24th Sep

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MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

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Kuwait seeks to resolve thorny issues with Iraq Prime Minister to visit Baghdad to ink deals

Morsi seeking independence from America CAIRO: On the eve of his first visit to the United States as Egypt’s president, Islamist Mohamed Morsi said he will demonstrate more independence from the US in decision-making than his predecessor Hosni Mubarak and told Washington not to expect Egypt to live by its rules. Morsi sent that message in an interview with the New York Times after a wave of violence erupted across the Muslim world over an amateur film produced in the US that was deemed offensive to Islam and Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). The film raised news tensions between Mohamed Morsi Washington and Egypt.

Morsi criticized US dealings with the Arab world, saying it is not possible to judge Egyptian behavior and decision-making by American cultural standards.

He said Washington earned ill will in the region in the Continued on Page 13

NEW YORK: HH the Prime Minister of Kuwait Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah (left) meets UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at the United Nations headquarters yesterday. — KUNA

Max 42º Min 26º High Tide 05:01 & 19:31 Low Tide 12:14 & 23:50

UNITED NATIONS: Representative of HH the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah met yesterday with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. During the meeting, attended by Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad AlSabah, the Kuwaiti premier expressed the government of Kuwait’s honest desire to iron out all outstanding issues with the government of Iraq including free navigation in Abdullah inlet and the legal cases against Iraq Airways. Sheikh Jaber said he planned to visit Iraq soon to sign a number of agreements to pave way for Iraq to implement all UN resolutions and exit from Chapter VII of the UN Charter.

Ban’s office issued a statement after the meeting saying the secretary general reiterated his personal commitment towards normalization of relations between Kuwait and Iraq. Iraq must fully and swiftly comply with all UN resolutions related to Kuwait, affirmed Ban. Ban and Sheikh Jaber, said the statement, also discussed the developments in the region including the Syrian conflict and the Middle East peace process. They exchanged views of the situation in Syria and international efforts to solve the conflict, stop bloodshed and alleviate suffering of the Syrian people. Sheikh Jaber and Ban also discussed different visions to support the UN and boost its global credibility. Sheikh Jaber commended Ban’s endeavors to tackle international issues and reaffirmed Kuwait’s support for the secretary general’s priorities during his second term in office. — KUNA

US Navy’s new floating base gets Gulf workout ABOARD THE USS PONCE: A new, key addition to American-led naval efforts to ensure Mideast oil keeps flowing has emerged as an unusual mix of a ship combining decades’ worth of wear and tear with state-of-the-art technology and a largely civilian crew. After winning a reprieve from the scrapyard, the USS Ponce was reborn through a rush retrofit earlier this year and turned into a floating base prowling the waters of the Arabian Gulf. It is now getting its biggest workout since refurbishment as the centerpiece for sweeping anti-mine naval exercises under way that serve as a very public warning to Iran. The Islamic Republic has threatened to shut the Gulf’s entrance at the Strait of Hormuz, the route for a fifth of the world’s oil supplies, and would likely use mines to do so.

Continued on Page 13 KUWAIT: An aerial view shows cars stuck in traffic jams crawling along a highway as schools reopened yesterday.— KUNA

Lebanese band voices hopes of Arab youth

Iran sees ‘WWIII’ if hit US bases in crosshairs • MPs blast Siemens, IAEA TEHRAN: Iran could launch a preemptive strike if Israel prepares to attack it, a senior Revolutionary Guards commander told broadcaster Al-Alam yesterday, a day after his boss warned that conflict was inevitable. Should Israel and Iran engage militarily, “nothing is

predictable... and it will turn into World War III,” Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh told Iran’s Arabic-language television network. Hajizadeh, who is in charge of Revolutionary Guards missile systems, said: “In circumstances in which they (the Israelis) have pre-

pared everything for an attack, it is possible that we will make a preemptive attack. But we do not see this at the moment.”

He added that Iran would deem any Israeli strike to be conducted with US authorisation, so “whether Continued on Page 13

A US Navy boat is lowered to the sea from the deck of the USS Ponce, a floating base to support mine countermeasure operations, in the Arabian Gulf on Saturday. — AP

Hamed Sinno

AMMAN: Hundreds of young Arabs joyfully screamed out obscenities, encouraged by the handsome, gay Lebanese lead singer at the concert in Jordan’s capital. Police looked on worriedly. People outside asked what was going on. It was a performance by the band Mashrou Leila, which uses a hybrid of velvety Lebanese slang and European instruments to address difficult, sometimes

taboo issues of Middle Eastern societies.

Lyrics of love and angst are intertwined with more difficult, sometimes taboo issues, with issues like poverty, premarital sex and homosexuality in this deeply homophobic region.

The success of the band, whose name is translated as “Night Project”, appears to be another outgrowth of the Arab Spring Continued on Page 13

in the

news

Saudi Shiites protest against anti-Islam film RIYADH: Hundreds of Saudis demonstrated against an anti-Islam film in a Shiite village in the Eastern Province of the kingdom, which bans any protests, witnesses said yesterday. Chanting “Oh, messenger of Allah,” the protesters marched in Awamiya late Saturday following a call by Shiite cleric Abdulkarim Al-Hubail, in line with worldwide demonstrations against the movie titled “Innocence of Muslims”.

Demonstrators on Friday in nearby Sihat village of Qatif district burned the Israeli and US flags, also in protest against the film that was produced in the United States. Security forces did not intervene despite a ban on demonstrations. Since early 2011, Qatif has been scene of sporadic protests and confrontations between police and marginalised Shiites who are estimated to number about two million and concentrated in oil-rich Eastern Province.

Assad’s sister ‘now in Dubai’ with kids DUBAI: Embattled Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad’s only sister, Bushra, whose husband was killed in a July bombing, is now living in Dubai with her children, Syrian residents told AFP yesterday. Bushra’s husband General Assef Shawkat, an army deputy chief of staff, was killed along with three other high-ranking officials in a July 18 bombing at the National Security headquarters in Damascus. The president’s elder sister, a pharmacist in her 50s, has five children she has enrolled at a private school in Dubai, according to Syrian expatriates in the emirate. Ayman Abdel Nour, editor-in-chief of opposition news website all4syria.com, told AFP that Bushra, who did not hold any position in the Syrian regime, left after “differences” with her brother whose troops are locked in a deadly conflict with rebels.

Iran boosts security with secure network DUBAI: Iran has connected all its government agencies to a secure domestic Internet service and plans to link ordinary Iranians up to the same network, an official was quoted as saying yesterday, in a move to beef up cyber security. The Islamic state tightened its cyber security after its disputed nuclear program was attacked in 2010 by the Stuxnet computer worm, which caused centrifuges to fail at the main Iranian uranium enrichment facility. Tehran, whose nuclear program is suspected by the West of being aimed at developing a bomb, accused the United States and Israel of deploying the worm. The second phase of the plan would be to connect ordinary Iranians to the national network. According to Iranian media, the domestic system would be fully implemented

by March 2013 but it was not clear whether access to the global Internet would be cut once the secure Iranian system was rolled out.

Bahrain refers 39 to court over attack DUBAI: Bahrain have referred 39 people to court after they were accused of allegedly carrying out a twin bomb attack in April that wounded four policemen in a Shiite village, said BNA news agency. “The public prosecution has finished its extensive investigations in the twin bomb attack in the village of Diraz that wounded four members of the security forces, two of them seriously,” BNA quoted deputy attorney general Ibrahim Al-Kawari as saying. The case has been referred to the criminal court and the trial of 39 defendants involved in the case will begin on Oct 11, said BNA, adding that 18 of them remain at large. The 39 are accused of “carrying out terrorist crimes... aimed at undermining security” as well as “endangering the lives of people and public and private property”.

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MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

LOCAL

KUWAIT: Minister of Education Dr Nayef Falah Al-Hajraf and other officials touring secondary and elementary schools in the Capital governorate yesterday. —Photos by Fouad Al-Shaikh

State employs all potential to offer high-quality education services KUWAIT: Minister of Education and Acting Minister for Higher Education Dr Nayef Falah Al-Hajraf underlined yesterday that all state potentials are employed to offer modern and high quality education services for their students. “We invest the latest educational techniques and methods to provide

teachers with the required skills and tools to help them do better in this noble job,” Minister Al-Hajraf told reporters yesterday during a tour of several secondary and elementary schools in the Capital’s governorate on the occasion of the launch of the 2012-13 academic year.

Al-Hajraf, also Minister of Finance,

pointed out that the Ministry of Education has exerted great efforts in preparing for the new academic year.

“I congratulate our sons and daughters on this occasion and wish them all the best,” he added.

The Ministry of Education is studying plans to upgrade the educational

process and limit teachers’ employment in administrative jobs in schools, according to the minister.

For his part, the Undersecretary for Secondary Education Mohammad AlKandari said over 170,000 students, distributed throughout 800 different schools of varied grades, have started

Views differ on appointment of women judges in Kuwait Only seven females may be accepted

By Nawara Fattahova KUWAIT: After long years of having the judicial system in Kuwait limited to o nl y a p p oi n t i n g m en judg es, t he courts will also have women judges soon, as there are many Kuwaiti female graduates who wish to occupy the post of judge. The press recently carri ed n e ws a b ou t f inal l y al l o w ing women to become judges, and this news was announced from a wellinformed source at the Ministry of Justice, not an official announcement from the Ministry of Justice, so it is highly expected that this decision will soon be realized. The news mentioned that only seven females will be accepted.

To reach this occupation, besides having the required education, the applicant will have to pass certain training courses and have years of experience in other positions. “After passing a two-year course as a legal res ea r c h e r , t h e a p p l icant w il l b e appointed as general prosecutor, and after that they can apply for the judge post,” said Marwa Al-Sairafi, one of the seven females who filed a case against the Ministry of Justice so they could enroll in the course, told the Kuwait Times.

Al-Sairafi was a graduate of law in 2011 and hopes to become a judge. “I

exp ect ed th at th e application for females will be opened for the prosecutor’s post, especially after the pressure by the international humanitarian organizations to allow women to enter the judicial system as judges, since Kuwait signed international treaties giving women the right to become judges,” stressed Al-Sairafi.

She started demanding her rights when she filed a case, along with six other female graduates, against the Ministry of Justice for not allowing t hem t o a pply for th e post ‘L egal Researcher’ to become a general prosecutor, which was advertised by the Ministry in the press. “The verdict came in our favor, explained by article 2 of the Constitution, that calls for equality between genders. The result proves that it is legally right and it was only a political issue,” she further said.

A cco rdin g to h er , ever y body expected that they would lose this case, though six of them won the case at the appeals stage. “This proves that we were right and our demand was justified. Some members of parliament proposed a draft law banning women from working as judges. And this is evidence that there is no prohibition in the law or the constitution banning women from her rights, otherwise the MPs would not have proposed this draft,” explained Al-Sairafi.

“All th ose wh o c r iticiz e d a nd blamed me and the other six females in the beginning, are now imitating us and are applying for this post after we won the case. I think that people and the community changed their opinion with time. And women have proven their successes in similar fields. The MPs who were against giving women their political rights were the first to seek her votes during the elections to parliament, and a similar thing is happening today,” she added.

Regarding the popular comment that woman are sentimental and emotional, Al-Sairafi noted that men, as well, are affected by their emotions.

“The documents and evidences are what decide any case and not emotions. The judge can’t issue a verdict that is opposite to what is proven by the evidence,” she concluded.

Some people are against the idea of having women as judges. “I believe that women are led by their emotions, so they are not qualified to be judges and decide people’s fates, especially in very serious cases, as with the death sentence. I won’t trust her verdict if my c ase was j udged by a w om a n, ” stressed 52-year-old Fadi.

Other men, to the contrary, support her appointment as a judge. “When a verdict giving her the right to be a judge was issued by the court, this

meant that the woman deserves this post. In addition, the Kuwaiti woman worked as a lawyer for many years and proved her ability. I think that this right is a natural and expected step in improving and developing the judicial w or k i n K uw a i t , ” s a i d 26-ye a r -ol d Ahmad.

Even the opinions of women on this issue differ. 41-year-old Ibtisam is against having a woman judge, as she sees this from a religious perspective.

“Islam didn’t allow women to work as judges, according to some religious opinions that I read and heard. Also, I don’t think there is a serious or actual need for women judges. On the other hand, if she was appointed a judge and I had a case in front of her, I would trust her judgment,” she pointed out.

Me a nw hi l e , 30-ye a r -ol d Ma ha s t r ongl y s up p or t s t hi s i d e a a nd believes that women have the needed sense of judgment. “I think that in some cases we need a judge to be compassionate, especially in some humanitarian cases. The judge must have sympathy and emotions in such judged case, and women are more emotional than men. In most countries around the world there are women judges, and we have not heard that women were banned from doing this job after they had begun working as judges,” she explained.

Theft gang in custody

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: Police have received several reports about thefts taking place at shops and restaurants in the Jabriya area.

Reporters have also passed on to the police, photographs of thieves culled from surveillance camera footage.

Based on the information and photographs given to police, detectives were able to identify the involvement of a gang of thieves, which reportedly con-

sists of four persons. The gang is made up of two Kuwaitis and two bedoons, who were arrested after the police took the necessary legal permissions.

They have confessed to their crimes and admitted that they had broken into several shops. The accused also identified for the police detectives, the stores that they have robbed. Some of the stolen items were recovered from the accused, who have been sent to the concerned authorities.

GCC Women Forum starts

Fahoodi kids go back to school with ABK

Stewart Lockie KUWAIT: Al-Ahli Bank of Kuwait is proud to announce the first three winners of its popular “Save More and Win with Fahoodi” back to school campaign! The first weekly draw for 3 iPads took place at the Head Office and the young, lucky winners to receive the exciting prizes are Ahmed Jaleel Al-Qattan from Sabah Branch, Fatima Mohammed Al-Khaldi from Farwaniya Branch and Maria Ali Saleh from Qurain Branch.

These three winners are the first to win as part of the ongoing Back to School campaign that is currently running exclusively for Fahoodi account holders. Eligible

Fahoodi customers are automatically entered into a weekly draw for 3 iPads, which are sure to provide them a great start to the new academic year. Draws will now be held every week, and the fourth and final draw on 14th October 2012 will not only be for iPads but also for a magnificent grand prize - the Macbook Pro laptop.

Stewart Lockie, General Manager of Retail Banking stated that, “The response to this campaign has been very positive!

Fahoodi account holders have been eagerly awaiting the results of the first draw and I am sure that they will be just as excited to know who will win all the weekly draws up until the final draw on Oct 14. After all it could be any of them!”

Lockie continued, “ABK encourages students to secure their future by ensuring their finances are well looked after in order to fulfill their dreams of a brighter tomorrow. A minimum deposit of KD20 ensures that all Fahoodi account holders have a chance of winning one of the weekly draws for 3 iPads and also a chance of being the lucky winner of the Macbook Pro laptop.”

Any child 14 years of age or under can obtain a Fahoodi Account and gain immediate admittance into the draw, and existing account holders can also be a part of it with a minimum deposit of KD 20. The campaign ends on 14th October 2012.

KUWAIT: GCC Women Forum and Investment Chances starts tomorrow in the presence of a large number of high-ranking officials and businesswomen, experts, project owners, financing parties and other concerned organizations who will come together to support businesswomen in the GCC states.

The organizing committee announced the names of speakers in the forum activities which lasts for two days. In the opening session on the first day of the forum, the speakers are sponsor Sheikha Aydah Salem Al-Ali Al-Sabah, and Nabeela AlAnjari, Chairman of the Organizing Committee and Director of Leaders Group Company for construction and development. After the opening ceremony, the first

session will start titled, “GCC investments and suitable chances for women,” which is run by Bothell College for Girls. The speakers for this session are Shaikha Dr Hind AlQasemi, Deputy Director of Businesswomen Council in UAE and Dr Nadia Al-Dawsari, Chairman of Al-Seal Eastern Company for Iron in Saudi Arabia.

From Kuwait, Sara Akbar, CEO and founding member of Kuwait Energy Company Engineer, and Ayesha Budastour, Chairman of Broctor Contracting Co and from Oman, Kamela Bent Ali Ben Nasser Al-Noufi, CEO of World of Natural Stones. The second session will be about small projects and investments which are suitable for women and will be chaired by Dr Maasouma AlMubarak, former minister and MP.

their studies. “The education process has started smoothly in all schools with no unexpected obstacles of any kind,” he said.

He went on to reveal that the Ministry of Public Works is putting the final touches on 11 new schools in several governorates. —KUNA

News

in brief

New road projects KUWAIT: The Director of the Highways Department at the Ministry of Public Works, Engr Abdelaziz Al-Sabah, said that the ministry is currently in the middle of preparations for approving four new roads projects that will be completed at a cost of KD 200 million. He said the projects will include the development of the Damascus and Cairo streets, as well as the Second and Third Ring Road and will be aimed at enhancing the efficiency and performance of these roadways. Al-Sabah added that the department was also awaiting the approval of the Council of Ministers for 11 other development projects, whose cost has been pegged at KD 750 million along with the construction of the Jaber Bridge at a total cost of KD 750 million. Meanwhile, the Al-Doha section of the highway is expected to cost KD 200 million. He also pointed out that the total coast of these proposed roads projects will be KD 1.50 billion, adding that the Ministry had formulated an ambitious plan, which would need the cooperation of all parties involved for its fulfillment.

Payroll structure alternative KUWAIT: Well-informed sources at the Civil Services Commission (CSC) stressed that the CSC will not consider any further demands for pay hikes, once the strategic alternative for payroll structure, which will be used as a fixed reference for all wages is implemented by January, following the Cabinet’s request. The sources added that the Cabinet had expressed its dissatisfaction with the disparity existent in the salaries of citizens, who have the same qualifications and job titles. “This move was prompted by the reluctance of Kuwaiti youth to work in certain government establishments, while hundreds of them were finding opportunities with good financial incentives in other departments,” the sources said.

Women’s entry into judiciary KUWAIT: Kuwait’s Attorney General Dherar AlAssoussi has announced his personal support for a move to accept female law and Sharia graduates to work in the field of public prosecution and the judiciary on an equal footing with men. Al-Assoussi stated that he was offering his support especially in light of the fact that both constitutional and judicial regulations have lifted the ban on women, which had earlier disallowed them from working in these fields. He added that during its last meeting, the Supreme Judiciary Council (SJC) had emphasized that based on principals of equality; women should be allowed to join both these bodies. Commenting on the recent demonstrations held against the pronouncement of certain verdicts or prosecutorial decisions, Al-Assoussi said that the protests, which had never been seen in Kuwait before would be short-lived. “They must be ended and prevented, regardless of their motives and reasons,” he underlined, reminding that gatherings or parades that included a congregation of over 20 people are considered illegal and such people can be incriminated by law, unless authorized otherwise by the Interior Ministry. Further, Al-Assoussi stated that the recent amendments in proceedings law, which have reduced suspects’ detention period, are inappropriate in many cases, especially those which involve public funds. This was because the amendment stipulates the release of certain dangerous suspects who might flee from Kuwait if they were foreigners, he added.

High water wastage KUWAIT: Administrative reports released by the MEW have revealed that water amounting to 40 million imperial gallons is wasted on a daily basis. It further said that the source of the wastage is unknown and that the water that is being wasted is the surplus amount left over between production and consumption.

The percentage of daily water wastage has been pegged at eight percent. The sources remarked that the percentage of wastage was very high and despite various attempts made by the technical team to monitor the production plants and supply lines, the source of the water wastage was still unknown. They added that wastage occurring on account of pipe leakage is no more than 0.09 percent of the total water production.

Dr. Maasouma Al-Mubarak

Ayesha Budastour

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

LOCAL

New TV channel to broadcast opposition news, projects Al-Saadoun to be main speaker at Iradah Square

By A. Saleh KUWAIT: Top opposition figure Ahmad AlSaadoun is set to be the main speaker during a demonstration to be held this evening on the eve of a Constitutional Court ruling which will determine the constitutionality of the electoral law, a member of the opposition Majority Bloc has announced. Al-Saadoun will be joined by Falah Al-Sawagh, Jamaan AlHarbash, Khalid Al-Tahous and representatives of political groups, according to Badr AlDahoum, who released a statement following a meeting for the bloc hosted at his dewaniya Saturday night. “Discussions focused on [today’s] demonstration at the Iradah Square, which will be historic in making a point regarding the government’s practices”, AlDahoum said.

Meanwhile, Al-Dahoum announced that a TV station would begin operating to represent the opposition and will be named Nahj TV (Arabic for approach). The TV station is to be named after an opposition group with the same name which oversees demonstrations held against a potential action by the Cabinet to amend the electoral law. “Nahj TV is going to be the platform from which the opposition broadcasts its news and announces its projects”, Al-Dajoum said, further describing the channel’s goals in “refuting the organized campaign of making accusations without proof against the bloc’s members”. And while

indicating that the bloc plans to meet tomorrow at Dr Hamad Al-Mutar’s dewaniya to discuss the next step to be taken after the court’s ruling, Al-Dahoum reiterated the bloc’s position in “planning to boycott elections if any tampering with the constituencies is made”.

In the meantime, MP Saleh Ashour argued that the Majority Bloc is losing popularity “after failing to tackle the real needs of the public in favor of addressing personal issues”, adding, at the same time, that oppositionists are not likely to gain a majority if elections are held as per the current system “because people’s convictions have changed”.

Ashour also speculated that the 5-constituencies system proved to be unsuitable for Kuwaiti society “due to its results”, arguing that a better system would divide Kuwait into ten constituencies and allow citizens to vote once, instead of having four votes.

Meanwhile, former MP and minister Shuwaib Al-Muwaizri said that “decisions to meet certain public demands can help the Cabinet attain temporary popularity, but won’t help them decide what they believe is a war against the opposition. The government won’t be able to stop people from asking about their wealth, which was stolen by a few corrupt individuals”, he added in a statement yesterday.

Female prosecutors The Ministry of Justice plans to accept appli-

cations from Kuwaiti women to work as prosecutors starting today (Monday), while registration will continue until October 8, 2012, according to sources. This happened after the Supreme Judicial Council agreed to accept applications from female candidates, though applying had been restricted to male applicants in the past.

Chapter VII sanctions An Iraqi bloc is urging politicians in Iraq to “take a unified stance to help free Iraq from Chapter VII sanctions” in conjunction with the 67th session of the General Assembly of the United Nations. They further require that Iraq “does not seek to appease any party, particularly Kuwait”, in achieving that goal. “The responsibility to free Iraq from Chapter VII sanctions is on the shoulders of all Iraqi politicians”, said spokesperson of the Free Iraqi Coalition Aliya Nussaiyef in a recent statement, calling on her peers to “put their differences aside and unify their positions to come up with a single stance on foreign policy” in conjunction with the UN session.

Power cuts Electricity will be cut in certain blocks in AlZahra, Al-Mangaf and Al-Mahboulah for five hours daily until Thursday to allow for maintenance of secondary transformers. This was announced by the Ministry of Electricity and Water, which indicated that the power cut would last from 7:30 am till 12:30 pm.

Envoy praises Egyptian Leadership Development Center CAIRO: Kuwait’s Ambassador to Egypt Dr. Rasheed Al-Hamad has praised the professional performance, quality and commitment of the Egyptian Leadership Development Center of the Egyptís Business Administration.

This came at the shutting down of Conference and Workshop (change management and strategic organizations future) that took place in Cairo, over the five days at the Leadership Development Center of Business Administration in cooperation with the Arab Company for Computer Services -

AIMS, with the participation of 12 leaders of the government, Kuwaiti private sector, and Kuwaiti Undersecretary for the Central Tenders Committee Faisal AlGhareeb.

Al-Hamad said he was studying the cooperation with the Centre to take advantage of its capabilities in organizing some events organized by the embassy, stressing that cooperation between Kuwait and Egypt would cover all areas.

The Kuwaiti participants praised the scientific content of the conference and professional

News

in brief

Securitization to resolve insolvency?

KUWAIT: The government is studying a recommendation to securitize defaulters’ loans by changing them into stocks and bonds that are put for exchange in a bid to solve the problem. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry which made the recommendation believes that it can be a “suitable and effective solution to the defaulters’ problem” by helping getting rid of illiquid assets. “Securitization helps restore flow of cash that can be used in more profitable credit channels”, the ministry said in a letter obtained by a local daily yesterday. “This project helps clean the local market from frozen debts and allows for restructuring credit portfolios in a way that enables banks to meet the suitability requirements of the Basel Committee”, the letter further read.

Psychiatric dept at hospitals KUWAIT: Head of the Clinical Psychological Services Unit at Kuwait Center for Psychological Health (KCPH), Amnah Al-Robai’ee said that psychiatric departments will be opened at various public hospitals soon and that it will be manned by full teams comprising of psychiatrists, a socio-psychologist and a nursing staff. “These are meant to reduce the load and pressure on KCPH and will also provide the necessary medication”, she said. Speaking on the sidelines of a training course held by her unit for psychiatrists on how to handle cases referred by various clinics, Al-Roba’ee announced forming a new technical structure for psychiatrists to include special teams for schizophrenia, stress, anxieties, mood disorders, geriatric psychological diseases, forensic psychology, general children and teen psychology.

Internet price decrease KUWAIT: Sources at the communications ministry said that Salem Al-Othaina, Minister of Social Affairs and Labor will take a decision on decreasing Internet service prices by tomorrow. The sources added that the decision will be taken after the ministry reduced the prices of renting Internet circuits to the local Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Further, the sources said that the price reduction was suggested two months ago at a meeting between the ministry’s communication committee and the local ISPs where the ministry demanded reducing prices by 50 percent which was rejected. “However, upon an agreement made between one of the local ISPs and one of the minster’s advisors without consulting the communications committee, a decision will be taken in two days to reduce the prices by 40 percent”, explained the sources noting that the ISPs tend to ask the government to subsidize their services.

‘Andalusia Day’ in Cairo CAIRO: The Foundation of Abdulaziz Saud AlBabtain’s Prize for Poetic Creativity is to sponsor a major cultural conference entitled “Andalusia Day” on Wednesday at the Egyptian capital. The Kuwaiti foundation noted that several elite academics specialized in Andalusian studies would be taking part in the conference, which is held in cooperation with Egypt’s Beit Al-Sinary, an Alexandria Library affiliate in the Sayida Zainab neighborhood of Cairo, it said in a press statement.

performance of the owners of the leadersí centers.

Director of the center Yahya Hussein Hadi said that the practical job experience for the participants contributes to the enrichment of the conference sessions, which come as a link in the chain of events that reflect the status of the center between Arabs.

He added that the Kuwaiti participants are at the forefront of Arab participants in the centerís programs ‘not only because Kuwait is the most Arab country interested in training as a tool to

achieve excellence, but because of the great history of cooperation between the two countries.’

He also said that ‘in the time in which some Arab requested to postpone some conferences outside Egypt because of the image conveyed by some media about the security situation in Egypt, the Kuwaitis participants insisted to hold the conference in Cairo, and to take tours in the heart of Cairo (Hussein - sur Azbakia - Nile) as a reassuring message to all Arabs ‘that the situation in Egypt normal. — KUNA

Kuwaiti high-level delegation kicks off activities in NY UNITED NATIONS: His Highness the Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, representative of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah AlAhmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, and the accompanying highLevel delegation began diplomatic activities on Saturday on the margins of the General Assembly’s yearly debate.

Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak is scheduled to meet with Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to discuss Kuwait’s active role in the Organisation, as well as other regional and international issues.

Kuwaiti Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, member of the high-level delegation to the work of the Assembly, met on Saturday with his Omani counterpart Yousuf Bin Alawi Bin Abdullah to discuss bilateral, regional and international issues of common interest.

Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled also had an “intensive” meeting with Martin Kobler, the UN Special Representative and Head of the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI).

Kobler said he had the opportunity to meet with Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled in the past and that they are in “regular contact.” “The week where the Prime and Foreign Ministers are here in New York, it is very important to bring the Kuwaiti-Iraqi file ahead,” he said following the meeting.

Asked what “new arrangements” both countries are exploring to tighten their cooperation, as suggested by the Secretary General in his latest report, Kobler said that it is the joint Kuwaiti-Iraqi Committees which are dealing with this issue.

He added that HH the Amir’s “historic” visit to Baghdad earlier this year to attend the Arab League Summit “gave the whole file of the Kuwaiti-Iraqi relations a push. And I am very happy about this.”

He said “the UN has a mandate to take care of the whole Chapter VII issues, which is a problem for the Iraqis. They want to get out of Chapter VII, and the only way out is to fulfil its obligations, and that’s what we are working on together with the Kuwaiti and Iraqi side.”

“I am very happy that there is such a dense interaction in terms of Committees, working group meetings and also high-ranking visitors from both sides,” he stressed. On whether he is ready to include under UNAMI’s mandate the job of the UN High-Level Coordinator for Kuwaiti missing persons and property Gennady Tarasov after he leaves office later this year, Kobler said it is up to the Security Council to decide. Kuwait recently suggested to the UN to appoint a UN High-Level representative to deal with all outstanding Kuwaiti-Iraqi issues once Tarasov is gone.

“It is not up to me to decide, because Chapter VII issues are matters of the Security Council, so it is the Security Council to decide what happens, whether the provisions were fulfilled, how the progress is, they will evaluate the Secretary General’s reports,” he explained.

He said Tarasov’s mandate is continuing until the end of the year and the Council members will have to discuss what will happen after that. Asked if Iraq is on the right track fulfilling all its obligations, he said that after the “historic” exchange of visits between the leaders of the two countries, “I am confident that we can keep the dynamic in order to overcome the burden and to progress on the missing persons, on the border questions, and I am confident that we are going to manage, the Kuwaiti Government is going to manage with the political goodwill and also the Iraqi side.” — KUNA

KUWAIT: Kuwait roads witnessed heavy traffic in the morning and afternoon as secondary and elementary schools reopened yesterday. Helicopters were used to monitor traffic. The education process has started smoothly in all schools with no unexpected obstacles of any kind.

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MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

LOCAL kuwait digest

in my view

Serving the public

Last hope for Syria

By Abdullatif Al-Duaij

By Ali Al-Sarraf he recent corruption scandal, which reveals that people close to the opposition were illegally allowed to take military courses provided by the Ministry of Interior, is not surprising because ‘wasta’ or drawing illegal benefits has become the norm in this country. Lawmakers who were elected to the parliament through the support extended by tribesmen or sectarian groups, now feel compelled to return the favor one way or another, or in other words, through benefits such as exceptions, dropped fines, or any other means of embezzlement practiced by the executive and legislative authorities.

Drawing illegal benefits is not a trait exclusive to the opposition. It has been practiced and supported by the government since the institution of the 1971 Parliament. In today’s scenario, where underemployment dominates state departments and widespread unemployment is a harsh reality in modern-day Kuwait, competing for government jobs has become necessary.

I always believed that illegally utilizing the state’s services to win voters’ appeal is far more dangerous than bribing. A person who bribes a voter pays from their own pocket, whereas someone who offers the chance to make unauthorized use of state services is actually stealing from the state. A ‘wasta’ often helps someone obtain a job or service that another person was entitled to. This practice is a lot more serious than offering bribes, which saw constituencies being changed with a hope for fighting similar practices.

I believe that fighting the practice of paying bribes in elections was started to improve the chances of MPs winning voters’ support by providing good services. No one can say for sure if increasing the number of constituencies will eliminate the tradition of bribes or providing services illegally. A candidate offers voters in order to achieve popularity, which is the basis on which Kuwaiti voters cast their vote. That is because political groups in Kuwait do not have a political agenda that they can present before the public.

Therefore, even if Kuwait is turned into a single constituency, the road to guaranteeing votes will always be through ‘serving voters’. Whether we have one or 50 constituencies, services for the people will remain one of the major demands made by Kuwaiti citizens. If we take into consideration a scenario where capabilities will decline and competition for state services will increase, you can imagine how the demands voters will make of an MP who can help them finish their transactions. — Al-Qabas

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kuwait digest

A glimmer of hope

By Dr Sulaiman Al-Khadhari ay after day I become more convinced that one of the main reasons behind our deterioration in many fields is simply... idleness.

Yes, it’s the state of idleness that leads the entire country to stop moving forward because of a political crisis that affects most aspects of life in Kuwait even leading people to become more and more depressed.

But saying that making changes in all aspects of life can be achieved through changing the political reality is debatable, since there are many who believe that state departments can achieve advancements and improved administrative structures on their own.

These opinions, however, don’t get their fair share of attention, given the huge attention to political demands such as elected cabinets and constitutional amendments, raised as the solution for all of our problems.

Despite that, there is evidence that proves that supporting each institution to overcome obstacles on its own is not less important than political slogans raised currently. There are many governmental bodies that managed to shine and garner much respect, despite having limited support.

The Faculty of Medicine at the Kuwait University is an example of a successful institution in my country. In fact, it was and still is a source of huge pride and puzzlement for me. First, I feel proud because it graduated many Kuwaiti doctors who proved themselves on the international stage.

However, the fact that it was able to achieve success, despite the deterioration in the state as well as the country’s education sector, is something I find very puzzling!

I know my complimentary statements are undermined by the fact that I’m a med school alumni and current instructor at the faculty. But take a look at this news report: “The Faculty of Medicine, led by Dean Dr. Adel Khedhr, won the Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum award as the best faculty of medicine in the Arab World”. Some might find this news surprising, but it’s not for people who really know the faculty. This award offers a glimmer of hope that gives us reason to remain optimistic, despite how dark the situation we live in today is. — Al-Rai

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here is only one reason that pushes the regime in Damascus to continue with its arrogance and killing of innocent civilians. The regime, which has proven to be mad, has nothing left but the support they get from Iran, Russia and China; through which they can only continue with their arrogance and turn the war against their people into daily massacres.

The Arab League presented several initiatives for solutions, and made so many resolutions, but to no avail. They even went to the United Nations seeking international pressure that might force President Bashar Al-Assad to step down or convince his regime that preparing for a transition of power is the best thing they can do for themselves. But the regime in Damascus actually realizes this fact, and has utilized it in the opposite direction: turning clashes with the people into massacres throughout Syria.

There’s no need for weeping anymore. The blood that is shed everyday has left no room for screaming or crying.

There are so many shocking incidents that can drive us mad. But after madness, the mind must look into the limited political options available to come out of the ordeal.

Would the international efforts and Arab pressures including Lakhdar Brahimi’s mission - allow for an opportunity for a solution?

Ask Brahimi himself, and he would tell you that his mission is impossible. We are dealing with a regime that doesn’t allow any chance for reform, cannot live with change or give any concession to their people. That is because they believe - and rightfully so - that any change or concession, no matter how small it would be, would signal the beginning of their end.

Can any step for change start with less than releasing political prisoners and stopping prosecution of oppositionists? If that’s not possible, then the regime in Damascus will continue to find such a small change a threat to its existence. Why? Because it’s a regime that cannot stand the presence of active oppositionists, or even accept a single word of criticism. It’s a regime that cannot live without intimidation.

How can we except a regime like that to accept any kind of change? Any kind of reform, no matter how slight it might be, is impossible for a regime that feeds on oppression, injustice and violating people’s rights. If the Syrian regime stops depending on bribes and thefts alone, it will crumble in less than 24 hours. Not because the government wouldn’t be able to stop the thieves, but because the thieves would give up on the government since siding with the opposition could become more profitable.

The truth is, this regime cannot, under any circumstances, do anything but this: convince its Shabiha militia that the people’s revolution can be crushed so they can regain what they have lost during this crisis.

Therefore, there is no hope whatsoever in achieving anything through concessions or compromises. Military action, on the other hand, seems nonsense as well. There is no country that can or wants to take part in a war launched to force the Syrian regime out of power. That’s not out of fear of international tensions as a result of military confrontation, but because taking that route might force countries that take part in such war into a swamp where there would be no way out. This swamp can consume huge resources without receiving anything in return, especially in dealing with a country that lacks resources through which compensation can be made.

Syria isn’t Iraq, resources-wise. Nevertheless, the invaders/liberators opted to leave the swamp created in Iraq to stop the economic, military and emotional drain. A similar swamp in Syria would be even dirtier, because the socio-political fabric will disintegrate into more than just three large components, as is the case in Iraq, but into a crowd of conflicting components that can never be placed under control.

Armed resistance from the inside might seem to be the only solution, but in light of the regime’s supremacy and the continuing Iranian-Russian-Chinese support it’s getting, such an option means a long-term war and unlimited drain, with so much destruction that it would kill any opportunity for creating a regime with enough political and moral capabilities to ensure that conflicting groups won’t carry out revenge against innocent civilians. The increasing emigration process, which stands today at nearly 3 million people, reveals something that many don’t notice: the armed resistance is committing suicide. People running away from bombardment also run away from their responsibility to face the systematic oppression, which increases the resistance’s isolation. This means that the battle will never turn into a comprehensive civil disobedience, since civilians who leave the battle ground leave everything behind to seek one thing: survival. This doesn’t provide assurance that a “liberation war” would be successful. It only promises to turn Syria into a swamp of the afraid on the one hand, and a swamp of the runaways on the other. In such a catastrophic scenario, there is only one solution that can be achieved. It needs for the Arab League to take a decision that requires a little bit of courage, yet remains possible, practical and effective at the same time.

After managing to kick out Syria’s ambassadors, recall ambassadors in Damascus, suspend Syria’s membership and force an increasing international isolation on the regime, the Arab League can send a firm warning to Iran, Russia and China through a comprehensive severing of diplomatic ties unless they stop providing support to the Syrian regime.

Such decision isn’t too much to take in order to save people dying every day for the past year and a half. It wouldn’t be asking Arab countries too much to take a unified stance and tell supporters of the arrogant regime that their interests, or at least diplomatic presence, can be threatened as long as their support continues. It definitely wouldn’t be much to ask when saving the relationship with a great people would be on the line.

Diplomatic ties can be restored, and bilateral interests wouldn’t be damaged much. Every loss can be compensated in the future. But by a unified bold step, we can stop the killing machine from taking more lives.

Arab countries, especially Gulf states, took a unified step in 1973 when they cut oil supplies to every party supporting the Israeli aggression. The threat to Gulf states’ security was greater at that time. Meanwhile, severing diplomatic ties with Iran, Russia and China is less costly today than the decision taken in 1973. Even if they formed a geographical or economic power, the influence of these three countries isn’t similar to that of Europe and the United States during the 1970s. And because of their continuous support of a barbaric regime, these three countries suffer a horrible case of moral bankruptcy, which makes the boycott option even more effective.

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kuwait digest

Urgent need for national museum

By Mudaffar Abdullah How will future generations or people visiting t’s shameful that an over 300 years old nation state like Kuwait does not have a national the country learn about the historical significance museum for exhibiting the history of its people of Kuwaiti events or figures, or even the tools and — both mainland and maritime. Obviously, muse- belongings of Kuwaiti people who lived through ums are set up to preserve peoples’ history, to different phases of history, unless they were fully proudly show it off to the world and to immortal- and technologically documented and saved through the use of latest museum technologies? ize those who are deserving.

Unfortunately, our national museum that over- Has any of us seen a diving chart or know anylooks the Gulf Road is in a terrible shape. It has thing about the life of Bedouin women and their been deserted and rarely gets any visitors because role in running family errands in a very tough it has been left unattended. Visitors only stop by desert environment? What do we know about the role of urban women during diving seasons? Who while on their way to attend stage concerts.

On the other hand, many citizens have com- knows anything about the role that foreigners mendably set up their own museums at a personal played in constructing Kuwait? There are so many expense in their houses or in buildings they own, questions, but they have limited answers stored in the form of antiques scatsuch as the Rajab Museum tered across private resiin Jabriya and the AlOur national museum that dences or stored and forTuraiji Museum in Faiha, gotten in warehouses by which are really worth a overlooks the Gulf Road is in a some establishment. visit because of the range terrible shape. It has been desertThere is a group of of priceless contents that ed and rarely gets any visitors Kuwaiti heritage and histoare on display there. ry researchers whose work We have completely because it has been left unatcan be used to set up a lost the oppor tunit y of tended. Visitors only stop by national museum that we documenting Kuwait’s hiswhile on their way to attend can all be proud of. The tory in terms of trade, divwork of many scholars is ing and sea travels. We stage concerts. also documented as T V don’t have a documented interviews or articles that record of Bedouin life, poetry, history and great figures, either. The lack will soon be forgotten if efforts are not made to of these historical records can diminish our history verify the information contained in them. These and render the current generation indifferent to scholars must be made use of to build such a its rich heritage or let them lose sight of it, which sought after museum. We can also take the help of undergraduates, who annually travel to countries would truly be a terrible crime.

Kuwait is an Arab country that is open to others like Italy and New Zealand for studying archaeoloand has many connections. It also has a communi- gy, tourism and museums.

As someone who has been work ing in the ty full of immigrants belonging to many cultures that managed, over time, to share one language National Assembly for a long time, I wonder about the whereabouts of the original copies of the 1932 and the love for this country.

It was actually Kuwait’s openness that shaped and the 1962 constitution, as well as the chair its history, fame and worthiness as well as the title used by the speaker of the first Parliament. Why ‘The land of Arabs’. With these facts in mind, it can’t our history be preserved under one roof? All would be unforgivable to let the stories stemming these questions need to be answered by our from all those long centuries go undocumented or young Information Minister, Sheikh Mohammed Al-Abdullah. — Aljarida unregistered.

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kuwait digest

Bringing back Women’s Party

By Dr Nada Sulaiman Al-Mutawwa e may sometimes disagree with the nature from within the four most powerful parties, but they of political work but, nevertheless, we still lost the elections. Today, Kuwaiti women have should take cues and benefit from the many been forgotten by reformers and I recall that reform stories and experiences of other countries. Russia is projects back in 2005 focused on women as the one of those countries that went through various main element of development. At the time, we stages of democratization. The country’s Women’s responded so enthusiastically to allowing women a Party is an embodiment of the efforts Russian place in the parliament, but nowadays we only see competent women being women put into the transialienated from mainstream tion, even though they evenToday, Kuwaiti women have politics. tually did not make it to the Unfortunately, lawmakparliament. been forgotten by reformers ers also spared no effort to A few years ago, as a and I recall that reform projects use the early retirement Kuwaiti activist interested in back in 2005 focused on women excuse to prevent women spreading democratization from assuming senior posiworldwide, I had the honor as the main element of developtions, as a result of which of attending and speaking at ment. At the time, we responded women are no longer a part the Election Reform Forum. so enthusiastically to allowing of the political game. What The Russian story began can we do? in 1993 with former presiwomen a place in the parliaThe current state of dent Boris Yeltsin passing ment, but nowadays we only see affairs demands that those the first electoral law after competent women being alienwho are pro-human and the fall of the Soviet Union. women rights, and those The Russian reform started ated from mainstream politics. who are demanding justice, with writing a new constituexert more effort to help tion, reviving the Federal Society, which is responsible for legislation and com- women assume leadership positions.

They should also help in making women more prises of two councils; the DOMA-elected by the people every four years and the Supreme Federal politically aware before they launch their political Council that includes representatives from the exec- careers and have to deal with men’s political monopoly at senior positions as well as their irreutives and the legislators of all 89 Russian regions.

During the course of this change, Russian women sponsible political practices, such as speaking on the formed a political party named the, “Russian Women behalf of the Kuwaiti people, the way MPs do in a party” and qualified for contesting in the elections determination yard! — Al-Jarida

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MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

local

Dead end scenario for some expats: Is there a way out?

Unfortunate experiences

By Ben Garcia KUWAIT: Ever y expat living in Kuwait can probably recall a memorable event that took place during their stay in the country as well as one, which they hope had never taken place. A Syrian family, which was living in Kuwait for several years, but eventually returned to Syria two years ago, is now battling to reacquire their residency permit, as the situation in Syria continues to deteriorate. But re-acquiring Kuwaiti residency is not easy.

Syrians were banned from entering Kuwait, which was implemented way before the ‘Arab Spring’ began almost two years ago.

Syrians, who were already here, were allowed to stay, but new visa applications are not being accepted but for exceptional circumstances. Kuwaiti authorities can now only process a new visa application for Syrians, if the children in the family are less than 12 years old. However, Nader’s children are 16 and 13 years old, respectively and will now be unable to rejoin him in Kuwait.

“I took a decision to send my family back to Syria, because their staying longer in Kuwait was making it harder for me to save any money. I remember telling my wife that I will only stay on for two years in Kuwait, after which I will return and settle down in Syria with my family. We agreed upon these conditions, but circumstances changed so quickly,” he recalled.

Only a year later, the Arab Spring began rendering the current environment in Syria unpredictable and highly volatile. “I swear to God, I want them back here, but it is difficult to get that done these days,” Nader lamented.

He added that he was unwilling to pay a bribe in order to get his family back into Kuwait.

“I couldn’t afford to pay a ‘wasta’ or bribe. I heard that if I pay KD3,000 I can have my family rejoin me here. But it is too much for me to pay and I am praying for their safety all the time and doing my best to get them back here,” he

stated. Along with Syrians, Iraqis, Pakistanis, Afghanis, Iranians and Yemenis were also banned from Kuwait in 2010 for security reasons. The ban is yet to be lifted.

Meanwhile, a Filipino man named Oscar was caught unawares when he asked his employer to release him from his current job.

On being released by the company immediately, the man was given a one month notice for acquiring a transfer visa. The company told him to look for a new employer within a month or he would be deported back to his country of origin. Oscar embarked on a job hunting spree but even after a month, he was unable to find a job where the company would transfer his residency. The reason for this was that he has a pending complaint filed with the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor (Shuon) against an old employer for nonpayment of salary and overtime pay. His case has not been resolved till now which has added to his extended agony of being without a work visa. His case with the MSAL has also delayed his transfer to a new employer.

Since then, he has been apprehending an arrest by the immigration authorities because his current visa expired. “I was supposed to finish my case in Shuon way long back, but my company refused to attend any hearing so here I am in Kuwait without a visa,” Oscar said.

After finally deciding to leave the country, Oscar found that he could not do so because he was a co-signed as a guarantor for a loan extended by an electronic company. The person who had taken the loan had left the country and never returned, leaving Oscar in the lurch. He could not leave the countr y unless he repaid the huge amount. “I have to repay the remaining KD475 balance of his loan, because of which I am unable to go home, even if I want to. I need to repay a loan, which I never utilized.”

With his visa having expired, Oscar is now an illegal in Kuwait, desperately looking for work to raise the loan repayment amount for the electronic company and is trying to avoid an immigration penalty at the same time.

Another Filipino expat named

Br yan also had to undergo an unfor tunate experience. Even though he had been living in Kuwait for 25 years and worked at a cargo company, he was left stranded and without a work visa after his company suddenly shut up shop. He tried to find a new job but failed to do so. . To survive, he started running illegal gambling activities at home, but was unable to sustain his family. The money he earned barely covered his food expenses and his monthly rent.

When he realized that he would be unable to provide for his child, who was living with him at that time, he decided to send him back to his native country.

“I want to thank my country’s embassy for helping me send my child home. Even if I want to go back to the Philippines, I will be on the run because I have a pending criminal case filed by police against me. I had once rented a car but never returned it,” he admitted.

Nader, Oscar and Bryan are only three examples of the many other hopeless cases of expatriates in Kuwait who are desperately looking for a way out.

KUWAIT: Cleaning operations in progress in Capital Governorate yesterday. Minister of Electricity and Water and State Minister for Municipal Affairs Abdulaziz Al-Ibrahim said that his ministry gives top priority to the cleaning campaign and it will continue all over Kuwait during the coming days. — Photos by Hanan Al-Saadoun

Govt officials under scanner

NECK chief blasts anti-Islam film KUWAIT: The head of the National Evangelical Church in Kuwait (NECK) and Deputy Chairman of Islamic-Christian Relations Council, Rev Emmanuel Ghareeb, has rejected the film that insulted the messenger. Rev Ghareeb, who was speaking on behalf of the NECK and ICRC, as well as the Christian Churches Union in Kuwait said, “We reject insulting any religious symbol, be it Christian or Muslim, especially when it is related to Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), messenger of Islam, who is followed and revered by more than 1.5 billion Muslims.”

Rev Ghareeb said the film

“contradicts our principles as Christians and clashes with what the holy book urged us to do, as well as Christ.” He added, “ The film did not harm only Muslims, but Christians also,” and he criticized the tragic reactions that followed the incident and demanded such reactions be controlled and avoid extremism.

Also, Ghareeb lauded HH the Amir’s support of Christians in Kuwait, through his emphasis on respecting religions and religious beliefs. He said HH the Amir’s wisdom contributed to having Kuwaiti Christians enjoy security and stability in this land of peace and said the

Kuwait government is cooperative with Kuwait’s Christians and answers their requests and provides them with a variety of protection.

He added that religious dialogue should continue, and pointed out that ICRC is exerting tremendous efforts to bring the two religions closer, both domestically and abroad.

Ghareeb criticized how some MPs are behaving, in violation of the Constitution, and the low language they use among themselves. He said the Constitution must be followed, citizens must respect others and cooperate with the government to keep Kuwait safe.

KUWAIT: The legal committee comprising the Council of Ministers, in cooperation with the Civil Service Commission has completed a roadmap, which will be used for evaluating the performance of undersecretaries and all Ministry heads. The roadmap will be used to place these officials under constant supervision and to check and evaluate their performance during the next six months. A ministerial source said that the project will be followed by a set of general guidelines being issued that will be used to judge the performance and assess the productivity of every official. The performance of the officials will then be compared with their proposed developmental plans and projects.

The source further stated that the Council of Ministers will supervise this process by establishing a special committee that will determine based on performance as to how successful or unsuccessful a leader is, and will take the necessary action against him based on this assessment as well bearing in mind an evaluation that will be made

every six months.

The source pointed out that the procedure is in line with the proposal suggested

by HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad, for overcoming developmental hurdles and achieving the required economic development. He added that the committee, which will be jointly formed by the Civil Service Commission and the Council of Ministers, will produce a special form for evaluating the performance of undersecretaries and Ministry heads. This assessment will be used to make a suitable and objective evaluation of their performance and productivity.

The form, which was not available before, has been introduced after several Audit Bureau reports revealed a major laxity in the performance of ministries, undersecretaries and political leaders, especially with regard to development projects. The project is being considered as the most notable reform move introduced for fighting administrative corruption and boosting governmental performance, the source said.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

LOCAL

Search on for woman suspected of blackmail Police officer helps fugitive escape KUWAIT: Investigations are being conducted into a case where a woman was accused of blackmailing bank customers as well as threatening them with harassment charges.

Shuwaikh detectives launched investigations after receiving several complaints from men, who each reportedly paid KD20 for the woman’s services. However, after taking the money, she either demanded more, or started screaming for help, while accusing the men of sexually assaulting her. The complainants provided similar descriptions for the woman; who reportedly used to approach her victims late at night after seeing them using an ATM. The police have requested surveillance tapes of cameras installed at the ATM booths where the alleged incidents took place in order to identify the suspect.

Rape suspect A search is underway for a police officer who attacked two fellow policemen on duty, in a bid to help a rape suspect escape from custody. The incident took place in Al-Jahra, where the suspect initially tried to evade questioning after patrol officers requested him and his companion to produce identification after pulling over their car. Eventually, the driver showed his badge and confessed that the person sitting next to him was wanted on a sexual assault charge. He then requested his comrades not to put his friend under arrest.

However, the officers refused to cooperate and asked the driver to step outside his vehicle. But as soon as he did, the driver violently pushed the policeman and drove away. The suspects managed to escape despite a car chase but mistakenly left his badge behind.

The two officers headed back to the Al-Jahra police station and filed a case.

Fugitive arrested A fugitive, who had been sentenced to three years in prison, was caught by the police after he left his car in a no parking spot in Al-Farwaniya.

The man was reportedly approached by two patrol officers as he stepped out of his car.

The officers requested him to show some identification, and soon placed him under arrest after finding out that he had been convicted in a case of battery assault filed a few years ago. The man, who tried to resist being arrested, was presented before the concerned authorities for serving his sentence.

Rape attempt Fintas police are looking for a plumber who has disappeared after trying to allegedly rape a female resident in the area. Investigations were launched after the local police were approached by a Syrian woman, who reported that the suspect had attempted to assault her sexually at her home after coming over to fix a problem with the kitchen pipes. The

woman said she had screamed for help after being overpowered, which prompted the man to flee the house and leave his toolbox behind.

Drunken couple Two persons were arrested on the Chalets Road in the southern part of the country recently, after they were found to be under the influence.

The Kuwaiti couple was placed under arrest, after they were pulled over for reckless driving and when the patrol officers found out that were heavily drunk. Meanwhile, after examining their identification, the police found that the girl was underage and had been reported missing by her family at the Abdullah Al-Mubarak police station. The two were taken to the proper authorities for further action.

Hunting rifles A man was arrested for the possession of 14 firearms, which he was intending to sell without licenses. The suspect was detained in Al-Salhiya following a brief car chase, which started after he attempted to escape a patrol vehicle. Following his arrest, the bedoon (stateless) man confessed that the hunting rifles found in his car were intended for sale. He remains in custody pending legal action. — Al-Rai, Al-Watan

Kuwait hosts Arab conference on information security

NBK Open Day at Scientific Centre KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) organized a special Open Day for its staff and their family members and friends at the Scientific Centre. NBK employees and their families enjoyed the Open Day that was filled with all types of activities and entertainment. The weather was nice

and excitement filled the air as children, and even parents, took part in the many fun activities available at the Scientific Centre. The Open Day event provided a unique opportunity for NBK employees to openly mingle and enjoy various entertaining activities.

KUWAIT: The United Marketing and Organizing Exhibitions Co. (UNIEXPO) announced yesterday that preparations are underway for the inauguration of the 2nd Arab Conference on Information and Communications Security (ACICS2) that will be held by the Central Agency for Information Technology (CAIT).

The inauguration ceremony will start today under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Jaber Al- Mubarak AlHamad Al-Sabah, the Prime Minister of the Sate of Kuwait.

A UNIEXPO spokesman said “the success of ACICS1 that was held last October and the effective participation of many government organizations in Kuwait and the GCC counties, and the excellent response we received from many world-class IT Security vendors encouraged the transformation of ACICS into an annually regular event.

The Second Arab Conference on Information and Communications Security (ACICS2) comes as a result of UNIEXPO’s contribution to face information security threats and issues that face Kuwait and the region; especially what the oil sector industrial enterprises and financial sector institutions are facing nowadays. The conference has attracted many information security global leaders and many first time researches.

Notably, will be the security of Industrial (SCADA) systems that will be handled by papers from Ernst & Young and Protiviti; as well as Kaspersky’s paper that will discuss how governments can regain control over their IT infrastructure and protect their information assets.

AUNIEXPO spokesman said that cooperating with the Central Agency for Information Technology (CAIT) was a logical decision due to the focal role that CAIT is playing in developing the e-government program in Kuwait and in the planning for all government IT projects. UNIEXPO hopes that the conference supports CAIT’s efforts in protecting Kuwait’s information security systems and improving the public awareness at a time of regional political turmoil and worldwide economic crisis.

UNIEXPO and CAIT’s steering committee and scientific committee are, restlessly, working to finalize the conference’s arrangements related to conference halls, travel and accommodation arrangements of speakers, and hospitality requirements. UNIEXPO spokesman concluded by saying “the conference will be an excellent marketing opportunity to introduce state of the art information security solutions that will be showcased in the accompanying exhibition”.

KNPC receives highest risk degree rating among Kuwait oil companies

VIVA celebrates Saudi National Day with exceptional promotion KUWAIT: VIVA, Kuwait’s newest and most advanced mobile telecommunications service provider, announced yesterday the launch of a special promotion for its prepaid and postpaid customers in celebration of the national day of Saudi Arabia.

For every five minutes during a call made to families and friends in Saudi Arabia on this occasion, VIVA will grant customers five free minutes in return. This promotion is valid for the 24 hours of 23 September, 2012.

This promotion was designed by VIVA for this occasion and as a result of the long-standing relationship that exists with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and its fellow people to grant them the opportunity to speak to

their loved ones at half price and share the joys of this celebrated day.

VIVA congratulates the Saudi Arabian community on this occasion and reaffirms its commitment towards offering all that is pioneering and advanced in the telecom industry, and to continue presenting its customers with an exceptional experience.

Customers interested in this special offer can visit any of the VIVA branches for additional information and ac tivation. To find out more about VIVA’s numerous competitive promotions, products and packages visit any of the 14 VIVA branches or visit the website at www.viva.com.kw, or contact its 24 hour call center at 55102102.

KUWAIT: Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) held yesterday a ceremony after receiving an award of excellence during high risk situations in Kuwaiti oil sector by several international insurance companies.

The ceremony was attended by Chief Executive Officer of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) Farouk Al-Zanki and Chairman and Managing Director of KNPC Fahd Salem Al-Ajmi. Al-Zanki congratulated in a press release all workers in the oil sector on this outstanding achievement and wished all the Kuwaiti oil sector companies to follow suit in this regard. For his part, Al-Ajmi expressed his pride in this outstanding achievement made the company’s refineries, urging all company employees to make maximum efforts and be committed to safety measures required by international standards to minimize risk and protect all employees of the company.

For his part, Director of the Department of Public Relations and Media in the KNPC Mohamed Mansour AlAjmi praised this unprecedented achievement at the level of the Kuwaiti oil sector and all its affiliated sites. Al-Ajmi said that Shuaiba refinery has received the highest score in the evaluation and reaching 96.1 degrees to be the best oil facility in Kuwait in terms of reduced operational risk, followed by Mina Abdullah refinery which received 95.5 degrees and then Mina Ahmadi refinery with 89.2 segrees. He explained that the company puts health, safety and environment issues at the top of its priorities and is keen to take all measures that would provide better working conditions and most secure, noting that the company administers the refining industry and a gas liquefaction plant in Kuwait. — KUNA

KUWAIT: At least one person was injured in an accident involving two vehicles on the Fourth Ring Road yesterday. Paramedics attended to the victim while police officers worked on regulating traffic that was affected by the accident. —Photos by Fouad Al-Shaikh

Virtual Job Fair to focus on hospitality industry KUWAIT: Adding to the success of its Virtual Job Fair (VJF) concept, Bayt.com, the region’s number one job site, will host a VJF that is specifically targeted towards the hospitality industry in the Middle East. Employers and job seekers from across the region are invited to participate in the online job fair, which will be held from September 23 - 27.

The Bayt.com Hospitality Virtual Job Fair is supported by event sponsor Marriott International Inc. and The RitzCarlton Hotel Company L.L.C, alongside media sponsorsKhaleej Times and Al Arab Al Youm.

Since its inception in 2000, Bayt.com has maintained a prominent position as a leading recruitment platform for the hospitality sector. At present, the job site’s community of professionals working in the hospitality industry consists of more than 500,000 job seekers, whose talents and experience spans all career levels and job roles in the hospitality industry.

“Bayt.com’s Virtual Job Fair concept is the natural revolution of the traditional job fair. It takes into consideration today’s fast pace of business, and the need for employers and job seekers alike to find results in the quickest, most convenient and cost-effective ways,” said SuhailMasri , VP Sales at Bayt.com. “Our experience in recruitment for employers in the hospitality industry and the sheer number of relevant job seekers that are registered on Bayt.com makes this the ideal sector to select as the focus of our first industryspecific VJF. We encourage hospitalityindustry employers to take advantage of this opportunity to find top quality candidates specifically targeted to their requirements, in a cost-effective and highly efficient manner that ensures they can maximize their choice and reach when it comes to candidate recruitment across career levels and job roles.” Robert Dodds, Vice President Human Resources, Marriott International Inc. and The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company L.L.C, Middle East and Africa Continent, said; “We at Marriott and Ritz-Carlton are delighted to be part of such a pioneering and innovative event such as Bayt.com’s Hospitality industry Virtual Job Fair. With the help of Bayt.com, who are committed to facilitate employment in the Hospitality industry, we look forward to bringing recruitment to the next level, ensuring the most qualified talent is recruited and

trained to rapidly fill open positions.”

Bayt.com’s exciting Virtual Job Fair concept is unique in that it allows employers to fully interact with job seekers through an immersive, interactive virtual environment. The VJF platform mimics a traditional job fair setting but eliminates the inconveniences and logistics required to participate. It presents numerous advantages, not least of which is easy accessibility from anywhere in the world, less planning, no need for costly stand manufacturing and logistics and a far speedier implementation and execution.

When participating in one of Bayt.com’s Virtual Job Fairs, which take place fully online, employers and job seekers can use a range of digital tools, such as chat rooms, webcasts, and webinars to exchange vital job-related information. Jobseekers can search for available jobs and submit their CVs, while employers can interact with jobseekers through virtual ‘booths’.

Participating employers benefit from increased brand awareness, particularly amongst Bayt.com’s extensive portfolio of jobseekers - made up of over 500,000 registered users directly relevant to the hospitality industry and an additional eight million professionals with varied skills and experience across the industry spectrum. With Bayt.com’s Virtual Job Fair, there are minimal resource requirements in return for maximum exposure, which translate to lower costs and a higher return on investment for employers than with a traditional job fair.

Moreover employers benefit from the excellent measurability the online job fair enables and the ease of managing the entire recruitment process particularly in terms of candidate sourcing and screening and selection.

In 2011 alone, Bayt.com’s Virtual Job Fairs attracted more than 31,000 registered job seekers, with over 100,000 total visits for the duration. Overall employer booth views averaged more than 10,000 (26,000 on average for Sponsor booths and an average of 15,000 for Platinum; 10,000 for Gold and 4,000 for Silver booths) with employers reporting a high satisfaction on their return-on-investment.

Jobseekers wishing to participate in Bayt.com’s Hospitality Virtual Job Fair can register for free any time from today until the week of the Fair at http://virtualjobfair.bayt.com.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

Authoritarian Belarus votes amid boycott calls Page 10

Rafsanjani daughter taken to prison Page 8

TEHRAN: Iranians protest against the publication by a French satirical weekly of cartoons of Prophet Mohammed (PBUH), outside France’s embassy in Tehran yesterday. — AFP

400 protest near French embassy in Iran Embassy take security precautions ahead of protest TEHRAN: Around 400 people demonstrated in front of the French embassy in Tehran yesterday to protest inflammatory depictions of Islam’s Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) in an American-made film and in a French satirical magazine.

The crowd, shouting “Death to America,” “Death to Israel,” “Death to Britain” and “Death to France,” was kept away by police in

anti-riot gear, witnesses told AFP. No violence was reported. Witnesses said one officer fired a blank round in warning after a protester threw an egg that hit the outside of the embassy. The demonstration ended after around 90 minutes.

The embassy took security precautions ahead of the protest, minimising staff and closing the French school in Tehran. The

French embassy is one of the most prominent Western missions left in the capital, following last year’s closure of Britain’s embassy after it was stormed by protesters during a state -sanc tioned demonstration, and Canada’s decision this month to close its embassy because of fears over its diplomats’ safety.

The United States has had no embassy in

Iran since the 1979-1981 hostage crisis in which its diplomats were seized and held by Islamic students. Last Thursday, some 200 people protested in front of the French embassy following the publication by French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo of cartoons por traying Prophet Mohammed (PBUH).

Iran’s foreign ministry said that day that the Islamic republic “strongly condemns insults

Syria aircraft pound rebels ATMA: Regime aircraft hammered insurgent bastions nationwide on Sunday as rebels said they now control most of the country and have moved their command centre from Turkey to “liberated areas” inside Syria.

With deadly violence raging across Syria, UN-Arab League peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi prepared to brief the UN Security Council on Monday about talks he had with both President Bashar al-Assad and the opposition.

Brahimi discussed Syria with UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Saturday and both agreed that the 18-month crisis was “a steadily increasing threat to regional peace and stability,” a statement said.

On the ground, at least 40 people were killed yesterday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, as Syrian aircraft carried out strikes on rebel bastions, especially in central Homs province and Deir Ezzor in the east.

Apartment blocks in Albu Kamal, a town in oil-rich Deir Ezzor province, were targeted as

rebels and soldiers battled on the ground in several districts of the town on the Iraqi border. “The insurgents are trying to wrest control of this strategic town” said Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman. Losing Albu Kamal would be “a deadly blow for the regime,” he added. Troops pounded rebel-held areas in and around Damascus, in the second city Aleppo in the north, neighbouring Idlib, the central cities of Hama and Homs, and Daraa in the south.

The Britain-based group, which gathers information from a network of activists on the ground, said warplanes also raided Jebel alAkrad in the coastal province of Latakia.

In Aleppo, rebels destroyed two fighter planes on the ground in Orm, a rebel commander told AFP, while a correspondent in the city itself said fighting was less intense than past days. Security forces also carried out raids and arrested several civilians in the southern Damascus neighbourhood of Al-Hajar AlAswad while anti-regime protests in Salhiyeh, another district in the capital, the Observatory said. As the fighting continued unabated, Colonel Ahmad Abdul Wahab of the Free Syrian Army said the regime’s aerial superiority was the only thing preventing the FSA from taking control of the capital. “We control most of the country. In most regions, the soldiers are prisoners of their barracks. They go out very little and we can move freely everywhere, except Damascus,” Abdul Wahab told AFP. “With or without outside help, the fall of the regime is a question of months, not years,” he said.

“If we had anti-aircraft and antitank missiles, we could quickly gain the advantage. But if foreign countries don’t give us these, we will still win. It will take longer, that’s all.”

Next step to ‘liberate’ DamascusAbdul Wahab, a colonel in the regular army only nine months ago, said his defection was driven by “the magnitude of the crimes of the regime, which is killing its own people.” He said he commands four kati-

bas (battalions) which make up the “Nasser Salaheddine” brigade in Aleppo and the region. Abdul Wahab said he attends daily meetings with FSA leaders in the northern metropolis, where orders are given to him and other battalion commanders.

On Saturday, the FSA said the next step would be to “liberate” Damascus as it announced that it has moved its command base from Turkey to areas it controls inside Syria. “The Free Syrian Army command has moved into liberated areas of Syria following arrangements made with battalions and brigades to secure these zones,” FSA chief Colonel Riyadh al-Asaad said in a video posted on the Internet.

Nearly 80 percent of towns and villages along the Turkish border are outside the control of Damascus, according to the Observatory. But Fabrice Balanche, a Syria specialist who heads the French research centre GREMMO, said the move creates a new security problem for the rebels. “They are now at the mercy of aerial attacks.” Meanwhile, Assad’s only sister, Bushra, whose husband was killed in a July bombing, is now living in Dubai with her children, Syrian residents of the Gulf emirates told AFP. Bushra’s husband General Assef Shawkat, an army deputy chief of staff, was killed along with three other highranking officials in a July 18 bombing at the National Security headquarters in Damascus.

Ayman Abdel Nour, editor-in-chief of opposition news website all4syria.com, told AFP that Bushra, a pharmacist with five children, left Syria after “differences” with the president.

And in Damascus, 20 government-tolerated opposition parties met on Sunday to discuss a solution to the crisis in the presence of the ambassadors of Russia and Iran, staunch allies of Assad’s government.

R aja al-Nasser of the National Coordination Committee for Democratic Change called at the meeting for an end to the “barbaric bombing” to move toward a political process that would “put an end to the current regime”. According to the Observatory, at least 29,000 people have been killed since the revolt against Assad’s rule erupted. The United Nations puts the toll at more than 20,000. — AFP

against Islamic sanctities” and called the cartoons “an organised plot... by Zionist circles.”

Violent protests have occurred in other Muslim countries over the amateurish American-made film “Innocence of Muslims,” which ridicules Mohammed (PBUH). Last week, four US officials including the ambassador to Libya, were killed in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi.— AFP

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

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

Israel FM says no changes to Egypt peace deal JERUSALEM: Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said yesterday that Israel would not agree to reevaluate its peace deal with Egypt, days after the latest attack along the shared border killed an Israeli soldier and three gunmen. In a bid to restore security to the increasingly lawless Sinai peninsula, Israel and Egypt have agreed to temporarily waive limits on troops included in the historic 1979 peace deal, allowing Egypt to send heavier weaponry into the vast desert region which borders Israel.

But there have been calls in Egypt for more permanent adjustments to the peace accords, a cornerstone of

regional stability. “There is no chance that Israel will agree to any kind of change” to the peace deal, Lieberman told Israel Radio. “ The Egyptians shouldn’t try to delude themselves or delude others and they should not rely on this demand,” he said.

The temporary changes to the troop count in the Sinai have made Israel jittery. Israel welcomed a sweeping crackdown by Egypt, which deployed armored personnel carriers and attack helicopters to root out militants in the Sinai peninsula this summer, but it balked once Egypt sent in tanks, some of which were removed after Israel complained.

While the tanks were not aimed at Israel and it does not consider them a strategic threat, Israeli officials said they were concerned about the precedent and that the move should have been coordinated. Egypt claims that it has coordinated the security sweep with Israel.

The operation scored some successes, but violence in the region persists. On Friday, a shootout along the border between Israeli troops and gunmen left one soldier and three assailants dead. A shadowy Egyptbased, al-Qaida-inspired group called Ansar Jerusalem has claimed responsibility for the attack, the latest incident

in the deteriorating security situation in the Sinai since the fall of longtime Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak last year.

Since Mubarak’s 2011 ouster, tensions between Israel and Egypt have grown, particularly since this summer’s election of Mohammed Morsi as president. Morsi, an Islamist who hails from the Muslim Brotherhood, has been cooler to Israel than his predecessor and concerns have risen there over the fate of the peace deal.

While it has said it would abide by the peace agreement, the Muslim Brotherhood has repeatedly called for a revision. Many Egyptians contend

the troop limits infringe upon national sovereignty. Lieberman said the number of troops wasn’t relevant, suggesting the Egyptian military was not prepared to tackle the insecurity. “The problem in Sinai is not the size of the forces, it is their readiness to fight, to put pressure and to carry out the job as is needed,” he said.

Speaking on Army Radio, Defense Ministry official Amos Gilad also highlighted the importance of protecting the peace agreement but did not discuss Israel’s willingness to make changes to it. He said any change would have to be agreed to by both parties. — AP

Libya militia crackdown spreads to Tripoli Army warns ‘use force if necessary’

URIF: Palestinian plain clothed security inspects a room built under a house in the West Bank village of Urif, south of the northern city of Nablus yesterday.

Palestinian security believe a network of tunnels, rooms and prison-like cells were dug and built by members of the Hamas movement. — AFP

Mursi says Iran is vital to ending Syria’s crisis CAIRO: Egypt’s Islamist President said on Saturday that having a strong relationship with Iran is important for Egypt at this time to be able to work out a way to end the bloodshed in Syria.

Speaking in a televised interview, his first to state TV since his election last June, President Mohamed Mursi described Iran as “a main player in the region that could have an active and supportive role in solving the Syrian problem.” Mursi, in a move to revive Egypt’s role in the region, asked last month for Iran to join a quartet committee he called for which includes Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey and Egypt to try to find a solution to the violence in Syria.

Iran is the only state in the quartet that is an ally to Syrian President Bashar AlAssad and has accused Saudi Arabia and Turkey of helping the rebels who are fighting to topple him. Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt have all demanded that Assad step down. Iran was attacked at the U.N. Security Council last week for its continuous backing of the Syrian regime.

“I don’t see the presence of Iran in this quartet as a problem, but is a part of solving the (Syrian) problem,” Mursi said, explaining that Iran’s close proximity to Syria and its strong ties with it makes it “vital” in resolving the Syrian crisis.

Mursi’s comments came after Saudi Arabia stayed away from the quartet’s last meeting, which Cairo hosted on Sept. 17. Saudi Arabia’s decision was seen by diplomats and western officials as a reaction to the presence of Shi’ite Muslim Iran, the major rival of Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia in the Middle East.

Saudi Arabia has not officially commented on why it did not attend that meeting and Egyptian officials gave conflicting explanations for its absence.

Mursi said he could meet with top officials of the three states of the Quartet during the United Nations general assembly meeting he will attend in New York this week.

“And we do not have a significant problem with Iran, it (the relation between Egypt and Iran) is normal like with the rest of the world’s states,” said Mursi who last month became the first Egyptian president to visit the Islamic republic in decades.

Relations between Cairo and Tehran were badly strained after Iran’s Islamic revolution in 1979. Egypt s igned a peace deal with Israel and became a staunch ally to the US and Europe. But it is now taking a position at odds with that of Israel and its western and American allies. Former President Hosni Mubarak, who Mursi replaced after his ouster by a popular uprising last year, never visited the Islamic state in all of his 30 years in power. Mubarak was known for his opposition to the Islamists’ rigid style of government.

Mursi has been outspoken about Syria since he took office on June 30. He has described the Syrian government as “oppressive” and said it was an “ethical duty” to support the Syrian people in a speech he gave from Tehran last month at a Non-Aligned Movement summit, which was the reason for Egypt’s historic

visit to the Islamic state.

“The Syrian regime has to know it is violating all laws and norms in its continuation to shed blood,” Mursi said on Saturday, repeating similar comments he made during an Arab league meeting he attended earlier this month and in a previous exclusive interview with Reuters.

The Syrian revolt erupted in March of last year, one month after the Egyptian uprising ended, over similar demands for democracy and freedom. But unlike Mubarak, who quit after only 18 days of protest, Assad sent his military to crush the revolt, leading the rebels to take arms against him and prompting violent battles that have been going on for 17 months. The United Nations says nearly 20,000 people have been killed in the conflict and more than 235,000 Syrian refugees have registered in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, while about 1.2 million people have been displaced within Syria. Mursi has vowed to meet the Egyptian people’s demands for deeply rooted corruption to be eradicated from all governmental institutions.

He has said many of the changes he made in the leadership of state institutions, which have included the military, the state’s auditing units and the state’s intelligence department, were aimed at weeding out corruption.

“I won’t leave a corrupted person unpunished,” Mursi said. “I won’t take extraordinary measures but I tell corrupt people that under the law, soon you will be punished,” he added.

In a surprise move last month, Mursi dismissed the head of the military council and the military’s chief of staff and canceled a decree the army issued that gave it legislative powers in the absence of parliament. The army last June dissolved the Islamist-led parliament shortly before issuing a decree that was seen as a bid to restrict Mursi’s role.

When asked about the army moves, Mursi said they were “obligatory,” without giving details about the true reasons behind them. Yet he said he felt the people approved of the moves and saw them as strengthening “democratic and civilian rule.”

But Mursi did not forget to salute military forces to deflect concern about a hidden conflict between the Islamist president and the army forces after the recent decisions. “ The military forces made a huge effort to protect the revolution. ... It is an institution respected by the Egyptian people and the President of Egypt,” Mursi said. Mursi also said he would back any legislation to put limits on minimum and maximum wages to achieve social justice, work to advance education and medical insurance systems and the state’s political and security status to increase the flow of investment, which was reduced after the uprising.

When asked about how he felt after he knew he won the presidential vote to become Egypt’s first freely elected civilian president, Mursi said: “I was filled by an overwhelming feeling of responsibility.” “The targets are big, hopes are wide, resources are huge and strong efforts are requested,” Mursi said. — Reuters

TRIPOLI: A Libyan crackdown on lawless militias spread to the capital yesterday after armed groups that have not been integrated into state institutions were ordered to disband and evacuate their bases.

The army said in an online statement that its forces had dislodged a militia from a military complex on the highway to Tripoli International Airport, arresting militiamen and confiscating their weapons.

Gunfire was heard in the area at 9 am (0700 GMT ) for less than a minute, an AFP journalist said, but there were no reports of casualties.

Members of an armed group which had settled into a couple of villas overlooking the Mediterranean were evicted in the afternoon, the correspondent added. “We will carry out these kind of operations for the next two or three weeks until we dislodge all armed groups not under the authority of the State,” an army officer told AFP on condition of anonymity.

On Saturday, the army issued an ultimatum ordering militias and armed groups to evacuate military compounds, state property and the properties of members of the former regime in and near Tripoli, the official LANA news agency reported. It ordered “all individuals and armed groups occupying military barracks, public buildings or property belonging to members of the former regime... to evacuate these sites within 48 hours.”

Hundreds of former rebels have taken over strategic, state-owned military and civilian facilities and properties of supporters and relatives of dead dictator Moamer Kadhafi in the wake of his fall and death last year. The army warned it would “use force if necessary.”

The Tripoli eviction comes hours after Mohammed al-Megaryef, head of the national assembly, announced the decision to dissolve all militias that do not come under state authority. Speaking in Benghazi, Megaryef said the authorities had decided to set up an “operations room” in the eastern city to include the army, interior ministry forces and defence ministry brigades comprising former

TRIPOLI: Members of a Libyan rapid unit brigade in charge of clearing unlawfully occupied buildings from militias enter a compound previously occupied by a militia during an operation in Tripoli yesterday. A Libyan crackdown on lawless militias spread to the capital after armed groups that have not been integrated into state institutions were ordered to disband and evacuate their bases. — AFP rebels. He also called on the army to place its own officers to head brigades born out of the 2011 revolt, which escalated into the civil war that toppled Kadhafi.

The new authorities have been unable to disband or discipline these civilians-turned-fighters, though many units have joined the defence and interior ministries. The crackdown comes after massive anti-militia protests in Benghazi on Friday and after an attack on the US consulate there sparked by a USmade film that mocks Islam left four Americans, including ambassador Chris Stevens, dead.

Megaryef said the rallies by Benghazi residents reflected a desire for “stability and security.”

On Friday, hundreds of people stormed bases of militias sparking clashes that left 11 dead and dozens wounded. Fighting centred on the main base of Raf Allah alSahati, a Salafist brigade under the defence ministry.

Six members of the security forces were among those killed in the unrest that rocked Libya’s second city. They appeared to have been executed, a medical examiner at the Benghazi Medical Centre told AFP. Critics say militias in the eastern city have put themselves above the law, particularly those that refused to be placed under defence ministry authority.

Demonstrators first evicted a group based in a security building in central Benghazi before turning their wrath on the headquarters of Ansar al-Sharia, a radical Salafist militia. Two hardline Islamist brigades in the city of Derna, famous for sending fighters to Afghanistan and Iraq, disbanded on Saturday, LANA news agency reported. The two brigades were the local branches of Martyrs of Abu Slim and Ansar al-Sharia, which has been accused of-but deniedinvolvement in the murder of the four Americans in the US consulate.

Megaryef initially welcomed the Benghazi protest, but as the violence expanded the authorities called on the demonstrators to distinguish between “illegitimate” brigades and those under state control. The warning highlighted the dilemma facing the government, with the fledgling security forces dependent on former rebels who fought in the uprising despite such groups also challenging central authority. The trigger for the assault on the paramilitaries was a “Save Benghazi” rally after the main weekly Muslim prayers on Friday that was attended by an estimated 30,000 peaceful demonstrators.

They paid tribute to Stevens and called for justice. Their massive protest drowned out a smaller rally of a few hundred people called by the jihadists and hardline Islamists furious over the US-made film and cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) published by a French satirical magazine. — AFP

Syria, Iran nuke fears, protests cloud UN summit UNITED NATIONS: War in Syria, mounting tensions over Iran’s nuclear drive and antiWestern protests across the Muslim world will cast a shadow over the annual UN gathering of world leaders starting tomorrow.

Words of warning and defiance are expected when US President Barack Obama, Iran’s leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu join more than 120 heads of state and government at the UN General Assembly. Because of international divisions over the 18-month-old Syria conflict, the UN is holding no formal meeting on the civil war.

But Obama and Western leaders are expected to call for action in their speeches.

The US president is one of the first speakers on Tuesday after the event is opened by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. “We’re going to have to work to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon,” Obama said previewing his speech Saturday. “We’re going to have to make sure that not only our diplomatic posts are safe, but we go after folks who threaten or try to kill Americans.”

Ban and UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi agreed in talks Saturday that the conflict is a “steadily increasing threat to regional peace and security,” a UN spokesman said.

And the Syria campaign will be pressed outside the General Assembly. Brahimi will brief the UN Security Council today on his talks with President Bashar al-Assad.

Syria will also dominate a Security Council ministerial debate on links with the Arab League on Wednesday, the European Union is set to launch a new appeal for humanitarian funds and a Friends of Syria ministerial meeting is planned for Friday. Diplomatic wounds over Syria are not close to healing. Neither Russia nor China, which have three times vetoed Security Council resolutions on Syria, will be represented by a senior leader in New York. Assad is expected to send his foreign minister. “Everyone will be thinking about Syria, talking about Syria, but there will be no

decision and no major progress,” said one senior UN diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity. Stewart Patrick, an expert on international institutions and global governance for the Council on Foreign Relations thinktank, said that Syria will be one of two “lightning rod” issues at the summit with the Iran nuclear showdown. Ahmadinejad is in New York for probably his last appearance at the General Assembly. This time there is feverish speculation that Israel is planning a military strike on bunkered Iranian nuclear facilities that Tehran insists are for peaceful purposes, but Western nations say hide attempts to develop a nuclear bomb.

Ahmadinejad speaks to the assembly on Wednesday, when a new walkout is predicted if the Iranian leader repeats one of his toxic remarks about Israel. Top officials from Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States-which are attempting to negotiate with Iran-are to meet on Thursday just after Israel’s prime minister addresses the assembly.

Netanyahu and Obama will not meet in New York and this has heightened speculation of a rift between the two. The United States and its allies have stepped up warnings to Iran, however, that time is running out for a negotiated solution to the showdown.

Netanyahu will take the UN stage two slots after Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.

Last year, Abbas took center stage with his emotional bid for full membership of the UN, which was thwarted by the United States.

Abbas is this time expected to announce that the Palestinians will seek elevated observer status, a move that neither the United States nor Israel can block but that is only a second prize. The deadly protests in Muslim nations against an Internet video made in the United States that mocks Islam will also receive much attention. Muslim leaders will reaffirm their anger in their speeches and the film will top the agenda at a meeting of foreign ministers from the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation on Friday.— AFP

Rafsanjani daughter taken to prison DUBAI: The daughter of influential former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani was taken to prison late on Saturday to serve a sixmonth sentence for “spreading anti-state propaganda,” Iranian media reported.

Faezeh Rafsanjani, a former member of parliament, was convicted in January and sentenced to jail. The conviction is believed to be over an interview she gave to an opposition news site in which Faezeh Hashemi she criticised human rights violations and economic policy in Iran. Gholamhossein Esmaili, Iran’s prisons chief, was quoted by the Mehr news agency as saying she was taken to Tehran’s Evin Prison.

She was detained briefly in 2009 after street protests against the election that returned President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power. Protesters said it was rigged in favour of the incumbent. Faezeh had addressed supporters of defeated candidate Mirhossein Mousavi, who had gathered in defiance of a ban on opposition protests. Her latest detention comes as her brother Mehdi Rafsanjani is expected to return to Iran after living and studying in the United Kingdom. Officials have said Mehdi should be arrested upon arrival in Iran, accusing him of fomenting unrest after the 2009 vote. An independent source told Reuters Mehdi was in Dubai and expected to return to Iran yesterday. The wealthy Rafsanjani family has faced heightened pressure from hardliners since the 2009 vote, which set off the deepest political crisis and worst unrest in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The centrist Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, one of the founding figures of the Islamic Republic and a close aide to the revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, expressed sympathy for opposition demonstrators and saw his own power and influence wane as a result.

In March 2011, he lost his post as head of the state clerical body, the Assembly of Experts, consolidating the ascendancy of the hardline Ahmadinejad. —Reuters

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

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

Former CIA operative Edwin Wilson dies at 84 SEATTLE: Edwin P. Wilson, a former CIA operative who was branded a traitor and convicted of shipping arms to Libya but whose conviction was overturned after he spent two decades in prison, has died. He was 84.

Wilson died Sept. 10 in Seattle from complications from a heart valve replacement surgery, said Craig Emmick, a director at Columbia Funeral Home in Seattle. Wilson who set up front companies abroad for the CIA and posed as a rich American businessman was convicted in 1983 for shipping 20 tons of C-4 plastic explosives to Libya.

At trial, he said he did it to ingratiate himself with the Libyan government at the CIA’s request.

A federal judge threw out that con-

viction in 2003, saying the government failed to correct information about Wilson’s service to the CIA that it admitted internally was false. Wilson had been sentenced to 52 years in prison for selling arms and explosives to Libya in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and for other crimes.

He more than 20 years in prison, mostly in solitary confinement, until he was released in 2004. He then moved to Edmonds, Wash., north of Seattle, to live with his brother. “Our family always supported him and believed in him,” his nephew, Scott Wilson, said Saturday, adding that biggest part of his uncle’s vindication was “that the label of being a traitor would be taken off.”

“He never considered himself a trai-

tor of course,” Wilson added. While in prison, Wilson sought to prove his innocence by using the Freedom of Information Act to request government documents. Even after he was released, the man once described as a “death merchant” and “terrorist” worked to clear his name.

“I can’t think of one thing I did that I have any guilt about,” Wilson told seattlepi.com in a 2006 interview. “I didn’t hurt anybody. I didn’t get anyone killed.”

Wilson filed a civil lawsuit against seven former federal prosecutors and a former executive director of the CIA, but a judge in Houston dismissed the case in 2007, according to Seattlepi.com.

“He wanted to try to hold the people accountable that helped put him into

prison,” his nephew said. “But he was never bitter.” Wilson was born May 3, 1928, to a farming family in Nampa, Idaho. He worked as a merchant seaman, and earned a psychology degree from the University of Portland in 1953.

He joined the Marines and fought in the last days of the Korean War, according to his death notice. He went to work for the Central Intelligence Agency in 1955 after being discharged from the Marines. After leaving the CIA in 1971, he made millions in the arms trade and bought a sprawling farm in a tony part of Northern Virginia, where he entertained generals, CIA officials and congressmen, according to a 2004 Washington Post article. “I had a couple of villas that were very, very nice,” he

told the Washington Post at the time. “I had Pakistani houseboys and I had Libyans working for me, typing up proposals in Arabic.”

In 1982, he was lured out of hiding in Libya and brought to New York for arrest. A federal court in Virginia convicted him of exporting firearms to Libya without permission and sentenced him to 10 years. He was convicted in Texas in 1983, receiving a 17-year sentence for similar crimes.

A New York court sentenced him to 25 years, to run consecutively with the Texas and Virginia sentences, for attempted murder, criminal solicitation and other charges involving claims that Wilson conspired behind bars to have witnesses and prosecutors killed. — AP

Romney pulls in big bucks in southern California Pulls in $6 million at Beverly Hilton event

DOVER AIR FORCE BASE: An Army carry team moves a transfer case containing the remains of Sgt. Jason M. Swindle Saturday at Dover Air Force Base, Del. According to the Department of Defense, Swindle, 24, of Cabot, Ark., died Sept 20 in Panjwa’l, Kandahar province, Afghanistan of injuries sustained when he encountered enemy small arms fire. — AP

Chavez turns to hip-hop marketing CARACAS: In Venezuela’s biggest slum, a graffiti artist stencils a painting of President Hugo Chavez dunking a basketball. Another has him rapping to hip-hop music, and another doing a wheelie on a motorcycle.

“Chavez el mio” (“My Chavez”) reads a slogan on one of the series of striking campaign images ahead of the Oct. 7 election. It is a new look for the 58-yearold president, who is seeking another sixyear term in a tight race despite undergoing cancer surgery three times since June 2011. Partly, it is an effort to counter the appeal of his much-younger rival, Governor Henrique Capriles of Miranda state, but also something deeper: the marketing of the socialist leader for a new generation after 14 years of his self-styled revolution. Both sides are trying to attract young voters who, as in many countries, are often bored by politics. In the toughest Caracas “barrios,” crime and violence are much bigger daily concerns.

The group that made the pictures, “Chavez es Otro Beta,” was formed earlier this year by a loose collection of dance and sports groups, graffiti artists and motorcycle taxi drivers. At a recent event in Petare, a shantytown to the east of the capital that is home to nearly half a million people, the group organized a girls’ soccer tournament, a dance-off, and then a shockingly dangerous “motorcycle pirouette” contest, spectators cheering as riders roared past the life-size murals of “ghetto Chavez.”

“It’s our way of showing him support and identifying ourselves with him,” founder and spokeswoman Daryelis Gonzalez, a 21-year-old hip-hop dancer better known as Bamby, told Reuters. “It’s a way in which, using your own ‘code,’ you can relate and get involved in politics.”

Petare, a sprawl of closely packed homes bisected by winding roads and alleyways plunging down steep ravines, is one of Latin America’s biggest slums and a crime hot-spot in one of the most murder-plagued cities in the world.

The event was part of efforts to keep youngsters away from drugs and guns by

getting them involved in sports, music and cultural activities. But after Otro Beta medals were handed to the winners, while smiling children danced to a performance by a local reggaeton singer, a few blocks away one of the dozen or so teenage motorcyclists was shot dead in the street.

Across the board, voters cite law and order as their top concern. Kidnappings and deadly armed robberies are common. At least as many Venezuelans have been murdered over the last five years as have died in Mexico’s drug war. Hardest hit are young men from the barrios.

Chavez addressed the issue for the first time during the campaign - at a recent r ally in Petare with Bamby and other Otro Beta members alongside him on stage and made a direct appeal to the gangsters. “To those they call ‘malandros’ (‘bad guys’) ... those who go around armed, who think they’re macho, that they’re stronger than us. No, compadre (friend), that’s not the way,” he said. “Come to the ‘beta’ movement! Come build the fatherland with us. ... Come and dance to the music, to culture, sport, life.” Beta is a barrio slang expression that can mean an issue, event or person. The movement was born in Capriles’ Miranda state, and the founders say “beta” refers to what they call Capriles’ failed security policies in their areas. So “Chavez es otro beta” essentially means “another way of doing things.” The group has organized local boxing tournaments, set up several new basketball courts, and plans to create networks of motorcycle mechanics and beauty salon workers across the state, as well as a factory to make skateboards.

Miranda includes much of eastern Caracas, including Petare - which voted for an opposition candidate for mayor in 2008. Trying to win back that lost territory, the government rarely lets up about the area’s crime problem. “The bourgeoisie candidate promises everything,” Chavez told the rally, saying the murder rate in Miranda had almost doubled under Capriles, to 79 homicides per 100,000 people. — Reuters

LOS ANGELES: Having declared that his presidential campaign does not need a makeover, Republican Mitt Romney raised millions of dollars at two fundraisers in southern California on Saturday to help bankroll the final weeks of the race.

“I’m not even going to be able to go home today. We’re just coming to town to see you and keep the campaign going,” Romney told a wellheeled crowd at the Grand Del Mar Resort hotel in Del Mar, California, about 12 miles from his beachfront house in La Jolla.

Some 650 supporters - including diet guru Jenny Craig - paid from $1,000 to $25,000 a head to hear Romney’s 40-minute speech in Del Mar, have their photograph taken with the candidate and eat roast chicken breast served on a bed of Israeli couscous.

Spencer Zwick, the campaign’s national finance chairman, assured donors their money would be spent wisely: to build a “massive ground game across the country in those swing states” and buy more television advertising. The second Saturday event, at the Beverly Hilton, pulled in $6 million, Romney said at the start of his remarks.

About 1,500 tickets were sold at three tiers: $1,000, $15,000 and $50,000. Guests were entertained by comedian Dennis Miller and songwriter/producer David Foster.

With his standing in the polls slipping, Romney has been under fire from some in his party who feel he has not spent enough time visiting political swing states versus hob-nobbing with wealthy donors.

President Barack Obama spent the day campaigning - and also raising funds - in Wisconsin, a battleground state and the home of Romney’s running mate, Representative Paul Ryan.

Romney had no public events on Saturday. He will fly to Denver on Sunday afternoon for a rally and among other stops will have a two-day bus tour in Ohio Tuesday and Wednesday.

Local resident Matt Romney, the second of the candidate’s five sons, introduced his father and urged attendees to “open their wallets” at

least one more time to help get the Republican’s message out before Nov. 6.

“It’s our turn, you guys” said the elder Romney, 65, who was wearing dress pants and a sport jacket. Boarding a plane in San Francisco on Saturday, Romney declined to answer a

some local California entrepreneurs, including Ada Regan, owner of “Strawberry Hill,” an historic mansion in Hillsborough, near San Francisco, where Romney raised funds on Friday night. Regan’s late husband Barrie, an electrical engineer and Italian immigrant,

MILWAUKEE: Supporters listen as US President Barack Obama speaks during a campaign event at the Henry Maier Festival in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, September 22, 2012. — AFP reporter’s shouted question of whether he will soon adopt a more “aggressive” strategy.

But he told the crowd in Del Mar Saturday’s event was his “last fundraiser in San Diego.”

In an interview to be broadcast on Sunday on CBS’ “60 Minutes,” Romney rejected calls for changes, pointing out that in national polls he is in a tight race with Obama.

“It doesn’t need a turnaround. We’ve got a campaign which is tied with an incumbent president to the United States,” Romney said in excerpts from the interview released by CBS on Friday. At the Del Mar event, Romney lauded

designed components that were used in the US space program. Pressing a familiar theme, Romney said Obama does not understand what it takes to build a business but rather wants government to play a larger top-down role. “They DID build their business,” Romney said of the Regans.

In Los Angeles Romney criticized Obama’s support for certain union measures and said the key to improving education in the United States was “to put the kids and the parents and the teachers first, and the unions and their interests behind.” — Reuters

China postpones ceremony marking ties with Japan BEIJING: China postponed yesterday a ceremony marking the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties with Japan because of an ongoing territorial dispute, the Xinhua news agency said. “Due to the current situation, the Chinese side has decided that the reception commemorating the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations will be postponed until an appropriate time,” Xinhua quoted an official as saying.

The unnamed official from the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries was referring to the ongoing row centring on the Tokyo-controlled

Senkaku islands in the East China Sea, which are claimed by Beijing under the name Diaoyu.

The ceremony was due to take place on Thursday. Asia’s two largest economies have wrangled about the islands since the 1970s, but the row flared in August after pro-China activists landed on one of them. Tensions escalated dramatically after the Japanese government subsequently bought three of them from their private owners.

The Chinese friendship association has a close relationship with China’s foreign ministry. Officials at the ministry refused to immediately confirm the postponement

when contacted by AFP. A diplomat in Tokyo who declined to be named confirmed Beijing’s decision, telling AFP without elaborating: “China informed the Japanese side” about the postponement.

The escalating row saw hundreds of Japanese rally Saturday against Beijing’s handling of the issue, days after anti-Japanese protests saw shops and factories vandalised in China.

Some 800 demonstrators waved national flags as they marched through downtown Tokyo, denouncing Beijing as a “brute state” and “fascist”. Protesters marched through the Roppongi entertainment district, near the

Chinese embassy, shouting: “We will never give in to China’s military threat!” Japan’s coastguard said late Sunday that all Chinese marine surveillance vessels had for the first time in about a week withdrawn from waters near the islands, according to the Kyodo news agency.

A day earlier, the coastguard had said it was monitoring seven Chinese ships near the chain, down from 14 on Wednesday.

China’s foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei on Friday said many of the ceremonies marking the 40th anniversary of Sino-Japanese diplomatic ties had been affected by the row. — AFP

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

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

UK soldier unexpectedly gives birth in Afghanistan LONDON: Hours after a British soldier in Afghanistan told medics she was suffering from stomach pains, the Royal Artillery gunner unexpectedly gave birth to a boy - the first child ever born to a member of Britain’s armed forces in combat.

Britain’s defense ministry said Thursday the soldier told authorities she had not been aware she was pregnant and only consulted doctors on the day that she went into labor. The soldier, who arrived in Afghanistan in March, delivered the child Tuesday at Camp Bastion, the vast desert camp in southern Afghanistan’s Helmand province where Prince Harry is deployed and a Taleban attack last week killed two US Marines.

“Mother and baby are both in a stable condition in the hospital and are receiving the best possible care,” the ministry said in a statement. It said a team of doctors would fly out to Afghanistan in the coming days to help the soldier and her son return safely to

Britain. The U.K. does not allow female soldiers to deploy on operation if they are pregnant.

Although the soldier’s child was conceived before her tour of duty began in March, she is not likely to face censure. Britain has sent female soldiers home from wars after they became pregnant - including about 60 from Afghanistan - but hasn’t previously had a servicewoman go into labor in a war zone.

In 2009, the US military in Iraq issued a policy that could punish soldiers who became pregnant there and their sexual partners - then quickly rescinded it after a storm of criticism.

The British soldier, a citizen of Fiji, is one of about 500 British military women serving in Afghanistan. She is also among around 2,000 Fijians who serve in the British military, even though the country became independent from Britain in 1970.

Camp Bastion, which hosts the US Camp Leatherneck, is home to most of

Britain’s 9,500 soldiers in Afghanistan, including Prince Harry - who arrived there earlier this month to serve as an attack helicopter gunner. Last Friday, a Taliban assault on the base ended up with two U.S. marines killed and six American fighter jets destroyed.

Maj. Charles Heyman, a retired officer and author of “‘The British Army Guide” said the unexpected birth would cause some concern at the base.

“This sort of thing makes life difficult for everyone else, but the important thing is the welfare of the female soldier. This could have gone wrong and we don’t know if the attack on Camp Bastion might have forced the birth,” said Maj. Charles Heyman, a retired officer and author of “‘The British Army Guide.”

Heyman said it may have been “that the excitement of the tour masked the symptoms of the pregnancy.” Belinda Phipps, chief executive of the National Childbirth Trust, a British parenting charity, also suggested the soldier’s demanding work could explain why

she either didn’t know she was pregnant, or had attempted to ignore the signs.

“It could be that she was so very focused on other things, and because she was in a life-or-death scenario, that she simply didn’t recognize that she was pregnant,” Phipps said.

Phipps said the pregnancy may not have been obvious to the soldier’s colleagues. “Not everyone has a very big baby bump, some women carry their baby far inside,” she said.

Patrick O’Brien, a consultant obstetrician at University College London Hospital, said cases of unnoticed pregnancies were unusual, but that he encountered at least one each year.

“There are some women who have very irregular periods, often women who are very fit and exercise a lot.

There are women who don’t have sickness during pregnancy. Some women particularly those who are overweight don’t recognize they have put on weight, or feel the baby moving,”

O’Brien said. Many cases involved women who refused to accept that they were pregnant and attempted to disguise it, particularly young women living at home. “It’s not just that they hide the pregnancy from their parents, they often become in denial of the pregnancy,” he said.

“If you have a combination of any or all of those things, a pregnancy can go undetected, or the woman can be in denial of it if the implications to their life are so great,” said O’Brien, a spokesman for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologist.

A study published in 2011 by Glasgow’s Victoria Infirmary said that denial of pregnancy was more common than expected, suggesting it occurred in around 1 in 2,500 births.

In a 2002 German survey of Berlin obstetric hospitals, researchers found that 40 percent of women who didn’t realize they were pregnant had seen doctors who also failed to spot the signs. — AP

Authoritarian Belarus votes amid boycott calls Polling stations empty

MOGADISHU: A handout photograph released by the African Union-United Nations Information Support Team yesterday shows members of the Al-Qaeda linked Shebab standing on September 22 after giving themselves up to forces of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) in Garsale, some 10km from the town of Jowhar, 80km north of the capital Mogadishu. Over 200 militants disengaged following in-fighting between militants in the region in which eight supporters of Shabaab were killed, including two senior commanders. — AFP

Somali rebels claim killing of lawmaker MOGADISHU: Islamist rebels said they shot dead a Somali lawmaker in Mogadishu on Saturday and threatened to kill every legislator in the country.

Gunmen shot dead Mustaf Haji Mohamed outside his home after evening prayers, the latest in a wave of attacks since Somalia’s new assembly elected President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud earlier this month.

“How many times had we warned Somalis against joining the infidel government?” Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, spokesman for military operations for the Islamist militant group al Shabaab, told Reuters late on Saturday. “Let it be a good lesson for the rest.”

Mohamud’s election was hailed by his supporters and Western powers as a vote for change after more than two decades of violence. The militants were swift to brand the political newcomer a “traitor” who headed a government serving only Western interests. Mohamud was the target of a failed suicide bombing just two days into his new job. “We killed legislator Mustaf ... and we will kill all Somali MPs and officials one by one,” Musab said. The U.N. secretary-general’s special envoy to Somalia, Augustine Mahiga, called the shooting a cowardly act that was a “reminder of the challenges faced by the new institutions and administration.” The appointment of a new,

slimmed-down parliament and the first presidential vote came as African troops prepared an assault on al Shabaab’s last stronghold in the south of the country. Al Shabaab drafted in hundreds of fighters from other regions this week to reinforce the port city of Kismayu.

The African Union AMISOM force said, however, there were signs of deepening internal rifts within al Shabaab. More than 200 rebels defected near the town of Jowhar, about 80 km (50 miles) from the capital, on Saturday, AMISOM said.

“Al Shabaab is divided and being defeated across Somalia,” Brigadier Michael Odonga, the force’s deputy commander, said. There was no immediate reaction from al Shabaab.

While the loss of Kismayu and its port would weaken the rebels’ morale and deprive them of a key revenue source, it would unlikely deliver a knockout blow to the insurgency.

Although AMISOM and Somali government forces have regained control of numerous towns across southern and central Somalia, the vast rural areas between remain a free-for-all. Diplomats expect al Shabaab to retreat to the hinterlands, as they have done before, and resort increasingly to the suicide bombings and targeted assassinations that have marked Mohamud’s first two weeks in power. — Reuters

Suicide bomber kills two, injures 46 in Nigeria BAUCHI: A suicide car bomber attacked a Catholic church conducting Mass in northern Nigeria yesterday, killing two persons and wounding another 46 in a region under assault by a radical Islamist sect, officials said.

An Associated Press journalist heard the explosion after 9 a.m. Sunday in the city of Bauchi, which has seen a number of bombings and shootings blamed on the sect known as Boko Haram. The blast appeared to hit a parking lot alongside the St. John’s Catholic Church in the city.

Police and military surrounded the church and did not allow journalists inside the cordon. Later at a nearby hospital, Bauchi deputy police commissioner T. Stevens told journalists told that the bomber had been stopped at the church’s gate, where he detonated the explosives packed inside his car.

Doctors cautioned more could die from their injuries. “The situation has been brought under control,” Stevens said. “We have our men minding all areas.” Stevens said no group or individual had claimed responsibility for the attack, though suspicion immediately fell on Boko Haram. The sect, whose name means “Western education is sacrilege” in the Hausa language of Nigeria’s north, has been waging an increasingly bloody fight against nation’s weak central government. More than 680 people have died in drive-by

killings and bombings blamed on Boko Haram this year alone, according to an AP count. The sect has demanded the release of all its captive members and has called for strict Shariah law to be implemented across the entire country.

The sect has used suicide car bombs against churches in the past, most noticeably a 2011 Christmas Day attack on a Catholic church in Madalla near Nigeria’s capital. That attack and assaults elsewhere in the country killed at least 44 people. An unclaimed car bombing on Easter in Kaduna killed at least 38 people on a busy roadway after witnesses say it was turned away from a church. Attacks against churches by the sect have waned in recent weeks.

Nigeria’s military claimed it killed the sect’s spokesman and a commander Sept. 17 outside the city of Kano, potentially shaking up a sect that has continued attacks despite a tighter military presence in northern cities.

The killing of members of the sect’s senior leadership comes as the group recently changed some of its tactics and attacked more than 30 mobile phone towers throughout northern Nigeria, disrupting communications in a nation reliant on cellular phones.

Saturday night, the military conducted door-to-door searches in the northern cities of Damaturu and Potiskum, areas now under a 24-hour curfew that have been hard-hit by the sect. — AP

MINSK: Strongman Alexander Lukashenko was set to keep his forces in power yesterday as ex-Soviet Belarus elected a parliament in polls the united opposition refused to recognise even before they closed.

With the man branded Europe’s last dictator keen to show off his democratic credentials and avoid a re-run should turnout dip below 50 percent, a barrage of state TV spots urged citizens to cast their ballots.

But despite the state message polling stations looked empty, and even the head of Central Election Committee admitted voting was “weak”, confirming the lack of interest in a process in which most candidates already work for the state.

At a polling station in one of the capital’s schools, pensioner Alla said she had voted for the incumbent pro-Lukashenko deputy in her district, but confessed she knew little about him or what he had done in the past four years.

“I haven’t heard anything about his activities over the past term, but I think he is worthy of representing me,” she told AFP. Lukashenko, who arrived at his polling station with his young son Kolya in tow, praised the “calmness” of the polls: “There is nothing to criticise so far,” he told journalists. “They should envy our boring elections. We don’t need any revolutions or upheavals,” the 18year presidential veteran said.

Nearly two years after unleashing a crackdown on demonstrators who dared question the scale of his election to a fourth term, Lukashenko faces hardly a challenge from his scattered and weakened foes.

Most opposition groups called for a boycott and pulled their candidates out of the race a week ago, telling people to protest by staying at home or even going fishing on election day.

But the authorities still appeared to be taking no chances, with about a dozen protesters arrested in the past week and thousands of flyers calling for a boycott confiscated.

At a press conference Sunday, opposition leaders proclaimed the election unfair, lacking in transparency, and undemocratic. “Belarus

authorities did not take the opportunity for democratic reform, did not change the electoral laws, did not free political prisoners, did not let the opposition into voting committees, used force against the opposition, and censored candidates,” Belarus National Front party leader Alexei Yanukevich declared.

“This gives us the right not to recognise the results of the vote now, regardless of the outcome,” a statement signed by five antiLukashenko groups said.

The last legislative polls in 2008 were swept by government forces, a scenario

country’s economy in 2011 has prompted Lukashenko’s popularity to slip to less than 30 percent this summer from the 53 percent he enjoyed going into his last election in December 2010.

Facing economic sanctions and a travel ban from the West over rights abuses, Lukashenko’s regime has instead moved closer to its historic ally Russia, resisting calls for economic and electoral reforms.

Sixteen people held in jail since 2010 and recognised by local groups as political prisoners include one of the presidential rivals of the

MINSK: President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko (L) speaks to journalists after voting in Minsk yesterday. The ex-Soviet state holds parliamentary elections, two years after a presidential poll ended in the beating and arrest of hundreds of protesters who had accused Alexander Lukashenko of vote rigging. — AFP almost certain to play itself out again. The outgoing parliament, which spent the term rubber-stamping legislation almost exclusively issued by the president’s office, drafted and passed only four largely inconsequential bills of its own.

The political stagnation and erosion of the

man whom supporters tenderly call “Batka,” or Dad. Reflecting their dismal morale, the opposition says it will not call for street protests Sunday because of a lack of public interest in the ballot. More than 270 observers from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly are monitoring the polls, which close at 1700 GMT. — AFP

Houston officer kills double amputee HOUSTON: A police officer shot and killed a one-armed, one-legged man in a wheelchair Saturday inside a group home after police say the double amputee threatened the officer and aggressively waved a metal object that turned out to be a pen.

Police spokeswoman Jodi Silva said the man cornered the officer in his wheelchair and was making threats while trying to stab the officer with the pen. At the time, the officer did not know what the metal object was that the man was waving, Silva said.

She said the man came “within inches to a foot” of the officer and did not follow instructions to calm down and remain still. “Fearing for his partner’s safety and his own safety, he discharged his weapon,” Silva told The Associated Press.

Police did not immediately release the name of the man who was killed. They had been called to the home after a caretaker there called and reported that the man in wheelchair was causing a disturbance. The owner of the group home, John Garcia, told the Houston Chronicle that the man had a history of mental illness and had been living at the house about 18 months. Garcia said the man had told him that he lost a leg above the knee and all of one arm when he was hit by a train.

“He sometimes would go off a bit, but you just ignore it,” Garcia told the newspaper. Silva identified the officer as Matthew Jacob Marin, who has served with the department for five years. He was immediately placed on threeday administrative leave, which is standard in all shootings involving officers.

Houston police records indicate that Marin also fatally shot a suspect in 2009.

Investigators at the time said Marin came upon a man stabbing his neighbor to death at

an apartment complex and opened fired when the suspect refused to drop the knife.

On Saturday, Marin and his partner arrived at the group home around 2:30 a.m. Silva said there were several people at the house at the time. The caretaker who called police

waited on the porch while the officers went inside, she said.

“It was close quarters in the area of the house,” Silva said. “The officer was forced into an area where he had no way to get out.” — AP

LOS ANGELES: Members of the Muslim Congress demonstrate against hatred and religious insults in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles, California. Deadly clashes have occurred during protests in several countries over an American-made anti-Muslim movie, “Innocence of Muslims,” including an attack on the US embassy in Libya where US Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other American diplomats were killed. — AFP

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

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

Top China official visits Afghanistan, signs security deal KABUL: China has signed security and economic agreements with Afghanistan during a rare trip to Kabul by a top Chinese official, in deals seen aimed at bolstering Beijing’s influence ahead of a NATO withdrawal of most combat forces by 2014.

Zhou Yongkang, China’s domestic security chief and a member of the ruling Communist Party’s central Politburo, made an unannounced visit to the Afghan capital late on Saturday, holding talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai at his garden palace.

Zhou’s visit was the first to Afghanistan by a senior Chinese leader since 1966 and followed a visit by Karzai

to Beijing in June when both countries agreed to cooperate on combating extremism in the region.

During the talks, held under tight security after violent protests in Kabul over a film which insults Islam, Zhou signed agreements on increased security and economic cooperation, including a deal to help “train, fund and equip Afghan police”.

The agreement was not specific on how much assistance China planned to give the 149,000-strong police force, which is currently trained by the NATOled coalition.

“It is in line with the fundamental interests of the two peoples for China

and Afghanistan to strengthen a strategic and cooperative partnership which is also conducive to regional peace, stability and development,” Zhou said in a statement, according to China’s official Xinhua news agency.

Resource-hungry China, which has a small border with Afghanistan in the country’s mountainous north-eastern corridor, is keen to invest in Afghan resource deposits worth as much as $1 trillion, based on US Pentagon estimates.

Chinese state-owned miner China Metallurgical Group (MCC) operates the $3 billion Aynak copper mine in eastern Logar province, which has been subject to rocket attacks and other raids by

insurgent groups looking to disrupt operations.

MCC won the contract to develop Aynak in 2008 and it was originally scheduled to begin production in 2013, but work has been delayed by the discovery of a huge and significant archaeological site in the area.

Zhou’s visit underscores the concern in Beijing about a deterioration in security as the NATO presence in Afghanistan winds down. It also comes after Karzai last week voiced concern about strategic pacts signed with chief ally the United States earlier this year ahead of talks starting in three weeks’ time on a continued US troop presence in Afghanistan

beyond 2014.

Zhou had originally been scheduled to travel to Turkmenistan following a visit to Singapore, but diverted to Afghanistan for the meeting. The Chinese government fully respects the right of the Afghan people to choose their own path of development and will actively participate in Afghanistan’s reconstruction, Zhou told Karzai, according to Xinhua.

Karzai said security in the region “depends on the relations between Afghanistan and its neighbours”, presidential spokesman Aimal Faizi said, with both countries agreeing to expand their so far limited ties.— Reuters

Pakistan govt rejects filmmaker bounty Fresh rallies held across Pakistan

LIAONING: This file picture taken on September 5, 2012, shows China’s first aircraft carrier berthed at Dalian port, in northeast China’s Liaoning province, with the newly painted number “16” on its sides. China’s first aircraft carrier was handed over yesterday to the navy of the People’s Liberation Army, state press said, amid rising tensions over disputed waters in the East and South China Seas. The handover ceremony of the 300-metre (990-foot) ship, a former Soviet carrier called the Varyag, took place in northeast China’s port of Dalian after a lengthy refitting by a Chinese shipbuilder, the Global Times reported. — AFP

Indonesian police arrest 9 more terror suspects JAKARTA: An elite anti-terror squad has arrested nine Islamic militants in central Indonesia and seized a dozen homemade bombs from a group suspected of planning suicide attacks against security forces and the government, police said yesterday.

Two suspects were arrested Saturday in Central Java’s Solo town after authorities received information about their whereabouts from other militants in the group who had recently surrendered, said national police spokesman Brig. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar. The two were interrogated and led police to six other members of the group hours later in the same town. A ninth suspect was arrested late Saturday in West Kalimantan on the island of Borneo.

Amar said two of those arrested, Badri Hartono and Rudi Kurnia Putra, both 45, worked to recruit young men and taught at least one member of the group how to make bombs. “They were the central figures of the group who had planned several terror attacks,” Amar said. “They recruited, invited young men to be trained in a military-style jihadi camp and bought bomb making materials.”

He said the group had planned to bomb the country’s Parliament building, shoot police and attack members of the anti-terrorism squad. Police seized 12 homemade bombs and others that were partially completed along with three rifles, four swords and several jihadist books from the homes of three suspects, Amar said. Five bombs were safely defused late Saturday at the scene in Solo, the hometown of convicted radical cleric Abu Bakar Bashir.

Police are still investigating the possible link of the unnamed group to other terrorism networks, Amar said. Authorities believe it has now been largely broken up, but they continue to search for other members. Since March, more than 30 militant suspects have been arrested and seven others killed in a series of raids in Indonesia. All were plotting domestic attacks against Indonesians. Some of them

- aged between 18 and 30 - had attended a military-style training camp in Poso on Sulawesi island.

Another member of the unnamed group, alleged bomb maker Muhammad Toriq, surrendered two weeks ago in the capital, Jakarta, while carrying a gun and ammunition and wearing a suicide bomber belt that did not contain any explosives.

Another militant, Yusuf Rizaldi, gave himself up to police in North Sumatra three days later. Both cooperated to help bring down the group’s other members in Saturday’s raid, Amar said.

Police have said Toriq was allegedly part of an elaborate plan to shoot police and bomb the Parliament building as a way to wage jihad to establish Islamic Sharia law in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation. He had been on the run since police flushed him out of his Jakarta house earlier this month after neighbors reported seeing smoke billowing from it. He escaped again a week later after a blast rocked a house in the capital’s outskirts. Police believe the bomb accidentally exploded while it was being prepared for a terrorist attack, killing one alleged militant inside the home.

When Toriq walked into a police station and surrendered after having a change of heart, he told authorities he had planned to go on a suicide bomb mission Sept. 10, targeting either police, Indonesia’s elite anti-terrorism squad or Buddhists as a way to protest against treatment of the minority Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.

Indonesia, a secular nation, has been battling terrorists since 2002, when militants linked to the Southeast Asian network Jemaah Islamiyah started attacking Western nightclubs, restaurants and embassies. More than 260 people have been killed in the attacks, many of them foreign tourists. Recent terror attacks in Indonesia have been carried out by individuals or small groups and have targeted local “infidels” instead of Westerners, with less deadly results. — AP

Philippines to air Marcos martial law speech MANILA: The Philippines for the first time in 40 years will air the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos’ full television broadcast declaring martial law that led to two decades of brutal rule. Showing the speech in full will ensure the public will “never forget” the atrocities during Marcos’s rule, which was marked by widespread human rights abuses that saw hundreds of activities killed, jailed or abducted by the dictator’s forces, the office of President Benigno Aquino said.

The speech is to be aired on government’s official interactive portal (www.gov.ph) as well as the website of ABS-CBN television, the country’s leading private broadcaster once padlocked by the Marcos regime.

“It’s a very nice resource for you to understand and to be aware of what happened in those times,” presidential spokeswoman Abigail Valte said. “So we encourage everybody to go visit the website.”

The video was from the archives of ABSCBN and will be made available to the public beginning Sunday evening “exactly 40 years to the date and time of the original broadcast in 1972”, the government said.

The government has also posted online contents of Marcos’s personal diary, giving a rare glimpse into the mind of the dictator as

martial unfolded. Marcos signed the martial law order on September 21, 1972, but officially announced it to a shocked Filipino public two days later.

Newspapers and television stations critical of Marcos were shut down or taken over, while critics and political opponents were killed. In his diary, Marcos wrote how his forces immediately arrested 52 personalities out of 200 targets, which included opposition figure senator Benigno Aquino-father of the current president.

“At 7:15 pm I finally appeared on a nationwide TV and radio broadcast to announce the proclamation of martial law, the general orders and instruction,” Marcos wrote. “I was supposed to broadcast at 12:00 pm but technical difficulties prevented it. We had closed all TV stations.” Aquino was subsequently allowed to leave the country to seek treatment in the United States for his ailing heart, but was shot at the tarmac of the airport in 1983 upon returning him. Anger over his death snowballed into a people power revolt three years later that finally ended Marcos’ regime, and installed Aquino’s widow as president. Aquino’s son and namesake, Benigno Aquino 3rd, became president after winning election in 2010. — AFP

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan government distanced itself yesterday from a $100,000 bounty offered by a cabinet minister for the death of the maker of an antiIslam film that has sparked protests across the Muslim world.

Railways Minister Ghulam Ahmed Bilour invited members of the Taleban and Al-Qaeda to take part in the “noble deed”, and said given the chance he would kill the film-maker with his own hands. A spokesman for Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf rejected Bilour’s comments, made on Saturday, a day after angry protests across Pakistan against the “Innocence of Muslims” left 21 people dead and more than 200 injured.

“This is not government policy.

We completely dissociate (ourselves) from this,” the spokesman told AFP. More than 50 people have died in protests and attacks around the world linked to the low-budget film, which mocks Islam and the prophet Mohammed, since the first demonstrations on September 11. The producer of the film, Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, is reported to be a 55-year-old Egyptian Copt and convicted fraudster, based in Los Angeles and currently out on parole. US media reports say Nakoula wrote and produced the film, using the pseudonym Sam Bacile before being identified. Police questioned him before he went into hiding with his family.

Analyst and author Hasan Askari said Bilour, a member of the Awami National Party (ANP), was trying to keep ahead of pub-

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Christians dressed as performers participate in an All Parties Minorities Alliance (APMA) protest in Islamabad yesterday. The Pakistan government distanced itself from a 100,000 dollar bounty offered by a cabinet minister for the death of the maker of an anti-Islam film that has sparked protests across the Muslim world. — AFP lic opinion in his northwestern home province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where anti-Western feelings run high.

“There is a common phenomenon of point scoring in Pakistan politics and Bilour wanted to show that ‘we are not lagging behind any other group’” he said.

Fresh rallies were held across Pakistan yesterday to condemn the movie, following protests on Friday which mobilised more than 45,000 people.

Some 200 members of the minority Christian community led

by the Prime Minister’s advisor on minorities affairs Paul Bhatti staged a rally in Islamabad condemning the anti-Islam movie.

The marchers carried the placards “We denounce the blasphemous movie” and “We express complete solidarity with Muslims in Pakistan.” The protesters, including women, also condemned an attack on a church in the northwestern city of Mardan during violence on Friday. In the eastern city of Lahore, three separate were held by different Muslim sects on the road leading to the

US consulate, witnesses said.

A total of around 2,500 people participated in the protests, police officer Abdul Kadir Qamar told AFP. At one of the rallies, a little known Muslim cleric Khadim Hussain Rizvi that a Karachi businessman had announced another cash award of 120 million rupees ($1.27 million) to any one who kills the maker of the anti-Islam movie. He gave no name for the businessman nor did he provide further details. Peaceful rallies were also held in Multan, Karachi, and Quetta. —AFP

Brunei sultan’s daughter weds BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN: Glittering jewels and the echoes of a 17-gun salute marked the climax of wedding celebrations for the daughter of one of the world’s wealthiest men, the Sultan of Brunei. Princess Hajah Hafizah Sururul Bolkiah, 32, and Pengiran Haji Muhammad Ruzaini, 29, were presented to the royal court in a lavish traditional ceremony at the sultan’s 1,700-room palace yesterday. Although the couple were legally wed on Thursday after signing the marriage contract, yesterday’s event marks the height of more than a week of festivities in the tiny oil-rich Muslim sultanate on Borneo island.

The bride, dressed in a crystal-beaded beige and silver gown, was ushered into the throne room by sixteen royal guards carrying ceremonial spears and shields. She was seated at the head of the hall in front of 3,000 guests, including Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, Philippines President Benigno Aquino and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen. Visibly ner vous, the groom, wearing beige and gold brocade to complement his wife’s ensemble, was escorted to the bridal dias where the sultan took Ruzaini’s hand and placed it on the bride’s forehead-a symbolic blessing and gesture of affection in Malay culture. The monarch also bestowed the groom with the royal title “Yang Amat Mulia Pengiran Anak”, which roughly translates as “Son of His Highness” and is reserved only for the upper tiers of Brunei’s aristocracy.

Two pots of crystal flowers, with eggs tied on to the stalks, were placed next to the bride and groom on the dias to represent the hope of a fertile marriage. The brief 20minute ceremony concluded with the state religious leader reading a prayer for the newlyweds asking for God’s blessing of the union.

As the smiling couple were ushered out of the room by the bride’s younger brother Prince Abdul Mateen, they took turns to kiss the hands of the royal family, including the monarch and Queen Saleha.

A state banquet will be held in the evening, where Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and other foreign dignitaries are

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN: The Royal couple Princess Hajah Hafizah Sururul Bolkiah and her groom Pengiran Haji Muhammad Ruzaini (L) prays at the end of the sitting-in-state on royal dais ceremony at Istana Nurul Iman in Brunei’s capital Bandar Seri Begawan yesterday. Daughter of Brunei’s sultan and her groom were officially presented to the royal court in a colourful ceremony in the tiny oil-rich monarchy. — AFP expected to attend. Queen Elizabeth II also sent a message to the Brunei royal familywhich has ruled the sultanate for 600 yearscongratulating the newlyweds and wishing them “a happy wedding day and many blessed years together”.

The pomp and pageantry of the royal wedding is a rare source of excitement in Brunei, which is known for its slow pace of life and lack of nightlife-alcohol is largely banned under Islamic practice.

It is the first time one of the sultan’s children-five sons and seven daughters from three marriages-has married since 2007.

Hafizah, who has a degree in business

administration, is the fifth child of the sultan and Queen Saleha and works as an officer at the finance ministry. Ruzaini is a civil servant in the prime minister’s office.

The sultanate, which dates back to the 15th century, is a Malay Muslim absolute monarchy which gained full independence from Britain in 1984.

Situated on a sliver of Borneo island, with Malaysia and Indonesia occupying the rest, it is a major producer of oil and liquefied natural gas. The energy wealth has brought Brunei’s citizens, who number fewer than 400,000, one of the highest per capita incomes in Asia. — AFP

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

NEWS

Children sitting in the back of a car wave the Saudi flag during celebrations marking the 82nd Saudi National Day in the desert kingdom’s capital Riyadh yesterday. — AFP

Lebanese band voices hopes of Arab youth Continued from Page 1 uprisings that swept through the Mideast last year.

Led by lead singer and song writer Hamed Sinno, a 24year-old Freddy Mercury doppelganger and openly gay man, the band has been soundly embraced by Arab youth who see the music as part of a cultural and social revolution. “They are about secularism, gay love, social problems that we don’t talk about, that we don’t accept, that we are afraid to discuss,” said 19-year-old student Jalal Elias, of the northern Israeli city of Haifa, which has a large Arab-Palestinian population. “The kind of people who make this music - they made the Arab Spring.”

On a recent Friday, some 3,000 fans attended Mashrou Leila’s concert in Amman’s ancient Roman auditorium. Young men and women wore tight jeans, thick-framed glasses, and disheveled haircuts. Other women wore headscarves and modest Muslim dress.

They cheered as Sinno sung of a gay couple breaking up in a song called, “Smell the Jasmine”. “I wanted to be your housewife,” Sinno crooned. “I wanted to raise your children.”

The crowd happily screamed obscenities from the band’s song “Gossip”. Sinno later said in an interview with AP that Jordanian censors wouldn’t him sing the lyrics “prostitute” and “pimp”, so he let the fans sing it instead. They also sang along to “Dresses”, of a couple broken apart by poverty and religious conflict. The song suggests the couple was having premarital sex - another taboo issue. Sinno said the band’s music reflects the broader spirit of revolution. “I think the people that create music are the product of the same system that produces the revolutionaries we see changing the Arab world today,” he said.

The band is one of many rock, hip hop and “electrofolk” groups connecting with a hazy Mideast demographic called “Arab Spring youth” - educated, liberal, Muslims and Christians in their late teens and twenties.

Other musicians include folk rocker Youssra El-Hawary, the reggae inspired “Tout Ard”, and rapper duo OkaOrtega.

Many of the music groups existed before the Arab uprisings that began in Jan 2011 and toppled ageing rulers in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Yemen, and unleashed a civil war in Syria. But the artists have since grown in popularity - partly because, according to Egyptian music producer Mohamed Gorab, edgier lyrics and Western-influenced music resonate in a revolutionary time. “This is a new generation that’s emerging,” Gorab said in an interview. “They are feeling more freedom, and the music shows that.”

With its commercial success, Mashrou Leila stands apart from the other bands. The group has performed in Cairo, Beirut, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, and the Qataris capital Doha for audiences of around 3,000 people. In European music festivals, they play for nonArabic speaking fans. Judging from Facebook and other social media, the band also has amassed a few dozen Israeli Jewish groupies. Suggestive of their popularity, one music video has been shared on fan websites and amassed an estimated 250,000 hits. Mashrou Leila was even slated to open for the Red Hot Chili Peppers in Beirut this summer. But the Lebanese band canceled

the gig after outrage from pro-Palestinian activists who were angry because the Red Hot Chili Peppers was also to perform in Israel.

Still, the band’s successes are small compared to mainstream Arab pop stars who have millions of YouTube hits. Stereotypical Arab pop divas dress lewdly, get plastic surgery to shrink their noses and swell their breasts, suggestively gyrate in luxurious settings, and are unusually pale in a region of olive-skinned people.

Their muscular male counterparts frequently sport stubble and broody gazes.

Mashrou Leila began four years ago as a university jam band in the liberal Lebanese capital Beirut and adopted influences from Balkan melodies, American folk music, and mainstream pop. The six-member band of twentysomethings - which includes one woman spread its music and swelled in popularity through friends, Facebook and YouTube. The group’s fan base mostly appears to be young people who have been inspired by the Arab revolutions, as well as some of the social and cultural changes the uprisings produced.

But not all of the reforms achieved through the Arab Spring have been embraced by the young music enthusiasts. The revolutions also led to the election of Islamic governments and empowered ultraconservative Muslims called Salafis, dashing the hopes of some youths who sought liberal change. Fan Jeries Ballan called Mashrou Leila “the real Arab Spring”. “What’s the Arab Spring really about anyway?” said Ballan, 24. “It started out one way, and took a different direction.”

A key indicator of the differences between Mashrou Leila’s fans and older generations - not to mention conservatives of any age - is the attitudes toward Sinno’s openly stated homosexuality. At the Amman concert, Mashrou Leila fans said they didn’t care. Gay fans said they saw Sinno as a role model. “It’s something we’ve come to accept,” said concertgoer Lina Matar, 24, wearing a Muslim headscarf. Sinno said he wanted the band’s music to inspire Arab gay, lesbian, transgender and bisexual fans “to forge for themselves a sense of belonging to the region, in spite of the incredible repressing they have to live through”.

Outside the Roman amphitheater where the band performed, many Jordanians said they were offended by the Western-sounding music. An agitated elderly bearded man, flanked by a group of younger people, harassed the police and demanded to enter - presumably to cause trouble. They left without going inside.

“Couldn’t they protest against that film that insulted Islam? Isn’t that more important than a concert?” grumbled day laborer Mohammed, 43. He was referring an amateurish anti-Islam video that insults Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

The video sparked weeklong violence earlier this month that targeted US and other Western embassies and left more than 30 dead in seven countries, including Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans at the US Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. But another woman standing outside the amphitheater said Mashrou Leila’s lyrics seemed to reflect her life as working class black woman better than most Arab music. “I like what I’m hearing,” said Dima Hamoud, a 19-year-old of Sudanese descent. — AP

Morsi seeking independence from America Continued from Page 1 past by backing dictators and taking “a very clear” biased approach against the Palestinians and for Israel.

“Successive American administrations essentially purchased with American taxpayer money the dislike, if not the hatred, of the peoples of the region,” he told the paper in the interview published late Saturday, drawing a clear distinction between the American government and the American people. Those administrations “have taken a very clear biased approach against something that (has) very strong emotional ties to the people of the region that is the issue of Palestine.” He stressed that unlike his predecessor, Mubarak, he will behave “according to the Egyptian people’s choice and will, nothing else”.

Morsi, who was sworn in on June 30 after the first democratic elections in Egypt’s modern history, has been cautious not to sharply depart from Mubarak’s foreign policy path, particularly the longstanding alliance with the United States. But with an Islamist president at the helm of the Arab world’s most populous country, there are already differences and changes of focus. Morsi has been expected to distance himself from what many Egyptians saw as Mubarak’s compliance with Washington’s agenda in the Middle East, especially because his Muslim Brotherhood group has been a vocal critic of US policy in the region and in the Muslim world.

In the interview, Morsi dismissed criticism that he responded too slowly when protesters managed to scale

the walls of the heavily fortified US Embassy in Cairo on Sept 11. The demonstrators replaced the American flag with a banner carrying the Islamic declaration of faith.

Morsi said he needed to deal with the situation “wisely” and took time to avoid a backlash from an angry but small crowd of protesters.

While he praised President Barack Obama for moving “decisively and quickly” to support Arab Spring uprisings against longtime authoritarian leaders, he said Arabs like Americans want to live “free in their own land, according to their customs and values, in a fair and democratic fashion”. To this end, Morsi urged the US to live up to its commitments to support an independent Palestinian state.

Since taking office, Morsi, 61, has been immersed in largely foreign policy issues. He has strongly criticized the Syria regime for violently repressing the uprising there, tried to warm relations with the Palestinians, and has dealt with tensions between the Middle East and the West over the anti-Islam film.

Reflecting the tension with Washington over the protests, Obama was asked about Egypt a day after antiUS protests broke out in Egypt on Sept 11 and he said he does not consider it an ally or an enemy. The Times asked Morsi if the US was an ally, to which he replied with a laugh by saying: “That depends on your definition of ally.” But he quickly followed by saying he wants a real friendship with the US. “I think what I am trying seriously (is to) look into the future and to see that we are real friends.” — AP

US Navy’s new floating base gets Gulf...

Continued from Page 1 Anti-mine divers on practice drills deployed in small boats off the Ponce’s stern gate early Saturday, and MH-53 minesweeping helicopters launched from the ship kicked up sea spray as they hauled mine-detecting equipment through the water. Later in the day, a US destroyer pulled alongside, fighter jets roared past and gunners fired thunderous rounds from .50 caliber machine guns during a simulated encounter with a hostile vessel. Senior Navy officials in the Gulf are quick to downplay talk of conflict with Iran, which is locked in a dispute with the US and its allies over Tehran’s disputed nuclear program. The West suspects Iran aims to develop a nuclear weapon; Tehran denies the charges.

US military officials in the region insist the exercises, which include forces from more than 30 countries, are defensive and not directed at any country. They prefer to focus instead on the Ponce’s role as an innovative new tool to help ensure security in the region, and on the need to train with allies to keep sea lanes open. Still, the message is clear. “Any extremist group, any country that puts mines in the water would be cautioned” by the exercises, said Marine Gen James R Mattis, the US Central Command chief, during his first visit onboard the Ponce since it deployed June 1. “We do have the means to take mines out of the water if they go in. We will open the waterways to freedom of navigation.”

Military leaders believe the Norfolk, Virginia-based Ponce is central to that mission. More than half the length of most US aircraft carriers, the Ponce can accommodate multiple helicopters on deck and small boats in a well deck below. The ship was originally an amphibious transport dock built at the height of the Vietnam War. Those types of vessels are typically used to carry landing forces of Marines. It’s now known as the Navy’s first “afloat forward staging base-interim”, a name given because the Ponce is meant to be a stopgap until a similar base built from scratch is delivered. That won’t happen until at least 2015.

“This will more or less act as a test for using floating platforms in the sea for military operations,” Riad Kahwaji, chief executive of the Dubai-based Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis, said of the reconfigured Ponce.

“There’ll be a lot of defense industry officials observing the performance of this.”

Much of the original ship remains, including the tight Marine-style bunks stacked four high from floor to ceiling in some parts of the ship. But there are plenty of 21st Century additions too. Berths for around 100 people were removed and replaced with a high-tech joint operations center, where streaming video and data feeds can be shown on flat-screen displays. Powerful MK-38 guns installed during conversion include remotely controlled digital cameras that let operators zoom in on far-off targets of interest. And a ScanEagle surveillance drone launched from and recovered by the ship keeps an eye on the sea for miles around all day long.

In its new role, the Ponce is initially intended to be a close-to-the-action support hub for mine-clearing ships, coastal patrol vessels and helicopters. Ships can take on fuel and supplies without having to return to port, and a wide range of repairs can be handled by machinists onboard. That means far less downtime for minesweepers and other vessels using the Ponce as a stopping-off point, according to analysts and Navy officials.

The Ponce’s Spartan accommodation can also handle hundreds of additional personnel, such as the French antimine divers in distinctive camouflage shorts currently onboard. In theory, special operations forces could also fill bunks aboard the Ponce, which is able to launch the small boats and helicopters they often use. There is also the benefit of not needing to secure approval from allied countries where US troops are based before conducting operations from an offshore staging base such as the Ponce.

“A country that’s believed to be friendly to the US could overnight become hostile to the US, and this could pose a threat to US operations,” Kahwaji said, citing recent violence directed at American embassies in response to an anti-Islam film. Although it is under the command of a Navy captain, most of the Ponce’s crew are civilians. It has more than 155 civilian crew members from the Military Sealift Command and 55 Navy sailors, according to the ship’s commanding officer, Capt Jon Rodgers. The number of civilian crew can fluctuate depending on who is onboard. — AP

Iran sees ‘WWIII’ if hit Continued from Page 1 the Zionist regime attacks with or without US knowledge, then we will definitely attack US bases in Bahrain, Qatar and Afghanistan”. He warned that Israel “cannot imagine our response - and it will sustain heavy damage and that will be a prelude to its obliteration.” The US Fifth fleet is based in Bahrain and the US has a heavy military presence in Afghanistan.

On Saturday, the head of the Revolutionary Guards, General Mohammad Ali Jafari, said war between Iran and Israel “will eventually happen, but it is not certain where and when”. It was the first time a senior Iranian official had acknowledged a probability of war breaking out between the two arch-foes. Jafari, quoted by the ISNA and Fars news agencies, also said such a conflict would lead to the annihilation of Israel.”If they begin (aggression), it will spell their destruction and will be the end of the story,” he said.

Yesterday, Jafari’s deputy, Brigadier General Hossein Salami, told Fars in an interview that Iran’s “defensive strategy is based on the assumption that we will engage in a war, a massive battle against a global coalition led by the US”. He said the Islamic republic had made preparations to “crush” the enemy by hitting “enemy bases in the region, the security of the Zionist regime (Israel) and the energy market, as well as the lives of enemy forces.” He added: “We will not start a war.

But if someone wages war against us, we will launch continuous offensives.”

Tensions have risen significantly in recent weeks, with Israel threatening to unleash air strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. Israel believes Iran’s nuclear program to be aimed at developing an atomic weapons capability that would menace its existence and its current status as the Middle East’s sole, if undeclared, nuclear weapons power. Iran insists that its atomic program is exclusively for peaceful, civilian ends, but it is locked in a deepening standoff with the UN nuclear watchdog and the UN Security Council over the issue.

Separately, Siemens denied yesterday that it had sold any nuclear equipment to Iran, after a prominent Iranian lawmaker accused the German firm of selling the country gear that was laced with explosives. The lawmaker, Aladin Borujerdi, who chairs the parliamentary national security and foreign policy commission, said Siemens had sold Iran equipment for its nuclear program that contained mini-explosives, Iranian media reported yesterday. “Intelligence-security apparatus

succeeded in discovering explosives in equipment which were provided to us for our nuclear activities,” Borujerdi said in an interview with parliament’s ICANA news website. “The explosives were to blow up when activated to disrupt the whole system. Domestic experts nullified the plot of the enemy, however,” he was quoted as saying by ICANA. “ The company Siemens, which provided this equipment, must answer for its action,” he said.

Siemens spokesman Alexander Machowetz categorically denied the charge, telling AFP: “Siemens maintains no business dealings in connection to the Iranian nuclear program and delivers no equipment to this end.” Iran’s Press TV carried the story on its website, but no other state media reported on the claim. Iran often alleges sabotage attempts by Western or Israeli intelligence services, but provides little in the way of evidence. The Islamic republic, however, has suffered the assassination of four of its nuclear scientists in the past two years, attacks it has blamed on Israel, the United States and Britain. It has also been targeted by sophisticated computer viruses, such as Stuxnet and Flame, that have spied on its activities or wiped out data related to its controversial nuclear program.

Meanwhile, a senior Iranian lawmaker accused the head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog yesterday of passing confidential information about Iran’s nuclear activities to Israel. In the latest sign of strained relations with the International Atomic Energy Agency, Javad Jahangirzadeh, a member of parliament’s presiding board, said IAEA chief Yukiya Amano would be to blame if Iran reduced its ties with the body. “Amano’s repeated trips to Tel Aviv and asking the Israeli officials’ views about Iran’s nuclear activities indicates that Iran’s nuclear information has been disclosed to the Zionist regime (Israel) and other enemies of the Islamic Republic,” Jahangirzadeh was quoted as saying by Iran’s English-language Press TV. “If the agency’s actions lead to Iran cutting cooperation with this international body, all responsibility will be with the IAEA director general,” said Jahangirzadeh, a member of parliament’s national security and foreign policy committee. The IAEA was not immediately available to comment on his allegation. Last week, Iranian nuclear energy chief Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani said “terrorists” might have infiltrated the Vienna-based agency.

He suggested the IAEA included too much sensitive information about Iran’s nuclear program in its reports that he said could be used by saboteurs. — Agencies

14

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

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China has ‘too much lose’ to impose sanctions

By Patrice Novotny hile Chinese state media has warned Japan that it will suffer economically for nationalising disputed islands, analysts say China has too much to lose to impose any serious sanctions. The world’s second and third largest economies have been involved in a steadily degenerating spat over who owns an unpopulated - but possibly resource rich - archipelago in the East China Sea. Violent protests shook Chinese cities over several days until Tuesday, with Japanese shops and businesses the focus of angry mobs demonstrating over Tokyo’s purchase of the Senkakus from their private owners. Japan controls the islands, but Beijing claims them as the Diaoyus.

Commentators said the demonstrations appeared to have at least tacit blessing from the authorities, an impression backed up by comments made by the state media.

The People’s Daily newspaper, a Communist Party mouthpiece, warned Beijing would not back down. “Amidst a struggle that touches on territorial sovereignty, if Japan continues its provocations China will inevitably take on the fight,” the paper said. “Japan’s economy lacks immunity to Chinese economic measures.”

It did add that given the interdependency of the two countries, sanctions would be a “double-edged sword” for China. But, in an apparent reference to Japan’s “lost decade” after the bursting of its stock and real estate bubbles, the paper asked: “Would Japan rather lose another 10 years and even be ready to fall back 20 years?” As well as straight tariff barriers that any economy has at its disposal in a trade spat, China has form in just making life difficult for importers. In May, when Manila and Beijing were involved in a standoff over different disputed islands, Philippine fruit exporters complained their shipments were left rotting in Chinese ports, supposedly because pests had been discovered in some produce, prompting stricter and more cumbersome quarantine inspections. On paper, China appears to have the upper hand - its economy has been on a rapid upward trajectory for years while Japan has been treading water since around 1990. In 2010 the Middle Kingdom overtook its smaller neighbour to become the world’s second largest economy; Japan is only its fourth largest trading partner after the US, the EU and ASEAN. With a vast population that is rapidly learning consumerism, China is Japan’s single biggest market.

But economists agree that with two way-trade worth $342.9 billion last year, according to Chinese figures, Beijing can ill afford the economic cost of a full-fledged scrap with Tokyo. Jeremy Stevens, Beijing-based economist for South Africa’s Standard Bank Group, said given the high economic stakes, a rational outcome to the current face-off is likely as “both sides recognise that a rupture will hurt both”. “Global supply chains are so interconnected, multifaceted and complex that it would be crazy not to appreciate that China and Japan are reliant on one another in bi-directional, and mutually beneficial ways,” he said.

“As such, we expect clear eyes and minds to prevail.”

While the Made in China tag abounds on consumer goods the world over, the components that go into making the finished product are not all homegrown. The mobile phones, televisions and video cameras that fill shipping containers leaving Chinese ports are frequently assembled from precision parts made by Japan’s finelyhoned hi-tech industries.

So retribution on Japanese firms could easily rebound on the Chinese companies that are dependent on knowhow on the other side of the East China Sea, said Professor Ivan Tselichtchev of Niigata University of Management.

“Weakening Japan economically after all goes against the economic interests of China itself, and Chinese leaders are too pragmatic and too smart not to understand it,” he said.

Chinese threats are “mostly rhetoric and psychological pressure”, he said. “There will be no big ‘economic retaliation’ from the Chinese side. It will exert pressure mostly in other areas. However, I will not be surprised if it takes some symbolic steps on the economic front to show its discontent, say, halts this or that particular investment project or blocks a particular export-import transaction.”

Which is exactly what Japanese firms said Friday was starting to happen. Trading houses Itochu and Sojitz said customs inspections on Japanese goods were being ramped up at major Chinese ports, not enough to stop them, but enough to cost time and cause inconvenience.

During the last major diplomatic bust-up over the islands, China dammed exports of rare earths, minerals vital in the manufacture of the hi-tech products that are the mainstay of Japan’s economy. —AP

W

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Close to embassies....far from Islam!

By Omar Mekki ension between the right to freedom of expression and certain examples of art that some people considered blasphemous repeatedly arises. The extent to which this tension has not been settled is revealed by several controversial and conflict-ridden incidents worldwide. The international community should really consider putting more pressure on the US to adopt and enforce laws against blasphemy - laws that prohibit injuring religious sentiments or insulting religious figures and leaders.

On the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 events, the US embassy in Egypt and US consulate in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi were attacked during demonstrations against the screening of a trailer of the film “Innocence of Muslims” by American/Israeli filmmaker Sam Bacile, which was blasphemous against Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Two days later, protests spread across the Middle East and North Africa. Without getting into details about the movie it is a widely held view in Muslims circles that the film’s content is highly provocative and insulting to Muslims - not to mention its questionable compatibility with the right of freedom of expression under international human rights law.

Thus, Muslims have the right to protest against the film peacefully. However, the demonstrations we’ve seen seemed more like punishing the US than shaming or blaming it.

In Egypt, Yemen, Tunis, Ghaza, Iran, Iraq, Sudan and many other Islamic countries, several protestors encircled the US embassies, while a few of them scaled its walls and gates, burnt the American flag while chanting Islamic slogans. They also clashed with the police forces and burnt many cars around the embassies. What has happened, however, in Benghazi, Libya seems very different.

A rocket-propelled grenades fired at the consulate killed the US ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens, two US Marines, a Foreign Service Information Management Officer, injuring two others. US officials stated that the Cairo protests seemed to be the “work of a spontaneous mob, while the violence in Benghazi was likely planned”.

Reports say a militia known as the Ansar Al-

T

Sharia brigade and other mujahideen affiliated to Islamic groups were involved in the Libyan attack.

Since the presumed ideological justification of the perpetrators of the attacks in Libya and the rest of the Muslim world is retaliation for the American film’s insults to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), according to Islamic sharia. I would like to examine the perpetrators’ actions under the two leading sources of sharia, namely Quran and sunnah. In order to make connections between the incident and sharia I will have to answer three key questions as follows: The first question: Does Islamic sharia include any punishment for blasphemy? In sharia, blasphemy refers to conduct that shows disrespect for any prophet or any religion. Blasphemy does not only hurt the religious feelings of others, but also disrupts the peace and harmony of any community.

It can even cause legal, moral and public order problems - and this is why Islam forbids it. However, while there is no doubt that blasphemy is condemned on moral and ethical grounds by sharia, no physical punishment is prescribed for committing blasphemy - despite the commonly held view in the contemporary world. In other words, Islam prohibits blasphemy but does not prescribe any worldly punishment for it.

It is also worth mentioning that, according to the Quran, not even the prophets were immune from being blasphemed and insulted. God says: “But there never came to them a prophet but they mocked at him” (43:8) and “Then we sent our messengers one after the other, every time there came to a people their Messenger, they treated him as a liar”(23:45). Moreover, several blasphemous utterances of the non-believers against Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) are mentioned in the Quran but no mention of any physical punishment for the perpetrators follows. For example, Prophet Muhammad was called a “poet” (21:6), “victim of deception” (17:48), “a madman” (15:7) and “a fabricator” (16:102). Nevertheless, no punishment was prescribed for those immoral utterances.

The second question: Can we blame the US diplomats in our countries? The Islamic sharia confirms that everyone is accountable for his/her own deeds, adding that no one can be held responsible for another

person’s guilt. Allah says: “Everyone is accountable for his own deeds, and no soul shall bear the burden of another” (6:164), “Whoever goes right, then he goes right only for the benefit of his own self. And whoever goes astray then he goes astray to his own loss.

No one laden with burdens shall bear another’s burden” (17:15), and “Every soul will be (held) in pledge for its deeds” (74:38).

So, even if we assumed that blasphemy is a tantamount to apostasy (wherein sharia proscribes the punishment of death) we must ask ourselves: did Ambassador Stevens or any US diplomat commit blasphemy by any means? The answer is a categorical no.

The third question: Should ordinary Muslims execute punishments themselves?

Islam, like all other religions, beliefs and customs- as well as most people’s common sense - considers assaults on people’s lives or dignity a serious offence. Allah says: “Whoever kills a soul unless for a soul or for corruption [done] in the land - it is as if he had slain mankind entirely. And whoever saves one - it is as if he had saved mankind entirely” (5:32). Consequently, an attack upon a human being without valid legal justification constitutes a crime under sharia.

Specifically regarding the crime of blasphemy, Allah says: “verily, those who malign Allah and his messenger; Allah has cursed them in this world and in the hereafter, and has prepared for them an abasing punishment” (33:58).It is of critical importance that God is the only one entitled to impose these “abasing punishment” - and it is up to Him whether He punishes such persons in this world or in the hereafter. Consequently, authority to punish the blasphemers has not been delegated to any person, not even Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

Justice is the overriding purpose for which Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and all the prophets were sent and struggled all their lives. Allah says: “We sent our messengers with clear signs, and sent with them the book and the balance so that men may conduct themselves with justice” (57:25). In fact, in the Muslim faith, justice is the foundation for the endurance of worldwide public order while oppression is the harbinger of the destruction of civilization and pros-

perity, and of the collapse of public order.

Hence, God says: “O ye who believe! Stand out firmly for God, as witness to fair dealing, and let not the hatred of others to you make you swerve to wrong and depart from justice. Be just: that is next to piety: and fear God, for God is well- acquainted with all that ye do” (5:8). Additionally, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said: “O My subjects! I forbade injustice to myself, and forbade it among yourselves. Do not do others injustice” (Related by Muslim Ibn Al-Hajjaj, according to Abidhar Al-Ghaffary, in his text Sahih).

The Quran and sunnah - the basis of the Islamic faith - privilege justice and encourage Muslims to live just lives. Indeed, Sharia includes a punishment for blasphemy but this punishment should be applied to the persons who committed blasphemy and by Allah, and Allah alone - and this is where the protesting, retaliatory and violent Muslims in Libya and the rest of the Muslim world failed themselves, failed Islam and failed us all.

To conclude, Sharia has very dynamic rules; it’s application requires comprehensive understanding. Unfortunately, retaliate - ostensibly in the name of Sharia - do not have an adequate understanding of the rules of Islam. Real pious Muslims do not set aside their laws and beliefs and kill people just to retaliate. Once we start ignoring the law, where do we stop? A nation is only as good as the laws under which it operates and the degree to which it respects the rights of the people living on its land and under its jurisdiction. Muslims have to respect themselves and their laws - particularly if they want others to respect them.

It may seem hypocritical to some that many Muslims have voiced sadness and anger regarding the recent killings of the US diplomats in Libya. But, in fact, no foreign friend or enemy has ever inflicted desolation and devastation upon Muslims, as we Muslims have brought upon ourselves.

Therefore, if we are really serious about restoring our human dignity, protecting our people and our natural resources from the oppression of the “foreigners”, let us leave violence and retaliation and rather focus inward. Let us put our own house in order.

Let us build our nation state to secure and assure our rights at home and abroad.

Suu Kyi an icon lacking political experience

By Didier Lauras ung San Suu Kyi may be one of the world’s most renowned political activists, but when it comes to reviving her impoverished homeland, observers say the opposition leader will need help. The Nobel laureate spent 15 of the last 23 years under house arrest, a sacrifice that has earned her deep respect both at home and abroad, as shown by the reception given to her in the United States this week. But the long years of isolation have also left the Oxford-educated democracy champion sorely lacking in the political experience necessary to tackle Myanmar’s myriad challenges as the country braces for further unprecedented change in the run up to 2015 elections and beyond, analysts say. Many of the senior figures in her political party also spent years languishing in prison.

Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy has a distinguished leader and massive popular support “but between the two, it has nothing”, said one foreign diplomat. “It is not a party of elites and it is not a mass party, because it has no policies,” he said. “There is every chance that it will win in 2015. But it will not be the great revolution day.” There is little doubt that Myanmar’s opposition leader is

A

already in the process of a stunning metamorphosis. She was the junta’s nemesis, but Suu Kyi’s journey into parliament has seen her agree to work with the reforming ex-generals who took the helm of a new regime in March last year. However, in the lower house of parliament Suu Kyi and her 41 NLD colleagues had little to say on recent economic debates, including on a foreign investment law seen as crucial in helping drag the long-isolated nation out of poverty. They “are not experienced in business” said Myat Thin Aung, vice chairman of Yoma bank.

While many of their rivals in the army-backed ruling party ran thriving businesses under the last government and are now “more experienced” on economic issues, “in the opposition many of them were in jail”, he said. “They have no vision in economy... They do listen but they don’t understand the whole process,” said Myat Thin Aung, who is also a member of

the country’s Union of Myanmar Federation of Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Even within the ranks of the opposition where references to Suu Kyi are steeped with reverence and gratitude - there is concern about how the party can meet the enormous hopes and expectations of Myanmar’s long-suffering people. The higher echelons of the NLD are dominated by many of the same figures that have run the party for two decades. Some are in their eighties and while lauded for their long struggle for democracy, some observers also believe they are hampering the rise of a new generation who may be better able to steer the country towards prosperity.

NLD MPs insist they have enough expertise within their ranks to manage the economy and negotiate the political hurdles ahead, while Suu Kyi has also expressed confidence in the abilities of the ageing pro-democracy old guard.

But younger party members will

undoubtedly be needed to take the helm when the Nobel laureate, who is herself 67 years old, steps back from the political fray.

“The NLD should reform itself to give the youth some participation in the political process,” said Zaw Thet Htwe, a journalist and former political prisoner, who was released in January in one of several amnesties by President Thein Sein.

This is all the more imperative, he said, because of a constitutional rule that bars “The Lady” from taking the top government role because she was married to a British man and has two sons who are both foreign nationals.

“Suu Kyi cannot be president because of the constitution. We must drop this idea. It is not possible,” he told AFP. Observers believe it is now crucial for the democracy champion to recognise this shortfall in expertise - and to make up for it. The next major political milestone will be the 2015 election, but beyond that new political heavyweights will need to emerge to take the mantle from the veterans of Myanmar’s democracy movement. “We need to look beyond - 2020, 2030,” said Aung Tun Htet, a respected Yangon intellectual. “As years pass, some of the main characters will gradually fade away. The question then is how do we ensure that the generation that are coming up can work together.” — AFP

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

sp orts Cavendish surrenders title

Gilbert wins road race title

Tsonga retains Metz crown

VALKENBURG: Mark Cavendish ended his reign as world champion with a gutsy, selfless ride that cemented his reputation as a perfect team mate yesterday.

The Briton pulled out of the world championship race after some 140 kilometres, having worked on his own at the front of the peloton for 100 kms knowing he had no chance of retaining his title. “I’m more tired after 140k than after 250k last year at the world championships,” Cavendish told reporters.

Cavendish had worked tirelessly for Team Sky leader Bradley Wiggins during the Tour de France and he did not hesitate when asked to be a domestique for British team mates Jonathan Tiernan Locke and Steve Cummings on Sunday.

Cavendish put on a happy face on his last day as world champion. “With one minute to go (before the start), I was like: ‘I’ve got one minute left as world champion’,” he said.

“As a world champion it’s been a good year. —Reuters

VALKENBURG: Belgian rider Philippe Gilbert won the men’s cycling world road race title for the first time yesterday. The 30year-old, who last year became only the second rider to win all three Ardennes one day classics in the same season, broke away on the final climb to come home clear of Norwegian Edvald Boasson Hagen while Alejandro Valverde of Spain took the bronze.

Boasson Hagen said that Gilbert owed his victory as much to the confusion among his rivals when he made his decisive move than to his own individual brilliance.

“When Gilbert set off, I couldn’t get onto his wheel, I was a little too far back,” said the 25-year-old. “I was hoping that other riders would do the work to plug the gap. I thought Valverde would fulfil that role. Under the circumstances I have to be happy with the silver medal.” Valverde — who only returned to competition this year after serving a two year doping ban — said that Gilbert could not have timed his break better.

“I am pleased with the bronze medal,” said the 32-year-old, who had previously taken silver twice in the road race in 2003 and 2005.

“It wasn’t possible to follow Gilbert when he made his break. We (the other riders) just didn’t get it together after that. There was no collaboration between any of us because we were not far from the line and each of us had a medal in our heads.” —Reuters

PARIS: Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga overpowered Italy’s Andreas Seppi yesterday to retain his title at the Metz Open and score crucial points in the race to the World Tour Finals.

World number seven Tsonga, who currently occupies the eighth and last qualifying place for the London event in November, demolished the world number 28 6-1 6-2 in 50 minutes to clinch his second title this season after winning in Doha in January.

The Frenchman relied on his powerful first serve and his trademark forehand to quash his opponent, who did not get any opportunity to break back. “I did great, it was good,” Tsonga told French channel Sport in a courtside interview.

“I stayed focused all along, until the last second. I am very happy because it was the first time I have defended a title. I hope it will happen again,” Tsonga, who has now won nine ATP title in his career, added. —Reuters

MLB results/standings St. Louis 5, Chicago Cubs 4 (10 innings); Washington 10, Milwaukee 4; NY Yankees 10, Oakland 9 (14 Innings); Baltimore 9, Boston 6 (12 Innings); NY Mets 4, Miami 3; Detroit 8, Minnesota 0; Atlanta 8, Philadelphia 2; Cincinnati 6, LA Dodgers 0; Houston 4, Pittsburgh 1; Tampa Bay 11, Toronto 5; Kansas City 5, Cleveland 3; Arizona 8, Colorado 7; San Francisco 8, San Diego 4; LA Angels 4, Chicago White Sox 2; Seattle 1, Texas 0.

National League American League Eastern Division Eastern Division Washington 92 59 .609 NY Yankees 88 63 .583 Atlanta 87 65 .572 5.5 87 64 .576 1 Baltimore Philadelphia 77 75 .507 15.5 Tampa Bay 82 70 .539 6.5 NY Mets 68 83 .450 24 Boston 68 85 .444 21 Miami 66 86 .434 26.5 Toronto 66 84 .440 21.5 Central Division Central Division Cincinnati 92 60 .605 White Sox 81 70 .536 St. Louis 81 71 .533 11 Detroit 80 70 .533 0.5 Milwaukee 78 73 .517 13.5 Kansas City 70 81 .464 11 Pittsburgh 74 77 .490 17.5 Chicago Cubs 59 93 .388 33 Minnesota 62 89 .411 19 Houston 50 102 .329 42 Cleveland 62 90 .408 19.5 Western Division Western Division San Francisco 89 63 .586 Texas 89 62 .589 LA Dodgers 78 74 .513 11 Oakland 85 66 .563 4 Arizona 76 75 .503 12.5 LA Angels 83 69 .546 6.5 San Diego 72 80 .474 17 Seattle 72 80 .474 17.5 Colorado 58 93 .384 30.5

Moss lifts Yankees over Athletics NEW YORK: Raul Ibanez hit his second home run of the game during a startling rally in the 13th inning, then the New York Yankees won a thriller when first baseman Brandon Moss’ two-out error in the 14th lifted them over the Oakland Athletics 10-9 Saturday.

The AL East leaders came back to hold their one-game edge over Baltimore.

Down 9-5 in the 13th, the Yankees won for just the second time in team history after trailing by at least four runs in extra innings. Oakland has a 21/2-game lead over Los Angeles for the second AL wildcard spot. The A’s still have an edge, but blew a huge opportunity and lost for the fifth time in six games.

Moments after pinch-runner Melky Mesa - in his big league debut - missed third base and had to retreat, the Yankees found another way to win. Moss let a bases-loaded grounder by Eduardo Nunez skip off his glove, allowing Ichiro Suzuki to score. Tyson Ross (2-10) got the loss. Cory Wade (1-1) pitched the 14th for the win.

Orioles 9, Red Sox 6 In Boston, Jim Thome hit a go-ahead double in the 12th in his first game in nearly two months and Baltimore stretched its extra-inning win streak to 16 games. The Orioles won their sixth in a row overall and remained one back of the AL East-leading New York Yankees.

Baltimore’s extra-inning streak is the best in the majors since the Cleveland Indians won 17 straight in 1949. The Orioles are 16-2 in extras this year, losing only to the Yankees on April 10-11.

Thome had been on the disabled list from July 31 until Friday with a herniated disk in his neck. The veteran slugger gave Baltimore a 7-6 lead with his ground-rule double off Alfredo Aceves (2-10) that drove in Adam Jones, who led off the 12th with a double. Tommy Hunter (6-8) pitched a perfect 11th and Jim Johnson extended his franchise record to 47 saves.

Tigers 8, Twins 0 In Detroit, Miguel Cabrera hit his 42nd homer, putting him in Triple Crown position, and Doug Fister pitched his first career shutout to help the Tigers get the win. Detroit began the day 11/2 games behind the AL Central-leading Chicago White Sox, who played later at the Los Angeles Angels.

Cabrera’s solo shot in the fourth inning tied him with Texas star Josh Hamilton for the most homers in the AL. Cabrera has a relatively comfortable league lead with a .332 batting average and 131 RBIs. Carl Yastrzemski won the last Triple Crown in 1967. He took the batting and RBIs title, and tied Harmon Killebrew for the AL homer lead. Fister (10-9) gave up seven hits while striking out seven. He won for the third time in four starts. Twins starter Samuel Deduno (6-5) was charged with seven runs, matching a career high, in just 2 1-3 innings.

Rays 11, Blue Jays 5 In St Petersburg, BJ Upton and Jose

Molina homered during a six-run fifth inning and the surging Rays earned their fourth consecutive victory.

Evan Longoria and Desmond Jennings also connected for the Rays, who moved within 31/2 games of Oakland for the second AL wild card. Tampa Bay has scored 43 runs during its winning streak.

The Blue Jays have lost five in a row, including the first two of the weekend set against the Rays to make it 17 consecutive losing series at Tampa Bay - two short of the AL record. The New York Yankees won 19 consecutive home series against the St. Louis Browns from 1946-51.

Toronto shortstop Yunel Escobar was back in the starting lineup two days after he served a three-game suspension for wearing eye-black displaying an anti-gay slur written in Spanish and went 0 for 4.

Longoria put the Rays ahead 4-2 with a three-run homer in the second against Brandon Morrow (8-7), who gave up five runs and five hits in four innings. Burke Badenhop (3-2) got the win.

Royals 5, Indians 3 In Kansas City, Billy Butler hit a runscoring single in the first inning to reach 100 RBIs for the first time, helping Kansas City to the victory.

Butler also doubled twice in his 53rd multi-hit game, raising his batting average to .312. He became the first Royals player to drive in at least 100 runs since Carlos Beltran had 100 RBIs in 2003.

Cord Phelps hit a two-run homer for Cleveland, which has dropped 11 of 14.

The Indians have the worst record in the majors since the All-Star break at 18-49.

Will Smith (6-8) allowed two runs in seven innings to improve to 2-4 with a 4.54 ERA in his last six starts. Fellow rookie Kelvin Herrera worked the ninth for his second save. Indians starter Ubaldo Jimenez (9-17) was charged with five runs and seven hits in 4 1-3 innings.

Angels 4, White Sox 2 In Anaheim, Dan Haren earned his first win at home in more than a month, Mark Trumbo capped a four-run first inning with a two-run single and the Angels gained ground in the playoff race.

Ernesto Frieri pitched the ninth for his 20th save in 23 chances after giving up a go-ahead home run in each of his previous two outings. Los Angeles moved within 21/2 games of Oakland for the second AL wild card; the A’s lost to the Yankees earlier in the day.

Paul Konerko hit his 24th homer for the White Sox, who have lost four straight.

The AL Central leaders had their advantage trimmed to a half-game over second-place Detroit, which posted an 8-0 victory over Minnesota.

Haren (12-11) allowed two runs and six hits in six-plus innings, struck out four and walked one for his first win in Anaheim since beating Tampa Bay on July 27. Chicago’s Jose Quintana (6-5) gave up four runs and six hits in five innings. — AP

Reds demolish Dodgers CINCINNATI: Jay Bruce’s 34th homer put the Reds ahead, and they made good on their second chance to win the NL Central title by beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 60 on Saturday without Dusty Baker.

The 63-year-old manager spent another day in a Chicago hospital getting treated for an irregular heartbeat. The Reds brought him his fifth division title as a manager, including two during the last three years with Cincinnati.

Bruce’s first-pitch, leadoff homer in the ninth off Houston’s Tim Byrdak clinched the title for Cincinnati in 2010. On Saturday, he led off the fourth inning with a firstpitch homer off rookie Stephen Fife (0-2), and Cincinnati’s main offseason pitching acquisition made it stand up.

Mat Latos (13-4) allowed six hits and didn’t walk a batter in eight innings. Left-hander Aroldis Chapman made his first appearance since Sept. 10 - a tired shoulder sidelined him - and finished it off by getting Hanley Ramirez to hit into a double play.

Giants 8, Padres 4 In San Francisco, Madison Bumgarner pitched San Francisco to its second NL West title in three years and newcomer Marco Scutaro had three hits and three RBIs. The Giants captured their eighth divisional crown - wrapping it up once again with a victory over the Padres in front of their home fans, just as they did on the season’s final day in 2010 on the way to an improbable World Series championship.

Brandon Belt homered leading off the eighth to give the sellout crowd of 42,418 one more thing to stand and cheer about in a season full of such moments.

The real party began after Sergio Romo retired Matt Kotsay on a fly ball to center to end it. Fireworks shot off behind the main centerfield scoreboard as the players rushed to the mound and began bouncing up and down.

The Giants won their seasonhigh sixth straight game and moved 26 games above .500 (8963), the club’s best record since finishing the 2003 season 39 games over. Bumgarner (16-10) struck out

winner in 2012, and the first pitcher for a Washington baseball team with 200 strikeouts since Walter Johnson in 1916, taking a shutout into the sixth inning to help the Nationals close in on their first NL East title.

Ryan Zimmerman and Ian Desmond each hit a three-run homer off former Nationals pitcher Livan Hernandez in the fourth inning, and Washington stopped Milwaukee’s six-game winning streak. The Brewers now trail St. Louis by 21/2 games for the second NL wild card.

Owners of baseball’s best record, the Nationals already are assured of postseason play, and Gonzalez (208, 2.84 ERA) is a big reason.

Milwaukee starter Wily Peralta (2-1) lasted only 2 2-3 innings, giving up three runs and five hits, along with four walks and a wild pitch.

PHILADELPHIA: Atlanta Braves’ Martin Prado (right) scores past the tag by Philadelphia Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz on a three-run double by Jason Heyward in the second inning. —AP six in 5 2-3 innings. Scutaro’s tworun single in the fourth chased rookie Andrew Werner (2-2).

Braves 8, Phillies 2 In Philadelphia, Freddie Freeman hit a three-run homer to back Mike Minor and the Braves roughed up Roy Halladay to move closer to clinching a postseason berth. The win coupled with Milwaukee’s 10-4 loss to Washington reduced Atlanta’s magic number for securing a playoff spot to three. The Braves were up 81/2 games through Sept. 5 last year, but went 9-18 down the stretch and were overtaken by St. Louis on the final day of the season.

The Phillies fell four games behind the Cardinals for the NL’s second wild-card spot with only 10 games remaining. The five-time defending NL East champions had won four in a row and 12 of 15. Ryan Howard became the second-fastest player to reach 300 homers, but Halladay (10-8) lasted just 1 2-3 innings, allowing seven runs and five hits.

Minor (10-10) gave up two runs and

two hits in six innings to win his fourth straight decision.

Cardinals 5, Cubs 4 In Chicago, Jon Jay’s RBI double in the 10th inning lifted St. Louis to the victory, bolstering the Cardinals’ bid for another playoff appearance.

Carlos Beltran hit a tying solo homer in the ninth for the Cardinals, who improved their lead for the second NL wild-card spot to 21/2 games over Milwaukee. After Matt Carpenter and Brian Anderson drew two-out walks from Jaye Chapman (0-1), Jay doubled down the rightfield line. Mitchell Boggs (4-1) got the last out of the ninth. Jason Motte struck out the side in the 10th for his 39th save. Beltran made it 4-all with his 30th homer, a oneout shot off Carlos Marmol that wrapped just inside the right-field foul pole.

Nationals 10, Brewers 4 In Washington, Gio Gonzalez became the majors’ first 20-game

Mets 4, Marlins 3 In New York, RA Dickey earned his 19th victory with a strong performance, Jason Bay and Scott Hairston homered and the Mets barely held on in the ninth inning for its second straight home win.

Just hours after the Mets ended a nine-game losing streak at Citi Field on Friday, New York broke out the bats again in front of a crowd of 30,332. The Marlins rallied in the ninth, capped by John Buck’s threerun homer off Jon Rauch. The home run was confirmed after the second video replay of the game when umpires ruled the shot struck the left-field foul pole.

Dickey (19-6) was charged with two runs and six hits in eight-plus innings. Rauch got his fourth save.

Mark Buehrle (13-13) gave up four runs and five hits in six innings.

Astros 4, Pirates 1 In Houston, Jason Castro hit a three-run homer in the seventh inning and the Astros handed the fading Pirates their fifth straight loss. The Pirates fell 61/2 games behind St. Louis for the second NL wild card. Pittsburgh has lost 17 of 21 to drop to 74-77, moving closer to its 20th straight losing season. — AP

Birthday dinner ends in tragedy for world champ JOHANNESBURG: South Africa’s former world heavyweight champion Corrie Sanders died of wounds sustained in a shooting at a Pretoria restaurant where he was celebrating his nephew’s 21st birthday, police reported yesterday.

Three men burst into the restaurant on Saturday evening and fired randomly where the family were dining, shooting Sanders in the stomach and hand as he dived in front of his daughter to protect her.

The 46-year-old died from his injuries yesterday. Police had originally said that Sanders had been there for his daughter’s birthday but the owner of the restaurant clarified that later. “Michael’s (the brother of the victim) son was turning 21, and Corrie was also there when they (the robbers) came,” Johan Bejager told the Sapa news agency.

Sunette Sanders, the ex-wife of the former champion, told radio station 702 that he had died heroically. “I think he died a hero,” she said. “He was just protecting his girl because they were shooting. He was hit by the two bullets, one in the arm and the other one through part of the stomach.”

Sanders retired in 2008 with an impressive record of 42 wins against just four defeats, with his most famous vicory being in 2003 when he won the WBO world heavyweight title by knocking-out Ukrainian Wladimir Klitschko in the second round after putting him down four times.

It was hailed as one of the greatest upsets in boxing history but Sanders was to find his brother Vitali a challenge too far when he challenged him for his WBC heavyweight title

a year later with the fight being stopped in the eighth round.

His death was greeted with shock by sportspeople round the world and provoked glowing tributes from former boxers as well as fellow South African sporting icons.

South Africa’s 2007 World Cup winning rugby captain John Smit echoed many of the tweets at the senseless waste of life.

“Just woke up to news of Corrie Sanders having been murdered last night, what another senseless waste of life in SA. RIP Champion,” wrote Smit.

South African 400 metres hurdler Alwyn Myburgh, an Olympic finalist in 2004 and a former Commonwealth Games silver medalist, couldn’t resist aiming a sarcastica barb at South African President Jacob Zuma over his claims the crime rate was declining in the country. “Corrie Sanders murdered but don’t worry, crime stats are down. Thank U Mr President for such a safe safe country,” tweeted the 32-year-old.

South African cricketers presently on duty at the world Twenty20 in Sri Lanka also chipped in their reactions. “Shocking news about Corrie Sanders’ death, gonna miss u Corras,” commented ace batsman and Twenty20 skipper AB deVilliers.

Pace bowler Albie Morkel said his joy at beating hosts Sri Lanka in Saturday ’s Twenty20 game had been soured by the news. “Went to bed as a happy man last night only to wake up to the tragic news of Corrie Sanders death.. Another senseless murder in SA!! RIP” The ordinary boxing fan too chipped in with Terry Dooley, who was present on the

night that Sanders experienced his greatest moment giving a touching eye witness account of it.

“RIP Corrie Sanders. Sad news. I’ll never forget Wlad coming out to the ring like a Roman Emperor then getting chinned by Sanders in 2003.” —AFP

HANOVER: In this March 8, 2003 file photo Corrie Sanders, of South Africa, celebrates with the championship belt after he won the World Boxing Organization heavyweight world championship fight against Ukrainia’s Wladimir Klitschko. — AP

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

sp orts

Big day for NFL referees on both sides NEW YORK: Rarely has Week 3 been so important in the NFL. Get through it without mayhem breaking out around the league and the replacement referees might start clearing their calendars for colder days. Have something happen that affects a game or injures a player and the real referees may soon be back wearing stripes.

The NFL is betting that it still wields the big hammer in its contract dispute with league officials, despite a Monday night game that nearly veered out of control.

But it badly needs a Sunday without controversy to help quiet the growing criticism of fill-ins who clearly aren’t ready for prime time.

To make sure it gets one, the message went out this week to coaches and players alike: Behave, or else. Get out of line like Denver coach John Fox did while arguing with the officials in the Monday night game in Atlanta and expect flags, fines or even a suspension. Treat the referees like the scabs most players and coaches seem to believe they are, and expect there to be

repercussions. “There’s a mob mentality that can take control if you let things get out of hand,” Ray Anderson, the NFL’s executive vice president for game operations, told USA Today. “We never expect to see what occurred during the first half of the game at Atlanta on Monday happen on the field again.”

That it’s come to this shouldn’t be a surprise, considering the best officials in the land were replaced by a bunch of fan boys just excited to be on the same field as their heroes. It’s silly to even think they might be able to do the job, and even sillier to expect they could do it without drawing attention to their skill level. The NFL is selling a substandard product. And the people who pay for that product are beginning to notice.

If they stuck around past midnight Monday on the East Coast when the seemingly interminable game in Atlanta finally came to an end, they would have heard former quarterback Steve Young use his turn at the microphone on ESPN to deliver a scathing attack on the NFL for treating

the referee issue with impunity. It might not have gone down well with a league that still indirectly funds his bank account, but Young scored some points for the real refs at the expense of the NFL. “There’s nothing they can do to hurt the demand for the game. So the bottom line is they don’t care,” Young said. “Player safety? Doesn’t matter in this case.

Bringing in Division III officials? Doesn’t matter. Because in the end, you’re still going to watch the game.”

Indeed, the NFL operates with the arrogance of a league that can do no wrong.

Stadiums are for the most part full, the NFL dominates the airwaves, and the $9.3 billion in revenue the league took in last year only figures to rise.

A bigger deal for league executives this past week than getting a new contract for officials was getting one for Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks to carry the NFL Network and the NFL RedZone on their cable systems. That means the channel is now in 70 million of the country’s approximately 115 million television

homes, and will be an even bigger moneymaker for the league.

What also helps the NFL in this dispute is that the referees - other than making the obvious case that they’re better than the replacements - haven’t exactly gotten a groundswell of support for their cause. It’s hard for the average fan to feel sympathy for the plight of part-time workers making six-figure salaries complete with pensions, health insurance and other benefits.

But with players and coaches showing open disdain for the replacements, the dispute is starting to threaten the games themselves. Monday night, when Fox seemed to be trying to bully referees in a series of heated exchanges that delayed the game, was clearly an embarrassment to a league that continues to insist that it is not threatening the safety of its players or the integrity of the game by using the replacements.

The replacements are even being noticed in Las Vegas, where bookies are beginning to think about giving the home

team an extra half point on the betting line because they believe the replacements are more easily influenced by fans to throw penalty flags against the visiting team. They’re also setting higher point totals, partly because more pass interference penalties are being called by the replacements.

That’s what makes this week’s slate of games so crucial to both sides. The NFL already has a five-week schedule of games for the replacements, and could be drawing up plans for even more if things go smoothly. As in most labor disputes, the longer the replacements are out there, the worse things will get at the bargaining table for the real officials.

Ultimately, as Young pointed out, the NFL will do what it wants. Fans may not like the replacement referees, but they’re not staying away from stadiums or turning off the TV because of them.

Unless something dramatic happens to change that equation, it’s hard to bet against the most successful sports league in the land.—AP

Vettel wins Singapore GP

SINGAPORE: Track officials remove Mercedes Formula One driver Michael Schumacher of Germany’s car after he crashed during the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix.—AP

Schumacher hit with grid penalty SINGAPORE: German veteran Michael Schumacher was hit with a 10-place grid penalty yesterday after admitting blame over a spectacular collision during the Singapore Grand Prix.

The punishment, to be served at next month’s race in Japan, comes after the the seven-time world champion’s Mercedes ploughed into the back of Jean-Eric Vergne’s Toro Rosso shortly after the withdrawal of a safety car. Officials said Schumacher, 43, had admitted failing to take into account his lower braking power after the safety car, which allowed his tyres to cool and lose grip.

“The driver admitted the collision was his error,” race organisers said in an announcement.

The Mercedes driver had earlier appeared mystified by the high-speed crash, which smashed up his front wheels and left his car partially airborne.

“At one point I couldn’t accelerate and then I went hard on the brakes and tried to brake as hard as was possible, but the accident wasn’t recoverable,” Schumacher said.

“Obviously I feel sorry for Jean-Eric... but we need to find out what happened.” The incident may raise pressure Schumacher, whose place at Mercedes is reportedly under pressure following speculation that McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton is considering a move to the German marque.

Vergne sportingly put his arm around Schumacher after the crash and refused to be angry with the celebrated German. “I was pretty focused on overtaking (Sauber’s Sergio) Perez. I had a good move on him and at the end, braking, I just got hit by Michael,” he said. “It’s done, I have nothing to say. It’s just a shame. It doesn’t make any sense to be pissed off about it.”

The most spectacular collision of an incident-packed grand prix put both drivers out of the race on lap 39, and prompted the second safety car of the night.

The grand prix was preceded by a sombre minute’s silence for Formula One doctor Sid Watkins, who died this month and was credited with vastly improving safety standards in the high-speed sport.—AFP

SINGAPORE: Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel survived an incident-packed Singapore Grand Prix to reignite his world title defence with a thrilling victory yesterday.

After two safety cars, crashes and the shock retirement of title-challenger Lewis Hamilton while leading, Formula One’s youngest double champion finished in front of McLaren’s Jenson Button for only his second win of the season.

Championship leader Fernando Alonso was third, claiming his eighth podium of the season in the dramatic night race around the narrow, demanding street circuit through the heart of downtown Singapore. Force India’s Paul di Resta took an impressive fourth and Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg was fifth, ahead of Lotus’s former world champion Kimi Raikkonen.

Romain Grosjean, Felipe Massa, Daniel Ricciardo and Mark Webber rounded out the top 10 in a race that did not even reach the 61 allotted laps after hitting its two-hour time-limit, meaning it was halted after 59.

With the win, Vettel climbs to second in the standings behind the consistent Alonso, who has a reduced lead of 29 points. Raikkonen lies third and the unlucky Hamilton drops down to fourth.

“This has been one of toughest races of the year, to be honest,” said Vettel, last year’s winner in Singapore, who will now fancy his chances of a third straight title.

“There are so many bumps, there’s no room for mistakes and it just seems to go on forever...

I’m just incredibly happy.”

Hamilton made a smooth start from pole accompanied by Williams driver Pastor Maldonado, but a misjudgment on the first corner cost the Venezuelan two places as Vettel and Button sailed through. Several cars ran wide on the first two corners and Caterham’s Vitaly Petrov lost some of his front wing, but an investigation found no cause for punishment.

Ferrari’s Massa was the big loser in the early jostling as he dropped to the back after pitting with a puncture. At the front Hamilton and Vettel, swapping fastest laps, were peeling away from Button.

Red Bull driver Webber came in for soft tyres on lap nine, setting a trend followed by the leading drivers. His team-mate Vettel overcame a scare at turn 10, the notorious “Singapore Sling”.

Sauber’s Sergio Perez also had a problem at

SINGAPORE: Red Bull Formula One driver Sebastian Vettel of Germany celebrates after winning the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix on the Marina Bay City Circuit.—AP the tough corner and Maldonado would have had his heart in his mouth as he pounded the brakes and narrowly averted a slide heading wide into a left-hander at the end of a long straight.

Hamilton pitted from the lead on lap 12 but was soon back in front, ahead of Vettel. But disaster struck on lap 23 when a gearbox failure put him out of the race, prompting gasps from the crowd.

Vettel was now in the lead for one of the rare occasions this season, but HRT’s Indian driver Narain Karthikeyan added a fresh twist when he ploughed into a barrier and stopped on the track, prompting the safety car.

Most cars took the opportunity to pit. But Maldonado, after complaining of a hydraulic problem, rolled his car into the garage and out of the race.

Button nearly collided with Vettel before the safety car left the track-and straight after the resumption Schumacher ploughed dramatically into the back of Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne,

smashing up the front wheels of his Mercedes.

Despite the front of Schumacher’s car briefly becoming airborne, both drivers emerged unharmed. The seven-time world champion was later hit by 10-place grid penalty, to be served at the next race in Japan, over the crash.

After the safety car withdrew for a second time, Massa made contact with Bruno Senna as he barged past, and only just retained control of his car in a wild manoeuvre that took him up to ninth.

Vettel set consecutive fastest laps as he scented his second victory in a row in Singapore, with a lead of nearly two seconds over Button heading into the final 15 laps. Alonso was seven seconds adrift in third.

Perez lost bodywork in a misguided attempt to squeeze past Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg, and Webber caused a stir with a bold move past Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi.

But the race was now Vettel’s to lose and he brought calm to the chaotic grand prix with a smooth ride to the abbreviated finish.—AFP

Stacy leads Navistar Classic

KUWAIT: The Executive Committee of Sports Media opened its meetings at Hilton Baku-Azerbaijan, in which Faisal Al-Qinae is participating as Deputy Chairman of the International Association.

Snedeker in playoff control ATLANTA: American Brandt Snedeker edged ahead of world number one Rory McIlroy in the FedExCup playoff race by charging into a tie for the lead in Saturday’s third round of the elite Tour Championship. On a tricky day for scoring at a sunny but breezy East Lake Golf Club, Snedeker matched the best score of the week, firing a flawless six-under-par 64 to join Britain’s Justin Rose (68) at eight-under 202. Overnight leader Jim Furyk had also been at eight under with two holes to play but he triple-bogeyed the 17th, after pulling his tee shot into water, on the way to a 72 and a three-way tie for fourth at five under. Level with Furyk were Masters champion Bubba Watson (70) and Northern Irishman McIlroy (68), who is seeking a fifth PGA Tour victory this year, and his fourth in just five starts. American Ryan Moore was alone in third at six under after carding a third-round 65 in the PGA Tour’s fourth and final playoff event.

“It was probably one of the best rounds I’ve played this year,” a beaming Snedeker told reporters after covering the back nine in three-under 32 on a firm, fast-running layout, a 16-foot birdie putt at the 17th earning him a share of the lead.

“I drove it fantastic, hit a lot of quality iron shots and putted actually okay for me, not great. I left a lot of putts out there.

“To hit 17 of 18 greens in this wind on this golf course, you’re striking your ball pretty good. I’m very excited about the standings going into tomorrow.” Snedeker was one of five golfers coming into the elite 30-man event knowing that victory on Sunday would automatically secure him FedExCup playoff honours and the mind-boggling bonus of $10 million.

Also in that quintet was FedExCup points leader McIlroy, who has been the game’s most dominant player since cruising to a staggering eight-shot victory in last month’s PGA Championship at Kiawah Island. “It’s going to be one of the most exciting Sundays of the year,” McIlroy said of the final round at East Lake. “There are a few guys still in it with a chance to win the FedExCup and to win this tournament, so I’m looking forward to it.

“It’s great to be in the mix,” added the mop-haired Northern Irishman, who mixed four birdies with two bogeys on Saturday. “I’m only three back, so I’m excited about the prospect of a very exciting finish tomorrow.” Tiger Woods, who had battled to a 73 in Friday’s second round, carded a 67 to climb into a four-way tie for seventh at four under. Like Snedeker and McIlroy, he would land the FedExCup title by winning the Tour Championship.

“I’m only four back ... it looks like I’ve

got a shot at it tomorrow,” the former world number one said after a dogged display that included four birdies and a lone bogey. “Just claw your way back into it.”

Asked how tempting it was to be playing for a $10 million bonus in Sunday’s final round, Woods replied: “That’s not why we play. “I’m playing for the ‘W’ (win), and tomorrow I get a great shot at it. All the money, awards and all of that stuff, that comes along with winning championships. If I win the golf tournament, everything’s kind of taken care of.”

For Rose to land the season-long FedExCup, he knows he is a very long shot who has to win the Tour Championship and hope that players ranked higher in the points standings finish poorly.

“I need a little help from my friends as they say,” said the Englishman who was 24th in the standings at the start of the week. “I have the advantage of just playing the Tour Championship.

“The whole year we’ve been grinding for the FedExCup, and it’s still possible. It’s not an easy golf course. Things can happen out there. But for me, it’s about one tournament.” For Rose to win the playoff title, McIlroy would have to finish no better than 17th in the Tour Championship and Woods no higher than sixth, along with other scenarios.—Reuters

PRATTVILLE: Third-ranked Stacy Lewis shot a 7-under 65 to take a two-stroke lead in the Navistar Classic, while second-round leader Lexi Thompson fell five shots behind on Saturday.

Lewis, a two-time winner this season, had a 15-under 201 total on The Senator course at the Rober t Trent Jones Golf Trail’s Capitol Hill complex. She birdied four of the first five holes in her bogey-free round. “I think going into today I knew I needed to make birdies just the way the scores had been all day, and you don’t know if you’re ever going to start off like that,” Lewis said. “ You can k ind of hit it good warming up, but you never really know what you’re going to take to the course.”

The 17-year-old Thompson had a 74 to drop into a tie for sixth at 10 under. Thompson won the event last year at 16 to become the youngest champion in U.S. LPGA Tour history, a mark broken last month by 15-year-old New Zealand amateur Lydia Ko in the Canadian Women’s Open.

“I just struggled a little bit,” Thompson said. “I’m definitely not out of it. I shot 63 the first day, so if I have a round like that, I can be in contention. I’m just going to go out and free swing and try to make birdies. Hopefully, a few more putts drop.” Angela Stanford shot a 68.

She won the HSBC Women’s Champions in Singapore in February.

“To win early in the year and late in the year would be pretty big, because I think it’s such a long year that there’s so many ups and downs,” Stanford said. “It would be

nice to have another.”

Lizette Salas with third at 12 under after a 70, and Haeji Kang and Mi Jung Hur followed at 11 under. Kang shot a 67, and Hur had a 72. “Tomorrow, nothing changes,” Salas said. “Game plan is to stay patient and just play with confidence. I think that’s the main thing

for me. Just keep it keep rolling the rock, that’s what I’ve been told this whole week, and just to stay positive.” Sarah Jane Smith and Hee Young Park joined Thompson at 10 under. Smith had a 68, and Park shot 72.

Top-ranked Yani Tseng was 5 under after a 70.—AP

PRATTVILLE: Beatriz Recari, of Spain, watches her tee shot on the second hole during final round play in the Navistar LPGA Classic golf tournament.—AP

18

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

S P ORT S

India crush England in T-20

COLOMBO: India’s bowler Harbhajan Singh celebrates after completing his fourovers during a ICC Twenty20 Cricket World Cup match against England. —AP

Scoreboard COLOMBO: Scoreboard of the World Twenty20 group A match between England and India at the Premadasa stadium in Colombo yesterday.

India: G. Gambhir c Kieswetter b Finn 45 Irfan Pathan b Finn 8 V. Kohli c Bairstow b Swann 40 R. Sharma not out 55 M. Dhoni c Hales b Dernbach 9 S. Raina not out 1 Extras: (b1, lb3, w8) 12 Total (for four wickets, 20 overs) 170 Fall of wickets: 1-24 (Pathan), 2-81 (Kohli), 3-119 (Gambhir), 4-166 (Dhoni).

Bowling: Finn 4-0-33-2 (w3), Dernbach 4-0-45-1 (w3), Broad 4-0-36-0, Bresnan 4-0-35-0 (w1), Swann 4-017-1 (w1).

England: C. Kieswetter c Kohli b Chawla A. Hales b Pathan L. Wright lbw b Pathan

35 0 6

E. Morgan lbw b Harbhajan 2 J. Bairstow lbw b Chawla 1 J. Buttler b Harbhajan 11 T. Bresnan c Gambhir b Harbhajan 1 S. Broad c Gambhir b Dinda 3 G. Swann st Dhoni b Harbhajan 0 S. Finn not out 8 J. Dernbach run out 12 Extras: (w1) 1 Total (all out, 14.4 overs) 80 Fall of wickets: 1-2 (Hales), 2-18 ( Wright), 3-39 (Morgan), 4-42 (Bairstow), 5-51 (Kieswetter), 6-54 (Bresnan), 7-60 (Buttler), 8-60 (Swann), 9-60 (Broad), 10-80 (Dernbach).

Bowling: Pathan 3-0-17-2 (w1), Balaji 1-0-10-0, Dinda 2-0-26-1, Harbhajan 4-2-12-4, Chawla 4-1-13-2, Yuvraj 0.4-0-2-0 India won by 90 runs Man of the match: Harbhajan Singh

COLOMBO: Harbhajan Singh grabbed 4-12 on his return after a year in the wilderness as India demolished defending champions England by 90 runs in the World Twenty20 yesterday.

Rohit Sharma hit an unbeaten 55 off 33 balls as the new-look Indians scored 170-4 before England were shot out for their lowest T-20 total of 80 in front of 20,000 spectators at the Premadasa stadium.

India rested seamer Zaheer Khan, spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and opener Virender Sehwag for the Group A match that held only academic interest since both teams had already qualified for the Super Eights. But it was a morale-boosting win for the 2007 champions ahead of the next round, as they dominated England from start to finish.

Harbhajan, 32, who had been out of favour with the selectors since August last year before being recalled for the World Twenty20, claimed a wicket off his second delivery when he came on in the sixth over. When his spell finished in the 12th over, England had slumped to 60-8 and lost their ninth wicket also at the same total.

England were in danger of falling for the lowest ever total in Twenty20 internationals — 67 by Kenya against Ireland in 2008 — before the last-wicket pair of Steven Finn and Jade Dernbach prevented the humiliation. But the total still fell below England’s previous lowest score of 88 against the West Indies at the Oval last year.

Leg-spinner Piyush Chawla, who was also an unexpected selection for the match, claimed 2-13 as England faltered against both pace and spin.

Seamer Irfan Pathan bowled Alex Hales and trapped Luke Wright leg-before in his first two overs to reduce England to 18-2. Wickets fell at regular intervals and the innings ended in the 15th over to complete a dominant win for India.

Other notable contributions for India came from Gautam Gambhir, who made 45, and Virat Kohli, who smashed 40 off 32 balls.

Makeshift opener Pathan fell for eight before the in-form Kohli hit six boundaries during a second-wicket stand of 57 with Gambhir.

Sharma and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni took 38 runs in the last three overs to lift India past the 150-run mark. England made one change from the team that beat Afghanistan, dropping left-arm spinner Samit Patel to play seamer Tim Bresnan. —AFP

Hafeez and Ajmal give Pakistan winning start

PALLEKELE: Pakistan’s bowler Saeed Ajmal (top left) attempts to take a catch after a shot played by New Zealand batsman Jacob Oram (24) during their ICC Twenty20 Cricket World Cup match. —AP

Scoreboard PALLEKELE, Sri Lanka: Scoreboard from Pakistan v New Zealand Group D match of the Twenty20 World Cup at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium yesterday.

Pakistan: Mohammad Hafeez b Franklin 43 Imran Nazir c & b Southee 25 Nasir Jamshed c N McCullum b Vettori 56 Kamran Akmal c Nicol b Oram 3 Umar Akmal c N McCullum b Oram 23 Shoaib Malik not out 9 Shahid Afridi c Williamson b Southee 12 Extras (lb-2,w-4) 6 Total (6 wickets; 20 overs) 177 Did not bat: Yasir Arafat, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal.

Fall of wickets: 1-47 2-123 3-129 4-134 5-159 6-177.

Bowling: Mills 4-0-35-0, Vettori 4-0-23-1, Southee 40-31-2, Oram 4-0-44-2, McCullum 2-0-23-0, Milne 10-12-0, Franklin 1-0-7-1.

New Zealand: R. Nicol b Afridi 33 K. Williamson run out 15 B. McCullum b Gul 32 D. Vettori c Jamshed b Ajmal 18 J. Oram b Ajmal 11 R. Taylor run out 26 J. Franklin c Jamshed b Tanvir 13 N. McCullum c Malik b Ajmal 5 T. Southee c Gul b Ajmal 1 K. Mills not out 0 A. Milne not out 0 Extras (lb-5,w-5) 10 Total (9 wickets; 20 overs) 164 Fall of wickets: 1-53 2-54 3-102 4-108 5-122 6-143 7157 8-160 9-164.

Bowling: Mohammad Hafeez 4-0-15-0, Sohail Tanvir 3-0-33-1, Umar Gul 4-0-39-1, Yasir Arafat 1-0-12-0, Shahid Afridi 4-0-30-1, Saeed Ajmal 4-0-30-4.

PALLEKELE: Mohammed Hafeez led by example and Saeed Ajmal bamboozled the batsmen as 2009 champions Pakistan beat New Zealand by 13 runs in their Group D opener of the Twenty20 World Cup yesterday. Electing to bat first, Hafeez (43) forged a 76-run second wicket partnership with Nasir Jamshed (56) to help his team cash in on New Zealand’s uncharacteristically sloppy fielding and post 177 for six at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium.

Returning to defend the total, Pakistani slow bowlers did not allow the rival top order to accelerate and off-spinner Ajmal (4-30) denied them the late burst as New Zealand managed 164 for nine wickets in 20 overs.

Shahid Afridi got one for 30 and even though he did not get a wicket, Hafeez sent down four tidy overs conceding only 15 runs to stifle the opponents.

Despite the defeat, New Zealand have booked a place in the Super Eight stage because of their healthy net run-rate.

Pakistan need to avoid a heavy defeat against Bangladesh in their remaining group match tomorrow to join them in the next stage.

The most successful Twenty20 team, who have made semi-finals in all three previous editions of the tournament, Pakistan top order clicked on Sunday, aided by the poor catching of their opponents.

Hafeez could have been dismissed for a duck in the first over but New Zealand captain Ross Taylor dropped a regulation catch at slip.

Bowler Kyle Mills went through the agony again in the 11th over when Rob Nicol, fielding in the deep, not only dropped Jamshed but palmed the ball over the rope for a six.

Jamshed’s 35-ball knock, which earned him the man of the match award, included four sixes and a couple of boundaries. For New Zealand, Nicol (33) and K ane Williamson (15) added 53 runs for the opening stand but the asking run rate kept spiralling.

Even Brendon McCullum, who scored a record Twenty20 centur y against Bangladesh on Friday, could not break the shackles and fell to Umar Gul after a 31-ball 32.

New Zealand captain Ross Taylor scored brisk 26 runs off 11 balls but was run out in the penultimate over and Ajmal claimed two wickets in the last over to give his team a winning start in the tournament. —Reuters

COLOMBO: India’s bowler Irfan Pathan (left) celebrates the wicket of England’s batsman Alex Hales during an ICC Twenty20 Cricket World Cup match. —AP

Crimson Tide rout Florida Atlantic TUSCALOOSA: The top-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide had little trouble rolling over Florida Atlantic 40-7 in top-25 college football Saturday. AJ McCarron threw three touchdown passes, including an early 85-yarder to Kenny Bell, and Eddie Lacy rushed for 106 yards in the first half for the unbeaten Crimson Tide, which rolled to 134 consecutive points and two shutouts before allowing a late touchdown.

The Owls managed only one first down through three quarters and were outgained 503110 in total yards. McCarron was 15-of-25 passing for 212 yards before leaving midway through the third quarter. The 85-yarder came 1:42 into the game and is tied for the fifth-longest touchdown pass in Tide history.

LSU 12, AUBURN 10 At Auburn, Alabama, Sam Montgomery and the LSU defense delivered a first-quarter safety and shut out Auburn in the second half. Auburn led 10-9 at halftime, but managed only 183 yards. A fumbled punt return by Auburn’s Quan Bray set up Drew Alleman’s 30-yard field goal late in the third quarter that gave LSU a 12-10 lead.

OREGON 49, ARIZONA 0 At Eugene, Oregon, Redshirt freshman Marcus Mariota threw for 260 yards and two touchdowns, including a 55-yard scoring pass to freshman Bralon Addison late in the third quarter, and No. 3 Oregon beat No. 22 Arizona.

Arizona couldn’t find the end zone and quarterback Matt Scott, a fifth-year senior who spent the last two season’s behind Nick Foles, passed for 210 yards but was intercepted three times one resulting in an Oregon touchdown.

FLORIDA STATE 49, CLEMSON 37 At Tallahassee, Florida, The fourth-ranked Seminoles rolled up 667 yards of total offense and scored 35 second-half points to erase No. 10 Clemson’s seven-point halftime lead on their way to a close victory.

Florida State’s EJ Manuel threw for a careerhigh 380 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another 102 yards.

GEORGIA 48, VANDERBILT 3 At Athens, Georgia, Aaron Murray completed his first 12 passes and No. 5 Georgia finally got off to a good start, blowing out Vanderbilt before halftime.

Murray hooked up with Tavarres King and Marlon Brown on touchdown throws, breaking a tie with Eric Zeier for second place in school history. The junior quarterback has 69 TDs, just three behind David Greene.

KANSAS ST. 24, OKLAHOMA 19 At Norman, Oklahoma, John Hubert ran for 130 yards and a touchdown, Jarell Childs scooped up a fumble and returned it for a score and the Wildcats beat the Sooners.

Collin Klein picked up 228 yards of total offense and ran for the go-ahead touchdown early in the fourth quarter in a solid performance that outshined and error-filled night by Sooners quarterback Landry Jones.

SOUTH CAROLINA 31, MISSOURI 10 At Columbia, South Carolina, Connor Shaw completed 20 straight passes and threw for two touchdowns and Marcus Lattimore ran for two scores as South Carolina manhandled Missouri in the Tigers’ first Southeastern Conference road game. Lattimore rushed for 85 yards. His touchdowns gave him South Carolina’s career mark with 33 rushing scores, a record Lattimore shared with Heisman Trophy winner George Rogers and Harold Green.

WEST VIRGINIA 31, MARYLAND 21 At Morgantown, West Virginia, Doug Rigg returned a fumble 51 yards for West Virginia and Tavon Austin had another remarkable game against his home-state Terrapins.

The Baltimore native caught 13 passes for 179 yards and set a school record for career receptions. For Maryland (2-2), Hills threw three touchdowns, two to freshman Stefon Diggs.

NOTRE DAME 13, No. 18 MICHIGAN 6 At South Bend, Indiana, Manti Te’o had two interceptions as No. 11 Notre Dame picked off five Michigan passes and backup quarterback Tommy Rees sparked the Fighting Irish offense in a win over the 18th-ranked Wolverines.

The victory by Notre Dame ended a streak of three straight games in which Michigan beat the Irish in the final 27 seconds.

USC 27, CALIFORNIA 9 At Los Angeles, Matt Barkley passed for 192 yards and threw two touchdown passes to Marqise Lee, and No. 13 Southern California bounced back from its first defeat with a victory over California.

FLORIDA 38, KENTUCKY 0 At Gainesville, Florida, Jeff Driskel accounted for two touchdowns to help Florida beat Kentucky for the 26th straight time. The Gators also recorded their first shutout in conference play since a 52-0 victory against Mississippi State in 2001.

OHIO STATE 29, UAB 15 At Columbus, Ohio, Braxton Miller ran for two touchdowns and Ohio State overcame a lethargic, mistake-filled effort to hold off UAB. TCU 27, VIRGINIA 7 At Fort Worth, Texas, Brandon Carter had a 68-yard touchdown on one of his two one-handed catches, linebacker Kenny Cain recovered a fumble along with two interceptions and TCU won its 11th straight game. —AP

TALLAHASSEE: Clemson wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins (6) catches a 60yard touchdown pass as Florida State defensive back Terrence Brooks (31) and cornerback Xavier Rhodes (27) defend during the first quarter of an NCAA college football game. —AP

19

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

SPORTS

Real match in doubt after lighting sabotage

ITALY: Genoa’s midfielder of Kazakistan Alexander Merkel jumps for the ball against Lazio’s midfielder Antonio Candreva during their Italian Serie A football match.—AFP

Milan suffer another defeat MILAN: Massimiliano Allegri’s tenure as coach of Serie A giants AC Milan came under fresh scrutiny when the Rossoneri suffered their third defeat of the season in a 2-1 reverse away to Udinese yesterday.

Milan opened their campaign with defeat at home to Sampdoria and have failed to win or score any goals at the San Siro in three attempts including the scoreless draw against Champions League opponents Anderlecht.

Reports last week suggested only a win yesterday would save Allegri’s job, but post-match reports citing unnamed sources at Milan suggested the 45-year-old had the support of the club.

Allegri, whose side finished with nine men, told Sky Sport Italia: “It wouldn’t make sense to talk of my dismissal as it’s not my decision. “I don’t feel guilty, nor am I a victim. We lost, but for me it’s a good sign that the team gave everything after we’d been reduced to nine men.”

Udinese started the day fourth from bottom and took a 40th minute lead when giant Swedish striker Mathias Ranegie rose to send a header under the crossbar of ‘keeper Christian Abbiati.

Italy under-21 international Stephan El Sharaway levelled for Milan 10 minutes after the restart with a shot from outside the box.

But from then on, things got worse for the seven-time European champions.

Milan’s Colombian defender Cristian Zapata was sent off for a second bookable offence after a foul from behind on Ranegie in the box.

The referee pointed to the spot and striker Antonio Di Natale stepped up to beat Abbiati with a low drive to put the hosts in the lead.

Milan’s hopes of levelling suffered a blow seven minutes from time when they were reduced to nine players after Kevin Prince Boateng was sent off for a second bookable offence.

A day after champions Juventus under-

lined their title credentials in emphatic style with a 2-0 home win over Chievo, it was a disastrous day all round for the Milan giants.

Inter Milan started the day six points behind Juve and finished it with the same deficit after suffering a shock 2-0 defeat at home to basement side Siena.

Simone Vergassola silenced the San Siro with his 73rd minute opener and midfielder Francesco Valiani came off the bench to inflict further damage with a goal on the stroke of full-time.

Inter’s second defeat at home, following a 3-1 reverse to Roma, could prompt suggestions there is a curse at the San Siro: so far this season, neither Inter nor AC Milan have won there.

Despite losing to the league’s least successful side, Inter coach Andrea Stramaccioni did not seem unduly concerned. “It’s a bad defeat for us and it stings,” Stramaccioni told Sky Sport Italia.

“But we can’t let a defeat get in the way of the ambitions of a new team that is still looking for consistency.” While Inter sit in sixth, AC Milan are 15th in the table ahead of the late match between Lazio and Genoa.

Elsewhere, yesterday struggling Pescara grabbed a share of the points, their first this season, in a 1-1 draw at Bologna while Atalanta beat Palermo 1-0 at home to leave the Sicilians second from bottom. Napoli’s 0-0 draw away to Catania means that for the first time this season Juve have opened up a gap, two points, on their closest challengers from Naples. Only Lazio can pull level on points with the champions if they beat Genoa later. Earlier yesterday, Sampdoria failed to win for the first time this season when they were held at home

by Torino. The Cagliari v Roma match was controversially postponed hours before kick-off after the Sardinian club’s president invited fans to the match despite an official decision for it to be played in an empty stadium.—AFP

Italian League results/standings

MADRID: Real Madrid’s La Liga match at city rivals Rayo Vallecano was in danger of being abandoned in bizarre circumstances yesterday after Rayo president Raul Martin Presa said the lighting at Rayo’s Estadio de Vallecas stadium had been sabotaged.

With the game due to kickoff at 9.30 p.m. local time (1930 GMT) and the stadium in semidarkness, Presa told Spanish television unidentified persons had cut the cables on some of the lights.

“We are trying to get them working as quickly as possible so we can play the match,” Presa said as workmen toiled up at the top of the arena. The gates to the stadium were still locked and fans had not yet been able to enter due to security concerns, he added. “The police will have to conduct the necessary investigations,” he said.

Champions Real are looking to get their get their campaign back on track after taking only four points from their first four matches. Meanwhile, Mallorca beat Valencia 2-0 thanks to Victor Casadesus’ goal and assist yesterday, extending its excellent start to the Spanish league season.

Undefeated Mallorca’s third win in as many games at Iberostar stadium lifted it provisionally into second place, four points behind leader Barcelona.

Victor put Joaquin Caparros’ team ahead eight minutes in when his shot slipped under goalkeeper Diego Alves. The Spanish forward then headed on a long goal kick for Angel Arizmendi to double the hosts’ advantage in the 55th, just seconds after coming on as a substitute.

Valencia, which lost its Champions League opener at Bayern Munich midweek, has just one win after five rounds.

“Maybe we can stir (the league) up because, I insist, this team is ambitious,” said Caparros. “But we have to keep our feet firmly on the ground because football has many ups and downs and the best way forward is to focus on the short term, like the next game.”

Also yesterday, Atletico Madrid won its third straight to

MADRID: Valladolid’s Portuguese defender Henrique Sereno (left) vies for the ball with Atletico Madrid’s Uruguayan midfielder Cristian RodrÌguez (right) during the Spanish League football match. —AFP remain unbeaten by downing the visiting Valladolid 2-1, while Levante rallied to a 2-1 home win over Real Sociedad Defender Diego Godin showed the finishing touch of a striker to give Atletico the lead in the 31st with a cool chip shot, and Radamel Falcao tallied his eighth goal in all competitions for Atletico with a spot kick in the 45th. Atletico goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois let Alberto Bueno’s shot slip through his hands to gift Valladolid a goal in the 55th.

In Valencia, former Newcastle forward Obafemi Martins netted an 86th minute winner in his debut for Levante to seal its comeback. Later, Real Madrid has a Spanish capital derby at Rayo Vallecano after Malaga visits Athletic Bilbao.—Agencies

Spanish League results/standings Real Mallorca 2 (Victor 8, Arizmendi 55) Valencia 0; Levante 2 (Barkero 70-pen, Martins 86) Real Sociedad 1 (Zurutuza 23); Atletico Madrid 2 (Godin 31, Falcao 45-pen) Valladolid 1 (Bueno 55).

Playing today Deportivo la Coruna v Sevilla Spanish League table after yesterday’s early match (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points): Barcelona

5 5 0 0 14 3 15

Zaragoza

Mallorca

5 3 2 0 7 3 11

Valladolid

5 2 0 3 4 5 6

Atletico

4 3 1 0 11 5 10

Sociedad

5 2 0 3 6 9 6

Malaga

4 3 1 0 6 2 10

Valencia

5 1 2 2 6 8 5

Real Betis

4 3 0 1 8 5 9

Real Madrid

4 1 1 2 5 4 4

Sevilla

4 2 2 0 4 2 8

Bilbao

4 1 1 2 8 124

Vallecano

4 2 1 1 6 5 7

Getafe

5 1 1 3 6 104

Levante

5 2 1 2 7 9 7

Grenade

5 0 2 3 2 8 2

Deportivo

4 1 3 0 7 5 6

Espanyol

5 0 1 4 7 111

Celta Vigo

5 2 0 3 6 6 6

Osasuna

5 0 1 4 3 101

Sampdoria 1 (Pozzi 84-pen) Torino 1 (Bianchi 69-pen); Udinese 2 (RanÈgie 40, Di Natale 68-pen) AC Milan 1 (Stephan El Shaarawy 54); Catania 0 Napoli 0; Atalanta 1 (Raimondi 88) Palermo 0; Bologna 1 (Gilardino 9) Pescara 1 (Quintero 41); Inter Milan 0 Siena 2 (Vergassola 72 Valiani 90+2).

Terry quits England on eve of ‘racism’ hearing

Italian Serie A table ahead of yesterday’s late match (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points): Juventus Napoli Lazio Sampdoria Fiorentina Inter Milan Atalanta Catania Roma Torino Parma Udinese

4 4 3 4 4 4 4 4 3 4 4 4

4 3 3 3 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1

0 1 0 1 1 0 1 2 1 2 1 1

0 0 0 0 1 2 1 1 1 1 2 2

11 8 7 7 6 6 3 5 7 4 4 6

2 2 1 4 4 5 2 6 6 3 6 9

12 10 9 9 7 6 5 5 4 4 4 4

LONDON: Former England captain John Terry dramatically quit international football yesterday, fewer than 24 hours before a Football Association hearing into allegations he racially abused Queens Park Rangers’ Anton Ferdinand. Chelsea skipper Terry, 31, said the FA had made his position “untenable” after he had already been cleared of criminal charges emanating from the controversy which rocked the game last October. “I am today announcing my retirement from international football,” Terry said in a statement.

“I would like to thank the England managers who have selected me for my 78 caps. I have had great pleasure in sharing that honor with all the players that I’ve played with. “I would like to thank them, the fans and my family for their support and encouragement during my international career. “Representing and captaining my country is what I dreamed of as a boy and it has been a truly great honor. I have always given my all and it breaks my heart to make this decision,” added Terry who made his England debut in 2003.

“I want to wish Roy (Hodgson, the England manager) and the team every success for the future. “I am making this statement today in advance of the hearing of the FA disciplinary charge because I feel the FA, in pursuing charges against me where I have already been cleared in a court of law, have made my position with the national team untenable.—AFP

Bologna 4 1 1 2 5 8 4 Genoa 3 1 0 2 5 6 3 AC Milan 4 1 0 3 4 5 3 Chievo 4 1 0 3 3 7 3 Cagliari 3 0 2 1 2 4 2 Pescara 4 0 1 3 3 10 1 Palermo 4 0 1 3 1 8 1 Siena 4 1 2 1 5 4 -1 Note: Sampdoria (one point), Torino (one point), Atalanta (two points) and Siena (six points) all docked points for involvement in ‘Calcioscommesse’ illegal betting scandal

Marseille go clear with sixth win PARIS: A first-half header from Morgan Amalfitano was enough to give Marseille their sixth straight win of the new campaign, a 1-0 success over Evian yesterday, and hand the southerners a five-point lead atop Ligue 1.

Amalfitano connected with a Matthieu Valbuena free-kick on 33 minutes to preserve the former European champions’ perfect record this season and leave them clear of Lyon who were taking on Lille in the late match.

Marseille’s last league crown was 2010 but last season they endured a wretched time and parted company with Didier Deschamps, who moved on to pastures new as coach of France with veteran boss Elie Baup coming in. The change has been proving as good as a rest and the club have only conceded a solitary goal to date.

Amalfitano could have had a second two minutes after his goal but his near-post header floated just past wide with visiting keeper Stephan Andersen beaten following a corner from the left. Marseille did not turn the heat on thereafter as they showed signs of fatigue following their Europa League draw at Fenerbache but were not threatened by an Evian side which has lost all three of its away games to date.

Bordeaux let slip two home points in a 2-2 draw with Ajaccio which saw the former slip back into sixth place. Bordeaux are unbeaten in eight games in all competitions but were kicking themselves after substitute Chahir Belghazouani bagged a point in injury time.

Henrique had given the hosts the lead after a scoreless first half but Ricardo Faty equalised only for Yoan Gouffran to make it 2-1 to the Girondins before Belghazouani stole in at the death.

“It’s a damn nuisance to let points slip as we did against Nice,” moaned Bordeaux

coach Francis Gillot, who also complained at an early afternoon kickoff when his side were in Europa League action late Thursday - when they thrashed Bruges of Belgium 4-0.

Referring to the last-gasp Ajaccio equaliser, he said: “A lack of concentration goes hand in hand with fatigue.”

On Saturday, a brace from star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic helped propel Paris Saint Germain to a 4-0 romp at Bastia as the capital club moved into third spot. A flurry of early draws have held up PSG’s assault on the summit.

But they were well on their way to a third straight victory once Jeremy Menez eased them in front in the seventh minute before Ibrahimovic struck five minutes before half-time.

Blaise Matuide added a third to kill off Bastia with 18 minutes remaining before Ibrahimovic delivered the coup de grace in the final minute.

The Swede insisted the match had not been a stroll in the park, however, as PSG moved onto 12 points from six games. “It was 4-0 - but not easy,” he said. “People were saying it was easy after we beat Kiev (4-1 in the Champions League) in midweek.

But it wasn’t. You still have to go out there and do things on the pitch. We were playing a good team.”

Defending champions Montpellier were held to a 1-1 draw by Saint Etienne on Friday, bringing an end to a frustrating week where they had suffered two successive defeats.

Beaten 3-1 by promoted Reims seven days ago, and then 2-1 at home to Arsenal in the Champions League on Tuesday, Montpellier needed a second-half equaliser from veteran Senegalese international striker Souleymane Camara to salvage a point.—AFP

5 2 0 3 5 6 6

GERMANY: Hoffenheim’s US defender Fabian Johnson (left) and Hanover’s midfielder Manuel Schmiedebach vie for the ball during the German First Division Bundesliga football match.—AFP

Penalty miss pegs back Leverkusen BERLIN: Bayer Leverkusen missed a penalty and wasted a raft of opportunities in a 1-1 draw at home to Borussia Moenchengladbach in the Ruhr derby yesterday.

The result left Leverkusen in 12th place in the Bundesliga, eight points behind leaders Bayern Munich, who maintained their perfect record on Saturday when a 2-0 win at Schalke gave them a fourth win in four games.

Leverkusen had 31 shots on target compared to Moenchengladbach’s five as they were held to a second successive home draw after their 1-1 stalemate with Metalist Kharkiv in the Europa League on Thursday. Patrick Herrmann put ‘Gladbach ahead in the third minute after being put through by a wonderful long ball from Venezuelan international Juan Arango.

Czech midfielder Michal Kadlec lev-

elled for Leverkusen nine minutes later.

Andre Schuerrle had the chance to win the game for Leverkusen in the 70th minute but he saw his penalty come back off a post.

Hoffenheim moved off the bottom with their first win of the season, a 3-1 defeat of third-placed Hanover, with Augsburg replacing them at the foot of the table.

Hoffenheim had fallen behind to a Mathieu Delpierre own-goal in the 26thminute before American international Fabian Johnson levelled just one minute later. Serbian midfielder Sejad Salihovic, in the 82nd minute, and American star Daniel Williams, in the second minute of injury time, secured the three points.

Stuttgart are second bottom, just behind Hoffenheim, after coming back from two goals down to draw 2-2 at Werder Bremen.—AFP

German League results/standings Werder Bremen 2 (De Bruyne 23, Junuzovic 34) VfB Stuttgart 2 (Harnik 50, Cacau 81); Hoffenheim 3 (Johnson 27, Salihovic 82, Williams 90+2) Hanover 1 (Delpierre 26-og); Bayer Leverkusen 1 (Kadlec 12) Borussia Moenchengladbach 1 (Herrmann 3).

German league table after yesterday’s matches (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points): Bayern Munich Eintracht Hanover Dortmund Schalke Nuremberg Dusseldorf SC Freiburg Borussia Wolfsburg Werder Bremen Mainz Leverkusen Furth Hamburg Hoffenheim Stuttgart FC Augsburg

4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4

4 4 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0

0 0 1 1 1 1 3 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 0 0 2 1

0 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 3 3 2 3

14 2 12 11 4 12 10 7 7 8 5 7 7 5 7 6 5 7 2 0 6 6 6 5 5 5 5 2 5 5 7 7 4 4 5 4 4 6 4 2 6 4 5 8 3 7 12 3 3 9 2 1 7 1

Vettel wins Singapore GP

17

India crush England in T-20

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

18

Birthday dinner ends in tragedy for world champ

Page 15

LIVERPOOL: Liverpool’s Luis Saurez (left) battles for ball with Manchester United’s Rafael Da Silva during their English Premier League soccer match at Anfield .—AP

Van Persie makes Reds pay penalty Liverpool 1

Man United 2

LIVERPOOL: Robin van Persie’s second-half penalty secured a 2-1 Premier League win for Manchester United over 10-man Liverpool at an emotionally-charged Anfield yesterday. The Dutchman’s goal saw United complete a come from behind victory after Rafael da Silva’s effort had cancelled out Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard’s volley early in the second half.

Victory saw United move to within a point of Premier League leaders Chelsea but left Liverpool, who saw Jonjo Shelvey sent off in the 39th minute, still searching for their first league win under manager Brendan Rodgers.

Talk before the game was about whether Liverpool’s Luis Suarez and United’s Patrice Evra would shake hands following the Uruguay striker’s refusal to do so last season after his eightgame ban for racially abusing the defender.

But Suarez did shake his foe’s hand ahead of Liverpool’s first home match since an independ-

ent report cleared the Merseysiders’ supporters of any involvement in the deaths of 96 fans during the 1989 Hillsborough disaster.

United defender Nemanja Vidic was rested by manager Alex Ferguson with Jonny Evans keeping his place from their 1-0 Champions League win over Galatasaray and Rio Ferdinand returning after missing the victory over the Turkish side. Meanwhile, Ryan Giggs replaced fellow United veteran Paul Scholes in midfield while Liverpool made 11 changes from their Europa League victory over Young Boys in midweek. Both Ferguson and Rodgers had pleaded with their respective supporters to abandon chants mocking both Hillsborough and the 1958 Munich air disaster, which killed several United players, that had often marred previous meetings between English football’s two most successful clubs.

By and large their wishes were respected, although there was a chant of “where’s your famous Munich song?” from some United fans.

Liverpool soon settled and a Suarez cross was not dealt with convincingly by Anders Lindegaard, who returned to the side following rival United goalkeeper David de Gea’s appearance in midweek. Gerrard had a much better chance moments later, but his low strike from Shelvey’s corner clipped the post. Liverpool, in

control without creating many clear-cut chances, suffered a huge setback when Shelvey was sent off by referee Mark Halsey for a twofooted lunge on United defender Evans.

That did not stop Liverpool getting forward, however, and they scored just after the break when Scholes, on at half-time for the ineffective Nani, challenged Glen Johnson and the ball fell to Gerrard. The Liverpool skipper chested it down before volleying past Lindegaard in the 46th minute to the delight of the Anfield faithful. But United were level five minutes later when, after good build-up work by Antonio Valencia and Shinji Kagawa, Rafael’s curler gave Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina no chance.

Suarez had a penalty shout in the 56th minute when Evans challenged him in the area but Halsey waved away protests and did so again when Scholes went in strongly on Raheem Sterling. Just after the hour mark, Suarez’s low strike forced Lindegaard into a superb stop before United took the lead against the run of play. Valencia burst clear from midfield and, with Liverpool short at the back because Martin Skrtel was down with an injury, Johnson panicked and barged through the back of the midfielder to concede the spot kick in the 78th minute. United had missed their last three penalties, however, so the pressure was

on van Persie, one of those who had been offtarget from the spot along with Nani and Javier Hernandez. But this time the striker calmly shot into the corner, despite Reina getting fingertips to the ball, as United secured their first win at Anfield since 2007. Meanwhile, Sir Alex Ferguson and Brendan Rodgers hope the Hillsborough tribute before Manchester United’s 2-1 win over Liverpool at Anfield will end vile chants by both sets of fans. However, incidents after yesterday’s Premier League match suggested some supporters had still to get the message. This was Liverpool’s first home fixture since an independent report absolved their supporters of blame for the deaths of 96 of their fellow fans during a 1989 FA Cup semifinal at Sheffield Wednesday’s Hillsborough ground.

There were fears United fans would disrupt pre-match tributes to the dead, as well as the game itself, with taunts about the disaster. They were largely well-behaved save one brief chant of “Where’s your Munich song?”

But after the final whistle, when most Liverpool fans had left the ground, a few home supporters ran across the main stand near to where United followers remained on police orders and started making airplane signals.—AFP

Koscielny denies City victory Man City 1

Arsenal 1 MANCHESTER: Laurent Koscielny’s equaliser ensured Arsenal left Eastlands with a deserved point as the Gunners held Premier League champions Manchester City to a 1-1 draw yesterday.

Koscielny’s goal eight minutes from time ensured Arsenal maintained their unbeaten start to the season and cancelled out the opener from City centrehalf Joleon Lescott. The draw left both clubs on nine points, four adrift of leaders Chelsea.

Koscielny struck eight minutes from time, controlling the ball and converting from a dozen yards after Lescott had made a poor clearance from Theo Walcott’s dangerous left-wing corner.

Lescott himself had struck with an impressive and powerful set-piece header on the half hour, arriving in between Koscielny and Lukas Podolski to power home David Silva’s right-wing corner, a goal that came against the run of play in terms of chances created.

Prior to the opening goal, the two best

openings of the half had both fallen to the visitors; the first after 15 minutes when Gervinho was played clean through on goal by Aaron Ramsey but produced a dismal first touch that saw the ball run away from him to goalkeeper Joe Hart.

Nine minutes later, Carl Jenkinson’s tidy approach play down the right-hand by-line allowed him to pull the ball back for Podolski who planted a shot high and wide over the City goal.

Those chances had been preceded by City’s Sergio Aguero forcing Vito Mannone into the first real save of the game, the Arsenal goalkeeper parrying a shot from the Argentinian. But, until Lescott’s impressive finish, Arsenal had looked the more likely scorers.

Hart scurried to his right to keep out Cazorla’s well-struck 20-yard free-kick, Gervinho shot into the side netting after another Ramsey-inspired counter-attack and Cazorla ended the half by stabbing a shot just wide. The decision of the City manager Roberto Mancini to switch his wingers Scott Sinclair and Silva proved shrewd, however, and moments after the opening goal, Edin Dzeko’s 20-yard firsttime shot sailed just over the bar after Aguero launched an attack.

Sinclair was brought off at the interval as Mancini continued to tinker with his formation and City started the second half exerting more control in midfield and tak-

ing greater hold of the game.

Yaya Toure’s run ended with a 20-yard effort wide, Aguero shot over from a difficult, narrow angle before the same City man chased a Silva through ball and had a strong claim for a penalty following a tackle from Koscielny.

Arsenal survived the spell of pressure but were struggling to carve out openings of their own. Gunners boss Arsene Wenger threw on Olivier Giroud and Walcott for the game’s final 19 minutes, the duo injecting more attacking urgency into their team’s play without Hart being unduly troubled at first.

Instead, Yaya Toure launched a dangerous 80th minute counter-attack, slipping in Aguero whose shot, under pressure from Koscielny, was turned around the post by Mannone.

It was a half chance, and miss, that proved costly with Arsenal immediately responding through midfielder Cazorla’s powerful right-foot strike which Hart did well to tip over, resulting in the corner from which Koscielny equalised.

Two minutes later, City might have regained the lead after Aguero drove a rebound just wide after Mannone had done well to keep out Vincent Kompany’s acrobatic overhead kick. At the other end, Gervinho missed a superb opportunity with an injury-time shot that sailed over the bar from 16 yards.—AFP

EPL results/standings Liverpool 1 (Gerrard 46) Manchester United 2 (Rafael 51, Van Persie 81-pen); Manchester City 1 (Lescott 40) Arsenal 1 (Koscielny 82); Newcastle 1 (Ba 19) Norwich 0; Tottenham 2 (Faurlin 60-og, Defoe 61) QPR 1 (Zamora 33).

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

5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 4

4 4 3 3 2 3 2 2 2 2 2 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0

1 0 1 1 3 0 3 2 2 2 1 4 4 1 1 0 3 2 2 1

0 1 1 1 0 2 0 1 1 1 2 0 1 3 3 4 2 3 3 3

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

2 6 5 4 2 7 7 6 4 6 7 4 5 9 10 15 8 10 11 9

13 12 10 10 9 9 9 8 8 8 7 4 4 4 4 3 3 2 2 1

Tottenham defeat QPR LONDON: Tottenham scored two goals in a threeTottenham 2 minute span in the second half to earn a come-frombehind 2-1 win over Queens Park Rangers in the QPR 1 Premier League yesterday to give manager Andre Villas-Boas his first home victory at the club. Bobby Zamora had given the visitors the lead in the 33rd minute, but Tottenham equalized through an own goal by Alejandro Faurlin in the 59th. In-form striker Jermain Defoe then secured the win for the hosts in the 62nd, tapping in a rebound from close range.

After a poor start, Tottenham now has two wins in a row to have eight points from five games. QPR are in the relegation zone with just two points.—AP

Newcastle edge Norwich

MANCHESTER: Manchester City’s Joe Hart (bottom) makes a save at the feet of Arsenal’s Olivier Giroud during their English Premier League soccer match.—AP

NEWCASTLE: Newcastle kept a clean sheet for the Newcastle 1 first time in the Premier League this season with a 10 victory over Norwich at St James’ Park yesterday. The Norwich 0 result also spoiled Norwich manager Chris Hughton’s return to Newcastle for the first time since he was fired by the Magpies in 2010. Demba Ba scored the winner, his third goal in two games, when he turned Hatem Ben Arfa’s pass into the center of the goal from close range in the 19th minute.

Norwich striker Steve Morison gave away a penalty late in the first half with a poor tackle on Mike Williamson but Papiss Cisse missed the resultant spot kick. Norwich pressed for an equalizer in the second half but failed to find the net and remains winless this campaign.—AP

German economic miracle leaves the poorest behind Page 22

EADS-BAE tie-up in the air, but defenses on the ground Page 23

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

‘Made in America’ is more attractive to manufacturers Page 25

Mercedes-Benz Kuwait launches spirited new GLK compact SUV Page 26

FREEPORT: Technologies workers Mark Schreck (left) and Tom Gaulrapp (right) stand at the entrance to a protest camp called ‘Bainport’ set up in Freeport, Illinois. The workers, whose jobs are being outsourced to China, want to illustrate what they say will happen to the United States if Republican White House hopeful Mitt Romney wins the November 6 election. — AFP

America’s hidden jobless: Too dismal to count Unemployment rate points to grim state of economy WASHINGTON: When Daniel McCune graduated from college three years ago, he was optimistic his good grades would earn him a job as an intelligence analyst with the government.

With a Bachelor of Science degree from Liberty University in Virginia, majoring in government service and history, McCune applied for jobs at the National Security Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other agencies. But after a long hunt that yielded only two interviews, the 26-year-old threw in the towel last fall, joining millions of frustrated Americans who have given up looking for work. “ There’s nothing out there and there probably won’t be anything for a while,” said McCune, from New Concord, Ohio. He has moved back home to live with his parents, who are helping him pay off his college debt of about $20,000.

“I don’t like it, it’s embarrassing. I don’t want to be a burden to my parents,” said McCune, adding that he felt like a high school dropout.

Economists, analyzing government data, estimate about 4 million fewer people are in the labor force than in December 2007, primarily due to a lack of jobs rather than the normal aging of America’s population. The size of the shift underscores the severity of the jobs crisis. If all those so-called discouraged jobseekers had remained in the labor force, August’s jobless rate of 8.1 percent would have been 10.5 percent. The jobs crisis spurred the Federal Reserve last week to launch a new bond-buying program and promise to keep it running until the labor market improves. It also poses a challenge to President Barack

Obama’s re-election bid.

The labor force participation rate, or the proportion of working-age Americans who have a job or are looking for one has fallen by an unprecedented 2.5 percentage points since December 2007, slumping to a 31-year low of 63.5 percent.

“We never had a drop like that before in other recessions. The economy is worse off than people realize when people just look at the unemployment rate,” said Keith Hall, senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University in Arlington, Virginia.

The participation rate would be expected to hold pretty much steady if the economy was growing at a normal pace. Only about a third of the drop in the participation rate is believed to be the result of the aging US population.

The economy lost 8.7 million jobs in the 2007-09 recession and has so far recouped a little more than half of them.

Economists say jobs growth of around 125,000 per month is normally needed just to hold the jobless rate steady.

Given the likelihood that Americans will flood back into the labor market when the recovery gains traction, a pace twice that strong would be needed over a sustained period to make progress reducing the unemployment rate. Last month, employers created just 96,000 jobs. Roslyn Swan lost her job in 2007 as a portfolio associate at a financial firm in New York. After submitting hundreds of applications, the 44-year-old is taking a break. “Maybe after the elections,” Swan said of her next attempt to get work. “I know that I will be employed again. I don’t know when, but I know it will hap-

pen.” Americans of all ages are leaving the workforce, but the problem is most acute in the 20-24 age group, where the participation rate has plunged by 4.4 percentage points since December 2007. Many Americans typically start working in their teens, taking part-time jobs after school and over summer vacations, a tradition that is supposed to instill a work ethic. With many failing to secure jobs after graduating from high school and college, analysts worry about US competitiveness.

“Because of delays to their career, the skills set accumulation that normally happens in the first or third job is not happening,” said Paul Conway, president of Generation Opportunity in Washington, a non-profit, non-partisan organization that works with 18- to 29year-olds on economic issues.

Last month, the proportion of 20- to 24-year-olds in the labor force was its lowest since 1972. Other age categories are faring little better. The 25-54 age group has seen a decline of 1.8 percentage points since December 2007. Some, like 27-year-old Casey Potts, have gone back to school. She is studying nursing in Kentucky after losing her medical sales job. “If I had stayed in medical sales, I would be job searching now,” said Potts. But separate surveys by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) and Generation Opportunity found little evidence that young people were going back to school when unable to land a job. One deterrent is the rising cost of education and record levels of student debt. About two-thirds of 2012 college graduates left school in debt, owing on average $28,700 in student loans,

according to Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of FinAid.org.

“Young people dropping out of the labor force to go back to school would be a silver lining if it were true,” said Heidi Shierholz, a senior EPI economist, adding that enrollment had gradually been increasing for decades. A Generation Opportunity survey published in August showed a third of young people were putting off additional training and post-graduate studies because of the sour economy.

“This is significant. People are making the decision to put those off because the assurance of a return to investment is not there,” said the non-profit’s Conway, a veteran observer of the labor market as a former Department of Labor chief of staff.

He said his organization found that young people were doing unpaid internships at nonprofit groups and businesses to prevent their skills from atrophying. Others were joining the military. Some economists say the participation rate does not paint a true picture because people find work in the informal sector, ranging from legal activities such as child care to crime in some cases. “People are picking a buck here and there and not being reported in anybody’s payroll,” said Patrick O’Keefe, head of economic research at J H Cohn in Roseland, New Jersey.

“They will say they are not doing anything, even as they have a job and are being paid under the table,” said O’Keefe, a former deputy assistant secretary at the Labor Department. “We do not know to what extent that is going on.” —Reuters

Credit Suisse trims Dubai banking team DUBAI: Credit Suisse is trimming its investment banking team in Dubai and relocating some jobs to neighboring Qatar, three sources said, as part of efforts to cut costs and focus on richer markets.

Switzerland’s second-biggest bank will consolidate its back-office investment banking team into the tiny oil-rich Gulf state, home to one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds, the sources said speaking on condition of anonymity because the matter is not yet public. Credit Suisse is in the middle of a program to cut costs by the end of 2013 to adapt to a drastic slowdown in investment banking revenues and lower profitability in the sector.

Qatar owns a 6.2 percent stake in the Swiss lender and is the top shareholder in

the bank followed by Saudi Arabia’s Olayan Group. Both Gulf entities took part in Credit Suisse’s 2012 capital raising efforts.

“At least two senior bankers in Dubai were asked to leave and around five back office staff from the investment banking department are relocating to Qatar,” one person familiar with the matter told Reuters. The bank declined to comment on specific job cuts in an emailed statement sent to Reuters but said it was being proactive in balancing its business relative to opportunities and market conditions.

“This involves realigning resources to growth areas and adjusting capacity to meet client needs and to manage costs across our businesses,” the bank said.

“Qatar is a key market for Credit Suisse

and we are redeploying resources according to our business needs.”

The cuts at Credit Suisse echo similar steps at Deutsche Bank and Japan’s Nomura Holding recently and come as investment banking deals shrink and banks jostle for the available fees.

Moving jobs to Qatar will come as a blow to Dubai, which is vying to maintain its dominance as the region’s financial hub and hold the rival Qatar Financial Centre at bay. Given the close ties between Qatar and the Swiss bank - and the top liquefied natural gas exporter’s economic prospects - the shift of some jobs comes as no surprise. Qatar’s real gross domestic product jumped 14.1 percent in 2011 and its macroeconomic fundamentals remain

robust despite expected growth moderation in 2012. Qatar Investment Authority, the country’s sovereign wealth fund, in February bought Credit Suisse’s London headquarters and leased the building back to the Swiss lender. Credit Suisse has advised Qatar Holding, a unit of QIA, on several deals including high-profile stake purchases in German auto maker Porsche and the acquisition of London’s famed Harrods department store.

The bank has also sent some of its top bankers to Qatar Holding on secondment previously. That includes Anthony Armstrong, who rejoined the bank in 2011 as co-head of Americas mergers and acquisitions business after a two-year stint with the sovereign fund. — Reuters

Markets drop amid lack of catalysts MIDEAST STOCK MARKET DUBAI: Most regional markets finished lower yesterday as investors booked recent gains amid a lack of local drivers but thin trading limited losses. Dubai’s benchmark fell 0.8 percent, making its largest decline since Sept. 10 as property-related stocks headed losers. Trading volumes slumped by nearly half from the previous session, indicating limited selling pressure.

Builder Arabtec fell 4 percent, developer Deyaar dropped 1.3 percent and contractor Drake & Scull slid 1.7 percent. “There are a lot of people that are still out of the market and would love to get in, but this won’t happen unless the UAE’s economic strength translates into earnings,” said Amer Khan, fund manager, Shuaa Asset Management. Three-quarter earnings season, which starts early October, is the only near-term expected catalyst for local markets.

“There should be a jump in quarterly growth, which will lend more steam to sentiment and the market should be okay going into year-end,” Khan said. Property and banking stocks dominated local bourses, with energy, retail and hospitality largely absent despite making up a large part of the economy. This disconnect means investors struggle to use local stocks as a proxy for domestic growth. The economy is forecast to grow 3.2 percent in 2012, according to a July Reuters poll. Abu Dhabi’s measure also retreated, slipping 0.2 percent in its fourth decline in five sessions since Sept. 16’s six-month peak. In Qatar, the index fell 0.4 percent in thin trade, taking its losses to 0.6 percent since Monday’s 19-week high.

“The (low volumes) are a good sign,” said a Doha-based trader who asked not to be identified. “People are waiting for third-quarter earnings and banks are expected to lead. We reached certain resistance levels so some selling is natural.” Elsewhere, Oman’s index slipped 0.3 percent, lower for a fourth session in five since Sept. 16’s 11-week high. Investors booked recent gains, with many preferring to sit on cash until third-quarter earnings season starts next month.

Oman Telecommunications Co (Omantel) and HSBC Oman were the main drags, falling 0.5 and 0.9 percent respectively. Volumes hit a six-week high. National Bank of Oman accounts for more than half of all shares changing hands, with its trading likely swelled by a block trade. The lender’s shares end flat.

“We’ve been seeing increased interest from foreign and regional investors into Oman - they’re putting money into the bluechips,” said Sankar Kailasam, Gulf Baader Capital Markets’ head of asset management. These include Bank Muscat, Omantel and Renaissance Services, Kailasam said. Bank Muscat ended flat, while Renaissance fell 1.5 percent. “People are now taking profits and sitting on cash for the time being - they will return when Q3 results start to come out in about 10 days,” said Kailasam.

Bucking the regional trend, Kuwait’s benchmark added 0.2 percent, its fourth gain in five sessions as volumes reached a four-week high. Small-cap companies dominated trading, with the four most active stocks accounting for 40 percent of all shares traded.

Telecom operator Zain climbed 1.4 percent and Gulf Bank gained 1.3 percent. Commercial Bank of Kuwait, said it plans to liquidate its investment unit, a bourse filing after trading hours said. The stock was down 1.5 percent. It said the move “will not have any negative impact on the financial position of the bank”, without giving further details. —Reuters

22

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

BUSINESS

German economic miracle leaves the poorest behind

poorest, critics say. Hungary’s EU Commissioner, Laszlo Andor, even went as far as to say that Germany’s lowwage policies have in fact helped to prolong and deepen Europe’s current crisis, because they have created some of the economic imbalances across the region that are to blame for the continent’s woes.

“For the past decade, Germany has exercised an enormous degree of restraint in wages in order to become more competitive for one or two years. But that has had consequences for the other EU countries, too,” Andor told the daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in an interview.

He called for the introduction of legal minimum

wages in all sectors and wage increases. And as Germany’s population ages the downside of the miracle is also becoming more visable among pensioners.

“Even if you’ve paid into the system for 35, 40 or 45 years and even if you have a qualified job and a regular salary, you may still not receive a pension above the poverty line,” Labour Minister Ursula Von der Leyen told parliament last week.

Economic experts at the Hans Boeckler Foundation think tank calculate that an employee earning around 2,000 euros ($2,600) per month will need to work 43.5 years to receive the minimum monthly pension of 700 euros in Germany.

The labor ministry’s poverty report is being seen as some as a covert call for a redistribution of wealth, possibly via higher taxes for the rich. But Chancellor Angela Merkel, facing new elections next year, was quick to rule out any such moves. Nevertheless, the experts at Hans Boeckler were clear that “with the pension and labor market reforms seen over the past 10 years, the poverty risks for elderly people have increased.” It warned a situation could develop similar to that in the United States, where pensioners often have to work to make ends meet.

More than 761,000 German pensioners are already having to work to complement their pensions, with 118,000 of those aged 75 or over. And that trend is rising. Germany is already the country in Europe with the largest population over 65 and one of its lowest birth rates. — AFP

North Korea parliament session fuels reform talk SEOUL: North Korea’s parliament meets tomorrow, amid speculation the country’s new leadership wants to push through economic reforms that analysts say carry as many risks as potential rewards.

North Korea has one of the world’s most rigidly controlled economies and is desperately poor following decades of mismanagement and isolationism, as well as recent international sanctions over its nuclear program. North Korea watchers and media reports in South Korea have suggested the rubber-stamp parliament may approve limited reforms pushed by new leader Kim Jong-Un, including incentives for workers and farmers to boost productivity.

“The new leader is ready to push for gradual economic reforms in earnest as long as such changes will not rattle the country’s political system,” Yang Moo-Jin at the University of North Korean Studies told AFP. Since taking power after the death of his father Kim Jong-Il last December, Kim Jong-Un has made several public statements on the need to improve living standards.

“Reforms are always risky in a closed totalitarian country but Jong-Un appears to be confident that his leadership is now stable enough to enforce a new system,” Yang said. “I have no clear picture yet but there have been various signs that changes are being made in the North’s

economic system to give factories and companies greater autonomy in management,” he said.

Newspaper reports in Seoul have said one change would see the North’s regime taking only 70 percent of the harvest from collective farms, allowing farmers to keep or sell the remainder.

Economic reform, however gradual, is a risky business in such a tightly controlled country.

Limited market reforms were introduced in 2002 to revive an economy which had begun to collapse in the 1990s as subsidized imports of fuel and food from the former Soviet Union and its European satellites dried up. But the resulting boom in street markets and general trading activity was seen as a threat to government control and most of the reforms were rolled back three years later.

Then there was a disastrous currency “revaluation” in 2009 that resulted in an inflationary surge that wiped out people’s savings and triggered rare public protests. Andrei Lankov, a Russian professor at Seoul’s Kookmin University, said it seemed clear that Kim Jong-Un was looking to move the economy in a new direction. “There are too many signals, coming from too many directions to deny the fact that North Korea has begun to change,” Lankov said. — AFP

KABUL: An Afghan butcher is seen behind rows of meat hung for sale in Kabul yesterday. There is a growing unease for the future of the Afghan economy, mainly supported by foreign aid, after the expected pullout of NATO troops from the country. — AFP

Oman spends $8bn in oil, gas sectors results of companies operating in the sector. The country is exerting all possible effort in search for new energy resources, like gas found in deep and narrow reservoirs under the ground, AlJashmi said. A number of wells were dug in search for the new gas, among other various projects, executed by Petroleum Development of Oman (PDO) Company, Al-Jashmi affirmed. — KUNA

MUSCAT: Oman spends between $7-8 billion per year in investments in the oil and gas field in both upstream and downstream sectors, Undersecretary at the Ministry of Oil and Gas Nasser Bin Khamis Al-Jashmi announced yesterday.

He said in press remarks that a news conference will be held by the beginning of next year to announce the newly-discovered oil fields and wells, besides

Can raising stock markets lead to economic growth?

By Hayder Tawfik

Germany eventually feels the pinch of crisis BERLIN: The economic “miracle” that has enabled Germany to escape the worst of Europe’s debt crisis is largely passing by some of the most vulnerable people in society, critics say.

And as Germany finally begins to feel the pinch from a crisis that has pushed most of its neighbors into recession, it is the low-wage workers and the old-age pensioners who are being hit hardest, the critics charge.

According to a new four-yearly poverty report drawn up by the labor ministry, the gap between rich and poor in Europe’s top economy is continuing to widen.

In 1998, 45 percent of Germany’s total wealth was owned by the wealthiest 10 percent of the population.

Ten years later, that proportion had risen to 53 percent, while around half of all households owned just 1.0 percent, the study found.

“Hourly wages that are no longer sufficient-even if someone is working full time-to feed a one-person household are exacerbating the poverty risks and undermining social cohesion,” the labor ministry warned. Unions argue that those very same labor market reforms which have helped steel Germany against the worst of the debt crisis and brought down unemployment to post-unification lows are contributing to the ever-widening gap between rich and poor.

The absence of a legal minimum wage and the strong expansion of the low-paid job sector, and socalled “mini” jobs, to name by a few of the much-vaunted reforms introduced by the then German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, come at the expense of society’s

Bayt.com weekly report

quity indices in the US are near 4 highs and not far away from the record highs it reached back in October 2007. Most other developed stock markets are not far behind. However, it is in the US where the economic impacts from raising stock prices are most felt. Share ownership in the US by far the most among the developed world. In the last 4 years, US stock markets have added over $2 trillion to the nation’s wealth. I would like to emphasize this point but the fact is there has been some good correlation between raising stock prices and economic recovery. May be it is more about the feel good factor rather than actual feeling better off hence spending more money.

Central banks around the world have played and continue to play a big part in the recovery of stock markets by keep pumping unlimited amount of money into their systems. These processes have kept short term interest rates near zero and have also lowered the yield on long term rates. In recent day’s central banks from the US, ECB, Bank of England and recently the bank of Japan has announced further measure to pump more money into their systems. Without any doubt, more encouraging news for future economic recovery.

One for sure is that once this process started it cannot stop unless we do see real and sustainable economic recovery. So, the message for equity holders or investors is do not go against the wave of cheap money which will hit the markets every time there is sign of economic slowdown. Stock markets should act positively either on more money coming into the markets or on any sign of economic recovery.

Last week The Federal Reserve embarked upon a third round of quantitative easing and the European Central Bank standing ready to buy bonds. These moves were enough to propel their stock markets to near record highs. I think raising stock markets can lead to economic growth. A raising market is usually a good sign of future economic recovery. So, a rally in stock markets often followed by a pick-up in the economy, but I think there will be a consolidation as some economic data might still show a weaker side of the economy. I am sure that the central banks believe strongly that Quantitative Easing should ultimately work. Why it should not? It may lead to inflation picking up in the process but having a small pick in inflation is far better and cheaper than fighting a recession followed by deflation. But governments need to work with the central banks in tandems. Where some governments have the room to maneuver they should take measure which will have immediate impact on consumers spending and employment. One side effect of the central banks action is crowding out savers. This has been reflected in some banks balance sheet. Actually some banks are refusing to take deposits. What we are seeing now is that households in the US are taking advantage of record low in mortgage rates to either refinance or purchase new homes. This has been reflected in the latest housing figures. I think these actions taken by central banks are very good for international stocks.

— Hayder Tawfik is Executive Vice President of Asset Management, at Dimah CapitalHT@dimah.com.kw

E

EXCHANGE RATES Commercial Bank of Kuwait US Dollar/KD GB Pound/KD Euro Swiss francs Canadian Dollar Australian DLR Indian rupees Sri Lanka Rupee UAE dirhams Bahraini dinars Jordanian dinar Saudi riyals Omani riyals Egyptian pounds

.2740000 .4500000 .3600000 .2980000 .2850000 .2900000 .0040000 .0020000 .0760270 .7407080 .3870000 .0720000 .7261310 .0430000

CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES US Dollar/KD .2800500 GB Pound/KD .4545350 Euro .3634070 Swiss francs .3002090 Canadian dollars .2867310 Danish Kroner .0487590 Swedish Kroner .0426730 Australian dlr .2929740 Hong Kong dlr .0361190 Singapore dlr .2287990 Japanese yen .0035820 Indian Rs/KD .0000000 Sri Lanka rupee .0000000 Pakistan rupee .0000000 Bangladesh taka .0000000 UAE dirhams .0762770 Bahraini dinars .7431340 Jordanian dinar .0000000 Saudi Riyal/KD .0744000 Omani riyals .7276860 Philippine Peso .0000000

Al-Muzaini Exchange Co. ASIAN COUNTRIES

Japanese Yen Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Srilankan Rupees Nepali Rupees Singapore Dollar Hongkong Dollar Bangladesh Taka Philippine Peso Thai Baht Malaysian Ringgit

3.601 5.235 2.971 2.138 3.297 230.980 36.301 3.430 6.754 9.131 92.309

.2860000 .4610000 .3720000 .3070000 .2950000 .2990000 .0058500 .0035000 .0767910 .7481520 .4100000 .0780000 .7334290 .0510000 .2821500 .4579440 .3661320 .3024600 .2888810 .0491250 .0429930 .2951710 .0363900 .2305150 .0036090 .0053180 .0021540 .0029940 .0034680 .0768490 .7487060 .3990810 .0752600 .7331430 .0068320

Saudi Riyal Qatari Riyal Omani Riyal Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham

GCC COUNTRIES 75.083 77.364 731.320 747.840 76.668

ARAB COUNTRIES Egyptian Pound - Cash 47.700 Egyptian Pound - Transfer 46.137 Yemen Riyal/for 1000 1.314 Tunisian Dinar 180.070 Jordanian Dinar 397.000 Lebanese Lira/for 1000 1.889 Syrian Lier 4.911 Morocco Dirham 33.426 EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 281.450 Euro 368.280 Sterling Pound 459.690 Canadian dollar 289.710 Turkish lire 157.020 Swiss Franc 303.290 US Dollar Buying 280.250 GOLD 332.000 168.000 87.250

20 Gram 10 Gram 5 Gram

Australian dollar Bahraini dinar Bangladeshi taka Canadian dollar Cyprus pound Czek koruna Danish krone Deutsche Mark Egyptian pound Euro Cash Hongkong dollar Indian rupees Indonesia Iranian tuman Iraqi dinar Japanese yen Jordanian dinar Lebanese pound Malaysian ringgit Morocco dirham Nepalese Rupees New Zealand dollar Nigeria

50.300 730.690 3.070 7.000 77.810 75.110 231.250 36.330 2.680 460.400 43.900 305.400 4.300 9.470 198.263 76.700 281.700 1.350

10 Tola

GOLD 1,871.350

Sterling Pound US Dollar

730.510 2.978 6.748 77.380 75.110 231.250 36.330 2.138 458.400 303.900 4.300 9.330 76.600 281.300

COUNTRY

Currency

TRAVELLER’S CHEQUE 458.400 281.300

SELL CASH

SELL DRAFT

297.400 748.100 3.660 291.900 552.500 45.800 50.900 167.800 48.060 368.800 36.950 5.390 0.032 0.161 0.235 3.700 398.640 0.190 94.200 45.200 4.330 236.500 1.822

295.900 748.100 3.441 290.400

231.200 46.177 367.300 36.800 5.260 0.031

SELL DRAFT

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

298.49 292.47 306.30 368.44 280.85 460.01 3.65 3.438 5.254 2.138 3.292 2.975 76.53 747.81 46.13 400.12 730.94 77.56 75.10

SELL CASH

299.000 292.000 307.000 370.500 281.700 458.000 3.690 3.560 5.400 2.290 3.530 3.150 77.000 746.500 47.800 398.500 735.000 78.000 75.300

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd 398.800 0.189 94.200 3.300 235.000

Rate for Transfer

US Dollar Canadian Dollar Sterling Pound

Selling Rate

280.900 288.297 456.909

Euro Swiss Frank Bahrain Dinar UAE Dirhams Qatari Riyals Saudi Riyals Jordanian Dinar Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupees Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Pesso Cyprus pound Japanese Yen Thai Bhat Syrian Pound Nepalese Rupees Malaysian Ringgit

368.280 294.707 743.669 76.457 77.104 74.871 395.968 46.067 2.125 5.178 2.967 3.433 6.733 689.046 4.581 9.025 4.356 3.248 89.546

Kuwait Bahrain Intl Exchange Co.

UAE Exchange Centre WLL

Bahrain Exchange Company COUNTRY

Norwegian krone Omani Riyal Pakistani rupees Philippine peso Qatari riyal Saudi riyal Singapore dollar South Africa Sri Lankan rupees Sterling pound Swedish krona Swiss franc Syrian pound Thai bhat Tunisian dollar UAE dirham U.S. dollars Yemeni Riyal

Rate per 1000 (Tran)

US Dollar Pak Rupees Indian Rupees Sri Lankan Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso UAE Dirhams Saudi Riyals Bahraini Dinars Egyptian Pounds Pound Sterling Indonesian Rupiah Yemeni Riyal Euro Canadian Dollars Nepali rupee

280.900 2.968 5.190 2.130 3.427 6.770 76.580 75.065 746.800 46.125 461.800 2.990 1.550 373.700 294.200 3.200

Al Mulla Exchange Currency

Transfer Rate (Per 1000)

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

280.900 367.100 458.250 290.100 3.650 5.247 46.119 2.138 3.438 6.740 2.980 747.900 76.500 74.950

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

BUSINESS

EADS-BAE tie-up in the air, but defenses on the ground Firms have 17 days to reveal alliance PARIS: European aero groups EADS and BAE Systems have 17 days to reveal if their wedding is on or off, and their efforts to get to the church on time now depend on the German and French governments. But German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande did not use a meeting in Germany on Saturday to reach a decision, with an October 10 deadline hanging over them under British market rules for mergers and takeovers.

The proposed tie-up announced by the two groups on September 12 would change the landscape of the global aerospace industry, creating a broadly based competitor to US groups, notably Boeing, with the ability to develop a big presence in the North American market.

Though the two parties may request an extension, so far they have ruled this out, saying that they want to complete the negotiations quickly.

The European firms say that EADS, which makes Airbus airliners, and BAE Systems, which has big interests in defense industries, would be worth together about $45 billion (34.6 billion euros).

The governments of Germany and France each have a hand in 22.35-percent stakes in the European Aeronautic Defense and Space company. EADS unites space and defense interests alongside Airbus airliners and has remained an industrial champion to both France and German.

Until 2006, BAE Systems owned 20 percent of Airbus, which it sold to focus on business in the United States but also after years of unease with the complex system of governance and the intrusion of German-French national factors. The British government has a so-called golden share in BAE Systems which could be used to prevent any foreign interest from holding more than 15 percent of the firm. Under the tie-up, presented as a merger, shareholders in EADS would in fact be the dominant party with a 60-percent interest.

Holders of BAE Systems stock would have an interest of 40 percent.

The British side has said explicitly that the prospect of political interference in a new aerospace entity would cause BAE Systems to end the engagement.

Some analysts say that the British side could make a deal conditional on Germany and France withdrawing as shareholders altogether. A quick and clear statement of intent by the two governments is critical because the issues to be settled in negotiations are extremely complex in any case, and because of the strict British stock mar-

ket rules on whether a proposed deal is on or off.

The German group Daimler has 22.35 percent of the voting rights on behalf of the German state although it has transferred a block of 7.5 percent to a consortium of public banks and private

investors. The French state and the private French consortium Lagardere own 22.35 percent. The Spanish state owns 5.45 percent of EADS, and the rest is publicly quoted. BAE Systems is in the hands of private investors.

One expert on defense industries, who declined to be named, said that a quick statement of the positions of the German and French governments was important also because another bidder, “maybe American”, could come riding in with an attractive offer for BAE Systems.

At the French institute for international and strategic relations (IRIS), deputy director JeanPierre Maulny said: “The completion of this project is more a question of time because of the complexity of the matter rather than of really insurmountable obstacles.”

The German and French governments are believed to be concerned mainly about obtaining guarantees that they will retain some significant interest in the business and that jobs will be retained. Merkel said Saturday’s discussions “were good and in a spirit of friendship, but we do not

need to discuss the details in public, particularly when it comes to jobs.”

For his part, Hollande said France and Germany would continue to “work closely together” and aimed to meet the October 10 deadline, adding

that the key factors in any agreement would include “jobs, industrial strategy, defense activities and the interests of our respective states”.

An important concern for Germany is whether the tie-up would result in a restructuring of Cassidian, the defense arm of EADS which is based mainly in Germany.

This week, the head of EADS, Tom Enders, said that talks with the German, French and British governments were “constructive” and at an advanced stage.

In listing advantages for EADS in a tie-up with BAE Systems, Enders acknowledged that the future of the military activities of EADS were in the balance. Since defense budgets were flat or falling, EADS had to expand its defense activities internationally, he said.

This was particularly important for Cassidian but also for other ac tivities in the group.

Maulny commented: “The French and German governments realize that they have no choice but to abandon the current governance structure.” — AFP

Iran oil exports dived to 800,000 bpd in July: MP

BERN: People walk past a Cartier store in a street of the Alpine resort of Gstaad, in the canton of Bern. The canton of Bern voted yesterday on the removal of a controversial low-tax deals for wealthy foreigners based on the rental value of their property rather than their actual income or wealth. — AFP

Two Swiss cantons vote on tax breaks for foreigners ZURICH: The Swiss canton that includes Gstaad, a renowned playground for wealthy expats, held a referendum yesterday to decide whether they should continue to enjoy a special tax break.

Voters in the Bern canton as well as that of Basel-Landschaft are pronouncing on whether a system under which foreigners pay a lump sum tax on the basis of their spending instead of their earnings should be eliminated.

In 2010 the number of so-called “tax refugees” in Switzerland taking advantage of the system stood at 5,445 and they paid 668 million Swiss francs (550 million euros, $715 million) in taxes, or an average of a little over 120,000 euros each.

Three of Switzerland’s 26 cantons have already stamped out the privilege since 2009. Most of the Bern canton’s expats who benefit from the system-who include French rocker Johnny Hallyday and French-Polish film director Roman

Polanski-live in Gstaad, a small ski resort dotted with luxury chalets. Hallyday took up residence there in 2006 and, according to the newspaper Le Matin, he earned some five million euros ($6.5 million) last year on which he paid around 575,000 euros in tax “or what he spends in two months, according to his entourage.”

“These lump sum taxes have become a boon for a lot of trustees,” Socialist lawmaker Margret Kiener Nellen told the Swiss press.

“At Gstaad, for example, there are 13 multi-millionaire Greek families that pay ridiculously low taxes. It’s scandalous.”

Zurich’s canton eliminated the system in 2009, followed by northern Schaffhausen and northeastern Appenzell cantons. The urban canton of northwestern Basel will eliminate the tax break in 2014. Swiss voters across the country were also taking part in a referendum on smoking in public places.

Final results were expected later. — AFP

Turnover at top of US IRS as tough 2013 tax season nears WASHINGTON: The chief of the Internal Revenue Service will step down soon and, with no successor in sight, the IRS is likely to head into a difficult 2013 tax-filing season led by an interim boss.

That is not an ideal situation, said tax lawyers. But they gave generally high marks to the IRS official they expect to be named as the temporary head of the US tax agency come mid-November.

That is when IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman’s term in office will end. He plans to leave at that time as head of the 104,000-employee agency, according to an IRS spokesperson. The Obama administration will probably then appoint Steven Miller as acting commissioner, the tax lawyers said. Miller currently serves as IRS deputy commissioner for services and

enforcement. Deputies have filled in as IRS commissioner in the past when no permanent replacement was promptly nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. Miller, who has spent more than 20 years at the IRS, has been a deputy commissioner since September 2009. He previously headed the IRS’s exempt organizations division. He also worked at the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation.

“The next year or two will be a particularly challenging period for the IRS,” said former IRS Commissioner Mark Everson, now vice chairman of alliantgroup LP, a tax consultancy for small businesses. “It would be best to have a nominated and confirmed commissioner who has standing within the administration and with the Congress,” Everson added. — Reuters

DUBAI: Iran’s crude oil sales dived to just 800,000 barrels per day (bpd) in July, due to Western sanctions, but are likely to have bounced back last month, a senior Iranian legislator was quoted as saying yesterday.

Iranian officials usually play down the impact of US and European restrictions on their oil industry, with Iran’s oil minister saying on Saturday production would hold steady this year despite an EU ban on Iranian oil imports and shipping insurance since July.

But Mohammad Reza Bahonar, deputy-speaker of Iran’s parliament, said on Sunday that the country’s oil sales had dropped sharply as a result of sanctions designed to pressure Iran to give up its disputed nuclear program.

“In the month of Tir (June 21-July 21) oil sales were about 800,000 barrels (per day),” Bahonar, who is also general secretary of Iran’s Islamic Society of Engineers, was quoted as saying by the student news agency ISNA. He said that oil sales averaged about 1 million bpd from the end of March to late August, compared to exports of 2.3-2.4 million bpd last year.

Daily Iranian oil exports of just 800,000 bpd for July are lower than International Energy Agency estimates of 1 million bpd.

Bahonar said the Iranian economy was suffering as sanctions on its banking and oil sectors reduce sales and make it difficult to repatriate earnings from any crude oil that it does manage to sell.

“We face two problems; first is that our oil sales do not proceed normally and second that the money that we do earn we cannot use easily,” ISNA quoted him as saying.

Bahonar said exports may have bounced back to about 1.5 million bpd in the Persian calendar month of Aug. 22 to Sept. 22, after Iran solved some of its shipping problems.

But getting the money back to Iran for those sales continues to be a major headache for the government. “The pressure of moving money around and the banking system remains,” he said.

US and EU sanctions are designed to slash oil revenues to starve Tehran of funds that might be channeled to expensive nuclear weapons programs.

Iran denies that it is seeking nuclear weapons, saying its atomic program is solely for peaceful purposes. — Reuters

Kuwait-India trade volume at KD 500m in 2010: KCCI KUWAIT: The volume of trade between India and Kuwait has reached KD 500 million in 2010, and the two seek to enhance trade cooperation, said Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (KCCI) board member Hussein Al-Kharafi yesterday.

Indian imports into Kuwait reached about KD 369 million, while Kuwaiti exports to India were about KD 120 million, AlKharafi said during a meeting with a visiting delegation of Indian industrial companies. The Indian delegation’s visit aims to enhance the successful trade cooperation between two countries, as well as bringing the Kuwaiti private sector into the fold as a contributor in promoting these relations, he added.

Al-Kharafi pointed out to the great potentials in KuwaitiIndian private sector partnerships, as India has been able to achieve great successes in the field of foreign investment and in attracting foreign capital.

For his part, the head of the Indian visiting delegation and Commissioner of Industries in the Gujarat government Kamal Diyani said that the goal of the visit is to present the many investment opportunities available in Gujarat. The Indian delegation includes companies that specialize in the chemical, petroleum, gas, infrastructure, communication and financial industries. — KUNA

COMMODITIES WEEKLY UPDATE

Commodities edge lower despite QE3

By Ole Hansen

C

ommodities were generally lower over the past week, despite another round of stimulus from the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan.

This initial reaction, at least for now, must come as a great relief to central bankers, who in the past have stood accused of fuelling the rise of raw material and food costs via quantitative easing. The dollar, which had been sold ahead of the announcement, also recovered some of its poise following weak economic data from China and the eurozone.

Looking at the table below, we see just a few commodities managing a positive performance following the announcement of QE3, with iron ore sticking out as its dramatic recovery from the recent slump continues.

The broad-based DJ-UBS commodity index is down three percent, having fallen more than what it rose in the week leading up to QE3, with the energy sector in particular (-4.4 percent) and agriculture (-4.6 percent) pulling it lower. The best performer during the week were precious metals (+1 percent) while industrial metals succumbed to some profit taking which stills leaves the sector the best performer over the last month.

Oil price succumbs The unleashing of QEInfinity, as it is now popularly being called, by the US Federal Reserve triggered a renewed push higher for crude oil.

But just like HC Andersen’s fairy-tale”The Emperor’s New Clothes” it did not take long before someone realized that things did not stack up and that QE alone was not going to carry oil prices higher, considering the still weak outlook for economic activity. The dislocation from fundamentals only lasted until Monday, when a huge sell order late in the day triggered what can best be described as a flash crash with Brent crude dropping by four dollars in seconds.

Over the following days the correction continued, and by Wednesday it accelerated once again, when previous support at the 200 day moving average - an important level used by technical traders - gave way. In the end Brent crude fell by 9 percent to a six-week low at 107.10 before finding support, with the news flow also supporting the move.

Saudi Arabia once again stepped in with some verbal intervention in order to talk the price of Brent crude back down to the 100 dollar level. Both the Saudis and the International Energy Agency see the market as being well supplied, which does not justify recent high prices, and any extra demand will be met by increased production.

On the economic data front, the Euro gave back some of its recent strong gains versus the dollar, as data showed that eurozone manufacturing contracted for the 13th consecutive month in August. In China the HSBC flash PMI index stabilized but remained weak below the 50 mark, which points to contraction, and it points towards an even weaker growth number for Q3 than the 7.6 percent witnessed in Q2.

Geopolitics related to Iran have taken a backseat for now but worries about Libya’s weak security situation following the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi means that foreign oil workers may hesitate returning to the country thereby putting output at risk. Supply side worries with a price negative impact adds to the confusion as the potential release of oil from strategic reserves still lingers. This is particularly so in the US, where persistently high gasoline prices are a worry for President Obama as we hit the business end of the US presidential election campaign.

With the 200 day moving average at $111.80 USD/barrel on Brent crude (first month cont.) broken, I will be looking for a new trading range to be established between that and support at 107.00. Hedge funds and other leveraged accounts have been forced out of recently established long positions and are probably not that desperate to get back in

unless we see a snap recovery back above 111.80. For now though the risk seems skewed to the downside due to the risk of additional position reduction, potentially down to 103.72 being the 50 percent retracement of the June to September rally.

Gold and silver Following the announcement of QE3, two of the expected main beneficiaries of such a stimulus injection, gold and silver, actually spent the week consolidating. This made good sense considering how far the two metals had already rallied ahead of the event. As it turned out, support around 1760 on gold and 34 on silver was established. With the euro climbing back above 1.3000 against the dollar, they both finished the week on a strong note with both looking poised to push higher over the coming weeks.

One of the supporting side effects of the additional and open-ended stimulus announced by the US Federal Reserve has been a rise in the future inflation expectations, which again has seen real US rates move further into negative territory, thereby supporting a non-coupon or dividend paying asset like precious metals. The weaker dollar over the last month as seen above has also been offering support.

Strong investment flow As we have mentioned in previous updates, one of the missing parts that was required in order to see gold move higher was the return of hedge funds and other leveraged investors. Holdings in Exchange Traded Funds have continued to reach new record highs, with some 92 metric tons having been added over the last month to a current total of 2,524 metric tons according to calculations made by Bloomberg. It was not until gold broke out of its month long range that hedge funds finally engaged and as the graph below shows once they get involved they mean business.

In just one month, the non-commercial net long position of gold futures and options on COMEX has risen by 267 metric tons to 634 metric tons. This is still 30 percent below the record set one year ago when gold peaked at 1,921.

Platinum saw its biggest oneday drop since March as the nearly six-week-long strike at Lonmin’s Marikana mine, which at one stage triggered a massacre of workers, came to a close after workers agreed to much improved pay conditions. While this could be the beginning a calmer situation, it does carry the risk of similar demands and disputes arising at the other major platinum mines.

Over the past six weeks, platinum recovered most of what was lost during the previous six months. The question now is how much of the 300 dollar price gain will be given back following the Lonmin settlement. Not much is our initial thought, due to several factors.

The most important is its link to the other precious metals, where additional gains are expected in the coming weeks and months. Furthermore the strike and shut-down of production have left the global surplus greatly reduced and going forward, the feeling is that some risk premium needs to be priced into platinum, given its high dependency of supplies from South Africa. New demands for higher wages are likely to occur on a regular basis. This will erode profitability for mining companies, and could impact their future investment plans, thereby putting supply at risk.

Grains hit by profit taking but supply worries lingers Following the most recent production updates from the US Department of Agriculture, grain prices have eased helped by projections that late rain during August may have improved yields on soybeans and corn.

Indications have also emerged that demand destruction caused by higher prices have started to be felt. Recent export data on US produced corn showing sales dropped to one-eighth of the level seen a year earlier, and this helped trigger the biggest weekly loss in three months.

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MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

business

The euro lost momentum over the week NBK WEEKLY MONEY MARKET REPORT Spain may overshoot crucial deficit goal MADRID: Spain has staked its financial survival on cutting its bulging deficit, but analysts warn it will miss its key 2012 target, undermined by the very measures taken to try and meet it.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has promised Spain’s European neighbors to cut the public deficit-the shortfall of revenues to spending-to 6.3 percent of output in 2012, after they let him relax an earlier 5.3 percent goal.

But a recession aggravated by budget tightening and widening holes in the finances of Spain’s big-spending regional governments have undermined his promise, as warnings have increased that Spain will need a full bailout.

“Nobody now believes it will be able to fulfill the target,” said Alberto Roldan, an analyst at Spanish brokerage Inverseguros. Another economist, Jesus Castillo of Natixis bank, estimated the deficit this year will be between 7.5 and eight percent. An overshoot of the 6.3 percent goal “is in all the forecasts,” he said. Spain, the fourth biggest economy in the euro-zone, massively overshot last year, with spending outweighing revenues by 8.9 percent of gross domestic product against an initial tar-

get of 6.0 percent. In 2012, “rumors suggest that the deficit could rise to higher than last year’s,” said Marian Fernandez, an analyst at Spanish bank Inversis, who forecast this year’s deficit will soar to between 9.2 and 9.4 percent. Under pressure from European authorities, Rajoy’s government has made the deficit its top priority and has tried to lower it through unpopular savings measures including cuts to pay and benefits, and a sales tax rise. It says it can save 102 billion euros ($132 billion) by 2014 through the measures, which have brought millions of protestors onto the streets.

‘Downward spiral’ The austerity is causing “a downward spiral”, Castillo warned however. “These measures have an effect on growth, which in turn has an effect on the deficit,” he said. For example, the rise in sales tax discourages consumer spending and thereby lowers tax revenues.

The government’s current growth forecast for this year is for a 1.5 percent contraction-brighter than the fall of 1.7 percent forecast by the International Monetary Fund and the 1.8 percent by

the European Commission. Natixis forecasts the contraction this year could be as deep as 2.0 percent. The biggest problem weighing on the deficit is the share accounted for by the 17 autonomous regions that make up Spain. Two-thirds of the budget overshoot in 2011 was attributed to them.

“They are the main risk factor,” said a report by the economic thinktank FEDEA, which forecast a deficit of 2.2 to 4.0 percent for the regions this year far above the 1.5 percent target set by the central government. The figure for the regions had reached 0.77 percent by the end of June, but this did not reflect the major expenditures that typically fall in the second half of the year.

The central government budget by the end of July had already exceeded the 2012 target for its own share of the deficit — 4.6 percent against a goal of 4.5 percent. A major headache looms for Rajoy in November: he promised during his successful election campaign last year that he would raise pensions in line with inflation. Spanish media say this would cost some four billion euros, enough to add 0.4 percentage points to the deficit as a share of GDP. —AFP

KUWAIT: Last week was somewhat quiet comparing with the previous two weeks where we witnessed the German constitutional court ruling, which cleared the way for ratification of the euro-zone’s bailout fund as well as the Federal Reserve’s announcement of a third round of quantitative easing.

During the week, sentiments weighed down by mixed economic data, which affected the FX market and manipulated its performance.

The US dollar gained back some strength last week as it started weak before turning the momentum and gaining some strength peaking on Thursday. This is shown in the performance of the dollar Index, which mounted from a low opening level of 78.85 to a high of 79.66 on Thursday after data from China and Japan added to evidence that Asian economies are slowing, spurring demand for the safety of US Treasuries.

The euro, on the other hand, took a sudden turn and lost some momentum over the week, dropping the most in two months against the US dollar, as services and manufacturing sectors in the region shrank to a three-year low, adding to concerns that the central bank will need to do more to spur growth and help the zone’s sovereign debt crisis. The currency started the week strong trading at 1.3130 level to a high of 1.3172 before turning down hitting a low of 1.2920 on Thursday and ending sessions at 1.2980. The sterling pound had a somewhat similar performance opening at 1.6216, and weakening slowly over the week to a low of 1.6165 on Thursday, before taking a different turn rallying to a near 13-month high against a weak US dollar on Friday after UK borrowing data was less than feared, closing sessions trading at 1.6230. The Japanese yen started the week with a negative outlook and lost some strength against the greenback, trading as high as 79.22 towards the middle of the week, before turning the momentum around and strengthening against most of its peers as demand for the perceived safety for the nation’s assets increased, closing the week as strong as 78.17. The Australian dollar had a mixed performance last week, opening as high as 1.0565, and erasing most of the gain hitting a low of 1.0368 due to weak China economic outputs, before strengthening toward the end of the week and closing sessions trading at 1.0458.

As far as commodities are concerned, Gold rose 13% this year, reaching a sixmonth high of $1,787.38 an ounce on Wednesday as traders extended their bullish streak and analysts forecasted record prices by next year after central banks pledged more action to bolster economic growth. The commodity closed the week trading at $1,773.10.

On the other hand, oil had a negative performance last week and lost momentum after data indicated that the oil market is sufficiently supplied, and additional crude is coming from Saudi Arabia, Canada, and the US. The commodity started the week trading at $99.00 per barrel, and erasing these gains with a downward movement throughout the week closing sessions at $91.80 level.

US trade deficit The US current account trade deficit decreased 12.1% during the second quarter of this year, pushed lower by an increase in American exports and cheaper oil imports. The recent data showed that the current account deficit totaled $117.4 billion, which compares with a revised deficit of $133.6 billion in the first quarter, the largest in three year.

Housing market Sales of previously owned homes and work on single-family projects climbed in August to the highest levels in two years, signaling the residential real estate market is contributing to the US economic recovery. The most recent reading showed an increase of 7.8% to a 4.82 million annual rate, the most since May 2010, compared with 4.47 million, previously.

More American than forecast filed claims for unemployment benefits. The number dropped by 3,000 in the week ended Sept. 15 to 382,000 applicants, compared with 385,000, previously. The labor market was expecting a larger drop to 375,000 as forecasted by economists, adding to signs of weakness in

the world’s largest economy.

Euro-zone debt recovery The European markets seemed to have absorbed the positive momentum and the optimism, which came with the bond-buying program and the German court ruling news. Now, markets is losing some momentum and realizing that the fundamental issues are still there and more central bank’s actions might be needed soon.

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras struggled to clinch agreement with his coalition partners on an 11.5 billion-euro ($14.9 billion) budget-cut package, which is a key to receive international aid funds. This conflict put more pressure on the Greek leader to show the European leaders and international creditors that Greece is on track to cut their deficit and held accountable to their commitments made earlier this year and revisited during his last visit with the German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Another spotlight in the market is Spain next bailout plan. Officials reported that Spain could be poised to announce an economic reform plan next week, as European Union authorities are working with the Spanish government to come up with a plan to pave the way for a new rescue plan and unlimited bond buying by the European Central Bank through the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) program. Yet,

Spain managed to sell debt (bonds) on Thursday in an auction that met with strong investor demand despite questions about the country’s bailout plan.

Euro area services Euro-zone services and manufacturing output fell to a 39-month low in September as European leaders struggled to reverse the single currency bloc’s slide into recession. A composite index based on a survey of purchasing managers in both industries within the euro-zone dropped to 45.9 from 46.3 in August. Despite the negative regional figures, Germany managed to report positive manufacturing and services PMI data. The current reading is at 47.3 and 50.6, compared with 44.7 and 48.3, previously in both industries.

UK inflation slowed The nation’s inflation slowed in August as prices for furniture and clothes rose less than a year earlier and increases in gas and electricity were not repeated. Consumer prices rose 2.5% in August versus 2.6% in July. While the Bank of England has forecast that inflation will continue to ease toward its 2%

target, upward pressures have emerged as oil costs increase and a drought in the US pushed up food prices. That may open divisions among policy makers over whether they should expand their stimulus program again.

The country posted its biggest budget deficit on record during August as the recession hits tax revenue and pushes up spending on welfare. The figure highlighted the damage being wrought by weaker-than-expected economic output this year. The recent data showed a public sector net deficit of 12.4 billion Pounds, compared with a surplus of 1.9 billion Pounds in July.

Japan The central bank unexpectedly expanded its asset-purchase fund by 10 trillion Yen ($126 billion), seeking to counter an increasing danger of contraction in the world’s third largest economy. The BOJ’s program, in which it buys mainly government debt, was enlarged to 55 trillion Yen. A separate fund that extends credit to banks was held at 25 trillion Yen. However, the central bank kept its benchmark interest rate between zero and 0.10% for the time being.

Commodities Gold rallies The commodity climbed 13% to $1,787.38 an ounce this year, reaching a

six-month high on Wednesday as investors and traders extended their bullish views after analysts from various major financial institutions forecast that Gold could reach above the $2,000 level by next year after central banks pledged more actions to help recover their troubled and slow economic growth. The commodity closed the week trading at $1,773.10 per ounce.

Oil has fallen 7% since last Friday, when the price briefly topped $100 for the first time in 4 months. The sharp drop was expected and overdue as many analysts say. The commodity is sliding because demand is growing slower than the forecasts due to slow global economic growth. At the same time, the world oil supplies are plentiful.

Production in the US, Canada, and Saudi Arabia has increased enough to make up for losses from Iran, and Venezuela.

Oil closed the week trading at $91.80 a barrel.

Kuwait Kuwaiti dinar at 0.28060 The USDKWD opened at 0.28060 yesterday morning.

Over 50 companies receive “The Bizz 2012” Award for Business Excellence DOHA: The ceremony for the world’s most important business award, THE BIZZ, was held on Sunday, September 16 at the Sharq Village Hotel & Spa in Doha, Qatar.

THE BIZZ ARABIC 2012 was the third ceremony of the year recognizing companies for their outstanding management performance, following up the two previous ceremonies in April and June, which took place in Barcelona and a cruise from Miami to the Bahamas, respectively.

The World Confederation of Businesses (WORLDCOB) is a business organization with over 3,000 member companies in 75 countries, and is based out of Houston, Texas.

WORLDCOB gives out this award to the world’s leading businessmen for

their business excellence, demonstrated in the areas of business leadership, management systems, the quality of their goods and services, innovation and creativity, corporate social responsibility, and results obtained.

In keeping with WORLDCOB’s philosophy that those responsible for a successful enterprise must be recognized, diplomas in Business Excellence will also be presented to some of the managers and directors of the winning companies.

This major ceremony was attended by the ambassadors of the United Arab Emirates, Poland, Singapore, and Peru, who handed out the award onstage to companies from their respective countries.

DHAKA: Bangladeshi boatmen maneuver a barge loaded with bricks through water hyacinths choking a section of the Buriganga river in Dhaka yesterday. Battered by inflation, budget problems and a painful trade deficit, the country has plunged toward fiscal crisis during the past year. — AFP

25

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

business

Obama: ‘Top-down’ economics never works MILWAUKEE: President Barack Obama worked to squash GOP hopes for a resurgence in pivotal Wisconsin on Saturday, pushing back against his GOP rival’s complaints about an overly intrusive government and attracting his biggest crowd of the campaign. Mitt Romney took precious time away from campaigning in the battleground states to troll for cash in California and kept up his criticism of the president for fostering a culture of dependency.

The president faulted Romney for advancing a top-down economic approach that “never works.” “The country doesn’t succeed when only the folks at the very top are doing well,” he said. “We succeed when the middle class is doing well.” Obama, speaking to an energized throng of 18,000 people in an at-times-rainy outdoor amphitheater, made a point of renewing his pledge to create a million manufacturing jobs as he campaigned in a state whose manufacturing industry has been hard hit in recent years.

With just six weekends left before Election Day, both candidates were devoting considerable time to raising cash to continue bankrolling the deluge of ads already saturating hotly contested states. Baseball great Hank Aaron supplied the star power at Obama’s Milwaukee fundraisers. “As one who wore the number 44 on his back for decades, I ask you to join me in helping the 44th president of the United States hit a grand slam,” said Aaron. Romney, who is expected to launch a more aggressive campaign schedule in the coming week, hunted for West Coast cash, if not votes, at a private fundraiser near San Diego and headed for another in Los Angeles. Some Republicans have grumbled that he’s not spending enough time with voters in swing states, and Romney seemed to take note of that sentiment. “I’ve got good news: This is the last fundraiser in San Diego,” Romney told supporters. “I’m not even going to be able to go

Mining crisis rocks S African labor movement JOHANNESBURG: The violent crisis that has shaken South Africa’s mines shows workers’ distrust for traditional trade unions, up to now the guardians of social peace despite the country’s deep inequality.

Miners this week clawed record salary increases of 22 percent from the Lonmin platinum mine operators after a near six-week wildcat strike that killed 46. Having rejected major player the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), miners appointed their own representatives at the negotiations. The unprecedented agreement may upend the whole mining industry, a fifth of the GDP of Africa’s largest economy, analysts said, and bodes ill for the country’s powerful trade union federation COSATU, and NUM, its main member.

Wildcat strikes have already spread to other gold, platinum and chrome mines, including world number one Anglo American Platinum and Gold Fields.

“Marikana holds the potential for an era in South African labor relations where violent strike action forces the hand of weakened management as opposed to historical collective bargaining promoted by COSATU and its affiliate unions,” said independent analyst Daniel Silke.

The country’s labor movement has been formalized for decades, and representative unions have exclusive negotiation rights with employers in an extremely structured process. Unions also formed a formidable opposition to the white minority regime during apartheid.

Since its inception in 1985, COSATU was affiliated with the African National Congress.

This alliance helped to avoid major social unrest when the ANC took over government in 1994 after the first all-race elections, and COSATU only gained in power through the deal. But now the partnership threatens to taint the federation. “COSATU has moved away from its roots to become a political organization, while it’s supposed to be a labor movement,” economist Dawie Roodt told AFP. On the ground, mineworkers say they live in hell, pointing to shacks without electricity, water or sanitation. “Because of the separation between the grassroots and leadership, the mine worker feels his interests are not being protected anymore. This guy from the union is more interested to become a mine shareholder, and has forgotten about the worker’s wages,” said Roodt.

But it has not all been bad. The Chamber of Mines has said workers have it good compared to others in South Africa amid a 40 percent unemployment rate.

“The National Union of Mineworkers has done too good a job for its members over the past 30 years, especially the past 10, getting its members double-digit, double-inflation wage increases with no increases in productivity,” Peter Major, mining and resources head at consulting company Cadiz Corporate Solutions, wrote in the weekly Mail & Guardian. —AFP

home today. We’re just coming to town to see you and keep the campaign going. It’s nonstop.” Romney adviser Kevin Madden said the GOP nominee would begin “a really intense battleground state schedule.” The former Massachusetts governor will campaign in Colorado, Ohio and Virginia in the coming week. With running mates Joe Biden and Paul Ryan campaigning in New England and Florida, respectively, the presidential campaign was spread far and wide - both geographically and strategically. Biden revved up union activists poised to canvass for votes in New Hampshire while Ryan appealed to Hispanic voters in Miami and talked space policy in Orlando. It was Obama’s first visit to Wisconsin since February, and the president was intent on shoring up support in Ryan’s home state.

Obama’s politicking included an unscheduled stop at a local deli, where he tried out some bratwurst in a pretzel roll with spicy mustard - and managed to chat up a few patrons from Ohio, another crucial state.

Obama won Wisconsin easily in 2008 but Ryan is popular here and recent polls have Obama up by single digits. The GOP showed its organizational strength in fending off efforts to recall Republican Gov. Scott Walker, but Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said Democrats “continue to have a strategic advantage,” with more field offices and political infrastructure in the state. With absentee voting already under way in the state, first lady Michelle Obama will campaign there next week.

Obama made the case against Romney before a crowd at the Milwaukee Theater, countering Romney’s call to change Washington from the inside with an appeal to voters to help him break through partisan gridlock with pressure on Congress from the outside. He said that despite economic troubles, his administration has made progress and has made “practical and

specific” proposals to create jobs.

“We’ve seen half a million new jobs in manufacturing, the fastest pace since the 1990s,” he said. “And so the choice now is, do we reverse that progress or do we move forward? Romney, at his fundraiser near San Diego, said Obama was “taking Americans on a course that is extremely foreign to us.”

“One would suggest that government knows better than free people,” he said. “It’s a pathway to become like Europe, and

average, but manufacturing has struggled.

The Republican National Committee released a web video, “Since You’ve Been Gone,” highlighting recent GOP organizing efforts in the state and Walker’s success in fending off recall.

Messina saw good signs all over, saying, “We’re either tied or in the lead in every battleground state 45 days out. I think you will see a tightening in the national polls going forward.” Ryan, campaigning in Miami’s

US President Barack Obama speaks during a campaign event at the Henry Maier Festival in Milwaukee, Wisconsin Saturday. — AFP Europe doesn’t work there. It’s never going to work here. It’s even possible we could be on a pathway to become California-I don’t want that either.”

In advance of Obama’s visit, Romney’s campaign made the argument that Obama’s failure to turn around the economy had Wisconsin voters looking for a different path. Walker said the president had a “Wisconsin problem.” The state’s 7.5 percent unemployment rate is below the national

Little Havana neighborhood, reinforced Romney’s argument that Obama hasn’t been able to make needed changes in Washington, poking at the president’s recent comment that it’s hard to change Washington from the inside without mobilizing public pressure on Congress from the outside. “Why do we send presidents to the White House in the first place?” Ryan asked.

“We send presidents to change and fix the mess in Washington, and if this president

has admitted that he can’t change Washington, then you know what? We need to change presidents.”

He also faulted Obama for a “policy of appeasement” toward the Castro regime in Cuba, saying all the president had done was “reward more despotism.” Obama has eased restrictions to allow Americans to travel to Cuba and to let Cuban-Americans to send money to family on the island. But the president has stopped well-short of discussing lifting the 50-year-old economic embargo, which is widely viewed in Latin America as a failure and has complicated US relationships in the region. Campaign spokeswoman Jenn Psaki said the president had supported democracy movements on the island and worked to give people there more say in their futures. In an appearance in Orlando, not far from Florida’s space coast, Ryan criticized the president for putting the US space program “on a path where we are conceding our global position as the unequivocal leader in space.” The Obama campaign responded that Ryan has proposed deep cuts in spending for space exploration. Underscoring the importance of grass-roots efforts in the campaign’s final days, Biden rallied union workers at a Teamsters union hall in Manchester, NH, saying their organizing work would be the “antidote” to millions spent on advertising

by Republican-leaning super PACs. Biden said it was because of unions that the US has a strong middle class, and he accused Romney and Ryan of having “a completely different value set, a completely different vision.” “They’re doubling down on everything that caused the economic crisis in the first place,” he said. The GOP nominee is feeling fundraising pressure: Last month, for the first time in four months, Obama and the Democratic Party raised more than Romney and the Republican Party, $114 million to $111.6 million. — AP

‘Made in America’ is more attractive to manufacturers Obama, Rmoney vow to target China NEW YORK: Watch out China and Canada, “Made in America” has an attractive ring to it these days. Four years after the height of the financial crisis, marked by a drastic drop in salaries, the United States is again finding favor among manufacturers.

Out on the campaign trail ahead of the November 6 elections, President Barack Obama has picked up on the point to convince voters that the US economy is back on track. “After years of undercutting the competition, now it’s getting more expensive to do business in places like China,” he said in May, adding that both wages and shipping costs were up in the single-party state known for attracting foreign firms that often subsequently cut jobs back home.

“American workers are getting more and more efficient. Companies located here are becoming more and more competitive. So for a lot of businesses, it’s now starting to make sense to bring jobs back home.”

According to a Boston Consulting Group survey and referenced by Obama, 48 percent of executives at companies with $10 billion or more in revenues said they plan to bring back production to the United States from China-or are considering it.

Officials at 106 firms from a range of industries responded to the poll, released in April. “Companies are realizing that the economics of manufacturing are swinging in favor of the US, for goods to be sold both at home and to major export markets,” said Harold Sirkin, a BCG senior partner. “This trend is likely to accelerate starting around 2015.”

With weeks to go before balloting begins, both the president and his Republican rival Mitt Romney have taken aim at China, with Obama seeking World Trade Organization action against Chinese auto subsidies.

Romney has vowed a much tougher line on China if he wins, including declaring that China is manipulating its currency to make its exports artificially cheaper.

Obama has renewed his charge that Romney, as a multimillionaire businessman at his private equity firm Bain Capital, was an early pioneer in advising American corporations to outsource blue collar jobs to low wage economies overseas. Politics aside, the tendency to relocate is a multi-year process centered on growth prospects in the United States and “a lot of manufacturers have made a strong point of being closer to their

customers,” said Adam Fleck, an economist at Morningstar. And not to be forgotten is the prospect of cheap and abundant energy thanks to a shale gas boom in the United States. Among those who have made the move are construction equipment maker Terex and Agco, a manufacturer of agricultural machines, according to Fleck. Even giants such as General Electric and Caterpillar, while they may not have reduced their production in China, are more likely now than a few years ago to expand their operations stateside.

“Since 2009, GE has announced plans to create more than 15,500 American jobs and is building 15 new factories in the US,” said company spokesman Sebastien Duchamp. He noted that the firm had added 10,000 jobs last year alone. The high yen and the risks posed by

great geographic distances at the heart of the production chain-highlighted by disruptions caused by the 2011 earthquake in Japan-have also led US and Japanese carmakers to boost their production on the other side of the Pacific. Caterpillar has “reduced production capacity in Japan to relocate it in Texas” in particular, Fleck said. Salary cuts in a number of sectors aimed at preserving jobs, especially in the car industry, have also prompted large American businesses to repatriate production from Canada to south of the border.

It remains to be seen how this apparent new trend will play out in the long run. Some, such as French economist Evariste Lefeuvre, are taking a somewhat sarcastic stance for now. “Will America become a low-cost nation?” he asked in an upcoming book. — AFP

ATHENS: Taxis wait for tourists in front of the Unknown Soldier monument in Athens as subway employees observed a 24-hours strike in Athens. Greece and the IMF were haggling over new cuts to state salaries in order to complete negotiations on another austerity package needed to unlock bailout loans, a finance ministry source said. — AFP

US tax penalty to hit nearly 6 million uninsured people

MADRID: Demonstrators raise their hands as they take part in an anti-austerity protest in Madrid Saturday. Hundreds of Spaniards marched in Madrid to protest over hardships in a recession brought on by the financial crisis that they blame on banks and corrupt politicians. — AFP

WASHINGTON: Nearly 6 million Americans - significantly more than first estimated- will face a tax penalty under President Barack Obama’s health overhaul for not getting insurance, congressional analysts said. Most would be in the middle class. The new estimate amounts to an inconvenient fact for the administration, a reminder of what critics see as broken promises. The numbers from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office are 50 percent higher than a previous projection by the same office in 2010, shortly after the law passed. The earlier estimate found 4 million people would be affected in 2016, when the penalty is fully in effect.

That’s still only a sliver of the population, given that more than 150 million people currently are covered by employer plans. Nonetheless, in his first campaign for the White House, Obama pledged not to raise taxes on individuals making less than $200,000 a year and couples making less than $250,000.

And the budget office analysis found that nearly 80 percent of those who’ll face the penalty would be making up to or less than five times the federal poverty level. Currently that would work out to $55,850 or less for an individual and $115,250 or less for a family of four. Average penalty: about $1,200 in 2016. “The bad news and broken promises from Obamacare just keep piling up,” said Rep. Dave

Camp, R-Mich., chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, who wants to repeal the law.

Starting in 2014, virtually every legal resident of the US will be required to carry health insurance or face a tax penalty, with exemptions for financial hardship, religious objections and certain other circumstances. Most people will not have to worry about the requirement since they already have coverage through employers, government programs like Medicare or by buying their own policies. A spokeswoman for the Obama administration said 98 percent of Americans will not be affected by the tax penalty - and suggested that those who will be should face up to their civic responsibilities. “This (analysis) doesn’t change the basic fact that the individual responsibility policy will only affect people who can afford health care but choose not to buy it,” said Erin Shields Britt of the Health and Human Services Department. “We’re no longer going to subsidize the care of those who can afford to buy insurance but make a choice not to buy it.”

The budget office said most of the increase in its estimate is due to changes in underlying projections about the economy, incorporating the effects of new federal legislation, as well as higher unemployment and lower wages. The Supreme Court upheld Obama’s law as constitutional in a 5-4 decision this

summer, finding that the insurance mandate and the tax penalty enforcing it fall within the power of Congress to impose taxes. The penalty will be collected by the IRS, just like taxes. The budget office said the penalty will raise $6.9 billion in 2016. The new law will also provide government aid to help middleclass and low-income households afford coverage, the financial carrot that balances out the penalty.

Nonetheless, some people might still decide to remain uninsured because they object to government mandates or because they feel they would come out ahead financially even if they have to pay the penalty. Health insurance is expensive, with employer-provided family coverage averaging nearly $15,800 a year for a family and $4,300 for a single plan. Indeed, insurance industry experts say the federal penalty may be too low.

The Supreme Court also allowed individual states to opt out of a major Medicaid expansion under the law. The Obama administration says it will exempt low-income people in states that opt out from having to comply with the insurance requirement.

Many Republicans still regard the insurance mandate as unconstitutional and rue the day the Supreme Court upheld it. However, the idea for an individual insurance requirement comes from Republican health care plans in the 1990s. —AP

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MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

BUSINESS

The new GLK interior

The dynamism of a rock-solid character Mercedes-Benz Kuwait launches the spirited new GLK compact SUV KUWAIT: A R Albisher and Z Alkazemi Co, the exclusive general distributor for Mercedes-Benz in Kuwait - has launched the new MercedesBenz GLK compact SUV. Displaying its full credentials on- and off-road, the new GLK’s claim to leadership of the compact SUV segment is underscored by trailblazing assistance systems, a V6 306hp engine matching efficiency with agility, a new design and an extended range of equipment.

The newly designed exterior lends the GLK added dynamism. The body combines classic elements of all-terrain vehicles with the design idiom of the current Mercedes-Benz models.

Stringent lines, expansive surfaces and the smooth-surfaced, volume-emphasizing front and rear areas harmonize with the hallmark GLK body features which are typical of classic, functional all-terrain vehicles. Apart from the attendant benefits in off-road terrain, this design also offers concrete advantages in dayto-day use. The high seat position provides a commanding view of the traffic situation, with the body lines also designed for excellent visibility.

The designers at the Centre of Competence for Interiors have undertaken a thorough makeover of the dashboard, for example: a wide trim in aluminum or optionally in wood spans the entire width of the dashboard. The new round vents and additional trim elements in silver shadow also catch the eye. A high-end color display is optionally available for the instrument cluster. A three-spoke sports steering wheel, new upholstery colors and seat designs plus indirect ambient lighting featuring LED fibre-optic technology, which is available on the GLK for the first time, further enhance the feel-good atmosphere inside the car.

Speaking on the launch of the new GLK in Kuwait, Michael Ruehle, General Manager,

Abdul Rahman Albisher & Zaid Alkazemi Co, said: “The Mercedes-Benz GLK seamlessly combines the drivability and luxury of our passenger car range with the functionality of SUV and unique design to provide a vehicle with compelling appeal to our customers in Kuwait.

Whether going to the office, doing the shopping, going to dinner, taking the kids to football or going camping, the new high spec as standard GLK ticks all the boxes.”

The new GLK compact SUV is available in Kuwait with a breath taking array of equipment and features as standard, including: AMG Sports Package (Exterior & Interior), 19 Inch AMG Wheels, LED Day Time Driving Lights, Panoramic Sun Roof, Electrically folding exterior mirrors, flashing Adaptive Brake Lights and 7speed automatic transmission. The standard interior technology also impresses with Rear View Camera, Active parking assist including PARKTRONIC, luxury multifunction leather steering wheel, Memory Package for Front Seats, Interior Light Package with Ambient Lighting, COMAND with COMAND Online and Media Interface.

Rock-solid character The newly designed exterior lends the GLK added poise. The body combines classic elements of all-terrain vehicles with the design idiom of the current Mercedes-Benz models.

Stringent lines, expansive surfaces and the smooth-surfaced, volume-emphasizing front and rear areas harmonize with the hallmark GLK body features which are typical of functional all-terrain vehicles. These include short overhangs, the upright front end, slender roof pillars, a steep windscreen and the taut roof line. The body design is not a stylistic end in itself. Rather, it applies the advantages typical off all-terrain vehicles to the compact SUV

class. Accomplished ATV-specific features such as approach and departure angle and ground clearance enable off-road ventures at any time.

The neatly designed body and the good allround visibility combined with the seat position enhance suitability for everyday use and provide for relaxed driving. Beneath the newly designed headlamps, all models offer LED daytime driving lights in a chrome clasp as standard. The radiator grille with two slats and central star follows the design idiom of the current passenger car models. The slats are painted silver, with chrome inserts optional. The headlamps embody a new interpretation of the signature Mercedes lamp design. On the basic model with reflectiontype headlamps, a chrome torch feature spans the two reflectors. On models fitted with the Intelligent Light System (ILS), the bi-xenon headlamp comprises the projection unit, a reflector and the torch with LED fiber-optic cables for the position light, above which the turn signal indicators consisting of individual LEDs are located. A particularly striking feature of the side view is the roof rails, featuring a totally new design tailored to the new design idiom. The polished gallery bar rests on black plastic supports and lends the silhouette a more elegant line. As a welcome side-effect of this new design, the new rails weigh considerably less than their predecessors. This is particularly beneficial to driving dynamics, as a weight reduction in the roof area of a vehicle has a far greater impact than equivalent

Increasing demand for NBK’s real estate services in Paris Financing for up to 70% of property value KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait’s (NBK) real estate services in Paris are witnessing an increasing demand from customers. NBK Paris provides real estate services

to allow customers to easily own, rent and lease properties with legal consultations in the Paris district, with the chance to finance the property up to 70 % of its value.

NBK offers great real estate services both in Paris and London, aiming to make all real estate services

more convenient. In a simple and straightforward procedure, customers can now buy and sell, lease or rent, settle bills, receive real estate assessments and many other services with competitive prices .

NBK has built solid business relationships with trustworthy real estate agencies, to provide convenience and reliability for all customers. NBK provides all the services necessary to make customers’ stay abroad easy. NBK finances up to 70 % of the value of the property which will be held as security. NBK, with the largest international network of any Kuwaiti bank, provides customers with the best investment opportunities and services. NBK’s network extends to having more than 176 branches worldwide. NBK’s international network includes many of the world’s leading financial centers such as London, New York, Paris and Singapore, as well as China (Shanghai). Meanwhile, regional coverage extends to Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the UAE. NBK offers customers complete banking solutions, providing them with the freedom to manage their finances easily, 24 hours a day, seven days a week via NBK’s Mobile Banking application, Watani Online (www.nbk.com) or Hala Watani on 1801801

VIVA announces winners of brand new BMW 320i, Ford Mustang KUWAIT: VIVA, Kuwait’s newest and most advanced mobile telecommunications service provider, celebrates the first year anniversary of its exciting and successful “Win a car every week” by drawing two cars and choosing two winners every week rather than one. The latest lucky winners were Sayed Hussein Mohammad Jaafar who won the BMW 320i and Nayef Mutlag Almutairy who won the Ford Mustang Coupe. VIVA congratulated each of the lucky winners and invited its customers to participate in the longest on-going campaign of its kind. The upcoming draw will take place on the 23rd of September. This campaign is the longest ongoing campaign of its kind in Kuwait, and is available only to VIVA’s prepaid customers.

Entering the draw can be done through two options. The first option is to subscribe with 500 Fils per day giving customers infinite minutes and SMS to any VIVA line. This

option entitles the customer to one chance to enter the draw each week.

The second option is to subscribe to the BlackBerry KD3.9 service, which gives customers full and unlimited BlackBerry Services. This option provides customers with 15 automatic chances to enter the draw each week. In addition, customers who purchase a new prepaid line are given a single entry to the draw on the week they activate their new line and send the SMS “GO” to 535.

Customers can also subscribe to both options, increasing their chances each week to win a luxurious car. In the case a customer does not win, the points will be accumulated and carried on to the next draw. The upcoming draw prize will be a brand new BMW 320i and a Ford Mustang Coupe.

VIVA also created the ‘Flavor of the Week’, an additional means to entering the

draw and increasing the customers chance to win a new car every two weeks. The ‘Flavor of the Week’ will be a ‘special service’ for those two weeks, to which the customers can subscribe. This week’s ‘Flavor of the Week’ will last until 26 September 2012, and will give prepaid customers two chances to win the BMW 320i or a Ford Mustang Coupe upon using the Surf On KD 1 to get 500MB of mobile internet for 5 days by sending “On1” to 255 or “3” to 535.

Prepaid customers interested in the full, unlimited, local KD 3.9 BlackBerry offer, can send an SMS with the number ‘2’ to ‘535’.

For the full menu of the prepaid offers, send an SMS with the word “GO”, to number ‘535’. To find out more about VIVA’s numerous competitive promotions, products and packages visit any of the 14 VIVA branches or visit our website at www.viva.com.kw or contact its 24 hour call center at 55102102.

weight savings in other areas, such as the underbody. The rear bumper lends a bold, sporty character to the GLK’s rear end with its width-emphasizing lines and delicate tail lights. Particularly striking features here are the new-style simulated underguard - optionally in chrome - and the chrome-plated tailpipe trims integrated in the rear apron which also come as standard. The tail lights have undergone a complete revamp in terms of both appearance and functions. Fibreoptic cables and LEDs are also employed to provide the GLK’s rear end with a unique and characteristic night design, the new licence plate LED lamp adding a finishing touch.

The GLK engine range The range of engines provides for drive comfort and attractive performance in all GLK models in conjunction with low emissions and fuel consumption.

The GLK 350 4MATIC petrol-engine model featuring the trailblazing engineering of the leading generation of V-engines deploys BlueEFFICIENCY technology to make its mark in terms of performance and fuel consumption.

The excellent fuel economy of the GLK is underpinned by a comprehensive package of BlueEFFICIENCY measures as well as by this state-of-the-art engine technology. In addition to the ECO start/stop function that comes as standard, these measures include the sevenspeed 7G-TRONIC PLUS automatic transmission. Low-friction axle drives, electric steering

and tyres with low rolling resistance also play their part in reducing fuel consumption.

4MATIC The 4MATIC drive system in the GLK-Class is among the most powerful all-wheel drive systems there is; its control systems break new ground. Advantages over other systems with a transversely installed drive unit are achieved thanks to the basic compact, light and frictionloss-optimized design with its longitudinally positioned engine and integrated main and transfer case. Fuel consumption, for example, is at the same level as that of a comparable, conventionally driven vehicle, whilst noise and vibration levels are on a par with those in higher vehicle categories.

Exemplary safety as standard Assistance systems familiar from the S- and E-Class feature as standard to enable a further improvement in active safety and driver-fitness safety and take the compact SUV to the top of its market segment. Electric steering with STEER CONTROL, which supports the driver in unstable driving conditions by triggering an impulse which can be felt on the steering wheel, prompting countersteering by the driver in the correct direction, Brake Assist (BAS), which provides additional brake power when emergency braking is detected, and ADAPTIVE BRAKE featuring Hill-Start Assist, HOLD function, brake drying in the wet and priming of the brake system all support the driver. The high standard of active safety is ensured by the AGILITY CONTROL suspension with selective damping system, the ESP(R) Electronic Stability Program with integrated trailer stabilisation and tyre pressure loss warning and, on the 4MATIC models, by permanent all-wheel drive and the 4ETS electronic traction system.

Top Real Estate to showcase real estate projects in Istanbul KUWAIT: Real Estate Management manager in Top Real Estate Group, Mohammed Waleed Al-Qaddoumi, said: “through its participation in this exhibition- Kuwait International property show (KIPS 2012), TREG will be presenting a range of distinct real estate projects in strategic prime locations in European Istanbul, Turkey. He added: “Our Company has recently signed an exclusive agreement with inanlar Construction, a leading real estate development company in Turkey, for marketing their projects in Kuwait and Qatar on exclusive basis.

Al-Qaddoumi said: “During our visit to the company’s projects in Istanbul early September, we have noticed their attention to quality implementation and diligent dealing with finest details in order to offer residential units that meet the owners’ expectations and needs and provide them comfortable and stylish residence in terms of its architectural and engineering components.

Al-Qaddoumi added that the most prominent projects that we will present in KIPS 2012 include Terrace Tema project, a two residential tower development in Atakent area, a prime

major area in Istanbul which is located about 8 km from the Ataturk Airport and about 26 km away from Taksim area and (Istqlal) Independence Road.

Qaddoumi indicated that the area is currently seeing the largest number of

Mohammed Waleed Al-Qaddoumi projects in progress in Istanbul, and called New Istanbul where the largest theme entertainment park ( Tema Park) is under construction in addition to a number of universities and commercial complexes. He added that the area has a large road and transport

network connecting it with different key areas and districts of the city in a quick and smooth way.

Regarding the towers, AlQaddoumi said: “the first tower has 40 levels while the second tower has 30 levels with total 416 apartments ranging in space area from one to three bedrooms with distinct views of the sea, the lake and charming gardens.

Al-Qaddoumi explained that the project has a distinguished range of public services such as car parking areas, maintenance, security and recreational services including swimming pools, health club and play areas in addition to a terrace and gardens with more than 21 levels of buildings to provide the occupants with an atmosphere of comfort and enjoyment of beautiful sceneries.

Al-Qaddoumi added that prices for the residential units in this project are suitable and distinctive when compared to similar projects in terms of quality and location. He emphasized that the project implementation will be completed during the first quarter of 2014, indicating that the buyer will be able to utilize the installment payments for 15 months.

Gulf Bank announces winners of 37th Al-Danah weekly draw KUWAIT: Gulf Bank held its 37th Al-Danah weekly draw on September 16, 2012, announcing a total number of ten Al-Danah weekly prize draw winners, each awarded with prizes of KD 1,000.

The 37th Al-Danah weekly winners are: Mohammed Saleh Hassan Al-Ali, Fawziya Hussain Haji Abdulla, Nadia Rady H Al Ghanem, Zuhair Khazal Al-Dujaili, Majida Mohammed Yousef Jarkhi, Enad Al Shammari, Faraj Alyas Kobal, Hayat Mohammed Keserwan, Adel Mubarak Al-Bassam, Abdullah Ahmed Soud Al-Ahmed.

Gulf Bank encourages everyone in Kuwait to open an Al-Danah account and/or increase their deposits to maximize their chances of becoming a winner in the upcoming weekly (KD1, 000 each for 10 winners). Gulf Bank’s Al-Danah allows customers to win cash prizes and encourages them to save money. Chances increase

the more money is deposited and the longer it is kept in the account.

Al-Danah also offers a number of unique services including the Al-Danah Deposit Only ATM card which helps account holders deposit their money at their convenience; as well as the Al-Danah calculator to help customers calculate their chances of becoming an AlDanah winner.

To be part of the Al-Danah draws, customers can visit one of Gulf Bank’s 56 branches, transfer on line, or call the Customer Contact Center on 1805805 for assistance and guidance. Customers can also log on to www.e-gulfbank.com, Gulf Bank’s website, to find all the information regarding Al Danah or any of the Bank’s products and services or log on www.e-gulfbank.com/aldanahwinners, to find out more about AlDanah and who the winners are.

27

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

TECHNOLOGY

Parents, students appreciating iPads in the classroom

CALIFORNIA: Jon Yokogawa, vice president of consumer engagement for InterTrend Communications, Inc, right, joins a staff meeting at the advertising firm in Long Beach. —MCT photos

Ad agencies tap Web to appeal to Asian-Americans LOS ANGELES: Looking to capture young, tech-savvy Asian-Americans, a Long Beach, Calif, advertising agency turned East for inspiration. The firm, InterTrend Communications, came up with a Web series that blended elements of South Korean soap operas with a novel Japanese storytelling device that employed online social networks. The series, sponsored by AT&T Inc, quickly notched nearly 10 million views on YouTube and generated 4,700 suggestions from fans about how the story should unfold.

The unusual interactive nature of the Web series, called “Away We Happened,” could provide a template for advertising in the future. It also reached beyond the intended target audience, demonstrating the growing appeal of Asian culture.

“The subculture is actually becoming the mass culture,” Julia Huang, InterTrend’s founder and chief executive. “The people who are watching these Web series ... are actually leading the way of how media is consumed and how the culture is shaped.”

For decades, firms such as InterTrend have worked to craft niche messages for ethnic media outlets-Asian TV channels and newspapers and magazines in Mandarin, Japanese, Taiwanese and Vietnamese. But during the past 18 months, major corporations have become increasingly interested in wooing young Asian-Americans-many of them born in the US-who are fluent in English. Advertisers recognize the size and the power of the largely untapped market of more than 18 million AsianAmericans. They are affluent, well-educated and represent the fastest-growing racial group in the US, according to Pew Research Center.

But tapping this audience can be tricky. Asian-Americans watch 100 hours of TV a month, which is half the time African-Americans spend watching TV and two-thirds the hours white Americans spend in front of the tube, according to ratings firm Nielsen. But they spend twice as much as time watching Web videos as other ethnic groups, Nielsen found, and are more likely to watch videos on mobile devices.

AT&T asked InterTrend to come up with a campaign to engage young Asian Americans who often provide advice about devices and services to their parents and grandparents, many of whom are immigrants. “In these households, the Asian youth are the tech support, and they do influence buying decisions,” said Laura Hernandez, executive director of marketing management for AT&T. “We knew that we had to use social media to reach them.”

Executives at InterTrend were intrigued by a storytelling approach that has become popular in Japan. There, Twitter users collectively write short stories that unfold in real time on the social media platform. But InterTrend executives didn’t want to confine the AT&T project to 140-character messages on Twitter, so they adapted the concept into an interactive scripted Web series enabling viewers to propose plot points on Facebook and YouTube. The firm recruited Wong Fu Productions, a shortfilm company based in Pasadena, to produce the series, in par t, because it already had its own channel on YouTube that boasts 1.2 million subscribers.

At first, Wong Fu’s founders were hesi-

tant to because they knew that inviting the audience to help craft the script would turn into a mad dash to meet the weekly production deadlines. But they couldn’t resist the high-profile challenge.

“It was an amazing interaction,” said Phil Wang, one of the three founders. By August, the series that launched in the spring had attracted more than 313,000 people who voted and commented. The Web show, which revolved around a star-crossed couple brought together by technology, starred Victor Kim, a KoreanAmerican break dancer from Sacramento, Calif, and an Internet personality known as Jen Frmheadtotoe, whose beauty advice has attracted 38 million views on YouTube.

“We had seen this cottage industry pop up on YouTube-this creative outlet for Asians and other minorities,” Hernandez said. “But to see it come alive, and see consumers engaged in such an emotional way, was extraordinar y.”

Unlike television, the Web has become a flourishing creative outlet. Many of the top bloggers and celebrities on YouTube are Asian, whereas on television Asians in leading roles are scarce. That may partly explain the vast reach of “Away We Happened.”

“Suddenly, young Asian-Americans are becoming influencers,” said Nita Song, president of the Asian American Advertising Federation. Two years ago, InterTrend-which also represents Toyota Motor Corp., Walt Disney Co. and insurer State Farm-enlisted a Japanese pop diva named Hatsune Miku, a popular Japanese 3-D singing hologram, to boost interest in the Toyota Corolla among young consumers. It also developed a series for Toyota featuring South Korean soap opera star Lee Min-ho driving a Camry-illustrating how a fusion of Asian cultures is helping to attract a broader audience. “ Twenty years ago, it would have been unheard of to have a Japanese brand (like Toyota) use a Korean soap opera star,” Huang said. “Back then, Chinese campaigns had to be different than Korean campaigns and different than the Japanese campaigns. But the world has changed.”

Huang, who is Taiwanese but was born and raised in Japan, opened InterTrend 21 years ago after winning her first account in the most audacious way. One night at dinner with the president of Northwest Airlines, Huang (who then worked for a Japanese venture capital firm) was asked, “ Why does Northwest Airlines have the best route to Asia but there are no Asians in our airplanes?” “With three glasses of wine in me,” Huang recalls, “I said, ‘Because your ads to Asians are awful.’ “Northwest Airlines invited her to make a presentation, and she landed the account-and opened her agency. It now employs 70 people and garners annual billings of nearly $50 million a year. The shop also is creating ground-breaking entertainment on the Web. “We know these messages are going beyond the Asian segment because they are going far beyond what we have estimated in terms of reach,” said Jon Yokogawa, vice president for consumer engagement at InterTrend. “Now we look for Asian-inspired or derived, but concepts that will have cross-over global appeal.” —MCT

CALIFORNIA: Julia Y Huang, chief executive of the advertising agency InterTrend Communications, Inc left, and Jon Yokogawa, vice president of consumer engagement for InterTrend Communications, Inc, pose for portrait at their office.

MINNEAPOLIS: The notice could be posted in any campus building: “iPad issues? Visit the Genius Bar in the Media Center.” But this isn’t college. It’s Hopkins West Junior High.

Inside Kim Campbell’s seventhgrade social studies class, every student gets to keep one of the Apple tablets for the year. They use them constantly, researching class projects, reading e-books and communicating with teachers. On this day, students are using a maps app to study geography.

The iPads in Hopkins’ schools are just one edge of a digital revolution in metro-area classrooms that is changing teaching and learning as fast as the latest device is introduced. YouTube videos are replacing in-class lectures. Music applications help students learn to read music and play instruments. Teachers distribute and grade assignments digitally. Gadgets once seen as distractions are now front and center on desks as essential learning tools.

For parents, the rapid changes can be bewildering. Some skeptics argue the technologies are expensive and create a digital divide between schools that can afford them and those that cannot. Others say they are being deployed too quickly, without teachers being trained to use them. But schools show no sign of pausing or turning back. “The students coming to us are already digital learners,” said David Treichel, instructional technology facilitator for Minnesota’s Anoka-Hennepin school district. “It’s no longer an option to teach them in a traditional setting.”

Some say the iPad is the biggest technological innovation to hit schools since the overhead projector. A New Media Consortium report this summer described tablet computing, mobile devices and apps as the most rapidly emerging school technologies.

Millions are being allocated to outfit classrooms with the latest technology. During the 2010-2011 school year, Minnesota districts spent $100.6 million on upgrades or new technology, up from $74.4 million in 2006-07. Expensive, outdated textbooks are being replaced with devices easily updated with the latest course materials and applications. “It motivates me to do my work because it’s a lot more fun,” said seventh-grader George Greeley.

“I was more excited than usual to come back to school this year.”

He navigates his iPad like a pro, adding blue placemarks to pinpoint Great Britain, Boston and New York

on a map, then helps a classmate as they trace the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers across the screen with their fingers. “You can pretty much do anything with these things,” he observed. When Jason Szporn walks the halls of Edina High School, he sees students watching videos on their smartphones.

The teacher of advanced placement economics knows they’re not just killing time. They’re doing homework. Along with a handful of other Minnesota teachers, Szporn has “flipped” his classroom-moving

struggling academically, he often misses class for cross country meets and catches up on the bus.

“I can be virtually anywhere and watch the lesson and get the same benefits as if I were in class,” he said.

“So far, it’s been phenomenal for me.” Parents with initial hesitations about too much screen time for kids also say they see potential-and necessity-in the digital changes.

When Lisa Pole of Plymouth, Minn., learned that her fourth-grade daughter would use an iPad this fall at Plymouth Creek Elementary, she

University of Minnesota, studies the effect of technology in classrooms.

He has found that teachers repeatedly told him they had the latest technology but needed training to best use it. “No matter if it’s the newest iPad, a new interactive whiteboard, or if every student has their own computer, we still need to invest in the people who are going to be using that technology,” Doering said. School districts are “not going to see great improvements until we invest in our people.”

There are early signs that the

MINNEAPOLIS: Yasin Abdi, left, and Jazmine Dunn work on iPads at Hopkins West Junior High in Minneapolis. —MCT himself from the whiteboard in front of the class to the handheld devices in students’ pockets. Szporn records and posts his lessons online for students to access at lunch, on the bus or at home. Class is spent working on difficult material together, giving teachers more oneon-one time with students. “As teachers, we’re always looking for ways to give kids more responsibility for their own education,” Szporn said. “I could never find a way to do that until now.”

Proponents say the approach works particularly well for struggling students, who can work at their own pace, replaying the videos as needed. Szporn and other teachers with flipped classrooms report markedly improved student test scores. Eden Prairie, Minn., sophomore Chris Timm started a flipped algebra II course this fall. Although he isn’t

had concerns. “My first thought was, ‘Great, my kids are going to sit in class and play Angry Birds all day long.’” But after seeing how easy the iPads are to use-kids become their own experts by getting answers to their questions through YouTube videos or educational apps-Pole changed her tune. Now she plans to get schooled on the iPad herself.

“Being a computer-literate citizen is one of the things my kids need when they get out of the school system,” she said. “It’s an expectation that they’ll be able to do this stuff and do it well.” “I truly believe that the personalized learning platform is the beginning of the transformation of education as we know it,” said Superintendent Valeria Silva.

Training, not just technology Aaron Doering, a professor of learning technologies at the

technology makes a difference for students. In a Minnetonka school district pilot program last year, the impact of iPads on learning was tested in several classes, comparing student performance to sessions taught by the same teachers using more traditional approaches.

Students got higher grades overall in courses using iPads. In one class, 54 percent of those using iPads received B’s vs 32 percent in the traditional version of the class.

In Wayzata, Minn, more than 100 teachers have now been trained using iPads as part of the district’s effort to give every student an iPad by the 2014-2015 school year. “How will this device change the teaching and learning experience?” asked Jill Johnson, the district’s executive director of teaching and learning. “We’re about to find out.” —MCT

Indian festivals stream to mobile web worshippers MUMBAI: While devout Hindus wait for up to 90 hours to see their favorite deity at Ganesh Chaturthi, one of India’s major festivals, others are opting to dodge the queues this year and say a virtual prayer instead.

The 11-day celebration of the birth of elephant-headed Lord Ganesha draws millions to worship at decorated idols of the god, but the statues are increasingly available to followers via live Internet streams.

“Every year people were requesting it, so this year we decided to go online,” said Uday Salian, committee spokesman at the Andhericha Raja, a popular Ganesha idol in Mumbai.

The colourful figure can be watched for free on their website during the twice daily “aarti” ritual, when offerings of light are made to the deity, meaning devotees can receive their blessings through the net.

The move was largely meant for overseas followers, but religious domestic markets are also being tapped. The Lalbaugcha Raja, Mumbai’s favorite statue, gets about ten million visitors during the festival. It also appears on YouTube and television, and is being live streamed around the clock to mobile phones-for a fee.

Live streaming is just one way content providers, telecom firms and mobile app makers are latching onto Hindu traditions as the online Indian market grows, especially on phones.

During the ongoing festival, which runs until Saturday, people can download Ganesha puzzle games, perform a ceremony known as “pooja” with the help of a mobile instead of a priest, and listen to chanting applications. Other gods are also

proving lucrative. Vistaas Digital Media, which has acquired the live mobile rights to the Lalbaugcha Raja, started the “Divine India” website three months ago and so far has 50,000 paid subscribers, paying 200 rupees ($3.75) a month.

The site offers live streaming from more than 60 holy sites of different religions practiced across the country, along with footage from more than 1,500 shrines. The firm aims for half a million subscribers by the year’s end. “I saw people travel for a long time and stand in long queues and they didn’t get a single second in front of the god. I wanted a way for people to pray peacefully at home,” said Vistaas founder Rajiv K. Sanghvi.

Making money from religion is nothing new in India, obser vers say. “All the Ganesha pandals (religious structures) in the city have become more and more commercial,” Anil Dharker, a Mumbai-based columnist on social issues, told AFP. But he doubted that Internet schemes would win over physical visitors. “It’s not just a religious experience, it’s also a social occasion,” he said. Much of the online demand unsurprisingly comes from the global Indian diaspora, but entrepreneurs still see potential gaps within India itself. “There’s so much demand on the priest’s time that he might not be available at the time you want,” said Rajendra Vaishampayan, whose company provided audio content for a series of iChants and iPooja mobile applications.

The apps for the pooja ceremony, including one tailored for Ganesha, assist in a doit-yourself version of the elaborate ritual so that a family member can take on the role of the priest. The rise in religion-to-mobiles

fits the Indian pattern more generally. The mobile apps market generated $28 million in revenue in 2011, a four-fold rise from the previous year, according to research firm Analysys Mason.

Sourabh Kaushal, lead consultant at the group, expects revenue to reach $80-100 million this year. Smartphone users now number 25 to 30 million, but this is still a fraction of India’s 550 million or so unique mobile users-almost half the population who mostly use cheaper “feature” phones, Kaushal said. “Mobile Internet usage is primarily driven by feature phones,” he told AFP, adding that about 40 million Indians have had their first online experience via their handset, accessible for five rupees (nine US cents) a day.

Chirag Shah, of mobile games developer Nazara Technologies, agreed feature phones “are still the dominant share and can’t really be ignored”. A new Ganesha game released for the festival by Nazara, downloadable for 50 rupees on Android and feature phones, had a few thousand downloads in the first few days. “It has a short shelf life but the acceptance is high. It goes with the whole occasion,” said Shah, whose company makes products to match other religious events such as Diwali, the Hindu festival of light.

For some, virtual prayer will never rival the real thing. Undeterred by the chaos and the afternoon sun, 28-year-old Chetan Lad joined the jostling hours-long queue in Mumbai to see his beloved Lalbaugcha Raja, despite having access on his phone. “I watch ‘aarti’ online as well, but on one day I have to come and visit,” he said. —AFP

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

H E A LT H & S C I E NC E

Cambodians fight malaria with the push of a button SMS reports new cases to health experts

In this image, the Space Shuttle Endeavour is ferried by NASA’s Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) over the Kennedy Space Center as it departs for California. — AP

What’s it like to fly a plane with shuttle riding on top?

LOS ANGELES: It’s the ultimate piggyback ride: A space shuttle perched atop a Boeing 747 as the pair crisscrosses the country. For three decades, this was how NASA transported shuttles that landed in the California desert to their Florida home base. But it’s coming to an end. This week, four pilots took turns flying a jumbo jet mounted with space shuttle Endeavour on a multi-leg journey bound for Los Angeles where it will go on display in a museum next month. With the shuttle fleet retired, it’s the final ferry mission for a group of highly specialized aviators. The elite pilots over the years have included former astronauts, including famed pilot Gordon Fullerton.

Scores have asked what it’s like to haul a 170,000-pound shuttle. “That’s a tough thing to answer,” said pilot Jeff Moultrie, who will be in command when Endeavour per forms an aerial tour over several California landmarks Friday. “What do you tell somebody? It’s different. It’s unique.”

That’s for sure. For one thing, there’s the noise. It is decibels louder inside the shuttle carrier aircraft compared with a commercial airliner because the interior is hollowed out to keep it as light as possible.

Aside from a few seats, there are no galleys, overhead bins or even air conditioning. In case pilots forget they’re carrying precious national cargo, the constant

vibrations from above jolt them back to reality. Pilots have to be more careful when they make turns, but otherwise, the 747 handles like a regular plane. They also have to be hyper-vigilant about the weather because moisture can damage the shuttle’s delicate tiles.

Built for American Airlines, NASA acquired the aircraft in 1974 and used it for test flights from Edwards Air Force Base in California’s Mojave Desert and ferry flights to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It obtained a second one in 1990, but it was retired earlier this year.

The four current NASA pilots who can operate the modified 747 are ex-military aviators who split their time flying other planes including zero-gravity aircraft and T-38 supersonic jets.

Even when the shuttles flew routinely, a cross-country lift wasn’t always needed.

To keep their skills polished, they flew practice flights every several weeks and trained in a simulator twice a year.

Moultrie, who served as a commercial pilot for a decade, said he looked forward most to soaring in close to the Hollywood Sign. Even Angelenos have to keep their distance from the famed sign, which is surrounded by a fence. “It’s bittersweet,” he said of the final mission. “We definitely feel privileged to be a small part of history.

But on the flip side, we’re sad.” — AP

PAILIN: Cambodian villagers armed with a little medical know-how-and their mobile telephonesare the nation’s new foot soldiers in the fight against drug-resistant malaria. In the small village of Phnom Dambang near the Thai border, locals know that early detection and treatment is crucial to containing the virulent strain of the mosquitoborne disease that is blighting the region. “The malaria here... can kill people in a short period of time if we don’t have the right treatment,” said Long Vuthy, whose home doubles as a walk-in clinic. The village is dotted with bright yellow signs emblazoned with pictures of mosquitoes, warning that the disease is prevalent in the area.

Vuthy, 41, who is also the chief of the village in Pailin province-considered to be at the epicentre of drug-resistant malaria in Cambodia-is one of more than 3,000 volunteer malaria workers in the country. They diagnose the disease with a quick blood test and provide treatment, free of charge, in remote parts of the impoverished nation, where access to health services can be difficult. Under a new pilot project, he is now also using a dedicated text message service to report new cases, allowing health experts to monitor and respond to patients’ needs in real time. “It’s a very good way to help the community,” said Vuthy, who was taught how to use the mobile phone service two months ago by the Malaria Consortium, a non-profit group working with the government and the World Health Organisation (WHO) to eradicate malaria from the country by 2025. Cambodia has already had success tackling malaria. In 2011, it reported over 108,000 cases, of which 96 were fatal, compared to 102,473 cases and 154 deaths the year before and over 600 deaths in 2000, according to government statistics. But the prevalence of the drug-resistant strain has caused concern. Malaria resistant to regular forms of treatment was confirmed in western Cambodia eight years ago, likely as a result of patients taking an incorrect or incomplete course of anti-malarial drugs.

Alert system To control the spread of this drug-tolerant form, health workers must catch cases early and ensure patients strictly follow the right treatment plan.

The alert system is simple. If Vuthy’s diagnosis test shows a person has malaria, he immediately starts them on medication and composes a message with the patient’s age, sex, location and the type of malaria. Using a toll-free number, the text is sent instantly to the district health centre, provincial health officials and a national malaria database in the capital Phnom Penh-a process that used to take a month.

The information is also fed into Google Earth to create a map of reported cases and of potential hotspots of resistance. Together, the data helps officials track each case and make sure the right treatment is available or that more medication is supplied when stocks are running low.

“I think this system is very important in eliminating malaria in Cambodia because it provides information very fast,” said Pengby Ngor from the Malaria Consortium, which developed the database. “In this way there can be intervention and the patient can get treatment quickly.” Malaria killed an estimated 655,000 people worldwide in 2010, although mortality rates have fallen sharply over the past decades, according to the WHO. Researchers attribute this decline largely to the increased use of artemisinin drugs, seen as the most effective treatment, and the widening use of insecticide-treated bed nets-which have also been distributed by the Cambodian government.

Goal to eradicate malaria Comprehensive data on resistance in the country is unavailable, although a study by international scientists published in The Lancet this year found that between 2007 and 2010, 42 percent of falciparum malaria cases, the most severe form of the disease, in western Cambodia were drug tolerant.

Resistance does not mean the disease will be fatal, but it typically takes longer to be cured using a combination of drugs. Meas Tha, deputy director of the National Centre for Parasitology, Entomology and Malaria Control, said the mobile pilot scheme was a “tool that could help us to achieve our 2025 goal” to eradicate malaria, alongside other key efforts such as education on prevention and medication. It is part of a national malaria containment project on which the Global Fund, supported by The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, has spent some $30 million since 2010. The system, using SIM cards provided free by Cambodian telecommunications firm Mobitel, was launched in three other provinces last year before coming to Pailin in July.

Some 230 volunteers have used the mobile phone service so far and there are plans to eventually include all volunteers in the project.

Vuthy knows that close monitoring of severe malaria cases is essential in his part of the country.

He makes sure his patients take their pills correctly and he carries out follow-up tests to check their blood is parasite-free after three days. If not, it could be a sign of drug tolerance, requiring further treatment. Here too the text message alert service comes in handy, sending reminders to check on patients on set days. “It makes my job easier,” Vuthy said. — AFP

PAILIN: This picture shows a village malaria worker (right) checking the temperature of a patient at his home in Pailin province, some 350 kilometres northwest of Phnom Penh. — AFP

Texas medical center plans ‘moonshot’ America’s largest cancer center is launching a massive “moonshot” effort against eight specific forms of the disease, similar to the all-out push for space exploration 50 years ago. The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston expects to spend as much as $3 billion on the project over the next 10 years and already has “tens of millions” of dollars in gifts to jump start it now, said its president, Dr Ronald DePinho.

One of the cancers is myelodysplastic syndrome.

“Good Morning America” co-anchor Robin Roberts has that kind and had a bone marrow transplant to treat it on Thursday. The others are especially deadly forms of breast and ovarian cancer, along with lung, prostate, melanoma and two types of leukemia. The project aims to find cures and lower deaths. Although no overall benchmarks have been set, individual projects for various cancers have specific goals. With genetic information and more precise drugs, “we have many

This undated photo shows tabby cats with the mackerel pattern (top row) and blotched pattern (bottom row). — AP

How the tabby cat got its stripes: It’s in the genes NEW YORK: How does a tabby cat earn its stripes? With the right DNA. Scientists say they’ve found the gene that sets the common tabby pattern - stripes or blotches. It’s one of several genes that collaborate to create the distinctive design of a cat’s coat, and it’s the first of the pattern genes to be identified.

Cats with narrow stripes, the so-called “mackerel” pattern, have a working copy of the gene. But if a mutation turns the gene off, the cat ends up with the blotchy “classic” pattern, researchers reported online Thursday in the journal Science. It’s called “classic” because “cat lovers really like the blotched pattern,” said one of the authors, Greg Barsh.

He works at both Stanford University

and the HudsonAlpha Institute of Biotechnology in Huntsville, Ala. The research team, which included scientists from the National Cancer Institute, examined DNA from wild cats in California to identify the gene. They also found that a mutation in the same gene produces the blotches and stripes of the rare “king” cheetah, rather than the spots most cheetahs have. Leslie Lyons, a cat geneticist who studies coat color traits at the University of California, Davis, but didn’t participate in the new work, agreed that the research has identified the tabby’s stripes versus-blotches gene. She noted that mysteries remain, like just what genetic machinery gives a tabby spots. “The cat has not revealed all its mysteries yet,” she said. — AP

Trader Joe’s recalls peanut butter WASHINGTON: The grocery store chain Trader Joe’s is recalling peanut butter that has been linked to 29 salmonella illnesses in 18 states. The Food and Drug Administration and the federal Centers for Disease Control said Saturday that the store’s Creamy Salted Valencia Peanut Butter, which is sold nationwide, is the likely source of the outbreak. The agencies are investigating whether any other items sold at the store could be contaminated. More than three-fourths of those who became ill were children under the age of 18. No deaths have been reported.

The FDA issued a statement Saturday saying that the FDA, the CDC and the state of California briefed Trader Joe’s on its investigation showing the link between the peanut butter and the ill-

nesses on Sept 20. The company then agreed to remove the product from store shelves.

The government did not release which states had reported illnesses, but several states have issued warnings to residents not to eat the peanut butter.

According to the individual states’ health departments, three cases were in Massachusetts, one was in Rhode Island and one was in North Carolina. The CDC said people became sick between June 11 and Sept 2. Information may not be available for those who were sickened after August. Salmonella can cause diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps 12 to 72 hours after infection. It is most dangerous to children, the elderly and others with weak immune systems. — AP

of the tools we need to pick the fight of the 21st century” and find ways to defeat these cancers, DePinho said. Dr Otis Brawley, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, which has no role in the project, praised DePinho’s effort. “I’m thrilled to see somebody take the lead,” Brawley said. “The results that I see him promising, in my mind are reasonable,” both in terms of raising money and fighting cancer.

Cancer death rates have been falling since the 1990s at an average of more than 1 percent per year but the disease remains a top killer worldwide. In the United States this year, estimates are that more than 1.5 million people will be diagnosed with cancer, and more than 500,000 will die from it. The MD Anderson program was inspired by the goal President John F. Kennedy announced in 1962 to put a man on the moon by the end of that decade. He described it to Congress that May and in a speech in September at Rice University, a mile from MD Anderson. The

Houston cancer center treats 112,000 patients a year and has been building a database of tumor samples and their genetic characteristics, especially of breast and ovarian cancers. A year ago, when DePinho became its new president, he started a competition among its researchers to submit ideas for how to make fresh inroads against the disease. Six teams were chosen to tackle the eight cancers.

Each team has specific goals, ranging from basic research to clinical trials that test treatments, biomarkers and diagnostics. Some projects are aimed at novel prevention methods - a mandatory role for any of the federally funded National Comprehensive Cancer Centers, DePinho said. The teams will focus on personalizing treatment according to an individual’s tumor genes, real-time assessment of the effectiveness of therapies being tried, better diagnoses and early detection and reducing side effects of treatment.—AP

Girl’s cancer death brings hope, saves lives STANFORD: Dave and Kristine Wetzel made the decision at one of the most heart-wrenching moments of their lives. Just hours before their nearly 8-year-old daughter, McKenna, succumbed to an inoperable brain tumor in July 2011, the Huntington Beach, Calif, couple decided to donate some of her cancerous tissue to Stanford University for research. The goal: to grow the cancer cells so scientists can develop drugs and other treatments for a disease that is nearly always fatal.

“It’s macabre - the thing that killed our daughter is still alive,” Dave Wetzel said. “But we think that McKenna’s in a good place.”

Researchers have had few options for studying McKenna’s condition, known as diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, or DIPG. Because the cancer embeds in the brain stem, it is rarely biopsied and cannot be surgically removed.

As a result, little tissue has been available for testing drugs and therapies.

In the past 30 years, “there’s been almost no progress made in better understanding the disease,” said Dr Michelle Monje-Deisseroth, an assistant professor in neurology at the Stanford Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine. “We don’t know of anything that causes it,” she said. “It’s just one of those seemingly random events that comes out of nowhere. There’s no genetic predisposition for it.”

DIPG is the second-most-common malignant brain tumor in children, with about 400 new cases each year in the United States. It typically strikes school-age youths. MonjeDeisseroth heads the Stanford laboratory overseeing this work. In 2009, her team created the world’s first DIPG stem cell line with tissue from another child.

Since then, 10 families from around the world have donated portions of their child’s DIPG tumor to Stanford. Scientists have been able to create cancer stem cell lines from four of those donations, including McKenna’s. The stem cells have been shared with researchers at nearly two dozen institutions, including Harvard, St Jude, Duke, Johns Hopkins, and in facilities as far away as Spain, Australia and the United Kingdom.

Knowing that Monje-Deisseroth would widely distribute the cells drew the Wetzels to the Stanford researcher. “You can tell she really

doesn’t care who gets credit for curing cancer,” Dave Wetzel said. “You can tell this is her life’s passion.” Years ago, Monje-Deisseroth chose to focus on DIPG after caring for a young girl with the disease and being frustrated by how little she could help her. “No chemotherapy strategy to date has worked at all, so it’s a pretty dismal disease,” Monje-Deisseroth said.

Most children die within nine months of a diagnosis, although radiation may give them an additional three months or so. Stanford researchers have used the stem cells to create DIPG-like tumors in mice so they can gain more understanding about how the disease develops and test potential drugs and drug combinations.

“I want to know what we can bring to clinical trial as quickly as possible,” MonjeDeisseroth said. Doctors did not sugarcoat their prognosis when they told the Wetzels that McKenna had DIPG. After stressing that no cure exists, one doctor told them, “You need to make her smile.” So the family kept her out of the hospital as much as possible, trying to make her last days as joyful and comfortable as they could. With the help of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, they squeezed in a trip to Hawaii where McKenna tried surfing.

Many of the family’s friends joined them. “She got to swim with some dolphins,” Wetzel said.

“We’re grateful and humble we got to do that.”

But such trips soon became impossible.

“Watching your child die is brutally graphic,” Wetzel said. “The tumor robs them of the ability to breathe. They can’t eat.”

As the end neared, their neighbor Lisa Roberts began looking into the possibility of donating McKenna’s cells and learned about Monje-Deisseroth’s work. “McKenna was my daughter’s best friend and she was like a daughter to me,” Roberts said. “I felt really helpless to provide them any comfort at all, but I didn’t want them to have any regrets that something great could come out of McKenna’s cells.”

A day or two before McKenna’s death, Roberts broached the delicate subject with the Wetzels and they agreed to the donation.

Monje-Deisseroth hired a tissue recovery specialist who took a sample shortly after McKenna died, embedded it in ice and flew it to the Bay Area.— MCT

The Wetzel family (clockwise from upper left): Kristine, Dave, Jordan and McKenna, who died from an inoperable brain tumor. — MCT

Cat goes to vet for flea bath but gets euthanized GARDNER: A Massachusetts woman says her cat went to the veterinarian for a flea bath and was mistakenly euthanized instead. Colleen Conlon of Gardner is grieving the loss of the cat, 8-year-old Lady, which she attributes to “negligence” by the vet. Her son took Lady to the Broadway Animal Hospital last week and unknowingly authorized the cat to be put to sleep after he says he was handed the wrong forms. He says he learned of the mixup when he returned with a second cat and the vet asked him if he wanted to keep the bodies. Conlon doesn’t think the vet had any “malicious intent.” But she’s filed a complaint with the attorney general’s office and plans to talk with the state Board of Registration. The veterinarian didn’t return a call from the Telegram & Gazette seeking comment. —AP

H E A LT H & S C I E NC E

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

US prison inmates raise rare frogs, butterflies LITTLEROCK: Taylor Davis has dedicated himself to saving endangered Oregon spotted frogs. He spends hours each day tending to eggs or doting on tadpoles, feeding, nurturing and meticulously recording their development. He’s in no hurry. “We have nothing but time here,” said the 28-year-old Davis. He added, “It’s perfect for a prison setting.”

Washington state inmates such as Davis have been working as ecological research assistants, partnered in recent years with scientists doing conservation projects.

Their efforts include breeding threatened butterflies and growing native flowers and prairie grasses. The programs are part of a push by the state Department of Corrections that has gained momentum recently, with one project earning an expansion grant from a federal agency this year and prison officials from across the country visiting Washington state penitentiaries in recent weeks to inspect the various projects. At Cedar Creek Corrections Center, a medium-security prison in western Washington, Davis and another inmate, Mathew Henson, have been nurturing a batch of small black-spotted frogs that will be ready for release into the wild today. It’s an ironic twist.

Davis is serving 10 years for stealing cars. And Henson is doing more than five years for robbery and assault. But

both have been granted a high level of confidence. “It’s quite a leap of faith to let someone handle endangered frog eggs,” said Dan Pacholke, prisons director for the state Department of Corrections.

Prison officials say it’s a logical pairing. They consider inmates ideal candidates for conservation projects since they can work in a controlled environment and have a lot of time to dedicate. The research also allows inmates to contribute a broader social good, officials say. “It makes sense that we engage in activity that make prisons safe to run, reduce negative inmate behavior and contribute to the community,” Pacholke said. Pacholke co-directs the Sustainability in Prisons Project, a partnership with The Evergreen State College that involves regional zoos, nonprofit groups, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife and other state and federal agencies. “We have inmates at the table who are making substantive contributions to the science,” said Carri LeRoy, a faculty member at Evergreen who co-directs the project.

Their efforts have gained the attention of the National Science Foundation, an independent federal agency, which gave the sustainability project money to explore spreading their work to prisons across the US. Corrections officials from states as far-flung as

Maryland, Ohio and Utah visited prisons across Washington state this month to see some of the programs in action. In one project, at the Mission Creek Corrections Center for Women in Belfair, inmates last year began helping state biologists, the Oregon Zoo and others breed an orange and black flecked butterfly known as the Taylor’s checkerspot.

The offenders had success in their first season, as more than 700 Taylor’s checkerspots were released onto south Puget Sound prairies this year. The inmates also raised more than 3,600 caterpillars for release next year, about 50 percent more than expected. A Department of Defense grant paid for a new greenhouse at the prison, because the military wants to boost the declining population of the rare butterflies. The Taylor’s checkerspot is a candidate for protection under the federal Endangered Species Act, and one of its prime habitats is near an artillery range at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. If the butterfly becomes federally protected, the military could be forced to change how it operates to protect the insect’s habitat, project officials said. Inspired by the frog program and other operations, a Washington State University professor this year began working with inmates at the Washington State Penitentiary prison in

Walla Walla to raise and tag Monarch butterflies to track their migratory path. The inmates were able to raise about 500 butterflies from a batch of about 600 to 700 eggs in their first attempt. David James, associate professor of entomology at WSU, said, “If we reared them, we’d be lucky to have half (that survival rate).” James explained that prisoners are uniquely equipped to do the work.

“Often when you’re rearing butterflies you need to spend a lot of time with them. You can’t just go away for the weekend or leave the lab overnight,” he said, adding “there’s no doubt that this type of program can be beneficial to them, as well as conservation and scientific research.” At Cedar Creek, south of Olympia, Davis and Henson spend time at “Frogga Walla” noting frog deformities or deaths. They feed them crickets - many of which they raise in a shed outside the barbed fences of the prison. The inmates earn about 42 cents-an-hour, less than other prison jobs such as making furniture, but Henson said the sacrifice is worth it. “The research helps a very big cause,” said Henson, 25, after explaining that the frogs face decline because of habitat loss and predators such as bullfrogs. “Being on the forefront of this research is payment enough.” Adds Davis: “It’s a good job. It’s something different in a prison setting.” — AP

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MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

WHAT’S ON

SEND US YOUR INSTAGRAM PICS hat’s more fun than clicking a beautiful picture? Sharing it with others! This summer, let other people see the way you see Kuwait - through your lens. Friday Times will feature snapshots of Kuwait through Instagram feeds. If you want to share your Instagram photos, email us at instagram@kuwaittimes.net

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Greetings

AWARE diwaniya tomorrow

ICSK math workshop: A resounding success Y any, many happy returns of the day Shaikh Maryam. Best wishes from father Shaik Mohammed Noor, mother Shameera, grand-mother Noorjahaan, sisters Khathija, Haleema, uncle Mohammed, Jaffer and aunties Raheembee, Jareena. Blessings from near and dear ones in Kuwait and India.

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Study in Canada exhibition rganized by the Embassy of Canada, the seventh annual Middle East Education Initiative (MEEI) will be visiting Kuwait from Oct 2 to 4, 2012. Representatives of 20 leading Canadian universities and colleges will be available to meet students, parents, teachers and guidance counsellors to present the advantages of studying in Canada.

On Wednesday, Oct 3, 2012 a Study in Canada exhibition will be held at the Marina Hotel, Salmiya from 6:00 - 9:00 pm for potential students and their parents to attend. The Canadian institutions will also be visiting local schools to speak to interested students about opportunities to study in Canada

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Expat Mums’ Autumn Bazaar xpat Mums in Kuwait will hold its autumn bazaar on Saturday, September 29th by 10:00 am - 1:00 pm at Rumaithiya Block 9, Street 96, House 1, Basement. Free entry! This autumn we’re excited to support our members who hand make crafts, who have home business and who provide services to the expat community in Kuwait. Expat Mums in Kuwait is a group of nearly 400 mums from over 42 countries around the world. We meet online and in person and provide friendship, information, advice, reviews, support and networking opportunities to fellow expat mothers.

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Ragolsavam 2012 anithavedi, Kuwait is celebrating Onam ‘Ragolsavam-2012’ on Friday, September 28, 2012 at Khaitan Indian Community School, from 9 am onwards. Famous classical musician Dr Omanakuttyamma will be the chief guest for the day.

Ragolsavam will be a full day program starting with ‘Athapookalam’ competition followed by variety of cultural programs. Musical concert by Dr Omanakuttyamma is the highlight of the program.

Under the leadership of Valsamma George (President) and Syamala Narayanan (Secretary), various committees have been formed for the successful conduct of Ragolsavam 2012.

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an you calculate the cube root of 1,75,616 in 1 second?” The students of ICSK who attended the special mathematics workshop will answer this question with a big “Yes”! The Indian Community School, Kuwait organised a special mathematics workshop for its students of all branches from September 16-18, 2012, 2012. The workshop was conducted by a special invitee from Mumbai, Dhaval Bathia. Bathia is an internationally renowned trainer and author of four bestselling books.

The students of ICSK learnt some revolutionary techniques by which they can develop a love for mathematics and also improve their memory. Since math is generally perceived to be cumbersome, Bathia showed the audience how numbers can be made fun and calculations can be done in an exciting manner.

He also gave tips to memorise long answers of subjects like History and Geography.

Senior Branch, September 16,2012 The Math & Memory workshop commenced at ICSK, Senior Branch after a welcome address by Principal, Dr V Binumon. He expressed his confidence that great mathematicians would evolve from the students of ICSK. He urged the students to seek inspiration from the life of great Indians like Ramanujan and Aryabhatta. Dr Kamlesh Kumari, Head of the Staff & Student Development Committee of the ICSK Board of Trustees, introduced Dhaval Bathia to the audience.

Dhaval Bathia immediately connected with the students. There was not a single boring moment as Bathia demonstrated math and memory techniques to the students. Bathia made the calculation of square of a number, cube rooting a number, 2 and 3 digit multiplications in a single line look like child’s play. The highly interactive, informative and entertaining sessions had the children asking for more. It was truly an unprecedented reaction of children to a math session! Dr Sam T Kuruvilla, Vice Principal, Senior Branch delivered the vote of thanks.

Amman Street Branch, September 17, 2012 “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm” - Ralph Waldo Emerson. September 17, 2012 was one of the most unforgettable days for the ICSK, Amman family. We, ICSK Amman, had the opportunity to participate in a mind blowing and staggering Math & Memory workshop in our prestigious school. The workshop with the aim to kindle the interest of mathematics in students was conducted in two sessions, each session lasting for 90 minutes. The first session was attended by the students of Class 7 and the second session for the students of Class 8, 9 and 10. A cordial welcome was given to Bathia to the branch by our respected Principal Rajesh Nair. A brief introduction to Bathia’s workshop was given by Munafutheenn Maitheen Khan, Parent Advisory Council Member of Amman Branch.

The vote of thanks and appreciation was given by the Vice Principal, Sherly Dennis for the first session and for the second session by Benny K Baby, Branch Faculty Head of Mathematics. The whole exercise has boosted the energy and imagination of the students.

Khaitan Branch, September 18, 2012 ICSK, Khaitan organised Math & Memory workshop, conducted by Dhaval Bathia on September 18, 2012.Dr Mary Isaac, Vice Principal, ICSK Khaitan Branch welcomed the gathering. Ajay George, member of the Staff and Student Development Committee introduced Dhaval to the audience.

The unique methods of Vedic Mathematics as demonstrated by Dhaval Bathia made maths very interesting. Children enjoyed the memory enhancement training and the methods for improving maths skills.

They were surprised and thrilled at what was being presented to them. The easy calculations of cube root and square root will surely help them in their classroom. So will the easy steps of multiplication taught to them. The President of the school senate, Antony Joseph, presented the vote of thanks.

Carnatic music concert

APAK Onam Fest

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hristi Fine Arts, Kuwait will be presenting a soulstirring music concert in Carnatic style on Thursday September 27, 2012 from 5 pm to 9 pm and Friday September 28, 2012 from 9 am to 1 pm and from 5 pm to 9 am by well known Indian Musician Udaiyalur Sri K Kalyanaraman and party at Indian Community School Amman Branch Auditorium, Salmiya, Kuwait. Admission Free. All who are interested in soul-stirring carnatic music are welcome.

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ngamaly Pravasi Association Kuwait (APAK), the association of the migrants in Kuwait from the Angamaly Legislative Constituency of Kerala, functioning for the socio-cultural welfare of its members is scheduled to hold its Apak Onam Fest-2012 on September 28, 2012 at 10:30 am to 5 pm at the United Indian School Auditorium, Abbassiya. It gives us immense pleasure to inform you that Ports and Excise Minister of the State of Kerala, K Babu is scheduled to be in Kuwait to grace the Onam Fest-2012 and Family Fest of the Angamaly Pravasi Association Kuwait.

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Write to us Send to What’s On upcoming events, birthdays or celebrations by email: local@kuwaittimes.net Fax: 24835619 / 20

uwait Cricket, the apex body of cricket in Kuwait would like to invite school cricket teams to participate in their tournaments which are planned to be to be held at the turf ground at Sulaibiya. Kuwait Cricket intends to conduct two cricket tournaments for U-15 and U-18 school children who should have valid Kuwait residence and be a student of their respective school. The tournaments will be played on Saturdays at Sulaibiya grounds and the matches will be 30 overs.

Kuwait Cricket’s principal aim is to provide quality cricket to the young school cricketers in Kuwait and guide them to face international exposure which will nurture and develop their sporting skills. Moreover, Kuwait Cricket also aims to make use of sports to strengthen friendship and to bridge the gap between cultures and communities. Kuwait U-16 & U-19 teams have made various successful international tours to countries like Singapore, Malaysia, UAE, Nepal and Pakistan. Participation of school cricket teams will undoubtedly play a pivotal role in ensuring the success of the open cricket tournament and we look forward to your confirmation of attendance. A meeting of school representatives will be arranged shortly.

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UPCOMING EVENTS Calling all Ten-pin Bowlers he Indian Bowling League (IBL) Season 3 will be held at Cozmo Entertainment, Salmiya commencing on Friday the 28th of September at 3 pm. Kindly reserve your team in advance to avoid disappointment, on a first come first serve.

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he AMIE Winter 2012 examinations will be held between Dec 01-07, 2012 as follows:

Section A (Diploma) - December 1-4, 2012 Section A (Non-Diploma) - December 1-7, 2012 Section B - December 1-7, 2012 The last date for submission of examination application forms are given hereunder: Candidates not appeared at Summer 2012 Exam: Aug 21 - Sept 21, 2012 Candidates appeared at Summer 2012 Exam: Sept 21 - Oct 19, 2012.

Candidates who intend to appear for the Winter 2012 examination must apply directly to Kolkata by filling the prescribed application form along with requisite amount of demand draft in favour of The Institution of Engineers (India), payable at Kolkata.

Kuwait Cricket to organize open tourney for schools

‘Leniency of Islam’ n unprecedented initiative of KTV2 (English channel) is the new program by the name ‘Leniency of Islam’ presented by Shaikh Musaad Alsane and directed by Hamid Al-Turkait. The program is mainly meant to address the expatriates living in Kuwait. Religious questions are received through the program email qislam@tv.gov.kw and sms can be sent to- 97822021 and answered by the lecturer and Imam in Awqaf Ministry Shaikh Musaad Alsane - a Master Degree holder in Sharia and fiqih from Kuwait University. So don’t forget to watch the program every Friday at 1:00 pm.

Winter 2012 AMIE examination

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ou are cordially invited to our diwaniya presentation entitled, “An expatriate’s experience in the legal field in Kuwait,” by Akusa Batwala tomorrow, September 25, 2012 at 7:00 pm. Like employees in other fields, expatriate lawyers face many challenges working in Kuwait such as language barrier, bureaucratic system, work environment, a working mother, etc. Although their training may help them cope quickly, it all depends on one’s personality, training, mood, incentives and background. Do you know that Kuwait is a land of opportunity compared to other countries in the region? How can you achieve success working in Kuwait? Do all countries have a uniform structure in terms of employment? In her 20-minute presentation, Akusa - an expatriate lawyer herself - will answer all these questions and many more. Akusa will present briefly on the challenges of an expatriate lawyer working as a consultant in Kuwait. This will touch on the personal, practical and social challenges that this role entails. She will also discuss briefly the many opportunities and experiences that she has encountered in this role to date.

Focus Kuwait 6th annual day s a part of the 6th anniversary celebrations, Forum of Cadd Users (FOCUS Kuwait), a non-political, non-religious organization is set to stage a mega cultural event “Focus Fest-2012”. This mega event will be a blend of traditional and contemporary dance and musical extravaganza by renowned South Indian playback singers Jyotsna and Sudeesh. Scheduled for the afternoon of Friday, October 12, 2012, at the Al-Jeel Al-Jadeed School Auditorium, Hawally, the mega musical show, is expected to be a super-hit in Kuwait.

A ASSE-Kuwait Chapter commemorates World Ozone Day merican Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE), Kuwait Chapter as a part of continuous efforts in its professional journey, commemorated World Ozone Day on September 16, 2012 at Hotel Safir, Fintas. Sampath Reddy, Secretary of ASSE Kuwait chapter, in his opening remarks briefed on the importance of the day. N Vasudevan, President, ASSE Kuwait chapter and Fadhel Al-Ali, Chairman , ASSE Kuwait Chapter addressed the gathering.

Jignesh Shah, Head, Environment & Health Committee gave an introductory presentation on “Ozone Day & its significance” and ASSE Kuwait Chapters environment awareness activities in kuwait. He introduced the key note speaker Sulaiman

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Ameer, Senior Mechanical Engineer Ministry of Oil & NOC (National Ozone Committee Member), KEPA. During the key note presentation, Sulaiman Ameer, delivered the presentation on “Roles and Activities of Kuwait National Ozone Unit Environment Public Authority in Ozone Layer Protection The key note presentation was followed by another interactive session on “Clean Development Mechanism” delivered by Tawfik Soukieh, Managing Director, Global Experience Consulting Company GEC Consultant.

The technical sessions were very much interactive and it was followed

by Question & Answer session. As a token of appreciation, ASSE Executive Committee members

handed over handed over mementos to Sulaiman Ameer and Tawfik Soukieh. C H Rama Krushna Chary, Briefed about the awareness QUIZ program organized in line with the ozone day 2012. Jignesh Shah announced the winners for the both the categories and distributed gifts to the winners. Vasudevan made an announcement on the formation of ASSE Kuwait Chapter External advisory committee comprising of Leaders in HSE in Kuwait. More than 90 ASSE Kuwait Chapter members participated from various sectors (government sectors, oil & gas Companies, contractors and, HSE consultancies). The Technical meet was concluded with vote of thanks

by C H Rama Krushna Chary. The meet concluded with dinner.

Audition for ZEE Antakshari or the first time Indian Cultural Society brings you live excitement of ZEE - International Antakshari in Kuwait. Audition & first round will be held in Kuwait, there after followed by semi finals in India & Grand Finale in Dubai. Complete team of Carnival films & Zee TV will be in Kuwait for the final round of selection on Friday 5th October with Jaaved Jaaferi: Celebrity Judge, Akriti Kakkar: Female Bollywood Singer & Host of Antakshari, Manish Paul: Host for Auditions, Sarfaraz Khan: Actor, Director and Producer, Michael Amin: Producer & Director Carnival films world. Musicians, Male Singer & many more for live performances. Final audition at 10 am & music show at 7:30 pm at AISHawally.

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Tulukoota Kuwait ‘Merit Scholarship’ pplications are now being invited for “Tulukoota Kuwait Merit Cum Means Scholarship” to be awarded during Tuluparba 2012 scheduled to be held on October 11 and 12, 2012. The objective of this scholarship is to provide financial assistance and support to deserving meritorious students, to enable them to pursue their higher studies. Applications are accepted from minimum one year valid Tulukoota Kuwait member’s children studying either in the State of Kuwait or in India and scoring high grades in Xth and XIIth standard Board Examination held for Academic year 2011-2012.

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31

WHAT’S ON

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

Embassy Information

City Centre sets new benchmark at Dajeej fter opening the newest outlet of the hypermarket chain, City Centre Dajeej has set new benchmarks for shopping in Dajeej, with convenience, comfort and service. Since 1999, when City Centre first opened in Shuwaikh, the group has correctly evaluated the rapidly expanding retail landscape in the country and opened strategically located branches in Kuwait. With the opening of a third hypermarket in Dajeej, City Centre hopes to entrench its position as the leading international hypermarket group in the country offering ‘Mega-Value’ promotions,competitive prices, wide range of quality products and excellent service.

The three branches of City Centre, located at Shuwaikh, Salmiya, and now in Dajeej, offer a wide range of products, including grocery, fresh and frozen foods, household items, electronics, beauty care, stationery, toys, garments and a whole lot more to shoppers in Kuwait. And, with their famous 900 items at 900 fils a permanent promotion in Dajeej, the hypermarket offers extreme value for shoppers. The new

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City Centre Dajeej, with a total area of over 9,000 sq meters and with more

than 7,000 sq meters of retail shopping space, isspread over three floors. A large supervised kids’ play area, where children can be safely left while parents do

their shopping, a dedicated food court of over 2000 sq meters,with free wi-fi

access and choice of menu from many internationalfood service chains and free covered car parking facilities, add to the convenience of shopping at the new

City Centre.

The neat and spacious interior layout,highlighted by wide aisles, easily reachable,clearly labeled, fully-stocked shelves and open 24-hours a day,is designed to allow customers to search, find, andselect items withutmost speed and convenience. “With the opening of the third branch of City Centre in Dajeej, we are once again making it more convenient for shoppers to access their favorite one-stop, mega-store. The Dajeej branch, while allowing us to widen the reach of City Centre in Kuwait also brings us closer to our customers across the country,” said Ajay Goel, COO of City Centre.

While its value proposition of a blend of good quality merchandise at competitive prices, presented in a comfortable shopping environment, is appreciated by shoppers to City Centre Dajeej, the real secret behind the hypermarket’s success has to be dedicated and helpful staff who readily respond to the needs and concerns of customers.

SAS to hold Credit Risk Management course AS, the leading provider of business analytics software and services, will be holding a Credit Risk Management course from September 30, 2012 to October 1, 2012 at the SAS Offices in Arenco Tower (Office 708, Level 107), Dubai Internet City. The event is part of the ongoing ‘SAS Business Knowledge Series,’ which seeks to promote real world solutions for today’s professionals. The special course will be facilitated by Naeem Siddiqi , Global Product Manager-Banking Analytics Solutions, SAS and the author of Credit Risk Scorecards. Participants for this business focused course will gain key knowledge on how to plan, develop, implement and maintain inhouse risk scorecards.

The specialized training session pro-

S

Shukri Dabaghi

vides a high-level introduction to credit risk management and also teaches participants on how to run scorecard implementation strategies. In addition, the Credit Risk Management course will compose of discussions on how to create business and project plans for scorecard development; develop and validate intelligent credit risk scorecards and how to generate scorecard and portfolio performance reports. Credit risk management guru Siddiqi has over 15 years of experience in his field and has served as consultant and risk manager for leading financial institutions.

“We are very proud to offer this special Credit Risk Management course, which is part of our continuing Business Knowledge series. This seminar is being held to reach out to the region’s credit

risk and scoring managers, data miners and professionals involved in model vetting/validation, auditing, risk strategy developers and credit risk executives.

Our aim is to give these participants a better understanding of the importance of credit risk and its components like management, scorecards while at the same time learning how to identify the different types of risks. Naeem Siddiqi, who is credited for authoring the use of Credit Risk scorecards, will not only help participants learn more about this timely topic but will also impart the significant benefits to be gained from utilizing the diverse portfolio of SAS Solutions,” concluded Shukri Dabaghi, General Manager, SAS Middle East.

EMBASSY OF AUSTRALIA The Australian Embassy Kuwait does not have a visa or immigration department. All processing of visas and immigration matters in conducted by The Australian Consulate-General in Dubai. Email: info.ausdxb@vfshelpline.com (VFS) immigration.dubai@dfat.gov.au (Visa Office); Tel: +971 4 355 1958 (VFS) - +971 4 508 7200 (Visa Office); Fax: +971 4 355 0708 (Visa Office). In Kuwait applications can be lodged at the Australian Visa Application Centre 4B 1st Floor, Al-Banwan Building Al-Qibla Area, Ali Al-Salem Street, opposite the Central Bank of Kuwait, Kuwait City, Kuwait. Working hours and days: 09:30 - 17:30; Sunday - Thursday.

Or visit their website www.vfs-au-gcc-com for more information. Kuwait citizens can apply for tourist visas on-line at www.immi.gov.au/e visa/e676.htm.

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EMBASSY OF ARGENTINE The Embassy of Argentina requests all Argentinean citizens in Kuwait to proceed to our official email ekuwa@mrecic.gov.ar in order to register or update contact information. The embassy encourages all citizens to do so, including the ones who have already registered in person at the embassy.

The registration process helps the Argentinean Government to contact and assist Argentineans living abroad in case of any emergency.

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EMBASSY OF BRITAIN Consular section at the British Embassy will be starting an online appointment booking system for our consular customers from Sunday, 01 July 2012. All information including how to make an appointment is now available on the embassy website. In addition, there is also a “Consular Appointment System” option under Quick links on the right hand side on the homepage, which should take you to the “Consular online booking appointment system” main page.

Please be aware that from 01 July 2012, we will no longer accept walk-in customers for legalisation, notarial services and certificates (birth, death and marriages). If you have problems accessing the system or need to make an appointment for non-notarial consular issues or have a consular emergency, please call 2259 4355/7/8 or email us on consularenquirieskuwait@fco.gov.uk. If you require consular assistance out of office hours (working hours: 0730-l430 hrs), please contact the Embassy on 2259 4320.

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EMBASSY OF CANADA The Embassy of Canada is located at Villa 24, Al-Mutawakel St, Block 4 in Da’aiyah.

Please visit our website at www.Kuwait.gc.ca. The Embassy of Canada is open from 07:30 to 15:30 Sunday through Thursday. The reception is closed from 12:30 to 01:00 pm for lunch break. Consular Services for Canadian Citizens are provided from 09:00 until 12:00 on Sunday through Wednesday.

Individuals who are interested in visiting, working or immigrating to Canada are invited to visit the website of the Canadian Embassy to the UAE at www.UAE.gc.ca.

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Public Relations and Media Consultant for the Gulf Region, educational and psychological specialist Khalid Al-Shamroukh speaks.

EMBASSY OF FRANCE The Embassy would like to inform that starting September 2nd, 2012, visa demands for France will be handled by the outsourcing company “Capago - MENA Company”. Capago - MENA’S Call Center will be operational starting Sunday August 26 for setting appointments beginning September 2nd (+965 22270555).

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Lecture for public school teachers halid Al-Shamroukh, Public Relations and Media Consultant for the Gulf Region, educational and psychological specialist, delivered two lectures for public school teachers at the Association of Social Workers Al-Adailiya. The lectures took place last week and were attended by 72 teachers from all across Kuwait.

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TEMBASSY OF KENYA The Embassy of the Republic of Kenya wishes to inform the Kenyan community residents throughout Kuwait and the general public that the Embassy has acquired new office telephone numbers as follows: 25353982, 25353985 - Consular’s enquiries 25353987 - Fax Our Email address: info@kenyaembkuwait.com.

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EMBASSY OF MYANMAR Embassy of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar would like to inform the general public that the Embassy has moved its office to new location at Villa 35, Road 203, Block 2, Al-Salaam Area in South Surra. The Embassy wishes to advice Myanmar citizens and travellers to Myanmar to contact Myanmar Embassy at its new location. Tel. 25240736, 25240290, Fax: 25240749, email:myankuwait11@gmai1.com.

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Onam celebrations edia activist Thomas Mathew Kadavil inaugurates the cultural meeting of Ahmadi Mar Thoma Youth as part of their Onam celebration in Mangaf. Vicar Rev KA Varghese, KG Abraham, TV Hikmath and Arun Rajan felicitated the occasion.

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EMBASSY OF NIGERIA The Nigerian embassy has its new office in Mishref. Block 3, Street 7, House 4. For enquires please call 25379541. Fax25387719. Email- nigeriakuwait@yahoo.com or nigeriankuwait@yahoo.co.uk.

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EMBASSY OF UKRAINE We’d like to inform you that in response to the increasing number of our citizens who work in the state and the need for 24-hour operational telephone in case of emergency the Embassy of Ukraine in the State of Kuwait has opened “hotline telephone number” - (+ 965) 972-79-206.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

TV PROGRAMS

00:45 Great Savannah Race 01:35 Animal Cops Houston 02:25 Sharkzilla 03:15 Perfect Predators 04:55 Killer Jellyfish 05:45 Dogs 101 06:35 Wildlife SOS International 07:00 Karina: Wild On Safari 07:25 Austin Stevens Adventures 08:15 Dick ‘n’ Dom Go Wild 08:40 Breed All About It 09:10 Wild Animal Orphans 09:35 Wild Animal Orphans 10:05 Sharkman 11:00 Wildlife SOS 11:25 Bondi Vet 11:55 Animal Cops Houston 12:50 Vet On The Loose 13:15 Vet On The Loose 13:45 Animal Precinct 14:40 Sharkman 15:30 Karina: Wild On Safari 16:00 Dick ‘n’ Dom Go Wild 16:30 Michaela’s Animal Road Trip 17:25 Cats 101 18:20 Dogs/Cats/Pets 101 19:15 Wildlife SOS 19:40 Bondi Vet 20:10 Cheetah Kingdom 20:35 Echo And The Elephants Of Amboseli 21:05 Shark Attack Survival Guide 22:00 Dogs 101 22:55 Bad Dog 23:50 Animal Cops Houston 23:50 Animal Cops Houston 00:05 Gok’s Fashion Fix 00:55 Holmes On Homes 01:40 MasterChef 02:30 MasterChef 03:20 Gok’s Fashion Fix 04:10 MasterChef Australia 09:05 To Build Or Not To Build?

09:30 Fantasy Homes By The Sea 10:20 Bargain Hunt 11:05 Antiques Roadshow 12:00 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 13:20 Gok’s Fashion Fix 14:10 Gok’s Clothes Roadshow 15:00 Bargain Hunt 15:45 Antiques Roadshow 16:40 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 18:00 MasterChef 18:50 MasterChef 19:40 Home Cooking Made Easy 20:10 Come Dine With Me 21:00 Open House 21:25 Holmes On Homes 22:15 Bargain Hunt 23:00 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

03:55 04:10 04:35 05:00 05:30 05:50 06:15 06:45 07:00 07:15 07:45 08:10 08:20 08:50 09:05 09:15 Pooh 09:20 09:35 09:45 09:55 10:20 10:45 11:10 11:35 12:00 12:10 12:25 12:40 13:05 13:15 13:30 13:55 14:20 14:45 15:00 15:15 15:25 15:40 15:55 16:20 16:45 17:10 17:40 18:10 18:35 Fairies 19:00 Pooh 19:05 19:25 19:40 19:50 20:20 20:30 Pooh 20:35 20:40 20:45 21:00 21:25 21:40 21:55 22:20 22:30 22:45 22:55 23:20

Special Agent Oso Lazytown Little Einsteins Jungle Junction Little Einsteins Special Agent Oso Jungle Junction Handy Manny Special Agent Oso Lazytown Mickey Mouse Clubhouse The Hive Jake & The Neverland Pirates Handy Manny The Hive Mini Adventures Of Winnie The Mouk Mouk The Hive Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Lazytown Art Attack Imagination Movers Lazytown The Hive Handy Manny Jungle Junction Imagination Movers The Hive Special Agent Oso Lazytown Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Little Einsteins Jake & The Neverland Pirates Mouk The Hive 101 Dalmatians 101 Dalmatians Imagination Movers Lazytown Art Attack Handy Manny Jake & The Neverland Pirates Little Einsteins The Adventures Of Disney Mini Adventures Of Winnie The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 101 Dalmatians Mouk Jake & The Neverland Pirates The Hive Mini Adventures Of Winnie The A Poem Is...

Animated Stories Mouk Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Jake & The Neverland Pirates Special Agent Oso Little Einsteins Timmy Time Jungle Junction Handy Manny Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Special Agent Oso

Moonshiners American Chopper: Senior vs Mythbusters Ultimate Survival Border Security Auction Hunters How Do They Do It? How It’s Made X-Machines Crash Course Fifth Gear One Car Too Far Border Security Auction Hunters Ultimate Survival American Chopper: Senior vs Wheeler Dealers Deadliest Catch Mythbusters How Do They Do It? How It’s Made Border Security Auction Hunters Deconstruction Around The World In 80 Ways Deadliest Catch

00:25 01:20 02:15 Ride 02:40 Ride 03:10 05:00 07:00 07:55 08:50 09:45 10:40 11:35 12:30 13:25 14:20 15:15 15:40 16:10 17:05 18:00 18:55 19:50 20:45 21:40 22:05 22:35 23:30

TNA: Greatest Matches M1 Selection 2010 Pinks: Lose The Race, Lose Your Pinks: Lose The Race, Lose Your Ed’s Up Maloof Money Cup 2010 Ride Guide Snow 2009 Winter Dew Tour 10/11 Freeflow Tour Blood, Sweat And Gears Fantasy Factory Pro Bull Riders 2010 Danger Men Carpocalypse World Combat League Fantasy Factory Fantasy Factory Winter Dew Tour 10/11 Freeflow Tour Danger Men Pro Bull Riders 2010 Carpocalypse World Combat League Formula Drift 2011 Formula Drift 2011 TNA: Greatest Matches M1 Challenge

23:20 Surviving Disaster 00:05 Stuck With Hackett 00:35 Nyc: Inside Out 01:25 Powering The Future 02:15 Things That Move 02:45 Stuck With Hackett 03:35 Tech Toys 360 04:25 Weird Or What?

05:15 Things That Move 05:40 Things That Move 06:05 Race To Mars 07:00 Brave New World 07:50 Head Rush 07:53 Weird Connections 08:20 How Does That Work?

08:50 Prototype This 09:40 Smash Lab 10:30 The Gadget Show 10:55 The Gadget Show 11:20 Engineered 12:10 Powering The Future 13:00 Tech Toys 360 13:25 Tech Toys 360 13:50 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 14:45 Smash Lab 15:35 The Gadget Show 16:00 Head Rush 16:03 Weird Connections 16:30 How Does That Work?

17:00 Nextworld 17:50 Prototype This 18:40 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 19:30 Things That Move 19:55 Things That Move 20:20 Nyc: Inside Out 21:10 The Gadget Show 22:00 Things That Move 22:50 Nyc: Inside Out 23:40 Prototype This

00:05 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 00:55 Food Network Challenge 01:45 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 02:35 Unwrapped 03:25 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 04:15 Guy’s Big Bite 04:40 Outrageous Food 05:05 Unique Eats 05:30 Chopped 06:10 Barefoot Contessa 07:00 Iron Chef America 07:50 Barefoot Contessa 08:40 Charly’s Cake Angels 09:05 Charly’s Cake Angels 09:30 Jenny Morris Cooks Morocco 09:55 Cooking For Real 10:20 Cooking For Real 10:45 Healthy Appetite With Ellie Krieger 11:10 Kelsey’s Essentials 11:35 Hungry Girl 12:00 Chopped 12:50 Guy’s Big Bite 13:15 Cooking For Real 13:40 Barefoot Contessa 14:05 Barefoot Contessa 14:30 Charly’s Cake Angels 15:20 Unique Sweets 15:45 Food Network Challenge 16:35 Barefoot Contessa 17:25 Jenny Morris Cooks Morocco 17:50 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 18:15 Guy’s Big Bite 18:40 Charly’s Cake Angels 19:30 Chopped 20:20 Iron Chef America 21:10 Jenny Morris Cooks Morocco 22:00 Extra Virgin 22:50 Luke Nguyen’s Vietnam 23:40 Guy’s Big Bite

20:20 Bang Goes The Theory 00:15 00:40 00:55 01:10 01:30 02:00 02:25 02:50 03:20 03:40

Little Einsteins Jungle Junction Jungle Junction Little Einsteins Special Agent Oso Lazytown Little Einsteins Jungle Junction Little Einsteins Special Agent Oso

Mystery Diagnosis Real Emergency Calls Who On Earth Did I Marry?

True Crime With Aphrodite Disappeared Street Patrol Murder Shift Mystery Diagnosis Real Emergency Calls Who On Earth Did I Marry?

True Crime With Aphrodite Disappeared Forensic Detectives Murder Shift Who On Earth Did I Marry?

True Crime With Aphrodite Stalked: Someone’s Watching Nightmare Next Door Couples Who Kill Stalked: Someone’s Watching Scorned: Crimes Of Passion Dr G: Medical Examiner

23:40 Scorned: Crimes Of Passion 00:00 00:30 01:00 Planet 01:30 02:00 02:30 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 06:30 07:00 07:30 08:00 08:30 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 14:30 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 Planet 19:30 Planet 20:00 21:00 22:00 22:30 23:00 23:30

Market Values Market Values Food Lover’s Guide To The One Man & His Campervan Kimchi Chronicles David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 1 Wheel2Wheel Danger Beach One Man & His Campervan David Rocco‚Äôs Dolce Vita 3 David Rocco‚Äôs Dolce Vita 3 First Ascent The Ride: Alaska To Patagonia Danger Beach Danger Beach Long Way Down Wheel2Wheel Treks In A Wild World Food School One Man & His Campervan David Rocco‚Äôs Dolce Vita 3 David Rocco‚Äôs Dolce Vita 3 Wheel2Wheel Danger Beach City Chase Marrakech Market Values Food Lover’s Guide To The Food Lover’s Guide To The Departures Travel Oz Don’t Tell My Mother Don’t Tell My Mother On The Camino De Santiago The Best Job In The World

23:00 Naked Science

23:50 Lazytown

Edition 00:40 07:00 Junior 07:50 08:45 09:40 10:05 10:30 10:55 11:25 12:20 12:45 13:15 14:10 14:35 15:05 16:00 Junior 16:55 17:20 18:15 19:10 19:40 20:05 20:35 21:00 21:30 22:25

08:40 09:30 09:55 10:20 Jones 11:10 12:00 12:50 13:40 14:30 14:55 15:20 Jones 16:10 17:00 17:50 18:40 19:05 Jones 19:55 20:20 21:10 22:00 22:50 23:40

00:30 01:20 02:05 02:55 03:45 04:30 Jones 05:20 06:10 07:00 07:50

I Was Murdered Evil, I Stalked: Someone’s Watching Scorned: Crimes Of Passion I Was Murdered True Crime With Aphrodite Mystery Diagnosis Disappeared Forensic Detectives Murder Shift

00:00 00:30 01:00 Planet 01:30 Planet 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 05:30 06:00 06:30 07:00 Planet 07:30 Planet 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 11:30 12:00 12:30 13:00 Planet 13:30 Planet 14:00 15:00 16:00 16:30 17:00 17:30 18:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00 23:00

Kimchi Chronicles One Man & His Campervan Food Lover’s Guide To The

15:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 16:00 The Colbert Report 18:30 Raising Hope 21:00 The Daily Show Global Edition 21:30 The Colbert Report Global Edition 22:00 Veep 23:00 Hot In Cleveland

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 07:30 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 12:30 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 16:30 17:00 18:00 19:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

Hawthorne True Blood The Killing Greek Unforgettable House Hawthorne Emmerdale Coronation Street The Closer The Ellen DeGeneres Show Unforgettable House Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show The Closer Hawthorne Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show The Closer 64th Primetime Emmy Wards The Newsroom Boardwalk Empire Greek

23:00 Greek 00:30 Deadtime Stories 2-PG15 02:30 Paranormal Activity 2: Tokyo Night-18 04:45 Lords Of Dogtown-PG15 07:00 Men In Black-PG15 09:00 Red Faction: Origins-PG15 11:00 Lords Of Dogtown-PG15 13:00 True Justice: Lethal JusticePG15 15:00 Red Faction: Origins-PG15 17:00 Four Brothers-PG15 19:00 RoboCop 3-PG15 21:00 Law Abiding Citizen-18 23:00 The Rig-18 23:00 The Speak-18

00:00 02:00 04:00 06:00 08:00 PG15 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00

Luste

The Answer Man-PG15 My Best Friend’s Wedding Mean Girls 2-PG15 How To Train Your Dragon-PG My Best Friend’s WeddingMy Girlfriend’s Boyfriend-PG15 The Bad News Bears (2005)-PG Wayne’s World 2-PG15 My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend-PG15 The Trotsky-PG15 Due Date-PG15 Mardi Gras: Spring Break-18

Food Lover’s Guide To The Departures Travel Oz Don’t Tell My Mother On The Camino De Santiago The Best Job In The World Kimchi Chronicles One Man & His Campervan Food Lover’s Guide To The Food Lover’s Guide To The Departures Travel Oz Don’t Tell My Mother On The Camino De Santiago The Best Job In The World Kimchi Chronicles One Man & His Campervan Food Lover’s Guide To The Food Lover’s Guide To The Departures Travel Oz Don’t Tell My Mother Don’t Tell My Mother On The Camino De Santiago The Best Job In The World One Man & His Campervan Long Way Down Destination Extreme Travel Oz Madventures Hunter Hunted

00:00 The Shining-R 02:00 Alien Resurrection-18 04:00 Quarantine 2: Terminal-18 06:00 Rocky IV-PG15 08:00 Fantastic Four-PG15 09:45 Last Breath-PG15 11:15 I Am Number Four-PG15 13:15 Fantastic Four-PG15 15:00 Spartacus-PG15 18:15 I Am Number Four-PG15 20:15 The Cry Of The Owl-PG15 22:00 Never Back Down 2: The Beatdown-18

01:00 Goodbye Solo-PG15 03:00 African Cats: Kingdom Of Courage-PG 05:00 Yogi Bear-FAM 07:00 Coyote County Loser-PG15 09:00 Goodbye Solo-PG15 11:00 The Conspirator-PG15 13:00 Happy Ever Afters-PG15 15:00 Family Gathering-PG15 17:00 Not Since You-PG15 19:00 Once Brothers-PG15 21:00 Love And Other Impossible Pursuits-PG15 23:00 Cowboys & Aliens-PG15 :00 Fighting-PG15 22:00 Homecoming-18 00:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 01:00 The Colbert Report 02:30 Hot In Cleveland 03:30 Last Man Standing 04:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 09:30 Two And A Half Men 10:00 The Office 11:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 14:00 Last Man Standing 14:30 The Office 15:00 Two And A Half Men

01:45 Kings And Queen-18 04:15 Munich-18 06:45 The River-PG15 09:00 Squanto: A Warrior’s Tale-PG15 10:45 The LXD: The Uprising BeginsPG15 12:15 The Fantastic Water Babes-PG 13:45 Swansong: Story Of Occi Byrne-PG15 15:30 The LXD: The Uprising BeginsPG15 17:00 Heart And Souls-PG 19:00 Divorces!-PG15 21:00 Posse-18 23:00 Country Strong-PG15 23:30 Square Grouper-18

01:00 Daydream Nation-PG15 03:00 Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides-PG15 05:15 Taken From Me: The Tiffany Rubin Story-PG 07:00 Waiting For Superman-PG15 09:00 The Art Of Getting By-PG15 10:45 Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides-PG15 13:00 Elevator Girl-PG15 15:00 The Tender Hook-PG15 17:00 The Art Of Getting By-PG15 19:00 Once Brothers-PG15 21:00 Extract-PG15 23:00 Cowboys & Aliens-PG15

00:00 Emilie Jolie-PG 02:00 Tom Tom & Nana-FAM 03:45 Rainbow Valley Heroes-FAM 06:00 How The Grinch Stole Christmas-PG 08:00 The Three Bears: Dreadful Dangers-FAM 10:00 Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil 12:00 Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules-PG 14:00 Alex & Alexis-FAM 16:00 The Ugly Duckling In The Enchanted Forest-PG15 18:00 Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil 20:00 The Lucky Dragon-PG 22:00 Alex & Alexis-FAM 22:00 Rainbow Valley Heroes-FA 01:00 Super League 03:00 Premier League Snooker 06:30 Futbol Mundial 07:00 Super League 09:00 AFL Premiership 11:30 Trans World Sport 12:30 Rugby Union Currie Cup 14:30 Rugby Union Currie Cup 16:30 Volvo Ocean Race Highlights 18:00 Super League 20:00 Ryder Cup 21:00 America’s Cup World Series Highlight 22:00 Super League

00:00 NRL Premiership 02:00 Rugby Union Currie Cup 04:00 Rugby Union Currie Cup 06:00 Senior European Tour Highlights 07:00 Premier League Snooker 10:30 Super League 12:30 Senior European Tour Highlights

KNCC PROGRAM FROM THURSDAY TO WEDNESDAY (20/09/2012 TO 26/09/2012) SHARQIA-1 PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) ROBOT & FRANK (2D- Digital) PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) ROBOT & FRANK (2D- Digital) PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) ROBOT & FRANK (2D- Digital) PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:45 PM 2:45 PM 4:45 PM 6:45 PM 8:45 PM 10:45 PM 12:45 AM

SHARQIA-2 BAIT (3D- Digital) FINDING NEMO (3D-Digital) BAIT (3D- Digital) BAIT (3D- Digital) RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION BAIT (3D- Digital) RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:30 PM 2:30 PM 4:30 PM 6:30 PM 8:30 PM 10:30 PM 12:30 AM

SHARQIA-3 SILENT HOUSE (2D- Digital) SILENT HOUSE (2D- Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) SILENT HOUSE (2D- Digital) SILENT HOUSE (2D- Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:30 PM 3:30 PM 5:30 PM 7:15 PM 9:15 PM 11:15 PM 1:15 AM

MUHALAB-1 SILENT HOUSE (2D- Digital) ROBOT & FRANK (2D- Digital) SILENT HOUSE (2D- Digital) ROBOT & FRANK (2D- Digital) ROBOT & FRANK (2D- Digital) SILENT HOUSE (2D- Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:45 PM 3:45 PM 5:45 PM 7:45 PM 9:45 PM 12:05 AM

MUHALAB-2 PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED MUHALAB-3 BAIT (3D- Digital) TETA RAHIBA (2D-Digital) FINDING NEMO (3D-Digital) RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION BAIT (3D- Digital) RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION BAIT (3D- Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED FANAR-1 ROBOT & FRANK (2D- Digital) ROBOT & FRANK (2D- Digital) TETA RAHIBA (2D-Digital) ROBOT & FRANK (2D- Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) ROBOT & FRANK (2D- Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED FANAR-2 PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) FINDING NEMO (3D-Digital) PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED FANAR-3 WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) STOLEN (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) HEROINE -Hindi (2D- Digital) HEROINE -Hindi (2D- Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED FANAR-4 RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION BAIT (3D- Digital) BAIT (3D- Digital) BAIT (3D- Digital) RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION BAIT (3D- Digital) RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION NO SUN+TUE+WED FANAR-5 SILENT HOUSE THE EXPENDABLES 2 SILENT HOUSE THE EXPENDABLES 2 SILENT HOUSE SILENT HOUSE NO SUN+TUE+WED

NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:30 PM 2:30 PM 4:30 PM 6:30 PM 10:15 PM 12:15 AM

12:30 PM 2:30 PM 4:45 PM 6:45 PM 8:45 PM 0:45 PM 12:45 AM

360 º- 9 (VIP-1) PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:45 PM 4:00 PM 6:15 PM 8:30 PM 10:45 PM 1:00 AM

12:30 PM 2:45 PM 5:00 PM 7:15 PM

360 º-10 (VIP-2) ROBOT & FRANK (2D- Digital) ROBOT & FRANK (2D- Digital) ROBOT & FRANK (2D- Digital) ROBOT & FRANK (2D- Digital) ROBOT & FRANK (2D- Digital) ROBOT & FRANK (2D- Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:45 PM 3:00 PM 5:15 PM 7:30 PM 9:45 PM 12:05 AM

360 º- 11 ROBOT & FRANK (2D- Digital) ROBOT & FRANK (2D- Digital) ROBOT & FRANK (2D- Digital) ROBOT & FRANK (2D- Digital) ROBOT & FRANK (2D- Digital) ROBOT & FRANK (2D- Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:45 PM 3:00 PM 5:15 PM 7:30 PM 9:45 PM 12:05 AM

360 º- 12 RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:30 PM 2:45 PM 5:00 PM 7:15 PM 9:30 PM 11:45 PM

360 º- 13 RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:30 PM 3:45 PM 6:00 PM 8:15 PM 10:30 PM 12:45 AM

360 º- 14 TETA RAHIBA (2D-Digital) TETA RAHIBA (2D-Digital) TETA RAHIBA (2D-Digital) TETA RAHIBA (2D-Digital) TETA RAHIBA (2D-Digital) TETA RAHIBA (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:15 PM 3:30 PM 5:45 PM 8:00 PM 10:15 PM 12:30 AM

360º- 15 STOLEN (2D-Digital) STOLEN (2D-Digital) BARFI! (Hindi)(2D-Digital) BARFI! (Hindi)(2D-Digital) STOLEN (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

2:00 PM 4:15 PM 6:30 PM 9:30 PM 12:30 AM

AL-KOUT.1 RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION FINDING NEMO (3D-Digital) BAIT (3D- Digital) TETA RAHIBA (2D-Digital) RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION BAIT (3D- Digital) BAIT (3D- Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:30 PM 2:30 PM 4:30 PM 6:30 PM 8:45 PM 10:45 PM 12:45 AM

7:15 PM 9:30 PM 11:45 PM

AVENUES-5 BAIT (3D- Digital) BAIT (3D- Digital) BAIT (3D- Digital) BAIT (3D- Digital) BAIT (3D- Digital) BAIT (3D- Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:00 PM 3:15 PM 5:30 PM 7:45 PM 10:00 PM 12:15 AM

AVENUES-6 BAIT (3D- Digital) BAIT (3D- Digital) BAIT (3D- Digital) BAIT (3D- Digital) BAIT (3D- Digital) BAIT (3D- Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:00 PM 3:15 PM 5:30 PM 7:45 PM 10:00 PM 12:15 AM

AVENUES-7 SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) BARFI! (Hindi)(2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) AVENUES-8 STOLEN (2D-Digital) STOLEN (2D-Digital) HEROINE -Hindi (2D- Digital) HEROINE -Hindi (2D- Digital) STOLEN (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:30 PM 3:30 PM 5:45 PM 9:00 PM 11:15 PM 2:15 PM 4:30 PM 6:30 PM 9:30 PM 12:30 AM

2:00 PM 4:00 PM 6:00 PM 8:00 PM 10:00 PM 12:05 AM

AVENUES-10 ROBOT & FRANK (2D- Digital) ROBOT & FRANK (2D- Digital) ROBOT & FRANK (2D- Digital) ROBOT & FRANK (2D- Digital) ROBOT & FRANK (2D- Digital) ROBOT & FRANK (2D- Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

2:00 PM 4:15 PM 6:30 PM 8:45 PM 11:00 PM 1:15 AM

12:45 PM 2:45 PM 4:45 PM 6:45 PM 9:45 PM 12:45 AM

AVENUES-11 RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:45 PM 4:00 PM 6:15 PM 8:30 PM 10:45 PM 1:00 AM

AL-KOUT.2 SILENT HOUSE (2D- Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) SILENT HOUSE (2D- Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) SILENT HOUSE (2D- Digital) SILENT HOUSE (2D- Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

2:00 PM 4:00 PM 6:00 PM 8:00 PM 10:00 PM 12:05 AM

360 º- 1 BAIT (3D- Digital) BAIT (3D- Digital) BAIT (3D- Digital) BAIT (3D- Digital) BAIT (3D- Digital) BAIT (3D- Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

2:00 PM 4:15 PM 6:30 PM 8:45 PM 11:00 PM 1:15 AM

AL-KOUT.3 PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:45 PM 2:45 PM 4:45 PM 6:45 PM 8:30 PM 10:30 PM 12:15 AM

360 º- 2 SILENT HOUSE (2D- Digital) SILENT HOUSE (2D- Digital) SILENT HOUSE (2D- Digital) SILENT HOUSE (2D- Digital) SILENT HOUSE (2D- Digital) SILENT HOUSE (2D- Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:30 PM 3:30 PM 5:30 PM 7:45 PM 10:00 PM 12:15 AM

AL-KOUT.4 ROBOT & FRANK (2D- Digital) ROBOT & FRANK (2D- Digital) ROBOT & FRANK (2D- Digital) ROBOT & FRANK (2D- Digital) ROBOT & FRANK (2D- Digital) STOLEN (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:45 PM 3:45 PM 5:45 PM 7:45 PM 9:45 PM 11:45 PM

2:15 PM 4:30 PM 6:45 PM 9:00 PM 11:15 PM

BAIRAQ-1 BAIT (3D- Digital) RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION FINDING NEMO (3D-Digital) BAIT (3D- Digital) BAIT (3D- Digital) BAIT (3D- Digital) RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:30 PM 2:30 PM 4:30 PM 6:30 PM 8:30 PM 10:30 PM 12:30 AM

BAIRAQ-2 PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) STOLEN (2D-Digital) PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) STOLEN (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

2:00 PM 4:15 PM 6:15 PM 8:45 PM 11:00 PM 1:00 AM

BAIRAQ-3 ROBOT & FRANK (2D- Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) ROBOT & FRANK (2D- Digital) SILENT HOUSE (2D- Digital) ROBOT & FRANK (2D- Digital) SILENT HOUSE (2D- Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:30 PM 3:30 PM 5:30 PM 7:30 PM 9:30 PM 11:45 PM

12:30 PM 2:30 PM 4:30 PM 6:30 PM 8:30 PM 10:30 PM 12:30 AM

1:30 PM 3:30 PM 5:30 PM 7:30 PM 9:45 PM 11:45 PM

MARINA-2 PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:45 PM 2:45 PM 4:45 PM 6:30 PM 8:30 PM 10:30 PM 12:30 AM

AVENUES-2 SILENT HOUSE (2D- Digital) SILENT HOUSE (2D- Digital) SILENT HOUSE (2D- Digital) SILENT HOUSE (2D- Digital) SILENT HOUSE (2D- Digital) SILENT HOUSE (2D- Digital)

12:30 PM 2:45 PM 5:00 PM 7:15 PM 9:30 PM 11:45 PM

1:45 PM 3:45 PM 5:45 PM 8:15 PM 10:15 PM 12:15 AM

2:00 PM 4:00 PM 6:00 PM 8:00 PM 10:00 PM 12:05 AM

AVENUES-1 TETA RAHIBA (2D-Digital) TETA RAHIBA (2D-Digital) TETA RAHIBA (2D-Digital) TETA RAHIBA (2D-Digital) TETA RAHIBA (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

AVENUES-4 PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) NO TUE (25/09/2012) Special Show“PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital)”for Mr. Dhari Al Aiban TUE (25/09/2012) PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:00 AM

AVENUES-9 FINDING NEMO (3D-Digital) Starting Time=12.30am THE EXPENDABLES 2 FINDING NEMO (3D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

MARINA-1 ROBOT & FRANK (2D- Digital) ROBOT & FRANK (2D- Digital) ROBOT & FRANK (2D- Digital) SILENT HOUSE (2D- Digital) ROBOT & FRANK (2D- Digital) SILENT HOUSE (2D- Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

MARINA-3 BAIT (3D- Digital) FINDING NEMO (3D-Digital) TETA RAHIBA (2D-Digital) BAIT (3D- Digital) RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION BAIT (3D- Digital) RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION NO SUN+TUE+WED

AVENUES-3 PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:00 PM 3:00 PM 5:00 PM 7:15 PM 9:15 PM 11:15 PM 1:15 AM

360º- 3 SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) SEVEN BELOW (2D-Digital) 360 º- 4 FINDING NEMO (3D-Digital) FINDING NEMO (3D-Digital) FINDING NEMO (3D-Digital) STOLEN (2D-Digital) STOLEN (2D-Digital) STOLEN (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED 360 º- 5 HEROINE -Hindi (2D- Digital) FRI+SAT HEROINE -Hindi (2D- Digital) HEROINE -Hindi (2D- Digital) HEROINE -Hindi (2D- Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED 360 º- 6 WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital)

2:30 PM 4:45 PM 7:00 PM 9:15 PM 11:30 PM

360 º- 7 THE EXPENDABLES 2 (2D-Digital) THE EXPENDABLES 2 (2D-Digital) THE EXPENDABLES 2 (2D-Digital) THE EXPENDABLES 2 (2D-Digital) THE EXPENDABLES 2 (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:15 PM 3:30 PM 5:45 PM 8:00 PM 10:15 PM 12:30 AM

360 º- 8 PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital)

1:30 PM 3:45 PM 6:00 PM 8:15 PM 10:15 PM 12:15 AM

12:45 PM 3:00 PM 5:15 PM 7:30 PM 9:45 PM 12:05 AM

2:30 PM 5:30 PM 8:30 PM 11:30 PM

1:15 PM 3:15 PM 5:15 PM 7:15 PM 9:15 PM 11:15 PM 2:30 PM 4:45 PM 7:00 PM 9:15 PM 11:30 PM

1:45 PM 4:00 PM 6:15 PM 8:30 PM 10:45 PM

PLAZA PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) BARFI! (Hindi)(2D-Digital) PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) TETA RAHIBA (2D-Digital)

3:45 PM 5:45 PM 8:45 PM 10:45 PM

LAILA RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION PREMIUM RUSH SILENT HOUSE PREMIUM RUSH

4:30 PM 6:30 PM 8:30 PM 10:30 PM

AJIAL.1 PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) THAPPANA (Malayalam) (2D-Digital) PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital)

3:30 PM 5:30 PM 7:30 PM 10:30 PM

Classifieds MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

FOR RENT

* Receptionist (Female) / Secretary two shift * Hardware / Software Engineer

Contact: 22669990 Email: info@fahadagroup.com info@fahad-group.com

in Mahboula (Foreigners only) PSR`]][ ķ`ab ĸ]]` O^O`b[S\b eWbV PObV`]][a eO`SV]caS `SQS^bW]\ YWbQVS\ be] ZWTba VO\Rg TOQWZWbWSa QZ]aS b] aSO

Rent KD 350

Tel: 97561966

Prayer timings Fajr:

04:18

Duhr:

11:40

Asr:

15:06

Maghrib:

17:42

Isha:

18:59

ACCOMMODATION

GOVERNMENT WEB SITES Kuwait Parliament www.majlesalommah.net

The Public Institution for Social Security www.pifss.gov.kw

Ministry of Interior www.moi.gov.kw

Public Authority of Industry www.pai.gov.kw

Public Authority for Civil Information www.paci.gov.kw

Prisoners of War Committee www.pows.org.kw

Kuwait News Agency www.kuna.net.kw

Ministry of Foreign Affairs www.mofa.gov.kw

Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affair www.islam.gov.kw

Kuwait Municipality www.municipality.gov.kw

Ministry of Energy (Oil) www.moo.gov.kw

Kuwait Electronic Government www.e.gov.kw

Ministry of Energy (Electricity and Water) www.energy.govt.kw

Ministry of Finance www.mof.gov.kw

Public Authority for Housing Welfare www.housing.gov.kw

Ministry of Commerce and Industry www.moci.gov.kw

Ministry of Justice www.moj.gov.kw

Ministry of Education www.moe.edu.kw

Ministry of Communications www.moc.kw

Ministry of Information www.moinfo.gov.kw

Supreme Council for Planning and Development www.scpd.gov.kw

Kuwait Awqaf Public Foundation www.awqaf.org

Single room accommodation for 2 Keralite bachelors (non-smoking) in CAC flat (single tenant occupies portioned hall) at Abbassiya opposite to Jas Cargo (opposite side of police station), reasonable rent. Call 66349475. (C 4176) 23-9-2012 FOR SALE

CHANGE OF NAME I, Shaikh Meetela Ahamad, S/O Shaik Mettala Vali, holder of Indian Passport No: F3613218 have changed my name Shaik Meetela Ahmad to Shaik Mettala Imad. (C 4147) 24-9-2012

No:

SITUATION VACANT Required driver for a Kuwaiti family.

Call: 99854312. (C 4144) 22-9-2012 Wanted full time maid/nanny in Salwa. Offering KD 120 salary. Must speak English and be good with small children. Call 9768-7172.

SITUATION WANTED Australian Project Manager, with two Engineering Degrees and four Master Degrees, with 23 years experience in Gulf and Australia, seeking top management job. Call: 65695468. (C 4140) 22-9-2012

15578

VW TAUREG, 2004 model, white color, beige interior, full options, only 83,000 km.

Price KD 4,200. Contact: 99405067. (C 4145) 22-9-2012 Furnished room with balcony and separate bath in a 2 bedroom flat near Abbassiya opp new BEC. Call 99516426.

(C 4143) Subaru outback model 2005, metallic color, mileage 2,12,000. Passing up to May 2013, good interior & exterior for only KD 600. Tel: 22493358.

Toyota Camry model 2011 GL silver color, 8,600 km done, excellent condition, price KD 4,350. Contact: 66839506. (C 4138)

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

Airlines JZR QTR JZR JZR ETH GFA UAE ETD FDB MSR QTR JZR KAC THY DHX JZR KAC BAW KAC FDB KAC KAC KAC UAE ABY GFA KAC QTR FDB ETD BAB KAC GFA IRC UAE MEA JZR MSR MSC JZR MSR KAC GFA FDB OMA KNE QTR SVA

Arrival Flights on Monday 24/9/2012 Flt Route 185 DUBAI 148 DOHA 539 CAIRO 267 BEIRUT 620 ADDIS ABABA 211 BAHRAIN 853 DUBAI 305 ABU DHABI 67 DUBAI 612 CAIRO 138 DOHA 503 LUXOR 544 CAIRO 770 ISTANBUL 170 BAHRAIN 555 ALEXANDRIA 412 MANILA 157 LONDON 206 ISLAMABAD 53 DUBAI 302 MUMBAI 352 COCHIN 362 COLOMBO 855 DUBAI 125 SHARJAH 223 BAHRAIN 284 DHAKA 132 DOHA 55 DUBAI 301 ABU DHABI 436 BAHRAIN 344 CHENNAI 213 BAHRAIN 6521 LAMERD 871 DUBAI 404 BEIRUT 165 DUBAI 618 ALEXANDRIA 401 ALEXANDRIA 561 SOHAG 610 CAIRO 672 DUBAI 219 BAHRAIN 57 DUBAI 645 MUSCAT 472 JEDDAH 140 DOHA 500 JEDDAH

Time 0:15 0:20 0:30 0:50 1:45 2:20 2:25 2:30 3:10 3:20 3:25 3:55 4:10 4:35 5:00 6:00 6:15 6:30 7:15 7:45 7:50 8:05 8:20 8:25 8:30 8:40 8:45 9:00 9:20 9:30 9:35 9:45 10:00 10:15 10:45 10:55 11:05 11:25 12:00 12:25 13:30 13:40 13:40 13:45 14:00 14:15 14:25 14:30

RJA JZR KAC QTR SYR KAC JZR ETD UAE UAL SVA GFA JZR JZR ABY KAC QTR KAC BAB KAC FDB MSC MSR KAC KAC KAC JAI KAC FDB MEA QTR GFA FDB ALK JZR UAE ETD ABY QTR AIC GFA UAL JZR TAR DLH MSR THY KLM PIA

640 257 546 134 341 118 535 303 857 982 510 215 177 777 127 542 144 786 438 104 63 405 620 618 674 742 572 774 61 402 146 221 59 229 135 859 307 129 136 975 217 981 239 327 636 614 772 411 239

AMMAN BEIRUT ALEXANDRIA DOHA DAMASCUS NEW YORK CAIRO ABU DHABI DUBAI WASHINGTON DC DULLES RIYADH BAHRAIN DUBAI JEDDAH SHARJAH CAIRO DOHA JEDDAH BAHRAIN LONDON DUBAI SOHAG ASSIUT DOHA DUBAI DAMMAM MUMBAI RIYADH DUBAI BEIRUT DOHA BAHRAIN DUBAI COLOMBO BAHRAIN DUBAI ABU DHABI SHARJAH DOHA CHENNAI BAHRAIN BAHRAIN AMMAN TUNIS FRANKFURT CAIRO ISTANBUL AMSTERDAM SIALKOT

14:55 15:00 15:05 15:15 15:55 16:00 16:00 16:35 16:55 17:10 17:20 17:20 17:30 17:40 17:45 18:15 18:20 18:40 18:40 18:45 18:45 19:00 19:10 19:20 19:25 19:30 19:35 19:40 20:00 20:15 20:25 20:35 20:45 20:55 21:15 21:15 21:25 21:30 21:35 22:25 22:35 22:40 22:55 22:55 23:10 23:35 23:40 23:40 23:45

Airlines AIC UAL DLH MSR JAI PIA THY ETH UAE FDB ETD MSR QTR QTR JZR JZR GFA THY KAC BAW FDB JZR ABY JZR KAC GFA UAE QTR FDB ETD BAB GFA IRC KAC KAC MEA JZR UAE MSR KAC MSC KAC JZR GFA FDB MSR

Depature Flights on Monday 24/9/2012 Flt Route 982 AHMEDABAD 981 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 637 FRANKFURT 615 CAIRO 573 MUMBAI 206 PESHAWAR 773 ISTANBUL 621 ADDIS ABABA 854 DUBAI 68 DUBAI 306 ABU DHABI 613 CAIRO 139 DOHA 149 DOHA 560 SOHAG 164 DUBAI 212 BAHRAIN 771 ISTANBUL 545 ALEXANDRIA 156 LONDON 54 DUBAI 256 BEIRUT 126 SHARJAH 534 CAIRO 671 DUBAI 224 BAHRAIN 856 DUBAI 133 DOHA 56 DUBAI 302 ABU DHABI 437 BAHRAIN 214 BAHRAIN 6522 LAMERD 541 CAIRO 165 ROME 405 BEIRUT 776 JEDDAH 872 DUBAI 619 ASSIUT 103 LONDON 406 SOHAG 785 JEDDAH 176 DUBAI 220 BAHRAIN 58 DUBAI 611 CAIRO

Time 0:05 0:25 0:30 0:35 0:50 1:10 2:15 2:45 3:45 3:50 4:05 4:20 4:50 5:40 6:00 6:55 7:05 7:10 8:10 8:25 8:25 9:00 9:05 9:10 9:20 9:25 9:40 10:00 10:05 10:15 10:25 10:45 11:15 11:30 11:45 11:55 12:15 12:20 12:25 12:30 13:00 13:10 13:20 14:25 14:25 14:30

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

OMA KAC KNE SVA KAC RJA QTR KAC KAC SYR ETD JZR JZR QTR UAE JZR GFA ABY UAL SVA QTR FDB BAB MSC JZR MSR KAC JAI FDB KAC KAC MEA FDB KAC GFA JZR DHX ALK ABY ETD UAE QTR KAC KAC JZR QTR GFA KAC TAR

646 673 473 501 617 641 135 773 741 342 304 238 538 141 858 134 216 128 982 511 145 64 439 402 184 621 283 571 62 331 351 403 60 543 222 502 171 230 120 308 860 137 301 205 554 147 218 411 328

MUSCAT DUBAI JEDDAH JEDDAH DOHA AMMAN DOHA RIYADH DAMMAM DAMASCUS ABU DHABI AMMAN CAIRO DOHA DUBAI BAHRAIN BAHRAIN SHARJAH BAHRAIN RIYADH DOHA DUBAI BAHRAIN ALEXANDRIA DUBAI ALEXANDRIA DHAKA MUMBAI DUBAI TRIVANDRUM KOCHI BEIRUT DUBAI CAIRO BAHRAIN LUXOR BAHRAIN COLOMBO SHARJAH ABU DHABI DUBAI DOHA MUMBAI ISLAMABAD ALEXANDRIA DOHA BAHRAIN BANGKOK DUBAI

15:00 15:05 15:15 15:45 15:45 15:50 16:15 16:25 16:30 16:55 17:20 17:30 17:40 17:45 18:05 18:20 18:20 18:25 18:30 18:35 19:20 19:25 19:30 20:00 20:05 20:10 20:15 20:35 20:40 20:50 21:05 21:15 21:25 21:30 21:35 21:45 21:50 21:55 22:10 22:20 22:25 22:35 22:40 22:45 23:00 23:10 23:30 23:40 23:45

34

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

s ta rs CROSSWORD 806

STAR TRACK

CALVIN & HOBBES

Aries (March 21-April 19) Your motivations may be tested. Serious ego conflicts are possible with others. If there is a flaw in your plan, it will become evident. In addition, your physical stamina is high and you may need to find a constructive outlet. Exert yourself physically to dispel any aggressive energy. Take responsibility for securing your own vulnerabilities with precaution, honesty, trust and self-respect. You may have a desire of greater independence and may want to break off an old relationship, move or change jobs. Change is the main attraction now; go with the flow. Avoid impulsive behavior and think through your present situation—find the positive and find the lesson and then find the humor because all three will be present. Discuss your ideas with family.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) Today you are feeling relaxed and simply enjoying yourself.

You would probably prefer to ease the day away, but if you must work, you will do so willingly and cheerfully. Your energy and enthusiasm are improving and you should be able to accomplish quite a lot—as long as you avoid the tendency to overreach yourself. Withdraw from useless religious, racial or professional conflicts. You will most likely be feeling generous, but stay away from the urge to become extravagant in your giving. You may also experience some conflict with others. However, as long as you do not become too pushy, you should be able to win them to your side. Take care to examine other points of view. Cultivate a compassionate attitude in yourself.

POOCH CAFE ACROSS 1. Tag the base runner to get him out.

4. A high-crowned black cap (usually made of felt or sheepskin) worn by men in Turkey and Iran and the Caucasus.

10. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey).

13. (informal) Of the highest quality.

14. A river that rises in northern Colombia and flows generally eastward to the Orinoco in central Venezuela.

15. 10 grams.

16. A tricycle (usually propelled by pedalling).

18. God of wealth and love.

20. Any of several tall tropical palms native to southeastern Asia having egg-shaped nuts.

21. A digital display that uses liquid crystal cells that change reflectivity in an applied electric field.

23. The sixth month of the civil year.

24. Any of the numerous plants of the genus Viola.

26. (Judaism) Sacred chest where the ancient Hebrews kept the two tablets containing the Ten Commandments.

27. Similar or related in quality or character.

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

31. A river in central Europe that arises in northwestern Czechoslovakia and flows northward through Germany to empty into the North Sea. 35. (Turkey) Parched crushed wheat.

36. The Oceanic language spoken by the Maori people in New Zealand.

37. A trivalent metallic element of the rare earth group.

38. Any small compartment.

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

41. Pacific newts.

47. A flat wing-shaped process or winglike part of an organism.

49. Cleanse (one's body) with soap and water.

52. The United Nations agency concerned with civil aviation.

56. A mythical Greek hero.

57. Comprises tropical American species usually placed in genus Masdevallia.

60. A periodic paperback publication.

63. A broad flat muscle on either side of the back.

64. A unit of surface area equal to 100 square meters.

65. A member of an agricultural people of southern India.

66. Hormone released by the hypothalamus that controls the release of thyroid-stimulating hormone from the anterior pituitary.

DOWN 1. Plant with an elongated head of broad stalked leaves resembling celery.

2. Type genus of the Aceraceae.

3. Annoy constantly.

4. Tropical American tree producing cacao beans.

5. A constellation in the southern hemisphere near Telescopium and Norma.

6. 1 species.

7. A radioactive transuranic element that is similar to uranium.

8. A radioactive element of the actinide series.

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

10. (Babylonian) God of storms and wind.

11. Mentally or physically infirm with age.

12. Any culture medium that uses agar as the gelling agent.

17. The formation of frost or ice on a surface.

19. Australian shrubs and small trees with evergreen usually spiny leaves and dense clusters of showy flowers.

22. An official prosecutor for a judicial district.

25. Wood of a larch tree.

28. A river in western Asia.

30. A federation of North American labor unions that merged with the Congress of Industrial Organizations in 1955.

32. The provision of money temporarily (usually at interest).

33. (informal) Exceptionally good.

34. A genus of Mustelidae.

39. (Akkadian) God of wisdom.

42. (usually plural) A destructive action.

43. A large genus of dicotyledonous trees and shrubs of the family Aquifoliaceae that have small flowers and berries (including hollies).

44. A white metallic element that burns with a brilliant light.

45. A heavy odorless colorless gas formed during respiration and by the decomposition of organic substances.

46. Of or relating to near the ear.

48. A genus of Ploceidae.

50. Slightly open.

51. Having nine hinged bands of bony plates.

52. A workplace for the conduct of scientific research.

53. Adherents of an exclusive system of religious beliefs and practices.

54. (botany) Of or relating to the axil.

55. Profane or obscene expression usually of surprise or anger.

58. A small piece of cloth.

59. (Irish) Mother of the ancient Irish gods.

61. The blood group whose red cells carry both the A and B antigens.

62. A public promotion of some product or service.60. (astronomy) A measure of time defined by Earth's orbital motion.

61. (Akkadian) God of wisdom.

Yesterday’s Solution

Gemini (May 21-June 20) The intriguing world of knowledge may take you to seek a particular book today. Take a couple of young people along if possible and show them how to look for just the right book; you will be pleased with the results. Even though there may be a little distraction, it will help them learn. Of course, you may need to make sure you are guided to the age-appropriate section. There are new discoveries and avenues to probe within the health foods, herbs, plants and other subjects that tweak your interest. Take a hand fan; it could get stuffy in the shops. Short trips tend to be favorable this afternoon— perhaps a trip to the market. There is time to visit with others later today. You may enjoy art, music and entertainment with a group tonight.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

NON SEQUITUR

You seem to have a mindset to complete unfinished work this morning. There will be friends waiting for you to surface this afternoon. Neighbors want to involve you in some neighborhood meeting. You have the concentration that is necessary to work things out on your own—it would be best to not be distracted too much from your original plans today. Be careful not to forsake old friends. You are physically attracted to others and your desire for social contact with friends is increased. Innocent flirtation, a movie or theater matinee, or a stroll through an art gallery is all favorably indicated. Watch your budget, but have fun. There promises to be much good in emotional relationships if you take the time to nurture them.

Leo (July 23-August 22)

Yesterday’s Solution

An appreciation of art, theater and music can be as therapeutic as it is enjoyable and entertaining. Take time today to enjoy a play, musical or even a movie with a friend. It’s a good time to dream big dreams, but keep your dreams in proportion and avoid escapist tendencies. You have private goals to be realized now as your domestic life becomes more important to you. This will necessitate that you gain better control of your financial security and earning. Spend your free time in updating a scrapbook or picture book today. Unconscious memories and intuitive knowledge are apt to be suddenly stimulated through meditation. You are prone to enjoy new and out-ofthe-ordinary ways to relieve stress—massage, aroma therapy, writing, etc.

Virgo (August 23-September 22) Sleeping late is not your thing—there is much on your mind. Your powers of perception are particularly sharp and you would do well now to work out the details of any plans that you have. Think about a request before answering too quickly—you can ask for time to think. You can expand your sense of social belonging. At times you will find open-minded acceptance of your ideas and ideals, particularly along technical, experimental, intellectual or humanitarian lines—however, you could be too advanced for some—patience. It is a good time for membership in clubs, groups and organizations. Benefits can come through new friends and colleagues. A romantic partner appreciates your tender loving care and he or she returns the favor.

Libra (September 23-October 22) As you develop more patience, persistence, skill, efficiency and organizational skills, you will automatically find new ways to earn more money. You may think about these things today. You tend to desire personal freedom and excitement in family and home life. This afternoon is a good time to check for problems with water, oil or gas leakage in or around your home and correct any problems that you may see. You may entertain friends this evening. This tends to be a time of greater emotional sensitivity as unconscious memories are stimulated. You have an interest in new or novel forms of services and may decide to take a class or two at the nearby college with one of your friends; perhaps through a continuing educational program.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) Be prepared to meet exciting people, try out new ideas and make interesting discoveries. You will be seeing old problems in a new light. You would do well to shelve your ordinary routine for the day and explore instead. You have ideas for making money and insuring security. It’s a good time for financial planning and correspondence. You may be traveling just now for business. Avoid overindulgence of rich or sweet foods. If you are in a familiar city, you might look up a few old friends for the evening. If you are at home, the placement of the planets is just perfect for you to entertain or heal disputes with friendly invitations. Cook up a simple menu and set aside some homemade ice cream for what could be the last of the outdoor gatherings this season.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) Today is perfect for focus on detailed mental or hand work—art, writing, etc. You are feeling particularly optimistic today. Now is a good time to set long-range goals or some plan for a future event with details of activities for an event. Flexibility will help if you or another person decides the ideas do not fit with the budget. You have an impressive lucky streak in gambling. Do not bet the farm and know when to quit or you will end up owing more than you have gained. It’s a poor time to buy on credit unless you have planned ahead. Pleasant social activities are on the increase—especially those related to educational, religious or cultural interests. Sports or games with children can be great fun this afternoon.

Word Search

Yesterday’s Solution Capricorn (December 22-January 19) Your charming personal manner and happy outlook enhances your attractiveness. This is a favorable time to express yourself socially and romantically. You will be feeling somewhat removed and introspective. Your loved ones may interpret this as coolness and indifference, so make an attempt to explain that you are just having a little time out for yourself.

Be mindful that this kind of introspection may lead to an enhanced awareness of the limits of communication between people. Any feeling of isolation or depression you may be feeling now is likely self-generated and a reminder to change your surroundings and perhaps to change your choice of activity for a while.

Apply your mental effort to studies or constructive talk.

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) You have a good chance to improve your level of education and your communications or foreign language skills. Your access to ideas, information, goods and services improves. Benefit can come through brothers and sisters, neighbors and relatives. Letters and short trips can be immensely enjoyable and rewarding. The time is favorable for study, teaching, lecturing, writing and publishing. If you have always wanted to write a book, now is the time to start. Avoid intellectual prejudices concerning personal religious, philosophical, cultural or educational views. Travel or a new car can be quite expensive. You may return to old romantic ties, or take a romantic interest in an older, mature or established person. Music complements your evening.

Pisces (February 19-March 20) You may have an opportunity for increased power and status in the family unit. You can overcome negative emotional conditioning and make effective use of your resourcefulness. You may encounter obstacles to a political path. Your struggle to achieve can be opposed by those in authority or government. You know that if you got what you wanted easily, it might not be appreciated much—keep working toward your goals. People you deal with today will be changing toward a more interesting following. You are prepared and organized and your efforts will bring about financial rewards. Keep setting those goals of achievement—they are just the right thing for your attention. Your achievements are commendable.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

i n f o r m at i o n For labor-related inquiries and complaints: Call MSAL hotline 128 GOVERNORATE Sabah Hospital

24812000

Amiri Hospital

22450005

Maternity Hospital

24843100

Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital

25312700

Chest Hospital

24849400

Farwaniya Hospital

24892010

Adan Hospital

23940620

Ibn Sina Hospital

24840300

Al-Razi Hospital

24846000

Physiotherapy Hospital

24874330/9

PHARMACY

ADDRESS

PHONE

Ahmadi

Sama Safwan Abu Halaifa Danat Al-Sultan

Fahaeel Makka St Abu Halaifa-Coastal Rd Mahboula Block 1, Coastal Rd

23915883 23715414 23726558

Jahra

Modern Jahra Madina Munawara

Jahra-Block 3 Lot 1 Jahra-Block 92

24575518 24566622

Capital

Ahlam Khaldiya Coop

Fahad Al-Salem St Khaldiya Coop

22436184 24833967

Farwaniya

New Shifa Ferdous Coop Modern Safwan

Farwaniya Block 40 Ferdous Coop Old Kheitan Block 11

24734000 24881201 24726638

Tariq Hana Ikhlas Hawally & Rawdha Ghadeer Kindy Ibn Al-Nafis Mishrif Coop Salwa Coop

Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St Salmiya-Amman St Hawally-Beirut St Hawally & Rawdha Coop Jabriya-Block 1A Jabriya-Block 3B Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St Mishrif Coop Salwa Coop

25726265 25647075 22625999 22564549 25340559 25326554 25721264 25380581 25628241

Hawally

Al-Madena

22418714

Al-Shohada’a

22545171

Al-Shuwaikh

24810598

Al-Nuzha

22545171

Sabhan

24742838

Al-Helaly

22434853

Al-Fayhaa

22545051

Al-Farwaniya

24711433

Al-Sulaibikhat

24316983

Al-Fahaheel

23927002

Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh

24316983

Ahmadi

23980088

Al-Mangaf

23711183

Al-Shuaiba

23262845

Kaizen center

25716707

Roudha

22517733

Adhaliya

22517144

Al-Jahra

25610011

Khaldiya

24848075

Al-Salmiya

25616368

Keifan

24849807

Shamiya

24848913

Shuwaikh

24814507

Abdullah Salim

22549134

Al-Nuzha

22526804

Industrial Shuwaikh

24814764

Al-Khadissiya

22515088

Dasmah

22532265

Bneid Al-Ghar

22531908

Al-Shaab

22518752

Al-Kibla

22459381

Ayoun Al-Kibla

ST TAT TE OF KUW K WA AIT

Tel.: e 161

DIRECTORA ATE T GEN GENERAL OF CIVIL AVIA V ATION T METEOROLOGICAL DEP PA ARTMENT

Expected Weather e for the Next 24 Hours BY Y NIGHT:

Relatively hot with light to moderate becoming fresh later on north westerly wind, with speed of 15 - 40 km/h with a chance for blowing dust over open areas later on

BY Y DA AY:

Hot with moderate to fresh north westerly wind, with speed of 20 - 45 km/h causing blowing dust

No Current Warnings arnin a

MAX. REC.

MIN. N. EXP P.

KUW WAIT A CITY

45 °C

30 °C

22451082

KUW WAIT A AIRPOR RT

45 °C

26 °C

Al-Mirqab

22456536

NUW WAISEEB A

42 °C

28 °C

Sharq

22465401

WAFRA A

45 °C

25 °C

Salmiya

25746401

SALMI

43 °C

26 °C

Jabriya

25316254

ABDAL LY

46 °C

24 °C

JAL ALIY YA AH

45 °C

26 °C

Maidan Hawally

25623444

FAILAKA A

44 °C

25 °C

Bayan

25388462

AHMADI POR RT

40 °C

32 °C

Mishref

25381200

UMM AL-MARADEM

37 °C

32 °C

W.Hawally

22630786

WARBA A A - BUBY YA AN

44 °C

21 °C

Sabah

24810221

Jahra

24770319

New Jahra

24575755

West Jahra

24772608

South Jahra

24775066 24775992

North Jleeb

24311795

Al-Ardhiya

24884079

Firdous

24892674

Al-Omariya

24719048

N.Kheitan

24710044

Fintas

23900322

INTERNATIONAL CALLS

WWW.MET.GOV V..KW

WARNING A

North Jahra

2627 - 2630 Ext.: 26

Fax: 24348714

ST TAT TION

SFC. CHART

23/09/2012 1200 UTC

4 DA AYS Y FORECAST Temperatures DA AY

DA AT TE

WEA AT THER

Monday

24/09

hot + blowing dust

42 °C

26 °C

NW

20 - 45 km/h

Tuesday

25/09

hot + raising dust

41 °C

23 °C

NW

20 - 40 km/h

Wednesday e

26/09

hot

41 °C

24 °C

NW-VRB

10 - 32 km/h

Thursday

27/09

hot

40 °C

23 °C

VRB

06 - 22 km/h

MAX.

Wind Speed

Wind Direction

MIN.

RECORDED YESTERDA AY AT KUW WA AIT AIRPOR RT

AYER Y TIMES PRA Fajr

04:17

MAX. Temp.

43 °C

Sunrise

05:37

MIN. Temp.

24 °C

Zuhr

11:41

MAX. RH

19 %

Asr

15:08

MIN. RH

06 %

Sunset

17:44

MAX. Wind

N 32 km/h

Isha

19:01

TOT TA AL L RA AINF FALL A L IN 24 HR.

00 mm

All times are local time unless otherwise stated.

PRIVATE CLINICS Ophthalmologists Dr. Abidallah Al-Mansoor 25622444 Dr. Samy Al-Rabeea 25752222 Dr. Masoma Habeeb 25321171 Dr. Mubarak Al-Ajmy 25739999 Dr. Mohsen Abel 25757700 Dr Adnan Hasan Alwayl 25732223 Dr. Abdallah Al-Baghly 25732223 Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT) Dr. Ahmed Fouad Mouner 24555050 Ext 510 Dr. Abdallah Al-Ali 25644660 Dr. Abd Al-Hameed Al-Taweel 25646478 Dr. Sanad Al-Fathalah 25311996 Dr. Mohammad Al-Daaory 25731988 Dr. Ismail Al-Fodary 22620166 Dr. Mahmoud Al-Booz 25651426 General Practitioners Dr. Mohamme Y Majidi 24555050 Ext 123 Dr. Yousef Al-Omar 24719312 Dr. Tarek Al-Mikhazeem 23926920 Dr. Kathem Maarafi 25730465 Dr. Abdallah Ahmad Eyadah 25655528 Dr. Nabeel Al-Ayoobi 24577781 Dr. Dina Abidallah Al-Refae 25333501 Urologists Dr. Ali Naser Al-Serfy 22641534 Dr. Fawzi Taher Abul 22639955 Dr. Khaleel Abidallah Al-Awadi 22616660 Dr. Adel Al-Hunayan FRCS (C) 25313120 Dr. Leons Joseph 66703427 Psychologists /Psychotherapists

Paediatricians

Plastic Surgeons Dr. Mohammad Al-Khalaf

22547272

Dr. Khaled Hamadi

Dr. Abdal-Redha Lari

22617700

Dr. Abd Al-Aziz Al-Rashed

Dr. Abdel Quttainah

25625030/60

Family Doctor Dr Divya Damodar

23729596/23729581

Psychiatrists Dr. Esam Al-Ansari

22635047

Dr Eisa M. Al-Balhan

22613623/0

Gynaecologists & Obstetricians DrAdrian arbe

23729596/23729581

Dr. Verginia s.Marin

2572-6666 ext 8321

Endocrinologist

25665898 25340300

Dr. Zahra Qabazard

25710444

Dr. Sohail Qamar

22621099

Dr. Snaa Maaroof

25713514

Dr. Pradip Gujare

23713100

Dr. Zacharias Mathew

24334282

(1) Ear, Nose and Throat (2) Plastic Surgeon Dr. Abdul Mohsin Jafar, FRCS (Canada)

25655535

Dentists

Dr. Fozeya Ali Al-Qatan

22655539

Dr. Majeda Khalefa Aliytami

25343406

Dr. Shamah Al-Matar

22641071/2

Dr. Ahmad Al-Khooly

25739272

Dr. Anesah Al-Rasheed

22562226

22618787

Dr. Abidallah Al-Amer

22561444

Dr. Faysal Al-Fozan

22619557

Dr. Abdallateef Al-Katrash

22525888

Dr. Abidallah Al-Duweisan

25653755

Dr. Bader Al-Ansari

25620111

General Surgeons Dr. Amer Zawaz Al-Amer

22610044

Dr. Mohammad Yousef Basher

25327148

Internists, Chest & Heart Dr. Adnan Ebil Dr. Latefa Al-Duweisan

22666300 25728004

Dr. Nadem Al-Ghabra

25355515

Dr. Mobarak Aldoub

24726446

Dr Nasser Behbehani

25654300/3

Soor Center Tel: 2290-1677 Fax: 2290 1688

Neurologists

22639939

Dr. Mousa Khadada

info@soorcenter.com www.soorcenter.com

3729596/3729581

Dr. Sohal Najem Al-Shemeri

25633324

Dr. Jasem Mola Hassan

25345875

Gastrologists Dr. Sami Aman

22636464

Dr. Mohammad Al-Shamaly

25322030

Dr. Foad Abidallah Al-Ali

22633135

Kaizen center 25716707

25339330

Dr. Ahmad Al-Ansari 25658888 Dr. Kamal Al-Shomr 25329924 Physiotherapists & VD Dr. Deyaa Shehab

25722291

Dr. Musaed Faraj Khamees

22666288

Rheumatologists: Dr. Adel Al-Awadi

Dr Anil Thomas

Dr. Salem soso

Dr. Abd Al-Naser Al-Othman

25330060

Dr. Khaled Al-Jarallah

25722290

Internist, Chest & Heart DR.Mohammes Akkad

24555050 Ext 210

Dr. Mohammad Zubaid MB, ChB, FRCPC, PACC Assistant Professor Of Medicine Head, Division of Cardiology Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital Consultant Cardiologist Dr. Farida Al-Habib MD, PH.D, FACC Inaya German Medical Center Te: 2575077 Fax: 25723123

2611555-2622555

William Schuilenberg, RPC 2290-1677 Zaina Al Zabin, M.Sc. 2290-1677

Afghanistan 0093 Albania 00355 Algeria 00213 Andorra 00376 Angola 00244 Anguilla 001264 Antiga 001268 Argentina 0054 Armenia 00374 Australia 0061 Austria 0043 Bahamas 001242 Bahrain 00973 Bangladesh 00880 Barbados 001246 Belarus 00375 Belgium 0032 Belize 00501 Benin 00229 Bermuda 001441 Bhutan 00975 Bolivia 00591 Bosnia 00387 Botswana 00267 Brazil 0055 Brunei 00673 Bulgaria 00359 Burkina 00226 Burundi 00257 Cambodia 00855 Cameroon 00237 Canada 001 Cape Verde 00238 Cayman Islands 001345 Central African 00236 Chad 00235 Chile 0056 China 0086 Colombia 0057 Comoros 00269 Congo 00242 Cook Islands 00682 Costa Rica 00506 Croatia 00385 Cuba 0053 Cyprus 00357 Cyprus (Northern) 0090392 Czech Republic 00420 Denmark 0045 Diego Garcia 00246 Djibouti 00253 Dominica 001767 Dominican Republic 001809 Ecuador 00593 Egypt 0020 El Salvador 00503 England (UK) 0044 Equatorial Guinea 00240 Eritrea 00291 Estonia 00372 Ethiopia 00251 Falkland Islands 00500 Faroe Islands 00298 Fiji 00679 Finland 00358 France 0033 French Guiana 00594 French Polynesia 00689 Gabon 00241 Gambia 00220 Georgia 00995 Germany 0049 Ghana 00233 Gibraltar 00350 Greece 0030 Greenland 00299 Grenada 001473 Guadeloupe 00590 Guam 001671 Guatemala 00502 Guinea 00224 Guyana 00592 Haiti 00509 Holland (Netherlands) 0031 Honduras 00504 Hong Kong 00852 Hungary 0036 Ibiza (Spain) 0034 Iceland 00354 India 0091 Indian Ocean 00873 Indonesia 0062

Iran 0098 Iraq 00964 Ireland 00353 Italy 0039 Ivory Coast 00225 Jamaica 001876 Japan 0081 Jordan 00962 Kazakhstan 007 Kenya 00254 Kiribati 00686 Kuwait 00965 Kyrgyzstan 00996 Laos 00856 Latvia 00371 Lebanon 00961 Liberia 00231 Libya 00218 Lithuania 00370 Luxembourg 00352 Macau 00853 Macedonia 00389 Madagascar 00261 Majorca 0034 Malawi 00265 Malaysia 0060 Maldives 00960 Mali 00223 Malta 00356 Marshall Islands 00692 Martinique 00596 Mauritania 00222 Mauritius 00230 Mayotte 00269 Mexico 0052 Micronesia 00691 Moldova 00373 Monaco 00377 Mongolia 00976 Montserrat 001664 Morocco 00212 Mozambique 00258 Myanmar (Burma) 0095 Namibia 00264 Nepal 00977 Netherlands (Holland) 0031 Netherlands Antilles 00599 New Caledonia 00687 New Zealand 0064 Nicaragua 00505 Nigar 00227 Nigeria 00234 Niue 00683 Norfolk Island 00672 Northern Ireland (UK) 0044 North Korea 00850 Norway 0047 Oman 00968 Pakistan 0092 Palau 00680 Panama 00507 Papua New Guinea 00675 Paraguay 00595 Peru 0051 Philippines 0063 Poland 0048 Portugal 00351 Puerto Rico 001787 Qatar 00974 Romania 0040 Russian Federation 007 Rwanda 00250 Saint Helena 00290 Saint Kitts 001869 Saint Lucia 001758 Saint Pierre 00508 Saint Vincent 001784 Samoa US 00684 Samoa West 00685 San Marino 00378 Sao Tone 00239 Saudi Arabia 00966 Scotland (UK) 0044 Senegal 00221 Seychelles 00284 Sierra Leone 00232 Singapore 0065 Slovakia 00421 Slovenia 00386 Solomon Islands 00677

36

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

LIFESTYLE G o s s i p

William wants to join Harry in Afghanistan ritain’s Prince William wants to join his brother, Prince Harry, on the front line in Afghanistan. The 30-year-old royal - an RAF search and rescue pilot - has asked RAF bosses if he can go out to the war zone to take part in some active service, and military officials are now thought to be trying to grant his wish. A Whitehall defense source told the Daily Star Sunday newspaper: “The brothers are in touch nearly every day but every time William hears from Harry he is left feeling really envious of all his Afghan adventures and wants to share in the action. “William is a serving officer and has said he wants to go. “Although the rule is he cannot be placed in harm’s way, they are seeing if they can bring it about before next spring when he has to decide if he’s staying on or leaving the Forces to be a full-time royal. “He could do a secret visit of a week or two if the powers that be would allow it. “We are not talking bombing the -Taliban, more like flying fetch-and-carry missions but he could still be involved.” William is expected to make the decision with his wife Duchess Catherine - who was known as Kate Middleton prior to the couple’s nuptials in April 2011 - before the end of the year. A St James’s Palace source said: “The prince has to decide before the end of the year and will make that decision with his wife. “He surprised us all when he said he wanted to be a search and rescue pilot. It was entirely his own idea. I would not put it past him to come up with something none of us thought of.” William went on a six-week tour of the Falklands earlier this year, but if he goes to Afghanistan he will have to train on Merlin helicopters after they replaced the Sea King choppers last year.

B

Pattinson wants to marry Stewart obert Pattinson will only take Kristen Stewart back if she marries him.

The 26-year-old actor - who was left devastated when his ‘Twilight’ co-star publically admitted this summer that she had cheated on him with her ‘Snow White and the Huntsman’ director Rupert Sanders - is said to be “desperate” to get back with the brunette beauty, but he wants her to “truly commit” to him. A source said: “Rob told Kristen the only way he can forgive her affair is if she truly commits to him. “Rob has been keen to marry Kristen for quite a while and he doesn’t want to get back with her unless he knows she means it for life too. “Although Kristen broke Rob’s heart he has realised he can’t live without her. He never stopped <http://www.dailystar.co.uk/posts/view/273488/Kris-n-make-up-wedding-for-Twi light-stars/> loving her and he believes she still loves him. “He is desperate to make it work and wants to give her another chance but not unless she proves she really wants it too.” Robert - whose ‘Twilight’ character Edward Cullen marries Kristen’s alter-ego Bella Swan in the film franchise - had plans to pop the question to Kristen shortly before she broke the news about her infidelity, and while she has previously not wanted to rush into marriage, the 22-year-old star “will do anything” to win him back. An insider added to the Daily Star Sunday newspaper: “They have both talked openly about marriage before and she’s been telling him for years that she doesn’t want to rush into anything. “But Kristen will do anything to get back with Rob now and one of the conditions is to discuss getting married and the future. Rob is very romantic and traditional.”

R

Simpson hates weight jibes essica Simpson is hurt by cruel taunts about her weight. The ‘Fashion Star’ mentor has been paid four million dollars by Weight Watchers to lose the weight she put on after giving birth to her first child Maxwell in May and promote their brand and although she has dropped 40lbs in four months, her cruel detractors have hit out at her for not losing the remaining 40 already. A source said: “For years, Jessica has been OK with her body and everyone loved her for that. But now she’s not feeling the love and she doesn’t like it. “She’s trying to conceal her hurt feelings with humor right now. She uses jokes and goofiness to hide the fact that she’s really sensitive.” Jessica unveiled her weight loss on TV last week and pals say she worked incredibly hard since giving birth to lose the extra weight. The source added to InTouch magazine: “The past few weeks were really difficult because the pressure was enormous. She knew everyone would be judging her. She was proud of her progress so to face all these cruel taunts now, it stings.”

J

Galifianakis

grateful for funny film roles

ach Galifianakis doesn’t think women would find him as funny if it wasn’t for his comical movie roles. The actor and stand-up comedian soared to fame after starring in ‘The Hangover’ - winning the Best Comedic Performance MTV Movie Award for his role of Alan - but doesn’t agree with the theory that women think the most attractive trait in a man is humor. He said: “You have to be in the movies for that to happen. Women love a funny guy as a friend. But nobody likes a funny guy in bed. “It doesn’t work to say, ‘Remember that dinner party? I was hilarious, right? Let’s go to bed together.’

“Zach, 42, is starring alongside ‘Elf’ actor Will Ferrell in upcoming comedy ‘The Campaign’, where the pair play rival politicians. Will starred in Zach’s Funny Or Die ‘Between Two Ferns’ production last year which saw Zach eating out of Will’s hand while they discussed their work.

When asked by ShortList magazine what the most difficult scene of ‘The Campaign’ was, Zach replied: “Oh, God. There was one scene where I was dressed up as a cheerleader, wearing a live python round my neck, and thinking the whole time, ‘This isn’t going to end up in the movie.’ “And luckily for him it didn’t, as he revealed the snake “peed and took a crap” on him while filming. ‘The Campaign’ will be in cinemas from September 28.

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The Script: Goulding’s album is ‘incredible’ llie Goulding’s new album is “incredible” according to Danny O’Donoghue. The Script frontman has enjoyed a private listen to the singer’s second record, ‘Halcyon’ - released in October - and assures fans are in a for a treat. He told Heat magazine: “Ellie played me a few bits from her upcoming album, and it’s incredible. She’s so talented.” Ellie has previously admitted the LP has a sad tone, and is a break up album. She said: “This album for me is a journey from dark into light, from confusion to understanding. I didn’t set out to write a break-up record but I think it became one. “I’m so incredibly proud of this record; I really can’t wait for you all to hear it. Going to post a little teaser later this week I think.” Meanwhile another favorite record Danny has recently rediscovered is David Gray’s ‘White Ladder’, which spawned the huge hit ‘Babylon’. He added: “I had some friends over for dinner recently and we had ‘White Ladder’ on. It was phenomenally popular when it was released in 1998, but it’s timeless. It still sounds as good now as it did then.”

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Rida

hit with $1 million tax bill lo Rida has been slapped with a $1 million tax bill. The chart-topping rapper - whose real name is Tramar Dillard - reportedly owes the IRS $1,040,777.45, and the federal agency has put a lien against his home in Southern Florida giving them the ability the sell it to secure the payment. The IRS filed legal documents against the 32-year-old ‘Wild One’ hitmaker in Miami-Dade County Court on September 7, which state that he hasn’t filed taxes since 2009.

Flo Rida, who has produced on a string of hits including singles with T-Pain, Alexandra Burke and The Saturdays, purchased his 2.3-acre estate for $1.6 million two years ago. The rapper - who is currently on a European tour - is just the latest in a string of celebrities such as Lauryn Hill and Nicholas Cage to be issued a large tax bill. The rapper has been plagued by legal issues recently.

Bosses of a security company have filed a lawsuit against him, claiming he failed to pay his bill for an alarm system they installed at his home. They are demanding payment plus interest amounting to $47,134 but Flo Rida claims he never authorized the work.

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Hilton

takes new romance to Hawaii

aris Hilton has jetted off to Hawaii with her new boyfriend. The 31-year-old socialite has flown to the sun-drenched island of Maui with Spanish model River Viiperi to escape the media storm surrounding her after she was recorded telling a friend in the back of a taxi that she thought a lot of gay men “probably have AIDS” and saying they are “disgusting” for being promiscuous.

Paris - who has since issued a lengthy apology, saying she is sorry “from the bottom” of her heart for insulting gay people - is now clearly hoping to put the incident behind her as she shared her holiday plans with her followers on Twitter.

“Just landed on a magical island with @RiverViiperi. Can’t wait to go surfing tomorrow!” Paris tweeted when they landed. Paris met the 21-year-old Calvin Klein model just 10 days ago at New York Fashion Week at the Marlon Gobel show in the Lincoln Centre. Since then they have been spotted hanging out backstage at some of the other fashion shows and according to PerezHilton.com are constantly “snuggling” and “seeing each other as much as they can”.

Although Paris, 31, was linked to Dutch DJ Afrojack - the first man since her split from boyfriend Cy Waits - in July, she insisted she was enjoying being single and wanted to be an “independent woman”. —Bang Showbiz

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MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

LIFESTYLE M u s i c

&

M o v i e s

China’s Mongolians rap n a sprawling industrial city in Inner Mongolia, three rappers surround a microphone, dressed in the baseball caps, baggy trousers and branded trainers favored by hip hop fans the world over. The sparsely populated region in northeastern China counts mining and milk among its main industries, and locals are more familiar with throat-singing than rapping. But members of China’s Mongolian ethnic minority, whose ancestors were first united by Genghis Khan, are turning to hip hop to condemn the resources boom they say is wreaking havoc on their traditions and lands-while avoiding the authorities’ attention.

“Herders are bribed with cash, and our land is torn up by machines,” the trio, who go by the English name Poorman, rap in their track “Tears”.

“Brothers and sisters, we need to wake up!” Once an economic backwater, the development of thousands of coal mines to tap Inner Mongolia’s vast mineral reserves has made the region one of China’s fastest-growing. But while some have prospered from the mining boom, other Mongolians resent being displaced from their land to make room for the mines, which they say scar the steppe and discriminate against them in recruiting. “There are all these songs about the beauty of Inner Mongolia’s grasslands, but

I

when people come to visit they realize it’s being turned into desert,” said band member Sodmuren, 25, who like many Mongolians uses a single name.

The region’s rappers adopted the genre a decade ago from their ethnic fellows in neighboring Mongolia, an independent country which has had a thriving hip hop scene for more 20 years. “Hip hop is the most honest kind of music there is,” Sodmuren told AFP in a recording studio in Inner Mongolia’s capital, Hohhot, where swathes of newly built concrete apartment blocks stretch into the grassy countryside. China’s Mongolians have seen their traditional way of life transformed by government policies encouraging nomadic herders to abandon their grazing lands for flats in the cities. As a result, most of the region’s rappers grew up in an urban environment. But Sodmuren and his bandmates retain a fascination with nomadic culture, incorporating pastoral imagery into their music.

One of Poorman’s videos shows the band sitting outside traditional tents, known as yurts, with one member wearing the deel, a Mongolian gown. “Although we grew up in yurts, after years in the city we’re forgetting our culture,” they sing. A few minutes’ drive away from their studio, a sprawling Gucci store is testament to the

new class of millionaires created by the mining boom, and their splurging on luxury cars and clothing. But Eregjin, a baseball-capped 27-year-old solo rapper who has been singing under the name MC Bondoo since he was a teenager, said: “We don’t admire luxury culture. We hate materialism, and the worship of expensive things.”

on coal and cash

He has the national symbol of independent Mongolia tattooed on his right arm. Mongolians are one of dozens of minority groups who live along China’s borders and speak Mandarin as a second language, seeing themselves as culturally different from the majority Han Chinese-now 79 percent of Inner Mongolia’s popu-

(From left) File picture shows rappers Beggar, Sodmuren and Mars from hip-hop band “Poorman” recording their music in Hohhot, north China’s Inner Mongolia region. —AFP photos

lation.

Mandarin is increasingly popular for economic reasons even among Mongolians, and the rappers see their songs as a way to keep their own tongue alive. “We’re worried about the future of the Mongolian language, because there are fewer and fewer children attending bilingual schools,”

Sodmuren said. “The danger is that we’ll lose our Mongolian identity.”

Ethnic identification can be a sensitive topic in China, where the government is anxious to avoid social unrest.

When a Han Chinese coal truck driver ran over a Mongolian herdsman in 2011 it triggered more than a week of protests by hundreds of people in cities and towns across the region. A rapper known as Syrlig was detained by authorities in 2011 after writing a song called “Stand up, Inner Mongolians!” several singers told AFP. He has since moved to Mongolia, the rappers said. “There are some lyrics we’d sing in shows, but if we published them we’d be arrested,” MC Bater, a member of one of Inner Mongolia’s most successful hip hop groups, PTS, told AFP. But the scene’s low profile, combined with a degree of self-censorship-declining to target individuals or the ruling Communist Party by nameallows Mongolian rappers to escape censure from the authorities. “I complain about government officials in my songs, but I don’t name anyone directly,” Sodmuren said. “I have to be smart.” —AFP

A picture shows rapper Sodmuren of hip-hop band “Poorman”, making a phone call.

Neglect ruins Imelda Marcos’ prized shoes ermites, storms and neglect have damaged part of former Philippine first lady Imelda Marcos’ legendary collection of shoes and other possessions left behind after she and her dictator husband were driven into US exile by a 1986 popular revolt. Hundreds of pieces of late strongman Ferdinand Marcos’ clothing, including the formal native see-through barong shirts he wore during his two-decade rule, have also begun to gather mold and fray after being stored for years without protection at the presidential palace and later at Manila’s National Museum, officials told AP yesterday.

The Marcoses fled the Philippines at the climax of an army-backed “people power” revolt which became a harbinger of change in authoritarian regimes worldwide. Ferdinand Marcos died in exile in Hawaii in 1989 and his widow and children returned home years later. They left behind staggering amounts of personal belongings, clothes and art objects at the palace, including at least 1,220 pairs of Imelda Marcos’ shoes.

More than 150 cartons of clothes, dress accessories and shoes of the Marcoses were transferred to the National Museum for safekeeping two years ago after termites, humidity and mold threatened the apparel at the riverside palace. They deteriorated further at the museum after the fragile boxes were abandoned in a padlocked hall that had no facilities to protect such relics and was inundated by tropical rains last month due to a gushing leak in the ceiling, museum officials said.

Museum staffers, who were not aware the boxes contained precious mementoes from the Marcoses, opened the hall on the fourth floor of the building after noticing water pouring out from under the door. They were shocked to see Marcos’ shoes and gowns when they opened the wet boxes, officials said. Workers hurriedly moved the boxes to a dry room and some were later brought to a museum laboratory, where a small team of curators scrambled to assess the extent of the damage, a process that may take months given the huge volume of the apparel. Some items have been damaged by termites and mold beyond repair, according to museum curator Orlando Abinion, who is heading the effort.

“We’re doing a conservation rescue,” Abinion told the AP. “There was termite infestation and mold in past years, and these were aggravated by last month’s storm. It’s unfortunate

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(From left) French actresses Isabelle Huppert and Catherine Deneuve, Spanish actress Marisa Paredes and Chilean film director Valeria Sarmiento pose prior to attending the screening of their film “As Linhas de Torres” (Lines of Wellington), during the 60th San Sebastian International Film Festival, yesterday, in the northern Spanish Basque city of San Sebastian. —AFP

Chicago Symphony musicians go on strike he Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association said orchestra musicians went on strike Saturday after rejecting proposals for a three-year contract. The contract would have provided musicians with a minimum base weekly salary of $2,795 in the first year, $2,835 in the second and $2,910 in the third, the organization said. The previous weekly base minimum salary is $2,785. “We regret any inconvenience the musicians’ strike causes our audiences and patrons and assure you that the Association remains committed to reaching a fair agreement,” Deborah Rutter, president of the Orchestra Association, said in a statement Saturday. “Chicago Symphony Orchestra musicians are world class professionals, and deserve every dollar and every benefit offered in this contract.

“At the same time, we must soundly manage the finances of the Association.”

Officials with the Chicago Federation of Musicians, which represents the musicians, did not immediately return a phone call to The Associated Press for

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comment Saturday night. The previous collective bargaining agreement expired at midnight Sept. 16, the Orchestra Association said. Musicians and management had previously agreed to start the 2012-2013 season this week while contract negotiations that started this summer continued. Rehearsals and concerts were held earlier this week as scheduled.

But the organization said musicians left the negotiating table Saturday, rejecting the association’s final offer, and “proceeded to strike.” “We have had 11 negotiating sessions and we have productively negotiated work rules and scheduling and such issues,” Rutter told the AP in a phone interview Saturday night. “But at the end of the day today, we could not come to an agreement on compensation and health benefits.” An orchestra performance set for Saturday night was canceled because of the strike. —AP

because Imelda may have worn some of these clothes in major official events and as such have an important place in our history,” he said. AP journalists saw a badly tattered box at the museum filled with damaged and soiled leather bags and designer shoes belonging to Imelda Marcos.

Termites had damaged the heel and sole of a white Pierre Cardin shoe.

Other shoes were warped out of shape or badly stained.

About 100 of Ferdinand Marcos’ barong shirts were squeezed tightly into another box, some still attached

was not immediately available for comment yesterday. Her massive shoe collection, including top US and European brands, astounded the world and became a symbol of excess in the Southeast Asian nation, where many still walked barefoot out of abject poverty.

Ferdinand Marcos’ successor, democracy icon Corazon Aquino, accused him of stealing billions of dollars during his 20-year rule and ordered many of his assets seized. The clothes and shoes of the Marcoses were not among the assets allegedly

In this photo taken Aug 14, 2012 Imelda Marcos dress ragged by termites is shown at a section of the National Museum.

In this photo taken Sept 19, 2012, branded high heel shoes, once worn by flamboyant former Philippine first lady Imelda Marcos, sit among equally-damaged shoes and bags in a section of the National Museum in Manila. —AP Photos to plastic hangers. A white barong shirt on top, with the presidential seal emblazoned on its pocket, had reddish stains and a sleeve was nearly torn off. Imelda Marcos, now a member of the House of Representatives,

worth of cash, bank accounts and prime real estate from the Marcoses and their cronies, she said.

After the 1986 revolt, Aquino had Imelda Marcos’ shoes displayed at the presidential palace as a symbol of the former first lady’s lavish lifestyle. The shoes were then removed from public view and stored in the palace basement when Aquino stepped down in 1992. Mrs Marcos once claimed most of her foreign-branded shoes were fake, though that has never been independently verified. But the world’s fascination with her footwear, including a battery-operated pair that blinked when she danced, has ensured a hefty price tag. A 1990 US charity auction of one pair donated by her fetched $10,000.

Imelda Marcos claimed many of the shoes were gifts from Filipino shoemakers in suburban Marikina city, the country’s shoemaking capital.

Marikina officials borrowed 800 pairs of her shoes in 2001 for a shoe museum, which has become a tourist spot.

Unapologetic about the past, Mrs Marcos said her shoes became her best defense. “They went into my closets looking for skeletons, but thank God, all they found were shoes, beautiful shoes,” she told reporters when she inaugurated the shoe museum.

Massive flooding, however, damaged dozens of pairs of Marcos’ shoes in Marikina in 2009. About 765 pairs, including famous brands like Gucci, Charles Jourdan, Christian Dior, Ferragamo, Chanel and Prada, survived the Marikina floods. The shoes, size 8 ½ to 9, still look remarkably new due to meticulous museum care, which includes displaying them in airtight and dust-free glass cabinets in an air-conditioned gallery, away from direct sunlight. The shoe collection draws a daily crowd of 50 to 100 Philippine and foreign tourists, who almost always leave in awe, museum manager Jane Ballesteros said.

“The first word they utter is ‘Wow,’ followed by the question, ‘Was she able to wear all of these?’” Ballesteros said. “When I say, yes, look at the scratches on the soles, the next reaction is, ‘Really?’”“It’s amusing,” Ballesteros said. “Her shoes never fail to astound people years after.” —AP

stolen by them and sequestered by the government following the dictator’s fall, according to Presidential Commission on Good Government official Maita Gonzaga. The government has so far recovered $2.24 billion

Ansari, Goodwin keep Emmy rehearsals casual he Emmy Awards were still a day away, but the Nokia Theatre was already abuzz Saturday as celebrities popped in to run through their lines for today’s ceremony.TV stars such as Aziz Ansari, Matthew Perry, Ginnifer Goodwin and Hayden Panettiere practiced presenting awards on the Emmy stage inside the mostly empty theater ahead of today’s ABC broadcast. Ansari, of NBC’s “Parks and Recreation,” sported a red polo, tan slacks and a phony British accent as he delivered his introduction with a bottle of coconut water in hand.

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Bollywood Actor Amitabh Bachchan and Rajpal Yadav attend the music launch for the film “Ata Pata Laapata” in Mumbai yesterday. —AFP

“I feel like people take your acting more seriously when you’re British,” he quipped.

When Goodwin, of ABC’s “Once Upon a Time,” stepped on stage, her first question was: “Where am I sitting?” The pixie-haired actress squinted her eyes as she attempted to spot her place card in the crowd. Dressed casually in a matching floral print top and jeans with black ballerina flats, Goodwin kept her purse around her shoulder as she pretended to present an Emmy.

Panettiere, who is starring in the new ABC

drama “Nashville,” presented an award “for this rehearsal only” to a stand-in for “Mad Men” creator Matthew Weiner, but she mispronounced his name. Producers quickly corrected the actress, who probably won’t make the same mistake if Weiner wins today. Also spotted backstage Saturday were Andre Braugher of ABC’s “Last Resort” and Lena Dunham, who’s up for the best actress in a comedy trophy for her HBO series “Girls.” —AP

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

lifestyle F A S H I O N

Marni

presents ‘sparseness as elegance’ M

arni’s runway space was pure white, devoid of collection clues where normally there is a hint, of say, a repeating geometric pattern. And then again, that emptiness spoke volumes. “Sparseness as elegance,” the label wrote in notes for the spring-summer 2013 collection previewed yesterday during Milan Fashion Week.

There was simplicity to the collection that is hard to define as minimalist, given the volume-creating effects of folds in A-line skirts and peplums, or short overskirts, added to tops and jackets. Necklines were mostly simple V’s or crew.

Skirts and dresses were the mainstay of the collection, with some roomy shorts - lovely in leather with equally roomy V-neck tops with three-quarter sleeves - and slimfitting pedal pushers. Much of the line was monochromatic: white, black and green with touches of orange or aqua.

Designer Consuelo Castiglioni also was true to the label’s Bohemian feel with bold patterns, checked fabric had transparent blocks, lending a seasonal lightness, and sequences of undulating semicircles. There were also block flowers - floral prints and motifs a clear trend this season.

Models display creations as part of Marni Spring-Summer 2013 show yesterday during the Women’s fashion week in Milan.

— AFP photos

Castiglioni chose sturdy materials, cotton canvas, jacquard and leather, which defined the clean line, and contrasted to volumes created through lighter, billowing fabric on other Milan runways. Open-toe slingback sandals had accents of silver or golden metal on the wedge, and platform sandals strapped around the ankle gave a hint of the Orient. Hair was pulled back easily, leaving loose strands for a look of careless freedom. — AP

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

lifestyle F A S H I O N

File image shows Maria Kowroski and Charles Askegard in “Sophisticated Lady” at the New York City Ballet fall gala, with costumes designed by Valentino Garavani in New York. — AP photos

File image shows Tiler Peck, left, and Robert Fairchild performing in “Not My Girl” at the New York City Ballet fall gala.

Ballet meets Valentino at glittery NYCB gala O

File image shows actress Sarah Jessica Parker and designer Valentino Garavani.

ne by one, the ballerinas of New York City Ballet made their grand entrances in “Bal de Couture,” a new work by Peter Martins, and the glittery crowd applauded in delight. But the applause, this time, wasn’t for the dancers. It was for the costumes. You might have thought Fashion Week at Lincoln Center was already over. But on Thursday night, on the same plaza where models had strutted the runways just days earlier, it seemed like that had been a mere prelude to NYCB’s glittery fall gala. The evening’s star was legendary designer Valentino, and the focus was on clothes, onstage and off.

And they were pretty cool clothes: Designer gowns in the audience, of course, many of them in Valentino’s signature red, but truly dramatic concoctions onstage: flouncy dresses in layers and layers of black and white tulle, for example, revealing a surprise under-layer of bright red or pink, like red bloomers on a cancan girl. Or a one-shoulder ballgown covered with rosettes, all in ruby red. Or sculpted, bubble-shaped tutus with tight bodices, in black, white, and, of course, red.

Valentino, whose full name is Valentino Garavani, is now 80, a statesman of the fashion world. He retired nearly four years ago from the fashion house he founded in 1960. But one of his most loyal celebrity fans, Sarah Jessica Parker, a board member of City Ballet, came up with the idea of a collaboration for the fall gala. It didn’t hurt that Valentino was a longtime friend of Martins, City Ballet’s master in chief. Fashion, the company clearly reasoned, could be a way to connect with younger audiences. It wasn’t the first time City Ballet has reached out to top designers; the last gala, in the spring, was a French-themed evening featuring costumes by Gilles Mendel, of the J.

Mendel label. And last spring’s gala featured “Ocean’s Kingdom,” with music by one Paul McCartney. The costume designer? His designer daughter Stella, of course.

But Thursday’s gala was the company’s most sweeping ode to fashion yet. In the crowd, along with Parker, were other famous fans like actress Anjelica Huston, model Iman, actress Anne Hathaway, and Martha Stewart. A number of ballet patrons wore Valentino, sometimes with accompanying rubies and diamonds. Speaking of “Rubies,” that Balanchine classic - the middle section of his famous “Jewels” - was the only ballet per formed Thursday that Valentino didn’t design for. Its well-known red costumes are by Karinska, and its inclusion was a clear tribute to the designer.

The evening began with two new ballets created by Martins. In “Sophisticated Lady,” to music by Duke Ellington, Maria Kowroski glided ballroom-style around the stage with a contingent of tuxedo-clad men, 17 to be exact, led by the suave (and recently retired) Charles Askegard. The dancing was pleasant but the focal point was clear: Kowroski’s fabulous red, one-shoulder Valentino gown. (Hopefully, she recycled it later for the evening’s gala dinner.)

Another new Martins work followed, “Not My Girl” to music by Fred Astaire and Van Phillips, notable for the tapping of Robert Fairchild and the bright, engaging dancing of Tiler Peck in a frothy pink-and-red Valentino tutu. The best dancing by far, though, came in the lovely and heartbreaking new pas de deux

by Christopher Wheeldon, “This Bitter Earth,” to music by Max Richter and Dina Washington. It was a preview of Wheeldon’s new ballet, “Five Movements, Three Repeats,” and though there are no immediate plans for City Ballet to perform it again, it was the highlight of the night

for those who came for dance. Whelan remains a wonder ful muse for the hugely gifted Wheeldon, her every move conveying meaning, purpose and feeling.

The evening would end with a sumptuous dinner on the promenade of the David H. Koch Theater, where tables were decked with pink

File image shows Barry Diller, left, and designer Diane von Furstenberg.

File image shows dancer Wendy Whelan wearing a Valentino Garavani costume.

tablecloths and bright red flowers, with red sashes crisscrossing the room overhead. But first came the true fashion show of the night, Martins’ “Bal de Couture,” with those tulle-filled creations. (It was a pleasure to see the expressive Janie Taylor in a lead role, a hopeful sign for the season ahead.) Afterward, the crowd stood - but only when Valentino came out for his bows. —AP

Fur bikinis?

Brazil new horizon for booming fur trade F

Emamo beachwear collection

ur on Copacabana beach? Why not.

Boosted by a 10-year surge in sales to Asia, the global fur industry is primed to take on what it sees as the markets of tomorrow. Hobbled during the anti-fur 1980s and 1990s, the trade has rebounded as all but a few designers put fur back on the catwalks, and luxury-hungry China sent global sales surging 70 percent in a decade, to 15 billion dollars in 2011. But Mark Oaten, a former British MP who took the helm of the International Fur Trade Federation (IFTF) last year, is already scanning the horizon beyond Asia and its six billion dollars in annual fur sales. “The knack of any industry is to spot where the next market is,” said Oaten, whose key targets are Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and-despite some skepticism in the business-Brazil. “We know Brazil is going to be an economic powerhouse, we know Brazil loves its fashion-this is the market in my judgment.” “This industry tends to follow where the wealth is. Our product has always Models get ready backstage before the Blue fashion beach event yesterbeen associated with the cold. But day at the Women’s fashion week in Milan. — AFP photos now our product has changed, and we are able to follow the shaved so close it becomes like vel- on of a trade, fur farming, that is banned outwealth into warm climates.” New right in Britain, Austria and Croatia, could vet or silk.” types of fur-colored, lightweight, soon face a ban in the Netherlands, and trim-are making the industry less remains contested elsewhere.

‘Ours is a dependent on the cold season.

None of the IFTF’s upcoming ad camcontroversial industry’ “We will not sell grandma’s fur paigns tackle the issue of animal welfare To woo new markets, the IFTF is coat in Brazil. We are are selling head-on, but since 2007 it has been working launching a multi-pronged public fashion,” Oaten explains. Philippe on a global welfare labeling scheme called relations drive, with an ad camBeaulieu, head of the French Fur “Origin Assured”. The OA label-which currentpaign in Vogue highlighting fur as association, says European furly applies to two thirds of furs sold worlda fashionista must-have. Another mostly mink and fox, accounting ad in GQ magazine, in tandem with wide-ensures fur comes from a country that for 60 percent of world producenforces Council of Europe standards on cage US designer Rick Owens, will be Parah New tion-have been transformed size, access to water, type and regularity of aimed at men, “the 50 percent of Generation through working with fashion feed, housing conditions and pain-free the population that’s still designers. “Designers push us to slaughtering techniques. untapped”. Full-page ads in The do new things. We are now able to work “Ours is a controversial industry so the sysEconomist will emphasize fur’s performance lighter fur with a regular sewing machine tem that we have is under scrutiny the whole through the recession, while a campaign in instead of a fur machine. We can mix it with Home and Garden magazine will push fur as a time,” Oaten said. The countries that currently different fabrics, use laser to create patterns meet OA standards are Belgium, Canada, home furnishing material. or cut holes, without damaging the fur.” Marc Denmark, Finland, France, the Netherlands, A one-time candidate for the Liberal Jacobs for Louis Vuitton, and Jean Paul Democrat party leadership, Oaten resigned as Norway and the United States. The big excepGaultier have each used lightweight fur for tion is China, which produces 25 percent of its home affairs spokesman in 2006 after a summer collections-so is this the shape of the world’s fur, much of it for the domestic tabloid revealed he had paid for sex with a things to come? “Absolutely,” said Beaulieu. market. male prostitute. He stood down at the 2010 “There are no hang-ups about putting fur on The IFTF has set up a Chinese branch to try general election. His new job also brings the summer catwalks, because it can be more than its share of controversy, as champi- to push its farmers towards European stan-

Emamo beachwear collection

A model displays a creation as part of the Gianantonio a Paladini beachwear collection of the Blue fashion beach event yesterday at the Women’s fashion week in Milan. dards, but Beaulieu conceded “it will take time”. Oaten readily accepts that “in Asia, certainly in China there is less of a tradition of animal welfare” than in the West. Towards the most virulent anti-fur activists, meanwhile, he is calmly dismissive: “There will always be vegetarians, people opposed to nuclear weapons that are fine, that what healthy democracy is about.” — AFP

China’s Mongolians rap on coal and cash

37

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

Riders in traditional dress as they compete.

Buddhists do battle in world’s highest horse race T

he clansmen and monks of the mystical land of Upper Dolpa first gathered eight centuries ago to pray, feast, fight over property and vie for the title of fastest horseman in the Himalayas. They have met every 12 years since in the Tibetan Year of the Dragon for a festival in modern-day Nepal centered around the world’s highest horse race, although these days they ride for honor rather than land. Around 50 cavaliers who have come from tiny villages dotted all over the Himalayas prepare to run the perilous course, a narrow strip of rocky river bed 4,300m (14,107 ft) above sea level in the rarified air of the world’s tallest mountain range.

A horn signals the start and men in silk head dresses, leather coats lined with yak fur,

golden chains and icons of the gods of animistic folk religions swinging from their necks gallop away on their ornately adorned ponies. Thousands of monks and other devotees who have walked for days to the Shey Dragon Festival roar on their favorites and wave the flags of their gurus. The eight furlong (1.6 kilometer) course is essentially a ravine studded with boulders, ditches and a not inconsiderable stream of treacherously cold water.

It is not long before the riders succumb to the hazardous terrain. After the half-way turn three of the runners lose their balance, stumbling on the rocks along the jagged bed of the stream before a pile-up takes out another five near the end. One horse tumbles to an

almighty splash after clattering into a felled co-competitor, braying loudly as if to let the crowd know straight from the horse’s mouth how unpleasant the icy stream feels. The winner, by a clear distance, is a 23-year-old farmer named Tenzin Gurung from the neighboring former kingdom of Mustang, whose

ing good, I’m very happy. I’ve won other competitions in Mustang with this same horse,” he said. “I didn’t even have to buy her-she is bred from another horse I owned. She is a very good ride but if I could use the horses they use in the West I’d be even better.” This seems unlikely, given the extra strain the thin mountain air puts on the animals.

The race is not really a test of endurance or speed, but of exploding force and surefootedness and Frankel or even Sea Biscuit in his prime would be no match for the stout and powerful Tibetan pony. Some are simple, Hardy Mountain ponies developed from

Przewalski horse, a wild Mongolian animal with neolithic origins, and modern ponies.

Disputes taken to the sporting field The Shey Dragon Festival, ostensibly a religious affair, is among the last of the great Himalayan clan gatherings that hark back to a time when warring tribes would meet over a week-long armistice to take their disputes to the sporting field. Under the Tibetan Yarlung dynasty there was a large migration in the 8th century towards Dolpa, which changed hands between the Purang, Guge, Mongolian and Lo kingdoms over the following 800 years before being swallowed up by Nepal.

The festival, one of the most important events for Buddhist pilgrims, has taken place under all these regimes, with around 15,000 from across the world celebrating this year, over five days straddling August and September. —AFP

Tenzin Gurung, 23, a farmer from Mustang in northern Nepal, stoops to pick up his winnings after coming first in the world’s highest horse race.

This handout photograph released by www.thegreathimalayatrail.org on September 18, 2012, shows riders in traditional dress as they compete in the world’s highest horse race in the remote Himalayan region of UpperDolpa, some 500 kilometers (300 miles) from the Nepalese capital Kathmandu. —AFP photos

mount, a chestnut brown Tibetan pony called Tika, has ridden the race of her life. The organizers consider the idea of gambling and big cash awards somewhat “un-Buddhist” but Gurung’s prize is to run Tika in a meadow dotted with around half a dozen 1,000-rupee notes ($11.50), provided by the organizers.

He is allowed to keep what he can pick up without dismounting or slowing down and manages to bend down and scoop up 3,000 rupees, enough in the remote Himalayas to pay for a child’s education for a year. “I’m feel-

An archer in traditional clan dress takes aim during the Shey Dragon.

Mongolian stock while other riders mount swift and agile Nangchen horses, bred pure in the Kham region of northern Tibet since the 9th Century. Scholars believe some breeds, unknown to the West until the 1990s, may be the “missing link” between the

A pilgrim travels on the back of a Tibetan pony to Shey.

Size matters at Monaco yacht show

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s the world’s biggest yacht, codenamed Project Azzam, nears completion under a veil of secrecy in Germany, the trend for ever larger floating palaces was on full display at the Monaco Yacht Show this week. Considered the most prestigious event of its kind in the world, this year’s show, which wrapped up on Saturday, included a record six megayachts, notching up an average length of 80.11 meters (263 feet). These giants of the seas are around twice the size of the average superyacht, already around 45 meters in length. “Yachts are certainly increasing in length,” Ellie Brade, editor of Superyacht Intelligence at the Superyacht Group of publications, told AFP. To date, there have been 88 yachts of 80 meters and over delivered worldwide, and there are 19 currently under build, and according to Brade there no indication the trend is going to slow down. The most hotly awaited new build, Project Azzam, is set to become the world’s largest megayacht, and oust Russian tycoon Roman Abramovich’s 162-metre Eclipse from the top of the superyacht league table.

Slated for delivery in 2013, the new yacht will be 180 meters (590 feet), longer than some cruise ships. It is under construction at Germany’s Lurssen yard, although the name of its owner is kept jealously under wraps. Size in the yachting world counts for a lot, industry experts confirmed at the four-day annual show. “There is definitely an element of “I’ve got a

bigger boat than yours”, an executive at a leading yacht broker told AFP. “It’s boys with their toys. They want the biggest and the best.” One-upmanship aside, the appeal of a megayacht is the onboard volume they offer. “You might want to put in a cinema

or a gym, so the more length you have, the more options and the more room you have,” said Brade.

The brief from the sports-mad owner of the 78.50metre motor yacht Hampshire II, showing here this week was simple: To have fun on board. So the

A picture taken on September 19, 2012 shows yachts moored at Port Hercules in Monaco during the 22nd edition of the International Monaco Yacht Show. — AFP

yacht’s helipad can be converted into a platform for baseball, tennis or soccer, with a giant net that can be placed around the deck to keep the balls in play.

A 3D cinema graces the brand new 88.5-metre Nirvana that made its world debut here, along with two on-board vivariums home to a chameleon, water dragons, bearded lizards and turtles. Megayachts are proving highly popular with people wanting to rentor charter as it is termed in the sector-the yachts for holidays or business, charter brokers said here.

“There is a lot of interest in the big, recent modern boats, particularly from Russian clients,” Fiona Maureso, head of charter at Monaco-based Yachting Partners International, told AFP. The boom has happened in spite of practical limitations-since the largest yachts are too big to berth at many of the world’s most beautiful ports and islands. Italy’s fabled fishing village of Portofino is too small for very big yachts, as are many small Caribbean islands such as the exclusive St Barts. But anyone considering buying or chartering one of the superyachts on show here this week in Monaco will need deep pockets.

A week’s charter on one of YPI’s superyachts will cost upwards of 800,000 euros ($1 million). And the largest megayacht at this year’s show-the luxury 90metre-long sailing yacht Athena, which is one of the world’s largest three-masted schooners-is on sale from Monaco-based broker Y.CO for a cool 72 million euros. —AFP