6 Dec 2011

CR IP TI ON BS SU

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2011

Islamists look to extend gains in Egypt

Bonn conference pledges long-term help for Afghanistan

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Tiger Woods ends 2-year victory drought

Energy supplies safe from Arab Spring: Qatar

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MPs predict Assembly to be dissolved today

Amiri Diwan: Don’t use names of Gulf states in politics

Max 19º Min 04º Low Tide 03:20 & 14:38 High Tide 09:33 & 20:42

By B Izzak conspiracy theories

Diwaniya speculations

By Badrya Darwish

badrya_d@kuwaittimes.net

T

he political arena in Kuwait seems to be very quiet, for a change. So, either it is tranquility before a hurricane or something like a poststorm environment. So far the Cabinet has not been formed. There are only speculations here and there at diwaniyas. It looks like diwaniyas shape the politics of Kuwait more than the parliament and the Cabinet. It is still a healthy sign.

What are the diwaniyas? It is the people of Kuwait from all walks of life whether opposition, extreme opposition, liberal, Salafis, Islamic brotherhood, progovernment, etc, etc. The strongest speculation in the past few days has been that parliament will be dissolved. If you ask me, I doubt it. The stronger speculation is that a caretaker government will be formed under the new Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Sabah. Below are the latest speculations about the future Cabinet members and let’s see if they will come true or not: Sheikh Ahmad Al-Humoud Al-Sabah will take the portfolio of the Interior Ministry and defense. Sheikh Faisal Malik Al-Sabah will hold the Ministry of State for Cabinet and National Assembly Affairs. Mushar Al-Anjari will be Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice. The fourth speculation is that Sheikh Salem Al-Abdulaziz Al-Sabah, the governor of the Central Bank will be appointed Finance Minister. Dr Yousif Al-Nisf will be appointed Minister of Health and Sheikh Khaled Al-Jarrah Al-Sabah will take the portfolio of the Minister of Oil. These are the most important portfolios in the government. Mind you, this will be a caretaker government till the elections in January. Whatever government is formed and whichever ministers are coming, Kuwait still faces the problem of Musallam AlBarrak and his group. Are they really going to cooperate with Sheikh Jaber’s government, although it is a caretaker government. Or are they going to barrage the prime minister in the first parliament session with threats of grilling and pursuing the multimillion-dinar case? Will we see another storming of the parliament. What is left for us is to wait and see.

KUWAIT: A man plays the role of Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) grandson Hussein bin Ali holding his infant son as Shiites reenact the battle of Karbala during a gathering at Marafie husseiniya in Kuwait City on the eve of Ashoura late yesterday. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat

KUWAIT: The National Assembly will likely be dissolved today, MPs said, and fresh general elections are expected to be held late January as tit-for-tat accusations over corruption intensified. “The opposition has information that a decision to dissolve the National Assembly had been taken and will be issued tomorrow (Tuesday)” MP Waleed Al-Tabtabaei told reporters. MP Musallam AlBarrak expected the Assembly to be dissolved within the next two days. HH the Amir yesterday received former Assembly speaker and veteran opposition figure MP Ahmad Al-Saadoun for the second time in less than a week.

The way to dissolve the Assembly was cleared yesterday by the legal and legislative department, the government legal body, by clarifying the appointment of the new prime minister and taking the oath before the Amir. New Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak AlSabah was sworn in alone by the Amir on Sunday, raising questions whether the measure was in line with the constitution, especially since outgoing prime minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah was still the caretaker premier.

But the legal and legislative department said that after swearing in, Sheikh Jaber became the only prime minister in the country, effectively ending the term of the former premier. It added that in accordance with the constitution, the new premier can now chair meetings of the resigned government in case of necessity.

Continued on Page 13

Gbagbo blames France in first ICC appearance THE HAGUE: Ivory Coast ex-president France, Ivory Coast’s former colonial Laurent Gbagbo made his first appear- ruler. “I was arrested under French ance yesterday before the International bombs,” said a gaunt-looking Gbagbo, Criminal Court on charges of crimes who was transferred to The Hague from against humanity, and accused France his northern Ivorian prison on of orchestrating his Wednesday. “It was the arrest. Gbagbo, the first French army that did the former head of state to job.” His handover drew a be brought before the furious reaction from his tribunal, faces four supporters and set a tense counts of crimes against backdrop for a parliamenhumanity, including tary poll on Sunday that murder, rape and inhuhad been billed as a man acts, over post-elecchance to foster reconciliation violence the UN said tion in the war-weary cost about 3,000 lives. country.

The 66-year-old was Gbagbo’s camp Laurent Gbagbo arrested in April by foldescribed his transfer as a lowers of long-time rival and current “political kidnapping” and said it would president Alassane Ouattara after boycott the election and pull out of recmonths of violence triggered by onciliation efforts. Judge Silvia Gbabgo’s refusal to accept defeat in a Fernandez de Gurmendi said Gbagbo, November 2010 vote. who held the reins of power in Ivory He said his capture was the direct Coast for a decade, must reappear on result of a bombing campaign by Continued on Page 13

Japan supercars in $4m accident

SHIMONOSEKI, Japan: Police officers investigate damaged Ferrari cars at the site of a traffic accident on the Chugoku Expressway Sunday. — AP

TOKYO: Speeding was fingered as a possible cause yesterday of what is believed to be Japan’s most expensive ever road accident when up to $4 million-worth of supercars ended up in a crumpled heap on a highway.

Eight Ferraris and a Lamborghini - plus a Toyota Prius were among the vehicles involved in the crash, which witnesses said happened when a speeding car slid across a wet road surface. Television footage showed mangled Ferraris - many of them racing red - and debris spread over some 400 m of the east-bound side of the Chugoku Expressway, the main trunk road in southern Honshu.

A pack of about 20 supercars was travelling in convoy on Sunday morning on a stretch of wet highway when the leading Ferrari slid into a guardrail, police Continued on Page 13

The Syrian military performs live ammunition exercises in an undisclosed location on Sunday. — AP

Syria ‘accepts’ Arab plan for observers 34 civilians killed in Homs DAMASCUS: Syria said yesterday it conditionally accepts observers as part of an Arab plan, as a rights group reported militiamen loyal to the regime killed 34 civilians and dumped their bodies in a city square. The Arab League, which has threatened to impose new sanctions on Damascus if it fails to comply with the plan for monitors, said it was considering the Syrian offer to allow them into the troubled country. French oil company Total, meanwhile, said it was suspending its operations in Syria in line with EU sanctions, which indirectly target its local partner. “We have informed the Syrian authorities of our decision to halt our operations with GPC (General Petroleum Corporation) in order to comply with sanctions,” the company said in a statement.

Syria had initially refused to sign an Arab proposal to send in observers to

monitor its forces accused of rights violations by the UN, which says that more than 4,000 people have been killed since March in a protest crackdown. But in a letter sent to the Cairo-based League late on Sunday as an Arab League deadline was set to expire, President Bashar AlAssad’s regime said it will accept monitors if its conditions are met. “The Syrian government responded positively to the signing of the protocol” on sending observers “based on the Syrian understanding of this cooperation,” Syrian foreign ministry spokesman Jihad Makdisi told reporters.

While confirming the receipt of a Syrian government letter outlining the about-face, Arab League Secretar y General Nabil Al-Arabi said it contained “new demands”. “We’ve contacted Arab foreign ministers and they have been Continued on Page 13

‘Cold War’ with Iran heats up across Mideast Riyadh calls for united Gulf front, may join nuke arms race LONDON/RIYADH: Worries of Israel striking Iran might or might not be overblown but across the region the largely hidden “cold war” between Tehran and its enemies is escalating fast, bringing with it wider risk of conflict. Speculation Israel might attack Iran’s nuclear program has been rife in the Israeli media and oil markets in recent weeks, with concerns that Tehran might retaliate with devastating attacks on Gulf oil shipments. But that debate, experts say, misses large parts of the bigger picture. An increasingly isolated Iran alarms not just Israel and the West but its Gulf neighbours, especially long-

time foe Saudi Arabia, and they are already fighting back - and the confrontation goes well beyond simply tightening sanctions.

Former Saudi intelligence chief Prince Turki Al-Faisal yesterday said Gulf countries should be “active and strong” against regional issues so as not to be held hostage to international politics. He called on the six GCC countries to unify their policies, economies, security and military regimes “to boost their position because of the strategic importance of the Gulf region with regards to the location and be an economic power for the entire

world”. Addressing a security forum in Riyadh, Prince Turki called on the GCC countries to reconsider their objectives 30 years following its establishment in order to counter regional and international developments. He said the GCC countries were committed to establishing the Middle East region free of weapons of mass destruction. Prince Turki also urged the GCC countries to review their development plans to honor the aspirations of their peoples.

Prince Turki also said Saudi Arabia may consider acquiring nuclear weapons to match Israel and Iran. “Our

efforts and those of the world have failed to convince Israel to abandon its weapons of mass destruction, as well as Iran... therefore it is our duty towards our nation and people to consider all possible options, including the possession of these weapons,” he said. “A (nuclear) disaster befalling one of us would affect us all,” said Faisal. Israel is widely held to possess hundreds of nuclear missiles, which it neither confirms nor denies, while the West accuses Iran of seeking an atomic bomb, a charge the Islamic republic rejects.

Continued on Page 13

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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2011

LOCAL

KUWAIT: Mongolian President Tsakhia Elbegdorj, accompanied by a delegation of senior officials, arrived in Kuwait yesterday. The Mongolian leader will hold talks with His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber AlSabah. The president and the accompanying officials were received at the airport by HH the Amir, HH the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Speaker of the National Assembly Jassem Al-Khorafi, senior state officials, ranking commanders of Kuwait Army, Police and National Guards.

Experts weigh in on PM’s constitutional dilemma An unprecedented situation KUWAIT: The new prime minister cannot assume his duties until a new Cabinet is selected and sworn in by His Highness the Amir and the Parliament, which would signal the end of the caretaker government. This opinion by a constitutional expert could help address the situation created after Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah swore in on Sunday to the Amir. This raised a controversy since the resigning Cabinet is still assigned to be a caretaker, giving the impression that Kuwait now technically has two Cabinets.

“First of all, it should be noted that while a prime minister is always sworn-in after the Cabinet has been formed, the Kuwaiti constitution doesn’t prevent him from being sworn-in before the Cabinet is assembled”, said Dr Mohammad Al-Feeli, a constitutional law professor at the Kuwait University. He further explained that the new prime minister cannot assume his duties as head of a new Cabinet until it is formed to take over duties from the caretak-

er Cabinet. Furthermore, Dr Al-Feeli said that the constitution now enables Sheikh Jaber AlMubarak Al-Sabah to make a request for the Parliament’s dissolution only under extreme conditions which can’t be postponed until a new Cabinet is formed - something, that Dr Al-Feeli says, hasn’t happened in Kuwait.

The professor further elaborated that until he forms the new Cabinet, Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah officially remains the First Deputy Prime Minister for the caretaker Cabinet; the first Cabinet official in-charge after the original prime minister fails to resume his duties for any reason.

“Either way, the indisputable fact is that Kuwait still has an active Cabinet that acts solely until the new Cabinet is formed”, Dr Al-Feeli said.

But as the professor’s explanation could eliminate the controversy regarding the premiership post in the caretaker as well as the new Cabinet, another controversial topic is the fact that Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah was also the

Minister of Defense in Sheikh Nasser AlMohammad Al-Sabah’s Cabinet.

As per Article 102 of the Kuwaiti Constitution, the prime minister cannot be assigned to any other ministry in the Cabinet. This wouldn’t pose a problem in the case of the caretaker Cabinet in which the first deputy premier is allowed to take over the outgoing prime minister’s post. The argument emerged however when Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah swore-in as new prime minister on Sunday. “[Sheikh Jaber] became the new prime minister officially after swearing-in, which means that he is now formally in charge of the caretaker Cabinet”, said constitutional expert Dr Mohammad Al-Muqate’a. And while this opinion might somehow be different than Dr Al-Feeli’s explanation, Dr Al-Feeli still agreed that this is an unprecedented situation which could be problematic, since Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak now officially has two posts. — Al-Qabas, Al-Rai

Camps detected within natural reserve KUWAIT: More than 200 camps were detected within the premises of the Um Al-Naqqa natural reserve (north) in violation of camping regulations, a senior Environment Public Authority official said in a statement in which she called for more cooperation from the Kuwait Municipality in this field.

“The coastlines and desertification observation department had called the municipality to take necessary measures in order to organize the camping season”, said the department’s director Farah Ibrahim.

Ibrahim also called for more regulations to be placed and implemented to organize the camping season (Which started on Nov 1 and ends on March 31).

She urged the municipality to improve the licensing process for camps in order to provide stricter measures.

The coastlines and desertification observation department has multiple inspection teams which according to a team member Mushari Al-Kandari are currently carrying out tours at camping sites north and south of the country to detect violations.

Environmental violations and camping became synonymous in recent years as experts continue to shed light on the numerous activities carried out by campers which harm the natural environment as well as biodiversity of the location they choose to spend their time.

“There are camps that aren’t much different than Kuwait 5-star homes”, said environmental expert Ali Al-Khuraibet as he explained how campers even use concrete in certain cases to build their camps and make it as luxurious as possible. “What’s the point of camping when you are going to take the aspects of the city with you to the open nature?” he wondered. He expressed concern over the campers’ improper waste disposal which he said turns camping sites each year into “large landfills”.

Al-Khuraibet further pointed out to the damage inflicted to the soil as a result of driving sports utility vehicles (SUV) and all-terrain vehicles (ATV); thus damaging the natural habitat of many flora and fauna species that live in Kuwait’s desert.—Agencies

‘Beat Diabetes’ Walkathon well received by residents

KUWAIT: Japanese Ambassador to Kuwait Yasuyoshi Komizo (second right) with some of the important visitors at the exhibition venue. — Photos by Joseph Shagra

Japanese potteries showcased in Kuwait

By Ben Garcia KUWAIT: An exhibition of remarkable potteries from Japan was inaugurated on Sunday at the American Cultural Centre (in Kuwait City), a new home for Dar Al-Athar Al-Islamiyyah (DAI). The exhibition dubbed ‘Japanese Pottery —The Rising Generation from Traditional Japanese kilns’ was opened by Japanese Ambassador to Kuwait, Yasuyoshi Komizo, under the patronage of the National

Council for Culture, Arts and Letters Secretary General Ali Husain Al-Youha.

The pottery exhibition was part of many events [a year-long celebrations] — organized by the Japanese Embassy in Kuwait to mark the 50th anniversary for the establishment of Japan-Kuwait diplomatic relations. The pottery exhibition will last till Jan 27, 2012 — and is open for public viewing from 9am to 8pm except on Sundays.

“We are glad to showcase our traditional

KPC boss to meet Vietnam officials KUWAIT: The CEO of the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation Farouq AlZenki is expected to meet with a high-level oil delegation from Vietnam later this month in order to discuss a set of privileges that Kuwait requested as an insurance for its share and revenues in the joint refinery and petrochemical project in Vietnam. “ There are indications that the

Vietnamese government will approve some of the requirements that Kuwait asks for, but not all”, an informed sources said. He noted that the KPC chief is likely to insist on Kuwait’s stance in assuring all of its requests.

The source who spoke on the condition of anonymity further indicated that China has already started construction at the refinery as they wait for the KPC’s final decision.

potteries in Kuwait. They were created by young and experienced artisans from different parts of Japan”, Komizo said. Japanese cultural programs scheduled in Kuwait for the year was not interrupted by the deadliest earthquake/tsunami last March. “We always treasure our friendship with Kuwait and remember their support especially during the earthquake,” he added. ‘Kilns’ is one of the country’s oldest art forms [tradition], which dates back to the Neolithic period.

MEW undersecretaries face unknown fate KUWAIT: The Cabinet’s resignation created a dilemma at the Ministry of Electricity and Water (MEW) as contracts of eight assistant undersecretaries are set to expire within this month.

The minister in the caretaker Cabinet doesn’t have the authority to renew any contracts or take important decisions.

MEW sources speaking on the condition of anonymity told a local daily that this situation has seriously affected the performance of these undersecretaries, mainly their decision-making abilities.

Meanwhile, the same sources spoke of a problem which erupted at the ministry’s building in South Surra when staff members occupied vacant offices which was meant to house employees whose cabins are located in the basement. — Al-Rai

KUWAIT: Landmark Group the region’s leading retail and hospitality conglomerate, witnessed a tremendous response for the Beat Diabetes Walkathon from its supporters, sponsors and residents of Kuwait as over 5000 participants turned up to show their support towards the cause. This year’s event, which was held under the patronage of the Ministry of Health and Dasman Diabetes Institute, marks the second consecutive successful completion of the walk. The walkathon took place on Saturday; it began from The Yacht Club and ended at Green Island.

To reinforce the Group’s core message ‘Beat Diabetes - Take the Test’, free blood glucose testing booths were also set up and over 3500 people took the test. Saibal Basu, Chief Operating Officer, Landmark Group, said: “We were extremely pleased to see the remarkable response received for ‘Beat Diabetes’. We appreciate the effort taken by every person who joined us at the walk to spread the message and support the campaign.” “We are also thankful to all those who partnered with us for the event. We extend special gratitude to our sponsors: Al Rai

Media Group, Al Anbaa, Al Qabas, Al Seyassah, KUC, Arab Times, Kuwait Times, Al Yaqza, Layalina, Al Hadaf, Bazaar, AHLAN!, StudentTalk, TheTalk, Tariq Al Ghanim Limited (Catering Division), Safwan Trading & Contracting Co, KD Cow, Indian Doctors Forum, Nestle, Chiquita, Awal, and Mais Al Ghanim who helped us make ‘Beat Diabetes’ a big success.”

The ‘Beat Diabetes’ Walkathon was well received by the residents, a few commented by saying, “I participated in the walkathon last year and am happy to say that this year it was organized even better. I am proud to be a part of this noble cause”; “Sometimes we do not have time to go to the local clinics, this way I am quite happy to get myself examined”; “It is good to know Landmark Group is raising awareness for a very important cause and is always involved in doing such good community welfare events.”

Since its launch in UAE in 2009, the reach of the ‘Beat Diabetes’ campaign has grown rapidly, where it currently has a presence across 7 countries; United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and India.

ILO discusses employment, social protection policies KYOTO, Japan: Participants at the 15th Asia and the Pacific Regional Meeting of the International Labor Organization (ILO) in Kyoto, western Japan, yesterday discussed coordinated macroeconomic, employment and social protection policies in the region.

The panel considered ways that trade and investment policies can work with tax and social protection systems to support employment, and ensure that the benefits of growth and productivity are shared more widely.

The four-day meeting running through Wednesday brought together, about 450 participants from 46 countries in Asia and the Pacific, and Arab states, such as government ministers, representatives of workers’ and employers’ organizations and academics.

From Kuwait, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Dr Mohammad Al-Afasi, Ambassador to Japan Abdulrahman Al-Otaibi, the ministry’s Undersecretary Mohammad AlKandari and other representatives take part in the meeting.

Under the overall theme of “Building a sustainable future with decent work in Asia and the Pacific” presented by ILO Director-General Juan Somavia, the participants also discussed issues related to poverty reduction, productive employment and social and economic mobility, particularly the needs of young people.

They exchanged views on how the formal economy can be expanded in low and middle income economies in the region.

According to the ILO, the financial and economic crises of 2008-2009 exacerbated the situation in the Asia-Pacific region, with the number of unemployed reaching 93 million. More than 900 million workers in Asia live with their families on less than USD 2 per day, with more than 300 million living in extreme poverty, on less than USD 1 per day.

Moreover, unemployment, underemployment, informal employment, job insecurity, poor working conditions and the limited reach of formal social protection remain significant issues in the AsiaPacific region, it said.

More than one billion workers in Asiaover 60 percent of the labor force-are classified as being in vulnerable employment. Most of these workers lack basic social protection against times of economic hardship, unemployment, family illness, disability or old age and, in many cases, experience severe financial obstacles to maintain adequate health, the UN body said.

The participants will continue discussing how employment, economic and social progress can be safeguarded in the face of the uncertain global economic outlook. The ILO is the UN specialized agency dealing with work and work-related issues. It has a unique tripartite membership structure, under which governments, employers’ and workers’ organizations act as equal partners, making decisions representative of the real economy.

The regional meeting is usually held every four years. The last meeting was in Busan, South Korea in 2006. — KUNA

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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2011

local

News

in brief

Fahaheel armed robbery KUWAIT: An Egyptian pharmacist in Fahaheel told police that a masked armed robber forced him to hand over cash. He gave police descriptions and registration number of the car in which the man arrived.

‘Ready for all emergencies’ KUWAIT: Director of Medical Emergency Administration Dr Faisal Al-Ghanim said that the administration has 130 ambulances which are fullyequipped and qualified to deal with emergency cases at all times. He emphasized that administration is working to expand its work by constructing new relief centers in areas where the rate of accident is higher like Al-Julaia and Al-Mutla areas. Emphasizing on the rise of road accidents these days, Al-Ghanim said that an emergency plan has been set to deal with “Ashora Night”.

Police force case KUWAIT: The disciplinary committee that investigated the case of a woman who accused a policeman of attacking her during a night picnic on a boat in Mishref decided that an appropriate punishment would be salary deduction and promotion delay.

The committee did not vote to kick the colonel out of service.

Kuwaiti municipal delegation KUWAIT: A delegation from Kuwait’s Municipal Council visited Uruguay recently and met with Montevideo’s Municipal Council Chairperson Ana Olivera, said a statement by the council yesterday. The Municipal Council said in a press release that head of the delegation and Municipal Council Chairman Zayed Al-Azmi and a Uruguayan municipal official focused their talks on issues of mutual interests as well as ways to bolster ties between the two municipal councils in all possible domains. The meeting was attended by Ambassador of Kuwait to Argentina and Uruguay Abdulaziz Shamlan Al-Roumi. On his part, Al-Roumi said that Kuwait and Uruguay are planning to develop diplomatic ties with the official opening of a Uruguayan Embassy in Kuwait in 2012.

(Left) Fahad Nasser Al-Jadaan (Centre) Muhammad Muthafar (Right) Christine Al-Daweesh

ACK students don their green cap

By Ben Garcia KUWAIT: Graduating engineering students from the Australian College of Kuwait (ACK) presented their muchawaited projects on ‘Environmental Ethics’ to a group of students and visitors yesterday. This project was a part of their academic requirements to complete a bachelor’s degree program. Dr Hidab Hamwi, engineering lecturer, assigned the project to her graduating class, to hear their ideas on how they would solve the prevailing environmental problems.

Most of the students focused their environmental research and studies on the current ecological problems in Kuwait where issues like oil spills, gas emissions, water and air pollution, marine and the quality of life were discussed. They subsequently offered individual solutions and recommendations after each pres-

entation. While one spoke about the environmental problems which took place in Um Al-Haiman and Ahmadi areas, another focused on the government’s efforts to help the ecology. “I particularly chose this subject to hear their individual points of view on environmental ethics, because sooner, rather than later, they’ll be a part of the solution, or who knows, maybe part of the problem,” Dr Hamwi said. “We hoped that in this project, we would be able to guide them in the right path to benefit society, country, and the world in general,” she noted.

Muhammad Muthafar, a 22-year-old student, presented facts on environmental disasters which were recently experienced by the residents of Um-Al-Haiman and Ahmadi districts. He expressed his desire to help the government solve the problems on a long-term basis. “There are continuing issues in these areas and

we need to acknowledge them. We should not be mere observers but must cooperate with the government to contribute our share. If there are viable solutions which can help, we have to share them with the proper authorities,” Muthafar said.

One of his solutions was addressed to Um Al-Haiman and Ahmadi voters. The senior engineering student advised on selecting the best MPs to rightfully represent them at the National Assembly (NA) [come election time]. “Our voices are very important in the NA. The people whom we select will represent us and we need to vote for someone who is capable and educated, to help us raise our environmental concerns,” he noted.

Christine Al-Daweesh presented her project on oil spills in the past and their environmental impact on humans and marine life. She said preventing oil spills

is the best solution to ecological problems, which could eventually affect the world in general.

“I want the government to assure us that oil spills will not happen anymore in Kuwait. They’re a huge disaster that can affect society, economy, people, and marine life,” she said. “Catastrophes in the Gulf of Mexico and the burning oil spill in the Gulf in 1991 teach us an important lesson to be sensitive and vigilant. We have witnessed the unimaginable cost of cleaning up the beaches and air. We also have to remember the instant destruction to natural food-chain systems.”

Fahad Nasser Al-Jadaan also expounded on his presentation on ‘Why We Should Practice Environmental Ethics Diligently’.

“This is our moral commitment to the world we are living in. The environment we are enjoying today must be looked after for the next generation,” he said.

Cooperation with World Bank to develop educational system on KUWAIT: Tomadher Al-Sdairawi, the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education, said that cooperation between the ministry and the World Bank (WB) to execute a number of educational system development projects was in progress.

All the recommendations made by WB on developing school administrations, integrating special needs students in public education, curriculum development and developing learning standards had been fully discussed.

Al-Sdairawi added that they would hold a meeting next Wednesday to discuss the above projects in view of the 2011-12 state’s development plan. Regarding the 12th grade students’

KUWAIT: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Ahmad Al-Hmoud received yesterday in his office, in the presence of Assistant Undersecretary for training affairs Gen Sheikh Ahmad Nawaf Al-Ahmad, the chairman of police sport unions in GCC states and the delegates accompanying them, on the occasion of the 1st GCC police shooting championship.

Shaddadiya Univ tenders KUWAIT: The Central Tenders Committee is currently waiting Kuwait University’s recommendations regarding companies which placed bids for tenders of the Shaddadiya University project, announced CTC chairman Ahmad Al-Kulaib in a recent statement.

“The CTC has already studied bids for the Shaddadiya University project and wait for the KU’s recommendations to proceed with the awarding process”, said Al-Kulaib.

Meanwhile, constructional program manager at the Kuwait University Dr Rana

Al-Faris indicated that no errors have so far been detected in tenders and bids forwarded by companies, except for one tender which she said had to be placed again for bidding after missing documents were found in the forwarded bids. The mega project to build the second public university in Kuwait is divided into multiple tenders which according to Al-Kulaib must each be awarded to a separate company. “ This method was followed in several projects carried out previously by the Ministry of Public Works”, he said.—Al-Rai

Overdue landline subscribers to face cut-off KUWAIT: Landlines subscribers should pay their bills or face service cut-offs this month, said the Ministry of Communication yesterday. The Ministry’s head of Public Relations Ahmad Ramadan told the press, the systematic cut-off of the phone services will be preceded by two warning sms text messages from Dec 11 to 18 before actually terminating the service on Dec 25.

He indicated that the landlines, used for

either domestic or commercial purposes, will face termination if the due amount on lines exceeds KD 50 or 100 respectively, adding that the cut-off would also reach landlines whose owners failed to pay their installments.

The Ministry of Communications is facilitating the payments of phone bills via either visiting its branches or its e-government official website— KUNA

intention to demonstrate outside the ministry against a recent decision compelling them to sit for the second and fourth period exams in different schools other than their own, sources said that the Assistant Undersecretary for Public Education, Mona Alloghani discussed the proposal and rejected it, despite being approved by various educational zone directors.

Alloghani argues that such a measure would negatively affect students’ performance in exams and said she would discuss it in today’s meeting with educational area directors.

Meanwhile, educational sources said that the Ministry of Education was about to form volleyball and table tennis teams comprising of

female employees to represent them in the ministries and government establishments’ league as requested by the Pubic Authority for Youth and Sports (PAYS).

The sources added that the new league aims to spread the importance of sports amongst women employees and that PAYS Vice Chairman for Sports Affairs, Dr Homoud Flaiteh had sent a letter to MoE’s Undersecretary, Tomadher Al-Sdairawi requesting the participation of female teams in various games and to choose from a list including soccer, handball, volleyball, basketball, water-polo, swimming, tennis, squash, bowling, athletics, track games, and marathons.

Wataniya launches ‘mHealth’ KUWAIT: Wataniya Telecom is deploying the latest advances in mobile health technology (mHealth) to help combat the scourge of diabetes, which afflicts 26.6 million adults in the Middle East and North Africa. To support the aims of Diabetes Awareness Month, Wataniya Telecom is working with the Mobile Health Management Company to provide subscribers with trusted, accurate health information and interactive health tools to help people avoid diabetes, and help those with the disease to manage their condition.

Customers are able to subscribe directly to the service, and personalize the package of applications they receive. For diabetics, this includes advice on exercise, dietary management and alerts to advise them when to see their doctor. Wataniya continues to invest in mHealth services to deliver personalized, highly-relevant health content directly to its subscribers. The new mHealth services enable the Group to utilize a mass population approach that can provide customers with instant health updates and advice wherever they are in the world at any time of the day.

AbdulAziz AlBalool, PR Director at Wataniya Kuwait said: “We are delighted to support what we feel is an increasingly important health issue that affects many people across the globe. The use of mobile technology

to enable people to live healthier lives is a positive step in raising both awareness for the disease and highlighting daily measures that can be taken to help prevent the spread of diabetes.” He added: “We continue to explore ways in which we can cater to customer needs through introducing some of the latest mobile innovations.

Supporting Diabetes Awareness month with the launch of the new mHealth service highlights how new mobile technology can be an effective tool to promote and maintain a healthy lifestyle,” Figures from the International Diabetes Foundation suggest thatover the next 20 years the number of people with diabetes in the region will almost double, reaching 51.7 million by 2030. Wataniya has prioritized mHealth as a key focus area for the company, recognizing the scale of some of the challenges facing communities within its region, and the capacity for mobile communication to reach people in an immediate, convenient fashion.

In particular, studies suggest that the use of mobile communications can support education and prevention campaigns, which in turn helps reduce the long-term costs of managing chronic conditions like diabetes.

The Middle East and North Africa region spends $5.5 billion annually on diabetes, accounting for 14 percent of

its total health care expenditure. The comprehensive service from the Mobile Health Management Company offers information in both English and Arabic and sends both SMS and MMS covering more than 12 health specialties, interactive services and complimentary personal health records (PHR). Health authorities have supported the campaign, highlighting how mHealth initiatives are helping to

raise much needed awareness around a serious health issue affecting more and more people across the region.

Diabetes Awareness Month is an international campaign to keep the issue of diabetes and the related health challenges in the public eye. It supports the wider aims of World Diabetes Day (November 14) led by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and its member associations.

KUWAIT: Col Mohammad Al-Farhan, director of media at National Guards, said during his participation of job opportunity exhibition held in Administrative Science College that the National Guard is keen to remain in contact with Kuwait University graduates to give more job opportunities for nationals.

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Years

LOCAL Letter to Badrya Darwish

Local Spotlight

Double standards of the west

The new phase

badrya_d@kuwaittimes.net

Salamwalaikum,

I

am not a regular reader of newspapers but I always like to buy Kuwait Times. On Nov 30, I read your article ‘Age of Insanity’ and wanted to congratulate you on the excellent article. Thank you for explaining to our Arab brothers about the West and their double standards.

I liked it very much as a well-wisher of the Muslim world. I am a Pakistani and am proud to be one because whenever our Muslim brothers face any problem, we people and our government feel their pain in our hearts and try our best to raise our voice at every international forum regarding it.

I am sure you know our country was attacked a week ago by NATO forces without any reason which left 24 army officers dead. That was a big violation of international laws. We did fight against terrorism and support them and during this fight, we lost more than 5,000 army officers and 35,000 civilians.

Since last week, our entire nation has been very upset. Enemies of Muslims and our nation are trying to weaken our great country. Regarding this issue, please keep explaining to our Arab brothers and try again to wake them up from their slumber. God bless the Muslim world.

Sincerely, Muhammad Waris Chehil

kuwait digest

By Muna Al-Fuzai

muna@kuwaittimes.net

I

kuwait digest

The parliamentary dictatorship

People seek Cabinet of reforms

By Dr Mubarak Al-Therwa

I

would like to congratulate the Kuwaiti people after their demands for change were answered

by His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah AlAhmad Al-Sabah. In the meantime, I urge them to repay this favor by assuring an election process free from tribal or sectarian influence when the Parliament is dissolved.

While voters are required to select candidates on the basis of quality, competence and honesty, the Cabinet must also be sincere in efforts to achieve change and adopt a new approach. They have a great opportunity to start during the parliamentary elections; by avoiding intervention in the process or endorsing any candidates with either legal or illegal support. The credibility of the election process has repeatedly been described by the opposition as the basis of their relationship with the new Cabinet.

What we mostly need today is to deal with the problems created during the past few years. This includes tackling tribal media outlets and creating a common national ideology based on coexistence, optimism and hope.

The political struggle which ended with the resignation of the Cabinet of former Prime Minister HH Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah proved that the Kuwaiti public is composed of strong yet sensitive components. It is sensitive by being able to wake up before the Cabinet did, and strong by organized movements that garnered local and foreign media attention; carried out by youth and labor unions representing people who refused to live with shortened freedom or will. —Al-Rai

By Mustafa Al-Sarraf

D

ictatorship is mostly associated with a ruling figure or regime, whereas in reality it means any form of control by any of a state’s three authorities (executive, legislative and judiciary) over the other two authorities. Creating a constitution that maintains balance between the three authorities and prevents the domination of any of them is a basic requirement for true democratic systems.

When Kuwait transitioned from a semi-tribal to a constitutional rule in the early sixties of the past century, the Kuwaiti Constitution came to give the executive authority an advantage over the legislative and judiciary authorities. This helped it obtain a dominant situation for three decades that followed.

Eventually, frustration was felt among the public majority as a result of the way by which the state was run. The government soon found itself facing a fierce opposition with strong political stances that culminated during the period in which the Parliament was unconstitutionally dissolved in 1985.

After liberation from the Iraqi Invasion in 1991, the opposition was taken over by tribal and religious influence, which led it to become overshadowed by the executive authority which always maintained

strong support by a parliamentary minority representing a mixture of tribal groups in the society.

After liberation from the Iraqi Invasion in 1991, the opposition was taken over by tribal and religious influence, which led it to become overshadowed by the executive authority which always maintained strong support by a parliamentary minority representing a mixture of tribal groups in the society.

Eventually, this parliamentary minority grew to become a majority, and found itself in a conflict of interests with the government. Backed by their public support, this majority was able to force the government

into losing its dominant stance and become increasingly vulnerable to their attacks.

Today, Kuwait is going through a phase of parliamentary dictatorship as the opposition keeps gaining ground in their conflict with the executive authority. Maybe this would lead to a situation in which the Cabinet would turn into an ‘opposition’ defending the rights of citizens - a national opposition seeking to protect the basis of a constitutional state in face of a strong and dominant tribal opposition that works to destroy this basis.

Signs of this situation are probably going to be noticed during the upcoming parliamentary elections.

We can already notice coalitions in the Parliament between MPs who previously opposed the notion of parliamentary dissolution, but today are accusing the Cabinet of lobbying to prevent dissolution from taking place.

In my opinion, the best way to get out of the current situation is for constitutional amendments to be introduced in order to achieve balance between all three authorities. A national opposition should take this as the center focus of attention during its election campaign, in order to eliminate the tribal and religious dominance over the opposition. — Al-Qabas

kuwait digest

Something’s got to change

By Jassem Boodai

S

omething has changed in Kuwait, and something else has got to change as well. What happened most recently in Kuwait isn’t what the government and opposition used to be like. Extreme measures always breed more extremism. Opposing factions will always find themselves face-to-face - no matter how hard they try to distance themselves from each other. Eventually Kuwait along with its system, constitution and institutions is left to pay the price.

Without going into detail about mistakes of the government and the opposition, we can say that the conflict between them transferred from institutions such as the Parliament into the street. In one way, this made the public a guardian of the institutions’ work - after the Parliament started seeking the public’s help instead of the other way around. The difference here is that in the streets, there are no controls similar to those found within institutions.

Thankfully, Kuwait’s youth showed exceptional levels of awareness that overpowered tension that was felt at gatherings.

Kuwait was never led before by the public, and this is the main change that occurred. The public has always been a part of the constitutional system as people could exercise their political partnership by voting for representatives in the Parliament once every four years. Furthermore, the system also grants people freedom to express their opinion, including their disappointment in the Parliament and in the press. Citizens are guaranteed a fair judiciary system and a ruling family that stays in touch with them.

Kuwait enjoys a democratic and constitutional system, but simultaneously suffers from the problems of individual decision-making. In other words, the decision-making process is yet to transfer from the individualistic framework to a more comprehensive form. No regulations were ever created to ease this transition. Even if they do exist, they have not been followed properly. Tension is prone to continuing in Kuwait as long as decisions are taken individually. A minister is usually asked to take decisions they deem best for their ministry’s performance.

Then they eventually come under pressure from senior officials within the ministry. This created a situation in which ministers are found taking strict decisions at one point, and then loosen their stance when it comes to other issues. This can also be applied to the Parliament, which after 50 years since its formation continues to debate whether internal regulations are properly followed or not. — Al-Rai

t seems clear now that the dissolution of the National Assembly is expected any time now. This would mark the end of a marriage in trouble that caused more harm than good to all parties involved.

This is not a time to celebrate for any Kuwaiti because many of us now are disappointed that the old government failed to stand up for itself. Thus, the government was eaten alive by the opposition. Such a government shouldn’t expect to find anyone to feel sorry for them when they’re gone.

Can we blame any Kuwaiti who feels frustrated when he sees his country unable to move an inch forward while next-door neighbors are zooming ahead?

They are leaving no stone unturned to invest in their future by using all their capacity to bring new technology, turn their deserts into global touristic spots, and even a conservative country like Saudi Arabia has made some huge industrial achievements. What have we done? How much money have we spent overseas on projects and how much have we spent to kill projects because we could not bear the competition and the corruption?

I don’t blame the opposition for attacking the government’s weakness. A government which cannot defend itself naturally invites an opposition which won’t stop till it finishes it off. But the worst is not over just yet. I think the coming days will bring more bad news than just the dissolution of the National Assembly which Kuwaitis have become immune to over the years.

Kuwaitis, especially the youth, who aren’t corrupt are expecting reforms this time, like real ones by both the Assembly as well as the government. People have lost their trust and respect and just don’t believe what they hear now. They have waited for years for things to get better but everything has just gone from bad to worse and now people have nothing more left to lose. This has resulted in a depression that is dangerous. Unless the new government realizes its threat and plans a new strategy, everything can go back to ground zero.

No decent Kuwaiti wishes to see his country on fire but we don’t have a million years to bring about change. A new phase is coming up and we need to equip ourselves to deal with it.

kuwait digest

Contrast in pay scales

By Iqbal Al-Ahmad

I

know it’s probably very late but I’d like to congratulate teachers on the significant boost in pay they received, thanks to the enforcement of their general allowances. In the meantime, I hope that something was learnt from this experience. Unfortunately however, I can’t hide my pessimism over the thought that the situation is bound to get worse.

Around 10 years ago, the government launched steps to encourage Kuwaiti job hopefuls to find work in the private sector. Given the significant contrast in pay between the public and private sector, the government enforced an allowance to be paid to every citizen working in a private firm in addition to their monthly pay.

This method seemed to be working when an increasing number of young Kuwaiti men and women started seeking jobs in the private sector. However, all these efforts crashed when waves of salary increases and allowances struck employees in the public sector.

It’s only logical that Kuwaiti youth would seek higher pay in the public sector over more demanding jobs in the private sector. It’s a simple equation: in the public sector, we find that less work plus less productivity equals high pay, while in the private sector, the equation dictates more work plus more productivity equals lower pay.

After creating this situation, the government should now stop campaigns to encourage citizens into seeking work in the private sector, and instead focus on finding more job opportunities in state departments for unproductive labor forces who exceed the requirements.

Is the teacher’s salary increase really going to boost the academic performance of students? Is it going to help improve our country’s deteriorating educational sector? Though I truly hope the answer is ‘yes’, I know that the answer is eventually going to be ‘no’. Generally speaking, teachers’ performance should be expected to significantly improve after their salaries double.

I don’t understand why a teacher gets to receive something called a ‘teaching allowance’. Isn’t teaching the main purpose of a teacher’s work? Aren’t teachers paid in the first place to teach? That’s not all, but headmasters, whose main job is to supervise their schools, now receive an allowance that is called (yes, you guessed it right) ‘supervision allowance’. In a simple comparison, a surgeon in a public hospital receives a quarter Kuwaiti dinar per hour allowance for their sentry duty. The allowance would be raised to KD2 per hour after their promotion. This means that a surgeon gets an average of KD 70 monthly allowance for sentry duty, which increases to KD 180 after promotion. That is a simple overtime allowance paid to surgeons, whereas teachers for example receive higher allowances just to teach. While we’re at it, retired citizens should stage demonstrations to demand a ‘negligence allowance’; paid for the years they have been ignored by the government. What happens today is injustice. I’m not specifically talking about the case of surgeons and retired citizens, but about the country as a whole. — Al-Qabas

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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2011

Local

Kuwait keen on solving Syrian crisis within Arab League: FM Hope for positive results soon

Somalia keen on boosting investments with Kuwait KUWAIT: Visiting Somali Prime Minister Dr Abdiweli Mohamed Ali affirmed yesterday that his country was keen boosting cooperation with Kuwait on the investment and economic domains.

This came during his meeting at Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) with representatives of the private sector. KCCI’s Deputy Director

Abdulwahab Al-Wazzan was present at the meeting.

Somalia, said Ali, is keen on taking the necessary steps to ensure the bolstering of economic and investment ties with Kuwait. On his part, KCCI’s Al-Wazzan said that Kuwait was also eager to focus on means to bolster cooperation with Somalia. —KUNA

KUWAIT: Visiting Somali Prime Minister Dr Abdiweli Mohamed Ali pictured during his visit to the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry yesterday.

Give top priority to tackling corruption KUWAIT: Tackling corruption should be the main focus of the new government in order to address the troubled political situation in Kuwait.

This was stated by a political activist Nabilah Al-Anjari in a recent press statement in which she further stressed that addressing the multimillion-dinar graft scandal must be given a top priority by any upcoming cabinet.

“Kuwait faces a serious problem with concerns and skepticisms overshadowing the public opinion. The government should not undermine the risks and divisions the society is prone to”, Al-Anjari said in a press statement yesterday.

Al-Anjari urged the new government to work towards good reforms and development in the state. She also called for

“true reformists and reforms” to avoid giving priority to personal goals. “Let there be a coordinated effort to make Kuwait become stronger and more immune to sectarianism and corruption,” she added.

Nabilah Al-Anjari

Banks move to prevent ‘private sector exodus’ KUWAIT: The latest surge in allowances and salary increments in the public sector is creating a repellant work environment in the private sector. This has also led to a situation in which private companies suffer mass exodus of staff as Kuwaitis now seek for a better pay in the state departments. This was stated by the chairman of the labor union representing staff in the banking sector, Mansour Ashour, as he announced the introduction of some recommendations and demands to “bring equality to

Kuwaitis working in the private sector.”

The recommendations include paying allowances to Kuwaiti employees in the banking sector, reaching up to KD600 for staff members with a university degree, and KD400 for employees with diplomas or high school certificates in addition to a 2-year training course graduation degree. “If the situation remains as it is today, Kuwait will suffer an increase in the rates of unemployment and employees leaving the private sector to work in the public sector”, Ashour further stated.

KUWAIT: Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah has expressed Kuwait’s keenness on solving the conflict in Syria under the Arab League umbrella, hoping the Syrian government would have positive response to the Arab initiative. “Solving the Syrian conflict is still within the Arab League framework and under its umbrella,” Sheikh Sabah Khaled told reporters on sidelines of the opening of the 2nd economic fair for embassies. The Arab initiative

“includes the gathering of the Syrian government and opposition through the Arab League to draw the future prospects of Syria,” he said.

Asked about Kuwaitis being held by Iran, Sheikh Sabah said the foreign ministry was in constant contact with the Kuwaiti ambassador in Tehran and the Iranian embassy in Kuwait “to follow up the conditions” of the Kuwaitis.

The foreign ministry is continuing its efforts to have “positive results” in near future, he said.

Sheikh Sabah was asked about the next Kuwaiti Ambassador to Saudi Arabia as the former envoy was appointed as information minister. “The next minister will tell you about this issue,” said the minister, who is now serving in a care-taker government until a new one is formed. On the other hand, the two-day fair is the fruit of cooperation between different embassies in Kuwait namely in the economic, investment, commercial and financial domains, noted the foreign minister.

He said the economic domain was complimenting the political cooperation between Kuwait and countries around the globe.

The fair, held at the headquarters of Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED), groups 50 diplomatic missions based in Kuwait.

Foreign and Arab diplomatic missions will display products of their countries, publications about their states’ tourist, economic, cultural, industrial and educational sectors. —KUNA

Florence honors eminent Kuwaiti poet Al-Wugayyan FLORENCE: Florence has granted its international creativity award to the renowned Kuwaiti poet, Khalifa Al-Wugayyan, in appreciation for his prominent literary role on the occasion of the city twining with the capital of Kuwait. AlWugayyan received the award, “Florence Shield,” at a broad ceremony, held at the Hall of the 500 in the Palazzo Vecchio (the Palace of Sovereignty), granted by the “Florence-Europe cultural center,” which honors Italian and international figures, with distinguished records in culture, arts, sports and professions.

The 29th annual ceremony of the award was attended by several rank ing local officials, including the mayor of the city, Matteo Renzi, head of the Kuwait-Italian Friendship Society, Pierre Andrea Fani, and the Kuwaiti Charge d’affaires, Iadah Al-Saeedi. The president of the award, Marco Celi, praised Al-Wugayyan as “a voice that truly promotes the Arabic poetry.” Fani handed the shield to Al-Wugayyan, the first Arab personality to be honored with this award.

I n a statement to Kuwait News Agenc y (KUNA), Al-Wugayyan said the award honored not only himself but also Kuwait, and expressed gratitude to the city officials for the distinguished gesture. “Culture is an ever-lasting bridge that can link up diverse nations, cement bonds among them, despite various conflicts in the world. Through cultural communications, we can overcome all domains of differences,” AlWugayyan said. On his part, the charge d’affaires Al-Saeedi said the honoring of Al-Wugayyan symbolically constituted an honoring for all Kuwaiti and Arab poetic, literary and cultural figures.

Moreover, it is an accomplishment for the grass-root diplomacy and another step on the path for cementing the distinguished ties bounding Kuwait and friendly Italy, the diplomat added. Identical feelings were expressed by Fani, who also voiced satisfaction that sponsors of the award intended to hold the celebration simultaneously with the occasion of marking the city twining with the capital of Kuwait. He also declared that the society would publish the works of Al-Wugayyan in Italian. —KUNA

NBK staff and volunteers clean up camps littered with trash and harmful waste.

NBK launches clean and safe camping campaign KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) has launched an environmental awareness campaign to help keep Kuwait clean and safe during the winter camping season. NBK staff and volunteers will clean up camps littered with trash and other harmful waste and will also provide awareness initiatives to encourage campers to keep their areas clean. “The environment is one of our most precious resources - and as part of our corporate social responsibility program, NBK aims to keep the environment safe and clean this camping season,” said Yaqoub Al Baqer, NBK Public Relations Officer. “This two-part campaign demonstrates NBK’s lasting commitment to the community.

We go far beyond banking to serve the

community in myriad ways.”

Volunteers will clean up camps and place waste bins in strategic locations throughout camping areas. NBK will also promote safety and security measures among campers through a range of awareness initiatives. “We will host fun and educational activities at malls, NBK branches and online through Facebook and Twitter to help raise awareness,” Al Baqer explained. The awareness and cleanup campaign have been running since Dec 2 until March 30, 2012. NBK is an environment-friendly bank and has launched a range of initiatives -including electricity conservation and paper recycling- aimed at promoting environmental awareness.

A group photo of NBK volunteers and the campers.

Gulf Autism Union convenes in Kuwait KUWAIT: The Gulf Autism Association board held here yesterday its 13th meeting with distinguish participation from member states.

I n a press statement following the meeting, the Union Board Chairwoman Samira Al-Saad said the conferees have reviewed the association’s challenges and achievements and discussed future action

plans. Al-Saad added that the meeting focused on bolstering cooperation among autism centers and organizations in the six Arab Gulf states.

The participants also discussed helping media outlets with information and researches to raise public awareness about autism.

Autism reportedly constitutes 11 percent of global diseases and it is likely to

reach 14.7 percent by the year 2020.

Autism is a mysterious condition, diagnosed not by any physical criteria but by a patient’s behavior. It impairs the ability to communicate and is associated with selfstimulating or injurious behavior, which is attributed to sensitivities that make part i c u l a r s o u n d s, s i g h t s a n d te x t u re s unbearable. —KUNA

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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2011

local EQUATE, MP Al-Omair grab GCC award KUWAIT: The Environment Public Authority (EPA) yesterday announced that EQUATE petrochemicals company and MP Ali AlOmair have won the GCC environmental initiative awards for 2009-2010, selected by the award panel and approved by GCC Secretary General and Chief of the Award Judges Panel Abdellatif Al-Zayyani. EPA Public Relations and Environment Awareness Director Khalid Al-Enizi said that EQUATE was awarded as best industrial body in terms of commitment to environment standards for 2009-2010.

The awards would be presented to the winners at a later point in time, said GCC Assistant Secretary General for Environment Affairs Abdullah Bin Oklah.

Other individual winners this year are Dr Abdelrahman Sultan Al-Sharhan of the UAE, CEO of the Saudi Environment Society Prince Nawaf bin Nasser bin Abdelaziz Al-Saud, Deputy Chairman of the Omani Environment Society Dr Mahdi bin Ahmad Jaafar, and Mhanna Rashid Al-Maaadheed of Qatar. As for corporations, other winners are Neopharma of the UAE, Agas Lubes lubricants recycling company of Bahrain, Saudi Aramco’s Shaiba unit, Future Pipe Industries of Oman, and RasGas of Qatar.— KUNA

KIEV: (Left) KJA Secretary General Faisal Al-Qanaei presenting a memento to Kuwait’s Ambassador to Ukraine Yousuf Al-Qabandi. (Right) The Kuwaiti delegation visiting the Museum of the Great Patriotic War in Kiev.

KJA team concludes Ukraine visit KIEV: Kuwait and Ukraine have advanced cooperation in the investment field, especially in the medical field with plans to build a polio hospital in Kuwait.

This was stated by Kuwait’s Ambassador to Ukraine Yousuf Al-Qabandi, during a dinner

banquet held for a Kuwait Journalists Association delegation which ended a recent visit to the East European country.

They had a chance to meet with senior officials in the press and investment fields during the trip.

“Undersecretary of Ukraine’s foreign ministr y described Kuwait as the main gate for investment in the Arabian Gulf region due to the level of freedom and democracy the country enjoys which creates a suitable environment for foreign

investments”, Ambassador AlQabandi said.

Meanwhile, K JA Secretary General Faisal Al-Qanaei expressed contentment on the trip which included visits to the foreign and health ministries, as well as the Parliament building

and several media associations, in addition to Ukraine’s Investment Office.

The K JA team visited the Museum of the Great Patriotic War in Kiev Museum and the international trade exhibition before returning home.

Jordanian in police net for sexually molesting children

Nasser Al-Foudari

Triathlon meeting Thursday KUWAIT: The Touristic Enterprises Company will hold a meeting on Thursday at the Shaab Sea Club for participants at the fourth annual triathlon — sponsored by Wataniya Telecom, which is scheduled to take place Saturday, December 10, 2011. “All participants are encouraged to attend the meeting which starts at 7:00 pm in order to identify the assembly points”, the general coordinator of the competition Nasser AlFoudari said in a press statement.

Participants can obtain their free subscription form everyday from 8:00 am to 10:00 pm at the Agailah Beach, Misseelah Beach and Shaab Sea Club. The event will start by 9:00 am with cycling from the Al-Aqailah beach to the Ras Al-Ardh Sea Club, followed by a running race to the Shaab Sea Club, where the competitors will compete in 100 meters swimming event.

The participants will compete for a KD1000 grand prize while other prizes include KD750 for the second place finalist, KD550 for third place, KD400 for fourth place and KD300 for the fifth place. Traffic police patrols and ambulance will also be provided.

Gang of three caught KUWAIT: Hawally policemen have arrested a Jordanian man accused of sexually molesting several children in Maidan Hawally and Nugra. Responding to a tipoff, officers rushed to a building in the area where a resident had reported his son was sexually harassed by an unknown suspect. The officers were able to arrest the suspect — using descriptions provided by the victims. The suspect is currently in police custody pending further investigations.

Salem police station officers launched an investigation in 14 robberies that happened in the area in which delivery workers were attacked and mugged by a gang of three. Investigators arrested one of the suspects after tracking a cell phone signal they used to make the orders, and later apprehended his accomplices based on information he gave under interrogation. They were referred to the proper authorities to face charges.

Delivery thieves Three suspects accused of multiple thefts targeting delivery workers have been apprehended by police. Sabah Al-

Failed kidnap Police are looking for a suspect who disappeared after failing to kidnap a woman in Ahmadi area. In her statement

to officials at the area’s police station, the woman explained that she was on her way to work when a driver approached her and attempted to force her inside his vehicle. Following the victim’s strong resistance, the suspect reportedly beat her up and drove away.

Fugitive held An angry shopper was arrested at the Qurain Markets area when police learned after checking his identification that he was wanted for criminal charges. Police had intervened to stop a heated argument between the Egyptian man and a worker at one of the shops in the area.

They placed the shopper under arrest

after discovering that forgery cases are filed against him. He was taken to the proper authorities for further action.

Residency violators Forty four Asian men were arrested in a recent 5-hour crackdown in Farwaniya and Khaitan against residency violators and fugitives. Following their arrest, the detainees were referred to the proper authorities for deportation.

‘Extreme punishment’ A citizen poured flammable liquid on his two nephews to punish them after they were caught smoking cigarette at the family camp.

Burgan Bank honors special needs patients

KUWAIT: The students from the College of Health Sciences visiting the water desalination plant in Doha yesterday.

PAAET students visit Doha water desalination plant KUWAIT: A number of students from College of Health Sciences of the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training (PAAET) visited a water desalination plant in Doha yesterday to observe the reverse osmosis technology.

Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) said in a press state-

ment that engineer Mohammed Safar conducted a brief lecture on the use of a high quality reverse osmosis technology in water desalination.

The students observed during a field tour, accompanied by engineer Ahmad Al-Sairafi, the production stages of Kazma water using reverse

osmosis technology. They also visited Kazma water bottling plant, the statement added.

It noted that the students also visited the plant’s laboratory where Miss Huda Al-Jebli explained to them the equipment used in desalinating Kazma water and controlling quality.— KUNA

Saudi minister affirms relations with Kuwait RIYADH: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and neighboring State of Kuwait are bound with distinguished ties and peoples of the two countries support each other vis-a-vis various issues, affirmed Saudi Minister of Defense Prince Salman Bin AbdulAziz. “Kuwait is entrenched in my heart,” the minister said in a metaphoric expression, reflecting his warm sentiments toward the GCC country, during a meeting with the visiting Kuwaiti Minister of Information, Sheikh Hamad Jaber Al-Ali AlSabah, along with an accompanying delegation.

Sheikh Hamad Jaber Al-Ali, following the meeting, quoted Prince Salman as expressing his personal warm sentiments toward Kuwait and its natives, saying, “The Kingdom is part of Kuwait which is also part of the Kingdom, and what pleases Kuwait, pleases us.”

Prince’s Salman remark is the latest of such statements, repeatedly made by leaders of the Kingdom who have affirmed support for Kuwait and the distinctive and historic relations binding the two states, both members of the GCC which also includes the UAE, Oman, Bahrain and Qatar.

Elaborating, the Kuwaiti minister said he conveyed to Prince Salman greetings of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, HH the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah.—KUNA

KUWAIT: Burgan Bank restated its commitment towards its annual corporate social responsibility initiative by successfully hosting the 10th annual Al-Mass Awards on Sunday at the Salwa Sabah Al- Ahmad AlSabah hall. The event, which was patronized under Sheikha Shaikha Al-Abdullah Al-Khalifa Al- Sabah, honored the outstanding achievements of participating special needs patients as well as organizations that have demonstrated exceptional commitment in providing the necessary support for special needs.

Nine outstanding individuals were presented awards in three categories — the Blue diamond award for those with a cognitive or mental disability; the Yellow diamond award for those with physical disabilities; and the White diamond award, for those with a sensory disability. Furthermore, two organizations were also commended for their work in supporting special needs throughout their daily activities.

The names of the winners were announced through a special documentary feature, where the achievement of each of the winner was highlighted. Special thanks and gratitude was given to all those who have been working behind the scenes that have helped those with special needs achieve their goals.

Each of the winners received a beneficiary fund from Burgan Bank, deposited in their own special account at the Bank.

The winners of the yellow diamond award included Ayah Meshal Thuwaini Al-Shimar y, Kholoud Hasan Al-Mutairy, and Ahlam Hasan Al-Mutairy. The winners of the white diamond award included Basma Mesaed Al-Saeed, Afaf Ali Al-Muhry and Hasan Mekdad Abdulkader AlBahdahi. The blue diamond award also included Meshari Osama Jassim Abul, Homoud AbdulRahman AlShimary and Mohammed Sami AlHaji. In this year’s event, two organizations were also honored for their outstanding work. These include AlAmal Voluntar y Electronic Newspaper and Kuwait’s Society for Handicapped Parents.

Majed Essa Al-Ajeel, Burgan Bank’s Chairman said: “We are hon-

ored to celebrate this year’s 10th annual Al-Mass Awards. The Al-Mass Awards in its official launch proved to be a success in honoring gifted special needs. Burgan Bank’s management has then taken the decision to utilize the Al Mass Awards as a solid platform to create an annual event that is exclusively dedicated to recognizing and honoring special needs talents and creative work.”

“Burgan Bank’s overall approach to CSR begins with a key element; that, as a Kuwaiti company, its brand name, values, and work ethics should be on par with the necessities of the Kuwaiti society and with those of the people who rely on the bank. That is why the bank has consistently invested in the enhancement of the Al-Mass Awards, adding a range of programs that contribute to the sustainable development of

special needs on the long run,” added Al-Ajeel.

The evening echoed Burgan Bank’s commitment to integrate those with special needs into the mainstream community and restore their sense of belonging by recognizing their fortitude to surmount obstacles, the purity of their determination, and the brilliance of their endeavors.

A decade of commitment towards the development of special needs has been Burgan Bank’s pledge to this very day. The Al-Mass Awards, which began as a simple idea to reward special needs individuals as well as organizations that support children and people with special needs ten years ago, has gained increasing popularity and national admiration over the past decade.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2011

West pledges continued support to Afghanistan

World Court rules against Greece in Macedonia case Page 10

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CAIRO: A woman walks past Egyptian military at the entrance of a polling station in Cairo, Egypt yesterday. A trickle of Egyptian voters headed to the polls yesterday for two days of runoffs in the country’s first parliamentary elections since Hosni Mubarak’s ouster, a balloting in which Islamist parties already captured an overwhelming majority of the votes in the first round. —AP

Egypt runoff exposes tensions between Islamists Brotherhood supporters receive death threats CAIRO: A runoff yesterday for Egypt’s firstround parliamentary elections exposed tensions between competing Islamist parties that have so far dominated the vote. In the southern province of Assiut, supporters of hardline Islamist party Gamaa Islamiya attacked and chased away campaign workers from the Muslim Brotherhood outside a polling station where the two groups were facing off in a vote. Supporters of one Brotherhood candidate said they received death threats and one of their clerics was beaten up by campaign workers of Gamaa Islamiya - an ex-militant group-turned-political party.

The Brotherhood, the most established and organized party running, is in the lead so far, according to official results released on Sunday. Gamaa Islamiya is part of the secondplace Al-Nour alliance with the ultraconservative Salafists, hard-liners who seek to impose strict Islamic law on Egypt. The elections are the first since Hosni Mubarak’s ouster in an uprising in February and are the freest and fairest in living memory. Voters are choosing both individual candidates and parties and runoffs yesterday and today will determine almost all the seats allocated for individuals in the first round, about a third of parliament’s 498 seats.

The two leading Islamist blocs of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafists took an

overwhelming majority of the first-round vote for parties with 60 percent, a huge blow to the liberal and youthful activists who drove the uprising. But the tallies offer only a partial indication of how the new parliament will look.

There are still two more rounds of voting in 18 of the country’s 27 provinces over the coming month. But the grip of the Islamists over the next parliament appears set, particularly considering their popularity in provinces voting in the next rounds. The runoffs are unlikely to alter the Islamists’ dominance.

The first round of voting includes the capital Cairo and the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria in Egypt’s north. Turnout in Cairo yesterday was very weak, with little drama. But in Assiut, tensions between Islamists were simmering. The province is a stronghold of Gamaa Islamiya, a former militant group that fought the Mubarak regime in a bloody insurgency in 1990s. Since Mubarak’s ouster, hardline Islamists, many of whom were released from prisons, exploited a growing security vacuum in the country and grew increasingly assertive in a push for power. In Assiut, they wrested control of mosques from governmentappointed preachers and installed their own prayer leaders. The city is filled with signs exhorting residents to follow Islamic teachings and women to wear the hijab, or Muslim headscarf.

“The hijab is obligatory,” one sign says.

“Take your eyes off women,” another tells men.

In the city of Dayrout in Assiut province, the Brotherhood accused Gamaa Islamiya campaign workers of attacking their supporters and ordered all Brotherhood campaign workers to remove their computers and stay away from polling centers around the city. The Brotherhood has been accused of violating election rules barring campaigning near polling sites on election day.

“A cleric was beat up, insulted and ordered to stay away,” a Muslim Brotherhood campaign worker there told The Associated Press. “Our people were told not to get close to the polling centers,” the worker said, asking not to be identified for security concerns. He said Gamaa Islamiya was using loudspeakers mounted on pickup trucks cruising the streets to urge people to vote for their candidate, but threatening others if they did not keep quiet.

“Our people were threatened that if they entered villages around this city, they will be shot dead,” he said. The Brotherhood told its campaign workers to avoid confrontations, according to one of the workers in Assiut. The tensions were also evident in Alexandria. A video clip for Muslim Brotherhood candidate Hosni Dweidar, who is contesting hardline Salafist sheik Abdel Moneim el-Shahat, shows Dweidar in anti-Mubarak protests during the

uprising. Next it shows El-Shahat, with the long beard typically worn by Salafists, slamming the youth behind the uprising as “barbaric.” The Brotherhood, which was banned and persecuted under Mubarak, threw its support behind the uprising shortly after it began while Salafist leaders came out against the protests in the beginning. El-Shahat raised concerns with both secular liberals and moderate Islamists last week when he branded the novels of Egypt’s Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz, as “prostitution.”

Some of the runoffs pit Islamist candidates from the Brotherhood and the Salafis against each other while others are between Islamists and secular candidates. The runoffs will decide 52 of the 56 seats for individuals that were up for grabs in the first round. Only four were decided in the first round. The Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party garnered 36.6 percent of the 9.7 million valid ballots cast for party lists, according to results released on Sunday. The Salafists’ Al-Nour Party captured 24.4 percent, while the secular Egyptian Bloc won 13.4 percent of the votes.

The Salafis want to impose strict Islamic law on Egypt and the strong Islamist showing worries liberal parties, and even some religious parties, who fear the two groups will work to push a religious agenda. It has also left many of the youthful activists behind the uprising

feeling that their revolution has been hijacked.

Tensions aside, the runoffs drew a much weaker turnout compared to last week’s vote which drew massive lines. The electoral commission initially said turnout last week was around 60 percent but it revised the number down to 52 percent yesterday - still the highest in Egypt’s modern history.

In Cairo, Sohair Kansouh, waiting with hundreds of other women to cast her ballot in an upper class Cairo neighborhood, said she is worried about the Islamists’ win because she doesn’t want Egypt to “go back 1,000 years.”

“I’m Muslim and we want freedom and tolerance for all. But if they (Islamists) come to power, there will be less freedom for all, especially women,” said Kansouh, 72, adding that a parliament dominated by Islamists will “mean that all the objectives of the revolution have failed.” Others came out to bolster the Islamists’ already strong showing. “We want Muslims who fear God to rule because they are cleaner than those who came before,” said Karim Nabil, a 24-year-voter who cast his ballot while holding a Brotherhood leaflet in the other hand. The new parliament will be tasked, in theory, with selecting a 100-member panel to draft the new constitution.

Liberals are now worried that the Islamists will gain too much sway over the process and will impose a religious agenda on it.— AP

2 women shot dead in Yemen protest SANAA: Forces loyal to Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh shot dead two women and wounded six other people when they opened fire on a crowd of protesters in the city of Taez yesterday, medics said. The protest was over an immunity clause in the Gulf-sponsored transition plan which Saleh signed last month to hand power over to his deputy, Vice President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi.

One woman, “Taghrid Hammoud, died after being hit by a bullet, and six protesters, including two women, were also wounded by gunfire,” a medical official told AFP. A second

woman, Rouia Shibani, 27, who was also taking part in the protest, was shot dead by a sniper near Al-Huriya (Liberty) Square, the epicentre of anti-regime protests in the city, the same source said.

The medic said that a 65-year-old among the wounded was in a serious condition. The killings came a day after Hadi formed a military commission under the Gulf Cooperation Council agreement to oversee the restructuring of the security forces, many of which are controlled by Saleh’s relatives. The official SABA news agency said the 14-member commission would also oversee the withdrawal of

gunmen from the streets in a bid to restore order in the country, which has been rocked by 10 months of anti-Saleh protests.

The killing of the two women raised to 33 the death toll since Thursday in shootings and bombings by government forces in Taez, south of Sanaa, in violence threatening to derail the fragile power-transfer deal.

State media said on Saturday that a ceasefire was reached after Hadi called for an end to the fighting between pro-Saleh troops and armed tribesmen who have thrown their support behind the mass protest movement.—AFP

SANAA: Wounded Yemeni men are evacuated in Taiz, south of the capital Sanaa yesterday after forces loyal to Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh shot dead 2 women and wounded six other people when they opened fire on a crowd of protesters.—AFP

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2011

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Segregated buses not Jewish law: Israeli rabbi JERUSALEM: One of Israel’s chief rabbis ventured into the divisive question of gender segregation yesterday, saying separate seating for men and women on buses and similar practices adopted by some devout Jews are not required by Jewish law. Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar spoke after US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was quoted by Israeli media as expressing shock over the segregated buses and other practices of radicalized religious activists.

In an interview with the ultraOrthodox Kol Brama radio station,

Amar was critical of these relatively new and controversial practices.

“People who do it do it for their own sakes,” he said of the segregated buses.

“Certain people want to delineate a fence, perhaps because they saw a need for it. But it’s not Jewish law.”

Radical activists have segregated buses, cowed advertisers into removing images of women from posters on the streets of cities with large ultraOrthodox Jewish populations, shunted women onto separate sidewalks and walked out of military events where women have sung. Some women have

taken to dressing head-to-toe, in the fashion of Islamist fundamentalists, a practice that Amar also said was elective.

These ultra-devout are on a campaign to keep secular values from breaching the walls of their insular community. But Israel’s secular majority is aghast at what they call on assault on the country’s human rights. Amar is the spiritual leader of Jews of Sephardic - or Middle Eastern and North African - descent. Israel has a second chief rabbi who serves the Ashkenazi, or European-descended

Jewish population.

With his comments, he became the most senior religious leader to step into an contentious debate over the nature of Israeli society, where ultraOrthodox extremists have increasingly tried to impose their values on mainstream society. Ultra-Orthodox make up some 9 percent of Israel’s 5.9 million-strong Jewish population, which is overwhelmingly secular. Clinton caused a furor in some circles over remarks she reportedly made in a closed-door session over the weekend expressing concerns over Israel’s

democracy. According to Israeli media, Clinton was also appalled by the segregation of women by some elements in the ultra-Orthodox community.

Israel’s Supreme Court has outlawed gender segregation on buses and sidewalks, but some transit routes and public spaces remain segregated in practice. Amar said Clinton’s knowledge of the situation was incomplete.

“If she were to learn from the right people ... she would know that the people of Israel respect women and turn them into veritable queens and princesses,” he said.—AP

Bombs targeting pilgrims kill 22 in Iraq’s Hilla Security fragile as US troops leave

ISTANBUL: Turkish Shiite men take part in a religious procession held for Ashura in Istanbul yesterday. Ashura commemorates the killing of Imam Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Mohammed, by armies of the caliph Yazid in 680 AD. Tradition holds that the revered imam was decapitated and his body mutilated in the Battle of Karbala. —AFP

High alert along Israel-Egypt border over fears of attack JERUSALEM: Israeli troops were on very high alert along the southern border with the Egyptian Sinai yesterday over fears a cell of gunmen had crossed the border into southern Israel, a security source told AFP. The state of alert was based on “intelligence information about a cell of terrorists planning an attack” on a road which runs close to the border in the southern Negev desert, the source said. The alert has been in place since Saturday, when the military contacted their Egyptian counterparts to pass on the information they had, he said. The Israeli army had no immediate comment on the state of alert, saying only that the military “deploys its troops in accordance

with ongoing security assessments.” An education ministry spokeswoman said school parties had been “reminded not to go to the border area” in compliance with an order which was put in place following a deadly cross-border attack in the area in August.

During that attack, gunmen infiltrated southern Israel from Sinai and carried out a coordinated series of shooting ambushes on buses and cars on route 12, which runs along the Egyptian border some 20 kilometres (12 miles) north of the Red Sea resort of Eilat. The attacks took place over several hours, leaving eight dead and more than 25 wounded.—AFP

Libya takes control of Tunisia crossing TRIPOLI: Libyan interior ministry forces have taken control of the key Ras Jdir border crossing with Tunisia from former rebels who toppled Muammar Gaddafi, a top official said yesterday. “Today, I can announce that the control of Ras Jdir has been taken over by forces of the ministry of interior,” interim interior minister Fawzi Abdelali told reporters. He said taking control of the crossing was a “priority” for Libya as it is “displaying the law of the state.”

The crossing, 180 kilometres (115 miles) west of Tripoli, was closed last week after Tunisian guards stopped work, complaining of lack of protection against armed and unarmed fighters deployed on the Libyan side. On Friday, Tunisia also closed a second border post in Dehiba after allegations of attacks on Tunisians inside Libya, and Tunis Air flights to Libya have also been cancelled since last week. Tension at the border between Tunis and Tripoli erupted after a Libyan rebel reportedly shot and wounded a Tunisian customs official as he forced his way across the Ras Jdir crossing. Voicing “deep concern,” Tunis called on Tripoli to manage its side of the border with professional forces. The handover at Ras Jdir was “through negotiation. No use of force was carried out against anyone,” Abdelali said, adding

that the former rebels had acted responsibly and kept order at the frontier.

The minister said the crossing would be reopened later this week but he did not give details on the status of the Dehiba crossing. On Sunday, Deputy Prime Minister Mustafa Abu Shagur said Tripoli was drafting a plan to reopen and secure the border with Tunisia. On Saturday, a Libyan border official told an AFP reporter at Ras Jdir that the former rebels had been ordered to keep away from the border. “There was a meeting

by Libyan border officials and it was decided to ask the rebels to move back two kilometres (over one mile) from the (Ras Jdir) border,” Colonel Mohamed Jarafa said.

“We don’t want this (presence of fighters) to be a problem between the two governments,” Jarafa said. The former insurgents had been helping to man the borders for several months by checking passports and car registration documents, border officials said. Fighters who spoke to AFP on Saturday said they were ready to move away from the border but wanted Tunis to open the crossing. “We have no problem to move back and we took up arms only to liberate our country,” said fighter Nader Mansur from Zuwarah. But Tunisia “must open the border.” —AFP

Qaeda-inspired group denies link to Israel rocket attack BEIRUT: An Al-Qaeda-inspired group has denied claiming responsibility for a recent rocket attack from southern Lebanon against Israel, instead blaming a group linked to Hezbollah, a US monitoring group said yesterday. In a statement issued on jihadist forums, the Brigades of Abdullah Azzam said the November 29 attack should be seen as a warning to the West and Israel from embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the SITE Intelligence Group said. “ The Brigades declared that the attack... is to be construed as a message from Assad to Israel and the West, that if his regime is made to fall, then the field will open to the youth of the Sunni peo-

ple to attack the Jewish state,” the statement said. The group gave examples of what it said was Syria’s and the Shiite Hezbollah’s “cunning,” claiming, for example, that Syrian intelligence was behind the March kidnapping of seven Estonian cyclists in the Bekaa region.

The seven were freed unharmed in July. The Brigades in their statement said it was clear that Damascus and its Shiite ally Hezbollah were keen for political reasons to blame the group for any security incidents in Lebanon, including a July attack on UN troops. Abdullah Azzam, the late Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden’s mentor, was killed in a 1989 bomb blast.—AFP

BAGHDAD: Three bombs tore through crowds of Shiite pilgrims celebrating a major ritual in Iraq’s Hilla city yesterday, killing least 22 - mostly women and children - and wounding 60 more, local police and witnesses said. The attacks, at the height of Ashura, which commemorates the death of Prophet Mohammad’s grandson Imam Hussein and defines Shiite Islam, underscored Iraq’s fragile security as the last US troops withdraw from the country by the end of the year.

In the first attack, a car bomb blasted the end of one Shiite procession, killing 16 mainly women and children, wounding 45 others and leaving bloody pools, shoes and tore clothes scattered across the street, police and witnesses said. “A powerful and horrible explosion went off behind us, smoke filled the area,” said Hadi Al-Mamouri, who was taking part in the ritual. “I could only hear the screams of women and I could only see the bodies of women and children on the street.” A second attack involving two roadside bombs killed at least six more people at another procession in Hilla and wounded 15 more, police sources said. The attacks came as the last 10,000 American troops prepare to withdraw by the end of 2011, more than eight years after the invasion that ousted Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein and allowed the country’s Shiite majority to ascend.

Yesterday, an Iraqi Sunni Muslim insurgent group with links to Hussein’s banned Baath par ty vowed to continue attacks on US personnel staying in Iraq even after troops

BAGHDAD: Iraqi Shiites use knives in a self-flagellation ritual in Baghdad yesterday during Ashura commemorations marking the 7th century killing of Imam Hussein, the grandson of Prophet Mohammed, in the Battle of Karbala in central Iraq. —AFP withdraw. Sunni Islamist insurgents often target Shiite shrines and ceremonies in an attempt to inflame sectarian tensions still simmering close to the surface in Iraq. Violence has eased sharply since its worst years in

2006-2007 when Sunni and Shiite armed groups k illed thousands in intercommunal assassinations and bombings.

But Sunni insurgents and Shiite militias still carry out deadly attacks. Iraq’s security forces say

they are generally ready to contain the stubborn insurgencies, but they acknowledge gaps in their abilities such as air defence and intelligence gathering once the American military depart.—Reuters

Sparse turnout for Moroccan protest

TRIPOLI: A Libyan port security man stands guard next to African immigrants in the port of Tripoli yesterday after authorities foiled their attempt to illegally migrate to Europe. —AFP

Libya claims arrest of 400 ‘illegal immigrants’ TRIPOLI: Libya yesterday said its forces had prevented more than 400 Africans from illegally emigrating to Italy when they intercepted a boat off the coast of the North African country. “Despite a lack of means, we were able to prevent illegal immigration of people who were heading for Italy,” interim interior minister Fawzi Abdelali told reporters. Abdelali said the problem of illegal immigration would be treated differently by the country’s new rulers than the way it was tackled by the previous regime of slain dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

“Illegal immigration was a means of pressure used by the former regime to blackmail Europe. Now this issue will be treated differently,” he said, adding that the new Libya will be focused in tackling the issue. “We expect support from the world” in preventing such trafficking, he added. In the port of Tripoli some 420 immigrants were being guarded by for-

mer rebels who toppled Gaddafi as well as being monitored by interior ministry officials, an AFP reporter at the scene reported.

Among them were Ethiopians, Ghanaians, Ivorians and Nigerians.

According to General Joma al-Meshri, a group of former rebels and officers intercepted the boat early yesterday 10 miles off the coast of Tripoli. A commander of the ex-rebels, Khaled Al-Bassir, said they had received information about the vessel’s departure, and that three patrol boats had set off to intercept it. Many of the immigrants said they had become victims of a fraud planned by Libyans to swindle them after they had each paid people smugglers between 1,000 and 1,500 dollars. For several years, Libya has been a transit country for hundreds of thousands of African immigrants trying to reach Europe in search of a better life.—AFP

RABAT: Morocco’s pro-democracy activists held a “day of rage” on Sunday a week following elections, but turnout in the protests was lower than in the past. Only a few hundred protesters marched through the capital Rabat when just two weeks ago there had been thousands. The protesters criticized the Nov 25 elections for supporting a corrupt political system and called for real democracy. “The legislative elections consolidate the politics of fraud and corruption,” said a banner in the march.

Casablanca, Morocco’s largest city, saw 4,000 people demonstrate, which was still substantially less than in the past.

“The government changes, the misery is always the same,” said the protesters as they marched through a slum on the north side of the city. Unlike the Rabat demonstration, in Casablanca there was a heavy police presence. There were also a few thousand demonstrators in Morocco’s northern port city of Tangiers. Nearly every week since February 20, pro-democracy activists have been holding demonstrations in most Moroccan cities calling for greater freedoms, less corruption and more accountability.

Like other countries in the region, Moroccans were inspired by how Tunisians overthrew their own dictator in January, sparking off the Arab Spring of pro-democracy movements across the region. Morocco’s protests once numbered in the tens of thousands and pressured the king into amending the constitution to give greater powers to parliament and the prime minister. Legislative elections were also brought forward a year.

His measures appear to have blunted some of the appeal of the pro-democracy movement. A moderate Islamist party won the elections with a strong anti-corruption platform and pledges to improve the economy, possibly also drawing away some of the support for the pro-democracy movement. The country’s banned Islamist movement, Adl wal Ihsane or Justice and Charity, has normally been mainstay of protests, but didn’t show up for the march in Rabat. Movement spokesman Hassan Bennajeh would neither confirm or deny there had been an order to the movement’s members not to participate.—AP

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2011

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Peru declares state of emergency over protests Emergency to restrict civil liberties LIMA: President Ollanta Humala declared a 60-day state of emergency Sunday to quell increasingly violent protests over the country’s biggest investment, a highlands gold mine, by peasants who fear it will damage their water supply. The emergency restricts civil liberties such as the right to assembly and allows arrests without warrants in four provinces of Cajamarca state that have been paralyzed for 11 days by protests against the $4.8-billion Conga gold-and-copper mining project. US -based Newmont Mining Corp. is the project’s majority owner.

Dozens have been injured in clashes between police and protesters, some of whom have vandalized Conga property. The general strike also shuttered schools and snarled transportation as protesters mounted roadblocks.

Humala said in a brief televised address Sunday night that protest leaders had shown no interest “in reaching minimal agreements to permit a return of social peace” after a day of talks in Cajamarca with Cabinet chief Salmon Lerner, who had been accompanied by military and police chiefs and was guarded by hundreds of heavily armed police.

Humala said the government “has exhausted all paths to establish dialogue as a point of departure to resolve the conflict democratically” and blamed “the intransigence of a sector of local and regional leaders.” He said the emergency was taking effect at midnight Sunday.

Cajamarca state’s governor, Gregorio Santos, who has been leading the protests, called Humala’s announcement an unnecessary provocation. He said protest leaders had been planning to end the strike and had asked government officials for 12 hours to consult with protesters. “I think what’s being sought is for this to end in a bloodbath,”

Santos told The Associated Press by telephone. Police have already used tear gas and bullets against protesters. “We will continue with our fight,” Santos added, without specifying how. Local elected officials have led protests against Conga, an extension of the nearby Yanacocha mine, for more than a month.

They say they fear it will taint and diminish water supplies affecting thousands and have demanded a new study of the environmental impact of the mine, which was to begin production in 2015. Peruvian government officials have expressed no intention of redoing Conga’s environmental impact study, which was approved by the Ministry of Mining in October 2010. Those plans call for displacing four lakes more than two miles high and replacing them with reservoirs. Local residents say they fear that could affect an important acquifer on which thousands depend.

Several weeks ago, the Interior Ministry asked prosecutors to file criminal charges against Santos and four other local leaders who have led protests against Conga, a top ministry lawyer, Julio Talledo, told the AP. The charges include “hindering the functioning of public services” and carry prison terms of at least two years.

It was not immediately clear whether prosecutors have acted on them. The streets of the regional capital, Cajamarca, and the town of Celendin, a flashpoint of protests, were empty Sunday night after Humala’s announcement but people remained tense, local police told the AP by phone.

Local reporters reported seeing busloads of soldiers and police with assault rifles arriving in recent days. Cajamarca police duty officer Miguel Vigil said police commanders were meeting to plan their next steps. “We can’t yet say what measures will follow,” he said.

High court to hear suit over Cheney event arrest WASHINGTON: The Supreme Court said yesterday it will hear an appeal from Secret Service agents who say they should be shielded from a lawsuit over their arrest of a Colorado man who confronted Vice President Dick Cheney. The justices will review a federal appeals court decision to allow Steven Howards of Golden, Colo., to pursue his claim that the arrest violated his free speech rights. Howards was detained by Cheney’s security detail in 2006 after he told Cheney of his opposition to the war in Iraq.

Howards also touched Cheney on the shoulder, then denied doing so under questioning. Appellate judges in Denver said the inconsistency gave the agents reason to arrest Howards. Even so, the appeals court said Howards could sue the agents for violating his rights - an unusual twist that the agents and the Obama administration said conflicts with other appeals court decisions and previous high court rulings in similar cases. Justice Elena Kagan is not taking part in the case, probably because she worked on it while ser ving in the Justice Department.

Howards’ lawsuit grew out of a chance encounter with Cheney at a shopping center in the mountain resort of Beaver Creek. The environmental consultant, now 59, was taking his older son to a piano recital when he saw Cheney emerge from a grocery store and begin talking to people and shaking hands. Howards came to the attention of Cheney’s security detail when an agent heard him say into his cell phone that he was going to ask Cheney “how many kids he killed today.”

While the son continued to the recital, Howards waited to meet the vice president. When it was his turn, Howards told Cheney his “policies in Iraq are disgusting,” according to court papers. Then, as he departed, Howards touched Cheney’s right shoulder with his open hand. Agents who witnessed the contact did not think it was serious enough to justify an arrest. Still, Agent Virgil D “Gus” Reichle Jr. was asked to interview Howards because of the confrontation and the overheard cell phone conversation. Reichle testified that Howards at first refused to talk to him, then denied that he assaulted Cheney or even touched him.

According to Howards, the agent also became “visibly angry” when Howards again expressed his views about the war. Reichle said that the overheard cell phone conversation, the confrontation with Cheney, Howards’ initial refusal to talk and other factors led him to arrest Howards for assault. He later was charged with harassment, but that charge was dismissed. The other agent, Dan Doyle, overheard Howards’ cell phone comment.

Howards filed his civil rights suit soon after. The situation was made worse, he said, by the presence of his younger son, then 8. He witnessed his father get handcuffed and taken away. Howards asked what would happen to his son. “He told me, ‘We’ll contact social services,’” Howards said. “I wasn’t in a position to go ballistic, but I can still hear him saying that in my head.” The legal issue in the case is whether agents, and other law enforcement officers, should be shielded from rights lawsuits when they have a good reason, or probable cause, to make an arrest.

The administration says that officers responsible for protecting the president and vice president have to make quick decisions about potential threats and often work in politically charged environments.

In deciding whether to make an arrest, “these agents should not err always on the side of caution because they fear being sued,” Solicitor General Donald Verrilli Jr. said in court papers. The Supreme Court has previously ruled out damages claims for retaliatory prosecutions when there was probable cause to bring criminal charges in the first place. Some appeals courts already have extended that rule to retaliatory arrests.

In a telephone interview, Howards said the government is trying to make it easier for law enforcement to arrest people. “I’d prefer if the Justice Department would simply acknowledge that it’s not OK to arrest people simply for disagreeing with government policies,” Howards said. Separately, David Lane, Howards’ lawyer, has made clear that he wants to question Cheney under oath as the person best able to recount what happened.

Courts have so far not allowed it. The case will be argued in the spring. The case is Reichle and Doyle v. Howards, 11-262.—AP

Newmont announced last week that it was suspending work at Conga until order could be restored. Its chief executive, Richard O’Brien, said in a statement then that if Newmont was unable to continue with Conga, “the scale and diversity of Newmont’s global portfolio” would allow the Denverbased company to “reprioritize and reallocate capital” to “alternatives in Nevada, Canada, Ghana, Indonesia and Suriname.”

Humala told Cajamarca residents during campaign swings before his June election that clean water was more important for him than gold. Many local inhabitants said they now feel betrayed by the president. Peru’s economy depends heavily on mining, which accounts for 61 percent of its export income.

Humala, a former radical leftist who moved toward the center before his June election, persuaded the mining industry to agree to a tax on windfall profits to help him fund social programs The government says will yield about $1 billion a year. If Conga were to be shelved, government officials fear not just for the windfall tax’s yield but also for the fate of more than $40 billion in mining investment that’s in the pipeline. Cajamarca is not the only Peruvian region where peasants have risen up against mining.

There are currently more than 60 disputes over the alleged detrimental impact of mining on water supplies, according to the national ombudsman’s office. Several big projects have recently been scrapped as a result. One protest leader in Cajamarca, Milton Sanchez, told the AP on Sunday night that “this government that has put itself on the side of mining companies and distanced itself from its electoral promises.” “We are not radical,” he added.

“It’s just that the Conga project has not legitimacy in the eyes of the people.”— AP

BRASILIA: In this Nov. 17, 2011 file photo, Brazil’s Labor Minister Carlos Lupi speaks as he meets with a senate committee regarding allegations of corruption against him in Brasilia, Brazil. —AP

Brazil’s labor minister resigns amid allegations SAO PAULO: Brazil’s labor minister resigned Sunday over corruption allegations, making him the seventh to leave President Dilma Rousseff’s Cabinet since June in what’s been a top challenge to her nearly year-old government. Minister Carlos Lupi wrote in a statement posted on the ministry’s website that he was the victim of “political and personal persecution by the media” that had reported for weeks that his top aides were involved in kickback schemes. While six of Rousseff’s ministers left amid corruption allegations, the president herself has not yet been hurt politically. Her approval rating has risen to 70 per-

cent in recent months, as Brazilians view her as forcing corrupt ministers out of government by pressuring them to resign. Brazilian presidents usually fill minister positions with officials from the various parties of large, unwieldy ruling coalitions, in return for support for their governments. While Rousseff technically named her ministers, party leaders negotiated who received the posts. Lupi himself was accused of accepting a free jet ride in 2009 from Adair Meira, a businessman and director of a non-governmental organization that had won government contracts with the Labor Ministry. — AP

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Supermarket boss seeks to turn Slovenia around LJUBLJANA: Fresh from a surprise election victory, Zoran Jankovic yesterday faced the daunting task of knocking Slovenia into shape, harnessing the skills that made him a millionaire supermarket boss. But whether the two-time mayor of Ljubljana will have the same Midas touch with the ailing euro member’s economy is an open question, with investors deeply concerned over slowing growth and a mounting pile of debt.

First, Jankovic must form a coalition with enough seats in parliament to push through the structural reforms that are vital for the two million-strong former Yugoslav republic as it flirts with recession. “The period of instability is not over yet,” columnist Tanja

Staric said in the Delo daily yesterday.

“On the contrary, everything depends on Jankovic’s capabilities and the readiness of the other parties to participate in the creation of a government strong enough to overcome the deadlock in the decision-making process.”

The charismatic and popular Jankovic’s newly created centre-left Positive Slovenia party pulled off a surprise win in snap elections on Sunday, garnering 28.5 percent of the vote and 28 of the 90 seats in parliament.

Former premier Janez Jansa’s centreright Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) had been widely expected to win but attracted only 26.25 percent support, a far cry from the 31 percent predicted in some polls. Crashing to third place were the governing Social Democrats

of Prime Minister Borut Pahor with just 10.5 percent, compared with 30.5 percent at the last election in 2008.

Pahor’s exit made Slovenia the latest in a string of eurozone countries to have a change of government since the region’s sovereign debt crisis began, including Portugal, Greece, Italy and most recently Spain.

“The results show that citizens want a different state. They had Jansa and Pahor, now they want a democratic but efficient state,” a jubilant Jankovic told journalists at his campaign headquarters on Sunday night. Despite describing himself as a leftist, the flamboyant and populist Jankovic-who entered the race at the last minute-has pledged to run the country like a company. “The Slovenians have shown

themselves to be pragmatic. I don’t think it’s about left or right,” said Corinne Deloy of the Centre for International Studies and Research (CERI) in Paris. “Jankovic succeeded in Ljubljana (as mayor) and Slovenians think he can do the same for Slovenia.”

The former Yugoslav republic’s first ever early elections were called when Pahor’s government lost a confidence vote in September after major reforms to the creaking pension system were rejected in a referendum.

The country has been downgraded by all three major credit rating agencies, interest rates on its debt have risen to unsustainable levels in recent weeks and the export-dependent country is within a hair’s breadth of recession. Unemployment has dou-

bled in three years to reach almost 12 percent of the workforce and Pahor’s outgoing government had forecast a budget deficit this year of 5.5 percent of output.

Jankovic confidently predicts that by the end of his four-year mandate, Slovenia’s economy would reach four percent growth. His program includes raising value added tax by one percentage point and pension, social security and health care reforms aimed at bringing the budget deficit to less than the EU maximum of three percent of output. Jankovic’s most likely coalition partners are seen as Pahor’s Social Democrats, former minister Gregor Virant’s Citizens’ List and pensioners’ party Desus, having ruled out governing with Jansa. — AFP

World Court rules against Greece in Macedonia case 1995 deal breached by Greece

MOSCOW: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (L) speaks during a meeting with his supporters at the Gorki residence outside Moscow yesterday. —AFP

Putin’s party barely hangs on to majority MOSCOW: Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s party saw its majority in Russia’s parliament weaken sharply, according to preliminary election results released yesterday, a humiliating setback for the man who has steadily tightened his grip on the nation for nearly 12 years. Some opposition politicians and election monitors said even a result of around 50 percent for Putin’s United Russia party was inflated because of vote fraud. Their claims were backed by international observers, who pointed to procedural violations and serious indications of ballot stuffing after a campaign slanted in favor of United Russia.

“To me, this election was like a game in which only some players are allowed to compete,” Heidi Tagliavini, the head of the international observer mission, said at a news conference. United Russia is still expected to retain its majority in the lower house and Putin is all but certain to win next March’s presidential election, but Sunday’s vote badly dented his carefully groomed image. It reflected a strong public frustration with the lack of political competition, ubiquitous official corruption and the gap between rich and poor.

With about 96 percent of precincts counted, United Russia was leading with 49.5 percent of the vote, Central Election Commission chief Vladimir Churov said.

He predicted that it will get 238 of the Duma’s 450 seats, a sharp drop compared to the previous vote that landed the party a two-thirds majority in the State Duma, allowing it to change the constitution. Final preliminary results were to be announced yesterday morning, but the count dragged on for longer than expected. Some opposition politicians alleged that election officials may manipulate the vote count to make sure that United Russia gets over 50 percent

mark. Mikhail Kasyanov, a former prime minister who is now in opposition, said that Putin badly needs the figure to avoid looking weak.

The monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly wouldn’t say if the irregularities could be at the scale to question if United Russia has an unearned majority. But Tagliavini said that of the 150 polling stations where the counting was obser ved, “34 were assessed to be very bad.” Putin tried to put a positive spin on the returns, saying late Sunday that “we can ensure the stable development of the country with this result.” But he appeared glum when speaking to supporters at United Russia headquarters and limited his remarks to a terse statement.

United Russia has been seen increasingly as the party of corrupt officials, and its description as a “party of crooks and thieves” has stuck, flashing up as the first suggestion on Russia’s top web search engine. Seeing the declining fortunes of his party, Putin named his handpicked successor as president, Dmitry Medvedev, to lead United Russia’s list.

The vote will further weaken positions of Medvedev, whom Putin promised to name prime minister after the presidential vote, a move that has fueled public irritation. In the runup to the vote, Putin also sought to stem a quick decline in United Russia’s popularity by trying to expand its support base with a so-called Popular Front, an umbrella group for unions, professional associations, veteran groups and others. But the effort has brought no visible result, and Putin last month received a stinging blow to his own ego when he was met with catcalls after a mixed martial arts fight at a Moscow arena. — AP

WikiLeaks’ Assange can continue extradition fight LONDON: A British court yesterday gave WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange permission to continue his legal battle to avoid extradition to Sweden over sex crimes allegations. The decision means Assange does not face immediate deportation. British judges said Assange could apply to the Supreme Court to hear one specific point of his legal case - but there is no guarantee that the higher court will accept his request. In his judgment, Judge John Thomas said Assange had only a small prospect of convincing the Supreme Court of his arguments.

The “chances of success may be extraordinarily slim” for Assange’s appeal, Thomas said. Assange’s lawyers had argued that every European arrest warrant issued by police or prosecutors was flawed, because neither should be considered a judicial authority. The High Court judges did not indicate whether they agreed with the argument, but said Assange’s legal team should have the chance to ask the Supreme Court to grant them a hearing. Assange said he was pleased by

the ruling. “The High Court has decided that an issue that arises from my own case is of general public importance and may be of assistance in other cases and should be heard at the Supreme Court,” he said outside the courthouse. “I think this is the right decision and I am thankful, the long struggle for justice for me and for others continues.” Assange now has 14 days to submit a written request to the Supreme Court, Assange’s lawyer Gareth Peirce said.

Assange’s Swedish lawyers also hailed the decision. “This is positive news for Julian Assange and means he will remain in the UK while the court assesses his appeal,” Assange’s Swedish lawyer Per E. Samuelsson said. “It is something we have fought for.”Claes Borgstrom, the lawyer representing the two women bringing sex crime charges against Assange, called the decision regrettable.

“My clients have waited for over a year for a legal conclusion of this and now they will have to wait even longer,” Borgstrom said. — AP

THE HAGUE: The world court ruled yesterday that Greece was wrong to block Macedonia’s bid to join NATO in 2008 because of a longrunning dispute over the fledgling country’s use of the name Macedonia. In a 15-1 ruling, the court found that Greece’s veto breached a 1995 deal under which Greece had agreed not to block Macedonia’s membership in international organizations if it used the name “The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia,” or FYROM, while the matter was submitted to further negotiations. More than 15 years later, mediation over the name is still unresolved.

Although the question of Macedonia’s name is sometimes seen as superficial by outsiders, it is a matter of deep concern for both sides. The young country has used the name in one form or another since shortly after World War II, when it was a province of Yugoslavia, but Greece sees the use of the name as historically inaccurate at best and a potential threat to its territorial integrity at worst.

The victory is mostly symbolic but it may make it politically difficult for Greece to block Macedonia’s entry into NATO if it reapplies. It also lends moral weight to Macedonian protests that Greece’s moves to block it from joining the European Union are unfair.

However, the UN court, formally known as the International Court of Justice, did not fine Greece or order it to refrain from similar moves in the future. The ruling’s central finding that Greece “has violated its obligation...(under) the interim accord, constitutes appropriate satisfaction,” said presiding Judge Hisashi Owada, reading the written ruling.

Greece’s Foreign Ministry said yesterday it will continue to block Macedonia’s attempts to join NATO until the name issue is resolved.

Outside the courtroom, Greece’s Dutch Ambassador Ioannis Economides called on Macedonia “to resist using today’s decision to subvert the negotiations.”

Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov said Greece should “respect the judgment of the International Court of Justice.” “For the time being, we do not want to look through the

categories of winners and losers,” he said, promising to continue the negotiations.

Ordinary Macedonians appeared pleased.

“Finally, a little justice for Macedonia!” said housewife Marina Stevcevska, 49, after hearing of the ruling.

“After years of disappointments for this country, finally we have received a good news, somebody to tell Greece that it is doing wrong, that is enough”, she said. There was little opposition from Athens to the name until

speak a language similar to Bulgarian - and Bulgaria was a bitter military enemy to Greece in the first half of the 20th century. Greece has long-term concerns that the use by the FYROM of the name Macedonia will eventually lead to the country, possibly together with Bulgaria, staking claims to parts of modern Greece.

The FYROM has been friendly to NATO from its inception, allowing U.S. troops to use its territory as a staging ground during the

THE HAGUE: Presiding Judge Hisashi Owada, second right, reads the ruling of the International Court of Justice in a dispute between Greece and Macedonia over Athens’ veto of Macedonia’s bid for NATO membership in The Hague, Netherlands yesterday. —AP the FYROM declared independence in 1991.

The country occupies much of the territory in the region that was known as Macedonia in the times of Alexander the Great in the 4th century B.C. But since then, the region has undergone such complete ethnic and cultural changes to render the name nonsensical, Greece argues not to mention that Greece has its own province called Macedonia. The FYROM is now composed mostly of Slavic peoples who

Yugoslav wars. NATO clashed with Serbia under the rule of Slobodan Milosevic even as Greece sympathized with Belgrade due to historical strategic and religious ties. Under the 1995 interim agreement, Greece dropped economic sanctions against the FYROM in exchange for agreements by the country to drop the use of an ancient Macedonian flag as its own, and to amend articles of its constitution, which could be seen as hinting at claims to Greek territory. —AP

News

in brief

Russian downgrades ties with Qatar MOSCOW: Russia is demanding an apology from the government of Qatar for an attack on three Russian diplomats and says it will downgrade its diplomatic relations. Russia’s Foreign Ministry said yesterday that its ambassador to Qatar, Vladimir Titorenko, and two other diplomats were attacked by security officers at the airport in Doha, the capital. It said the officers tried to forcibly seize a parcel from a diplomatic pouch the ambassador was carrying, and the ambassador was hospitalized after the attack. The ministry said the incident will have the “most negative consequences” on ties between Moscow and Doha, but did not specify the measures it will take.

NOGENT-SUR-SEINE: French Herve Maillart, the director of the French nuclear plant in Nogent-sur-Seine poses yesterday after Greenpeace activists managed to sneak into the plant in what they said was a bid to highlight the dangers of atomic energy. —AFP

Greenpeace breaches French plant security PARIS: Environmental group Greenpeace said yesterday it had exposed the “vulnerability” of French nuclear sites after its activists broke into an atomic power station near Paris before being arrested. The dawn raid saw nine activists sneak past security at the Nogent-sur-Seine plant, 95 kilometres (60 miles) southeast of Paris, and unfurl a banner on one of its domes reading: “Safe Nuclear Power Doesn’t Exist.”

“The aim is to show the vulnerability of French nuclear installations, and how easy it is to get to the heart of a reactor,” said Sophia Majnoni, a Greenpeace nuclear expert. “In about 15 minutes the activists reached the heart of the plant, where the nuclear core and nuclear fuel are,” she told journalists near the plant.

French authorities confirmed the intrusion, saying that the nine had been detained and a thorough search was being conducted of all installations after

Greenpeace said its activists had entered other sites and remained present.

“We at the moment have people who are in a nuclear site and have not been located,” Greenpeace spokeswoman Adelaide Colin said. French energy giant EDF, which runs the nuclear plants that France relies on for 75 percent of its energy, said there were no signs that activists had managed to infiltrate other installations. “There are no traces of intrusion in EDF’s other nuclear stations,” it added.

EDF sought to downplay the incident, insisting it had been aware of the intrusion from the start.

“We saw immediately that they were not armed... As soon as these people entered they were detected and followed, and when you are dealing with people with peaceful intentions, you must intervene calmly,” Dominique Miniere, the head of EDF’s nuclear program, told a press conference. — AFP

Several injured as Guinea police break up rally CONAKRY: Several people were injured when Guinean security forces broke up a meeting of supporters of former prime minister Lansana Kouyate in the east of the country, his party said yesterday.

Members of the Party for the Hope of National Development (PEDN) had gathered in Kankan, 600km (380 miles) east of the capital for the rally held in honour of Kouyate on Sunday, said party secretary general Traore Zalikatou Diallo. “Thousands of our party’s supporters were prevented from gathering ... our supporters were sprayed with tear gas and beaten up” by security forces, leaving many injured, she said. Guinean journalists who were present confirmed this information however police would not comment. Kouyate formed an alliance with President Alpha Conde in run-off elections at the end of 2010 which saw the latter become the west African nation’s first democratically elected leader since independence in 1958. However the two later parted ways due to “personality differences”. Both originate from Upper-Guinea and share the country’s influential Mandinke electorate.

15 die in bus crash in Cameroon YAOUNDE: A government official says that 15 people were killed and 40 were seriously injured in a bus crash in Cameroon’s northwest. West Regional Governor Samuel Diboa says that the bus was heading to Yaounde when it crashed into a trailer truck parked on the side of the road and carrying a bulldozer early yesterday. —Agencies

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West pledges continued support to Afghanistan US prepared to stand with Afghan people: Clinton

LAHORE: Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani gestures during an interview with The Associated Press at his residence in Lahore, Pakistan yesterday.—AP

Pakistan PM sees progress in US ties LAHORE: Pakistan wants to rebuild ties with the United States despite ongoing retaliation over deadly NATO airstrikes on its troops along the Afghan border, the country’s prime minister told The Associated Press yesterday, stressing that he believes “it won’t take long” to achieve a new relationship with the old ally. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s remarks indicate that Pakistan is looking for a way to restore some normalcy to ties with the United States following the Nov. 26 airstrikes, but wants to leverage the situation to try and reset the relationship in ways more beneficial to Pakistan.

Gilani also said the country remained committed to working with Afghanistan to bring insurgent leaders - many of whom are believed to be on its soil and to enjoy close relations with its security forces - into talks with the government and allow US to begin withdrawing its troops as it is committed to doing. That may reassure international leaders meeting in Germany to discuss the future of Afghanistan.

Pakistan boycotted the talks because of the airstrikes along the Pakistan-Afghan border that killed 24 Pakistani troops.

“I think we have evolved some mechanisms, and we are ready to cooperate,” he said, referring to meetings with Afghanistan’s military and intelligence chiefs on a framework for talks.

“We are committed (to reconciliation), despite that we are not attending (the Bonn meeting),” he said.

As well as boycotting the Bonn talks, Pakistan retaliated by blocking its Afghan bor-

der crossings to NATO supplies and giving the US 15 days to vacate Shamsi air base, which has been used by American drones used to strike militants along the Afghan border. US Ambassador Cameron Munter said in a local TV interview that Washington was doing its best to comply with Pakistan’s demand to leave the air base.

Gilani said new ties being negotiated with the US would ensure that the two countries “respected each other’s red lines” regarding sovereignty and rules of engagement along the border. While he gave few details, he made it clear he thought this was both desirable and possible.

“We hope, we really want to have good relations with the US based on mutual respect and clearly defined parameters,” he said. “I think that is doable. I think that it won’t take long.” The two sides have given differing accounts of what led to the attacks on the army posts. US officials have said the incident occurred when a joint US and Afghan patrol requested air support after coming under fire. The US checked with the Pakistan military to see if there were friendly troops in the area and were told there were not, they said. Pakistan has said the coordinates given by the Americans were wrong an allegation denied by US defense officials.

President Barack Obama called Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari on Sunday to offer his condolences for the deaths of the Pakistani soldiers and affirm the US is committed to a full investigation. —AP

Bangladesh PM visits Myanmar DHAKA: Bangladesh and Myanmar will sign agreements on economic cooperation and investment protection during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to the country yesterday, officials said, as part of efforts to double trade to more than $400 million in two years. Hasina’s visit is the first by a Bangladeshi prime minister in eight years at the invitation of Myanmar President Thein Sein who is leading a push to re-engage the international community after decades of isolation.

“She will explore possibilities including buying energy, leasing farming land and joint hydro-electric projects,” Bangladesh Commerce Minister Faruk Khan said. The agreements that two countries plan to sign will help increase

trade, officials said. Dhaka is looking to increase exports of pharmaceuticals, frozen food, cement, ready-made garments, plastic products and toiletries to Myanmar. “There is strong possibility to raise business with Myanmar significantly over the next few years as the country seems ready to open its economy for outsiders,” Mustafizur Rahman, executive director of the Centre for Policy Dialogue, said.

The two countries generally enjoy friendly ties, but have squabbled in the past over what Bangladesh says has been an influx of refugees, mostly minority Muslims from Myanmar fleeing persecution. A dispute over certain gas blocks in the Bay of Bengal that both claim has also cropped up in recent months. —Reuters

BONN: The United States and other nations vowed yesterday to keep supporting Afghanistan after most foreign forces leave the country in 2014, as the nation faces an enduring Taliban-led insurgency and possible financial collapse. “The United States is prepared to stand with the Afghan people for the long haul,” US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told a global conference on Afghanistan’s future that was overshadowed by the absence of key regional player Pakistan.

The international community has “much to lose if the country again becomes a source of terrorism and instability,” she added. The Bonn conference is focused on the transfer of security responsibilities from international forces to Afghan security forces during the next three years, long-term prospects for international aid and a possible political settlement with the Taleban to ensure the country’s viability beyond 2014.

Clinton stressed that in return for continued support the Afghans must live up to their commitments “on taking difficult decisions to embrace reform, lead in their own defense and strengthen an inclusive democracy rooted in the rule of law.” About 100 countries and international organizations were represented among the 1,000 conference delegates, including some 60 foreign ministers. “ Together we have spent blood and treasure in fighting terrorism,” Afghan President Hamid Karzai said. “Your continued solidarity, your commitment and support will be crucial so that we can consolidate our gains and continue to address the challenges that remain. We will need your steadfast support for at least another decade.”

Afghanistan is economically dependent on foreign aid and spending related to the huge military presence, currently totaling about 130,000 international troops. The country seeks assurance that donor nations will help fill the gap after most forces leave by 2015. Although donor nations will not commit to specific figures at the one-day session yesterday, they will sign up to the principle that economic and other advances in Afghanistan since the ouster of the Taleban government in 2001 should be safeguarded with continued funding.

Afghanistan estimates it will need outside contributions of roughly $10 billion in 2015, or slightly less than half the country’s annual gross national product, mostly to pay for its security

forces, then slated to number about 350,000. The conference’s final declaration outlines a series of mutual commitments for the decade following the troop withdrawal, strongly conveying that Afghanistan “will not be left alone,” a German diplomat said.

“On the other hand, there is a clear Afghan commitment do to its homework in terms of reform, fighting corruption, good governance and strengthening democracy,” said the diplomat, who

last month’s NATO air assault, carried out from Afghan territory, that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.

The deaths fed the popular perspective in Pakistan that the US and NATO, not the Taliban, are Pakistan’s principal enemies.

“Nobody (...) is more concerned than the United States is about getting an accurate picture of what occurred in the recent border incident,” Clinton said with an edge in her voice. Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told

BONN: (Front row, from L) US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle pose for a family picture at the start of the Afghanistan Conference yesterday in Bonn, western Germany. —AFP spoke on condition of anonymity because the summit conclusion was not yet made public. The international community also pledges to support the process of reconciliation with the Taliban, “with its basic principles being no to violence, no to terrorism and respect for the Afghan constitution and human rights,” he said.

Pakistan is a central player in regional efforts to improve trade and strengthen its weak economies. But its boycott has cast a pall over the session, because it points out that nation’s influence in Afghanistan and its ability to play the spoiler.

Pakistan is seen as instrumental to ending the Taliban-led insurgency in Afghanistan because of its links to militant groups and its unwillingness, from the US and NATO perspective, to drive insurgents from safe havens on its soil where they regroup and rearm. Pakistan canceled its participation to protest

The Associated Press in Lahore, Pakistan, that his country remained committed to working with Afghanistan to bring insurgent leaders into talks with the government. “I think we have evolved some mechanisms, and we are ready to cooperate,” he said, referring to meetings with Afghanistan’s military and intelligence chiefs on a framework for talks. “We are committed (to reconciliation), despite that we are not attending (the Bonn meeting),” he said. Pakistan’s army accused NATO of a “deliberate act of aggression,” an assertion the Pentagon hotly denied. Pakistan has received billions in US aid since 2001, largely in expectation of cooperation against militants.

Afghanistan’s western neighbor Iran joined the conference, and Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said the country stands ready to support Afghanistan and “welcomes the departure of the international military,” condemn-

US vacating air base in Pakistan ISLAMABAD: The United States is vacating an air base in Pakistan used by American drones that target Taleban and Al-Qaeda militants, complying with a key demand made by Islamabad in retaliation for the NATO airstrikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, the US ambassador said yesterday. The move is not expected to significantly curtail drone attacks in Pakistan since Shamsi air base in southwestern Baluchistan province was only used to service drones that had mechanical or weather difficulties.

But Washington’s decision to leave the base shows how the NATO attacks on Nov. 26 have plunged the already strained USPakistan relationship to an all-time low. The crisis threatens US attempts to get Pakistan to cooperate on winding down the Afghan war. Pakistan immediately retaliated by blocking its Afghan border crossings to NATO supplies and giving the US 15 days to vacate Shamsi - a deadline that falls on Dec 11. Islamabad is also boycotting an international conference in Bonn, Germany, aimed at stabilizing Afghanistan.

US Ambassador Cameron Munter said in a local TV interview that Washington was doing its best to comply with Pakistan’s demand to leave the air base. “I think what we can promise you is that we will do everything we can to vacate the Shamsi base by the date that you asked us,” said Munter. Mohammed Naeem Mirwani, who owns land

outside Shamsi, said two large military aircraft landed at the base Sunday morning and took off again in the afternoon after being loaded with containers.

US and Pakistani officials refused to comment on the aircraft. Munter did not mention the use of Shamsi by American drones.

The US does not acknowledge the CIA-run drone program in Pakistan publicly, but American officials

have said privately that the strikes have killed many senior Taleban and Al-Qaeda commanders.

President Barack Obama has significantly stepped up strikes since taking office in 2009. Pakistani officials regularly criticize drone attacks as violations of the country’s sovereignty, but the government is widely believed to have supported the strikes in the past.

That support has come under pres-

ing the idea of any bases remaining after 2014. The US is currently seeking an agreement with the Afghan government establishing operating rules for the small number of remaining US forces and other issues after international forces withdraw.

“Any international or regional peace initiative to restore peace and security in Afghanistan can only be successful if it discards the presence of foreign military forces,” Salehi said. The US had

sure this year as the US-Pakistan relationship has deteriorated.

Ties were damaged by a CIA contractor who shot and killed two Pakistanis in January, and the US raid that killed Osama bin Laden in a Pakistani garrison town in May. Pakistan was outraged because it didn’t know about the operation against the Al-Qaeda chief beforehand. Pakistani officials pushed for US military per-

KARACHI: Pakistani Shiite Muslims chant religious slogans during a Muharram procession in Karachi, Pakistan yesterday. Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar is observed around the world for ten days of mourning in remembrance of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, the grandson of Prophet Mohammed (PBUH). —AP

sonnel to abandon Shamsi following the bin Laden raid, but eventually agreed to a compromise with Washington. The US agreed to launch offensive drone strikes into Pakistan from American bases in neighboring Afghanistan, and restrict the use of Shamsi to drones that needed to land because of bad weather or mechanical difficulties, US and Pakistani officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the covert nature of the drone program.

That stance changed when NATO aircraft attacked two Pakistani army posts on the Afghan border before dawn on Nov. 26, killing 24 soldiers and prompting the government to demand the US leave Shamsi. The two sides have given differing accounts of what led to the attacks on the army posts. US officials have said the incident occurred when a joint US and Afghan patrol requested air support after coming under fire. The US checked with the Pakistan military to see if there were friendly troops in the area and were told there were not, they said.

Pakistan has said the coordinates given by the Americans were wrong - an allegation denied by US defense officials. Obama called Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari on Sunday to offer his condolences for the deaths of the Pakistani soldiers and affirm the US is committed to a full investigation.—AP

once hoped to use the Bonn gathering to announce news about the prospect for peace talks with the Taliban, making it a showcase for political reconciliation, but Afghan and US outreach efforts have not borne fruit and no prominent Taleban representatives were attending the conference.

The reconciliation efforts suffered a major setback after the September assassination of former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani, who was leading the Afghan government’s effort to broker peace with the insurgents.

Violence in Afghanistan is up sharply this year, and has spread to the once-peaceful north of the country. And widespread corruption is bedeviling attempts to create a viable Afghan government and institutions to take over when the US and NATO leave. “The road ahead will remain stony and difficult. It will require endurance and tenacity,” German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said. —AP

Bomb blast kills five AfghanS KABUL: A minibus full of Afghan civilians struck a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan yesterday, setting off an explosion that killed five passengers. One woman and four children died and another six passengers were wounded, said Fareed Ayal, a spokesman for the Uruzgan provincial police. Ayal said the vehicle had just left the main market area in Chor district when it hit the buried explosive. He said two brothers and their families were traveling in the minibus.

Civilians are frequently the victims of bombs laid by insurgents to target Afghan or international forces. The UN said in a recent report that 1,462 Afghan civilians were killed in the crossfire between Taliban insurgents and Afghan, US and NATO forces during the first half of this year - up 15 percent from the same period a year earlier.

The UN report attributed 80 percent of the civilian deaths to insurgents and others fighting against the Afghan government. International troops and other progovernment forces were to blame for 14 percent of the deaths; 6 percent were not attributed to any side.

In the east, meanwhile, eight Pakistani laborers were freed five days after being kidnapped by unknown gunmen, said Din Mohammad Darwesh, the spokesman for the Logar province government. Local elders helped negotiate their release, Darwesh said, adding that no ransom was paid. The laborers were taken when a gunman on a motorcycle ambushed a bus carrying them to work at a hospital construction site in the provincial capital.

After he stopped the bus, a group of attackers took them into the woods at gunpoint. —AP

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Thai king, 84, calls for unity amid flood crisis 64 million affected by crisis BANGKOK: Thailand’s king called for his countrymen to unite in response to the worst floods in half a century. The revered monarch spoke yesterday to mark his 84th birthday and amid deep political divisions plaguing the

route, waving flags and chanting “Long live the king.” About a fifth of Thailand’s 64 million people have been affected by the ongoing flood crisis, which began in late July. More than 600 people have died.

said it was their duty “to cooperate and fix problems to the best of your ability, especially now that our people are suffering from the floods.” “ The most important thing is you should not be split or fighting each other. We

BANGKOK: In this photo provided by the Bureau of the Royal Household, Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej, center, appears to speak at the balcony of the Grand Palace during a ceremony celebrating his 84th birthday in Bangkok, Thailand yesterday. —AP country King Bhumibol Adulyadej spoke at the ceremonial Grand Palace for about five minutes after being driven from a nearby hospital where he has been staying for more than two years.

Cheering well wishers lined the

Speaking from a terrace to a formally attired audience of dignitaries, the king told officials that stability depended upon the happiness of the people. His address was also broadcast live nationwide on all channels. Bhumibol

need to inspire and give each other confidence so that the work we do will be fruitful for the wellbeing of the people and the stability and security of the country.”

Thailand has been in a state of political turmoil since a 2006 mili-

tary coup ousted elected Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, setting off a struggle for power between his supporters and opponents. The battle has sometimes turned violent, culminating with street fighting in the Thai capital last year that saw 90 people lose their lives and several buildings burned down.

A new government led by Thaksin’s sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, took office this year after decisively winning elections, relieving some of the political pressure. In response to the turmoil, the king’s occasional speeches in recent years have stressed the need for unity. The king traditionally has played a conciliating role in Thai society, but his declining health and the polarization of Thai society have hurt his influence. His near-disappearance from the public scene has also raised concerns about what will happen after his passing. His son and heir-apparent, Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn, does not command the same respect and affection.

The king, who took the throne in 1946, was originally hospitalized in September 2009 with a lung inflammation. Official statements have said he remained at the hospital for physical therapy and nourishment to recover his strength. Last month, he suffered a health crisis that caused him to temporarily lose consciousness, according to one of his daughters, Princess Chulabhorn. She said doctors said the problem could have been caused by his stress over the flooding. —AP

Water leaks from crippled Japanese nuclear plant TOKYO: Japan’s crippled nuclear power plant leaked about 45 tons of highly radioactive water from a purification device over the weekend, its operator said, and some may have drained into the ocean. The leak is a reminder of the difficulties facing Tokyo Electric Power Co. as it tries to meet its goal of bringing the tsunamidamaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant to a cold shutdown by year’s end.

A pool of radioactive water was discovered midday Sunday around a decontamination device, TEPCO said in a statement on its website. After the equipment was turned off, the leak appeared to stop. Later, workers found a crack in a concrete barrier leaking the contaminated water into a gutter that leads to the ocean.

TEPCO estimated that about 300 liters leaked out before the crack was blocked with sandbags. Officials were checking whether any water had reached the nearby ocean. The leakage of radioactive water from the Fukushima plant into the Pacific Ocean in the weeks after the March 11 accident caused widespread concern that seafood in the coastal waters would be contaminated. The pooled water around the purification device was measured Sunday at 16,000 bequerels per liter of cesium-134, and 29,000 bequerels per liter of cesium137, TEPCO said. That’s 270 times and 322 times higher, respectively, than government safety limits, according to the Citizens’ Nuclear Information Center in Tokyo.

Cesium-137 is dangerous because it can last for decades in the environment, releasing cancer-causing radiation. The half-life of cesium-134 is about two years, while the half-life of cesium-137 is about 30 years. TEPCO is using the purification devices to decontaminate water that has been used to cool the reactors following the tsunami crisis. Three of the plant’s reactor cores mostly melted down when the March 11 waves knocked out the plant’s cooling system. —AP

Korean ex-hostage dies of illness in Philippines MANILA: One of three South Korean businessmen who were released from a month of captivity in the restive southern Philippines has died of complications from an internal infection, police said yesterday. Choi Inn-so, 52, died in a hospital in southern Cagayan de Oro city last week after undergoing surgery. He was abandoned by his kidnappers Nov. 24 in Lanao del Sur province, said Cagayan de Oro police chief Gerardo Rosales.

Quoting Choi’s doctor, Rosales said the businessman developed an infection in his lungs, kidneys and heart. It was possible he got sick while in captivity, he said. Choi’s body will be autopsied and police were coordinating with the South Korean Embassy, Rosales said. Ransom kidnappings have long been a problem in the southern Philippines. Muslim rebels, terrorist groups and criminals operate in many parts of the Mindanao region, but it was not clear what group was responsible for the latest abductions.

The three Koreans and their Filipino guide were kidnapped Oct 21. The military has said Choi was apparently released because he was ill and slowing down the group. The two other South Koreans were released two days later, after troops closed in and the gunmen panicked. Rosales said the body of the Filipino guide was recovered late last month and the kidnappers remain at large.

Army Col Daniel Lucero has said the kidnappers demanded up to 50 million pesos ($1.2 million) in ransom but received nothing. Another military official, Maj Gen Noel Coballes, said that the kidnappers apparently lured the South Koreans with a nonexistent mining investment project. Police have been debriefing the other two men in the southern Philippines. —AP

PALAWAN: In this photo released Sunday by the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan province, nine dead Green Sea Turtles seized from six Chinese fishermen at Puerto Princesa city port, Palawan province, southwestern Philippines are loaded into a Philippine Navy truck for proper disposition.—AP

Six Chinese charged for turtle catch in Philippines MANILA: A court in the Philippines charged six Chinese fishermen with poaching endangered sea turtles in proceedings yesterday aimed at protecting threatened wildlife along the country’s coastline. Authorities discovered a batch of giant green turtles after intercepting the fishermen’s speedboat in waters off the western province of Palawan on Friday, said military spokesman Maj. Niel Estrella. A joint team from the Philippine navy, coast guard and the Environment Department made the seizure.

The boat was likely attached to a mother ship that escaped after the fishermen were detained, Estrella said. Nine of the turtles were already dead, but three were released alive into the waters after being tagged, Glenda Cadigal, a wildlife specialist at the Palawan Council, told The Associated Press.

The sea turtles, also known as Chelonia mydas, are often caught for food and for use in traditional medicine. They can grow as long as 5 feet (150 centimeters) and weigh as much as 290 pounds (130 kilograms). They are endangered because of overharvesting of both eggs and adults.

Yesterday, authorities filed criminal charges under the Philippines’ Wildlife Act and Fisheries Code at the Palawan Regional Trial Court in the capital Puerto Princessa, said Adelina Villena, chief lawyer for the government’s Palawan Council for Sustainable Development. If found guilty on all charges, the fishermen would face up to 24 years in prison. They were not requested to enter a plea yester-

day and a date for their arraignment was not immediately set, Villena said.

In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said China was “paying attention to the incident” and asked the Philippines to ensure the safety and legal rights of the fishermen. “The Chinese Embassy in the Philippines has sent staff to visit the detained fishermen,” Hong said. Last year, six Chinese fishermen also on a speedboat were arrested near the same area with more than 50 turtles, many of them already butchered and one bearing a monitoring tag of the University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute, said Cadrigal, the wildlife specialist.

The trial of those fisherman is still continuing. “These kind of practices endanger the lives of other creatures in the sea because marine turtles have their function in the balance of the ecosystem,” Cadigal said. Sea turtles feed on sea grass, which keeps the blades short and promotes their growth across the sea bed, and also provide sand beaches with nutrients, partly because of the eggs they lay that remain unhatched.

Palawan, about 510 miles (820 kilometers) southwest of Manila, is the nearest Philippine province to the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, which are claimed by China, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam and Brunei. Relations between the Philippines and China have recently soured after Manila accused Beijing of interfering with its oil exploration activities in the sea China claims in its entirety. —AP

Vietnam: 100,000 killed, hurt by abandoned weapons PHNOM PENH: In this photo released by the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, Noun Chea, former deputy secretary in the Communist Party of Kampuchea looks on before being questioned at the court hall of the U.N.-backed war crimes tribunal, on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, Cambodia yesterday.—AP

Ex-leader in court: Khmer Rouge not ‘bad people’ PHNOM PENH: The No 2 leader of Cambodia’s brutal Khmer Rouge regime told a court he and his comrades were not “bad people,” denying responsibility yesterday for the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians during their 1970s rule. Nuon Chea’s defiant statements came at a UN-backed tribunal, which began questioning him and two other Khmer Rouge leaders in court for the first time since their longawaited trial began late last month.

Nuon Chea, the trusted deputy of the late Pol Pot, instead blamed neighboring Vietnam for the atrocities. The Khmer Rouge have often claimed that the mass graves discovered subsequently were of people killed by Vietnamese armed forces. This week the court is expected to focus on charges involving the forced movement of people and crimes against humanity.

After the Khmer Rouge captured Phnom Penh on April 17, 1975, they began moving an estimated 1 million people - even hospital patients from the capital into the countryside in an effort to create a communist agrarian utopia.

After a court clerk read a background of the Khmer Rouge and the three defendants, Nuon Chea defended the notoriously brutal former movement. “I don’t want the next generation to misunderstand history. I don’t want them to believe the Khmer Rouge are bad people, are criminal,” Nuon Chea said. “Nothing is true about that.” The 85-year-old communist movement’s one-time chief ideologist instead said no Cambodian was responsible for atrocities during the Khmer Rouge’s 1975-1979 reign, reiterating a claim that neighboring Vietnam instead was responsible for mass killings. Vietnam, whose border suffered bloody attacks by Khmer Rouge soldiers, sponsored a resistance movement and invaded, toppling the Khmer Rouge in 1979 and installing a client regime. “These war crimes and crimes against humanity were not committed by the Cambodian people,” Nuon Chea said. “It was the Vietnamese who killed Cambodians.”

The trio of defendants are accused of crimes against humanity, genocide, religious persecution, homicide and torture stemming from the

group’s 1975-79 reign of terror. All have denied wrongdoing. The other two include Khieu Samphan, an 80-year-old former head of state who also told the court in November he bore no responsibility for atrocities, and 86-year-old Ieng Sary, who has said he will not participate in the trial until a ruling is issued on a pardon he received in 1996. The tribunal previously ruled the pardon does not cover its indictment against him.

There is concern that the accused could pass away before justice is achieved. The Khmer Rouge’s supreme leader, Pol Pot, died in 1998 in Cambodia’s jungles, and a fourth defendant, 79year-old Ieng Thirith, was ruled unfit to stand trial last week because she has Alzheimer’s disease. She is Ieng Sary’s wife and served as the regime’s minister for social affairs. The tribunal is seeking justice on behalf of the estimated quarter of Cambodia’s population who died from executions, starvation, disease and overwork under the Khmer Rouge. “This is the first time the accused persons will be asked questions in a public hearing about their role in the events that led to the takeover of Phnom Penh on 17 April 1975 and about the policies of the Khmer Rouge,” tribunal spokesman Lars Olsen told The Associated Press. Olsen said the initial testimony will take several days. After the accused have been questioned, witnesses and civil parties will be also called to testify, he said. So far the UNbacked tribunal, established in 2006, has tried just one case, convicting Kaing Guek Eav, the former head of the Khmer Rouge’s notorious S21 prison, last year and sentencing him to 35 years in prison for war crimes, crimes against humanity and other offenses. His sentence was reduced to 19 years due to time served and other technicalities.

That case was seen as much simpler than those currently before the court, in part because Kaing Guek Eav confessed to his crimes. Chum Mey, 80, one of only two survivors of the S-21 prison, said he doesn’t believe the three defendants will tell the truth about what happened in the 1970s. —AP

HANOI: More than 100,000 Vietnamese have been killed or injured by land mines or other abandoned explosives since the Vietnam War ended nearly 40 years ago, and it will take decades more to clear all of the country, officials said yesterday. “The war’s painful legacy, which includes hundreds of thousands of tons of bombs and unexploded ordnance, continues to cause painful casualties every day,” Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung told a United Nations-sponsored conference on ways to deal with the problem.

Dung said 42,132 people have been killed and 62,163 others wounded by land mines, bombs and other explosives since the war ended in 1975. The United States used about 16 million tons of bombs and ammunition while allied with the former South Vietnam government, which was defeated by northern communist fighters who

reunified the country. US Ambassador David Shear told the conference that the United States has provided $62 million to help Vietnam cope with “this painful legacy.”

“Our efforts to help Vietnam deal with this difficult problem have helped build the mutual trust and understanding between the US and Vietnam that has allowed our bilateral relationship to flourish,” he said. Bui Hong Linh, vice minister of labor, war invalids and social affairs, said explosives remain on about 16 million acres (6.6 million hectares) of land, or more than one-fifth of the country. He said only 740,000 acres (300,000 hectares) or 5 percent of the contaminated area has been cleared and a recently approved government plan calls for clearance of an additional 1.2 million acres (500,000 hectares) that would cost $595 million in the next five years.— AP

China to send envoy to mediate in Sudan oil row BEIJING: China is to send an envoy to seek a compromise between Sudan and South Sudan over a fees dispute threatening oil supplies from the two recently separated countries, which are big crude suppliers to the big Asian economy.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said his government’s special envoy on African affairs, Liu Guijin, would “in coming days visit north and south Sudan to make efforts at mediation and conciliation”.

The move shows the big stake Beijing has in preserving stability between Sudan in the north and South Sudan, which seceded in July, taking some three-quarters of the formerly united country’s 500,000 barrels per day of oil production. “China voices its concern over the recent tensions between north and south Sudan, especially at the lack of progress in negotiations over the issues related to oil,” Hong told a daily briefing.

“We hope that both sides will exercise calm and restraint, and appropriately settle their differences through consultations and negotiations,” said Hong. China has sought to maintain good ties with both countries since South Sudan declared independence from its larger and long-dominant northern neighbour, the culmination of a 2005 peace deal that ended what was one of Africa’s longest and deadliest

wars. Some two million people died in the conflict.

But Beijing’s balancing act is being tested by the dispute. Oil is vital to both Sudan and South Sudan, but they have not agreed on how much the landlocked South, which must send its oil exports through pipelines in Sudan to a port, should pay in transit fees. Sudan last week denied it had halted South Sudan’s oil exports in a transit fee row, but said it had confiscated crude shipments to make up for payments it claims South Sudan owes.

South Sudan’s oil minister said then that at least one 1-million-barrel cargo of his country’s oil was still “detained” at Port Sudan on Wednesday. South Sudanese officials said two shipments had been held up or would be held up because of the decision, including a 600,000 barrel shipment sold to China’s Unipec. In the first ten months of 2011, China’s imports of Sudanese crude were up 5.5 percent on the same period a year before, reaching 11.1 million tonnes: about 5 percent of China’s total crude oil imports. Analysts have said the fees row is likely to stoke tensions between the two old civil war foes and complicate talks in the Ethiopian capital over a raft of issues related to the secession, including debt and the position of the shared border. —Reuters

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NEWS OBERHOF, Germany: Snow covers the trees as traffic passes yesterday. Snow is forecast over the next weeks in higher ground in Germany. — AFP

‘Cold War’ with Iran heats up across...

Continued from Page 1 From proxy wars in Iraq and Syria to computer worm attacks and unexplained explosions in Iran - to allegations of an assassination plot in Washington - a confrontation once kept behind the scenes is breaking into increasingly open view. The storming of Britain’s Tehran embassy last week - and the tit-for-tat shutdown of Iran’s embassy in London - were just the latest signs that already limited dialogue is beginning to break down. That, analysts say, is inherently dangerous.

“With Iran, you have a government that is increasingly isolated and acting in increasingly unpredictable ways,” says Jon Alterman, director of the Middle East program at the Centre for Strategic and National Studies in Washington.

“There is certainly the risk that a country will take the deliberate decision to attack Iran. But there is also the risk that something happens that provokes... a war that nobody planned and nobody wants.”

With the euro zone crisis still far from over and worldwide demand already faltering, such action and the resulting oil price surge could be disastrous for the global economy. Confrontation is, of course, far from new. Tehran has long used militant groups such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Hamas in the Palestinian territories to shape regional politics and strike enemies, particularly Israel. The United States and Britain long accused Iran of using Shiite militias in Iraq to kill Western troops and impose Tehran’s agenda.

The Sunni-ruled states of the Gulf, particularly Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, say Iran stirs up unrest in their Shiite communities, although many Western analysts believe blaming Iran for protests this year in those countries is an overstatement or at least oversimplification. Many such confrontations across the region appear escalating fast - and becoming much harder for Washington and its allies to control.

“US and Western power in the region is weakening, and that is leaving a vacuum - most notably in Iraq - and you can

see the main stakeholders in the region reacting to Iran’s readiness to fill that vacuum,” says Reva Bhalla, head of analysis at US private intelligence company Stratfor. This year’s uprising in Syria - Iran’s rare Arab friend - has created a new battlefield. Since the early days of the uprising, US officials repeatedly and pointedly said they believed Assad’s government was receiving support from Tehran.

Assad has since been rapidly abandoned by the Arab League, in a diplomatic effort led by Saudi Arabia and the other Sunni Arab Gulf states. Analysts and officials say that could have as much to do with pushing back against Iran as in reining in killings and rights abuses in Syria itself. Saudi or other Arab backing for the increasingly armed opposition could escalate matters further, potentially producing a sectarian civil war lasting years and spilling across borders into neighbouring states.

In Iraq, the withdrawal of US forces by the end of this year leaves more room for both Iran and Sunni Arab neighbours to intervene through proxy militias. At worst, that could reignite the Sunni-Shia infighting that nearly tore the country apart during the US occupation. “A proxy Saudi-Iranian war in Iraq represents a very considerable threat to oil supplies,” said Alastair Newton, chief political analyst at Japanese bank Nomura.

Some of the increased friction with its neighbours could be a symptom of a power struggle within Iran itself, Newton said. “I think one of the reasons you’re seeing temperature rising between Iran and others is because you’re seeing temperature rising in Tehran itself.” Recent events such as the embassy storming, in which Iran seemed willing to tear up the international rulebook, could be a sign of increasing clout of hardline clerics and Revolutionary Guard commanders.

The attack on Britain’s embassy prompted widespread international condemnation and looks to have ushered in a much tighter sanctions. That too may strengthen the hardliners. The United States said in October it had caught Iran plotting to blow up the Saudi ambassador to Washington DC in a downtown

restaurant. Whether or not the plot was genuine - and whoever was behind it - it marked a further worsening of relations.

Iran’s enemies appear to be using unconventional methods against it, suspected of striking within its borders.

Israel and the United States both make clear they view covert operations as a sensible alternative to conventional military action. Last year’s Stuxnet computer worm, which damaged computers used in industrial machinery, was widely believed to have been a US-Israeli attack to cripple Iranian nuclear centrifuges.

Several Iranian nuclear scientists have been killed or disappeared, and Iran blames US or Israeli intelligence services.

Two explosions last month in Iran, one of which killed a Revolutionary Guards gunnery general and around a dozen other officers, prompted widespread speculation in Israel that its intelligence services were involved. Iran said the first blast was an accident and has not given clear accounts of the second incident. Israeli officials refuse to confirm or deny they were behind any specific incidents. Several commentators and newspapers warned such action could still backfire badly - perhaps prompting the kind of rocket attacks on Israel launched last week by Hezbollah from Lebanon.

“Faced with such operations, the Iranian regime is embarking on and will embark on a series of actions of its own,” said a front-page article in the Israeli newspaper Maariv by Nadav Eyal, foreign editor for Israel’s Channel Ten television. As to whether a deliberate air strike on Iran’s nuclear program is genuinely more likely in the coming months, experts are divided. The US withdrawal from Iraq makes it possible for Israeli jets to pass through its airspace without needing US permission. But many say the costs would be too high. “The problem is that no one knows what the midterm consequences would be,” said Alterman at Washington’s Centre for Strategic and International Studies. “It could simply encourage the regime in place and intensify their commitment to following a nuclear program with even more energy than before.” — Agencies

Syria ‘accepts’ Arab plan for observers Continued from Page 1 apprised of the Syrian letter,” Arabi said, adding that consultations were under way. Damascus has refused to sign the proposal, arguing that the text undermines its sovereignty, prompting the Arab League to slap Syria with sweeping sanctions on Nov 27. The international community wants monitors in Syria to keep a check on forces waging a bloody crackdown on unprecedented democracy protests that erupted in mid-March.

In a reminder to outsiders of Syria’s powerful, mainly Russian-supplied armed forces, state television and SANA showed top generals watching a live-fire exercise by missile units, mechanised brigades and aircraft, to test their capacity in “confronting any attack” on Syria. It did not report the scale of the war games. “General

(Dawood Abdullah) Rajiha stressed that the armed forces, under the leadership of President Bashar Al-Assad will remain loyal to the homeland and will defend the interests of the Syrian people,” SANA said. Rajiha is Minister of Defence. Makdisi said the war games were a “routine” exercise and not intended to send any message.

Despite Damascus’s offer to accept observers, a rights group accused forces loyal to Assad of committing even more atrocities, saying witnesses reported seeing the bodies of 34 civilians in a square in the central city of Homs. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said one activist reported seeing “the bodies of 34 civilians, in a square in the pro-regime neighbourhood of AlZahra, who had been abducted by the shabiha on Monday”. The civilians, it said, had been seized from several “anti-regime neighbourhoods” in

Homs, which has been targeted by a brutal crackdown on almost nine months of anti-regime dissent. The Observatory also reported the socalled “shabiha” militiamen yesterday abducted a bus driver and his 13 passengers in Homs province.

Forces loyal to Assad have laid siege to Homs for the past two months. Seven people were reported killed in the city and province yesterday by gunfire from the security forces, the Observatory said, after a bloody weekend that saw 63 people dead, at least half of them in Homs.

Elsewhere yesterday, mutinous soldiers killed four members of the security forces, including an officer, at the southern protest hub of Dael in Daraa province, the watchdog said. The Observatory also accused security forces of arresting 18 students yesterday, eight of them for insulting the president. — Agencies

Gbagbo blames France in first ICC appearance Continued from Page 1 June 18 for a confirmation of charges hearing. He will then learn whether he must stand trial for crimes committed by his troops between Dec 16, 2010 and April 12, 2011.

The former historian-turnedpolitician told the court how his high-security residence in Abidjan was surrounded and attacked, leading to his capture on April 11.

“About 50 French tanks had surrounded the residence, while helicopters were firing bombs. Under these circumstances I was arrested,” he said. “I saw my interior minister killed in front of me, my son, who is still under arrest, was beaten,” he told the court in French. He was taken to the northern town of Korhogo where he held under house arrest for more than seven months. He was given a bed and two meals a day, but was not allowed outside, Gbagbo said, although he described his conditions as “correct for any human being”.

The ICC issued a sealed arrest

warrant against him on Nov 23 over the violence that erupted after Gbabgo, who first took power in 2000, refused to accept the results of the 2010 election that gave victory to Ouattara. When ICC judges authorised an investigation into Gbagbo earlier this year, they said there were “reasonable grounds” to believe his camp hired and armed some 4,500 mercenaries, including fighters from neighbouring Liberia.

According to figures from the ICC chief prosecutor’s office, between 700 and 1,048 people were killed by pro-Gbagbo forces.

Gbagbo’s advisor Toussaint Alain denounced the case. “The presence of president Laurent Gbagbo in the dock is clearly a judicial error, a swindle, a move to liquidate him politically, socially and physically,” Alain said in a statement issued in The Hague. Gbagbo supporters see the hand of Ouattara, who took office in May after his forces arrested Gbagbo with UN and French military backing, in their leader’s transfer and have branded their rival a Western puppet.

A government spokesman in Abidjan had hailed the transfer as an opportunity for closure in the world’s largest cocoa exporter, where the last decade has been scarred by conflict. But rights groups have warned that a prosecution focused only on crimes by Gbagbo forces and not those of Ouattara would lead to an “explosive situation” on the ground. ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said Gbagbo’s appearance was a “continuation of the process for the people in Cote d’Ivoire to move away from the violence”.

Reacting to criticism that only one side was subjected to a probe and arrests, Moreno-Ocampo told AFP: “We agree that all sides have committed crimes and therefore must be prosecuted. We said as well that more cases are being investigated.” The Hague-based court, founded in 2002, is the first permanent international criminal tribunal to prosecute perpetrators of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Its six other cases also relate to crimes in Africa. — AFP

Japan supercars in $4m accident Continued from Page 1 said. Those behind slammed on their brakes, but for many of them it was apparently too late. “I’ve never seen such a thing,” highway patrol lieutenant Eiichiro Kamitani told AFP by telephone. “Ferraris rarely travel in such large numbers.” Kamitani said 10 people - five men and five women - sustained slight injuries, in the accident. “It is highly possible that they were driving in couples.” “Many of them were probably on their way to Hiroshima,” some 130 km to the east, for a gathering of supercars there, said Kamitani. “Speeding was possible but we have yet to determine the exact cause,” he added.

The Prius and a second Toyota also caught up in the 14-car smash were not thought to be part of the supercar pack. The three other vehicles involved in the accident were all Mercedes-Benz. An unidentified male eyewitness told the TBS network: “A group of cars was

doing 140-160 kilometres per hour. One of them spun and they all ended up in this great mess.” The speed limit on that section of the highway was 80 km per hour.

“The front car crashed into the left embankment and bounced off toward me,” another man told public broadcaster NHK. One of the Ferraris was reported to be a F430 Scuderia, a model with a top speed of 320 kilometres per hour. Kamitani said the lead Ferrari was being driven by a 60-year-old self-employed man from Chikushino, near Fukuoka, on the southern island of Kyushu. Japanese media said the total cost of the pileup could run to 300 million yen ($3.8 million), with new Ferraris retailing at more than 20 million yen each and Lamborghinis costing anything up to 30 million yen.

Supercars are not necessarily owned by the super-rich in Japan. Many owners are young people who save up their earnings to satisfy their dream, according to media. — AFP

MPs predict Assembly to be dissolved today Continued from Page 1 A constitutional controversy broke out between legal experts about the correct way to dissolve the Assembly because the house can be dissolved by the Amir on a recommendation by the Cabinet.

Since the previous Cabinet has resigned and the new prime minister has not formed a new Cabinet, experts said it was not possible to dissolve the Assembly before the new government is formed, sworn-in by the Amir and takes oath in the Assembly. Based on the department’s interpretation, the new premier can now chair the old Cabinet and recommend dissolving the Assembly. Under the constitution, if the Assembly is dissolved, general elections must be held within 60 days.

In another development, MP Al-Barrak yesterday refuted allegations published by Al-Shahed newspaper yesterday for the second day in a row that he has several bank accounts in Saudi Arabia worth tens of millions of dollars and that he had been financially assisted by senior officials in his election campaigns. Al-Barrak said

“if I wanted to accept bribes, why go abroad when in Kuwait we have the biggest (bribe) payer,” Barrak said without naming anyone.

The newspaper alleged on Sunday that Qatar had given Al-Barrak 200 million riyals (KD 15 million) and the money was paid in a bank account owned by Al-Barrak, who strongly denied the charge, and vowed to sue the newspaper. Al-Barrak accused people associated with the previous government of being behind the publication of the false allegations.

The Amiri Diwan meanwhile regretted that the names of Gulf states were being involved in internal politics which would negatively impact Kuwait’s ties with them, and called on local media to refrain from this. Also, the constitutional court yesterday declared that a law issued about 10 years ago stipulating that tribal primary elections were a crime under the law, is in line with the constitution. A group of people had challenged that the law breached the constitution because Bedouin tribes were only holding pre-election consultations and not illegal primary elections.

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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2011

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Issues

Gbagbo exit won’t heal Ivorian rift

By Tim Cocks olding ex-President Laurent Gbagbo’s war crimes trial in The Hague will prove safer for Ivory Coast than trying him at home, but will do little to solve the problems at the root of the country’s civil conflicts.

Gbagbo sparked a four-month war that killed 3,000 people and displaced more than a million when he refused to cede a November 2010 election he lost to President Alassane Ouattara. He was moved to The Hague last week, making him the first ex-head of state expected to be tried by the court.

Trying Gbagbo at home could have sparked street violence or an attempt to free him, analysts said. “Keeping Gbagbo in Ivory Coast in the long run would have created more tensions. They needed to get him out,” said Samir Gadio, an analyst at Standard Bank. “He’s a chapter of Ivory Coast’s history that is now finished.” But the trial abroad will fall far short of bridging the divisions over land and national identity that ultimately sparked both of the West African state’s civil wars and could even deepen them if only Gbagbo and his camp are prosecuted.

Gbagbo appeared at the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands yesterday to face charges of crimes against humanity, including murder and rape. A confirmation of charges hearing was set for June next year.

Hundreds of people were kidnapped and killed in a crackdown by Gbagbo’s forces following last year’s contested election, sparking a war that only ended when Ouattara’s French-backed rebel forces captured Gbagbo in April. But Ouattara’s forces were also behind some of the attrocities, including rapes and executions, as they swept toward the coast from their northern stronghold.

The fighting was sparked by the election, but was rooted in simmering tensions between the mercantile, Muslim people of the north and the agrarian, Christian south.

Many northern Ivorians come from families that immigrated from poorer and drier neighbours, like Burkina Faso, and they are seen by southerners as foreigners occupying some of the country’s best agricultural land. For many who voted for Gbagbo, his arch rival Ouattara suffers from an irredeemable flaw: he’s foreign, they claim. Ouattara’s father was from Burkina Faso and he was the deputy president of the IMF under Burkinabe nationality.

Years of peace talks since Ivory Coast’s first civil war started in 2002, splitting the country in two, have done little to address the problem. “The Ivorian crisis started even before Gbagbo came to power and it hasn’t ended,” said Giles Yabi, West Africa analyst for the International Crisis Group. Yabi said Ouattara would need to make reconciling his country a top priority, including reforming the military, currently dominated by northern former rebels. A census in 1998 put the immigrant population at a quarter of the total - one of the highest in the world. “The question is not why Ivory Coast has been suffering an identity crisis ... but why it didn’t happen much earlier,” wrote Stephen W Smith in the London Review of Books this year. “In a country ... which combines large-scale immigration and illdefined citizenship, identity issues are deeply dangerous.”

In the late 1980s a fall in commodity prices triggered a recession and deepened tensions between migrants and locals. Successive politicians, including Gbagbo, exploited these tensions, discriminating between Ivorians and “outsiders” by restricting the latter’s rights. The concept of “Ivoirite” or “Ivorianness” was used to exclude many northern Ivorians from voting. Ouattara was denied the right to contest the presidency twice on grounds of being foreign.

He won that battle in the end, but the divisions over identity remain.

“Underlying fissures over Ivoirite and land ownership will simmer beneath the surface, especially if northerners are seen to be receiving favorable treatment under a northern president,” said Eurasia Group’s Anne Fruhauf. A proper system of land titling will go some way towards resolving the mess of land ownership, especially in the west, where people contest rights over rich cocoa-growing land.

But the feeling among many southerners that northerners are outsiders with no right to rule is likely to persist.

“Gbagbo represents quite a lot of people. Whoever eventually replaces him is going to keep this Ivoirite thing going. He’s not the only southerner who thinks southerners should rule,” said Richard Dowden of the Royan African Society. Many southerners are still bitter about the wars, see Ouattara as a stooge of the French and a harbour a deep sense of injustice at Gbagbo’s ouster - heightened by the fact that only his side has been pursued for crimes, so far. — Reuters

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Vote exposes chinks in Putin armour

By Dmitry Zaks he unexpectedly sharp decline in support for Vladimir Putin’s party in parliamentary polls has exposed a shift in popular opinion against the dominance of the Russian strongman, analysts said yesterday. But despite signs that social changes in Russia are affecting his popularity, the Russian premier still has ratings that would be the envy of any European politician and should still sweep 2012 presidential polls, they added. United Russia won 238 out of 450 seats in the State Duma, still an absolute majority but down sharply from its 315 seats in the outgoing parliament. It won 49.5 percent of votes, compared with 64.3 in 2007.

The elections were the first after September ’s announcement that Putin would stand for a new Kremlin term in March 2012 polls after his four-year stint as prime minister and President Dmitry Medvedev would become government chief. “People simply got terrified that this could all drag on for 12 more years,” said Maria Lipman of the Carnegie Moscow Centre, referring to the two six-year presidential terms that Putin could now serve. “People felt like fools - everything was decided for them without even a pretence of them being asked.”

The elections marked the first time that either Putin

T

or his party had actually lost votes in an election since the ex-KGB agent claimed the presidency upon Boris Yeltsin’s surprise resignation on New Year’s Eve 1999.

Putin had suffered an unprecedented show of public discontent in the run-up to the polls when he was booed by fight fans when he entered the ring at a martial arts tournament in Moscow. “Based on these results, we will be able to ensure the stable development of our country,” Putin said tersely in a post-election speech at party headquarters that sounded anything but jubilant.

The last years have seen social changes in Russia that could discomfort the elite - the emergence of a new and potentially critical middle class and explosion in criticism of the authorities on the Internet. “The fall in popularity was not entirely unexpected. It is caused by popular dissatisfaction with corruption, illegality and abuse of power,” said Lipman. Yelstin Foundation analyst Yevgeny Volk said that while the results showed “disappointment” with United Russia, the authorities’ grip on the country was secure so long as the economy remained robust. “For the moment the economic situation is comfortable and oil prices are high. The strength of the opposition will grow only if the economic conditions worsen.”

Analysts said Putin should still easily win his third term as president in March against a weak field, even if

his popularity ratings are now lower than the stratospheric 80 percent levels recorded four years ago. “Putin should win in the first round of the presidential elections,” said Konstantin Simonov of the National Energy Security Foundation. “The party’s candidate is always more popular that the party itself.”

Yet some openly wondered whether Putin may now grow more sensitive to domestic criticism as he seeks to reform in order to survive 12 more years in power.

Under a constitutional change, the Russian presidential mandate will be six years from 2012. Putin can serve two such mandates until 2024. “This should change the nature of the political debate,” said Mikhail Remizov of the National Strategy Institute. Putin’s command of Russia follows in part from the loyalty of a tightly-knit group of former security officers from his native Saint Petersburg who he has installed in key government and state business posts.

The first hints of new softer approach emerged with a report that Boris Gryzlov - the ruling party chairman who has been parliament speaker since 2003 and another of Putin’s Saint Petersburg friends - could step down. “It is time to change the format of how (parliament) works - we have to listen more to our opponents and less to ourselves,” an unnamed United Party official told the Echo Moscow radio station. — AFP

Egypt Islamists are divided and wary

By Jonathan Wright slamists look set to dominate the next Egyptian parliament, but mutual suspicion between the two main groups, the Muslim Brotherhood and the Nour Party, makes it unlikely they will join in an exclusive governing alliance. The split in the Islamist camp leaves scope for liberals and secularists to play a part in the first postelection government and reduces the chances of any one group restoring the kind of de facto one-party rule that Egypt experienced from the 1950s until a popular uprising toppled Hosni Mubarak on Feb. 11.

The Nour Party, created this year after Mubarak’s fall, is the largest of Egypt’s new Salafi parties, which draw support from ultra-conservative Muslims who try to emulate the example of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and his companions.

Its success in the first round of parliamentary elections, with 24.4 percent of the vote, has been the biggest surprise in the new political landscape. Most analysts expected the Salafis as a whole to win 10 to 15 percent of the vote.

Essam El-Erian, vice-president of the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), told Reuters on Monday it was too early to say what form a ruling coalition might take because less than one third of parliamentary seats have been decided. In the first round the FJP was way ahead of any rivals, with 36.6 percent of the vote.

“We are still in the Democratic Alliance and we are committed to our partners. We have never spoken about any other alliance,” Erian added. The alliance includes two nonreligious parties, the Karama Party and the Ghad Party, although the Brotherhood is very much the dominant element.

Since Mubarak was ousted, the Brotherhood has emphasised the political reform agenda it shares with a broad range of groups that took part in the uprising, playing down the socially conservative agenda usually associated with Islamist movements. Erian told Reuters in October, before the level of popular support for the Salafis was evident, that the ultra-conservatives would be a burden on any coalition “because they are newcomers to political life (while) we have many years of experience and we are widespread all over the

I

country”.

“A centrist coalition is what the Brotherhood wants, depending on the final results,” said political analyst Issandr ElAmrani. “They have reservations about the Salafis because they could be disruptive on domestic politics, with their mediaeval interpretations of Islamic law, for example.

But if the Salafis really end up with 25 percent of the vote, they will be a powerful force on cultural issues anyway,” he added.

Nour Party leader Emad Abdel Ghaffour,

take part in government in partnership with others. On Sunday two newspapers quoted party spokesman Nader Bakkar as saying Nour had proposed four ministers for a new cabinet that former Prime Minister Kamal El-Ganzouri is now trying to form. The party later denied it had made any such proposal. And Ali Abdel Al, writing in the Nour Party newspaper, said: “They (Islamists in general) believe in the need for partnership with the other political elements and parties that exist in the

A veiled Egyptian woman walks past an election campaign billboard for the Islamist Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) as voters go to the polling stations for the run-off of the first round of voting in the Cairo neighbourhood of Nasser City yesterday.— AFP on the other hand, made clear he would not play second fiddle to the Brotherhood.

“We hate being followers,” he told Reuters in an interview. “They always say we take positions according to the Brotherhood but we have our own vision... There might be a consensus but ... we will remain independent. We don’t rule out that they may marginalise us and portray us as the troublemaking bloc,” he added. “The experiences of other parties who have allied with them (the Brotherhood) in the past are bitter. They always speak of it with reproach,” he said.

The Nour Party has indicated it wants to

country, liberal and leftist, and the idea of forming a purely Islamist government might be unacceptable to their minds now more than any time in the past, for many reasons.”

Analysts say a major pragmatic disincentive for Islamist leaders to go it alone in government is the knowledge that Egypt faces serious economic problems that might make it difficult for the Islamists to meet the expectations of their constituents. The two most obvious areas are in banking and tourism. The Salafis want to phase out non-Islamic banking, the sale of alcohol and bare flesh on Egyptian beach-

es. But the government has interest-bearing obligations that do not mature until after 2020, and tourism, mainly for sun and sand, accounts for about 12 percent of the Egyptian economy. “We have a plan to amend the banking law, but it’s difficult to put it into effect all at once, in case the economy collapses,” said Ashraf Thabet, one of the Nour Party’s new members of parliament, quoted in the newspaper AlMasry Al-Youm.

Both the Brotherhood and the Salafis share some long-term objectives and both have emphasised gradualism, persuasion and consensus in their aspirations to make Egypt more Islamic. But the Brotherhood is an overtly modern organisation led by middle-class professionals such as doctors, lawyers and engineers, with very few clerics as prominent members. The Salafists have more clerics in the leadership and appear to appeal to poorer sectors of society than the Brotherhood.

In voting in the rural province of Fayoum last week, farmers and their relatives voted for the Nour Party in large numbers, saying that they liked its Islamist program, that they knew the candidates and trusted they were clean and honest. “I’m voting for the Nour Party because sharia (Islamic) law and religion are what matter most,” said Arafa Ahmed Abdel Kader, a factory technician. “And the candidates are people from the village, people that we know and trust,” he added.

In Cairo yesterday, voters had mixed opinions on whether the Brotherhood and the Salafis would work together to create a dominant Islamist bloc. Secretary Nora Tawfik, 34, said she wanted the Brotherhood to link up with the liberal non-religious Egyptian Bloc, which has about 13 percent of the vote from the first stage. “I would hope they would be pragmatic enough to ally with the Bloc to balance things out, but my gut feeling tells me that they will ally ideologically with Nour despite their differences now,” she added.

But Jihan Moussa, a 39-year-old pharmacist, said she thought the Brotherhood’s party would not ally with the Nour because of their ideological differences. “I am against also this idea of one party or thought being dominant because if that happens then they will most definitely turn into dictators,” she said. — Reuters

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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2011

Years

sp orts Klitschko fight called off PARIS: The heavyweight world championship fight between holder Vladimir Klitschko and Frenchman Jean-Marc Mormeck on Dec.10 was called off yesterday after the Ukrainian underwent surgery to have a kidney stone removed.

“The fight has to be cancelled. We will provide more information at a news conference at in Duesseldorf,” Klaus-Peter Dittrich, Klitschko’s representative, said in an email. Mormeck’s camp were hopeful, however, that the bout would be rescheduled at a later date.

“The Dec. 10 fight in Duesseldorf is off but maybe it will be just postponed,” Mormeck’s press officer Clara Moreno said by telephone.

The 35-year-old Klitschko, who holds the IBF, IBO, WBO and WBA versions of the title, was looking to clinch his 50th knockout from 60 professional bouts against former cruiserweight world champion Mormeck. Klitschko’s older brother, Vitali, holds the only other major heavyweight belt after defending his WBC title in September against Pole Tomasz Adamek. —Reuters

NHL results/standings Colorado 4, Detroit 2; Minnesota 5, Anaheim 3; Vancouver 5, Calgary 1.

Pittsburgh NY Rangers Philadelphia New Jersey NY Islanders Boston Toronto Buffalo Ottawa Montreal Florida Washington Winnipeg Tampa Bay Carolina

Chicago Detroit St. Louis Nashville Columbus Minnesota Vancouver Edmonton Colorado Calgary Dallas Los Angeles San Jose Phoenix Anaheim

Eastern Conference Atlantic Division W L OTL GF 16 7 4 85 15 5 3 69 15 7 3 88 12 12 1 62 8 11 5 52 Northeast Division 16 7 1 85 14 10 2 83 14 11 1 72 12 11 3 79 11 11 5 67 Southeast Division 14 8 4 73 13 11 1 75 11 11 4 75 11 12 2 67 8 16 4 66 Western Conference Central Division 16 8 3 90 16 8 1 75 14 9 3 63 12 10 4 68 7 16 3 62 Northwest Division 17 7 3 69 15 10 1 83 13 11 3 76 13 13 1 75 11 13 2 60 Pacific Division 15 10 1 69 13 9 4 60 14 8 1 67 13 9 3 67 7 14 5 60

GA 66 51 73 72 78

PTS 36 33 33 25 21

51 85 69 89 69

33 30 29 27 27

65 79 82 80 94

32 27 26 24 20

84 56 58 71 88

35 33 31 28 17

60 67 71 78 72

37 31 29 27 24

72 58 56 62 86

31 30 29 29 19

Olympics security cost doubles LONDON: Britain has doubled its budget for security at venues for next summer’s Olympic games after underestimating the number of guards needed to admit spectators, athletes and officials through airline-style security, organisers said yesterday.

The games are Britain’s largest peacetime security operation and keeping the competition safe now looks set to cost more than a billion pounds out of the event’s total 9.3 billion pound ($14.5 billion) budget.

An extra 13,700 guards, including an unspecified number of soldiers and volunteers, will be employed on top of the 10,000 already planned to secure the perimeters of the Olympic

PARIS: Lionel Messi is on course for a record-equalling third consecutive Ballon d’Or, soccer’s highest individual award, after the Argentine forward was named on a three-man shortlist yesterday.

Messi’s Barcelona team mate Xavi and Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo were also shortlisted with clubs from Spain’s La Liga providing the top three for the third year in a row.

Messi, who won the Ballon d’Or in 2009 and 2010, will be the favourite to complete a hat-trick of titles after his man-of-the-match performance helped the Spanish side beat Manchester United in the Champions League final in May. Portuguese forward Ronaldo won the Ballon d’Or in 2008 while Xavi has finished third in the last two editions. Former France international and current UEFA President Michel Platini won the Ballon d’Or for three consecutive years from 1983. Last year, the FIFA Player of the Year and the Ballon d’Or awards merged into the FIFA Ballon d’Or and votes now come from the coaches and captains of international teams as well as from journalists. — Reuters

Johnson lift Wild past Ducks ANAHEIM: Nick Johnson scored the goahead goal with 5:31 left in the third period, and Casey Wellman and PierreMarc Bouchard scored 32 seconds apart in the second period, to lead the Minnesota Wild to a 5-3 victory over the Anaheim Ducks 5-3 on Sunday.

Dany Heatley scored a power-play goal and Kyle Clutterbuck added a short-handed empty-netter with 10.2 seconds left for Minnesota in the opener of a five-game trip. Matt Cullen added three assists for Minnesota against his former club, and Josh Harding made 24 saves.

The victory put the Wild atop the overall NHL standings with 37 points under rookie coach Mike Yeo. They are off to their best start in the franchise’s 11-year history at 17-7-3, and have won four straight and nine of 11 - a stretch that began with a 3-2 win over the Ducks on Nov. 13 at Anaheim.

Ryan Getzlaf, Saku Koivu and Cam Fowler scored for Anaheim and Jonas Hiller made 31 saves in his 200th regular-season game. Teemu Selanne appeared in his 800th regular-season game with the club.

Avalanche 4, Red Wings 2 At Denver, Ryan O’Reilly had two goals and Semyon Varlamov made 27 saves as Colorado beat Detroit to end the Red Wings’ winning streak at seven games.

Paul Stastny and TJ Galiardi also scored, and Gabriel Landeskog added two assists to help Colorado win its third straight. Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen scored for Detroit, and Ty Conklin made 31 saves.

Galiardi got the winner while Colorado killed off Ryan Wilson’s minor penalty. Landeskog carried the puck into

the Detroit zone, dropped it to the trailing Galiardi and he beat Conklin with a slap shot from the top of the circle with 10:38 left.

It was Colorado’s fourth short-handed goal of the season.Detroit pulled Conklin for an extra skater with a minute left and O’Reilly scored into the empty

net with 34 seconds left.

Canucks 5, Flames 1 At Vancouver, British Columbia, Roberto Luongo made 21 saves, and Chris Higgins and David Booth each had a goal and two assists as Vancouver beat Calgary for its sixth victory in seven

games. Daniel Sedin and Kevin Bieksa had power-play goals and Jannik Hansen also scored to help Vancouver rebound from a 6-5 home loss to Nashville on Thursday night.

Alex Tanguay scored for Calgary, coming off a 5-3 victory in Edmonton on Saturday night. —AP

VANCOUVER: Mason Raymond No. 21 of the Vancouver Canucks chases down a loose puck while getting checked by Jarome Iginla No. 12 of the Calgary Flames during the second period in NHL action. —AFP

Omae wins Las Vegas Marathon LAS VEGAS: Peter Omae of Kenya won the men’s race and Zsofia Erdelyi of Hungary earned first on the women’s side as Sunday’s Las Vegas Marathon finished up at night for the first time.

Omae completed the course in 2 hours, 29.12 seconds while Erdelyi clocked 2:28.58 as an event-record 44,000 runners raced on the Las Vegas Strip at night for the first time. Omae ran on Saturday night to prepare.

“I never ran in marathon during the evening before so I went out and practiced,” the 33-year-old Omae said.

“This was the hardest race I ever ran in. It’s much harder to run in the evening.” The marathon started at 4 p.m. local time, rather than its usual start at 7 am.

Omae passed then-leader Nick Hird at 16.5 miles (26.5 kilometer) in front of Circus-Circus Casino. “Around 14 or 15 miles, he started slowing down. I saw another guy pushing behind us, so I pushed it,” said Omae, who won the inaugural Seattle Marathon in 2010.

Omae pulled away later as America’s Clay Wing came in second at 2:35.23. Hird finished out of the top 10. The 23-year-old Erdelyi struggled to walk after finishing the race. She won the Long Beach Half Marathon in October. Melanie Peters finished second in 2:49.37.

There were an estimated 100,000 spectators and 32 bands playing along the route. Sixty couples planned to marry during the event.

America’s Sean Houseworth won the men’s half marathon in 1:03.12. Benita Willis of Australia was the women’s half winner in 1:10.40.

The top nine men and top seven women in the half marathon qualified for the Olympic Half Marathon Trials on Jan. 14 in Houston.

Reality star Kate Gosselin competed in the marathon.

Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready, and actress and model Angie Everhart raced in the half marathon.

There were runners from all 50 states and 54 countries. There were 6,000 entrants in the marathon, and 38,000 in the half. —AP

and Paralympic venues.

The original estimate of guard numbers had been made before the final design of the venues became clear and the publication of the competition schedules, Spor ts Minister Hugh Robertson said.

Increased uncertainty over international security after the Arab Spring uprisings and other events had also been a factor in the jump in the guard force. “ When I star ted being a minister 18 months ago, there was no Arab Spring, for example. Nobody necessarily knows whether that is going to have a b e n e f i c i a l o r a n a d ve r s e e f fe c t ,” Robertson told reporters. —Reuters

Ballon d’Or shortlist

LAS VEGAS: Runners stream southward on Las Vegas Boulevard during the Rock ’n Roll Las Vegas Marathon. Forty five thousand participants ran in a marathon and half marathon filling the shut-down Strip. —AP

Spain’s Davis Cup future uncertain SEVILLA: Spain’s Davis Cup future was clouded by uncertainty yesterday after world number two Rafa Nadal announced he would not be available next year and captain Albert Costa said he needed time to think about whether to stay on.

The Iberian nation secured their fifth title and a third in four years by beating Argentina on Sunday, Nadal winning the decisive point in a thrilling match against Juan Martin del Potro on the clay at Seville’s Olympic Stadium.

The 25-year-old Mallorcan has repeatedly complained about what he sees as an overloaded ATP World Tour calendar and told a news conference the added burden of competing in the 2012 Olympics in London, where he will bid for a second consecutive singles gold, meant Davis Cup participation was impossible.

Costa, a former French Open singles champion who has led Spain to two titles in his three-year stint at the helm, said he would take a week off to think about his future.

“We still have what it takes to keep fighting for the title but the reality is that I have doubts about what is going to happen now to the national team,” Manolo Santana, a Spanish former French Open, Wimbledon and US Open champion, wrote in yesterday’s El Mundo newspaper.

With talisman Nadal, who has won 20 of his 21 Davis Cup singles rubbers, stepping aside, Spain are still likely to be able to count on world number five David Ferrer and doubles pair Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco in 2012.

They also have a number of experienced players waiting in the wings including 10th-ranked Nicolas Almagro, who won three Tour singles titles this year, and number 27 Marcel Granollers, who won two.

Adding to the uncertainty, however, is the poor

form of Lopez and Verdasco, who have been the weak link in Spain’s recent David Cup outings.

The pair suffered a drubbing at the hands of French duo Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Michael Llodra in the semi-finals before being trounced by Argentina’s David Nalbandian and Eduardo Schwank in the final.

“It seems clear that in the doubles we are going to have to experiment with another pair,” Santana wrote.

Emilio Sanchez-Vicario, who captained Spain to victory over Argentina in the 2008 final in Mar del Plata, said Spain needed new faces and an injection of fresh energy.

Bringing the 26-year-old Almagro and Granollers, 25, into the side would keep Spain competitive for the next few years, he wrote in El Mundo.

“It’s clear that the Tour has changed and players reach the top later in their careers,” wrote SanchezVicario, who runs a tennis academy in Barcelona and is the brother of four-times grand slam singles champion Arantxa Sanchez.

“This also allows them to stay around for longer which means this current team has a longer shelf life,” he added. Looking to the future, Sanchez-Vicario said the generation of Spanish players born around 1988, including 65th-ranked Albert Ramos and number 89 Pere Riba, both 23, was not terribly promising.

He said Spain had failed to produce any decent talent among players born in the three years after 1988, which he called “worrying”.

“By contrast, the 1993 generation looks very good,” Sanchez-Vicario said, picking out the 19-yearold Javi Marti as one to watch. “They are the players who will have to come in and replace the previous two generations,” he added. Spain begin the defence of their title with a first-round tie at home to Kazakhstan in February. —Reuters

FIFA: Havelange quits from IOC GENEVA: FIFA confirmed that former president Joao Havelange has resigned as a member of the IOC, and said yesterday the Olympic body’s ethics case against the 95-year-old Brazilian has been closed.

The Associated Press reported Sunday that Havelange, who was the International Olympic Committee’s longest-standing member, had resigned days before he faced possible suspension.

The IOC was preparing to rule on claims he took kickback payments while he was president of FIFA from

1974-98. “FIFA has taken note of Joao Havelange’s resignation as IOC Member and the fact that the IOC has closed the case accordingly,” FIFA said in a statement to the AP. Havelange’s decision to leave the IOC prompted speculation he could resign or lose his status as FIFA’s honorary president. However, FIFA said authority over his ceremonial position belonged to football’s 208 nations and Havelange himself.

“It is important to note that Joao Havelange was appointed honorary president by the FIFA Congress on

June 8, 1998,” the governing body said. “FIFA cannot speculate on any decisions made by Mr. Havelange.”

Havelange, an IOC member since 1963, has been under investigation by the ethics commission for allegedly receiving a $1 million payment from former FIFA marketing partner ISL. A two-year suspension, or even possible expulsion, for Havelange was expected to be considered at Thursday’s IOC executive board meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Havelange, a former Olympic

swimmer and water polo player, served as FIFA president for 24 years before being succeeded by Sepp Blatter in 1998.

The ethics case stems from a BBC documentary last year into kickbacks allegedly paid by ISL, which owned World Cup television rights and collapsed with debts of $300 million in 2001. Citing Swiss court documents, the BBC’s Panorama program alleged that Havelange took a $1 million payment from ISL in 1997. The ISL case was the subject of a Swiss criminal trial in 2008. FIFA has blocked the court

in Zug from revealing which officials repaid $6.1 million in kickbacks.

The officials repaid the money on condition that their identities remained anonymous as part of a court settlement announced in June 2010. Ricardo Teixeira, Havelange’s former son-in-law and head of Brazil’s 2014 World Cup organizing committee, was also identified by the BBC as having received payments. Teixeira is not an IOC member. Brazilian federal authorities are seeking the Swiss documents to investigate possible money laundering. — AP

Joao Havelange

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2011

S P ORT S

Chevron win suggests Tiger is back to his best THOUSAND OAKS: While some will argue that Tiger Woods’ long-awaited return to the winner’s circle on Sunday came in an unofficial 18-man event with the odds stacked in his favour, there is no doubt the former world number one is back to form.

Granted, Woods knew Sherwood Country Club better than anyone else in the elite field and he had previously won the Chevron World Challenge which he hosts four times. Significantly, though, he played well for four consecutive rounds-something which had largely proved elusive for him over the last two years while he struggled for form and fitness — and his one-shot victory will have sounded an ominous warning to his peers of what they can expect of him in 2012.

The greatest player of his generation and arguably ever, a fully-fit Woods can now practice full bore for every event on his schedule-something he has been

unable to do in a long while. “In order for me to play the way I know I can play, I had to get fully fit,” the 14-times major champion told reporters after fending off fellow American Zach Johnson by a shot with a sizzling birdiebirdie finish. “I had to get healthy to where I was strong and explosive again so I could practice. It basically starts with that. I was finally able to practice, then my practice sessions started building and building and building.

“I felt very good about my game. I got better each and every tournament. I feel pretty good going into next year.” Woods won the most recent of his 14 major titles at the 2008 US Open, and he has long targeted the record 18 claimed by compatriot Jack Nicklaus.

While that goal still seems distant, Woods was delighted to be able to plan on a full 2012 campaign after missing two of the four majors last year while recovering from injuries to his left knee ligaments and

Achilles tendon. “I don’t like missing major championships, I really don’t,” the 35-year-old American said. “I feel very excited about next year. I’m excited about the progress I’ve made, and really looking forward to it.

“It’s going to be fun to get out there and play a full schedule, which I haven’t done for quite some time. I’ll get my number of events in, prepare and practice and play my normal pace getting ready for the major championships. “I’ll be trying to peak four times a year, which I haven’t had the opportunity to do the last couple years consistently.”

Much has changed in Woods’s life on and off the course since his marriage deteriorated at the end of 2009 amid lurid revelations of serial philandering.

On Aug. 23, 2010, he and his Swedish wife, Elin Nordegren, announced they had divorced and Woods has since successfully completed the fourth swing

change of his career and he is now once again able to ‘fix’ during tournament play.

Earlier this year, he parted company with long-time caddie Steve Williams and on Sunday he won his first tournament with the experienced Joe LaCava on his bag, a pairing which already looks well grooved and relaxed. In throwing off much of the old for the new, it would now seem that the old Tiger is back-or at least a new and perhaps an improved version.

He is now aiming to emulate compatriot Jim Furyk, who ended a two-year title drought by winning the 2009 Chevron World Challenge and then followed up with a career-best season on the 2010 PGA Tour that included three victories. “Look at what Jimmy did a few years ago,” Woods said. “He won here and then had a hell of a year. Hopefully I can do the same. I feel pretty good going into next year.” — Reuters

Woods ends title drought THOUSAND OAKS: Tiger Woods ended a frustrating victory drought of just over two years when he clinched the Chevron World Challenge which he hosts by one shot on Sunday, holing a six-foot birdie putt at the last.

A stroke behind fellow American Zach Johnson overnight, Woods fired a three-underpar 69 at Sherwood Country Club to claim the 95th tournament win of his career — but his first since the 2009 Australian Masters.

Woods, whose world ranking plummeted from number one to 52nd while he struggled for fitness and form over the last two years with his private life in tatters, came from one shot behind with two holes to play to post a 10under total of 278. He drained a 15-footer at the par-three 17th before coolly knocking in a six-footer on the 18th green and then celebrating with a roundhouse sweep through the air with his right arm.

“It feels great to go basically head-to-head against Zach all day,” a jubilant Woods told reporters after his spectacular birdie-birdie finish ended a run of 26 tournaments around the world without victory.

“Zach put a lot of pressure on me. He turned the tide (on 16), next thing I am one down playing the last couple of holes. Then I made two good putts.” Asked to describe his feelings after ending his lengthy title drought, 14-times major champion Woods replied: “It feels awesome, whatever that is. “I know it’s been a while, but also for some reason it feels like it hasn’t (been a while) because when I was coming down the stretch there I felt so comfortable.

“Was I nervous? Absolutely. I’m always nerv-

ous in that position but it’s a comfortable feeling, and I enjoy being in that position,” added Woods, who will rise to 21st when the new world rankings are issued yesterday.

Johnson, seeking his first victory since last year’s Colonial Invitational, had to settle for second place in his effective head-to-head with Woods after closing with a 71.

Britain’s Paul Casey, who opened with a 79 in Thursday’s wind-buffeted opening round, signed off with a 69 to secure third place at five under. Johnson held a one-stroke lead at the start of a glorious, sun-splashed autumn day at

Sherwood and he preserved that advantage when he and Woods each birdied the par-five second. However, Johnson then bogeyed the next two holes-missing the green to the left off the tee at the par-three third and failing to reach the green in two at the par-four fourth-to slip one stroke behind Woods.

Johnson immediately responded with a battling birdie at the par-five fifth. Despite ending up above a fairway bunker with his drive and clipping tree branches with his second shot for the ball to advance only 100 yards, he then struck a sizzling approach to five feet and

THOUSAND OAKS: Tiger Woods holds his trophy after winning the Chevron World Challenge golf tournament at Sherwood Country Club. — AP

knocked in the putt to draw level with Woods at eight under. Johnson and Woods both bogeyed the tricky par-three eighth to slip back to seven under before reaching the turn three ahead of the chasing pack.

Woods edged a stroke in front with a birdie at the par-four 10th, where his approach from the right rough ended up within three feet of the cup. He picked up another shot at the parfive 11th after reaching the green in two, but then bogeyed the par-three 12th where he found the left greenside bunker off the tee.

Johnson again caught Woods with a birdie at the par-five 13th, where he got up and down from just short of the green, and the pair stayed level with three holes to play.

Both players laid up at the par-five 16th and Johnson edged a stroke in front after hitting his approach to 12 feet and calmly rolling in the putt. Woods immediately countered with his 15-foot birdie putt at the 17th before driving his right fist forward in celebration as the watching gallery roared its approval.

That set up the grandstand finish on 18 where Woods triumphed in style after recording his fifth birdie of the day.

“There were certainly a lot of positives out there today, and I can obviously think of a lot of shots I gave away,” Johnson said. “I just came up a little bit short.

“I executed well when I needed to, hit good shots when I needed to, and I putted pretty well for the most part. Overall I’m not disappointed in my performance or my approach. I’m just not overly ecstatic about the outcome.” — Reuters

Solo Sorisso in shaky position Firefly, Alleygators, Spare Us, Amaya & Al Qwassem move up

The Pin Pointers team KUWAIT: After absorbing their setbacks, the pin crackers of Firefly and the time masters of West End Watches Co. were again back in contention as they rolled passed their respective rivals at the on-going 2011 Indian Bowling League tournament Week 13. Still at the top of their games, league leaders Al Qwassem and Kuwait Federation Bowlers had little difficulty in extending their hot winning streak to three matches.

In the other match ups of the week, Whiplash, Spare Us, Amaya & Alleygators emerged victorious over their equally tough opponents. With just another two weeks to set the stage for the finals all teams coming up with their own game plans to conquer the other in their respective groups.

Out to prove that they are worthy of a seat to the Greenie Group, the mission of the scavenger s of the Alleygator Team ripped apart the No Strikes !!! crew. Alleygators headed by Rohan Fernandes, Jason D’Souza, Samantha Fernades & Gloyne Fernandes eked out a 880-763 & 782-777 victory in games one & two.

Comfortably ahead after 2 games, the Alleygators closed out the match with a 786-761 win in game three bringing the final pinfall tally to 2448-2301 in their favor. No Strikes !! bannered by Ulysses Menezes, Fatima Sequeira , Anastaius Menezes & Joel Fernandes went home with no points earned. Alleygator went on to win the team high game weekly.

Whiplash another team fighting a seesaw battle for a place in the Championship Group also succeeded in staying in contention by cruising to a walk in the park victory over the much weakened Street Bowlers whose main scorers were away. Chipping in the win points for Whiplash in this all important victory were Aga Cuadrazal, Rico Baluyot, Aldin Avila & Vernie Villaruel.

The Alleygators team

The unstoppable Street Bowlers went on the other hand inched a 790-742 win over Whiplash in Game Two. Street Bowlers led by Amaldo Fernandes, Celine Fernandes, Domnic Picardo & Floyd Suares. Whiplash defeated Street Bowlers in game one and three 772-726 & 776-738 .

Solo Sorisso (Just Smile) outscored Bowling Stones team 792-642 win in game one. Bowling Stones pin busters were Conrad Pinto, Leandro Rodrigues & Leroy Rodrigues had to play without one player leading to their loss. Scoring for Solo Sorisso were Abdullah Behbehani, Mohammed Al-Rashed, Nawaf Al Hassan & Hamoud AlRashed who subdued the Bowling Stones 756623 & 746-617 in Games two and three. With a overall pin fall of 2294-1882 Solo Sorisso turned back home with just a smile on their face.

The time masters of West End Watches Co. leap high when they stopped the Kuwait Bowling Federation team 2337-2295 and snatched the fifth position while the losers however didn’t slide from their number two rank. Top scorers of the victorious team were Ahmad Sultan, Lloyd Fernandes, Rudolph Castelino & Nelson D’Souza while Kuwait Federation Bowler had Andrew Frawley, Paul Delany, Salem Hajras & Ahmad Aloun.

The collision of the teams proved good competition. With the time masters of West End Watches Co. walked away with a victory of 854769 & 774-757 in games one and two. While fighting back in game three the Kuwait Federation Bowlers managed to win with a 769709 pin fall.

Although already assured of a place in the top 4, Al Qwassem’s intention of staying on top of the standings was made clear by Ali Boulishi, Fahad Abul, Fahad Rughaib & Yacob shatti who turned back the persistent iBowl team in game two and three via a 851-762 & 848-768 score.

The Firefly team

The Street Bowlers team The lane masters of iBowl manned by Kamran Shaikh, Xavier Mascarenhas, Ramona Soares & Sameera Shaikh produced a stunning 744-708 winning effort in game one which put them ahead in game one. Unfortunately for iBowl, the pinbusters of Al Qwassem were able to win the match by taking a 2407-2274 edge in total pinfalls that was worth a bountiful 30 points.

Back with vengeance, the hard headed Firefly managed to move up by demolishing the Kegler Strikers with a 2378-2249 total pinfall. Taking full advantage of their light assignment, Lee Mills, Nourie Amiri, Nasha King & Abdurahman Swaydeh cruised home with easy 779-751, 820785 and 779-713 game victories. Manning the lanes for the pin hungry Kegler Strikers were Al Belarmino, Aqeel Al Farisy, Bobby Ferrera, Ed Mendoza & Jane Nance.

The other matches of the week ended in a thrilling finish with Amaya nipping Petrolink 2403-2279 in total pinfalls. Farid Gabriel, Mishari Boushery, Abdullah Khalid & Ali Qallaf handed Petrolink an 788-720 advantage in the opening game that was followed by the 831-769 victory of Amaya in the next game. Amaya then snatched the deciding game three 852-722. Top scorers for Amaya in this match were Rey Ualat, Raine Ualat, Marj Mercado & Blanca Mercado.

Spare Us meanwhile inched closer to the Top when they brushed aside the Pin Pointers 22482244. To book this victory, the collective efforts of Anthony King, Bala Subramanyam, Brian Fernandes & Colin Costa helped Spare Us turn back Pin Pointers in game two with a 850-715 win. In game one & three the Pin Pointers led by Alfred Avila, Joe Presenta, Rocky Castil, Rudy Delima & Fe Ferrer tried their best to turn things around but their 741-678 & 788-720 win was not enough to deny Spare Us the victory with just four pins which they deserve.

The team standings after thirteen weeks are as follows (read as rank, team name and total points) Championship Group : 1.

Al Qwassem - 360 2.

Kuwait Federation Bowlers - 322.5 3.

Kegler Strikers - 275 4.

Solo Sorisso - 265 Intermediate Group : 5.

West End Watches Co. - 255 6.

Firefly - 255 7.

Petrolink - 235 8.

Whiplash - 222.5 9.

Spare Us - 210 10.

Amaya -175 Greenie Group : 11.

No Strikes !!! -172.5 12.

Pin Pointers - 155 13.

Alleygators -145 14.

Street Bowlers -140 15.

I Bowl - 95 16.

Bowling Stones -82.5 Weekly High Team Series was taken by Alleygators with a total pin fall of 2448. The Weekly Men’s High game was bowled by Rey Ualat of Amaya with a 257 game. The Weekly Women’s High Game was captured by Marjorie Mercado of Amaya with a score of 261.

The IBL season two has been made possible with the help of their sponsors Advanced Technology Company, New India Assurance Co. Ltd & Amman Bhel Puri Restaurant. The matches of the Indian Bowling League are held every Friday at the Salmiya Cozmo Bowling Center at 1.30pm

The Solo Sorisso team

Thrill-seeking Webber sees big things in 2012 MELBOURNE: Only a week has passed since Formula One packed up for the year in Brazil, and while Red Bull’s Mark Webber is “putting his feet up” after an arduous season the Australian’s thoughts have already turned to the 2012 season-opener in Melbourne.

Webber, whose thrilling and occasionally acrimonious tussle with Sebastian Vettel was a highlight of the 2010 championship, was completely eclipsed by his Red Bull team mate in 2011 as the German successfully defended his title with four races to spare.

Despite a creditable season, finishing third in the driver standings, Webber managed just one win, taking the chequered flag at the seasonending Brazilian Grand Prix after his team mate’s car suffered a reliability problem.

Some of the gloss was taken off that win when Red Bull moved to deny suspicions Vettel’s gearbox problem had been concocted to gift the Australian a morale-boosting victory at the end of a barren season.

The win was, nonetheless, “just the tonic” to re-ignite the competitive fires, Webber told Reuters, even if it had been aided by his team mate’s misfortune.

“I think that (the victory) was brewing off the back of a few events where, on the surface it might not have looked that I might have been challenging, but there were certain things coming that I was getting more confident about,” the 35-year-old said in a telephone interview from Australia’s island state of Tasmania.

“Yes, Seb (Vettel) had to manage an issue but irrespective of that, you still need to pounce and capitalise on other people’s misfortunes. That’s motor sport at the end of the day.

“It’s good to have our feet up a little bit, it’s a long, long season as we all know. But to be honest I probably wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I still absolutely love my racing and I’m really looking forward to, it’s 100 days apparently before we get back to Melbourne, so looking forward to getting back in the car and racing.”

The Australian was speaking as he prepared for his annual Mark Webber Tasmania Challenge, a five-day cross-country event which starts tomorrow and helps raise funds for disadvantaged youth and endangered local wildlife.

Webber’s idea of having his “feet up” has included a 6.5 km fun run through a hilly course around the picture-postcard port of Hobart on Sunday, then having a photo-shoot while abseiling on a sheer rock face at a national park on Monday.

Elite and rookie athletes will compete in teams of two in kayaking, mountain biking and trekking as part of the challenge, but it is not clear whether Webber will participate in the mountain bike part after two serious accidents.

The first crash at the end of 2008 broke his leg and shoulder, hampering the start of his next F1 season, while the second in 2010 left him driving with a fractured shoulder for the last four races of the season as his title hopes gradually slipped away.

Despite the mishaps, Webber said he was thrilled to see others push themselves and survive to tell the tale. “It’s a very important thing for people to go through in life, to have respect for something you’re about to do and get the most out of it and lift the bar for themselves a little bit,” he said of the event.

“Obviously there’s some adrenalin involved and that’s what people get out of bed for to enjoy that sor t of stuff and do things they haven’t done before.

“I’m obviously the same, not just when I’m driving the car, I like to take some risks but (also) making the right decisions for myself knowing that my proper career is racing cars!”

Plain-spoken and ultra-competitive, Webber, who will turn 36 next August, remains contracted with Red Bull until the end of 2012, but bridles at suggestions he might content himself with scratching out the odd race win in his career’s sunset.

A question about 2012 likely being his last chance for a world title extracted the most reluctant of agreements. “The next most important race is Melbourne and next year will be different to this year, because that’s just the way I’m sure things will go,” he said.

“I’m very, very optimistic and positive that I’ll have a very, very strong season and that’s what I’m going to look forward to. I’m still driving very, very well.

“It’s an extremely fine line before you start to unlock a few other things that can make your season go from good, which was this year, to great, and that’s what I need to be able to try and do.” — Reuters

A

y

e niv rsar n

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2011

Years

sp orts

NFL results/standings Pittsburgh 35, Cincinnati 7; Carolina 38, Tampa Bay 19; NY Jets 34, Washington 19; Houston 17, Atlanta 10; Tennessee 23, Buffalo 17; Kansas City 10, Chicago 3; Miami 34, Oakland 14; New England 31, Indianapolis 24; Denver 35, Minnesota 32; San Francisco 26, St. Louis 0; Green Bay 38, NY Giants 35; Arizona 19, Dallas 13 (OT); Baltimore 24, Cleveland 10; New Orleans 31, Detroit 17.

(OT denotes overtime win) American Football Conference AFC East New England NY Jets Buffalo Miami

W 9 7 5 4

L 3 5 7 8

Baltimore Pittsburgh Cincinnati Cleveland

9 9 7 4

Houston Tennessee Jacksonville Indianapolis Oakland Denver Kansas City San Diego

PF 362 290 278 246

PA 247 260 304 220

PCT .750 .583 .417 .333

AFC North 3 0 0 3 0 0 5 0 0 8 0 0

293 268 266 175

192 195 250 240

.750 .750 .583 .333

9 7 3 0

AFC South 3 0 0 5 0 0 8 0 0 12 0 0

310 249 138 174

186 229 200 358

.750 .583 .273 0

7 7 5 4

AFC West 5 0 0 5 0 0 7 0 0 7 0 2

274 256 163 249

308 292 268 275

.583 .583 .417 .364

Dallas NY Giants Philadelphia Washington

7 6 4 4

National Football Conference NFC East 5 0 1 283 244 .583 6 0 0 287 315 .500 8 0 0 271 282 .333 8 0 1 202 256 .333

Green Bay Detroit Chicago Minnesota

12 7 7 2

NFC North 0 0 0 5 0 0 5 0 0 10 0 1

420 333 291 246

262 277 242 330

1.000 .583 .583 .167

New Orleans Atlanta Carolina Tampa Bay

9 7 4 4

NFC South 3 0 0 5 0 1 8 0 0 8 0 0

393 269 290 215

266 244 324 329

.750 .583 .333 .333

10 5 5 2

NFC West 2 0 1 7 0 0 7 0 0 10 0 1

San Francisco Seattle Arizona St. Louis

T 0 0 0 0

OTL 0 0 0 1

288 216 232 140

161 246 269 296

.833 .417 .417 .167

Late Red Sox clubhouse chief accused of abuse BOSTON: Two more men are accusing a now-dead former Red Sox clubhouse manager of sexually abusing them and are asking for $5 million settlements, their lawyer said yesterday.

Boston attorney Mitchell Garabedian said he sent the Red Sox a letter last month informing them of the new allegations against Donald Fitzpatrick.

Both men, now in their 30s, were teenage clubhouse attendants in 1991 when they say Fitzpatrick molested them in the Fenway Park clubhouse. Fitzpatrick died in 2005. The statute of limitations has expired to file a lawsuit or seek criminal charges.

In 2003, the team settled a lawsuit with seven Florida men who said Fitzpatrick molested them during spring training beginning in the 1970s. In 2002, Fitzpatrick pleaded guilty in Florida to four counts of attempted sexual battery on a child under 12. He received a 10-year suspended sentence and 15 years of probation.

Garabedian, a prominent victims’ attorney in the Catholic priest-abuse scandal, said both men decided to come forward after sexual abuse allegations were made against former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky and after U.S. Sen. Scott Brown’s revelation that he was molested by a counselor at a summer camp when he was 10.

“I’m asking the Red Sox to do the correct moral thing,” said Garabedian, who represented hundreds of victims during the clergy sexual abuse scandal in Boston.

Garabedian said team lawyers have asked to meet with his clients. Red Sox attorney Daniel Goldberg did not immediately return a call seeking comment yesterday.

In a statement given to The Boston Globe, which first reported the new allegations, Goldberg said the Red Sox “have always viewed the actions of Mr. Fitzpatrick to be abhorrent.”

“When the team, then under a previous ownership group, became aware of the allegations against Mr. Fitzpatrick in 1991, he was promptly relieved of his duties,” Goldberg said. He said the club does not have any specifics regarding the two recent allegations.

The allegations are believed to be the first time that Fitzpatrick has been accused of molesting boys in the Red Sox clubhouse at Fenway, Garabedian said.

One of the men, Charles Crawford, has agreed to go public with his name “as part of the healing process,” Garabedian said. Crawford was expected to speak to reporters at a Monday morning news conference.

Garabedian said Crawford alleges that Fitzpatrick raped him twice in the team’s clubhouse when he was 16.

He said Crawford’s life went downhill after the abuse. He has had trouble holding jobs and has fathered five children with five women, Garabedian said.

“What he thought was the best of all worlds by working with the Red Sox was eclipsed by the worst of all worlds when he was sexually molested by Donald Fitzpatrick,” Garabedian said. “In his mind, he’s always been running.

He’s always been not good enough, he’s always had problems with trust and self-esteem.”

The second man, who does not wish to be named, is an educator and now is married with children, Garabedian said.

He was traveling with the Red Sox in Anaheim, Calif., when another clubhouse attendant held a sign during a televised game that said, “Donald Fitzpatrick sexually assaulted me.”

Team officials said then that Fitzpatrick decided to take an indefinite leave of absence. He did not return to work for the team.

The second alleged victim told the Globe that after the Anaheim incident, he waited for team officials to ask him and other teenage attendants if Fitzpatrick had ever behaved inappropriately with them. “No one from the team pulled us aside afterward and said, ‘I just want to make sure you’re OK,’” he said.—AP

PITTSBURGH: Cincinnati Bengals running back Cedric Benson (32) is stopped by Pittsburgh Steelers inside linebacker James Farrior (51) and Casey Hampton (98) in the second quarter of an NFL football game. —AP

FOXBOROUGH: New England Patriots cornerback Devin McCourty (32) takes down Indianapolis Colts running back Donald Brown (31) during the first half of an NFL football game. —AP

Packers clinch playoff berth EAST RUTHERFORD: Aaron Rodgers engineered a last-minute drive to set up a 31yard field goal by Mason Crosby on the final play of regulation as the Green Bay Packers remained undefeated and clinched a playoff berth with a 38-35 victory over the New York Giants on Sunday.

Rodgers hit three passes of more than 18 yards on the drive in the final 58 seconds as the Super Bowl champion Packers (12-0) won their 18th straight game and handed the Giants (6-6) their fourth straight loss.

New York, which was blown out by New Orleans on Monday night, tied the game on Eli Manning’s 2-yard touchdown pass and a 2-point conversion run by D.J. Ware with just under a minute to play.

receiver. Johnson left in the third quarter af ter hur ting his lef t hamstring. He injured his right hamstring in Week 4 and sat out six games.

49ers 26, Rams 0 At San Francisco, Frank Gore ran San Francisco right into the playoffs, becoming the 49ers’ career rushing leader in a

Saints 31, Lions 17 At New Orleans, Drew Brees passed for 342 yards and three touchdowns as New Orleans won its fourth straight game.

Brees’ performance gave him 4,031 yards on the season, making him the first quarterback in NFL history to eclipse the 4,000-yard mark in the first 12 games of a season.

Dolphins 34, Raiders 14 At Miami, Reggie Bush rushed for 100 yards and a touchdown as Miami won for the fourth time in the past five games.

Matt Moore had a hand in two TDs for Miami, and Kevin Burnett returned an interception 34 yards for a score.

The surge by the Dolphins (4-8) comes after they lost their first seven games. In the past five games they’ve outscored opponents 139-54, with the lone loss a one-point defeat at Dallas on Thanksgiving.

Broncos 35, Vikings 32 At Minneapolis, Tim Tebow led yet another late rally, passing for a seasonbest 202 yards and two third-quarter touchdowns to help Denver win its fifth straight game.

Matt Prater kicked two field goals in the final 93 seconds for the Broncos (7-5), who moved into a first-place tie in the AFC West with a loss by the Oakland Raiders. Christian Ponder set Minnesota’s single-game rookie record with 381 yards passing, including a pair of touchdowns to Percy Harvin, but his sideline throw with 1:33 remaining was intercepted by Andre Goodman to set up the winner.

Titans 23, Bills 17 At Orchard Park, New York, Chris Johnson rushed for 153 yards and two touchdowns as Tennessee remained in the playoff chase. Johnson scored on runs of 48 and 4 yards to match his season touchdown total. It was his third 100-yard rushing game in four outings.

Rob Bironas hit three field goals, including a 44-yarder midway through the fourth quarter to put the Titans (7-5) ahead 23-10.

Chiefs 10, Bears 3 At Chicago, Tyler Palko shook off two miserable starts and threw for 157 yards and a touchdown even though he was briefly lifted for Kyle Orton.

Orton came on to start the second quarter and immediately left the game with an injured finger on his right hand. Palko connected with Dexter McCluster on a wild 38yard pass to end the first half on a ball that got deflected by Brian Urlacher and Chris Conte, giving the Chiefs a 7-3 lead and their first touchdown in three games.

Kansas City (5-7) got a 21-yard field goal from Ryan Succop in the third quarter, and Jon McGraw intercepted struggling backup Caleb Hanie in the end zone in the fourth.

Steelers 35, Bengals 7 At Pittsburgh, Ben Roethlisberger passed for two touchdowns and set a team record for career completions against error-prone Cincinnati.

Pittsburgh (9-3) swept the season series from Cincinnati (7-5) for the second straight year behind a 28-point explosion in the second quarter fueled by Roethlisberger, running back Rashard Mendenhall and a 60-yard punt return for a score by Antonio Brown.

Mendenhall and wide receiver Mike Wallace scored two touchdowns for the Steelers, who won for the seventh time in their last eight games.

Cardinals 19, Cowboys 13 At Glendale, Arizona, LaRod StephensHowling caught a short pass from Kevin Kolb and zipped 52 yards for a touchdown in overtime, snapping Dallas’ fourgame winning streak.

It marked the third time since 2008 that the Cowboys have lost in Arizona in excruciating fashion. Stephens-Howling dodged a host of would-be Cowboys tacklers to scamper in with the score.

Kolb completed 16 of 25 for 247 yards in his first game in five weeks. Tony Romo was 28 for 42 for 299 yards for the Cowboys.

Texans 17, Falcons 10 At Houston, rookie T.J. Yates threw a touchdown pass in his first NFL start and Arian Foster rushed for 111 yards as Houston overcame another hamstring injury to Andre Johnson.

The Texans (9-3) have won a franchiserecord six straight games, a remarkable feat considering they’re down to their third-string quarterback and have played the bulk of their streak without their star

withstood a fourth-quarter rally to keep Indianapolis winless.

Trailing 31-3, the Colts rallied with a touchdown run by Donald Brown and two scoring passes from Dan Orlovsky to Pierre Garcon, the last a 40-yarder with 36 seconds to go. But Deion Branch recovered the onside kick and Tom Brady took a knee on the final play.

EAST RUTHERFORD: New York Giants defensive end Justin Tuck (91) sacks Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (12) during the second quarter of an NFL football game. —AP shutout that wrapped up the franchise’s first NFC West crown and postseason berth since 2002.

Alex Smith threw second-half touchdowns of 52 and 56 yards to Michael Crabtree and Kyle Williams and David Akers k icked four field goals for San Francisco (10-2) as coach Jim Harbaugh joined George Seifert (1989) and Steve Mariucci (1997) as the only rookie coaches in 49ers history to win the division.

His touchdown passes went for 67 yards to Robert Meachem, 20 yards to Lance Moore and 6 yards to Darren Sproles. He also connected eight times with tight end Jimmy Graham for 89 yards as the Saints (93) improved to 6-0 at home.

Patriots 31, Colts 24 At Foxborough, Massachussets, Rob Gronkowski caught two touchdown passes then scored on a lateral as New England

Jets 34, Redskins 19 At Landover, Maryland, Mark Sanchez hit Santonio Holmes for a 30-yard touchdown pass with 4:49 to play, and Shonn Greene added a pair of insurance scores.

It was Sanchez’s 10th career fourthquarter comeback or overtime victory, including playoffs, and his second in as many weeks. The win improves the Jets to 7-5 and keeps them in the hunt for an AFC playoff berth.

Ravens 24, Browns 10 At Cleveland, Ray Rice rushed for a career-high 204 yards, breaking loose on a game-changing 67-yarder in the third quarter as Baltimore kept pace with Pittsburgh atop the AFC North.

Rice and Ricky Williams had short touchdown runs and Lardarius Webb returned a punt 68 yards for a TD for the Ravens (9-3), who toyed with the Browns (4-8). Baltimore racked up 290 yards rushing.

The Ravens turned to Rice on a blustery, rainy day, when Joe Flacco had trouble throwing and kicker Billy Cundiff missed a pair of field goal attempts.—AP

Alghannam Tires overcome spirited Shaheen XI KUWAIT: Al-Ghannam Tires achieved a thrilling 86 runs victory over Shaheen XI in the ongoing Kuwait Swedish trophy played at new Bastaki ground to stay in the race for a semi-final berth.

Winning the toss, Al-Ghannam openers Zahid Butt & Andrew Pinho made a rollicking start as they plundered the Shaheen attack to notch up 89 runs in 10 overs. The tall & lanky Andrew Pinho drove with precise timing and elegance and a handsomely driven on-drive was the topnotch shot of the day.

The in- form Zahid Butt excelled in his awesome power game and anything pitched up was clouted with awesome power and short pitched deliveries were pulled to the fence. Andrew Pinho was the first to depart after scoring a polished 42 runs as he was caught in front of the wicket of Mahmood Bastaki.

Meanwhile Zahid who was in terrific form reached his 6th half century of the season with a heave over the mid wicket and then pulled a short delivery to the square leg to post 100 runs in the 11 th over.

One down Naveed Butt rotated the

strike and helped his senior partner to dominate the strike. Naveed played some beautiful shots in front of the wicket to score a useful 25 runs and in the process of stepping up the score was stumped of Harish. Zahid Butt remained not out with a magnificent 85 runs which contained 5

towering sixes and 4 well hit boundaries.

Harish who captured 3 wickets was the top wicket taker for Shaheen XI. AlGhannam after 20 overs, scored 191 runs for the loss of 4 wickets.

Chasing 191 to win the match Shaheen soon lost opener Kandari for 4 as Andrew Pinho bowled him with a perfectly directed yorker and Naved Butt dismissed Yakoob who scored a quick fire 16 runs. Thereafter, the Al-Ghannam bowlers put a clamp on Shaheen batsmen and only Mehmood Bastaki who scored a patient 24 runs stood amongst the ruin. It was right arm off spinner Binu Mathew who did most of the damage as he took 3 wickets for 14 runs while Naveed Butt took 2 for 12. Shyam, Rizwan & Andrew captured a wicket each. In the 18th over, Shaheen were all out for 105 runs.

18

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2011

SPORTS

Barcelona’s youth to get test against BATE

Chelsea’s Portuguese manager Andre Villas-Boas

Villas-Boas faces crunch clash LONDON: Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas faces the first major test of his Stamford Bridge reign with his team’s Champions League future on the line against Valencia today.

A 1-1 draw at Belgian side Racing Genk and 2-1 defeat at Bayer Leverkusen have undermined Chelsea’s challenge, but they will reach the last 16 for a ninth successive season by beating Valencia in their final Group E match or a eking out a goalless draw.

The sides have met five times in the competition with Chelsea winning twice and three matches drawn but Valencia are currently in better form.

Chelsea have lost five of their last 10 matches in all competitions and although they played well in a 3-0 win at Newcastle United on Saturday, shambolic high-line defending and a lack of creativity in midfield have placed a heavy burden of responsibility on the London side’s strikers.

Villas-Boas can no longer rely on the ageing John Terry or erratic David Luiz at the back and the young Portuguese manager will hope that the impressive young England international Daniel Sturridge continues his sharp form.

He scored his seventh league goal of the season at Newcastle where the experienced Didier Drogba was also on target.

While Chelsea were winning at Newcastle, Valencia scraped a 2-1 home win over Espanyol in La Liga to maintain their grip on third place but

coach Unai Emery had to abandon plans to rest Roberto Soldado, bringing his captain off the bench to score the 80th-minute winner.

The in-form striker, who is making a strong case for inclusion in Spain’s squad for next year’s European Championship, took his La Liga tally to nine goals and has five in this season’s Champions League, including an equaliser from the penalty spot against Chelsea and a hat-trick in the 7-0 drubbing of Genk.

Soldado said having to battle past Espanyol would stand the players in good stead for the game at Stamford Bridge.

“It was a really tough match and we suffered a lot but we showed we knew how to cope with it which will be important for Tuesday when we are bound to suffer again,” he told reporters.

“If we had lost today (Saturday) it would have put a different complexion on Tuesday’s game, which will be like a final,” added the 26-year-old former Real Madrid player.

“A win today confirmed the team’s positive dynamic and we are winning games and getting good results and that is important for our confidence before we play Chelsea, who we know are one of the world’s best teams. “We know it will be an extremely difficult match but without doubt we will be at the required level and we hope to return home with the result we expect.”—Reuters

Wenger wants winning finish to group campaign ATHENS: Arsene Wenger insists Arsenal will give everything in their Champions League clash against Olympiakos even though the Gunners have nothing to play for in Greece today.

The Gunners have already qualified for the last 16 as group winners and that could have been the cue for Wenger to send out an understrength team for a fixture that, at first glance, appears meaningless.

Arsenal were in this position two seasons ago and Wenger elected to send a young side out to Greece with an average age of just 21 — the youngest ever in the Champions League.

However, second place in the group is still up for grabs, with even bottom club Borussia Dortmund not completely out of contention, and, while the Gunners boss will rest several stars, he still plans to field a competitive line-up at Karaiskakis Stadium for the integrity of the competition.

“First, the priority is to respect the competition and to win our game.

That is what I will try to do,” Wenger said. “I will go with a side who has experience and give the chance as well to some young players.

“I have done that against Manchester City in the League Cup quarter-final recently and you could see the team was really up for it. The target is to respect the competition, win our game and finish the group stage unbeaten.”

Wenger feels his squad deserve great credit for their achievements in Europe this season. “We haven’t lost a game up until now and I believe we had a very difficult group,” he said.

“Dortmund are certainly the best side in Germany at the moment, Olympiakos and Marseille are not easy games and when you look at where we had to come from against Udinese in the play-off, I feel we can be quite satisfied with the way we managed to get through.”

Arsenal may be safely into the knockout stages with a match to spare, but the same cannot be said for Premier League rivals Manchester City, Chelsea and Manchester United.

Wenger feels a scenario of the Gunners as England’s only representatives in the knockout stages of

Europe’s elite club competition would not be positive for the Premier League or Arsenal’s hopes of finishing in the top four.

“It would be a little bit of a disadvantage in the Premier League, but that is a catastrophic scenario for England and would basically harm our places in Europe for the future,” Wenger said.

“That is what you don’t want-that you go from four to three Champions League places. Hopefully that will not happen.

“Of course the teams like Manchester United would then focus on the FA Cup and the domestic championship, but let’s see-I don’t think that will happen.”—AFP

Matches on TV (Local Timings)

UEFA Champions League Pizen v AC Milan Al Jazeera Sport +1

22:45

Barcelona v BATE Al Jazeera Sport +2 Al Jazeera Sport 2 HD

22:45

Apoel v Shakhtar Al Jazeera Sport +8

22:45

Porto v Zenit Al Jazeera Sport +6

22:45

Dortmund v Marseille Al Jazeera Sport +5

22:45

Olympiacos v Arsenal Al Jazeera Sport +10

22:45

Genk v Leverkusen Al Jazeera Sport +9

22:45

Chelsea v Valencia Al Jazeera Sport 1 HD Al Jazeera Sport +4

22:45

BARCELONA: With first place secure, Barcelona will use its final group match against BATE Borisov today as a chance to give its latest crop of young talent a taste of the Champions League.

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola has only called up six first-team players for the match, opting to rest Lionel Messi, Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta, among others, ahead of next weekend’s game at Real Madrid in the Spanish league.

“The team will play well against BATE because many players dream their whole lives about playing in the Champions League, and we have to respect our rival,” said Javier Mascherano, who will also be watching from the stands at Camp Nou. In the other Group H match, Viktoria Plzen needs a draw or better against AC Milan to finish third and earn a spot in the Europa League.

The defending champions will be able to count on defender Gerard Pique and forward Pedro Rodriguez, who has lost his spot in Barcelona’s starting lineup this season and should be eager to rediscover his form against the Belarusian champions.

While Pedro has watched new signings Cesc Fabregas and Alexis Sanchez reduce him to a bench player, Guardiola said he still believes the Spain international is an important part of his team’s success. “(Pedro) is too good to doubt,” Guardiola said after his team’s 5-0 win over Levante on Saturday. “If I am the coach I am it is thanks to players like Pedro.”

SPAIN: BATE Borisov players attend a training session at the Nou Camp stadium in Spain. Barcelona will play against BATE Borisov in Group H Champions League today. —AP Midfielder Thiago Alcantara will likely orchestrate Barcelona’s passing attack, which could also feature 17-year-old forward Gerard Deulofeu and Isaac Cuenca, who capped his strong performance this past weekend with a goal.

The 20-year-old Cuenca spent last season in Spain’s third division on loan, but he has fit in seamlessly in limited action with Barcelona’s first team this campaign, scoring two goals in league play and providing Guardiola with another weapon on the wing.

“Physically, he may not be a hit with the girls,” Guardiola joked.

“But when he plays in the right

place, he is awesome. He does his job to perfection.”

Barcelona rolled to a 5-0 win in its first meeting with BATE in Minsk, and the visitors must find a way to hand Barcelona its first loss in 13 straight Champions League home games while hoping that Viktoria Plzen loses to overtake the Czechs and stay alive in European competition.

BATE can take some heart that Milan already has second place in the group locked up. Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri called the game in Plzen a “solid training session,” while adding “but we’re Milan and we’ve got to try and win.” Allegri is planning to bring three youth squad members to

the Czech Republic, although he also said that Brazil forward Alexandre Pato, who is still regaining his form following a leg muscle injury, will play.

“Pato is fine,” Allegri said. “He needs to play and he’ll do so in Prague.” In defense, Philippe Mexes will likely start at center back, with either Alessandro Nesta or Thiago Silva getting some rest.

Viktoria Plzen is third in the Czech league after a 4-1 win on Friday. “Anything can happen but I don’t think that Borisov can win (at Barcelona),” Viktoria Plzen coach Pavel Vrba said. “(And) I still think that we can draw with Milan.”—AP

Porto in must-win showdown LISBON: Under-fire Porto coach Vitor Pereira knows his team must beat visiting Zenit St Petersburg y today to qualify for the last 16 of the Champions League as he bids to hold on to his job.

Porto are third in Group G with seven points behind Russian league leaders Zenit who have eight and need only a draw to reach the last 16. APOEL Nicosia have nine points and have already become the first team from Cyprus to get to the knockout stage.

Porto won the domestic double and Europa League last season with a rampant attacking style of play but have been disappointing so far this term after Andre VillasBoas left for Chelsea and his assistant Pereira was promoted to manager.

In the Champions League, Porto started with a win over visiting Shakhtar Donetsk but lost at Zenit, were held at home by APOEL and then suffered a shock defeat in Nicosia that triggered a chorus of protests that included dozens of fans waiting at the airport to berate the returning players and coach.

To make matters worse, they were soon knocked out of the Portuguese Cup, outplayed in a 3-0 defeat at Academica.

Under intense pressure, Pereira then changed tactics and his side earned two straight wins with a gritty 2-0 victory in freezing conditions at Shakhtar and a 3-2 home success against Braga in the league.

“Unfortunately things were not coming out well for us. Now the team has improved and wants to keep the momentum, beat Zenit and move ahead in the Champions

PORTO: Porto’s Uruguayan defender Jorge Fucile (left) and Belgian midfielder Steven Defour (right) warm up during a training session on the eve of their UEFA Champions League Group G football match against Zenit.—AFP League,” said Porto’s Brazil forward Hulk.

Pereira shifted to a 4-2-3-1 formation from 4-3-3, making the midfield more dynamic as he dropped one of the three holding midfielders and moved Hulk from the wing to spearhead the attack.

The burly forward has hit his stride in the new role, scoring three goals in the last two matches and driving the team’s attack.

“Positive results always bring confidence...

I’m no exception to that rule,” Pereira said.

“But I’m not calm yet and will not lower my guard, although I feel that the team is closer

to what we are looking for,” he said.

In midfield, steady passer Joao Moutinho has recovered form while energetic Belgian Steven Defour offers more pace than Fernando Belluschi, an Argentine playmaker who prefers possession football.

Russian champions Zenit will be without leading scorer Alexander Kerzhakov, who has stayed home to nurse an ankle injury.

Luciano Spalletti’s team will make the short trip to Porto yesterday having opted to fly to Portugal last week for a six-day training camp.—Reuters

Dortmund clings to slim Champions League hopes DORTMUND: Borussia needs to beat Marseille by four goals to have a chance of advancing to the last 16 of the Champions League - and even that may not be enough.

At the same time, Olympiakos has to lose at home to the already qualified Arsenal for the Bundesliga champions to advance from Group F. “We’ve already won in the Bundesliga by scores of 4-0, 5-0 or 51. Why can’t we do it again today?” asked Dortmund’s striker Robert Lewandowski.

Lewandowski has 10 goals in the Bundesliga, but only one in the Champions League. Marseille would make sure of finishing second behind Arsenal with a win. Going into the final round, Arsenal tops the group with 11 points, Marseille has seven, Olympiakos 6 and Dortmund four.

Dortmund is one point behind Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga but the young side has struggled in the Champions League, losing three games.

“We’ve had some unfortunate games, we’ve put ourselves into this uncomfortable situation,” captain Sebastian Kehl said. “But we’ll try to play power football.

“We’ll try to score early and retain the chance for a small miracle. But it’s a very small chance,” Kehl said.

Dortmund needs to win by five goals if Arsenal draws at Olympiakos.

run. We just have to bring out our best.” Defender Felipe Santana, who has been playing for the injured Neven Subotic, said the task was simple. “Every player knows how many

GERMANY: Marseille’s French forward Loic Remy takes part in a training session in the Signal Iduna Park stadium ahead of their UEFA Champions League Group F second leg match against Borussia Dortmund today. —AFP “We have to try everything,” midfielder Shinji Kagawa said. “We are at home, and we’ve been on a good

goals we need,” he said.

Apart from Subotic and Sven Bender, both out long-term with

facial injuries, Dortmund also will be without suspended defender Marcel Schmelzer.

Marseille will be without striker Andre-Pierre Gignac, who picked up a groin injury in Friday’s 2-1 win at Caen, but coach Didier Deschamps was not worried. “We’re on a good run with 15 points taken from the last 18 (in the league),” he said.

Deschamps is unsure whether Cameroon’s defensive midfielder Stephane M’Bia will be fit in time to face Dortmund after he picked up a knock against Caen.

“Steph took a blow to his hip and to his ankle, but I don’t think it’s too serious,” Deschamps said. He has included M’Bia in his squad.

Deschamps should be boosted by the return of key striker Loic Remy, who sat out the Caen game after twisting his ankle in last Sunday’s 3-0 home win against Paris St. Germain.

“We put ourselves into trouble (losing at home to Olympiakos) so we’re going there in a different context,” Marseille midfielder Morgan Amalfitano said. “We’re going there to win. We’re ready to win because the Caen victory has boosted our confidence.”—AP

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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2011

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Plzen eye Europa League spot against Milan

PRAGUE: Viktoria Plzen’s football players stretch as they take part in a training session in Prague on the eve of their UEFA Championship League Group H match against AC Milan. —AP PRAGUE: Czech champions Viktoria Plzen will be looking to secure a place in the Europa League playoffs by finishing third in Champions League Group H when they host AC Milan today.

Milan, second in the group on eight points, are already assured of a place in the Champions League last 16, just like Barcelona who have already wrapped up the group with 13 points and one game to play.

Plzen are close to a Europa League spot, holding the third place with four points, two ahead of Belarusian champions BATE

Borisov who are facing a mission nearimpossible at Barcelona today.

BATE lost 5-0 against the defending champions in their first meeting. But the Czechs will be hungry for points against AC Milan as their self-confidence surged following a 1-0 win at Borisov two weeks ago.

“I don’t believe Borisov can beat Barcelona at the Nou Camp. But above all I believe we’ll get a point from the last game with AC Milan, which should be enough,” Plzen coach Pavel Vrba said.

In their first encounter, Milan beat Plzen 2-0 with second-half goals from Zlatan

Ibrahimovic and Antonio Cassano.

Milan, currently second in the Serie A behind Juventus, will miss injured keeper Christian Abbiati, defender Alessandro Nesta, midfielder Gennaro Gattuso and striker Cassano, and suspended midfielder Alberto Aquilani.

Rossoneri coach Massimiliano Allegri can reckon with striker Pato, who has recovered from flu. “We have to play and win because it’s a Champions League game,” Allegri said on the Milan website.

Plzen can use their strongest team including gifted winger Vaclav Pilar, who

has been caught in a transfer controversy after signing a probably invalid deal with Bundesliga side Wolfsburg ten days ago.

Pilar, at Plzen on a loan from another Czech top-flight side Hradec Kralove, who claim their share of the transfer sum, missed a league game amid the mess that ensued.

But he was back on the pitch for last Friday’s 4-1 trashing of Bohemians 1905 in another league game, contributing one goal. AC Milan also got a boost from a league victory, winning 2-0 at Genoa last Friday. Milan have promised to take the game seriously so as not to disadvantage

Borisov but they are still likely to ring the changes as they have a tricky match at Bologna at the weekend.

Milan fell to a 3-2 home defeat to Barca in their last match in the tournament which ended their hopes of winning the group.

Although they claim they will “honor” the match, they have a busy period coming up before Christmas with three matches in 10 days. They are also without long-term absentee Mathieu Flamini so Allegri will therefore likely give some fringe players a run-out while French centre-back Philippe Mexes is also likely to be involved. —AFP

Japan celebrates 2011 season

MEXICO: Tigres’ Jorge Torres (front) fights for the ball with Queretaro’s Amaury Ponce during a Mexican soccer league match. —AP

Tigres cruise into final MEXICO CITY: An own goal by Queretaro defender Manuel Lopez gave Tigres UANL a 1-0 victory on Sunday and earned them a place in the final of the Mexican Apertura championship against Santos Laguna.

Lopez headed the ball into his own net trying to clear a cross from midfielder Damian Alvarez a minute before halftime in the semi-final second leg at the Universitario stadium in the northern city of Monterrey. “Fortunately we got the result with their own goal and now we’re going to the final,” Tigres defender Hugo Ayala told television broadcasters Televisa. It was the only goal of the tie after Queretaro, playing in the eightteam knockout phase of the championship for the first time, held Tigres 0-0 at home in midweek. Tigres were also

awarded a penalty on the hour but forward Hector Mancilla’s kick was saved by goalkeeper Liborio Sanchez, who was again his team’s best player.

Queretaro had Michel Vazquez sent off three minutes into added time for a foul on midfielder Manuel Viniegra.

Tigres will be looking for their second league title and first since the 1981/82 season. Santos have three titles, all since the introduction in 1996/97 of two championships per season, with their last the 2008 Clausura.

They reached the final by beating Morelia 3-2 in a thrilling semi-final second leg on Saturday. The aggregate score was 4-4 with Santos qualifying by virtue of having finished higher in the league standings before the knockout phase. —Reuters

SEOUL: While Japan finished East Asia’s football season on a high at the weekend, China and South Korea will look back on a year dominated by scandal, missed opportunities and unfulfilled promise.

Japan started 2011 by lifting the Asian Cup, watched its women’s team win the World Cup in July and ended the season with another thrilling title race in the country’s domestic JLeague. With a number of young stars lured to the big leagues in Europe and the national team progressing to the final round of qualification for the 2014 World Cup with ease, the Japan Football Association has reason to be happy, as the association’s vice-president Kozo Tashima told Associated Press.

“We are all delighted at the JFA at the success that Japanese football has had in 2011,” said Tashima, one of a number of Asian figures tipped to be the next president of the Asian Football Confederation.

“The year started well in Asia in January, we had a global success in July which thrilled the national after a difficult time,” he added in reference to the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that left 5,839 dead and 3,647 missing, and caused the J-League to be suspended for six weeks. Over the next 12 months Japan will be focused on trying to secure a place at the 2014 World Cup. “The game is progressing at all levels in the country, but we know that we have to keep moving forward and working hard,” said Tashima. “For 2012, we have to keep focused.

The national team performed very well to progress through the third round of qualification for the 2014 World Cup and next year we will do our utmost to continue those good performances.”

The J-League season ended on Saturday with Kashiwa Reysol lifting the league trophy for the first time, and Nagoya Grampus and Gamba Osaka close behind.

China has had a year to remember as far as club football goes, but another comprehensive failure in the international arena.

In November, China saw its hopes of reaching the 2014 World Cup officially end, marking the third successive failure to reach even the final phase of qualification. When Japan lifted the Asia Cup in January, China exited at the first round. The Chinese Football Association declared, however, that it will stick with Spanish coach Jose Antonio Camacho who was appointed in August. “We have set our sights on the future. For example, the systematic training of teenage players,” CFA deputy president Yu Hongchen said. “That’s the reason we recruited a coaching team. Camacho will take part in the construction of China’s teenage development system.”

Some hope has come with the emergence of Guangzhou Evergrande. The team was promoted to the Chinese Super League at the end of 2010 and dominated the season in the top tier to win the title with ease.

Bankrolled by a wealthy real estate tycoon, the team signed a number of established Chinese international players and added expensive South American stars.

Brazilian striker Cleo was signed for $4 million, while the club shocked the football world by paying Brazil’s Fluminense over $10 million for Argentine star Dario Conca and making the midfielder one of the highestpaid players in the world. Hopes are high for 2012. Guangzhou’s success is causing rival clubs such as Beijing and Tianjin to spend money, with stars like Chelsea striker Nicolas Anelka recently linked to a move to China.

And fans are hopeful that one of their clubs will finally be able to challenge for the Asian Champions League in 2012.

South Korea again impressed in the Champions League, but it has been an up and down year for the Asian powerhouse. After

sending four teams to the quarterfinal of the 2010 tournament, three made it to the last eight in 2011 only for Jeonbuk Motors to surprisingly lose in the final to Al Sadd of Qatar.

Jeonbuk took the 2011 domestic title Sunday, defeating Ulsan Horangi in an entertaining playoff final that ended the season, but the hard work starts now for football authorities.

While China seems finally to be getting to grips with match-fixing, the K-League, the oldest professional league in Asia, was shocked by a similar scandal that hit the headlines in April. Around 60 players have been prosecuted for accepting money from criminal gangs working on behalf of illegal betting websites.

As part of measures to ensure that Korean football becomes more professional in the future, the 16 team league will be reduced to 12 by either 2013 or 2014.

Relegation will be introduced from next season, as will a Scottish Premier League style split system. After 30 games, the 16-team league will be divided into two groups of eight which will then play against each other.

“Since we will have the full promotion-relegation by 2013, we decided to adopt the split system for next year to determine who will be relegated,” Ahn Ki-heon, secretary general of the K-League told reporters in October. “Clubs in the upper league will try to win, and those at the bottom will fight hard to avoid relegation. So teams will be playing hard right to the end.” The national team impressed in January as a host of young stars performed well at the Asian Cup, before having to settle for third place. The year ended on a low, however, with a shocking 2-1 loss at Lebanon in qualification for the 2014 World Cup. Korea still leads its group and only needs to draw at home to Kuwait in February to guarantee a place in the final round, but the loss has put pressure on coach Cho Kwang-rae. —AP

Barcelona’s world bid could prove costly TOKYO: Barcelona, while red-hot favorites to win their second Club World Cup in three years, know the 20,000-kilometre round trip to Japan and back could come at a heavy cost.

Locked in a tooth-and-nail battle with Real Madrid in La Liga, Barca face their bitter rivals in next weekend’s ‘Clasico’ before immediately jetting off to the Far East.

The European champions join the Dec. 8-18 Club World Cup at the semi-final stage along with Brazil’s Santos, winners of South America’s Libertadores Cup. Japan’s Kashiwa Reysol, who won their first J-League title at the weekend, take on Auckland City in the opening game of the seventeam FIFA competition on Thursday. But Barcelona’s collection of big-name players, led by Argentina’s Lionel Messi, will be expected to lift the trophy- even if it turns out to be fool’s gold.

Real Madrid lead Barca by three points at the top of La Liga, with a game in hand over Pep Guardiola’s side heading into a potentially bruising encounter at the Bernabeu this Saturday.

A side boasting Spanish World Cup winners Xavi, Andres Iniesta, David Villa and Cesc Fabregas should still have enough in the tank to win in Japan.

“We’ll need to adapt quickly,” Fabregas told fifa.com. “It will be a long journey with time zone complications involved and we go into a tough game with very little time to prepare.” Barcelona, who beat Manchester United 3-1 at Wembley in May to win their fourth European Cup, face either Qatar’s Al Sadd or Tunisian club Esperance on Dec. 15 in Yokohama. The long-haul flight and quick turnaround after returning could take its toll on the Spaniards. “ This is Barcelona,” added Fabregas. “We’re obliged to win every game. It’s what people expect. That makes it mandatory for us and we have to deliver.”

Santos, who captured their third Libertadores Cup in June, almost 50 years after Pele inspired them to back-to-back titles in 1962 and 1963, could prove formidable opponents.

Barring shock defeats in their respective semi-finals, Barcelona will be casting envious eyes at prolific young striker Neymar, instrumental in his side’s Libertadores triumph.

The Catalan giants are among several European clubs to have offered a fortune for Neymar but the 19-year-old pin-up recently signed a new deal to stay with Santos until 2014.

“There was a lot of talk about a move to Barcelona or Real Madrid,” said Xavi. “But he is staying at Santos. He will become a great player. He has amazing ability.” The Club World Cup will come as a welcome distraction for embattled FIFA president Sepp Blatter after a turbulent year and growing calls for his resignation.

A corruption scandal led to his unopposed re-election before Blatter sparked outrage last month by saying racist abuse on the pitch should be settled by a handshake after the game.

For the lesser-known teams, however, the Club World Cup offers a rare and lucrative chance to mix it with some of the game’s best players.

“For a small amateur team like ours, it’s going to take something absolutely out of the ordinary to get any kind of result,” said Auckland captain Ivan Vicelich.

While the tournament has faced criticism for the level of competition, Esperance will relish the long trip after a year of political turmoil and a revolution in Tunisia.

The African champions face Al Sadd, who defied the odds to beat Jeonbuk Motors on a penalty shootout in the Asian Champions League final. — Reuters

BUENOS AIRES: Boca Juniors’ midfielder Juan Roman Riquelme (center) smiles with the trophy of the Argentina 2011 First Division football tournament. —AFP

Boca clinch Argentine league title BUENOS AIRES: Striker Dario Cvitanich scored two firsthalf goals as Boca Juniors won the Argentine league title with two matches to spare when they beat Banfield 3-0 at a heaving, chanting Bombonera on Sunday.

Midfielder Dario Rivero added the third early in the second half for Boca, who remain unbeaten after 27 matches going back to last season and have conceded only four goals in 17 matches in the Apertura championship.

Second-placed Racing Club were 11 points behind after Saturday’s 2-0 win at Colon in Santa Fe and third-placed Tigre were 12 adrift before their match at San Lorenzo yesterday. The win sealed Boca’s 24th league title since the Argentine game went professional in 1931. It was their eighth since the introduction of two championships per season in 1991 and first since 2008. Cvitanich, who began

his career at Banfield before moving to Ajax Amsterdam and Pachuca in Mexico, struck in the 10th minute. A corner to the far post was returned into the middle where the ball came back off the bar and was headed off the line as it pinged around the six-yard box like a pinball before Cvitanich blasted it through a swarm of defenders and goalkeeper Cristian Lucchetti.

Cvitanich volleyed his and Boca’s second just before the interval and Rivero caught Lucchetti, who played for Boca last season, wrong-footed with a dipping shot from outside the box a minute into the second half.

Captain Juan Roman Riquelme, who had been out for more than a month through injury, came on as a secondhalf substitute before joining in mass celebrations on the pitch, in the stands and on the terraces. — Reuters

Packers clinch playoff berth

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Barcelona’s youth to get test against BATE

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FIFA: Havelange quits from IOC

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AHMEDABAD: West Indies bowler Ravi Rampaul (right) and captain Darren Sammy celebrate after winning the third one-day international cricket match against India .—AFP

Rampaul fires Windies to vital win AHMEDABAD: Ravi Rampaul and debutant Sunil Narine shared six wickets to bowl the West Indies to a crucial 16-run victory over India in the third one-day international yesterday.

Fast bowler Rampaul finished with 4-57 and off-spinner Narine with 2-34 as the West Indies bowled India out for 244 despite Rohit Sharma’s solid 95 after posting a challenging 260-5 in the must-win match in Ahmedabad.

India now lead 2-1 in the five-match series following their victories in the opening two games, with Monday’s defeat also ending their 11-match winning streak in one-day internationals at home. It earlier looked like India would restrict the West Indies to a modest total when the tourists reached 167-3 after 43 overs, but skipper Darren Sammy (41 not out) and Andre Russell (40) plundered 79 off the last 34 balls.

“It was a good fightback from the boys, the way we batted and that spell

from Rampaul,” said Sammy. “(Marlon) Samuels and Narine also bowled well and it was a team effort. Sharma tried to take it away, but we stuck at it.”

The hosts were reeling at 105-6 but Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin (31) rallied their team with a 91-run stand for the seventh wicket before Narine struck a vital blow when he trapped Ashwin leg-before.

“It is very hard to chase when your top order fails,” said India skipper Virender Sehwag. “In the last few games, the lower order is scoring more than the top order. Till the time Rohit was there, we thought we could win the game. Unfortunately, he got run out and missed his century too.”

The West Indies also let off the Indian pair during the early stages of their stand, with Sammy dropping Ashwin off Narine and then Sharma off paceman Kemar Roach.

Sammy, however, made amends

when he ran Sharma out with a directhit from mid-on at the non-striker’s end after the batsman had cracked one six and 10 fours in his 100-ball knock.

Abhimanyu Mithun (23) and Umesh Yadav (11 not out) gave some anxious moments to the West Indies with a 28run stand for the last wicket before Rampaul ended the innings when he trapped Mithun leg-before.

India were struggling at 8-2 in the second over following the first-ball dismissals of Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, with Rampaul taking both the wickets with his first two deliveries.

Narine, who was pressed into the attack after only four overs, did not have to wait long for his first wicket as he trapped in-form Virat Kohli (20) legbefore to reduce the hosts to 43-3.

Sammy earlier smashed two sixes and five fours in his 17-ball knock while Russell hit two sixes and four boundaries in his 18-ball innings.

The West Indies skipper’s sixes came in the penultimate over off seamer Mithun before Russell hit paceman Yadav for two fours and a six in the last over.

The West Indies scored 93 runs in the last seven overs after being put in to bat, thanks to Sammy and Russell.

Samuels (58) steadied the innings with his 22nd half-century in one-dayers after the West Indies lost openers Lendl Simmons (one) and Danza Hyatt (20).

Samuels added 55 runs for the third wicket with Darren Bravo (26), who retired due to a hamstring injury. His best came in the 19th over when he hit Yadav for a six over long-on and two fours.

Kieron Pollard (29), who put on 55 for the fourth wicket with Denesh Ramdin (38), fell to a superb running catch in the deep by Ravindra Jadeja while attempting a big shot off Kumar.—AFP

Australia wins again at Champions Trophy AUCKLAND: World No.1 Australia beat Britain 4-1 yesterday to stay unbeaten after two matches at the Champions Trophy men’s field hockey tournament.

Matthew Butturini, Matt Gohdes, Jamie Dwyer and Luke Doerner scored as Australia outclassed first round winner Britain to stay atop Pool A. Rogier Hofman scored with five minutes left to give the Netherlands a 3-2 win over Germany, the Olympic and European champion, and to leave it unbeaten atop Pool B in the elite, eight-team tournament.

The win was the Netherlands’ fifth in succession over Germany at Champions Trophy tournaments and its ninth in all matches.

In other matches yesterday, first-round loser Spain beat Pakistan 4-2 and New Zealand beat Korea 6-1. Defending champion and 11-time winner Australia took just six minutes to snatch the lead through Butturini in its match against Britain, which had beaten Pakistan 2-1 in its opening match. Fergus Kavanagh split the defense with a superb

pass and Butturini beat goalkeeper James Farr at the near post.

Britain missed a chance to equalize from a penalty corner and Australia capitalized, going 20 up after 22 minutes when Gohdes rewarded a period of intense pressure.

The second half was more evenly contested and Britain dragged itself back into the game with a goal to Simon Mantell with 15 minutes remaining. But Australia struck back through Dwyer two minutes later to lead 3-1 and Doerner clinched the win with a penalty corner drag-flick two minutes from the end.

Hofman’s brilliant goal earned the Netherlands its secondstraight win after an opening 2-0 win over Korea. Billy Bakker scored the Netherlands’ opening goal off an accurate pass from Teun de Nooijer, but Germany replied quickly through Tobias Matania. Germany then went ahead 2-1 when Christoph Menke scored from lead-up work by Thilo Sralkowski.

Jeroen Hertzberger pulled the Netherlands level and Hoffman added the winner as the clock

SCOREBOARD AHMEDABAD, India: Complete scoreboard of the third one-day international between India and the West Indies in Ahmedabad yesterday: West Indies: G. Gambhir lbw b Rampaul 0 L. Simmons c Patel b Kumar 1 V. Kohli lbw b Narine 20 D. Hyatt c Patel b Mithun 20 R. Sharma run out 95 M. Samuels b Ashwin 58 S. Raina c Ramdin b Rampaul 2 D. Bravo retd hurt 26 R. Jadeja run out 11 D. Ramdin c Patel b Yadav 38 R. Ashwin lbw b Narine 31 K. Pollard c Jadeja b Kumar 29 V. Kumar b Roach 3 A. Russell not out 40 A. Mithun lbw b Rampaul 23 D. Sammy not out 41 U. Yadav not out 11 Extras (b2, w5) 7 Extras (b1, lb2, nb3, w3) 9 Total (for five wickets; 50 overs) 260 244 Fall of wickets: 1-2 (Simmons), 2-42 (Hyatt), 3-122 Total (for all out; 46.5 overs) (Samuels; Bravo retd at 97), 4-177 (Ramdin), 5-181 Fall of wickets: 1-8 (Sehwag), 2-8 (Gambhir), 3-43 (Kohli), 4-79 (Patel), 5-84 (Raina), 6-105 (Jadeja), 7(Pollard).

Bowling: Kumar 8-1-39-2 (w1), Yadav 9-1-75-1, 196 (Ashwin), 8-200 (Kumar), 9-216 (Sharma), 10244 (Mithun).

Mithun 7-0-47-1 (w1), Jadeja 10-1-37-0 (w1), Bowling: Roach 10-0-54-1 (nb2, w1), Rampaul 8.5Ashwin 10-0-33-1 (w2), Raina 6-0-27-0.

1-57-4 (nb1, w1), Narine 10-0-34-2, Samuels 10-050-1, Russell 4-0-25-0 (w1), Sammy 1-0-7-0, India: P. Patel b Samuels 39 Simmons 2-0-10-0, Pollard 1-0-4-0.

V. Sehwag c Ramdin b Rampaul 0 Result: West Indies win by 16 runs

Uncapped Christian replaces Cutting in Australian squad

AUCKLAND: Simon Child of New Zealand (right) manoeuvres past Kim Kwang-Jin (left) of South Korea during their second round match of the men’s hockey Champions Trophy. New Zealand beat South Korea 6-1.—AFP

ticked down. Penalty corner ace Pau Quemada scored twice as Spain beat Pakistan 4-2. Sohail Abbas ad found the target from a penalty corner in the sixth minute of the second half to level the score at 2-2, but Quemada scored twice in eight minute to give Spain its opening win.

Shea McAleese (2), Phil

Burrows, Nick Wilson, Shay Neal and Andrew Hayward scored as New Zealand recovered from its opening 2-1 loss to Germany to move into second place in Pool B. Australia meets Pakistan, South Korea plays Germany, Spain plays Britain and New Zealand meets the Netherlands in matches today. —AP

SYDNEY: Australia are likely to start the second test against New Zealand unchanged after uncapped all rounder Dan Christian was added to the squad in place of injured 12th man Ben Cutting yesterday.

The Australians wrapped up a nine-wicket victory in the opening test in Brisbane with more than a day to spare on Sunday and begin the second and final match of the series in Hobart on Friday.

James Pattinson retained his place in the squad after taking 5-27 on debut at the Gabba and his fellow fast bowler Mitchell Starc and opening batsman David Warner also look likely to play their second tests in Tasmania.

“Michael Clarke and his team are buoyant after their convincing victory in Brisbane,” chief selector John Inverarity said in a news release.

“James Pattinson’s performance on debut will provide a great boost not only to the team as a whole but to those who are new to the team in particular.”

Warner’s under-fire fellow opener Phil Hughes kept his place in the squad despite making just 10 and seven at the Gabba, where he was caught in the gully in both innings.

Captain Michael Clarke said on Sunday he was unconcerned by the 23-year-old’s failure but, in any case, Australia’s injury list made his retention almost inevitable.

All rounder Shane Watson, who has combined opening the batting with being one of Australia’s main bowling threats, was still not

available after suffering a hamstring injury on the recent tour of South Africa.

Other injury-enforced absentees were teenager Patrick Cummins, who took 6-79 on his test debut in South Africa last month but has a heel problem, and his fellow fast bowlers Ryan Harris (pelvis) and Mitchell Johnson.

Johnson had surgery on his left foot last week and will be out for five months, Harris returns to training this week while Watson and Cummins are expected to be available to face India in the first match in a four-test series on Dec. 26.

Paceman Cutting, who missed out on his debut after being named 12th man for the first test, suffered a side strain while playing for Queensland last Friday and is set to be sidelined for at least a month.

Christian, who has Aboriginal heritage, has played three Twenty20 matches for his country and has a first class batting average of 30 as well as 89 wickets in 33 matches.

“It is disappointing for Ben that he will be sidelined for some weeks with a side strain, but this provides an opportunity for Daniel who has been performing well as an allrounder for South Australia,” Inverarity added.

“The balance of a team is always enhanced by the presence of an energetic allrounder who is in good form.”

Squad: Michael Clarke (captain), Phillip Hughes, David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Ricky Ponting, Michael Hussey, Brad Haddin, Peter Siddle, James Pattinson, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Dan Christian.—Reuters

Radio competition for new Mercedes-Benz C-Coupe Page 22

BMW incentivizes customers with brake servicing campaign Page 23

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2011

Olympus hid up to $1.7b, no proof of yakuza link Page 26

Monti pushes austerity to avoid Greek-style collapse Page 25

DOHA: A general view shows the 20th World Petroleum Congress (WPC) in Doha yesterday. — AFP

Arab Spring won’t hit energy supplies: Qatar WPC - 2011 to address key industry issues: Al-Busairi DOHA: Energy-rich Qatar moved yesterday to reassure consumer countries that the Arab Spring will not disrupt supplies from the Gulf, as Saudi Arabia stressed its goal to ensure stability on oil markets.

Iran’s oil minister, meanwhile, dismissed EU threats of sanctions on Tehran’s financial and oil sectors, after a top official in Tehran warned that oil prices would skyrocket to $250 a barrel if sanctions were imposed on its energy sector. “Events in the Arab region raised concern over energy supply ... I would like to stress on the commitment made ... to maintain oil supply,” Qatar’s emir said at the opening of the World Petroleum Congress in Doha.

“We believe that supply of energy will overcome the crises of instability in the Arab region,” Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad Al-Thani said. “We in Qatar,” in cooperation with other producers, are working “to maintain our supplies” of energy to consumer countries, he said.

Meanwhile, Kuwait Minister of Oil and Minister of State for National Assembly Affairs Dr Mohammad Mohsen Al-Busairi said the 20th World Petroleum Congress (WPC -2011) provides “an invaluable opportunity” for oil producers and consumers to discuss issues of common concern.

Speaking to KUNA on the sidelines of the gathering, the minister said: “The discussions during the symposiums and workshops of the event will help find solutions to the problems facing the oil exporters and importers.”

“The gathering brought together some 5,000 delegates from 60 countries; its activities, including the con-

current exhibition, will help promote technical knowhow and the latest developments of the oil industry,” he pointed out.

“The State of Kuwait is represented at the event by Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) which will showcase its achievements and future projects in various sectors of the industry,” Dr. Al-Busairi went on to say.

“Through its membership at the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the State of Kuwait is committed to supplying the world energy market with sufficient oil supplies, with a view to ensuring fair prices,” he noted.

The minister voiced hope that the congress will lead to fruitful recommendations and serve the interests of all participants.

Uprisings across several Arab states have slashed Libya’s oil production of 1.7 million barrels per day (bpd), disrupted Yemeni gas exports and led to a ban on Syrian oil exports due to sanctions over a crackdown on protests. But production in the energy-rich Gulf region has been unaffected, with trouble confined to Bahrain in February-March and to limited confrontations between Saudi security forces and protesters from the kingdom’s Shiite minority. Demonstrations have also been held in Oman and Kuwait but on a relatively small scale. Also yesterday, Saudi Oil Minister Ali Naimi-in a speech read on his behalf by a ministry official at a conference in Riyadh-said the oil-rich kingdom was pumping more than 10 million bpd of crude oil and gas condensates.

The OPEC kingpin’s oil policy aims to “maintain the

stability of the oil market” and provide sufficient energy supplies to meet any shortages or unexpected demand increases, he said.

Saudi Arabia’s official Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries quota is 8.05 million bpd of crude oil, but the International Energy Agency estimated that its production in April was 8.8 million bpd. Oil prices closed last week up, on the back of rising tensions with Iran and Syria and some promising US job figures.

They pushed higher yesterday in Asia after Iran’s military had reportedly shot down a US drone and ahead of a Franco-German euro rescue meeting. New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in January, was up 33 cents to $101.29 a barrel.

Brent North Sea crude for January delivery rose 48 cents to $110.42. Iran’s parliamentary economic commission head, Arsalan Fathipour, predicted that “should America and some European countries impose sanctions on our oil and gas, then global oil prices will hit $250 per barrel,” an Iranian daily reported. On the sidelines of the Doha forum, Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Ghasemi said he was not “concerned about the threat that the European Union may ban” imports of Iranian oil, Dow Jones newswire reported.

He also said oil prices of above $100 per barrel were reasonable, according to the newswire. OPEC is to meet in Vienna on December 14, but some ministers have suggested that production levels will not be changed.

“Prices are determined by the market but the supply is enough,” Qatari Energy Minister Mohammed Al-Sada told reporters on Sunday. —AFP

Kuwait Minister of Oil and Minister of State for National Assembly Affairs Dr Mohammad Mohsen Al-Busairi with other GCC oil ministers. —KUNA

KSE halts Global trading on losses KUWAIT: Kuwait’s bourse halted trading in Global Investment House’s shares yesterday, saying its accumulated losses to the end of September had exceeded 75 percent of its capital, contravening market rules.

Global, battling tough market conditions, said in September that it was asking lenders for a delay to principal repayments on debt due in December to allow for a renegotiation of the $1.7 billion debt restructuring plan it agreed in 2009. The investment firm has also sought a delay on a 45 million dinar bond to June 2012 from April 2012, to help finalize the wider restructuring. Bondholders were slated to decide on the request yesterday.

A Global spokesman was not immediately available for comment.

Global had 1.312 billion issued shares at the end of September. Its free float is 1.012 billion shares, according to Reuters data. The shares have a nominal value of 0.1 dinars meaning its paid up capital is worth KD131.2 million ($474 million.) The company reported a net loss of KD54 million for the nine months to Sept 30. — Reuters

Merkel, Sarkozy seek new EU treaty to save euro

PARIS: German Chancellor Angela Merkel (left) and French President Nicolas Sarkozy (right) give a press conference after a working lunch at the Elysee palace yesterday in Paris.— AFP

PARIS: The leaders of Germany and France called yesterday for a new European Union treaty to restore confidence in the euro currency and to ensure that the region’s debt crisis never happens again. French President Nicolas Sarkozy said after a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel that they would prefer a treaty agreed by all 27 members of the European Union but would also accept a treaty among just the 17 countries that use the euro. The new treaty should include automatic sanctions for countries that violate rules meant to keep government deficits in check.

Investors cheered the two leaders’ comments, with the euro and stocks rising and bond yields dropping. The meeting comes at the start of a crucial week for the euro-zone, as it struggles to convince markets that it is able to solve its debt crisis.

Sarkozy said a jointly issued bond by all the countries that use the euro is not the solution to the

continent’s debt crisis. Many analysts have said that only by issuing bonds backed by the whole euro-zone will Europe be able to save its shared currency. Stronger countries, like Germany and France, have resisted those calls, but some thought that as the crisis worsens they might be forced to relent. Sarkozy reiterated yesterday, however, that a common bond was “in no way” the solution to the crisis. Bruno Le Maire, agriculture minister and a close aide of Sarkozy’s, said on Sunday that far from undermining sovereignty, tightening budget control would restore confidence and reduce the power of markets to wreak havoc with public finances. He said the ruling conservatives were also opposed to Berlin’s idea of giving the European Court of Justice a veto on national budgets. “This is about building a European sovereignty that will make us stronger and guarantee the future of the single currency,” he told Radio France. Analysts

cautioned that opposition in other euro states to a more intrusive and stringent fiscal regime could yet derail a rescue plan that has eluded euro-zone leaders for two years.

Italy’s new premier Mario Monti unveiled a 30billion-euro ($40-billion) austerity package on Sunday, raising value-added tax, reintroducing a property tax, and lifting the pension age. Several other governments, notably Britain, Ireland and the Netherlands, oppose treaty change for domestic political reasons and fear they would not win public backing in referendums. “Investors would be well advised to adopt a cautious stance in the run-up to next Friday’s EU summit,” said Nicholas Spiro of debt consultancy Spiro Sovereign Strategy. British Prime Minister David Cameron said after talks with Sarkozy in Paris on Friday that he would agree to treaty change only if Britain’s interests were protected.— Agencies

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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2011

business

Radio competition for new Mercedes-Benz C-Coupe Abdul Rahman Albisher & Zaid Alkazemi Co launches new initiative

Jazeera Airways upgrades business class with free 60 kg check-in baggage KUWAIT: Jazeera Airways, Kuwait’s largest regional carrier, yesterday announced that Business Class travelers may now check-in up to 60 kilograms of baggage for free, instead of the previously instated 40 kilograms. The upgrade is the latest in a series of service and product enhancements that make the airline’s Business Class the best value-for-money business class in the Middle East.

Other business class services offered by the airline include exclusive check-in counters, business lounge access, a separate on-board cabin for business class passengers, and an ‘A la carte’ menu for meals in-flight meals.

Jazeera Airways VP Ground Operations and Product Ali Fairooz said, “Businesses travelers have one more unbeatable reason to keep flying Jazeera Airways.

Now every Business Class travelers can get extra piece of mind knowing they have up to 60 kilograms in checked in baggage, guaranteed, on all our routes.”

The airline also enjoys a market-leading average on-time performance of 94% for 2011, and offers year-long value fares, 40 kilograms in check-in baggage allowance for Economy Class travelers, free on-board food and drinks for all travelers, and 24-hour early checking for travelers flying out of Kuwait.

Jazeera Airways operates an average of 112 flights a week from Kuwait, and delivers best value for money offering in the Middle East with Business Class fares starting at KD 58 and economy class fares starting from KD 13, including all taxes and charges.

Flying to 18 regional destinations, Jazeera Airways is the largest airline serving the region out of Kuwait according to monthly market share figures issued by Kuwait’s Directorate General for Civil Aviation.

Jazeera Airways is an IATA member airline and operates one of the youngest Airbus A320 fleets in the Middle East.

KUWAIT: Abdul Rahman Albisher & Zaid Alkazemi Co, authorized general distributors of Mercedes-Benz in Kuwait announced the start of its new radio campaign and competition on Marina FM 88.8 for the new Mercedes-Benz C-Coupe. The MercedesBenz C-Coupe is a car for young and dynamic drivers looking for a sporty car with luxury, performance and comfort as its hallmarks.

During this radio campaign and competition, listeners of the program Deewaniya which is on weekdays between 1PM - 3 PM on Marina FM 88.8, will have a chance to answer 2 questions daily.

All listeners with correct answers for each day will be put in a raffle to select 2 winners daily. These 2 winners will receive a Mercedes-Benz luxury watch from the latest Mercedes-Benz boutique and lifestyle collection. The competition is on from Sunday 04 December until Thursday 08 December, 2011.

The answers to the questions can always be found by listening to the 2 versions of the radio commercial which will play on Marina FM 88.8 during Nagam Al-Sabah and Deewaniya programs every weekday.

“We are looking forward to lots of correct answers and for the listeners to have some fun with this competition. We would also like to thank Marina FM 88.8 for the cooperation and partnership in making this campaign a success.” said Michael Ruehle, General Manager, Abdul Rahman Albisher & Zaid Alkazemi Co.

C Class Coupe 101

C Class Coupe 108

VIVA elected as member of the SAMENA Telecom Council Board

ABK customer winner of Visa ME Summer Travel campaign KUWAIT: Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait announced in association with Visa Middle East that one of its Visa cardholders was randomly selected as the only winner in Kuwait for their Summer Travel campaign.

The promotion, organized by Visa Middle East, gave the chance for one lucky Kuwait Visa cardholder to win an all expenses trip up to $12,500 or the cash equivalent.

Olga Kourmeleva, with Stewart Lockie, GM, Retail Banking and Garry Ceaplen, Head of Cards and Product Development, was that lucky winner from Kuwait after using her ABK Emirates Visa Credit Card this summer while making international purchases.

Lockie remarked, “We are extremely proud to announce that one of our customers was the sole winner in Kuwait of

such a fabulous prize, and we look forward to partnering with Visa on future campaigns, and the chance for other ABK customers to become exclusive winners,” Majeed Hujair, Country Manager Kuwait Bahrain, Visa ME congratulated the winner and thanked her for the participation in the Summer Travel Campaign.

“Each summer we offer Visa cardholders a wide choice of benefits to choose from when they use their debit and credit card overseas. With discounts on travel, hotel, restaurants and entertainment available for the perfect holiday, we’re opening up a world full of fantastic choices and privileges exclusive to Visa cardholders.”

Kourmeleva thanked ABK and Visa for her prize, and was looking forward to start planning a holiday for her and her family.

VIVA CEO Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Badran

KUWAIT: Kuwait Telecommunication Company VIVA has announced yesterday that is has been elected as a member of the South Asia, Middle East & North Africa (SAMENA) Telecommunications Council Board, that includes a number of high profile telecommunication companies in the MENA & South Asia region. Commenting on this occasion, VIVA CEO Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Badran said that “VIVA was elected as a member in the SAMENA Telecom Council Board, the specialized organization in telecommunications that operates in several continents, following the meeting that was held in Doha, Qatar in November”.

Al-Badran added that “The decision was made in Doha meeting to expand the board of directors to include Key Executives of some companies including VIVA Kuwait, pointing out that this choice confirms the well deserved status that VIVA occupies today”. SAMENA Telecommunications Council Board, had previously declared that VIVA Kuwait joined the council being one of the most important telecommunication companies in Kuwait & the Middle East.

SAMENA board represents over 40 telecommunications operators in 25 markets, representing an aggregate subscriber base of 700 million mobile users, 79 million fixed-line users, and 22 million broadband users.

SAMENA Council’s membership embodies a community of telecom operators, manufacturers, government bodies, academia, and leading global management consultancy organizations. It focuses on digitization and broadband investment policies, and aims to promote beneficial regulation and governance that further industry evolution, as well as cooperation among key ICT industry stakeholders.

SAMENA board plays an important role in enhancing the cooperation methods & providing a stand for discussion to facilitate the communication between different parties about issues concerning the telecommunication sector. The increase of members confirms the importance of the board in the future development of communication technology & to market in 3 of the most developing regions in the world, South Asia, Middle East & North Africa.

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 .4280000 .3680000 .2970000 .2690000 .2800000 .0040000 .0020000 .0749700 .7304140 .3810000 .0700000 .7160390 .0040000 .0430000

CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES US Dollar/KD .2754000 GB Pound/KD .4304780 Euro .3701930 Swiss francs .2989580 Canadian dollars .2710230 Danish Kroner .0497870 Swedish Kroner .0408730 Australian dlr .2820370 Hong Kong dlr .0354410 Singapore dlr .2147540 Japanese yen .0035290 Indian Rs/KD .0000000 Sri Lanka rupee .0000000 Pakistan rupee .0000000 Bangladesh taka .0000000 UAE dirhams .0750100 Bahraini dinars .7307950 Jordanian dinar .0000000 Saudi Riyal/KD .0734600 Omani riyals .7156030 Philippine Peso .0000000

Al-Muzaini Exchange Co. ASIAN COUNTRIES

Japanese Yen Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Srilankan Rupees Nepali Rupees Singapore Dollar Hongkong Dollar Bangladesh Taka Philippine Peso Thai Baht Irani Riyal - Transfer Irani Riyal - Cash

3.598 5.337 3.154 2.436 3.341 213.250 35.672 3.580 6.336 8.873 0.271 0.273

.2800000 .4390000 .3770000 .3090000 .2780000 .2890000 .0072500 .0035000 .0757240 .7377550 .4010000 .0760000 .7232350 .0072000 .0530000 .2790000 .4361050 .3750320 .3028660 .2745660 .0504370 .0414080 .2857240 .0359040 .2175610 .0035750 .0054710 .0024570 .0031350 .0036420 .0759910 .7403480 .3946250 .0744200 .7249580 .0064880

Saudi Riyal Qatari Riyal Omani Riyal Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham

GCC COUNTRIES 74.150 76.402 722.230 738.540 75.715

ARAB COUNTRIES Egyptian Pound - Cash 47.500 Egyptian Pound - Transfer 46.282 Yemen Riyal/for 1000 1.272 Tunisian Dinar 189.860 Jordanian Dinar 392.670 Lebanese Lira/for 1000 1.865 Syrian Lier 6.003 Morocco Dirham 33.814 EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 277.950 Euro 370.650 Sterling Pound 431.930 Canadian dollar 268.420 Turkish lire 153.940 Swiss Franc 300.620 Australian dollar 277.000 US Dollar Buying 277.750 GOLD 315.500 159.000 81.500

20 Gram 10 Gram 5 Gram

Bahrain Exchange Company COUNTRY

Australian dollar Bahraini dinar Bangladeshi taka Canadian dollar Cyprus pound Czek koruna Danish krone Deutsche Mark Egyptian pound Euro Cash Hongkong dollar Indian rupees Indonesia Iranian tuman Iraqi dinar Japanese yen Jordanian dinar Lebanese pound Malaysian ringgit Morocco dirham Nepalese Rupees New Zealand dollar Nigeria Norwegian krone Omani Riyal

SELL CASH

284.800 737.750 3.800 276.300 544.900 44.800 51.300 167.800 48.370 376.000 36.380 5.730 0.032 0.213 0.241 3.660 393.970 0.188 91.050 46.400 4.270 219.400 1.797 49.300 720.550

SELL DRAFT

283.300 737.750 3.530 274.800

217.500 46.239 374.500 36.230 5.400 0.031

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

3.330 6.660 76.740 74.070 217.540 37.320 2.643 437.000 42.100 304.400 5.300 9.340 198.263 75.630 277.800 1.220

10 Tola

GOLD 1,786.380

75.530 277.400

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd Rate for Transfer

Selling Rate

US Dollar Canadian Dollar Sterling Pound Euro Swiss Frank Bahrain Dinar UAE Dirhams Qatari Riyals Saudi Riyals Jordanian Dinar Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupees Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Pesso Cyprus pound Japanese Yen Thai Bhat Syrian Pound Nepalese Rupees Malaysian Ringgit

277.300 275.560 433.585 374.190 301.285 734.320 75.475 76.115 73.905 390.335 46.192 2.431 5.400 3.126 3.527 6.401 680.200 3.650 9.075 5.840 3.450 92.110

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)

288.83 277.29 306.06 376.26

438.00 3.70 3.750 5.750 2.695 4.150 3.350 75.95 737.75 48.37 393.00 721.00 76.80 74.15

277.450 3.120 5.410 2.445 3.570 6.450 75.630 74.130 737.500 46.230 438.200 3.190 1.550 394.100 5.750 377.200 277.800 3.690

Al Mulla Exchange

UAE Exchange Center WLL Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc Euro

436.61 3.61 3.569 5.392 2.435 3.376 3.122 75.50 737.74 46.19 394.58 721.81 76.48 74.06

Kuwait Bahrain Intl Exchange Co.

TRAVELLER’S CHEQUE 435.000 277.400

Sterling Pound US Dollar

Currency

720.370

302.900 5.300 9.200

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

393.080 0.187 91.020 3.390 217.900

3.125 6.410 76.310 74.070 217.540 37.320 2.432 435.000

288.50 277.00 307.40 376.60

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)

277.500 376.800 437.800 274.300 3.575 5.405 46.125 2.428 3.500 6.398 3.115 736.900 75.350 73.500

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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2011

business

Saudi Arabia finds more gas, not for use now RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has discovered commercially viable quantities of natural gas in the Red Sea and Empty Quarter, but has no plans to immediately start production, Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi said in a speech delivered on his behalf yesterday.

The world’s top oil exporter will continue to explore the country for tight gas and heavy oil for future energy needs, according to the speech read by Naimi’s adviser Ibrahim Muhanna in Riyadh.

“Although we continue to explore the kingdom’s oil and gas potential and resources, this does not mean we will immediately start production from the newly-discovered fields, rather it only means determining resources available in the kingdom for future use when needed,” according to the speech read by Naimi’s advisor Ibrahim Muhanna in Riyadh.

“In this respect, I would like to point out the positive results.

We have discovered commercially-utilizable volumes of the various types of natural gas in the Red Sea, in the north of the kingdom and in the Rub’ al Khali.”

Aramco has said it plans to start drilling offshore frontiers in 2012. The kingdom will continue exploration for tight gas and heavy oil after making some discoveries. “But I want to make it clear, again, that the ultimate objective of these new explorations is not to extract oil now but rather to determine the kingdom’s potential for the sake of coming generations, The discovered resources will be used based on commercial needs,” said Naimi’s speech.

Saudi Arabia, which has kept its vast oil reserves off-limits to foreigners needs gas to help cover domestic fuel demand and conserve oil for lucrative export markets. Saudi Aramco’s Chief Executive, Khalid Al-Falih said last month his company would focus on gas in the short to medium term as raising oil production capacity beyond the current 12 million barrels per day (bpd) was not needed. Little has been announced in terms of how much gas has been found in the desert in Saudi Arabia’s southeast, known as the Rub al-Khali or the Empty Quarter. Analysts have said finding gas alone would not be enough to guarantee profits.

Terms agreed with Aramco were so poor, the consortia need to find condensate - a form of light oil that can be sold at international market prices - to cover the cost of development. The speech also said Saudi Arabia will keep its oil production rates in line with market requirements and global demand.— Reuters

BMW incentivizes customers with brake servicing campaign Promotion to last until 2011 KUWAIT: BMW customers in Kuwait are being incentivized to have their brakes checked with a new servicing promotion on BMW brake pads and discs, which runs until the end of this year.

As part of the offer, owners of BMW vehicles in Kuwait will benefit from a 30% reduction on all BMW brake pads and discs fitted at Ali Alghanim & Sons Automotive workshop. Furthermore, the exclusive importer of BMW Group cars in Kuwait will dedicate a specialized service team to work on the cars to ensure quick and efficient same day delivery.

Yousef Al Qatami, General Manager of Ali Alghanim & Sons Automotive reiterated the importance of regular checks on braking systems: “The safety of our customers is of paramount importance to us. Over time with regular use, brake pads need to be replaced to ensure they provide the optimum braking support, so this campaign is to encourage our customers to bring their vehicles in for a check-up,” he said. The BMW Group is a pioneer in developing and improving vehicle braking systems and has successfully introduced a host of innovative braking technologies to its vehicles

over the years, including Cornering Brake Control and Brake Force Display.

Cornering Brake Control provides greater safety when braking on curves and

Baker Tilly holds conference on global crisis in Hawaii

Win an apple MacBook Pro with Gulf Bank’s online competition KUWAIT: Gulf Bank yesterday announced the launch of its Online Banking Competition, enabling customers transferring funds both locally and internationally using the Bank’s safe and secure online banking to win exciting prizes. The competition continues till December 31, 2011.

The winner, who will receive a 13-inch MacBook Pro, will be the Gulf Bank online banking customer with the highest local and international banking transactions during the campaign period. There will also be five lucky runners up who will each win an iPad 2. Winners will be announced two weeks following the closing date of the competition.

Eman Ali, Assistant General Manager, Consumer Banking Group at Gulf Bank said: “At Gulf Bank we pride ourselves in keeping our customers entertained and we continually look for new ways to engage with them. Our online banking services have received brilliant feedback from our customers, praising the ease and simplicity when using these services.

“Customers can now get a chance to win valuable prizes by frequently using our online banking services to transfer funds either locally or internationally. The more times they transfer the greater their chances of winning. Gulf Bank’s online banking provides a whole variety of different banking transactions for customers, from checking their balance, to money transfers locally and internationally as well as settling their bills swiftly and efficiently,” added Ali.

GE highlights energy technologies to support Saudi growth objectives KUWAIT: Demonstrating its continuing commitment to support Saudi Arabia meet its growing power and water needs for a rapidly growing economy, GE is once again a key sponsor to the seventh edition of the Saudi Water & Power Forum (SWPF).

At the Forum taking place in Jeddah from December 4-6, the company will showcase its innovative energy technologies which will support Saudi Arabia achieve its growth ambitions.

Electricity demand in the Kingdom is expected to increase by more than 30,000 megawatts by 2020, primarily driven by population growth, according to Saudi Electricity Company’s (SEC). According to figures from the Saudi Ministry of Water and Electricity, the Kingdom’s demand for water is rising more than seven percent annually. With its integrated and advanced portfolio of solutions, and more than 80 years of supporting the Kingdom with its energy needs, GE is well positioned to further support Saudi Arabia meet and exceed its energy efficiency and economic growth targets.

“As we continue to deliver advanced technology and invest in comprehensive technology and training centers to support the Kingdom’s expanding energy infrastructure, GE remains committed to work closely with our customers in Saudi Arabia to meet the Kingdom’s needs for long term efficiency and sustainability in the energy sector, which is critical to the future prosperity of the country and its people.” said Joseph Anis, GE Energy’s president and CEO for the Middle East.

Over 185 delegates of Baker Tilly International Accounting and Business Advisory network participated in its Annual World Conference, held in Hawaii, USA from November 3 to 8, 2011, to discuss the continuing global economic challenges.

The conference also looked at ways to enhance cooperation among members to provide continual quality services to our clients.

This was stated by Hisham Sorour, Managing Partner of “Baker Tilly Kuwait” who represented the State of Kuwait in the conference. It is known that Baker Tilly International is the world’s 8th largest accounting and business advisory network, with annual combined fee income of USD 3.07b. The member firms cover 120 countries with 25,000 professional staff.

Quality Service Sorour said “our profession has not been immune from the effects of the global economic downturn. The impact of this downturn has affected, in one way or another, most of our clients and thus has impacted upon our member firms.

“As a result of Baker Tilly’s effective strategy and on-going support for its members, the network managed to maintain the level of revenue without a significant decrease. It is no doubt that our main objective is to provide quality client services in such challenging times to pass to the safe side. Each member firm will continue to play its part in our continued development to be the superior network operating in the middle market”, Sorour added.

Sorour continued saying “our business plan 2012/2013 continues to develop the strategy and objectives set out in the 2011/2012 plan as amended to reflect actions taken during the period and other prevailing market issues. It is important, therefore, that we keep abreast of such developments and that our strategy and business plans reflect market issues and remain relevant and current.

Seismic changes Sorour said that based on proposed changes to the EU audit directive, a proposed audit regulation might be published this month, causing radical changes to the auditing profession. The potential impact on our business of the review of the auditing profession within the European community is likely to have a seismic effect on the profession, not only within the community but also globally. This whole issue is of compelling importance and was the subject of a separate plenary session at the conference and will be discussed at Baker Tilly board meeting.

Consistency of branding Sorour confirmed that most of Baker Tilly’s member-firms have been approved to brand themselves using the Baker Tilly prefix. Baker Tilly International continues to monitor the brand through conducting periodic brand audit to identify any areas where there are inconsistencies which require action. To achieve our strategic objective and for the benefit of all member firms, we need to take greater responsibility in ensuring brand consistency globally.

“We recognize that a key driver of join-

ing a large network is the opportunity to learn from and leverage off other likeminded firms/people. We believe that membership in Baker Tilly International provides a range of resources that facilitates access to the specialist knowledge, experience and intellectual property of thousands of experts worldwide, and that the network’s value proposition meets the expectations of our individual member firms,” Sorour confirmed.

Social Media Sorour said that in May 2011 “We announced the launch of the Baker Tilly International LinkedIn group (closed group) and the Baker Tilly International Facebook page. We believe that we can increase our visibility and the understanding of our vision and mission, both externally and within the network, through

Hisham Sorour, Managing Partner of Baker Tilly Kuwait these platforms.

“Baker Tilly Kuwait also launched its pages on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube. Administered and monitored by headquarters, these communication channels do not replace the extranet, but are designed to drive traffic to it and help member firms reach a wider audience outside the network. Indeed, one of the key performance indicators of our strategy will be increased traffic to the extranet,” Sorour said.

Conclusion Sorour concluded “our global economy and our profession will continue to face an ever-increasing number of issues. The next few years will continue to be difficult. We believe, however, that difficulties can often create opportunities.

Baker Tilly International remains involved with the development and creation of a considerable number of initiatives, both centrally and regionally - all designed to provide its members with increased and long-lasting benefits of membership. Our commitment to excellent client service and high professional and ethical standards will pay dividends and ensure we remain a major network in the global market.

stabilizes the BMW vehicle by applying braking pressure asymmetrically despite physically difficult conditions. The result is a significant improvement in stability and

safety when applying light brake pressure, even on bends.

Brake Force Display improves road safety by alerting other drivers to the BMW vehicle’s braking activity. In case of a sudden brake, the Brake Force Display feature warns the drivers behind the vehicle by illuminating a larger area of the brake lights.

The brake lights themselves are divided into two zones. During normal braking, only one zone is illuminated. When heavy braking is detected, Brake Force Display increases the intensity of the brake lights by illuminating the second zone as well.

BMW also used its EfficientDynamics technology to introduce Brake Energy Regeneration, which improves fuel efficiency by up to three percent and ensures that the full power of the vehicle’s engine is available for acceleration. BMW’s Brake Energy Regeneration operates by allowing the generator to be activated only when the driver takes their foot from the accelerator or applies the brake. The kinetic energy that would otherwise go to waste is used efficiently, converted into electricity by the generator and stored in the battery.

Chedi Khorfakkan Resort, latest deal by Shurooq to develop Gulf coast SHARJAH: Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq) announced to gathered regional and international press the signing of the contract with General Hotel Management (GHM) to bring the latest in the series of GHM’s prestigious Chedi hotels to Khorfakkan, Sharjah.

The signing ceremony, which took place at Masrah Al-Qasba, announced the deal to build The Chedi Khorfakkan Resort, to join the other Chedi hotels that GHM has launched, including in Chedi Chiang Mai in Thailand, Chedi Muscat in Oman, Chedi Andermatt, and the Chedi Club in Bali, Indonesia.

The ceremony was attended, among others,

by Sheikh Sultan bin Ahmad Al-Qassimi, Chairman of Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development, as well as H.E Marwan Bin Jassim Al-Sarkal, the CEO of the Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq) and Hans R Jenni, the Director and President of GHM. The investment of the project is worth more than AED 350 million. The Chedi Khorfakkan Resort will be comprised of three components: the fort, the hilltown, and town square. The fort is located on the hilltop and will serve as the primary access point to the resort. It will contain restaurants, spa, gym, business facilities and reception. The hilltown is composed of 170 suites with seaside views situated along the natural gradients of the hillside. The town square is located in the centre of The Hilltown. Town Square will include a variety of cafes, preserving the beachfront and providing a secondary gathering point.

The Chedi Khorfakkan Resort will boast a wide range of activities to take advantage of the warm temperatures and rich marine life of the Gulf of Oman - a diver’s paradise. An onsite fully equipped dive center will run daily trips to some of UAE’s most premier dive sites such as Shark Island, Martini Rock and Three Rocks. In addition, the resort will provide access jet skis, yachts, sailing boats and instructors of those who desire to venture out and explore the waters.

According to GHM, the striking forts and hillside towns that dot the coast of Oman and the UAE serve as the resort’s design motivation, and reflect Shurooq’s commitment to delivering signature projects that celebrate Arabic heritage and culture. The resort will feature authentic architecture, local building materials and craft-

ed details, all with the modern amenities and comforts to be expected in a premier resort.

His Excellency Sheikh Sultan bin Ahmad Al Qassimi said during the event: “Sharjah is always keen to support the tourism sector with more investment and projects that build on the foundations and international standards that keep tourists flowing into the emirate. Today, we are here to witness the reveal of a name that is wellknown in the hospitality world - The Chedi - as operator of the new Khorfakkan Resort. This is an important step in increasing the capacity of the area and ensuring quality and sophisticated services are available to the tourists who visit it; it is a great leap forward in the tourism sector”.

“Prestige projects like the Chedi Khorfakkan Resort continue Sharjah’s growth as a cultural, scenic and tourist destination. It has been carefully considered and thoughtfully planned to minimize the environmental impact, while maximizing the social and financial sustainability of the project, and its accessibility to the other emirates will make it a prime destination”, he added.

His Excellency Marwan Bin Jassim Al-Sarkal, was so grateful to the sincere support of H.H Dr. Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qassimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, to the projects which will improve Emirate of Sharjah as a place both to live, and to visit. He also extended his thanks to the direction and great vision of Sheikh Bodour Bint Sultan Al-Qasimi, Chairperson of Shurooq.

Describing the deal, Al-Sarkal said: “In particular, we want to develop Khorfakkan to be not just one of the key ports in the region, but a tourism destination too. So we looked for a project that would be unique in its design and size, but at the same time, would not adversely affect the environment, or detract from the beauty of the mountain scenery. It was this objective that lead up to today: where we sign the deal for the construction of GHM’S Chedi Khorfakkan Resort”.

We are delighted to be able to see this deal go ahead, and we know that GHM is the ideal operator to ensure a new resort hotel is commensurate with what Khorfakkan has to offer.

The Chedi hotels are fabulous places, and the Chedi Khorfakkan Resort will fit perfectly with Shurooq’s objectives for promoting Sharjah and everything it is proud of”, he said.

The Chedi Khorfakkan Resort is expected to open in 2015.

Shurooq-Chedi Khorfakkan officials

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Dubai’s Tamweel sets up $1bn bond program Investor meetings to be completed in London DUBAI: Islamic mortgage lender Tamweel, badly hit by the global financial crisis and the region’s property bust, has set up a $1 billion bond program, according to a base prospectus.

Tamweel was due to complete investor meetings in London yesterday, along with its parent company Dubai Islamic Bank, after which it may issue an Islamic bond, or sukuk, guaranteed by DIB. Standard Chartered, Citi and DIB itself are

the arrangers and dealers on the program, according to the prospectus, which is dated Nov. 30 and obtained by Reuters. Bond investors would have demanded a high premium on Tamweel bonds, without a guarantee from DIB. The Islamic lender ran into trouble when Dubai’s real estate sector collapsed in 2008 and its shares were halted for more than two years, only resuming trade last May. Last year, DIB raised its stake in Tamweel to 57.33 percent in 2010, effectively rendering

the mortgage lender a subsidiary of the bank and raising investor confidence in Tamweel.

Tamweel’s acting chief executive said in September it hoped to raise between $300 million to $500 million from a sukuk in the fourth quarter. Tamweel was at one point expected to merge with rival Amlak . Amlak shares remain suspended, pending a decision by the government on its future.

Tamweel shares ended 1.4 percent lower yesterday. — Reuters

Oil above $101 as Iran tensions rise LONDON: Oil prices rose past $101 a barrel yesterday amid growing tensions between Iran and Western powers, efforts in Europe to contain its debt crisis and signs the US economy is improving.

By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark crude for January delivery was up 51 cents to $101.47 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 76 cents to settle at $100.96 on Friday. In London, Brent crude was up 73 cents at $110.67 on the ICE Futures exchange.

Tensions have been building for weeks over Iran’s nuclear program. The country is the world’s thirdbiggest oil exporter, shipping 2.2 million barrels of crude per day, and escalating sanctions or an armed conflict could threaten exports leaving the Gulf. The US Senate voted on Friday to impose new sanctions on Iran’s central bank, barring foreign financial institutions that do business with the bank from opening operations in the US. On Sunday, Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported that the countr y ’s armed forces shot down an unmanned US spy plane that violated Iranian airspace.

The US has not confirmed the report.

“The situation in Iran is unlikely to get better any time soon,” Barclays Capital said in a report.

“Retaliationary efforts from Iran are also feared given its influence over oil trade flows through the Strait of Hormuz.” Crude has jumped from $75 during the last two months amid signs the US economy will likely avoid a recession.

Investors were cheered by the Labor Department’s November jobs report Friday that showed the economy added 120,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate fell to 8.6 percent from 9.0 percent. — AP

JAKARTA: Indonesian people walk in the street in Jakarta yesterday. Indonesia’s economy grew 6.5 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier, buoyed by domestic consumption and private investment, the Central Statistics Agency said. — AFP

India sees no issues with Iran oil imports DOHA: India sees no impediments to importing Iranian oil despite a new wave of sanctions imposed by the West, Oil Minister S Jaipal Reddy said yesterday.

“As long as there are no sanctions on oil as such, other problems can be managed,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the World Petroleum Congress. “There are some practical problems in making payments but we have managed to surmount those problems.”

Iran is India’s second-biggest oil sup-

plier after Saudi Arabia and exports total about $12 billion a year, meeting about 12 percent of India’s import needs.

India and Iran have been struggling to find a permanent mechanism to settle their bilateral trade, especially since December when India’s central bank scrapped a clearing house mecha n i s m - a m ove we l co m e d by t h e United States which is trying to isolate the Islamic Republic over its nuclear program. — Reuters

Time of reckoning for the euro-zone WASHINGTON: Failure by European leaders at their summit this week to fix the fatal flaw in the euro-zone, its lack of political union, would risk tremendous market upheaval, a rupture of the common currency and global economic fallout.

The world economy already is slowing, leaving it increasingly vulnerable to shocks reverberating from Europe.

China cut reserve requirements for banks last week for the first time in three years and its factory sector shrank to levels not seen since February 2009. Brazil also lowered rates for the third time since August.

Only the United States has enjoyed a steady stream of improving data. The unemployment level dropped to 8.6 percent in November, the lowest level in 2-1/2 years, factories expanded and retail spending accelerated, pointing to a slow and gradual pick-up in growth.

But Europe casts a pall over everything. So serious are the risks that it could disrupt three years of painful global economic recovery that politicians, central bankers and market strategists are starting to compare the danger of European leaders deadlocking to the collapse of Lehman Bros in September 2008. That shock plunged the world into its deepest recession since the 1930s.

“Let us not hide it: Europe may be swept away by the crisis if it doesn’t get a grip, if it doesn’t change,” French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Thursday. Bank of England Governor Mervyn King warned of a “systemic crisis,” adding that “none of us really know” how the euro zone would survive if the crisis explodes into sovereign default.

“This is Lehmans, Take Two. Cubed,” said Kathleen Gaffney of Loomis Sayles, a part of Natixis Asset Management. Leaders got a peak into the abyss when credit lines froze over the last 10 days after Germany failed in late November to sell all its bonds and yields jumped, not only for heavily indebted Italy and Spain, but also

for countries at the very heart of the euro project-France and Germany. It took five major central banks cutting interest rates on currency lines last Wednesday and extending those lines to restore a measure of calm to financial markets.

But the uneasy peace will not last unless Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who meet on Monday to discuss changes to the EU Treaty, can finalize a fiscal deal that imposes tough budgetary rules on the 17 euro-zone members and then convince all 27 EU leaders on Friday to back the plan.

Their summits are littered with a history of half-baked solutions and broken promises. Few have illusions that this one will produce a definitive solution to the euro crisis. But investors want to see the famously fractious European leaders make significant progress and show they are willing to give up some national control over budgets and march toward political union.

Though it will be a long and trying road, only then can the future of the decade -old euro zone project be assured. To do less would invite market upheaval, and eventually could lead to bank failures and sovereign default, said Mark Geitler, professor of economics at New York University.

“Global recession would likely follow and there would be pressure to break up the euro zone. An unpredictable chain of negative events would then likely follow,” Geitler said.

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is flying to Europe next week to press the urgency of the matter, meeting politicians from France, Germany, Spain and Italy, as well as the European Central Bank. His assistant secretary for economic policy, Jan Eberly, said a European recession would blight US recover y and is “absolutely a source of concern.” Even if a political deal for fiscal union is struck on Friday, it likely will require EU treaty changes and take many months to implement. — Reuters

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34% of MENA professionals may move to new industry Bayt.com and YouGov survey KUWAIT: A recent survey conducted by Bayt.com, the Middle East’s number on job site, and YouGov, a research and consulting organization, has unveiled that 34% of MENA professionals are considering an industry shift mostly into the oil, gas and petrochemicals industry (14%). However, 35% of respondents are content in the industries they are currently employed in.

Reasons for Change Of the top five industries that employees are considering moving into (oil, gas and petrochemicals; banking and finance; IT; human resources; manufacturing), the top motivational factor is money. Across each of these five sectors, the second reason cited is career growth opportunities followed by better job security.

Regionally, the preference for employment opportunities tends to lean towards the oil, gas and petrochemicals industry, with 20% of survey respondents saying it is the best industry to work in, in their country of residence. The reasons for this are better career growth (25%), better job security (22%), and better remuneration packages (19%).

Second most popular is the government/civil service sector, with 11% of

respondents citing preference, predominantly for better job security (62%), followed by the fact that this sector was least impacted by the recession (10%), and the better work-life balance offered (9%).

Banking and finance comes in as third most desirable, opted for by 10% of respondents. The reasons cited were better career growth (30%), better job security (20%) and better remuneration packages (18%). “Oil, gas and petrochemicals is an

Zureikat, VP Sales at Bayt.com. “Bayt.com is an ideal resource for employees who wish to explore further career options, with thousands of jobs covering all sectors readily available through the convenience of an online portal.”

Perceptions in Kuwait Respondents in Kuwait see the oil, gas and petrochemicals industry as having the best salary packages (59%) and non-mon-

In Kuwait, the oil, gas and petrochemicals industry is considered to have the best pay, best benefits, and best opportunities for career growth. industry that has long been associated with this region, and it is still clearly a favored sector to work in with the majority of those looking to change careers preferring it. The trend is that employees today are looking for better salaries, job security and sectors that are less likely to collapse in a downturn, a clear sign that the recession is still affecting opinions,” said Amer

etary benefits (38%). Following close on the heels in terms of perceived best salaries is banking and finance (27%), with IT ranking third (14%). As for benefits, the oil, gas and petrochemicals industry is followed by banking and finance with 19%, and airline with 13%.

In terms of work-life balance, oil, gas and petrochemicals leads with 39% saying

it is the best industry in Kuwait to offer this equation, banking and finance ranked second with 24%, followed by government and civil service with 15%.

When it comes to the industry offering the best career growth in Kuwait, 51% said oil, gas and petrochemicals, 28% banking and finance, and 15% telecommunications.

Oil, gas and petrochemicals (31%) also seems to be hiring most in Kuwait, followed by construction (23%) and government and civil service (16%).

Oil, gas and petrochemicals is seen as the industry retaining the best talent in Kuwait (46%) followed by banking and finance (27%) and IT (16%). As far as local talent is concerned, oil, gas and petrochemicals ranks first with 19% saying it is most favorable and popular with local talent. Government and civil service comes second with 14%, followed by automotive at 6%.

Respondents in Kuwait believe that construction (10%) is the industry that has downsized most in recent years; banking and finance (9%) and airlines (5%) are also considered to have been hit hard.

Construction (17%) is considered to be the most popular industry for expatriates in Kuwait. Ranked second is oil, gas and

petrochemicals with 13%. Education and academia came in third most popular, with 8%.

Government jobs are considered to be extremely favorable by 49% of Kuwaitbased respondents. Industries considered to be the most favorable and popular for women in Kuwait are education and academia (19%), government and civil service (16%) and banking and finance (10%). As for fresh graduates, government and civil service is most popular (21%), followed by banking and finance (13%) and IT (7%).

“While the oil, gas and petrochemical industry is clearly a leading choice for many, it appears that the region’s banking and finance sector is up-and-coming for employment opportunities. Next to government and civil service jobs, it is the top favored industry for new graduates. This shows that there is clearly a demand for more jobs within those particular sectors,” said Sundip Chahal, CEO, YouGov. Data for the Bayt.com Top Industries survey was collected online from November 1 - 21, 2011, with 8,664 respondents aged 18+, representing Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, KSA, Syria, Tunisia and the UAE.

Monti pushes austerity to avoid Greek-style collapse Draconian plans get boost from markets

DUBLIN: A businessman exits the Central Bank of Ireland in Dublin. Ireland’s Prime Minister Enda Kenny was yesterday to announce a 3.8 billion euro austerity budget, a day after warning citizens to brace for years of economic hardship during an historic television address. — AFP

Friendi eyes IPO, Saudi license DUBAI: Dubai group Friendi plans an initial public offering within two years, the mobile virtual network operator’s chief executive told Reuters yesterday.

Friendi has MVNO licences in Jordan and Oman, plus a partnership deal to provide branding and advisory services to Saudi Arabia number three telecoms operator Zain Saudi , while it is eyeing four to five licenses in the Middle East and North Africa, including Saudi Arabia.

MVNOs target niche segments, such as ethnic groups, leasing excess capacity from conventional telecoms operators and typically paying them a percentage of their revenue.

“We are planning to launch an IPO in 18 to 24 months,” said Mikkel Vinter, chief executive and founder of Friendi Group, declining to reveal what bourses it might list on. “How the markets are performing is one of the considerations for us; at the moment it’s not the best time, but we’re optimistic about the medium to long-term outlook for the region.”

Vinter said Friendi’s exact ownership structure was confidential, with local partners owning 20 to 40 percent of its operations in Oman and Jordan, while investors in the parent firm Friendi Group include National Technology Enterprises Co, which is owned

by Kuwait’s sovereign wealth fund, and Millennium Private Equity, which is owned by Dubai Islamic Bank.

Oman’s Dolphin International is a minority shareholder in Friendi’s Oman subsidiary and also the parent company. “We never enter a market without local partners,” said Vinter.

“Every market is different, and it’s important to have partners that have a deep understanding of the market and maybe some

assets that can help the operation.”

In the Gulf, only Oman has granted MVNO licenses, with regulators wary of opening up the state-dominated sector — 10 of the 15 Gulf telecoms licenses are ultimately government-controlled. Yet stagnating subscriber growth will spur liberalization, said Vinter.

“Once a country has two or three national mobile operators, it doesn’t make sense to award another mobile licence that duplicates another X billion dollars of investment,” he said.

Saudi Arabia’s technology minister was quoted in the Saudi Arabia media in November as saying the kingdom was planning to issue three MVNO licenses in 2012.

When asked if Friendi would bid for a Saudi license, Vinter said: “We are keen to look at that.”

“MVNO licenses will probably be granted next year, but we are not aware of the final terms being determined,” said Vinter. “The next wave of competition will be more about services than infrastructure.” Vinter declined to reveal which other markets were potential Friendi targets. “We are working with four to five countries where we are in advanced negotiations, and in a few cases even early-stage implementation has started,” he said.

Friendi has more than 300,000 subscribers in Oman, split between its two brands, Friendi Mobile and Halafoni, to claim 65 percent of Oman’s MVNO subscribers. These use former monopoly Oman Telecommunications’ (Omantel) network. Vinter declined to give subscriber numbers for its other operations.

“On a group level, we expect to reach 1 million early next year,” he added. — Reuters

BUDAPEST: Participants of the financial and economical conference with financial ministers of some European Union countries of the central and eastern region listen to the opening speech during the conference organized by the foundation of former Hungarian Prime Minister Jozsef Antal and the Ministry of National Economy yesterday in Budapest. — AFP

ROME: Italy would “collapse” like Greece if it does not adopt harsh austerity measures, Prime Minister Mario Monti warned yesterday when his draconian plans got a boost from the financial markets and Europe.

As he prepared to present the package to parliament for approval, Monti said it would restore Italy’s credibility and help solve the eurozone debt crisis. He also cautioned against the creation of new divisions in Europe, as France and Germany met to discuss controversial plans for deeper economic integration.

“Without this package we believe Italy will collapse, Italy will become like Greece, a country for which we have a lot of sympathy but which we do not want to become,” Monti, a former EU commissioner, said at a press conference.

“We did our part yesterday,” said Monti, adding that he was optimistic that the crisisbusting plan of tax increases, budget cuts and pension reforms adopted by the cabinet on Sunday would be approved in parliament. He also reiterated that Italy would meet its key target of balancing the budget by 2013 — in contrast to more troubled euro-zone neighbors.

Monti was speaking as French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel met in Paris for a mini-summit to thrash out a plan to save the euro at the start of a pivotal week for the single currency.

“We must absolutely avoid that the euro, which was created to unite the people of Europe, ends up dividing them,” Monti said. “A demarcation around the euro-zone or between strong economies and less strong economies, any distinction like this is worrying,” he added.

Financial markets meanwhile rallied and the European Union praised Italy. Stocks in Milan were up around 2.0 percent and the differential between the rates on Italian 10-year government bonds and benchmark German ones, which had risen to record highs in recent weeks, narrowed to below 4.0 percent. Borrowing costs were also sharply down with the yield on Italian 10-year bonds at 6.366 percent compared to 6.661 percent late on Friday.

“This package is a very important step to shore up the public finances and support economic growth,” the EU’s Economic Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said, adding: “This set of measures is timely and ambitious.”

Monti, an economics professor who came to power just three weeks ago, said the plan would save 20 billion euros ($27 billion) but would not

prevent the economy from slipping back into recession next year. Italian newspapers said the measures were “a bitter medicine” but were necessary to save Italy, the euro-zone’s third-biggest economy, from defaulting on its massive debt, a prospect that has set off alarm bells around Europe.

Most controversially the plan includes a pension reform that will increase the minimum pension age for women to 62 from 2012 and see both sexes retire at 66 by 2018 — as well as increase the number of years men have to pay dues. All pensions except those below 960 euros a month will also not be indexed to inflation for 2012 and 2013 — a measure that has ignited trade union fury.

The package will increase and re-introduce taxes on housing and luxury items and includes an option to raise value-added tax if necessary from 2012. It will also reduce some budget cuts and introduce some tax breaks and loan guarantees for small businesses that are suffering in the

current environment. Monti was due to present the plan to parliament later in the afternoon.

Trade unions have bitterly opposed the pension reforms and Susanna Camusso, head of Italy’s largest union, the CGIL, said earlier that the measures were aimed at “making money on the backs of poor people in our country.” Italy’s huge debt-which stands at 120 percent of its gross domestic product-has spooked markets, and Rome has been under intense pressure to act quickly ahead of a key European Union summit on Thursday and Friday.

The government has said it will meet its target of balancing the budget by 2013 but has warned Italy economy will slip back into recession next year with a forecast contraction of between 0.4 and 0.5 percent of output. Monti’s technocratic, unelected government was installed after the flamboyant Silvio Berlusconi was ousted by a wave of panic on the financial markets that pushed Italy’s borrowing costs to record highs. — AFP

ROME: Italian Premier Mario Monti arrives at Rome’s Foreign Press Club yesterday. Italy’s new premier must try to persuade a skeptical Parliament that his new plan to cut spending and boost growth will return Italy’s ailing economy to health as Europe enters a crucial week for future of the euro currency. — AP

DP World plans $850m investment for Jebel Ali DUBAI: DP World, the world’s third-largest port operator, will invest $850 million over the next three years to create additional capacity at one of its key ports in the United Arab Emirates, the company said in a statement yesterday.

The expansion of the Jebel Ali port would create an additional capacity of four million TEU, or twenty-foot equivalent container unit, taking the total capacity of the port to 19 million TEU by 2014, the statement said.

The port operator said the investment will be financed from existing cash resources and cashflow.

The company, one of the more profitable assets of debt-laden Dubai World, warned of tough conditions for its customers in 2012 but said it would achieve throughput growth of more than 7 percent. DP World has been pushing forward with growth into Europe and announced earlier this year that it would go ahead with the construction of its new London Gateway deep-sea container port, to be operational by the fourth quarter of 2013. The company also listed in London in June, but this move has done little to boost liquidity in the stock, with the London listing on average trading less than 35,000 shares per day. Shares of DP World ended flat on the Nasdaq Dubai bourse yesterday. — Reuters

Malaysia, Qatar to invest $2bn in investment fund KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak said in a joint press conference with the Qatar Prime Minister yesterday that both countries will each put $1 billion in a fund to look for investments. “The Prime Minister of Qatar and I have agreed to work to set up a a Malaysia and Qatar investment fund with each country to set up $1 billion to look for investments,” Najib said.

He did not elaborate on the type of fund or asset classes that will be invested by the two countries. Qatar Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al-Thani arrived in Malaysia’s administrative capital on Monday for a three-day visit to strengthen ties between both countries.

Meanwhile, steel giant China Shougang Group will build a 1.8 billion ringgit ($580 million) steel mill together with a Malaysian company in the Southeast Asian country, the two partners said yesterday.

The investment marks Shougang’s first steel mill outside China, according to a press release. The company already has an iron ore mining company in South America. “We see tremendous potential in

the steel mill industry in Malaysia, and we are very excited as this is Shougang’s first steel mill investment outside of China,” Shougang chairman Zhu Jimin was quoted in the statement.

According to the joint release, Shougang and Malaysia’s Hiap Teck Venture Berhad have formed Eastern Steel to build the mill in eastern Terengganu state.

Shougang has a 40 percent stake in Eastern Steel.

Work started yesterday, the statement said. The mill is expected to be able to make 700,000 metric tons of steel products a year once the first phase costing 750 million ringgit is completed by mid-2013. An additional 1.05 billion ringgit will then be invested to raise production capacity to 1.5 million metric tons per year, the statement said.

Shougang is a 2011 Fortune Global 500 company with an annual crude steel output of more than 30 million metric tons.

The statement said steel demand increased in Southeast Asia last year with Malaysia producing 29 percent of all the regional crude steel. — Agencies

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Global crisis just a ‘blip’: Freakonomics author NEW DELHI: No matter how bad the global financial turmoil seems, don’t worry-there’s no doomsday looming on the horizon, says Freakonomics author Steven Levitt.

Levitt, known for his startling and provocative observations about human behavior, has comforting words for those alarmed about Europe’s debt crisis and the sluggish US economy. “It doesn’t feel like ‘The End’,” said Levitt, 44, a leading professor of economics at the University of Chicago, who was on a lightning 48hour trip to India for a speaking engagement.

“The US economy is even growing a little,” Levitt noted, referring to a two percent expansion in the last quarter. In fact, “economies around the world have grown so much since World War Two, — unless there’s something horrific on the horizon which I don’t see-people will look back on these days as nothing more than a blip,” he told AFP. “We’re certainly not looking at some-

thing like the Great Depression,” added Levitt, who co-authored the best-selling Freakonomics and its much-acclaimed sequel Super Freakonomics.

Levitt, who revels in the tag of a “rogue economist” challenging conventional wisdom, said people were also far too worried about terrorism. While governments across the world pump huge resources into tackling terrorism, it is only a “minor problem in the larger scheme of things”, he argued. “We can’t ignore the fact that many more people die in car crashes each year-in fact it really puts to shame (the casualty toll from) terrorist attacks.

“It is only our reaction to terrorism that is so extreme that it makes the problem look bigger than it actually is,” said Levitt, who in 2003 won the John Bates Clark Medal as the most influential economist in America under the age of 40.

Despite his successful career, he says he has “never been proficient in math” and had to struggle with the subject all

through school. When he was admitted to Massachusetts Institute of Technology to do his doctorate, he realized “a terrible mistake had been made” because he had such trouble doing the Maths.

“But they had had a problem with student suicides at MIT and didn’t like to flunk anyone. “Also, failing someone involved a lot of paperwork which professors didn’t like so they kept tossing me on to the next year.” Levitt says he has an enormous appetite for probing the riddles of life and decides his subjects through personal experiences and the incongruities that he sees around him.

“I just follow my nose to look at events and circumstances and draw conclusions,” he said. He is known for applying economic reasoning to unusual realworld topics and coming up with counter-intuitive conclusions, such as the fact that many drug dealers live with their mothers because they just don’t earn that much. He also created a stir by suggesting that the elimination of unwanted

pregnancies helps reduce the population of would-be criminals.

He compares his interest in “freakonomics” with the work of his father-a world-renowned medical expert in intestinal gas who is known in some quarters as the “King of Farts”. His father was told he did not have much talent for medical research but there was one area desperate for scientists-intestinal gas-and so he applied himself in that field and became a leading voice.

“When you’re not good enough to compete on an equal footing with other people, you’ve got to find that niche nobody else wants to take up. What I do (in economics) parallels my father’s career in gas,” Levitt said. On this visit to India-his first-he says he had been particularly taken with the chaos. “It’s amazing the country functions at all.”

“But it must be doing something right-the economy is growing like crazy,” he said, referring to the 7.5 percent forecast growth rate for the year. — AFP

Olympus hid up to $1.7b, no proof of yakuza link Panel report to be released today TOKYO: An investigative panel has found Japan’s disgraced Olympus Corp hid up to $1.67 billion in losses from its investors, but is likely to say there is no evidence of involvement by organized crime in the cover-up, a source said yesterday.

The panel will also stop short of recommending criminal charges against executives involved in the accounting scandal, presenting only the facts and leaving Olympus to pursue this aspect, said the source familiar with the panel investigation. “That is up to the company,” he said.

The panel’s report is due to be released as soon as today, almost two months after Olympus’s sacked chief executive, Englishman Michael Woodford, went public with his concerns over its dubious accounting for a series of murky acquisitions.

The maker of cameras and medical equipment has since lost more than half its market value and risks being delisted from the Tokyo stock exchange, a sanction that would cut it off from equity markets and put it under pressure to sell core assets. But it may be able to avoid that humiliation if there is no proof of the muchrumored link between the cover-up and Japan’s “yakuza” gangsters-and if Olympus can meet a Dec. 14 deadline to iron out its books and report its second-quarter results.

Olympus shares firmed 3 percent on the news, though investors remain on tenterhooks

for not only the panel’s official findings but also the outcome of a separate, joint investigation by police, prosecutors and the market regulator.

The source said the panel found that former executive vice president Hisashi Mori and exinternal auditor Hideo Yamada had led the cover-up of losses, which amounted to 130 billion yen ($1.67 billion) at its peak.

The panel has found Mori and Yamada then informed former president Tsuyoshi Kikukawa, the source added. Kikukawa at first publicly rejected the accusations of a cover-up when the scandal broke in October, but he later quit and the company conceded it had hid investment losses stretching back as far as two decades.

Current President Shuichi Takayama has said the firm is prepared to take legal steps, including filing criminal complaints, against those responsible for the cover-up. Olympus has so far said that it used some of $1.3 billion in acquisition payments and advisory fees to aid in the coverup of the losses on its securities investments. It has declined to give details until the panel hands down its report.

The panel was appointed by Olympus and includes a former supreme court judge.

Olympus remains under joint investigation by Tokyo police, prosecutors and the Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission. The official investigations include a police unit dedicated to fighting organized crime.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange has placed Olympus on a watch-list as a possible prelude to delisting. Even if the firm meets the Dec. 14 reporting deadline, the exchange can still delist the stock depending on the scale of its past misreporting or if it is found to have knowingly done business with organized crime. Woodford, who blew the whistle on accounting tricks at the company after his sacking from the top job in October, has launched a campaign to oust the current board and replace it with his own team of candidates led by him as nominated CEO. That has set up a battle between Woodford, who was a rare foreign CEO in Japan, and Takayama, who plans to stay on, at least in the short term, to try to get the firm back on track.

The Olympus affair has fanned doubts about corporate governance generally in Japan as well as revived concerns about ties between yakuza and companies. Yakuza have a long history of trying to extort money from companies, sometimes threatening to release information that firms would like to keep secret.

Attention will also focus on the panel’s findings over the role of auditors who signed off on Olympus’ books, as well as outsiders such as Akio Nakagawa, a banker with lengthy ties to Olympus and whose firm Axes received a huge advisory fee related to the 2008 takeover of UK medical equipment maker Gyrus. — Reuters

Energy E&P spending up 10% in 2012: Barclays

SHANGHAI: Home buyers protest on the sudden plunge of residential property prices at a real estate developer office in Shanghai. As economic growth wanes, Beijing has begun easing tight credit policies meant to cool inflation but China’s leaders are also insisting there is no leeway for loosening curbs on the housing sector. —AP

China’s Ordos property bust offers warning sign ORDOS, China: The monumental, neo-Mongolian sculptures, empty plazas and hulking concrete shells of buildings in Ordos, deep in the steppes of Inner Mongolia, are a potent symbol of how China’s property boom can turn to bust. Off the back of a thriving coal industry, the local government has been building a new city for one million people called Kangbashi. It sits virtually empty and property prices are falling.

Even in the old city of Dongsheng where people live and work, some 45 minutes drive away, a wave of investment has backfired. Cranes sit idle over unfinished skyscrapers and migrant workers are fleeing. The swing in fortune-residents and property agents say prices have dropped by up to a third-is a severe example of what is happening in cities across China, including Shanghai and Beijing.

After a housing bubble that doubled values in 35 cities between 2004 and 2009, prices are now falling nationwide. The central bank said on Friday property prices had reached a turning point while banks are worried a price slide of 20 percent could trigger panic selling.

“People are worried. Especially if they have bought two or three apartments,” said Yu Mingjun, a worker sitting in a down jacket at a ramshackle office of a half-completed project in the old town.

Beside him, a colleague played video games while outside, the few construction workers left on site chatted over a card game. “Actually I am worried too. I can’t decide what to do. I’m thinking of leaving here.” Top Chinese leaders have vowed to keep in place measures aimed at clamping down on the country’s property inflation until prices return to reasonable levels.

But prices in Ordos have already fallen below the level that analysts say would cause serious problems if mirrored nationally. Prices have plummeted 20-30 percent in certain property developments in Beijing and Shanghai.

Nationwide, the decline is so far more modest.

Home prices fell slightly in October from September for the first time this year, official data showed, but private surveys indicated prices began falling in September and continued through November.

With local governments often dependent on land sales to fund payments on a staggering 10.7 trillion yuan ($1.7 trillion) of debt, Beijing worries that a collapsing property market will trigger a wave of defaults that in turn will hit the banks. “If society demonizes the property sector, especially if buyers think prices will fall, creating a sharp cooling of for instance 30-40 percent, I think that’s very serious,” said Hui Jianqiang, head of research for consultancy E-House China.

More worrisome, the property market, which contributes about 10 percent of Chinese growth and drives activity in 50 other sectors, could drag the real economy to a hard landing. A pair of purchasing managers’ surveys last week showed China’s factory output shrank in November to the lowest level in three years, feeding worries about whether Chinese growth can keep powering the global economy.

In empty showrooms of Dongsheng, Ordos’ old city, saleswomen immediately offer 30 percent price discounts if a buyer is willing to pay for a property upfront and in cash. Chinese and foreign media seized on Ordos as the prime example of wasteful and pointless government projects after the government built the sprawling new city of Kangbashi.—Reuters

LONDON: Global energy exploration and production (E&P) spending will increase by 10 percent to $598 billion in 2012, driven by higher oil prices according to a survey by Barclays Capital which sees the potential for “considerable upside” to this forecast.

E&P spending is expected to rise most meaningfully in Latin America, Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Russia, said BarCap in an equity research note yesterday.

Capex on E&P is seen rising 21 percent in Latin America, 14 percent in Africa and 42 percent in the former Soviet Union and CIS countries. In Latin America, BarCap highlighted a “significant step up in activity” by PEMEX in Mexico, an aggressive capital program for Ecopetrol in Colombia, and Petrobras’ continued deployment of capital in support of its pre-salt development plan.

Spending in Africa is projected to rise as civil unrest and political disruptions in North Africa and other areas abate, and the supermajors begin work on large projects and new discoveries in East and West Africa, BarCap said. Higher oil prices are driving this spending, but companies’ conservative estimates leave the door open for more. BarCap said oil and gas companies were basing their 2012 capex budgets on an average oil price of $87 a barrel for US crude and $98 a barrel for Brent.

Brent crude futures are currently trading at about $110.64 a barrel whilst US crude is at around $101.40 a barrel. “We believe the majority of companies have taken a conservative approach in setting their initial 2012 budgets, and current oil prices levels (if sustained) would suggest that there is considerable upside to our current forecasts as we move throughout the year,” said BarCap. As a result of this pick up in spending, BarCap sees oil service, equipment and drilling companies significantly outperforming the broader equity market over the next few years.

It particularly favors the large-cap diversified companies such as Schlumberger, Baker Hughes, Halliburton and Weatherford, as well as capital equipment companies Cameron and National Oilwell Varco. BarCap surveyed some 350 oil and gas companies globally about their spending intentions for the coming year. — Reuters

ATHENS: Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos (right) greets US Vice President Joe Biden (left) at the Maximou mansion in Athens yesterday. Biden said yesterday ahead of talks with political leaders in Athens that it was vital for the United States that Greece resolved its economic woes, with the help of its partners. — AFP

Greece success in debt battle vital for US: Biden ATHENS: It is vital for the United States that Greece resolves its economic woes, with the help of its partners, US Vice President Joe Biden said yesterday ahead of talks with political leaders in Athens.

“It is overwhelmingly in the US interest that Greece works it way through the crisis,” Biden said before going into talks with Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos who is overseeing another stiff round of unpopular austerity measures. Biden said he was pleased to see that Papademos enjoyed all-party support for the measures aimed at stabilizing Greece’s strained public finances and bringing its massive debt mountain under control.

Difficult times, however, provide opportunities, he said, and in a year’s time the country’s position would be a lot stronger.

Papademos welcomed Biden, saying that in the current debt crisis “which has spread

beyond Greece and even beyond Europe, US support has been significant, constant and steady”.

“I am convinced that we can count on this support in the future,” he added. Biden arrived in Greece after visiting Iraq and Turkey, where Syria and the ‘Arab Spring’ uprisings in North Africa figured large but both leaders gave few details of the talks, apart to say they would include regional issues.

The vice president’s visit comes as parliament continues debate on the tough 2012 budget put through by Papademos whose passage today is widely expected.

The budget is intended to bring the public deficit down sharply and provide the quid pro quo for the EU and International Monetary Fund to implement a second Greek debt bailout agreed in October, providing fresh funds and a cut in debt. — AFP

UK services sector picks up but firms shed jobs LONDON: Britain’s dominant services sector picked up slightly last month, defying forecasts it would stagnate, although employers shed jobs at the fastest pace in more than a year, a survey showed yesterday.

The Markit/CIPS Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for the service sector rose to 52.1 in November from 51.3 in October, beating expectations for a dip to 50.5 and edging higher above the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction. The index was still below September’s reading of 52.9 however. Britain’s economy as a whole looks likely to barely grow in the final three months of 2012, after PMI surveys last week showed sluggish construction activity and the biggest fall in manufacturing since June 2009.

“With manufacturing contracting at a steep pace, the weak growth of services means the economy is likely to have stagnated in the fourth quarter,” said Chris Williamson, chief economist at data provider Markit.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has warned that Britain is entering a modest recession, while the government has said the economy will stagnate until mid-2012 and could easily start to contract. The pick-up in activity in services was driven by a continued inflow of new business-albeit at the slowest rate since December 2010 — and by extra advertising and marketing, the

purchasing managers’ survey showed.

By sub-sectors, activity increased in the business-to-business services sector but declined in IT and computing, and transport, storage and communications categories. The survey does not include retailers or public services. Brisker business did not translate into safer job prospects, however. The employment sub-component fell to 48.2 from 49.8, showing the biggest drop in the workforce in 15 months, both through redundancies and natural attrition. Job losses were heaviest for hotels, catering and restaurants, and for transport, storage and communications.

Manufacturing firms, too, cut jobs at the fastest rate in more than two years, signalling that the rate of unemployment in Britain is likely to rise above the 15-year high of 8.3 percent recorded in the three months to September.

Services firms blamed a tough economic climate, the euro-zone debt crisis, low bank lending and public spending cuts for depressing growth. The uncertain environment also weighed on business confidence, which slipped from October’s fivemonth peak.

Companies’ profit margins were pressured by higher input costs, as utility bills and transport costs rose, while their ability to pass these on to clients was limited by discounting and the need to stay competitive. — Reuters

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TECHNOLOGY

Hard drive production to resume in Thailand DUBAI: Western Digital Corp is updating its financial outlook for the December quarter and the progress to date of its operations recovery effort in Thailand. The company is also providing its view of the industry conditions for the December 2011 quarter and beyond.

For the December quarter, the company now expects revenue of at least $1.8 billion and gross margins above the high end of its business model range of 18 percent to 23 percent, and operating expenses of approximately $265 million, exclusive of unusual charges related to the floods, acquisition-related expenses and litigation.

Unusual charges related to the floods are expected to be in the range of $225 million to $275 million for the December quarter, exclusive of any insurance recovery. The company expects to file a property damage claim of at least $50 million and an

additional claim for business interruption during the December quarter. The accounting treatment of these claims is dependent on their status as of the end of the quarter. The company

John Coyne

Kaspersky Lab announces new partnership with TAG Heuer SAINT-IMIER: Kaspersky Lab, a leading developer of secure content and threat management solutions, announces a new collaboration with TAG Heuer, the renowned Swiss luxury watchmaker, which, in cooperation with ModeLabs Manufacture, has launched its first luxury touchscreen smartphone TAG Heuer LINK, operating on Android. For this unique smartphone Kaspersky Lab has developed TAG Heuer Mobile Security (Powered by Kaspersky). This user-friendly and reliable security software provides complex malware and data protection.

Commenting on the new partnership, Eugene Kaspersky, Chairman and CEO of Kaspersky Lab, said: “We are happy to start our partnership with and to provide protection for users of TAG Heuer smartphones. Kaspersky Lab and TAG Heuer have common core values, such as bestof-breed reliability, cutting edge technology, and constant innovation. TAG Heuer Mobile Security is our first project in the luxury segment, and we are looking forward to further develop our partnership with TAG Heuer.”

The new TAG Heuer LINK phone is the ultimate communication tool. Swiss-

engineered, French-built, and equipped with upgradeable Google Android software, it combines elegance, reliability and unparalleled access and connectivity. Luxuriously crafted and detailed, the TAG Heuer LINK incorporates the most prestigious materials and advanced components in the watchmaking and automotive worlds, including black PVD, diamonds and rose gold. The mirror-polished and fine-brushed stainless steel is premium grade surgical 316L, corrosionresistant and hypoallergenic.

TAG Heuer Mobile Security (Powered by Kaspersky) provides top grade protection from network attacks, malware targeting mobile platforms, and SMS spam. On top of that it allows users to locate a lost or stolen smartphone using the GPS Find function, store all digital assets in encrypted folders, and remotely block or wipe the smartphone if it is lost or stolen. With Kaspersky Lab’s Mobile Security, the owner of a LINK smartphone is able to efficiently manage private contacts, filter out annoying calls and texts by assigning contacts to black lists and white lists, restrict children’s calls and texts, and monitor the phone’s whereabouts using GPS Find.

App helps viewers shop while watching TV programs TORONTO: Looking for the dress you saw on a hit television show or the jerseys worn during a football game or soccer match? An iPad app aims to help viewers shop while watching TV. Unlike television shopping channels, Watch with Ebay is a new feature in eBay’s iPad app that lets users buy items related to the program they’re currently viewing.

“The idea is to provide a new form of TV watching entertainment that includes the possibility of shopping and discovering interesting products people never would have discovered otherwise,” said Steve Yankovich, vice president of mobile at eBay. After entering the network provider and channel, items related to the TV show, the actors, guests or teams in a sporting event surface within the app. “We’ve seen that guys sitting around watching a sporting event will buy jerseys for the team they like,” Yankovich said. “And normally when you’re sitting around watching a sporting event on TV, you’re not really thinking about being in shopping mode. But that’s because no one presented it to you in a frictionless and pleasing way.” A recent study by

Yahoo/Nielsen found that 86 percent of smartphone and tablet owners use the devices while watching TV and 25 percent of them are searching for information related to the show.

“There’s already a natural thing happening where people are using their device like a companion to TV watching,” explained Yankovich. Purchasing the item in a particular scene of a TV show isn’t possible yet, but that could change. Yankovich said content providers are beginning to tag video frames with the items in those scenes, which will make it possible in the future. “It will get down to actual product. It could literally be the brand name of clothing that each person is wearing in the scene, including the actual stock-keeping unit (SKU) for the piece of clothing,” he said. When it happens the app could sync with the program to display the item in a scene of a show. Yankovich said plans for the app are to provide recommendations based on the user’s shopping interests, whether it is watches, shoes or autographed memorabilia. When the items are related to the show they’re viewing, they will be featured on the screen. — Reuters

Microsoft rolls out Xbox TV platform LOS ANGELES: Microsoft Corp. is rolling out a new interface for its Xbox game console, one that allows you to navigate through music, movies, TV shows and games with the wave of your hand or the sound of your voice.

The interface, first demonstrated by CEO Steve Ballmer in September, is set up similarly to Microsoft’s upcoming Windows 8 operating system with a series of large panes showing content options. Xbox owners with the Kinect motion controller can swipe through screens by waving their hand in the air.

It also responds to direct voice commands and incorporates Microsoft’s search engine, Bing. Windows phone users can control what to watch or hear by tapping on their portable devices. The interface will be available to Xbox users connected to the Internet via a download today. In a demonstration for The Associated Press, a Microsoft employee demonstrated how saying, clearly, “Xbox. Bing.

‘Iron Man,’” brought up a selection of movies, TV shows, games and soundtracks related to the title. Saying “Xbox.

Show. Movies,” brought up places to rent or buy the movie, including Microsoft’s Zune store, Wal-Mart’s Vudu, Netflix or pay TV channel Epix.

Separate subscriptions are required for services like Netflix, and much of the content also requires being a gold member of Xbox Live, a connected

Internet service that costs $60 a year.

Microsoft expects to have pay TV channel partners, including those supplied

by Verizon FiOS. There will be no broadcast partners, so fans of the ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox networks will continue to rely on standard set-top boxes or digital rabbit ear antennas for that content.

Microsoft says there have been 57 million Xbox units sold around the world and there are more than 35 million users who have logged on to its Xbox Live service at least once in the last three months. It did not divulge how many Xbox Live users are paying gold members. Ross Honey, general manager of Xbox Live entertainment and advertising, said about 40 content partners were expected for the platform. Available apps from those partners will roll out over time. Other partners include the British Broadcasting Company, Hulu Plus, Disney’s online ESPN3 service, Ultimate Fighting Championship, YouTube and cable giant Comcast Corp.’s Xfinity ondemand subscription service.

Many of the offerings require separate pay TV subscriptions or one-time payments. Honey said that many deals with content providers are still in the works. “As with any new technology that comes with the entertainment industry, it takes time,” he said. “What we have here is a start.” — AP

expects acquisition related charges in the December quarter of approximately $15 million.

The company will be vigorously contesting the arbitration decision announced November 21, 2011, in the legal matter with Seagate and has not yet determined the accounting treatment associated with this matter.

The company expects to maintain its net cash position flat with prior quarter end.

“The passion, perseverance, ingenuity and execution exhibited by the WD team has been extraordinary and enabled us to make substantial progress in partially restoring our operations in Thailand, well in advance of our earliest expectations when the floods hit,” said John Coyne, president and chief executive officer of WD. “Much work remains to be done but we couldn’t be more pleased with the effort and results thus far, including

tremendous support from our supply partners and strategic customers.” l Re-started production of hard drives this week in one of its buildings in Bang Pa-in (BPI), Thailand, one week ahead of internal schedules. This facility had been submerged in some six feet of water since October 15, the estate was pumped dry on November 17, main power was restored on November 26 and production restarted November 30; l Has removed all submerged slider manufacturing equipment from the BPI facilities for assessment, decontamination and refurbishment and has commenced decontamination and restoration of its remaining buildings in BPI; l Expects to recommence head slider production in BPI in the March 2012 quarter (Q3 FY’12) and also begin production in a new WD slider fab location in Penang, Malaysia, in the same

time frame; and l The company’s other Thailand hard drive facilities at Navanakorn remain under approximately two feet of water. The industrial estate is expected to be pumped dry within ten days at which point the work of decontamination and refurbishment will commence.

The company believes that hard drive industry shipments in the December quarter will be limited to approximately 120 million units due to production and supply constraints related to the historic flooding in Thailand. This includes units that were in inventory at the beginning of the quarter. The company believes that demand for the December quarter is in the range of 170 million to 180 million units. The company believes that significant industry supply constraints will continue in the March quarter and beyond.

RIM writes off value of tablet inventory RIM delays launch of new phones NEW YORK: Research In Motion Ltd., the struggling maker of the BlackBerry phones, is writing off much of its inventory of PlayBook tablets, since it has to sell them at a deep discount. The Canadian company on Friday said it’s taking a pre-tax charge of $485 million in the just-ended quarter to account for the declining value of the tablets. The model originally priced at $500 now costs $200.

A year ago, co-CEO Jim Balsillie said pentup interest in the PlayBook was “really overwhelming.” Companies are looking for an equivalent of the iPad of corporate use, he said. In March, Balsillie said “The launch of the PlayBook may well be the most significant development for RIM since the launch of the of the first BlackBerry device back in 1999.”

But when the tablet went on sale in April, reviewers puzzled over the lack of email software, saying the device seemed half-baked.

RIM now promises updated software in February. RIM said it shipped 150,000 PlayBooks to stores and distributors in the fiscal third quarter, which ended Nov. 26. “Sellthrough,” or the number actually bought by users, was slightly higher, reflecting sales of tablets shipped earlier. It shipped 500,000 in the first quarter and 200,000 in the second.

Apple Inc., meanwhile, sold 11.1 million iPad tablets in its most recent quarter, which ended Sept. 24. RIM Co-CEO Mike Lazaridis said RIM is still committed to the PlayBook, despite its issues. RIM also said it sold 14.1 million BlackBerrys in the third quarter, slightly better than analysts expected. It then expects sales to fall slightly in the current quarter, roughly in line with analysts’ expectations.

The company provided preliminary revenue and profit figures for the third quarter that were lower than it previously projected, but not a surprise to analysts. RIM said it expects earnings at the “low to mid point” of the $1.20 to $1.40 per share it previously forecast. Analysts polled by FactSet have on average been expecting $1.18 per share. The company expects revenue slightly the below the $5.3 billion to $5.6 billion in its previous forecast. Analysts had been expecting $5.27 billion, on average.

RIM shares fell $1.81, or 9.7 percent, to close Friday at $16.77. The stock hit a sevenyear low of $15.98 last month. The PlayBook

charge comes as analysts have started to conclude that RIM’s management has no chance of really righting the ship. They’ve started to value the company not on its future prospects, but on how much it would be

suspended two employees after their drunken rowdiness forced an Air Canada flight from Toronto to Beijing to be diverted to Vancouver.

RIM has also delayed the launch of new

JAKARTA: This file photo taken on November 25, 2011 shows security personnel evacuating a man after he collapsed while queueing for discounted BlackBerry smart phones at a mall in Jakarta. Yesterday Indonesian police named Research In Motion’s country director a suspect for negligence after a BlackBerry promotion turned chaotic and left dozens injured and others knocked unconscious. Andrew Cobham, president director for Research in Motion (RIM) in Indonesia, and British security consultant Terry Burkey were named as two of four suspects in the incident at a Jakarta mall and could face five years’ imprisonment. — AFP worth if acquired, broken up, or simply run down while keeping BlackBerry service going.

The company is also taking a charge of $50 million for an embarrassing October outage of email and Web services that lasted days for millions of overseas BlackBerry users. It briefly spread to the US and Canada before the company was able to contain the damage.

RIM reports fiscal third-quarter earnings on Dec. 15. RIM’s announcement is the latest in a string of bad news for the company. A widespread outage frustrated tens of millions of BlackBerry users in October. On Thursday, RIM

phones with the company’s new QNX operating system for several months. RIM disappointed many in October when the company didn’t announce a clear timeline for when it would release phones with the new software which is now called BBX. The Waterloo, Ontario-based company continues to have success overseas but has increasingly lost market share in North America. Many U.S. users have moved on to phones with big touchscreens such as the iPhone and various competing models that run Google’s Android software. — AP

Will mobile phone competition spell end of the MP3 player?

BERLIN: Even though it seems that everyone is getting a smartphone these days, there is still a market for the lowly MP3 player - the devices that got the digital music revolution started in the first place - especially if you’re looking for a multimedia device that won’t break the budget.

Still, it’s a fair question to wonder if a basic MP3 player has any kind of long-term future, when market analysts note that every second mobile phone purchased tends to be a smartphone. A Gartner survey suggests 95 per cent of the German market for example will be based on smartphones by 2015.

Which would seem to argue against people keeping separate music players. However, the German Society for Enter tainment and Communications Technology (gfu) sees a future for them. “The jacks-of-all-trades leave some room for specialists,” says gfu spokesman Roland Stehle. “For example, not everyone wants to go jogging with their smartphone.”

Beyond that, a lot of parents might not be willing to let their children have a smartphone.

Others might be motivated by the annoyance of not being able to use their smartphone for telephoning after the battery has been drained by playing music or videos.

It’s also a question of cost. A smartphone will cost several hundred euros. You can get an MP3 player starting at 20 euros (27 dollars).

That gives them a guaranteed future as marketing gifts, says Stehle. There’s been a lot of specialization in the market, with some focusing on being affordable, others on being larger.

There are also niches for comfortable handling, colour screens, top-of-the-line models with

larger screens for playing videos or devices with extra memory.

Despite their relatively high price, Apple’s iPods have managed to maintain their role as

global market leader. Their well-conceived handling, a seamlessly integrated online shop, iTunes, and the cool factor has helped to keep them popular among the young. — dpa

TAIPEI: Taiwanese people gather to view an array of products at the ICT Month consumer electronics fair at the Taipei World Trade Center in Taipei, Taiwan, Sunday. — AP

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H E A LT H & S C I E NC E

Smart treadmills, fitness kits under the Christmas tree NEW YORK: Santa’s fitness elves have affixed smartphone technology to home equipment, programmed Tour de France terrain into stationary bikes and stuffed holiday stockings with trendy and functional workout toys.

Home treadmills, those stalwarts of basement exercise intentions, are becoming so sturdy, smar t and sophisticated that they’re giving the fitness center machines a run for their money, according to Colleen Logan of ICON Fitness, a Utah-based equipment company.

“Consumers can check email, watch news, shop online and do everything they now do with a tablet,” Logan said of the new NordicTrack X9i, a home treadmill with an Android

browser built into the console. “This is a brick house; a 100-percent gym experience at home.”

Technology has revamped the stationary bike as well. The ProForm Tour de France, which inclines and declines to 20 percent, allows the home exerciser virtual access all 21 legs of the Tour de France bicycle race.

“This is really a cycling trainer, not just a stationar y bike,” Logan explained. Treadmill, elliptical, stationary bike or stair stepper, before you surprise someone with a big-ticket item, make sure it’s one they’ll use, advises Jessica Matthews of the American Council on Exercise (ACE). “ When it comes to cardio (machines), be in tune with what

they’re in tune with,” she said. “So much depends on personal preference.” Of course, the smaller the gift, the smaller the worry. Among the many trendy stocking stuffers for sale in this season of giving, Matthews calls the ViPr, a hollow, handled cylinder designed to be pushed, dragged, lifted tilted thrown and flipped, a great functional training tool that doesn’t take up a lot of space.

“It’s a ‘wow ’ gift for the fitness enthusiast that works all range of motion,” she said. Also topping her list are Sandbells, stackable neoprene bags filled with sand that provide a soft and droppable substitute for dumbbells.

“It’s a great option for older adults,”

she said. Other colorful new items include the Kamagon ball, which adjusts resistance by adding or removing water, and Ripstix, the weighted drumsticks that have been adding an upper body workout component to many hip-hop and Zumba classes.

For a back-to-basics option, ACE’s FitKit includes a stability ball, resistance tubes, a stretch mat and medicine ball. “We review a lot of consumer products,” Matthews explained.

“We worked with manufacturers to find the most versatile, affordable, durable pieces of equipment.”

Also common as Christmas lights are DVD packages with small props added in: a yoga strap for beginning

yogis, an inflatable ball for Pilates workouts. “We started putting our DVDs with equipment three or four years ago,” said Julie Cartwright of Anchor Bay Entertainment. “It made a lot of sense to offer a full solution in one box.”

Or consider coaxing your recalcitrant couch potato with a subscription to a workout or wellness site, such as Bettercheaperslower.com, or a subscription to Yoga Journal.

Whatever new and unfamiliar activity you’re gifting, remember the morning after. “Our three-in-one selfmassage roll nests two foam rollers and one massage stick into a single product,” said Logan. “It’s the perfect recovery tool.”— Reuters

UK reforms to push use of new medicines Early access plan to get new drugs to patients swiftly

BEIJING: Cars pass through toll booths on a highway covered in haze in Beijing yesterday. Beijing authorities cancelled hundreds of flights and shut highways as thick smog descended on the Chinese capital on December 4 and 5, reducing visibility at one of the world’s busiest airports. Air quality in Beijing reached “hazardous” levels yesterday, according to the US embassy, which conducts its own measurements, while China’s state Xinhua news agency said pollution was likely to reach “dangerous” levels.— AFP

Beijing cancels hundreds of flights due to smog BEIJING: Beijing authorities cancelled hundreds of flights and shut motorways yesterday as thick smog descended on the Chinese capital, reducing visibility at one of the world’s busiest airports. Air quality in Beijing reached “hazardous” levels yesterday, according to the US embassy, which conducts its own measurements, while the official Xinhua news agency said pollution was likely to reach “dangerous” levels.

By the middle of Monday afternoon, Beijing’s main airport-the second busiest in the world by passenger traffic-had cancelled 233 domestic and 17 international flights, according to its website.

Another 400 flights were cancelled on Sunday.

Television footage of the airport concourse showed thousands of stranded passengers being turned away, or waiting around in hope of booking later flights if the smog lifted. Most major motorways linking Beijing to other parts of north China were closed early yesterday due to the smog, but sections of some roads began opening throughout the day as the visibility improved, CCTV reported.

International organisations including the United Nations list Beijing as one of the most polluted cities in the world, mainly due to its growing energy consumption, much of it from fossil fuels.

“Coal burning is the main cause of all the grey hazy days that Beijing gets,” Zhou Rong, an air pollution expert with Greenpeace China, told AFP. “China has more than doubled its coal consumption in the last 10 years, so we

are getting more soot in the air, as well as secondary pollutants like sulphur dioxide and nitrous oxide which also help cause the haze.” Beijing’s nearly five million vehicles also emit a lot of the particulates that make up the capital’s air pollution, she added.

Authorities in Beijing went to huge lengths to clean up the city’s air ahead of the 2008 Olympics, shutting down coalfired power stations and restricting the number of cars on the roads, but air quality in the city remains bad.

Frequent smog in October and November has given fresh impetus to a growing public debate over air quality in Beijing, whose 20 million residents are increasingly worried. Their concerns are being fuelled in part by data gathered by the US embassy, which produces its own pollution readings using a different gauge to Chinese authorities and broadcasts them online and on Twitter.

China currently rates air quality by measuring airborne particulates of 10 micrometres or less, adopting a standard known as PM10, while the embassy measures only levels of those that are 2.5 micrometres or smaller. Scientists say Beijing’s pollution is mostly caused by these smaller particles, which are deemed more dangerous to health as they can pass through smaller airways and penetrate deeper into the lungs, and even into the blood. According to the state-run China Daily, if the US standard was adopted nationwide, only 20 percent of Chinese cities would be rated as having satisfactory air quality, against the current 80 percent. — AFP

Earth-like planets feature in new survey WASHINGTON: Tired of life on Earth?

There may be other options, according to a catalog released yesterday of planets and moons that could have the right conditions to support life, planetary scientists said.

A total of 47 exoplanets and exomoons are potential habitable candidates, according to the online ranking of bodies outside our solar system by the Planetary Habitability Laboratory (PHL) of the University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo.

Two of the exoplanets are confirmed to have the right distance from their star to support water, plus a suitable temperature and atmosphere to support life. But be warned, it would take Earthlings quite a long trip to get there. One of the “marginally Earth-like” planets, Gliese 581d, is 20 light years from Earth, and the other, HD 85512b, is 36 light years away. They are among the 700 exoplanets that have been detected and confirmed by missions such as NASA Kepler space telescope.

The Habitable Exoplanets Catalog (HEC), available online at http://phl.upr.edu, is the first to classify exoplanets and exomoons them according to their habitability in a somewhat

user-friendly format.

The rankings give scientists “the ability to compare exoplanets from best to worst candidates for life,” said says Abel Mendez, director of the PHL and principal investigator of the project. Proposed future missions, such as the NASA Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF), would be needed to confirm the suitability for life of the other 45 candidates identified in the catalog.

“I hope this database will help increase interest in building a big spacebased telescope to observe exoplanets directly and look for possible signatures of life,” said Jim Kasting, an expert on planetary habitability science from Penn State.

Kepler is NASA’s first mission in search of Earth-like planets orbiting suns similar to ours. It launched in 2009, equipped with the largest camera ever sent into space a 95-megapixel array of chargecoupled devices-and is expected to continue sending information back to Earth until at least November 2012.

The space telescope is searching for planets as small as Earth, including those orbiting stars in a warm, habitable zone where liquid water could exist on the surface of the planet. — AFP

LONDON: Britain will promote use of new medicines and has earmarked 180 million pounds ($280 million) to bring modern technologies to market under a package of reforms designed to make the country more attractive to big pharmaceuticals companies.

Prime Minister David Cameron wants to use the funds to boost Britain’s 50 billion pound turnover life sciences industry, according to the text of a speech due to be delivered on Monday.

“The most crucial, fundamental thing we’re doing is opening up the NHS to new ideas. The end-game is for the NHS to be working hand-inglove with industry as the fastest adopter of new ideas in the world, acting as a huge magnet to pull new innovations through, right along the food-chain - from the labs to the boardrooms to the hospital bed,” Cameron will say.

Drug companies have been complaining for years that Britain was often slow to adopt new medicines and use them in its statefunded NHS. Science minister

David Willetts told BBC radio: “Above all, there should be a very clear route from the idea in the publicly supported research lab, through to the application in the patient in the publicly-supported NHS. That is the way to get the businesses to grow for the future and, of course, it is the best thing for patients as well.”

Part of the support outlined by Cameron, dubbed the “Biomedical Catalyst fund”, will be open to universities and small and mediumsized enterprises, while an “early access scheme” will also be set up under which seriously ill patients could use new drugs up to a year before they are fully licensed.

“Patients are having to wait too long for new medicines because of the lengthy and extremely costly process for gaining full regulatory approval,” Richard Barker, director of the Centre for Accelerating Medical Innovations, said in an emailed comment in response to the government’s announcement.

“Health systems ultimately have to pay for these costs in the price of

new products. It makes sense for the UK, with its research strengths, respected regulators and major life science investments, to take a lead.”

Part of the new plans will allow patient records and other NHS data to be shared with life sciences companies — a move some critics fear may compromise patient confidentiality.

But Cameron will argue that giving researchers from private sector companies access to NHS information will make it easier for them to develop and test new drugs and treatment.

Sarah Chan, deputy director of Manchester University’s institute for science, ethics and innovations, said worries about patient privacy were overdone. “The wealth of data collected by the NHS represents a vast and potentially very valuable resource that could be used to facilitate highly beneficial research. The concerns over privacy and confidentiality...are perhaps overblown,” she said in an emailed comment.

“As I understand it, the data that is to be released will be anonymised,

and so cannot be used to target individual patients.”

Britain has been particularly reliant on pharmaceutical firms for success in manufacturing, the industry has been under pressure in recent years and forced to make cuts. A decision by the world’s largest pharmaceutical company Pfizer in Februar y to close its research and development site in Sandwich, southern England, with the loss of more than 2,000 jobs was a sign of Britain’s vulnerability.

Willetts said while the Pfizer move was “certainly a wake-up call for us”, the government was now working hard to secure investment by contract research organisations who could continue to use the site and its facilities for scientific research. Investment returns from researching new drugs have fallen nearly 30 percent in the past year at the world’s 12 top pharmaceutical companies, highlighting the productivity dilemma facing the sector, according to a study by Deloitte and Thomson Reuters published last month. — Reuters

MOGADISHU: A nurse helps a famine displaced small boy suffering from diarrhea at Banadir Hospital in Mogadishu, Somalia, yesterday. —AFP

Can yoga and meditation help bring peace to Afghans?

KABUL: As the Afghan government’s Western backers pour in cash, and tens of thousands of foreign soldiers patrol the country, a French human rights activist is trying a new way to break the cycle of violence in Afghanistan: yoga and meditation.

“In thirty years of war, we’ve tried everything and nothing has worked,” said Amandine Roche, who believes it is better to try to rid the mind of vengeful thoughts than to disarm a fighter at gunpoint. Her organisation, the Amanuddin Foundation, aims to promote nonviolence by teaching techniques of calm.

Volunteering since February as she searches for funds, she has given classes at which she demonstrates yoga and meditation to men, women, children, police officers, soldiers and former Taleban insurgents.

“It’s a new solution to an old problem. War starts in the minds of men, so peace starts in the minds of men. You cannot bring peace with the means of war, it’s as simple of that.” The most recent conflict, which started with the US-led overthrow of the Taleban government in 2001, has killed thousands of soldiers and civilians, and cost tens of billions of dollars.

According to United Nations figures, 2011 is

the most violent year since the war began: all signs, Roche argues, that the Western military and diplomatic effort isn’t working.

“My project might look crazy, but what is more crazy?” Key to her work is the idea that peace cannot be imposed from outside, but must come from within an individual, she said.

“I’ve become firmly convinced that nonviolence is not the best way for Afghanistan, it’s the only way.” The young Afghans who have tried yoga and meditation have been receptive. “When I do yoga exercise I forget all of my pains and I feel comfortable,” said Masoda, a 12 year old schoolgirl at one of Roche’s classes for children in the capital Kabul. It might be quite a leap from working with children to bringing that same peace of mind to the gunmen of Afghanistan, but Roche, who was detained by the Taleban in 2001, says they are human too.

“My vision is to teach meditation to all the insurgents, to organise vocational training for them to become mediation teachers, so ... they can go back to society, they have a job, they can reintegrate, and they will become peaceful.” “Meditation is like an inner shower,” she said. “You feel dirty when you don’t take a shower for one week, you feel the same with

your mind when you don’t meditate. It helps you to purify your mind, be rid of all the negativity, frustration.”

On Monday, the German city of Bonn is hosting a major international conference about the future of Afghanistan, at which the West will signal its long-term support for the country. But evidence of the damage done by the cycle of attack and revenge is everywhere in Afghanistan. This week, in reaction to a NATO raid along the Afghan-Pakistan border that killed 24 of its soldiers, Pakistan pulled out of a major international conference on the future of the country.

“You look at the story of Afghanistan-from the British to the Russians to the Mujahideen, the Taleban, now democracy- it’s always revenge for the past war,” Roche said. “It’s never ended. If once, one day someone says ‘I stop, and you stop, and let’s stop together’ ... let’s see.” Still, Roche, who has worked on peacebuilding projects in Asia, Africa and South America, knows there are no easy fixes for the troubles of Afghanistan. “I’m not a prophet, I don’t want to convert people. It’s not even a solution, it’s a tool. I don’t pretend I’m going to save Afghanistan.”— Reuters

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H E A LT H Panda pair jet-lagged after flight to Britain EDINBURGH: A pair of giant pandas are a bit jetlagged after a long-haul flight from China but are already “frolicking around” in their new surroundings, a spokesman for Edinburgh Zoo said yesterday. Yang Guang (Sunshine) and Tian Tian (Sweetie), the first of the endangered bears to live in Britain for 17 years, were welcomed to the Scottish capital with much fanfare Sunday, including a bagpipe band in kilts and flagwaving well-wishers dressed up as pandas.

The pair have stayed indoors since their arrival but have settled in “very well” in what has been “a positive so far”, a zoo spokesman said. “They are experiencing a little bit of jet lag, just like anyone else would after a long flight, but apart from that they are fine,” he said.

“They have two hours’ sleep, wake up, get fed, and then go back to sleep. They are eating well. “We are working now on getting them into a routine after their first night. But they are frolicking around in their new inside enclosure and it’s so far, so good.” The pandas will be gradually introduced to their outdoor enclosure in the next few days. Visitors will be able to see them from December 16.

The bears are spending 10 years on loan in Edinburgh, under a deal agreed after five years of high-level political and diplomatic negotiations.

Politicians are stressing their importance to relations between Britain and China, while Scotland is hoping for a tourism boost in austere times.

It is hoped the pandas will take advantage of a specially built “tunnel of love” between their separate enclosures and breed new cubs that will help preserve the endangered species. Each panda has an indoor section and a large outdoor enclosure, comprising lots of plants, trees, a pond and somewhere for them to shelter from the sun.

Edinburgh Zoo is paying about $1 million (750,000 euros) a year to the Chinese authorities for the pandas, and has already reported a huge spike in ticket sales.

The bears are also expected to eat up to £70,000 ($110,000, 80,000 euros) worth of bamboo a year, with the zoo growing 15 percent and the rest coming from The Netherlands.

Internet users can follow Yang Guang, the male, on hidden “panda-cams”. China is famed for its “panda diplomacy”, using the endangered bears as diplomatic gifts to other countries. Just 1,600 remain in the wild in China, with some 300 others in captivity. Yang Guang and Tian Tian were flown in from Chengdu in Sichuan province, southwest China.

Animal welfare groups have condemned the loan, saying that wild creatures suffer in captivity and serious efforts to help pandas would instead protect them in their native environment. — AFP

Royale Hayat celebrates 5th anniversary Hospital creates a patient education cell KUWAIT: On 29th of November, 2011 the Royale Hayat Hospital kicked off its fifth anniversary celebration series with a media gala event at the hospital’s Gardenia ballroom. Dr. Osamah Al Sanea CEO & Chief of Surgery at the Royale Hayat Hospital welcomed the national press to what was the first in a series of events planned over the next year to commemorate the hospital’s fifth year of success.

In his speech to the guests made up of elite members of the media and national press, Dr. Osamah Al Sanea said, “we have seen amazing growth and success at the Royale Hayat Hospital these past five years.

We have grown from our passionate beginnings as a women and children’s hospital to a multi-specialty facility that provides the highest quality of medical care in a luxurious ambience, setting new standards in healthcare delivery. We have seen unprecedented growth in newer programs such as Reproductive Medicine, Obesity Surgery, ENT, Cosmetic & Plastic Surgery, Dental and Internal Medicine. In addition to our in-house experts who are drawn from the world over, the hospital today hosts celebrity surgeons anti physicians from the United States and Europe. We are proud of this Kuwait-born brand and extremely grateful to all the people here at the hospital who have made this

dream a reality.”

During the event, members of the hospital leadership highlighted growth and unique achievements across various specialties.

Notable among the presenters were Dr. Omar El Khatib - Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Nesrin El Khatib - Deputy Chief Medical Officer & Head of Pediatrics, Ms. Sheila Hill - Chief Nursing Officer, Dr. Essam Sakr - Consultant & Head of Obstetrics / Gynecology, Dr. Human Fatemi Director of Reproductive Medicine (UZBrussels), Dr. Sabriya Saleh - CosmeSurge

Plastic Surgery Center, and Dr. Bernard M. Said - Managing Director of Boost My Smile, the hospital*s comprehensive dental program.

Dr. Osamah Al Sanea added, “In late 2009 we set up a partnership with UZBrussels, Belgium to establish our Reproductive Medicine program which brought in European medical expertise whilst respecting our local Arab culture. Today it is one of the most significant programs across the region attracting patients from other GCC nations.

We also successfully established a Bariatric Center of Excellence to combat the alarming increase of obesity amongst the local population, and its resultant problems such as Diabetes and Heart disease. Later programs such as ENT, Cardiology and Internal Medicine departments were added in an effort to introduce programs that are preventive in nature.”

Dr. Osamah Al Sanea also reiterated the importance of introducing healthcare pro grams that will add to the quality of life of people in Kuwait by shifting to an overall wellness and preventive medicine model. The hospital has made new investments of over KD 2 million in 2011 towards healthcare technology that will help establish the first comprehensive preventive and wellness healthcare program in the State of Kuwait.

The Royale Hayat hospital has also created a patient education cell that uses the latest technology to design audio/visual material for patients and uses social media creatively to spread health advice. The patient education cell will soon launch a dedicated healthcare portal to disseminate healthcare advice in Arabic. The hospital will continue to mark its fifth year by reaching out to the community through social events, medical exhibitions, patient education seminars, workshops and other educational initiatives.

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W H AT ’ S O N CINEMAGIC Thursday, December 8th at 7:30pm WE LIVE IN PUBLIC A documentary focusing on the life of dotcom entrepreneur Josh Harris, and his exploits over the last decade.

Saturday, December 10th at 7:30pm THE ICE STORM 1973, suburban Connecticut: middle class families experimenting with casual sex, drink, etc., find their lives out of control.

Thursday, December 15th at 7:30pm THE LEGEND OF THE HOLY DRINKER This is an enchanting, mesmeric fable. It tells the story of an alcoholic who strives for redemption, but is cheated out of attaining it again and again - either by drink or friends or any of the myriad pleasures life throws at us. And yet somehow - miraculously - the drinker’s soul remainsintact; his final mission frustrated, temporarily foresaken but never entirely forgotten.

Saturday, December 17th at 7:30pm 12 ANGRY MEN A dissenting juror in a murder trial slowly manages to convince the others that the case is not as obviously clear as it seemed in court.

Box Hill College organizes annual handicrafts exhibition

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s part of student activities, Box Hill College Kuwait organized an open day for its annual handicrafts exhibition.

Box Hill College launched the exhibition at its campus in Abu Haleifa which included a show case such as painting on glass,

ceramics, and prints on canvas which all highlight the heritage of Kuwait in addition to other artistic work that was done by students that highlights their creativity in designing attractive dresses, shirts and coats which are all handmade items.

Knowing that the division of

student affairs is keen to organize such activities aimed to refine the talents of students which encourage creative touches and positivity towards what they like, it also helps them to aim high with their talents.

There was a prominent par-

Thursday, December 22nd at 7:30pm THE DEVIL AND DANIEL JOHNSTON Daniel Johnston, manic-depressive genius singer/songwriter/artist is revealed in this portrait of madness, creativity and love.

Upcoming events Christmas bell rings The region is getting ready to welcome the spring of Christmas tide as the sweet bells ring the evergreen cadence of the celebration. Men’s Voice and Choral Society - Kuwait, the renowned Christian musicale in Kuwait since 2001 always launch the beginning of the Christmas Carols in Kuwait. This group who were able to put up an incredible Christmas Concert in the form of a 23 ft Living Christmas tree last year is now all set to present their 11th Annual Christmas Music Concert “Celtic Christmas” for all the music lovers of the region on Wednesday 7th, December 2011 at 7.OOpm at Hall of Faith, National Evangelical Church (NECK), KuwaitThis musicale of Men s Voice and Choral Society is led by Choir Master Sam C Abraham, and Frederick Nirmal on the keyboard. They will bring the harmony of western classics, hymns and the melodies of Malayalam songs. Every music lover is cordially invited to this musical concert. For more details contact: 94064465/66044819 or visit: www.mensvoicekuwait.org or www.facebook.com/mensvoicekuwait Photography exhibition Adel Bujbara, a silent photography exhibition that speaks a thousand words of freedom and speech and space.

Opening reception is today (December 4, 2011) at 7 pm at Tilak Complex M3-M4, Shuwaikh - Jahra Road 80. For more information contact 22256101.

Open day at Sadu House An open day welcoming designers, textile enthusiasts, and all people interested in Kuwaiti traditional weaving at the Sadu House on Monday, December 5, from 10 am to 2 pm.

Christmas Carol concert The Ahmadi Music Group will be holding a fantastic Christmas Carol Concert on December 9 and 10 at New English School (NES) from 5pm both days with an adult show at 7:30pm on both days, in which Santa will be making an appearance, and the children can get involved with singing, waving jingle bells, etc. Guaranteed Christmas fun for the whole family!

Talent Hunt Wesal Media Team is organizing a new concept competition for little talents in Kuwait. This competition is for children ages 6-12 years who have excellent talents in singing, dancing, drawing, etc. All interested little talents are welcome to participate. To sign-up, just visit their website and register your child. The final announcements will be published in a short event at Discovery Mall with famous singers and actors in Kuwait. For more information: 9754-7705 Silsila Ye Chahat Ka Youth icon for the millions Shreya Ghoshal will be performing live in Kuwait on Friday, 9th Dec. 2011. ICS is now all set to present “Silsila Ye Chahat Ka” with Shreya Ghoshal at Al Jeel Al Jadeed School, Hawally. The mega evening is organised by Indian Cultural Society.

New Year Hangama 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 pm 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. contributions from you.

Your attendance is your donation. Please join for an evening for a good cause. Call 99692266, 65925730 for details.

the exhibition to learn new skills that was inspired by the ancient history of Kuwait.

The purpose of this type of activities is to create a bond among the students, staff and faculty through interacting with each other in different activities and events.

Directors showcase short Kuwaiti films at GUST

Saturday, December 24th at 7:30pm RARE EXPORTS: A CHRISTMAS TALE In the depths of the Korvatunturi mountains, 486 metres deep, lies the closest ever guarded secret of Christmas. The time has come to dig it up! This Christmas everyone will believe in Santa Claus.

Thursday, December 29th at 7:30pm BRAZIL A bureaucrat in a retro-future world tries to correct an administrative error and himself becomes an enemy of the state.

Cinemagic Kuwait, is organizing these events as part of its efforts to contribute to the development of an internationally competitive Kuwaiti audio-visual production industry, partly by bringing the filmmakers and audiences together and by Increasing the public’s interest in - and appreciation for - the art of film-making.

Cinemagic movies are screened in the old Salmiya, on the roof on top of Alghanim Electronics and LG.

ticipation from the department of interior design and decoration; the students were so excited to actually implement their talents outside the boundaries of assessments.

There were also workshops organized by the department which helped students visiting

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FIMA hands over Somalia financial aid

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ederation of Indian Muslim Associations (FIMA) - the umbrella organization of 14 Indian Muslim associations based in Kuwait handed over the fund towards supporting the Somalian people who are heavily suffering from drought and acute food-shortage. The aid will be delivered through International Islamic Charitable Organization (IICO) based in Kuwait.

The patron of FIMA, MuktarMarouf handed over the fund to the founder

chairman of IICO Yousuf Al-Hajji in his office at IICO. Al-Hajji hailed the activities of FIMA especially this kind of noble venture for alleviating the grave difficulties of Somalian people who suffers from drought which is a major humanitarian issue the whole world is acknowledging.

Dr Sulaiman Shamsudheen GM of IICO, Basheer Batha secretary of FIMA, and Munir - Jt Treasurer of FIMA were present during the occasion.

he Gulf University for Science & Technology (GUST) had the honor of showcasing two short films made entirely by Kuwaiti filmmakers.

Directors Hassan Abdal and Meqdad AlKout did a fantastic job in preparing these short films as they had the audience glued to their seats anticipating what’s going to happen next.

The first movie shown was “War Zone” was directed by Hassan Abdal. The movie tells the story of a Kuwait special-ops agent who goes on a mission to rescue the rest of his team from a gang of rogues. At first glance, it may seem like your typical war movie, but as it progresses, the audience eventually see that there is a deeper meaning.

Abdal did an excellent job with a great plot and unexpected ending.

The second movie, which was directed by Meqdad Al-Kout, was called “Shanab.” This movie is based on a Kuwaiti poem and it pays tribute to oldschool Kuwaiti ideals as it documents the life of an average man without hav-

ing a moustache, or “shanab” as it is referred to in Arabic. Meqdad’s choice in the setting and time period was impeccable as it truly put the audience in that mind-set and time; from the 70’s cars to the old school barbershops. Meqdad captured the details perfectly and kept the audience entertained throughout.

The two movies show great promise for the future of Kuwaiti films.

The creativity and effort displayed by both directors in the making of their respective films goes to show that our country is capable of producing great films.

GUST is always an avid supporter of the youth and any initiatives that will inspire them to move forward in their goals and dreams no matter what they are. GUST thanks both directors Hassan Abdal and Meqdad Al-Kout for the fantastic job they have done in directing their films and for the time they have taken to showcase their films and answer the students’ questions and wish them both luck in their future films.

VIBE 2011 to hit Kuwait’s stage

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uwait’s popular dance group Dillusions in association with community portal IndiansinKuwait.com presents a unique dance show, VIBE 2011 for the public.

The show will be held on Thursday, December 8th 2011 at Kuwait Medical Association Auditorium, Jabriya at 7:30pm.

D-illusions, the brain child of Vibin John and Eman Al Mel is one of the lead-

ing dance group in Kuwait. The dance people are unique in their style of contemporary dance and has a proven track record in Kuwait’s entertainment arena.

The unique shows ‘VIBE 2011’ for the first time will showcase a mixture of Ethnic, Hip hop, Bollywood and thematic dances. More than 55 dancers of different age groups will perform a dozens of creative shows which will take the audience to another level of imagination.

Four Points by Sheraton Kuwait celebrates its ninth anniversary

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our Points by Sheraton Kuwait inaugurated back in 2003, celebrates its annual anniversary in the month of December and looks forward to welcoming another successful year. Four Points has verified within a short period of time to pioneer and achieve refined and subtle quality service for business and leisure travelers through the provision of taste, comfort and state of the art technology. The hotel has proven that perfection is possible and has clearly become a role model for the Four Points brand on a global scale, being named the “Hotel of the Year” for five consecutive years in the Europe, Africa and Middle East Division.

Situated in the middle of Kuwait City’s bustling business district, Four Points by Sheraton Kuwait, a Four Stars Hotel is just

15 minutes away from the Kuwait International Airport and a stone’s throw away from the elegant Sheraton Kuwait, a Luxury Collection Hotel which has been specifically designed to cater to the needs of business and leisure travelers as it offers great comfort as well as excellent services and extensive range of facilities.

In order to enhance our services and serve you better, we are thrilled to announce the expansion of the Four Points by Sheraton Kuwait Hotel. The significant 42-storey extension will add another 218 rooms to the existing 160room hotel. Scheduled for completion in 2013, the hotel will offer panoramic views of the capital city and dazzling Arabian Gulf in addition to an all-day dining and one specialty restaurant will add to the hotel’s extensive facilities. The rooftop will be home to an indoor swimming pool and a state of the art health club. The expanded lobby will be the perfect venue to relax while surfing the free wireless high speed internet and enjoying the simple pleasures synonymous with the Four Points brand. The foundation stone of this project was laid in a festive ceremony during the visit of Starwood’s Senior Leadership Team to Kuwait and in the presence of Oriental Hotel Co. headed by Abdulaziz Al Shaya, the Chairman.

On this special occasion, Fahed Abushaar Area Director/General Manager of the Sheraton Kuwait and Mounir Amer Four Points by Sheraton Kuwait’s General Manager, extended their sincere appreciation to all those who have contributed to the success of the hotel since its inauguration. They also took this opportunity to appreciate the hard work of all the associates who play a major role in the success of the hotel by providing quality services to the guests.

Shiver Me Timbers!

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hiver Me Timbers!’ Come along and enjoy a swashbuckling performance of Pirates of the Caribbean at Kuwait English School.

The show promises to be a high energy, entertaining theatrical experience as you follow the antics of the loveable rogue, Captain Jack Sparrow.

This superb adaptation of the popular

movie is equally action packed; with dynamic word play, stunt filled battles and gruesome pirate combat.

Pirates of the Caribbean is a show for the whole family which includes music and dance routines you are sure to find thrilling. Don’t miss out on what is guaranteed to be an explosive nautical adventure.

Shreya Ghoshal to perform in Kuwait

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outh icon for the millions Shreya Ghoshal will be performing live in Kuwait on Friday, 9th Dec. 2011. The mega evening is organised by Indian Cultural Society. After hosting memorable events such as “ Parda Hai Parda” with Munawwar Masoom, Surinder Singh & Poonam Bhatia, “Mahakte Lamhe” with Udit Narayan, Neha Chauhan &Trishna Mukharjee, “Dil Ki Awaaz “ with Kavita Krishnamurti etc., ICS is now all set to present “Silsila Ye Chahat Ka” with Shreya

Ghoshal at Al Jeel Al Jadeed School, Hawally. The Chief Guest for the event will be Ambassador of India, Kuwait and the guest of honor will be prominent personalities from Kuwait. The evening will witness new fashion and ever green songs by leading female playback singer from Indian cinema Shreya Ghoshal. She will perform with her world fame orchestra & musician along with co singer Shiv Prasad Mallaya. Young talents from Kuwait will be another attraction of the evening.

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W H AT ’ S O N

Embassy Information EMBASSY OF BRAZIL The Embassy of Brazil requests all Brazilian citizens in Kuwait to proceed to the website www.brazil.org.kw (Contact Us Form / Fale Conosco) in order to register or update contact information. The Embassy encourages all citizens to do so, including the ones who have already registered in person at the Embassy. The registration process helps the Brazilian Government to contact and assist Brazilians living abroad in case of any emergency. nnnnnnn

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Movenpick launches new kids’ menus

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ovenpick held an event to launch the new kids’ menu. The new menu emphasizes healthy choices for children. The event was held at the Bays International Restaurant. Kids of loyal guests and children from the “Children Home Center” orphanage were invited to sample the new healthy menu and take part in the activities. The event was a great success.

Soorya Festival a mega success

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aptivating the heart of a packed audience at the American International school Auditorium, MaidanHawalli, “Soorya India Fest 2011 was staged in style on last Friday, December 1. By lighting the traditional lamp, the Indian Ambassador Satish Chand Mehta inaugurated the program - a Jugalbandhi followed by a mix a of Mohiniyattam and an Odissi, aiming to promote India’s rich and diverse culture.

Muhareb, Managing Partner, UAE Exchange Centre also joined His Excellency for the lamp lighting ceremony.

The two and a half-hour program presented by Soorya Kuwait Chapter in association with UAE Exchange Centre regaled one and all present in the auditorium that included Kuwaiti dignitaries, ambassadors and Indian community members. The Jugalbandhi in the first-half was well appreciat-

ed and enthralled the art lovers.

The Mohiniyattam and the Odissi recitals, during the second-half were the added attraction of the day. The “Omana Thinkal Kidaavo” performance

by Gopika Varma was good

piece of work that fascinated the heart of the audience.

In honor of the outstanding performances of the artiste’s, they were presented with gifts at the end of the show. Pancily Varkey, President, Vijayan

Karayil, Vice-Present and Ramdas Nair, Treasurer, Soorya Kuwait Chapter distributed the gifts. B.S. Pillai, General Secretary, Soorya Kuwait Chapter welcomed the audience.

As the biggest cultural society in Asia, Soorya, present in 21 countries has been propagating the art of India outside the country, for the last 14 years with the active support of its chief patron Dr B.R. Shetty.

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Frontliners 2012 new team formed

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he Frontliners service organisation had its team meeting on November 29 in Salmiya to form a new team to lead the coming year 2012.

Velu vice-president of Frontliners welcomed the members of the team.

The meeting began with self-introduction of present and new members. For the benefit of new members, a short discussion lingerd over the purpose of this association and its contribution towards charitable activities in the past years.

The name of the following members were proposed by Laks (the advisor of Frontliners) as office bearers to lead the team.

President - Mrs Shantha Maria James (Principal - Indian Central School who has the credit of first woman president of Frontliners).

Vice President - S. Velu (to continue based on the excellent services).

General Secretary - Mathi (to continue based on his effortless contribution and services).

The new executives accepted the

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. 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.

Effective January 15, 2011, the only Temporary Resident Visa (TRV) application form that will be accepted by CIC is the Application for Temporary Resident Visa Made Outside of Canada [IMM 5257] form.

All previous Temporary Resident Visa application forms will no longer be accepted by CIC and instead will be returned to applicants.

Should old applications be submitted prior to January 15, 2011 they will continue to be processed.

To ensure that the most recent version of the Temporary Resident Visa application form is being utilized, applicants should refer to the CIC website. As of January 15, 2011, forms are to be filled in electronically. The Embassy of Canada is open from 07:30 to 15:30 Sunday through Thursday. Consular Services for Canadian Citizens are provided from 09:00 until 12:00 on Sunday through Wednesday.

The forms are available on the internet at: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/kits/forms/IM M5257E.PDF.

decision taken and pledged that they would do their best to serve the community. After the nomination a general discussion took place regarding the plans for the coming year with its major activity falling in the month of April/ May and the release of Frontliners Part 16.

It was also resolved to nominate the heads to lead the various committees in the coming meetings. Discussion took place regarding booking venues and flying down prominent personalities from India for the function.

Mohandoss, (founder of Frontliners) presented in detail the functioning of the new website (www.frontlinerskuwait.com) and it’s purpose -to encourage the talents.

The website’s aim and materials were applauded by the members and plans to develop it further were discussed. With the motto “United to Serve, United we serve” all the members of the Frontliners resolved to work as a team in the coming year to serve the cause of

the needy.

Joseph Panicker, G.Rajssekar, A.V.Muralimanohar, Shibu, Arumugam, Selvan, Pukal, Kandanathan and other senior members gave valuable sug-

gestions for the successful functioning of Frontliners.

The meeting closed with a tasty South Indian dinner with enough time for all members to interact.

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 INDIA The Embassy of India will remain closed on the following dates during the month of December 2011. December 06, 2011 (Tuesday) - “Muharram” and December 25, 2011 (Sunday) - “Christmas Day”. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF PERU The Embassy of Peru is located at Al-Arablya Tower, Sharq, Ahmed Al-Jaber Street, on the 6th Floor. In the same place, as a part of the Chancellery of the Embassy of Peru in Kuwait, also is located the Showing Room of “PeruExpoTour, Trade & Invest.” nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF RUSSIA Embassy of the Russian Federation will hold the elections to the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation (Parliament) on December 3, 2011, between 8:00 am and 8:00 pm in the Embassy s premises by the address: Kuwait City, Daiya, Block 5, Diplomatic campus, Plot 17. All the Russians are invited to participate.

They are requested to present valid Russian passports. nnnnnnn

Sri Lankan Super Star Musical Show

F

ahaheel Sports Club of Kuwait conducted Super Star Musical Show 2011. on November 25, at Mangaf Cambridge English School. Sri Lanka Ambassador C.A.H.M. Wijeratne and Second Secretary J.M.S.L. Bandara were the chief guests for the program.

This program opened the doors to new singers, Super Stars. The finale voted Manoj Saranga to grab the second place of Super Star competition. Speaking to hordes of cheering fans and supporters the beaming Manoj said “I am not disappointed. I am still proud to win the second place. Manoj thanked all Sri Lankans and especially his school in Sri Lanka Jatika Pasela, his fans for their overwhelming support and blessings. This program was hosted by Saman Indusiri, a popular Sri Lankan announcer.

EMBASSY OF US The United States and Kuwait enjoy a long-standing and fruitful relationship with higher education. As evidence of this enduring partnership, the number of Kuwaiti students enrolled in US institutions of higher education in 2010/11 increased from 2442 to 2998, a 22.8% increase compared to the previous year. Kuwaiti students study in 45 states.

This year, embassies and institutions around the world will be celebrating International Education Week the week of November 14-18.

In honor of International Education Week, the US Embassy s Mobile American Corner will be at the Marina Mall on Wednesday evening, November 16, and at the Avenues Mall on Thursday evening, November 17. Information about higher education in the US, English language classes and the student visa application process will be available, and staff will be present to answer questions about study in the USA from the general public.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2011

TV PROGRAMS

00:50 Your Worst Animal Nightmares 01:45 Animal Cops Phoenix 02:40 Life Of Mammals 03:35 Must Love Cats 04:30 Your Worst Animal Nightmares 05:25 Dogs/Cats/Pets 101 06:20 Animal Cops Phoenix 07:10 Last Chance Highway 08:00 Monkey Life 08:25 Dick ‘n’ Dom Go Wild 08:50 Natural Born Hunters 09:15 Chris Humfrey’s Wildlife 09:40 Breed All About It 10:10 My Cat From Hell 11:05 Dogs/Cats/Pets 101 12:00 Animal Cops Houston 12:55 Bondi Vet 13:20 Wildlife SOS 13:50 Miami Animal Police 14:45 Animal Cops Phoenix 15:40 Life Of Mammals 16:30 Monkey Life 17:00 Dick ‘n’ Dom Go Wild 17:30 Natural Born Hunters 18:00 Chris Humfrey’s Wildlife 18:25 Dogs/Cats/Pets 101 19:20 Your Very First Puppy 20:15 Bondi Vet 20:40 Breed All About It 21:10 Dogs/Cats/Pets 101 22:05 Life Of Mammals 23:00 Big Five Challenge 23:55 Untamed & Uncut

00:30 01:00 01:30 02:00 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 09:20 09:35 09:40 09:45 09:50 10:10 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 20:10 21:00 21:45 22:15 22:45 23:40

Blackadder Goes Forth My Family My Family The Weakest Link Holby City Doctors My Family 3rd & Bird Bobinogs Boogie Beebies Poetry Pie Tweenies Fimbles 3rd & Bird Bobinogs Boogie Beebies Poetry Pie Tweenies Charlie and Lola Fimbles 3rd & Bird Bobinogs Boogie Beebies Poetry Pie Tweenies Charlie and Lola Fimbles 3rd & Bird Bobinogs Boogie Beebies Poetry Pie Poetry Pie Buzz & Tell Tweenies Charlie and Lola Fimbles My Family My Family The Weakest Link New Tricks Doctors EastEnders Holby City My Family My Family My Family New Tricks The Weakest Link Doctors EastEnders Holby City New Tricks The Weakest Link Doctors EastEnders Holby City Conviction

00:45 Gok’s Fashion Fix 01:35 Come Dine With Me 02:25 What Not To Wear 03:15 Gok’s Fashion Fix 04:05 Gok’s Fashion Fix 04:55 Come Dine With Me 05:45 What Not To Wear 06:40 Gok’s Fashion Fix 07:30 Gok’s Fashion Fix 08:20 Daily Cooks Challenge 08:50 Daily Cooks Challenge 10:50 Antiques Roadshow 11:40 Bargain Hunt: Famous Finds 12:25 Bargain Hunt 13:10 Come Dine With Me 14:00 Daily Cooks Challenge 14:30 Daily Cooks Challenge 15:30 Cash In The Attic USA 15:50 Antiques Roadshow 16:40 Bargain Hunt: Famous Finds 17:25 Bargain Hunt 18:10 Come Dine With Me 19:00 Kirstie & Phil’s Perfect Christmas 19:50 Kirstie & Phil’s Perfect Christmas 20:40 Come Dine With Me 21:30 Antiques Roadshow 22:25 Bargain Hunt: Famous Finds 23:10 Bargain Hunt 23:55 Design Star

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 16:30 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 19:30 The Hub With Nik Gowing 20:30 World Business Report 20:45 Sport Today 21:00 BBC World News 21:30 World Business Report 21:45 Sport Today 22:00 World News Today With Zeinab Badawi 22:30 World News Today With Zeinab Badawi 23:30 World Business Report 23:45 Sport Today

00:05 00:30 00:55 01:20 01:45 02:10 02:35 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

The Garfield Show Scooby Doo Where Are You! The Perils Of Penelope Pitstop Droopy: Master Detective The Flintstones Johnny Bravo Duck Dodgers 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 Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack 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 I Am Weasel 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 Adventure Time 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 11:00 World Sport 11:30 Inside Africa 12:00 World Business Today 13:00 Backstory 13:30 World’s Untold Stories 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 World’s Untold Stories 22:00 Quest Means Business 23:00 Piers Morgan Tonight

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

Danger Coast Dual Survival Overhaulin’ Dirty Jobs Ultimate Survival Mythbusters How Stuff’S Made How It’S Made Dirty Jobs Wheeler Dealers Fifth Gear Overhaulin’ How Stuff’S Made Mythbusters Cake Boss Border Security Auction Kings Pit Bulls And Parolees LA Ink Ultimate Survival Dual Survival Danger Coast Cash Cab Us Wheeler Dealers Fifth Gear Overhaulin’ Mythbusters Cake Boss Border Security Auction Kings How It’S Made How Stuff’S Made Cash Cab Us One Man Army An Idiot Abroad Freddie Flintoff vs The World

00:40 The Gadget Show 01:05 The Tech Show 01:35 The Kustomizer 02:25 Green Wheels 02:50 Things That Move 03:15 Things That Move 03:40 Mighty Ships 04:35 The Gadget Show 05:25 Cool Stuff & How It Works 05:50 The Kustomizer 06:40 Stuntdawgs 07:10 Brainiac 08:00 Scrapheap Challenge 08:50 Last Flight Of The Space Shuttle 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 Things That Move 13:40 Things That Move 14:05 Last Flight Of The Space Shuttle 14:55 Stuntdawgs 15:20 Stunt Junkies 15:50 The Kustomizer 16:40 Weird Connections 17:05 Scrapheap Challenge 18:00 Last Flight Of The Space Shuttle 18:50 Sci-Fi Science 19:15 The Tech Show 19:40 Sci-Fi Saved My Life 20:30 Cosmic Collisions 21:20 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 22:10 The Gadget Show 22:35 The Gadget Show 23:00 Sci-Fi Saved My Life 23:50 Cosmic Collisions

THE KILLER INSIDE ME ON OSN ACTION HD

00:00 00:25 01:15 02:00 02:50 03:35

Kim Possible Fairly Odd Parents Stitch Replacements Emperor’s New School Stitch

04:00 Stitch 04:25 Replacements 04:50 Replacements 05:15 Fairly Odd Parents 05:35 Fairly Odd Parents 06:00 Emperor’s New School 06:20 The Suite Life Of Zack And Cody 06:45 Shake It Up 07:05 Wizards Of Waverly Place 07:30 Suite Life On Deck 07:55 Good Luck Charlie 08:20 Fish Hooks 08:35 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 09:00 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 09:15 Jungle Junction 09:25 The Hive 09:35 Handy Manny 09:50 Imagination Movers 10:15 Phineas And Ferb 10:30 Emperor’s New School 10:50 Good Luck Charlie 11:15 Phineas And Ferb 11:35 Suite Life On Deck 12:00 Wizards Of Waverly Place 12:25 Sonny With A Chance 12:45 Good Luck Charlie 13:10 Hannah Montana 13:30 Suite Life On Deck 13:55 Wizards Of Waverly Place 14:20 The Adventures Of Disney Fairies 14:55 Good Luck Charlie 15:20 Phineas And Ferb 15:45 Fish Hooks 16:10 Shake It Up 16:35 The Suite Life Of Zack And Cody 17:00 Wizards Of Waverly Place 17:25 Good Luck Charlie 17:50 Fish Hooks 18:15 Shake It Up 18:45 Suite Life On Deck 19:35 Good Luck Charlie 20:00 Emperor’s New School 20:25 Fish Hooks 20:50 Hannah Montana 21:15 Sonny With A Chance 21:35 Good Luck Charlie 22:00 Shake It Up 22:25 The Suite Life Of Zack And Cody 22:50 Sonny With A Chance 23:15 Wizards Of Waverly Place 23:35 Wizards Of Waverly Place

00:55 Style Star 01:25 Cheating Death 03:15 25 Most Stylish 04:10 Sexiest 05:05 Extreme Hollywood 06:00 THS 07:50 Behind The Scenes 08:20 E! News 09:15 Giuliana & Bill 10:15 THS 12:05 E! News 13:05 Kendra 13:35 Kendra 14:05 Keeping Up With Kardashians 14:35 Giuliana & Bill 15:30 THS 16:25 Behind The Scenes 16:55 Khloe And Lamar 17:25 Khloe And Lamar 17:55 E! News 18:55 E!es 19:55 Keeping Up With Kardashians 20:25 Keeping Up With Kardashians 20:55 Chelsea Lately 21:25 Kendra 21:55 Kendra 22:25 E! News 23:25 Chelsea Lately 23:55 Keeping Up With Kardashians

The

The The

THE SPY NEXT DOOR ON OSN CINEMA 10:00 By Any Means 11:00 Long Way Down 12:00 City Chase: Argentina 13:00 Meet The Natives: USA 14:00 Treks In A Wild World 15:00 Cycling Home From Siberia 15:30 Deadliest Journeys 16:00 Amazing Adventures of A Nobody UK 16:30 Which Way To 17:30 Graham’s World 18:00 Adventure Wanted 19:00 Meet The Natives: USA 20:00 Treks In A Wild World 21:00 Cycling Home From Siberia 21:30 Deadliest Journeys 22:00 Amazing Adventures of A Nobody UK 22:30 Which Way To 23:30 Graham’s World

00:00 02:00 04:00 06:00 08:00 10:15 12:00 14:00 16:15 18:00 20:00 22:00

The Killer Inside Me-18 Icarus-18 Death Race 2-18 Ong Bak 2-PG15 The Karate Kid III-PG No Time To Fear-PG15 The Bannen Way-PG15 The Karate Kid III-PG Fast Lane-PG15 The Bannen Way-PG15 The Collector-18 X-Men-PG15

The

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

Dr G: Medical Examiner Dr G: Medical Examiner Ghost Lab Ghost Lab A Haunting A Haunting Nightmare Next Door Nightmare Next Door Dr G: Medical Examiner Dr G: Medical Examiner Ghost Lab Ghost Lab A Haunting A Haunting Mystery Diagnosis FBI Files FBI Files Forensic Detectives Murder Shift Mystery Diagnosis Mystery Diagnosis Real Emergency Calls Street Patrol Street Patrol On The Case With Paula Zahn Disappeared Murder Shift Murder Shift Mystery Diagnosis Mystery Diagnosis Real Emergency Calls Street Patrol Street Patrol On The Case With Paula Zahn Disappeared Disappeared FBI Files Forensic Detectives Forensic Detectives Murder Shift Murder Shift Real Emergency Calls Mystery Diagnosis Street Patrol Street Patrol On The Case With Paula Zahn Disappeared Disappeared Couples Who Kill Deadly Women Deadly Women

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 03:30 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 09:30

City Chase: Argentina Banged Up Abroad Banged Up Abroad Eccentric Uk Deadliest Journeys

By Any Means Long Way Down City Chase: Argentina Banged Up Abroad Banged Up Abroad Eccentric Uk Deadliest Journeys

00:45 Broken Embraces-18 03:00 Crazy On The Outside-PG15 05:00 The Front-PG15 07:00 Winx: Secret Of The Lost Kingdom-PG 09:00 Citizen Jane-PG 10:45 The Front-PG15 12:45 Paper Man-PG15 15:00 Citizen Jane-PG 17:00 The Spy Next Door-PG 18:45 Crazy Heart-PG15 21:00 Chasing A Dream-PG15 23:00 2:22-18

00:00 The Ricky Gervais Show 00:30 The Daily Show Global Edition 01:00 The Colbert Report Global Edition 01:30 It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia 02:30 South Park 03:00 Friends 03:30 Friends 04:00 According To Jim 04:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 05:30 The New Adventures Of Old Christine 06:00 Yes Dear 06:30 Just Shoot Me 07:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 08:00 According To Jim 08:30 Friends 09:00 The New Adventures Of Old Christine 09:30 How I Met Your Mother 10:00 Traffic Light 10:30 Just Shoot Me 11:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 12:00 Yes Dear 12:30 According To Jim 13:00 Friends 13:30 The New Adventures Of Old Christine 14:00 Just Shoot Me 14:30 Traffic Light 15:00 How I Met Your Mother 15:30 The Daily Show Global Edition 16:00 The Colbert Report Global Edition 16:30 Yes Dear 17:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 18:00 Friends 19:00 How I Met Your Mother 19:30 Traffic Light 20:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 21:00 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 21:30 The Colbert Report 22:00 American Dad 22:30 Weeds 23:00 South Park 23:30 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

00:00 01:00 02:10 03:10

Desperate Housewives Boardwalk Empire Top Gear (US) Revenge

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

No Ordinary Family Good Morning America Law & Order Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show The Martha Stewart Show The View Desperate Housewives Revenge No Ordinary Family Live Good Morning America The Ellen DeGeneres Show Emmerdale Coronation Street Grey’s Anatomy Private Practice Royal Pains Covert Affairs Law & Order

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

Detroit 1-8-7 Top Gear (US) Boardwalk Empire Desperate Housewives Revenge Commander In Chief Detroit 1-8-7 Modern Family Marathon Coronation Street Bones Top Gear (US) Desperate Housewives Revenge Modern Family Marathon Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show Bones Detroit 1-8-7 Modern Family Marathon Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show Law & Order: Los Angeles Grey’s Anatomy Private Practice Royal Pains Off The Map Commander In Chief

01:15 03:00 04:45 07:00 09:00 11:00 13:00 15:00 17:00 19:00 21:00 23:00

Freight-PG15 Death Race 2-18 Alive-PG15 The Thirteenth Floor-18 The Next Karate Kid-PG I, Robot-PG15 Dick Tracy-PG15 The Next Karate Kid-PG The Box-PG15 Fatal Secrets-PG15 X-Men-PG15 Luster-18

00:00 Roommates-PG15 02:00 Lower Learning-PG15 04:00 13 Going On 30-PG15 06:00 Babe-FAM 08:00 Fierce Creatures-PG15 10:00 Easy Virtue-PG15 12:00 Checking Out-PG15 14:00 Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement-FAM 16:00 Roommates-PG15 18:00 Fools Rush In-PG15 20:00 Coyote County Loser-PG15 22:00 Team America: World Police-18

01:15 03:00 05:00 07:15 09:00 11:00 13:00 15:15 17:00 PG 19:00 21:00 23:15

On The Edge-18 The Prodigies-PG15 Riding In Cars With Boys-PG15 The Dust Factory-PG15 When We Were Kings-PG15 Enid-PG15 The Blind Side-PG15 Who Is Clark Rockefeller-PG Where The Wild Things Are-

01:00 03:00 05:00 07:00 09:00 11:15 13:00 15:00 16:45 19:00 21:00 23:00

Shrink-18 The Tempest-PG15 Too Big To Fail-PG15 Leap Year-PG15 Invictus-PG15 A Guy Thing-PG15 The Last Song-PG15 Good Hair-PG15 Invictus-PG15 Gentlemen Broncos-PG15 Barry Munday-18 Thelma And Louise-PG15

On Broadway-PG15 Thelma And Louise-PG15 The Medicine Show-18

00:00 Ramses Of Egypt-PG 02:15 I’ll Be Home For ChristmasPG15 04:15 Globehunters-FAM 06:00 Turandot-PG 08:00 The Amazing Zorro-FAM 10:00 Legend Of The Guardians-PG 12:15 Globehunters-FAM 14:00 The Enchanted Mountain-PG 16:00 Inspector Gadget’s Biggest Caper Ever-FAM 17:45 Legend Of The Guardians-PG 20:00 True Story Of Puss’n Boots-PG 21:45 The Enchanted Mountain-PG 00:00 A Nightmare On Elm Street-18 02:00 Invisible Sign Of My OwnPG15 04:00 Salt-PG15 06:00 My Dog Tulip-PG15 08:00 Africa United-PG15 10:00 St. Trinian’s 2: The Legend Of Fritton’s Gold-PG15 12:00 Gasland-PG15 14:00 Salt-PG15 16:00 St. Trinian’s 2: The Legend Of Fritton’s Gold-PG15 18:00 Charlie St. Cloud-PG15 20:00 Don’t Look Up-18 22:00 Super-18

01:00 02:00 04:00 05:00 07:00 14:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 23:00

UFC Countdown UFC Unleashed Trans World Sport International Rugby Union Test Cricket The Nedbank Golf Challenge UFC Countdown UFC Unleashed International Rugby Union Volvo Ocean Race Highlights

00:30 European PGA Tour Highlights 01:30 Scottish Premier League Highlights 02:00 Trans World Sport 03:00 Snooker UK Championship 07:00 Scottish Premier League Highlights 07:30 World Hockey 08:00 Pro 12 Celtic League 10:00 World Cup of Pool 12:00 US Bass Fishing 13:00 Golfing World 14:00 Scottish League Cup 16:00 ICC Cricket World 16:30 HSBC Sevens World Series 20:00 World Hockey 20:30 Futbol Mundial 21:00 European PGA Tour Highlights 22:00 Scottish Premier League Highlights 22:30 Scottish League Cup

02:00 World Cup of Pool 03:00 World Pool Masters 04:00 US Bass Fishing 05:00 SPL Highlights 05:30 Futbol Mundial 06:00 Trans World Sport 07:00 Golfing World 08:00 Snooker UK Championship 12:00 European PGA Tour Highlights 13:00 FEI Equestrian World 13:30 Spirit of Yachting 14:00 SPL Highlights 14:30 Golfing World 15:30 Live Snooker UK Championship 21:30 Futbol Mundial 22:00 Live Snooker UK Championship

00:00 02:00 05:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 15:30 16:00 16:30 17:00 18:00 19:00 21:00

WWE SmackDown Prizefighter UFC Unleashed WWE NXT WWE Bottom Line Speedway Intercontinental Le Mans Cup WWE Smackdown WWE Bottom Line WWE Vintage Collection Aquabike World Power Boats Nations Cup Le Mans Series Magazine UFC All Access UFC 140 Countdown Speedway FIM World WWE Smackdown The Ultimate Fighter 14 Finale

Classifieds TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2011

High crop prices a threat to nature?

ZUMBROTA, Minn: The Indian grass that Larry Thomforde planted 15 years ago is up to his chin now — tall gold spikes that sway in the sun as his dog, Gwynie, crashes through the field.

A year from now it might all be gold of another kind.

Thomforde, like thousands of other Minnesota farmers, is looking a painful decision square in the eye: cleaner water or the irresistible temptation of corn at stratospheric prices of $6 to $8 a bushel.

Next fall, Thomforde's 50 acres of native grassland, idled under the federal Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), could go under the plow.

Renting it out or planting corn would pay him much more than the government pays him to keep it in grasses.

"I don't necessarily need the money," said Thomforde, 75, who farms 240 acres near Zumbrota. "But my personality is such that I am not going to leave it in CRP if I am losing $200 per acre."

Experts say 2012 is likely to be a tipping point for conservation across the Upper Midwest. Some 300,000 acres in Minnesota — one-fifth of the land now set aside through the CRP — will be up for grabs as federal contracts come up for renewal.

In the following years, millions more acres in Minnesota, North and South Dakota — critical prairie and wetland habitat for a fourth of the nation's migratory birds — may also fall to the plow as farmers choose between leaving it to nature or converting it to cash crops. Many predict that nature will be the loser.

These choices loom just as concern about Minnesota's lakes and rivers is on the rise and the state is embarked

Larry Thomforde has kept 50 acres of his farmland in a prairie state for 15 years as part of a conservation program, however due to crop prices he may need to plant the land with corn next season. He is shown in Zumbrota, Minnesota, on November 17, 2011.— MCT on a decades-long plan to improve water quality from Lake Pepin to the Red River.

And yet all the financial incentives for farmers — who control half of Minnesota's land — are poised to move in the opposite direction.

CRP is a case in point. The 25-yearold program pays farmers a nominal amount per acre to idle environmentally sensitive land — hilly slopes that erode quickly, stream banks, wildlife habitat. It's by far the state's leading land conservation program, paying farmers $100 million per year.

Keeping those acres out of production has reaped enormous environmental benefits. CRP has increased the number of ducks in the Prairie Pothole Region of Minnesota and the Dakotas

Steve Costello drags leaves on his ‘Leaf Lugger’ which he sells on the Internet, November 22, 2011, at his home in Abington Township, Pennsylvania. — MCT

by 2 million a year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Nationally, between 2004 and 2007, CRP lands retained 1.86 billion pounds of nitrogen, 420 million pounds of phosphorus and 1.8 billion tons of soil — much of which would have found its way into the Mississippi River and the so-called dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico. It also reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 200 million tons. And that was just four years.

But today, with soaring grain prices, most CRP payments don't come close to competing with cash crops.

Yet even if corn prices fall again, the squeeze is likely to get worse.

Facing intense pressure to trim the federal deficit, Congress is wrestling with a new farm bill that could reduce spending by $23 billion over the next decade. Every federal program designed to promote rural conservation is likely to take a hit. Just last week, leaders of the House and Senate Agriculture committees proposed reducing CRP from its current level of 32 million acres nationally to 25 million. Just a few years ago, it was 40 million.

So even if Thomforde and other farmers want to keep their land in CRP, many won't get the chance.

Steve Taff, an economist at the University of Minnesota, said the financial equation is stark: As global demand for food, meat and energy rises, society increasingly values corn and other crops over clean water.

"We are not willing to pay for reduced water pollution, not that much," he said. "Or reduced carbon. Or habitat." — MCT

FOR SALE Samsung automatic washing machine 6.5 kilo, plus dr yer whirlpool KD 70/both of them. Contact: 90029751.

6-12-2011 32” Sony LCD TV in excellent condition KD 90/-.

Contact: 99598324.

(C 3757) Furniture for sale, Shaab Sea side, Spectacular direct sea view, very close to the Canadian Embassy - 3 bedrooms flat. Wood flooring and wall paper in the living room. Contact: 60027061 / 97310272. (C 3761) Mitsubishi Jeep, Nativa, model 2010, white color, 6 cylinder engine alloy rim, registration till 20-04-2013, excellent condition (installment possible), cash price KD 3,550.

Contact: 99105286. (C 3762) 5-12-2011 Mercedes Benz 1998 (E 200), color beige, running condition, registration till May 2012. Price KD 600.

Contact: 97277135.

4-5-2011

MATRIMONIAL Bride wanted for Hindu Nair (M.S, USA), Rohini, 28, 5’7”, E&E Eng. (Kuwait).

Prefer educated, traditional yet modern pleasant girl from well to do cultured family. Contact Email: dpakvnair@gmail.com (C 3754) 5-12-2011

SITUATION VACANT Looking for immediate employment Pakistani/ Indian/Bangladeshi cook who is ready to work on part time or full time basis and can cook for a small Pakistani family. Contact: 24828124. (C 3763) 6-12-2011 English speaking female lady Indian / Sri Lankan full time live-in housemaid is required in Salmiya for an Indian family. Contact: 25635450 / 99838117.

(C 3760) 5-12-2011 Required English speaking

nanny/maid.

Contact: 99824597. (C 3756) 3-12-2011

SITUATION WANTED

Indian Accountant highly experienced in preparing Trial Balance, P&L, Balance Sheet, Budget & Budget controls, Dealing with Banks, all Accounting Procedures, L/Cs, Foreign Purchase, oil field Tenders, knowing Arabic, Accounting Softwares Tally, Al-Sahel, BIS, with Driving License available immediately. Can work as Secretary also. Contact: 97669236 / 24315927. (C 3758) 5-12-2011

ACCOMMODATION Sharing accommodation available in Abbasiya near Integrated Indian School, High Land Super Market building, Keralite family.

Contact: 99379252.

(C 3759) 5-11-2011

CHANGE OF NAME I, Habibulla Ismail Mithu, holder of Indian Passport No. Z 026492, hereby change my name Mitha Habibullah Ismail to Lunawada (pms) 389230.

(C 3764) 6-12-2011

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

Arrival Flights on Tuesday 6/12/2011 Route

Airlines

Flt

JZR RBG JZR ETH THY UAE QTR OMA DHX MSR FDB ETD RJA GFA DHX FAH JZR JZR KAC BAW KAC JZR KAC FDB KAC KAC KAC UAE ABY QTR FDB ETD IRA GFA JZR RKM MEA MSR MSR JZR GFA KAC FDB UAL VOS

185 3564 539 620 772 853 138 641 370 612 67 305 642 211 170 201 555 529 416 157 412 503 206 53 352 302 332 855 125 132 55 301 605 213 165 310 404 623 610 201 219 512 57 982 93

DUBAI ASSIUT CAIRO ADDIS ABABA ISTANBUL DUBAI DOHA MUSCAT BAHRAIN CAIRO DUBAI ABU DHABI AMMAN BAHRAIN BAHRAIN DUBAI ALEXANDRIA ASSIUT JAKARTA/KUALA LUMPUR LONDON MANILA/BANGKOK LUXOR ISLAMABAD DUBAI COCHIN MUMBAI TRIVANDRUM DUBAI SHARJAH DOHA DUBAI ABU DHABI ISFAHAN BAHRAIN DUBAI RAS ALKHAIMAH BEIRUT SOHAG CAIRO DAMASCUS BAHRAIN TEHRAN DUBAI WASHINGTON DC DULLES KANDAHAR/DUBAI

Time 0:20 0:40 0:50 1:45 2:15 2:35 2:40 2:50 2:55 3:00 3:05 3:10 3:10 3:15 5:15 5:30 6:00 6:20 6:25 6:40 6:45 7:25 7:40 7:45 7:50 7:55 8:05 8:30 9:00 9:05 9:20 9:35 9:45 9:55 11:20 11:45 11:55 12:30 12:55 13:00 13:25 13:40 13:50 14:05 14:15

QTR KNE SVA KAC RJA KAC KAC JZR QTR KAC JZR ETD UAE GFA SVA ABY JZR RBG ALK JZR FDB KAC KAC JZR KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC FDB KAC JAI OMA MLR DHX MEA GFA QTR UAE JZR KAC KLM AIC JZR UAL AXB BBC DLH

140 745 500 546 640 562 284 257 134 678 561 303 857 215 510 127 777 3561 227 177 63 542 744 787 786 618 674 166 104 774 61 552 572 647 1405 372 402 217 136 859 135 502 443 981 239 981 389 43 636

DOHA 14:20 JEDDAH 14:25 JEDDAH 14:30 ALEXANDRIA 14:30 AMMAN 14:40 AMMAN 14:45 DHAKA 15:00 BEIRUT 15:00 DOHA 15:25 ABU DHABI/MUSCAT 15:30 SOHAG 16:10 ABU DHABI 16:50 DUBAI 16:55 BAHRAIN 17:15 RIYADH 17:20 SHARJAH 17:40 JEDDAH 17:45 ALEXANDRIA 17:50 COLOMBO/DUBAI 18:10 DUBAI 18:15 DUBAI 18:40 CAIRO 18:50 DAMMAM 18:55 RIYADH 19:05 JEDDAH 19:10 DOHA 19:15 DUBAI 19:25 PARIS/ROME 19:30 LONDON 19:35 RIYADH 19:40 DUBAI 20:00 DAMASCUS 20:05 MUMBAI 20:10 MUSCAT 20:15 COLOMBO/DUBAI 20:50 BAHRAIN 21:00 BEIRUT 21:20 BAHRAIN 21:25 DOHA 21:35 DUBAI 21:40 BAHRAIN 21:55 BEIRUT 22:00 AMSTERDAM 22:05 CHENNAI/HYDERABAD/AHMEDABAD22:05 AMMAN 22:45 BAHRAIN 23:00 KOZHIKODE/MANGALORE 23:35 DHAKA 23:45 FRANKFURT 23:50

Airlines UAL AIC BBC JZR PIA DLH RBG KAC ETH THY FDB UAE OMA DHX MSR ETD QTR JZR GFA RJA JZR KAC FDB BAW KAC JZR KAC KAC JZR KAC UAE ABY FDB QTR ETD GFA IRA KAC KAC JZR RKM MEA MSR KAC JZR MSR GFA

Departure Flights on Tuesday 6/12/2011 Flt Route 981 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 976 GOA/CHENNAI 44 DHAKA 502 LUXOR 240 SIALKOT 637 FRANKFURT 3562 ALEXANDRIA 283 DHAKA 621 ADDIS ABABA 773 ISTANBUL 68 DUBAI 854 DUBAI 642 MUSCAT 371 BAHRAIN 613 CAIRO 306 ABU DHABI 139 DOHA 164 DUBAI 212 BAHRAIN 643 AMMAN 200 DAMASCUS 545 ALEXANDRIA 54 DUBAI 156 LONDON 677 ABU DHABI/MUSCAT 256 BEIRUT 511 TEHRAN 561 AMMAN 560 SOHAG 101 LONDON/NEW YORK 856 DUBAI 126 SHARJAH 56 DUBAI 133 DOHA 302 ABU DHABI 214 BAHRAIN 604 ISFAHAN 165 ROME/PARIS 541 CAIRO 776 JEDDAH 311 RAS ALKHAIMAH 405 BEIRUT 624 SOHAG 785 JEDDAH 176 DUBAI 611 CAIRO 220 BAHRAIN

Time 0:45 0:50 1:00 1:05 1:10 1:20 1:25 2:40 2:45 3:15 3:45 3:50 3:55 3:55 4:00 4:00 4:55 6:55 7:00 7:10 7:30 7:40 8:25 8:40 8:55 9:00 9:15 9:20 9:30 9:35 9:40 9:45 10:05 10:10 10:20 10:40 10:45 11:45 12:00 12:15 12:50 12:55 13:30 13:40 13:50 13:55 14:20

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

FDB KAC KAC KNE UAL RJA SVA KAC JZR KAC KAC KAC QTR JZR ETD JZR QTR VOS UAE GFA ABY RBG SVA JZR ALK FDB JZR KAC FDB KAC DHX DHX KAC JAI OMA MLR DHX MEA GFA FAH KAC QTR KAC UAE KAC KLM JZR KAC

58 551 673 746 982 641 501 617 786 743 501 773 141 238 304 538 135 82 858 216 128 3563 511 134 228 64 184 361 62 343 173 171 351 571 648 1405 373 403 218 102 381 137 301 860 205 443 528 411

DUBAI DAMASCUS DUBAI JEDDAH BAHRAIN AMMAN JEDDAH DOHA RIYADH DAMMAM BEIRUT RIYADH DOHA AMMAN ABU DHABI CAIRO DOHA BAGHDAD DUBAI BAHRAIN SHARJAH ASSIUT RIYADH BAHRAIN DUBAI/COLOMBO DUBAI DUBAI COLOMBO DUBAI CHENNAI BAHRAIN BAHRAIN COCHIN MUMBAI MUSCAT COLOMBO BAHRAIN BEIRUT BAHRAIN DUBAI DELHI DOHA MUMBAI DUBAI ISLAMABAD BAHRAIN/AMSTERDAM ASSIUT BANGKOK/MANILA

14:35 14:40 15:05 15:10 15:20 15:35 15:45 15:50 15:50 16:15 16:15 16:25 16:30 17:15 17:35 17:40 17:45 18:00 18:10 18:15 18:25 18:30 18:35 19:05 19:10 19:20 19:55 20:20 20:40 20:55 21:00 21:00 21:05 21:10 21:15 21:50 22:00 22:20 22:25 22:30 22:30 22:35 22:45 22:50 23:00 23:05 23:35 23:55

34

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2011

stars CROSSWORD 519

STAR TRACK

CALVIN & HOBBES

Aries (March 21-April 19) Your emotional orientation is toward taking care of business— you crave organization and practicality. You want to get things accomplished. Health and work goals take on greater importance now. You are appreciative of those who can help you get ahead. Your way with words and your sense of humor are some of the things that endear you to others. Your quick thinking could also beat the competition. Jot down those brilliant ideas on paper and save them for a rainy day—slow workday. Away from work, you could find that family, home, relatives and real estate play a much larger part in your life. You are most relaxed and comfortable with the people in your life and you enjoy being an important part of the family as it grows

Taurus (April 20-May 20) You should find this a good time, your efforts really pay off and things seem to run smoothly. Now you have the ability for sustained work that allows you to coordinate events and complete tasks like never before. Your open-mindedness makes it easy to work with most people. You are able to complete difficult tasks and you are able to help others complete their tasks as well.

Taking chances can bring large rewards. Being in a position to communicate with groups and society in general is a result of your demonstrated ability to understand and be sensitive to others needs. Those that you find nearest and dearest to your heart, like lovers and children, are emphasized this afternoon. Feeling appreciated for your gifts and talents is a powerful need.

POOCH CAFE ACROSS 1. (Greek mythology) Greek god of war.

5. An indehiscent fruit derived from a single ovary having one or many seeds within a fleshy wall or pericarp.

10. A reproach for some lapse or misdeed.

13. A river in northwestern Russia flowing generally west into the Gulf of Finland.

14. Having great (or a certain) extent from one side to the other.

15. Any of various primates with short tails or no tail at all.

16. Naked freshwater or marine or parasitic protozoa that form temporary pseudopods for feeding and locomotion.

18. A French abbot.

19. Any of several small ungulate mammals of Africa and Asia with rodent-like incisors and feet with hooflike toes.

20. In the Arabian Nights a hero who tells of the fantastic adventures he had in his voyages.

21. Small genus of evergreen trees of tropical America and western Africa.

23. Essential oil or perfume obtained from flowers.

24. Any of various units of capacity.

26. Profane or obscene expression usually of surprise or anger.

27. A brittle silver-white metalloid element that is related to selenium and sulfur.

28. American professional baseball player who hit more home runs than Babe Ruth (born in 1934).

30. The smallest multiple that is exactly divisible by every member of a set of numbers.

35. The blood group whose red cells carry both the A and B antigens.

38. A university in Massachusetts.

43. A kind of person.

44. (of tempo) Leisurely n.

47. Cubes of meat marinated and cooked on a skewer usually with vegetables.

52. Norwegian mathematician (1802-1829).

53. The federal agency that insures residential mortgages.

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

58. English theoretical physicist who applied relativity theory to quantum mechanics and predicted the existence of antimatter and the positron (1902-1984).

60. Tropical starchy tuberous root.

63. An associate degree in applied science.

64. American prizefighter who won the world heavyweight championship three times (born in 1942).

65. A port city in southwestern Iran.

67. Government agency created in 1974 to license and regulate nuclear power plants.

68. A plant hormone promoting elongation of stems and roots.

69. A member of an agricultural people of southern India.

70. A doctor's degree in preventive medicine.

DOWN 1. Squash bugs.

2. The act of remitting (especially the referral of a law case to another court).

3. Something that happens at a given place and time.

4. A midnight meeting of witches to practice witchcraft and sorcery.

5. A small pellet fired from an air rifle or BB gun.

6. A constellation in the southern hemisphere near Telescopium and Norma.

7. Nut of any of several trees of the genus Corylus.

8. An esoteric or occult matter that is traditionally secret.

9. Chief port of Yemen.

10. The unit of plane angle adopted under the System International d'Unites.

11. Remote and separate physically or socially.

12. (Judaism) A Jewish festival (traditionally 8 days) celebrating the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt.

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

22. Trailing grass native to Europe now cosmopolitan in warm regions.

25. A room or establishment where alcoholic drinks are served over a counter.

29. An intensely radioactive metallic element that occurs in minute amounts in uranium ores.

31. A white metallic element that burns with a brilliant light.

32. A form of address for a man.

33. (Judaism) Sacred chest where the ancient Hebrews kept the two tablets containing the Ten Commandments.

34. A public promotion of some product or service.

36. The law enforcement agency in the Justice Department.

37. Of or relating to a member of the Buddhist people inhabiting the Mekong river in Laos and Thailand.

39. Any of the numerous plants of the genus Viola.

40. A white linen liturgical vestment with sleeves.

41. A tight-fitting headdress.

42. A soft white precious univalent metallic element having the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of any metal.

45. An official prosecutor for a judicial district.

46. A flat wing-shaped process or winglike part of an organism.

48. A promontory in northern Morocco opposite the Rock of Gibraltar.

49. Soviet chief of secret police under Joseph Stalin.

50. Having the leading position or higher score in a contest.

51. A genus of Ploceidae.

55. Relating to or characteristic of or occurring on land.

56. The lean flesh of a fish that is often farmed.

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

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

61. 10 grams.

62. (Irish) Mother of the ancient Irish gods.

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

Yesterday’s Solution

Gemini (May 21-June 20) Circumstances may increase an appreciation and enjoyment of your life situation. Your system of values may deepen, providing you with a better sense of discrimination and good taste. Others depend on your expertise at purchasing, selecting colors, etc. You should find communication pleasant and clear—you are able to really get your ideas across to others. Co-workers may find you especially dynamic and assertive—you have an abundance of energy and drive at your finger tips. Continued success may point to your ability to be as flexible as possible—perhaps reworking some of your goals. Devote some time to the one who means the most to you this evening. Harmony is your mind-set now. Harmony is what you get!

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

NON SEQUITUR

Financial knowledge and a practical turn of mind are qualities that take on greater importance in your life now. As a wheeler-dealer, you have a knack of knowing how to put people, ideas and things together profitably. Playing the role of the facilitator has its rewards. Others will discover just how practical you are when it comes to working and dealing with you. You seem to have a built in radar detector that helps you to act without haste or emotion. You are smart and you use your commonsense as well as your intellect. Feeling the need to be respected is a strong need but you will learn to take care and not let it rule you; confidence and humility are best and you make a good mentor through this knowledge.

You may decide to visit with friends this evening.

Leo (July 23-August 22) There could be some very important matters that require your attention and have you serving as a guide to someone younger than yourself. You may, at long last, figure out new ways to proceed with plans and decisions that affect your life. Some in-depth discussions and probing conversations find you at your mental best. Your analytical abilities are at a high point. Expect some good practical job-related thoughts and ideas. The ability to communicate with superiors or describe what you see is strengthened during this time. Having a big understanding of conceptual and spiritual ideas and knowing just how to present them to others goes a long way in increasing your popularity, especially in social circles. A social event finds you on your toes this evening.

ZITS

Virgo (August 23-September 22) You may find much of your energy being used on romance and creative pursuits. This is not a waste of time as whatever results happen will be beneficially used in the workplace as well as in your personal life. You may own your own business but more than likely you are serving others, which is often where you like to be these days. You are entering into a very aesthetic and competitive phase now, one in which you want to be admired and appreciated for what you do and who you are. As a new cycle starts in your life, there arises a passion for details, a need to do just the right thing at just the right time. This can give you indigestion if you take it to extremes! Knowing that you did a job well gives you lots of satisfaction and is a high priority at this time.

Libra (September 23-October 22)

MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM

Taking care of business could be one of your major themes today. Much of your emotional support and security comes from your friends, moral integrity and social involvement during this time. You could definitely be feeling a need to make some changes in your life, and to break away from some of the outdated things of your past. You just want to embrace the new, innovative, different and unique. The old has become boring and common and it is time to upgrade your way of doing and looking at things. It may be easy for you to enjoy and value your own life situation, or to feel especially kind toward a friend or loved one.

There could even be some special compliments coming your way regarding your tastes or belongings.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) A temporary obstacle may appear this morning, but never fear . . . it is not long-lasting. You may be very pleased with the results of your quick thinking and hard work by the time this day has ended. You organize projects and people. People’s opinions are not quite enough for you now, they must be backed up by authority or evidence and that is what you will be receiving. Those in authority take notice and you will be rewarded for your successes soon. There is a great opportunity to expand your mind and educate yourself now. Children come to you for practical help and others are pleased at the way you can organize a crowd— particularly with children. Talk about any celebration concerns with a partner or loved one now—travel may be in the forecast.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) You have a natural God given gift for knowing just what the public wants and needs at this time. There is a great feeling that comes with the ability to make successful and wise decisions and to use your skill to help others. Time is moving much too quickly and when asked, you find just the thing that will make the customer happy or end a frustrating project. There is no escaping the fact that you have plenty of work to do just now and it is not a good idea to ignore it. A yearning for other worlds and for a more grandiose form of love could be inspiring you at this time. You may be secretly planning a trip around the world in your own yacht—keep saving and planning—you can’t help but make it happen. This afternoon there is time to celebrate a special event or person.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19)

To

It may be necessary to do some deep and penetrating analysis, particularly with a group or in relation to your situation. Others may come to you for help in understanding or psychoanalyzing their predicament. This could be a time when it would be beneficial to make some changes in your environment. Being able to communicate and get your message across to others is essential now. Your timing should be good and those around you will appreciate your effort on their behalf. Time spent alone this evening can be very healing. Meditate and get your thoughts together, or refresh your energies before going shopping or attending a group get-together. You seem to be full of exciting plans for the future and for you and a loved one.

Yesterday’s Solution Yester

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) Everything is coming together to show you off at your finest in the workplace today. You may be teaching or lecturing during the day. You have an expanded knowledge of abstract and spiritual things and you are blessed with the ability to help others, although you may not think it a blessing. Your friends may have a special way of utilizing some of your talent, or it could be that you find circumstances bearing down on you that force you to reorganize and be more conservative. This should all work out just fine. Your more reserved qualities serve you well at this time. You may find a kind of romantic wistfulness characterizing your approach to life. This could even mean a longing for a soul mate or a yearning to save the world.

Pisces (February 19-March 20)

Word Sleuth Solution

Talking should be quite unconstrained to you now, as your mind will be quite clear and natural. Ideas could come flowing to you with ease. You find your taste in artistic things and appreciation in general being heightened now. This may be the perfect time for you to pick out furnishings, colors and so forth—the finer things in life. Your sense of value is to the front. This evening would be a great time to just sit back and enjoy what you have. You enjoy the people that are around you. You may actually prefer to spend more of your time with loved ones and family. Your mood is just one of wanting to be more private and staying at home. This is probably not the best time to make life-changing decisions or for giving practical advice to those around you.

A

y

e niv rsar n

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 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

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LIFESTYLE G o s s i p

Madonna to sing at Super Bowl op star Madonna will perform at next year’s Super Bowl, the final game of the American football season, which will be played in Indianapolis on February 5, organizers of the event announced. The singer’s performance will be accompanied by Cirque de Soleil and Jamie King, the National Foolball League and NBC television said late Sunday. The Super Bowl halftime show, which is usually broadcast worldwide, is the most-watched musical event of the year. More than 162 million viewers in the United States viewed last year’s show. The list of recent halftime performers includes The Black Eyed Peas, The Who, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Prince, the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney and U2. Madonna is currently working on a new album scheduled to be released next year.

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Victoria is inspired by kids ictoria Beckham is inspired by her children “every day”. The fashion designer - who has four kids, Brooklyn, 12, Romeo, nine, Cruz, six, and four-month-old Harper, with her soccer star husband David - says being a mother gives her the inspiration needed for her work, while spouse David gives her the support she desires.

Speaking at the British Fashion Awards - where her clothing line won Designer Brand of the Year - Victoria said: “David is my rock. He encourages me and gives me the confidence to do what I do and my kids inspire me every day. And my mum and dad were here, which was fantastic. I love them all so, so much.

My family means everything to me.”

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Victoria - who lives with her family in Los Angeles - was accompanied to London by daughter Harper but says she wishes all her children could have gone with her. She told Britain’s HELLO! magazine: “Harper comes everywhere with me. All the kids would come everywhere with me but the boys have to be at school.” Victoria recently revealed she is “in love” with all her four children and loves being a mother as they bring so much joy to her life. The 37-year-old star said: “Harper is absolutely amazing. But I am in love with all of my children. They are all wonderful.”

Aamir Khan becomes father through surrogacy ollywood actor-producer-director Aamir Khan has become a father for the third time, using a surrogate mother, his publicist said yesterday. The baby boy was born at a private clinic on December 1, the spokesman said. The child was “very healthy” and now at home with Khan and his film-maker wife Kiran Rao in Mumbai, he added. “It was a baby through surrogacy. It’s the first baby he’s had with Kiran... Kiran had a couple of miscarriages in the past so they had medical reasons to try out surrogacy,” he told AFP. The Mid-day newspaper’s website said that Khan and Rao had released a letter confirming the birth, saying that the baby was “especially dear to us because he was born to us after a long wait and some difficulty. “Due to

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medical complications, we were advised to have a baby through IVF (in-vitro fertilisation) surrogacy and we feel very grateful to the Almighty that everything has gone well.” Khan is one of Bollywood’s most popular and successful actors, through hits including “Lagaan” (Tax) in 2001, “Rang de Basanti” (Colour Me Saffron, 2006) and “Three Idiots” (2010). In recent years he has pushed the boundaries beyond Bollywood’s traditional song-and-dance formula with films like the satirical “Peepli Live” (2010), with an emphasis on high-quality script-writing. Khan, 46, has two children from his first marriage to Reena Dutta. He married Rao, 38, in 2005.

Grant to give evidence on privacy ctor Hugh Grant and former Formula One chief Max Mosley will give evidence to British lawmakers about privacy laws and injunctions. The lawmakers are gathering evidence about the efficacy of privacy laws and the use of legal gag orders that have been accused of stifling the media. Media outlets have expressed alarm at the increasing use of injunctions or so-called “super-injunctions,” court orders which not only ban reporting of details of a specific case, but often forbid any public mention that an injunction exists. Mosley and Grant have both had details of their private lives published in several newspapers and both gave evidence last month at Leveson inquiry on media practices.

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Mitch upset by Winehouse’s posthumous album itch Winehouse says listening to his late daughter Amy Winehouse’s new album was “very emotional”. The former taxi driver and his ex-wife Janis had to approve the posthumous LP ‘Lioness: Hidden Treasures’ before it could be released and Mitch admits it wasn’t easy to hear his daughter sing again following her sudden death in July at the age of 27.

He told UK TV show ‘Daybreak’: “The estate, which I’m a part of - my ex-wife and I - we could decide to put it out or not put it out, and when we went to listen to the album it was a very difficult time for us. “It was very emotional. But we had to sit through it and after the first couple of songs we sort of calmed down a little bit. “Our son was there as well and we all had to be in agreement that the album was of the same quality or better, in fact, than ‘Frank’ and ‘Back to Black’, and we were more than pleas-

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Wahlberg embarrassed by posing past ark Wahlberg wishes he had kept his shirt on more when he was younger.

The ‘Fighter’ actor is embarrassed by his musical past as lead rapper in hip-hop group Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch and admits he would take back both his outfits and music choices if he could. He said: “Believe me, if there were things I could take back I would. I can’t take any of it back and it’s molded who I am today, but I would certainly like to erase some of those things. I should have kept my shirt on a lot more. And not pulled my pants down so much.” When he made the transition to movies, Mark revealed he finally felt as he if he found his true calling but his model wife model Rhea Durham and their four children are still more important to him than his career. He explained to Men’s Health magazine: “When I did my first film I

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really felt like I had found my niche. It was difficult because I wanted to do anything in my power to make people forget about my past.

I wanted to be credible, respected and taken seriously. “Well family is the most important thing to me. So when I’m back home I’m in the gym at 4:30am, when it’s still dark out and the kids haven’t woken up yet. Then I get the kids up, get them off to school and get my day started. “Family, faith and being a good person are the be all and end all. If I succeed at business and I fail at being a good father then it was all for nothing.” The full Mark Wahlberg interview is in the January/February issue of Men’s Health magazine on sale today.—Agencies

antly surprised.” The album is made up of several original songs and some cover versions and was put together and co-produced by Salaam Remi and Mark Ronson - who produced her ‘Back to Black’ LP - after they listened to thousands of hours of vocals recorded by the singer. Part of the proceeds from the record will go to the Amy Winehouse Foundation, which was set up by her father in the wake of her death from alcohol poisoning to help young people struggling with addiction problems.

Mitch recently admitted he finds it too hard to watch the music video to her song ‘Our Day Will Come’ - a cover of Ruby and the Romantics’ 1963 single, recorded in 2002 - which contains archive footage of his daughter. He tweeted: “I just almost watched Amy’s ‘Our Day Will Come’ video. She is so lovely.”

Pink put her Christmas tree up he singer - who has a six-month-old daughter Willow with her husband Carey Hart - is getting very excited about the holiday season and has already put up her decorations. She wrote on her twitter page: “Christmas Tree up. 1st batch of cookies baked and eaten. Menorah out. It’s the Holidays. (sic)” It seems Pink has been preparing for the festive food she plans to eat by hitting the gym to get in shape before she celebrates her daughter’s first Christmas. She revealed in an earlier tweet: “this morning I was so tired I cried on the treadmill. that’s a new one. I thought I’d pretty much cried everywhere I could. nope.” Since becoming a parent for the first time in June, Pink has been loving every minute of motherhood and recently described her baby as the most amazing child “in the history of the planet”. She wrote on her twitter page: “ummm i just have to say that my daughter may be the most bestest amazingest stupendoustest baby ever made in the history of the planet. (sic)”

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(From left) Recipients of the 2010 Kennedy Center Honors, singer Barbara Cook, singer and songwriter Neil Diamond, actress Meryl Streep, and cellist Yo-Yo Ma, listen to the National Anthem with first lady Michelle Obama and President Barack Obama, from the upper balcony during the 2010 Kennedy Center Honors Gala at the Kennedy Center, in Washington, on Sunday. — AP photos

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama, seen standing in the audience at right, applaud the recipients of the 2011 Kennedy Center Honors, from left, singer and songwriter Neil Diamond, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, saxophonist and composer Sonny Rollins, and actress Meryl Streep.

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Sonny Rollins sits next to fellow honoree, actress Meryl Streep, as she reacts to comments from President Barack Obama.

Comedian Stephen Colbert and his wife, Evelyn McGee-Colbert.

Kennedy Center Honoree Yo-Yo Ma and Jill Horner.

Kennedy Center Honoree Neil Diamond and Katie McNeil arrive at the Kennedy Center.

Actress Glenn Close

eryl Streep may have her next film role, and Neil Diamond thanked the namesake of his “Sweet Caroline” as they and others including cellist Yo-Yo Ma received the top award for those who have influenced American culture through the arts, the Kennedy Center Honors. Caroline Kennedy, who hosts the show as part of a living memorial to her assassinated father, John F Kennedy, acknowledged her personal connection to one honoree.

Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” was named for her.

“I’m going to have to thank her for that,” Diamond said before the show.

Earlier, President Barack Obama praised the actors and musicians at the White House. “They have different talents, and they’ve traveled different paths,” Obama said. “And yet they belong here together because each of tonight’s honorees has felt the need to express themselves and share that expression with the world.” He said everyone has that desire for self-expression in common. “That’s why we dance, even if, as Michelle says, I look silly doing it,” he said to laughter. Smokey Robinson sang “Sweet Caroline” with help from Kennedy. Classical music stole the show’s finale with surprise tributes from Stephen Colbert and Elmo from TV’s “Sesame Street.”

“Tonight we celebrate the greatest living cellist,” Colbert said “We chell-ebrate, if you will.”Ma has played cello since he was 4. At age 7, he played for Presidents Kennedy and Dwight D Eisenhower. Earlier in the day, Obama jokingly looked to Ma for some advice. “Everybody likes him,” Obama said. “You’ve got to give me some tips. I thought about asking him to go talk to Congress.” Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton flew home for less than 36 hours between diplomatic travels to honor the artists with a dinner Saturday night. After visiting the isolated Southeast Asian country of Myanmar, Clinton said such US artists have worldwide influence by using their freedom of creativity.

“You may not know it, but somewhere in a little tiny room in Burma or even in North Korea, someone is desperately trying to hear you or to see you, to experience you,” Clinton said. “And if they are lucky enough to make that connection, it can literally change lives and countries.”

Shortly after, in a toast to Streep at the State Department, writer Nora Ephron warned Clinton that the person who would someday play her on screen is the same woman who played Julia Child in “Julie and Julia” and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the upcoming “The Iron Lady.” Streep, 62, stood up for a better look at the nation’s top diplomat.

“It’s inevitable,” Ephron told Clinton, drawing big laughs. “You met her tonight, and I’m sure you thought she was charming, but she was just soaking you up.” Streep has won two Oscars in a career spanning Shakespeare to ABBA with the movie “Mamma Mia!” For her part, Streep said she is in awe of the accolades. “Look where we are, look who’s here,” Streep told The Associated Press. “It’s overwhelming. I feel very proud.” On Sunday, Emily Blunt and Anne Hathaway from “The Devil Wears Prada” joined Kevin Kline and Stanley Tucci for a musical tribute to Streep.

Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick opened the tributes to Broadway singer Barbara

Sarah Jessica Parker

Front row from left, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Sonny Rollins, Barbara Cook, Michael Kaiser, back row from left, George Stevens, Yo-Yo Ma, Meryl Streep, Neil Diamond and David Rubenstein, pose for a photo.

Cook, recalling the days when they first started dating and went to hear Cook sing at the Cafe Carlyle in New York. Cook, 84, made her Broadway debut in 1951, and later Leonard Bernstein cast her in his musical “Candide.” She topped that performance as Marian the Librarian in 1957’s hit musical “The Music Man,” for which she won a Tony Award.

A film tribute noted Cook went silent for a decade, due to drinking and depression, but she

hip hop music is a part of jazz, believe it or not.”

Friend Bill Cosby marveled about how he has heard Rollins’ distinctive sax around the world in Greece, Hong Kong, Italy - and found so many people who knew the musician’s work. Benny Golson and Herbie Hancock joined in playing some of Rollins’ tunes.

Fellow sax player and former President Bill Clinton said earlier that he has been a fan since the age of 15 or 16 when he bought his first

Singer Barbara Cook blows a kiss to President Barack Obama, not pictured. came back. Glenn Close called her an icon for anyone who has worked on Broadway. “I think we have the biggest respect for her because she really has survived, survived and prevailed,” Close said. Jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins, 81, has shared the stage with Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie, among others. “America is the home of jazz. It’s what we started,” he said. “By the way,

Elmo and Kevin Clash

Rollins LP and played it until it was worn out.

“His music can bend your mind, it can break your heart, and it can make you laugh out loud,” Clinton said. “He has done things with improvisation that really no one has ever done.”—AP

Actress Emily Blunt

Actress Anne Hathaway

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opyrights and images from Marilyn Monroe’s first photo shoot sold for $352,000 at an auction that included also items from Lady Gaga and John Lennon. Julien’s Auctions spokeswoman Caroline Galloway tells The Associated Press on Sunday that the Monroe photos - taken in 1946 when she was still Norma Jeane Dougherty - were the highlight of the Beverly Hills auction known as “Icons & Idols” The photos come with negatives and the rare right to sell and distribute them. A judge in September ruled they must be auctioned to settle debts of photographer Joseph Jasgur. A Lady Gaga dress sold for $31,250, and the prop gun used in her video for “Born This Way” went for $7,680. A 1969 caricature John Lennon drew of himself and Yoko Ono went for $90,000. — AP In these 1946 file images taken by photographer Joseph Jasgur and released by Julien’s Auctions, Norma Jean Dougherty, who eventually changed her name to Marilyn Monroe, is shown. — AP photos

Christmas tree for US Capitol on way from California

In this photo supplied by the Stanislaus National Forest, Mark Patton cuts a white fir tree.

Fraser fir Christmas trees are seen standing and ready for cutting at Maines Tree Farm in Glade Valley, NC, Friday. — AP photos

The 2011 Capitol Christmas Tree arrives in Washington.

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65-foot white fir tree selected as the US Capitol Christmas tree was cut down and removed from a picturesque setting in the Sierra Nevada mountains on Saturday, then loaded on a truck for a 4,500mile journey from Northern California to Washington, DC. When crews arrived at the tree Saturday morning they found it covered in snow, said Jeff Crider, a spokesman for US Capitol Christmas Tree Tour, a nonprofit project overseen by the US Forest Service. “It was 18 degrees, with four inches of snow,” Crider said. “It’s freezing up here and getting ready to snow again.” The Stanislaus National Forest tree was selected based on its shape and fullness and color, officials said.

Work crews will box it up on Sunday, with a portion encased in Plexiglas so that people can view it during its upcoming nationwide tour. A bladder bag attached to its base will be filled with water on a daily basis to keep the tree fresh, Crider said. The tree is scheduled to arrive in Washington, DC on Nov. 28, with a lighting ceremony at the front of the US Capitol on Dec 6. It will be decorated by 5,000 ornaments handmade by California residents, and House Speaker John Boehner and a child from California will light it. — AP

(From Left) Constance Marie, Katie Leclerc and Vanessa Marano attend ABC Family’s “25 Days of Christmas” Winter Wonderland party at Rockefeller Center, in New York, Sunday. — AP

Early Monroe photos sell for over $300K at auction

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2011

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People visit an exhibition dedicated to the wardrobe of the Virgin Mary on November 28, 2011 in Lyon, southern France. Playfully entitled ‘Fashion Icon,’ the exhibit explores how from the 12th to the 19th centuries, clothes were cut to adorn the Virgin, and how the costumes, often rich in religious symbolism, became objects of worship in their own right.

—AFP photos

Introducing the Virgin Mary as fashion icon

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or 700 years Catholic faithful expressed their devotion to the Virgin Mary by creating an elaborate wardrobe for the mother and child, on display in a new exhibit in the French city of Lyon. Playfully entitled “Fashion Icon”, the show explores how from the 12th to the 19th centuries, clothes were cut to adorn the Virgin, sometimes becoming objects of worship in their own right.

“When you clothe a statue you give it a powerful presence-and since the fabrics used were extremely precious, you also introduce a distance,” explained Maximilien Durand, director of the Lyon fabric museum and curator of the show, which runs until March 25.

“Clothes were cut for all kinds of statuesfrom great icons in sanctuaries and the mannequins used in religious processions, down to the tiny statues of Mary worshipped in convents and household chapels.” The practice spread massively from the 13th to 15th centuries, but come the 16th century, with the Roman Catholic Church under attack from Protestant critics, the clergy started to worry the statues of Mary had become indecent. “They were dressed like real women, like fashion icons, with real hair, wigs, even make-up,” Durand said. In 1530, Catholic authorities ruled that the Virgin could be dressed-so long as the clothes were not too close-fitting-allowing the practice to thrive until the 19th century when the Church turned against it.

Poster which announces an exhibition dedicated to the wardrobe of the Virgin Mary.

“The clothes people gave were always special, either precious or because they symbolized a key moment in their lives,” said Durand. “Women would often donate their wedding dresses for the statues, symbolically a way of holding onto their own virginity.”

When Marie-Antoinette’s eldest daughter was born, the French queen asked her dressmaker to fashion a costume for the Virgin in Monflieres north of Paris, from one of her own dresses. “Today it is the only surviving dress known to have belonged to MarieAntoinette, since her entire wardrobe has since been lost,” said Durand.

The statue became secondary The exhibit features a wardrobe of tiny statue dresses from Marie-Antoinette’s day, cut from a man’s waistcoat or a court apron.

Other costumes were specially made, embroidered with flowers that in the 17th and 18th centuries suggested the virtues of the Virgin: violets for modesty, lilies for purity, roses for charity. The show spotlights the wardrobe of one particular statue-the black Virgin from the Daurade basilica in Toulouse in southwestern France-with more than a dozen meter-high triangular robes and matching baby Jesus outfits.

The first dresses date from the 18th century, up to the present day with a collection created for her two years ago by eight fashion designers, including Jean-Charles de Castelbajac and Franck Sorbier. One dress is typical of the era of Louis XVI and MarieAntoinette, with Chinese-inspired motifs and ribbon-tied bunches of flowers. “You can see from the folds that it was a French-style dress that was turned into a statue’s costume,” Durand said.

Another is cut from a high-quality cashmire shawl, the ultimate fashion accessory in the early 19th century, imported from

India and brought into style by the Empress Josephine. The Virgin’s changing dress mirrors the colors of the Catholic liturgy, with white for feasts, green for everyday, red to commemorate martyrs, purple for Lent and black for mourning. The contemporary costumes are also rich in subtext. Castelbajac clothed her in camouflage print above a glittery band suggestive of a snake’s scales, an allusion to depictions of the immaculate conception in which the Virgin tramples the serpent underfoot.

Sorbier, meanwhile, chose metallic-looking materials, echoing the gold and silver fabrics traditionally offered to the lady of Toulouse, according to records kept by French monks. The Toulouse statue was burned during the French Revolution in 1789. When it was recreated, the Church ordered the faces and hands of the mother and child to be sculpted, but used simple wooden planks for their bodies. “People had become so used to seeing the statue clothed, they could no longer imagine her undressed,” Durand said. “What had come to be considered sacred was the dress. The statue had become secondary.”— AFP

The 6th edition of Contemporary Istanbul hosted over 60,000 art enthusiasts

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he premier art fair of the region opened its doors this year to art enthusiasts on the 24th of November for 4 days at the Istanbul Congress Center, Exhibition Area and Istanbul Convention and Exhibition Center. Contemporary Istanbul showcased contemporary paintings, sculptures, videos, photographs, installations and limited editions with the participation of national and international galleries. This edition brought together 90 contemporary art galleries from 20 countries, half of them international, featuring art initiatives, independent projects and publica-

tions along with art institutions. 3000 contemporary artworks by 526 local and global artists were exhibited and approximately 62,000 art lovers and 2,100 collectors visited the fair throughout the 5 days. This year the fair area was doubled as Istanbul Congress Centre was also included in the fair area which led to an increase of 20% in the number of visitors compared to last year amounting to an increase in the total value of the works exhibited this year at Contemporary Istanbul amounting to 80 million Turkish Lira (approximately 43 million US dollars).

A photo called ‘Lava lake’ by Richard Mosse.