28 Jan 2012

IPT IO N SC R SU B

SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012

Kuwait crowned freest in Mideast press index

RABIA ALAWAL 5, 1433 AH

Egyptians mark anniversary of ‘Friday of Rage’

No: 15342

Ivory Coast book place in Nations Cup quarter-finals

150 Fils

6100 killed 7 as Syrian 47 forces pound Homs Saudi to recognize SNC; Hamas leader quietly leaves Syria

Max 21º Min 09º

Suicide bomber slays 32 in Iraq BAGHDAD: A suicide bomber detonated an explosivespacked car near a funeral procession in southeastern Baghdad yesterday, killing at least 32 people - half of them policemen who were guarding the march - in the latest brazen attack since the US troop withdrawal from Iraq.

Police said the bomb exploded at 11:00 am in the predominantly Shiite neighborhood of Zafaraniyah, where mourners had gathered for the funeral of a person killed the day before. They said 65 people were wounded in the attack, including 16 police.

Hospital officials confirmed the death toll. Across Iraq, at least 200 people have been killed in a wave of attacks by suspected insurgents since the beginning of the year.

Erupting just weeks after completion of the US military withdrawal Dec 18, it raised concerns that the surge in violence and an escalating political crisis might deteriorate into a civil war. Most of the dead have been Shiite pilgrims and members of the Iraqi security forces. A sectarian-based political crisis has added to the concerns of descent into violence.

Salam Hussein, a 42-year-old grocery store owner in Zafaraniyah, said he was watching yesterday’s funeral procession, which was heavily guarded by police, when the blast blew out his store windows and injured one of his workers. “It was a huge explosion,” Hussein said. As he took his worker to the hospital, Hussein said he saw cars engulfed in flames, “human flesh scattered around and several mutilated bodies in a pool of blood” around the place where the attacker’s car exploded.

Officials at the Zafaraniyah General Hospital, where most of the dead and injured were taken, said the powerful blast shattered windows and damaged walls in the hospital, injuring a nurse and four patients who were being treated at the time of the attack. Zafaraniyah resident Talib Bashir, 50, said he was part of the procession of about 500 men but left the group to take his child home, and then he heard the blast. “I saw smoke coming from a parked car that exploded,” Bashir said, and police and civilians cars, an ambulance and several stores were engulfed in flames hours after the blast. “The fire lasted for a long time,” Bashir said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for yesterday’s attack. Minutes after the explosion, gunmen opened fire at a checkpoint in Zafaraniyah, killing two police officers, according to police officials. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters. Since the United States completed its pullout, militant groups - mainly Al-Qaeda in Iraq - have stepped up attacks targeting the country’s majority Shiites to undermine confidence in the Shiite-led government and its efforts to protect people without American backup. — Reuters

HOMS: Syrian army defectors hold their guns as they stand guard on a rooftop to secure an anti-Syrian regime protest in the Deir Baghlaba area in Homs province yesterday. (Inset) Photo shows five dead bodies of Syrian children wrapped in plastic bags, who activists say were killed by the shelling of the Syrian forces in Homs. — AP DAMASCUS: Syrian forces yesterday stepped up their deadly crackdown on dissent, with activists reporting almost 100 dead in two days, as violence spiked ahead of a bid to condemn Damascus at the UN Security Council. The head of the Arab League monitoring mission in Syria said the unrest had soared “in a significant way,” especially in the flashpoint central cities of Homs and Hama and in the northern Idlib region since Tuesday. “The situation at present, in terms of violence, does not help prepare the atmosphere ... to get all sides to sit at the negotiating table,” General Mohammed Ahmed Mustafa Al-Dabi said in a statement.

Syrian forces yesterday kept up a raid on Homs, where dozens have been killed, as Western and Arab nations rushed to unveil a draft UN resolution that would condemn a crackdown that has killed more than 5,400 since March. The pre-dawn assault on Homs, and reports of similar offensives against Hama and other cities, came hours after the United Nations said it could no longer keep track of the death toll. The Syrian Observatory of Human Rights said security forces killed at least 23 civilians yesterday,

while 12 soldiers were killed in attacks on the military.

The Britain-based watchdog said 12 people were killed in the southern province of Daraa, five in Aleppo, northern Syria, four in Homs, one in the Damascus area and another in Hama. The killings in Aleppo were the first reported in Syria’s second largest city since the anti-regime uprising broke out in mid-March. Six soldiers died in a car bomb attack on a security checkpoint in the city of Idlib and another six were killed in Daraa province in clashes with army deserters, the Observatory’s Rami Abdel Rahman said.

The Syrian National Council, the biggest opposition umbrella group, condemned the offensives against opposition strongholds and said it was in contact with members of the Security Council to press for strong condemnation. The latest wave in the government crackdown, now in its 11th month, comes as the West tries to ride diplomatic momentum sparked by last weekend’s surprise call by the Arab League for President Bashar Al-Assad to step down.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia will recognize the Syrian National Council as the “official representative” of the Syrian people, a senior

member of the opposition group said in remarks published yesterday. “Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal told an SNC delegation he met in Cairo last week the kingdom will recognize the Council as the official representative of the Syrian people,” SNC executive council member Ahmad Ramadan told Kuwait’s Al-Rai newspaper.

He did not say when Riyadh will make the move or whether it will be joined by its five partners in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) which this week announced that it was following Saudi Arabia’s lead in pulling out its representatives from a widely criticized Arab League observer mission to Syria. Ramadan, who attended the meeting, quoted Prince Saud as saying that Arab governments are convinced that it was the Syrian government that caused the observer mission to fail.

In another development, the leader of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, has effectively abandoned his headquarters in the Syrian capital, Damascus, diplomatic and intelligence sources said yesterday. “Meshaal is not staying in Syria as he used to do. He is almost out all the time,” said a diplomat in the region who spoke on condition of anonymity. — Agencies

Local SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012

News

in brief

Girl Scouts Camp begins KUWAIT: On the occasion of launching the 15th Al-Salam Girl Scouts Camp, organized by the Kuwaiti Girl Guides Association (KGGA) between January 26 to February 1 a press conference was held yesterday. The event is organized under the motto ‘Plant, Grow, Participate.’ Speaking during the conference, Hind Al-Hawli KGGA’s Chairperson said that this year’s camp aims to develop the spirit of volunteerism among girl scouts and guides. Also speaking at the conference was MoE’s Girl Scout and Guides Inspector General, Laila Al-Buaijan.

Bosnia lauds Kuwait philanthropic role SARAJEVO: Head of the Islamic Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina Dr Mustafa Ceric praised the Kuwaiti role in supporting his country and people. Moralistic and financial aid provided by the Government of Kuwait have left good impact among Bosnian people, Ceric said in a meeting with the Kuwaiti Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mohammad Khalaf. He added that his discussions with the ambassador dealt with the Kuwaiti assistance, namely contributions to financing construction of the new Islamic headquarters in Sarajevo, which would manage affairs related to scholars and religious teaching. Ceric admired the deep relations between Kuwait and Bosnia and Herzegovina on different levels. For his part, the diplomat expressed gratitude for Ceric, due to his appreciation for the Kuwaiti efforts, noting that the Kuwait’s position on Bosnia and Herzegovina is based on its foreign policy in aiding nations, especially Muslim countries.

‘Travelers to return before election day’ KUWAIT: Travelers thronged the Kuwait International Airport (KIA) as well as land border crossing points as soon as school spring break began late last week, contrary to speculations that upcoming elections would force more citizens to spend their holidays at home this year. A senior official from the Directorate General for Civil Aviation said that 92,000 have booked flight tickets to travel between January 26 to 29, an indication that a large number of citizens plan to return to Kuwait before February 2 (Election Day). Furthermore, Essam Al-Zamel Operations Manager added that the DGCA has added 32 extra flights to the schedule, between January 26 and February 12. He added that most people who have booked a return ticket after February 2 are expatriates; mainly school teachers.

Minister stresses on reform and economy KUWAIT: The Cabinet led by His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah plans to introduce a series of political and economic measures to eliminate corruption and progress in the right path towards building a better future, said a senior state official. Assuring that the Cabinet is taking steady steps towards ushering in reform, in support of national economy, Minister of Finance Mustafa Al-Shamali denied “some [parliamentary election] candidates and economists’ attempts to question the strength of local economy,” during election campaigns. Al-Shamali, who also serves as the state’s health minister, asserted that “the national economy doesn’t suffer from any problems, especially with current increase in oil prices,” urging “candidates to verify information before announcing them publically,” reported Jarida.

In another report, Al-Shamali criticized a recent statement released by the Kuwait Trade Union Federation, concerning a recent incident in which the minister reportedly reprimanded three employees who protested against a decision to pare down financial privileges accorded. “The recent attitude displayed by Al-Shamali can hardly be described anything that is short of the government’s current approach on labor rights and unionist freedoms,” said KTUF Secretary General Abdurrahman Al-Ghanim, referring to a previous incident in which Ahmad Al-Mulaifi Minister of Justice, Education and Higher Education threatened to take legal action against public sector employees for staging strikes, reported Al-Qabas.

‘Follow Kuwait’s example’, Indonesia urges Mideast EU extols upcoming legislative elections KUALA LUMPUR: Deputy Speaker of Indonesian Parliament Muhammad Anis Matta has urged nations of the Middle East to follow Kuwait’s example of being ardently adherent to democracy. Matta, in remarks to KUNA on occasion of parliamentary polls, due in Kuwait on February 2nd, called on Middle states to bolster democracy in their political systems by granting more freedoms to their peoples.

Kuwait’s democracy is an example that

should be followed, not only at the level of the member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), but also regarding states of the Middle east, for democracy in this Gulf country “manifests genuine public participation and freedoms of the media and press.” Matta expressed satisfaction at the level of the Kuwaiti-Indonesian relations describing these ties as distinguished and evolving, noting that they should be cemented

KUWAIT: Dr Faisal Al-Mislem and Ahmed Al-Saadoun pictured at Al-MIslem’s campaign headquarters.

Arab anti-forgery officials tour Gulf DOHA: Representatives of the Arab Federation for Combating Forgery and Counterfeit are currently touring Gulf and Arab countries to promote the federation activities against organized cross-border counterfeiting crimes, deemed a basis for terrorism, said its chairman. Mutleg Bou-Rguba Al-Otaibi, the president of the union, said in a statement to KUNA, following a two-day official visit to Qatar, that he had held talks with senior officials of the GCC country, shedding light on objectives of the AFCF, which also constitute a form of pan-Arab action.

Al-Otaibi, during the visit, met with Minister of Justice Hassan AlGhanem and Director General of Public Security Major General Saad Al-Khuleifi. He indicated, in the exclusive remarks to the Kuwaiti news agency, that the Qatari officials expressed readiness to join the federation and take part in the international conference against forgery, due to be hosted by the Egyptian resort of Sharm El-Sheikh on April 25.

The AFCF is due to declare, during the congress, the “Arab integrity award, “to be granted to an Arab

personality for playing a noticeable role in combat against “economic and security crimes.” Delegations of the federation are, presently, touring Arab and Gulf states to brief officials of these countries about the AFCF activities and efforts for fighting counterfeiting and forgery offenses across states’ borders, “considered in current times a basic gateway to terrorism,” Al-Otaibi confirmed, affirming the need for joint Arab action against such illegal activities.

Shedding further light on the AFCF actions, Al-Otaibi disclosed that the federation planned to establish an Arab academy, specialized in sciences of combating counterfeiting and forgery. Officials of the interior ministries in the Arab states have been informed about objectives of the aspired specialized academy. Moreover, the federation is working out special programs in this domain, for presentation to the Arab governments. It also furnishes Arab authorities with advises, reports and consultations in this field. The delegation that paid the visit to Qatar included the federation secretary general, justice Husam Abul-Ula, and member of the union, Abbas Refaat. — KUNA

through exploring new dimensions for cooperation in economic, business and parliamentary domains.

In another development, the European Parliament has expressed its appreciation for the constitutional democratic life in Kuwait and the interest of Italy and Europe in Kuwait’s next legislative elections that would enhance the significant stability of Kuwait for the region and the world.

Member of the European Parliament Paolo Bartolozzi, Italy said that the upcoming legislative elections next February 2 receive considerable attention by the international community at this important stage of the profound changes taking place in the region.

He expressed Italy’s special attention in Kuwait’s elections stemming from the excellent relations and a realization of Kuwait’s role in pursuing these new elections closely. He pointed out that the upcoming elections would be a new station in the ongoing process of democratic development in a country which is a model of embodying democracy in the Gulf and the Arab world. Bartolozzi, who is interested in European affairs and Italian-Kuwaiti relations, added that having more than 20 women running for candidacy in the third legislative elections after earning their full rights also reflects the depth of the Kuwaiti constitutional system. — Agencies

Pardon for Kuwaiti death row inmates MUNSHIGANJ: The family of ‘Mohidul’, a Bangladeshi expatriate in Kuwait who was murdered by three fellow Bangladeshi emigres, has agreed to pardon the convicts in exchange for Tk 2.1 million. The families of the deceased and the accused reached an agreement at a meeting in the office of Manikganj’s Singair Upazila Nirbahee Officer (UNO) on Thursday, additional deputy commissioner of Munshiganj Golam Sarwar told bdnews24.com on Friday.

The move is likely to stop the Kuwait court, which had sentenced the trio to death, with a rider that they would be spared only if the victim’s family pardoned them. The three convicts are Iqbal Dhali, 25, from Srinagar of Munshiganj; his brother Hridoy Dhali, 23; and Ramjan from Homna in Comilla. Mohidul, 45, son of Taher Ali from Singair, was murdered in Kuwait last year. His wife Anwara Begum had filed a case in Kuwait-a lower court passed death sentence on the three, and High Court upheld the verdict.

As part of their efforts for amnesty, the trio’s families met Mohidul’s daughter and siblings at Singair UNO’s office on Thursday. Besides Munshiganj additional deputy commissioner Golam Sarwar, Manikganj additional deputy commissioner Nizamuddin was also present at the meeting. Sarwar said the Bangladesh government is trying to save the trio. “The process is underway and we hope to succeed with help from everyone,” he said. Nurul Islam, an uncle of the Dhali brothers, told bdnews24.com that Mohidul’s family would sign the papers for amnesty on Monday.—bdnews24.com

LOCAL SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012

road to National Assembly Shiites tipped to win six seats

By B Izzak KUWAIT: Kuwaitis head to the ballot boxes to elect the fourth National Assembly since May 2006 in one of the most politically turbulent periods since parliamentary democracy was introduced in 1962. Here’s a look at the main contests in the five constituencies by highlighting the main political groups and leading candidates. First Constituency- Main areas: Sharq, Dasma, Daiya, Shaab, Rumeithiya, Salmiya, Meshref, Bayan and Salwa. - Voters: It has a total of 71,146 voters with 38,350 (53.9 percent) females and 32,796 males or 46.1 percent.

The first electoral district is unique in its voter distribution with sectarian factors expected to play a major role on the outcome of the elections with the voters divided almost equally between Shiites and Sunnis. But in 2009 elections, seven Shiite MPs out of 10 won seats in a major surprise that made analysts busy trying to figure out reasons. In the previous elections of 2008, there were five winners from each community which is the normal outcome expected as voters tend to vote on sectarian lines. Due to the regional sectarian tensions over Syria and Bahrain, sectarian tensions have grown rapidly in the country and this was evident from the election campaign and from the political speeches by various candidates.

Shiite voters are about 33,000-34,000 while Sunnis are 37,000 to 38,000. Shiites are divided on mostly political lines with almost all political groupings active in the Shiite community fielding candidates, mainly the National Islamic Alliance and the Peace and Justice group. Sunni voters consist of three major components: urbanists who form the largest group but are scattered in political affiliations, the tribe of Awazem which controls around 10,000 voters and the Kundari family which has several thousand voters. As a result of its sectarian division, almost all political religious groups have candidates but at the same time a strong liberal powerbase also exists that in the past voted MPs to parliament. The Salaf Islamic Alliance and the Islamic Constitutional Movement (ICM) are fielding a candidate each, Mohammad Al-Kundari and Osama Al-Shaheen but several Salaf and ICM candidates are running as independents like Mohammad Al-Rasheed, Fahad AlMasoud and Adel Al-Damkhi, who are expected to draw a considerable number of votes from the official candidates.

Several candidates are running from the Awazem tribe but without any tribal elections. These include Wasmi Al-Wasmi, Mubarak Al-Harees, former minister and MP Abdullah AlMuhailbi and former MP Mukhled Al-Azemi.

Besides the Salaf candidate Mohammad Al-Kundari, another candidate from the Kundari family Issa Al-Kundari is contesting and is expected to gain a percentage from the family votes. The liberal Kuwait Democratic Forum is fielding Ahmad Al-Obaid, but liberal candidate Wasmi Al-Wasmi is expected to make a strong showing since he is expected to win many votes from his Awazem tribe. Two of three Sunni ex-MPs are running: Abdullah Al-Roumi and Mukhled Al-Azemi while Hussein Al-Huraiti did not register. On the Shiite front, six of the seven ex-MPs are contesting after the withdrawal of Youssef Al-Zalzalah apparently over his alleged involvement in the corruption scandal.

They are: Hussein Al-Qallaf, Adnan Abdulsamad, Maasouma Al-Mubarak, Saleh Ashour, Faisal Al-Duwaisan and Hassan Jowhar. All but Jowhar supported the former prime minister and were the main opponents of the opposition. The National Islamic Alliance, the main Shiite group in Kuwait, is fielding Abdulsamad and former MP Ahmad Lari, while the rest are running on their own. Hardline Shiite activists Abdulhameed Dashti, Khaled Al-Shatti and Jaleel Al-Tabbakh are running.

No election alliances had been announced among the Shiites, but is believed that some kind of coordination is ongoing. The key to success depends on the turnout according to experts. If turnout among Sunnis increases in this election, their candidates will bag at least half of the 10 seats but if they stay home, Shiites are expected to retain the seven seats or win at least six seats because their turnout is normally high. Based on unofficial polls, Shiites are tipped to win six seats and Sunnis four, but it was leaked that four Sunni candidates including veteran Abdullah Al-Roumi have formed a

secret alliance and if true, it will boost their chances considerably. Under Kuwaiti election system, voters are allowed to cast a maximum of four votes for four different candidates but they can cast less. The 10 candidates are expected to be among the following: Abdullah Al-Roumi, Osama Al-Shaheen,

Mohammad Al-Kundari, Wasmi Al-Wasmi, Anwar Al-Dahoum, Mubarak Al-Harees, Maasouma Al-Mubarak, Adnan Abdulsamad, Ahmad Lari, Hussein Al-Qallaf, Faisal AlDuwaisan and Saleh Ashour. Khaled Al-Shatti and Abdulhameed Dashti also have chances.

Local SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012

Tolerance disappearing from politics KUWAIT: Tolerance in politics, once considered a salient feature in Kuwait, has disappeared without a trace, argued a leading candidate. “Compared to only four grilling motions presented between 1962 and 1992, seventy interpellations were presented in the following years,” said second constituency candidate Mohammad Al-Saqr during a seminar held in Al-Sulaibikhat. He added that he is not opposed to using the interpellation motion “but not in a way it is being abused these days.”

Blaming political conflict for “obstructing development,” Al-Saqr said that everyone will support a “strong Cabinet that is capable of implementing the law fully.” Meantime, several former oppositionist MPs were present at the inauguration of third constituency candidate and former lawmaker Dr Faisal Al-Mislem’s election headquarters. He warned against Kuwait falling under foreign threat.

Al-Mislem explained that “Iranian groups currently ruling Iraq” pose a direct threat to Kuwait.

Leading opposition figure Ahmad Al-Saadoun said that “forces of corruption attempted to eliminate Al-Mislem from the election race,” referring to his disqualification order that was later overturned by a court order. He urged voters to “send a message to corrupt figures” on election day, February 2. Former MP Musallam Al-Barrak pledged that the opposition “would not rest until KD 93 million paid in bribes to [former MPs] and KD 160 million [of public funds] were transferred to [bank accounts in] Geneva are returned.”

Meanwhile, fourth constituency candidate Dr Obaid Al-Wasmi pledged during the inauguration of his election camp in Jahra to “open corruption files since 1992,” and insisted that the Cabinet comprise ministers with a vision for Kuwait’s

future, reported Annahar.

Former MP Maasouma Al-Mubarak held a diwaniya meeting for female voters in the first constituency. She argued that female MPs in the previous Parliament were active on par with their male counterparts. “It is unfair to criticize female MPs for their role in the previous Parliament when we hardly ever hear anyone making same assessments on male lawmakers’ contributions,” AlMubarak argued, adding that she and other three women in the previous Parliament participated in almost all committees. They were notably active in attending sessions and presenting draft laws.

While reiterating that “five laws oriented to female citizens were enforced” in the past Parliament, AlMubarak asserted the importance of “achieving equality between male and female citizens” in Kuwait, reported Al-Rai.

KUWAIT: Officials seen during the opening of the ‘Move and Play’ exhibition at the Discovery Hall of the Scientific Center in Salmiya on Thursday. — Photos by Joseph Shagra

Scientific Center launches ‘Move and Play’ exhibition Exhibition highlights effect of physical activities

By Nawara Fattahova KUWAIT: The Scientific Center launched the ‘Move and Play’ exhibition at the Discovery Hall of the Scientific Center in Salmiya on Thursday under the patronage of Ahmed AlMulaifi, the Minister of Education, Higher Education, and Justice. ‘Move and Play’ is the fifth exhibition in the mobile educational and interactive exhibitions series. “The Scientific Center created a plan to verify and renew equipment used at the discovery hall every six months. This exhibition teaches the effect of physical activities on our bodies and it encourages the visitors to move, play, and enjoy together through a group of joint moving activities that suits all age categories. This exhibition will last till August 26, 2012,” stated Mijbel Al-Mutawa, Chairman and Managing Director, Scientific Center.

Rihaam Al-Habeeb, Educational Operations Manager noted that they received more than 500, 000 visitors from around the world. “This exhibition consists of 21 interactive tools, through which the visitor explores feeling operations perception and sensational operations, which is examined by each exhibit during playing and moving. They also can explore the physical skills that are improved in the human body, as we believe in the importance

of playing for humans in all the age categories,” she said.

“Jumping, running, climbing, and other physical activities give the person abilities to move. Many studies have proven that the rela-

tion between body movement and brain is very strong. Physical activities help in the complete growing of the person as it increases the moving abilities and improves emotional balance and self-confidence. It also teaches a per-

son social life and develops relations with others,” added Al-Habeeb.

Al-Mutawa also announced the launch of the 3D movie ‘The Last Coral Reef.’ “The Imax theater at the Scientific Center of the Kuwait Foundation For the Advancement of Science is the first to show this movie worldwide, as it won’t be shown anywhere in the world before February 3, 2012,” he pointed out. “This movie will show the amazing world of coral reefs, which provides the sea creatures a habitat similar to the one we live in. It also shows how the undersea cities are connected with each others. The visitors will enjoy seeing the variety of creatures living in the sea. They will be amazed by watching this movie on the huge screen,” he added.

The Scientific Center announced new work hours during the midyear holidays to be as following: from Saturday - Thursday from 9:00 am to 10:30 pm. And Friday from 2:00 pm to 10:30 pm. As a part of the exhibition, the Sabah AlAhmad Center for Talent and Creativity presented a moving and talking robot to the Scientific Center. This robot was made by Kuwaiti inventor Ahmad Al-Hashash, who was present at the launching event. “I made this robot from recycled material I collected from different areas in Kuwait. I have named this robot ‘Sac Ringer 2.4,’ and it will be available

LOCAL SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012

Cheating wife caught KUWAIT: Charges were pressed recently at the Mina Abdullah police station against a woman who deceived her husband into believing that she was going jogging, but went out on a date with a stranger.

The couple where on a family camping trip in Al-Julai’ah. The citizen grew suspicious when his wife returned late, and eventually called police to report her missing. Police reached the scene soon, and along with the husband, embarked on a search mission. Eventually, police approached an SUV in which a couple had been travelling.

The husband, however, identified the woman seated in the passenger seat as his wife. Half an hour later, police learnt that the SUV driver had dropped the woman off at the Um Al-Haiman police station.

She then surrendered to police. The driver escaped.

Teen assaulted Police are on the hunt for seven suspects who allegedly sexually assaulted a teenager they kidnapped outside his Ahmadi home recently. The victim was reportedly forced into an SUV and drove to the parking lot of a high school where he was assaulted. After informing his father about the incident, he filed a complaint with the area’s police station. A case was filed.

Frustrated students, parents blame ministry for low grades Mid-term results highly disappointing KUWAIT: As was being speculated, high school mid-term exam results were highly disappointing, with pass percentiles dropping to as much as 59 percent in one subject, according to unofficial statistics. The situation sparked large wave of frustration among 12th grade students and parents, but Ministry of Education (MoE) officials vehemently denied foul play behind the low success rates.

Al-Qabas reported yesterday that Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education Ahmad Al-Mulaifi held a meeting with top MoE officials like Muna Al-Lughani Assistant Undersecretary for Public Location, but without the presence of ministry’s Undersecretary Tamadher AlSadairawi and directors of the state’s six educational directorates. Sources noted that instead of discussing the low success rate, the minister “appreciated efforts” made by ministry officials in conducting examinations.

Al-Lughani told Al-Rai newspaper that all test papers were reviewed to assure that the marks awarded were accurate, denying that errors were committed in this year’s examination process. The senior MoE official denied reports that the min-

istry could re-test students or at least reevaluate exam papers, urging students and parents to avoid “being distracted by baseless rumors.” Soon after the grades were announced Thursday morning, dozens of angry parents gathered outside the MoE building and accused ministry officials of introducing complicated questions to deliberately reduce success rates.

Many people believe that it is part of a strategy to cut down on the number of high school graduates to avoid a repeat of last summer’s scenario when thousands of students failed to secure admissions to Kuwait University, reported Al-Rai. According to an Al-Anba report, several students plan to demonstrate with their parents later today afternoon outside the MoE building. it suggests that a number of former lawmakers will be present at the gathering, namely Musallam Al-Barrak.

Meanwhile, an Al-Jarida report quoting MoE insiders noted that only 65 percent of high school students passed their midterm exams, while the success rate in Physics and English language was at 64 percent and 60 percent respectively, whereas it dropped to as low as 59 percent in philosophy.

Ahmadi municipality inspects co-operative

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: Ahmadi Municipality held unscheduled inspection campaigns at cooperative societies in Fahad Al-Ahmed, Sabahiya and Fahaheel, said Fahad AlOtaibi Municipality Manager. Al-Otaibi explained that 54 citations were issued

citing violations like selling items that failed to match standard specifications, violated hygiene conditions, no health certificates, not wearing uniforms, detection of inedible food items and their destruction, closing down two stores, in addition destroying 80 kilograms of inedible vanilla and chocolate.

Another newspaper, Al-Watan, quoted “reliable sources” stating that the ‘terrible grades’ were caused by complicated questions “that were formulated in an ambiguous and indirect fashion,” and are of higher standard than an average student in Kuwaiti school can answer, reported AlWatan. Former MP Daifullah Buramia criticized “the minister’s disregard to the fate of thousands of high school students”, accusing the ministry of manipulating success rates by placing “incapacitating tests that are aimed deliberately to reduce the number of graduates who meet KU enrollment requirements,” reported Al-Jarida.

Third constituency committee and former MP Dr Ali Al-Omair said that this subject will indeed be given top priority by the Parliament’s educational committee once it is formed. Other parliamentary elections candidate who commented on the issue include fourth constituency candidate Shuwaib Al-Muaizri.

He has promised to question the minister over the issue if elected. Second constituency candidate Abdullah Al-Aradah assured that he would use “all constitutional measures necessary” to question the minister over the low grades.

And while second constituency candidate and former MP Dr Salwa Al-Jassar called for “foreign committees” to be formed to examine the test results, former lawmaker and third constituency candidate Naji Al-Abdulhadi suggested that the tough tests were a “vengeful act” after the government was forced to pass a bill to pay general allowances to public school teachers, reported Al-Watan. The Kuwait Teachers Association (KTA) released a statement blaming MoE departments for making the exams of “fail to commit to technical and scientific standards,” reported Al-Qabas.

Revenge attack A citizen was hospitalized after sustaining serious injuries in a brutal assault that took place in his Hawally apartment. Police and paramedics rushed to the building where a vicious fight was reported. Upon their arrival, they found the victim was left bleeding from several stab wounds, while his attackers fled. Investigations later revealed that the attack was perpetrated by previous disputes.

Medical examination also revealed that the victim was attacked with two different kinds of sharp objects. Investigations are currently ongoing for attackers.

Thief nabbed Police investigators arrested a thief involved in 14 different crimes targeting cell phone shops and other stores in Al-Nugrah.

Investigations led officers to identify the user of one of the cell phones that was reported stolen. When summoned, he answered that he had bought it from a store in Hawally. Police questioned staff members and said that they purchased the handheld device from a citizen, and presented a copy of his civil identification card to them.

The man was summoned again, during which it was revealed that his friend had borrowed a car for a few days and accidently left his identification card in it. Police used the help of a sign language specialist to communicate with him because he suffers from a speech disability. His friend was then arrested, and eventually admitted to committing all the thefts.

Burglars escape Investigations are currently ongoing for two thieves that escaped a police pursuit and threw out a stolen safe from their moving car’s window. Jahra patrol officers chased a pickup truck after its driver refused to pull over. The vehicle disappeared after disposing of an object that later turned out to be a safe containing official documents and a number of passports belonging to a Kuwaiti family.

Police later learned that the safe was reported stolen by a citizen who lives in a Salmiya apartment. A case was opened to arrest the suspects.

Thief busted at airport An Indian man was arrested at Kuwait International Airport after police leant out he owes KD 620 to a citizen, in addition to being banned from traveling. The man was waiting for his passport to be stamped, but the passport counter officer soon learnt that a travel ban has been placed against him. It was later revealed that the man’s sponsor charged him with stealing money from a cafe he worked in.

The suspect was referred to Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh police.

Delivery man tricked A newspaper delivery worker lodged a petition with Kaifan police after being tricked by two suspects who were disguised as criminal investigators. According to his statement, the man was walking along the street area when he was intercepted by two people driving a 2012 model luxury car. The two identified themselves as police investigators and told the victim that he is wanted in connection with drug trafficking. Eventually, the two let the delivery man free when he agreed to hand over his credit card and pin code which they requested to “check [his] bank account transactions for suspicious activity.” The man soon told his friend about the incident; who alerted him about being tricked. He immediately checked his bank balance; only to learn that KD 1,490 that he had saved was stolen.

Investigations are currently ongoing into the case.

LOCAL SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012

Kuwait crowned ‘freest’ in Mideast press index Reporters Without Borders slams Syria, Bahrain, Yemen KUWAIT: Kuwait was crowned as the Middle East’s freest press in the annual press freedom index released by Reporters Without Borders on Thursday. It climbed up to 78th position ahead of Lebanon (93), United Arab Emirates (112), Qatar (114) and Oman (117). “This year’s index sees many changes in the rankings, changes that reflect a year that was incredibly rich in developments, especially in the Arab world,” Reporters Without Borders said in the 10th annual press freedom index. “Many media paid dearly for their coverage of democratic aspirations or opposition movements.

Control of news and information continued to tempt governments and to be a question of survival for totalitarian and repressive regimes. The past year also highlighted the leading role played by netizens in producing and disseminating news.

The Arab world was the motor of history in 2011 but the Arab uprisings have had contrasting political outcomes so far, with Tunisia and Bahrain at opposite ends of the scale.

Tunisia (134th) rose 30 places in index and, with much suffering, gave birth to a democratic regime that has not yet fully accepted a free and independent press. Bahrain (173rd) fell 29 places because of its relentless crackdown on pro-democracy movements, its trials of human rights defenders and its suppression of all space for freedom.

While Libya (154th) turned the page on the Gaddafi era, Yemen succumbed to violence between President Ali Abdallah Saleh’s opponents and supporters and languished in 171st position. The future of both of these countries remains uncertain, and the place they will allow the media is undecided. The same goes for Egypt, which fell 39 places to 166th because the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, in power since February, dashed the hopes of democrats by continuing the Mubarak dictatorship’s practices.

There were three periods of exceptional violence for journalists: in February, November and December.

Already poorly ranked in 2010, Syria fell further in the index, to 176th position, because total censorship, widespread surveillance, indiscriminate violence and government manipulation made it impossible for journalists to work. “Crackdown was the word of the year in 2011. Never has freedom of information been so closely associated with democracy. Never have journalists, through their reporting, vexed the enemies of freedom so much. Never have acts of censorship and physical attacks on journalists seemed so numerous. The equation is simple: the absence or suppression of civil liberties leads necessarily to the suppression of media freedom. Dictatorships fear and ban information, especially when it may undermine them.

The Arab uprisings and the measures taken by governments to control news and information in response to the uprisings had a major impact on the ranking of countries in the Middle East and Northern Africa. From Morocco to Bahrain and Yemen, few countries were spared by this wave of pro-democracy uprisings, which prompted major crackdowns.

Some predators of press freedom fell from power, but others remain in place. The transitions that have begun are not necessarily leading towards more pluralism and most of the changes in the rankings have been downward ones. The freedoms that have been won

are fragile and could easily be swept away.

The Kingdom of Bahrain (173rd) plunged 29 places to become one of the world’s 10 most repressive countries. Bahraini and foreign journalists were systematically hounded from February onwards. An entire arsenal of measures were taken to prevent information circulating about the evolving situation in the country. At the same time, the authorities made extensive use of the media to put out pro-government propaganda. The creation of an independent commission of enquiry did not end the abuses against journalists. It just helped to ensure that, as a result of the undertakings given by the authorities, the rest of the world stopped talking about

regimes. Other countries such as Uganda and Belarus have also become much more repressive. “This year’s index finds the same group of countries at its head, countries such as Finland, Norway and Netherlands that respect basic freedoms. This serves as a reminder that media independence can only be maintained in strong democracies and that democracy needs media freedom. It is worth noting the entry of Cape Verde and Namibia into the top twenty, two African countries where no attempts to obstruct the media were reported in 2011.” Elsewhere in the world, prodemocracy movements that tried to follow the Arab example were ruthlessly suppressed.

Many arrests were made in Vietnam (172nd).

wards and lost 10 places. Far from carrying out promised reforms, the judicial system launched a wave of arrests of journalists that was without precedent since the military dictatorship.

Endemic violence Many countries are marked by a culture of violence towards the media that has taken a deep hold. It will be hard to reverse the trends in these countries without an effective fight against impunity. Mexico (149th) and Honduras (135th) are two cases in point.

Pakistan (151st) was the world’s deadliest country for journalists for the second year running. Somalia (164th), which has been at

KUWAIT: Photo shows a Jordanian expatriate reading Kuwait Times Newspaper yesterday. Kuwait was crowned as the Middle East’s freest press in the annual press freedom index released by Reporters Without Borders on Thursday.

Bahrain. Saudi Arabia fell only one place (from 157thto 158th) although the government organized a news blackout on the demonstrations and ensuing crackdown in the eastern regions with a Shiite majority. But Saudi Arabia had already been very low in the index because of the lack of pluralism and high level of self-censorship.

The United Arab Emirates fell again, this time from 87th to 112th, above all because of its Internet filtering policy and the imprisonment of Ahmed Mansoor, a blogger who administers the online pro-democracy forum Al-Hewar (“The Dialogue”), from 8 April to 28 November along with four other activists, known collectively as “The UAE 5.” He was reportedly mistreated while detained and his family was repeatedly threatened.

“It is no surprise that the same trio of countries, Eritrea, Turkmenistan and North Korea, absolute dictatorships that permit no civil liberties, again occupy the last three places in the index. This year, they are immediately preceded at the bottom by Syria, Iran and China, three countries that seem to have lost contact with reality as they have been sucked into an insane spiral of terror, and by Bahrain and Vietnam, quintessential oppressive

In China (174th), the government responded to regional and local protests and to public impatience with scandals and acts of injustice by feverishly reinforcing its system of controlling news and information, carrying out extrajudicial arrests and stepping up Internet censorship.

Led by President Yoweri Museveni, Uganda (139th) launched an unprecedented crackdown on opposition movements and independent media after the elections in February. Similarly, Chile (80th) fell 47 places because of its many freedom of information violations, committed very often by the security forces during student protests. The United States (47th) also owed its fall of 27 places to the many arrests of journalist covering Occupy Wall Street protests.

Several European countries fall far behind rest of continent The index has highlighted the divergence of some European countries from the rest of the continent. The crackdown on protests after President Lukashenko’s reelection caused Belarus to fall 14 places to 168th. At a time when it is portraying itself as a regional model, Turkey (148th) took a big step back-

war for 20 years, shows no sign of finding a way out of the chaos in which journalists are paying a heavy price.

In Iran (175th), hounding and humiliating journalists has been part of officialdom’s political culture for years. The regime feeds on persecution of the media. Iraq (152nd) fell back 22 places and is now worryingly approaching its 2008 position (158th).

Noteworthy changes South Sudan, a new nation facing many challenges, has entered the index in a respectable position (111th) for what is a breakaway from one of the worst ranked countries, Sudan (170th). Burma (169th) has a slightly better position than in previous years as a result of political changes in recent months that have raised hopes but need to be confirmed. Niger (29th) achieved the biggest rise in a single year, 75 places, thanks to a successful political transition. It was Africa that also saw the biggest falls in the index. One of the biggest falls in Latin America was by Brazil, which plunged 41 places to 99th because the high level of violence resulted in the deaths of three journalists and bloggers. — Reporters Without Borders

SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012

Kidnapped Norwegian UN worker freed in Yemen

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Russia bars Putin critic from presidential poll

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Another Tibetan shot dead by China police

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CAIRO: Egyptian women demonstrate in Cairo’s Tahrir Square yesterday, ahead of a mass rally to demand democratic change, a year after the country’s revolt that overthrew the regime. — AFP

Egyptians mark ‘Friday of Rage’ Protesters head to Cairo’s Tahrir CAIRO: Large marches of protesters chanting antimilitary slogans streamed from mosques around Cairo to join tens of thousands massed in central Tahrir Square in a new uprising anniversary rally yesterday, with many demanding an early transfer of power by the ruling military and the trial of generals for the killing of protesters.

Tensions erupted when one march of hundreds of protesters headed toward the Defense Ministry building and was met by dozens of supporters of the military who chanted “the army and people are one hand.” The pro-military group formed a human chain across an intersection, but the protesters pushed through them, shouting “down with military rule.” Outside barbed wire and armored vehicles guarding the ministry, the protesters chanted against the generals. Protester Ahmed Alish said the rally was to deliver a message to the military, “You must go.” Later, several loud booms sent the crowd scattering. Alish said he saw a pro-military protester throw what looked like a homemade percussion grenade.

The protests, which included mass rallies in other Egyptian cities, commemorated the first anniversary of the “Friday of Rage,” one of the bloodiest days of the 18-day wave of protests a year ago that

ousted President Hosni Mubarak.

In last year’s “Friday of Rage,” Mubarak’s security forces fired on protesters marching toward Tahrir from around the capital, killing and wounding hundreds. Protesters battled back for hours until Mubarak’s widely hated police forces collapsed and withdrew from the streets.

A year later, protesters’ focus is now on demands that the military, which has ruled since Mubarak’s Feb. 11 ouster, leave power. But Islamists and liberal, secular-leaning “revolutionary” protesters are divided. The revolutionaries want the generals out immediately, while the Muslim Brotherhood, which is now the most powerful bloc in parliament, is willing to wait for the military’s promises to step aside by the end of June.

The leftists and secular groups accuse the military of being as dictatorial as Mubarak and of seeking to preserve their power even after handing over their authority to civilians. Regardless of the timetable, there is widespread resentment that little has been done to dismantle Mubarak’s regime and prosecute security officers for the deaths of hundreds of protesters during and after the antiMubarak uprising. They call for more protests, while the Brotherhood wants to focus power on

parliament. At the same time, there is also significant weariness over the continuing turmoil among Egyptians who are struggling with a worsening economy. The differing tone was visible in Tahrir.

Brotherhood supporters treated the day as a celebration of the victory of the “revolution,” while non-Islamists insist there can be no celebrations when so many demands are unmet.

Some in the square shouted against the Brotherhood, chanting at them, “Get off the stage.”

Brotherhood supporters on a stage they have set up in the square tried to drown them out, blaring the national anthem and religious songs from multiple loudspeakers. Amid the crowds in Tahrir, a Muslim cleric delivered a boisterous Friday sermon, proclaiming that the protesters, not the military, have the right to determine the country’s course.

“Our right is to dictate the decisions of the revolution,” said the cleric, Muzhar Shahine, speaking from a stage set up by leftist and secular groups, as the crowd cheered and cried, “God is great.” He gave a litany of the unrealized changes sought by the revolution. “A year later, has State Security really been dissolved,” he said, referring to Mubarak’s feared internal security force that was the backbone of his police state. “Has our land been freed?”

He said state media, a key mouthpiece for Mubarak and now the military, must be purged, a constitution must be written that is “shared by all political parties and that gives rights for all of Egypt’s children,” and Christians must be given the same rights as Muslims.

Rallies of thousands of protesters moved from main mosques all around Cairo toward Tahrir, chanting “we want civilian, not military.” Some young men had shaved the words “down with military rule” in their hair cuts. In one rally from Cairo’s Shubra neighborhood, a young man representing a slain protester was carried on other men’s shoulders as a long Egyptian flag was unfurled down the boulevard.

Some were critical of the Muslim Brotherhood, which many suspect will not push for real reforms now that it has won a dominant place in parliament and which they fear is willing to strike a deal with the military that would give the general’s some continued power. The Brotherhood denies any deal.

“We can’t celebrate when there’s no justice for those killed,” 30-year-old protester Amr Sayyed said. “The Muslim Brotherhood is talking about justice, but not how or when.” —AP

INTERNATIONAL

SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012

Israel says Iran ‘drifting’ toward nuke goal line DAVOS: Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said yesterday the world must quickly stop Iran from reaching the point where even a “surgical” military strike could not block it from obtaining nuclear weapons. Amid fears that Israel is nearing a decision to attack Iran’s nuclear program, Barak said tougher international sanctions are needed against Tehran’s oil and banks so that “we all will know early enough whether the Iranians are ready to give up their nuclear weapons program.”

Iran insists its atomic program is only aimed at producing energy and research, but has repeatedly refused to consider giving up its ability to enrich uranium. The United Nations has imposed four rounds of sanctions against Iran, but veto-wielding Russia and China say they see no need for additional punitive measures. That has left the US and the European Union to try to pressure other countries to follow their lead and impose even tougher sanctions.

“We are determined to prevent Iran from turning nuclear. And even the American president and opinion

leaders have said that no option should be removed from the table and Iran should be blocked from turning nuclear,” Barak told reporters during the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum.

“It seems to us to be urgent, because the Iranians are deliberately drifting into what we call an immunity zone where practically no surgical operation could block them,” he said. But while Barak called it “a challenge for the whole world” to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran, he stopped short of confirming any action that could further stoke Washington’s concern about a possible Israeli military strike.

Separately, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon urged a resumption of dialogue between Western powers and Iran on the nuclear issue. He said Friday that Tehran must comply with Security Council resolutions and prove conclusively that its nuclear program is not directed at making arms.

“The onus is on Iran,” Ban said at a press conference.

“They have to prove themselves that their nuclear

development program is genuinely for peaceful purposes, which they have not done yet.” Ban expressed concern about the most recent report of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which strongly suggested Iran’s nuclear program has a military purpose.

Earlier, he told a panel discussion that “a stable world order” is incompatible with a nuclear-armed Iran because countries such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt will all want the bomb. “This will be the end of any nonproliferation regime,” he said. “The major powers in the region will all feel compelled to turn nuclear.”

Iran has accused Israel of masterminding the killing of Iranian scientists involved in the nuclear program, but Barak declined to comment on that. On Thursday, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran is ready to revive talks with the US and other world powers but suggested that Tehran’s foes will have to make compromises to prevent negotiations from again collapsing in stalemate.—AP

Kidnapped Norwegian UN worker freed in Yemen ‘I am happy to be free again’

TRIPOLI: Demonstrators hold the former Syrian flag during a protest against the Syrian regime and its deadly crackdown on dissent in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli yesterday. — AFP

Tunisia’s premier promises democracy DAVOS: Speaking to participants at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2012, Tunisia’s new prime minister, Hammadi Jebali, promised that the country’s new constitution will guarantee freedom of the press, an independent judiciary and an end to discrimination.

“There will be no discrimination as to religion, language or gender,” Jebali said. The prime minister belongs to Tunisia’s Ennahda Movement, a moderate Islamic party headed by Rachid Al Ghannouchi.

A wide-ranging panel discussion on the future of North Africa was unanimous about the need for democracy in the region as well as an end to heavyhanded control by political elites. Jebali noted that many of the new governments following the Arab Spring are likely to have a substantial Islamic representation, but that does not mean that they are not democratic.

Abdelilah Benkirane, Chief of Government of Morocco, agreed.

“Whether these governments are Islamic or not, who cares?” He added: “What is important is that they are democratic.” Amre Moussa, Presidential Candidate, Egypt;

Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, Cairo (2001-2011), noted: “We have all embraced democracy. The question is whether the West will be able to deal with a democracy that is Arab.” Moussa elaborated: “The West wants democratic elections, but it wants elections in which the parties that they favour win.”

The panellists agreed that the region’s new governments will need to produce tangible results quickly. Jebali emphasized that unemployment is the biggest issue. “We have 800,000 people who are unemployed - 200,000 have university degrees, and Tunisia is graduating 75,000 university students each year with no jobs waiting for them,” he said. Jebali added that 400,000 young people are living on less than one euro a day. Despite the economic challenge, he said he still believes that democracy can triumph. Asked about the role of women, Jebali responded: “We cannot have an amputated democracy. We need to take into account the entire population. We cannot ignore women.”

He added that Tunisia currently has a large number of women in its parliament, and that many of them belong to Ennahda. — KUNA

SANAA: A Norwegian UN employee kidnapped by tribesmen in Yemen earlier this month was back in the capital Sanaa yesterday after being freed by his captors in the restive east. “I am very pleased and relieved that the Norwegian who was kidnapped in Yemen has been released and that he is unharmed,” Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said in a statement.

The 34-year-old, identified by Norwegian media as Gert Danielsen, was “freed around midnight (2200 GMT) on Thursday following tribal mediation,” said Sheikh Sultan alArada, a tribal chief in Marib province, who was involved in the negotiations.

The Sanaa office of the United Nations Development Programme said in a statement that the staffer arrived yesterday in a “UN safe haven” in the capital. “I am happy to be free again and I wish to thank all those who have worked hard for my release,” commented the freed staffer in the statement.

“I am relieved that this experience is over,” he added. UN resident coordinator in Yemen Jens ToybergFrandzen said the team was delighted to have their colleague back “unharmed.” The UNDP statement said Danielsen, who has worked as a governance team leader, will travel home for a short holiday before resuming his duties.

Interior Minister Abdulqader Qahtan welcomed the freed hostage at his home in Sanaa early yesterday, after the tribal mediators brought him to the capital from Marib, ministry staff said. The hostage had been seized off the street in Sanaa nearly two weeks ago by armed men aiming to put pressure on the Yemeni government to release members of their tribe being held for, among other things, killing four soldiers.

His abductors took him to Marib, where their tribe is based. “In light of

the circumstances, (Danielsen) is doing well. He has been treated relatively well,” foreign ministry spokesman Frode Overland Andersen told AFP. The man is “safe” in Sanaa and will fly home to Norway as soon as possible, he said.

In his statement, Stoere said: “I would like to thank the Yemeni authorities for the determination they have shown in negotiating the Norwegian’s release. “I also greatly appreciate the close cooperation we have had with the UN, both in Sanaa and in New York.”

The release was secured after the captors received “tribal guarantees to answer their demand” for the freeing of a relative jailed on a criminal conviction, a tribal source said. The UN employee spent the night in the main military base in Marib before tribal mediators brought him to Sanaa on Friday morning, tribal sources said.

Yemen’s powerful tribes often kidnap foreigners for use as bargain-

ing chips with the authorities. More than 200 foreigners have been abducted over the past 15 years.

Almost all were later freed unharmed.

Marib is one of several areas of Yemen where the authority of the central government is weak and traditionally challenged by strong tribes. It is also a region where AlQaeda is active.

Over the past year, the impoverished Arabian Peninsula nation has been the scene of nationwide protests against veteran President Ali Abdullah Saleh, which have resulted in deadly violence. Hundreds were killed before Saleh finally signed a transfer of power deal with the parliamentary opposition in November under which he agreed to hand his powers to his deputy. He left the country on Sunday after MPs passed a law giving him blanket immunity against prosecution, as protesters remained on the streets demanding that he face trial. — AFP

SANAA: Children sit on a military vehicle in Sanaa yesterday, during a protest demanding for the arrest and trial of Yemen’s veteran President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Just before Saleh left for medical treatment in the US, parliament adopted a law giving him “complete” immunity from prosecution in return for stepping down under a transition deal brokered by the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council. — AFP

international SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012

Turkish journalists seek release in conspiracy case ISTANBUL: Turkish journalists in a high-profile case asked a court yesterday to release them from custody while they stand trial on charges of plotting to overthrow the government.

The United States, the European Union and rights groups have criticised Ankara’s prosecution of journalists which they say taints Turkey’s image as a role model for democracy in the Middle East.

Nedim Sener and Ahmet Sik, investigative journalists held since March in a top-security prison outside Istanbul, were among the 11 detained defendants who appeared in court.

Turkish media reports said they were expecting to be released.

Another two defendants who are not being held in custody are also being tried and one of them, Ayfer Iklim Bayraktar, gave her defence yesterday. The judge ordered other defendants to leave the court after Bayraktar cried

repeatedly. “I first came face to face with most of the defendants while detained or in the courtroom,” Bayraktar told the court. “What sort of a gang is it when none of us knows each other?

“I am not a defendant of this case, I am a victim.” If found guilty the defendants face a maximum of 15 years in prison. Lawyers for the defendants argue that computer documents central to the evidence against their clients were introduced by computer viruses and that this had been confirmed by investigations conducted by four universities.

“The evidence which forms the basis for this trial is completely faulty,” Sedat Celik, a lawyer for one of the defendants, writer Yalcin Kucuk, told Reuters. Sener and Sik have already offered their defences, calling the charges against them politically motivated and “a massacre of justice”. They signed books

for spectators in court in a sign of the public attention attracted by their case.

Sik has written a book about alleged infiltration of the police by an Islamic movement led by reclusive theologian Fethullah Gulen, who is living in self-exile in the United States and considered close to parts of the ruling AK Party.

Sener is an award-winning journalist who has written about police negligence in failing to prevent the 2007 murder of prominent Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink.

The defendants are accused of belonging to ‘Ergenekon’, an alleged ultra-nationalist group accused by prosecutors of being behind multiple conspiracies against Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s AK Party government.

Turkey is holding nearly 100 members of the news media in jail, one of the highest

numbers worldwide, although the government says that they are not being prosecuted because of what they have written or broadcast.

Critics accuse the government of scaremongering over Ergenekon to silence opponents. The government denies any such motives.

Several hundred suspects, including retired senior military officers, academics, lawyers and journalists have been detained in cases related to Ergenekon.

Among defendants in the case are Soner Yalcin, editor of Oda TV, and several colleagues from the television website known for its criticism of the government.

Also in the dock was a former police chief, Hanefi Avci, who has written about the alleged infiltration of the police by the Gulen movement. —Reuters

Germany reminded of neo-Nazi peril on Holocaust day BERLIN: Germany marked the 67th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz Nazi death camp yesterday facing serious doubt about how well its institutions are dealing with right-wing extremism. An opinion poll published by Forsa institute this week suggested as many as one in five Germans aged 18-30 did not know what happened at Auschwitz, while a new report suggested one fifth of Germans harboured anti-Semitic sentiments.

“That is precisely 20 percent too many for Germany,” Norbert Lammert, speaker of the Bundestag (lower house of parliament), told a ceremony where 91-year-old Marcel Reich-Ranicki, an eminent literary critic, told how he survived the Warsaw Ghetto.

Half a million Polish Jews were rounded up in the ghetto by the Nazis and most were later deported to Auschwitz in German-occupied southern Poland, near the city of Krakow. Up to 1.5 million people, most of them Jewish, died in the camp.

Charlotte Knobloch, a Jewish leader from Munich - birthplace of Adolf Hitler’s Nazi movement - and a deputy head of the World Jewish Congress, wrote in a newspaper that the poll on knowledge about the Holocaust and the anti-Semitism study highlighted “woeful shortcomings” in the political and education systems.

The effectiveness of German security agencies’ efforts to combat right-wing extremism has been under scrutiny since police in November uncovered evidence linking a small neo-Nazi cell in the former East German town of Zwickau to the murders of nine Turkish and Greek immigrants and a policewoman from 2000-2007.

Lammert told the Holocaust ceremony that “the discovery of an unprecedented murder series in recent weeks and months shows we have not yet reached the goal” of making Germany free from racial hatred. Knobloch wrote in the Sueddeutsche Zeitung that despite Germany’s commitment to atoning for its Nazi past, the Zwickau case showed that right-wing extremists “can still spread discord, hate and fear in this country unimpeded”. —Reuters

BUDAPEST: A Hungarian holocaust survivor and an activist light a candle in front of the Holocaust Museum in Budapest yesterday, next to a railway carriage what was used the Holocaust in Hungary during the World War II. The United Nations declared in 2005 that January 27 should be marked as Holocaust Memorial Day, to commemorate the six million Jews and other minority groups. —AFP

MOSCOW: Chairman of Central Election Commission Vladimir Churov, foreground right, and Russia’s prosecutor general Yuri Chaika, foreground left, applaud during a plenary session in the State Duma, the lower parliament chamber, Moscow, Russia, yesterday. —AP

Russia bars Putin critic from presidential poll Restriction criticised by candidates MOSCOW: Russia yesterday disqualified the sole liberal challenger to Vladimir Putin from the March 4 presidential ballot, in a move slammed by the opposition as undermining the legitimacy of the polls. Russia’s central election commission said it could not accept about a quarter of the registration signatures gathered by Yabloko (Apple) party founder Grigory Yavlinsky because they were either photocopies of originals or fakes.

“I am sad to announce that we will not able to register Yavlinsky as a candidate,” election commission member Sergei Danilenko told a special hearing. Russia’s presidential election rules have grown progressively stricter since 1996 and now require all independent candidates to collect two million signatures to win registration.

The restriction has been heavily criticised by the candidates as well as the growing protest movement against Putin, who will be standing for a third Kremlin term in the polls after his four-year stint as prime minister. The PARNAS opposition group of former liberal cabinet members called on Putin to delay the election because of the decision, while Yavlinsky vowed to chal-

lenge the move in court.

“We are preparing an appeal,” Yavlinky told reporters. “I am certain that Putin is the person who issued the instruction” for the election authorities to act. The decision has the potential of adding still more momentum to a spreading opposition movement that plans to stage a third in a series of rallies in Moscow and other big cities against Putin on February 4. Putin’s spokesman moved quickly to stamp out charges from Yabloko that the expulsion laid to waste the Kremlin’s claims of planning to hold a fair vote. “If one of the candidates fails to collect the required number of signatures, this does not mean you can make claims about the vote’s illegitimacy,” Dmitry Peskov told the RIA Novosti state news agency.

Putin had doubled the number of signatures required for candidates’ registration in 2004, a year in which he stepped up his campaign to centralise power by also announcing an end to direct elections for regional governors. The presidential election rules were tightened again in 2007 when Putin was about to hand power to his hand-picked successor Dmitry Medvedev, giving candi-

dates just a month to rally their support instead of the previous three.

Facing Russia’s largest protests since the turbulent 1990s, Medvedev last month proposed reducing the required signatures number-a move the opposition said was being made too late.

The vote is now set to feature Putin and three leaders of nominally opposition parties who all lost presidential elections before, as well as the billionaire tycoon Mikhail Prokhorov. A precious metals magnate who owns the New Jersey Nets basketball team in the NBA, Prokhorov also heavily criticised officials for threatening Yavlinsky with expulsion this week, calling current election rules unfair.

Yavlinsky, who was shown winning less than three percent of the vote in most polls, founded Yabloko in 1993 as Russia struggled with a post-Soviet economic crisis that left many impoverished and looking for social protection. The 59-year-old economist always promoted more socially-oriented policies and twice ran for president, failing to break the 10-percent barrier in both 1996 and 2000. —AFP

INTERNATIONAL SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012

US special operations expanding as wars recede WASHINGTON: War is going secret again.

Thatís the next-generation plan put forth by the special operations commander who led the Osama bin Laden raid and embraced at the highest levels of the Pentagon and the White House.

Big armies and the land invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan will be replaced by fast and light special operations raids that leave little trace, or better yet, raids by friendly local forces the US has trained, helping fight mutual enemies side by side.

US officials say thatís the plan offered by special operations chief Adm. Bill McRaven, who started working last fall to sell defense leaders on a plan to strengthen his existing Theater Special Operations commands to reposition staff and equipment for the post-Iraq and Afghanistan wars era.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta shared few details in the new Pentagon budget he outlined Thursday, but officials explained the plan in greater detail to The Associated Press. As the overall military force shrinks and special operations troops return from

their 10-raid-a-night tempo in Iraq and Afghanistan, theyíll be redeployed to special operations units in areas somewhat neglected during the decade-long focus on al-Qaeda because there were simply too few of them to go around, according to a senior defense official and other current and former U.S. officials briefed on the program.

All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the details of the proposal and timing are still being worked out.

While the idea is to work and train with foreign armies, the network would reinforce and reinvigorate special operations units in regions like the Pacific Rim. That would enable them to launch splashy, unilateral raids like the one McRaven commanded last year that killed bin Laden in Pakistan - and the one Tuesday that rescued an American hostage and her Danish colleague. That rescue served to drive home President Barack Obamaís national security achievements in his first term, as his State of the Union speech Tuesday night effectively launched

his bid for a second term.

The senior defense official, however, emphasized that the new plan would mean special operations troops could increase cooperation with foreign armies, working with them to defeat local threats instead of the US shouldering the bulk of such fights. The idea tracks with the White House goal to transform the US military into a smaller, more agile force, able to respond to a variety of threats beyond traditional military enemies. Even as US officials outlined cuts to much of the military, Panetta has said funding for special operations and intelligence-gathering will increase - both emerging as the Obama White Houseís preferred way to confront many global threats after a decade of costly land invasions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The special operations commandís main responsibility now is to provide resources and personnel to the geographic combatant commanders. Technically, the special operations command has limited authority to respond to worldwide threats, only taking charge of individual operations

if directed by the president or secretary of defense. The strengthened overseas network could serve as a practical first step to give McRaven a greater say in those overseas operations on a more frequent basis.

Rather than adding troops to the overall force, McRaven wants to be able to more quickly dispatch some of the units where they are needed, according to a US official briefed on the plan. Now, such moves have to filter through a bureaucratic process and layers of Pentagon authority, which in some cases can delay deploying extra special operations troops or assets where they are needed by weeks or months.

Those troops could carry out raids or, more likely, work with local allies to teach them how to target regional enemies, as well as fostering long-term relationships, soldier to soldier, that can help defuse a crisis or coup years later.

The theater commands would also work to preserve close ties with allies from the NATO coalitions now breaking apart with the winding down of the wars, the officials said. —AP

Nigeria’s Islamists threaten new attacks German national abducted in north

BRUSSELS: European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso (R) welcomes Belgian Prime minister Elio Di Rupo yesterday before their bilateral meeting at the EU headquarters in Brussels. — AFP

Moldova holds first talks with new leader of rebel CHISINAU: Moldovaís prime minister and the new leader of a rebel region agreed yesterday to increase contacts between their populations and improve cross-border trading and telephone links.

Transdniestria, a narrow strip of land along Moldovaís border with Ukraine, separated from the rest of the country by the Dniester river, has been de facto independent since a 1992 war with the central government.

Most of its 500,000 residents are Russian speakers who feared they would become second-class citizens when the Soviet Union broke up in 1991 and Moldova became independent.

But the breakaway territory has failed to gain recognition. International talks involving Russia, the United States and the European Union have failed over the years to make progress on settling its status. Transdniestria has existed in an international limbo supported by heavily subsidised supplies of Russian energy.

The election in December of Yevgeny Shevchuk, a 43year-old lawyer, to replace the veteran Igor Smirnov as Transdniestrian leader has now raised cautious hopes in Moldova of finally settling its status. One of Shevchukís first steps after assuming power was to scrap a 100-percent import duty on Moldovan goods. —Reuters

KANO: Nigerian security forces searched for a kidnapped German engineer yesterday as the Boko Haram Islamist group threatened new attacks in Africa’s most populous nation and top oil producer. In an audio recording posted on YouTube, Abubakar Shekau said he ordered the coordinated attacks that killed at least 185 people in Kano on January 20 and vowed that the group would strike again.

“We were responsible,” said Shekau of the January 20 assaults, the deadliest ever attributed to the shadowy group. “I ordered it and I will give that order again and again. God gave us victory,” he said.

The authenticity of the Hausa language message, which played above a picture of Shekau with a Kalashnikov set in the background could not be independently verified. But the photo appeared to match with previous ones said to be of Shekau and the voice sounded similar to earlier recordings.

Boko Haram has previously said that it wants to create an Islamic state in Nigeria’s deeply-impoverished mainly Muslim north, charging the government with harassing Muslims and raiding Islamic schools. The group also staged coordinated attacks on Christmas Day, the mostly deadly at a Catholic Church near Abuja where at least 44 people were killed.

But after a meeting with governors from 19 northern Nigerian states early yesterday, Nigeria’s Vice President Namadi Sambo denied that religious tensions were fuelling the Boko Haram menace in the country whose population is roughly divided between a predominantly Muslim north and a mainly Christian south.

“It is very clear that there is no reli-

MANNHEIM: Picture taken on August 4, 2006 shows in a showcase at the site of German oil service firm Bilfinger Berger in Mannheim, western Germany where the Bilfinger Berger projects in Nigeria are presented on a map to the public.

Germany confirmed yesterday that one of its nationals had been kidnapped in Nigeria. — AFP gious problem, religious fighting in northern Nigeria,” Sambo told journalists. Elizabeth Donnelly, an Africa analyst at the London-based think-tank Chatham House, said such tensions do exist and that Boko Haram may be using them to increase their strength.

“If they thought it was to their advantage, it would be quite easy for Boko Haram to exploit existing tensions,” she told AFP. There has also been intense speculation about Boko Haram’s links to foreign Islamist groups, specifically AlQaeda’s north African franchise, known as Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).

A Western diplomat downplayed the strength of those ties. “I think there’s

evidence of contact (with foreign groups), but in terms of operationally linking up with AQIM or extremist groups elsewhere, we don’t see Boko Haram as an Al-Qaeda franchise,” said the diplomat who requested anonymity.

Shekau was seen as Boko Haram’s second-in-command at the time of a 2009 uprising put down by a brutal military assault, after which the group went dormant for about a year before reemerging in 2010 with increasingly sophisticated attacks.

In his latest Internet post, he said he does not target civilians, but “enjoys killing those who God commands me to kill the way I enjoy killing chickens and rams.” —AFP

INTERNATIONAL SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012

Utah girl credited with outing school bombing plot SALT LAKE CITY: A 16-year-old Utah student who shared a suspicious text message with a school administrator foiled plans by two schoolmates who apparently were plotting to set off a bomb during a school assembly and run away in a stolen airplane, police said.

Roy High School sophomore Bailey Gerhardt told The Salt Lake Tribune she received the text from a friend, one of the suspects, and told one of the administrators, which led to the arrest of the two teens.

Gerhardt said Thursday the text from the 16-year-old boy asked: “If I told you to stay home on a certain day, would you?”

That boy, whom The Associated

Press isn’t naming because he’s a minor, and Dallin Morgan, 18, were pulled out of school Wednesday. “It was the work of a very courageous student who came forward,” Roy police spokeswoman Anna Bond said Thursday. “It could have been a disaster.” Gerhardt characterized the 16-year-old as an angry person recently dumped by his girlfriend.

She said he had told her he had looked into the 1999 mass shootings at Colorado’s Columbine High School. The juvenile later told investigators he was so “fascinated” by that massacre that he visited the Littleton, Colo., school and interviewed the principal about the shootings that killed 13 people. Roy police said the

principal, Frank DeAngelis, confirmed that the boy made his visit Dec. 12.

The Roy High School plot “was months in planning,” said Roy Chief of Police Gregory Whinham, and included plans for a device designed to “cause as much harm as possible to students and faculty” at the school, which has about 1,500 students and is 30 miles north of Salt Lake City. The FBI is examining the suspects’ computers, police said.

Local and federal agents searched the school, two vehicles belonging to the suspects and their homes but found no explosives. Morgan told police the 16-year-old suspect had previously made a pipe bomb using gun powder and rocket fuel.

“Dallin told me that (the juvenile) bragged about using a bomb to blow up a mail box and having three handguns in his house,” a police affidavit states. The 16-year-old boy “claimed that he did not have the guns but Dallin was the source of the guns because he is 18 and can purchase a gun.” The two students prepared by logging hundreds of hours on flight simulator software on their home computers, and they planned to take a plane at Ogden Hinckley Airport after the bombing, Bond said.

Besides hinting at the plan, the juvenile also texted to a friend that both suspects wanted “revenge on the world” and “we have a plan to get away with it too.” — AP

Romney, Gingrich square off in key Florida debate The idea that I’m anti-immigrant is repulsive: Romney

RIO DE JANEIRO: Firefighters retrieve the body of a victim at the site of a building that collapsed in downtown Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, early yesterday. The building collapsed on Jan 25. — AP

Cuba to hold military exercises in November HAVANA: Cuba in November will stage its biggest military maneuvers of past three years, a show of force that will coincide with presidential elections in the United States.

The exercises will be the first under the command of General Cintra Frias, appointed as Cuba’s defense minister following the September 3 death of General Julio Casas Regueiro.

The maneuvers, dubbed Operation Bastion, have been held various times over the years by the Marxist regime, often in response to events in the United States. Cuba conducted its first Operation Bastion military exercises in November 1980 after Ronald Reagan was elected president of the United States, a time of heightened tension between Washington and Havana, which have had no formal ties diplomatic since 1961.

Military maneuvers were also conducted in 1983, 1986, 2004 and 2009. Word of this latest round of military maneuvers coincides with an uptick in hardline rhetoric toward Cuba by US Republican Party presidential candidates. The presidential contenders have been campaigning this week in Florida, home of the staunchly anti-Castro exile community and where a pivotal party primary was due to be held on January 31.

Cuba’s defense strategy would mobilize its population against what it fears will be a future US attack, sending small mobile squads to defend the Communist island against America’s large and sophisticated weaponry. Its “Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias”-FAR in its Spanish acronym-or Revolutionary Armed Forces is comprised by three armies covering the western, central and eastern parts of the island and includes about 50,000 troops. Other parts of Cuba’s military include hundreds of thousands of reservists and about a million men and women who receive training as ground troops. The island has a population of a little more than 11 million people. — AFP

JACKSONVILLE: Republican White House hopefuls Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich traded blows on immigration, space policy and wealth in a feisty debate ahead of the all-important Florida primary. Romney-once seen as the obvious nominee to challenge President Barack Obama in November but now tied with Gingrich in the polls-came out swinging Thursday, dismissing suggestions he is anti-immigrant and dodging taxes.

“The idea that I’m anti-immigrant is repulsive,” Romney said, showing a flash of steel seldom seen in his campaign. “It’s simply the kind of over-thetop rhetoric that’s characterized American politics too long,” the former Massachusetts governor added to audience cheers.

“I think you should apologize for it and recognize that having differences of opinions does not justify labeling people with highly charged epithets.”

Immigration has been high on the agenda in Florida, which has a large Hispanic bloc. Seeking to capitalize, Gingrich ridiculed Romney’s proposal that illegal immigrants should willingly leave the country and re-apply for legal entry, stating, “I don’t think grandmothers and grandfathers will self-deport.”

Romney, who said his father was born in Mexico, and his father-in-law in Wales, angrily shot back: “I’m not going to find grandmothers and deport them. Those are your words.

Not my words. “Our problem is not 11 million grandmothers. Our problem is 11 million people getting jobs that many Americans, legal immigrants would like to have.”

The high stakes of the debate, just five days ahead of Tuesday’s vote in the Sunshine State, were evident in the terse exchanges on almost every issue, and from the relative lack of discussion about Obama. Such was the heat of early exchanges that Gingrich offered a truce: “How about if the four of us agree for the rest of the evening,

we’re going to talk about issues?”

The offer was quickly knocked down when Gingrich refused to answer for earlier comments about Romney’s Swiss and Cayman Island bank accounts. Instead Romney, a multimillionaire former businessman, went on the attack.

“Wouldn’t it be nice if people didn’t make accusations somewhere else that they weren’t willing to make

senator Rick Santorum in Iowa, Romney in New Hampshire and then Gingrich in South Carolina-upending the race as the candidates headed to Florida. The fourth contender, smallgovernment champion and Texas congressman Ron Paul, came in third in Iowa and second in New Hampshire.

The Florida primary is a winner-takesall race for 50 delegates-nearly the same offered in the three previous

JACKSONVILLE: Republican presidential candidates, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (R-GA) and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney shake hands at the end of a debate sponsored by CNN, the Republican Party of Florida and the Hispanic Leadership Network at the University North Florida yesterday in Jacksonville, Florida. — AFP here?” Romney asked rhetorically.

Romney also ripped Gingrich’s plans to establish a permanent base on the moon, largely with private funding.

“It may be a big idea, but it’s not a good idea,” Romney said, suggesting that if a manager came to him with the proposal, the manager would be fired.

Romney and Gingrich are duking it out after the race for the Republican presidential nomination took an unexpected turn in South Carolina, where the former House speaker won handily.

Each of the first three nominating contests had different winners-former

contests combined-and is seen as a virtual must-win for Gingrich.

The accomplished debater did not land the knockout blow he would have hoped for on Thursday, but delivered a few jabs on home foreclosures, a key issue in Florida, which was at the epicenter of the housing crisis. “(Romney) has an investment in Goldman Sachs, which is, today, foreclosing on Floridians,” Gingrich said.

“Maybe he should tell us how much money he’s made off of how many households that have been foreclosed by his investments.” — AFP

INTERNATIONAL SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012

Philippines studying US offer to deploy spy planes MANILA: The Philippines is considering a US proposal to deploy surveillance aircraft on a temporary, rotating basis to enhance its ability to guard disputed areas in the South China Sea, the Philippine defence minister said yesterday.

Ongoing talks in Washington on security ties between the two allies include plans to deploy more littoral combat ships and spy aircraft, said Defence Secretary Voltaire Gazmin.

An expanded US military presence in the region should raise the Philippines’ capability to deter border intrusions, he said.

“I would rather look at it from the positive point of view that there would be stability in the region, that we would have enough deterrent,” Gazmin told reporters. “Without a

deterrent force, we can be easily pushed around, our territories will be violated. Now that we have a good neighbour on the block, we can no longer be bullied,” he said, referring to the United States.

US and Philippine officials are discussing the expansion of military cooperation as the Philippines grapples with the growing assertiveness of China. The talks with the Philippines, a US ally which voted to remove huge American naval and air bases 20 years ago, follow Washington’s announcement of plans to set up a Marine base in northern Australia and possibly station warships in Singapore.

The Obama administration describes the moves as part of a “pivot” toward economically dynam-

ic Asia designed to reassure allies who felt neglected during the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

But China sees the deployments as part of a broader US attempt to encircle it as it grows into a major power. The South China Sea could be a flash point. China claims the entire sea, while the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan all have claims to parts of the area believed to have rich deposits of oil and gas. Gazmin confirmed a US offer to deploy surveillance aircraft in the Philippines but he said there was no plan for any new US bases.

The Philippines has a constitutional ban on foreign military bases on its soil.

Gazmin said there would be

more exercises with US forces and a rotating presence through port visits for exercises, repairs and resupply. Since 2002, about 600 US commandos have been stationed in the south of the Philippines to help train and advise Philippine troops in fighting a small Islamist militant group with ties to al Qaeda.

A Philippine military source told Reuters the head of the US Pacific Command had proposed last August the deployment of P-3C Orion surveillance aircraft. More talks are due in Washington in March.

Left-wing Philippine groups are planning to hold protests outside the US embassy in Manila today to denounce what they describe as the “treacherous” negotiations with the

United States. “They say that they will not bring back the US bases but the proposal aims for virtual basing just the same,” Renato Reyes, secretary-general of left-wing Bayan (Nation) group, said in a statement.

The Philippines hosted major US military facilities with tens of thousands of airmen and sailors for nearly a century until 1992 when US forces pulled out after a vote in the Philippine Senate to terminate the bases treaty. In 1998, the Philippines and the United States signed a Visiting Forces Agreement that allows US troops to visit for exercises and rest and recreation.

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda also said the talks would not include the creation of any new US bases. —Reuters

Another Tibetan shot dead by China police Third reported deadly clash this week CHENGDU: Chinese police shot dead another Tibetan protester in the restive Sichuan province, rights groups said yesterday, bringing to at least three the number killed in deadly clashes this week. Urgen, a 20-year-old Tibetan, died Thursday in Sichuan’s Rangtang county when police fired into a crowd trying to stop them from detaining another man, the US-based International Campaign for

killing at least two. A Rangtang government official surnamed Wu told AFP yesterday that there had been no protest. “It is not convenient to talk about this. There is no need to contact others at this moment. Nobody will tell you anything,” he said.

Calls to at least 16 places in Rangtang including restaurants and hotels were either met with no comments or respon-

CHENGDU: A Chinese police van is seen on a street in Chengdu in southwest China’s Sichuan province yesterday. The Tibetan-inhabited region of West Sichuan appeared to be under lockdown after it was rocked by deadly clashes, as exile groups gave grisly details of how the unrest unfolded. —AFP Tibet (ICT) and India-based TCHRD said.

It was the third reported deadly clash this week in western Sichuan-which has big populations of ethnic Tibetans, many of whom complain of repression-in the worst unrest in Tibetan-inhabited regions in years. Security forces also fired into two separate crowds of protesters in Luhuo and Seda towns on Monday and Tuesday-also in Sichuan, a province in China’s southwest that borders Tibet-

dents said they had no knowledge of the matter. The information is difficult to verify independently as the area appears completely sealed off. AFP reporters who tried to access western Sichuan this week were turned back by police on several occasions.

But according to ICT and TCHRD, which have sources with contacts in the area, the incident in Rangtang was triggered by a youth named Tarpa, who

posted a leaflet stating Tibet must be free and the Dalai Lama must return.

He printed his name and photo on the leaflet and said authorities could arrest him if they wanted, ICT said. Later that day, security forces came to detain him at home, and as they were taking him away, people tried to stop them. Police then shot into the crowd, killing Urgen and wounding several others, the group said.

The unrest comes at a time of rising tensions in Tibetan-inhabited areas, where at least 16 people have set themselves ablaze in less than a year-including four this month alone-prompting an increase in security.

Advocacy groups say the unrest stems from growing grievance among Tibetans on issues such as religious repression, a lack of freedom, and a feeling that their culture is being eroded by an influx of majority Han Chinese.

But Beijing insists that Tibetans enjoy freedom of religious belief and says their lives have been made better by huge ongoing investment into Tibetan-inhabited areas. It blames the Dalai LamaTibet’s spiritual leader who fled China for India in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule-for fomenting the unrest and trying to split Tibet from the rest of China, a claim he denies.

News of the latest bout of unrest comes after the New York-based Human Rights Watch warned protests in Tibetaninhabited areas were gathering pace, with at least seven occurring in Januarynot including the Rangtang clash.

A researcher for ICT based in India’s Dharamsala-where Tibet’s exiled government is based-also said at least 136 Tibetans had been detained this month or had disappeared in Sichuan.

“The police offer no documents to families to tell them about where their family members are,” Zorgyi told AFP. On top of this, an additional 30 Tibetans went missing in the last few days after Chinese authorities caught them protesting in two towns in Banma county, he said. —AFP

SEOUL: A woman holds a sign during a rally denouncing North Korea’s alleged genocide and crimes against humanity as well as repatriation of North Korean refugees by Chinese government, in Seoul, South Korea, yesterday. —AP

S Korean activists rally for freedom in N Korea SEOUL: Some 100 South Korean activists rallied yesterday, urging the world to intervene to secure freedom and human rights for North Koreans and stop what they called genocide in the communist state.

Protesters included North Korean refugees and US Christian activist Robert Park, who two years ago was held by the North for 43 days after he crossed the border to stage a one-man protest over human rights violations.

“Stop genocide!” he shouted after an emotional speech that blasted human rights abuses especially in the North’s camps for political prisoners. According to South Korea’s state human rights watchdog, North Korea has six such camps housing about 200,000 in total.

The rally was held to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the 67th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz. Organisers said similar rallies were to be held in Tokyo and other foreign cities. “We must bring the spring of freedom and democracy to North Koreans,” said Ji Seong-Ho, a 31-year-old refugee who has led an antiPyongyang group since he arrived in Seoul in 2006.

“It’s time to act and let North Koreans know that we and the international community are working for them,” he told AFP. Ji and others issued a statement calling for Seoul to intervene to protect the safety of North Korean refugees in China and accusing Beijing of repatriating some 5,000 such refugees every year.

“Tens of thousands of innocent North Koreans have been killed and innumerable families torn apart as a direct consequence of China’s inhumane, illegal and unjustifiable policy towards the North Korean refugees,” it said. After the rally the demonstrators marched to the Chinese consulate to deliver a letter urging Beijing to stop repatriating North Korean refugees.

The letter said many of them face torture, imprisonment or even execution when returned to their homeland. Rights groups have criticised China’s policy of repatriating North Koreans as economic migrants, rather than giving them refugee status. —AFP

INTERNATIONAL SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012

Chinese charged with arson attack on Japan embassy SEOUL: South Korean prosecutors yesterday brought charges against a Chinese man accused of hurling petrol bombs at the Japanese embassy in Seoul because his grandmother was forced into wartime sex slavery.

The 38-year-old surnamed Liu was charged with attempted arson, prosecutors at the Seoul central district office said. Liu has been in cus-

tody since January 8 after throwing four petrol bombs at the mission, leaving burn marks on the outer wall. The man also claimed responsibility for an arson attack which caused minor damage at Japan’s controversial Yasukuni shrine last month. He said his late maternal grandmother-a Korean-was forced to work in Japanese army brothels in China.

Liu is from China’s southern city of Guangzhou and entered South Korea last month via Japan on a tourist visa.

About 200,000 females from Korea, China, the Philippines and other countries, known euphemistically as “comfort women”, were drafted to work in Japanese army brothels, according to historians.

Japan insists the issue was legally settled almost four decades ago

but is coming under new pressure from South Korea to compensate elderly victims before the last of them die.

The Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo is dedicated to 2.5 million Japanese killed in wars-including top World War II criminals-and is often seen as a symbol of the country’s wartime aggression.

Liu told Seoul police he attacked

the embassy because he was angry at the Japanese government’s refusal to deal with the issue of comfort women.

He also claimed his maternal great-grandfather had been tortured to death by Japanese police after campaigning against Tokyo’s 1910-45 occupation of the Korean peninsula, Yonhap news agency said. —AFP

Indigenous leaders condemn Australian PM treatment ‘Always was, always will be Aboriginal land’

PARIS: Afghan President Hamid Karzai reviews troops upon his arrival at the Orly airport, outside Paris. Karzai is on a five-day European trip to sign long-term strategic partnership agreements aimed at bolstering support for Afghanistan’s reconstruction and development. —AFP

Karzai meets Sarkozy as French threaten pullout PARIS: Afghan President Hamid Karzai meets French President Nicolas Sarkozy later yesterday hoping to convince Paris not to accelerate its troop withdrawal and clinch a partnership agreement for post-2014.

Sarkozy last week suspended all French training and support operations on the ground and sent his defence minister and armed forces chief to Kabul after four French soldiers were killed by a rogue Afghan soldier.

Paris has 3,600 troops in Afghanistan as part of the 130,000strong NATO-led force there. French troops mainly patrol Kapisa, a mountainous province near Kabul. One thousand French troops are due to leave by end-2012 and the rest by 2014.

Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said on Tuesday a decision would be made after Karzai’s visit on whether to speed up the withdrawal, a move that could prove a boost to Sarkozy ahead of presidential elections.

Socialist rival Francois Hollande, who is comfortably ahead in the polls, has pledged to pull out of Afghanistan by the end of this year if he wins the election held in two rounds in April and May. In a CSA survey published on Thursday, 84 percent of people said they were in favour of troops leaving Afghanistan by the end of 2012.

Juppe ruled out a “hasty” retreat and most analysts believe technically it would be difficult for Paris to drop out of the NATOled coalition so quickly, although bringing a departure date forward would prove popular.

France spends about 500 million euros ($668 million) a year on its Afghan operations at a time when Paris is trying to balance its finances. The killings in the Taghab valley of Afghanistan’s eastern Kapisa province were the latest in a series of incidents in which Afghan troops have turned on Western allies.

NATO has been rapidly expanding the Afghan security forces so that they will be able to take over all responsibility for security when Western combat forces leave in 2014.

Defence Minister Gerard Longuet submitted a report to Sarkozy earlier in the week outlining what Karzai is planning to do to improve security guarantees for its troops and clarify how Kabul was recruiting its new soldiers. Among the requests Paris has made is to have French-trained Afghan officers made available to them to shadow local troops.

More than 2,500 foreign troops have died in Afghanistan since 2001. The latest killings take the French toll to 82. Karzai meets Sarkozy at 5 pm. —Reuters

SYDNEY: Australian indigenous leaders yesterday said they were appalled at the disrespect shown to Prime Minister Julia Gillard after she had to be dragged to safety from furious Aboriginal rights protesters.

Gillard and opposition leader Tony Abbott were bundled out of a Canberra restaurant by security service agents on Thursday after it was surrounded by activists pounding the windows chanting “shame” and “racist”.

As Gillard was rushed to a waiting car, she dramatically stumbled and lost a shoe in ugly scenes that were beamed around the world.

“I’ve got no troubles with peaceful protests,” Gillard said yesterday, but added: “What I utterly condemn is when protests turn violent.”

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Mick Gooda said the level of disrespect shown to the prime minister was disgraceful. “An aggressive, divisive and frightening protest such as this has no place in debates about the affairs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples or in any circumstances,” he told ABC radio.

“While we need to acknowledge that there’s a real anger, frustration and hurt that exists in some indigenous communities around Australia, we must not give in to aggressive and disrespectful actions ourselves.”

The protesters had been attending so-called “Invasion Day” commemorations at the nearby Aboriginal tent embassy, a permanent camp of indigenous activists celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.

They took offence to comments

by Abbott they said suggested the embassy may have reached its sellby date and besieged the restaurant when they discovered he was inside attending a ceremony with Gillard.

“Invasion Day”, celebrated as Australia Day by most of the nation, marks the arrival of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove in 1788 and proclamation of British sovereignty over the country. Yesterday,

around 200 angry protesters from the tent embassy marched on Parliament House in Canberra before burning an Australian flag on the building’s forecourt.

“Always was, always will be Aboriginal land,” the crowd chanted. Abbott insisted he never said the tent embassy should be

he said. Aborigines, whose cultures stretch back tens of thousands of years, are believed to have numbered around one million at the time of British settlement, but there are now just 470,000 out of a total population of 22 million.

They have become Australia’s most disadvantaged minority, with

CANBERRA: Aboriginal protesters from their Tent Embassy burn a US flag during a protest outside Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, yesterday.

Around 200 protesters marched and burned the flag in front of a wall of police in the protest that followed an angry clash with police Thursday outside a restaurant where Prime Minister Julia Gillard appeared at an event for Australia Day. —AP

removed. “I never said that and I don’t think that,” he told reporters.

“Go back, look at what I said... I think what I said was a perfectly appropriate, respectful, sensitive comment about where we are today compared to where we were 40 years ago on this issue.”

Indigenous leader Warren Mundine, a former president of the Australian Labor Party, said those responsible for Thursday’s scenes should be charged.

“No human being, let alone the prime minister of this country, should be treated in such a way,”

shorter life expectancy and much higher rates of imprisonment and disease than their non-Aboriginal counterparts. Tent embassy spokesman Mark McMurtrie insisted Gillard was never in any danger and hit out at the police reaction.

“The only violence you can see came from the police, so don’t say it was a violent protest, it was a violent reaction to the protest,” he told the ABC. “They could’ve left the building safely quite easily, the problem was when the police started attacking the protesters.” —AFP

INTERNATIONAL SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012

Fear shrouds election race in Manipur, India’s dark jewel IMPHAL: Thrown face down in an open drain by a grenade blast, Maisnam Ratan’s bloodied corpse was the latest reminder of the lingering insurgency in India’s isolated, far-eastern state of Manipur, which elects a state legislature today.

Manipur, which neighbours Myanmar, is called the Jewel of India for its paddy fields, lakes and green hills. But it has been plagued for decades by a low-intensity war, blamed by authorities on rebels sheltering in Myanmar as well as a stream of drugs and guns seeping through the porous border.

At night, the run-down capital, Imphal, is often lit only by candles and burning garbage because of a chronic electricity shortage. Fearful of threats by rebels who see India as a colonial power, cinemas do not show Bollywood movies and cable television blocks out programmes in Hindi, the country’s most widely spoken language.

Ratan was visiting the house of a senior politician from the ruling Congress party on Sunday when the blast went off. It was a relatively small

explosion, but tore open his leg and ripped chunks from a wall where long ago somebody had neatly written: “We want peace and harmony.” Neither seems likely in the near future.

Manipur has the highest rates of HIV and drug addiction in the country and young people are migrating in droves.

India’s policy-makers are loath to loosen the emergency shoot-to-kill powers imposed in 1958 in Manipur and other northeastern states for fear of giving oxygen to rebel movements in a region that also borders Bangladesh and China.

Perhaps for the same reason, and despite a drop-off in violence that has killed 3,000 in a decade, India has dallied on plans to turn Manipur into a serious trading corridor with Southeast Asia and Myanmar, which is shaking off decades of isolation and welcoming new investment.

Manipur has a direct road link through winding hills with the town of Tamu in Myanmar. It was along this road that Japanese forces attacked India in World War Two before being turned back in battles around Imphal.

The Myanmar army has recently

launched offensives against Indian rebel camps on its territory, but several groups are still believed to shelter in the hilly terrain there.

Ratan was the first casualty in the build-up to Manipur’s state elections, a campaign that has been overshadowed by daily grenade blasts and gunfire as the coalition of rebels targets the ruling Congress party. “This is not going to undermine the democratic process, peoples’ hearts cannot be intimidated by these kind of acts,” said visibly shaken Congress candidate Irengbam Hemochandra, minutes after the attack last week. It was his home that was targeted.

Despite the brave words, Manipur’s election campaign has been subdued, with only a few, heavily guarded rallies.

Police in military-style uniforms armed with automatic rifles line highways and man sandbag barricades outside candidates’ homes. Congress is expected to retain office, thanks to a tradition of Manipur being ruled by the same party that runs the central government, which has a strong hand due to the massive security presence.

One politician visiting from another

state, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, said she was shocked by what she saw. “It’s like a battlefield, I don’t like that,” she told Reuters after meeting Irom Sharmila, a woman who has been on a hunger strike for more than ten years to demand an end to the emergency powers. Sharmila is in police custody and is force fed through a nasal tube.

Security forces prowl the streets of Imphal after nightfall, stopping and searching the few vehicles that venture into the gloom. But no trace has been found of two suspects seen slipping away after Sunday’s blast.

Close to 30,000 reinforcements have arrived from across India to beef up security at polling stations, doubling the size of the police force in a nerve-wracking operation for Manipur’s new police chief Ratnakar Baral, in charge of their welfare. “Send in local police first in civilian clothes to see that there is not any ambush and they get killed,” the police chief ordered a subordinate by telephone from his office on Tuesday. “They are new to Manipur’s situation,” he explained. — Reuters

Rockets hit Pakistan military academy near bin Laden home Officials blame terrorists for attack

GUWAHATI: Aklima Bibi, 20, one of the victims of a leopard attack looks on in Guwahati Medical College Hospital in Guwahati yesterday. The leopard badly mauled two people including a pregnant woman after straying into the largest city in India’s northeast Assam state — the third such attack there in as many weeks. — AFP

Leopard mauls pregnant woman GUWAHATI: A leopard badly mauled two people including a pregnant woman Friday after straying into the largest city in India’s northeast Assam state-the third such attack there in as many weeks. The leopard caused panic when it wandered into a densely populated residential neighbourhood in Guwahati, where it pounced on a 20-year-old man and a pregnant woman in her second trimester.

The woman’s husband, labourer Abid Ali, told AFP his wife lost a lot of blood and was unconscious. “The back of her scalp was badly mauled,” he said. The other victim, Moziz Haq, said he also suffered head injuries. “It was a thumping, slap-like feeling and I fell on the ground with blood splattered all over me,” Haq told AFP from his hospital bed.

The animal was later tranquilised by forest officials and taken to a city zoo. It was the third leopard attack in Guwahati this month. In a gruesome incident captured on camera, three people were injured and one killed by a leopard on January 7.

Three people were hurt in another attack last week.

Thousands of people are attacked by wild animals in India each year, with tigers, leopards, elephants and snakes the most dangerous. Conservationists say an increasing number of wild animals are appearing in towns and cities because of urban and industrial encroachment on their natural habitat. — AFP

PESHAWAR: Attackers yesterday fired rockets at Pakistan’s top military academy, damaging its outer wall in a major security breach near the home where Osama bin Laden lived for years, officials said. No one was hurt in the pre-dawn attack and it was unclear who fired the nine rockets from behind a mosque in mountains overlooking the Kakul academy, Pakistan’s equivalent of West Point 30 miles (50 kilometres) from the capital.

The garrison city of Abbottabad was considered one of the safest parts of nuclear-armed Pakistan until American special forces on May 2 found and killed the Al-Qaeda founder in a compound where he apparently lived for five years.

The bin Laden raid humiliated Pakistan’s powerful military, exposing it to charges of complicity or incompetence after it emerged that the world’s most wanted man had lived on the doorstep of its premier academy for years.

Three rockets yesterday damaged the outer wall of the academy, which is just 500 metres (yards) from the site of the US Navy SEALs raid that seriously damaged already turbulent relations between Pakistan and the United States.

“Nine rockets were fired. Three rockets hit the boundary wall of the military academy and damaged it. No one was hurt in the attack,” Imtiaz Hussain Shah, a top local government official in Abbottabad told AFP. “We have launched a search operation,” Shah added.

Mohammad Karim Khan, Abbottabad police chief, confirmed the attack.

“Three rockets hit the boundary wall.

Three others landed in an open area and three others landed in a field,” he

said. Officials blamed terrorists for the attack. Shah told TV channel Geo that police had recovered nine rocketlaunching pads behind a mosque, about 500 metres from the academy.

“We have a security system and checkpoints on the roads, but the place they used as a launch pad is accessible from all sides and there are mountains at the back of this place,” he said. “At this stage we cannot say who was involved, but they are terrorists and we are investigating how they managed to reach this place.”

Taliban and other Islamist militants are fighting an insurgency against the army, although there has been a marked decline in violence in recent months.

Considered one of the quietest towns in

the northwest, nestled in pine-dotted hills and popular with day-trippers from the capital, Abbottabad is listed on Pakistan’s official tourism website as a “popular summer resort”.

But although it is mainly tranquil, it is close to more troubled areas. A judicial commission is investigating how bin Laden managed to live undetected in Pakistan for so long, and whether there was any government or military collusion.

Pakistani-US ties have since reached a new low over US air strikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers last November, leading Pakistan to shut its Afghan border to NATO supplies and conduct a review of its alliance with Washington. — AFP

ISLAMABAD: Supporters of Pakistani cricketer turned politician Imran Khan of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI - Movement for Justice) hold placards as they shout anti-US slogans during a protest in Islamabad yesterday, against US drone attacks in the Pakistani tribal region. A US drone on January 23 fired missiles into a vehicle, killing four militants in Pakistan’s Taliban and Al-Qaeda hub of North Waziristan that hugs the Afghan border, security officials said. — AFP

Oil industry sees China winning

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Greek debt talks grind on

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Business

Sturdy US growth in Q4

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RBS chief’s 1m pound bonus sparks anger

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SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012

DAVOS: UN General Secretary Ban Ki Moon addresses participants about “Ending Energy Poverty” yesterday. — AFP

Euro-zone making ‘outstanding’ progress Geithner fuels hopes of taming crisis at Davos DAVOS: European Central Bank president Mario Draghi said yesterday the euro-zone had made “outstanding” progress towards resolving the debt crisis as hopes grew for an imminent deal on Greece’s debt burden. US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner also praised Europe’s efforts to turn the corner, saying recent moves had bolstered the single currency’s credibility. Speaking at the Davos forum, Draghi said that many of the fundamentals which sparked the financial crisis four years ago had now been addressed although he did urge governments to act faster to put their battleplans into action.

“The amount of progress is outstanding,” said Draghi. “If you compare today with even five months ago, the euro-zone area is another world.”

Draghi said that the fiscal compact most European states are negotiating is crucial to efforts to resolve the crisis, praising governments’ willingness to give up sovereignty. The compact will be discussed at an EU summit on Monday. Draghi said a lack of regulation was one of the main causes of the crisis, as well as underlying flaws in the banking sector. “The time that has elapsed since then has seen an extraordinary development in the regulatory policy design. Much has been discussed and put on paper,” he said, adding that there had been “relatively less policy implementation”.

“Very much has happened in the positive sense in the market place. Banks today have more capital, less debt, somewhat more immune from the perverse incentives that characterized the crisis,” said the Italian. Draghi’s optimistic assessment

came after EU economic affairs commissioner Olli Rehn said the Greek debt agreement may be hammered out before Monday’s summit. “We’re very close,” he told Davos. “They’re about to close a deal, if not today maybe over the weekend, preferably in January rather than February.”

As he spoke in Switzerland, the Greek government was in talks with private creditors on a voluntary exchange of bonds that would wipe 100 billion euros ($130 billion) off the country’s debt of 350 billion euros. The deal under discussion in Athens would see private creditors take a “haircut” of at least 50 percent on 200 billion euros in debt. Previous talks stalled over the amount of interest to be paid on the remaining debt.

Any failure to strike a deal could trigger a messy default, which would be an economic disaster for Greece itself and a threat to banks holding too much sovereign debt while piling pressure on other eurozone states.

Speaking at the same debate, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said he expected Greece to avoid a default but he warned its debt level should not exceed 120 percent of GDP. “We don’t expect a default of Greece,” he said.

“I know that most participants have for a long time, but I don’t expect a default from Greece. I’m sure that everybody is ready to deliver what has been agreed.”

The head of Germany’s top bank, Deutsche Bank, also said he was confident a solution could be found to Greece’s woes.

Josef Ackermann said the “haircut”, or losses that banks were being asked to take on their holdings of Greek debt, was “almost 70 percent.” “That is a great, great deal. But everyone

has to make their contribution and then we will see where we are. We’re going to carry on,” he told Germany’s NTV. Speaking the day after the Federal Reserve cited the eurozone crisis as a reason for cutting its growth forecast, US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said there were signs that the worst of the crisis was over. “Europe is making some progress,” he told delegates, saying that over the past two months they had laid the foundations for a “more credible framework”. “We have three new governments (Italy, Greece, Spain) doing some very tough things, an ECB doing the things you have got to do.”

The annual forum has been marked by gloom about the state of the global economy, and in particular about Europe’s struggle to cope with yawning public deficits while at the same time seeking growth and jobs. The euro has been under pressure-amid fears that Greece or even eventually a giant like Spain or Italy could default on its debts-and the 17-nation currency bloc is on the brink of renewed recession. Davos has reverberated with calls for euro-zone nations to act decisively to restore confidence, with Mexican President Felipe Calderon calling on Europe to “bring out the bazooka immediately” to prevent the problem from sinking Italy and Spain.

Geithner said Europe needs a “stronger and more credible firewall” and hinted that the US and emerging economies could supply the International Monetary Fund with more funding to help the euro-zone rescue effort. “If Europe is able to do that, we believe that the IMF can play a substantive role. It can’t be a substitute for a European response,” he said. — AFP

business SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012

Oil industry sees China winning West loses out over Iran sanctions DAVOS: As the European Union prepares to ban Iranian oil and the United States turns the screw on payments, oil executives and policymakers say China and Russia stand to gain the most and Western oil firms and consumers may emerge the biggest losers. Iran will continue to sell much the same volume of oil - 2.6 million barrels per day or around 3 percent of world supply but almost all of it will flow to China, they reason. And being pretty much Iran’s only remaining customer, Beijing will be able to negotiate a much reduced price.

The EU will ban Iranian oil from July.

The United States plans sanctions on Iran’s central bank and possibly its shipping firm. European headquartered oil firms such as France’s Total and Royal Dutch Shell have already abandoned Iranian oil purchases or are in the process of doing so. Japan and South Korea have signaled they may reduce purchases of Iranian oil to comply with US sanctions designed to put pressure on Tehran over its nuclear program.

That leaves a growing number of buyers competing for alternative supplies. Inevitably attention has turned to Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest exporter and the only country that can quickly increase oil output and help the West avoid a price spike that would deal a severe economic blow.

The IMF said this week that crude oil prices could rise 20 to 30 percent if Iran were to retaliate by halting its oil exports altogether. Oil industry executives meeting in Davos said energy markets can afford to lose half of Iran’s 2.6 million barrels per day. That would be roughly equivalent to supplies lost during Libya’s civil war in 2011. They are confident Saudi Arabia will fill the gap.

“What we say is that oil is fungible.

Iranian oil will still find its way into the market, to Asian markets, China and possibly at a lower price,” a top Saudi source told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. “But if let’s say

50 percent of Iranian oil is lost, we have spare capacity, we have the capacity to replace it as Libya has shown,” he added.

The chief of Saudi state oil monopoly Saudi Aramco, Khalid al-Falih, moved from one bilateral meeting to the next during the World Economic Forum this week. Over the past month or so the kingdom has received requests for additional oil from the European Union, Japan and South Korea. The European Union and Turkey buy almost a third of Iranian oil exports with the rest going to China, Japan, South Korea, India and South Africa.

“As a regular conversation we talked about increased supplies. Saudi Aramco is always positive,” Jun Arai, the head of Japan’s Showa Shell, told Reuters.

Russia too stands to gain from Western sanctions on Iran. The world’s biggest oil producer is well positioned to raise its market share in Europe, despite misgivings among some Europeans about relying too heavily on Russia for oil and gas. Payment disputes between Russia and neighbouring Ukraine have in the past threatened transit gas supplies to Europe. “I’m sure Moscow is watching the situation with big interest,” said Jose Sergio Gabrielli, chief executive of Brazil’s Petrobras.

Arkady Dvorkovich, the Kremlin’s top economic aide, concurred that Russia stood to benefit from sanctions that were guaranteed to keep oil prices at least at current levels around $100 a barrel by his reckoning.

Showa Shell buys 100,000 barrels per day from Iran under a deal that expires in March and like other firms would be exposed to US sanctions if not given a waiver under the latest ban on dealing with Iran’s central bank.

“We are waiting for guidance from the government,” said Arai. For Total the guidance has been clearer. French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been one of the main advocates of tough sanctions. “We have already stopped (buying from Iran),” said Total’s chief Christopher de Margerie. The firm was

previously lifting 80,000-100,000 barrels per day (bpd) from Iran.

Peter Voser, chief executive at Royal Dutch Shell, said his company might take some time before suspending purchases, which market sources estimate at 100,000 barrels per day. “We are a European company and therefore we are affected by the sanctions and we will obviously oblige and implement the sanctions. I need to study all the details in order to see how it goes forward,” he said. Apart from Total and Shell, Europe’s biggest buyers of Iranian oil are Italian, Spanish and Greek companies.

Cheap oil China has so far refrained from buying more Iranian crude but the perception in the industry and among diplomats is that the world’s No 2 oil consumer will find it hard to resist buying unsold Iranian oil at a knockdown price. “I think (the Iranian) oil will go somewhere else ... Iran may give a discount to make it easier and quicker but nothing will change,” said De Margerie.

Robert Hormats, US under secretary for economy, energy and agriculture, could not say with certainty that sanctions would reduce Iran’s oil exports but he predicted more pain for the Iranian economy.

“You cannot predict what they (Iran) will do and how much they will discount their oil. But it will certainly cause more and more discomfort to the Iranian economy,” he said, adding that China too had an interest in a ‘constructive outcome’. “No one has an interest in Iran continuing its nonpeaceful nuclear program,” he said.

Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes - electricity generation and medical equipment.

To maximize the impact of the sanctions, the US will apply waivers very “selectively” and “responsibly”, Hormats said. In addition, the US administration is talking to Congress about extending sanctions to Iran’s shipping fleet although the discussion is at an early stage, he added. —Reuters

Qatar Airways pulls out of Spanair talks MADRID: Qatar Airways has pulled out of talks to buy a stake in loss-making Spanish airline Spanair, the Catalan regional government said yesterday. The Gulf airline was believed to have been interested in a stake in Spanair, about whom Scandinavian partner SAS has been in talks to find a possible industrial partner since November. “Qatar Airways has left the negotiations,” a spokeswoman from the Catalan regional government said by telephone, although she declined to comment on media reports the highly-indebted authority would withdraw economic support for Spanair.

The northeastern region owns 84.6 percent of Spanair, along with private investors through the IEASA holding. Qatar Airways declined to comment. Spanair operates Spanish national and European flights, and has been looking for a partner since last year to set up long-haul routes. —Reuters

POISSY: Peugeot CEO Philippe Varin (right) speaks near the new Peugeot 208 at the French automaker PSA Peugeot-Citroen plant yesterday, during the official start of the new Peugeot 208 production. This new Peugeot 208 will replace the 207 in 2012. —AFP

ROME: A demonstrator holds a picture of German Chancellor Angela Merkel (left) and fake Euro banknotes bearing the picture of Italian Premier Mario Monti during a protest against government’s austerity measures yesterday. —AP

Italy rail workers strike against deregulation plan ROME: Italian rail workers went on strike yesterday against government measures aimed at opening up public services, including trains and buses, and professions to more competition. Buses, trains and trams were disrupted in many Italian cities while a demonstration in Rome drew thousands who protested against changes that unions fear will lead to a dilution of workers’ rights. “We’re sick of these continual government programs that always hit the weakest, the pensioners and workers and not those in the political elite or those with real economic power in Italy,” said union member Mauro Rustici, a demonstrator in Rome.

Prime Minister Mario Monti’s drive to cut through the thicket of rules that regulate Italy’s services sector has also sparked demonstrations by taxi drivers and vocal protests from groups including lawyers and pharmacists. His packet of measures still requires parliamentary approval. It follows a mix of spending cuts and tax hikes, including a sweeping reform of the pension system, that was passed before Christmas and which is intended to balance the budget by 2013 and reduce Italy’s huge public debt. The deregulation measures would increase the number of pharmacists, change the system that ensures a restricted number of taxi licenses and abolish minimum fees for lawyers.

They also aim to open up the rail transport industry to private competition and allow new entrants to adopt labor contracts that do not contain the same protection as contracts offered by the state railways. Further ahead, the government is also looking at overhauling labor market rules to introduce more flexibility and increase opportunities for younger workers.

Monti’s government has dismissed fears the protests will push it off course and believes the changes have broad support among the population in general, which will gain from lower prices and more competition. “The idea that deregulation is a sacrifice is mistaken. Deregulation is an opportunity,” Cabinet Undersecretary Antonio Catricala told Reuters in an interview. The protests have been relatively contained and the government’s popularity appears to be holding up in opinion polls.

Objections to the mooted changes have been sharpened by growing pressure on household incomes as Italy heads into what is expected to be a severe recession in 2012. Data from national statistics office Istat this week showed that the gap between consumer price inflation and wage growth was the widest since August 1995. Blockades this week by truckers protesting against high fuel prices have caused serious disruptions to companies including Fiat and Coca Cola and led to bare shelves in many supermarkets. —Reuters

BUSINESS SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012

Gold set for biggest weekly rise LONDON: Gold rose in Europe yesterday and headed for its best weekly performance since early December after the Federal Reserve signaled a continuation of its ultra-loose monetary policy, pushing the dollar lower against the euro. Spot gold was up 0.3 percent at $1,724.70 an ounce at GMT at 1023 GMT, while US gold futures for February delivery were down $1.90 an ounce at $1,724.80. Spot prices have risen 10 percent this month, recouping December’s hefty losses.

The precious metal surged towards $1,730 an ounce on Thursday after the Fed said it planned to keep interest rates on hold until at least 2014 and signaled it would be ready to take further measures to stimu-

late the economy. “After the Fed chairman’s vow to keep the rates low until late 2014, strong buying interest was visible,” said Pradeep Unni, senior analyst with Richcomm Global Services. “Anxious investors have joined the fray of speculators who are now increasingly concerned by currency depreciation, as global central banks use easy monetary policies to flood markets with cash.” The dollar eased 0.3 percent against the euro, further helping gold, which usually benefits from weakness in the U.S. unit. The euro hit a five-week high on Thursday.

Oil prices also ticked higher as positive data from the United States boosted expectations of economic

expansion gaining momentum in the world’s top oil consumer. Financial markets are awaiting US growth data later in the session. The US GDP report, due at 1330 GMT, is expected to show growth accelerated to a 3 percent rate in the fourth quarter, from 1.8 percent in the third. It will be watched for its impact on the dollar, a key determinant of gold prices. The single currency is still under pressure from concerns over euro zone debt, as the markets await a breakthrough in Greek debt talks. Athens is in negotiations with private creditors to restructure its debt and needs a deal quickly to avert a default when a major bond redemption comes due in March.—Reuters

Greek debt talks grind on Call for govt to pass supplementary budget

GUIYANG: In this photo, a young passenger plays with bronze statues at Guiyang Railway Station yesterday. Railway terminals in major Chinese cities are braced for a new travel rush, as millions of travelers are returning to city work before the end of the week-long Spring Festival holiday. — AP

Asian markets up on hopes of Greek deal HONG KONG: Asian markets mostly rose yesterday on tentative hopes Greece will be able to agree a deal with creditors on writing down some of its debt although underwhelming US economic figures weighed. Tokyo was flat, edging down 8.25 points to 8,841.22, Seoul closed 0.39 percent higher, adding 7.65 points to 1,964.83 and Sydney added 0.40 percent, or 17.1 points, to 4,288.4. Hong Kong was 0.31 percent, or 62.53 points, higher at 20,501.67. Shanghai and Taipei were closed for a public holiday. Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos and Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos on Thursday resumed talks with banks and insurers on a major writedown to help the troubled country escape a devastating default. The discussions aim to reach agreement on a voluntary exchange of bonds that would wipe 100 billion euros ($130 billion) off the country’s debt of 350 billion euros. The deal under discussion would see private creditors take a “haircut” of at least 50 percent on the 200 billion euros in debt they hold. The previous talks have snagged on the amount of interest to be paid on the remaining debt. Athens needs to make the deal work in order to receive another tranche of a bailout as it faces a bond reimbursement worth 14.5 billion euros on March 20. Meanwhile Jean-Claude Juncker, head of the Eurogroup of eurozone finance ministers, said that creditor countries should also “waive a portion of the Greek debt”. He said Greece’s deficit

could not be reduced to 120 percent of gross domestic product-the level deemed desirable by the International Monetary Fund and a condition for further aid-through the waiver of private debt only.

The single currency fetched $1.3086 and 100.88 yen in Tokyo, down from $1.3104 and 101.48 in New York late Thursday. The dollar was at 77.09 yen, almost unchanged from New York.

However, disappointing data from the United States caused a drag. Sales of new homes in the United States skidded in December, down 2.2 percent from November, the Commerce Department said, bringing to a close the worst year on record. Only 302,000 new houses were sold during the year, the lowest level in records dating to 1963.

New claims for unemployment benefits rose to 377,000, although the fourweek average, an indicator of layoffs, continued to head lower. The Dow closed down 0.18 percent, the broadbased S&P 500 slipped 0.57 percent and the tech-rich Nasdaq dropped 0.46 percent. Eyes turned towards Washington, where gross domestic product growth figures were due to be released later in the day. Sentiment was boosted earlier this week when the US Federal Reserve said it would keep interest rates at super-low levels until at least the end of 2014. On oil markets New York’s main contract, West Texas Intermediate crude for delivery in March, fell 18 cents to $99.52 a barrel in the afternoon.—AFP

ATHENS: Greece continued talks yesterday with private banks and insurers on hammering out a deal for a major debt writedown to escape a looming default, as “progress” was reported amid mounting pressure. Prime Minister Lucas Papademos and Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos on Thursday resumed discussions with the lead negotiators of the private creditors, Charles Dallara and Jean Lemierre, a statement said. Thursday’s meeting in Athens “focused on legal and technical issues on the voluntary PSI and some progress was realized. Work will continue tomorrow,” the creditors said in a statement.

The third round of talks between Athens and private creditors aims to reach agreement on a voluntary exchange of bonds that would wipe 100 billion euros ($130 billion) off the country’s debt of 350 billion euros. The Private Sector Involvement (PSI) deal under discussion would see the creditors take a “haircut” of at least 50 percent on the 200 billion euros in debt they hold. Two previous rounds of talks have snagged on the amount of interest to be paid on the remaining debt. Greek government spokesman Pantelis Kapsis told the private radio Flash on Thursday that he “hoped to conclude an accord as quickly as possible.”

“There is very strong pressure on Greece and the banks to reach a deal from all member states,” a European source said. Athens faces a critical bond reimbursement worth 14.5 billion euros on March 20. It had hoped to present European Union leaders a framework agreement on the debt writedown at their summit on Monday, and sign an agreement

by February 13 so there is sufficient time for the writedown to be achieved. A Greek finance ministry official said a new analysis will be conducted to ensure that the writedown returns Greece’s debt to a sustainable level.

The eurozone and International Monetary Fund (IMF) will conduct

the analysis and the deal would be adjusted depending on its conclusions, added the official on condition of anonymity. The IMF, which is bound by rules to lend only to countries that have sustainable debt levels, has insisted on achieving a 120 percent debt level, but sources close to the talks said proposals now on the table would only get Greece down to around 130 percent.

Jean-Claude Juncker, head of the Eurogroup of eurozone finance ministers, said yesterday that Greece’s creditor countries should also waive a portion of the country’s debt, as cutting private debt alone was not enough. Countries should ask themselves “whether public aid may be needed”, the Luxembourg premier told Austria’s Standard newspaper as Greek media speculated that the results of the new debt analysis could also be used to step up pressure on official creditors.

The European Central Bank (ECB), which holds around 45 billion euros worth of Greek bonds, has so far ignored calls for it to accept losses. IMF chief Christine Lagarde warned Wednesday that European public creditors would

need to pitch in and help Greece.

The fund however denied a report that it had pressed the ECB to write off some of the value of its Greek bonds to help finalize the debt deal.

European Union officials made a debt writedown a condition before public creditors commit to a second EU rescue package worth 130 billion euros. Greece has received two-thirds of the 110 billion euros it was promised under an EU-IMF program concluded in May 2010. Patience is running thin, with German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble calling on Greece to move quickly on economic reforms in order to get fresh support.

“We’ve had enough announcements, the government in Athens must act now,” he was quoted as saying in an interview due to appear in yesterday’s edition of the Stuttgarter Zeitung. While Greece has undertaken austerity measures, its bailout partners have been exasperated by its slow implementation of structural reforms and privatization that are seen as necessary for the country to return to growth and pay its debts. — AFP

DAVOS: International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Christine Lagarde is seen on a computer screen as she prepares to record a message at the World Economic Forum (WEF) yesterday. — AFP

business SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012

Spanish jobless rate soars to 17-yr high Spain’s CaixaBank fuels Bankia merger rumor MADRID: Spain announced yesterday its jobless rate shot to a 17-year record high of 22.85 percent at the end of 2011, the highest in the industrialized world, as unemployment punched above five million. The news made grim reading for Spaniards, who face the prospect of recession in 2012 with jobless numbers likely rising even further as national and regional governments axe spending.

The number of unemployed burst through the five-million mark, surging 295,300 to 5.27 million in the last quarter of 2011, the National Statistics Institute report showed. As a result, the jobless rate hit the highest level since the first quarter of 1995, rising to 22.85 percent at the end of the year from 21.52 percent the previous quarter.

Young people were hit especially hard, with more than half of 16-24 year olds — 51.4 percent-out of work on December 31 compared with 45.8 per-

cent on September 30. At a jobs centre in the outskirts of Madrid, people queuing in the morning cold were resigned.

“The local authorities are cutting now more than ever. Before the job agency would call me all the time. Now you can go six months of the year without them calling,” said Isabel Ruiz, 40-year-old social worker and mother of a 15month-old boy.

Meanwhile, Spain’s CaixaBank said yesterday an expansion could be desirable, fuelling market rumors of a mega merger with rival Bankia despite its denials that negotiations are underway.

CaixaBank, Spain’s third-largest by market capital, was quizzed about the rumor of a possible merger with Bankia in a news conference where it reported a 13.1-percent net profit slump in 2011.

A merger could be “desirable,” CaixaBank chief executive Juan Maria Nin told the news conference. “A larger

CaixaBank group would do more social work and if we are larger we will have more firewood and coal for the engine,” he said.

The bank’s chairman Isidro Faine, who had denied just a few days earlier that any merger negotiations were under way, predicted a wave of bank mergers in Spain and Europe during the months ahead. “We are not negotiating with anyone but everyone talks to everyone and we are open to everything, from inside and outside Spain,” he said. A marriage between La Caixa and Bankia would create the biggest domestic Spanish bank in terms of assets with a joint portfolio of more than 500 billion euros ($660 billion).

CaixaBank, born July 1 last year when Caixa savings bank group listed its retail banking activities, said net profit fell 13.1 percent from the previous year to 1.053 billion euros in 2011. —Agencies

IMF mission chief chastises Hungary over central bank BUDAPEST: The Hungarian government needs to “dispel the impression” that the independence of the central bank is in danger, the IMF’s Hungary mission chief said yesterday, just as Budapest seeks the fund’s help. “The legislation passed at the end of 2011 has given the impression that the government is trying to exert influence on the decision-making of the central bank,” Christoph Rosenberg told the IMF’s in-house Survey magazine. “The government should do everything possible to dispel that impression by changing the law so it is in line with international best practices,” he said in an article published on the IMF’s website.

Hungary was forced to approach the IMF and European Union for a 15-20-billion-euro ($20-25 billion) credit line in November after the forint dropped to record lows against the euro and borrowing costs spiked. But in December, the IMF and the EU broke off preliminary talks over a revamp of the central bank which according to the lenders raised questions about the authorities’ commitment to central bank independence. Hungary hopes for the conclusion of the aid deal by the end of March, senior government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs said Thursday. Brussels has also taken a dim view of other new legislation that affects the retirement age of judges and the independence of the data protection authority. Prime Minister Viktor Orban held talks in Brussels to head off EU legal action on Tuesday. Kovacs told Austria’s Die Presse daily in an interview published yesterday that parliament “can adopt the necessary motions” when it meets on February 1314. —AFP

MADRID: People wait in line at a government employment office yesterday. —AFP

Queues swell at Spain’s job centers MADRID: As Spain’s unemployment rate soars to record highs, the queues are forming at job centers and soup kitchens, where the poor and the middle class, Spaniards and immigrants alike, are joining the line. “This canteen has been here since I was little. I used to look it at from the other side of the road.

It never crossed my mind I would have to come here,” said Antonio, 58, at a charitable food hall run by nuns in Madrid. Spain’s national statistics agency announced on Friday that the unemployment rate hit a 17-year record of 22.85 percent at the end of 2011 — the highest in the industrialized world, with 5.27 million eligible people out of work.

Among those aged 16 to 24, the rate surged to 51.4 percent. Having begun its steep climb with the abrupt end of a building boom in 2008, tough spending cuts aimed at cutting Spain’s deficit are now spreading the pain. During his 37 years working as a technical auxiliary in a hospital, Antonio never saw himself needing handouts. Single and now jobless for three years, his work prospects undermined by a bone disease, and with most of his benefits spent on rent, he relies on the Daughters of Charity for meals. “I’ve had a relatively good life, but the way things are now with the economy, I can’t find work even with all my experience,” said Antonio, who would not give his full name. Across town at a

job centre in the suburb of Vallecas, a working class district of red-brick housing blocks, Isabel Ruiz, 40, queues to sign on for job-seeker’s benefits to support herself and her 15-month-old son.

A social worker who strung together temporary contracts to replace colleagues on vacation or sick leave, Ruiz has seen demand for her services dry up.

“The local authorities are cutting now more than ever. Before, the agency would call me all the time. Now you can go six months of the year without them calling,” she said. “They are no longer taking on supply staff when people go on holiday.” New faces are joining the line. Daniel Gazdoiu, 44, turns up to sign

on after work dried up this month at the building firm where he worked for six years as a truck driver.

His story is a familiar one among the immigrant workers who were among the first to be hit when the economic trouble started. “I’ve just been made unemployed. It’s the second time. I spent two months last year without work,” said Gazdoiu, who came to Spain from Romania 10 years ago at the height of the building boom. “There’s no work now. Things are bad. We’ll see if we manage to find some work, here or in another country.” In the Daughters of Charity’s courtyard, dozens of people wait in line for the bell to ring for the next lunch sitting.

“I come here every day. They serve everything-pasta, beans. They provide clothes,” says Tomas Rodriguez, 32. Born and raised in Madrid, he earned his living for 14 years stacking shelves in supermarkets before losing his job two years ago. Now he travels an hour by bus each morning from a homeless shelter in the suburbs to have lunch at the free canteen. The afternoon he often spends walking to and from municipal offices, filling out forms to apply for hardship benefits, and travels back to the shelter in the evening. “I’ve sent letters everywhere. There is no work.” he says. “My parents are retired but they say I can only go back and live with them if I contribute.” —AFP

BUSINESS SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012

Serco looks to cut at least 500 jobs LONDON: British outsourcing firm Serco Group Plc is to cut at least 500 jobs in the UK as it overhauls its management structure and takes its business-processing division globally. The FTSE 100-listed firm, which runs services ranging from London’s cycle hire scheme to Australia’s immigration centers, said bringing together its business-processing services would meet customer needs for a one-stop shop of front- to backoffice services at public and private sector organizations globally. According to a report in the Financial Times, the sharpest cuts are likely to fall at the company’s offices near Basingstoke west of London, where the human resource and information technology func-

tions are being centralised. Serco Chief Executive Christopher Hyman said in a statement: “Our new global BPO (business process outsourcing) capability will open up new opportunities for Serco to provide high-quality services to customers in the public and private sector around the world. “It will also allow us to provide the integrated front-, middle- and back-office operations that our markets are now seeking.”

While Serco has faced tougher climates in its US and core UK markets due to austerity pressures, it has seen strong growth in its Africa, Middle East, Asia and Australasia (AMEAA) region and has moved to bolster its progress with acquisitions. Last year Serco bought

Indian BPO business Intelenet for up to 385 million pounds ($604.4 million), as well as Australian contact centre firm Excelior and The Listening Company in the UK, boosting its BPO offering of services ranging from reservations and payroll to consultancy.

Serco, which employs around 100,000 staff worldwide, also said it had won a 55 million pound contract to provide training and support to the British Army. This follows other contracts wins to provide radar technology to the UK’s Ministry of Defence and engineering and training to the Royal Air Force (RAF) and Naval Air Command, which were announced last month. — Reuters

RBS chief’s 1m pound bonus sparks anger ‘Hester’s bonus a slap in the face for small businesses’

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama delivers his State of the Union address on Capitol Hill in this photo. — AP

Why is US asset income taxed less than wages?

WASHINGTON: Why do Mitt Romney and other wealthy US investors pay lower taxes on the income they make from investments than they would if they earned their millions from wages?

Because Congress, through the tax code, has long treated investment more favorably than labor, seeing it as an engine for economic growth that benefits everyone. President Barack Obama and the Occupy Wall Street movement are challenging that value system, raising volatile election-year issues of equity, fairness - and Romney’s tax returns.

Romney, who released his 2010 tax return and 2011 tax estimate this week, has been forced to defend the fact that he paid a tax rate of about 15 percent on an annual income of $21 million. His tax rate is comparable to the one paid by most middle-income families. His income, however, is 420 times higher than the typical US household.

The Republican presidential candidate’s taxes were so low because the vast majority of his income came from investments. The US has long had a progressive income tax, in which people who make more money pay taxes at a higher rate than those who make less.

But for almost as long, the US has taxed capital gains - the profit from selling an investment - at a lower rate than wages.

“There are two ways to look at: There is a moral argument and an economic growth argument, and they both point to lower taxes on capital gains,” said William McBride, an economist at the conservative Tax Foundation.

McBride says it is unfair to tax income more than once, and capital gains are taxed multiple times. If you got the original investment from wages, that money was taxed. If the stock you own gains value because the company you invested in

makes a profit, those profits are taxed through the corporate tax. And if that company issues dividends, those are taxed as well. Lots of people are double taxed, says Chuck Marr, director of federal tax policy for the liberal Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. “Check out your last pay stub: There’s income tax and payroll tax, so you’re double taxed, too,” Marr said.

Under current law, the top tax rate is 15 percent on qualified dividend and long-term capital gains - the profits from selling assets that have been held for at least a year. The top income tax rate on wages is 35 percent, though that applies only to taxable income above $388,350.

Congress started taxing capital gains at a lower rate than wages following World War I. The concern then was that high taxes on capital gains actually reduced revenue because people would simply hold onto their investments and restrict the flow of capital, according to the Encyclopedia of Taxation and Tax Policy.

At the time, however, the top tax rate on wages was a whopping 73 percent. In 1922, Congress lowered the top capital gains rate to 12.5 percent, a rate that lasted until 1934. For much of the next 70 years, the top tax rate on long-term capital gains hovered between 20 percent and 30 percent, going as high as 39.9 percent in the 1970s but never falling below 20 percent until 2003, when Congress passed a gradual reduction to the current rate. Liberals and some moderates argue that lower taxes on investments are a giveaway to the rich because they are the ones who get the most benefit. Last year, two-thirds of all capital gains went to people making more than $1 million, according to the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation, the official scorekeeper for Congress. —AP

LONDON: Politicians from across the spectrum united in condemning the near one million pound bonus awarded to RBS chief Stephen Hester, with Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg saying the public sees such sums as “from another planet.” The size of the boss’s bonus at a bank 82 percent owned by the taxpayer has been seized on by opponents seeking to discredit Prime Minister David Cameron’s claims that he understands the pain of austerity to ordinary Britons. But even Conservatives and Liberal Democrats were joining the chorus of disapproval yesterday.

Boris Johnson, the Conservative mayor of London, said he was “bewildered” by the bonus. “RBS occupies the same status in the economy as Gosbank did in the Soviet Union. It’s a state owned bank. So the idea that this is not in the control of the government seems to me to be far-fetched,” he told BBC News. Clegg said the government’s hands were tied by Hester’s contract, drawn up before his Liberal Democrats came to power last year in coalition with the Conservatives.

“I have a huge amount of sympathy about people’s sense of dismay when they see these figures that seem from another planet,” told Sky News. Jeremy Browne, a Liberal Democrat Foreign Office Minister, said on Thursday that Hester should consider rejecting the bonus, following the decision by Antonio Horta-Osorio, the chief executive of rival partnationalized bank Lloyds, to waive his bonus after he spent time off work sick.

“He is working for a company which is five-sixths owned by us, the taxpayer, and I think he has to think like a public servant, not like someone who’s there to line their own pocket,” he told BBC TV’s Question Time panel show. Hester himself has yet to comment. Although the bonus was half the size of his award last year and will be deferred, it is likely to take his overall pay for 2011 to over 2 million pounds. Taxpayers poured in billions of pounds in cash and state guarantees to save Royal Bank of Scotland in the financial crisis.

The government stressed the bank

was run at “arms-length” from ministers and that it has made good progress since its rescue. “There is a contract in place,” said Cameron’s spokesman. “Under that contract he is entitled to be considered for a bonus in good faith and that bonus judgment is taken by looking at this performance against certain objectives, and that is precisely what’s happened here. It is a decision that is taken by the board of RBS.” Critics say the bank has not lent enough to small businesses under a deal with the government that linked senior executive bonuses to meeting certain lending targets.

“Mr Hester’s bonus is a slap in the

face for thousands of small businesses struggling to get the finance they need,” said Labour business spokesman Chuka Ummuna. “RBS missed its lending target in the third quarter of last year and net lending to businesses by the country’s banks fell in nine out of the last 12 months,” he added. RBS said it had met its target in terms of lending to British businesses overall, but had missed its target on lending to smaller companies by just 1 percent. The bank’s board said the all-share bonus reflected “the substantial progress in making RBS safer, rebuilding performance in many businesses and improving customer service and support.” — Reuters

LONDON: People wait outside a branch of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) yesterday. — AFP

BUSINESS SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012

Sudan sells seized crude at discount SINGAPORE: Sudan has sold at least one cargo of crude seized from South Sudan at millions of dollars discount and is offering more, industry sources said, as Khartoum looks to recover oil revenue from its former civil war foe. A bitter row has escalated between the two over the value of the transit fee landlocked South Sudan should pay for oil pumped north by pipeline through its northern neighbour and exported from Port Sudan.

South Sudan is shutting down production in protest after Khartoum blocked exports and seized some of the oil as compensation. South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir accused Khartoum of having “looted” revenues amounting to roughly $815 million from crude cargoes. The seized crude was loaded onto three tankers from Jan. 13-20, South Sudan’s justice ministry said.

Sudan sold one of those cargoes, a 600,000 barrel shipment loaded on the vessel Ratna Shradha, to a North Asian trader. The final price of the sale was unclear, but one trader said that the cargo was sold at a discount as steep as $14 a barrel. That would indicate an $8.4 million discount for the whole cargo versus the last official price charged by the South.

“This is crude from the South sold by the North at a $14 discount to the South’s last selling price,” a Middle East-based crude trader said. The tanker is heading to Singapore, another source said. The last time South Sudan sold Nile Blend cargoes, it did so at a premium of $2.50-$3.00 a barrel to the benchmark Indonesian Crude Price, traders said. This would indicate that Sudan has sold the cargo at a discount of around $11 a barrel to the Indonesian price.

Sudan has also loaded two other cargoes of seized Dar Blend crude, but it is not immediately clear if they have sold those.

Khartoum had offered these cargoes last week at a discount to official South Sudan prices, traders said. One of them is headed to the United Arab Emirates port of Fujairah, they added. The South last sold seven cargoes of Dar Blend at discounts between $5 and $11 a barrel to dated Brent. Sudan offered the cargoes at a discount of $15-$16, another source said.

The lure of deeply discounted oil is probably outweighing the risks buyers face of any legal complications for purchasing the cargoes from Sudan. Buyers could face private arbitration or even be dragged to the International Court of Justice, said a lawyer familiar with contract arbitration said, declining to be identified because he is not authorized to talk to the media.

Offguard Regular buyers of South Sudan oil were caught offguard when Khartoum started blocking exports in late December. In addition to the three, at least seven tankers are still waiting at the port to lift December and January cargoes, raking up demurrage costs of $20,000-$22,000 per day, traders and shipbrokers said.

Buyers include PetroChina, Glencore, Vitol, Trafigura and Arcadia, they said. “There was no reason given. They just held back sailing,” a second trader with a Western firm said, adding that demurrage costs and the uncertainty were a “nightmare”.

South Sudan pledged to fully shut its output of 275,000 barrels per day (bpd) in two weeks, a move that could also cut off supplies to equity holders China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), Malaysia’s Petronas and India’s Oil & Natural Gas Corp. A third trader said buyers could declare force majeure if they still cannot lift the oil 30 days from the date of loading. “Force majeure is the last resort if the cargo has not been loaded 30 days after the scheduled loading date. As long as the ship has not loaded the oil,” the trader said. —Reuters

Sturdy US growth in Q4, but speed-bumps ahead Data to fit Federal Reserve’s thinking on economy WASHINGTON: The US economy likely grew at its fastest pace in nearly two years at the end of 2011, but a rebuilding of stocks by businesses and weak exports could be early warning signs of a slowdown in early 2012. US gross domestic product is expected to have expanded at a 3.0 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter, according to a Reuters poll, which would be a sharp acceleration from the 1.8 percent clip of the prior three months and the quickest pace since the second quarter of 2010.

“The economy ended 2011 on a fairly positive note, but the composition of growth in the last quarter is not favorable for growth early this year,” said Ryan Sweet, a senior economist at Moody’s Analytics in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Growth in the fourth quarter is seen getting a temporary boost from a mild start to winter, which bolstered construction, and the building of business inventories after they declined in the third quarter for the first time since late 2009.

A burst of consumer spending on autos is also expected to have helped. The Japanese earthquake and tsunami early last year caused supply disruptions, leaving showrooms bereft of popular models. As those factors fade, the recovery is expected to lose a step. Expectations of soft growth going forward led the Federal Reserve to say on Wednesday it expected to keep interest rates at rock bottom levels at least through late 2014.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said the central bank, which forecast growth this year in a 2.2 percent to 2.7 percent range, was mulling further asset purchases to speed up the recovery. The Fed warned that the economy still faced big risks, a suggestion that Europe’s debt crisis could still hit hard. “The Fed is attempting to shield the economy from a potentially more severe recession in Europe,” said Sweet. “Even though the economy improved last quarter there are a number of headwinds and a lot of uncertainty surrounding Europe, emerging markets and also US fiscal policy.”

The main wild card in the GDP report is inventories, since the government has only two months of data. Nonetheless, economists believe inventories rose as businesses prepared to meet stronger consumer demand. Consumer spending, which accounts for about 70 percent of US economic activity, is expected to have stepped

NEW YORK: In this photo, traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. — AP up from the third-quarter’s 1.7 percent pace, largely driven by pent-up demand for motor vehicles.

Sluggish income growth But sluggish income growth amid an 8.5 percent unemployment rate, which has prompted households to tap savings and credit cards to fund their purchases, is expected to weigh on consumers as the new year unfolds. “Though the unemployment rate has improved, the jobs market remains a major challenge. Part of the decline in the unemployment rate is due to the fact that ... people have stopped looking for work,” said Adolfo Laurenti, deputy chief economist at Mesirow Financial in Chicago.

“The high level of people out of the workforce and underemployed people show there isn’t really much income generation to contribute to a better spending pattern.”

About 23.7 million Americans are either out of work or underemployed. The shrinking labor force suggests the economy’s long-term growth potential has slipped below 2.5 percent. A sustained growth pace of at least 3 percent would likely be needed to make noticeable headway in absorbing the unemployed and those who have given up the search for work. While business

spending on capital goods probably grew for an eighth straight quarter, the pace likely slowed from prior periods. Economists warn that the debt crisis in Europe, which is seen tipping the region into recession, could cause businesses to become more cautious about spending.

The crisis is expected to have eroded export growth in the fourth-quarter, further clouding the outlook. While exports make up only about 13 percent of GDP, they have accounted for a disproportionate share of growth since the recession ended in 2009.

Despite an anticipated slowdown in growth this year, analysts do not believe the economy will fall into recession. “The United States has enough momentum to offset the losses coming from Europe,” said Laurenti.

Unseasonably mild winter weather is expected to have helped home construction post its fastest growth pace since the second quarter of 2010, with much of the growth going to meet rising demand for rental apartments. Spending on nonresidential structures probably rose for a third straight quarter, reflecting increased mining and drilling activity. Government spending is seen shrinking for a fifth consecutive month, with much of the drag at the state and local government level. — Reuters

Eastman Chemical buys Solutia for $3.38 billion NEW YORK: Specialty chemical company Eastman Chemical Co is buying Solutia Inc in a cash-and-stock deal valued at about $3.38 billion to broaden its presence in the Asia Pacific region and other emerging markets while expanding its product offerings. Eastman Chemical is paying a 42 percent premium over Solutia’s latest closing price and said yesterday that it expects the deal to immediately add to its earnings.

Solutia, based in St. Louis, makes materials and specialty chemicals used in the automotive and architectural industries. Eastman Chemical has approximately 10,000 employees worldwide, while Solutia has about 3,400 workers

globally. Eastman Chemical, based in Kingsport, Tenn., was spun off from photography pioneer Eastman Kodak Co in 1994, according to the company’s web site. In the deal announced yesterday, Solutia shareholders will receive $22 in cash and 0.12 shares of Eastman Chemical stock for each share of Solutia that they own. Based on Thursday’s closing prices, Solutia shareholders will receive cash and stock valued at $27.65 per Solutia share. Solutia currently has about 122.1 million shares outstanding.

Solutia’s stock jumped $7.94, or 40.7 percent, to $27.45 in premarket trading, while shares of Eastman Chemical gained $3.13, or 6.6 percent, to $50.25. The com-

panies value the deal, including debt, at about $4.7 billion. Eastman Chemical said it plans to fund the cash portion of the buyout with available cash and debt. Citi and Barclays Capital, which are serving as financial advisors, have committed debt financing.

Both Eastman Chemical and Solutia’s boards have approved the transaction, which still needs the approval of Solutia shareholders. The acquisition is expected to close in mid-2012. Eastman Chemical Chairman and CEO Jim Rogers said in a statement that the transaction is important in part because it will extend the company’s reach into the Asia Pacific region. Eastman Chemical anticipates

that it will have a compound annual growth rate in Asia Pacific approaching 10 percent for the next several years. Last month Eastman Chemical said that China will play a key role in its growth as it broke ground on a facility in Heifei, China. The plant, a joint venture with China National Tobacco Corp, will make acetate tow, a raw material used for cigarette filters and other purposes. The plant is projected to be operational in mid2013. Eastman Chemical expects about $100 million in annual cost savings by the end of 2013, as the acquisition is expected to help lower corporate costs and improve manufacturing and supply chain processes. —AP

SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012

McGraw’s ‘Emotional Traffic’ finally hits streets Page 27

Stars cover Dylan songs for Amnesty International Page 24

US burlesque artist Dita Von Teese poses as she arrives to take part in the “fashion dinner against Aids” an event organized by Sidaction with French fashion federation to raise funds for the Aids research in Paris. —AP

SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012

Gerard Butler

was once mistaken for a terrorist

T

he ‘Coriolanus’ star was going through immigration in a London airport when he was stopped by suspicious security officials in 2001 and the actor - who had just completed a screen test for ‘Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life’ - had a tough time explaining why he had material taped on to his shoes. He told Shortlist magazine: “Just after the shoe bomber plot in 2001, I flew to London from Montreal to do a screen

test for ‘Lara Croft’. They’d built this caged floor for the set but they couldn’t hear my dialogue properly so they put felt on my boots. Straight after the audition I went back to the airport and as I walked through they went, ‘OK Sir, show us your feet’. And then I remembered I had this roughly cut, half inch of felt stuck to the bottom of my soles.” Although Gerard, 42, tried to explain the situation, security officials were doubtful when he tried to

tell them he had just been for an audition with Angelina Jolie. He added: “The guy literally went, ‘What the ... is that? Security!’ The next thing I know there are 10 people around me and I’m telling what sounds like the most far-fetched story ever about my audition with Angelina Jolie.”

Hulk Hogan wants to visit Stone Henge

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he wrestling legend is in the UK this week on the TNA Maximum IMPACT Tour and he revealed his wife Jennifer McDaniel wanted to go with him to see the prehistoric monument - a circular collection of standing stones which is believed to have mystical and spiritual powers - in Wiltshire, South West England. However, another spiritual power has stopped them making the trip ‘Hulkamania’ which has gripped the country since the 58-year-old star arrived earlier this week. Hulk told BANG Showbiz: “Jennifer’s been around and seen the crazy stuff that happens with me, she’s excited about being here, but she was hoping I wouldn’t have to work all the time. She wanted to see the sights and she wanted to go to that mystical Stone Henge with all the energy, which would be cool.” Although the couple haven’t been able to get to Stone Henge which dates back to around 3,000 BC - they have been able to see the sights of London and have been taking in landmarks such as Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament and the River Thames. Hulk has been blown away by warm welcome he has received since touching down in the UK. He said: “It’s just been amazing, I can’t believe it’s still like this, I can’t believe how loyal the fans are over here. My wife and I are just overwhelmed at how nice people are, people are just so kind and have said such nice things. It’s cool, just really, really cool.” The Maximum IMPACT Tour kicked off at the Nottingham Capital FM Arena and saw Hulk - real name Terry Bollea - step inside a British ring for the first time since 1994. The tour moved onto the Manchester MEN Arena yesterday before heading to London’s Wembley Arena today where TNA will film its flagship TV show ‘IMPACT Wrestling’ for the first time outside of the US.

Jackson’s children take part in a hand and footprint ceremony

H

is three kids - Prince, 14, Paris, 13, and nineyear-old Prince Michael II, better known as ‘Blanket’ - took part in the memorial ceremony outside Hollywood’s Grauman’s Chinese Theater and used one of the King of Pop’s iconic sequin gloves and a pair of his dancing shoes to make the imprints. The children also made marks with their own hands. Addressing the assembled crowd, Prince said: “This, right here, is his lifetime achievement award. This is what he strived to get, and this is what we are giving him now.” Other members of the Jackson family present for the honor included

Michael’s mother Katherine - the children’s legal guardian - and his brothers Tito and Jackie. A host of stars were also in attendance to remember the ‘Smooth Criminal’ singer - who died in June 2009 from Propofol intoxication. Justin Bieber, Chris Tucker - who appeared with Michael in the video to his 2001 hit ‘You Rock My World’ - Smokey Robinson and Quincy Jones, who produced the pop superstar’s three classic albums ‘Off the Wall’, ‘Thriller’ and ‘Bad’. Justin, 17, said: “He meant so much to me. He was more than entertainer; he was an inspiration.”

SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012

Paul Bettany says brother’s death changed his view on life

Russell Brand is reportedly dating again T

he comic star filed for divorce from his wife Katy Perry just a few weeks ago but has already returned to his womanising ways and is seeing more than one girl, according to Us Weekly magazine. Katy has been told that her estranged husband - who has previously been treated for sex addiction and substance abuse issues - has moved on from their marriage by her pals. A source said:

“She discovered through her friends. One of the women told a friend of hers and it got back to Katy.” It’s not only Russell’s foray back into the singles’ scene which has upset Katy, 27. The 36-year-old actor has also allegedly been bad-mouthing his wife to his conquests. The source added: “He’s spoken terribly about Katy to them.

“Russell told (one girl) he wanted her to move in with him after the divorce is

final.” The ‘Rock of Ages’ star filed divorce papers on December 30 after he and the ‘Firework’ singer spent Christmas apart.

Before he started his relationship with Katy, Russell - who married the pop star in India in October 2010 - was renowned for his womanising and had bedded a string of beauties including Kate Moss, Australian actress Teresa Palmer and allegedly Holly Madison.

Hemsworth Pataky

and on ‘constant honeymoon’

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he couple - who are expecting their first child together tied the knot in December 2010 after almost a year of dating and the actress says they have loved every minute of married life so far. She said: “Marriage has been wonderful. A constant honeymoon. I feel very lucky to have found the person who completes me.” Though she doesn’t know the gender of her unborn tot, Elsa is expecting their baby to be “stubborn” because it is a characteristic shared by herself and her spouse.

She explained: “Because it’s our first child, we would be happy with either a boy or a girl. The only

thing we care about is that it is healthy. But it’s bound to be stubborn because we both have such strong personalities.” Elsa - who is Spanish - also admitted she has no idea where she and Australianborn Chris will welcome their child into the world because her spouse is so busy. Asked where the baby will be born, she told Britain’s HELLO! magazine: “We don’t know yet. It depends where we are. We move about all the time. Chris has got a lot of projects on the go and at least four movies coming out this year, so it depends on that. Wherever he is, that’s where I’ll be.”

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he ‘Broken Lines’ actor - who lost his sibling as a teenager - explained the experience made him feel “alienated” from other people his age and aware of “how precarious” life really is. He said: “My brother had died. I was very merged with my brother. It was a mixture of the loss of someone you love deeply coupled with a time when you’re sort of - 16, 17 narcissistically confident about yourself, thinking life is eternal, and the fragility of it being revealed was awful. “Quite apart from my own loss. I loved him so much.

The awareness of how precarious our position is. And an alienation of how I felt with other people my age. I felt I was holding a huge secret about what actually happens.

“Up until then life had seemed exciting and endless.” Paul - who raises sons Kai, 14, and Stellan, eight, and daughter Agnes, seven months, with wife Jennifer Connelly - admitted he reached a particularly low point when he had been busking on the streets of London, and he had his guitar confiscated by his landlord for failing to pay his rent. He added in an interview with Observer Food Monthly magazine: “There’s a 10-year period from 16 to 26 where I’m not very clear on time. I had no thought of the future at all. No plan. I suppose now, when I think back to it, I was in a depressed state. But it didn’t feel like depression because I didn’t feel much. “I was living in a bunch of different places.

I’d sneak into a boarding house where my sister was staying - she let me sleep on my floor. I slept on a lot of floors. The landlord came up and took my guitar - which was really f***ing stupid because I had no way of earning the rent money. “My dad came and picked me up and paid off my rent. I went home and then I started working in an old people’s home. And then I applied for drama school and got in.”

SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012

A performer dressed as the Chinese God of Wealth smiles outside a shopping mall in Hong Kong yesterday. In Hong Kong, lion dances are often seen during the Chinese Lunar New Year period. —AFP

Stars cover

Dylan

A

Music industry spots light at end songs of piracy tunnel

for Amnesty International K

nyone who ever doubted the transformative power of Bob Dylan’s music need only look to Ke$ha. Yes, Ke$ha. The irreverent pop star known for singing about brushing her teeth with “a bottle of Jack” turns poignant while covering a song from one of music’s great lyricists on the new four-disc “Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International.” The project features 75 newly recorded Dylan songs by 80 artists, including Adele, Sting, Sugarland, Elvis Costello, hip-hop artist K’naan and others to support the human rights organization. The album will be available internationally on Jan 30.

Ke$ha is one of the more unlikely stars to contribute to the compilation, released Tuesday. The pop star defined by party anthems like

In this Jan 12, 2012 file photo, Bob Dylan performs during the 17th Annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards in Los Angeles.—AP

“Tik Tok” and “Your Love Is My Drug” took on Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright.” As she found herself alone in her bedroom for the first time in months, the words of the song - about a person bidding goodbye to a lover - took on a new, deeply personal meaning. She realized she was saying goodbye to her carefree, former life - before big hits and world tours brought on pressure and priorities. She broke down as she began singing, and the emotion is captured on the record.

“Everything has changed. It’s amazing, but there are moments that are incredibly lonely. This caught me at one of those incredibly lonely moments, and it really struck home. There’s a line, ‘It’s a long and lonesome road, babe, where I’m bound I can’t tell.’ It’s tragically relevant,” said Ke$ha in a phone interview. “I think these are all positive things for young people to see that you can be strong and you can be irreverent and you can say what you want and you have the freedom of speech, but I’ve learned that vulnerability is actually an asset. It can be just as much of an asset as strength.”

Ke$ha isn’t the only eye-popping name on the compilation: Nineteen-year-old Miley Cyrus does a rendition of “You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go.” The project has a wide range of acts, from Maroon 5 to 92-year-old folk legend Pete Seeger, who sings “Forever Young” with a children’s chorus. Dylan waived the publishing rights to his entire catalog, and all of the artists, musicians, engineers and others involved in the recording process did everything pro bono.

Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry, who recorded “Man of Peace,” describes it as “thin ice” to cover an artist as iconic as Dylan, because not only are his songs brilliant, but his performances of those songs have become so revered themselves. “(Artists like Dylan) know where (the songs) live and breathe and where the heartbeat is. So covering them can be a touchy thing,” said Perry, who recorded the Dylan song “Man of Peace.” “Hopefully you don’t make it different just for the sake of making it different. I just wanted to kind of reinterpret my take on the song and just have fun singing it.” —AP

nocked sideways a decade ago by online piracy, the record industry had a spring in its step in the run-up to the MIDEM trade fair this weekend, buoyed by figures suggesting legal downloading has taken off for good. “As we enter 2012, there are good reasons for optimism in the world of digital music,” Frances Moore, head of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), told reporters ahead of the annual Riviera event, which runs from January 28-31.

Industry figures show the digital music business register unprecedented global expansion in 2011 — suggesting music lovers are finally turning their backs on piracy and are willing to pay to download the records they want. Moore, whose organization represents the interests of the recording industry, says “consumer choice has been revolutionized” and that legal download services with expanding audiences now reach across the globe.

Last year saw a jump in the reach of digital music services, with sites such as Spotify, Deezer and Sony’s Music Unlimited now available in 58 countries worldwide compared with 23 at the start of 2011. Digital music revenues grew an estimated eight percent to 5.2 billion dollars (four billion euros) in 2011, while the number of people paying to subscribe to music services leapt 65 percent to 13.4 million worldwide, IFPI estimates show. News that the industry looks to be emerging from a 10-year crisis and that online music sales are finally proving viable promise to get the four-day MIDEM fair off to an upbeat start. But the estimated 7,000 executives from the music, advertising, digital and technology worlds expected to attend still face tough challenges as the sector continues its transition from a physical to a digital music industry. Piracy remains a threat, though government action against illegal file-sharers in some countries, particularly France, is starting to have an impact and has helped boost legal sales, the IFPI’s Digital music Report 2012 noted. —AFP

SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012

ACM

Kenny Chesney leads Awards nominations with 9 Nominees announced via social media

K

enny Chesney’s steamy duet, “You and Tequila” with Grace Potter, continues to radiate heat.

The song helped Chesney to nine Academy of Country Music Awards nominations Thursday morning, including the top honor of entertainer of the year. In a phone interview from Key West, where he was about to step on his boat for a few days of fishing and fun, Chesney called the success of “You and Tequila,” written by Matraca

In this Oct 25, 2010 file photo, musician Taylor Swift poses for a portrait in West Hollywood, Calif. Swift had three Academy of Country Music Awards nominations Thursday.

Berg and Deana Carter, one of the highlights of his career.

“That song’s been around for a while,” Chesney said. “To me it just goes to show you a great song just has to some extent an infinite life and good songs never go out of style, and this one surely hasn’t, thank God.” Jason Aldean, next with six nominations, Brad Paisley, Blake Shelton and 2011 winner Taylor Swift round out the fan-voted entertainer of the year category. Lady Antebellum had five nominations, Paisley had four and several were deadlocked at three, including Swift.

Nominees were announced via social media with the help of stars like Reba McEntire and Lionel Richie. Fans were chosen to announce the enter-

tainer of the year candidates. They’ll have a chance to pick the winner in that category and new artist of the year for the 47th annual ACM Awards, which will air live April 1 from Las Vegas on CBS with McEntire and Shelton hosting.

Chesney is a four-time entertainer of the year winner and was the first victor under the academy’s current fan-voted format. He’s nominated for a 10th time in the male vocalist category and received double nominations as artist and producer for album of the year for “Hemingway’s Whiskey” and single record of the year and vocal event of the year for “You and Tequila.” He also receives a song of the year nomination as performer on “You and Tequila.”

Potter, best known as an indie rock performer with her band The Nocturnals, received three nominations for the collaboration. The nominations were in some sense a validation of Chesney’s choice to take a year off the road in 2010. He used that time to focus on the music of “Hemingway’s Whiskey,” work on film projects, reenergize and even to give the fans a little break. He returned to the road last year and again broke the million-mark in attendance.”I feel like I did the right thing,” Chesney said. “I know that this past summer was one of the most intense summers in a lot of great summers that we’ve had. The connection with the fans felt stronger than ever and I felt like the music we made because we took the year off was equally as strong. And the fact that the cycle’s starting where people are recognizing that makes me excited and makes me feel great.”

Aldean also is up for male vocalist, album of the year for “My Kinda Party,” single record and vocal event of the year for the duet “Don’t You Wanna Stay” with Kelly Clarkson, and video of the year for “Tattoos on This Town.”

Lady Antebellum will compete for its third straight vocal group of the year win. The trio of Hillary Scott, Dave Haywood and Charles Kelley also is up for album of the year for “Own the Night” as artist and producer, and both song and video of the year for “Just a Kiss.”

Kelley says the group sees the nominations as a sign of acceptance beyond the breakthrough success of “Need You Now,” the crossover hit that changed their careers. “It’s nice to move past that and be given recognition for this new record and ‘Just a Kiss,’” Kelley said from Tulsa, Okla., where the band is preparing to launch its spring tour.

“For us this means a lot, too. There was a lot of pressure going into this third

this week is overwhelming,” Shelton said in a statement. “Thank you everyone for this honor.” “The Voice” coach isn’t the only rising star reaching new heights at the ACMs. Chris Young took a large step into the spotlight, earning nominations in the male vocalist and single record of the year categories.

He said during a call from his stop in Baltimore on the Miranda Lambert tour that 2011 was a whirlwind of highlights. He was recently talking with friends about all the great things that happened, from the success of his

In this March 3, 2009 file photo, country music performer Jason Aldean is shown in Nashville, Tenn. —AP

record and to see that we still can carry some of that momentum over on this record ... is kind of an affirmation of that.”

Along with his fifth straight entertainer nomination, Paisley will be going for another win in the male vocalist category. He’s won it five times in a row. He also scored a double nomination in the vocal event category for “Old Alabama” with Alabama and “Remind Me” with Carrie Underwood.

Eric Church’s “CHIEF” and Miranda Lambert’s “Four the Record” round out the album of the year category. Lady A won last year for its breakthrough “Need You Now.” Nominees for the new artist of the year will be announced after the close of online voting Jan 30. Fans are currently picking the nominees in that category from a list of eight semifinalists.

Fans can begin voting at the ACM website for entertainer and new artist nominees on March 19. The other award winners are picked by the academy’s membership.

It’s Shelton’s first nomination for the academy’s top award. The news comes the week after Shelton’s father, Dick, passed away. “The support I have felt

In this June 17, 2011 photo, Kenny Chesney appears on the NBC “Today” television program in New York.

Chesney’s duet with Grace Potter, “You and Tequila,” helped Chesney to get nine Academy of Country Music Awards nominations including top honor entertainer of the year. —AP

album, his tour with Aldean to the response to his nominated song “Tomorrow.” “We were sitting there going, ‘I don’t know how you can top this,’” Young said. “And it looks just into January we’ve at least got a good shot at trying.”— AP

SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012

Sundance docu examines costs of US war on drugs

From left to right, actor Dennis Quaid, actor Ben Barnes, actress Zoe Saldana, co-director and co-writer Brian Klugman, co-director and co-writer Lee Sternthal, and actor Bradley Cooper, from the film “The Words,” pose for a portrait during the 2012 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah on Thursday.—AP

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ugene Jarecki’s documentary at the Sundance Film Festival looks at the cost of America’s war on drugs its social and human as well as financial cost. With “The House I Live In,” the filmmaker takes a close-up look at the results of US drug policy. Jarecki said he was moved to explore the issue because, while his parents escaped persecution in Nazi Germany, he sees another kind of Holocaust taking place in poor communities hit by harsh drug laws and mandatory minimum sentences.

The film includes interviews with inmates, dealers, narcotics officers, judges, professors and historians. Jarecki argued that American drug laws have targeted minorities since the 1800s, and the lack of opportunities that continue to exist in poor and minority neighborhoods create an environment in which drug use and sales seem like a viable choice. “To go down to a drug corner in the inner city is the rational act of somebody going to work in the only company that exists in a company town,” said journalist and creator of HBO’s “The Wire” David Simon, who is featured in the film.

Jarecki said that in communities plagued by unemployment, violence, absentee parents and overcrowded schools, people often turn to drugs to self-medicate, then find themselves addicted. “Now you’ve got that dangerous cocktail of a user who’s also a seller, and so many of the people I talked to are that,” he said. “What they are not is violent. What they are not is a threat to you and me. And we are putting them away for sentences that are worse than the sentences we give to people who are violent.” He said the United States is “the world’s largest jailer.” —AP

Husband and wife actors Brad Hall and Julia Louis-Dreyfus arrive at the premiere of the feature film “Darling Companions” in Santa Barbara, Calif., Thursday. —AP

In this theater image released

by Boneau/Bryan-Brown, Cynthia Nixon, left, and Greg Keller are shown in a scene from “Wit,” in New York. —AP

Cynthia Nixon wrestles with life in a moving ‘Wit’

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nother “Sex and the City” star has made her way to Broadway but she’s brought along a different kind of cocktail. Cynthia Nixon has a combination of the drugs Hexamethophosphacil and Vinplatin in her veins as she fights back ovarian cancer in a tight and powerful Manhattan Theatre Club production of “Wit,” which opened Thursday at Samuel J Friedman Theatre.

The play about the final days of a scholar of John Donne’s metaphysical poetry is making its Broadway premiere 13 years after it earned playwright Margaret Edson the Pulitzer Prize for drama. It is a deceptive play - seemingly so simple yet layered with nuance and self-consciousness. “I’ve got less than two hours. Then: curtain,” quips the scholar at the top of the piece in a typically - yes, witty - line.

The part of Professor Vivian Bearing is catnip for any serious actress - Emma Thompson and Judith Light have played her - and Nixon has scrubbed all glamour from her face and body to inhabit a woman who goes from detached observer of her own condition to one consumed by raw feeling, whimpering childlike in pain. And yet Nixon has decided to play her character far too robotic at the beginning, perhaps to heighten her arc. The result is a more shocking payoff when Bearing finally succumbs, but it comes at the cost of initially emotionally connecting with her audience.

For too many stretches here, Nixon is like a Vulcan, her character’s humanity hidden behind the walls of her formidable mind.

Nixon on stage appears on stage bald from chemo and wears a baseball cap and two formless hospital gowns. It’s a far cry from her “Sex and the City” comrade Kim Cattrall, who just finished her latest stint on Broadway in Noel Coward’s frothy “Private Lives” while sipping Champagne in silky gowns. The humor in Nixon’s play is grim, grim, grim and Nixon - along with director Lynne Meadow, who are both cancer survivors - have wrung out every ounce in a 100-minute, intermission-less production.

The production gets its biggest laughs for tweaking hospitals as inhuman factories, with the ubiquitous question to patients “How are you feeling today?” particularly mocked. The role of a slightly dim but goodhearted nurse (played by Carra Patterson) seems ill-defined in this production. But two smaller roles are very well executed.

Greg Keller plays the brisk Dr Jason Posner, a one-time student of the imperial Professor Bearing who is in many ways her medical soul mate. He, too, is unhappy dealing with humans, preferring to be hidden away in a research lab just as she hides behind wit. “So. The young doctor, like the

senior scholar, prefers research to humanity,” Bearing tells us in an aside. Keller shows a lovely flash of awkwardness when he begins a pelvic exam of his old teacher and his speech about why the disease she battles is so interesting to him - “Cancer’s the only thing I ever wanted,” he thoughtlessly says - mimics his patient’s detached rapture for her beloved poet, Donne.

The other memorable performance is from Suzanne Bertish, who pops up twice as E.M. Ashford, Bearing’s mentor who encourages the younger woman to engage with life in a flashback scene and then tenderly reads to her as she dies in the play’s most tear-jerking moment. —AP

Monty Python members to re-unite for new film

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embers of iconic British comedy group “Monty Python” will reunite for a new film, a science fiction farce, ex-Python Terry Jones said in comments published Thursday.

“Absolutely Anything” will not be a Python film as such, but key members of the gang, John Cleese, Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam, are involved, said Jones, who will direct the movie.

US comic Robin Williams will also lend his voice to the film, which will combine animation and live action, while producers are attempting to sign up the other surviving Python member, Eric Idle, for the project. “It’s not a Monty Python picture, but it certainly has that sensibility,” Jones told industry daily Variety, adding filming was expected to begin in Britain in the coming months.

The original Python members-who first joined forces on surreal TV series “Monty Python’s Flying Circus”-will voice a group of aliens who give an earthling the power to do “absolutely anything” to see what a mess he makes.

Williams will play a talking dog called Dennis, who seems to understand more than anyone else about what happens as a result. Jones co-directed the 1974 “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” with Gilliam, as well as directing “Life of Brian” and “Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life.” “Life of Brian” producer Mike Medavoy will be one of several producers on the new project, based on a script by Jones and Gavin Scott developed over the last two decades. “Terry and Gavin have crafted a classic farce-something I feel I know a little about after all the ‘Pink Panther’ pictures we did with (director) Blake Edwards and United Artists,” he said. “In fact, the movie even has a pompous Frenchman reminiscent of Inspector Clouseau,” a character which could be played by Williams, while other key roles have yet to be decided, he said. The five surviving Python members last reunited in a 1998 appearance at the Aspen Comedy Festival, along with an urn which allegedly contained the ashes of late member Graham Chapman, who died in 1989.— AFP

SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012

Tourists from Hubei Province pose for photos in Chinese emperors clothing during the Lunar New Year holiday at the start of the ‘Year of the Dragon’ in Beijing yesterday. China is welcoming the year of the dragon, a symbol considered to be particularly auspicious because it is the only mythical creature among the dozen animals that represent each year in the Chinese cosmic cycle. —AFP

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TV loves NY in record ‘Emotional year for Big Apple Traffic’ finally hits streets L

im McGraw’s long-delayed album “Emotional Traffic” is finally hitting the streets. The last album in the long, lucrative but contentious relationship between McGraw and Curb Records arrives more than a year late with a fascinating backstory and a little bit of buzz. McGraw isn’t actively promoting the album, but it kicks off what promises to be a high visibility year for the country star.

He’s now considering his next move after a judge granted his freedom from his record deal last November. What’s already on the schedule is the “Brothers of the Sun” stadium tour this summer with Kenny Chesney and actively recording new songs. “Emotional Traffic” already indirectly produced a multiweek No 1 song, “Felt Good on My Lips,” which was released against McGraw’s wishes on a hits package in 2010. McGraw has called the new album his “best ever” and fan interest is piqued.

“There are a lot of possibilities with this record. It’s hard to say,” said Wade Jessen, who tracks country music and other charts for Billboard Magazine in Nashville. “I think at least in the public comments Tim has made about it, he’s very much a cheerleader for this music, and that may go a long way to making the most emotionally invested fans overlook the fact that it’s coming out on a record label Tim has had some issues with. And we know how loyal country music fans are. They like for their artists to be treated fairly and with respect, and if there’s any perception otherwise it can guide their decisions.”

With legal issues to resolve still, McGraw and Curb executives aren’t doing interviews to promote “Emotional Traffic.”

But McGraw laid the groundwork for a promotional campaign in a few interviews last year. He also previewed a handful of cuts from the album on last year’s extremely popular “Emotional Traffic” tour. In an interview last April, McGraw said he couldn’t wait for fans to hear the new album. After recording four or five LPs with his road band, The Dancehall Doctors,

McGraw decided to use a different set of musicians on “Emotional Traffic” and looked to open up his sound. He brought in Ne-Yo for a duet as well.

“There are some great players,” McGraw said. “A couple of guys from Paul McCartney’s band are on this album. Paul Bushnell is on bass, who’s one of my favorite bass players ever.

The songs are just really fresh and cool. I’m excited.” McGraw’s longtime producer Byron Gallimore agrees. He says over the two decades they’ve worked together, they’ve used a formula for choosing songs. “Emotional Traffic” continues that trend of not only including country material, but expanding into areas like R&B, pop and rock. McGraw can then use his voice to pull the song back into country territory.

“We’re certainly happy with it and feel like it’s one of our best,” Gallimore said. “I think every time you do another one you feel like it’s probably better than the last one, for me personally at least. We’ve got a great batch of songs on here and I’m just excited that it’s getting out there. ... I feel very strongly about this record. I would agree with Tim on that.”

Without McGraw’s direct help, Curb has had to get creative with its promotion. It’s liberally using McGraw’s “best ever” quote, for one, enlisting the artist’s help at least passively. The label also partnered with National Public Radio’s “First Listen” series to stream the album for a week leading up to release. While this practice isn’t unusual in the indie rock world, it’s a step in a different direction for mainstream country. There’s also a new single “Better Than I Used to Be” moving up the charts, the traditional way to get a fan’s attention. Jessen isn’t sure all this will translate into a blockbuster sales week for McGraw, but he suspects McGraw’s faithful will be ready to spend some money. “I think this is a good day for Tim McGraw fans because they’ve got new music in their hands,” Jessen said. “That’s the upside of this entire scenario. That’s the bottom line.”— AP

ights, cameras, New York! The city that has served as a classic backdrop for American cinema is celebrating a record year for television production, according to Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Having hosted everything from Woody Allen classics to sci-fi monster invasion flicks, New York has long been second only to Los Angeles as a movie center. But in 2011 the city cemented its status as a television hotbed, with 23 primetime series being filmed here, compared to just nine a decade ago.

“With our beautiful city, talented workforce... New York City has surpassed all previous records for film and television production,” Bloomberg told a press conference on Thursday held on the set of primetime series “Gossip Girl.”

Officials said that some 100,000 New Yorkers make a living from the film and television industry, which last year turned out 140 TV shows of different stripes and 188 movies, bringing in $5 billion.

The massively successful US television industry apparently cannot get enough of New York as a setting. The skyscrapers, the romance of Central Park, and the photogenic roughness of streets in the outer boroughs are as common on the small screen as in movie theaters. “Gossip Girl,” which recounts the lives of beautiful, privileged Manhattan youngsters, and which airs its 100th episode Monday, “makes New York a central character,” Bloomberg said, flanked by Blake Lively and other cast members. The same could be said of international hits like “Sex and the City,” “Seinfeld” and “Friends.” Studiobased comedy favorites “Saturday Night Live” and “The Late Show with David Letterman” have been shot here for three decades.

Speaking at the “Gossip Girl” set in Silvercup Studios in Queens, executive producer Stephanie Savage said they had initially been pressured to choose a film lot in Los Angeles, but refused. “It became our mission: New York or bust,” she said. “We pitched this show in the most exciting city in the world at the most exciting time of your life.” Great cityscapes are not the only reason that New York has lured so many hard-nosed executives, despite being one of the most expensive places to work and live in the world. —AFP

SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012

Top chefs go back to basics

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ild herbs, leaves and even giant ants and tarantulas are in demand by the world’s top chefs who are putting a renewed focus on traditional recipes and the use of locally sourced raw ingredients. A number of leading chefs at this week’s Madrid Fusion, an annual gastronomy fair that wrapped up Thursday, said they preferred to use primary products on their creations-and are in some cases even gathering them themselves.

Swedish chef Magnus Ek said he gathers leaves, bark and wild herbs each morning from the grounds around his awardwinning restaurant, Oaxen Skargardskrog, on the Swedish island of Oaxen, for use in his recipes.

“Our cuisine is very natural, most of the ingredients we use either grow or live around us. I try to bring as much nature as I can into the kitchen,” he told AFP. His restaurant is part of a Scandinavian gastronomic revolution that defends the use of local cooking traditions. The movement is led by Danish chef Rene Redzepi, whose

restaurant Noma in Copenhagen is currently regarded by food critics as the world’s best.

The raw materials used at Noma are all local-either foraged from the sea, the shore or the forest-or grown by organic producers. Redzepi refuses to use air transport to subvert the natural rhythm of the seasons. The trend stands in contrast with the “molecular gastronomy” made popular by Spanish chef Ferran Adria which uses hi-tech methods to take apart and rebuild foods in surprising ways. Adria’s acclaimed elBulli restaurant near Barcelona, which closed last year, was famous for serving items such as patato foam, parmesan crystal and foie gras noodles frozen with liquid nitrogen.

“We are not afraid to use chemicals if we are seeking a special effect, but for us chemistry can never be primordial,” said Ek as he watched a dozen chefs decked out in white prepare a sauce made out of lichens. Biodiversity offers cooks unlimited possibilities, said Venezuelan chef Nelson Mendez,

adding that he had discovered in the foods eaten by Amazon Indians a “large pantry” of flavours little known by the “white man”. Mendez gave up preparing French cuisine at luxury hotel restaurants in Caracas a decade ago to move to Puerto Ayacucho in the Venezuelan Amazon. From the town he supplies himself with the products that are gathered and grown by three local indigenous communities-the Piaroa, the Yanomami and the Bare. “In their cuisine they use jungle insects, palm worms, tarantulas and vachacos, which are giant ants,” said Mendez who is a Bare. He acknowledges that the use of these ingredients “can be a cultural shock for a Westerner” so he tries to combine these “atypical products” with classic recipes.

The indigenous tribes of the Amazon eat giant tarantulas that are roasted.

Mendez, however, transforms them into an encrusted croquette that is served with a spicy guava sauce.

Palm worms are transformed into a mousse that is baked, wrapped in a puff pastry made with cassava flour. “There

are a variety of fruits and animal species in the Amazon that are not very well known,” said Mendez, who advocates for the need to develop sustainable cuisine with a smaller environmental impact. “We are not going to plunder this pantry, I would say it does not have one Michelin star but ten.” Ek is confident that “regional cuisines” are poised for a huge comeback. “People are very proud of the dishes which have been prepared for generations. Of course they want to reform it but also preserve its roots,” he said. That is the case of Japanese chef Nishihara Masato who prepares Shojin temple food, an ancient cuisine developed in Buddhist monasteries, at his award-winning Kajitsu eatery in New York.

“After working for ten years preparing high end Japanese cuisine, I wanted to learn about an older and deeper world,” he said. “I use only vegetables, mainly roots like turnip, carrots, potatoes, or gobou because in Shojin cuisine the use of animals, eggs and milk is not allowed,” added Masato.— AFP

‘Starbikes’: The poor

Indonesian’s Starbucks

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s well-heeled Indonesians sip lattes in the air conditioned comfort of Starbucks, outside on the bustling, traffic-jammed streets of Jakarta the myriad poor turn to “Starbikes” for their fix. In every large city the ubiquitous coffee vendors on wheels ride the streets or cluster around human traffic, dispensing cups of instant java from hot water flasks strapped behind their bicycle seats.

In a country where the $3 price of a small caffe latte at an international coffee chain like Starbucks equals more than a day’s wages for the majority of Indonesia’s 240-million population, these vendors sell their brew for about a tenth of that price, catering to a much larger client base. Regarded as unlicensed peddlers and frequently locked in a cat-andmouse game with police, the bikers are businessmen on the low rung of Southeast Asia’s largest and fastest growing major economy, trying to pedal their way out of poverty by buying into an informal poor man’s franchise.

Sambang, a 28-year-old farmer who came to the big city a year ago to seek his fortune, paid a “start-up” fee of about $150 to one of many independent agents for a bicycle and flask. Soon he was riding the streets of Jakarta with long strips of coffee sachets-offering the ‘Kapal Api’ black coffee

An Indonesian “Starbikes” vendor prepares coffee on November 9, 2011 from his bicycle on the sidewalk outside a Starbucks coffee shop in Jakarta. As well-heeled Indonesians sip lattes in the air conditioned comfort of Starbucks, outside on the bustling, traffic-jammed streets of Jakarta the myriad poor turn to “Starbikes” for their fix.—AFP

most popular with Indonesians and cappuccino for more sophisticated palates-swaying over his handlebars.

Sambang, who like many Indonesians uses a single name, also pays $30 monthly for supplies of hot water, coffee packets and plastic cups to his agent, on average earning around $100 a month.

At that rate, he said, vendors like him typically take about six months to pay off borrowed money to the agents who frequently work out of their homes, some even providing cramped and basic lodging to vendors, many who come from the villages. International chains like Starbucks or The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf abound in Indonesia’s bigger cities, in Jakarta ensconced in glitzy malls alongside Louis Vuitton or Tiffany’s boutiques or stores selling $15,000 wristwatches. Sambang, dressed in a worn-out T-shirt and flipflops like many other vendors, caters to a different crowd.

“Rich people go to Starbucks, poor people like me go to ‘Starbikes’,” quipped Indonesian cabbie Junarsah, hopping out of his Mercedes limousine taxi and stopping a pedaler.

“Cheap, fast and good. I’m a happy man,” the 44-year-old grinned, paying 3,000 (30 cents) for his streetside purchase of a cup of coffee and two cigarettes. —AFP

Comics are displayed at the 39th edition of Angouleme world comic strip festival headed by American Art Spiegelman on the opening day, on January 27, 2012 in Angouleme, southwestern France. The 2012 festival is dedicated to Spain and is scheduled till January 29. Fifty-eight comics are in competition. —AFP

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Voyage to heart of Islam opens at British Museum

t is a rite that all followers of Islam are supposed to perform at least once in a lifetime, yet for the rest of the globe the hajj is veiled in mystery. Now the British Museum in London has opened the first ever major exhibition on the pilgrimage, to give non-Muslims a glimpse of the heart of this world religion. “This exhibition is for everybody, Muslims and non-Muslims, everyone who wants to know more about this extraordinary phenomenon, which is one of the great religious manifestation of the world,” said Neil MacGregor, the director of the museum.

“Hajj is the only part of the practice of Islam that non-Muslims can’t see. “It seems very important to try to explore that experience and to understand what it means to Muslims now, what it has meant through the centuries and to understand

how that habit of pilgrimage has changed the world.” It has taken three years and deals with museums around the world to bring together the exhibition. The show uses priceless artefacts, video footage, personal audio recordings and photographs to explore the history, journeys and experiences of millions of pilgrims who travel from around the world to reach the holy city of Mecca every year.

The hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam and must be performed at least once in a lifetime by all those who are able to. It takes place during the last month of the Islamic year known as Dhu’l Hijja. For centuries the hajj was an epic undertaking involving weeks of travel on foot or on the back of a camel, in convoys across mountains and deserts; or months at sea across the Indian Ocean at risk from shipwreck or pirates. —AFP

SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012

Solar storm sparks dazzling northern lights

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storm from the broiling sun turned the chilly northernmost skies of Earth into an ever-changing and awe-provoking art show of northern lights on Tuesday. Even experienced stargazers were stunned by the intensity of the aurora borealis that swept across the night sky in northern Scandinavia after the biggest solar flare in six years. “It has been absolutely incredible,” British astronomer John Mason cried from the deck of the MS Midnatsol, a cruise ship plying the fjord-fringed coast of northern Norway.

“I saw my first aurora 40 years ago, and this is one of the best,” Mason told The Associated Press, his voice nearly drowning in the cheers of awe-struck fellow passengers. US space weather experts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Tuesday evening that so far they had heard of no problems from the storm that triggered the auroras, which made it as far south as Wales, where the weather often doesn’t cooperate with good viewing.

It was part of the strongest solar storm in years, but the sun is likely to get even more active in the next few months and years, said physicist Doug Biesecker at the US Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colorado. “To me this was a wake up call. The sun is reminding us that solar max is approaching,” Biesecker said.

“A lot worse is in store for us. We hope that you guys are paying attention. I would say we passed with flying colors.”

Even before particles from the solar storm reached the Earth on Tuesday, a different aurora Monday night was dancing across the sky as far south as Ireland and England, where people rarely get a chance to catch the stunning light show.

Those northern lights were likely just variations in normal background solar wind, not the solar storm that erupted Sunday, Biesecker said.

Tuesday’s colorful display may not have moved that far south, limiting its audience, but those who got to see it got brilliance in the sky that had not been around for years. “It was the biggest

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northern lights I’ve seen in the five-six years that I’ve worked here,” said Andreas Hermansson, a tour guide at the Ice Hotel in the Swedish town of Jukkasjarvi, above the Arctic Circle.

He was leading a group of tourists on a bus tour in the area when a green glow that had lingered in the sky for much of the evening virtually exploded into a spectacle of colors around 10:15 pm. “We stopped the bus. And suddenly it was just this gigantic display of dancing lights and Technicolor,” said Michele Cahill, an Irish psychologist, who was on the tour.

“It was an absolutely awesome display. It went on for over an hour. Literally one would have to lie on the ground to capture it all.”

But in -30 degrees F (-35º C), that didn’t seem like a good idea. An aurora appears when a magnetic solar wind slams into the Earth’s magnetic field, exciting electrons of oxygen and nitrogen. The northern lights are sometimes seen from northern Scotland, but they were also visible Monday night from northeast England and Ireland, where such sightings are a rarity. “The lights appear as green and red mist. It’s been mostly green the past few nights. I don’t know if that’s just special for Ireland,” said Gerard O’Kane, a 41-year-old taxi driver and vice chairman of the Buncrana Camera Club in County Donegal in Ireland’s northwest corner.

He and at least two dozen amateur photographers were meeting after dark at a local beach for an all-night stakeout.

They’ve been shooting the horizon from dozens of locations since Friday night.

Scientists have been expecting solar eruptions to become more intense as the sun enters a more active phase of its 11year cycle, with an expected peak in 2013. But in recent years the sun appeared quieter than normal, leading scientists to speculate that it was going into an unusually quiet cycle that seems to happen once a century or so.

While the geomagnetic part of the solar eruption - which happened around 11 p.m. EST Sunday - was more of a fizzle, another earlier part of the sun’s outburst

was more powerful. On Monday and Tuesday, the proton radiation from the eruption reached strong levels, the most powerful since October 2003. That mostly affects astronauts and satellites, but NASA said the crew on the International Space Station was not harmed and only a few minor problems with satellites were reported, Biesecker said.

However, some airplane flights over the North Pole have been rerouted because of expected communication problems from the radiation.

Geomagnetic storms cause awesome sights, but they can also bring trouble.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, problems can include current surges in power lines, and interference in the broadcast of radio, TV and telephone signals. No such problems were reported Tuesday.

Peter Richardson, a 49-year-old bar manager and part-time poet at the 17thcentury Tan Hill Inn in northern England, said the pub - normally dead on a Monday night in January - was thronged until the wee hours of the morning with people who came to look at the lights.

“I just thought: ‘Oh my God, this is just absolutely amazing,’” he said. “You do get a lot of spectacular skylines out here, but that was just something out of the ordinary. Very different.”

Ken Kennedy, director of the Aurora section of the British Astronomical Association, said the northern lights may be visible for a few more days. The Canadian Space Agency posted a geomagnetic storm warning Tuesday after residents were also treated to a spectacular show in the night sky. John Manuel, a scientist with the Canadian Space Agency, said there’s an increased chance of seeing northern lights over northern Canada on Tuesday night.

“It’s not likely people in the major Canadian cities further south will see a significant aurora tonight,” he said.

“There’s always a possibility but the current forecast is for a good show for people who live further north. It should be a particularly good night tonight.” —AP

The aurora borealis, or Northern Lights, are seen near the city of Tromsoe, northern Norway, late Tuesday. Stargazers were out in force in northern Europe on Tuesday, hoping to be awed by a spectacular showing of northern lights after the most powerful solar storm in six years. —AP

Israeli film industry is a surprising powerhouse

he budgets are bare-bones and the talent pool is limited, but Israel has emerged as a surprising powerhouse in the foreign film industry. The Israeli film “Footnote,” up for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film this year, is Israel’s fourth such nomination in the past five years, giving Israel more nominations during that period than any other country.

It’s an indication to the renaissance of Israeli cinema, which has grown from a fledgling industry with poor cinematography and low box office sales to a darling of world film festivals. That’s in spite - or perhaps because - of the country’s troubled international reputation,

due to its lengthy conflict with the Arab world.

The last three Israeli films that made it to the Oscar shortlist all mine the country’s troubles with its Arab neighbors. “Beaufort,” nominated in 2008, and “Waltz with Bashir,” nominated a year after, both explored Israeli soldiers’ experiences in Lebanon. “Ajami,” the 2010 nominee, centers on Arab-Jewish tensions in a violenceridden neighborhood near Tel Aviv.

This year’s nomination went to an Israeli film featuring a more internal conflict - two professors of Talmud, a father and son, dueling for academic prestige and a coveted national prize. “It’s a badge of honor for Israel,” said Moshe Edery, producer of

“Footnote,” at a news conference after the Oscar nomination. “It’s Israel’s best business card around the world, especially these days.”

Israeli cinema was long an embarrassment.

Cheap comic melodramas were the norm in the 1960s and 1970s. Called “bourekas films” the Israeli equivalent of spaghetti Westerns they dealt with ethnic stereotypes of European and Middle Eastern Jews.

Sick of those tired tropes, a group of Israeli moviemakers created an Israeli national movie fund in 1979, hopefully named the “Israeli Fund to Encourage Quality Films.” With meager funding from studios and other private entities, filmmakers rely on public funds. But

even with help from the new fund, the industry still floundered for two decades. In 1995, the government cut public funding for cinema in half, leaving enough money to produce only five films a year. Three years later the industry hit an all-time low: Only 0.3 percent of Israeli moviegoers bought tickets to Hebrew-language cinema.

The national film body took on a new name, the Israel Film Fund, and in 2000 it begged Israel’s parliament to save Israeli cinema. It did, boosting the budget to $10 million a year for investment in feature films, mandating that young filmmakers get a chance to make themselves known. —AP

TECHNOLOGY SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012

Facebook takes on ‘clickjacking’ spammers in court SEATTLE: Facebook and the state of Washington sued a company on Thursday they accused of a practice called “clickjacking” that fools users of the world’s top social network into visiting advertising sites, divulging personal information and spreading the scam to friends. The scheme, also known as “likejacking” because victims are tricked into using Facebook’s “Like” button to perpetuate it, has grossed $1.2 million a month for the Delaware-based firm, Adscend Media, according to the state attorney general’s office. The plaintiffs charge that Adscend profits from the scam by collecting money from its advertising clients for every Facebook user unwittingly misdirected to a target ad or subscription service.

The legal action is believed to mark the first time any state government has gone to court in a crackdown against spam spread by Facebook, the world’s most widely used social media network, said Paula Selis, senior counsel for the attorney general. Representatives of Adscend and two co-owners also named as defendants could not immediately be reached for comment. Two separate but similar claims filed in federal court by the state and Facebook accuse Adscend of violating federal and state statutes outlawing misleading or deceptive

Men’s hopes for robot prostate surgery unrealistic, study finds NEW YORK: Robot-assisted surgery for prostate cancer has become a hot topic in recent years, but men’s expectations of the surgery - including how fast they can return to their usual physical activity-may be too high, according to a US study.

Researchers writing in the journal Urology found that of nearly 200 men facing prostate cancer surgery, those having robotic surgery expected a shorter hospital stay and a faster recovery, including a quicker return to their sex life.

The expectations are likely to be fed by ads, the Internet and counseling by doctors, said Judd W. Moul, a prostate surgeon at Duke University Medical Center who led the study. “Since about the mid-2000s, people were thinking that robotic surgery was the greatest thing since sliced bread,” Moul said. But according to previous studies, aside from a somewhat shorter hospital stay, there may be no clear difference in the most important outcomes, including cancer recurrence or long-term side effects. Prostate removal is one treatment option for prostate cancer, and in the United States a majority of those surgeries are now done with the help of a “robot,” with a surgeon sitting at a console operating its “arms” that extract the prostate gland through small cuts in the abdomen. Moul said there was reason to believe that better visualization with robotic surgery could lead to some better outcomes. But on the other hand, when surgeons actually use their hands they get “tactile feedback” that’s missing with the robotic approach.

In an earlier study, Moul and his colleagues found that men who had the robotic procedure were actually less satisfied in the long run than those who had traditional surgery, which they guessed had something to do with expectations. So for the newest study, they surveyed 171 men about their expectations ahead of prostate cancer surgery. The majority of patients, 97, had opted for robotic surgery. Overall, 89 percent of men having the robotic surgery expected to stay in the hospital just one night, versus 37 percent of men having traditional surgery.

The robotic surgery group thought they would be back to exercising sooner, typically predicting a five-week wait, against six weeks in the other group. They also expected to have recovered their erectile function within five months of surgery, while the other group thought it would take nine months.

Moul said that, on average, men having robotic surgery left hospital eight to 12 hours earlier, but that a small percentage did end up staying in the hospital a few days. Asked to respond to the study, Intuitive Surgical, which makes the Da Vinci robotic surgery system, told Reuters Health that it did not comment on individual clinical trials. Moul noted that surgeons do have an incentive to push men toward the new technology in order to hone their skills. Increasingly, though, experts are saying that men should put more stock in their surgeon’s experience than on the type of surgery, and Moul agreed. “Ask your surgeon the tough questions,” such as how many procedures they’ve done, he said. —Reuters

commercial electronic communications and unfair business practices.

Selis said schemes such as clickjacking had grown more pervasive, and that millions of Facebook users had probably been exposed to Adscend’s spam.

“Security is an arms race,” Ted Ullyot, Facebook’s general counsel, told a news conference at the Californiabased company’s Seattle office to announce the lawsuits. “It’s important to stay a step ahead against spammers and scammers.” Attorney General Rob McKenna, a Republican running for governor, said Washington state was taking action because “we’ve brought other cases like this and, more than any other state, we’ve developed technological and legal expertise” in the field of cyber fraud.

As described in the lawsuits, the alleged scam works as follows: Facebook pages designed as “bait” are disseminated to social network users as posts that seemingly originate from friends, offering visitors an opportunity to view salacious or provocative content. That viewing is contingent on completing a series of steps that will supposedly unlock the content but are actually designed to lure Facebook users to other sites, where they are tricked into giving away personal information

or signing up for expensive mobile subscription services. First, the victims are encouraged to click the “Like” button on the Facebook “bait” page, which then alerts their friends to the page’s existence, thus helping propagate it. Then they are told they cannot reach the content without filling out a form for an online survey or advertising offer. In one example cited, the “Like” button is overlayed with a link labeled: “This man took a picture of his face every day for 8 years!” The promised content often does not exist, and the user instead is directed through a series of prompts taking them off Facebook and to a string of ads and subscription offers.

In some cases, a hidden code embedded in an enticing link on the “bait” page activates the “Like” button without the user even clicking it, sending it to friends’ news feeds. Selis said it may seem unlikely that anyone would click on such links, “but unfortunately they do.” While the number of Facebook users actually scammed by clickjacking is not known, Selis said investigators had determined that some 280,000 users visited the locked content pages of Adscend during February 2011 alone. “So we know there are probably millions of Facebook users” exposed to the deception, she said. — Reuters

Twitter may censor tweets in individual countries Fears that company’s commitment to free speech weakening SAN FRANCISCO: Twitter has refined its technology so it can censor messages on a country-by-country basis.

The additional flexibility announced Thursday is likely to raise fears that Twitter’s commitment to free speech may be weakening as the short-messaging company expands into new countries in an attempt to broaden its audience and make more money.

But Twitter sees the censorship tool as a way to ensure individual messages, or “tweets,” remain available to as many people as possible while it navigates a gauntlet of different laws around the world. Before, when Twitter erased a tweet it disappeared throughout the world. Now, a tweet containing content breaking a law in one country can be taken down there and still be seen elsewhere.

Twitter will post a censorship notice whenever a tweet is removed. That’s similar to what Internet search leader Google Inc. has been doing for years when a law in a country where its service operates requires a search result to be removed. Like Google, Twitter also plans to the share the removal requests it receives from governments, companies and individuals at the chillingeffects.org website.

The similarity to Google’s policy isn’t coincidental. Twitter’s general counsel is Alexander Macgillivray, who helped Google draw up its censorship policies while he was working at that company. “One of our core values as a company is to defend and respect each user’s voice,” Twitter wrote in a blog post. “We try to keep content up wherever and whenever we can, and we will be transparent with users when we can’t. The tweets must continue to flow.”

Twitter, which is based in San Francisco, is tweaking its approach now that its nearly 6-year-old service

has established itself as one of the world’s most powerful megaphones.

Daisy chains of tweets already have played instrumental roles in political protests throughout the world, most notably in the uprising that overthrew Egypt’s government a year ago.

It’s a role that Twitter has embraced, but the company came up with the new filtering technology in recognition that it will likely be forced to censor more tweets as it pursues an ambitious agenda. Among other things, Twitter wants to expand its audience from about 100 million active uses now, to more than 1 billion. Reaching that goal will require expanding into more countries, which will mean Twitter will be more likely to have to submit to laws that run counter to the free-expression protections guaranteed under the First Amendment in the US.

If Twitter defies a law in a country where it has employees, those people could be arrested.

That’s one reason Twitter is unlikely to try to enter China, where its service is currently block. Google for several years agreed to censor its search results in China to gain better access to the country’s vast population, but stopped that practice two years after engaging in a high-profile showdown with China’s government. Google now routes its Chinese search results through Hong Kong, where the censorship rules are less restrictive.

In its Thursday blog post, Twitter said it hadn’t yet used its ability to wipe out tweets in an individual country. All the tweets it has previously censored were wiped out throughout the world. Most of those included links to child pornography. — AP

CALIFORNIA: An attendee of Macworld / iWorld looks at the Omni Group’s apps for iPhone and iPad that allow users to create graphs and organize schedules on Thurdsday in California. — AFP

TECHNOLOGY SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012

US cybersecurity efforts trigger privacy concerns WASHINGTON: The US government’s plan to expand computer security protections into critical parts of private industry is raising concerns that the move will threaten Americans’ civil liberties. In a report for release yesterday, The Constitution Project warns that as the Obama administration partners more with the energy, financial, communications and health care industries to monitor and protect networks, sensitive personal information of people who work for or communicate with those companies could be improperly or inadvertently disclosed.

While the government may have good intentions, it “runs the risk of establishing a program akin to wiretapping all network users’ communications,” the nonpartisan legal think tank says. The Associated Press obtained a copy of the report in advance. Cybersecurity has become a rapidly expanding priority for the government as federal agencies, private companies and everyday people come under persistent and increasingly sophisticated computer attacks. The threat is diverse, ranging from computer hackers going after banking and financial accounts to terrorists or other nations breaching government networks to steal sensitive data or sabotage critical systems such as the electrical grid, nuclear plants or Wall Street.

Privacy has been a hotly debated issue, particularly as the Pentagon broadens its pilot program to help defense contractors protect their networks and systems. Several companies, including critical jet fighter and drone programs, have been attacked, although the Pentagon has said no classified information was lost. And there are plans for the Homeland Security Department to use the defense program as a model to prevent hackers and hostile nations from breaching critical infrastructure. Officials have suggested that Congress needs to craft legislation that would protect companies from certain privacy and other laws in order to share information with the government for cybersecurity purposes.

DHS spokesman Matt Chandler said the legislative proposals reflect the administration’s commitment to privacy protections and contain standards to minimize contact with personal information while dealing with cybersecurity threats. “DHS builds strong privacy protections into the core of all cybersecurity programs and initiatives,” Chandler said, adding that the agency realizes that providing assistance to private companies is a sensitive task that requires “trust and strict confidentiality.”

The Constitution Project report recommends that officials limit the amount and nature of personal information shared between the public and private sectors. And it calls for strict oversight of the cyber programs by Congress and independent audits, to ensure that privacy rights have not been violated. —AP

In original Internet shows, hints of coming change Companies roll out most ambitious programming yet NEW YORK: After years of experimenting, the top video destinations on the Web are suddenly flush with original programming: documentaries, reality shows and scripted series. Over the next few months, YouTube, Netflix and Hulu will roll out their most ambitious original programming yet - a digital push into a traditional television business that has money, a bevy of stars and a bold attitude of reinvention.

The long-predicted collision between Internet video and broadcast television is finally under way. No one is suggesting that the quality on the Internet is close to that of broadcast TV, but it’s becoming easy to imagine a day when it will be. And even though critics question whether new media can rival a business that’s been around for about 70 years, the video sites have sought partnerships with seasoned professionals.

And they benefit from the different economics of global Web-based entertainment.

Either way, what’s happening now is just the first wave. “This convergence is now,” says documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, who created “The Failure Club,” a series about people trying to do the things they’ve always feared, for Yahoo, and “A Day in the Life,” a series documenting 24 hours of someone’s life, for Hulu. He says the quality still varies, but viewers will soon see talent and production values begin to change.

On Feb. 6, Netflix will premiere its first scripted show, “Lilyhammer,” in which Steve Van Zandt (“The Sopranos”) plays a New York mobster in witness protection in Norway. Later this year, it will release “House of Cards,” a highly anticipated adaptation of the British miniseries produced by David Fincher and starring Kevin Spacey. Next year, it will debut new episodes of the cultish comedy “Arrested Development,” which originally aired on Fox. Hulu plans a Feb. 14 premiere for

WINCONSIN: In this image released by Hulu.com, from left, Lindsey Payne, Jordan T. Maxwell and Ben Samuel portray campaign workers in “Battleground,” a mock documentary about a third-place political candidate in Wisconsin. —AP “Battleground,” a mock political documentary. The site will later release “Up to Speed,” a six-part documentary by Richard Linklater about “monumentally ignored monuments of American cities.”

Hulu, which has some 30 million monthly users and 1.5 million for its monthly subscription service Hulu Plus, is coowned by the parent companies of NBC, Fox and ABC. Yahoo has sought to capitalize on its enormous search audience of nearly 180 million unique monthly visitors by drawing viewers to its original programming, including a slate of women-focused shows launched last fall and comedy programming planned for February. Its first scripted entry will be “Electric City,” a futuristic animated series produced by Tom Hanks, who will also voice a character. YouTube recently launched an entire catalog of original programming, spending $100 million on the gradual

rollout of more than 100 niche-oriented channels.

The channels don’t have the pressures of a 24-hour schedule and instead focus on short-form, on-demand programming. Partners vary from the Wall Street Journal to World Wrestling Entertainment to Madonna. At the recent consumer electronics trade show CES, YouTube’s global head of content predicted that by 2020 about 75 percent of channels will be transmitted by the Internet. And video will soon be 90 percent of all traffic.

“Over time, you will see more and more television properties, television channels distributed over the Internet,” Robert Kyncl said. “Everything in its due time.” Internet delivery allows programming that is “much harder to fulfill through traditional distribution means...because we have a global scale,” Kyncl added. —AP

WikiLeaks scandal sparks US intelligence reform WASHINGTON: The WikiLeaks document dump, which saw hundreds of thousands of classified US files leaked, rattled US intelligence officials, forcing them to implement reforms to prevent another such breach. James Clapper, director of national intelligence, said changes were being put in place over the next five years that would create a new security “architecture,” making it infinitely harder to disclose America’s secrets. The “terrible event,” which saw sensitive US diplomatic and military cables exposed for public scrutiny, “caused us to make some changes,” Clapper told a Washington think-tank, acknowledging the “challenge” ahead.

“We have to do more to protect data and ensure that the information we are giving is actually going to an authorized recipient,” he said. Chief among the changes are improvements in “labeling,” and digital “tagging” of diplomatic cables, Clapper said during remarks at

the Center for Strategic and International Studies. At the same time, he said, US officials are eager to ensure information that is intended to be shared can be disseminated without major additional hurdles.

Clapper added that the effort aims to protect US secrets not only from outside enemies, but from actors with the system who do not have specific authorization to distribute sensitive US cables and files. “Frankly we always had responsibility for detecting insider threats. What WikiLeaks has obviously done is heighten our sensitivity about that,” he said. The controversial antisecrecy WikiLeaks website began releasing US military documents in July 2010.

It dumped the entire archive of diplomatic documents in September 2011, causing huge embarrassment to Washington.

A US military tribunal’s investigating officer earlier this month recommended

that army private Bradley Manning be court-martialed for allegedly funneling hundreds of thousands of classified US documents to WikiLeaks. Manning, a specialist in US intelligence systems, served in Iraq from November 2009 until his arrest the following May. He is accused of turning over to WikiLeaks a massive trove of US military reports from Iraq and Afghanistan, some 260,000 classified State Department cables, Guantanamo detainee assessments and videos of US air strikes.

The fact that an Army private could have had access to so much sensitive information has posed a challenge for the intelligence community, amid accusations that data-sharing went too far after the September 11 attacks. At that time, the community was accused of holding back information that could have been used to prevent the strikes on New York and Washington. After 9/11, inter-agency sharing of classified

data increased.

The September 11 attacks “emphasized the need to share” information, said Eric Velez-Villar, deputy assistant director of the FBI, saying that proper information-sharing “can save lives.”

Clapper added: “The goal, of course, is to find that nirvana between the responsibility to share and the need for protection.” Corin Stone, an assistant director of national intelligence for policy and strategy, said, “Basically, we seek to restore confidence.”

The WikiLeaks scandal has “fundamentally broken trust” in the intelligence community, Stone said. “To restore confidence, we must strengthen security in sharing information.” David Shedd, deputy director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, said intelligence services are trying to manage a “tsunami of data” that forces them to ask themselves how to “process that enormous data flow.” —AFP

TV listings SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012

00:50 01:45 02:40 03:35 04:30 05:25 06:20 07:10 07:35 08:00 08:25 09:15 10:10 11:05 11:30 12:00 12:25 12:55 13:50 14:45 15:40 16:35 17:00 17:30 18:25 19:20 20:15 21:10 22:05 23:00 23:55

Maneaters Animal Cops Philadelphia Mutant Planet Whale Wars Maneaters Dogs 101 Animal Cops Philadelphia Monkey Life Wildlife SOS Monkey Life Michaela’s Animal Road Trip Crocodile Hunter Growing Up...

Dick ‘n’ Dom Go Wild Bondi Vet Monkey Life Talk To The Animals Dogs/Cats/Pets 101 Wild France Must Love Cats Dogs/Cats/Pets 101 Baboons With Bill Bailey Baboons With Bill Bailey Max’s Big Tracks Into The Pride Monster Bug Wars Monster Bug Wars Dogs/Cats/Pets 101 Wildest Africa Shark Attack File 3 Human Prey

00:00 Chimp Family Fortunes 00:30 Eastenders 01:00 Doctors 01:30 The World’s Toughest Driving Tests 02:35 Little Britain 03:05 As Time Goes By 03:35 Last Of The Summer Wine 04:00 Balamory 04:20 Tellytales 04:30 The Large Family 04:45 The Roly Mo Show 05:00 Buzz & Tell 05:05 Tweenies 05:25 3rd & Bird 05:35 Nina And The Neurons 05:50 Balamory 06:10 Tellytales 06:20 The Large Family 06:30 The Roly Mo Show 06:45 Buzz & Tell 06:50 Tweenies 07:10 3rd & Bird 07:20 Nina And The Neurons 07:35 Last Of The Summer Wine 08:05 New Tricks 08:55 Doctor Who: Voyage Of The Damned 10:05 Doctor Who Confidential 10:20 Eastenders 10:50 Eastenders 11:20 Eastenders 11:50 Eastenders 12:20 Last Of The Summer Wine 12:50 New Tricks 13:40 Mutual Friends 14:30 Doctor Who: Voyage Of The Damned 15:40 The Weakest Link 16:30 Holby City 17:20 Holby City 18:15 Doctor Who 19:00 As Time Goes By 19:30 dinnerladies 20:00 Live At The Apollo 20:45 Little Britain 21:15 One Foot In The Grave 21:45 One Foot In The Grave 22:15 Doctor Who 23:05 The Weakest Link 23:50 Doctor Who: Voyage Of The Damned

00:25 00:50 01:15 01:45 02:10 03:00 03:50 04:15 04:40 05:30 06:20 07:15 08:00 08:40 15:10 15:50

James Martin’s Champagne James Martin’s Champagne What To Eat Now - Autumn What To Eat Now - Autumn 10 Years Younger Fantasy Homes By The Sea James Martin’s Champagne James Martin’s Champagne What To Eat Now - Autumn Come Dine With Me Antiques Roadshow Bargain Hunt Cash In The Attic USA Masterchef Australia Cash In The Attic USA Bargain Hunt

COACH CARTER ON OSN ACTION HD 16:35 17:20 18:05 19:05 20:00 20:50 21:40 22:30 23:20

Bargain Hunt Bargain Hunt Cash In The Attic USA Antiques Roadshow Antiques Roadshow Gok’s Fashion Fix Gok’s Fashion Fix What Not To Wear What Not To Wear

BOOMERANG 00:05 Johnny Bravo 00:30 Scooby Doo Where Are You! 00:55 The Perils Of Penelope Pitstop 01:20 Droopy: Master Detective 01:45 The Flintstones 02:10 Johnny Bravo 02:35 Duck Dodgers 03:00 King Arthur’s Disasters 03:25 The Scooby Doo Show 03:50 Popeye Classics 04:00 Tom & Jerry 04:25 Popeye 04:50 The Jetsons 05:15 The Flintstones 05:35 Looney Tunes 06:00 Pink Panther & Pals 06:10 Tex Avery 06:35 Duck Dodgers 07:00 The Garfield Show 07:15 Yogi’s Treasure Hunt 07:40 Popeye 08:00 Paddington Bear 08:25 Gerald McBoing Boing 08:50 Bananas In Pyjamas 09:15 Baby Looney Tunes 09:40 Jelly Jamm 09:55 Puppy In My Pocket 10:20 Pink Panther And Pals 10:45 The Garfield Show 11:10 The Scooby Doo Show

11:35 12:00 12:30 13:20 13:45 14:00 14:50 15:15 15:40 16:05 16:30 17:20 17:45 18:10 18:35 18:55 19:20 19:30 21:00 21:30 21:50 22:05 22:40 23:05 23:30

The Flintstones Looney Tunes Tom & Jerry Top Cat Popeye Tom & Jerry Top Cat Top Cat Pink Panther And Pals Pink Panther And Pals The Garfield Show Scooby-Doo And Scrappy-Doo Dastardly And Muttley The Flintstones Wacky Races Scooby Doo Where Are You! Popeye Classics Scooby Cinema Top Cat Dastardly And Muttley Tom & Jerry Wacky Races The Scooby Doo Show Tom & Jerry Johnny Bravo

00:40 Samurai Jack 01:05 Samurai Jack 01:30 The Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack 02:20 Bakugan Battle Brawlers 02:45 Bakugan Battle Brawlers 03:10 Best Ed 04:00 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 04:25 Adventure Time 04:50 Generator Rex 05:15 Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated 05:40 Grim Adventures Of Billy & Mandy 05:55 I Am Weasel

06:55 Powerpuff Girls 07:45 Angelo Rules 08:00 Casper’s Scare School 08:55 Angelo Rules 09:30 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 09:55 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 10:20 Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated 10:40 Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated 11:05 The Amazing World Of Gumball 11:30 Adventure Time 12:20 Courage The Cowardly Dog 13:10 Ben 10 13:35 Ben 10 14:00 The Grim Adventures Of Billy & Mandy 14:50 The Amazing World Of Gumball 15:15 Generator Rex 15:40 Generator Rex 16:05 Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated 16:30 Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated 16:55 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 17:20 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 17:45 Adventure Time 18:35 The Amazing World Of Gumball 19:00 Regular Show 19:25 Regular Show 19:50 Generator Rex 20:40 Courage The Cowardly Dog 21:30 Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Heroes 21:55 Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Heroes 22:20 Star Wars: The Clone Wars 22:40 Star Wars: The Clone Wars 23:00 Ben 10 23:25 Ben 10 23:50 Courage The Cowardly Dog

00:00 01:00 01:30 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 06:45 07:00 08:00 08:30 08:45 09:00 09:15 09:30 10:00 10:15 10:30 11:00 11:30 12:00 13:00 13:30 14:00 14:30 15:00 15:30 16:00 16:30 17:00 17:30 18:00 18:30 19:00 19:15 19:30 20:00 20:30 21:00 21:30 22:00 22:30 22:45 23:00

Connect The World The Best Of Backstory World Sport The Situation Room World Report Anderson Cooper 360 Piers Morgan Tonight Quest Means Business CNN Marketplace Africa Erin Burnett Outfront World Sport The Gateway Future Cities World Report CNN Marketplace Africa The Best Of Backstory World Report CNN Marketplace Middle East The CNN Freedom Project World Sport Open Court The Best Of The Situation Room World Report African Voices World Report This Week Inside Africa World Report Road To Durban Talk Asia Ireport For CNN News Special The Best Of Backstory International Desk African Voices CNN Marketplace Europe CNN Marketplace Africa World Report This Week World Sport Aiming For Gold International Desk Inside Africa International Desk The Gateway Future Cities The Best Of The Situation Room

00:15 00:40 01:35 02:30 03:25 04:20 05:15 05:40 06:05 07:00 07:25 08:15 09:10 10:05 10:55 11:50 12:45 13:40 14:35 15:30 16:25 17:20 18:15 19:10 20:05 Green 21:00 21:55 22:50 23:45

Destroyed In Seconds Moments Of Terror Dirty Jobs Overhaulin’ Ultimate Survival Mythbusters How Stuff Works How It’s Made Dirty Jobs How Stuff Works Really Big Things Huge Moves Extreme Engineering Mighty Ships Man, Woman, Wild Dual Survival Ultimate Survival Ultimate Survival License To Drill Coal Swords: Life On The Line Gold Rush: Alaska Storm Chasers 2010 Man vs Fish With Matt Watson Extreme Fishing With Robson

00:40 01:05 01:35 02:25 02:50 03:15 03:40 04:35 05:00 05:25 06:20 07:10 08:00 08:55 08:58 09:25 09:55 10:20 10:45 11:35 15:45 15:48 16:15

Ultimate Survival Taking On Tyson Freddie Flintoff vs The World Surviving The Cut

The Gadget Show The Gadget Show Colony The Tech Show Tech Toys 360 Tech Toys 360 Ecopolis How Does That Work?

How Stuff’s Made Kings Of Construction Catch It Keep It Sci-Trek What’s That About?

Head Rush Sci-Fi Science Weird Connections Tech Toys 360 Tech Toys 360 Ecopolis Superships Head Rush Sci-Fi Science Weird Connections

16:45 17:10 18:00 18:25 18:50 19:40 20:30 21:20 22:10 23:00 23:50

The Tech Show What’s That About?

Tech Toys 360 Tech Toys 360 Mighty Ships Smash Lab Scrapheap Challenge Science Of Storm Chasing Weird Or What?

Smash Lab Scrapheap Challenge

00:00 KIM POSSIBLE 00:25 Fairly Odd Parents 00:50 Fairly Odd Parents 01:15 STITCH 01:35 STITCH 02:00 REPLACEMENTS 02:25 REPLACEMENTS 02:50 EMPEROR’S NEW SCHOOL 03:15 EMPEROR’S NEW SCHOOL 03:35 STITCH 04:00 STITCH 04:25 REPLACEMENTS 04:50 REPLACEMENTS 05:15 Fairly Odd Parents 05:35 Fairly Odd Parents 06:00 MICKEY MOUSE CLUBHOUSE 06:25 JAKE & THE NEVERLAND PIRATES 06:37 JAKE & THE NEVERLAND PIRATES 06:45 THE SUITE LIFE OF ZACK AND CODY 07:10 SO RANDOM 07:32 MINI ADVENTURES OF WINNIE THE POOH 07:35 FISH HOOKS 07:55 SHAKE IT UP 08:20 Suite Life On Deck 08:45 Suite Life On Deck 09:10 Suite Life On Deck 09:30 HAVE A LAUGH 09:40 GOOD LUCK CHARLIE 10:05 A.N.T. FARM 10:30 THE SUITE LIFE MOVIE 12:00 FISH HOOKS 12:25 SHAKE IT UP 12:50 GOOD LUCK CHARLIE 13:15 A.N.T. FARM 13:40 RECESS 14:00 Suite Life On Deck 14:25 SUITE LIFE ON DECK 14:50 SO RANDOM 15:15 FISH HOOKS 15:30 HANNAH MONTANA 15:55 SHAKE IT UP 16:20 GOOD LUCK CHARLIE 16:45 MY BABYSITTER’S A VAMPIRE 17:10 FISH HOOKS 17:30 A.N.T. FARM 18:00 PHINEAS AND FERB 18:20 SUITE LIFE ON DECK 18:45 SUITE LIFE ON DECK 19:10 SO RANDOM 19:30 THE SUITE LIFE MOVIE 21:00 HAVE A LAUGH 21:05 WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE 21:25 MY BABYSITTER’S A VAMPIRE 21:50 GOOD LUCK CHARLIE 22:15 SHAKE IT UP 22:40 FISH HOOKS 23:05 THE SUITE LIFE OF ZACK AND CODY 23:30 HANNAH MONTANA 23:55 SONNY WITH A CHANCE

00:20 00:35 00:50 01:05 01:15 01:40 01:55 02:10 02:30 02:45 03:00 03:15 03:25 03:50 04:05 04:20 04:40 04:55 05:10 05:25 05:35 06:00 06:15 06:30 06:50 07:00

SPECIAL AGENT OSO SPECIAL AGENT OSO JUNGLE JUNCTION JUNGLE JUNCTION LITTLE EINSTEINS HIGGLYTOWN HEROES HIGGLYTOWN HEROES JO JO’S CIRCUS SPECIAL AGENT OSO SPECIAL AGENT OSO JUNGLE JUNCTION JUNGLE JUNCTION LITTLE EINSTEINS HIGGLYTOWN HEROES HIGGLYTOWN HEROES JO JO’S CIRCUS SPECIAL AGENT OSO SPECIAL AGENT OSO JUNGLE JUNCTION JUNGLE JUNCTION LITTLE EINSTEINS HIGGLYTOWN HEROES HIGGLYTOWN HEROES JO JO’S CIRCUS JUNGLE JUNCTION JUNGLE JUNCTION

TV listings SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012 07:15 HIGGLYTOWN HEROES 07:30 HIGGLYTOWN HEROES 07:45 HANDY MANNY 08:00 SPECIAL AGENT OSO 08:15 MICKEY MOUSE CLUBHOUSE 08:40 TIMMY TIME 08:55 LITTLE EINSTEINS 09:20 THE HIVE 09:30 JAKE & THE NEVERLAND PIRATES 09:45 JAKE & THE NEVERLAND PIRATES 10:00 JUNGLE JUNCTION 10:10 HANDY MANNY 10:25 MICKEY MOUSE CLUBHOUSE 10:45 MINI ADVENTURES OF WINNIE THE POOH 10:50 IMAGINATION MOVERS 11:15 MICKEY MOUSEKERSIZE 11:20 MICKEY MOUSE CLUBHOUSE 11:45 ART ATTACK 12:10 IMAGINATION MOVERS 12:30 THE HIVE 12:40 LazyTown 13:05 MICKEY MOUSE CLUBHOUSE 13:30 HANDY MANNY 13:45 JAKE & THE NEVERLAND PIRATES 14:00 JAKE & THE NEVERLAND PIRATES 14:15 THE HIVE 14:25 TIMMY TIME 14:35 SPECIAL AGENT OSO 14:50 HANDY MANNY 15:05 THE HIVE 15:15 MICKEY MOUSE CLUBHOUSE 15:40 MICKEY MOUSE CLUBHOUSE 16:05 HANDY MANNY 16:20 JAKE & THE NEVERLAND PIRATES 16:35 JAKE & THE NEVERLAND PIRATES 16:45 IMAGINATION MOVERS 17:10 MICKEY MOUSEKERSIZE 17:20 MICKEY MOUSE CLUBHOUSE 17:45 ART ATTACK 18:10 IMAGINATION MOVERS 18:35 LITTLE EINSTEINS 19:00 JAKE & THE NEVERLAND PIRATES 19:15 HANDY MANNY 19:30 HANDY MANNY 19:45 JUNGLE JUNCTION 20:00 MINI ADVENTURES OF WINNIE THE POOH 20:05 MICKEY MOUSE CLUBHOUSE 20:30 ANIMATED STORIES 20:35 HANDY MANNY 20:50 JAKE & THE NEVERLAND PIRATES 21:05 JAKE & THE NEVERLAND PIRATES 21:20 THE HIVE 21:30 MINI ADVENTURES OF WINNIE THE POOH 21:33 A POEM IS...

21:40 JUNGLE JUNCTION 21:55 MICKEY MOUSE CLUBHOUSE 22:20 JAKE & THE NEVERLAND PIRATES 22:35 SPECIAL AGENT OSO 22:50 LITTLE EINSTEINS 23:15 TIMMY TIME 23:25 HANDY MANNY 23:40 JUNGLE JUNCTION 23:55

00:25 Kendra 00:55 Style Star 01:25 E!es 01:50 E!es 02:20 E! Investigates 03:15 25 Most Stylish 04:10 Sexiest 05:05 Extreme Hollywood 06:00 THS 07:50 Behind The Scenes 08:20 E! News 09:15 Bridalplasty 10:15 Bridalplasty 11:10 THS 12:05 E! News 13:05 Ice Loves Coco 13:35 Ice Loves Coco 14:05 Dirty Soap 15:00 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 16:55 Style Star 17:25 Fashion Police 17:55 E! News 18:55 THS 19:55 Kourtney & Kim Take New York 20:55 The Soup 21:25 Kendra 21:55 Kendra 22:25 E! News 23:25 Chelsea Lately 23:55 The Soup

00:40 01:30 02:15 03:05 03:50 04:40 05:25 06:15 07:10 08:00 08:50 09:40 10:25 11:10 11:35 11:55 12:40 13:25 14:15 15:00 15:25 15:50 16:35 17:20 18:10 19:00 19:45 20:10 20:55 21:20 22:10 23:00 23:50

00:00 00:30 01:00 01:30 01:30 02:00 02:30 02:30

Dr G: Medical Examiner Ghost Lab A Haunting True CSI Autopsy: Most Shocking Cases Dr G: Medical Examiner Ghost Lab A Haunting Mystery ER FBI Files Forensic Detectives Murder Shift Mystery Diagnosis Real Emergency Calls Who On Earth Did I Marry?

On The Case With Paula Zahn Disappeared Murder Shift Mystery Diagnosis Real Emergency Calls Who On Earth Did I Marry?

On The Case With Paula Zahn Disappeared FBI Files Forensic Detectives Murder Shift Real Emergency Calls Mystery Diagnosis Who On Earth Did I Marry?

On The Case With Paula Zahn Disappeared The Haunted Ghost Lab

Which Way To Prehistoric Predators Going Bush Ancient Megastructures The Music Nomad The Ride: Alaska To Patagonia Inside Travel Madness

03:00 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 03:30 Helicopter Wars 04:00 One Man & His Campervan 04:30 Bite Me With Dr. Mike Leahy 05:00 City Chase Marrakech 05:30 Master of Disaster 06:00 Which Way To 06:30 Fish Warrior 07:00 Going Bush 07:30 Prehistoric Predators 07:30 The Music Nomad 08:00 The Ride: Alaska To Patagonia 08:30 Ancient Megastructures 08:30 Travel Madness 09:00 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 09:30 Geologic Journey 10:00 One Man & His Campervan 10:30 Inside 11:00 City Chase Marrakech 11:30 Helicopter Wars 12:00 Which Way To 12:30 Naked Science 13:00 Wild Rides 13:30 Bizarre Dinos 13:30 Food School 14:00 Extreme Tourist Afghanistan 14:30 Fish Warrior 15:00 Gone to save the planet 15:30 Prehistoric Predators 16:00 Travel Madness 16:30 Ancient Megastructures 16:30 Destination Extreme 17:00 Don’t Tell My Mother 17:30 Geologic Journey 18:00 Departures 18:30 Nat Geo’s Most Amazing Photos 19:00 Nat Geo’s Most Amazing Photos 19:00 Wild Rides 19:30 Food School 19:30 Wild Russia 20:00 Extreme Tourist Afghanistan 20:30 Master of Disaster 21:00 Gone to save the planet 21:30 Clash Of The Continents

21:30 Gone to save the planet 22:00 Travel Madness 22:30 Destination Extreme 22:30 Rescue Ink 23:00 Don’t Tell My Mother 23:30 A Traveler’s Guide To The Planets

00:00 The Speak-PG15 02:00 Kalifornia-18 04:00 The Descent 2-18 06:00 The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course-PG15 08:00 Walled In-PG15 10:00 Game Of Death-PG15 12:00 Coach Carter-PG15 14:15 Walled In-PG15 16:15 The Morgue-18 18:00 Coach Carter-PG15 20:15 The Haunting In ConnecticutPG15 22:00 Time Machine: Rise Of The Morlocks-PG15

01:00 The Heavy-18 03:00 Hachiko: A Dog’s Story-PG15 05:00 Shrek Forever After-FAM 07:00 The Spy Next Door-PG 09:00 Hachiko: A Dog’s Story-PG15 11:00 Love The Beast-PG 13:00 I Am Number Four-PG15 15:00 My Son, My Son, What Have You Done?-PG15 17:00 The Open Road-PG15 19:00 The Green Hornet-PG15 21:15 Jonah Hex-PG15 23:00 Sinners & Saints-18

12:00 12:30 13:00 13:30

Yes Dear Dharma And Greg Just Shoot Me Tyler Perry’s House Of Payne

16:30 The Office 18:00 Raising Hope 18:30 2 Broke Girls 19:00 30 Rock 19:30 Community 20:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 21:00 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 21:30 The Colbert Report 23:00 Family Guy

00:00 01:00 02:00 04:00 05:00 07:00 08:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 18:00 18:30 19:00 20:00 21:00 23:00

American Idol Drop Dead Diva Damages The Gates Good Morning America Kojak The Bachelor Downsize Me The View American Idol Kojak Drop Dead Diva Live Good Morning America Emmerdale Coronation Street Breakout Kings The Killing C.S.I. Miami The Gates

00:00 Cold Case 01:00 Damages 02:00 Supernatural 04:00 Glee 05:00 Drop Dead Diva 06:00 Cold Case 07:00 The Cape 08:00 Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior 09:00 Drop Dead Diva 11:00 Glee 12:00 The Cape 13:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show 14:00 Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior 15:00 Cold Case 16:00 How I Met Your Mother 16:30 Coronation Street 17:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show 18:00 Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior 19:00 Breakout Kings 20:00 The Killing 21:00 C.S.I. Miami 23:00 Lights Out

01:00 Freight-PG15 03:00 Legion-18 05:00 The Speak-PG15 07:00 You Got Served-PG15 09:00 Ransom-PG15 11:00 X2-PG 13:15 Top Gun-PG15 15:15 Ransom-PG15 17:15 Ong Bak 2-PG15 19:00 Last Breath-PG15 21:00 Time Machine: Rise Of The Morlocks-PG15 23:00 Child’s Play 3-18

00:00 Out Cold-PG15 02:00 What’s The Worst That Could Happen?-PG15 04:00 From Justin To Kelly-PG 06:00 Frank Mcklusky, C.I.-PG15 08:00 A Guy Thing-PG15 10:00 I’ll Be Home For ChristmasPG15 12:00 Bad News Bears-PG 14:00 Josie And The Pussycats-PG15 16:00 Out Cold-PG15 18:00 The Perfect Score-PG15 20:00 Threesome-18 22:00 You Again-PG15

THE GREEN HORNET ON OSN CINEMA

01:00 03:00 05:00 07:15 09:00 10:45 13:00 15:00 17:15 19:00 21:00 23:00

Blame It On Mum-18 Patch Adams-PG15 Thelma And Louise-18 Astro Boy-FAM The Sunset Limited-PG15 I Am Sam-PG15 Don’t Fade Away-PG15 The Lovely Bones-PG15 The Nutty Professor-FAM PVC-1-PG15 Soapdish-PG Into The Night-18

01:00 All The Pretty Horses-PG15 03:00 How The Grinch Stole Christmas-PG15 05:00 Tangled-FAM 07:00 Revenge Of The BridesmaidsPG15 09:00 Knight And Day-PG15 11:00 Marmaduke-PG 13:00 Open Season 3-FAM 15:00 Post Grad-PG15 17:00 Knight And Day-PG15 19:00 Takers-PG15 21:00 Last Night-PG15 23:00 Soapdish-PG

00:00 The Adventures Of Don Quixote-PG15 01:45 The Last Airbender-PG 04:00 Tangled-FAM 06:00 The Nimbols: Part I-PG15 08:00 Turtle Hero: Part I-FAM 10:00 The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie-PG 12:00 Tangled-FAM 14:00 The Nimbols: Part II-PG15 16:00 Mars Needs Moms-PG 18:00 The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie-PG 20:00 Nativity!-PG 22:15 The Nimbols: Part II-PG15

00:00 01:00 03:00 10:00 11:00 14:00 16:00 23:00

UFC The Ultimate Fighter WWE SmackDown Live Test Cricket WWE Bottom Line Live Cricket Twenty20 Live PGA European Tour Test Cricket Cricket Twenty20

00:00 01:00 02:00 02:30 03:00 10:00 11:00 14:00 16:00 23:00

Golfing World Trans World Sport Futbol Mudial ICC Cricket World Live Test Cricket Trans World Sport Live Cricket Twenty20 Anglo Welsh Cup Test Cricket Cricket Twenty20

03:00 04:00 05:00 05:30 10:30 12:30 16:00 18:00 20:00 20:30 21:30 23:30

World Cup of Pool World Pool Masters European Tour Weekly European PGA Tour Anglo Welsh Cup Live European PGA Tour Live Scottish League Cup Live Scottish Premier League Futbol Mundial Trans World Sport Live Anglo Welsh Cup Scottish League Cup

00:00 01:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 15:00 18:00 20:00 23:00

UFC The Ultimate Fighter WWE SmackDown WWE Bottom Line WWE NXT UFC The Ultimate Fighter UFC Unleashed WWE SmackDown WWE NXT WWE Bottom Line WWE Vintage Collection Aquabikes Powerboats WWE SmackDown UFC Fight Night UFC The Ultimate Fighter

00:45 New York At The Movies: Part 1-U 01:35 On The Town-FAM 03:25 Brainstorm 05:10 Son Of A Gunfighter-FAM 06:40 The Petrified Forest-PG 08:00 Bachelor In Paradise-PG 09:50 Gun Glory-FAM 11:20 Manpower-PG 13:05 To Have And Have Not-FAM 14:45 Quo Vadis-PG 17:35 The Big Sleep-PG 19:25 The Charge Of The Light Brigade-FAM 21:20 The Wizard Of Oz-PG 23:10 Fame

what’s on

SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012

What to do in Kuwait?

The Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah (DAI) is a cultural organization based on a Kuwaiti private art collection. Since its inception in 1983, DAI has grown from a single focus organization created to manage the loan of the prestigious Al-Sabah Collection of art from the Islamic world to the State of Kuwait to become an internationally recognized cultural organization.

DarMuseum.org.kw Al Americani Cultural Centre and Administrative Offices in the Historic Americani Hospital Buildings Tel: (965) 2240 0992 Fax: (965) 2246 7770 Email: info@darmuseum.org.kw

Sultan Gallery

RunQ8 2012 set for today

R

unQ8 2012, the 10km race that was postponed last week due to unstable weather conditions will now be held today, January 28. Organized by the Fawzia Sultan Rehabilitation Institute and Agility, under the patronage of His Excellency Sheikh Ahmad Al-Humoud Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Kuwait’s Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Minister of Interior the race is sponsored by Porsche Centre Kuwait, Behbehani Motors Company and Zain. In its second year, RunQ8 supports two initiatives: the Porsche Early Childhood Traffic Safety Education Project, which will teach local school children about being safe passengers and understanding road and traffic safety rules and the Post-Crash Rehabilitation Training Center supported by Zain, the leading telecommunication company in Kuwait, which helps those affected by traffic accidents. Participants are invited to join RunQ8 and run or walk to support road and traffic awareness in Kuwait. The event also offers the opportunity for a fun outing with the family at the race village. To register for the event visit: www.runQ8.org or call 25720338 for more information.

As the first venue of its kind in Kuwait, Sultan Gallery believes in the power of art as a medium of meaningful expression. Founders Ghazi Sultan, and the late Najat Sultan, envisioned a gallery that would serve as a platform for Arab artists to showcase their most inspired work.

Empowered by the mission to forge cultural understanding and artistic appreciation in Kuwait, Sultan Gallery has spent 40 years exhibiting both the most visionary artists and thought provoking themes. Sultan Gallery showcases artists that explore the breadth of creative expression - from the traditional painting to the contemporary audio and visual installation.

Sultan Gallery enriches the Kuwaiti cultural scene with its passion for art as a vehicle of cultural

understanding through visual language.

Email: sultangallery@sadeer.com Location: Sabhan, Sadeer Co, Block B, Street 105, Building 168

Al-Maidan Cultural Centre Abdullah al-Salem School, Maidan Hawally, near al-Shaab Leisure Park.

Opening Hours: Sunday - Thursday 9am - 5pm, until 9pm on event nights.

Tel: (965) 2563 6561/ 2563 6528 Fax: (965) 2565 3006 Email: friends@darmuseum.org.kw The Kuwait National Museum is located on the Arabian Gulf Street between Seif Palace & the National Assembly (Parliament).

Phone: 2245-1195 or 2245-6534

Kuwait Textile Arts Association (KTAA) The Kuwait Textile Arts Association (under the auspices of Sadu House) is a non-profit multinational organization which aims to bring together individuals interested in textiles and the fibre arts including appliquÈ, embroidery, knotting carpets, quilting, silk painting and weaving.

Members include a number of talented decorative artists who hold classes throughout the year.

Quilt Group: q8quilter@yahoo.com Yarn & Fiber Group: q8yarnandfibregroup@yahoo.com Contact: Joan Fisher Tel: 2390-3462 (English)/2243-2395 (Arabic) Email: wovenpieces@yahoo.com

Upcoming events Music album An Indian music album, Madhuvasantham, to be shot in Kuwait invites actors and associates, album’s creator Hari Paravoor said.

The 9-sogs audio album, which was released at a function at Gulf Indian School about a year ago is penned by Hari Paravoor and tuned by Bashir Koyilandi. The video album of the songs will be released shortly.

The album creators would like creative contributions from artistes and common folks who can give a try in creative participation in the album. Please contact: 55442649.

Music festival On March 1, 2012, the “Blend Music Festival,” a mellow acoustic get-together of several local musicians, will take place in Bayt Lothan, the official sponsor, host, and curator of the event. This event will be FREE of charge and open to everyone to attend.

We hope to see you all there, and here’s to a great start to 2012! The “Blend Music Festival” will be the first of many concerts to be held; there are a handful of musicians on board, and more will be added to the sets at a later stage. Here is the program for March 1st: 1- Ali Sleeq with Gary Ruston & Kevin Owen = JAZZ; 2- Hadi Sarieddine, Bader Nana, & Sarj = ROCK; 3- Lewis Chapman FOLK / ROCK. Acting workshop The British Academy of International Arts (BAIA) is holding a world class acting workshop over three days. Nona Shepphard, Associate Director of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), will share her expertise as actor, director and playwright. The workshop will involve learning how to transform the written text into a successful performance. Shepphard is head of the audition panel at RADA and will also discuss how best to prepare for auditions. This

workshop is a rare opportunity and a must for anyone interested in improving their acting skills and/or considering a career in Theatre. When: February 2nd, 3rd & 4th. For more information: info@thebaia.com or 6005-2087 Where: Shakespeare Theatre At The British School of Kuwait (BSK) Salwa.

Infoconnect expo to be held in Kuwait From January 29th till February 4th Infoconnect will be held at the Kuwait International Fair Grounds Infoconnect is one of the most professionally organized trade shows in Kuwait, dedicated exclusively to the computer applications and information technology sector. The show ranks high on the popularity count, drawing in a large number of exhibitors as well as qualified business visitors at each of its editions.

The line of products put on exhibit at the show is quite extensive and includes computer peripherals, IT security tools, software solutions, data warehousing systems and a host of other related services and accessories. The show draws in active participation from eminent professionals from both the public as well as the private sectors and the latest innovations and developments in the IT industry are closely looked into here.

The show is held over a period of seven days at the Kuwait International Fairground and enjoys large scale media coverage too.

GLEE-esque show choir This Valentine’s Day step into a musical Love Story performed by Vocal Rhapsody, KLT’s first ever GLEE-esque show choir.

Vocal Rhapsody’s “Love Story” - is a show choir production with hit songs from artists such as Journey, Queen, Katy Perry and Meatloaf. It promises to be an exciting evening for all with some classic songs that everyone will enjoy. For contact: http://www.theklt.com

Cultural program On the 10th of February 2012, Friday at 3:30 pm. A cultural program will be staged at the Carmel School Kuwait, Khaitan. This will include a Book Fair and an Art Competition with a Musical Drama (JanatarDak). It is written n Directed by Rafiqul Islam Bulu and organized by the Bangladesh Udjapon Committee Kuwait. This is an open invitation, All are welcome.

Burns Supper The Kuwait Caledonians are pleased to invite you to the 2012 Burns Supper to be held at the Movenpick Hotel, Al-Bida’a On Thursday 2nd February, 2012 Tickets will be available in January Please email kuwaitcaledonians@gmail.com Or call 60057882 Sadu weaving workshop This workshop is of four weeks duration, and it will be held twice a week. The morning group sessions are on Monday and Wednesday from 9am to 12pm. The evening group are on Sunday and Tuesday from 4:30pm to 7:30pm.

A total of 8 sessions of three hours each.

This workshop will be held from January 22nd to February 18th.

For more Information kindly contact Sadu House at: info@alsadu.org.kw SaduWeaving@gmail.com 2243-2395 or 9959-7983 Boat show in Kuwait Kuwait City, is like a magnet: indeed it has been attracting Bedouin people from the Arabian interior, in search of a sea breeze and an escape from recurring drought, for centuries. Today the metropolis is still an oasis in a land of desert plains, but rather more of the cultural and epicurean kind. Excellent museums; a corniche ornamented with combed

beaches and extravagant restaurants; modern shopping complexes and marinas, and long and lazy retreats at new beach resorts mark the Kuwait City experience. The organizers of the Kuwait International Boat Show expect more than 100 marine companies to display their latest products, boats, yachts, super yachts, electronics, engines and thousands of boating accessories from major marine manufacturers. The Boat Show encompasses more than 120.000 m2 of space, both on land and in water.

Where: Souk Sharq Marina & Water Front Boat Show Timings: 5:30 pm - 10:00 pm, February 8- 12 The Wedding Expo The Wedding Expo is an annual event that caters to the elite soon-to-be brides of Kuwait who plan on hosting an extravagant and unique wedding, looking for high range and designer oriented brands, products and services that will aid in executing “the perfect wedding.” It is an elite event, targeted to all members included in the planning and execution process of an elite wedding and all interested parties interested in wedding oriented products and services. The Wedding Expo is a 3 day event. The first day will be an ‘invitation only’ event that will include a catered service and drinks. The second and third day will be open to the public. It will include a list of exhibitors in the fields of designer wear, jewelry, flowers, beauty, catering and wedding planning who will show their products and services to the visiting public.

The Event will be a heavily publicized event through the communication of various media outlets such as magazines, TV stations, Newspapers, online social networking and specialized invitations.

When: February 8th, 9th & 10th Where: 360 Mall Exhibition Hall

what’s on

SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012

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

Duncan Hoyland, David Allison, Frank Baker, Salem Al Anizi, Greham Raynham, Hugh Hegarty

Education, consultancy services discussed

T

he British Ambassador to Kuwait, Frank Baker met with Salem Al Anizi, CEO of Global Advantage along with his partner Education companies, Greham Raynham, Director of Bond Bryan Architects and David Allison the Managing Director of the international Educational company SSATMiddle East. The group was also joined

by Duncan Hoyland, Head of Trade and Investment (UKTI) at the British Embassy

and Hugh Hegarty, Project Director for SSAT Middle East. Both these companies are established in Kuwait. The group discussed a range of aspects around developing education and learning for Schools, Colleges and Universities in Kuwait. Both Bond Bryan Architects and SSAT were established in the UK over 25 years ago and offer a range of high quality educational services across the region and in the UK Bond Bryan

Architects is a dynamic and innovative building design company delivering expert professional consultancy services to the education and other specialist sectors. SSAT Middle East’s mission is to give practical support to transforming education by building and enabling a world-class network of innovative, highperforming schools and academies in partnership with business and the wider community.

Comedy play

“M

ujhse Shaadi Karogi” with Bhagyashree & Akshay Ananad along with Krutika Sharma, Prairna & Navin Agarwal on 17th Feb, Friday, at 7 pm sharp at Dr Kamil Al Rays auditorium American International School near Police station Maidan Hawally Kuwait.

The Chief Guest for the event will be Ambassador of India, Kuwait and the guest of honor will be prominent personalities from Kuwait.

ICS theme carries latest & novelty in concept & event. And now an out an out romantic comedy with film actor & actress first time in Kuwait. Blockbuster Movie “Maine Pyar Kiya” fame Bhagyashree first time on stage in new look. Bhagyashree hails from the royal family of

Patwardhans from Sangli city in Maharashtra.

Her father is Maharaja of Sangli. First film has given her big entry, super hit & life time achievement. Salman Khan also launched with Bhagyashree. is best known for her role in the 1989 film Maine Pyaar Kiya with Salman Khan.

Famous director & actor Navin Agarwal will add hilarious colors in the play. He is not only director of the play but Frankee also.

Director Navin’ s -feature film Khilaafat, serial Sapna And more than 100 famous Plays [ shows In National & International festivals] including commercial Hindi comedy plays with famous Film & TV stars. For more information call 67030839, 66127231 or log on to ics.kuwait@gmail.com www.ics-kuwait.com

Indians Studied in Australia (ISA) This is an invitation from an Indian Studied in Australia and settled in Kuwait to find out other fellows to unite them under an umbrella of a new Association ISA so we can share our experience from both the countries, to share our happiness and sorrow together along with our families due to our common roots and interests. If interested please do write to me on Indians.sa12@gmail.com

Canada expats The Canadian Commerical Circle invites Canadian expats to a seminar on tax and investment planning tailored for Canadians abroad. The event will take place on 31st January 2012 at 18:00 at the Marina Hotel. Attendance is free of charge but is limited to 150 and is by registration only. Email your name, place of work and phone number to rsvp@ccckw.com For further information call Maria at 22495343. No tickets at the door, please reserve early.

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 CYPRUS The Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus requests Cypriot citizens living in Kuwait to register with the Embassy. This registration service is provided so that the Embassy can update its contact list and assist Cypriot citizens in cases of emergencies. Registration information can be emailed to cyprusembassykwt@gmail.com or faxed to 22253227 or given by phone to 65906048 (Mrs Christine). 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 PHILIPPINES The Embassy of the Philippines will be closed to public transactions on 29,30,31 January 2012 to give way to its transfer to Faiha, Block 6, Nauman bin Basher St. corner Damascus St. Villa 153.

For emergency, please contact the Consular hotline at 65184433. The Philippine Overseas Labor Office and other attached agencies shall continue to operate and hold office in Jabriya until 15 March 2012. All your passports and other consular concerns will be processed at our new location, except of course labor issues. Regular working hours of the Embassy shall resume in Faiha on 01 February 2012.

HEALTH SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012

Kepler telescope team finds 11 solar systems CAPE CANAVERAL: NASA’s planet-hunting Kepler space telescope has found 11 new planetary systems, including one with five planets all orbiting closer to their parent star than Mercury circles the Sun, scientists said on Thursday.

The discoveries boost the list of confirmed extra-solar planets to 729, including 60 credited to the Kepler team.

The telescope, launched in space in March 2009, can detect slight but regular dips in the amount of light coming from stars. Scientists can then determine if the changes are caused by orbiting planets passing by, relative to Kepler’s view. Kepler scientists have another 2,300 candidate planets awaiting additional confirmation.

None of the newly discovered planetary systems are like our solar system, though Kepler-33, a star that is older

and bigger than the Sun, comes close in terms of sheer numbers. It has five planets, compared to our solar system’s eight, but the quintet all fly closer to their parent star than Mercury orbits the Sun. The planets range in size from about 1.5 times the diameter of Earth to five times Earth’s diameter. Scientists have not yet determined if any are solid rocky bodies like Earth, Venus, Mars and Mercury or if they are filled with gas like Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

The Kepler team previously found one star with six confirmed planets and a second system with five planets, said planetary scientist Jack Lissauer, with NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California. Nine of the new systems contain two planets and one has

three, bringing the total number of newly discovered planets to 26. All are closer to their host stars than Venus is to the Sun. “This has tripled the number of stars which we know have more than one transiting planet, so that’s the big deal here,” Lissauer told Reuters. “We’re starting to think in terms of planetary systems as opposed to just planets: Do they all tend to have similar sizes? What’s the spacing? Is the solar system unusual in those regards?” he said. Kepler is monitoring more than 150,000 stars in the constellations Cygnus and Lyra.

The research is published in four different papers in Astrophysical Journal and the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. — Reuters

Lebanon activists fight to control animal abuse Thousands of animals smuggled into country

ALEXANDRIA: First lady Michelle Obama takes a bite of her turkey taco as she has lunch with school children at Parklawn Elementary School. — AP

School lunches to have more veggies ALEXANDRIA: The first major nutritional overhaul of school meals in more than 15 years means most offerings - including the always popular pizza - will come with less sodium, more whole grains and a wider selection of fruits and vegetables on the side. First lady Michelle Obama and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the new guidelines during a visit Wednesday with elementary students. Mrs. Obama, also joined by celebrity chef Rachael Ray, said youngsters will learn better if they don’t have growling stomachs at school. “As parents, we try to prepare decent meals, limit how much junk food our kids eat, and ensure they have a reasonably balanced diet,” Mrs. Obama said. “And when we’re putting in all that effort the last thing we want is for our hard work to be undone each day in the school cafeteria.”

After the announcement, the three went through the line with students and ate turkey tacos with brown rice, black bean and corn salad and fruit - all Ray’s recipes - with the children in the Parklawn Elementary lunchroom. Under the new rules, pizza won’t disappear from lunch lines, but will be made with healthier ingredients. Entire meals will have calorie caps for the first time and most trans fats will be banned. Sodium will gradually decrease over a 10 year period. Milk will have to be low in fat and flavored milks will have to be nonfat.

Despite the improvements, the new rules aren’t as aggressive as the Obama administration had hoped. Congress last year blocked the Agriculture Department from making some of the desired changes, including limiting french fries and pizzas. A bill passed in November would require the department to allow tomato paste on pizzas to be counted as a vegetable, as it is now. The initial draft of the department’s guidelines, released a year ago, would have prevented that. Congress also blocked the department from limiting servings of potatoes to two servings a week. —AP

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s animal rights activists are fighting to bring to national attention what they say are rampant trafficking and abuse, problems that are far from priorities in a country plagued with turbulence.

While there are no official studies, activists estimate thousands-if not tens of thousands-of animals are smuggled into Lebanon annually, where they are sold, transferred to other destinations or subject to neglect or abuse. “The situation is alarming,” said Sevine Zahran of Lebanese non-governmental organization Beirut for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (BETA).

“Part of the problem is that pet shops will sell customers whatever they demand, whether primates, crocodiles or even endangered parrots,” Zahran told AFP. “But there are also major problems with legislation, government control and public awareness and making the problem worse is the fact that non-native species are now breeding in Lebanon, too.” Lebanon is among a handful of countries not signatory to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and lacks domestic legislation on animal rights which would regulate and unequivocally criminalize animal abuse and trafficking.

And with its lax laws, porous borders and a large diaspora in Africa, Lebanon is a prime target for the smuggling and illegal trade of wildlife such as lions, chimpanzees and parrots, activists say.

“Smuggling is not exclusive to Lebanon, but the unique positioning of Lebanon certainly helps,” said Jason Mier, executive director of Animals Lebanon, a local animal rights group that is spearheading the campaign to see animal welfare legislation adopted by parliament.

But in a country plagued with political troubles and conflict, animal rights are far from a national priority and public support for the cause is minimal at best.

“While there’s definitely more attention now to the plight of animals and wildlife in Lebanon, there is still a long way to go,” Mier told AFP. “What do you tell people who say human rights are ignored in Lebanon? All we can say is it’s their planet too, which is our slogan,” added Zahran. Groups like BETA and Animals Lebanon regularly rescue animals ranging from cats and dogs to hyenas, baboons and lion cubs. In

recent years, the organizations have campaigned to shut down a string of zoos and circuses that had been mistreating animals, in a country with no sanctuaries and where zoos consist of rusting cages lined up in the blazing Mediterranean sun.

In pet shops dotting highways across the country, animals are left to languish in appalling conditions.

Baboons can be seen confined to filthy cages too small for them to move while near threatened African gray parrots are stored in containers with little to no ventilation. In October, a lion cub grabbed headlines after he was spotted on a balcony in the chic central district of the capital Beirut. “Leo is one of our luckier rescues as the people who had been keeping him as a pet were entirely cooperative once we explained to them why he needed to live in his natural habitat and the risks they were running by keeping him,” explained Mier.

While Leo, whose rescue cost around 5,000 dollars, now lives in a sanctuary in Cape Town, a second cub is growing bigger and bigger in another flat in the capital. Until a few short weeks ago the owner could allegedly be seen walking the cub on a leash downtown and has posted pictures which show a young man hug-

ging a lion in a living room on Facebook.

He has refused to heed the group’s call to allow the lion to be sent to a sanctuary and pictures of the man with the lion cub continue to surface on Facebook.

Today, local groups like Animals Lebanon are fighting to stem the abuse and illegal trade of animals, pushing for Lebanon to sign CITES. Backed by the local agriculture minister and in cooperation with legal experts around the world, Animals Lebanon in November submitted to parliament draft legislation that would ensure the protection and welfare of animals. The draft bill would enforce strict regulations on animal transportation and handling and require permits be obtained by farmers and zoo owners.

Mier said he was pleased with the cooperation of the Lebanese Ministry of Agriculture, which has pushed for the draft law penned by his organization to be passed in parliament. “For years we’ve been dealing with the end result, the fact that there are so many animals living in inappropriate conditions, rather than addressing the root of the problem,” Mier explained. “That is where the law should step in.” And while summer is the best season for Lebanon’s lucrative tourism sector, for the country’s pets it can bode ill.—AFP

BEIRUT: An undated picture shows a caged lion that was confiscated by the NGO from a private owner in Beirut. — AFP

HEALTH SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012

CLASSIFIEDS

ACCOMMODATION Indian Tamil Muslim family with small family, 2 working ladies, 2 bachelors, 2 bedroom flat, rent KD 65 with W&E, 4th Ring Road behind petrol station near Farah Jamiya Maidan Hawally. Call: 97988528 / 66594790.

(C 3844) To let from 1 March 2012, 1 semi furnished big room with an attached small room consisting of toilet from a 3 bedroom spacious flat in B’neid Al-ghar. Rent KD 75 for single occupancy and KD 95 for double occupancy. For more details contact: 60914165.

(C 3846) 25-1-2012 Immediate sharing accommodation available for a decent Indian Christian couple or bachelor, near Salmiya garden. Please contact after 2:30 pm 66884273, 25657832.

(C 3843) ٢٤-١-٢٠١٢

FOR SALE Expat owned Toyota Aurion, 2007 model, silver metallic color, done 73,000 kms, single owner. Registration and full cover insurance valid up to Nov. 2012. Price KD 4,975/-. Please contact Thomas only between 6:00 pm and 8:00 pm at Tel: 22660301. (C 3850) Well maintained Toyota Camry 1998 for sale. Contact: 99172842. (C 3852) 28-1-2012 Toyota Jeep Prado model 2009, white metallic color, 6 cylinder engine, full option

(limited) sunroof, alloy rim, G.P.R screen, fog lamp, cruise control, wooden interior etc.

Price KD 7,950/- negotiable.

Contact: 66396517 (C 3845) 25-1-2012 Toyota Corolla 2011 model, white color, law mileage, excellent condition, lady driven, price KD 3650.

Contact: 60951195.

(C 3841) Toyota Camry 2007 GLX, silver color, law mileage, excellent condition, alloy wheel, wooden decor, sensor fog lamp etc, wanted price KD 3350. Contact: 60099305. (C 3842) ٢٤-١-٢٠١٢ Toyota Corolla, model 2012, golden color 1.6 engine, km done 2400, CD, price KD 3950. Contact: 66396517.

(C 3838) Honda - CRV 2006, registration 2007, 55,000 km, color: Titanium beige, serviced by Honda, excellent condition, 6 CD changer sun roof, one lady owner. Price KD 3,500, not negotiable. Contact: 99545520.

(C 3837)

SITUATION WANTED Indian couple needs a job 12 years experience in Kuwait.

Cleaning, cooking and driving, we are expecting good salary. Contact: 65585930.

(C 3851) 28-1-2012 Immediately available a Post graduate secretary having more than 12 years experience in Kuwait with full accounting background, experience in oilfield/ ministry tenders, foreign purchasing, correspondence,

SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012

holding Kuwait driving license, part time acceptable.

Call: 97669236/ 24315927. (C 3847) 25-1-2012

CHANGE OF NAME I, Chinna Ravi Raj s/o Chinta Someswara Rao holding Indian Passport No: Z1852081 place of issue Kuwait would like to change my name as CHINTA RAVI RAJ. (C 3849) 28-1-2012 I, Shaik Jahangir Peera, holder of Indian Passport No. F4970741 is changing the name as Shaik Jahangir Ahmed. (C 3848) 26-1-2012

MATRIMONIAL Proposals invited for an Ezhava girl MBA 23 years old, looking for well educated Malayali boys from India or abroad.

Email: shibusviji@yahoo.co.in, shibusmini@gmail.com (C 3853) 28-1-2012 Marthomite parents in Kuwait invite proposals for their daughter (26/160/Fair), B/ B in Kuwait, Masters from the UK and currently working in Bangalore as senior executive, from well qualified and employed MARTHOMA/ CSI/ ORTHODOX boys (preferably working in Bangalore/ Abroad). Email: thomaskw8@yahoo.com

TUITION Business management teacher with doctoral degree

for universities, institutions, corporate & all student levels.

Over 10 years experience. Call 66495951. (C 3817) Business management teacher with doctoral degree for universities, institutions, corporate & all student levels.

Over 10 years experience. Call 66495951. (C 3817) Mathematics teacher, Intermediate and secondary Exams models, Easy method, Exams from past years with solutions. 97301901 English teacher (3) years experience, looking for a job and ready to start with all educational stages. 55963993 Mathematics teacher for Universities, Institutions, Foreign Schools, Administrative, American, English, Australian, Bahrain, Electric and Gulf Sciences, Algbra Prel, Mathematics, intermediate, gmat, sat college, math98, 110 pre calculus geometry.

97619261

No: 15342

FOR RENT A park in Wafra animal pens, very clean, over an area of 2500m, very large fenced yard in front (5) rooms, saloons, separate diwaniyas and swimming pool, fountain, children games tent. 94426116 For rent in Farwaniya, basement 700m, car parking.

66920123

information SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION In case you are not travelling, your proper cancellation of bookings will help other passengers to use seats Airlines JZR KLM JZR ETH THY PIA UAE QTR OMA DHX MSR FDB ETD GFA THY DHX FAH JZR KAC BAW KAC KAC FDB KAC KAC JZR KAC KAC UAE ABY QTR ETD FDB BAB ABY GFA RKM JZR JZR JZR IRM KAC MSR KAC MSR FDB MSR UAL GRF QTR KNE SVA RJA KAC KAC KAC JZR LMU QTR KNE JZR IRC ETD JZR UAE KAC FDB GFA CLX SVA ABY JZR KAC BAB ALK

Arrival Flights on Saturday 28/1/2012 Flt Route 185 DUBAI 447 AMSTERDAM/BAHRAIN 539 CAIRO 620 ADDIS ABABA 772 ISTANBUL 239 SIALKOT 853 DUBAI 138 DOHA 641 MUSCAT 370 BAHRAIN 612 CAIRO 67 DUBAI 305 ABU DHABI 211 BAHRAIN 770 ISTANBUL 170 BAHRAIN 201 DUBAI 503 LUXOR 416 JAKARTA/KUALA LUMPUR 157 LONDON 412 MANILA/BANGKOK 206 ISLAMABAD 53 DUBAI 352 COCHIN 302 MUMBAI 531 ASSIUT 362 COLOMBO 344 CHENNAI 855 DUBAI 125 SHARJAH 132 DOHA 301 ABU DHABI 55 DUBAI 436 BAHRAIN 121 SHARJAH 213 BAHRAIN 310 RAS ALKHAIMAH 165 DUBAI 553 ALEXANDRIA 555 ALEXANDRIA 5066 MASHAD 382 DELHI 610 CAIRO 672 DUBAI 621 ASSIUT 57 DUBAI 606 LUXOR 982 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 93 KANDAHAR/DUBAI 140 DOHA 745 JEDDAH 500 JEDDAH 640 AMMAN 562 AMMAN 786 JEDDAH 284 DHAKA 257 BEIRUT 611 ALEXANDRIA 134 DOHA 839 JEDDAH/MEDINAH 535 CAIRO 6791 MASHAD 303 ABU DHABI 357 MASHAD 857 DUBAI 118 NEW YORK 59 DUBAI 215 BAHRAIN 792 LUXEMBOURG 510 RIYADH 127 SHARJAH 777 JEDDAH 550 SOHAG/SHARM EL SHEIKH 437 BEIRUT 227 COLOMBO/DUBAI

Time 0:20 0:30 0:50 1:45 2:15 2:20 2:35 2:40 2:50 2:55 3:00 3:05 3:10 3:15 4:50 5:15 5:30 5:55 6:25 6:40 6:45 7:40 7:45 7:50 7:55 8:00 8:20 8:25 8:30 9:00 9:05 9:15 9:20 9:40 9:50 9:55 10:40 11:20 11:45 12:15 12:40 12:45 12:55 13:20 13:30 13:50 13:55 14:05 14:15 14:20 14:25 14:30 14:40 14:45 14:50 15:00 15:00 15:10 15:25 16:15 16:25 16:30 16:50 16:50 16:55 16:55 17:05 17:15 17:15 17:20 17:40 17:45 18:00 18:05 18:10

JZR FDB KAC QTR JZR KAC KAC IRA KAC KAC KAC KAC SYR KAC JAI OMA AIC JZR MSR KAC DHX KNE IRM MEA GFA QTR UAE JZR KAC KLM KAC FDB JZR UAL AXB BBC DLH

177 63 542 6130 125 178 618 607 674 104 774 790 341 1784 572 647 975 513 618 788 372 789 5064 402 217 136 859 135 502 445 614 61 239 981 393 43 636

DUBAI DUBAI CAIRO DOHA BAHRAIN GENEVA/FRANKFURT DOHA MASHAD DUBAI LONDON RIYADH MEDINAH DAMASCUS JEDDAH MUMBAI MUSCAT CHENNAI/GOA SHARM EL SHEIKH ALEXANDRIA JEDDAH BAHRAIN JEDDAH MASHAD BEIRUT BAHRAIN DOHA DUBAI BAHRAIN BEIRUT AMSTERDAM BAHRAIN DUBAI AMMAN BAHRAIN KOZHIKODE/COCHIN DHAKA FRANKFURT

18:15 18:40 18:50 19:00 19:00 19:10 19:15 19:20 19:25 19:35 19:40 19:55 20:00 20:00 20:10 20:15 20:25 20:40 20:45 20:55 21:00 21:05 21:10 21:20 21:25 21:35 21:40 21:55 22:00 22:05 22:05 22:15 22:45 23:00 23:40 23:45 23:50

Airlines PIA UAL AIC JZR DLH KLM KAC ETH THY PIA KAC FDB UAE OMA DHX MSR ETD JZR QTR JZR THY JZR GFA FDB BAW KAC JZR JZR KAC KAC KAC UAE ABY ETD KAC FDB QTR

Departure Flights on Saturday 28/1/2012 Flt Route 216 KARACHI 981 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 976 GOA/CHENNAI 530 ASSIUT 637 FRANKFURT 447 AMSTERDAM 283 DHAKA 621 ADDIS ABABA 773 ISTANBUL 240 SIALKOT/ISLAMABAD 381 DELHI 68 DUBAI 854 DUBAI 642 MUSCAT 371 BAHRAIN 613 CAIRO 306 ABU DHABI 552 ALEXANDRIA 139 DOHA 554D ALEXANDRIA 771 ISTANBUL 164 DUBAI 212 BAHRAIN 54 DUBAI 156 LONDON 671 DUBAI 256 BEIRUT 534 CAIRO 561 AMMAN 785 JEDDAH 101 LONDON/NEW YORK 856 DUBAI 126 SHARJAH 302 ABU DHABI 549 SOHAG/SHARM EL SHEIKH 56 DUBAI 133 DOHA

Time 0:30 0:45 0:50 1:15 1:20 1:45 2:40 2:45 3:15 3:30 3:30 3:45 3:50 3:55 3:55 4:00 4:00 4:30 4:55 5:00 5:50 6:55 7:00 8:25 8:40 9:00 9:00 9:15 9:20 9:25 9:35 9:40 9:45 10:00 10:00 10:05 10:10

BAB ABY GFA JZR RKM KAC KAC JZR JZR MSR IRM JZR MSR FDB MSR KAC KNE UAL KAC RJA JZR KAC KAC LMU SVA KAC KAC QTR KAC KNE JZR IRC ETD JZR QTR FDB GRF GRF UAE GFA ABY SVA CLX JZR BAB KAC JZR ALK FDB JZR IRA QTR SYR DHX KAC KAC JAI OMA MSR KNE KAC DHX IRM KAC MEA GFA FAH QTR KAC JZR UAE KAC KLM FDB JZR JZR KAC

436 122 214 356 311 165 541 776 176 611 5065 512 622 58 607 673 746 982 789 641 124 617 787 612 505 501 773 141 153 840 238 6792 304 538 135 60 82 82 858 216 128 511 792 266 437 613 134 228 64 184 616 6131 342 171 331 351 571 648 619 790 543 373 5063 675 403 218 102 137 301 554 860 205 445 62 188 528 411

BEIRUT SHARJAH BAHRAIN MASHAD RAS ALKHAIMAH ROME/PARIS CAIRO JEDDAH DUBAI CAIRO MASHAD SHARM EL SHEIKH ASSIUT DUBAI LUXOR DUBAI JEDDAH BAHRAIN MEDINAH AMMAN BAHRAIN DOHA JEDDAH ALEXANDRIA JEDDAH BEIRUT RIYADH DOHA ISTANBUL JEDDAH AMMAN MASHAD ABU DHABI CAIRO DOHA DUBAI BAGHDAD BAGHDAD DUBAI BAHRAIN SHARJAH RIYADH HONG KONG BEIRUT BAHRAIN BAHRAIN BAHRAIN DUBAI/COLOMBO DUBAI DUBAI AHWAZ DOHA DAMASCUS BAHRAIN TRIVANDRUM COCHIN MUMBAI MUSCAT ALEXANDRIA JEDDAH CAIRO BAHRAIN MASHAD DUBAI BEIRUT BAHRAIN DUBAI DOHA MUMBAI ALEXANDRIA DUBAI ISLAMABAD BAHRAIN/AMSTERDAM DUBAI DUBAI ASSIUT BANGKOK/MANILA

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

10:25 10:30 10:40 10:50 11:40 11:45 12:00 12:15 13:50 13:55 14:15 14:25 14:30 14:35 14:55 15:05 15:10 15:20 15:30 15:35 15:50 15:50 15:55 15:55 16:00 16:15 16:25 16:30 16:35 17:05 17:15 17:30 17:35 17:40 17:45 17:50 18:00 18:00 18:10 18:15 18:25 18:35 18:45 18:45 18:55 19:00 19:05 19:10 19:20 19:55 20:20 20:30 21:00 21:00 21:00 21:05 21:10 21:15 21:45 21:50 21:55 22:00 22:10 22:10 22:20 22:25 22:30 22:35 22:45 22:45 22:50 23:00 23:05 23:10 23:10 23:35 23:55

C R O S S W O R D

5 7 1

SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012

Word Sleuth Solution

Yesterday始s Solution

ACROSS 1. The portion of the vertebrate nervous system consisting of the brain and spinal cord.

4. With rapid movements.

9. The quantity a cask will hold.

13. A workplace for the conduct of scientific research.

14. Any of various thermoplastic resins used to make things.

15. Perceive sound.

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

18. An amino acid that is found in the central nervous system.

19. A tiny or scarcely detectable amount.

20. An official prosecutor for a judicial district.

21. On, to, or at the top.

23. A narrow headband or strip of ribbon worn as a headband.

25. A member of a pastoral people living in the Nilgiri hills of southern India.

26. A United Nations agency to promote trade by increasing the exchange stability of the major currencies.

27. Angular distance above the horizon (especially of a celestial object).

28. (Old Testament) Wife of Isaac and mother of Jacob and Esau.

31. A white metallic element that burns with a brilliant light.

33. (Hindu) A manner of sitting (as in the practice of Yoga).

34. A Russian river.

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

39. The capital of Bahrain.

41. A radioactive element of the actinide series.

43. The month following July and preceding September.

44. A colorless and odorless inert gas.

48. A rare silvery (usually trivalent) metallic element.

49. (Babylonian) God of storms and wind.

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

53. A mountain range in South America running 5000 miles along the Pacific coast.

57. Cubes of meat marinated and cooked on a skewer usually with vegetables.

58. Alternative names for the body of a human being.

61. (Irish) Mother of the Tuatha De Danann.

62. A complex red organic pigment containing iron and other atoms to which oxygen binds.

64. (Norse mythology) Ruler of the Aesir.

65. Acute lung injury characterized by coughing and rales.

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

67. A quantity of no importance.

DOWN 1. A compact mass.

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

3. The compass point that is one point east of due south.

4. A very poisonous metallic element that has three allotropic forms.

5. An Asian temple.

6. A member of a North American Plains people (now living in Oklahoma and Wyoming).

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

8. Related on the mother's side.

9. Most important element.

10. (in Gnosticism) A divine power or nature emanating from the Supreme Being and playing various roles in the operation of the universe.

11. French composer noted for his experimentalism and rejection of romanticism (1866-1925).

12. A village of huts for native Africans in southern Africa.

17. A chain of connected ideas or passages or objects so arranged that each member is closely related to the preceding and following members (especially a series of patristic comments elucidating Christian dogma).

22. A doughnut-shaped chamber used in fusion research.

24. A woman hired to suckle a child of someone else.

29. (Old Testament) The eldest son of Isaac who would have inherited the Covenant that God made with Abraham and that Abraham passed on to Isaac.

30. A vigorous blow.

32. A Chadic language spoken south of Lake Chad.

35. A Chadic language spoken south of Lake Chad.

37. A defensive missile designed to shoot down incoming intercontinental ballistic missiles.

38. Informal abbreviation of `representative'.

40. An Arabic speaking person who lives in Arabia or North Africa.

42. The trait of lacking restraint or control.

43. (in Gnosticism) A divine power or nature emanating from the Supreme Being and playing various roles in the operation of the universe.

45. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey).

46. American Revolutionary patriot.

47. A coffee cake flavored with orange rind and raisins and almonds.

50. Dearly loved.

51. In bed.

54. An informal term for a father.

55. A town in north central Oklahoma.

56. The capital and largest city of Yemen.

59. A Turkish unit of weight equal to about 2.75 pounds.

60. A metric unit of volume or capacity equal to 10 liters.

63. The blood group whose red cells carry both the A and B antigens.

Yesterday始s Solution

SPORTS

SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012

Dalziel captures Daytona pole DAYTONA BEACH: Ryan Dalziel’s qualifying performance was somewhat surprising. He knew his car was fast, but given that the team had just two weeks to tune it and then failed to turn a lap in the first practice session because of engine failure, sitting on the pole was hardly expected. Nonetheless, Dalziel bested Max Angelelli, Chip Ganassi’s two-car powerhouse team and IndyCar regular Ryan Hunter-Reay on the road course at Daytona International Speedway. Dalziel turned a fast lap of 1 minute, 41.119 seconds in Thursday’s qualifying session. He will lead the field to the green flag for the 50th running of the around-theclock event. The race begins today and ends tomorrow.

“To get the pole is very rewarding, but it’s a long race,” said Dalziel, who drives for Starworks Motorsport. “The pole doesn’t mean too much. It proves to us that we have a fast car, but we already knew we had a reliable car and had a great crew.” Angelelli will be on the outside pole. Scott Dixon will start third in one of Ganassi’s two entries.

Ganassi’s other car, the one driven primarily by two-time defending series champions Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas, will start near the back of the class. The car blew an engine in practice and failed to make a qual-

ifying lap in the DP class.

Hunter-Reay qualified ninth after landing a last-minute deal to drive another car for Starworks. It looked as if Hunter-Reay, who had been slated to drive with IndyCar regulars

up. The DP class is considerably smaller at 14, and Dalziel believes his team can compete with anyone.

Dalziel gained confidence last September when he and teammate Enzo Potolicchio won the Grand-Am

DAYTONA BEACH: Ryan Dalziel, of Scotland, drives a Ford Riley to win the pole position in the qualifying session for the Grand-Am Rolex 24hour auto race. —AP Tony Kanaan and E.J. Viso, would miss the event after funding fell through. But team owner Peter Baron asked Hunter-Reay to step into another ride.

Andrew Davis topped qualifying in the GT class, edging Jeff Segal and NASCAR rookie of the year Andy Lally. The GT class could have as many as 46 cars in the starting line-

finale in Lexington, Ohio, giving Starworks Motorsport its third victory in seven seasons. “Last year, we deserved to get more results than we did,” Dalziel said. “I think sometimes the underdogs are not expected to beat the powerhouse teams.

But what’s happened with Starworks the past four or five months is we’ve tried to create a powerhouse team. I

NJ camel predicts Giants will win the Super Bowl LACEY TOWNSHIP: People use all sorts of ways to try to predict the winner of the Super Bowl: comparing regular season records, judging who looked stronger in the post-season run-up to the big game, or watching the betting lines from Las Vegas oddsmakers. But the closest thing to a sure thing may come from a camel in New Jersey.

Princess, the star of New Jersey’s Popcorn Park Zoo, has correctly picked the winner of five of the last six Super Bowls. She went 14 and 6 predicting regular season and playoff games this year, and has a lifetime record of 88-51. Her pick this year: The New York Giants.

The Bactrian camel’s prognostication skills flow from her love of graham crackers. Zoo general manager John Bergmann places a cracker and writes the name of the competing teams on each hand. Whichever hand Princess nibbles from is her pick.

On Wednesday, she made her pick with no hesitation at all, predicting bad news for Bill Belichick, Tom Brady and the New England Patriots, even though the Las Vegas oddsmakers have New England favored by about 3 points.

Her only miscue in the big game was picking the Indianapolis Colts over the New Orleans Saints two years ago, indicating that even camels know it’s generally risky to go against Peyton Manning.

“It started out when a local radio sta-

tion was looking to have some fun, so they asked Princess who was going to win a particular game each week, and it just took off from there,” Bergmann said.

“Now we have guys calling up on Sunday morning wanting to know who Princess has picked that week. One guy even asked if she does lottery numbers.”

Her best season was 2008, when she got 17 out of 22 games right, including correctly picking the Pittsburgh Steelers to win the Super Bowl. Princess doesn’t

do point spreads. But she has nearly mastered the art of picking straight-up winners.

The cunning camel was once the personal pet of heiress Doris Duke, the only child of tobacco and electric energy tycoon James Buchanan Duke. Doris Duke raised Princess and her sister Babe from youngsters, Bergmann said.

The pair of camels had their own barn, and spent summers at Duke’s Rhode Island estate. — AP

NEW JERSEY: John Bergmann, general manager of Popcorn Park Zoo in Lacey Township NJ scratches the neck of Princess, a Bactrian camel famous for her ability to correctly predict the winner of football games. —AP

think we’ve hired all the right people and put together an unbelievable car. “I think the (No. 8) car is going to be a contender not only this weekend, but it’s going to be a contender for every race this year. I don’t think we have a weak link in our chain. I really am pretty excited about this.”

Starworks got the new Ford Riley chassis in December, had the body fitted in January and only got an hour of seat time before qualifying.

“I think everybody’s a little bit unsure what to expect at this point,” Dalziel said. “I’m sure we’re going to find out pretty quickly when we get started here. It’ll be interesting to see if everybody really did run flat out.” Angelelli, who has finished second in the series the past two years, was disappointed with his qualifying effort. “I wasn’t expecting ending in P2,” he said. “I still feel our car is really good, is really fast. I still feel for the 24 hour, we’ll be the car to beat.”

Like Dalziel, Angelelli also isn’t sure what to expect with so many new cars making their Grand-Am debut. “We have no idea what’s going to happen or what could happen,” Angelelli said. “We’ve never run longer than one hour and we’re going to have another 23 to go. So I’m expecting issues for everybody. I can’t believe we’ll see cars finishing the race without an issue.” —AP

Volosozhar and Trankov win pairs at Europeans SHEFFIELD: Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov captured their first major title by heading a Russian sweep in the pairs competition at the European figure skating championships on Thursday.

The silver medalists from the 2011 world championships produced an engrossing performance to the “Black Swan” soundtrack to top-score in the free skate with 137.65 points, building on the lead they earned from a season-best score in the short program on Wednesday.

Volosozhar and Trankov finished with an overall score of 210.45 points - 16.66 clear of Vera Bazarova and Yuri Larionov, who improved on their bronze medal at the 2011 Europeans.

Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov (171.81 points) won the bronze in their first season on the senior tour. “It’s our first Europeans and it’s a gold medal - it’s amazing,” said the 28-year-old Trankov, a three-time European medalist with former partner Maria Mukhortova.

Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy of Germany came to Sheffield as the reigning champions and favorites, but were unable to defend their title after Savchenko aggravated an injury to her left thigh in training on Wednesday.

The three Russian teams took full advantage and the country which will host the 2014 Olympics in Sochi swept the podium at a Europeans for the first time since 2005. “Without Aliona and Robin, there is not a full pleasure in our victory,” Trankov said. “But we are happy for Russia. We are like one family and we worked for three medals today.” —AP

SPORTS

SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012

Stanley and Levin set up Torrey Pines pace SAN DIEGO: Kyle Stanley was one of several players who took advantage of a picture postcard day on the California coastline, charging into a share of the lead in Thursday’s first round at the Farmers Insurance Open.

With hardly a breath of wind at a sun-splashed Torrey Pines, the big-hitting American fired a sizzling 10-under-par 62 on the North Course, one of two layouts hosting the fourth PGA Tour event of the year. Stanley, a PGA Tour rookie last year, recorded nine birdies, one bogey and an eagle at the par-five last to finish level with compatriot Spencer Levin, who also started out on the North layout.

Bill Haas, last year’s FedExCup champion, opened with a 63 on the North while three-times winner and local fan favourite Phil Mickelson was left shaking his head after battling to a five-over 77 on the more difficult South Course.

“A round like today gives you confidence that you’re doing the right things,” Stanley told reporters after hitting an exquisite eight-iron from 173 yards to three feet to set up his eagle at the 18th.

“I know it was a 62, but it was a pretty boring round of golf. I hit a lot of greens and made a lot of putts. “The course is in good shape, the fairways are

nice and the greens are soft. You can be pretty aggressive with your irons but you’ve got to hit solid putts. If you don’t hit solid putts, it (the ball) will bump up on you.”

Haas, who has switched back to a belly putter for this week, was delighted with his form on the greens. “It was a great start, mainly with the putter, and today it felt really good which is surprising because these greens are probably the toughest to putt on so far that we’ve played,” he said.

Asked if he had a specific score in mind at the start of the day and whether that was achieved, Haas replied: “I would say I surpassed that number.

“I just was hoping to play well and I knew on this course it’s somewhat more gettable than the South.

You can still shoot good scores over there too, but it definitely plays longer.” Mickelson, making his second appearance of the year on the PGA Tour, was dumb-founded by his struggles in the opening round as he mixed two birdies with seven bogeys.

“I don’t know what happened, I just wasn’t able to focus,” said the American left-hander, who has not triumphed at Torrey Pines since 2001. “I made some bad swings just in the wrong spots and so forth.

“But I felt like my game was ready heading in, and

I don’t know what to say about the score because it was pathetic.”

Three-times major winner Vijay Singh of Fiji opened with a 64 on the North Course and American world number nine Dustin Johnson, the highestranked player in the field, carded a 66, also on the North. Johnson was especially pleased with his score after having to withdraw from last week’s Humana Challenge at La Quinta, California due to a lower back injury.

“Last week was the first time I had walked in a few months but the knee’s good,” said Johnson, who had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee in November. “I feel great. “I hit the ball well today, even though I missed a few fairways, but all the fairways I missed, it seemed like I was just a foot off. I hit my irons really good and I holed a couple of putts.”

Defending champion Bubba Watson and fellow American Keegan Bradley, winner of last year’s US PGA Championship, returned 69s on the North layout while South African Ernie Els and Britain’s Justin Rose launched their 2012 PGA Tour campaigns with 71s on the South. The scoring average for the first round was 69.244 on the North Course and 72.846 on the South. — Reuters

Olesen leads in Abu Dhabi ABU DHABI: Danish prospect Thorbjorn Olesen outshone the big guns to lead at the halfway stage of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship here yesterday, but Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy are poised to strike.

The 22-year-old Manchester United fan added a five under 67 to his opening round of 70 and at one stage led the field by three strokes before a closing bogey pinned him back. Gareth Maybin of Northern Ireland and Matteo Manassero of Italy were a stroke back in second place at six under with top draws Woods and McIlroy in a group of seven players on five under.

The 22-year-old Ulsterman would have retained the joint lead he held after the first day but for a two-stroke penalty incurred at the ninth hole for brushing sand from his line, while his ball was still in the rough and not yet on the putting surface.

Olesen enjoyed an outstanding rookie year in 2011 with runner-up finishes in South Africa and at the Italian and French

Opens which left him at 48th in the Race to Dubai rankings. “There are so many good guys in this event, it’s tough,” he said. “If Tiger (Woods) plays well he’s unbeatable I think. But I just try to play my own game and try to be up there tomorrow.”

Hot on his heels, Woods was playing well - striking the ball cleanly as he did on Thursday and this time getting some putts to fall.

He had five birdies against two bogeys in his 69, which left him on five under - just two strokes off the lead. The 36-year-old American has been the focus of attention once again here this week as he lights the fuse on a campaign that he hopes will see him return to the forefront and possibly add to his majors haul of 14.

A win could propel him back into the world top 10, but the main objective he has is to win a 15th Grand Slam title at Augusta National in early April.

“I’m only two back. It’s a bunched leaderboard. So many guys have a chance to win. Just got to keep plugging

ABU DHABI: Rory McIlroy from Northern Ireland plays a bunker shot on the 4th hole during the second round of Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. — AP

along and doing what I am doing,” he said.

Playing alongside Woods and world number one Luke Donald, McIlroy for the second day running blew hot and cold.

He had five birdies to go with the seven he had on Thursday but spoiled them with two double bogeys and a bogey for a round of level par 72 that left him on five under. “My ball was just maybe six feet off the green and there was a lot of sand in between my ball and the hole,” said McIlroy of his brush with the law at the ninth.

“I just brushed the sand and Luke (Donald) was like ‘I don’t think you can brush sand off the fringe’. And I’m like Oh yeah, you’re right - just one of those things.”

Donald, like Woods and McIlroy starting his season here, kept plugging away and stayed in contention with a 72 that left him at one under.

Also making moves yesterday were playing partners Sergio Garcia of Spain, Masters champion Charl Schwartzel of South Africa and Ireland’s former British Open and USPGA champion Padraig Harrington.

All three finished the day on four under 140, three shots off the lead with Garcia and Harrington shooting 69s and Schwartzel a 70. “At this stage of the season, everything is looking pretty rosy, but it always is at the start of the year,” Harrington said. “You are always optimistic that everything is going to fall into place and I do believe that I’ve seen some good signs.” World number two Lee Westwood stayed in touch despite a painful neck with a battling 72 for level par, but it was a disappointing day for Martin Kaymer, seeking a rare hat-trick of wins here in Abu Dhabi.

The German world number four struggled to a five over 77 on Thursday and he was little better yesterday coming in with a 73 to stand at six over for the tournament well outside the cut. — AFP

Vladimir Klitschko

Klitschko, Mormeck to fight on March 3 PARIS: The heavyweight world championship bout between holder Vladimir Klitschko of Ukraine and JeanMarc Mormeck will take place on March 3, the Frenchman’s camp said yesterday. The fight, which was originally scheduled for last month, was postponed after Klitschko underwent surgery to have a kidney stone removed.

“The WBA/WBO/IBO/IBF world championship fight between Vladimir Klitschko and Jean-Marc Mormeck, first scheduled on Dec. 10, 2011 at the Esprit Arena in Dusseldorf, will eventually be held on March 3, 2012 in the same arena,” Mormeck’s camp said in a statement.

Both camps had agreed on the date last December but the meeting was pending the international boxing federations’ approval, which has been given by the WBA, the WBO, the IBO and the IBF, according to Mormeck’s camp.

The 35-year-old Klitschko is looking to clinch his 50th knockout form 60 professional bouts against former cruiserweight world champion Mormeck.

Klitschko’s older brother, Vitali, holds the only other major heavyweight belt after defending his WBC title last September against Poland’s Tomasz Adamek.

Mormeck has just three fights under his belt at heavyweight level since he lost his WBC and WBA cruiserweight titles to Briton David Haye in 2007. — Reuters

sports

SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012

Burning question: Who will light Olympic cauldron?

LONDON: It’s the burning question of the London Olympics. Who will, or who should, light the cauldron for the 2012 Games?

With six months to go until the opening ceremony, British bookmakers are taking floods of bets on the issue, while fans, athletes, media and the public at large are speculating on who will get the honor.

Five-time rowing gold medalist Steve Redgrave is the big favorite with the bookies, with British Olympians Kelly Holmes, Daley Thompson and Tom Daley also in the mix.

Football icon David Beckham, 4-minute miler Roger Bannister, middle-distance great Sebastian Coe and even Queen Elizabeth II are among others being mentioned.

The identity of the final torchbearer is always meant to be a closely guarded secret, so the uncertainty will go on right up until the flame is ignited on the evening of July 27. Picture the scene: The 80,000-seat Olympic Stadium is packed for the ceremony masterminded by Danny Boyle, Oscar-winning director of “Slumdog Millionaire.” Billions of people around the world are watching on television. Various musicians, singers and dancers have entertained the crowd.

Thousands of athletes from more than 200 countries have marched into the stadium and taken their assigned places. Queen Elizabeth II has declared the games open. The Olympic anthem has been played and the Olympic flag raised.

The Olympic torch, which has been taken by boat down the River Thames to the Olympic Park, is carried into the stadium by the last

group of relay runners. The suspense and tension mounts. Finally, someone - who? - takes the torch and lights the cauldron that will burn for the next 17 days.

In a tradition that started with the 1936 Berlin Olympics, the transfer of the flame to the cauldron symbolizes the start of the games and often stands out as the defining moment of the opening ceremony.

“Depending on how they set it up and who it is in the end, it can be great,” senior International Olympic Committee member Dick Pound of Canada said. “For London, it should be somebody who in his or her own way defines Britain and sporting traditions.”

The flame will arrive in Britain from Greece on May 19, heralding the start of a 70-day, 8,000-mile (12,900-kilometer) relay around the UK that will culminate with the ceremony in London.

Coe, chairman of the 2012 organizing committee, said no decisions have yet been made about the lighting. “It will be decided by, almost certainly our creative teams, and there’ll be discussions but we’re not anywhere near,” he said on Thursday. “I can tell you we haven’t even begun to get to that granularity of detail.” Some lightings are more memorable than others.

“It’s always a dramatic moment and yet most people don’t remember who lit the cauldron in 2008,” Olympic historian David Wallechinsky said. “They may remember Muhammad Ali, but often it’s of minor significance in the long run.”

As London approaches, it’s worth a look back at some of the cauldron-lighting moments of previous games. l Who can forget Ali, trembling from

Plushenko goes back in time in Olympic quest SHEFFIELD: Former Olympic champion Yevgeny Plushenko was in pain, had not competed internationally for two years and had simplified his routine and yet the 29-year-old got the better of most of the next generation on his return to major competition on Thursday.

Only fellow Russian Artur Gachinski managed a higher score in the short programme at the European championships in Sheffield, scoring just 0.09 points more than the blondemopped Plushenko before today’s free skate where the medals will be decided.

It is not as if Plushenko is even that fussed about winning, telling reporters with his typical nonchalance: “For me it doesn’t matter, I have many titles”.

He had after all been forced to abandon the quadruple jump, which he believes every worthy men’s champion must pull off, because he is suffering with a knee injury that will require surgery and will rule him out of March’s world championships in Nice, France.

It is the very jump that caused so much controversy on Plushenko’s last major appearance at the 2010 Vancouver Games, where he declared gold medal winner Evan Lysacek was not a “true champion” because the American had not attempted a quad.

The implication was that he Plushenko, who had included the difficult jumps, should have got more than just the silver.

He also branded men’s figure skating without a quad little more than ice dance-a belief he still holds-and even he was surprised to find himself in second place going into the long programme at these continental championships.

“I think my opponents gave me a present,” he told a news conference, referring to stumbles by many of the leading skaters who may have attempted quads but could not pull them off.“I would do a quad but I can’t do it right now. We’ll see in a couple of days.”

Returning to a major event for the first time since being banned by the International Skating Union (ISU) for taking part in exhibitions without its permission, Plushenko said that without the jump he felt like he was skating in a bygone era.

“A programme without a quad was like a trip into the past.

Doing a programme without a quad is not my level, but I can’t do it right now,” the 2006 Olympic champion and three-times world champion told reporters. —Reuters

Parkinson’s, holding the torch aloft in his right hand for several breathtaking seconds before lighting the flame for the 1996 Atlanta Games? l Paralympic archer Antonio Rebollo fired a flaming arrow high into the night sky to ignite the flame at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. l Cathy Freeman - a powerful symbol of Australia’s Aboriginal people - did the honors at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Eleven nights later, she won the 400 meters, the only person to light the cauldron and win a gold medal at the same games. l Members of the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” U.S. Olympic ice hockey team lit the flame together at the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City. l Another Olympic great, nine-time long-distance running gold medalist Paavo Nurmi of Finland, lit one of the two cauldrons in Helsinki in 1952.

Symbolism has also been an important element over the years.

In 1976, two teenagers, a boy and a girl, representing English- and French-speaking Canada, were chosen to light the flame for the Montreal Games.

The final torchbearer at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics was Yoshinori Sakai, who was born on the day the atom bomb was dropped on his native Hiroshima in 1945.

The first woman to light the flame? Sprinter Norma Enriqueta Basilio de Sotelo at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics.

The youngest? Francois Cyril Grange, who was 7, when he joined French football great Michel Platini to ignite the cauldron at the 1992 Winter Games in Albertville.

More recently, Chinese gymnast Li Ning “ran”

around the top portion of the stadium while suspended by wires before lighting the flame in Beijing four years ago.

At the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games, two separate lightings were held - one at the indoor opening ceremony and a second outdoors.

Wayne Gretzky, Steve Nash, Nancy Greene and Catriona Le May Doan were torchbearers. And when the Olympics were held in London in 1948?

While many had expected that miler Sydney Wooderson or even the young Prince Phillip would be the final torchbearer, it was a littleknown 22-year-old medical student named John Mark who carried the flame.

“He was chosen to represent youth and vitality because of his good looks and had practiced for weeks running with his right arm held vertical,” said Janie Hampton, author of “The Austerity Olympics - When the Games Came to London in 1948.”

Now, 64 years later, Redgrave is the overwhelming betting favorite - 1-2 with Ladbrokes and 8-13 with William Hill.

Britain’s most decorated Olympian, Redgrave won gold medals at five consecutive games from 1984 to 2000 and was knighted by the queen in 2001.

“It’s hard to argue with Redgrave. He has been odds-on from day one,” Ladbrokes spokeswoman Jessica Bridge said.

Though he’s a household name in Britain, Redgrave may not resonate with an international audience. He’s also a low-key personality who is not known as Mr. Charisma. “I don’t think most Americans ever heard of him,” Wallechinsky said. —AP

Ashero, Mergia win Dubai Marathon

Ethiopia’s Aselefech Mergia Medessa

Ethiopia’s Ayele Abshero

DUBAI: Ayele Abshero of Ethiopia won the Dubai Marathon yesterday with the fourthfastest time ever in his first marathon, giving his country a morale-boosting victory over rival Kenya in an Olympic year.

The 21-year-old Abshero also set the course record of 2 hours, 4 minutes, 23 seconds. He moved up to the marathon after breaking the hour mark in a half marathon in The Hague last year.

Abshero surged to the front of a pack at the 34-kilometer (21-mile) mark and pulled away from his compatriot Dino Sefir Kemal at 39 kilometers (24 miles) to win the race by 27 seconds over Kemal. Markos Geneti was third, completing an Ethiopian sweep of the podium.

“I prepared very well for this marathon.

Even though this is my first marathon, I was confident I would perform well,” Abshero said. “By winning, I’m very happy. For the next marathon, this win will be a big motivation. ... If I can go to the Olympics, I will try and do something special.”

Abshero said it was “surprising” and “unbelievable” that his time was 30 seconds faster than the course record set by the great Haile Gebrselassie in 2008.

Abshero was among a group of 30 runners who jumped to the front early in the $1 million marathon that started in the shadows of the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building. The mostly flat route took runners along the Persian Gulf coast where the lead pack was reduced to nine and then four before finishing at the Burj Khalifa.

“I knew it would be a very hard race and very tactical race,” Abshero said. “At 38 kilometer (24 miles), there were four runners and at 42 kilometers (26 miles), I started to push. The other guys were dropping back and it was at that moment I knew I would win the race.”

Abshero’s victory was unexpected not only because of his inexperience but because of the number of top Kenyans entered in the race.

But the likes of five-time major winner Martin Lel of Kenya and the 2011 champion David Barmasai of Kenya couldn’t keep pace and dropped out of contention with about 10 kilometers (6 miles) to go.

The win, which returns Ethiopians to the top spot in Dubai following Gebrselassie’s hat trick of victories from 2008-2010, also puts a dent in the dominance of Kenyans who won every major marathon last year and would have been banking on gold in the upcoming Olympics in London.

In the women’s race, defending champion Aselefech Mergia made it an Ethiopian double as she held off Lucy Kabuu of Kenya by just three seconds, winning in 2:19:31. Kabuu, running her first marathon after being a force at 10,000 meters, briefly held the lead in the closing stages but Mergia passed her and held on for the victory.

Ethiopia’s Mare Dibaba was third, 21 seconds behind compatriot Mergia. “This is special day for me,” Mergia said. “Last year, I was first and then again this year. It brings me great happiness.”

A third-place finisher at the 2010 London Marathon, Mergia said she turned to her experience when it mattered to edge Kabuu.

“Lucy can run a fast half marathon but in this case I am the experienced marathon runner,” Mergia said. “I had the advantage.

The last few kilometers were very tough because there was big competition between us. But after 41 kilometers (26 miles), there was a gap between us and I knew that I was going to win the race.” —AP

SPORTS

SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012

Barcelona and CSKA close in on quarter-final spots BELGRADE: Former Euroleague winners Barcelona and CSKA Moscow reached the knockout stage of Europe’s premier club basketball competition with emphatic wins over their rivals.

Barcelona produced a good second-half performance to win 71-57 at Maccabi Tel Aviv on Thursday while CSKA stretched their perfect record this season to 12 wins with Wednesday’s 96-68 home rout of Anadolu Efes Istanbul. With the two teams tied at halftime, 2010 winners Barcelona outscored five-time Euroleague winners Maccabi 42-28 in the second half as Slovenian centre Erazem Lorbek scored nine of his 18 points in the final five minutes.

“Barcelona are a great team and while we matched them for three quarters, we were mentally tired in the final period because we couldn’t break them down,” Maccabi coach David Blat told

the competition’s website (www.euroleague.net).

“Now we have to focus on our next game with (Italian side Benet) Cantu because they will fight with us for the secound spot in the group,” said Blat, who steered Russia to the 2007 European championship in Spain.

CSKA also made it two wins out of two in the second group stage of the competition, with five of their players ending the match in double scoring digits.

Former Utah Jazz forward Andrei Kirilenko, one of a few players to stay in Europe after the July-December lockout in the NBA ended, led the way for the winners of six Euroleague titles with 15 points and eight rebounds. “I think it was one of our best games this season as we pointed out to the players how important it is to defend the perimeter and force the opposition to take difficult long-range shots,” said CSKA’s

Lithuanian coach Jonas Kazlauskas. His counterpart Ufuk Sarica added: “Obviously it’s not easy to play here, CSKA has a very good roster and that’s why they are unbeaten in the Euroleague this season.” In contrast to Barcelona, their fellow Spaniards and perennial rivals Real Madrid suffered a shock 88-69 defeat by Montepaschi Siena which put the Italians top in their group.

Russian upstarts Unics Kazan matched Siena’s achievement with an 89-83 success at holders Panathinaikos Athens thanks to a superb performance by American-born Bosnia forward Henry Domercant, the game’s top scorer with 21 points.

The top two teams from each of the four secondstage groups of four will advance to the best-of-five quarter-final series, and the winners of that will qualify for the May 11-13 Final Four in Istanbul. — Reuters

NBA results/standings Boston 91, Orlando 83; LA Clippers 98, Memphis 91.

Eastern Conference Atlantic Division W

L

PCT

GB

Philadelphia

12

6

.667

-

Boston

8

9

.471

3.5

NY Knicks

7

11

.389

5

New Jersey

6

13

.316

6.5

Toronto

6

13

.316

6.5

Central Division Chicago

16

4

.800

-

Indiana

12

5

.706

2.5

Milwaukee

7

10

.412

7.5

Cleveland

7

10

.412

7.5

4

15

.211

11.5

Detroit LOS ANGELES: Memphis Grizzlies small forward Rudy Gay (left) passes around Los Angeles Clippers forward Ryan Gomes during the second half of an NBA basketball game. — AP

Celtics end Magic spell ORLANDO: Paul Pierce had 24 points and 10 assists, and E’Twaun Moore added 16 points to help the Boston Celtics erase a 27point deficit and beat the Orlando Magic for the second time this week, 91-83 on Thursday night. Pierce and Moore had 10 points each in the fourth quarter.

Dwight Howard led the Magic with 16 points and 16 rebounds. Orlando had an 11-point lead entering the fourth quarter, but shot 2 of 17 in the final 12 minutes. The Magic scored just eight points in the period. The Celtics have won three straight for just the second time this season. It also was their fourth consecutive victory over the Magic, dating to last season.

Since a season-best, five-game winning streak, the Magic have lost three times in five games, including a 31-point defeat at Boston on Monday.

After being mostly manhandled on both ends for three quarters, Boston found its energy in the final 12 minutes, sparked by Pierce and Moore. The Celtics opened the fourth quarter with a 15-1 run and grabbed their first lead since the opening period, 7976 with 7:32 to play.

The Magic went 0-for-7 from the field, missed 5 of 6 free throws and committed

three turnovers during Boston’s spurt.

A free throw by Pierce after Ryan Anderson’s technical foul made it 84-78 with 3:47 remaining. The Magic got within 84-80 after a pair of free throws by Hedo Turkoglu, but no closer. Early on, it seemed like the Magic’s night.

In a reversal of its dismal performance in the first half of Monday’s loss, Orlando led 58-37 at halftime on Thursday - eclipsing its point total in the entire first game by a basket in the opening 24 minutes.

With three starters out, including center Jermaine O’Neal, Boston coach Doc Rivers was forced to start Kevin Garnett opposite Howard. The move worked out early.

Howard was whistled for two quick fouls - one while setting a screen, and the second defending Garnett about 15 feet from the basket. He was forced to the bench less than three minutes in.

The Magic picked it up on both ends without him, and closed the quarter on a 30-11 run to build a 16-point lead.

Anderson was active throughout the spurt and led with 12 first-quarter points. He also kept several possessions alive by tipping the ball out from scrums underneath the basket.

Meanwhile, Blake Griffin scored 20 points, Chris Paul added 18 points and seven assists in his second game back from injury, and the first-place Los Angeles Clippers hung on in the fourth quarter for a 98-91 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday night.

Mo Williams scored nine of his 18 points in the fourth quarter, and Griffin added nine rebounds and eight assists as the Clippers maintained a narrow lead throughout the final period. Caron Butler scored 17 points, and Paul also had seven rebounds while playing back-to-back games after missing the previous five with a strained left hamstring.

Rudy Gay scored 24 points for the Grizzlies, who have lost two straight following a seven-game winning streak. Marc Gasol added 18 points and 11 rebounds on Memphis’ third stop on a four-game West Coast trip. Gasol’s two free throws trimmed the Clippers’ lead to 91-89, but Butler hit a driving layup, and Paul made two free throws after a steal with 45 seconds left.

Although Griffin didn’t score in the fourth quarter, the Clippers scored seven consecutive points in the final minute to seal their third straight win over Memphis.—AP

Southeast Division Miami

13

5

.722

-

Atlanta

13

6

.684

0.5

Orlando

12

6

.667

1

Washington

3

15

.167

10

Charlotte

3

16

.158

10.5

Western Conference Northwest Division Oklahoma City

15

3

.833

-

Denver

13

5

.722

2

Utah

10

6

.625

4

Portland

11

8

.579

4.5

Minnesota

8

10

.444

7

Pacific Division LA Clippers

10

6

.625

-

LA Lakers

11

8

.579

0.5

Phoenix

6

11

.353

4.5

Golden State

6

11

.353

4.5

6

13

.316

5.5

Sacramento

Southwest Division San Antonio

12

7

.632

-

Dallas

11

8

.579

1

Memphis

10

8

.556

1.5

Houston

10

8

.556

1.5

New Orleans

3

15

.167

8.5

SPORTS

SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012

Australia on brink of series sweep ADELAIDE: Australia were on the brink of a crushing series sweep after reducing India to 166 for six in their pursuit of 500 runs for an unlikely victory at the close of play on the fourth day of the fourth Test yesterday.

The hosts declared at 167-5 shortly after lunch on another sweltering day at the Adelaide Oval and that tally, added to their 604-7 declared, put them 499 runs ahead of India’s first attempt of 272. Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and Virat Kohli all crumbled once again before the Australian attack to leave the tourists 333 runs behind with a full day remaining.

“The job’s not done yet,” said Australian spinner Nathan Lyon, who took 3-57. “We’ve got another four wickets to get and we’ll have to turn up tomorrow and be on our game and hopefully get these four wickets.”

Ishant Sharma, who came in as a nightwatchman and had scored two, and Wriddhiman Saha, yet to score, will resume on the final day of the match. “I thought before the game that the wicket looked a little flat and we thought we would bat pretty well,” said Indian spinner Ravi Ashwin, who seems to have had the role of team spokesman foisted upon him. “It’s a team game. If we have failed we have failed as a unit.”

Nothing the Indians have done so far in the

ADELAIDE: Australia’s Brad Haddin takes a ball as Rahul Dravid (right) looks on during their cricket Test match against India. — AP

series had suggested they can overhaul their target, especially as the test record for a successful fourth innings run chase is the 418 West Indies scored against Australia in Antigua in 2003. That impression was compounded when a brilliant diving catch from Brad Haddin off the bowling of Ryan Harris triggered Gautam Gambhir’s departure for three with just 14 runs on the scoreboard.

Sehwag, replacing the banned Mahendra Singh Dhoni as skipper for this test, made deeper inroads into the target with some fine, aggressive stroke-making in his 53-ball 62.

The 33-year-old’s contribution was undermined, however, by the manner of his dismissal, playing a schoolboy shot to a Lyon full toss and holing out to Ricky Ponting at cover.

That brought Tendulkar to the wicket for his 25th attempt to secure his 100th international century in a partnership of the two most prolific test batsmen of all time with Dravid.

Dravid lasted until after tea before departing for 25 when he drove at a Harris delivery and got a thick edge to Mike Hussey at gully - at least avoiding the ignominy of having been bowled for the seventh time in eight innings.

Tendulkar had made 13 off 34 balls when what is likely to be his last test innings in Australia came to an end after he attempted to fend off a Lyon delivery only for the ball to catch his glove and pad and land in Ed Cowan’s hands at short leg. Laxman, who has had a miserable series, had already been dropped by Ponting on 25 when he hit a Lyon delivery straight to Shaun Marsh at midwicket to end what could be his last test innings for 35.

Kohli, who had scored his first test century on Thursday, fell for 22 two overs from the end of the day when a direct hit from Ben Hilfenhaus ran him out. “Ben Hilfenhaus’s run out was pretty special and there’s a good feeling in the dressing room right now,” Lyon added.

Resuming in the morning sun on 50-3 after losing their top order on Thursday, Australia skipper Michael Clarke and Ponting, who both hit double centuries in their first knocks, combined for 71 runs before the skipper was caught behind off Umesh Yadav for 37. Ponting reached his 61st test half century soon afterwards with a single to the covers and Hussey angrily followed his captain back to the dressing room when he was adjudged lbw off a Sharma delivery for 15.

Ponting was 60 not out alongside Brad Haddin (11 not out) when Clarke decided the lead was big enough and waved the batsmen in just three overs after lunch. — Reuters

SCOREBOARD ADELAIDE: Scoreboard at the close of play on the fourth day of the fourth Test between Australia and India at the Adelaide Oval yesterday: Australia won the toss and elected to bat Australia first innings: 604-7 declared (R. Ponting 221, M. Clarke 210; R. Ashwin 3-194) India first innings: 272 (V. Kohli 116, P. Siddle 5-49, B. Hilfenhaus 3-62) Australia second innings (overnight 50-3) E. Cowan lbw Ashwin 10 D. Warner c & b Ashwin 28 S. Marsh lbw Zaheer 0 R. Ponting not out 60 M. Clarke c Saha b Yadav 37 M. Hussey lbw Sharma 15 B. Haddin not out 11 Extras: (lb-6) 6 Total: (for five wickets declared, 46 overs) 167 Fall of wickets: 1-39 2-40 3-40 4-111 5-147 Did not bat: P. Siddle, B. Hilfenhaus, R. Harris, N. Lyon.

Bowling: Zaheer 13-1-38-1, Ashwin 20-2-73-2, Sharma 8-0-27-1, Yadav 5-0-23-.

India second innings G. Gambhir c Haddin b Harris 3 V. Sehwag c Ponting b Lyon 62 R. Dravid c Hussey b Harris 25 S. Tendulkar c Cowan b Lyon 13 VVS Laxman c Marsh b Lyon 35 V. Kohli run out 22 I. Sharma not out 2 W. Saha not out 0 Extras: (lb-3, w-1) 4 Total: (for six wickets, 56 overs) 166 Fall of wickets: 1-14 2-80 3-100 4-110 5-162 6166 Still to bat: R. Ashwin, Z. Khan, U. Yadav.

Bowling (to date): Harris 14-4-25-2 (w-1), Hilfenhaus 9-2-33-0, Siddle 10-3-36-0, Lyon 193-57-2, Hussey 2-0-3-0, Clarke 2-0-9-0.

Australia lead the four-match series 3-0.

ABU DHABI: England’s Monty Panesar (third right) celebrates with his teammates Matt Prior (center) and James Anderson taking the wicket of Pakistan’s Misbah-ul-Haq, lbw’ during the third day of the second cricket Test match of a three match series. — AP

Pakistan fight hard as England chase win ABU DHABI: Pakistan were left with a battle to avoid conceding England a series-levelling win after Monty Panesar proved threatening with three wickets in the second Test here yesterday.

After Panesar had taken 3-44, it was left to Azhar Ali (46) and Asad Shafiq (35) to put on a 71-run stand for the fifth wicket to lift Pakistan to 125-4 at the close on the third day on a weary Abu Dhabi Stadium pitch. Ali joined Shafiq with Pakistan reeling at 54-4, as Panesar dismissed Mohammad Hafeez (22), Younis Khan (one) and Misbah-ul Haq (12) in his sustained 20-over spell on either side of the tea interval. But both youngsters helped Pakistan erase the 70-run lead and promised to steer their team around the trouble on a spinassisted pitch on Saturday. Pakistan lead by 55 runs with six wickets intact. Pakistan will look to their remaining batsmen to help produce a formidable target for England to maintain their chances in the series, which they lead by 1-0 on account of a ten-wicket win in the first Test at Dubai.

Stuart Broad gave England a crucial 70-run lead with an unbeaten 58 which took England to 327 in the morning session.

Both Ali and Shafiq defied England’s mixed pace and spin attack in the last session much to the delight of a near 5,000 holiday crowd. Ali has so far hit seven boundaries to Shafiq’s three.

As expected, Panesar came on to bowl as early as the sixth over and struck in his fourth when he spun across Hafeez’s bat to hit him on the knees, right in front of the stumps.

Panesar’s spin partner Graeme Swann made it 29-2 when he beat Umar’s forward push with a delivery that came straight with the arm. Umar made seven. It became 36-3 when Panesar spun one across Younis’s bat and hit the off-stump, and Pensar struck again in the second over after resumption, catching Misbah in front of the wicket for 12. The Pakistani skipper’s challenge against Australian umpire Bruce Oxenford’s decision proved unsuccessful. Ali said a 150-160 target would be fighting. “It was nice to build a partnership and if we take the target to 150 it would be great. I prayed that Shafiq didn’t lose his wicket when Kevin Pietersen failed to run him out,” said Ali of his partner’s survival on 26.

Broad said England were still in a “decent position”. “The first hour (on Saturday) will be crucial as after 19 overs we can take the second new ball,” Broad said. Earlier, Broad added an invaluable 41 for the seventh wicket with Ian Bell (29) and 36 for the ninth wicket with James Anderson (13) to boost England after they resumed at 207-5, 50 runs behind on Pakistan’s first innings total.

Pakistan fared poorly in the field as Matt Prior was dropped on two by Junaid Khan in just the second over of the day, while Bell was let off on nine by Abdul Rehman off his own bowling. But Prior’s lapse didn’t prove costly as a threatening Saeed Ajmal trapped him leg-before in his next over for three.—AFP

SCOREBOARD ABU DHABI: Scores at the close on the third day of the second Test between Pakistan and England at Abu Dhabi Stadium yesterday: Pakistan first innings : 257 all out (Misbah-ul-Haq 84, Asad Shafiq 58; S. Broad 4-47, G. Swann 3-52).

England 1st innings (overnight 207-5) A. Strauss c Shafiq b Hafeez 11 A. Cook lbw b Ajmal 94 J. Trott b Rehman 74 K. Pietersen c Hafeez b Ajmal 14 I. Bell lbw b Gul 29 E. Morgan c Hafeez b Ajmal 3 M. Prior lbw b Ajmal 3 S. Broad not out 58 G. Swann lbw b Rehman 15 J. Anderson b Hafeez 13 M. Panesar lbw b Hafeez 0 Extras: (b5, lb7, nb1) 13 Total: 327 Fall of wickets: 1-27 (Strauss), 2-166 (Trott), 3198 (Cook), 4-203 (Pietersen), 5-207 (Morgan), 6-227 (Prior), 7-268 (Bell), 8-291 (Swann), 9-327 (Anderson).

Bowling: Gul 13-1-53-1, Khan 8-0-33-0, Hafeez 22-4-54-3, Ajmal 40-6-108-4 (nb1), Rehman 29-9-67-2 Overs: 112 Pakistan 2nd innings Mohammad Hafeez lbw b Panesar 22 Taufiq Umar b Swann 7 Azhar Ali not out 46 Younis Khan b Panesar 1 Misbah-ul Haq lbw b Panesar 12 Asad Shafiq not out 35 Extras: (lb2) 2 Total: (for four wkts) 125 Fall of wickets: 1-29 (Hafeez), 2-29 (Umar), 3-36 (Younis), 4-54 (Misbah).

Bowling: Anderson 10-2-31-0, Broad 11-6-160, Panesar 25-13-44-3, Swann 15-4-32-1.

Overs: 61

SPORTS

SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012

Djokovic beats Murray in five-set thriller MELBOURNE: Defending champion Novak Djokovic saw off brave Andy Murray in five thrilling sets yesterday to reach the Australian Open final and stay on course for his third straight major title. In a marathon match of 4hr 50min, nudging the tournament record, the Serbian top seed stormed back from a set down to win 6-3, 3-6, 6-7 (4/7), 6-1, 75 and set up a final with Rafael Nadal tomorrow. “There’s not any words that can describe the feeling I have now,” Djokovic said. “Andy deserves the credit to come back into the match after 2-5 down. He was fighting, I was fighting.”

Djokovic, 24, now gets a shot at his third Australian Open title while Murray extends his quest for Britain’s first male grand slam title in 76 years.

But the Scot took pride in his turnaround from last year’s final, in which he was floored in straight sets by the Serb.

“Tonight’s match was important for many reasons,” he said. “Obviously I wanted to win first and foremost.

“But also after last year, the year that Novak’s had, I think there’s a very fine line between being number one in the world and being three or four. I think that gap, tonight I closed it.”

The rollercoaster match of long rallies, with 155 unforced errors and 18 service breaks, came down to a gripping fifth set in which Djokovic drew first blood, breaking in the sixth game to take a 4-2 lead. But the Scot refused to buckle, thrillingly breaking Djokovic as he served for the match at 5-3 and sending

the packed Rod Laver Arena crowd into a frenzy. Murray levelled at 5-5 with a service hold and then had three break points to move ahead, but he let the crucial opportunity slip through his fingers.

It left the Scot needing to hold serve to stay in the match but he slipped to 1540, and a forehand on the stretch into the net saw Djokovic over the line and into the final. “It was one of the best matches I’ve played, but emotionally and

mentally it was hard,” Djokovic said. “I felt like we were breaking each other’s serves easier than serving it out.” “I’m going to try to recover but obviously it’s going to be physical as well, so I need to do some push-ups tonight,” he added.

The start of the match gave no clue as to the drama to follow, with Djokovic breaking Murray twice to seal the first set and forcing an early break in the second as the Scot struggled to gain a foothold.

MELBOURNE: Serbia’s Novak Djokovic makes a backhand return to Britain’s Andy Murray during their semifinal at the Australian Open tennis championship. — AP

But in a statement of intent Murray, an Australian Open finalist in 2010 and 2011, produced a leaping overhead at the start of game four and stepped up a gear, levelling the set at 2-2.

It proved a turning point as the firedup Scot found his best form, holding easily and then breaking again before taking the second set. The British number one stayed in charge in a gruelling third set lasting 88 minutes, nearly the same as a football match, as he dictated the points with the Serb struggling to hold serve. Murray saved three set points on his serve and then dominated the tiebreak to move ahead. But just when the top seed looked in real trouble, there was a momentum shift, with Djokovic racing into a 4-0 lead in the fourth set with two breaks, taking it 6-1 to set up the dramatic decider.

The match lasted 4hr 50min, not far short of the longest ever played at the Australian Open, the 2009 semi-final between Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco, which lasted 5hr 14min.

Djokovic, who enjoyed one of the greatest seasons in tennis history in 2011, is bidding become just the fifth man to win three consecutive grand slam titles in the open era when he faces Nadal. “What can be a bigger challenge than playing against Rafael Nadal, one of the greatest players ever,” the Wimbledon and US Open champion said. “We’re great friends off the court and have lots of respect for each other.”—AFP

Earplugs ready, it’s the scream queen final MELBOURNE: On one side is the ‘haaah’, and on the other is the ‘aaagh’, and in between, a bit of tennis. Welcome to the Scream Queen final, where every shot will be heard around the world.

In a match-up dreaded by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka, two of the game’s most notorious shriekers, will contest the Australian Open trophy today.

Victoria Azarenka

The timing is unfortunate, coming just days after the WTA launched a crackdown on the unladylike grunting which has long been a source of debate and innuendo.

And stereo screaming from either side of the net may prove too much for the jocular Australian crowd, which joined in en masse with Azarenka’s distinctive exclamations during her late-night win over Casey Dellacqua.

Australia’s Channel Seven TV will be at hand with its Whoo!

Meter, which has already clocked Azarenka at 91.4 decibelsthe equivalent of a passing truck.

Headline writers have gone to town, with the Herald Sun calling the pair the “squeal deal” and Britain’s Independent saying they are vying to be crowned “princess of wails”.

Tennis website www.thetennisspace.com listed a compendium of descriptions, with highlights including “the mating call of a peacock”, “a balloon being deflated” or “a woman about to give birth to triplets”.

The Age’s Richard Hinds recalled Peter Ustinov’s famous quip about Monica Seles: “I would hate to be in the next room on her wedding night.” “The genesis of the tennis grunt is disputed,” wrote Hinds.

“Some say the grunt was invented in Nick Bollettieri’s tennis laboratory where, convinced a noisy expulsion would help a player hit the ball harder, the famed coach played soundtracks from pornographic movies near the test tubes in which his ‘Deci-belles’ were incubating.

“Others are adamant the shriek was secretly encouraged by the WTA Tour marketing department, which hoped to keep spectators awake during early-round matches.”

The WTA was concerned enough to take action, admitting that “some fans find it bothersome”. “Everyone who watches tennis knows grunting is a part of the game, and we are aware that some fans find it bothersome,” the body said. “We are currently in the process of exploring how to reduce excessive grunting, especially for younger players just starting out.”

Azarenka, 22, has greeted all the fuss with good humour,

Maria Sharapova patiently admitting that, yes, she will be well aware of Sharapova’s squeals today.

“Well, I’m not deaf. Of course I hear her. I’m sure she hears me. And about another 15,000 people hear us maybe even further away,” she said.

“I guess some people are just bored, you know. They created that machine that can measure it. So I mean, money well spent, huh?”

As for Sharapova, she stared it down with customary steel.

“No one important enough has told me to change or do something different,” said the Russian dismissively. —AFP

sports SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012

Preview

Caution pays off for I Coast, not Angola Burkina Faso eliminated

GABON: Ghana’s soccer players form a circle as their coach Goran Stevanovic (far left) talks during their training in Ngoni. Ghana will play their African Cup of Nations Group D soccer match against Mali today. —AP

Ghana tipped to defeat Mali FRANCEVILLE: The Africa Cup of Nations Group D will serve up a second west African derby when Ghana face Mali here today.

Mali edged past Guinea 1-0 in the first west African derby of the group on Tuesday, while the third such clash will be next week when Ghana battle another sub-regional rival Guinea.

Pre-tournament favourites Black Stars of Ghana will again be expected to beat Mali after they defeated Les Aigles home and away in the qualifying tournament for the 2010 World Cup, which also served as eliminator for the 2010 Nations Cup. “It’s difficult when you are one of the pre-tournament favourites,” admitted Ghana coach Goran Stevanovic. “We have already learnt that it is not easy to beat any team here.

We therefore have to be ready for Mali.”

However, Ghana, who are on $90,000-a-man if they win this competition, were far from convincing in their opening game against debutants Botswana and only had a lucky firsthalf goal by skipper John Mensah to thank for a slim win.

Mensah will miss this match on account of his sending off against Botswana, but will be available for selection in the final group game against Guinea if he recovers from a muscle problem he suffered in his team’s first game.

“It’s difficult to replace a player like Mensah but I have told the team that I would need all of them for this tournament and so I have 20 players who could replace him against Mali,” said Stevanovic.

Young centre back Jonathan Mensah, who was introduced after Mensah’s dismissal for a professional foul, will most likely play alongside another youngster John Boye in the heart of the Black Stars back four today.

Rennes defender Boye was so outstanding in his Nations Cup debut that he was picked as the best player for the Botswana match. He did not show any nerves and he even saved a goal-bound effort on the goal line.

There have been some concerns as regards the fitness of star striker Asamoah Gyan, who limped out of training Thursday with a suspected ankle complaint.

It will be a heavy body blow for Ghana should Gyan fail to recover for this match as the Black Stars are thin on strikers for this tournament.

Mali also had to defend with their lives a first-half goal by Bakaye Traore to turn away Guinea in the other Group D match on Tuesday.

Barcelona midfielder Seydou Keita has assumed bigger responsibilities in the absence of top Mali stars like Mahamadou Diarra, Momo Sissoko and Frederic Kanoute, who has quit international football.

Keita said Mali are driven to win again against the highlyrated Ghanaians. “Ghana remain the favourites in our group, but the Black Stars are not unbeatable,” maintained Keita, who was very emotional after a hard-fought win over next door neighbors Guinea.

“The objective is to play to our potentials and get a positive result today.” He added: “We have not achieved anything yet and in football, things can happen so fast and so our second game against Ghana will be a lot more decisive.” —AFP

MALABO: Ivory Coast’s safety first approach paid off as they reached the African Nations Cup quarter-finals on Thursday but similar tactics backfired for Angola in a 2-2 draw with Sudan, who had not scored at the tournament for the previous 36 years.

The Ivorians, apparently traumatised by their dramatic quarter-final exit at the hands of Algeria two years ago, managed a flattering 2-0 win over Burkina Faso on a steamy evening for their second straight win of the tournament.

Angola crawled back into their shell immediately after taking a 2-1 lead over Sudan early in the second half and had two players booked for time-wasting before their opponents deservedly equalised.

Despite this, coach Lito Vidigal was awarded the game’s fair play trophy although it was not explained why.

Angola, with four points from two games, need a draw against the Ivorians on Monday to qualify but if they lose, Sudan could overhaul them with a win against Burkina, who have no points and are eliminated.

Burkina’s fiery coach Paulo Duarte went out with a bang as he lambasted his federation over the failure to obtain clearance for three naturalised players.

“We lost three players just before the start because we didn’t manage to get them qualified,” said the fiery Portuguese, often known as the African Mourinho.

“That just can’t be allowed to happen, it’s unthinkable... it’s primitive.”

“On the field we play quality football, off the field there are successive errors. I haven’t decided if I will continue yet.

That option is open to me but I’ll have to think about it.”

The Ivorians were the second team to reach the last eight after co-hosts Equatorial Guinea, who triggered wild celebrations with a shock 2-1 win over Senegal in Bata on Wednesday night.

Gabon, the other co-hosts, could go through on Friday if they beat Morocco

and Tunisia take a point against Niger in a Group C double bill in Libreville.

Ivory Coast, who survived a penalty appeal early on when Jonathan Pitroipa was tripped, went ahead in the 16th minute against Burkina when two defenders failed to cut out a cross and Salomon Kalou fired home.

They sat on their lead, survived a few

ahead, with the second goal coming from the penalty spot, but Ahmed Bashir replied each time for the Sudanese.

Manucho dispossessed a defender to fire home Angola’s first in the fifth minute before Bashir headed Sudan level just after the half hour.

It was Sudan’s first goal at the tourna-

MALABO: Angola’s Mateus (left) is challenged by Sudan’s Yousef Alaeldin (center) and captain Haitham Mustafa during their African Cup of Nations Group B match. —AP scares and made the game safe thanks to a bizarre own goal by Bakary Kone, who sent a backwards header over stranded goalkeeper Daouda Diakite following an Ivorian free kick into the area.

“For the second game in a row, we haven’t conceded a goal,” said the Ivorians’ coach Francois Zahouis, clearly outlining his priorities.

In the first game of the double bill at the picturesque Estadio Nuevo de Malabo, Manucho twice put Angola

ment after they scored against Zaire in 1976. Since then, they have only qualified once, in 2008, when they lost all three games 3-0.

Angola regained the lead with a Manucho penalty three minutes after halftime, his third goal of the tournament.

But Bashir hooked in the equaliser in the 73rd minute for Sudan, whose entire squad consists of home-based players. —Reuters

Preview

Guinea, Botswana hope to kick start campaign FRANCEVILLE: Guinea and Botswana will be pressed to win today after both teams lost their opening Africa Cup of Nations Group D matches.

A win for either team will revive their hopes, which suffered a setback after opening day losses respectitvely to Mali and Ghana. “We have to fight to win against Botswana,” said Guinea coach Michel Dussuyer, who lost his 82-year-old father about the time his team were losing to Mali Tuesday night.

“Botswana are a difficult team to play against, they close down the space and defend very well. I watched their games against Tunisia and Chad on video. They defend very well and counter attack.

“It may have been very disappointing to lose our first game, but I’m proud of the performance of the team. All the same, we cannot sit on that, we have to improve.

“We are working for the future and so have several young players, who are only having their first experience at this tournament but I still expect us to do better against Botswana.” Guinea’s experienced campaigner Bobo Balde also agreed today’s match will not be a walkover for his team. “We have watched their tapes and also know that even though they are only making their debut at this tournament, they made things very difficult for a team like Ghana,” said the towering central defender. “But we believe in ourselves and

we want to win this game.” Besides a strong showing especially in the second half, The Zebras from Botswana will be boosted by the return of skipper Diphetogo Selolwane, who missed the Ghana clash due to suspension.

‘Dipsy’ from top South African club Supersport United is one of the most experienced Botswana players, whose foreign destinations have included a sojourn in the United States. He said he expects a tougher match against Guinea than what they faced when up against Ghana. “We played Guinea before home and away and they beat us, they are good footballers, who play good football and they play a different style from Ghana,” said Dipsy. —AFP

SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012

Sports

Djokovic beats Murray in five-set thriller

46

Tunisia see off lively Niger

LIBREVILLE: Tunisia’s Karim Haggui (right) tackles Niger’s Maazou Moussa Ouwo during their African Cup of Nations Group C soccer match. —AP

LIBREVILLE: Tunisia all but sealed a place in the Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals with a last gasp 2-1 win over debutants Niger here yesterday.

An entertaining encounter was heading for a 1-1 draw until substitute Issam Jemaa bagged the 2004 titleholders the points in the final minute.

For Niger it meant heartache as they had come so close to creating history with their first ever point in the competition. The win pushed Tunisia on to six points and left Niger footing Group C with Morocco, who are in action against Gabon later.

Tunisia coach Sami Trabelsi rewarded Youssef Msakni, who came off the bench to score the second goal in their opening game against Morocco, with a starting place.

Niger made five alterations from the team swept aside by Gabon, with defender Kofi Dankwae returning from suspension. The kick off was given against the backdrop of row upon row of empty seats at the L’Amitie stadium, with the plat du jour for the locals - co-hosts Gabon v Morocco — coming later.

Niger started brightly, with the game only seconds old when Maazou Moussa Ouwo latched onto a long ball and charged at the Tunisians goal only

for Aymen Mathlouthi to come running out to extinguish any danger.

In the third minute Tunisia took the lead, when Aymen Abdennour found Msakni who deftly rounded several defenders to shoot across the box and into the far corner. Five minutes later William Tonji Ngounou created history with debutant Niger’s first ever Cup goal.

Mathlouthi came off his line to try and catch a high ball, he missed it completely and Ngounou grabbed his opportunity, diving to head into an empty net.

The Niger players ran over to the bench to celebrate the kodak moment with ‘coach’ Harouna Doula and ‘consultant’ Rolland Courbis, although the Frenchman had taken overall command for this match, patrolling the touchline as Douna sat impassively in the dug out.

After the quarter hour the lively Maazou had the small band of Niger fans behind the Tunisia net dreaming of a second goal only for his shot from the right to go over the crossbar.

Another dazzling run by Maazou with Tunisia captain Karim Haggui struggling to keep tabs on him on 30 minutes should have put Niger in front

but the Belgian-based striker’s angled shot from the left went wide.

Shortly after he found Issoufou Boubacar on the edge of the area but the Phuket midfielder’s leftfooted shot clipped the near post.

Niger then had legitimate penalty claims when Haggui appeared to bring down Maazou with his arm, but Zambian referee Janny Sikazwe disagreed.

Niger, the moral winners of the opening period, held an impromptu prayer session in the middle of the pitch before heading of for their half-time prep talk presumably delivered by Courbis.

Trabelis brought on Auxerre striker Issam Jemaa for Chermiti at the restart, and then put on Oussama Darragi for Zouhaier Dhaouadi.

Kassaly Daouda was providing a reassuring presence in goal for Niger, coping comfortably as Msakni and Jemaa pressed for the winner.

Niger too had pretensions to take all the points, with Courbis swopping midfielder Tonji for striker Daouda Kamilou but the deadlock remained wiith a draw a fair result after an entertaining tie.

But Jemaa had the last word, to send Tunisia marching on and Niger needing miracles to prolong their stay in central West Africa. —AFP

Matches on TV (Local Timings) African Nations Cup Botswana v Guinea 19:00 Aljazeera Sport +9 Aljazeera Sport 2 HD Ghana v Mali Aljazeera Sport +9 Aljazeera Sport 2 HD

22:00

Spanish League Real Madrid v Zaragoza 22:00 Aljazeera Sport +2 Playing Sunday Villarreal v Barcelona Aljazeera Sport +2

0:00

Italian League Juventus v Udinese 22:45 Aljazeera Sport 1 HD