29 Dec 2011

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2011

Israel plans tourism centre, homes in east Jerusalem

SAFAR 4, 1433 AH

Monitors see ‘nothing frightening’ in Homs

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Iran boasts ‘really easy’ to close Hormuz Strait US warns it won’t allow any disruption

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Miami Heat stagger home against Boston Celtics

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Can foreign tourists help US economy?

www.kuwaittimes.net

Interior forms teams to fight vote-buying Candidates reach 300

By B Izzak KUWAIT: The interior minister yesterday made an unprecedented decision by forming special teams with the participation of members of non-governmental organizations to combat vote-buying ahead of the forthcoming general elections. Sheikh Ahmad Al-Humoud Al-Sabah, who is also defense minister, formed five teams, one in each electoral constituency, consisting of the head of the police station in the concerned areas in addition to members from the Kuwait Transparency Society, Kuwait Lawyers Association and Kuwait Journalists Association.

The decision comes amid allegations of rampant vote-buying in all the constituencies and accusations that “political money” was being used in a massive way to influence the outcome of the Feb 2 elections. The move comes a day after Kuwait Transparency Society announced a reward of KD 5,000 for those who inform about any vote-buying case in all the constituencies, and urged the Continued on Page 13

HORMUZ: An Iranian army soldier stands guard on a military speedboat passing by a submarine during the ‘Velayat-90’ navy exercises in the Sea of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz yesterday. — AFP

Snow, tears mark Kim funeral SEOUL: Tens of thousands of weeping North Koreans bade farewell yesterday to longtime leader Kim Jong-Il as his young son and successor walked beside his father’s coffin through a snowbound Pyongyang.

Kim Jong-Un was at the forefront of the three-hour procession, in what analysts said was an attempt to bolster the image of the untested new

leader of the impoverished but nuclear-armed nation. The cortege started and ended its 40 km journey at the Kumsusan Memorial Palace, where the late strongman’s body had lain in state in a glass coffin.

Preceded by a car bearing a huge portrait of a smiling Kim and other vehicles, a limousine carried Kim’s coffin - draped with a red ruling par-

PYONGYANG: Kim Jong-Un (center front) walks beside the hearse carrying the body of his father and late North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il yesterday. — AP

ty flag and surrounded by white flowers - on its roof. Jong-Un, dressed in black and gloveless despite the cold, held the side of his father’s hearse, accompanied by his influential uncle Jang Song-Thaek and other officials. “We have paraded here to bid farewell to our respected supreme commander,” the head of a military honour guard said in a tearful voice, before a 21gun salute was fired at the end of the ceremony.

Goose-stepping soldiers carrying dozens of party and military flags marched in salute to Jong-Un and senior officials. Kim Jong-Il’s absolute 17-year rule was marked by a 1990s famine that killed hundreds of thousands, a crumbling state-directed economy and the pursuit of missiles and nuclear weapons which brought international sanctions. UN agencies have said six million people - a quarter of the population - still urgently need food aid.

But vast crowds of shivering soldiers and civilians, many weeping bitterly or beating the frozen ground, were seen on state Continued on Page 13

Mubarak returns to court CAIRO: The murder trial of Egypt’s former president Hosni Mubarak resumed yesterday after a threemonth hiatus that saw the ousted strongman’s fate eclipsed by deadly clashes and an Islamist election victory. Mubarak risks the death sentence if he is found to have been complicit in the killings of some 850 people who died during protests that overthrew him in February. The ailing former president, 83, arrived by ambulance at the Police Academy - which once bore his name - and was wheeled out by stretcher into the courthouse.

Around 5,000 policemen were deployed to secure the trial at the academy on the outskirts of Cairo, in coordination with the army. Mubarak’s two sons Alaa and Gamal, his former interior minister Habib Al-Adly and six former security chiefs, defendants in the same case, were also in court. Judge Ahmed Refaat heard statements from lawyers for both sides, before adjourning the hearing to Jan 2, an AFP correspondent said.

Outside the courthouse, several pro-Mubarak supporters held banners of the former president, while families of the victims who died in protests carried pictures of their deceased relatives. “The trial is a sham and the gang still rules,” the families chanted.

“We removed Mubarak, we got Hussein. To hell with both of them,” they shouted in reference to Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, Mubarak’s longtime defence minister who is now running the country.

Continued on Page 13

CAIRO: An elderly Egyptian woman holds a placard with ousted president Hosni Mubarak’s portrait yesterday. — AP

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TEHRAN: Iran would find it “really easy” to close the world’s most important oil transit channel, the Strait of Hormuz at the Gulf’s entrance, but would not do so right now, Iran’s navy chief said yesterday. “Shutting the strait for Iran’s armed forces is really easy - or as we say (in Iran) easier than drinking a glass of water,” Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said in an interview with Iran’s Press TV. “But today, we don’t need (to shut) the strait because we have the Sea of Oman under control, and can control the transit,” he said.

The United States warned Iran against any attempt to disrupt shipping. “Anyone who threatens to disrupt freedom of navigation in an international strait is clearly outside the community of nations; any disruption will not be tolerated,” the Bahrain-based US Fifth Fleet said in an email. A spokesperson for the fleet said that it “maintains a robust presence in the region to deter or counter destabilising activities”, without providing further details. “Interference with the transit... of vessels through the Strait of Hormuz will not be tolerated,” added Pentagon press secretary George Little.

Sayyari was speaking a day after Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi threatened to close the strait if the West imposed more sanctions on Iran, and as its navy held war games in international waters to the east of the channel. World prices briefly climbed after Rahimi warned on Tuesday that “not a drop of oil will pass through the Strait of Hormuz” if the West broadened sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program. “The enemies will only drop their plots when we put them back in their place,” the official news agency IRNA quoted Rahimi as saying.

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2011

Years

LOCAL

Abdullah Al-Otaibi

Aisha Al-Asousi

Nasser Al-Randi

Meshal Al-Asfour

Candidates criticize ‘blue-blooded’ MPs Two women among 29 register on 8th day

By A. Saleh KUWAIT: Two women were among the 29 candidates who registered on the eighth day, joining an increasing number of Parliamentary candidates running for the upcoming elections. The total number of candidates is now 305, after the withdrawal of five.

Former MP Saad Al-Khanfour, speaking to reporters after registering as a fourth constituency candidate, praised the decision by HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah AlAhmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, to dissolve Parliament. He also commended the decision by the Cabinet to involve the Transparency Society in monitoring the elections.

“Voters are now well aware and will make the right choices,” he stressed.

Abdullah Fahad Al-Enezi, a fourth constituency candidate, said that the youth movement is a blessed one and hopes that it will continue without being ‘abducted’ by any party.

“The youths managed to oust the bribed Parliament and I hope the Government will compromise with their rightful demands”, he said.

Turgi Soud, winner of the Al-Mutairi tribe by-elections in the same constituency, said that he is keen on serving the public and working for the best of Kuwait.

He also promised to fight what he described as the corrupt media that “has torn society apart.” He called for reconsidering the five electoral constituency system.

Soud also condemned the storming of Parliament, and stressed that those who gathered outside in Irada Square escalated the event into a break in.

“However, the whole thing is being investigated by the Public Prosecutor ” he said, calling on the

Abdullah Al-Enezi

‘Use of force is not a solution’ KUWAIT: Former MP Dr Jamaan Al-Harbash, a candidate from the second constituency, demanded that no violence be used against protesting bedoons (stateless residents).

Al-Harbash emphasized that the use of force will not solve problems, on the contrary it will add fuel to the fire. He called upon the Minister of Interior to deal wisely with this problem, saying that bribes have spoiled Kuwait’s international reputation. He said it has led to the Constitution being disrespected and MPs and citizens being beaten, as mentioned in the Washington Post daily. The storming of the National Assembly hall was considered by the paper as a political matter. He added that these activities have created a new equation in Kuwait, saying that strengthening ministers and the Prime Minister himself with political money has resulted in a complete collapse. No other Prime Minister will come and use same methods again, he said. —Al-Anbaa

Government to work on solving the stateless residents (bedoon) issue. He condemned demonstrations by stateless residents or anyone else.

Sabah Al-Ali, a second constituency candidate, severely criticized “blue-blooded” MPs saying that their sole interest is making money. “An MP who was born with a golden spoon in his mouth is one of those who think all people are their slaves”, he said.

Former MP Jamal Al-Omar, a third constituency can-

50 per cent of the elected Parliament will be new faces.

Yousif Abdul Rasoul Abbas, a first constituency candidate, stressed that he had decided to run for the elections upon the advice of HH the Amir to make the best choices.

“That ‘s why I decided to run for elections, to voice the problems of youth as I am one of them,” he said, calling for more inter-power cooperation for the sake of continuing the development plan. “The Cabinet did not

Mahmoud Al-Shamma

Fadel Khourshid

didate, stressed the need for both the Government and Parliament to cooperate to end the current political tension. He also said that violations during election season involves more than the use of political money.

“Some mosques are being used to support certain candidates and millions are being spent on the media to defame opponents,” he stated, speculating that over

get an adequate chance to run development projects ...something is missing,” he pointed out.

Majed Moussa, winner of the Mutran tribe by-elections and a fourth constituency candidate, said that the 2009 Parliament managed to get rid of 50 per cent of the corruption and that the people will eradicate the remaining portion by making good choices in selecting

representatives for the coming Parliament. He also urged the Cabinet of the Prime Minister, Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak, to learn the lesson from the previous Cabinet and avoid the same fate. Moussa refused to comment on the storming of Parliament, and also refused to describe tribal elections as by or primary elections. “It is mere consultation,” he claimed.

Moussa, who is a former Municipal Council member, condemned former female MPs. Meshal Abdullah Al-Asfour, a third constituency candidate, stressed that the Constitution has been violated several times in the fourth and fifth constituencies without any action from the so-called protectors of the Constitution. “Such people, who have been buying votes as well, should not make their way to the Parliament,” he stressed. Mahmoud Al-Shamma, a first constituency candidate, stressed that he was running to serve the public. He condemned vote buying and what he described as “election bribes” noting that they have been increasing lately.

Majed Zayed Al-Enezi, standing in the fifth constituency, stressed that it was youths who forced the removal of Parliament and the Cabinet resignation and that they ought to lead the coming era.

Nawal Al-Bakheit, a third constituency candidate, stressed that administrative corruption was becoming too serious and needs immediate action.

“Some senior officials do not deserve their positions and such mistakes need to be solved without any favoritism” she said, calling for commemorating Kuwait’s martyrs and fighting westernization. She also called for building new theatres and taking care of Kuwaiti artists.

Jamal Al-Omar

Jaber Al-Saad

Khaled Al-Ghanim

KD5,000 reward for reporting vote buyers KUWAIT: A local organization assigned to monitor the 2012 elections has proposed that the state sets up a KD5,000 reward to every citizen who reports someone who works as a broker for vote buying.

“The reward might encourage voters to report people who approach them to purchase their votes,” said Saleh Al-Ghazali, head of the Kuwait Transparency Society (KTS). He urged the Cabinet to adopt his proposal during a recent press conference.

The KTS is assigned to oversee illegal practices that occur during the upcoming elections. These include tribal primary elections which, according to reports, have already been held during the past few days by several tribes in the fourth and fifth constituencies. The Ministry of Interior has announced that these cases have

been filed and sent to the Public Prosecution with solid evidence for further action. In the first constituency, voters are reportedly awaiting the decision of former MP Dr. Yousuf AlZalzalah who told Al-Rai on Tuesday that he will make an announcement within a couple of days. His decision, speculated to be taken during the final day of registration on Friday, is anticipated by the Shiite community in the first constituency. The other remaining top Shiite candidate in the constituency, Hassan Jowhar, registered to run for elections on Tuesday.

Nomination of former MPs Jowhar and Al-Zalzalah is considered pivotal to determining the shape of the voting process within the Shiite community, as well as mechanisms of drawing alliances among Shiite candidates.

The large base of support that the

two former MPs have also includes voters of other social categories. The National Islamic Alliance (NIA) has already nominated members Adnan Al-Abdulsamad and Ahmad Lary to run for elections. Sources close to the Shiite political group indicate that it requested candidates Ali Jamaal and Mahmoud Al-Mousawi, who both are close to the NIA, to run for elections.

In the meantime, third constituency candidate and former MP Dr. Aseel AlAwadhi said in a statement that up to 50 percent of Kuwaiti voters could abstain from taking part in the 2012 elections “given public frustration from ongoing strife between the legislative and executive authorities during the past two years”. The National Action Bloc member indicated that this situation is likely to hurt the chances of some candidates. — Al-Rai

Shrimp fishing ban starts Jan 1 KUWAIT: Fishing for shrimp in Kuwaiti waters will be banned starting Jan 1, 2012 until the first week of September, stated an official statement released by the Public Authority for Agricultural Affairs and Fish Resources (PAAAFR).

Jassem Al-Badr, PAAAFR Chairman, signed the statement stating that importing fresh and

frozen shrimp during the ban period is only permissible through the authority. It also added that coordination with the Coastguard General Department is in place to detect any violations committed during the ban period.

The ban is being implemented in a bid to protect shrimp from overfishing, in the hope that eight months are enough to help the

marine species reproduce. Kuwait imposed a similar ban in 2011, which also lasted from January to September.

There was speculation earlier this year that the PAAAFR would impose a two-year ban on fishing for shrimp, highly popular in Kuwaiti cuisine, in order to pres e r ve i t s n u m b e r s i n l o c a l waters. — Al-Rai

News

in brief

Nursery school applications KUWAIT: Iqbal Al-Rumaidhain, Director of the Administration for Women and Childhood, said applications to register nursery schools are available from the beginning of next month. She said the new instructions are from Mohammad AlKandari, Undersecretary at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor. Registration has been suspended for the past three months. The decision for nursery schools to renew their licenses annually has been amended to renewal every two years, to give nursery owners a chance to work. The administration intends more effective inspections, she added.

Steps to lift ban on meat import KUWAIT: The latest measures taken by the Municipality were discussed in a meeting convened on Dec 20, said Mohammad Al-Otaibi Head of Food Safety Department at the Municipality. It instructed the representative of Commerce and Industry Ministry to take follow up action lifting the ban on importing poultry and eggs from the United States, beef from France, Germany and Holland, if certificates are obtained from the country of origin stating that the meat is free of mad cow disease, in addition to lifting the ban on importing poultry and eggs from Iran.

Saleh selects Abu Dhabi KUWAIT: Yemeni President, Ali Abdallah Saleh, has selected Abu Dhabi for his voluntary exile after he completes his medical treatment in the US. Informed diplomatic sources said President Ali Saleh selected Abu Dhabi for permanent exile.

Sources said that his family members, including grandchildren, amount to nearly 50 persons. Abu Dhabi authorities have approved their names. A ship has transferred their belongings to Abu Dhabi, where palaces have been prepared for their stay.

Residents to enjoy sober New Year’s celebrations

By Nawara Fattahova KUWAIT: Celebrating New Year’s eve has evolved into a universal tradition. Some people relax at home watching TV, with hundreds of satellite channels broadcasting New Year’s celebrations held around the world. Others take part in revelries held outdoors.

Enjoying a meal at a restaurant may turn into an expensive affair, with popular restaurants being reserved in advance. The prices charged range between KD 15 to 200 per person.

Music concerts were held in Kuwait in the past. Recently, thanks to some

Islamic MPs interference, the Ministry of Information does not issue licenses to hold concerts easily. Staging live music concerts on New Year’s eve has been banned, making the country an unattractive destination for Arab or international singers. So far, only one concert has been announced and the ticket prices are between KD 60 and 150.

Many opt to travel abroad. “I decided to go to Dubai to celebrate the New Year.

I will stay with my sister and her family. If I stay back here I will spend more (money) outdoors than the amount on the airfare. I don’t have a family here. I’d rather spend this night with my family,” said

Ibtisam, a 29-year-old expat. Pitching camps in the desert is another way to enjoy a New Year’s bash, “About 40 members of my family will be in the camp we setup last month. The camp consists of five tents. We will gather there and celebrate with a fireworks display. We have created a volleyball playground, video games, T V, playing cards and others games. We also have two ATVs for driving around during day time only,” noted Homoud, a 25-year-old citizen.

However, not everyone’s plans have materialized. “I was first planning to travel somewhere but I was short of cash and I’m working on Jan 1. My friends are fac-

ing a similar situation. We will have to stay in Kuwait. I will attend a private party with a group of friends. I know who I’m hanging out with but don’t know where we’re going. I received many invitations to attend parties. We will decide on it later,” said 27-year-old Natalie.

“I will celebrate at home. I will host a party at home and have invited some of my friends. We will enjoy good food and music. I do this every year. It’s good to share precious time with friends. It’s more expensive to go out and celebrate.

I also have a family. So it’s better to stay at home,” stressed Peter, a 40-year-old expat.

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local

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2011

KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah receiving Central Bank Governor Sheikh Salem Abdulaziz Al-Saud Al-Sabah at Bayan Palace yesterday.

Sharp increase in taxi fares around Kuwait Operators deny charging unlawful charges

By Ben Garcia KUWAIT: Although means of transport are always affected by the fluctuation of oil prices in the global market, in an oil producing country like Kuwait, this is not always the case. Of late, taxi fares have skyrocketed — a new development that has not gone down well with many passengers. In a country where two-thirds of the population are expatriates employed in various fields, almost half of them fall into low-income category, therefore failing to obtain a driving license.

Many rely on public transportation, and a taxi is one such mode of transport. Predictably, sudden fare hikes have affected too many households.

Regular taxi users complain of unusually high rates charged by taxis plying

Salmiya, Farwaniya, Hawally to Kuwait City routes. Many passengers have reported the steep rise, especially during public holidays. According to some, local authorities and taxi service operators are not even aware that high fares are elicited from passengers. “I take taxi to get to work almost every day. I have noticed that higher rates are charged during holidays,” a regular taxi-passenger told Kuwait Times. “During Eid and Christmas, taxi drivers increase rates by half a dinar for a trip from Kuwait City to Salmiya,” the passenger explained, attributing it to what drivers call ‘heavy traffic.’

“Simply because I want to go home and take rest, I have to pay a high fare,” she said, questioning if operators are familiar with drivers’ whims.

“Maybe the drivers just want to earn

KUWAIT: A taxi drops off a passenger in downtown Kuwait.

— Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat

extra money. It is not fair,” she argued.

Taxi operators, however, are quick to dismiss such allegations. “There has been no unlawful hike. The rates have remained the same for so many years.

We only charge passengers KD 1.250 fils for a Salmiya to Kuwait City trip from six am until midnight. The fare charged to ply the same route after midnight is KD 1.5,” a taxi operator said. “We cannot increase fares unless a collective decision is taken by all taxi operators in Kuwait or if the government agrees to it,” he said.

Passengers feel trapped when drivers refuse to operate meters. A passenger recollects arguing with a taxi driver for not using a meter. “I remember hiring a cab to go from Salmiya to Maidan Hawally. I bargained with him to pay a KD 1 fare. I was happy at that time, but when reached home and asked the taxi driver to use the meter, he refused. When he eventually realized that I was serious, he complied and I was charged 450 fils only! I paid him 500 fils for the ride.”

There are two types of public taxis plying the streets in Kuwait: call taxi [white] and the roaming [orange and white colored taxi]. The call taxi picks up and drops passengers by request.

The roaming taxi picks up passengers along the highway or any street. The roaming taxi charges a minimum of 150 fils while the call taxi charges 250 fils, and an additional 50 fils per kilometer covered.

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2011

LOCAL kuwait digest

in my view

Expressing opinion is not accusation

Banning hubbly bubbly smoking

By Abdullatif Al-Duaij he Ministry of Interior recently requested the Ministry of Commerce to suspend the Twitter accounts of unidentified individuals who have been charged with several offenses. Those who operated the accounts overtly will not face libel charges.

First of all, I believe that the Public Prosecution Department exercises the sole authority to forward such a request. The Ministry of Interior does not have the right to monitor or inspect the identity of users of social networking websites. They serve as an ideal platform to express political opinions to be shared freely by any person.

Aside from this, it’s important to indicate that anonymous accounts or accusations made by unknown individuals should not be a cause of concern for skilled

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It’s important to indicate that anonymous accounts or accusations made by unknown individuals should not be a cause of concern for skilled politicians who are confident in their approach. I realized that most people here take pride in being insulted by smear campaigns. If that’s the case, what’s the need to go as far as to demand that state authorities shut down an account on a social network because it was used by someone who could be a little child! politicians who are confident in their approach. I realized that most people here take pride in being insulted by smear campaigns. If that’s the case, what’s the need to go as far as to demand that state authorities shut down an account on a social network because it was used by someone who could be a little child!

I believe we need to reconsider the way we assess our values and find a new definition for the word ‘defamation’ from a legal standpoint. If we say that freedom of expression is respected in Kuwait, that means that everyone should have the right to express their opinion. If I believe that someone is a liar, ignorant, it’s my constitutional right to express an opinion about the said person publically - regardless of social values or traditions. It’s even more important for me to practice this right when the person I am criticizing is someone whose job is to legislate rules that determine the way I live.

Opinions and accusations are entirely different. When I say that someone is a thief, that’s my opinion. When I mention an incident by which I accuse someone of stealing, then that would be an accusation that needs to be supported with evidence. Unfortunately, legal actions in Kuwait do not differentiate between these two aspects.

We find people prosecuted for saying that someone is ignorant, backward!.—Al-Qabas

kuwait digest

Centennial of tolerance

By Waleed Al-Rujaib uwait is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the establishment of Mubarakiya School, the first school established in the country. This means Kuwait is celebrating a century since it became the first country in the Gulf region to adopt modern education.

Education itself was not the main factor that framed the tolerant and open minded Kuwaiti personality. In fact, it was the openness to other cultures that shaped the open minded and tolerant Kuwaiti ideology that naturally sought to adopt education in a relatively early period in the history of Kuwait.

Talking about tolerance usually leads us to religious tolerance. Hereby emerges the aspect of Muslims sending Christmas greetings to Christians in Kuwait during this time of the year. Recently, Al-Azhar in Egypt issued a religious edict (Fatwa in Arabic) rendering this practice permissible, as opposed to other fatwas issued in Kuwait which deemed it prohibited. In reality, this attitude has not always been seen during the history of Kuwait. It actually differs from the general attitude decades ago.

In the early decades of the past century top religious scholars in Kuwait, including Sheikh Abdullah Al-Nouri and Sheikh Ahmad Al-Athari, would visit the only church in Kuwait at Christmas to greet Christians on this occasion. This story is one of many documented in Kuwait’s history. It reflects Kuwait’s tolerant nature throughout history. There are other stories about religious scholars, as well as members of the Al-Sabah ruling family, contributing to sermons held by Shiites in Kuwait during Ashura. This bright aspect of Kuwaiti society has since been overshadowed by religious and sectarian fundamentalism. New conditions and rules included one that automatically disqualifies a Christian from applying for Kuwaiti citizenship. Education alone does not create tolerance and openness in the society.

Today there are schools, institutes and colleges all over Kuwait, yet despite all the advancements in technology fundamentalism is still overshadowing the nation once considered ‘the land of tolerance’. Unless the principles of tolerance are instilled within children in schools, there is no way to protect them from being affected by the spreading intolerance.

Kuwaiti religious scholars have fought fundamentalism since the early 20th century, when tolerance was the norm and fundamentalism was the exception. It is sad that after one hundred years since the introduction of education in Kuwait that we live in an era where religious edicts spread animosity among people, and violate the principles of tolerance which paved the way for education to be adopted in Kuwait. So, I would like to wish my Christian brothers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. —Al-Rai

K

By Fouad Al-Obaid

fouad@kuwaittimes.net Twitter: @Fouadalobaid

he productivity and viability of a nation is built upon its ability to develop, innovate and grow.

Nations today are competing against one another, seeking to create new products and imagining new useful services while we do nothing. We lament at the pitiful state we find ourselves in today, and yet how much blame can we lay on others?

I would not dare to claim that the hubbly-bubbly and the cafes in which it is served is the cause of our malaises. I would be dishonest to not, based on personal interaction, note the negative effect such cafes have on people and the youth of this country. The hours spent wasted smoking and watching soccer games is appalling. These are hours spent away from general productivity and personal enrichment.

As a country we should be concerned with the ability of people to spend endless hours smoking. Many will question, in a country like Kuwait what real alternatives do they really have, as if amusement was the only thing people should seek to maximize on a daily basis.

We, I am afraid, have lost the notion of integrity and ingenuity that has allowed us to live and dwell in a desert climate for decades. We are nursed by foreign

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kuwait digest

People who live beyond means

By Thaar Al-Rashidi ecause I am Kuwaiti, Arabs, all Arabs, especially only resell the car for KD 2000, which I need as an non GCC Arabs think that I am rich. Some of their advance payment for a new model. Then I enter into a imaginations wander a great distance, more than new loan. Because I am Kuwaiti, Arab brothers think I ever dreamed. Some think that I take lunch with Bill that I do not work, and I ask expatriates to do my job.

Gates, and afternoon tea with Queen Elizabeth’s office In spite of that, most Kuwaitis do at least go to work manager and dinner with Donald Trump! and fear from God while doing it. They report to work The truth, which my Arabian cousins do not know, is from 7 am until the last minute, like millions of employthat I could only visit their country after several calcula- ees worldwide. Some are creative and some are tions of the ticket price and lodging costs in their coun- dependent on others. Some have influence from a try. I made my calculations tens of times before decid- Minister and come to work once in a year. ing to stay in their country 10 or 12 days.

Because I am Kuwaiti, some of the Arab brothers Yes the two days make much difference to my budg- think that I play with shares and bonds and bank in my et, because I am Kuwaiti and have nothing in this life free time. In spite of that I, like many other honest except my salary. I have Kuwaitis, start cutting nothing else, as they back on expenses Because I am Kuwaiti, the A rab imagine. starting from the 10th brothers think that I own 5 cars. The Because I am Kuwaiti, of every month. By my Arab brothers think the 15th of the truth is that my car is 4-5 years old and that I live in a castle that month, my wallet is I bought it because it is a necessity, not has three gates and is full empty and by the a luxury item. The temperature in this of more maids than Julius 20th of the month my Ceaser owned. budget enters into country remains around 60 degrees for The truth is that I live coma, from which I over 7 months and it is not possible to in an apartment consistonly awake after move without a car. So, owning a car is ing of 3 rooms, and receiving information sometimes because of from the bank stating something that I have no choice about, school terms, I am unable that the available baland it is a debt I must repay over 4-5 to pay the rent on time. ance in my account is years. The loan inflates its cost from Sometimes I have to KD 890. (That was my choose to either pay the salary).

KD 7,000 to KD11,000. When I finish car installment or the The Arab brothers paying the installments I can only apartment rent, especialwill think KD 890.... resell the car for KD 2000, which I need ly if my salary comes in that is $2630. Some Ramadan or in winter. will say that a Kuwaiti as an advance payment for a new The Arab brothers do gets a salary more model. Then I enter into a new loan. not know that I will not than the President of get a government house the Republic. He is until after 15 years of waiting. Its area does not exceed right, if I was living in their country. But I am living in 400 square meters.

Kuwait. My expenses are KD 250-350 for rent, KD 200 Because I am Kuwaiti, the Arab brothers think that I on household expenses, KD 120-150 in car installments, own 5 cars. The truth is that my car is 4-5 years old and I KD 20 for laundry, KD 60 for the maid, KD 10 for the car bought it because it is a necessity, not a luxury item. cleaner and KD 20 for camping with friends. There are The temperature in this country remains around 60 also telephone bills, electricity and water, internet, car degrees for over 7 months and it is not possible to maintenance and petrol. By the end of the month I move without a car. So, owning a car is something that I have to borrow. I am living beyond my means in a have no choice about, and it is a debt I must repay over country which is rich. Dear Arab brothers, yes my coun4-5 years. The loan inflates its cost from KD 7,000 to try is rich but as a Kuwaiti citizen I am personally not KD11,000. When I finish paying the installments I can that rich. Is the picture clear for you now?! — Al-Anbaa

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kuwait digest

When people don’t know better, or worse when they know the dangers and yet willingly succumb to the temptations, should the state not intervene to protect their interests? If we conceptualize the benefits of smoking hubbly-bubbly versus its negative effects on the individual and on society as a whole, what would the outcome be? I suspect that it would be clear that hubbly-bubbly smoking is to be curbed and certainly not allowed to flourish due to the waste in time, money, health and energy. The benefits are non-existent. produced technology without feeling the need to develop anything on our own. The reality is that many activities can be conducted that are more interesting and productive, and certainly are more useful, than smoking hubbly-bubbly through the night.

A campaign has recently begun to bring to a grinding halt this institution, which has the sole objective of entrenching my generation of peers in a state of mindless limbo in a perpetual soccer feast.

Many could argue that it is their personal freedom to smoke or, as a matter of fact, do as they please.

However, one should consider the cost on society and whether the sum of the effect of hubbly-bubbly smoking is a growing danger that should be stopped or curbed. When people don’t know better, or worse when they know the dangers and yet willingly succumb to the temptations, should the state not intervene to protect their interest even though hubbly-bubbly smokers might not be able, due to addiction, to do just that! To those who may disagree and state that without smoking, many people in Kuwait would have no alternative. I would answer that these are mere lies that people who smoke try to convince themselves with. The reality is that there are many things that one can do, least of all read. You might come up with new ideas, develop new products, processes, or services that would revolutionize our world.

That will make your wallet much heavier and your lungs much lighter.

Dangerous attitudes

By Aziza Al-Mufarrej he Muslim Brotherhood, Kuwait branch, fought so hard to approve the salary increase for teachers. They wanted to obtain their votes in the upcoming elections. Now they will fight for Kuwait University, the Teachers Association, the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, the Ministry of Oil and others. Then they will fight for the National Assembly itself, so that they can acquire the majority of seats or at least a good number of them. Then they will control the entire country, until the day comes when they fulfill the dreams of establishing rule over one country that stretches from the Ocean to the Gulf. The indications of success are coming from Egypt, Tunis and Algeria, after the US gave them a bright green signal.

Dr Abdallah Al-Nafeesi prepares the way for that change. In previous interviews, he said the family rule is no longer valid, and ruling families in the Gulf should review this issue. The doctor said, during a gathering a few months ago, that people accepted the rule of families in the past. However travel, education and social networks like Twitter and Facebook have caused an influence that cannot be bypassed in the region’s political structure.

For this reason, I suggest that ruling families take action before they are surprised with events and developments that devour the green and dry land, as is the case in other Arab countries.

The man, his group, and those who have similar ideas are demanding the Gulf countries do what

T

Britain, Sweden, Belgium and Denmark have done and adopt a constitutional monarchy. They are satisfied with being sovereign and leave the rule to the people, and there are many who are anticipating that. This dangerous talk has become a belief in some of our citizens. Some parties no longer fear stating it. We are hearing it loud and clear every now and then, following whispers by some people.

The difference between the circumstances of the Gulf people and other people in the region did not keep the Kuwait youth, with little experience, from running behind the kind of Kuwaitis who are working on destroying their homes and our homes with them.

By reflecting upon the issue, that we will become like Sweden and Denmark, of course our youth will not appreciate the luxury they are living until they lose it. As the Kuwaiti saying goes “you will not appreciate me until you try someone else.” Then and only then, will they sit down and cry with regret over what they have done.

For this reason, I support the demand of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, to create a confederation of Gulf countries. Unity means strength and helps us stand against foreign and domestic threats.

To those who seek ruling chairs, especially as we are seeing American fingers interfering in the area, let us state that we will not allow any threats to Gulf security here.

kuwait digest

Long live development

By Salah Alelaj iewing Iraq from an economic perspective, we’d find that it is the richest country in the region that is endowed with many unrivalled resources.

Iraq is very rich in oil, is blessed with two rivers, rich in local manpower that is not imported from any place, and is ‘class A’ agricultural country.

In addition, geographically, Iraq shares joint borders with Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey, Jordan and Syria, giving it unlimited military, commercial or logistic privileges. It also enjoys cultural, climate and historical diversity that could make it a major touristic spot in the Arab World. Iraqi citizens today are crushed by poverty, insecurity, lack of access to water, electricity and the decent living standards!

The bottom line is that it proves that neither money, ‘Iraq’s grilled fish,’ natural resources, rivers, strategic location or the outstanding climate are enough to build or sustain the continuity of any political regime or state without democracy.

The essence of security and stability form the foundation of a state. Today’s nations did not have strategic locations, resources or a favorable climate! Long live development! — Alamalyaum

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Cassia trees to beautify Kuwait’s landscape KISR introduces flowering trees KUWAIT: New flowering ornamental trees that can tolerate the climate in Kuwait have been discovered after two years of research by Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR). The project was funded by Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS).

KISR says the lack of flowering trees in the landscape of Kuwait can be overcome through the systematic introduction of new flowering ornamental trees such as Cassia Fistula and Cassia Nodosa. These trees produce colorful flowers for a long duration and are tolerant to hot arid climates.

The objectives of the project were to introduce seeds of Cassia Fistula and Cassia Nodosa to Kuwait, to determine the suitability of their utilization in landscape beautification, to develop cultural practices for the production of trees planted from seeds and to determine their growth requirements.

The major tasks undertaken included studies on the germination of seeds and assessment of plant growth requirements. To assess the plant growth requirements, studies were conducted to determine the effect of soil mixture, effect of fertilizer concentration and the interaction of soil mixtures and fertilizer concentration.

Quality seeds with good potential to thrive under Kuwait’s climatic conditions were obtained from well known international sources. Various seed germination experiments were conducted to find out an efficient protocol on seed germination and to determine the rate and span of time for germination.

A young Cassia Fistula plant.

The data revealed that manual scarification was the most effective way of breaking seed dormancy. Cassia Nodosa seeds recorded a germination percentage of 81.6, and seed germination started thirteen days after sowing and continued up to 29 days. For Cassia Fistula, seed germination started nine days after sowing and continued up to 29 days, and the germination percentage was 85.8.

Results of the study on the effect of soil mixture revealed that plants grown in a mixture of sand: peatmoss: humus in 1:1:1 ratio recorded the maximum plant height and number of leaves for Cassia Nodosa and Cassia Fistula.

Another study on the effect of fertilizer concentration revealed that seedling growth response was more pronounced with N: P: K @ 1g/l for both the species. The results of the study on the interaction of soil mixtures with fertilizer regimes showed that soil mixture in 1:1:1 ratio with 1g/l of N: P: K was the best for Cassia Nodosa and Cassia Fistula.

The results obtained during the project were very promising, showing good potential for introduction and indicating the option of using Cassia for landscape beautification in Kuwait. However, long-term studies are required to draw satisfactory conclusion regarding the feasibility of these species under Kuwait conditions.

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local

Venomous snake found in cargo unloading area KD 60,000, passports stolen

ADDIS ABABA: Kuwaiti Ambassador Rashed Al-Hajri with Ethiopian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Hailemariam Desalegn.

Ethiopia backs Kuwait UNSC bid ADDIS ABABA: Ambassador of Kuwait to Ethiopia, Rashed Al-Hajri, met yesterday with Ethiopian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Hailemariam Desalegn, to discuss measures to improve bilateral relations.

The two officials also discussed the pro-

posed visit by the Ethiopian official to Kuwait next March. Desalegn affirmed that his country will support the bid by Kuwait for United Nations Security Council (UNSC) membership in 2018-2019, which will be voted on during the UN General Assembly’s 72nd session in 2017. —KUNA

KUWAIT: Firefighters exterminated a rare type of cobra from India which ended up slithering freely in the cargo unloading area at Kuwait International Airport. The endangered species was apparently in a shipment that arrived from India on a cargo plane. It was not clear whether the reptile was illegally smuggled or had slithered its way inside the plane before takeoff. Its sudden appearance between unloaded shipments prompted airport personnel to make an emergency call.

Firefighters responded to the call and eventually killed the snake when they found it between shipments. The snake was later identified as a rare kind of cobra that holds extremely toxic venom, making it one of the most dangerous snakes in the world.

Hit-and-run Police launched an investigation into an accident that left a pedestrian dead in Salmiya. Initial reports indicate that he was hit by a Kuwaiti man, who drove away from the scene immediately. The victim, an Asian man, was pronounced dead on the scene by paramedics who reported to the location where the accident occurred. Police were able to identify the driver of the car which hit the victim, using descriptions of the vehicle provided by eyewitnesses.

Thieving maid A search is currently ongoing for a domestic worker believed to have disappeared after stealing KD 1,500 worth of jewelry from her employer. Investigations were underway at the Qairawan police station,

where a female citizen reported the theft.

She explained that she discovered her jewelry was stolen as soon as she realized that her housemaid went missing. Criminal investigators headed to the scene.

Al-Rai theft Investigations are currently underway in search for suspects who carried out a major theft operation at the headquarters of a public transportation company in Al-Rai. Police and criminal investigators reported to the building after staff members reported four safes containing large amounts of cash and official documents were stolen. The owner of the company estimated the amount of stolen cash at KD 60,000. It was also reported that the safes contained a number of passports belonging to staff members.

Drug possession A male driver was arrested on Salmi Road after drugs were found inside his car. The suspect was pulled over after raising the suspicions of two police officers on a routine patrol.

Suspicious behavior of the man, identified as a GCC national, led officers to search his car.

They found 25 drug pills in the trunk. He was referred to the proper authorities.

Investigations later revealed that he entered Kuwait on the same day of his arrest.

Racers hurt Two male drivers were hospitalized in a critical condition after they were involved in a serious car crash. They were racing on AlGhous Street in front of Al-Qusour area. Police

and paramedics rushed to the location, where a serious collision between two vehicles was reported. Eyewitnesses said the two cars were illegally racing at a very high speed when one of them lost balance and crashed into the other. One driver, a 25-year-old citizen was diagnosed with a spinal injury, while the other, a 24-year-old citizen was diagnosed with nose bleed and a serious injury to his right eye.

They are currently treated at the Adan Hospital.

Boyfriend caught A young man was hospitalized in Mubarak Al-Kabeer after he received a beating from the brothers of his girlfriend. They caught him with the girl inside her room. The girl was spared from the beating after she managed to convince her brothers that her room was stormed by an unknown man. An ambulance was sent to the house in Mubarak Al-Kabeer governorate where a man was reported in need of medical care following a severe physical assault. His attackers told officers, who accompanied paramedics to the scene, that they caught him inside their sister’s room when she screamed for help. The girl was taken to the area police station for investigations.

She admitted that she is in a relationship with the attacked youth, whom she met at college.

She denied asking the man to her room, saying that she let him in after he showed up uninvited. She also admitted that she screamed for help after sensing that her brothers were approaching her room in order to avoid falling victim of their wrath. A case was filed for investigations. —Al-Watan, Al-Rai

Several injured in car accidents

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: A 40-year-old Egyptian sustained a fracture to his left thigh after being run over by a car in Khaitan. He was admitted to Farwaniya Hospital. A 21year-old citizen suffered lacerations to his scalp in a car crash that took place near Dasman Complex. He was admitted to Amiri Hospital. In another incident, a 16year-old fractured his pelvis in a car accident that took place along Mutlaa Road.

He was admitted to Jahra Hospital.

An unidentified individual suffered a head injury and a cardiac attack in a car accident that took place along Subiyya road. He was admitted to Jahra Hospital.

KUWAIT: The Municipality made surprise inspections of all markets within the Capital Governorate yesterday. Abdallah Buramya, Director of the Inspection and Municipality Services follow up Department, said 180 metal cases were seized during the inspection of the food market in Rai area. Buramya said stores were checked for cleanliness and workers’ health, to safeguard consumers and take preventive measures against law violators. Buramya called upon shop owners to comply with the law and assist inspectors in carrying out their duties. — Photos by Hanan Al-Saadoun

Iraq war has ended, but logistical battle still under way KUWAIT: Earlier this month, the US Army ceremoniously rolled and sheathed its flags in Iraq sending a very clear signal: The war is over.

But in the sandy environs of Kuwait, the Army is waging another campaign.

The war might have ended, but the logistical battle to move roughly 4 million pieces of equipment - from armored vehicles to computers stripped of their hard drives - was not over by Christmas, even if the war was over for the troops.

Army logisticians put the timeframe closer to the end of March, when gear moved from Iraq into Kuwait should reach its final destination, be it Afghanistan or Wisconsin.

The story of the massive logistical undertaking began with Operation New Dawn in late 2010, when Army and Pentagon planners began to unpack the problem that confronted them: How to shutter the 24 major operating bases across the country?

Army Colonel Jeff Carra, Chief of Operations for the Reset Task Force at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait, said roughly 80 to 90 percent of the equipment in Iraq is “theater-provided equipment,” or equipment that soldiers deploying to Iraq found waiting for them when they arrived.

The other 10 or 20 percent, he estimates, was “organizational property,” meaning that if the 1st Infantry Division from Fort Riley in Kansas brought 10 trucks to Iraq, then those 10 trucks would be returning to Kansas with the unit.

Of course, equipment of both types accumulates during almost a decade of war - and at the end of the conflict, everything must be liquidated. Here, in a nutshell, is how they approached the issue. So far it has been a success, according to Army officials and military experts.

Early on, soldiers in the field began crating up non-essential items.

“We had soldiers packing up half of

Baltimore,” Carra said. The 20-foot-by-40foot containers moved in convoys towards Kuwait, the hub of Army logistics for the Iraq War. As trucks snaked their way south carrying cargo out of Iraq and into Kuwait, the logistical lines “collapsed” - moved southward - as well.

“We were the catcher’s mitt,” said Major General Kenneth Dowd, the Commanding General of the 1st Theater Containment Command. In Kuwait, on Camps Virginia and Arifjan, soldiers inventory and clean any equipment bound for the United States. If it is not clean, it will not get through customs or meet Agriculture Department standards.

“The USDA is very, very tough,” said retired Army Lieutenant General Gus Pagonis, who oversaw the drawdown after the Gulf War in the 1990’s.

Not everything, though, will make the long voyage across the ocean back to the United States. Some items, like stoves, refrigerators, and gym equipment, stayed on the bases which passed to Iraqi control. Others went to Afghanistan, or elsewhere within the pur view of Central Command, the combatant command responsible for Iraq and 19 nearby countries.

Military officials are not saying exactly how much will go where. But how logistics experts make such decisions is a little more clear. The communications process, sped by the Internet, allows them to talk quickly with each interested layer of the Army and Pentagon hierarchy and decide, for instance, whether an item will be sent to a depot in the U.S. or off to Afghanistan. “ The whole process now takes 72 hours; it used to take three weeks,” Carra said.

Dowd and his soldiers will send 1,500 containers off to their destinations over the next 90 days or so, before the logistics coda of the Iraq War ends.

— Government Executive

Also, a 31-year-old citizen fractured his right leg and suffered a cardiac arrest in a car accident that took place along 7th Ring Road near Abdallah Al-Mubarak. He was admitted to Farwaniya Hospital.

Sports related injury A 23-year-old citizen fractured his left foot after suffering a fall in Qadisiya Sports Club. He was admitted to Mubarak Hospital.

Street fight A 36-year-old Indian sustained multiple bruises in a fight that took place in Salmiya. He was admitted to Mubarak Hospital.

Al-Turdy signs agreement

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: An agreement was signed between the Ministry of Health (MoH) and King Abdelaziz Medical University for the National Guard of Saudi Arabia, which is recognized by the American Heart Association.

Dr. Khalid Al-Sahlawi, the MoH Assistant Undersecretary for Technical

Affairs said the agreement is for Emergency Medical Care for accidental injuries before arriving at the Hospital.

The agreement was signed on Monday 27 December.

The agreement was signed by Kuwait’s MOH Undersecretar y Dr. Ibrahim Abdelhadi and Saudi Director of Higher Studies at King Abdelaziz University, Dr. Saud Al-Turdy.

KUWAIT: The General Department for Drug Control yesterday seized 206 grams of heroin and 3,000 mind altering tablets from two Asian expatriates following tips received by Acting Assistant Undersecretary for Criminal Security Affairs, Maj Gen Sheikh Ahmad AlKhalifa. The two were sent to the concerned authorities.— Photo by Hanan Al-Saadoun

1,200 civil servants on planning course KUWAIT: Up to 1,200 civil servants are currently participating in a training course, scheduled as part of the state development strategy, Minister of Commerce and Industry Dr Amani Bouresli said yesterday. Bouresli said in a statement that the course was organized by the Arab Planning Institute for the Secretariat General of the Higher Planning and Development Council. The minister said the course

was primarily aimed at enhancing staff planning skills, and indicated that some departments lacked potential and resources for sound strategy making, such as lack of qualified cadres. She added that the course will contribute in efforts to resolve this problem. Badr Malallah, Director-General of the Arab Planning Institute, said the training course will continue until the end of March.

The program addresses various issues such as planning in the public sector, development strategy, planning experience of the GCC states and schemes for social and economic growth. Bouresli added that the course was organized on the basis of a field survey to measure needs, adding that the study covered 58 government departments and sectors. —KUNA

KUWAIT: Kuwait Fire Service Directorate has received 14 new fire engines worth KD 6 million as part of the department plan of upgrading its equipment annually. The director of the department, Maj Gen Jassem Al-Mansouri, said in a statement at a ceremony on the occasion yesterday that the department would receive two batches of new engines in March and April in the coming year, indicating that some of the vehicles would be specially equipped for various tasks other than dousing flames, such as drilling, demolition, burial and other operations at sites of collapsed buildings. Special staff have been trained in the countries from where the vehicles have been brought, he indicated.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2011

Indian anti-graft campaigner ends fast, vows to fight on

Bomb at Arabic school adds to sectarian fears in Nigeria Page 10

Syria urged to give observers free hand DAMASCUS: Arab League observers headed yesterday to more key protests hubs in Syria as world powers urged Damascus to give them full access as they try to reveal the truth about a crackdown on dissent. More bloodshed was also reported as army defectors killed at least four Syrian soldiers in the southern province of Daraa, and a civilian was shot dead in Homs, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.

Accusations that the regime was trying to hide the facts from the monitors were punctuated by France, which claimed the team was not being allowed to see what was happening in the flashpoint city of Homs as repression continued there. The monitors were due to visit Daraa-cradle of more than nine months of anti-regime protests-the northern provinces of Hama and Idlib, and around Damascus to pursue their investigations.

“As of yesterday evening, and from Thursday at dawn, the observers will deploy in Idlib and Hama and in Daraa,” mission chief General Mohammed Ahmed Mustafa al-Dabi told AFP. Dabi, a veteran Sudanese military intelligence officer, said observers would also fan out 50-80 kilometres (30-50 miles) around Damascus. The observers arrived in Syria at the weekend and on Tuesday visited the Homs, which has been besieged by government troops for several months.

Dabi said the visit to Homs had been “good”, and that he was heading back there yesterday. He said more observers would join the mission, which now numbers 66 monitors.

French foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said the visit had been too brief and insufficiently revealing. “A few Arab League observers were able to be briefly present in Homs yester-

day. Their presence did not prevent the continuing of the bloody crackdown in this city, where large demonstrations were violently repressed, leaving about 10 dead,” he said.

“The brevity of their visit did not allow them to understand the reality of the situation in Homs. The Arab League observers must be allowed to return without delay to this martyr city, to travel everywhere in it freely and to have the necessary contact with the public.” The mission is part of an Arab plan endorsed by Syria on November 2 that calls for the withdrawal of security forces from towns and residential districts, a halt to violence against civilians and the release of detainees.

Valero said “the international community will be reassured when the violence has stopped, when the army had returned to barracks, when the political prisoners are freed and when foreign journalists will receive visas to go to Syria.” Activists say the army pulled back heavy armour from the restive Homs neighbourhood of Baba Amro ahead of Tuesday’s visit by the monitors, accusing the regime of deception.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov urged Syria to give the observers maximum freedom as they go about their mission.

“We constantly work with the Syrian leadership calling on it to fully cooperate with observers from the Arab League and to create work conditions that are as comfortable and free as possible,” Lavrov said yesterday. The United States and Human Rights Watch warned Damascus was hindering the mission which started following weeks of prevarication from Syria. HRW accused the Syrian authorities of having “transferred perhaps hundreds of detainees to off-limits military sites to hide them from Arab monitors.

“The Arab League should insist on full access to all Syrian sites used for detention, consistent with its agreement with the Syrian government,” the watchdog said. State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner said “we obviously look to these individuals to be intrepid in their search for the truth of what’s happening on the ground.” The United States “would ... demand that the Syrian authorities allow them full access to the Syrian people in order to carry out their mission.” Syrian foreign ministry spokesman Jihad Makdisi has said the “mission has freedom of movement in line with the protocol” Syria signed with the Arab League. But the observers are banned from sensitive military sites.

Yesterday, Syria freed 755 prisoners who had been involved in anti-regime unrest but have “no blood on their hands,” state television said. In November, authorities said they freed more than 4,300 detainees. But there was more bloodshed yesterday as mutinous soldiers ambushed a convoy killing at least four loyalist troops and wounding 12 in Daraa province, said the Observatory. In Baba Amro a civilian was shot dead by security forces and another died of injuries sustained Tuesday, when Arab observers toured Homs.

On Tuesday, Syrian police used tear gas to disperse some 70,000 people who flooded the streets of Homs emboldened by the observers’ visit and fired with live ammunition at some demonstrators, activists said. The UN estimates more than 5,000 people have been killed in the crackdown since protests against President Bashar Al-Assad’s regime began in mid-March.

The government blames the violence on “armed terrorist” groups. —AFP

Bahrain to host Saudi prince’s news network DUBAI: Bahrain has been picked to host the headquarters for Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal’s new international Arabic news network despite months of unrest, according to the tiny Gulf kingdom’s media oversight authority. Alwaleed’s channel, dubbed Alarab, will be based in the Bahraini capital Manama’s new Media City office complex, Sheik Fawaz bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, a member of the Bahraini royal family and head of the country’s Information Affairs Authority, said in a statement late Tuesday.

The network is expected to be launched next December with an initial staff of about 300 people, according to the Bahraini statement. Alwaleed’s office in the Saudi capital Riyadh has not itself said where the channel will be based. Officials there declined to comment yesterday. Jamal Khashoggi, the Saudi journalist hired to lead the network, said by email yesterday that he expects a deal on the station to be finalized later in the day. The channel aims to focus “on the important shifts taking place across the Arab world, with an emphasis on freedom of speech and freedom of press,” Alwaleed said in September.

Alarab will compete against older pan-Arab news networks bankrolled by wealthy Gulf patrons, including Qatar’s Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya, which is funded by Saudi investors but based in Dubai. Alwaleed has signed a deal with business news service Bloomberg LP to provide content for Alarab. That could potentially put it in competition with Dubai-based business news channel CNBC Arabiya as well. The Saudi prince, through the Kingdom Holding Co. investment firm he controls, has major stakes in Citigroup Inc., Apple Inc. and Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. He and the investment company last week invested a combined $300 million into microblogging site Twitter, which played a key role in organizing protests and conveying developments during this year’s Arab Spring uprisings. The senior management of Alwaleed’s

Rotana entertainment television division is also expected to move to Bahrain as part of the deal, according to the IAA. Rotana runs film and music video channels across the Middle East that draw on the company’s extensive Arabic film and music catalogs. Bahrain has been shaken by 10 months of large-scale protests and clashes between security forces loyal to the Sunni monarchy and opposition groups led by the country’s majority Shiites. The kingdom’s leadership is closely allied to Saudi Arabia, which looms large in Bahrain’s domestic politics and provides vital tourist dollars. Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states sent security forces into Bahrain at the invitation of the king to help put down protests in March. —AP

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

Hamas PM in Sudan on 1st regional trip since 2007 KHARTOUM: Gaza’s Hamas premier Ismail Haniya was in Sudan yesterday as part of his first official tour of the region since the Islamist movement forcibly seized power in the Palestinian enclave in 2007. Haniya flew to Khartoum on Tuesday evening for an “official visit” and to attend a forum on Jerusalem, the official SUNA news agency reported. It said he was greeted at Khartoum Airport by Ibrahim Ahmed Omar, an adviser to President Omar al-Bashir, but SUNA did not elaborate on who Haniya would meet or

how long he would stay in the country.

However, a presidency official told AFP Haniya would meet Bashir, “but not today.” Hamas has close ties with Khartoum and has long maintained a base in Sudan, where the group’s exiled chief Khaled Meshaal is a frequent visitor.

The Al Quds Forum is an annual gathering which focuses on Jerusalem, the eastern sector of which was occupied by Israel during the 1967 Middle East war and annexed shortly afterwards. Around 200,000 Palestinians

Jordanians charged over speaking toy guns AMMAN: The owners of a Jordanian company have been charged with inciting sectarian strife for importing toy guns with voices that say “kill Aisha,” one of the Prophet Mohammed’s wives, a judicial official said yesterday.

“Prosecutors in Amman charged the importers on Tuesday with inciting sectarian strife and sent them to the state security court over charges of insulting the prophet’s wife,” the official told AFP. The voice in the plastic space handgun says “kill Aisha” in a clear Arabic-language reference to the prophet’s wife, the official added without elaborating on

the origin of the toy. Local news reports said “authorities confiscated the toys in a shop in the southern city of Karak after complaints from citizens.” Prominent MP Khalil Attieh has demanded that Prime Minister Awn Khasawneh investigate “this heinous crime.”

Aisha was a favoured wife of Mohammed, and her father, Abu Bakr, was a senior companion and the first Muslim Caliph following the prophet’s death. Unlike Shiite Muslims, Sunnis hold Aisha in high esteem as a Mother of Believers, among other wives of the prophet.— AFP

Israel okays 130 homes in east Jerusalem: Official JERUSALEM: Jerusalem municipality yesterday approved plans for another 130 housing units in Gilo, a settlement neighbourhood in the annexed eastern sector of the Holy City, a city councillor told AFP. Pepe Alalu of the left-wing Meretz party said the district planning committee had given the green light to a project to build 130 homes in three 12storey tower blocks on the eastern outskirts of Gilo which lies just a few kilometres (miles) north of Bethlehem.

“An agreement has been reached for construction of 130 apartments in three towers of 12 storeys each,” he told AFP, saying it was the second stage of approval meaning construction was likely to begin “in about three years.” The Gilo project received initial approval in November last year, in a move which the Palestinians said was an attempt to further isolate Bethlehem from east Jerusalem.

On November 1, Israel’s inner cabinet decided to speed up construction of homes for Jews in Arab east Jerusalem and in other nearby settlements to punish the Palestinians for winning member-

ship in the UN cultural agency, UNESCO. Since then, Israel has issued announcements for 2,057 new homes in Arab east Jerusalem and 1,241 in the West Bank, official figures show.

Israel’s settlement building is one of the most intractable disputes of the conflict with the Palestinians and has frequently floored efforts to broker a peaceful solution.

Direct talks broke down in autumn 2010 after Israel failed to extended a temporary freeze on new West Bank construction with the Palestinians refusing to talk unless they renewed it and also extended the ban to east Jerusalem.

More than 310,000 Israelis live in settlements in the occupied West Bank, and the number is constantly growing.

Another 200,000 live in a dozen settlement neighbourhoods in east Jerusalem, which was captured by Israel in 1967 and annexed in a move never recognised internationally. The international community considers all settlements in territories occupied by Israel since June 1967 to be illegal, whether or not approved by its government. —AFP

GILO: A picture dated September 27, 2011 shows a new construction site in the east Jerusalem Jewish settlement of Gilo. The Jerusalem municipality has approved plans for another 130 housing units in Gilo, a settlement neighbourhood in the annexed eastern sector of the Holy City, a city councillor said yesterday.—AFP

live in east Jerusalem which they want as the capital of their future state.

Haniya left Gaza on Sunday and visited Cairo before flying to Sudan on Tuesday. Sources in his office said the main purpose of the trip was to seek “help and aid” for the reconstruction of Gaza, which was devastated by a vast 22-day Israeli operation which began exactly three years ago. He was also likely to address the issue of Palestinian reconciliation during the tour which would also include stops in Qatar, Turkey, Tunisia and Bahrain, they

said. Haniya entered Egypt through the Rafah crossing, which has remained largely closed since June 2006 when Israel imposed a blockade on Gaza after militants snatched soldier Gilad Shalit, who was freed two months ago under a prisoner swap deal. The blockade was tightened a year later when the Hamas seized control of the territory, ousting forces loyal to the Western-backed Palestinian Authority. Cairo officially reopened Rafah crossing with Gaza in May, more than three months after Egypt’s former

president Hosni Mubarak stepped down. In April, two people were killed in an attack by an unidentified plane on Sudan’s Red Sea coast, which reportedly targeted a top Hamas militant who escaped unharmed, a Gaza MP said.

Sudan’s Foreign Minister Ali Ahmad Karti blamed Israel for the attack, but Israeli officials refused to comment, although they have previously expressed concern about arms smuggling and Khartoum’s close ties with Gaza’s Islamist rulers. —AFP

Yemen govt workers rally against corruption SANAA: Labor strikes spread through Yemen yesterday as workers demanded reforms and dismissal of managers over alleged corruption linked to the country’s outgoing president. Corruption was one of the grievances that ignited mass protests against the rule of President Ali Abdullah Saleh in February.

After months of stalling, Saleh last month signed an agreement to transfer power.

The deal includes immunity for prosecution for the longtime leader, but protesters reject that. They are also demanding that his relatives and associates, also suspected of corruption, be removed from their posts in the government and military and put on trial.

Months of political turmoil in Yemen, pitting tribes and army units against each other during mass demonstrations as Saleh fought to stay in power, have given the dangerous AlQaeda branch in Yemen more freedom of action. The Islamist militants have taken over territory in Yemen’s south, including several towns.

The strikes are following a pattern.

Workers lock the gates to an institution, and then they storm the offices of their supervisors, demanding their replacement with bosses who are not tainted with corruption allegations. So far the scenario has played out in 18 state agencies. “This is the real revolution, the institutions revolution,” said Mohammed Gabaal, an 40-year-old accountant who is on strike. “The president has appointed a ring of corrupt people all over government agencies.”

The case of the Military Economic Institution stands out. Hundreds of workers demonstrated in front of the building yesterday. The key agency hauls in significant rev-

enues from naval transport and other investments, but its budget is kept secret. Striking workers are demanding dismissal of the agency manager, Hafez Mayad, who is from Saleh’s tribe and is seen as one of the regime’s most powerful and corrupt figures.

Opponents of the Saleh regime charge that armed civilians who attacked protesters in the capital of Sanaa got their funds from Mayad. Other strikes are under way at the

state TV, Sanaa police headquarters and another institution affiliated with the military.

The wave of strikes began last week when employees of the national airline, Yemenia Airways, walked off their jobs demanding dismissal of the director, Saleh’s son-inlaw, charging him with plundering the company’s assets and driving it into bankruptcy. The government gave in to the demands. —AP

SANAA: Yemeni tribes men gather as the authorities remove a roadblock in the area near the house of tribal chief Sheikh Sadiq al-Ahmar, whose men fought against embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh loyalists, in the capital Sanaa yesterday. —AFP

Allawi says Iraq headed for ‘sectarian autocracy’ BAGHDAD: The head of the Sunni-backed Iraqiya political bloc said Iraq “stands on the brink of disaster” and issued a list of demands yesterday in a political crisis triggered by charges against a Sunni leader.

Iraqiya leader Iyad Allawi, in an editorial for the New York Times, said Iraq was heading towards a “sectarian autocracy that carries with it the threat of devastating civil war.”

Sectarian tensions are running high in Iraq ten days after the last US troops pulled out. Shi’ite Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki has sought the arrest of Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, accused of running death squads. The commentary, co-authored by Iraqiya officials Osama al-Nujaifi, the parliament speaker, and Rafie al-Esawi, the finance minister, said bloc leaders were being “hounded and threatened by Mr. Maliki, who is attempting to drive us out of Iraqi political life and create an authoritarian one-party state.”

The political crisis, Iraq’s worst in a year, threatens Maliki’s fragile year-old coalition government, an alliance of Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish political blocs.

Nujaifi and Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, on Tuesday proposed a national conference of political leaders to try to resolve the crisis and said allegations against Hashemi should be left to the courts.

But Allawi, in a separate statement, listed a series of demands before he would agree to any conference, including the release of “all detainees held on false charges” and the formation of a panel of top politicians to oversee and prevent interference in legal procedures. Iraqiya has criticised a recent arrest campaign against hundreds of former members of Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party over what some officials said was a plot to seize power after US troops left. Allawi also demanded the government implement an accord reached last year before the coalition government was formed that would have given him leadership of a new national policy council. Allawi has accused Maliki of reneging on the pact.

Allawi said “all options are still open” to resolve the crisis, including early elections and the possibility of a new candidate for prime minister. Both Iraqiya and the Sadrist movement of anti-American Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr have called for new elections, currently not due until 2014. Iraq’s latest crisis was triggered by the charges against Hashemi and Maliki’s request to parliament to fire Sunni Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq. Hashemi and Mutlaq are two of the most senior figures in Iraqiya.

In the editorial, Allawi, a former prime minister, said Maliki had “laid siege to our party,” surrounding leaders’ homes and offices in Baghdad’s Green Zone with government forces. “...as Iraq once again teeters on the brink, we respectfully ask America’s leaders to understand that unconditional support for Mr. Maliki is pushing Iraq down the path to civil war,” the editorial said. “Unless America acts rapidly to help create a successful unity government, Iraq is doomed.” US and Iraqi officials have been engaged in a flurry of talks to try ease tensions in a crisis that could have wider impact in the region with Iraq’s Sunni and Shi’ite neighbours. —Reuters

Kurd party: Turkey arrests aimed at silencing critics ANKARA: Turkey’s main Kurdish party yesterday accused Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s government of seeking to neutralise opponents before planned constitutional reforms by ordering the arrests of scores of Kurdish activists for suspected links with armed separatist militants. Hasip Kaplan, deputy parliamentary group leader of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), said 5,000 BDP members had been arrested in nationwide raids, part of a government plan to “carry out genocide of political opponents”. The International Crisis Group, in a September report, put the figure of those detained at 3,000 and there have been further arrests since.

The BDP formed a parliamentary block of 29 deputies in the national assembly after a parliamentary election in June, in which Erdogan’s AK Party won a third consecutive term in office.

“Because they couldn’t beat us in the elections they started to use antidemocratic means. They are trying to do this with a coup mentality, acting against international conventions they are part of, using their police forces, special prosecutors and special tribunals,” Kaplan told Reuters in an interview. Scores of BDP activists, including elected mayors and provincial leaders in the mainly Kurdish southeast as well as many Kurdish journalists and intellectuals, have been jailed under an investigation that began two years ago.

The mass detentions threaten to handicap efforts to forge political concensus

for a new constitution that is expected to partly address the issue of Kurdish rights. The case, which is being closely watched by the European Union that Turkey is aiming to join, is focused on an organisation called the Union of Kurdistan Communities (KCK).

According to a 2009 indictment, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) rebel group, branded a terrorist group by Ankara, the EU and the United States, established the KCK with the aim of creating its own Kurdish political system. BDP officials and some liberal commentators have warned the AKP may be seeking to ban the BDP after Interior Minister Idris Naim Sahin was quoted earlier this week as saying there was “no distinction between PKK, KCK and BDP”. Turkey has a long history of banning political parties which it deems a threat, and even came close to banning the ruling AK Party in 2008.

The BDP’s predecessor was banned by the Constitutional Court in 2009 for ties with the PKK. In comments seized by critics as proof the AK Party government is becoming increasingly authoritarian, Sahin was also quoted as saying that certain types of painting, poetry and column writing could also be a way of “supporting terror”. “If the AKP closes the BDP it would be political suicide for the AKP,” Kaplan said. “It would be a big blow to the process of a new constitution and to Turkey’s democracy. This would be nothing but a stab to the constitutional process.” — Reuters

GAZA CITY: Palestinian mourners carry the body of Abdallah al-Telbani, 22year-old, during his funeral in Gaza City yesterday, after he was killed following an Israeli airstrike. —AFP

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2011

INTERNATIONAL

Argentina President has cancer, will have surgery Kirchner to spend three weeks recovering

IOWA: Campaign pins of republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney are displayed at a coffee shop during a campaign stop in Muscatine, Iowa, yesterday. —AFP

Romney, Paul polling on top ahead of Iowa caucuses WASHINGTON: The months of turmoil among Republicans bidding to become the party nominee to challenge President Barack Obama head into a final sorting process in Iowa next week with Mitt Romney and Ron Paul leading a field of seven candidates.

Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, and Paul, a long-serving Texas congressman, are running neck-and-neck in the Midwestern state that holds precinct nominating caucus meetings Tuesday night. The caucuses are a test of the campaign financing and organization that can winnow candidates who fail to finish in the top tier.

Obama’s approval ratings have improved slightly, but he remains vulnerable because of Americans’ dissatisfaction with his handling of the economy and it’s laggardly recovery from the Great Recession. But the chaotic nature of the Republican race, in which a series of candidates have shot to the top of the field and just as rapidly lost support, has been a gift to Obama, diverting attention from the difficult politics surround his hopes for re-election in November.

With Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the House of Representatives, quickly fading from the top tier after being targeted by a barrage of attack ads, Iowa voters are about evenly split between the more moderate Romney and the extreme libertarian views of Paul. But many Republican conservatives across the country distrust Romney because of his past positions on abortion, gay marriage and health care. Paul, meanwhile, is seen as too extreme by mainstream party voters.

The Iowa caucuses likely will force some

candidates to drop out of the race and shape the coming six-month string of state-by-state primary elections and caucuses leading up to the Republican National Convention in August that officially names a candidate. Romney, who returned to Iowa yesterday, has projected the confidence of a front-runner as he looked past his Republican rivals and accused Obama of “misguided policies and weak leadership.”

As if previewing the themes of a general election campaign, Romney said Tuesday that in his campaign travels, “I’ve heard stories of The Great Obama Recession, of families getting by on less, of planned-for retirement replaced by jobs at minimum wage,” he said during campaigning in New Hampshire, which holds its primary Jan. 10. He said of Obama: “Gone is the ‘hope and change’ candidate. ...

Instead the campaigner-in chief divides Americans, engages in class warfare and resorts to distortion and demagoguery.”

Aides added that by design, Romney spoke not far from where Obama campaigned four years ago this week en route to an Iowa caucus victory that set him on the road to the presidency. Romney, making his second run for the nomination, has relied on a well-funded and disciplined organization, generally strong debate performances and deep-pocketed allies to keep his balance as others have risen to challenge him and fallen back. Romney’s biggest challenge is the distrust of him among many conservative Republicans who have split their support among several candidates whose policy promises are more palatable to them, including Gingrich, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Minnesota Rep. —AP

BUENOS AIRES: Argentina’s President Cristina Kirchner has been diagnosed with thyroid cancer and will undergo surgery next week, two months after being reelected in a landslide vote, her spokesman said.

Kirchner, the country’s first elected female president, was found to have cancer “on the right lobe of the thyroid gland” during a routine medical examination on December 22, said spokesman Alfredo Scoccimarro.

“The illness has been contained,” Scoccimarro emphasized in a statement, adding the cancer had not metastasized.

Tests carried out Tuesday showed the cancer had also not spread to Kirchner’s lymph nodes, he added. The 58-yearold Kirchner was expected to spend 72 hours in hospital and then three weeks recovering from the surgery, he said. During that time, her vice president Amado Boudou will carry out her duties.

“The prospects (for recovery) are excellent, and no one should expect any further development of the tumor after the operation,” oncologist Marco Bruno, a member of the Argentina Cancer Association, told local television.

He added that because the tumor had been diagnosed early it could be safely removed, allowing the patient to lead a normal life. Kirchner was reelected in October with more than 54 percent of the vote, a first-round landslide that buried her nearest competitors and won her back control of Congress.

The win, a year after her husband and predecessor’s sudden death, was powered by a slew of popular social programs and years of strong, virtually uninterrupted economic growth. In her

swearing-in speech on December 10, Kirchner outlined her plans to Congress, sticking to policies supporting domestic industries and consumer spending despite the economic storm clouds over Europe.

co-governed with his wife, and when Cristina was elected at the end of 2007, Nestor was a top advisor.

He died of a heart attack on October 27 of last year at the age of 60, while the couple were on

three-time president Juan Peron.

Like the Perons of the 1940s, the Kirchners won over many of Argentina’s poor districts with generous public spending.

Kirchner is one of several Latin American leaders to suffer from

BUENOS AIRES: Argentina’s reelected President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner gestures during her inauguration ceremony, in Mayo square, Buenos Aires on December 10, 2011. —AFP “This situation in Europe is the mirror image of that of Argentina in 2001,” she said, referring to the near-collapse of the Argentine economy in a crisis that led it to default on more than $100 billion in debt. Nestor Kirchner, who was president between 2003 and 2007, is credited with rescuing Argentina by breaking with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), restructuring the debt and promoting spending. As president, Nestor

vacation at their resort home in southern Argentina. Kirchnerwho was forced to stop working three times this year due to a drop in her blood pressure-has built up an image as a black-clad widow, both fragile and authoritarian, seductive and abrupt.

A lawyer by training, she is known for her heavy make-up and long auburn hair, and is a political heir to Eva Duarte Peron-better known as Evita-the glamorous and populist wife of

cancer in recent years.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo have all waged battles against the disease and say they are now cancer-free.

Former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was diagnosed with throat cancer in late October and has undergone chemotherapy treatments.— AFP

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Years

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

Russia court rejects ban of Hindu text MOSCOW: A Russian court decided yesterday not to ban a religious text central to the global Hare Krishna movement, rejecting claims that the text is “extremist” and ending a case that has angered Hindus around the world. Prosecutors in the Siberian city of Tomsk had argued that the Russian translation of “Bhagavad Gita As It Is” promotes “social discord” and hatred toward nonbelievers, causing an outcry in India, where many considered the proposed ban a violation of the rights of Hindus in Russia.

The text is a combination of the Bhagavad Gita, one of Hinduism’s holiest scriptures, and commentary by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, which is often called the Hare Krishna movement. The prosecutors had asked the court to include the book on the Federal List of

Extremist Materials, which bans more than 1,000 texts, including Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” and books distributed by the Jehovah’s Witness and Scientology movements.

Alexander Shakhov, a lawyer for Hare Krishna devotees in Tomsk, said the group is satisfied with the court’s decision. “This judge’s decision shows that Russia is becoming a truly democratic society,” Shakhov was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.

“We are very excited about this victory.” Yury Pleshakov, a spokesman for the group in Moscow, said the book in question has existed in Russia for 25 years and has never inspired violence or extremist activity.

“On the contrary, this book teaches humane attitude towards all living beings,” Pleshakov said. The trial, which began in June, followed this year’s ban on the construction of a Hare Krishna village in Tomsk and was based on an

assessment by professors at Tomsk University, who concluded that “Bhagavad Gita As It Is” includes strong language against nonbelievers and promotes religious hatred and discrimination on the basis of gender, race, nationality and language.

The ruling came a day after Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna met with Alexander Kadakin, Russia’s ambassador to India, and urged the Russian government to resolve the issue. Indian officials had last week appealed to high-level Russian authorities to intervene. The Tomsk court had postponed the decision from Dec 19, when protesters gathered outside the Russian consulate in Kolkata, and the speaker of India’s lower house of parliament adjourned the body for several hours after members began shouting in anger over the proposed ban.

After hearing further testimony from academic experts yesterday, the

judge ruled that the prosecutors’ claims were unfounded. The Bhagavad Gita “is not merely a religious text, but one of the defining treatises of Indian thought,” said Indian Ambassador to Russia Ajai Malhotra in a statement.

“The Bhagavad Gita has circulated freely across the world for centuries and there is not a single instance of it having encouraged extremism.”

The Russian Foreign Ministry insisted the Tomsk court was not taking issue with core Hindu scripture itself, but rather with the author’s commentary and poor translation in “Bhagavad Gita As It Is.” “I would like to emphasize that this is not about ‘Bhagavad Gita,’ a religious philosophical poem, which forms part of the great Indian epic Mahabharata and is one of the most famous pieces of the ancient Hindu literature,” ministr y spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said at a briefing in

Moscow last week, adding that the book was first published in Russian in 1788.

Still, followers of the Hare Krishna movement in Russia saw the proposed ban as a result of continued intolerance of minority religions by the Russian Orthodox Church. Pleshakov estimates there are at least 150,000 Hare Krishna devotees in Russia. “The current problem is, above all, the misuse of the law on combating extremism,” Pleshakov said. “It is used to search for enemies where they can not even be defined.”

In 2005, a Russian Orthodox archbishop asked the mayor of Moscow to ban the construction of a proposed Hare Krishna temple, calling the Hindu deity Krishna “an evil demon, the personified power of hell opposing God,” according to Interfax.

The temple was later allowed in a Moscow suburb. — AP

Bomb at Arabic school adds to sectarian fears in Nigeria Not clear who is behind attack

CAMBRIDGE: Britain’s Prince Philip smiles and waves as he leaves Papworth, a specialist heart hospital, in Cambridge, England, Tuesday. Prince Philip left hospital Tuesday, after undergoing treatment for a blocked coronary artery. —AP

Smiling Prince Philip leaves British hospital after heart op PAPWORTH: Britain’s Prince Philip was reunited with his wife Queen Elizabeth II and other family members for a late Christmas on Tuesday when he left hospital four days after having heart surgery.

The outspoken 90-year-old smiled and waved from the open window of his Range Rover vehicle as he was driven away from the specialist Papworth hospital near Cambridge, eastern England.

Trailed by police protection officers, he was driven to the royal Sandringham estate where the queen, the couple’s children and their grandchildren have spent the Christmas holiday without him.

The health scare was the most serious yet for the prince, the longest serving royal consort in British history, and comes as the queen prepares to celebrate her diamond jubilee year marking 60 years on the throne. “On departure, Prince Philip thanked the staff at Papworth for the excellent care he has received during his stay,” Buckingham Palace said in a statement. “He is very much looking forward to rejoining his family.” A palace spokesman said no decision had been taken on how soon the prince would resume public engagements or whether he would attend church on Sunday.

The prince had a coronary stent fitted on Friday night after doctors diagnosed a blocked coronary artery. A stent is a mesh sleeve fitted over a sausage-shaped balloon which is inserted into the artery and then inflated. It remains fixed in position inside the body when the balloon is removed and opens up the artery to remove the blockage. He was airlifted from Sandringham to Papworth hospital, about 80 kilometres (50 miles) away, on

Friday after complaining of chest pains. It was the first time the prince, whose royal title is the Duke of Edinburgh, had missed the Christmas Day church service and lunch at Sandringham and the traditional Boxing Day pheasant shoot the following day. The prince was given a festive boost on Sunday with a Christmas Day visit from grandsons Prince William and Harry and four others of his eight grandchildren. The queen visited her husband of 64 years at the hospital on Sunday after the royal family’s Christmas church service. William’s wife Catherine appeared at the Sandringham church service for the first time following their wedding in April, wearing a plum-coloured hat and coat, but she did not visit the hospital.

William, the 29-year-old second in line to the throne, was accompanied on Saturday by Zara Tindall-who married rugby player Mike Tindall this year-and Peter Phillips, the children of the queen’s daughter Princess Anne. Prince Harry, William’s younger brother, drove to the hospital in a separate car which also carried Beatrice and Eugenie, the daughters of the queen’s second youngest son Prince Andrew.

After his treatment, the prince had told doctors he felt “fine” and did not want to “make a fuss”, adding: “I just want to go home,” according to reports.

Papworth is Britain’s largest specialist cardiothoracic hospital and the country’s main heart and lung transplant centre.

The Greek-born prince has become a national institution-almost as much for his often tactless remarks as for his support for the queen over the past six decades. — AFP

LAGOS: Attackers threw a bomb into an Arabic school in mainly Christian southern Nigeria, wounding six children and an adult, police said yesterday, after Christmas attacks sparked fears of sectarian clashes. Meanwhile, some 90,000 people were displaced in the hard hit northeastern city of Damaturu after clashes between Islamist group Boko Haram and security forces last week, with officials rushing to provide relief materials.

Christmas bombings blamed on Boko Haram that killed 40 people occurred in several locations in Nigeria, with the deadliest an explosion outside a church near the capital Abuja as services were ending. Nigerian leaders have been seeking to calm tensions amid fears the Christmas attacks could set off sectarian clashes in Africa’s most populous nation and largest oil producer, roughly divided between a mainly Muslim north and predominately Christian south.

It was not clear who was behind the bomb attack at the Arabic school in Delta state, located in the oil-producing Niger Delta region. While scores of explosions have occurred in the delta in recent years, they have mainly targeted oil installations and have not taken on a sectarian dimension. “A locally made low-capacity explosive was thrown into an Arabic school in Sapele at 10:00 pm yesterday,” said state police spokesman Charles Mouka.

“It was thrown from an unidentified moving car ... Six children and one adult were wounded.” The children are between five and eight years old, he said, and had been at the school for evening Arabic and Koranic lessons.

The area around the school, which has about 50 students, has been cordoned off, Mouka said. Christian leaders have urged authorities to take action against spiralling violence blamed on Boko Haram, with deep frustration over their seeming inability to stop attacks despite heavy-handed military crackdowns.

A Christian leader in Nigeria’s north has warned that “religious war” could result if the problem is not addressed, though he urged Christians not to retaliate. Nigeria’s top Muslim spiritual leader met President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday over the Christmas attacks and afterward said the violence did not signal a religious conflict.

“I want to assure all Nigerians that there is no conflict between Muslims and Christians, between Islam and Christianity,” Sultan of Sokoto Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar told journalists after the 90-minute meeting. “It’s a conflict between evil people and good people. The good people are more than the evil ones, so the good people must come together to defeat the evil ones, and that is the message.”

Jonathan did not speak publicly after the

LAGOS: In a Dec 25, 2011 file photo, onlookers gather around a car destroyed in a blast next to St Theresa Catholic Church in Madalla, Nigeria after an explosion ripped through a Catholic church during Christmas Mass near Nigeria’s capital Sunday, killing scores of people, officials said. —AP meeting, but his national security adviser urged Christians to avoid retaliating over the Christmas bombings. “We are Nigerians. I don’t see any major conflict between the Christian community and Muslim community,” Owoye Azazi said. “Retaliation is not the answer, because if you retaliate, at what point will it end? Nigeria must survive as a nation.”

Violence had been raging even in the days before the Christmas bombings, especially in the northeastern cities of Damaturu, Potiskum

become acting head of state ahead of March presidential polls to get a full grip on Russia amid its protest wave. Analysts said the protests had stunned some Kremlin insiders and speculation had mounted Putin may simply assume President Dmitry Medvedev’s role early after having previously agreeing to swap jobs after the March 4 vote.

“We have not discussed this,” Putin said of the idea of him becoming acting head of state. “There is no need for this.” Putin also said he had no intention of going on a formal vacation to meet what some analysts claim is a constitutional requirement to ensure a level playing field in the campaign. “I like this work,” Putin said. The number of candidates who will face Putin grew to three yesterday after election authorities registered Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov and the flamboyant ultra-nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky. The central election commission had earlier registered Putin-the first candidate to win the honor-and former upper house of parliament head Sergei Mironov of the left-leaning A Fair Russia group. All three had been beaten badly by Putin in previous elections and none is expected to pose a serious challenge to a leader who has remained Russia’s most popular politician for more than a decade despite his recent dip in support. — AFP

any temporary camp for security reasons, therefore most of them are sheltering in the homes of friends and relatives in the city and neighbouring villages.”

In the wake of the clashes and Christmas Day attacks in Damaturu, hundreds of residents could be seen seeking to flee the city, waiting by the roadside or at depots for taxis or buses. The city centre was largely deserted and tense soldiers armed with rifles patrolled. —AFP

Russia court rejects ban of Hindu text

Putin sees little chance for talks with protestors MOSCOW: Prime Minister Vladimir Putin yesterday insisted he favored dialogue with the Russian protest movement but said this was currently impossible as they neither had a leader nor a program. Putin said the opposition movement was too disjointed and that he did not even know which of its speakers attended a rally Saturday that became the largest ever show of discontent of his 12-year domination of public life.

“I do not even know who spoke there,” Putin said in televised comments. “Do they have a common platform? No. ... Is there anyone to talk to? We need to discuss all of their issues, their problems, but this requires some sense.” Saturday’s second demonstration was both larger and more directly focused against Putin than a December 10 protest called in response to a fraud-tainted parliamentary vote won by his ruling party.

Protestors are planning a new event in defence of “political prisoners” on a central Moscow square Thursday that could attract hundreds of people but has not yet been approved by city authorities. “We were never against dialogue with the opposition but we are against all forms of extremism,” added Putin, without giving further details. Putin also rejected speculation that had circulated among some analysts and financial markets that he could

and Maiduguri. Most violence attributed to Boko Haram has occurred in the northeast. In Damaturu, an estimated 90,000 people were displaced, an emergency official said, while a police source and rights group earlier said up to 100 were feared killed.

“Some of the displaced have lost their homes, while others just fled for their security,” said Ibrahim Farinloye of the National Emergency Management Agency. “ We advised the displaced against moving into

MADRID: Spain’s King Juan Carlos, front left, and Queen Sofia, front right, leave followed by Spain’s Crown Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia after the official opening of Parliament, in Madrid, Tuesday. —AP

Spain’s royals reveal salaries for first time MADRID: Spain’s scandal-hit royals revealed their detailed income for the first time yesterday, showing King Juan Carlos received a salary plus expenses of 292,752 euros ($382,600) in 2011. The 73year-old king’s state grant of 140,519 euros was supplemented by 152,233 euros to cover expenses for official duties, said the accounts, published on the royals’ website http://www.casareal.com.

Prince Felipe, 43, who is married to former television news presenter Princess Letizia, had half of that figure, which would be 70,260 euros in a state grant and 76,117 euros in expenses. All top salaries including those of the royal family were cut by 15 percent in 2010 and frozen in 2011, a palace official said. By comparison, Spain’s former prime minis-

ter Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero who left office last week had an annual salary of 78,185 euros, far less than the king’s. The publication of the accounts comes as Spain’s royal family battles a corruption scandal centred on the king’s son in law, 43-year-old former Olympic handball player Inaki Urdangarin. Judges are investigating alleged corruption involving a charitable organisation formerly run by Urdangarin, husband of the king’s youngest daughter Cristina.

He receives no money from the state.

According to the accounts, Queen Sofia, Princess Letizia and the two princesses Cristina and Elena have no fixed sum but receive expenses for official duties, up to a global maximum of 375,000 euros in 2011. — AFP

MOSCOW: A Russian court decided yesterday not to ban a religious text central to the global Hare Krishna movement, rejecting claims that the text is “extremist” and ending a case that has angered Hindus around the world. Prosecutors in the Siberian city of Tomsk had argued that the Russian translation of “Bhagavad Gita As It Is” promotes “social discord” and hatred toward nonbelievers, causing an outcry in India, where many considered the proposed ban a violation of the rights of Hindus in Russia.

The text is a combination of the Bhagavad Gita, one of Hinduism’s holiest scriptures, and commentary by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, which is often called the Hare Krishna movement. The prosecutors had asked the court to include the book on the Federal List of Extremist Materials, which bans more than 1,000 texts, including Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” and books distributed by the Jehovah’s Witness and Scientology movements.

Alexander Shakhov, a lawyer for Hare Krishna devotees in Tomsk, said the group is satisfied with the court’s decision. “This judge’s decision shows that Russia is becoming a truly democratic society,” Shakhov was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency. “We are very excited about this victory.” Yury Pleshakov, a spokesman for the group in Moscow, said the book in question has existed in Russia for 25 years and has never inspired violence or extremist activity.

“On the contrary, this book teaches humane attitude towards all living beings,” Pleshakov said. The trial, which began in June, followed this year’s ban on the construction of a Hare Krishna village in Tomsk and was based on an assessment by professors at Tomsk University, who concluded that “Bhagavad Gita As It Is” includes strong language against nonbelievers and promotes religious hatred and discrimination on the basis of gender, race, nationality and language.

The ruling came a day after Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna met with Alexander Kadakin, Russia’s ambassador to India, and urged the Russian government to resolve the issue. — AP

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Years

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

Roadside bomb kills 3 troops in Afghanistan KABUL: Three troops from the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) have been killed by a roadside bomb in eastern Afghanistan, officials said yesterday. ISAF did not say which country the dead troops were from or give further details of the incident, which happened Tuesday, in line with policy. There are around 130,000 international troops in Afghanistan fighting a Taliban-led insurgency. About 90,000 of them are from the United States.

“Three International Security Assistance Force service members died following an improvised

explosive device attack in eastern Afghanistan yesterday,” the statement said. Much of the decadelong Afghan war’s worst fighting takes place in the east of the country, close to the border with Pakistan. Pakistan closed its supply routes to NATO forces in Afghanistan after 24 Pakistani soldiers were killed by a NATO air strike on November 26 close to the mountainous, porous border.

Amid declining support for the war and fragile economies in the West, all foreign combat troops are due to withdraw from Afghanistan by the end of 2014, by which time Afghan forces and officials

are to be in control of the country. President Hamid Karzai Tuesday called on NATO to disband an irregular security force operating in northern provinces, saying it had been set up “unilaterally” without coordination with the Afghan government.

NATO emphasized yesterday that all such security programs are being disbanded or shifted to Afghan government control. ISAF said the Critical Infrastructure Protection Program, which involves more than 1,500 men, was one of several other units set up to bolster security while regular Afghan forces were still building to full strength. “ISAF

remains committed to ensuring all armed securityrelated organisations fall within the sovereign control of the Afghan government, and specifically under the control of the ministry of interior,” ISAF commander General John Allen said in a statement.

“ISAF will work with the ministry of interior to ensure these groups with association with ISAF are properly transitioned and disbanded.” Human rights groups have warned that US-funded armed groups which are sometimes used to fill the void in security have been linked to abuses, including violence and extortion.— AFP

Indian anti-graft campaigner ends fast, vows to fight on Warning comes after lower house passes a contentious bill

31 injured in Kyrgyzstan in jet’s crash-landing BISHKEK: The Kyrgyz government says that 31 people have been injured in the crash-landing of a passenger jet.

Kyrgyzstan’s Health Ministry said the Soviet-built Tu-134 jet was carrying 95 passengers and six crew when it crash-landed in deep fog yesterday at the airport of the southern city of Osh. Emergency Situations Minister Kubatbek Boronov said the plane

flying from the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek was damaged when it made a rough landing in Osh. He didn’t elaborate, but eyewitnesses said the jet rolled off the runway, broke its wing, overturned and caught fire. Boronov said that 17 of the 31 injured were hospitalized. The Tu-134 is a two-engine jet that has remained in service with many postSoviet carriers.— AP

Grandfather of Slain girl was sex offender INDIANA: To assist her dying father, Tarah Souders made a choice: She moved her three young girls to a run-down trailer park in rural Indiana to help take care of him as his lungs rotted from emphysema. She knew it could be dangerous. The park of about two dozen homes was teeming with convicted sex offenders, with one living at nearly every address. She worried about neighbors with sex offense records who had been helping her father get by, according to trailer park residents. And before she arrived, she even asked her father if her children could be at risk for abuse from two specific men - including a suspect now accused in her daughter’s death.

“He said, ‘No. They will not touch your children. They’re doing everything they’re supposed to do,’” said Greg Shumaker, one of 15 convicted sex offenders who live at the park and the other man that Souders had inquired about. Weeks later, police say, a horrific tragedy unfolded. Her 9-year-old daughter, Aliahna Lemmon, was brutally killed. Police say 39-year-old Michael Plumadore told investigators that he bludgeoned her to death with a brick, then dismembered her and hid her head, hands and feet at her grandfather’s trailer before dumping the other remains elsewhere.

Shumaker said Aliahna’s family moved there to help take care of 66-year-old James E. “Shorty” Lemmon, who also was a convicted sex offender and died Dec. 3. He said Lemmon was “getting old” and “had trouble breathing.”

Shumaker said he introduced Plumadore to Lemmon shortly after Plumadore moved into the trailer park, and Plumadore moved in with Lemmon a few days later. Shumaker said he knew Lemmon because they were both sex offenders and were in jail together.

Sheriff ’s department spokesman Cpl. Jeremy Tinkel confirmed that Lemmon was a sex offender. Indiana Department of Correction records show he was convicted of child molesting in March 2006. Paulette Hair, 45, a former manager at the trailer park who lives at a nearby trailer park, said she also knew Lemmon was a sex offender. “He stayed out of everybody’s way,” she said. “Shorty couldn’t take care of himself very well.”

Shumaker said Plumadore briefly moved away, but returned when Souders asked him to care for her father.

A man who answered the door at Souders’ home Tuesday afternoon referred all questions to the Allen County sheriff’s department. The home was one of only a few at the

trailer park - located off an expressway and across from an open field - that displayed outward signs of children: A small bicycle, play car and cars seat sat on the wooden porch connected to a long wooden ramp. Aliahna and her two younger sisters were staying with Plumadore for about one week because their mother had been sick with the flu.

Richard Patee, 58, whose trailer is next to where Plumadore was living, said he didn’t think it was odd that Aliahna’s mother had him watching the girls for an extended period.

“They had known each other for somewhere of three to four years, I know that, and he took care of their grandfather,” Patee said. “I didn’t see any reason to question it at all.”

Shumaker said it wasn’t unusual for Plumadore to watch Souders’ children “because the kids liked him.” Souders and Aliahna were listed among nearly 600 friends on a Facebook page listed under Plumadore’s name that said he was “Self Employed and Loving It!”, and enjoyed fantasy novels.

According to the affidavit, Plumadore told police that after beating Aliahna to death on the front steps of the home in the early morning hours, he stuffed her body into trash bags and hid her in the freezer. He said he later cut up her body with a hacksaw and stuffed her remains into freezer bags.

The next morning, Plumadore made a trip to a convenience store to buy a cigar, according to surveillance video and The Journal Gazette. Police said Plumadore told them he had hidden Aliahna’s head, feet and hands at the trailer and discarded her other remains at a nearby business. Police obtained a warrant to search the trailer on Monday and found the body parts.

Authorities didn’t say Tuesday why Plumadore killed the child, but Sheriff Ken Fries said investigators suspected Plumadore was involved since soon after she was reported missing Friday night because of inconsistencies in his story that the girl had vanished while he went to a store that morning. “Things that were said in 29 years of doing this that just didn’t make sense,” Fries said during a Tuesday news conference. “We needed to get him to talk.” A judge ordered Plumadore held without bail or bond at an initial hearing Tuesday, Tinkel said. He has yet to be formally charged in Aliahna’s death. Mike McAlexander, the Allen County chief deputy prosecutor, wouldn’t say whether anyone else was suspected of being involved and said “nothing has been ruled out.” —AP

HERAT: An Afghan border policewoman aims her weapon for firing during a live firing exercise in Herat, Afghanistan yesterday. The process of taking over security from over 130,000-strong NATO-led ISAF forces by Afghan troops would be completed by the end of 2014 when Afghanistan will take over the full leadership of its own security duties from US and NATO forces. —AP

MUMBAI: Indian anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare yesterday called off his latest hunger strike but vowed to step up his campaign to turn voters against the “traitors” in the ruling party and government. The 74-year-old’s warning came after the lower house of parliament passed a contentious bill to tackle toplevel graft, amid widespread disquiet at scandals including ministers and senior officials.

Hazare only began what was billed as a three-day fast in the financial capital Mumbai on Tuesday. He has been laid low with a virus since the weekend and heeded the advice of doctors to bring the protest to a premature end. “Today I will break the fast,” he told a smaller-than-expected crowd of several thousand supporters at the venue for the protest.

“We will discuss the future strategy to launch our fight against corruption.”

The lacklustre response to his latest fast has raised speculation that he is not the force he appeared to be earlier in the year when he marshalled tens of thousands during a 12-day hunger strike in New Delhi in August. In a sign of his increasingly bitter battle with the ruling Congress party and the administration of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, he said he would tour five states holding elections next year to educate voters about corruption.

“We will tour all the five states and ask people not to vote for the traitors of this country,” he said, adding that he would organise further protests in the capital on December 30 and January 1-2. The Lokpal, or ombudsman, bill has has become a political albatross around the neck of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s coalition government. The bill, creating an ombudsman to probe graft among senior politicians and civil servants, cleared its first hurdle in the lower house of parliament late on Tuesday after a fractious debate.

What form the legislation will take has dominated the political agenda for months, piling pressure on Singh’s administration already under pressure over a series of highprofile corruption scandals. The government had to redraft an earlier version in the wake of mass protests across the country in August,

spearheaded by Hazare, who claimed the new law would be toothless and do nothing to curb endemic graft.

Hazare and opposition parties opposed the re-draft on the same grounds. Despite the early end to his hunger strike, Hazare said he would continue to fight what he claimed was a government that was “acting like a dictator”.

“If this continues, what can we do? We have to save the country. Every one of you should be ready to go to jail,” he told supporters. “The day the jails are full of people, the government will have to give in.” More than 170,000 people have signed up to court arrest and imprisonment by protesting outside the homes of government ministers and members of parliament, according to Hazare’s India Against Corruption group.

The government’s victory on Tuesday in passing the draft law in the lower house of

MUMBAI: Indian anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare, right, is offered a glass of juice by a young girl as he ends his fast, a day earlier than planned in Mumbai, India yesterday.—AP

Public outraged by man’s euthanized cat PHOENIX: Some outraged donors are threatening to pull their support for the Humane Society after it euthanized the beloved cat of a former heroin addict hours after he brought it in for medical treatment. The Arizona Republic reports that Daniel Dockery’s 9-month-old cat, Scruffy, was put down not because of cuts it got from a fence but because the 49-year-old Phoenix man couldn’t immediately pay $400 for its care.

Dockery said that he reluctantly surrendered the cat to the Humane Society on Dec 8 after clinic staff declined to take a credit card from his mother over the phone or wait 24 hours for her to wire him cash. They told him that the cat only would be treated if he signed over ownership, he said. Dockery searched for the cat for three weeks at agency shelters and repeatedly asked staff what had happened to Scruffy but learned Tuesday that the cat was euthanized a few hours after he brought her in.

“Now I’ve got to think about how I failed that beautiful animal,” Dockery said. “I failed her. ... That’s so wrong.

There was no reason for her not to be treated.” Humane Society spokeswoman Stacy Pearson said the agency took Scruffy intending to treat it and put it in foster care, but when she was taken to a second-chance clinic with three other cats, doctors were only available to treat two of them.

“It was never intended for that cat to be euthanized,” she said. “This truly is a worst-case scenario ... and it is one the Arizona Humane Society must deal with every day.” She said that if Dockery paid for the treatment or the clinic had accepted his mother’s credit card by phone, Scruffy would not

parliament was tempered by its failure to get the two-thirds majority required to make the bill a more permanent constitutional amendment. Singh described that as “a bit of disappointment” while observers saw the failure as a personal defeat for Rahul Gandhi, who is widely tipped as India’s next premier, as he proposed the move.

There is also a strong chance that final passage of the bill could be delayed as Singh’s ruling coalition does not have a majority in the upper house. Some analysts said the vote would give the government a major boost after a series of legislative setbacks in recent months and repeated accusations of policy drift. “The Congress has not just silenced the opposition but also the civil society members who were their biggest threat,” said Anjana Mathur, a political science professor at Delhi University. — AFP

have been taken to the secondchance clinic. The Humane Society said it is reviewing its credit-card policy because of what happened to Scruffy.

Dockery said that for the past nine months, Scruffy has been his closest companion and has helped him stay off drugs for more than a year, the longest stretch he’s ever been clean. A recovering heroin addict with a lengthy prison record, Dockery has a handful of friends and a caretaking job in Phoenix that provides him with room and board. He said that as he hand-fed Scruffy even before she opened her eyes at 4 days old, he found that he was nursing his own way back into society. He raised money to have Scruffy spayed. The kitten ate from fresh cans of tuna and slept on Dockery’s pillow at night.

Dockery’s mother, Donna Koning, of Muskegon, Michigan, said she believes that when her son told the Humane Society workers that he didn’t have a real job, they assumed Dockery was homeless and couldn’t care for an animal. “Don’t you have enough animals in the shelter that you would not want to take a beloved pet from someone who clearly cares for it?” she asked.

A Republic story on Saturday about Dockery’s search for Scruffy led to an outpouring of support, as more than 150 people emailed and called to offer Dockery financial help, new kittens and free veterinarian ser vices.

Residents also expressed outrage on the Humane Society’s Facebook page, which was flooded with messages from donors threatening to pull donations. “Shame on you!” wrote several people.—AP

‘Improve US coordination with Pakistan’ WASHINGTON: Military officials have not ruled out disciplinary action as a result of the cross-border attack that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, but no one has been punished to date, the Pentagon said Tuesday. An investigation into the lateNovember incident concluded that a persistent lack of trust between the US and Pakistan, and a series of communications and coordination errors on both sides, led to the attacks. Navy Capt. John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman, said military leaders will use the final report on the investigation to determine if anyone should be punished. Those decisions, he said, would be made by officers in the chain of command, depending on whether they found that mistakes were made

by US or NATO personnel. As a result of the probe, the top US general for the Middle East issued a list of improvements Monday he said must be made to keep similar mistakes from happening.

US Marine Gen. James N Mattis, commander of US Central Command, ordered commanders in Afghanistan to improve coordination of operations along the AfghanPakistan border with Pakistani military, and ensure that all border stations are listed correctly on maps. Mattis also ordered commanders to confirm border post locations before beginning operations along the border. And he ordered commanders to share military practices and procedures with the Pakistanis so they can better understand US operations.

It’s not certain the new orders will solve the problems, because Pakistan refused to participate in the investigation.

It still is unclear why Pakistani troops initially fired on US soldiers who had landed by helicopter near a village close to the border as part of a mission to go after insurgents.

The US investigation found that the Pakistani forces fired first and that US troops acted in self-defense. But US efforts to determine if there were Pakistani forces in the area were foiled by bad maps, poor coordination and Islamabad’s failure to provide the locations of its border posts. The investigation, headed by Brig. Gen. Stephen Clark, an Air Force special operations officer, found that US forces relying on erroneous maps and poor communications, determined that there were no Pakistani forces or border posts in the area. So they concluded that they were being fired on by insurgents.

US forces also believed that since they had landed in distinctive, noisy Chinook helicopters and fired off warning flares, any friendly forces would have realized that they were shooting at American or NATO troops. The report also revealed that a US C-130 gunship briefly flew about two miles into Pakistan airspace during the assault.—AP

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2011

Years

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

Japan has year without executions TOKYO: Japan has not executed anyone so far in 2011, the government said yesterday, setting it up to be the first year in nearly two decades the country has not carried out a single death sentence. However, the number of inmates on death row stands at a post-war high of 129 as a debate on the rights and wrongs of capital punishment continues.

In a legal quirk, executions-always carried out by hanging in Japan-are banned over the New Year period, with a moratorium between December 29 and January 3 as well as on weekends and public holidays. A justice ministry

spokesman confirmed late yesterday afternoon that there had been no execution in the year 2011 until December 27. “ We have not been informed of any execution so far during this day (December 28).”

Justice Minister Hideo Hiraoka has not signalled his intention to order the execution of any inmate in the year’s remaining days, the major daily Asahi Shimbun reported. “I don’t think it has a great significance in itself,” Hiraoka told a news conference on Tuesday when asked about the possibility of a year without executions. The ministry spokesman said the number of death-

row inmates rose from 111 at the end of 2010 to 129 as of December 27.

The last execution in Japan was in July 2010 when then justice minister Keiko Chiba, a former socialist and lawyer, approved the hanging of two inmates, despite her long-time opposition to the death penalty. In an unusual move, Chiba attended the executions and later allowed the media to visit the execution chamber at the Tokyo Detention House in a bid to increase public debate over the death penalty. Apart from the United States, Japan is the only major industrialised democracy to carry out capital punish-

ment, a practice that has earned Tokyo repeat protests from European governments and human rights groups.

Since the end of World War II, only five years have been free of executions: 1964, 1968 and three consecutive years from 1990. Eighty-four inmates have been hanged in Japan since 1993, Kyodo news agency reported, quoting human rights groups. Justice minister Hiraoka has shown reluctance to approve any executions, saying national debate is needed on whether Japan should maintain or abolish the death penalty, which is generally reserved for those

convicted of multiple murders.

Hiraoka invited experts from Britain and France last week to explain how the two countries abolished capital punishment, the conservative daily Sankei Shimbun said. But there is growing frustration among families of murder victims.

“The case is not over until the death penalty is carried out,” said Masaya Miyazono, whose daughter was stabbed to death in 1999 by a man who was eventually condemned to death. “I cannot die before the criminal does,” the 77-year-old told Sankei. —AFP

China blames 54 officials for bullet train crash Several ordered dismissed from Party posts

NEW DELHI: Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda (L) shakes hands with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh prior to delegation talks in New Delhi yesterday. Prime Minister Noda is expected to unveil a currency swap deal and reopen talks on a civil nuclear pact with India. —AFP

Noda pushes for stronger India ties NEW DELHI: Japanese prime minister Yoshihiko Noda pushed for deeper ties with India yesterday on a lightning 36hour trip to New Delhi, where he was poised to sign a slew of accords. The agreements include a currency swap deal that could help bolster the flagging Indian rupee and Noda told a business audience in the capital: “I am convinced we need to strengthen the economic partnership.”

“Japan has technology and capital while India has a young workforce as well as abundant demand for infrastructure,” he said, calling the “complementarity ” between the second- and thirdlargest Asian economies “unmatched”.

Coming on the heels of a trip to China where the main emphasis was political diplomacy, especially in the aftermath of the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il, Noda’s visit to fast-rising India stressed economic ties.

Noda said a landmark free -trade agreement signed in February under which the high-tech nation and the South Asian giant will scrap tariffs on 94 percent of goods within a decade would strengthen relations. The countries’ twoway trade stands at around $14 billion and is targeted to rise to $25 billion by 2014 — but that sum is still a fraction of Japan’s $300-billion trade with China.

Among the many deals expected to be signed yesterday was a multi-billiondollar swap agreement that could assist India in defending the rupee, which has slid around 15 percent this year. The currency swap, under which Japan could lend India dollars, is an expansion of a previous $3 billion accord and would help India cope with the rapid withdrawal of funds by overseas investors amid global financial turmoil.

“It makes a lot of sense for our two

countries to expand their swap agreement for the stability of global currency markets,” Japanese government spokesman Nori Shikata told reporters in New Delhi. Japanese officials in Tokyo have put the amount of the swap line at around $10 billion. Noda was also expected to announce a $4.5 billion investment in an ambitious $100-billion infrastructure project to create a manufacturing and freight corridor from New Delhi to financial hub Mumbai.

“Japan is an invaluable and strategic partner in the process of India’s development,” Commerce Minister Anand Sharma told the same business audience.

The two countries were also expected to restart nuclear negotiations that stalled after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in March 2011. Japan and India launched talks in June 2010 on a nuclear cooperation pact that would allow Tokyo to export its cutting-edge technology to the energy-hungry South Asian nation, a hotly contested market for atomic plants.

Japan is worried that nuclear-armed India has not signed the Nuclear NonProliferation Treaty but Shikata said “as a matter of basic policy we’re interested in promoting use of Japanese civilian nuclear technology in India”. Nonetheless the Fukushima nuclear accident, triggered by a huge earthquake and tsunami, has also clouded the possibility of any deal. Relations between the countries have only warmed in recent years after Tokyo was sharply critical of New Delhi’s surprise nuclear weapons test in 1998.

But India is an attractive market for Japan with its growing middle class, especially with Western economies slowing. Tokyo is also keen to forge regional partnerships as a counterweight to China’s growing might. —AFP

PRACHUAP KHIRI KHAN: Members of a rescue team search for injured passengers of a train accident in Prachuap Khiri Khan province, southern Thailand yesterday. A special express train running from Surat Thani province to Bangkok derailed in Prachuap Khiri Khan province after hitting a pick-up truck, killing one person and injuring about 30 passengers. —AFP

BEIJING: China said yesterday that 54 people would be punished for design flaws and poor management it blamed for a fatal July crash on the nation’s flagship high-speed rail network that sparked public fury. The highly critical statement from the State Council, or cabinet, said the railway ministry had mishandled the rescue and failed to address public concern after the disaster, which killed at least 40 people and wounded nearly 200.

The cabinet repeated earlier government findings that a July 23 lightning strike stalled one highspeed train near the eastern city of Wenzhou and caused signalling equipment to fail, allowing a second train to rear-end the first. “The Ministry of Railways did not properly handle rescue efforts, did not issue information quickly, and failed to address public concerns in the proper fashion,” the cabinet statement said. “The China Railway Signal and Communication Corp, the main signalling equipment contractor, did not fulfil its full responsibility, which resulted in serious design flaws and security risks in the equipment it supplied.

“The relevant workers in the Shanghai Railway Department had little training in safety awareness, and after the accident happened, they did not carry out their duties properly or correctly.”

The crash triggered a flood of criticism of the government and led authorities to freeze the rapid expansion of China’s ambitious high-speed rail network, already the world’s most extensive and held up by Beijing as a sign of rapid progress. The crash, China’s worst rail accident since 2008, also sparked accusations that the government had compromised safety in its rush to develop and raised questions over the consequences of corruption.

Users of the country’s hugely popular microblogs demanded to know why the system failed to inform the driver of one train that the train in front had halted, and

also questioned whether the death toll might be higher than authorities admitted. Even China’s official media weighed in, with the People’s Daily newspaper the Communist Party’s mouthpiece-

ways would be further investigating its officials. China Central Television devoted several minutes to the cabinet findings, showing footage of Premier Wen Jiabao addressing the State Council, inter-

ZHEJIANG: In this July 24, 2011 file photo, a derailed train car is removed from a bridge as workers clear up the wreckage after a train accident in Wenzhou in east China’s Zhejiang province. A long-awaited government report said yesterday design flaws and sloppy management caused the bullet train crash in July. —AP saying the country did not need “blood-soaked GDP”. The cabinet statement made no mention of the deaths or injuries in the accident or compensation for the victims but said the ministry of rail-

Philippine rebels earn millions from extortion MANILA: Philippine communist rebels waging one of Asia’s longest running insurgencies earned millions of extortion dollars from businesses this year, the military said yesterday.

Reports compiled by the armed forces from its various field units estimate that New People’s Army (NPA) got at least 300 million pesos ($6.9 million) from “revolutionary taxes” imposed on establishments in areas where they operate.

Those who failed to fork out money were typically targeted with attacks that destroyed their businesses, the military said in a statement. The most significant attack this year took place on the southern island of Mindanao in October, when NPA rebels raided three mine sites, destroying property and forcing the temporary closure of the country’s biggest nickel producer.

The rebels had also kidnapped a town mayor, two soldiers and four jail guards in separate instances, who they later freed after weeks in captivity.

“We are concerned with the direction (in which) they are heading now. Resorting to criminal activities for funding and attacking civilians to command obedience are signs of desperation,” military chief Lieutenant General Jessie Dellosa said. “The NPA is losing mass base support, thus they have resorted to force and intimidation to coerce people.” The NPA is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, which has been waging a rebellion since 1969.

Peace talks with the communists have reached an impasse after Manila in November rejected rebel demands to free 18 jailed guerrillas the NPA said were consultants to its negotiating team. — AFP

cut with animated graphics of lightning striking the rail tracks.

The cabinet said the former railway minister Liu Zhijun and Zhang Shuguang, a former deputy chief engineer at the railway ministry,

would be among those punished for the accident. Liu was sacked in February over corruption charges, after he allegedly took more than 800 million yuan ($125 million) in kickbacks over several years on contracts linked to the high-speed network. Zhang, who was closely tied to Liu and involved in the high-speed rail’s design, was suspended in March. The cabinet recommended that all 54 railway officials singled out for punishment should be disciplined with demotions and the loss of their positions within the nation’s ruling Communist Party.

The cabinet did not say what criminal charges, if any, would be pressed. Those singled out for punishment were from the China Railway Signal and Communication Corp, the Design Institute of Signals and Communication, the railway ministry and the Shanghai Railway Department, the statement said.

Another man named as responsible was Ma Cheng, the deceased former CEO of the Signals & Communications Group.

China’s high-speed rail system only opened to passengers in 2007, but grew at breakneck speed thanks to huge state funding and is already the largest in the world, with 8,358 kilometres (5,193 miles) of track at the end of last year. In December 2010, the railways ministry announced that a Chinese high-speed train had reached a speed of 486 kilometres per hour, smashing the world record for an unmodified train.

But earlier this year, cracks started to emerge. China’s state auditor in March said construction companies and individuals last year siphoned off 187 million yuan in funds meant for a flagship new Beijing-Shanghai link that launched just before the crash.

Authorities decided to limit speeds on the high-speed network to 300 kph following the allegations of widespread, high-level graft in the rail sector, with fears that safety had been compromised. — AFP

Court in Thailand jails, then bails firebrand ‘red shirt’ BANGKOK: A Thai court jailed a firebrand leader of the country’s “red shirt” movement yesterday for his role in a 2008 attack on rival political demonstrators but immediately released him on bail pending an appeal. Kwanchai Praipana, formerly the leader of the red shirts in their northeastern stronghold, also faces charges of terrorism in a separate case over his role in the arson and rioting that erupted in May last year after a bloody crackdown by troops on red shirt demonstrators.

He was sentenced to four years in prison yesterday and fined 350,000 baht ($11,100) for the July 2008 attack on rival “yellow shirt” protesters, but the term was cut to 32 months after he confessed to assault, causing serious bodily harm and destroying public property. Kwanchai appealed against the ruling and was freed on bail, an official at the Udon Thani court said by telephone. He is a staunch ally of ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, the self-exiled red shirt figurehead at the heart of a protracted political crisis and elder

brother of current Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

Kwanchai was an influential radio host and hardcore red shirt who led marches across Bangkok that descended into clashes with the military that left 91 people dead and 1,800 wounded in what was Thailand’s worst political violence in decades. He was among seven red shirt leaders charged with terrorism who were released on bail in February after serving nine months in prison. Thaksin, who lives in exile in Dubai, is also wanted on terrorism charges and is accused of inciting violence.

In another case yesterday, the same court released on bail another prominent red shirt leader, Arisman Pongruengrong, a popular singer charged with terrorism, invading parliament and theft of military ammunition.

He surrendered to police on Dec. 7 after spending the past year in hiding in Cambodia.

He was initially denied bail, but the court released him after he pledged a bond of six million baht of his assets. — Reuters

Volcanic mudflow kills 3 in Indonesia JAKARTA: At least three people were killed by floods awash with volcanic mud in eastern Indonesia and thousands more displaced, an official said yesterday.

Mount Gamalama, which forms the entire island of Ternate in the Maluku chain, erupted and spewed a column of ash about 2,000 metres (6,500) feet) into the air early this month, although there were no casualties or injuries then.

But two rivers on the eastern side of the 1,715-metre volcano overflowed Tuesday after heavy rains, carrying volcanic debris down to six villages, the

Ternate disaster management agency said. “Three people were killed in the lava mudflow and at least 2,561 villagers have been displaced. They are now being sheltered in several government offices,” agency official Sukarjan Firto told AFP. The Indonesian archipelago has dozens of active volcanoes and straddles major tectonic fault lines known as the “Ring of Fire” around the Pacific Ocean.

The country ’s most active volcano, Mount Merapi in central Java, killed more than 350 people in a series of violent eruptions last year. — AFP

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2011

Years

NEWS

The funeral procession of late North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il goes through snow covered Pyongyang yesterday. — AP

Mubarak returns to court Continued from Page 1 The trial came to a halt when lawyers asked that judge Refaat be replaced, a request that was subsequently rejected on Dec 7. Mubarak’s first hearing on Aug 3 was broadcast live on television, but Refaat soon ordered the cameras out. The judge drew the ire of lawyers representing Mubarak’s alleged victims after he issued a media gag order on testimony by high-profile witnesses, including Tantawi. In statements after his testimony, Tantawi said Mubarak had never ordered the shooting of protesters.

Mubarak is the first leader to be toppled in the so-called Arab Spring uprisings to appear before a court. Despite the media frenzy at the start of the case, his fate has since been overshadowed by deadly clashes between the army and people protesting against the military junta that took over

Snow, tears mark Kim funeral

when the long-time president resigned. Attention was also diverted to the first post-revolution legislative elections that began on Nov 28, in which Islamists have emerged as front-runners.

It is widely expected that the resumption of the trial would be merely procedural, with little discussion of the accusations against Mubarak. But lawyers supporting the former president are hoping to clear his name. Yussri Abdel Razek, who heads the defence committee - which includes four Kuwaiti lawyers - said Tuesday he had obtained “new documents that will prove Mubarak’s innocence”. Mubarak resigned on Feb 11 after three decades of autocratic rule following a popular uprising in which more than 6,000 were also injured. He is being held in a military hospital, where he receives treatment for a heart condition. His lawyer Farid AlDeeb says Mubarak suffers from stomach cancer. — AFP

IRAN BOASTS ‘REALLY EASY’ TO CLOSE HORMUZ...

Continued from Page 1 More than a third of the world’s tanker-borne oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic choke point that links the Gulf - and its petroleum-exporting states of Bahrain, Iran, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates - to the Indian Ocean. The United States maintains a naval presence in the Gulf in large part to ensure that passage for oil remains free. But Sayyari asserted that the Strait of Hormuz “is completely under the control of the Islamic Republic of Iran”. He said Iran’s navy was constituted with the aim of being able to close the strait if necessary.

“The Iranians conduct exercises on a fairly routine basis in this area. That’s something that we know about,” Little said in Washington. “That being said, any effort to raise the temperature on tensions surrounding the Strait of Hormuz is unhelpful,” he said, adding that there was no sign of Iran taking provocative steps near the channel.

“I’m unaware of any aggressive hostile action directed toward US vessels in the...Gulf or the Strait of Hormuz,” or against other ships, Little said. France called on Iran to respect international law and allow unhindered passage of all ships through the strait.

Sayyari, meanwhile, said the navy manoeuvres east of the strait were designed to show Gulf neighbours the power of Iran’s military over the zone.

Ships and aircraft dropped mines in the sea on Tuesday as part of the drill, and yesterday drones flew out over the Indian Ocean, according to a navy spokesman, Admiral Mahmoud Mousavi. Iran has several times said it is ready to target the strait if it is attacked or economically strangled by Western sanctions over its nuclear program. An Iranian lawmaker’s comments last week that the navy exercises would block the Strait of Hormuz briefly sent oil prices soaring before that was denied by the government.

Tehran in September rejected a Washington call for a military hotline between the capitals to defuse any

“miscalculations” that could occur between their navies in the Gulf.

In Washington, US State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner dismissed Rahimi’s threat. “I just think it’s another attempt by them to distract attention from the real issue, which is their continued non-compliance with their international nuclear obligations,” Toner told reporters. The United States and other Western countries accuse Iran of using its uranium enrichment program to build nuclear weapons. Iran denies the charges.

Extra US and European sanctions aimed at Iran’s oil and financial sectors are being considered. A European Union spokesman said yesterday the bloc was pressing ahead with those plans regardless of Tehran’s threat.

And the Saudi oil ministry official told AP that OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia and other Gulf producers were ready to step in if necessary to offset any potential loss of Iranian oil in the world market. He did not say what other routes the Gulf nations could take to ship the oil if the strait was closed off. Theodore Karasik, an analyst at the Dubai-based Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis, said Iran would likely need to use a combination of sea mines and direct attacks on ships passing through the strait to truly close it. “They would physically have to attack and maintain hold of that property. And everyone in the neighborhood is going to (try to) stop them,” Karasik said.

During a public speech in Iran’s western province of Ilam yesterday, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad implied Tehran had no intention of changing course. “We will not yield to pressure to abandon our rights ... The Iranian nation will not withdraw from its right (to nuclear technology) even one iota because of the pressures,” said Ahmadinejad, whose firm nuclear stance has stoked many ordinary Iranians’ sense of national dignity.

An Iranian analyst who declined to be named said the leadership could not reach a compromise with the West over its nuclear activities as it “would harm

its prestige among its core supporters”.

As a result, he said, “Iranian officials are showing their teeth to prevent a military strike”. But he added that closing the Strait of Hormuz would harm Iran’s economy, undermining the Iranian leadership ahead of a parliamentary election in March. The election will be the first litmus test of the clerical establishment’s popularity since the 2009 disputed presidential vote, that the opposition says was rigged to secure Ahmadinejad’s re-election.

“The threat by Iran to close the Strait of Hormuz supported the oil market yesterday, but the effect is fading today as it will probably be empty threats as they cannot stop the flow for a longer period due to the amount of US hardware in the area,” said Thorbjoern bak Jensen, an oil analyst with Global Risk Management. The US Fifth Fleet consists of 20-plus ships supported by combat aircraft, with 15,000 people afloat and another 1,000 ashore.

Iranian media are describing how Iran could move to close the strait, saying the country would use a combination of warships, submarines, speed boats, anti-ship cruise missiles, torpedoes, surface-to-sea missiles and drones to stop ships from sailing through the narrow waterway. Iran’s navy claims it has sonar-evading submarines designed for shallow waters of the Arabian Gulf, enabling it to hit passing enemy vessels.

A closure of the strait could temporarily cut off some oil supplies and force shippers to take longer, more expensive routes that would drive oil prices higher. It also potentially opens the door for a military confrontation that would further rattle global oil markets.

Iran claimed a victory this month when it captured an American surveillance drone almost intact. It went public with its possession of the RQ-170 Sentinel to trumpet the downing as a feat of Iran’s military in a complicated technological and intelligence battle with the US American officials have said that US intelligence assessments indicate the drone malfunctioned. — Agencies

Continued from Page 1 television lining the route or parading outside the palace.

“Seeing this white snow fall has made me think of the general’s efforts and this brings tears to my eyes,” Seo Ju-rim, a red-cheeked, weeping female soldier, told North Korean television, referring to Kim. “I wished it was a dream, how can this be true,” sobbed one middleaged woman named Kim. “How can anything like this ever happen in the world?” “ The people bid farewell to father General in great sorrow,” read the main headline in ruling party newspaper Rodong Sinmun. “The most heartbreaking time has come, when we cannot but bid farewell to the great father everyone in this land had followed with their hearts and souls.” Millions of servicemen and civilians were “firmly determined to become the guns and bombs to protect our dear comrade Kim Jong-Un and the warriors to realise his ideals and intentions”.

Kim gave North Korea dignity as a country “that manufactured and launched artificial satellites and accessed nukes”, the paper’s editorial said.

Since the elder Kim died of a heart attack on Dec 17 aged 69, the North’s propaganda machine has

been heaping tributes on both him and Jong-Un, aged in his late 20s.

Official media has declared Jong-Un the “great successor” and chief of the ruling party and military. “The funeral revealed some clues about who will stand beside Kim Jong-Un to protect him,” Professor Kim YongHyun of Seoul’s Dongguk University told AFP. Apart from Jang, those accompanying the coffin included senior ruling party officials Kim Ki-Nam and Choe Thae-Bok; military chief Ri Yong-Ho; armed forces minister Kim Yong-Chun; and Kim Jong-Gak, in charge of military administration and organisation. Professor Kim said Kim Ki-Nam and Choe Thae-Bok were symbolic figures representing the ruling party. “The other four including Jang are expected to play a key role in the next government under Jong-Un. They will serve as the protectors and sponsors of Jong-Un to prop up his regime,” he said. Yang Moo-Jin of Seoul’s University of North Korean Studies said the people walking beside the hearse “played a key role under Kim Jong-Il and are expected to become the pillars of the Kim Jong-Un regime”.

The late Kim inherited power from his own father and founding president Kim Il-Sung before passing it on to his son. The dynasty has

been buttressed by a huge personality cult, the world’s fourth-largest military and a repressive internal security apparatus. Kim died while taking a train to make a “field guidance” visit, state media has said, portraying him as a tireless worker for his people to the end.

“It seems the sky knows well how much he got snowed on during his uninterrupted field guidance tour for the happiness of the people,” the official news agency said of yesterday’s snowfall. “We will overcome the overwhelming grief today and continue our victory...as we have comrade Kim Jong-Un, the supreme leader of our party and people,” said a female TV presenter during a live broadcast.

Mourning will officially end today with a nationwide memorial service including a three-minute silence.

Kim’s body is expected to be embalmed in the memorial palace where the corpse of his father is already on display, according to South Korean newspaper Korea JoongAng Daily. Across the heavily fortified border in South Korea, defectors launched leaflets into their former homeland calling for an end to the Kim dynasty. “Kim JongIl. Go to hell!” read a banner attached to one of the giant balloons carrying bundles of leaflets across the frontier. — Agencies

Interior forms teams to fight vote-buying Continued from Page 1 government to sponsor the idea. Head of the society Salah Al-Ghazali said the money was donated by a private person and called on the government to take a similar measure in order to curb vote-buying. Hours after their formation, assistant undersecretary for public security Maj Gen Mahmoud Al-Dossari chaired a meeting of the teams which discussed ways and means to apply the law and prevent irregularities during the elections.

The minister’s decision comes a day after the interior ministry referred five cases of outlawed tribal primaries to the public prosecutor who has opened an investigation and could start summoning those accused. Those tribal primaries were held on Saturday by five tribes in the fifth constituency. The ministry said that it has submitted substantial material evidence for the crime. But the Mutairi tribe, the largest in the fourth electoral district, went ahead and held its own primary late Tuesday, while the other big tribe in the district, the Rasheedi, postponed their primaries. Mutairis selected four candidates who will represent them in the general polls. The primary was reportedly boycotted by the majority of the tribe especially after the main candidates and exMPs decided not to take part in the illegal elections.

The interior ministry reiterated in a new statement yesterday that it will continue to clamp down on tribal primaries and assured citizens that it has the means to do so. A new youth group called “Herak” yesterday issued a statement calling on voters in the fifth con-

stituency to ignore the outcome of the tribal primaries and vote for the best candidate in the general elections.

With two days left for the registration of candidates, the number of hopefuls who signed to contest for the 50 National Assembly seats rose to 300 yesterday after 29 new candidates registered and five dropped out.

Two new women candidates registered yesterday, raising the number of females to 19 so far. Only one member of the dissolved house - Saad Al-Khanfour - filed his nominations papers yesterday. Jamal Al-Omar and Abdullah Al-Arada, MPs in previous assemblies, also signed.

Ex-Shiite MP Youssef Al-Zalzalah announced yesterday that he will not contest the elections despite attempts by many voters to convince him. So far, nine ex-MPs have publicly said they will not run. Zalzalah was implicated in the illegal banking deposits scandal.

In total, six of at least 13 ex-MPs involved in the scandal have decided not to bid for re-election.

The Kuwait Progressive Movement meanwhile called for major constitutional and political reforms in the country which it stressed were essential to develop the country’s democratic system and achieve political stability. The leftist movement called for amending at least four articles in the constitution to make it mandatory for the new government to seek confidence from the Assembly and allow MPs to file no-confidence motion against the Cabinet any time without a grilling. It also called for amending an article in the constitution to prevent ministers from becoming members of parliament like elected MPs.

14

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2011

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Issues

Poland scored victories with EU presidency

By Dominika Maslikowski oland took over the rotating presidency of the European Union as enthusiasm for the bloc waned amid the financial crisis, but analysts say it managed to chalk up some success despite difficult circumstances. Poland “seized the opportunity” arising from one of the “most challenging periods” in the history of the bloc, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso noted recently. “It is in times of difficulties that we have to see where the real, committed Europeans are,” he told the European Parliament.

Poland inherited the EU’s six-month rotating presidency on July 1, promising to infuse optimism back into a bloc mired by the bailout of three member states and ongoing debt problems in Greece. The former communist country, which joined the EU in 2004, also hoped to refocus some of the bloc’s attention - absorbed by prodemocracy protests on its southern front - back on its eastern neighbours. It did manage to finalize an accession treaty with Croatia, but a planned EU-Ukraine association agreement stalled amid concerns about Kiev’s treatment of jailed former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, whose seven-year prison sentence was seen as politically motivated.

And a high-profile September summit in Warsaw designed to strengthen ties between the EU and its eastern neighbours turned into a diplomatic snafu when Belarus walked out of the talks after being chided over its opposition crackdown. The EU also delayed Bulgaria and Romania’s accession to the border-free Schengen area amid rule-of-law concerns, in what was the “biggest disappointment” of the presidency, according to Poland’s European affairs minister, Mikolaj Dowgielewicz.

The country had raised some eyebrows of its own early in the presidency, when it pushed for unprecedented access as a non-euro member to meetings of the eurozone finance ministers. But it eventually backed down and in the end, analysts said, Poland’s turn at the helm of the EU helped show the European community that it could speak in a unified voice amid the crisis. “The presidency is regarded positively especially when it comes to Poland’s image as an actor seeking to strive for unity,” Tomasz Grosse of the Kosciuszko Institute think-tank told dpa. “Our foreign partners have a very good opinion of this presidency, so it’s beneficial to Poland’s image,” he added. “Poland’s administrators also proved themselves in action and hopefully they will be able to use these abilities on the European stage.”

That new image is a shift from how many regarded Poland when Lech Kaczynski was president. Kaczynski, who died last year in a plane crash in Russia, had been known for his sharp critiques of Moscow and Berlin, and for his spats with the ruling party over Poland’s role in the EU. Poland now has discarded the image of “a country that has continuous problems with its neighbours,” European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek, a former Polish prime minister, said this month while summing up the six-month presidency. “Poland broke many stereotypes that others had of it as a country that looks only at itself,” said analyst Pawel Swieboda of the think-tank demosEUROPA. “It began to be seen as neutral and willing to make compromises.”

Opinions in Poland, however, remain divided on whether the country should strive for deeper EU integration or focus on its own national interests. The opposition Law and Justice party recently criticized Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski for advocating a stronger European Commission, saying it would limit Polish national sovereignty. But Warsaw stayed clear of such debates during the presidency for the sake of maintaining unity, analysts said. “Poland tried to accent a pro-European stance during the presidency and tried to marginalize calls to national interests,” Grosse said. “They tried to minimize internal conflicts between the government and the opposition ... to be more pro-European.”

Those efforts seem to have paid off, with Barroso saying that Poland’s support of a stronger Europe was “very inspiring”. The presidency also affected EU’s critics in Poland, who maintain that the bloc is unfairly dominated

by Germany and France. “Critics of the EU in Poland say we are overlooked when the EU makes decisions,” Swieboda said. “But the presidency showed those opinions are somewhat unfounded. In the last months, we’ve had more of a leadership role.” — dpa

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

Ivorian leadership faces conundrum

By Thomas Morfin ecent deadly clashes involving Ivory Coast ex-rebels highlight the most urgent and difficult task facing President Alassane Ouattara - reforming the armed forces without alienating the men who swept him to power. What could have remained a minor altercation between a soldier from the Republican Forces of Ivory Coast (FRCI) and a local youth in Sikensi near Abidjan Monday, degenerated into inter-ethnic clashes that left four dead and 15 wounded. The scrap pitted members of the southern Abidji tribe against FRCI fighters and members of the northern Malinke tribe.

A similar scenario a week earlier in the western region of Vavoua left six dead, as Ouattara grappled with the inevitable challenges of reining in victorious rebelturned-government forces. The backbone of the west African country’s army consists of northern former rebels who helped

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Ouattara gain the upper hand in his deadly and protracted election dispute with former president Laurent Gbagbo. NordSud, a newspaper close to former rebel chief Guillaume Soro, now prime minister, blamed the recurring violence on provocation from Gbagbo’s camp but admitted the FRCI were not exempt from blame.

The latest incidents show that the division between north and south, Gbagbo and Ouattara supporters, Malinke and southern tribes is deep, one expert said on condition of anonymity. “Ethnic and political differences are raw: reconciliation will take time,” the expert said. The most immediate conundrum is the de facto integration into the regular army of thousands of former rebels who need to be given a job. “All of them cannot remain in the army. When they are given the boot, some will become carjackers, others thieves and the rest will just be on the market to be recruited whenever the political temperature rises. It’s a real can-

cer,” the source said.

After the deadly violence in Vavoua, Ouattara - who also owes his job to Western diplomatic and military support vowed a “zero tolerance” policy when dealing with indiscipline within army ranks. He set up a military police headed by charismatic ex-rebel commander Zakaria Kone to make former Forces Nouvelles (FN) rebels toe the line. Soro, who is also Ivory Coast’s defence minister, has promised to tour army barracks in January and organise a national conference early next year to outline a reform of the armed forces. But eight months after the electoral dispute that left some 3,000 people dead and brought the country back to the brink of civil war, the government’s announcements only reveal that everything remains to be done. The new regime “doesn’t know where to start to tackle this problem,” torn as it is between financial constraints and the need to reward men who see themselves as libera-

tors, an official close to the case said. The violence is “the strongest case for keeping Soro as prime minister,” the source added.

That option is not to the liking of former President Henri Konan Bedie, who is Ouattara’s main ally and was seen as entitled to the job. The International Crisis Group said in a report in December that the conundrum facing the country was all too predictable. “Having endorsed the installation of a democratically elected president by ex-rebel forces, the international community could have predicted the difficulty of pressing them to restore state authority rather than celebrate victory and continue abuse,” the Brussels-based think tank said.

But it also argued that the issue was too important to be left to anyone other than Ouattara himself. “President Ouattara must personally prioritise the overhaul of the defence sector, and avoid delegating responsibility for this essential reform,” ICG said in its report. — AFP

Monitors have little time to prove credibility

By Edmund Blair monitoring mission to Syria that marks an unprecedented Arab intervention in a fellow Arab state may have just days to prove to sceptics it can be a credible witness to whether or not President Bashar al-Assad has halted a crackdown on protests. The monitors, who began touring Syria on Tuesday, are the cornerstone of an Arab peace plan that Damascus must heed if it wants to avoid creating a new context for broader international involvement, Arab diplomats and regional analysts say. States in the 22-member Arab League who backed action to try to end nine-months of bloodshed in Syria want to prevent the country sliding into a civil war, destabilising a region convulsed by violence and unrest.

Arabs are also keen to avoid a rerun of Libya, where NATO air strikes helped oust long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi, and instead show they can put their own house in order without the assistance or interference of Western powers. But a soaring death toll as Syria stalled over sending in monitors has encouraged scepticism about whether the League initiative can deliver an end to violence or will instead show the frailties of Arab diplomacy.

“The monitoring mission has a credibility issue now and whether they are able to access areas in the next two or three days will tell us whether they can be in any way effective,” said Salman Shaikh, director of the Brookings Doha Center. “There is a healthy dose of scepticism here in terms of what they are going to be able to achieve,” he said.

Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby told Reuters last week that, once in place, monitors could determine in no more than a week whether Syria was adhering to a plan that calls for troops to be withdrawn from residential areas, freeing prisoners and the start of talks with the opposition. But critics say the monitors may well be hoodwinked by their Syrian hosts, who could clear cities ahead of a their arrival before sending troops back in once monitors have gone.

“I am afraid that the monitoring team might unintentionally turn into a false witness,” said Waheed Abdel Maguid, an expert at Cairo’s Al-Ahram Centre for

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Political and Strategic Studies, adding he feared the team will blame “violence from both sides”.

Many were surprised by the mission leader, Sudanese General Mustafa AlDabi. He has experience liaising between Khartoum and peacekeepers in Sudan, but critics question whether he can be a

League. The only one we can turn to is God. We’ve been bearing this for 10 months and they keep giving the government extensions and now finally they brought monitors and then what? More extensions? Until we all die?” said Tamir, a Syrian construction worker, cowering in his basement.

An image grab taken from a video uploaded on YouTube shows Syrian army tanks in the background as a group of Arab League observers tour the flashpoint central city of Homs on Tuesday.—AFP neutral witness given his military background in a country riven by rebellions and frequently accused of rights abuses.

Khartoum says its army has responded to armed rebellions and stuck to international rules of conduct, despite criticism from rights groups and the West over its handling of internal unrest. “The Arab League doesn’t have anything more to offer. It is dragging its feet, not to defend the Syrian regime but to delay international interference. It is coming sometime,” said Al-Ahram’s Abdel Maguid.

Those inside Syria, who have watched the bloodletting mount as the Arab diplomacy has lumbered on and seen the tanks open fire on residential areas, also doubt the monitoring mission will herald a change of tack by Assad’s government. “We can’t rely on the Arab

Tamir, who only gave his first name to avoid reprisals, was speaking by telephone in the central Syrian city of Homs, the first stop for monitors that has been bombarded by the army. The League said that, like any international peacekeeping or monitoring operation, it first needed Syria’s approval. Officials said the delay was not because it was negotiating terms but rather because it needed Damascus to accept without conditions.

“If it is a stalling tactic, we will all know for sure and certain in concrete terms in a week (from the start of monitoring),” Elaraby said in his Reuters interview last week, adding that reports from the mission would determine “the basis of which any future decision will be taken”.

Though critics may have wanted faster and more determined action to

halt the violence, the League initiative is a first and dramatic shift in approach by Arab states that began with Libya and the changes sweeping the region in the “Arab Spring”. The League has already suspended Syria and announced sweeping economic sanctions that Syria has acknowledged are impacting business and financial transactions. This is tougher action than the League has taken in the past.

For decades, the pan-Arab body founded in 1945 avoided taking any action against a fellow Arab state. Its founding principles did not give it the teeth that, for example, the United Nations and UN Security Council has.

Given this unprecedented step, some in Syria’s opposition are ready to give the League’s mission time to prove it can be a neutral witness, although they are clear that they expect the assessment to show the government crackdown has not abated. “Let’s wait and see what (the mission) will do. I expect it will be able to write a report with many facts because the facts are so clear,” said Moulhem Droubi from the Muslim Brotherhood, part of a broader Syrian opposition grouping.

Based on reports from inside Syria, where foreign and independent media are broadly barred from operating, many analysts expect the monitoring mission to be a prelude to escalating the Syrian file beyond the League. Qatar, which has led efforts to push Syria to agree to the Arab initiative, warned Damascus this month that the UN Security Council might be asked to adopt the Arab plan.

Elaraby said it was keeping the UN secretary-general regularly briefed about the plan. At the Security Council, stern action against Syria may still face resistance from China and Russia, although Moscow pushed Damascus to let in monitors. The West has also shown limited appetite to be dragged into a new Middle East conflict. But, if Syria fails to pull its troops back, pressure for international action could well mount. “It is unprecedented for the Arab League to send Arab monitors to an Arab state,” an ambassador to the Cairo-based League told Reuters. “So we must help the monitors perform their work completely so we don’t give an opportunity for foreign (non-Arab) intervention.” — Reuters

15

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2011

analysis

Funeral gives clues to power in N Korea

By Lim Chang-Won n one of the world’s most secretive states, the funeral of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il offered some clues about the likely powers behind the throne as his young son takes over, analysts said. Bare-headed and gloveless despite the snow, Kim Jong-Un walked alongside his father’s hearse Wednesday along with six top military and party figures including his influential uncle Jang Song-Thaek. Analysts said the line-up gave some initial indications about who would influence the untested leader in his late 20s as he takes charge of the impoverished and hungry but nuclear-armed nation.

“The funeral revealed some clues about who will stand beside Kim Jong-Un to protect him,” Kim YongHyun of Seoul’s Dongguk University told AFP. He said senior ruling party officials Kim Ki-Nam and Choe ThaeBok were symbolic figures representing the organisation itself. “The other four including Jang are expected to play a key role in the next government under JongUn. They will serve as the protectors and sponsors of Jong-Un to prop up his regime.”

As well as Jang, they were military chief Ri Yong-Ho; armed forces minister Kim Yong-Chun; and Kim JongGak, who is in charge of military administration and organisation. Jang, who is married to Kim Jong-Il’s sister, is a vice chairman of the National Defence Commission, the country’s most powerful body. Yang Moo-Jin of Seoul’s University of North Korean Studies said the people walking beside the hearse “played a key role under Kim Jong-Il and are expected to become the pillars of the Kim Jong-Un regime”.

The funeral was seen as a way for the communist state to bolster the son’s status as the new leader, said Baek Seung-Joo of the Korea Institute for Defence Analyses. Jong-Un’s presence was in contrast to the 1994 funeral of founding president Kim Il-Sung when Kim Jong-Il did not follow his father’s motorcade, he pointed out. “Jong-Un has a long way to go and may face challenges in the future if he tries to take a different path,” Baek said. “He knows he has no full public respect and is expected to stick to policies forged by his father, who has never given up nuclear weapons despite international pressure.”

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Kim Jong-Il himself did not command the same respect given to his father, Baek said, and the intensity of public grief yesterday was clearly different to 1994.

The secretive state has been quick to burnish the credentials of the new leader, hailing him as head of the powerful military as well as chief of a key ruling party organ. Analysts said the proclamations leave little doubt that Jong-Un is on track to take full control of the isolated nation, even if he is expected to initially rely on a coterie of powerful aides including his uncle.

“For the first few years, because he’s so young and inexperienced, the actual policy will be decided by the

people who used to be advisers of his father,” said Professor Andrei Lankov of Seoul’s Kookmin University.

“He (Jong-Un) will be a kind of figurehead, a presiding figure. Whether he will emerge as a real dictator or whether he will choose to remain a figurehead, we don’t know,” Lankov told AFP. The new leader’s life is largely shrouded in mystery, apart from his time at a Swiss school. But he was pushed to the forefront as heir apparent after his father suffered a stroke in Aug 2008.

In Sept 2010 the son was made a four-star general and given senior ruling party posts, despite his lack of any military experience. — AFP

Focus

In the West, late N Korean leader a cartoon villain

By Shaun Tandon

Mourners surround a hearse carrying the coffin of the late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il during his funeral procession through the streets of Pyongyang yesterday. — AP

N Korea’s show of sorrow - real or staged?

By Dirk Godder yongyang - a usually calm city, comparatively free of metropolitan traffic noise has been filled for days with the sounds of sobbing and wailing, following the death of leader Kim Jong Il. Many parts of the North Korean capital have become staging grounds for collective displays of sorrow, which at times has spiralled into mass hysteria. The isolated country’s state broadcaster has not tired of providing the world with images of grief, which reached a climax yesterday, when tens or possibly even hundreds of thousands of mourners filled the streets for a final glimpse of their Dear Leader.

People were seen thrusting a hand to their chest, and shuddering in mental anguish. The media reported several incidences of mourners fainting. In the West, however, such images have met with irritation and scepticism. Given the harsh struggle for survival in North Korea, amid strict travel restrictions and a poor quality of life - for which Kim Jong Il was partly responsible - many are asking if the sorrow is genuine or staged. Observers warn against rashly judging a complex situation, which has no equivalent in the Western world.

Demonstrative lamentation is a Confucian tradition also practiced in progressive South Korea. “It cannot be denied that an atmosphere of mourning has settled over the entire country,” said Paik Hak Soon, a North Korea expert at the Sejong Institute think tank near

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Seoul. Like his father Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il was not just North Korea’s leader, but viewed as “father of the nation” - although the reverence waned slightly as it passed down a generation. Experts also point out that many North Koreans are likely unsettled by the death of only the second leader in their country’s history. Kim’s son and successor Kim Jong Un is inexperienced and barely k nown.

Nevertheless, Pyongyang’s state media are lauding Kim Jong Un as the “heaven-sent new leader,” placing him on the same pedestal as his father and grandfather before him.

“In the case of Kim Il Sung, many people actually admired him as spiritual center,” said Kim Tae Jin, who fled North Korea more than a decade ago, eventually reaching South Korea.

“However, even on his death, lots of people were irritated when they were forced to mourn in public,” he said, adding that it had felt at the time, in 1994, as though the mass mourning had been staged - “a well-organized show.”

Some of the grief at the death of Kim Jong Il was bound to be genuine, Kim said. “But most people mourn because they know that they have to.” Kim, who spent four years in a North Korean prison camp, said people were taught from a young age that the collective was all that mattered, signing up as children to the organizations that were key to maintaining the system. Such organizations, such as the Workers’ Party, were then used to influence behaviour at an event such as the death of Kim Jong Il, he added. — dpa

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Mourners cry during the funeral procession for late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang yesterday. — AP

Attacks highlight Nigeria’s divisions

By Jon Gambrell oko Haram’s insurgency started with robed men on motorcycles killing their enemies one at a time across Nigeria’s remote and dusty northeast. Now the radical Muslim sect’s attacks have morphed into a nationwide sectarian fight. They’re taking on strategic targets like the country’s United Nations headquarters and are striking on symbolic days - including Christmas attacks now two years in a row. At least 39 people were killed when Boko Haram militants attacked two churches and set off explosions elsewhere Sunday, sparking panic and fears of mob violence.

The terror group, some of whose members have links to Al-Qaeda, wants to impose Islamic Shariah law across Nigeria - a country divided into a mostly Muslim north and a largely Christian south. Boko Haram’s widening terror attacks, though, are only further intensifying religious divisions in Nigeria. In this nation of more than 160 million people, thousands have died in recent years in communal fighting pitting machetewielding neighbors against each other.

Nigeria’s president, who is a Christian, met Tuesday with the country’s top spiritual leader of Muslims in a bid to ease the tensions and to show a united front against extremism. “I want to assure all Nigerians that there is no conflict between Muslims and Christians or Islam and Christianity. It is a conflict between evil people and good people,” the Sultan of Sokoto Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III told journalists after the meeting. “The good people are more than the evil ones.

So the good people must come together

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to defeat the evil ones.”

But already part of a major Nigerian Christian group is urging its members to defend themselves, raising the specter of retaliation. The northern states that are part of the influence Christian Association of Nigeria have called for Christians to be law-abiding but warned that “the situation may degenerate to a religious war.”

Nigeria - Africa’s most populous nation - has more than 250 ethnic groups. It remains largely divided between a Christian south and a Muslim north, though members of the two faiths

ate North Korean strongman Kim Jong-Il enjoyed an elaborate personality cult at home but he was also a favorite of Western popular media, which found him to be a time-tested source of laughs. From Hollywood to websites, satirists relished skewering a leader whose shrill missives to the world, intolerance for any dissent and bouffant hairstyle made him - at times literally - a cartoon villain. Kim, who is to receive a massive funeral send-off Wednesday, was spoofed on Fox’s MADtv as a talk show host who raps about his pursuit of nuclear weapons and gleefully shoots petrified cast members who do not follow his every wish.

Even more incongruously, a website dubbed “Kim Jong-Il Dropping the Bass” depicts the usually humorless dictator as a nightclub DJ, ceding the spotlight to revelers as he devotes himself to the turntables. Kim’s death has immediate consequences for one US show, NBC’s “30 Rock,” where a fictional Kim kidnapped a character. Fans have been asking on social media how the show will adapt.

Margaret Cho, the Korean American actress who has played Kim on “30 Rock,” wrote on her blog that while the role was obviously comedic, she felt a sense of tragedy when she donned his trademark jumpsuit. “My heart broke for a country cut off from the rest of the world, whose only representative is a crazed megalomaniac who fancies himself a polymath... who can not only play the most incredible golf, he also directs films and is half man-half deity - also half-size - as well as being a full-time dictator,” she said.

Perhaps the best-known satire of Kim Jong-Il was in the 2004 movie “Team America: World Police,” a biting take on US foreign policy by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, creators of the popular animated series “South Park”.

Kim, in marionette form, feeds UN weapons inspector Hans Blix to sharks, plots to carry out bombings across the world and organizes a “peace ceremony” led by actor Alec Baldwin. At one point, Kim wanders sullenly around his palace and sings a Broadway-style tune called, “I’m So Lonely.” He croons: “I’m the smartest, most clever, most physically fit / But nobody else seems to realize it.”

The mockery stands in polar opposite to North Korean official media, which faithfully reported the strongman’s supposed exploits such as firing 11 holesin-one in his first try at golf. The state media coverage in itself has generated a following overseas.

One blog entitled “Kim Jong-Il Looking at Things” collects pictures of the leader’s inspections of everything from toilet paper to fruit as he toured the country. Joao Rocha, who set up the blog last year at kimjongillookingatthings.tumblr.com, said that the site received four million page-views in the three days after Kim’s death was announced.

Rocha, who is art director for the advertising firm Y&R in Lisbon, Portugal, said he laughed out loud when he first stumbled upon the pictures of Kim but was surprised that his blog has generated so much interest.

“The coat, hat and glasses, of course, but his gaze was the most hilarious part about it. Sometimes he doesn’t seem to understand what the hell he’s looking at,” Rocha said.

Despite the wide mockery of Kim, not all are having a laugh. The United States and its allies have been careful in official comments on Kim’s death, with North Korea warning South Korea of consequences for any disrespect. Human rights groups have been highlighting the seriousness of problems in North Korea, saying that Kim is responsible for thousands if not millions of deaths through starvation, executions, forced labor and imprisonment. And some Asian Americans are uneasy about the media depictions. The humor in “Team America” plays on Kim’s small stature and some Asians’ difficulties distinguishing between the “r” and “l” sounds in English.

Frank H Wu, chancellor and dean of the University of California Hastings College of the Law and author of “Yellow: Race in America Beyond Black and White,” said that while virtually no Asian Americans sympathize with Kim, the community is sensitive about racial stereotyping. “When individual Asian foreigners are criticized, as they should be, there is the risk of a group image that adversely affects Asian Americans,” he said. “Asians often are depicted as inscrutable and mindless in following a leader. Assimilated Asian Americans are accused of the same thing when they participate in politics here: being untrustworthy and not being capable of independent thought.” — AFP

live everywhere across Africa’s most populous nation, do business together and intermarry. Religious differences have caused blood to spill before and also dictate politics. After independence from Britain in 1960, Nigeria largely remained held by Muslim military rulers from the country’s north.

As democracy took hold in 1999, former military ruler Olusegun Obasanjo, a Christian of the Yoruba people, served two, four-year terms as an elected president. Current President Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian from a minority tribe in the country’s oil delta, has faced

The sultan of Sokoto, the spiritual leader of Nigeria’s Muslims, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, shakes hands with Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan at the state house in Abuja on Tuesday. – AFP

political troubles since he took over following the death of President Umaru Yar’Adua, a Muslim whom northerners assumed would have two terms.

Jonathan’s election in April saw political and religious riots break out across the country’s mostly Muslim north, killing 800 people.

Religious leaders in Nigeria’s north are pledging to fight extremism, but some have previously worked with government security agencies to release known terror suspects, according to leaked US diplomatic cables. Among those let go during this period was the mastermind of the UN bombing, according to governmental sources who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

While Muslims largely abhor the violence of Boko Haram, many privately agree with the anger felt in Nigeria’s arid north, where unemployment in some areas sits as 70 percent and opportunities for an education remain few. The same federal government that cannot provide the country with electricity and clean water steals billions of dollars a year in oil revenues. And as the government fails to provide security for Nigerians, groups continue to arm themselves.

“Each day, Nigerians are forced to accept new depths of crudity and violence as the norm,” columnist Okey Ndibe wrote in Tuesday’s edition of The Daily Sun newspaper. “We are in danger of becoming a country where the slaughter of hundreds, even thousands, of defenseless citizens is deemed a normal fact of life.” —AP

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Years

sp orts Dalglish backs Carroll LIVERPOOL: Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish backed club record signing Andy Carroll yesterday and insisted his confidence is intact despite a poor goals return since moving to Anfield. Carroll has scored three goals in 19 appearances this season giving him a total of just five in 28 matches for the Reds, whom he joined from Newcastle for £35 million almost a year ago. Two good saves from Blackburn keeper Mark Bunn denied him in a 1-1 draw on Monday but Dalglish believes the goals will come. “I don’t think self-belief is a problem for Andy Carroll, I don’t see why it should be. There’s nothing to say he’s short of belief and there is no evidence he should be.

“One game he played (started) in we went down to nine men (the defeat at Tottenham) and another (the loss at Fulham) we had another sent off. “I think yourselves (the media) have a bigger problem with Andy than anyone else.” With Newcastle meeting the Merseysiders tomorrow the spotlight will be on Carroll to prove himself and keep up a tradition of former United strikers who have left the Magpies and returned to haunt them - from 1970s hero Malcolm MacDonald, who plundered a hat-trick against his old side after moving to Arsenal, to Andy Cole, who helped deny them the 1996 title. Dalglish meanwhile revealed Liverpool were still awaiting the arrival of the written FA disciplinary commission verdict after Luis Suarez’ was banned for eight-matches for using offensive words, including a reference to skin colour, towards Manchester United’s Patrice Evra. —AFP

O’Neill named N Ireland boss LONDON: Michael O’Neill, who guided Shamrock Rovers into the Europa League this season, was named as the new manager of Northern Ireland by the Irish FA yesterday.

The former Northern Ireland international midfielder will take up the role on Feb 1 for an initial two-year period with the aim of guiding the Irish into the World Cup finals in 2014 for the first time since 1986.

In his three years as manager of Shamrock Rovers he led them to two League of Ireland titles and they became the first team from Ireland to reach the group stages of either of the two UEFA club competitions.

O’Neill, 42, whose playing career included spells at

Newcastle United, Dundee United and Hibernian, told the I rish FA website (w w w. irishfa.com): “I am a proud Northern Irishman who was fortunate enough to win 33 senior caps and it was always an ambition to manage my country. “Northern Ireland has a strong football tradition but one that needs to be refreshed with some more contemporary success.

“My job is to work with the players to sustain a competitive performance throughout the qualifying phase of the 2014 World Cup Finals.” Northern Ireland will face Por tugal, Russia, Israel, Azerbaijan and Luxembourg in their qualifying campaign. —Reuters

Taylor suffers shock loss LONDON: Darts great Phil Taylor responded to his shock second round defeat at this year’s Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) World Championship on Tuesday by saying he’d retire in “two or three years”. Taylor, 13 times a PDC world champion and twice winner of the British Darts Organisation (BDO) version prior to the creation of the breakaway title in 1994, was beaten four sets to one by fellow Englishman Dave Chisnall at London’s Alexandra Palace. Nicknamed ‘The Power’, Taylor had no complaints about the result but the 51-year-old said he’d only a few more years of top-flight darts left in him. “Dave was a better player,” Taylor told Sky Sports. “When he took that fourth set it was a massive blow for me. Then I was struggling. It’s all on the night and I wasn’t good enough.” Taylor, who said he’d been hampered by an eye problem and the heat on-stage, added: “I’m going to do another two or three years and then I’m going to retire.” A stunned Chisnall said: “I don’t know how I did that. I threw well in the game but started getting a bit nervous at the end. When he gave me a chance I took it.” Both men were off-target with important throws but Chisnall held his nerve to take the fifth set with a double six after Taylor, to the despair of his fans, had missed two attempts at double 20. “I’ve always thought I can beat anybody if I play my game. I thought I could beat him when I came into the championship,” said Chisnall. —AFP

Asian football strengthens in 2011 SEOUL: Match-fixing, related suicides, corruption and other assorted controversies could not prevent 2011 from being overall a good year for Asian football, as the continent’s prominence in the global game continued to grow. The previous year ended with Qatar shocking the world by being awarded the 2022 World Cup and just a few days into 2011 the tiny nation was once again on center stage as it hosted the Asian Cup. Although most matches were played in half-empty stadiums, the football was of a relatively high standard, with Japan, Australia and South Korea cementing their reputations as Asia’s best teams. Japan eventually lifted the trophy with a 1-0 win in the final over Australia. It was the first of two major successes for the country with the women’s team lifting the World Cup in the summer.

“We are all delighted at the JFA at the success that Japanese football has had in 2011,” Kozo Tashima, the vice president of the Japan Football Association, told Associated Press earlier this month. “The year started well in Asia in January, we had a global success in

July which thrilled the national after a difficult time.” That “difficult time” was the period following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that left 5,839 dead and 3,647 missing, with the local J-League suspended for six weeks. In April, South Korea was in the headlines for a huge match-fixing scandal that saw over 60 players, past and present, indicted for accepting money to rig the results of K-League and cup games. The scandal caused one former player and one team coach to commit suicide.

Both Japan and South Korea continued to provide players to the big European leagues at increasingly young ages.Stars such as Shinji Okazaki and Takashi Usami went to the Bundesliga while Korea’s striker Ji Dong-won headed to Sunderland in the English Premier League. It hasn’t all been one-way traffic. The continent’s increasing wealth means that its clubs can compete with the western giants in the transfer market and a growing number of international stars have headed eastwards.

One of the biggest moves came in September when Asamoah Gyan, the main

striker of English Premier League team Sunderland, suddenly joined Al Ain of the United Arab Emirates on loan for a year. In December, Nicolas Anelka left Chelsea to join Shanghai Shenhua. The Chinese club has reportedly offered the former French international $14 million a year. The striker follows in the footsteps of Argentina’s Dario Conca who cost Guangzhou Evergrande $10 million in the summer. Both players are among the highest-paid in the world and the moves show that the continent is on the rise according to Zhang Jilong, the acting president of the Asian Football Confederation.

“It is always good to see world-class players signing up for Asian clubs,” Zhang said.

“Football fans around the world will pay more attention to Asian soccer because of these big signings. It also proves that the gap between Asian football and the best of world football is closing fast.” In November Zhang presented the Asian Champions League trophy to Al Sadd of Qatar to end five years of Japanese and South Korean domination. The triumph was not without controversy. Al Sadd

lost both legs of its quarterfinal against Sepahan but still progressed to the last four as the Iranians fielded an ineligible player.

In the semifinal, the Qatari club scored a goal that was perceived as unsporting against Suwon Bluewings and a massive brawl ensued. Al Sadd, nicknamed Al Badd in Korea, defeated Jeonbuk Motors in the final.

On the national team level, Asia has been focused on qualification for the 2014 World Cup. One game of the third and penultimate round remains but already China, North Korea and United Arab Emirates have fallen by the wayside. In earlier stages, Palestine played its first ever World Cup qualification match on home soil defeating Afghanistan in the first round only to lose in the second round to Thailand. In the third round, Lebanon hogged the headlines by defeating South Korea 2-1 in November to move second in the group. That loss, against a team more than 100 places lower in the world rankings, cost South Korea coach Cho Kwang-rae his job. Cho was fired in December just shortly before Sebastiao Lazaroni was dismissed

Wenger expects more title twists LONDON: Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Captain Roger Johnson (2nd left) confronts Referee Stuart Atwell (left) as he brandishes a red card for Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Nenad Milijas (2nd right) against Arsenal during the English Premier League football match at The Emirates Stadium in London on December 27, 2011. Wolves had a player sent off in the match and the game ended 1-1. —AFP

Wolves appeal Milijas red card LONDON: Wolverhampton Wanderers yesterday launched an appeal with the Football Association (FA) against the red card shown to midfielder Nenad Milijas in their 1-1 draw at Arsenal on Tuesday. The Serbian midfielder was shown a straight red card by referee Stuart Attwell after sliding in on Mikel Arteta in the second half of the game at the Emirates Stadium. Wolves announced their decision to appeal on the club’s official website. The FA’s disciplinary panel will review the case and decide whether Milijas’ three-match ban should be rescinded.

They are expected to deliver their verdict before Wolves’ trip to Bolton Wanderers on Saturday. Speaking after the match, Wolves manager Mick McCarthy said he did not feel the challenge warranted such severe punishment. “If he (Attwell) sees it again then it can’t be (a red card),” he said. “Nenad’s got his foot on the ground and makes contact with the ball. Somebody said to me, ‘He’s got his studs up.’ Well, you generally do if you tackle with your foot sliding in.” McCarthy added: “That rarefied atmosphere out there is a difficult place to work in whether you are a player, coach, manager, referee or assistant. “It’s pretty pressurized out there and I think there was a lot of pressure on him (Attwell) to do it.” —AFP

UEFA not ruling out sanctions on Turkey DUBAI: UEFA has not ruled out excluding clubs caught up in the Turkish match-fixing scandal from future European competitions, general secretary Gianni Infantino said yesterday. “There are no plans in this respect but there are rules that we are applying in the same way to all clubs,” Infantino told Reuters on the sidelines of a football conference in Dubai. “It seems to be only domestic matches, where it’s under the jurisdiction of the national association to take the necessary measures. We are discussing with the Turkish football association and, if necessary, we will certainly not hesitate to take necessary measures,” he added. —Reuters

LONDON: Arsene Wenger expects more twists at the top of the Premier League this season after blaming his players for dropping points in a 1-1 against Wolves.

Arsenal were left frustrated at the Emirates Stadium after Gervinho’s opener was cancelled out by Steven Fletcher, with the visitors holding on despite Nenad Milijas’ dismissal.

It meant Arsenal missed the opportunity to climb back into the Champions League places following Chelsea’s draw against Fulham the previous day.

The result also left them 12 points off the lead. “There are going to be a lot of twists and turns, but unfortunately we could not take advantage of that, which is the real frustrating thing,” said the Frenchman. “When you have the luck of the results and you play the following day, you can take advantage of it, that is where the worrying thing is because in the season you have to take your opportunities.”

Arsenal looked set to record a straightforward win when Gervinho was played through and rounded goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey before finishing.

But Fletcher leveled with a header before the interval, diverting Stephen Hunt’s deflected shot into the bottom corner of the net. The hosts had a penalty appeal turned down by referee Stuart Attwell when Christophe Berra appeared to block Laurent Koscielny’s cross with his arm. Milijas was then dismissed in the 75th minute following a tackle on Mikel Arteta, but Wolves held on for a point after a polished performance from Hennessey. The Welsh keeper’s best saves came from Per Mertesacker ’s header, efforts from Robin van Persie and a last-minute block to deny Thomas Vermaelen.

“At the moment what we have to learn is that when we are 1-0 up in some departments we cannot be too comfortable,” Wenger said. “We were caught in a position where we can only blame ourselves. Apart from that their keeper had the game of his life, Wolves fought like mad and well done to them. “I don’t know how many shots we had on goal and how many they had, but it was the kind of game that if you play it 20 times you win 19 and you draw one.” Wenger felt his team should have won without the need

of Attwell awarding a penalty, but he was frustrated at another spotkick being turned down after being denied one against Manchester City earlier this month.

He added: “It looks like for us, to get a penalty we will have to fight very hard. I have seen the handball

bit too in the wanting zone and not enough in just the technical zone.”

Wolves manager Mick McCarthy confirmed he would consider appealing against Milijas’ red card.

He said: “I will go and ask Stuart. I think that rarefied atmosphere out there is a difficult place to work in

LONDON: Arsenal’s Tomas Rosicky (back) competes with Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Nenad Milijas during their English Premier League soccer match at Emirates Stadium on Tuesday, Dec 27, 2011. —AP

Arsenal’s manager Arsene Wenger at Manchester City and it was definitely handball.” On the performance of the referee, he added: “I personally am responsible for the performance of my team, not for the performance of the referee, I have no influence. I think despite that we could have won the game and that’s what we have to look at. It was the kind of day where maybe we were not relaxed enough, maybe we wanted it so much, that we were a

whether you are a player, coach, manager, referee or assistant. It’s pretty pressurized and I think there was a lot of pressure on him to do it.

“He did what he saw. If he sees it again then it can’t be. He’s got his foot on the ground and makes contact with the ball. I don’t think he leaves the ground. Somebody said to me ‘he’s got his studs up’. Well, you generally do if you tackle with your foot sliding in.” —AFP

from Qatar. The Brazilian was the third man to manage the team in 2011. Coaches come and coaches go and some big names arrived in Asia to take control of national teams. The biggest belonged to former Netherlands and Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard who took over Saudi Arabia and new Iran boss Carlos Queiroz, ex-Real Madrid and Portugal head coach.

Asia’s biggest name off the field also departed. For much of the year, the AFC has been without a president. The continent’s leader of nine years, Mohammed Bin Hammam announced in March that he would challenge FIFA president Sepp Blatter in the May election for the world’s number one soccer job. Bin Hammam withdrew from the race after accusations of vote-buying. In July, FIFA’s Ethics Committee handed the official a life ban from football. Bin Hammam has appealed but regardless of the outcome in that hearing, a return to the head of the AFC is unlikely. The biggest political issue of 2012 will be the jockeying to see who will replace him. —AP

Extras Player suffers split scrotum LONDON: Chris Whelpdale, a winger with English fourth-tier side Gillingham, suffered a painful and unusual injur y in the 2-1 Boxing Day win at Crawley when a tackle split open his scrotum. “It’s a horrific injur y,” Gillingham boss Andy Hessenthaler told the BBC. “He’s going to be very sore, and I’m sure his wife won’t be too happy either.” The 22-year-old Whelpdale, who joined the club from Peterborough in July, has scored four goals in 22 games.

Sfaxien fire Stumpf TUNIS: Tunisian top flight side CS Sfaxien revealed yesterday they have sacked German coach Reinhard Stumpf, 50, for “failing to communicate” adequately with his players. “A communication problem between the coach and the players has had a negative effect on team results as it is difficult to work with a coach who speaks German and English but does not have a good knowledge of French,” club vice-chairman Moncef Sellami said. Sfaxien, a modest fifth in the league table currently, have drawn up a shor tlist to replace Stumpf including Tunisians Youssef Zouaoui and Gayess Yacoubi. Stumpf, who had previously been in charge of Saudi side Al-Hilal as well as Kaiserslautern, only took the Sfaxien job in September.

Spanish league ‘best’ DUBAI: Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo prefers Spain’s La Liga over the English Premier League because he says it allows individual players to shine. Ronaldo, who played for Manchester United for six years before joining Real Madrid, said he “learned the elementary and basic rules of football, especially discipline” while in England.

But he said La Liga was the best league in the world because it “relies on players’ skills and techniques.” Ronaldo spoke yesterday at the Dubai International Sports Conference. Ronaldo is the Spanish league’s top scorer this year and says he has no intention of leaving Spain. While insisting he could adapt to any league, Ronaldo said he wants to stay at Real Madrid, adding “frankly I’m just enjoying the moment.”

Ajax match to be replayed THE HAGUE: A Dutch Cup tie between Ajax and AZ Alkmaar, abandoned last Wednesday after a fan ran on to the pitch and tried to assault AZ goalkeeper Esteban Alvarado, will be replayed behind closed doors on January 19, the Dutch football federation (KNVB) said yesterday. The December 22 incident led to the Costa Rican ‘keeper being red-carded for twice kicking out at the fan, who was then escorted off the pitch by police. AZ coach Gertjan Verbeek led his players off the pitch following the incident complaining about the lack of security at Ajax’s Amsterdam Arena. The last 16 tie, which Ajax had been winning 1-0, was subsequently abandoned just before half-time. “The Federation does not want to take any risk regarding the playing of this match while guaranteeing that the competition continues,” a KNVB statement read in explaining the decision to stage a replay of the match without any fans. The KNVB, which has since overturned the red card for Alvarado, also fined Ajax 10,000 euros and said the club face having to play an additional match behind closed doors though that part of the sanction is suspended.

Any appeal by Ajax to their punishment must be made by January 2.

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S P ORT S

Motivation high for Bormio downhill racers BORMIO: Austria’s Klaus Kroell goes into today’s knee-jarring downhill on the Stelvio course with memories of the fall that robbed him of a podium finish last year. American Marco Sullivan and Canadian Robbie Dixon are looking to rally from season-ending concussions from a year ago. For Adrien Theaux of France and Patrick Kueng of Switzerland, potential topthree finishes were wiped out when this season’s previous downhill in Val Gardena was canceled because of high wind.

Throughout the field, motivation is running high for the final race of 2011.

Kroell led the final training session yesterday, with Dixon second and Kueng third. Bode Miller, who won the World Cup downhill in 2007, coasted to 28th place. “I don’t try to win the training runs,” Miller said. You’ve got to respect this course for what it does - it tears your body up. I try other things and save my legs a little. Work on areas where I usually don’t do so well and try to see where I can gain a little extra speed.”

Sullivan knows the difficulty of han-

dling this course. “I have no memory of that whole day. I woke up in the hospital and I didn’t know where I was,” Sullivan said. “Yesterday was a little bit nerve -wracking getting past that again but it really hasn’t changed much.” Kroell had the finish line in sight last year when he fell and slid down head first for several hundred yards, bloodying his face. “I was maybe on the podium or (going to) win this race, but mistakes can happen,” Kroell said. “I had made a big mistake on the top so I risked it all but I wasn’t lucky. ...

Now I hope I can make it better than last year.” Kroell is carrying the pressure of the entire Austrian team, which hasn’t won a single speed race this season.

Michael Walchhofer, who won this race three times and retired at the end of last season, has been called in this weekend on a trial basis to mentor the younger Austrian racers. “He has a lot of experience and everyone can learn from him,” Kroell said. Meanwhile, Dixon is still trying to get his confidence back after last year’s fall. “It feels good to be back,” he said. “Obviously it

was a tough road after last year here.

So I’m just building on that every race, every run.” Theaux and Kueng were second and third when the race in Val Gardena was canceled this month.

“That’s behind us now,” Theaux said.

“It’s not easy, but I like this race. It’s very difficult for the legs and it’s very

bumpy.” The Stelvio is known for its bumps and, with limited snow cover, they’re even more jarring this year.

Add difficult visibility and it’s easy to understand why most racers call it the toughest physical test of the season. “If the light was OK and it was not so bumpy it would not be a problem,”

BORMIO: Switzerland’s Beat Feuz competes during the FIS Alpine World Cup Men’s Downhill training yesterday in Bormio. — AFP

said Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway.

“But now look how dark it is up there you don’t see anything. It’s like going running in the woods if it’s dark - you can’t see where to place your feet. You can’t see what’s coming and everything is throwing you out of balance the whole time.”

Overcast weather scheduled for today could create an even playing field. Miller, who also swept the downhill and super-G titles at the 2005 world championships here, prefers those conditions. “It’s easier here if it’s cloudy,” Miller said.

“When you have to go between the sun and the shade, it makes a big difference. Visibility is the biggest factor on this hill.” Sullivan has four top-15 finishes on the Stelvio, although his best was 11th in 2008. “To my mind, it’s the toughest course we have,” Sullivan said.

“Maybe it’s not the scariest or the longest, but as far as a gnarly course that tests your strength the whole way and is turny, bumpy and rattles you.

It’s definitely the toughest on the entire circuit.” — AP

Purdue pound Western Michigan in Pizza Bowl

Rafael Nadal

Corretja hopeful on Nadal for Davis Cup BARCELONA: New Spain captain Alex Corretja is hopeful that Rafael Nadal will be available to the Davis Cup champions despite the second-ranked Spaniard announcing he won’t compete in the event in 2012. Corretja said yesterday that neither Nadal nor David Ferrer have told him personally they will be unavailable for the five-time winners, so the newly appointed captain plans to speak to the pair at the Australian Open to see if they could play certain matchups.

“My obligation as captain is to speak to all of the players and the coaches. Not one player has personally told me that they will not play,” Corretja said from Barcelona’s Olympic Stadium. “If some players say they need time to rest, I can only respect that and try to put together the best team possible for each series.”

Nadal and fifth-ranked Ferrer indicated after beating Argentina in the final earlier this month that they would be unavailable with 2012 being an Olympic year, which has compressed the calendar.

Doubles players Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco also said they may not be ready to step in so regularly, either. Led by Nadal, the four players have been regulars in Spain’s squad and helped it win three titles in the last four years.

Corretja signed a two-year deal on Tuesday to replace Albert Costa, who led

Spain to a second title in three years in charge earlier this month. Corretja’s first tie will be against Kazakhstan on home clay in Ovideo from Feb 10-12. Tenthranked Nicolas Almagro and Marcel Granollers are expected to step in to lead the team after playing supporting roles over recent seasons. “ The team will depend on how the players look and how motivated they are,” Corretja said.

“What I want to see is a lot of desire, that every player wants to be part of this team and be motivated about being part of the best generation in the history of Spanish tennis.”

Corretja helped Spain to its first Davis Cup title in 2000 as a player, and the country has gone on to dominate the competition after also winning in 2004.

The 37-year-old Corretja was ranked as high as No 2 as a player and reached the final at Roland Garros in 1998 and 2001.

He worked as a part-time coaching consultant for fourth-ranked Andy Murray until March.

“This is a wonderful moment for me personally and professionally,” Corretja said. “And I want to bring all of my experience from Spanish tennis, from what I lived as a player and afterward when I worked as a TV commentator and coach to Andy Murray, an experience from which I learned a lot and helped me take this decision.” — AP

DETROIT: Purdue coach Danny Hope sold school officials on his vision of winning with special teams when they picked him to replace the retiring Joe Tiller after the 2008 season.

That facet of the game helped the Boilermakers beat Western Michigan 37-32 on Tuesday night in the Little Caesars Bowl.

Purdue recovered two onside kicks and Raheem Mostert returned a kickoff 99 yards for a score that put Purdue up for good midway through the second quarter. “The spread offense was the edge (with Tiller),” Hope said. “I wanted our edge to be special teams.”

Caleb TerBush took the final snap at Ford Field, sprinted to the sideline and handed the football to Hope, who was recently given a contract extension. “It’s a moment that we’ve been waiting for the last three years,” Hope said. The Boilermakers (7-6) almost didn’t beat the Broncos (7-6) despite having a double-digit lead for two-plus quarters. Third-string running back Reggie Pegram scored the first two TDs of his career and Carson Wiggs made two field goals to help Purdue to take a 27-15 lead in the first half. Wiggs also recovered one of his onside kicks, both of which he tapped toward a sideline after running at full speed as if he was trying to boot the ball deep. “Two onside kicks really hurt us,” Western Michigan

coach Bill Cubit said. “We never got a break on defense in the first half.”

Purdue had another 12-point lead early in the fourth quarter, but the Big Ten team had to hold on for the win against the Mid-American Conference program. The Broncos got the ball with a chance to go ahead, but their comeback hopes ended when quarterback Alex Carder fumbled for his fifth turnover with just under 2 minutes left. Ryan Russell forced the final fumble and Bruce Gaston recovered to seal the win. “It was nerve-racking,” Purdue linebacker Joe Holland said. “But as a defender, you want the game to come to you.”

The Boilermakers played in a bowl for the first time since 2007, when they beat Central Michigan - also in Detroit. Western Michigan, meanwhile, fell to 0-5 in postseason play. “I thought we’d win and walk out of here happy,” Cubit said. Purdue’s Akeem Shavers ran for a career-high 148 yards on 22 carries, filling in for the injured Ralph Bolden, and was named the game’s MVP. TerBush was 8 of 13 for 101 yards with a 33yard touchdown pass to Gary Bush midway through the third quarter that put Purdue up 34-18. Robert Marve was 6 of 7 for 76 yards with a 1-yard scoring pass to Pegram in the first quarter. Purdue defensive end Gerald

Gooden had two of his team’s four interceptions, and gave back one of those two turnovers back to the Broncos in a game filled with miscues and missed opportunities for both teams. Western Michigan’s star receiver, Jordan White, who drew at least one NFL scout to watch him, caught 13 passes - including a one-handed grab - for 249 yards and a score.

He was given a sixth season of eligibility this year because of injuries.

“We’re about 10 points from being 10-3,” said White, who set MAC marks for yards receiving in a season and career. “I think we had all the pieces to the puzzle but we didn’t make it happen on the field.” Carder was 31 of 57 for 413 yards with three TDs. But the junior matched a career high with four interceptions and gave up the ball a fifth time to end the Broncos’ chances to rally in their home state in front of tens of thousands of their fans. The Purdue headed back across the border to Indiana happy, especially school officials who added two years to Hope’s deal last week to keep him under contract through 2016. “Big difference between being a bowl participant and a bowl champion,” Hope said.

“It builds great momentum for our team and will give us a shot in the arm with recruiting and will energize our fan base.”— AP

Djokovic, Federer and Nadal seek early blows ABU DHABI: Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer meet in a $250,000 three-day exhibition tournament in the Gulf’s winter sun from today, eager to strike early blows ahead of the 2012 season. In the new year, world number one Djokovic will defend three Grand Slam titles and Nadal will look to hang on to his Olympic title and French Open crown, while Federer, despite nearing his 31st birthday, is keen to extend his impressive late run in 2011.

Djokovic won three of the four Grand Slams and five Masters this year and assembled a 70-6 winning record. His progress towards the end of the year was slowed by a series of back and shoulder injuries, but the Serb insists he is well rested as 2012 approaches. “This year’s success gives me a reason to believe that I can win again. Why not?” said the Serb, who has been based in Abu Dhabi for the last two weeks.

“I think it doesn’t make any sense to be anything other than optimistic. I need to believe in my qualities and my abilities and I need to believe that I can repeat

the success. “Of course it is going to be an incredibly difficult task to achieve, but you never know, nothing is really impossible.” Nadal lost his world number one ranking to Djokovic in 2011 and cut a world-weary figure as the year came to an end, having played 84 matches-more than any of his rivals. But the 25-year-old, whose French Open triumph was his 10th major and sixth at Roland Garros, believes leading Spain to a fifth Davis Cup has helped re-ignite his hopes for 2012.

He is also determined to adopt a new approach to his trade. “I tell myself: ‘If I do a bit more, I will be nearly back to winning things again.’ That is the motivation.

Recovering the extra will that makes you give a bit more of yourself,” he said. “I have to get back to my cruising altitude, which should be higher. From Indian Wells to Wimbledon and the Olympic Games is where I have to recover my best level.” Federer, meanwhile, defied those who believe that having celebrated his 30th birthday in 2011, his best was behind him. — AFP

In this photograph supplied by Volvo Ocean Race, CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand, skippered by Chris Nicholson from Australia, finishes second in to the safe haven port on stage 1 of leg 2 of the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12 from Cape Town, South Africa, to Abu Dhabi, UAE. The finish line was set at an undisclosed location to protect the six boat fleet from pirate activity. — AP

Volvo Ocean Race yachts shipped to the next stage ABU DHABI: Five multimilliondollar yachts involved in the Volvo Ocean Race left on an armed ship yesterday to be transported through an area of the Indian Ocean because of the threat of piracy. The decision to load and ship the boats part of the way with the waters deemed too dangerous to sail - is unprecedented in the sport, organizers said. The 15-ton yachts with their 31-meter masts still in place were hoisted up and placed in custom-built

cradles on board the ship at an undisclosed “safe haven” port in the Indian Ocean.

“Boats are built to go in the water, not the air, so this operation scared me,” said Iker Martinez, the Spanish skipper of leading boat Telefonica. “A lot can go wrong very quickly when you’re hauling these super-fragile boats around.” The custom-designed yachts cost around $10 million each to build but to the roundthe-world race they are invalu-

able. The latest measure is part of a multifaceted plan that includes the introduction of a large exclusion zone to keep the boats from sailing through dangerous waters near Somalia’s coast and a socalled “stealth zone” to keep the identity of the stop-off port secret. Loading the yachts on board the armed ship and transporting them to Sharjah in the northern Emirates is the biggest and most expensive step in the plan, with a cost of around $1 mil-

lion to organizers. The teams are expected to arrive at the location within six days and complete the leg with a short sprint into Abu Dhabi in the first week of January.

Spain’s Telefonica lead the race by seven points from Camper after snatching victory from their chief rivals in the first stage of Leg 2.

French team Groupama are third.

The race is due to finish in Galway, Ireland in July after taking the teams more than 39,000 nautical miles around the world. — AP

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India strike back Hussey, Ponting raise half-centuries

DURBAN: Kumar Sangakkara of Sri Lanka plays a shot during their second test cricket match in Durban, South Africa yesterday. — AP

Centurion Sangakkara overpowers SA attack DURBAN: Kumar Sangakkara hit a superbly-crafted century to put Sri Lanka in a strong position to press for their first Test win of the year on the third day of the second Test match against South Africa at Kingsmead yesterday. Sangakkara’s 108 enabled Sri Lanka to reach 256 for seven in their second innings - an overall lead of 426, eight runs more than the highest successful run chase in Test history. The lefthanded former captain shared stands of 94 with Thilan Samaraweera and 104 with rookie wicketkeeper Dinesh Chandimal as Sri Lanka went in search of their first win in four Test tours of South Africa.

Sangakkara, whose first three innings in the series were 1, 2 and 0, had not added to his overnight score of three when he edged the fourth ball of the morning, from Morne Morkel, towards Graeme Smith at first slip. Wicketkeeper Mark Boucher dived for the ball, obscuring Smith’s vision, and the South African captain put down the chance. Sangakkara made the home side pay as he constructed a classy innings in overcast and gloomy conditions.

Overnight and morning rain delayed the start by an hour and the floodlights were on during most of the day.

Sangakkara reached his fifty off 102 balls with four fours and then took command, scoring his second fifty off only 59 deliveries, adding nine more boundaries. It was his 28th Test century. First innings century-maker Samaraweera shared a crucial fourth wicket stand with Sangakkara after the first three wickets had fallen for 44 runs to give South Africa hope of bowling

themselves back into contention despite trailing by 170 runs on the first innings.

Samaraweera made 43 before being deceived by a googly from Imran Tahir which he edged into his stumps.

Sri Lanka pressed home their advantage as Sangakkara and new cap Chandimal scored at almost a run a minute.

Chandimal followed up his first innings 58 with 54. With the light fading, Chandimal was caught behind off Dale Steyn.

Sangakkara followed in the next over when he hit Tahir to long-on. Bad light stopped play soon afterwards. Fast bowling debutant Marchant de Lange, who took seven for 81 in the first innings, claimed the key wicket of Mahela Jayawardene as Sri Lanka struggled early in the day.

Jayawardene had scored 14 when he padded up to De Lange and was given out leg before wicket by umpire Steve Davis.

Jayawardene sought a television review but the umpire’s decision was upheld when replays showed the ball would have hit his off bail. But De Lange failed to make an impact in later spells as Sangakkara swung the match ever more in his team’s favor on a pitch which remained a good batting surface. South Africa lead the three-match series after winning the first Test at Centurion by an innings and 81 runs. The hosts can take heart from having chased down 414 against Australia in Perth three seasons ago, only four runs less than the world record 418 for seven by the West Indies against Australia in Antigua in 2002/03.— AFP

SCOREBOARD DURBAN: Scoreboard at the close on the third day of the second test between South Africa and Sri Lanka at Kingsmead yesterday: Sri Lanka first innings 338 ( Thilan Samaraweera 102, Dinesh Chandimal 58; Marchant de Lange 7-81) South Africa first innings 168 (Hashim Amla 54; Chanaka Welegedara five for 52, Rangana Herath four for 49).

Sri Lanka second innings (overnight 7-1) T. Paranavitana c Prince b Morkel 9 T. Dilshan c Smith b Steyn 4 K. Sangakkara c Smith b Imran Tahir 108 M. Jayawardene lbw b De Lange 14

T. Samaraweera b Imran Tahir 43 A. Mathews c Boucher b Steyn 3 D. Chandimal c Boucher b Steyn 54 T. Perera not out 6 R. Herath not out 5 Extras (w-1, b-5, lb-2, nb-2) 10 Total (seven wickets, 70.3 overs) 256 Fall of wickets: 1-4 2-20 3-44 4-138 5-141 6-245 7-245 Still to bat: C. Welegedara, D. Fernando.

Bowling (to date): Morkel 15-4-43-1, Steyn 16-3-54-3, De Lange 12.3-1-45-1 (w-1, nb-1), Kallis 11-1-43-0, Tahir 16-1-64-2 (nb-1).

Sharma seeks good karma from name change NEW DELHI: Ishant Sharma has not been much of a handful for Australia’s batsmen but the superstitious Indian paceman will at least become a real mouthful after tweaking his name in a bid to change his bowling fortunes. The lanky 23-year-old is battling indifferent form and a fragile ankle but was diligently practicing a new signature after a graphologist advised him to change the spelling of his name to ‘Isshannt’, local media reported yesterday.

Graphology is the study of hand-writing as expression of the writer’s character. “I do not know how and why, but I’m

Ishant Sharma of India

more at peace now since the signature change,” the bowler was quoted as saying in a report that appeared in Hindustan Times newspaper. However, there was little evidence in the first test to suggest the tactic had worked as Sharma toiled without success in Australia’s first innings but did claim a single victim in the home team’s ongoing second innings in Melbourne. Despite generating plenty of speed, Sharma’s problem could be the amount of time he is devoting to perfecting his new signature. “Instinctively I still end up writing my old signature as it is hard to give up.

But I’m working on it. I have so far exhausted about 20 notebooks practicing. “I haven’t changed them in my bank account or official papers as that is a long drawn-out process,” the bowler added.

His father, however, was unaware of his son’s actions. “I’m not sure about it. He remains Ishant on paper and I’m not aware if he has changed his autograph,” Vijay Sharma said. Even if he has, Sharma junior can hardly claim to be a trend-setter. Former India captain Krishnamachari Srikkanth, head of the selection panel that picked Sharma for the four-test series, is also believed to have added an extra lucky ‘k’ to his surname, although he would not confirm the switch.

The same recipe for success prompted former all-rounder Sanjay Bangar to spell his name ‘Sunjoy’ but his international career stalled after he played 12 tests and 15 one-dayers between 200104. The trend is much stronger in Bollywood, India’s movie -churning machine, where Rakesh Roshan is known for directing films with titles beginning with ‘K’. Some other directors have thrown an additional letter into film titles while quite a few A-list actors have inserted an extra ‘a’ in their names in the hope that the extra vowel will result in extra income.— Reuters

MELBOURNE: India struck back with four late wickets while Australia’s Mike Hussey posted a defiant half-century to leave the first test delicately poised at the close of the third day on yesterday. In a pulsating day of high drama at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, paceman Zaheer Khan dismissed Ricky Ponting for 60 to end a 115-run stand with middle order batsman Hussey and spark another batting collapse for the hosts.

Hussey, under pressure to retain his place in the re-building team after a pair of golden ducks in his last two innings, hung on doggedly for 79 as his partners wilted, pushing Australia to 179-8 at stumps and an overall lead of 230.

The grizzled 36-year-old will resume with James Pattinson, a 21-year-old paceman on three not out in his third test, as they negotiate a wicket that showed enough on day three to encourage the seamers and keep a crowd of 40,000 at the MCG enthralled.

“Tomorrow morning is going to be really crucial now,” former captain Ponting told reporters after posting his second successive half-century.

“We know James Pattinson has got some really solid promise with the bat and he’s going to have to show that for us tomorrow morning, and we need Mike Hussey to have a go and get a big score and continue just to keep pushing the score forward. “We’re 230 ahead now, which I think is a reasonable total for India to have to chase, but ideally we’d like to make a few more than that.” Despite Ponting and Hussey’s defiant partnership, the day belonged to the bowlers with 15 wickets falling.

IN FROM THE COLD Australia paceman Ben Hilfenhaus, back in the test side after a year in the freezer, played a key part early by taking five wickets to help skittle India for 282 after the tourists resumed on 214-3. The 28-year-old bowled Rahul Dravid for 68 with the second ball of the day and blitzed India’s middle order to finish with a career-best innings haul of 5-75. That gave Australia a lead of 51 after lunch, but any hopes of grinding India into the dust were dashed when the hosts’ top order collapsed spectacularly in the face of a pace onslaught from Umesh Yadav. The rangy 24-year-old had opener David Warner (five) and number three Shaun Marsh (three) both play onto their stumps and trapped Ed Cowan lbw for eight after he failed to offer a shot.

Paceman Ishant Sharma bowled skipped Michael Clarke through the gate for one to leave the hosts reeling at 27-4. Hussey and Ponting doggedly dug in for their half-centuries to swing the momentum to the hosts, but Zaheer stole it back when he struck with a devastating spell after tea. Zaheer coaxed Ponting into a miscued drive with his second ball that went straight to Virender Sehwag in the gully. He then had Brad Haddin caught behind by VVS Laxman for six, and with Australia’s underbelly exposed, Yadav twisted the knife further by dismissing paceman Peter Siddle for four, caught sharply by lunging India captain MS Dhoni.

Nathan Lyon was trapped in front by spinner Ravichandran Ashwin for a duck before Hussey and Pattinson saw out the remaining overs under withering pressure to the end. Sehwag praised India’s bowlers as “the best” attack he had ever played with and forecast an epic battle to decide the match on day four. “I think it’s a good day for India and the match is evenly

balanced and any team can win that. If we win the game we have to really battle,” the hard-hitting opener said. “When the ball is new, maybe the seam movement is important so I don’t think Australia will rely on spin, they will rely on fast bowling ... We are good against spin bowling so we will definitely attack the spin bowlers.”—Reuters

MELBOURNE: Indian fieldsman Rahul Dravid (left) drops a catch from Australian batsman Michael Hussey (right) as wicketkeeper MS Dhoni looks on during the third day of the first Test match between Australian and India at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) yesterday. — AFP

SCOREBOARD MELBOURNE: Scorecard at the close on the third day of the first Test between Australia and India at the Melbourne Cricket Ground yesterday: Australia 1st innings 333 (E. Cowan 68, R. Ponting 62; Zaheer Khan 4-77) India 1st innings (overnight 214 for 3) G. Gambhir c Haddin b Hilfenhaus 3 67 V. Sehwag b Pattinson 68 R. Dravid b Hilfenhaus 73 S. Tendulkar b Siddle I. Sharma c Haddin b Hilfenhaus 11 2 V.V.S. Laxman c Haddin b Siddle 11 V. Kohli c Haddin b Hilfenhaus M.S. Dhoni c Hussey b Hilfenhaus 6 31 R. Ashwin c Haddin b Siddle 4 Z. Khan b Pattinson 2 U. Yadav not out 4 Extras (w1, nb3) 282 Total (all out; 94.1 overs) Fall of wickets: 1-22 (Gambhir), 2-97 (Sehwag), 3-214 (Tendulkar), 4-214 (Dravid), 5221 (Laxman), 6-238 (Kohli), 7-245 (Dhoni), 8254 (Sharma), 9-259 (Zaheer), 10-282 (Ashwin) Bowling: Pattinson 23-6-55-2 (1w), Hilfenhaus 26-5-75-5 (1nb), Siddle 21.1-2-63-3

(2nb), Lyon 17-2-66-0, Hussey 5-0-15-0, Warner 2-0-8-0.

Australia 2nd innings 5 D. Warner b Yadav 8 E. Cowan lbw b Yadav 3 S. Marsh b Yadav R. Ponting c Sehwag b Zaheer Khan 60 1 M. Clarke b Sharma 79 M. Hussey not out B. Haddin c Laxman b Zaheer Khan 6 4 P. Siddle c Dhoni b Yadav 0 N. Lyon lbw b Ashwin 3 J. Pattinson not out 10 Extras (b4, lb2, w1, nb3) 179 Total (for 8 wkts; 60 overs) Fall of wickets: 1-13 (Warner), 2-16 (Cowan), 3-24 (Marsh), 4-27 (Clarke), 5-142 (Ponting), 6148 (Haddin), 7-163 (Siddle), 8-166 (Lyon) Bowling: Zaheer Khan 13-1-32-2 (1w, 1nb), Yadav 15-3-49-4, Sharma 11-0-41-1 (2nb), Ashwin 19-3-44-1, Sehwag 2-0-7-0.

Fenninger reigns in Lienz giant slalom Lindsey Vonn finishes 5th LIENZ: Anna Fenninger of Austria skied a nearly flawless second run yesterday to capture a giant slalom for her first World Cup victory, while Lindsey Vonn extended her lead in the overall standings. The 22-year-old Fenninger was 0.23 seconds off the lead in sixth place after the opening leg. She used a superb second run to finish in a combined time of 2 minutes, 16.08 seconds. Federica Brignone of Italy was 0.20 seconds behind, and Tessa Worley of France was third.

Viktoria Rebensburg of Germany, who led after the first run, finished fourth and Vonn was fifth. “I can’t believe it myself,” Fenninger said. “It’s my first win

ever. I always used to be good at speed events and now I win in GS. I hoped to compete for the top five and never thought of winning.”

Fenninger, who won the supercombined title at the world championships in February, was helped by a massive error by Rebensburg.

The Olympic giant slalom champion from Germany misjudged a turn shortly before the finish of the second run. “I made a mistake in the middle part and again near the finish,” Rebensburg said. “But I must say, Anna raced really great.”

Vonn, who won the season-opening GS in October, boosted her overall World Cup lead. She has 599 points, 231 more than

Fenninger, who moved into second place. Defending overall champion Maria Hoefl-Riesch of Germany, who finished 10th for her best GS result of the season, is sixth with 297 points. Vonn, who traveled to New York for an appearance on David Letterman’s TV show last week, was the first skier down the course for the first time in her World Cup career. “I was a bit nervous because it was the first time ever I started No. 1,” Vonn said. “Especially in GS, it’s only the third race that I am in the top seven, so it’s pretty exciting.”

For Fenninger, winning her first World Cup race was as unexpected as her world title last winter.

LIENZ: Austria’s Gold medalist Anna Fenninger (center), Italy’s silver medalist Federica Brignone (left) and France’s bronze medalist Tessa Worley pose on the podium of the Women FIS Alpine skiing World cup giant slalom in Lienz yesterday. —AFP

“Actually, I feel the strongest in super-G at the moment,” she said. “I would have settled for any podium finish today. To be on the podium in front of a cheering home crowd, that’s the best feeling you can get as an athlete.” Fenninger hopes her first win will take the pressure off.

“Many people expected me to win a World Cup race, so maybe I pushed too hard for some time,” she said. “Now I feel I have found the right balance ... I made some minor mistakes today, but I did not let them put me off.”

Julia Mancuso, who skipped last week ’s slalom in nearby Flachau to spend time with family in California, had a slow second run and dropped from fifth to 17th. Both runs took place under a clear blue sky and sunshine. Despite the relative warm weather, the artificial snow held up well. “The course is awesome, the snow is perfect, they’ve done a really good job,” Vonn said. “It’s not easy. You see there is no snow in the area, but they made the race hill perfect.” The slalom is today on the Hochstein course.

SKOFTERUD OUT OF TOUR DE SKI Meanwhile, Norwegian star Vibeke Skofterud will miss this year’s Tour de Ski event, a crosscountry season highlight, with respiratory problems, it emerged yesterday. Olympic champion Skofterud has been struggling with a sinus problem and coach Egil Kristiansen said: “It’s really sad for Vibeke as she had started the season very well.” Skofterud, 31, has made the podium six times in World Cup races so far and stands second overall behind compatriot Marit Bjoergen. Olympic silver medalist Martin Johnsrud Sundby is also out of the Tour de Ski with a cold.— Agencies

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Patriots, 49ers lead Pro Bowl rosters NEW YORK: The usual names - Tom Brady, Ray Lewis, Troy Polamalu, Tony Gonzalez - are headed for Hawaii, barring a trip to the Super Bowl.

Joining them at the Pro Bowl will be the not quite so familiar, from Rob Gronkowsk i to Jimmy Graham, from Marshal Yanda to Earl Thomas. The thrill is equal, whether it’s eight-time invitee Ed Reed or his Baltimore Ravens teammate, newcomer Yanda. “I am ecstatic, that is really the only thing I can say,” said Yanda, a backup at guard to New England’s Logan Mankins and Brian Water. “This is such a great honor, something that I never really expected. When I made it to the NFL, I was so happy to be on a team and playing in the league, and now, to be a part of a Pro Bowl team is something very special.”

Or as old hand safety Reed put it Tuesday, “It is definitely an honor and blessing. To come back after an injury last year and to be voted by my peers and fans is special.” There are seven Ravens on the AFC squad, equaling the number of Green Bay Packers for the NFC. But they didn’t lead their conferences in voting by players, coaches and fans. Brady is one of eight Patriots and Patrick Willis one of eight 49ers to make the Jan. 29 game.

“It’s awesome,” said 49ers punter Andy Lee, one of four Bay Area kickers to make it. “I think everybody is deserving. I think some guys are deserving who aren’t going. Hopefully we won’t be there, hopefully we’ll be in the Super Bowl.”

Players who make the Super Bowl will be replaced on the Pro Bowl rosters. Still, it’s a sunny, balmy consolation prize to journey to Honolulu.

“It’s a nice honor,” Texans running back Arian Foster said. “People that love watching the game, people that love playing it and also coaches that have been around it for 20-some-odd years ... it’s the highest compliment you can get in this league is when you’re voted in by people who know the game. It’s just fun.” Brady is one of seven starters from New England (12-3). The others are receiver Wes Welker, tight end Gronkowski, defensive tackle Vince Wilfork, defensive end Andre Carter,

Waters and Logan Mank ins. Special-teamer Matthew Slater is the other New England representative.

Linebacker Willis, defensive end Justin Smith, cornerback Carlos Rogers and tackle Joe Staley will start for the NFC from the 49ers (12-3), who had only Smith and Willis make the Pro Bowl last year. Green Bay’s Rodgers is the starting NFC quarterback, backed by record-setting Drew Brees of New Orleans (12-3). “It does have special significance, because when I was voted in in 2009, I was the third guy and I was very thankful to be voted in, and got the opportunity to start because of some injuries and guys not going,” Rodgers said.

“It’s great to be voted in as a starter, that means a lot to me and it’s a special honor.”

Four of the NFL’s biggest headline makers this season did not get voted in by players, coaches and fans: Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, Steelers linebacker James Harrison, Panthers rookie quarterback Cam Newton, and Denver quarterback Tim Tebow. Suh might have lost support after drawing a two-game suspension for stomping an opponent, and Harrison’s one-game suspension for his helmet-to-helmet hit on Browns quarterback Colt McCoy might have reduced his support.

Fifteen first-time Pro Bowl selections made the NFC squad, including Rogers, Staley and safety Dashon Goldson of the 49ers. Thirteen AFC players were first-time selec tions, including Gronkowski, Carter and Slater of New England.

Carter is on injured reserve (left quadriceps) and won’t play. “If you look around the NFC, you see a ton of amazing and talented players at tight end,” said the Saints’ Graham, the starter at the position and a first-time Pro Bowl player. “And to be thought of in that company by my peers, the head coaches and the fans who follow the NFL is something I take seriously.” Fourteen teams from each conference were represented, with St. Louis (2-13) and Washington (5-10) drawing blanks in the NFC, Buffalo (6-9) and Tennessee (8-7) shut out in the AFC.

Pittsburgh (11-4), New Orleans and Chicago (78) each had five representatives. Three rookies were chosen: Denver linebacker Von Miller, Cincinnati receiver AJ Green, and Arizona cornerback Patrick Peterson, selected as a kick return specialist. He has tied an NFL record with four punt runbacks for TDs this season. “As I’ve said

Tom Brady before, AJ is the best first-round draft pick that I’ve ever been around,” Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said. “He has shown the other players in this league, and the fans, that he deserved this honor. I have not seen a receiver better than he is at getting to the ball.”

NFC special-teamers included two 49ers: Lee and record-setting kicker David Akers; Peterson;

and Corey Graham of Chicago. For the AFC, the Raiders’ Sebastian Janikowski is the kicker, Shane Lechler the punter. The kick return specialist is Pittsburgh WR Antonio Brown, and the specialteams player is Slater. NFC star ters will be Rodgers, Eagles running back LeSean McCoy, Packers fullback John Kuhn, Graham, Panthers center Ryan Kalil, Saints guards Jahri Evans and Carl Nicks, Eagles tackle Jason Peters and Staley, Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald and Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson on offense.

“I think it’s the fact that I’m versatile at fullback,” Kuhn said when asked why he was selected. “I can play the traditional fullback role and lead block, and the coaches also entrust the ball-carrying opportunities that I have. I think the combination of the two of those really gets my name out there.”

On defense, it will be Vikings end Jared Allen and Eagles end Jason Babin, Cowboys tackle Jay Ratliff and Smith, Packers outside linebacker Clay Matthews and Cowboys outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware, inside linebacker Willis, Packers cornerback Charles Woodson and Rogers, Seahawks safety Earl Thomas and Cardinals safety Adrian Wilson.

AFC starters will be Brady, Ravens running back Ray Rice and fullback Vonta Leach, Gronkowski, Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey, Mankins and Waters at guard, Browns tackles Joe Thomas and Dolphins tackle Jake Long, Welker and Steelers wide receiver Mike Wallace. On defense, it will be Broncos end Elvis Dumervil replacing Carter, Colts end Dwight Freeney, Wilfork and Ravens tackle Haloti Ngata, Miller and Ravens outside linebacker Terrell Suggs, Lewis, Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis and Broncos cornerback Champ Bailey, Steelers safety Troy Polamalu and Reed.

“What makes it special to me now is I’m in my 13th year, and you don’t see guys going to the Pro Bowl this late in their career,” Bailey said. “For me to be able to do it, it feels good, and it feels like I’ve got a lot more left. It feels good that I’m still playing at a high level.” — AP

Red Wings edge Blues Panthers end 3-game skid, beat Leafs 5-3

HOBART: Supermaxi Investec Loyal approaches the finish line in the Sydney to Hobart yacht race yesterday, finishing in Hobart, Australia, just three minutes ahead of favorite Wild Oats XI in one of the closest finishes in the history of the prestigious ocean-racing event. — AP

Yachting: Investec Loyal wins Sydney to Hobart HOBART: Supermaxi Investec Loyal charged down five-time winner Wild Oats XI to claim her first Sydney to Hobart title yesterday, but an official challenge means the victory could be short-lived. The 100footer took line honors with a slender margin of just three minutes and eight seconds-one of the closest finishes in decadesbut it was soon overshadowed by claims Investec had received unauthorized outside assistance.

Cruising Yacht Club of Australia commodore Garry Linacre said Investec would have to face an international jury today over allegations it had asked a media helicopter crew what kind of sails Wild Oats had up earlier in the race. “It’s against a racing rule of sailing, number 41,” Linacre told reporters When asked whether Investec could be disqualified if found guilty he said: “I would say that the answer to that question would have to be yes.” “It’s a disappointing situation for me,” he added.

Thousands of onlookers had cheered at Hobart’s Constitution Dock as 2010 runnerup Investec crossed the line in a time of two days, six hours, 14 minutes and 18 seconds to claim its first line honors win. The two supermaxis have long been rivals in the blue-water classic. Linacre said the crew had been served with protest papers as they stepped ashore and “I would imagine that this was as much of a shock to them as it is to me.” Investec skipper Anthony Bell said the question about sails had just been “a question of are they alright and have they lost any mainsails” following rough conditions on the first night which saw a number of boats retire.

“We respect the fact that there’s laws in racing... and we will of course go in and oblige that, and we’re confident that the

outcome will confirm our (win),” Bell told reporters. “One thing that can’t be taken away from us is that we raced one hell of a race out there, and we did everything by the book.” Aside from disqualification, Investec could instead face a time penalty or other sanctions deemed appropriate by the four-nation jury after hearing evidence and arguments from both sides. According to the official protest documents the incident at 6.30am on Tuesday involved a “crewman from Investec Loyal seeking information from the helicopter of the sail plan in use on Wild Oats XI.” Investec had never been far from Wild Oats’ tail on the famously grueling 628nautical mile dash down Australia’s east coast, and their patience finally paid off Tuesday night when they overtook the race favorite for the first time. A cat-and-mouse game ensued throughout yesterday’s gripping final day, and 45 minutes from the line Investec’s crew reported: “10 nautical miles to go and it’s going to be close. Wild Oats is right behind and in sight.”

It is the second time in as many years the race finish has been dogged by controversy, with Wild Oats facing a similar challenge last year for failing to have an operational high-frequency radio at the entrance to the Bass Strait. That requirement was introduced after the catastrophic 1998 edition of the Sydney to Hobart which claimed the lives of six sailors and sank five boats.

Wild Oats was ultimately confirmed as line honors winner in 2010 after the protest was dismissed. Wild Oats rued their second place result yesterday but said it had been a great race. “Prefer the opposite result but if you race you’ve got to be OK with losing,” the crew wrote on their official race page.

— AFP

DETROIT: Detroit’s Pavel Datsyuk and Niklas Kronwall scored just 56 seconds apart in the third period to give the Red Wings a 3-2 comeback win over St Louis on Tuesday, lifting them over the Blues in the NHL Central Division standings. Datsyuk tied the game 2-2 with 8:41 left, deflecting White’s shot out of the air for his 12th goal of the season.

Kronwall netted his eighth with a wrist shot from the left point with 7:45 remaining.

Nicklas Lidstrom also scored for Detroit, which won its 11th consecutive home game. Matt D’Agostini and Alexander Steen scored for St Louis.

PANTHERS 5, MAPLE LEAFS 3 In Sunrise, Florida, Kris Versteeg and Jason Garrison scored power-play goals to help Florida beat Toronto. Erik Gundbranson, Bill Thomas, and Tomas Fleischmann also scored for the Panthers, who snapped a three-game losing skid. Mikhail Grabovski scored twice, and captain Dion Phaneuf added one for the Maple Leafs. Florida was 2 for 3 on the power play. Toronto was 1 for 4.

LIGHTNING 5, FLYERS 1 In Tampa, Steven Stamkos had two goals in Tampa Bay ’s comfortable win over Philadelphia. The Lightning went ahead 2-1 on Stamkos’ rebound backhand at 7:25 of the second. After Steve Downie scored at 11:41, Stamkos tied for the NHL lead with his 22nd goal, making it 4-1 with 1:15 remaining in the second. Mathieu Garon made 31 saves, while Bruno Gervais and Vincent Lecavalier also had goals for the Lightning, who lost defenseman Victor Hedman in the first period to an undisclosed upper body injury. Scott Hartnell scored for Philadelphia, which was outshot 32-16.

JETS 4, AVALANCHE 1 In Denver, Evander Kane scored twice as Winnipeg handed Colorado its first home loss in a month. Colorado’s home-winning streak was snapped at eight and they only avoided a shutout when Kevin Porter scored at 14:48 of the third period. Jim Slater and Tim Stapleton also had goals for the Jets, while goalie Ondrej Pavelec made 32 saves.

PENGUINS 4, HURRICANES 2 In Pittsburgh, the hosts fired a barrage of shots at Carolina goalie Justin Peters before finally breaking him in a victory over Carolina that stretched Pittsburgh’s winning streak to four games. James Neal notched his 21st goal of the season, one behind the NHL leaders. He has 14 goals in 16 home games. Pittsburgh outshot Carolina 52-18, giving Peters a difficult test in his season debut. Peters finished with 48 saves, including 36 on the first 37 shots he faced. Steve Sullivan gave Pittsburgh the lead early in the third, and Pascal Dupuis scored 70 seconds later for the Penguins.

Jordan Staal added a goal. Tim Brent and Tuomo Ruutu scored for the Hurricanes.

CANADIENS 6, SENATORS 2 In Ottawa, Michael Cammalleri, Tomas Plekanec, Louis Leblanc, P K Subban and Erik Cole each had a goal and an assist as Montreal halted a five-game losing skid with a win over Ottawa. Lars Eller scored his second shorthanded goal of the season for Montreal, which gave interim coach Randy Cunneyworth his first NHL win in five tries.

Zack Smith gave the Senators a 1-0 lead and Jason Spezza added a late consolation.

HOBART: Anthony Bell (center), the skipper of Australian super-maxi ‘Investec Loyal’, talks to the media after taking provisional line honors in the 67th Sydney to Hobart yacht race. — AFP

FLAMES 2, BLUE JACKETS 1, SO In Columbus, Jarome Iginla netted

PITTSBURGH: Pittsburgh Penguins’ Pascal Dupuis (9) collides with Carolina Hurricanes’ Tim Gleason (6) during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, Dec 27, 2011. — AP

Calgary’s only goal in regulation and then had the only score in the shootout to extend Columbus’ losing streak to six games. Iginla, who scored in the third period to tie it 1-1, went first for the Flames in the shootout. He faked twice to get goalie Steve Mason down

on the ice and then slipped the puck past him on the stick side. Flames goalie Miikka Kiprusoff then denied Rick Nash with a pokecheck before James Wisniewski’s wrister hit the post. Derick Brassard scored for the Blue Jackets in the second period. — AP

NHL results/standings NHL results and standings on Tuesday.

Pittsburgh 4, Carolina 2; Calgary 2, Columbus 1 (SO); Montreal 6, Ottawa 2; Tampa Bay 5, Philadelphia 1; Florida 5, Toronto 3; Detroit 3, St. Louis 2; Winnipeg 4,Colorado 1. (SO denotes shootout win) Eastern Conference Atlantic Division W L OTL GF NY Rangers 22 8 4 102 Philadelphia 21 10 4 119 Pittsburgh 21 11 4 118 New Jersey 19 15 1 97 NY Islanders 11 17 6 77

GA 72 104 93 103 111

PTS 48 46 46 39 28

Boston Toronto Ottawa Buffalo Montreal

Northeast Division 23 9 1 119 18 14 4 113 17 15 5 113 17 15 3 96 14 16 7 94

63 118 128 103 103

47 40 39 37 35

Florida Winnipeg Washington Tampa Bay Carolina

Southeast Division 19 11 7 99 17 14 5 100 17 15 2 100 15 17 3 95 12 20 6 97

101 105 105 117 127

45 39 36 33 30

Chicago Detroit St. Louis Nashville Columbus Vancouver Minnesota Calgary Colorado Edmonton

Western Conference Central Division 23 9 4 122 103 23 12 1 118 81 21 11 4 94 80 18 14 4 96 103 9 22 5 87 123 Northwest Division 22 12 2 120 20 12 5 88 18 15 4 92 19 18 1 101 15 17 3 96

88 86 99 111 96

50 47 46 40 23 46 45 40 39 33

Pacific Division San Jose 19 11 3 97 80 41 Dallas 20 14 1 95 101 41 Phoenix 18 15 3 95 96 39 Los Angeles 17 14 5 80 88 39 Anaheim 10 19 6 83 115 26 Note: Overtime losses (OTL) are worth one point in the standings and are not included in the loss column (L)

Wolves appeal Milijas red card

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PORTLAND: Portland Trail Blazers’ Marcus Camby (23) (left) battles Sacramento Kings’ DeMarcus Cousins (15) (right) for the ball during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Portland, Ore, on Tuesday, Dec 27, 2011. — AP

Heat hand Celtics second loss Cole shines as Heat hold off Celtics Suarez back in trouble LONDON: Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez was banned for one match and fined 20,000 pounds ($31,300) by the English FA yesterday for making an offensive gesture to Fulham fans after Liverpool lost a Premier League match at Craven Cottage earlier this month.

Liverpool were also fined 20,000 pounds and warned as to their future conduct by the FA after their players surrounded referee Kevin Friend who had sent off Jay Spearing in the second half of the match on Dec 5 which Fulham won 1-0. Last week Suarez was banned for eight matches and fined 40,000 pounds by the FA for racially abusing Manchester United defender Patrice Evra in October.

He intends to appeal against that deci-

Liverpool’s Uruguayan player Luis Suarez

sion so was eligible to play in Liverpool’s Premier League match against Newcastle United tomorrow, but will now miss the game. In a statement on their official website (www.thefa.com), the FA said Liverpool were being fined and warned as to their future conduct “for failing to ensure their players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion” during the game at Fulham. The club admitted the charge, which was in relation to the dismissal of Spearing, but did not accept the standard 20,000 pounds penalty for the offence. However, an Independent Regulatory Commission found Liverpool guilty and the FA imposed the fine yesterday when Suarez was also banned after admitting the offence. — Reuters

MIAMI: Norris Cole stepped to the foul line with 9.3 seconds left, set to clinch the game as cries of “M-V-P! M-V-P” rained down upon him from the sold-out stands. No, this wasn’t a scene from his days at Cleveland State. Taking over in just his second NBA game - and with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh all on the floor, no less - Cole scored 14 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, including three huge jumpers down the stretch to save the Heat in a 115-107 win over the Boston Celtics on Tuesday night.

“You grow up and live for moments like that,” Cole said.

James scored 26 points, Wade had 24 points, eight assists and four blocks, and Bosh scored 18 for the Heat, which led by 20 points midway through the third quarter before having its lead twice sliced to three points in the final minutes.

And both times, Cole took passes from James and knocked down jumpers, keeping shorthanded Boston at bay. “He’s got savvy,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. “Great pickup.” Ray Allen scored 28 points on 8 for 12 shooting for the Celtics, while Rajon Rondo finished with 22 points and 12 assists and Keyon Dooling scored 18 off the Boston bench.

Through two games, Miami (2-0) has trailed only once - by two points, for all of 14 seconds.

Boston turned the ball over 24 times, and Miami turned those into 33 points. “Any team you turn the ball over that much they’re going to score on you,” Allen said. “We just have to settle in on both ends of the floor. Whether you score or not, they’re going to run down your throats.”

Cole’s jumper with 3:01 left gave Miami a 10898 lead, most of which disappeared in the next 59 seconds, thanks to Dooling - a former Heat guard. He scored seven straight points, including a 3-pointer with 2:02 remaining, cutting the Heat’s lead to three. And when Boston got a stop on the next Miami trip, the Celtics looked for Dooling again.But Wade stepped in front of a pass intended for Dooling, starting a play where James found Cole for another jumper, and Miami’s cushion was back to 110-105 with 1:31 to play. A half-minute later, Cole struck again to restore the five-point edge, and Miami had the win. “He’s earned their respect,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Even though it’s been a short period of time, about three weeks, because he’s pure, he’s all about the team. He’s mature ... and he gets them the ball. You’re always a popular guy when you find people when they’re open.”

Boston was again without forward Paul Pierce (bruised right heel), who worked out both Monday and Tuesday and is getting closer to a return. It won’t come on Wednesday, however - the Celtics have already ruled him out of that game in New Orleans, but there is some hope of Pierce being in the lineup when Boston makes its home debut against Detroit tomorrow. Maybe spurred by the new Eastern Conference championship banner hanging

from the rafters, Miami came out flying. A short bank shot by Wade made it 26-15 at barely the midpoint of the first quarter, setting the tone for an offensive bonanza the likes of which Boston typically doesn’t allow. After a late flurry - James setting up Wade for a lob, Wade missing at the rim but James trailing for a tip-in being perhaps the most impressive of Miami’s highlight reel to close the second quarter - the Heat took a 69-54 lead into the locker room.

That represented the most first-half points allowed by the Celtics since Feb. 8, 2005, according to STATS LLC. Six straight points by James made it 85-65 midway through the third, and Miami was well on its way to a blowout. But then everything changed - Boston went to a zone, and Miami’s offense stopped in its tracks.

Feasting on Miami’s second unit, with James being the only starter on the floor, the Celtics closed the third on an 18-6 run to make it 91-83 entering the fourth. The Heat missed their last eight shots of the quarter - after having missed 14, total, in the first 32 minutes of the game.

Boston never got the lead down the stretch, though, thanks to Cole. “We have confidence in whoever’s on the floor at that time,” James said.

“For him to make those shots and come up big in a game like that, give credit to him.”

HAWKS 106, NETS 70 In Newark, New Jersey, Atlanta opened a double-digit lead early and cruised to a victory over sluggish New Jersey, which was playing its last home opener in the state. Marvin Williams had 14 points and nine rebounds while Jeff Teague added 13 points for the Hawks, who embarrassed the Nets in a game in which the crowd was booing the Brooklyn-bound team by halftime. Rookie MarShon Brooks had 17 points to lead the cold-shooting Nets, who looked

tired coming off a season-opening comeback win in Washington on Monday.

BUCKS 98, TIMBERWOLVES 95 In Milwaukee, rookie Jon Leuer converted a three-point play with 1:17 left, helping Milwaukee hold off Minnesota in its home opener. Brandon Jennings scored 24 points for the Bucks, who were playing without forward Drew Gooden because of a suspension and several other key players because of injuries. Kevin Love had 31 points and 20 rebounds for the Timberwolves, whose late rally came up just short. Minnesota was without coach Rick Adelman, who was attending a funeral.

Assistant Terry Porter, who used to coach the Bucks, filled in.

LAKERS 96, JAZZ 71 In Los Angeles, the hosts avoided just the fourth 0-3 start in franchise history by easily beating Utah. Kobe Bryant scored 26 points and Pau Gasol added 22 points and nine rebounds for the Lakers, who had much more life than the Jazz despite playing their third game in three nights to open the season. Los Angeles ran away with a dominant third quarter, making a 27-8 surge to set up the first win for new coach Mike Brown.

Paul Millsap had 18 points and 10 rebounds for Utah, the last NBA team to open its season.

BLAZERS 101, KINGS 79 In Portland, Gerald Wallace had 25 points, eight rebounds and five assists, leading Portland over Sacramento. LaMarcus Aldridge had 24 points and eight rebounds for the Blazers. DeMarcus Cousins led the way with 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Kings, who struggled with field shooting in the second half and committed 23 fouls and 20 turnovers for the game. — Agencies

NBA results/standings NBA results and standings on Tuesday.

Atlanta 106, New Jersey 70; Miami 115, Boston 107; Milwaukee 98, Minnesota 95; Portland 101, Sacramento 79; LA Lakers 96, Utah 71.

Western Conference Eastern Conference Atlantic Division Northwest Division W L OTL PCT GB Portland 2 0 0 1.000 Toronto 1 0 0 1.000 Oklahoma City 2 0 0 1.000 NY Knicks 1 0 0 1.000 Denver 1 0 0 1.000 .5 New Jersey 1 1 0 .500 .5 Utah 0 1 0 0 1.5 Philadelphia 0 1 0 0 1 Minnesota 0 2 0 0 2 Boston 0 2 0 0 1.5 Pacific Division Central Division LA Clippers 1 0 0 1.000 Indiana 1 0 0 1.000 Sacramento 1 1 0 .500 .5 Milwaukee 1 1 0 .500 .5 Golden State 1 1 0 .500 .5 Chicago 1 1 0 .500 .5 LA Lakers 1 2 0 .333 1 Detroit 0 1 0 0 1 Phoenix 0 1 0 0 1 Cleveland 0 1 0 0 1 Southwest Division Southeast Division San Antonio 1 0 0 1.000 Miami 2 0 0 1.000 New Orleans 1 0 0 1.000 Charlotte 1 0 0 1.000 .5 Memphis 0 1 0 0 1 Atlanta 1 0 0 1.000 .5 Houston 0 1 0 0 1 Orlando 1 1 0 .500 1 Dallas 0 2 0 0 1.5 Washington 0 1 0 0 1.5

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Oil price falls as Saudis trump Iran threat Page 22

Japan to improve economic ties with India: Noda

Greek government gets more time to rescue economy Page 25

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NEW YORK: In this Dec. 24, 2011 file photo, a last-minute shopper leaves the Toys R Us flagship store in New York’s Times Square. A mall trade group said yesterday, that last minute shoppers gave merchants a solid lift during the final week before Christmas. — AP

investors worry about Europe Trading quiet, stocks fall in a holiday-shortened week NEW YORK: Stocks fell yesterday after Europe’s central bank repor ted that its overnight deposits hit another record, the latest indication of worry among European lenders. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 100 points in morning trading, and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell after five days of gains.

The European Central Bank said the continent’s banks parked a record $590.72 billion overnight. That means those banks are unwilling to take the risk of lending to each other in the short term, opting to earn low interest rates from the ECB instead. The disclosure also hurt the euro, which fell 1 percent against the dollar, to $1.29.

The worrying news from the ECB overshad-

owed two successful auctions of Italian government debt. Italy was able to pay much lower borrowing rates than it did in auctions last month. The strong demand from investors raised hopes that Italy would be able to avoid sinking into a financial crisis, as smaller countries like Greece and Portugal have. John Merrill, chief investment officer at Tanglewood Wealth Management, said markets would remain vulnerable to flare-ups in Europe’s long-running debt crisis until leaders there come up with more convincing solutions for paying down their enormous debt loads and keeping the 17-nation shared currency union intact.

“We live in a Band-Aid world,” Merrill said.

“Nobody really is addressing underlying

issues.” European leaders agreed at a summit Dec. 9 to forge closer fiscal ties over the long term, but investors are still worried that Greece might default on its debt or be forced to leave the euro bloc, disrupting its own economy and potentially causing big losses for European banks that hold Greek government debt. That could potentially cascade into another global financial panic, as happened in 2008 following the collapse of the US investment bank Lehman Brothers. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 103 points at 12,188 as of 11:30 am (1630 GMT ).

Materials and energy companies were leading the declines. Alcoa Inc. fell 1.4 percent. Only one of the 30 stocks in the Dow average rose, AT&T Inc.

Sales of real estate slow down: NBK KUWAIT: The National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) announced yesterday that the total monetary value of sales activity in the real estate sector was 138 million Kuwaiti dinars in November, which is a drop of 4. 2% year-onyear (y/y), and a larger drop of 47% monthon-month.

This is largely due to the Adha holiday falling in November (first real estate transaction was November 13th). Activity in the

sector should get back on track in the months to follow, it added in a report. “Sales in the residential sector were KD 88.8 million, or 64% of total real estate sales. These sales were spread over 440 transactions, about three quarter of which went to buying plots of land, as opposed to finished homes, it said.

“The investment sector, which is largely composed of apartments and buildings

LISBON: Emilio Filipe stands by the window of his clothes shop with signs advertising sale prices on the first day of the winter sales in Lisbon yesterday. — AP

intended for rental, saw KD 48.8 million in transactions for November. The drop in sales (-8.7% y/y) is an infrequent occurrence and likely seasonal (Adha related), as this sector continues to attract interest. Activity should recover in months to come.

It pointed out that the commercial sector saw two transactions (both for buildings in Kuwait City), averaging KD 710,000 per transaction for November.

The low level of activity is typical of this sector, as it usually only witnesses a handful of large transactions. The area of the estate involved in these transactions also tends to vary greatly, which explains the low average transaction size for November.

Real estate activity in November seemed to slow down, which is mostly attributed to fewer days available for transacting combined with the typical slowdown a holiday brings. The sector should rebound for the last month of the year and continue to do well in the following year.

The Savings and Credit Bank (SCB) approved 197 loans totaling KD 9.3 million, a 49% y/y increase. Similarly, KD 4.9 million were disbursed in previously-approved housing loans, 57% of which will finance new house construction, while 24% will be used to purchase existing homes, with the remaining 19% going to making additions and renovations to existing homes.

Activity in the residential sector—in sales and applications for credit—continue to signal strong performance for this sector in 2011, as it remains backed by strong local demand. — KUNA

Trading was very quiet in a holiday-shortened week. Markets were closed Monday in observance of Christmas. The Dow closed 2 points lower Tuesday. The S&P 500 was down 11 points at 1,254. It was the first decline for the S&P index after five days of gains. The Nasdaq composite declined 25 points at 2,600. The Bank of Italy raised $11.8 billion in two bond auctions, reflecting investor approval of the country’s recently passed austerity measures. The yield on Italy’s six-month bill offering was half the interest rate the country paid in a similar auction last month.

The yield on the country ’s 10-year bond remained dangerously high, however, at 6.93 percent. It had risen to 7 percent Tuesday, a level that is considered unsustainable.

Italy is the euro zone’s third-largest economy and is considered too big to save under the euro zone’s current bailout funds.

Investors have grown fearful over the past few months that Italy will find it difficult to pay off its massive debts, which stand at around $2.5 trillion. The worries were reflected in US bank stocks. Bank of America Corp. fell 2 percent, while Regions Financial Corp. fell 3 percent.

In other corporate news: Sandridge Energy Inc. stock is down 3 percent on news that it is selling drilling rights in two states to a Spanish energy company, Repsol YPF. Cavium Inc. fell 1 percent, a day after the chipmaker said its fourth-quarter results will fall below its previous forecast. — AP

Last-minute holiday shopping gives lift in finale NEW YORK: The holiday shopping season turned out to be two seasons split by a big lull. A surge in buying in the two weeks before Christmas coupled with a record-breaking Black Friday to give retailers a solid season. The doldrums between the buying binges show how shoppers have learned to wait for the discounts they know will come.

Last-minute shoppers shoppers gave retailers a 4.5 percent increase in revenue at stores open at least a year in the week before Christmas compared with the same week last year, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers-Goldman Sachs Weekly Chain Store Sales Index.

The increase is good news for the economy, because it showed shoppers were willing and able to fund a holiday splurge. Consumer spending, including major items such as health care, accounts for 70 percent of the economy.

Still, plenty of shoppers are pinched for cash in the slow economic recovery, and were seeking the best deals. Stores have trained even shoppers who are primed to spend to look for a discount. Gift buyers gained steam in as the season went on.

The store revenue figure rose 0.9 percent last week from the week before, building on a 3.4 percent increase the week before that. “The downs and ups were much more accentuated,” said Michael P. Niemira, chief economist at the trade group. “It just shows how cautious the

consumer is. Consumers are bargain hunters more today than ever before.”

The index estimates sales at 24 major stores including Macy’s Inc. and Costco Wholesale Corp. Revenue at stores open at least a year is an important measurement of a retailer’s performance because it excludes the effects of stores that open or close during the year.

The post-Black Friday lull was deeper than usual this year. The two weeks after Thanksgiving weekend showed the biggest percentage sales decline since 2000. Then, during the final two weeks before Christmas, sales surged again, by the highest rate since 2005, Niemira said.

“The holiday season was good but uneven,” Niemira said. Stores are expected to benefit when shoppers come back to spend their gift cards, because people often spend more than the cards’ value. In addition, gift card sales are only recorded when shoppers redeem them.

People have more money on their cards to spend. According to an ICSCGoldman Sachs survey of shoppers conducted Sunday, 18 percent of holiday spending went toward gift cards, up from 14.6 percent last year. ICSC said it expects holiday sales for November and December to rise in line with its forecast of 3.5 percent.

A fuller holiday spending picture will come Jan. 5, when stores including Target Corp. and Macy’s will release December sales figures. — AP

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UAE markets rise in year-end trade Most Gulf bourses up

SHENZHEN: This photo taken on December 1, 2011 shows dressmakers working on creations in the workshop of Divine Bridal Co in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen. Owner Wang Lujia hopes one saving grace will protect the small wedding dress company as China’s exports plunge — couples still get married during a global economic crisis. — AFP

Abu Dhabi throws Aldar a $4.6b lifeline DUBAI: The Abu Dhabi government threw indebted Aldar Properties a new 16.8-billion-dirham ($4.6 billion) lifeline yesterday, buying assets from the struggling developer and retiring a loan. Aldar, which is partly-owned by the government, has been hit hard by a real estate market downturn.

Abu Dhabi has purchased 760 housing units in Aldar’s Al Bandar, Al Zeina and Al Muneera developments in its ambitious Al Raha Beach project for 3.5 billion dirhams, the company said in an emailed statement.

The developer also sold assets in its Central Market project, which is still under construction, and related infrastructure to Abu Dhabi for 5.7 billion dirhams.

The government, which will forgive a 5-billion dirham infrastructure loan Aldar has outstanding, will also fund the completion cost of 2.6 billion dirhams for the Central Market. The builder of Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina Formula One Circuit will receive 4.5 billion dirhams from the government in the next two months while the rest will be paid over four years, it said.

The emirate’s largest developer by market capitalisation already sold assets to the Abu Dhabi government earlier this year, including its Ferrari World theme park and the Yas Marina Formula One circuit.

Abu Dhabi bailed out the cashstrapped developer in January with a $5.2-billion rescue package in exchange for some of its key assets.

Aldar also issued a $2.8-billion convertible bond to state investment vehicle Mubadala in March, part of which was converted earlier this month.

In January, Aldar said it would sell

assets worth $1.49 billion to the government to meet debt obligations.

Shares of Aldar ended 3.7 percent higher on Wednesday, before the announcement. The company’s stock has been falling to record lows over concerns that it may delist, despite Aldar dismissing the speculation as rumours.

Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, had fared better during the downturn than neighbouring emirate Dubai which saw a collapse in its property market that triggered the restructuring of its flagship firm Dubai World.

However, it is facing challenges now as a huge supply of high-end homes are expected to enter the market.

Prices in Abu Dhabi are expected to fall another 14 percent from here, or 60 percent from their peak, a Reuters poll showed.

But Abu Dhabi, home to most of the country’s oil, has strongly backed the struggling developer. “The fact that these assets are being sold directly to the government is significant as it clearly shows that the company benefits from a high level of support from both the Government directly and also via Mubadala,” said Chavan Bhogaita, head of markets strategy unit at National Bank of Abu Dhabi.

Aldar said in the statement the transactions announced yesterday would immediately reduce Aldar’s indebtedness by 5 billion dirhams and continue the deleveraging of its balance sheet.

Aldar has repaid 14.2 billion dirhams in debt this year including the 4.5 billion dirhams convertible sukuk on Nov 10. — Reuters

DUBAI: Dubai’s index made its largest one-day gain in two months yesterday in what traders said appeared to be end-of-year window-dressing, as most regional markets edged higher.

Dubai’s benchmark climbed 2.1 percent, up from Tuesday’s seven-year low, supported mainly by Emaar Properties which rose 2.8 percent and heavyweight Emirates NBD which gained 3.7 percent. Illiquid stock Mashreq bank jumped 7.4 percent, in year-end sporadic trade.

“There wasn’t a major reason for the shares to drop and it wasn’t due to companies’ performances but investor sentiment,” said Marie Salem, equity trader at Al Mal Capital.

“Investors might be taking the chance to improve closing prices without really increasing the cost, which means higher commissions and fees.”

Abu Dhabi’s Aldar Properties advanced 3.7 percent, lifting from Tuesday’s record low ahead of a board meeting to discuss asset sales.

“People are starting to consider that the sale of assets isn’t such a negative thing since it might be the action which stabilises things for the company,” Salem added.

A statement issued after the close of trading showed that the Abu Dhabi government gave indebted Aldar a $4.6-billion lifeline, which included buying assets from the struggling developer and retiring a loan. Abu Dhabi’s

benchmark ended 0.6 percent higher, moving sideways since slumping to a 33-month low last week.

“UAE’s real estate sector will continue to struggle next year-there are no signs of improvement,” said Shakeel Sarwar, at Securities & Investment Co (SICO) in Bahrain.

UAE markets have fallen 15-20 percent this year, as investors lack interest in companies that are mostly struggling to post growth since the property bubble burst in 2008.

In Saudi Arabia, large-caps recovered in late trade and insurance stocks spike, helping the index close 0.3 percent higher. Al Rajhi Bank ticked up 0.7 percent and Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) climbed 0.8 percent.

The market shrugged off Iran’s threat to halt oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz after sources said Saudi Arabia and other Gulf OPEC states are ready to replace Iranian oil. “There is room for upside in petrochemical stocks,” said Hesham Abo-Jamee, at Bakheet Investment Group. “Their value will increase after geopolitical issues (in the region) are solved.”

Abo-Jamee said he expected an estimated 20 percent increase in the 2011 profit of petrochemical companies. Wataniya Insurance and Ace Arabia Cooperative Insurance surged 10 percent each. Al Rajhi Takaful jumped 9 percent.

Elsewhere, Qatar’s bourses ended little

Sudan seeks China trade in yuan

changed. Shares in Doha-listed United Development Company were temporarily suspended yesterday. After the close of trading, the firm said it recommended state-run Pension and Social Insurance Authority as a strategic shareholder through increasing the company’s capital by 80 million shares, offered at 20 riyalsper-share.

YESTERDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS DUBAI The index rose 2.1 percent to 1,346 points.

ABU DHABI The index gained 0.6 percent to 2,366 points.

SAUDI ARABIA The index climbed 0.3 percent to 6,418 points.

EGYPT The measure fell 0.9 percent to 3,587 points.

QATAR The benchmark eased 0.09 percent to 8,812 points.

OMAN The index advanced 0.3 percent to 5,679 points.

KUWAIT The measure eased 0.07 percent to 5,787 points.

BAHRAIN The measure edged up 0.05 percent to 1,145 points. — Reuters

Oil price falls as Saudis trump Iran threat

KHARTOUM: Sudan has asked its biggest trading partner China to use the yuan currency and Sudanese pounds rather than US dollars in their commercial exchanges, the central bank governor said yesterday.

“If the Chinese agree to that, we might quit completely from dollars,” Mohamed Khair al-Zubair told reporters. “The Chinese economy is now the second biggest in the world and soon will become the biggest,” he explained.

Beijing has been hoping for wider use of the yuan in its international trade but the dollar remains the dominant currency in global transactions. Energy-hungry China is the largest foreign investor in Sudan’s oil sector, with two-way trade between the countries valued at $10 billion last year, according to a website of the Chinese embassy. A special Chinese envoy has been trying to resolve a dispute over oil exports between Sudan and South Sudan, which took 75 percent of the country’s oil output when it gained independence in July.

The vast majority of Khartoum’s export earnings came from petroleum, leaving the government scrambling for ways to bolster its finances while fighting rising inflation-which the government sees reaching 17 percent next year-and the sharp devaluation of the Sudanese pound.

Beijing is also a major military supplier to Khartoum, which has suffered from US economic sanctions since 1997. In June, Chinese President Hu Jintao welcomed his Sudanese counterpart Omar alBashir to Beijing, where they signed economic agreements and sparked the anger of Washington, rights groups and the United Nations. Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity, genocide and war crimes allegedly committed in Sudan’s Darfur region. — AFP

NEW YORK: Oil prices fell yesterday, as Saudi Arabia said it will offset any loss of oil from a threatened Iranian blockade of a crucial tanker route in the Middle East.

In New York benchmark crude fell $1.15 to $100.19 a barrel. Brent crude fell 90 cents to $108.37 a barrel in London.

On Tuesday Iran’s vice president warned that his country was ready to close the Strait of Hormuz - a vital waterway through which a third of the world’s tanker traffic flows - if western nations embargo the country’s oil because of Iran’s ongoing nuclear program. The head of the country’s navy added yetserday that his fleet can block the strait if need be. His comments came as Iran held a 10-day drill in international waters near the strategic route.

A Saudi oil ministry official told The Associated Press that Saudi Arabia and other Gulf producers are ready to provide more oil if Iran tries to block the strait. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the issue. He didn’t specify other routes that could be used to transport oil, although they would likely be longer and more expensive for getting crude to the region’s customers.

Some analysts think the Iranian threats are more rhetoric than reality.

“We doubt political posturing will turn

into action,” energy consultant and trader Stephen Schork said in a report.

“Shutting down the strait ... is the last bullet that Iran has and therefore we have to express some doubt that they would do this and at the same time lose their support from China and Russia,” said analyst Olivier Jakob of Petromatrix in Switzerland.

Iran is the fourth largest oil exporter in the world, according to the Energy Department. Most of its crude goes to Asia, with China its biggest customer. Oil provides half of Iran’s revenue. Last year that amounted to about $73 billion.

Oil prices were also undercut yetserday by persistent worries about Europe and future demand for oil as the region’s economy weakens. The European Central Bank said the continent’s banks parked a record $590.72 billion overnight with the ECB, reflecting distrust in the European banking system.

Meanwhile in the US the average pump price of gasoline rose a penny on Wednesday to $3.24 a gallon. That’s about 4 cents more than a week ago and 21 cents higher than a year ago.

In other energy futures trading, heating oil rose 1 cent to $2.92 a gallon, gasoline fell 2 cents to $2.67 a gallon and natural gas lost 4 cents at $3.08 per 1,000 cubic feet. — AP

EXCHANGE RATES Commercial Bank of Kuwait US Dollar/KD GB Pound/KD Euro Swiss francs Canadian Dollar Australian DLR Indian rupees Sri Lanka Rupee UAE dirhams Bahraini dinars Jordanian dinar Saudi riyals Omani riyals Philippine peso Egyptian pounds

.2730000 .4320000 .3600000 .2940000 .2690000 .2790000 .0040000 .0020000 .0752950 .7335820 .3810000 .0700000 .7191440 .0040000 .0430000

CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES US Dollar/KD .2773500 GB Pound/KD .4342450 Euro .3623440 Swiss francs .2968370 Canadian dollars .2718180 Danish Kroner .0487490 Swedish Kroner .0404620 Australian dlr .2816490 Hong Kong dlr .0356680 Singapore dlr .2137240 Japanese yen .0035670 Indian Rs/KD .0000000 Sri Lanka rupee .0000000 Pakistan rupee .0000000 Bangladesh taka .0000000 UAE dirhams .0755410 Bahraini dinars .7359690 Jordanian dinar .0000000 Saudi Riyal/KD .0739800 Omani riyals .7206700 Philippine Peso .0000000

Al-Muzaini Exchange Co. ASIAN COUNTRIES

Japanese Yen Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Srilankan Rupees Nepali Rupees Singapore Dollar Hongkong Dollar Bangladesh Taka Philippine Peso Thai Baht Irani Riyal - Transfer Irani Riyal - Cash

3.598 5.337 3.154 2.436 3.341 213.250 35.672 3.580 6.336 8.873 0.271 0.273

.2815000 .4430000 .3690000 .3050000 .2790000 .2880000 .0070000 .0035000 .0760520 .7409540 .4020000 .0770000 .7263720 .0072000 .0520000 .2794500 .4375630 .3650870 .2990850 .2738770 .0491180 .0407680 .2837810 .0359380 .2153430 .0035940 .0052830 .0024610 .0031220 .0034500 .0761130 .7415420 .3952620 .0745400 .7261270 .0064020

Saudi Riyal Qatari Riyal Omani Riyal Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham

GCC COUNTRIES 74.150 76.402 722.230 738.540 75.715

Pakistani rupees Philippine peso Qatari riyal Saudi riyal Singapore dollar South Africa Sri Lankan rupees Sterling pound Swedish krona Swiss franc Syrian pound Thai bhat Tunisian dollar UAE dirham U.S. dollars Yemeni Riyal

ARAB COUNTRIES Egyptian Pound - Cash 47.500 Egyptian Pound - Transfer 46.282 Yemen Riyal/for 1000 1.272 Tunisian Dinar 189.860 Jordanian Dinar 392.670 Lebanese Lira/for 1000 1.865 Syrian Lier 6.003 Morocco Dirham 33.814 EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 277.950 Euro 370.650 Sterling Pound 431.930 Canadian dollar 268.420 Turkish lire 153.940 Swiss Franc 300.620 Australian dollar 277.000 US Dollar Buying 277.750 GOLD 315.500 159.000 81.500

20 Gram 10 Gram 5 Gram

COUNTRY

Australian dollar Bahraini dinar Bangladeshi taka Canadian dollar Cyprus pound Czek koruna Danish krone Deutsche Mark Egyptian pound Euro Cash Hongkong dollar Indian rupees Indonesia Iranian tuman Iraqi dinar Japanese yen Jordanian dinar Lebanese pound Malaysian ringgit Morocco dirham Nepalese Rupees New Zealand dollar Nigeria Norwegian krone Omani Riyal

SELL CASH

286.300 740.940 3.860 276.500 547.200 44.500 49.900 167.800 48.020 368.000 36.500 5.650 0.032 0.211 0.242 3.680 395.660 0.188 90.410 46.500 4.280 219.300 1.805 47.700 723.670

SELL DRAFT

284.800 740.940 3.430 275.000

216.000 46.265 366.500 36.350 5.240 0.031

10 Tola

75.860 278.600

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd Selling Rate

US Dollar Canadian Dollar Sterling Pound Euro Swiss Frank Bahrain Dinar UAE Dirhams Qatari Riyals Saudi Riyals Jordanian Dinar Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupees Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Pesso Cyprus pound Japanese Yen Thai Bhat Syrian Pound Nepalese Rupees Malaysian Ringgit

278.500 275.585 436.990 366.765 298.040 737.505 75.800 76.445 74.225 392.025 46.238 2.441 5.241 3.106 3.401 6.331 683.150 3.675 8.935 5.865 3.370 92.510

Rate per 1000 (Tran)

US Dollar Pak Rupees Indian Rupees Sri Lankan Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso UAE Dirhams Saudi Riyals Bahraini Dinars Egyptian Pounds Pound Sterling Indonesian Rupiah Yemeni Riyal Jordanian Dinars Syrian Pounds Euro Canadian Dollars Nepali rupee

Currency

Transfer Rate (Per 1000)

288.09 278.14 303.35 367.31

441.00 3.70 3.750 5.625 2.650 4.000 3.300 76.25 740.95 48.20 395.00 725.00 77.20 74.95

278.500 3.095 5.235 2.455 3.420 6.380 75.930 74.425 740.400 46.235 441.800 3.190 1.550 395.700 5.750 369.700 278.600 3.690

Al Mulla Exchange

UAE Exchange Center WLL Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc Euro

439.60 3.64 3.422 5.224 2.445 3.279 3.099 75.82 740.93 46.20 396.29 723.93 76.81 74.38

Kuwait Bahrain Intl Exchange Co.

TRAVELLER’S CHEQUE 438.500 278.600

Sterling Pound US Dollar

Currency

723.490

300.200 5.100 9.040

Sterling Pound Japanese Yen Bangladesh Taka Indian Rupee Sri Lankan Rupee Nepali Rupee Pakistani Rupee UAE Dirhams Bahraini Dinar Egyptian Pound Jordanian Dinar Omani Riyal Qatari Riyal Saudi Riyal

Currency

394.780 0.187 90.410 3.300 217.800

3.120 6.350 76.640 74.390 216.040 36.830 2.445 438.500

GOLD 1,671.120

Rate for Transfer

Bahrain Exchange Company

3.260 6.690 77.070 74.390 216.040 36.830 2.655 440.500 41.500 301.700 5.100 9.310 198.263 75.960 279.000 1.330

288.00 278.00 305.00 368.00

US Dollar Euro Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar Japanese Yen Indian Rupee Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupee Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso Pakistan Rupee Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham Saudi Riyal *Rates are subject to change

Transfer Rate (Per 1000)

278.200 366.000 438.100 274.900 3.595 5.245 46.195 2.441 3.395 6.337 3.110 740.000 75.800 74.350

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2011

Years

BUSINESS

LG Display plant in eastern China hit by strike NANJING: Workers at an LG Display factory in eastern China went on strike, halting some production, the company said yesterday, in the latest show of strength

by China’s increasingly assertive labour force.

By the afternoon, however, busloads of employees were returning to the plant after LG Display posted notices saying shifts would resume and year-end bonuses would be equal to “200 percent,” apparently indicating that Lunar New Year bonuses would be equivalent to two months’ salar y, addressing workers’ complaints that their bonuses were too small.

A spokeswoman in Seoul for the South Korean company, Claire Ohm, confirmed the labour dispute after a report by the New York-based China Labor Watch said the strike began on Monday.

“Some of our production has been suspended,” Ohm said about the Nanjing plant. She did not confirm that bonus issues were the cause of the strike but said the company would resume production today.

China’s industrial workers, many of them migrant labourers from villages struggling to establish a foothold in urban areas, have increasingly resorted to strikes in recent years. Ohm did not say how many workers had stopped work or how much production had been curtailed. “We and the Nanjing city government are jointly negotiating with workers to smoothly reach an agreement and we expect the problems to be resolved soon,” she said.

A worker at the factory told Reuters that the core of contention was disappointment over year-end bonuses after employees were told that they would receive the equivalent of one month’s wages as a bonus later in January. “The workers are upset because we understand that bonuses can be low in a bad year, but 2009 wasn’t good and they paid three times base salary,” said the worker, who declined to give his name. “We don’t understand it.”

LG Display, the leading flat-screen maker, produces LCD modules for notebook computers and monitors at

the Nanjing plant, Ohm said. The company has two other module plants in China.

The notice making the new bonus offer said LG Display’s business had suffered since the second half of 2010 “due to the global slump in the LCD sector,” and that the factory stoppage since Monday had “brought major losses for the company.” It also threatened to seek punishment of workers who “refuse to return to work and spread false information.”

Chinese Internet sites circulated pictures said to be from the Nanjing plant, with hundreds of workers massed at a factory building and standing around a toppled Christmas tree. Reuters could not confirm that the pictures were from the plant.

Wages for Chinese workers have risen in recent years, but the gains have been offset by inflation that has pushed up costs for housing, schooling and healthcare in urban areas. This strike, like previous stoppages, also reflects Chinese workers’ anger about

what they see as unequal treatment compared with foreign employees.

China’s growth-focused government has often punished strikers for disrupting production and sullying the country’s reputation for maintaining a cheap, disciplined workforce. But strikes have become increasingly common and more tolerated by the central government, which has said wages for workers must grow to nurture more consumer spending.

Officials in several Nanjing government departments contacted by Reuters either said they had not heard about the strike or referred inquiries to other departments. Earlier this month, nearly 1,000 workers at a Japanese-owned factory in southern China protested to demand compensation in accordance with their length of service after a change in the plant’s ownership, according to media reports at the time. A succession of strikes last year disrupted production at Japanese-owned vehicle parts plants across southern China. — Reuters

Japan to improve economic ties with India: Noda India-Japan dollar swap line expected

NEW DELHI: (From L-R) Managing Director of Hero ECO Naveen Munjal, Chairman of Hero Electric and Hero Exports Vijay Munjal, and Hero ECO Executive Director Gaurav Munjal pose with newly-launched products at a function in New Delhi yesterday. The Hero Group unveiled a new corporate identity yesterday and unveiled a new line of products in the Indian capital, where the group also announced its acquisition of Ultra Motors, a UKbased company with operations in the US, Germany, Taiwan and China. — AFP

US Treasury says yuan appreciation ‘insufficient’ WASHINGTON: The US Treasury again shied away from labeling China a currency manipulator on Tuesday, but it rapped the country for not moving quickly enough on exchange rate reforms. The United States also chided Japan for stepping into the currency market to stem the yen’s rise, and urged South Korea to use such interventions sparingly.

Some US politicians have argued that China has gained an unfair competitive edge in global markets by keeping the yuan artificially low to boost exports, and pressure has mounted in Congress for President Barack Obama to punish China.

But the administration prefers to tread softly and use diplomacy. The US Treasury, in a semi-annual report, as usual said that statutes covering a designation of currency manipulator “have not been met with respect to China.” It repeated its standard line that appreciation in the yuan has been too slow, calling it “insufficient.”

“Treasury will closely monitor the pace of appreciation and press for policy changes that yield greater exchange rate flexibility, a level playing field, and a sustained shift to domestic demand-led growth,” it said in the report to Congress on international economic and exchange rate policies.

The value of the yuan, which Beijing manages closely, has risen 4 percent against the dollar this year and 7.7 percent since China dropped a firm peg against the greenback in June 2010. The Peterson Institute for International Economics recently estimated the yuan was undervalued by 24 percent against the dollar, down from 28 percent earlier in the year. It attributed the change to both Beijing’s policy of gradual currency appreciation and higher Chinese inflation.

At the heart of the friction between the two countries is a US trade deficit with China that swelled in 2010 to a record $273.1 billion from about $226.9 billion in 2009. The cumulative Jan-Oct deficit with China is on track to top that this year, running at around $245.5 billion.

The US Senate this year for the first time passed a bill that would require the administration to slap penalties on Chinese imports if it fails to adopt market-based exchange rates.

While the measure has made no progress in the lower chamber and is unlikely to become law, it shows the mounting U.S. frustration with its vital trade partner.

President Obama at the November APEC meetings, in his toughest words yet, told President Hu Jintao that China must play by global trade rules and act like “a grown-up.”

The Treasury’s decision not to label China a currency manipulator sent a “clear and positive signal” that would soothe the market and benefit trade, according to a commentary in Xinhua, the Chinese state news agency, on Wednesday.

Beijing has warned the United States not to “politicize” the currency issue, and some economists have pointed out that nations such as Japan and Switzerland have intervened in currency markets without drawing Washington’s ire.

The report did point the finger at Japan this time, criticizing Tokyo for its solo yen-selling interventions in August and October that followed a joint Group of 7 action in the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake.

“The unilateral Japanese interventions were undertaken when exchange market conditions appeared to be operating in an orderly manner and volatility in the yen-dollar exchange rate was lower than, for exam-

ple, the euro-dollar market,” the report said.

“In contrast to the post-earthquake joint G7 intervention in March, the United States did not support these interventions,” the Treasury said, adding that Tokyo should pursue reforms to revive its domestic economy rather than try to influence the exchange rate.

A senior Japanese government official said the report did not change Tokyo’s position that its currency policy was in line with G7 agreements. “This report does not make it more difficult for Japan to intervene,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the topic. “We are committed to doing whatever is necessary.”

Japanese exporters have complained that the ultra-strong yen puts them at a competitive disadvantage. The yen was trading at just under 78 to the US dollar yesterday morning, about 3 percent weaker than it was on Oct. 31, when Tokyo aggressively intervened to cap the rise.

The report also noted that South Korean authorities “should limit their FX interventions to exceptional circumstances of disorderly market conditions and adopt a greater degree of exchange rate flexibility.”

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has said the law on the FX report, which requires the administration to determine whether US trade partners are deliberately undervaluing their currencies, is a poor tool to push Beijing on the yuan.

Instead, the United States prefers to argue for change at regular closed-door meetings with Chinese officials. It also uses international economic forums, such as the Group of 20 leading nations and the International Monetary Fund, to ramp up public pressure on Beijing to move more quickly to a moreflexible currency.

China is the biggest foreign holder of US Treasuries, with about $1.1 trillion, a position that gives it leverage in international economic negotiations. Foreign exchange traders had not expected a change of US tactics. “It’s not very surprising. It’s sort of sliding it in under the radar. They’re (Treasury) really not in a position to make any major moves at this point,” said Sean Incremona, an economist at 4Cast in New York.

The Treasury Department has not labeled a country a currency manipulator since July 1994, when it cited China. A designation would require the United States to step up negotiations with Beijing on the yuan’s value.

The yuan slipped on Tuesday as strong dollar demand from corporations offset a record high mid-point fixed by the People’s Bank of China. The central bank set an alltime high dollar/yuan mid-point in an apparent move to let the yuan rise a little more at the end of 2011 so as to make the yuan’s fullyear nominal appreciation look bigger, traders said.

Some US manufacturers, which have been hit hardest by competition from China and other emerging economies, would still prefer the US government to take a harder line.

“China’s currency is still enormously undervalued,” said Scott Paul, executive director of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, an industry lobby for hard-hit textile, steel and labor groups.

“I’m disappointed that President Obama has now formally refused six times to cite China for its currency manipulation, a practice which has contributed to the loss of hundreds of thousands of American manufacturing jobs.” — Reuters

NEW DELHI: Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda called for greater economic relations between two of Asia’s largest economies on Wednesday, after India’s trade minister said bilateral commerce would only reach $25 billion by 2014.

India and Japan enjoy warm diplomatic ties, but at a paltry $15 billion, bilateral trade in 2010 was less than 5 percent of Japan’s commerce with China. “I believe that India’s middle class will be the driving force if the manufacturing sector grows in India ... we can achieve greater trade volumes,” Noda said at a meeting with business leaders in Delhi. Despite the low trade volume, Japanese companies are increasingly viewing India as a long-term play, with a large and youthful population set to drive growth in coming years. “We can and should step up economic relations between the two countries,” Noda said.

Noda, Japan’s sixth prime minister in seven years, said talks with India about sales of civil nuclear technology were “in the right direction”.

Japan is working closely with India to build a 1,483 km (920 mile) industrial corridor stretching from New Delhi to the financial hub of Mumbai in the west, that could help transform India’s economic landscape and give its choked, teeming cities room to breathe.

The corridor includes plans for 24 new cities and Indian Trade Minister Anand Sharma said overall investment would be more than $100 billion.

Noda was on a one-day trip to India to boost financial cooperation between Asia’s second and third largest economies, which are also working more closely on security issues along with the United States.

Japan and India are in the final stages of deciding on a dollar swap agreement which may be announced during Noda’s visit and would help defend the rupee, Asia’s worst performing currency in 2011. The planned mechanism is welcome news

NEW DELHI: Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma (L) talks with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda during a business luncheon meeting in New Delhi yesterday. Noda is in the Indian capital for a two-day visit that is expected to unveil a currency swap deal and reopen talks on a civil nuclear pact. — AFP for India, which is suffering an industrial slowdown that has raised concern about its twin fiscal and current account deficits.

Japanese corporations see India as a major opportunity as Japan’s population ages and the fast growth seen by main regional partner China in recent decades slows, said Rajiv Biswas, IHS Global Insight’s chief Asia economist.

“When you look at Japan’s economy you are looking at demographic ageing, the population is declining, they don’t have growth markets domestically,” Biswas said. “They are looking elsewhere to really get growth and India is the prime candidate.”

Japan tax plan spells trouble for PM Noda TOKYO: Japan’s plan to double its 5 percent sales tax triggered defections from the ruling party yesterday, spelling more trouble for Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, who is trying to coax the cash-strapped country to find ways to fund its rising social welfare costs. Japan, which will rely on public debt to fund nearly half of next fiscal year’s budget as tax revenues dwindle, wants to double the sales tax to 10 percent by middecade. But Noda is facing difficulty in getting the necessary support from some members of his Democratic Party as well as the opposition.

The government is trying to flesh out its proposal by the end of the year, but Noda, a fiscal hawk who took office in September, has indicated that his self-imposed deadline might slip since a party tax panel was having trouble reaching a consensus.

A meeting lasting more than eight hours ended in a stalemate on Wednesday as Democrat lawmakers failed to reach consensus on a proposal to hike the sales tax to 8 percent on October 2013 and then to 10 percent on April 2015.

Even before that, nine junior members of Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) handed in their requests to leave the party, saying they could not agree to the government’s tax hike plan. The number of defections is too small to topple the Democrats but the trend bodes ill for Noda’s efforts to push divisive policies, including the tax rise, ahead of a general election that must be held by late 2013 and could well come next year.

“The numbers are not enough to undermine the Democratic Party’s majority in the lower house but as a move against Noda and what he stands for, this may be a sign of what is to follow,” said Koichi Nakano, a professor at Tokyo’s Sophia University.

“It’s certainly not a very good way to close out the year for Noda.”

Growing public criticism of Noda and his tax plan is making many lawmakers reluctant to go along. A voter survey by the Nikkei newspaper this

week showed that those who oppose a tax hike topped 50 percent, while support for Noda’s government dropped to 36 percent, a fall of over 30 points since he took office nearly four months ago.

Nakano at Sophia University said that Noda had failed to sell the notion of a sales tax rise to the public as part of an overall package of tax and social security reform. “It’s part of mishandled public relations. It has to be done, but it has to be done in a more skillful manner,” he said.

The Democrats surged to power for the first time in 2009 and a promise to slash wasteful spending and re-prioritse the budget before any sales tax hike was a key part of their platform. Japan’s sales tax is among the lowest in developed countries, but many politicians consider tax increases to be politically taboo, given the drubbing ruling parties have suffered in past elections when the levy was a focal point.

Some lawmakers argue that the government should be less specific about the timing of tax hikes to avoid breaking earlier campaign promises and to make sure the economy is strong enough to withstand the move. Others argue that the government should make a stronger commitment to cut waste and the number of parliament members.

“We felt we had to have consensus on this issue, so we will decide tomorrow,” said Shinichiro Furumoto, a senior member of the Democrats’ tax and welfare reform panel. “This won’t drag on any longer. There is a feeling that we have to show people we are willing to reform the government before we raise taxes.” Some lawmakers are afraid of losing voter support after a similar proposal to raise the sales tax contributed to big election losses for the Democrats last year. The last time the sales tax was raised to 5 percent from 3 percent, in 1997, it coincided with the Asian financial crisis and is often blamed for pushing the economy into recession and for turning voters against the government. — Reuters

India wants to buy civil nuclear technology from Japan, but talks have been slow, with Japan wanting India to commit to a moratorium on nuclear weapons tests. “The civil nuclear agreement is at the working level, discussions have proceeded in the right direction. I welcome this progress,” Noda told reporters and said the issue was raised at a meeting with India’s foreign minister.

“I hope it will be achieved,” he said. Hours before Noda left for India on Tuesday, Japan’s security council relaxed a decades-old arms exports ban.

India was the world’s top weapons importer last year. — Reuters

Asian markets edge down on Europe fears HONG KONG: Asian markets mostly slipped yesterday as unease over the eurozone debt crisis overshadowed a strong rise in consumer confidence in the United States. On the first full day of trade after Christmas eyes were on Italy, which will hold a debt auction later amid weakened confidence after lenders in Europe deposited a record amount with the central bank rather than lend to each other.

Tokyo fell 0.20 percent, or 16.94 points, to 8,423.62, Sydney fell 1.25 percent, or 51.6 points, to 4,088.8 and Seoul shed 0.92 percent, giving up 16.90 points to 1,825.12.

Hong Kong slipped 0.59 percent, or 110.50 points, to 18,518.67, although Shanghai staged an afternoon rally to end up 0.18 percent, or 3.81 points, at 2,170.01.

Dealers were given a positive cue from the United States, where another batch of upbeat data indicated a brighter outlook for the world’s biggest economy. The Conference Board reported a strong surge in consumer confidence this month, with its monthly index surging back to its levels of early 2011 after the collective mood soured deeply in the middle of the year.

“This is traditionally a good time of the year for equities, but we have 20 billion euros of Italian government debt being auctioned in the next two days, so there is some event risk which will probably cap any gains,” IG Markets institutional dealer Chris Weston said.

Italy’s bond auction is seen as a gauge of whether Rome’s debt will be purchased by European banks after the European Central Bank’s cash infusion last week. The yields on benchmark 10-year bonds are sitting at the crucial seven percent level seen as unsustainable for governments to service their debts.

Adding to investor concerns about a possible credit crunch in Europe was news that the region’s banks deposited a record amount

of overnight funds at the European Central Bank Monday. Lenders put 411.8 billion euros ($535 billion) on deposit for 24 hours at the ECB, beating the previous record of 384.3 billion euros seen in June 2010, showing that banks continue to be reluctant to lend to each other on the interbank market.

Last week, more than 500 banks borrowed a record 489.2 billion euros from the ECB in a new threeyear lending facility. On forex markets, the dollar stood at 77.77 yen, from 77.88 in New York late Tuesday.

The euro was at $1.3069 and 101.68 yen, compared with $1.3070 and 101.77 yen in New York. Oil was mixed after surging Tuesday on Iran’s warning that it could shut down the strategic Strait of Hormuz if the West applies sanctions on Iran’s oil exports.

New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for February delivery, gained eight cents to $101.42 per barrel in the afternoon. Brent North Sea crude for February delivery shed 18 cents to $109.09.

Gold stood at $1,586.50 an ounce at 0810 GMT, compared with $1,597.27 late yesterday.

In other markets: Taipei fell 0.40 percent, or 28.36 points, to 7,056.67. Leading IC design house MediaTek fell 1.25 percent to Tw$275.5 while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co was 0.26 percent higher at Tw$75.7.

Manila closed down 0.57 percent, or 24.80 points, at 4,336.63.

Banco de Oro shed 0.2 percent to 58.50 pesos, power producer First Gen was down 2.6 percent at 14.30 pesos and Philippine Long Distance Telephone shed 0.5 percent to 2,518 pesos.

Wellington rose 0.67 percent, or 21.40 points, to 3,236.90. Air New Zealand gained 3.37 percent to NZ$0.92, Contact Energy was unchanged at NZ$5.10 and Telecom jumped 2.50 percent to NZ$2.05. — AFP

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2011

Years

business

KSE ends session on mixed note GLOBAL DAILY MARKET REPORT KUWAIT: Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) ended yesterday’s session on a mixed note on the lightest volume in 22 trading sessions. Mid-cap stocks edged lower, bringing market price index down, whereas a rally staged on select Blue-chip stocks drove the market-cap weighted indices up.

Market Indices Global General Index (GGI) ended the day up by 0.02 percent, at 177.89 point. Market Capitalization was up for the day, reaching KWD29.09bn.

On the other hand, KSE Price Index closed at 5,786.8 point, shedding 3.90 points (0.07 percent) to its previous close.

Market Breadth During the session, 102 companies were traded. Market breadth was skewed towards decliners as 41 equities retreated versus 16 that advanced.

Daily Trading Activity Yesterday’s retreat came on the lightest trading day since late November. Total volume traded was down by 16.46 percent with 98.71mn shares changing hands at a total value of KWD22.28mn (5.17 percent higher compared to Tuesday’s session). Investment sector was the volume leader. The sector accounted for 34.07 percent of total shares exchanges. Trading was intense on the counter of Al Salam Holding Company with investors exchanging 10.64mn shares, with a total value of KWD1.07mn. Closing price of the stock was KWD0.104. (up 4.00 percent). The services sector was the value leader, having 31.68 percent of total traded value.

Top Gainers and Biggest Decliners In terms of top gainers, 1st Takaful Insurance Company was the top gainer for the day, adding 65.33 percent to its share value and closing at KWD0.124. On the other hand, Alrai

Media Group Company shed 7.46 percent and closed at KWD0.124 making it the biggest decliner in the market.

Sectors Wise Four out of the eight market sectors edged higher by the end of the day. Insurance index headed the gains, up 1.63 percent. First Takaful Insurance Company recorded the highest daily gain ever by 65.33 percent and closed at KWD0.124 on a solitary trade. The stock did not trade since July 26, 2011. Global Non Kuwaiti Index came in second, up by 0.55 percent on the back of gain of United Gulf Bank and Ras Al Khaimah Co. For White Cement & Const., Materials that closed up by 10.75 percent and 1.61 percent

respectively. Banking stocks too were notable gainers. Global Banking Index gained 0.28 percent. Gulf Bank and Ahli United Bank closed up by 2.04 percent and 1.25 percent, respectively. While, other index constituents, ended the day unchanged.

Meanwhile, shares of Kout Food Group surged by 1.92 percent, sending the Global Food Index up by 0.06 percent. On the flip side, Global Industrial Index led the pack of decliners during the day, shedding 0.79 percent. Kuwait Portland Cement Company lost 6.49 percent, closing at KWD0.720. Investment sector followed, shedding 0.48 percent. Al Deera Holding Company was the biggest loser within the sector.

The scrip closed down by 3.70 percent at KWD0.026.

Oil News Kuwait’s crude oil exports to Japan rose 10.2 percent in November from a year earlier to 9.43mn barrels, or 314,000 bpd, for the first gain in two months, the government said Wednesday.

Kuwait, the fourth-biggest oil provider to Japan last month, supplied 8.8 percent of Japan’s total crude imports, compared with 7.0 percent in the same month of last year and 6.2 percent in October, the Japanese Natural Resources and Energy Agency said in a preliminary report.

Price of Kuwaiti crude oil increased by USD0.05 to USD107.02pb on Tuesday compared to USD106.97pb on Friday, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation said.

Afghanistan signs major oil deal with China’s CNPC KABUL: Afghanistan signed a deal with China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) yesterday for the development of oil blocks in the Amu Darya basin, a project expected to earn the war-torn state billions of dollars over two decades.

The deal covering drilling and a refinery in the northern provinces of Sar-e Pul and Faryab is the first international oil production agreement entered into by the Afghan government for several decades.

“In 30 days from now they (CNPC) will shift their experts and equipment to the site,” Mining Minister Wahidullah Shahrani told a news conference. “ The practical work will start in October 2012.” The contract is valid for 25 years. It marks the second major deal for China in Afghanistan after Metallurgical Corp of China signed a contract in 2008 to develop the huge Aynak copper mine south of Kabul, which is due to start producing by the end of 2014.

State-owned CNPC and joint venture partner Watan Group, a diversified Afghan company, will explore for oil in three fields in the basinKashkari, Bazarkhami and Zamarudsay-which are estimated to hold around 87 million barrels of oil.

For now, CNPC has only rough estimates of how much it is likely to invest in the project, said Lu Gong Xun, president of CNPC’s international branch. “We can only give you a rough number for initial investment. Based on my experience it should be

around ... minimum of $400 million,” he said.

Under the contract, CNPC will agree to pay a 15 percent royalty on oil, a 20 percent corporate tax and give up to 70 percent of its profit from the project to the Afghan government.

CNPC will also pay rent for land used for its operations. “If the oil price stays at around $100 dollars over the next 23 years and if oil found in those fields is 87 million barrels, we estimate that our income from this project will be at least $7 billion,” he said.

Indian and Chinese bidders have been front-runners for deals to develop Afghanistan’s vast mineral deposits, which are valued at up to $3 trillion, worrying Western firms that have hesitated to invest there due to security concerns.

The mines minister said information on bidding rounds for oil blocks in the northern Balkh province will be released at the end of February and for western Herat province by mid-2012.

Experts have warned that mining projects in Afghanistan are likely targets for insurgents, production and transport costs will be high, and sovereign risk is a serious concern.

But China and India, where demand for energy and industrial inputs is booming, are willing to take risks to secure supplies. Sar-e Pul and Faryab provinces are removed from Afghanistan’s main conflict areas.

The minister also said that security would be provided to guard the project. — Reuters

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business

Can foreign tourists help US economy?

LAS VEGAS: Agustina Ocampo is the kind of foreign traveler businesses salivate over. The 22-yearold Argentine recently dropped more than $5,000 on food, hotels and clothes in Las Vegas during a trip that also took her to Seattle’s Space Needle, Disneyland and the San Diego Zoo. But she doubts she will return soon.

“It is a little bit of a headache,” said Ocampo, a student who waited months to find out whether her tourist visa application would be approved.

More than a decade after the federal government strengthened travel requirements after the Sept.

11, 2001 terrorist attacks, foreign visitors say getting a temporary visa remains a daunting and sometimes insurmountable hurdle.

The tourism industry hopes to change that with a campaign to persuade Congress to overhaul the State Department’s tourist visa application process.

“After 9/11, we were all shaken and there was a real concern for security, and I still think that concern exists,” said Jim Evans, a former hotel chain CEO heading a national effort to promote foreign travel to the US. At the same time, he said, the US needs “to be more cognizant of the importance of every single traveler.” Tourism leaders said the decline in foreign visitors over the past decade is costing American businesses and workers $859 billion in untapped revenue and at least half a million potential jobs at a time when the slowly recovering economy needs both.

While the State Department has beefed up tourist services in recent years, reducing wait times significantly for would-be visitors will likely be a challenge as officials try to balance terrorist threats and illegal immigration with tight budgets that limit hiring. “Security is job one for us,” said Edward

Ramotowski, managing director of the department’s visa services. “The reason we have a visa system is to enforce the immigration laws of the United States.”

Anti-immigration proponents argue travel to the US is already too accessible and that allowing more visitors would put the nation at greater risk.

“Everybody would like to find a way to admit as many people as possible to visit here providing that they visit and then go home,” said Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, an anti-immigration group based in Washington, D.C. “A lot of consular officers underestimate how much people want to come and live here,” she said.

Nearly 7.6 million nonimmigrant visas were issued in 2001, compared with fewer than 6.5 million in 2010. The number of visa applicants also dropped sharply after 2001. Those combined forces pushed the US share of global travelers down to 12 percent last year, from 17 percent before 2001.

The proposed immigration overhaul has largely been driven by the US Travel Association, the tourism industry’s lobbying giant, and has been endorsed by business titans such as the National Retail Federation, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, and Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. Republicans and Democrats in Congress are backing the proposed changes through six bills in the House and Senate.

Geoff Freeman, the travel association’s chief operating officer, said the State Department should be required to keep visa interview wait times at a maximum of 10 days. “Every day a person is waiting for that interview is a day a person cannot be here supporting the American economy,” he said.

For most foreigners, taking a last-minute busi-

ness or leisure trip to New York, Los Angeles, Miami or other U.S. travel hubs would be nearly impossible. The average wait time for a visa interview in Rio de Janeiro, for example, was 87 days, according to the State Department.

The Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan agency that audits federal programs, concluded that wait times are likely much longer than reported because some department employees artificially reduce the wait times by not scheduling interviews during high-demand periods.

The vast majority of visitors enter through the country’s visa waiver program, which allows travelers from 36 nations with good relationships with the US to temporarily visit without a visa. Travel proponents want to add nations whose residents are unlikely to illegally move to the US, including Argentina, Brazil, Poland and Taiwan.

Tourists from the rest of the world, including India, China, Mexico and other nations with affluent travelers looking to use their passports, must obtain a nonimmigrant visa. The process c n be expensive and time-consuming. People living far from a visa processing center must arrange travel to the interview location, not knowing whether they will be approved. Roughly 78 percent of all tourist visas were approved so far in 2011.

Tourism proponents want the department to embrace videoconferencing as a way to interview more people quickly. The department has no plans to implement videoconferencing interviews because of safety and technological concerns, Ramotowski said.

In-person interviews weren’t the norm before 9/11, when consular officials had the authority to approve travelers based on an application alone.

Since then, however, screenings have become more

strenuous, with fingerprint checks and facial recognition screening of photographs.

The State Department has made moves to boost its tourist services in recent years, transferring employees from underworked offices to bustling embassies and consular posts. Many visa processing centers are also operating under extended hours.

Other proposed changes include granting more multi-entry visas and charging premium fees to tourists who want a visa right away, similar to the premium passport fee charged to Americans with last-minute passport requests. The tourism industry also wants more visa processing officers and to allow travelers to submit applications in their native language.

“We can’t afford to treat them in a way that gives them an impression that maybe they aren’t welcome,” said Rolf Lundberg, the US Chamber of Commerce’s top lobbyist. To help make the US appear more welcoming, Congress approved last year a $200 million annual marketing campaign.

In Las Vegas, where travelers to the Strip have traditionally kept Nevada’s economy afloat, tourism and government leaders are desperate to keep businesses open and create jobs in a state with the highest unemployment rate in the US. “The industries affected by tourism are all behind it,” said Republican Rep. Joe Heck of southern Nevada, who has sponsored a bill in the House that would require shorter visa interview delays, among other measures. “We need the jobs.”

Ocampo, who spent her vacation shopping at upscale boutiques and visiting family in California, said she would be more eager to come back if she k new her business was wanted.

“Everyone wants to visit the Statue of Liberty and Disneyland,” she said. — AP

Italy raises $14 billion at much lower cost Further test of investors’ appetite for Italian debt will come today

NEW YORK: In this file photograph taken July 19, 2010, traffic passes the headquarters of Morgan Stanley in New York. Of the 1,600 job cuts announced earlier in Dec. 2011 by Morgan Stanley, 580 will be at its home base in New York. —AP

Morgan Stanley to lay off 580 US employees NEW YORK: US investment bank Morgan Stanley will soon lay off 580 New York employees, according to an official US document, after earlier announcing plans to eliminate 1,600 jobs by the first quarter of 2012.

The New York downsizing was outlined in a document filed with the state department of labor and published Tuesday, which said the layoffs were taking place because of “economic” reasons without providing further details. The rolling layoffs began December 15, affecting four different offices, according to the document published on the

department’s website.

On December 15, the company announced it would eliminate 1,600 positions at all levels. A source told AFP earlier this month that the layoffs would likely be concentrated in the bond business, which has been hit hard by the eurozone debt crisis.

M organ Stanley Chairman John Mack is to step down at the end of this year af ter steering the company through the 2008 US financial crisis at a time when many of its competitors went bankrupt or lost much of their independence. — AFP

Gold dips, tracks equities on Iran LONDON/SINGAPORE: Gold dipped yesterday, tracking industrial metals and equities, as concerns about global economic growth and Iran’s threat to stop the flow of oil kept investors on the sidelines.

Latest data out of the United States sent mixed signals on the health of the world’s largest economy. Improving labour market conditions lifted consumer confidence to an eight-month high in December, but persistently weak house prices remain an obstacle to faster economic growth.

Spot gold was down 0.1 percent at $1,590 an ounce at 1146 GMT. U.S. gold was off 0.14 percent to $1,592.80. Iran’s threat put world shares on the back foot, and industrial metals eased in thin holiday trade. “Gold is still tightly correlated with equities markets, but also risk aversion is not at the levels we saw in early August when gold de-coupled from everything else and traded with the dollar,” VTB Capital analyst Andrey Kryuchenkov said “It’s more uncertainty than outright panic selling,” he added.

Although gold traditionally has a safe-haven appeal, the euro zone debt crisis is threatening the global economy, causing a liquidity shortage in markets and forcing investors to abandon their gold positions to cover losses

elsewhere.

The dollar was almost flat against a basket of currencies, with the euro hovering around an 11-month low against the US currency. A stronger dollar often encourages non-US holders of gold to sell the metal to lock in a higher profit in their own currencies.

Technical analysis suggested that spot gold could fall to $1,569 during the day, Reuters market analyst Wang Tao said. Italian debt auctions this week are also making investors nervous. Italian short-term debt costs halved at auction yesterday as a new austerity package and cheap longterm liquidity from the European Central Bank won Rome some respite in thin year-end markets. But analysts warned markets tensions could easily reignite and pointed to a new test on today, when Italy will sell up to 8.5 billion euros of longer-term bonds, including three- and ten-year paper.

Asia’s physical market was lacklustre in the final week of the year, with premiums steady in Singapore and Hong Kong, dealers said.

“There is not too much activity as prices circle around the $1,600 level,” said Ronald Leung, a physical dealer at Lee Cheong Gold Dealers in Hong Kong, but added that buying from China had been steady. — Reuters

ROME: Italy saw investors more willing to part with their cash yesterday as it raised euro 10.7 billion ($14 billion) in a pair of auctions, a sign that market jitters may be easing as the country presses ahead with its austerity measures. The lower rates Italy had to pay are the first postChristmas test of sentiment in the markets over the debt crisis that has engulfed the 17 countries that use the euro, and may be a signal that some of last week’s massive injection of money into the European banking system from the European Central Bank may be filtering through into demand for government bonds.

The scale of the falls in Italy’s funding costs were dramatic and helped the country’s benchmark ten-year bond yield in the markets remain below the 7 percent level, widely considered to be unsustainable in the long-run.

The Bank of Italy said the average yield on its euro 9 billion ($11.8 billion) six-month bill offering was 3.251 percent, half the 6.504 percent rate it had to pay at the equivalent auction last month. And an auction of two-year bonds, which raised euro 1.732 billion ($2.3 billion), also saw the yield fall to 4.853 percent from 7.814 percent last month.

“This is an encouraging development, suggesting that the Italian sovereign debt market

has pulled back from the dangerous situation in late November,” said Raj Badiani, a senior economist at IHS Global Insight. “The calmer environment reflects the passing of additional austerity measures and some welcome progress on the structural reform agenda, coupled with the ECB’s decision to provide additional cheap financing to Italian banks,” Badiani added.

Italy is the eurozone’s third-largest economy and is considered too big to save under the eurozone’s current bailout funds. Markets have grown fearful over the past few months that Italy will find it difficult to pay off its massive debts, which stand at around euro1.9 trillion ($2.5 trillion). A further test of investors’ appetite for Italian debt will come today when the country offers more bonds, that could potentially raise a similar amount to yesterday’s offerings.

Mario Monti, the country’s new premier, got parliamentary approval last week for more spending cuts and tax increases intended to save the country from financial disaster. One of the most controversial aspects of the austerity package is reform of Italy’s bloated pension system. Later yesterday, Monti is to chair a Cabinet meeting on a second wave of measures designed to boost Italy’s anemic economy, which is expected to enter into recession in the

first quarter of the new year. As well as a possible consequence of increased confidence that Monti’s efforts will keep the country’s finances on a sustainable path, Wednesday’s auctions could also have been supported as well by a large infusion of credit to eurozone banks last week from the European Central Bank.

There has been speculation that the stronger banks might use the cheap, long-term loans - on which the current interest rate is 1 percent - to purchase government bonds that carry higher interest rates and profit from the difference. That could support both government and bank finances. But it would run contrary to efforts by many banks to lower their exposure to bonds issued by heavily indebted governments.

The markets responded fairly positively to yesterday’s auctions, with the main FTSE MIB index of leading Italian shares up 0.7 percent.

However, the yield on the country’s 10-year bond remained elevated at 6.83 percent, though crucially below 7 percent it had spiked to on Tuesday - a level that is considered unsustainable in the long run and eventually forced Greece, Ireland and Portugal to seek outside financial help. Further insights into the level of demand for Italy’s ten-year bonds will emerge Thursday in the auction. — AP

Greek government gets more time to rescue economy ATHENS: Early elections in Greece have been delayed to give the interim government more time to rescue the country’s crisis-hit economy, but political uncertainty looks set to complicate delicate talks with creditors.

Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos, said late Tuesday that ballots would be set for the end of April to allow critical negotiations with the eurozone and banks holding Greek sovereign debt to be concluded.

“The political horizon of the government has been clarified ... elections will be held after Easter, at the end of April,” he said, though no official date has been set. The election debate has undermined an uneasy coalition of three parties backing the caretaker government of Lucas Papademos, a technocrat given a limited mandate in November to rollover payments on maturing state bonds and to secure new eurozone loans.

Greece is slogging through a fourth year of recession that has seen its economy shrink by a cumulative 15 percent, bringing unemployment to almost 18 percent of the workforcemore than 800,000 people. An economic recovery plan dictated by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund has brought further hardship for Greeks in pay cuts and tax hikes.

Greece has been allocated two bailouts totalling 240 billion euros ($314 billion) — including 30 billion to recapitalise banks-and has so far drawn 73 billion euros from that total. The conservative New Democracy party, a senior coalition partner, wants elections before Easter, which falls on April 15 in Greece this year.

The conservatives, who lead opinion polls, are eager to dissolve parliament before new austerity measures are voted for in early 2012.

Meanwhile, the socialist Pasok party which supplies most of the government’s ministers, including finance minister Venizelos, is caught in a bitter succession struggle.

Pasok leader George Papandreou resigned as prime minister in November to make way

ATHENS: People queue at a tax office during the last working day of the year in northern Athens, yesterday. Tax office employees will hold a 48-hour strike today and tomorrow against planned pay cuts and the implementation of a new emergency property tax. — AP for Papademos’s coalition amid mounting anti-austerity dissent in his party. Venizelos is a key candidate to replace him. He warned the country’s future would be decided in the debt rollover debate over the next month, and that the Socialist succession will distract ministers so it needs to be resolved quickly.

Papademos’s government was originally expected to be in power until mid-February but bank talks have taken longer than expected. Negotiations began in November to work out the details of how creditors will write down 100 billion euros’ ($131 billion) worth of the Greek government bonds they hold, aiming to cut total debt of 350 billion euros.

Under pressure from a eurozone summit at the end of October, the banks agreed in prin-

ciple to a write-down of about 50 percent of the value of the bonds they hold. Although progress has reportedly been made, talks with the Greek government are far from over.

Points at issue concern the percentage repayment loss to be suffered by the banks, the interest rate to be paid on the new bonds and on the law applying to the new instruments.

EU, European Central Bank and IMF officials are expected back in Athens next month to review the country’s progress on meeting targets set under a first 2010 debt bailout. With the economy deep in recession, Athens has found it increasingly hard to meet the targets of the bailout, prompting some in the government to suggest that more austerity measures might be needed. — AFP

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BUSINESS

Air Arabia bags best low cost International Airline Award

Sale at IKEA Kuwait ...

Hurry Up!!

KUWAIT: IKEA Kuwait recently announced the launch of its year end sale campaign for over 3,000 products in store for a limited period.

For those seeking a fresh new start for the New Year with modern and contemporary styles designed to cater to everyone’s tastes can now shop at IKEA Kuwait with satisfaction. The year -end sale at the IKEA Kuwait store offers customers

the chance to buy their furnishings at highly discounted prices.

Keeping in mind the consumer’s budget and distinct preferences, IKEA Kuwait provides a variety of options for the entire home ranging from living room furniture, bedroom and storage solutions, bathroom accessories, children’s furniture, kitchen and kitchen electrical appliances, textiles, lighting, interi-

or décor and many more.

The sale campaign was initiated to grant every eager shopper this season the opportunity to renew their homes with their favorite IKEA products at the lowest prices possible. So hurry up and come to IKEA store before the sale gets over.

KUWAIT: Air Arabia, the first and largest low cost carrier in the Middle East and North Africa was presented with the prestigious award for best low cost carrier - International at the Travel Agents Association of India Diamond Jubilee Celebration and TAAI Travel Award 2011 held at Taj Land’s End, Mumbai. The award was handed over by Subhodkant Sahay, Union Minister of Tourism and Iqbal Mulla, President of TAAI in the presence of over 800 travel agents.

Joyous with recognition, Adel Ali, Group Chief Executive Officer of Air Arabia said, “We at Air Arabia are extremely elated to have won this award particularly for it coming from our fellow partner Travel Agents Association of India. This recognizes our efforts in offering the best while continuing to offer value for money to all our stakeholders”.

Air Arabia completed its six years of operations in India and has become the largest international air-

line to serve the country. The airline’s steady growth has always been driven by significant value to its cus-

tomer base across India, with its philosophy of offering value for money and greater connectivity to the UAE

and beyond.

Air Arabia currently operates flights from its hub in Sharjah to 13 Indian cities. These include Jaipur, Kochi, Nagpur, Coimbatore, Thiruvananthapuram, Goa, Kozhikode, Hyderabad, New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, and Chennai - offering the perfect blend of connectivity from not just the smaller towns, but also from metros and Tier 1 cities across the length and breadth of the country.

This makes Air Arabia the single largest international carrier offering the most comprehensive connectivity across India.

Air Arabia has a fleet of new Airbus A320s. From its three main hubs, Sharjah in the UAE, Casablanca in Morocco and Alexandria in Egypt, the carrier serves a network of some 70 international routes spread across Europe, the Middle East, the Indian Subcontinent, Central Asia and North Africa.

Food industry companies partake in 2012 HORECA KUWAIT: An elite group of food industries companies are set to take part in the 2012 HORECA Kuwait exhibition which takes place between the 22nd and 24th of January 2012 at the Arraya Ball Room - Courtyard Marriott Hotel. This was announced by Leaders Group for Consulting & Development, who organizes the event that covers

the hospitality, catering and food industry sectors in Kuwait and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), in cooperation with Hospitality Services of Lebanon.

“The 2012 HORECA exhibition offers rich opportunities for parties looking for activities in hospitality and catering field in Kuwait, which is rap-

Abdurrahman Srour, General Manager, Star Food Company for Fruits, Vegetables and Food Supplies.

Fadi Jabran, General Manager, Kuwait Proteins Company.

Mustafa Al-Masri, Business Development Manager, Al-Yusra Food Company.

Mohammad Ba’darani, General Manager, Al-Ashrafiya International.

10% discount exclusively for AUB Cardholders at The Athlete’s Foot KUWAIT: Ahli United Bank (AUB) in cooperation with The Athlete’s Foot announced an innovative promotion exclusively designed for AUB’s credit card holders.

As part of AUB’s strive to provide its credit card holders with a world of benefits that compliment their needs, Crocs is offering them a discount of 10% on all their products.

The participation of The Athlete’s Foot in AUB’s Instant Pearls Program is an added value to the program in terms of variety of the services provided to AUB credit card holders. AUB continues to enhance its strategic alliances with successful retailers such The Athlete’s Foot which reinforces AUB commitment to constantly deliver added value services & privileges to its customers. The world’s first franchisor of athletic footwear stores and is recognized today as the world leader in athletic footwear franchising. The Athlete’s Foot(r) expansion into over 40 countries. Kuwait, through Ali Abdulwahab, is having 11 stores.

AUB additionally extends its cardholders the “Pearl Rewards” Program which offers 3 pearl points for every KD 1 spent with AUB credit cards anywhere in the world. These Points can be converted to equivalent air miles and redeemed at any of the three leading airline Partners; Kuwait Airways, Qatar Airways & Gulf for free flights, upgrades, hotel accommodation....etc.

So the more you use your credit card, the more air miles you earn to enjoy free flights, upgrades, hotel accommodation and lots more additional benefits offered by each Airline’s Membership Program”.

AUB credit holders also get free worldwide travel and emergency medical insurance family coverage when tickets are purchased using AUB credit cards.

idly growing at the present time with more than 250 new restaurants expected to be opened in the near future”, said the statement made available to the press yesterday (Wednesday).

Among the companies announced in the report is the Kuwait Proteins Company; a leader in food supplies which deals with numerous hospitals, co-op societies, supermarkets and hospitals in Kuwait.

General Manager Fadi Jabran recognized in a statement the opportunity that event provides in reaching out to a wide range of customers looking for suppliers in the hospitality and catering fields.

The event also features participation of Al-Yusra Food Company, suppliers of a verity of international trademarks in Kuwait, Iraq and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries.

Business development manager Mustafa Al-Masri said in a statement that his company looks through the event to showcase services that cover demand of all categories in the local market.

The Al-Ashrafiya International, a subsidiary company of the Hamad Al-Wazan Group, also announced participation in the event. General Manager Mohammad Ba’darani said that his company, a main supplier of trademark products of seafood, frozen meat, dairy, chocolate and others, makes sure to take part in the HORECA event each year given the high level of participation that it receives.

General Manager of Star Food Company for Fruits, Vegetables and Food Supplies, Abdurrahman Srour, announced participation in the exhibition “given requirements of the development in food industries in Kuwait which require cooperation of all business in the field”.

—Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat

Winners of Abbott nutrition’s ‘you may win gold’ raffle draw KUWAIT: Under the super vision of M inistr y of Commerce & Industry, Kuwait Consumer Protection department and in the presence of many customers, Al Mojil Drug Co, the distributor of Abbott Nutrition products in Kuwait conducted their raffle draw event on December 8, 2011 in Crowne Plaza Hotel, Farwaniya whereby 116 customers won gold coins (First prize - One 36 grams 22-carat gold coin, Second Prize - Five 18 grams 22-carat gold coins, Third Prize - Ten 7.2 grams 22carat gold coins and Forth Prize - One hundred 3.6 grams 22-carat gold coins).

The promotion campaign called “You may Win Gold” was run from 24th September 2011 to 30th November 2011 in selected retail outlets. The customers who purchased selected Abbott Nutrition brands like Gain Plus Eye-Q Plus, Gain Kid Eye-Q Plus & Pediasure Complete for their children won a chance to get a raffle coupon to enter the draw.

The recipients of the first, second and third prizes: First Prize - Lour Abd -Allah Khalid (Coupon no. 10220) Second Prize - Nawal AlDihani (Coupon no. 10796) Second Prize - Ohoud Hasan AlEqab (Coupon no. 11454) Second Prize - Ghanimah Shoail Ayez (Coupon no. 18711) Second Prize - Shirani Joshilcar (Coupon no. 01136) Second Prize - Prado Disoado (Coupon no. 01149)

Third Prize - Nada Adeb Farhat (Coupon no. 10880) Third Prize - Dana Ibrahim (Coupon no. 13011) Third Prize - Jasem Mohamed Hassan (Coupon no. 00288) Third Prize - Mohamed Nazal Turki AlMoutiry (Coupon no. 13625) Third Prize - Amash Hussaim AlSalim (Coupon no. 08936) Third Prize - Fayez Atiyah Qatan (Coupon no. 05886) Third Prize - Roy Fvscablo (Coupon no. 12964) Third Prize - Sneha Suraj (Coupon no. 01300) Third Prize - Rema Ataa Horan (Coupon no. 09997) Third Prize - Shakawat Hossain (Coupon no. 00957) Abbott Nutrition is a division of Abbott, the global, broad-based health care company, who discovers and develops nutritional and related health care products that advance the quality of life for people of all ages.

Abbott Nutrition has some of the world’s most trusted names in pediatric and adult nutritional product brands such as Gain Advance Eye-Q Plus(r), Gain Plus Eye-Q Plus(r), Similac Total Comfort Eye-Q Plus(r) in infant formulas, Gain Kid Eye - Q Plus(r), PediaSure(r) and Pedialyte(r) for children, Ensure(r) for active adults, Glucerna(r) for people with diabetes.

Hyundai Accent, Elantra, and Veloster earn AJAC Canadian car of the year category wins

NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE: The Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC) announced yesterday that the Hyundai Accent, Elantra and Veloster were named Best New Small Car under $21,000, Best New Small Car over $21,000, and Best New Sports/Performance Car under $50,000, respectively. With three wins, Hyundai took home more AJAC Canadian Car of the Year category awards than any other manufacturer.

“For three Hyundai products to be named the best new vehicles in their categories is a testament to the tremendous quality and value to be found in our showrooms,” noted Steve Kelleher, President and CEO of Hyundai Auto Canada Corp. “We’re offering consumers an unparalleled combination of style, fuel economy, safety, and feature content. It’s these elements that have brought Hyundai to the forefront of the Canadian automotive industry.”

The Accent, Elantra, and Veloster were among the 60

new models tested across 11 categories during an intensive one-week event known as Test Fest. AJAC jurors evaluate each new vehicle based on a broad list of characteristics including quality, refinement, dynamic performance and fuel economy among many others. The regimented testing method employed by AJAC for their Car of the Year awards is among the most thorough and transparent in the world.

“Throughout 2011, Hyundai has been creating headlines as a result of continuing sales records,” added Kelleher. “These AJAC awards will help show even more Canadian consumers that Hyundai needs to be on their shopping list.” Hyundai Auto Canada Corp., established in 1983 and headquartered in Markham, Ontario, is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Company of Korea. Hyundai vehicles are distributed throughout Canada by Hyundai Auto Canada and are sold and serviced through more than 200 dealerships nationwide.

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TECHNOLOGY

Virtual teachers provide lessons on the go BERLIN: Do you want to learn to recognize bird calls? Pick up a new computer programming language? Learn Chinese? Chances are, wherever your academic pursuit takes you, there’s an app for a tablet or smartphone that will help. There are 19,000 apps in the iTunes Store’s education category. At the Android Market, there are 13,000. But beware, not every educational app is the ideal tutor. A study by German consumer goods tester Stiftung Warentest, comparing English vocabulary trainers, found many with weaknesses in their contents and approach.

So what should a good academic app look like? “It’s important that it’s interactive, with multimedia capabilities and individuality,” says Michael Cordes, director of the continuing education team at Stiftung Warentest.

Thus, an app that only tutors - as opposed to one that offers exercises and then quizzes the user about information learned - will have

less value. The targeted use of images and sound can’t be underestimated either; ditto when it comes to the option of making lessons suit an individual’s needs.

“The more influence I can have, the more I can use the program in a targeted fashion,” says Cordes, who has a background in educational science. “Change of pace is also important,” he says. Some apps that were tested turned boring quickly. Especially when it comes to complex topics, it’s important that exercises offer some variety.

When it comes to IT topics, it’s best to use a problem-based approach, says Christoph Sahner of video training service Video2brain.

“The presentation of workflow is the real strength of video-oriented teaching.” For example, Video2brain offers an iPad app that is not just for use underway, but for practicing new software or learning a programming language at one’s desk. That way you can watch

the video on the tablet and try out the same steps yourself, says Sahner. “Tablets are great because they are big enough to show details in videos and, depending on the context, pull in other media.”

Long-distance schools like Germany’s Studiengemeinschaft Deutschland are also big believers in educational apps. “A wellmade app transmits information in a playful way and is part of the overall academic concept,” says Andreas Vollmer, head of the school’s study programs. That means printed course materials like study guides as well as podcasts, in-person seminars, web courses and time with tutors. “The app should give participants added academic value,” says faculty director Harald Stuermer. “This way you can check your status, even if you’re in the train on your way home.”

The school first started using apps in economic curriculums. “For the next educational

application we took on the more complex topic of solar heat as part of the curriculum for the conclusion of the course on renewable energy,” says Stuermer. “That brings two trendy topics together - renewable energy and mobile learning.”

A prime example of how special function can be used for learning with a mobile device comes from Evernote, with its quiz app Peek and the iPad 2 display shield Smart Cover. The cover, which comes in four pieces, sends signals to the tablet. Uncovering one piece might show a question. The answer only becomes visible when the next piece is lifted. It’s even possible to simulate the experience for people who don’t own a Smart Cover or have a first generation iPad, using an app called Virtual Cover, with questions and answers popping up as users swipe the screen with their finger. “But the biggest advantage of Peek is that , thanks to the

notes they’ve stored in Evernote, people can make their own quizzes based on specific topics,” explains Evernote manager Dmitry Stavisky.

Mobile learning can also work for younger students. German publishing house Langenscheidt is working on language apps for children as young as four. “We catch up to the children at the point where they happen to be,” says developer Christian Noss. That means a focus on fun, with some English lessons on the side. Some combine cartoon figures, animation and a digital picture book into an English-German listening game.

Children tap on images and hear the words for those images in both languages. “We made a point of skipping any text,” explains Noss, who says that voice recognition might also be integrated into mobile learning, just like it is with Apple’s newest iPhone. “This is a very exciting development.” —dpa

The year of Steve Jobs leaves his legacy open Apple’s future is taken care of

Work on computers without distractions BERLIN: With the fog of Facebook, YouTube and emails that seem to reg ul a r l y p op u p o n comp uter screens, it’s a wonder anyone ever gets any actual work done these days. Try as one might to concentrate, the internet generally means that distractions - social networks, news updates, or emails from friends - are but a click away for most workers.

The good news for procrastinators and the easily distracted is that there are tools out there that will block distrac tions like Facebook and YouTube and even stop email alerts.

The bad news is that you’ll still need loads of willpower to make such systems really work.

Evolution can be thanked for the fact that humans are so easily distracted. If something moves nearby, our attention is automatically directed towards it. Psychologists call this an orientation reaction. Once, it was necessary for survival. After all, the flash of movement could easily be a hungry sabretooth tiger. The instinct remains, even though offices are rarely the site of life-or-death situations. That means humans are routinely overloaded with input in today’s fast-paced workplace, says Andreas Zimber of the SRH University Heidelberg in Germany.

It doesn’t help that the ever-present emails seem to demand immediate answers. “Because the medium is so fast, ever yone expec ts that answers will come quick ly,” says Zimber, a professor of business psychology. That leads to two problems.

First, says Zimber, people lack the focus to concentrate on important tasks. That focus is needed to work efficiently, and with less effor t.

“Based on sur veys, we know that interruptions at work are one of the main sources of disruption.”

The distractions also cater to procrastinators, providing a welcome excuse to shove unpleasant tasks fur ther down on the to - do list.

“That’s when the hedonistic principle kicks in: I’ll pick the more pleasant task,” notes Zimber. So what’s to be done? Zimber advises a system of compartmentalization. If possible, lay down fixed office and visiting hours.

When it comes time to do important work, shut your email inbox and make sure everyone knows you’re entering a period of enforced isolation. That could shut down the problem of three or four avenues of information coming in simultaneously.

“Colleagues will usually understand,” says Zimber.

Some word processing programs even help enforce this practice. For example, Focus Writer covers up all

open windows and only shows the basic text upon which you’re working. Toolbars and other extras only appear when you pull the mouse to the edge of the screen. For those who need extra motivation, the program allows them to set a writing goal - a set amount of time or a specific number of words. The free program runs on Windows, Max OS X and Linux.

But the distractions are always out there, especially if you just have to quickly check something online ... and then find yourself stuck on Facebook.

Two browser extensions promise to stop aimless surfing. Stay Focused allows Chrome users to set a specific amount of time they are allowed to stay online. Users set their own list of no - go websites. Many choose to block time-killers, like video portals, games or social networks, while leaving accessible useful sites like dictionaries or Wikipedia.

Leech Block per forms a similar function for Firefox and Explorer.

Users get an icon reminding them a site is forbidden if they try to wander into no-go territory. The free URL blocker works independently of the browser. Still, none of these systems erases the need for discipline.

Committed time wasters can also just switch to non-blocked browsers or restart their computer to fool the efficiency programs. Procrastinators need to be honest about listing the time-killer websites to be blocked, ideally just as they’re experiencing some regret about recent dalliances.

Recognizing the problem is the first step towards improvement.

That’s why programs like RescueTime measure how much time is used for different activities. The free version of the sof t ware, which runs on Windows and M ac, documents which programs and websites are visited on a computer. A fee-based version goes fur ther, listing how much time is spent on individual documents.

Both versions can provide eyeopeners. As an added feature, the program allows a Focus Time function, which blocks certain activities for set periods. Freelancers who work at home can do themselves a favour by having separate computers for work and leisure, no real problem with today’s hardware prices. That’s another way to take control of the information flood. Also key is making sure that the tools to fight distraction don’t become distractions themselves.

“Technical aids are only useful when they don’t create extra work,” says Zimber. “ Technical solutions don’t erase the problem of lacking self-discipline.” —dpa

SAN FRANCISCO: The death of Steve Jobs in October at the age of 56 was the seminal event of the year in the technology world, depriving it of one of the most innovative and influential figures of the computer age. Jobs died at the height of his success, when Apple was vying with oil giant Exxon Mobil as the most valuable company in the world and when his achievements led to plausible comparisons to other giants of American innovation, such as Thomas Edison and Henry Ford.

Repeated countless times in the days and weeks after his death was his transformative effect on personal computers, music, digital movie-making, smartphones and tablet computing. But what’s to happen to Apple and the tech world without the insight and intuition of Jobs? Apple’s stock did dive on news of Jobs’ death, but it quickly recovered as investors realized that the guru had spent years grooming his successors and positioning the company to keep growing long after he had gone.

Jobs had even founded a secret Apple University to teach his precepts to top executives. And, while he installed logistics guru Tim Cook as his successor, as chief executive Jobs also made sure that Jonny Ive, the Apple design chief who was his closest spirit at the company, was secured in an unassailable position. The strength of Jobs’ legacy was neatly illustrated days after his death when the new iPhone 4S hit stores and quickly became a record breaker, despite featuring only minor technical upgrades to its predecessor.

The phone’s secret weapon was another revolutionary Jobsinspired technology: Siri, a voiceactivated artificial assistant that responded intelligently to natural, spoken word questions and instructions. While sceptics viewed the innovation as little more than a flashy gimmick, Jobs hinted to his autobiographer that it had the potential to be as transformative as his popularization of the mouse 25 years earlier, or the touchscreen control model he introduced with

the iPhone.

Experts now expect Siri and other voice systems to become popular ways for controlling PCs and laptops. Perhaps, more crucially, it could open the way to

was the fact that Jobs was not the only one, or even the first one, to have this brainwave. Microsoft introduced an update in early December that effectively turns the 57 million Xbox 360’s in peo-

interactive TV, the long-pursued holy grail of entertainment technology: “It will have the simplest user interface you could imagine,” Jobs told his biographer Walter Isaacson. “I finally cracked it.”

Even better news for tech fans

ple’s living rooms into voice-controlled interactive TV modules.

That might mean a valuable victory for Jobs’ old nemesis Bill Gates, but there are plenty of other entreprenuers who are also bidding to take over Jobs’ mantle.

Google’s Sergey Brin and Larry Page have already had a transformative effect on the lives of web users, while Facebook’s Marc Zuckerberg is another would-be Steve whose innovations have already revolutionized the way people interact. Tellingly, all three of them share one common mantra: that the computer revolution, and their place in it, is just getting started. Google for instance keeps innovating on the web, but is also a leader in alternative energy and transportation system. Its self-driving cars could have as big an impact on the way people move around as their web-search algorithm had on the way computer users find information.

They already pose a stiff challenge to Apple’s product line.

Google’s Android software now runs most of the new smartphones sold around the world. It’s also fast catching up to the iPhone in terms of panache and usability, according to many reviewers.

The iPad also has a bevy of strong new competitors, including Amazon’s Kindle Fire, which has sold more than 2 million units since its November debut.

Analysts are split over how this competition will play out.

Apple’s stock has already fallen from its all-time high in April of $426. Leonid Kanopka from Seeking Alpha expects a “bursting of the Apple bubble “which would send the stock under the 100-dollar mark,” while Andy Zaky of Bullish Cross ranks Apple as the “most under-valued share” of all the blue chip companies.

Ultimately, Apple’s success will depend as much on its branding as its products. For now, it seems, that future is taken care of. In a Christmas survey of US teenagers

by Nielsen, the top three electronic devices on the wish lists of kids age 6-12 were all made by Apple. The findings showed 44 per cent of kids wanted an iPad, 30 per cent wanted an iPod Touch and 27 per cent wanted an iPhone. —dpa

Car races and wind-up toys: Gaming heroes get moving BERLIN: Mario and Pokemon have long been mainstays of the Nintendo console. But, as they make their debut on the 3DS and other machines, they’re taking new approaches. Thus, the cars in Mario Kart 7 can suddenly fly and Pokemon characters appear as wind-up toys. In other changes, the Power Rangers are back ... as samurais. And those aren’t the only changes facing old favourites on mobile devices. It’s only been a short while since Super Mario Land 3D appeared on the 3DS. Now the second most important title featuring the ubiquitous plumber arrives: Mario Kart 7, with Mario, Luigi and other characters again competing in a breakneck car race.

Along with picking the right cars, players have to pick the right tyres: small tyres do better on the asphalt, while broader ones will help on overland routes. There’s also a choice of wings, since Kart 7 lets players take to the air for the first time. There are also propellers for underwater treks. Weapons and power-ups include classics like bananas and turtles, but also some new additions from other games, like the fire flower from the jump-n-run Mario and the raccoon costume, which comes with offensive and defensive capabilities.

All these gimmicks can be tested on 32 stretches, half of which appeared in previous Mario Kart games. On a technical level, Mario Kart 7 makes use of all the extras the 3DS has to offer.

The carts can be steered with motion sensors. The game also uses the Streetpass function and

allows online competitions. Of course, it can all be seen in 3D. The game costs about €35 ($45.50).

Pokemon has also found his way onto the newest Nintendo console. Super Pokemon Rumble isn’t a new version of the famous roleplaying game, it’s its own action title. Wind-uptoy versions of the familiar monsters wage war against each other, with players taking on the role of one Pokemon to fight up countless levels in order to take on the Boss. If the player wins, the Boss converts to his side. There are more than 600 different Pokemon available in the game. Players can continuously change between characters. This gives the game a tactical side, since every monster has strengths and weaknesses.

There’s also a cooperative mode where two players have a better chance of winning the war. And, thanks to StreetPass, Pokemon collectors can brush off old characters during a casual meeting with another 3DS holder. The action-rich game retails for €42. The attempt by one frog to cross a four-lane street became a 1981 hit in arcades. Now Frogger is enjoying a comeback on the Nintendo 3DS. Frogger 3D updates the original 8-bit graphics into 3D. The title character no longer need just move forward, but can move freely throughout a level, hoping the whole time not to get squashed.

That can get complicated when the goal is not crossing a street, but negotiating a free-

standing cube rotating in a room. Thankfully, the frog gets some help through the 60 levels for example, from a big toad. From Konami, Frogger 3D costs €38. If you’re looking for more realistic action, then check out Ace Combat Assault Horizon Legac y. Hidden behind the long title is a dogfight scenario for the 3DS from Namco Bandai. Want-to-be pilots can engage in spectacular aerial fights in modern jets. Players can choose from a variety of jets for countless missions attacking both ground and airborne targets. Gaming controls are completely over the touchscreen. It costs about €44.

And while there’s always something new for the 3DS, there are still some fresh items for its predecessor, the DS. Those include Power Rangers Samurai, where the five brightly coloured fighters do what they do best: fight the bad guy. Every ranger gets new abilities.

For example, the red ranger is resistant to fire, while the blue one has few problems with water. The rangers can also assemble into a giant robot to fight their opponents. From Namco Bandai, it costs about €40. And you don’t need a classic console to play this season.

Owners of iPhones and iPads can now download Infinity Blade II. The second part of this monster and swordplay game has even more advanced graphics than before and is available for download from the App Store for €5. —dpa

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Airport X-ray suitcase surprise: Poisonous snakes BUENOS AIRES: Surprised airport workers in Argentina found hundreds of wriggling poisonous snakes and endangered reptiles inside the baggage of a Czech man who was about to board a flight to Spain. Karel Abelovsky, 51, was made to open his baggage at Buenos Aires’ international airport after police spotted reptiles in the X-ray scanner. They found 247 exotic and endangered species in all, packed inside plastic containers, bags and even socks, each labeled in Latin with their scientific names.

“The airport workers couldn’t believe it when they saw the movement inside the suitcase. It was like an animated cartoon,” a source in the office of

Judge Marcelo Aguinsky said Tuesday. The source spoke on condition of anonymity because the judge’s investigation isn’t complete. Abelovsky was released on about $2,500 bail after surrendering his passport and is refusing to talk even though he faces up to 10 years in prison.

Authorities believe the Czech was a courier for a criminal organization that smuggles exotic species whose exports are banned, a judicial source told The Associated Press on Tuesday. Authorities said Abelovsky only arrived in Argentina several days earlier and couldn’t have had time to gather the animals alone. Aguinsky believes the boa constrictors, poisonous pit vipers and coral snakes, lizards

and spiders could have escaped the cloth suitcase in the unpressurized cabin of the Dec 7 Iberia flight to Madrid, and perhaps attacked people there or at his final destination in Prague, where antidotes for South American snakes aren’t common, the source added.

Most of the animals and bugs are being held under quarantine at the Buenos Aires Zoo, while some of the venomous snakes were sent to Argentina’s national health institute, which has a high-security department where scientists develop antidotes using venom from snakes.

The species include lizards native to Mexico and snakes, spiders, snails and other species from

northern Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil. Some were already dead in the suitcase, while others have succumbed to stress since then. Many were quite weak on arrival at the zoo, but most are still alive.

Wild snakes and reptiles are known to carry infectious diseases and so must be kept apart from the public and other animals, said Miguel Rivolta, the lead zoo veterinarian. “It’s difficult to find the right kind of bugs they eat, and to replicate as much as possible their environment in the wild,” Rivolta said. “The best thing that can happen to these animals is that they liberate them as soon as possible in their natural habitat.” — AP

French breast implant tycoon hits back as scandal grows PIP company now bankrupt

BALI: In this handout photograph taken on November 23, 2011 young corals grow on metal frame in the shape of a flower attached to a stone figure in the seabed of Pemuteran in Indonesian island of Bali. — AFP

Electricity sparks new life into Indonesia’s corals PEMUTERAN: Cyanide fishing and rising water temperatures had decimated corals off Bali until a diver inspired by a German scientist’s pioneering work on organic architecture helped develop a project now replicated worldwide. Based on “Biorock” technology, it is implemented in 20 countries, mainly in Southeast Asia, the Caribbean, Indian Ocean and Pacific.

In the turquoise waters of Pemuteran off the north coast of Bali where the project was launched in 2000, a metal frame known as “the crab” is covered with huge corals in shimmering colours where hundreds of fish have made their homes. “It’s amazing, isn’t it ?” Rani Morrow-Wuigk says proudly. The 60year-old German-born Australian first dived in Pemuteran bay back in 1992, to see its beautiful reefs.

But at the end of the nineties, rising water temperatures had led to the near-disappearance of the reef, already badly affected by cyanide and dynamite fishing in the area. “I was devastated. Basically, all the corals were dead. It was gravel and sand,” Rani recalled.

But when German architect and marine scientist Wolf Hilbertz told her about a discovery he had made in the 1970s, the diver’s ears pricked up.

Hilbertz had sought to “grow” construction materials in the sea, and had done so by submerging a metallic structure and connecting it to an electric current with a weak and thus harmless voltage. The ensuing electrolysis had provoked a build-up of limestone, in a kind of spontaneous building work. When he tested out his invention in Louisiana in the United States, Hilbertz saw that after a few months oysters progressively covered the whole structure, and colonised the collected limestone.

More experiments were carried out and the same phenomenon was confirmed for corals. “Corals grow 2-6 times faster. We are able to grow back reefs in a few years,” Thomas J. Goreau, a Jamaican marine biologist and biogeochemist, told AFP. Goreau began working with Hilbertz in the mid-1980s to develop Biorock technology, and he has continued their work since Hilbertz’s death four years ago. When Rani

saw the discovery, it gave her an idea for how she might save “her” bay. She decided to expand the project to 22 structures using her own money with the help of Taman Sari, the holiday resort in front of the coral restoration project.

Today there are around sixty of these “cages” in Pemuteran bay, across a surface of two hectares, and the reef has not only been saved from near-death, it is flourishing better than ever before. “Now we’ve got a better coral garden than we used to have,” said Rani. Biorock not only revives the corals but it makes them more resistant, in particular against bleaching and global warming.

“Biorock is the only method known that protects corals from dying from high temperatures. We get from 16-50 times higher survival of corals from severe bleaching,” Goreau said.

The evidence of this has been on show in Pemuteran, said Rani. “We had coral bleaching happening in the last two years. The water temperature was 34 degrees (93 Fahrenheit), instead of 30. Only 10 percent of the corals were affected and two percent died. Whereas, in 1998, they basically all died”. The local community in Pemuteran has also been won over after early reticence on the merits of the project. “At first, I thought he was a crazy ‘bule’ (white guy) putting iron in the water,” Komang Astika said, recalling his first meeting with Goreau, but in 2000, Komang joined the project when he left college.

Today he is the diving instructor and manager in charge of the Biorock information centre, located on Pemuteran beach and set up with funds from the sponsorship program, “Adopt a baby coral”. The tourists have also cottoned-on. “It was a poor village when I arrived,” Rani said, “since 2000, the number of dive shops doubled.” And the local fishermen have also seen the merits of the project they initially regarded as a threat to their livelihoods. “At the beginning, the fishermen didn’t want Biorock because we were trying to stop them fishing. They were saying ‘It’s my ocean,’ but now they see the fish coming back and the tourists coming,” said Astika. — AFP

MARSEILLE: Holed up at his home in the south of France, the founder of troubled breast implant manufacturer PIP is fighting back against a growing international scandal over his allegedly faulty products. Between 300,000 and 400,000 women in 65 countries from Europe to Latin America have implants made with sub-standard silicone gel by 72-year-old Jean-Claude Mas’s now-bankrupt company Poly Implant Prothese (PIP).

France last week advised 30,000 women to have their PIP implants removed because of an increased risk of rupture and Venezuela’s government announced Tuesday that women with the implants could have them removed for free.

Authorities in other countries have advised women to consult their doctors over the implants, while it emerged Monday that US authorities had already raised the alarm over the company in 2000.

Lawsuits filed in the US cite defective merchandise not suited for its intended purpose and violations of consumer legislation by PIP, which was once the world’s third-largest producer of silicone implants. With Mas due in a French court next year, questions are increasingly being asked over why it took until 2010 for French authorities to intervene, while Mas’s lawyer has been actively defending his client in the press. “He’s at home... he’s not on the run at all. Moreover he can’t walk because he’s just been operated on,” lawyer Yves Haddad told AFP on Tuesday, saying he simply “doesn’t want to talk” publicly.

Haddad said that Mas freely admits using unapproved silicon gel, but remains adamant it is safe.

“PIP knew it wasn’t in compliance, but it wasn’t a toxic product,” the lawyer said, adding it “had not been proven” the implants were any more likely to leak. “The fact that it’s an irritant (when ruptured) is the same for all silicone gels,” Haddad said, also denying that his client had ever been a sausage butcher or wine merchant, as reported by the French press. PIP used two types of silicone in its implants, Haddad said. One of them was an approved gel made by American firm Nusil, but it also used an “identical” homemade gel that was five times cheaper.

According to PIP’s 2010 bankruptcy filing, it had exported 84 percent of its annual production of 100,000 implants. Prosecutors in Marseille, near

PIP’s laboratory at Seyne-sur-Mer on the Mediterranean, have received more than 2,000 complaints from Frenchwomen who received the implants, and are pursuing a criminal investigation.

On Tuesday it emerged that the US Food and Drug Administration had already in 2000 sent a letter to PIP warning of “serious” quality control violations involving its saline implants.

Although the complaint targeted saline rather than the silicone implants at the centre of the current scandal, the letter outlined a list of quality assurance problems. The FDA warned they “may be symptomatic of serious underlying problems in your firm’s manufacturing and quality assurance systems.” The FDA said it could not confirm that the results of the inspection were related to French authorities, including the AFSSAPS health agency which only warned of potential problems with PIP

LA SEYNE SUR MER: A photograph taken on January 17, 2001 shows the founder of the implant manufacturer Poly Implant Prothese (PIP) Jean-Claude Mas at the plant in La Seyne sur Mer, southern France. —AFP

India against binding emissions pact: Minister NEW DELHI: India said Tuesday it would reject any global pact legally binding it to cut greenhouse gas emissions as such a move could stifle economic growth needed to eradicate poverty. Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan’s statement came after a UN conference in Durban earlier this month agreed for the first time to seek to negotiate a legally enforceable agreement to control all nations’ emissions.

“There is no question of signing a legally binding agreement at this point of our development. We need to make sure that our development does not suffer,” Natarajan told the upper house of parliament. “Our emissions are bound to grow as we have to ensure our social and economic development and fulfil the imperative of poverty eradication,” the minister added. Some 42 percent of Indians, or 455 million people, live on less than $1.25 a day,

according to the World Bank. The marathon UN climate conference in Durban approved a roadmap towards an accord that for the first time would bring all major greenhouse-gas emitters blamed for climate change under a single legal roof. If approved as scheduled in 2015, the pact will be operational from 2020 and become the prime weapon in the fight against climate change.

But emerging Asian giants India and China, which have become huge emitters of carbon over the last half-dozen years, have long resisted calls to reduce emissions. The fast-growing economies said the burden of cuts should be on developed countries and that they cannot commit to binding targets which might hurt their ability to improve living standards. India and China do not fall under existing 1997 Kyoto Protocol constraints aimed at fighting global warming as they are developing countries.— AFP

Want a pet cat? Think again, researchers say

TOKYO: Female sea lion Sarasa helps a trainer to clearn her room at the Shinagawa Aquastadium aquarium in Tokyo yesterday. The aquarium is carrying out year-end general cleaning of their facilities. —AFP

NEW YORK: Tempted by the playful antics of that adorable kitten in the pet shop? If you’ve never had a cat before you may want to think again, especially if you have other allergies, researchers warn. And if you do acquire a feline, keep it out of your bedroom. While having a cat as a child may protect against future allergies, getting one in adulthood nearly doubles the chances of developing an immune reaction to it-the first step towards wheezing, sneezing and itchy eyes, a European study found. The same study, which covered thousands of adults and was published in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, found that people with other allergies were at extra high risk of reacting to a new feline in the house.

“Our data support that acquiring a cat in adulthood nearly doubles the risk of developing cat sensitisation,” wrote Mario Olivieri, from the University Hospital of Verona in Italy.

“Hence, cat avoidance should be considered in adults, especially in those sensitised to other allergens and reporting a history of allergic diseases.”

For the study, researchers surveyed more than 6,000 adult Europeans twice over nine years, taking blood samples.

None of the participants had antibodies to cats in their blood to start with, meaning they were not sensitised to the animal’s dander.

Sensitisation can be measured in a skin prick test. It does not necessarily lead to symptoms, but in many cases it is the harbinger of full-blown allergies.

About three percent of people who did not have a cat at either time of the survey became sensitised over the course of the study, compared to five percent of those who acquired a cat during those nine years. Four in 10 of the newly sensitised also said they experienced allergy symptoms around animals, four times the rate seen among people without antibodies against cats. It also turned out that only people who let their pet into the bedroom became sensitised.

“If you are an adult with asthma and/or allergies, you should think twice about getting a cat and particularly, if you do so, letting it into your bedroom,” said Andy Nish of the Allergy

in 2010. Nicknamed Professor Nimbus after a bespectacled and bearded comic book character by former colleagues, Mas worked at pharmaceutical giant Bristol-Myers (now Bristol-Myers Squibb) before meeting up with plastic surgeon Henri Arion who introduced breast implants to France in 1965, Haddad said. Mas’s trial for “aggravated fraud” is due to open late 2012, while a manslaughter inquiry has also been opened after at least one suspicious death in France.

The boss of a nearby competitor laboratory told French daily Liberation’s yesterday edition that Mas “really made a lot of big mistakes.” “Now he’s going to have to make amends. You can also ask yourself why the AFSSAPS didn’t do anything sooner. Why they let it reach this point?” the competitor said, pointing to Mas’s likely only remaining line of defence. — AFP

and Asthma Care Center in Gainesville, Georgia, who wasn’t involved in the study. The researchers did find, however, that people who had had a cat in childhood had a much smaller risk against becoming sensitised to it than those who were new cat owners.

“We thought that having a cat in early childhood may be protective against the development of cat allergy in childhood, but this study seems to indicate that protection extends into adulthood,” Nish told Reuters Health in an email. Noting that he always recommends keeping cats out of the bedroom, he added: “It is remarkable that none who did not allow the cat in the bedroom became sensitised.” For people who have a cat and have become allergic, he recommended finding a new home for the pet, followed by keeping the cat outdoors at all times.

“If it comes in even occasionally, its dander will remain in the house for months. If the cat needs to be indoors, at least keep it out of your bedroom, consider a HEPA filter for your bedroom, and consider washing the cat at least once a week,” he added. — Reuters

Cranky croc steals Aussie zoo worker’s lawn mower SYDNEY: A giant saltwater crocodile named Elvis with an apparent affinity for household machinery charged at an Australian reptile park worker yesterday before stealing his lawn mower. Tim Faulkner, operations manager at the Australian Reptile Park, north of Sydney, was one of three workers tending to the lawn in Elvis’ enclosure when he heard reptile keeper Billy Collett let out a yelp. Faulkner looked up to see the 16-foot (5-meter), 1,100-pound (500-kilogram) crocodile lunging out of its lagoon at Collett, who warded the creature off with his mower.

“Before we knew it, the croc had the mower above his head,” Faulkner said. “He got his jaws around the top of the mower and picked it up and took it underwater with him.” The workers quickly left the enclosure. Elvis, meanwhile, showed no signs of relinquishing his new toy and sat guarding it closely all morning.

Eventually, Faulkner realized he had no other choice but to go back in after the mower. Collett lured Elvis to the opposite end of the lagoon with a heaping helping of kangaroo meat while Faulkner plunged, fully clothed, into the water. Before grabbing the mower, however, he had to search the bottom of the lagoon for two 3-inch (7-centimeter) teeth Elvis lost during the encounter. He quickly found them and escaped from the pool, unharmed and with mower in tow.

Though many may question the wisdom of going after a couple of teeth with a massive crocodile lurking just feet away, Faulkner said finding them was critical.

“They clog up the filter systems,” he said. And, perhaps more important, he said, “They’re a nice souvenir.” Elvis has a history of cranky behavior and has occasionally lunged at staff before, though this is the first time he has stolen something from one of the workers. The croc was initially captured in the northern Australian city of Darwin, where he had been attacking fishing boats. He was then moved to a crocodile farm, where he proceeded to kill his two crocodile girlfriends.

In 2008, he was moved to the reptile park, where he has enjoyed solitary confinement in his own enclosure.

“When they are the dominant croc, they’re just full of testosterone,” Faulkner said. “He’s got his beautiful own yard, he wants to be a solitary creature. He’s happy.”

Despite having to give up the lawn mower, Elvis was clearly pleased with himself, Faulkner said. “He’s beaten us today ... he’s kingpin,” Faulkner said. “He’s going to be walking around with his chest puffed out all day.”

As for the staff at the reptile park? “I can’t lie, the bosses are not going to be happy about the cost of a new lawn mower,” Faulkner said with a laugh. “(But) we love it.

No one’s injured ... and when you get scared and it all turns out to be good, it’s actually quite enjoyable.” — AP

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Strong global demand leads to record prices for scallops

TOKYO: Wendy’s/Arby’s International company President Darrel van Ligten (R) poses with a hamburger with Wendy’s Japan CEO Ernest Higa (L) and its mascot charactor Wendy (C) during the reopening ceremony of Wendy’s first restaurant in Tokyo. —AFP

Fast food chain cooks up foie gras burger in Japan TOKYO: US fast-food chain Wendy’s, known for its square beef patties and baked potatoes, on Tuesday unveiled a foie gras burger as it sprang back into life in Japan. Two years after shutting up shop because of falling profits, Wendy’s is hoping its exotic new menu will tickle the sophisticated Japanese palate. The regular buns are still there but are joined by the foie gras burgers, which cost 1,280 yen ($16), and avocado and wasabi burgers (820 yen) as

well as grilled chicken served with truffle and porcini mushroom sauce (920 yen). Wendy’s withdrew from Japan in 2009 after a seven-year presence in the crowded market, as it struggled to compete with bigger rivals Burger King and McDonald’s. Its first new branch opened Tuesday in the upmarket Tokyo shopping district of Omotesando. The company said it was aiming to open 100 restaurants over the next five years.—AFP

PORTLAND: Maine scallop fishermen expect to get record prices for their catch this season with strong global demand and a diminished supply from Japan and other competing, scallop-producing nations. The weak US dollar also is helping boost prices, said Dana Temple, who owns Crescent Bay Inc. seafood company in Cape Elizabeth. “The prices these guys are going to get are probably going to be higher than they’ve ever gotten in the history of this fishery,” said Temple, who’s been selling scallops for 35 years. The higher price for fishermen also means consumers will pay more in restaurants and food stores.

Sea scallops, which are similar to but bigger than bay scallops, have been harvested along the Maine coast since the late 1800s, and at times, it has been the state’s second most-valuable seafood, behind lobsters. The state’s scallops are considered high quality because they’re brought to shore the same day boats drag them off the ocean floor with devices that look like big metal mesh bags or divers harvest them by hand. The large boats that drag for scallops on Georges Bank off southern New England can spend five days or more at sea before they bring their catch to port. The scallops are shucked at sea, with the shells thrown back into the ocean. But Maine’s fishery has had its ups and downs, with fishing increasing sharply when scallops are plentiful. In the 1980s and ‘90s, Maine fishermen routinely harvested well over a million pounds of scallop meat in state waters, with the catch valued at $5 million to $10 million a year. The harvest peaked at 3.8 million pounds worth $15 million in 1983. In recent years, the catch has fallen off sharply, which regulators blame on overfishing.

Fishermen caught 195,000 pounds valued at $1.6 million in Maine waters last year, according to the Department of Marine Resources. That was just a drop in the bucket compared to the entire US wild catch, which totaled 58 million pounds valued at $455 million. Still, scallops provide a supplemental income in the winter for fishermen who go after lobsters, groundfish and sea urchins at other times.

Maine instituted measures two years ago to help restore scallop populations and address overfishing. It shut down 20 percent of the coastline to scallop fishing, froze the number of fishing licenses, shrunk the season, increased the legal size limit

and limited the daily catch. The areas closed to fishing are scheduled to open after the current season ends. There are signs the conservation efforts have started to pay off. In Cobscook Bay near Canada, the mass of scallops increased five-fold in one area just a year after it was closed to fishing. Fall surveys show promise in some, but not all, of the other closed areas. “I think it’s coming back,” said James Ackley, a Machias fisherman. “But it took 12 to 15 years to get where it was, so it won’t get back overnight.” The Maine scallop season began Dec. 17 and runs through March. Its opening day drew lots of boats, especially to Cobscook Bay. There, fishermen reported smaller and fewer scallops than expected, prompting the Department of Marine Resources to call a meeting with fishermen this

week to get a handle on what’s going on. The scallop population is highly variable from place to place, and fishermen won’t know for certain how successful the conservation efforts have been until closed areas are reopened next year, said Robin Alden, director of Penobscot East Resource Center, a Stonington-based nonprofit that works on fishery issues in eastern Maine.

“We don’t know yet if the scallop closed areas are going to replenish,” she said. “It’ll probably be yes in some places and no in others. It depends on whether you chose the right areas in the first place and then what Mother Nature does with it.” But for the scallops fishermen get, the price will likely be high. Ackley and others expect perhaps $10 a pound or even more.— AP

MAINE: In this photo taken on Dec 17, 2011, scallop meat is shucked at sea on opening day off Harpswell, Maine. Maine scallop fishermen are expected to get record-high prices for their catch this season amid signs that the scallop resource is rebounding after a decade of low harvests. —AP

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ASAS and Gulf British Academy staff recently attended the 1st International Conference on Learning Disabilities and Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder as part of their Professional Development program.

Greetings

Congratulations to the Ebere family on the arrival of your new born baby Nolan Ozioma.

May God guide you as baby Ozioma grows to be a blessing to your family. Greetings from the Life Abundant International Fountain Church, friends and wellwishers.

AIP Awards Nite 2011

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ssociation of Indian Professionals (AIP) will organize a mega event to award meritorious Indian students on December 29, 2011 (today) at the auditorium of the Indian Community School, Salmiya. Awardees have been selected based on CBSE examinations results declared for the academic year 2010 - 2011 from all Indian Schools in Kuwait which are affiliated to CBSE system of education in India. For further details, contact General Secretary of AIP on 66616783 / 25644301 or yousees27@hotmail.com and / or Dr. Kamlesh Kumari on 24823875 or kamlesh02@gmail.com.

Upcoming events Aware Center Arabic lessons The AWARE Management is glad to inform you that Winter 1 Arabic language courses will begin on November 20th, 2011 until January 12th, 2012. AWARE Arabic language courses are designed with the expat in mind. The environment is relaxed and courses are designed for those wanting to learn Arabic for travel, cultural understanding, and conducting business or simply to become more involved in the community.

We cater to teachers, travelers & those working in the private business sector. Arabic classes at the AWARE Center are unique because students are provided with the chance to practice their Arabic through various social activities that aim at bringing Arabs and Westerners together.

GUST hosts VIVA Comedy Show

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he Gulf University for Science and Technology (GUST) recently held comedy night hosted by VIVA Telecom, starring gulf comedy Youtube sensation Fahad Al-Butairi, who was discovered through his YouTube comedy show “La Yakthar.” Opening the show were young comedians Ibraheem AlKhairallah and Fadi Al-Shehri. People were standing, waiting outside the the-

ater half an hour before the show was scheduled, enthusiastically waiting for it to begin. You can feel the excitement in the air. Everyone went in, took their seats and waited impatiently when the presenter Ibraheem Al-Khairallah walked out and began the show by cracking a few jokes. He did a great job of warming the crowd up with his light hearted humor. Then, Al-Khairallah

introduced a young Saudi comedian, Fadi Al-Shehri, who went up on stage and joked about Arab Idol, Arab vs Western music and Twitter.

After he set the atmosphere, Fahad Al-Butairi walked in and greeted the crowd with “Hallahhallah”! He started his act on stage about Kuwait’s infinite restaurants and Saudi vs Kuwaiti culture.

His jokes revolved around everything

from TV shows, celebrities, and society making the crowd roar with laughter. He spoke directly to the audience, nonstop, with one joke after the other. It was surprising that he didn’t start laughing at his own jokes, the audience loved him! The show was a great success and GUST hopes to welcome VIVA and Al-Butairi for many more events in the future.

AWARE Arabic courses highlight: lIntroductory to Level 4 Arabic language basics lBetter prepare you for speaking, reading and writing Arabic lCombine language learning with cultural insights lTaught in multi-nationality group settings lProvide opportunities to interact with Western expatriates and native Kuwaitis/Arabs.

For more information or registration, call 25335260/80 ext 105/104/0 or log onto: www.aware.com.kw.

RAK Dance Academy new year hangama-2012 The RAK Dance Academy (RDA) Kuwait, is planning to put a charity event as celebration of its New Year Hangama 2012, on 31st December, 2011, from 6.00pm onwards, at Carmel School Khaitan. All participants are well known artists from Kuwait. The main purpose of this celebration is to collect donations and raise money for supporting handicapped children in India.

Advertisement will be published throughout Kuwait absolutely free of charge. We are expecting huge crowd for this event. The fund raised will be beneficial handicapped children. In order to make this event joyous and successful we are seeking kind contributions from you. Your attendance is your donation. Please join for an evening for a good cause. Darla Srinivasulu Achari, 99 692266; Mob: 65728740 K. Eswar Babu, Phone 99692266, Lashmeesha 65925730 Email: rakdanceacademy@gmail.com

Telugu Lalithakala Samithi celebrates New Year in style

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elugu Lalithakala Samithi (TLKS) New Year celebration was held on 23rd Dec 2012 in Carmel School, Khaitan, Kuwait. The Chief Guest Tollywood star Nara Rohit, Social Entrepreneur Award Winner Shri Guttikonda Tagore, TLKS President Mohan Babu, KN Infra Director Anand inaugurated the event by lighting the lamp. During his inaugural address, Nara Rohith greeted the Telugu Lalithakala Samithi and wished them all the very best in their endeavors. A New Year Calendar 2012 was also released on this occasion.

Famous film personalities, Great Cine Playback Singer Sri Simha, Geetha Madhuri and a famous TV

anchor Indu added glamour to the event. Besides the visiting guest’s performances, the Fusion Dance Group members presented spectacular dance program. The whole event was a grand success with huge gathering and the unique cultural programs enthralled and captivated the Telugu audience.

The members of Gulfwide nandamurifans, Paritala Yuva Sena, Mahatma Gandhi Telugu Youth Association, Kshatriya seva Sangham performed volunteer services for the smooth conduct of the program. The President of the Lalitha Kala Samithi, Mohan Babu presented the activities of the Samithi

and highlighted the achievements made by the Samithi since its inception. Chandrasekhar Raju, General Secretary addressed the gathering and explained the charitable activities conducted by the Samithi.

The event was sponsored by the following; KN INFRA Projects PVT LTD; Kattala Anand Narsimha Rao and Kattala Ashok Narsimha Rao. Others include; Skynet Mobile Co; Prasad, Sri & Smt Jyostna Kishore, Sri Guduru Kumar Swami Raju, Sri Chejarla Indra Kumar Raju , Arab 2 AP Services; Raja shekar, Polarapu Babu Naidu - Eternity Tours & Travels, Sri & Smt Jyothi Venkatesh - Jyothi Travels.

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Embassy Information EMBASSY OF BRAZIL The Embassy of Brazil requests all Brazilian citizens in Kuwait to proceed to the website www.brazil.org.kw (Contact Us Form / Fale Conosco) in order to register or update contact information. The Embassy encourages all citizens to do so, including the ones who have already registered in person at the Embassy. The registration process helps the Brazilian Government to contact and assist Brazilians living abroad in case of any emergency. nnnnnnn

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.

Gloria in Excelsis Deo

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he Kuwait Marthoma parish celebrated 2011 Christmas Carol Service - “Gloria in Excelsis Deo’’ with a blessed musical performance by 107 members of Parish Senior and Junior Choirs on December 24, 2011 at Marina Hall, Kuwait. The Eve of the Christmas night was blessed with biggest Christmas carol concert in the history of Kuwait Mar Thoma Parish, since its inception in 1963. The evening was blessed with the prayers and presence of more than 2000 parish members, visitors and the members of other sister churches. The carol service started with the opening hymn which was followed by the Kauma led by the Parish

Vice - President, Advocate John Thomas and Lay leader, Siji George.

The participation of each and every choir member was splendid as they put together one of the biggest Christmas Carol Concert in Kuwait with utmost devotion. Along with the Senior Choir, the little angels of the Junior Choir also put forth their Christmas praises with their melodious voices. Various passages from the Scripture were read by the assigned members of the parish.

Advocate John Thomas, the VicePresident of the Parish, blessed the congregation with the Christmas message on reminding ‘’What is Christmas?’’ and ‘’Why Christ came down to Earth?’’ cen-

tered on the Bible passage from the book of Galations 4: 4 onwards.

The famous Christmas anthems of George Frederic Handel and Antonio Vivaldi were also sung in a splendid manner by the Choir. The theme of this year’s Carol service was based on the famous Christmas anthem of Antonio Vivaldi - “Gloria in Excelsis Deo”, which means “Glory to GOD in the highest’’.

One of the choir member, Ancy Acham Alex, did a great job as the she compeered the entire evening service and helped to keep the congregation stay with the music bliss until the end. The Offertory prayer was offered by Mathew Varkey. Various arrangements for live

web casting were also done. Indeed it was a blessed musical evening.

The ceremony was blessed not only with the Parish Choir Carols but also with a traditional style of Carols which consisted the young, vibrant and enthusiastic parishioners who came singing along with the presence of Santa clause.

The Carol service concluded with the prayer and benediction by Thomas Mathew, followed by the famous Christmas Hymn of Patrick M Liebergen ‘’Silent Night, O Holy Night’’, led by the choir along with the congregation. This carol concert is conducted by Kuwait Mar Thoma Parish choir under the following leaders.

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EMBASSY OF GERMANY

The Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Kuwait wishes to announce that as of 1 May 2011, the external service provider Al Qabas Assurex is operating a Visa Application Centre in support of the German Embassy. Short-term visa applications for travels to Germany (e.g. for tourism, visits, business) are to be submitted to the service provider Al Qabas who for your convenience will ensure that all relevant documents are included in your application. Your personal appearance at the Application Centre is not required. Address of the Visa Application Centre: Al Qabas Assurex Sanabel Tower (AlBabtain) Mezzanine (M3) opposite Sharq Mall Kuwait 22924444 Fax: 22924442 Further information are available on the following websites: www.kuwait.diplo.de www.qavisa.com 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 INDONESIA On the occasion of the New Year holiday, the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Kuwait will be closed on 29 December 2011 and will resume its activities on 2 January 2012. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF NIGERIA The Nigerian embassy has its new office in Mishref. Block 3, Street 7, House 4. For enquires please call 25379541. Fax- 25387719.

Email- nigeriakuwait@yahoo.com or nigeriankuwait@yahoo.co.uk nnnnnnn

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cDonald’s Kuwait on Friday 23rd December celebrated “Family Time Forever” at Souk Sharq. Families were able to take part in fun activities as they spend quality time with each other. Family Time Forever is part of McDonald’s new Family campaign to create moments & opportunities for families to connect and appreciate each other while encouraging them to make time for each other with today’s hectic fast paced life.

Indian Doctors Forum to hold Diabetes seminar

Ipsos MENA launches agencies in Pakistan

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psos has set up a full service agency in Pakistan offering all Ipsos specializations: Ipsos Marketing, Ipsos MediaCT, Ipsos ASI, Ipsos Loyalty, Ipsos Public Affairs and Ipsos Observer. The new Ipsos Pakistan office is based in Islamabad (main office), Lahore, and Karachi and will cover Afghanistan also. It is led by former MEMRB Country Head Abdul Sattar Babar, who is supported by a team of 30 full-time marketing and media researchers. Abdul Sattar Babar, Ipsos Pakistan Managing Director, is an experienced strategic marketing and business intelligence specialist who has worked in senior, local and regional roles at Synovate, British American Tobacco and the research company Aftab Associates, prior to his launch of MEMRB Pakistan in 2006.

The launch of Ipsos Pakistan office comes in response to the increasing market research needs of numerous multinational brands based in Pakistan - among them, a majority of Ipsos’ Global Partnering key accounts. Edouard Monin, CEO of Ipsos MENA, comments: ‘This new company will allow Ipsos teams to better serve their local and global clients. It will reinforce the Ipsos presence in the region, and support the numerous multinational clients headquartered in DubaÔ which are requesting more and more research in Pakistan.’ For more info please contact: elie.aoun@ipsos.com

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Burgan Bank’s airport branch resumes normal working hours

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urgan Bank yesterday announced that its airport branch will resume normal working hours during the upcoming New Year holiday. The branch will commence operations from 8:00 am to 10:30 pm, in an effort to accommodate banking requirements for travelers during the public holiday. For more information on any products or services, customers are required to contact Burgan Bank’s call center 1804080 during the holiday. On this occasion, Burgan Bank extends its best wishes and greetings to the public on the arrival of the New Year.

iabetes shortens a person’s life by 10 years on an average. Studies have shown that it is the major cause for the heart diseases, kidney failures, blindness, stroke and other neurological problems, gangrene, non healing ulcers and amputations and greatly reduces the quality of life in those affected. The quality of life is further decreased by frequent infections, high /low blood sugars, sexual difficulties, side effects of medications, psychosocial factors etc.

Under the patronage of Kuwait Medical Association, Indian Doctors Forum in co-operation with Dasman Diabetes Center, sponsored by AMMA Kuwait, Indian associations and health services, is holding a free seminar titled ‘How to Improve Quality of Life and Longevity in People with Diabetes’ to empower people to manage their health better and to have better quality of life now and in the future. The seminar will be held on Friday, 30th December, 2011 at Kuwait Medical Association Auditorium, Jabriya (Near Mubarak Hospital and the Blood Bank). Free blood tests will start at 4 pm and Seminar will begin at 5:30 pm followed

by Interactive session with experts in all fields of medicine.

The seminar will have informative lectures in simple and easy to follow English by top experts in the specialties of diabetes, cardiology, nephrology, ophthalmology, neurology and surgery. The seminar will be a good opportunity for those affected with Diabetes, those who are at risk, or care givers to know more on how to improve health and quality of life. People who wish to attend the free seminar must register their attendance through Indians in Kuwait web site by visiting http://www.indiansinkuwait.com/Diabetes/.

For logistic reasons registration will close when the number of registrants reach 500 or on 25/12/11, whichever is earlier. A limited number of blood tests will be done for the registrants on a ‘first come, first served’ basis. HbA1c test also will be done for a limited number as decided by the physician. If you have a diabetes related query, you can ask through the above web site at the time of registration and the same will be answered by the specialist during the Seminar and the interactive session that follows. For more information, Please get in touch with admin@indiandoctorsforum.org, Dr. Noble Zachariah 55960097, Dr Murali Gopal 94093848 or ammakuwait@yahoo.com 99540511, 24806475, 23711832, 66198980, 99084154.

EMBASSY OF PERU Peruvian Permanent Expo will be temporarily closed from December 2lst 2011 to January 21st 2012. The Expo will reopen on January 22nd 2012 and offer once again “Peruvian Private Gastronomy Tasting Lunches” and much more like Peruvian culture, tourism, trade and great possibilities of investment. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF RUSSIA Embassy of the Russian Federation invites all the Russian residents in Kuwait to visit the Consulate for registration and updating your database. This information is necessary for prompt notice, assistance and warning in case of emergency. The consulate reception hours: 10:00 13:00, Sunday - Wednesday. The Embassy is located in Kuwait City, Daiya, Block 5, Diplomatic campus, Plot 17. Tel: (+965) 22560427, 22560428. Fax: (+965) 22524969, e-mail: rusposkuw@mail.ru, consdepkuw@mail.ru Information also available on the website: www.kuwait.mid.ru nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF SOUTH AFRICA On the occasion of the New Year, the Embassy will be closed on Sunday, January 1, 2012. Please note on Thursday, December 29, 2011, working hours will be from 8:00 to 10:00. The Embassy will resume its normal working hours on Monday, January 2, 2012, as follows: Please note that the working hours will be from 8:00 to 16:00 & the Consular Section operation hours will from 8:30 to 12:30.

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Years

TV PROGRAMS

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

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

I’m Alive Animal Cops Houston Zebras On The Move Wildest India I’m Alive Dogs 101 Animal Cops Houston Animal Cops Specials 2009 Monkey Life Dick ‘n’ Dom Go Wild Talk To The Animals The Really Wild Show Breed All About It Dogs 101 Dogs 101 Animal Cops South Africa Bondi Vet Wildlife SOS RSPCA: On The Frontline RSPCA: On The Frontline Animal Cops Houston Zebras On The Move Monkey Life Dick ‘n’ Dom Go Wild Talk To The Animals The Really Wild Show Dogs 101 Extraordinary Dogs Extraordinary Dogs Bondi Vet Breed All About It Dogs 101 Ocean Odyssey Animal Kingdom Animal Kingdom Untamed & Uncut

Jam and Jerusalem Last Of The Summer Wine Last Of The Summer Wine Casualty Doctors Last Of The Summer Wine Little Robots The Large Family Penelope K, By The Way Buzz & Tell Tweenies Balamory Little Robots The Large Family Penelope K, By The Way Poetry Pie Tweenies Charlie and Lola Balamory Little Robots The Large Family Penelope K, By The Way Buzz & Tell Tweenies Charlie and Lola Balamory Little Robots The Large Family Penelope K, By The Way Buzz & Tell Buzz & Tell Tweenies Charlie and Lola Balamory My Family My Family The Weakest Link Royally Mad Doctors EastEnders Casualty Keeping Up Appearances Keeping Up Appearances Keeping Up Appearances Royally Mad The Weakest Link Doctors EastEnders Casualty Royally Mad Blackadder the Third Blackadder the Third Doctors EastEnders Elephant Diaries Coast

00:35 02:05 02:50 03:40 05:55 06:40 07:30 08:10 08:40 13:10 13:55 14:20 14:55 15:20 15:45 16:40 18:55 19:40 20:30 21:00 21:30 22:20 23:10

Bargain Hunt Bargain Hunt Holmes On Homes Bargain Hunt Bargain Hunt Holmes On Homes Rick Stein’s French Odyssey What To Eat Now - Autumn Bargain Hunt Bargain Hunt Rick Stein’s French Odyssey Trish’s Paris Kitchen Rick Stein’s French Odyssey Rick Stein’s French Odyssey Antiques Roadshow Bargain Hunt Bargain Hunt Holmes On Homes Rick Stein’s French Odyssey Rick Stein’s French Odyssey The Home Show Antiques Roadshow Antiques Roadshow

00:00 BBC World News America 00:30 Hardtalk 01:00 BBC World News 01:30 World Business Report 01:45 Sport Today 02:00 BBC World News America 02:30 Asia Business Report 02:45 Sport Today 03:00 BBC World News 03:30 Asia Business Report 03:45 Sport Today 04:00 Newsday 04:30 Asia Business Report 04:45 Sport Today 05:00 Newsday 05:30 Asia Business Report 05:45 Sport Today 06:00 Newsday 06:30 Asia Business Report 06:45 Sport Today 07:00 Newsday 07:30 Hardtalk 08:00 BBC World News 08:30 World Business Report 08:45 BBC World News 09:00 BBC World News 09:30 World Business Report 09:45 BBC World News 10:00 BBC World News 10:30 World Business Report 10:45 Sport Today 11:00 BBC World News 11:30 World Business Report 11:45 Sport Today 12:00 BBC World News 12:30 Hardtalk 13:00 BBC World News 13:30 World Business Report 13:45 Sport Today 14:00 BBC World News 14:30 World Business Report 14:45 Sport Today 15:00 GMT With George Alagiah 15:30 GMT With George Alagiah 16:00 Impact With Mishal Husain 17:00 Impact With Mishal Husain 17:30 World Business Report 17:45 Sport Today 18:00 BBC World News 18:30 Hardtalk 19:00 The Hub With Nik Gowing 20:00 The Hub With Nik Gowing 20:30 World Business Report 20:45 Sport Today 21:00 BBC World News 21:30 World Business Report 21:45 Sport Today 22:00 World News Today With Zeinab Badawi 23:30 World Business Report 23:45 Sport Today

00:05 00:30 00:55 01:20 01:45 02:10 02:35

The Garfield Show Scooby Doo Where Are You! The Perils Of Penelope Pitstop Droopy: Master Detective The Flintstones Johnny Bravo Duck Dodgers

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

King Arthur’s Disasters The Scooby Doo Show Popeye Classics Tom & Jerry Popeye The Jetsons The Flintstones Looney Tunes Pink Panther & Pals Tex Avery Duck Dodgers The Garfield Show New Yogi Bear Show Bananas In Pyjamas Baby Looney Tunes Gerald McBoing Boing Jelly Jamm Pink Panther And Pals Puppy In My Pocket The Garfield Show Dastardly And Muttley The Flintstones Tom & Jerry Pink Panther And Pals Top Cat New Yogi Bear Show Puppy In My Pocket Jelly Jamm Baby Looney Tunes Bananas In Pyjamas The Jetsons Duck Dodgers Looney Tunes Scooby Doo Where Are You! Tom & Jerry The Perils Of Penelope Pitstop Droopy: Master Detective Wacky Races Scooby-Doo And ScrappyDastardly And Muttley Tom & Jerry Puppy In My Pocket Pink Panther And Pals The Garfield Show Dexters Laboratory Gerald McBoing Boing Bananas In Pyjamas Top Cat Wacky Races Tom & Jerry The Scooby Doo Show Dastardly And Muttley Tom & Jerry Johnny Bravo Dexters Laboratory

00:15 Samurai Jack 00:40 Megas XLR 01:05 Robotboy 01:30 Squirrel Boy 01:55 George Of The Jungle 02:20 Cramp Twins 02:45 Chop Socky Chooks 03:10 Best Ed 03:35 My Gym Partner’s A Monkey 04:00 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 04:25 Generator Rex 04:50 Adventure Time 05:15 The Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack 05:40 Chowder 05:55 Powerpuff Girls 06:30 Ed, Edd n Eddy 06:55 I Am Weasel 07:20 Squirrel Boy 07:45 Cow & Chicken 08:00 Eliot Kid 08:25 Angelo Rules 08:50 Best Ed 09:15 The Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack 09:40 My Gym Partner’s A Monkey 10:05 The Grim Adventures Of Billy & Mandy 10:30 Courage The Cowardly Dog 10:55 Cow & Chicken 11:20 I Am Weasel 11:35 Adventure Time 12:00 Ben 10 12:25 Bakugan Battle Brawlers 12:50 The Secret Saturdays 13:15 Samurai Jack 13:40 Ben 10: Alien Force 14:05 Codename: Kids Next Door 14:30 Skunk Fu! 14:50 My Gym Partner’s A Monkey 15:15 The Amazing World Of Gumball

MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN ON OSN ACTION HD

15:40 Ed, Edd n Eddy 16:05 Camp Lazlo 16:30 Chowder 16:55 The Grim Adventures Of Billy & Mandy 17:25 Cow & Chicken 17:50 Courage The Cowardly Dog 18:15 The Amazing World Of Gumball 18:40 George Of The Jungle 19:05 Codename: Kids Next Door 19:30 Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated 19:55 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 20:20 Generator Rex 20:45 Bakugan: Gundalian Invaders 21:10 Sym-Bionic Titan 21:35 Star Wars: The Clone Wars 22:00 Hero 108 22:25 The Amazing World Of Gumball 22:50 The Grim Adventures Of Billy & Mandy 23:00 Ben 10 23:25 Bakugan Battle Brawlers 23:50 The Secret Saturdays

00:00 Connect The World With Becky Anderson 01:00 Backstory 01:30 World Sport 02:00 The Situation Room 03:00 World Report 04:00 Anderson Cooper 360 05:00 Piers Morgan Tonight 06:00 Quest Means Business 07:00 Erin Burnett Outfront 08:00 World Sport 08:30 Backstory 09:00 World Report 10:00 World Report 11:00 World Sport 11:30 The Boss 12:00 World Business Today 13:00 Backstory 13:30 Icon 14:00 World One 15:00 Piers Morgan Tonight 16:00 News Stream 17:00 World Business Today 18:00 International Desk 19:00 The Brief 19:30 World Sport 20:00 Prism 21:00 International Desk 21:30 Icon 22:00 Quest Means Business 22:45 CNN Marketplace Europe 23:00 Piers Morgan Tonight

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

Coal Coal How It’S Made Dirty Jobs Wheeler Dealers Fifth Gear Overhaulin’ How Stuff’S Made Mythbusters Cake Boss Border Security Scrappers Gold Rush: Alaska Coal One Man Army One Man Army Cake Boss Border Security Scrappers How It’S Made How Stuff’S Made Cash Cab Us Surviving The Cut Frontline Battle Machines...

Track Me If You Can

00:40 The Gadget Show 01:05 The Tech Show 01:35 Superships 02:25 Stunt Junkies 02:50 Weird Or What?

03:40 What’s That About?

04:35 The Gadget Show 05:00 The Gadget Show 05:25 Cool Stuff & How It Works 05:50 Superships 06:40 One Step Beyond 07:10 Brainiac 08:00 Scrapheap Challenge 08:50 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 09:40 The Tech Show 10:10 Weird Connections 10:35 The Gadget Show 11:00 The Gadget Show 11:25 Brainiac 12:20 Sci-Fi Science 12:45 Cool Stuff & How It Works 13:15 Weird Or What?

14:05 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 14:55 One Step Beyond 15:20 Stunt Junkies 15:50 Superships 16:40 Weird Connections 17:05 Scrapheap Challenge 18:00 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 18:50 Sci-Fi Science 19:15 The Tech Show 19:40 Wallace & Gromit’s World Of Invention 20:05 Wallace & Gromit’s World Of Invention 20:30 Science Of The Movies 21:20 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 22:10 The Gadget Show 22:35 The Gadget Show 23:00 Wallace & Gromit’s World Of Invention 23:25 Wallace & Gromit’s World Of Invention 23:50 Science Of The Movies

00:00 00:25 00:50 01:15 01:35 02:00 02:25 02:50 03:15 03:35 04:00 04:25 04:50 05:15 05:35

Kim Possible Fairly Odd Parents Fairly Odd Parents Stitch Stitch Replacements Replacements Emperor’s New School Emperor’s New School Stitch Stitch Replacements Replacements Fairly Odd Parents Fairly Odd Parents

06:00 06:20 Cody 06:45 Cody 07:05 07:30 07:55 08:10 08:35 09:00 10:45 11:35 12:00 12:25 12:45 13:10 13:30 13:55 14:20 15:00 16:35 17:00 17:25 17:50 18:15 20:00 20:25 20:50 21:15 22:00 22:50 23:15

Hannah Montana The Suite Life Of Zack And The Suite Life Of Zack And Wizards Of Waverly Place Wizards Of Waverly Place Phineas And Ferb Good Luck Charlie Good Luck Charlie Double Teamed Good Luck Charlie Good Luck Charlie Wizards Of Waverly Place Wizards Of Waverly Place Fish Hooks Fish Hooks Suite Life On Deck Suite Life On Deck Wizards Of Waverly Place Princess Protection Program A.N.T. Farm Fairly Odd Parents Good Luck Charlie Fish Hooks Shake It Up Good Luck Charlie Hannah Montana Hannah Montana Suite Life On Deck Shake It Up Sonny With A Chance Wizards Of Waverly Place

00:25 Kendra 00:55 Style Star 01:25 E!es 02:20 E!es 03:15 25 Most Stylish 04:10 Sexiest 05:05 Extreme Hollywood 06:00 20 Acts Of Love Gone Wrong 07:50 Behind The Scenes 08:20 E! News 09:15 Kendra 09:45 Kendra 10:15 THS 11:35 Kourtney & Khloe Take Miami 12:35 Kourtney & Khloe Take Miami 13:05 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 15:00 Khloe And Lamar 17:25 Khloe And Lamar 17:55 E! News 18:55 Khloe And Lamar 19:25 Khloe And Lamar 19:55 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 21:25 Bridalplasty 22:25 E! News 23:25 The Soup 23:55 Keeping Up With The Kardashians

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 Jones 12:40 13:25 14:15 15:00 15:25 15:50 Jones 16:35 17:20 18:10 19:00 19:45 20:10 20:55 21:20 Jones 22:10 23:00 23:50

Extreme Forensics The Haunted Mysterious Journeys I Almost Got Away With It FBI Case Files Extreme Forensics The Haunted Mysterious Journeys Mystery Diagnosis FBI Files Forensic Detectives Fugitive Strike Force Mystery Diagnosis Real Emergency Calls Who On Earth Did I Marry?

True Crime with Aphrodite

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

Treks In A Wild World Bluelist Australia Word Travels Cruise Ship Diaries Pressure Cook Pressure Cook Around The World For Free Nomads Treks In A Wild World Bluelist Australia Word Travels Cruise Ship Diaries Pressure Cook Pressure Cook Around The World For Free Nomads Treks In A Wild World Bondi Rescue: Bali Bondi Rescue Bondi Rescue Travel Madness First Ascent The Best Job In The World Dive Detectives David Rocco’s Dolce Vita David Rocco’s Dolce Vita Departures Bondi Rescue: Bali Bondi Rescue Bondi Rescue Travel Madness First Ascent The Best Job In The World Dive Detectives David Rocco’s Dolce Vita David Rocco’s Dolce Vita

00:00 02:00 04:00 18 06:00 08:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:45 20:30 22:15

Bad Guys-18 Outpost-18 Snow White: A Tale Of Terror-

Disappeared Fugitive Strike Force Mystery Diagnosis Real Emergency Calls Who On Earth Did I Marry?

True Crime with Aphrodite Disappeared FBI Files Forensic Detectives Fugitive Strike Force Real Emergency Calls Mystery Diagnosis Who On Earth Did I Marry?

True Crime with Aphrodite Disappeared I Faked My Own Death Forensic Justice

Ip Man-PG15 Legendary-PG15 Rocky II-PG15 Rocky III-PG15 Legendary-PG15 2012-PG15 Rocky III-PG15 Killshot-18 Midnight Meat Train-18

A PERFECT GETAWAY ON OSN CINEMA

01:00 A Perfect Getaway-18 03:00 Paper Man-PG15 05:00 5 Dollars A Day-PG15 07:00 Winx: Secret Of The Lost Kingdom-PG 09:00 Paper Man-PG15 11:00 Chasing A Dream-PG15 13:00 5 Dollars A Day-PG15 15:00 The Devil’s Teardrop-PG15 17:00 The Front-PG15 18:45 Secretariat-PG15 21:00 Dear John-PG15 23:00 Camp Hope-PG15

00:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 01:00 The Colbert Report 01:30 American Dad 02:00 Neighbors From Hell 02:30 The Cleveland Show 03:00 Friends 03:30 Friends 04:00 Will And Grace 04:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 05:30 Seinfeld 06:00 Two And A Half Men 06:30 Melissa And Joey 07:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 08:00 Will And Grace 08:30 Friends 09:00 Seinfeld 09:30 Friends With Benefits 10:00 Parks And Recreation 10:30 Melissa And Joey 11:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 12:00 Two And A Half Men 12:30 Will And Grace 13:00 Friends 13:30 Seinfeld 14:00 Melissa And Joey 14:30 Parks And Recreation 15:00 Friends With Benefits 15:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 16:00 The Colbert Report 16:30 Happy Endings 17:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 18:00 Friends 18:30 Friends 19:00 30 Rock 19:30 Wilfred 20:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 21:00 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 21:30 The Colbert Report 22:00 The Big C 22:30 Neighbors From Hell 23:00 The Cleveland Show 23:30 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

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

Terra Nova True Blood Covert Affairs Once Upon A Time The Cape Good Morning America The Glades Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show The Martha Stewart Show The View Terra Nova Once Upon A Time The Cape Live Good Morning America The Ellen DeGeneres Show Emmerdale Look-A-Like Eureka Love Bites Love Bites Rescue Me White Collar

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 07:30 08:00 09:00

Drop Dead Diva Off The Map Terra Nova True Blood Once Upon A Time The Chicago Code Drop Dead Diva Modern Family Marathon Coronation Street Law & Order: Los Angeles Off The Map

10:00 11:00 12:00 12:30 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 22:00 23:00

Terra Nova Once Upon A Time Modern Family Marathon Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show Law & Order: Los Angeles Drop Dead Diva Tower Prep The Ellen DeGeneres Show Law & Order: Los Angeles Eureka Rescue Me Supernatural

00:30 02:30 05:00 07:00 09:00 10:45 12:45 PG15 14:30 16:30 18:45 21:45 23:30

Saw VI-R Shutter Island-18 Deadly Impact-18 Saw VI-R S.W.A.T.: Firefight-PG15 Double Impact-18 Bodyguard: A New BeginningS.W.A.T.: Firefight-PG15 Timeline-PG15 The Thin Red Line-18 Staten Island-PG15 The Collector-18

00:00 102 Dalmatians-PG 02:00 Lower Learning-PG15 04:00 Hanging Up-PG15 06:00 Everybody Wants To Be Italian-PG15 08:00 When In Rome-PG15 10:00 For Love Or Money-PG 12:00 Garfield-PG 14:00 The Ramen Girl-PG15 16:00 102 Dalmatians-PG 18:00 Death At A Funeral-PG15 20:00 American Pie 7: The Book Of Love-18 22:00 My Best Friend’s Girl-18

01:15 Partir-18 03:00 The Associate-PG15 05:15 Strange Culture-PG15 07:00 The Last Song-PG15 09:00 Lost In Yonkers-PG 11:00 Good Hair-PG15 13:00 The Associate-PG15 15:00 Star Trek III: The Search For Spock-PG15 17:00 The Sunset Limited-PG15 19:00 Black Lightning-PG15 21:00 The Time Traveller’s WifePG15 23:00 Boogie Nights-18

01:00 The 41-Year-Old Virgin Who...18 03:00 Sweet Home Alabama-PG15 05:00 Date Night-PG15 07:00 Planet 51-PG 09:00 A Family Thanksgiving-PG15 11:00 Mean Girls-PG15 13:00 Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time-PG15 15:00 Pina-PG15 17:00 A Family Thanksgiving-PG15 19:00 Youth In Revolt-18 21:00 Dear John-PG15 23:00 Greenberg-18

00:00 Ed-PG 02:15 The Nimbols: Part I-PG15 04:00 The Nimbols: Part II-PG15 06:00 Ed-PG 08:00 The Prince Of Dinosaurs-PG 10:00 Megamind-FAM 12:15 Inspector Gadget’s Last Case: Claw’s...-FAM 14:00 Gladiators: The Conspiracy-PG 16:00 Adventures Of A Teenage Dragonslayer-PG 18:00 Megamind-FAM 20:00 Gladiators: The TournamentPG 22:00 Inspector Gadget’s Last Case: Claw’s...-FAM

00:00 The Other Side Of The TracksPG15 02:00 Cop Out-PG15 04:00 The Lightkeepers-PG15 06:00 A Trace Of Danger-PG15 08:00 Cats & Dogs: The Revenge Of Kitty Galore-PG

09:45 Phoebe In Wonderland-PG 12:00 The Lightkeepers-PG15 14:00 The Librarian: The Curse Of Judas Chalice-PG15 16:00 Phoebe In Wonderland-PG 18:00 Family Gathering-PG15 20:00 Country Strong-PG15 22:00 Oranges And Sunshine-PG15

01:00 02:00 02:30 09:30 10:00 12:00 13:00 20:00 22:00 23:00

UFC 141 Countdown Futbol Mundial Live Test Cricket Futbol Mundial Scottish Premier League Trans World Sport Cricket Test Match Scottish Premier League Trans World Sport WWE NXT

01:00 Futbol Mundial 01:30 Trans World Sport 02:30 Live Test Cricket 09:30 Futbol Mundial 10:00 World Cup of Pool 11:00 World Pool Masters 12:00 US Bass Fishing 13:00 Cricket Test Match 20:00 Scottish Premier League 22:00 Live Darts PDC World Championship

00:30 The US PGA Championship Official Film 01:30 FEI Equestrian World 02:00 World Cup of Pool 03:00 World Pool Masters 04:00 US Bass Fishing 05:00 Pro 12 Celtic League 07:00 Darts PDC World Championship 11:00 Golfing World 12:00 European Senior Tour Highlights 13:00 World Cup of Pool 14:00 World Pool Masters 15:00 US Bass Fishing 16:00 Live Darts PDC World Championship 20:00 Trans World Sport 21:00 FEI Equestrian World 21:30 SPL Highlights 22:00 Live Darts PDC World Championship

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 07:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 23:00

WWE Bottom Line Speedway FIM World UFC Unleashed UFC Unleashed UFC 138 WWE SmackDown Speedway Intercontinental Le Mans Cup V8 Supercars Championship V8 Supercars Championship WWE Vintage Collection WWE Bottom Line Intercontinental Le Mans Cup V8 Supercars Championship V8 Supercars Championship Speedway WWE NXT UFC 139 WWE NXT

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

Nostradamus Effect Life After People How The Earth Was Made Dead Men’S Secrets Soviet Storm: WWII In The East Gestapo Nostradamus Effect Life After People How The Earth Was Made Dead Men’S Secrets Soviet Storm: WWII In The East Gestapo Nostradamus Effect Life After People How The Earth Was Made Dead Men’S Secrets Soviet Storm: WWII In The East Gestapo Nostradamus Effect Life After People How The Earth Was Made Ax Men Swamp People

Classifieds THURSDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2011

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

Airlines JZR KLM JZR JZR ETH THY UAE QTR DHX KAC MSR FDB ETD GFA KAC THY IRA DHX JZR JZR BAW KAC KNE KAC FDB KAC KAC JZR KAC IRA KAC UAE ABY QTR ETD FDB GFA KNE KNE JZR RKM KNE MEA SYR MSC KAC MSR KAC GFA MSR FDB MSR UAL GRF OMA QTR KNE SVA SVA KAC RJA KAC KAC JZR LMU KAC QTR SVA JZR MLR ETD JZR UAE KAC GFA SVA ABY JZR ALK JZR MSC TAR FDB KAC FDB JZR KAC KAC KAC KAC KNE KAC KAC KAC FDB JAI OMA MSR MEA KAC DHX GFA LMU QTR UAE JZR KAC KLM AIC JZR UAL AXB BBC DLH

Arrival Flights on Thursday 29/12/2011 Flt Route 185 DUBAI 447 AMSTERDAM/BAHRAIN 267 BEIRUT 539 CAIRO 620 ADDIS ABABA 772 ISTANBUL 853 DUBAI 138 DOHA 370 BAHRAIN 154 ISTANBUL 612 CAIRO 67 DUBAI 305 ABU DHABI 211 BAHRAIN 544 CAIRO 770 ISTANBUL 617 AHWAZ 170 BAHRAIN 503 LUXOR 555 ALEXANDRIA 157 LONDON 412 MANILA/BANGKOK 939 JEDDAH 206 ISLAMABAD 53 DUBAI 352 COCHIN 302 MUMBAI 531 ASSIUT 332 TRIVANDRUM 605 ISFAHAN 362 COLOMBO 855 DUBAI 125 SHARJAH 132 DOHA 301 ABU DHABI 55 DUBAI 213 BAHRAIN 991 JEDDAH 789 JEDDAH 165 DUBAI 310 RAS ALKHAIMAH 945 JEDDAH 404 BEIRUT 341 DAMASCUS/DEIREZZOR 9621 SOHAG 382 DELHI 610 CAIRO 672 DUBAI 219 BAHRAIN 621 ASSIUT 57 DUBAI 606 LUXOR 982 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 93 KANDAHAR/DUBAI 645 MUSCAT 140 DOHA 745 JEDDAH 500 JEDDAH 9407 JEDDAH 552 DAMASCUS 640 AMMAN 789 JEDDAH 284 DHAKA 257 BEIRUT 407 ALEXANDRIA 546 ALEXANDRIA 134 DOHA 9419 JEDDAH 535 CAIRO 403 COLOMBO/DUBAI 303 ABU DHABI 357 MASHAD 857 DUBAI 118 NEW YORK 215 BAHRAIN 510 RIYADH 127 SHARJAH 777 JEDDAH 227 COLOMBO/DUBAI 177 DUBAI 9623 SOHAG 328 TUNIS/DUBAI 63 DUBAI 542 CAIRO 8067 DUBAI 125 BAHRAIN 787 JEDDAH 618 DOHA 614 BAHRAIN 674 DUBAI 989 JEDDAH 104 LONDON 774 RIYADH 562 AMMAN 61 DUBAI 572 MUMBAI 647 MUSCAT 618 ALEXANDRIA 402 BEIRUT 178 GENEVA/FRANKFURT 372 BAHRAIN 217 BAHRAIN 409 ASSIUT 136 DOHA 859 DUBAI 135 BAHRAIN 502 BEIRUT 445 AMSTERDAM 981 CHENNAI/HYDERABAD/ 239 AMMAN 981 BAHRAIN 389 KOZHIKODE/MANGALORE 43 DHAKA 636 FRANKFURT

Time 0:20 0:30 0:45 0:50 1:45 2:15 2:35 2:40 2:55 2:55 3:00 3:05 3:10 3:15 4:40 4:50 4:50 5:15 5:55 6:00 6:40 6:45 7:15 7:40 7:45 7:50 7:55 8:00 8:05 8:15 8:20 8:30 9:00 9:05 9:15 9:20 9:55 10:50 11:20 11:20 11:45 11:50 11:55 12:35 12:45 12:45 12:55 13:20 13:25 13:30 13:50 13:55 14:05 14:15 14:15 14:20 14:25 14:30 14:30 14:35 14:40 14:50 15:00 15:00 15:10 15:20 15:25 16:05 16:25 16:40 16:50 16:50 16:55 16:55 17:15 17:20 17:40 17:45 18:00 18:15 18:30 18:35 18:40 18:50 18:55 19:00 19:10 19:15 19:20 19:25 19:30 19:35 19:40 19:50 20:00 20:10 20:15 20:45 20:50 20:55 21:00 21:25 21:30 21:35 21:40 21:55 22:00 22:05 22:05 22:45 23:00 23:35 23:45 23:50

Airlines AXB UAL AIC JZR DLH KLM KAC ETH THY KAC FDB UAE DHX MSR ETD QTR THY IRA JZR GFA KNE FDB KAC BAW JZR KAC KAC JZR IRA KAC KAC UAE ABY ETD FDB QTR GFA JZR KNE KAC KAC KNE JZR KNE RKM MEA MSC SYR KAC JZR MSR GFA MSR FDB KAC MSR KAC KNE OMA UAL RJA JZR KAC LMU SVA SVA KAC KAC KAC QTR JZR SVA ETD MLR JZR QTR GRF UAE GFA ABY SVA JZR JZR ALK KAC FDB TAR MSC FDB JZR KNE FDB KAC KAC DHX KAC JAI OMA MSR MEA KAC DHX KAC LMU GFA QTR KAC JZR UAE KAC KLM JZR KAC KAC

Departure Flights on Thursday 29/12/2011 Flt Route 394 COCHIN/KOZHIKODE 981 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 976 GOA/CHENNAI 530 ASSIUT 637 FRANKFURT 447 AMSTERDAM 283 DHAKA 621 ADDIS ABABA 773 ISTANBUL 381 DELHI 68 DUBAI 854 DUBAI 371 BAHRAIN 613 CAIRO 306 ABU DHABI 139 DOHA 771 ISTANBUL 606 MASHAD 164 DUBAI 212 BAHRAIN 940 MEDINAH/JEDDAH 54 DUBAI 545 ALEXANDRIA 156 LONDON 256 BEIRUT 671 DUBAI 551 DAMASCUS 534 CAIRO 604 ISFAHAN 787 JEDDAH 101 LONDON/NEW YORK 856 DUBAI 126 SHARJAH 302 ABU DHABI 56 DUBAI 133 DOHA 214 BAHRAIN 356 MASHAD 992 JEDDAH 165 ROME/PARIS 541 CAIRO 790 JEDDAH 776 JEDDAH 946 MEDINAH/JEDDAH 311 RAS ALKHAIMAH 405 BEIRUT 9622 SOHAG 342 DEIREZZOR/DAMASCUS 786 JEDDAH 176 DUBAI 611 CAIRO 220 BAHRAIN 622 ASSIUT 58 DUBAI 561 AMMAN 607 LUXOR 673 DUBAI 746 JEDDAH 646 MUSCAT 982 BAHRAIN 641 AMMAN 124 BAHRAIN 617 DOHA 408 ASSIUT 505 JEDDAH 2407 JEDDAH 501 BEIRUT 613 BAHRAIN 773 RIYADH 141 DOHA 238 AMMAN 2419 JEDDAH 304 ABU DHABI 404 DUBAI/COLOMBO 538 CAIRO 135 DOHA 82 BAGHDAD 858 DUBAI 216 BAHRAIN 128 SHARJAH 511 RIYADH 266 BEIRUT 134 BAHRAIN 228 DUBAI/COLOMBO 1781 JEDDAH 64 DUBAI 328 TUNIS 9624 ASSIUT 8068 DUBAI 184 DUBAI 990 JEDDAH 62 DUBAI 343 CHENNAI 331 TRIVANDRUM 171 BAHRAIN 351 COCHIN 571 MUMBAI 648 MUSCAT 619 ALEXANDRIA 403 BEIRUT 543 CAIRO 373 BAHRAIN 675 DUBAI 410 ALEXANDRIA 218 BAHRAIN 137 DOHA 301 MUMBAI 554 ALEXANDRIA 860 DUBAI 205 ISLAMABAD 445 BAHRAIN/AMSTERDAM 528 ASSIUT 415 KUALA LUMPUR/JAKARTA 411 BANGKOK/MANILA

Time 0:40 0:45 0:50 1:15 1:20 1:45 2:40 2:45 3:15 3:30 3:45 3:50 3:55 4:00 4:00 4:55 5:50 5:50 6:55 7:00 8:05 8:25 8:30 8:40 9:00 9:00 9:10 9:15 9:15 9:25 9:35 9:40 9:45 10:00 10:05 10:10 10:40 10:50 10:55 11:45 12:00 12:05 12:15 12:40 12:50 12:55 13:30 13:35 13:40 13:50 13:55 14:20 14:30 14:35 14:45 14:55 15:05 15:10 15:15 15:20 15:35 15:50 15:55 15:55 16:00 16:00 16:15 16:20 16:25 16:30 17:15 17:30 17:35 17:40 17:40 17:45 18:00 18:10 18:15 18:25 18:35 18:45 19:05 19:10 19:15 19:20 19:25 19:30 19:35 19:55 20:20 20:40 20:55 21:00 21:00 21:05 21:10 21:15 21:45 21:50 21:55 22:00 22:10 22:15 22:25 22:35 22:45 22:45 22:50 23:00 23:05 23:35 23:45 23:55

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

ACCOMMODATION Sharing accommodation available for two decent executive Muslim bachelor in Sharq near Amiri Hospital.

Contact: 55238110 or tajtoyota@gmail.com New super deluxe apartment in Al-Fintas, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, living room with parquet floor, parking spaces. Furnished KD 360 per month, unfurnished KD 260 per month, rent covers internet service. Tel: 50167793, 55919978.

Wanted villa for a foreign family. South Surra, Salwa, Bayan, Mishrif, Rumaithiya, Jabriya, Yarmouk, and all internal area.

66653402 Wanted villa for a small foreign family in Aqaila, Mangaf, Fintas, Abu Al-Hasaniya, Maseila, Qurain and internal areas. 66653402 Wanted a one floor flat, in South Surra, Jabriya and Surra, Yarmouk, Salwa, Shamiya and all internal areas. (3) months payment. 66653402 27-12-2011

depth of 20 meters, determines the type, depth and size. Already tried with guarantee. 66145558 A farm in Abdaly, covering 50 thousand meters squared, one street. Fenced with chicken wire, workers residence + electricity + treated water. 55555235 Electric generator 3700 Watts, Astra brand, 2011 model, 1st grade Chinese made + pressure and gas gauges + 2 sockets, smooth noise, yellow, new in a carton. Price KD 85. 60066891 27-12-2011

SITUATION VACANT Required cook for house, good experience, all kinds of food, professional cook, good salary + good accommodation + Air ticket, full time & part time. Contact: 23901053 / 55828597.

(C 3802) 28-12-2011

TRANSORT Spacious single room attached with wardrobe available for executive Indian bachelor or couple, C-A/C flat in Kuwait City. Contact: 65707726.

(C 3798) 26-12-2011

FOR SALE Toyota Corolla 2009, white color, 77,000 km, Excellent condition, Price KD 3,150/-.

Contact: 66729295.

(C 3800) Underground Gold discovery device. New type, works by direct photography at a

Ready to transport employees for all areas and all times. Payment in advance.

66678633 27-12-2011

CHANGE OF NAME I, Mohamad Quaid s/o Baquar Contractor, holder of Indian Passport No. Z1479667 change my name to Mohamad Quaid Baquar Contractor for all purposes.

(C 3799) 27-12-2011

SITUATION WANTED Young girl, Physiotherapy B.P.T; (India) M.Sc (UK) degree is looking for job.

Currently residing in Kuwait with 2 years Dependent Visa. Please call: 66330570.

(C 3797) 26-12-2011

TUITION

Mathematics teacher, Intermediate and secondar y 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 Senior Biology teacher for secondary stage. Biology for University students and foreign schools, sciences of

intermediate stage and 10th grade physics.

A Syrian Arabic language teacher. Masters in methods of teaching and follow up of 10th grade and 11th grade students. 97934291 A Syrian Arabic Language teacher. Masters, for secondary, intermediate, religious institution, universities, and establishment of the elementary stage using the Aleppo method “the alphabet then the word”.

50513599 Islamic education teacher for elementary and intermediate stages.

Experienced in Kuwait curricula. Easy explanation, and summary of the subject, training for exams.

66292985 Syrian Arabic language teacher for elementary and intermediate stages.

Experienced in following learning difficulties, and those weak in reading and writing. 97264100 Female senior Mathematics teacher with more that 30 years experience in Kuwait, to teach secondary, intermediate and elementary stages. Religious and applied, communications and navigation institutions, special courses and secretariat institution. 97926737

34

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2011

stars CROSSWORD 542

STAR TRACK

CALVIN & HOBBES

Aries (March 21-April 19) You appreciate what is aboveboard and straightforward and have a particular distaste for anything that is secretive. You may be a bit stressed to complete and clear away some work this morning but as the day progresses you are able to relax and see that much is accomplished. Before you leave your work you take a great opportunity to talk to someone in the workplace that may seem to have some misunderstandings or problems with your work ideas. This is a great time to clear the air of any problems. You enjoy comfort and you enjoy keeping a clean home—do allow yourself room to mess up a little now and then. You are coming into a more creative and competitive phase in your life and will enjoy spending time with a fun craft project.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) You should be feeling very good about yourself and enjoying your particular situation, as well as support from those around you. If you are at work today, this is the time you may find you and your work mates praising one another. It’s a good time for surrounding yourself with friends and young people and for having a good time after work. In fact, your friends may have some good use for some of your talents, or it could be that circumstances force you to reorganize and be more frugal. None of this should be earthshaking and should all work out to your benefit. Your more restrained qualities are to the forefront and should be of great help to you now. Group meetings, gatherings, debates, etc., should go smoothly this evening.

POOCH CAFE ACROSS 1. An onerous or difficult concern.

5. In such a manner as could not be otherwise.

10. How long something has existed.

13. (the feminine of raja) A Hindu princess or the wife of a raja.

14. An indehiscent fruit derived from a single ovary having one or many seeds within a fleshy wall or pericarp.

15. Duplicator that transmits the copy by wire or radio.

16. Draw back, as with fear.

18. God of wealth and love.

19. Jordan's port.

20. English monk and scholar (672-735).

22. The most common computer memory which can be used by programs to perform necessary tasks while the computer is on.

23. The basic unit of money in Western Samoa.

25. A member of the Siouan people formerly living in the Missouri river valley in NE Nebraska.

27. A radioactive element of the actinide series.

29. A metric unit of volume or capacity equal to 10 liters.

30. The blood group whose red cells carry both the A and B antigens.

33. Resinlike substance secreted by certain lac insects.

34. A very poisonous metallic element that has three allotropic forms.

36. Filled with the emotional impact of overwhelming surprise or shock.

39. A small pellet fired from an air rifle or BB gun.

42. An informal term for a father.

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

46. Mild yellow Dutch cheese made in balls.

48. A condition (mostly in boys) characterized by behavioral and learning disorders.

49. At full speed.

51. Any of several plants of the genus Manihot having fleshy roots yielding a nutritious starch.

53. A state in southeastern India on the Bay of Bengal (south of Andhra Pradesh).

55. (chemistry) P(otential of) H(ydrogen).

58. Any of various strong liquors distilled from the fermented sap of toddy palms or from fermented molasses.

59. Used of physical heat.

61. Small genus of Eurasian aquatic perennial herbs.

63. An angular shape characterized by sharp turns in alternating directions.

66. Having sections or patches colored differently and usually brightly.

67. The 7th letter of the Greek alphabet.

68. A genus of Ploceidae.

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

DOWN 1. Predatory black-and-white toothed whale with large dorsal fin.

2. (British) An informer or spy working for the police.

3. A member of the Uniat Church.

4. In the Arabian Nights a hero who tells of the fantastic adventures he had in his voyages.

5. The compass point that is one point east (clockwise) of due north.

6. (Akkadian) God of wisdom.

7. Generic term for inflammatory conditions of the skin.

8. The district occupied entirely by the city of Washington.

9. A region of Malaysia in northeastern Borneo.

10. (old-fashioned) At or from or to a great distance.

11. Mentally or physically infirm with age.

12. A set of questions or exercises evaluating skill or knowledge.

17. Offering fun and gaiety.

21. A Chadic language spoken south of Lake Chad.

24. A flat wing-shaped process or winglike part of an organism.

26. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey).

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

31. English writer and a central member of the Fabian Society (1858-1943).

32. (Babylonian) God of storms and wind.

35. A detailed description of design criteria for a piece of work.

37. Designer drug designed to have the effects of amphetamines (it floods the brain with serotonin) but to avoid the drug laws.

38. The battle in 202 BC in which Scipio decisively defeated Hannibal at the end of the second Punic War. 40. A smile expressing smugness or scorn instead of pleasure.

41. The template for protein synthesis.

43. Changed in order to improve or made more fit for a particular purpose.

44. The district occupied entirely by the city of Washington.

45. A member of an agricultural people of southern India.

47. The residue that remains when something is burned.

50. French revolutionary leader (born in Switzerland) who was a leader in overthrowing the Girondists and was stabbed to death in his bath by Charlotte Corday (1743-1793).

52. A morel whose fertile portion resembles a bell and is attached to the stipe only at the top.

53. A colorless and odorless inert gas.

54. A neutral middle vowel.

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

57. An informal term for a father.

60. An unabridged dictionary constructed on historical principles.

61. Informal terms for a mother.

62. Aromatic bulb used as seasoning.

64. A person forced to flee from home or country.

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

Yesterday’s Solution

Gemini (May 21-June 20) Someone may assist you in figuring out how to proceed with some special plans or decisions regarding your life strategy. Do not doubt the helpfulness that this person is giving you. He or she loves you and has your best interest at heart. It may surprise and please you to find that someone you are close to really understands and is supportive of your rather eccentric behavior. You may find yourself serving to guide someone younger than you in matters of importance this day. He or she realizes just how much you can derive from allowing your creative and intuitive sides to come forth. You may find new solutions or inventions coming very easily. Being sympathetic and understanding to others is important to you now. Listen to a child this evening.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

NON SEQUITUR

You have lots of friends and today is one of those days when the phone keeps ringing. Later, you may be sought after for your advice regarding some important issues. You will be able to take some time out to think though some methods or suggestions that would be helpful to others. Your personality proves invaluable when dealing with people. Perhaps this is in a religious setting and you are in the job of helping people. Nostalgia and domesticity plays a large part in helping you to realize the importance of security and a feeling of having roots. Knowing that you are wanted and needed on a private, personal and intimate level is very satisfying. Your family, home, relatives and real property all play a bigger part in your life now.

Leo (July 23-August 22) You could find appreciation coming from others because of their sympathy and understanding to your needs. They seem to understand just how you feel. It could almost be a mutual admiration society, as you too are aware of others’ needs, in much the same way. It seems easy for you to communicate regarding groups and the public at large. Being recognized in some special way is always nice, and you can expect a small boost of some kind now—either some extra support or recognition from those around you. You may feel very much in touch and in harmony with others as the lines of communication are wide open. All of the support that you need should be there for you now. Early bedtime this evening helps to rebuild your energy level.

ZITS

Virgo (August 23-September 22) You are looking forward to a bright and interesting future.

You may feel that there must be some changes made in your present way of doing things in order to reach that future. Allowing yourself to step away from the chores for a bit to enjoy the day and the people around you pays off big time. This is a period of optimism and emotional stability, making it a good time to evaluate and modify existing relationships as well as your goals.

Also, there may be opportunities to mend any difficulties with loved ones. Take care when discussing emotional things. Forgetting your rule to stay focused, you might find yourself or someone else in a difficult place emotionally. You greatly desire peace and quiet in the family setting.

Libra (September 23-October 22)

MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM

This morning you enjoy a quiet morning. There is a little time to catch up on your personal e-mail and to tend to some unfinished business as well. You may decide to take some time to clean out a few drawers and put your desk or work space in top condition so that when you come back to work after a few days away, you will see all clean and a like new work space. There may be a few things that gain your attention but on the whole, you are feeling quite accomplished. After the work is done, all may gather for some social time. You are an excellent negotiator. You might send out for pizza and have a rap session in the board room. Learn how people feel about certain programs or guidelines and ask for ways to improve the workplace.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) Someone may disagree with you profusely concerning matters of convention. Some sort of temporary obstacle could appear. This could frustrate you. One of the heartening things about these kinds of cycles is that they don’t last too long. Keep your faith—and this too shall pass quickly. You may have a lot of fun this afternoon—there is a process of storytelling—perhaps in writing for children’s books. They will be a great success if you decide to publish them! You truly desire fun and should not hesitate to get to know new people and form new acquaintances. The exchange of ideas becomes a focal point in your life now. Learning, knowing a little about a lot of things satisfies a need for mental stimulation. Your talents are recognized.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21)

You should find no problem in communicating with regar You may find yourself very bold, possibly even a little bit headstrong and impatient and could even go where angels fear to tread.

This is a time when you might just sit down and update your personal employee folder. Place a record of your successes and your ability to rise from any difficulties in that folder. Make notes on your unused talents and what you really enjoy most from your work. Also, create a goals list by month. You will be very pleased with the results by the end of next year. The old tried-and-true has begun to bore you; therefore, you will be seeking out new adventures; new and fun travel experiences. Being able to understand those around you could have you enjoying a special time with someone you love this evening.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19)

To

Your confidence is high and you should be able to accomplish much during this time. This afternoon is the perfect time to do those things that you previously put off, whether from fear of failure or lack of motivation.

You welcome the new people that come into your life. Having and appreciating things of beauty and value play a bigger role in your life now. Shopping after work, you are quite pleased at the purchases. Provided you don’t spend it all on the fancy things that catch your eye, this can be a financially favorable period. You will find interaction with a loved one both stimulating and delightful. There are great opportunities to spend quality time with your loved ones and family this evening. A new animal or bird comes into your life this evening.

Yesterday’s Solution Yester

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) Others are appreciative of your great understanding and sensitivity to their needs and feelings. You are in a good place emotionally to communicate in relation to groups and society, as well. Working with youth groups or with people that have sincere needs to heal will be most beneficial to you at this time. Teaching others how to relax, how to be focused on more than one person is a difficult but most important goal. This may be a church group or a 12-step group or even a group in the workplace that is under continuous pressure. A fun and fast game of scrabble, trivia or some board game fills your evening. Later tonight you and a friend or loved one will calculate methods of increasing the budget; good luck.

Pisces (February 19-March 20)

Word Sleuth Solution

There may be a tiny lazy streak that would like to surface today. This could cause you to ignore your responsibilities and do some socializing. However, reality has a way of rearing its head and you find you can simplify and complete tasks in no time at all. There could be a sense of accomplishment that you had not even considered. Whatever you decide to do to busy yourself this afternoon, you will feel great support from others. This could be reorganizing a room or reading a book. There is optimism, faith and a tendency to take chances at the deepest emotional levels; a hot air balloon ride is possible.

This is a time of exploring your feelings, a kind of restlessness for new emotional experience . . . divine wanderlust, if you will.

A

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2011

Years

i n f o r m at i o n

FIRE BRIGADE

112

Al-Madena

22418714

Al-Shohada’a

22545171

Al-Shuwaikh

24810598

Al-Nuzha

22545171

Sabhan

24742838

Al-Helaly

22434853

Al-Fayhaa

22545051

Al-Farwaniya

24711433

Al-Sulaibikhat

24316983

Al-Fahaheel

23927002

Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh

24316983

Ahmadi

23980088

Al-Mangaf

23711183

Al-Shuaiba

23262845

24812000

Al-Jahra

25610011

Amiri Hospital

22450005

Al-Salmiya

25616368

Maternity Hospital

24843100

Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital

25312700

Chest Hospital

24849400

Farwaniya Hospital

24892010

Adan Hospital

23940620

Ibn Sina Hospital

24840300

Al-Razi Hospital

24846000

Physiotherapy Hospital

24874330/9

Ministry of Interior website: www.moi.gov.kw For labor-related inquiries and complaints: Call MSAL hotline 128

Hospitals Sabah Hospital

POLICE STATION Al-Madena Police Station Al-Murqab Police Station Al-Daiya Police Station Al-Fayha’a Police Station Al-Qadissiya Police Station Al-Nugra Police Station Al-Salmiya Police Station Al-Dasma Police Station

Clinics Rabiya

4732263

Roudha

22517733

Adhaliya

22517144

Khaldiya

24848075

Keifan

24849807

Shamiya

24848913

Shuwaikh

24814507

Abdullah Salim

22549134

Al-Nuzha

22526804

Industrial Shuwaikh

24814764

Al-Khadissiya

22515088

Dasmah

22532265

Bneid Al-Ghar

22531908

Al-Shaab

22518752

Al-Kibla

22459381

Ayoun Al-Kibla

22451082

Al-Mirqab

22456536

Sharq

22465401

Salmiya

25746401

Jabriya

25316254

Maidan Hawally

25623444

Bayan

25388462

Mishref

25381200

W.Hawally

22630786

Sabah

24810221

Jahra

24770319

New Jahra

24575755

West Jahra

24772608

South Jahra

24775066

North Jahra

24775992

North Jleeb

24311795

Al-Ardhiya

24884079

Firdous

24892674

Al-Omariya

24719048

N.Kheitan

24710044

Fintas

3900322

22434064 22435865 22544200 22547133 22515277 22616662 25714406 22530801

THE PUBLIC AUTHORITY FOR CIVIL INFORMATION Automated enquiry about the Civil ID card is 1889988

PHARMACIES

AIRLINES

ON 24 HRS DUTY GOVERNORATE

PHARMACY

ADDRESS

PHONE

Ahmadi

Sama Safwan Abu Halaifa Danat Al-Sultan

Fahaeel Makka St Abu Halaifa-Coastal Rd Mahboula Block 1, Coastal Rd

23915883 23715414 23726558

Jahra

Modern Jahra Madina Munawara

Jahra-Block 3 Lot 1 Jahra-Block 92

24575518 24566622

Capital

Ahlam Khaldiya Coop

Fahad Al-Salem St Khaldiya Coop

22436184 24833967

Farwaniya

New Shifa Ferdous Coop Modern Safwan

Farwaniya Block 40 Ferdous Coop Old Kheitan Block 11

24734000 24881201 24726638

Hawally

Tariq Hana Ikhlas Hawally & Rawdha Ghadeer Kindy Ibn Al-Nafis Mishrif Coop Salwa Coop

Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St Salmiya-Amman St Hawally-Beirut St Hawally & Rawdha Coop Jabriya-Block 1A Jabriya-Block 3B Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St Mishrif Coop Salwa Coop

25726265 25647075 22625999 22564549 25340559 25326554 25721264 25380581 25628241

Kuwait Airways Jazeera Airways Jet Airways FlyDubai Qatar Airways KLM Air Slovakia Olympic Airways Royal Jordanian Reservation British Airways Air France Emirates Air India Sri Lanka Airlines Egypt Air Swiss Air Saudia Middle East Airlines Lufthansa PIA Alitalia Balkan Airlines Bangladesh Airlines Czech Airlines Indian Airlines Oman Air Turkish Airlines Aeroflot

171 177 22924455 22414400 22423888 22425747 22434940 22420002/9 22418064/5/6 22433388 22425635 22430224 22921555 22438184 22424444 22421578 22421516 22426306 22423073 22422493 22421044 22414427 22416474 22452977/8 22417901/ 2433141 22456700 22958787 22453820/1 22404838/9

PRIVATE CLINICS Ophthalmologists Dr. Abidallah Al-Mansoor 25622444 Dr. Samy Al-Rabeea 25752222 Dr. Masoma Habeeb 25321171 Dr. Mubarak Al-Ajmy 25739999 Dr. Mohsen Abel 25757700 Dr Adnan Hasan Alwayl 25732223 Dr. Abdallah Al-Baghly 25732223 Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT) Dr. Ahmed Fouad Mouner 24555050 Ext 510 Dr. Abdallah Al-Ali 25644660 Dr. Abd Al-Hameed Al-Taweel 25646478 Dr. Sanad Al-Fathalah 25311996 Dr. Mohammad Al-Daaory 25731988 Dr. Ismail Al-Fodary 22620166 Dr. Mahmoud Al-Booz 25651426 General Practitioners Dr. Mohamme Y Majidi 24555050 Ext 123 Dr. Yousef Al-Omar 24719312 Dr. Tarek Al-Mikhazeem 23926920 Dr. Kathem Maarafi 25730465 Dr. Abdallah Ahmad Eyadah 25655528 Dr. Nabeel Al-Ayoobi 24577781 Dr. Dina Abidallah Al-Refae 25333501 Urologists Dr. Ali Naser Al-Serfy 22641534 Dr. Fawzi Taher Abul 22639955 Dr. Khaleel Abidallah Al-Awadi 22616660 Dr. Adel Al-Hunayan FRCS (C) 25313120 Dr. Leons Joseph 66703427 Psychologists /Psychotherapists

Paediatricians

Plastic Surgeons Dr. Mohammad Al-Khalaf

22547272

Dr. Khaled Hamadi

Dr. Abdal-Redha Lari

22617700

Dr. Abd Al-Aziz Al-Rashed

Dr. Abdel Quttainah

25625030/60

Family Doctor Dr Divya Damodar

23729596/23729581

Psychiatrists Dr. Esam Al-Ansari

22635047

Dr Eisa M. Al-Balhan

22613623/0

Gynaecologists & Obstetricians DrAdrian arbe

23729596/23729581

Dr. Verginia s.Marin

2572-6666 ext 8321

Endocrinologist

25665898 25340300

Dr. Zahra Qabazard

25710444

Dr. Sohail Qamar

22621099

Dr. Snaa Maaroof

25713514

Dr. Pradip Gujare

23713100

Dr. Zacharias Mathew

24334282

(1) Ear, Nose and Throat (2) Plastic Surgeon Dr. Abdul Mohsin Jafar, FRCS (Canada)

25655535

Dentists

Dr. Fozeya Ali Al-Qatan

22655539

Dr. Majeda Khalefa Aliytami

25343406

Dr. Shamah Al-Matar

22641071/2

Dr. Ahmad Al-Khooly

25739272

Dr. Anesah Al-Rasheed

22562226

22618787

Dr. Abidallah Al-Amer

22561444

Dr. Faysal Al-Fozan

22619557

Dr. Abdallateef Al-Katrash

22525888

Dr. Abidallah Al-Duweisan

25653755

Dr. Bader Al-Ansari

25620111

General Surgeons Dr. Amer Zawaz Al-Amer

22610044

Dr. Mohammad Yousef Basher

25327148

Internists, Chest & Heart Dr. Adnan Ebil Dr. Mousa Khadada Dr. Latefa Al-Duweisan

22666300 25728004

Dr. Nadem Al-Ghabra

25355515

Dr. Mobarak Aldoub

24726446

Dr Nasser Behbehani

25654300/3

Soor Center Tel: 2290-1677 Fax: 2290 1688

info@soorcenter.com www.soorcenter.com

3729596/3729581

Neurologists

22639939

Dr. Abd Al-Naser Al-Othman

Dr. Sohal Najem Al-Shemeri

25633324

Dr. Jasem Mola Hassan

25345875

Gastrologists Dr. Sami Aman

22636464

Dr. Mohammad Al-Shamaly

25322030

Dr. Foad Abidallah Al-Ali

22633135

Dr. Naif Al-Mutawa, Ph.D. 2290-1677 Susannah-Joy Schuilenberg, M.A. 2290-1677

25339330

Dr. Ahmad Al-Ansari 25658888 Dr. Kamal Al-Shomr 25329924 Physiotherapists & VD Dr. Deyaa Shehab

25722291

Dr. Musaed Faraj Khamees

22666288

Rheumatologists: Dr. Adel Al-Awadi

Dr Anil Thomas

Dr. Salem soso

INTERNATIONAL CALLS

25330060

Dr. Khaled Al-Jarallah

25722290

Internist, Chest & Heart DR.Mohammes Akkad

24555050 Ext 210

Dr. Mohammad Zubaid MB, ChB, FRCPC, PACC Assistant Professor Of Medicine Head, Division of Cardiology Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital Consultant Cardiologist Dr. Farida Al-Habib MD, PH.D, FACC Inaya German Medical Center Te: 2575077 Fax: 25723123

2611555-2622555

William Schuilenberg, RPC 2290-1677 Zaina Al Zabin, M.Sc. 2290-1677

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0093 00355 00213 00376 00244 001264 001268 0054 00374 0061 0043 001242 00973 00880 001246 00375 0032 00501 00229 001441 00975 00591 00387 00267 0055 00673 00359 00226 00257 00855 00237 001 00238 001345

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2011

lifestyle G O S S I P

Cox worries about Coco acting ourteney Cox isn’t happy her daughter is showing signs of acting ambition. The ‘Friends’ actress has seven-year-old Coco with estranged husband David Arquette and says the youngster is already showing signs of following in their footsteps, which she is allowing her to do, even though she isn’t totally “nuts” about the idea. She said: “She does great accents. The other day she called up David and left a message pretending to be Kym Johnson, who was his dancing partner on ‘Dancing With the Stars’ and is from Australia. She said, ‘Allo Dye-vid, it’s Kym’. I can’t do accents myself but she does them really well. “She does like to perform. For Halloween, she dressed up as a dark angel in an outfit with black wings. I’m not nuts about that, but you’ve got to let her do her thing, right?” Courteney can see influences of both herself and David - who met on the set of horror movie ‘Scream’ - in their daughter’s personality.

She explained: “I see both of us in her. She’s very strong, feisty and independent, and she’s also creative and sensitive. She’s quite quirky and fun.”

C

Legend engaged to model Teigen ohn Legend will no longer be a bachelor: He’s engaged. The singer’s publicist said Tuesday that Legend proposed to his girlfriend, model Chrissy Teigen, recently in the Maldives. No more details are being provided.

J

Legend has won nine Grammys and released four albums. Teigen was named “rookie of the year” in the Sports Illustrated’s annual swimsuit issue last year. She also has a food blog. Legend turned 33 yesterday.

Tyler

‘Survivor’ producer to face trial for wife’s murder

set for third marriage

eality TV producer Bruce Beresford-Redman is willing to face trial in Mexico for the murder of his wife after losing his fight against extradition, his lawyers said Tuesday.

Beresford-Redman, 40, an Emmy-nominated former producer of CBS’s “Survivor” and MTV’s “Pimp My Ride,” is accused in the death of Monica Burgos, 41, his Brazilian-born wife of 11 years, at a Cancun resort in April 2010. In a statement, his lawyers Richard Hirsch and Vicki Podberesky expressed disappointment with last week’s decision by a US District Court judge to

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approve a Mexican request for his extradition. They added: “After consultation with him, Bruce has decided not to appeal the decision and to return to Mexico and defend himself on the charges.” “He is innocent and it is his hope that the court in Mexico will assure that he receives a fair trial in which, he is confident, he will be exonerated.” Burgos was found naked and dead in a sewer at the Cancun resort where Beresford-Redman had reported her missing three days earlier during a holiday with their two children.

Kutcher to spend next NYE in Australia

Gomez thanks fans for support

elena Gomez has thanked fans for their support following her mother’s miscarriage. The 19-year-old singerand-actress pulled out of two concert appearances earlier this month when her mother Mandy Teefey lost the baby she was expecting and has now spoken publicly about the tragedy in a Christmas message to her followers. She wrote on her Facebook page: “Belated Merry Christmas everybody... I can’t thank you enough for all of your thoughts and prayers. We appreciate every one of you... I love you all so much and we hope you and your family had a beautiful Christmas!” In her posting, Selena - who is dating Justin Bieber - revealed the baby was a girl who her mother and stepfather Brian had named Scarlett. Signing off the message, she wrote: “Me, Momma, Brian and our guardian angel Scarlett.” Last month, the ‘Wizards of Waverley Place’ actress had spoken of her excitement at becoming a “big sister”. She tweeted: “Momma and Brian are finally letting me share the news... My mommys carrying my baby brother or sister :) I’m the happiest girl in the world! (sic)” Mandy, a former actress, was married to Selena’s father Ricardo Joel Gomez until the Disney star was five years old. She went on to tie the knot with Brian in 2006.

S

teven Tyler is reportedly set to marry for a third time.

The Aerosmith singer’s long-term partner Erin Brady has been spotted wearing an engagement ring, speaking speculation Steven proposed over the Christmas break. The 63-year-old musician has been wed twice before, to model Cyrinda Foxe from 1978 to 1987, and clothes designer Teresa Barrick from 1988 until 2006.

Steven started dating Erin shortly after his second divorce.

The ‘American Idol’ judge recently told how he was “ashamed” of his womanizing past, and that he had been issued a wake up call by Erin after she had seen how “badly” he could behave. He said: “There was some behavior I am ashamed of and I shouldn’t have done, I don’t want to hurt anybody again. For all the divorces I’ve had, I hurt those girls deeply. There was some behavior that I’m ashamed of and I shouldn’t have done.” Steven has four children, 34-year-old Liv Tyler - from a short relationship with model Bebe Buell - Mia, 33, from his marriage to Cyrinda, and daughter Chelsea, 22, and 21-year-old son Taj with Teresa.

S

shton Kutcher wants to spend next New Year’s Eve in Australia. The ‘Two and a Half Men’ actor - who split from wife Demi Moore earlier this year- usually spends the last day of every year in New York but is planning a change as he wants to experience the turning of the year before anyone else. He said: “The best place to go is New York. This city is always electric and they do things bigger and better than everywhere else. But next year I want to go to Sydney because they get New Year’s Day first.”

Ashton always makes new year’s resolutions but doesn’t want to divulge them as they are part of an annual ritual he has with his family. He said: “In our family, we have dinner and each take turns to say our resolution out loud. Mine’s private, but let’s say my goal is to get better.”

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West is moving to the UK T

he rap star has obtained a property in London and has decided to make the move from the US in a bid to make a success of his new fashion label DW. The ‘Otis’ rapper believes if he is based in the British capital he will be able to improve his reputation as a designer and was overheard telling guests at a party for the label held at The Embassy nightclub before Christmas that he is going to be spending most of his time in England in the New Year. A source told The Sun newspaper: “He went home for the holidays but was proclaiming that he is now based in the capital and would return in early January. “He’s close to the lecturers and students at the Central Saint Martins College (of Art and Design) and being in London means he can stop by for advice any time. “He’ll be over here preparing his Paris Fashion Week show, due in March. He’s also been looking for a studio. “While at the party Kanye was giving models his email address.” The 34-year-old hip-hop star was raised in Chicago and moved to Los Angeles after achieving major chart success with his music. Kanye launched his clothing line in October and named it after his late mother Donda - who passed away in November 2007 following complications from cosmetic surgery.

Stefani says sewing ‘runs in the family’

he No Doubt singer has launched two successful clothing lines - L.A.M.B. and Harajuku Lovers - and admits it was inevitable she would go into fashion because all her family have shown talent for it. She said: “I can sew - it run in the family.

My grandma made my mom’s prom dress - mom didn’t have a choice! And mom would take us to the fabric store and we’d pick out Vogue and McCall’s patterns. When I got older, I was very anti-fashion. I was into thrift stores and making my own stuff. I had my own sewing machine, glue guns and projects everywhere. My room was a danger zone.” Gwen says she’s involved in every part of her fashion lines and has so many ideas about her designs. She said: “Fashion’s not as draining as music but it is much more greedy - there are endless ideas and dreams about what you want to wear. And then you’ve got to make that happen. But I enjoy all parts of the creative process - making the cookies and eating the dough.”

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2011

lifestyle M u s i c

Florida animal sanctuary says Cheetah the chimpanzee sidekick in the Tarzan movies of the early 1930s has died at age 80. The Suncoast Primate Sanctuary in Palm Harbor announced that Cheetah died Dec. 24 of kidney failure.

Sanctuary outreach director Debbie Cobb yesterday told The Tampa Tribune (http://bit.ly/rRuTeJ ) that Cheetah was outgoing,

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loved finger painting and liked to see people laugh. She says he seemed to be tuned into human feelings. Based on the works of author Edgar Rice Burroughs, the Tarzan stories, which have spawned scores of books and films over the years, chronicle the adventures of a man who was raised by apes in Africa.

Cheetah was the comic relief in the Tarzan films that starred American Olympic gold medal

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M o v i e s

swimmer Johnny Weissmuller. Cobb says Cheetah came to the sanctuary from Weissmuller’s estate sometime around 1960.

Cobb says Cheetah wasn’t a troublemaker. Still, sanctuary volunteer Ron Priest says that when the chimp didn’t like what was going on, he would throw feces. — AP

orrest Gump’s oft-imitated line, “My momma always said, ‘Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get’ “ will be immortalized among the nation’s treasures in the world’s largest archive of film, T V and sound recordings. The Library of Congress on Wednesday announced that 1994’s smash hit “Forrest Gump” starring Tom Hanks was one of 25 films chosen to be included this year in the National Film Registry. The oldest reels are silent films both from 1912. “The Cry of the Children” is about the pre-World War I child labor reform movement and “A Cure for Pokeritis” features the industry’s earliest comic superstar John Bunny.

Also from that silent era is Charlie Chaplin’s first full-length feature, “The Kid,” from 1921. Under the terms of the National Film Preservation Act, each year the Librarian of Congress names 25 films that are “culturally, historically or aesthetically” significant. This year, 2,228 films were nominated. “These films are selected because of their enduring significance to American culture,” Librarian of Congress James H Billington said in a statement. “Our film heritage must be protected because these cinematic treasures document our history and culture and reflect our hopes and dreams.”

For each title, the Library of Congress Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation works to ensure that the film is preserved for future generations. That comes either by the Library’s massive motion-picture preservation program or through collaborating with other archives, motion-picture studios and independent filmmakers. The most recent film chosen is “Forrest Gump,” which won six Academy Awards including for Best Picture. Also starring in that movie about an everyman who ended up being part of the most iconic events of the 1960s and 1970s was Sally Field. Her perhaps most famous role playing “Norma Rae” in the movie of the same name from 1979 also made the list. She won an Academy Award for her portrayal of a poorly educated single mother who fought successfully to make her Southern textile mill a union shop.

Making the list is the animated Disney classic, “Bambi,” made in 1942 about a deer’s life in the forest, “The Big Heat” from 1953, a post-war noir film, and 1991’s disturbing, “The Silence of the Lambs,” which won Oscars for stars Jody Foster and Sir Anthony Hopkins. Hopkins plays cannibalistic serial killer Hannibal Lecter in the psychological and violent thriller. The original “War of the Worlds” from 1953 also will be preserved along with “Porgy and Bess,” “Stand and Deliver” and John Ford’s epic Western, “The Iron Horse,” from 1924. Lesser known films were chosen for their significance to the art. “A Computer Animated Hand” from 1972 is by Pixar Animation Studios co-founder Ed Catmull. The oneminute film that is one of the earliest examples of 3D computer animation displays the hand turning, opening and closing, pointing at the viewer and flexing its fingers.

Making the list were notable documentaries as well. “Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment,” focuses on Gov. George Wallace’s attempt to prevent two African-American students from enrolling in the University of Alabama and the response of President John F. Kennedy.

“Growing Up Female” from 1971 was one of the first films to come from the women’s liberation movement. Also included was “The Negro Soldier,” produced by Frank

F

(From left) ) “Players” film director duo Abbas-Mustan , Bollywood personalities Neil Nitin Mukesh, Sonam Kapoor, Abhishek Bachchan and Bipasha Basu pose during a promotional event in Ahmedabad yesterday. Bollywood personalities were in the city to promote their forthcoming film “Players” which is scheduled to be released on January 6, 2012. — AFP

A Minute With

Renner on his ‘Mission: Impossible’ ctor Jeremy Renner scuffed around Hollywood for a decade before his career took off in 2009 when he was nominated for an Oscar in his starring role in the bomb-disposal war drama “The Hurt Locker.” Renner didn’t win the award, although the film earned the best movie Oscar. He followed “Hurt Locker” with another Oscar-nominated role in “The Town” and did a cameo in this year’s blockbuster “Thor.” Now he’s starring opposite Tom Cruise in “Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol,” the “MI” franchise’s fourth film that is No. 1 at box offices over the holidays. Renner, 40, spoke to Reuters about how he landed the role, working with Cruise, and rumors he may take over the franchise when Cruise, nine years his senior, tires of it.

A

Q: Is it true you went in to discuss a possible role in “Super 8” when you were offered “MI4” instead?

A: “It’s true. I was discussing ‘Super 8’ with JJ Abrams, who directed that and produced (“MI4”), and that was a very secretive project too, and within a few hours I’d met Tom Cruise and (“MI4” director) Brad Bird. I went in for one movie and came out with another!”

Jeremy Renner

Q: Next year you do take over the “Bourne” franchise, though.

A: “Yeah, but I’m not playing Jason Bourne and taking over from Matt Damon. It’s called “Bourne Legacy,” and it’s a sort of continuation of the story, but not based on a book like the others. I’m loving doing it, though it’s very different from Mission. It feels very small and contained by comparison. It’s actionheavy but not stunt-heavy with big spectacle stunts. It’s more hands-on and gritty.”

Q: Your career is red hot. Ever been down and out?

A: “Of course! Most of my career’s been down, not up.”

Q: What was your lowest point?

A: “There’s loads of those. I had stretches where I couldn’t afford the electric bill, but I was still alive and kicking-and still smiling. That’s the most important thing. Even in my darkest hour, I was still happy doing what I do. I never considered ever giving up. Not once.”

Q: Does that happen a lot?

A: “Not to me. It’s very strange. I called people and said, ‘You won’t believe what just happened.’ It was crazy and I was shocked to suddenly be in ‘MI4.’ But it was so easy, sitting down with Tom and Brad. It’s this fantastic fun franchise ... And there was no script then. They just pitched me the whole story, where my character was at, and it all made sense. It was very easy to say, ‘Yes.’” Q: You play the uptight analyst. Is there much of you in him?

A: “I can get very nervous about stuff, and I have to do something to relieve that nervousnessit’s not something disgusting or pornographic-and Tom thought it was pretty funny and he put it in the movie. My character is complicated, and I really liked that. He starts off as this very buttoned-up desk-jockey type, and then things happen and there’s more than meets the eye to him, which is always interesting.”

Q: Any surprises working with Cruise?

A: “Just how dedicated he is. I think he has 48 hours in a day, compared to our 24. He gets so much done and is so focused. He has this childlike outlook, where he’s constantly learning and growing all the time. He has this immense amount of energy because he’s so excited about what he’s doing. He loves what he does, and that’s awesome to be around. It’s infectious.”

Q: There’s a rumor that you may take over the franchise.

A: “I heard that. I hear lots of rumors-that I’m sleeping with half of Hollywood-and I’m like, ‘who has the time?’ No, it’s not true about ‘Mission: Impossible.’ There’s no taking over.

It’s not happening.

Q: What do you do when you’re not working on movies?

A: “I’m very active. I love skiing, building houses, and music’s still a big part of my life. I used to have a garage band, and now I love writing songs. It’s a great outlet as it only needs me. I don’t need scripts or a whole film crew. It can happen instantaneously.”—Reuters

A file photo shows Johnny Weissmuller, right, as Tarzan, Maureen O’Sullivan as Jane, and Cheetah the chimpanzee, in a scene from the 1932 movie Tarzan the Ape Man. — AP

Capra. It showed the heroism of blacks in the nation’s wars and became mandatory viewing for all soldiers from spring 1944 until World War II’s end. — AP

A view that shows some of the architecture in the Library of Congress Great Hall in The Thomas Jefferson Building in Washington, July 10, 2010. — AP

List of 25 films chosen for National Registry “Allures” (1961) “Bambi” (1942) “The Big Heat” (1953) “A Computer Animated Hand” (1972) “Crisis: Behind A Presidential Commitment” (1963) “The Cry of the Children” (1912) “A Cure for Pokeritis” (1912) “El Mariachi” (1992) “Faces” (1968) “Fake Fruit Factory” (1986) “Forrest Gump” (1994) “Growing Up Female” (1971) “Hester Street” (1975) “I, an Actress” (1977) “The Iron Horse” (1924) “The Kid” (1921) “The Lost Weekend” (1945) “The Negro Soldier” (1944) “Nicholas Brothers Family Home Movies” (1930s-40s) “Norma Rae” (1979) “Porgy and Bess” (1959) “The Silence of the Lambs” (1991) “Stand and Deliver” (1988) “Twentieth Century” (1934) “War of the Worlds” (1953) —AP

usic fans may remember 2011 mainly as the year Amy Winehouse died, but the last 12 months have seen several other divas dominate the international music press for happier reasons. Veteran British songwriter PJ Harvey, soul singer Adele and American newcomer Lana del Rey all produced songs or albums that won wide critical praise. Perhaps the most notable of these was Harvey’s “Let England Shake,” which provided a fitting soundtrack for a year that saw Britain’s worst riots in decades.

According to the website Metacritic.com, which monitors reviews across 80 English-language publications, Harvey’s eighth studio album was the year’s best. It took Harvey, one of indie rock’s most enduring and distinctive female voices, three years to research and record “Let England Shake.” Filled with political references, anti-war sentiment and influenced by her discussions with Afghan women and other sources, the album provided critics-especially those in Britain-with plenty to talk about, and Harvey’s record won this year’s Mercury

M

Prize for best British album.

“England did indeed shake this year to the sound of riots, protests and distant wars,” The Guardian wrote. “No wonder, then, that PJ Harvey’s raw yet meticulously researched record hit a nerve.” Critics across the pond also feted Harvey, though the hugely influential indie and alternative music site Pitchfork.com placed her album fourth in a list of the year’s best. Top place went to the self-titled album by American progressive folk group Bon Iver.

Adele, the 23-year soul powerhouse from London, released her second album “21” to high praise from fans and critics alike.

Billboard, Rolling Stone and Time all voted “21” the year’s best album, which already has sold more than 12 million copies. Adele was forced to cancel several performances after undergoing vocal cord surgery from which she is expected to make a full recovery. 2011 was also a memorable year for rookie songstress Lana del Rey. —AFP Singer Koolant of The Wailers performs at BB King Blues Club & Grill on December 27, 2011 in New York City. — AFP

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2011

lifestyle T R A V E L

Throw a fabulous budget-friendly party on

New Year’s Eve L

ike many others this New Year’s Eve, I won’t be celebrating the size of my bonus or my bank balance. But that doesn’t mean I won’t be celebrating at all.

To ring in the New Year in a fiscally responsible way, I’m inviting my friends to put on their best outfits from TJ Maxx and join me for an elegant but inexpensive cocktail party.

Instead of shopping for caviar at pricey specialty stores, I’ll use staples like canned beans and eggs from the supermarket and sopressata from the local deli counter to create my hors d’oeuvres. Shredded copies of old newspapers plucked from the recycling pile will make great confetti.

plan, but a tablespoon or two of truffle-flavored oil can add luxurious flavor to inexpensive appetizers. Try drizzling 2 tablespoons of truffle oil over 2 quarts of salted popcorn (sprinkle { cup of grated Parmesan cheese on as well, if you’d like).

Or drizzle 2 tablespoons of truffle oil over a pizza topped with sauteed button mushrooms and ricotta cheese.

Getting creative with potatoes and beans These cheap dinnertime staples can also be used to make some great appetizers. Spanish-style potato croquetas cost pennies to make and always please.

Cooked garbanzo beans, drained, roasted and tossed with salt and a mixture of spices (I like cumin, coriander and chili powder) are as tasty as salted cashews at a fraction of the price.

Cava cocktails Mix with a splash of cranberry juice, pomegranate juice or fresh lemonade, and you can stretch one bottle to serve eight people.

Lemony white bean dip with peppers and pita chips Look for day-old pita breads, sold at a discount.

6 (6-inch) pita breads, split and cut into 8 wedges each Nonstick cooking spray 2 teaspoons paprika

Sag Harbor cookbook author Lauren Chattman’s recipe for lemony white bean dip with peppers and pita chips is perfect for a New Year’s Eve gathering on a budget.— MCT photos

perature for up to 3 days.

2. Place beans, garlic, parsley, lemon juice, oil and water in work bowl of a food processor and process until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice, as necessary. Scrape the mixture into a small bowl and season with salt.

Refrigerate until ready to serve, up to 1 day.

3. Let bean dip come to room temperature and serve with pita chips and sliced peppers. Makes 2 cups bean dip.

Sopressata chips

Wasabi deviled eggs with salmon roe Salmon roe, available in the refrigerator case near the fish at most supermarkets and fish markets, is a cheap and festive alternative to caviar.

8 large eggs

Here are some of the ingredients and recipes I’m counting on to make my New Year’s Eve party a triumph of economy and good taste: Wasabi deviled eggs with salmon roe.

Cheap cheese Artisanal cheese is all the rage, but at upward of $30 a pound it doesn’t fit my entertaining budget this year. A 1-poundplus wheel of Brie from Costco costs less than 8 bucks. When baked until melty it will be as satisfying as the most expensive imported Vacherin or Camembert. It’s easy: Unwrap a warehouse club Brie and trim the rind away from one end. Return it to the bottom of its box, rind side down, place on a baking sheet, and bake in a 300-degree oven until just melted, about 30 minutes. Let your guests scoop the melted Brie, right from the box, onto slices of baguette.

A taste of luxury Truffles may not be in the spending

Salt 2 (15-ounce) cans white beans, drained and rinsed 2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped 1 cup tightly packed fresh parsley leaves \ cup lemon juice \ cup olive oil 2 tablespoons water 2 red, yellow, and/or orange bell peppers, stemmed, seeded and cut into \-inch-thick strips 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread pita wedges on baking sheets in single layer and spray with nonstick cooking spray.

Sprinkle with paprika and salt and bake until crisp and golden, about 15 minutes.

Cool completely on baking sheets and store in an airtight container at room tem-

Wasabi deviled eggs with salmon roe.

1/3 cup mayonnaise 2 teaspoons wasabi powder 2 scallions, white and light green parts, finely chopped Salt 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons salmon roe 1. Place eggs in a pan in a single layer and cover with 1 inch of water. Bring water to a boil over high heat, cover pan, remove from heat, and let stand 10 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer eggs to a bowl of ice water to chill for 5 minutes.

2. Peel eggs and halve lengthwise.

Scoop yolks into small bowl and mash with fork until smooth. Stir in mayonnaise, wasabi powder and scallions. Season with salt.

3. Spoon yolk mixture back into whites.

(At this point, eggs can be placed on a platter, covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to 1 day). Top each egg with { teaspoon salmon roe just before serving.

Makes 16 pieces.

Sopressata chips Transform spicy deli salami into crispy morsels by baking it briefly.{ pound thinly sliced sopressata.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Arrange sopressata in a single layer on prepared baking sheets. Bake until crispy and a little bit shrunken, 10 to 15 minutes.

2. Drain on paper towels and serve immediately or store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days before serving. Makes 70 to 80 chips. —MCT

American chefs boost fine dining in France P

aris, once regarded as the gastronomical center of the world, is looking to a cadre of young chefs from a country derided for its love of processed cheese - gasp, the United States to help raise the bar. French chefs have been opening fine restaurants stateside for years, but up until about a decade ago, the opposite would have been almost unthinkable. Now, bright young things from New York, Chicago and Seattle are behind some of the City of Light’s most-hyped, hardest-to-getinto establishments.

Chefs such as Spring’s Daniel Rose, or Braden Perkins and Laura Adrian, the pair behind the Hidden Kitchen and the new Verjus, are bringing a fresh energy to Paris’ somewhat rigid fine dining scene and infusing it with American eclecticism.

“Food in France has taken a lot of hits over the years ... and they were pretty slow to acknowledge that it was going downhill,” said pastry chef-turned-writer David Lebovitz, one of a handful of American food bloggers who cover the Paris food scene.

“I think we’re now on the cusp of a real renaissance here” - thanks in part, he said, to this nouvelle crop of American-born or trained restaurateurs. It used to be that French-American culinary exchanges followed the model established by Julia Child in the era when: Americans came to France to study and then went home to impart their wisdom, or simply to cook.

Child attended Paris’ renowned Cordon Bleu culinary school in the 1940s, then returned to the US to educate her compatriots on the art of French cuisine.

The new generation of American chefs here has dispensed with the going home

part. Rose, the 30-something behind Spring - Paris’ hardest-to-come-by table, according to Le Figaro newspaper moved here as a 19-year-old college student primarily, he says, out of laziness. “I wanted to finish university in a place where I thought it would be really easy.

And I thought, ‘the American University of Paris - English is my first language, it’s

try to discover what was essential about a French restaurant. ... And by paring it down to the essence, I was feeding (my clients) French food that they hadn’t seen in a long time,” said Rose in an interview in Spring’s new 28-seat location, near the Louvre Museum. “It was a novelty. I was the American who opened the restaurant that all the French people wanted to

Chef Marc Grossman cooks in his restaurant. not everyone else’s, I probably have a pretty good chance,’” said Rose. He said he went to cooking school for largely the same reason. After a series of apprenticeships with top French chefs, he opened the first incarnation of Spring, a 16-seat restaurant where the centerpiece was an open kitchen where Rose held court as he prepared the food - single-handedly at first.

“Everybody in the world loves a French restaurant and my project was to

open.” Rose has the reputation of being the French-est of Paris’ American chefs, and the menu at Spring is unapologetically Gallic: There’s no Franco-American fusion, none of the catering to special dietary needs that’s become almost de rigueur in the US - just a constantly changing medley of French classics made from top-notch, in-season products.

Taking the opposite tack is Marc Grossman, a New York filmmaker-turnedrestaurateur who has set about

American chef Marc Grossman poses with cookies inside his restaurant Bobís Kitchen, in Paris. —AP photos Americanizing the way the French eat. In the pair serves up food that charts an idethe land of the cote de boeuf, foie gras al course between French sophistication and escargot, Grossman founded two and American heartiness. The wine bar’s vegetarian eateries, Bob’s Juice Bar and menu of amuse-bouches includes butterBob’s Kitchen. “I think people are always milk fried chicken, roasted clams, and looking for something different and in s’mores made with high-end French carnivorous Paris I guess you could say chocolate.

Perkins and Adrian shot to culinary we’re exotic,” said Grossman, whose everchanging menu of smoothies, meat-free fame here in 2007, when they opened the burgers, and grain-packed muffins were Hidden Kitchen, the now-closed supper the stuff of a minor culinary revolution club the pair held twice a week in their when he first opened, in 2006. “From the central Paris pad. Though underground beginning, the response has been enthu- restaurants are not unheard-of elsewhere, siastic, and our customers have been the Hidden Kitchen was a novelty here, and even the French press lavished them unusually regular.”

Seattle natives Perkins and Adrian rep- with praise: Le Figaro’s review called it resent the middle path between Rose’s “quite chic and clearly successful - it’s fully unyielding Frenchness and Grossman’s booked for months.” The Anglo-Saxon healthy California-style offerings. At their influence is often palpable at top restaunew postage stamp-sized wine bar and rants here, even when the chefs themjust-opened upstairs restaurant, Verjus, selves are not Americans. —AP

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2011

lifestyle T R A V E L

An ice sculpture, designed by sculpture artists, rests frozen at the Ice festival in Zwolle.

Spending a night in a

Dutch ice hotel I

Sag Harbor cookbook author Lauren Chattman’s recipe for lemony white bean dip with peppers and pita chips is perfect for a New Year’s Eve gathering on a budget. —MCT photos

View of a room

View of a coat rack inside a room.

View of a room at the first Dutch ice hotel.

t could be any standard hotel room in the quaint northeastern Dutch city of Zwolle, with a bed, a minibar, bathrobes and two pairs of slippers.

Except for the room temperature, which hovers just above freezing. Welcome to the first Dutch ice hotel, all the comforts at eight degrees Celsius (46 degrees Fahrenheit). “If you take a shower before bed, make sure your hair is dry or it will freeze. Do not eat too heavy a meal. Make sure you change clothes before entering the room,” hotel manager Annet van Limburg told first-time visitors.

Laughing a little nervously, Luc van Heijst and Maya Zhang, both 42, listened carefully to her advice, their luggage stuffed with several pairs of pants, sweaters, gloves and hats. “No, I’m not afraid, but I am still a little nervous,” admitted Van Heijst, from Veghel, an hour-and-a-half ’s drive to the south. “We came for the experience,” he told AFP, adding: “I feel like a little boy.” Built for an ice sculptors’ festival in Zwolle and managed by a local hotel, the structure has three rooms and stands in a refrigerated warehouse, where the temperature hovers between six and eight degrees C (42 and 46 degrees F), depending on the number of visitors.

It is the first time in Europe that an ice hotel has opened this far south, Van Limburg said. Indeed, the idea comes from the north. With some 47 rooms for the 2011/12 season, the largest ice hotel is at Jukkasjarvi in northern Sweden’s Lapland. “Unlike Canada and Lapland, the hotel here is not situated in nature,” Van Limburg said pointing out: “There, the guests sleep in minus 20 degrees.” Inside, abstract patterns carved from the ice adorn the metre-thick walls of two of the rooms. A third has a nautical theme, including a giant shell carved into its ice. A thick black curtain serves as a door.

Carved from a solid ice block, like a giant ice cube, the room’s main attraction is a square bed, which lights up in pink, blue and green lights through lamps installed underneath in its ice. It took about 10 days to build the three rooms, where guests can stay from December 3 to January 29. A night for two including breakfast will cost 199 euros ($259). “It’s not dangerous if you’re healthy,” Van Limburg said. But just in case, a room at a real hotel was set aside in case guests change their minds and a free taxi ride there was provided.

The following morning, visitors Van Heijst and Zhang seemed not to have suffered too much from their frosty experience. “I wore three pairs of pants,” Van Heijst laughed, adding “I almost got too hot!”

He added: “It was a nice experience, but it’s definitely for one night only. “And definitely not for a holiday. We won’t go to Lapland, now that’s for sure,” he said.—AFP

Dutch couple Luc and Maya sit on a bed before spending a night at the first Dutch ice hotel in Zwolle.

— AFP photos

Visitors observe the frozen ice sculptures.

View of a room at the first Dutch ice hotel.

37

e niv rsar n

y

A

Cheetah the chimp from 1930s Tarzan flicks dies Years

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2011

Orleans, revisited

Picasso of New

I

n the four-block radius where he painted and drank himself into frightening stupors, Noel Rockmore was known by the denizens of the French Quarter as an outrageous Pablo Picassolike figure who combined the mythological and the real. He produced some 15,000 oil paintings, temperas, collages and sketches over his career and then died in obscurity. His life was that of an American outsider and a throwback to Europe’s great expressionistic and hedonistic masters. In the 1950s, when he was still in his 20s, his paintings hung in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art and the Hirshhorn Museum. He was a bright young American artist who had a taste for Rembrandt and figurative paintings, with the outlook of an American social realist.

Then, the art world changed: Abstract expressionism - typified by the paint throwing of Jackson Pollock - became the rave. Rockmore, who admired draftsmanship in painting, detested it.

Rockmore changed: He left his wife and three children, changed his last name and headed to New Orleans in 1959, where he would eventually get lost to the New York art world. The story of Noel Montgomery Davis (his real name) is getting a long-overdue audience outside New Orleans, a city that is enjoying something of an art renaissance itself six years after Hurricane Katrina. From now until the end of January, his works are on view at the LaGrange Art Museum in Georgia. The retrospective is called “Creative Obscurity: The Genius Noel Rockmore.”

“He was kind of an art hobo,” said Ethyl Ault, interim director of the LaGrange Art Museum. She said Rockmore was an overlooked genius. “Was it politics? Did he offend people? Why was he so popular in New York when he was younger, and then he leaves, changes his name and then goes on into his fairytale land?” The show is based on nearly 1,500 Rockmore art works retrieved from storage units in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. For 25 years, Shirley Marvin, an octogenarian Baton Rouge patron, had been saving Rockmore art works and memorabilia with the intention of making him famous one day.

This picture shows “Preservation Hall”, a 1970 oil painting by Noel Rockmore, who produced some 15,000 oil paintings, temperas, collages and sketches over his career and then died in obscurity.

—AP photos

um or gallery lines up his top 200 exquisite works, people will be as stunned as we are.” Rockmore was born in 1928 in New York to a family of artists.

He was super-talented. A child prodigy, he played the violin well by age 8. After suffering polio at age 10, he turned to painting. He studied briefly at The Juilliard School and had a studio at the Cooper Union. Family friends included Ernest Hemingway, George Gershwin and Thomas Mann.

His 20s were prolific as he painted the bums of the Bowery district, monkeys and elephants in the

This picture shows Noel Rockmore’s 1960 “Skull Still Life.”

But she had forgotten about the collection due to short-term memory loss, her family said. Marvin was one of Rockmore’s most devoted fans. She saw genius in him - like many others in New Orleans. The extraordinary collection was gathering dust when her son, Rich Marvin, took her down to New Orleans in October 2006, a year after Katrina, to get “a few paintings,” as her mother described it. Instead, they found the units packed with remnants of Rockmore’s life.

In the wake of the collection’s discovery, Rich and his wife Tee Marvin have become Rockmore’s biggest impresarios - the agents Rockmore famously refused to have throughout his life as he willfully lived on the edge of the art world. He was notorious among art galleries for his temper and fits of outrage. His friends say he suffered emotional problems for much of his life.

The Marvins - working with Rockmore’s family and art dealers, collectors and museum curators have begun cataloging his works and promoting him. They estimate he produced about 15,000 pieces of art and conservatively 750 to 1,000 of those are masterpieces. “At first we thought my mom was crazy,” Rich Marvin said. “When a muse-

This picture shows Shirley Marvin as painted

by Noel Rockmore in 1965.

Hall. Rockmore was commissioned to paint the old-time musicians. He captured the mood, scent, touch and smoke of New Orleans jazz and its musicians - Punch Miller, Percy Humphrey, Louis Nelson, Sweet Emma and Billie and DeDe Pierce, and scores of others. His output was staggering.

He’d become fixated by a subject - New Orleans’ Carnival traditions, the frenetic Port of New Orleans, the characters of the French Quarter, alien beings, ancient Egypt, voodoo - and mined it artistically.

grocery bags and just about anything else he liked. Sitting in bars, drinking and trying to get women to go to bed with him.

One of Rockmore’s closest friends, Andy Antippas, a former Tulane University poetry professor and art gallery owner, recalled going into Rockmore’s apartment during one of his lithium binges and finding his studio in a state that resembled the home of Charles Manson.

“It was trashed,” said Antippas, who found pages from Playboy magazine littering the floor and feces from his two dogs in the middle of his bed. “He’d obviously been sitting in one place and drinking and painting for hours.”

“Noel was an autodidact of the highest order,” Antippas said. “There was probably no artist more prolific than Noel - except perhaps Picasso.”

Antippas is like many Rockmore fans. He believes he was a genius, a master who ranks among the greatest.

In his home on St. Claude Avenue - cluttered with books, paintings, decorated human skulls, African masks and paintings galore - Antippas stood in front of a large subdued painting hanging on the wall near his desk. He looked at it and said he owned what he believed to be “one of the finest paintings, if not the best, painting in western civilization, a nude portrait of his father. It’s the only such painting ever done.” — AP

This picture shows “Coney Island Labyrinth,” an oil painting dated “‘58”.

This picture shows “Figaro Cafe,” a Greenwich Village coffee shop.

backstage of the Ringling Brothers Circus, and parables of Central Park and Coney Island. He was a social realist, akin to Depression-era American painters such as John Steuart Curry, but these early works contained themes and artistic styles that would stay with him: death, violence, sex, the surreal and the allegorical. In retrospect, it was the ghoulish and morbid in Rockmore that defined him, making him a kind of American Hieronymus Bosch.

In the 1950s, Rockmore became fed up with the wave of abstract expressionists then taking hold of New York - the flat tones and humanless canvasses of Willem De Kooning, Pollock, Mark Rothko and Barnett Newman. During this period he drank heavily and his wife kicked him out because of his wildness, his daughter, Emilie Heller-Rhys said. At age 31, he moved down to New Orleans and began working with Larry Borenstein, an art collector, and Allan Jaffe, a business school graduate and tuba player. In the 1960s, Borenstein employed Rockmore as a kind of resident painter for a new society he’d formed with Jaffe to preserve traditional New Orleans jazz music. The society would become Preservation

This picture shows “Billie and De De Pierce” a 1964 oil painting.

Some of his most cherished and memorable pieces are of the Quarter’s Bohemians, fellow outsiders: Ruthie the Duck Girl; Gypsy Lou; O.M. (standing for “Old Man”); Mike Stark; Johnny White; and Sister Gertrude Morgan.

Yet, his life was pierced by that dark side.

“He was a brilliant artist, and I don’t use those words lightly,” said Stephen Clayton, a New Orleans art collector who did not know Rockmore and does not own any of his works. “He chose to come here, came to the Quarter, climbed in a bottle and never got out.”

From his morning vodka, Rockmore kept going all day, muscling his way through sketches, wallsized oils, nudes in charcoal, sculptures and mixed media and calling it quits at one of his favorite bars, often The Alpine, within shouting distance of the St. Louis cathedral and his bed.

There are stories of him trashing art galleries and studios. Handcuffing a woman to his stove.

Sticking a mummified cat in one of his works.

Going on lithium and alcohol binges that left him a wreck. Cursing at tourists viciously. Sitting in streets with his muddy tennis shoes and rumpled clothing, looking like a bum. Drawing on napkins,

This picture shows a work by the late artist Noel Rockmore hangs in the riverside home of Sandra Miller.

This picture shows a work by the late artist Noel Rockmore hangs on the wall in the home of Andy Antippas, a New Orleans art gallery owner and close friend of Rockmore.

This picture shows a mixed media picture, “New Orleans French Market”.

This picture shows “Henry ‘Booker T’ Glass, Drummer,” a 1963 oil painting.

This picture shows Noel Rockmore’s, “SelfPortrait, New York, Age 21.”