight Howard in the second half of an NBA basketball game. — AP

Lakers evade Nets, Knicks roll LOS ANGELES: Kobe Bryant scored six of his 25 points in the final two minutes, and the Los Angeles Lakers hung on for a 95-90 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday night in coach Mike D’Antoni’s sideline debut.

Dwight Howard had 23 points and 15 rebounds despite a horrific 7-for-19 performance at the free-throw line for the Lakers, who have won five of six and moved above .500 since firing Mike Brown.

Although D’Antoni is still unsteady on his surgically replaced knee, he coached Los Angeles to a narrow victory that snapped Brooklyn’s five-game winning streak. Brook Lopez scored 23 points and Deron Williams had 22 for the Nets, who missed five of their last six shots in their ninth consecutive loss to the Lakers.

Knicks 102, Hornets 80 In New Orleans, Carmelo Anthony scored 29 points and the Knicks extended the undermanned New Orleans Hornets’ losing streak to four games. Raymond

Felton and J.R. Smith each added 15 points.

Felton scored all of his points on five 3pointers as New York hit 14 3s as a team.

Tyson Chandler grabbed 12 rebounds for the Knicks, who’ve won two straight since their first loss of the season and are 81 for only the third time in franchise history.

Ryan Anderson, starting in place of Anthony Davis, led the Hornets with 15 points. Davis was ruled out shortly before tip-off because tenderness in his left ankle.

76ers 106, Raptors 98 In Philadelphia, Jason Richardson scored six of his 21 points late in the fourth quarter, Nick Young had 23 off the bench and the 76ers rallied to beat Toronto.

Jrue Holiday had 19 points and 12 assists and Thad Young scored 18 to help the Sixers win their third straight game. DeMar DeRozan had 24 and Andrea Bargnani scored 22 for the Raptors, who are off to a 38 start. Down 87-80 early in the fourth, the Sixers came back to win their first game in which they trailed after three quarters. — AP

Milwaukee Chicago Indiana Cleveland Detroit

Miami Charlotte Atlanta Orlando Washington

Oklahoma City Minnesota Utah Portland Denver

LA Clippers LA Lakers Golden State Phoenix Sacramento

Memphis San Antonio Dallas Houston New Orleans

Eastern Conference Atlantic Division W L PCT 8 1 .889 6 3 .667 7 4 .636 6 5 .545 3 8 .273 Central Division 6 3 5 5 5 7 2 8 2 9

.667 .500 .417 .200 .182

1.5 2.5 4.5 5

Southeast Division 8 3 .727 5 4 .556 5 4 .556 3 7 .300 0 9 0

2 2 4.5 7

Western Conference Northwest Division 8 3 .727 5 4 .556 6 6 .500 5 5 .500 5 6 .455

2 2.5 2.5 3

Pacific Division 8 2 6 5 6 5 4 7 2 8

.800 .545 .545 .364 .200

2.5 2.5 4.5 6

Southwest Division 8 2 .800 8 3 .727 6 6 .500 4 7 .364 3 6 .333

0.5 3 4.5 4.5

More than 200 Kuwait Kart racers ready for Red Bull Kart Fight!

KUWAIT: More than 200 Karting drivers in Kuwait are gearing up to experience the feeling of a thrilling Karting race at the Red Bull Kart Fight that will take place on November Friday 23 and Saturday 24 at the 360 Mall outdoor parking.

The adrenaline leading into the minutes before departure, the intoxicating mix of burnt rubber and the thrill of the grid departure will motivate the drivers to score their fastest laps.

Red Bull Kart Fight is coming to the State of Kuwait with the cooperation of Quarter Mile Club and Nissan/Al Babtain, to find the one that will defend the national colors in the World Final in Bologna, Italy on December 8-9.

If you’re between the age of 13 and 40 and think you have what it takes to be a champion, then set your fastest lap on November 23 at the specially built track at the

360 Mall outdoor parking.

The Red Bull Kart Fight Final on November 24th, 2012 gives the fastest 20 time setters on the 23rd of November, the opportunity to battle it out wheel-to-wheel for the Kuwait spot in the World Final, where champions from 20 countries demonstrate their talent in an event open to the world’s media as well as race fans and supporters - a fantastic festival of speed and international competition.

The rest of us petrol heads can feed our need for speed with Red Bull Kart Fighter World Tour - a glorious arcade race game that crashes through more than a dozen global landmarks.

If you would like to accompany the winner to Italy, follow @redbullKuwait and tweet how many countries will compete in the Red Bull Kart Fight World Final.

GB 2 2 3 6

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2012

sp orts

Debutant Abul smashes century at number 10

Drogba seeks loan move GENEVA: Didier Drogba has asked FIFA for special permission to move on loan from his Chinese club despite being outside the official transfer window. FIFA said yesterday it is considering the former Chelsea forward’s request for an exemption from international rules.

“The FIFA administration services are looking into it,” FIFA said in a statement. Drogba’s season with Chinese Super League club Shanghai Shenhua finished this month. If FIFA grants Drogba’s request, the 34year-old Ivory Coast captain could play for a new team to prepare for the African Cup of Nations, which kicks off on Jan. 19 in South Africa. Existing rules prevent Drogba from representing another club until Jan. 1.

FIFA has upheld the rules in previous cases when David Beckham, Thierry Henry and Landon Donovan had to wait until January to make loan moves to Europe after the Major League Soccer season ended.

Drogba signed a contract through 2014 with Shanghai weeks after helping Chelsea win the Champions League title in May. —AP

Victory for ticket sellers LONDON: English rugby won a legal victory yesterday to support its efforts to prevent the resale of tickets for international matches online at inflated prices. The Supreme Court in London dismissed an appeal by secondary ticketing website Viagogo against an order forcing it to identify people who had used its website to sell on tickets for autumn internationals in 2010 and Six Nations games in 2011. However, Viagogo struck a defiant note, saying it would continue to offer tickets for England matches including this weekend’s game against South Africa at Twickenham.

A number of soccer clubs and tennis event organisers have signed partnerships with Viagogo and rival StubHub, owned by EBay, to allow fans to sell unwanted tickets online. However, the English Rugby Football Union (RFU) argues that the practice risks pricing out ordinary fans.

Grace in Dubai dreamland DUBAI: South African Branden Grace is still pinching himself after winning four times this year, the best record by a graduate of the Qualifying School in the history of the European Tour.

Grace grabbed the 11th card at Qualifying School but has done little scrambling since as he reeled off victories at the Joburg Open, Volvo Golf Champions in South Africa, China Open and the Dunhill Links in Scotland.

“This time last year I was heading to tour school - that seems so far away now,” the 24-year-old told reporters on the eve of the DP World Tour Championship. “It has been a great year... a dream come true. One thing led to another and I think after I got the confidence from the first win everything just fell into place.”

Grace’s first two victories came on home soil but the turning point came when he won in China. “I really wanted to win outside South Africa because there was a lot of stuff written suggesting I might only win on home turf,” he said. “When I won the Volvo Golf Champions I think that was a big step for me. Now I think I can really play and I’m looking forward to what’s to come.”—Reuters

KHULNA: Bangladesh number 10 Abul Hasan scored a unbeaten century on his Test debut yesterday to complete an astonishing comeback by the home team on the opening day of the second test against West Indies.

After fast bowler Fidel Edwards had taken five wickets to help reduce Bangladesh to 193 for eight, Abul and Mahmudullah (72 not out) added 172 runs in an unbroken ninth-wicket partnership. At the close, Bangladesh were a respectable 365 for eight after adding a staggering 179 runs in the final session from only 32 overs.

Abul, 20, became the second debutant only in test history to record a century on debut batting at number 10 after Australian Reggie Duff who scored 104 against England at Melbourne in 1902.

“My first aim was to give support to Riyad Bhai (Mahmudullah). It all happened after I got my fifty,” Abul told a news conference.

“I thought of a century only after I crossed the 70-run mark,” added Abul, who came in the side as a replacement for pace bowler Shahadat Hossain. “When I went for batting I considered myself as a batsman and that’s it.”

West Indies, one-up in the two-match series, were completely in control when Edwards dismissed Mushfiqur Rahim (38) and Sohag Gazi (0) in the same over to complete his 12th five-wicket test haul.

Edwards started with the wicket of Nazimuddin (five) before captain Darren Sammy removed Shahriar Nafees (26) and Tamim Iqbal (32) as Bangladesh went to lunch on 88-3.

Naeem Islam was then bowled by Edwards for 16 and Shakib Al Hasan (17) edged a catch to wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin before Nasir Hossain and Mushfiq led a brief recovery. Nasir made 52 off 88 balls, his second fifty in the series, which

KHULNA: Bangladesh’s Abul Hasan acknowledges the crowd after scoring a century against West Indies during the first day of their second cricket Test match. — AP ended with a catch by Edwards at mid-on off Veerasammy Permaul.

Abul, who had scored only one half-century in his first-class career, was given a life on 42 when Kieran Pollard dropped a chance off Permaul when he was batting on 42.

He smashed Sammy for a four and a six to complete his fifty off 55 balls. Two runs off a Sunil Narine delivery brought up his century, which made him the third Bangladeshi only to reach three figures on debut after Aminul Islam and Mohammad Ashraful. — Reuters

S Africa to target big-scoring Clarke ADELAIDE: South Africa are targeting prolific Australian skipper Michael Clarke as they aim to break a fivedecade winless drought in the Adelaide Test and seize the initiative in the threematch series.

The top-ranked Proteas were forced to bat out for a draw in the first Brisbane Test after Australia racked up an imposing first innings score of 565 for five declared, Clarke leading the way with an unbeaten 259.

South African skipper Graeme Smith expects his vaunted bowling line-up to fire at the Adelaide Oval in the match starting today, where South Africa have not won in 48 years. “I just don’t think we backed up well enough in Brisbane,” he said. “We had periods when we were good, then we lost our way a little bit.

“We didn’t really bowl well in partnerships to create enough pressure on Australia’s batting. Hopefully that will happen in Adelaide.”

Pacemen Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel had the hosts rocking at 40-3 before Clarke, Ed Cowan (136) and Michael Hussey (100) launched their rescue act. Morkel plans more shortpitched stuff, particularly at Clarke.

“Definitely that is a plan to always use a short ball-you have got two short balls an over so why not use it?” Morkel said.

“We just need to use it in a clever way and see how we go from there. “Clarke played very, very well. If we can create more pressure and try and stop him from rotating strike that will be key.”

Clarke was named the man-of-thematch in Brisbane after his third doublecentury of a year in which he is the highest scorer in Tests with 1,041 runs at an average of 115.66.

South African all-rounder Faf du Plessis is expected to make his debut in place of JP Duminy, out for six months with a ruptured Achilles tendon, and leg-spinner Imran Tahir is likely to

replace paceman Rory Kleinveldt, ineffective and wicketless on his debut.

Australia all-rounder Shane Watson, who missed the first Test, has been battling to prove his fitness from a calf injury. A decision will be made late yesterday or the morning of the match on his inclusion, but former captain Ricky Ponting said Watson could not play if he was anything less than 100 percent fit.

“There will be a certain amount of running he will have to do to prove that he’s right to play a Test match,” Ponting said Tuesday. “No one can go into a Test match 70 percent fit. I don’t care if you’re a batsman and a slip fielder. If you can’t bat at 100 percent, then you are putting pressure on other blokes as well.”

Rookie batsman Rob Quiney, who was added to the squad when Watson pulled out of the series opener in Brisbane, is expected to play if Watson fails to prove his fitness.

Local spinner Nathan Lyon, who took four wickets in the first Test, is expected to bowl plenty of overs on his home ground, which is renowned for big totals.

Australian coach Mickey Arthur has likened the Adelaide wicket to those on the subcontinent. “Adelaide’s been pretty consistent, Adelaide’s a very, very good wicket,” he said. “You know what you get, it’s almost like the subcontinent. It’s very slow for the first three days then quickens up towards the back end.

“It goes from being the best batting wicket in the world to being pretty difficult to bat on in days four and five. So, big first innings are the way to go there.” South Africa last won in Adelaide in January 1964, beating Bobby Simpson’s team by 10 wickets. They have subsequently lost two and drawn one at the Oval. The final Test starts in Perth on November 30. — AFP

SCOREBOARD Scoreboard on the opening day of the second test between West Indies and Bangladesh at the Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium in Khulna, Bangladesh, yesterday: Bangladesh first innings Tamin Iqbal b Sammy 32 Nazimuddin c Powell b Edwards 4 Shahriar Nafees c Ramdin b Sammy 26 Naeem Islam b Edwards 16 Shakib Al Hasan c Ramdin b Edwards17 Mushfiqur Rahim c Ramdin b Edwards38 Nasir Hossain c Edwards b Permaul 52 Mahmudullah not out 72 Sohag Gazi lbw b Edwards 0 Abul Hasan not out 100 Extras (b-4 lb-3 nb-1) 8 Total (for eight wickets, 86 overs) 365

To bat: Rubel Hossain.

Fall of wickets: 1-5 2-64 3-77 4-93 5-98 6185 7-193 8-193.

Bowling: Edwards 16-2-81-5 (1nb), Best 10-3-31-0, Sammy 20-4-61-2, Narine 190-91-0, Permaul 19-2-79-1, Samuels 2-015-0.

West Indies: C.Gayle, K.Powell, D.Bravo, S.Chanderpaul, M.Samuels, D.Ramdin, D.Sammy (captain), V.Permaul, S.Narine, T.Best, F.Edwards.

Bangaldesh won the toss and elected to bat.

Al Muzaini wins IKEA International Squash Tournament 2012 KUWAIT: The 3 day IKEA International squash showdown came to an end with national champion, Abdullah Al Muzaini proudly bringing home the winner’s trophy. The recent collaboration with Kuwait Squash Federation (KSF) and Professional Squash Association (PSA) was held to promote community welfare and as a means to nurture local talent.

Currently ranking 51st among the top world high rankers, Abdullah Al Muzaini, won the tournament defeating his Egyptian opponent Mazen Hesham Ga Sabry by 3-2 (9-11, 8-11, 12-10, 11-5, 11-

7) and Fares Mohamed Dessouki in the semi-final match by 3-1 (8-11, 11-1, 11-8, 11-6) . The first round was won against Bader Al Husaini of Kuwait by 3-0, 11-9, 11-5, 11-6 while the quarter final was won by 3-1, 11-8, 11-7, 8-11, 11-8 against Scotland’s Gregg Loban.

Placing Kuwait on the global map for sports enthusiasts, the breakdown of the players were 13 Kuwaitis, five Egyptians, two from France one each from Lebanon, India, Pakistan, Qatar, Jordan, England and Scotland are participating in the tournament.

Lendl giving nothing away as Murray targets Melbourne

FRANCE: A file picture taken on November 10, 2012 shows Polish skipper Zbigniew Gutkowski competing on board his monohull ‘Energa’ during the 7th edition of the Vendee Globe, the solo non-stop round-the-world yacht race.

Gutkowski announced he has been forced to abandon the race on Nov 21, 2012 due to electronical problems on his autopilot. — AFP

HONG KONG: Ivan Lendl threw up his own Iron Curtain yesterday when reporters probed about the state of Andy Murray’s mind and his game as Britain’s newly minted Grand Slam champion switches his focus to the Australian Open. “I never get into the details of his game with anyone because it not necessary for anyone other than Andy to know,” the Czech-born Lendl said in familiar taciturn style.

The former world number one - now a U.S. citizen steered Murray to the US Open crown in September, ending Britain’s wait for a men’s grand slam singles champion which had stretched back to 1936.

Like Murray, Lendl lost the first four grand slam finals he contested but then went on to win eight, failing only at Wimbledon. Now Britain’s barren spell is broken, many expect Murray to emulate his coach and win several more, but Lendl cautioned it would be far from easy.

“Well obviously that is the goal,” he said when asked if Murray could win in Melbourne. “But tennis is very difficult at the moment with (Novak) Djokovic, (Roger) Federer, (Rafa) Nadal and Andy all very good at the moment so it is going to be difficult to succeed.

“Yes he does have a chance but I can’t make any predic-

tions.” A question on whether Murray could now dominate the sport was rifled straight back like a Lendl service return of old. “I am not going to go there,” he said. “The only way to answer that is to take one match at a time, one tournament at a time and see what happens.”

Lendl, in Hong Kong to promote a global ‘BNP Paribas Andy Murray

Tennis Showdown’ event next March in which he will play old nemesis John McEnroe, said it was impossible to compare eras. “I think there are many eras in the game and there have been many good players at the same time,” he said.

“You can look at the early 80s with (Jimmy) Connors and McEnroe, (Bjorn) Bjorg and myself, you can go back in to the 60s and 70s and there are many good players there.

“I don’t think we should be comparing one era to another because you just can’t compare them.”

One comparison he did make, though, and the unflattering conclusion he reached was that he would not be able to live with Murray were the two to play now. “Andy would kill me,” he said. “All you have to do is look at the sports against time - swimming, athletics etc - and compare the times from today compared to 30 years ago and you will get the answer.”

The first Showdown event was staged in New York and featured Pete Sampras against Roger Federer. The Hong Kong event will feature Lendl and McEnroe plus women players Li Na and Caroline Wozniacki, and will be part of a series aimed at celebrating the sport and supporting grassroots tennis. — Reuters

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2012

S P ORT S

Boxer ‘Macho’ shot Camacho critical in Puerto Rico Dettori handed temporary ban PARIS: Frankie Dettori was yesterday temporarily banned from riding in France “based on medical grounds”, French racing’s ruling body announced.

The suspension follows Tuesday’s inquiry at France Galop’s headquarters in Paris into Dettori’s positive test for a banned substance when he was riding at Longchamp on September 16.

A France Galop statement confirmed: “Following yesterday’s examination of the file and after having duly notified the jockey Lanfranco Dettori of its decision, the Medical Committee has temporarily suspended the said jockey from riding in races in France, based on medical grounds.” The verdict of Tuesday’s medical commission which consisted of a panel of three doctors is now being reviewed by France Galop stewards.

The stewards’ verdict on what if any action to take against the legendary rider will be delivered “within the next fortnight...in accordance with the Rules of Racing”, the statement announced.

Dettori, who is probably racing’s most recognisable face, had already been tested six times in England this year, but France Galop insisted that, contrary to some reports, he had not been targeted after they had received a tip-off.—AFP

Farmers Classic discontinued LOS ANGELES: The Farmers Classic men’s tennis tournament at University of California, Los Angeles has been discontinued, and its ATP sanction has been sold to a group in Bogota, Colombia. The Southern California Tennis Association announced the decision Tuesday after extensive attempts to find new sponsors.

The tournament began in 1927 at the Los Angeles Tennis Club, with former champions including Rod Laver, Arthur Ashe, Pancho Gonzales, John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi. The event struggled economically in recent years with revolving sponsorships and a dearth of American men’s stars, tournament director Bob Kramer says. Its two principal sponsors, Farmers Insurance and Mercedes-Benz, both failed to renew their sponsorships. The quality of the field also declined in recent years. Sam Querrey has won three of the past four tournaments. — AP

Race on for Beckham BEIJING: China’s top clubs played down any attempts to sign football superstar David Beckham yesterday as speculation went into overdrive about a potential move to the fast-growing league.

The cash-rich Chinese Super League has lured Didier Drogba, Nicolas Anelka and World Cup-winning coach Marcello Lippi over the past year but none of the leading clubs confirmed a move for Beckham, who is quitting LA Galaxy. “I have nothing to say right now,” said a spokesman for Beijing Guoan, when contacted by AFP. Officials at Drogba and Anelka’s club Shanghai Shenhua, Lippi’s team Guangzhou Evergrande, and Guizhou Renhe-which is in contact with Chelsea’s Frank Lampard-also said they were unaware of any bid to sign Beckham.

The ex-England, Manchester United and Real Madrid player, 37, said he is looking for “one more challenge as a player”, but has not decided where.

Next month’s Major League Soccer Cup final will be his last game for Galaxy.

The chance to put Chinese football on the map, as he did for Major League Soccer, is thought to be an attraction for Beckham, and China’s clubs seem able to meet high wage demands with Drogba reportedly earning $300,000 a week. —AFP

Feuz out for season PARIS: Swiss ski star Beat Feuz will miss the rest of the 2012/2013 season as he has not fully recovered from a knee operation that he had in the spring, the Swiss Ski Federation announced yesterday.

Runner-up to Marcel Hirscher of Austria in the overall World Cup standings last season, the 25-year-old from Berne did not take part in the season opener at Soelden in Austria.

A federation statement said that Feuz still had painful inflammation in his left knee following the operation which he had in the spring. He returned to training in the summer, but had a bad crash while skiing in Argentina in August.

Feuz was also second in the downhill World Cup rankings last season behind Klaus Kroell and was considered among the favourites for the World Cup crystal globe this year. —AFP

SAN JUAN: Former world boxing champion Hector “Macho” Camacho was in critical condition yesterday after being shot in his native Puerto Rico, with doctors and his family expected to wrestle with whether to take him off life support after his condition worsened.

Doctors had said Camacho was expected to survive after he was shot in the face while sitting in a car Tuesday night in his hometown of Bayamon. But his condition worsened overnight and his heart stopped at one point, said Dr. Ernesto Torres, director of the Centro Medico trauma center in San Juan.

“He’s battling minute to minute. This is the most important fight of his life,” Torres told The Associated Press outside the hospital in the Puerto Rican capital. Torres said that two specialists will examine the boxer to determine his level of brain activity.

The specialists will then consult with other doctors and Camacho’s mother, who was expected to arrive from the US mainland, to discuss whether he should be removed from life support, said Ismael Leandry, a longtime friend and former manager who was also at the hospital. “We just have to wait to see if ‘Macho’ gets better. It’s a hard battle,” Leandry told AP. The 50-year-old Camacho was outside a bar in a parked car with a friend when he was shot in the face. The friend, whose name has not been released, was killed, police said. No arrests have been made and no motive has been disclosed.

Camacho was rushed to Centro Medico, where doctors initially said he was fortunate

in that the bullet passed through his head and lodged in his shoulder. Torres did warn, however, that the boxer, who was trailed by drug and alcohol problems during a career that included some high-profile bouts, could be paralyzed from the shooting. Steve Tannenbaum, who has also represented

Camacho in the past, said he was told by friends at the hospital that the boxer would make it. “This guy is a cat with nine lives. He’s been through so much,” he said. “If anybody can pull through it will be him.”

Camacho has been considered one of the more controversial figures in boxing. The

DENVER: Hector Camacho from Puerto Rico waves to the crowd, wearing the NBA Super Middle Weight Championship belt, after winning over Roberto Duran from Panama by decision in 12 rounds at the Pepsi Center in this July 14, 2001 file photo. —AFP

fighter’s last title bout came against thenwelterweight champion Oscar De La Hoya in 1997, a loss by unanimous decision. He last fought in May 2010, losing to Saul Duran.

Tannenbaum said they were looking at a possible bout in 2013. “We were talking comeback even though he is 50,” he said. “I felt he was capable of it.”

Camacho was born in Bayamon, one of the cities that make up the San Juan metropolitan area. He won super lightweight, lightweight and junior welterweight world titles in the 1980s.

Camacho has fought other high-profile bouts in his career against Felix Trinidad, Julio Cesar Chavez and Sugar Ray Leonard.

Camacho knocked out Leonard in 1997, ending what was that former champ’s final comeback attempt.

Camacho has a career record of 79-5-3, with his most recent fight coming in 2009.

Drug, alcohol and other problems have trailed Camacho since the prime of his boxing career. He was sentenced in 2007 to seven years in prison for the burglary of a computer store in Mississippi. While arresting him on the burglary charge in January 2005, police also found the drug ecstasy.

A judge eventually suspended all but one year of the sentence and gave Camacho probation. He wound up serving two weeks in jail, though, after violating that probation.

Twice his wife filed domestic abuse complaints against him, and she filed for divorce several years ago. —AP

Trio of former champions headline 34th Dakar Rally PARIS: The 34th Dakar Rally and fifth version to be held in Latin America features a largely Pacific coast route which begins on January 5 in the Peruvian capital of Lima and ends on January 20 in Santiago, race organiser Etienne Lavigne announced here yesterday.

The mythical endurance race that originated in 1978 when it was run from Paris to Dakar, Senegal will this year begin with 459 vehicles made up of cars, trucks, motorcycles and quads and cover some 8,400 kilometres to the finish line in the capital of Chile. Frenchman Stephen Peterhansel defends his title in the auto category, but faces a stiff challenge from former champions Nasser AlAttiyah of Qatar and Spanish driver Carlos Sainz who won the race in 2011 and 2010 respectively.

The route winds along the Pacific coast before two diversions into mainland Argentina and some rugged roads in the Andes mountains featuring 14 stages across three countries.

The 50-year-old Sainz, who won the world rally title in 1990 and 1992, is one of the main threats to Peterhansel’s title along with the Qatari driver, who retired from the race last year with a spate of mechanical problems but will be back on the start line in January. “His return gives me

great pleasure but also constitutes an enormous threat for me,” said the Frenchman who is chasing an 11th victory (6 in cars, 4 on motorcyles) and will drive a BMW Mini.

“This 2013 edition that has a confrontation between three former winners will give a exciting look to the race for the fans and will be very nerve wracking.” continued Peterhansel.

The motorcycle category sees the return of the Honda team who have been absent since 1992 and is set to feature another intense rivalry between defending champion Cyril Despres of France and Spaniard Marc Coma who have shared the last seven titles and are the outright favorites.

The course begins for the first time on the desert sands south of Lima before gradually becoming more difficult as it enters Argentinian soil and a series of dangerous stages through valleys and canyons which will seriously challenge the competitors in all categories.“It is far from a country drive along the sea between Lima and Santiago and the difficult sections sets up the race for a thrilling battle,” said Lavigne. The 2012 edition began with 443 vehicles which will now increase to 459 including 189 motorcycles, 155 cars, 75 trucks and 40 quads. —AFP

Media companies swing the big bats for regional sports networks LOS ANGELES/NEW YORK: News Corp’s investment in the New York Yankees baseball channel YES Network illustrates the new normal in media: multibillion dollar deals, once reserved for rights to carry the Olympics or NFL football, now apply to regional sports channels as well.

Rupert Murdoch’s Fox Sports said on Tuesday that it will buy a 49 percent stake in YES, valuing the local sports network around $3 billion. That is 50 percent more than the $2 billion paid for the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball franchise by a group led by private equity firm Guggenheim Partners six months ago. While Walt Disney Co’s ESPN remains the giant in the marketplace, with cable rights for many major sporting events sewn up for years, other media conglomerates are building regional sports channels that show games from local colleges and professional teams that ESPN or other national channels do not carry.

Disney’s rivals are eyeing the lucrative $5.15 monthly subscription fee that ESPN can command for each customer, according to media consultant SNL Kagan, the highest among cable channels. Fox Sports North, the most lucrative of the 12 Fox regional sports channels tracked by SNL, collects $3.68 a month for each subscriber.

“The problem is that there just aren’t many more high-profile sports (rights) out there,” said former NBA Television and New Media Ventures President Ed Desser, whose Los Angeles-based consultancy advises on sports rights deals. “Most of them are spoken for, so when one comes up, there’s the possibility of an overheated bidding market.”

The YES deal follows Time Warner Cable Inc’s acquisition last year of the rights to carry the Los Angeles Lakers basketball games for the next 20 years for $3 billion. Time Warner’s LA-based SportsNet said it intends to bid on a contract to carry Los Angeles Dodgers’ games if Fox Sports cannot reach an agreement to extend its contract during an exclusive negotiating period that ends in a few weeks. That TV deal is expected to cost $3 billion or more, industry experts said. The scramble for regional sports networks reflects the broader competition playing out in the national and international sports markets as well. On the national level, Fox and Turner Broadcasting signed an eight-year broadcast deal with Major League Baseball worth up to $7.4 bil-

lion in October. And in early November, Comcast Corp’s NBC won the rights to air England’s Premier League soccer, reportedly offering three times more than what Fox had been paying.

Media companies justify the sharply higher sports costs by charging cable and satellite operators more to carry the channels, arguing that local teams have rabid followings and viewers are more likely to watch games live than record them on DVRs for viewing later.

In new contract talks, Fox plans to negotiate higher carriage fees for YES, which currently charges $2.99 a month per subscriber, a source told Reuters.

Some of YES’s biggest carriage agreements expire in the next 18 months, including ones with Time Warner Cable and Comcast, according to the source.

But there are limits to fee increases.

Despite holding the Lakers’ broadcast rights, Time Warner Cable was unable to get satellite operator DirecTV, the largest pay-TV operator in Los Angeles, to pay the $3.95 monthly charge it demanded for every subscriber. DirecTV agreed to pay an average of only $3.40 per subscriber, said two people with knowledge of the deal. A DirecTV spokesman declined to comment, as did a Time Warner spokeswoman. Rumors are rife about other potentially large deals on the horizon. SportsCorp Ltd president Marc Ganis, who advised the Yankees in the past on several issues, said he heard the New England Sports Network, which is owned by baseball’s Boston Red Sox and the Boston Bruins hockey franchise, could be up for sale, along with the Red Sox franchise. Another potential target could be Altitude Sports & Entertainment, which provides Colorado Rockies and Denver Nuggets games to 3.1 million homes, he said.

A spokeswoman for the Red Sox, however, said its owner John Henry is not looking to sell the team or “any part of Fenway Sports Group including NESN.” And Jim Martin, chief executive of Kroenke Sports and Entertainment, which owns Altitude along with several Colorado sports teams, said the company was not interested in selling.

Fox, Comcast and Time Warner Cable are potential bidders for anything that comes on the market, aiming to chip away at ESPN’s dominance.

Comcast runs the 24-hour NBC Sports Network and has 13 regional channels, according to SEC filings. Fox, which has 20 regional channels, is expected to launch its own national sports network next year. —Reuters

SANTIAGO: This photo provided by race organiser ASO yesterday in Paris, shows the map of the Dakar 2013 rally. The Dakar rally will start in Lima, Peru, on Jan. 5 2013 to end in Santiago, Chile, on Jan. 20, 2013. — AP

A lot on the line at Brazilian GP SAO PAULO: The Brazilian Grand Prix will do more than crown a Formula One champion on Sunday.

Sebastian Vettel or Fernando Alonso will be lifting the drivers’ championship trophy when the season-ending race is over, but they won’t be the only ones attracting attention in Sao Paulo. Seven-time champion Michael Schumacher is retiring again, while 2008 champion Lewis Hamilton will be driving his last race for McLaren before moving to Mercedes in 2013.

Vettel brings a 13-point lead into Brazil, meaning a fourth-place finish will be enough to give the 25-yearold Red Bull driver his third straight title. If that happens, Vettel will join Schumacher and Juan Manuel Fangio as the only drivers to win three championships in a row. If Vettel is fourth and Alonso wins the race at the Interlagos track, both drivers will finish with 285 points, but the German will secure the title because he has more wins than Alonso - five to three. Vettel has finished fourth or better in 13 of the 19 races so far, including the last six.

Alonso and Ferrari have not been able to match the recent success of Vettel, who earned four of his victories in the second half of the season, but the Spaniard has been consistent in the last races, finishing on the podium in six of the final seven events.

“We know it will be difficult for us, but we are confident,” Alonso said. “We must do our utmost, concentrating on ourselves and making no mistakes and then we can see what Vettel has done. It’s been a championship of highs and lows for everyone, but now we can only be perfect.” Alonso, trying to add to his titles in 2005 and 2006, is hoping for a reversal of roles from the 2010 season-ending race in Abu Dhabi, when he was the one with a lead but came out empty-handed in the end. “In 2010 the situation was reversed so I hope that once again the outcome goes in favor of the one who is behind at the moment,” he said. “I think we can sleep more easily than our rivals. We have a lot to gain and little to lose and for them it’s the opposite.” Schumacher will be putting an end to

his career again after three struggling years with Mercedes following his return from retirement. He is only 15th in the drivers’ championship this season.

Schumacher left F1 in 2006 after losing the title to Alonso at the finale in Interlagos, then returned to action in 2010 without managing more than a thirdplace finish, which was achieved at the European GP this season. “My departure from Formula One will probably be less emotional for me this time than in 2006, when we were still fighting for the championship and everything was much more intense,” Schumacher said. “I will be able to pay more attention to my farewell and hopefully savor it too. I have had fantastic years in Formula One and a lot of support from fans around the world.” Hamilton, the driver replacing Schumacher at Mercedes next season, stunned F1 with two great seasons in 2007 and ‘08 but was not able to stay competitive and meet expectations after that. “As my final race behind the wheel of a McLaren, I vow to the whole team that I’ll give it my all on every single lap,” he said. “My win in Austin last week was one of the races of my life, and I’d love to take victory in Brazil this weekend to give the team the perfect farewell present.”

Hamilton said “Brazil has been the scene of some epic races” for him during his time at McLaren, but Interlagos remains a track where he has never won.

“For many reasons, this weekend will be a very big race for me. I nearly won the title here in 2007, clinched it on the final turn in ‘08 and drove like crazy to finish on the podium in ‘09,” he said. “But I’ve never won, and that’s what I’ll be aiming to do this time around.” Mexican Sergio Perez, currently with Sauber, will take over Hamilton’s seat at McLaren next season.

It will be the sixth time since 2005 that the F1 season will be decided at the Brazilian GP. Alonso hopes to be the one celebrating in Sao Paulo again this time.

“There are 71 laps to go (to) decide the final outcome,” Alonso said. “The efforts of several months will all come down to a very short space of time.” — AP

Sebastian Vettel goes to Brazil with a 13-point lead

MANSOORI

18

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2012

SPORTS

Chelsea should sack Torres, not Di Matteo

Pyrgos in Scotland side ABERDEEN: Scrumhalf Henry Pyrgos, who scored a try as a replacement against South Africa last weekend, will make his first start for Scotland in Saturday’s test against Tonga in Aberdeen.

Pyrgos is one of five changes to the starting lineup in the squad announced by head coach Andy Robinson yesterday. Max Evans returns at outside centre in the stadium where he won his first cap four years ago in place of Nick De Luca who is relegated to the bench.

Pyrgos starts ahead of Mike Blair while Scott Lawson will begin his first international since August 2011 at hooker rather than Ross Ford.

Alastair Kellock has been preferred to Jim Hamilton at lock and Alasdair Strokosch will play at blindside flanker after recovering from the calf injury which kept him out of the match against the Springboks. —Reuters

Alarm bells for Bayern BERLIN: Bayern Munich advanced to the Champions League knockout stage after their 1-1 draw in Valencia on Tuesday but the Bundesliga leaders will have to wake up and rediscover top form if they are to banish the memories of last season’s collapse.

Bayern played for almost an hour with an extra man after Valencia’s Antonio Barragan was sent off in the 33rd minute but trailed 1-0 until Thomas Mueller’s 82nd minute equaliser.

The draw was enough to secure a spot in the next round for both teams after BATE Borisov slumped to a 2-0 home defeat to France’s Lille, but Bayern CEO KarlHeinz Rummenigge sought more from the Bavarians.

“We have to wake up,” he told players and guests at a post-game banquet in the early hours of yesterday. “We have to rediscover the form that made us so strong this season and that gave us a big, big lead in the Bundesliga.” Bayern, eight points clear at the top of the Bundesliga with 10 wins from 12 matches, were held to a surprise 1-1 draw by lowly Nuremberg on Saturday. —Reuters

Armstrong’s degree rescinded MEDFORD: Tufts University in Massachusetts has rescinded Lance Armstrong’s honorary degree. A university spokeswoman says the school’s trustees voted unanimously at their meeting this month to rescind the doctor of humane letters bestowed upon Armstrong in 2006.

During his keynote speech in which he revealed a Tufts cycling jersey beneath his academic robes, Armstrong talked about his battle with testicular cancer and the need for everyone to get involved. He told graduates: “Be active. Be involved. Be heard. Be aggressive. Be smart. Don’t be afraid.” The university said yesterday that while respecting Armstrong’s cancer-fighting efforts, the board concluded his “actions as an athlete are inconsistent with the values of the university.” Armstrong was stripped of seven Tour De France titles after the US anti-doping agency revealed evidence of performanceenhancing drug use. —AP

Shakhtar’s Adriano charged GENEVA: Shakhtar Donetsk forward Luiz Adriano was charged by UEFA yesterday for disrespecting Champions League opponent Nordsjaelland by scoring an uncontested goal after a drop ball. UEFA opened a disciplinary case against Luiz Adriano for “violation of the principles of conduct” in Tuesday’s match in Denmark.

The case will be judged next Tuesday. The controversy followed a stoppage in play when a Nordsjaelland player was injured.

Luiz Adriano infuriated Nordsjaelland players and fans after an uncontested drop ball by racing to collect teammate Willian’s kick downfield that was intended for the home goalkeeper. —Reuters

DUBAI: Rustam Ukumanov of Kazakhstan (right) scores a goal against Patipol Phandphoung of Thailand during their men’s water polo preliminary round match.

Kazakhstan defeated Thailand 23-3. —AP

LONDON: Buying an item of clothing that didn’t suit us or a gadget that didn’t do what we hoped is a mistake many of us make. But not many of us lose our jobs over it.

Roberto Di Matteo was a brave man for making it clear to all of Europe that his boss, Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, made a 50-million pound mistake in the shape of super-flop striker Fernando Torres.

Dropping Torres to the subs’ bench for a Champions League game Chelsea couldn’t afford to lose was a damning statement on the Spanish international. It was also a necessary one, because Torres has consistently failed in nearly two years at the London club to do what was promised on the packaging: score important goals.

Rather than absorb Di Matteo’s message, Abramovich shot the messenger. Di Matteo is out, abruptly shown the revolving door at Chelsea that has now swallowed eight managers in nine years.

Abramovich can argue that chopping and changing so frequently has worked.

Since the billionaire bought Chelsea in 2003, his players have won one Champions League, three Premier League titles, four FA Cups and the lesser League Cup twice.

That’s far more silverware than London rival Arsenal has snagged in the same period, despite having loyally stuck to just one manager, Arsene Wenger. In England, only Manchester United has been as successful as Chelsea in the Abramovich era.

But turning a club that hadn’t been English champions since 1955 into a European football force has cost the Russian a monster chunk of his estimated $12 billion fortune. How larger might the return on his $1 billion-plus investment in Chelsea have been if his players had had a steady pair of hands to guide them, like Alex Ferguson’s at United?

Chewing so wantonly through managers, including proven winners Jose Mourinho, Guus Hiddink and Carlo Ancelotti, not only makes Abramovich look indecisive but spoiled by his riches, too, like an insouciant monarch who takes one sip of champagne but then demands that the rest of the bottle be poured away and another be opened.

Chelsea’s statement - the club must have it permanently handy on a computer hard drive by now, with just the name left to fill in - that announced the departure of Di Matteo on Wednesday less than 12 hours after the reigning European champion lost 3-0 to Juventus said, “recent performances and results have not been good enough,” which is true.

But Di Matteo didn’t let down Chelsea.

You can’t say that of a manager who guided the Blues to the Champions League title, the trophy Abramovich so coveted, just six months ago.

He was let down by an owner who can’t decide what he wants and by players who haven’t been earning the fortunes Abramovich pays them.

Torres, not Di Matteo, should have

been the first to go and put up for sale, like a change of mind on eBay: “Purchased in haste; never really fit; seems in OK condition; no guarantee.”

It’s not merely that Chelsea has had a paltry 19 goals in 86 appearances from Torres since the club paid a British-record transfer fee to Liverpool for him in the winter sales of 2011. It is not just that Torres has subsequently failed to score against Liverpool in five appearances in Chelsea blue, most recently in a 1-1 draw on Nov. 11. Nor is it simply that he didn’t score at all for five months from October 19, 2011, to March, 18, 2012, or that he made Chelsea wait for 14 games before he scored his first goal, as a substitute against West Ham. It’s that too few of the few goals Torres does score for Chelsea actually matter. Even his most notable goal, in injury time in Barcelona in the Champions League semifinal last season, was a stocking-filler, because Chelsea was already through to the final on the away-goals rule when Torres’ strike knocked down the European champion from Spain for good.

He did score a hat-trick, his only one for Chelsea, last season against Queens Park Rangers. He also scored and won a penalty in a 2-0 league defeat of Newcastle early this season. But, all told, Torres’ highlight reel of match-defining goals for Chelsea is a disturbingly short movie, not a feature film. He has never been the consistent game-changer for Chelsea it badly needs now that Didier Drogba, who so often was the difference for the Blues, is

Chelsea axe Di Matteo LONDON: Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo has been sacked after the European champions were left facing elimination at the group stage of the Champions League, the club said yesterday.

“Chelsea Football Club has parted company this morning with Manager Roberto Di Matteo,” a statement said, following Tuesday’s 3-0 defeat by Juventus.

Chelsea said the team’s “recent performances and results have not been good enough”.

“The club faces a difficult task ahead in qualifying for the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League as well as maintaining a strong challenge for the top of the Premier League while competing in three other cup competitions,” they added.

Tuesday’s loss in Turin means Chelsea are poised to become the first ever Champions League winners to be knocked out in the group phase the following season.

Even victory at home to Danish side FC Nordsjaelland in their final group match may not be enough, as a draw between Juventus and Shakhtar Donetsk in the other Group D game would take both sides into the last 16.

Di Matteo was only appointed on a permanent basis in June, having led Chelsea to their first ever Champions League title after replacing his sacked predecessor Andre Villas-Boas in March. Chelsea beat Bayern Munich on penalties in the Champions League final in May, two

LONDON: A picture dated May 5, 2012 shows Chelsea’s Italian manager Roberto Di Matteo celebrating at Wembley Stadium in London. —AFP

weeks after defeating Liverpool 2-1 in the FA Cup final.

“The owner and the Board would like to thank Roberto for all he has done for the club since taking over in March,” Chelsea added, saying the Italian “will always be welcome at Stamford Bridge”. The statement continued: “The club will be making an announcement shortly regarding a new first team manager.”

Di Matteo, 42, is the seventh coach to have been sacked by owner Roman Abramovich since the Russian billionaire bought the club in 2003. Former Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez was immediately installed as the bookmakers’ favorite to succeed Di Matteo on a permanent basis. Speaking during a coaching seminar in Abu Dhabi, he confirmed his interest in the position, but did not say whether or not he had been approached by Chelsea.

“What I will say is that I am looking for a club that can challenge for trophies, so Chelsea is one of these clubs,” he told newspaper The National. Pep Guardiola, the former Barcelona coach, and exTottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp were also rumoured to be in the running. Chelsea had made a superb start to the season, but since losing 2-1 at Shakhtar on September 23, their campaign has come off the rails. They won seven and drew one of their opening eight league games to move four points clear at the Premier League summit but a 3-2 loss at home to Manchester United last month marked the start of a run of four games without a win. Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at West Bromwich Albion, Di Matteo’s former club, left Chelsea four points behind leaders Manchester City in third place. The loss to United was surrounded by controversy, after Chelsea’s claim that referee Mark Clattenburg racially abused midfielder John Obi Mikel prompted a Football Association investigation that is yet to conclude.

A former Chelsea player, who scored in two FA Cup final successes, Di Matteo had been trying to revolutionise the club’s playing style by introducing a more attacking approach.

Chelsea spent over £80 million ($127 million, 100 million euros) on new players in the close season, notably bringing in Belgian winger Eden Hazard from Lille and Brazilian attacking midfielder Oscar from Internacional.

Although the quality of their football drew praise from pundits in the season’s early months, that initial momentum appears to have disappeared. Di Matteo, who was born in Switzerland but represented Italy at international level, was in only his third senior managerial position. He started his coaching career with third-tier MK Dons in 2008 before joining West Brom a year later. —AFP

Messi goes second in CL scoring chart SPAIN: Rather like tennis’s serial record breaker Roger Federer, Barcelona striker Lionel Messi cannot seem to finish a soccer match without ticking off another milestone.

The Argentine was at it again on Tuesday with two goals in his side’s 30 victory over Spartak Moscow which put the Catalans through to the last 16 of the Champions League.

His brace took his tally in Europe’s flagship competition to 56, putting him level in second place on the alltime scoring list with former Dutch marksman Ruud van Nistelrooy. Only Spain’s Raul has more with 71.

Messi also equalled Raul’s record of scoring in 19 different cities in the Champions League and surpassed the former Real Madrid player’s mark of scoring two goals or more in 14

matches in the competition.

Messi moved to within five goals of Gerd Mueller’s calendar-year scoring record of 85, set in 1972. Typically, he was quick to play down his goalscoring feats, but his team mates clearly appreciated them. “Leo is breaking all the records, he’s spectacular, impressive; it’s a pleasure to have him with us,” Pedro told Barcelona’s website (www.fcbarcelona.com).

Messi has been the top scorer in the Champions League for the past four seasons and last season’s tally of 14 was the highest total scored in one campaign. “Everyone talks about Leo, the goals and the records but it is more his awareness and tactics, the way he defends and attacks and helps the team in all areas,” coach Tito Vilanova told reporters. —Reuters

Barcelona’s Lionel Messi

playing his final years in Shanghai, China.

By not starting Torres against Juventus, fielding him for just 20 fruitless minutes when the Italians were already ahead 2-0, Di Matteo made clear that his patience was gone. That’s not what he actually said, of course. But faced with the choice of starting Torres or playing with no recognized striker, Di Matteo chose the latter.

For Torres, that verdict could hardly have been more damning. Without a trusted scorer like Drogba was, like Robin van Persie is for Man United or Zlatan Ibrahimovic at Paris Saint-Germain, Di Matteo’s team had no one to aim for up front on Tuesday night.

Eden Hazard, Juan Mata and Oscar, none of them strikers but handed the job of scoring against Juventus, are plenty quick and crafty but were too small to pose any true physical challenge to the Italian defense. They disappeared like Smurfs amid the giants in black and white jerseys.

There has been ample amateur psychology about Torres, about how his reported 50-million pound price-tag overburdened him with expectation and that he only needs time, a string of confidencerestoring games and a playing system which suits him to rediscover the goalscorer within, the scorer he was at Liverpool. Whatever. Enough is enough.

Di Matteo couldn’t turn Abramovich’s expensive purchase into a feared matchwinner and so he, not the mistake, is gone. But neither will the next guy. —AP

Preview

English trio on brink of Europa last-32 spots PARIS: Premier League trio Liverpool, Tottenham and Newcastle will be aiming to secure passage to the Europa League knockout stages with a game in hand today.

While the English clubs have had modest starts to their domestic campaign and are all in unfamiliar mid-table positions, their fortunes have been brighter in continental action as they close in on the last-32.

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has finally put the Anfield giants on the right track after a disastrous start to the season and a win at home against Swiss hopefuls Young Boys will guarantee the club their ongoing quest for a first European trophy since their famous Champions League win over AC Milan in 2005.

Tottenham face a sterner test of their pedigree as they travel to the Olympic stadium in Rome and a tie against unbeaten Lazio. A win in the Italian capital and failure for Slovenian club Maribor to beat Panathinaikos in Athens will also put underpressure manager Andre Villa-Boas and his North London side into the next round.

Villa-Boas handed French number one Hugo Lloris only his second league start of the season last weekend but the former Nice and Lyon custodian shipped five goals in the 5-2 defeat at bitter rivals Arsenal as he lost ground in his battle to dislodge American Brad Friedel from the starting job.

While Lloris has played almost all of his matches in Cup competitions, it is likely Friedel will be between the posts for what could decide the fate of Group J. Newcastle United who won the InterCities Fairs Cup back in 1969 before the competition became the UEFA Cup in 1971 and currently the Europa League, have a chance to revive their form at St. James’ Park where they have lost consecutive league matches against West Ham and Swansea.

Manager Alan Pardew will likely rotate his squad despite the club’s struggles but the bookmakers will still make them strong favourites against Portugal’s Maritimo Funchal and victory will guarantee qualification from Group D. High-flying Bordeaux, whose closest attempt to a continental trophy was when they lost the 1996 UEFA Cup final against a Bayern Munich side coached by Franz Beckenbauer, will also advance from the group with victory at Belgium’s Club Brugge.

Defending champions Atletico Madrid who saw their record 16-game winning streak snapped at Portuguese club Academica de Coimbra on matchday four will continue their quest for a repeat triumph at home to Hapoel Tel Aviv.

Academica are five points behind the European Supercup winners as well as Viktoria Plzen and must beat the Czech side at home to have any chance of keeping alive their hopes going into the final round of matches.

Fernerbache are five points clear of Marseille and Borussia Monchengladbach but defeat at the Velodrome and a win for the German giants at home to AEL Limassol of Cyprus will make for a nervous final day when the Istanbul-based club host the former Bundesliga champions.

Bordeaux coach Francis Gillot will be able to field English midfielder Joey Barton who continues to serve his 12-match domestic ban and the onloan QPR signing scored his first goal directly from a corner during the 2-2 against Monchengladbach last time out.

Steaua Bucharest who became the first and only Eastern European team to win the European Cup when they triumphed over Barcelona on penalties in 1986 are in control of Group E with ten points and can advance even if they lose at home to Stuttgart who are five points back.

If FC Copenhagen - who are on four points fail to win in Sweden at Molde FK, the Romanian giants will still qualify in case of defeat. Lyon, Inter Milan, Rubin Kazan, Bayer Leverkusen, Metalist Kharkiv and Hannover have already qualified. —AFP

19

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2012

SPORTS

Dortmund hammer Ajax to reach knockout round

PORTO: Porto’s Argentinian midfielder Lucho Gonzalez (left) vies with GNK Dinamo Zagreb’s Croatian midfielder Marcelo Brozovic during the UEFA Champions League Group A football match.—AFP

Porto brush Dinamo aside PORTO: Midfielder Joao Moutinho pulled Porto’s strings by scoring and setting up another two in a 3-0 drubbing of hapless Dinamo Zagreb that kept the Portuguese in command of Champions League Group A yesterday. Portugal international Moutinho was in inspired form for Porto, who were already assured of a last 16 place.

He found Argentine playmaker Lucho Gonzalez for the opener on 20 minutes through some textbook passing play, blasted the second himself from a free kick in the second half and finished with a wonderful backheel to set up Silvestre Varela’s third.

Porto, unbeaten in all competitions this season, will win the group if they take a point from their final game next month away to second-placed Paris St Germain.

“It was another good match. We have been consistent and aggressive. I am pleased but we still want to finish top of the group and do so playing good football,” said Porto coach Vitor Pereira.

The hosts commanded possession

from the start but the visitors almost caught them by surprise when Brazilianborn forward Sammir blasted a diagonal shot against the post from a quick counter attack.

Dinamo, still looking for their first goal of the group stage, were then caught out when Porto pierced their frail defence with a quick first-touch exchange between Moutinho and Colombian striker Jackson Martinez that ended with Gonzalez firing into the net with his left foot from just inside the box.

Fatos Beqiraj almost poked in an equaliser in for the Croatian champions after a corner but Varela cleared off the line. Porto strolled through the second half and extended their lead when Moutinho swerved in a sweet free kick that left keeper Ivan Kelava rooted to the spot.

He rounded off his man-of-the-match performance with a backheel to set up Varela’s third five minutes from time.

Porto top Group A with 13 points, ahead of PSG on 12, Dynamo Kiev with four and Dinamo yet to get off the mark.—Reuters

KIEV: Paris Saint-Germain’s Ezequiel Lavezzi (left) challenges for the ball against Miguel Veloso (center) and Denys Garmash of Dynamo Kiev during the Champions League Group A soccer match. —AP

PSG see off Dynamo KIEV: “Crisis” club Paris Saint-Germain clinched a place in the last 16 of the Champions League on Wednesday after beating Dynamo Kiev 2-0 in the Ukrainian capital. Ezequiel Lavezzi struck in both halves to give PSG a fourth win from five matches in Group A and consign Dynamo to a spot in the Europa League.

The result moved PSG onto 12 points with Porto on 13 after their 3-0 win over lowly Dinamo Zagreb in Portugal, leaving the two sides to duel it out for top spot when they meet at the Parc des Princes in a fortnight.

PSG goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu, who produced made several fine saves, admitted to Canal+ afterwards: “It was a difficult match, we knew that. Fortunately, we scored two goals at important moments, particularly the second. But away from home it’s never easy. “After the match against Rennes, we did some self-assessment, it was an attitude problem. We perhaps needed that shock to help us improve.”

Manager Carlo Ancelotti had conceded the club was “in a crisis” following a string of poor results including an embarrassing 2-1 home reverse to nine-man Rennes on Saturday, but the return of star man Zlatan Ibrahimovic from his domestic suspension was a welcome sight for the Parisians. Alex spurned an excellent chance to give PSG the lead inside the opening 10 minutes as he powered a header wide, but the Brazilian defender quickly redeemed himself at the other end with an excellent sliding block to deny Ideye Brown.

Oleh Gusev’s long-range strike drew an unconvincing save out of Sirigu with Alex

reacting quickly to clear the aftermath before Brown could pounce on the loose ball. The Italian did considerably better to keep out Gusev’s header moments later although Dynamo should have gone in front as Denys Garmash inexplicably fired wide from the rebound with the goal at his mercy.

A cleverly-worked free-kick saw Kiev’s Maxym Koval dive low to his right to save from Ibrahimovic, while Miguel Veloso had Sirigu again sprawling across his line as his 25-yard set-piece drifted just wide.

Ibrahimovic was a peripheral figure for much of the first half, but having assisted all four goals in PSG’s 4-0 rout of Dinamo Zagreb last time out, there was no surprise as the talismanic Swede played an integral role in Lavezzi’s first goal just before the break.

Lavezzi laid the ball off to Ibrahimovic before continuing his run as the latter slipped in a perfectly-weighted pass to the Argentine, who lifted the ball over Koval with aplomb.

Lavezzi added to his tally seven minutes after the restart as Matuidi pounced on an under-hit backpass from Yevhen Khacheridi before squaring to the South American, who steered the ball into an unguarded net.

Sirigu then made a brilliant fingertip save to prevent Dudu from reducing the deficit after his shot looped up off the heel of Gregory van der Wiel before holding well from Lukman Haruna. Dudu also found the PSG shot-stopper in top form, while Artem Milevsky headed wide in injury time as the the visitors put an end to their twogame winless run.—AFP

AMSTERDAM: Borussia Dortmund booked their place in the Champions League’s round of 16 with clinical finishing and some impressive counter-attacking football yesterday as they hammered Ajax 4-1 in Amsterdam.

Dortmund needed just a point to go through, but the German champions had victory wrapped up with three unanswered goals by half-time as they reached the Champions League knock-out phase for the first time since the 2002/03 season.

Germany’s rising stars Marco Reus and Mario Goetze produced a dazzling display while Poland striker Robert Lewandowski scored either side of half-time. Ajax striker Danny Hoesen scored a late consolation goal for the host, but it was all over by then.

Ajax enjoyed almost 70 percent ball possession throughout while Dortmund had only five shots on target in the entire game, but managed to score from four of them as the Germans stayed top of Group D on 11 points.

Real Madrid are now second in the group on eight points after their 1-1 draw at Manchester City. The best Ajax can not now hope for is a Europa League place with their final game at Real Madrid in two weeks.

After Bayern Munich’s draw at Valencia on Tuesday put them through, Dortmund and Schalke

AMSTERDAM: Boruss’a Dortmund player Robert Lewandowski scores 4-0 passing Ajax goalkeeper Kenneth Vermeer during the Champions League Group D soccer match.—AP also joined them in the knockout stage with all three German teams having progressed. Ajax are nine points behind league leaders PSV Eindhoven in the Dutch league and it took just eight minutes for the Germans to take the lead at Amsterdam Arena. Goetze showed great vision to play a one-two to put national team-mate Reus free in the penalty area and he fired home under the Ajax goalkeeper for his third goal of the competition. Dortmund doubled their tally on 36 minutes when centreback Mats Hummels took advan-

tage of some sloppy defending with a quickly taken free-kick which found Goetze on the left.

He cut back inside and drove his shot inside the near post giving goalkeeper Kenneth Vermeer no chance. Ajax wing Derk Boerrigter had a chance soon after, but Dortmund put the game beyond doubt with their third just four minutes before the break. With Goetze terrorising the hosts’ defence, the 20year-old put in a volley which Vermeer did well to save, but Lewandowski reacted the quickest and tucked away the

rebound, although Vermeer got a glove to it.

It was Lewandowski’s third of the competition as the guests handed out a lesson in counterattacking football and the Polish star grabbed the fourth when he converted a Goetze cross on 67 minutes.

Hosen managed to pull one back for Ajax on 86 minutes having come off the bench, but it wrapped up a miserable night for the Dutch. Manchester City are Dortmund’s final opponents at Signal Iduna Park stadium in a fortnight.—AFP

Schalke scrape into next round GERMANY: Schalke 04 booked their place in the Champions League’s last 16 yesterday as a late strike from defender Christian Fuchs sealed their 1-0 home win over Olympiakos.

While Arsenal threatened to usurp Schalke as Group B leaders with 2-0 win in London over Montpellier, Austria left-back Fuchs struck with a thunderbolt of a goal 13 minutes from time to keep the Royal Blues top of the table.

Victory puts Schalke into the knock-out phase, but they will need to beat Montpellier away in a fortnight to be sure of finishing as group winners as they join fellow German teams Dortmund and Bayern Munich in the last 16.

Schalke deserved the win having battered the Olympiakos goal with 27 attempts, 17 on target, compared to the Greeks’ six shots as the visitors goalkeeper Roy Carroll had a busy night.

With both defenders Atsuto Uchida of Japan and Marco Hoeger injured in the home draw with Arsenal a fortnight ago, Schalke captain Benedikt Hoewedes switched to right-back with Kyriakos Papadopoulos partnering Joel Matip at centre-back.

Schalke’s promising youngster Julian Draxler, who broke his arm against Montpellier in October, started on the left wing in place of thigh-injury victim Ibrahim Afellay. Olympiakos came to Germany in buoyant mood with seven wins in an eightgame unbeaten run, but they had no answers at the Veltins Arena.

Schalke had the best early chance when Fuchs looped his free-kick over the wall, but

GERMANY: Olympiakos’ Djamel Aboun (left) and Schalke’s Klaas-Jan Huntelaar of the Netherlands challenge during the Champions League Group B soccer match. —AP Olympiakos goalkeeper Carroll threw himself to his left to push the ball out for a corner on 24 minutes.

Draxler fired over just before half-time, while Olympiakos’ best chance came with half an hour gone when Djamel Abdoun failed to use the four-on-two situation and his pass flew over the head of Giannis Maniatis.

Schalke kept up the pace in the secondhalf with both midfielders Jermaine Jone,

Champions League tables Champions League tables after yesterday’s matches (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points): Group A FC Porto 5 4 1 0 9 2 13 Paris SG 5 4 0 1 12 2 12 Dynamo Kiev 5 1 1 3 5 9 4 Dinamo 5 0 0 5 0 13 0 Group B Schalke 04 Arsenal Olympiakos Montpellier

5 5 5 5

3 3 2 0

2 1 0 1

0 1 3 4

9 9 7 5

5 6 8 11

11 10 6 1

Group C Malaga AC Milan Zenit Anderlecht

5 5 5 5

3 2 1 1

2 2 1 1

0 1 3 3

10 7 5 2

3 5 9 7

11 8 4 4

Group D Dortmund Real Madrid Ajax Man City

5 5 5 5

3 2 1 0

2 2 1 3

0 1 3 2

10 11 7 7

5 8 12 10

11 8 4 3

Last 16 qualifiers The 13 teams to have qualified to date for the Champions League last 16 after yesterday’s penultimate round of group matches: AC Milan, Arsenal, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Malaga, Manchester United, Paris Saint Germain, Porto, Real Madrid, Schalke 04, Shakhtar Donetsk, Valencia.

Lewis Holtby and defender Kyriakos Papadopoulos going close against his compatriots. The winning goal came on 77 minutes when Jermaine Jones passed across to Fuchs, who claimed his first Champions League goal with a long-range strike. He powered onto the ball and drove it across the face of the Olympiakos goal from 35 metres out to give Carroll no chance as the Greeks left Germany empty-handed.—AFP

Malaga draw gives Zenit hope SAINT PETERSBURG: Already qualified Malaga were held to a 2-2 draw by Zenit St Petersburg here yesterday in a Champions League stalemate that kept the door marginally ajar for the Russian side to progress from Group C. Argentinian midfielder Diego Bounanotte and Uruguay’s forward Sebastian “Seba” Fernandez were on target for Malaga, while Portuguese winger Miguel Danny and substitute midfielder Vikotr Faizulin scored for Zenit.

The result left Malaga top of Group C with 11 points from five matches. “We’ve got all we wanted to get here,” Malaga manager Manuel Pellegrini said. “The play went our way completely. We scored twice early in the first half but after the break Zenit naturally put pressure on us. We’re pleased with the final score.

“And I have certain doubts about Zenit’s second goal. It seemed to me that it wasn’t scored the legal way.” Zenit, who were in desperate need of a win to keep alive their chances for a place in the knockout stages, started in a lively fashion but it was Malaga midfielder Buonanotte who put his side in front in the eighth minute sending the ball home with an unopposed eight-metre shot from Seba’s right-handed cross from the edge of the box.

Seba made it 2-0 for Malaga just a minute later, firing home from just inside the box after Roque Santa Cruz inter-

cepted Zenit keeper Vyacheslav Malafeyev’s pass to Bruno Alves and made a precise feeder to the Uruguayan.

The hosts sent forwards Hulk and Alexander Kerzhakov into attack but they lacked accuracy, while Malaga ‘keeper Wilfredo “Willy” Caballero was in command of his net.

Danny reduced the arrears four minutes after the interval, when he received Tomas Hubocan’s pass into the area from the left and sent the ball into the net past helpless Willy from seven metres.

Three minutes later Kerzhakov missed a chance to level, sending the ball into the outer side of the net with a closerange shot after he outplayed Willy in the six-yard box.

The hosts, spurred on by a capacity 20,000 crowd at the Petrovsky arena, continued testing Malaga’s defence which held firm until 72nd minute substitute Faizulin saved the day for Zenit, firing into the net from 15 metres with four minutes to go. “We started extremely badly. We lost concentration and paid our price for it. Just 10 minutes in and we trail 2-0.” Danny said.

“It was very tough. We all worked hard trying to came back. We missed our chances in the first half but scored twice in the second and could have scored the third. We are all very upset. But we still have chances to go to Europa League.

“And definitely will fight in our last match to go there.”—AFP

Debutant Abul smashes century at number 10

16

Boxer ‘Macho’ shot in Puerto Rico

17

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2012

Chelsea should sack Torres, not Di Matteo

Page 18

LONDON: Manchester City’s Spanish midfielder David Silva (right) is tackled by Real Madrid’s Spanish midfielder Xabi Alonso (left) during the UEFA Champions League Group D football match.—AFP

Real dump City out of CL MANCHESTER: Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho marked his 100th Champions League game with a 1-1 draw at Manchester City yesterday that sent his side into the last 16 at City’s expense.

City had to win to stand any chance of going through, so although Sergio Aguero’s 73rd-minute penalty cancelled out Karim Benzema’s early opener, the hosts went out in the group phase for a second successive season.

Madrid had Alvaro Arbeloa sent off, but with eight points-three less than Group D leaders Borussia Dortmund-they

cannot be caught by either Ajax or City, who had not lost in their 19 previous European home games.

The English champions trail Ajax by a point and therefore must win at Dortmund in their final group fixture and hope the Dutch side lose in Madrid if they are to secure the consolation prize of a Europa League berth.

Mourinho, the youngest coach to reach the 100-match milestone, is now a step closer to delivering an elusive 10th European Cup to the Spanish champions, who have already fallen

eight points off the pace in La Liga.

City coach Roberto Mancini elected to deploy a three-man defence at the Etihad Stadium, but the home side’s defenders did not seem comfortable with the system and Madrid were quick to profit. In the 10th minute, Angel di Maria was given space to cross from the right and his centre found the unmarked Benzema, who cantered in behind Maicon to beat Joe Hart on the volley from close range.

With Maicon and Pablo Zabaleta on the pitch, the right side of City’s defence should have been secure, but Cristiano

Ronaldo found plenty of room there.

Roundly booed on his first appearance in the city since leaving Manchester United in 2009, Ronaldo twice reached the byline on Madrid’s left, only for Sami Khedira to put both of his crosses wide.

Ronaldo was bearing down on goal again moments later, but Matija Nastasic got back to clear his goal-bound lob off the line and Hart parried his follow-up.

Khedira darted through on goal after 24 minutes, only to miscue an attempted chip, which allowed Hart to save.

City changed their shape, with

Zabaleta switching to left-back in a conventional back four, but they were unable to make inroads into the Madrid area.

Their best effort saw Iker Casillas forced to tip over a 25-yard effort from Aguero, who also teed up Maicon for a shot that dribbled wide.

The hosts improved early in the second period, with Aguero heading over from Maicon’s cross and David Silva shooting at Casillas after Arbeloa’s clearance came straight to him.

Carlos Tevez was introduced on the hour but still fortune eluded City, with

Mexes helps Milan into knockout stage

Wilshere fires Gunners into last 16 LONDON: Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere fired the Gunners into the last 16 of the Champions League as his first goal for two years inspired a 2-0 win over Montpellier yesterday.

Wilshere had gone 725 days without a goal, since he netted against Aston Villa in November 2010, after being sidelined for 14 months with foot and knee injuries. But the England international finally got back on the scoresheet with a cool finish early in the second half against the French champions and Lukas Podolski’s stunning volley soon af ter sealed a vital vic tor y at the Emirates Stadium.

With Schalke beating third placed Olympiakos in the night’s other Group B fixture, Wilshere and Podolski’s heroics put Arsenal into the knockout stages of Europe’s elite club competition for the 13th successive season.

Arsene Wenger’s side remain second in the group, one point behind Schalke, but crucially they have avoided the prospect of a qualification shoot-out with Olympiakos in their last group fixture in Athens on December 4.

Wilshere ran to embrace Arsenal’s physio after scoring and he said: “My fitness will come. I’ve never been injured before so I can’t tell you how long it will take. “The first half was hard. We were sloppy, we gave ball away and weren’t ourselves.

“We needed the early goal in the second half. But we have to step it up.

Tonight wasn’t good enough.”

Montpellier coach Rene Girard added: “We lacked something going forward.

We saw that in the second half especially. “We started to struggle physically in the closing stages. I think this was one game too far in terms of the injuries and the players we have missing.”

Wilshere, making his fifth appearance of the season, was Arsenal’s driving force and he sent over a teasing cross that Laurent Koscielny headed against the crossbar in the early stages.

Arsenal’s often creaky back-four were caught out when Montpellier captain Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa slipped a pass through to Anthony Mounier and it took a brave block from goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny to snuff out the danger.

Yanga-Mbiwa was less assured on defensive duties, the midfielder allowing Podolski to rob him on the edge of his own penalty area before breathing a sigh of relief as the German dragged his shot just wide.

Podolski missed the target again moments later, this time with a miscued effort from a tight angle after Santi Cazorla’s pass unhinged the Montpellier defence.

That summed up a lethargic first half from the Gunners. Montpellier had virtually no chance of reaching the last 16 after taking just one point from their four matches, but they were still able to hold out with ease.

However, Wenger’s half-time teamtalk seemed to reinvigorate Arsenal and

Aguero’s close-range volley miraculously kept out by Casillas in the 64th minute.

The game turned eight minutes later, after Arbeloa was shown a second yellow card for a push on Aguero inside the Madrid area. Just as he had done in Saturday’s 5-0 win over Aston Villa, Aguero converted the spot-kick, and City’s last-16 ambitions appeared revived.

Tevez fired in a low shot that Casillas comfortably held, but despite five minutes of added time that prompted an incredulous reaction from Mourinho, there was to be no late drama.—AFP

LONDON: Arsenal’s Polish goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny (left) vies with Montpellier’s French striker Gaetan Charbonnier (center) as Arsenal’s French defender Laurent Koscielny (right) looks on during the UEFA Champions League Group B football match.—AFP

they took charge in emphatic fashion after the break.

The hosts were ahead in the 49th minute when Thomas Vermaelen clipped a cross to the far-post and Olivier Giroud rose highest to nod the ball into the path of Wilshere, who cleverly flicked his shot over advancing goalkeeper Geoffrey Jourdren with the outside of his left foot.

I t was a cathar tic moment for Wilshere after his injury nightmare and Arsenal, now in far more vibrant mood, killed off Montpellier with a sublime

second goal 14 minutes later.

Podolski started and finished the move, prodding a pass to Giroud 20 yards from goal and then continuing his run into the penalty area to meet the former Montpellier ’s for ward’s return ball with a brilliant volley that flashed past Jourdren into the roof of the net.

Jourdren kept the score respectable for Montpellier with fine saves to deny Cazorla and Giroud, but Arsenal had done enough to ensure their progress.—AFP

BRUSSELS: An acrobatic bicycle kick from France international Philippe Mexes helped AC Milan qualify for the Champions League last 16 with a 3-1 defeat of ten-man Anderlecht here yesterday.

With Group C winners Malaga held 2-2 at Zenit St Petersburg earlier, both sides were desperate for all three points to secure the runners-up spot with one group game to spare.

And it is Milan who progress, after Stephan El Shaarawy put the Serie A side into a 47th-minute lead with Mexes adding Milan’s second in the 71st minute. Tom De Sutter pulled one back for Anderlecht but Milan held their nerve with Alexandre Pato grabbing a late third.

Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri told Sky Sport: “We’ve reached the first objective of the season (to qualify). It’s a great reward for the boys, who deserve this.

“We were a bit imprecise in the first half because we were rushing our final pass. “After the break it was better. Now we have to continue making progress. “As for Mexes’ goal, I thought the ball was going to fly out of the stadium! On top of that he played a good match.”

With both teams needing the win to secure qualification, the first half was a cagey affair with Milan captain and keeper Christian Abbiati keeping out the only real chance.

In a one-on-one with Milan Jovanovic he did well to deny the Serbian striker’s shot with his legs. The second half was only two minutes old when El Shaarawy struck with Milan’s first decent shot of the game. The 20-year-old, author of both goals in his club’s 2-2 Serie A draw with Napoli at the weekend, calmly controlled Mattia De Sciglio’s cross in the box to sidefoot the ball past Anderlecht keeper Silvio Proto.

Anderlecht were a man down in the 70th minute when Bram Nuytinck got his marching orders for bringing down Pato as the last man. Ricardo Montolivo took the subsequent free-kick for Mexes to produce his moment of magic.

From just outside the box the Frenchman controlled the ball on his chest before unleashing his bicycle kick past Proto.

Second half substitute de Sutter then gave Anderlecht hope, tapping in from close range off a corner with 18 minutes remaining.

Pato rounded off the night for Milan in style with their injury-time third, the Brazilian slotting into an empty net after being set up by El Shaarawy.—AFP

Business

Investment-grade Turkey faces enviable currency headache Page 22 HP’s Autonomy deal highlights one bad idea after another Page 23

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2012

Japan posts worst October trade data in 3 decades

UK borrowing worsens, making deficit harder Page 23

Page 25

TOKYO: An employee of Japan’s jeweler Ginza Tanaka introduces the 350 million yen ($4,270,000) Disney Gold Christmas Tree which is 2.4 meters in height and features 50 Disney characters made of gold yesterday. — AFP

Gulf’s private sector rise vulnerable Smaller companies viewed as ‘toxic assets’ by banks ABU DHABI: Four years after a collapse of oil prices savaged Gulf Arab economies, private business activity in most of the region is thriving again. Yet problems with financing and regulation could cut short the boom. Corporate executives and economists at the Reuters Middle East Investment Summit this week said the private sector’s gains were vulnerable, warning growth could quickly slow if oil prices retreat or governments slow spending in order to conserve their financial reserves.

“The current good growth we are seeing is cyclical and has its roots in government spending, but there are structural impediments to longer term private sector growth,” said Liz Martins, senior regional economist at HSBC. The oil market slide of 2008, in which prices slumped by as much as three-quarters in the space of six months, revealed the vulnerability of the Gulf countries and their big state-owned oil sectors; Saudi Arabia only barely escaped recession in 2009.

Now high oil prices have ignited a consumer spending spree that is buoying private firms across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which comprises Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman. Middle East oil exporters will enjoy a near-record surplus in trade of goods and services worth about $400 billion this year, the International Monetary Fund estimates. Governments in the Gulf are channelling much of those oil earnings into social welfare and infrastructure projects.

This is helping private companies in two ways: directly,

through contracts awarded by Gulf governments, and indirectly, by fattening the wallets of consumers who work for the government or receive welfare benefits. “Stable growth we have seen across the GCC over the last six to eight quarters comes ... from the public sector boost, which has stimulated the private sector as well,” said Fabio Scacciavillani, chief economist at Oman Investment Fund.

Policy goal For Gulf governments, developing the private sector has been a top policy goal since the 2008 crash as they seek to diversify their economies away from oil to reduce the risk of a similar setback in future. Fostering small private companies has become even more important since last year’s Arab Spring uprisings, because such firms tend to create most jobs. Although Gulf governments largely escaped the unrest, they are keen to cut unemployment to remove a potential political threat.

Trends over the last year suggest they are having some success. Bank lending growth to the private sector in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman has climbed into double digits and the annual rate hit 14.8 percent in Saudi Arabia during September, the fastest pace since March 2009. The Saudi Ministry of Labour said in September that 380,000 jobs had been created in the past 10 months. Oman says it added 155,000 new private sector jobs in January-September. The private sector boom is typified by com-

Kuwait’s Boubyan Bank sees Islamic banking boom Boubyan to focus on home market KUWAIT: Islamic banking is growing at more than double the pace of conventional banking in Kuwait and strong demand is expected throughout the Arab region, the chairman of Boubyan Bank said yesterday. Credit volumes at Islamic banks in Kuwait reached 11.1 billion Kuwaiti dinars ($39.3 billion) in the first nine months of 2012, up 13.2 percent on last year, Boubyan Chairman and Managing Director Adel Abdul Wahab Al-Majed told the Reuters Middle East Investment Summit.

That compares with 5.6 percent credit growth to 18.6 billion dinars at conventional banks, Majed said. The hunger for sharia-complaint banking in Kuwait means that Boubyan is not interested in overseas expansion quite yet, in contrast to more-established Kuwait Finance House (KFH).

“Innovation or presence outside, it is only a matter of time (for) the likes of us and others,” Majed said. “Right now we are busy because the slice of Islamic pie in Kuwait is big.” However, in 2014 the bank will set out a new five-year strategy, which will include the possibility of an international presence.

This year’s Arab Spring uprisings are expected to boost sharia-compliant banking in the Middle East and North Africa because of the new Islamic governments it

created, Majed said. The Boubyan chairman was previously an executive at National Bank of Kuwait (NBK), the Gulf state’s largest lender, which in July raised its stake in Boubyan to just over 58 percent from 47 percent in a deal valued at about 122 million dinars.

Boubyan clean-up Majed moved to Boubyan as part of an executive team charged with the task of shoring up the bank at a time when NBK held a minority stake in it. During the financial crisis of 2009 Boubyan reported a net annual loss of 51.7 million dinars. This background has made the bank cautious about expansion. “I think the mistake is that it started venturing outside before it had a stable, profitable base in Kuwait,” Majed said.

Since 2009, earnings have grown and the bank reported an 8 million dinar net profit in 2011. “We expect this year to be in the same positive trend,” Majed said. In the first nine months of this year the bank posted net profit of 7.6 million dinars. Boubyan’s total bad-debt provisions since 2008 were 26 million dinars at Sept 30 this year. Majed said he believed that these had peaked for the Kuwaiti banking sector as a whole, with the process continuing at a slower pace. —Reuters

panies such as Saudi Arabia’s Jarir Marketing Co, a retailer of books, office supplies and electronics, which plans to boost the number of its stores by at least 70 percent in the next five years and expand into other GCC countries.

“We are growing in Saudi and in the Gulf, and we want to see that we populate the GCC,” Jarir Chairman Muhammad Al-Agil, who co-founded the chain with his family in 1979, told the Summit, taking place at Reuters offices in the region. In the United Arab Emirates, one of the most diversified economies in the Gulf with the non-oil sector accounting for 62 percent of output, bank lending growth has been slower as the country grapples with the aftermath of a real estate crash. But the hospitality sector, a focus of private sector firms, is booming; tourist arrivals grew 10 percent and hotel revenue 19 percent in the first half of 2012.

Access to funds Yet private business in the Gulf remains far from being able to fuel its own growth, withstanding fluctuations in oil prices and state spending. One problem is its access to financing. Debt and equity capital markets are small so it’s difficult for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to use them to raise money, said Martins at HSBC. That leaves bank loans, but many banks in the Gulf are traditionally unwilling to lend to small, little-known firms, preferring the security and predictability of lending to big

companies, preferably those with state connections.

“Financial institutions look at them (SMEs) as toxic assets,” said Abdullah al-Darmaki, chief executive of the Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development, the Abu Dhabi government’s SME development agency. Rick Pudner, chief executive of Dubai’s biggest bank, Emirates NBD, told the Reuters Summit that, historically, “you have to have a three-year track record before you can come to the table and ask for some money.” Pudner said that partly because of government efforts, the access of SMEs to bank loans would improve: “You’ll see it probably getting a lot easier to access finance from banks, maybe supported by some quasielement of government support.”

But even then, private companies may face another major obstacle: regulation. The risks of intrusive rule-setting were underlined last week when Saudi Arabia said it would fine private sector firms that employed more foreign workers than Saudis - a stance that could have a big impact given that roughly nine in 10 employees of private companies in Saudi Arabia are expatriates, according to official estimates. In other cases, opaque and complex regulation, or the lack of any rules at all, is holding up private companies. “One major area is bankruptcy law - also labour laws and labour protection are skewed towards national citizens and lag for foreigners. The other area is in terms of investor protection,” Scacciavillani said of the GCC. “Awareness is there but in terms of delivery, little has been done.” — Reuters

$60bn needed in Syria after regime fall: SNC DUBAI: The Syrian opposition will need $60 billion in Marshall Plan-style aid to prevent the country’s collapse within six months of a fall of the regime, prominent leader George Sabra told reporters yesterday. He urged a “Partnership to Invest in Future Syria” meeting held in Dubai to immediately launch a Marshall Plan for the Arab country, along the lines of the huge post-World War II recovery programme for Europe. Over the “first six months we need 60 billion dollars” as immediate funding for reconstruction, Sabra told reporters on the sidelines of the meeting.

Sabra said the money must come in the form of aid from “our Arab brothers and the international community on whom we count to fulfill their responsibilities towards the humanitarian crisis our country is facing.” Funding is needed to “resolve the most sensitive and outstanding issues,” starting with “securing housing for people after 2.5 million homes have been destroyed” in the conflict, said Sabra, head of the Syrian National Council.

“What can be described as an economic ‘Marshall Plan for Syria’ cannot be delayed until the current regime fully collapses. It must be initiated immediately,” he told the

meeting. He called for the “Arab and international business community’s support” of “fully or almost completely” liberated zones in Syria’s northern cities of Aleppo, Idlib, and Tal Abyad. “The regime is in the stage of decline and will not last long,” he told AFP. Farah Atassi, a prominent opposition activist, said: “There is a need for cash in Syrian banks and the central bank for this phase from the first day after the fall of the Syrian regime up to six months.” This is “to ensure that vital installations such as

water, electricity and health sectors continue to offer Syrian citizens their services,” said Atassi, coordinator of an economic taskforce. “This is a phase in which the Syrian state must not collapse,” Atassi said.

“This would lead to security and economic problems.” Sabra also called for the setting up of an “immediate coordination bureau either inside Syria or in any city near the Turkish-Syrian border” to secure the flow of aid and offer rebels “administrative and technical expertise.”—AFP

DUBAI: President of the opposition Syrian National Council George Sabra arrives at a conference focusing on investment in Syria yesterday. — AFP

22

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2012

BUSINESS

Gold edges down as dollar firms after no Greece deal Int’l lenders fail to agree on Greece bailout SINGAPORE: Gold inched lower yesterday as the dollar firmed after Greece’s lenders failed to strike a debt deal for the country, although sentiment for bullion remains supported by expectation of continuous monetary easing by central banks. Gold has settled in a range of $1,700 to $1,740 an ounce in the past two weeks, after the re-election of US President Barack Obama cheered gold buyers who expect a continued loose monetary policy to keep gold attractive as an inflation hedge.

“Gold seems well supported towards the $1,700 level, and the longer-term story hasn’t changed much,” said Nick Trevethan, senior commodity strategist at ANZ in Singapore.

Resilient Chinese demand, as well as official sector’s gold purchases are expected to support bullion prices, he added. China’s consumer physical gold demand rose 22 percent from the previous quarter to 176.8 tonnes in the third quarter, and could further improve as year-end holidays encourage gold purchas-

es, said the World Gold Council.

Spot gold inched down 0.2 percent to $1,724.98 an ounce by 0842 GMT, hurt by a drop in the euro. US gold was little changed at $1,725.10. The euro weakened against the dollar as after nearly 12 hours of talks through the night, euro zone finance ministers, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank failed to reach a consensus, without which emergency aid cannot be disbursed to debt-laden Athens.

A strong dollar weighs on commodities priced in the greenback, including gold, as it makes them more expensive for buyers holding other currencies. The dollar was on course for its biggest daily rise in more than two weeks against a basket of currencies. But losses in bullion were checked by tensions in the Middle East that increased the precious metal’s safe-haven appeal.

An exchange of fire between Palestinians and Israelis continued as US Secretary of State

Hillary Clinton held talks in Jerusalem seeking a truce. A failure to reach a cease-fire would further support gold’s safe-have appeal.

Traders are now eyeing U.S. talks on a looming “fiscal cliff”, $600-billion in tax hikes and spending cuts due to roll in early next year that could push the country into a recession.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Tuesday the central bank does not have the tools to offset damage caused by the fiscal cliff if the Congress fails to reach an agreement. Traders and analysts expect gold to remain rangebound while the budget talks continue, but say the longer-term outlook for gold remains upbeat. Physical demand in Asia remained lacklustre as potential buyers tightened their purse strings with the market showing no clear direction. “Physical demand is very, very bad,” said a Singapore-based trader. “If prices drop another $30 to $50, we will probably see investors and physical buyers return.” —Reuters

Investment-grade Turkey faces enviable currency headache LONDON: Be careful what you wish for. Turkey’s long-awaited restoration to investment grade has the potential to turn into a policy headache for authorities trying to prevent foreign capital from inflating the lira’s exchange rate. The sovereign was upgraded by Fitch Ratings earlier this month after being classed as a speculative buy for 18 years. If Moody’s also elevates the country to the lower-risk ratings category as expected, its debt will be eligible for inclusion in mainstream global bond indices - setting the stage for big-money investment funds to take a slice.

New financial market inflows, estimated in the billions of dollars, will provide valuable financing for Turkey’s huge balance of payments deficit and help cut borrowing costs for companies and government.

But there is a downside. Billions of dollars of additional investment flows and a stronger lira could render Turkish exports less competitive in a slowing world economy where demand is scarce and competition fierce. “This is a nice headache to have but it is a very big headache too,” says Murat Toprak, a currency strategist at HSBC. “The way the central bank looks at it is: investment-grade may lead to lower borrowing costs, but the first stage is capital inflows and currency appreciation, and that will cause problems.”

Moody’s said on Tuesday it had kept Turkey’s rating at Ba1, one notch below investment grade, after an annual review, but reaf-

firmed its positive outlook on the country. JP Morgan estimates foreigners have already bought almost $1 billion worth of Turkish lira bonds this month, driving two-year yields down nearly a percentage point to record lows. Even before Fitch’s November 5 upgrade, foreign funds encouraged by central bank successes this year in taming inflation and the balance of payments gap had pumped $13.6 billion into local bonds, according to central bank data.

Equities too had drawn in almost $5 billion by end-October, making the Istanbul index one of the best performers of 2012 with dollarbased returns of almost 50 percent.

The central bank will be less pleased with a JP Morgan client survey that found fund managers have boosted their overweight positions on the lira to record highs. That reflects an implied yield of almost 5 percent on the currency over the next year, among the highest in emerging markets.

“The lira is one of the currencies you want to have longs on in a sustained manner,” says Jeremy Brewin, a fund manager at Aviva Investors who is overweight Turkish bonds and lira. But some disappointment may lie ahead. The central bank has swung firmly away from its lira-supportive stance of early this year and is now focusing on weakening the currency by reducing its appeal to foreigners.

On Tuesday, it slashed overnight lending rates, used to supply cash to the market, for the third month

running, even though inflation is well above target. It also warned it would cut the main policy rate and the borrowing rate if needed - a powerful signal to any lira bulls.

“You can buy Turkish assets but don’t bet on currency appreciation to increase your returns,” HSBC’s Toprak said.

Inflows The central bank has reason for alarm. The lira has risen 4 percent against the dollar this year, while in real terms - versus currencies of trade partners and adjusted for inflation - it has appreciated more than 7 percent. “The Turkish economy is struggling for competitiveness,” said Manik Narain, a strategist at UBS, noting that a 15 percent annual rise in exports was largely down to gold sales to the Middle East, with exports elsewhere largely flat. Linked to this is worry over Turkey’s current account deficit, which at 7 percent of economic output is among the world’s highest, leaving the country vulnerable to the ebb and flow of global capital.

While portfolio investments are helping to fill this gap, a stronger lira has the potential to blow it out again to the 10-percent-plus levels of 2011, by reigniting credit growth and demand for imported goods.

Aviva’s Brewin reckons that with Moody’s also likely to move Turkey’s rating out of junk territory, lira bets can only grow. “They will have to get short-term rates down very low to deter people who think the credit rating is going to improve,” he said.

Foreigners currently hold roughly 20 percent of Turkey’s bond market compared with 30-40 percent for investment grade peers such as Poland, South Africa and Mexico.

Barclays says a Moody’s upgrade would make Turkish hard currency bonds eligible for its flagship Global Aggregate bond index, which is tracked by funds managing $6.5 trillion. Assuming an index weight of 0.14 percent, Turkish Eurobonds could attract $2.0-$2.5 billion in new money, analysts at the bank reckon considerably more than Turkey is expected to issue in global bond markets next year in net terms. If lira bonds eventually enter the index, Barclays predicts up to $2.5 billion in new demand for domestic debt, lifting foreigners’ share of the local market to 22 percent. Turkish broker Oyak Securities is even more optimistic, suggesting an additional $100 billion in cumulative funding over the next 10 years. There are lessons, however, for Turkey from emerging peer Indonesia, which became investment-grade in early 2012.

Foreign holdings of Indonesian bonds reached a peak of more than 35 percent but have since fallen to under 30 percent as the rupiah has weakened and concern has grown over economic policies. Further Turkish interest rate cuts may also soon become untenable, Goldman Sachs analysts said, adding that the central bank’s dovish stance will “ultimately be undermined by large external imbalances and high and sticky inflation”. —Reuters

NEW YORK: US Attorney for the Southern district of NY Preet Bharara speaks at a news conference. —AP

Ex-hedge fund trader charged in $276m ploy NEW YORK: A former hedge fund portfolio manager was arrested Tuesday in what prosecutors called perhaps the most lucrative insider trading scheme of all time - an arrangement to obtain secret, advance results of tests on an experimental Alzheimer’s drug that netted more than $276 million for his fund and others.

The case also led authorities to investigate the activities of one of the nation’s wealthiest hedge fund managers, billionaire Steven A Cohen.

The portfolio manager, Mathew Martoma, was accused in US District Court in Manhattan of using the information to advise other investment professionals to buy shares in the companies developing the drug, then later to dump those investments and place financial bets against the companies when the tests returned disappointing results. “The charges unsealed today describe cheating coming and going,” US Attorney Preet Bharara said at a news conference. The scheme unfolded “on a scale that has no historical precedent.”

Martoma’s trades helped reap a hefty profit from 2006 through July 2008, while he worked for CR Intrinsic Investors LLC of Stamford, Conn, an affiliate of SAC Capital Advisors, a firm owned by Cohen. Cohen is not referred to by name in court papers but is frequently alluded to for his dealings with the defendant in the weeks leading up to an announcement about the drug trial.

The government has been scrutinizing SAC since at least November 2010, when the FBI subpoenaed SAC and other influential hedge funds. Martoma is the fourth person associated with SAC Capital to be arrested on insider trading charges in the last four years. SAC spokesman Jonathan Gasthalter said the company and Cohen “are confident that they have acted appropriately and will continue to cooperate with the government’s inquiry.”

The FBI said the scheme developed after Martoma met a doctor in Manhattan involved in an Alzheimer’s drug trial in October 2006.

According to a criminal complaint, he later obtained confidential information related to the final results of a drug trial. Martoma’s attorney, Charles Stillman, called his client “an exceptional portfolio manager who succeeded

through hard work and the dogged pursuit of information in the public domain. What happened today is only the beginning of a process that we are confident will lead to Mr Martoma’s full exoneration.”

Martoma was arrested at his home in Boca Raton, Fla, and made an initial appearance in federal court in West Palm Beach, Fla, where he was released on $5 million bail on charges of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and securities fraud. He was scheduled to return to court Monday in Manhattan. The defendant will have great incentive to cooperate with the government because the size of the gains would add years, if not decades, to any potential sentence upon conviction, said John Sylvia, co-chairman of the securities litigation practice at the Mintz Levin law firm in Boston.

He said it was clear from reading the court papers that Cohen was referenced frequently and was a likely target of investigators, though they might not be able to build a sufficient case against him. “There’s little doubt as to where the government’s sights are,” Sylvia said. “I don’t think it takes Sherlock Holmes to figure it out.”

The Securities and Exchange Commission filed civil papers in the case against CR Intrinsic Investors, Mathew Martoma and Dr. Sidney Gilman. The civil complaint said the illegal money was earned in July 2008, when various hedge funds traded ahead of a negative public announcement involving the clinical trial results of an Alzheimer drug being jointly developed by Elan Corp. and Wyeth, both pharmaceutical companies.

The SEC complaint said that Martoma carried out the scheme with Gilman, an 80-yearold professor of neurology at the University of Michigan Medical School who served as chairman of a safety committee overseeing the clinical trial. Gilman was selected by Elan and Wyeth to present the final clinical trial results at a July 29, 2008, medical conference.

Messages left with the University of Michigan Medical School were not immediately returned. Gilman’s lawyer, Marc Mukasey, said his client is cooperating with the SEC and the USttorney’s Office, and has entered into a non-prosecution agreement with federal prosecutors. —AP

EXCHANGE RATES Commercial Bank of Kuwait US Dollar/KD GB Pound/KD Euro Swiss francs Canadian Dollar Australian DLR Indian rupees Sri Lanka Rupee UAE dirhams Bahraini dinars Jordanian dinar Saudi riyals Omani riyals Egyptian pounds

.2740000 .4440000 .3550000 .2940000 .2800000 .2910000 .0040000 .0020000 .0764600 .7449300 .3870000 .0720000 .7302720 .0430000

.2850000 .4590000 .3690000 .3070000 .2910000 .2990000 .0067500 .0035000 .0772290 .7524170 .4070000 .0770000 .7376110 .0510000

CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES US Dollar/KD .2816500 .2837500 GB Pound/KD .4467530 .4500840 Euro .3571040 .3597670 Swiss francs .2964420 .2986530 Canadian dollars .2816080 .2837070 Danish Kroner .0478830 .0482400 Swedish Kroner .0415540 .0418640 Australian dlr .2930570 .2952420 Hong Kong dlr .0363400 .0366110 Singapore dlr .2302000 .2319170 Japanese yen .0035510 .0035780 Indian Rs/KD .0000000 .0051870 Sri Lanka rupee .0000000 .0021810 Pakistan rupee .0000000 .0029700 Bangladesh taka .0000000 .0034870 UAE dirhams .0767130 .0772840 Bahraini dinars .7473800 .7529520 Jordanian dinar .0000000 .4013440 Saudi Riyal/KD .0751270 .0756870 Omani riyals .7318440 .7373000 Philippine Peso .0000000 .0069520

Al-Muzaini Exchange Co. 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

ASIAN COUNTRIES 3.460 5.118 2.947 2.170 3.205 231.560 36.540 3.456 6.874 9.215 0.271 0.273

GCC COUNTRIES 75.550 77.845 735.870 752.490 77.145

Saudi Riyal Qatari Riyal Omani Riyal Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham Egyptian Pound - Cash Egyptian Pound - Transfer Yemen Riyal/for 1000 Tunisian Dinar Jordanian Dinar Lebanese Lira/for 1000 Syrian Lier Morocco Dirham

ARAB COUNTRIES 47.800 46.327 1.322 178.620 399.580 1.901 3.874 33.714

EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 283.200 Euro 362.780 Sterling Pound 451.990 Canadian dollar 284.620 Turkish lire 157.610 Swiss Franc 300.640 Australian dollar 294.240 US Dollar Buying 282.000

Bahrain Exchange Company COUNTRY Australian dollar Bahraini dinar Bangladeshi taka Canadian dollar Cyprus pound Czek koruna Danish krone Deutsche Mark Egyptian pound Euro Cash Hongkong dollar Indian rupees Indonesia Iranian tuman Iraqi dinar Japanese yen Jordanian dinar Lebanese pound Malaysian ringgit Morocco dirham Nepalese Rupees New Zealand dollar Nigeria

SELL CASH 296.900 752.740 3.710 287.100 555.900 46.100 49.500 167.800 48.070 365.900 37.200 5.550 0.032 0.162 0.249 3.560 401.110 0.191 95.780 45.100 4.350 234.200 1.833

50.400 735.230 3.090 7.070 78.290 75.570 232.110 34.600 2.696 454.300 42.700 303.600 4.100 9.580 198.263 77.170 283.400 1.370

735.050 2.965 6.892 77.860 75.570 232.110 34.600 2.173 452.300 302.100 4.100 9.420

SELL DRAFT 295.400 752.740 3.458 285.600

232.100 46.369 364.400 37.050 5.130 0.031

3.220 232.700

77.665 75.415 398.860 46.326 2.169 5.123 2.946 3.462 6.863 694.080 4.450 9.310 4.390 3.300 9.310

Kuwait Bahrain Intl Exchange Co.

GOLD 10 Tola 1,835.360 TRAVELLER’S CHEQUE 452.300 283.000

Sterling Pound US Dollar

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 297.74 288.27 305.07 364.91 282.60 453.79 3.51 3.476 5.127 2.177 3.211 2.953 77.01 752.46 46.32 402.61 735.49 78.04 75.57

SELL CASH 296.000 285.500 304.000 362.500 283.000 451.600 3.690 3.580 5.550 2.310 3.650 3.150 77.500 750.000 47.950 400.000 740.000 77.850 75.850

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd 401.080 0.190 94.780

Qatari Riyals Saudi Riyals Jordanian Dinar Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupees Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Pesso Cyprus pound Japanese Yen Thai Bhat Syrian Pound Nepalese Rupees Malaysian Ringgit

77.070 283.000

UAE Exchange Centre WLL

GOLD 332.000 167.000 86.50

20 Gram 10 Gram 5 Gram

Norwegian krone Omani Riyal Pakistani rupees Philippine peso Qatari riyal Saudi riyal Singapore dollar South Africa Sri Lankan rupees Sterling pound Swedish krona Swiss franc Syrian pound Thai bhat Tunisian dollar UAE dirham U.S. dollars Yemeni Riyal

US Dollar Canadian Dollar Sterling Pound Euro Swiss Frank Bahrain Dinar UAE Dirhams

282.950 284.075 451.020 361.410 299.925 749.110 77.015

Currency Rate per 1000 (Tran) US Dollar 282.700 Pak Rupees 2.940 Indian Rupees 5.146 Sri Lankan Rupees 2.180 Bangladesh Taka 3.463 Philippines Peso 6.915 UAE Dirhams 77.075 Saudi Riyals 75.545 Bahraini Dinars 751.500 Egyptian Pounds 46.299 Pound Sterling 455.500 Indonesian Rupiah 2.990 Yemeni Riyal 1.550 Euro 364.700 Canadian Dollars 289.700 Nepali rupee 3.345

Al Mulla Exchange Currency Transfer Rate (Per 1000) US Dollar 282.600 Euro 364.100 Pound Sterling 452.100 Canadian Dollar 285.400 Japanese Yen 3.485 Indian Rupee 5.120 Egyptian Pound 46.323 Sri Lankan Rupee 2.167 Bangladesh Taka 3.458 Philippines Peso 6.867 Pakistan Rupee 2.948 Bahraini Dinar 752.800 UAE Dirham 76.975 Saudi Riyal 75.450 *Rates are subject to change

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2012

BUSINESS

Bernanke cautions over fiscal cliff WASHINGTON: Fed chairman Ben Bernanke stepped up his warnings Tuesday over the looming “fiscal cliff,” saying its mandatory tax hikes and spending cuts posed a “substantial threat” to US economic recovery.

With President Barack Obama’s administration and Congress locked in crunch talks on avoiding the cliff and slashing the budget deficit, Bernanke said rising cuts to federal spending were already holding back growth. “Congress and the administration will need to protect the economy from the full brunt of the severe fiscal tightening at the beginning of next year that is built into current law-the so-called fiscal cliff,” the US central bank chief said in a speech in New York.

“The realization of all of the automatic tax increases and spending cuts that make up the fiscal cliff, absent offsetting changes, would pose a substantial threat to the recovery,” he said, according to the prepared text.

“Indeed, by the reckoning of the Congressional

Budget Office and that of many outside observers, a fiscal shock of that size would send the economy toppling back into recession.”

Bernanke said the Federal Reserve already views growth as disappointingly slow and troubled by threats from the euro-zone crisis, slow job creation and the reticence of banks to loosen lending standards-which Bernanke said is holding back recovery in the housing sector. The unemployment rate, currently 7.9 percent, remains “well above” what Fed officials want to see, Bernanke said, adding that the country has “some way to go before the labor market can be deemed healthy again.”

But Bernanke pointed out that pressures to wind up the stimulus programs and other policy actions designed to pull the country out of recession, and stepped-up efforts to rapidly reduce the federal budget deficit, are now “restraining” gross domestic prod-

uct growth. “Indeed, under almost any plausible scenario, next year the drag from federal fiscal policy on GDP growth will outweigh the positive effects on growth from fiscal expansion at the state and local level,” he said. Bernanke’s warning came as the White House and top officials from Congress are locked in talks to avert the cliff and set a long-term plan for reducing the deficit, which has topped $1 trillion a year for four years running. The cliff comprises two challenges: a drastic spending reduction program, and the expiration of a broad range of “temporary” tax decreases. Both are to take place on January 1, and together would suck at least $500 billion out of the economy, forcing it into recession. Republicans and Democrats have sharply differed on what kind of longterm spending reductions and increases in tax revenues should be put in place to replace the cliff.

Bernanke said that the deficit is “on an unsustain-

able path,” requiring a “credible framework” to stabilize and reduce the country’s debt and deficit load. But he warned policymakers “to avoid unnecessarily adding to the headwinds that are already holding back the economic recovery.”

“Preventing a sudden and severe contraction in fiscal policy early next year will support the transition of the economy back to full employment,” he said. Asked after the speech how the central bank could mitigate the impact of the fiscal cliff, Bernanke replied: “I don’t think the Fed has the tools to offset that.” But analysts found Bernanke sounding somewhat more optimistic about the economy’s potential than he had in recent months, presuming the fiscal cliff is averted. “For his standards, this was probably one of the most ‘upbeat’ speeches that Fed Chairman Bernanke has given over the last five years,” said economist Harm Bandholz of UniCredit. — AFP

UK borrowing worsens, making deficit harder Cameron warns austerity could last till 2020

SHANGHAI: A car salesman (left) stands next to a new Fiat Viaggio car at their showroom yesterday. — AFP

Fiat touts Italian style in China car challenge SHANGHAI: Italian car maker Fiat is returning to China five years after a failed joint venture, but now faces entrenched competition and slowing growth in the world’s biggest auto market. Fiat, the world’s seventh largest car maker after taking a majority stake in Chrysler when the troubled US firm emerged from bankruptcy in 2009, has been conspicuous by its absence from the critical Chinese market.

But the first sales of its new Viaggio, a compact produced at a $790 million joint venture plant in Changsha city, come as China’s economy stumbles and cities slap limits on vehicles over pollution and congestion.

Fiat-Chrysler’s very presence in China also set off a political storm in the recent US presidential election, after Republican candidate Mitt Romney ran an attack ad implying that it would export American jobs. But the company says future plans to build Jeep brand sport utility vehicles in China are an expansion, not a transfer of operations. In the first 10 months of this year, China’s passenger car sales rose 6.9 percent from a year earlier, to 12.57 million vehicles.

The increase was a far cry from the 33 percent rise in the whole of 2010, although slightly up on last year. Consultancy McKinsey on Wednesday forecast average growth of eight percent a year until 2020 — down from a 24 percent average over 2005-2011. “It’s really high time that Fiat has come back and launched a locally-manufactured model,” said Klaus Paur, Shanghai-based global head of automotive for market research company Ipsos.

“You need to be in China. If you are not here, you are losing out completely.” Fiat will have to build a name for itself among Chinese consumers, set up a dealership network and introduce new models to compete against other established foreign players, he said. The Viaggio is priced at $17,300 to $25,200 to lure buyers in the market’s most keenly-contested segment.

“Italian design is something that really differentiates us,” said Bob Graczyk, commercial director for the joint venture GAC Fiat Automobiles Co. “It’s of course very competitive, but there’s plenty of room for the Viaggio.” Jack Cheng, GAC Fiat general manager, added: “Our first priority is to get the Fiat right. If we don’t get it right, we don’t even have a future-that’s it.”

Fiat exited a joint venture with Nanjing Auto in 2007 after falling out with its partner over its vehicles’ disappointing sales. Once it made the strategic decision to return to China, it found a new partner, Guangzhou Automobile Group Co (GAC), and designed the car in 18 months. Production began in June and sales in September. GAC needs Fiat too after it saw a 60 percent fall in third-quarter profits as buyers shunned the Japanesebrand vehicles it produces with Honda and Toyota. One of its previous joint ventures, with French auto group PSA Peugeot Citroen, also failed in 1997. “If you get divorced, you will appreciate your next marriage and we both are,” said Cheng.

With European auto sales falling, China represents a major potential market, said Sergio Marchionne, Fiat’s chief executive officer. “In China, now the world’s largest single car market, they’re still experiencing phenomenal growth and demand,” he told an industry conference in Shanghai last month.

“It’s going to give an opportunity to a lot of people... I just want Fiat-Chrysler to participate.” The GAC Fiat plant in Changsha, in the southwest, currently has an annual output capacity of 140,000 vehicles and the company hopes to lift it to 300,000 units, producing four different vehicle bodies. But other foreign companies including General Motors and Ford have been in China uninterruptedly since the 1990s. In the first 10 months of this year GM sold 194,357 Chevrolet Cruze cars in China and Ford sold 221,130 Focuses-both of which compete with the Viaggio. — AFP

Tax-defiant Catalan hamlet defies Spain GALLIFA: Villagers in this hamlet near Barcelona aren’t waiting for fellow Catalans to vote on sovereignty. They are so set on independence they have stopped handing over some taxes to Madrid. Gallifa, population 200, is one of scores of villages in the region to have made a declaration of sovereignty ahead of Sunday’s Catalan election, a region-wide vote which may lead to a later referendum on the issue. A huddle of ochre brick houses among brown autumn leaves ringed in hills, Gallifa has gone further than the rest, asserting “fiscal sovereignty”.

It is a purely symbolic gesture: the village will hand the 1,600 euros ($2,050) in income tax from Gallifa’s municipal employees to Catalan regional officials who

will transfer them to Madrid. “We don’t think it is really a rebellion because we are still paying our taxes. The only difference is that instead of sending them to the Spanish authorities, we send them to the Catalan Treasury,” said Gallifa’s mayor Jordi Fornes.

“We have declared ourselves a free and sovereign territory of Catalonia” in a vote in September, he said. From the village hall, some houses and a nearby hilltop, flies the flag of the Catalan independence movement-red and yellow stripes plus a white star on a blue background. Fiercely proud of their distinct language and cultural identity, many Catalans complain that they pay more in taxes to the central government than they get in return. —AFP

PAMPLONA: Health workers of a state hospital protest outside the building. — AP

LONDON: Britain borrowed much more than expected in October, making finance minister George Osborne’s bid to reduce the deficit and shunt the economy away from potential stagnation much harder to achieve. The numbers are the last figures to be released before Osborne presents his twice-yearly fiscal update on Dec 5, and-after a positive surprise in Septemberextend the borrowing overshoots seen for most of the tax year. Separately, minutes of the last Bank of England rates meeting showed little appetite for more stimulus, cutting off at least for now that avenue for growth support for the economy.

It all follows warnings by Bank of England Governor Mervyn King last week that Britain faces a period of weak growth and rising inflation. The Office for National Statistics said the government’s preferred measure, public sector net borrowing excluding financial sector interventions, came in at 8.604 billion pounds in October, up from 5.937 billion pounds in October 2011. This was well above economists’ average forecast of 6 billion pounds, and higher even than the most pessimistic estimate in a Reuters poll of 19 analysts.

Britain’s government has made reducing a budget deficit of that peaked at more than 11

percent of national income its top political priority since it came to power in May 2010, but slow economic growth has made this a major challenge. Further stimulus from the Bank of England also looks unlikely in the short term, as minutes of November’s policy decision, released earlier yesterday, showed that policymakers voted 8-1 against any further stimulus.

“Even if the (government’s budget watchdog) assumes that the trend improves a bit, it will still be pretty touch and go whether the Chancellor will be expected to meet his fiscal rules without increasing his austerity measures further,” said Vicky Redwood of Capital Economics. A near 10 percent fall in corporation tax receipts, in a month when there is usually a heavy inflow, as well as a rise in day-to-day departmental spending, accounted for much of the year-on-year increase.

For the tax year to date, PSNB excluding financial sector interventions and one-off effects from the transfer of Royal Mail pension assets came in at 73.3 billion pounds, 5.0 billion pounds higher than a year before. Last month, the ONS estimated that borrowing for the first six months of the tax year was around 2.6 billion pounds higher than a year earlier, a much smaller overshoot than seen previously months.

October’s rise in the overshoot makes it less likely that the government’s independent budget watchdog will forecast that Osborne is still on track to meet the goal of reducing full-year public sector net borrowing to 120 billion pounds.

Reaching the Office for Budget Responsibility’s forecast requires Britain’s budget deficit to fall by 1.2 percent on the year, but so far this tax year it is 7.4 percent higher than at the same time in 2011.

However, Britain’s finance ministry said borrowing was still under control. “The economy is healing, but it still faces many challenges. These numbers illustrate that, but also show the government’s plans to bring spending under control are on track for the year,” a finance ministry spokesman said.

When it came to power in 2010, the government had originally planned to eliminate the structural budget deficit by 2015 with a tough programme of spending cuts and tax rises. But a weak economy has forced it to extend austerity by another two years and Prime Minister David Cameron has warned austerity could last even longer-until 2020. In the last tax year, Britain’s budget deficit totalled 8.0 percent of GDP, down from a peak of 11.2 percent just before Britain’s coalition of Conservatives and Liberal Democrats came to power in 2010. — Reuters

HP’s Autonomy deal highlights one bad idea after another SAN FRANCISCO: Hewlett-Packard’s $9.7 billion acquisition of Autonomy seemed like a bad idea long before Tuesday’s allegations of an accounting scandal made clear it was a deal that should never have happened. It’s the latest in a cavalcade of costly blunders at HP. The Silicon Valley pioneer has squandered billions of dollars on ill-advised acquisitions, compounding the challenges it already faces as it scrambles to adjust to a world that is shifting away from PCs to smartphones and tablets. On Tuesday, HP took an $8.8 billion writedown for the Autonomy acquisition. HewlettPackard Co CEO Meg Whitman alleged that executives at Autonomy used various accounting tricks to make the British software company appear more profitable.

The Autonomy deal may amplify the pressure on HP to reshuffle its board of directors, which already had been overhauled after a series of previous embarrassments. The debacles, dating back to 2006, include prying into the personal phone records of reporters covering the company to its widely criticized hiring of Leo Apotheker as CEO after the company’s previous leader, Mark Hurd, resigned amid questions about his relationship with a female contractor. Although HP says it was duped into paying too much for Autonomy under the since-fired Apotheker, the deal ultimately was approved by 10 of its current 11 directors, including Whitman, who served on the board for nine months before being appointed as CEO in September 2011 Only shareholder activist Ralph Whitworth wasn’t on the board when HP authorized Apotheker to buy Autonomy in August 2011. Just five weeks after the deal was announced, HP’s directors fired Apotheker, a move some analysts trace to the company’s almost immediate remorse over the Autonomy acquisition. But Apotheker’s ouster may not be enough to placate shareholders who are seething with renewed anger over the deal. The allegation that Autonomy had been “willfully” deceptive leading up to HP’s purchase raises the specter of a criminal investigation. It also opens a torrent of potentially distracting class-action lawsuits on behalf of shareholders alleging HP’s board was negligent.

“When I talk to investors, that is what they are concerned about: the credibility of the board,” said Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu. “There already has been a lot of turmoil at this company, but maybe they still need more change.” Wu said he isn’t even sure Whitman’s job as CEO is safe because of her presence on the board when the Autonomy deal was approved. In a research note, Topeka Capital Markets analyst Brian White called for a new purge of HP’s board.

Whitman said she regrets voting in favor of the Autonomy acquisition while insisting HP did its due diligence. That was an assertion echoed by Apotheker in a prepared statement. HP Chairman Ray Lane, who joined the board when Apotheker was hired in 2010, still wasn’t available for an interview as of late Tuesday, according to company spokesman Michael Thacker. Mark Williams, a finance professor at Boston University and a former bank examiner for the Federal Reserve, called HP’s accusations against Autonomy “due diligence deflection”.

“Just to say ‘we paid too much because of fraud’ doesn’t negate the fact of inadequate due diligence,” said Williams. “Some responsibility needs

FRANKFURT: In this file photo, Leo Apotheker, speaks at a press conference in Frankfurt. — AP to come back to HP.” At least one of HP’s board members, McKesson Corp CEO John Hammergren, has experience the aftermath of an accounting scandal. McKesson named Hammergren as its CEO after revealing it had been conned into buying software maker HBO & Co. for $12 billion in 1999.

The accounting fraud wiped out half of McKesson’s market value. The San Francisco company has since bounced back under Hammergren, but the comeback took years to pull off.

Investors are losing hope that HP will rebound because the company has made so many questionable decisions in the five years since Apple Inc.’s release of the first iPhone changed the way people use technology. The upheaval has reduced demand for HP’s PCs and printers. “I don’t see how anyone could invest in this company any longer,” said ISI Group analyst Brian Marshall, who described HP as “an unmitigated train wreck.” HP’s stock plunged $1.59, or nearly 12 percent, to finish Tuesday at $11.71. The shares haven’t closed this low since October 2002 when HP was still facing a shareholder backlash over its acquisition of rival Compaq Computer.

That deal has turned out better than the acquisitions HP has made during the past five years under three different CEOs. In that time, HP has spent more than $40 billion to buy dozens of companies. In a reflection of how poorly the biggest of those deals have performed, HP’s market value has fallen to just $23 billion. That’s about 70 percent less than what HP was worth in June 2007 when the first iPhone went on sale.

In the last three months, HP has absorbed nearly $17 billion in non-cash charges to account for the diminished value of its 2008 acquisition of technology consulting service Electronic Data Systems and its 2011 purchase Autonomy. Last year, HP took a nearly $900 million hit for its purchase of device maker Palm Inc. Other deals for computer networking gear maker 3Com ($2.7 billion deal), data storage service 3Par $2.4 billion) and software maker ArcSight ($1.5 billion) are working out better, so far.

But the Autonomy deal never seemed to make

sense to anyone outside HP. “Something smelled bad about it from the beginning,” said 451 Research analyst Alan Pelz Sharpe, who has been following Autonomy since the company went public in 1998. Autonomy, which was based in Cambridge, England, had been known for a “dogeat-dog” sales culture that drove employees to do whatever it took to hit their quarterly targets or risk incurring the wrath of CEO Mike Lynch, PelzSharpe said. “It was never a happy company,” the analyst said. “It was always a place where people were frightened to speak out.”

Whitman fired Lynch in May because she was frustrated with Autonomy’s poor results since the acquisition, which closed less than two weeks into her tenure as HP’s CEO. She said she had no idea that she would uncover conduct that led her to allege Autonomy had been fabricating sales before she ousted Lynch. In a statement to the Financial Times, Lynch denied any wrongdoing at Autonomy.

By the spring of 2011, Autonomy was desperately seeking a buyer, according to Oracle Corp.

CEO Larry Ellison, whose company has become a bitter HP rival. In a series of statements last year, Ellison said Lynch and investment banker Frank Quattrone tried to persuade Oracle to buy Autonomy. The most serious pitch came in an April 1, 2011 meeting, according to Ellison, who described Autonomy’s asking price as “absurdly high.”

Quattrone, who faced charges of misconduct for his handling of IPOs during the Internet boom in the late 1990s, and Lynch have acknowledged meeting with Oracle executives. But they have denied offering to sell Autonomy. HP wound up buying Autonomy at a price that was 64 percent above the company’s market value. On the same day the Autonomy deal was announced, Apotheker also revealed he was scrapping HP’s attempt to sell mobile devices running on Palm’s software. He also said he was mulling a possible sale of the PC division. All those developments stunned investors, leading to a one-day drop of 20 percent in HP’s stock price. — AP

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2012

business

US Thanksgiving Day shopping: Retailer sales trump tradition NEW YORK: Whether US shoppers and workers like or loathe the encroachment of the holiday shopping season into Thanksgiving Day, one thing is for certain - the trend is not going away. Even as stores fight charges of spreading holiday creep instead of cheer, retailers are making money out of moving the start of the holiday shopping season from “Black Friday”-the day after Thanksgiving-into Thanksgiving night, or even the Day itself.

“Not everybody’s going to watch 12 hours of football on Thanksgiving Day. Most people, after 20 minutes of sitting at the dinner table, are ready to get out and do something. Why not cater to the people who are into the sport of shopping?” said Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst for market research firm NPD. Retailers like Target Corp, Sears Holdings Corp and Toys R Us Inc have joined Wal-Mart and Gap Inc in staying open on what is a national holiday.

Traditionally, stores had waited until Black Friday to make their big push.

There is mounting pressure from Wall Street as well. “From an investor’s standpoint if a retailer is not putting (in) extra hours while competitors are

extending them, it would make me wonder how much they can participate in the race for the consumer dollar,” said Ken Hemauer, a senior portfolio manager at Robert W Baird & Co based in Milwaukee.

Between sales, profits and Wall Street expectations, not many think petitions like the one on change.org, asking Target to “save Thanksgiving” by staying shut that day will succeed. The petition had 355,570 supporters at last count.

And not everyone is complaining. A recent survey by the consulting firm Deloitte showed 23 percent plan to shop in stores on Thanksgiving Day - up from 17 percent in last year’s survey. Data on the impact of stores being open on Thanksgiving Day is hard to come by, but Alison Paul, vice chairman and US Retail & Distribution lead Deloitte, said it was likely that sales made that day cut into demand later in the holiday season. “It shifts spending,” she said. “It doesn’t create any more spending.” Still, retailers remaining closed on Thanksgiving risk losing out to competitors in the a battle for consumer dollars as the overall spending pie is expected to grow less than last year. “The upside is not huge, but the downside could be,” Paul said.

Industry watchdog National Retail Federation expects holiday sales this year to rise 4.1 percent to $586.1 billion, lower than the 5.6 percent rise in 2011. A handful of chains like Best Buy Co, Macy’s and Kohl’s plan to wait to open at midnight on Black Friday, but they are notable for waiting. “Most retailers have customers lining up in front of their stores for hours anyway (early on Black Friday or even very late in the night on Thanksgiving),” said Dan Butler, vice president, Merchandising and Retail Operations at the National Retail Federation. “If they are going to be there, they might as well be inside. It is silly to have your customers outside in cold, snowy weather.”

Doorbusters and dollars In an economy that is blowing hot and cold, “doorbuster” deals and other discounts are the best bet stores have to hook customers. “You’re essentially increasing traffic. If you have some merchandise significantly marked down and can get people in through the door, there is a whole range of other products that they’ll buy at your location,” said Nick Jones, executive vice president, Retail Practice Lead

at advertising agency Leo Burnett.

Jim Brownell, vice president Retail Industry Solutions for sourcing company GT Nexus said retailers were using the extra hours of sales to keep up the frenzy as the chase the dollars. “The retailers are generating it (demand), the consumers aren’t demanding it,” said Brownell, who had worked with retailers like Williams-Sonoma Inc, Restoration Hardware and Gap. “Retail is not growing very much, so we’re not seeing much more money coming in in the season. It is really who’s getting a bigger portion of the sales pie.”

The trouble is, items on sale are low margin, so they do not bring in a lot of money unless volumes are high. “Everybody’s worried that the price sensitive customers will go to whoever’s open first. They are worried about being late to the game,” Eric Anderson, Hartmarx Professor of Marketing at Kellogg School of Management. NRF’s Butler said the number of shoppers ensures that retailers make a profit on that day.

“It is a profitable time for retailers. When they price their goods, even when they are on sales, they price them for profitability,” he said. — Reuters

Exxon warning adds to Nigeria oil problems Shell’s force majeure on exports in place ABUJA/GENEVA: ExxonMobil yesterday became the fourth oil major in a month to warn customers over delays to Nigerian oil and gas exports, adding to a raft of problems for Africa’s biggest energy producer caused by oil spills, theft and flooding. Royal Dutch Shell lifted yesterday its force majeure on Nigeria’s benchmark Bonny Light crude oil exports, easing some of the supply concerns.

But three of Nigeria main oil grades; Qua Iboe, Brass River and Forcados are still under force majeure. These oil streams together account for around 700,000 barrels per day (bpd) or around a third of total Nigerian exports.

France’s Total and Italian oil firm Eni have also declared force majeure, on gas and oil supplies, respectively.

Nigeria is among the world’s top 10 crude oil exporters and usually ships around 2 million bpd, but a major fire caused by oil theft, Exxon’s spill and flooding have severely hit output. Oil traders said that loading delays are worsening and are now up to two weeks for some cargoes.

Exxon’s Nigerian unit declared force majeure on Qua Iboe crude oil exports yesterday due to outages caused by a

pipeline oil spill on Nov 9, which witnesses said had spread 20 miles down the coastline.

“There are issues with two areas in a pipeline resulting in hydrocarbon release offshore,” an oil trader said. Mark Ward, the managing director of Exxon Mobil’s local unit, has said a clean-up had been mobilised, and he apologised to affected communities for the spill. Shell’s outages were prompted by a huge fire on an oil tanker being used to steal oil last month. The Anglo-Dutch major shut another pipeline in Imo River on Oct. 31 due to theft damage and deferred 25,000 bpd. Oil theft is a major problem in the winding creeks and waterways of the Niger Delta, where it is easy to conceal boats and illegal refineries in the dense mangroves. Nigeria estimates around 150,000 bpd is stolen, much of which is sold abroad. Total last week restarted production from its 90,000 bpd OML 58 block, which was shut down a month ago due to severe flooding in the Delta swamplands. Eni declared force majeure earlier this month on Brass River oil loadings due to floods, causing cargo delays of eight to 10 days. — Reuters

Portugal pays higher rate but completes financing LISBON: Portugal had to pay increased interest rates to borrow 2.0 billion euros ($2.6 billion) yesterday but raised the amount it needed to complete its financing for this year.

“Portugal has succeeded in placing all of the maximum intended amount, which is always good news,” analysts Filipe Silva of Carregosa bank told AFP. “The rise of the rates is not a surprise to the extent that the rates on the secondary market (for existing debt) have risen in recent weeks,” he said. The treasury said that it had placed 18-month bonds to raise 1.2 billion euros at a rate of 2.990 percent from 2.967 percent on September 19.

It raised 500 million euros for six months at 2.169 percent from 1.839 percent, and 300 million euros for three months at 1.936 percent from 1.366 percent on October 17.

Demand for the 18-month bonds amounted to 1.9 times the amount on offer, 4.5 times the amount of sixmonth bonds and 5.1 times the threemonth bonds. The agency had wanted to raise 1.75-2.0 billion euros with the issues which marked the end of the government’s financing programme for 2012. The issue occurred after auditors from the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund had expressed satisfaction with action by the government to correct public finances.

Portugal is enacting drastic spending cuts, tax rises and reforms of its

LISBON; Brokers, seen between screens, work in a trading room of a Portuguese bank yesterday. — AP economy in return for receiving rescue funding of 78 billion euros ($100 billion) from the EU and IMF in May 2011. The target is for Portugal to be able to return fully to the sovereign debt market next year to finance its deficit and debt in the normal way, which it had been unable to do when a flight of confidence pushed its borrowing rates up to levels it could not afford.

However, some economists doubt that Portugal will be able to return fully to the market next year. In the light of the auditors’ report, EU Economic Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said that Portugal continued to regain the

confidence of financial markets and that this augured well for a return to the debt market.

But the austerity which underpins the reforms in Portugal is weighing heavily on economic activity and on unemployment. The economy is expected to shrink by 3.0 percent this year and by 1.0 percent next year, and the unemployment rate reached 15.8 percent in the third quarter of this year. The government is set to tighten policies further next year under a budget which will raise taxes and is likely to add to public discontent which has gained pace since September. — AFP

Baltic farmers demand fair slice of EU aid VILNIUS: As the EU braces for bruising budget talks, the bloc’s three small Baltic states have stepped up their campaign to get what they say is their fair share of farm aid. After chugging across Europe to Brussels, a Soviet-era tractor is being used to press their concerns by arriving to join up with Baltic protestors outside the bloc’s headquarters at the start of a crunch budget summit today.

“I have 60 cows and I also grow cereal. I get around 30,000 euros a year in support, which represents around a third of my income, and that plays a role on the profitability of my holding,” Bronius Markauskas, one of the protest organisers, told AFP in Kedainiai, central Lithuania.

“I’ve cut back the amount of soya and rape-seed I use, so that my milk is cheaper to produce. But I’m not developing my holding at all. There’s no question of buying new animals. The future’s far from clear.”

As the economic crisis turns the focus on a drive to rein in EU spending, this week’s talks threaten to turn into an ugly fight between older, wealthier members of the 27-nation bloc and poorer states on its southern and eastern fringe. With a combined population of 6.3 million people, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are among the smallest members of the EU. The trio were part of the EU’s 2004

big-bang expansion behind the former Iron Curtain, when the bloc’s membership nearly doubled from 15. They are net beneficiaries of the EU budget, counting on European “cohesion funding”, or aid to help poorer members catch up with the more advanced member states and thereby smooth dif-

ferences across the bloc’s single market. Like other ex-communist states, they are pledging to defend that support to the hilt. They argue that they should not have to bear the burden of cuts, given that they have been locked in among the EU’s toughest austerity drives since the crisis struck. —AFP

LAHORE: Pakistani workers dry thread after dyeing at a factory in Lahore yesterday. The country is the world’s fourth-largest producer of cloth and the industry accounts for 60 percent of export revenue according to official data. But shortages are heaping pressure on Pakistan’s crippled and debt-ridden economy. — AFP

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2012

BUSINESS

Australia hails move to count its dollar as reserve currency SYDNEY: Australia hailed as an endorsement of its economic strength yesterday IMF moves to count its dollar as a foreign reserve currency, though its central bank chief downplayed it as a technicality. The mining-powered Australian dollar has consistently traded near or above parity with the greenback for more than two years as commodity prices have boomed on the back of China’s rapid modernisation.

The International Monetary Fund said late last week that the Australian and Canadian dollars ought to be considered for inclusion in its so-called COFER reporting of foreign exchange reserves from

next year. COFER currently counts foreign holdings of US dollars, the euro, pound sterling, Japanese yen and Swiss francs. Australia is among 10 nations counted under “other currencies” but the IMF said a “relatively high number” of countries were now reporting Aussie dollar holdings and they “are to be considered for separate identification in COFER reporting”.

Treasurer Wayne Swan welcomed the IMF recommendation. “This IMF decision is yet more confirmation that Australia is seen as a safe haven for global capital and one of the most attractive invest-

ment destinations in the world,” Swan said in a statement. “While we know the high dollar makes life hard for some sectors of our economy, it also reflects our strong fundamentals during the ongoing and acute volatility experienced in the global economy.”

Swan said Australia’s economy had grown 11 percent since the onset of the financial crisis and was now the world’s 12th largest. Reserve Bank of Australia governor Glenn Stevens downplayed the move as a “classification change” and said the Aussie dollar had been a “small reserve currency for

quite a few countries for about 25 years”.

“Asian central banks in particular have had substantial Australian dollar reserves for quite a while,” Stevens said in remarks following a speech Tuesday night, reported by The Australian newspaper.

Stevens said the IMF comments were not “actually any particular endorsement that makes us more of a reserve currency than we were”. But he said it would help shed light on just how much Australian currency was being held by central banks, in particular those in Asia. “We don’t know how much, as they won’t say,” he said. “(Now) we may find out.” — AFP

Japan posts worst October trade data in 3 decades BoJ under pressure to stoke growth

BERLIN: A copy of German newspaper Financial Times Germany is on sale at a Berlin newsstand. — AFP

FT Deutschland faces closure as media troubles hit Germany FRANKFURT: Launched to much fanfare a dozen years ago, German business daily Financial Times Deutschland (FTD) looks set to become the latest casualty of the chill winds sweeping the global newspaper industry. Germany is home to Europe’s largest print media market and has proven relatively resilient to the technological, cultural and demographic forces that have shuttered newspapers in many other developed countries, but that is now changing.

Europe’s largest economy is slowing as the three-year-old debt crisis ravaging much of the euro zone takes its toll, compounding the hit to advertising revenues and limiting the willingness of consumers to pay for newspapers they can read mostly for free online. Publisher Gruner + Jahr (G+J), controlled by German media conglomerate Bertelsmann, was expected to decide the fate of the FTD at a board meeting yesterday but few at the paper doubt what the decision will be.

“There is not a single person in the newsroom who believes the newspaper will continue,” a journalist who has been at the paper since its launch told Reuters. Another employee likened the mood to a “house of mourning”. A G+J spokesman declined to comment. The FTD, salmon-pink like its British namesake, has a daily circulation of about 102,000. It was founded as a joint venture with Pearson, but the publisher of the Financial Times sold its 50 percent stake to its German partner in 2008.

The paper shook up the German print landscape in 2000 with its modern design, international perspective and free-wheeling journalism style. But it has never made money and booked a loss of 10 million euros last year, according to German media reports.

Accumulated losses since 2000 are estimated at 250 million euros.

Last week, the respected Frankfurter Rundschau, a liberal daily based in Germany’s business capital, filed for bankruptcy. The DAPD press agency, which had a mainly newspaper client base, took a similar step a few weeks earlier. “The underlying trend in Germany has been that local and regional papers in particular have been struggling,” said Horst Roeper of independent media research Formatt-Institut, predicting the trend would continue.

Advertising drop Data from Nielsen Media Research showed

that advertising income for German newspapers dropped 6 percent to 4.1 billion euros in the first 10 months of 2012 from the previous year. Magazines saw a drop in the same period of 4.6 percent. Nevertheless, any visitor to Germany will be struck by the sheer number and variety of newspapers on sale here.

Figures from the Federation of German Newspaper Publishers showed Germans spent 22.8 million euros in the third quarter of this year on 333 different newspapers, the bulk of them local or regional, making it the biggest market in Europe and the fifth biggest in the world. Germany’s strong regional loyalties, its tradition of decentralised political decision-making and its economic strength during the euro zone crisis have all helped to shield the newspaper industry.

But Germany is no island, and the same trends that have claimed titles such as France’s ‘La Tribune’ and Spain’s ‘Publico’ are also at work here, eroding newspapers’ traditional customer base and forcing publishers to adopt new tactics. “A structural crisis is now hitting the German market with full force,” said the FTD journalist.

“In the past crises at the newspapers were linked to the economy. This time the economy is doing fine but readership and advertising are going down. We’re not the first to die and we won’t be the last.” In neighbouring France, family-owned media group Hersant is being dismantled under pressure from its lenders while in Britain Trinity Mirror, publisher of the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and The People, is to merge its national and regional divisions to cut costs.

Keen to claw back lost revenues, Germany, France and others are considering laws to force Internet search engines such as Google to pay a fee for displaying links to newspaper articles. They argue that search engines capture part of the value added in an article when they index them.

Germany’s largest newspaper publisher Axel Springer plans soon to erect a digital pay wall for conservative daily Die Welt as well as for Bild, continental Europe’s best-selling daily. “It’s a risk and there’s no guarantee that it’ll work out, but I’m more optimistic than I was a year or two ago,” Axel Springer Chief Executive Mathias Doepfner told Reuters last month. It hopes to emulate Pearson’s Financial Times, News Corp’s The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, all of whom have had some success charging

DENVER: In this file photo, Twinkies baked goods are displayed for sale at the Hostess Brands’ bakery in Denver, Colo. — AP

TOKYO: Japan yesterday posted its worst October trade figures in over 30 years, underscoring persistent weakness in the world’s thirdlargest economy amid the global slowdown and a spat with China. Hopes that the nation had cemented its recovery following last year’s quake-tsunami disaster are fading fast amid a string of poor economic data, as the European market-a key buyer of Japanese cars and electronics-falls away with only a small uptick in shipments to North America.

A territorial row over islands in the East China Sea claimed by Tokyo and Beijing has also affected the trade balance owing to a consumer boycott for Japanese brands, as China-bound car shipments tumbled 82 percent last month.

Yesterday, finance ministry data showed October’s trade deficit nearly doubled to $6.7 billion from a year ago, coming on top of weakening factory output and after Japan’s economy shrank in the latest quarter, nudging it towards recession.

The poor figures have heaped pressure on the Bank of Japan to launch further easing measures to stoke growth, with main opposition leader Shinzo Abe saying he wanted the central bank to buy government bonds. The BoJ, however, held off fresh policy action and kept rates steady on Tuesday, with its chief Masaaki Shirakawa dismissing the proposals from Abe, tipped to become Japan’s next prime minister in December elections.

But the bank also warned that it expected Japan’s economy to stay “relatively weak for the time being”. “There remains a high degree of uncertainty,” it added. October’s trade shortfall came to 549 billion yen, expanding from a yearearlier deficit of 283 billion yen as exports fell 6.5 percent. That marked Japan’s worst October trade figures for the month since 1979, when comparable data became available, and the country’s fourth consecutive monthly deficit.

October shipments to China were off 11.6 percent, as car exports plunged. Japan’s top

TOKYO: Men visit a corner of Sony’s Bravia flat-panel TVs at a Tokyo electronics store. — AP three automakers-Toyota, Nissan and Hondahave reported that the row with China has dug into their sales and profits, while major electronics producers have also been sideswiped by fallout from the spat. “The impact (of the China row) on exports is significant, especially on those of automobiles,” Yoshimasa Maruyama, senior economist at Itochu Corp., told Dow Jones Newswires.

Demand for products that supply China’s public works projects may help exports going forward, but Japan’s post-Fukushima energy bills will cloud the trade picture, said Ayumi Maekawa, senior economist at Mizuho Research Institute. “China-bound exports will probably pick up but not at a fast pace,” she said.

“As the pace of recovery for exports is likely to be slow while imports of crude oil and gas are stuck at certain levels, the trade deficit will probably continue for several more months.” Imports

in October were down 1.6 percent from a year ago, but Japan has seen its energy bills soar since shutting its nuclear plants after reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant went into into meltdown, spreading radiation over a large area.

Nuclear power once supplied about one-third of Japan’s electricity needs. Only two of its 50 reactors are currently in operation, with the nation turning to pricey fossil-fuel alternatives to plug the energy gap. Japan’s economy has been hit by a litany of other problems, including an export-denting strong yen and a fall-off in demand in debt-riddled Europe, with shipments to the European Union falling 20.1 percent in October. Exports to the key North American market turned up just 3.4 percent in October while shipments to Asia-including China, South Korea, Indonesia, Taiwan and India-were down 4.9 percent as demand slowed in a region that has been a crucial driver of global growth. — AFP

Hostess says talks to stave off shutdown fail NEW YORK: Hostess Brands Inc lived to die another day. The maker of Twinkies and Ding Dongs said late Tuesday that it failed to reach an agreement with its second biggest union.

As a result, Hostess plans to continue with a hearing yesterday in which a bankruptcy court judge will decide if the company can shutter its operations. The renewed talks between Hostess and The Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union came after the company declared last week that it would move to wind down its business and start selling off its assets in bankruptcy court. The company cited a crippling strike that was started on Nov 9 by the union, which represents 30 percent of Hostess workers.

After making its case to liquidate on Monday, the bankruptcy judge hearing the case noted that the two sides hadn’t yet tried resolving their differences through private mediation.

The judge noted that 18,000 jobs were on the line and urged the company and union to try to resolve their differences.

Both sides agreed to hold mediation proceedings on Tuesday. In a statement late Tuesday, Hostess said it would not comment on the breakdown in talks other than to say that mediation “was unsuccessful.” Hostess shut down its three dozen plants late last week after it said the strike by the bakers union hurt its ability to maintain normal production.

The bakers union says the company’s demise was the result of years of mismanagement, however, and that workers have already given steep concessions over the years.

Hostess, weighed down by management turmoil, rising labor costs and the changing tastes of Americans, is making its second trip through Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring.

The company, based in Irving, Texas, had brought on CEO Gregory Rayburn as a restructuring expert in part to renegotiate its contract with labor unions.

The company reached an agreement with its biggest union, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, on a contract that dramatically reduced pension contributions, as well as slashing wages and health benefits. But the company said the bakers union stopped returning its calls about a month ago. The Teamsters urged the smaller union to hold a secret ballot on whether members wanted to continue striking.

Many workers in the bakers union decided to cross picket lines this week, Hostess said it wasn’t enough to keep operations at normal levels.

Rayburn said that Hostess was already operating on razor thin margins and that the strike was the final blow. The bakers union meanwhile pointed to the steep raises executives were given last year as the company was spiraling down toward bankruptcy. The company’s announcement last week that it would move to liquidate prompted a rush on Hostess treats across the country, with many businesses selling out of Twinkies within hours. Even if Hostess goes out of business, its popular brands will likely find a second life after being snapped up by buyers. The company says several potential buyers have expressed interest in the brands. Although Hostess’ sales have been declining in recent years, the company still does about $2.5 billion in business each year.

Twinkies along brought in $68 million so far this year. — AP

TEXAS: In this file photo, Denise Smith-Lad (left) asks her grandson Jordan Smith, 6, what he would like to eat as they camp in front of a Best Buy store. — AP

Best Buy reports Q3 loss NEW YORK: Struggling Best Buy Co reported another dismal quarter on Tuesday, recording a third quarter loss and continued sales slump just as the crucial holiday season revs up. Adjusted for restructuring charges, it earned 3 cents per share, well below analysts’ expectations. The news sent shares down 13 percent to their lowest level in more than a decade. “Best Buy’s thirdquarter financial performance was clearly unsatisfactory,” said CEO Hubert Joly, the turnaround expert tapped to lead Best Buy in August.

The electronics chain is trying to reverse a year’s long decline in its business as competition from online stores and discounters increases, and consumers’ tastes shift from more profitable items like TVs and desktop computers toward less profitable smartphones and tablets. In addition, it’s facing a growing number of consumers who are “showrooming,” going to Best Buy stores to check out merchandise but buying it elsewhere. That is a challenge for the retailer.

Meanwhile, co-founder and former chairman Richard Schulze is mulling a bid for the company.

Last week at an analyst meeting, Joly outlined a plan to improve results via beefing up customer service and revamping stores while at the same time cutting overhead and supply-chain costs.

He has also restructured top management and brought in a new CFO. “The results we are reporting today only strengthen our sense of urgency and purpose,” Joly added. But the quarterly results show Best Buy has a long way to go to turn things around.

The Minneapolis company reported a loss of $10 million, or 3 cents per share, for the three months ended Nov 3. That compares with net income of $156 million, or 42 cents per share in the prior year period.

Excluding one-time items, earnings totaled 3 cents per share. Analysts expected earnings

of 13 cents per share, according to FactSet. Revenue fell 4 percent to $10.75 billion from $11.15 billion but still matched analysts’ expectations.

Revenue in stores open at least one year continued to slide, down 4.3 percent for the quarter.

The measure is an important gauge of a retailer’s financial health because it excludes results from stores that open or close during the period. Sales growth in mobile phones, appliances and tablets and e-readers was offset by weakness in notebook computers, video games, digital cameras and TVs. Shares fell $1.79, or 13 percent, to close at $11.96 after falling as low as $11.74 earlier in the session. That is the lowest since December 2000.

The quarter had some quarter-specific issues that hampered results, Joly said, including customers delaying purchases ahead of new launches like the new Windows 8 operating system and several new smartphones and tablets.

In addition, the company faced higher costs for training employees and executive transition expenses. “We do not believe that the rate of decline that Best Buy experienced in the third quarter can be extrapolated in any way,” he said in a call with analysts.

Best Buy also outlined its plans for a successful holiday season, including empowering its floor staff with the ability to match online prices and giving extra compensation to the best performing workers. But ITG analyst John Tomlinson said results for the fourth quarter will be key to see if Joly’s plans for the company will pay off.

“He’s saying the right things about what Best Buy’s problems are, but the devil is in the details,” Tomlinson said. “Until you actually see the sales lift and benefit from those investments, most investors are going to take a wait-and-see-type approach.” — AP

26

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2012

business

Al-Mazaya’s net profit $6.5m during first 9 months of 2012

NEW DELHI: Supporters of India’s main opposition Bhartiya Janata party shout slogans as they march during a protest against the Indian government’s recent decision to open India’s retail sector to foreign investment yesterday. — AP

India’s uphill battle against ‘black money’ in real estate MUMBAI: Ulwe, a village of dusty, uneven streets on the outskirts of Mumbai, lacks basic amenities like water supply and electricity, but a two-bedroom, 1,000 sq ft house costs about 5 million rupees ($91,000), beyond the reach of many middle-class Indians.

According to prospective buyers, many developers will demand up to 30 percent of that price in cash, a small slice of the ubiquitous, unaccounted “black money” that costs India’s straitened exchequer billions of dollars in lost taxable income.

Legislation that would bring more transparency to the industry will be considered during the winter session of India’s parliament, which starts today. However, investors, tax officials and bankers Reuters spoke with were sceptical the law would stamp out illegal practices they say are closely entwined with politics. “Four out of 10 developers were ready to do it in full white and six were asking for a black component,” said 35-year-old Umesh Kolhapure, who was looking for a three-bedroom house around Ulwe, near the proposed site of a new international airport serving the country’s financial capital. Recent high-profile scandals in India’s coal and telecoms sectors involving large corporate houses and politicians have rattled investors in Asia’s third-largest economy, where undeclared wealth has long been rampant.

Real estate accounts for a large share of illicit transactions, thanks to lax regulation and the numerous approvals needed for projects, making many ordinary people party to corruption and pricing some of the emerging middle class out of the market. That has prompted the newly-appointed housing minister, Ajay Maken, to push a real estate regulation bill.

Designed to bring greater accountability, transparency and prevent fraud and delay, the bill proposes appointing the sector’s first national regulator. However, it will not have control over land deals, which is where illicit activity is widely believed to be rampant. “The bill is not going to help solve the issue of black money,” said Anurag Mathur, chief executive officer of project and development services at Jones Lang LaSalle. “Black money is tied in or shifted through land transactions and the regulator will have no jurisdiction over that.”

Tax avoidance In the year to June 2012, about $6 billion, or 30 percent of total transactions in the property sector, were executed using black money, according to Liases Foras, a consultancy. Real estate accounts for more than a 10th of India’s $1.85 trillion economy. The government says black money, a term widely used in India to describe undeclared funds, often meant to avoid taxes, can be present in every stage of a project from land acquisition to home sales.

For the purchaser of a 5 million rupee home like those in Ulwe, a developer might typically ask for 1.5 million rupees in cash while making out a sales agreement for 3.5 million. With banks willing to lend up to 75-85 percent of the “official” sale price, the buyer will then need to fund anything from 45 to 60 percent of the total cost from savings, which is difficult for many salaried, middle-income

househunters.

“It is unfair on the buyers,” said Kolhapure, who has put his search on hold in the hope of a price correction that will help him afford a home for his family of five. If the bill comes into force it might go some way in solving Kolhapure’s problem. The draft says developers will have to get accreditation for projects from the regulator, make public disclosure of details including the price of units, and maintain a separate bank account for each project to collect payments from buyers.

However, there is widespread cynicism about whether it can stamp out the practice given the belief that a large share of illicit money sloshing around the sector is tied to politicians. “There can’t be a legal measure to put an end to black money... because ultimately it ends up in the political cycle. That is where the requirement is,” said a Mumbaibased income tax official who did not wish to be named.

Allegations last month of improper dealings between the son-in-law of ruling Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi and DLF , India’s biggest property developer, underline the perception of a nexus between developers and politicians. Activist group India Against Corruption accused DLF of arranging favourable loans and real estate transactions for Robert Vadra, a businessman married to Gandhi’s daughter, who had previously announced a possible move into politics. The company and Vadra both deny wrongdoing.

Corrupt officials Central bank rules prohibit bank loans to fund purchases of land, a regulation designed to curb speculation and reduce balance sheet risk for banks. To fill that void, wealthy individuals, including politicians, are widely believed to invest “black money” in real estate. Some of that money can later be poured into election campaign donations from developers, say private equity investors, real estate consultants and sector analysts. Those same developers might be awarded with plots of land at attractive prices or assisted in getting project approvals.

Black money comes in handy for bribing corrupt officials. “There is a cost of pushing the file. But what is the alternative?” said Lalit Kumar Jain, chairman of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers in India (CREDAI). For a typical residential project in Mumbai, developers need about 55 approvals from more than a dozen departments. Delays in consents add 40 percent to a project’s cost, said Jain. At least 10 developers Reuters tried to reach including DLF Ltd, Oberoi Realty, DB Realty Sobha Developers, and Hiranandani did not respond to emails, declined to comment or did not make officials available. CREDAI backs the pending legislation that would create a single-window clearance for approvals, which it says will reduce the temptation to pay bribes.

Getting consents in time would make homes cheaper by 25 percent, Jain said. “Our biggest problem is the approval process,” said Jain, who is also the managing director of Mumbai-based property company Kumar Urban Development. “That is the only corruption we know of and where we are victimised and exploited. Otherwise developers are clean.” — Reuters

EQUATE speaks at PETCHEM Arabia KUWAIT: EQUATE Petrochemical Company said that the global petrochemical industry was facing serious global challenges. Delivering the keynote address at PETCHEM Arabia in Bahrain, EQUATE President & CEO Mohammad Husain said, “The challenges are mainly relevant to the impact of gas development on the petrochemical industry, energy needs affecting the industry, qualified workforce and maintaining sustainable growth with high standards.”

Husain noted, “In light of growing demand and consumption of electrical power, there must be sufficient collaboration to ensure that such increasing energy needs do not hinder the petrochemical industry.”

Husain added, “Having a third ethane cracker in Kuwait will have several addedvalue returns including hiring around 160 employees; over 20 percent increase in procurement worth $185 million of which a good percentage can be done through local companies; not to mention increase the annual production polyethylene and ethylene glycol by over 400,000 metric tons and 700,000 respectively. These added-values can be created if we dedicate more ethane to the petrochemical industry.”

In addition, Husain discussed a recent

KUWAIT: Al-Mazaya Holding Company reports it has gained net profit to the total of $6.5 million at the end of the third quarter of this year, compared to a net profit to the total of $67.8 million during the same period of 2011, where earnings per share amounted at 1.11 cents, compared with 11.80 cents for the same period last year.

Commenting on the results, Chief Executive Officer Nayef Al-Awadi said, “AlMazaya has managed to surmount a critical phase in the history of the region and the world since late 2008, and overcome a great many of difficulties encountered during that difficult stage to record a steady growth during the first nine months of 2012.”

The company relied on its performance and the new strategy recently initiated by AlMazaya. The strategy is based on generating revenues from a number of highly lucrative projects set to enter the market during the current year, as well as getting returns from real estate developments, and selling previously completed real estate units.

Management and revenue Al-Awadi added that under the volatile circumstances and the change of local and regional markets trends, Al-Mazaya managed to keep pace with the rapid changes and fluctuations, by utilising its 100 percent completed projects and taking advantage of the rent returns to reap the rewards of the long boom.

This helped them to benefit from the achievements of this period by efficiently acquiring strategic assets with constant rents and payoff which in turn allowed the company to achieve steady growth and gain lucrative revenue and profit for shareholders and investors alike.

Commenting on the analysis of the company’s profits during the current year and the coming years, he said, “Actual and expected returns are different in nature between sales transactions to profit-generating projects in real estate, as rent revenue is less in nature, this type of revenue does however offer steadiness and ongoing growth that support the rights of stakeholders and reduce risk of unstable markets. Although the fairlay large

income of sales transactions generate good returns, once completed they do not produce assets on which the company can depend in times of crisis like the markets have been experiencing.

Exchange- exit -liabilities Nayef Al-Awadi stressed that the current year constituted a combination of legal exits, exchanges and settlements of the company’s obligations as well as the delivery of projects in preparation for anew and promising future, pointing out that the stability of the company’s balance sheet and cash flow were two main goals for the company during 2012. On this issue, Al-Awadhi said that the company has managed to exit from real estate portfolios such as the “Dubai land portfolio” consisting of 492 housing plots in the United Arab Emirates, which the company developed and sold. Al-Mazaya recently exit from this portfolio creating liquidity worth AED 49 million.

The company has also managed to exit from the Jumeirah Lakes Towers portfolio, which Al-Mazaya had developed during the construction of Tower AA1, selling the towers’ units and exiting from the portfolio with cash estimated at 51 million dirham. With the exit deal, Al-Mazaya has the right to acquire an office space with an area of 11,231 square feet. The company plans to sell the plot at a later stage, and finally exit from the Madart Fund Portfolio, which was founded in 2007 by one of Al-Mazaya’s subsidiaries, aimed at investing in the real estate market in the United Arab Emirates.

The leading real estate company also succeeded in achieving ownership of a large number of real estate assets in the UAE, through a solution and liquidation of this partnership, resulting in the reclassification of the assets and liabilities, leaving no direct impact on the returns statement.

Legal exits Al-Mazaya Holding has also been able to solve legal disputes pertaining to the previous contracting with the Emirati “Limitless” company when the latter sold 9 land plots in

Gulfmart supermarket to open in Abu Halifa KUWAIT: Gulfmart is turning a new chapter in its meteoric rise as Kuwait’s fastest growing retail chain with the opening of their 15th branch in Kuwait in Abu Halifa, tomorrow, November 23 at 6:30 pm by Satish C Mehta, Indian Ambassador to Kuwait. The new outlet, which will be launched in a mini-supermarket format, will also see the iconic brand appearing in a reinvigorated fresh new form.

“The two-toned green leaf logo and new lettering for the brand name will project Gulfmart’s refreshing and energetic new look as it prepares to launch the second phase of its expansion drive in Kuwait,” said Arif Sheikh, Managing Director of Gulfmart Group. He added, “With the opening of our mini-supermarket in Abu Halifa, we are also launching a rebranding exercise that will see future Gulfmart outlets coming out with same new logo, lettering and livery. We expect that over a period of 9 to 12 months we will complete the change-over of our existing branches to the new brand design. However, it needs to be pointed out that without the support and cooperation of customers and well-wishers none of this expansion and rebranding could have been possible; we are extremely grateful to all our patrons.”

Clarifying that the new branch in Abu Halifa is the brand’s second outlet in the mini- supermarket format, Gulmart’s Country Manager for Kuwait, Dr TA Remesh, said, “By June of 2013, we plan to open ten more outlets in different size formats across Kuwait and take the total Gulfmart branches to 25. Our expansion strategy for the country calls for launching Gulfmart branches in three different formats - Mini-supermarkets that fall in the 800-3,000 sq ft range, large format supermarkets that range in size from 8,000 to 40,000 sq ft and a hypermarket

TA Remesh that extend from 60,000 to 100,000 sq ft.”

“Following the opening of our minisupermarket in Abu Halifa, we will soon be launching a second mini-supermarket in Salmiya, this time along the popular Amman Street and another mini supermarket in the residential district of Mahboula.

Our large -format Supermarkets will include a third branch in Fahaheel of 30,000sqft, a second branch in Khaitan of similar area and a 10,000 sq ft third outlet in Hawally. A further five more branches will be added to our lineup during the first-half of 2013,” added Dr Remesh.

Expanding on the subject of new branches in Kuwait, Mohammed Ashfaq, Group Business Development Head, added, “Despite the sluggish economy in Europe and elsewhere we see tremendous potential for retailing in Kuwait and the region, and Gulfmart is fully poised to avail of these opportunities as they arise. Our optimistic outlook on the retail business has allowed us to finalize plans on opening a further 25 new stores in different size formats across Kuwait by the end of 2015.”

Deere Q4 net income misses expectations

Mohammad Husain case study regarding the positive impact on the US economy if 25 percent of ethane was added to the system from newly discovered gas resources.

Husain explained, “All development plans, regardless of their size, greatly depend on suitable infrastructure, feedstock availability, overall synergy between relevant sectors, and most important the qualified human resources.”

MINNEAPOLIS: Deere & Co, the world’s largest maker of agricultural equipment, reported a bigger fourth-quarter profit as it sold more equipment at higher prices, but results still missed analyst expectations. Deere said its net income rose 2.7 percent to $687.6 million, or $1.75 per share, for the quarter ended Oct 31.

Revenue rose 14 percent to $9.79 billion.

Analysts surveyed by FactSet had been expecting earnings of $1.88 per share. A year ago, Deere’s net income was $669.6 million, or $1.62 per share.

Deere’s revenue got a boost from a 4 percent increase in prices, although some of that gain was offset by unfavorable foreign currency exchange that hurt sales by 3 percent. The USbased Deere also makes construction and forestry equipment, including backhoes, excavators, riding mowers and leaf blowers. Since it touches so many important manufacturing markets, it has a unique look into the state of the economy, in the US and abroad.

Equipment sales rose to $9.05 billion, topping analyst forecasts of $8.93 billion. Sales were strong in the US and Canada, rising 26

percent for the quarter. Elsewhere, sales fell 2 percent. Sales of agriculture and turf equipment rose 16 percent, while construction and forestry equipment sales rose 7 percent. Deere predicted that equipment sales would rise about 5 percent for the fiscal year that began this month and would increase 10 percent in the first quarter. It expects full-year 2013 net income of about $3.2 billion. That’s a little more than analysts are expecting.

Deere is in a good position to carry out its growth plans, but “present global economic and fiscal concerns warrant continued caution,” Chairman and CEO Samuel R Allen said. Deere expects worldwide sales of agriculture and turf equipment to rise 4 percent in the upcoming year, boosted by high crop prices. However, sales are expected to be flat in the US as livestock and dairy farmers remain cautious. It expects full-year sales in Europe to be flat to down 5 percent. It predicted 10 percent growth in South America. Deere expects worldwide growth of 8 percent for construction equipment, “due in part to modest improvement in US economic conditions.” —AP

Nayef Al-Awadi “Jebel Ali” Downtown for the amount of dirham 34.7 million, from which Al-Mazaya paid almost 19.6 million dinars of the total amount which The 19.6 million has been forfeited for the benefit of “limitless”. The reason was attributed to Al-Mazaya’s failure to pay the agreed upon amount on time. Judgment from the Dubai International Arbitration Company has issued its judgment according to which “Limitless” shall pay to Al-Mazaya the sum of AED 5 million including an interest rate of 9 percent as of 2009 and until the full amount is paid, while Al-Mazaya is committed to pay to “Limitless” the amount of AED 3.6 million with interest rate of 12 percent, based on this ruling. This will not result in any losses or material damage on the financial position of Al-Mazaya due to the allocations that have been taken in advance by the company. The financial impact is limited to a profit estimated at AED 2.8 million, which is equivalent to KD 210,000.

Countdown to Burgan Bank’s draw begins KUWAIT: Burgan Bank yesterday announced that the Youth Account raffle prize draw will take place on Sunday, December 2, 2012. The draw will give every Youth Account holder a separate chance to win for every KD 20 credited in their account. The grand prize in the draw is an exciting seven day trip to London for two including air tickets, accommodation and KD 1,500 spending money so that the winner can shop until they drop. The other nine draw winners will get each a KD 500 voucher from Electrozan.

The Burgan Bank Youth Account is designed for young individuals, aged between 15 and 25, who want to make the most from the account’s attractive options. The account is free to open and there is no minimum balance charge. Account holders also gain interest on their savings.

ABK offers account solutions KUWAIT: Al-Ahli Bank of Kuwait is here to offer business solutions combined with great service. Stewart Lockie, General Manager of Retail Banking explained that, “At ABK we support our clients with all of their banking needs and with AlTajer account we support people with all of their business requirements whether they are starting out or if they already have Stewart Lockie a business.”

Lockie further explained that, “By connecting their POS machines to their Al-Tajer Account they will get a free credit card, a free cheque book as well as receiving a free statement of account for the transactions made through the POS machines, in addition to so many other benefits.

I encourage all of ABK’s clients and others to apply to open the Al-Tajer account and enjoy the advantages provided for them today as it is an exceptional offer and one that your business needs to succeed!”

Gulf Bank’s final KOC draw KUWAIT: Gulf Bank announced the date of its fourth and final quarterly KOC draw for 2012. The event will take place on November 26, 2012, at Gulf Bank’s branch located in the KOC Head Office.

All KOC staff members who bank their salary with Gulf Bank automatically enter the draw for a brand new GMC Yukon. The unique KOC salary package provides a non-interest bearing current account especially designed to fulfill KOC staff ’s banking needs. KOC staff are entitled to several exclusive benefits such as, vouchers from X-cite by Alghanim Electronics, free issuance charges for Visa and MasterCard Credit Card and special discounts upon using Gulf Bank cards at 100 outlets in Kuwait. Upon entering the draw, KOC staff are further qualified to win a new GMC Yukon as an added bonus to the KOC tailored salary banking package. Gulf Bank is the only bank available at the KOC Head Office and all KOC staff are invited to visit the branch to find out more about the KOC salary package.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2012

TECHNOLOGY

Intel CEO Paul Otellini to retire in surprise move SAN FRANCISCO: Intel CEO Paul Otellini dropped a bombshell on the company’s board of directors last week, telling them in private that he plans to retire from the world’s largest maker of microprocessors in May. Otellini’s move comes at a time when Intel faces a shaky economy and a mobile gadget craze that is eating away at demand for its PC chips -and it gives the company just six months to find a new leader. Intel’s board expected the 62-year-old Otellini to remain chief executive until the company’s customary retirement age of 65. The company announced his impending departure on Monday.

“The decision was entirely Paul’s,” said Intel spokesman Paul Bergevin. “The board accepted his decision with regret.”

Otellini will be ending a nearly 40-year career with Intel, including an eight-year stint as CEO by the time he leaves. He joined the Santa Clara, Calif. company after graduating from the nearby University of California at Berkeley and worked his way up the ranks before succeeding Craig Barrett as CEO in May 2005.

“It’s time to move on and transfer Intel’s helm to a new generation of leadership,” Otellini said in a statement. In another statement, Intel Chairman Andy Bryant praised Otellini for leading the company through “challenging times and market transitions.” Intel’s board plans to consider candidates inside and outside the company as it searches for Otellini’s successor. Otellini will be involved in the search. Otellini and the four other men who have been Intel’s CEO during the company’s 45-year history have all been promoted from within. The com-

pany’s board is believed to be leaning in that direction again. Intel identified the leading internal candidates Monday by anointing three of Otellini’s current lieutenants as executive vice presidents. They are: Renee James, head of Intel’s software business; Brian Krzanich, chief operating officer and head of worldwide manufacturing; and Stacy Smith, chief financial officer and director of corporate strategy. If recent history is any indication, Krzanich has the inside track to become Intel’s CEO. Both Barrett and Otellini served as chief operating officer before becoming CEO. Although Otellini is generally well regarded, he has faced criticism for initially underestimating the impact that smartphones and tablet computers would have on the personal computer market. It was a pivotal change that also confounded Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer, whose software company makes the Windows operating system that runs most of the PCs relying on Intel’s chips.

“The shift came more quickly than they expected, and when they did finally see what was happening, they were a little late to react,” said technology analyst Patrick Moorhead of Moor Insights & Strategy. Indeed, in 2008, nearly 300 million PCs were sold and most of them were powered by Microsoft’s Windows and Intel’s microchips, according to Forrester Research. Some 142 million smartphones sold that year, at a time when the tablet market hadn’t really taken off. That wouldn’t happen until Apple’s 2010 release of the iPad. By contrast, this year, Forrester estimates 330 million PCs will be sold worldwide compared with

665 million smartphones and just over 100 million tablets. By 2016, Forrester predicts annual sales of PCs will rise only slightly to 370 million machines while more than 1.6 billion smartphones and tablets will be purchased.

The fates of Intel and Microsoft have been so tightly wound for the past 30 years that computers using a combination of their chips and software are famously known as “Wintel” machines. Now, much of the technology industry is questioning whether Intel and Microsoft can catch up in the mobile market to ensure their products remain as essential and profitable - in the future as they have been in the past three decades.

It’s a challenge that Ballmer, 56, is confident he can tackle. He signaled his intent to remain Microsoft’s CEO earlier this month when he ushered out the head of the company’s Windows division because of philosophical differences over the company’s future direction. For whatever reasons, Otellini concluded it was time for new leadership at Intel - an opinion that many investors share, according to RBC Capital Markets analyst Doug Freedman.

“A shift in leadership could be welcome news to investors as Intel could be in greater position to broaden its portfolio into higher growth markets,” Freedman wrote in a Monday research note.

Intel’s stock was unchanged at $20.19 shortly before the market closed Monday. The stock has fallen more than 20 percent during Otellini’s reign.

Most of the decline occurred this year amid concerns about the company’s ability to adjust to mobile computing and weakening demand for its

core products in countries with troubled economies, particularly in Europe and China. The company blamed the poor economy for a 14 percent drop in its earnings during its most recent quarter. Intel’s chips have become even more dominant in the PC computer market during Otellini’s tenure, helping to boost the company’s annual revenue from $39 billion in 2005 to $54 billion last year. Besides supplying Windows-powered PCs, Otellini also scored a coup in 2006 when he convinced Apple to start using Intel chips in Mac computers instead of IBM Corp.’s microprocessors.

But Apple’s pioneering work in smartphones and tablet computers also muddled Intel’s future.

Both the iPhone and iPad inspired a wave of sophisticated handheld devices that are undercutting demand for desktop and laptop machines that house Intel processors. Most tablets rely on a technology licensed from British chip designer ARM Holdings Plc. Even Microsoft has tweaked the latest version of the Windows operating system so it works on ARM chips.

Other chip makers such as Qualcomm Inc. have developed less expensive microprocessors that have eclipsed Intel in the smartphone market.

Qualcomm’s inroads in the mobile market are a key reason why its stock has soared by more than 70 percent while Otellini was running Intel.

The contrasting performances of the two companies’ stocks enabled Qualcomm to surpass Intel as the world’s most valuable chip maker.

Qualcomm’s market value now stands at about $106 billion versus $100 billion for Intel. — AP

Smartphones crushing demand for cameras ‘Demand for quality snapshots is there’

EMC showcases its Avamar and DataDomain products DUBAI: EMC recently invited business and IT decision-makers from across the region to ‘Transform IT + Business + Yourself’ at this year’s GITEX Cloud Confex, in Dubai, UAE, from October 14th to October 18th.

Delegates were invited to attend the exhibition and connect with EMC experts to discuss the latest IT Transformation trends, strategies for deploying Big Data analytics tools into the fabric of the business, and how to meet the stringent and diverse governance and compliance demands facing multi-national corporations today. Attendees received handson demonstrations of the company’s world-class portfolio of transformational IT products and solutions.

At GITEX, EMC showcased how Cloud, Virtualisation and Big Data solutions can drive the transformation of IT infrastructures and revolutionise business operations to give organisations an edge over their competition.

Participants attended vLab demos taking place at EMC’s stand to experience the simplicity of EMC’s industryleading management software, VMware integration, security features from its RSA division, and end-to-end functionality.

EMC hosted eight of its partners from the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, and KSA at its stand this year: Each will run demonstrations of their storage, backup and Big Data services and solutions to showofftheir added-value to customers in the region. EMC’s participating partners are MDS (UAE), Condoprotego (UAE), Injazat (UAE), Emircom (UAE), Bios (UAE), MATCO (KSA); ABC (Qatar); and Zajil (Kuwait).

EMC will also be demonstrating its VSPEX Proven Infrastructure for the first time at GITEX. VSPEX is a simple, efficient, and flexible reference architecture comprised of EMC’s award-winning storage systems and next-generation backup products, along with best-of-breed virtualisation, server, and network technology from EMC alliance partners Brocade, Cisco, Citrix, Intel, Microsoft, and VMware. VSPEX is designed to significantly reduce the planning, sizing and configuration burdens of adopting private cloud or end-user computing environments.

EMC showcased its DataDomain and Avamar products; the industry leading deduplication storage systems which streamline backup and recovery and reduce or eliminate the use of tape. Also present at the stand is a VCE VBLOCK unit; the integrated infrastructure built for rapid deployment, simplified management, predictable performance and improved compliance.

EMC demos Isilon, its Scale-out platform for high performance, capability, and salability for Big Data at GITEX 2012.

Isilon delivers increased performance

for file-based data applications and workflows, from the highest performance applications, to primary and secondary storage, to primary and secondary storage, to nearline archives, all from a single file system architecture.

EMC Isilon scale-out storage platform is massively scalable, highly efficient and designed to provide you with a powerful, yet simple way to consolidate and manage enterprise data and applications.

EMC Isilon delivers increased performance for file-based data applications and workflows - from the highest performance I/O-intensive applications, to primary and secondary storage, to nearline archives - all from a single file system architecture.

We’ve engineered the complexity out of our scale-out NAS solutions, a dramatic departure from traditional NAS. With EMC Isilon, you can aggregate massive data sets and consolidate a range of applications onto a single, shared, easy to use storage resource - giving you full control of big data assets. And, no matter how your needs change in the future, Isilon scales in lockstep, remaining as simple to manage at 15 petabytes as it was at 15 terabytes. In short, Isilon is ondemand storage for big data, when and where you need it.

TOKYO: The soaring popularity of smartphones is crushing demand for point-and-shoot cameras, threatening the once-vibrant sector as firms scramble to hit back with web-friendly features and boost quality, analysts say.

A sharp drop in sales of digital compact cameras marks them as the latest casualty of smartphones as videogame consoles and portable music players also struggle against the all-inone features offered by the likes of Apple’s iPhone and the Samsung Galaxy.

Just as digital cameras all but destroyed the market for photographic film, the rapid shift to picture-taking smartphones has torn into a camera sector dominated by Japanese firms including Canon, Olympus, Sony and Nikon.

“We may be seeing the beginning of the collapse of the compact camera market,” said Nobuo Kurahashi, analyst at Mizuho Investors Securities. Figures from Japan’s Camera and Imaging Products Association echo the analyst’s grim prediction.

Global shipments of digital cameras among Japanese firms tumbled about 42 percent in September from a year ago to 7.58 million units, with compact offerings falling 48 percent, according to the Association.

Higher-end cameras with detachable lenses fell a more modest 7.4 percent in that time, it said. Part of the decline was due to weakness in debt-hit Europe and a Tokyo-Beijing territorial spat that has sparked a consumer boycott of Japan-brand products in the China market.

But smartphones have proved a mighty rival to point-and-shoot cameras, analysts say, offering an all-in-one phone, computer and camera with comparatively high quality pictures and Internet photo downloading.

Those features have also dug into videogame makers such as Nintendo, which has just released its new Wii U game console, as smartphone owners increasingly download free online games or store music on the devices instead of using standalone MP3 players.

“The market for compact digital cameras shrank at a faster speed and scale than we had imagined as smartphones with camera functions spread around the world,” Olympus president Hiroyuki Sasa told a news briefing this month. Olympus said its camera business lost money in its fiscal first-half due to the growing popularity of camera-equipped smartphones, and a strong yen which makes Japanese exports less competitive overseas. Digital camera firms

have scaled back their sales targets for the fiscal year to March in a “collapsing” market, said Tetsuya Wadaki, an analyst at Nomura Securities.

“Order volumes at parts suppliers currently appear to be down more than 30 percent yearon-year,” Wadaki said.

Firms are scrambling to keep improving picture quality, offer features such as water-proofing and expand their Internet features, like

idly ageing Japan, they say. Another emerging battleground is for mirror-less cameras which can be made nearly as small as compact cameras but with picture quality that rivals their bulkier counterparts. Canon insists the market has not been abandoned to smartphones.

“Demand for quality snapshots is there, like taking pictures of your friends’ weddings, an overseas vacation, or your children,” a Canon

TOKYO: This photo taken yesterday shows models displaying a self-portrait taken with a new 8 mega-pixel camera/smartphone called the “HTCJ butterfly”, produced by Taiwanese electronics maker HTC, in Tokyo. The soaring popularity of smartphones is crushing demand for point-and-shoot cameras, threatening the once-vibrant sector’s survival as firms scramble to shift their strategy, analysts say. — AFP allowing users to share pictures through social media networks.

Camera makers say growth areas include emerging economies-where many own neither a camera nor a smartphone-along with replacement demand among compact-camera owners.

And the fall-off in demand has not been as stark for the pricier detachable lens cameras favoured by avid photographers and growing ranks of camera-buff retirees, particularly in rap-

spokesman said. “We believe there are many people who need compact cameras,” he added.

Mizuho analyst Kurahashi acknowledged that compact cameras “will not disappear”.

“But we see the current trend continuing as image quality in smartphone cameras steadily improves,” he said. “The compact camera market is going to keep shrinking and it’s difficult to forecast any immediate comeback, or have any optimism.” — AFP

Toshiba unveils dog-like robot for Fukushima plant YOKOHAMA: Japanese nuclear reactor maker Toshiba yesterday unveiled a remote-controlled robot resembling a headless dog that they hope will be used at the battered Fukushima power plant. The tetrapod, which weighs 65 kilograms (143 pounds) and is about one metre (3 foot, four inches) tall, is designed to be able to cover difficult terrain-such as going up steep steps-that regular robots struggle with.

The robot’s triple-jointed legs are designed to give it maximum flexibility, with engineers saying it will be able to go into spaces where high radiation makes it impossible for workers to do so. The robot can carry a load of 20 kilograms and is equipped with cameras and a radiation meter, expected to help workers decide which parts of buildings are safe to enter and for how long.

The machine can also carry a small wired vehicle equipped with a camera and send it out to crawl into small spaces to carry out inspections. Toshiba engineer Goro Yanase said the as-yet unnamed robot could be upgraded to carry more than 80 kilograms, climb ladders and step over obstacles up to 50 centimetres (20 inches) high.

Robots have already been used inside the wrecked plant to take video footage, including the US-made PackBot and Japanese-made Quince crawler robots, but Toshiba is awaiting the go ahead from plant operator TEPCO to deploy its creation.—AFP

TOKYO: Toshiba Corp.’s nuclear inspection robot breaks down as its staff look on during a demonstration at a Toshiba factory in Yokohama, west of Tokyo, yesterday. The four-legged robot is designed to help at the meltdown-crippled Japanese nuclear plant, climbing over debris and venturing into radiated areas off-limits to human workers. The robot took a jerky misstep during a demonstration to reporters, freezing with one leg up in the air. It had to be lifted by several people and rebooted. — AP

28

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2012

health & science

Heart attacks more common among the unemployed: Study DURHAM: People who have recently lost their jobs are more likely to suffer a heart attack than their employed peers, in some cases running a risk as high as 35 percent, according to a US study.

Researchers, whose results appeared in the Archives of Internal Medicine, found that each successive job loss was tied to a higher chance of heart problems among more than 13,000 older adults, although it’s not clear how unemployment itself might have caused the extra heart attacks.

A combination of stress, worsening lifestyle and poor management of chronic conditions without health

insurance may be to blame, said Matthew Dupre, the lead researcher from the Duke Clinical Research Institute in Durham, North Carolina.

“Those without a job may be unable to control their high blood pressure or to manage their diabetes (with their usual medication), or rates of smoking may be exacerbated,” Dupre told Reuters Health.

But it’s still too early to know for sure what’s behind the link, he said, which means it’s also too early to recommend ways to ward off heart problems among the recently-employed.

The data came from a large US study of 13,451 adults who were interviewed

every other year, for an average of 12 years, about their health, lifestyle and life events such as employment and job loss.

The study participants were 55 years old at the onset, on average, and twothirds of them were overweight or obese. One in seven people was initially unemployed. During the research period, 1,061 of the participants almost eight percent - had a heart attack.

Dupre’s team found that the more times people had been let go leading up to the latest survey, the higher their chance of having a heart attack.

Unemployment was still linked to a 35

percent increased risk of heart attack after the researchers had accounted for the effects of poverty and education, as well as race, age and other heart risks.

“We weren’t surprised to find the association, but we were surprised to find that the effects were so large, on par with classic risk factors such as hypertension and diabetes,” Dupre said. “The associations are strong, and they remain despite accounting for a whole host of possible explanations.”

People were especially likely to have a heart attack during their first year of being out of work, they reported.

Dupre said people who have recent-

ly lost their jobs, as well as the doctors who treat them, should be aware of these added heart risks and be extra vigilant about the signs and symptoms of a heart attack.

The author of a commentary that appeared with the study said more research is needed to understand the link and who may be most at risk.

Studies have shown “a fairly convincing relationship between job loss and adverse health,” said William Gallo, from City University of New York.

“Egregiously absent is research on why and how a socioeconomic exposure, such as job loss, influences health.” —Reuters

HHS details overhaul rules and required benefits Health insurance plans to cover prescription drugs WASHINGTON: The Obama administration has strengthened the prescription drug coverage that will be available to the millions of people who will get insurance through the nation’s new health care overhaul starting late next year.

The increase in prescription benefits was part of a long-awaited package of rules to implement the law formally announced on Tuesday by the Health and Human Services Department. The government laid out minimum requirements for health insurance coverage and banned denying coverage to people with pre-existing health problems.

The new rules, once made final, will govern the operation of new health insurance marketplaces, called exchanges, that will debut in 2014. Having the federal government set minimum standards for what health insurance must cover is a departure from normal practice. Usually, insurance companies, their state regulators and employers play that role. But the Affordable Care Act requires that Washington establish a baseline for minimum coverage, and HHS said last December that it would include inpatient and outpatient care, emergency services, maternity and childhood care, prescription drugs, preventive screenings and lab work.

It must also cover mental health and substance abuse treatment, as well as rehabilitation for physical and cognitive disorders, and

dental and vision care for children. Such additional benefits are often not fully covered by frugal plans that are now the best that many small businesses can afford.

Many of the details the administration released on Tuesday had been previously announced, but Dan Mendelson, CEO of the market analysis firm Avalere Health, saw one key change: Health insurance plans will now have to cover the same number of prescription drugs as the benchmark plan in their states. That basically means there will be a higher number of prescription drugs covered in each class, such as antipsychotics or antidepressants, than had previously been required.

“It’s going to dramatically increase access to pharmaceuticals in the exchanges,” Mendelson said. “It’s a big deal. This makes the exchange offerings more consistent with what employers offer.”

The administration also laid out more details behind previously announced rules that govern how insurers cover people. The rules prevent insurers from denying coverage to someone because he or she has a pre-existing or chronic condition, and they also limit how much insurers can vary premiums by age.

Starting in 2014, the overhaul will expand coverage to millions of people in part by offering tax credits that help them buy cover-

age on the exchanges. Enrollment for plans sold on the exchanges will start next October, and HHS officials said Tuesday they were confident the exchanges and the coverage sold on them will be ready.

“Now that the law is here to stay, I’m hopeful that states and other partners will continue to work with us to implement the law,” ealth and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said.

The latest update from the administration seems to be keeping “with the spirit of providing comprehensive benefits at an affordable price,” said Neil Trautwein, a vice president of the National Retail Federation, a business group whose members will be heavily affected by the law.

“Of course, the proof is in the price tag of the policy,” he said, noting that it’s still unclear how the required benefits will affect premiums. HHS and the Labor Department issued the proposed rules and will take feedback or comments on them for the next 30 days. After that, the government will issue the final rules.

Mendelson said the Obama administration is filling in details of the law that will help insurers and government officials plan for the coverage expansions. “The administration has to get specific about what the rules of the road are going to be for 2014,” he said. “What they’re doing now is coming out with all those details.” —AP

Big disappointment in brain injury treatment study

BRUSSELS: In this photo taken on November 13, 2012 Maltese Commissioner-designate for Health and Consumer Policy Tonio Borg looks at papers at the EU headquarters in Brussels following a hearing. Former Maltese foreign minister Tonio Borg was appointed yesterday the European Union’s new health commissioner after a vote in the European parliament. —AFP

Online medical records may not improve efficiency NEW YORK: People who had access to their medical records online also came into their doctor ’s office for more appointments and used the emergency room more often than those who didn’t log on, according to a US study.

That contradicts one theory supporting online access to health records, which says that if patients can look up their test results and put in for prescription refills online, they’ll make fewer unnecessary trips or calls to the office, saving both time and money.

The new report, which appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association, questions whether online records always make care more efficient.

“I strongly believe that patients are going to find this very helpful and that it will be possible to use the personal health record in ways that do improve efficiency,” said David Bates, from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, who co-wrote an editorial accompanying the study.

Researchers from Kaiser Permanente Colorado in Denver compared 44,321 health plan members who had access to their medical records and could email their doctors to an equal number who didn’t use the online system. The patients in each group were matched for age, gender, race and chronic diseases.

The researchers found that patient visits and calls tended to go up in the year after people started using the electronic records. But for those in the no-access group, measures of health care use typically declined or stayed constant compared to the year before.

Online users went to the doctor’s office an average 0.7 extra times each

over the year and called an extra 0.3 times each, versus non-users. Their rate of after-hours clinic visits, ER trips and hospitalizations also rose in comparison, by an extra 11 to 20 visits and stays for every 1,000 patients a year.

If the same findings applied to a small group practice, a doctor with 1,000 patients who started using online records would have close to 10 extra clinic visits each week, according to Ted Palen from the Institute for Health Research at Kaiser Permanente Colorado and his colleagues.

The researchers said there are a few possible explanations for the “surprising” findings. It’s possible that online access allowed people to identify more health concerns, for example, or that the type of patients who sign up for online access are also the ones who are more likely to use in-person health services.

“Our findings suggest that the relationship between online access and utilization is more complex than the simple substitution of online for in-person care suggested by earlier studies,” Palen’s team wrote.

Bates said the key to making health care more efficient using online records may be building in tools specifically designed for people with chronic diseases.

For example, one function could allow people with hypertension to regularly enter their blood pressure online after measuring it at home. If it’s too high, they would be contacted by the system or their doctor - which could eliminate the need for those patients to come into the office regularly to have their blood pressure checked. —Reuters

CHICAGO: The hunt for brain injury treatments has suffered a big disappointment in a major study that found zero benefits from a supplement that the US military had hoped would help wounded troops.

The supplement is marketed as a memory booster online and in over-the-counter powders and drinks. It is also widely used by doctors in dozens of countries to treat traumatic brain injuries and strokes, although evidence on whether it works has been mixed.

US scientists had high hopes that in large doses it would help speed recovery in patients with brain injuries from car crashes, falls, sports accidents and other causes. But in the most rigorous test yet, citicoline (see-tee-KOH’-leen) worked no better than dummy treatments at reducing forgetfulness, attention problems, difficulty concentrating and other symptoms.

“We very much were disappointed,” said Dr. Ross Zafonte, the lead author and a traumatic brain injury expert at Harvard Medical School. “We took a therapy that is utilized worldwide and we found that at least its present use should be called into question.”

The study involved 1,213 patients aged 18 and older hospitalized at eight US trauma centers. They had mild to severe traumatic brain injuries - blows to the head resulting in symptoms ranging from dizziness to loss of consciousness and with complications including brain bleeding or other damage.

Half of the patients received citicoline - also known as CDP choline - in pills or in liquid within 24 hours of being injured.

The dose of 2,000 milligrams was much higher than used in over-the-counter products and it was given daily for three months. The rest got a dummy treatment, and all were followed for six months.

Most patients improved on measures of memory, learning and other mental functions, but those on the supplement fared no better than those given dummy treatment. That suggests their improvement was due to the normal healing process.

A total of 73 patients died during the study, about equal numbers in both groups. Zafonte noted that citicoline patients with the mildest injuries did slightly worse than those who’d been given dummy treatments. Those results could have been due to chance, but he said they only reinforce the conclusion that the supplement should not be used for traumatic brain injuries.

The study appears in Wednesday’s Journal of the American Medical Association. More than 1 million Americans suffer traumatic brain injuries each year and 53,000 die. Military data show more than 250,000 cases have occurred in service members since 2000, many during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

There is no effective treatment for these injuries. “The military would have been overjoyed if this had been the one,” said Dr. Robert Ruff, co-author of a journal editorial and neurology chief at the Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center. The study results imply that a single drug alone won’t be sufficient to help these patients improve, he said.

Citicoline is a naturally occurring brain compound made of choline, a chemical needed to build brain cells. Choline is found in some foods including beef liver, eggs and wheat germ. Commercial versions of choline and citicoline are both sold as diet supplements.

Lab studies in animals had suggested that high doses of citicoline could help speed recovery from brain injuries, with almost no side effects. Several studies in humans examined citicoline as a possible treatment for strokes but had mixed results. Still, it is widely used in Europe and Japan to treat strokes and brain injuries. The product used in the study is made by the Spanish pharmaceutical company Ferrer Grupo, which makes prescription-grade citicoline. —AP

MANILA: Cigaratte vendor Alex Santiago waits for customers on a street in Manila yesterday. The Philippines has moved closer to raising tobacco and alcohol taxes, the government said yesterday after the Senate passed a bill aimed at weaning millions of smokers off the habit. —AFP

Philippines closer to tobacco tax hike MANILA: The Philippines has moved closer to raising tobacco and alcohol taxes, the government said yesterday after the Senate passed a bill aimed at weaning millions of smokers off the habit. The Senate late Tuesday passed a bill that would raise 40 billion pesos (nearly $1 billion) in “sin taxes” each year, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said in a statement.

It “also provides moderate tax increases to protect the young and the poor from the ill effects of smoking and excessive drinking”, he added. Under the proposed law, cigarette excise taxes would be gradually raised to 26 pesos (63 US cents) per pack by 2016, close to the 60 percent tax level recommended by the World Health Organization and the World Bank, he added.

The House of Representatives must pass its own version of the bill, now under deliberation, before a compromise measure integrating the Senate and House bills can be signed into law by President Benigno Aquino, himself a smoker.

Filipinos are among the heaviest smokers in Southeast Asia with nearly one in five of its citizens smoking an average of around 15 cigarettes per day, according to the department of health.

A state briefing paper said this was partly due to the very low taxes on cigarettes, which sell at an average of 27.72 pesos a pack-the lowest in the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Raising tobacco taxes by 10 percent would reduce the number of Filipino smokers by two million within four years and cut smoking-related deaths, it added.

The Senate bill would also bring Philippine taxation on distilled spirits into line with World Trade Organization rules, raising the excise tax on most distilled spirits by around 50 percent by 2015.

Last year in a complaint filed by the United States, the WTO found the Philippines’ lower taxes on some domestically produced spirits had violated the

General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.

Meanwhile, in Atlanta , travelers who pass through the five major US airports that still allow indoor smoking in designated public rooms face a hidden health hazard, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

A study by the federal health agency found that secondhand smoke levels directly outside public smoking areas were five times higher than the levels in smokefree airports.

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International, Washington Dulles International, McCarran International in Las Vegas, Denver International and Salt Lake City International are the only five of the nation’s 29 largest airports that still have indoor smoking areas accessible to the general public, the CDC said.

The five account for 15 percent of all US air travel, the agency said. “The findings in today’s report further confirm that ventilated smoking rooms and designated smoking areas are not effective,” said Dr. Tim McAfee, director of the CDC Office on Smoking and Health. “Prohibiting smoking in all indoor areas is the only effective way to fully eliminate exposure to secondhand smoke.”

Secondhand smoke causes heart disease and lung cancer in non-smoking adults, and even brief exposure to secondhand smoke can cause a heart attack, the CDC said.

The CDC tests, conducted between Oct. 19 and Nov. 1, measured markers for secondhand smoke. Pollution levels found slightly more than 3 feet (1 metre) outside the smoking rooms were five times higher than in four major smoke-free airports used for comparison, the CDC said.

“Airport smoking areas and the areas around them are not healthy - for workers or travelers, particularly children,” Brian King, a CDC epidemiologist and co-author of the report, said in a statement. —Agencies

LOS ANGELES: In this Thursday, May 6, 2010 file photo, a radiologist uses a magnifying glass to check mammograms for breast cancer in Los Angeles. There’s more disappointing evidence that breast cancer screening is not as helpful as many women believe. A big US study shows that mammograms have done surprisingly little to catch deadly cancers before they spread. At the same time, they have led more than a million women to be treated for growths that never would have threatened their lives. —AP

29

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2012

health & science

OB/GYNs back over-the-counter birth control pills WASHINGTON: No prescription or doctor’s exam needed: The nation’s largest group of obstetricians and gynecologists says birth control pills should be sold over the counter, like condoms.

Tuesday’s surprise opinion from these gatekeepers of contraception could boost longtime efforts by women’s advocates to make the pill more accessible.

But no one expects the pill to be sold without a prescription any time soon: A company would have to seek government permission first, and it’s not clear if any are considering it. Plus there are big questions about what such a move would mean for many women’s wallets if it were no longer covered by insurance. Still, momentum may be building. Already, anyone 17 or older doesn’t need to see a doctor before buying the morning-after pill a higher-dose version of regular birth control that can prevent pregnancy if taken shortly after unprotected sex. Earlier this year, the Food and Drug Administration held a meeting to gather ideas about how to sell regular oral contraceptives without a prescription, too.

Now the influential American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists is declaring it’s safe to sell the pill that way. Wait, why would doctors who make money from women’s yearly visits for a birth-control prescription advocate giving that up?

Half of the nation’s pregnancies every year are unintended, a rate that hasn’t changed in 20 years - and easier access to birth control pills could help, said Dr. Kavita Nanda, an OB/GYN who co-authored the opinion for the doctors group.

“It’s unfortunate that in this country where we have all these contraceptive methods available, unintended pregnancy is still a major public health problem,” said Nanda, a scientist with the North Carolina nonprofit FHI 360,

formerly known as Family Health International.

Many women have trouble affording a doctor’s visit, or getting an appointment in time when their pills are running low - which can lead to skipped doses, Nanda added. If the pill didn’t require a prescription, women could “pick it up in the middle of the night if they run out,” she said. “It removes those types of barriers.”

Tuesday, the FDA said it was willing to meet with any company interested in making the pill nonprescription, to discuss what if any studies would be needed. Then there’s the price question. The Obama administration’s new health care law requires FDA-approved contraceptives to be available without copays for women enrolled in most workplace health plans.

If the pill were sold without a prescription, it wouldn’t be covered under that provision, just as condoms aren’t, said Health and Human Services spokesman Tait Sye. ACOG’s opinion, published in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology, says any move toward making the pill nonprescription should address that cost issue. Not all women are eligible for the free birth control provision, it noted, citing a recent survey that found young women and the uninsured pay an average of $16 per month’s supply.

The doctors group made clear that: Birth control pills are very safe. Blood clots, the main serious side effect, happen very rarely, and are a bigger threat during pregnancy and right after giving birth. Women can easily tell if they have risk factors, such as smoking or having a previous clot, and should avoid the pill.

Other over-the-counter drugs are sold despite rare but serious side effects, such as stomach bleeding from aspirin and liver damage from acetaminophen. And there’s no need for a Pap smear or pelvic exam before using birth control pills. But women should

be told to continue getting check-ups as needed, or if they’d like to discuss other forms of birth control such as implantable contraceptives that do require a physician’s involvement.

The group didn’t address teen use of contraception. Despite protests from reproductive health specialists, current US policy requires girls younger than 17 to produce a prescription for the morning-after pill, meaning pharmacists must check customers’ ages. Presumably regular birth control pills would be treated the same way.

Prescription-only oral contraceptives have long been the rule in the US, Canada, Western Europe, Australia and a few other places, but many countries don’t require a prescription. Switching isn’t a new idea. In Washington state a few years ago, a pilot project concluded that pharmacists successfully supplied women with a variety of hormonal contraceptives, including birth control pills, without a doctor’s involvement. The question was how to pay for it. Some pharmacies in parts of London have a similar project under way, and a recent report from that country’s health officials concluded the program is working well enough that it should be expanded.

And in El Paso, Texas, researchers studied 500 women who regularly crossed the border into Mexico to buy birth control pills, where some U.S. brands sell over the counter for a few dollars a pack. Over nine months, the women who bought in Mexico stuck with their contraception better than another 500 women who received the pill from public clinics in El Paso, possibly because the clinic users had to wait for appointments, said Dr. Dan Grossman of the University of California, San Francisco, and the nonprofit research group Ibis Reproductive Health. “Being able to easily get the pill when you need it makes a difference,” he said. —AP

SAINT-MARTIN-SOUS-MONTAIGU: A winemaker shows biodynamic preparation which he will mix with rain water to spray on his vineyards in Saint-Martin-sous-Montaigu on November 12, 2012.

Biodynamics relies on a series of preparations based in mineral, plant and animal substance and the recognition of the link between plant growth and the rhythms of the cosmos. —AFP

New body scanner offers virtual tape measure for online shopping LONDON: British researchers have come up with a new body scanning device that gives accurate measurements and could boost online clothes shopping. Shoppers are still nervous about ordering clothes online because they often do not fit and, some say, there will never be a substitute for trying something on one reason why the boom in online retail has not had the same impact on clothing as on music, books and electronics retailing.

In the United States, for instance, the consultancy ComScore estimat-

ed that only 14 percent of online spending went on clothes and accessories in the year to June.

The new scanner is being developed by the London College of Fashion, video imaging researchers at the University of Surrey and the company Bodymetrics. The company already has in-store scanners that use the motion sensors from Microsoft Corp’s Kinect gaming device in Bloomingdale’s (part of Macy’s Inc ) in the United States, Selfridges and New Look in Britain, and Karstadt in Germany.

Some firms, including Berlinbased Upcloud, are already offering home scanners that use a webcam, but the British developers say their system is able to measure in unprecedented detail.

Philip Delamore from the London College of Fashion estimates that 30 to 60 percent of clothes bought online are returned. “It’s common for online shoppers to order two or three different sizes of the same item of clothing at the same time as they’re unsure which one will fit best,” he said. —Reuters

30

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2012

WHAT’S ON

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

W

Greetings

n its continued efforts to provide its students with positive social activities, the Australian College of Kuwait (ACK) held its 1st Food Festival from the 12th - 14th of November at its campus in West Mishref.

On day one, there was a show for football freestyler and World Champion, Andrew Henderson, followed by a free-style student contest that was sponsored by Torino Lamborghini Energy Drink. The ACK student winner, Ebrahim Al-Qallaf, won a fully paid VIP trip to London to attend a match for the holders of the Champions League trophy, Chelsea Football Club.

Day two witnessed a hamburger eating, contest sponsored by Smash Burger Restaurant, whereby contestants competed for the top prize of a Galaxy S3 mobile phone by devouring the largest quantity of burgers in a specified amount of time.

On the final day, a draw was held for a set of prizes presented by ACK to the participants, including items such as a laptop, iPods, iPads and several others.

Participating in ACK’s 1st Food Festival were a number of Kuwait’s famous restaurants, such as Taco Bell, Nestle Toll House, Wasabi, Pizza Hut, Bagel, Eat Smart Restaurant and many more.

I

irthdays are a time to say, we hope you have the greatest day, laugh, smile celebrate with friends may the magical days show no ends!

Happy birthday.

B

Basketball Academy he new Premier Basketball Academy offers coaching and games every Friday and Saturday from 10 am onwards for 6 to 18 year olds, boys and girls. Located in Bayan Block 7, Masjed Al-Aqsa Street by Abdullah Al-Rujaib High School. Free Basketball and Tee Shirts for all participants, with certificates and special awards on completion of each 6 week course. Qualified and experienced British and American Coaches, Everyone Welcome.

T

Arabic courses WARE will begin Winter 1 Arabic language courses with new textbooks and curricula will begin on December 2, 2012 until January 24, 2013.

AWARE Arabic language courses are designed with the expat in mind. The environment is relaxed & courses are designed for those wanting to learn Arabic for travel, cultural understanding, and conducting business or simply to become more involved in the community. For more information or registration, please log-on to our website.

A

Winter 2012 AMIE examination

T

Al-Bayan Bilingual School students get inducted into the National Honor Society l-Bayan Bilingual School, the best educational institution in the State of Kuwait, yesterday held their annual National Honor Society (NHS) induction ceremony at the school’s theater before an appreciative audience of students, family, community members, faculty and administrators.

Eight high school students were selected for membership in the National Honor Society based upon their applications and letters of recommendation that identified their experiences and accomplishments in the areas of scholarship, leadership, character and service.

NHS Supervisor, Mrs. Sadjia Droueche said “Induction of new members into the National Honor Society is one of the most important traditions associated with any NHS chapter and is an important event for the student, the chapter, and the school.

A

Induction in to NHS not only recognizes students for their accomplishments, but challenges them to develop further through active involvement in school activities and community service.”

Following introductory speeches by current NHS members, a video highlighting past achievements and future goals was presented to the audience by current NHS members Rashed Al-Rushaid and Fares Al-Muhtaseb.

Starting off the Lighting of Candles ceremony, current NHS members Jassim AlBahar, Alzain Al-Sabah, Badriya AlRoudan, and Faisal Al-Ayoub each spoke of the four characteristics essential in all NHS members, scholarship, leadership, character, and service.

Guest speaker and professor of political science at Kuwait University Dr. Ghanim Al-Najjar addressed students dur-

ing the ceremony and urged them to pursue their life ambitions with perseverance and determination. Al-Najjar also encouraged them to use their energy on matters that benefit them and their community and praised them on their efforts in volunteer work.

New members Awce Al-Arabi, Mohamed Al-Rashed, Kareem Khodr, Abdullah Al-Sharhan, Basma Al-Sabah, Sarah Al-Humaidhi, Zainab Behbehani, and Jana Al-Munaifi were awarded their inductee certificates by the School Director Mr. Thomas Quinn, High School Principal Jihad Saddedin, NHS Advisor Mrs. Sadjia Droueche, and Guest Speaker Dr. Ghanim Al-Najjar. Once all students received their certificates, the traditional pledge was recited.

NHS Member, Rashed Al-Rushaid said: “The goal of the National Honor Society

is to encourage students to work hard and excel academically, to develop their leadership skills and work well with others, to devote their time and energy to carrying out service projects, and to be exemplary role models in the school community. Our school and community benefit from the projects this group undertakes annually such as tutoring, recycling, visiting students at the AlKharafi Center for children with special needs, and raising funds for diabetes awareness.”

Founded in 1977, Bayan Bilingual School, is a not for profit English Arabic university preparatory institution dedicated to the development of students through academics and character education.

he AMIE Winter 2012 examinations will be held between Dec 01-07, 2012 as follows:

Section A (Diploma) - December 1-4, 2012 Section A (Non-Diploma) - December 1-7, 2012 Section B - December 1-7, 2012 The last date for submission of examination application forms are given hereunder: Candidates not appeared at Summer 2012 Exam: Aug 21 - Sept 21, 2012 Candidates appeared at Summer 2012 Exam: Sept 21 - Oct 19, 2012.

Candidates who intend to appear for the Winter 2012 examination must apply directly to Kolkata by filling the prescribed application form along with requisite amount of demand draft in favour of The Institution of Engineers (India), payable in Kolkata.

Agility introduces Arabic website gility, a leading global logistics provider, launched its Arabic-language website on October 30, to cater to Arabic-speaking customers, partners, and shareholders in the Middle East and North Africa. The website has been designed to allow Arabic speakers convenient access to the latest company news, range of products and services, specialized solutions, and other related business and investor information. “We are a global company that operates in more than 100 countries, but we have strong local roots in the countries in which we operate. This is especially true in the Middle East, where we got our start as a company. Our Arabic website is part of our ongoing commitment to serving our customers in the Middle East and North Africa, and to maintaining open communication with our shareholders and partners,” said Elias Monem, Agility’s CEO for the Middle East and Africa.

With the newly introduced Arabic version, Agility’s website is now available in four languages, including English, French and German.

A

Announcements Feast of St Francis Xavier For the first time “the Church of St Therese of Child Jesus” Salmiya, Kuwait will venerate & honour Goa’s patron saint St Francis Xavier. The St Francis Xavier choir group invites you all for the grand feast mass (in Konkani) on 3rd December 2012 at 7.30 pm. All are invited for the blessed occcasion.

Write to us Send to What’s On upcoming events, birthdays or celebrations by email: local@kuwaittimes.net Fax: 24835619 / 20

Pastcos welcomes PC George hief whip of Government of Kerala PC George MLA by Pastcos (Pala St Thomas College Old Students Association) gave a warm welcome to PC George. Patron Mohan George’, president Binoy, Secretary Thomas and other dignitaries spoke on the occasion.

C

Suhaani Shaam ICS presents ‘Suhaani Shaam’ on 30th November with Raveena Tandon & Jaswinder. Be a part of our new dimensional event with an evening of romantic and popular ghazal along with Punjabi dhamaka in Kuwait at AIS at 7 pm sharp.

Joy of Christmas Christmas is the Season of new beginnings and second chances! Headlines of disease, disaster and death slowly but surely acclimatize us to permanently anticipate the darker side of life. Men’s Voice Kuwait and Choral Society has always carried the message of love, hope and unity, touching the hearts of thousands, regardless of age, creed or religion. Every year we look forward to ring the Christmas season with a night of joyous music. Popular 12-year-old choir draws us to the brighter side with the “The Joy of Christmas” a wonderful Concert on Friday, December 7, 2012 at 7 pm at Carmel School Auditorium, Khaitan.

31

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2012

WHAT’S ON

KidZania Kuwait, KAICO join hands idZania Kuwait, welcomes Kuwait Automotives Imports Company (KAICO), the exclusive distributor of Mobil and Michelin, as its latest marketing partner for the new edutainment center, soon to be opened at The Avenues.

Complementing KidZania’s award-winning concept, KAICO will sponsor the Auto Repair Shop establishment where children will perform safe and exciting car repair activities.

As the sponsor of KidZania Kuwait’s Auto Repair Shop, KAICO, one of Kuwait’s leading automotive and auto products distributors, will provide children with the opportunity to work as the shop’s mechanics and earn kidZos (KidZania’s currency) to perform safe and interactive repair functions on a scaleddown automobile.

KAICO’s Auto Repair Shop will feature internationally renowned brands, Mobil and Michelin, through fun and interactive repair activities, which include changing a tire and replacing mechanical parts. Children will work in groups and discover the many dif-

K

ferent components of a vehicle, how it runs, and ultimately how to resolve problems and work effectively as part of a team.

“We at KAICO are extremely proud to partner with KidZania Kuwait, and feature Michelin and Mobil within the children’s

city,” commented General Manager of KAICO, Ashish Tandon. “Our establishment within the park will demonstrate the many exciting aspects of the auto repair business to Kuwait’s budding youth, which in turn will allow us to communicate with our

future customers in an unprecedented manner. We are truly looking forward to being part of the unique concept of ‘edutainment’ that KidZania offers.”

Commenting on the new partnership, Fernando Medora, Vice President of Leisure & Entertainment at M.H. Alshaya Co., the leading international retail franchise operator, said: “KidZania Kuwait’s marketing partners play a highly pivotal role in transforming their real-life environments into unforgettable and enjoyable learning experiences for children. As a renowned company in Kuwait, we are certain that KAICO’s presence in KidZania Kuwait, along with their brands Mobil and Michelin, will contribute to our efforts in delivering engaging and motivational activities for children.”

Children aged 4-14 will be able to enjoy KAICO’s activities within a realistic setting when KidZania Kuwait launches soon in The Avenues.

GUST students celebrate Philosophy Day he Gulf University for Science and Technology (GUST) students participated in celebrating Philosophy Day under the organization of Dr Thorsten Botz and other faculty members from the Humanities and Social Sciences Department at GUST. The day included guest speakers from the UN, student participation in posters and drawings representing their take on philosophy, philosophy competition and debate as well as a movie screening of the movie Destiny.

Dr. Thorsten Botz, explained that the World Philosophy Day is of global observance and is celebrated all over the world every year on the third Thursday in November. UNESCO introduced this day in 2002 to honor philosophical reflections throughout the world, to open peoples’ minds to new ideas, encourage them to share their philosophical heritage and inspire public debate on society’s challenges. UNESCO’s DirectorGeneral Koichiro Matsuura said in a speech that philosophy gave the grounding to principles and values that shaped the possibility of world peace - democracy, human rights, justice and equality.

As an exercise, some students gave the definitions they deemed fitting for phi-

T

losophy; Kawthar Ahmad chose to answer the question: “What is philosophy?” with “In a broad sense, philosophy is an activity people undertake

each other.” While student Moudi Al-Rakwah, chose: “Philosophy is an academic discipline that exercises reason and logic in an attempt to

different aspects of philosophy including: what is philosophy, depictions of philosophy in cartoons, pop culture and history, philosophers

Philosophy is an open concept where each individual needs to explore the meaning and determine what it means to them, and that is what the

Information EMBASSY OF AUSTRALIA The Australian Embassy Kuwait does not have a visa or immigration department.

All processing of visas and immigration matters in conducted by The Australian Consulate-General in Dubai. Email: info.ausdxb@vfshelpline.com (VFS) immigration.dubai@dfat.gov.au (Visa Office); Tel: +971 4 355 1958 (VFS) - +971 4 508 7200 (Visa Office); Fax: +971 4 355 0708 (Visa Office).

In Kuwait applications can be lodged at the Australian Visa Application Centre 4B 1st Floor, Al-Banwan Building Al-Qibla Area, Ali Al-Salem Street, opposite the Central Bank of Kuwait, Kuwait City, Kuwait. Working hours and days: 09:30 - 17:30; Sunday - Thursday. Or visit their website www.vfs-au-gcc-com for more information. Kuwait citizens can apply for tourist visas on-line at www.immi.gov.au/e visa/e676.htm.

■■■■■■■

EMBASSY OF CANADA The Canadian Embassy in Kuwait does not have a visa or immigration department. All processing of visa and immigration matters including enquiries is conducted by the Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi, UAE Individuals who are interested in working, studying, visiting or immigrating to Canada should contact the Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi, website: www.UAE.gc.ca or www.goingtocanada.gc.ca, E-mail: abdbi-im-enquiry@international.gc.ca. The Embassy of Canada is located at Villa 24, Al-Mutawakei St, Block 4 in Da’aiyah. Please visit our website at www.Kuwait.gc.ca. The Embassy of Canada is open from 7:30 to 15:30 Sunday through Thursday. The reception is closed for lunch from 12:30 to 13:00. Consular services for Canadian citizens are provided from 09:00 until 12:00, Sunday through Wednesday.

■■■■■■■

when they seek to understand fundamental truths about themselves , the world they live in and their relationships to the world and to

understand reality and answer fundamental questions about knowledge, life, morality, and human nature.

The student booths tackled

from around the world including: Arabs, Africans, South Americans and Japanese, as well as ethics in philosophy.

day is about; opening your mind to ideas and new perspectives.

Bhavans Kuwait conducts Ruth memorial painting competition nder the aegis of the vibrant Art Department, Prize Distribution Ceremony of the third ‘Ruth Memorial Painting Competition’ was held in the IES auditorium.

Ruth Memorial Painting Contest, sponsored by the parents of late Ruth and organized by the Art Department of the school is held every year in the school to commemorate Ruth Chacko, a prodigious painter par excellence who left for her heavenly abode leaving behind a trail of undying poignant memories in the hearts of her friends as well as her teachers.

The Prize Distribution ceremony began with the recitation of the verses from the Holy Quran. The audience comprising the teachers as well as the batch mates of late Ruth was left misty eyed when Nanda Shajan, a friend of late Ruth recited an elegy for the departed. The memento and cash prize for the first, second and third prize winners for the five categories were given away by the chief guest Chacko, father of late Ruth and the Chairman

U

Embassy

N.K Ramachandran Menon.

Mr Chacko addressed the gathering after the Prize Distribution Ceremony.

T. Premkumar, the principal of Indian Educational School, Kuwait congratulated the prize winners. He

painters and artists of the school. He thanked the parents of late Ruth for instituting this annual award that pro-

EMBASSY OF CYPRUS In its capacity as EU Local Presidency in the State of Kuwait, the Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus, on behalf of the Member States of the EU and associated States participating in the Schengen cooperation, would like to announce that as from 2nd October 2012 all Schengen States’ Consulates in Kuwait will use the Visa Information System (VIS). The VIS is a central database for the exchange of data on short-stay (up to three months) visas between Schengen States. The main objectives of the VIS are to facilitate visa application procedures and checks at external border as well as to enhance security. The VIS will contain all the Schengen visa applications lodged by an applicant over five years and the decisions taken by any Schengen State’s consulate. This will allow applicants to establish more easily the lawful use of previous visas and their bona fide status. For the purpose of the VIS, applicants will be required to provide their biometric data (fingerprints and digital photos) when applying for a Schengen visa. It is a simple and discreet procedure that only takes a few minutes. Biometric data, along with the data provided in the Schengen visa application form, will be recorded in the VIS central database. Therefore, as from 2nd October 2012, first-time applicants will have to appear in person when lodging the application, in order to provide their fingerprints. For subsequent applications within 5 years the fingerprints can be copied from the previous application file in the VIS. The Cypriot Presidency would like to assure the people of Kuwait and all its permanent citizens that the Member States and associated States participating in the Schengen cooperation, have taken all necessary technical measures to facilitate the rapid examination and the efficient processing of visa applications and to ensure a quick and discreet procedure for the implementation of the new VIS. ■■■■■■■

EMBASSY OF INDIA The Embassy of India will remain closed on Nov 25, 2012 - Sunday on account of Muharram.

Due to maintenance work being done in Sharq area by the Ministry of Electricity on Tuesday, November 27, 2012, BLS International Sharq Branch will remain closed between 08:00 Hrs and 11:30 Hrs. The working hours on 27-11-2012 will be from 16:00 Hrs to 19:30 Hrs. Fahaheel Branch will remain open during regular working hours 08:00 - 11:30 and 16:00- 19:30.

On the birthday of dear Ruth, the poignant father reminded the children of their duties towards their parents, teachers and the society.

thanked the Art Department of IES for organizing an unparalleled painting competition to memorialize late Ruth and also to inspire the budding

duces better artists year after year in the school.

■■■■■■■

EMBASSY OF LEBANON Due to exceptional circumstances Lebanon is going through currently, a mass celebration that was planned on Wednesday, Nov 14, 2012 at the Lebanese Embassy’s garden has been called off. Ambassador of Lebanon to Kuwait Dr Bassam Al-Nu’mani welcomes well wishers on the occasion of Independence Day at his residence tomorrow, Nov 22, 2012 between 9:00 am and 1:00 pm.

■■■■■■■

Kulaura Eid reunion event n November 9, Kulaura Social Welfare Organization, arrange Eid reunion event. The meeting was presided by Shaikh Nizamur Rahman Tipu, General Secretary of the committee poet Md. Abdus Salam. Chief guest was Md. Sayful Alom, special guest M.A Rahman (Buru), Md. Mujubur Rahman (Sufi), Abdul Malik, Nazrul Islam, RTV representative Jalal Uddin, Daily Yead reporter Rana, and poet Helal, Liton attended the meeting.

O

EMBASSY OF UKRAINE The Embassy of Ukraine in the State of Kuwait would like to remind that the external polling station No 90046 was created in the Embassy’s premises at the following address: Hawalli, Jabriya, bl.10, str. 6, build. 5. The working hours of the polling station: Sunday from 13.00 to 17.00 pm; Monday from 13.00 to 17.00 pm; Tuesday from 13.00 to 17.00 pm; Wednesday from 13.00 to 17.00 pm; Thursday from 13.00 to 17.00 pm; Friday from 10.00 to 13.00 pm; Saturday from 10.00 to 13.00 pm On October 28, 2012 the working hours of the polling station from 8.00 am to 20.00 pm. Please be advised to refer to the Embassy to check your data in the Electoral Register as well as to pick up your personal invitation from the polling station if you did not receive this document by post.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2012

TV PROGRAMS

00:50 01:45 02:35 03:25 04:15 05:05 05:55 Baker 06:20 06:45 07:10 07:35 08:00 08:25 09:15 10:10 11:05 12:00 12:55 13:50 14:15 14:45 15:40 16:35 17:00 17:30 18:25 18:50 19:20 20:15 20:40 21:10 Baker 21:35 22:05 23:00 23:55

Animal Cops South Africa Feeding Off Nature’s Giant Untamed & Uncut Galapagos Mutant Planet Wildest Arctic Deep Into The Wild With Nick Orangutan Island RSPCA: On The Frontline RSPCA: On The Frontline Wildlife SOS Monkey Life The Jeff Corwin Experience Dogs 101 Too Cute!

Wildest Arctic Wildlife SOS Gator Boys Wildlife SOS E-Vets: The Interns Animal Cops Philadelphia Wildest Arctic Orangutan Island The Really Wild Show Dogs/Cats/Pets 101 Bondi Vet Bondi Vet Dogs 101 Monkey Life E-Vets: The Interns Deep Into The Wild With Nick Going Ape Wildest Arctic Wild Animal Repo Into The Pride

23:50 Animal Cops Houston 00:00 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 00:45 Come Dine With Me 01:35 Antiques Roadshow 02:25 Baby Borrowers USA 03:10 Baby Borrowers USA 03:55 The Restaurant UK 04:50 House Swap 05:40 Saturday Kitchen 06:05 The Restaurant UK 06:55 House Swap 07:40 Saturday Kitchen 08:10 MasterChef Australia 09:00 MasterChef Australia 09:25 Baby Borrowers USA 10:10 Baby Borrowers USA 10:55 Bargain Hunt 11:40 Antiques Roadshow 12:30 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 13:15 Come Dine With Me 14:05 Baking Made Easy 14:35 Baking Mad With Eric Lanlard 15:00 Baking Mad With Eric Lanlard 15:20 The Hairy Bakers 15:50 Bargain Hunt 16:35 Antiques Roadshow 17:30 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 18:10 Come Dine With Me 19:00 Glamour Puds 19:30 Glamour Puds 20:00 Rhodes Across Italy 20:45 Come Dine With Me 21:40 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 22:20 Antiques Roadshow 23:15 Bargain Hunt EditionEdition 00:15 Dynamo: Magician Impossible 01:10 Mythbusters 02:05 Mythbusters 03:00 Mythbusters 03:55 Border Security 04:20 Scrappers 04:50 Auction Kings 05:15 How Stuff’s Made 05:40 How It’s Made 06:05 Robson Green’s Extreme Fishing Challenge 07:00 Wheeler Dealers 07:50 Mythbusters 08:45 Ultimate Survival 09:40 Border Security 10:05 Scrappers 10:30 How Stuff’s Made 10:55 How It’s Made 11:25 Dynamo: Magician Impossible 12:20 Mythbusters 13:15 Mythbusters 14:10 Border Security 14:35 Scrappers 15:05 Auction Kings 15:30 Ultimate Survival 16:25 Wheeler Dealers 17:20 Hillbilly Handfishin’ 18:15 Mythbusters 19:10 How Stuff’s Made 19:40 How It’s Made 20:05 Border Security 20:35 Scrappers 21:00 Auction Kings 21:30 American Guns 22:25 Behind Bars 23:20 Chris Ryan’s Elite Police 23:20 Surviving Disaster 00:40 The Gadget Show 01:05 How Tech Works 01:35 Colony 02:25 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 03:15 Mega World 04:05 Weird Connections 04:35 Colony 05:25 Prototype This 06:15 The Gadget Show 06:40 How Tech Works 07:05 How The Universe Works 08:00 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 08:50 How Do They Do It? 09:15 How Do They Do It? 09:40 Head Rush 09:43 Things That Move 10:10 How Stuff’s Made 10:40 How The Universe Works 11:30 The Gadget Show 11:55 How Tech Works 12:20 Mega World 13:10 Prototype This 14:00 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 14:50 Sport Science 15:45 How Do They Do It? 16:10 How Do They Do It? 16:35 Weird Connections 17:00 Head Rush 17:03 Things That Move 17:30 How Stuff’s Made 18:00 The Gadget Show 18:25 How Tech Works 18:50 Mega World 19:40 How The Universe Works 20:30 Weird Or What?

21:20 Prototype This 22:10 The Gadget Show 22:35 The Tech Show 23:00 Weird Or What?

23:50 How The Universe Works

00:20 Little Einsteins 00:50 Special Agent Oso 01:15 Lazytown 01:40 Jungle Junction 01:55 Jungle Junction 02:10 Handy Manny 02:30 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 02:55 Winnie The Pooh: Tales Of Friendship 03:00 Lazytown 03:25 Special Agent Oso 03:50 Imagination Movers 04:20 Handy Manny 04:40 Special Agent Oso 05:00 Timmy Time 05:10 Lazytown 05:35 Little Einsteins 06:00 Jungle Junction 06:15 Jungle Junction 06:30 Little Einsteins 06:50 Special Agent Oso 07:00 Special Agent Oso 07:15 Jungle Junction 07:30 Jungle Junction 07:45 Handy Manny 08:00 Special Agent Oso 08:15 Little Einsteins 08:45 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 09:10 The Hive 09:20 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 09:35 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 09:50 Handy Manny 10:05 The Hive 10:15 Animated Stories 10:20 Mouk 10:30 Mouk 10:45 The Hive 10:55 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 11:20 New Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 11:45 Art Attack 12:10 Imagination Movers 12:35 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 13:00 Winnie The Pooh: Tales Of Friendship 13:10 Handy Manny 13:25 Jungle Junction 13:40 Imagination Movers 14:05 The Hive 14:15 Special Agent Oso 14:30 Lazytown 14:55 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 15:20 New Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 15:45 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 16:00 Mouk 16:15 The Hive 16:25 Art Attack 16:50 Doc McStuffins 17:05 Art Attack 17:30 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 17:45 Art Attack 18:10 Mouk 18:25 Mouk 18:40 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 18:55 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 19:10 The Hive 19:20 Handy Manny 19:35 New Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 20:00 Animated Stories 20:05 Timmy Time 20:20 Winnie The Pooh: Tales Of Friendship 20:25 Doc McStuffins 20:40 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 20:55 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 21:10 The Hive 21:20 Timmy Time 21:30 Mouk 21:45 Handy Manny 22:00 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 22:25 The Hive 22:35 New Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 23:00 Timmy Time 23:10 Animated Stories 23:15 A Poem Is...

23:20 Winnie The Pooh: Tales Of Friendship 23:30 Jungle Junction 23:45 Handy Manny 23:55 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse ecial Agent Oso 23:50 Lazytown 00:30 01:25 01:50 02:20 03:15 04:10 05:05 06:00 06:55 08:00 08:25 08:55 09:20 09:50 10:15 10:45 11:40 12:05 12:35 13:30 14:25 15:20 16:15 16:40 17:10 17:35 18:05 18:30 19:00 19:55 20:50 21:45 22:40 23:35

M1 Challenge Fantasy Factory Fantasy Factory Pro Bull Riders 2011 World Combat League Enfusion Monster Jam M1 Challenge Pro Bull Riders 2011 Ride Guide Snow 2009 Ride Guide Snow 2009 X Games Heroes X Games Heroes Ticket To Ride – 5 2012 Ticket To Ride – 5 2012 AMA Motocross 2011 Fantasy Factory Fantasy Factory Pro Bull Riders 2011 Mantracker Danger Men World Combat League Fantasy Factory Fantasy Factory X Games Heroes X Games Heroes Ticket To Ride – 5 2012 Ticket To Ride – 5 2012 Mantracker Pro Bull Riders 2011 Danger Men World Combat League Monster Jam Enfusion

00:15 Have Cake, Will Travel 00:40 Guy’s Big Bite 01:05 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 01:30 Heat Seekers 01:55 Charly’s Cake Angels 02:20 Charly’s Cake Angels 02:45 Unique Sweets 03:10 Unique Sweets 03:35 Have Cake, Will Travel 04:00 Have Cake, Will Travel 04:25 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 04:50 Heat Seekers 05:15 Guy’s Big Bite 05:40 Grill It! With Bobby Flay 06:05 Unwrapped 06:30 Iron Chef America 07:10 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 07:35 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 08:00 Food Network Challenge 08:50 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 09:15 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 09:40 Healthy Appetite With Ellie Krieger 10:05 Healthy Appetite With Ellie Krieger 10:30 Kelsey’s Essentials 10:55 Cooking For Real 11:20 Cooking For Real 11:45 Food Crafters

12:10 12:35 13:00 13:50 14:15 14:40 Basics 15:05 Basics 15:30 15:55 16:20 16:45 17:35 Basics 18:00 Basics 18:25 18:50 19:15 19:40 20:05 20:30 21:20 22:10 23:00 23:50

00:15 00:45 01:40 02:05 02:35 03:00 03:30 03:55 04:25 05:20 05:45 06:15 06:40 07:10 07:35 08:05 09:00 09:25 09:55 10:20 10:50 11:15 11:45 12:40 13:05 13:35 14:00 14:30 14:55 15:25 16:20 16:45 17:15 17:40 18:10 18:35 19:05 20:00 20:30 21:00 21:30 22:00 22:25 22:55 23:20 23:50

Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Iron Chef America Special Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Cooking For Real Barefoot Contessa - Back To Barefoot Contessa - Back To Food Crafters Unique Eats Unique Eats Chopped Barefoot Contessa - Back To Barefoot Contessa - Back To Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Heat Seekers Guy’s Big Bite Unique Eats Unique Eats Chopped Iron Chef America Special Food Network Challenge Food Network Challenge Food Network Challenge

Pressure Cook Long Way Down Bondi Rescue Bondi Rescue Bondi Rescue Bondi Rescue Danger Beach Into The Drink Perilous Journeys Danger Beach Danger Beach David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 2 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 2 Pressure Cook Pressure Cook Long Way Down Bondi Rescue Bondi Rescue Bondi Rescue Bondi Rescue Danger Beach Into The Drink Perilous Journeys Into The Drink Into The Drink David Rocco‚Äôs Dolce Vita 3 David Rocco‚Äôs Dolce Vita 3 Pressure Cook Pressure Cook Long Way Down Bondi Rescue Bondi Rescue Bondi Rescue Bondi Rescue Danger Beach Into The Drink Perilous Journeys Pressure Cook Pressure Cook David Rocco‚Äôs Dolce Vita 3 David Rocco‚Äôs Dolce Vita 3 Danger Beach Danger Beach David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 2 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 2 David Rocco‚Äôs Dolce Vita 3

23:00 Naked Science 00:00 01:00 01:55 India) 02:50 03:45 04:40 05:35 06:30 India) 07:25 08:20 09:15 10:10 11:05 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

Hunter Hunted Predators In Peril Wild India (aka Secrets of Wild Unlikely Animal Friends Freaks & Creeps Wild Amazon World’s Deadliest Animals Wild India (aka Secrets of Wild Unlikely Animal Friends Freaks & Creeps Dangerous Encounters Fish Warrior Ultimate Predators GPU Dragon Chronicles Wild Mississippi Unlikely Animal Friends Freaks & Creeps Dangerous Encounters Fish Warrior America’s Greatest Animals Unlikely Animal Friends Freaks & Creeps Dangerous Encounters Fish Warrior

21:30 22:00 22:30 23:00 23:30

The Colbert Report Bored To Death Veep Family Guy Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

Fall on 00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 07:30 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 12:30 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 16:30 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 22:00 23:00

Body Of Proof Combat Hospital Smash Downton Abbey Bunheads Warehouse 13 Body Of Proof Emmerdale Coronation Street C.S.I. New York Smash Combat Hospital Bunheads Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show C.S.I. New York Body Of Proof Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show C.S.I. New York Necessary Roughness The X Factor U.S. Smash Strike Back

01:00 The Town-18 03:15 Never Back Down 2: The Beatdown-18 05:00 Bending The Rules-PG15 07:00 Last Breath-PG15 09:00 Rocky III-PG15 11:00 Bending The Rules-PG15 13:00 Anaconda-PG15 14:45 Rocky III-PG15 16:30 Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Pt.1-PG15 19:00 Street Kings 2: Motor City-18 21:00 Rage Of The Yeti-PG15 23:00 Puffball: The Devil’s Eyeball-R

00:00 Nothing To Lose-PG15 02:00 Just Crazy Enough-PG15 04:00 Joe Dirt-PG15 06:00 The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy-PG 08:00 Robots-PG 10:00 Evan Almighty-PG15 12:00 Airheads-PG15 14:00 Cheaper By The Dozen-PG 16:00 Evan Almighty-PG15 18:00 28 Days-PG15 20:00 Tamara Drewe-18 22:00 Loser-PG15 22:00 Frenemy-18 01:00 Harley Davidson And The Marlboro Man-18 03:00 Apres Nous Le Deluge-18 04:45 Country Strong-PG15 07:00 Uncorked-PG15 09:00 Hollywood, I’m Sleeping Over Tonight-PG15 10:45 When A Man Loves A WomanPG15 13:00 Random Hearts-PG15 15:15 Hollywood, I’m Sleeping Over Tonight-PG15 17:00 The Color Of Money-PG15 19:00 Witness-PG15 21:00 Any Given Sunday-18 23:30 Partir-18 Square Grouper-18 01:00 Coriolanus-PG15 03:15 Sundays At Tiffany’s-PG15 05:00 The Birth Of Big Air-PG15 07:00 Three Investigators And The Secret Of Terror...-PG15 09:00 Unstoppable-PG15 11:00 Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Pt.2-PG15 13:15 Ways To Live Forever-PG15 15:00 Waiting For Superman-PG15 17:00 Unstoppable-PG15 19:00 Jack And Jill-PG15 21:00 Contagion-PG15 23:00 30 Minutes Or Less-18

Zoo Confidential 23:00 Dangerous Encounters 00:00 02:00 04:00 06:00 08:00 PG15 10:00 12:00 14:00 PG15 16:00 18:00 20:00 23:30

RoboCop 2-PG15 The Resident-18 Jackass 3.5-R Batman: Year One-PG15 Snake In The Eagle’s ShadowStool Pigeon-PG15 Ip Man 2-PG15 Snake In The Eagle’s ShadowTwins Mission-PG15 Ip Man 2-PG15 The Godfather II-18 Devil-PG15

22:00 13 Assassins-1822:00 Homecoming-18 00:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 01:00 The Colbert Report 01:30 Enlightened 02:00 Hung 02:30 Family Guy 03:00 How I Met Your Mother 03:30 Last Man Standing 04:00 Samantha Who? 04:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 05:30 Seinfeld 06:00 Seinfeld 06:30 Friends 07:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 08:00 Samantha Who? 08:30 How I Met Your Mother 09:00 Seinfeld 09:30 Seinfeld 10:00 Modern Family 10:30 The Office 11:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 12:00 Friends 12:30 Samantha Who? 13:00 Seinfeld 13:30 Seinfeld 14:00 Last Man Standing 14:30 The Office 15:00 Modern Family 15:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 16:00 The Colbert Report 16:30 Friends 17:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 18:00 How I Met Your Mother 18:30 Baby Daddy 19:00 Two And A Half Men 19:30 The Office 20:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 21:00 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

KUWAIT

01:00 The Ugly Duckling In Tales Of Mystery-FAM 02:45 The Apple & The Worm-FAM 04:30 Crab Island-FAM 06:00 The Ugly Duckling In Tales Of Mystery-FAM 08:00 Turandot-PG 10:00 Princess Sydney: The Legend Of The Blue Rabbit-FAM 11:30 The Apple & The Worm-FAM 13:00 Tom And Jerry & The Wizard Of Oz-FAM 14:30 Looney Tunes: Back In ActionFAM 16:15 The Adventures Of Don Quixote-FAM 18:00 Princess Sydney: The Legend Of The Blue Rabbit-FAM 19:30 Spooky Buddies-PG 21:30 Tom And Jerry & The Wizard Of Oz-FAM 23:00 Turandot-PG

00:30 01:30 02:30 03:00 11:30 12:00 14:00 15:00 22:00

00:30 01:30 03:30 04:00 04:30 05:00 05:30 06:30 07:00 08:30 09:30 10:30 11:00 16:00 17:30 18:00 18:30 19:30 20:00 21:00 23:00

PGA European Tour Weekly PGA European Tour Weekly ICC Cricket 360 Live Test Cricket ICC Cricket 360 Grand Slam of Darts Trans World Sport Cricket Test Match PGA European Tour

Trans World Sport Grand Slam of Darts PGA European Tour Weekly Extreme Sailing Series Extreme Sailing Series Futbol Mundial Trans World Sport PGA European Tour Weekly The Ryder Cup Official Film PGA European Tour Highlights PGA European Tour Highlights PGA European Tour Weekly Live PGA European Tour The Ryder Cup Official Film PGA European Tour Weekly Futbol Mundial Trans World Sport NFL Gameday UFC The Ultimate Fighter Grand Slam of Darts Trans World Sport

KNCC PROGRAM FROM THURSDAY TO WEDNESDAY (22/11/2012 TO 28/11/2012) SHARQIA-1 SINISTER (DIG) HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) SINISTER (DIG) HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) SINISTER (DIG) SINISTER (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED SHARQIA-2 THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA(DIG-3D) LEGENDS OF VALHALLA: THOR THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED SHARQIA-3 FLIGHT (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) JAB TAK HAI JAAN (DIG) (HINDI) FLIGHT (DIG) FLIGHT (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED MUHALAB-1 HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) SINISTER (DIG) HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) SINISTER (DIG) ALEX CROSS (DIG) SINISTER (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:30 PM 3:00 PM 5:15 PM 7:45 PM 10:15 PM 12:45 AM

1:00 PM 3:30 PM 5:30 PM 7:15 PM 9:45 PM 12:15 AM

2:00 PM 4:45 PM 6:45 PM 10:00 PM 12:30 AM

12:45 PM 3:00 PM 5:30 PM 8:00 PM 10:30 PM 12:30 AM

MUHALAB-2 MISS MOMMY (DIG) 2:00 PM JAB TAK HAI JAAN (DIG) (HINDI) 4:00 PM NO FRI (16.11.2012) Special Show “JAB TAK HAI JAAN (DIG) (HINDI)” for Western Union 4:00 PM FRI (16.11.2012) FLIGHT (DIG) 7:30 PM MISS MOMMY (DIG) 10:00 PM FLIGHT (DIG) 12:05 AM NO SUN+TUE+WED MUHALAB-3 WRECK-IT RALPH (DIG-3D) THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA(DIG-3D) THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED FANAR-1 MISS MOMMY (DIG) SON OF SARDAR (DIG) (HINDI) MISS MOMMY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) SON OF SARDAR (DIG) (HINDI) THE SWEENEY (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED FANAR-2 SINISTER (DIG) HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA(DIG-3D) SINISTER (DIG) HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) SINISTER (DIG) SINISTER (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:00 PM 3:15 PM 5:45 PM 7:45 PM 10:15 PM 12:45 AM

12:30 PM 2:30 PM 5:30 PM 7:30 PM 9:30 PM 12:30 AM

1:00 PM 3:30 PM 5:30 PM 8:00 PM 10:15 PM 12:45 AM

FANAR-3 JAB TAK HAI JAAN (DIG) (HINDI) 12:45 PM JAB TAK HAI JAAN (DIG) (HINDI) 4:15 PM NO FRI (16.11.2012) Special Show “JAB TAK HAI JAAN (DIG) (HINDI)” for Western Union 4:15 PM FRI (16.11.2012) JAB TAK HAI JAAN (DIG) (HINDI) 7:45 PM JAB TAK HAI JAAN (DIG) (HINDI) 11:00 PM NO SUN+TUE+WED TAKEN2 :2D 11:00 PM SUN+TUE+WED FANAR-4 LEGENDS OF VALHALLA: THOR LEGENDS OF VALHALLA: THOR THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED FANAR-5 FLIGHT FLIGHT FLIGHT FLIGHT FLIGHT NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:45 PM 2:45 PM

AVENUES-4 JAB TAK HAI JAAN (DIG) (HINDI) JAB TAK HAI JAAN (DIG) (HINDI) JAB TAK HAI JAAN (DIG) (HINDI) JAB TAK HAI JAAN (DIG) (HINDI) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:15 PM 4:45 PM 8:15 PM 11:45 PM

AVENUES-5 THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG)

1:30 PM 4:00 PM 6:15 PM 8:15 PM 10:45 PM 12:45 AM

12:45 PM 3:00 PM 5:30 PM 7:30 PM 10:00 PM

3:30 PM 6:00 PM 8:30 PM 11:00 PM 2:00 PM 4:30 PM 7:00 PM 9:30 PM 12:05 AM

AVENUES-7 ALEX CROSS (DIG) ALEX CROSS (DIG) TAKEN2 :2D ALEX CROSS (DIG) ALEX CROSS (DIG) SINISTER (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:30 PM 3:45 PM 6:00 PM 8:15 PM 10:30 PM 12:45 AM

AVENUES-8 TAKEN2 :2D SON OF SARDAR (DIG) (HINDI) SON OF SARDAR (DIG) (HINDI) SON OF SARDAR (DIG) (HINDI) TAKEN2 :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:45 PM 3:00 PM 6:00 PM 9:00 PM 12:05 AM

AVENUES-9 HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA(DIG-3D) 1:30 PM LEGENDS OF VALHALLA: THOR (DIG-3D) 3 : 3 0 PM WRECK-IT RALPH (DIG-3D) 5:45 PM HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA(DIG-3D) 8:00 PM THE SWEENEY (DIG) 10:15 PM THE SWEENEY (DIG) 12:30 AM NO SUN+TUE+WED AVENUES-10 JAB TAK HAI JAAN (DIG) (HINDI) 12:30 PM JAB TAK HAI JAAN (DIG) (HINDI) 4:00 PM NO FRI (16.11.2012) Special Show “JAB TAK HAI JAAN (DIG) (HINDI)” for Western Union 4:00 PM FRI (16.11.2012) JAB TAK HAI JAAN (DIG) (HINDI) 7:30 PM JAB TAK HAI JAAN (DIG) (HINDI) 11:00 PM NO SUN+TUE+WED AVENUES-11 THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

360 º- 3 HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA(DIG-3D) HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA(DIG-3D) HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA(DIG-3D) TAKEN2 :2D JAB TAK HAI JAAN (DIG) (HINDI) NO SUN+TUE+WED TAKEN2 :2D SUN+TUE+WED 360 º- 4 HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED 360 º- 5 WRECK-IT RALPH (DIG-3D) THU+FRI+SAT THE SWEENEY (DIG) THU+FRI+SAT WRECK-IT RALPH (DIG-3D) THE SWEENEY (DIG) THE SWEENEY (DIG) THE SWEENEY (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:30 PM 3:00 PM 5:30 PM 8:00 PM 10:30 PM 1:00 AM

1:15 PM 3:45 PM 6:15 PM 8:45 PM 11:15 PM

2:30 PM 4:45 PM 7:00 PM 9:30 PM 1:00 AM

2:00 PM 4:15 PM 6:30 PM 8:45 PM 11:00 PM 11:00 PM

1:15 PM 3:30 PM 5:45 PM 8:00 PM 10:15 PM 12:30 AM

1:45 PM

1:00 PM 3:15 PM 5:30 PM 7:45 PM

360 º- 7 MISS MOMMY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

2:15 PM 4:30 PM 6:45 PM 9:00 PM 11:15 PM 1:15 AM

360 º- 8 JAB TAK HAI JAAN (DIG) (HINDI) 1:30 PM JAB TAK HAI JAAN (DIG) (HINDI) 5:00 PM NO FRI (16.11.2012) Special Show “JAB TAK HAI JAAN (DIG) (HINDI)” for Western Union 5:00 PM FRI (16.11.2012) JAB TAK HAI JAAN (DIG) (HINDI) 8:30 PM JAB TAK HAI JAAN (DIG) (HINDI) 12:05 AM NO SUN+TUE+WED 360 º- 9(VIP-1) JAB TAK HAI JAAN (DIG) (HINDI) JAB TAK HAI JAAN (DIG) (HINDI) JAB TAK HAI JAAN (DIG) (HINDI) JAB TAK HAI JAAN (DIG) (HINDI) NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:30 PM 4:00 PM 7:30 PM 11:00 PM

360 º-10(VIP-2) THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) NO THU (15.11.2012) Special Show “THE TWILIGHT SAGA : BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG)” THU (15.11.2012) THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED 360 º- 11 SINISTER (DIG) SINISTER (DIG) SINISTER (DIG) SINISTER (DIG) SINISTER (DIG) 360 º- 12 THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED 360 º- 13 THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (IMAX) THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (IMAX) THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (IMAX) THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (IMAX) THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (IMAX) THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (IMAX) NO SUN+TUE+WED

2:00 PM 4:30 PM 7:00 PM 7:00 PM 9:30 PM 12:05 AM

1:00 PM 3:30 PM 6:00 PM 8:30 PM 11:00 PM

1:30 PM 4:00 PM 6:30 PM 9:00 PM 11:30 PM

12:30 PM 3:00 PM 5:30 PM 8:00 PM 10:30 PM 1:00 AM

360 º- 14 MISS MOMMY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:00 PM 3:15 PM 5:30 PM 7:45 PM 10:15 PM 12:15 AM

360 º- 15 PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) SON OF SARDAR (DIG) (HINDI) SON OF SARDAR (DIG) (HINDI) SON OF SARDAR (DIG) (HINDI) PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:45 PM 4:00 PM 7:00 PM 10:00 PM 12:45 AM

AL-KOUT.1 THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA(DIG-3D) WRECK-IT RALPH (DIG-3D) THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:00 PM 3:30 PM 5:30 PM 7:45 PM 10:15 PM 12:45 AM

AL-KOUT.2 MISS MOMMY (DIG) FLIGHT (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) FLIGHT (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) FLIGHT (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:30 PM 3:30 PM 6:00 PM 8:00 PM 10:30 PM 12:30 AM

AL-KOUT.3 ALEX CROSS (DIG) SINISTER (DIG) ALEX CROSS (DIG) SINISTER (DIG) SINISTER (DIG) SINISTER (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:30 PM 2:30 PM 5:00 PM 7:15 PM 9:45 PM 12:15 AM

AL-KOUT.4 HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) TAKEN2 :2D THE SWEENEY (DIG) HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) THE SWEENEY (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:30 PM 2:45 PM 4:45 PM 7:00 PM 9:30 PM 11:45 PM

4:00 PM 6:15 PM 8:30 PM 10:45 PM 1:00 AM

12:30 AM 360 º- 6 LEGENDS OF VALHALLA: THOR LEGENDS OF VALHALLA: THOR WRECK-IT RALPH (DIG-3D) LEGENDS OF VALHALLA: THOR SINISTER (DIG) SINISTER (DIG)

NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:00 PM

AVENUES-6 SINISTER (DIG) SINISTER (DIG) SINISTER (DIG) SINISTER (DIG) SINISTER (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

2:15 PM 4:45 PM 7:15 PM 9:45 PM 12:15 AM

MARINA-2 FLIGHT (DIG) THE SWEENEY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) FLIGHT (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) FLIGHT (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

2:15 PM 4:30 PM 6:45 PM 9:00 PM 11:15 PM 2:30 PM 5:00 PM 7:30 PM 10:00 PM 12:30 AM

360 º- 2 ALEX CROSS (DIG) ALEX CROSS (DIG) ALEX CROSS (DIG) JAB TAK HAI JAAN (DIG) (HINDI) ALEX CROSS (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

9:30 PM

10:00 PM 12:15 AM

AVENUES-3 FLIGHT (DIG) FLIGHT (DIG) FLIGHT (DIG) FLIGHT (DIG) FLIGHT (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:05 AM

7:00 PM

12:30 PM 2:45 PM 5:15 PM 7:15 PM 9:30 PM 12:05 AM

AVENUES-1 MISS MOMMY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG)

AVENUES-2 HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG)

360 º- 1 FLIGHT (DIG) FLIGHT (DIG) FLIGHT (DIG) FLIGHT (DIG) FLIGHT (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

4:30 PM

MARINA-1 HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) SINISTER (DIG) ALEX CROSS (DIG) HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) SINISTER (DIG) SINISTER (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

MARINA-3 WRECK-IT RALPH (DIG-3D) THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA(DIG-3D) THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

MISS MOMMY (DIG MISS MOMMY (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:45 PM 3:00 PM 5:15 PM 7:30 PM 9:45 PM 12:15 AM

BAIRAQ-1 THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) 12:30 PM LEGENDS OF VALHALLA: THOR (DIG-3D) 3 : 0 0 PM THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) 5:00 PM THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) 7:30 PM THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) 10:00 PM THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 (DIG) 12:30 AM NO SUN+TUE+WED

Classifieds THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2012

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

Airlines JAI THY JZR JZR QTR SAI GFA UAE ETD FDB MSR QTR DHX THY JZR JZR JZR BAW KAC KAC KAC FDB KAC IRA IRA KAC KAC UAE KAC IZG ABY QTR FDB ETD GFA BAB JZR MSC MEA UAE MSR GFA FDB KNE KAC KAC SVA QTR JZR QTR OMA JZR KAC UAE ETD RJA SYR GFA SVA KAC JZR QTR ABY UAL KAC JZR RBG KAC BAB FDB TAR MSC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC OMA FDB JAI AXB MSC MSR JZR ABY QTR ALK KAC MEA QTR GFA ETD UAE JZR JAI FDB DHX AIC JZR GFA JZR UAL BBC DLH

Arrival Flights on Thursday 22/11/2012 Flt Route 574 MUMBAI 772 ISTANBUL 267 BEIRUT 539 CAIRO 148 DOHA 441 LAHORE 211 BAHRAIN 853 DUBAI 305 ABU DHABI 67 DUBAI 612 CAIRO 138 DOHA 170 BAHRAIN 770 ISTANBUL 503 LUXOR 555 ALEXANDRIA 529 ASSIUT 157 LONDON 412 MANILA 354 COCHIN 206 ISLAMABAD 53 DUBAI 382 DELHI 605 ISFAHAN 617 AHWAZ 302 MUMBAI 332 TRIVANDRUM 855 DUBAI 284 DHAKA 4161 MASHAD 121 SHARJAH 132 DOHA 55 DUBAI 301 ABU DHABI 213 BAHRAIN 436 BAHRAIN 165 DUBAI 403 ASSIUT 404 BEIRUT 871 DUBAI 610 CAIRO 219 BAHRAIN 57 DUBAI 472 JEDDAH 546 ALEXANDRIA 672 DUBAI 500 JEDDAH 140 DOHA 257 BEIRUT 134 DOHA 645 MUSCAT 535 CAIRO 118 NEW YORK 857 DUBAI 303 ABU DHABI 640 AMMAN 341 DAMASCUS 215 BAHRAIN 510 RIYADH 502 BEIRUT 777 JEDDAH 144 DOHA 127 SHARJAH 982 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 542 CAIRO 177 DUBAI 3553 ALEXANDRIA 786 JEDDAH 438 BAHRAIN 63 DUBAI 327 TUNIS 405 SOHAG 176 GENEVA 618 DOHA 104 LONDON 674 DUBAI 774 RIYADH 647 MUSCAT 61 DUBAI 572 MUMBAI 393 KOZHIKODE 401 ALEXANDRIA 618 ALEXANDRIA 189 DUBAI 129 SHARJAH 146 DOHA 229 COLOMBO 562 AMMAN 402 BEIRUT 136 DOHA 221 BAHRAIN 307 ABU DHABI 859 DUBAI 135 BAHRAIN 576 COCHIN 59 DUBAI 372 BAHRAIN 981 CHENNAI 239 AMMAN 217 BAHRAIN 185 DUBAI 981 BAHRAIN 43 DHAKA 636 FRANKFURT

Time 0:30 0:35 0:45 0:50 1:00 1:30 1:50 2:35 2:45 3:05 3:10 3:45 5:15 5:30 5:55 6:00 6:35 6:40 6:45 7:35 7:40 7:45 7:45 7:50 7:55 7:55 8:15 8:40 8:45 8:50 9:05 9:10 9:15 9:20 9:55 10:05 11:20 11:35 11:55 12:50 13:05 13:35 13:50 14:10 14:15 14:15 14:30 14:35 15:05 15:30 15:40 16:25 16:35 16:40 16:50 16:55 17:00 17:15 17:20 17:40 17:45 17:50 17:55 17:55 18:05 18:15 18:20 18:30 18:40 18:45 18:55 19:00 19:15 19:20 19:35 19:35 19:50 19:55 20:00 20:10 20:15 20:20 20:25 20:30 20:35 20:45 20:55 21:05 21:20 21:25 21:30 21:35 21:40 21:50 21:55 22:00 22:00 22:30 22:45 22:50 23:05 23:25 23:45 23:55

Arrival Flights on Thursday 22/11/2012 Airlines Flt Route TimeAIC 976 GOA AXB 390 MANGALORE UAL 981 WASHINGTON DC DULLES DLH 637 FRANKFURT JAI 573 MUMBAI SAI 442 LAHORE THY 773 ISTANBUL-ATATURK FDB 68 DUBAI UAE 854 DUBAI ETD 306 ABU DHABI MSR 613 CAIRO QTR 139 DOHA QTR 149 DOHA JZR 164 DUBAI GFA 212 BAHRAIN KAC 545 ALEXANDRIA THY 771 ISTANBUL-ATATURK FDB 54 DUBAI BAW 156 LONDON IRA 606 MASHHAD IRA 616 AHWAZ JZR 256 BEIRUT JZR 534 CAIRO KAC 101 LONDON KAC 671 DUBAI ABY 122 SHARJAH UAE 856 DUBAI FDB 56 DUBAI ETD 302 ABU DHABI QTR 133 DOHA IZG 4162 MASHHAD GFA 214 BAHRAIN BAB 437 BAHRAIN KAC 541 CAIRO KAC 501 BEIRUT KAC 165 ROME JZR 776 JEDDAH MSC 406 SOHAG MEA 405 BEIRUT KAC 785 JEDDAH JZR 176 DUBAI MSR 611 CAIRO UAE 872 DUBAI GFA 220 BAHRAIN FDB 58 DUBAI KAC 673 DUBAI KNE 473 JEDDAH KAC 561 AMMAN KAC 617 DOHA SVA 505 JEDDAH JZR 188 DUBAI QTR 141 DOHA KAC 773 RIYADH OMA 646 MUSCAT JZR 238 AMMAN ETD 304 ABU DHABI JZR 538 CAIRO QTR 135 DOHA UAE 858 DUBAI RJA 641 AMMAN SYR 342 DAMASCUS GFA 216 BAHRAIN JZR 184 DUBAI SVA 511 RIYADH ABY 128 SHARJAH JZR 266 BEIRUT QTR 145 DOHA RBG 3554 ALEXANDRIA JZR 134 BAHRAIN UAL 982 BAHRAIN FDB 64 DUBAI BAB 439 BAHRAIN TAR 328 TUNIS MSC 404 ASSIUT KAC 283 DHAKA FDB 62 DUBAI KAC 351 KOCHI KAC 331 TRIVANDRUM OMA 648 MUSCAT JAI 571 MUMBAI AXB 394 KOZHIKODE ABY 120 SHARJAH KAC 343 CHENNAI MSC 402 ALEXANDRIA MSR 619 ALEXANDRIA KAC 543 CAIRO DHX 171 BAHRAIN ALK 230 COLOMBO MEA 403 BEIRUT ETD 308 ABU DHABI QTR 137 DOHA GFA 222 BAHRAIN FDB 60 DUBAI KAC 361 MUSCAT JZR 554 ALEXANDRIA UAE 860 DUBAI JAI 575 KOCHI DHX 373 BAHRAIN KAC 205 ISLAMABAD QTR 147 DOHA GFA 218 BAHRAIN JZR 528 ASSIUT KAC 415 KUALA LUMPUR KAC 411 BANGKOK

0:05 0:15 1:10 1:20 1:30 2:30 2:55 3:45 3:50 4:00 4:10 4:50 6:05 6:55 7:00 7:30 7:35 8:25 8:45 8:50 8:55 9:05 9:15 9:20 9:40 9:45 9:55 10:00 10:05 10:10 10:15 10:40 10:50 11:30 11:45 11:50 12:15 12:35 12:55 13:00 13:50 14:05 14:15 14:20 14:30 15:05 15:10 15:40 15:45 16:00 16:05 16:15 16:25 16:40 17:15 17:35 17:40 17:45 17:50 17:55 18:00 18:15 18:30 18:35 18:40 18:45 18:50 19:00 19:05 19:10 19:25 19:30 19:45 20:00 20:30 20:40 20:45 20:55 20:55 21:10 21:15 21:15 21:15 21:20 21:25 21:40 21:50 21:55 22:20 22:20 22:25 22:30 22:40 22:40 22:45 22:50 22:55 23:00 23:00 23:10 23:50 23:50 23:55 23:55

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

(C 4226) 21-11-2012

ACCOMMODATION Single bedroom flat for rent in old Riggae, sector 1, St. 1, Jada 3, from 1st December to 31st march 2013, rent KD 160/-.

Contact: 97525830.

(C 4222) 20-11-2012

SITUATION WANTED Western educated “Project Manager ” with 2 Engineering-Degrees (Civil/Elec.), 4-Master Degrees (Project Mgmt/ Engineering/ Education & Training/ MBA), plus 17years experience in Middle East/ Australia, seeking Executive Position. Contact: 65695468 email: rav@engineer.com (C 4195) 18-11-2012

FOR SALE Golden chance Nissan TIIDA HB 1.8 SL 2011, 13,600 km only, full option, power warranty 5 year open mileage, like showroom, 1st owner, mostly lady driven, price KD 3,800/-. Contact: 66489351. (C 4229) 22-11-2012 2009 Toyota Fortuner, excellent condition, price KD 5,100/-. Contact: 99098766.

Mitsubishi Galant, 2006 model, silver color, beige interior, 1,25,000 km, serviced by dealership, owned by American lady, price KD 1,500/ (Negotiable) Contact: 99405067.

(C 4224) Toyota Camry 2012 model, 4 cylinder, white color, very good condition, price KD 1,600/-. Contact: 99592461.

(C 4221) 20-11-2012 Jeep Kia sportage 2010, white color, excellent condition, 42,000 km, price KD 2,450/-. Contact: 50699345.

(C 4220) 19-11-2012 CHANGE OF NAME I, Taza, s/o Shabbir Husain Raswala, holder of Indian Passport No. J0977787 have changed my name to Murtaza Shabbir Husain Raswala. (C 4228) I, Rolina Furtado Passport No. J5391581 have changed my name to Roulina Baigustavina Rubiana Santana Godinho.

(C 4230) 22-11-2012 FRANCISCA JOANA GRACIAS of holder Passport No. E6395478 hereby change surname to FRANCISCA JOANA RODRIGUES, H.No. 20, near Railway Station,

Seraulim, Salcete, Goa 403708.

(C 4223) 20-11-2012 TUITION Learn Holy Quran in prefect way, private tuition available for elders and children,

by Hafiz-e-Quran. Contact: 66725950.

112 Prayer timings Fajr:

04:55

Duhr:

11:34

Asr:

14:31

Maghrib:

16:51

Isha:

18:11

GOVERNMENT WEB SITES Kuwait Parliament www.majlesalommah.net

The Public Institution for Social Security www.pifss.gov.kw

Ministry of Interior www.moi.gov.kw

Public Authority of Industry www.pai.gov.kw

Public Authority for Civil Information www.paci.gov.kw

Prisoners of War Committee www.pows.org.kw

Kuwait News Agency www.kuna.net.kw

Ministry of Foreign Affairs www.mofa.gov.kw

Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affair www.islam.gov.kw

Kuwait Municipality www.municipality.gov.kw

Ministry of Energy (Oil) www.moo.gov.kw

Kuwait Electronic Government www.e.gov.kw

Ministry of Energy (Electricity and Water) www.energy.govt.kw

Ministry of Finance www.mof.gov.kw

Public Authority for Housing Welfare www.housing.gov.kw

Ministry of Commerce and Industry www.moci.gov.kw

Ministry of Justice www.moj.gov.kw

Ministry of Education www.moe.edu.kw

Ministry of Communications www.moc.kw

Ministry of Information www.moinfo.gov.kw

Supreme Council for Planning and Development www.scpd.gov.kw

Kuwait Awqaf Public Foundation www.awqaf.org

34

s ta rs CROSSWORD 16

STAR TRACK Aries (March 21-April 19) You may have to excuse yourself from some of the interactions with co-workers today, in order to get your own work accomplished. It is certainly a day for thinking and ideas. Sorting things out and getting them organized to utmost efficiency keeps you quite busy. With your attitude, much can be accomplished. This afternoon is a different atmosphere in that obtaining and exchanging information and becoming more involved with others can be enjoyed between neighbors or sibling(s). Your talent at conversation turns comedic and everyone enjoys a good laugh. You may have insights or breakthroughs concerning your living situation. If you want them, you can implement big changes at the flip of a coin. Music plays tonight.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) You bring a lot of mental skills and understanding to whatever you do today.

You could help others take a more independent approach to life or career. Some of your friends and even co-workers may seek you out for your insight and understanding from time to time. Today may be one of those days where you seem to be spending more time in giving advice to others than you are in achieving results from your own work. You may find yourself in overtime or taking a bit of work home this afternoon. Your inner resources and emotions are accented this evening when a young person may present you with some interesting challenges. You expect goodwill and effort from everyone that seeks your guidance—you receive positive results.

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

ACROSS 1. Beat severely with a whip or rod.

5. Subtly skillful handling of a situation.

12. Above average in size or number or quantity or magnitude or extent.

15. Mother goddess.

16. In accordance with fixed order or procedure or principle.

17. A period marked by distinctive character or reckoned from a fixed point or event.

18. Unable to move or resist motion.

20. A state in the western United States.

22. An ancient country is southwestern Asia on the east coast of the Mediterranean.

24. The birds of a particular region or period.

26. (Old Testament) In Judeo-Christian mythology.

29. A decree that prohibits something.

30. A musical notation written on a staff indicating the pitch of the notes following it.

33. A variety of leaf bug.

34. Of a moderate orange-yellow color.

38. Capital and largest city of Italy.

39. Type genus of the Majidae.

40. A person who possesses great material wealth.

41. 100 avos equal 1 pataca.

46. Wild and domestic cattle.

47. Synthetic narcotic drug similar to morphine but less habit-forming.

49. Resembling an eel in being long and thin and sinuous.

51. The sound of sheep or goats (or any sound resembling this) v 1.

52. A white soft metallic element that tarnishes readily.

53. Made smaller or less by melting or erosion or vaporization.

54. Angular distance above the horizon (especially of a celestial object).

55. An island in Indonesia east of Java.

58. An official prosecutor for a judicial district.

60. A radioactive element of the actinide series.

61. A rare silvery (usually trivalent) metallic element.

63. Showing warm and heartfelt friendliness.

71. Someone who engages in arbitrage (who purchases securities in one market for immediate resale in another in the hope of profiting from the price differential).

72. A member of the Semitic speaking people of northern Ethiopia.

74. An anti-TNF compound (trade name Arava) that is given orally.

75. A liquid used for printing or writing or drawing.

76. Mountain ebony, orchid tree.

78. An enclosed space.

79. A unit of length of thread or yarn.

80. The interior curve of an arch.

81. Large northern deer with enormous flattened antlers in the male.

DOWN 1. A federally sponsored corporation that insures accounts in national banks and other qualified institutions.

2. A Russian river.

3. Kitchen appliance used for baking or

roasting.

4. Type genus of the Giraffidae.

5. A radioactive element of the alkali-metal group discovered as a disintegration product of actinium.

6. That is to say.

7. Sexually transmitted urethritis (usually caused by chlamydia).

8. Chipmunks of western America and Asia.

9. Speaking a Slavic language.

10. Formerly a term of respect for important white Europeans in colonial India.

11. A trivalent metallic element of the rare earth group.

12. A man who is the lover of a girl or young woman.

13. A theocratic republic in the Middle East in western Asia.

14. Offering fun and gaiety.

19. A hard gray lustrous metallic element that is highly corrosion-resistant.

21. (law) The seat for judges in a courtroom.

23. An embroidered rug made from a coarse Indian felt.

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

27. Showing the cunning or ingenuity or wickedness typical of a devil.

28. (Hindu mythology) The most important of the princes in the Bhagavad-Gita to whom Krishna explains the nature of being and of God and how humans can come to know God. 31. English astronomer who pioneered radio astronomy (born in 1913).

32. Give expression or emotion to, in a stage or movie role.

35. An established custom.

36. Called forth from a latent or potential state by stimulation.

37. Any plant of the genus Reseda.

42. A Chadic language spoken south of Lake Chad.

43. Perceive sound.

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

45. A friendly nation.

48. German chemist noted for the synthetic production of ammonia (1868-1934).

50. (South African) A camp defended by a circular formation of wagons.

56. Someone who is not a clergyman or a professional person.

57. A city in central Illinois on the Illinois River.

59. A coffee cake flavored with orange rind and raisins and almonds.

62. Lower in esteem.

64. Bulky grayish-brown eagle with a short wedge-shaped white tail.

65. A sock with a separation for the big toe.

66. Of a temperature scale that registers the freezing point of water as 32 degrees F and the boiling point as 212 degrees F at one atmosphere of pressure.

67. An unofficial association of people or groups.

68. South African term for `boss'.

69. Rounded like an egg.

70. A large indefinite number.

73. Temporary military shelter.

77. (Greek mythology) A maiden seduced

by Zeus.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2012

Achievement now depends on your own attitude—which is good! You are able to use your good common sense to get ahead and make advancements where your goals are concerned. You tend to make all the right moves—magic happens. This is the time to get ahead by taking action. Good fortune and plain old luck surround you now. It is easy for you to make correct decisions and move forward where career and success are concerned. Life’s problems seem manageable and easy to solve. On the home front, old traditions may be enjoyed, perhaps through decorating and entertaining. This evening may not seem long enough . . . you are creative and romantic. Family members may gather for a conference this evening. Holiday plans are sealed.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) Most everyone in your surroundings today is energetic and ready to move forward with projects. There is plenty of motivation and you may find it invigorating to work, teach or lecture in the environment you have chosen. A confidence in your own abilities makes it easy for you to rise above the self today and gain from your surroundings.

Look around—there are exciting things happening in every corner. Personal relationships are smooth when your work environment is exciting, such as today. Friends are intelligent and loved ones are borderline geniuses. Perhaps the level of activity among your friends and loved ones is quite different from your average at-home-after-work-activity. It could be that tonight you will enjoy a play or movie.

Leo (July 23-August 22) Clear answers are easy to find today. The choices are clear and precise. You make your way through ideas, concepts and your ability to communicate and express them to others. You may, however, find yourself more than a little eager to acquire items today. Your current appreciation for just about everything may lead you to overspend this afternoon. Many think that the lack of money is the beginning of evil thinking. You may see this lack of money around you and work to help others move beyond the poverty.

Helping those who cannot help themselves—and getting such help if you need it—is an essential lesson. There is a mentor if you need one and you may have the opportunity to play such a role for someone else this evening.

Virgo (August 23-September 22) Everything seems to move in an ordinary way today. It should be easy for you to push forward with new ideas or changes that you have been thinking of lately. If you have felt hesitant to bring up a subject—now is the best time to act. Submit, propose or begin a new project. Things will seem almost magical in the way they work out in your favor. You have great timing and are able to get many things accomplished. You may encourage co-workers to join with you regarding a cleanup project in your work environment. There are rewards!

Others appreciate your attention to better working conditions. You may see a domino effect with other businesses around your city where this cleanup is concerned. Friends are your main interest tonight.

Word Search

Libra (September 23-October 22) This is a good day to get things accomplished. Your good eye-hand coordination and sustained effort make almost any task run well. Make it a point to take your breaks and get out-of-doors during the noon break. You work hard and breaks are important in order to remain focused. Emotions are present but within control and you will enjoy the noon hour with a few of your co-workers. There is a great demand for concentration and staying focused. Intellectualism, the exchange of ideas and the idea of being intuitive, have a special appeal. You tend to be creative and original in your work and career, managing to bring new ideas and spontaneity to bear. You can afford to take risks today—daring to be a little unconventional.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) The confidence that you have gained in your work or educational surroundings may create a situation where you will feel bold in expressing your opinions. You could also have little patience with those less experienced. Careful, higher-ups have not forgotten you. Find the preferred way to get ahead by asking questions and remain as polite and grateful as you were when you first entered this environment. Your growth will soon be attributed to your knowledge, expertise and patience for others. Financial gain and material well-being are among the brighter prospects looming before you now, as you focus on how much things really mean to you. This is a great time to reflect and understand your own situation—just how you feel about yourself.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) You are feeling good—everything works in sync with everything else this morning. Higher-ups may have noticed your quick intelligence and your ability to find answers in difficult situations. This may create an opportunity for you to move up the ladder of success into management. Your decision may rest on whether you could actually fire someone or not. Give this plenty of thought and then think again. Perhaps some reading topic of the ordeal of management would help. You can demonstrate great understanding of the needs of others and are in a good position to teach, guide or just enjoy the special personalities of the people around you. The young people in your environment seek you out this evening. You encourage psychological well-being.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19) Your ideas may run counter to accepted values. You may find yourself, or others, in a disapproving mood. Careful, decisions made now may have to be rethought later. You could find yourself tense. There is a great opportunity to rise above your own limitations. You will find that when you remove any emotional issues you can really use your mind to make clear choices and think through things. Neighbors or family members may have a big impact on your future goals where professional plans are concerned. There could be an opportunity to move in the opposite direction from the focus you have had lately. There are new goals to think about now. A relaxed evening with music can provide opportunities for you to refurbish your energies.

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) Events make it easy for you to be original, have breakthroughs and find new solutions to old problems. Independence, originality and eccentricity are not eliminated here. You have a burning zeal for humanitarian goals, what is best for the many, the community. With little patience for red tape and superficialities, you insist on getting right to the heart of any question. You may be working in a political career, education, law, etc. Any advances today that create growth for the community, environment or well-being are appreciated and enjoyed. You must exercise patience with the parts of humanity that you do not understand, especially race or groups. Who owes what, who owns what and who decides these things are major issues.

Pisces (February 19-March 20) The work you do and the way you take care of health and other obligations are important keys to your best potential now, in many respects. There is a need for focus and careful analysis in these areas of your life. Set up systems and schedules and stick to them! You may experience dissatisfaction with what you have or find around you. Perhaps it is time to weed out the unessential or find help to complete long projects that have become tedious or boring. You could find that it is time to become involved in further education, even if it only means one or two classes. This can be a romantic time, whether you are permanently involved or not. You have new ideas and new ways to express those ideas. Do not be afraid to express those loving feelings.

Yesterday’s Solution

Yesterday’s Solution

Daily SuDoku

Yesterday’s Solution

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2012

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

Kaizen center

25716707

Rawda

22517733

Adaliya

22517144

Khaldiya

24848075

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

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

ST TAT TE OF K KUW WAIT A

Tel.: e 161

DIRECTORA AT TE GEN GENERAL OF CIVIL AV VIA AT TION METEOROLOGICAL DEP PA ARTMENT DA AY: Y Wednesday e

Ext.: 2627 26 - 2630

WWW.MET.GOV V.KW .

21/11/2012

BY Y NIGHT:

Partly cloudy with light to moderate north westerly wind, with speed of 10 - 32 km/h

BY Y DA AY:

Partly cloudy with light to moderate north westerly to northerly wind, with speed of 08 - 26 km/h

WARNING A

No Current Warnings arnin a

24 °C

17 °C

22451082

KUW WAIT A AIRPOR RT

23 °C

12 °C

Mirqab

22456536

NUW WAISEEB A

25 °C

16 °C

Sharq

22465401

WA AFRA

24 °C

13 °C

Salmiya

25746401

SALMI

21 °C

12 °C

ABDAL LY

22 °C

12 °C

Jabriya

25316254

JAL ALIY YAH A

22 °C

13 °C

Maidan Hawally

25623444

FA AILAKA

22 °C

15 °C

Bayan

25388462

AHMADI POR RT

23 °C

16 °C

Mishref

25381200

UMM AL-MARADEM

22 °C

18 °C

W Hawally

22630786

WA ARBA A - BUBY YA AN

21 °C

12 °C

Sabah

24810221

Jahra

24770319

ST TAT TION

SFC. CHART

21/11/2012 1200 UTC

4 DA AYS Y FORECAST Temperatures DA AY

DA AT TE

WEA AT THER

Thursday

22/11

Wind Speed

Wind Direction

MAX.

MIN.

partly cloudy

25 °C

12 °C

NW-N

08 - 26 km/h

23/11

partly cloudy + scattered rain

25 °C

15 °C

NE-SE

08 - 30 km/h

Saturday

24/11

partly cloudy + scattered rain

25 °C

16 °C

SE

20 - 45 km/h

Sunday

25/11

partly cloudy + scattered rain

26 °C

17 °C

NE-E

10 - 30 km/h

New Jahra

24575755

West Jahra

24772608

Friday

South Jahra

24775066

North Jahra

24775992

North Jleeb

24311795

Ardhiya

24884079

PRA AY YER TIMES

RECORDED YESTERDA AY AT KUW WA AIT AIRPOR RT

Fajr

04:54

MAX. Temp.

20 °C

Sunrise

06:17

MIN. Temp.

14 °C 90 %

Firdous

24892674

Zuhr

11:34

MAX. RH

Omariya

24719048

Asr

14:31

MIN. RH

Sunset

16:51

MAX. Wind

Isha

18:11

TOT TA AL L RA AINF FA ALL L IN 24 HR.

23900322

58 % NW 39 km/h 00 mm

21/11/12 14:08 UTC

All times are local time unless otherwise stated.

V1.00

T1.06

PRIVATE CLINICS Ophthalmologists Dr. Abidallah Al-Mansoor 25622444 Dr. Samy Al-Rabeea 25752222 Dr. Masoma Habeeb 25321171 Dr. Mubarak Al-Ajmy 25739999 Dr. Mohsen Abel 25757700 Dr Adnan Hasan Alwayl 25732223 Dr. Abdallah Al-Baghly 25732223 Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT) Dr. Ahmed Fouad Mouner 24555050 Ext 510 Dr. Abdallah Al-Ali 25644660 Dr. Abd Al-Hameed Al-Taweel 25646478 Dr. Sanad Al-Fathalah 25311996 Dr. Mohammad Al-Daaory 25731988 Dr. Ismail Al-Fodary 22620166 Dr. Mahmoud Al-Booz 25651426 General Practitioners Dr. Mohamme Y Majidi 24555050 Ext 123 Dr. Yousef Al-Omar 24719312 Dr. Tarek Al-Mikhazeem 23926920 Dr. Kathem Maarafi 25730465 Dr. Abdallah Ahmad Eyadah 25655528 Dr. Nabeel Al-Ayoobi 24577781 Dr. Dina Abidallah Al-Refae 25333501 Urologists Dr. Ali Naser Al-Serfy 22641534 Dr. Fawzi Taher Abul 22639955 Dr. Khaleel Abidallah Al-Awadi 22616660 Dr. Adel Al-Hunayan FRCS (C) 25313120 Dr. Leons Joseph 66703427 Psychologists /Psychotherapists

Paediatricians

Plastic Surgeons Dr. Mohammad Al-Khalaf

22547272

Dr. Khaled Hamadi

Dr. Abdal-Redha Lari

22617700

Dr. Abd Al-Aziz Al-Rashed

Dr. Abdel Quttainah

25625030/60

Family Doctor Dr Divya Damodar

23729596/23729581

Psychiatrists Dr. Esam Al-Ansari

22635047

Dr Eisa M. Al-Balhan

22613623/0

Gynaecologists & Obstetricians DrAdrian arbe

23729596/23729581

Dr. Verginia s.Marin

2572-6666 ext 8321

Endocrinologist

25665898 25340300

Dr. Zahra Qabazard

25710444

Dr. Sohail Qamar

22621099

Dr. Snaa Maaroof

25713514

Dr. Pradip Gujare

23713100

Dr. Zacharias Mathew

24334282

(1) Ear, Nose and Throat (2) Plastic Surgeon Dr. Abdul Mohsin Jafar, FRCS (Canada)

25655535

Dentists

Dr. Fozeya Ali Al-Qatan

22655539

Dr. Majeda Khalefa Aliytami

25343406

Dr. Shamah Al-Matar

22641071/2

Dr. Ahmad Al-Khooly

25739272

Dr. Anesah Al-Rasheed

22562226

22618787

Dr. Abidallah Al-Amer

22561444

Dr. Faysal Al-Fozan

22619557

Dr. Abdallateef Al-Katrash

22525888

Dr. Abidallah Al-Duweisan

25653755

Dr. Bader Al-Ansari

25620111

Dr. Salem soso General Surgeons Dr. Amer Zawaz Al-Amer

22610044

Dr. Mohammad Yousef Basher

25327148

Internists, Chest & Heart Dr. Adnan Ebil Dr. Mousa Khadada Dr. Latefa Al-Duweisan

22666300 25728004

Dr. Nadem Al-Ghabra

25355515

Dr. Mobarak Aldoub

24726446

Dr Nasser Behbehani

25654300/3

info@soorcenter.com www.soorcenter.com

3729596/3729581

Neurologists

22639939

Dr. Abd Al-Naser Al-Othman

Dr. Sohal Najem Al-Shemeri

25633324

Dr. Jasem Mola Hassan

25345875

Gastrologists Dr. Sami Aman

22636464

Dr. Mohammad Al-Shamaly

25322030

Dr. Foad Abidallah Al-Ali

22633135

Kaizen center 25716707

25339330

Dr. Ahmad Al-Ansari 25658888 Dr. Kamal Al-Shomr 25329924 Physiotherapists & VD Dr. Deyaa Shehab

25722291

Dr. Musaed Faraj Khamees

22666288

Rheumatologists: Dr. Adel Al-Awadi

Dr Anil Thomas

Soor Center Tel: 2290-1677 Fax: 2290 1688

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

Al-Jahra

25610011

Al-Salmiya

25616368

Expected Weather e for the Next 24 Hours

KUW WAIT A CITY

Fintas

Al-Shuhada

INTERNATIONAL CALLS

19:00

Issue Time

MIN. N. EXP P.

24710044

22418714

Fax: 24348714

MAX. REC.

N Khaitan

Al-Madeena

25330060

Dr. Khaled Al-Jarallah

25722290

Internist, Chest & Heart DR.Mohammes Akkad

24555050 Ext 210

Dr. Mohammad Zubaid MB, ChB, FRCPC, PACC Assistant Professor Of Medicine Head, Division of Cardiology Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital Consultant Cardiologist Dr. Farida Al-Habib MD, PH.D, FACC Inaya German Medical Center Te: 2575077 Fax: 25723123

2611555-2622555

William Schuilenberg, RPC 2290-1677 Zaina Al Zabin, M.Sc. 2290-1677

Afghanistan 0093 Albania 00355 Algeria 00213 Andorra 00376 Angola 00244 Anguilla 001264 Antiga 001268 Argentina 0054 Armenia 00374 Australia 0061 Austria 0043 Bahamas 001242 Bahrain 00973 Bangladesh 00880 Barbados 001246 Belarus 00375 Belgium 0032 Belize 00501 Benin 00229 Bermuda 001441 Bhutan 00975 Bolivia 00591 Bosnia 00387 Botswana 00267 Brazil 0055 Brunei 00673 Bulgaria 00359 Burkina 00226 Burundi 00257 Cambodia 00855 Cameroon 00237 Canada 001 Cape Verde 00238 Cayman Islands 001345 Central African 00236 Chad 00235 Chile 0056 China 0086 Colombia 0057 Comoros 00269 Congo 00242 Cook Islands 00682 Costa Rica 00506 Croatia 00385 Cuba 0053 Cyprus 00357 Cyprus (Northern) 0090392 Czech Republic 00420 Denmark 0045 Diego Garcia 00246 Djibouti 00253 Dominica 001767 Dominican Republic 001809 Ecuador 00593 Egypt 0020 El Salvador 00503 England (UK) 0044 Equatorial Guinea 00240 Eritrea 00291 Estonia 00372 Ethiopia 00251 Falkland Islands 00500 Faroe Islands 00298 Fiji 00679 Finland 00358 France 0033 French Guiana 00594 French Polynesia 00689 Gabon 00241 Gambia 00220 Georgia 00995 Germany 0049 Ghana 00233 Gibraltar 00350 Greece 0030 Greenland 00299 Grenada 001473 Guadeloupe 00590 Guam 001671 Guatemala 00502 Guinea 00224 Guyana 00592 Haiti 00509 Holland (Netherlands) 0031 Honduras 00504 Hong Kong 00852 Hungary 0036 Ibiza (Spain) 0034 Iceland 00354 India 0091 Indian Ocean 00873 Indonesia 0062

Iran 0098 Iraq 00964 Ireland 00353 Italy 0039 Ivory Coast 00225 Jamaica 001876 Japan 0081 Jordan 00962 Kazakhstan 007 Kenya 00254 Kiribati 00686 Kuwait 00965 Kyrgyzstan 00996 Laos 00856 Latvia 00371 Lebanon 00961 Liberia 00231 Libya 00218 Lithuania 00370 Luxembourg 00352 Macau 00853 Macedonia 00389 Madagascar 00261 Majorca 0034 Malawi 00265 Malaysia 0060 Maldives 00960 Mali 00223 Malta 00356 Marshall Islands 00692 Martinique 00596 Mauritania 00222 Mauritius 00230 Mayotte 00269 Mexico 0052 Micronesia 00691 Moldova 00373 Monaco 00377 Mongolia 00976 Montserrat 001664 Morocco 00212 Mozambique 00258 Myanmar (Burma) 0095 Namibia 00264 Nepal 00977 Netherlands (Holland) 0031 Netherlands Antilles 00599 New Caledonia 00687 New Zealand 0064 Nicaragua 00505 Nigar 00227 Nigeria 00234 Niue 00683 Norfolk Island 00672 Northern Ireland (UK) 0044 North Korea 00850 Norway 0047 Oman 00968 Pakistan 0092 Palau 00680 Panama 00507 Papua New Guinea 00675 Paraguay 00595 Peru 0051 Philippines 0063 Poland 0048 Portugal 00351 Puerto Rico 001787 Qatar 00974 Romania 0040 Russian Federation 007 Rwanda 00250 Saint Helena 00290 Saint Kitts 001869 Saint Lucia 001758 Saint Pierre 00508 Saint Vincent 001784 Samoa US 00684 Samoa West 00685 San Marino 00378 Sao Tone 00239 Saudi Arabia 00966 Scotland (UK) 0044 Senegal 00221 Seychelles 00284 Sierra Leone 00232 Singapore 0065 Slovakia 00421 Slovenia 00386 Solomon Islands 00677

36

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2012

LIFESTYLE G o s s i p Review

Review

Dementia and loss,

Box sets from Cash, Kiss, Jackson, others

made bearable by humor

n art as well as in life, watching someone lose their mind is an excruciating thing - even more so when that person is still physically vigorous, full of verve, full of humor.

One can think only about what might have been. So one might approach a play about Alzheimer’s disease with trepidation - how can it be anything other than crushingly depressing? The marvel of Bruce Graham’s “The Outgoing Tide,” a

I

simple and beautiful play brought to life by a superb cast and directed with a firm hand by Bud Martin, is that it makes us smile, chuckle, even laugh out loud while still absorbing the full tragedy and inevitability of this disease.

It’s worth noting that nowhere in “The Outgoing Tide,” a Delaware Theatre Company production that opened Tuesday at the 59E59 Theaters, is the word “Alzheimer’s” mentioned. That doesn’t matter. It’s clear from the start, in an opening scene that begins unremarkably and quickly becomes shocking, that the gritty Gunner, a man in his 70s with the vigor and gumption of a younger man, is losing his mind.

Imbued with gusto, humor and heart by Peter Strauss, Gunner is a man trying to take control just as he’s losing it. And so he’s invited his adult son, Jack (sensitively portrayed

by Ian Lithgow, son of John) to his Chesapeake Bay cottage, where he lives with his wife, Peg. The family must be together because Dad has a plan. You could call it a crazy plan.

He would call it the sanest plan he ever came up with.

Peg, in a wonderfully natural performance by Michael Learned of “The Waltons” fame, is a survivor.

She’s the one who’s been keeping their lives as normal as possible, gently pointing out to her husband that the reason he can’t get “Cops” on the darned TV is because it’s not the TV, it’s the microwave. And Peg has a plan too. She wants to get Gunner into an assisted living home before it’s too late.

Gunner has a different idea. It’s tough to describe his plan without giving away too much of the plot.

But it’s heartbreaking to watch as Gunner marshals his last moments of lucidity in a furious effort to make amends for past mistakes and finally take care, now and forever, of those he loves. And while he’s at it, he makes us wish we’d known him before. Even in the face of misery, Gunner has quite a way with a oneliner. “Are you out of your mind?” his wife asks during a dispute over how much he paid for a bottle of booze.

“Not at the moment,” he replies.

“Stick around, ya never know.”

Or listen to him on the subject of suicide. Peg: “Suicide is a mortal sin!”

Gunner: “So is molesting kids - I’ll be surrounded by priests.” Even Peg, whose steely matter-of-factness thinly veils both a fierce love for her husband and a fierce sense of duty, can lapse into black humor. She quips that Gunner once suggested a murder-suicide pact, but she said no thanks: “Knowing him, he’d shoot me and then forget to shoot himself.”

These moments, like that expensive booze that Gunner gulps down, help ease the pain. So do the flashbacks to less complicated times, like when Gunner first met and married Peg. But Gunner doesn’t need flashbacks to remember his love for his wife. When she asks him, at one point, who she is - she wants to be sure he’s focused - he responds with a perfect, detail-rich description of not only who she is but how they met and what she was wearing and how beautiful she was. At such moments, big feelings seem to emanate from the theater’s tiny stage: Big pain. Big loss. Big love. Big heart. —AP

Country singer Kristofferson looks to end of road ris Kristofferson - Oxford scholar, athlete, US Army helicoper pilot, country music composer, one-time roustabout, film actor, singer, lover of women, three times a husband and father of eight-seems ready to meet his maker. At least, that was the clear impression he left with an audience of middle-aged-and-upwards fans at a concert in Geneva this week, a message underscored by his 28th and latest album, “Feeling Mortal” and its coffindark cover.

At a frail-looking 76, his ample beard more straggly than ever and his always gravel-laden voice gasping out the familiar lyrics of his great classics from “Bobby McGee” to “Rainbow Again”, the hereafter appears at the front of his mind. “I’ve begun to soon descend, like the sun into the sea,” runs the title song of the new CD. On the stage without backing group in Geneva, the first leg of a solo European tour to promote the disc from his own record company, “God” trips off his lips like a punctuation mark. Even the old songs that made him-as well as other country artists like Willy Nelson, Johnny Cash, and his one-time girlfriend Janis Joplin-internationally famous, sound shaped by the fading voice to underscore a spiritual dimension. “Sunday Morning Coming Down” emerges less as an ode to elderly loners facing old age without family and children and more as a call to prepare for the next life. Religiosity was never that far from Kristofferson, son of a majorgeneral in the US Air Force, grandson of a Swedish army officer and in the 1ate 1950s a Rhodes Scholar in English Literature at England’s Oxford University.

In the new album, “Ramblin’ Jack” is semi-autobiographical a song about a wandering singer “with a face like a tumbled-down shack” of “wild and righteous, wicked ways” who “ain’t afraid of where he’s goin’.” Kristofferson is adored by many believers, probably the vast majority of US country fans and performers. But his fans among the unreligious and the atheists were also happy

K

just to relish the poetry of his lyrics and the idiosyncracy of his voice.

In Geneva, despite its Calvinist past as secular today as any major European city, the ageing 1,000-odd audience in a theatre seating twice that number, were certainly ready to enjoy anything he gave them. They cheered and applauded his political declaration, an aside injected after a song line: “nobody wins.”

“But somebody has just won. Obama won, so the whole world has won!” he rasped, waving his electric guitar in the air.

Self-mockery They loved his self-mockery when, overcome briefly by a sniffle and pulling a blue bandana-cousin of the red one in “Bobby McGee”? — from his jeans pocket, he asked them if they minded having paid $100 “to watch an old fart blow his nose.” And they laughed with him whenin the full flood of lyrics on the pleasure of being around “a lot of lovely girls in the best of all possible worlds-he confided: “I wrote this song a LONG time ago.”

His 22-year-old angel-faced daughter Kelly, a banjoist and vocalist, joined him on stage for a handful of numbers, while in the hall outside son Jesse manned a stall selling the new CD and the black “Feeling Mortal Tour” t-shirts. Childrentheir dreams and the dreams of their parents for them-have also long been a central theme of his music.

“I wrote this for my little girl,” he says of a father’s song pledging he will be “forever there” for a daughter through life, and after. “Spread your wings,” he tells her. More prosaically, he recalls a rebuke from Jesse at age five over his 1970s hit: “The Silver-Tongued Devil”: “That’s a bad song. You’re blaming all your troubles on someone else.” After the concert, the Kristofferson family left for Zurich and Vienna to continue the tour. “This may be our last goodbye,” he sang in a final song. “We may not pass this way again.” “We’ll miss you,” called a voice from the audience. —Reuters

elect box set reviews from The Associated Press: Johnny Cash, “The Complete Columbia Album Collection” (Columbia/Legacy) If you’re under 40, you likely see Johnny Cash two ways - as the nearly mythological Sun Records proto-rocker and as the wizened old man staring down God in his American Recordings period in the years before his 2003 death. Between those two important periods lay decades of songs, personalities and reinventions many folks aren’t familiar with. The massive new box set, “The Complete Columbia Album Collection,” will help fill in those gaps for anyone interested in Cash beyond the name-checking cachet he brings to your iPod. A staggering amount of music is gathered here in 63 discs representing a quarter century of output from an American popular culture icon whose career was far more Technicolor than his Man in Black nickname suggests. And the average music fan yet to turn grey has no idea what that color scheme looks like since 35 of those albums were never released on CD. The set includes everything Cash released through Columbia from 1958 to 1983. Cash enjoyed creative control over his career and it showed in his restless inquisitiveness and unusually open-minded approach to music. There’s something here for everyone - gospel, rock, folk and pop fans along with your country diehards.

And the range is astounding, including concept albums, soundtracks, political statements, live concerts and a collection of singles and rarities.

S

Michael Jackson, “Bad 25” (Epic) Three years after Michael Jackson’s death, it’s becoming pretty clear that his archives don’t contain another “Billie Jean,” “Man in the Mirror” or even “Butterflies.” 2010’s “Michael” was a nice though hardly scintillating collection of previously unreleased Jackson songs, and the three-CD, 1DVD box set “Bad 25,” celebrating the anniversary of Jackson’s other blockbuster album, has an even

less impressive set of songs from Jackson’s vault.

Following the set’s first disc, which contains the underrated “Bad” album in full, is another disc of bonus material with several unreleased songs. The problem with those tunes is that they sound like something Jackson wasn’t ready to let the world hear. While Jackson’s voice is enchanting, the songs are mired by weak lyrics and melodies and themes that sound too similar to some of his key hits. As scintillating a vocalist as Jackson was, even he can’t elevate so-so material.

Perhaps the makers of this anniversary collection knew that as well. So to make the box set worthwhile, they’ve included a real treasure here Jackson’s 1988 concert at Wembley Stadium.

Watching Jackson in what was arguably his peak as performer is chill-inducing - his frenetic gyrations, moonwalks, spins and jumps delivered while he’s singing at full-strength. For the concert alone, “Bad 25” is worth getting (it also comes with a live CD of the concert). There are also other goodies for fans to enjoy, like a double-sided poster, remixes from Afrojack and cool photos in the CD and DVD booklets.

Led Zeppelin, “Celebration Day” (Atlantic) If “Celebration Day” is it for Led Zeppelin, the final chapter in the long, glorious career of rock ‘n’ roll’s most exciting band, we can live with it. The box set that captures what will likely be the quartet’s final concert is a fitting capstone for a band that remains as popular today as it was more than 40 years ago. The band’s living members - Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones - joined Jason Bonham, son of late founding drummer John Bonham, at London’s O2 Arena in 2007 to pay trib-

ute to late Atlantic Records honcho Ahmet Ertegun.

The concert was a triumph, captured lovingly here with a two-disc live album, a DVD of the concert and a bonus disc of extras. Led Zeppelin played everything you’d want, did it in fresh ways and with such class it’s a primer for the endless stream of legacy acts who have gotten it so wrong over the years.

Page is the star here. The camera lingers on him and his flashing hands as he leads the band through thoughtfully reimagined takes of every classic. He starts the concert in suitcoat and sunglasses, disdainfully chewing gum as he belts out riffs that are both familiar and in his hands new. A few songs later he shucks the coat and rolls up his sleeves for “In My Time Of Dying” (at more than 11

minutes long!). By the time he pulls out the violin bow in the middle of “Dazed and Confused” (12 minutes!), he’s disheveled, dripping sweat on a series of beautiful guitars and beaming a crooked smile after each fiery run. It is a powerhouse performance - and, sadly, not enough for most fans.

But “Celebration Day” will have to do.

Kiss “The Casablanca Singles 1974-1982” (Universal) No act has been better at getting you to buy songs you already own in numerous formats than Kiss. With at least 18 greatest hits, compilation or box set albums on the market, here comes yet another one. Something in the neighborhood of $145 will get you this latest box set, a re-release of 29 US Kiss singles, each on 45 rpm vinyl records (remember those?) Box sets have two main selling points: previously unavailable music, and way-cool packaging. Because these singles have all been out there for decades, this box set’s appeal lies in its presentation. Weighing in at a hefty eight pounds, the set starts with the band’s very first single, “Nothin’ To Lose,” with the flip side “Love Theme From Kiss” from way back in 1974. All but three of the singles come with decorative foreign sleeves with elaborate artwork, and, in the case of the Japanese sleeves, hilarious mistranslations of lyrics.

A line from “C’mon And Love Me” morphs from, “The lights are out” to “Your lives are out.” Even the misprints are faithfully preserved: Peter Criss’ solo single “You Matter To Me” appears as “You Still Matter To Me” on the label. Far and away the coolest are the singles from each of the band’s solo albums, pressed in colored vinyl: red for Gene Simmons, purple for Paul Stanley, green for Criss and blue for Ace Frehley. Each of these four also comes with a cut-out Halloween-type mask of each member’s face in Kiss makeup, a throwback to the days when Kiss albums came loaded with swag.

Die-hard Kiss fans will probably want to pick this up - provided they still have turntables.

Elvis Presley, “Prince From Another Planet” (RCA/Legacy) When it comes to rock’s greatest star, it’s tempting to dismiss the 1970s as merely the Fat Elvis period. This two-CD, one-DVD collection disproves that notion. The set pulls together previously released concerts in one package for the first time, capturing Presley during a three-day run at Madison Square Garden in 1972. Because it had been 15 years since he had performed in New York City, these concerts were important to him, and it shows. He’s in fine voice, fully committed to the material and supported by an excellent cast of musicians that includes guitarist James Burton, drummer Ronnie Tutt, bassist Jerry Scheff, horns, strings and backup singers.

Bruce Springsteen, George Harrison and David Bowie were among those attending the soldout shows, along with a gaggle of screaming girls, and there’s plenty of energy in the room from the start.

Presley opens by taking “That’s All Right” at an

exhilarating pace, and other oldies also sound new again. He scats on the bluesy “Reconsider Baby,” gives “Hound Dog” a fresh interpretation by tweaking the tempo, and generates his own wall of sound on “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin.’” There are too many Vegas-style endings, and the introductions of the supporting musicians are painful, especially when Presley can’t even be bothered with their last names. But on “Until It’s Time For You To Go,” when Elvis sings, “I’m not a king, just a man,” we know otherwise. “Prince From Another Planet” is a welcome reminder.

“The Velvet Underground and Nico,” 45th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition (Polydor) Now we know how the kids in Columbus, Ohio, reacted when they first heard Lou Reed sing about sadomasochism in 1966. Stunned silence. Pretty funny. An early performance by the Velvet Underground and Nico at the Valleydale Ballroom in Columbus, of all places, is part of this six-CD set that exhaustively commemorates the Velvet’s first album. Few bought the record when it initially came out, but it has inspired countless rock bands with its songs about S&M, junkies, paranoia and “split didactics,” to quote one lyric. Even back then, Reed walked on the wild side. And while the subject matter no longer shocks, the dissonance, atonality and droning viola remain startling.

The set is packaged in a handsome coffee-table book that replicates the original banana cover designed by the band’s manager, Andy Warhol.

Included are remastered mono and stereo versions of the album, lots of outtakes, Nico’s justifiably obscure 1967 solo album “Chelsea Girl” and two CDs of the poorly recorded performance in Columbus.

There’s serious risk of a Velvet Underground overdose, with six renditions of “Heroin” alone. One of the poorest-selling classic albums ever, the band’s debut once sold for $4. This set costs $80. The price of bananas has gone up.

The Rolling Stones, “GRR!” (ABKCO/Interscope) After earning the title of “the world’s greatest rock and roll band,” the Rolling Stones are going for the longevity designation. This year marks the

band’s 50th year, and just like they did when they turned 40, they’re releasing a compilation set - basically a greatest hits collection - to mark the occasion.

The three-CD set (a fancier version has five CDs with a heftier priectag) represents a remarkable catalog, yet lacks the spontaneity of other multi-disc collections that include more value, such as rare tracks, Bsides, or live performances.

Songs like “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” “Brown Sugar,” and “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” are forever burned into the psyche, and perhaps our iPod’s too, which begs the question: Why do you need this collection?

Chances are that if you don’t already own the original albums, it’s possible you have one of their dozen or so greatest hits collections. It would have been nice to include tracks like “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking,” or “Rip This Joint.” Instead, you get most of what played on the radio from their first ever release.

Going back to 1963 - let’s not argue about the math of the record’s subtitle, “Greatest Hits 19622012” - the band’s debut single was a cover of Chuck Berry’s “Come On.” It provides a nice bookend to their new song “One More Shot,” lets you appreciate the music in between those two releases. With such an iconic catalog of songs, it helps you realize their accomplishment. Clearly, time was on their side.

Heart “Strange Euphoria” (Epic) There’s nothing strange about the euphoria this four-disc box set will evoke in fans of one of rock’s most enduring and memorable bands. Since the mid-1970s, the band fronted by sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson has kicked out hit after hit, earning them a place in rock history, and space on your music shelf. It’s all here, from demo versions of hits like “Magic Man,” “Crazy On You,” and “Heartless,” to unreleased and live tracks, including a take of

“Never” with Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones, and a scorching live version of “Barracuda.” A rare nugget, Ann Wilson’s early pre-Heart recording of “Through Eyes And Glass” from 1969, also surfaces here.

Other heretofore unreleased tracks include “Boppy’s Back,” “Love Or Madness” and “Skin To Skin.”

There’s plenty of rare concert tracks , and the set also includes numerous tracks by The Lovemongers, Ann and Nancy’s side project for the down time between Heart albums and tours. It also includes a DVD of a 10-song live concert from early 1976. The set captures the essence of Heart’s remarkable career, in which they blend hard rock crunch and driving ferocity with tender melody and thoughtful songwriting. It’s a box set that would be worth it at twice the $35 price.

“Preservation Hall Jazz Band 50th Anniversary Collection” (Columbia/Legacy) This four-CD collection with 58 tracks recorded between 1962 and 2010, including five previously unreleased recordings rescued from a flooded studio after Hurricane Katrina, chronicles the remarkable tale of the tiny French Quarter art gallery that was transformed by owners Allan and Sandra Jaffe into Preservation Hall, an international mecca for lovers of traditional New Orleans-style jazz.. This collection includes six tracks from the four landmark Preservation Hall LPs recorded in 1962 by Atlantic Records co-founder Nesuhi Ertegun that brought wider exposure to the city’s overlooked early jazz pioneers such as the sweet-toned clarinetist George Lewis, trumpeter De De Pierce and his wife, pianistvocalist Billie Pierce, and trumpeter Kid Punch Miller.

In the ‘70s and ‘80s, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band became an international sensation with a touring lineup led by the Humphrey brothers, trumpeter-vocalist Percy and clarinetist Willie, that recorded four albums for CBS. That band gets the toes tapping on such selections as “Oh, Didn’t He Ramble” and “When The Saints Go Marchin’ In.” As the older generations passed, the PHJB rejuvenated itself with musicians who embrace the tradition while reaching out to different genres. The collection includes intriguing post-2000 collaborations with a growling Tom Waits on the Mardi Gras Indian chant “Tootie Ma Is A Big Fine Thing”; Del McCoury’s bluegrass band on “I’ll Fly Away,” and folk legend Pete Seeger and his grandson Tao Rodriguez-Seeger on the civil rights anthem “We Shall Overcome.” As the collection’s co-producer, Ben Jaffe, who became the hall’s director after his father’s death in 1987, insisted that the tracks not be arranged chronologically - a move that only underscores the cross-generational links and how timeless and vital this music remains. —AP

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2012

lifestyle M U S I C

&

File photo shows One Direction, from left, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson, Liam Payne, and Harry Styles arrive at Nickelodeon’s 25th Annual Kids’ Choice Awards in Los Angeles. — AP pho-

M O V I E S

File photo, One Direction members, from left, Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson and Harry Styles perform on NBC’s “Today” show in New York.

One Direction’ s 2nd CD hits No.1, sells 540,000

ne Direction’s “Take Me Home” is the taking the boys to the top of the charts - and to new heights.

The group’s sophomore album has sold 540,000 in its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It’s the year’s third-highest debut behind Taylor Swift’s “Red,” which sold 1.2 million units its first week earlier this month, and Mumford & Sons’ “Babel,” which sold more than 600,000 albums in September in its debut week.

“We just want to say a massive thanks to all the fans who have supported us,” band member Harry Styles, 18, said in an interview Tuesday from London. “We can send tweets and thank them, but 140 characters is never going

O

be enough to say how much it means.” The album also debuted at No. 1 in the United Kingdom this week and is No. 1 in more than 30 countries, Columbia Records said Wednesday. The fivesome’s debut, “Up All Night,” came in at No. 2 in the United Kingdom last year; it was just released in March in America, where it hit No. 1 and has achieved platinum status.

“We were a little bit nervous about how people were going to take it,” 19-year-old Niall Horan said of the new album during tour rehearsals. “Everyone gets that second album syndrome.” They say though they’re excited, they won’t be celebrating too much: “We’re finishing rehearsing

soon and we’re going home to bed.” One Direction, who placed third on the UK version of “The X Factor” in 2010, is signed to Simon Cowell’s Syco label imprint. In just a year, the band has become worldwide sensations, thanks to its feverish fans. They released a book and have a 3D movie planned. They also made the cut for Barbara Walters’ most fascinating people of 2012 list, which includes New Jersey Gov Chris Christie and US gold medalist Gabby Douglas.

One Direction says those experiences have helped the group mature. “We’ve been working hard. We’re starting to grow up,” Horan said. “We’re still young, but we’ve passed the initial teenage years. ...We’ve grown up quite

Cotillard stars in raw ‘Rust and Bone’

erely the premise of “Rust and Bone” sounds uncomfortably maudlin: A wayward single father and part-time fighter falls into an unexpected romance with a beautiful whale trainer who’s just lost both her legs below the knee in a freak accident. Both must undergo drastic transformations that render them as vulnerable as newborn babies. Both are literally and metaphorically broken and must help each other heal.

But it’s the stripped-down way director and co-writer Jacques Audiard tells this story that, for the most part, makes it more compelling than the feel-good plot suggests. With intimate camerawork that explores the lonely corners of his characters’ lives and a prevalent naturalism, Audiard avoids trite, sentimental uplift. This isn’t as powerful as his epic, gripping “A Prophet” from 2009 or as thrilling as 2002’s “Read My Lips.” But it has a quiet intensity and, ultimately, a hard-won sense of optimism.

At its center, “Rust and Bone” features two vivid performances that allow their actors to strip away all traces of vanity. A strikingly de-glammed Marion Cotillard stars as Stephanie, a trainer at Marineland in Antibes in the south of France. One night she goes dancing at a club, gets into a confrontation and leaves disheveled and bloodied.

Her escort home is the club’s bouncer, Ali (up-and-coming Belgian actor Matthias Schoenaerts, who was formidable in last year’s foreign-language Oscar nominee “Bullhead”). He’s recently arrived in town with Sam (Armand Verdure), the 5-year-old, towheaded son he barely knows. Together they’re just surviving, living temporarily with Ali’s sister as he puts together random security jobs and trains to be a mixed-martial arts fighter. Months later, when a terrifying accident during an orca performance (to the strains of Katy Perry’s strangely unsettling

A dizzyingly implausible new ‘Red Dawn’

Review

M

This film image released by Film District shows Josh Peck , left, Josh Hutcherson, center, and Chris Hemsworth in a scene from “Red Dawn.” — AP

This film image released by Sony Pictures Classics shows Marion Cotillard in a scene from “Rust and Bone.” — AP

“Firework”) leaves Stephanie a double partial amputee, she finds herself calling Ali, the blunt brute who’d left her his phone number. It’s precisely that unapologetically nonnonsense demeanor that she craves. She doesn’t want to be pitied; she wants to feel like a woman again.

And so they embark on a tricky friendsavec-benefits relationship. Through seamless special effects, Audiard renders these scenes frankly and honestly, with an awkwardness that eventually gives way to animalism. These are people who never would have connected under ordinary circumstances; they end up needing each other desperately.

Only in the movies. Cotillard won the Academy Award for best actress for transforming herself into Edith Piaf in “La Vie en

Rose,” and has embodied a certain romantic femininity in films like “Inception” and “Midnight in Paris.” Unadorned as she is here, her talent and presence feel even more vibrant and accessible.

And Schoenaerts is just a force of nature, all masculine magnetism and impulse. Sure, there’s a show-offiness to this kind of artistic slumming - a self-consciously understated scenery chewing that occurs in a story about damaged people - but that’s certainly preferable to flowery exclamations of hope.

Here, the hope is fought for and earned.

“Rust and Bone,” a Sony Pictures Classics release, is rated R for strong sexual content, brief graphic nudity, some violence and language. In French with English subtitles.

Running time: 120 minutes. Three stars out of four. —AP

Magic, but You’d Better Believe in Santa Claus T ‘ Rise of the Guardians’ Review:

quick in the job we have to do and we became a lot more independent.” The group - which includes Zayn Malik, Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson - will launch a worldwide tour in February. They hope to work with Katy Perry and are still trying to adjust to the celebrity and fame that has taken over their lives. “I can see how it gets to people. I guess it’s quite easy to get wrapped up in it all,” Styles said.

“We do the same things every other lad our age does. We go out, we have fun, we meet girls and stuff like that.

Sometimes it gets written about, which, yeah, we think about it and it’s absolutely crazy. It’s still a bit weird thinking that that’s the way it is.” — AP

here’s a really cool idea afoot in “Rise of the Guardians,” namely that Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy and the Sandman aren’t merely responsible for their little corner of children’s lives but are actually a super-team of “Avengers” proportions. Taking their cues from the unseen Man in the Moon, they protect children everywhere from evildoers.

There’s also a really tired concept dragging down the film, namely that new Guardians recruit Jack Frost isn’t sure that he wants to join up, and he doesn’t know who he really is - and he’s, basically, the umpteenth Joseph-Campbell-reluctant-hero who pops up in seemingly every kids’ movie and superhero epic. (Arguably, “Guardians” is both.)

And as much as I often found myself enchanted by this 3D animated film, based on the series of books by William Joyce, I couldn’t help noticing that this movie falls into a conundrum I like to call (with a tip of the hat to playwright Christopher Durang) “You didn’t clap loud enough - Tinkerbell’s dead.”

As an atheist (albeit one who loves Christmas movies), I get a little twitchy about films where children are made to feel guilty about not believing in things and people that don’t actually exist. So even

though it’s nice to get a non-cynical story aimed at kids, in which open-heartedness and wonder are celebrated as virtues, this is another movie that paints itself into a theological corner by suggesting that those of us who question the existence of the Easter Bunny are at fault for all the world’s ills. In this tale, the Guardians assemble for two reasons: to welcome Jack Frost (voiced by Chris Pine) into their ranks and to combat Pitch Black (Jude Law), a long-suppressed boogeyman who’s out to capture the Sandman (who never speaks, but is one of the movie’s funniest characters) and to replace his golden slumbers with hideous nightmares.

Santa (Alec Baldwin) - here made out to be the jolliest Russian stevedore on Earth welcomes Jack to the fold and assures him that he can be a hero once he figures out what he’s made of. Less convinced is the Easter Bunny (Hugh Jackman), who has ongoing resentment against Jack for all those times that wintry weather has disrupted egg hunts.

And there’s the Tooth Fairy (Isla Fisher), who subcontracts most of her gig out to her army of pixies; one of the film’s interesting twists is to explain why children’s teeth are so valuable and what she does with them. When the Guardians are zipping

around the planet, invisibly enchanting children and ribbing each other, “Rise of the Guardians” has a real lift to it; first-time director Peter Ramsey knows how to pace the big set pieces, and he understands that anytime you can make characters fly around (or extreme-sled) in a 3D movie, audiences’ spirits will soar too.

All too often, however, the good stuff is interrupted by the extremely pat plot beats of Jack and his voyage of self-fulfillment, and those aren’t the only mistakes screenwriter David Lindsay-Abaire (“Rabbit Hole”) makes along the way. There’s a major plot development that takes place off-camera, which gives a large chunk of the movie a “Wait, what just happened?” confusion that’s too much of a distraction. The young’uns at the screening I attended were entranced for much of “Rise of the Guardians” (terrible title!), so parents can rest assured that its target audience will leave satisfied. But the best family films truly appeal to the whole family, and adults may find themselves asking, and fending off, too many questions to take the plunge into this fantasy universe. —Reuters

he army invading the United States in “Red Dawn,” an ill-advised remake of the campy 1984 original, was changed in post-production from Chinese to North Korean. With a few snips here, a few re-dubs there, the filmmakers re-edited and re-shot, fearful of offending China and its increasingly important movie-going market. But why stop there? Can’t we blithely make any nation our enemy for movie-sake? Let’s try a version with Iran! And don’t we have reason to be suspicious of Sweden? Do we REALLY know what’s in all those giant Ikea stores??

The ridiculous “Red Dawn” is the supreme example of Hollywood’s Cold War nostalgia, when the Russkies offered up an easy, de facto villain. Today’s terrorism paranoia, apparently, is too complex and too faceless for some. No, we need a clear-cut enemy. Do you have something in red? The awkward updating of “Red Dawn” came after Metro-GoldwynMayer, which had produced the film back in 2009, went bankrupt. Not surprisingly, the market was weak for a film that reportedly cost $60 million to make and suggested modern China was the equivalent of Cold War-era Soviet Union. So the switch was made and distributor FilmDistrict picked it up.

Like the original, “Red Dawn” is about a band of high-schoolers whose hometown (now Spokane, Wash., instead of small town Colorado) is suddenly taken over by parachuting foreign troops. With most adults lockedup and military response not coming, the kids develop into a gang of insurgents, dubbing themselves the Wolverines. Back in 1984, the kids were played by brat pack all-stars: Patrick Swayze, C. Thomas Howell, Charlie Sheen, Jennifer Grey. Yes, Tom Brokaw had it wrong: This was truly the greatest generation. The film (the first PG-13 rated movie, incidentally) was grade-A ‘80s kitsch, a movie that captured the imaginations of kids growing up amid

T

Cold War fears. The new “Red Dawn” has no such context. While there is plenty of anxiety to go around these days, North Korea is more likely viewed a punchline than a legitimate invasion threat. (In the film, Russia is suggested to be cahoots with them, as well.) The implausibility is dizzying, all around. The cast is centered on two brothers: the returning Iraq veteran Jed (Chris Hemsworth, the “Snow White and the Huntsman” star) and high school quarterback Matt Eckert (Josh Peck).

They’re the leaders of the Wolverines, whose ranks include Josh Hutcherson (“The Hunger Games”), Adrianne Palicki (“Friday Night Lights”), Connor Cruise and Edwin Hodge.

From a mountain cabin and other woodsy lairs, they launch guerilla warfare on the occupying North Koreans. Director Dan Bradley, a former stunt coordinator, can mount a decent shoot-out scene, but doesn’t stage the action well, leaving scenes looking set in the same few downtown blocks. Still, there’s no telling how Bradley had to alter his footage. (No one had it harder than actor Will Yun Lee, who, as the occupying commander, had to redo his lines in Korean.) In recent years, home invasion movies have been made frequently, only with aliens.

The appeal, as one of the characters in “Red Dawn” says, is that defending one’s homeland makes “more sense” in a time filled with indirect military aims. But such fantasies here played out by delusional teenage football players - are all the more dubious given that the US was engaged in two (real) wars at the time of filming. In “Red Dawn,” Afghanistan and Iraq go hardly mentioned, replaced by a game of toy soldiers with makebelieve foes. “Red Dawn,” a FilmDistrict release, is rated PG-13 for sequences of intense war violence and action, and for language. Running time: 93 minutes. One star out of four. — AP

Fiona Apple postpones tour to be with dying dog iona Apple is postponing her South American tour to be with her dying dog, Janet. Apple says in a heartfelt, handwritten letter to fans posted on her website and Facebook page Tuesday that the nearly 14-year-old Pit bull is her best friend, mother, daughter and benefactor and “the one who taught me what love is.”

Apple says Janet suffers from Addison’s Disease and is near death.

The singer writes, “I will not be the woman who puts her career ahead of love and friendship,” and asks her fans for their blessings and patience. Apple says she is staying home “and reveling in the swampiest, most awful breath that ever emanated from an angel” and plans to reschedule her South American appearances. —AP

F

File photo shows Fiona Apple performing at the NPR showcase during the SXSW Music Festival in Austin, Texas. —AP

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2012

lifestyle F e a t u r e s

Swiss organ restorer Barbara Dutli blows a wooden organ pipe.

Swiss organ restorer Barbara Dutli talks to Romanian craftsmen at her Swiss organ restorer Barbara Dutli stands next to restored organ pipes in organ restoration workshop. her workshop.

n the medieval fortified churches of Transylvania, dozens of majestic organs have fallen prey to rodents and the ravages of time. But thanks to the dedication of Swiss restorer Barbara Dutli, these imposing instruments”whole orchestras by themselves”, as French writer Honore de Balzac used to say-are rumbling back to life.

And Baroque organ music has started to resound again in this region of central Romania. “Transylvania is a very interesting region for historical instruments. I don’t think you’ll find anywhere else in Europe with as many instruments of this value and beauty that aren’t in working order,” Dutli told AFP. The restoration project has even won the support of Britain’s Prince Charles, a staunch promoter of Transylvania’s rich heritage. Last summer, he sent a message saying he “prayed with all his heart” for the successful restoration of the organ at Rupea village.

To breathe new life into these instruments built between the 17th and 19th centuries, Dutli becomes a detective trying to unearth the original construction plans and identify the materials used for the keys, pipes and wooden panels. “We are trying to restore the organs to their original condition,” she says. When she started work on the Rupea model last year, she could not immediately identify the builder. But after scrutinising the instrument’s thousands of pieces, her heart began to pound when she spotted a date written on the sheepskin of the bellows: 1699. “Can you imagine? This means that this organ was built in the 17th century when Bach was just 14 years old,” she said, her blue eyes twinkling. Beside her, sitting above the bellows, celebrated organist Steffen Schlandt is rehearsing “with great emotion” on this historical instrument that seemed doomed to decay just a few years ago.

To restore the keys Schlandt is playing, Dutli had to look all over Europe to find a plank carved from the root of a walnut tree.

I

A general interior view at the fortified church.

A general exterior view shows the fortified church and shelter rooms for the inhabitants.

Turkeys: Main course or animal companion? OK, so it isn’t even close. According to the industry group National Turkey Federation, more than 46 million of the big birds will be served as Thanksgiving dinner this year. Just a few hundred will get to experience the holiday as a pet, said turkey rescue Farm Sanctuary. “I believe they make amazing companions, but they are different than cats or dogs,” said Susie Coston of Watkins Glen, NY For one thing, turkeys get too hot and are too messy to come indoors, said Coston, the national shelter director for the Farm Sanctuary.

Taking the large bird on as a companion requires more responsibilities than owning a dog or a cat, experts say. “If people are adopting domesticated turkeys, they should be aware that it’s not a simple endeavor and would take a considerable amount of work,” said NTF spokeswoman Kimmon Williams. “Turkeys as pets is a complicated question,” she added. Like other animals that serve as companions to humans, turkeys come in different breeds, with some weighing as much as 60 pounds, Williams said. Every turkey has its own personality - and some can be aggressive, she said.

Most pet turkey owners agree the birds aren’t the kind of pets that can be walked on a leash or dressed for the Christmas family photo. Coston said, for instance, that she wouldn’t sleep with her turkey “like I do my dogs and cats. But I don’t love dogs more than I do pigs or dogs and cats more than chickens and turkeys. I have a different relationship with each of them.”

“Turkeys are inherently nervous and do not tend to be warm and cuddly. Turkeys also need plenty of space to run around in and be fed the appropriate diet,” Williams noted. Still, Karen Oeh, who will be getting four pet turkeys just before Thanksgiving, said she preferred them over dogs.

“Dogs are needy to me. They need affection,

attention, security, they always need you to do something for them. With the turkeys, I don’t feel guilty because I didn’t take them to the park and throw the Frisbee,” said the Ben Lomond, Calif, resident.

Despite their differences, turkeys and traditional pets share traits such as the ability to love unconditionally, loyalty and intelligence, owners said. Dr Drucilla Roberts, a pathologist from Millis, Mass, pointed out a bonus: “They give us manure and eggs.” “I was always told that turkeys were the dumbest of farm animals. But that’s not true. They know us and protect us. If a stranger comes, the turkey is right in his face and clucking and raising its feathers. They make great noises,” Roberts said.

Like dogs, some turkeys grow attached to their owners. Oeh recounted how her last turkey, Ariala, followed her around the garden.

“She would stay by my right leg. When I was picking vegetables, she ate out of my hand. She

A general exterior view shows the fortified church in Harman village (200km north from Bucharest), which holds a completely restored organ. —AFP photos

The craft disappeared under the Communists The 700 pipes-ranging in height from a few centimeters to more than two meters (six feet) — were either restored or replaced according to methods used by craftsmen in the 17th century. “I shape them on the sand,” Magyar Arpad says proudly as he applied the technique of casting flat sheets of alloys on a special sand bench. The 29-yearold ethnic Hungarian from Romania learned organ-building in a workshop Dutli set up here in Harman, a village in the heart of Transylvania. Dutli, born in the Zurich area, first began coming to Romania in the 1990s, just after the fall of the brutal dictatorship of Nicolae Ceausescu, to help restore organs during her holidays.

Under the Communist regime, religion was banned and the craft of organ-building disappeared. Fascinated by the region, she settled in Romania and set up a training centre for restorers in 2003 with the help of the Swiss Foundation for Organs in Romania. “We want to train a new generation of Romanians to build and restore the organs of their country,” Dutli says. Students follow a three-year training program, combining theory and practice under the guidance of Swiss maestros. They are also taught cabinet-making to broaden their chances on the labor market.

“What is really good is that we learn a craft that will be very useful in the future. There are so many organs to be restored that I think even my grandchildren will have work,” 22-year-old apprentice Lorincz Konrad Leher told AFP. It is a unique opportunity in a country from which more than three million people have emigrated to find work. Only about one-fifth of Transylvania’s approximately 250 organs have been restored so far, according to Kurt Philippi, an ethnic Saxon musicologist who has unearthed

let me pet her and kiss her,” Oeh said, adding that petting turkeys can put them into a trance-like state. “She was so immersed in the moment that if you got tired of petting her and moved away, she’d wake up and look around as if to say ‘What’s going on?’” The part-time teacher and student services coordinator had to put Ariala to sleep last year due to her health problems, for which Oeh discovered a lack of available information.

Through trial and error, she learned that it’s hard to give a turkey a pill or take them on trips, because crating them requires giving them bear hugs to keep their wings from flapping.

Experts and owners, however, are aware of at least one problem: owing to their large breasts, commercial turkeys have little balance and can fall easily. One of Roberts’ turkeys, Turks, had to be put down after its weight caused a split sternum, she said. Commercial turkeys are usually the ones that get adopted as pets: Coston said most turkeys

Pet turkeys owned by Karen Oeh, named Ariala and Rhoslyn on their adoption day eating their Thanksgiving dinner provided by Farm Sanctuary, of squash and pumpkin pie at Love Creek Farm in Ben Lomond, Calif.

century-old music scores for organs.

“Saving the organs is like saving a part of our culture and identity,” he said, recalling the tragic fate of his community. The Saxons settled in Transylvania in the 12th century when King Geza II of Hungary sought their help to defend the eastern border of the kingdom from Tatars and Turks. They lived and prospered for centuries until World War II when many were enlisted, sometimes against their will, in the Wehrmacht because of their German ancestry.

After Soviet troops entered Romania in 1944, tens of thousands of Saxons were deported to labour camps in Siberia.

For decades under the Communist regime, Saxons were unable to leave Romania; they fled en masse to Germany after the fall of Ceausescu. Romania’s ethnic Germans including Saxons numbered more than 630,000 in 1930; by 2002 there were fewer than 60,000 according to the latest available census figures. Today the fortified churches built by their forefathers and listed by UNESCO as World Heritage-as well as organs with their intricate linden-tree ornaments-remain as their legacy. Dutli hopes to save more of these masterpieces: “What is fascinating is to transform dead materials-wood, metal, animal skin-into something that produces great music.” — AFP

rescued by the Farm Sanctuary come from factory farms and have been debeaked, detoed and fattened. Many arrive as victims of neglect, cruelty or hoarding; they fall off farm trucks; or they mysteriously show up in boxes on doorsteps, she said.

The sanctuary, which has locations in California and in New York, places about 50 turkeys a year and has found homes for more than 1,500 birds since it started 26 years ago, Coston said.

Hundreds of other birds, including the weakest or those with special needs are not adopted out because the rescues can deal with their problems easier than adopters can, Coston said.

Such sanctuaries are the final stop for the most well-known turkeys to escape the dinner table: the annual National Thanksgiving Turkey (and an understudy), who are pardoned the night before the holiday. After much fanfare and a White House ceremony, this year’s turkeys will live on George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate in Virginia,

with last year’s birds, Liberty and Peace. Karen Dawn, an author from Los Angeles, gets two turkeys from Farm Sanctuary every year and socializes them before they move on. This year’s birds are going to live in Malibu. They arrive stinky, so she gives them a bath and blow dry. “They relax like this is the best day they have had so far,” said Dawn, who wrote “Thanking the Monkey: Rethinking the Way We Treat Animals.” Turkeys make great outdoor pets and “make better pets than other birds that you have to keep in a cage indoors,” she added. Dawn said her two 20-pound turkeys will be at her Thanksgiving dinner - but as guests. Rosie and Martha will greet two dozen human guests in the garden and watch the sun set over the Pacific Ocean, while Dawn serves up Wild Turkey bourbon - and tofurkey. — AP

Photo provided by Karen Dawn, a pet, Rosie Turkey, is held in the lap of owner Karen Dawn in her front garden in Pacific Palisades, Calif. — AP photos

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2012

lifestyle F e a t u r e s

rom Mexico’s Maya Riviera to ancient sites in Guatemala, the region foresees a tourism bonanza from the fateful December 21 date in the Mayan calendar, but indigenous groups are fed up with the doomsday myth. With one month to go before the end of the calendar’s 5,200-year cycle, tourists will find all-inclusive excursions and religious ceremonies in holy sites across Central America and Mexico. It is also a chance to celebrate the contributions of the Mayan civilization to mankind, but indigenous groups have accused governments and businesses of profiting from Hollywood-inspired fiction about their culture.

“The world has been marked by a very peculiar interpretation given by Hollywood, without much knowledge about it,” Alvaro Pop, an indigenous leader in Guatemala, told AFP. “In Mayan culture, scholars never were prophets.

That’s why there shouldn’t be interpretations based on supposed prophecies that don’t exist,” he said. The US blockbuster “2012” depicted the Earth being swallowed by floods, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, but the date in the Mayan calendar merely refers to the end of a cycle, not the end of the world.

Guatemala’s indigenous groups have prepared their own activities, separate from official celebrations, in five cities and six natural sites considered sacred to them. More than half of Guatemala’s population of nearly 15 million are from indigenous groups of Mayan descent. But the end of the world tales mean brisk business for others.

Guatemala expects to greet two million foreign visitors in 2012, an eight percent increase from the previous year, according to the Guatemalan Tourism Institute.

Activities are planned in 13 archeological and tourism sites on December 20. And on December 21, President Otto Perez will attend a televised ceremony at the archeological site of Tikal, home to majestic pyramids. In Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula, home to white sand beaches, the Cancun Hotels Association says 90 percent of rooms are booked for the second and third weeks of December, compared to 81 percent last year. Conferences and ceremonies are planned at the El Tortuguero archeological site in the state of Tabasco, where the stone calendar that foresees the end of the current cycle was discovered.

The ancient site of Chichen Itza, with its 365-step pyramid, will play host on December 21 to an event dubbed “The End of the Long Count Mayan Calendar.” A ceremony will also be held that day in Copan, the main Maya site in

F

Honduras, with the country’s President Profirio Lobo in attendance. But an attempt by the Chorti ethnic group to recreate an ancient Mayan ball game as part of the festivities has failed. In neighboring El Salvador, Tourism Minister Jose Napoleon Duarte told AFP that a light show and a “night of contact with the stars” are planned in the El Tazumal and Joya de Ceren sites in the west of the country.

The December date represents the end of a cycle in the Mayan long count calendar that begins in the year 3114 before Christ. It is the completion of 5,200 years counted in 13 baak t’uunes, a unit of time. One baak t’uune is equivalent to 144,000 days, or roughly 400 years. The Mayan culture enjoyed a golden age between 250 AD and 900 AD before its steady decline and the arrival of Spanish conquistadores in the 16th century. — AFP

Picture taken at the Iximche archaeological site in Tecpan municipality.

—AFP photos

Pictures taken at the Tak’Alik A’Baj archaeological site, in Asintal municipality, Retalhuleu department, 200 km south of Guatemala City on November 16, 2012.

Picture taken at the Iximche archaeological site in Tecpan municipality.

elax doomsayers, the Maya people did not really mark their calendar for the end of the world on December 21, 2012. As tourists book hotels rooms in Mexico’s Maya Riviera and Guatemalan resorts ahead of next month’s fateful date, experts are busy debunking the doomsday myth. The apocalyptic prophecy that has inspired authors and filmmakers never appears in the tall T-shaped stone calendar that was carved by the Maya around the year 669 in southeastern Mexico.

In reality, the stone recounts the life and battles of a ruler from that era, experts say. Plus, the last date on the calendar is actually December 23, 2012, not the 21st, and it merely marks the end of a cycle. So no need to build giant

R

A Mayan priest carries out a ritual at the Iximche archaeological site in Tecpan municipality.

arks, because the terrible floods, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions depicted in the Hollywood blockbuster “2012” were not prophesied by the Mayas. “The Mayas had a cyclical idea of time. They were not preoccupied with the end of the world,” Mexican archeologist Jose Romero told AFP. The stone, known as Monument 6, was located in El Tortuguero, an archeological site that was discovered in 1915. Broken in six pieces, the different fragments are exhibited in US and Mexican museums, including Tabasco’s Carlos Pellicer Camara Anthropology Museum and New York’s Metropolitan Museum. The first study on the stone was published by a German researcher in 1978.

Since then, various archeologists have examined its signifi-

Tourists go out of the cave of ‘Mil Virgenes’ at the Q’umarka’aj archaeological site in Santa Cruz municipality, Quiche department, 167 km west of Guatemala City.

cance and agree that it refers to the December 23 date.

“The last inscription refers to December 23, 2012, but the central theme of Monument 6 is not the date, it’s not the prophecies or the end of the world. It’s the story of (then ruler) Bahlam Ajaw,” Romero said.

The final date represents the end of a cycle in the Mayan long count calendar that began in the year 3114 before Christ. It is the completion of 13 baak t’uunes, a unit of time equivalent to 144,000 days. “It is not the end of the Mayan long count calendar, which is endless. It’s the beginning of a new cycle, that’s all,” said Mexican historian Erick Velasquez. Though the Maya made prophecies, they looked at events in the near future and were related to

day-to-day concerns like rain, droughts, or harvests. The belief that the calendar foresees the end of the world comes from Judeo-Christian interpretations, the experts said.

Velasquez warned against giving too much weight to Monument 6, noting that it is just one of more than 5,000 stones from the Mayan culture that have been studied. The Earth still has a few years left, even in eyes of the ancient Maya: Some stones refer to the year 7000.—AFP

One-month countdown for the end of Mayan calendar cycle

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2012

39

72-year-old Chinese

grandfather models teen girl’s clothes Chinese grandfather has won worldwide fame after photographs of him modelling women’s clothing were posted to the internet. Seventy two year old Liu Xianping posed in outfits from his granddaughter’s fashion store Yuekou for a joke.

But when Ms Lv posted the snaps online, the two were surprised to find the photos go viral almost overnight. What began as a lighthearted joke fast became a successful publicity campaign after the images went global - and Ms Lv saw sales soar.

According to China Newsweek, Ms Lv said the stunt was all her grandfather’s idea.

‘He picked up one piece and tried to give some advice on how to mix and match,’ she said. ‘We thought it was fun so we started shooting.’ The outfits, designed for teenaged girls, feature bright pink capes, striped tights and over the knee socks, with plenty of lace, ribbon and frippery. Chenille scarves and pink-framed sunglasses finish off the looks, and Liu carries a wine-coloured handbag in many of the shots.

Posing in a sequence of outfits, his long slim legs and slender physique shows Yuekou’s clothing off to its full advantage and has earned the store infinite more hits than if a regular model had been used.

Indeed, since Liu’s photographs, posted on Tmall, one of China’s leading retail sites, went viral, sales at Yuekou have increased fivefold.

Liu’s legs are reportedly the envy of women all over China - even the world. ‘He has such a good figure,’ offbeatchina.com reported one fan as saying. ‘He has such a good figure, especially those legs!’ and another likening the elderly gent to Karl Lagerfeld.

For his part, Liu told China Newsweek that he is glad to model for the store - and happy to be able to help his family. ‘Why unacceptable for someone like me to wear women’s clothes? Modelling for the store is helping my granddaughter and I have nothing to lose,’ he said. ‘We were very happy on the day of the shooting. I’m very old and all that I care about is to be happy. — Mailonline Liu Xianping preparing to model women’s clothing

A

This undated photograph provided by Yecoo yesterday shows Liu Xianping who is a 72 year old grandfather modeling for his granddaughter’s online fashion company ‘Yecoo’ in Guangzhou, south China’s Guangdong province. — AFP photos

Liu Xianping modeling for his granddaughter’s online fashion company ‘Yecoo’.

Vibrant new designs and styles on board in Centrepoint KUWAIT: Centrepoint the leading fashion retailer in Kuwait once again promises to bedazzle you this winter with its wide array of vibrant and stylish new designs. As mesmerizing is the season; so is the collection to take a pick from - be it winter wear or accessories, footwear, kid swear or even those delightful gifts for the home. Centrepoint has them all...the one stop shopping destination to cater to all of your needs.

Juniors has unveiled its new Autumn Winter 2012 collection, it is time to update your little one’s Inspired by global trends for the season, the brand has a line that reflects eclectic themes such as the

rugged outdoor look, country bohemian, and the prep-school turnout. These themes have been reinterpreted to create an age-appropriate collection that carries seasonal favorites including dark flannel shirts in classic shades of marl grey and navy blue, and the more upbeat caramel, lilac and periwinkle.

The season also boasts a trendy selection of sports-themed T-shirts, party dresses, snug-fit chinos, plaid cardigans and varsity jackets. The garments use bold checks and chunky knits to convey a warm and comforting mood during the cooler months of the year. With fur and leather trims to embellish fabrics such as flannel, tweed and knitwear, the line-up is perfect for any occasion from parties to school functions or just a family fun-day out.

With the AW’12 blockbuster trends already at the top of every fashionistas shopping list, the Splash season collection is all set to offer high-voltage fashion trends that draw inspiration from the most popular catwalk trends, across the globe. Ranging from retro

mix of the 19th century to tapestry and heritage classics and all the way to military alongside some eastern futurism, the trends are given a spin to provide chic and elegant fashion. Not to be left behind, male trends are dominant once more. With a clear gravitation towards all things formal, upright and strong the suit and smart tailoring is certainly the focus of the season. Soft woolen suiting’s have a formal elegance with contrasting lapels and capes as directional outerwear options. The season also finds its cues from historical influences drawn from the Victorian and Edwardian eras of haunted poets and aristocratic men. Severe silhouettes, pieced fabrics and layered proportions give a new meaning to all sorts of masculine styles while double-breasted jackets remain essential to the season.

Shoe Mart the region’s leading retailer in footwear and accessories illuminate their new accessories collection with signature pieces for this AW’12. An array of bags, clutches and shoulder bags are designed to

Liu Xianping who is a 72 year old grandfather modeling with a ‘Gangnam style’ pose.

perfection embracing the season’s colours of autumn oranges and yellows, blue hues and purple color with crystal detailing, fringes, metallic’s, lace and neon highlights. The collection also brings a wide selection of scarves, watches, jewellery and hair accessories in all shapes, sizes, material, prints and colors, which are available across all stores.

The women’s collection this season exceeds boundaries bringing all styles and trends under one roof while the men’s collection delivers to meet every need and want of men with superb fabrics, colors, details and styles. Shoe Mart also has an exciting collection for the little miss’ and misters with a range that covers all fashion trends from bright colors to glitter to match their parents shoe collections, along with styles of their favorite cartoon characters.

Shoe Mart’s kid’s collection will take all the tots and tweens to a new world with all their favorite styles and characters on footwear.

Lifestyle is also stocking some of the finest home fragrance collections the world has to offer. With ten brand new fragrances, Claremont & May’s new collection provides the ultimate scents of the season.

Warmth exudes from combinations like honey and vanilla, honeysuckle and jasmine, and lilac and lavender, while fresh base notes like cherry, pomegranate, passion fruit and melon, mango & papaya, and pink grapefruit are sure to add a breath of fresh air to any home. For a more subtle aroma, champagne and roses, and fresh linen add a crisp hint of luxury to the ultimate fragrance collection. The various products that form part of the range include home fragrance oils, fragrance oil diffusers, room sprays, pot pourri bowls and refills.

Centrepoint has it all this festive winter season to keep you warm and cozy! So stop by at any of our stores located at Al Rai, Hawally, Salmiya, Kuwait City, Fahaheel, Jahra, Fintas and Sulaibikhat for a wonderful shopping experience that will last for the time to come. Opening Soon — The Avenues.