26 Dec 2011

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Islamists gain, ‘corrupt’ lose in tribal primaries

40 PAGES

150 FILS

MONDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2011

More monitors for polls • Sheikh Nasser to return: Qallaf

Max 21º Min 09º Low Tide 07:22 &19:03 High Tide 13:52

By B Izzak

in the

news

Kuwait Airways jet in emergency return KUWAIT: A Kuwait Airways flight to London made an emergency return to Kuwait yesterday after 20 minutes in the air due to a technical failure. The plane had nearly 200 passengers onboard including former National Assembly speaker Jassem AlKhorafi. Kuwait Airways has suffered a series of problems in the last few years. Kuwait Airways flights are routinely canceled due to mechanical failures or poor maintenance. After two decades without profit, Kuwait is seeking to off-load a 35 percent stake in its national carrier to a strategic partner.

Gaza leader Haniya on regional tour GAZA: Gaza’s top political leader ventured from the territory yesterday on his first regional political tour since change swept the Arab world, to lobby support for Hamas which controls the coastal strip.

Hamas’ Gaza leader Ismail Haniya said he decided to embark on the trip after being encouraged by recent political changes that have taken place in Arab countries. It is his first such tour since 2007 when Hamas seized the Gaza Strip from forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. A Ismail Haniya Haniya aide said he will meet leaders in Egypt, Sudan, Tunisia, Qatar, Bahrain and Turkey and discuss rebuilding the Gaza Strip which suffered damage during a month-long Israeli offensive in 2008-09. Missing from Haniya’s itinerary is Syria, which has hosted Hamas’ leadership in Damascus for the past decade.

Prominent Egypt blogger released CAIRO: A prominent Egyptian blogger accused of attacking soldiers during deadly clashes was released yesterday after nearly two months in detention, during which he became a symbol of the pro-democracy activists’ struggle to end military rule in Egypt. Alaa Abdel Fattah’s first stop after he was freed was Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the uprising that top- Alaa Abdel Fattah pled longtime leader Hosni Mubarak in February. Outside police headquarters yesterday, Abdel Fattah cradled his newborn son Khaled, named after Khaled Said, whose death at the hands of police officers helped inspire the uprising that toppled Mubarak. Abdel Fattah’s wife gave birth to the baby while her husband was in detention.

ABUJA: Men look at the wreckage of a car following a bomb blast at St Theresa Catholic Church outside the Nigerian capital yesterday. — AFP

Nigeria blasts kill 35 MADALLA, Nigeria: Bomb attacks on churches during Christmas services and a suicide blast killed at least 35 people in Nigeria yesterday amid spiralling violence claimed by Islamists. A purported spokesman for Islamist group Boko Haram claimed responsibility for a bombing of the church outside the Nigerian capital and other violence which stoked fear and anger in Africa’s most populous nation. Authorities have been seemingly unable to stop the attacks despite heavyhanded military crackdowns and claims of arrests of Boko Haram members.

One attack yesterday saw a suicide bomber seek to ram a military convoy in front of a secret police building in the northeastern city of Damaturu, killing the bomber and three security agents. The church blast outside the capital Abuja killed at least 30 people and degenerated into chaos after the explosion, with angry youths starting fires and threatening to attack a nearby police station. Police shot into the air to disperse them

LONDON: Hackers yesterday claimed to have stolen 200 GB of emails and credit card data from United States security think tank Stratfor, promising a weeklong Christmas-inspired assault on a long list of targets.

Members of the loose hacking movement known as “Anonymous” posted a link on Twitter to what it said was Stratfor’s secret client list - including the US Army, the US Air Force, Goldman Sachs and MF Global. “Not so private and secret anymore?,” the group taunted in a message on the microblogging site. Anonymous said it was able to get credit details, in part, because Stratfor didn’t bother encrypting them - an easy-to-avoid blunder which - if true - would be a major embarrassment for any security company.

Continued on Page 13

Afghan MP among 19 killed in suicide attack

Decades later, a Cold War secret is revealed

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KUWAIT: Former MPs Hussein Al-Qallaf and Aseel AlAwadhi register for the upcoming elections yesterday. — Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat

Yemenis rally for Saleh Sudan army trial despite shootings kills Darfur SANAA: Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Yemen’s capital yesterday calling for President Ali Abdullah Saleh to face trial, a day after his forces and loyalists killed 13 people at a similar demonstration. “The people want to bring the slaughterer to trial,” shouted the protesters who marched from Change Square, epicentre of the uprising that began nearly a year ago, towards Sittin Avenue in the northern district of Sanaa. “We won’t rest until the slaughterer is executed,” they chanted. “We don’t want Abdrabuh, Ali Saleh controls him,” they chanted, referring to Vice President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi.

Saleh is still honorary president but handed authority over to Hadi last month when he signed a Gulfbrokered deal in which he won immunity from prosecution in exchange for ending his 33-year rule when polls are held in February.

Angry youths have staged defiant protests against the plan, which is

Hackers target US security think tank

and closed a major highway. Emergency officials called for more ambulances as rescuers sought to evacuate the dead and wounded, and calm later returned to the area.

In a swift response, a Vatican spokesman condemned that attack as an act of “blind hatred” which sought “to arouse and feed even more hatred and confusion”. Britain condemned the “cowardly” attacks, with Foreign Secretary William Hague offering “condolences to the bereaved and injured.” France, Italy and Germany also slammed the blasts.

Other attacks included a bomb blast outside an evangelical church in the central city of Jos, that killed a policeman, according to a spokesman for the governor.

Another explosion targeted a church in the northeastern area of Gadaka on Christmas Eve, but no one was reported killed, while two other blasts hit the northeastern city of Damaturu on Christmas Day, including Continued on Page 13

KUWAIT: Islamist candidates, especially Salafists, made clear gains in outlawed tribal primaries held by five tribes in the fifth constituency and whose results were declared in the early hours of yesterday. All former MPs suspected of involvement in the bank deposits’ scandal lost in the primaries in the constituency which means that no former MP involved in the scandal from the constituency will bid for re-election. Five former MPs from the constituency, or half of its MPs, were interrogated by the public prosecution on charges that large sums of money were deposited illegally into their bank accounts. They were later freed on KD 5,000 bail.

The five ex-MPs are Khaled Al-Adwah, who did not contest the tribal primaries, Dulaihi Al-Hajeri, Saad Znaifer and Ghanem Al-Azemi, who lost the primaries, and Saadoun Hammad, who moved to the third constituency. Under strict tribal rules, candidates who lose in the primary elections are banned from contesting the general elections and if they do, the tribes’ voters will not vote for them. On the contrary, two former opposition MPs from the constituency, Salem Al-Namlan and Saifi Al-Saifi, won in the primaries while two others, Falah Al-Sawwagh and Khaled Al-Tahous, did not contest because primaries are against the law.

At least four Islamist candidates were among the 11 winners in the primaries held by five tribes. The Awazem and Ajman, the largest tribes in the district, elected four candidates each while the Hawajer, Dossari and Mutairi elected one each and are expected to form an alliance in the forthcoming polls. The Oteibi tribe has not held its own primaries but are likely to do so soon.

The primaries were held under the new name of “consultations” and although the procedures were held in public, police did not take any action against them.

Continued on Page 13

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backed by the United Nations, despite a bloody backlash by Saleh’s forces and loyalists that has seen hundreds of them killed. But Saleh’s General People’s Congress party insisted yesterday that the parlia-

ment would confirm the immunity deal. “Measures will be taken to issue the immunity law as per the Gulf plan” after a parliamentary vote of confidence on the newly formed Continued on Page 13

SANAA: An elderly protester chants slogans during a demonstration demanding the prosecution of Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh yesterday. — AP

Japan’s ‘Lolita’ style: Cutesy and disturbing

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rebel leader KHARTOUM: Sudan’s army killed a key rebel leader and 30 of his Darfur-based troops in a battle which was still continuing yesterday, officials said, after rebels announced an advance towards the capital.

Khalil Ibrahim, 54, who led the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), was wounded on Khalil Ibrahim Thursday evening in a clash with government forces in Umm-Gozain, an area of North Kordofan state near North Darfur, army spokesman Sawarmi Khaled Saad told reporters. “He died on Saturday evening” and was buried shortly afterwards, he said. “In the clashes on Thursday, 30 of his troops were killed and a number of them were injured,” Saad added. “We destroyed 12 Land Cruisers, four trucks and a tanker of oil.”

The battle was continuing yesterday, Information Minister Abdullah Ali Massar said at the same news Continued on Page 13

Patriots storm back to edge Dolphins

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2011

LOCAL

Christians celebrate Christmas in Kuwait ‘God’s children need peace’ News

in brief

School meals circular KUWAIT: Emphasizing on the importance of abiding by recommendations put forward by the Undersecretaries Council, Ayesha Al-Roudhan Assistant Undersecretary of Ministry of Education issued a circular to all the educational directors with respect of meals provided at schools during the current academic year. In the circular, she asserted that schools ensure that student eat their meals. It has been instructed that the cafeteria be closed down during the first recess, and during the second recess only juice, milk and biscuits can be sold to students.

KUWAIT: Pastor Dave Peacock officiating the Christmas bonfire service.

—Photos by Ben Garcia

KUWAIT: Pastor Warren Reeve lighting up the advent candles at the Lighthouse Church.

By Ben Garcia

the most important time of the year. The Evangelical Church in Kuwait organized ‘Christmas bonfire’ where members gathered to sing carols in native dialects Tagalog, Hindi, Malayalam, Arabic and English around the huge bonfire.

Pastor David Peacock officiated the ceremony before the two consecutive Christmas Eve Services which followed between 9 pm and 11pm. Pastor Warren Reeve led the congregation to reflect the real message of Christmas by recollecting the current events known to many today

KUWAIT: Thousands of Christians celebrated Christmas throughout Kuwait yesterday against the backdrop of ‘the usual traffic jam near the place of worship’ in Kuwait City. It is a common scene on Christmas Day in Kuwait City where many expatriates congregate at churches to celebrate Christmas. Christians mostly from South Asia and the Philippines converged in large numbers to celebrate Christmas. Most workers are only allowed

to take a day-off on this special religious occasion.

After church services, expats meet at restaurants and other shops situated in and around Kuwait City to catch up with friends, making it almost impossible for many motorists to penetrate into Kuwait City. The National Evangelical Church and the Holy Family Cathedral, the biggest Christian denominations are both based in Kuwait City although their satellite churches are present in some parts of Kuwait. Members observed Christmas as

as the Arab Spring.

He noted that the world needs the Prince of Peace now more than ever, “Peace in the world starts with you and I when we are connected with Jesus. Each of us needs peace, all God’s children need peace.”

The Holy Family Cathedral [The Catholic Church] arranged several masses in Malayalam, Konkani, Bengali, Tamil, English, French, Korean, Italian and Arabic from as early as 4 am [December 25] till 9 pm last night.

Fine arts exhibition KUWAIT: The National Council for Culture, Arts, and Letters (NCCAL) will host a fine arts exhibition, entitled “The Man and Earth Controversy”, for Egyptian artists Wafa Al-Nashashibi and Rania AlHakim. The two artists will showcase their special experience of the relationship between Man and Earth through geometric abstractions or use of color, an NCCAL statement pointed out yestrday. It noted that the idea for this exhibition, to be held in the Arts Hall at Abdullah Al-Salem area, came about when the two artists expressed themselves in one studio and found that each had a drastically different perspective and style, yet complimenting that of the other.

MoE coordinating committee KUWAIT: Minister of Education and Higher Education, Ahmad Al-Mulaifi, has asked Undersecretary, Muna Al-Loghani, to head the coordinating committee between the education college (Kuwait University) and the basic education college (the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training - PAAET) and the Ministry of Education (MoE). The committee is to discuss the subject of the teaching license and a 5 year system to prepare teachers, among 11 missions which the minister has decided for the committee.

KOC to light installations with solar energy KUWAIT: Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) represented by the West Kuwait Directorate announced yesterday the completion of plans to use solar energy to light inland oil installations.

Saeed Al-Duwaisan Project Head of West Kuwait Directorate, said the company has realized the necessity of providing alternative and clean energy at remote sites in the desert, He said it is the biggest project at national level, and can provide free power which will not produce carbon emissions for 25 years.

Al-Duwaisan said the West Directorate priority is to maintain a clean environment, therefore a study has been applied to implement trials at

other sites, to reveal the pros and cons for future projects The possibility of using this project at other installations depends on the needs of cooperating groups, and a range of services supporting the West Directorate to implement existing ideas, such those presented by the staff of operations or marine exportation, he said.

Fahad Al-Ajmi, Project Engineer, said the purpose of the venture is to provide lighting for gas and oil installations in the Directorate using sources such as solar energy that are eco-friendly.

Moreover, such an energy resource is economically feasible, as a single battery lasts as long as a quarter of a century, he told Al-Kuwaiti magazine.—KUNA

Al-Azhar to open branch in Kuwait KUWAIT: Lawyer Nasser Al-Shatti, Deputy Chairman for the International League for Al-Azhar Graduates (Kuwait Branch), said that Al-Azhar Imam Dr. Ahmad Al-Tayeb has agreed to open the first branch for Al-Azhar in Kuwait.

Four colleges will be established: a Languages and Translation college, an Islamic Law and civil Law College, a Bilingual Islamic studies college and a

higher studies college for Masters and Doctorates.

Al-Shatti said the subject is now officially approved in Kuwait.

He emphasized that Al-Azhar university branch is an international minaret and a non-profit university aimed at teaching local children science according to Islamic Law as per the system of Al-Azhar university. —Al-Anba

Wataniya Telecom sponsors Gulf Run Race in Bahrain KUWAIT: Stemming from its dedication to spread awareness by applying safety measures while driving to limit from street accidents and as part of its social responsibility towards Kuwait and its youth, Wataniya Telecom announces its sponsorship for the Gulf Run 7 race for the third consecutive year organized in Bahrain. The Gulf Run Race will take place from 26th-28th January, 2012 at the Bahrain International Circuit.

The objective of the famous race is to share the thrill and excitement the youth have about cars and racing as well as to encourage and promote safe driving and reinforce the safety rules amongst all people. The first phase of the Gulf Run Race will commence today at the Gulf University for Science and Technology (GUST) through a car show displaying all the 70 sports cars that will be used during the race in Bahrain.

The GUST car exhibition will take place over two days, today and tomorrow, from 10am to 10pm.

On the occasion, Abdolaziz Al Balool Public Relations Director praised the success achieved by the previous Gulf Run races confirming the following: “The Gulf Run Races have greatly contributed to raising awareness on safety driving throughout the previous years and has limited from car accidents on the streets, which conse-

Abdolaziz Al-Balool quently was the main reason we have been sponsoring the event for three consecutive years. The race has been very much appreciated and enjoyed by everyone who attends it as we also look forward to the excitement and fun it brings with it.”

Wataniya Telecom invites everyone to attend the special athletic event taking place in GUST today and tomorrow. Worthy to mention, a car show will also be exhibited in early January at the 360 mall before the cars go to Bahrain for the official race, an event also sponsored by Wataniya Telecom.

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2011

local

Number of NA candidates hits 222

Ahmad Al-Duwailah

Ahmad Al-Azmi KUWAIT: A total number of 222 candidates have been nominated for upcoming parliamentary elections, with 13 of them being women. Paying a visit to the Election Control Department, Sheikh Hamad Jaber AlAli Al-Sabah Minister of Information asserted that people select the best.

Former MP Hussein Al-Qallaf recently criticized protesters who stormed the Parliament noting that they had modeled themselves into ‘heroes’ despite having breached the country’s laws.

“What makes things worse is that they accused minister Ali Al-Rashid of being a lunatic when he described the act as a crime,” he added. Speaking to the press after registering his name as a candidate from the first constituency, Al-Qallaf stressed ‘tension-creating MPs’ had abused the Constitution.

“They were not only focused only on deposing former premier Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Sabah, but also wanted to empower radical Islamic groups. They have not worked in Kuwait’s best interests,” he said, noting that such opposition blocs would surely destroy the country.

Candidate from the first constituency, Dr Abdul Wahed Al-Khalfan said that Kuwait was currently living a

Bader Al-Baidan

Ahmad Abbas ‘democratic festival’ and that the elections would be a unique phenomena.

The Islamic Salafist Alliance (ISA) candidate from the first constituency, Dr Mohammed Al-Kandari said that people had lost faith in the legislative after bribery cases. “Therefore, voters must take up responsibilities and make wise choices,” he stressed.

Yousif Al-Bedah, candidate from the third constituency described Kuwait’s Constitution as ‘unconstitutional,’ causing a rift between ruling family members. “The problem lies in Article 4 which spells out that the succession rights rest with the descendants of Sheikh Mubarak Al-Kabir, a clause which was later cancelled by Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, “ he said. He went on to quote Dr Ahmed Al-Khateeb stating that all laws were tailored-made to fit ruling family members.

On her part, candidate from the third constituency, Naeema Al-Haii called for reinforcing the role played by the Audit Bureau after being marginalized by previous parliaments.

Former MP Hussein Quwaian AlMuttairi said that lawmakers will be scrutinized by the public. He also promised his voters to adopt health-

Safaa Al-Hashim

Ahmad Al-Shatti related issues in a bid to promote health services. “I’m optimistic because this change was created by the public.”

Former MP and the third constituency candidate, Dr Aseel AlAwadhi said that she had been hesitant about contesting elections because of the political upheaval experienced by the country. She also described by-elections as a’ bad start’ to the new elections. Al-Awadhi also denied any intention to forge an alliance with any political group during the elections. She added that former MPs accused of receiving bribes can still contest as long as they are not convicted. Commenting on the likelihood of Sheikh Nasser’s return as prime minister, Al-Awadhi stressed that it would be difficult because he was forced to tender his resignation.

“However, appointing him elsewhere is only up to the ruling family and no one can interfere in that,” she stressed.

She expressed hope that more ‘technocrats’ would be included. “ I hope we can get at least 20 MPs out of 50 to avoid the incidents that marred the previous Parliament with everybody commenting on all kinds of issues,” she stressed.

5th constituency by-elections on Saturday KUWAIT: Despite measures taken to stop the practice of holding by-elections during 2012 elections, several newspapers reported yesterday that the illegal procedure will be carried out in the fifth constituenc y on Saturday, where tribes wield considerable influence when compared to other constituencies.

According to Al-Qabas, tribal byelections were held in different areas within the constituency by five major tribes which are Ajman, Mutran, Dawaser, Awazem, and Hawajer. The report prepared by a team of reporters from several parts in the constituency say that “large crowds of tribe mem-

bers,” gathered at diwaniyas of Haddiya, Al-Riqqa, Jaber Al-Ali, AlSubahiya, Al-Fahaheel, Abu Hlaifa and Al-Ahmadi, where primary elections were being held.

Furthermore, the report confirms that some of the elections were held publicly, while other tribes opted to hide it under the pretext of arranging a wedding party to justify the presence of the crowd, repor ted Al-Qabas.

Instead of holding primary elections which were criminalized by a Constitutional Court order issued this year, a report published by Al-Rai suggests that fifth constituency tribes actually held ‘consultative meetings’

Ex-speaker justifies parliament dissolution KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah AlAhmad Al-Sabah accepted the resignation of the previous Cabinet and dissolved the Parliament shortly after wards to meet Kuwaiti people’s demand, reiterated former MP and opposition bloc leader Ahmad Al-Saadoun. He was speaking at a diwaniya in south Surra that belonged to third constituency voters.

Al-Saadoun, a veteran parliamentarian and former Speaker expressed his opinion on the storming of the Parliament building on November 16. He added that the incident was sub-judice , and that he would not comment on the subject.

He credited Saudi Arabia’s late King Fahad ibn Abdul-Aziz in connection with achieving unity in the Gulf Cooperation Council. He announced that he welcomes the step “as long as it falls in line with the Constitution.”

Meanwhile, former Speaker Jassem Al-Kharafi described the Saudi King’s initiative as ‘historic,’ and one that “falls in line with ambition of GCC countries to achieve integration.”

Al-Kharafi was also asked while speaking recently to reporters about the prospect of Jordan and Morocco joining the GCC. He replied, “the decision was made at the recent GCC summit to establish a fund to support development in these counties, a better alternative to membership.”

Al-Kharafi announced earlier that he is not contesting parliamentary elections during the 2012 elections, but added in his recent statement that he intends to stay active in “serving Kuwait through national work.” Regarding his decision, Al-Kharafi explained that he chose to step aside “to give the opportunity for a new generation to serve Kuwait,” reiterating that his decision was final. —Al-Qabas

on Saturday to select representatives.

Either way, primary elections and consultative meetings cannot be very different as both serve the purpose of electing a number of candidates.

However, the former is more officially organized.

Al-Rai’s report and quotes unnamed sources who indicate that more than 8,400 voters par ticipated in AlAwazem tribal meetings. At least 6,000 took par t in Al-Ajman’s meetings.

Meanwhile, the same report added that Awazem tribe leaders are trying to reduce the number of candidates contesting from the first constituency, reported Al-Rai.

Hussein Al-Muttairi

Bassam Jawal

Bader Al-Jassar

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2011

LOCAL

kuwait digest

In my view

A volatile year for oil

Chances of change

By Dr. Wael Al-Hasawi

T

he sensation of frustration from the performance of the previous Parliament perhaps leads citizens from all places and backgrounds in Kuwait to register for the upcoming elections. All you need to register is a Kuwaiti citizenship and a KD50 registration fee, and you can launch an election campaign regardless of your knowledge of the principles of Parliamentary work. What led me to reach this conclusion are statements I read in papers or heard on TV for new candidates who are running for the first time for Parliament.

One candidate actually said that he is running for Parliament to be appointed as Interior Minister (unlike Parliament, Kuwait’s Cabinet has selected members appointed by the Prime Minister).

Another candidate imagined he will implement a project to launch hot-air balloons into the sky in order to sprinkle water over the land - presumably in a bid to cool down the summer heat or perhaps combat drought in Kuwait. There is also a candidate who announced that he is running only to represent Christian Kuwaitis, instead of Kuwaitis of all backgrounds and beliefs. The main problem is that all these candidates do not realize how unprofessional - and sometimes laughable - their performances actually are during their campaigns. Kuwaiti citizens generally tend to avoid mentioning flaws of someone they are asked to give an opinion about. A citizen can give a candidate all the praise he likes to hear, only to vote for another candidate on elections day.

I still remember an incident during the 80’s when a candidate spent thousands on catering services to his election headquarters. He eventually suffered a major defeat, which he never expected given the large crowds which flooded his tents. Surveys can be somewhat helpful in assessing candidates popularity, but they remain too inaccurate to predict election outcomes because they fail to detect the true intentions of voters. Voter’s opinions remain subject to change throughout the election period due to many aspects, that also include bribes. Some analysts predict a fifty percent change in the formation of the next Parliament compared to the previous one. I believe that these chances are good if we consider the probability that citizens will shun away from voting for former MPs, accused of being involved in the multimillion-dinar deposits scandal. Moreover, the public condemnation that this major graft scandal brought is almost certainly going to translate into many changes in the new Parliament. Or at least that is the way it should go in similar situations. Voters want to elect MPs not involved in bribery cases.

The problem is, how can people make sure that the person they are voting for is 100 percent honorable? They cannot, because the previous Parliament failed to enforce the much anticipated wealth disclosure law. Voters are left to build their assessment on whatever promises and claims candidates make during their campaigns.There is something I also feel the need to point out. The fact is that opposition lawmakers, who succeeded in their campaign against the former Cabinet, should not feel safe about their chances of re-election. After all, people are not 100 percent satisfied about their performance during the previous Parliament, as their continuous confrontational approach was the reason for most tensions. This made it impossible for the Cabinet to push the development process forward.

Unless they start cooperating with the Cabinet, opposition MPs might find themselves mainly at odds with voters in future elections. — Al-Rai

By Walid Al-Qadoumi

A

kuwait digest

Put an end to bedoons’ suffering

By Abdullatif Al-Duaij

S

aleh Al-Fadalah, Chairman of a central committee set up

by Kuwait to resolve the countr y ’s bedoons’ issue, announced that cases of 34,000 stateless residents may be naturalized. The terms ‘going to’ and ‘will consider’ raise a lot of suspicion on the probability that these stateless residents will be granted citizenship. Given the history of how the government usually handles long-standing issues, this ‘consideration’ process might take yet another half a century.

I can swear that whenever the bedoons’ suffering is mentioned, it always gets connected with naturalization for some odd reason.

Whenever someone writes or speaks about the need to resolve the stateless residents’ situation,

someone else comes out and demands that they be granted citizenship. I am convinced that this is not a coincidence. It is intentional in order to put hurdles in the process of solving the problem as well as stir panic among citizens so that they support the process. Before finding a solution to the problem, all bedoon residents in Kuwait -that means all the 105,000 as per Al-Fadhalah’s estimation — must be given temporary residency until the central committee completes its job.

Stateless residents should be allowed access to education, medication and travel, as per international regulations.

While the central committee seeks to decide on who deserves a citizenship, human rights

activists must be asked to join the assessment process. If we talk about this from a humanitarian standpoint, we must notice that with all due respect to current members of the central committee, they act from a governmental standpoint giving priority to the part pertinent with Kuwait’s sovereignty, ahead of the humanitarian suffering of bedoons.

Allowing long-time Kuwaiti human rights activists like Ghanim Al-Najjar and Ali AlBaddah to join the central committee would give credibility to the solutions that it eventually finds. They meet all humanitarian aspects recognized by international organizations. After that, the solutions wouldn’t only be accepted by Kuwait. — Al-Qabas

kuwait digest

Long and bumpy road to GCC unity

By Waleed Al-Rujaib

T

he raving approval to the initiative made by King of Saudi Arabia, Abdullah bin AbdulAziz, to achieve unity in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) was, in my opinion, rushed and incomprehensively assessed.

Unity of course will be a very important step in the history of the GCC, and it certainly meets the hopes and ambitions of people of the Gulf countries, but such historic steps must only be taken following thorough consideration. This will eliminate chances of failure, as seen in previous unity attempts among Arab countries.

This thorough consideration process must not be exclusive to the strong desire for unity within the GCC countries, and obvious political benefits that unity can bring with regards to facing potential regional threat.

Instead, the process must tackle all social, cultural, and economic aspects which unity brings.

The term ‘GCC national’ is commonly used in the Arab World to describe a citizen of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman. Despite the fact that these countries share common cultural, social, economic and political characteristics, each of them varies in the level of development in all of these fields.

Some GCC countries enjoy constitutional rule and elected Parliament, whereas others only have elected consultative councils. If unity is achieved, one country would have to accept changing its political system to match other countries. I do not think the people of Kuwait and Bahrain will be willing to give away the democratic gains that they fought so hard to achieve during the past century.

Meanwhile, Kuwait and Bahrain also enjoy relatively open and multicultural societies, compared to the other GCC countries.

Furthermore, there are differences in economic and trade levels between all GCC countries. There is also the fate of current Heads of State, whose status will be demoted to something similar to governors should unity be achieved.

There is another aspect that I believe should not be ignored. This is that the United States of America will not appreciate GCC unity, since it does not fall under its political strategies in the region based on the disintegration of Arab countries such as Sudan, and attempts currently in place for Iraq and Lebanon.

I believe that GCC countries should focus today on boosting the level of joint projects, which include the GCC stock exchange market and unified custom fee and currency.

That at least would be a step in the right direction to unity, which I believe is still a long and rugged one at the present time. —Al-Rai

s the global economic and geopolitical outlook worsens, an oil industry expert predicts a volatile year for oil in 2012. “It is important that producers act responsibly and work together with consumers to ensure the world is reliably and well supplied with crude oil,” Badr Jafar said. Jafar, President of Crescent Petroleum, surveyed the current environment and explained how policy makers and industr y in the Gulf region should best respond.

While oil prices have remained relatively steady in the past few months, the outlook is more uncertain than ever with both a price collapse and spike possible in the near term. “At first glance oil prices look like they may have reached equilibrium in recent months, between $100 and $120 per barrel, in which range they have traded for most of 2011,” he said.

“Yet if you ask many market participants they do not think market prices are going to stay in this range. In fact, there is a sharp division between those who expect prices to rise sharply and those who expect them to crash. The only thing that both sides agree on is that the risk of a crisis of one sort or the other is serious in 2012”.

The upside risks to current oil prices are apparent from the heightened tension between the West and Iran, with recent talks over the closing of the Straits of Hormuz creating a feverish environment.

Global oil supplies remain tight, with demand continues to outstrip supply as it has done since the start of 2010. Currently, demand is only met by the steady drawing down of inventories. Hence any interruption, due to a loss of production from any geopolitical incident, could directly impact prices.

On the other hand, there are considerable downside risks too. The Eurozone crisis is threatening to throw the European Union (EU), an area accounting for about 24 percent of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 16 percent of global oil demand, into a sustained recession.

At the same time there are signs that the Chinese economy is also cooling, with its stock market down by 23 percent to date. A resultant drop in oil demand from these regions could soften global oil prices considerably by themselves, but when combined with booming US liquids production, up by three percent in 2011 compared to 2010, there is a real risk of a global oversupply if global economy falters.

“What can be done to mitigate these risks?” asks Jafar. “Firstly, it is important that producers act responsibly and work together with consumers to ensure the world is reliably and well supplied with crude. Reducing risk promotes confidence critical to the global economy. OPEC’s recent decision, to maintain oil output at 30 million barrels per day in the first half of 2012, is a positive sign in this direction given the organization’s previous meeting ended in stalemate. Furthermore, it is good to see that Iraq’s relationship with OPEC is being normalized, after over a decade in limbo. Yet more work needs to be done to provide confidence to oil consumers facing a fragile economic future.”

“The best way for Gulf producers to do this is to ensure that investment in productive capacity and diversifying export routes continue so that the market can be well supplied whatever disruptions may occur. And the best way to achieve that is to release the huge potential of the private sector to energize the region’s hydrocarbon sector,” Jafar advised.

kuwait digest

GCC states wary of neighbors

By Sami Al-Nisf

I

t is quite strange that some Arab observers express concern about GCC states and accuse them occasionally of doing nothing to achieve the awaited Gulf unity. Then when GCC leaders announce their wish to speed up that GCC union, the same observers start enquiring about reasons for the call for unity and whether it reflects a GCC weakness before current changes in the area?!

What is tempting to countries or persons who are observing the Gulf is the availability of wealth, and the weakness of those who own the wealth.

We, as GCC nationals, only have to open a map and see the sums of dangers which surround us. In the north there is Iraq, Syria and unstable regimes security wise. In the east there is Iran and problems with the International Community and interaction in the affairs of the regional states. In the south we have Yemen and its explosive status, and in the west Egypt and Sudan, which are both unstable politically and economically.

It is very clear that the problem of countries surrounding the GCC states from all sides will negatively affect our status whether we like it or not.

The experience of the European Union shows their economic union in the joint European market.

This was established in 1957 and their political union, which came after 1992, was proceeded by a military union (the formation of NATO) which was established in 1949.

Then their armies began joint exercises, which occur annually in front of media cameras, in preparation to face any power and secure their borders.

Had we done that since the GCC union formed in 1982, Kuwait would never have been invaded, and Huthies in Yemen would never have taken advantage of our weakness and separation. — Al-Anbaa

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2011

local

Suspects in robbery attempt in custody Smuggling thwarted at Salmi border

KUWAIT: Ahmadi Governor Sheikh Dr Ibrahim Al-Duaij Al-Sabah held a farewell ceremony to honor outgoing Ambassador of China to Kuwait, Huang Jiemin. In addition to discussing means of boosting cooperation between two countries Ambassador Jiemin invited Sheikh Ibrahim to visit the Chinese city of Jinjiang.

NCCAL, KCC celebrates Mahfouz centennial KUWAIT: The National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters (NCCAL), in cooperation with Kuwait Cinema Club (KCC), will host a celebration entitled ‘In the Love of Naguib Mahfouz’ on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his birth.

The celebration, due to be held today at the headquarters of the NCCAL secretariat, will include a literary symposium in which novelist Taleb Al-Refae will discuss Mahfouz’s influence and status in the art of the Arabic novel, the NCCAL said in a state-

ment yesterday. Sharif Saleh, writer and critic, will also talk about the transformation of the story in terms of written and visual script. In addition, several Kuwaiti and Arab novelists will highlight their association with Mahfouz, and read excerpts of his short stories. The statement pointed out that a book exhibition will be held during the Celebration. The film ‘The Thief and Dogs’, which was based on one of Mahfouz’s well-known novels, will also be screened.—KUNA

KUWAIT: Police are interrogating three suspects who were caught recently in connection with a failed armed robbery attempt targeted at a money collector last week. The victim had stepped out of a grocery store when suspects attempted to steal a bag containing cash. He was supposed to deliver it to a telecommunication company. He sustained a gunshot wound to his shoulder. Police apprehended three suspects, a citizen, a GCC national and a stateless resident based on descriptions provided by the victim. The suspects remain in custody and have denied all accusations leveled against them.

Convict held A fugitive sentenced to life imprisonment was recently captured in Kuwait City after trying to run away unsuccessfully. Some security personnel chased the suspect after he began running away. The man was arrested after police verified his identity. He is a GCC citizen who is wanted in connection with several criminal cases. The man was imprisoned in the Central Jail to serve a sentence.

Rapists caught Mubarak Al-Kabeer police arrested a suspect in his twenties who has been accused of sexually assaulting a teenager after luring her. Investigations went underway after the underage girl reported to being molested by her boyfriend. The girl, who was escorted to a

local police station by her father, provided the suspect’s phone number to officers.

Investigators were able to identify the suspect as a citizen in his twenties. He was eventually traced down to Fintas. He is currently interrogated.

In other news, Mubarak Al-Kabeer investigators arrested a rapist who sexually assaulted a teenager in his vehicle after kidnapping him at knifepoint. The 15-year-old boy reported that he was bundled into a black SUV and sexually assaulted.

Investigators arrested the suspect, in his thirties, two days after the incident was reported. The rapist admitted to abducting the boy after spotting him strolling along in the area. He remains in custody.

Man attacks wife An amateur actress’ husband beat her up mercilessly after he caught her dating a stranger. However, the husband was not arrested after his wife decided not to press charges. The incident took place in Abdullah Al-Mubarak after the husband received a phone call from his domestic worker informing him that his wife went out with someone who had picked her up soon after he left his apartment. The man returned immediately and waited outside in his car for four hours until his wife was dropped off. He began chasing the stranger but failed to intercept him. The disgruntled husband returned to his

building and began attacking his wife. Police soon reached the place after receiving an emergency call. Police did not file a case as none of the couple filed complaints.

Smuggling attempt A security officer deployed at the Salmi border check point (west) was recently arrested in connection with attempting to smuggle a fugitive out of the country. He was spotted escorting a traveler towards the exit to personally supervise his departure.

After learning that the traveler is banned from traveling due to a theft charge pressed against him, he was immediately detained and referred to the Criminal Investigations General Department. He remains in custody pending trial.

Gamblers in custody For suspects wanted in connection with violating residency and labor regulations were arrested during a recent raid held at a Hawally apartment. A security team issued a warrant to storm the apartment based on information used as a place for Asian residents to gamble. Police apprehended four people , two of whom violated residency laws, while the others had been reported absconding by sponsors. The four admitted to conducting illegal gambling in their apartments. They were referred to the concerned authorities.— Al-Rai, Al-Anbaa

Philippines ambassador praises Kuwait’s humanitarian role KUWAIT: The Philippine’s Ambassador to Kuwait, Shulan Primavera, praised the Kuwaiti humanitarian role in offering aid to people in need at all levels.

Following his meeting yesterday with Barjas Al-Barjas, Chairman of the Kuwait Red Crescent Society (KRCS), the diplomat praised the efforts exerted by the KRCS in aiding peo-

Officers awarded ‘Al-Soor’ medals for good services KUWAIT: Brig Asaad Al-Rerwaih, chief of Legal Affairs Directorate, decorated a number of officers with the Al-Soor medal, bestowed upon them by His Highness the Amir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, in appreciation of their dedication to military duties and excellent service.

“These medals should be an incentive to further elevate the officers’ performance to keep the country safe and secure”, Al-Rerwaih stressed during the honoring ceremony, held in the presence

of Brig Mohammad Al-Saeed.

Al-Saeed pointed out that giving the officers actually means they have more responsibilities to honor.

The officers, meantime, expressed their appreciation for the honor and pledged to maintain devotion in safeguarding the homeland. The ceremony was attended

by Brig Nabeel Al-Aslawi, Director of the Directorate General of Military Courts, and Brig Khaled Al-Mehanna, Director of the Financial and Administrative Office, and other military officials.— KUNA

ple in need all over the world.

The KRCS comes at the top of the humanitarian societies offering aid, making Kuwait a pioneer in this field, the Ambassador added.

He discussed with Al-Barjas means of cooperation in the humanitarian field, and means of offering help to the Filipino people suffering from the floods and typoons that recently hit

Busairi underlines importance of regular GCC energy meetings ABU DHABI: Kuwait’s Minister of Oil and Minister of State for National Assembly Affairs, Dr Mohammed Al-Busairi, asserted here yesterday the impor tance of regular meetings between the GCC countries to coordinate their positions on oil and energy issues.

Al-Busairi and his accompanying delegation arrived in Abu Dhabi late on Saturday after participating in the 30th meeting of Ministers of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC)in Cairo.

He spoke after participating in a meeting of the GCC Ministerial Committee for Petroleum Cooperation in the GCC states.

The minister said that all sectors in the GCC countries should have regular meetings with each other, both at the level of ministry undersecretaries or senior officials to coordinate positions and come out with a unified vision on all issues related to their joint cooperation.

Al-Busairi stressed that oil and energy are among the most important issues in the Gulf region, especially considering 60 percent of the energy and the world’s oil reserves exist in this region.

He stressed the importance of such consultative meetings, saying the reports and studies presented are in addition to various points of view regarding coordination among the Gulf countries.

He noted that the Kuwaiti delegation submitted a paper to develop a vision for the Petroleum Media Strategy in the Gulf region, saying publicity is sensitive because undisciplined media may negatively affect directly and indirectly on this strategic commodity.

In March 2012, the State of Kuwait will hold an energy forum which is expected to be attended by more than 60 countries. He said that this will be an opportunity for the countries to display their studies, reports and insights to the issues and energy problems in the world.

On the other hand, a statement issued by the Kuwaiti Ministry of Oil said that the ministerial committee for petroleum cooperation in the GCC states became acquainted with the unified bylaw of the ministerial committees in the member states, which was endorsed by the ministerial council. —KUNA

the country. Primavera called on organizations around the world to offer aid to his People, who are homeless. Al-Barjas expressed deep worries over the increasing natural disasters hitting various parts of the world, causing casualties and severe economic losses, stressing that KRCS will exert all efforts to aid those in need.—KUNA

Kuwait inks deal with Irish universities DUBLIN: Prof Waleed Shuaib, head of the Kuwait Cultural Office in Ireland, announced yesterday that a deal has been struck with Irish universities to eliminate a former mandatory requirement for Kuwaiti students to complete one year of studies at an Irish senior high school.

Shuaib said great efforts and fruitful connections have been made for Kuwaiti scholarship students to Ireland, Shuaib said, adding that this academic year (20112012) is the first to witness the acceptance of Kuwaiti students to Irish academic institutions without the need to finish an Irish high school year.

However, he noted that scholarship students must pass the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) in order to be admitted.

He pointed out that deals made with various public and private universities have led to the direct admission of Kuwaiti high school graduates to Irish universities.

This is regarded as recognition of Kuwaiti high schools, whether public, British, American, or bilingual.— KUNA

KUWAIT: Brig Asaad Al-Rerwaih pictured with the officers during the honoring ceremony.

Kuwait signs accord with Johns Hopkins University KUWAIT: The Ministry of Health signed an agreement with the US Johns Hopkins University yesterday, stipulating transfer of medical expertise and clinical services to some Kuwaiti hospitals.

Hospitals included in the agreement are Adan, Farwaniya, Amiri and Jahra hospitals. The $17.7 million accord is valid for five years. Acting Minister of Health, Mustafa Al-Shimali, said during the signing ceremony that the aim of this agreement comes within the framework of the National Health Development Plan for raising the level of health services provided by the ministry to both citizens and residents.

Al-Shimali, also minister of finance, said the state has spared no effort in bringing in highly qualified staff and equipment for improving health services.

Ministry of Health Undersecretary, Dr Ibrahim Al-Abdulhadi, said at a news conference that the agreement came after years of negotiations between the two sides. He stressed that it will particularly

target the Emergency Department and outpatient clinics.

The agreement includes 100 visits by a consultant and faculty member of the US university per year, of which 70 visits would be for clinical training programs and 30 for non-clinical activities.

It also stipulates 420 days of work for clinical programs and 180 working days for non-clinical works, he said.

Work at Adan Hospital will begin 90 days after the signing date. In the other hospitals, it will start after approval of the steering committee, after nine months of operations at Adan Hospital. This will allow time to assess preliminary results of the process. Ser vices included in the agreement are clinical services, knowledge transfer, education and training, public health and information management, information technology and medical library, as well as related services and the introduction of remote medical consultations and the support of management and operation. — KUNA

KUWAIT: The Ambassador of the Kingdom of Cambodia, Long Kem, hosted at his residence on Thursday evening a reception for the outgoing Ambassador of the Kingdom of Bhutan, Dasho Sherub Tenzin. Prominent officials, diplomats and media persons attended the function.—Photos by Joseph Shagra

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2011

LOCAL

MoI calls young Kuwaitis to stand for NA polls ‘Veterans’ urged to step down Increased demand for Asian maids in Saudi

By Nawara Fattahova

KUWAIT: Minister of Information Sheikh Hamad Jaber Al-Ali inspecting the electoral supervision authority yesterday.

— Photos by Fouad Al-Shaikh KUWAIT: The polls are forecast to result in a 70 percent change of the National Assembly formation, the Minister of Information (MoI) said yesterday, calling on a younger generation of Kuwaitis to vote and stand for election.

“Give way for the youth to serve the country,” said Sheikh Hamad Jaber Al-Ali in a statement to journalists while inspecting the electoral supervision authority. He called on ‘veteran’ candidates and MPs to step down, citing the example of the former Speaker of the National Assembly, Jassem Al-Kharafi, whose intention is to give a chance to a younger person to serve in the top Parliament seat.

Upcoming Parliamentary elections constitute some of the most crucial events in the history of democracy in Kuwait, he said.

The Ministry of Information and the national media establishments are responsible for

portraying “an honorable picture of the democracy in Kuwait,” in line with recommendations of His Highness the Amir in this regard.

Sheikh Hamad affirmed the readiness of the Ministry and the affiliate departments and authorities, namely Kuwait Television, to cover the polls.

“We will interact (with the event) and we won’t be mere spectators ... and we have substantial potential for covering the events of the elections,” Sheikh Hamad said.

He urged citizens to participate in the electoral process for sake of choosing the most qualified to serve in the Assembly, and called on all candidates to air their views and pledges via the official television station.

Addressing HH the Amir, Sheikh Sabah AlAhmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the Minister

assured His Highness that he and the ministry staff will be quite helpful to ensure success of the polling process.

“I would like to say to the Amir that we will help you to ensure the success of this great democratic ceremony,” he pledged.

Sheikh Hamad Jaber Al-Ali expressed gratitude to the Kuwait Transparency Society and Kuwait Journalists Association for aiding the authorities in the electoral process, noting that the transparency association was tasked with examining implementation of the laws of the audio-visual media.

On re-opening office of Al-Jazeera television channel, the minister indicated that it would resume its work in the country following completion of some paper works. “Kuwait will witness a new and unprecedented era of media openness,” he added. — KUNA

KUWAIT: Prices of domestic laborers have soared due to the increased demand of Saudi nationals for maids from Kuwaiti offices, according to the Saudi daily Al-Watan.

As many maids refuse to go to work in the Saudi Arabia, the only way to attract them is with higher salaries.

Their focus is on Filipina and Indonesian maids, as these were banned from going from the Philippines to Saudi Arabia to work.

The charges to import a maid has increased in Saudi Arabia, and become more expensive compared to recruiting a maid in Kuwait.

Domestic labor offices in Kuwait have different prices for maids, not only for different nationalities but even for maids of the same nationality. Earlier this year, the cost of maids hiked to very high prices. They are not affordable for many people, especially expatriates. For many people a maid is essential and they agree to pay this high price to get a maid.

It seems that some offices have increased their prices again, as the cost of some maids has reached KD 850, not including the visa or salary.

“Our office only has Filipina maids available, and their price is KD 850,” Husain from the Jasim Kamal office told the Kuwait Times. “ We didn’t increase the price recently, this is our price since this year. Our office does not export maids outside Kuwait, so we do not have any Saudi clients taking the maids abroad to increase our prices,” he said.

An employee of Fawziya Al-Mutatih Office agreed that they do not give a maid to clients who are not living in Kuwait.

“We only provide maids to Kuwaiti citizens or any other nationalities on condition that they live in Kuwait. We cannot risk letting them leave Kuwait,

as we do not know what problems may happen to them abroad and we will not be able to help them. In case that the client takes her outside Kuwait without telling us it is his responsibility. At the end he is her sponsor,” he said.

The price of the maids is not unified in all domestic labor agencies.

The price depends on the nationality of the maid and whether the maid is returned or brought from abroad.

A Filipina maid is most expensive comparing to other nationalities. The Ethiopian maid is the cheapest.

Indonesian maids are not available from agents now as their government banned them from coming to work here as domestic helpers.

Some offices do not mind providing maids to work in Saudi Arabia.

“The maids are those who refuse going to KSA. We had a few clients who came to our office or called us, but the maids refused the offer. I do not mind giving a maid to a Saudi client who will take her to work there if she agrees. Our price is KD 650 for the Filipina maid. I expect that the price may decrease, and will not increase more than the current price,” stated Khalid from Saffiya Al-Ruwayih Office.

An employee of Mohammed AlSairafi office stressed that their office has previously provided maids to Saudi clients who took them abroad.

“We don’t mind if somebody takes the maid to work abroad, but the problem is with the maids as they usually refuse to go there. We only have Ethiopian maids available. The cost is KD 300 for a Muslim maid, and KD 270 for a Christian. Her salary is KD 52. In this case it is easier to take a returned maid as she can be asked while already here in Kuwait, rather than waiting for a response and arrival that takes a month or more,” he pointed out.

MoH undersecretary seeks equal pay for psychologists KUWAIT: The Undersecretary of the Ministry of Health(MoH), Dr Ibrahim AlAbdul Hadi, is preparing to send an official letter to the Civil Service Commission (CSC) with respect to equality in allowances and increments paid to sociologists and psychologists.

The request aims to equalize the amount of money granted to social specialists and psychologists who are working in social health administration with employees at the psychological clinic at

the Psychiatry Hospital.

Health sources emphasize that this step was taken because both sets of employees work alongside doctors and technicians while dealing with hospital patients as they assist in social and psychological interventions.

Some of the employees conduct test and check-up, in addition to preparing research and statistics. Employees in both places have the same qualifications, he stated. —Al-Anbaa

Drugs seized from citizen

By Hanan Al- Saadoun

Ukrainians meet at embassy KUWAIT: The Embassy of Ukraine in the State of Kuwait hosted a meeting with representatives from the Ukrainian community on Dec 22.

The event was held on occasion of celebration of the New Year and Christmas holidays.

The ceremony was attended by citizens of Ukraine who live in the emirate.

V. Tolkach, the Ambassador of Ukraine, opened the meeting with a traditional introductory speech. He congratulated the guests on the holidays and noted the importance of

unification of the Ukrainian diaspora into one friendly family.

According to the Ambassador, the priority of the diplomatic mission will continue to be the protection and comprehensive assistance to the citizens of Ukraine.

During the meeting, the participants exchanged views on holding various events in the New Year. These included thematic discussions, sports activities, tours, and art exhibitions etc.

Taking into consideration the importance

of strengthening friendly relations with the representatives of Kuwait, the creation of the Union of Ukrainian-Kuwaiti friendship was initiated.

The citizens of the Emirates and other Arab countries, whose lives are linked with Ukraine, are invited to take part in the events.

Proposals on methods for further cooperation between the two friendly nations may be made public on the Embassy page ‘Ukrainians in Kuwait’ on the social networks site Facebook.

KUWAIT: Police arrested a citizen in Sabah Al-Salem after confiscating 30 kg of hashish from his place of residence during a raid. He admitted to obtaining the contraband from Saudi Arabia. The arrest was made after police were tipped off on the suspect’s arrival into Kuwait via Nuwaiseeb border crossing.

Car accidents Two citizens, both aged 20, suffered multiple injuries during a car accident that took place along Fifth Ring Road.

They were admitted to Mubarak hospital.

A 28-year-old Egyptian fractured a

right hand after a fight took place in Ferdous cooperative society. He was admitted to Farwaniya hospital. Two Egyptians, both aged 45, sustained head injuries and were admitted to Adan hospital ICU. A 31-year-old suffered lacerations to the scalp during a car accident that took place in Fahaheel. A 35-yearold Ethiopian man and a 26-year-old Ethiopian woman sustained bodily injuries in a car accident that took place near Fintas bridge. They were admitted to Adan hospital. Also, A 23-year-old citizen sustained a spinal injury and a 24-yearold suffered a dislocated shoulder in a car accident that took place in Rumaithiya.

They were admitted to Mubarak hospital.

KDT cleans 70 tons of waste from Ushairej Beach K U WA I T: K u w a i t D i v e Te a m ( K DT ) recently cleared 70 tons of solid waste during its fifth annual major cleaning campaign at Ushairej Beach.

The campaign was conducted in cooperation with several NGOs and state departments including the Committee in Charge of demolishing

Encroachments from State Proper t y, Kuwait Geographic Society, the General D e p a r t m e n t o f Cu s t o m s a n d K u w a i t Municipality.

After the campaign, a celebration was held to reward participants who helped remove the ship wreck debris from the sea, the disposal of fishing nets and

metal waste. Former MP Dr Ali Al-Omair, participated in the campaign and praised volunteers in a speech he delivered during the closing ceremony.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2011

Pope prays for peace

N Korea power-behind-throne emerges as neighbors meet

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Afghan MP among 19 killed in attack Attacker blows himself up among mourners

TAKHAR: Dead bodies are seen covered following a suicide attack on a funeral in Taluqan city, capital of Takhar province yesterday. A suicide bomber attacked a funeral in northeastern Afghanistan on December 25, killing at least 19 people including an MP and wounding dozens of others, officials said. —AFP

KABUL: A suicide bomber attacked a funeral in northeastern Afghanistan yesterday, killing at least 19 people including an MP and wounding dozens of others, officials said. The attacker, who was wearing a suicide vest, blew himself up among a crowd of mourners gathered for the funeral of a government official in Taluqan city, the capital of Takhar province, 155 miles (250 kilometres) north of Kabul.

“We have 19 dead including an MP, Abdulmutalib Baig, and more than 40 wounded, mostly civilians,” said Takhar provincial governor Abdul Jabar Taqwa. “I was also invited to this ceremony but I didn’t go. The target was either me or the MP.” Baig was a former antiTaleban Northern Alliance commander and the former police chief of Kunduz province. He was working with opposition leader Abdullah Abdullah in the newly established National Coalition of Afghanistan.

“This ruthless act of terror to target innocent people who had gathered for a religious ceremony yet again demonstrates the vile and vicious nature of the enemy who do not want to see the Muslim people of Afghanistan to per form even their Islamic rituals,” Afghan President Hamid K arzai said.

General John Allen, commander of the International Security Assistance Force, said the attackers “must only be interested in destruction”. “These attackers are

cowards, callously targeting and killing families and friends who had gathered to mourn a loved one,” he said. Both the provincial police chief General K hair Mohammad Temor and the interior ministr y confirmed the death toll. Temor said there were no women among the dead and more than 50 were wounded.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack and the Taleban, who are leading an insurgency against Afghan government forces and US-led international troops, were not reachable for comment. Peace talks with the Taleban in the hope of finding a political settlement af ter 10 years of war have stalled in the wake of the September assassination of government peace envoy Burhanuddin Rabbani and continued violence.

Takhar province is one of the areas being handed over by NATO in the second wave of transition to Afghan security forces ahead of the planned withdrawal of foreign combat forces by the end of 2014.

Although the province is relatively calm, there have been a number of high-profile attacks in the last year, including the assassination of anti-Taleban northern Afghanistan police commander General Mohammad Daud Daud.

“This reprehensible attack... illustrates that the Taleban and other insurgents are waging a murderous campaign against

innocent Afghan civilians,” the US embassy said in a statement.

Elsewhere, in eastern Afghanistan, an ISAF service member died after an insurgent attack on Christmas day. The nationality was not disclosed in line with policy. The death came after Afghan army and police officials said an Afghan soldier was killed in a gunfight with US troops in southwestern Farah province after he opened fire during an argument on Christmas eve.

Four US troops were also injured in the incident on Saturday after the Afghan soldier began shooting and coalition troops returned fire, the officials said. A spokesman for the NATOled International Security Assistance Force said there were no coalition fatalities but would not comment on ISAF casualties in line with policy. Coalition troops often carry out joint operations with Afghan army and police. But violent incidents are not uncommon and Afghan security forces or those purporting to be have carried out several attacks on ISAF soldiers. There are now 180,000 Afghan National Army soldiers but rapid growth has raised fears over the quality of recruits and even Taleban infiltration. Meanwhile, the interior ministry said in the space of 24 hours Afghan security forces killed 30 armed insurgents in various operations around the country in which a number of weapons were found.—AFP

Egypt’s military rulers study plan to speed up vote CAIRO: Egypt ’s militar y rulers are studying a proposal from their own advisers to bring forward parliamentary elections by two weeks after demands from protesters and politicians to speed up transition to civilian rule, an advisory council member said yesterday. Many Egyptians believe the army is no longer fit to manage security on the ground and carry out difficult reforms at a time of political and economic crisis.

On Friday, thousands rallied in Cairo and other cities to demand the army give up power and to vent anger after 17 people were killed in recent protests where troops beat and clubbed women and men even as they lay on the ground. Voting for the upper house, or Shura Assembly, is due to be held in three rounds beginning on Jan 29 and

ending on March 5. It follows a similarly protracted vote for the lower house that began in November and is due to end in mid-January.

“The military council has agreed to study the option of shortening the election time for the Shura by two weeks, to end on February 22,” Sherif Zahran, a member of a council advising the military on the transition to civilian rule told Reuters.

Zahran said the judiciary had agreed to the idea of squeezing Shura elections into two stages instead of three and that a plan to shorten the vote tallying process was being studied also. “This would allow for both the (lower house of ) parliament and Shura to convene in a joint meeting by the end of February,” Zahran told Reuters. Once parliament

convenes, Egypt will draw up a constitution and a presidential vote is planned before the end of June.

Protests continue daily in Tahrir Square. Several hundred protesters have set up camp there. Some are demanding the army bring forward the presidential vote to as early as Jan. 25, the first anniversary of the uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak. Others, worrying that 10 months after Mubarak’s downfall Egypt remains in disarray, protested on Friday to end protests so order can be restored and the economy revitalized. A source close to the army said the militar y council, including leader Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, was meeting to decide on what was needed to speed up the Shura vote. —Reuters

Jordan probes violent clashes at demo: Report AMMAN: Jordan said yesterday it was probing clashes between opposition Islamist demonstrators and government loyalists in a northern city, where dozens, including police, were wounded. “The government is investigating the clashes that erupted Friday in Mafraq, where citizens and policemen have been attacked,” government spokesman Rakan Majali said in published remarks.

“Offices of the Islamic Action Front (IAF) have been torched. What happened is unacceptable and intolerable. Those responsible behind the violence will be brought to justice,” he told the government-owned Al-Rai Arabic daily.

Police fired tear gas after around 300 Islamists clashed with thousands of members of the Bani Hassan, one of Jordan’s largest tribes. Witnesses said

several shops have been destroyed during the clashes, which forced demonstrators to seek refuge in a mosque. Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood and its political arm the IAF urged the government on Saturday to arrest the attackers. Islamists, youth groups and other parties have been protesting since January, demanding political and economic change and an end to corruption.—AFP

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9

MONDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2011

INTERNATIONAL

Arabs urged to monitor Syrian flashpoints Call comes day before a first group of observers arrive

JARUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during the weekly cabinet meeting in his offices yesterday in Jerusalem. —AFP

Netanyahu vows to stop harassment by Jewish zealots JERUSALEM: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stepped up pledges to curb Jewish zealotry in Israel yesterday after an 8-year-old girl complained of being menaced by ultra-Orthodox men who deemed her dress immodest. While his conservative government insists such incidents are fringe phenomena in the mostly secular country, Netanyahu’s repeated announcements on the matter reflected concern about widening religious and political schisms.

“In a Western, liberal democracy, the public realm is open and safe for all, men and women both, and neither harassment nor discrimination have any place there,” he told his cabinet in broadcast remarks. Netanyahu said he had ordered law enforcement authorities to crack down on “whoever spits, whoever lifts a hand (in violence), whoever harasses” and to remove street signs segregating men from women in some ultraOrthodox districts.

The statement appeared to have been prompted by an expose on Israel’s toprated weekend news about intra-Jewish friction in Beit Shemesh, a town of about 87,000 people near Jerusalem. Naama Margolese, 8, told Channel Two television she was terrified of walking to her moderate Orthodox school because of passersby who want her “to dress like a Haredi” - the Hebrew term for the ascetic, black-coated Jews who are in “awe” of God. “I’m afraid I might get hurt or something,” the girl said. Margolese’s mother Hadassa, an American immigrant who wore a headscarf and skirt in deference to religious Jewish tradition, said the sidewalk abuse could include spitting, curses like “whores” and “bastards” and calls to “clear out of here”. “If that’s what happens now, and they (authorities) don’t do anything, what will happen in another few years?” she told Israel’s Army Radio yesterday. “This is a terrorist group.” Returning to Beit Shemesh yesterday, a Channel Two crew was mobbed by ultra-Orthodox Jews who stoned their car, wounded a reporter and stole equipment, police said. The crew was rescued

by police, who said they were questioning suspected assailants.

Separately, police said they had arrested a Beit Shemesh man for spitting at a woman, and that he could face assault charges. In the report broadcast on Friday, Channel Two showed a Beit Shemesh street sign instructing women to keep to one side, away from a synagogue. A few ultra-Orthodox men who agreed to be interviewed sought to justify their forcible occlusion of women.

Israeli media have debated the impact of religious gender segregation on public transport and the conscript army, where some pious troops prefer to shun female instructors and singers.

The ultra-Orthodox make up only about 10 percent of Israel’s population of 7.7 million. But their high birthrates and bloc voting patterns have helped them secure welfare benefits and wider influence. One of Netanyahu’s biggest partners in the coalition government, Shas, is a party run by rabbis. According to Channel Two, its Beit Shemesh story has generated momentum for a demonstration against ultra-Orthodox coercion in the town, scheduled for Tuesday.

Moshe Abutbol, the Shas mayor of Beit Shemesh put the number of townspeople involved in the abuse at between 20 and 50. Emulating Israeli commandos who disguise themselves as Arabs for missions in Palestinian areas, the police have officers who work undercover among the ultra-Orthodox. Israeli television showed them raiding a religious protest in Jerusalem on Dec 17.

Netanyahu has also condemned radical Jews behind a spree of vandalism against Palestinian property and Israeli garrisons in the occupied West Bank, attacks designed to bog down government moves to raze settlements built without a permit.

“Beit Shemesh shocked Netanyahu not because of new facts but because of old facts that were recounted by a lovely little blond-haired girl with blue eyes,” said Nahum Barnea, senior commentator for the biggest-selling newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth. —Reuters

Wanted Iraq VP refuses to return to Baghdad QALACHWALAN: Vice President Tareq Al-Hashemi, who is charged with running a death squad, told AFP in an interview yesterday he would not go to Baghdad to stand trial and raised the prospect of fleeing Iraq. Hashemi, holed up at an official guesthouse of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani in the country’s autonomous Kurdish region, acknowledged his guards may have carried out attacks, but he has steadfastly denied any involvement.

The warrant against Hashemi, issued nearly a week ago, has been the focus of a political row between Shiite Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki and the Sunnibacked Iraqiya bloc, which is a part of his national unity government and of which Hashemi is a member. Asked if he would return to Baghdad to face trial, Hashemi told AFP: “Of course not.” The 69-year-old attributed his refusal to travel to the capital to poor security and politicization of the justice system.

He said most of his guards had been arrested and had their weapons confiscated, adding that “there is no security for the vice president. How can I come back to Baghdad if I cannot secure myself?” “The Iraqi judicial council is under the control and the influence of the central government, and this is a big problem,” Hashemi added in a one-hour interview in Qalachwalan, on the outskirts of Kurdistan’s second city Sulaimaniyah, during which he was surrounded by unarmed guards.

“That is why I asked to move the case to Kurdistan. ... Justice here will not be politicized.”

Since US troops completed their withdrawal a week ago, Iraq has been mired in political crisis, with Hashemi wanted and Maliki calling for the sacking of his Sunni deputy after the latter called him a dictator “worse than Saddam Hussein.”

Iraqiya, the bloc of Hashemi and deputy premier Saleh al-Mutlak, has boycotted parliament and the cabinet in protest at

Maliki’s alleged centralization of power.

Coupled with a spate of attacks on Thursday in Baghdad which killed 60 people, the row has heightened sectarian tensions in the country. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, meanwhile, has said Ankara would not turn Hashemi away if he requested asylum, but said he should stay in Iraq. “I have no intention to leave Iraq at this time, unless my personal security is endangered,” Hashemi said in yesterday’s interview. “Then, we will talk about this.”

He added that he was still fulfilling his duties as vice president, and “if I decide to travel outside Iraq, it will be related to my responsibilities as a vice president and not to have political asylum.” The arrest warrant against Hashemi was issued on Monday, after authorities aired footage of what they claimed were the vice president’s guards confessing to carrying out attacks, for which they said they received financial and moral support from Hashemi himself.

“I don’t know why he did this,” Hashemi said, referring to Maliki. “Even if there were accusations and crimes committed by my bodyguards, we could have postponed it (the warrant).” “I don’t know why this happened the day after the last American soldier left,” the vice president added. Hashemi, who left the Iraqi army in 1975, has been vice president since 2006. As part of a power-sharing deal after March 2010 elections, Hashemi retained the post, and is one of two vice presidents, along with Khudayr Al-Khuzaie, a Shiite Muslim. He said that the prospects of resolving the political row depended on Maliki and his National Alliance bloc. “This crisis has blown up, this is a big crisis,” he said. “The situation is now more complex than before-if we fail, I think Iraq will slip towards tyranny again, and Iraq and Iraqis, all of them, will lose.” —AFP

DAMASCUS: The opposition Syrian National Council appealed yesterday for the Arab League to send observers immediately to the besieged city of Homs and other hotspots of a bloody crackdown on dissent. The call came a day before a first group of Arab League observers is set to arrive in Syria to begin monitoring a deal the 22-member bloc agreed with the government in Damascus aimed at ending more than nine months of violence.

“Since early this morning, the (Homs) neighborhood of Baba Amro has been under a tight siege and the threat of military invasion by an estimated 4,000 soldiers,” said the SNC, the main umbrella group of opponents of President Bashar Al-Assad. “The Syrian National Council demands that the Arab League observers go to Homs immediately, specifically to the besieged neighborhoods, to fulfill their stated mission,” it added in a statement.

At least three people were reported killed yesterday. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that security forces pounded Baba Amro with mortar and heavy machinegun fire, killing an undetermined number of people and wounding 124 others. Two people were killed in other parts of the city, it said. The central city of Homs has been a focal point of the Assad government’s crackdown on anti-regime demonstrations, as well as the site of fierce clashes between the army and deserters.

Security forces also raided the town of Al-Jerdi in eastern Deir Ezzor province, killing one person, wounding four and arresting dozens, said the watchdog. “Three children who had been wounded on Saturday in military and security operations in the town of AlQuriya died,” it added, noting that reports of the deaths were delayed as the town is cut off by security forces.

A nine-member advance team of Arab monitors arrived on Thursday to pave the way for the observer mission to oversee the deal aimed at ending the crackdown, which the UN estimates has

killed more than 5,000 people since March. “We demand that the observers go to all the hotspots in Syria, or withdraw and conclude their mission if it is not possible for them to do so. “We hold the Arab League and the international community accountable for the massacres and bloodshed committed by the regime in Syria,” the

League Assistant Secretary General Samir Seif al-Yazal, heading the nine-member advance team, said the first group of observers-more than 50 expertswould leave for Damascus today.

They will eventually number between 150 and 200. The mission is part of an Arab plan endorsed

by Syria on November 2 that also

responsibility for the two terrorist explosions.” It said the government was trying to create the impression “that it faces danger coming from abroad and not a popular revolution demanding freedom and dignity.” The Observatory reported at least 21 civilians killed on Friday and 20 killed by security forces on

HOMS: Syrian Christians pay their respects to clergymen following Christmas Day mass at the Saint George Monastery in Mishtaya, some 50 kms from Homs yesterday.—AFP SNC said.

Foreign Minister Walid Muallem has said he expects the Arab League observers to vindicate his government’s contention that the violence is the work of “armed terrorists.” Western governments and rights watchdogs blame Assad’s regime for the bloodshed. Opposition leaders charge that Syria agreed to the mission after weeks of prevarication in a “ploy” to head off a League threat to go to the UN Security Council over the crackdown.

Muallem met the advance team of Arab League officials on Saturday, in talks the ministry’s spokesman called “positive.”

calls for the withdrawal of the military from towns and residential districts, a halt to violence against civilians and the release of detainees.

But since signing the agreement, the Assad regime has been accused of pressing on with its crackdown on dissent. The SNC and human rights activists have charged that the Syrian government was behind twin suicide bomb attacks on Friday that killed 44 people in Damascus. Assad’s regime has blamed the attacks on “terrorist organizations,” including Al-Qaeda, although it has not said how it reached such a conclusion.

The SNC said “the Syrian regime, alone, bears all the direct

Saturday. The bodies of four detained civilians were found on Saturday bearing signs of torture in Hula in Homs province, it said in a statement.

The Observatory demanded the Arab League “immediately head to the town of Hula to document this flagrant violation of human rights which is just the tip of the iceberg of what is going on in Syria.” The plight of Syrians was a focus of Pope Benedict XVI’s Christmas Day prayers. “May the Lord come to the aid of our world torn by so many conflicts... May he bring an end to the violence in Syria, where so much blood has already been shed,” he told pilgrims in Vatican City. —AFP

Iraq’s dwindling Christian population marks Christmas BAGHDAD: Iraq’s dwindling Christian population marked Christmas yesterday with religious leaders calling for peace, days after attacks across Baghdad killed dozens and a political row raised sectarian tensions. The commemoration came a week after US forces completed their withdrawal from the country, with a senior bishop noting little was being done to prevent a continuing Christian emigration from Iraq.

At the Church of Our Lady of Sacred Heart in east Baghdad, hundreds of worshippers gathered for a 90-minute Sunday morning mass, the second of three such celebrations planned by the church. Outside, half a dozen armored security vehicles and an Iraqi army humvee stood guard, with several heavily-armed soldiers and policemen patrolling the street opposite the church. A handful of soldiers with machineguns were also perched atop the building. “Our faithful are like everyone in Iraq-they have fear,” Bishop Shlemon Warduni, the second most senior Chaldean in Iraq, told AFP. “They feel there is no peace, no security, so they go where they can live in peace. We don’t agree, we don’t want them (to go), but they say, ‘If we don’t go, can you ensure my life, can you ensure my job, can you ensure the future?’

“We cannot ensure our lives, how can we ensure their lives? The government cannot ensure their lives, how can we ensure their lives? This is our dilemma.” He added: “Emigration is a very bad sickness, and it is contagious.”

Warduni said he wanted his congregation to “pray for all of Iraq to become more quiet, more peaceful, to have more togetherness and dialogue with one anotherShiite, Sunni and Christian.”

The bishop cancelled a midnight mass due to security con-

cerns following attacks on Thursday across Baghdad that left 60 people dead, the worst to strike Iraq in more than four months. And unlike in previous years, the Shiite mosque across the street did not blast Koranic recitations over loudspeakers

about the security situation.”

Kirkuk provincial police chief Major General Jamal Taher Bakr said his forces had put “tight security” in place for Christmas, with streets closed off and multiple security perimeters formed around churches. Warduni esti-

have been attacked since the invasion, with more than 900 Christians killed and more than 6,000 wounded. US troops completed their withdrawal yesterday, leaving security in the hands of an Iraqi force more than 900,000strong.

BAGHDAD: Bishop Shlemon Warduni, the second most senior Chaldean in Iraq, leads the start of Christmas mass at the Virgin Mary Chaldean Christian church (Church of Our Lady of Sacred Heart) in the capital Baghdad yesterday. —AFP during the mass. “We came in fear, but this is a duty, we have to do it,” said Nibras Naama, a 30year-old pharmacist among Warduni’s congregation. “We don’t want churches to be empty because of fear.” Naama said she did not wish to leave Iraq, “but the continuous violence and bad security may force us to.”

Churches in Kirkuk, where a significant chunk of Iraq’s Christian population remain, also cancelled midnight mass, and Louis Sako, Chaldean archbishop for Kirkuk told AFP that he was “worried

mated that Iraq’s Christian population, put at between 800,000 to 1.2 million before the 2003 US-led invasion that overthrew dictator Saddam Hussein, had halved since then. Their plight was highlighted by an October 31, 2010, assault on a Baghdad church by Al-Qaeda that left 44 worshippers, two priests and seven security force members dead. Warduni’s church was itself hit by a suicide car bomb on July 12, 2009, that killed four and wounded 21.

According to Sako, 57 churches and houses of worship in Iraq

Officials insist it is able to maintain internal security, although they openly acknowledge it still lacks the means to defend Iraq’s borders, airspace and territorial waters. That claim was dealt a blow by Thursday’s violence. The attacks only served to raise sectarian tensions amid a worsening political dispute that has seen Iraq’s Shiite Prime Minister seek to sack his Sunni Arab deputy, and authorities issue an arrest warrant for the Sunni vice president on charges he ran a death squad, accusations he denies. —AFP

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Putin team still defiant after protest rocks Russia MOSCOW: Vladimir Putin still has the support of a majority of Russians, his spokesman said yesterday after a mass protest challenged the premier ’s authority two months before he stands in presidential polls. Organisers said 120,000 people attended the rally in central Moscow Saturday where protesters chanted slogans against Prime Minister Putin and called for the annulment of disputed December parliamentary elections won by his party.

Police put the numbers at 29,000 but AFP correspondents said the turnout was clearly bigger and more anti-Putin in tone than the first rally two weeks ago which smashed the taboo in Russia against mass opposition protests. “As a politician and a presidential candidate, Putin still has the support of a majority. And we should treat the opinion of a majority

with respect,” his spokesman Dmitry Peskov told AFP. He added that Putin was “beyond competition” as a candidate in March 4, 2012 presidential polls, where the Russian strongman plans to stand for a third Kremlin term after his four-year stint as prime minister. Peskov acknowledged the protest had taken place and said the demonstrators’ position was to be treated with respect. “Those people who came out onto the streets-they are a very important part of society. But they are a minority.”

The last Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev had late Saturday dramatically called on Putin to quit, just as he had done on December 25, 1991 when the USSR collapsed exactly two decades ago. The protest movementwhich brings together a charismatic

anti-corruption blogger, a detective story writer, musicians and a former finance minister-does not so far have a clear leader but is gaining momentum.

“This is not an outburst which will die down. This is not about the protests but about the mood,” Yevgeny Gontmakher, head of the Centre for Social Policies at the Moscow-based Economics Institute, told AFP. “There is a danger of a revolution. Authorities are making concessions but are not keeping up with the development of the events.” The leaders have not said when the next protest will take place and one of the most prominent opposition figures, politician Vladimir Ryzhkov, admitted that there were “several points of view” within the movement on the timing. Ryzhkov told Moscow Echo

radio he would prefer the next rally to take place in March to coincide with the presidential polls but he said some of his colleagues wanted a rally at the end of January. The opposition set up a Facebook page to coordinate and debate the timing of future protests.

Another leading figure, 35-year-old blogger Alexei Navalny, provocatively vowed on Saturday that one million people would attend the next antiPutin rally. The mass protests were triggered by widespread claim of wholesale violations in this month’s parliamentary polls which handed a reduced majority to Putin’s ruling United Russia party. Protesters called for the annulment of the ballot, sacking of the Central Election Commission chief and a re-run of elections. Hoping to ride out a wave of

protests, Putin ignored those demands and promised instead a return to the direct election of regional governors and a simplified procedure to register political parties.

In defiance of the protests, the newly-elected lower house of parliament convened for its first session earlier this week. Most Russians lost their taste for street politics in the chaotic 90s and the scale of the current protests is a major boon for the fragmented opposition which had for years struggled to encourage Russians to take to the streets.

But incensed by his claims that opposition supporters were in the pay of the US State Depar tment and insults comparing them to an antiAIDS campaign, protesters are now taking their anger out directly at Putin. —AFP

Pope prays for peace Pope urges community to aid those suffering

TIRASPOL: A woman casts her ballot at a polling station yesterday in Tiraspol during the Second round of a presidential election in Transdniestr, a pro-Russian separatist republic of Moldova. —AFP

Rebel Transdniestr votes for new leader TIRASPOL: Moldova’s rebel region Transdniestr yesterday voted in run-off polls for a new leader after the man who held it in a virtual Soviet time warp for two decades was eliminated in the first round. The rule of Igor Smirnov, who had dominated Transdniestr since it split from Moldova in a civil war after the collapse of the Soviet Union, was ended when he could only manage third place in December 11’s first round.

The two contenders to succeed him in the run-off are the Kremlin-backed candidate Anatoly Kaminsky and the more opposition-inclined Yevgeny Shevchuk.

Shevchuk polled 38.55 percent of votes in the first round compared with Kaminsky’s 26.3 percent. But the outcome remains difficult to predict. Early turnout was brisk, the official Olviya news agency reported from the main city of Tiraspol, noting that there had already been controversy over alleged election day agitation by Shevchuk’s supporters.

Smirnov’s position was fatally weakened after the Kremlin made it clear earlier this year that he no longer enjoyed

its support, in a region where Russian peacekeepers are still deployed and reliant on economic support. Whoever wins will inherit an economically impoverished region notorious for organised crime whose independence has not been recognised internationally, not even by Russia.

The Russian-speaking region with a population of over 555,000 wedged between the Dniestr river and the border with Ukraine declared independence from Romanian-speaking Moldova in 1990 after a brief civil war. Under Smirnov, a former trade unionist who bears more than a passing resemblance to Lenin, it retained state symbols and insignia barely changed since the fall of the Soviet Union.

The elections came after the parties in the conflict met in Vilnius last month to hold the first official talks since 2006 on resolving the conflict. Lithuania, which chairs the OSCE and hosted the talks, described the meeting as a “stepping stone” but it was unclear if any substantial progress was made. —AFP

VATICAN CITY: Pope Benedict XVI prayed for the victims of famine, floods and conflict in his Christmas message yesterday as a string of bomb attacks targeting churches in Nigeria killed dozens. “Let us turn our gaze anew to the grotto of Bethlehem. The Child whom we contemplate is our salvation! He has brought to the world a universal message of reconciliation and peace,” he told thousands of pilgrims in the Vatican.

The pope urged the international community to aid those suffering from hunger in the Horn of Africa, called for an end to the bloodshed in Syria and said he hoped this year’s Arab revolts would aid the “common good”.

He also prayed for the victims of recent flooding in Thailand and the Philippines which he said were enduring “grave hardships” and said he hoped for increased dialogue in Myanmar “in the pursuit of shared solutions.”

The pope’s strongest words were against wars and in favor of reconciliation, particularly between Israelis and Palestinians in the Holy Land but also in the Great Lakes Region of Africa and the new nation of South Sudan.

“May the Lord come to the aid of our world torn by so many conflicts which even today stain the earth with blood... May he bring an end to the violence in Syria, where so much blood has already been shed,” he said.

“May he grant renewed vigour to all elements of society in the countries of North Africa and the Middle East as they strive to advance the common good,” he added, following the revolts in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia.

However in religiously divided Nigeria, at least 28 people were killed when five separate bomb attacks claimed by Islamist sect Boko Haram targeted churches during Christmas services.

The largest explosion killed at least 27 outside the capital Abuja and the aftermath of the attack degenerated into chaos when angry youths started fires and threatened to attack a nearby police station. A bomb blast later hit outside an evangelical church hundreds of miles away in the central city of Jos, killing a policeman, according to a spokesman for the governor. A purported spokesman for the Boko Haram group claimed responsibility for all of yesterday’s attacks and vowed there were more to come.

“We are responsible for all the attacks in the past few days, including today’s bombing

Somalis flee famine to find hunger, sickness in camps DOLO ADO: When Somali refugee Madina Ali escaped harsh drought and famine in Somalia, she hoped to find a better life in Ethiopia’s Dolo Ado camp. But her son’s health has deteriorated since arriving over two months ago, and she is worried it will only get worse. “Since we came here, he keeps getting sick every three days,” she said, cradling her frail nine -year old son, Ibrahim Abdirahman. “When he falls sick he starts vomiting, and then he gets diarrhoea. He doesn’t eat properly, and in this place there is no milk, there is no sugar,” she added.

Aid workers say malnutrition rates among children under five at the Dolo Ado camp are alarming.

“Malnutrition rates are still very high-this is still an emergency situation,” said Voitek Asztabski, emergency coordinator for Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in the camp. “It’s not over, and it could continue for several months before we reach the control level,” Asztabski added. Over 50 percent of children in Dolo Ado’s Hilaweyn camp and nearly half of all children in Kobe camp are suffering from malnutrition, according to a preliminary health survey from the United Nations refugee agency. The World Health Organization says conditions are “critical” when the rate is above 15 percent. Severe drought, famine and conflict forced 300,000 people

to flee Somalia this year, according to UN figures. Many have streamed into Ethiopia, which continues to receive hundreds of refugees every day as fighting rages between Al-Qaeada-linked Shebab insurgents, government troops and regional armies.

Poor sanitation and hygiene, overcrowding and meagre food intake mean malnutrition rates have not improved since the height of the influx of new refugees in July, when up to 2,000 were arriving ever y day.

Conditions are worse in the transit centre, where some refugees are forced to stay for months because construction of a new camp is delayed. “The living conditions are

appalling, there is not enough shelter, there is not enough food, there is not enough water,” Asztabski said.

Some refugees are selling their basic food rations for other goods they need, or to swap wheat provided for the rice or pasta many prefer. “The refugees are selling part of their food to have access to other commodities, to other goods, things like clothes and types of foods that they want,” said Ted Chaiban, UN children’s agency country director. The bustling markets in the camp are lined with stalls offering sacks of wheat and rice, as well as packs of a special food supplement for children. — AFP

of the church in Madalla,” Abul Qaqa told AFP by phone. “We will continue to launch such attacks throughout the north in the next few days.” In a swift response, a Vatican spokesman condemned that attack as an act of “blind hatred” which sought “to arouse and feed even more hatred and confusion.”

Concluding his message, the pope voiced Christmas greetings in 65 languages including Aramaic, Icelandic and Samoan to cheers from the crowd. “God is the Saviour: we are those who are in peril. He is the physician: we are the infirm,” he told them. “To realise this is

around the world. “In this time of ours, in this world of ours, cause the oppressors’ rods, the cloaks rolled in blood and the footgear of battle to be burned, so that your peace may triumph in this world of ours,” he said.

Peace was also a central theme in Patriarch of Jerusalem Fuad Twal’s Christmas Eve homily delivered in Bethlehem, where hotels and guesthouses were packed to capacity with pilgrims. “We ask for peace, stability and security for the entire Middle East,” said Twal, the most senior Roman Catholic in the region. In a midnight mass, he urged “the

VATICAN CITY: Pope Benedict XVI delivers his traditional Christmas “Urbi et Orbi” blessing from the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican yesterday. —AFP the first step towards salvation, towards return of calm and reconciliation in Syria, in emerging from the maze in which we have Egypt, in Iraq and in North Africa”. been locked by our pride.”

“O Child of Bethlehem, in this New Year, At Christmas Eve mass in Saint Peter’s we place in your hands this troubled Middle Basilica, the pope had lamented the con- East and, above all, our youth full of legitisumerism surrounding a holiday “whose mate aspirations, who are frustrated by the bright lights hide the mystery of God’s humil- economic and political situation, and in ity, which in turns calls us to humility and search of a better future,” Twal said. simplicity.” “Let us ask the Lord to help us see Bethlehem, the biblical birthplace of Jesus through the superficial glitter of this season, saw some of its largest crowds of tourists in and to discover behind it the child in the sta- years for the Christmas festival, bringing ble in Bethlehem, so as to find true joy and cheer to the troubled West Bank, while celetrue light,” the 84-year-old pope said. He also brations also passed without incident in rebuked “oppressors” and warmongers Iraq. —AFP

British royal family misses Prince Philip at Christmas SANDRINGHAM: Britain’s Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, missed the royal family’s Christmas Day festivities for the first time yesterday as he remained in hospital after heart surgery.

Thousands of well-wishers gathered at the queen’s Sandringham estate in eastern England as the royals attended their traditional church service, with Prince William’s new wife Catherine making her debut appearance.

Speaking to the crowd after the ser vice at St Mar y Magdalene Church on the sprawling royal estate, William said his 90-year-old grandfather was “very well, thank you. Getting much better”. Prince Charles, who is William’s father and the heir to the British throne, added that Philip was “very well”.

Buckingham Palace said that Prince Philip “remains in good spirits” after spending a second night at

Papworth hospital near Cambridge and that family members were set to visit him after lunch. Television channels reported that his grandchildren, including Prince William and his younger brother Prince Harry, would be visiting, a day after the queen and her four children went to Philip’s bedside.

Prince Philip, who is the longest serving royal consort in British history and an outspoken pillar of the House of Windsor, was airlifted on Friday from Sandringham suffering from chest pains. Tests showed a blocked coronary artery and doctors at Papworth, which boasts Britain’s leading cardiac unit, inserted a tube-like device called a stent to restore healthy blood flow.

Around 3,000 people queued at the gates of the church yesterday to see the queen and other royals walk the few hundred metres (yards) from the main house for the service,

police said. During the service, the rector of Sandringham, Jonathan Riviere said: “We pray for the queen and the royal family, especially today we pray for Prince Philip and his continued recovery.” It was the first time that Catherine, 29, had attended the service. She wore a brown coat and walked alongside Prince William, also 29, whom she married in April, and Prince Harry.

Also present were the queen’s granddaughter Zara Phillips and her husband, England rugby player Mike Tindall, who also married this year.

Lunch was served at 1300 GMT at Sandringham House following the church service and the family reportedly tucked into a huge turkey reared on the estate. The family were then to gather around the television-without the queen to watch her annual Christmas broadcast, in which this year she is set to stress the importance of family. — AFP

3 people dead in storm off Russia’s east coast

MOGADISHU: A file photo taken on July 26, 2011 shows internally displaced Somali women receiving food-aid rations at a distribution centre, in an IDP camp in the Somali capital Mogadishu. —AFP

MOSCOW: Rescue vessels and a helicopter are searching for five people missing in a fierce storm off Russia’s east coast after a Cambodia-flagged ship sank early yesterday. The Russian Emergencies Ministry said in a statement that it has recovered three bodies from the icy waters of the La Perouse Strait, which lies between the Sea of Okhotsk and the Sea of Japan.

The accident took place in the same waters in which a Russian floating oil rig capsized and sank last Sunday killing 17 people. Thirty-six people are still missing, feared dead.

Officials said five of the Cambodia-flagged ship’s crew were Russian, and the others are Indonesian. Two of the dead have been identified as Russian nationals,

and one remains unidentified. The ship, named Ginga, was sailing through the Russian waters from a Japanese port. Russian news agencies reported that it was a fishing boat. Emergencies Ministry representatives were not immediately available for comment.

Two trawlers, a Russian helicopter, a rescue vessel, two steamboats and a Japanese maritime safety department ship were conducting the search. Efforts were hampered by strong winds and meters-high waves.

Nikolay Sukhanov, a top official from Russia’s Sailors Union, told RIA Novosti that he thought that the size of the crew, its flag and route could suggest that the ship was poaching in the waters on the RussianJapanese maritime border. — AP

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38 Haitians found dead in shipwreck off Cuban coast Another 87 people rescued

IOWA: Republican presidential candidate, Rep. Michele Bachmann, RMinn., signs an autograph during a campaign stop at Tangleberries in Centerville, Iowa, Friday. —AP

Iowa race quieter than in the past IOWA: It’s been a different presidential race in Iowa this year - quieter. Campaign headquarters have hardly been buzzing with activity, unlike the around-the-clock nature of past contests. Candidates have barely visited the state, compared with years when most all but moved here. And they have largely refrained from building the grass-roots armies of yesteryear, in favor of more modest on-theground teams of paid staffers and volunteers.

The final rush of campaigning here gets under way Monday, just a week before the Jan. 3 caucuses, and, to be sure, there will be a flurry of candidate appearances and getout-the-vote efforts all week. But that will belie the reality of much of 2011, a year marked by a less aggressive personal courtship of Iowans in a campaign that, instead, has largely gravitated around a series of 13 nationally televised debates, a crush of television ads and interviews on media outlets watched by many Republican primary voters, like Fox News Channel.

“We just haven’t had as much face time,” Republican chairwoman Trudy Caviness in Wapello County said. “That’s why we’re so undecided.” Indeed, people here simply don’t know the Republican presidential candidates that well. And it’s a big reason why the contest in Iowa is so volatile and why the caucus outcome could end up being more representative of the mood of national Republicans than in past years when GOP activists here have gone it alone by launching an unlikely front-runner to the top of the field.

With a week to go, the state of the race in Iowa generally mirrors the race from coast to coast. Polls show Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker, having lost ground and Texas Rep. Ron Paul having risen, with both still in contention with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney at the head of the pack. All the others competing in Iowa - Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum - are trailing.

But, in a sign that the contest is anyone’s to win, most polls have shown most Republican caucusgoers undecided and willing to change their minds before the contest in a state where the vote typically breaks late in the campaign year. There are a slew of rea-

sons why the Iowa campaign is a much more muted affair than in 2008 marked by the iconic clash of Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton, who together employed almost 300 staff in Iowa and held blockbuster rallies. This year, there is no contested Democratic primary, given that President Barack Obama has no serious challenger.

Only Republicans are competing, and those candidates are approaching the state differently, both visiting and hiring less. Also, like it did everywhere else, the race here started slowly - months later than usual - as a slew of GOP politicians weighed candidacies, only to abort White House bids.

Long-time Republican activists here, who often joke that they like to meet the candidates several times before deciding, have barely seen the candidates once, much less at all, and no campaign has more than 20 paid staff in the state. All that’s partly a consequence of how technology has changed both the political and media environments in recent years. Campaigns now can more precisely - and cheaply - target their pitches to voters from afar, sending personalized emails and YouTube video messages from the candidates to voters directly, and more campaign outreach is being handled by volunteers and through central national websites.

And voters, themselves, now can go online and find information about the candidates without having to wait for the White House hopeful to show up in the town square.

“Caucuses don’t exist in a vacuum. They’re not the same every time,” said John Stineman, a West Des Moines Republican activist who ran Steve Forbes 2000 Iowa campaign. “But everything else has changed. Why wouldn’t the caucuses change?”

Part of the change has been driven by Romney’s approach to the state. The nominal GOP front-runner for most of the year, Romney has been far less aggressive in cultivating support in Iowa than in his failed bid of 2008. He’s only spent 10 days in the state this year, compared to 77 days four years ago, in an attempt to lower expectations in the leadoff state where evangelical conservatives have harbored doubts about Romney in light of his Mormon faith and changed positions on some social issues. —AP

HAVANA: The Cuban military searched for survivors yesterday after at least 38 Haitian migrants died as a boat in which they fled their country started taking in water and got stranded at sea. The gruesome discovery was made Saturday when the Cuban Coast Guard found the half-sunken boat about 100 meters (yards) off Point Maisi on the eastern shore of the communist-ruled island, the Cuban government said.

A statement from the Cuban Civil Defense agency read on state television said the dead included 21 men and 17 women. Another 87 people, including four children and seven women, were rescued and moved to an international migrants’ camp at Point Maisi, where they have been given assistance, the statement said. The Civil

Defense agency did not elaborate on the cause of the shipwreck.

But rusty, decrepit and overcrowded boats carrying migrants from Haiti are often found in distress in the Caribbean Sea. A similar tragedy occurred in July 2009 off the coast of Turks and Caicos Islands when a boat carrying dozens of Haitian migrants capsized and sank, forcing its passengers to jump overboard. The US Coast Guard managed to rescue 118 of the migrants, but at least 15 were found dead and about 70 others remained missing.

In 2007, a boat with at least 160 Haitians sank in the Caribbean Sea, leaving 82 passengers dead.

According to survivors, some of the victims were eaten by sharks swarming the warm waters of the

est at 19, was forbidden to attend school for a year because she had a young Pakistani-Canadian boyfriend, and she fled to a shelter, terrified of her father, the court was told.

The jury heard testimony that Zainab’s sisters, Sahar, 17, and Geeti, 13, were hounded and trailed by

RICHMOND: A massive Christmas Eve search for a 2-year-old boy who was in the backseat of an SUV that was stolen following a double-slaying in Richmond ended around midnight with the boy being found safe, police said. Richmond police said in a Tweet late Saturday: “2-year-old Kaiden Burnside is OK. Found alone inside SUV off Jennie Scher Road. Thanks to everyone for assistance.”

City police spokeswoman Karla Peters told the Richmond Times-Dispatch the child was found sleeping alone in the parked vehicle. “He’s being checked out by EMS and will soon be reunited with his mother,” Peters said. Authorities late Saturday identified the suspect as 27-year-old Jamal Louis Clemons of Richmond, Va They say Clemons is wanted for abduction, robbery, robbery with a firearm and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony by a convicted felon.

Richmond city police said in a press release that shortly after 5 p.m., officers responded to a report of two persons down and found an adult man and an adult woman inside a Church Hill residence. Both had been fatally shot. Witnesses reported that a man fled the scene inside a 2012 white GMC Terrain SUV that was left with the motor running and the boy strapped in the back seat, the news release said.

The Virginia State Police issued an Amber Alert at 9:39 p.m. EST Saturday for the boy, identified as Kaiden Gage Burnside. They described him as having short blond hair and blue eyes, and wearing a red plaid shirt, a cream-colored vest with a red truck carrying a Christmas tree, dark green corduroy slacks and white light-up sneakers.

“The child is believed to be in extreme danger,” the alert said. City police described the suspect - later identified as Clemons - as a black man in his midto late 20s, 5-foot-8 and 150 to 160 pounds, with black hair and wearing dark jeans and a black zip-up sweat shirt with a hood. He is believed to be armed with a revolver. “We don’t believe that he knew there was a child in the back seat,” Richmond police Maj Steve Drew told the newspaper. Police said they didn’t believe the shooting was random but have not released additional details about the victims or their potential relationship to the suspect. Officers continued to search early yesterday for the suspect.

Richmond police did not return repeated calls from The Associated Press on Saturday —AP

ple of weeks and her sisters contacted authorities, saying they wanted to be removed from the home because of violence and their father’s strict parenting, the prosecution said.

Prosecutor Laurie Lacelle presented wire taps and cell phone records from the Shafia family in court. In one

ONTARIO: In this Dec 14, 2011 file photo, Mohammad Shafia, front left, Hamed Shafia, background, second from left, and Tooba Mohammad Yahya, behind officer on right, arrive at the Frontenac County Courthouse in Kingston, Ontario. —AP their brothers because the parents suspected them of dating boys; that Sahar repeatedly said her father would kill her if he found out she had a boyfriend; that she had bruises on her arms; that Mohammad, the first wife who was helping to raise the children, also was brutally treated.

Zainab ran away from home for a cou-

Congress.

But the migration continues.

There are an estimated 1.2 million Haitians now living in the United States, about 200,000 in Canada and an estimated one million in the Dominican Republic. Up to 80,000 Haitians are believed to have settled in the Bahamas. Haiti is still recovering from a devastating 7.0magnitude quake in January 2010 that leveled the capital, killed more than 225,000 people, and left one in seven people homeless in a nation that was already the poorest in the Americas.

The humanitarian situation has been further aggravated by a cholera epidemic that has killed more than 5,000 people, food insecurity affecting 4.5 million and an active hurricane season that destroyed homes and crops. —AFP

Police find 2-year-old boy in stolen SUV

In family horror, some Canadians see culture clash TORONTO: On a summer morning in 2009, in canal locks east of Toronto, police made a grisly discovery: In a submerged Nissan car were the bodies of three teenage sisters and a 52year old woman. A joyride gone tragically wrong, claimed the father, Mohammad Shafia, 58, who reported the disappearance. An “honor killing,” prosecutors allege. A murder trial is under way, heating up a national debate about how to better absorb immigrants into the Canadian cultural mainstream.

The prosecution accuses Afghanborn Shafia, his wife, and their 20year-old son of killing the daughters because they dishonored the family by defying its disciplinarian rules on dress, dating, socializing and going online. The older victim was Shafia’s first wife, Rona Amir Mohammad, who was living with him and his second wife, Tooba Mohammad Yahya, 41, in Montreal. It was a polygamous relationship, the court has been told, and if revealed, could have resulted in their deportation.

The parents and son, Hamed, have pleaded not guilty to four counts of murder. The family had left Afghanistan in 1992 and lived in Pakistan, Australia and Dubai before settling in Canada in 2007. Shafia, a wealthy businessman, married Yahya because his first wife could not have children. The second marriage produced seven children. The months leading up to the deaths were not happy ones in the Shafia household, the court has heard. Zainab, the old-

area. Cuban officials said the Coast Guard and Red Cross continued searching for for more survivors around Point Maisi. Under Cuban immigration procedures, migrants from Haiti who reach the island’s coast are usually given food and medical assistance before being sent back home.

Thousands of Haitian boat people had been also arriving in the United States since the early 1970s and settling in Miami, Florida. But in 1981, Washington and Port-auPrince reached an agreement under which boats with Haitian migrants are interdicted at sea and their passengers returned to Haiti.

Under the agreement, by 1984, more than 3,100 Haitians had been deported by the United States back to their country, according to the US Library of

phone conversation, the father says his daughters “betrayed us immensely.” Fazil Javad, Shafia’s brother-in-law, said Shafia tried to enlist him in a plan to drown Zainab. “Even if they hoist me up to the gallows, nothing is more dear to me than my honor. There is nothing more valuable than our honor,” Lacelle quoted Shafia as saying in

an intercept transcript. Taking the stand and speaking in his native Dari through an interpreter, Shafia portrayed himself as a loving father with his daughters’ best interests at heart.

He repeated his contention that the famil members were returning from a Niagara Falls holiday, were in two cars, and were overnighting at a motel when Zainab took one of the cars.

The daughters met an accidental but “rightful” death for their disobedience, he said. “You believe there’s no value in life without honor, don’t you?” asked Lacelle in cross- examination. “My honor is important to me,” Shafia replied. “But you can’t regain your honor with murder, respected lady, you must know that. “I’m a strict Muslim, but I’m not a killer.”

Other relatives - two of the children and a brother-in-law of Shafia - testified in support of the joyride scenario and portrayed the family as loving and caring. The trial then adjourned for the holidays and will resume on Jan. 9.

Canada takes in 250,000 immigrants a year, more per capita than anywhere save Australia, and in recent years a number of so-called honor killings have prompted debate about absorbing immigrants into the mainstream and dealing with culture clashes between immigrant parents and their children. Even before the trial, Rona Ambrose, the women’s affairs minister, had said the federal government was considering making such killings a separate category in the criminal code. —AP

DANBURY: This undated image made available by the National Reconnaissance Office shows a declassified photo of a man standing next to a satellite control section from the Hexagon program. It was dubbed “Big Bird” and it was the most successful space spy satellite program of the Cold War era.—AP

Decades later, a Cold War secret is revealed DANBURY: For more than a decade they toiled in the strange, boxy-looking building on the hill above the municipal airport, the building with no windows (except in the cafeteria), the building filled with secrets. They wore protective white jumpsuits, and had to walk through airshower chambers before entering the sanitized “cleanroom” where the equipment was stored.

They spoke in code. Few knew the true identity of “the customer” they met in a smoke-filled, wood-paneled conference room where the phone lines were scrambled. When they traveled, they sometimes used false names. At one point in the 1970s there were more than 1,000 people in the Danbury area working on The Secret. And though they worked long hours under intense deadlines, sometimes missing family holidays and anniversaries, they could tell no one - not even their wives and children - what they did.

They were engineers, scientists, draftsmen and inventors - “real cloak-and-dagger guys,” says Fred Marra, 78, with a hearty laugh. He is sitting in the food court at the Danbury Fair mall, where a group of retired co-workers from the former Perkin-Elmer Corp. gather for a weekly coffee.

Gray-haired now and hard of hearing, they have been meeting here for 18 years. They while away a few hours nattering about golf and politics, ailments and grandchildren. But until recently, they were forbidden to speak about the greatest achievement of their professional lives. “Ah, Hexagon,” Ed Newton says, gleefully exhaling the word that stills feels almost treasonous to utter in public. It was dubbed “Big Bird” and it was considered the most successful space spy satellite program of the Cold War era. From 1971 to 1986 a total of 20 satellites were launched, each containing 60 miles of film and sophisticated cameras that orbited the earth snapping vast, panoramic photographs of the Soviet Union, China and other potential foes. The film was shot back through the earth’s atmosphere in buckets that parachuted over the Pacific Ocean, where C-130 Air Force planes snagged them with grappling hooks.

The scale, ambition and sheer ingenuity of Hexagon KH-9 was breathtaking. The fact that 19 out of 20 launches were successful (the final mission blew up because the booster rockets failed) is astonishing. So too is the human tale of the 45year-old secret that many took to their graves.

Hexagon was declassified in September. Finally Marra, Newton and others can tell the world what they worked on all those years at “the office.” “My name is Al Gayhart and I built spy satellites for a living,” announced the 64-year-old retired engineer to the stunned bartender in his local tavern as soon as he learned of the declassification. He proudly repeats the line any chance he gets.

“It was intensely demanding, thrilling and the greatest experience of my life,” says Gayhart, who was hired straight from college and was one of the youngest members of the Hexagon “brotherhood”. He describes the white-hot excitement as teams pored over hand-drawings

and worked on endless technical problems, using “slide-rules and advanced degrees” (there were no computers), knowing they were part of such a complicated space project. The intensity would increase as launch deadlines loomed and on the days when “the customer” - the CIA and later the Air Force - came for briefings. On at least one occasion, former President George H.W. Bush, who was then CIA director, flew into Danbury for a tour of the plant.

Though other companies were part of the project - Eastman Kodak made the film and Lockheed Corp. built the satellite - the cameras and optics systems were all made at PerkinElmer, then the biggest employer in Danbury.

“There were many days we arrived in the dark and left in the dark,” says retired engineer Paul Brickmeier, 70. He recalls the very first briefing on Hexagon after Perkin-Elmer was awarded the top secret contract in 1966. Looking around the room at his 30 or so colleagues, Brickmeier thought, “How on Earth is this going to be possible?” One thing that made it possible was a hiring frenzy that attracted the attention of top engineers from around the Northeast. PerkinElmer also commissioned a new 270,000square-foot building for Hexagon - the boxy one on the hill. Waiting for clearance was a surreal experience as family members, neighbors and former employers were grilled by the FBI, and potential hires were questioned about everything from their gambling habits to their sexuality. “They wanted to make sure we couldn’t be bribed,” Marra says. Clearance could take up to a year. During that time, employees worked on relatively minor tasks in a building dubbed “the mushroom tank” - so named because everyone was in the dark about what they had actually been hired for. Joseph Prusak, 76, spent six months in the tank. When he was finally briefed on Hexagon, Prusak, who had worked as an engineer on earlier civil space projects, wondered if he had made the biggest mistake of his life. “I thought they were crazy,” he says. “They envisaged a satellite that was 60-foot long and 30,000 pounds and supplying film at speeds of 200 inches per second. The precision and complexity blew my mind.”

Several years later, after numerous successful launches, he was shown what Hexagon was capable of - an image of his own house in suburban Fairfield. “This was light years before Google Earth,” Prusak said. “And we could clearly see the pool in my backyard.” There had been earlier space spy satellites - Corona and Gambit. But neither had the resolution or sophistication of Hexagon, which took close-range pictures of Soviet missiles, submarine pens and air bases, even entire battalions on war exercises.

According to the National Reconnaissance Office, a single Hexagon frame covered a ground distance of 370 nautical miles, about the distance from Washington to Cincinnati. Early Hexagons averaged 124 days in space, but as the satellites became more sophisticated, later missions lasted twice as long. —AP

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2011

Pakistan information minister withdraws her resignation ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s information minister withdrew her resignation yesterday, hours after she offered to quit amid tensions between the civilian government and the country’s powerful military over a memo alleging an army plot to seize power in May. Information Minister Firdos Ashiq Awan made the surprise announcement at a televised cabinet meeting but Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani later persuaded her to withdraw resignation.

“The prime minister tore down my

resignation and asked me to continue my work,” Information Minister Firdos Ashiq Awan told reporters after the cabinet meeting . Some media reports suggested that Awan offered to resign over criticism within the ruling party over her perceived failure to defend the government in the “memogate” scandal, as it is being called in Pakistan. Tensions have been running high between the government and the powerful army after the scandal surfaced, raising concerns for the region and for Pakistan’s already

uneasy relationship with its key ally, the United States.

Mansoor Ijaz, an American businessman of Pakistan origin, wrote in a column in the Financial Times on Oct. 10 that a senior Pakistani diplomat had asked that a memo be delivered to the Pentagon with a plea for US help to stave off a military coup in the days after the raid that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in May. Ijaz later identified the diplomat as Pakistan’s ambassador to Washington, Husain Haqqani, who denied involve-

ment but resigned over the controversy.

The scandal has reached a fever pitch, and rumours have swirled in recent weeks that President Asif Ali Zardari, who left Pakistan for medical treatment in Dubai earlier this month, would be forced out by the military, which has ruled Pakistan for almost half of its 64-year history. Army chief General Ashfaq Kayani has ruled out the possibility of a coup and the military does not want to be seen as interfering in civilian politics, but there are

still several scenarios under which Zardari could be forced out.

The military could use its extensive influence to isolate Zardari, or offer him an honourable exit by guaranteeing he will not face prosecution on long-standing corruption charges.

Kayani has already called for an investigation into who may have been behind the memo which could further undermine the deeply unpopular Zardari. The Supreme Court is looking into a petition demanding an inquiry into the matter.—Reuters

N Korea power-behind-throne emerges as neighbors meet Signs pointing to heir’s uncle playing key role

BEIJING: Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda (C) reviews an honour guard with China’s Premier Wen Jiabao (L) during a welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing yesterday.— AFP

Japan’s PM heads to China amid North Korea worries BEIJING: Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda arrived in Beijing yesterday on his first official visit to China focused on regional security following the death of North Korean strongman Kim Jong-Il. Ties between the two regional powers have been dogged by economic and territorial disputes. Japan has repeatedly expressed concern over China’s widening naval reach in the Pacific and what it calls the “opaqueness” of Beijing’s military budget.

But Kim’s death has shifted the agenda to worries about nuclear-armed North Korea, where Kim’s untested son Kim Jong-Un appears to be taking the reins of power in the isolated communist state. It has created a “new situation” in East Asia, Noda said as he met with Wen Jiabao, the prime minister of China, a country he said wields the “most influence” over Pyongyang. “On this issue it is very timely to exchange views with the host of the six-party (nuclear disarmament) talks and the country with the most influence on North Korea,” Noda said.

Analysts agree that China holds the key to handling North Korea, where Japan has few ties overall and fewer still to Kim’s untested son. Japan, having no ties with the North, can do little other than to support China’s engagement with Pyongyang, said Takehiko Yamamoto, professor at Waseda University.

“You might call it an achievement if Japan and China only confirm their joint resolve to work together to protect peace and stability in northeast Asia including on the Korean peninsula,” he added. Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi this week held telephone talks with his counterparts in the United States, South Korea, Russia and Japan as Beijing seeks to ensure regional stability.

Efforts to revive six-party negotiations on scrapping the North’s nuclear program are also likely to be on the agenda after Seoul’s chief nuclear delegate visited China Thursday and Friday for meetings with his counterpart.

The six-party talks, chaired by China and also involving the two Koreas, the United States, Russia and Japan, have been at a standstill since December 2008. Negotiations to resurrect them appeared to be making progress before Kim’s death last Saturday. Media reports said Pyongyang would agree to suspend its uranium enrichment program in return for food aid from Washington.

In his comments, Noda also stated that “safeguarding the peace and stability of the Korean peninsula is in the common interest” of China and Japan. “We also hope to have a frank exchange of views on how to overcome the kidnapping issue, nuclear issue and missile issue,” Noda stated. Japan has previously expressed outrage over North Korea’s abduction of its nationals, and has viewed with concern Pyongyang’s testfiring of its short-range missiles on the same day it announced Kim’s death.

Noda’s overnight visit was set for December 12 and 13, but rescheduled to yesterday and Monday at China’s request, apparently for domestic reasons.

Some suggested the date change was tied to the anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre, in which Japanese troops killed tens of thousands of Chinese civilians during 1937-38. The two countries are also expected to discuss issues including territorial disputes in the East China Sea. Japan will urge China towards a framework dialogue to set rules for the development of gas fields in the East China Sea, near disputed islands called Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese.

The two are still trying to heal diplomatic wounds from a year ago when China reacted in fury over the arrest of one of its fishermen near the islands after he rammed his ship into Japanese coastguard vessels. Noda is also expected to thank China for its assistance in the aftermath of Japan’s March earthquake and tsunami, and to ask that Beijing send a pair of pandas to the hard-hit city of Sendai to boost morale.—AFP

Three Indian police die in Kashmir barracks shooting SRINAGAR: Three Indian federal police are dead and another was injured following a shooting at a barracks in insurgency-hit Kashmir, an official said yesterday. The fatal incident happened late Saturday evening inside the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) camp in the Himalayan town of Kulgam, about 90minutes drive from Srinagar, the capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

“We have three CRPF personnel dead and one injured,” a police officer told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak with the media. Other personnel inside the barracks at the time of the shooting were detained for questioning, he added.

It was not immediately clear if there was one or more shooters responsible for the deaths.

Around 100 Indian security force personnel commit suicide every year in Kashmir and the insurgency-racked northeastern states, according to official figures. There have also been a raft of incidents involving soldiers shooting their comrades and officers, known as fragging, which have been blamed on stress. Indian soldiers battling a 20-yearold insurgency in Kashmir are now being provided a 24-hour helpline and meditation classes to overcome stress, although fragging incidents in the region have dropped as the insurgency slowed.

More than two decades of violence in Kashmir has left more than 47,000 people dead by official count. India and Pakistan, which each hold the region in part but claim it in full, started a peace process in 2004.—AFP

PYONGYANG: North Korea is showing the uncle and key patron of anointed heir Kim Jong Un wearing a military uniform with a general’s insignia - a strong sign he’ll play a crucial role in helping the young man take over power and uphold the “militaryfirst” policy initiated by his late father, Kim Jong Il. As North Korea prepares for Kim Jong Il’s funeral Wednesday, it is also warning South Korea against barring visits to Pyongyang by civilian groups hoping to pay respects, saying the obstruction will lead to “catastrophic consequences” for relations between the rivals. While millions continue to mourn Kim Jong Il, North Korea is offering hints about Kim Jong Un’s rise and the future composition of his inner circle. North Korea began hailing Kim Jong Un as “supreme leader” of the 1.2-million strong military over the weekend as it ramps up its campaign to install him as ruler. Kim Jong Un, who is in his late 20s and was unveiled in September 2010 as his father’s choice as successor, will be the third-generation Kim to rule the nation of 24 million.

Koreans should become “eternal revolutionary comrades” with Kim Jong Un, “the sun of the 21st century,” the North’s main Rodong Sinmun newspaper said yesterday in a commentary carried by the official Korean Central News Agency. State television showed footage yesterday of a uniformed Jang Song Thaek and his nephew Kim Jong Un paying their respects before Kim Jong Il’s body, which is lying in state at Kumsusan Memorial Palace.

Seoul’s Unification Ministry said it was the first time Jang, usually seen in business suits, had been shown wearing a military uniform on state TV. Jang, a vice chairman of the power ful National Defense Commission, is the husband of Kim Kyong Hui, younger sister of Kim Jong Il and a key Workers’ Party official. South Korean lawmakers say intelligence officials have predicted that Jang and his wife will play larger roles support-

PYONGYANG: This handout picture taken by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) yesterday shows Kim Jong-Un (9th R) and North Korean People’s Army officers offering their condolences at the Kumsusan Memorial Palace, where the body of late North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il lies in state, in Pyongyang. —AFP ing Kim Jong Un. The new titles, a Sinmun newspaper urged Kim late father of Kim Jong Il. public show of support from top Jong Un to accept the top miliAlso, animosity with South military leadership and the sym- tary post: “Comrade Kim Jong Un, Korea still lingers after two incibolic appearance of Jang in uni- please assume the supreme com- dents blamed on North Korea form send strong signals that mandership, as wished by the killed 50 South Koreans last year.

North Korea will maintain Kim people.” Kim Jong Un’s father and Calls to rally behind Kim Jong Un, Jong Il’s “military first” policy for grandfather led the countr y dubbed the “Great Successor” in the time being. North Korea is in under different titles, and it the wake of his father’s death on official mourning until Kim Jong remains unclear which other Dec 17 from a heart attack, come Il’s funeral Wednesday and a titles will be bestowed on him. amid displays of grief across memorial Thursday. South Korea Kim Jong Un was promoted last North Korea. Yesterday, the has permitted only two groups year to four-star general and North’s state T V repeatedly with ties to North Korea to visit appointed a vice chairman of the showed footage of wailing uniand pay condolences ahead of Central Military Commission of formed soldiers, many with the funeral and has rejected the Workers’ Party. He had been shaved heads, and other citizens demands by several others. The expected to assume a number of professing their tear-choked South Korean groups, led by the other key posts while being longing for Kim Jong Il as they widow of former President Kim groomed to succeed his father. visited mourning sites.

Dae-jung, who held a landmark His father’s death comes at a In Pyongyang, workers at summit with Kim Jong Il in 2000, sensitive time for North Korea, drink kiosks handed steaming and a business leader whose late which was in the middle of dis- cups of water to shivering husband had ties to the North, cussions with the U.S. on food aid mourners, including children plan to cross the heavily fortified and restarting talks to dismantle bundled up in color ful, thick border today for a two-day trip, the North’s nuclear weapons pro- park as. State media said the according to Seoul’s Unification gram. Chronically short of food drinks were arranged at the Ministry. On Saturday, Kim Jong and suffering from a shortfall in instruction of Kim Jong Un, who Un again visited the palace where basic staples after several harsh ordered officials to take special his father’s body is lying in state - seasons, officials had been asking measures to protect the health this time as “supreme leader of for help feeding its people even of mourners. “Deeply moved by the revolutionary armed forces” as North Koreans prepared for the measures, all of the Korean and accompanied by North 2012 celebrations marking the people feel that Kim Jong Un is Korea’s top military brass, accord- 100th birthday of Kim Il Sung, the leader of the people, as great ing to KCNA. Earlier, the Rodong North Korea’s founder and the as Kim Jong Il,” KCNA said.—AP

Japan FM arrives in Myanmar

SYDNEY: A beach goer poses with a life guard for a photo in front of a Christmas tree at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia yesterday. —AP

Wild Christmas weather hits Australia SYDNEY: Wild weather battered Australia yesterday, with a tropical cyclone closing in on the north as tornadoes and thunderstorms brought hail in the south and huge swells forced the closure of popular beaches. Tropical Cyclone Grant intensified to a category two storm off the Tiwi Islands nor th of Dar win, packing destructive winds of 130 kilometres (80 miles) and forcing Christmas revellers into lockdown.

The weather bureau said Grant was “slowly intensifying” and advised residents in the cyclone’s path to take shelter, with gales and heavy weather closing in as the storm inched toward the mainland. It came as ex-tropical cyclone Fina whipped up huge four-metre (13 foot) waves on the popular northeast coast, creating dangerous surf conditions which forced tourist

beaches to close. Planes were diverted and delayed at Melbourne after thunderstorms, hail and a tornado swept through the southern city, Australia’s secondbiggest, smashing skylights and car windscreens.

The windstorm swept through at Keilor Downs, northwest of the city, according to the State Emergency Service (SES). “There was a tornado reported at Fiskville and we know it touched down at Keilor Downs because we had some SES volunteers there and they had to run for shelter,” said SES spokesman Lachlan Quick. Conditions were fine in Sydney, recently hit by unseasonably cool and wet weather, with thousands of tourists flocking to the city’s iconic beaches to catch a rare sunburst for the Christmas holiday. — AFP

TOKYO: Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba arrived in Myanmar yesterday, in the latest highprofile diplomatic trip looking to encourage reforms in the isolated nation, Tokyo’s public broadcaster reported. Gemba’s visit, the first by a Japanese foreign minister since 2002, comes as Tokyo considers resuming official development aid as part of international efforts to engage Myanmar’s new military-backed civilian government.

Gemba plans to meet with President Thein Sein and other top officials, and also democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, Kyodo News reported citing an unnamed government source. Unlike major Western nations, Japan has maintained trade ties and dialogue with Myanmar and warned that a hardline approach could push Myanmar closer to neighboring China, its main political supporter and commercial partner. Gemba is expected to propose negotiations on a bilateral investment accord in his meetings with officials, Kyodo said.

Japan has continued to provide humanitarian and emergency aid to the country, but halted regular economic assistance in 2003 following the arrest and subsequent detention of Suu Kyi. Myanmar’s new nominally civilian government has rolled out a series of reformist measures since it took office as the former generals who dominate it have sought to reach out to political opponents and the West.

Suu Kyi was freed in November 2010 from seven years of house arrest, and has re-registered her previously banned opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) as a political party, clearing the way for her to take part in elections. Hillary Clinton visited Myanmar earlier this month in the first trip there by a US Secretary of State in more than 50 years.— AFP

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NEWS

MONDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2011

KAMOGAWA, Japan: A white whale, also known as a beluga, puffs a ring at Kamogawa Sea World east of Tokyo, yesterday. — AP

Hackers target US security think tank

Sudan army kills Darfur rebel leader

Continued from Page 1

Continued from Page 1

Stratfor said in an email to members that it had suspended its servers and email after learning that its website had been hacked. “We have reason to believe that the names of our corporate subscribers have been posted on other web sites,” said the email, passed on to AP. “We are diligently investigating the extent to which subscriber information may have been obtained.” The email, signed

by Stratfor Chief Executive George Friedman, said the company is “working closely with law enforcement to identify who is behind the breach”. “Stratfor’s relationship with its members and, in particular, the confidentiality of their subscriber information, are very important to Stratfor and me,” Friedman wrote.

Stratfor’s website was down midday yesterday, with a banner saying “site is currently undergoing maintenance”.

Wishing everyone a “Merry LulzXMas” - a reference to spinoff and fellow troublemakers Lulz Security - Anonymous also posted a link on Twitter to a site containing the email, phone number and credit number of a US Homeland Security employee. The employee, Cody Sultenfuss, said he had no warning before his details were posted. “They took money I did not have,” he told AP in an email. “I think why me? I am not rich.” Anonymous warned it has “enough targets lined up to extend the fun fun fun of LulzXmas through the entire next week”. The group has previously claimed responsibility for attacks on companies such as Visa, MasterCard and PayPal, as well as others in the music industry and the Church of Scientology. — AP

Islamists gain, ‘corrupt’ lose in tribal...

Continued from Page 1 But the head of Kuwait Transparency Society Salah Al-Ghazali said yesterday that the society, which was assigned to monitor the elections by the government, has informed the interior ministry about the illegal primaries. Al-Ghazali said that based on the information, the interior ministry will refer all those involved in the primaries to the public prosecution starting from tomorrow. The move comes amid reports that more tribal primaries will be held in the fourth constituency, another tribal district, tomorrow. The two main tribes, the Mutairi and Rasheedi, will hold the primaries.

But the most interesting development this election has been that a number of leading figures and former MPs have publicly refused to enter into tribal primaries. These include ex-MPs Mohammad Hayef, Mubarak Al-Waalan, Dhaifallah Buramia and Musallam Al-Barrak from the Mutairi tribe in the fourth constituency.

Barrak and Buramia had not participated in the 2009 tribal primaries and ran on their own and won. All belong to the opposition. They also include former

opposition MPs Ali Al-Deqbasi and Shuaib AlMuwaizri, from the Rasheedi tribe, who are running together from the fourth district. In the fifth constituency, ex-MPs Al-Tahous and Al-Sawwagh did not run in tribal primaries.

Meanwhile, a number of Kuwaiti societies are taking part in monitoring the Feb 2 general elections along with the Kuwait Transparenc y Society. Kuwait Journalists Association and Kuwait Lawyers Society, and possibly foreign groups, will join the transparency society to monitor the elections. And, with five days left for registration of candidates, the number of hopefuls rose yesterday to 224 candidates, including only 11 women, who include the four former MPs who made history by becoming the first Kuwaiti female members of parliament in the 2009 elections.

Among those who registered yesterday were exMPs Adnan Abdulsamad, Aseel Al-Awadhi and Hussein Al-Qallaf, who told reporters that former prime minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah will return soon “in a bigger post than the premiership”. He did not elaborate.

Yemenis rally for Saleh trial despite...

Continued from Page 1 unity government expected this week, Sultan al-Barakani, who represents the GPC’s bloc in parliament, told AFP. The veteran leader said Saturday that he would soon visit the United States ahead of transferring power following a Feb 21 presidential election. A diplomat from one of the countries that has sponsored the deal, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that Saleh has presented “a list of 412 people” he wants the immunity deal to include.

The list includes his relatives, aides, and officials who had worked with him during his rule, the source said, adding that Saleh was given a US visa “two weeks ago”.

But yesterday’s protesters reject any such agreements. “No guaran-

tee, no immunity to Saleh and to those close to him,” they shouted.

The protesters, backed by tens of thousands who were met by gunfire from Saleh’s forces and loyalists after they arrived on foot Saturday from the second-largest city Taez, called on Hadi to hand over those responsible for the violence to justice. “Take up your responsibility and hand the killers of the youths over to justice, or resign,” said one of the organisers on a loudspeaker as the demonstrators gathered outside Hadi’s residence on Sittin Avenue.

Thirteen people were killed on Saturday when security forces and gunmen loyal to Saleh attacked their march in which they were calling for him to be put on trial. “Thirteen people were killed and 50 others were wounded by live rounds,” a medical official said yesterday, updating an

earlier toll of nine dead. The medic from a field hospital in the capital said that 150 other people suffered from breathing difficulties due to tear gas inhalation. Another medic who confirmed the toll said three of the wounded had succumbed to their injuries while a fourth was shot dead in another protest later on Saturday.

The objective of the five-day-long “March for Life” that turned deadly on Saturday was to press for Saleh and his top allies to face criminal charges for their roles in the violence committed against antiregime protesters. Despite being met by live rounds, water cannon and tear gas upon their arrival in Sanaa’s south, the crowds who set off from Taez on Tuesday for the 270km march to Sanaa poured into the capital where they spent the night in

conference, where officials refused to answer questions. “The fighting is still going on in North Kordofan and North Darfur,” Massar said. Ibrahim’s JEM was once the most heavily armed group in the Darfur region, although its recent strength remains unclear. JEM said in a statement later yesterday that Ibrahim was killed in air strike. Asked about the reported killing earlier, a source close to the group said: “I’m pretty sure it’s true.”

Ibrahim’s wife and daughter tried to hold a mourning ceremony at their home in south Khartoum but police forbade it, a witness told AFP. The governor of North Kordofan said on government-run Sudan TV that rebel vehicles were seen burning after the clash. Two fighter jets were also observed over the North Darfur capital of El Fasher at about mid-day on Sunday, a witness told AFP. On Saturday the official news agency SUNA quoted Saad as saying the military was combing the North Kordofan-North Darfur region after JEM “attacked civilians” and targeted local leaders while looting their property in the Umm-Gozain, Goz Abyadh and Aramal areas.

The JEM announced on Thursday through its London-based spokesman that its forces had advanced into North Kordofan and were heading eastward towards Khartoum on a mission to topple President Omar al-Bashir’s regime. Saad told reporters that JEM brought about 140 vehicles and 300 troops into North Kordofan where they “took 700 people” to force them to join the movement. A number of them fled to the army side after Ibrahim’s death, he added.

In 2008, more than 200 people were killed when JEM guerrillas drove about 1,000 km across the desert to the edge of Khartoum. Government troops repulsed them

after heavy clashes, but the brazen attack shocked the regime. In July, the government signed the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur with the Liberation and Justice Movement, an alliance of rebel splinter factions.

JEM and other key rebel groups - factions of the Sudan Liberation Army headed by Minni Minnawi and Abdelwahid Nur - did not join the pact.

Instead, last month they and the SPLM-North rebel group ratified documents forming the new Sudanese Revolutionary Front dedicated to “popular uprising and armed rebellion” against the National Congress Party government in Khartoum. Ibrahim was a key player in the early days of the Darfur conflict which erupted in 2003 between non-Arab rebels and the Arab-dominated central government. But recently the group’s interests had turned away from Darfur. The source close to JEM said the implications of Ibrahim’s death remain unclear, “except to say it’s a very significant turn of events for the Darfur rebellion and will definitely lead to a re-ordering within that particular movement”.

In October, Ibrahim told AFP he had “returned to my country to fight for the rights of the people in all regions of Sudan”. He had sought refuge in Chad which expelled him in May 2010 after a surprise rapprochement with Sudan. Ibrahim then moved to Libya, whose leader Muammar Gaddafi offered him sanctuary before his regime collapsed this year. According to the United Nations, at least 300,000 people have been killed in Darfur, while the Khartoum government puts the death toll at 10,000. UN officials say 1.9 million people are internally displaced and still living in camps in Darfur, with about 80,000 newly displaced by fighting this year.

Six people including Bashir are being sought or are before the International Criminal Court in The Hague for alleged crimes in Darfur. — AFP

Nigeria blasts kill 35 Continued from Page 1 the suicide bombing. Emergency officials initially said the blast outside Abuja happened in the church, but later said it occurred near it, with the impact felt inside the church, which was also damaged.

Holes could be seen in the wall of the St Theresa Catholic Church in Madalla and the roof was badly damaged. What looked to be blood was splashed on the outside of the wall. A number of cars were destroyed and badly damaged outside from what looked to be a powerful blast. “What we counted, we church officials, was 30 that was dead here,” Francis Aniezue, a rector at the church, told AFP. Father Christopher Barde told AFP that the explosion happened as the Christmas morning service was ending. “As I reached the last entrance, some people met me for blessings and suddenly I heard a bomb blast. It was really terrible,” he said. Nigerian police affairs minister Caleb Olubolade visited the scene. “This is like an internal war against the country,” he said. “So we have to really live up to it and face it squarely.”

A purported spokesman for Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the violence. “We are responsible for all the attacks in the past few days, including today’s bombing of the church in Madalla,” Abul Qaqa told AFP by phone. “We will continue to launch such attacks throughout the north in the next few days.” Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for scores of attacks in Nigeria, including the August suicide bombing of UN headquarters in Abuja that killed at least 24 people. There have

been a number of attacks in Suleija, also outside Abuja. A string of bomb blasts in the central city of Jos on Christmas Eve 2010 were claimed by Boko Haram.

In recent days in three cities in the northeast, where most of the violence attributed to Boko Haram has occurred, attacks blamed on the sect followed by a heavy military crackdown killed up to 100 people, authorities and a rights group have said. The chief of army staff was quoted by local media as saying soldiers killed 59 Boko Haram members in Damaturu. Shootouts had taken place on Thursday and Friday. Others said the total death toll on all sides - authorities, extremists and civilians - could be as high as 100.

Violence blamed on the sect has steadily worsened in recent months, with bomb blasts becoming more frequent and increasingly sophisticated and death tolls climbing, with at least 280 people killed since November.

The attacks have continued despite well publicised raids on so-called bomb factories and arrests of a number of alleged Boko Haram members by authorities. There has been intense speculation over whether Boko Haram has formed links with outside extremist groups, including AlQaeda’s north African branch.

The group is believed to have a number of factions with varying aims. It launched an uprising in 2009 that was put down by a brutal military assault which left some 800 dead as well as its mosque and headquarters in the northeastern city of Maiduguri in ruins. It went dormant for about a year before re-emerging in 2010 with a series of assassinations. — AFP

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Issues

Gorbachev warns Putin 20 years on

By Stuart Williams wenty years after he appeared on Soviet television to announce he was resigning as president of the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev has told Vladimir Putin it is time he took the same bitter medicine. After finally admitting that the state he had tried to save through his perestroika reforms had ceased to exist, Gorbachev on December 25, 1991 quit his post of his own free will. His resignation hammered the final nail into the coffin of the USSR and instantly cast Gorbachev out to the political wilderness, admired in the West but abhorred by many Russians for presiding over the collapse of their state.

But after the largest protest yet Saturday against Putin’s domination of Russia, Gorbachev on the eve of the anniversary of his own resignation became one of the most prominent Russian personalities to say he should go. “I would advise Vladimir Putin to leave now. He has had three terms: two as president and one as prime minister. Three terms - that is enough,” Gorbachev said, urging Putin not to pursue plans to run for president in 2012. “He should do the same thing I did. That is what I would do. That way, he would be able to preserve all the positive things he did,” Gorbachev told Moscow Echo radio.

Gorbachev had been generally supportive of Putin for most of his two terms as president to 2008 and his current post as prime minister, although he notably co-owns Russia’s main opposition newspaper the Novaya Gazeta. But he has sharply turned against Putin over December’s parliamentary elections which the opposition says was rigged. “I extended a lot of support to Vladimir Vladimirovich here and abroad and he deserved that then. But now there is such a situation that we can’t do anything,” he said.

Health reasons prevented Gorbachev from attending Saturday’s rally on Sakharov Avenue named after the late Soviet dissident - but one of the protest leaders, Vladimir Ryzhkov, passed on his greetings to the protestors. Gorbachev, 80, who lost his wife Raisa to cancer in 1999, said he was happy to have lived to see the new protest movement. “I am happy that I have lived to see this awakening.

There were two generations at the protest. This creates great hope and I don’t think it will just end in talk,” he said.

He described Saturday’s protest and the first mass rally on December 10 as “historic moments in our modern life. It shows the ideas and beliefs in which our people have believed.” The next years would be momentous ones for Russia, Gorbachev predicted.

“These are going to be the hardest years, the next 612 years will decide what is going to happen to us.”

Gorbachev had throughout winter of 1991 made last-ditch efforts to save the Soviet Union and was furious when Boris Yeltsin and other leaders signed accords in his absence on December 8 that effectively ended its existence.

But when the writing was truly on the wall, he went of his own accord. Ex-KGB agent Putin has repeatedly expressed regret that the USSR’s last leaders failed to save the Soviet Union and his spokesman Dmitry Peskov brushed off Gorbachev’s call for him to resign. “We, and I personally, respect him (Gorbachev) very much. But I was born in 1967 in the Soviet Union. And this country ceased to exist when he was its leader,” Peskov told AFP. Gorbachev has always been praised in the West for freely letting the Communist bloc states in Eastern Europe break away from Moscow’s influence without armed intervention. He compared Russia’s current situation to Communist Poland in the late 1980s when strikes and protests led by the Solidarity movement were shaking the rule of General Wojciech Jaruzelski. “General Jaruzelski, my friend, phoned me and said ‘Mikhail Sergeyevich, we have Solidarity, it looks like society (is behind it) and we cannot pretend that this simply does not mean anything. We have to change. We need to open a roundtable and start talks. What do you think?’And I said, ‘I support this’,” remembered Gorbachev. —AFP

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Britons mull future outside EU

By Adrian Croft and Keith Weir ong dismissed as “Little Englanders” living on the fringe of politics, Britain’s vocal band of EU-haters sense that their moment may have come. Prime Minister David Cameron’s decision to veto a new European Union treaty during a Dec 8-9 summit has emboldened Britain’s so-called eurosceptics, who are now pressing him to loosen ties with the bloc or even leave. Cameron insists that Britain must remain part of the 27-nation Union, with which the island nation does around half of its trade and which supports an estimated 3.5 million jobs. “Our membership of the EU is vital to our national interest,” Cameron told parliament last week. “We are a trading nation and we need the single market for trade, investment and jobs.”

Many legislators from Cameron’s Conservative Party, his Liberal Democrat coalition partners, and the opposition Labour Party, share the government line, which reflects a British establishment view formed over nearly four decades of EU membership. However, an influential and vocal section of Cameron’s party dreams of Britain having a similar relationship with the EU to that of Switzerland or Norway - a free trade agreement which gives access to the EU’s huge single market without signing up to what they see as a costly and burdensome bureaucracy.

Public opinion is starting to move in that direction too. An Ipsos MORI poll in October found 49 percent of British voters would choose to leave the EU in a referendum, compared with 41 percent who would vote to stay in. A similar poll in 2007 found 51 percent of voters would choose to stay in. EU sources said Cameron, a relative novice to the delicate art of Brussels summitry, had not intended to cast a veto, intending only to use the threat of a “no” as a negotiating tactic to secure concessions for London’s financial district.

But the apparent diplomatic missteps which led to the veto have now presented the British premier with an unexpected problem: his defiance in Brussels may have infuriated Continental allies but it proved very popular at home, giving him and his party an immediate lift in the opinion polls. No one expects a British exit from the EU to be seriously proposed any time soon and the current fraying of relations between the remaining EU 26 nations over their fiscal pact could yet open the door for Britain to re-engage with Europe as the Cameron’s coalition partners, the Liberal Democrats, are demanding.

However, the eurosceptics see a unique opportunity to refashion relations with Europe and create an entity which looks more like a free trade association than a political and fiscal union. Peter Bone, one of the Conservative eurosceptic members of parliament, believes Britain is clearly moving in the direction of quitting the EU. “I think what is much more likely is that we will have to come out and renegotiate our position with the EU from outside,” he told Reuters. Cameron wielded the veto against his EU partners after France and Germany rejected his demands for safeguards for Britain’s important financial services sector. The decision left Britain, the bloc’s third largest economy, in a minority of one and infuriated key allies such as Germany and France. Conservative eurosceptic MP Douglas Carswell said the summit outcome made a British referendum on EU membership “even more likely”. “There is now going to be some sort of new deal,” he said. In his vision, Britain would have a Swiss-style free trade agreement with the EU but would not be an EU member state.

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British Bulldog Bites Popular feeling against the EU in Britain is already running high and there is a risk that Britons’ alienation from Brussels could increase if they feel their country does not have a say in important decisions affecting them. Opposition to Europe is fuelled by doubts about the benefits of EU membership and resentment at what are seen as overly intrusive decisions from Brussels, eagerly covered by a largely eurosceptic British press.

Another Conservative MP, Andrew Rosindell, who urged

Cameron before last week’s summit to show some “bulldog spirit”, said Britain had reached a fork in the road.

“We no longer want to go down the road of more centralisation of power. What we do want is trade and cooperation,” he said. “I believe there should be a referendum at the right time - I voted for one in parliament,” added Rosindell, who has a bull terrier dog which he dresses in a Union Jack waistcoat. “It doesn’t have to be an in/out referendum - there could be an alternative that is good for business, good for the country and which others could follow if they want. In/out is rather a false choice. If we get a new relationship sorted out, Switzerland, Turkey and Norway would want to be part of that.” Such fighting talk alarms British businesses who fear it could cost Britain influence over crucial EU economic decisions. Martin Sorrell, chief executive of advertising group WPP told Reuters it would be “better to be on the inside of the tent than the outside”. The Confederation of British Industry, the main business lobby group, expressed concern that the debate would distract from the key goal of resolving the eurozone crisis.

Lines Crossed With the euro zone crisis fuelling hostility to the EU among British voters, there is a good chance they would opt to pull out of the bloc if given a chance. Citigroup Global Markets said in a note for clients that, over the long term, “exposing the UK public’s widespread euroscepticism to the light of day may accelerate support for an ultimate exit for the UK from the EU.” “We believe this is currently a low probability and long-term prospect, but one that will introduce significant doubt over the UK’s dealings with Brussels and fellow member states,” it said.

Government sources scorned the idea that Cameron’s decision put Britain on a path that could lead it out of the EU. “They said that when we didn’t sign up to the euro 20 years ago and it didn’t come to pass. The idea that when you don’t sign up to everything you are isolated is nonsense,” one source said. “We are a very big economy and therefore a big influence in the EU,” the source said, adding that this would remain the case. Economists say that Britain must protect its trade ties whatever the political posturing. “I think UK disengagement from the European Union in terms of trade and financial linkages is really very unrealistic,” said Jens Larsen, economist at RBC. “What I see going on is the more political dimension to that where Britain might lose influence on how the European Union is being shaped, but I don’t think anyone in government, or anyone in opposition, is seriously considering diminishing the economic and financial links,” he added.

Coalition Tensions Cameron is desperate to avoid feuding over Europe that wracked previous Conservative governments dating back to Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s. But the new intake of Conservative MPs who came into parliament in 2010 are more eurosceptic than many of their predecessors and public attitudes are changing too. The Conservatives are in coalition with the proEurope Liberal Democrats and the issue has the potential to bring down a government that hopes to rule until 2015.

The government has promised that any future transfer of power to Brussels will be put to a referendum. But Cameron was forced to water down a pledge to repatriate some powers from Brussels as the price of a coalition deal with the Lib Dems. Cameron knows that if he weak-

ens his stance on Europe, he risks losing supporters to the avowedly anti-EU UK Independence Party (UKIP), which won 16 percent of the vote in the 2009 European election, its best ever result. UKIP leader Nigel Farage took heart from Cameron’s decision, saying Britain had started its “great escape” from the EU, recalling the famous film made about a World War Two escape by Allied prisoners from a German camp. “David Cameron has inadvertently opened up the real debate. Logic tells you there is only one of two things to be done - either we leave or we go further into it. Where we are now is untenable,” Farage told Reuters.

Elsewhere, signals are mixed. A Reuters poll of economists this week found that Cameron’s veto had not significantly increased the chances that Britain would leave the bloc. Despite the veto, Britain has still been invited to participate in talks on new eurozone fiscal controls and some EU nations have attempted to make contact since the summit to encourage Britain back into the fold. John Kerr, a former British ambassador to the EU who famously passed notes to Prime Minister John Major from under the table during talks on the Maastricht Treaty 20 years ago, said it was not clear how long Britain would be out in the cold. “It’s not clear what exactly was decided in the middle of the night - the Brits stormed off in a huff and France announced a version of what had been decided,” he told Reuters. “It’s still all to play for.” — Reuters

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2011

analysis

Caution mutes US response to N Korea

By Matthew Lee he Obama administration’s cautious response to the death of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il reflects unease and uncertainty about the leadership transition in the reclusive country that has confounded US presidents for 60 years. North Korea, the “hermit kingdom,” has vexed the United States and its allies with war, nuclear tests, missile launches, belligerence and bellicose bombast.

But since he took office in 2009, President Barack Obama has had to deal with North Korea at perhaps its most secretive point: an unclear succession amid a time of deep concern about the stability of the regime.

Thus, the administration’s carefully worded public messages have underscored its desire for better relations with the autocratic nation and its concern about the welfare of the North Korean people. They are also gentle reminders that Washington expects Pyongyang to follow through on denuclearization pledges and improve ties with its neighbors, particularly South Korea.

The kid-gloves treatment accorded to the North’s youthful new leader, Kim’s twenty-something son Kim Jong Un, has attracted criticism from some who see this is a moment to make a forceful case for dramatic reform and regime change. But without solid intelligence on the opaque transition process and fearful of misunderstandings that could lead to provocations with the notoriously erratic North, US officials have concluded the best course is to say little, wait and watch.

Indeed, the administration’s initial reactions to Kim’s death have contained little substance at all. “All I can say is that we’re monitoring the situation closely,” White House press secretary Jay Carney said Wednesday as North Korean state media broadcast pictures of wailing mourners, apparently overcome with grief. “Kim Jong Il had designated Kim Jong Un as his official successor, and at this time we have no indication that that has changed.” Carney added: “We hope that the new North Korean leadership will take the steps necessary to support peace, prosperity and a better future for the North Korean people, including through acting on its commitments to denuclearization.”

Those comments echoed words from Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. On Monday, more than 16 hours after Kim’s death was announced, she was the first senior

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U.S. official to comment publicly, calling for “a peaceful and stable transition in North Korea” and expressing hope that it would not affect “regional peace and stability.”

Ironically, it was Clinton who first stirred the pot about a possible succession crisis in North Korea. Nearly three years ago, on her first trip to Asia as secretary of state, she stunned diplomatic circles with a frank appraisal of US concerns amid speculation about the health of Kim Jong Il, who had suffered a stroke in 2008, and his choice of a successor. “If there is a succession, even if it’s a peaceful succession, that creates more uncertainty and it also may encourage behaviors that are even more provocative as a way to consolidate power within the society,” Clinton told reporters on Feb 20, 2009.

Her remarks on a previously taboo subject sparked great debate. In Seoul the next day, she expressed surprise at the uproar, noting that reports of Kim choosing his youngest son Kim Jung Un to succeed him had “been in the news for months”. “I don’t think that it’s a forbidden subject to talk about succession in the hermit kingdom,” Clinton said. “In fact, it seems to me it’s got to be factored into any policy review that one is undertaking.”

That same month, US diplomats were scrambling to collect any information they could about Kim Jong Un from South Korean, Chinese and Japanese officials and experts, according to leaked State Department cables published by WikiLeaks. Unfortunately for the Americans, their interlocutors had sharply divided opinions, according to the cables.

Some predicted the North Korean regime would collapse politically within two to three years of Kim Jong Il’s death.

Others foresaw a power struggle between the young and untested Kim Jong Un and rivals in the elite, but differed over who would prevail. Others believed there would be little change.

One apparent area of convergence, however, was that most South Korean experts believed the challenge for the younger Kim would come after his father’s death. Before Kim’s passing, the US administration had been expected this week to announce the resumption in food aid to North Korea and a potential bilateral meeting on nuclear disarmament. Although the State Department said there had been brief exchange with North Korean officials in New York on Monday, both initiatives are now in flux pending the end of the North’s mourning period.

The administration says it is respecting that mourning period by understanding that North Korean officials will not be available for discussions. Yet it has steadfastly refused to express any sympathy for the death of Kim, whose Stalinist regime is accused of having one of the worst, if not the worst, human rights records in the world. While showering the late Czech democracy leader Vaclav Havel with effusive eulogies, American officials have refused to even utter the word “condolence” in relation to Kim. — AP

he whereabouts of late North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il’s eldest son, once seen as the natural successor in the communist dynasty, has become a subject of intense speculation since his father’s death. Kim Jong-Nam is believed to have lived a life of reclusive luxury, mainly in the Chinese gambling hub of Macau, since he was caught in 2001 entering Japan on a fake passport saying he wanted to take his family to Disneyland. Apparently banished by his father and North Korea’s secretive ruling elite, Jong-Nam, 40, has watched from afar as his young halfbrother, Kim Jong-Un, has been groomed since 2009 to succeed his father as the nation’s leader.

Jong-Nam’s movements since the announcement of his father’s death on Monday could give clues about the machinations in Pyongyang during the sensitive transition of power in the impoverished, nuclear-armed state.

But Macau-based observers say he has remained below the radar. “He’s moving here and there. It has been hard to track him down,” said Ricardo Pinto, publisher of Macau Closer magazine, who keeps an eye on JongNam’s comings and goings in the former Portuguese colony. “It appears that he lives at his house sometimes, and sometimes he stays at different hotels. There’s no indication where he is living now.”

Jong-Nam’s last public appearance

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Kim Jong-Nam

was in January this year, when he gave an interview to Japanese newspaper Tokyo Shimbun at an unspecified location in southern China. He told the paper that Kim Jong-Il, who took power in 1994 after the death of his father, North Korea’s founder and “great leader” Kim Il-Sung, was against a third-generation succession. But the late leader had anointed Jong-Un aged in his 20s and relatively inexperienced - to ensure national stability, he said. “Hereditary succession did not happen even under Chinese chairman Mao Zedong,” said Jong-Nam, sporting funky brown plastic glasses, a light pink shirt and a black jacket. “(Heredity succession) does not fit socialism and my father was against it.

I understand that it was done in order to stabilise the framework of the nation,” he said, warning that instability in North Korea would disrupt the “surrounding region”.

While most Kim-watchers agree Jong-Nam has used Macau as a base since his aborted Disneyland adventure, he is also reported to have stayed in Beijing and to have regularly visited Austria, France and Thailand, as well as North Korea. Analysts say the passing of power to a new generation could provide an opening for reform and improved relations with the outside world. They point out that Swisseducated Jong-Un is the first leader in two generations to have had any experience of life in the West.

Jong-Nam was also educated at a Swiss boarding school, but his years

as a gambling, drinking free spirit in exile may have corrupted him too much in the eyes of the ruling elite back in austere Pyongyang, analysts say. “He has been in exile for too long and has no more political base in North Korea,” said Joseph Cheng, a political analyst from Hong Kong’s City University. “It’s very unlikely he will have any role.”

In the late nineties, the eldest of Kim Jong-Il’s three sons was the heir apparent, holding senior jobs including general and head of foreign counter-intelligence. Jong-Nam’s resume makes him a better choice as North Korea’s next leader over his half brother. But the eldest Kim, whose film-star mother died in 2002, has expressed no interest in North Korea’s highest office. “If I were the successor, would you see me in Macau wearing these casual clothes and taking a holiday? I am only the son of Kim Jong-Il,” he told a Japanese television reporter in 2009.

In his most recent interview, JongNam said his “heart aches” when he heard about the hardship suffered by poverty-hit North Koreans. He urged the country’s leaders to “pay attention to reform and openness”. “What the North desires the most is the normalisation of ties with the US and settlement of peace on the Korean peninsula,” he told Tokyo Shimbun. Some analysts had seen second son Kim JongChul as favourite to take over, but the late Kim reportedly thought of him as too effeminate for leadership. —AFP

Russia’s ‘love affair’ with Putin ending

By Anna Smolchenko new mass rally against Vladimir Putin’s domination of Russia shows that the protest movement had gained critical momentum and he must commit to change or risk losing power, analysts said. While Saturday’s rally will not topple Putin by itself, his once invincible popularity is irreparably damaged and the outcome of 2012 presidential elections far more uncertain than just one month ago, they added. First triggered by widespread claims of egregious violations in Dec 4 parliamentary elections that handed a reduced majority to Putin’s party, the protest movement is now increasingly targeting the Russian strongman himself.

Putin now faces a turbulent campaign for the March 4, 2012 presidential elections during which he is planning to return to the Kremlin for a third term after his four-year stint as prime minister. “Other countries elect an official, a manager. For Russia it is a love affair that turns into hate,” said Alexander Konovalov, president of the Institute of Strategic Assessment. “Putin will not survive one presidential term, let alone two, unless there are very serious changes to satisfy people,” he said. “There has been a de-legitimisation of the authorities and it’s very serious.”

Tens of thousands of people attended Saturday’s protest in Moscow, the second mass opposition rally within a month and even bigger and more sharply critical of Putin than the first such protest two weeks ago.

“The authorities are trying to respond but are running out of time,” said Nikolai Petrov, an analyst with the Carnegie Moscow Centre. “There is a danger of a revolution because in the conditions of a political desert there are no parties or politicians to channel this colossal social energy into a constructive solution.”

Many Russians appear to feel insulted by Putin’s decision to return to the Kremlin in the March polls, a move he presented as a fait accompli in a job swap announcement with incumbent President Dmitry Medvedev in September. “Putin still has a great chance to be elected but he will not be able to reverse the fall in his popularity. After the election he will have to change this personal system of politics,” said Petrov. “But I do not think that

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Putin is capable of this.”

After September’s announcement Putin’s approval ratings have declined to historic lows, and polls showed earlier this month he would not be able to secure victory in the first round. As recently as the summer of 2010, Putin was so sure of his popularity that he was able to travel around Siberia with loyal media in tow and mesmerise the nation with often bare-chested stunts in Russia’s wild nature. But his touch seemed to have slipped this summer when he went diving in southern Russia and “discovered” ancient Greek urns that it later turned out had been especially placed there for him to find.

Just before the disputed elections, Putin was unexpectedly whistled at by unhappy fans when he stepped into the ring after a no-holds barred fight in what was seen as a symbol of the growing public discontent with his rule. “The authorities need to take extraordinary steps to get out of this while saving face,” said Yevgeny Gontmakher, head of the Centre for Social Policies at the Moscow-based Economics Institute. “I would not want to be in their place but they walked into this and ignored the warnings.” The prime minister’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov, speaking to AFP, insisted the protests reflected an opinion of a minority of Russians, while Putin still has the support of a majority. Putin dismissed the first rally as insignificant, saying he was learning to play ice hockey and compared the white ribbons opposition supporters pin to their lapels as a symbol of their protest to condoms. In scenes unthinkable just one month ago, the protesters on Saturday in response derided Putin with racy slogans. Condoms were distributed while one sign said: “We know you want a third time. But we have a headache!” “I do not know what will happen next but March 4 will not be the way it was planned,” commentator Olga Bakushinskaya wrote in a blog post. “Russians take a long time to harness a carriage but they ride fast.” — AFP

Protests far from knockout blow for China leaders

By Brian Rhoads ike battle-hardened boxers, China’s Communist Party leaders are leaning back on the ropes, patiently absorbing the blows from angry village protesters who have grabbed headlines but lack a knockout punch. Similar social upsrisings have floored leaders from North Africa and the Middle East but China’s leaders, and the country itself, are made of sterner stuff. Analysts say it would take an unlikely combination of blows for any semblance of an Arab Spring to take root in China: collapse of the economy, a breakdown of the Party system, a comprehensive loss of trust in the central government, and a cohesive anti-party movement in rural and urban areas.

Still, China has endured headlines that would make many an Arab leader tremble. Villagers in Wukan in south China chase off local officials and barricade themselves in for a 10-day standoff. Thousands march in Haimen city less than 160 km away to protest against a power plant project. Workers stage a sit-in in Dongguan city to the west, demanding backpay after their paper plant closed down.

But while Arab Spring protesters have scored knockout blows this year, economic conditions appear to have China on course for a comfortable points decision.

After the wave of Arab Spring revolutions, analysts began looking for markers that might be useful for predicting the next uprising. The most common characteristics included a disproportionately large segment of the population aged under 25, stagnating GDP per capita, and widening income inequality.

China doesn’t stand out in any of those categories.

The one-child policy means the country is ageing rapidly, and the bigger worry is potential shortages of young workers. GDP per capita is rising steadily. Income inequality, although wide, may narrow as Beijing mandates large minimum wage increases. Some 80 million Communist Party members and millions more who have benefited from China’s economic boom have little interest in spreading social unrest that would undermine those gains. Among China’s vast bureaucracy, where college graduates are competing for jobs, and the People’s Liberation Army, appetite for change is even lower. “With civil servants and military, with their support, even when there is extensive discontent among the general public, the regime can still maintain its rule for quite a long period of time,” said Kin-man Chan, associate professor at the department of sociology at Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Other factors favour the Party over the protesters, who lack central organisation. These include strong political cohesion, a system that reinforces support for the central government over local officials, a massive police force and fairly tight controls on traditional and social media. The last time the Politburo Standing Committee was seriously split was in 1989, a divide that gave time for the democracy movement centred on Tiananmen Square to snowball. Paramount leader Deng Xiaoping eventually stepped in, Party secretary Zhao Ziyang was sacked, and the movement was crushed on June 4 that year in a bloody military crackdown that killed hundreds, perhaps thousands.

The Chinese government’s fear is that, in the more distant future, those trends could gather momentum and threaten it. “I don’t think this can become a single spark that starts a prairie fire,” said Ting Wai, a professor of political science at Hong Kong Baptist University, referring to Mao Zedong’s famous thesis from the Chinese revolution. “There are many incidents of social unrest like these in China, but I don’t think in the near future they will join together,” Ting said.

While pressures from riots, strikes and other mass incidents could chip at the Party’s grip on the country, analysts say that weakening remains manageable, a trickle rather than a flood. Even the incident in the rebellious Guangdong province village of Wukan, where concessions to end the standoff appeared particularly favorable, only rippled the surface. Liu Feiyue, a human rights advocate in central China’s Hubei province who collects reports from protesters, said “the scope of concessions in Wukan was unusually large, especially on freeing detained villagers and a fresh village election”.

“This showed unusual flexibility and reasonableness from the Guangdong government,” said Liu, who runs the Civil Rights and Livelihood Watch website. “But I don’t think the Wukan model will spread nationwide easily. There’s too much conservatism and fear of change, and other places tend to offer only tactical compromises and then officials return to high-pressure methods and to settling scores,” Liu said in a telephone interview. The Communist Party has years of experience handling incidents of mass unrest that have grown in number as economic reforms gathered pace in the 1990s and 2000s, bringing booming growth and rising incomes but also spawning a widening wealth gap and uneven development. Each day, authorities grapple with nearly 250 mass incidents, the euphemism for riots and protests, somewhere across the country, based on the annual figure of more than 90,000 incidents that Chinese experts estimate occur annually.

It has also been going on for years - in 2004 there were 78,000 incidents and Hu’s predecessor Jiang Zemin had to defuse huge strikes as he and Premier Zhu Rongji overhauled lumbering state enterprises, shattered the iron rice bowl and laid off thousands of workers from once guaranteed jobs. While incidents differ, China’s approach to handling violent protest has been fairly formulaic. First, security forces quell the incident with overwhelming force and arrest the ringleaders. The authorities one rung up the ladder at the county or province often then address the source of the outrage - closing down the polluting factory, arresting the corrupt local official, or ordering the backwages paid.

There is little sign of discord in the Politburo when it comes to social stability, particularly with a leadership transition coming. Zhou Yongkang, the Standing Committee member in charge of public security, was not speaking just for himself in a speech carried in newspapers on Thursday that urged law-and-order cadres to ensure “a harmonious and stable social setting” ahead of the Communist Party’s 18th Congress in late 2012. Social media are yoked as well. China has banned Facebook and Twitter and while Weibo, the popular microblogging site, has become a source for news to spread, tight controls - posts are deleted or topic searches are banned - hinder the ability to use it to organise, Chan said. —Reuters

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Kim’s eldest son slips off radar in Macau

By Beh Lih Yi

Focus

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Sri Lanka hope for Durban change of luck DURBAN: South Africa will remain favorites but Sri Lanka can expect less treacherous batting conditions in the second Test starting at Kingsmead today. Sri Lanka were swept aside by an innings and 81 runs before tea on the third day in the first Test at Centurion, where their batsmen were unable to combat the home side’s fast bowlers on a pitch with uneven bounce and extravagant sideways movement. Shaun Pollock, a former South African captain and a resident of this Indian Ocean city, was among critics who felt the pitch at Centurion was loaded unfairly in favor of the bowlers and it seems likely that the surface at Kingsmead will offer a more even contest. Pollock said

he could understand South Africa’s eagerness to win a home series, but with tours to New Zealand, England and Australia coming up in 2012, he added: “I’m more concerned with us honing the skills we will surely need over the next year.”

Pollock said pitches like that at Centurion did not benefit the South African team in the long term. “I don’t believe these conditions help with the development of our cricketers ... as a South African supporter I feel we can compete with the best teams in the world on quality surfaces.” The Kingsmead pitch is still likely to help the fast bowlers, because it offers pace and bounce, but the bowlers will probably have to work harder for their

wickets. Sri Lanka were outclassed in the first Test but will be hoping to end what has been a winless year in Test cricket on a positive note. With batsmen of the calibre of Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and captain Tillekeratne Dilshan, they have the potential to post a competitive total.

Sri Lanka’s bowling, though, lacks penetration following the retirement of offspinner Muttiah Muralitharan and it is doubtful whether the call-up of fast bowling reserves in the form of Dhammika Prasad and Kanishka Alvitigala will make a significant difference. The tourists can take heart from recent history, however, because South Africa have lost their three

most recent Tests at Kingsmead-against Australia, England and India. Sri Lanka drew the only Test they have played at the ground, in 2000/01, when Sangakkara and Jayawardene shone with the bat, making 74 and 98 respectively, and Dilhara Fernando, another survivor from that tour, took five first-innings wickets.

It remains the only Test in South Africa in which Sri Lanka have avoided defeatalthough they were helped by a full day’s play being lost to rain. South Africa will be seeking to wrap up the three-Test series ahead of the final match in Cape Town, starting on January 3. Rookie fast bowler Vernon Philander, who hurt his knee in the nets on Saturday, has been in irresistible

form, taking 24 wickets in his first three Tests, including 10 for 102 at Centurion.

He has been helped by bowler-friendly pitches but offers tight control and the ability to move the ball both ways, proving an ideal new ball partner for tearaway Dale Steyn. South Africa will look to improved form from tall fast bowler Morne Morkel, who went to Durban early to work with fast bowling coach Allan Donald in an effort to regain the form that made him one of the world’s most potent strike bowlers last year. Another early arrival in Durban was batsman Jacques Rudolph, who is hoping to cement his position as captain Graeme’s Smith opening partner.— AFP

Australia rookies face Indian greats

LOS ANGELES: Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan (6) congratulates forward Blake Griffin (32) for taking a charge against the Los Angeles Lakers during an NBA preseason basketball game in Los Angeles. Clippers won the game 108-103. — AP

Clippers set to deal with expectations NEW YORK: Long overshadowed in Los Angeles by the star-studded Lakers and their 16 NBA Championship banners, lowly city rivals the Clippers have suddenly become the talk of the town following their stunning off-season acquisitions. Boosted by the arrival of premier point guard Chris Paul and former All Stars Chauncey Billups and Caron Butler, the Clippers have instantly been installed as genuine title contenders for the 2011-12 season.

While the players themselves claim they are not feeling any added pressure, there is no question their long-suffering fans now hold great expectations, starting with the season-opening game away to the Golden State Warriors. “We don’t feel any pressure,” four-time All-Star Paul told reporters while preparing for his first official game in Clippers colors. “Who’s putting that pressure on us? “The thing is, at the end of the day, we’re the players. We control what we can control and that’s the people in this organization who are in here at practice every day. “We can’t control what you guys (reporters) say because that is what it is.”

The acquisition of Paul from the New Orleans Hornets for guard Eric Gordon, center Chris Kaman, forward Al-Farouq Aminu and a 2012 first-round draft pick was comfortably the biggest signing in the NBA’s off-season. Add in twice All-Star small forward Butler and Billups to a line-up already

boasting the astonishing dunking talents of Blake Griffin, along with veteran All-Star Mo Williams and talented center DeAndre Jordan, and it is no wonder Clippers fans are suddenly drooling with delight.

‘GREAT OUTLOOK’ “We really do have a great outlook but, in all actuality, we haven’t won a game yet,” five-time All-Star guard Billups said warily ahead of the game. “And the difficult thing is that everybody knows we should be a lot better, so we don’t have the advantage of sneaking up on teams anymore. Teams are going to be ready. We are going to get a teams’ best punch, so we’ve got to guard for that.” The Clippers, who won only 32 games last year and have exceeded the .500 mark just once in the last 19 years, have captured the interest of former Lakers great Magic Johnson.

“For the first time, I’m going to be watching Clippers games,” the 12-time AllStar said earlier this month. “You’re talking about excitement for the city. Wow. I mean, since that (Paul) trade everybody’s talking about both teams, that’s all the conversation. “I think you’re going to see sellouts on both sides. It’s a great time to be in the city of Los Angeles ... you’re going to be able to go see a great Lakers team and then a great Clippers game as well.” — Reuters

Bucks’ Bogut believes NBA lockout allowed him to heal MILWAUKEE: Andrew Bogut is ready to put a trying season behind him. And “trying” doesn’t come close to explaining the mental and physical anguish he endured while playing in 65 games with one good hand. Now as Bogut and the Bucks get ready for a 66-game NBA season, starting today night in Charlotte, they are hoping to be smart and be healthy.

The Bucks’ 7-foot center used the down time during the lockout to his advantage, working out regularly in his gym in

Andrew Bogut Melbourne, Australia, while gaining confidence again in his right elbow and right hand. Bogut underwent surgery on the elbow in April, when surgeon James Andrews made five incisions and removed a large bone chip.

The injury stemmed from Bogut’s famous crash to the Bradley Center floor in April 2010, when he went up for that disastrous dunk against the Phoenix Suns. “People say Bogut is injury prone,” said the 27-year-old, now in his seventh season with the Bucks. “I would give a million, 2 million dollars out of my con-

tract for this injury never to have happened.

“I’d give half my (yearly) contract, $5 million. I knew when the lockout happened I was going to lose some money, but I’d pay that money right now to be 100 percent. “I’d rather be feeling the way I’m feeling now. That was a blessing in disguise for me (the lockout). I got to stay an extra two months in a gym. I still would have been OK coming back in October but not as healed. To get an extra six to eight weeks, it was huge for me.” It’s difficult to recall how the Bucks actually function with a healthy Bogut in the lineup. But it’s worth remembering the team was on a roll at the end of the 2009-’10 season and putting a beat-down on the Suns when Bogut was injured.

So far in the shortened training camp Bogut has performed better in practice than in the two exhibition games against the Minnesota Timberwolves. But he also has showed enough positive signs to encourage Coach Scott Skiles, who said he would go home after games last season and feel sorry for his big man. “You can tell he feels better,” Skiles said. “He’s in great shape. He was unhealthy for the whole year. He has a totally different look on his face. “When he catches it and goes quick to the basket, he’s got a much quicker first step than people think. Last year due to his injury, he was catching and looking and waiting. He just didn’t feel comfortable; he just wasn’t himself.”

Bogut didn’t want to let on about how much pain and frustration he felt, but finally he couldn’t take it any longer at one point last season. “ There was a day where I finally snapped and I was like, ‘My elbow is absolutely terrible,’ “ Bogut said. “Mentally I’ve never dealt with anything like that in my life before.

The stress fracture in my back was nothing compared to this. “All of a sudden, I had a ball in my right hand and I couldn’t dribble, I couldn’t shoot, I couldn’t lift weights. I knew going into the season to an extent I was going to have to try to just guard, get rebounds, block shots and be a defensive presence, finish easy shots. Everything else was going to come hard. —MCT

MELBOURNE: Australia may have an inexperienced batting top three but they are in form ahead of the opening Boxing Day Test against India, Australian vice-captain Brad Haddin said yesterday. Australia’s top three in the batting order-David Warner, Ed Cowan and Shaun Marsh-have just five Tests between them in one of Australia’s most unfamiliar combinations in more than three decades. Warner has played just two Test matches but comes to the Melbourne Cricket Ground with a last start unbeaten 123 against New Zealand, while three-Test Marsh crunched 99 off 52 balls in domestic Twenty20 just days ago.

Debutant Cowan earned selection on the strength of his 109 for a Chairman’s XI against India this week along with three first-class centuries this season. While the Australian team is in transition, India’s top five batsmen-Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman boast a combined tally of 610 Tests. In the first of four Tests for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy it is India’s experience against Australia’s untried potential.

Wicketkeeper Haddin, who will be an important member of the Australian batting lineup at number seven, said it was time for the home team to stand up and meet the Indian challenge head on.

“You talk about our inexperienced top three, I think we’ve got a very in-form top three,” Haddin told reporters yesterday. “And if we’re going to do any good in this series it’s going to be from one to seven with the bat.

We’ve all got to perform. “We’ve got to make sure we’ve got our game heads on and ready to go.” Coach Mickey Arthur arranged a batting camp this week and Haddin said the three-day get-together was to clear the batsmen’s minds. “Freeing your head, having no other thoughts in your head but just playing cricket,” Haddin said. “You’ll see over the next five days whether it has all paid off.”

Australia are also conceding huge amounts of big-match experience with the ball to India, with two of the four frontline bowlers, James Pattinson and offspinner

Nathan Lyon, in their first year of Test cricket.

“We’ve picked an 11 that we think is confident to rip through this Indian side,” Haddin said. “They’ve got some great players and I know especially our bowlers are looking forward to having a crack at them.” Pattinson, just 21, has taken 14 wickets in his two Tests against New Zealand, while Lyon has 22 wickets from his seven Tests at 24.59.

Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman have indicated they will go after Lyon to dent his confidence. “We’re just hoping that we score some

spin bowling. “We’ve got to make sure we bowl Nathan at the right times, set the right fields to give him a little bit of protection and then attack when it’s time to attack,” Clarke said.

Tendulkar could score his 100th century in Tests and one-day internationals during the four-Test series. He has been anchored on 99 hundreds since March and Dhoni said Tendulkar was putting aside the speculation and pressure linked to his impending achievement. “He’s someone who keeps it

MELBOURNE: Australian player Michael Hussey (right) dives to catch the ball as captain Michael Clarke (left) looks on as the team train for their upcoming Test match against India at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) yesterday. — AFP runs off him, try to put pressure on him,” India skipper MS Dhoni said. “The kind of experience we have got, that will really help us in executing our plans.” Australian captain Michael Clarke said Lyon will have to be managed carefully during the series, but he regards him as a potential weapon against a team who are traditionally adept at playing

really simple,” Dhoni said. “He will get it at some point in time, whether it’s this series or the next series. “I don’t think there’s any added pressure on him. “A hundred hundreds in international cricket, it’s something really big. The whole of cricket, all over the world, people will really cherish the moment when he gets his hundredth done.”— AFP

India wait on fitness of injury-prone pacemen MELBOURNE: India is expected to wait until just before today’s toss to name its team for the first test against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, giving injury-prone pace bowlers Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma a chance to prove their fitness. India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said Khan and Sharma “are shaping up well, hopefully they would all be available for selection” for the first match of the fourtest series. The visitors have not won a test series in 64 years of touring Australia. Batsman Sachin Tendulkar will renew his quest for his 100th international century in the first test, having been stuck on 99 since March. Dhoni said Tendulkar’s main emotion when he finally reaches the milestone will be relief. “He will get it at some point in time, whether it’s this series or the next series,” Dhoni said. “I don’t think there’s any added pressure on him. But of course if he gets it soon he will feel a bit relieved. The whole of cricket, all over the world, people will really cherish the moment when he gets his hundredth done.”

Yesterday, both teams held light batting sessions and the Australians had a family Christmas luncheon. Wicketkeeper Brad Haddin, who took his son with him to the luncheon, says Australia has put its embarrassing loss to New Zealand in the Hobart test behind them. Australia lost eight wickets for 74 on the final day in a seven-run loss to the No 8-ranked Kiwis two weeks ago - the visitors’ first test win in Australia since 1985. “We’re in a very good space at the moment,” Haddin said. “Boxing Day, it’s a great occasion to walk out onto the MCG. As as sportsman, it’s a highlight to be able to come out in front of 60,000 or 70,000 to watch a test match.”

Australia left out uncapped allrounder Dan Christian and pace bowler Mitchell Starc from its 13-man squad when its team was named Saturday. Swing bowler Ben Hilfenhaus won a recall after recovering from knee tendinitis while Shaun Marsh returns to bat at No 3 after overcoming a back injury which kept him out of the two-test New Zealand series. Clarke said it was a gamble to leave out No. 6 batsman Christian, especially with fellow allrounder Shane Watson declared unfit as he recovers from hamstring and calf strains. But Clarke said he could call on himself and other part-timers Michael Hussey, Ricky Ponting and David Warner to bowl a few overs.

Australia will take just four genuine bowlers into the test Hilfenhaus, Peter Siddle, Nathan Lyon and James Pattinson, who has taken two five-wickets hauls in his first two tests. Tasmania’s Ed Cowan, 29, will become the 10th Australia player to make his test debut in 2011. Cowan will open the batting with David Warner against No 2ranked India. Haddin said the possibility of Tendulkar achieving the historic 100-century mark was a bonus for the fans. “That’s exciting, the prospect of him scoring his hundredth 100, for everyone involved in the game,” Haddin said. “We haven’t discussed anything about Sachin’s hundred. With a bit of luck we don’t give him the opportunity to get there.”— AP

MELBOURNE: Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar (right) attempts to take a catch as captain MS Dhoni looks on during training for their upcoming Test match against India at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) yesterday. — AFP

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MLS move on, minus Beckham LOS ANGELES: Au revoir, David Beckham. Although your aides-decamp keep insisting nothing has been decided, everybody knows your move to the French club Paris SaintGermain is pretty much a fait accompli. (By the way, David, I hope you’re reading this closely because you really should learn the language.) When the deal does become official - which probably will be after New Year’s to assure the greatest possible media coverage - we hear a “movie star” unveiling will be staged in central Paris. Sounds as if this will be the biggest signing on French soil since the Treaty at Versailles.

And the French may wind up regretting this deal almost as much.

We keep hearing how Europe is broke, but you’re going to be getting more than $1 million a month. And that’s after taxes. So expect the French honeymoon to be short. In fact, Eva Joly, the Green Party candidate for president in next year’s elections, has already called the contract “shocking,” while Jean-Marc Ayrault, who represents the Socialist party in Parliament, said “I’ve had enough of these enormous salaries.”

But they’re lefties so, you know, let them eat cake? They don’t even know about the sponsorship deals; the house for you, Posh and the kids; or the $28,000 annual “scholarships” for your three boys at the hoity-toity British School of Paris. Shoot, you’re a one-man stimulus package. Yet all that sounds a little too familiar on this side of the pond. After all, we gave you a movie star welcome too - with real movie stars. We also gave you the

richest contract in the history of our quaint soccer league, after which our economy totally tanked.

OH WELL, C’EST LA VIE. Yet before the ink on your contract with the Galaxy had dried, you had become an enfant terrible, missing more than half the team’s games in your first four years - many of them during your failed attempt to make England’s World Cup team.

Surely the French know your raison d’etre this summer is not to help Paris Saint-Germain win its first Ligue 1 title since 1994. You’re hoping to prove your fitness for next summer’s Olympics Games, an event you played no small part in bringing to London. What a glorious farewell being the captain of the national team in your hometown. But you’ll be 37 then and the English will need proof that you can still be a tour de force. So while your body and your bank account will be in France, your heart and mind will be focused on London.

Which doesn’t mean this can’t work. Au contraire. Your final season in MLS was, well, magnifique. You finished second in the league in assists, made the Best XI and won the league’s comeback-player-of-the-year award - all while being a model citizen and leading the team to an MLS title. But then all that was really little more than icing on the croissant. The real reason you were brought here was to give our sleepy little league the international prestige and profile it sorely needed to expand - the je ne sais quoi it clearly lacked.

And in that you were a spectacular success. Major League Soccer and especially the Galaxy are now global brands. You proved that coming to

Blackburn Rovers’ English manager Steve Kean Manchester United and on course for their first top-flight title for 44 years.

But Sir Alex Ferguson’s reigning champions will end the calendar year at the summit if they follow up victory over struggling Wigan today with another three points against bottom club Blackburn on Sunday.

That is because City do not play again after today until January 1,

Matches on TV (Local Timings) English Premier League Chelsea v Fulham

16:00

Abu Dhabi Sport HD Bolton v Newcastle

18:00

Abu Dhabi Sport HD Liverpool v Blackburn

18:00

Abu Dhabi Sport HD Man United v Wigan

18:00

Abu Dhabi Sport HD Sunderland v Everton

18:00

Abu Dhabi Sport HD West Brom v City

18:00

Abu Dhabi Sport HD Stoke v Villa Abu Dhabi Sport HD

23:00

in 2007 to come play,” Commissioner Dan Garber said of your influence.

After delivering all that, in addition to your long-promised MLS Cup, you

MILAN: A file photo shows David Beckham controlling the ball during the Serie A football match AC Milan vs Atalanta at San Siro Stadium in Milan. French newspapers trumpeted the imminent arrival in France of England star David Beckham, saying that he had finally agreed on a lucrative deal to play for Paris St Germain. —AFP MLS didn’t mean dropping off the soccer map, thus making it safe for players such as Cuauhtemoc Blanco, Thierry Henry, Robbie Keane and Rafa

Mancini issues City with festive warning WEST BROMWICH: Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has warned his Premier League leaders that they cannot afford to offer up unexpected gifts on their travels over the festive season. City start their final game of 2011 at West Bromwich Albion today two points clear of nearest rivals

Marquez to follow you. During your time here MLS forged record-breaking national television contracts and the Galaxy signed a 10-year, $55-mil-

when they travel to Sunderland.

Mancini’s expensively-assembled side have led the table for most of the season and remain favorites to finish the impressive job they have started. They appear to have an easier second half to the campaign on paper. While United still have to travel to Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham and City, Mancini’s men, invincible at home this year, host Tottenham, Chelsea and United.

But Mancini is taking nothing for granted and wants maximum points at West Brom and Sunderland after drawing 1-1 at Liverpool and then losing 2-1 at Chelsea in their past two away league games. “We still have Chelsea, United, Tottenham and Liverpool to come to the Etihad Stadium, but we need to win away games as well, and we have only one point from our last two,” said the Italian.

“I have a lot of respect for West Bromwich, and for (manager) Roy Hodgson - he is one of the best managers in Europe. It will be very hard because they play good football. They have had some problems but won their last two away games and seem to be in good form.” Free-scoring City have doubts concerning defender Micah Richards (leg) and striker Edin Dzeko (knock) while Serbian defender Aleksander Kolarov is troubled by a groin injury. West Brom start the game in mid-table after back-to-back away wins at Blackburn and Newcastle.

But their home form has been less impressive although defender Gareth McAuley insists confidence is high after recent results. “City are top of the league and scoring goals for fun,” said McAuley. “But it’s a challenge for us to stop that. “The changing room is confident at the moment but we know it’s going to be a tough game and we’ve got to do the basics right and all the hard work. “Then, when we get the ball, we have to play like we can do.”

Albion moved seven points clear of the relegation zone and up to 10th courtesy of last Wednesday’s 3-2 win over Newcastle, however McAuley admits he and his team mates face the unenviable task in attempting to shackle Sergio Aguero.

City’s Argentina international scored twice in Wednesday’s 3-0 victory over Stoke to take his Premier League tally for the campaign to 13 goals. “I watched a bit of City’s game against Arsenal on TV and his movement was second to none,” added Northern Ireland international McAuley. “His movement in and around the box is different class and it’s going to be a big task and a big job in terms of concentration for whoever plays against him.” West Brom hope James Morrison will recover from the hamstring injury which ruled him out in midweek. Steven Reid (ankle), Youssouf Mulumbu (groin) and Jerome Thomas (ankle) are all major doubts.—AFP

lion deal of its own. Average MLS attendance surpassed that of the NHL and NBA. “MLS wouldn’t be what it is today if David didn’t decide

probably figured there wasn’t much left to do for an encore. (Yes, that’s a French word too.) Here’s something you might not know, though. The

Galaxy and MLS probably will be better off without you. Maybe not at first, but certainly over time. Even Garber said the league needs to prove it’s not all about one player. “I don’t think any league or any club can rely too much on any one player as the person that we all depend on,” he said. “I think we’re well past that.”

And despite your spectacular 2011 season, there’s no doubt you’re slowing down. Plus there’s little appetite left within the Galaxy to deal with the split loyalties you’re certain to display as the Olympics near. The front office may have offered you a six-week sabbatical to go to London, but you can bet that deal wasn’t endorsed in the locker room. Plus the money the team saved for you can now be used to sign a younger and arguably more useful designated player, such as 33year-old Chelsea striker Didier Drogba, whose agent said a move to LA was possible.

Other media reports have linked the Galaxy to Ronaldinho, Frank Lampard and Michael Ballack _ pretty much everybody but Pele. “We’re committed to other designated players,” your old friend Tim Leiweke, president of AEG, the entertainment group that owns the Galaxy, told me.

“There will be others that are going to want to come now. I promise you our future is better than our past.” So thanks for the memories, David. Best wishes and bon voyage. I really hope this move doesn’t prove to be a faux pas. When all the contracts are signed, send me an invitation to your big soiree. I promise to RSVP. —MCT

Chelsea wary of wounded Fulham LONDON: Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech has warned his teammates against complacency as they prepare to face a shellshocked Fulham side in a Boxing Day derby today. The Blues could not have picked a better time to face the Cottagers, who are reeling after suffering their heaviest ever home defeat last week, a 5-0 thrashing by Manchester United.

Yet Cech has urged his teammates to disregard Fulham’s recent problems as Andre VillasBoas’s men look to pick up three points in order to stay in touch with the league leaders.

“We can’t look too much at the table, we need to keep going step by step, try to win our games and try to catch up as many points as we can,” Cech said. “We depend on everybody else, so it’s up to them how they are going to do but we just need to keep winning our games. Fulham will be a difficult game because they lost 5-0 at home in their last game. “It’s a big London derby and they will want to bounce back, so Chelsea is a great motivation to say sorry to their supporters after Man United but we are in a situation where we need to keep winning.”

Villas-Boas heads into the game trying to juggle a growing central defensive crisis that has seen him open talks with Bolton about a move for Gary Cahill. The injury to Branislav Ivanovic during the 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotpsur last week means John Terry is the Blues’ only fully fit centre back ahead of the meeting with Fulham at Stamford Bridge. That will only

strengthen Villas-Boas’s resolve to complete a deal for England defender Cahill - out of contract at the end of the season - as quickly

ers from a knee injury in time to face Fulham in a game Chelsea must win to maintain their title hopes. The point gained at White

LONDON: Tottenham Hotspur’s Welsh defender Gareth Bale (left) vies with Chelsea’s Nigerian midfielder John Mikel Obi (right) in this file photo during their English Premier League football match at White Hart Lane. —AFP as possible next month.

Until the window opens, however, Villas-Boas will be forced to improvise unless David Luiz recov-

Hart Lane left Villas-Boas’s side 11 points adrift of Premier League leaders Manchester City. And while Chelsea will expect to beat a

Fulham side in the doldrums following the United drubbing, a makeshift backline will do little to enhance their chances of victory.

Villas-Boas insists there is no way back for the transfer-listed Alex and is likely to use Paulo Ferreira or Oriol Romeu alongside Terry.

Frank Lampard could return to the starting line-up in place of Ramires after the Brazil midfielder collected his fifth booking of the season. Fulham sit just four points above the bottom three and, having also exited the Europa League, are in desperate need of a lift. The performance against United drew widespread criticism but manager Martin Jol insists his side can turn things around quickly. “I don’t think we are lacking confidence, it’s about teamwork. If you work as a team, we are good and our goal difference has shown that-that’s probably been a big plus for us this season.

“But that is something we destroyed on Wednesday with the five goals. If you play as a team, you don’t concede goals and you always get your chances.” Jol has no new injury worries and he may well opt to restore Bobby Zamora to the starting line-up after starting the England forward on the bench against United. Left back John Arne Riise said: “We have Chelsea on Sunday then Norwich and Arsenal, so we just have to look at what we did wrong, pick ourselves up fast and improve.”

“We will lift our heads up, focus on the things we’ve done right in the last few weeks, work hard and stick together.” —AFP

Extras Tottenham handed Van der Vaart boost LONDON: Tottenham have received a Christmas boost with the news that Dutch forward Rafael van der Vaart may face Norwich tomorrow after his hamstring injury proved less serious than first feared. The 28-year-old Holland star went off at half-time in Thursday’s 1-1 draw against Chelsea but a scan showed up no tear, meaning he comes into consideration for the visit to Carrow Road. “He looks okay,” Spurs manager Harry Redknapp told Sky Sports News. “He looks like he could be fit. We thought he had a hamstring. He went for a scan and it didn’t show a tear. Van der Vaart said for his part: “I think I’m going to be fine.”

Tottenham have lost just once in their last 14 English Premier League matches to climb to third in the table. But Van der Vaart is not getting too carried away with title talk. The former Hamburg and Real Madrid man said: “We are third and still have one game in hand. We’re playing

really good this season - you can see it in the big games, so it’s going to be interesting. “But there’s still a long way to go.”

Bishop urges fans to support Kean LONDON: Under-fire Steve Kean has received a Christmas message of support from the Bishop of Blackburn, who urged fans to get behind their beleaguered man in the hotseat as the club try to move off the bottom of the Premier League. The League Managers’ Association (LMA) had already called for an end to mounting abuse of Kean which reached a crescendo following his side’s 2-1 home loss to Bolton while the local newspaper publicly demanded his dismissal. But the Right Reverend Nicholas Reade called on supporters to show some compassion ahead of a tough Boxing Day fixture against Liverpool. “I would say please, always remember the human being, always remember that he’s part of a family - that other people will be suffering because

people have got him in their sights,” the bishop told the BBC. Kean has said he is confident that under-fire Indian owners Venky’s will provide the money for muchneeded defensive reinforcements in the January transfer window.

Schalke net Nigerian Obasi BERLIN: Schalke 04 have signed Nigerian striker Chinedu Obasi on loan through to season’s end from fellow top flight German side Hoffenheim with an option of a further extension, the club said yesterday. Obasi, 25, willl accompany his new teammates to their winter break camp in Qatar starting January 4. The forward had been with Hoffenheim, where he was under contract through to 2014, since 2007 having previously played in Norway.

He has made 65 appearances, scoring 13 goals but recently lost his place. Cup holders Schalke are currently third in the league table, three points behind Bayern Munich.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2011

S P ORT S

Some NFL players still willing to hide concussions NEW YORK: Ask Jacksonville Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew whether he would try to play through a concussion or yank himself from a game, and he’ll provide a straightforward answer.

“Hide it,” the NFL’s leading rusher said. “The bottom line is: You have to be able to put food on the table. No one’s going to sign or want a guy who can’t stay healthy. I know there will be a day when I’m going to have trouble walking. I realize that,” Jones-Drew said. “But this is what I signed up for.

Injuries are part of the game. If you don’t want to get hit, then you shouldn’t be playing.” Other players say they would do the same: Hide it.

In a series of interviews about head injuries with The Associated Press over the last two weeks, 23 of 44 NFL players - slightly more than half - said they would try to conceal a possible concussion rather than pull themselves out of a game. Some acknowledged they already have. Players also said they should be better protected from their own instincts: More than two-thirds of the group the AP talked to wants independent neurologists on sidelines during games.

The AP spoke to a cross-section of players - at least one from each of the 32 NFL teams - to gauge whether concussion safety and attitudes about head injuries have changed in the past two years of close attention devoted to the issue. The group included 33 starters and 11 reserves; 25 players on offense and 19 on defense; all have played at least three seasons in the NFL. The players tended to indicate they are more aware of the possible longterm effects of jarring hits to their heads than they once were. In a sign of the sort of progress the league wants, five players said that while they would have tried to conceal a concussion during a game in 2009, now they would seek help.

“You look at some of the cases where you see some of the retired players and the issues that they’re having now, even with some of the guys who’ve passed and had their brains examined you see what their brains look like now,” said Washington Redskins linebacker London Fletcher, the NFL’s leading tackler. “That does play a part in how I think now about it.” But his teammate, backup fullback Mike Sellers, said he’s hidden concussions in the past and would “highly doubt” that any player would willingly take himself out of a game.

“You want to continue to play. You’re a competitor. You’re not going to tell on yourself. There have been times I’ve been dinged, and they’ve taken my helmet from me, and ... I’d snatch my helmet back and get back on the field,” Sellers said. “A lot of guys wouldn’t say anything because a lot of guys wouldn’t think anything during the game, until afterward, when they have a headache or they can’t remember certain things.” San Francisco 49ers defensive lineman Justin Smith captured a popular sentiment: Players know of the potential problems, yet would risk further damage.

“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out if (you have) a concussion, you’re probably damaging your brain a little bit. Just like if you sprain your wrist a bunch, you’re going to have some wrist problems down the road. Yeah, I’d still play through it. It’s part of it. It’s part of the game,” Smith said. “I think if you’re noticeably messed up, yeah, they’ll take you out. But if you’ve just got some blurry vision, I’d say that’s the player’s call.

And most guys - 99 percent of guys in the NFL - are going to play through it.”

Smith said he sustained one concussion in high school (“You don’t know who you are,” is how he described it) and another in college (“Walking around the whole time, but I don’t remember anything until six hours later”). The NFL likes to say that views about concussions have shifted from simply accepting they’re part of the sport to doing what’s possible to lessen impacts. Commissioner Roger Goodell talks about “changing the culture,” so players don’t try to “walk it off” after taking hits to the head. Yet the AP’s conversations with players showed there is room for more adjustments, which did not surprise Dr. Richard Ellenbogen, co-chairman of the NFL’s head, neck and spine committee.

“The culture change takes awhile,” Ellenbogen said in a telephone interview. “Why would these guys want to go out? They love playing the game.

They don’t want to leave their team. They want to win. I understand all that. And that’s why we have

to make sure you’re wearing the right kind of socks,” St Louis Rams safety Quintin Mikell said.

“Why not have somebody there to protect your head? I think we definitely should have that.”

He said he’s tried to clear his head and stay on the field “many times.” “I’ll probably pay for it later in my life,” Mikell said, “but at the same time, I’ll probably pay for the alcohol that I drank or driving fast cars. It’s one of those things that it just comes with the territory.” Specifically regarding concussions, 28 of the 44 players think playing in the NFL is safer now than in 2009, while 13 think it’s the same, and two think it’s more dangerous. One wasn’t sure. Those who think safety has improved gave credit to the rise in awareness; more fines for illegal hits; this season’s changes to kickoff rules that have cut down on the number of returns; and the new labor contract’s reduction in the amount of contact allowed in practice.

FLORIDA: In this file photo, Jacksonville Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew (32) is tackled

by Tampa Bay Buccaneers outside linebacker Quincy Black (58) and middle linebacker Mason Foster (59) during the second half of an NFL football game, in Jacksonville. Ask Jones-Drew whether he would try to play through a concussion or yank himself from a game, and he provides a straightforward answer. “Hide it,” the NFL’s leading rusher says. — AP to be on our toes with coming up with exams that are hard to beat, so to speak.” New Orleans Saints offensive lineman Zach Strief put it this way: “We all grew up with, ‘Hey, get back in there. You (only) got your bell rung.’ And while it’s changing now, I think it’s going to take time for the mindset to change.” A few players said they’d be particularly inclined to hide a concussion if it happened in a playoff game or the Super Bowl. Some said their decision would depend on the severity of a head injury - but they’d hide it if they could.

Clearly, there is a stigma associated with leaving the field, no matter the reason. Indeed, one player who said he’d exit a game if he thought he might have a concussion didn’t want to be quoted on the subject. Other findings from the interviews: Asked whether the NFL should have independent neurologists at games to examine players and determine if they should be held out because of concussions, 31 players said “yes,” and 10 said “no.” Three didn’t answer. “They’ve got guys looking at your uniform

“When I first came into the league, it was like, ‘Whatever goes.’ It was more of that old-school, just ‘beat-him-up’ football. Not wanting to hurt anybody, but show how tough you were. Back in the day, it was like if you come out (of a game) with (a) slight concussion, then you weren’t giving it all for your team,” Buffalo Bills linebacker Andra Davis said. “But now, they’re taking that option away from you.”

Davis, a 10th-year veteran who turned 33 on Friday and said he’s had a couple of concussions, is one of those whose view on seeking help for such injuries has changed. “The younger me would definitely hide it,” Davis said. “But the older me now - with wife and kids and looking more at life after football - I would say something about it.”

Asked whether more can be done to protect players from head injuries, 18 players said “yes,” and 24 said “no.” Two did not respond. Not surprisingly, there were divisions according to position, and players on opposite sides of the ball generally drifted toward opposing views: Those on offense seemed

more likely than those on defense to say more can and should - be done to improve safety. Linemen, meanwhile, often complained that there is no way to improve their plight, with the helmet-to-helmet banging that takes place at the snap on play after play. One player described those collisions as “micro-episodes that build up over time.”

Nearly three-quarters of the players who told the AP they think safety can improve - 13 of 18 - suggested equipment can be improved, too. Helmet technology, mouth guards and chin straps all were mentioned. Two players suggested more education about concussions is needed. Dr Robert Cantu, a senior adviser to Ellenbogen’s NFL committee who said he is consulted regularly by the league, insisted that while there has been progress, there is still work to be done. “Has there been a culture change overall? I think the answer is, unquestionably, ‘yes.’

Could there be more done? Yes. Do all the players get it? No. Do they want to get it? No,” said Cantu, a clinical professor of neurosurgery and co-director of the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy at Boston University School of Medicine. CTE is a degenerative disease increasingly found in football players and other athletes who have absorbed repeated blows to the head. It has been linked to memory loss, disorientation, poor decision-making, and depression that can lead to drug use and, as in the case of former Chicago Bears defensive back Dave Duerson, even suicide.The league distributed informational posters in 2010 to warn about the dangers of head injuries, but Cantu said: “Just because the posters are in every locker room, it’s not mandatory reading. Or people can say they read it but not really have read it.” “More stress needs to be placed - and I believe this is the players association’s responsibility as much as it is the NFL’s on the dangers of playing symptomatic with a concussion and more knowledge needs to be imparted on chronic traumatic encephalopathy, which obviously does exist in the NFL. ... All of those sub-concussive blows count, and you need to minimize the amount of brain trauma that you take,” Cantu said.

Union spokesman George Atallah declined a request for comment about concussions. Little-discussed until reporting by The New York Times led to an October 2009 congressional hearing on concussions in the NFL, head injuries are now part of the daily conversation about professional football. On Saturday alone, two starting quarterbacks, Cleveland’s Colt McCoy and Arizona’s Kevin Kolb, sat out because of head injuries, while a third, Minnesota’s Christian Ponder, left his team’s game with what his coach called “concussionlike symptoms.” According to data from STATS LLC, from 200009, an average of 3.1 NFL players - and never more than nine in an entire season - went on injured reserve because of a concussion or head injury.

That number rose to 18 last season, and stood at 17 through Week 15 this season. Similarly, STATS LLC said, over that same 10-year span at the start of the century, an average of 26 NFL players each season were listed on the weekly injury report and missed games because of a concussion or head injury. That number rose to 89 in 2010, and stood at 75 this season through Saturday’s games. At least eight lawsuits have been filed against the NFL in recent months - including three within the last week - by dozens of former players who say they have medical problems related to brain injuries from their time in professional football. —AP

Utd won’t be swayed by demands to spend

LONDON: Manchester United’s Ryan Giggs (center) celebrates his goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Fulham and Manchester United at Craven Cottage stadium on Wednesday, Dec 21, 2011. — AP

Giggs leads way for resurgent Man Utd LONDON: Sir Alex Ferguson has paid tribute to the “incredible” contribution of Ryan Giggs as Manchester United look to keep the pressure on Premier League leaders Manchester City today. After a series of flat performances following their 6-1 mauling

by City in October, United have recently recovered some of their former swagger, scoring 11 goals in three consecutive victories. That run of results included a 5-0 demolition of Fulham at Craven Cottage last week, a match where the 38-year-old Giggs extended his remarkable feat of scoring a goal in every Premier League season.

Ferguson singled out Giggs for praise as United look to maintain their momentum with what should be a relatively straightforward assignment against struggling Wigan on Boxing Day. “He was unbelievable on Wednesday,” Ferguson said of Giggs’ display against Fulham. “He controlled the midfield. I saw Danny Murphy bellowing to the forwards to come back because he was finding it hard, “We know he is incredible. It is an established fact. It is an unusual sight we are seeing in the modern-day game, a lad at 38 performing at that level.” Giggs has meanwhile raised the possibility of extending his United career by yet another season. “It’s almost that time when I’ll sit down with the manager and see what his plans are and I’ll see how I’m feeling,” Giggs told www.manutd.com.

“At the moment I feel really good and I’m enjoying things more than ever, so we’ll

just have to wait and see.” Giggs believes United’s character has enabled them to stay in contention in the title race-they remain just two points behind City-despite the disappointments of the 6-1 thrashing

by City, elimination from the Champions League and getting knocked out of the League Cup by Crystal Palace. “If you lose a derby game 6-1, get knocked out by a Championship team in the quarter-final of the (League) Cup and lose to Basel, who are not a power in Europe, you can understand the criticism,” Giggs said.

“But we have shown the resilience and determination to do something about it each time it has happened. These were bad results for us but the character of the team has rescued us each time.” City manager Roberto Mancini has called on his squad to prove their title credentials by winning on the road at West Bromwich Albion today.

City have been invincible at their Eastlands fortress this season, with nine wins from nine matches. But Mancini’s men have taken just one point from their last two away fixtures, a statistic the Italian is determined to improve. “ We still have Chelsea, United, Tottenham and Liverpool to come to (Eastlands), but we need to win away games as well, and we have only one point from our last two,” said Mancini. “I have a lot of respect for West Bromwich, and for (manager) Roy Hodgson - he is one of the best managers in Europe. —AFP

MANCHESTER: Despite the threat posed by Manchester City, Alex Ferguson insists he will resist calls for Manchester United to go on a spending spree in the January transfer window.

Going into today’s Boxing Day matches, the defending champions are two points behind City, which has considerably outspent its neighbor in recent years and is now reaping the rewards as it sits at the top at Christmas for the first time since 1929. Even though United has debts of around 460 million pounds ($718 million), Ferguson maintains that cash will be made available by the Glazer family, which owns the club. “Contrary to what some people seem to be fixated about, money for a transfer is not a problem if I deem it necessary,” Ferguson said.

The 69-year-old Scot delivered the message to fans in the matchday magazine for today’s game against Wigan just weeks after United’s surprise exit from the Champions League in the group stage. “I am perfectly happy with the strength of our squad in terms of depth, quality and age range,” Ferguson said. “I will not be swayed by the endless tweets and blogs urging the club to get busy in the transfer market next month. As far as I am concerned I am marching perfectly in step, true to my beliefs and principles. “While recruiting some of the world’s leading players can lift you into contention for honors, it doesn’t necessarily take you all the way.”

Winger Ashley Young this week joined an extensive injury list that includes center back Nemanja Vidic, midfielders Anderson and Tom Cleverley, and striker Michael Owen. Midfielder

Darren Fletcher is also sidelined with a serious bowel disease with no date set for his return.

Any further injuries could yet persuade Ferguson to search for additions next month. “Fortunes can fluctuate wildly - that’s the football world,” Ferguson said. “If a really top-class player became available, then we would go for him, or if we picked up any further serious injuries, it might be important to add to our squad.”

City needs to shed players from its bloated squad - and payroll - in January to help the club comply with UEFA’s new financial restrictions, so a repeat of the summer spending that included the 38 million pound (then $62 million) signing of Sergio Aguero is unlikely. With 15 goals already this season, the Argentina striker has quickly established himself as City’s most potent force. “He is not tall but his strength is amazing,” City manager Roberto Mancini said ahead of today’s trip to West Bromwich Albion. “What is important at the moment is that he has improved our team.”

Only Robin van Persie has scored more than Aguero in the Premier League this season, with the Arsenal striker on 16 goals compared to 13 for the City forward.

The Dutchman’s goals have helped to haul Arsenal away from the relegation zone and back to within a point of the Champions League places. Van Persie’s goal in Wednesday’s 2-1 win over Aston Villa saw him equal Thierry Henry’s Arsenal record of 34 goals in a calendar year. The striker needs three goals in the remaining two games of 2011 to beat Alan Shearer’s Premier

Alex Ferguson League record of 36. “He’s an exceptional player, but what is very important for us is that over Christmas we win our games,” manager Arsene Wenger said.

Arsenal hosts Wolverhampton Wanderers on Tuesday and Queens Park Rangers on Saturday.

With Arsenal just a point behind and Tottenham two points ahead, Chelsea will be looking to avoid a third consecutive draw today when it hosts London neighbor Fulham, which was routed 5-0 by Manchester United on Wednesday. —AP

Fergie wary of capital threat in the title race MANCHESTER: Sir Alex Ferguson has refused to write off a challenge from London at the top of the Premier League in 2012 despite the dominance of Manchester’s rival pace-setters.

A strong first half to the season from Manchester United and current league leaders City has left many pundits predicting that the eventual champions will come from Manchester. However, although third-placed Tottenham are currently seven points behind Ferguson’s second-placed team, Harr y Redknapp’s club has the luxury of a game in hand and history has taught the veteran United manager that challenges to their title could come from a variety of sources in the new year.

“At this moment in time, everyone thinks it will be one and two for the city,” said Ferguson.

“But come March, things change and you need to go back over the years to see how dramatic it can be. “We surrendered an 11 point lead to Arsenal and we managed to claw back a 12 point deficit to Newcastle and last year Chelsea were 10 points clear in November and they lost it. “You lose a game in this league and all the rest get a pick up and start chasing harder.

That’s the way the league is and come March, you never know.”

United bounced back superbly in midweek, winning 5-0 at Fulham, to respond to the critics who had a field day after the defending Premier League champions were unceremoniously dumped out of the Champions League

by Swiss club Basel. “The criticism has been understandable because you lose a derby game 6-1, you get knocked out of the League

Cup by Crystal Palace, a Championship team, and you lose to Basel, which is not a power in Europe,” said Ferguson. “You can understand the criticism but in terms of the nature of the kind of player we have, the kind of club we are, we’ve got the resilience and determination to do something about it each time it’s happened.

“I think that shows the character of the team. In a normal season we lose games but the games we’ve lost this season have been a bit more dramatic and more emphatic in the sense of the impact it has had on our chances of winning trophies. “ We’re out of the Champions League, out of the League Cup and lost to City in a derby game. These are bad results for us, bad results, and the character of the team has rescued us each time. “We’ve come back. —AFP

A

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Years

MONDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2011

S P ORT S

Southern Miss edge Nevada in Hawaii Bowl HONOLULU: Southern Mississippi quarterback Austin Davis threw two touchdowns, including one late in the game which clinched a 24-17 win over Nevada in college football’s Hawaii Bowl on Saturday, giving the Golden Eagles a school-record 12th victory of the season.

Davis overcame a shaky start for the Conference USA champion and the defense in the second half managed to shut down Nevada’s potent pistol attack led by Lampford Mark.

Davis was off most of the night but made it count on the game-winning drive. On third-and-goal, he scrambled right and found Kelvin Bolden for the 4yard score, capping a seven-play, 68-yard drive. He had just 59 yard passing at halftime and finished 18 of 41 for 165 yards.

On the winning drive, Davis was 3 of 4 for 66 yards, including a 43-yard completion to Dominique Sullivan down the right sideline and a 19-yarder to a crossing William Spight. Sullivan had five catches for 75 yards.

With Davis held in check, the Golden Eagles relied on their defense, stopping Mark on fourth and-1 at midfield with 3:56 left. Mark had 183 yards rushing for the Wolf Pack (7-6) but was held to just 21 yards in the second half. Cody Fajardo was 8 of 19 for 60 yards for Nevada. He also was held to just 14 yards rushing on nine carries before being replaced by Tyler Lantrip.

It was the final game for Southern Miss under coach Larry Fedora, who is leaving after four seasons to take over at

North Carolina. The Golden Eagles got another big win after capturing their fifth C-USA title by upsetting previously unbeaten Houston in the conference championship game. This was the first 10-win season for Southern Miss since 1988.

After a scoreless opening quarter, special teams got the Golden Eagles on the scoreboard from a blocked punt by Tim Green early in the second. Green burst through the middle and leaped in the air, getting his hand on the ball as he flipped over a blocker.

Tray Becton-Martin then dropped on the ball in the end zone, giving the Golden Eagles a 7-0 lead. Becton-Martin is the 25th different player to score for the Golden Eagles this year, which leads

the nation. Nevada answered with a 5yard touchdown run by Mark, who had a 25-yard scamper to begin the 81-yard drive. Mark had 41 yards rushing on the drive, en route to his sixth-straight game with 100 or more yards.

The Wolf Pack went ahead 14-7 via Mark’s 45-yard run with about 5 minutes left in the half. From the ensuing kickoff, Southern Miss’ Lorenzo Devers returned 61 yards and appeared to be heading for a touchdown, getting past the kicker, but was stripped from behind by Khalid Wooten, and Thaddeus Brown returned the ball 16 yards to the Nevada 36-yard line. However Nevada gambled on fourth-and-1 at its own 45 only to see Mark stopped short. That led to a 48yard field goal by Southern Miss kicker

Daniel Hrappman with 1:21 left in the half to make it 14-10.

On the kickoff, Wooten fumbled and Southern Mississippi’s Emmanuel Johnson recovered at the Nevada 24.

Seven plays later, Davis threw a 2-yard pass to Lampley in the back of the end zone for the go-ahead score, putting the Golden Eagles up 17-14. A brief scuffle broke out between some of the players after the catch, but no one was ejected.

Late in the third quarter, a Southern Miss miscue resulted in the game being tied 17-17. Lampley waved for a fair catch on a punt and was run into by a teammate.

Nevada’s Brandon Marshall recovered the loose ball on the Southern Miss 14, leading to a 37-yard field goal by Allen Hardison.—AP

Celtics, Grizzlies do Christmas shopping Celtics sign Pietrus; Grizzlies add two forwards

Brandon Jacobs

Giants player, Jets coach Ryan trade harsh words EAST RUTHERFORD: The trash talking did not end with the Giants’ 29-14 victory over the Jets Saturday, as running back Brandon Jacobs said he traded harsh words with losing Coach Rex Ryan on the field after the Big Apple showdown. “He just came out of nowhere,” Jacobs told reporters after the game, which kept the Giants on track to reach the playoffs while putting the Jets’ chances on life support. “He told me, ‘shut the f- up, wait ‘til we win the Super Bowl’ and I told him I’d punch him in the face,” said Jacobs, who had responded to Ryan’s braggadocio in the run-up to the game by saying the new MetLife Stadium they share would always be regarded as Giants Stadium.

“I think the Jets are a good football team. I think they’ve got a lot of talent,” added Jacobs, a bruising runner who made a key 28-yard run late in the third quarter to set up a touchdown that increased the Giants’ lead to 17-7. Asked if he had a message for Ryan, Jacobs said: “I think you need

to shut up. He’s a great coach, comes from a great coaching family, but he needs to shut up.” Ryan saluted the Giants after the game, saying they were the better team this year. Asked about Jacobs, the Jets coach said: “We had a private conversation.

That’s all I’ll leave it as. He doesn’t like me. I respect him, but I couldn’t care less about him.”

Most of the Giants players prior to the game followed the example of their coach Tom Coughlin, who refused to be drawn into a war of words with Ryan by saying talk was cheap and questions would be answered on the field. Jacobs, who has always been one of the more outspoken Giants players, said he had expected lots of pre-game boasting by the Jets. “We knew that was what we were going to get as soon as he (Ryan) had the opportunity to run his big fat mouth,” said Jacobs, who said Ryan’s approach was in stark contrast to Giants coach Coughlin. “‘Shut up and play,’ that’s what he tells us.”— Reuters

Kauto Star bids to win record 5th King George LONDON: After being dethroned by Long Run last season, Kauto Star will try for the final time to win an unprecedented fifth King George VI Chase today. The weather-delayed 2010 showpiece at Kempton Park did not go to script when it was run in January, with K auto Star only finishing third, 19 lengths behind younger rival Long Run. “If it’s not going to abuse him and it’s not too much stress and strain I don’t mind him running again,” Kauto Star’s owner Clive Smith said. “We won’t be doing it next year.”

Retirement seemed to be beckoning when six-year-old Long Run again left him trailing in third at the Cheltenham Gold Cup in May. But last month, 11year-old Kauto Star demonstrated that he still has the legs to compete with Britain’s leading steeplechasers by beating Long Run in the Betfair Chase. “He has done so much in racing - 15 Grade One wins. It is even more than Tiger Woods’ majors,” Smith said. “We have now gone one ahead of him.” Even champion jockey Tony McCoy describes Kauto Star as “probably the best horse that I have seen in my lifetime.” While Long Run is 11-8 favorite with bookmaker William Hill for today ’s race, recent money for Kauto Star has seen the Paul Nicholls-trained chaser cut from 7-2 to 3-1 second favorite.

“Now that Paul Nicholls has got him back to his best, and Kauto beat Long

Run at Haydock last month, we’re in for one hell of a race,” said Long Run’s trainer, Nicky Henderson. “Even last year everyone else wanted Kauto to win. We really wrecked the party.” Long Run will again be ridden by 29-year-old amateur jockey Sam Waley-Cohen, whose father Robert owns the defending champion.

“The whole thing is a family endeavor so having him involved adds immeasurably to the entertainment from our perspective and I think the public’s perspective,” Robert Waley-Cohen said in an interview after lunching with his racing rivals. “It’s such an unusual thing to have at the highest level of sport, an amateur doing it purely for fun.”

But last month’s success for Kauto Star showed Waley-Cohen not to write off Ruby Walsh’s mount as a “force of yesteryear.” “He is the super-specialist at three miles on flat tracks and if we are lucky enough to beat him again the glory would be all the greater,” he said.

“There would be no disgrace in being beaten by the only horse to win it four times in a row.” Kauto Star’s stable will have another major contender in the King George VI, with dual Champion Chase winner Master Minded, a 7-1 shot, stepping up to three miles for the first time. “Master Minded is a terrific horse in his own right ... he is a wonderful jumper when he is in his stride,” Smith said. “He could end up with a better record even than Kauto Star.”— AP

LOS ANGELES: The Boston Celtics and Memphis Grizzlies did some last-minute Christmas shopping.

With the start of their season just hours away, the Celtics on Saturday night signed French for ward Mickael Pietrus, who was waived two days earlier by the Phoenix Suns. The Grizzlies made a pair of moves Saturday, signing free agent forward Dante Cunningham and trading guard Greivis Vasquez to the New Orleans Hornets for forward Quincy Pondexter. The aging Celtics already are without injured forward Jeff Green for the entire season and All-Star forward Paul Pierce is doubtful for Sunday’s season opener at New York with a bruised heel. Boston signed Pietrus after he cleared waivers.

“I have decided to be part of The Boston Celtics Family,” Pietrus wrote on his Twitter account. Pietrus, 29, was traded to Toronto earlier this month, but the Raptors rescinded the deal after team physicians determined he had a knee injury that would keep him sidelined for two to four weeks. He had the final year of his contract bought out by the Suns and cleared waivers earlier Saturday. The eight-year veteran likely will not join the Celtics until Tuesday. “We are very excited to be able to add Mickael to our team,” Celtics president Danny Ainge said in a statement. “His skills as a perimeter defender and an outside shooter provide great versatility to the roster.”

Pietrus averaged 7.2 points and 2.2 rebounds while shooting 36 percent from 3-point range in 57 games for Orlando and Phoenix last season. He reached the NBA Finals with the Magic in 2009 but was dealt to the Suns just over a year

ago. The Grizzlies also are trying to fill a hole created by an injury, hoping Cunningham and Pondexter will compensate for the absence of forward Darrell Arthur, who is out for the season. The 6-8 Cunningham, 24, was a restricted free agent with the Charlotte Bobcats, who declined to match the reported three-year, $6 million offer sheet he received from Memphis. He averaged 6.2 points and 3.6 rebounds in 78 games with Portland and Charlotte last season.

The 6-6 Pondexter, 23, averaged 2.8 points and 1.3 rebounds in 66 games for New Orleans last season.

By trading Vasquez, the Grizzlies have rookies Jeremy Pargo and Josh Selby behind starting point guard Mike Conley. With the Hornets, the 6-6 Vasquez, 24, will back up Jarrett Jack. A native of Venezuela, he averaged 3.6 points and 2.2 assists in 70 games for Memphis last season. In other moves Saturday, Nate Robinson and Eddie House - who were traded for each other in 2010 - were waived by their respective teams.

The 5-9 Robinson, a three-time winner of the Slam Dunk Contest, was released by the Oklahoma City Thunder. He has averaged 11.3 points and 2.6 assists in 397 games with New York, Boston and Oklahoma City but managed a career-low 6.8 points last season.

The 6-1 House was let go by the Miami Heat. The 11-year veteran was a member of the 2008 champion Boston Celtics and has averaged 7.5 points in 717 games for nine teams. He averaged 6.5 points in 56 games for the Heat last season. In February 2010, House was traded to New York in a five-player deal that sent Robinson to Boston.— MCT

Mickael Pietrus

Pakistan complete China clean-sweep LAHORE: Pakistan yesterday completed a clean sweep of China in their four-match series, the first international hockey event in the troubled country since 2004. Pakistan won the final match 2-1 to emerge unbeaten in the series after taking the first three games in Karachi and Faisalabad earlier this week by 3-0, 5-3 and 3-1.

Pakistan gained the early lead when Vice-captain Shakeel Abbasi made a field goal in the first major attack of the match.

Fareed Ahmed drew the second in the 26th minute to double the lead, while China’s lone goal came in the 33rd minute when Dong Yang dodged Pakistan’s defense in the final moments of the first half. “The Chinese played a much improved game today. They kept us tight,” said Pakistan captain Muhammad Imran. “We had a clear edge on them in the first two matches but they had a good come back in the last two,” he added.

Pakistan, however, gifted the series trophy to their rivals to acknowledge their support for the violence-hit country. A campaign of Taleban and Al-Qaeda linked attacks across Pakistan, including an attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in 2009, made Pakistan a virtual “no go” zone for international sport. “China lost the hockey series but won the friendship series by coming to Pakistan. So, we will give this trophy to them,” Asif Bajwa, the secretary of Pakistan Hockey Federation, said at the awards ceremony.

KARACHI: Shakeel Abbasi (center) of Pakistan vies for the ball with Chinese players during the second field hockey match in Karachi. —AFP “They have proved that there is no security threat to any foreign team in Pakistan and sport is fully protected over here,” he said. Pakistan, which last hosted an international major hockey event seven years ago, hopes the Chinese tour

will help convince other foreign teams to visit.

The country is also working to resume a bilateral hockey series with arch-rivals India, after they were suspended following the Mumbai attacks in 2008.—AFP

All eyes on Kean, Suarez at Anfield LIVERPOOL: Kenny Dalglish has leapt to the defense of Blackburn manager Steve Kean as Liverpool’s Luis Suarez prepares for his first Anfield game since receiving an eight-match ban from the Football Association. Suarez, who is set to appeal the suspension for racially abusing Manchester United defender Patrice Evra, is still eligible to play as his ban has yet to come into force. The Uruguay striker featured in the goalless stalemate with Wigan on Wednesday-the day after the suspension was announcedand is again set to play against Blackburn, the Premier League’s bottom club today.

But there will be just as much

attention on beleaguered Kean as there will be on Suarez after a dreadful run of form which has left Blackburn fans calling ever louder for the manager to be sacked.

Earlier in the season Kean said he was willing to meet disgruntled fans to outline his plans for the future. But the Scot now believes his safety could be at risk if such a meeting took place. Liverpool manager Dalglish, who masterminded Blackburn’s Premier League title success in 1995, admits the situation at his former club is ‘sad’ but believes Kean needs support-not abuse.

“They are under a lot of pressure and the frustration is understand-

able in many ways,” said Dalglish.

“But I don’t think it is helpful and I think it is sad really that it has come to that, but that is the way it is. “I think it is unfortunate that as a manager you know that results are going to count and if you don’t get them then you are running the risk of getting your P45 (sacked).

“Results aren’t purely down to what the manager does, he needs support from the players, owners and certainly the crowd.” Having dropped points at lowly Wigan in midweek, Dalglish is demanding his side return to winning ways as Liverpool seek to keep their hopes of qualifying for next season’s Champions League alive.

Captain Steven Gerrard could return from his two-month injury absence from an infected ankle.

Midfielder Gerrard, 31, has appeared in just five matches this campaign as a result of injuries, but he is back in training and stands a chance of featuring against Blackburn. “He’s been training, but whether that means he’s ready or not, we’ll have to wait and see,” added Dalglish, who has midfielder Jay Spearing available after suspension. Meanwhile, Kean’s future could be decided over the course of the next few days with Blackburn facing a daunting match against Manchester United on December 31 after Liverpool. —AFP

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LANDOVER: Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Percy Harvin (12) dives into the end zone for a touchdown during the second half of an NFL football game against Washington Redskins in Landover on Saturday, Dec 24, 2011.—AP

Patriots storm back, edge Dolphins Steelers pound reeling Rams 27-0 SEATTLE: San Francisco’s David Akers kicked four field goals, including the 39yard winner with 2:57 left, as the 49ers edged the Seattle Seahawks 19-17 on Saturday to keep alive its chances of receiving a first-round bye in the NFL playoffs. Larry Grant sealed the win by forcing Tarvaris Jackson’s fumble that was recovered by Donte Whitner with 1:07 left. San Francisco (12-3), which already clinched the NFC West, remained in position for the No 2 seed in the conference. Akers set an NFL record with his 42nd field goal of the season. Frank Gore had San Francisco’s only touchdown, with a 4-yard run on the visitors’ first drive of the second half.

Marshawn Lynch scored on a 4-yard run with 6:41 left to give Seattle (7-8) a 17-16 lead. It was the first TD rushing allowed by the 49ers this season.

PATRIOTS 27, DOLPHINS 24 In Foxborough, Massachussets, Tom Brady ran for two touchdowns and threw for another as New England came back from a big halftime deficit to beat Miami and clinch a first-round bye in the NFL playoffs. The Patriots trailed 17-0 at halftime then scored on their first five possessions in the second half. The Dolphins contributed to their own demise, as Matt Moore lost a fumble at his 38-yard line then threw an interception that Devin McCourty picked off at the Patriots 2. New England (12-3) won its seventh straight game. After the Texans lost to the Colts on Thursday, the Patriots needed a win or a tie to lock up one of the AFC’s top two spots. Miami (5-10) is now 1-1 under Todd Bowles, who took over as coach when Tony Sparano was fired.

LIONS 38, CHARGERS 10 In Detroit, the hosts secured their first playoff spot in this millennium as Matthew Stafford threw three touchdown passes in the first half to beat San Diego.

Detroit (10-5) has won three straight after a seven-game slump to earn a wild-card spot. The Chargers (7-8) will not be in the postseason for a second straight year after making it five times in a six-season stretch.

And that might cost coach Norv Turner his job. The Lions held San Diego scoreless until midway through the third quarter, when Philip Rivers threw an 11-yard pass to Malcom Floyd to make it 24-7.

GIANTS 29, JETS 14 In East Rutherford, New Jersey, Victor Cruz set two franchise receiving records as the Giants kept their playoff hopes alive and earned New York bragging rights with victory over the Jets. Cruz, who had three catches for 164 yards, broke Amani Toomer’s single-season mark for yards receiving - and the team’s record for longest touchdown reception, a 99-yarder that gave the Giants the lead for good in the second quarter. Ahmad Bradshaw ran for two touchdowns for the Giants (8-7), who did a little more than the Jets (8-7) and can win the NFC East with a victory next week against Dallas. The Jets’ playoff hopes took a serious hit, and they will need to win at Miami next week and get help from several other teams.

BENGALS 23, CARDINALS 16 In Cincinnati, Andy Dalton threw a pair of touchdown passes, and Cincinnati withstood yet another fourth-quarter comeback by Arizona to win and remain in playoff contention. Another small crowd at Paul Brown Stadium saw the Bengals (9-6) secure only their third winning record in the last 21 years and stay in the running for the final AFC wild card.

Dalton threw touchdown passes to Jermaine Gresham and Jerome Simpson, who did a somersault over a defender and landed on both feet in the end zone.

Dalton joined Peyton Manning (26), Charlie Conerly (22) and Dan Marino (20) as the only NFL rookies to throw 20 touchdowns. Arizona (7-8) rallied from a 23-0 deficit and had a chance to tie it. Receiver Early Doucet was uncovered at the goal line but tripped as he ran, letting a fourthdown pass fall incomplete with 1:11 left.

RAVENS 20, BROWNS 14 In Baltimore, Joe Flacco threw two touchdown passes as Baltimore downed Cleveland and moved one step closer to winning the AFC North. Ray Rice ran for 87 yards and caught a TD pass for the Ravens (11-4), who led 17-0 at halftime and held on against the bumbling Browns.

Baltimore completed its first unbeaten season at home (8-0). The Ravens can win the AFC North by defeating Cincinnati next week. That would also give them a first-round bye and a home playoff game.

Josh Cribbs had a career-high 84-yard

punt return for Cleveland (4-11) but the Browns generated little offense and were victimized by questionable play calling, bad clock management and untimely penalties in their fifth straight loss.

EAGLES 20, COWBOYS 7 In Arlington, Michael Vick threw two touchdown passes as Philadelphia defeated Dallas in a game that had all the intensity of a preseason dress rehearsal. This game became somewhat meaningless midway through the first quarter. A victory by the Giants eliminated the Eagles (78) from the playoffs and turned the DallasNew York game next weekend into a showdown to decide the NFC East title.

The Cowboys (8-7) rested quarterback Tony Romo after just one series and running back Felix Jones after two. Vick threw a touchdown pass on the opening series and again just before halftime. Alex Henery kicked field goals of 43 and 51 yards for the Eagles.

RAIDERS 16, CHIEFS 13, OT In Kansas City, Sebastian Janikowski kicked a 36-yard field goal in overtime to eliminate Kansas City from the playoff race and keeping Oakland’s AFC West title hopes alive. Carson Palmer threw for 237 yards and a touchdown for the Raiders (87). His perfectly thrown 53-yard pass to Darrius Heyward-Bey early in overtime set up Janikowski’s winning kick. Kyle Orton threw for 300 yards for Kansas City, his only TD pass going to Dwayne Bowe with 1:02 left to tie the game. The Chiefs had a chance to win it on the final play of regulation, but Ryan Succop’s 49-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Trevor Scott to send the game to overtime.

BILLS 40, BRONCOS 14 In Orchard Park, New York, Jairus Byrd and Spencer Johnson returned Tim Tebow interceptions for touchdowns on consecutive plays in the fourth quarter to help Buffalo snap a seven-game losing streak with a comfortable win over Denver.

Tebow finished with a career-worst four interceptions as the Broncos (8-7) fell into a tie with Oakland for first place in the AFC West and squandered a chance to inch closer to its first playoff berth since 2005.

Byrd scored on a 37-yard return with 8:03 left and Johnson had a 17-yarder 18 sec-

NFL results /standings NFL results and standings on Saturday.

Buffalo 40, Denver 14; Cincinnati 23, Arizona 16; Tennessee 23, Jacksonville 17; Oakland 16, Kansas City 13 (OT); New England 27, Miami 24; NY Giants 29, NY Jets 14; Pittsburgh 27, St. Louis 0; Minnesota 33, Washington 26; Carolina 48, Tampa Bay 16; Baltimore 20, Cleveland 14; Detroit 38, San Diego 10; San Francisco 19, Seattle 17; Philadelphia 20, Dallas 7.

National Football Conference American Football Conference AFC East NFC East W L T OTL PF PA PCT NY Giants 8 7 0 0 363 386 .533 New England 12 3 0 0 464 321 .800 Dallas 8 7 0 1 355 316 .533 NY Jets 8 7 0 0 360 344 .533 Philadelphia 7 8 0 0 362 318 .467 Buffalo 6 9 0 0 351 385 .400 Washington 5 10 0 1 278 333 .333 Miami 5 10 0 1 310 296 .333 NFC North AFC North Green Bay 13 1 0 0 480 297 .929 Baltimore 11 4 0 0 351 250 .733 Detroit 10 5 0 0 433 342 .667 Pittsburgh 11 4 0 0 312 218 .733 Chicago 7 7 0 1 315 293 .500 Cincinnati 9 6 0 0 328 299 .600 Minnesota 3 12 0 1 327 432 .200 Cleveland 4 11 0 1 209 294 .267 NFC South AFC South New Orleans 11 3 0 0 457 303 .786 Houston 10 5 0 0 359 252 .667 Atlanta 9 5 0 1 341 281 .643 Tennessee 8 7 0 0 302 295 .533 Carolina 6 9 0 0 389 384 .400 Jacksonville 4 11 0 0 224 316 .267 Tampa Bay 4 11 0 0 260 449 .267 Indianapolis 2 13 0 0 230 411 .133 NFC West AFC West San Francisco 12 3 0 1 346 202 .800 Oakland 8 7 0 0 333 395 .533 Seattle 7 8 0 0 301 292 .467 Denver 8 7 0 0 306 383 .533 Arizona 7 8 0 0 289 328 .467 San Diego 7 8 0 2 368 351 .467 St. Louis 2 13 0 1 166 373 .133 Kansas City 6 9 0 1 205 335 .400

onds later for Buffalo (6-9). CJ Spiller ran for a career-best 111 yards and a touchdown, and Leodis McKelvin scored on an 80-yard punt return.

STEELERS 27, RAMS 0 In Pittsburgh, Rashard Mendenhall ran for 116 yards and a touchdown to drive Pittsburgh’s win over lowly St Louis. The Steelers (11-4) kept their hopes of an AFC North title alive even with Roethlisberger’s sprained ankle forcing him to watch the game from the sideline. Pittsburgh hardly needed him.

Backup quarterback Charlie Batch played efficiently, and the defense had little trouble dominating the NFL’s lowestscoring offense. St Louis (2-13) managed just 232 yards while getting shut out for the second time this month. Steven Jackson rushed for 103 yards to top 1,000 for the seventh straight season, but backup quarterback Kellen Clemens sputtered in place of the injured Sam Bradford. The Rams lost their sixth straight.

TITANS 23, JAGUARS 17 In Nashville, Matt Hasselbeck threw for

240 of his 350 yards in the first half to set up a win over Jacksonville that kept Tennessee’s faint playoff hopes alive. The Titans (8-7) head to Houston next with a chance at their first winning record since 2008. Rob Bironas kicked three field goals, including a pair of 51-yarders, and Jamie Harper ran for a touchdown. Jared Cook had a 55-yard TD catch and finished with 169 yards receiving, a franchise high for a tight end. Maurice Jones-Drew, the NFL’s rushing leader, ran for 103 yards and a TD for the Jaguars. He now has a careerhigh 1,437 yards this season.

PANTHERS 48, BUCCANEERS 16 In Charlotte, North Carolina, Cam Newton broke Peyton Manning’s rookie record for yards passing in a season as Carolina cruised past Tampa Bay. Newton threw a 91-yard touchdown pass to Brandon LaFell and had 171 yards and three touchdowns in all as well as scoring on a remarkable 49-yard run up the middle in which he outraced smaller defensive backs to the end zone. The Panthers (6-9) scored on eight of their first nine possessions and piled up 397 yards in

three quarters. Newton and other key starters were rested from early in the fourth quarter. DeAngelo Williams scored on runs of 8 and 22 yards, his sixth and seventh of the season, and Jonathan Stewart ran for 88 yards and caught an 11-yard touchdown pass from Newton.

Tampa Bay (4-11) lost its ninth in a row.

VIKINGS 33, REDSKINS 26 In Landover, Maryland, Minnesota overcame injuries to Adrian Peterson and Christian Ponder on back-to-back plays to edge Washington and end a six-game losing skid, Toby Gerhart filled in for Peterson after a knee injury and set up a touchdown with a 67-yard run, and Joe Webb threw for two TDs and ran for another while subbing for the concussed Ponder. Webb’s 8-yard pass to Percy Harvin broke a 23-23 tie early in the fourth quarter, and rookie Mistral Raymond’s first career interception set up Ryan Longwell’s 23-yard field goal that gave the Vikings a 10-point lead with 4:05 to play. The Vikings are 3-12. The Redskins lost their sixth straight home game to fall to 5-10.-—AP

CINCINNATI: In this combo of photos, Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Jerome Simpson (89) flips over Arizona Cardinals linebacker Daryl Washington (58) for a touchdown in the first half of an NFL football game on Saturday, Dec 24, 2011. — AP

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Cuba wraps up dramatic year of economic change Page 25 MONDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2011

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DUBAI: A night view of Dubai city. Dubai government yesterday approved a 2012 government budget with a smaller deficit than in 2011, an official statement said.

Dubai sets 2012 budget with $498m deficit Spending seen at 32.3bn dirhams, lower than in 2011 DUBAI: Dubai’s ruler yesterday approved a 2012 government budget with a smaller deficit than in 2011, an official statement said, as spending on development projects in the debt-laden Gulf Arab emirate decreased.

The budget shortfall of the United Arab Emirates member was set at 1.83 billion dirhams ($498.2 million) or 0.6 percent of its 2010 gross domestic product, down from a 3.78 billion gap or 1.3 percent of GDP planned for 2011.

Spending is projected at 32.26 billion dirhams, the statement said, slightly down from 33.68 billion planned for 2011.

Revenues have been set at 30.43 billion dirhams, up from 29.91 billion projected for 2011.

The statement did not say whether Dubai planned to issue government bonds to finance the gap. The emirate’s government launched a $500 million 10-year bond in June.

Dubai carrier Emirates raised $1 billion in a five-year issue the same month, yielding 5.125 percent, which attracted orders of over $5 billion. The Gulf trade and business hub, whose budget stands at around 14 percent of that of neighboring Abu Dhabi, does not release regular updates on its fiscal performance.

Dubai relies on various fees, taxes and customs duties for around 85 percent of its budget revenues since it lacks oil wealth of Abu Dhabi. Fiscal policy is a key tool for UAE policymakers to steer the oil-reliant econo-

my, as the central bank’s flexibility is limited by the OPEC member’s currency peg to the US dollar.

Most of UAE government expenditure is undertaken by the individual emirates with Dubai accounting for around 11 percent of the total. Dubai, which narrowly averted a bond default in 2009, could use money raised by its sovereign wealth fund to help repay $3.8 billion in bonds owed by statelinked firms which mature next year, a source said. The Gulf Arab emirate has clawed its way back from the depths of its debt cris i s, h e l p e d by a n e c o n o m i c re v i v a l i n trade and tourism and its safe-haven status amid the regional social revolts, but still faces the challenge of big debt repayments. — Reuters

Global economy threatened: IMF PARIS: The head of the International Monetary Fund said the world economy was in danger and urged Europeans to speak with one voice on a debt crisis that has rattled the global financial system.

In Nigeria last week, IMF chief Christine Lagarde said the IMF’s 4 percent growth forecast for the world economy in 2012 could be revised downward, but gave no new figure.

“The world economy is in a dangerous situation,” she told France’s Journal du Dimanche in an interview published yesterday. The debt crisis, which continues into 2012 after a European Union summit on Dec. 9 only temporarily calmed markets, “is a crisis of confidence in public debt and in the solidity of the financial system,” she said.

European leaders drafted a new treaty for deeper economic integration in the euro zone, but it is not certain that the accord will stem the debt crisis, which began in Greece in 2009, and now threatens France and even economic powerhouse Germany. “The Dec. 9 summit wasn’t detailed enough on financial terms and too complicated on fundamental principles,” said Lagarde. “It would be useful for Europeans to speak with a single voice and announce a simple and detailed timetable,” she said. “Investors are waiting for it. Grand principles don’t impress.”

Part of the problem, she said, has been national calls for protectionism, making it “difficult to put in place international coalition strategies against it”.

Lagarde added: “National parliaments grumble at using public money or the guarantee of

Kuwait inflation posts slight rise

IMF chief Christine Lagarde their state to support other countries.

Protectionism is in the debate, and everyone for themselves is winning ground.” She did not specify which countries she was referring to.

Emerging countries, which had been growth engines for the world economy before the crisis, have also been affected, said Lagarde, citing China, Brazil and Russia. “These countries, which were the engines, will suffer from instability factors,” she told the newspaper. — Reuters

KUWAIT: Inflation in Kuwait rose 4.2 percent in November compared to the same month of last year, on yearly basis, in contrast to rises posted in the previous months of the year, while posting stability, for the first time since last October.

Record figure of consumer price reached, in November, 150.2 points, compared to the same level, posted in October, and in contrast to 144.2 points in November 2010. Prices of food rose, in November, 8.3 percent, compared to the same period of the past year-for example prices of sugar increased 0.8 percent, cereals and bread 0.7 percent and meat 0.3 percent. Clothing prices rose three percent, on annual basis. Educational and health services climbed 2.9 percent, compared to November of 2010. Prices of household commodities and services rose 3.3 percent.

Prices of beverages, tobacco climbed 0.8 percent. Likewise, transports 3.1 percent. — KUNA

Zain Saudi at 2-month high as sector grows MIDEAST STOCK MARKETS DUBAI: Telecom operator Zain Saudi closed at a two-month high yesterday after mobile subscriptions rose in the country, while Gulf markets were mixed in muted year-end trade.

Shares in Zain jumped 5.5 percent to 5.75 riyals, their highest close since Oct. 29. Mobile phone subscriptions of Saudi companies rose 15 percent to 56.1 million in the third quarter, the Communications and Information Technology Commission said in a report. Riyad Capital upgraded the stock last week to ‘buy’ with a price target of 6.40 riyals. “One of the things holding back sales performance is the overhang from the debt restructuring,” said Asim Bukhtiar, head of research at Riyad Capital. “We think a restructuring is imminent. The shares are deeply undervalued and do not reflect the on-going growth cycle.” Arabian Pipes surged 6.1 percent to a five-month high. Its board proposed increasing the company’s capital by 27 percent to 400 million riyals ($106.66 million) by offering 1.079 bonus shares for every four shares held.

Petrochemical stocks dragged down the index, with Saudi Arabian Fertilizers down 1 percent, National Industrialization slipping 0.5 percent and Yanbu National Petrochemical falling 0.9 percent.

Banks also weighed, with Samba Financial Group shedding 0.9 percent and the main index eased 0.03 percent, halting seven sessions of gains. In the UAE, the two main markets ended lower in muted trade with volumes in Dubai slumping to a two-week low. Dubai’s index slipped 0.8 percent to its lowest close since 2004.

“Most fund managers in the region started their vacations so there’s not much activity in the UAE. Also there are no catalysts in the near-term,” said Marwan Shurrab, vicepresident and chief trader at Gulfmena Investments.

Abu Dhabi’s Aldar Properties rose 2.4 percent, up for a second session from last week’s record low, when traders dumped the stock on talk that the company would

delist its shares. The company’s deputy CEO dismissed the speculation as rumors last week. “Following the recent market speculation, Aldar Properties would like to confirm that it is not... planning to undertake a delisting of its shares from the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange,” the company reiterated in statement to the bourse yesterday. Elsewhere, Qatar’s index rose 0.4 percent as investors picked up stocks on expectations of strong dividend yield.

Qatar National Bank gained 1.2 percent, Qatar Islamic Bank rose 1.1 percent and Masraf Al Rayan climbed 0.7 percent.

“The banking sector is still very highyield dividend compared to the rest of the region, which keeps the interest of institutional and regional players,” Shurrab added.

Industries Qatar advanced 0.5 percent after its wholly owned subsidiary Qatar Steel said it has secured a $250 million subordinated loan facility from two banks to finance expansion.

In Oman, the index added 0.2 percent, with banks supporting. Heavyweight Bank Muscat rose 1.4 percent and Bank Sohar climbed 0.7 percent.

“Locally we may see a relief rally for the week led by new fund allocations and dividend play looking at the new year,” said Kanaga Sundar from Gulf Baader Capital Markets.

SAUDI ARABIA: The index eased 0.03 percent to 6,382 points.

DUBAI: The index fell 0.8 percent to 1,328 points.

ABU DHABI: The measure eased 0.03 percent to 2,350 points.

QATAR: The benchmark climbed 0.4 percent to 8,816 points.

OMAN: The index gained 0.2 percent to 5,649 points.

EGYPT: The measure rose 1.9 percent to 3,684 points.

KUWAIT: The measure edged up 0.1 percent to 5,803 points.

BAHRAIN: The measure eased 0.04 percent to 1,133 points. — Reuters

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business

Investors wary, look for clear direction GLOBAL KSE WEEKLY MARKET REPORT KUWAIT: Negative news reports circulated last week played a key role in keeping the market’s performance under check. Locally, escalating tension in the country as stateless Arab protestors demonstrated more than once during the week causing riot and the decision by HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah AlAhmad Al-Sabah to call for an early parliamentary election on February 2, kept investors at bay. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah’s warning of Gulf investors to be cautious as the Kingdom’s security and that of its Arab neighbors was being targeted further hammered the market. Moreover, worldwide plunge of stock markets amid worries about downgrades of weaker eurozone countries curbed investors’ risk appetite specially ahead of the new year.

Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) remained in the negative mode for the second week in a row reaching its lowest level since last August 28. Knowing that this weeks’ decline raised doubts that the year 2011 might not end with less than 20 percent drop. However, on the long-run the bourse’ price index is seen neutralizing since touching is lowest level in about eight years on August 21 when touching the 5,746 points level, which brings some optimism for a future short-term upward trend.

For the week, Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE), as measured by the market weighted Global General Index, was seen symmetrically down, shedding 1.42 percent of its value and closing at 177.59 point, escalating the yearto-date index loss to 20.55 percent. Market sectors were mainly down with six out of the eight market sectors ending at lower levels.

KSE price index was also down, losing 0.50 percent (29.00 points) during the week and closing below the 5,800 point level at 5,794.3 points, presenting a 16.69 percent decline on a year-to-date basis. Market capitalization shrunk by KD426.11mn during the week, reaching KD29.04bn.

The market breadth was tilted towards decliners’ side with 62 stocks declining against 41 stocks that have increased out of 135 traded shares. Total trading activity remained at low levels as investors shied away. Total weekly volume was down by 33.45 percent, reaching 601.95mn shares changing hands at a total traded value of KD73.23mn (37.16 percent lower compared the earlier week). Real Estate sector accounted for 28.61 percent (172.21mn shares) of the total market traded shares as heavy trading was still seen on Abyaar Real Estate Development Company during the week. The scrip topped the volume list for the second week with 71.60mn shares changing hands.

The scrip closed the week down by 1.69 percent at KD0.029.

On the other hand, Services sector led other market sectors in value traded, accounting for 29.78 percent of the aggregate traded value (KD21.81mn worth of shares traded). High trading on Zain caused the high figure at it topped value traded stock in the market with KD7.22mn worth of stocks traded. The heavyweight scrip was a major dragger of the market as it ended the week down by 3.33 percent at KD0.870.

On sector performance, heavyweights sectors’ retreat was a major knock down. Global Services Sector Index closed lower by 1.86 percent as blue-chip stocks in the sector end-

ed with negative performance. The Banking Sector Index was also a notable loser, shedding 1.42 percent of its value. United Ahli Bank was the only gainer in the sector, adding 2.50 percent to its share price to close at KD0.820, while all other banks stocks closed lower with the exception of two that ended flat. The Non-Kuwaiti Sector Index was the biggest loser during the week, shedding 5.17 percent. The majority of the non-Kuwaiti listed stocks closed down, with United Gulf Bank topping the losers’ list, as it shed 13.21 present of its share value, ending at KD0.184.

On the other hand, Global Insurance Sector Index and Food Sector Index were the only gainers, up by 2.28 percent and 0.41 percent, respectively. Warba Insurance Company recorded a notable 15.52 percent

increase in its share price pushing the sectors’ index up, while no losers were seen in the food sector. Global Large Cap. (Top 10) index closed the week down by 1.81 percent while Global Islamic Shariah Index saw a 0.50 percent retreat.

Macroeconomic News An economic report issued recently on the occasion of the 32nd GCC summit, which kicked off in Kuwait at the beginning of the week spoke highly about the achievements of the GCC countries in the economic and financial fields during the year 2011. The report issued by the General Secretariat of the Gulf Cooperation Council proposals included a proposal submitted by the State of Kuwait on the need to adopt the budgets of the specialized organizations within the framework of the Cooperation Council by the Ministerial Council and the unification of financial supervision and standardization of accounting system and financial support to these organizations within the framework of the Secretariat of the Cooperation Council. In the area of the Customs Union, the same Committee endorsed recommendation for the establishment of the customs union starting the first of January 2012, in addition to approving the agenda of the unified customs tariff of the GCC countries 2012 and be applicable in all customs administrations of the GCC States in January next year.

It also included the decision to extend the

amended regulations to exempt inputs of national industry from taxes (duties) of the GCC States currently in force for three years starting from the beginning of January.

Kuwaiti Finance Minister Mustafa AlShamali reiterated during the week that the establishment of the GCC Central Bank is in its final phases, pointing out that the concerned states which joined the GCC union are implementing this agreement. Al-Shamali told reporters following a meeting of the GCC finance ministers that the GCC Customs union procedures are proceeding well and that a timetable has been set as of next year till 2015 to activate the union’s agreement.

Economic growth is likely to slow in most of the Gulf’s wealthy oil exporters next year but governments will remain able to spend

to counter the impact of any global slump, a Reuters poll of analysts showed during the week. Gross domestic product in Saudi Arabia, the biggest Arab economy and the world’s top oil exporter, is expected to expand 4.0 percent in 2012, down from an estimated 6.7 percent this year, according to the median forecast in a global poll of 18 analysts. Next year’s growth forecasts were cut for all six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) compared with the last Reuters poll, which was conducted in September. In contrast to much of the rest of the world, however, the Gulf states still have ample fiscal reserves which they can use to stimulate their economies. They ramped up government spending early this year to protect social stability during the Arab Spring uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and are now expected to keep spending high to maintain growth.

A moderate drop in the oil price this year would still leave most Gulf states with comfortable budget surpluses. Saudi Arabia’s surplus is expected to drop to 4.8 percent of GDP next year from 12.3 percent in 2011, with the UAE edging down to 6.0 percent from 8.0 percent, the poll found. Kuwait is projected to have a giant surplus of 19 percent of GCP next year.

Oil related news Price of Kuwaiti crude was down by $0.93 during the last week, reaching $106.07 per

barrels (pb) on Wednesday, December 14 compared to $107.00 recorded on Wednesday, December 14, as announced by Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC).

However, the recent price increase was due to US crude oil stocks posting their largest one-week fall in a decade, plunging 10.57mn barrels to 323.58mn barrels in the week to December 16, US Energy Information Administration data showed. Analysts polled

by Reuters had projected a 2.3mn barrel drawdown, on average. Kuwait’s crude oil exports to China fell 23.7 percent in November from a year earlier to 726,000 tons, equivalent to around 178,000 barrels per day (bpd), while the nation became China’s biggest liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) supplier, official data by the Chinese govern-

ment shows. Kuwait provided 3.2 percent of China’s total crude oil imports, compared with 4.6 percent in the same month of last year and 6.1 percent in October, according to the General Administration of Customs.

Kuwait’s exports in the first 11 months of 2011 totaled 8.69mn tons (191,000 bpd), down 6.5 percent from the same period last year. China’s overall imports of crude oil in November rose 8.5 percent year-on-year to 5.55mn bpd. China is the world’s largest oil consumer. Kuwait saw a 64.4 percent yearon-year gain in LPG shipments to China in November as its No.1 supplier, exporting 80,500 tons and accounting for a quarter of China’s total. Kuwait’s trade surplus with Japan sharply widened 22.0 percent in November to $33bn from a year earlier, remaining in the black for the 46th month in a row, the Finance Ministry said. Kuwaiti exports to Japan jumped 23.0 percent to $1.1bn for the seventh straight month of gain, and imports from Japan also rose 29.7 percent year-on-year to $144mn for the second month in a row, the ministry said in a preliminary report.

Japan is Kuwait’s major trading partner, with two-way trade reaching $13.2bn in 2010. The Middle East’s trade surplus with Japan also expanded 27.8 percent to $11.9bn, with Japan-bound exports from the region growing 21.7 percent from a year earlier to $13.9bn.

Kuwait National Petroleum Company

(KNPC) is planning to partially shut its Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery in January for planned maintenance, industry sources said. One of the sources based in the Middle East said that two crude distillation units (CDU) with a combined capacity of about 250,000 barrels per day will be shut for about 20-35 days for maintenance.

A source at the KNPC confirmed the shutdown will take place in January but declined to say the duration or which units will be affected. KNPC last shut a CDU at Mina AlAhmadi in mid-September for a month due to maintenance.

The total capacity of the three CDUs in Mina Al-Ahmadi is 466,000 barrels per day (bpd), making it Kuwait’s largest refinery.

KNPC operates Kuwait’s three refineries with a total capacity of 930,000 bpd. Kuwait will hold parliamentary elections on February 2, official media reported. Education and Justice Minister Ahmad Al-Mulaifi said after a cabinet meeting early during the week that the government approved a decree calling on Kuwaiti voters to elect a new parliament on February 2.

Kuwait Stock Exchange Kuwait Real Estate Company (KREC) announced that a fully owned subsidiary has sold one of its agricultural investments in the United States for a total value of $12.49mn, with an expected profit of USD9mn. The generated profit will be reflected in the company’s financial statements for 4Q2011.

Moreover, KREC reported that a 100 percent-owned subsidiary sold an agricultural project in the US at a total value of $14.49mn.

The company is expected to generate USD9mn profit from this deal, which will be reflected on 4Q2011 financial statements.

Osoul Investment Company announced that a 99 percent owned subsidiary has signed a preliminary agreement to sell one of its real estate properties in Kuwait for a total value of KD1.28mn, with an expected loss of KD0.02mn, which will be reflected in the company’s consolidated financial statements for 4Q2011. On December 19, 2011 the company announced that its subsidiary has completed the sales procedure realizing a loss of KD0.02mn.

Contracting & Marine Services Company (CMS) rebutted on the local press news published on the company’s forecasts of strong financial results for FY2011, adding that it did not deliver any profit outlook or plans for future projects. A first-hand source had told Al-Dar newspaper that the KSE-listed company has a three-year backlog of operations locally and overseas, declining to give further details. It added that CMS will focus on the Libyan oil market over the coming period, pending political stability there.

Fitch Ratings has affirmed Kuwait-based Industrial Bank of Kuwait’s (IBK) long-term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at ‘A+’ with a Stable Outlook, and its Viability Rating (VR) at ‘bb’. IBK’s IDRs and Support Rating reflect the extremely high probability of support from the government of Kuwait, should it be required. Fitch said that the VR reflects the bank’s modest franchise, restricted activities and consequent balance sheet concentrations, in addition to pressure on asset quality.

It also reflects the bank’s strong capitalization and its secure long-term funding.

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 Philippine peso Egyptian pounds

.2730000 .4260000 .3670000 .2980000 .2650000 .2720000 .0040000 .0020000 .0750520 .7312060 .3810000 .0700000 .7168150 .0040000 .0430000

CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES US Dollar/KD .2757000 GB Pound/KD .4310710 Euro .3694380 Swiss francs .3006870 Canadian dollars .2679820 Danish Kroner .0496560 Swedish Kroner .0400710 Australian dlr .2768440 Hong Kong dlr .0353810 Singapore dlr .2129620 Japanese yen .0035470 Indian Rs/KD .0000000 Sri Lanka rupee .0000000 Pakistan rupee .0000000 Bangladesh taka .0000000 UAE dirhams .0750920 Bahraini dinars .7315910 Jordanian dinar .0000000 Saudi Riyal/KD .0735400 Omani riyals .7163830 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 Irani Riyal - Transfer Irani Riyal - Cash

3.598 5.337 3.154 2.436 3.341 213.250 35.672 3.580 6.336 8.873 0.271 0.273

.2800000 .4370000 .3770000 .3090000 .2750000 .2830000 .0072500 .0035000 .0758060 .7385550 .4010000 .0760000 .7240200 .0072000 .0530000 .2793000 .4367000 .3742620 .3046130 .2714810 .0503040 .0405940 .2804590 .0358430 .2157420 .0035930 .0053970 .0024600 .0031760 .0036530 .0760720 .7411440 .3950500 .0745000 .7257370 .0064500

Saudi Riyal Qatari Riyal Omani Riyal Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham

GCC COUNTRIES 74.150 76.402 722.230 738.540 75.715

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

ARAB COUNTRIES Egyptian Pound - Cash 47.500 Egyptian Pound - Transfer 46.282 Yemen Riyal/for 1000 1.272 Tunisian Dinar 189.860 Jordanian Dinar 392.670 Lebanese Lira/for 1000 1.865 Syrian Lier 6.003 Morocco Dirham 33.814 EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 277.950 Euro 370.650 Sterling Pound 431.930 Canadian dollar 268.420 Turkish lire 153.940 Swiss Franc 300.620 Australian dollar 277.000 US Dollar Buying 277.750 GOLD 315.500 159.000 81.500

20 Gram 10 Gram 5 Gram

Bahrain Exchange Company COUNTRY

Australian dollar Bahraini dinar Bangladeshi taka Canadian dollar Cyprus pound Czek koruna Danish krone Deutsche Mark Egyptian pound Euro Cash Hongkong dollar Indian rupees Indonesia Iranian tuman Iraqi dinar Japanese yen Jordanian dinar Lebanese pound Malaysian ringgit Morocco dirham Nepalese Rupees New Zealand dollar Nigeria Norwegian krone Omani Riyal

SELL CASH

SELL DRAFT

286.900 741.200 3.860 277.400 547.400 44.500 49.900 167.800 48.040 367.700 36.510 5.650 0.032 0.211 0.242 3.670 395.800 0.189 90.440 46.600 4.290 219.800 1.806 47.700 723.930

285.400 741.200 3.438 275.900

216.600 46.294 366.200 36.360 5.280 0.031

300.000 5.100 9.110 75.890 278.700

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

TRAVELLER’S CHEQUE 436.900 278.700

Sterling Pound US Dollar

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd Rate for Transfer

Selling Rate

US Dollar Canadian Dollar Sterling Pound Euro Swiss Frank Bahrain Dinar UAE Dirhams Qatari Riyals Saudi Riyals Jordanian Dinar Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupees Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Pesso Cyprus pound Japanese Yen Thai Bhat Syrian Pound Nepalese Rupees Malaysian Ringgit

276.850 268.505 443.300 374.970 303.055 733.125 75.350 75.990 73.785 389.700 46.310 2.422 5.309 3.179 3.615 6.383 679.095 3.675 8.955 5.830 3.415 91.960

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 Jordanian Dinars Syrian Pounds Euro Canadian Dollars Nepali rupee

Currency

Transfer Rate (Per 1000)

287.19 277.50 302.52 366.89

439.00 3.70 3.820 5.600 2.650 4.000 3.310 76.25 741.00 48.20 395.50 725.00 77.20 74.95

278.650 3.140 5.305 2.455 3.445 6.445 75.955 74.450 740.700 46.325 439.900 3.190 1.550 395.800 5.750 369.100 278.600 3.690

Al Mulla Exchange

UAE Exchange Center WLL Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc Euro

437.70 3.62 3.427 5.273 2.446 3.308 3.127 75.85 741.20 46.21 396.43 724.19 76.84 74.40

Kuwait Bahrain Intl Exchange Co. Currency

Currency

723.750

3.130 6.410 76.670 74.410 216.620 36.920 2.446 436.900

GOLD 1,682.140

10 Tola

394.920 0.188 90.440 3.320 218.300

3.260 6.690 77.100 74.410 216.620 36.920 2.655 438.900 41.500 301.500 5.100 9.310 198.263 75.990 279.100 1.330

288.00 278.00 305.00 37.00

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

Transfer Rate (Per 1000)

278.250 366.000 435.500 275.100 3.575 5.285 46.310 2.443 3.390 6.405 3.122 741.050 75.800 74.350

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2011

BUSINESS

Saudi Arabia to let foreign airlines fly domestic routes Market to open beyond Saudia, NAS

LONDON: A file picture shows a general view of St Paul’s Cathedral in London, as it re-opens, following its closure to the public for the first time since the Blitz in 1940. Anti-capitalist protesters camped outside London’s St Paul’s Cathedral on December 24 prepared to ring in Christmas along with the church as previous squabbles were put firmly to one side. — AFP

Industrial land sales pick up in Hawaii HONOLULU: Hawaii’s industrial real estate market spent the past few years in the dumps, with several warehouse and lot projects stalling and winding up in foreclosure. But as the local economy slowly improves, things are looking up for some industrial land owners.

At the former Hawaii Raceway Park in Kapolei, an investment firm that bought the 64-acre site out of foreclosure last year has sold close to half the property, attracting about a dozen tenants including construction companies, a retail distributor and a security firm needing space.

The former raceway site now named Malakole Industrial Park has sold 27 acres out of a 32-acre first phase that went on the market about a year ago.

“It’s going good,” said local developer Jon Gomes, who is developing the property for the owner, an affiliate of New York-based investment firm Angelo Gordon & Co. “There seems to be a lot of demand. Interest rates are low, and people are feeling better about the economy and tourism.”

Gomes, who heads Jon Gomes Development LLC, said he is planning out the second phase and has received good interest. Malakole Industrial Park

was initially planned by California development firm Irongate Capital, which bought the raceway property from Campbell Estate in 2006. Irongate got the land rezoned and envisioned creating a 90-lot industrial subdivision, but ran into financial trouble. Two lenders filed foreclosure lawsuits in 2008 and 2009.

Not far from the former raceway site, another once-troubled industrial park project is also trying to emerge from the market downturn. The project known as Kapolei Business Park II was bought last month by an affiliate of California-based investment firm Jupiter Holdings. The company bought the 54-acre parcel out of bankruptcy from local development firm LVKapolei 54 LLC, led by Paul Lambert and Mark Whiting of Lokahi Ventures LLC. LVKapolei had nonbinding purchase commitments for 12 lots in 2008 but defaulted on a $22 million loan and filed bankruptcy in April to block a foreclosure auction by Central Pacific Bank.

Jupiter acquired the interest in the loan from the bank, then acquired the property from LVKapolei. The value of the sale was listed at $12 million in property records. — MCT

Uncertainty holds US economy back OHIO: It’s big, black and hairy and it’s hiding under the bed of every business owner-uncertainty. Uncertainty is keeping businesses from hiring more people, expanding or investing in new facilities, said Ohio Chamber of Commerce President and Chief Executive Officer Andrew Doehrel.

The business community has to have a box in which to operate, Doehrel said.

The sides of the box might be labor costs, taxes and regulations. But without any sides, it creates uncertainty that makes it impossible to price a product or grow a business, Doehrel said.

“Uncertainty is a killer of job creation because you have no way to set those parameters and most of those parameters are obviously not set by you,” he said.

They’re set by government and regulators. Uncertainty and regulatory burden is the number one worry keeping business owners up at night, said LCNB Corp.

Chair and CEO Stephen Wilson. LCNB has never had a larger pipeline of commercial loans of people who want to build a new plant or build up inventory, Wilson said. But it’s employers who keep from pulling the trigger because there’s too much uncertainty. — MCT

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia will soon allow foreign airlines to fly domestic routes, its aviation regulator said yesterday, opening the market beyond state-owned Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) and private National Air Services, which struggled to meet demand.

The General Authority for Civil Aviation said in a statement carried by the state news agency it will let both local and foreign companies apply for licenses to run domestic flights by the end of the Islamic month of Safar, roughly late January. The decision comes six weeks after King Abdullah split the responsibility for the aviation sector from the Defense Ministry, appointing Prince Fahd bin Abdullah bin Mohammed Al-Saud, a former deputy aviation minister, as head of the newly independent General Authority for Civil Aviation.

The new authority comes directly under the aegis of King Abdullah, which some analysts interpreted as meaning it will have more power to institute reforms. In April, the advisory Shoura Council recommended that the kingdom study allowing Gulf airline carriers to operate in the Middle East’s largest economy.

Saudia and National Air Services, a lowercost private carrier, now serve a domestic market of around 27 million people, but with a price cap on domestic flights private airlines have struggled with their profit margins. Last year a third carrier, Sama Airlines, was forced

to suspend its operations. By contrast Saudia receives fuel at subsidized prices, allowing it to continue to serve the domestic market despite the ceiling on ticket costs. Saudia is also moving through a slow process of privati-

Saudi Airlines Cargo has already been partly privatized while the ground handling services unit was merged last year with National Handling Services and Attar Travel Company.

Earlier this year the airline said it hopes to

zation, which was started in 2006 by splitting the carrier into six units with a view to selling each separately.

hold a much-delayed initial public offering of its catering service, which is estimated to be worth up to $540 million. — Reuters

Japan, China look to FTA talks, debt buys BEIJING: Japan and China have agreed to restart talks soon on a free trade pact that would also include South Korea, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said yesterday after talks in the Chinese capital with Premier Wen Jiabao.

In another sign of growing interdependence between Asia’s two biggest economies, Japan also said it was looking to buy Chinese government bonds.

“We discussed how we need to resume talks on a free trade pact among Japan, China and South Korea early next year, and we reached an agreement on that point,” Noda told reporters after his meeting with Wen. The announcement builds on an agreement between the three countries last month also to seek a trilateral investment treaty and finish studies on the proposed free trade agreement by the end of December so that they could start formal negotiations on the trade pact.

“China is willing to closely coordinate with Japan to promote our two countries’ monetary and financial development, and to accelerate progress of the ChinaJapan-Republic of Korea free-trade zone and East Asian financial cooperation,” Wen told Noda at the meeting, according to Chinese Foreign Ministry’s official website (www.mfa.gov.cn).

But the regional trade negotiations could also compete for attention with Washington’s push for a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), after Japan said last month it wants to join in the talks over the U.S. proposal. Despite sometimes

rancorous political ties between the two neighbours, Japan’s economic fortunes are increasingly tied to China’s economic growth and consumer demand.

Wen told Noda that closer economic ties were in both countries’ interests.

“The deep-seated consequences of the current international financial crisis continue to spread, and the complexity and severity of global and world developments have exceeded our expectations,” Wen said. “China and Japan both have the need and conditions to join hands more closely to respond to challenges and deepen mutually beneficial strategic relations.” China has been Japan’s biggest trading partner since 2009. In 2010, trade between the two nations grew by 22.3 percent compared to levels in 2009, reaching 26.5 trillion yen ($339.3 billion), according to the Japan External Trade Organization.

In a statement issued after the two leaders’ meeting, the Japanese government said it would seek to buy Chinese government bonds-a tentative step toward diversification of Tokyo’s large foreign exchange reser ves that are believed to be mostly held in dollars. But Japanese officials have stressed that Japan’s trust in dollar assets remains unshaken. The statement given to reporters gave no details of when Japan might seek to buy the bonds, but Japanese officials said the scale would be small. China and Japan are also the world’s first and second-biggest holders of foreign reserves. — Reuters

News

in brief

UAE output at 2.6m bpd in December ABU DHABI: The United Arab Emirates produced about 2.6 million barrels per day of oil in December, the UAE’s Energy Minister Mohammed bin Dhaen AlHamli said yesterday. Asked how much the OPEC member produced in December, Hamli said: “Around 2.6 (million bpd).” “Our commitments (for December) were set at the end of October,” Hamli said after a meeting of Gulf Arab oil ministers in Abu Dhabi.

US dollar exchange rate at KD 0.278 KUWAIT: The exchange rate of the US dollar against the Kuwaiti dinar stood at KD 0.278, and the euro at KD 0.362 against the Kuwaiti dinar yesterday, said the daily bulletin of the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK). The sterling pound dropped to KD 0.433, the Japanese yen remained at KD 0.003, and the Swiss franc exchange at KD 0.296.

Abu Dhabi firm buys Turkish water producer DUBAI: Abu Dhabi state-backed food and drink company Agthia Group is buying Turkish spring water producer Pelit Su for an undisclosed amount.

Agthia said yesterday it expects to acquire all of Pelit Su’s shares during the first half of 2012. Financial details weren’t disclosed. Agthia Chairman Rashed Mubarak Al-Hajeri says the deal is in line with the company’s plans to expand its geographic reach.

Agthia’s business is currently focused on the Arab Gulf states and Egypt. Pelit Su is a family-run bottled water producer set up in 2009 in the southern Turkish city of Adana.

Egypt’s Citadel Capital widens 9-month loss CAIRO: Egyptian private equity firm Citadel Capital reported a consolidated net loss for the first nine months of 446.6 million Egyptian pounds ($74.2 million), the stock exchange said yesterday. The company had reported a net loss of 160.6 million pounds for the same period a year earlier, the exchange added.

Disaster-struck Japan set for record-high spending

DOUAI: Workers of the French car manufacturer Renault working on an assembly line of the Scenic car. It is one of the key engines of the French economy and a historically vital industry, but France’s auto sector is heading into 2012 amid dire forecasts for its future and warnings of major job losses. —AFP

PARIS: French auto company PSA Peugeot Citroen chief executive Philippe Varin talking during a press conference. —AFP

French auto sector faces turbulence in 2012 PARIS: It is one of the key engines of the French economy and a historically vital industr y, but France’s auto sector is heading into 2012 amid dire forecasts for its future and warnings of major job losses.

Accounting-directly or indirectly-for a quarter of the national workforce, vehicle manufacturing is one of the gems of French industry and the country is home to two global auto giants, PSA Peugeot Citroen and Renault. But industry chiefs and analysts are warning that the economic slowdown expected in Europe next year will hit France’s auto industry, which is also suffering from Asian competition, especially hard.

“We are going to be facing a storm (in 2012). The European and French markets will be directed downward,” Renault Chief Operating Officer Carlos Tavares said in an interview with Le Parisien daily this week. Earlier this month PSA chief Philippe Varin said his company was facing a significant loss in the second half of 2011 and that he expected “negative

growth” on the European car market next year.

Analysts are warning that European car sales are sure to plunge as the full impact of the euro-zone debt crisis hits home. “The market is catching up to economic reality,” said Ludovic Subran, chief economist at credit insurer Euler Hermes. “With the end of recovery plans and the atmosphere of austerity in most European countries, the automobile sector cannot but continue its slow agony and (sales) should decrease again by three to five percent next year,” Subran said.

Though he would not provide details, Renault’s Tavares said the grim forecast meant the group would probably be looking to cut costs early next year. “In the first half of 2012, we will likely be required to take cost-saving measures,” he said. Last week the group announced it was withdrawing five models from the British market and slashing the number of authorized dealerships by a third after sales there plunged from 113,000 vehicles in 2010 to 87,000 this year.

PSA, for its part, has already announced major French layoffs, including 1,900 job cuts within the company itself and cost-saving measures that will see about 2,300 jobs lost at external partners.

In total the company is looking to make 800 million euros ($1 billion) in savings next year.

In a report on the European auto sector this month, analysis firm PricewaterhouseCoopersAutofacts was especially pessimistic about France.

Two measures that have helped artificially boost car sales in recent years a 1,000 euro sales incentive for buyers of new cars who scrap older ones and a tax bonus available for buying low-polluting cars-have come to an end.

“With two support mechanisms slated for removal (scrappage carryover and reduced bonuses for lowemitting cars), along with steep increases in company car taxation, France represents a major volume risk, with a possible eight percent decrease (in sales) to little more than two million units,” PwC-Autofacts said in the report. — AFP

TOKYO: Disaster-struck Japan is headed to recordhigh budget spending of 96 trillion yen ($1.2 trillion) as the nation tackles the costs of recovery from the March earthquake and tsunami.

The Cabinet approved the draft budget for the fiscal year starting April 2012 yesterday, covering massive costs for disaster reconstruction in northeastern Japan as well as decontamination efforts for radiation leaked from a tsunami-damaged nuclear power plant. The government will rely on new debt for 49 percent of its annual revenue, the highest level ever, according to Kyodo News service.

Japan’s ballooning public debt is expected to renew the push from the government to raise the consumption - or sales - tax, now at 5 percent, a move certain to meet resistance from a public disenchanted with what some have criticized as wasteful spending favoring bureaucrats.

“Unless we do a fundamental review of the tax system, we are reaching our limit in trying to maintain our welfare services,” Finance Minister Jun Azumi told reporters. Japan is reducing its spending for developing atomic energy. But it will need to spend far more than the amount saved to safely close down Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, which went into meltdown following the disasters.

Damage from the March 11 disasters is estimated at between 16 trillion yen ($198 billion) and 25 trillion yen ($309 billion), according to Japan’s Cabinet Office, making it the world’s most expensive natural disaster ever. That number doesn’t include the cost of the nuclear crisis, including evacuation, decontamination and damage expenses.

Japan’s rapidly aging society has also pushed up spending as the government burden rises for the national pension plan. — AP

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2011

business

KSE equities rebound GLOBAL DAILY MARKET REPORT KUWAIT: Equities at the Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) rebounded yesterday, on the back of a fresh surge in the heavyweight stocks NBK and Zain. KSE stocks, which entered this week riding a two-session skid, staged a session of broadbased advance. Six out of the eight sectors inched higher during the day. Global General Index (GGI) ended the day up by 0.41 percent, at 178.32 point. Market capitalization was up for the day reaching KD29.16bn. On the other hand, KSE Price Index closed at 5,802.5 point, adding 8.2 points (0.14 percent) to its previous close.

Market breadth During the session, 98 companies were traded. Market breadth was skewed towards advancers as 32 equities advanced versus 23 that retreated. Trading activity was mixed yesterday. Total volume traded was down by 22.29 percent with 114.13mn shares changing hands at a total value of KD25.21mn (46.34 percent higher compared to previous session).

Investment sector was the volume leader. The sector accounted for 31.25 percent of total shares exchanges. Buying interest was clearly witnessed on shares of Commercial Bank of Kuwait with 18.07mn shares exchanged. The banking sector was the value leader, having 64.7 percent of total traded value. In terms of top gainers, Kuwait Business Town Real Estate Company was the top gainer for the day, adding 9.43 percent to its share value and closing at KD0.029. On the other hand, First Investment Company shed 5.17 percent and closed at KD0.110 making it the biggest decliner in the market. The company announced that it is undergoing negotiations with its Murabaha creditors to settle an amount of KD50.36mn which will be reflected in the company’s financial statements for 4Q2102.

Sectors On a sector-by-sector basis, Global Services Index spearheaded gainers during the day, climbing by 0.62 percent. KGL Logistics Company clocked 4.27 percent in gains, closing at KD0.244. Aref Energy Holding Company and Privatization Holding Company too were notable advancers, adding 1.92 percent, reaching KD0.106 and 1.52 percent at KD0.067 respectively. Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) announced that an auction will be held on Wednesday, December 28 to offload a 29 percent stake in Aref Energy Holding Company. A total of

KUWAIT: A customer comes out of a jewelry shop in downtown Kuwait. The price of gold kept above $1,600 per ounce last week but failed to cross the $1,641 mark.

Gold settles above $1,600 per ounce 217.5mn shares will be offered at an initial price of KD0.134 each, totaling KD29.15mn. An agreement was concluded between Muthanna Investment Company (Customer Account), Athman National Company for General Trading Company (Seller) and Development Projects Holding Company (Initial Buyer). Meanwhile, Zain Company bounced back, adding 1.15 percent, closing at KD0.880.

Industrial stocks performed robustly during the day with the sector’s index adding 0.56 percent. The biggest percentage advancer in the sector was Contracting & Marine Services Company, claiming an 2.78 percent jump to KD0.222. Equipment Holding Company picked up where it left off last Thursday, staging its second straight winning session, housing a 1.89 percent climb to KD0.054. Boubyan Petrochemical Company and Gulf Cables & Electrical Industries Company were up by 1.89 percent and 1.37 percent respectively.

Banking stocks too were notable advancers, housing 0.42 percent in sector gains. National Bank of Kuwait’s (NBK) 1.82 percent climb bolstered the sector’s performance after closing at KD1.120. Meanwhile, Kuwait Finance House (KFH) saw its share value appreciate by 1.14 percent, to close at KD0.890. Elsewhere, investors traded an impressive 18.07mn of the Commercial Bank of Kuwait shares. The scrip

closed down 1.32 percent at KD0.750.

Investment index was the sole decliner, pulled back by 0.07 percent during the day. AlQurain Holding Company recoiled by 5.00 percent on a solitary trade, while First Investment Company topped losers’ list for the day, shedding 5.17 percent. However, three investment companies made it to the top gainers list as well during the day helping in minimizing the sectors’ loss.

Corporate News Salhia Real Estate Company announced that its 99.7 percent owned company, Al Asima Real Estate Company, has signed a KD53mn longterm Tawarruq (Islamic Facility) with one of the local banks to restructure its existing debts.

Abyaar Real Estate Development Company announced that it has sold one of its properties for a total value of KD6.687mn realizing a profit of KD1.19mn, which will be reflected in the company’s financial statements for 4Q2011. Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Company announced that it has been awarded a 18-month, KD1.86mn tender offer to build a fuel tank in Al-Zour South power station.

Price of Kuwaiti crude oil increased by $0.54 to $106.61pb on Thursday compared to $106.07pb on Thursday, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation said in a statement on Friday.

KUWAIT: The price of gold kept above $1,600 per ounce last week but failed to cross the $1,641 mark, said the latest specialized report by Al-Zummorroda Jewelry Group.

The overall trading in gold was down in all bourses and the price was between USD 1,600 and 1,640 an ounce, influenced by the holiday’s season, by investors adjusting their positions, and by profit-taking before the end of the year. It predicted more focus on gold in early 2012 amid anticipation over the ramifications of the global financial crisis. This forecast is inspired by hike in price from $1,612 per ounce to 1,641 on Wednesday on the heels of hikes in European stocks and rise in euro value against the US greenback.

This improvement was also due to the EU central bank’s bringing up loans to EU banks to 489 billion. However, any return to a series of hikes would depend on good news from the euro-zone. The gold keeping to this range for two weeks made investors doubt the yellow metal’s balloon would soon burst, which is possible short-turn since gold fluctuates in line with the euro and in the opposite direction of the dollar. On the

long-run, the report said gold remains the true safe-haven commodity.

As for silver, the report said it kept to the same course of gold, sliding down within the $29 per ounce range. In comparison to gold, the white metal saw periods of great demand when price slipped below $29. With fluctuation in price within a wider margin than other metals, silver is most appealing to investors, and is favored also as an industrial metal. Should good news come from the euro-zone, it is not unlikely it would top $33 per ounce, the report indicated. Platinum, too, came up to reach $1,625 per ounce, which is a hike of $10 since last week. Palladium was up $39 to reach $665 per ounce.

The sales in gold in the local market were vigorous with the holiday season, and 21 carat gold came to KD 12.5 per gram, while 18 carat gold came to KD10.75 per gram. A kilo of pure gold kept to its price, just below KD 14, 500.

The report noted particular interest in small gold items, and smaller bullion bars as well, starting from five grams and all the way up to 100 grams, with current prices considerably enticing compared to the past few months. — KUNA

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business

Cuba wraps up dramatic year of economic change Free-market reforms in emerging Cuba

European markets await more forex turbulence in 2012 LONDON: European stocks and the euro will face fresh turbulence in 2012 after a year in which equity markets slumped and the single currency lost ground against the dollar mainly due to the eurozone crisis. Europe’s main stock markets have tumbled between 6.5 and 25 percent since the start of 2011, as traders looked past positive economic data and earnings, while the euro has fallen 2.5 percent versus the dollar in volatile trading.

Yields on euro-zone sovereign debt meanwhile rocketed in late 2011 as investors demanded top returns for lending money to the bloc’s indebted countries such as Greece and Italy.

“Attempting to forecast where the dollar, euro, gold, oil or any western stock market might end next year is no less a mugs game than it was this time last year,” said Howard Wheeldon, a senior strategist at BGC Partners. “Who could have imagined that by the eleventh month of the year we would have been talking about not only the collapse of the euro-zone but also a possible breakdown of the European Union?

“Who would have thought that in such a short space of time the economies of Europe would have effectively ground to a halt and that the outlook for resumption of growth would be virtually nonexistent?” he questioned. The euro-zone debt crisis dominated market sentiment in 2011 and is widely expected to be the main focus in 2012, at least in the early part of the year, overshadowing geopolitical strains and the race for the White House. The euro ended the year by briefly diving under $1.30 and hitting the lowest point since the start of 2011. By Friday, it had recovered slightly to trade at $1.3076. The single currency meanwhile plunged to a 10-year low point against the yen in September as investors reacted to mounting economic uncertainty and tumbling equities in Europe and the United States.

“2012 is likely to be dominated by the quest for safe havens on the foreign exchange markets, as risks are omnipresent,” said Commerzbank analyst Ulrich Leuchtmann. “The euro-zone debt crisis is threatening to escalate or at least to become a permanent institution connected to a high level of anxiety. Globally economies are either sliding into recession or have to expect falling growth levels.

“In view of all these dangers the US dollar might turn out to be the real winner,” he added. Other traditional safe havens include the yen and gold.

Although the euro is set to end the year lower against the greenback, at the start of May it struck a 16-month high of $1.4940 owing to weak US economic data and as investors welcomed a bailout of indebted euro-zone member Portugal. In recent months the euro and European stock markets have headed south as countries struggle to get to grips with the escalating debt crisis. “For 2012, the eurozone crisis is likely to remain a key issue,” said Neil MacKinnon, an economist at Russian financial group VTB Capital. “Greece is likely to default and other countries, including Italy, would require debt restructuring.”

Among Europe’s main stock markets, Milan has been the biggest faller in 2011, losing 25 percent since the start of the year, as investors worried about a possible bailout of Italy, the euro-zone’s third biggest economy. London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index has shed 6.5 percent to around 5,500 points, with non-euro-zone member Britain shielded to an extent from the bloc’s crisis, even though the bloc remains its main trading partner.

Frankfurt has slumped 15 percent, Paris 18 percent and Madrid 13 percent. “Rather than providing a FTSE 100 prediction for end-2012, we are recommending the ‘bottom-up’ approach for investors,” said Richard Hunter, head of equities at Hargreaves Lansdown stockbrokers. — AFP

HAVANA: A year at the vanguard of Cuba’s economic revival has not brought Julio Cesar Hidalgo riches. The fledgling pizzeria owner has had his good months, but the restaurant he opened with his girlfriend often runs at a loss. At times, they can’t afford to buy basic ingredients.

Yet the wide-faced 31-year-old says he is grateful to be in business at all. A year ago, Hidalgo was concocting chalky pastries in a Spartan state-run bakery where employees and managers competed to pilfer eggs, flour and olive oil, the only way to make ends meet on salaries of just $15 a month. Today, he is his own boss, a taxpayer, employer and entrepreneur. “I think my expectations were met because in Cuba today I couldn’t have hoped for anything more,” he said one recent December afternoon as his girlfriend, Giselle de la Noval, served customers. “We survived.”

Hidalgo’s story is mirrored by many of the entrepreneurs The AP has followed since January in a yearlong effort to document Communist Cuba’s awkward embrace of free-market reforms. Their experiences - like the reforms themselves - cannot be described as an unmitigated success. Of the dozen fledgling business owners, including restaurateurs, a DVD salesman, two cafe owners, a seamstress, a manicurist and a gymnasium operator, three have closed down or begun working for someone else, and one has been harassed by her former state employers.

None could be considered successful by non-Cuban standards.

But despite their struggles, many tell of lives transformed, dreams realized, attitudes changed, and doors opened that had been closed for more than half a century. For Hidalgo, personal hardships have added to the challenges of starting a business on a Marxist island that has looked askance at entrepreneurship since Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution turned a one-time capitalist playground into a Soviet satellite.

After suffering through a slow, hot, summer when nobody wanted a pizza, Hidalgo had to close for two months to care for his grandmother, who has Alzheimer’s disease. Even while the business was shuttered, he and de la Noval had to make tax and social security payments, wiping out the few hundred dollars they had saved. They reopened in late November with so little money they can’t always afford to serve their house special. “We’ve had to start from scratch, but the only reason we didn’t lose the business altogether is because we were disciplined,” said de la Noval, 23. “Before we did anything, we always put away the money we needed to pay the state.”

A year that President Raul Castro described as make or break for the revolution is ending after a dramatic flurry of once-unthinkable reforms that are transforming economic and social life.

In October, the government legalized a used car market, and a month later extended it to real estate, sweeping away decades of prohibitions. On Tuesday, the state began extending bank credits to new business owners and those hoping to repair their homes. But one of the most powerful reforms was Castro’s decision last year to greatly expand the ranks of the self-employed, part of a somewhat unsuccessful effort to trim bloated statepayrolls.

Some 338,000 people have received licenses to start their own businesses, and the results can be seen and heard everywhere. On nearly every street in Havana and in thousands of hamlets and towns across Cuba, makeshift signs and bright parasols mark the entrances of new businesses, and the long-lost cries of curbside vendors hawking everything from fruit and vegetables to mops and household repair services fill the warm Caribbean air. “ The reforms have advanced, perhaps not quickly enough considering the problems that have

accumulated, but they have advanced, one after another, and there is no sign that they will stop or be rolled back,” said Omar Everleny Perez, the head of Havana University’s Center for Cuban Economic Studies. The government has declined to release any statistics on tax revenue or payroll savings from the reforms, except for an October report in the Communist

affecting her performance. She quit.

Finally, her former boss prohibited her from using the park for martial arts lessons, which are technically prohibited.

The government considers it potentially deadly training, even though most of Saldivar ’s students are not even teenagers yet.

“It’s called envy,” Saldivar said of her

since taking over from his ailing brother in 2006, pushing the leadership to get the island’s economic house in order rather than blaming external factors like the 49-year US travel and trade embargo.

But so far, the changes don’t go far enough to revive Cuba’s moribund economy. “These are positive steps but when you say them out loud, just think about it

HAVANA: Workers prepare food at the privately-run restaurant “El Parthenon,” owned by Javier Acosta who operates it from his home in Havana, Cuba. “This has been a hard year, a year of sacrifice,” Acosta said. — AP Party newspaper Granma that said tax revenue from new businesses had tripled.

Cuban leaders this month lowered their forecast for economic growth for 2011 to just 2.7 percent - from the 3 percent originally hoped for - an extremely poor showing for a developing country.

By contrast, China is forecast to grow by about 9 percent in 2011, Vietnam by between 6 and 6.5 percent and Brazil by 3.8 percent.

Private business owners have complained about the high taxes they must pay, the lack of raw materials and the fact they are suddenly surrounded by competitors. Because most entrepreneurs don’t have the capital to start innovative businesses, many have opened cafeterias, nail parlors, small roadside kiosks and the like. Anisia Cardenas, a seamstress, is among more than 100,000 Cubans who have held private business licenses since the 1990s, the island’s last experiment with the free market. In the latest reform, she decided to expand, paying $2 a day to rent the front porch space of a neighbor’s house to set up her sewing machine.

But business was slow - and competition from new license holders fierce.

Within a few months she had to retreat to her tiny apartment. By the summer, she began to wonder if she might have to close down, unable to meet the $19 monthly tax payments. By December, she had gone to work as an employee for another seamstress.

“Things are hard,” said Cardenas, who is trying to save money for her daughter’s 15th birthday party in January.

“Everything is very expensive.”

Others complain of rules that are often illogical, and state employers who still view entrepreneurship with suspicion. Maria Regla Saldivar is a black belt in taekwondo who got a license to give private lessons to neighborhood kids in a scruffy park across the street from her job. She began the year with dreams of persuading the government to let her turn an abandoned dry-cleaning warehouse into a private recreation center.

But the government refused to grant her a lease. Then her bosses at Cuba’s National Sports Institute docked her pay because they said her outside work was

boss. She insists she is not teaching taekwondo, slyly calling the discipline “Quimbumbia” - a word of her own invention. She has moved classes for her 14 students into the tiny covered patio in the back of the apartment she shares with her teenage daughter. But Saldivar says she has no regrets about how the year has unfolded. She says making business decisions for herself has increased her self-esteem, and she is thrilled that she’s managed to put away 2,000 pesos ($80), about four months salary at an average state job.

“You may laugh, but for me it’s a lot of money,” she said, running her coarse fingers over the stripes on a pair of sky-blue track suit bottoms she bought. “I’ve wanted these for so long and now I have them. I look like a proper trainer now, not someone out picking mangoes from a tree.” Rafael Romeu, the head of the Washington, D.C.-based Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy, said Castro has “changed the conversation”

HAVANA: Julio Cesar Hidalgo speaks on the phone at his newly opened Baldoquin’s Cafeteria, run from his home in Havana, Cuba. The fledgling owner has had his good months, but the restaurant he opened with his girlfriend often runs at a loss. At times, they can’t afford to buy basic ingredients. — AP

... You are allowed to have a cell phone, you are allowed to buy a home, you are allowed to buy a car or have a microenterprise. This is not the fall of the Berlin Wall. These are not major changes,” he said. “Cuba has tremendous difficulties.

This is a marathon, and they are taking baby steps.”

Romeu, who has worked around the world studying emerging economies, said that Cuba is moving much more deliberately than the Chinese did when they began opening their economy in the late 1970s, or the Vietnamese a decade later.

Cuba’s predicament is somewhat different, as well. Both China and Vietnam were deeply agrarian economies whose challenge was lifting tens of millions out of crushing poverty, Romeu said. Cuba is a more urban country with an aging population whose citizens have gotten used to benefits like health care and education, but who have grown accustomed to a system that doesn’t make them work for such middle class perks. “In Cuba, the challenge is sustaining the middle class, not creating one,” Romeu said. Still, some reforms seem to be moving along more quickly than many analysts had hoped.

Business is booming at a street corner long known as the center of Havana’s informal real estate market. Only now, the handwritten listings on trees openly advertise legal home sales, instead of disguising them as property “swaps.”

Mendez Rodriguez, an unofficial real estate broker, said the buying and selling is aboveboard, controlled by a relatively untangled bureaucracy.

“Everything is by the law now,” said Rodriguez, even if his profession is not officially licensed. He and other so-called facilitators work for “gifts” left to the discretion of their clients, he said. Rumors that real estate brokers would be the latest addition to the list of 181 licensed entrepreneurial activities have not come to pass, but there’s still hope the profession will be added in 2012. Rodriguez said the opening seems to have led to a steep increase in prices, with a home worth $20,000 a couple of months ago going for 50 percent more today.

That’s the kind of price jump many of the new struggling business owners say they could use. — Reuters

Occupy Wall Street artifacts become highly collectible NEW YORK: Occupy Wall Street may still be working to shake the notion it represents a passing outburst of rage, but some establishment institutions have already decided the movement’s artifacts are worthy of historic preservation.

More than a half-dozen major museums and organizations from the Smithsonian Institution to the New-York Historical Society have been avidly collecting materials produced by the Occupy movement.

Staffers have been sent to occupied parks to rummage for buttons, signs, posters and documents.

Websites and tweets have been archived for digital eternity. And museums have approached individual protesters directly to obtain posters and other ephemera.

The Museum of the City of New York is planning an exhibition on Occupy for next month.

“Occupy is sexy,” said Ben

Alexander, who is head of special collections and archives at Queens College in New York, which has been collecting Occupy materials. “It sounds hip. A lot of people want to be associated with it.” To keep estab-

lished institutions from shaping the movement’s short history, protesters have formed their own archive group, stashing away hundreds of cardboard signs, posters, fliers, buttons, periodicals, documents and

NEW YORK: Occupy Wall Street activists display placards as they participate in the demonstration on the Wall Street. — AP

banners in temporary storage while they seek a permanent home for the materials.

“We want to make sure we collect it from our perspective so that it can be represented as best as possible,” said Amy Roberts, a library and information studies graduate student at Queens College who helped create the archives working group.

The archives group has been approached by institutions seeking to borrow or acquire Occupy materials. Roberts said they were discussing donating the entire collection to the Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives at New York University. Tamiment declined to comment.

A handful of protesters began camping out in September in a lower Manhattan plaza called Zuccotti Park, outraged at Wall Street excess and income inequality; they were soon joined by others who set up

tents and promised to occupy “all day, all night.” Similar camps sprouted in dozens of cities nationwide and around the world. Many were forcibly cleared.

Much of the frenzied collection by institutions began in the early weeks of the protests. In part, they were seeking to collect and preserve as insurance against the possibility history might be lost - not an unusual stance by archivists.

What appears to be different is the level of interest from mainstream institutions across a wide geographic spectrum and the new digital-only ventures that have sprung up to preserve the movement’s online history.

The lavish attention poured on the liberal-leaning movement has not gone unnoticed by conservatives.

Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog group, blogged sarcastically under its “Corruption Chronicles” about the choice by the Smithsonian

to document Occupy. “It looks like it’s taxpayer-funded hoarding, as opposed to rigorous historical collecting,” said Tom Fitton, president of the organization. The Smithsonian said its American history collection also now includes materials related to the massive rally by the limited government, anti-tax tea party movement against health care reform in March 2010 and materials from the American Conservative Union’s Washington, DC, conference in February. The Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media at George Mason University launched OccupyArchive.org in mid-October on a hunch that it could become historically important.

So far, it has about 2,500 items in its online database, including compressed files of entire Occupy websites from around the country and hundreds of images scraped from photo-sharing site Flickr. — AP

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BUSINESS

Alghanim Industries launches Xerox ColorQube 9300 Series Innovations in printer technology portfolio KUWAIT: In line with its ongoing commitment to provide affordable and smart breakthrough technologies in Kuwait, the Xerox Division of Alghanim Industries announced the launch of new innovations in its portfolio of printer technologies - Xerox ColorQube 9300 Series and Mobile Print Solutions.

Alghanim Industries senior executives, including Ahmad Hammoud, Vice President Engineered Products and Ayman Mattar, General Manager - Xerox Division, alongside Penny Holmes, Xerox MEA Product Manager, made the announce-

ment and offered a preview to over 110 key customers and decision makers from across industries, at the recently held event “INNOV8 IN Q8” on December 14 at the Missoni Hotel.

The ColorQube 9300 Series is feature-rich and above all else, environment friendly innovation.

Thanks to its unique technology called “Solid Ink”, organizations can copy, print, scan and fax at speeds up to 85 page/min and benefit from the prospect to cut color print costs by half, using the smart Hybrid Color Pricing Plans available with the ColorQube 9300 Series. It is also ENERGY

STAR qualified and generates up to 90 percent less waste, 9% less total energy and 10% less greenhouse gasses comparing with other laser devices. Ayman Mattar, GM - Alghanim Industries, Xerox Division, speaking on this latest offering, said, “Alghanim Industries’ Xerox Division is geared to provide the Kuwaiti market with innovation, service and to give our customers the freedom to focus on what matters most to their real business.”

Today, businesses are more mobilize than ever. Xerox Mobile Print Solution addresses this growing demand and makes

printing possible from any emailenabled device such as smartphones and tablets, as simple as 1-2-3: E-mail it, Confirm it, Print it.

Xerox mobile print solution runs on a company’s private server to maintain full compliance with the existing security infrastructure, thus offering users better flexibility and more freedom to focus on their business.

The Xerox Division at Alghanim Industries is always looking for means to improve its client experiences, and actively support local businesses through innovative and reliable products in printing solutions and beyond.

Zambia’s poor still waiting for change after Sata’s 90 days LUSAKA: Zambia’s new President Michael Sata promised to transform the lives of the poor in 90 days, but while he axed directors and increased mining taxes, people say life went on without much change.

The long-time opposition leader was elected September 20 to the highest office of the world’s second copper producer, promising to

after it started as a breakaway party of the MMD. But many Zambians, especially the youth, expected its change from opposition to ruling party to bring more prosperity, according to political analyst Obby Chibuluma.

“There was more politicking on their part rather than what is realistic. They tried to play

Zambia’s new President Michael Sata put money back in the pockets of an electorate that hasn’t enjoyed the fruits of the mineral wealth. But as Sata’s first three months in office ended, street vendor Harry Phiri was disillusioned.

“Big man, there is nothing that has changed. More money in the pocket? What more money in the pocket? I am worse than I was,” the sweating 30-year-old said as he lugged a backpack of CDs through the streets of the capital Lusaka.

Over half the impoverished southern African country’s 13 million people are under 20 years old and earn less than a dollar a day.

Sata’s Patriotic Front (PF) took office ten years

to the major expectations of the Zambians by trying to make it look that they would deliver on all those promises when they cannot,” he tells AFP. Zambians who expected less poverty, more jobs and schools for their kids will be disappointed, he adds. But Sata has not been idle either.

The 74-year-old president has started an overhaul of the mining sector, sparking concern among investors-especially the Chinese.

Mining licenses have been suspended and the mining tax doubled to 6.0 percent to fund state spending on infrastructure and health in 2012.

Al Tijari announces winners of Najma Account draw winners KUWAIT: Commercial Bank of Kuwait held the Al-Najma Account draw on December 25, 2011. The draw was held under the supervision of the Ministry of Commerce & Industry represented by Saqer Al Manaei.

The winners of the Al Najma daily draw are:Abdullah Abdullateef Abdulhussain Al Foudari — KD 7000 Nader Ayoub Ateyyah Ayoub— KD 7000 Dalal Adnan Mohammed Al-Asy — KD 7000 Saad Radhi Qasid Salem — KD 7000 Ishraf Ali Ahmad Hussain — KD 7000 The Commercial Bank of Kuwait announces the biggest daily draw in Kuwait with the launch of the new Najma account. Customers of the bank can now enjoy a KD 7,000 daily prize which is the highest in the country and another 4 mega prizes during the year

worth KD 100,000 each on different occasions: The National Day, Eid Al Fitr, Eid Al Adha and on the 19th of June which is the date of the bank’s establishment.

With a minimum balance of KD 500, customers will be eligible for the daily draw provided that the money is in the account one week prior to the daily draw or 2 months prior to the mega draw. In addition, for each KD 25 a customer can get one chance for winning instead of KD 50.

Commercial Bank of Kuwait takes this opportunity to congratulate all lucky winners and also extends appreciation to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry for their effective supervision of the draws which were conducted in an orderly and organized manner.

Fuel prices have fallen three percent and taxes were lowered for salaried Zambians, but few people reap the benefits in a country where only 500,000 have jobs in the formal sector.

Sata also got rid of officials seen to be too loyal to former president Rupiah Banda, whose Movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD) gave up power peacefully after 20 years in government.

Zambia has a new police chief, central bank governor, and anti-corruption directorgeneral. The head of the national electricity company Zesco got the chop, as well as the editors of two daily newspapers with a state interest, the Times of Zambia and Zambia Daily Mail.

The populist leader reversed the sale of privately-owned Finance Bank to First Rand of South Africa. The $5.4-million (4.1-millioneuro) deal raised public outcry when it was pushed through a few days before the presidential elections.

The government is also in the process of reversing the sale of state-run telecommunications company Zamtel to LAP Green of Libya.

Now in opposition, the MMD has branded Sata’s first 90 days a “disaster”. “There is no rule of law and bad governance is the order of the day,” MMD chairman for Legal Affairs George Kunda told a news conference on Thursday.

“The so-called fight against corruption being undertaken by the PF government is selective and targeted at former leaders, especially those who served in the government of Banda. They are being vilified as corrupt and yet some of the leaders who served the same government but have joined PF are safe and exempted from the so-called investigations,” he said.

But Vice President Guy Scott is little bothered by the criticism. “They failed completely in 20 years and those guys are jokers. They can never praise the PF, they want to come back to power. The MMD are in disarray”, Scott told AFP. “We are conducting the fight against corruption professionally.” —AFP

IDB in talks to sell 36% of Clal Industries JERUSALEM: IDB Development Corp, one of Israel’s largest conglomerates, said yesterday it was in talks to sell a controlling stake in its Clal Industries unit to the Livnat family.

IDB owns 60.5 percent of Clal, whose holdings include the Nesher cement company, Hadera Paper, retailer Golf & Co, Clal Energy and Clal Biotech.

The Livnat family is part of the group that bought a controlling interest in IDB in 2003. Zvika Livnat is Clal Industries’ co-CEO. IDB, which values the whole of Clal Industries at 3.8 billion shekels ($1 billion), is seeking to sell a 36 percent stake, it said in a statement to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. That would be a 46 percent premium to a market value of 2.6 billion shekels before trade opened yesterday. IDB, which would retain a 24 percent stake, expects to post a capital gain of about 1 billion shekels and receive cash of 1.4 billion should the deal go through. The transaction still requires a number of regulatory and other approvals.

Shares of IDB’s parent company, IDB Holding, were up 7.4 percent in afternoon trading, while Clal’s shares were 7.1 percent higher. IDB noted that its books list its holdings in Clal at 1.29 billion shekels.

The company did not specify why it sought to sell its stake in Clal but IDB has said in the past it wishes to reduce its holdings in Israel while investing more abroad.

Its unit Koor Industries owns 2.31 percent of Credit Suisse although it has taken a huge hit from its investment this year. In the third quarter, Koor lost nearly 1.4 billion shekels related to Credit Suisse. —Reuters

Third group of 25 winners at BEST Electronics draw receives their prizes KUWAIT: Under the supervision of Ministry of Commerce, Kuwait Consumer Protection department and in the presence of many customers, BEST Electronics conducted their third raffle draw event whereby 100 customers would win gift vouchers worth KD 100 each and the grand prize of KD 1000 will be awarded to the first prize winner.

The customers entered the Raffle Draw with coupons collected for every KD 50 of purchases during the campaign.

Earlier, 50 winners collected their prizes in last two weeks and the third group of 25 winners was announced this week who took home valuable gift vouchers from Best Electronics.

The third draw was conducted at the BEST Electronics Showroom in Kuwait, Panasonic Tower.

The names of the winners with their coupon numbers:

Sirjoe Arthuru - 564, Sahar Abdullah 1127, Ohmed Bakr - 19, Iqbal Ahmed 1796, Radgie - 495, Abeer Mohamed 1517, Abdulrahman - 1135, Ashwaq 178, Saad Al-Gharib -1365, Zaldy - 368, Sanaa -1367, Mosbah Zakaria - 386, Abo Baker Ahmed - 1648, Naser Al Motery 1792, Mohammed Haneefa - 1468, Ahmed Abd Al Latif -690, Nadja - 1275, Abd Al Aziz Mohamed -1869, Bassam Hisham - 1257, Shojaa Saad - 1073, Bdul Majid - 1541, Salem - 191, Mohamed Hamdan - 256, Afaf -262, Hussain Ahmed - 1699.

The chances of winning are still open as there are 25 more of such prizes to be collected on the 4th draw including the grand prize of KD 1000 gift voucher which all customers are eligible for.

The more the purchase value, the higher will be the chances of winning in the upcoming draws.

Gulf Bank to participate in Industries and Construction 1st Exhibition KUWAIT: Gulf Bank announced yesterday that it will participate in the Industries and Construction 1st Exhibition, which is scheduled to take place from 24-27 January 2012, at the Regency Hotel, Kuwait.

The Industries and Construction 1st Exhibition gathers companies from the private and government sectors to showcase their latest products. The exhibition is an ideal opportunity for visitors from Kuwait and abroad to meet the exhibitors of Kuwait’s buildings industry.

The Bank’s participation is in line with its commitment towards its customers to offer a wide range of individually tailored services and to support events that enhance local economic

development.

Jassem Al-Awadhi, Assistant General Manager - Consumer Banking Group at Gulf Bank said: “We are very excited to be part of this important exhibition. As a leading financial institution, we believe it is important for the Bank to have a presence at major exhibitions such as this one, that showcases Kuwait’s immense commercial expertise. We welcome everyone to visit the Gulf Bank stand at the exhibition and see the various services and products we offer, especially to those interested in real estate and construction based projects.” Gulf Bank will continue to participate in key financial conferences that focus on boosting the national economy.

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2011

TECHNOLOGY

4 personal finance technology trends for 2012 NEW YORK: If you’re one of the holdouts still paying bills with checks, tracking your accounts with pen and paper or clipping coupons from the newspaper, 2012 could be the year you take the digital plunge. A host of budding personal finance services and applications are poised to go mainstream in the new year, and together, they will likely have a big impact on the way Americans bank, shop, and track their finances. Some of the services are web-based, but many take advantage of the proliferation of smartphones, which are now carried by one-third of US adults - with more likely to join that crowd in the next few days after receiving the gadgets as holiday gifts. Whether online or mobile, here are some personal finance technologies to watch in 2012: * Mobile money The September launch of Google Wallet was just one high-profile move toward the use of smartphones for payments, replacing credit or debit cards.

The technology allows users to wave their phones in front of payment terminals and have transactions deducted from linked bank accounts or credit cards. Expect more options for electronic payments from mobile service providers and card networks next year, and wider adoption of the terminals by retailers, mass transit systems and more.

Another innovation that is already being heavily promoted is person-to-person payments. American Express Co, MasterCard Inc, Visa Inc and PayPal all offer ways for their customers to send and receive money using links to various accounts and cards. As the TV commercials depict, if this technology takes off

there will be no more fumbling for cash when it’s time to split the check at a restaurant, and sending money across town or across borders will be easier, faster and less expensive. * Non-bank money management Mint.com, the popular personal finance site, was only the beginning. A raft of new money management tools are now available that can help users

keep track of bills, investments and other aspects of their financial lives. Among the standouts is Manilla.com, which not only pulls together household bills and financial accounts, but also helps users keep track of details like travel rewards points and magazine subscriptions.

The service provides reminders for when bills are due and has features that make it easy to pay bills or set up auto payments. Since the company’s goal is to

help its customers eliminate paper clutter, there’s even a way to store electronic account statements. And it has a smartphone app for accessing all these functions on the go.

Other non-bank options include Pageonce, an app that automatically tracks bills and enables users to make payments on their phone; savvymoney.com, a site that offers debtmanagement help; and Betterment.com, a site designed to simplify investing. * Targeted deals The combination of geo-location technology that can track your movements when you’re carrying your smartphone, and QR codes, those weird squares appearing more and more often in advertising, is enabling companies to offer personalized discounts and on-thespot deals to customers willing to opt into their programs.

Mall shoppers have already started getting texts and emails designed to lure them into certain stores, and the technology can also be used to encourage customers to enter contests, demonstrate new apps or products and even contact customer service.

This undated image provided by Hennessy, shows a Hennessy KAWS Custom QR Code. — AP

* Social commerce Javelin Strategy & Research, a financial services research firm, is using this term to identify the trend toward the combination of commerce and social networking on sites like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. While these sites are moving toward making it easier to shop without navigating toward a link, that’s just one step toward social commerce. The concept of financial social networking is also being expanded by

companies like Weemba.com, whose site allows individuals to search for a loan by posting nontraditional details like a description of the need for the money debt consolidation, a mortgage refinance, or a kitchen makeover complete with the designer’s plans, for instance.

The details posted add depth to the usual credit score and financial information that banks and other funders may review, and the site opens the lending request to a wider audience.

Other examples of the use or concept of social networking include Kickstarter.com, where creative types can seek funding for their artistic endeavors and those willing to provide seed money can choose to provide all or part of the needed funds to get the project off the ground.

Saveup.com is a game aimed at helping individuals pay down debt and build savings, and Bundle.com uses data tracking and spending information to produce lists of popular restaurants and stores in selected cities, helping users find the right spot at the right price.

Banks are also experimenting with ways to make use of social networking to interact with customers, with some success. Even Bank of America Corp, a recurring target for gripes large and small about the financial system this year, has nearly 365,000 “likes” on its official Facebook page, which it uses for efforts like supporting community causes and advertising opportunities like its Student Leader program, which offers paid internships to high schoolers who work at charitable organizations. Customers can expect more on these fronts from startups and big financial institutions in the next 12 months. — AP

Gadgets

My 2011 Gadget of the Year pick and more

The Motorola HX550 Bluetooth headset is simple to work; just pair it with your device and youíre ready to go.

CrystalTalk dual-mic noise cancellation technology is behind much of the clarity and keeps away any interfering background noise. — MCT photos

Taking a full 360-degree video is simple with the Kogeto Dot camera attachment for iPhones. Using it is as simple as downloading the free Locker app from the iTunes store and then snapping the camera onto any iPhone 4/4S.

By Gregg Ellman he ballots are in and my 2011 gadget of the year is the Newer Technology Power2U wall outlet from Other World Computing. I’ll get to the product in a second, but let me first say this year’s voting took a strange twist: the Power2U was a late entry, arriving on my desk last week and causing the judges to re-vote.

You might wonder who judges and I’m happy to say it starts and ends with me: one vote, no tie-breakers and no appealing the judge’s decision. As for the winner, every household should have several of these since our lives revolve around charging USB electronic gadgets.

The Power2U outlets have a pair of standard wall outlets but also have a pair of USB ports to plug in USB cables (not included) for directly charging an iPad, MP3 player, digital camera, GPS unit or just about any other iDevice.

This includes USB 3.0, 2.0 and older 1.1 devices needing a charge. All four plugs can be used simultaneously.

The plug is UL approved, meeting the official requirements for home use. It’s built with Smart Power technology, which allows it to output the correct amount of power for each specific device. Each of the USB ports has springloaded safety covers to keep the USB ports closed when not in use.

Newer Technology also sent along a few other gadgets

T

The app enhanced iHome iA91 stereo clock Radio has all the features you would expect from the device including: waking you to tunes of your choice from your iPhone or iPod, which is charged on the top sided dock.

that impressed me, including the NuTouch Gloves. The gloves are made of soft cotton containing a special conductive fiber woven into all 10 finger tips to keep touch screens responsive in the cold. Also, to help the world of touch screens is the NewerTech NuScribe 2-in-1 silver touch screen stylus and pen. It’s pretty simple, with a soft rubber tip on one end to work the screen and a ball point pen on the other.

Details: www.macsales.com Power2U $29.99, gloves $11.99 (small, medium, large or XL) and the pen is $10.

1- Clock radio includes apps to control what you wake up to The app enhanced iHome iA91 stereo clock Radio has been sitting in my office for a few months, but I finally got it opened this week and it’s no surprise to find it continues the endless line of great innovative products from iHome Audio. All the features you would expect from the device are included: waking you to tunes of your choice from your iPhone or iPod, which is charged on the top sided dock. The free apps include iHome+Radio and iHome+Sleep to control what you listen to and what you wake to.

With the radio app, you have access to stream an endless number of radio station choices from anywhere, while the sleep app gives you the access to customize alarm

Newer Technology’s NuTouch Gloves.

presets along with instant weather for your area. A wireless remote is included to control music or video choices from your device and setting the time is simple with the Time-Sync button to synchronize the iA91 with an iPhone.

The sound is great, the buttons are easy to access in addition to looking great on your nightstand. Old school types will enjoy it since it has an AM/FM stereo inside with 12 programmable presets.

Details: ww.ihomeaudio.com $68.99 2- 360-degree video easy with iPhone add-on Taking a full 360-degree video was almost unheard of a few years ago for the average person but now it’s simple with the Kogeto Dot camera attachment for iPhones.

Using it is as simple as downloading the free Locker app from the iTunes store and then snapping the camera onto any iPhone 4/4S. The camera is made with a catadioptric optical system From there shooting 360-degree panoramic video is simple, without the need of stitching frames together. Just turn the app on, hit the record button while holding your phone sideways with the camera upward.

After the video is complete and you have completed a simple registration on the Kogeto website you can email your video or send it to Facebook and Twitter. It’s also stored on the Kogeto website for viewing. The video quality isn’t going impress Hollywood but it’s definitely a fun

The Power2U outlets have a pair of standard wall outlets but also have a pair of USB ports to plug in USB cables (not included) for directly charging an iPad, MP3 player, digital camera, GPS unit or just about any other iDevice.

accessory to have.

Details: www.kogeto.com $79 3- Motorola headset easy to use and crystal clear Like every other Bluetooth hands-free headset, the Motorola HX550 is built to answer calls with both ends of the conversation heard crystal clear. After using it for a few days I can confirm it does all that very well. Right out of the box the headset is simple to work; just pair it with your device and you’re ready to go.

I chose to wear the HX550 without the earhook and it wore in comfort, without falling out. Often when I’m testing headsets I ask the person on the other end the world famous Verizon question, “Can you hear me now?” With this test I didn’t ask the question once and I’m happy to report not one caller questioned the clarity of my call.

CrystalTalk dual-mic noise cancellation technology is behind much of the clarity and keeps away any interfering background noise. The bottom line is that this headset is a great deal without lots of the bells and whistles associated with many other similar headsets. There are many other features, including dictating texts hands-free or having your texts read to you along with an extended range of 300 feet to walk away from your mobile phone, while still maintaining a connection.

Details: www.motorola.com $59.99. —MCT

Dance games shimmy to success

CALIFORNIA: Lisa Malambri gets a workout as she dances along with Just Dance 3 video game by Ubisoft at her home.

LOS ANGELES: This year, before the pumpkin pie and turkey gravy even hit the Thanksgiving table, Reili Waniss got a head start on her perennial New Year’s resolution to lose weight and get fit. She did it with a video game called “Zumba Fitness 2,” which she bought this summer and began playing at home while her twin toddlers napped. She lost 32 pounds in 4 months, a third of the way to shedding the 100 pounds she gained while pregnant.

“It’s crazy, but I’ve totally fallen in love with this game,” said the 31-year-old lab technician from Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif. “It makes me happy.” Dancing games have steadily marched up the charts of top-selling games, in some months outdoing big-budget bestsellers such as “Madden NFL 12” and “Gears of War 3.”

In October, sales of dancing titles such as “Just Dance 3,” “Everybody Dance,” “Dance Central” and the first installment of “Zumba” leaped 135 percent over October 2010, according to NPD Group Inc., a market research firm.

Overall game sales rose only 3 percent over the same period. Total sales for the year are expected to stay flat, at best. The dancing genre-like the exercise craze that drove videocassette sales in the 1980s-branched out of the popularity of fitness games beginning in

2008 with Nintendo Co.’s “Wii Fit,” which reintroduced the aerobic step platform in hightech fashion to millions of living rooms around the world.

The fitness game boom has since given way to dancing games, starting in November 2009 with “Dance Central,” a title developed by Harmonix and published by MTV Network.

Played on Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox 360, the game uses the console’s Kinect motion-sensing camera to track players’ body movements, scoring them on how accurately they mimic the dance routine.

Until recently, game reviewers and analysts dismissed dancing games as a novelty with little staying power, predicting they would last no longer than music games like Guitar Hero, which debuted to great acclaim in 2006 and within a few seasons was forgotten.

“I thought it would die after the first year, because it felt like a fad to me,” said Michael Pachter, an analyst with Wedbush Securities.

“But it’s been two years now, and I’ve been wrong the whole time.” US sales of dancing titles rose 326 percent during the 12 months that ended Oct. 31, compared with the prior year, making it the fifth-largest video game genre-after shooter, action, adventure and role-playing games-according to NPD. Unlike those other game categories, the dance game genre appeals mainly to younger female players, pulling in a demographic that hasn’t always played video games. Nearly 8 out of every 10 players of dance games are female, according to NPD. For Lisa Malambri, a 27-year-old fashion model who lives in Valley Village, Calif., playing “Just Dance 3” every morning since she got the game a month ago has toned up her muscles.

Before that, she played “Dance Central” for months. —MCT

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2011

H E A LT H & S C I E NC E

European carbon market suffers in annus horribilis ETS incentives fall short of expectations

Marvin Beck, 79, and his wife, Anne, hold the plans for a new home on the property where they plan to rebuild, in Bastrop, Texas. The Becks lost their home to a Labor Day weekend wildfire.— AP

Uncertainty over rebuilding after Texas wildfires BASTROP, Texas: Concrete foundations that have been cleared of rubble sit eerily empty amid charred remains of once majestic loblolly pines. Driveways, some still complete with patio furniture and basketball hoops, snake their way to nothing but a slab of stone.

More than three months after record-setting wildfires roared through this otherwise charming corner of central Texas, many of the hardest-hit areas stand largely abandoned by homeowners who have moved elsewhere.

Others left homeless are starting to rebuild bigger and better houses - or vow to do so soon - even as the memories of the raging blazes remain fresh.

“I get to kind of build my dream house, I just haven’t been in the spirit yet,” said Denise Rodgers, a hospice chaplain. She was among an estimated 5,000 people displaced by the flames that killed two people, destroyed 1,673 homes and charred 33,000 acres - an area more than twice the size of Manhattan - in and around Bastrop, about 30 miles southeast of Austin. Some parts of town are in the midst of a rebuilding boom, with streets crammed with trucks hauling in lumber or earthmoving equipment and carting away debris. Even ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” show got in on the action, taking a week to build a 2,500-square-foot home for a volunteer firewoman and her family who lost their bungalow.

But other areas have made little recovery. No one knows for sure how many residents have moved away already or still could. “Certainly there are going to be a lot of people leaving,” Bastrop Mayor Terry Orr said. “But we certainly want to encourage people to rebuild.”

The city of Bastrop and surrounding county of the same name are home to 80,000 people, Orr said, meaning about 7 percent of residents lost homes. In the days after the wildfires, some displaced families snapped up vacant homes for sale in the area. Others have moved in with friends or relatives, or rented homes while they decide what to do permanently.

Rodgers is living in a vacant home lent by a friend with only some rented basic furniture: “I have stuff only for one drawer.” She said her New Year’s resolution is getting her new home built - and that she may put a pool and garden where her original house stood and build on an adjacent lot. “In the beginning, I was so horrified, I couldn’t think of living there,” Rodgers said of her home, which was reduced to ash and clumps of melted belongings. “But you get used to seeing certain things and you change ideas.”

Returning after the fire, she remembers, “I sat in the driveway and wailed. There was nothing that I could see and recognize.” A Buddha statue, a cross, an angel Christmas ornament missing only a broken wing and a Hindu goddess statue survived the flames.

“Is it uncanny that an eclectic, non-denominational hospice chaplain would find only spiritual icons in the debris? I think not,” Rodgers said. “These were all divine signs that all would be OK.” Some have already begun building improved homes, fitted with energy-efficient technology and other upgrades. Marvin Beck and his wife Anne spent two years beginning in 1992 building their home largely by hand.

The fire destroyed it, so the 79-year-old architect drew up new plans and bought a new plot 12 miles from the old one. Construction will begin in January - though this time the couple is letting professional builders handle it. “We had hoped the last house would be our last house,” Beck said with a wry chuckle. “Hopefully this one will be.” The Becks said they had far too many friends in Bastrop to think of leaving. But they also conceded that going back to the same spot where their home once stood was too painful.

“We couldn’t digest that,” Beck said. Insured losses from the fire should reach $325 million, according to the Insurance Council of Texas, making it the costliest blaze in state history. About 3,080 residents have applied for Federal Emergency Management Agency assistance, said spokesman Ray Perez, and the agency has paid out close to $9.4 million in housing and other relief funds. FEMA provided trailers to 52 displaced families across Bastrop County. Eric and Cyndi Poe lost everything and wanted to stay but were undecided about rebuilding on their same lot - until the builder who constructed their original home told them he could do it again in record time. The couple moved into a new home the week before Thanksgiving, barely 10 weeks after the fire. “It didn’t seem possible,” Cyndi said. “That’s how lucky we’ve been.” Except for charred trees in the yard, it’s now hard to tell the fire even hit the Poe’s house. Their new house is virtually identical to the old one, except the Poes asked for a larger garage and said they could do without a bathtub in the master bathroom. And, of course, their possessions are gone. Cyndi said that on Thanksgiving, she instinctively opened a cabinet expecting to see a family heirloom.

“I reached up to get the turkey platter we’ve used all of my life and it wasn’t there, and I had a little moment where I was sad,” she said. The Poes live in Tahitian Village, a sprawling subdivision where the fires claimed 282 homes.

Some 240 owners whose homes were destroyed have sought refunds for their water deposits - meaning they won’t rebuild.

Still, many leaving the subdivision could move elsewhere in and around Bastrop. Among them is Victor Gonzalez, a 59-year-old attorney who has yet to clear all the rubble of his Tahitian Village home because there’s still hope sifting could turn up spared valuables. The fire leveled dozens of pines and melted a BMW in the driveway.

Only the swimming pool survived. “We had a very secluded portion of heaven,” Gonzalez said.

“Now we’ve got a moonscape.” Neighbors on either side of him lost their homes and won’t rebuild. Gonzalez is mulling a move to another part of the subdivision.

“Tahitian will be back,” he said. “It’s just not going to look the same.” — AP

PARIS: Europe’s market in carbon emissions is hoping for outside help after a year in which prices slumped to record lows, savaging claims that trading in CO2 brakes the rise of dangerous greenhouse gases.

Launched in 2005 and accounting for 97 percent of global carbon commerce, the European Union’s Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) is the big daddy of initiatives which harness the power of the market against carbon dioxide.

Under it, some 12,000 plants have been given CO2 quotas. If firms get below their ceiling they can sell the surplus on the ETS. If they are above it, they can meet their quota by buying what they need in the marketplace. But this carbon-cleanup incentive is falling short of what it was touted to be. After fluctuating in the past few years between 15 and 25 euros ($19.5 and $32.5) per ton of CO2, carbon crashed in 2011. Last week, it was changing hands at 6.5 euros (8.45 dollars) a ton, the lowest on record. “This market was put together to give a price signal that would spur investment in decarbonizing the economy,” says Pierre Ducret, head of CDC Climat, a subsidiary in climate market services owned by the French state bank Caisse des Depots.

“But prices today are so low that this tool is just not effective.” Rock-bottom prices for carbon mean that power companies, cement makers and other big emitters see little need to invest long-term in energy efficiency or switch out of fossil fuels.

“Fair prices on CO2 along with price stability over time are imperative for industry to continue along the path to a green growth economy,” says Andres Eldrup, chief executive of DONG Energy, a green-energy firm based in Denmark. The cause of the

slump is twofold, say market watchers. One is rooted in the financial crisis in 2008, which spurred Europe’s economic downturn. Less demand means less activity and less carbon emitted, as well as a softer price for coal, oil and gas.

But another lies in the way the ETS has been managed. The EU has been criticized for allocating quotas that are too generous

climate negotiations.

Sanjeev Kumar, based in Brussels with the green campaign group E3G, says the flood of unneeded trading allowances, combined with carbon credits earned under the UN’s clean development mechanism (CDM), amount to a whopping 2.2 billion tons. “It’s really, really big. That’s the source of the problem,” he said.

for emitters and failing to give a steer on its plans beyond 2020, said Raphael Trotignon, a researcher at the Paris-Dauphine University.

Europe has unilaterally pledged to reduce its annual greenhouse-gas emissions by 20 percent by 2020 compared to 1990, the benchmark year used in the UN

“The first thing we have to do is to intervene on the market. If it carries on like this, by very early 2012 the price could drop to as low as one or two euros, which would render it almost pointless.” What can be done to shore up the carbon price?

CDC Climat argues for a floor of 17 euros per ton from 2013 for quotas that will be

sold by states.

Another possibility would be for the EU to deepen its unilateral cut, from 20 percent to 30 percent, in 2020 emissions compared to 1990. But right now this is an almost impossible “ask” at a time of austerity in Europe and when other major carbon emitters-China, the United States and India-are perceived as doing far less.

Some voices are driving for a cut in allowances for the next trading phase, running from 2013-2020.

The idea was backed last week by the European Parliament’s environment committee and has the support of the EU Corporate Leaders Group, a panel launched by the Prince of Wales to lobby for green policymaking. “We need an immediate and meaningful recalibration of the ETS to drive up the price of CO2,” said Graeme Sweeney, an executive vice president at Shell. “This action will provide a strong CO2 price signal that business can respond to.” What happens to Europe’s troubled child next year will be closely scrutinized by other countries which have launched, or plan to launch, their own ETS. Australia is to set up its own ETS from 2015 and talks are underway for hooking this up with an existing market in neighboring New Zealand.

In the United States, 10 East Coast states launched a cap-and-trade system last year that covers the power sector and California in September approved a cap-and-trade market from 2012. China is working on pilot schemes in carbon trade while South Korea is pursuing a “cap without trade” initiative involving some 450 companies from next year in preparation for a full ETS from 2015. — AFP

US states weigh in on cigarette label suit RICHMOND, Virginia: Several states and US territories are weighing in on a lawsuit over proposed graphic cigarette warning labels that include a sewn-up corpse of a smoker and a picture of diseased lungs. The 24 attorneys general filed a friend of the court brief on Friday in the US court of Appeals in Washington in suppor t of the Food and Drug Administration’s challenge of a lower

court ruling in the case.

Last month, a US District Court judge granted a request by some of the largest US tobacco companies to block the labels while deciding whether they violate their free speech rights. The judge ruled that it is likely the cigarette makers would succeed in a lawsuit to block the requirement that the labels be placed on cigarette packs next year. —AP

NC women face charges after newborn’s death Anti-whaling activists use drone to track Japan fleet SYDNEY: Anti-whaling activists said they had intercepted the Japanese harpoon fleet far north of Antarctic waters yesterday with the help of a military-style drone.

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society spokesman Paul Watson said the unmanned long-range drone, launched from the anti-whaling ship the Steve Irwin, had located the Japanese fleet and relayed the coordinates back to the activists.

Watson said Sea Shepherd, a militant activist group which annually shadows and harasses the Japanese whalers, had caught up with the fleet at 37 degrees south, 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometres) above Antarctic waters. No whales had been killed so far, he added. “This is going to be a long hard pursuit from here to the coast of Antarctica,” said captain Watson. “But thanks to these drones, we now have an advantage we have never had before-eyes in the sky.”

Though three Japanese security vessels were now tailing the Steve Irwin to prevent it from following the Nisshin Maru factory ship, Watson said the activists had the upper hand with their two drones, donated by a US port security firm.

“We can cover hundreds of miles with these drones and they have proven to be valuable assets for this campaign,” he said.

While the Steve Irwin was being tailed by

the harpooners’ security detail Watson said Sea Shepherd’s other vessels the Bob Barker and Brigitte Bardot-which can travel faster than the whalers-were free to chase the Japanese south.

Commercial whaling is banned under an international treaty but Japan has since 1987 used a loophole to carry out “lethal research” in the name of science-a practice condemned by environmentalists and antiwhaling nations. Australia, New Zealand, the United States and the Netherlands issued a joint statement earlier this month expressing their “disappointment” at the annual hunt and warning against violent encounters. Confrontations with the increasingly sophisticated Sea Shepherd group have escalated in recent years, with one clash sinking an activist powerboat and a protester arrested for boarding a Japanese ship. Sea Shepherd harassment saw the Japanese cut their hunt short last season, and they are now suing the activists in Washington seeking an injunction against what they say is a “life-threatening” campaign. Japan’s coast guard has deployed an unspecified number of vessels to protect the whaling ships, and Tokyo has confirmed it will use some of the public funds earmarked for tsunami reconstruction to boost security for the hunt. — AFP

CHARLOTTE: Two women have been charged with practicing midwifery without a license in North Carolina after a newborn died following an underwater home birth. Charlotte police arrested 43year-old Mary Barhite and 45-year-old Jacqueline Proffit on Friday. Practicing midwifery without a license is a misdemeanor charge. Barhite and Profitt were both released on bond. It couldn’t be immediately determined on Saturday if

either has a lawyer.

In North Carolina, midwives must be registered nurses who are certified by the state. Charlotte police say the women were at a private home last week assisting with an underwater birth, in which the baby is delivered in a tub of warm water. Police say there were complications with the delivery, and the newborn died after being rushed to a local hospital. —AP

Sick child ordered out of safety seat BEDFORD, N H: A New Hampshire couple said on Saturday that Southwest Airlines flight attendants put the couple’s terminally ill son at risk by ordering him out of a safety seat and into a regular passenger seat for a flight home from Florida. Chris Dainiak and his wife, of Bedford, were told to remove 8-year-old Nicholas from his protective travel seat for a Friday flight home from Orlando to Manchester, NH, Chris Dainiak said. Nicholas suffers from a rare illness called Batten disease and can’t walk, talk, feed himself or hold his head up.

The attendants agreed Nicholas would be safer in his special seat but didn’t know if it was approved by the Federal Aviation Administration, Dainiak told The Associated Press. He said the boy has used the seat on

previous flights, including the Southwest flight that took the family to Orlando so they could visit Disney World.

He said he wants Southwest to develop a policy to ensure other people with disabled children aren’t put in similar situations. “They just wanted to cover their butts to make sure that they weren’t going to be fined by the FAA and, therefore, they decided the best thing for Southwest was to put my son at risk,” Dainiak said. Southwest is looking into the particulars of what happened and contacted the family Saturday to learn more, said spokesman Brad Hawkins. He said the FAA has regulations regarding the size of medical seats, but he didn’t know if the Dainiaks’ seat was in compliance. —AP

Rare Malaysian rhino gets new mate to save species KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian wildlife authorities said they have captured a female Borneo Sumatran rhino who will be paired with a new mate in a breeding program meant to save their species from extinction.

The plan is the cornerstone of efforts to preserve the bristly, snub-nosed animal, whose numbers have fallen to fewer than 40 in the jungles of Borneo island. Officials have spent more than three years seeking a suitable mate for a middle-aged male rhino named “Tam,” who was rescued in Malaysia’s eastern Sabah state in 2008 while wandering in an oil palm plantation with an infected leg likely caused by a poacher trap.

The first rhino previously found for Tam was too old to reproduce. The Sabah Wildlife Department said in a statement late Saturday that rangers this past week captured a young female rhino nicknamed “Puntung” whom they had been monitoring for years.

“This is a fantastic gift for our uphill battle in ensuring the survival of this truly unique species,” said the department’s director, Laurentius Ambu. “This is now the very last chance to save this species, one of the most ancient forms of mammal.”

No other rhino had been observed near Puntung in years, underscoring that there were so few left in the wild that they had few opportunities to meet and reproduce, said Junaidi Payne, executive director of the Borneo Rhino Alliance, a nongovernment group that works with Sabah’s government on rhino protection. The statement did not disclose Puntung’s exact age. Tam is known to be more than 20 years old. The captive breeding program is being conducted in a forest reserve in Sabah. Borneo Sumatran rhinos are a subspecies of the Sumatran rhino, which are the world’s smallest rhino species, standing little more than 4 feet (120 centimeters) at the shoulder. The Borneo subspecies is found only in Malaysia’s corner of Borneo island.

Their numbers have dwindled from about 200 a half-century ago as logging, plantations and other development encroached increasingly on their habitat, while poachers also hunt the animals for their horns and other body parts used in traditional medicines. A similar breeding program for the Sumatran rhino in neighboring Indonesia suffered a setback last year when a pregnant rhino named Ratu miscarried. —AP

A Sumatran Rhino, named Puntung, is seen in her temporary enclosure in Tabin, Sabab state of Malaysia’s corner of Borneo island. Malaysian wildlife authorities said, they have captured the female rhino that will be paired with a new mate in a breeding program meant to save their species from extinction. —AP

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2011

H E A LT H

Beyond the propaganda, N Koreans quietly starving SEOUL: While North Korea prepares a lavish funeral for late leader Kim Jong-Il, outside the showpiece capital people are struggling to survive and so hungry they even eat grass, observers say. Since Kim’s body was laid out in a glass coffin, official television has shown a procession of smartly-dressed, well-fed members of the country’s privileged elite paying their respects.

But away from the television cameras, whose lenses are largely focused on Pyongyang, many North Koreans are trapped in poverty, malnourished or even starving to death, according to aid workers and defectors. The system of centralized food rationing has crumbled and the country has been blighted by frequent weatherrelated crop failures, leaving it heavily dependent on foreign aid deliveries.

“Food distribution in Pyongyang cannot be compared to other places because it is the face of North Korea,” said Yeom KwangJin, a defector with the South Korea-based organization Durihana which helps refugees from the North. “In other places food distribution had completely stopped, while in Pyongyang people get a small amount. People turn to the black market to survive.” Kim Jong-Il presided over a 1990s famine that saw hundreds of thousands of people die, but still found the funds for a nuclear weapons program. There are still chronic food shortages in the impoverished communist state. “The food distribution system has long collapsed and everyone has to fend for themselves,” said Lee Hae-Young, director of the Seoul-based Association of North Korean Defectors.

“Eating three meals a day is now unheard of. People try their best just to eat one meal a day. Half of my friends back there are either dead because of starvation or nearly invalids, with all their teeth gone.

I’m only 49.” UN agencies have said six million people-a quarter of the population — urgently need food. When the World Food Program’s Jonathan Dumont visited earlier this year he met a four-year-old who was so malnourished he could not stand up, and seven-year-old schoolchildren who were too weak to play outside.

“Rations have been cut to a few small potatoes a day for each person-almost one third of what they were,” he said afterwards.

According to the Seoul-based aid group Good Friends, many farmers survive on grass porridge. But children cannot easily digest wild grass and straw-which they mix with corn to supplement their meager dietand sometimes die, according to aid workers. Even in hospitals, there is not enough food for patients. Chronic power shortages are a part of daily life and clothing is in short supply, making the harsh winterswhen temperatures drop well below zero-a test of endurance. “Electricity is only provided for two hours a day in Pyongyang, and in other parts of the country not at all,” said a defector who did not want to be named at Open Radio for North Korea, which broadcasts across the border.

People chop up furniture to use as firewood to heat their homes, or sell it to buy food. There is no independent media and state newspapers, radio and television churn out government propaganda. Drug use is said to be increasingly prevalent and locally produced amphetamines, known as “ice”, are widely available.

The country was richer than the South in the 1960s but suffered economic decline in the 1990s after the loss of key aid and trade with the collapse of the Soviet bloc.

Per capita income in the North is about five percent of that in the South, which has enjoyed steadily rising living standards since the division of the Korean peninsula at the end of World War II. Life became even tougher in the North in 2009 when the government suddenly revalued the won currency, almost wiping out people’s life savings. The regime cracks down severely on dissent and has expanded its political prison camps in the past decade to hold about 200,000 people in “horrific” conditions, according to Amnesty International. Some prisoners eat rats or pick corn kernels out of animal excreta to survive, it said in a report published in May. Images which leak out of the isolated nation provide a stark illustration of the hardships faced by the poor. — AFP

Kenya HIV families torn between health or food NAIROBI: Rosalia Adhiambo won’t take the free anti-HIV drugs that would prolong her life. The spiraling price of food in Kenya means she can’t afford to feed both her grandniece and herself.

So she feeds 5-year-old Emily and doesn’t take her own medicine, fearing that the nausea she would get from taking the drugs without adequate food will make her too weak to look for work.

Prices for staple foods this year are almost twice as high as in 2009, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization says. The rising prices and a dwindling of funds for HIV programs mean countless poor families must decide whether to focus on the health of an HIV-positive adult or on a child’s hunger.

Valerian Kamito, a nurse at the clinic that gives Adhiambo her food, says some patients are refusing to start treatment for HIV and around a quarter of his 1,555 patients on antiHIV drugs are now skipping their medication. “They say they cannot take them on an empty stomach,” Kamito said. Before prices rose, he said, “it was very rare.”

HIV-positive adults need 10 percent more calories than other people just to maintain their body weight.

Children with HIV need between 30 percent to 50 percent more calories than other children. They will lose weight and be vulnerable to infections without those calories, said nutritionist Kate Greenaway from the aid agency Catholic Relief Services.

Annual inflation in Kenya is around 20 percent, but wages haven’t kept pace. Around half of Kenyans live on less than $2 a day, including 52-year-old Adhiambo, who makes $1 each day she does housework. “When there is nothing to eat, we go to bed hungry. I tell Emily it is because God did not send

us food today,” said Adhiambo, motioning to a cardboard picture of Jesus on the wall of their corrugated iron shack.

“Emily stands before that picture and prays, ‘God, please remember to send us food tomorrow,’” said Adhiambo. She had work for two weeks last month, but the younger women get most of the jobs.

Adhiambo relies on her daily free

gram, though workers there are trying to get her into it. The bright-eyed little girl in the torn blue dress is almost all that’s left of Adhiambo’s family. Adhiambo’s brother, two sisters and husband are all dead. Emily’s mother is alive, but ill. She refuses to be tested. Emily has been tested and is HIV positive. Adhiambo needs to take drugs called anti-retrovirals, or ARVs, and so will Emily. Taken regu-

NAIROBI: A young boy touches mangos for sale as his mother negotiates with the street-trader in the Mathare slum of Nairobi, Kenya. The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization says that 2011 prices for staple foods are almost twice as high as they were in 2009, with rising prices and a lack of new funds for HIV programs meaning countless poor families must decide whether to focus on the health of an HIVpositive adult or on a child’s hunger. —AP meal of rice, beans and vegetables from a clinic run by Catholic Relief Services in the Mathare slum, though she sometimes misses that if she is searching for work. The staff there are trying to persuade her to take her anti-HIV drugs.

But Adhiambo carries the food home and gives most of it to Emily, who isn’t signed up for the CRS pro-

larly, the medicine can prolong life by years, possibly decades. But if taken sporadically, the medicine will lose its effectiveness.

Patients say the medicine can cause nausea, fatigue, and diarrhea at first, especially if there is no food to go with it, said Greenaway. The drugs also cause a ravenous hunger as the body starts to recover. Adhiambo,

afraid that the side effects will prevent her from working, refuses to take the pills.

The clinic gives 400 of its patients, Adhiambo among them, “prescribed food” to eat with their medicines so they’ll continue the treatment. But most take the meals home to share with their families, said Kamito. The program has a long waiting list. The financial crisis means there is no money to expand it.

Globally, there has been around a 10 percent decline in HIV/AIDS funding, said Michel Sidibe, the UNAIDS executive director. The world’s top funder of public health programs the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria - has disbursed $15 billion since 2002, but it cannot afford to pay for any new or expanded programs until 2014.

Poverty, meanwhile, continues to eat at the gains made by modern medicine in fighting HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Twenty to 30 percent of HIV-positive patients in the developing world drop out in the first two years of treatment, said Nils Grede, the deputy chief of the World Food Program’s nutrition and HIV/AIDS unit.

“Barriers to continue the treatment ... are often related to poverty.

You don’t have the money to pay for the bus, you don’t have enough food, so you spend your time on trying to make sure that your family eats,” Grede told The Associated Press in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. “People adhere much better to drug regimens when there is food,” said Greenaway. “But in poor families, that might mean mothers who want to stay strong have to decide whether to take something from their children’s plates.”

Adhiambo’s neighbor Ishmael Abongo, a 35-year-old father of four, must do just that.—AP

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Dr Behbehani appointed president of African, Mideast IADR region

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he board meeting of the International Association for Dental Research (IADR) in December 2011 appointed Dr Jawad M Behbehani as a President of the Africa and Middle East IADR Region and a Regional Board Member for the IADR Council for the next 3 years, 2012-2014. This appointment was based on the election by the 5 IADR Divisions (East and Southern African, Iranian, Kuwaiti, Nigerian, and South African) and 7 IADR Sections (Egyptian, Iraqi, Jordanian, Saudi Arabian, Sudanese, Syrian, and UAE) in this region. The other candidates in this election were from Egypt, South Africa and Syria.

Dr Behbehani was the first and is the current President of the Kuwaiti Association for Dental Research (KuADR). He graduated from Tehran University, Iran, in 1968, received his specialist certificate in Endodontics in 1976 and did his Research Fellowship in Oral Microbiology in 1982 at Forsyth Dental Center, USA. He got his Doctor of Medical Science in Oral Biology from Harvard University in 1982. He is a Fellow of the International College of Dentists.

He has worked as an Assistant Professor at Forsyth Dental Center in 1977-1985 and as a Lecturer of Harvard School of Dental Medicine in 1982-1985, as a Secretary General of the Kuwait Dental Association in 1980-1982, as a Senior Consultant of the Ministry of Health, Kuwait in 1992-1998. He has also worked as a Superintendent of Planning and Education by the Ministry of Health and as an advisor of WHO since 1987. He was appointed as an Associate Professor of Kuwait University in 1998. He has worked as a Dean of the Faculty in 1999-2004 and from 2008 onwards. He was also appointed as a chairman of the Faculty of Dentistry of Kuwait Institute for Medical Specialization in 2003.

Dr. Behbehani has published several original scientific articles, reviews and conference abstracts and worked as an editor of several publications. He has also been chairman of the organizing and scientific committees of several international conferences. IADR board also appointed Dr Rashed Al-Azemi as an AMER treasurer, and Prof Eino Honkala as an AMER secretary from the KuADR for the same period 2012-2014.

It has been a goal of the Faculty of Dentistry to achieve a leadership in dental research in this region and this nomination reflects a significant international appreciation in this respect for the Faculty of Dentistry, Kuwait University. KuADR is currently the biggest IADR Division in the African and Middle East Region, when having 123 members. IADR is the biggest dental research organization in the world, when it has altogether 12,000 members in its 25 IADR Divisions and 15 IADR Sections.

Upcoming events Aware Center Arabic lessons The AWARE Management is glad to inform you that Winter 1 Arabic language courses will begin on November 20th, 2011 until January 12th, 2012. AWARE Arabic language courses are designed with the expat in mind.

The environment is relaxed and courses are designed for those wanting to learn Arabic for travel, cultural understanding, and conducting business or simply to become more involved in the community. We cater to teachers, travelers & those working in the private business sector. Arabic classes at the AWARE Center are unique because students are provided with the chance to practice their Arabic through various social activities that aim at bringing Arabs and Westerners together.

AWARE Arabic courses highlight: lIntroductory to Level 4 Arabic language basics lBetter prepare you for speaking, reading and writing Arabic lCombine language learning with cultural insights lTaught in multi-nationality group settings lProvide opportunities to interact with Western expatriates and native Kuwaitis/Arabs.

For more information or registration, call 25335260/80 ext 105/104/0 or log onto: www.aware.com.kw.

Rak dance academy new year hangama-2012 The RAK Dance Academy (RDA) Kuwait, is planning to put a charity event as celebration of its New Year Hangama 2012, on 31st December, 2011, from 6.00pm onwards, at Carmel School Khaitan. All participants are well known artists from Kuwait. The main purpose of this celebration is to collect donations and raise money for supporting handicapped children in India. Advertisement will be published throughout Kuwait absolutely free of charge. We are expecting huge crowd for this event. The fund raised will be beneficial handicapped children. In order to make this event joyous and successful we are seeking kind contributions from you. Your attendance is your donation. Please join for an evening for a good cause. Darla Srinivasulu Achari, 99 692266; Mob: 65728740 K. Eswar Babu, Phone 99692266, Lashmeesha 65925730 Email: rakdanceacademy@gmail.com

Dr Hussain Madavoor inaugurates the ISM campaign at the Ministry of Education hall organized by Indian Islahi Center

Thogadias may ruin India

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ndian Islahi Movement Gen Secretary & Waqf Board member of Kerala Dr Hussain Madavoor declared that the Thogadias may ruin India on basis of the statement of Viswahindu Parishat Gen Secretary Praveen Thogadia, that the main confrontation of India is the vote bank of Christians and Muslims and asking the Hindu society to come forward and wipe them out. Dr Hussain Madavoor was inaugurating a public program at Ministry of Education hall Salmiya, organized by Indian Islahi

Center Kuwait with a very sensitive topic “Religion, Morality and Transformation”.

Dr Madavoor also reiterated that the religion is peace and consolation but the fact is hiding by the Thogadias, to intensify communal violence and disparity. India is a cradle for all religion, a lot of hermits, pious and religious scholars lived in the country where Buddha and Jain religion originated, and also they willingly accepted and assisted the others like Jews, Christians and Muslims.

That is the great tradition of Hindus in

India which shall be recollected by all when Thogadias create enmity among religions.

Dr Madavoor described that the people in the world recognized Hindu terrorism was behind the assassination of Gandhiji and many other pathetic incidences at Ajmer, Malegaon, Hyderabad, Gujarat etc, and we altogether should work against terrorism regardless of the religion. Those who believe in secularism and legislature should work together to stop terrorism and communal vio-

lence. And the frequent conflicts in different religion or among different groups in the same religion may help common people to go away from religion.

Dr. Madavoor distributed prizes for the winners of Velicham Quran contest and online hadeeth contest. MT Mohamed, president of IIC Kuwait presided the function, Mohamed Aripra, Abdul Wahab, V A Moidunny, T M Rasheed, Manaf Mathottam etc spoke to the audience.

Zafran Kuwait welcomes New Year with new menu offerings

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afran, the contemporary Indian restaurant by Foodmark welcomes the upcoming new year with its new menu offerings. Zafran prides itself with the winning concept that has quickly become favoured in Kuwait. It’s a combination of contemporary Indian cuisine using traditional cooking techniques with a modern flair and international ingredients. The fresh and innovative specialties on the menu offer bold yet simple flavours created from new twists on Indian classics.

The new menu has been inspired by internationally acclaimed, Michelin-starred chef, Atul Kochhar, who is renowned for reinventing Indian cooking and the way people perceive Indian food, and will be crafted by Zafran’s own executive chef, Mohit Dhingra. The new menu offers distinctive dishes of high quality Indian cuisine artistically presented and truly mouthwatering. As a part of the new offerings a Kebab festival will also run from 20th Dec 2011 to 10th Jan 2012.

Sajan Alex, Country Operations Manager, Foodmark Kuwait said:” Ever since our launch we have been constantly evolving, our new identity and menu offerings perfectly

complements our endeavor to offer nothing but the best to our customers. Zafran is all about flavours and textures at affordable prices, we are ready for the New Year with our new identity and new additions to our menu. We also welcome guests to use our party hall which has the capacity to accommodate over 120 people to make large parties and

functions more memorable”.

For New Year’s Eve indulge in a great selection of treats from a wide buffet spread with 3 live stations consisting of (kebab, Chat Station (Indian street food) & traditional dal tadka station). Bring in the New Year with a tantalizing Barbeque Brunch from the sumptuous barbeque station filled with succulent meats, chicken and a rich variety of seafood marinated in exotic Indian spices and cooked to perfection.

Zafran offers traditional Indian favourites, including Murg Makhni

(tandoor roasted chicken tikka with tomato and fenugreek fondue), Malai Kofta (cheese and raisin croquettes with ginger and cashew curry), and Lucknowi Gosht (curried lamb with yoghurt, ginger and caramelized onions).

The tandoor selection is great for sharing and offers light, healthy and flavorful options such as the Kebab Platter (Seekh kebab, chicken tikka, grilled hammour and king prawn), Machchi Ka Sula (mustard and dill marinated grilled hammour served with caramelized lemon and curd rice), and Changezi Champen (Lamb cutlets marinated with fennel, pepper and cream served with tamarind chutney).

Conceptualized by Foodmark (Landmark Group Hospitality), Zafran is a restaurant bursting with colours in a vibrant setting and offers a delectable approach to Indian cuisine, which is prepared using a unique blend of authentic Indian spices along with the finest fresh ingredients to create exquisite dishes. The 180 seat restaurant is open to visitors for lunch as well as dinner from 11 am-12 am. Inquire now for party hall packages and other details.

New office bearers at KALA Mina Abdulla unit

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Vinod, Vice President of KALA, inaugurated the annual unit conference while Vijayan presided over the function, Sumesh welcomed the audience and Dileep presented the one year report for the year 2011, to be followed by the KALA annual general body meeting scheduled on 30 Dec 2012. The conference passed resolutions requesting the central govt to make necessary steps to amicably solve the Mulla Peeriyar issue and protested Union Home Minister Chidambaram’s statement favoring Tamil Nadu on the dam issue. KALA Central committee member Sudarshanan, representing the central committee, replied the queries raised by the unit members. The unit conference unanimously chose Dileep as Unit Convener for the year 2012, Reginon and Karunnath Babu as Jnt Conveners and Haneefa, Vijayan, Ganesh and Harihara Krishnan as unit executive members. Dileep rendered vote of thanks.

Burgan Bank offers female clients Nail & Co discounts

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urgan Bank announced that it has collaborated with Nail & Co, a renowned nail salon that offers high-quality products to provide its women a 15 percent discount on the company’s services. Nail & Co is located in Mishref Cooperation Society, Beauty Centre as well as the Nasser Tower, Kuwait City. Haneen Al Rumaihi, Head of Marketing said: “With the onset of a new season, we wanted to grant our female valued customers a distinct offer that will transform our banking services into an exceptional experience. Burgan Bank’s women customers can now benefit and indulge in a safe and delightful customer service that will transcend their tranquility mood into a memorable one.”

“They can benefit from a remarkable discount from Nail and Company’s products and services which include facials, wraps, anti-ageing treatments, massages and more,” added Al Rumaihi.

Burgan Bank continues to provide its customers with special offers across various categories, and is committed to delivering more convenience by ensuring the continuous use of their cards across various outlets. To find out more about Burgan Bank’s latest offers and promotions, customers are required to visit their nearest Burgan Bank branch or contact the call center on 1804080

KERA conducts mass signature campaign

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uwait Ernakulam Residents Association (KERA) conducts mass signature campaign on a memorandum to show the solidarity and support in the Mullaperiyar Dam issue especially to the residents of Idukki, Kottayam, Athanamthitta, Alapuzha and Ernakulam districts of Kerala. The campaign is focusing to obtain signature from minimum 10,000 people from Kerala.

The memorandum is demanding to the authorities to immediately bring down the water level to 120 feet in the dam to ensure safety of 3.5 million people and properties. Approval to construct a new dam as it fears that a strong earthquake might damage the existing dam. Protect the lives and properties of over 3.5 million citizens. Find an amicable solution (preferably outside court) to this Kerala-Tamil Nadu dispute.

Consider the Government of Kerala commitment to undertake ‘water for Tamil Nadu and safety for Kerala’.

The organizers stated in a press release that the signed documents will be submitted to the President, the Prime Minister, the Chief Justice, and the Union Minister for Water Resources of India, and the Chief Minister of Kerala.

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Embassy Information EMBASSY OF BRAZIL The Embassy of Brazil requests all Brazilian citizens in Kuwait to proceed to the website www.brazil.org.kw (Contact Us Form / Fale Conosco) 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 Brazilian Government to contact and assist Brazilians living abroad in case of any emergency. nnnnnnn

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he business administration college of the Arab Open University in Kuwait hosted a seminar to discuss the unified Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) currency and shed light on lessons learned from the euro crisis. The seminar featured a main lecture delivered by Kuwait University professor Dr Nayef Al-Shemmary that focused on assessing the mistakes that led to the current euro crisis, as well as demonstrating successful examples for currency unifications around the world.

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.

Canada offers a registration service for all Canadians travelling or living abroad. This service is provided so that Consular Officials can contact and assist Canadians in an emergency in a foreign country, such as a natural disaster or civil unrest, or inform Canadians of a family emergency at home. The Embassy of Canada encourages all Canadian Citizens to register online through the Government of Canada Travel Website at www.voyage.gc.ca.

The Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi provides visa and immigration services to residents of Kuwait.

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. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF GERMANY

The Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Kuwait wishes to announce that as of 1 May 2011, the external service provider Al Qabas Assurex is operating a Visa Application Centre in support of the German Embassy. Short-term visa applications for travels to Germany (e.g. for tourism, visits, business) are to be submitted to the service provider Al Qabas who for your convenience will ensure that all relevant documents are included in your application. Your personal appearance at the Application Centre is not required. Address of the Visa Application Centre: Al Qabas Assurex Sanabel Tower (AlBabtain) Mezzanine (M3) opposite Sharq Mall Kuwait 22924444 Fax: 22924442 Further information are available on the following websites: www.kuwait.diplo.de www.qavisa.com

BSK yuletide celebration

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he Balibolista Sa Kuwait members were all smiles as they held their Christmas party on Dec 23, 2011 in Salmiya where all members partook in a fun program of games, banquet and exchanging gifts.

EMBASSY OF INDIA The Embassy of India will remain closed December 25, 2011 (Today) - “Christmas Day”. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF KENYA The Embassy of the Republic of Kenya wishes to request all Kenyans resident in or training through Kuwait to register with the Embassy. We are updating our database. This information is necessary in order to facilitate quick assistance and advise in times of emergency. Kindly visit in person or register through our website www.kenyaembkuwait.com. The Embassy is located in: Surra Area - Block 6 - Street 9 Villa 3 Tel: 25353362 - 25353314; Fax: 25353316. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF NIGERIA The Nigerian embassy has its new office in Mishref. Block 3, Street 7, House 4. For enquires please call 25379541. Fax- 25387719.

Email- nigeriakuwait@yahoo.com or nigeriankuwait@yahoo.co.uk nnnnnnn

Anjali holds Bharathanatyam debut show Natyanjali 2011

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njali School of Dance held Bharathanatyam Arangettam of five senior students on Dec 16 at Carmel School, Khaitan, which turned out to be a spectacular show of this classical form of dance. The students who participated in Natyanjali 2011 have been intensely practicing Bharathanatyam for the last seven

years which has given the utmost output to the recital for the total surprise and appraisal of the audience.

Intensely and subtly choreographed ten dances were staged in a span of two hours starting from Natyanjali to Thillana depicting all the complicated and refined aspects of Bharathanatyam.

The function was held in Carmel School Auditorium last Friday at 5pm.

Dr Nampoothiri, the well known social and cultural activist inaugurated the function by lightning the traditional lamp. The performers for the evening were Jean Sara Saji, Megha Murali, Sneha Das, Varsha Niji and Vismaya Rachel D’silva. The program was com-

pared by Dr Reshmi and the initiator of Anjali School of Dance Sindhu Madhuraj delivered the vote of thanks.

Anjali School of Dance was formed in the year 2004 with the aim of giving training on dance forms like Bharathanatyam, Mohiniyattam and Folk Dance under the able guidance of Sindhu Madhuraj.

Infunity Entertainment Centre welcomes 2012

I Idukki association reps call upon ambassador

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he office bearers and the representatives of the Executive Committee of Idukki Association Kuwait (a socio-cultural association of the people from the District of Idukki, living and working in Kuwait) called upon HE the Ambassador of India in Kuwait Satish C Mehta in his office. During the hourlong meeting, the association officials extended an official welcome to the Ambassador to Kuwait on behalf of its members.

While introducing and explaining the activities of the association, the Ambassador appreciated the charity works undertaken by the association, notably the Idukki Association Housing Project 2011, through which the associa-

tion has provided 56 houses to the homeless in the district of Idukki during the year 2011.

The representatives of the association also brought to the attention of His Excellency the deplorable living conditions prevailing in Abbassiya and asking his kind intervention in seeking a solution to the numerous problems faced by the residents of Abbassiya, to which His Excellency agreed to do all that is needful within his limits. The possibility of opening a Passport Facilitation Center in Abbassiya was also discussed. Other matters of mutual interest in general and the life of the Indian Community in Kuwait in particular were discussed.

nfunity Entertainment Center at the 360 Mall; level 3, organized an event to welcome Year 2012 under the supervision of Abraj Event Management. A large number of people of all ages attended the event that was held on Thursday Dec 22nd, 2011.

Families and children enjoyed the different programs that lasted up to two fun-filled hours, where the celebrations included various shows, such as the “Smurfs show”, the “Acrobat show”

and a puppets show. The attendees also enjoyed the experience of participating in various contests and a number of valuable prizes were distributed at the end of the event.

Infunity Entertainment Center offers a wide range of other entertaining activities, and hosts a variety of new games suitable for all age groups. Thus, it is considered as the largest family entertainment center in Kuwait.

EMBASSY OF PERU Peruvian Permanent Expo will be temporary close from December 2lst 2011 to January 21st 2012. The Expo will reopen on January 22nd 2012 and offer once again “Peruvian Private Gastronomy Tasting Lunches” and much more like Peruvian culture, tourism, trade and great possibilities of investment. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF RUSSIA Embassy of the Russian Federation invites all the Russian residents in Kuwait to visit the Consulate for registration and updating your database. This information is necessary for promptly notice, assistance and warning in case of emergency. The consulate reception hours: 10:00 - 13:00, Sunday - Wednesday.

The Embassy is located in Kuwait City, Daiya, Block 5, Diplomatic campus, Plot 17. Tel: (+965) 22560427, 22560428. Fax: (+965) 22524969, email: rusposkuw@mail.ru, consdepkuw@mail.ru Information also available on the website: www.kuwait.mid.ru nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF SOUTH AFRICA On the occasion of Christmas & Good Will Day, the South African Embassy will be closed from Thursday, December 22, 2011 to Monday, December 26, 2011. Please note on Tuesday, December 27, 2011, working hours will be from 8:00 to 10:00. The Embassy will resume its normal working hours on Wednesday, December 28, 2011, from Sunday to Thursday. Please note that the Working hours will be from 8:00 to 16:00 & the Consular Section operation hours will from 8:30 to 12:30.

On the occasion of the New Year, the Embassy will be closed on Sunday, January 1, 2012.

Please note on Thursday, December 29, 2011, working hours will be from 8:00 to 10:00. The Embassy will resume its normal working hours on Monday, January 2, 2012, as follows: Please note that the working hours will be from 8:00 to 16:00 & the Consular Section operation hours will from 8:30 to 12:30.

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00:50 01:45 02:40 03:35 04:30 05:25 06:20 07:10 08:00 08:25 08:50 09:15 09:40 10:10 11:05 12:00 12:55 13:20 13:50 14:45 15:40 16:30 17:00 17:30 18:00 18:25 19:20 20:15 20:40 21:10 22:05 23:00

Untamed & Uncut Dogs 101 Shark Attack File 3 Wildest India Whale Wars Dogs 101 Animal Cops Phoenix Michaela’s Animal Road Trip Monkey Life Dick ‘n’ Dom Go Wild Talk To The Animals The Really Wild Show Breed All About It Bad Dog Dogs 101: Specials Animal Cops Specials 2009 Bondi Vet Wildlife SOS Last Chance Highway Animal Cops Houston Monster Bug Wars Monkey Life Dick ‘n’ Dom Go Wild Talk To The Animals Chris Humfrey’s Wildlife Dogs 101: Specials My Cat From Hell Bondi Vet Breed All About It Dogs 101: Specials Feeding Off Nature’s Giant Must Love Cats

01:25 Victoria Wood’s Midlife Christmas 02:25 Victoria Wood: What Larks!

03:10 Little Britain Christmas Special 2006 03:40 Last Of The Summer Wine 04:40 Little Robots 04:50 The Large Family 05:00 Penelope K, By The Way 05:15 Poetry Pie 05:20 Tweenies 05:40 Robbie the Reindeer: Legend of the Lost 06:10 The Large Family 06:20 Penelope K, By The Way 06:35 Poetry Pie 06:40 Tweenies 07:00 Robbie the Reindeer: Legend of the Lost 07:30 Little Robots 07:40 The Large Family 07:50 Penelope K, By The Way 08:05 Poetry Pie 08:10 Tweenies 08:30 Charlie and Lola: Christmas Special 08:50 Buzz & Tell 09:00 Little Robots 09:10 The Large Family 09:20 Penelope K, By The Way 09:35 Poetry Pie 09:45 Buzz & Tell 09:50 Tweenies 10:10 Buzz & Tell 10:15 Charlie and Lola: Christmas Special 10:40 My Family 11:40 The Weakest Link 12:25 Britain’s Royal Weddings 13:15 Doctors 13:45 Charles At 60: The Passionate Prince 15:20 My Family 16:25 Britain’s Royal Weddings 17:15 The Weakest Link 18:05 Doctors 18:35 Charles At 60: The Passionate Prince 20:05 Britain’s Royal Weddings 20:50 Keeping Up Appearances 21:50 Doctors

00:00 00:30 01:00 01:10 01:30 02:00

BBC World News Best Of 2011 BBC World News World Features Best Of 2011 BBC World News

02:10 The Health Show 02:30 Asia Business Report 02:45 Sport Today 03:00 BBC World News 03:30 India Business Report 04:00 Newsday 04:30 Asia Business Report 04:45 Sport Today 05:00 Newsday 05:30 Asia Business Report 05:45 Sport Today 06:00 Newsday 06:30 Asia Business Report 06:45 Sport Today 07:00 Newsday 07:30 Hardtalk 08:00 BBC World News 08:30 World Business Report 08:45 BBC World News 09:30 World Business Report 09:45 BBC World News 10:30 World Business Report 10:45 Sport Today 11:00 BBC World News 11:30 World Business Report 11:45 Sport Today 12:00 BBC World News 12:30 Hardtalk 13:00 BBC World News 13:30 World Business Report 13:45 Sport Today 14:00 BBC World News 14:30 World Business Report 14:45 Sport Today 15:00 GMT With George Alagiah 16:00 Impact With Mishal Husain 17:30 World Business Report 17:45 Sport Today 18:00 BBC World News 18:30 Hardtalk 19:00 The Hub With Nik Gowing 20:30 World Business Report 20:45 Sport Today 21:00 BBC World News 21:30 World Business Report 21:45 Sport Today 22:00 World News Today With Zeinab Badawi 22:30 World News Today With Zeinab Badawi 23:00 World News Today With Zeinab Badawi 23:30 World Business Report 23:45 Sport Today

00:15 Samurai Jack 00:40 Megas XLR 01:05 Robotboy 01:30 Squirrel Boy 01:55 George Of The Jungle 02:20 Cramp Twins 02:45 Chop Socky Chooks 03:10 Best Ed 03:35 My Gym Partner’s A Monkey 04:00 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 04:25 Generator Rex 04:50 Adventure Time 05:15 The Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack 05:40 Chowder 05:55 Powerpuff Girls 06:30 Ed, Edd n Eddy 06:55 I Am Weasel 07:20 Squirrel Boy 07:45 Cow & Chicken 08:00 Ben 10 Ultimate Alien 08:50 Generator Rex 09:40 Ben 10 Ultimate Alien 10:30 Generator Rex 11:20 Ben 10 Ultimate Alien 12:10 Generator Rex 13:00 Ben 10 Ultimate Alien 13:50 Generator Rex 14:40 Ben 10 Ultimate Alien 15:30 Generator Rex 16:20 Ben 10 Ultimate Alien 17:10 Generator Rex 18:00 Ben 10 Ultimate Alien 18:50 Generator Rex 19:40 Ben 10 Ultimate Alien 20:30 Generator Rex 21:10 Sym-Bionic Titan 21:35 Star Wars: The Clone Wars 22:00 Hero 108 22:25 Adventure Time 22:50 The Grim Adventures Of Billy & Mandy 23:00 Ben 10

MONDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2011

TV PROGRAMS 23:25 Bakugan Battle Brawlers 23:50 The Secret Saturdays

00:00 00:20 01:10 02:00 02:45 03:35 04:00 04:25 04:50 05:15 05:35 06:00 06:20 Cody 06:45 Cody 07:05 07:30 07:55 08:10 08:35 09:00 10:45 12:00 12:45 13:10 13:30 13:55 14:20 15:00 16:35 17:00 17:25 17:50 18:15 18:45 19:35 20:25 21:15 21:35 22:00 22:25 22:50 23:15 23:35

Kim Possible Replacements Fairly Odd Parents A Kind Of Magic Stitch Kim Possible Kim Possible Emperor’s New School Emperor’s New School Stitch Stitch Hannah Montana The Suite Life Of Zack And The Suite Life Of Zack And Wizards Of Waverly Place Wizards Of Waverly Place Phineas And Ferb Good Luck Charlie Good Luck Charlie Starstruck Phineas And Ferb Wizards Of Waverly Place Fish Hooks Fish Hooks Suite Life On Deck Suite Life On Deck Wizards Of Waverly Place Aladdin A.N.T. Farm Fairly Odd Parents Good Luck Charlie Fish Hooks Shake It Up Suite Life On Deck Good Luck Charlie Hannah Montana Suite Life On Deck Suite Life On Deck Shake It Up Shake It Up Sonny With A Chance Wizards Of Waverly Place Wizards Of Waverly Place

00:00 Programmes Start At 7:00am KSA 07:00 Kid vs Kat 07:10 Phineas And Ferb 07:35 Phineas And Ferb 08:00 Phineas And Ferb 08:20 Have A Laugh 08:25 I’M In The Band 08:50 Kick Buttowski 09:15 Kick Buttowski 09:40 Kick Buttowski 10:05 Kick Buttowski 10:30 Kick Buttowski 10:55 Phineas And Ferb 11:20 Zeke & Luther 11:40 Have A Laugh 11:45 I’M In The Band 12:10 American Dragon 12:35 Kid vs Kat 13:00 Up Up And Away 14:35 Zeke & Luther 15:00 Kick Buttowski 15:25 I’M In The Band 15:50 Pair Of Kings 16:10 Have A Laugh 16:15 Zeke & Luther 16:40 Zeke & Luther 17:05 Phineas And Ferb 17:30 Phineas And Ferb 17:55 Phineas And Ferb 18:15 Have A Laugh 18:20 Kid vs Kat 18:45 Kid vs Kat 19:10 Kid vs Kat 19:35 Spiderman 20:00 The Avengers: Earths Mightiest Heroes 20:25 Phineas And Ferb 20:50 Kid vs Kat 21:15 Zeke & Luther 21:40 Kick Buttowski 22:05 Phineas And Ferb 22:30 American Dragon 22:55 I’M In The Band 23:20 Zeke & Luther

EMOTIONAL ARITHMETIC ON OSN CINEMA

00:15 05:40 06:05 07:00 07:25 07:50 08:45 09:10 10:05 10:30 10:55 11:25 12:20 18:15 18:45 19:10 19:40 20:05 20:35 21:00 21:30 22:25 23:20

Auction Kings How It’S Made Dirty Jobs Wheeler Dealers Fifth Gear Overhaulin’ How Stuff’S Made Mythbusters Cake Boss Border Security Scrappers Coal Deadliest Catch Cash Cab Us Cake Boss Border Security Scrappers How It’S Made How Stuff’S Made Cash Cab Us Coal Deadliest Catch Gold Rush: Alaska

00:15 Bang Goes The Theory 01:05 The Tech Show 01:30 Race To Mars 02:20 Green Wheels 03:10 Build It Bigger: Rebuilding Greensburg 06:40 The Tech Show 07:10 Science Of The Movies 08:00 Scrapheap Challenge 08:50 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 09:40 The Tech Show 10:10 Weird Connections 10:35 The Gadget Show 11:25 Brainiac 12:20 Sci-Fi Science 12:45 How Stuff’s Made 13:15 Futurecar 14:05 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 14:55 One Step Beyond 15:20 Stunt Junkies 15:50 Superships 16:40 Weird Connections 17:05 Scrapheap Challenge 18:00 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 18:50 Sci-Fi Science 19:15 The Tech Show 19:40 Mega World 20:30 Mighty Ships 21:20 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 22:10 The Gadget Show 22:35 The Gadget Show 23:00 Mega World 23:50 Mighty Ships

00:40 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Special 01:30 Food Network All-Star 02:20 Ten Dollar Dinners 02:45 Everyday Italian 03:10 Everyday Italian 03:35 Food Network Challenge 04:25 Good Eats - Special 05:15 Food Network Challenge 06:05 Ten Dollar Dinners 06:30 Paula’s Best Dishes 06:50 Food Network Challenge 07:35 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 08:00 Chopped 08:50 Guy’s Big Bite 09:15 Everyday Italian 09:40 Chef vs Britain 10:05 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 10:30 Paula’s Best Dishes 10:55 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 11:20 Kid In A Candy Store 11:45 Gourmet Farmer 12:10 Unwrapped 12:35 Paula’s Party 13:25 Everyday Italian 13:50 Paula’s Best Dishes 14:15 World Cafe Asia 14:40 Luke Nguyen’s Vietnam 15:05 Food Network Challenge 15:55 Unwrapped 16:20 Good Eats - Special 16:45 Chopped 17:35 Guy’s Big Bite 18:00 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 18:25 Kid In A Candy Store 18:50 Unique Sweets 19:15 Gourmet Farmer 19:40 World Cafe Asia

00:20 Special Agent Oso 00:50 Jungle Junction 01:15 Little Einsteins 01:40 Higglytown Heroes 02:10 Jo Jo’S Circus 02:30 Special Agent Oso 03:00 Jungle Junction 03:25 Little Einsteins 03:50 Higglytown Heroes 04:20 Jo Jo’S Circus 04:40 Special Agent Oso 05:10 Jungle Junction 05:35 Little Einsteins 06:00 Higglytown Heroes 06:30 Jo Jo’S Circus 06:50 Jungle Junction 07:15 Higglytown Heroes 07:45 Handy Manny 08:00 Special Agent Oso 08:15 Jungle Junction 08:45 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 09:10 The Hive 09:20 Handy Manny 09:35 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 10:05 The Hive 10:15 Mini Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 10:25 Timon And Pumbaa 10:45 The Hive 10:55 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 11:15 The Little Mermaid 11:45 Little Einsteins 12:10 Imagination Movers 12:30 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 12:45 Lazytown 13:10 Handy Manny 13:25 Jungle Junction 13:40 Imagination Movers 14:05 The Hive 14:15 Special Agent Oso 14:25 Lazytown

14:50 15:15 15:40 16:05 16:30 16:40 16:55 17:20 17:45 18:00 18:20 18:30 18:55 19:25 19:50 20:05 20:25 20:40 20:50 21:20 21:30 21:55 22:20 22:35 22:50 23:15 23:25

Lazytown Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Jake & The Neverland Pirates Handy Manny The Hive Jake & The Neverland Pirates Imagination Movers Lazytown Jungle Junction The Hive Handy Manny Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Jake & The Neverland Pirates The Little Mermaid Special Agent Oso Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Jungle Junction The Hive Jake & The Neverland Pirates The Hive Imagination Movers Little Einsteins Jake & The Neverland Pirates Jungle Junction Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Timmy Time Handy Manny

00:25 Style Star 01:25 25 Celebrity Near Death Experiences 03:15 E! Investigates 04:10 Sexiest 05:05 Reality Hell 05:30 Wildest TV Show Moments 06:00 40 Smokin’ On Set Hookups 07:50 Behind The Scenes 08:20 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 10:15 THS 12:05 Style Star 12:35 Fashion Police 13:05 Dirty Soap 14:05 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 14:35 Dirty Soap 22:25 The Soup 22:55 Fashion Police 23:25 Chelsea Lately 23:55 Keeping Up With The Kardashians

00:00 Cowboy U 00:50 Aiya TV 02:30 Ed’s Up 03:20 Untracked 05:50 Lucas Oil AMA Motocross Championships...

07:30 Ride Guide Snow 2009 08:30 Ride Guide Mountainbike 2009 09:00 Tread BMX 09:25 UCI Nissan Mountainbike World Cup 2008 09:50 UCI Nissan Mountainbike World Cup 2008 10:15 United By Fate 11:30 Slovaki: A True Movie About...

11:55 Glutton For Punishment 12:45 Fantasy Factory 13:35 Dragrace High 14:25 Mantracker 15:15 World Combat League 16:05 Glutton For Punishment 16:55 Fantasy Factory 17:20 Fantasy Factory 17:45 Tread BMX 18:10 UCI Nissan Mountainbike World Cup 2008 19:00 United By Fate 20:15 Slovaki: A True Movie About...

20:40 Mantracker 21:30 Dragrace High

00:40 Couples Who Kill 01:30 True CSI 02:15 Nightmare Next Door 03:05 I Faked My Own Death 03:50 Couples Who Kill 04:40 True CSI 05:25 On The Case With Paula Zahn 06:15 Disappeared 07:10 Life Or Death: Medical Mysteries 08:00 FBI Files 08:50 Forensic Detectives 09:40 Fugitive Strike Force 10:25 Mystery Diagnosis 11:10 Real Emergency Calls 11:35 Who On Earth Did I Marry?

11:55 True Crime With Aphrodite Jones 12:40 Disappeared 13:25 Fugitive Strike Force 14:15 Mystery Diagnosis 15:00 Real Emergency Calls 15:25 Who On Earth Did I Marry?

15:50 True Crime With Aphrodite Jones 16:35 Disappeared 17:20 FBI Files 18:10 Forensic Detectives 19:00 Fugitive Strike Force 19:45 Real Emergency Calls 20:10 Mystery Diagnosis 20:55 Who On Earth Did I Marry?

21:20 True Crime With Aphrodite

00:00 Travel Madness 00:30 Latin America On A Motorcycle 01:00 Food Lover’s Guide To The Planet 02:00 Exploring The Vine 03:00 Word of Mouth 03:30 Banged Up Abroad 05:30 Destination Extreme 06:00 Travel Madness 06:30 Latin America On A Motorcycle 07:00 Food Lover’s Guide To The Planet 08:00 Exploring The Vine 09:00 Word of Mouth 09:30 Banged Up Abroad 11:30 Destination Extreme 12:00 Travel Madness 12:30 Latin America On A Motorcycle 13:00 Banged Up Abroad 15:00 Eccentric Uk 15:30 Deadliest Journeys 16:00 Ultimate Traveller 17:00 Long Way Down 18:00 Racing To America 19:00 Banged Up Abroad 21:00 Eccentric Uk 21:30 Deadliest Journeys 22:00 Ultimate Traveller

BLOOD AND BONE ON OSN ACTION HD 20:00 American Virgin-PG15 22:00 Le Donk & Scor-zay-zee-PG15 00:00 02:00 04:00 06:00 08:00 10:00 11:30 13:15 15:15 18:30 20:15 22:00

Lost Boys: The Thirst-18 Case 39-18 Blood Out-18 I, Robot-PG15 Rocky-PG15 Fast Lane-PG15 Dick Tracy-PG15 Rocky-PG15 Spartacus-PG15 Dick Tracy-PG15 Blood And Bone-18 Salt-PG15

01:00 03:00 04:45 PG15 06:45 09:00 11:00 12:45 14:45 17:00 19:00 21:00 23:00

The Maiden Heist-PG15 True Story Of Puss’n Boots-PG The LXD: Secrets Of The RaAttack On Leningrad-PG15 Ramona And Beezus-PG True Story Of Puss’n Boots-PG Emotional Arithmetic-PG15 Flash Of Genius-PG15 Leap Year-PG15 Takers-PG15 Tyrannosaur-PG15 Mars Needs Moms-PG

00:00 Curb Your Enthusiasm 00:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 01:00 The Colbert Report 01:30 Saturday Night Live 02:30 The Cleveland Show 03:00 Friends 03:30 Friends 04:00 Will And Grace 04:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 05:30 Seinfeld 06:00 Two And A Half Men 06:30 Melissa And Joey 07:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 08:00 Will And Grace 08:30 Friends 09:00 Seinfeld 09:30 How I Met Your Mother 10:00 State Of Georgia 10:30 Melissa And Joey 11:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 12:00 Two And A Half Men 12:30 Will And Grace 13:00 Friends 13:30 Seinfeld 14:00 Melissa And Joey 14:30 State Of Georgia 15:00 How I Met Your Mother 15:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 16:00 The Colbert Report 16:30 Happy Endings 17:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 18:00 Friends 18:30 Friends 19:00 How I Met Your Mother 19:30 Traffic Light 20:00 Mad Love 20:30 Curb Your Enthusiasm

01:00 Dare-18 03:00 Beethoven Saves ChristmasPG15 05:00 How The Grinch Stole Christmas-PG15 07:00 A Christmas Carol-PG 09:00 Charlie St. Cloud-PG15 11:00 Tangled-FAM 13:00 Glitter-PG15 15:00 Knucklehead-PG15 17:00 Charlie St. Cloud-PG15 19:00 Perrier’s Bounty-18 21:00 Tyrannosaur-PG15 23:00 American Virgin-PG15v

00:00 Hua Mulan-PG 02:00 Beethoven Saves ChristmasPG15 04:00 A Christmas Carol-PG 06:00 Winner & The Gold Child: Part I-PG15 08:00 How The Grinch Stole Christmas-PG15 10:00 Big Fat Liar-PG 12:00 The Thief Of Baghdad-PG 13:45 Hua Mulan-PG 16:00 Quest For Zhu-PG15 18:00 Big Fat Liar-PG 20:00 Like Mike-PG

02:30 09:30 10:00 11:00 13:00 20:00 23:00

Live Test Cricket Powerboats F1 WWE Bottom Line Scottish Premier League Test Cricket UFC 137 WWE SmackDown

01:30 Futbol Mundial 02:00 ICC Cricket World 02:30 Live Test Cricket 10:00 World Cup of Pool 11:00 World Pool Masters 12:00 Ping Pong World Championship 13:00 Cricket Test Match 20:00 World Hockey 20:30 Live Pro 12 Celtic League 22:45 Live Pro 12 Celtic League

00:00 The US PGA Championship Official Film 01:00 European Tour Weekly Review 02:00 Pool Mosconi Cup 07:00 Golfing World 08:00 Darts PDC World Championship 12:00 Pool Mosconi Cup 17:00 Scottish Premier League 19:00 Golfing World 20:00 Darts PDC World Championship

01:00 03:00 05:00 07:00 09:00 11:00 12:30 15:30 17:30 19:15 21:00 23:00

Talento De Barrio-PG15 Julia’s Eyes-18 Carrie-18 Rocky IV-PG15 The Next Karate Kid-PG No Time To Fear-PG15 The Postman-PG15 The Next Karate Kid-PG Ong Bak 2-PG15 Zombieland-18 Salt-PG15 Splinter-18

00:30 02:30 04:30 06:00 08:00 10:00 12:00 PG15 14:00 16:00 18:00

Bandslam-PG15 Bob Roberts-PG15 Stuart Little 2-FAM Heart And Souls-PG Miami Rhapsody-PG15 One Hot Summer-PG15 A Pyromaniac’s Love Story- 00:00 01:00 The Lizzie McGuire Movie-PG 02:00 Bandslam-PG15 03:00 Jack Goes Boating-PG15 03:30

00:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 23:00

WWE SmackDown WWE NXT WWE Vintage Collection The Ultimate Fighter 14 Finale WWE Bottom Line WWE Tough Enough Speedway FIM World Intercontinental Le Mans Cup V8 Supercars Championship WWE NXT WWE Tough Enough Intercontinental Le Mans Cup V8 Supercars Championship Speedway UFC 141 Countdown UFC 136 WWE SmackDown

Ancient Discoveries Ancient Discoveries American Pickers Pawn Stars American Restoration

04:00 06:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 09:30 10:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 15:30 16:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

The Real Face Of Jesus?

Ancient Discoveries Ancient Discoveries American Pickers Pawn Stars American Restoration The Real Face Of Jesus?

Ancient Discoveries Ancient Discoveries American Pickers Pawn Stars American Restoration The Real Face Of Jesus?

Ancient Discoveries Ancient Discoveries How The Earth Was Made Ice Road Truckers Ice Road Truckers Ax Men

00:05 01:00 02:00 02:55 03:25 04:20 05:15 06:10 06:35 07:05 08:00 09:00 10:00 10:25 10:55 11:50 12:50 20:25 21:20 22:15 22:40 23:10

Glam Fairy Open House Videofashion Daily Videofashion News How Do I Look?

Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?

Married Away Homes With Style Area Clean House Videofashion News Videofashion Daily Open House Open House How Do I Look?

Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?

Jerseylicious Open House Clean House: New York Elements Of Style Elements Of Style Kimora: Life In The Fab Lane

01:20 03:10 04:45 06:20 07:50 09:25 11:00 12:35 14:10 15:40 17:10 18:40 20:30 22:00 23:25 23:40

My Sweet After Dark The January Man-PG The Boost Finding The Way Home-PG Dirty Dozen: Fatal Mission-PG Double Deception The Secret Invasion-PG Arena-PG Awake To Danger-PG Valdez Is Coming-PG Book Of Days-PG The Perez Family-PG Mary Christmas-PG The Glory Stompers-PG Mgm’s Big Screen-FAM The Curse

00:00 Globe Trekker 01:00 Wild Camping 02:00 Third Class Traveller 03:00 Cruising The South China Sea 04:00 Inside Luxury Travel-Varun Sharma 05:00 Globe Trekker 09:00 Intrepid Journeys 10:00 Rivers Of The World 11:00 Floyd Uncorked 11:30 Glutton For Punishment 12:00 Top Travel 13:00 Globe Trekker 14:00 Planet Food 15:00 Wild Camping 16:00 Cruise Today 16:30 Travel Today 17:00 Globe Trekker 18:00 Top Travel 19:00 Planet Food 20:00 Globe Trekker 22:00 Rivers Of The World 23:00 Going South 23:30 Essential

01:00 02:00 08:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00

VH1 Rocks VH1 Music Aerobic VH1 Pop Chart VH1 Hits Top 10 Music For The Masses VH1 Pop Chart

Classifieds MONDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2011

ACCOMMODATION Spacious single room attached with wardrobe available for executive Indian bachelor or couple, C-A/C flat in Kuwait City.

Contact: 65707726.

(C 3798) 26-12-2011

Airlines JZR PIA KLM JZR JZR ETH ETH THY UAE QTR DHX MSR FDB ETD GFA DHX FAH JZR JZR BAW KAC KAC FDB KAC KAC KAC UAE ABY QTR ETD GFA KAC RBG JZR RKM MEA IRC MSR MSR SYR FDB UAL OMA QTR KNE SVA RJA KAC JZR KAC KAC QTR JZR ETD KAC UAE GFA SVA RBG ABY ALK JZR FDB KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC AIC KAC KAC FDB JAI MSR DHX GRF MEA GFA QTR UAE JZR KLM TAR UAL BBC DLH PIA

Arrival Flights on Monday 26/12/2011 Flt Route 185 DUBAI 205 LAHORE 447 AMSTERDAM/BAHRAIN 267 BEIRUT 539 CAIRO 2620 ADDIS ABABA 620 ADDIS ABABA 772 ISTANBUL 853 DUBAI 138 DOHA 370 BAHRAIN 612 CAIRO 67 DUBAI 305 ABU DHABI 211 BAHRAIN 170 BAHRAIN 201 DUBAI 503 LUXOR 555 ALEXANDRIA 157 LONDON 412 MANILA/BANGKOK 206 ISLAMABAD 53 DUBAI 352 COCHIN 302 MUMBAI 362 COLOMBO 855 DUBAI 125 SHARJAH 132 DOHA 301 ABU DHABI 213 BAHRAIN 344 CHENNAI 3555 ALEXANDRIA 165 DUBAI 310 RAS ALKHAIMAH 404 BEIRUT 6521 LAMERD 623 SOHAG 610 CAIRO 341 DAMASCUS 57 DUBAI 982 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 645 MUSCAT 140 DOHA 745 JEDDAH 500 JEDDAH 640 AMMAN 284 DHAKA 257 BEIRUT 550 SOHAG 546 ALEXANDRIA 134 DOHA 535 CAIRO 303 ABU DHABI 118 NEW YORK 857 DUBAI 215 BAHRAIN 510 RIYADH 3557 SOHAG 127 SHARJAH 227 COLOMBO/DUBAI 177 DUBAI 63 DUBAI 542 CAIRO 786 JEDDAH 618 DOHA 744 DAMMAM 674 DUBAI 975 CHENNAI/GOA 104 LONDON 774 RIYADH 61 DUBAI 572 MUMBAI 618 ALEXANDRIA 372 BAHRAIN 81 BAGHDAD 402 BEIRUT 217 BAHRAIN 136 DOHA 859 DUBAI 135 BAHRAIN 445 AMSTERDAM 327 TUNIS 981 BAHRAIN 43 DHAKA 636 FRANKFURT 239 SIALKOT

Departure Flights on Monday 26/12/2011 Time 0:20 0:25 0:30 0:45 0:50 1:15 1:45 2:15 2:35 2:40 2:55 3:00 3:05 3:10 3:15 5:15 5:30 5:55 6:00 6:40 6:45 7:40 7:45 7:50 7:55 8:20 8:30 9:00 9:05 9:15 9:55 10:35 10:45 11:20 11:45 11:55 12:00 12:30 12:55 13:45 13:50 14:05 14:15 14:20 14:25 14:30 14:40 15:00 15:00 15:15 15:20 15:25 16:25 16:50 16:55 16:55 17:15 17:20 17:35 17:40 18:00 18:15 18:40 18:50 19:10 19:15 19:25 19:25 19:30 19:35 19:40 20:00 20:10 20:45 21:00 21:15 21:20 21:25 21:35 21:40 21:55 22:05 22:35 23:00 23:45 23:50 23:55

Airlines

Flt

Route

Time

UAL

981

WASHINGTON DC DULLES

0:45

AXB

390

MANGALORE/KOZHIKODE

0:50

AIC

982

AHMEDABAD/HYDERABAD

1:05

PIA

206

PESHAWER/LAHORE

1:25

KLM

447

AMSTERDAM

1:45

ETH

2621 ADDIS ABABA

2:15

KAC

283

DHAKA

2:40

ETH

621

ADDIS ABABA

2:45

THY

773

ISTANBUL

3:15

FDB

68

DUBAI

3:45

UAE

854

DUBAI

3:50

DHX

371

BAHRAIN

3:55

MSR

613

CAIRO

4:00

ETD

306

ABU DHABI

4:00

QTR

139

DOHA

4:55

JZR

164

DUBAI

6:55

GFA

212

BAHRAIN

7:00

FDB

54

DUBAI

8:25

KAC

545

ALEXANDRIA

8:30

BAW

156

LONDON

8:40

KAC

549

SOHAG

8:55

JZR

256

BEIRUT

9:00

JZR

534

CAIRO

9:15

UAE

856

DUBAI

9:40

ABY

126

SHARJAH

9:45

ETD

302

ABU DHABI

10:00

QTR

133

DOHA

10:10

GFA

214

BAHRAIN

10:40

RBG

3558 SOHAG

KAC

165

ROME/PARIS

11:45

KAC

541

CAIRO

12:00

KAC

103

LONDON

12:30

RKM

311

RAS ALKHAIMAH

12:50

MEA

405

BEIRUT

12:55

IRC

6522 LAMERD

11:25

13:00

MSR

624

SOHAG

13:30

KAC

785

JEDDAH

13:40

JZR

176

DUBAI

13:50

MSR

611

CAIRO

13:55

FDB

58

DUBAI

14:35

SYR

342

DAMASCUS

14:45

KAC

673

DUBAI

15:05

KAC

673

DUBAI

15:05

KNE

746

JEDDAH

15:10

OMA

646

MUSCAT

15:15 15:20

UAL

982

BAHRAIN

RJA

641

AMMAN

15:35

SVA

501

JEDDAH

15:45

KAC

617

DOHA

15:55

KAC

773

RIYADH

16:25

QTR

141

DOHA

16:30

KAC

743

DAMMAM

16:40

ETD

304

ABU DHABI

17:35

JZR

538

CAIRO

17:40

QTR

135

DOHA

17:45

VOS

82

BAGHDAD

18:00

UAE

858

DUBAI

18:10

GFA

216

BAHRAIN

18:15

RBG

3556 ALEXANDRIA

18:20

ABY

128

SHARJAH

18:25

SVA

511

RIYADH

18:35

JZR

134

BAHRAIN

19:05

ALK

228

DUBAI/COLOMBO

19:10

FDB

64

DUBAI

19:20

JZR

184

DUBAI

19:55

FDB

62

DUBAI

20:40

DHX

171

BAHRAIN

21:00

KAC

331

TRIVANDRUM

21:00

KAC

351

COCHIN

21:05

JAI

571

MUMBAI

21:10

MSR

619

ALEXANDRIA

21:45 22:00

DHX

373

BAHRAIN

MEA

403

BEIRUT

22:20

GFA

218

BAHRAIN

22:25

FAH

102

DUBAI

22:30

QTR

137

DOHA

22:35

KAC

301

MUMBAI

22:45

JZR

554

ALEXANDRIA

22:45

UAE

860

DUBAI

22:50

KAC

205

ISLAMABAD

23:00

KLM

445

BAHRAIN/AMSTERDAM

23:05

TAR

327

DUBAI/TUNIS

23:35

JZR

528

ASSIUT

23:35

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

Sharing accommodation available in Abbassiya with Indian family separate room with separate bathroom available, preferred single or 2 working ladies or small family from India. Contact: 99509436.

(C 3795) One furnished room accommodation available for a decent Indian bachelor immediately in a CAC 2 bedroom flat with Indian family at Salmiya near Indian

Separate room with separate bathroom available in a flat with African family in Abu Halifa near round about, rent KD 75 for single working lady or couple. Call 66971502, 2371683, 90033641. (C 3793) 24-12-2011

LOST State Life Insurance Policy # 633000165 - Name: Maqsood Ali and Policy # 633001462 - 1471 Mumtaz Hussain has been lost.

Anybody found, please contact SLIC office No.: 2245208-9. (C 3794) 23-12-2011

SITUATION VACANT American family looking for live in maid. Contact: 50645422 / 66104141.

(C 3791) 22-12-2011

FOR SALE PC IBM Pentium 4, small size flat CPU, Intel 2.6GHz, HDD 80GB, Ram 512MB, DVD Writer, Windows XP Professional, 17” LCD, excellent condition. Contact: 99322585/ 99337034.

(C 3792) 22-12-2011

SITUATION WANTED

B.P.T; (India) M.Sc (UK) degree is looking for job.

Currently residing in Kuwait with 2 years Dependent Visa. Please call: 66330570.

(C 3797) 26-12-2011 Indian 26 years experiences in Accounts, Finance, Commercial sector. Can implement Accounts setup, Finalization of Accounts, control of department. Seeking suitable senior position. Contact: d.manabendra@yahoo.com / 66598202.

(C 3788) Palestinian having 6 years experiences in Accounts can handle Payroll, BRS, A/R, A/P, Financial Report. Contact: amoorree79@hotmail.com / 97901392.

(C 3789) 20-12-2011

Young girl, Physiotherapy

A new kind of job hunt Pound your computer keyboard instead of the pavement in search for employment

BY SCOTT POWERS Orlando Sentinel

resume on a variety, including the big, general job-search sites, ones that specialize in your profession and local communitybased sites.

“Exploit every angle you can,” Erwin said.

Register with the sites you are interested in, and post your resume.

Write online resumes to be clear, short and simple. Focus on quantifiable assets, such as, “I helped my team save this much,” Erwin suggested.

Borrow words and phrases, particularly references to specific skills, equipment, software or experiences, from the job posting that attracted you. Reuse those exact words and phrases in your resume. Employers that use screening software may be scanning resumes looking for those phrases as keywords.

Join, post your resume and profile on, and stay active on a variety of social-networking sites, especially those geared toward your profession and city or in interest groups that could support you.

“For the current circumstances with the economy, I feel that social networking is probably the No. 1 way to just get contacts and create relationships and get your name out there and make connections,” Wainey said.

But be careful.

If you already have personal pages created on social networks as MySpace or Facebook, clean them up. Get rid of those embarrassing party pictures and rude or crude references. Make the pages so you wouldn’t mind if prospective employers found them, because there’s a good chance they might.

“I know there are a lot of employers, large employers, very good employers who you would want to work for, who are going out and searching for these Web sites,” Wainey said.

This is not your father’s job hunt.

If you’re looking for a job, prepare to spend a lot of time sitting at a computer, searching help-wanted postings, filling out online applications, e-mailing resumes and cover letters — and networking.

From the store-based computer-application stations now in widespread use by major retailers such as Walmart and WinnDixie to software that allows companies to peruse professional social networking sites and electronically review resumes, many employers are turning to automated screening.

Big employers often get too many applicants to handle them all individually. Small employers often don’t have enough human-resources professionals, “and they just don’t have the time” to manually read everything, said Annette Wainey, president-elect of the Central Florida Human Resources Association and human-resources director for Reedy Creek Improvement District near Orlando.

Wainey said the electronic response has been necessary in part because of the crush of applications that the Internet makes possible. Perhaps because e-mailed resumes do not require postage, paper or much individualized effort, far too many appear to be sent, blanketing any and all possible employers.

When they look like they were sent in blindly and don’t focus on specific jobs, “a lot of those go directly into the ‘no’ pile,” she said.

The recession may accelerate employers’ use of electronic recruiting. CareerBuilder recently surveyed employers and found that one in five plans to increase Internet recruitment to reduce costs during the recession, said CareerBuilder senior career adviser Michael Erwin.

Erwin offers job seekers this advice: Don’t just consider Internet connections. Don’t WEB SITES YOU CAN USE forget career centers, newsThere are countless Internet sites run by government agencies, nonprofit paper classifieds, phone netorganizations and for-profit companies offering job banks, help-wanted ads, works, recruiters, job fairs, resume posting and many other job-search services. Some are general and and most importantly, some have specialties.

Here are a few: friends, family members CareerBuilder (CareerBuilder.com): An international help-wanted and colleagues. and job-wanted ads and jobs-service company.

Investigate all CareerOneStop (jobbankinfo.org): A national network of job banks Internet sites you can find sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor. that might help your job

Craigslist (craigslist.org): An online help-wanted and job-wanted search and post your ads.

EmploymentGuide (employmentguide.com): An international forprofit jobs-posting service.

JobCentral (jobcentral.com): A national jobs bank affiliated with local career centers.

Job-Hunt (job-hunt.org): A free online job-search guide.

Monster (monster.com): An international help-wanted and job-wanted ads and jobs-service company.

Senior Job Bank (seniorjobbank.org): Jobs postings and services specializing in workers age 50 or older.

Transition Assistance Online (taonline.com): Jobs postings and services specializing in military veterans.

Expand job search to other careers

BY SCOTT POWERS Orlando Sentinel

Don’t paddle off alone, there’s help available

BY SCOTT POWERS Orlando Sentinel

So you’ve lost your job — what do you do now?

Know what you’re entitled to and take advantage of every benefit you can.

That begins as soon as you leave your old job, said Jennifer Berman, a lawyer and managing director of CBIZ Human Capital Services, a Chicago-based firm.

“An employer is not required to do anything. There are various things an employer can do from a goodwill perspective, wanting to do the right thing, or a

corporate perspective, the marketing aspect to be known as having been a good employer through a difficult time,” Berman said.

1. When laid off, make sure you understand what benefits the company is offering: Many companies, partic-

ularly larger ones, offer such exit services as counseling, job-search coaching, resume review, interviewskills counseling and job banks, she said.

If you leave a company with 20 or more employees, you also have 60 days to decide to claim your health-insurance rights under the federal COBRA. That allows you to keep the same health-insurance coverage you had on the job, usually for as long as 18 months, but you have to pay the full premium yourself.

2. Immediately file for unemployment

benefits: Check with your state unemployment agency for details on how to file. Do not forget that there may be additional benefits available for families and children.

3. Start looking for a new job: Check out career centers in your area.

Many offer free assistance for workers and employers, with computers, work stations, seminars, coaching, job postings, resumé postings, job fairs, and assistance for training, welfare transition, child care and transportation concerns.

4. Consider a lesser job than you left, at least temporarily: “People are learning, or it might come from a reality check, that they might have to become more flexible in this market and accept a position that might pay less or have different benefits than they’re used to, or to look at their skills and how that might apply to a different industry,” said Kim Cornett, spokeswoman for WorkForce Central Florida.

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Out of work? Now is the time to consider switching careers.

You might not have any choice, if economics cost you your past job. But even if there are plenty of opportunities in your field, “this is really a great time for people to reassess themselves,” said Christy King, director of Seminole (Fla.) Community College’s career-development center.

“You may have a short-term decision to help pay bills, but you need to look at this as a great opportunity,” she said. “The recession will pass. You need to look at where you want to be five years down the road.”

Here’s what she and other counselors suggest people should do if they are considering a career change: First, figure out how you and your family will survive on savings, other income or stopgap jobs, and then lay out a plan that starts with that survival strategy.

Draw up detailed lists of your workplace assets, said Jim Ferruzzi, senior vice president with the human-resources consulting company Right Management. These include your past work experience, skills, talents, past accomplishments, tapped and untapped abilities and education. Rate your strengths and weaknesses.

Consider your interests, hobbies and activities, and your preferences for locations and work environments. Consider taking an interests or aptitudes assessment test, available through such companies as Birkman International, or counseling offices at colleges or trade schools.

Then, “Sit down with a cup of coffee and a pad of paper, or a computer, and say: What are my goals, all the way around? If I could design a perfect job for me, what would it have in it? What are the values most important to me?” said Gloria Bullman, a psychologist and executive with the international human-resources consulting firm BeamPines.

Use your own or the commercial assessment inventories to consider what you would enjoy.

“If you’re going to switch careers, switch to a career that you have a lot of enthusiasm for,” said Richard Bolles, author of “What Color Is Your Parachute?” a job hunters’ guide that focuses on career changes.

“Employers will be won over more by enthusiasm than experience. Nobody wants to hire someone who is competent but bored.”

Call people in the field you’re interested in and ask them about their jobs. Ask whether you might shadow them for a day.

If you need time for additional education or a new-job search, try to find a stopgap job that is at least in the general direction of your new career goals, so that you do not waste the experience entirely.

“The bottom line is we all do what we need to do to make ends meet to get by,” Ferruzzi said. Still, “a person should really consider what kinds of career choices they make, because you can end up in a career field that makes it more difficult for you.”

But don’t let your stopgap job last several years, Bolles cautioned. If you do, “you’re not using the gifts, and you start to feel miserable.”

34

MONDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2011

stars CROSSWORD 539

STAR TRACK

CALVIN & HOBBES

Aries (March 21-April 19) Understanding and being sensitive to the needs of others is a wonderful prerequisite to having a special time with someone you love. Great feelings are in the air and you should feel a super sense of support and harmony with all that you meet. Some will find you most persuasive and almost charismatic in speech and communication. Things are very natural for selfexpression and work particularly well with your particular ideas and thoughts.

Expect a good conversation with those that you love and care for the most. You may want to open up more to relatives, since this is an ideal time for gaining a good support system. Someone younger than yourself may look up to you for answers to questions that are important to them.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) This Monday you take some time to review some sort of revised contract or business deal before the workweek begins.

You find yourself filled with extra energy for making or planning improvements.

The motivation to improve areas of your life is strong. Be careful that you do not use all of your extra energy and become too aggressive, or you may find yourself putting people off—especially young folks. Finances and luck blend together today. Buy a lottery ticket this afternoon and take a chance. Though your nature may seem a bit on the quiet or reserved side, it should serve you well. You may find yourself being put to good use by your friends later today. Tonight you may spend a great deal of time preparing for the next holiday.

POOCH CAFE ACROSS 1. A short musical composition with words.

5. A Bantu language closely related to Zulu.

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

13. A secret society of white Southerners to resist Black emancipation.

14. Any of numerous plants of the genus Capparis.

15. A unit of conductance equal to the reciprocal of an ohm.

16. A manner of speaking that is natural to native speakers of a language.

18. Small beads made from polished shells and formerly used as money by native Americans.

19. A diagrammatic representation of the earth's surface (or part of it).

20. A member of the extinct Algonquian people formerly living in northern Indiana and southern Michigan.

21. A person who lacks confidence, is irresolute and wishy-washy.

23. A tricycle (usually propelled by pedalling).

26. A feeling of strong eagerness (usually in favor of a person or cause).

27. Showing self-interest and shrewdness in dealing with others.

28. The last (12th) month of the year.

31. A defensive missile designed to shoot down incoming intercontinental ballistic missiles.

34. Angular distance above the horizon (especially of a celestial object).

35. A radioactive element of the actinide series.

36. Cubes of meat marinated and cooked on a skewer usually with vegetables.

39. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey).

42. A Loloish language.

44. A rare silvery (usually trivalent) metallic element.

45. A city in east central Texas.

47. Late time of life.

48. A family of Sino-Tibetan languages spoken in southeastern Asia.

51. An imaginary elephant that appears in a series of French books for children.

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

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

56. Remove the tusks of animals.

59. Food mixtures either arranged on a plate or tossed and served with a moist dressing.

61. Concerning those not members of the clergy.

63. Aircraft landing in bad weather in which the pilot is talked down by ground control using precision approach radar.

64. Used of a single unit or thing.

65. The quarter of many North African cities in which the citadel is located.

67. A member of a Mayan people of southwestern Guatemala.

68. A plant hormone promoting elongation of stems and roots.

69. A protective structure of stone or concrete.

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

Gemini (May 21-June 20) Relationships with other people and refinement are two of the keys to find satisfaction now. Anything that is in harmony and beauty is very enjoyable to you—the lack of these two elements can be emotionally upsetting. You should find this a good time for getting in touch with your inner self—to truly understand who and what you are. You shouldn’t be disappointed in what you discover and should find your emotions in particular, or the feelings of those around you, very clear. This is a very nice time. Taking in a movie or reading a good book will please you a great deal—as it may be a good way to allow yourself to escape from day-today realities. Everyone needs a well-deserved break to rejuvenate and recharge the emotional batteries.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

NON SEQUITUR

Your creative and intuitive talents are what may be leading you today. Some may see you as a bit eccentric because of your rather unique approach to things. Good nutrition is something you embody and teach. You may find yourself feeding some good alternatives to fast food products to the young people in your family. All-in-all, you should benefit from whatever activities are at hand. New solutions or something very inventive is due to develop. Later today, you should enjoy some form of entertainment with others. You find some time to combine your efforts with others to complete some type of family project. Stay away from games of chance. Tonight there is just enough time to organize your mind or self for the busy week ahead.

Leo (July 23-August 22) Career decisions will be coming up this next week and you may want to spend some time in talking with friends or family members about what to expect with the choices you might want to make. This is a time when you may choose to wave your holiday time and push the limit in your professional field. You want to be the best you can possibly be. This may also mean that it is time to make plans to put in your name for a job change that you have been thinking about for some time. You do not settle for something simply because it could make you money; there are many more aspects to be considered as far as you are concerned.

You must feel right about it at the gut level, or you know it is not right for you. Let your conscience be your guide.

ZITS

Virgo (August 23-September 22) Those around you may see you as especially witty and eccentric at this time. You may find some new answers to old questions or have breakthroughs in regard to your living situation or life’s state of affairs. Others appreciate and admire your independence and unique qualities. You may find that you are more organized than before—able to reach new levels of self-discipline. This is a good day for ideas and planning. Someone may come to you for your understanding. This can be a smooth time during which events seem to arrange themselves to your advantage. Many different individuals agree to pull together to accomplish a common goal this day. This may be a vacation, a family business or a weekend campout. Relationships are highlighted tonight.

Libra (September 23-October 22) DOWN 1. Work hastily or carelessly.

2. A song that was formerly popular.

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

4. Relating to or containing gnomes.

5. Being ten more than eighty.

6. An accidental happening.

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

8. Having the surface burned quickly with intense heat.

9. A sock knitted or woven with a diamond-shaped pattern.

10. The capital and largest city of Jordan.

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

12. Forming viscous or glutinous threads.

17. Any of various minerals consisting of hydrous silicates of aluminum or potassium etc. that crystallize in forms that allow perfect cleavage into very thin leaves.

22. An indehiscent fruit derived from a single ovary having one or many seeds within a fleshy wall or pericarp.

24. How long something has existed.

25. A rule made by a local authority to regulate its own affairs.

29. Tropical woody herb with showy yellow flowers and flat pods.

30. Any of a number of fishes of the family Carangidae.

32. A light strong brittle gray toxic bivalent metallic element.

33. A unit of information equal to one million (1,048,576) bytes.

37. Small terrestrial lizard of warm regions of the Old World.

38. The Tibeto-Burman language spoken in the Dali region of Yunnan.

40. Light informal conversation for social occasions.

41. An early French settler in the Maritimes.

43. Preaching the gospel of Christ in the manner of the early church.

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

46. The wood of an African obeche tree.

49. A city in southern Turkey on the Seyhan River.

50. Indigo bush.

52. A highly unstable radioactive element (the heaviest of the halogen series).

55. In addition.

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

58. God of love and erotic desire.

60. 10 grams.

62. Make amends for.

66. A colorless and odorless inert gas.

MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) You feel inspired about a personal project and may find the urge to shop quite tempting. Perhaps you have attempted an art project or you decided to begin a building project—perhaps additional storage units in your home. If you have your vacation now or your work has closed until the new year begins, this is, indeed a good time to paint, build or in general just enjoy catching up on those things you had previously put aside. This is a time when you can put your practical insights into words. Communication is enhanced. You can expect a sense of support from those around you. You may find it easy to bring a group together with words or ideas that move others. This may mean some community or neighborhood get-together.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) There are plenty of personal chores to be done today and you swing into action without hesitation. You may find your work moving along faster when you promise a movie or some other form of entertainment to those that pitch in and help. There is talk of school and continued education. Before you know it you may be planning a shopping trip for new school clothes. You will be getting some psychic insights; recognize them for what they are and write them down each time they come to you. This will allow you to have a reference for later in comparing what occurs to what you envisioned. You will soon be able to find the connection to your psychic insights. Early evening brings about time to fulfill your promise—a movie is fun and upbeat.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19)

To

Yesterday’s Solution

This will be the kind of a day that we all long for, easy going and calm—with everything running smoothly. Ideas and interaction with authority figures or older people may have your attention. Working with the flow of activity should not be hard to do. There could be some circumstances that force you to reorganize and be more frugal—or you may find yourself being put to good use by your friends. This should all work out to your benefit. Your more reticent qualities are apparent and should be valuable. The day may not be totally without challenges, but your wittiness is just what is needed. Additionally, this is a time when your powers of creativity are strong. Home is likely to be the center of activities this evening. You will enjoy having guests.

You may be able to converse with an elder member of your family this morning. Where there may have been some difficulty in the past, a new understanding is now possible. Understanding others and spending time to lend a helping hand is commendable and endears you to many. Everything conspires to reveal you at your most elegant, particularly in social encounters. Thank you notes and letters to friends occupy some of your time this afternoon. You also give some thought to trying your hand at writing a story. You want to put story to paper and try your hand at being published. Whatever the subject, get started! Perhaps some sort of outline could be the first step toward writing at this time. A college writing course might be considered.

Yesterday’s Solution Yester

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) You may be working especially hard to get things and people organized as a sense of ambition and achievement takes hold. Work, accomplishment and ambition are all things that mean a lot to you now. Projects or the recent quandaries in the workplace may come to your mind. New ideas could come together and present future possibilities. This is a good time to make lists, plan and create a presentation for next year. This day ends on a hopeful note. There is also recognition for some of your creative ideas. Your friends have three important roles to play in your life: fun, support and harmony. Pay attention to your friends, they can launch you toward new spiritual awareness or artistic expression. Charm and romance are strong tonight.

Pisces (February 19-March 20)

Word Sleuth Solution

You will enjoy this time immensely. You will be jumping from one project to another. New opportunities are opening and this is a good time to secure them for yourself. In doing this, you probably will find that you spend a huge amount of effort and energy trying to balance all of your commitments.

People look at you for answers and guidance and you are pleased with the end results.

At this time, you may have to take on more responsibilities in the home and you may want to open up more to relatives; this is an ideal time for strong support. There are open channels of communication between you and your friends and colleagues.

Using your time and energy effectively now will pay dividends later, bringing good times to everyone.

y

A

36

e niv rsar n

Years

MONDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2011

lifestyle G O S S I P

Gaga to appear on Japan New Year’s music show merican pop diva Lady Gaga will appear via videolink on a popular Japanese music competition on New Year’s Eve, public broadcaster NHK said. The eccentric star’s appearance on “Kohaku Uta Gassen”, an annual singing competition between male and female entertainers, will including her singing and delivering encouraging messages over Japan’s devastating March 11 earthquake and tsunami, the broadcaster said on Saturday. The quake-tsunami

Paltrow cries when she eats pancakes

he 39-year-old actress always loved the breakfast food cooked by her late father Bruce Paltrow but admits tucking in even now makes her feel emotional.

Asked which of her dad’s recipes mean most to her, she said: “His barbecued salmon with ginger and thyme and his ‘world-famous’ pancakes. “It is hard for me to eat them because I keep expecting him to walk into the kitchen when I do. I make them ver y rarely and I cr y every time. They are the essence of him in a food.” Gwyneth - who has children Apple, seven, and five-year-

T

old Moses with her husband, Coldplay singer Chris Martin - thinks she is a “very traditional” wife who thinks her main responsibility is to her family. She told the Metro newspaper: “I am very traditional in a 1950s housewife way; cooking, making sure everyone’s fed and everything’s in order. I think that a wife has a responsibility to make a home and protect the family. “I also believe that a wife should be able to do whatever she wants and work if she wants. My mother was a less traditional wife than me. She worked to support the family.”

Cowell ‘ doesn’ t believe’ in cosmetic surgery T

Cole has accepted figure

he 52-year-old music mogul insists working out and watching his diet are key to his youthful looks, with drinking ginger tea “all day long” a particularly important part of his health regime. Asked if he had ever undergone procedures such as Botox injections, he said: “ Not at all, none. I don’t believe in all that.

Eating is the most important thing. I feel OK at the moment, I work out two or three times a week, doing my push-ups. And I drink ginger tea all day long, which is amazing.” Simon’s friend and ‘X Factor’ co-judge Paula Abdul claims Simon’s secret to youth is a series of beauty products. She told ‘Access Hollywood’: “He has more products than I do. But I take his advice because he looks good.”

Simon recently revealed he does 500 push-ups as part of his daily routine.

He said: “I’ll do 500 push-ups in a day religiously, and if I can I like to have a workout. Then I have a steam and a bath but I always have breakfast in

Cruise splashes out for Suri

A

Gere to receive

George Eastman Award ichard Gere is getting a George Eastman Award in upstate New York for his contributions to movies and humanitarian causes. The star of such films as “An Officer and a Gentleman” and “Pretty Woman” will be honored Feb 16 during a ceremony at Rochester’s George Eastman House, the restored home of the founder of photography pioneer Eastman Kodak Co, according to the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle newspaper. Gere has appeared in more than 40 films. In 1991, he founded the Gere Foundation, which gives grants for public health, education and emergency relief in Tibet. He has long been prominent in the fight against HIV-AIDS. Past recipients of the George Eastman Award include Lauren Bacall, Martin Scorsese and Meryl Streep.

R

om Cruise has splashed out $5,000 renting an ice skating rink for his daughter. The Hollywood actor and wife Katie Holmes reportedly hired out the VIP-style Igloo warm-up area at New York’s Rockefeller Center for the whole winter season in order for fiveyear-old Suri to hone her skating skills. A source told the New York Daily News: “Tom rented it for an entire session so no one else could use it.” The 49-yearold star - who has been promoting his latest movie ‘Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol’ in New York - snubbed the venue’s refreshments and catered themselves with calorific treats for his daugh-

T

ter. Instead of the standard food and drink offerings from the ice skating rink - which charges $75 for an hour-and-ahalf session - Tom had hot chocolate from New York restaurant Serendipity 3 and sweets from confectionery store Jacques Torres ordered in “especially for Suri”. But Tom - who also has two adopted children, Isabella, 19, and 15-year-old Connor from his marriage to Nicole Kidman - needs no assistance when it comes to purchasing presents for his family because he likes all of his gifts to be personal. He recently explained: “We go out and get them. We go to the shops.”

bed. “A workday starts around 1 or 2 in the afternoon. I have a weird routine. I’ll have a massage and then I’ll have four or five beers ice cold. Then I’ll carry on until 4 or 5 in the morning and that kind of keeps me awake.”

heryl Cole has accepted the fact she will never have a supermodel’s figure. The ‘Fight for This Love’ singer is regularly voted one of the world’s sexiest women but she says she will never be blessed with the figure and height of someone like Gisele Bundchen. She said: “We all want to look like Gisele and look good in those sparkly leggings and then we wear them and don’t look good in them because that’s Gisele’s shape. We have to accept - well I have to accept - that I’m never going to be 6ft 2in. When you do that and start to dress for yourself and wear what makes you feel good, then you start to feel comfortable. It’s important to figure that out.” Cheryl, 28, recently said she learnt the “hard way” with her fashion choices and has now accepted what suits her and what doesn’t. She said: “It’s hard to know how to dress sometimes. I learnt the hard way that, just because something looks nice on someone else, it doesn’t mean it’ll work for your height, size and figure. I tried and failed miserably in my teenage years, but now I know to take things as inspiration and adapt them to work for me.” — BangShowbiz

C

Madonna wanted ‘to soak up’ energy of king adonna surrounded herself with pictures of King Edward VIII when she worked on ‘W.E.’ to “soak up” his energy. The pop superstar spent two years researching the lives of the British monarch and his lover Wallis Simpson, for the film she has directed. Madonna wallpapered an empty room in her house with images of the pair because she wanted to fully immerse herself in the couple’s love story, which led to the British monarch abdicating the throne in December 1936 after being told he couldn’t marry the American divorcee by the Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin and the Church of England. In an interview with the Daily Telegraph newspaper, the ‘Hung Up’ singer said: “I was sitting in a room that was completely and utterly inundated with their images so I could soak up their energy. I was trying to understand the nature of their love story and trying to figure out for myself if

M

catastrophe killed about 20,000 people on Japan’s nor theast coast and sparked the world’s worst nuclear accident since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, leading to a plunge in visitors to the country. The songstress visited Japan twice after the disaster and called on tourists from around the world to follow suit, and attended events to support reconstruction of disaster-hit areas. A song and message from the singer will be recorded shortly before the show, NHK said.

there is such a thing as per fect love.”

Madonna admits she became enthralled with the couple’s romance because Edward was prepared to sacrifice his position and power for the woman he loved. The 53-yearold star - who has four children, daughter Lourdes, 15, with fitness trainer Carlos Leon, sons Rocco, 11, and David, six, with ex-husband Guy Ritchie, and adopted girl Mercy, five - is currently in a relationship with French break-dancer Brahim Zaibat, and she insists she knows what it means to be truly loved by a man. Madonna - who was also married to Sean Penn - explained: “I know what it feels like to be loved a lot, but no one’s ever given up their kingdom for me.”

‘W.E.’ - which is released in January - is a twotier tale about the life of King Edward and his wife Wallis and a modern-day woman called Wally Winthrop who becomes obsessed with the couple’s relationship.

Pink fully embraces Christmas spirit P

ink has forked out $5,000 to save a puppy’s life. The ‘Raise Your Glass’ hitmaker who has a six-month-old daughter Willow with her husband Carey Hart - splashed out on emergency life-saving surgery for the mystery pooch which had been left for dead after being thrown in a Los Angeles river.

According to gossip website TMZ.com, sources revealed the puppy had suffered three broken legs as a result of the incident, but Pink got in contact with the Ace of Hearts animal rescue organization and offered to pay for the canine’s medical expenses after reading about it on the internet. The dog’s operation was successful and it has now been adopted by a loving family. Meanwhile, Pink has fully embraced the Christmas spirit and admits she has been much more successful buying presents for her friends and family this year compared to 2010. She wrote on twitter: “I hope every1 out there gets a big hug and feels super duper special at least 3 x this holiday. even if it’s from a stranger. hugs r healthy “when I am having a good year for xmas presents, no one can touch me! And this year I was inspired!!!! last year I sucked. (sic)”

MONDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2011

lifestyle T R A V E L

Brick Lane, once an industrial artery, later a stronghold of Bangladeshi immigrants and now a favored haunt of bohemians and creative types, fills with shoppers and browsers on Sundays.

Getting to, in and around the Games Y

ou yawned at the royal wedding in April. You were happy to miss the riots in August. But you’re determined to be a part of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. This means either making a 260foot discus throw, pronto, or studying up fast on the ticket, transport and hotel situation. The Games are July 27-Aug 12. The Paralympic Games follow, Aug 29-Sept 9.

The hub of the action is Stratford, about eight miles northeast of Big Ben and central London (and not to be confused with the Shakespearean tourist town of StratfordUpon-Avon). When I visited in February, work was well along, and the area was crawling with heavy equipment. By the end of July, officials said construction had been completed on all six major venues in the new 500-acre Olympic Park: an 80,000-seat Olympic Stadium, an aquatics center, a velodrome, a handball arena, a basketball arena and a broadcast center. The park’s Athletes’ Village will house about 17,000 competitors and officials.

Many of the 302 events (in 34 venues) will take place at familiar London-area landmarks: soccer at Wembley Stadium, tennis at Wimbledon, archery at Lord’s Cricket Ground, road cycling in Regent’s Park and latter-round basketball at North Greenwich Arena. For details on just about every aspect of the Games, go to www.london2012.com.

During the Games, officials say they expect as many as 200,000 visitors a day within Olympic Park. Between events, many will head next door to the vast Westfield Stratford City mall, which opened Sept 13 with 1.9-million square feet of retail space, a casino, bowling, a 17-screen cinema and two hotels. Overall, tourism officials say Britain, which had about 30 million international visitors in 2010, is likely to draw an extra 900,000 or so in 2012 because of the Olympics.

Getting there: It’s not just the Olympics that make this a tough airfare; it’s the usual summer jump in prices. A Nov 23 search for LAX-London (any airport) on the British Airways website showed the lowest available round-trip fare (taxes included) at $1,418 for a June 26 flight (returning a week later); $1,478 for a July 26 flight; and $1,107 for an Aug. 26 flight. On the Virgin Atlantic Airways site, the numbers were $1,438 for June 26; $1,584 for July 26; and $1,057 for Aug. 26.

Getting in: There are said to be 8.8 million Olympics tickets and 2 million more for the Paralympics, but many events are sold

The Rising Sun pub sits on Carter Lane in a warren of narrow streets between St Paul’s Cathedral and the Thames.

out. (Tickets went on sale early this year.)

Americans might get a chance at tickets not yet sold, but no guarantees. If so, officials say it would probably come in the next few weeks or in early 2012. Meanwhile, there is a way to get tickets, especially if your pockets are deep.

The name to know is CoSport. The US Olympic Committee has given the company exclusive rights to sell tickets and ticket packages by phone and Internet in the US. The CoSport website, www.cosport.com, will have up-to-date info on additional tick-

parent company, Jet Set Sports, in an October phone interview. “Maybe you’ve never seen a team handball match or never seen a weightlifting competition,” he said.

“But to go do that during the Olympicsthose are awesome things to see.”

Authorities are offering Paralympics tickets (those not sold during the initial “request phase”) on a first-come, first-served basis beginning Monday, CoSport said, continuing through Feb. 6 or until they sell out.

Those prices start at about $15.50 an event.

One more thing: To buy Olympics tickets,

The Breakfast Club on Rufus Street near Hoxton Square, East London, is part of a London chain of casual eateries. — MCT photos

Cafe 1001 Coffee Shop stands along Brick Lane in a London East End area once dominated by gritty industry. et releases, and consumers can sign up to receive updates. CoSport’s phone: (877) 4574647.

Though it doesn’t have individual tickets, CoSport is selling multiple-event packages, sometimes including hotel stays, at prices that may terrify Olympic amateurs. These sales, which began in early 2011, will end two months before the Games or when the supply is exhausted, whichever comes first.

CoSport’s offerings in mid-November included: An Aug 9-10 package of tickets to the men’s beach volleyball finals and medal ceremony, along with men’s and women’s taekwondo preliminaries and the women’s hockey finals and medal ceremony. Price: $1,834 a person. (That includes access to CoSport’s hospitality area but not lodging, meals, airfare and ground transport.)

An Aug 11-12 package of tickets to the closing ceremony; the women’s basketball gold-medal game and medal ceremony; and the men’s bronze-medal volleyball game.

Price: $7,162 a person. (That includes hospitality area access but excludes lodging, meals, airfare and ground transport.)

Among the packages that include lodging: A July 26-30 stay with breakfasts at the Hilton London Metropole Hotel, with tickets to archery, gymnastics and equestrian events and two men’s preliminary basketball games. Price: $13,588 for two people, $10,563 for one. (Includes access to CoSport’s hospitality area but excludes airfare, ground transport and most meals.)

An Aug 3-5 stay with breakfasts at the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge, with tickets to the men’s and women’s trampoline finals and medal ceremonies. Price: $9,212 for two people, $6,488 for one. (Includes access to CoSport’s hospitality area but not airfare, ground transport and most meals.)

If CoSport makes more individual event tickets available to Americans in the weeks or months ahead, officials said they would stick with previously set prices. A chart on CoSport’s website shows that tickets begin at $44 (badminton preliminaries, handball preliminaries, etc), with most less than $200.

The best seats went for as much as $890 each for gymnastics finals and medal ceremonies on Aug. 5 and up to $1,389 for a series of big-ticket athletics (track and field) finals and ceremonies on Aug. 11. (For sportby-sport schedule details, go to www.tickets.london2012.com/schedule.html.)

Flexibility is crucial to landing tickets, said Mark Lewis, chief executive of CoSport’s

In the artsy East London area of Brick Lane, art and craft stalls have taken over big portions of the old Truman brewery complex, including this vendor of brilliantly colored lampshades.

In the East End of London, the Columbia Road flower market opens every Sunday, rain or shine. Rachel Bramwell, who grew up in Silver Lake, Los Angeles, before coming to London for grad school and work, clutches a fresh purchase. you must use a Visa card (Visa is a major sponsor).

Getting a room: As often happens with the Olympics, organizers are holding back most of greater London’s 140,000 hotel rooms, residence halls and student dorms while they arrange housing for dignitaries and such. Once those lodgings are sorted out, hotels are expected to release rooms on Jan 24. (Officials haven’t said how many rooms they expect to release, but many will probably be grabbed up by tour operators.)

Still, there are London hotels that can be booked now. For the options, and the daunting prices, go to www.visitlondon.com/accommodationduring-the-games.

In mid-November, a check of the highdemand dates July 27-Aug 2 yielded scores of choices, many of them distant from Olympic Park. Listings included the five-star Sofitel London Heathrow at about $484 a night and the two-star Boka Hotel (near Earls Court) at about $400 a night.

Because many Olympic venues are far from Olympic Park, a hotel an hour’s train

Near the Columbia Road flower market in the East End of London, a busker picks his guitar.

Olympic Rings are suspended from the roof of the Barlow Train Shed at St. Pancras International train station in London.

ride outside London might make sense.

Also, your odds of finding a place increase if you consider some of the 30,000 or more apartments, hostel rooms and home-stay options.

(Info: www.visitlondon.com/accommodation-during-the-games/.)

Getting around: The idea is that nobody should drive to these Games. Toward that end, an expansion of London’s extensive rail transit system includes high-speed trains that race from St. Pancras station in central London to the Stratford International station (next to Olympic Park) in as little as seven minutes. Tickets to most events come with a Games Travelcard good for free dayof-event travel on most public trains and buses in the city. Three “gateway” rail stations neighbor Olympic Park: Stratford

International, Stratford Regional and West Ham. Getting a fair price: Prices tend to rise, sometimes dramatically, during the Olympics. But dozens of London tourist attractions have signed a “visitor charter” pledging to “maintain normal prices” during the Games. Among the signers: the London Eye, the Tower of London and the London Walks tour company. — MCT

MONDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2011

lifestyle F E A T U R E S

This Holy Land battle focuses on tourists’ wallets

Nabil Giacaman, a third-generation wood carver, stands near Bethlehem,s Manger Square, where a 45-foot artificial Christmas tree was installed. Local merchants say that although tourists continue flocking to Bethlehem, few remain long enough to spend money. — MCT 45-foot-high artificial Christmas tree towers over Manger Square, and downtown Bethlehem is festooned with sparkling decorations.

There’s even a picture of a saxophoneplaying Santa Claus. But Nabil Giacaman, co-owner of a souvenir shop called Christmas House, isn’t feeling the holiday spirit. The third-generation wood carver, who sells handmade likenesses of baby Jesus and the Virgin Mary, sees as many as 200 tour buses arrive every day from Israel to visit the Church of the Nativity, just a few steps from his store.

But the tourists are escorted directly from the bus to the church and back again. They’re rarely given time to browse the shops nearby and almost never spend the night in Bethlehem. “My total sales the other day were $4.13,” said Giacaman, 27. “My shop is in the middle of it all, but it gets worse every year. We have tourists, but not profits.”

Parallel to the decades-old political conflict over the Holy Land, an economic battle is heating up between Israel and the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority over the market for Christian tourism. At 1.1 million a year, the number of Christian pilgrims-those who describe their visit as chiefly spiritual in purposenow surpasses Jewish tourism to Israel.

Many of the top Christian sites are in the West Bank, and tourists have been returning in droves thanks to a recent lull in violence.

Many Christian pilgrims belie the image of austere travelers sleeping in religious hostels. These visitors, mostly Catholics and Christian evangelicals, spend about $200 a day on hotels, restaurants and souvenirs, compared with an average of $140 for all tourists, according to Israeli figures. All this would seem to be only good news for Giacaman and other Palestinian businesspeople.

The reality is more complicated. Most visitors to the Holy Land arrive by air in Israel and join Israeli-led tours. So even when pilgrims visit Palestinian territory, local businesses do not necessarily profit.

Israel is moving aggressively to bring more pilgrims to the cradle of Christianity, and the Palestinians are trying to increase their share of what the visitors spend. “We are putting a lot of emphasis on Christians,” said Oren Drori, senior deputy director of Israel’s Tourism Ministry, which recently opened a “religious affairs desk” to focus on the pilgrim niche.

The ministry has launched Christianthemed websites and a YouTube channel where visitors share their spiritual experiences. The government also provides free trips for government officials and religious leaders from Latin America, Africa and Europe to help generate interest by word of mouth. Over the last two years, Israel has spent millions of dollars refurbishing Christian sites in Israel and trying to create new ones, such as the recently launched “Gospel Trail,” which allows hikers, bikers and motorists to retrace what may have been Jesus’ path through the Galilee region.

This year, Israel reopened access to the banks of the Jordan River, where Jesus was believed to have been baptized. The area had been largely closed as a military zone since Israel seized control of it from Jordan during the 1967 Middle East War. For Christmas, Israel will offer free bus transportation to Bethlehem for midnight Mass, enabling pilgrims to avoid lengthy waits at Israeli checkpoints. The Tourism Ministry is also promoting a Christmas Eve alternative to Bethlehemwhich is under the control of the Palestinian Authority-by inviting pilgrims and foreign diplomats to the Israeli city of Nazareth to enjoy a Christmas market, parade, fireworks display and jolly Santa Claus for the kids.

Palestinians complain that they are being cut out of a market they once dominated. Palestinian tourism officials say Israel is discouraging visits to areas administered by the Palestinian Authority and is promoting attractions in other parts of the West Bank, such as the baptismal site at the Jordan River. —MCT

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Lady Gaga to appear on Japan New Year’s music show

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2011

Japan’s ‘Lolita’ style

Cutesy &

disturbing Models display creations designed by students of Japan’s Vantan design school at their fashion show in Tokyo, as a part of Tokyo Fashion Week. —AFP photos

O

utlandish pannier skirts with layers of frilly lace; teenage girls with largerthan-life make-up; a dash of sexuality and lashings of Victoriana are the order of the day for Japan’s Lolita girls. What began as a street fashion two decades ago as youngsters aped the doll-like European styles of baroque and rococo has morphed into a near mainstream movement, with dozens of offshoots. Popular Lolita models such as Misako Aoki were big hits at this autumn’s Japan Fashion Week, showing off white parasols and pastel pink puff sleeves with high-laced boots, tiny top hats and huge ribbons.

“This is definitely one of the latest trends in Japan’s fashion world,” said Akiko Shinoda, a director for the Japan Fashion Week Organization, adding Lolitas appeared for the first time last year at the twice-a-year show. “I think it will survive as one distinct category in Japan.” Taking its name from the title of Vladimir Nabokov’s novel about a middle-aged man’s sexual obsession with a 12-year-old girl, Lolita style embodies the childhood world of fairytales and comic-book fantasy. Over the last 20 years, it has developed and splintered into a broad range of subdivisions, taking on elements of the Gothic-from black roses and coffin jewelry-to the pseudo-holy, with some girls sporting crucifixes. One young woman in Tokyo’s Lolita heartland of Harajuku, who gave her name only as Mina, introduced herself as wearing “Black Lolita, which is a little different from the orthodox Lolita”. Mina, in her late teens, said Black Lolita is a mix of Sweet Lolita-a style that makes heavy use of furs, including stuffed animals and fake rabbit ears-and Gothic Lolita, which employs black ribbons, lace, pearls and satin, while maintaining the Lolita basic of large skirts.

“There is also Classical Lolita, which is more mature looking,” she said. One thing all Lolita styles have in common is the distinct hint of sexuality and burlesque. “Japanese girls love cute things, but they also love things that are slightly disturbing,” said designer Maiko Fujii, standing next to a girl modeling her interpretation of Snow White, decked out in Gothic Lolita lingerie. “I think girls sometimes get enthralled by something forbidden, something ghastly,” she said. Fujii, who studies the Lolita style at Tokyo-based Vantan design school, dressed her Snow White in a camisole with dark red chiffon and black knee-high stockings.

Fujii said she found Snow White a perfect subject for her slightly disturbing Lolita image after “discovering in the fairy tale that she was supposed to be only 12 or so when she married the prince.” Satomi Tsuchiya, 20, a school friend of Fujii, said: “I think we want to show somehow that we are not just cute.” Norinao

Tanaka, associate professor of fashion sociology at Bunka Gakuen University, sees the Lolita style as a manifestation of a psychological state unique to Japanese youngsters.” The Lolita style in general represents the world of childhood, the time before girls achieve their womanly sexuality,” Tanaka said. “They

live in the inner world of cuteness and immaturity, as if they are refusing to grow into an adult,” he said.

“They seem to rebel against the styles of certain age groups imposed by society.” Maybe for that reason, the Lolita style seems to be confined to a fairly small demographic. —AFP

Santa, otherwise known as Don Ward of Virginia Beach, Va, drives down Princess Anne Avenue in his 1958 Corvette on Christmas Eve, Saturday, in Norfolk, Va. Ward said for years he has spent all of Christmas Eve day driving around the neighborhoods of Norfolk, Virginia Beach and Chesapeake waving to people along the way. In his other life, Ward is a crane operator. — AP

Lost last month, blind dog gets home for Christmas Texas men trade A

blind dog that was lost and believed to be dead is reunited with his San Antonio family for Christmas, thanks to Craigslist, a school teacher and an animal care agency. Nearly a month after Stevie Oedipus Wonder disappeared - and was reported dead - the cairn terrier mix puppy is home for the holiday, the San Antonio Express-News reported Saturday (http://bit.ly/unONGF .) “This is my Christmas miracle,” Stevie’s owner Belinda Gutierrez said. “I actually thought I was going to have a sad end of the year and a sad Christmas.”

Stevie, a dog born without eyes and apparently abused by a previous owner, was found early in 2011 by Gutierrez’s daughter as he wandered near a city duck pond. Instantly, the dog became a part of the family, responding to their voices and dragging Gutierrez out for exercise. Days after Thanksgiving, though, Stevie escaped - disappearing from the family’s home. Days later, Gutierrez’s landlord told her the dog was dead. On Dec 11, Stevie showed up at Animal Care Services. A collar and tag kept him alive for five days, Jeanne Saadi, the

agency’s live release coordinator, said. But with outdated information, the agency failed to find his owners and prepared to euthanize him.

That’s when Brooke Orr, a high school teacher, saw the agency’s ad seeking a home for the blind dog. She agreed to care for Stevie over the holidays, buying him a few more days.

Meanwhile, Gutierrez’s distraught daughter posted a lost dog notice on Craigslist, hoping someone would see it and return Stevie. Orr noticed the tag dangling on the dog’s neck. “I thought that he must belong to someone.

So I went to Craigslist and went to lost and found and I put in ‘blind dog,’ and there he was,” she said. She contacted Gutierrez, who arrived at the Animal Care Services on Thursday uncertain the dog would be able to recognize her. “All he had to do was hear my voice,” she said. “I stood at the entrance of the kennel building and called out ‘Stevie, Stevie.’

And he started barking all over the place.” Now back at home, Stevie will awake Christmas morning to a stocking stuffed with doggy treats, rawhide chew toys and carrots, one of his favorites. — AP

same Christmas card for decades

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File photo shows Belinda Gutierrez sitting with her blind dog, Stevie Oedipus Wonder, in San Antonio, after the two were reunited after a volunteer at the city’s animal shelter found a Craigslist ad from Gutierrez’s daughter looking for the dog. —AP

Christmas card that crisscrossed the country as part of an old joke between two Texas men will rest this holiday for the first time in 61 years. Acker Hanks mailed the card to his former neighbor Lee Kelley in 1950. Kelley, a prankster, mailed it back a year later.

The two continued sending the card back and forth, and when Kelley died, his widow mailed the tattered message for over a decade.

Last year, it returned to Hanks unread. He believes Kelley’s widow moved to a nursing home. A list of dates and places in the worn card documents its journey. Hanks plans to frame it. “I always looked forward to getting the card,” he told the Tyler Morning Telegraph. “I don’t think it’ll ever leave me now.” —AP