24 Feb 2012

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Kuwait National & Liberation Days

www.kuwaittimes.net

Max 22º Min 08º

NO: 15369- Friday, February 24, 2012

Obama apologizes for Quran burning

SEE PAGE 16

Afghans shout anti-US slogans during a demonstration in Mehterlam in Laghman province east of Kabul yesterday. — AP

Local FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

Local Spotlight

Are plus-sized women unattractive?

Conspiracy Theories

What an act of ignorance!

By Muna Al-Fuzai

muna@kuwaittimes.net

A

friend of mine is facing a predicament. I feel I should share it with readers because she claims the nightmare has eaten into her happiness. She has a 22-year-old daughter who is about to graduate.

She is worried that her daughter has not found a husband yet or can even find a job that requires six hours of office work because of her body size. The mother is very concerned about her daughter’s future. To some extent, I think she is right. Few men will be ready to accept plussized women in marriage for two reasons: Men’s concept of beauty has been profoundly influenced by the media.

They have been conditioned to believe that beauty is all about being skinny. Also, it is normal for a woman to gain a few pounds after marriage and childbirth unless she works out a lot.

The prevailing belief is that if the woman is on the heavier side before marriage, then she may gain more weight once she ties the knot! So the mother is right in being worried about her daughter’s future. When it comes to finding a partner, most people do give impor-

tance to physical appearance.

What can be done? I suggested exercising and avoiding fast food. This is readymade advice we hear all the time. The question is, does it work? I think those suffering from obesity need to develop a strong will to fight the flab! The morbidly obese facing health risks require surgery, but some choose not to go under the knife. I think overweight people need psychological help to help change their eating habits. I have observed that people who lose weight quickly end up piling on more pounds! I feel sorry for the overweight girl and it is sad that our society is so prejudiced against them.

Media has created the widespread notion that being reed-thin is the embodiment of feminine beauty, which is not true. Would you rather be skinny and ill or healthylooking? I feel that skinny people suffer from healthrelated problems too. I think it is best to maintain a normal weight - not too large or too thin. One should enjoy being the way they are. Take care of your health.

In my view

Patriotic purchasing

By Lisa Conrad lisa@kuwaittimes.net

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ations are constantly warned of the dangers of excessive consumerism, of the inflation it will spark in a never-ending cycle of feeling an unrelenting ‘need’ for certain products. In fact, of course, you only actually want them! However, against the warnings of economists on the repercussions of excess, shopping and buying is still a popular pastime and, admittedly, there is nothing quite like it. Excess is especially fun during times of celebration and holidays when smiles are wide, wallets are stocked and shops overflow with even better, newer products to entice their customers.

A great example of this is the upcoming National and Liberation days, as a vast array of products, and even services, have been revamped and marketed in the runup to the festivities. The variety of flag-decorated foods alone is incredible, from cakes, truffles, cookies and cookie pops to sandwiches and large-scale catering platters, everything has been freshly stamped with the Kuwaiti flag. T-shirts, banners, accessories, hats and even entire outfits have all been customized and displayed across clothing stores and supermarkets alike. Even manicures have been created especially in honor of the event. Whatever your preference, there are countless ways to buy and spend in celebration across the country.

As much as I’d like to chime-in with the economists, I can’t help but feel that spending can, sometimes, be a

pretty wonderful thing. No country houses a completely contented society, and occasions where all groups within it come together to celebrate a shared holiday is always good for morale. England was riddled with strife and tension, but you never would’ve known during the royal wedding celebrations. Suddenly everyone donned Union Jack painted faces and waved their flags at something they could, finally, come together to enjoy. Would it have been as jubilant an occasion, however, without the outfits, the flags, the face paints and the commemorative memorabilia which, unsurprisingly, was suddenly for sale across the country? Probably not.

I am, therefore, completely convinced that it’s sometimes beneficial for societies to come together in celebration and to completely enjoy a few days of excess. It is, after all, shopping and buying that literally amasses society into a homogenous group as, for one day, hordes of people don red, black, green and white clothing. The celebration would go on regardless of the extras. The little details, matching cupcakes and patriotic manicures certainly add a little extra something.

By Badrya Darwish

badrya_d@kuwaittimes.net

I

would not have commented on the burning of the Quran by US military in Afghanistan a few days ago if the incident took place or was done by individuals far away - in Florida for example.

Many such incidents took place before and were done by ignorant people tarnishing the image of Islam or mocking Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

First came the Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard who drew blasphemous cartoons and then his country apologized and said they could not stop him, relating the incident to freedom of speech. Another Dutch filmmaker who was later killed made a controversial movie about violence against women in Muslim countries. Later on there were a series of blasphemous films broadcast in France and Holland. Then we thought these were ignorant individuals seeking easy publicity such as the stunt by Pastor Terry Jones from Florida who threatened to burn the Quran in public and made great publicity for himself around the world.

Those were freaks seeking attention. I thought to ignore them was the best thing. But when an incident takes place in the US army barracks, it is a totally different story. These are no longer acts of individuals. The most recent Quran burning happened on a US base that was later referred to as an “act of ignorance” by Mr Karzai. The Qurans which were confiscated from the prisoners and were later burnt were not supposed to become public knowledge. Afghani workers recognized the remains of the Qurans in the bins and this is how we learnt about it.

The army represents a whole country - it has seniors who answer for all their deeds. Explaining it with ignorance is a bit far-fetched accusation. The apology of President Obama alone is the least he could do. He owes the Afghan nation and all Muslims around the world - even in the US - more than that. Whoever has done this should answer for his or her deeds. There should be accountability and punishment. Officers and military people get punished for much smaller mistakes and trivial acts in their daily routine. They face sometimes courtmartials.

Please Mr Karzai, don’t try to underplay it that it was an act of ignorance! Maybe you may also call bombing weddings in your country and killing innocent children and women an “act of ignorance.”

Local FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

Local FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

By Ben Garcia

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l-Sadu House is a cultural center promoting Kuwait’s traditional textile arts and related skills and hosts workshops and training courses at its headquarters. It promotes sadu weaving, a traditional bedouin art of weaving, usually performed by women. Sheikha Bibi Al-Sabah, Chairperson of the Sadu House Weaving Craft Cooperative oversees the workshop. “As the chairperson of the cooperative, I am here to support and promote traditional textiles so we can showcase the importance of this art form,” Shiekha Bibi told Kuwait Times.

Sadu House preserves the traditional bedouin art of weaving Workshop attendees are trained on the various aspects of weaving - from collecting materials to be used, the art of dyeing, and the intricacies of traditional weaving and techniques. Students are also welcome to attend the workshop held on Saturdays. “We have divided the workshop into several sessions - there are adults’ and children’s workshops. For children, we only have Saturdays to spare but we plan to create a workshop for mothers and daughters so that they can enjoy some bonding time. The other days are divided into several sessions for adults,” Sheikha Bibi added.

A new adult weaving workshop was also offered in ‘Sana Weaving’, a type of tapestry weave used in ‘kilims’ from Iran and Afghanistan on small top looms.

Children can enjoy bracelet weaving and traditional Kuwaiti doll making using knotting techniques. “We recently introduced a school workshop by visiting public schools and teaching the art of sadu weaving. We are promoting sadu, but I am surprised that people interested in sadu weaving are mostly expats, but

locals are also slowly catching up,” Sheikha Bibi admitted. The center was established in 1978 but only in the year 1991 was the project transformed into a cooperative center as well as training center where weavers and artisans own shares.

Mutaira Musalam, one of the founding weavers, enjoys sharing the art/skills she learned from her grandmother and her aunt. Musalam began teaching the art of sadu weaving in the early 1990s. “I learnt many things from my grandmother and my aunt. I started watching them when I was eight, dyeing clothes and spinning. They encouraged me to weave.

When I was 10, I remember weaving my first sadu [both loom and the woven pieces are known as sadu]. It was a very rewarding experience for me,” Musalam recalled.

The art of weaving is a serious but tedious job according to Musalam. It requires energy, time and lots of patience to finish a piece. Musalam teaches patterns such as uwairjan, aein, midkhar and raqoum. The patterns are not taught in one session but is divided depending on the availability of instructors. “There are advanced learning processes to perfect the pattern. But it is not difficult for us women. We can easily follow because we are taught the virtue of patience,” she added.

Musalam also shared her personal experience. “I enjoy weaving a lot. There is a sense of accomplishment when I see the finished product, the product of my labor. These hands are God given, and I must use it to help my family survive. I receive my [bread and butter] from here, thanks to the cooperative as they help sell our products,” she said. The raw materials are usually sheep wool or cotton imported from India. “My favorite material is wool. It is not only very traditional, but wool is available in Kuwait unlike cotton which needs to be imported from other countries.”

Creating a fabric from wool is easier.

“Cotton has shorter threads unlike wool which has longer fibers. If the fibers are long, it is easier to create weaving materi-

Mutaira Musalam, one of the founding weavers of Sadu House, is busy at work. als,” she said. Weavers usually work from home and bring the finish products to Sadu House for sale. The traditional sadu platform is mainly used for demonstration/workshop purposes.

Sadu House has its own museum as well. They also take pride in their own library and a shop that displays products.

Patricia Redding, Sadu Cooperative Coordinator, took Kuwait Times on a brief tour of the venue showing several sections dedicated to ‘sadu bedouin weaving’ as well as a place dedicated to ‘urban weaving’ [mostly done by men on pit looms]. Urban weaving produces cloth which is then made into cloaks or bishts [local term for a man’s cloak worn over the clothing]. The bisht has been the traditional part of the Arab man’s wardrobe for generations.

Sadu weaving is very feminine, according to Redding. It is reflected in various finished products that are on display at Sadu House. Products range from carpets, decorative item for containers, chairs, tables, pillows, camel ornamentations, rugs and many more. Redding also demonstrated a section which explains the history of sadu weaving, materials used for coloring [dyeing], natural colors used [from the fruit or flowers] to chemi-

Patricia Redding, Sadu Cooperative Coordinator, shows some of the center’s products.

cal dyes [imported from India]. She also explained an important part of a tent a’tent-divider’ displayed in one section at the venue. Arab women consider the tent divider as the most treasured textile of a family, as per tradition. The tentdivider is made combined with materials from sheep wool, cotton and goat and camel hair, Redding elaborated.

Sadu House cooperates with the Kuwait Textile Arts Association (KTAA), also promoting the art and craft of textiles and fiber arts. KTAA was established under the patronage of Sheikha Altaf AlSalem Al-Sabah. Members are mostly expatriates. For more information about the Sadu House and the KTAA, please visit their website www.alsadu.org.kw.

Workshop Schedules Sadu Weaving workshop (January and February): Eight sessions Raqoum Workshop (March and April): Four sessions Children’s Workshop (December, February and March); Saturdays only Fun with Textiles - Family Workshop (March only); Special External Workshop (Schools by invitation)

Local FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

Peace through poetry

By Abdellatif Sharaa KUWAIT: The line “Palestine is a piece of poetry” caught my attention recently and made me curious about an organization named “Palestine Poetry Home”. So I met its General Manager Sameer Atiyeh, who visited the offices of Kuwait Times. Atiyeh is in Kuwait to participate in various events and introduce this unique cultural organization.

“This is a Palestine establishment, located in Syria, that is interested in poetry written about Palestine around the world,” said Atiyeh. This is a cultural organization that was founded in 2009 on the occasion of the Palestinian nakba, as the Arab ministries of culture were celebrating Jerusalem as the capital of Arab culture. It was our conviction that cultural action needs a permanent project, and not just a temporary activity about Jerusalem, so the “Palestine Poetry Home” came into existence.

Atiyeh said that the cultural arena in relation to Palestine lacked specialized establishments, so it was “our choice to Sameer Atiyeh start with this project”. “Palestine is poetry that has been recited for centuries, and we want it to continue filling the horizons of culture in the Arab world and around the globe”. He said that “PPH” is divided into several sections, including electronic media and accounts on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. “Our website is the only cultural site with English language translations, because we believe that there should be a way of communication with Europe and the rest of the people around the world,” he said.

Atiyeh added “PPH” is independent. “As a poet from an early age, I believe that one should serve his cause through his field, and that is why PPH was established with the help of several other poets”. He said that there were many obstacles and difficulties, as “we remained for over a year without premises. We ran our activities from homes and cafes, and through participation in conferences”. The difficulties came about because of their independence, Atiyeh said.

PPH has a studies and research center which cooperates with cultural magazines and publications and provides them with articles on a regular basis, and this is one of the revenue sources for the organization. PPH also established ties with television and radio stations to provide poetry that introduces Palestinian poets who write about Palestine from around the world. This also adds to the sources of revenue.

Atiyeh said the public relations department helped them participate in various events and conferences in Europe, Africa and Asia.

He said this geographical variety helped introduce their poetry mission, and “our interaction with world poets gives us experience”.

PPH works hard to publish works like books that are vanishing from the market, as the organizations searches for studies and attempts to collect them.

Atiyeh said the PPH is also working on establishing a center for archiving photos that summarize the journey of Palestinian poetry during the past 100 years. He said that there is a project to create a “Poet of the Month” corner which focuses on a certain poet and narrates his life and contributions. “We try to diversify our way of presenting our poetry to the public in an attractive manner so people accept it easily,” he said. “We try to introduce Palestinian poets on a geographical basis as to where they come from in Palestine, in order to try to link the map with the poet, and this idea has not materialized well so far and we are working hard on it”.

Atiyeh said their visits are to strengthen relations with cultural establishments, especially as Kuwait has many organizations that are beacons of culture around the world. “We were hosted by AlBabtain Establishment in 2009 in Cairo, in Sarajevo in 2010 and in Dubai in 2011. So this is a cultural establishment that was able to hold three conferences in three continents. There is also Al-Arabi magazine, which is the only one that prints 50,000 copies, and has been in existence for more than 50 years.” Atiyeh also hailed the National Council for Culture Arts and Letters in addition to various societies that enrich Kuwait in a notable manner.

Atiyeh was born in Kuwait in 1972, and went to its schools. He finished high school in Kuwait two months before the Iraqi invasion.

Atiyeh was thoroughly encouraged by his parents to dwell in his pas-

sion of learning the Arabic language. His father would enchant him with poetry magazines and cultural supplements. Later, Sameer went to Yemen’s University of Sanaa for further studies where he met his wife, also of Palestinian origin, who came from Syria. Atiyeh proudly showed pictures of his children on his phone. Atiyeh said when he speaks about his cultural personality, he remembers that it was born and cultivated in Kuwait, and that the cultural cradles were in Kuwait, as he will not forget the keen interests of Arab lan-

guage teachers in following up outstanding students and guiding them the right way. Atiyeh, who considers Kuwait his home, thanked the country, saying that he wrote many poems even after the painful departure that he was forced to make. He said it is a coincidence that that he left Kuwait in Feb 1991 when it was in pain, bleeding and besieged. He has returned to it 21 years later in Feb 2012, after it recovered its shining face. “I thank God that I returned to it when pain became hope.”

Local FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

National spirit on display

By Nawara Fattahova

T

o commemorate Kuwait’s national celebrations, the Voluntary Work Center (VWC) is organizing a threeday Heritage Festival at the Exchange Square in Souk Mubarakiya from Feb 23-25. This is the second event following on the heels of the previous one held last month. “A large number of people attended the festival held last month. Also, the participants were satisfied with its success and demanded that another one be held for a longer duration. So this one will last for three days,” Ahmad AlMinshed, a member of the Permanent Committee for National Celebrations at VWC told Kuwait Times yesterday.

“At first, 150 applicants registered with us. After witnessing an increased interest in participation, we decided to provide 200 stalls. Our center is organizing this event and is providing stalls free of charge for participants. Many are

selling homemade food and handicrafts. In this way, we aim to help them make a profit,” Al-Minshed added.

The festival is open from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm. The visitor can find various items related to National and Liberation days like traditional outfits for adults and kids, accessories, Kuwaiti flags and photos of HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah. Some collectors are

selling antiques and old items and other homemade food and sweets. Also, traditional and handmade jewelry andperfumes are on display.

Aisha, a volunteer with VWC, joined the team recently.

“This is the first activity I have volunteered for with the center. I really like it. I spend my free time this way, and also by engaging in my hobbies. I’m really glad to work with them.

I will be gaining valuable experience through this work,”

she said. Amal, a vendor expressed her joy in being able to participate. “I’m selling perfumes I made at affordable prices. I’m not paying any rent. I’m happy I got this chance, and I can promote my products through this event even if I don’t sell anything. This is my first participation, and there is good attendance,” she pointed out.

The VWC will host another event on Feb 25. A parade will be held along the Gulf Road from the Kuwait Army Officers Club till the Kuwait Towers. Different public and private institutions will make their presence felt. Bikes and sports cars will also take part in the parade, in addition to cartoon characters and music bands.

—Photos by Fouad Al-Shaikh

Local FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

Leigh Pendleton

Lupus is a common but greatly misdiagnosed and misunderstood disease, and one man is striving to change this.

Leigh Pendleton literally faces an uphill task - but with the support of Kuwait Times and family and friends - he will attempt to summit Mount Kilimanjaro to raise funds and awareness about this debilitating affliction. He told Kuwait Times why he undertook this challenge for charity.

Kuwait Times: What impact has lupus had on your family and your life overall?

Leigh Pendleton: Thankfully, I have not been directly affected by lupus, but sadly one of my nearest and dearest one has. Four years ago, my partner lost her mother to lupus. Although, we were not together at the time, the affect it had on her is still apparent. Unfortunately, I fear that it was somewhat of a typical case. Her mother had struggled with medical complications for many years, and was told on a number of occasions that there was nothing wrong with her, that she was just tired and needed rest. Her other symptoms, such as the severe joint pain she suffered from, was diagnosed as rheumatoid arthritis. Finally, in late 2007, she was diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus after developing the symbolic butterfly rash on her face. In early February the following year, at the age of just forty-seven, my partner’s mother suddenly passed away, leaving a daughter, three sons and a loving husband behind. Her death crushed all of them.

KT: What is the main goal of your Kilimanjaro climb?

LP: For me, this challenge is less about getting to the top of Kilimanjaro and more about lupus awareness. I am quite competitive, so naturally I would love to make it to the

for a cause

summit, but if I am told to turn around and go back down for medical reasons, I will not feel defeated. With just under seven months to go before I depart for Tanzania and the help of family, friends and the Kuwait Times, a significant amount of money has already been raised for Lupus UK. Together, not only have funds been raised but awareness is being spread every day. Nearly all of my donations have come from people who have no idea what lupus is. Reading my sponsorship page has encouraged them to ask questions and go and do their own research about the disease, which helps with education about the disease and increases awareness. I created a slogan for my climb, which I found to be quite fitting, ‘One man, one mountain, one misunderstood disease,’ but, as this statement suggests, I am only one man. By increasing awareness, I hope to bring people together in an effort to understand the disease so that a real difference can be made. That is the main mission of the climb.

KT: What is your charity raising money for?

LP: The great thing about Lupus UK is the way they distribute the funds they raise. Naturally, finding a cure for lupus is number one on the agenda, but this of course will take time. As a science-based degree holder, I am aware of just how much time and money it takes to tackle any medical condition. Lupus UK does fund research

What is important to remember is, no matter who you are, you can make a difference. If you told one person about lupus that could potentially spread to hundreds of people, that is what this exercise is all about - spreading the word and saving a life.

initiatives but, perhaps equally important, they also use funding to offer support and promote awareness to the public, medical professionals and lupus patients. One of the greatest problems with lupus is the difficulties it presents when doctors try and diagnose it. This is because, as an autoimmune disease, it triggers symptoms that can be associated with other medical conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis. This is when lupus may be at its most dangerous as it is often misdiagnosed. Early diagnosis is absolutely essential in the management of lupus to ensure patients receive the necessary treatment and help prevent the spread of disease to their vital organs.

KT: What is driving you to climb Kilimanjaro?

LP: It has quietly been one of my ambitions for a number of years now, but as it is most probably going to be one of the hardest things I will ever physically do, I want it to mean more than simply getting to the top. I quickly discovered that Kilimanjaro is somewhat of a hot spot for charity climbs, and it dawned on me that it could be one of the biggest charity efforts around. I decided that Kilimanjaro was the way to go as, not only would I be doing something for charity, but it would give even more encouragement to struggle to the top when times get tough (which I have been told is most of the way up). As there are so many worthy causes out there, I wanted to choose a charity that was personal to me. As lupus has played such a role in my partner’s life, it was only fitting that I chose a lupus charity to climb for. I strongly believe that by raising vital research funds and increasing awareness, we have the ability to change the fate of current and future lupus sufferers, their families and loved ones.

KT: How has the experience of knowing about lupus changed your life?

LP: Like many others, lupus was not part of my vocabulary until recently. In fact, when I first heard of the disease, I assumed it was very rare and was shocked to find that some 50,000 people in the UK alone suffer from lupus.

Moreover, it is acknowledged as being more common than leukemia, muscular dystrophy, and multiple sclerosis. Further research revealed that, within my immediate family circle (father, mother and one sister), we personally know five people who have either had the disease or still do. I was shocked, and this realization really helped me to understand just how prevalent lupus is and how many people are affected by this misunderstood disease.

Local FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

KT: Can you tell us more about the history of your involvement with the charity Kilimanjaro climb?

LP: Sadly, my history with the climb is somewhat non-existent, but everyone has to start somewhere. I first signed up to do this climb back in August 2011. I paid my deposit and agreed to raise the minimum sponsorship needed to take part. Since August, a lot of planning has gone into potential fundraising and awareness ideas in a bid to help raise the status of lupus. I graduated in summer of last year, prior to committing to the Kilimanjaro climb, and had signed up to do three months of unpaid volunteer work with underprivileged communities in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. After returning from the trip in January, fundraising and awareness ideas that had been in the pipeline could finally be brought to life and put into practice. With seven months to go, close to £3,000 has already been raised, and hopefully there is much more to come.

KT: What role can various organizations play in being involved?

LP: Businesses that operate as responsible, ethical organizations have a number of social responsibilities. Events such as this one are a great way to fulfill some of these responsibilities. One of the best ways these sorts of organizations can be involved is simply by promoting the challenge, the charity and of course the awareness of lupus, as many have the power to reach out to tens of thousands of individuals and can be hugely influential. By informing all of their clients or customers about the cause, they are supporting it as doing so not only brings donations and raises awareness, but it also showcases them as being a responsible charity supporting organization. This, in turn, is likely to win them new and continued support, so it’s a win-win for everyone.

KT: What are the symptoms of lupus and what have you learnt about the disease?

LP: Lupus symptoms vary from person to person. People with lupus may experience only a few mild symptoms, while others are often more severely affected. Lupus sufferers are also susceptible to sudden bouts of certain symptoms, so those who normally only have mild symptoms can suddenly experience more severe symptoms. Symptoms include extreme fatigue, joint and muscle pain, facial and body skin rashes, hair loss, suffering a miscarriage and anemia. The body attacks its own healthy tissue and cells, so complications in the kidneys, lungs, heart and brain can arise and, because it is an auto immune disease, one in three lupus patients have other auto immune conditions. The most common is Sjorgrens syndrome, a condition that affects your tear and salivary glands and causes dry mouth and eyes. This is just one secondary condition, and it is not uncommon for lupus patients to have a number of conditions alongside their lupus. Even though lupus is a particularly nasty disease, given today’s standard of medical care it is not uncommon for lupus sufferers to live an almost completely normal life.

KT: What logistical challenges are you expecting?

LP: Thankfully, booking this expedition through a specialist company ensures that much of the logistical challenges are taken care of. Everything from meals, navigation, accommodation, medical assistance and even porters are prearranged. So all the group has to worry about is getting to the top. That said, there is a significant amount of work involved pre-trip for each member of the team, including exercise and sourcing the right trekking gear for the task at hand. I have started an intense exercise regime, six to seven days a week to increase the intensity, the closer we get to the event. At the moment, this involves strength, flexibility and studio-based aerobic activity. In due time, I will incorporate cycling, running and long distance uphill walking in full trekking gear. Likewise organizing the essential and non-essential trekking gear has begun. I have been lucky enough to secure the Kuwait Times as an official sponsor and they are bearing most of the expedition costs, including the expensive gear. Planning will continue until we begin climbing on 13 Sept 2012. You can never be too prepared!

KT: Can interested individuals join the climb?

LP: Absolutely, climbs are organized throughout the year, and are open to all, providing you are deemed medically fit enough to attempt such a taxing event. Climbs can be booked directly through Lupus UK, or alternatively, there are a number of companies that offer open charity events where by you can climb for a charity of your choice.

Furthermore, Kilimanjaro is not the only event on offer.

There are a whole array of events which range in difficulty from short five-kilometer runs, where you set the pace, to exhilarating skydives where gravity takes care of the paces for you. What’s better, often all these events can be performed for free providing you have raised the minimum sponsorship requirement.

KT: How can anyone (organization, individual or business entity) be involved, and help raise awareness about lupus?

LP: Anyone can be involved in so many of ways. Whether you are a school-goer who wants to spread lupus awareness to the rest of your class or even the whole school, a multinational company that wants to promote lupus and help donate towards the cause or anyone/organization inbetween, raising awareness can be as simple or as complex as you want it to be. Simple things such as placing posters around a school or workplace, creating an informative

Facebook page, and even wearing lupus awareness wristbands are all highly effective ways of doing just that. You can also set up your own website and your own lupus foundation. As for big corporate organizations, so much can be done. Of course, the most common would be to help support lupus financially by giving outright donations.

However, other ideas such as sponsored team building activities and general awareness promotion among both staff and clients are always options. The Kuwait Times is a fine example of this, and I would like to thank them for their financial support; most importantly, inviting me to spread the word of lupus through this interview, without whom I would not have been able to reach out to so many people. What is important to remember is, no matter who you are, you can make a difference. If you told one person about lupus that could potentially spread to hundreds of people, that is what this exercise is all about - spreading the word and saving a life.

Local FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

(Left) HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah (center) performs umrah yesterday along with other officials in Makkah. (Right) The Cabinet holds an extraordinary meeting at Kuwait International Airport yesterday presided by Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber. — KUNA

Cabinet asks Audit Bureau to probe ex-PM’s transfers Oppn shortlists 28 draft legislations

By B Izzak KUWAIT: In a surprising move, the Cabinet yesterday asked the Audit Bureau to examine allegations that the former prime minister transferred millions of dinars of public funds into a number of personal accounts he holds overseas. The Cabinet took the decision at an extraordinary meeting before Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber AlMubarak Al-Sabah left the country for Makkah to perform the umrah, or minor pilgrimage, and later to London for medical checkups. The government said that the decision was taken in line with the transparent policy and as a move to ensure that it seeks cooperation with the National Assembly. The government’s move came just ahead of a plan by the opposition to propose to form two parliamentary panels to investigate the issue in addition to another corruption scandal involving former MPs. The transfers scandal was exposed in September by opposition MP Musallam Al-Barrak who sent a series of questions to former foreign minister Sheikh Mohammad Al-Sabah, who in October resigned over the issue. Barrak had alleged that former prime minister

Sheikh Nasser Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah ordered the transfer of millions of dinars of public funds into his personal overseas bank accounts and estimated the transfers at around KD 70 million. Barrak also claimed that the transfers were made by the Central Bank through the foreign ministry. The previous government had denied any wrongdoing, insisting that the money was returned in full to the Central Bank.

Commenting on the government’s decision, Barrak told reporters yesterday that the decision was unjustified and unnecessary as the issue must be investigated by the Assembly. Barrak said that he will resend the old questions to Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Sabah and hold him politically responsible if he did not answer them. The lawmaker said MPs will submit a request to form probe committees into the transfers, the deposits scandal and diesel smuggling at the Assembly session on Feb 28. Barrak said that Kuwaiti ambassadors in the United States, Switzerland and Britain personally received the transfers and they will be summoned during the investigation. Meanwhile, the head of the coordination committee of the opposition bloc MP Jamaan Al-Harbash

said the committee has shortlisted 28 issues as the most important issues that will be accorded priority by the Assembly during the current term.

Harbash said the issues will be given final approval during the opposition’s meeting shortly. The issues include proposing a salary for Kuwaiti housewives, early retirement for women, medical cities and unemployment benefits. They also include anti-corruption legislations, lowering the voting age to 18, allowing servicemen to vote in addition to forming political parties.

Five opposition MPs yesterday submitted a draft law calling to allow the formation of “political bodies” or political parties by Kuwaiti citizens. The draft law stipulates guidelines to regulate the operation of the political parties and totally bans forming parties on sectarian or racial basis, and should not be in military or paramilitary forms.

In another development, newlyelected MP Abdullah Al-Turaiji asked the interior minister about the number of Iranians living in Kuwait and their sponsors. He demanded the number of Iranians in accordance with the type of residence they have including employees in the government and the private sector.

KUWAIT: The National Guard conducts drills as part of the “Knights Steadfastness 2” exercise with the participation of the US military on Wednesday. — KUNA

59 bedoons out on bail KUWAIT: The public prosecutor yesterday freed 59 stateless people on $1,800 bail each after they spent 40 days in jail for participating in protests demanding citizenship, their lawyer said. The men were questioned on charges of assaulting policemen, damaging public property and taking part in illegal gatherings, Fayez Al-Oteibi told AFP. The stateless, known as bedoons, were arrested in midJanuary when riot police cracked down on thousands of protesters demanding the right to Kuwaiti citizenship and a host of basic rights. Oteibi said a judge was scheduled later in the day to look into the cases of 12 other bedoons who were questioned on charges of inciting demonstrations.

Encouraged by the Arab Spring protests, stateless people demonstrated in February and March last year. They renewed their protests in December to press authorities to resolve their decades-old plight. A total of 150 stateless protesters and some Kuwaiti sympathisers are facing trial for demonstrating. Earlier this month, the lower court acquitted 31 of them of all charges. In a bid to force the bedoon to produce their original nationality papers, Kuwait has refused to issue essential documents to most of them, including birth, marriage and death certificates, Human Rights Watch reported in June. Kuwait says only 34,000 out of the 105,000 bedoon present in the state are eligible for citizenship, while the remaining 71,000 are citizens of other countries who must produce their original passports. — AFP

MP proposes bill on hate crimes KUWAIT: A Shiite lawmaker yesterday proposed an antihatred bill that calls for stiff jail terms for those who incite religious, social, racial and gender hatred. The proposal is aimed at preventing increasing levels of hate speech in the traditional and electronic media in the oil-rich but ethnically and religiously divided state, MP Faisal Al-Duwaisan said in the written bill. The bill stipulates a jail term of between one and three years and a fine of up to $72,000 for those who commit or incite a hate crime. The penalty increases to a jail term of up to seven years and a fine of at least $180,000 for repeat offenders. Kuwait has witnessed heightened sectarian and tribal tensions this year, but there is no special anti-hatred legislation, with the courts using the existing penal code to deal with such offences. In recent months, Kuwaiti courts sentenced Shiite and Sunni activists for comments on the Twitter microblog deemed offensive to the other branch of Islam. The draft bill must be passed by parliament and approved by the government before going into effect. Sectarian tensions have flared in Kuwait between the Sunni majority and Shiites, who form about a third of the native population of 1.17 million, reflecting rising regional tensions between the two Islamic sects. —AFP

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

Death toll mounts as Syrian crisis deepens

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Afghan soldier kills two NATO troops in protest

Israel, Washington tangle over Tehran

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KIRKUK: An Iraqi policeman inspects a destroyed vehicle at the site of a blast in the northern city of Kirkuk yesterday. — AFP

Blasts kill 60 across Iraq Violence raises fears of return to sectarian strife BAGHDAD: Simultaneous early morning attacks on mostly Shiite targets across Iraq killed at least 60 people and wounded dozens yesterday in one of the bloodiest days of violence since US troops pulled out in midDecember. The attacks that appeared to pitch Al-Qaeda-linked Sunni Muslim insurgents against Shiites raised fears of a return to the widespread sectarian carnage that tore Iraq apart and cost thousands of lives in 2006 and 2007. The violence breaks weeks of relative calm as Shiite Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki and Sunni leaders have sought to resolve a political crisis that threatened to unravel their power-sharing agreement following the US withdrawal.

At least 32 people were killed in blasts in Baghdad where 10 explosions tore through mainly Shiite neighborhoods during rush hour and other attacks targeted police patrols, commuters and crowds gathered in shopping areas. “We were sitting at a restaurant having soup for breakfast when the bomb exploded. I lost consciousness and then saw smoke and dust when I came to. I

saw people and body parts everywhere,” police officer Ahmed Kadhim said.

Kadhim suffered shrapnel wounds to his left leg and back when a car bomb exploded near a restaurant killing six people and wounding 18 in Baghdad’s northern Kadhimiya district. The interior ministry blamed Al-Qaeda and affiliated armed groups for the attacks it said were an attempt to show that Iraq’s security situation remained unstable. The blasts hit just weeks before Baghdad plans to host an Arab League summit, which has been postponed because of regional turmoil and acrimony between Iraq’s Shiite-led government and some Sunni Gulf states. “The attacks aimed to spark sectarian strife among the Iraqi people, and to prevent the Arab League meeting from being held,” Parliament Speaker Osama Al-Nujaifi said.

More than a dozen blasts and attacks hit other cities across Iraq from Mosul in the north to Hilla, south of Baghdad, many of them targeting police. The violence was aimed at Shiite neighborhoods but also against security forces, a frequent target of

Sunni insurgents. Iraqi officials had predicted such groups would try to stir sectarian tensions with attacks after American forces went home. While violence has ebbed since the height of the war, Sunni insurgents affiliated to Al-Qaeda are still capable of large-scale assaults. Some rival Shiite militias have said they will cease fighting since the US withdrawal.

In yesterday’s violence, one car bomb in the capital killed at least nine people and wounded 27 in the upmarket Karrada neighborhood, hurling shrapnel into the next street and blowing out glass from nearby buildings.

Witnesses saw at four wrecked cars full of shrapnel and bloodied seats near an icecream shop at the site of another blast. In at least three Shiite neighborhoods in Baghdad, nine policemen were killed, and in the capital’s northwestern Kadhimiya district, a car bomb killed six people when it struck a street lined with restaurants.

In the biggest attack outside the capital, a car bomb killed seven people and wounded 33 in the town of Balad, north of Baghdad.

Iraq’s political crisis erupted after Maliki moved against two senior members of the Sunni-backed Iraqiya political bloc shortly after the US troop withdrawal in December, prompting a walkout by Iraqiya lawmakers that lasted until late January. Tensions eased as Sunni, Shi’ite and Kurdish blocs tried to negotiate an end to the crisis. But a week ago a panel of judges detailed 150 attacks they said were carried out by death squads under Sunni Vice President Tareq Al-Hashemi’s command. Maliki sought Hashemi’s arrest in December. Hashemi, who has taken refuge in the autonomous region of Kurdistan, has denied accusations made against him, dismissing them as part of a plot to destroy Maliki’s opponents. The crisis was followed by a wave of attacks in December and January on Shiite neighborhoods, including a suicide bombing on a Shiite funeral procession that killed 31 in Baghdad and an attack on Shiite pilgrims that left 53 dead in Basra. Violence had ebbed until Sunday when a suicide car bomber killed 19 people in an attack on a Baghdad police academy. — Reuters

International FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

Avalanches kill 16 India troops SRINAGAR: Two massive avalanches in snowbound regions of Indian-controlled Kashmir killed at least 16 soldiers, and at least three others were feared trapped in a military camp that was partially buried under snow, an official said yesterday. Col K S Grewal said three of the soldiers were killed in the mountainous area of Sonamarg and 13 were killed at a large army camp in Dawar, a town close to the heavily militarized cease-fire line that divides Kashmir between India and

Pakistan. Hundreds of thousands of Indian troops are stationed along this de-facto border. Both avalanches took place late Wednesday night, and state officials warned more may occur in mountain areas.

Rescue workers in Dawar pulled out 13 survivors who were being treated at a local army hospital, Grewal said. Three soldiers there were still believed to be trapped under the snow, he said. Dawar, in the frontier Gurez region, remains cut off from the rest of Kashmir for nearly five months every

year as heavy snowfall and rains block road links to the region. Army rescue teams from other parts of the region were trying to reach the Dawar army camp but were delayed by heavy fog, snow and cloud cover, Grewal said. Later yesterday, an army helicopter managed to airdrop a special team of the military rescuers and two sniffer dogs to help search, Grewal said.

At least 25 army vehicles and 17 barracks were damaged in the avalanche, said Amir Ali, a state government disaster man-

agement official. Ali warned of more avalanches across mountainous parts of Indian Kashmir. Another two state government officials, on duty in Sonamarg, were missing, Ali said.

Avalanches and landslides are common in the disputed Himalayan region. Last month, an avalanche killed seven soldiers as they were clearing an army supply road.

In 2010, 17 soldiers died when a wall of snow and ice slammed into the army’s High Altitude Warfare School in Kashmir.—AP

Somalia, world powers meet to map out future ‘Peace spoilers’ should face sanctions

HOMS: A handout picture shows fire on the roof of a building in the Baba Amr neighborhood of the flashpoint city of Homs, allegedly during the bombardment of the city. — AFP

Death toll mounts as Syrian crisis deepens BEIRUT: Warnings from Syrian activists of a humanitarian catastrophe in Homs grew more desperate yesterday as government forces resumed shelling an opposition stronghold in the restive central city, where hundreds have died in a weekslong siege. About 30 people, including two Western journalists, were killed in shelling on Wednesday - most of them in the rebel-held Baba Amr neighborhood which is the center of the resistance in the city.

Homs has been under a fierce government attack for nearly three weeks now. Homs-based activist Omar Shaker said intense barrages hit residential districts in Baba Amr again yesterday, but there was no immediate word on casualties. He said food, water and medical supplies are running dangerously low in Baba Amr. “Every minute counts. People will soon start to collapse from lack of sleep and shortages in food,” he said. On Wednesday, shelling of Baba Amr killed American-born veteran war correspondent Marie Colvin and French photographer Remi Ochlik.

They were among a group of journalists who had crossed into Syria illegally and were sharing accommodations with activists, raising speculation that government forces targeted the makeshift media center where they were staying. But opposition groups had previously described the shelling as indiscriminate. At least two other Western journalists were wounded on Wednesday.

A Syrian Foreign Ministry spokesman offered condolences to the families of Colvin and Ochlik but rejected any responsibility for their deaths. The spokesman urged foreign journalists to respect Syrian laws and not to sneak into the country. Some Syrians held protests and vigils Wednesday night in several parts of Homs in commemoration of Colvin and Ochlik. “Remi Ochlik, Marie Colvin, we will not forget you,” read one banner held by protesters in the town of Qsour in Homs province.

In the northwestern city of Aleppo, security forces fired tear gas at hundreds of students at Aleppo University staging an antiregime protest. Aleppo, like the capital Damascus, has remained relatively quiet during the nearly year-long anti-government uprising gripping the country. But the city has become increasingly tense, particularly Aleppo University where authorities fired on protesting students on Wednesday and killed one. In Geneva, a panel of UN human rights experts said yesterday that the United Nations has a secret list of top Syrian officials who could face investigation for crimes against humanity carried out by security forces in their crackdown against the anti-government uprising. The UN experts indicated that the list goes as high as President Bashar Assad. —AP

LONDON: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called yesterday for an end to Somalia’s “hopeless, bloody conflict” and said anyone blocking recent political reforms aimed at restoring effective government should face sanctions including asset freezes. Addressing a conference aimed at invigorating international attempts to end two decades of anarchy, Clinton also demanded greater efforts to cut financial support for the Al-Qaeda-linked Al Shabaab militant group fighting the country’s weak Transitional Federal Government (TFG). Al Shabaab is the most powerful array of militias spawned by 20 years of conflict in Somalia, where armed groups have a history of wrecking attempted political settlements and perpetuating war, instability and famine. “The position of the United States is straightforward: Attempts to obstruct progress and maintain the broken status quo will not be tolerated,” Clinton told the one-day gathering in London of about 40 African, Arab and Western leaders and government ministers. “We will encourage the international community to impose further sanctions, including travel bans and asset freezes, on people inside and outside the TFG who seek to undermine Somalia’s peace and security or to delay or even prevent the political transition.” Clinton and other speakers welcomed a Feb. 17 agreement among Somali leaders on plans for a parliament and constituent assembly to replace the TFG when its mandate expires in August.

FRACTIOUS Establishing a legitimate successor government seen as inclusive by the country’s fractious clans would be a vital step in restoring respect for formal politics among Somalis who tend to identify the state with corruption and brutality. The TFG got a boost on the eve of the conference when the UN Security Council voted to boost by nearly half an African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia, seeking to press home a military offensive against Al Shabaab. The resolution increasing the AMISOM force to 17,731 from 12,000 troops and police passed the council unanimously. In a further setback for the rebels, Ethiopian and Somali forces captured the Al Shabaab stronghold of Baidoa in the south on Wednesday.

But some experts worry that the military campaign against Al Shabaab may divert

the energies of the TFG, a body widely seen as corrupt, badly managed and riddled with infighting. “Time is of the essence,” said Clinton. “The TFG will soon transition out of power. We need to build something in its place.” “Now, all those who have not yet joined this effort to unify Somalia - who are sitting on the sidelines or actively obstructing progress - have a choice to make. They can support this movement and join their fellow Somalis in moving past the divisions and struggles for power that have held their nation back. Or they can be left behind.”

She said Al Shabaab was weakening but pressure needed to be maintained.

“Especially in south central Somalia, it has turned an already bad situation into a night-

pirates who seize ships and their crews in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden. “Let’s set the ultimate ambition of stopping these payments because in the end they only ensure that crime pays,” he said.

“Young minds are being poisoned by radicalism, breeding terrorism that is threatening the security of the whole world. If the rest of us just sit back and look on, we will pay a price for doing so,” said Cameron. The meeting’s UK organizers have tried to temper expectations, explaining that the aim of the event is to galvanize policymakers’ attention on Somalia to coordinate better a sometimes disjointed international response. Nevertheless, Somalis who have known little but war, famine and blunder-

LONDON: British Prime Minister David Cameron (fifth left) leads the Somalia Conference at Lancaster House in London yesterday. — AP mare. It has dragged fathers and sons from their homes and forced them to fight in a hopeless, bloody conflict,” she said. British Prime Minister David Cameron told the gathering that a failure to end Somalia’s chaos will endanger international security, and the time is right for the outside world to help the failed state get back on its feet.

Cameron said Somalis’ problems “don’t just affect Somalia. They affect us all. In a country where there is no hope, chaos, violence and terrorism thrive. Pirates are disrupting vital trade routes and kidnapping tourists.”

RANSOMS Cameron announced a number of aid and development initiatives including a proposal to set up an international taskforce on ransoms, the main tactic used by Somali

prone international intervention for decades cannot help but hope for something that will improve their lives.

Somalia collapsed into feuding between rival warlords, clans and factions after president Siad Barre was overthrown in 1991. Up to a million people have since been killed, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). “The expectations that Somalis have are huge,” Mogadishu-based civic activist Jabril Ibrahim Abdulle of Somalia’s Center for Research and Dialogue think tank said. “You have so many external actors driving different agendas that it would be a success to have a unified stance.

Above all we need implementation of what’s agreed, as disappointed hopes will only bring more radicalization and hostility.”— Reuters

International FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

Israel, US tangle over Iran Israel wary of time-wasting as Iran builds ‘immunity zone’ JERUSALEM: Ever since their first awkward encounter - a hastily arranged meeting in a custodian’s office at a Washington airport in 2007 - Iran has been one of the few issues on which Barack Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu have been able to find some common ground. Nearly five years ago, neither man was yet in power but both hoped to be, and though they were very different politicians they grabbed the opportunity to size each other up when their paths crossed.

The Israeli right-winger came across, at first, as strident in his views, while the newly declared Democratic presidential candidate seemed wary. But when Netanyahu insisted on the urgent need to do more to isolate Iran economically and Obama said “tell me more,” the mood suddenly brightened, according to one account of the meeting. It was part of what Netanyahu, who first served as prime minister from 1996 to 1999, has described as a 15-year personal effort to “broaden as much as possible the international front against Iran”, a foe that has called for Israel’s destruction.

Obama, then a first-term US senator, would go on to introduce an Iran divestment bill in Congress on the way to winning the White House in the 2008 election. Now, with Obama and Netanyahu due to meet in Washington on March 5, the Iranian nuclear standoff will again top the agenda. But this time, a trust deficit between the two leaders could make it harder to decide what action to take against the Islamic Republic over its nuclear program. The Obama administration, increasingly concerned about the lack of any assurance from Israel that it would consult Washington before launching strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites, has scrambled in recent weeks to convince Israeli leaders to give sanctions and diplomacy more time to work, US officials say.

Israel has been listening - but after a series of high-level US visits there is no sign it has been swayed. Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who along with Netanyahu met US National Security Adviser Tom Donilon last week, complained privately afterward that Washington is lobbying for a delay in any Israeli attack on Iran while time is running out for such a strike to be effective, Israeli political sources said. Barak has spoken publicly of an Iranian “zone of immunity” to aerial attack, a reference to the start of additional uranium enrichment at a remote site believed to be buried beneath 80 meters of rock and soil near the city of Qom. Donilon’s visit to Israel coincided with a cautionary note from General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, who told CNN it would be “premature to exclusively decide that the time for a military option was upon us”. The United States, Dempsey said, has counseled Israel “that it’s not prudent at this point to decide to attack Iran”. He said sanctions were beginning to have an effect and it is still unclear whether Tehran would choose to make a nuclear weapon. Obama and top aides have said they do not believe Israel has made a decision to attack Iran even as they caution about devastating consequences in the Middle East - and potentially around the globe - if it does so.

US intelligence sources say they would expect little or no advance notice from Israel, except possibly as a courtesy call when any bombing mission is at the point of no return.

But one line of thinking within the Obama administration is that this might be best for the United States since any sign of complicity

would inflame the Muslim world. “When it comes to something that the Israeli government considers essential to Israel’s security, they will take whatever action they deem necessary, even if there is a level of disagreement with other countries, including the United States,” said Michael Herzog, a former chief of staff to Barak and now an international fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East policy.

dawn of the nuclear age, we have not had a fanatic regime that might put its zealotry above its self-interest,” he told The Atlantic in 2009. “People say that they’ll behave like any other nuclear power. Can you take the risk?

Can you assume that?”

ELECTION OPPORTUNITY An Israeli strike ahead of the November 6 US elections would put Obama in a serious

PARCHIN: DigitalGlobe satellite file image shows a view of facilities within Parchin in Iran which were said to be possibly involved in nuclear weapons research. — AFP Obama and his national security team have yet to determine how the United States would respond if Israel does attack Iran, one US official said. But the growing chorus of warnings from Washington - Israel’s biggest source of military assistance - serves as a stark message of the potential fallout in relations between the two longtime allies. The debate over the possibility of an Israeli strike has exposed an important difference of opinion over Iran, which says it is enriching uranium for peaceful purposes.

“We are of the opinion that the Iranian regime is a rational actor,” Dempsey said in the CNN interview. “And it’s for that reason, I think, that we think the current path we’re on is the most prudent path at this point.”

Netanyahu has made clear he believes that kind of thinking is wrong-headed. “Since the

political bind. Already defending himself against Republican accusations that he has been too tough on Israel and not tough enough on Iran, he would be reluctant, at least initially, to come down hard on Netanyahu for fear of undercutting support among Jewish voters and other pro-Israel constituencies as he seeks re-election. It’s that perceived window of opportunity for Israel to strike at a time when incumbent candidate Obama might be shy about challenging Netanyahu that has helped to fuel speculation of an Israeli attack soon.

But for Netanyahu to go ahead with an attack in defiance of Washington, he would risk not only damaging his country’s most crucial alliance but also face the near-certain prospect of Iranian retaliation with no immediate US military help - or even a commitment

TEHRAN: A handout photo provided by the office of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei shows him (right) listening to the head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization Fereydoun Abbasi Davani during a meeting with Iranian nuclear scientists in Tehran. — AFP

to provide any. More likely, Obama and Netanyahu will try to keep their differences behind closed doors and present a united front against Iran in next month’s talks. Any further public rift between the two leaders, who will meet a day before the Super Tuesday voting contests in which 10 states hold presidential primaries or caucuses, would likely be seized upon by Republican candidates looking for ammunition against Obama.

And, for the second straight year, Netanyahu will be able to emerge from any White House chill into the warm embrace of the powerful pro-Israel lobby, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), whose annual convention he will address in Washington. But Israel, in weighing military action, faces the risk of a backlash from Congress and the American public if oil prices spike during a still-fragile economic recovery or if the United States is hit by revenge attacks on its interests around the world. “It’s the law of unintended consequences,” said an outside expert who advises the White House on national security. “This could lead to the first real reassessment in a generation of how America and Americans feel about Israel.”

One American Jewish leader who knows both leaders played down the prospects of any dramatic shift in US-Israeli relations.

Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, told Reuters that strong bipartisan understanding for what he called Israel’s “responsibility to its citizens” meant that “nothing” would happen to ties between the two countries. Last May, Netanyahu received 29 standing ovations when he addressed a joint meeting of Congress at the invitation of its Republican leadership. In the run-up to the BLUFF? Though US officials have no reason to believe Israel is bluffing, some both inside and outside the administration suspect that Netanyahu is overstating the immediate danger of an Iranian nuclear “break-out”.

Netanyahu, they say, may be seeking to pressure the United States and its European partners to move further on new oil-related sanctions, put enough of a scare into China and Russia to get them to ease resistance to tighter enforcement and extract a firmer US commitment to military action if Tehran takes concrete steps toward bomb-making.

But even if his top generals and intelligence chiefs advise that it is time to act, questions remain whether Netanyahu, who lacks the extensive military resume of most of his predecessors, will be ready to do so, especially if it means going it alone without the United States. An Israeli security source said that unlike Netanyahu’s predecessor Ehud Olmert, who conducted wars in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon and ordered the bombing of a suspected Syrian nuclear reactor during his 20062009 tenure, Israel’s current leader finds it hard to decide on risky operational matters.

For his part, Obama will be hesitant at this point to go further than his mantra that “all options are on the table” in dealing with Iran, and is likely to make clear to Netanyahu that without international legitimacy unilateral military action could backfire on Israel and lead to diplomatic isolation. Moreover, the consensus in the US defense community is that Israel, acting alone militarily, would only be able to slow Iran’s nuclear progress by months or possibly a couple of years.—Reuters

International FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

Iran kicks off election campaign Khamenei’s backers seen having edge over Ahmadinejad Iran boosts nuke work in bunker VIENNA: Iran is believed to be carrying out preparations to expand nuclear activity deep inside a mountain, diplomats say, in a further sign of defiance in the face of intensifying Western pressure to curb its sensitive uranium enrichment drive.

Increased capacity at the Fordow underground site would probably heighten Western suspicion of Iran’s intentions, after it last month started refining uranium there to a level that cuts the time it would need for any nuclear weapons bid.

A senior team of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) failed again this week to get the Islamic state to start addressing their mounting concerns about its nuclear work and returned empty handed to Vienna after two days of talks in Iran. The setback increased worries about a downward spiral towards conflict between the Islamic Republic and the West, and sent oil prices to a nine-month high. The UN agency is now putting the finishing touches to its next report on Iran, expected to include information on the Tehran talks as well as more detail on the status of the Fordow plant near the Shiite Muslim holy city of Qom. “I think we will see a jump in the potential state of readiness of the facility,” one Vienna-based envoy said.

Fordow is of particular concern for the West and Israel as Iran is shifting the most controversial aspect of its nuclear work, refining uranium to a level that takes it significantly closer to potential bomb material, to the site. Estimated to be buried beneath 80 meters of rock and soil, it gives Iran better protection against any Israeli or US military strikes. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak has warned that the Islamic state’s nuclear research could soon pass into what he called a “zone of immunity,” protected from outside disruption. In a report issued on Thursday, the International Crisis Group thinktank said prospects for a military confrontation erupting in the long-running nuclear row, though still unlikely, appeared “higher than ever.”

“As Israel sees it, the nuclear program represents a serious threat; the time when Iran’s putative efforts to build a bomb will become immune to a strike is fast approaching; and military action in the near future - perhaps as early as this year therefore is a real possibility,” it said. A Western official said Fordow was a very sensitive issue: “I’m not quite sure the Iranians understand they are playing with fire there.” Iran last month said it had started to refine uranium to a fissile concentration of 20 percent, compared with the 3.5 percent normally used for nuclear power plants, at Fordow.

Soon afterwards, it doubled production capacity to a total of more than 600 uranium enrichment centrifuges at Fordow, diplomats have told Reuters. Iran now appears to be making preparations for a further increase in the number of the cylindrical machines, spinning at supersonic speeds to increase the concentration of the fissile U-235 isotope, at the facility. “They are working towards full installation,” said another diplomat in the Austrian capital. “But they are not installed and ready to operate yet.” Nuclear bombs require uranium enriched to 90 percent, but Western experts say much of the effort required to get there is already achieved once it reaches 20 percent concentration, shortening the time needed for any nuclear weapons “break-out”.

‘BREAKOUT’ TIMELINE Olli Heinonen, a former head of safeguards inspections at the UN International Atomic Energy Agency, said he believed its next report would include information about the progress in setting up the required infrastructure for enrichment at Fordow. But diplomats said they expected Iran to mainly keep using old-generation centrifuges, not the newer and more efficient models which it has tried for several years to develop. “I don’t have any indications that cascades of new machines are ready to be operated,” one of them said. Neither Iranian officials nor officials at the Vienna-based IAEA, which regularly inspects Iranian nuclear sites including Fordow, were available for comment. The United States and its allies say Iran is trying to develop the means to make atomic bombs. The Islamic Republic maintains that its nuclear program is aimed at generating electricity and isotopes for medical treatment. — Reuters

TEHRAN: Iran’s week-long parliamentary election campaign began yesterday, the official IRNA news agency said, a vote likely to highlight the popularity of the clerical establishment as it stands firm against Western pressure to curb its nuclear work. It is shaping up as a contest among clerical and political conservatives on March 2, the first nationwide vote since the disputed 2009 re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that sparked eight months of unrest and a crushing state response. With a noshow by leading pro-reform groups, loyalists of Iran’s most powerful figure, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and backers of Ahmadinejad, who is not a cleric, will compete for a majority of the 290-seat parliament.

Khamenei’s supporters, sharply critical of Ahmadinejad’s economic policies, look set to win the vote as international sanctions imposed over Tehran’s disputed nuclear program make life harder for ordinary Iranians. “The 3,444 candidates running for parliamentary elections have started the campaigning by mainly handing out fliers and raising posters yesterday,” IRNA reported.

The streets of Tehran lacked the lively mood of an election. There were sporadic banners in some major squares and streets but most of them bore pictures of Khamenei, as both camps were trying to take advantage of his popularity to attract votes.

“Organizing the country requires a capable parliament which can be achieved by active participation in elections,” read a purple banner in central Tehran. More than 48 million Iranians are eligible to vote. Pro-reform groups decided to maintain a low profile by keeping leading figures out of the vote, saying their demand for a “free and fair” election was not fulfilled. The candidacies of some 35 percent of those who sought to run for parliament were rejected by the Guardian Council, a powerful vetting body made up of six clerics and six jurists. Many Ahmadinejad supporters were barred, politicians say.

REFORMIST LEADERS MARGINALISED Leaders of Iran’s pro-reform opposition have been sidelined since the 2009 vote, with two of them, Mirhossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi, under house arrest since February last year.

Mousavi and Karoubi both lost to Ahmadinejad in the 2009 vote and insist it was rigged to secure his re-election.

been blamed on Ahmadinejad’s cuts in food and fuel subsidies as well as Western sanctions aimed at forcing Tehran to halt its uranium enrichment program.

Parliament speaker Ali Larijani, a hardline rival of Ahmadinejad, called on candidates to avoid “disappointing people with critical debates and campaigning”.

TEHRAN: Unidentified Iranian workers sort a printed edition of Mardomsalari, Democracy, newspaper, in a printing house in Tehran ahead of March 2 parliamentary elections. — AP Khamenei swiftly endorsed Ahmadinejad’s return to power but a rift between the two leaders opened up after the president tried to gain more power by undermining the role of the clergy in the Islamic Republic. The rift surfaced in April when Khamenei reinstated an intelligence minister Ahmadinejad had sacked. Debates among political figures have started on state television, focusing mainly on the fading economy whose troubles have

“The international situation and people’s living conditions have brought about enough hopelessness. Candidates should encourage people to the polls by creating hope among them,” the Arman daily quoted him yesterday as saying. Prices of goods have spiraled in recent weeks because of the plummeting value of the Iranian currency, the rial, and the squeeze from international sanctions on Iran’s financial institutions imposed over its nuclear program. — Reuters

Iranian oil tanker anchors off Indonesia in rare move Indonesia says no barter agreement with Iran on oil SINGAPORE: An Iranian supertanker loaded with crude has made a rare journey to an anchorage point off the coast of an Indonesian island used for offshore sales and storage of oil. The Delvar, part of the National Iranian Tanker Co’s (NITC) fleet, arrived at Karimun Island in the Singapore Strait on Thursday, according to Reuters Freight Fundamentals Database. The vessel remains anchored with its draft indicating an almost full load, the data showed. A super tanker, or Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC), can carry up to two million barrels of oil.

Tehran has been struggling to sell its crude in the face of tightening US sanctions and an EU embargo that kicks in on July 1. Major Asian buyers are planning to cut back imports in order to win a waiver

from US sanctions, sapping a key revenue lifeline for Iran. Karimun is a key offshore storage point near Asia’s biggest oil trading hub Singapore and is often used for ship-to-ship transfers (STS), but NITC vessels have not been known to call there.

“It’s very interesting. I’ve never seen NITC vessels coming to Karimun,” said a Singapore-based shipbroker.

Karimun has been frequently used as a STS location for more than seven years, and some tankers, particularly VLCCs, have anchored there for stints of up to three months. “If they have sold the oil, it’s most likely to a refiner. Traders won’t go near Iranian crude. They also could be storing it there,” said a Singapore-based crude oil trader. Western financial sanctions have crimped Iran’s purchases of grain, cooking

oil and tea. Tehran is turning to barter offering gold bullion in overseas vaults or tankerloads of oil - as new financial sanctions have hurt its ability to import basic staples for its 74 million people.

Indonesian Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan said there was currently no agreement on barter trade with Iran. “So far we haven’t got any proposal on barter trade from the Iranian government,” Wirjawan said yesterday. Separately, Indonesian state oil firm Pertamina said the Iranian tanker was not for them, according to the spokesman. Refiners in the region who are known to buy Iranian crude include Malaysian state-owned Petronas and Royal Dutch Shell’s 500,000 barrels-per-day refinery in Singapore, traders said.—Reuters

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International FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

Political crisis brewing in Israel Court ruling spark coalition crisis JERUSALEM: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces the unwelcome possibility of a coalition crisis after Israel’s Supreme Court, in a landmark decision, overturned a law that has helped ultra-Orthodox Jewish men avoid military service. The ruling addresses an issue that is at the center of a simmering cultural war between religious and secular Jews, and adds to Netanyahu’s headaches as he prepares to travel to the White House for critical talks about Iran’s nuclear program. Antagonism toward the ultra-Orthodox has grown in recent months over a series of incidents in which religious extremists were seen as attempting to impose their norms on wider society - such as the segregation of women on buses and even sidewalks.

The draft exemptions have increasingly become a touchstone issue among Israel’s secular majority, which is required to do up to three years of compulsory military service. More than 60,000 religious men were granted exemptions last year, permitted instead to study in seminaries while receiving welfare grants. In its ruling, the court said it sought to divide Israel’s burdens equally among its citizens. The decision threatened to shake up Netanyahu’s government by forcing it to deal with the issue and come up with a new system. Both ultra-Orthodox and fiercely secular parties sit in his coalition, and the court ruling could force Netanyahu to

choose sides. “The prime minister now finds himself in the kind of situation he detests most. He has to decide.

He has to choose between two dangerous and difficult options, each one of which could be catastrophic for him,” wrote commentator Ben Caspit of the Maariv daily. The prime minister, who just weeks ago had hoped to extend the soon-to-expire law, attempted to play down the controversy Wednesday. “What we do now is formulate a new law, another law, that will provide for a much more equal sharing of the burden,” he said.

The ferment comes at a difficult time for Netanyahu, who is set to travel to the White House in early March for a critical meeting with President Barack Obama.

Both Israel and the US both believe that Iran is developing nuclear weapons. But differences have emerged over how to stop Iran. The US has said that tough economic sanctions are the best tactic, while Israel has hinted that military action might be needed. The Americans have become increasingly vocal in their opposition to an Israeli attack.

Despite the high stakes for the White House meeting, Netanyahu may need to focus on his troubles back home. In addition to the coalition difficulties, his own office is in turmoil over a sexual harassment scandal.

Earlier this week, Netanyahu’s chief of staff was forced to resign because of allegations that he harassed a

female employee of the prime minister’s office.

In a statement, Netanyahu thanked his ousted aid for his “dedicated and good work,” and made no mention of the harassment allegations. Adding to the whiff of scandal, Netanyahu on Wednesday also accepted the resignation of his chief spokesman, Yoaz Hendel, who had been one of the whistleblowers against the chief of staff. Media reports said Netanyahu initiated the resignation. Netanyahu’s two major coalition partners, the ultra-Orthodox Shas party and the secular Yisrael Beitenu party, both expressed hope Wednesday that differences over draft exemptions could be resolved.

But differences were already evident.

Yisrael Beitenu’s leader, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, said he did not want to start a religious war.

“We hope the next law will act as a bridge to create unity in the nation, including with the ultra-Orthodox population.” Shas spokesman Yakov Betzalel said he was confident seminary students would continue to pursue religious studies rather than serve, and expressed hope a new military exemption deal would be struck that would meet the court’s standards. Asked if a coalition crisis was brewing, Betzalel replied, “No, no, no. I don’t see it in the offing.” He predicted the new law would be similar to the current legislation, “with minor changes.” Such an outcome would likely inflame public opinion. —AP

Security forces surround Indonesian jail hit by riot BALI: Indonesia started moving foreigners and a handful of other inmates from an overcrowded prison on Bali island yesterday after two days of rioting, officials said, as troops backed by water canons and armored vehicles surrounded the tense facility. Schapelle Corby and several other Australians serving time for drug trafficking refused to go, saying it would be too hard to adjust to new surroundings, said Bambang Krisbanu, a security official at the justice ministry. He said evacuations - with inmates loaded onto giant trucks - would be gradual and voluntary. The violence that erupted late Tuesday at the Kerobokan jail which houses more than 1,000 drug traffickers, sex offenders and other violent criminals - was triggered by the stabbing of an inmate during a brawl a week ago.

The prisoners wanted to know how a knife made its way in. They blamed guards, saying security was too lax. By Wednesday night, the inmates had chased away all 13 guards and seized full control of the compound, said Beny Arjanto, the local police chief. Some climbed to the top of the watch tower and started throwing rocks and a Molotov cocktail at more than 500 soldiers and police stationed outside.

Others tried to break down the front gates. Troops responded by firing tear gas and shots in the air. Others stormed the facility, but they were forced back out 10 minutes later, said Arjanto. A few inmates have been injured, he said, but none of them seriously. So far, all 60 foreigners were safe.

The decision to relocate them - and 120 women and 13 children - to a

DENPASAR: A police car and armored vehicles escort a bus carrying Asian and western prisoners evacuated from Kerobokan prison in Denpasar in Indonesia’s resort island of Bali on the second day of rioting. — AFP

prison elsewhere on the island was made as it became clear yesterday that tensions were not going to ease anytime soon. Some Indonesian prisoners also were being moved. “We want to evacuate them immediately for their own safety,” said Col Wing Handoko, a military spokesman. “We need to make sure they aren’t used by other prisoners to get international attention or as bargaining chips for their demands.

“We don’t want them to be taken hostage.” Though he would not say exactly where they would go, another police officer said they were heading for Klungkung, a jail about 40 miles away. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to speak to the media.

The Kerobokan prison about 20 minutes from Bali’s international airport was built for around 300 prisoners but houses more than three times that. Of the 60 or so foreigners, 12 are Australians and one is American, said Anang Khuzairi, a prison official. Corby, a former beauty school student who was given a 20-year sentence for smuggling 9 pounds of marijuana into Bali, is the most famous.

Her case triggered intense media interest in Australia, where many people believe she was innocent. Krisbanu said she and the other Australian inmates insisted they did not want to be moved. They said they were worried it would be hard to adjust to a new prison. “We cannot and will not force them,” Krisbanu said. — AP

Algeria, Libya set aside row to tackle security ALGIERS: North African neighbors Libya and Algeria are to exchange high-level visits in an attempt to re-launch cooperation in fighting arms trafficking and Islamist insurgents in the Sahara desert. Security ties had been effectively on hold since the revolt last year which ended Muammar Gaddafi’s rule in Libya, because of disputes between Algeria and Libya’s new leadership. Cooperation between the two countries is a crucial component in trying to stop arms smugglers and insurgents, including al Qaeda, using the Sahara desert as a safe haven - a problem made worse by the instability following Gaddafi’s fall.

Algerian Interior Minister Daho Ould Kablia said his Libyan counterpart Fawzi Abdel A’al would soon visit Algeria.

“What is important in this issue is security on our borders and stability in Libya, because instability will have repercussions for us,” Kablia said in an interview late on Tuesday. “We will soon welcome the Libyan interior minister, and likewise visits are also planned by Algerian officials to Libya,” Ould Kablia said. The Libyan interior minister confirmed that a meeting was planned with his Algerian opposite number.

Abdel A’al, speaking to Reuters, said there was an agreement that Algerian Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia would visit Libya. He did not say when this would happen.

FRAUGHT RELATIONS There have been no high-level visits between Libya and Algeria since a NATO-backed rebellion ended Gaddafi’s 42year rule and installed a new leadership. Algeria’s relations with Libya’s new leaders have been fraught because Algeria did not back the anti-Gaddafi rebellion and was slow to recognize the rebel leadership. The tension was heightened when Algeria decided to give refuge, it said on humanitarian grounds, to Gaddafi’s wife, daughter and two of his sons who fled there after Tripoli fell to the rebellion. A series of security incidents in the past weeks have, however, underlined the need for the two countries to patch up their differences and cooperate.

Last month, an Algerian regional governor was kidnapped and taken by his captors across the border into Libya, where he was released about 24 hours later. Algerian security sources said the kidnappers had ties to al Qaeda’s north African wing. This month, Algerian security forces uncovered a cache of weapons, including shoulder-fired missiles, believed to have been smuggled in from Libya, a security source briefed on the discovery said. The Libyan Interior Minister told Reuters the fact that Algerian security forces had found weapons caches was testament to good cooperation with their Libyan counterparts. —Reuters

International FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

Merkel apologizes over German neo-Nazi killings BERLIN: Chancellor Angela Merkel apologized yesterday to the relatives of 10 people, mostly immigrants, believed to have been killed by a neoNazi group that eluded German authorities’ detection for more than a decade. The National Socialist Underground group - its name a clear reference to the Nazis’ full name, the National Socialists - is suspected of killing eight people of Turkish origin and a Greek man between 2000 and 2006, as well as a policewoman in 2007.

The string of killings of small businessmen, including a florist, a tailor and fast-food stall owners - long known as the “kebab murders” - went unsolved for years, with authorities suspecting organized crime rather than politically motivated violence.

“The murders ... are a disgrace for our country,” Merkel said during a memorial event at a Berlin concert house,

attended by most of Germany’s top officials and relatives of the victims.

She pledged to do everything possible to clear up what happened. Merkel acknowledged that, for a long time, few people imagined far-right terrorists could be behind the killings - “that led instead to a search for clues in the mafia and drug scene, or even among the families of the victims.”

“For years, some relatives themselves unfairly faced suspicion - that is particularly oppressive,” Merkel said. “I ask for forgiveness for that.” The neoNazi group’s activities only came to light last November when two suspected founders, Uwe Boehnhardt and Uwe Mundlos, were found dead following an apparent murder-suicide as police closed in on them after a bank robbery, and a third alleged core member, Beate Zschaepe, turned herself in. Police found the murdered policewoman’s service weapon in a

burning mobile home where the two bodies were found, then discovered a pistol used in the businessmen’s killings at a burned-out apartment used by the group.

Investigators found copies of a propaganda video at the apartment, featuring pictures of the victims and a cartoon image of the Pink Panther standing next to a placard proclaiming “Germany Tour, 9th Turk Shot.”

Merkel said she regularly has to view videos made by hostage-takers and the like, but “I have never yet in my work seen anything more inhuman.”

Concern over far-right violence has flared periodically in Germany over the past two decades, but the country hasn’t previously seen anything like the campaign of murder attributed to the National Socialist Underground.

“Reports about unscrupulous far-right perpetrators sometimes shake us, and they dominate the headlines for a few

Afghan soldier kills two NATO troops in protest Obama expresses ‘deep regret’; Afghans urged to kill Westerners KABUL: An Afghan soldier joined protests yesterday against the burning of copies of the Muslim holy book at a NATO base and shot dead two foreign troops, western military sources said. The killings came hours after the Taleban urged Afghans to target foreign military bases and kill Westerners in retaliation for the burning of the Qurans at Bagram airfield on Tuesday. Eleven people have died in demonstrations across the country since then and 17 people have been wounded. Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets of several cities, chanting “Death to America!” and smashing cars, buildings and shops.

In a demonstration in eastern Nangarhar province yesterday, an Afghan soldier turned his gun on NATO soldiers, local officials and western military sources said. A provincial spokesman said the soldier then escaped. NATO confirmed a man in Afghan army uniform killed two of its troops in the east, but declined to say if the shooting was connected to the protests. The Quran burnings at the vast Bagram base north of Kabul, which the United States has said were unintentional, could make it even more difficult for USled NATO forces to win the hearts and minds of Afghans and bring the Taleban to the negotiating table ahead of the withdrawal of foreign combat troops by the end of 2014.

Obama expresses ‘deep regret’ Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama sent Afghan President Hamid Karzai a letter of apology yesterday over the burning of copies of the Quran overseen by a US officer at a US military base, the White House said. Obama said the incident was unintentional, and Karzai’s office said the US president pledged a full investigation, as fierce anti-American protests swept the nation leaving at least 14 people dead including two US soldiers.

In Obama’s letter, delivered by US

HELMAND: Afghan demonstrators shout anti-US slogans during a protest against Quran desecration in Helmand province yesterday. — AFP Ambassador Ryan Crocker Thursday in Kabul, “the president also expressed our regret and apologies over the incident in which religious materials were unintentionally mishandled at Bagram Airbase,” National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said in a White House statement. Kabul’s office said Obama wrote in his letter that “I wish to express my deep regret for the reported incident.” “I extend to you and the Afghan people my sincere apologies,” the letter said. “The error was inadvertent; I assure you that we will take the appropriate steps to avoid any recurrence, to include holding accountable those responsible,” the letter said. Karzai told members of parliament that a US officer was responsible for the burning that was done “out of ignorance”, his office said.

Muslims consider the Quran the literal word of God and treat each book with

deep reverence. Desecration is considered one of the worst forms of blasphemy. A small protest of around 500 people also turned violent in the capital Kabul, with gunfire crackling above the city as police and plain-clothed intelligence officers charged demonstrators wearing bandanas and hurling rocks and sticks, firing low above their heads and sending them fleeing. A wounded youth lay on the frozen asphalt on a road, blood pouring from his side. Crouched over and cradling him, a relative appealed to the government to not hurt its own people. “Ministry of the Interior! Don’t you see we are fighting NATO?” said the man, who did not give his name.

Masked men sped by on a motorcycle blasting a battle song played by the Taleban insurgency, while police in machine gun-mounted pick-up trucks picked up the wounded. —Agencies

days,” Merkel said. “But often enough we perceive such incidents as a side issue - we forget quickly, much too quickly.”

Yesterday’s event, which was followed by a minute of silence across Germany, was initiated by former President Christian Wulff. Merkel stepped in after he resigned last week in a corruption scandal. Semiya Simsek - the daughter of the first victim, florist Enver Simsek, who was shot in Nuremberg in 2000 - sharply criticized how authorities initially handled the killings, and said her mother had been suspected at one point. “For 11 years, we couldn’t even be victims with a clean conscience,” she said.

“There was always this load on our lives that perhaps someone from our family could be responsible for the death of my father,” she added. “And there was the other suspicion too: my father a criminal, a drug dealer?”— AP

US, North Korea hold nuke talks BEIJING: A senior US diplomat said yesterday he had held “serious and substantive” talks with North Korea’s nuclear envoy in Beijing, the first such contact between the two nations since leader Kim Jong-Il died. Glyn Davies, coordinator for US policy on North Korea, and other officials held talks on denuclearization, non-proliferation and humanitarian aid with a delegation from Pyongyang headed by veteran negotiator Kim Kye-Gwan. The ongoing talks are seen as a chance for Davies to clarify what policies North Korea’s untested new leader Kim Jong-Un plans and to try to work with Pyongyang to resume multilateral talks on ending its nuclear weapons program.

“The talks were serious and substantive. We covered a number of issues,” Davies told reporters after the meeting.

“We are in mid-talks. I expect we will wrap up tomorrow.” The United States has been exploring a resumption of six-nation denuclearisation talks with North Korea but has insisted that Pyongyang respect a 2005 agreement at the talks to give up its atomic weapons. “My hope is that we can find a way to move forward with the North, because it’s in everyone’s interest to try to get onto the next phase, which will be six-party talks,” Davies told reporters Wednesday after landing in Beijing.

North Korea abandoned the six-nation talks in April 2009 because of what it described as US hostility, and conducted a nuclear test the following month to international condemnation. The negotiations are chaired by China and also include Japan, the two Koreas, Russia and the United States.

Yesterday’s talks between the North and the United States are the third since July. The two sides were scheduled to meet in December, but the plan was shelved after Kim’s death on December 17 and the subsequent transition of power to his son Kim Jong-Un. “What precisely his (Kim JongUn’s) policies are, in what direction he wants to take his country-all of these are unknowns at this stage,” Davies said.

“I find it a positive sign that relatively soon after the beginning of the transition in North Korea, the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) has chosen to get back to the table with us. That’s a good thing.” Analysts say Pyongyangwhich has said it wants to return to the six-party talks, albeit without any preconditions-may be eager to resume discussions with Washington to show the regime is operating as it was before Kim’s death. The United States insists that Pyongyang must take steps to shut down its uranium enrichment facilities and ease tensions with South Korea before restarting the multilateral forum. Analysts suggest that if North Korea agrees to these preconditions, the United States will also pledge to provide much-needed food assistance to the impoverished country. —AFP

International FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

Afghans flee war to face hunger, disease in slums NEW DELHI: Afghanistan’s decade-long conflict has forced more than half a million people to flee their homesmany of whom are at risk of disease, hunger and possible death in city slums across the impoverished country, Amnesty International warned yesterday. Increasing attacks by militants, as well as airstrikes and operations by international and Afghan forces, are on average uprooting 400 people daily, said a report by the human rights group, with thousands seeking refuge in Kabul and other cities.

“Thousands of people are finding themselves living in freezing, cramped conditions and on the brink of starvation,” said Horia Mosadiq, researcher of “Fleeing war, Finding misery: The plight of the internally displaced in Afghanistan” report. “The Afghan government is not only looking the other way, but even preventing help from reaching them. This is a largely hidden but horrific humanitarian and human rights crisis,” she said in a statement.

Afghan officials, said the London-based group, claim those fleeing fighting are “economic migrants” and are reluctant to provide or allow aid agencies to provide proper facilities, cautious that it will lead to permanent illegal settlements.

Yet, the numbers of displaced are on the rise with the Taleban and other armed groups stepping up attacks as international forces prepare to withdraw and hand over security responsibility to Afghans. Over 100,000 people in Afghanistan were forced to leave their homes and seek safety elsewhere in the country in 2010. The number nearly doubled last year with around 186,000 Afghans fleeing due to insecurity, said Amnesty.

The report-based on interviews with over 100 Afghans living in 12 slum areas in the cities of Herat, Kabul, and Mazar-e-Sharif-said there was little support for the displaced, some whom have been unable to return home for years. “With roofs over their heads that are often made of little more than plastic sheeting or cardboard and straw, displaced families in these slum areas have little protection from the elements,” said the report. “In January 2012 alone, at least 22 displaced children under the age of five froze to death in Kabul’s Charahi Qamber and Nasaji Bagrami slum areas.”

In Kabul alone there are an estimated 35,000 slum dwellers across more than 30 informal settlements.

Conditions in these cramped, squalid illegal settlements are desperate. Not only is shelter inadequate, but clean water and food is scarce for many families who left a rural farming lifestyle, yet have been unable to earn an income and adapt to an urban cash-based economy, said the report.

Unsanitary conditions and poor access to health care have led to high rates of diarrhea and skin infections amongst children. Women are forced to give birth amidst the filth and with no trained midwives, said Amnesty International, increasing the risk of maternal and infant deaths in a country already ranked among the world’s worst. “International donors which fund over 90 percent of Afghanistan’s total public expenditure should ensure that their humanitarian assistance addresses the needs of internally displaced people,” said Mosadiq. “Even with its limited resources, the Afghan government can aid its displaced citizens.” — Reuters

US pushes ahead with drone strikes despite resistance Drone strikes a source of anti-American criticism WASHINGTON: Shortly before the United States ended a two-month pause in missile strikes on militants in Pakistan last month, senior US officials telephoned their Pakistani counterparts and told them Washington would be resuming its covert drone program despite mounting objections in Islamabad. Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were among those who spoke with Pakistani officials shortly before the eight-week pause in the drone program ended, sources familiar with the issue said.

General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke to his Pakistani counterpart General Ashfaq Kayani around the same time, the sources said, but a US defense official said the two men did not discuss drone strikes. The strike that followed on Jan 10, when US aircraft fired missiles at a home in the North Waziristan tribal area, was the first such attack since US aircraft, in a mishap that plunged bilateral ties into a tailspin, killed 24 Pakistani soldiers along remote border with Afghanistan.

The Nov 26 border incident infuriated a vulnerable government in Islamabad and prompted Pakistani officials to signal, in more emphatic terms than they had previously, that they would no longer accept US drone strikes. That set the Obama administration up for yet another potential collision with Pakistan as it continues a controversial drone program that has become a centerpiece of US efforts to quash militancy there.

The Pakistani border deaths, which NATO deemed an accident and a tragedy, prompted Pakistan to shut down an overland supply route that is key for NATO troops in Afghanistan and to force US personnel off an air base in southwest Pakistan that had been used to launch drone strikes in Pakistan’s tribal areas.

In public, the US missile strikes are a frequent target of criticism for Pakistani politicians, who decry them as a violation of the country’s sovereignty. But in private, Pakistani leaders have long supported and even encouraged the strikes provided they steer clear of certain areas and targets. Yet even as both governments try to put the relationship back together, current and former US officials speaking on condition of anonymity said the Obama administration will not hesitate to continue the aerial strikes when targets and intelligence are sufficiently compelling.

But the US officials also said they are unlikely to give Pakistan advance notice about drone strikes for the time being, given the lack of trust on both sides and what

KANDAHAR: A US Predator unmanned drone armed with a missile stands on the tarmac of Kandahar military airport. — AFP American officials describe as a track record in Pakistan of intelligence leaks allowing militants to get away before planned attacks are launched. However, drone operators might still use information from Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI to locate targets. The strikes have become central to President Barack Obama’s counter-terrorism strategy in Pakistan, where the United States has failed to persuade Islamabad to take stronger action against militants that have long stoked violence in Afghanistan.

Many US officials complain that messages from Pakistan’s top leadership have been and continue to be - inconsistent.

There was no immediate comment from the White House or the State Department on the resumption of the strikes. The strikes may take on additional importance as the United States rushes to make military progress ahead of a looming deadline to withdraw most of its troops from Afghanistan. Yet the drone program has also fueled simmering anti-American sentiment in Pakistan, heaping additional pressure on the weak civilian government and even on its powerful military, already buffeted by unusual public criticism after the unilateral US raid that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan last year.

Following the November border incident, US officials insisted there was no formal decision to suspend drone strikes.

Other strikes have followed the initial Jan 10 attack, including several reported to have killed senior militants including some

reportedly affiliated with al Qaeda or the Pakistani Taleban. But US officials acknowledged that the strikes are likely to proceed at a lower rate in the immediate future, in part because of bilateral tensions and in part because launching the flights from neighboring Afghanistan has posed logistical and operational obstacles.

While officials in Islamabad have signaled they are ready to repair ties to a certain extent, the drone strikes will be a major consideration as Pakistani lawmakers conclude a parliamentary review of ties with the United States. Sherry Rehman, the former information minister and human rights campaigner who last month became Islamabad’s new ambassador to the United States, suggested in her first address in Washington that the review and the low point following the border deaths offered a chance to improve US-Pakistani cooperation.

“Critics of a strong US-Pakistan relationship are questioning its viability in both nations, yet I feel we can use this opportunity to re-set our relationship on a clearer, more stable footing,” she said last week during a speech at the US Institute of Peace. Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, who will meet Clinton in London yesterday to try to repair damaged ties, said parliament was looking at “terms of re-engagement.” Rehman said better communication and more consistent messages from public officials was needed on both sides. — Reuters

Bomb plot shows Thai security gaps BANGKOK: A bungled bomb plot by Iranian suspects in Bangkok has highlighted Thailand’s vulnerability to terrorist attacks, experts say, even as authorities in the kingdom play down the threat. The tourist magnet is seen as a soft target because of the easy entry it grants to foreign visitors as part of efforts to boost the economy. While the alleged plot to kill Israeli diplomats in the Thai capital was unsuccessful, it only came to light because of a series of apparently accidental explosions which rocked a resi-

dential neighborhood on February 14.

Thai officials have denied the blastswhich came a month after the United States warned of a terror strike in the capital-were a terrorist incident on the basis that individuals rather than the general public were the targets. The explosions came a month after police found a large amount of chemicals in a house near Bangkok that could be used to make a bomb. A Lebanese suspect was arrested in connection with that incident.

The safety scares dealt a new blow to a

tourism industry still recovering from the fallout of months of devastating floods last year, as well as several rounds of political unrest in recent years.

“Thailand is worried that the bombings will be yet another blow to the country’s image as a safe tourist destination, particularly if it admits the blasts were a terrorist attack,” said Maria Patrikainen, Southeast Asia political analyst for research firm IHS Jane’s. While the kingdom stepped up security in the wake of the 2002 bombings on the

Indonesian resort island of Bali which left more than 200 people dead, “proceduresparticularly regarding visas-have not been tightened as much as they could be for fear of damaging tourism,” Patrikainen said. Thai intelligence gathering is complicated by factors including poor coordination between the various police and government agencies involved, according to experts. Furthermore, while the kingdom is no stranger to attacks, it has little experience dealing with international terrorists. —AFP

International FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

GOP damaging itself with negativism After bitter debate, Romney, Santorum eye Michigan

WASHINGTON: A political adviser to President Barack Obama says Republicans are damaging their chances of defeating him by engaging in “nasty, negative, carpetbombing” debates. Robert Gibbs says independent and undecided voters have been “turned off” by the Republican face-offs, saying the give-and-take among candidates is entirely too negative. Gibbs tells CBS’s “This Morning” Thursday that the GOP continues to dwell on social conservative subjects when “the emerging issue of this campaign is going to be strengthening this economy and putting people back to work.” The former White House press secretary, now an adviser to Obama’s re-election campaign, says the Republican hopefuls are “offering very little in the way of a positive vision” for the country. He says Wednesday night’s Arizona debate was full of “negative distortions” about policy positions and candidates.

Candidates eye Michigan A bitter and often personal debate behind them, Republicans Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney are

Lawmakers receive threatening letters WASHINGTON: Several US lawmakers received threatening letters containing a harmless white powder, but the sender warned more missives including a “harmful material” could follow, a Senate official said Wednesday. The news sparked alarm and served as a grim reminder of the 2001 anthrax attacks in which letters containing the deadly pathogen were sent to offices of two Democratic senators and several media offices.

Five people were killed. The anonymous sender “has indicated that additional letters containing a powdery substance will be arriving at more Senate offices,” Senate sergeant-at-arms Terrance Gainer said in a email to staff. “Some of these letters may contain an actual harmful material,” he added, noting the missives were postmarked from Portland, Oregon. Similar letters, which included complaints about corporate influence over US politics, also were received by several US media outlets, but they did not contain any white powder, said law enforcement officials quoted by US media.

The letters were received by organizations such as The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Fox News and National Public Radio, reports said. CBS News quoted a law enforcement official as saying that in missives to comedians Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, the sender warned that 100 letters were sent to the Washington or home-state offices of US senators. Of those 100 letters, 10 of them would contain a deadly pathogen, according to the official.

Although law enforcement officials did not identify any of the lawmakers who received the letters, media reports indicate one of them was received by the office of Senator Patty Murray, a Democrat from the state of Washington. The FBI said in a statement that it was “aware of this situation and is responding accordingly.”

“So far, none of the letters have contained a hazardous substance. We are working with those law enforcement agencies affected to determine if the mailings are related,” the FBI added. “We take these matters seriously and will investigate fully.”

The letters were signed “The MIB, LLC” and gave a Portland street address. Although the FBI confirmed some of the letters were postmarked from Portland, the street address listed on them was false. The 2001 anthrax attacks, which came just a week after the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington, forced the evacuation of two congressional office buildings for weeks so they could be decontaminated.

All mail to Congress was quarantined until it was tested for anthrax, and new equipment was installed to scan the mail for contaminants. — AFP

shoring up their campaigns in different ways ahead of a series of crucial presidential primaries. Romney is paying the most attention to Michigan, his birthplace and the site of an unexpectedly tight race with Santorum, by attending a tea party rally Thursday night in an effort to get more conservative support. He has campaigned confidently in Arizona, so much so that he has not aired any television ads in the state. Santorum, meanwhile, is focusing for the moment on raising money for his cashstrapped operation. He is hoping for an upset in Michigan, which would cap a rebound that began two weeks ago when he won caucuses in Minnesota and Colorado and a nonbinding primary in Missouri.

The 20th debate of the primary season offered the GOP hopefuls their final face-to-face outing on a national stage before contests over the next 12 days that may well winnow the field. Arizona and Michigan host primaries Tuesday, followed by caucuses in Washington four days later. Ten states will cast ballots on Super Tuesday, March 6. Polls show Santorum lead-

ing the field nationally and in several states. Romney and rivals Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich used the nationally televised forum Wednesday night to challenge Santorum, who repeatedly found himself in the hot seat over his record on spending, home-state projects known as earmarks, and support for a federal education law. Romney criticized Santorum for support of spending programs when he represented Pennsylvania in Congress, where he served both in the House and Senate. Romney said Santorum voted five times to raise the government’s ability to borrow, supported retention of a law that favors construction unions, and supported increased spending for Planned Parenthood. He said federal spending had risen 78 percent overall while Santorum was in Congress.

Santorum retorted that government spending declined as a percentage of the economy when he was in the Senate, and he noted that when Romney was asked last year if he would support a pending debt-limit increase, “he said yes.” — Agencies

Car bomb kills 13 at Pakistan bus station PESHAWAR: A car bomb ripped through a Pakistani bus station yesterday, killing 13 people, including two children, on the outskirts of the northwestern city of Peshawar, officials said. The attack happened on the road towards the garrison city of Kohat near the lawless tribal belt, a stronghold of Taleban and Al-Qaeda-linked militants blamed for violence plaguing both Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan.

“The death toll in the car bomb blast has now risen to 13 while more than 35 have been wounded,” city police chief Imtiaz Altaf said. A senior doctor in the local Lady Reading hospital, Rahim Jan confirmed the new toll, adding that seven injured people were in a critical condition. Several of the bodies were charred beyond recognition, he said. Around a dozen passenger coaches were heavily damaged, with pieces of human flesh scattered and blood smeared on the ground.

At the main hospital in Peshawar an AFP reporter said the wounded cried and relatives of the dead sobbed over the bodies of their loved ones. Dilawar Khan, 60, who was wounded in his left shoulder, told AFP his 12-year-old son Abdullah was killed while helping him run a tea stall at the bus station while on a break from school. “I was preparing tea for the drivers and my son was serving tea for some other drivers when the huge blast happened,” Khan said, through his tears. “Something like shrapnel hit me in the shoulder but I was conscious. Then I was brought to hospital and saw my son’s dead body. I’ve lost everything.”

There was no claim of responsibility and the precise target was unclear, but attacks blamed on Taleban and other homegrown extremists opposed to the government’s support for the US war in Afghanistan are common. “At the moment I can’t say what the exact target of the bomb attack was but all those killed were innocent civilians,” Mohammad Siraj, the top government official in Peshawar, told reporters. Tahir Ayub, a senior police official, told reporters that most of those killed were passengers waiting to board coaches. “Two children were

PESHAWAR: Local hospital staff treat a man injured in a bomb blast in Peshawar yesterday. —AP among the dead. According to a preliminary investigation, the bomb was planted in the car,” he said.

Bomb disposal chief Shafqat Malik said 45 kilograms of “good quality” explosives and mortar shells were packed into the car to maximize destruction when the timed device detonated. More than 530 bomb attacks have killed around 4,900 people across Pakistan since government troops in July 2007 stormed a mosque in Islamabad where Islamist extremists were holed up, provoking a local Taleban-led insurgency.

Last Friday, a suicide bomber killed 31 people in a mainly Shiite Muslim area of the northwestern town of Parachinar in the tribal district of Kurram.

Pakistan ‘bad boys’ An American businessman who has implicated Pakistan’s president in an attempt to remove the country’s powerful army chief claimed yesterday that security bosses were given the codename “bad boys”. Mansoor Ijaz, who is testifying to a Pakistani commission by video link from

London, claimed he agreed on the secret code for the army and intelligence chiefs with Pakistan’s then ambassador to Washington, Husain Haqqani. Haqqani was sacked as ambassador over the scandal but flatly denies having anything to do with the memo, written shortly after American troops killed Osama bin Laden on May 2, allegedly because Islamabad feared an army takeover.

Ijaz told judges that Haqqani wrote him a message on his Blackberry referring to the Pakistani government as “friend”, and army chief General Ashfaq Kayani and ISI chief Lieutenant General Ahmad Shuja Pasha as “bad boys”. He also claimed that Ispahani, which is Haqqani’s wife’s second name, was their code word for the Americans. Asked by the commission, what he meant by “bad boys”, Ijaz replied: “they are army chief and DG (director general) ISI (Pakistan’s spy service).” Ijaz alone has implicated President Asif Ali Zardari and his testimony is considered key to any case against him, who has faced down speculation that he could be forced out of office. —Agencies

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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

German confidence defies crisis to hit 7-mth high

Court says Apple can sell iPads in Shanghai PAGE 21 PAGE 20

ATHENS: A woman and her child beg yesterday. — AFP

Greek Parliament to vote on debt deal Greek officials examine bailout bills ATHENS: Greek lawmakers yesterday debated emergency legislation to approve a massive bond swap that would wipe 107 billion ($142 billion) off the country’s privately-held debt, as new projections showed the economy will suffer the worst contraction in Europe this year. Parliament will vote on the proposed deal, which has already been approved at committee level.

The governing coalition controls a strong enough majority to easily pass the law. The writedown to be imposed on banks, pension funds and other private holders of Greek government bonds was agreed upon this week by finance ministers from the 17-member eurozone.

The meeting in Brussels also approved a new 130 billion ($172 billion) bailout to prevent Greece from going bankrupt and keep the country within the euro area. Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos said he hoped the new agreement on rescue loans would

be signed and validated by the end of March.

Speaking in Parliament, Venizelos insisted that ratifying the bond swap was the only way forward, and the alternative would be catastrophic, setting Greece back decades.

“The true dilemma is: either sacrifices with prospects, or complete destruction with no prospects. Either cuts which are harsh ... or the inability to pay salaries and pensions.

Either reduction of fortunes, or a complete loss of fortunes. Either high unemployment or generalized unemployment,” he told lawmakers. He added: “Now Greece is obtaining a window of opportunity. We must make the most of it. We have not finished. We are starting again with better terms. We mustn’t repeat mistakes, we mustn’t have delays ....

We must complete the implementation of the program.” Greece has been surviving since May 2010 on a first batch of international rescue loans as it became unable to finance its huge debt load. But more than

two years of harsh austerity implemented to secure the rescue funds have left the economy in freefall, with businesses closing in the tens of thousands and unemployment at a record high 21 percent in November.

In its latest projections yesterday, the European Commission forecast a 0.3 percent contraction in the eurozone economy this year, with Greece leading the way down with a massive 4.4 percent decline. That would be the fifth straight year of recession in Greece.

The debt relief deal will force private bondholders to exchange their devalued Greek government bonds with new ones with a 53.5 percent lower face value, longer maturities and lower interest rates - an average 3.6 percent, compared to the previous 4.85 percent.

“This law has to be voted one day before it comes into effect and the (bond swap) is officially announced,” Venizelos told lawmakers.

Once the public offer is made, bondholders

will be given 10 days to respond whether they will take part in the exchange. The bill being debated includes collective action clauses that, if activated, will allow a majority of bondholders favoring the swap to impose their decision on holdouts.

“If we do not implement that legislation, every speculator will be able to keep out of the process in the expectation of being paid in full,” Venizelos said Wednesday. Venizelos wants the deal to be completed by March 12, two days before a batch of bonds worth more than 14 billion starts to mature. Parliament is also due to vote next week on further harsh austerity measures in 2012 worth 3.2 billion ($4.2 billion). These will include reductions to already depleted pensions, and deep cuts in health, education and defense spending.

State hospital doctors went on a 24-hour strike yesterday, and several hundred doctors and health workers held a peaceful protest march to Parliament in central Athens. — AP

Business FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

Court says Apple can sell iPads in Shanghai Trademark infringement case still pending LISSIE: A farm hand works on a tiller at Ron Gertson’s rice farm in Texas. — AP

Farmers furious after Iraq refuses US rice DAYTON: The talk of the day among Ray Stoesser and other rice farmers is Iraq’s decision not to buy US rice, a stinging move that adds to a stressful year punctuated by everything from drought to unusual heat. Stoesser and other farmers know Iraqis struggled during the US invasion and subsequent occupation. They know most countries - and people - buy based on price. But at the moment, with production costs rising, export markets shrinking and rice prices dropping, it’s difficult to be rational and suppress emotions so intimately intertwined with their land and livelihood. “That’s just not right,” the 63-year-old Stoesser fumed.

“If we’ve got some rice to sell, they ought to pay a premium for it just because this is the country that freed them.” Iraq imports most of its rice, about 1 million metric tons per year, making it a significant player in the global market. In the past decade, about 10 percent to 15 percent of that total came from the United States. But Iraq hasn’t bought any US rice since late 2010.

“You would think with all that we’ve done over there, there would be a way to get them to do business with us,” said Ronald Gertson, who grows rice in Lissie, Texas. Iraq has been buying instead from Asia and South America, and it recently lowered its quality standards so it would be able to buy rice from India, something that was impossible under the Iraqi Grain Board’s old rules, said Andy Aaronson, chairman of the USDepartment of Agriculture’s Rice Interagency Commodity Estimate Committee. It also recently bought rice from Uruguay, which grows a variety similar to the American one but sold for less.

“Iraq seems to be buying on price, and the lowest offered price is coming now from India,” Aaronson said. In Iraq, officials said the decision to forego American rice largely came down to a matter of taste. A Trade Ministry official said Iraq has decided to import only long-grain basmati rice from India due to its wide acceptance nationwide and cheap price. “We have no problem with the US rice specifically, which was widely acceptable by Iraqis, but we are seeing a demand for the Indian rice rather than others, which is also bought in good prices,” he added.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to make a statement on government policies. He would not comment on US farmers’ anger or their argument that Iraq should buy US rice because thousands of Americans died in the war there. Iraq had accounted for about 2 percent to 5 percent of U Ssales each year. It stopped buying American rice during the Gulf War in the early 1990s and in 2003, when the most recent war started, Aaronson said. Every other year, though, during the war, insurgency and US occupation, the Iraqi Grain Board bought American rice.

Iraq’s abandonment of US rice comes as Haiti, once an exclusively American market, and Central America, another major buyer, also seek cheaper options elsewhere. The lost sales sting because the US, unlike China and other major rice-growing nations, exports nearly half of its crop. With less demand from overseas, prices have dropped while production costs, including for fuel, have risen. The combination is squeezing farmers, Aaronson said. Rice acres in the United States decreased last year and will likely drop again as farmers switch to crops that will make them more money.

About half of the 3 million acres of rice typically planted in the USeach year are in Arkansas. The remainder comes from Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and California. When Iraq sought bids on rice a few months ago, word on the street was the USwould have a piece of the action, said Mike Wagner, who grew up on a rice farm in Sumner, Miss. When that didn’t happen, Wagner and other rice farmers say they were shocked.

“We invested so much in that country, and we feel like it’s something of a slap in the face,” said Wagner, who’s considering planting more soybeans or a new crop on his 4,000-acre Mississippi Delta farm. John Alter, 64, also is considering alternatives. Usually, about one-third of his 1,500-acre farm in DeWitt, Ark., is devoted to rice. —AP

SHANGHAI: A Shanghai court has rejected a request by a Chinese technology firm to stop Apple Inc selling its iPad tablet computers in the city, a source said, part of a wider battle for Apple over the trademark in China. The Shanghai Pudong New Area People’s Court ruled in Apple’s favour after a hearing on Wednesday, the source with direct knowledge of the ruling said, confirming a report by the website of local official newspaper Xinmin Evening News.

The Chinese company, Proview Technology (Shenzhen), had said the U.S. tech giant was infringing on a trademark it owns in China. China is important to Apple not only as a consumer market, but also because the country is a major production base for the iPad and other Apple products. The dispute, which dates back to a disagreement over what was covered in a deal for the transfer of the iPad trademark to Apple in 2009, has seen iPads seized by authorities in some Chinese cities, and some retailers in some Chinese cities have stopped selling them under court order.

The victory for Apple follows a string of defeats in other Chinese courts, and averted what could have been an embarrassing suspension of iPad sales in Apple’s own flagship stores, of which it has three in Shanghai. However, it was still not clear whether a separate effort by Proview to seek compensation in the Shanghai court from Apple for alleged trademark infringement would be successful.

Apple disputes Proview’s ownership of the trademark, saying it bought the rights to the name in China from Proview in 2009. Apple is also appealing a decision from December by a Shenzhen court, which ruled in Proview’s favour. A higher court hearing

for the appeal is set for Feb. 29 in China’s southern province of Guangdong.

Mixed success Following the Shenzhen case, Proview has launched a multipronged approach to get Apple’s iPads off the shelves in the world’s second-biggest economy, with mixed success. It has petitioned Chinese customs to stop shipments of the iPad in and out of China, although authorities have indicated such a ban would be

bered itself among the top five computer monitor makers.

In 1999 it partnered with U.S. chip maker National Semiconductor to launch the I-PAD, a stripped-down desktop computer whose main selling points were its Internet connectivity and ease of use. Proview continued to grow, shifting from computer monitors to become the world’s third-largest OEM manufacturer of flat panel TVs. But

by August 2009, when Apple began trademark talks through a proxy, Proview had been badly hammered by

BEIJING: A man walks out of a digital products mall as an advertisement for iPad2 is displayed at the entrance. —AP difficult to impose.

Proview has won cases in some smaller cities, forcing some retailers to stop selling iPads. Proview’s parent, Hong Kong-listed Proview International Holdings Ltd, was the first Taiwanese technology company to list in Hong Kong and by the end of the 1990s num-

the financial crisis.

Trading of its stock was suspended in Hong Kong in August 2010 after creditors in China went to court to recover assets. The company faces delisting in June if it cannot provide the Hong Kong Stock Exchange with a viable rescue plan.— Reuters

Gold pauses after rally SINGAPORE: Spot gold edged lower yesterday, taking a breather after hitting a three-month high in the previous session, while sentiment remains supported on hopes of further monetary easing after sluggish economic data from the euro zone and China. Data showed unexpectedly weak activity in the euro zone, while China’s manufacturing sector contracted for the fourth straight month, fuelling anticipations that central banks will further ease monetary policy to promote economic growth.

Gold benefits from loose monetary policy, as abundant credit keeps the opportunity cost of carrying gold low. In addition, higher inflation outlook caused by a flood of cheap cash burnishes the appeal of gold, traditionally seen as a good hedge against inflation. “There is always a case to be made for gold, as long as the central banks keep taking new easing measures or keep indicating they will

take more new measures down the road,” said a Singapore-based trader.

He said that the weak numbers of out China added to the argument that more easing will be adopted by Beijing. Spot gold edged down 0.1 percent to $1,773.89 an ounce by 0338 GMT, after three consecutive days of gains. US gold inched up 0.3 percent to $1,775.80 an ounce. Technical signals were also supportive of gold’s strength. Chart analysis suggested that spot gold could extend gains to $1,797 an ounce during the day, Reuters market analyst Wang Tao said.

Scrap selling was spotted from Thailand and Indonesia, while buying from China and India remained muted, dealers in Hong Kong and Singapore said.

Platinum rally may prove short-lived Spot platinum hit a five-month high of $1,726.5 an ounce earlier in the day, before retracing to $1,715.49 an ounce,

down 0.3 percent from the previous close. Prices of the metal, mainly used in jewellery and automotive sectors, rallied about 5 percent this week on chart strength and supply woes in South Africa.

But technical analysis suggested that platinum might be running out of steam in the short run. “Bullishness on breaking the 200-day moving average may prove short-lived,” said Tim Riddell, head of ANZ Global Markets Research, Asia. The breakthrough fuelled expectations that platinum could move towards $1,790, the centre of the predominant trading range in the first three quarters of 2011, but it may be just completing a broad cycle from the December low below $1,340, he added. “What it means is that the current bullish expectations about breaking moving average needs to be tempered and any slippage below $1,690 could trigger disappointment and a sharp retracement to $1,570-$1,600 areas.” — Reuters

Business FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

Telecom Egypt sees businesses up again CAIRO: Landline monopoly Telecom Egypt expects to maintain its profitability this year as it presses ahead with cost cuts and business clients look again at investing after a turbulent 2011, company executives said yesterday. Telecom Egypt reported fourth-quarter net profit of 584 million Egyptian pounds ($96.8 million), up 0.5 percent from a year earlier according to Reuters calculations. Revenues, hit by slower business activity, weaker household incomes and depressed tourism, were down 3.2 percent in the full year at 9.9 billion pounds.

But annual earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were 46 percent of sales, more than expected by analysts such as Mohamed Helmy at CIBC brokerage. “We are positive overall on these results,” he said, rating Telecom Egypt a “buy”. “The EBITDA margin was almost flat despite higher salaries and call connection costs... Their cost optimisation programme has been very successful.”

The company’s shares were up 2.2 percent at 1045 GMT. Telecom Egypt’s main fixed-line retail business has been slowing and the company is trying to keep profits growing by focusing on new broadband and wholesale services, getting more income from existing customers and a venture with Vodafone , which is Egypt’s biggest mobile operator.

It lowered non-payroll operating expenditure by 148 million pounds in 2011 and expects similar reductions this year and next. Chief Executive Tarek Aboualam said business customers who suffered in 2011 when Egypt’s economy was struck by a political crisis had decided in the last quarter that they could not continue waiting for a rebound in the country’s fortunes. “Maybe we have reached the bottom. But we cannot say that the last two months were different to the last quarter ... in the business sector,” Aboualam told Reuters. Net income in 2011 was held back by a higher corporate tax rate, but the company played down prospects for any sharp increase in profits this year. —Reuters

US unemployment aid applications slump WASHINGTON: The number of Americans seeking unemployment aid was unchanged last week, and the four-week average of applications fell to its lowest point in four years. The figures add to evidence that the job market is improving. Applications stayed last week at a seasonally adjusted 351,000, the Labor Department said yesterday. That’s the fewest since March 2008, when the country was just a few months into the recession.

The four-week average, which smoothes week-to-week fluctuations, dropped for the sixth straight week to 359,000. That’s also the lowest since March 2008. Applications have fallen steadily since last October. The average has declined 13.5 percent since then. When applications drop consistently below 375,000, it usually signals that hiring is strong enough to lower the unemployment rate.

Economists said the level suggests the economy will see another strong month of hiring in February, similar to the average net gain of about 200,000 in the previous three months.

Hiring has picked up in recent months. The economy added 243,000 net jobs in January, the most in nine months. The unemployment rate dropped for the fifth straight month, to 8.3 percent - the lowest in nearly three years.

Healthier economic growth is spurring greater job growth.

The economy expanded at an annual rate of 2.8 percent in the final three months of last year - a full percentage point higher than the previous quarter. Most economists expect growth will slow in the current quarter, because companies won’t need to rebuild their stockpiles of goods as much as they did last winter.

That means less production of goods.

But there are signs that the economy is still expanding at a healthy pace. Factory output got off to a robust start this year, and it ended last year with the fastest growth in five years, the Federal Reserve said last week. Factories are adding jobs to keep up with the extra demand. Manufacturers added a net gain of 50,000 jobs last month, the most in a year.

Still, the job market has a long way to go before it fully recovers from the damage of the Great Recession. Nearly 13 million people remain unemployed, and 8.3 percent unemployment is painfully high. One reason the unemployment rate has fallen is that many people have given up looking for work. The government only counts people as unemployed if they are actively searching for a job. —AP

India seeks more oil every year from Saudi Indian refiners cutting supplies from Iran NEW DELHI: India is seeking up to 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) of extra oil every year from top supplier Saudi Arabia to feed its growing refining capacity, its oil minister said yesterday, denying it was trying to replace supply from sanctions-hit Iran. Oil refining capacity in Asia’s third-largest economy will rise by about 61 percent to 310.9 million tonnes a year or 6.22 million bpd by March 2017. Higher Saudi volumes could help meet any growing demand at a time Indian refiners are planning cuts of at least 10 percent in Iranian imports because Western sanctions make it difficult to keep doing business with the OPEC producer.

“We said that they should try to organise 4-5 million tonnes of oil more each passing year ... every year,” S. Jaipal Reddy told reporters after a meeting with Saudi deputy oil minister Abdul Aziz Bin Salman bin Abdulaziz in New Delhi. “I wish to make it emphatically clear that our relationship with Saudi Arabia is purely bilateral. It is our single biggest supplier. We have been seeking every year to increase supply.

“It is the same this year. It has no relationship to our relationship with any other country in the world, including Iran,” Reddy said, adding volumes from Iran in 2012/13 would be “almost similar” to those this year.

Imports from Iran in this fiscal year ending March will be 320,000-330,000 bpd compared with the term contract for 362,000 bpd after Tehran cut supply to New Delhi following the scrapping of a long-standing clearing house mechanism in December 2010. India imported 370,000 bpd oil from Iran in 2010/11. To plug the gap, India turned to Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom sold 547,200 bpd in 2010/11 and its supplies in the current fiscal year will be higher. Since mid 2011, Saudi Arabia has been consistently meeting additional crude oil requirement of Indian refiners every month. Saudi Arabia is pumping 9.8 million bpd and has spare capacity of 2.5 million bpd to meet any dis-

ruption in supplies arising from Western sanctions aimed at crippling Iran’s contentious nuclear programme that many say is designed to make a bomb. Tehran denies any such ambition.

Market well supplied Bin Salman said his country was working to keep the oil market well supplied, as top Asian crude buyers look to the world’s

back on Iranian purchases. “The market is well supplied. There is no need to be concerned,” Bin Salman said. “We have demonstrated to our friends that this market is well supplied ... that how much excess capacity there is today and how much capacity will there be in future.” King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia offered additional barrels to India earlier this month after Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said Riyadh could

Lake Buena Vista: A driver pumps gasoline at a station in Florida. —AP biggest producer to make up for cuts in shipments from Iran. China, India and Japan, which together used to buy about 45 percent of Iran’s crude, are looking for alternatives, including from Saudi Arabia, as sanctions make it difficult for them to keep on their oil trade with Tehran. These countries are planning cuts of at least 10 percent, while, in addition to Japan, South Korea is seeking to be exempt from U.S. sanctions, which means Seoul would also have to cut

increase production by about 2 million bpd almost immediately. Saudi Arabia supplied an extra 3 million barrels to Indian customers in August, stepping into the vacuum created by Iran after it cut supply to New Delhi after a long-standing clearing house mechanism was scrapped in December 2010. India’s current refining capacity stood at 193.4 million tonnes a year or 3.87 million bpd, Reddy told parliament in November. — Reuters

German confidence defies crisis to hit 7-mth high

FRANKFURT AM MAIN: Martin Blessing, CEO of Commerzbank arrives for the bank’s press conference yesterday. — AFP

FRANKFURT: German business confidence rose to a seven-month high level in February as robust domestic demand helped protect the German economy against the debt crisis, data showed yesterday. The Ifo economic institute’s closely watched business climate index beat analysts’ expectations to rise for the fourth month in a row to 109.6 points this month from 108.3 points in January. That is the highest level since July 2011 and is a positive sign for the German economy, the biggest in the European Union.

Analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires had been pencilling in a much more modest increase to 108.8 points. “More companies reported a favourable business situation than in January,” said Ifo president HansWerner Sinn. “They expressed greater optimism about their business expectations for the fourth time in succession.

The German economy is currently supported by domestic demand,” Sinn said.

Ifo calculates its headline index on the basis of companies’ assessments of their current business and the outlook for the next six months. While the subindex measuring current business rose to 117.5 points in February from 116.3 points in January, the outlook subindex rose to 102.3 points, also its highest level since July 2011.

Official growth data published last week showed that the eurozone debt crisis caused the German economy to contract at the end of last year for the first time since the 2009 recession. And a raft of earnings data published by some of the country’s biggest companies yesterday, including insurance giant Allianz, telecoms behemoth Deutsche Telekom and the country’s second-biggest lender Commerzbank, showed that no sector appears to be completely immune to the debilitating debt crisis. But analysts are convinced that the dip in activity will prove only temporary. — AFP

Business FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

Pay issue ‘damaging’ as losses mount: RBS Shares up 4.1 percent

BONN: CEO of Deutsche Telekom (German Telecom), Rene Obermann, speaks at the results press conference in the western German city of Bonn yesterday. — AFP

Deutsche Telekom Q4 loss more than doubles FRANKFURT: Writeoffs for the fallen value of its US and Greek businesses pushed telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom to a loss of 1.34 billion ($1.77 billion) in the fourth quarter. That more than doubled losses of 514 million in the same quarter a year ago. Revenues fell 3.7 percent to 14.9 billion. The Bonn-based company said Thursday that accounting writedowns on businesses in the US and in crisis-stricken Greece amounted to 3.3 billion, more than wiping out the 2.3 billion cash payment from AT&T in compensation for the termination of an agreement to buy Telekom’s US business T-Mobile USA. The companies abandoned the $39 billion deal after the U.S. Justice Department went to court to block it on the grounds that it would mean higher prices and less choice for consumers. Deutsche Telekom said Thursday it also saw continued erosion of its fixedline business in Germany, which lost 295,000 subscribers, and tough competition and slack economies in some of its markets in Europe. Earnings fell in Greece, which is in a debt crisis and deep recession, as well as in Poland, the Czech Republic and Austria.

The US business, which lost 800,000 customers in the fourth quarter, suffered from the launch of the new Apple iPhone model by three major national competitors in October. It posted a loss of 2.95 billion on an operating basis, excluding interest and taxes.

The US workforce fell by 12 percent to 32,700. The company said it would use new frequencies it received as part of the termination of the T-Mobile USA sale and additionally invest $1.4 billion to begin offering services on the new mobile phone standard called LongTerm Evolution, or LTE, in the coming year. The company set a cautious outlook for the year of around 18 billion in operating earnings excluding financial items, which compares to 18.9 billion last year. “In 2011, the company operated in a challenging environment in every respect, a situation that is not going to change this year,” said CEO Rene Obermann. “Our capacity for innovation, cost discipline, and readiness for change are vital assets as we prepare to master these challenges in 2012, too.” — AP

LONDON: State-owned Royal Bank of Scotland paid out nearly a billion pounds in bonuses to staff for last year despite posting a fourth-quarter loss of nearly 2 billion pounds ($3.1 billion) after big losses in Greece and Ireland and costly restructuring.

RBS, 82 percent owned by the British government after being rescued during the 2008 credit crisis, reported a fourth-quarter loss of 1.8 billion pounds, dragging it to an annual loss for a fourth straight year. It paid out 390 million pounds in bonuses for its investment bankers for 2011, down 58 percent from 2010, and representing an average bonus of 22,900 pounds per banker.

Chief Executive Stephen Hester said the payout was far lower than at rivals like Barclays and the bank had to hire good staff to drive through his turnaround plan.

Payouts at RBS have been a sore point for many Britons, who remain angered by the fact that bankers have continued to pay themselves large salaries while elsewhere thousands lose their jobs as the global economy weakens.

“The noise around RBS is damaging to the prospect of achieving the goals everyone needs of it,” Hester told reporters. “So far in the last three years we have overcome that noise and we will try to keep doing that, but no-one should be under any illusions that you can’t have your cake and eat it.” Across the bank, RBS paid out 785 million in bonuses and other benefits, known as “variable compensation”, after stripping out deferred payments, down 43 percent from 2010.

RBS said staff costs at its investment banking division GBM, where it is cutting thousands of jobs, were 2.45 billion pounds in 2011, down 9 percent from the previous year.

RBS Chairman Philip Hampton and Hester waived their bonuses earlier this month after politicians from all of Britain’s major parties called on them to refuse the awards. British Finance Minister George Osborne backed RBS’ decision to lower its bonuses, and CEO Hester said his five-year turnaround plan for the bank was on track. “We had to defuse the

biggest ever timebomb in banking balance sheet assembled. And the irony is, the faster we reduce risk, the greater the losses we produce.” However, the Unite trade union attacked RBS’ bonus payouts, saying the bank ought to pay retail bank staff better, many of whom face meagre wage increases.

“How does RBS expect staff to accept its claims of poverty and this ludicrous pay offer, when there is clearly enough money flowing into the hands of its top bankers and traders?” said Unite national officer David Fleming.

RBS shares recover ground RBS needed a 45 billion pound bailout in 2008 after its capital was eroded by the financial crisis and its part in the acquisition of Dutch bank ABN AMRO in 2007, pushing it close to collapse. The bailout caused the eventual resignation of former boss Fred Goodwin, who was replaced by Hester. Some analysts welcomed RBS’ progress at its profitable core divisions-namely its retail and investment banking businesses, which are not in the process of being sold off or run

down. “We continue to remain impressed by the scale of balance sheet deleveraging and de-risking at RBS over the last three years,” Daiwa Capital Markets credit analyst Michael Symonds said. “We see RBS as a continued rehabilitation story and believe that the investment case remains intact,” Bank of America Merrill Lynch said in a research note, saying RBS’s balance sheet appeared to be in good shape. RBS shares were up 4.1 percent at 28.45 pence by 0929 GMT, still well below the 50 pence average price that the taxpayer bought its shares for, leaving taxpayers sitting on a 20 billion pound paper loss. By 2013, RBS hopes to generate two-thirds of its income from its retail and commercial banking businesses, with one-third coming from its investment banking division. Hester has cut 34,000 jobs since arriving at RBS in 2008, and in January RBS announced another 3,500 job cuts at its investment banking division.

Its investment banking restructuring will see the bank cut back from equities and advisory operations, while keeping its operations in areas of strength such as fixed income and foreign exchange. — Reuters

Virgin Australia doubles profits SYDNEY: Budget airline Virgin Australia said yesterday it more than doubled its firsthalf net profits as it picked up business from rival Qantas which grounded its entire fleet for two days in October. Australia’s number-two carrier said net profit for the six months to December rose to $Aus51.8 million (US$55 million) from $Aus23.8 million a year earlier, a 118 percent spike. In the same period Qantas profits slumped 83 percent to Aus$42 million due to high fuel costs and the dramatic fleet grounding triggered by a labour dispute.

Virgin’s total revenue rose 18 percent to Aus$2.0 billion. Chief executive John Borghetti said the airline had made significant progress on diversifying its revenue sources and had boosted its market share in business travel by forging new international alliances. He said yields had grown 13.7 percent across its domestic business and 11.5 percent across the group as a whole. “Today’s financial results demonstrate that our strategy to reposition the business is having a material impact on the company’s financial position ahead of schedule,” he said in a statement. Citing the uncertain economic environment, Virgin said it was unable to offer specific earnings guidance for the full year, saying only that it expected an improvement in underlying performance. — AFP

Africa needs new means to fund energy projects JOHANNESBURG: Africa needs to find new ways to finance energy projects as the continent seeks to massively expand access to electricity in the wake of the global financial crisis, experts say. The public-private partnership (PPP) model for building and operating expensive infrastructure like power plants will no longer work as international banks shy away from long-term loans, bankers and industry insiders told the Africa Energy Indaba conference under way in Johannesburg this week.

“We’ve got to stop kidding ourselves that PPP is the answer,” said Anthony Sykes of Japanese bank Sumitomo Mitsui.

“Lenders are going to be extremely unwilling to lend long-term to projects.” Africa’s governments are desperate to roll out more major power projects. According to the International Energy Agency, 70 percent of people in sub-Saharan Africa have no access to electricity, compared to 20

percent worldwide-a fact that is hampering the continent’s economic development.

The continent’s largest economy, South Africa, is looking to more than double its current electricity supply from some 40,000 Megawatts to more than 89,000 by 2030.

The warning on funding difficulties came as South African Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan presented a budget Wednesday that includes almost two trillion rand ($250 billion, 190 billion euros) in spending on mega-electricity projects in the next eight years.

The country is already building two new coal-fired power plants that will generate a more than 9,500 Megawatts when complete, and also envisions some six new nuclear plants for a combined 9,600 megawatts and major investments in wind, solar and hydro power. The finance ministry did not specify how the government would pay for the ambitious programme,

saying there were various ways to finance public infrastructure.

“No good project will be short of funding,” Gordhan said. But Energy Indaba participants said a new paradigm may be needed. “PPP works for the construction phase but not the overall life of the project,” said Frederic Mariette of French investment bank Natixis. Under the PPP model, dominant for the past two decades, governments entered into partnerships with private-sector backers for the lifetime of a project-some 20 to 50 years in the case of a power plant.

Banks financing such projects borrow enough money to cover operating and maintenance costs for perhaps five years, then borrowed more money for the next five. But the model has been eroding since Lehman Brothers collapsed in 2008, triggering the financial melt-down. Banks have become skittish about lending to each oth-

er, regulators began tightening capital requirements and PPPs began to look unviable. Panelists suggested one new investment model could be to build power plants with private financing, then borrow money from pension funds-which are flush with cash in some large economies such as Nigeria and South Africa-to pay for running costs and upkeep.

They also cited the ‘Chinese model,’ already common in Africa, in which the Asian giant gives or lends the money for a large infrastructure project, brings its own workers and materials to build it, then turns it over to the local government as part of a wider deal, usually to source raw materials.

But Mark Beare, an independent consultant, said that approach has a fatal flaw.

“Who’s going to maintain all of this? The (locals) aren’t getting that skills and technology transfer that builds the internal capacity,” he said.— AFP

Business FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

HP CEO pleads patience as earnings tumble 44% ‘Years of underinvestment’ adds to woes

TOKYO: A money dealer gestures at a foreign exchange brokerage as the euro is traded at 106.23 28 yen range yesterday. — AP

China faces Japan style stagnation Without reforms BEIJING: China risks a Japan-style generation of economic stagnation if it fails to adopt reforms to compensate for the ageing and shrinking of its workforce, which pushes up wages and heralds the end of the era of cheap Chinese labour. The only answer is to change China’s growth model to one focused on innovation and productivity from cheap labour and capital, said Cai Fang, director of the Chinese Academy of Social Science’s institute of population and labour economics and a lawmaking member of the National People’s Congress.

“China’s demographic dividend is set to disappear soon,” Cai told Reuters in a recent interview at his central Beijing office. “At that point, the high-growth model will become invalid as the source is gone.” With China’s 1.35 billion population structure increasingly resembling a demographer’s nightmare-rapidly ageing with too few babies born-the hitherto potent economic combination of a plentiful supply of adult workers with few dependents could turn on its head.

Chinese government statistics show that the proportion of the population aged between 15 and 64 fell to 74.4 percent in 2011, the first fall in a decade. “Japan’s demographic dividend disappeared in 1990, and the Japanese economy stagnated ever since,” Cai said. “China has to improve productivity, if it can’t, then there will be visible economic slowdown-in Japan, the growth has been stagnated below 1 percent for two decades; in China, a growth rate of 4 percent would be stagnation,” he warned.

But he said companies, not government officials, should take the lead in looking for new growth sources. If Beijing can resist the urge to intervene, China may find new advantages through the “destructive creation” of the market place. Cai said government officials at both a central and local level sometimes got in the way of that process. “In past years China’s potential growth rate has become lower, though the actual growth rates were high, simply because of heavy government intervention-that’s absolutely unsustainable,” he said.

Labour challenges Steadily rising wages-up in double digit percentages for years and expected to stay that way for the foreseeable future-is one sign of China’s labour challenges. There has also been a stream of media reports of factory owners, and even provincial members of China’s ruling Communist Party, desperately trying to woo workers with pay hikes, free accommodation and even all expensespaid weekend breaks. “Total factory productivity used to be a completely foreign word for Chinese local cadres, but now some of them are even trying to use that as a performance assessment benchmark,” Cai said.

“As labour shortages worsen, many local governments are trying to make their places more livable by covering migrant workers with public services like social security,” he added. Cai said the watershed moment for China was in 2004, when he believes the economy passed the “Lewis turning point”, named for Nobel prize-winning economist, Arthur Lewis, whose theory of economic development is a focus for investors and policymakers. It postulates that once all excess labour in a developing economy has been absorbed into the workforce, further capital investment puts wages on a permanently upward track.

China passed a more clear-cut landmark in 2011, when official data recorded more people living in Chinese cities than in the countryside for the first time. — Reuters

NEW YORK: Hewlett-Packard Co. CEO Meg Whitman pleaded for patience yesterday as she described operational challenges and other internal problems that contributed to a decline in earnings at one of the world’s largest technology companies.

Even as HP blamed weak consumer demand and supply shortages due to flooding in Thailand for lost revenue opportunities in the latest quarter, Whitman said years of underinvestment in systems and procedures made those problems worse.

She described a company in transition and said HP needed to improve internal procedures and reduce costs to free up money for investments in growing areas.

She said HP, which now makes much of its revenue from computers and printers, sees opportunities in security services, information management and Internetbased systems known as cloud computing. Whitman described her turnaround plan as a “multiyear journey.”

“I feel very good that we know the challenges,” she said. “We know what we’re going to do about them, and we’re headed in the right direction.” HP’s sales to consumers fared the worst in the November-January period, the first full quarter under Whitman. Revenue from consumer products and services fell 23 percent worldwide from a year earlier.

HP is the world’s largest maker of PCs, but it’s been performing poorly as buyers in the industrialized world turn their atten-

tion to Apple’s iPads and Macs.

Meanwhile, the company has been unable to properly capitalize on the growing appetite for PCs in emerging markets.

Whitman said HP also had to battle cautious spending by some business customers in the US Worldwide, revenue in the company’s commercial businesses fell 4 percent. The company said it remained guarded about prospects in Europe, although some of the markets elsewhere in the world appear to be stabilizing.

HP earned $1.47 billion, or 73 cents per share, in the fiscal first quarter, down 44 percent from $2.6 billion, or $1.17 a share, a year earlier. Adjusted for one-time items, the company earned 92 cents per share, above the 87 cents expected by analysts surveyed by FactSet. Revenue was $30 billion, down 7 percent from $32.3 billion and slightly below expectations of $30.7 billion. The revenue drop was even steeper, 8 percent, when taking out the effect of changes in currency exchange rates. It was the fastest revenue decline for the company since the recession hit 2009 results.

HP blamed flooding in Thailand for more than half of its revenue drop. The floods last year disrupted manufacturing of storage drives, a key component in PCs. HP said it decided to divert resources to higher-margin products, but it didn’t do as well as it expected because of ongoing operational problems.

“We were not as effective as we needed to be in matching that supply with that

demand,” Whitman said during a conference call with analysts. Whitman said the company will focus first on stabilizing its finances and improving its operations. She said the company needs to do better, for instance, at turning orders into products faster than its rivals. And while she described HP as “world class” in buying components, “I’m not sure I’d say we were world class in terms of how we think end to end about supply chain.”

Whitman replaced Leo Apotheker in September after a short and stormy reign.

Apotheker announced that HP was looking to jettison its PC unit, which has large volume but small profits. That scared off some buyers, who may not have come back when Whitman decided to keep the division. For the current quarter, the Palo Alto, Calif., company said it expects earnings of 88 cents to 91 cents per share.

Analysts were expecting 95 cents per share.

HP shares fell 37 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $28.60 in extended trading, after the release of the results. Earlier, it fell 41 cents, or 1.4 percent, to close at $28.94.

Results were buoyed by HP’s business of providing information technology services to corporations. The company’s secondlargest division, after PCs, saw a revenue increase of 1 percent from a year ago.

Sales from the printing division, HP’s thirdlargest, were down 7 percent, and its profitability continued to sag. Sales of printers fell faster than ink and toner sales. — AP

Indian banks deny Kingfisher loan NEW DELHI: A consortium of 16 Indian banks has refused any fresh loans to cash-strapped airline Kingfisher, a report by a leading business daily said yesterday. Kingfisher has scrapped scores of flights, leaving passengers stranded and company chief Vijay Mallya, a brewing magnate known as the “King of Good Times”, battling to save the struggling firm.

The Business Standard said the consortium of 16 public and private sector banks, led by state-run State Bank of India, had refused to give new loans to the carrier, whose troubles have been fuelled by debt-funded expansion.

The business daily quoted State Bank of India chairman Pratip Chaudhuri as saying the bank “has not given any fresh loans to Kingfisher. It is widely known that it is a sub-standard asset.” Kingfisher’s shares were down two percent at 24.55 rupees at midday, after falling nearly seven percent on Wednesday.

Only 28 of Kingfisher’s fleet of 64 registered aircraft are operating as many of its planes have been reclaimed by lessors or are awaiting spare parts. The Business Standard quoted the head of an unnamed public sector bank with loans to Kingfisher as saying: “Given the present state of the airline, it is not prudent to give

any fresh loan.” SBI’s shares were up by nearly 1.5 percent by midday after plunging by nearly eight percent Wednesday on concerns about its existing loan exposure to Kingfisher and a report it would lend more to the company.

The Bangalore-based airline, India’s second-largest carrier until earlier this year when its cash woes deepened, has blamed its latest problems on offi-

cials freezing its bank accounts for not paying tax arrears. Kingfisher’s net loss widened to 4.44 billion rupees ($88 million) in the three months to December from 2.54 billion rupees a year earlier. Mallya has said closing down the firm “is not an option”.

Kingfisher is one of India’s worst-hit airlines in an industry plagued by high fuel prices, price wars and poor airport infrastructure. — AFP

MUMBAI: In this photograph, Chairman and CEO of India’s Kingfisher Airlines Vijay Mallya, gestures as he speaks during a news conference.— AFP

Business FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

Apple, Google, smartphone makers sign privacy accord Disclosures required before consumers download apps SAN FRANCISCO: Six of the world’s top consumer technology firms have agreed to provide greater privacy disclosures before users download applications in order to protect the personal data of millions of consumers, California’s attorney general said on Wednesday. The agreement binds Amazon, Apple, Google , Microsoft, Research In Motion, and HewlettPackard-and developers on their platforms- to disclose how they use private data before an app may be downloaded, Attorney General Kamala D. Harris said. “Your personal privacy should not be the cost of using mobile apps, but all too often it is,” said Harris.

Currently 22 of the 30 most downloaded apps do not have privacy notices, said Harris. Some downloaded apps also download a consumer’s con-

tact book. Google said in a statement that under the California agreement, Android users will have “even more ways to make informed decisions when it comes to their privacy”. Apple confirmed the agreement but did not elaborate.

Harris was also among U.S. state lawmakers who on Wednesday signed a letter to Google CEO Larry Page to express “serious concerns” over the web giant’s recent decision to consolidate its privacy policy. The policy change would give Google access to user information across its products, such as GMail and Google Plus, without the proper ability for consumers to opt out, said the 36 U.S. attorneys general in their letter. EU authorities have asked Google to halt the policy change until regulators can investigate the matter.

Can and will sue California’s 2004 Online Privacy Protection Act requires privacy disclosures, but Harris said few mobile developers had paid attention to the law in recent years because of confusion over whether it applied to mobile apps.

“Most mobile apps make no effort to inform users about how personal information is used,” Harris said at a press conference in San Francisco. “The consumer should be informed of what they are giving up”.

The six companies will meet the attorney general in six months to assess compliance among their developers.

But Harris acknowledged “there is no clear timeline” to begin enforcement.

The attorney general repeatedly raised the possibility of litigation at some future time under California’s unfair

Obama gains from improving economy WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama is reaping political benefits from the brighter economic mood in the United States. A new poll shows that Republicans and Democrats alike are saying increasingly that the nation is heading in the right direction and most independents now approve the way he is dealing with the country’s post-recession period.

Trouble could be ahead, however: Stillstruggling Americans are fretting over rising gasoline prices. Just weeks before the warm weather travel season begins, the Associated Press-GfK survey finds pump prices rising in importance and most people unhappy with how the Democratic president has handled the issue. It is seemingly no coincidence that Obama this week is promoting the expansion of domestic oil and gas exploration and the development of new forms of energy.

It is his latest attempt to show that he, more than any of the Republican presidential contenders, knows that voters’ pocketbooks remain pinched even as the economy improves overall. And on that question of empathy, solid majorities continue to view him as someone who “understands the problems of ordinary Americans” and “cares about people like you,” the AP-GfK survey found. There is evidence that Americans are becoming markedly more optimistic, and that Obama benefits from that attitude.

Thirty percent in the poll describe the economy as “good,” a 15-point increase since December and the highest level since the AP-GfK poll first asked the question in 2009. Roughly the same share say the economy got better in the past month, while 18 percent said it got worse, the most positive read in over a year. Looking ahead, four in 10 said they expect the economy to get better in the next year and a third said they think the number of unemployed people in the US will decrease, the highest share on either question since last spring. A quarter of those surveyed said they expect the economy to get worse over the next 12 months,

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama attend the groundbreaking for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Wednesday, Feb 22, 2012. — AP while 31 percent said it would stay the same, the poll found. As optimism has risen, Obama has received a corresponding bump in his approval rating for handling the economy. Forty-eight percent now say they approve of how he is handling it, up 9 points from December. Still, for some it is hard to sense an improvement, or give Obama credit for it, when any extra money is being gobbled up at the gasoline pump.

Overall, seven of 10 respondents called gas prices deeply important, up 6 points from December. Those who view gas prices as “extremely important” rose 9 points, to nearly 39 percent. The average cost of a gallon has risen 30 cents in that time, according to the Energy Information Administration.

Views on the president’s handling of the issue are about the same as in December: Six in 10 respondents disapprove, including 36 percent who strongly feel that way, while 39

percent approve.

Presidents do not have a great deal of control over oil or gas prices, which now are being influenced by higher US demand and tensions over Iran’s nuclear program. But few factors generate as much interest and anxiety among Americans. The rise in prices, faced almost daily by voters, could undercut Obama’s argument that he is strengthening the economy and making families more financially secure.

Although Obama’s approval rating on the economy has climbed, his negative rating on handling gas prices is stagnant. Just 39 percent approve of what he is doing there, and 58 percent disapprove.

Republicans, locked in battle for the right to face Obama in the November general election, expect gas prices to be a top issue by the time Americans set out on their vacations within the next few months. —AP

competition and false advertising laws if developers continue to publish apps without privacy notices.

“We can sue and we will sue,” she said, adding that she hoped the industry would act “in good faith.” There are nearly 600,000 applications for sale in the Apple App Store and 400,000 for sale in Google’s Android Market, and consumers have downloaded more than 35 billion, said Harris. There are also more than 50,000 individual developers who have created the mobile apps currently available for download on the leading platforms, she said. These figures are expected to grow. She said an estimated 98 billion mobile applications will be downloaded by 2015, and the $6.8 billion market for mobile applications is expected to grow to $25 billion within four years. — Reuters

Capita bullish on growth LONDON: Early contract wins and a buoyant sales market are making British outsourcing firm Capita confident of better growth prospects this year after a 6 percent profit rise for 2011 that was underpinned by acquisitions. Capita, which runs contact centres and customer services for customers such as BBC TV licensing, The Pension Services and the Criminal Records Bureau, said underlying pretax profit for 2011 was 385.2 million pounds ($603.48 million), helped by a 341 million pounds spend on 21 firms to help support earnings in tough UK markets.

The firm won contracts totalling a record 2 billion pounds in 2011 but over half came in the form of less profitable renewals. This, coupled with government budget cuts, contract delays and increasing competition, saw organic revenues decline 7 percent. Group revenue rose 7 percent to 2.93 billion pounds. The FTSE 100 listed group have started 2012 in different fashion, however, seeing off rival Serco as preferred bidder on a deal to run recruitment services for the British Army, and on Wednesday securing a contract to manage the provision of training across the Civil Service.

“Going forward we’ve probably got increased grounds for optimism,” Capita Chief Executive Paul Pindar told Reuters on Thursday, summing up 2011 as “challenging”. “In the first seven weeks of the year we have secured 5 major contracts with an aggregate value of 620 million pounds, so we sit here today already knowing that we will have a return to organic growth.”

“This visibility and the current buoyant sales environment, underpin our confidence in good growth prospects and performance for 2012 and beyond.” Shares in Capita, which raised its full-year dividend by 7 percent to 21.4 pence, were up 2.6 percent to 706.75 pence at 0946 GMT. “The tone of outlook is positive, the pipeline has been rapidly replenished, the contract win rate so far this year is good and the operating margin is higher than expected,” JP Morgan Cazenove analysts wrote, adding that they expected Capita to rise on the back of it.

Pindar said he was “quietly confident” of hitting a city consensus of 3 percent organic growth in 2012 and added that it was more likely to return to it in the second half. The consensus for overall revenue growth for 2012 is forecast at 12 percent, according to the firm. Capita, which also manages over 23 million life, savings and pension policies, said its bid pipeline-half of which is made up of central government and defence work-now stands at 4.6 billion pounds, with around two-thirds likely to boost revenue this year if the company is successful in securing it. —AFP

Business FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

American Airlines ripe for acquisition?

US Airways, spurned in its quest for a major partner at least three times in the last dozen years, has said it’s interested in exploring its options with American, which became the last of the nation’s major carriers to file for bankruptcy protection when it did so in November.

A

s American Airlines seeks to slash jobs and pensions to help steer its way through bankruptcy reorganization, rival carriers are eyeing it, looking at whether they should buy the struggling airline.

US Airways, spurned in its quest for a major partner at least three times in the last dozen years, has said it’s interested in exploring its options with American, which became the last of the nation’s major carriers to file for bankruptcy protection when it did so in November.

Delta Air Lines, already the world’s second-biggest carrier, has retained Blackstone Group, an investment and advisory firm, to watch American as it reorganizes under bankruptcy court protection. But any proposal to buy American, invest in it or scoop up its assets is probably months away, industry and bankruptcy experts say, as American is given time to hammer out its own restructuring plan. A marriage of the US’ third-largest carrier with another airline could have a series of hurdles to overcome, from labor problems to antitrust concerns about what could be the last megamerger in an increasingly consolidated US airline industry.

In the last four years, Delta took over Northwest, United and Continental have merged, and Southwest bought AirTran.

“You have to look at these mergers on a variety of levels,” says Henry Harteveldt, airline and travel analyst with the Atmosphere Research Group, from the effect on ticket prices and shareholders to “the reduced competition, and impact on employees and communities.” The disappearance of another stand-alone airline could mean higher fares, reduced service to some markets, and a steeper climb for smaller carriers trying to compete with their jumbosize peers, says George Hobica, of Airfarewatchdog.com.

“In any age of megamergers, where does that leave niche airlines such as ...Virgin America, Frontier, Alaska and Hawaiian?”

Hobica asks. “Can they survive as agile mice running around in a jungle full of 800-pound gorillas?”

Parent AMR reported a quarterly loss of $1.1 billion, compared with a loss of $97 million last year. But American has said it’s not seeking a buyer or partner, but aims to emerge from bankruptcy independent.

“You have likely read or heard reports that there are those who wish to shrink our airline, close hubs or acquire our company or assets,” Tom Horton, American’s CEO, said in a letter to employees on Feb. 1. “Still others may favor a break-up of American. I do not believe any of these outcomes are in the best interests of American, our people or our stakeholders.

“The best way for us to assure that we are in control of our own future is to make the necessary changes, complete our restructuring quickly and continue working hard to position American as a world-class competitor,” Horton said.

Survival strategies The airline, which has presented its restructuring plan to employees, seeks to cut roughly 13,000 jobs, end the company’s pension plans and outsource some aircraft maintenance to help achieve $3 billion in annual savings and improved revenue.

Proposed cuts drew sharp responses from airline unions, with whom American has had contentious relationships, as well as the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp (PBGC), the federal agency that would take over administration and payment of pension benefits if American terminates its plans.

Tuesday, some flight attendants and ground employees picketed at Dallas/Fort Worth International in protest. Wednesday, their unions submitted proposals to allow voluntary departures instead of layoffs. “It represents a major change in almost every respect to our careers at American,” says Tom Hoban, a pilot for the airline and spokesman for the Allied Pilots Association. “It’s pretty extreme, but we expect to bargain off of this ... and hopefully meet somewhere in the middle.”

Michael Rae, acting chief insurance programs officer for the PBGC, said other carriers that have gone through bankruptcy, such as Delta and Continental, emerged with some or all of their pension plans intact, and American must prove that it has no alternative before taking such action.

“We’re working towards an outcome where we don’t have to take over those plans,” says Rae, adding that if the PBGC has to step in, American employees will lose an estimated $1 billion in benefits. Higher-paid workers such as pilots would probably be

particularly hard hit due to legal caps on how much the PBGC insures, he says.

“While it’s PBGC’s role to step in as a safety net when a company cannot afford to continue its plans,” Rae says, that “doesn’t mean that’s a good thing for the participants, or the insurance program, or even the other creditors of American Airlines.”

After American paid only $6.5 million of a $97 million pension contribution due in January, the PBGC filed liens of more than $91 million on assets belonging to parent company AMR. But American says pension cuts, as well as plans to update its fleet, shrink debt and boost the number of international flights, are necessary to be profitable. “If we were not able to terminate our plans, then we’d have to potentially seek deeper cuts elsewhere by either affecting more employees or asking for pay reductions or increases in benefit costs,” says Will Ris, the airline’s senior vice president, government affairs.

Industry analysts say potential suitors are unlikely to come calling until the labor issues are ironed out. “I don’t think anybody is going to step up and buy them right now,” says Vicki Bryan,

As recently as 2010, US Airways was in talks with United about a possible partnership before United teamed with Continental to become the world’s biggest carrier.

Still, Parker noted in the January call, US Airways has been doing well on its own, posting a net profit of $21 million in the last three months of 2011. “US Airways does not need to participate in consolidation,” he said. “We can now decide whether it’s best for US Airways to operate as a stand-alone company or participate in further consolidation over time.”

If US Airways and American were to join forces, some industry experts say, US Airways might get more out of the deal. It could gain a stronger presence in major markets such as Dallas, New York and Chicago, a gateway to Latin America through American’s Miami hub and the ability to offer American’s popular customer-loyalty program. “American is certainly a very attractive target, but again, American doesn’t need US Airways,” Harteveldt says. On the flip side, a union between the two would give American inroads to the shuttle market between Boston, New York and Washington, popular with coveted business travelers.

senior high-yield analyst at corporate bond research service Gimme Credit, who has said that American has “limited appeal as a takeover candidate.”

Besides American’s labor issues, she says, a bigger problem is its loss of premium-paying business and international fliers to United and Delta. “Why do you want to jump up and start waving a checkbook now? Let the dust settle.”

It would not necessarily be the most ideal of partnerships. US Airways has had labor problems stemming from its merger with America West in 2005. It was only last month that representatives of its two groups of flight attendants agreed to a joint contract that members must now ratify.

“When United and Continental merged, that was seen as this dream team of hubs, in terms of putting together a nearly perfect network ... that had strengths in every part of the world,” says Seth Kaplan, managing partner of Airline Weekly, an industry trade publication. If US Airways and American decide to link up, “it’s not going to be because everybody thinks it’s going to be clean and easy. It’ll be because people think in the very long term it’s worth facing all those challenges.”

A union with Delta could be more mutually beneficial, vaulting Delta back into first place as the world’s biggest airline. Delta could increase its already large stake in the highly sought-after New York market, and the two would strengthen each other’s global reach across the Atlantic, Pacific and Caribbean.

“It would put Delta solidly ahead as the number one airline, and it would be very difficult for another airline to catch up with Delta on a domestic or international basis,” Harteveldt says.

But most of Delta’s employees aren’t in unions, unlike American’s. And the carriers would likely have to give up slots at some airports to quell antitrust concerns, analysts say.—MCT

Tough competition Just as many US carriers sought bankruptcy protection in the last decade to gain leeway to cut labor costs and streamline operations, airlines have been pairing up to boost profits by shrinking competition, bolstering the number of cities served and increasing efficiency. Delta and Northwest joined in 2008, Continental and United in 2010, and Southwest completed its purchase of AirTran last year.

Such steps have helped an industry, which struggles to make money in the best of times, reap a profit. But American, with no major merger partner or bankruptcy umbrella under which to make big changes, was the only large U.S. carrier to not post a profit last year or in 2010.

Now, US Airways has retained three firms “to help us explore our options as they relate to AMR’s bankruptcy,” US Airways CEO Doug Parker told investors in a Jan. 25 earnings call.

Opinion FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

Abu Dhabi outclasses Dubai

By Rob L Wagner

F

or much of the past decade Abu Dhabi Emiratis have looked somewhat askance at their neighbors in Dubai who embarked on a mission to build the world’s tallest buildings, the greenest golf courses and the largest shopping malls. “I know more than a few Emiratis who see what’s happening in Dubai and think of the hadith about the end of days,” an Emirati businessman told The Media Line and asked not to be identified to protect his Dubai construction contracts. “The hadith says, ‘There will be no Judgment until very tall buildings are constructed.’ “ Notwithstanding dark predictions of Dubai’s doom, the Emirati’s sentiment illustrates the gulf between the two emirates’ approach to economic diversity. It’s easy to bash Dubai, which saw hundreds construction projects ground to a halt during the global recession that began in late 2008. Abu Dhabi contributed to a $20 billion bailout package to Dubai. An estimated $4.1 billion of that bailout went to save the governmentowned Dubai World. Abu Dhabi is far healthier, but it also gave loans totaling $10 billion to rescue its own troubled Aldar Properties, which developed such prestige projects as the Yas Marina Circuit for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and Ferrari World. The bailout stung so badly that Abu Dhabi’s investment arm, Mubadala, is considering abandoning real estate investments.

But given its wealth, Abu Dhabi is in a better position to be magnanimous. The United Arab Emirates has the world’s fifth largest oil reserves. Abu Dhabi controls 95 percent of those reserves, holding about 92.2 billion barrels. Dubai has only 4 billion barrels in reserve, which are mostly from offshore oil fields and likely to be exhausted by 2030. As a result, the oil-poor little brother embarked on a building frenzy that included the world’s tallest skyscraper, the 2,722-foot Burj Khalifa, among other large-scale luxury projects to create a tourist hub.

The stark reality today is that Dubai’s salad days are over. The Dubai Real Estate Regulatory Authority reported in 2011 that nearly 300 construction projects remained on hold due to the global recession. Nakheel Properties, which created the three iconic man-made Palm Islands off the Dubai coast, has more than 100 projects on hold. Dubai Properties Group lists 42 stalled projects, including the now-suspended high-profile Tiger Woods luxury golf resort.

Playground of the Middle East Robin Mills, head consultant for the UAEbased Manaar Energy Consulting and Project Management, said that many Dubai projects might never resume. “There are major projects not completed, delayed or stopped entirely,” Mills said. “Some projects were more advanced, and some are officially on hold but effectively cancelled and will never come back. And some projects with infrastructure in place will deteriorate and there will come a time when those projects will have to be abandoned.” He added that the oncepromised projected population of one million on the Palm Islands is a “fantasy” in today’s economic environment.

However, Dubai’s debt woes will have little impact on its long-range quest to remain the

playground of the Middle East. Asher Noor, chief financial officer for the Riyadh-based AlTouq Group, a financial investment organization, said that although Dubai continues to grapple with slower growth, its prospects are promising for the long haul. “(Dubai) sure has a short term maturity mismatch in its finances, but given its geographical location, political stability, and relatively mature laws and transparency as compared to its neighbors, I do not foresee Dubai struggling with

ganzas, and developing tourism spots are their equally important priorities. I think they are doing a very good job in the right direction.”

Abu Dhabi, though, has the edge. The emirate’s Executive Council announced last month that it is reviving plans to complete construction of the Zayed National Museum and the Guggenheim and Louvre branch museums. Its centerpiece to strengthen its infrastructure is the Mohammed Bin Zayed

Emirati men walk past Burj Dubai, the world’s tallest tower, in this Jan 4, 2009 file photo. — AFP raising finances,” said Noor, who emphasized that he is not speaking for his employer. “The Arab Spring has been a shot in the arm for reviving the belief that Dubai is indeed a safe haven for regional investors,” he added.

A key component to attracting foreign investors is for Dubai to move beyond luxury resorts and focus on strengthening its economy, Noor noted. “Abu Dhabi took a back seat while Dubai went on creating the diamond in the desert,” he said. “I see them as pilots and co-pilots on a long haul flight. Now Abu Dhabi has taken over the pilot duties but that does not mean that Dubai is relegated to an aisle seat in the economy section. What Dubai and Abu Dhabi need is more substance to their economies than skyscrapers or manmade islands. Dabbling in fine arts, music, energy efficient projects, sporting extrava-

City that will feature 349 residential towers and ultimately have a population of about 85,000. The emirate also is building 24 new public schools.Mills said that Abu Dhabi and Dubai share many similarities in their diversification efforts, especially in attracting more tourists. “The major difference is that Abu Dhabi is attracting higher end tourists with its plans for museums.”

Aggressive Approach Abu Dhabi also has taken a more aggressive approach in specializing in science, technology and education. Despite the economic downturn, construction of the zero-carbon, zero-waste Masdar City continues with completion scheduled for 2025. It will eventually have about 60,000 workers commuting daily to the city. Masdar City will have a solar pow-

er plant, wind farms, gray water recycling, solar-powered desalination and geothermal energy plants. A central part of Masdar City is the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, which opened in 2009 and focuses on research in renewable energy and clean technology.

Sultan Ahmed Al-Jaber, chief executive officer of Masdar and chairman of the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees of the institute, told UAE reporters in January that, “Abu Dhabi is evolving from a resourcebased economy to a knowledge-based economy” by focusing on “future leaders in the science and technology spheres”.

Abu Dhabi has also taken the lead in developing a $20 billion four-reactor nuclear power plant at Braka. The emirate has eased US and Israeli concerns by developing a transparent civilian program. The emirate also promised not to reprocess spent fuel or enrich uranium that leads to building weapons. By 2020, the plant is expected to provide 25 percent of all of Abu Dhabi’s energy needs and 12 percent for the rest of the UAE. By pushing for renewable energy and developing an automotive re-export trade center to make up for the absence of automobile manufacturing in the region, Abu Dhabi will become an economic powerhouse.

Mills, however, cautioned that Abu Dhabi investing in infrastructure for renewable energy doesn’t necessarily mean a bright economic outlook. “It’s important not to overplay clean energy,” Mills said. “The tangible effects now are not much. But Abu Dhabi has a much stronger industrial base in aluminum and petrochemicals than Dubai.” Dubai, in fact, has performed remarkably well not to depend on oil revenue. “Dubai did succeed in reducing its dependency on oil,” he said. “Aside from tourism, the Dubai government is getting revenues come from customs duties, various local taxes, road fees and government investments.” Mills said that not only is Dubai’s economic model sustainable, its geographical proximity in the Arabian Gulf makes it an ideal trade center. “Dubai attracts so much for its services in the Gulf, and no other Gulf countries come close,” he said.

Abu Dhabi is likely to open its checkbook again as more debts mature in 2012, including Dubai Holding Commercial Operations Group’s looming $500 million debt repayment. It’s an object lesson that will dictate the economic future of the two emirates, said financial analyst Noor. “The real estate crash left a very sour taste in many a mouth and investors and developers are still struggling to recoup their losses, let alone (see) any upside,” Noor said. “It has not only been a humbling but a very important learning lesson for many who now understand what Warren Buffett means when he says be fearful when others are greedy and be greedy when others are fearful.” — Media Line

A

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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

Years

www.kuwaittimes.net

Dancers of the Australian Ballet and the Bangarra Dance Theatre rehearse the world premier of 'Infinity', the first triple bill in the Australian Ballet's history to premiere three brand new Australian commissions by choreographers Graeme Murphy, Gideon Obarzanek and Stephen Page, in Melbourne yesterday. The triple bill combines dancers from Stephen Page's Bangarra Dance Theatre and Gideon Obarzanek's Chunky Move with the Australian Ballet dancers. —AFP

Te c h n o l o g y FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

Mouse and keyboard should match the user

W

ith or without a cable, special keys or an ergonomic shape - when buying a mouse and keyboard there are a lot of decisions to be made. The experts say that the most important factor is what will the devices be used for - game players will have different needs to office workers. How the user experiences the computer depends a lot on the input devices, according to a study by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich. For example the wrong keyboard can lead to wrist problems.

Users should think carefully before buying input devices. In the office particularly a person’s hands are on the keyboard and mouse all day so it’s vital that they’re comfortable. “The size of the mouse should not be based solely on the size of the hand,” said Christoph Giese of the German computer magazine Chip. “It’s also important how the user holds the mouse.” For example some users put their whole hand over the mouse so the mouse must match the size of the palm while other people who use just three fingers on the device can live with a smaller model.

With modern mice which use optical scanning a mouse pad is no longer

required. In this case the important thing is that the mouse is on the right surface.

Glass, precious metals, mirrors or black velvet should be avoided, according to Giese.

When choosing a keyboard the situation is similar to picking a mouse: whether it has forward or backward-inclined keys, a wrist rest or a split keyboard layout, what matters most are individual needs. Many keyboards now come with keys that can be programmed to carry out special functions such as volume control. Good keyboards can be purchased for 70 to 80 euros.

When game-playing is the goal personal taste is again the dominant factor. “While one player likes to use the keyboard for game functions, another prefers to use the mouse buttons, for example in first-personshooter games to shoot or jump,” said Frank Stoewer of German computer magazine PC Games Hardware. The number of special keys also depends on the game, for example command combinations that can be achieved with a single keystroke. But a good player keyboard requires more than just gimmicks and macro-keys, according to Stoewer: “The feel, the ergonomic aspects such as height adjustment, the wrist rest, a clear layout, the shape, as well

as the tactile feel of the keys, in my opinion these are more important.”

Cable-free keyboards and mice have long been available and latency is no

puters can be difficult to operate. In this case an external keyboard can be attached.

“Buyers should always look first at the accessories shop of the manufacturer for

longer an issue for these wireless devices, said Stoewer. However, there are other drawbacks such as the need for batteries.

Devices that communicate wirelessly are clearly preferable to ones that communicate via infrared with a receiver, Giese said.

The touchscreen keyboards of tablet com-

the right parts for their device,” said Giese.

Thanks to Bluetooth, mice and keyboards are compatible with most tablets.

Connections have a range of at least 10 metres and are less susceptible to interference than radio technology, although more power is used. — dpa

Feasible tips for PC security From purchase to disposal

T

he safeguarding of your PC does not end with just a virus protection plan and a firewall. Individuals should think about security beginning at the time of purchase and all the way up to the disposal of the device, according to the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI). “PCs with the current Microsoft Windows can be safeguarded with just a few simple measures to make possible an adequately secure usage of the services of the internet,” the Bonn-based office announced in a compilation of concrete suggestions. When buying a computer, individuals should make sure they have the most current hardware and the newest version of the operating system. That is currently Windows 7, though Windows 8 is expected to come out in the autumn. The BSI experts recommend a 64-bit processor because only special security mechanisms from Microsoft can be used with it. Preinstalled software which is not needed should be de-installed.

A free virus protection program is sufficient for adequate protection against malware, according to the BSI. The pay programmes did offer more comfortable controls and additional functions such as a child protection filter or selective supervision of the browser and email, but users should not forget about the requirement to extend the licence after 12 months. And filters should be activated for the browser.

The BSI alluded especially to the secure Sandbox technology from Google Chrome and wrote: “Comparable mechanisms are either more poorly implemented in other browsers or do not even exist.”

No special backup software is necessary

as long as the corresponding capabilities from Windows 7 are used. Users should think about external storage media such as DVDs or external hard drives when buying the PC. A backup of data is recommended at least once a week. Internet security is also a duty of the provider. Therefore, individuals should not only look at the price, recommends the BSI. “For example, you should ensure that the internet provider tries to actively protect you from internet crime,” wrote the BSI. One example in this case is the assistance of providers in the anti-Botnet initiative. A Botnet is a networking of infected computers which can be externally controlled and attack other computer systems without the knowledge of the owner.

Before the disposal of a computer, the BSI recommends that all data on the hard drive is wiped out. Emptying the recycle bin in Windows is not enough. The best way is to remove the hard drive and physically destroy it. Alternatively, a Linux system can be started from the CD-ROM drive with the command to delete the hard drive.

Another possibility is a secure encryption of the hard drive and the destruction of the encrypting code. — dpa

Pe t s FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

Running

A band of wild horses keep watch on visitors, near Eminence, Missouri. —MCT photos

Tame horses are being dumped with wild herd in Missouri

F

rom his pickup on a rise above the Current River, Bill Smith scanned the wild horses grazing below to see if all were members in good standing. That’s not always the case these days with Missouri’s only wild horse herd, which descends from animals set free in the Great Depression by farmers who couldn’t afford to feed them. Because it’s happening again in the Great Recession.

Strapped owners are dumping horses in what is now the Ozark National Scenic Riverways, apparently thinking they will be warmly received by the wild bunch that runs the thousands of public acres along the Current and Jacks Fork rivers.

“Don’t work that way,” said Smith, part of a group called the Missouri Wild Horse League that keeps an eye on the local herd.

Stallions will run off, even rise up and fight the old pets and saddle horses, he said. Wild horses have to forage for food, know how to dig through snow to find grass and acorns. Coyotes will prey on colts and old horses. There are even a few cougars around. In other words, being wild ain’t easy. No oats, no shoes, no roof, no pats on the nose. Not long ago, a would-be rescuer literally lifted the front hooves of a dumped gelding and two mares to get the weakened, starving horses into a trailer. They all died.

Another abandoned animal got hit by a truck. In recent months, Jim Smith, Bill’s second cousin, helped pull out at least 25 dumped horses from the Shawnee fields east of Eminence.

“Two of them had brands from a ranch in Utah,” Jim Smith said this week.

“I called out there. They said they were adopted by somebody in Missouri. Don’t know how they ended up here.” The Wild Horse League, which foiled the National Parks Service’s efforts to remove the animals in the mid-1990s, tries to find the orphaned horses and adopt them out. But lately there have been too many.

“They don’t know how to forage,” said Carolyn Dyer, the league’s secretary who also runs a large trail riding operation. “In the summer they can eat grass, but this time of year they don’t know to paw through snow and leaves to find acorns.

They will literally starve to death. “I know why people think they can’t keep them.

But they don’t belong out here.”

Bill Smith is 75, a retired iron worker.

He started riding these wooded, rocky trails back when he would climb up behind his daddy so he knows horses and doesn’t need long to spot one that’s not supposed to be in the wild herd.

Good thing, because the wildlings he came across on the recent day didn’t stick around long. Always wary, the lead mare took off and the others kicked dirt to follow. The bunch galloped across the clearing, tore through the trees and splashed into the cold water of the Current River before clamoring up the far bank and hightailing out of sight.

No viable outlet No posers in this crowd. Wild horses, all. Some horse people say the lame economy may not be the only culprit with what’s going on in Eminence. They point to a federal appropriations bill in 2006 that closed every horse slaughterhouse in the country. People no longer have an outlet for old and sick horses, they complain.

Mindy Patterson, board vice president of the Missouri Equine Council, recognizes that hard times can lead people to make unwise decisions. But she also blames the 2006 decision by Congress after intense lobbying by the national Humane Society - to halt funding of meat inspectors for horse slaughter operations. In effect, the result was a backdoor ban on horse slaughter because meat can’t be sold without a USDA stamp of approval. But Patterson says the ban’s effect has been the opposite of what the Humane Society says it wanted.

“Many old and sick horses are dying terrible deaths because the owners don’t have anyplace to take them,” Patterson said. “Some people can’t afford to hire a vet to come out and put a horse down. If they can, then they’ve got a dead horse so they have to hire a backhoe to dig a hole. All that gets expensive. “This is going on all over the country.” In November, Congress restored money for

the inspections, but some people doubt a slaughter operation will start up because the funding could go away in next year’s appropriations debate. And the Humane Society has pledged an allout push to make that happen. Simply put, it doesn’t think horses should be raised for meat in America.

Society officials say the “horse slaughter proponents” twist the truth when they say most horses going to slaughter were old and sick. They cite a USDA study that says of more than a thousand horses that arrived at two slaughter plants in Texas, 92 percent were “in good shape.” The study did not address age. Of the country’s 9 to 10 million horses, about 700,000 die each year, according to Humane Society President Wayne Pacelle. But only 130,000 were being shipped to slaughter. That means most owners were acting responsibly, Pacelle said.

On the hoof Slaughter opponents say horses were being raised for export meat to Europe and Asia. Some American horses are now being sent to Mexico for processing. “The predatory horse slaughter industry has cash signs in its eyes, and it is unrestrained by any compassion for these creatures,” Pacelle said. “Its profiteers treat horses like commodities on the hoof.” As for owners of old and sick horses, the society says that if people are going to own a horse, they need to be responsible for its care, to the very end.

Folks in Eminence just know a lot of horses are showing up that don’t belong.

The Wild Horse League has never had a problem adopting out wild ones when the herd exceeds its maximum of 50.

People want them. Dumped ones - not so much. They have little value. The league works with 4-H clubs and Boy Scouts troops to take a few, but some have to be left in the wild.

They are run off at first, but if they’re strong enough they keep coming back to the herd. “You want one - go get it,” league president Allen Akers said recently. “People can’t take the wild ones, but the dumped horses are free for the tak-

ing.” Tony Orchard, a New Orleanstrained chef, runs a restaurant in a converted gas station on Missouri 19, the main drag through Eminence. “Probably do more business if I’d take the gas sign down,” he said a recent day.

Or at least lower the price. Pumps don’t work anyway. Sign on the pole says $3.77 - that’s what gas was going for when he stopped selling gas. But he seems to be doing OK with his nightly buffet. And he’s got the contract to take meals to the inmates at the county jail down the street. “Don’t know why they don’t bring ‘em down here to eat,” a waitress said. “We know ‘em all anyway.”

Orchard, a regular hunter, often sees the wild horses early mornings at a watering hole east of town. Like everyone else around here, he doesn’t like to hear about the orphaned horses. Yes, he’s a businessman and the herd attracts visitors. The town takes pride in having it there.

Let ‘em Be “At least once a day in the summer, somebody from out of town will come in here and ask where they can find the wild horses,” he said. Well, if Missouri is going to have them, this is the place.

Around Eminence, they can surely run wild. The Ozark National Scenic Riverways, created in the 1960s, takes in thousands of acres along the Current and Jacks Fork rivers. The project was a first for the park service to protect a wild river system. Canoeists, trail riders and campers flock to the area each year. But a key phrase in developing the project was “natural zone.” So in the early 1990s, the park service set about removing the horses because they came from oncetame stock.

“We emphasize that these horses are not wild horses, but feral horses,” a park official said at the time. Horse feathers, said the town of Eminence. Sixty years makes them indigenous enough. They formed the Missouri Wild Horse League and fought back with a battle cry of “Wild and Free, Let ‘em Be”. They hired attorneys and organized demonstrations.

The case went to the U.S. Supreme Court before Congress intervened. Rep. Bill Emerson, of nearby Cape Girardeau, pushed legislation in 1996 that forced the park service to stand down and allowed the horses to stay. With rules. No more than 50. When the number exceeds that, the Eminence league pulls out a few, usually the young stallions. But lately, they’ve been pulling out more old pets and saddle horses.

Four or five times a week, Bill Smith saddles his horse at his place on Shawnee Creek and heads out to check on the herd. Except for a few years during World War II when his father worked in a defense plant in St. Louis, Smith has been around here pretty much his whole life. He got a year of college and taught at a rural school that had more grades than students - 12 to 10. He rode a horse to work. He and wife Patsy - she rides, too - live in his grandfather’s old place.

So how is it that their son lives in Los Angeles and works in advertising for CBS? “He didn’t like chiggers and ticks,” Smith said. Ask him if he’s been to visit his son in California and he’ll look at you like you asked if he’s been to Mars. On a recent cold day, he was driving his old, blue four-wheel-drive GMC pickup to accommodate city visitors. The driver’s side door is held shut by a bungee cord.

The wild bunch proves elusive, none on the high trails or the meadows down below along the clear streams. They’re in the woods to find acorns, Smith figured.

“Got one more place to check,” he said, an ever-present toothpick in the corner of his mouth. As his pickup topped a rise on a logging road above the Current, he stomped the brake.

Down below grazed about 15 horses.

Wild horses look rougher and leaner.

They are generally shades of white and gray, some with a strain of Appaloosa from a stallion that got in the mix years ago. Dumped horses are usually browns, and stockier. Looking for orphans, Smith quickly surmised that all in this group belonged. —MCT

Food FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

Everyday cooking

By Sawsan Kazak

F

amous for its energizing abilities, coffee is the universal morning drink.

Black, with milk, combined with five spoons of sugar or flavored with chocolate, coffee’s roasted aroma and powerful taste makes a great treat any time of the day. But coffee can also be used in every day recipes from main dishes to desserts. The following recipes allow coffee lovers to have a boost of caffeine all day long.

Send your suggestions to: sawsank@kuwaittimes.net

Food FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

Coffee pancakes 1 cup of all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoon sugar 1 egg 1 cup buttermilk 1 tablespoon instant coffee granules

P

Coffee crusted beef tenderloin

re-heat oven to 150 degree F so you can keep the pancakes warm while the others are cooking. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar. In a large measuring cup (or small bowl), beat together the egg and buttermilk. Next, whisk in the instant coffee until completely blended. In two batches, add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. The batter should have some small to medium lumps. Heat up your griddle or cast iron skillet over medium low-heat and brush with 1 tablespoon of butter. Using a 1/4 cup measure, add the batter to the warm skillet and cook until bubbles form along the sides and in the center. Flip. And cook on opposite side until golden brown. Transfer to oven until you’ve gone through all the batter. Serve with warm maple syrup and a dollop of butter.

Grilled catfish with coffee butter

1/2 pound beef tenderloin, trimmed of fat 1/4 cup coffee beans, finely ground 1/4 cup brown sugar 2 tablespoons chili powder 2 tablespoons paprika 2 tablespoons ground sage 1 tablespoon onion powder 1 teaspoon cayenne Sage leaves, for garnish, optional

1 tablespoon lemon juice 1 tablespoon instant coffee powder 1/4 cup melted butter or margarine 1/4 teaspoon onion powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 pounds catfish fillets

F

old over thin end of meat and tie with string every inch or so along the length of the tenderloin. Preheat the oven to 450 degree F. Combine ingredients for the rub in a medium baking pan.

Place meat inside pan and rub meat generously with the spice mixture. Let meat sit 15 minutes and repeat rub. Place meat on a rack in a roasting pan in preheated oven. Do not baste or cover meat.

Immediately turn oven down to 400 degree F. Roast until an instant-read thermometer stuck in the thickest portion of the meat registers 130 degree F for rare to 145 degree F for medium. Remove from oven and let meat rest for 10 minutes before slicing. Garnish with sage leaves,if desired.

C

ombine lemon juice, instant coffee, butter, onion powder and salt. Brush mixture thickly onto fillets. Broil 3 to 4 inches from the outdoor grill for 10 minutes. Turn and brush fish again with sauce.

Broil 10 minutes longer or until fish flakes easily. Brush the catfish again with the coffee butter and serve. If you prefer to broil in the oven, have the rack about 6 inches from the broiler and cook for about 4 minutes per side.

Cappuccino muffins 2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 cup sugar 2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder 2 teaspoons instant espresso coffee powder (or instant coffee) 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg 1 cup whole milk 1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled 1 egg, slightly beaten 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate mini-chips

P

reheat oven to 375 degree F. Line muffin tins with papers or grease liberally. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, espresso or instant coffee, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside. In a medium bowl, mix milk, butter, egg, and vanilla until combined. Stir milk mixture into flour mixture only until combined. Do not overmix. Fold in chocolate chips. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake 15 to 20 minutes for standard muffins, 10 to 12 minutes for mini-muffins. Cappuccino muffins freeze well.

THEY ARE THE 99!

99 Mystical Noor Stones carry all that is left of the wisdom and knowledge of the lost civilization of Baghdad. But the Noor Stones lie scattered across the globe - now little more than a legend.

One man has made it his life’s mission to seek out what was lost. His name is Dr. Ramzi Razem and he has searched fruitlessly for the Noor Stones all his life. Now, his luck is about to change the first of the stones have been rediscovered and with them a special type of human who can unlock the gem’s mystical power. Ramzi brings these gem - bearers together to form a new force for good in the world. A force known as ... the 99!

THE STORY SO FAR : Jassim al-Qabaly, known as Mubdi the Creative, is visiting friends in Kuwait when one of the famed Kuwait Towers springs a water leak. But Jassim is powerless, because his twin sister Qmasha is off using their shared Noor Stone on a mission for The 99!

The 99 ® and all related characters ® and © 2012, Teshkeel Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

www.the99.org

C h i l d re n FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

figure it

alfa-search

Look at the clues below and fill all the numbers you can into the grid. Then start again and use your answers to help solve the other clues.

Across 2. Ninety-one doubled 4. Half of sixty-eight 5. 7 across plus 14 down 7. Sixty-six divided by three 8. 3421 reversed 10. Fifty-two divided by four 12. Number of hours in a day 13. Half of 3536 15. Three times seven 16. Five times thirteen 17. Forty-eight doubled 18. Eight times sixty-four Down 1. Fifty-four divided by three 2. Number of days in a fortnight 3. Half of 5842 4. 17 across divided by three 6. Four times 15 across 7. 9 down minus ninety 9. 123 reversed 11. Five times 1131 14. Half of 152 15. 10 across doubled 17. Four times twentythree 19. Seventy-five divided by five

Can you find the hidden words? Each word begins with the letter J. The words may be horizontal or vertical.

JACKAL, JACKET, JANUARY, JAZZ, JELLY, JESTER, JETTY, JEWEL, JOIN, JOKE, JUDGE,

JUDO, JUGGLE, JUICE, JULY JUMP, JUNE, JUNGLE, JUNIOR, JURY.

alfa-cross The first letter of each answer appears next to its clue in alphabetical order. All the first letters have been entered into the grid. Can you complete the puzzle?

A. Small insect (3) A. Fruit (5) B. Somewhere to sleep (3) B. Flying insects (4) B. Large (3) B. Building block (5) C. Type of fuel (4) D. US coin (4) E. Used for listening (4) E. Snakelike fish (3)

G. Worn on the hand (5) I. Frozen water (3) I. Cake topping (5) I. Ice hut (5) K. Young goat (3) L. Lawful (5) L. Top or cover (3) P. Part of something (5) R. Something to listen to (5) T. Part of the foot (3)

sudoku

solution

C h i l d re n FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

The Riddle

T

here was once a king’s son who was seized with a desire to travel about the world, and took no one with him but a faithful servant. One day he came to a great forest, and when darkness overtook him he could find no shelter, and knew not where to pass the night.

Then he saw a girl who was going towards a small house, and when he came nearer, he saw that the maiden was young and beautiful. He spoke to her, and said, dear child, can I and my servant find shelter for the night in the little house. Oh, yes, said the girl in a sad voice, that you certainly can, but I do not advise you to venture it. Do not go in. Why not, asked the king’s son. The maiden sighed and said, my stepmother practises wicked arts. She is ill-disposed toward strangers. Then he saw very well that he had come to the house of a witch, but as it was dark, and he could not go farther, and also was not afraid, he entered. The old woman was sitting in an armchair by the fire, and looked at the stranger with her red eyes. Good evening, growled she, and pretended to be quite friendly.

Take a seat and rest yourselves. She fanned the fire on which she was cooking something in a small pot. The daughter warned the two to be prudent, to eat nothing, and drink nothing, for the old woman brewed evil drinks. They slept quietly until early morning.

When they were making ready for their departure, and the king’s son was already seated on his horse, the old woman said, stop a moment, I will first hand you a parting draught.

Whilst she fetched it, the king’s son rode away, and the servant who had to buckle his saddle

tight, was the only one present when the wicked witch came with the drink. Take that to your master, said she. But at that instant the glass broke and the poison spirted on the horse, and it was so strong that the animal immediately fell down dead. The servant ran after his master and told him what had happened, but as he did not want to leave his saddle behind, he ran back to fetch it. When he came to the dead horse, however, a raven was already sitting on it devouring it. Who knows whether we shall find anything better to-day, said the servant. So he killed the raven, and took it with him. And now they journeyed onwards into the forest the whole day, but could not get out of it. By nightfall they found an inn and entered it. The servant gave the raven to the innkeeper to prepare for supper. They had stumbled, however, on a den of murderers, and during the darkness twelve of these came, intending to kill the strangers and rob them. But before they set about this work, they sat down to supper, and the innkeeper and the witch sat down with them, and together they ate a dish of soup in which was cut up the flesh of the raven. Hardly had they swallowed a couple of mouthfuls, before they all fell down dead, for the raven had communicated to them the poison from the horse-flesh. There was no no one else left in the house but the innkeeper’s daughter, who was honest, and had taken no part in their godless deeds. She opened all doors to the stranger and showed him the store of treasures. But the king’s son said she might keep everything, he would have none of it, and rode onwards with his servant. After they had

traveled about for a long time, they came to a town in which was a beautiful but proud princess, who had made it known that whosoever should set her a riddle which she could not guess, that man should be her husband. But if she guessed it, his head must be cut off.

She had three days to guess it in, but was so clever that she always found the answer to the riddle given her before the appointed time.

Nine suitors had already perished in this manner, when the king’s son arrived, and blinded by her great beauty, was willing to stake his life for it. Then he went to her and laid his riddle before her. What is this, said he. One slew none, and yet slew twelve. She did not know what that was. She thought and thought, but she could not solve it. She opened her riddle-books, but it was not in them - in short, her wisdom was at an end. As she did not know how to help herself, she ordered her maid to creep into the lord’s sleeping-chamber, and listen to his dreams, and thought that he would perhaps speak in his sleep and reveal the riddle. But the clever servant had placed himself in the bed instead of his master, and when the maid came there, he tore off from her the mantle in which she had wrapped herself, and chased her out with rods.

The second night the king’s daughter sent her maid-in-waiting, who was to see if she could succeed better in listening, but the servant took her mantle also away from her, and hunted her out with rods.

Now the master believed himself safe for the third night, and lay down in his own bed. Then came the princess herself, and she had put on a

misty-grey mantle, and she seated herself near him. And when she thought that he was asleep and dreaming, she spoke to him, and hoped that he would answer in his sleep, as many do, but he was awake, and understood and heard everything quite well. Then she asked, one slew none, what is that. He replied, a raven, which ate of a dead and poisoned horse, and died of it.

She inquired further, and yet slew twelve, what is that. He answered, that means twelve murderers, who ate the raven and died of it.

When she knew the answer to the riddle she wanted to steal away, but he held her mantle so fast that she was forced to leave it behind her.

Next morning, the king’s daughter announced that she had guessed the riddle, and sent for the twelve judges and expounded it before them.

But the youth begged for a hearing, and said, she stole into my room in the night and questioned me, otherwise she could not have discovered it. The judges said, bring us a proof of this.

Then were the three mantles brought thither by the servant, and when the judges saw the mistygrey one which the king’s daughter usually wore, they said, let the mantle be embroidered with gold and silver, and then it will be your wedding-mantle. (www.cs.cmu.edu)

A

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Books

Years

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

I

n these lean times, fiction is putting on weight.

Take three of the major novels out in the next few weeks. Never mind the quality, which is variable, feel the width. Angelmaker (Heinemann), Nick Harkaway’s second novel, weighs in at 576 pages.

My copy of Capital (Faber) by John Lanchester tips the scales at 577pp. The Bellwether Revivals by Benjamin Wood (S&S) is a 420-page debut. Even the Costa winner, Andrew Miller’s Pure (Sceptre), runs to a chunky 352 pages. When last year’s Booker winner, The Sense of an Ending, was first shortlisted, there were some who said that, at 150 pages, it wasn’t really a novel. Whatever happened to the slim volume?

You can blame the computer for the contemporary writer’s reluctance to cut. Again, you can blame the decline of editing at the big imprints, which is actually more apparent than real. Or you can point the finger at the pressures of the marketplace, especially in America.

The jury is out on all these charges. Fatter novels are the outcome of these and many other factors.

What’s hardly in doubt is that where novelists used ascetically to follow a regime of “less is more”, now they’re piling on the carbs.

Some great books have no more than 200 pages, so why do we now think that big is best?

This trend towards fiction of between 350 and 500-plus pages is new. Graham Greene, whose prose was always pared to the bone, wrote of learning his craft as a subeditor on the Times: “A sprawling style is unlikely to emerge from such an apprenticeship.” For much of the 20th century, novels averaged 75,000 to 80,000 words, making a book of fewer than 250 pages and sometimes barely 200. Further back, the picture becomes more complex.

While we can doff our caps to Thackeray, Trollope and the triple-decker Victorians, we should recognise that some of English literature’s best-loved classics are exceedingly short. The recent celebration of Dickens’s 200th birthday has given a new lease of life to Nicholas Nickleby and Bleak House, which are 800pp and more than

1,000pp, respectively. But the Dickens story everyone loves is A Christmas Carol, which is 160 pages, even with illustrations.

In the minds of many readers, Henry James is associated with orotund monsters such as The Wings of the Dove and The Golden Bowl. Actually, the master’s masterpiece, to which generations of readers are drawn like iron filings, is The Turn of the Screw, which is just 128 pages short.

James’s brilliant near-contemporary, Robert Louis Stevenson, defied the gravity of the age with a sequence of short classics, notably Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Treasure Island. Stevenson used to say that “the only art is to omit”. Tell that to Messrs Harkaway, Miller and Wood.

The more you look for brevity, the more you find it flourishing in the shadow of fiction’s spreading oaks. Herman Melville is now celebrated for that archetypal long novel, the baggy Moby-Dick, his American masterpiece. But Melville is also the author of Bartleby the Scrivener, well under 100 pages, an existential thriller.

Possibly the greatest short novel ever written, the haunting, hypnotic pages of Conrad’s Heart of Darkness are as rich, strange and savage as anything since. Conrad wrote it in a just over a month in December/January 1898-9. It’s about 38,000 words. EM Forster, another Edwardian, nailed the vanity of discursive novels with this note in his Commonplace Book. “Long books,” he wrote, “are usually overpraised, because the reader wishes to convince others and himself that he has not wasted his time.”

Short books, in brief, form a vigorous alternative tradition. This is a line of fiction that runs deep into the last century and illuminates the reputations of many great writers. Animal Farm is short, and so is Beckett’s incomparable Ill Seen Ill Said and Muriel Spark’s The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.

Across the Atlantic, the source today of so many long novels, Truman Capote (Breakfast at Tiffany’s) and Philip Roth (Goodbye, Columbus) never wrote better than when they wrote short. The greatest American fiction of the 20th century, The Great Gatsby, is about 58,000 words, or 192 pages in my Penguin classics edition.

So, when book clubs in the depth of winter complain, after the humorist Ambrose Bierce, that “the covers of this book are too far apart” they should look out for something short. It’s not fashionable, but it might educate and entertain.

Buster’s sporting life is music to anybody’s ears I was pleased to see that The Artist won a Bafta for best original screenplay. Cinema this good does not grow on trees. And now the influence of the film is spreading. I hear that the Bath literary festival has “gone totally mad” in the words of its director, novelist James Runcie. He plans a screening of Buster Keaton’s College, in which a bookish young man throws off his love of literature and attempts to win the girl he loves by entering a series of sporting events for which he is hopelessly unqualified. The film will be accompanied by music from a group of talented players who have never seen it before. Runcie, never lost for words, declares this screening will be a “unique, spontaneous, terrifying and hilarious one-off event”.

Silence is golden.

All aboard the Charles Dickens gravy train One of the strangest titles to have been inspired by the Dickens bicentenary, for trainspotters everywhere, must be Charles Dickens’s Networks: Public Transport and the Novel by Jonathan Grossman (OUP). Taking Pickwick as his starting point, Grossman explores the decline of the stagecoach in Dickens’s novels, culminating in Little Nell’s “fatal intercity trip” in The Old Curiosity Shop and the transcontinental movements of “fellow travellers” in Little Dorrit. This must be the first occasion in which railway timetables have contributed to the evolution of the novel. Sadly, for the full deployment of his argument, Grossman fails to explore the moment in 1865 when The Inimitable was nearly killed in a serious railway accident at Staplehurst. That’s the kind of impact that might have really changed the novel. —Guardian

A

y

e niv rsar n

Books

Years

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

Review

By Tessa Hadley

I

n the last essay in this collection, Colm Toibin points out some parallels between James Baldwin’s life and writing and Barack Obama’s. Both men, as they set about making their mark on the world, seemed to need to establish that “their stories began when their fathers died and that they set out alone without a father’s shadow or a father’s permission”. The church and intense religious feeling were key elements in both lives, and they both felt that their American identity came most strongly home to them through significant experience abroad (Baldwin in France, Obama in Kenya).

They could easily have become pastors, preachers, leaders of black churches, but both of them had “a sense of an elsewhere that would form them and make them, eventually, more interested in leading America itself, or as much of it as would follow ...” In their writing, however, “whereas Baldwin sought to make distinctions, Obama always wants to make connections; his urge is to close circles even when they don’t need to be closed ... Whereas Baldwin longed to disturb the peace, create untidy truths, Obama was slowly becoming a politician.”

This short piece is something like an inspired afterthought (there’s a fuller essay on Baldwin elsewhere in the collection). But it suggests the range and freedom of Toibin’s criticism, and the audacious play of his critical writing backwards and forwards between the writers’ work and their lives, between their work and the politics of their historical moment. The essays are the continuation by other means of the achievement of The Master, Toibin’s novel about Henry James, where he makes himself eerily and superbly interior to the creative alchemy as it might work inside a great novelist translating his experience into fiction (and the fiction translating in turn into an element of experience).

The urge to write, the need to write, becomes in itself a mystery for Toibin’s novelist-imagination to work on: what does that need express, where does it come from? Toibin’s hunch is that we can understand something about it by looking at how these writer-individuals fit, or more often don’t fit, inside their families. However painfully the writer may experience the solitude of his nature (JM Synge said “he never met a man or woman who shared his opinions until he was 23”), and however urgent his need to free himself, he can’t make himself or his work out of nothing; it is the tight or loose or twisted knot of family, the murky scene of origins, which makes the writer in the first place - and then, through transformations however opaque, becomes his or her material.

Good biographers are rightly wary of tracing lines of cause and effect between a writer’s life and work; it takes a novelist’s leap of imagination and power of compressed suggestion to risk mixing them up as boldly as Toibin does here. “Yeats had had bohemianism foisted on him by his feckless father,” Toibin writes; “Synge had done it all alone as a new way of killing his mother.” But that’s not portentous closure, it’s a teasing illumination for a moment, before he

goes on to treat the relationship between Synge and his mother from other perspectives, always shifting: Mrs Synge’s prayers over her apostate son are tender as well as stifling. (“He is wonderfully separate from us. I show him all the love I can. If we are all taken up to meet the Lord and he is left behind ... how sad a thought, but I won’t think that.”) It’s all wonderfully funny too; the Synges “with their sense of an exalted and lost heritage and a strict adherence to religious doctrine added to dullness”; Synge’s nephew who, after his uncle’s early death from Hodgkin’s disease, devoted himself to chronicling the writer’s life with an insane pedantry (“the food eaten, the decoration of the houses ... the books he read, his daily habits, his conversations, his coughs and colds ...”).

Each of these essays feeds our curiosity as richly as a story: WB Yeats’s cool patience with his garrulous, needy, exasperating father; Beckett’s youthful self-devouring disgust (“I isolated myself more and more, undertook less and less and lent myself to a crescendo of disparagement of others and myself”); Borges in his 50s, escaping in a taxi from a disastrous, brief marriage to a woman his mother had chosen. Toibin knows how to select just the right detail to touch off our imagination of a scene, a personality, a family ethos; he knows how to tease out the revelations in the words that these people (and not only the writers) use to describe their lives and themselves.

It’s clear that his theme, the writer’s repudiation of family and persisting involuntary attachment to it, is close to the heart of his own work (his last story collection, magnificently austere, was called The Empty Family). The source of the power of fiction, he believes, is in the private life; at the heart of the alchemy, imagined worlds (as opposed to the “world as we know it, raw and shapeless”) are tested against “the private and hidden experience”.

Because these essays are so enjoyably readable, it would be easy to miss what’s innovative and liberating in Toibin’s accounts, throughout the collection, of novel and short story form.

“The novel is not a moral fable,” he writes about Mansfield Park, “... or an exploration of the individual’s role in society; it is not our job to like or dislike characters in fiction, or learn from them how to live ... A novel is a pattern and it is our job to relish and see clearly its textures and its tones, to note how the textures were woven and its tones put in place ...”

His accounts of fiction’s “powerfully protean dynamic” use a language usually reserved for the visual arts or music; meaning is made in terms of form and feel and tonal development, not surface argument. He should know. A masterly writer, working at the full stretch of his powers, sends back reports from where he’s engaged at white heat, writing and reading.

— Guardian

Bold, innovative and funny - a writer and critic tackles family matters

Beauty FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

Exciting B

nail art ideas for 2012

ring a trendy touch to any outfit with a complex, eye-popping manicure that will instantly bring all attention on you.

Take advantage of these spectacular nail art ideas for your next beauty session and expand your style perspective by trying something new.

Easily reversible, ultra chic and instant fashion statement, nail art has definitely become an important part of expressing our style and personality. However, these wonderful benefits also require constant streams of inspiration for creating one-of-a-kind patterns to set us apart from the norm.

Fortunately for all of us, nail art lovers out there, blogs.nailsmag.com is dedicated to bring the best in the area of nail art every day and from all parts of the world.

Getting our daily dose of glam becomes easier thanks to the many dedicated nail art experts that make the journey to finding flattering style options a lot easier. Celebrity manicures along with exciting nail art trends provide us with a myriad of choices and the multitude of interpretations make these trends truly wearable and eye-catching.

Precious tones like gold and silver are highly popular in the new season thanks to the won-

derful sophisticated hint that these can give to almost any manicure style.

Sparkle, bold animal prints and other types of embellishments are perfect choices if you are trying to achieve a look that will not be easily ignored or forgotten. There are a multitude of elements that can be combined in various ways depending on the type of look you wish to achieve. Romantic touches can be easily obtained with the help of lace patterns or rhinestones while animal prints can be easily combined with abstract patterns for a more complex theme.

Vibrant tones are a strong trend in fashion,

so it’s quite natural to see the same tendency reflected in the nail art choices of these months. While opting for bold accessories might be an impractical or fairly risky decision in terms of style, when it comes to nail art, there are little restrictions as to the style principles that must be followed for a covetable look, thus the areas of choice are much more generous and provide a myriad of eclectic alternatives that can be personalized to choice. —becomegorgeous.com

Beauty FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

Stomach slimming style tips T

he warm season trends to encourage you to sport body-conscious outfits.

These stomach slimming style tips will help you make the most of your curvy silhouette and upgrade your wardrobe with some of the key fashion items of the moment.

As we take a closer peek at our favorite celebrity style icons, we’ll have the chance to notice the renaissance of curves. In order to enhance your feminine features and attractive figure with a prominent vibe, be sure you keep a few useful tricks at hand. Choosing the most flattering clothing items is of crucial importance if you wish to win back your confidence.

Embrace some of the professionally inspired outfit ideas to see the miraculous effect of tiny changes on your appearance.

The stomach slimming style tips will work only if you follow them with precision. Pile up the multi-tasker clothing elements to keep your breezy wardrobe versatile and always inspiring. Regardless of your body shape,

learn how to juggle with proportions and dress up your flirty features with refinement and delicacy. l If you wish to shift the attention to your visionary outfit rather than the critical sections of your body, work with prints. Long gone are the days when you had to wear vertical stripes to look slimmer. This season you have free hand to go for dots, abstract and nomadic prints that suit your personality.

These, when spread all over the tops and dresses, will definitely help you stand out from the crowd. The only condition to complete your task of slimming your stomach is to have them positioned on your clothes in vertical style. These designs will help you add some length to your silhouette. l Always remember to shift the attention to your best features. Generally, our body is not perfectly proportioned. Therefore, we have strong parts and more critical spots. In order to achieve overwhelming success it is important to keep the focus on the most

impressive areas. If you have a large belly, it would be wise to play up the spotless look of your legs. The hottest jeans designs as well as cool short styles look stunning when paired with a loose fitting top or a jacket. This is one of the most efficient tricks you can use to strip off your confidence issues and dress to impress. l Ruched tops look simply irresistible when paired with your silhouette. However, you can extend the repertoire of ruched clothes also to dresses and even bathing suits. Use a similar visual tool to hide your prominent stomach. Stylists use this tailoring technique as the best means to give back the confidence of ladies who were desperate to find a top or a dress that complements her curvy figure.

Additionally, to kill two birds with one stone, you can also opt for ruched printed tops that guarantee the flawless outcome of your makeover. l Empire waists are some extra-details to look for when keen to hide your stomach.

Mask your belly with maxi dresses or stylish summer frocks that have this feature. Breezy fabrics and the soft texture of these dresses will help you achieve the desired visual effect.

Stay up-to-the-minute with the hottest fashion trends of the moment and don’t forget about prints and patterns to arm up your look with versatility.

Image courtesy of ASOS.com-becomegorgeous.com

Health FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

Warm up and cool down T

here is no doubt that time spent on warming up and cooling down will improve an athlete’s level of performance and accelerate the recovery process needed before and after training or competition. As a result, the coach must encourage the athlete to regard the warm up and cool down as an essential part of both the training session and competition itself.

Research work suggests that the use of dynamic stretches - slow controlled movements through the full range of motion are the most appropriate exercises for the warm up. By contrast, static stretches are more appropriate for the cool down.

Warm Up Muscle stiffness is thought to be directly related to muscle injury and therefore the warm up should be aimed at reducing muscle stiffness.

Warming up should at least consist of the following: l 5 to 10 minutes jogging - to increase body temperature l 10 to 15 minutes dynamic stretching exercises - reduce muscle stiffness l 10 to 15 minutes general and event specific drills - preparation for the session or competition. e.g. for a runner lLower leg drills lLeg drills lTechnique drills l 4 to 8 easy run outs over 30 to 60 metres - focus on correct running technique (Tall, Relaxed, Smooth and Drive) Dynamic stretches are more appropriate to the warm up as they help reduce muscle stiffness. Static stretching exercises do not reduce muscle stiffness. For further information see the following articles: l How does static stretching affect an athletes performance lDynamic versus passive stretches lStatic vs. Dynamic Flexibility What are the benefits of a warm up?

Performance may be improved, as an appropriate warm up will result in an: l Increased speed of contraction and relaxation of warmed muscles l Dynamic exercises reduce muscle stiffness l Greater economy of movement because of lowered viscous resistance within warmed muscles l Facilitated oxygen utilization by warmed muscles because haemoglobin releases oxygen more readily at higher muscle temperatures lFacilitated nerve transmission and muscle metabolism at higher temperatures; a specific warm up can facilitate motor unit recruitment required in subsequent all out activity lIncreased blood flow through active tissues as local vascular beds dilate, increasing metabolism and muscle temperatures lAllows the heart rate get to a workable rate for beginning exercise l Mentally focused on the training or competition Cool Down Cooling down should consist of the following: l 5 to 10 minutes jogging/walking decrease body temperature and remove waste products from the working muscles

l 5 to 10 minutes static stretching exercises Static stretches are more appropriate to the cool down as they help muscles to relax, realign muscle fibres and re-establish their normal range of movement. These stretches should be held for approximately 10 seconds.

What are the benefits of a cool down?

An appropriate cool down will: laid in the dissipation of waste products - including lactic acid lreduce the potential for DOMS l reduce the chances of dizziness or fainting caused by the pooling of venous blood at the extremities l reduce the level of adrenaline in the blood l allows the heart rate to return to its resting rate —brianmac.co.uk

Health FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

Essential oils for hot & cold compress

E

ssential oils are the oils derived from plants that are used in aromatherapy.

Applying essential oil compresses is an effective way of relieving pain and reducing inflammation.

Here’s how: 1. In preparing for a hot compress, fill a bowl with very hot water.

2. Add 4 to 5 drops of essential oil.

3. Dip a folded piece of sterile cotton cloth into the prepared water.

4. Squeeze out excess water.

5. Place the moistened cloth onto the affected area until it reaches body temperature.

6. Repeat steps 3 through 5 two to three times.

7. In preparing for a cold compress, replace hot water with ice cold water and follow with steps 2 through 6.

Tips: 1. Hot compresses are helpful for backaches, rheumatism, arthritis, abscesses, earache, and toothache.

2. Cold compresses are helpful for headaches, neck tension, sprains, and strains.

Arts FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

Brush with the Black Death: How artists painted through the plague

From 1347 to the late 17th century, Europe was stalked by the Black Death, yet art not only survived, it flourished.

So why are modern Europeans so afraid of epidemics?

Sir Anthony Van Dyck, Self-Portrait, 1620-21.

T

he age when European art rose to glory was an age of disease and death. In 1347 the Black Death probably bubonic plague - was brought by a Genoese ship to Sicily. In the next few years, it is estimated to have killed about a third of the entire population of Europe.

Some cities, such as Venice, lost more like 60% of their people.

The Renaissance was just getting started, and the plague, too, was at the beginning of its reign of terror. The Black Death was more than a medieval explosion of horror: it kept coming back. For the next 300 years and longer, plague became a regular part of life - and death - in Europe.

Terrible outbreaks periodically devastated cities. One of the very last, and most terrifying, of these plagues hit London in 1665 and is described in chilling detail in one of the first historical novels, Daniel Defoe’s A Journal of the Plague Year.

Another catastrophic attack of plague massacred the people of Palermo in Sicily in the 1620s, and this outbreak is chronicled in a new exhibition, Van Dyck in Sicily: Painting and the Plague, 1624-5, at Dulwich Picture Gallery. Van Dyck, the gifted Flemish painter, had been working in Genoa, where brilliant works by him survive. But when he moved on to Palermo he soon found himself surrounded by death and panic. The exhibition shows his art in this eerie light.

It is a fascinating perspective, yet it is just the tip of an iceberg, for if you think about it, the entire story of the Renaissance and baroque periods in art is sealed inside the kingdom of the plague.

Pestilence had all of Europe in its grip from 1347 to the late 17th century, with outbreaks in southern Europe recurring in the 1700s. This means the lives of all the “Old Masters” were experienced in its shadow:

Michelangelo, Rembrandt and the rest all faced the danger that mortal contagion could at any moment seize their city.

Some great artists, probably including Hans Holbein and Titian, died of it. Others tried to fight it with art, like Tintoretto who painted his greatest works in the Scuola Grande di San Rocco in Venice, a building dedicated to a plague-protective saint.

Yet the strangest thing, today, is this.

The art of these centuries abounds in images of death, sure, yet it is also full of joy. The Europeans of the 1500s and 1600s created incredible treasures and beacons of civilisation. Far from being driven to despair by pestilence, it is as if they were spurred to assert the glory of life.

In the 21st century, nameless terrors grip us. We fear epidemics that never come. We imagine that if a natural catastrophe hit our society, the result would be

total collapse. Yet history is actually full of optimistic messages. People have endured disasters that modern Europeans can barely comprehend, and come out not just fighting but winning - just look at St Paul’s cathedral, a hopeful dome that rose from a city blighted by the 1665 plague, and the Great Fire soon afterwards that necessitated Wren’s rebuilding.

Human beings have a shocking resilience. They also have the power to rise above self-pity. If that does not seem obvious today, just consider St Paul’s, serene in the London sky, a message to us from an age of everyday heroism.—Guardian

Arts FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

Another view on

Damien Hirst’s Spot Paintings I

was hugely taken with these Spot Paintings. I couldn’t stop looking at them: I was fascinated by the size of some of the canvases, and by the fact that each spot is a perfect circle, laid out in a grid. It got me thinking about the technical skill involved: do Hirst and his assistants use a stencil? Do they lie the canvases on the floor?

I can’t say I’ve ever been asked to paint dots like these on a customer’s walls. It would be pretty trippy. It’s like looking at those cards psychologists give you and ask what pattern you can see: I started seeing parallel and diagonal lines. That was when I began to see similarities between the work of a painter like Hirst, and one like myself.

For a painter and decorator, colour lines are all-important: the separation between one colour and another is what makes a well-decorated room. In my living room, I have brown walls, white skirting boards and a black feature wall; if the colours were to bleed together, it would look terrible. Hirst understands this: every dot is perfectly painted in household gloss with no bleed at all.

At first, Hirst’s arrangements seem random, but you soon realise no colour is repeated on any one painting.

That certainly makes for more interesting juxtapositions of colour than you usually get in a paint colour chart. It made me think about matching colours that I’d never have thought about putting together before.

The most important parallel between the work of an artist and a painter and decorator is that we both create something that exerts a psychological effect on the viewer.

I felt emotionally engaged with Hirst’s paintings: the joy he takes in colour comes through clearly. The impact of painting walls can be similar. When I’ve finished a customer’s room, they often come in and find that the way they feel about the room has changed.—Guardian

I’ve never been asked to paint dots like these on a customer’s walls but it made me think about matching colours I’ve never put together before

Comics

C R O S S W O R D

5 9 8

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

To Yester

Word Sleuth Solution

Yesterday’s Solution

ACROSS

1. (computer science) A computer that is running software that allows users to leave messages and access information of general interest.

4. Enclose in, or as if in, a case "my feet were encased in mud.".

10. A unit of force equal to the force that imparts an acceleration of 1 foot/sec/sec to a mass of 1 pound.

13. Resinlike substance secreted by certain lac insects.

14. A percussion instrument consisting of a pair of hollow pieces of wood or bone (usually held between the thumb and fingers) that are made to click together (as by Spanish dancers) in rhythm with the dance.

15. A period marked by distinctive character or reckoned from a fixed point or event.

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

17. All the plant life in a particular region.

19. A sock with a separation for the big toe.

21. Being ten more than one hundred ninety.

22. Wildly disordered.

24. Port city of Denmark in eastern Jutland.

26. The iridescent internal layer of a mollusk shell.

27. (Old Testament) In Judeo-Christian mythology.

30. A belief (or system of beliefs) accepted as authoritative by some group or school.

31. Leaf or strip from a leaf of the talipot palm used in India for writing paper.

32. An alloy of copper and zinc (and sometimes arsenic) used to imitate gold in cheap jewelry and for gilding.

37. Automatic data processing by electronic means without the use of tabulating cards or punched tapes.

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

42. According to the Old Testament he was a pagan king of Israel and husband of Jezebel (9th century BC).

44. A long thin fluffy scarf of feathers or fur.

45. Submerged aquatic plant having narrow leaves and small flowers.

48. A pale rose-colored variety of the ruby spinel.

50. United States writer (born in Poland) who wrote in Yiddish (1880-1957).

52. A river in southeastern Australia that flows generally northwest to join the Darling River.

56. The 21st letter of the Greek alphabet.

60. Plant with an elongated head of broad stalked leaves resembling celery.

61. The fatty flesh of eel.

62. (medicine) Chilly.

63. On or toward the lee.

64. One or some or every or all without specification.

65. Leather with a napped surface.

66. Type genus of the Alcidae comprising solely the razorbill.

DOWN 1. Cry plaintively.

2. A small cake leavened with yeast.

3. Someone who works (or provides workers) during a strike.

4. The rate at which energy is drawn from a source that produces a flow of electricity in a circuit.

5. A city in southwestern Russia in a valley of the Caucasus Mountains.

6. Any of numerous low-growing plants of the genus Crocus having slender grasslike leaves and white or yellow or purple flowers.

7. A river in north central Switzerland that runs northeast into the Rhine.

8. A fraudulent business scheme.

9. (Akkadian) God of wisdom.

10. A tricycle (usually propelled by pedalling).

11. Depressing in character or appearance.

12. A long pointed rod used as a weapon.

18. (electronics) Of a circuit or device having an output that is proportional to the input.

20. A metrical unit with unstressed-stressed syllables.

23. Small buffalo of the Celebes having small straight horns.

25. A gray lustrous metallic element of the rare earth group.

28. The federal department responsible for safeguarding national security.

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

33. Harsh or corrosive in tone.

34. Any of numerous local fertility and nature deities worshipped by ancient Semitic peoples.

35. A dark-skinned member of a race of people living in Australia when Europeans arrived.

36. The cry made by sheep.

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

39. Large cylindrical or flattened mostly tropical insects with long strong legs that feed on plants.

40. A fraudulent business scheme.

41. The syllable naming the sixth (submediant) note of a major or minor scale in solmization.

43. A decree that prohibits something.

46. Ash-colored or anemic looking from illness or emotion.

47. In a cold and icy manner.

49. The capital and largest city of Yemen.

51. An Eskimo hut.

53. A public area set aside as a pedestrian walk.

54. An organization of countries formed in 1961 to agree on a common policy for the sale of petroleum.

55. The United Nations agency concerned with atomic energy.

57. An associate degree in applied science.

58. How long something has existed.

59. A sweetened beverage of diluted fruit juice.

Yesterday’s Solution

Lifestyle FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

Unidos da Tijuca samba school

wins 2012 Rio Carnival title

T

he Unidos da Tijuca samba school was Wednesday declared the winner of the 2012 Rio Carnival, with its tribute to the late singer and composer Louis Gonzaga, the “king of Baiao”, a popular music style from Brazil’s northeast. In an eagerly awaited verdict, Carnival judges gave the title to Unidos da Tijuca, sporting blue and yellow colors and renowned for its creative and innovative artistic work, for the third time in its 81-year history.

The Salgueiro school, in red and white colors, finished second, with a parade paying homage to Cord literature, a popular genre in the northeast. The genre refers to printed booklets containing folk novels, poems and songs which were traditionally sold by artists who displayed them hanging from cords. As soon as the result became known, 10,000 elated Unidos da Tijuca fans kicked off wild celebrations at their headquarters. The 13 elite Rio samba schools in contention for the title staged sumptuous night parades of floats and hundreds of exquisitely costumed

Members of the Unidos da Tijuca samba school celebrate with their first place trophy after being named the samba school with the best carnival parade at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. — AP/AFP photos

performers at the renovated Sambodrome, the “temple of Samba”, early this week. The parades marked the high point of the preLent bacchanalian Carnival festival, a national holiday celebrated with gusto throughout this huge and racially diverse country of 191 million people.

Unidos da Tijuca paraded some 4,000 dancers and several elaborately designed floats before a capacity crowd of 72,000 at the Sambadrome early Tuesday. It highlighted the rich rural culture of the arid northeast, with a theme mixing traditional samba with the rythms of forro, a typical northeastern musical genre and dance. The 40 judges gave their verdict based on choreography, music, dancing and creativity. Some five million people, including 850,000 tourists, are believed to have attended the five-day Rio extravaganza, which ends Wednesday. Billed as “the greatest show on Earth”, the Rio Carnival also features hundreds of street bashes marked wild samba dancing and heavy beer consumption. — AFP

Revellers of Unidos da Tijuca samba school perform.

Dancers of Unidos da Tijuca samba school parade during carnival celebrations.

Lifestyle FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

Kasabian magic continues with ‘Jurassic’ classic B

ritish band Kasabian’s chart-topping latest album is named for a flesh-eating dinosaur but represents a nostalgic tribute to youthful dreams, once again demonstrating the group’s versatility. Nominated for another swathe of awards after their fourth album, “Velociraptor!” shot to No 1 on the British album charts, the pyschedelic rockers’ changing sound and style evokes comparisons to British national treasures The Beatles. “The way we keep developing and changing? Yeah, of course,” vocalist Tom Meighan told Reuters before a recent gig in Tokyo, when asked if they captured the spirit of the Fab Four more authentically than other groups.

“The way (The Beatles) kept changing every time. They went pop record, psychedelic record. We haven’t stuck to one sound. No one’s ever actually pointed that out.” The band’s latest album, which follows their award-winning 2009 smash “West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum,” sees them tinkering with their sound yet again and garnered them a nomination for best British Group at the 2012 BRIT Awards, although they lost to Coldplay at Tuesday’s awards.

“Velociraptor! It’s shouted out,” Meighan said, explaining the exclamation mark in

the title, which the amateur paleontologist said they chose because “it sounded good.”

“They were like big turkeys with giant teeth. But they were dangerous,” he added. Still, that is far from the overall tone of the album, which is much more layered. “It’s a very touching record. The first song ‘Let’s Roll Just Like We Used To’ is about us growing up when we lived on a farm, going out in the fields and look-

ing for spaceships,” Meighan said. “Serge (guitarist-songwriter Sergio Pizzorno) had written a load of songs in a short space of time and we just went into the studio and pretty much did it. It just naturally happened.”

After their eponymous 2004 debut album earned rave reviews and three subsequent British chart toppers, Kasabian have yet to suffer from writer’s block or cop a true panning from critics.

Band Kasabian

“Fingers crossed,” said Meighan. “We just try to reinvent ourselves. I’m sure we’ll do it for the next album as well. If we keep our egos intact we’ll be alright.”

Shades of Nirvana, on bone-shaker “ReWired”, and even Led Zeppelin, on stadium classic “Days are Forgotten”, leak through on “Velociraptor!”.”We’ve got a lot of different influences,” said Meighan. “(Italian composer) Ennio Morricone and spaghetti westerns, dark films. Serge watches a lot of off-the-wall (stuff). I’d rather watch Star Trek.”

A big hit in Japan, Kasabian’s recent whirlwind trip to Asia gave them a chance to relax after a massive arena tour, culminating in a New Year’s Eve mega-gig at London’s O2 Arena. “There’s no pressure for us anymore. There’s nothing for us to prove. We’ve done it,” Meighan said, referring to the previous night’s show. “It’s been a fantastic tour. It felt like a film last night.” That doesn’t mean the group is anywhere near resting on its laurels. “I want us to go on forever. I think we’ll still be around in 20 years,” Meighan said. “I’d love to be like Roger Daltrey or Pete Townshend or (Mick) Jagger.” “It’s all about the music.

It’s in our blood, it’s in our veins to be in a rock band. There’s nothing else we can do.” — Reuters

British music ‘mashup’ Foxtrot, rumba and romance: Scoring ‘The Artist’ at Olympic closing ceremony T

Adele performs during the Brit Awards 2012 at the O2 Arena in London, Tuesday. —AP

he closing ceremony for 2012 London Olympics will be themed “A Symphony of British Music” - with organizers promising a hit-packed journey from classical composer Edward Elgar to Grammy soul diva Adele. “It is, in a sense, the soundtrack of our lives,” said Stephen Daldry, executive producer of the Olympic and Paralympic opening and closing ceremonies. The ceremony’s artistic director, Kim Gavin, said the Aug. 12 show would be an “elegant mashup of British music” packed with recognizable songs arranged symphonically. The London Symphony Orchestra will provide musical backing.

“We go from - without saying we’ve booked anyone - Elgar to Adele,” said music director David Arnold. The creative team is keeping the names of the musicians involved under wraps, although The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney and the Spice Girls have all been suggested as possible performers. Olympic officials did not say whether Adele, Britain’s hottest musical export of the moment, had been asked to take part. The singer-songwriter’s album “21” has spent a full year on the charts, winning six Grammys earlier this month, including album of the year. Adele also won two trophies Tuesday at the Brit music awards.

Gavin, who has overseen tours for the band Take That and directed the 2007 Princess Diana memorial concert, said the London Olympics closing ceremony would be “the biggest after-show party the show being the sport.” Designer Es Devlin said the show, which will include 3,500 performers, would be a visual extravaganza drawing on icons of British art and design. The games start July 27. —AP

W

ith no pesky dialogues to get in the way, scoring a silent movie like “The Artist” may sound like a musician’s treat- but in many ways it’s harder, says the Oscar-nominated composer Ludovic Bource. “In a sense you have to be more restrained,” the 41-yearold Frenchman, whose work on the film has already scooped him a Golden Globe and a BAFTA award in Britain, told AFP ahead of Sunday’s Oscars where the movie is up for 10 awards. Bource had already worked on three films with director Michel Hazanavicius, but for “The Artist” he says they “thought long and hard about how to use music, about what pace, what style would stick best to Michel’s story.”

“With an action scene you can have music booming all over the place, along with sound effects and dialogues. But for

Ludovic Bource

‘The Artist’, we had to find the right balance, to make sure the music didn’t become overbearing.” A light-hearted tribute to Hollywood’s golden age, the film casts French actor Jean Dujardin as a silent movie star battling to survive the arrival of the talkies-and who falls for an up-and-coming starlet.

When Hazanavicius sat down to write the script, Bource would drop by his studio, where together they watched film after film from the era.

“I must have digested 30 to 40 years of cinema,” he said. “Michel had virtually everything you can find on DVD-from German impressionist films to Soviet propaganda films-up until the 1940s and the talkies.” “I immersed myself in that world for months before writing a single note.” When Bource did sit down at the piano, it was under pressure since the crew was racing to get the film ready for the Cannes festival last May. For the score itself, “I took my main inspiration from Michel’s story-which is a romance,” he said, drawing on the work of great romantic composers from Tchaikovsky to Debussy.

To complicate matters, he was composing in a visual vacuum for the first month or so, until the first daily rushes started reaching him in Paris, from the shoot in Los Angeles. So to make sure they were on the same songsheet, he sent Hazanavicius six tunes early on in the process. “He told me, ‘One of them is really very good’. A week later he called to say, ‘We’ve been playing the piece on set and everyone loves it. There is a six-foot Mexican technician who dissolves into tears every time we put it on. It’s going to be the theme song of the film’.” —AFP

Lifestyle FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

In this film publicity image released by The Weinstein Company, Jean Dujardin portrays George Valentin in ‘The Artist.’ (Right) In this film image released by Paramount Pictures, Asa Butterfield portrays Hugo Cabret, left, and Ben Kingsley portrays Georges Melies in a scene from the Oscar-nominated ‘Hugo’. —AP photos

Sepia-tinted statuettes?

O

scar films look to past of the nine films up for Best Picture Oscar on Sunday, only three are set in the last decade, fueling debate over whether our current troubled times are fueling a nostalgia for the past. Last year only two of the 10 on the best film shortlist were period pieces including the eventual winner, “The King’s Speech”-but this year two thirds are set well in the past. Some say the preponderance of historically-focused films is a coincidence, but others see significance that only three-”Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close,” “The Descendants” and “Moneyball”-are set in the 21st century. All the others are firmly anchored in the last century, from World War I (“War Horse”) to the 1960s civil rights movement (“The Help”) passing by the silent movie era (“The Artist”) and the 1920s (“Midnight in Paris”).

“The studios think the audience will receive

them better if they have some sort of nostalgic connection,” said Brent Simon, president of Los Angeles Film Critics Association. “One of the advantages of telling a story in the past is that you are able to have insight on that society’s cultural arc,” added Brunson Green, producer of “The Help.” “So it carries more weight and affects audiences differently than a fictional, current film.” In “The Help,” a black maid in a Mississippi town agrees to describe her life to a white woman writer, who eventually gathers a book full of similar personal stories, helping fuel the 1960s civil rights movement.

“The core of that story resonates with every viewer, since we all have doubts at times about whether we matter in the world,” said Green.

Jason E. Squire, a writer and professor at the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts, said the large proportion of peri-

od films in this year’s Oscars is just a coincidence. “It’s very tempting to philosophize about these kinds of decisions and I don’t know whether you can really make a case about it or not,” he said. “We could say ‘Oh! It’s a comment on the economic states of times,’ where countries are still struggling to find a proper economic footing, so that triggers a nostalgia for the past. But I’m not sure at all if that’s true.

“That might be coincidental. There was never a design on the part of management to chose to greenlight (period) movies. Indeed, you could survey movies the last ten years-period movies are certainly in the minority.”More compelling, Squire said, is that there are two nominees-”The Artist” and Martin Scorsese’s “Hugo”that are about the history of movies. “That never happens,” he said. Kathleen Kennedy, producer on “War Horse” and on all of Steven Spielberg’s

films since “E.T.,” agrees. “I do think it’s a coincidence, albeit a rather uncanny one,” she said.

“With the time it takes to develop and create films, it is very hard to imagine that thematic choices would actually cluster as they have. “As remarkable as it is, I don’t feel that it is something we’re likely to see again for awhile.”

But Simon highlights Hollywood’s tendency to avoid challenging contemporary subjects in favor of adapting cartoons, or making remakes, sequels or prequels of tried-and-trusted movies.

“Whether one ultimately likes them or not, films like ‘The Descendants’ and ‘Moneyball’ and of course ‘Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close’ have something to say about the present day, and the times we live in. “I wish there were more movies like that. To me, that’s Hollywood shirking what should be an important and embraced responsibility,” he said. — AFP

Lohan to host ‘Saturday Night Live’ Cast members Taylor Kitsch, right, and Willem Dafoe pose together at the premiere of ‘John Carter’ in Los Angeles, Wednesday. The film opens in theaters on March 9. — AP

T Lindsay Lohan

‘Wizard of Oz’ ruby slippers find home at film academy

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udy Garland’s ruby red slippers from “The Wizard of Oz” have found their way home. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said on Wednesday it had acquired one of the four known surviving pairs of the iconic shoes made for the 1939 movie, with the help of Leonardo DiCaprio and Steven Spielberg. The shoes, regarded as one of the world’s best-known film props, are believed to have been worn by Garland’s character Dorothy when she clicked her heels three times to return to Kansas from the fantasy land of Oz near the end of the movie.

The slippers were previously due to be sold by Los Angeles auction house Profiles in History in December,

with an estimated selling price of $2-$3 million. But auction house officials said they did not sell at that time. The academy, which organizes the annual Oscar awards, said that DiCaprio and Spielberg had headed a group of “angel donors” to purchase the shoes for a museum planned by the academy.

Academy officials declined to say how much was paid. A pair of red test slippers for “The Wizard of Oz” from the Hollywood collection of actress Debbie Reynolds sold for $612,000 in May 2011. “Leo’s passionate leadership has helped us bring home this legendary piece of movie history,” added academy chief executive officer Dawn Hudson. —Reuters

roubled actress Lindsay Lohan has been tapped to host an episode of the popular US sketch comedy show “Saturday Night Live” next month-a decision that has some up in arms. The show’s producers confirmed on Twitter that the 25year-old Lohan-a promising child star who has since had several run-ins with the law-would host the program on March 3, with Jack White as the musical guest. Lohan-who made headlines when she posed nude for Playboy last month, reportedly earning nearly $1 million for the photo spread-was quick to express her thanks, writing on Twitter: “SNL, I love NBC.” But others in the Twittersphere were not so thrilled. “Oh dear, what a hot mess that will be #SNL,” wrote one user with the handle Harry Potter. Another, named Jio de Leon, added: “I am expecting this to be a train wreck, just like her life.” Another user, Laura Black, urged her followers to call SNL producers and the NBC television network to demand that they pull Lohan from the line-up. Lohan-the star of hit Disney movies “The Parent Trap” and “Freaky Friday” as well as “Mean Girls”-is well known for her hard partying and has faced a series of legal tangles over the years. In January, a California judge said the actress was doing well in complying with the terms of her probation, meaning it could be over at the end of March. She was sentenced to 35 days of house detention last May as part of a plea bargain over the alleged theft of a $2,500 necklace from a jewelry shop near her home in Venice Beach. In November, Lohan spent five hours in prison after being sentenced to a 30-day stretch for breaching probation on previous offenses including a 2007 drug and drunk driving misdemeanor. CNN reported that Lohan is in the running to play Elizabeth Taylor in a made-fortelevision movie.—AFP

Lifestyle FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

Italian

winter fashion opts for dark

A

fter several weeks of snow and subfreezing temperatures in Italy, the chill is out of the air - at least weather-wise - and Italian designers are looking at the bright side of things as they begin the latest round of preview showings for fall-winter 2012-2013. The tightly-packed fashion week calendar boasts 70 shows and as many events, including showroom presentations, store openings and “aperitivi,” the Italian version of a cocktail party. All the top billed names were scheduled to introduce their winter collections, from Armani to Fendi, from Gucci, Prada and Versace.

The Italian Fashion Chamber has set up a

financial disaster.

The designing duo Dolce&Gabbana, who never miss an opportunity to celebrate, are throwing a mega party over the weekend. On Friday, Vogue America’s Anna Wintour and Miuccia Prada will co-host a preview presentation of the exhibit entitled “Elsa Schiaparelli and Miuccia Prada: On Fashion” to open at the Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute in New York in May. On Wednesday the first day of the 7-day preview showings, both Gucci and Ferretti presented a woman who keeps her feet firmly on the ground while letting her feminine fantasy fly.

GUCCI The latest Gucci woman is an enigma. In the same wisp of a body she combines rigor and romance to create a sense of demure discipline. One thing is sure - the lady is dark, as underlined by the chiaroscuro lighting effects at the Wednesday afternoon show which opened Milan fashion week for fall-winter 2012-1213. “This is a modern-day romanticism, a dramatic sensuality, a dark glamour, with subtle games of provocative intellect,” is how creative director Frida Giannini defined her latest collection in the show notes.

Throughout the collection Gucci mixes pieces with military accents with ultra feminine styles complete with sequins and slits. The basic silhouette has a tiny waist and straight skirt with uneven hemline, long in the back, shorter in the front with subtle draping. On a strictly dark background, Gucci brightens up the look with tapestry textiles, floral prints and embroidery. Velvet and silk or brocades and leather combine to create an extra opulent effect, not to mention the over the top-feathered creations.

Military attire is relegated to the officers club. Crocodile riding boots and oversized coats combine with demure velvet skirts and

Models display creations as part of GucciFall-winter 2012-2013 collection on February 22, 2012 during the Women’s fashion week in Milan. — AFP/AP photos

press center in the shadow of the Duomo, or cathedral, in downtown to Milan to accommodate some expected 15,000 fashionistas in town for the shows and has mounted a show tent in front of one of Milan’s favorite monuments, the Sforzesco Castle, where several of the shows will be held. “We’re hoping for a triple-A season, with no downgrading,” said Mario Boselli, president of the fashion chamber said at a press conference ahead of the shows in a quip reflecting Italy’s downgrading by ratings agencies as the nation struggles to avoid

embroidered see-through equestrian pants.

Night is dreamy and feminine with long dresses in wrinkled tulle or velvet, embroidered with hand-sewn floral patterns. The new stirrup bag, roomy as well as classy, has a revisited metallic spur closure. Gucci offers a more structured version of the saddle bag for evening in de rigeur black crocodile. Footwear is either flat and masculine or slipper-like with a sharp high heel.

FERRETTI The look is definitely all about feminine chic - starting with the models, who with their demurely pulled back hair, parted in the middle looked like a parade of Audrey Hepburn clones. The runway sound track from “‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s” left no room for doubt.

The fall-winter 2012-2013 collection presented Wednesday afternoon by designer Alberta Ferretti was a closet full of 1960’s favorites from the little cocktail dress to the belted coat dress, to the first pant suits with tapered jacket and wide pants. Ferretti also brought back the classic pump as a fashion must and the crisp clutch brief case so popular in the early 1960’s.

Along with staple black, the Ferretti palette included lipstick red and a yesteryear favorite, purple. But if the look was prim and proper by day, by night it transformed into contemporary glam, in classic styles, fashioned out of sheer chiffon with enticing slits, ruffles and strategically placed embroidery. — AP

Lifestyle

AlbertaFerretti

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

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Lifestyle

Years

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

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taly is recovering from the harshest cold snap in decades, but Fendi’s collection on the Milan Fashion Week catwalks yesterday seemed aimed at women fighting to survive, and seduce, in chilly climates. Layering was one of the key themes in designer Karl Lagerfeld’s creations, with a heavy use of leather, knitwear and furs, stitched together or worn one on top of another, in a rather impractical look likely to attract true fashion lovers only.

Fendi’s collection literature seemed to evoke fairytales such as Snow White, describing how the colors ranged from “the deepest green of the forest to the richest dark red (and) touches of white, the warm glow before snow.” But the large exotic cashmere, fur, leather and matted felt coats, some decorated with what Fendi described as “bird fur” sticking up along the neck line, down sleeves or from the derriere, seemed more like exotic animals.

A coat to the knee made of antelope chamois which gave the model wearing it the appearance of having a tail, sparked murmurs from buyers and critics that ranged from “gorgeous” to “she looks like she was swallowed whole by an antelope.” It will take a confident woman to pull off the oversized canary-yellow coat, but those after traditional elegance with a modern twist may appreciate the cape-short and tapered into a triangle point just above the waist-line.

The other key trend running throughout the collection was pleated skirts-made of micro pleated laminated georgette worn long Egyptian-style or to the knee, with a suit-style jacket cut with ultra-feminine, soft lines. There was something of the school mistress about the pleats, accessorized with small round glasses-reminiscent of those at the Gucci show Wednesday, though designer Frida Giannini’s women had worn them more ferociously. In a nod to the digital woman, Fendi also presented iPad “frame bags”, in black, brown with studs or multi-colored with a tapestry pattern.

There were also small electric blue and mild yellow clutches and a new upscale bag. From coats, to velvet skirts and knitwear outfits, the silhouette was broken up with a large wing belt which clasped at the back with two large buckles. — AFP

Models wear creations part of the Fendi women’s Fall-Winter 2012-2013 collection that was presented in Milan, Italy, yesterday.— AFP/AP photos

Stars

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

Aries (March 21-April 19) Your drive to climb the ladder of success is commendable and you may be realizing some rewards for your hard work soon.

However, today you may have to concentrate extra hard to get any work done—there are interruptions. There is a new technical process you may be learning just now that may make your work a lot easier in the future.

However, you will have to stop your regular work long enough to learn this new technique. Everything will come together soon. You may not appreciate advice from the family this evening, but it is worth your time to listen. There are some wonderful people in your family and they all love you and love to be around you. Laugh and the whole world laughs with you, cry . . . and these loved ones will lift your spirits.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) Today you may feel like focusing on the higher aspects of life—the big picture. Pesky little details are a waste of time with you. It could be you are smarter than people think and patience is in order. Patience to see things through to an end result with the steps that are set out before you may seem agonizingly slowed. Eventually, little by little, you will be able to guide higher-ups to some new techniques. An employee interview may gain you some important recognition. A group meeting in some volunteer organization may spur lots of conversation today. Creative ideas are easy for you to find and this is where you will excel and enjoy success. Clear thinking and open communication are important to you. You are invited to a party tonight.

Gemini (May 21-June 20) There is a boost to your courage and confidence today. Pay attention to simple conversations and practice letting the other person have the last word—you will have enough confidence in what you have already said so as not to repeat yourself. Do not put off to the next day what you can do today—for then you can be truly relaxed the rest of the day.

Help a co-worker get back into focus by pulling from your own wisdom and experience in order to offer the best information you know. This may be a case of just sitting down and explaining the insurance guidelines or vacation rules. Later this evening, if the weather is good, take a drive to a romantic restaurant with your sweetheart and then, afterward drive somewhere romantic and just sit and cuddle.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) You might feel a bit rudderless today in the working world.

You are either in a new job, learning new equipment or you are in some other situation that would cause delays. You need to appear in control. While you are waiting for instructions, guidance or the friendly repair person . . . get on the phone and ask if you can help a co-worker, or make lists.

Believe it or not—today is a day you inspire others. Real estate interests you at this time. You could be studying so that you can obtain a real estate license, or you are interested in how to make money with real estate. You may be surprised at how many people watch your actions and follow in your footsteps. Be wise in your choices this evening—as you visit with friends, you could be tempted to overindulge.

Leo (July 23-August 22) Once you settle down today, you should enjoy great success and attention through your profession. Completing the tasks for the day keeps you very busy. Being in the limelight is common to you and you should realize that it is also a good time to be humble and see where work can best help others. A little rest and relaxation seems inviting this afternoon and you may find yourself leaving for home at an earlier hour than usual. Generosity, warmth and a desire to be at peace with the world go hand in hand with your frame of mind. Friends introduce you to someone new. A new love relationship seems the perfect answer to your special dreams.

Harmonious relations with friends, whether they are old or new friends, are easy to find.

Virgo (August 23-September 22) Set short-term goals so that you will have a sense of direction today. Although the day may have a slow start, business and interaction will pick up pace. The changes that occur in the afternoon may be a bit hectic, but fairly easy for you to negotiate. This is certainly not a boring day. There could be more high activity days on the horizon, if that is what you enjoy. The best way to excel here is to be disciplined. If you feel your daily life has been dull—this will soon, no longer be the case. You are ready to try something different in your life at this time. Marriage and other close relationships give rise to great expectations. This is a time to enjoy and appreciate your ties to others and to seek and promote harmony.

COUNTRY CODES Libra (September 23-October 22) Figuring out how to organize projects and people may be a bit stressful today but will prove to be quite rewarding.

Opinions are not enough just now: they must be backed by authority or evidence and above all practical worth. This is a fortunate time, in that you have learned to think through any difficulties you may encounter, rather than plowing through the challenges without any guidelines. Friendships are a source of great pleasure and you, in turn, should be quite popular. This harmony should be very useful in easing past tensions in a relationship or in concluding some difficult financial matters. Later today would be a good time to invest in a little out of the ordinary healing techniques. One idea you may enjoy is a sauna bath or a massage.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) Be clear in all things you do and say during this time. Also, make sure you have complete information before blindly gambling with an investment or project. This is a great day for achievements.

Your personal goals are clearly visible and you should make great strides in reaching them. There is time to plan and set up future dates to meet your goals. Be careful not to alienate co-workers who may be following orders.

You are in a great mood and you pass it on to others. You have been thinking of inviting someone along to an activity you enjoy—focus on the goal, not the fear—ask. This month has involved hard work, skin care, music and new recipes. There are lots of things you want to do and, seemingly, no time to do them. Plan ahead.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) Your emotions may be overshadowing your sense of logic today—making this a poor time to arrive at any important decisions. It may be a good idea to do a little self-talk. Plan to set the volatile or vulnerable issues aside so that you can really think things through. Then—give yourself permission to move forward. The universal energies are a bit strange just now and the duration of the morning may be best spent with little interaction between co-workers. This is a good time to complete business projects.

You will find a new angle to a particular problem and others will see there is something for them to learn. Later today you will have time to solve a problem from earlier this morning. Group decisions this afternoon have a positive outcome.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19) If you have a fairly flexible nature, today will offer no problems for you, but if you are fairly rigid and resent interruptions to your routine, you may experience difficulties. Try to use this time to break out of counterproductive habits. Compromises can be reached with co-workers today as you are learning to think things through before responding too quickly. You may feel that you are being pulled into some activity that you do not really want to do and may have you feeling like pulling out your hair. If you take this activity as a duty and responsibility, you will find that the time will magically move right along. You will be quite surprised to see how much time is left this afternoon for your own enjoyment. You will enjoy being with your friends this evening.

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) Tomorrow is the key word for today. On some days, it is okay to put off until tomorrow the things you could do today—this is a good day to delay. Sometimes you have too many items to accomplish on your schedule. If you allocate a few things, or scratch a few items off your list—you will find success with the projects you decide to tackle. Your sense of humor is fine-tuned and gains you success with customers. You have a lot of responsibilities now. Others are willing to help you; particularly if you just let them know how. Enjoy your pets this evening, they can help relieve stress and are a wonderful escape. Another enjoyable way to relax is with a little chamomile tea before bed. Quiet entertainment is best to relieve tension this evening.

Pisces (February 19-March 20) Keeping your priorities straight at work is very important today. There are new opportunities to show off your skills and you will want to be organized. Small-scale endeavors will meet with success. There could be a collision of powerful energies spilling into your life. The decisions and actions of today will have long-lasting effects. The energies that are present do not lean toward relationships at this time. Your choice of friends is very commendable—they, in turn, have fondness of you. A new purchase of some recorded music after your work day is over will help you to relax while you tend to a few chores this afternoon. Emotional support comes from family members and loved ones. You will want to hear the latest stories.

Afghanistan 0093 Albania 00355 Algeria 00213 Andorra 00376 Angola 00244 Anguilla 001264 Antiga 001268 Argentina 0054 Armenia 00374 Australia 0061 Austria 0043 Bahamas 001242 Bahrain 00973 Bangladesh 00880 Barbados 001246 Belarus 00375 Belgium 0032 Belize 00501 Benin 00229 Bermuda 001441 Bhutan 00975 Bolivia 00591 Bosnia 00387 Botswana 00267 Brazil 0055 Brunei 00673 Bulgaria 00359 Burkina 00226 Burundi 00257 Cambodia 00855 Cameroon 00237 Canada 001 Cape Verde 00238 Cayman Islands 001345 Central African Republic 00236 Chad 00235 Chile 0056 China 0086 Colombia 0057 Comoros 00269 Congo 00242 Cook Islands 00682 Costa Rica 00506 Croatia 00385 Cuba 0053 Cyprus 00357 Cyprus (Northern) 0090392 Czech Republic 00420 Denmark 0045 Diego Garcia 00246 Djibouti 00253 Dominica 001767 Dominican Republic 001809 Ecuador 00593 Egypt 0020 El Salvador 00503 England (UK) 0044 Equatorial Guinea 00240 Eritrea 00291 Estonia 00372 Ethiopia 00251 Falkland Islands 00500 Faroe Islands 00298 Fiji 00679 Finland 00358 France 0033 French Guiana 00594 French Polynesia 00689 Gabon 00241 Gambia 00220 Georgia 00995 Germany 0049 Ghana 00233 Gibraltar 00350 Greece 0030 Greenland 00299 Grenada 001473 Guadeloupe 00590 Guam 001671 Guatemala 00502 Guinea 00224 Guyana 00592 Haiti 00509 Holland (Netherlands)0031 Honduras 00504 Hong Kong 00852 Hungary 0036 Ibiza (Spain) 0034 Iceland 00354 India 0091 Indian Ocean 00873 Indonesia 0062 Iran 0098 Iraq 00964 Ireland 00353 Italy 0039 Ivory Coast 00225 Jamaica 001876 Japan 0081 Jordan 00962 Kazakhstan 007 Kenya 00254 Kiribati 00686

Kuwait 00965 Kyrgyzstan 00996 Laos 00856 Latvia 00371 Lebanon 00961 Liberia 00231 Libya 00218 Lithuania 00370 Luxembourg 00352 Macau 00853 Macedonia 00389 Madagascar 00261 Majorca 0034 Malawi 00265 Malaysia 0060 Maldives 00960 Mali 00223 Malta 00356 Marshall Islands 00692 Martinique 00596 Mauritania 00222 Mauritius 00230 Mayotte 00269 Mexico 0052 Micronesia 00691 Moldova 00373 Monaco 00377 Mongolia 00976 Montserrat 001664 Morocco 00212 Mozambique 00258 Myanmar (Burma) 0095 Namibia 00264 Nepal 00977 Netherlands (Holland)0031 Netherlands Antilles 00599 New Caledonia 00687 New Zealand 0064 Nicaragua 00505 Nigar 00227 Nigeria 00234 Niue 00683 Norfolk Island 00672 Northern Ireland (UK)0044 North Korea 00850 Norway 0047 Oman 00968 Pakistan 0092 Palau 00680 Panama 00507 Papua New Guinea 00675 Paraguay 00595 Peru 0051 Philippines 0063 Poland 0048 Portugal 00351 Puerto Rico 001787 Qatar 00974 Romania 0040 Russian Federation 007 Rwanda 00250 Saint Helena 00290 Saint Kitts 001869 Saint Lucia 001758 Saint Pierre 00508 Saint Vincent 001784 Samoa US 00684 Samoa West 00685 San Marino 00378 Sao Tone 00239 Saudi Arabia 00966 Scotland (UK) 0044 Senegal 00221 Seychelles 00284 Sierra Leone 00232 Singapore 0065 Slovakia 00421 Slovenia 00386 Solomon Islands 00677 Somalia 00252 South Africa 0027 South Korea 0082 Spain 0034 Sri Lanka 0094 Sudan 00249 Suriname 00597 Swaziland 00268 Sweden 0046 Switzerland 0041 Syria 00963 Taiwan 00886 Tanzania 00255 Thailand 0066 Toga 00228 Tonga 00676 Tokelau 00690 Trinidad 001868 Tunisia 00216 Turkey 0090 Tuvalu 00688 Uganda 00256 Ukraine 00380 United Arab Emirates00976

TV Listings FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

16:55 The Amazing World Of Gumball 17:10 Adventure Time 17:35 Regular Show 18:00 Cow & Chicken 18:25 Bakugan: Gundalian Invaders 18:50 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 19:15 Angelo Rules 19:30 Total Drama World Tour 19:55 Hero 108 20:25 Sym-Bionic Titan 20:50 Adventure Time 21:25 The Grim Adventures Of Billy & Mandy 21:50 Courage 22:25 The Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack 22:50 Cow And Chicken 23:00 Ben 10 23:25 Ben 10 23:50 Courage The Cowardly Dog

00:20 Snake Crusader With Bruce George 00:50 Pit Bulls And Parolees 01:45 Untamed & Uncut 02:40 Maneaters 03:35 Beast Lands 04:30 Snake Crusader With Bruce George 04:55 Snake Crusader With Bruce George 05:25 The Animals’ Guide To Survival 06:20 Escape To Chimp Eden 06:45 In Too Deep 07:10 Clinically Wild: Alaska 07:35 Clinically Wild: Alaska 08:00 Orangutan Island 08:25 Panda Adventures With Nigel Marven 09:15 The Really Wild Show 09:40 Project Puppy 10:10 Extraordinary Dogs 10:35 Extraordinary Dogs 11:05 The Animals’ Guide To Survival 12:00 Michaela’s Animal Road Trip 12:55 RSPCA: On The Frontline 13:20 Wildlife SOS International 13:50 Wild Africa Rescue 14:15 Wild Africa Rescue 14:45 Animal Cops Phoenix 15:40 The Animals’ Guide To Survival 16:30 Shamwari: A Wild Life 17:00 The Really Wild Show 17:30 Growing Up...

18:25 Dogs 101 19:20 Your Pet Wants This, Too! 20:15 Orangutan Island 20:40 Wildlife SOS International 21:10 Escape To Chimp Eden 21:35 In Too Deep 22:05 The Animals’ Guide To Survival 23:00 Shark Family 23:55 Crime Scene Wild

00:25 00:55 01:25 02:15 03:00 03:30 04:00 04:20 04:30 04:45 05:00 05:05 05:25 05:36 05:50 06:10 06:20 06:30 06:45 06:50 07:10 07:20 07:35 08:05 08:35 09:20 09:50 10:40 11:10 12:00 12:30 13:00 13:45 14:15 15:05 15:35 16:25 17:10 17:40 18:10 18:40 19:10 20:00 20:50 21:50 22:40 23:10 23:55

00:15 01:05 01:35 02:00 02:25 02:55 03:15 04:05 04:30 04:55 05:40

Eastenders Doctors The World’s Toughest Driving Tests The Weakest Link After You’ve Gone Keeping Up Appearances Me Too! Charlie and Lola Gigglebiz Bobinogs Poetry Pie Fimbles Little Robots Forget Me Not Farm Me Too! Charlie and Lola Gigglebiz Bobinogs Poetry Pie Fimbles Little Robots Forget Me Not Farm Last Of The Summer Wine After You’ve Gone The Weakest Link Eastenders Doctors Chimp Family Fortunes The World’s Toughest Driving Tests Keeping Up Appearances Last Of The Summer Wine The Weakest Link Eastenders Doctors Chimp Family Fortunes The World’s Toughest Driving Tests The Weakest Link Last Of The Summer Wine Doctors After You’ve Gone Keeping Up Appearances Doctor Who Jekyll Taking the Flak Alan Carr - Tooth Fairy Little Britain The Weakest Link Doctor Who

Antiques Roadshow What To Eat Now - Autumn What To Eat Now - Autumn Indian Food Made Easy Indian Food Made Easy James Martin’s Brittany James Martin’s Brittany 10 Years Younger 10 Years Younger Fantasy Homes In The City What To Eat Now - Summer

00:15 00:40 01:35 02:30 03:25 04:20 05:15 05:40 06:05 07:00 07:50 08:45 Junior 09:40 10:05 10:30 10:55 11:25 15:05 16:00 16:55 17:50 18:45 19:10 19:40 20:05 20:35 21:00 21:30 Junior 22:25 22:50 23:20

LEGENDARY ON OSN ACTION HD 06:05 06:35 07:00 07:20 07:50 08:15 09:05 09:35 10:25 11:10 12:00 12:50 13:15 14:05 14:50 15:35 16:25 17:10 17:55 18:45 19:05 19:30 20:00 21:20 22:10 22:55 23:45

What To Eat Now - Summer James Martin’s Brittany James Martin’s Brittany Indian Food Made Easy What To Eat Now - Autumn Antiques Roadshow What To Eat Now - Autumn Masterchef Australia Bargain Hunt Antiques Roadshow Come Dine With Me 10 Years Younger 10 Years Younger Celebrity Fantasy Homes Celebrity Fantasy Homes Fantasy Homes In The City House Swap Bargain Hunt Antiques Roadshow Cash In The Attic USA Indian Food Made Easy Indian Food Made Easy Raymond Blanc’s Kitchen Secrets Antiques Roadshow Celebrity Fantasy Homes Celebrity Fantasy Homes Bargain Hunt

00:00 00:20 00:45 01:10 01:35 02:00 02:25 02:50 03:15 03:40 04:00 04:25 04:50

Wacky Races Dastardly And Muttley New Yogi Bear Show Duck Dodgers The Perils Of Penelope Pitstop Tom & Jerry Kids A Pup Named Scooby-Doo The Jetsons Puppy In My Pocket Popeye Tom & Jerry Looney Tunes Scooby Doo Where Are You!

05:15 05:40 06:00 06:25 06:50 07:00 07:30 07:55 08:20 08:45 09:00 09:25 09:50 10:15 10:40 11:05 11:25 11:50 12:15 12:40 13:00 13:15 13:40 13:55 14:45 15:10 15:35 16:00 16:50 17:15 17:40 18:05 18:20 19:10 19:35 20:00 20:15 20:40 21:05 21:30 21:55 22:20 22:45 23:10 23:35

Droopy: Master Detective Wacky Races The Flintstones A Pup Named Scooby-Doo Popeye Classics The Garfield Show Bananas In Pyjamas Baby Looney Tunes Gerald McBoing Boing Jelly Jamm Pink Panther And Pals Pink Panther And Pals Puppy In My Pocket The Scooby Doo Show Scooby Doo Where Are You! The Flintstones Duck Dodgers Tom & Jerry Kids Pink Panther And Pals Wacky Races Jelly Jamm Baby Looney Tunes Bananas In Pyjamas The Garfield Show A Pup Named Scooby-Doo Scooby-Doo And Scrappy-Doo Looney Tunes Puppy In My Pocket Pink Panther And Pals Pink Panther And Pals Tom & Jerry Tom & Jerry The Garfield Show The Scooby Doo Show Scooby-Doo And Scrappy-Doo Jelly Jamm Baby Looney Tunes Gerald McBoing Boing Bananas In Pyjamas Pink Panther And Pals Tom & Jerry Looney Tunes Scooby Doo Where Are You! Droopy: Master Detective The Flintstones

00:40 Samurai Jack 01:05 Samurai Jack 01:30 The Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack 02:20 Bakugan Battle Brawlers 02:45 Bakugan Battle Brawlers 03:10 Best Ed 04:00 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 04:25 Adventure Time 04:50 Generator Rex 05:15 Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated 05:40 Grim Adventures Of Billy And Mandy 05:55 I Am Weasel 06:55 Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated 07:20 Powerpuff Girls 07:45 Angelo Rules 08:00 Casper’s Scare School 08:30 Gumball 08:45 Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated 09:15 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 09:40 Batman: The Brave And The Bold 10:05 Angelo Rules 10:30 Chowder 10:55 Adventure Time 11:20 Eliot Kid 11:35 The Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack 12:00 Ben 10 12:25 Sym-Bionic Titan 12:50 Courage The Cowardly Dog 13:15 I Am Weasel 13:40 Best Ed 14:05 Cow & Chicken 14:30 My Gym Partner’s A Monkey 14:50 Eliot Kid 15:15 Bakugan Battle Brawlers 15:40 Ben 10: Alien Force 16:05 Courage The Cowardly Dog 16:30 Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated

Destroyed In Seconds Blueprint For Disaster Dirty Jobs Overhaulin’ Ultimate Survival Mythbusters How Does It Work How It’s Made Dirty Jobs Mythbusters How Do They Do It? Turbo Specials American Chopper: Senior vs How Does It Work Cake Boss Border Security Auction Kings Everest: Beyond The Limit Everest: Beyond The Limit Overhaulin’ Ultimate Survival Mythbusters Cash Cab Us Border Security Auction Kings How It’s Made How Does It Work Cake Boss American Chopper: Senior vs Fifth Gear Fifth Gear Wheeler Dealers

00:40 Space Pioneer 01:35 Weird or What?

02:25 The Tech Show 02:50 Wallace & Gromit’s Invention 03:15 Wallace & Gromit’s Invention 03:40 Science of the Movies 04:35 How Does That Work?

05:00 How Stuff’s Made 05:25 Mega Builders 06:20 Junkyard Mega-Wars 07:10 Space Pioneer 08:00 The Gadget Show 08:25 The Gadget Show 08:50 How Does That Work?

09:15 How Stuff’s Made 09:40 Wallace & Gromit’s Invention 10:05 Wallace & Gromit’s Invention 10:35 Science of the Movies 11:25 Mega Builders 12:20 Junkyard Mega-Wars 13:15 Space Pioneer 14:05 Weird or What?

14:55 How Does That Work?

15:20 How Stuff’s Made 15:50 The Gadget Show 16:15 The Gadget Show 16:40 The Tech Show 17:05 Junkyard Mega-Wars 18:00 Space Pioneer 18:50 Mega Builders 19:40 Tech Toys 360 20:05 Tech Toys 360 20:30 2012 Apocalypse 21:20 Junkyard Mega-Wars 22:10 The Gadget Show 22:35 The Gadget Show 23:00 Tech Toys 360 23:25 Tech Toys 360 23:50 2012 Apocalypse

00:00 00:25 00:50 01:15

KIM POSSIBLE Fairly Odd Parents Fairly Odd Parents STITCH

World of World of

World of World of

01:35 STITCH 02:00 REPLACEMENTS 02:25 REPLACEMENTS 02:50 EMPEROR’S NEW SCHOOL 03:15 EMPEROR’S NEW SCHOOL 03:35 STITCH 04:00 STITCH 04:25 REPLACEMENTS 04:50 REPLACEMENTS 05:15 Fairly Odd Parents 05:35 Fairly Odd Parents 06:00 HANNAH MONTANA FOREVER 06:20 RECESS 06:45 TIMON AND PUMBAA 07:05 PHINEAS AND FERB 07:30 Good Luck Charlie 07:55 FISH HOOKS 08:10 WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE 08:35 MICKEY MOUSE CLUBHOUSE 09:00 JAKE & THE NEVERLAND PIRATES 09:15 JAKE & THE NEVERLAND PIRATES 09:25 HANDY MANNY 09:40 THE HIVE 09:47 MINI ADVENTURES OF WINNIE THE POOH 09:50 RECESS 10:15 SO RANDOM 10:40 HAVE A LAUGH 10:45 HANNAH MONTANA FOREVER 11:10 SUITE LIFE ON DECK 11:35 JAKE & BLAKE 12:00 SONNY WITH A CHANCE 12:25 WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE 12:45 PHINEAS AND FERB 13:10 SO RANDOM 13:30 SUITE LIFE ON DECK 13:55 WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE 14:20 HAVE A LAUGH 14:30 SHAKE IT UP 14:55 SHAKE IT UP 15:20 MY BABYSITTER’S A VAMPIRE 15:45 FISH HOOKS 16:10 THE ADVENTURES OF DISNEY FAIRIES 16:40 PIXIE HOLLOW GAMES 17:05 TIMON AND PUMBAA 17:30 PRINCESS PROTECTION PROGRAM 18:56 FISH HOOKS 19:10 Good Luck Charlie 19:30 HAVE A LAUGH 19:35 WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE 20:00 HANNAH MONTANA FOREVER 20:25 PHINEAS AND FERB 20:50 SHAKE IT UP 21:15 FISH HOOKS 21:35 RECESS 22:00 PRINCESS PROTECTION PROGRAM 23:25 FISH HOOKS 23:35 SONNY WITH A CHANCE

00:00 00:25 00:40 00:55 01:20 01:30 01:45 01:55 02:20 02:35 02:50 03:05 03:15 03:40 03:55 04:10 04:30 04:45 05:00 05:15 05:25 05:50 06:05 06:20 06:40 06:55 07:10 07:25 07:35 08:00 08:15 08:30 08:50 09:00 09:15 09:30 09:45 10:00 10:15 10:30 10:45 11:10 11:20 11:35 11:50 12:05 12:15 Pooh

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Jake & The Neverland Pirates Special Agent Oso Little Einsteins Timmy Time Jungle Junction Handy Manny Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Special Agent Oso Special Agent Oso Jungle Junction Jungle Junction Little Einsteins Higglytown Heroes Higglytown Heroes Jo Jo’s Circus Special Agent Oso Special Agent Oso Jungle Junction Jungle Junction Little Einsteins Higglytown Heroes Higglytown Heroes Jo Jo’s Circus Special Agent Oso Special Agent Oso Jungle Junction Jungle Junction Little Einsteins Higglytown Heroes Higglytown Heroes Jo Jo’s Circus Jungle Junction Jungle Junction Higglytown Heroes Higglytown Heroes Handy Manny Special Agent Oso Jungle Junction Jungle Junction Mickey Mouse Clubhouse The Hive Handy Manny Jake & The Neverland Pirates Jake & The Neverland Pirates The Hive Mini Adventures Of Winnie The

TV Listings FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

12:18 Pooh 12:21 Pooh 12:25 Pooh 12:30 12:45 12:55 13:20 13:45 14:10 14:35 14:45 15:10 15:25 15:40 16:05 16:15 16:25 16:50 17:15 17:40 17:55 18:05 18:20 18:30 18:40 18:55 19:20 19:45 20:10 20:20 20:30 20:45 20:55 21:10 21:25 21:35 22:00 Pooh 22:05 22:25 22:40 22:50 23:05 23:20 23:30 Pooh 23:35 23:40 23:45

Mini Adventures Of Winnie The

00:40 01:30 02:15 03:05 03:50 04:40 05:25 06:15 07:10 08:00 08:50 09:40 10:25 11:10 11:35 11:55 12:40 13:25 14:15 15:00 15:25 15:50 16:35 17:20 18:10 19:00 19:45 20:10 20:55 21:20 22:10 23:00 23:25 23:50

Dr G: Medical Examiner The Haunted A Haunting Kidnap And Rescue Fugitive Strike Force Dr G: Medical Examiner The Haunted A Haunting Mystery Diagnosis The Prosecutors Forensic Detectives Murder Shift Mystery Diagnosis Real Emergency Calls Who On Earth Did I Marry?

True Crime With Aphrodite Jones Disappeared Murder Shift Mystery Diagnosis Real Emergency Calls Who On Earth Did I Marry?

True Crime With Aphrodite Jones Disappeared The Prosecutors Forensic Detectives Murder Shift Real Emergency Calls Mystery Diagnosis Who On Earth Did I Marry?

On The Case With Paula Zahn Disappeared I Was Murdered I Was Murdered I Escaped Death

Mini Adventures Of Winnie The Mini Adventures Of Winnie The Mouk (Cema) The Hive Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Imagination Movers Art Attack (Cema) Imagination Movers Special Agent Oso Lazytown Handy Manny Jungle Junction Imagination Movers The Hive Special Agent Oso Little Einsteins Lazytown Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Jake & The Neverland Pirates Jake & The Neverland Pirates Mouk (Cema) Handy Manny The Hive Jake & The Neverland Pirates Imagination Movers Lazytown Art Attack (Cema) The Hive Special Agent Oso Jungle Junction Handy Manny Jake & The Neverland Pirates Jake & The Neverland Pirates The Hive Little Einsteins Mini Adventures Of Winnie The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 101 Dalmatians 101 Dalmatians Jake & The Neverland Pirates Jake & The Neverland Pirates The Hive Mini Adventures Of Winnie The A Poem Is...

Animated Stories Mouk (Cema)

00:25 Kendra 00:55 Style Star 01:25 15 Most Shocking Political Sex Scandals 03:15 25 Most Stylish 04:10 Sexiest 05:05 Extreme Hollywood 06:00 THS 07:50 Behind The Scenes 08:20 E! News 09:15 Dirty Soap 10:15 20 Acts Of Love Gone Wrong 12:05 E! News 13:05 Bridalplasty 14:05 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 15:00 Style Star 15:30 E!es 16:25 Behind The Scenes

16:55 17:55 18:55 19:55 20:55 21:25 22:25 23:25 23:55

Scouted E! News E!es Dirty Soap Chelsea Lately Kourtney & Kim Take New York E! News Chelsea Lately Keeping Up With The Kardashians

00:00 02:00 04:00 06:00 08:30 10:45 13:45 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00

Deadtime Stories-R Legion-18 Little Big Soldier-PG15 X2-PG Four Brothers-18 The Postman-PG15 Four Brothers-18 Drunken Master-PG15 Legendary-PG15 Tank Girl-PG15 Icarus-18

12:00 12:30 14:00 18:00 18:30 19:00 19:30 20:00 21:00 21:30 22:00 22:30 23:30

01:00 Vinyan-18 03:00 Mammoth-PG15 05:15 The Eagle-PG15 07:15 The Boys Are Back-PG 09:00 Mammoth-PG15 11:15 Despicable Me-FAM 13:00 The Eagle-PG15 15:00 Ramona And Beezus-PG 16:45 The Tender Hook-PG15 18:45 Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides-PG15 21:00 The Green Hornet-PG15 23:15 The Burning Plain-18

03:00 03:30 04:00 04:30 06:00 08:30

Friends Friends Dharma And Greg The Tonight Show With Jay Leno Malcolm In The Middle Friends

00:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 07:00 08:00 08:30 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 14:00 15:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 23:00

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 10:00

Malcolm In The Middle Dharma And Greg Friends The Simpsons Happy Endings The League Perfect Couples The Tonight Show With Jay Leno The Daily Show With Jon Stewart The Colbert Report Neighbors From Hell American Dad Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

American Idol Necessary Roughness Psych Bones Good Morning America Tower Prep Emmerdale Look-A-Like The Ellen DeGeneres Show The Martha Stewart Show The View American Idol Tower Prep Live Good Morning America The Ellen DeGeneres Show The Bachelor Glee American Idol Drop Dead Diva Bones

Smallville Necessary Roughness Supernatural American Idol Psych Smallville Warehouse 13 Parenthood Psych American Idol

12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

01:00 03:00 05:00 07:00 09:00 11:00 13:00 15:00 17:00 19:00 21:00 23:00

00:00 02:00 04:00 06:00 08:00 09:30 11:30 13:30 15:30 17:30 20:00 22:00

Warehouse 13 The Ellen DeGeneres Show Parenthood Smallville Warehouse 13 The Ellen DeGeneres Show Terriers Glee American Idol Drop Dead Diva Survivor: One World Supernatural

Empire-18 The Daisy Chain-PG15 Two: Thirteen-R Hurricane Season-PG15 The Karate Kid III-PG Staten Island-PG15 Ong Bak 2-PG15 The Karate Kid III-PG Top Gun-PG15 Kalifornia-18 The Grudge 3-18 Drag Me To Hell-18

Nothing Like The Holidays-PG15 Love Hurts-PG15 The Addams Family-PG Addams Family Values-PG Sleepover-PG15 The Big Green-PG Fools Rush In-PG15 Guarding Tess-PG Nothing Like The Holidays-PG15 Rag Tale-18 Threesome-18 Youth In Revolt-18

01:30 Romeo Is Bleeding-18 03:30 Square Grouper-PG15 05:15 The River-PG15

07:30 Another Year-PG15 09:45 The Lovely Bones-PG15 12:00 Flying By-PG15 13:45 Moon Over Parador-PG15 15:30 Celine: Through The Eyes Of The World-PG15 17:30 Don’t Fade Away-PG15 19:00 Garden State-18 20:45 Wild At Heart-18 23:00 The Wolfman-18

01:30 03:15 05:00 07:00 09:00 11:00 13:00 15:00 17:00 19:00 21:00 23:00

The Other Side Of The Tracks-PG15 12 Men Of Christmas-PG15 The Joneses-PG15 Paper Man-PG15 Get Low-PG15 Tron: Legacy-PG15 Marmaduke-PG Tooth Fairy-PG Get Low-PG15 Gentlemen Broncos-PG15 Black Swan-18 Red-PG15

00:00 02:00 04:00 06:00 08:00 10:00 12:00 PG 14:00 16:00 PG 18:00 20:00 PG 22:00

Kong: Return To The Jungle-PG15 The Three Musketeers (2008)-FAM Slappy And The Stinkers-FAM Jetsons: The Movie-FAM Turtle Hero: Part I-FAM Megamind-FAM Nanny Mcphee And The Big Bang-

Megamind-FAM Nanny Mcphee And The Big Bang-

Volvo Ocean Race Volvo Ocean Race Premier League Darts ODI Cricket Highlights Live Cricket ODI ICC Cricket World Asian Tour Golf Show European Tour Weekly Golfing World World Cup Challenge ODI Cricket Highlights Volvo Ocean Race Highlights Futbol Mundial Trans World Sport Top 14 Highlights Live Pro 12 Celtic League

00:00 00:30 01:30 02:30 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 06:30 07:00 08:00 11:30 12:00 13:00 13:30 15:30 18:30 22:00 23:00 23:30

Futbol Mundial Trans World Sport European PGA Tour Highlights Scottish Premier League Highlights World Cup of Pool World Pool Masters US Bass Fishing FIVB Beach Volley Ball FIVB Beach Volley Ball Golfing World Premier League Darts ICC Cricket World Golfing World Futbol Mundial Super Rugby Sevens World Series Premier League Darts Golfing World ODI Cricket Highlights ICC Cricket World

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 03:30 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 09:30 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 15:30 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 21:30 22:00 23:00 23:30

Lock N’ Load With R. Lee Ermey Ax Men Investigating History Sliced Sliced Ax Men Swamp People Lock N’ Load With R. Lee Ermey Ax Men Investigating History Sliced Sliced Ax Men Swamp People Lock N’ Load With R. Lee Ermey Ax Men Investigating History Sliced Sliced Ax Men Swamp People Lock N’ Load With R. Lee Ermey Ax Men Investigating History American Restoration American Restoration Seeking Salvage Pawn Stars Pawn Stars

00:05 01:00 02:00 02:25 02:55 03:50 04:20 05:15 06:10 07:05 08:00 08:30 09:00 10:00 10:25 10:55 11:50 12:50 13:50 14:15 14:45 15:45 16:40 17:35 18:30 19:25 20:25 21:20 22:15 23:10

Giuliana & Bill Jerseylicious Homes With Style Open House Videofashion Daily Videofashion News How Do I Look?

Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?

Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?

Clean House Videofashion News Videofashion News Videofashion Daily Open House Open House How Do I Look?

Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?

Clean House Dress My Nest Mel B: It’s A Scary World How Do I Look?

Giuliana & Bill Kimora: Life In The Fab Lane Designer Marathon Wicked Fit Glam Fairy Glam Fairy Clean House: New York Giuliana & Bill Tia And Tamera

Turtle Hero: Part I-FAM

00:00 The Hole-PG15 01:45 Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call - New Orleans-PG15 04:00 Sounds Like Teen Spirit-PG15 05:45 Just Go With It-PG15 08:00 Triassic Attack-PG15 10:00 Ways To Live Forever-PG15 12:00 Cats & Dogs: The Revenge Of Kitty Galore-PG 14:00 The Librarian: The Curse Of Judas Chalice-PG15 16:00 Ways To Live Forever-PG15 18:00 Shanghai-PG15 20:00 Black Swan-18 22:00 Chasing 3000-PG15

01:30 02:00 05:00 06:00 06:30 07:00 09:00 09:30 11:30 13:30 14:30 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00 22:30

MAMMOTH ON OSN CINEMA

Gulliver’s Travels-PG Beethoven’s Christmas Adventure-

00:00 01:30 02:30 05:30 06:00 14:30 15:00 15:30 16:00 17:00 19:00 19:30 20:00 20:30 21:30 22:00

ODI Crickert Highlights Snooker The Welsh Open Trans World Sport Futbol Mundial Volvo Ocean Race Highlights World Clup Challenge Futbol Mundial Live Super Rugby Live Super Rugby Trans World Sports Volvo Ocean Race Super Rugby Super Rugby Live Super Rugby ODI Crickert Highlights Live Super League

00:00 WWE NXT 01:00 UFC The Ultimate Fighter 02:00 UFC 144 Countdown 03:00 Speedway 04:00 Intercontinental Le Mans Cup 05:00 UFC Unleashed 06:00 UFC Unleashed 07:00 WWE NXT 08:00 WWE Vintage Collection 09:00 Speedway FIM World Championship 10:00 Intercontinental Le Mans Cup 11:00 V8 Supercars 13:00 WWE NXT 15:00 Intercontinental Le Mans Cup 15:00 WWE Experience 16:00 Speedway 17:00 Aquabike World 17:30 Power Boats UIM 18:00 UFC The Ultimate Fighter 19:00 UFC 144 Countdown 20:00 WWE SmackDown 22:00 WWE Bottom Line 23:00 UFC 144 Countdown

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Information

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION In case you are not travelling, your proper cancellation of bookings will help other passengers to use seats Airlines QTR JZR PIA JZR JZR ETH THY KAC UAE QTR DHX MSR JZR FDB ETD RJA GFA MLR RBG KAC THY KAC JZR BAW KAC FDB KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC UAE ABY QTR ETD FDB IRA GFA KNE FDB RKM KNE JZR RBG MEA IYE MSR MSR KNE KAC GFA KAC FDB ABY UAL OMA QTR RJA KAC JZR KAC QTR KNE JZR JZR JZR ETD UAE GFA

Flt 138 185 205 267 539 620 772 1784 853 148 370 612 189 67 305 642 211 1405 3563 544 770 416 555 157 206 53 352 302 332 676 284 344 855 125 132 301 55 619 213 945 8055 310 989 165 3553 404 825 623 610 845 672 219 618 57 123 982 645 140 640 788 257 546 134 983 561 535 213 303 857 215

Arrival Flights on Friday 24/2/2012 Route DOHA DUBAI LAHORE BEIRUT CAIRO ADDIS ABABA ISTANBUL JEDDAH DUBAI DOHA BAHRAIN CAIRO DUBAI DUBAI ABU DHABI AMMAN BAHRAIN COLOMBO ALEXANDRIA CAIRO ISTANBUL JAKARTA ALEXANDRIA LONDON ISLAMABAD DUBAI COCHIN MUMBAI TRIVANDRUM DUBAI DHAKA CHENNAI DUBAI SHARJAH DOHA ABU DHABI DUBAI LAR BAHRAIN JEDDAH DUBAI RAS ALKHAIMAH JEDDAH DUBAI ALEXANDRIA BEIRUT SANAA SOHAG CAIRO JEDDAH DUBAI BAHRAIN DOHA DUBAI SHARJAH WASHINGTON DC MUSCAT DOHA AMMAN JEDDAH BEIRUT ALEXANDRIA DOHA JEDDAH SOHAG CAIRO DEIREZZOR ABU DHABI DUBAI BAHRAIN

Time 0:20 0:20 0:25 0:45 0:50 1:45 2:15 2:25 2:35 2:55 2:55 3:00 3:00 3:05 3:10 3:10 3:15 3:40 4:20 4:40 4:50 6:25 6:35 6:40 7:40 7:45 7:50 7:55 8:05 8:10 8:15 8:25 8:30 9:00 9:05 9:15 9:20 9:50 9:55 10:05 10:35 10:40 11:00 11:20 11:35 11:55 12:05 12:30 12:55 13:00 13:20 13:25 13:40 13:50 14:00 14:05 14:15 14:20 14:40 14:50 15:00 15:20 15:25 15:30 16:10 16:25 16:45 16:50 16:55 17:15

SVA ABY ALK JZR RBG FDB KAC KAC KAC JZR KAC AIC KAC KAC KAC KAC FDB JAI KAC SVA MSR MLR DHX GRF FCX MEA GFA QTR JZR UAE SAI JZR UAL PIA DLH

510 127 227 177 3557 63 502 542 744 787 674 975 166 102 774 562 61 572 786 506 618 1407 372 81 304 402 217 136 135 859 441 239 981 215 636

Airlines AXB UAL BBC AIC DLH PIA ETH ETH THY GRF FDB UAE DHX MSR ETD QTR MLR RBG QTR THY JZR GFA RJA FDB KAC BAW JZR KAC JZR KAC JZR UAE ABY ETD

Flt 390 981 44 982 637 206 3718 621 773 94 68 854 371 613 306 139 1405 3556 149 771 164 212 643 54 545 156 256 671 534 787 560 856 126 302

RIYADH SHARJAH COLOMBO DUBAI ALEXANDRIA DUBAI BEIRUT CAIRO DAMMAM RIYADH DUBAI CHENNAI PARIS NEW YORK RIYADH AMMAN DUBAI MUMBAI JEDDAH JEDDAH ALEXANDRIA COLOMBO BAHRAIN BAGHDAD RIYADH BEIRUT BAHRAIN DOHA BAHRAIN DUBAI LAHORE AMMAN BAHRAIN KARACHI FRANKFURT Departure Flights on Friday 24/2/2012 Route KOZHIKODE WASHINGTON DC DHAKA AHMEDABAD FRANKFURT LAHORE ADDIS ABABA ADDIS ABABA ISTANBUL DUBAI DUBAI DUBAI BAHRAIN CAIRO ABU DHABI DOHA COLOMBO ALEXANDRIA DOHA ISTANBUL DUBAI BAHRAIN AMMAN DUBAI ALEXANDRIA LONDON BEIRUT DUBAI CAIRO JEDDAH SOHAG DUBAI SHARJAH ABU DHABI

17:20 17:40 18:10 18:15 18:25 18:40 18:45 18:50 18:55 19:05 19:25 19:30 19:30 19:35 19:40 19:50 20:00 20:10 20:20 20:35 20:45 20:50 21:00 21:15 21:20 21:20 21:25 21:35 21:55 22:00 22:40 22:45 23:00 23:30 23:50

Time 0:05 0:45 1:00 1:05 1:20 1:25 2:00 2:45 3:15 3:30 3:45 3:50 3:55 4:00 4:00 4:40 4:40 5:00 5:40 5:50 6:55 7:00 7:10 8:25 8:30 8:40 9:00 9:00 9:15 9:25 9:30 9:40 9:45 10:00

KAC FDB QTR KAC KAC GFA IRA JZR KNE FDB RKM KNE KAC RBG KAC MEA KAC IYE MSR KNE JZR MSR GFA FDB ABY KAC KAC KAC OMA UAL RJA JZR KAC KNE KAC QTR JZR JZR QTR ETD JZR UAE GFA ABY SVA RBG JZR ALK FDB JZR KAC KAC FDB KAC KAC JAI MSR MLR SVA DHX MEA GFA KAC QTR KAC JZR KAC FCX UAE JZR SAI KAC

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NEW YORK DUBAI DOHA DOHA FRANKFURT BAHRAIN LAR DEIREZZOR JEDDAH DUBAI RAS ALKHAIMAH JEDDAH CAIRO ALEXANDRIA LONDON BEIRUT BEIRUT DOHA SOHAG JEDDAH DUBAI CAIRO BAHRAIN DUBAI SHARJAH AMMAN DUBAI JEDDAH MUSCAT BAHRAIN AMMAN RIYADH DAMMAM JEDDAH RIYADH DOHA ALEXANDRIA AMMAN DOHA ABU DHABI CAIRO DUBAI BAHRAIN SHARJAH RIYADH ALEXANDRIA BAHRAIN DUBAI DUBAI DUBAI DHAKA COLOMBO DUBAI CHENNAI KOCHI MUMBAI ALEXANDRIA COLOMBO JEDDAH BAHRAIN BEIRUT BAHRAIN DELHI DOHA MUMBAI ALEXANDRIA ISLAMABAD DUBAI DUBAI LUXOR LAHORE BANGKOK

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

ACCOMMODATION Sharing accommodation available in a C-A/C flat in Abbasiya for 2 Christian bachelors or Christian couple from 1st March. Contact: 65625804.

(C 3876) 20-2-2012 To let from March 1, 2012, 1 semi furnished big room with attached toilet from a 3 bed room spacious flat in B’neid Al-Ghar. Ideal for executives.

Rent KD 75/- for single occupancy and KD 95/- for double occupancy.

Contact: 60914165. (C 3868) Sharing available for Christian family, C-A/C, room + bathroom, near Learners Academy, Abbassiya. Small family or two bachelors.

Contact: 66265733 / 24346514.

(C 3869) 12-2-2012

CHANGE OF NAME I, SHABBIR, holder of Indian Passport No. J6456508 s/o Zakir Hussain Bohra, have changed my name to HUSSAIN BOHRA to be called from now onwards. (C 3880) 23-2-2012 I, Sobhana Kumari, holder of Indian Passport No. F0925466 hereby change my name Sara Saad Mubarak Salman. (C 3870) 20-2-2012 I, Medamalli Venkata Subbaiah, holder of Indian Passport No: F4933824, resident of S/o M. Subbaiah, Kuppavari Palli (Village), Seetharampuram (Post), Rajampet (Mandal), Kadapa District, Andra Pradesh, have changed my name to Medamalli Sreenivas.

I, Anis s/o Ali Mohammed, holding Indian Passport No.E1091168, R/o 147/10 Najampura, Bohrawadi, Udaipur (RAJ), have changed name to SHABBIR ALI MOHAMMED s/o Ali Mohammed in future be called and known by new name. (C 3873) I, Pappu Lal s/o Mohan Lal, holder of Indian Passport No. E5530889 hereby change my name to KAMALESH DEVRA. (C 3874) 16-2-2012

TUITION Business management teacher with doctoral degree for universities, institutions, corporate & all student levels.

Over 10 years experience. Call 66495951. (C 3817)

A 2009 YUKUN Suburban GMC XL with low mileage and beige sued interior, electric seats, cruise control, super headlights, rear camera, remote recording and rear sensors. Price 8550. Tel: 99301914

SITUATION VACANT Mathematics teacher, Intermediate and secondary Exams models, Easy method, Exams from past years with solutions. 97301901 English teacher (3) years experience, looking for a job and ready to start with all educational stages. 55963993 Mathematics teacher for Universities, Institutions, Foreign Schools, Administrative, American, English, Australian, Bahrain, Electric and Gulf Sciences, Algbra Prel, Mathematics, intermediate, gmat, sat college, math98, 110 pre calculus geometry.

97619261

Wanted housemaid in Farwaniya area, full time.

Contact: 97514390.

22-2-2012 A Kuwaiti woman is looking to hire a driver. No residency transfer required. Contact: 99215511. (C 3872) 16-2-2012 A Kuwaiti woman is looking to hire a driver. No residency transfer required. Contact: 99215511. (C 3872) 16-2-2012

MATRIMONIAL A Syrian Arabic language teacher. Masters in methods of teaching and follow up of 10th grade and 11th grade students. 97934291

FOR SALE Prado - 2008 , 4 Cylinder, Single owner in excellent condition, Beige Color. Price negotiable: Call -97552060 / 99838335 24-2-2012 Double bed 2x2m with side tables + full size wooden cupboard in excellent condition available for sale. Contact: 97358878. (C 3877) 21-2-202012 2005, Chevy Trail Blazer XL, 7 seater, maroon, good condition, lady driven, brand new tires, KD 2500. Call 67005485.

(C 3875) 19-2-202012 Chevrolet Optra 2009 is on immediate sale for KD 2,350/as expat leaving Kuwait.

Showroom maintained and in excellent condition. Contact: 99754454.

(C 3867) 11-2-2012 A 2008 white, 1600 CC Nissan Sunny. Price KD 1700.

Tel: 99553221 A 2008 dark blue 6 cylinder Toyota Prado with Beige sued interior, low mileage, touch A/C, CD, cruise control, front and rear sensors for sale.

Price KD 6650. Tel: 99275550 A 2009 white, 6 cylinder Toyota Prado with 40,000 mileage touch A/C, CD, cruise control, front and rear sensors for sale. Price KD 7850.

Tel: 97477508-55809093

Australian man, 50 years divorcee, living in Kuwait, Lebanese born, seeking alliance from Kuwait, single lady, divorcee, widow no problem, must be God fearing and love to travel and going out. Contact: Email: dadogeorge@hotmail.com (C 3879) 22-2-2012

TUITION

Business management teacher with doctoral degree for universities, institutions, corporate & all student levels.

Over 10 years experience.

Call 66495951. (C 3817) Mathematics teacher, Intermediate and secondary Exams models, Easy method, Exams from past years with solutions. 97301901 English teacher (3) years experience, looking for a job and ready to start with all educational stages.

55963993 Mathematics teacher for Universities, Institutions, Foreign Schools, Administrative, American, English, Australian, Bahrain, Electric and Gulf Sciences, Algbra Prel, Mathematics, intermediate, gmat, sat college, math98, 110 pre calculus geometry. 97619261 A Syrian Arabic language teacher. Masters in methods of teaching and follow up of 10th grade and 11th grade students. 97934291 Islamic education teacher for elementary and intermediate

MISCELLANEOUS Original guaranteed Palestinian virgin olive oil, large black and green olives for sale. Tel: 66517417 Whole Floor or small villa needed for rent in Shaab, Mansoriya, Nozha, Abdullah Al-Salem or Shamiya. Direct contact with owner. Tel: 9989018-99169016 A camp for rent in Kabed including five tents with all services. Complete privacy + game arcade. Tel: 97177714 Size 36 air pressure gun for sale in addition to a scope, safety lock. Shooting range 350 meters +bag+25 shots.

Price KD 70. Tel: 97790478 A 3700 watt, 2012 model ASTRA generator for sale.

Japanese parts assembled in China with pressure and gas

No: 15369

meters. Price KD 85. Tel: 60066891 For rent in Hawalli a one bedroom (4x4m) and a 7x3.5 m reception+ terrace, fully equipped kitchen and bathroom. Tunis street, behind Al-Andalus pharmacy. Tel: 99683200 For rent a two storey villa and a basement in Mangaf including 8 rooms, laundry room, yard, parking. Rent value KD 1000. Tel: 97996900

Tel: 66989887 A fully central air-conditioned two room annex in Mangaf with separate exit and shaded car parking for rent to expatriates. Tel: 67753557 For rent in Ashbelia: two apartments with 3 bedrooms, bath, kitchen and maid room each plus a yard in between. Tel: 90001594 A 2005 Mini Cooper for sale.

Tel: 99224855

A storey and half for rent in Mangaf including two 3 bedroom apartments with 2 baths, reception, kitchen, driver room each. Tel: 66989887

A 2006 Lumina for sale with genuine factory paint. Price KD 2100. Tel: 69945429

For rent a ground floor in Qurain comprising of four rooms, large reception, 5 baths, maid room, courtyard, parking. Rent value KD 550.

Senior English teacher for Pakistani, bilingual schools, T.M.A., Ielts, Toefl, IBT K.S.S., social studies and math. Tel: 99577430

A 2009 Touareg for sale.

Price 6350. Tel: 96670777

Sports FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

Bruins roll past Blues ST. LOUIS: St. Louis’ team-record point streak was ended at 21 home games as the Boston Bruins beat the Blues 2-1 in the NHL on Wednesday.

The streak looked like continuing when Chris Stewart and Ryan Reaves scored for the Blues on the first five shots of the game to quickly level the game at 2-2 following the Bruins’ hot start, but Boston goalie Tim Thomas stopped the next 27 shots.

Brad Marchand and Milan Lucic scored in the first period to put Boston ahead 2-0 early before being pegged back, but there was still time in the first period for Chris Kelly to restore the visitors’ lead.

Marchand added a second in the third period to complete the scoring.

St. Louis lost at home in regulation for the first time since Dec. 3, and also lost in regulation to an Eastern Conference team for the first time in 15 games.

Senators 5, Capitals 2 In Ottawa, Erik Karlsson and Milan Michalek each had three points in Ottawa’s win over Washington. Karlsson finished with a goal and two assists to set a new franchise record for assists by a defenseman in a season with 47.

He now has seven points in his past two games. His 60 points this season give him a 20-point advantage over Florida’s Brian Campbell for the NHL lead in scoring by a defenseman.

Michalek added two goals and an assist, while Chris Phillips also scored for Ottawa and Nick Foligno had an empty netter.

John Carlson and Mathieu Perreault scored for the Capitals, who have lost three straight. Alex Ovechkin missed the game with a lower body injury and is listed as day-to-day.

Avalanche 4, Kings 1 In Denver, Colorado completed its first season sweep of Los Angeles in nearly two decades. Paul Stastny scored twice, Semyon Varlamov stopped 32 shots, and Mark Olver and Jay McClement also added goals for the Avalanche, who have won three straight at home and moved to within two points of the Kings for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Colorado went 4-0 against Los Angeles this season, the first time the team has swept the series since 1992-93, when the franchise was in Quebec. — AP

NHL results/standings Ottawa 5, Washington 2; Boston 4, St. Louis 2; Colorado 4, Los Angeles 1.

Eastern Conference Atlantic Division W L OTL GF GA PTS NY Rangers 38 15 5 161 118 81 New Jersey 35 20 4 168 162 74 Philadelphia 33 19 7 198 181 73 Pittsburgh 34 21 5 186 160 73 NY Islanders 25 27 8 140 176 58 Northeast Division Boston 36 20 2 194 134 74 Ottawa 32 22 8 190 185 72 Toronto 29 24 7 181 184 65 Buffalo 26 27 7 150 176 59 Montreal 24 27 10 160 167 58 Southeast Division Florida 27 20 11 144 162 65 Winnipeg 29 26 7 157 175 65 Washington 29 26 5 161 173 63 Tampa Bay 27 26 6 166 197 60 Carolina 2 26 11 158 181 57 Western Conference Central Division Detroit 41 18 2 191 141 84 St. Louis 36 17 7 152 121 79 Nashville 35 19 6 168 155 76 Chicago 33 21 7 191 179 73 Columbus 18 35 7 142 198 43 Northwest Division Vancouver 38 16 6 195 147 82 Calgary 28 23 9 143 161 65 Colorado 30 27 4 155 169 64 Minnesota 26 24 9 131 154 61 Edmonton 23 30 6 159 178 52 Pacific Division San Jose 31 20 7 170 148 69 Phoenix 30 21 9 157 151 69 Los Angeles 27 22 12 129 135 66 Dallas 30 26 4 155 167 64 Anaheim 25 25 10 154 171 60 Note: Overtime losses (OTL) are worth one point in the standings and are not included in the loss column (L).

Chris Stewart in action in this file photo.

Crusaders and Blues to kick off Super 15 season WELLINGTON: The opening match of the Super 15 rugby season between the Auckland Blues and Canterbury Crusaders will see the return of a large number of All Blacks to Eden Park, scene of their World Cup triumph four months ago.

The Blues and Crusaders squads collectively contain almost 20 internationals, giving star power to the match that launches the longest-ever Super rugby season.

Notably absent from the Crusaders squad are All Blacks flyhalf Dan Carter and captain Richie McCaw, whose last duty on Eden Park was to hold aloft the Webb Ellis Trophy after New Zealand’s Cup final win over France.

Canterbury’s starting lineup includes prop Ben Franks, lock Sam Whitelock and winger Israel Dagg, who were all starters in the World Cup final. Tyler Blyendaal will start in the No. 10 jersey in Carter’s place.

The Blues have named hooker Keven Mealamu as captain in a pack with contains lock Ali Williams and flanker Jerome Kaino, New Zealand’s Player of the Year. Kaino played all but a minute of New Zealand’s seven World Cup matches.

Auckland has found no place in its starting lineup for scrumhalf Piri Weepu. Instead, Alby Mathewson will start at No. 9 in a new scrumhalf pairing with Michael Hobbs which has developed in preseason matches.

“There is a bit of an edge around this time of the season and certainly for a game of this magnitude,” Blues coach Pat Lam said. “It has been their longest break for a lot of them, a number have been away from rugby for months and now it is the real deal so there is some excitement and edge about this week.”

Crusaders coach Todd Blackadder has named All Blacks lock Tom Donnelly to make his debut for the franchise in anticipation of a tough set-piece contest.

“What we have seen in pre-season is a lot more lineouts and a lot more scrums,” Blackadder said. “Last year we were seeing an average of about 10 to 12 lineouts in a game. At the moment we are getting that after 40 minutes.”

Luke Morahan will play at fullback and Mike Harris at flyhalf for the defending champions Queensland Reds who face a tough test of their ambition to become the first Australian team to win back-to-back titles. They take on bitter interstate rivals the New South Wales Waratahs in their opening match at Sydney on Saturday.

Wallabies No. 8 Radike Samo has been named on the bench,

allowing young backrower Jake Schwarz to start.

“Radike has plenty of X-factor and venom. He is still very valuable for us an can come on when the teams are tired to make his impact,” Reds coach Ewen Mckenzie said.

Daniel Halangahu will captain the Waratahs from flyhalf after Wallabies star Berrick Barnes was ruled out of Saturday’s match with a groin strain.

“Berrick and Daniel shared the captaincy and the No. 10 duties in both our trial matches and both were well placed to lead us in the first match,” coach Michael Foley said. “We are confident in Daniel’s ability as a player and a leader.” —AP

SYDNEY: French rugby icon Sebastien Chabal (center) trains at Balmain Rugby Club near Sydney. Chabal is in Sydney to play a one-off club match on Feb 25, playing No. 8 for Balmain against Petersham. — AFP

Sports FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

Kenya to hold Olympic distance trials in US NAIROBI: Athletics Kenya confirmed yesterday they will hold the men’s and women’s 5000m and 10000m team selections for the 2012 London Olympics at the Prefontaine Classic in the US in June.

Kenya have not won an Olympic distance title since Naftali Temu took the men’s 10,000m gold at the 1968 Mexico Games and Ethiopians have

dominated since 1993.

Athletics Kenya chairman Isaiah Kiplagat said the decision to hold the team trials in Eugene, Oregon on June 1 was to allow the athletes compete at sea level to replicate the conditions in London. “We are looking at selecting the best team to represent Kenya in London. And holding the trials at Oregon should be the best suitable

place to select such a team,” said Kiplagat.

He said the athletes to compete in Prefontaine would be identified after several mini-selection trials in Kenya starting in April.

But the decision to hold the race trials in the US, away from the traditional Nairobi setting has been criticised by former international athletes, led by

the Sydney Olympic 10,000m silver medallist Paul Tergat.

“The national Olympic team and its selection should be done by Kenyans, run in Kenya and witnessed by Kenya,” Tergat, who is also the five-time world cross country champion told reporters.

The Kenyan Olympic trials will be held at the Nairobi’s Nyayo National stadium on June 21-23. — AFP

Stanford leads by 2 at Women’s Champions SINGAPORE: Angela Stanford shot a 6-under 66 to take a two-stroke lead after the opening round of the HSBC Women’s Champions yesterday.

The American started her round with a birdie on the 10th hole and added another on the 16th to make the turn at 2-under 34.

“Well it was a pretty good start, birdied 10 and hit it pretty close on 11, in the past I think I’ve struggled with that stretch right there, 10, 11, 12,” said Stanford, who held a share of the HSBC first-round lead in 2010.

“So the fact that I hit some pretty solid shots off the bat kind of gave me some confidence throughout the round.”

It showed on the back nine when she added birdies on Nos. 1, 2, 7 and the par-5 ninth, where she topped her second shot with a 3-wood before recovering to sink a 30-foot birdie putt.

“I can honestly tell you, I’ve never topped a shot and made birdie on the same hole,” Stanford said. “That’s a first, right?” Her 66 was one shot shy of Lorena Ochoa’s course record.

Momoko Ueda, Amy Yang, Na Yeon Choi, I.K. Kim and So Yeon Ryu were tied for second at 4-under. A group of seven was at 3-under at Tanah Merah Country Club.

Ueda overcame a double bogey on her first hole, the 10th, with three straight birdies on two separate occasions, Nos. 15-17 and Nos. 5-7.

“I had a good feeling today,” she said. “My start was so bad, but I stayed patient.” World No. 1 Yani Tseng of Taiwan battled elbow soreness in shooting a 71.

“Today it wasn’t hurt, just sore,” she said. “... Yesterday, when hitting driver and hitting shots out of the rough, it’s very painful. But I did some ultrasound and ice and physio work, so it’s getting much better.”

She’s seeking her second win of the year after her victory at last week’s LPGA Thailand, where she overcame a seven-shot first-round deficit, and is seeking to add the Singapore crown to her already impressive collection of career titles.

Defending champion Karrie Webb of Australia shot an even par 72, while American star Michelle Wie shot a 79.

The 63-player field for the $1.4 million tournament includes 18 of the top 20 in the world rankings. — AP

SINGAPORE: Michelle Wie of the US tees off of the fifth hole during round one of the HSBC Women’s Champions golf tournament in Singapore. — AFP

MARANA: Nicolas Colsaerts of Belgium hits from a bunker on the 17th hole during the first round of the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship. — AP

Top seed Donald exits, Tiger scrapes through MARANA: Top seed Luke Donald crashed out of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship on Wednesday, losing 5&4 to late entry Ernie Els, while Tiger Woods scraped through into the second round.

Once again the elite World Golf Championships event lived up to its reputation for wild unpredictability and there were 15 upsets from the 32 matches at Dove Mountain’s Ritz-Carlton Golf Club. Donald won last year’s title with an imperious display, never trailing in any of his six matches, but he struggled against South African Els on a sun-splashed day in the Arizona desert where the heavily contoured greens ran fast and firm.

Triple major winner Els made the most of an error-prone performance by the British world number one and sealed victory when he sank a 10-foot birdie putt at the par-four 14th.

“I’m not sure where to start,” a subdued Donald, who became only the third top seed to lose in the event’s opening round, told reporters. “I just didn’t play very well. It’s disappointing.

“I gave away too many holes and made too many mistakes. You can’t do that in match play against anyone, let alone Ernie.” The lowest-ranked player in the elite field of 64, former world number one Els was gifted a spot at Dove Mountain when Phil Mickelson withdrew

to spend time with his family.

“There’s always hype when the No. 1 player is playing the No. 64 seed,” said Els. “But Luke and I took it for what it was.

“I think he didn’t want to play me and I sure as hell didn’t want to play him in the first round, but that’s the way it worked out.”

While three-times winner Woods battled through one up against Spaniard Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, Charl Schwartzel and Bae Sang-moon won their opening matches in comfort.

Masters champion Schwartzel of South Africa eased past big-hitting American Gary Woodland 4&2 and South Korean Bae upset Britain’s Ian Poulter, the 2010 champion, 4&3. Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy survived a late wobble to beat South African George Coetzee two up, Lee Westwood beat Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts 3&1 and German Martin Kaymer advanced with a 4&2 win over Australian left-hander Greg Chalmers. Woods, winner of this event in 2003, 2004 and 2008, was two down to Fernandez-Castano after two holes but finally ended a wildly fluctuating encounter with an eight-foot par putt at the 18th.

“We both made our share of mistakes, there’s no doubt about that, but somehow I was able to move on,” Woods said.

Earlier, South Korean Yang Yong-eun

beat Graeme McDowell 2&1 in a match of high quality and Dustin Johnson scraped past fellow American Jim Furyk after 20 holes. Yang, who became the first Asian male to win a major with his victory at the 2009 PGA Championship, produced sizzling form with seven birdies.

“I ran into a man who played extremely well,” a frustrated McDowell said. “I felt like I had to follow him all day long, and I did most of the day, but he didn’t put a foot wrong.”

Soon after Yang’s win, Japan’s Ryo Ishikawa came from three down after 13 holes to beat American Bill Haas one up before Paul Lawrie edged fellow Briton Justin Rose by the same margin. Ishikawa birdied 14, 15 and 17 before wrapping up victory on the 18th green against an inform opponent who won the PGA Tour’s Northern Trust Open on Sunday in a playoff.

“Through the first 13 holes, it was really tough and I wasn’t playing that well,” Ishikawa said through an interpreter. “But the last five holes, I was able to compete with the opponent. This course is suited for me.” In other matches, Hunter Mahan battled past fellow American Zach Johnson after 19 holes and Italian Matteo Manassero never trailed on his way to a 3&2 win over American Webb Simpson. — Reuters

Sports FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

NBA results/standings Oklahoma City 119, Boston 104; Indiana 102, Charlotte 88; Toronto 103, Detroit 93; Sacramento 115, Washington 107; New Orleans 89, Cleveland 84; Orlando 108, New Jersey 91; NY Knicks 99, Atlanta 82; Chicago 110, Milwaukee 91; Minnesota 100, Utah 98; Houston 93, Philadelphia 87; Golden State 106, Phoenix 104; LA Lakers 96, Dallas 91; LA Clippers 103, Denver 95.

Eastern Conference Atlantic Division W L PCT Philadelphia 20 14 .588 NY Knicks 17 17 .500 Boston 15 17 .469 Toronto 10 23 .303 New Jersey 10 25 .286 Central Division Chicago 27 8 .771 Indiana 21 12 .636 Cleveland 13 18 .419 Milwaukee 13 20 .394 Detroit 11 24 .314 Southeast Division Miami 26 7 .788 Orlando 22 12 .647 Atlanta 19 14 .576 Washington 7 26 .212 Charlotte 4 28 .125 Western Conference Northwest Division Oklahoma City 26 7 .788 Portland 18 16 .529 Denver 18 16 .529 Minnesota 17 17 .500 Utah 15 17 .469 Pacific Division LA Clippers 20 11 .645 LA Lakers 20 13 .606 Golden State 13 17 .433 Phoenix 14 20 .412 Sacramento 11 22 .333 Southwest Division San Antonio 23 10 .697 Dallas 21 13 .618 Houston 20 14 .588 Memphis 19 15 .559 New Orleans 8 25 .242

GB 3 4 9.5 10.5 5 12 13 16 4.5 7 19 21.5

8.5 8.5 9.5 10.5 1 6.5 7.5 10 2.5 3.5 4.5 15

Lin may change face of Chinese basketball — Yao SHANGHAI: Chinese basketball icon Yao Ming has been taken aback by Jeremy Lin’s rise at the New York Knicks and thinks his style and size could make China’s state sports system rethink how it selects and grooms its athletes.

Yao, who opened up the world’s most populous country to the NBA, retired from the game last year. In 2002, the seven foot, six inch (2.30m) former Houston Rockets center was the first international player to be top pick in the NBA draft and was an eight-times All Star.

Taiwanese-American Lin has taken the NBA by storm with a series of dynamic displays at point guard for the Knicks. His fast-paced, highscoring, playmaking performances could hardly be more different from the towering Yao’s plodding, robust style.

Shanghai-native Yao said Lin, who stands 1.91m, could change the way China selects and trains its basketball players. “This is something else that Jeremy Lin has brought to us. It has given us something to reflect on, whether there are imperfections over the development and selection process for our basketball players over the past 10 or 20 years,” he told Reuters in an interview.—Reuters

Thunder see off Celtics OKLAHOMA CITY: Oklahoma City Thunder made it 11 straight home wins with a 119-104 win over the Boston Celtics, extending its lead in the NBA Western Conference to three games.

Russell Westbrook scored 31 points and Kevin Durant added 28 for Oklahoma City, who led by as much as 27 points before Boston hit back to get within six with 3:31 left. Durant banked in a pair of jump shots and hit two free throws during an 11-2 run that sealed it. Kevin Garnett’s return after a two-game absence wasn’t enough to lift the Celtics, who were still without point guard Rajon Rondo as he served the second of a two-game suspension. Paul Pierce and Garnett scored 23 points apiece, and Garnett also had 13 rebounds.

Lakers 96, Mavericks 91 In Dallas, Andrew Bynum had 19 points and 14 rebounds as Los Angeles hit the halfway point of its season with a road win against defending champion Dallas. Bynum grabbed a rebound of his own miss and was fouled trying to go back up with 5:29 left. He made both free throws to break an 8282 tie and finally put the Lakers ahead to stay after 13 ties and 10 lead changes. Pau Gasol had 24 points for Los Angeles. Dirk Nowitzki had 25 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Mavericks.

Clippers 103, Nuggets 95 In Los Angeles, Chris Paul scored a season-high 36 points to lead Los Angeles past Denver. Blake Griffin added 27. He and Paul are headed to the All-Star game as starters, having led their team to a 20-11 record in the first half of the lockout-shortened season. Arron Afflalo scored 20 points for the injury-riddled Nuggets, who lost their fifth in a row on the road. They played without Danilo Gallinari, Ty Lawson, Nene and Rudy Fernandez.

Bulls 110, Bucks 91 In Chicago, the hosts beat Milwaukee for the seventh straight time. Carlos Boozer scored 20 points, while Joakim Noah had 13 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists for the first triple-double by a Chicago center since Artis Gilmore in 1977.

The Central Division leaders built an 11-point halftime lead and broke it open in the third quarter, a nice send-off for the All-Star break. Brandon Jennings scored 20 points to lead the Bucks.

LOS ANGELES: Caron Butler No. 5 of the Los Angeles Clippers attempts a steal on Al Harrington No. 7 of the Denver Nuggets during the first quarter at Staples Center. — AFP

Rockets 93, 76ers 87 In Houston, Luis Scola had 19 points and 10 rebounds to lead Houston to a tight win over Philadelphia. Kyle Lowry added 13 points and two crucial late 3-pointers for the Rockets, who’ve won three in a row and snapped a four-game homecourt losing streak to Philadelphia.

Nikola Vucevic scored a career-high 18 points for the Sixers, who will head into the All-Star break on a five-game losing skid.

T’wolves 100, Jazz 98 In Minneapolis, Luke Ridnour hit a floater at the buzzer, capping Minnesota’s comeback from 16 points down in the fourth quarter to beat Utah.

Utah’s Al Jefferson sank a jumper to tie the score 98-98 with 7 seconds remaining. After a timeout, Ridnour took a pass from J.J. Barea, drove into the lane, and sank a shot over Jefferson as the buzzer sounded. Barea finished with 22 points and matched a career high with five 3-pointers, and Ridnour added 17 points. Paul Millsap scored 25 as the Jazz lost their third straight.

Knicks 99, Hawks 82 In New York, Jeremy Lin had an easy night ahead of his toughest opponent yet, as New York tuned up for a trip to Miami by beating Atlanta. Lin had 17 points and nine assists, sitting out most of the fourth quarter in a rare rest after his remarkable run of games during which the Knicks usually relied heavily upon him. Carmelo Anthony scored 15 points in his second game back from injury for the Knicks, who shot 52 percent in the first half, scored 30 points in both periods, and led 60-35 at the break. Jeff Teague scored 16 points for the Hawks. They played without All-Star guard Joe Johnson, who sustained a knee injury on Monday.

Atlanta has lost three straight.

Warriors 106, Suns 104 In Phoenix, Monta Ellis hit an 20-foot fadeaway jump shot with 1 second remaining to lift Golden State over Phoenix. Channing Frye’s 3-point attempt for the Suns rolled off the back of the rim at the buzzer, and the Warriors took their first win in Phoenix since 2004-05. Ellis finished with a game-high 26 points, while Dorell Wright had 23 for the Warriors, who squandered a 21-point lead before rallying in the final 2:16. Golden State won despite playing most of the game without Stephen Curry, who strained a foot tendon late in the first quarter. Frye had 22 points to lead the Suns.

Magic 108, Nets 91 In Newark, Dwight Howard had 20 points and 17 rebounds to help Orlando roll to victory against New Jersey. Glen Davis, who hit his first seven shots, added 16 points for the Magic, who shot 62.5 percent in the opening 12 minutes to jump out to a 34-17 lead. Deron Williams had 23 points, six rebounds and eight assists to lead New Jersey.

Pacers 102, Bobcats 88 In Charlotte, Tyler Hansbrough had a seasonhigh 22 points and nine rebounds as Indiana continued its dominance of Charlotte. The Pacers have beaten the Bobcats nine time straight times, including twice this week. This game was much closer than the 35-point rout Sunday - for three quarters. The Pacers led by 10 after three but began to pull away in the fourth. Danny Granger

had 12 points as Indiana won its fourth game in a row to remain in second place in the Central Division. Corey Maggette scored 20 points as Charlotte lost its 18th in 19 games.

Raptors 103, Pistons 93 In Toronto, the hosts ended a run of three successive losses by defeating Detroit. DeMar DeRozan scored 23 points and Aaron Gray set season highs with 12 points and 12 rebounds for the Raptors, who also ended a three-game skid against the Pistons. Greg Monroe had 30 points and 14 rebounds for Detroit.

Hornets 89, Cavaliers 84 In Cleveland, New Orleans held off a late rally by the home side and edged Cleveland. Chris Kaman scored 21 points and Marco Belinelli added 19, with both getting key late baskets. Cleveland had crept within two points with 2:08 to play before Kaman’s dunk and Belinelli’s 3-pointer bumped that out to seven with just over a minute on the clock. Antawn Jamison led Cleveland with 22 points.

Kings 115, Wizards 107 In Washington, Marcus Thornton scored 18 of his 22 points in the second half to guide Sacramento to victory over Washington. Rookie Isaiah Thomas had 16 of his 18 after halftime for the Kings, who broke a six-game losing slump and salvaged a win in the finale of their six-game road trip. Jordan Crawford scored a season-high 32 points for the Wizards, who have lost four straight.

The Kings led 104-103 with 3:44 to play before closing with an 11-4 run. — AP

Sports FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

Zimbabwe’s blind commentator is on the ball HARARE: Cricket commentator Dean du Plessis gauges the field action with his ears: a bowler’s grunt as he hurls forward, the drag of feet along the pitch, or the crack of a bat slamming into a ball.

The Zimbabwean is one of the world’s few sightless sports analysts, plying his remarkable expertise by training his acute hearing on the stump microphones despite being born with a blindness that was meant to kill him. “I was born with tumors on both my retinas, so I was only meant to be alive for three to maximum five months-but I’m 35, not out now, so still playing a good innings,” he said.

Alongside daily radio work, sports bulletins and a newspaper column which he writes on his voiceenabled cellphone, Du Plessis also sits in the broadcasters’ commentary booth where he provides color to the anchor’s match breakdown.

“Robin Jackman will say something like ‘driven through the covers, that will be four, good shot’,” he

Carla Rebecchi

Lioness Rebecchi key to Argentine hopes BUENOS AIRES: Argentina’s women’s hockey team, world and Champions Trophy title holders, this week launched their bid for the Olympic gold medal with Carla Rebecchi as a potential trump card. Coach Carlos Retegui, who has built his team around longserving short corner specialist Noel Barrionuevo and captain Luciana Aymar, voted World Player of the Year a record seven times, highlights what the younger Rebecchi brings to his team.

“Carla is a player who is reaching her maturity in international hockey,” Retegui told Reuters. “She’s very fast, incisive, vertical and she’s a player who always scores goals at key moments in major tournaments. She’s a player who brings a lot to the team.”

It is not difficult to imagine the fearless Rebecchi kitesurfing or snowboarding, her favourite pastimes, when you see her searing attacking runs on a hockey field. The 27-year-old was a key player as Argentina won their second world title in 2010 and a fourth Champions Trophy in five years earlier this month, both at home in Rosario, after an unexpected hiccup in October when they lost the Pan-American crown they had held since 1987. “(The Olympic gold medal) is the title we’re missing, that we very much want to win and today we began training again looking to the Games to make our best preparations so we have a chance of winning,” Rebecchi told Reuters in an interview.

Las Leonas (The Lionesses) have won Olympic medals at the last three Games, silver in 2000 in Sydney, bronze in Athens and Beijing in 2008 with Rebecchi in their side.

Rebecchi, speaking after the practice at the Cenard national sports training complex a stone’s throw from the giant River Plate soccer stadium on the fringe of the capital, said 2011 had been a tough year for Las Leonas with setbacks in two finals. Winners of the Champions Trophy from 2008 to 2010, Argentina led great rivals the Netherlands 3-0 in the 2011 final in Amstelveen but were pinned back to 3-3 and lost on penalties.—Reuters

explained, smoothly gearing into cricket jargon with radio-esque poise. “And then it will be my job to say ‘well, that is arguably Jacques Kallis’ most favourite shot, outside the offstump, a little bit of width, which allowed him to free his arms.”

Du Plessis says he gets no preferential treatment but is wholly dependent on the stump microphones which identify each player’s unique characteristics.

These range from England Test skipper Andrew Strauss’s “yeah, come on, come on, come on” when wanting to make a run for it, to former Australian spinner Shane Warne’s huge grunt, and South African Graeme Smith on a hook or pull shot.

“If I turn my microphones down, I really will be blind,” he said. “Obviously having followed the game for just over 20 years and having commentated for 10 going on 11 years, you get to understand, and you get to know which player does what and that’s pretty much how I know what’s going on out there.” ‘It’s just

my way of adapting to the situation’ It was the stupendous noise of 80,000 roaring Indian fans in a radio broadcast more than 20 years ago that piqued his interest in the sport while at a boarding school for the blind in South Africa, where he would later drum up mock match reports.

Faced with sceptics who believe he is being fed information, Du Plessis says he would slip up if forced to concentrate on too many voices. But he does fear making a mistake each time he goes on air.

“Touch wood, it hasn’t happened yet, thank goodness, and I wouldn’t wish that upon my worst enemy,” he said. “But I do understand that you’re not going to be perfect the whole time and a time is going to come when I am going to get it very, very wrong.

“And I just hope that when that happens, that people will be a little understanding-that at the end of the day, regardless of me being able to see or not to see, I’m only human.”—AFP

Pastrana awaits NASCAR debut DAYTONA BEACH: Travis Pastrana arrived for NASCAR’s annual media day last week and has been hanging around ever since.

And he hasn’t even gotten into a race car.

Pastrana watched the exhibition Budweiser Shootout from the grandstands, stuck around for Daytona 500 qualifying and even spent two off days living it up in this ocean-side city. Why? Well, the 28-year-old extreme sports star is trying to soak in as much NASCAR as possible before making his much-anticipated debut in April.

Pastrana is scheduled to drive seven races in the Nationwide Series this season, beginning with the April 27 event at Richmond International Raceway. His debut will come nine months after Pastrana originally planned to join NASCAR’s second-tier series - a move derailed when he shattered his right foot and ankle in a motorcycle crash at the XGames.

“No words can really describe the disappointment,” Pastrana said last week. “I felt like I let everyone down.” It certainly was a setback for NASCAR and its television partners. They openly laud Pastrana as one of auto racing’s rising stars, mentioning him in the same breath as former IndyCar driver Danica Patrick, defending Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne and defending Nationwide Series champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr. They point to his engaging personality, his ability to drive anything on wheels and his strong following among the muchsought-after younger generation. Throw in his boundless confidence - Pastrana has a picture of himself driving a monster truck and crushing the No. 48 car of fivetime NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson on his firesuit - and he would seem to be one of the most marketable drivers in the garage. Pastrana welcomes any and all attention. It’s hardly anything new, either.

Two years ago, on New Year’s Eve, Pastrana set a world record by jumping his rally car 269 feet off a California pier onto a floating barge anchored in Long Beach’s Rainbow Harbor.

In 2007, he jumped out of an airplane without a parachute over Arecibo, Puerto Rico, and met up with another jumper in midair before finishing with a safe tandem landing.

He also has been an X-Games medalist, raced monster trucks, competed in motocross, supercross, RallyCross, the 24hour race at Daytona, several international events and starred in an extreme-stunt

series called “Nitro Circus.” The series has a movie version due out this summer.

“Anybody who is that interesting and brings such a new audience to the racing community has the potential to grow his brand, grow interest in the sport on an unlimited basis as long as he gets it done on the racetrack,” said Rich Feinberg, ESPN’s vice president of motorsports production. “He’s easy to cover.

“All the things that he has touched he has been very successful at. I’m not somebody who looks at him and has a big question mark. He’s going to do quite well.”

Pastrana’s NASCAR venture was supposed to start last summer.

But he crashed during a “best trick” event in the X-Games on July 28, breaking his foot in 40 places after failing to safely land his motorcycle following a flip and spin combination.

Pastrana, who had won medals at every X-Games since 2002, planned to compete in two X-Games events yesterday and today, fly to Indianapolis to make his Nationwide debut Saturday and then return to Los Angeles to compete in RallyCross on Sunday. ESPN producers were so enthralled they dubbed it “Pastrana-thon.”

Instead, Pastrana ended up in bed for a month and out of commission considerably longer. “We were disappointed,” Feinberg said. “We felt it was a tremendous opportunity, not only for our company and the fans that we serve, but for the sport that we’re partners with. He’s an

amazing personality. He’s charismatic. He’s fun to talk to and he doesn’t set a lot of barriers for himself.

“He’s a guy who goes out and gives it his all no matter what he’s done, whether it’s back-flipping at the X-Games or running his race car. Yeah, it was an unfortunate situation. But those involved recognize the risk associated with what we called the ‘Pastrana-thon’ that weekend.

We can’t wait to have him back on the track.”

Pastrana had hoped to drive more Nationwide races this season, but sponsorship has been challenging - even for someone who would seem to be an easy sell in corporate America.

“It’s been a lot tougher than we anticipated,” said Pastrana, who plans to gain experience in NASCAR’s K&N Pro Series.

“It’s definitely a tough economy. But also a lot of the sponsors are just waiting to see if I’m going to stay healthy.”

Pastrana was back in a RallyCar days after the accident, but is still working toward a full recovery. He’s waiting for total feeling to return in his toes.

With improved health - and some early success - he believes sponsors will follow.

And then his NASCAR career will get back on track. His goal: stay healthy and stay in the race.

“That’s kind of the same for anyone,” Pastrana said. “I do have a fan base that hopefully will buy me a little bit more time to get in there. Bottom line is you have to do well.”— AP

Travis Pastrana in action in this file photo.

Sports FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

Esperance favoured to lift CAF Super Cup JOHANNESBURG: Reigning African club champions Esperance from Tunisia are set to bridge a 17-year gap this weekend by winning the CAF Super Cup a second time. The CAF Champions League winners host CAF Confederation Cup title holders Moghreb Fes from Morocco on Saturday at the 60,000-seat November 7 Stadium on the outskirts of Tunis.

Esperance last lifted the trophy in 1995 with a 3-0 triumph over Daring Club Motema Pembe from the Democratic Republic of Congo in Egyptian Mediterranean city Alexandria.

It was the final Super Cup fixture staged at a neutral venue because of low attendances with the subsequent 16 one-off games hosted by the winners of the previous Champions League.

This has given the champions a huge advantage

and only one-Raja Casablanca from Morocco in 1998 — failed to use it as they lost a penalty shootout after drawing 2-2 with Etoile Sahel from Tunisia.

Egyptian clubs have dominated the Super Cup with Al Ahly winning a record four titles and arch Cairo rivals Zamalek three while Tunisia lie second with three successes through Etoile (twice) and Esperance.

Morocco have a dismal record in a competition that rewards winners with a 75,000-dollar cheque as Raja have won and lost while arch rivals Wydad Casablanca suffered two defeats and Rabat clubs FAR and FUS one each. Moghreb can draw some comfort from the fact that recent Super Cup games have been close with three of the last six settled by penalties and two more ending in one-goal victory margins.

It will be the first international test for Swiss Michel

Decastel since he replaced Nabil Maaloul as coach of Esperance after the Blood and Gold returned from a poor showing at the FIFA Club World Cup in Japan two months ago. The Tunisians were the latest African club to fare disappointingly at the annual tournament with a quarter-final loss to Al-Sadd from Qatar followed by a fifth-place defeat against Monterrey from Mexico.

But Esperance had an outstanding home record en route to the Champions League title last year, winning six matches and drawing one while scoring 18 goals and conceding none with five-goal Youssef Msakni the leading marksman.

Moghreb won the second-tier Confederation Cup on penalties against Club Africain, the major Tunis rivals of Esperance, despite just two victories from nine away matches. — AFP

Spurs relish favorites tag against Arsenal Messi targeting favorite victims MADRID: Lionel Messi will have his favorite victims in his sights when Barcelona play at Atletico Madrid on Sunday and the Argentina forward comes into the game in a rich vein of form even by his high standards. The World Player of the Year has more goals against Atletico than any other domestic rival - 17 in 13 matches, including 14 in La Liga and three in the King’s Cup. His last two games against the Madrid club yielded hat-tricks and the 24-year-old will be looking to add to his 146 league goals in 200 appearances when he takes to the field at the Calderon on Sunday.

Messi netted four against Valencia last weekend, taking his league tally for the season to 27 from 23 matches, one goal fewer than Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo. “I have the confidence of my team mates, the coach and of the people important to me and that makes me happy,” Messi said after the Valencia game.

“We just have to carry on enjoying Messi, and he the rest of the team,” midfielder Andres Iniesta added. Despite Messi’s exploits, Barca’s bid for a fourth straight title has foundered due to their patchy form away from home and they will be 13 points behind Real Madrid if the leaders win at local rivals Rayo Vallecano earlier on Sunday (1500). Barca have taken 34 of a possible 36 points at the Nou Camp, scoring 50 goals and conceding four. However, on their travels they have won four, drawn five and lost two, with 18 goals for and 13 against.

“We try to prepare all the matches in the same way and it is working very well for us in the Champions League,” centre back Gerard Pique said on Tuesday. “In La Liga, by contrast, we have found it a bit tougher,” the Spain international added. “I think we are playing well away from home but our opponents are also playing, they are closing ranks very well in defence and it is always difficult to break them down, especially if they take the lead. “You start to drop points and right now we are in a situation that is not very good.” —Reuters

LONDON: One of the most fiercely contested Premier League fixtures of the season will take on even more importance than usual on Sunday when Arsenal play Tottenham Hotspur in the 150th north London league derby at the Emirates Stadium.

Victory for Spurs, who won 3-2 there last season after trailing 2-0 at halftime, would move Harry Redknapp’s side 13 points clear of their arch-rivals and keep them on the coattails of leaders Manchester City and Manchester United with 12 matches to play.

City should keep up their title challenge with a 13th successive home league win of the season when they play 17th-placed Blackburn Rovers on Saturday while United travel to Norwich City for a Sunday lunchtime kickoff.

City, with Argentine Carlos Tevez back in town after his unauthorised trip back home, lead the table with 60 points from 25 matches, followed by United on 58, Spurs on 53 and Arsenal on 43, level with troubled Chelsea who are at home to relegation-threatened Bolton Wanderers tomorrow.

For most of the last 20 years Arsenal have been the dominant force with Spurs travelling to play them more in hope than expectation.

But now Spurs start as favourites and a win would give them their first League double over Arsenal since 1992-93.

Arsenal, beaten 4-0 at AC Milan in the Champions League and 2-0 at Sunderland in the FA Cup in their last two matches, are fac-

ing a seventh successive season without a trophy.

Coach Arsene Wenger’s future has been the topic of much speculation after an erratic season which has left them battling with Chelsea, Newcastle United and Liverpool for fourth place and another shot at the Champions League, their natural footballing habitat for the last 16 seasons.

Spurs have more to play for than just local bragging rights. A victory would not only keep their title hopes alive but would also send a clear message they are beginning to accumulate the mental steel that for so long

Harry Redknapp

South Korea demand action after crowd trouble in Oman MUSCAT: South Korea will seek punishment against Oman for their failure to control supporters in Wednesday’s Olympic soccer qualifier between the two teams in Muscat, local media reported yesterday.

South Korea’s under-23s won 3-0 to qualify for this year’s London Olympics but the game was marred by crowd trouble as fans hurled water bottles and other objects onto the pitch. Tempers boiled over after South Korea’s third goal midway through the sec-

ond half, midfielder Han Kook-young collapsing to the ground after a firecracker nearly hit him in the face.

“This is a clear-cut case and we expect some sort of penalty,” the Korea Football Association (KFA) told Yonhap news agency. “If that doesn’t happen, we will ask the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to punish Oman.” South Korea qualified for their seventh successive Olympics with the win. — Reuters

was at the very core of Arsenal’s DNA. However, no-one in the blue half of north London will under-estimate Arsenal knowing that victory would pull them out of the doldrums and give the Gunners renewed hope they can catch Spurs and finish higher than them again as they have done every season since 1996.

Spurs striker Jermain Defoe told LBC Radio on Wednesday he was confident Spurs can repeat their 2-1 win over Arsenal at White Hart Lane.

“It’s going to be a difficult game but I’m confident, obviously, with the way we’re playing,” he said. “We’ve got a really strong squad now and everyone’s playing well.

“Everyone’s firing and team spirit is fantastic which I think is always important if you want to try to achieve something.

“You can’t write Arsenal off. In football it’s always the next game, you can change it in the next one. Playing against us, it’ll be a different Arsenal from what people have seen over the last few weeks.”

Former Arsenal striker Emmanuel Adebayor missed Spurs’ FA Cup draw at Stevenage after twisting his knee in training but is expected to be fit for what promises to be a hostile return to his old club.

He is likely to be partnered by Rafael van der Vaart, who is back in full training after recovering from a calf injury that has kept him out of the last three games.

Arsenal, meanwhile, will hope centre-back Laurent Koscielny recovers from a knee injury but midfielder Aaron Ramsey looks like missing the game with an ankle problem.

Chelsea have gone five games without a win and typical defensive lapses were at the heart of their 3-1 defeat by Napoli in the Champions League on Tuesday.

There is widespread talk of dressing room unrest between senior players and coach Andre Villas-Boas and their Champions League place, once virtually guaranteed, is under severe threat.

Chelsea have a chance to banish the blues when they play Bolton who they have beaten in their last eight league and cup meetings, including a 5-1 win at the Reebok in October.

They will again be without skipper John Terry who faces up to two months out with a knee injury. — Reuters

Sports FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

Universidad hammer Cruz SANTIAGO: A Junior Fernandes hat trick led Universidad de Chile to a 5-1 home victory over Argentina’s Godoy Cruz in a Group 8 match in the Copa Libertadores on Wednesday. Fernandes scored in the 29th and first-half injury time, and added his third in the 72nd minute. Gustavo Lorenzetti picked another for the Chileans in the 34th and Angelo Enriquez scored in second-half stoppage time. Leonardo Signali scored in the 53rd for Godoy Cruz.

Universidad de Chile and Godoy Cruz both have three points from two matches. Colombia’s Atletico Nacional leads the group with six. Argentina’s Velez Sarsfield and Mexico’s Guadalajara were to play later in Group 7. Fernandes gave Universidad a 1-0 lead when he took a through ball on the counterattack, stepped around the keeper and slotted the ball home. He followed the goal with a series of backflips to celebrate.

Lorenzetti made it 2-0, scoring after a corner was headed-on as he waited near the far post. Fernandes, born to Brazilian parents, netted his second in first-half stoppage time, heading home from 10 meters (yards).

He scored his other in the 72nd.

Later yesterday matches, The Strongest of Bolivia faces Juan Aurich of Peru in Group 1, Olimpia of Paraguay is against Argentina’s Lanus in Group 2, and Universidad Catoliughca of Chile plays Junior of Colombia in Group 3. — AP

Kagawa’s return boosts Dortmund BERLIN: The expected return of Borussia Dortmund offensive midfielder Shinji Kagawa against Hanover 96 on Sunday less than 10 days after tearing a ligament will boost the German champions’ confidence as they defend their three-point lead in the Bundesliga.

Japan international Kagawa had done an outstanding job in replacing injured playmaker Mario Goetze since the start of the year and his absence was felt in Dortmund’s nervous and scrappy 1-0 win at Hertha Berlin last week that stretched their unbeaten run to 16 league games. “It is looking good for Shinji and I hope he can be with us on Sunday,” captain Sebastian Kehl told reporters. “Our medical team is doing fantastic work.”

The 32-year-old Kehl has been out for a total of 36 months with injuries since 2006 but has reclaimed his starting spot and captaincy this season and was rewarded this week with a contract extension to 2013. “As the longest-serving player at the club now, I am having lots of fun contributing to Dortmund’s positive development,” Kehl said.

The Ruhr valley club last lost in the league in September and Kagawa’s possible return to the squad for Sunday’s game would mean a much-needed creative injection in midfield, with the 22year-old having contributed seven league goals this season.

A win against Hanover, who themselves have gone nine games without defeat, would allow Juergen Klopp’s team to stay at least three points clear of second-placed Borussia Moenchengladbach, who are on 46 points, as they chase back-toback Bundesliga titles.

Rivals Bayern Munich, third on 45, are desperate to get their

Lille edge Sochaux in French league PARIS: Lille got back into the title race by defeating last-place Sochaux 1-0 Wednesday to pull within six points of leader Paris Saint-Germain in the French league. Nolan Roux scored the winning goal by heading in a corner in the 76th minute, although Lille had a bit of luck in the closing minutes as a header from Sochaux substitute Cedric Bakambu hit the post.

“You always need a bit of luck to win matches,” Lille coach Rudi Garcia said.

“Sochaux got off to a better start but we managed to bend without cracking.”

Also Wednesday, Gabon forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang notched a hat trick to lift Saint-Etienne past Lorient 4-2, and Caen beat Auxerre 2-1 to climb to the middle of the table.

Those three matches had been postponed earlier this month because of a cold snap. PSG tops the standings, one point clear of Montpellier. Lille remained in third place and Saint-Etienne moved into fourth place. A strong finish helped Saint-Etienne snatch victory.

Arnold Mvuemba initially put Lorient ahead by converting a penalty in the 49th after Saint-Etienne defender Sylvain Marchal had fouled Innocent Emeghara.

But Aubameyang leveled in the 56th by collecting a through ball from Laurent Batlles to beat goalkeeper Benjamin Lecomte.

Aubameyang headed in a cross from winger Bakary Sako to give Saint-Etienne the lead in the 68th before Lorient substitute Mathias Autret dribbled past goalkeeper Stephane Ruffier to equalize in the 76th. Sako made it 3-2 with a low strike in the 88th and Aubameyang

sealed the win in the 90th to raise his tally to 10 goals this season.

“We know what we want: to go as far as possible,” Batlles said. “I’m happy for Aubameyang. When you can rely on such a player, that gives you prospects that are a bit higher.”

In Caen, forward Livio Nabab scored the winning goal with a low drive from the edge of the box in the 76th. Auxerre

winger Roy Contout converted a rebound in the 60th after goalkeeper Alexis Thebaux had stopped a free kick from Dariusz Dudka. But Caen substitute Kandia Traore leveled in the 71st with a diagonal shot.

“We had to go and get this victory,” Nabab said. “We didn’t expect to concede the goal. But no one gave up afterwards.” — AP

BUENOS AIRES: Omar Arellano of Mexico’s Chivas (right) fights for the ball with Sebastian Dominguez of Argentina’s Velez Sarsfield during a Copa Libertadores soccer match. — AP

Shinji Kagawa

season quickly back on track against fourth-placed Schalke 04 on Sunday, after having won only two of their five league games this year. Bayern’s 1-0 defeat to Basel in their Champions League round-of-16 first leg on Wednesday piled on further pressure as they chase a treble.

“We are stuck in a difficult situation and in this phase we had imagined our game to be different. We must turn things around now,” Bayern keeper Manuel Neuer said.

Gladbach entertain Hamburg SV today and a win would allow them to draw level on points with Dortmund. — Reuters

Jelena sends Stosur packing DUBAI: Jelena Jankovic of Serbia defeated US Open champion Sam Stosur 6-4, 6-2 yesterday to reach the semifinals of the Dubai Tennis Championships.

The eighth-seeded Jankovic was in control throughout the match as the fourth-seeded Stosur struggled with her game. The Australian seemed to rush her shots for much of the first set, hitting the ball early and returning it long and wide. Stosur broke Jankovic early in the second, but the Serb broke right back and then pulled ahead 5-2 before wrapping up the match in 1 hour, 30 minutes.

“I’m happy with the win,” Jankovic said. “It’s never easy. Against her, we always have tough matches.” The 26-year-old Serbian player also defeated Stosur in last year’s quarterfinals in Dubai. “I think the key was my return,” Jankovic said. “You know, she (Stosur) has one of the best, if not the best, serves in the women’s game. It’s never easy to return her serve.

“But usually she likes to serve and then start dictating the point with her forehand. I didn’t really allow her to do that ... I was pretty much in control the whole time,” Jankovic said.

Stosur was disappointed she missed a chance to bounce back from last year’s loss to Jankovic, “I definitely didn’t play as well today,” Stosur said. “I mean, she played all right. She served quite well. I felt like I was getting pushed back. “I think today she stayed up on the baseline quite well and I didn’t,” Stosur said. “But I think it was more that I don’t think my forehand was as good as what it needed to be.”

Jankovic will meet fifth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska in the semifinals today. The Polish player advanced after defeating ninth-seeded Sabine Lisicki of Germany, 6-2, 61. Later yesterday, defending champion Caroline Wozniacki meets the other Serbian quarterfinalist, Ana Ivanovic. Wozniacki is the highest seeded player in Dubai at No. 3 after top-ranked Victoria Azarenka pulled out of the tournament Wednesday because of an ankle injury. — AP

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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012

Thunder see off Celtics in NBA action Page 60

DUBAI: Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic returns the ball to Petra Cetkovska from Czech Republic during the first day of Dubai Tennis Championships. (Inset) Australia’s Samantha Stosur plays against Jankovic. — AFP

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