23 Jan

RI PT IO N BS C SU THE LEADING INDEPENDENT DAILY IN THE ARABIAN GULF

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SATURDAY, JANUARY 23, 2010

SAFAR 8, 1431 AH

Move to save Philippines rice terraces

Markets tank as Obama moves to rein in banks

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Clijsters crashes out of Australian Open

Fashion is child’s play

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Israel pays $10.5m to UN for Gaza carnage World body settles war damages issue with Tel Aviv

PORT-AU-PRINCE: Workers unload water at a UN aid distribution point by the Presidential palace in Port-au-Prince yesterday. — AFP

Buses, cash and radios flow amid Haiti’s rubble Hundreds jostle for money as agencies open PORT-AU-PRINCE: Cash became available and buses started running in Haiti’s rubble-clogged capital yesterday but there was still not enough food to feed desperate earthquake survivors.

“We can do this 24 hours a day for the next six months and we still won’t meet the need,” said First Sargent Rob Farnsworth, part of a US Army

airborne unit handing out food packs at a squalid camp where survivors lived in the open air.

Up to 1.5 million Haitians lost their homes in the Jan. 12 earthquake that rocked the small Caribbean country, devastated its capital Port-au-Prince and killed up to 200,000.

Haitians struggled to find food, water and medical care.

Even those whose homes with-

stood the magnitude 7 quake were too traumatized by aftershocks to sleep under a roof.

There were signs of daily life resuming. Taptaps, Haiti’s small, colorfully decorated private buses, began to circulate in Port-au-Prince, sharing streets with the earth-movers and digging machines clearing debris.

Banks were scheduled to Continued on Page 19

UNITED NATIONS: Israel has paid the United Nations some $10.5 million in damages after its assault on the Gaza Strip last year, UN officials said yesterday.

“The government of Israel has made a payment of $10.5 million to the United Nations, in respect to the losses sustained,” UN spokesman Martin Nesirky told reporters.

“With this payment, the United Nations has agreed that the financial issues ... are concluded.” Just after the December 2008 to January 2009 conflict, UN chief Ban Ki-moon indicated the world body was claiming some $11 million in compensation for the damage to its buildings, warehouses, schools and vehicles.

A senior Israeli diplomat at the United Nations, who asked not to be named, said, “We have decided to make an ex gratia payment to the United Nations and we have indeed done it.”

Continued on Page 19

KUWAIT: A baby whale was found dead on the beach of Salmiya close to the Scientific Center complex yesterday. —KUNA

35 Gitmo detainees face trial WASHINGTON: A presidential task force has recommended about three dozen Guantanamo Bay detainees face trial or military commissions, two government officials said yesterday. Such prosecutions would almost certainly take place in the United States.

The two officials said that a task force has recommended 35 Guantanamo Bay detainees for prosecution. Attorney General Eric Holder has already decided that five of those will be tried in New York federal court for their alleged roles in the 2001 terror attacks.

Another six have been chosen to face military commissions. A venue for those com-

missions has not been decided yet, but the most likely place is a planned prison facility in Illinois to house terrorism-era detainees. The Obama administration still needs money from Congress to renovate that facility.

As part of President Barack Obama’s plan to close the Guantanamo Bay prison, the task force has recommended 47 detainees be held indefinitely without charge.

Another 17 detainees who are Yemenis are likely to be held for some time to come, until US counterterrorism officials can find a secure place in their home country or other foreign countries to send them, the officials said. They also said that a total of about 110

detainees have been approved for transfer.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the findings of the task force. The new figures were first reported in yesterday’s editions of The Washington Post.

The group’s conclusions are not binding, and could be changed by the National Security Council. There currently are 196 detainees remaining at Guantanamo. In the past year, the administration has transferred more than 40 inmates, but has fallen far short of its goal of closing Guantanamo by its one year deadline, which came yesterday.

The United States’ desire to close its military prison in Cuba remains “unabashed” even though a deadline set by Washington to do so has passed, US Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said yesterday in Toledo.

US President Barack Obama issued an executive order on January 22, 2009 — two days after he took officepromising to close the US military prison in southern Cuba within the first year of his mandate. “The plan is to still work for closure,” Napolitano told a news conference in the Toledo when asked about the passing of the deadline. “We have known for some time Continued on Page 19

Qatari prince settles row on Paris mansion PARIS: A Qatari prince who owns a landmark 17th-century mansion in Paris settled a dispute yesterday with heritage activists who had feared he would destroy a cultural gem, the French government said.

A French court had blocked plans by Prince Abdullah Bin Abdullah AlThani, brother of Qatar’s emir, to modernize the Hotel Lambert, a UNESCO heritage site perched on the Ile Saint Louis island in the Seine in central Paris.

The prince had been set to begin turning it into a family residence, restoring his-

toric rooms but also putting in elevators and an underground car park, under a government permit.

Following a complaint by residents, a judge put the work on hold because of “shortcomings” in the architect’s plans, saying it was unclear what their full impact would be. The culture ministry said in a statement that the prince signed an agreement on Friday with the heritage association Historic Paris which “puts an end to the dispute” after weeks of delicate government-supervised negotiations.

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ICANN OKs Internet addesses in Arabic RAMALLAH: US Middle East envoy George Mitchell (left) shakes hands with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas after their meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah yesterday. —AP

Mitchell fails to lure Abbas back to talks RAMALLAH: President Barack Obama’s Mideast envoy failed yesterday to lure Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas back to peace talks with Israel, as Abbas stuck to his insistence that an Israeli settlement freeze come first.

The three-hour meeting between Abbas and Washington’s envoy, George Mitchell, came a day after Time magazine published an interview with Obama in which the president acknowledged he may have overestimated his ability to revive negotiations.

Mitchell, who also held talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is to leave the

region over the weekend. The envoy has said Obama remains committed to trying to broker a Mideast deal, but it’s unclear what he could try next.

Abbas has said repeatedly he will not resume negotiations without a complete Israeli settlement freeze in the West Bank and east Jerusalem — areas claimed by the Palestinians for a future state. The Obama administration initially demanded such a freeze as well, but relented when Netanyahu resisted.

Netanyahu instead agreed to a 10-month slowdown in West Bank construction. But Netanyahu insists he will not relinquish any part of Continued on Page 19

SAN FRANCISCO: The global agency overseeing Internet domain names on Thursday said Egypt, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates can begin creating online addresses in their native languages.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) effectively broke the Latin alphabet’s three-decade hold on Internet domain names.

“This marks a pivotal moment in the history of Internet domain names,” said ICANN chief executive and president Rod Beckstrom.

“These international names will now allow people to type entire domain names in their own language.” The four approved countries may request local language Internet addresses to be included in a domain names Continued on Page 19

Bomb threat forces jet to land in Greece ATHENS: A passenger plane travelling from Germany to Turkey made a safe emergency landing in the Greek city of Thessaloniki yesterday after a crew member found a piece of paper with a bomb warning in the toilet, the airliner said.

The plane, a Turkish SunExpress aircraft with 62 passengers and six crew on board, landed at 1558 GMT and Greek security officials were searching

the aircraft before allowing it to resume its journey to Izmir from Stuttgart, Germany. SunExpress, a subsidiary of state-owned Turkish Airlines, said in a statement the captain followed security procedures and redirected the plane to the closest airport.

Greek officials had earlier said the pilot had received a bomb threat on his mobile phone and said the incident was most likely a hoax. — Reuters

FRANKFURT: The skyline of Frankfurt, central Germany, is seen late afternoon yesterday. —AP

NATIONAL

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Saturday, January 23, 2010

Public urged to take advantage of opportunity

Indian Education, Property Exhibitions open in Kuwait

KUWAIT: The two-day India Education Exhibition 2010, the largest and most specialist exhibition on Indian higher education, and the India Property Exhibition 2010, showcasing prime properties across India, opened concurrently yesterday at the Ramada Hotel in Riggae. Inaugurating the exhibitions the Indian Ambassador Ajai Malhotra, highlighted the growing importance of India as a global education hub. “India offers a quality education at a fraction

KUWAIT: Hawally municipality inspection team issued 177 citations during the month of December, destroying 37 cattle carcasses which were found to be unfit for human consumption.

Kuwait expresses support for vintage cars exhibition KUWAIT: Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Sheikh Ahmad Fahad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah said on Thursday that the ‘First Kuwait Concours d’Elegance’ is the first major step towards supporting automobile exhibition activities in Kuwait, describing the move as a cultural event the country is keen to transmit.

Sheikh Ahmad, also Minister of State for Development Affairs and Minister of State for Housing Affairs made the comment on the fringes of day one of the renowned car exhibition Wednesday evening, held under the patronage of His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah.

The exhibition is showcasing antique and classic cars dating back to the early 20th century at the seafront of one of Kuwait’s fanciest malls; Marina Mall.

The official expressed his country’s keenness in hosting exhibitions, museums and activities of

this kind, hoping the event would be annual in Kuwait.

For his part, chief organizer Abdulaziz Saud Ishaq said that the event attended by many senior Kuwaiti officials, businessmen and local icons, who have pledged their assets on display, is held for the first time in the country.

The oldest car on show, Ishaq noted, is the Renault Torpedo DM 1914 model, which coincides with the same year the Belgian luxury automobile, Minerva was introduced to Kuwait during the reign of former Amir Sheikh Mubarak AlSabah. He also said the event was an opportunity to showcase the wealth of classic automobiles like the Rolls Royces, Fords and other luxury cars which offer excellence and perfection in design and concept. Ishaq also described the exhibition as cultural before being commercial, and that Kuwait at the moment was under the spotlight of Concours’ enthusiasts worldwide. — KUNA

Municipal Council should be independent - Al-Azemi DOHA: Visiting Chairman of Kuwait’s Municipal Council Zaid Al-Azemi said yesterday his council should be financially and administratively independent from Kuwait Municipality to avoid bureaucracy. After meeting with Chairman of the Qatari Municipal Council Nasser Al-Ka’bi, he said: “Our call of the council’s independence stems from the fact that is responsible for many affairs that have direct impact on citizens.”

“The municipal councils of many countries, including that of Qatar, have independent budgets and their members have independent supervisory mandates and operation mechanism,” Al-Azemi noted.

Dealing with his talks with Al-Qa’bi, he said AlQa’bi briefed him on administrative system of the Qatari Municipal Council which is independent

from the ministerial apparatus. After adopting a new five-year development plan early this month, Kuwait needs a municipal council which dovetails with the plan and the ambitious projects involved,” Al-Azemi argued.

During his stay here, Al-Azemi met Qatari Minister of Municipal Affairs and Agriculture Abdulrman Bin-Khalifa Bin-Abdulaziz Al-Thani to explore ways of cooperation in the municipal domains. “My visit enabled me to see the construction development of Qatar which reflects the keenness of the Qatari leaders on the welfare of all citizens and expatriates,” he noted.

Al-Azemi leads a delegation made up of members of the Municipal Council, including Abdullah Al-Anzi, Man’e Al-Ajami, and Mohammad AlHadiya, on a three-day visit to Qatar. —KUNA

Strong chance of rain

Joint training course

KUWAIT: A senior meteorologist has predicted low visibility tonight and early tomorrow morning, with a strong possibility of rain later in the day. Khalid Al-Jamman, the head of Kuwait’s Marzam Observatory’s Meteorology Department, said that southeasterly and easterly winds resulting from climatic depressions may result in increased humidity levels, leading to reduced visibility overnight and at dawn tomorrow. Al-Jamman forecast that these humidity levels would fall gradually with the onset of northwesterly winds bringing a slight drop in temperatures. The senior meteorologist further explained that the subsequent return of south and southeasterly winds increases the possibility of further rain.

KUWAIT: A joint Kuwaiti-Saudi training program on working with individuals with special needs is set to begin on Monday under the supervision of the Higher Council for the Disabled. The three-day program, sponsored by the council’s executive director Najat AlQallaf, is being held as part of the implementation of an agreement signed by Al-Marefa educational services company and the office of special education experts at Saudi Arabia’s King Saud University. Faisal Hardan, the Director of the Special Needs Department, explained that the program aims to develop the skills of those working with the disabled and train them in preparing individual education plans. It also aims to achieve a consistent quality level in learning disabled students’ education process in order to develop their performance.

Deputy PM cuts medics’ salaries KUWAIT: Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed Al-Sabah has reduced the salary increases awarded by the Ministry of Health to doctors and dentists, capping them at a lower level than was previously agreed. While the previous increases had set expatriate doctors’ and dentists’ starting salaries at a maximum of KD 558 each per month and Kuwaiti medical authorities’ heads’ monthly salaries at a maximum of KD 2,360 per month, Al-Qabas reported that Sheikh Mohammed had reduced these to KD 540 and KD 2,040 respectively.

Training exercise KUWAIT: Members of the Kuwaiti special forces, known as the ‘Maghaweer,’ participated with members of the American artillery forces in a training exercise to help to further strengthen their shooting skills. Senior Maghaweer officer Lieutenant Fahad Al Owaish told local daily Al-Anba that this training exercise was one of the unit’s additional training programs working with their American counterparts.

The ambassador urged students planning on pursuing higher education in the near future, to visit and avail the educational information available at the exhibition.

Ashok Kalra, the chairman of the Indian Community School, Kuwait also expressed his pleasure at the exhibition, urging students to take advantage of this opportunity. With nearly 40 exhibitors, 150 institutions and over 300 courses on offer, the India Education Exhibition 2010 is a must-attend event for students wanting to find out about further and higher education in India.

While at first glance the exhibition might appear to be just a platform to promote and publicize Indian institutions of higher learning and their services in Kuwait, in reality the exhibition plays a far larger role, providing Indian and foreign students seeking higher education with a unique opportunity to directly interact with administrators and faculty members of institutions on a one-on-one basis, without having to travel to the particular institute in India. This one-to-one interaction offers students and parents an opportunity to learn all the details about specific institutions from those who know them best.

As well as allowing prospective students to get all the right information on the courses they’re interested in, which universities will best serve their academic needs and how to apply and register, the exhibition also allows them to obtain answers to questions that are often left unanswered in an institution’s prospectus or on its website.

Questions like, what is the physical setting of the institute - the classrooms, its facilities and equipment, the boarding and lodging amenities? What are the social, cultural and religious norms prevailing in the institute?

What are the do’s and don’ts that new students need to follow? Are freshers subject to introductory ragging and other unpleasant experiences? Professionals from the institutes participating in the exhibition, are available to answer these queries and far more from everyone planning to pursue higher education in India.

With more than 17,000 colleges, 400 universities, 13 institutes of national importance and various other vocational institutes, India’s higher education system is one of the largest in the world and warrants a more indepth look. According to a report published by the Department of Higher Education, a wing of the Indian Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD), enrollment of foreign students in Indian Universities has shown a steady upward trend since 2004, with students from Asian countries constituting nearly 70 percent of the undergraduate intake.

The report noted that the Indira

of the cost elsewhere and the alumni of many Indian institutions are recognized globally for their high caliber,” said Ambassador Malhotra. “At this exhibition, Indian and foreign students can explore a wide range of higher education options in India and obtain at a single venue updated information on fees, eligibility criteria, and undergraduate and postgraduate courses at a number of Indian institutions of higher learning.”

KUWAIT: Indian Ambassador Ajai Malhotra inaugurating the two-day India Education Exhibition 2010, and the India Property Exhibition 2010, at the Ramada Hotel in Riggae.

Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), one of the largest universities in the world serving over 2 million students in India and 35 countries abroad, ranked first in terms of foreign student enrollment. Most of the foreign students in India enroll in computerscience or English-language programs, two major Indian strengths that prompt many academics to believe that India could eventually become a global education center.

What makes higher education in India alluring to foreign students? The answer lies in the high-quality, world-class international education offered by Indian institutes at very competitive prices.

The quality of education provided, along with the caliber of the teaching and support staff and the fact that degrees and certification from reputed Indian universities are a veritable green-card to lucrative employment opportunities in India and abroad, also add to the appeal of Indian institutes.

As well as speeding up efforts to establish more institutes that can offer quality education in India, the University Grants Commission, another department under the HRD ministry, recently ordered all public universities to establish international student centers, which in addition to helping foreign students with their English language proficiency, help them set up and settle down in the country.

Students in Kuwait would be well-advised to plan their higher education programs in advance and seek the advice of academic counselors ahead of the start of their final board exams. The highimpact, well-planned and implemented India Education Exhibition 2010, is an real opportunity that should not be missed by students seeking further education in India. With nearly 85 Indian Schools in the UAE and

Kuwait and over 45,000 higher secondary level pupils following an Indian syllabus affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education or to the Boards of Indian States, competition for admission to prestigious institutes of higher learning is, to say the least, highly competitive.

This fierce competition is further increased by the fact that over 70 percent of school leavers in the region apply for the NRI quota in Indian Institutions.

Added to this is the fact that due to the recent economic slowdown, many NRI parents in Middle-East are sending their children back to India for higher school education; over 5,000 NRI students from the region migrated back to schools in India following the 2008-2009 school year. All the above make it clear that foreign students should acquire whatever edge is available to better their prospects in getting admission to the institute of their choice.

Getting insider knowledge and learning the ropes about registration and admission to institutes, from people who know all about it, at exhibitions like the India Education Exhibition 2010, might provide just the fillip a student needs to turn the situation in their favor.

India Property Exhibition 2010 The India Property Exhibition 2010, which opened concurrently with the education exhibition, witnessed an enthusiastic gathering of people looking to buy or invest in the Indian property market.

Speaking about the property exhibition at the inauguration, Ambassador Malhotra said, “Developers have displayed a variety of properties at this exhibition and it provides a good opportunity for Indians in Kuwait to weigh the pros and cons of buying a home in different locations in our vast and beautiful country. It

is nice to see the wide variety of good choices that developers have at this show and I hope the residents in Kuwait find the home of their choice at this exhibition.”

The ambassador wished both exhibitions all the best.

Indians from across the country will find the two-day event, which showcases prime properties from all over India, an ideal opportunity to examine and evaluate properties of their choice.

With more than 150 projects on display, including apartments, villas, beach and hill resorts as well as prime plots, the exhibition offers something for every lifestyle.

The real estate scene in India is on the cusp of a major upward surge and now is an opportune moment to buy a home or invest in the Indian property market. A clear indication of this buoyancy in Indian real estate was displayed during the recent Property Expo held in Navi Mumbai, where, within a span of 3 days, more than 5,000 flats were sold for a total value exceeding Rs 1,000 crore.

Throughout much of 2009, the sluggish global economy hampered real-estate growth in many world markets. Marred by a liquidity crunch, slackening demand, large numbers of unsold properties and falling rentals for over a year, property markets around the world are only slowly limping back to normal. However, in India, the real estate industry weathered the economic downturn relatively better and, in fact, the third quarter of 2009 witnessed a strong rebound.

The resilience of real-estate in India can be attributed to a number of factors, including the exponential growth of a middle-income group, a huge pent up demand for affordable houses in urban, suburban and rural parts of the country and an annual influx of tens of millions of young professionals into

the job market, many of them looking to own or rent their first homes. A recent study of residential markets across India and across a variety of parameters including affordability, investment yield, absorption momentum, supply overhang, commercial developments, demographics and migration trends, has identified the potential of residential realestate, with a potential demand for 24 million affordable dwelling units, to further promote the realestate sector.

However, according to industry analysts, this optimism in the property sector is reliant on the continued stability of other relevant economic factors, like mortgage rates, GDP growth, and labor and market stability as well as on prudent decisions by developers to provide quality and value in their real-estate offerings.

The last three months of 2009 have demonstrated that buyers’ aspirations mean that they’re returning to the residential market again to check out good deals.

Apart from the resurgence in positive sentiments, this renewed demand can also be attributed to the fact that housing finance institutions have brought down home loan interest rates to 8-8.5 per cent on fixed interest loans for three years, which stands in marked contrast to the 10-11 per cent that prevailed just six months ago.

The India Property Exhibition 2010 provides the right venue for Indians in Kuwait to meet directly with reputable developers, financiers and estate agents to discuss the various aspects of buying or investing in the Indian real estate market.

The India Education Exhibition 2010, and the India Property Exhibition 2010, are organized by Indus Fairs & Events (India) Pvt. Ltd., in association with Response Events and Exhibitions, Kuwait.

US Special Education expert visits Kuwait

Annual festival to be held for Kuwait poet’s sung poems TUNIS: Preparations are underway for holding an annual festival for Kuwaiti poet Suaad AlSabah’s sung poems in Kuwait under sponsorship of the Arab League and in collaboration with Kuwaiti cultural institutions, a league musical official said yesterday.

The initiative reflects the fact that the Arab musical society attaches much attention to Arab creative figures in diverse artistic domains, especially poetry and music, the Arab League’s musical center offcial Saleh Hamdan, told KUNA. The move mainly aims to interact with the high position of the Kuwait poet, Dr. Suaad

Al-Sabah, in Arabic poetry, he said, hailing her for rendering Arabic poetry to modernity thanking to her unique poetic descriptions.

Her great poems and unique poetic spirit are conducive to the composition of film music for her poetry, Hamdan said.

The first session of the planned festival will involve five poems for the Kuwaiti poet, which will be musically composed by fiver musicians from different Arab countries, he added.

Hamdan said he was here mainly to make preparations for the festival and to ensure the organizing of the event in Kuwait. —KUNA

KUWAIT: Professor Clayton Keller, a member of the management board for the US’s Council for Exceptional Children, will be delivering a lecture on meeting children’s learning and behavioral needs at Kuwait’s Center for Child Evaluation and Teaching (CCET) in Surra on Jan 27.

The lecture, entitled ‘What Can I Do? Ways of Meeting Learning and Behavioral Needs in the Classroom,’ will be open to the public. Although Professor Keller is delivering the lecture in English, simultaneous interactive Arabic translation will also be available. Professor Keller’s work in the field of international special education began after he received the 1997 Fulbright Scholar Award at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, Norway. The world-renowned specialist also received a Fulbright Senior Specialist’s Award from the Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey in 2003.

Amongst other events he has helped organize and present was a 2007 conference in Lima, Peru entitled ‘The International Special Education Forum, Making the Impossible Possible: A Better Life for Individuals with Different Abilities and their Families,’ which he was co-

Prof Clayton Keller director of.

In 2009, he became Visiting Researcher at Norway’s University of Aqder, where his research focused on ways to increase international special education research collaborations. Professor Keller’s visit on this occasion is sponsored by the US Embassy in Kuwait.

Kuwait’s CCET, established in 1984, is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting individuals with learning difficulties by removing barriers to inclusion and empowering them to achieve their full potential. The center is located on Block No. 4, Street 14 in Surra. For further information on the forthcoming lecture, please call the CCET on 183-2000.

NATIONAL

Saturday, January 23, 2010

3 Wasta works for gunman

Kuwaiti man stabbed, robbed for kindness KUWAIT: A kind-hearted Kuwaiti man who agreed to give a stranger a lift in his car when the other man informed him that his own vehicle had broken down was taken aback when his passenger, after getting in, proceeded to pull a knife on him and demand the KD 5,000 he had just withdrawn from a

Blind drivers on Kuwait’s roads KUWAIT: A number of blind or nearly-blind people in Kuwait are reportedly still allowed to drive, despite their visual impairments being classified as ‘severe’ by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor’s (MSAL) medical committee.

One MSAL official said that although some of the individuals are receiving social benefits on the basis of their visual disabilities, the ministry sees them as ‘healthy handicapped’ and allows them to retain their driving licenses and drive unaided, reported

Al-Rai. The MSAL official said that he holds the Higher Council for Disability Affairs wholly accountable for this situation since it has sole responsibility for issuing driving licenses for the disabled through its medical committee.

“Suppose that the doctors made a mistake in diagnosing the medical condition?” the official said. “Why doesn’t the traffic committee not check the names of the ‘healthy handicapped’ in coordination with the Ministry of Interior to ensure their

information is correct? The traffic committee is not pro-active and hasn’t played its proper role.” The ministry insider protested that such negligence within the MSAL is not limited to the traffic committee, saying that it is found in several others, all of them manned by senior ministry officials. As an example of another committee with similar problems, he cited the education committee, which he said “has nothing to do,” despite the fact that it is supposed to monitor school pupils’ attendance levels.

Bachelors ‘encroach’ residential areas KUWAIT: The government’s intention of cracking down on the number of residences being used to house single men seems to have been forgotten, with bachelors reportedly moving into the Abdullah Al-Salem, Adeliya, Faiha, Nuzha, Yarouk, Qadasiya, Dahiya, Dasma and Sawaber areas.

Teams of municipality officials working to remove illegal structures have apparently noted a number of houses and villas being rented to single men and Asian families in these areas. One official revealed that the teams had sent a number of memos to the municipality’s legal department to ask the Ministry of Electricity and Water to cut

power to all those illegally occupying properties in the aforementioned areas.

The official said that one home in Dahiya close to the local Co-op had been illegally rented to Asian workers. The owner was notified and promised to evict the tenants, but had failed to do so, the official said, expressing concern about what violations could result from such individuals being housed next to Kuwaiti families’ homes.

The official also cited the case of a large home in Adeliya built on an site of 750 square meters in total and owned by a former senior military official, which is reportedly almost entirely sublet, except for the

annex which the owner lives in with his family. The basement of the house has been divided into eight rooms, the official said, with all of them being rented by bachelors, while the first floor has been turned into a warehouse and the rest of the rooms, other than the annexe, are rented out. A citation had been issued to the owner, the official said, with the Ministry of Electricity and Water (MEW) asked to cut the power to the property. The official explained that as well as returning the property to its original use, those using their properties for illegal purposes must also pay a fine of between KD 800 and KD 1,000.

Farwaniya bank. The citizen refused to hand the money over and vigorously defended himself, with the attacker stabbing him several times and stealing his mobile phone before fleeing. The victim was rushed to Farwaniya Hospital and a hunt is underway for the vicious thief.

Gunman released An inebriated ‘prominent figure’ who pulled a gun on two men in Maidan Hawally and fired it at them to scare them was released without charge with the help of wasta. Police rushed to the scene after receiving an emergency call from the two men, only discovering the gunman’s identity after checking his ID. They took him to the local police station where senior officers were instructed by Ministry of Interior officials to take good care of the “personality” and take him to his home so that he could have a shower and sober up before bringing him back to the police station after he was more clear-headed. The arresting officers did as instructed, bringing the rather more lucid ‘prominent figure’ back to the police station after he sobered up, where he was, as per MoI instructions, released without charge. His gun was temporarily confiscated.

the Jahra immigration department for abusing his position to illegally add 35 expatriates to the personnel register of a company owned by a female citizen in exchange for money. Further investigation revealed that two of the suspect’s female co-workers were also involved in his scam.

Investigations are continuing.

Driving blind?

A driver who was described as “unable to see” narrowly avoided causing a tragedy when he drove into a series of emergency vehicles as their occupants were tackling a car blaze. The reckless driver damaged two police patrol cars, a fire engine and two civil guard vehicles, although fortunately the emergency personnel were uninjured, as was the driver.

Drugs busts Two Kuwaiti men wanted in connection with various criminal cases, including drugs use and unpaid debts, were arrested after police discovered them sitting inside a parked car in Mubarak Al-Kabeer. The officers found out about the warrants for their arrest when they checked the men’s ID against the police database. A quantity of drugs was also confiscated from the two, who have been remanded in custody. In a separate case, other Mubarak Al-Kabeer officers arrested a Kuwaiti man after spotting him in an intoxicated condition in his car, which was parked in front of a building in Sabah Al-Salem. On searching the man, they found a pack full of ready-made joints and a number of narcotic tablets. He has been referred to the relevant authorities.

Ahmadi police arrested a Kuwaiti man who parked his car in front of a school in Mahboula in order to take drugs, catching him red handed. He was taken into custody.

Bakala robbery The Indian owner of a Farwaniya bakala told police that three youths had burst into the store, stealing phone cards and forcing him to hand over the KD 20 in the till before fleeing. An investigation is underway to catch the culprits.

Immigration scam The Director General of the Criminal Investigation Department ordered the arrest of a Kuwaiti civil servant employed at

Leafleter lifted Hawally police referred a Kuwaiti man to the State Security Department after finding him distributing leaflets at the American University in Kuwait. The leaflets reportedly condemned Israeli activities in Palestine and the ‘Judaization’ of Jerusalem.

Cheque bouncer Farwaniya police arrested an Egyptian man wanted in connection for issuing a dud cheque for KD 6,000. He was referred to the relevant authorities pending further action.

Joyriders caught Several young men were arrested in Jahra for reckless driving after police found them performing dangerous driving stunts.

Passport attack A British citizen of Iraqi origin was arrested at Kuwait International Airport and charged with attacking a public official on duty after he slapped a customs officer in the face over an argument about stamping his passport. The row allegedly flared up when the British man began complaining about the delay in processing his passport, quickly escalating until he hit the official.

Driver silenced Police in Hawally confiscated the driver’s license of a well-known female expatriate Arab broadcaster as a penalty for driving with the music in her car turned up to full volume. The woman attempted to dissuade the officers by revealing her media credentials, but was unsuccessful.

Bootleggers busted Ahmadi police arrested an Indian bootlegger after spotting him selling home-made alcohol in an open area in Fahaheel. The man fled on seeing the officers approaching, but was quickly caught and taken into custody. In a separate case, this time in Abu Hulaifa, two other Asian men were also arrested for selling homemade hooch.

Missing person A Saudi family reported to police that their daughter had disappeared a few days previously and could not be located. A hunt is underway for the missing woman.

Drunk arrested A young man in Sulaibiya was taken into police custody after officers found him in an inebriated, semi-conscious state.

Lulu Hypermarket staging ‘Incredible India’ promotion

By Ben Garcia KUWAIT: A weeklong campaign showcasing India’s rich cultural heritage opened on Wednesday at the Lulu Hypermarket in Al-Rai. The festival, which runs until next Thursday, has been organized by the hypermarket to coincide with the celebration of India’s Republic Day. During the opening ceremony, attended by the Indian Ambassador to Kuwait Ajay Malhotra, schoolchildren performed some traditional Indian dances, including Bharathanatiyan, Kuchipudi, Mohiniattam, Kathak, Bangara and Bandiya.

At the ceremony, Malhotra thanked the Lulu Hypermarket for its initiative to promote India’s rich cultural heritage in Kuwait and to showcase Indian products.

“I am delighted to promote Incredible India campaign here at Lulu Hypermarket,” said Ambassador Malhotra. “India has an immense range of places to visit; it is a land of jungles and deserts, mountainous landscape and broad rivers.

It will fascinate visitors with its diversity, styles, culture, architecture and customs. I hope that this week-long exposure will encourage everyone to visit India and experience its legendary masterpieces.”

Along with the campaign, the hypermarket is offering special discounts and promotions, as well as chances to win prizes. Shoppers can also taste and experienced Indian products and flavors for the rest of the week. Traditional Indian Fashion will be displayed, including traditional Indian attire such as saris, churidars and kurthas.

—Photos by Joseph Shagra

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Saturday, January 23, 2010

Engineer’s arrest exposes US pursuit of Iranians PARIS: The Iranian engineer flew to Paris with his wife, intending to see the Eiffel Tower and other tourist sites. Instead, he was arrested at the airport under a US warrant _ suspected of evading export controls to buy US technology for Iran’s military.

The case of Majid Kakavand, accused of purchasing American electronics online and routing it to Iran via Malaysia, has shed light on increasing US attempts to crack down on people outside American borders suspected of illegally buying US supplies for Iran military programs. The case is also pushing the justice system in France, which has grown increasingly tough on Iran’s nuclear ambitions but also has trade and oil interests in the country, toward a stand that could have deep diplomatic and economic repercussions.

Kakavand’s future could be decided at a Feb. 17 Paris hearing on whether to extradite him to the United States. Iran’s government spoke out about the case for the first time this week, accusing France of linking Kakavand’s fate to that of a young French academic on trial in Iran. It says Kakavand is innocent and suggests he is being used as a bargaining chip in the diplomatic tug-of-war

over 24-year-old Clotilde Reiss.

The United States says Kakavand, 37, and two colleagues ordered US electronics _ including capacitors, inductors, resistors, sensors and connectors _ and had them shipped to Malaysia, from which they were dispatched to Iran without export licenses required by US authorities.

Documents filed in the US District Court in Northern California said they had set up a company called Evertop Services in Malaysia that dispatched the goods to its two main customers, Iran Electronics Industries and Iran Communication Industries.

Both companies “were designated in 2008 by the United States for their role in Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile program,” according to a summary of the case from the Department of Justice.

Kakavand is accused of conspiracy to export to an embargoed country, money laundering, smuggling goods and other counts.

Kakavand’s lawyer acknowledges the company sold merchandise to the IEI and ICI, as they are known. But she denies he has any other ties to the Iranian military or

nuclear industries. “In trade, you purchase, you resell _ it’s a normal trade act,” lawyer Diane Francois said. The European Union slapped restrictions on the IEI in June 2008.

Francois says the transactions at issue in Kavakand’s case predated that decision and says it cannot apply to his case.

A main point of debate in a Paris hearing last week was how technologically advanced the goods purchased are. The Department of Justice summary calls the materials “sensitive US technology.” But Francois argued that many of Kakavand’s purchases were materials that can be found in hardware stores, and she says he bought them from the United States simply because they are cheaper there.

Kakavand’s main job was as an electrical engineer, she said, while Evertop Services was a second job to earn extra money. Since the arrest he has lost his engineering job.

His family is paying for his Paris studio apartment.

In many cases, suspects accused of violating the US embargo on Iran have been apprehended in the United States. But some, including Kakavand and a man taken into custody in Germany last week, have

been nabbed overseas. Kakavand has never set foot in the United States, his lawyer said _ all his US business dealings were conducted via e-mail. For the United States, counting on allies to hand over suspects has risks.

In Kakavand’s case, a French judge must decide whether to extradite him solely based on whether his actions were illegal under French law, not under US law. Since France has no general trade embargo on Iran like the US has, Kakavand’s lawyers argue he didn’t break any laws here. The United States “seems to want the world to enforce their embargo, and it’s not enforceable anywhere outside the US,” lawyer Francois said Wednesday.

A US Department of Justice official, speaking on condition of anonymity to provide background on the case, said that individuals who conduct business in many nations “have an obligation to follow the laws of each of those countries, not just those they see fit.” France under outspoken President Nicolas Sarkozy has helped lead Western efforts over the past two years to rein in Iran’s nuclear program, which the US and its allies suspect aims to produce weapons. Iran says the program is for peace-

ful energy production.

Yet unlike the United States, France sells goods to Iran _ it had §1.374 billion ($1.94 billion) in exports to Iran in the first 11 months of 2009, according to French customs figures. The US embargo in place since 1995 is a source of mystery for many here.

Kakavand’s arrest is the latest blow against Iran’s government, facing opposition protests at home and the threat of new U.N. sanctions, and shows that Iran is exposed on various fronts. By commenting on it publicly this week, Iran could be trying to put pressure on France to refuse extradition.

France’s government insists that its judiciary is independent, even if the extradition decision is viewed in Iran as a political one.

Iran released a list earlier this month of 11 Iranians it says are being held in the United States _ including a nuclear scientist who disappeared in Saudi Arabia and a former Defense Ministry official who vanished in Turkey.

The list also includes an Iranian arrested in Canada on charges of trying to obtain nuclear technology, as well as an Iranian who was arrested in the Caucasus nation of

Georgia, handed over to the United States and convicted in a US court in December on charges of plotting to ship sensitive US military technology to Iran. Kakavand’s name was mistakenly on the list as well, though he is still in France.

Kakavand was taken into custody in Paris on March 20 as he arrived in Paris, one stop in a European tour with his wife, his lawyer said. He was held in La Sante prison until Aug 26, then released on condition he stay in Paris.

The case is being closely watched in Iran, where a court is prosecuting 24-yearold Frenchwoman Reiss as part of a mass trial against opposition supporters. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said this week that Iran believes French officials “want to put pressure on Iran” through the Kakavand case.

Iranian officials have also raised Kakavand’s case and others in speaking about three Americans arrested in July after crossing into Iran from neighboring Iraq. US officials have been concerned that Iran could try to use the detained Americans _ identified by their families to be innocent hikers who went astray - as bargaining chips. —AP

Mitchell holds talks with Abbas

US envoy presses on with peace efforts

RAMALLAH: The US envoy to the Middle East held talks yesterday with the Western-backed Palestinian leader as hopes were fading that Washington could restart Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations anytime soon. The meeting between President Mahmoud Abbas and envoy George Mitchell was overshadowed by President Barack Obama’s comments pubAbbas has said repeatedly he will not resume negotiations without an internationally mandated Israeli settlement freeze. The Obama administration initially demanded such a freeze as well, but relented when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu resisted. Netanyahu instead agreed to a construction slowdown in some of the areas claimed by the Palestinians for a future state.

Netanyahu says he is willing to resume talks immediately, but has also staked out tougher positions than his predecessor, Ehud Olmert, with whom Abbas negotiated in 2008. Netanyahu says he will not relinquish any part of Jerusalem, while the Palestinians seek the eastern sector as their future capital.

Earlier this week, Netanyahu added a new complication by saying he would seek

lished in a Time Magazine interview the previous day, indicating he may have overestimated his ability to get the two sides back to the negotiating table. Israel “found it very hard to move with any bold gestures,” while Abbas had “Hamas looking over his shoulder,” Obama had said, referring to the Palestinian leader’s militant rivals who rule the Gaza Strip.

an Israeli presence in a prospective Palestinian state in order to prevent the smuggling of missiles and other weapons.

Abbas aides have said resuming talks is pointless as long as Netanyahu refuses to pick up where Abbas and Olmert left off.

They also fear that Washington’s failure to get Israel to halt settlement construction bodes ill for its ability as a broker once far tougher issues such as a partition of Jerusalem are on the table.

Abbas also fears his personal standing, under constant assault from Hamas, will erode further if he returns to talks while settlements keep expanding.

Nearly half a million Israelis have moved to the West Bank and east Jerusalem since Israel captured the territories in the 1967 Mideast war. With settlements chipping away at Palestinian-claimed territory, set-

ting up a Palestinian state would be increasingly difficult.

Mitchell started his latest mission Thursday, meeting with Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders.

Despite the gloom, the envoy said Obama still hopes to see a Palestinian state alongside Israel in peace. “We will pursue (that) until we achieve that objective,” Mitchell said Thursday.

Mitchell is expected to leave this weekend, and it’s unclear what Obama’s next move could be. In his interview with Time, Obama seemed pessimistic. “I think it is absolutely true that what we did this year didn’t produce the kind of breakthrough that we wanted and if we had anticipated some of these political problems on both sides earlier, we might not have raised expectations as high,” Obama said. — AP

Psychiatric problems burden for US troops

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara are seen at a polling station in Jerusalem last year. A legal battle between a cleaning lady and the first lady Sara has spawned a clash between Israeli Prime Minister and the local media, which is evidently relishing the scandal. — AFP

Cleaning lady vs first lady sets Israel PM against media JERUSALEM: A legal battle between a cleaning lady and Israel’s first lady has spawned a clash between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the press, which is treating the scandal with relish.

Both the premier and President Shimon Peres have sternly told the media to stay away from the case, making it clear that it should not be judged in the court of public opinion.

But newspapers were still gleefully devoting full pages to the Netanyahu household yesterday, a week after the mass-circulation Yediot Aharonot revealed that a housekeeper filed a lawsuit alleging serial mistreatment when she was employed by the first lady. “We are ending a week where the focus was on the maid of Sara Netanyahu,” public radio said yesterday, adding almost as an afterthought: “and on Haiti.” Bibi, as the prime minister is known, is none too happy about the continued media attention.

“They have marked me,” the Haaretz newspaper quoted him as telling confidants in reference to Israeli media, particularly the mass-circulation Yediot Aharonot and its rival Maariv, which have revelled in the scandal. Large, unflattering cartoons of Mrs Netanyahu have appeared almost daily alongside articles digging up past allegations about the oft-reviled Sara, reviving claims she meddles unduly in government affairs and delving into the latest claims of bizarre behaviour.

In her lawsuit, housekeeper Lillian Peretz claimed that while in Netanyahu’s employ, she was made to shower and change her clothes several times a day and to compliment the first lady, telling her “she was pretty and smart.”

The lawsuit alleges Peretz’s woes were “like the story of Cinderella,” evidently comparing Sara Netanyahu to the fairy tale’s evil stepmother.

Netanyahu “piled on her impossible tasks, tyrannised her and screamed at her... insulted her femininity... until her mental and physical collapse.” The 44-year-old mother of four claimed she was paid less than the minimum wage and the Netanyahus did not pay her social benefits when she worked at their weekend home in the plush coastal town of Caesarea between 2004 and 2009.

The Netanyahus have vehemently rejected the allegations, saying in a statement that the lawsuit is “riddled with slander and inventions against the prime minister’s wife.” Sara Netanyahu, a former air stewardess and now a practising psychologist, is no stranger to unwelcome media attention.

In 1996, during her husband’s first term, she was embroiled in what became known as the Nannygate scandal, when a young woman in her employ claimed Sara would scream at her for burning soup and once threw her into the street.

Commentators have been speculating on what this all means for the prime minister.

Ben Caspit of the Maariv newspaper was adamant that the right-wing Likud leader “is unfit to be prime minister,” claiming he is profoundly compromised by his “problematic” wife’s meddling in government affairs. But others doubt the scandal will have any serious political repercussions for Bibi. “It is about his wife: she is not a member of government,” said Gerald Steinberg, a political analyst from the right-wing Bar-Ilan University.

“There is no political substance to this.” — AFP

PARIS: US troops withdrawn from the front line in Iraq and Afghanistan for medical reasons from 2004 to 2007 were increasingly evacuated because of psychiatric problems, a study released yesterday reveals.

Only 14 percent of troops taken out of combat operations on medical grounds during this fouryear period were because of a combat injury.

The biggest single cause for a pullout were musculo-skeletal and joint problems, which accounted for 24 percent of medical evacuations.

In contrast, psychiatric grounds accounted for five percent of evacuations in Iraq and six percent in Afghanistan in 2004; these figures rose to 14 percent and 11 percent respectively in 2007.

The analysis, published by The Lancet, was led by Steven Cohen of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore.

It drew on data from more than 34,000 US personnel who had been evacuated to the main US military receiving hospital in Landstuhl, Germany.

The authors note that the increase in psychiatric cases occurred despite the introduction of mental health teams devoted to treating combat stress.

Repeat missions and dwindling public support for the Iraq war may partly account for the rise, they suggest.

“Possible explanations... are the cumulative psychological effect of repeated deployments, the increasing manpower burden borne by reserve and National Guard units, a decreased threshold for evacuation, and a shift in public opinion regarding the war in Iraq,” says the paper.

Other significant causes for medical evacuation were disorders of the nervous system (10 percent) and spinal pain (seven percent).

The findings have implications for the Pentagon, seeking to prevent evacuations that sap frontline strength and disrupt operations, and for doctors and families helping returning troops. —AFP

PARIS: France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy, left, welcomes Lebanon’s Prime Minister Saad Hariri prior to their meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris yesterday. — AP

Brown to appear at Iraq inquiry LONDON: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown will be quizzed sooner than expected about his role in the decision to join the unpopular war in Iraq, the chairman of an inquiry into the conflict confirmed yesterday. Brown’s testimony _ just weeks before the general election, which must be called

by June 3 _ is unlikely to help his Labour Party, which is widely expected to lose the vote.

John Chilcot, who is leading the inquiry, said he originally wanted Brown and other ministers to appear after the election to keep the proceedings “from being used as a platform for political advantage by any party.”

Brown’s opponents complained, however, that allowing the prime minister to avoid being called to testify before the electoral contest was unfair.

Brown said the decision was not his to make and that he was ready to appear at any time, his office said. Chilcot said Friday he

had agreed to move Brown’s testimony forward “as a matter of fairness.” Also expected to testify in the inquiry before April are Foreign Secretary David Miliband and International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander.

Brown was Treasury chief when former Prime Minister Tony Blair threw his support behind the American effort to unseat Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

The invasion split British public opinion and spawned a huge protest movement, and much remaining support for the campaign withered away as Iraq descended into chaos.

Brown has also been criticized for allegedly depriving troops in the field of equipment. Geoff Hoon, defense secretary at the time of the invasion, said this week that Brown’s Treasury had underfunded the military for years.

Although opposition politicians praised the move as a chance to hold Brown accountable, one expert said he doubted the

prime minister’s appearance would sway many voters either way.

“Is this going to make much of a difference in terms of Labour’s performance? I’d be very surprised,” said Steven Fielding, director of the Center for British Politics at Nottingham University.

Although public anger over the decision to go to war with Iraq still lingers, Fielding said the inquiry’s sedate proceedings _ many of which have involved cross-examining senior bureaucrats about the exchange of interdepartmental memos - have had little impact on voters’ consciousness. Fielding said Brown, whose party is trailing badly in the polls, may have decided it was less damaging to appear before the inquiry than to appear to be hiding from it.

He also noted that the embattled leader faces three live televised debates with his political opponents in the coming months.

“Maybe he needs practice,” Fielding said. —AP

Barred candidates must denounce Saddam BAGHDAD: The Iraqi government said yesterday that more than 500 candidates disqualified from a March general election for alleged links to Saddam Hussein must denounce his ousted regime and its crimes.

Government spokesman Ali Dabbagh said in a statement that such a disavowal of the executed dictator and his now outlawed Baath party would enable the candidates’ reintegration into Iraqi society, but he did not specifically offer reinstatement on the ballot papers. “The Baathists whose names figure on the list drawn up by the integrity and accountability committee must declare their innocence and condemn the crimes and failings of Saddam Hussein’s regime and the Baath party,” Dabbagh said.

“It will provide them with the opportunity to live normally and integrate back into Iraqi society.”

The blacklist of more than 500 names has stoked tensions between the Shiite majority that leads the government and the Sunni Arab former elite, alarming the White House and the United Nations ahead of the March 7 vote.

The row sparked a flurry of contacts in recent days by US Vice President Joe Biden aimed at brokering a compromise, notably through President Jalal Talabani, who is a Kurd.

Biden “proposed that the disqualifications be deferred until after the election and that those candidates who have been barred condemn and disavow the Baath party and undertake to act through democratic means,” Talabani said.

Electoral commission chief

KARBALA: Tools are set aside as employees working for the Iraqi Ministry of Human Rights inspect and clear a mass grave that is being analyzed and logged in the southern city of Karbala yesterday. The remains are believed to be from those killed in the 1991 Shiite Muslim Uprising squashed by then leader Saddam Hussein. —AFP Faraj al-Haidari meanwhile told AFP more candidates could be barred from contesting the election with the defence and interior ministries publishing lists naming “numerous candidates who have criminal records or false diplomas.” Haidari said the list of former Baathists barred from running in the election includes an equal proportion of Sunnis and Shiites, as well as Kurds and “all the components of Iraqi society.”

But he said the government has “no authority to reintegrate the Baathists,” since only the supreme court has the power to

declare that the candidates’ disqualifications “lacked a legal basis and to reinstate their names.”

Talabani called on Thursday for just such a referral to the supreme court, questioning the legality of the integrity and accountability committee which drew up the blacklist.

“Our question is: ‘Is the organisation that took this decision legal?’” the president said.

Prominent Sunni Arab MPs have advanced a similar argument, pointing out that the committee was never approved by parliament.

The blacklist includes members of Saddam’s once deadly Fedayeen (Men of Sacrifice) militia and Mukhabarat intelligence division. Baath party membership was essential for obtaining a job and promotion in Iraq’s omnipotent public sector during Saddam’s regime.

A process of de-Baathification was adopted by Washington diplomat Paul Bremer, head of the Coalition Provisional Authority, following the US-led invasion of 2003, which saw thousands of Saddam-era employees lose their jobs.—AFP

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New India security chief may herald China outreach NEW DELHI: India has appointed a former top diplomat as National Security Adviser in a move that may see efforts to improve ties with rival Pakistan and push for better relations with China.

Shiv Shankar Menon, 60, takes over from M.K. Narayanan, a former intelligence chief seen as having a more hawkish approach to regional security, and who critics said lacked a wider geopolitical understanding. Menon, who retired last year as head of India’s foreign service, played a crucial role in cementing ties with the United States through a civilian nuclear technology

deal and seeking to normalise relations with Pakistan after the 2008 Mumbai attack.

The NSA coordinates both internal and external security in India, as well as playing a role in setting India’s diplomatic agenda.

Narayanan was a key negotiator in the US civilian nuclear deal in 2008.

“What we can hope to see now is a strategic vision as opposed to a tactical view,” said Amitabh Mattoo, professor of foreign policy studies at the Jawaharlal Nehru University.

“We will see a reaching out to Pakistan, a consolidation of relations with China. As

India emerges as a global power he will seek to settle down our neighbourhood.”

The key challenge Menon faces is reducing tension with Islamabad and resuming a 5-year-long peace dialogue India suspended after the Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people.

As someone close to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Menon probably has the leader’s support in reaching out to Pakistan but such a move is difficult in the minefield of Indian politics and where making concessions to Pakistan can evoke public suspicion.

“Clearly he is someone who believes in engaging Pakistan but he will have to wait for a political opportunity to be created to be able to move forward,” said a former diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Menon’s dealings with Pakistan have generated controversy. Many asked if he had made an unusual blunder in drafting a declaration at an India-Pakistan summit in Egypt last year in which India appeared to de-link terrorism from a broader peace process that India halted after November’s attacks. The government also drew flak for

agreeing to include in the joint statement a reference to the Pakistani province of Baluchistan, where Pakistan accuses India of fomenting an insurgency. New Delhi denies the charge.

The controversy highlighted how politically risky it is to push peace with Pakistan and bring about any major policy shift. Such hurdles will meet Menon as well. “Any policy shift is going to be just incremental,” said Brahma Chellaney, a leading political analyst with the Centre for Policy Research.

Menon, considered a China expert with

strong knowledge of the language, is not a policymaker and he will defer to politicians such as Singh and Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna.

But as the national security adviser he will exert huge influence as the point-person in negotiations with Pakistan and China, which would be another priority for him. A long-standing dispute over their Himalayan border, which sparked a short war in 1962, still festers between Asia’s two emerging giants. “We can expect him to push for resolution of the boundary problem with China,” Mattoo said. — Reuters

Pre-poll violence escalates

Bomb attack targets Sri Lanka opposition COLOMBO: A key opposition activist in Sri Lanka was targeted at home by a bomb attack blamed on the ruling party yesterday as violence escalated ahead of next week’s presidential election. The pre-dawn blast destroyed a car and severely damaged the home of Tiran Alles, a wealthy businessman and

MANILA: Farmers and activists burn an effigy of Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo shaped in the style of the US Uncle Sam as they gather at Mendiola, Manila yesterday to commemorate the 23rd anniversary of the Mendiola Massacre. The massacre occurred under former Philippine president Corazon Aquino’s administration in 1987 when 13 farmers were killed by security forces as they marched on Malacanang Palace. The protesters were demanding genuine agrarian reform from the government. — AFP

Move to save Philippine rice terraces MANILA: International electric power producers have donated a $1 million hydroelectric plant to the Philippine government that will raise funds to help save the country’s famous rice terraces, officials said yesterday. The 220-kilowatt plant donated by the nonprofit group e8 is now operating in the northern Ifugao province, home to 10,000 square kilometers of steepling rice terraces carved out of the mountainsides some 2,000 years ago and irrigated by spring waters.

The terraces, the main tourist attraction in the northern Cordillera region, were

included in the UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Sites in Danger in 2001 after about 30 percent of them were found abandoned. Damage to some of their stone and mud walls threaten to erode the mountainsides. Johane Meagher, e8 executive director, said that the hydropower plant’s $70,000 in annual revenue will go to a conservation fund to rehabilitate the ancient rice fields. The project will also showcase sustainable rural energy development, she said in a statement. The group turned over the plant to the Department of Energy at a

ceremony in Manila Friday, said Mario Marasigan, director of the Renewable Energy Management Bureau.

The plant, built by Tokyo Electric Power Company, was completed in December and has been connected to the region’s main grid, providing about 18 percent of Ifugao’s power needs, Marasigan said. Canada-based e8 comprises 10 electric power producers from seven members of the G8 — the United States, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, Germany and Russia. —AP

Karzai wants to pay Taleban to disarm KABUL: Afghan President Hamid Karzai unveiled an ambitious Western-funded plan yesterday to offer money and jobs to tempt Taleban fighters to lay down their arms and return to civilian life. His comments in an interview with the BBC came as US Defence Secretary Robert Gates described the Taleban as part of Afghanistan’s “political fabric” but said any future role would depend on insurgents laying down their weapons.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also unveiled a long-term non-military strategy to stabilize Afghanistan and Pakistan that calls for sending in more civilian experts and bringing extremists back into mainstream society.

The Taleban militia and other insurgent groups have been waging an increasingly deadly rebellion against the Afghan government and foreign troops since a US-led invasion ousted the Taliban regime from power in late 2001.

“We know as the Afghan people we must have peace at any cost,” Karzai said in the television interview aired Friday ahead of an international conference on Afghanistan in London next week. “Those that we approach to return will be provided with the abilities to work, to find jobs, to have protection, to resettle in their own communities.”

Hardline Taleban supporters, who were members of Al-Qaeda or other terror groups, would not be accepted, Karzai said, adding that he expected the plan to be announced at the London conference on Thursday.

The Taleban gives its volunteers higher salaries than the Afghan government can afford to pay its forces, and the president said his project would have international backing to provide the necessary funds.

The Taleban leadership have repeatedly rebuffed peace talks in the past, while spokesmen for another top insurgent leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar also said he would not come to the table unless strict conditions were met. — AFP

The attack came amid tightened security as Sri Lankans prepare to go to the polls Tuesday to choose between President Mahinda Rajapakse and his former army chief Fonseka.

The opposition alleged Alles had been targeted because Fonseka’s campaign had released a photograph of Rajapakse’s eldest son Namal with a Tamil rebel leader at a London nightclub.

Rajapakse’s reputation as a war-hero president is staked on his victory over the Tamil Tiger rebels last year, who were wiped out in a huge government offensive after 37 years of fighting.

“Since the photograph showed some sort of a link between the president’s family and the Tamil Tigers, Alles had been receiving death threats,” the spokesman said. “Even yesterday, we complained that he could be targeted.” Alles said forensic experts were going through the wreckage of his car and house at Colombo’s Nawala quarter, but he did not expect an impartial inquiry from the police.

Charred debris was strewn over the frontyard of the firedamaged house and the roof had partially collapsed. “I don’t expect anything from the investigation,” Alles said. “They will try to kill me before the election.” Alles campaigned for Rajapakse’s victory in the November 2005 election, but fell out when a few dissidents were sacked from the government.

Since his fall from grace within the Rajapakse adminis-

Village chief killed in poll violence

NEW DELHI: Indian men jog amidst thick fog in New Delhi yesterday. Thick fog across northern India has disrupted hundreds of flights and caused chaos on the densely populated region’s roads, officials said. — AFP

Australia condemns latest attacks against Indians SYDNEY: Australian police were yesterday investigating two new assaults against Indians, but again denied that the violence in the northeastern state of Queensland was racially motivated.

A 25-year-old man was punched in the head and robbed of his wallet at a phone booth in Brisbane on Thursday night and, in a separate incident early Friday, a taxi driver was hit in the face during an argument with passengers. He was taken to hospital with facial cuts.

New Delhi warned this week that the attacks on Indians could damage bilateral relations, after a spate of incidents in the southern state of Victoria, including the stabbing murder of a young Punjab man.

“There’s no doubt this has been an issue in the international arena,” Queensland Treasurer Andrew Fraser said. “That’s why we want to emphasise... that this is a welcoming, tolerant society,” he added. “No one endorses any violence against any individual.”

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh said “all of the available police resources necessary will be investigating these attacks, as they would any attack against anybody in Queensland.

“Obviously these attacks have just happened and it’s yet to be seen what motivated them,” she

said.

But acting police commissioner Kathy Ryders said there was no evidence to suggest the assaults were targeting Indians. “We are certainly not anticipating further attacks on Indians that would be of a copycat nature,” she said.

The incidents come as Indians in the Victorian capital Melbourne prepared to hold a Sunday church service in one of the city’s largest cathedrals to pray for peace and protection.

“Our hearts go out to the young Indians who have suffered in this country,” said Melbourne’s Anglican Archbishop Philip Freier. “We well understand the anxiety of their families in India after recent events.” Spokesman for Indian students Gautam Gupta said the service was a way to reject violence and racism.

“Despite recent mindless acts of violence we all also give thanks for Australia, for its opportunities, for its welcome to people from other countries and for its values of equality, friendship and celebration of difference,” Gupta said.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on Thursday urged India to keep the “regrettable” violence in perspective, saying it was not isolated to Indian nationals and should be viewed in the context of “broader incidences of violence”. —- AFP

MANILA: Gunmen barged into the home of a village leader in the central Philippines, killing him in front of his family in the latest violence ahead of May elections, the military said Friday. Danny Amor was shot several times in the back with silencer-fitted pistols as he had dinner at home with his family in Masbate province’s San Jacinto township late Thursday, said Maj. Harold Cabunoc, an army spokesman.

Cabunoc said politics was believed behind the killing, the second poll-related murder in the province in three days. The head of a village leaders’ association was shot dead Tuesday in Esperanza township.

In May, Filipinos will vote for a new president, senators, congressmen and officials down to the village level. Elections in the Southeast Asian democracy are typically marred by bloodshed and fraud.

In November, 57 people were massacred in the southern Philippines on their way to register a gubernatorial candidate _ the worst election-related violence in the country’s history. Members of a rival clan have been arrested but only one has so far been charged over the killings.

In an attempt to forestall violence ahead of the polls, two weeks ago the Philippines initiated a five-month, nationwide ban on carrying guns in public, and at least 357 violators have been arrested so far, including 52 police and military personnel found with weapons while not in uniform or on duty. —AP

key ally of the opposition presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka. He and his family escaped unhurt. “I heard a huge explosion and as I came out of my room I saw the house on fire,” Alles said, pointing the finger at the ruling party for the attempt on his life. “They were obviously trying to kill me.”

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan police check the wreckage at the home of an opposition activist following a bomb attack by an unidentified group in Colombo yesterday. UN chief Ban Ki-moon is alarmed by the growing violence in Sri Lanka, including the reported slaying of political activists ahead of the upcoming presidential elections, his spokesman said. — AFP tration, Alles had worked with the opposition and was partly credited with arranging for Fonseka to come forward as a common opposition candidate.

Fonseka and opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe visited the bombed home. “The attackers are believed to have come in a van and carried out the attack and fled,” a police official at the scene said, adding that no arrests had been made. Previous elections have been marred by major

violence. The Tamil Tigers assassinated an opposition candidate in 1994 and another was wounded in a similar suicide bombing in 1999. They also enforced a Tamil boycott of the 2005 vote. There have been no suicide bombings in the latest campaign, but police say at least four people have been killed and hundreds wounded as supporters of the two main candidates clash across the country.

The police have received

more than 700 complaints of election-related violence.

The attack came despite a stepping up of security across the country following orders from Rajapakse to ensure a violence-free vote.

International concern over escalating election-related violence has poured in with United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon on Thursday expressing alarm over the increasing number of violent incidents and killings. —AFP

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Saturday, January 23, 2010

Bolivia’s Morales vows to help poor in second term TIWANAKU, Bolivia: Dressed in a white llama-wool gown, Bolivian President Evo Morales took part in a symbolic secondterm swearing-in ceremony on Thursday featuring shamans and thousands of Indian supporters, then promised to help the poor by advancing his left-wing policies.

Morales, the country’s first indigenous president, won a landslide re-elec-

tion in December on the back of broad support from Bolivia’s impoverished Indian majority.

The Indian ritual was intended to bring him good luck and shortly after it ended, Morales, an ally of socialist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, vowed to continue his leftist policies.

“We need to dream, brothers and sisters, dream with dignity, freedom; dream

that the downtrodden will have access to education, health, basic services,” he told thousands of supporters in Tiwanaku, a sacred site for Aymara and Quechua Indians south of La Paz. Last year, Morales led an overhaul of the constitution to enshrine traditional religions and practices and give indigenous groups greater rights over their land in a move that helped to boost his popu-

larity.

“Our great responsibility now is to deepen and accelerate the changes we’ve seen in Bolivia,” said Morales, who in his first term nationalized energy, mining and telecommunications firms previously in the hands of foreign investors.

His state takeover of the natural gas industry in 2006 raised taxes on foreign companies in Bolivia including Spain’s

Repsol and Brazil’s Petrobras and brought a windfall that Morales used to boost social spending.

Critics say the nationalizations have scared away much-needed foreign investment and that his cash subsidies to the poor are aimed at buying political support.

Morales, a 50-year-old former llama herder who grew up in extreme poverty,

needs foreign investors to forge ahead with ambitious plans to develop largescale lithium, natural gas and steel projects because Bolivia lacks both capital and expertise.

Analysts say corruption and state inefficiency may hinder Morales’ efforts to fight poverty and diversify the economy from its dependence on natural gas and mineral exports. —- Reuters

Hopes of finding more survivors fade

Mass relocation for Haiti homeless PORT-AU-PRINCE: Haiti has launched a huge operation to move hundreds of thousands of homeless out of the ruined capital, as hopes of finding more survivors fade 10 days after the devastating quake. Medics treated the countless injured in makeshift hospitals as gangrene began to set in, and fresh looting broke out in devastated Port-au-Prince even as some signs of normal life returned. “It is difficult to work as before, but we’re “We want to stop living like animals,” said Carole Deslouis, who finally received the promise of food and shelter in the square Thursday after days of washing her children with filthy water and begging for rice. US forces are also repairing the main port, hoping to slowly reopen it from Friday and help receive the massive international aid shipments for the hundreds of thousands of survivors.

US Navy and US Army divers were to start rebuilding the badly-damaged pier to relieve pressure on the country’s overburdened main airport.

The 7.0-magnitude quake has killed at least 75,000 and left a million homeless.

Haiti’s government said it would try to relocate an estimated 500,000 left destitute, moving them out of squalid, stinking bivouacs into temporary accommodation outside Port-au-Prince.

“The government has made available to people free transportation. A large operation is taking place: we’re in the process of relocating homeless people,” said Interior Minister Paul Antoine Bien-Aime.

The government will hire about 34 buses to take quake victims to the south and north of the Caribbean nation to hastily set up villages designed to hold 10,000 people each, and work with local mayors to identify sites.

Rescue teams from around the world still combed the debris for survivors in and around Port-au-Prince, after

on course to regain control,” President Rene Preval told reporters, seeking to counter charges that the government has been largely absent since the January 12 disaster.

Alongside the Haitian plan, French and US rescue workers have begun to clear debris and human waste from around the city’s ceremonial square, the Champ de Mars, which has become a giant ad hoc refugee camp.

PORT-AU-PRINCE: An injured woman is carried into the UMH, a hospital built and staffed with volunteers through the University of Miami in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday. The massive volunteer effort was organized for the victims of the Jan 12, earthquake that struck Haiti with widespread damage and death in the city and surrounding area. — AP two children were rescued alive on Wednesday, but Thursday brought no new signs of life from beneath the silent debris.

Those pulled from the rubble still face a desperate fight for survival.

A group of 33 children who have been adopted by French families were expected to arrive in Paris on Friday

evening after flying from Portau-Prince, French consul Jean-Pierre Gueguan told AFP. Several of the children had been living in a nursery that was severely damaged in the quake, but “not a single child was injured and not a single adoption file was lost,” Gueguan said.

Tens of thousands of seri-

ously injured Haitians remain in makeshift field hospitals set up in tents on the ruins of the ravaged capital.

International doctors, working in miserable conditions lacking supplies and modern equipment, have carried out scores of amputations to save victims with serious crush wounds or to repair internal injuries.

A 1,000-bed capacity US naval hospital ship is moored off Haiti with about 800 medical personnel and has begun taking the worst of the injured.

The International Organisation for Migration estimated that at least half a million people are now living outdoors in improvised camps, and warned the num-

Nigerian court gives president a deadline

LONDON: A handout picture shows British couple Paul Chandler and his wife Rachel (second right). The couple taken hostage by Somali pirates almost three months ago has said on Thursday they could be executed within days. — AFP

British couple held by Somali pirates ‘fears death in days’ LONDON: A British man taken hostage with his wife by Somali pirates almost three months ago has said he fears the couple could be executed within days.

Paul Chandler, who was kidnapped with his wife Rachel Chandler on Oct 23 when pirates boarded their yacht in the Indian Ocean, also said the pair were being treated like “captive animals.”

“They’ve lost patience. They set a deadline of three or four days. If they don’t hear then they say they will let us die,” the 59-year-old told Britain’s ITV News.

“I’m afraid that they will just kill us and abandon us in the desert here,” he said in the interview given to the broadcaster late Wednesday. The couple was snatched when their yacht, the Lynn Rival, was sailing from the Seychelles en route to Tanzania. They were moved to mainland Somalia at the end of October, according to one of the pirates.

The husband made a similar statement in a video broadcast by a different British television channel on November 20, in which he said the pirates were “losing patience” and may kill the couple in a week without a ransom payment.

The pirates have demanded $7 million but

the Foreign Office has ruled out paying it.

In the latest video, Paul Chandler said he had been violently separated from his 55-yearold wife who was now being constantly tormented.

“We tried to stay together and they threw us to the ground and whipped us, and beat Rachel with the rifle butts and I was dragged off and taken to a different location,” he said.

“I was allowed to telephone her about 12 days ago. She said she was being tormented all the time and she said she was giving up.”

Paul Chandler also told the broadcaster that a British military ship that was in range when the couple were kidnapped could have attempted to rescue them.

A previous report in the Times newspaper said the couple had been moved between safe houses close to Haradheere in Somalia to prevent their capture by other gangs or Islamist insurgents.

ITV News said it had passed the information to the couple’s family and Foreign Office before broadcasting the interview.

The Foreign Office said they were monitoring the situation and doing everything possible to secure the couple’s release. — AFP

ABUJA, Nigeria: A high court justice said yesterday that Nigeria’s Cabinet must pass a resolution within 14 days determining whether the ailing president is capable of remaining in power.

Judge Dan Abutu ruled yesterday that the Cabinet must reconvene to determine the fate of the presidential office.

President Umaru Yar’Adua left Nigeria nearly two months ago to seek medical treatment in Saudi Arabia. He has long been troubled by a kidney ailment, and doctors have said the 58-year-old is now suffering from acute pericarditis, an inflammation of the sac surrounding the heart. Three lawsuits aim to force the federal government to allow the vice president to take over.

Abutu is ruling on two of the cases.

While Nigerian law allows for a smooth transition of power from Yar’Adua to Vice President Goodluck Jonathan, the president left without formally appointing an acting leader, as the constitution requires. The constitution puts Jonathan next in line, but it’s unclear if the Muslim-dominated north would allow the

Muslim Yar’Adua to be replaced with Jonathan, who is a Christian. The Nigerian presidency alternates between Christian and Muslim leaders, and Yar’Adua still has two years left in his term.

Yar’Adua’s nearly twomonth absence prompted hundreds of Nigerians to protest in the capital earlier this month after the leader said in a radio interview that he hoped to recover and return to power. “The court is directing the Cabinet to convene and pass a resolution to determine whether the president is still fit to run the office,” Abutu said, adding that it is not in the court’s power to make a final decision on the president.

Michael Aondoakaa, Nigeria’s attorney general, said the government will abide by the judgment of the court.

“The executive council of the Federation of Nigerian will be sorting this as directed and will consider a resolution on the state of the president’s health,” he said. Farouk Aliyu, a member of Nigeria’s opposition party filed this case.

Aliyu’s lawyer said that Nigerians must now appeal to the Cabinet. —AP

ber was climbing as people flood in from damaged villages.

Thousands of US troops have poured into Haiti with 20,000 expected on the ground or offshore by Sunday.

Other nations have pledged security forces to help distribute aid, provide medical treatment and keep the streets secure from looters.

General Douglas Fraser, the head of US Southern Command, said the extra US troops would “give us an increased capacity to move humanitarian supplies throughout the country.”

Three amphibious ships will support the deployment, along with a helicopter squadron, a tilt-rotor squadron and medical personnel and facilities, the US military said.

The World Bank said it would waive Haiti’s debt payments for the next five years, and study efforts to cancel the nation’s remaining debt of about 38 million dollars.

Prices have soared on the streets amid general shortages. Anyone who managed to stash extra food, petrol or cigarettes can now get rich, quick.

“I had several cans of gasoline at home for a factory on my property and I have been selling them little by little,” said Ludovic. “It’s 400 Haitian gourdes (around 10 dollars), no haggling,” he said, pricing a can at twice what it fetched before the quake.

World powers will discuss plans to rebuild the country at a major donor conference on Monday in Montreal. — AFP

Russian ship with 30 crew ‘could sink’ MOSCOW: A Russian cargo ship with a 30-strong crew was stranded yesterday in the icy Sea of Okhotsk, emergency officials said.

The Smolninsky refrigerated vessel was being battered by side winds and listing dangerously to its port side, said a duty officer for a search and rescue center on Russia’s far eastern Sakhalin Island. Ice had formed on the ship and the crew was trying to chip it off, he said. The officer spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to give his name. The Smolninsky’s captain sent a distress call yesterday morning, said local Emergencies Minister spokesman Alexander Ivelsky. —AP

WASHINGTON: First Lady Michelle Obama gestures while speaking at the Commerce Department in Washington on Thursday. — AP

Politics of terrorism emerge anew in US WASHINGTON: Terrorism is creeping back to the forefront of the American mindset, creating an election-year issue for emboldened Republicans and forcing President Barack Obama to reassert himself after a wobbly period of homeland protection.

Republican Scott Brown’s upset Senate win in traditionally Democratic Massachusetts, propelled in part by his opposition to Obama’s terror-fighting approach, has weakened Obama’s legislative hand just as Congress is demanding answers about security. And although health care reform is the matter most immediately affected by Obama’s sudden loss of the super-majority he needs in the Senate to pass big legislation, his entire agenda will be reshaped in some way by the political fallout. Public concern about terrorism is at its highest levels in months, according to a new Associated Press-GfK poll. In Obama’s favor: More than half of people, 54 percent, approve of his handling of terrorism, the poll found. That’s a higher rating than Obama gets for his handling of the economy, health care, Iraq, the budget deficit or taxes.

Yet Republicans traditionally claim security as a political strong suit, and recent events have not helped the party in power. “It’s shaping up as an issue that Republicans are going to be able to use against Obama and this White House because there’s a sense that things are out of control,” said veteran Republican strategist

Scott Reed said. “It’s touched a theme of, ‘What’s going on over there?”‘ Americans are still jittery that a Nigerian man with ties to al-Qaida got by US intelligence and security and attempted to blow up a Detroitbound airliner on Christmas Day. In November, an Army sergeant who had shown erratic behavior is alleged to have massacred 13 people at the Fort Hood Army post in Texas.

Both cases involved missed warning signs, and the Detroit scare so exposed flaws in the system that Obama called it a nearly disastrous “screw-up.”

Even the case of a high-society couple who managed to crash a White House state dinner on Nov. 24, a rare breach that allowed uninvited guests to get close to the president, has fed the narrative, Reed said. As commander in chief, Obama holds much of the power on national security, but Congress can help him or block him on many fronts. Democrats head into November’s election with a 257-178 majority in the House and, once Brown is sworn in, a 59-41 majority in the Senate. The hawkish line of argument that Brown used is likely one that Republicans will return to all year. Brown says accused terrorists should not be tried in civilian courts and, more broadly, that the US needs to tighten its grip in pursuing and interrogating suspects. Republicans will likely frame the matter as either being tough on terror or having a “pre-9/11 mentality,” as House Republican leader John Boehner put it. —AP

Brothers, aged 11 and 12, sentenced for torture LONDON: British brothers who carried out a shocking attack on two fellow youngsters last year have been sentenced to a minimum of five years in custody.

The attackers, aged 10 and 11 at the time, lured their victims into a secluded area near the northern England town of Edlington before subjecting them to a sustained period of torture.

They robbed, beat and stabbed their victims with sticks and bricks. One 10-year-old child had a sink thrown onto his head, while his 9-year-old nephew was forced to eat nettles. At one point during the April 4 assault the young tormentors tried to force their victims to have sex with each another. The boys survived the attack. Neither the victims nor the children sentenced yesterday may be named for legal reasons. —- AP

BONIFACIO: A French NGO worker offers water to refugees in a gymnasium in Bonifacio yesterday. These people were among a boatload of 124 illegal migrants that landed on a beach in the French Mediterranean island, Corsica. The migrants, including women and 38 children, were dropped off near the southern town of Bonifacio by a boat which then departed, officials said. A French official said the migrants were believed to be from the Middle East or North Africa.

Officials had said earlier that some of them were believed to be from Iraq or Syria. — AFP

Saturday, January 23, 2010

BUSINESS

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Markets tank as Obama moves to rein in banks Fresh offensive against Wall Street excesses WASHINGTON: Stock markets around the world slumped yesterday after President Barack Obama unveiled plans to limit the size and scope of US banks and financial firms in a fresh offensive against Wall Street excesses.

Markets from New York to Tokyo reacted with barely-restrained panic to

SEOUL: Passengers wait to buy tickets at the Korean Air ticketing counter at Gimpo airport in Seoul yesterday. Korean Air posted a profit in the fourth quarter, rebounding from losses the year before, on increased cargo sales, lower fuel costs and a stronger South Korean currency.—AP

Korean Air books Q4 net profit on cargo gains SEOUL: Korean Air posted a profit in the fourth quarter, rebounding from a loss the year before, on increased cargo revenue spurred by recovery in the global economy, lower fuel costs and a stronger South Korean currency.

South Korea’s biggest airline earned 122.29 billion won ($107.2 million) in the three months ended Dec. 31, it said in a regulatory filing yesterday. The airline posted a net loss of 644 billion won a year earlier. The result, Korean Air’s third straight quarterly net profit after six consecutive losses, came despite a decline in revenue, which fell 4.9 percent to 2.58 trillion won from 2.71 trillion won a year earlier.

Korean Air Lines Co., the world’s biggest carrier of international commercial cargo among passenger airlines, said in a statement that earnings were boosted by “surging growth” in the cargo business.

Cargo sales rose 22 percent to 942 billion won from the same period the year before, Korean Air said, calling the sector the “major growth driver” for revenue during the quarter amid “a recovery in consumer spending worldwide.” Korean Air also said that international passenger traffic helped boost earnings, rising 11.3 percent. Jet fuel expenses, meanwhile, declined 22 percent from the same period the year before to 785.2 billion won, helped by a 15 percent decline in the average price per gallon of fuel to $2.02.

The South Korean won rose 17 percent against

the dollar on average during the fourth quarter from the same period the year before, according to Bank of Korea data. International jet fuel is denominated in dollars so a stronger South Korean won can help reduce fuel costs. The stronger won also helped reduce Korean Air’s foreign exchange conversion loss to 19.9 billion won in the fourth quarter from 466.5 billion won the year before.

A stronger won can also ease Korean Air’s burden of servicing its foreign-denominated debt. The airline said it had $5.03 billion in dollar-denominated debt at the end of December.

Korean Air’s improved fortunes were still not enough to avert a loss for the entire year. The airline said it ended up 61.49 billion won in the red last year, though that was far better than its loss of 1.94 trillion won in 2008. Looking ahead, Korean Air said it plans to add seven aircraft to its fleet this year and another 15 in 2011. The company also said it expects its cargo business to spur growth in 2010, citing a turnaround in global cargo demand and increasing export volume.Shares in Korean Air, which released earnings results during afternoon trading fell 2.2 percent to close at 58,600 won. The airline’s stock price rose 44.5 percent in 2009. Korean Air flies passengers and cargo to 117 cities in 39 countries. Passenger destinations include Beijing, Cairo, London, Los Angeles, New York, Sao Paulo, Sydney, Tel Aviv, Tokyo, Ulan Bator, Mongolia and Tashkent, Uzbekistan. — AP

Russia’s RUSAL raises $2.2bn in Hong Kong IPO HONG KONG/LONDON: Russia’s UC RUSAL, the world’s largest aluminium producer, raised $2.2 billion through its initial public offering and brought the debt-burdened company a step closer to being the first non-Asian firm to have a primary listing in Hong Kong. The IPO will help RUSAL pay back part of $16.8 billion in borrowed money and allow the Hong Kong Stock Exchange to attract more foreign companies from outside Asia. RUSAL has received heavy scrutiny from Hong Kong’s financial regulators, thanks to the company’s debt load, outsider status and controversial founder, Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska.

The IPO priced at the middle of an indicated range, two sources familiar with the deal said on Friday, a sign that may show that demand wasn’t strong enough to hit the top end.

Still, given RUSAL’s debt load and the other risks, the price shows that institutions were willing to back the IPO. “Even though it’s high risk, institutional investors invested in the IPO because it’s the first Russian company to list in Hong Kong, and because they see further upside to aluminum prices this year,” said Steven Leung, director of institutional sales at UOB-Kay Hian.

RUSAL chose Hong Kong in part because the company’s main growth market for aluminum is in China and the ability to tap a new class of investor there. So far, Russian companies have taken the HKEx’s bait. On Thursday, a top executive from Russian Railways, the country’s large, governmentrun rail operator, said it was eyeing to list various units on HKEx. Hong Kong produced more than $30 billion worth of IPO proceeds last year, more than any other exchange globally.

RUSAL sold 1.61 billion new shares, or just under 11 percent of its enlarged share capital, at HK$10.80 each, the sources told Reuters. The IPO’s indicated price range was HK$9.10 to HK$12.50.

The large chunk of $16.8 billion in borrowed money is owed to VEB, the Russian government’s financial vehicle whose supervisory council is chaired by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. RUSAL’s overall value is around $26 billion.

UC RUSAL will also list shares in Paris in the form of Global Depositary Shares (GDSs). The offer price per GDS is US$28.08 or EUR 19.91, with each GDS representing 20 ordinary shares. The offer price of HK$10.80 values the company at 12 times EV/EBITDA-a measure of cash flow, according to London-based Independent International Investment Research. By comparison, peers Aluminum corp of China (Chalco) trades at 11.2 times 2010 basis EV/EBITDA, while U.S.-based Alcoa trades at 11 times, according to a Merrill Lynch research report.

One source close to the deal said the recent drop in Chalco shares had given some investors hesitation when considering RUSAL’s final IPO price. Chalco’s

Hong Kong shares have fallen about 15 percent since Jan. 11. All sources quoted in the story declined to be identified because they were not allowed to speak publicly about the deal.

RUSAL’s trading debut is set for Jan. 27, under the symbol “486”. Assuming the company exercises the overallotment the company will increase the size of the IPO to $2.56 billion. Hong Kong’s financial regulators are aware that hosting companies from abroad entails risks, especially from industries the listing committee is generally unfamiliar with.

Another issue surrounding the offering is Deripaska himself, whose oligarch status and visa issues with the United States has brought added attention to the company and the IPO. “Fundamentally speaking, investors should avoid buying into RUSAL, as it bears the hugh debt burden and in terms of valuation, it is expensive. Investors have plenty of choice from the market after the recent correction of the stock market,” said Y.K. Chan, a strategist at Phillip Capital Management.

The IPO was eventually blocked from retail investors as a precaution, although some of the risk was reduced on Thursday when Russian lenders Sberbank and VEB agreed to refinance a $4.5 billion loan due on Oct. 29. Since the deal became a play for big institutional investors, who cornered most of the shares, analysts expect its trading debut on Jan. 27 to display a good performance.

But the recent stock market sell-off in Hong Kong could send RUSAL’s shares lower on its debut.

Around 40 percent of the offering had already been subscribed by cornerstone investors, including Nathaniel Rothschild’s company, US hedge fund Paulson & Co, Malaysian-Chinese businessman Robert Kuok Hock Nien and Russian state bank VEB, with a lock-up period of six months.

Cheung Kong Holdings, the Hong Kong property group controlled by Asia’s richest man, Li Ka-shing, is investing $100 million in RUSAL. One of the sources said the IPO attracted more than 300 institutional investors. The deal failed to attract two of Asia’s most influential sovereign wealth funds, China Investment Corp (CIC) and Singapore’s Temasek Holdings, which manage a combined $420 billion.

RUSAL revealed a $868 million net loss for the six months ended June 30, 2009, versus a year-earlier profit of $1.41 billion. The company has said growth in aluminum prices will be crucial to recovery. The price of aluminum has risen nearly 80 percent since trading at a seven-year low in February 2009, mirroring the world’s recovery from the financial crisis. BNP Paribas and Credit Suisse are the joint sponsors and global coordinators. The joint bookrunners are BofA-Merrill Lynch, BOC International, Nomura Holdings, Renaissance Capital, Sberbank and VTB Capital, with Rothschild acting as the financial adviser. — Reuters

India’s Bharti profit up slightly amid price war MUMBAI: Bharti Airtel Ltd, India’s largest mobile phone company, yesterday reported a slight rise in quarterly profit amid a price war that analysts say could turn India’s telecom boom into a financial bust.

Net profit for the December quarter rose 2 percent from a year earlier to 22.1 billion rupees ($478.8 million), under US accounting rules. The result met expectations. Revenue grew 1 percent to 97.7 billion rupees ($2.1 billion). “Bharti Airtel continues to ensure a robust market share despite the hyper competition,” chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal said in a statement. The number of mobile phone users in India is expected to hit 1 billion by 2014, roughly twice what it is now. Such blistering growth has attracted new

players like Japan’s NTT DoCoMo Inc — which formed a joint venture with Tata Teleservices Ltd. in June — and sparked a race to the bottom over prices as companies rush to grab market share. Many companies are now charging for calls by the second, rather than by the minute, with plans for as little as 0.50 rupee ($0.01) a minute.

The four month old price war has hit margins at a time when Indian telecom companies have little scope for cost-cutting, Macquarie Securities analysts said in a report Wednesday. They maintain that the “price cut contagion” is likely to spread from retail rates to corporate, wireless data, international roaming and SMS rates as well. — AP

He promised to “protect” taxpayers by preventing banks or financial institutions from owning, investing in or sponsoring hedge fund or private equity funds. Wall Street gave an immediate thumbs down to the plans as US stocks plunged, with the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average down more than 200 points or two percent in Thursday trading.

The news then sent shockwaves though Asian stock markets with the region’s financial centers suffering heavy losses in yesterday trading. European exchanges later opened under pressure.

Obama’s measures would effectively force financial firms to choose between lucrative proprietary activities-trading in stocks and sometimes risky financial instruments for their own benefit-and traditional activities, like making loans and collecting deposits. The initiative, which must be approved by Congress, includes a new proposal to limit the consolidation of the finance sector, placing broader limits on “excessive growth of the market share of liabilities” at the largest financial firms.

Obama blamed banks for sparking the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression with “huge reckless risks in pursuit of quick profits and massive bonuses” in a “binge of irresponsibility.” “My resolve to reform the system is only strengthened when I see a return to old practices at some of the very firms fighting reform and when I see record profits at some of the very firms claiming that they cannot lend more to small business, cannot keep credit card rates low, and cannot refund taxpayers for the bailout,” the president said.

He vowed to enact the reforms in Congress, even if Wall Street deployed an army of lobbyists to kill them. “If these folks want a fight, it’s a fight I’m ready to have,” he vowed defiantly.

The announcement was the latest attempt by the White House to harness public rage at Wall Street bonuses and the financial crisis.

David Easthope, analyst with Celent, a research and consulting firm, said the effort could hit the banks in one of their most profitable areas.

Proprietary trading “has been the sweet spot for leading investment banks over the last few years, and executives will be concerned that Washington will be taking away the frosting,” he said. The Financial Services Roundtable, which represents 100 of the largest integrated financial firms, said the proposal would do little to improve risk management or protect consumers from irresponsible loans and trades. “The proposal will restrict lending, increase risk, decrease stability in the system, and limit our ability to help create jobs,” said Steve Bartlett, president and chief executive for the Roundtable.

The group represents 100 top financial services firms providing banking, insurance, and investment products and services.

Obama’s first year in office was dominated by efforts to rescue a handful of banks that threatened to topple the US economy after being exposed to massive losses on the subprime mortgage market.

According to Treasury officials, about 205 billion dollars was pumped into 707 banks under the government rescue plans. Obama has sounded a tougher tone towards banks in recent weeks as he faced widespread voter anger at the massive government bailout, which came as Americans faced surging unemployment, home foreclosures and national debt.

Top Obama economic aide Austan Goolsbee sought to counter criticism that the plan is returning to the Depression-era law creating a wall between investment and commercial banks.

“It’s not returning to GlassSteagall,” Goolsbee said. While the act repealed in 1999 forbid underwriting securities or investing in securities by any commercial bank, Goolsbee said, “This is not that. This says a bank cannot own a hedge fund, cannot own a private equity fund or do trading for its own account that is not related to its client business.”

He added that the goal is “to get back to the fundamental nature of the bank, which is serving its clients, rather than investing for its own profit.” — AFP

Obama’s drive to limit the size of the largest banks and introduce measures to curb “excessive” risk taking. “Never again will the American taxpayer be held hostage by a bank that is too big to fail,” vowed Obama, flanked by former Federal Reserve chief Paul Volcker who advised the president on the rules.

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama (left) and Vice President Joe Biden (right) welcome the delegation from the US Conference of Mayors at the White House in Washington, DC Thursday to talk about strengthening the economy and creating jobs in communities large and small.—AFP

BMW scoops three industry accolades at Wheels Awards KUWAIT: BMW Group Middle East is celebrating after receiving a host of awards including Executive Saloon of the Year, Best Roadster and Best Premium SUV at the 2009 Wheels Awards ceremony.

The coveted Wheel Awards recognizes the industry’s best vehicles launched in the UAE market during 2009.

The BMW 7 Series, Z4 and X5M beat stiff competition from other models and each vehicle was selected through a strict test drive assessment as voted by the editorial team at Wheels magazine.

Commenting on the host of award wins Phil Horton, Managing Director of BMW Group Middle East said: “Receiving three awards from a respected automotive publication such as Wheels is testament to BMW’s excellence in design, innovation and performance.

All three winning

Best Executive Saloon the BMW 7 Series models, the BMW 7 Series, Z4 and X5M are dynamic cars in their respective categories so it’s great to see them receive this recognition, particularly for our flagship 7 Series model which was not only our bestselling car in 2009 but the best selling premium car in the entire Middle East”.

The latest addition to the BMW portfolio during 2009

Best Premium SUV BMW X5M

was the BMW X5 M, which took the honor of Best Premium SUV. As the most powerful allwheel drive vehicle ever to be developed by BMW, the X5 M delivers unparalelled performance through sheer power and agility, providing dynamic driving qualities superior to any rival SUV on the road.

Meanwhile, the BMW Z4 was

acknowledged for its appealing design, performance and handling and further reiterates its position as the best roadster on the market today.

All three models have been highlights during 2009 and these awards further demonstrate why BMW has increased its overall market share against its core competitors by 4% during 2009.

Best Roadster The New BMW Z4

Flush Goldman Sachs seeks to soothe bonus outrage NEW YORK: Goldman Sachs posted huge forecast-shattering 2009 profits as the banking giant moved to deflect criticism about lavish bonuses to be paid from $16 billion reserved for compensation.

The prime target for public outrage over big bonuses, Goldman Sachs said it was scaling back its money for employee compensation in the face of criticism that it weathered the financial crisis thanks to government aid. The bank reported net profit of $4.787 billion in the fourth quarter. For all of 2009, net profit leapt to $12.192 billion, a sixfold increase from $2.041 billion in 2008.

“I think the people of Goldman Sachs did a great job this year,” finance chief David Viniar told reporters. The firm said it had allotted $16.193 billion in 2009 for compensation, including bonuses and benefits, a rise of 48 percent from a year earlier in absolute terms.

But chairman and chief executive Lloyd Blankfein said the pay and benefits outlay had been reduced overall as “a recognition of the broader environment, resulting in our lowestever compensation to net revenues ratio”-at 35.8 percent, down from 48.0 percent a year

earlier. The Wall Street giant said that fourthquarter compensation had been reduced to fund a charitable contribution of $500 million to one of the firm’s philanthropy programs aimed at stimulating US economic growth and job creation. On average, each of the bank’s 32,500 employees would have received nearly $500,000 in compensation and benefits in 2009.

Viniar, who said that the majority of the reductions would affect top executives, insisted: “We’re not blind to the calls for restraint and we heard them.” Goldman Sachs, one of the most successful survivors of the financial crisis, had announced in December it would pay bonuses to top executives in stock instead of cash.

In the 2008 fourth quarter, at the height of the financial crisis, Goldman Sachs posted its first loss and received $10 billion in government aid that it has since repaid.

US government assistance has been unpopular, particularly as unemployment remained high, and the White House has promised to hold banking institutions accountable.

“Never again will the American taxpayer be

held hostage by a bank that is too big to fail,” President Barack Obama said Thursday in announcing new banking rules. The president blamed banks for sparking the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression with “huge reckless risks in pursuit of quick profits and massive bonuses” in a “binge of irresponsibility.” Viniar declined to comment on Obama’s remarks but said: “Trying to regulate by pure size is a very dangerous thing to do.”

Blankfein said the bank performed well throughout the year, “particularly during the most difficult conditions.” Earnings per share in the fourth quarter were 8.20 dollars, shattering the average analyst forecast of $5.20.

Net revenues were $9.615 billion, slightly below the $9.65 billion expected.

The quarterly profit compared with a yearearlier loss of $2.287 billion amid the financial sector meltdown following the Lehman Brothers collapse. That year 2008 ended on November 28 in the bank’s previous reporting calendar. The bank, whose principal activities are investment banking and trading, said it ranked first worldwide in global mergers and acquisitions in 2009. — AFP

BUSINESS

8

Saturday, January 23, 2010

CEO confirms interest in Bank Muamalat

Al-Baraka in talks for Bank Muamalat stake MANAMA/KUALA LUMPUR: Bahrain-based Islamic lender Al-Baraka is in talks to buy a stake in Malaysia’s Bank Muamalat, its chief executive said, with a source adding it could buy up to 49 percent in the lender. “Nothing has

been signed, there are just talks,” Chief Executive Adnan Yousif told Reuters.

Yousif said that Al Baraka had already considered buying a stake in Muamalat before the global financial crisis, but that earlier talks had been put on hold.

DAVOS: Participants seen under the World Economic Forum logo in Davos. The reconstruction of quake-ravaged Haiti would be a key focus at the annual meeting of the world’s elite in Davos next week. Beyond Haiti, over 2,500 captains of industries, political leaders and civil society leaders would also examine the post-crises world. French President Nicolas Sarkozy will make the opening speech at the forum which starts Wednesday January 27. —AFP

Iraq signs deal with Eni group for Zubair oilfield BAGHDAD: Iraq signed a final contract yesterday with a group led by Italian oil major Eni to develop the 4-billion-barrel Zubair oilfield, one of a series of deals Iraq hopes will propel it to major producer status. Eni and its partners, US-based Occidental Petroleum Corp and South Korea’s KOGAS, set an output target for the field of 1.2 million barrels per day.

“The consortium will invest over $20 billion,” Eni chief executive Paolo Scaroni told Reuters. “We will start tomorrow morning.” “We are confident that we will be able to achieve a production in excess of 1.2 million barrels per day and this will comply with our contractual targets,” he said.

The consortium plans to invest the approximately $20 billion over the 20-year life of the contract, which has a possible extension to 25 years, Eni said in a statement.

BAGHDAD: Executive Vice President of USA Occidental Oil and Gas Cooperation John Winterman speaks to the press as Iraqi Oil Minister Gussein Al-Shahristani listens on, following the signing of a contract with the Iraqi government to explore the Zubair oilfield in southern Iraq yesterday in Baghdad.—AFP “Target production is expected to be progressively reached within the next six

years and maintained for seven years thereafter,” the statement said. The group won the

right to develop Zubair last year following the country’s first auction of oil contracts since the 2003 US invasion. The field was not initially awarded in the auction in June, but a deal was reached in subsequent negotiations.

The consortium will be paid a remuneration fee of $2 a barrel on the contract. The Zubair deal is one of a series struck by Iraq last year that could lift it to third place from 11th among global oil producers with an output capacity of 12 million barrels per day in about six years, giving it the billions it needs to rebuild after years of war and economic decline.

KOGAS said on Wednesday it would invest $6.5 billion in developing the field. The deal is part of South Korea’s drive to invest $12 billion in overseas energy and resources this year to fuel its manufacturing-based economy. —- Reuters

He said Al Baraka had not made any decisions on the purchase yet and did not elaborate on the potential size of a stake.

A person familiar with the matter said Al Baraka was looking to buy between 40-49 percent of Bank Muamalat and that the parties were likely to sign a non-disclosure agreement by next week.

The two banks “have not reached the price negotiation stage yet,” the person said, declining to be identified.

Malaysian conglomerate DRB-Hicom holds a 70 percent stake in Bank Muamalat and state investment agency Khazanah Nasional owns the rest.

Bank Muamalat’s assets totalled about $4.3 billion at the end of September, according to a newspaper report. Al Baraka’s interest in the Malaysian lender comes as Gulf Islamic banks seek new growth areas to diversify sources of earnings as their domestic markets mature.

Al Baraka has already said it is planning to spend $30-50 million to buy a bank in Indonesia as it seeks to expand its global footprint.

Malaysian authorities are courting more foreign investment for the domestic Islamic banking industry to create bigger players and raise the country’s international profile.

The Southeast Asian economy has made its mark as a major Islamic banking hub in Asia but is seen as lacking in global clout, especially in the Middle East.

Its largest Islamic lender, Maybank Islamic, a subsidiary of Malaysia’s top bank Maybank, had assets of 35 billion ringgit ($10.32 billion) as of Sept 30, 2009, according to its annual report. Saudi Islamic lender Al Rajhi has total assets of of around $45 billion, the bank said this year.

Malaysia has the world’s largest sukuk, or Islamic bond market, accounting for about 42 percent of the $19 billion paper issued last year. But bankers say most Malaysian sukuk are denominated in the local ringgit currency, which lends the country little global weight.

Malaysian authorities relaxed banking rules last year to allow increased foreign equity participation of up to 70 percent in domestic Islamic banks. —Reuters

Jazeera Airways upgrades to next generation booking system KUWAIT: Jazeera Airways, the regional Middle East carrier announced yesterday that it has successfully switched to a next generation reservation system, in a move that allows the airline to better serve its guests and travel industry partners, by offering greater service efficiency and added value through promotions.

The airline’s upgrade from Navitaire Open Skies to the Navitaire New Skies product allows Jazeera to offer hotel bookings, insurance and car hire to Guests during the flight booking process, and gives Guests even more options when paying for flights and services including through KNET, Visa and Mastercard, with more bank debit card payment options set to be added in the future.

Stefan Pichler, CEO Jazeera Airways said of the benefits to Guests: “The new inventory system really is a major step forward for us and our Guests. Not only can we offer even greater value services and specials, but we can provide a much more efficient online booking service: in case of any flight changes, the New Skies allows us to simply contact our Guests via email and SMS in time. Moreover, it allows us to better integrate reservations with the airport check-in, all of which will upgrade the overall Jazeera customer experience.”

The new system also provides significant benefits to travel agents including the option to sell Jazeera’s flights and services via the Global Distribution System (GDS) for the first time, by providing access to the airline’s published fares and inventory, which builds on the

airline’s existing agreement with TravelPort.

In addition, travel agencies will have the ability to connect to Jazeera via the new system’s application programming interface (API).

“Thanks to the co-operation between Navitaire and the Jazeera project team, we were able to bring the system online within the timeframe and within budget. This was a great achievement for the Jazeera Commercial Systems team, and we are excited about using the new system to drive even greater value back to all of our customers, while providing a highly efficient Jazeera service,” commented John Hughes, Head of Commercial Systems at Jazeera Airways.

With the move to New Skies, Jazeera Airways sought a flexible solution to support its goals to better serve its customers, further differentiate itself from competitors, and easily link with ancillary revenue and industry partners,” said John Dabkowski, Navitaire managing director. “The New Skies platform will help Jazeera attract loyal customers as it expands guest services which enhance the Jazeera brand.” Jazeera Airways currently operates a fleet of 11 Airbus A320s. Each aircraft is fitted with the airline’s signature leather seating, while the Jazeera Business Class cabin offers business travellers a little extra convenience including easy booking, special check-in counters, 40 kilograms baggage allowance, access to airport lounges and an exclusive in-flight service and entertainment. The airline flies to destinations in the Middle East, North Africa and Iran.

Oil falls under $76 on Obama banking plan LONDON: Oil fell under $76 yesterday as commodities across the board remained under pressure from U.S. President Barack Obama’s proposed reform of banks’ trading.

Obama’s proposals to cut proprietary trading raised the possibility of banks and funds looking again at their involvement in the commodities sector, where they have boosted their presence heavily.

US crude was 65 cents down at $75.43 a barrel at 1400 GMT. ICE Brent crude fell 52 cents to $74.06. The full implications of Obama’s proposals had yet to play out, analysts said.

“The potential consequences are huge, and the continued strength and liquidity of markets will depend on how effectively the banks and their employees are able to reorganize and

adjust to the new regime, if and when it comes into force,” said leading oil brokerage PVM in a note.

“If you’re an oil trader working for a bank, Obama’s plan is not going to help your career.”

Oil prices rose to 15-month highs near $84 a barrel in early January, partly due to an influx of money following a hike in fund allocations.

“Potentially, some funds will need to revise their exposure for the second half of the year,” said Petromatrix analyst Olivier Jakob, referring to both Obama’s plan and the package of proposals unveiled last week by the US futures regulator, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

“For now, it will weigh on sentiment in a global sense,” said Jakob. —Reuters

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 US Dollar/KD GB Pound/KD Euro Swiss francs Canadian dollars Danish Kroner Swedish Kroner Australian dlr Hong Kong dlr Singapore dlr Japanese yen Indian Rs/KD Sri Lanka rupee Pakistan rupee Bangladesh taka UAE dirhams Bahraini dinars Jordanian dinar Saudi Riyal/KD Omani riyals Philippine Peso US Dollar Sterling pounds Swiss Francs Saudi Riyals

.2830000 .4660000 .4090000 .2760000 .2760000 .2610000 .0045000 .0020000 .0775570 .7556190 .4020000 .0750000 .7407520 .0045000 .0500000 CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES .2857000 .4686710 .4112230 .2788670 .2782420 .0552610 .0406890 .2638600 .0367920 .2058450 .0031600 .0063130 .0025060 .0034210 .0041860 .0778240 .7582150 .4040620 .0762260 .7424560 .0063060 TRANSFER CHEQUES RATES .2878000 .4719820 .2808430 .0767120

.2910000 .4760000 .4170000 .2850000 .2840000 .2700000 .0075000 .0035000 .0783370 .7632140 .4180000 .0790000 .7481970 .0072000 .0570000 .2878000 .4719820 .4141280 .2808430 .2802140 .0556520 .0409780 .2657240 .0370520 .2073030 .0031820 .0063580 .0025240 .0034450 .0042150 .0783210 .7630520 .4069240 .0767120 .7471920 .0063510

Al-Muzaini Exchange Co. EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 287.000 Euro 414.600

Sterling Pound Canadian dollar Turkish lire Swiss Franc Australian dollar US Dollar Buying 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 Egyptian Pound - Cash Egyptian Pound Yemen Riyal Tunisian Dinar Jordanian Dinar Lebanese Lira Syrian Lier Morocco Dirham Saudi Riyal Qatari Riyal Omani Riyal Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham 20 Gram 10 Gram 5 Gram

473.000 285.600 198.310 281.700 265.100 285.000 ASIAN COUNTRIES 3.189 6.284 3.394 2.509 3.942 207.400 36.980 4.152 6.252 8.744 0.301 0.292 ARAB COUNTRIES 55.250 52.963 1.379 219.920 405.500 193.920 6.325 37.080 GCC COUNTRIES 76.574 78.890 745.940 762.600 78.202 GOLD 222.000 115.000 59.000

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 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 10 Tola Sterling Pound US Dollar

SELL CASH 267.400 764.410 4.550 281.500 693.800 15.800 56.500 167.800 55.550

411.300 37.620 6.265

406.300 0.193 87.900 3.940 212.000 746.490 3.415 6.260 79.070 76.750 207.750 41.170 2.507 473.000 282.200 8.930 78.300 286.900

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd

Bahrain Exchange Company COUNTRY Australian dollar Bahraini dinar Bangladeshi taka Canadian dollar Cyprus pound Czek koruna Danish krone Deutsche Mark Egyptian pound

412.800 37.770 6.620 0.035 0.280 0.251 3.280 407.890 0.194 87.900 39.000 4.240 213.500 2.183 51.400 746.670 3.490 6.450 79.500 76.750 207.750 41.170 2.757 475.000 41.600 283.700 6.400 9.070 222.000 78.300 287.300 1.420 GOLD 1,224.420 TRAVELLER’S CHEQUE 471.100 287.400

SELL DRAFT 265.900 764.410 4.163 280.000

207.800 53.027

US Dollar Canadian Dollar Sterling Pound Euro Swiss Frank Cyprus Pound Bahrain Dinar UAE Dirhams Qatari Riyals Saudi Riyals Jordanian Dinar Egyptian Pound Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees

287.350 279.710 470.710 410.330 276.450 704.305 761.985 78.215 78.860 76.655 405.486 52.980 6.265 3.400

Sri Lankan Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Pesso Japanese Yen Thai Bhat Syrian Pound Nepalese Rupees

2.515 4.170 6.255 3.185 8.725 5.540 3.950

Kuwait Bahrain Intl Exchange Co. Currency

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 Candaian Dollars

286.900 3.415 6.290 2.515 4.160 6.285 78.164 76.640 763.000 52.935 473.600 0.0000306 1.550 407.700 5.750 418.300 286.500

Al Mulla Exchange Currency

Transfer rate

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

287.000 410.850 470.500 279.400 3.170 6.265 53.000 2.509 4.154 6.268 3.405 763.600 78.000 76.550

TECHNOLOGY

Saturday, January 23, 2010

9

Tech group to launch digital music file successor LONDON: A leading technology company is set to launch a new digital music file format which will embed additional content for fans including lyrics, news updates and images in what could be a successor to the ubiquitous MP3 file.

The music industry has been hammered by piracy in the last decade and is looking to develop new offerings to entice consumers to buy their music from legitimate sites, instead of taking it from illegal outlets.

The new proposal, which is called MusicDNA and has the backing of the orig-

inal MP3 digital music file inventor, would allow fans to download an MP3 file on to their computer, which would carry with it additional content. Music labels, bands or retailers could then also send updates to the music file every time they have something new to announce such as the dates of future tours, new interviews or updates to social network pages.

The user would receive as little or as much of the information as they want, every time they are online. However anyone who downloads the music file illegally would receive only a static file which would

not receive any updates.

BACH Technology, the group behind the MusicDNA file, says it is looking to partner with retailers, music labels, rights holders and technology companies and is happy to provide its technology for others who could use it under their own brand.

BACH is based in Norway, Germany and China and has Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology as a partner. “We are getting very good feedback and the fact we are looking to include everyone in this, and not competing against them, helps,” Chief Executive Stefan

Kohlmeyer told Reuters.

The music files can play on any MP3 player including Apple’s iPod. The music player, or online music library, can also be adapted to suit the user and could, for example, be integrated into existing social networks.

Kohlmeyer said the service would hark back to the time when music fans enjoyed looking at the lyrics and artwork on an album almost as much as they enjoyed listening to the music itself.

“What we are bringing back to the end user is the entire emotional experience of

music,” he said. “We think it got lost in the transition to the digital era. “We think a beautiful piece of audio has been reduced to a number code. We want to enrich it again.”

BACH, which counts the inventor of the MP3 and a former chief executive of Sony Music Entertainment among its investors, is also hoping that software developers will create new applications and content for the MusicDNA player. A beta version of the file will be available in the Spring and a full commercial rollout is expected by the summer. It also hopes to roll out a mobile version of the music player.

BACH has already signed up a host of partners across the industry and is in talks with the major record labels. Rob Wells, the senior vice president of digital at Universal Music Group International, told Reuters he thought the new offering was exciting and said Universal could quite possibly work with the company, but said they still needed further commercial conversations. “I think the music industry has got a great opportunity to open up completely new revenue streams,” Kohlmeyer said.

“They haven’t contemplated in the past all the aspects of rich media.” — Reuters

Google rides rising online advertisement sales to Q4 Quarterly profit reaches $2bn first time SAN FRANCISCO: Google Inc revved up its fourth-quarter Internet advertising sales and approached $2 billion in quarterly profit for the first time, providing the strongest sign yet that Internet search leader has shaken off the recession’s doldrums. The earnings announced

TOKYO: Models show off the new smartphone “Xperia” by Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications during a joint press conference with Japan’s mobile communication giant NTT docomo in Tokyo. —AFP

Sony Ericsson loss shrinks Results of restructuring seen only in Q2 STOCKHOLM: Mobile phone maker Sony Ericsson reported a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss yesterday and said ongoing restructuring would only yield results in mid2010 in the face of fierce competition for smartphones.

In the October to December period, the world’s fifth-biggest cell phone maker saw its net loss shrink to 167 million euros ($236 million) from 187 million a year earlier, but for the full-year the shortfall swelled from 73 million euros in 2008 to 836 million in 2009.

Sales plunged from 11.24 billion euros in 2008 to 6.79 billion in 2009, with volumes dropping from 96.6 million units sold to 57.1 million. Sony Ericsson’s chief executive Bert Nordberg said the positive effects of a restructuring program undertaken a year ago were expected to be seen as of the third quarter.

“2010 will still be challenging as the full benefit of cost improvements will not impact results until the second half of the year, however we are confident that our business is on the right track,” he said in the earnings report.

The quarterly loss was the company’s sixth straight quarter in the red, but it was better than analyst forecasts of a loss of 254 million euros.

The Ericsson share was up 2.40 percent at

72.50 kronor on the Stockholm stock exchange in mid-morning trading. Sales in the quarter plunged by 40 percent from the same period a year ago to 1.75 billion euros, up however by three percent from the third quarter.

The Swedish-Japanese joint venture, the first of the big phone makers to present its earnings report, has cut thousands of jobs in the past year as it struggles amid competition from Apple and Research in Motion, the makers of smartphones iPhone and Blackberry.

The recent recession hit the mobile phone industry and Sony Ericsson hard in 2009. The company is basing its new strategy on entertainment applications.

“We will continue to focus on returning the company to profitability by establishing Sony Ericsson as the communication entertainment brand based on an exciting portfolio of mid- and high-end products,” Nordberg said.

Sony Ericsson’s strongest features are its camera and music applications, according to analysts.

Its average selling price per unit was 120 euros, compared to 121 euros a year earlier and higher than its traditional competitors Nokia, Samsung and LG. The group said it expected “slight growth” in the global handset market in 2010. — AFP

Motorola offers Baidu search on China smartphones SAN FRANCISCO: Motorola said that China buyers of its Android-driven smartphones can opt for local search engine Baidu instead of Google, the Internet giant behind the mobile software platform.

“Users will be able to select their search experience from a number of providers, including Baidu and others, with whom Motorola has signed strategic agreements,” Motorola said in a release.

Google has vowed to stop filtering search results as required by law in China and may be forced to pull out of that country as a result.

Motorola announced the “new feature” on Android handsets along with the launch of a China smartphone application store called Zhi-JianYuan, translated to “Place for Apps Wisdom” in English. “By providing them a choice in their applications and services, Motorola is letting con-

sumers in China customize the way they experience the power of the mobile Internet,” China Telecom said in a release. The “SHOP4APPS” service and the search capabilities through Baidu will be available pre-loaded on Android handsets or as “over-the-air” updates by China’s New Year’s Day in mid February, according to Motorola. “We want phones to reflect our lifestyle and our choices,” China Unicom said in a release.

“The ability to pick our own search sites, our own chat services, our own games, and to craft our own mobile experience is helping China Unicom deliver on the promise of 3G.” Motorola is working closely with carriers in China and “ecosystem partners” such as Baidu to provide a suite of smartphone services including email, maps and search, according to Motorola Mobile Devices vice president Christy Wyatt. — AFP

HELSINKI: The headquarter of Nokia in Helsinki. Nokia said to offer free maps to smartphone users. Nokia, the world’s top mobile phone maker, will offer free maps and navigation services for its smartphone users, it said in a move that puts pressure on players in the GPS industry. The move follows and takes a step further a similar play by Google, which said last year it would offer free navigation to users of Motorola’s Droid cellphone model in the United States. — AFP

Google earned $1.97 billion, or $6.13 per share, in the final three months of 2009. That was up dramatically from income of $382 million at the same time in 2008, when Google’s earnings were deflated by charges to reflect the eroding value of some investments.

Fourth-quarter revenue totaled $6.7 billion, a 17 percent increase. Google’s revenue growth had bogged down to just 5 percent through the first nine months of 2009. The company’s quarterly growth had never fallen below 10 percent until last year.

“Given that the global economy is still in the early days of recovery, this was an extraordinary end to the year,” said Eric Schmidt, Google’s chief executive.

The performance is likely to give people something to talk about other than Google’s threat to shut down its China-based search engine and perhaps pull out of the world’s most populous country in a dispute over censorship and computer security.

Schmidt didn’t say anything new about Google’s uncertain future in China during a conference call with analysts. He reiterated Google’s hope to find a way to maintain a presence in China while emphasizing the company intends to stop censoring search results in the country within “a reasonably short time.” That plan conflicts with China’s restrictions against showing content that the government deems subversive or pornographic.

The fourth quarter is usually Google’s most prosperous period because advertisers tend to spend more during the holiday shopping season while consumers conduct more searches for merchandise and deals. That could indicate the overall online advertising market is regaining vigor after losing steam through most of 2009.

But Google isn’t widely considered a bellwether for the entire Internet ad market because its dominance of online search has put it so far ahead of the pack. One of those rivals, Yahoo Inc., is expected to report a drop in fourth-quarter revenue when it releases its results Tuesday.

Investors had been expecting big things from Google, largely because management had already signaled its belief that the worst of the recession was over.

Google had clamped down on spending to offset its decelerating revenue growth, but the company said in October that it felt confident enough to begin hiring more people and buying more companies.

Google added 170 workers in the fourth quarter, bringing its payroll to 19,835 employees. Schmidt also told investors in the conference call that the company will likely make at least one acquisition per month, “some big, more small.” For the full year, Google earned $6.5 billion, or $20.41 per share, on revenue of $23.65 billion. In 2008, Google earned $4.2 billion, or $13.31 per share, on revenue of $21.8 billion.— AP

Thursday topped analyst estimates, but revenue only matched forecasts.

Investors evidently were hoping Google’s revenue would accelerate even faster, and the company’s shares fell more than 4 percent in extended trading.

A computer screen shows the company logo at Google’s office in Hong Kong. Google Inc released fourth-quarter financial results Thursday. — AP

China hits back at US Internet criticism BEIJING: China yesterday rejected criticism of its Internet censorship by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, saying it harmed relations, as a row over Google’s threat to leave the Chinese market escalated.

Clinton had urged China on Thursday to conduct a thorough probe into cyberattacks on Google and other US companies, and lamented what she said was Beijing’s increasing efforts to control what its 384 million web users can see.

“We firmly oppose such words and deeds, which go against the facts and are harmful to China-US relations,” foreign ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said, in China’s strongest comments since the Google dispute erupted last week. “We urge the United States to respect facts, and stop using the so-called Internet freedom issue to criticise China unreasonably,” he said in a statement posted on the ministry website.

In a major policy speech on Internet freedom in Washington, Clinton reiterated US support for “a single Internet where all of humanity has equal access to knowledge and ideas”.

She called on China “to conduct a thorough investigation of the cyber intrusions” revealed

by Google and for “its results to be transparent”.

The two sides have become locked in a spiralling dispute over Chinese web controls sparked by Internet giant Google’s announcement last week it would no longer obey China’s censorship rules and might pull out of the country.

Google said the decision was made after it suffered cyberattacks that the company believes originated in China and appeared aimed at cracking the email accounts of Chinese human rights activists.

China’s government declined to respond to AFP requests Friday for comment on a possible investigation of the attacks.

Until Friday, Beijing had generally held fire in the dispute, defending its censorship as necessary and saying foreign firms must comply, but refraining from hitting back at mounting US criticism over its control of the Internet.

China is believed to employ thousands of people in a vast system of Internet censorship that has been dubbed the “Great

Firewall of China,” which polices what the world’s largest online population can see and do on the web.

Beijing regularly invokes the need to stamp out pornography as a key reason for the controls, but critics contend its primary purpose is to quell political dissent or content seen as threatening to Communist Party rule.

Google, Microsoft, Yahoo! and Cisco are among the US technology giants that have been accused of cooperating with the “Great Firewall” by acquiescing to Beijing’s demands. In her speech, Clinton appeared to call on other companies to follow Google’s lead and defy China. “The private sector has a shared responsibility to help safeguard free expression,” Clinton said.

BEIJING: A man uses a computer in the reception area of Google’s China headquarters in Beijing yesterday. US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Thursday urged China to investigate cyber intrusions that led search angle Google to threaten to pull out of that country, and challenged Beijing to openly publish its findings.—AP

“And when their business dealings threaten to undermine this freedom, they need to consider what’s right, not simply the prospect of quick profits.”

The State Department has plans to hold a high-level meeting next month with companies that provide network services for talks on Internet freedom.

Google’s chief executive Eric Schmidt said the California company would like to remain in China, but could no longer agree to censor results on its Web search engine there.

“We continue to follow their laws, we continue to offer censored results,” Schmidt, warning that “in a reasonably short time from now, we will be making some changes there”.

Microsoft on Thursday released a patch for an Internet Explorer 6 software hole through which China-based cyber spies allegedly probed the computer systems of Google and other companies.

On Thursday, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei was quoted by state media as saying the Google case should not be linked with Sino-US relations.

Ma on Friday also urged the United States not to let the dispute upset relations, which are already dogged by a range of disputes over trade and currency issues, US arms sales to Taiwan, and climate change.

Ma said China hoped both sides would “respect each other’s core interests and major concerns, properly handle differences and sensitive issues to maintain the healthy and steady development of Sino-US relations”. — AFP

Quake survival? There’s an app for that MIAMI: A US filmmaker who lay trapped beneath Haiti’s earthquake rubble for nearly three days survived in part thanks to a medical application installed on his iPhone, he told a television station Thursday. Dan Woolley was making a documentary about poverty in Port-au-Prince when last week’s devastating 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck, trapping him in the ruins of his hotel with a fractured leg

and a profusely bleeding gash to his head.

“I had my iPhone with me and I had a medical app on there, so I was able to look up treatment of excessive bleeding and compound fracture,” Woolley told MSNBC in Miami. Using the Jive Media Pocket First Aid and CPR, he found recommendations for how to self-treat his injuries.

“So I used my shirt to tie my leg and a

sock on the back of my head. And later used it for other things, like to diagnose shock,” he added.

Woolley also used the iPhone’s more traditional functions, setting its alarm to go off every 20 minutes to keep him from falling asleep. Eventually, after some 66 hours trapped under the rubble, Woolley was pulled out alive by French rescuers. — AFP

HEALTH & SCIENCE

10

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Research-sleuths succeed in tracking MRSA super-bacteria WASHINGTON: Scientists have succeeded in tracking the patient-to-patient transmission of the multidrug resistant MRSA bacteria, which they hope will allow for better control and prevention of the dreaded superbug. For the first time, researchers have determined how MRSA spreads from one person to another, particularly in hospitals-the setting where the bacteria often proliferates.

“The ability to track strains in this way will enable researchers to understand how strains can spread so rapidly, and should lead to novel infection control strategies-not only for MRSA but also for other emerging superbugs,” said a statement from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, in Britain, which conducted the study in cooperation with the University of Bath. Scientists used sophisticated

DNA sequencing technologies to compare individual MRSA samples from patients to precisely show how closely related they were genetically.

The study was able to identify incremental changes in the genetic code and to identify differences between even the most closely-related of MRSA specimens. The super-bug’s resistance to treatment has created a major health challenge, particularly in the hospital setting where it often proliferates.

Stephen Bentley, the senior author on the paper, said the study allows researchers and public health officials to determine how infections spread “from person to person, from hospital to hospital, from country to country.” The study took one set of 42 samples taken from people across the globe who

became infected with MRSA between 1982 and 2003.

A second set of samples came from a single hospital in northeast Thailand, and consists of 20 probes from patients who had developed MRSA infection within seven months of each other-all possibly linked by a person-to-person transmission. The team sequenced the entire genomes of all the samples using cutting-edge DNA sequencing technology, which was able to reveal minute genetic changes, and showed that no two infections were caused by entirely identical bacteria.

Having identified the subtle genetic differences, the researchers divided the Thai hospital samples into two groups and found five that were extremely similar. “This group of five related MRSA strains caused infections in patients who were resident in

intensive care units in adjacent blocks of the hospital,” explains Ed Feil, from the Department of Biology and Biochemistry at the University of Bath, and one of the main authors on the study, published in the US journal Science.

“Bacteria from patients housed in other parts of the hospital were much less similar,” he said. To better understand better the evolution and spread of MRSA over several decades and large geographic distances, the team also looked at samples from hospitals in North and South America, Europe, Australia and Asia collected over a period of more than two decades.

MRSA-methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus-is a type of staph skin infection that usually starts as an outbreak of small red bumps that can

quickly turn into deep, painful abscesses requiring surgical draining.

While the bacteria sometimes remains confined to the skin, it can also penetrate the body, causing potentially life-threatening infections in the bones, joints, surgical wounds, heart or lungs. MRSA shot to prominence in recent years as many people catch the bug while being treated in hospitals-leading to health officials to ban doctor from wearing their traditional white coats in favor of plastic aprons in a bid to reduce the risks of transmission. In the United States, MRSA is the cause of more than 60 percent of all hospital infections. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions, MRSA in 2005 infected 94,000 people and killed 19,000 in the United States. — AFP

Kenyan herders get satellite insurance Droughts judged by whether vegetation green or brown OSLO: Herders of cows or camels in arid northern Kenya can obtain a new type of insurance against drought from yesterday, the first of its kind in Africa using satellites to gauge rainfall. Project organizers hope to get about 1,000 households in the Marsabit district to sign up for insurance in coming weeks after a formal launch yesterday by microfinance group Equity Bank and African insurance provider UAP Insurance Ltd. “If it’s successful we will look further afield, in western Africa around the Sahel and southern Asia,” project leader Andrew Mude of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) told Reuters.

Under the pilot project, pastoralists in Marsabit will be able to insure herds-of cows, goats, sheep or camels- against starvation during drought. Drought and lack of pasture are the main causes of livestock death in the arid region.

Pastoralists would get automatic payments for losses if satellite images of the region show vegetation fades from green — shades of brown will gauge the severity of drought. The use of satellites bypasses the traditional, more costly system under which insurers check reported livestock deaths before making payouts. That is almost impossible to judge in herds that wander over huge areas. Still, risks include

that some herders suffer bigger than predicted losses during droughts. In other cases, some herders might get payments when their animals have all survived.

Climate change Northern Kenya has suffered 28 major droughts in the past century, with four of them in the past decade. Mude said it was too early to say if the number of droughts was increasing, perhaps because of climate change stoked by human emissions of greenhouse gases. Under the scheme, a family in Lower Marsabit would have to pay 3,900 shillings ($50) a year to insure a herd of 10 cows worth a total 120,000

shillings ($1,580).

The insurance pays nothing for herd losses up to 15 percent. So if drought strikes and is estimated as severe enough to kill 25 percent of all livestock, the family gets a payout of 12,000 shillings, covering 10 percent of the value of the herd. In Mongolia, a different form of insurance brings payouts for all pastoralists if severe snowstorms kill animals in benchmark herds. But such data risks manipulation, ILRI said. Herders signing up for the Kenyan insurance might also be more able to get other forms of credits-banks would be more willing to lend to those with more predictable incomes. — Reuters

JAKARTA: Two months old Sumatran tigers named Puji (left), a male, and Wati (right), a female, born in captivity at Ragunan Zoo are attended to by a zoo caretaker yesterday. The Indonesian government has hatched a plan to save the endangered tigers from extinction by allowing people to adopt captive-born animals as pets for 100,000 USD a pair officials said. The forestry ministry said the plan could be put into practice as early as this year despite reservations from environmentalists, who say the focus should be on protecting habitats for the remaining 200 tigers in the wild. — AFP

Quitting cigarettes UK women seek sperm after lung cancer abroad as donations fall diagnosis still helps PARIS: Smokers diagnosed with lung cancer should not assume they have been handed a death sentence, as quitting tobacco even at this stage can greatly boost their survival chances, doctors said yesterday. Among those smokers who quit swiftly after diagnosis, 63-70 percent were still alive after five years, a benchmark of survival in cancer research, compared with only 29-33 percent among those who continued to smoke, they said in an online report published by the British Medical Journal (BMJ).

The study, carried out by scientists at Birmingham University, central England, entailed a review of 10 published studies into smoking and cancer survival. The authors speculate that tobacco smoke may accelerate progression of a tumor, although further work is needed to confirm this.

In any case, they say, the study says that it could be worthwhile for doctors to encourage smokers to give up their habit when diagnosed with early-stage lung cancer.

The link between lung cancer and smoking has been established for more than half a century. Lifelong smokers face a 20-fold risk of developing a primary lung tumor compared with non-smokers, according to a 2003 study. — AFP

LONDON: A drastic lack of sperm donors in Britain means women wanting babies are resorting to importing semen from abroad or using do-it-yourself insemination kits bought on the internet, fertility experts said yesterday.

A change in the law in 2005 which removed sperm donors’ right to anonymity has led to a sharp fall in the number of donations and a nationwide shortage, according to research by Allan Pacey of Sheffield University’s Medical School.

“We are really in a terrible position in the UK,” Pacey wrote in a study in the Obstetrician and Gynecologist journal. In some clinics waiting times can be at least a year for the first treatment, experts say, and if that fails there are further delays before another round of treatment can be offered. Data from the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority (HFEA) show a steady decline in the number of patients in Britain receiving treatment with donor sperm, falling from almost 9,000 in 1992 to just over 2,000 in 2007.

Pacey said the fall was partly due to patients opting for other treatments like intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection, which involves injecting a single sperm directly into an egg. But he said it

was also due to a “a serious shortfall in the number of sperm donors available in UK clinics”.

Pacey said he had heard reports of long waiting lists and the shortage of sperm forcing some fertility services to close.

“More worryingly, however, is anecdotal evidence that women patients are travelling to clinics overseas to seek treatment,” Pacey wrote.

“There have also been reports of women purchasing fresh sperm online for DIY (do-it-yourself) insemination.” Gillian Lockwood, medical director of Midland Fertility Services in central England, said the study reflected exactly the problems experienced by patients and staff at her clinic.

“It’s definitely what we have been finding,” she told Reuters in a telephone interview. “And the shortage of donors has meant a very drastic reduction in the quality of treatment we can offer, not only in terms of increased waiting time, but also in the reduction of choice about donor characteristics.” HFEA chief Lisa Jardine said last July the authority may reconsider the British ban on payments for sperm and egg donors in an effort to encourage more people to come forward as donors and to stop couples travelling abroad for treatment. — Reuters

TAN UYEN: A bear looks out from a cargo container in Vietnam. — AP

19 bears rescued from bile farm in Vietnam TAN UYEN: The three tractor-trailer containers sat in a row, divided with metal partitions into 19 tiny, sweltering cells. Massive claws and furry black noses poked between the iron bars: 19 rare Asiatic moon bears awaiting their next gall bladder milking. Their bile is a coveted traditional medicine ingredient used to treat everything from hemorrhoids to epilepsy. Some paced nervously inside the cages, panting and foaming at the mouth with wild bloodshot eyes. Others laid in their urine and feces, resting on the cool concrete floor. They devoured the bananas and chunks of watermelon including the rinds - offered to them, a welcome treat from their usual diet of rice gruel.

The bears were found at an illegal Taiwaneseowned operation in southern Vietnam. Yesterday, four days after being hoisted onto tractor trailers and driven 1,240 miles (2,000 kilometers) north, they reached a new home with grass and tire swings at a rescue center about two hours outside of Hanoi, the capital. The newly rescued bears two of them missing limbs and one blind - were sedated and removed one-by-one from their tiny cages yesterday at Tam Dao National Park. They are joining 29 bears already at the rescue center.

Ultrasound tests found evidence of thickened gall bladders, a telltale sign of milking, said Animals Asia veterinarian Heather Bacon. She said some may need to have the organ removed because of extensive damage. Many of the black bears, some standing 6 feet (1.8 meters) tall on their hind legs and weighing 330 pounds (150 kilograms), have been caged since being snatched from the wild as cubs up to seven years ago, said Tuan Bendixsen of Animals Asia Foundation in Vietnam, which rescued the bears this week.

Bear bile has been used for thousands of years in Asia to treat fevers, pain, inflammation and many other ailments. In the 1980s, China began promoting bear farms as a way to discourage poaching. The bears were housed in small cages, and the green bitter fluid was sucked from their gall bladders using crude catheters, sometimes creating pus-filled abscesses or internal bile leakage. Many bears die slowly from infections or liver ailments, including cancer.

The idea caught on in Vietnam and elsewhere as demand grew alongside the region’s increasing wealth. Bear bile products are also illegally smuggled into Chinatowns worldwide. An informal survey by the World Society for the Protection of Animals found 75 percent of stores visited in Japan selling bear bile products, followed by 42 percent in South Korea. In the US and Canada, it was about 15 percent.

Bear bile harvesting remains legal in China,

where the government says 7,000 bears are milked on about 250 farms, though animal welfare groups say the real number could be double that.

Demand for illegal wild bear bile, believed to be more potent, is also increasing, they say. Amid international pressure, Vietnam outlawed the milking practice in 2005, and some 4,000 bears in captivity were implanted with microchips to help identify any new bears added illegally. Owners were warned not to tap them for bile. But the practice continues, and a black market thrives.

“We want this industry to end. Government has decided to phase this out, and we understand it’s going to take time,” said Chris Gee from the World Society for the Protection of Animals in England. “Across the whole of Asia there’s probably 20,000 bears on bear farms.” Last year, a farm in northern Vietnam was raided for selling bile to busloads of South Koreans, who watched it being extracted as part of their sightseeing tours. Some of the farms in Vietnam are owned by South Koreans and Taiwanese.

“They’re more organized and bigger. They’re run like a business now,” said Bendixsen. “It’s part of a package tour.” Bear bile contains a high concentration of ursodeoxycholic acid. A synthetic version is sold as a pill and used in Western medicine for treating gall stones and liver ailments. The pill is sold in China but cannot be used in traditional medicine because it is not derived from a natural source.

In a paper published last year, Yibin Feng from the School of Chinese Medicine at the University of Hong Kong suggested herbal substitutes that produce the same healing elements for various ailments could replace bear bile. Another option is to use bile taken from slaughtered pigs or rabbits, which contains lower concentrations of ursodeoxycholic acid, or use artificial bear bile, which has a similar chemical makeup and produces the same medicinal effects.

“We found some animal bile and plants have better effects than bear bile in some diseases,” Feng said. “Given all these, people in China should accept these alternatives. Of course, some people in mainland insist that no matter how close those substitutes can be, it is still not as good as the real ones.” The moon bears, named for the tan crescent-shape marking across their chests, will remain in quarantine for 45 days. They will then be moved to a building with large living cells where they will learn to mingle with other bears, before moving to a bear house where they can play outside in an enclosure with trees, grass, tunnels and swings. They’ll also be spoiled with dollops of honey and peanut butter. — AP

High levels of vitamin D cut risk of colon cancer: Study PARIS: High levels of vitamin D are linked with a lower risk of colon cancer, according to a comparison of more than half a million Europeans, published online yesterday by the British Medical Journal (BMJ). Patients with the highest levels of vitamin D in their blood had a nearly 40 percent lower risk of colorectal cancer compared to those with the lowest levels. Vitamin D, derived mainly from sunlight but also found in foods, plays a key role in bone strength by increasing levels of calcium in the blood.

Whether it affects incidence of cancer has been hotly debated and the evidence is sketchy. The paper draws on a very large study, the European Prospective

Investigation into Cancer (EPIC) project, carried out in 10 Western European countries. The authors sound a note of caution, saying it is unclear whether vitamin D supplements are any more effective than a balanced diet or getting regular exposure to sunlight.

Further work is needed, they add, to show whether the statistical link in this investigation is born out-and whether there could be any side effects from taking supplements or eating food fortified with vitamin D. Smoking, obesity, a sedentary lifestyle, alcohol and eating red and processed meats have previously been established as factors in cancer of the colon and rectum. — AFP

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Saturday, January 23, 2010

N icole Nicole SScherzinger cherzinger wwants ants tto o bbe e aa BBond ond ggirl irl T

Jessica Biel thinks she is ‘too boring’

her acting ambitions, the 31-year-old beauty hasn’t turned her back on the music industry, as she is currently writing a number of songs for her solo album, as well as a new LP with her group. The source added to Britain’s Hello! magazine: “The record is building a new Pussycat Dolls around Nicole and she wasn’t prepared to sacrifice this. They say heartbreak is good for creativity and, since splitting, Nicole has written a couple of tortured love songs for her new solo album.” Lewis - who is still on speaking terms with Nicole - recently insisted he is staying upbeat about the future and trying to put his heartbreak behind him. The 25-year-old star said: “I just want to move forward in a positive manner. The focus is on this season and doing the best I possibly can and getting the results on the track. I’m keeping my mind on that.”

he ‘Illusionist’ star - who is dogged by rumors that her relationship with Justin Timberlake is in trouble - believes she is too grounded and leads too much of a normal life for people to have a high professional opinion of her. She said: “I might just be way too boring to ever be a really great actress.” When told great actresses can having boring lives but great stars “kick up dust everywhere”, the actress told Vogue magazine: “I don’t do that. Maybe I should do a little bit more of that. A dust kicker-upper might be kind of fun....” Jessica also spoke out about posing near-naked for Gear magazine aged just 17, admitting she was “terribly embarrassed” about the pictures and her parents’ outrage. She said: “I really wanted to go to college, and it all kind of happened at the same time. I did this photo shoot; the photo shoot came out; it was terribly embarrassing. I had to apologize to everybody, including my parents. It was a big learning experience: learning how to have boundaries and how to say no.” As a result of her experiences as a child actress, Jessica, now 27, says she feels motherly towards other young stars. She said: “I have this overwhelming motherly feeling toward them. Just do what you gotta do, girls! Hold it together! I wish everyone would just leave them alone.” -

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Kate Moss wants to elope with Jamie Hince he supermodel reportedly received a proposal from The Kills rocker on her 36th birthday but insisted she doesn’t want to marry him yet, though hasn’t ruled out tying the knot in future. A friend of Jamie’s told the Daily Star newspaper: “He has asked Kate to marry him several times.

Everyone around them knows he’s crazy about her and would marry her in a second. “Neither of them are into the idea of a big traditional wedding. Kate told him one day she will surprise him by turning around and asking him to elope, when she feels the time is right. Kate never follows the rules, she’ll always do what suits her.” Earlier this week, it was reported that Jamie - who has been dating Kate since 2007 - had picked out a diamond ring with the help of business tycoon Sir Philip Green, Kate’s boss at British high street chain Topshop, the clothing chain she designs garments for. Kate - who has a seven-year-old daughter Lila from her relationship with Jefferson Hack - met the guitarist three months after finishing her turbulent romance with Pete Doherty.

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David Beckham helps his kids with homework over Skype espite currently living in Italy where he is on loan to AC Milan from his regular team Los Angeles Galaxy - the soccer ace is still helping wife Victoria with their children Brooklyn, ten, Romeo, seven, and Cruz, four via the internet videophone service. Victoria is quoted by website Absolute Now as saying: “David’s in Milan at the moment. I’m here and the kids are at school. “The other night I said to David, ‘I am really struggling with the homework here and I have so much going on at the house’ so I sat Brooklyn down in front of the computer and they Skyped for 20 minutes.

“Brooklyn did his reading to Daddy over the Skype.” Victoria insisted that David does everything he can to remain a good husband and father, even though he is unlikely to return to California until the end of the summer. She added: “We speak about 10 or 15 times a day. But he’s not back until after the World Cup in July or August.” David has previously admitted to finding his sons’ schoolwork “complicated”. He once said: “Their homework is so hard these days. I sat down with Brooklyn the other day — and I was like, ‘Victoria, maybe you should do the homework tonight.’

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Katia Ivanova imagined killing Ronnie Wood he 21-year-old beauty - whose romance with the Rolling Stones rocker ended last month following his alleged assault on her - said their rows got so fierce, she worried one of them would have “accidentally” caused serious injury or even death to the other. She told the Daily Star newspaper: “If we had carried on together and I hadn’t got help, I think one of us could have accidentally killed the other. “I imagined us having a huge row and me smashing a bottle to cut my wrists then hitting him and cutting his hand so badly he couldn’t play guitar any-

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he ‘Hero’ singer - whose mother is IrishAmerican and her father was an AfricanAmerican of Venezuelan descent - claims she never fitted in at school because of her heritage, leaving her very insecure about the way she looks. She said: “I am very insecure about my looks, and I always have been because of being mixed race. It’s not so weird now, and everyone’s accepting it in a big way, but as a child I felt very, um, out of place and didn’t feel pretty. “When you grow up with that type of insecurity you don’t always feel pretty.” Mariah began to realize she was different from other children when she took her white best friend on one of her

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more. “I would be forever known as the one who ruined the Rolling Stone. I knew something really bad was going to happen. “I wasn’t in a good state of mind and anything could have happened like him falling down the stairs or me breaking a bone. It was really destructive.”Katia hopes Ronnie, 62, will now change his ways as he never believed she would end their relationship, and says the split has made her feel better than ever.

She added: “He was convinced that I would never be able to leave him, he thought he had me wrapped up.”But I have left him and am doing much better. It’s a wake-up call for him. “I feel strong, it takes a lot for me to break down now, I am feeling good about myself or the first time in a long time.”

weekly visits to see her father. She told Observer Woman Magazine: “She got out of the car and went up the stairs to his house and he was over 6ft tall and very handsome, but to her he must have really been scary because I don’t know that she’d ever seen a black man before. And she looked at him, her mouth went open and she started screaming and crying. “I think he was trying to make me feel better and calm her down, but it didn’t work. You never know what people say in their houses about different races. So my mother took her home and I went up the stairs with my father.”

— BangShowbiz

Hugh Grant thinks people should have kids early

he Pussycat Dolls singer - who recently split from Formula One racing driver Lewis Hamilton after almost two years together - reportedly ended their relationship in order to further her acting ambitions and has set her sights on taking on the lead female role opposite Daniel Craig in the next movie about iconic British spy James Bond. A friend of the star said: “Nicole is fiercely ambitious and didn’t want to spend her next few years following Lewis around the globe. He wanted her to be his companion as he went from one place to another, but she was not prepared to pack in her career, and that led to a number of arguments. “She has lined up some meetings in Hollywood. Nicole is very athletic and sees herself in action movies. She has even said her ideal role would be to star as the next Bond girl. Why not? She has the looks and the physique for it. “ Despite

he 49-year-old actor - who has never been married or had kids - thinks it is a good idea to settle down and start a family at a younger age before they get cynical about domestic life. He said: “It’s not just men who don’t want to have children immediately. A lot of women don’t want to be young mothers. I think that’s wrong though. I have a lot of relatives in Scotland, where people live like they did in the 50s. My female cousins were all married by the time they were 19 or 20. I don’t think that’s a

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bad thing - just to do it and get on with it before you get old and cynical and start considering marriage a bad invention.” Hugh - who previously dated Elizabeth Hurley for 13 years and Jemima Khan for three years - says it’s hard to live with a woman and thinks relationships could work better if couples were prepared to live in separate homes. He quipped to Germany’s OK! magazine: “Maybe we should reconsider the concept of men and women permanently living under the same roof. I think that kind of lifestyle is very difficult.

Mariah Carey felt ugly growing up because of her ‘mixed race’

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Saturday, January 23, 2010

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Punk still has followers in military-ruled Myanmar he singer smashes his guitar to pieces on the stage as thousands of spiky-haired punk fans cheer loudly-a rare display of countercultural exuberance in militaryruled Myanmar. At this concert in a land where all song lyrics must be submitted to the regime’s censors, there are no openly antiestablishment messages from either the musicians or the crowd with their dyed blond, blue and red locks. But as the band launches into the next number, a raw release entitled “I Want To Kill You!” fans moshing at the open-air park in the former capital Yangon say they want the freedom to express themselves.

“As a punk, I do whatever I want!” says 16-year-old Ko Pyae, dressed head-to-toe in black and sporting smeared black eye shadow — the unofficial uniform of punks and goths all around the world.

“At home I don’t care about anyone. I don’t care about my neighbors.” Yangon’s vibrant youth music scene is unexpected in a city where the streets ran with blood less than three years ago as the ruling junta crushed massive prodemocracy protests led by Buddhist monks.

But the regime’s thought police still exert their control-even when most bands would rather sing about vague themes of fun, teenage rebellion and relationships than anything political. Heavy rock group Outsider are in a dingy studio on the outskirts of Yangon working on their first album-and must submit all their song lyrics to the censors. “If I want to write something about freedom, if I want to write about the things I want, I can’t write it directly,” says drummer and songwriter Thar Nge, stepping over the blankets next to his drum kit that serve as his bed.

“If I want to show something that represents the Myanmar people, not just me personally, there’s no way I can do it. If I write that, it becomes political,” he adds. The censors do not stop at politics, he says. Any mention of alcohol, cigarettes or anything else deemed not to conform to the Buddhist nation’s values is struck out. Bands like Outsider learn to sing in analogies and become masters of euphemism-even though they say they are no trailblazers for democracy and don’t want their music to have any overtly political message.

“We do as much as we can,”

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says Thar, “but we don’t try to change politics. In our heads, we are musicians.” Debbie Stothard, a Bangkok-based pro-democracy campaigner and coordinator of the ALTSEAN-Burma network, said the reluctance of some of Myanmar’s young musicians to play at politics was a legacy of the system.

Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, has been ruled by the military since 1962 and the regime has cracked down on protesters not only in 2007 but also in 1988, besides locking up hundreds of dissidents. They include Nobel Peace Prize winner and author Aung San Suu Kyi. “Young people have been brought up to believe that politics is dangerous and, by being political, they are asking to be locked up, they are asking to lose their job opportunities, they are asking to be tortured and killed,” Stothard said.

“But, eventually, everyone gets to a point where they have to sing what they’re thinking.” Music is not the only way of getting a point across in Myanmar. Aung is a successful painter whose commercial works sell for hundreds of dollars each, a big sum in this impoverished nation, but he says his real interest lies in conceptual art.

“I live by selling paintings but there’s less freedom with paintings. I make videos and do performance art to express myself. That gives me a sense of satisfaction afterwards,” says Aung, not his real name. One of his videos shows a goldfish swimming in a small glass of water. A hand drops in a tablet that fizzes and sends the fish into a frenzy-when the froth clears it lies floating dead on the surface.

An apparent commentary on the junta’s handling of the 2007 protests-known as the Saffron Revolution after the color of the monks’ robes-he says that he has drawn fire for cruelty to the fish.

“People have criticized this video because a fish is killed. What about all the people killed here in Myanmar? Why don’t they speak up about that?” he says.

Meanwhile at the end of the punk concert in Yangon unrest brews, fuelled by cheap beer vendors, as fans throw bottles, try to tear apart the stage and stamp-then urinateon concert posters. But there is no sign of any security forces moving in and no chants of political activism-the marauding punks are angry that the band didn’t play an encore. — AFP

A traditional Indian dancer from the state of Kerala poses during a press preview of tableaux participating in the Republic Day parade in New Delhi yesterday. India celebrates its 61st Republic Day on January 26.

— AFP

Sundance opens with a ‘HOWL’ he Sundance Film Festival opened on Thursday proclaiming a return to rebellious and risky filmmaking by premiering Allen Ginsberg biopic “HOWL” and war documentary “Restrepo.” Backed by actor and activist Robert Redford’s Sundance Institute, the festival began in the 1980s to promote movies made outside Hollywood’s mainstream studios, and this year’s theme is renewing the independence it first championed.

“Sometimes getting back to your roots is fresh and new,” Redford told a packed house for the opening night premiere of “HOWL,” which was followed by “Restrepo.” Earlier on Thursday, Redford told reporters that in recent years he has felt Sundance was “sliding” from its original vision because indie film began to mesh with studio movies.

In fact, some of the best indie films of recent years were products of divisions of Hollywood studios that worked in the arena for low-budget moviemaking. “Slumdog Millionaire,” for instance, was originally backed by Warner Independent Pictures, a now defunct unit of Warner Bros.

“HOWL” has independence in its DNA, its filmmakers said. It began life as a documentary in workshops at the Sundance Institute, where it was transformed into a feature film by co-writers and directors Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman.

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Truth in storytelling “HOWL” tells how Ginsberg’s classic poem of the same name, which seeks to tell the truth of the everyday lives of post World War Two young adults,

was deemed indecent by some, and its publisher was tried in a California court in 1957 for distributing pornography. At the time, Ginsberg and his Beat Generation were renegades who defied convention.

The movie challenges standard biopics by blending elements of documentary and feature films and by using animation to illustrate the poem. “The poem itself breaks so many formal rules, we felt it was appropriate for us to do the same,” Friedman told Reuters. Epstein added that the poem has statements on militarism and anti-consumerism and Ginsberg was, at his best, an artist speaking his own truth.

“That’s what most spoke to me,” Epstein said.

“That’s what you strive for-something truthful.” In keeping with its risk taking theme, Sundance departed from past tradition with its 2010 opening night.

Instead of screening one movie in a gala premiere, it screened two films and a program of short films.

After “HOWL” came “Restrepo” because Redford and Sundance have long championed documentaries.

For the film, author Sebastian Junger (“The Perfect Storm”) and filmmaker Tim Hetherington spent a year with a platoon of soldiers in Afghanistan looking at the soldiers’ day-to-day living, working and fighting. Redford said that throughout 2010’s Sundance, audiences would see numerous documentaries in which they “will sense the risk the filmmaker took to tell that story and how important it was to get a certain new truth out.” “That’s something that we’re proud of,” he said. — Reuters

British music stars raise money for quake victims op British music acts offered yesterday a dazzling array of gifts, from guitars to a live concert in your garden, to be auctioned off to raise money for Haiti’s quake victims. Coldplay and the Arctic Monkeys are among the bands who have come together for the special Internet sell-off to raise funds for charity Oxfam’s work in the devastated Caribbean nation. Among the items is a jacket worn by Coldplay frontman Chris Martin during a tour and a guitar used by Alex Turner from the Arctic Monkeys.

“I visited Haiti with Oxfam a few years ago. It’s a country of extreme poverty and brutal living conditions,” said Martin.

“The earthquake that has struck Haiti will have turned the city into an unimaginable hell.”

Also up for grabs are VIP tickets to the Glastonbury Festival, a world famous music and performing arts event in southwest England, which organizers expect to be attended by up to 200,000 revelers this summer. Other items are a specially written piece of music by Damon Albarn, singer from group Blur, and a painting donated

by Scottish songstress Annie Lennox.

The band the Magic Numbers will also come and play an acoustic set in the house or garden of the highest bidder. The auction went live on website eBay at 9:00 am yesterday and runs for 10 days, with all proceeds going to Oxfam’s rescue and recovery work on Haiti. More

T In this picture punks from Myanmar attend a concert by musicians Alex and Bigbag at a park in Yangon. — AFP

Veteran Indian film star furious over biography cclaimed Indian actor Om Puri yesterday blasted the publishers of a biography about him written by his wife for highlighting revelations about his past sexual encounters and relationships. “I was not upset about the book. But I was upset with the way it was presented by the publishers,” Puri told an audience at the Jaipur Literary Festival, where he shared a stage with his wife and biographer, Nandita. Puri said the publicity put out before the book’s launch at the end of last year had focused entirely on details of his past relationships.

This then created a media furor during which all the other aspects of his life recounted in the biography were forgotten.

“Nothing else was discussed, only this,” said the 59year-old actor, who has worked with every major Indian director and is best known outside India for starring roles in films like “East is East” and “My Son the Fanatic.” “It was a publicity gimmick by the publishers. It was a mistake on their part and

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it was not tasteful,” he added.

The book, “The Unlikely Hero”, tells of the actor’s unlikely rise to fame from an extremely deprived childhood and his championing of independent cinema outside the Bollywood mainstream.

But its launch was dominated by revelations that he had sex with his maid at the age of 14, and his long affair with a woman named Laxmi before he was married. “I understand Om being upset. It was no way to introduce his biography,” said wife Nandita, adding that the resulting media storm had a heavy impact on their family. “It did affect my sanity, and my child was hurt,” she said, while adding that she had no regrets about the material she chose to include in the book. “They were relationships that have contributed to this man,” she said, gesturing to her husband. “It was very difficult as a wife to write about it, but a biography should be about a person in their totality, and that means the good and the bad.” — AFP

items will be added to the auction over the coming days, Oxfam said.

Beyonce and Madonna have joined yesterday’s “Hope for Haiti Now” celebrity telethon for the earthquakeravaged Caribbean nation, and actor George Clooney will donate $1 million to the cause, organizers said on Thursday.

Beyonce will perform in London and Madonna will take the stage in New York in the benefit show which is being broadcast on all four leading US networks, dozens of cable channels and internationally on Internet websites.

Clooney, the “Up in the Air” star who organized the event, will officially make his $1 million donation during the telecast, his spokesman said.

Clooney, who will take part from Los Angeles, told “Entertainment Tonight” he had been up for “three days straight trying to put it together.” “It’s first getting networks together, getting phone lines, phone banks, charitable organizations together and finding the way to get the money to them. It’s a long process of making deals and trying to get things done,” he said. Other notables taking part include former US President Bill Clinton, U2 frontman Bono, singer Bruce Springsteen, rapper Jay-Z and actors Denzel Washington, Julia Roberts, Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep. MTV, the show’s co-producer, has said “Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief,” will be the most widely distributed telethon in history. — Agencies

(From left) actors James Franco, John Hamm and David Strathairn attend the opening night premiere of “Howl” at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival on Thursday, January 21, 2010 in Park City, Utah. — AP

When Conan leaves ‘Tonight,’ how much will life change?

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e’re catching our breath from all the jokes, bile and turmoil leading up to Thursday’s deal that springs Conan from NBC after 17 years and re-establishes Jay’s ongoing service. And through it all, we’re recognizing things we already knew (or should have known from ratings figures and our own eyes): Jay Leno was a flop with his prime-time talk show. Conan O’Brien was a flop as Leno’s successor hosting “The Tonight Show.” And the people who run NBC are unmatched in the industry for fashioning fiascos - then, in an NBC tradition, super-sizing them.

This is nothing new, as the Late Night Follies of the early 1990s remind us. After months of all-too-public dithering and bum-

bling, NBC chose Leno over David Letterman to inherit “The Tonight Show” from Johnny Carson. Longtime “Late Night” host Letterman, the heir apparent, was hurt and angry that NBC betrayed him. He bolted to CBS and waged war on his old network.

But that was not before he rejected NBC’s scheme to unseat Leno, a deal hatched in January 1993 after Leno had logged his first unpromising few months. All Letterman had to do was cool his heels for a year and half, until Leno’s contract ran out.

Then “Tonight” would be his. Or so NBC said. In short, the current round of chaos should have come as no surprise to any of us viewers. It’s been more like an entertaining encore of a time-honored act. It has also

been a whirlwind reminder of how late-night TV remains a fixture on the nation’s cultural radar screen - at least as much as on TV screens.

Even people who don’t catch much of Conan, Jay or Dave (or Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon or Craig Ferguson) care what they do. We forge relationships with them that endure for years, decades, even lifetimes. We identify with them. We love them for their fame and for the famous guests who come to them. We know where they are every night, and we like knowing they’re there. What we call “late night” is an institution that began on NBC more than a half-century ago. NBC’s Steve Allen invented it, down to the desk and sofa. — AP

This 1945 file picture shows legendary jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt (left) playing in a room in Paris as an unidentified woman looks on. Jazz world aficionados and fans of Reinhardt, the so called king of Jazz Manouche (Gypsy Jazz) and founder member of the legendary Hot Club de France, will be marking the 100th birth anniversary of the great guitarist today. — AFP

SPECTRUM

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Saturday, January 23, 2010

Lebanese designers lace up for Paris couture catwalks rom the catwalks of Paris and New York to the red carpets of Cannes and the Oscars, Lebanese designers are taking the couture scene by storm, pitching the glamorous side of a country long associated with violence. For decades, Lebanon has been the fashion queen of the Middle East but with the noughties regional favorites like Georges Chakra, Zuhair Murad, Basil Soda, Rabih Kayrouz, and the man who started it all-Elie Saab-became the darlings of international runways.

Saab shot to stardom overnight in 2002 when actress Halle Berry landed an Academy Award in one of his creations, a full-skirted burgundy gown with a sheer top with strategically embroidered flowers. Today, his clientele includes a slew of A-list celebrities like Angelina Jolie, Marion Cotillard, and Beyonce. Saab and Rabih Kayrouz are also among the few foreigners who have been admitted to France’s prestigious Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture, an exclusive trade guild of top designers and fashion houses.

And despite a flagship store on Paris’ Champs Elysees, Saab’s heartand work-remain faithful to Beirut.

“I always say I breathe differently in Lebanon,” the designer told AFP in a recent interview at his office in downtown Beirut as he put the final

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touches to his latest collection ahead of Paris Haute Couture Week, which runs from January 24 to 28. “I’m very attached to this country,” said the sil-

Lebanese international fashion designer Elie Saab is pictured during an interview in downtown Beirut. — AFP

ver-haired Saab. “It gives me strength-the fact that my parents are from here, the light in Lebanon, even its history.”

Long known as the godfather of young Lebanese designers, the 45year-old is today upheld as an icon in his native country. But Saab had humble beginnings: as a child, he made dresses for his sisters out of his mother’s tablecloths and curtains.

Like many Lebanese, his childhood was marred by war and displacement.

At the age of 18, he opened his first atelier at the height of Lebanon’s devastating 1975-1990 civil war.

More than two decades later, he still entrusts Lebanese needle workerssome of whom have been with him for a quarter of a decade — with creating the gowns that grace runways and red carpets around the world.

“Lebanon can be another haute couture capital easily, with all the young talents who are already making a show worldwide,” Saab said.

‘Beirut has unique magic’ A walk through some Beirut districts, largely rebuilt after the war, reflects the country’s complex history: bullet-riddled apartment buildings and posh shopping centers sit sideby-side. Though Lebanon’s political woes remain far from resolved, the country has topped travel destination lists over the past year, and its side-

walk cafes are bustling with tourists and style-savvy local urbanites.

Lebanese-born, New York-based designer Reem Acra recalls her childhood in Beirut, which she says helped form her sense of style at a very young age.

Acra, a leading name in luxury bridal and evening wear, still has a dress in white guipure lace she

designed in Beirut when she was just seven years old. “Since I was five, my mother would take me to the souks to show me how to buy fabrics,” Acra told AFP in a telephone interview. “They were amazingeverything was embroidered and the organzas were exquisite,” said Acra, who designed the strapless red inaugural ball gown of US Vice President Joe Biden’s wife Jill.

“At a very young age, I understood luxury hands-on and knew how to negotiate,” she added. And while some high-end fashion names like Christian Lacroix were dealt a serious blow by the global credit crunch, business for Lebanese designers is bursting at the seams. “Lebanese designers are very competitive for red carpet appearances because their dresses correspond to Hollywood celebrity standards: feminine, sexy, glamorous, but not provocative, not too personal,” said Lydia Kamitsis, a fashion curator and writer based in France. “Their designs are not only attractive but also wearable.”

A fresh face on the fashion scene is 36-year-old Rabih Kayrouz, who trained with Dior and Chanel and has a base in Paris but still produces his dresses at his bright Beirut atelier.

“When I came back from Paris in 1995, everything was being rebuilt, and it was then that I discovered a

culture which was more oriental than the Western culture where I had trained,” said Kayrouz, who also runs “Starch”, a non-profit organization offering young designers free show space in Beirut. “I was happy, so I stayed,” he told AFP. Georges Chakra, another red carpet favourite, caught major international attention when his designs appeared in the 2006 motion picture “The Devil Wears Prada” starring Meryl Streep.

Today, he regularly dresses celebrities like Tyra Banks, Carrie Underwood and Queen Latifah and showcases his collection at a private show during Paris Haute Couture Week. “Beirut has this unique magicwhen it’s calm,” said Chakra, who made headlines at the Oscars last year with British actress Helen Mirren’s floor-length red gown with Swarovski crystal sleeves. “And when it’s not, it affects you. When you’re Lebanese, you live it too,” he told AFP, in reference to a bloody 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel. But Chakra, who is also based in Beirut, insists that the growing number of star designers can offer a different image of the Middle East’s hottest capital. “Ten years ago, we said this ‘trend’ of Lebanese designers would die,” Chakra said. “Well, it hasn’t yet and it doesn’t look like it will anytime soon.” — AFP

ʻBad boyʼ Gaultier throws boxers into fashion ring ad boy” of French fashion Jean Paul Gaultier lived up to his reputation Thursday, throwing swaggering macho models into a boxing ring as Paris kicked off four days of menswear shows. Fashion addict rapper Kanye West and model girlfriend Amber Rose turned up in oversized fur coats and refused to talk to press. An aide said West, who is into designing his own lines, planned to attend half of the 42 shows scheduled through till tomorrow.

“B

Fashion is

child’s play Young children present fashion of the Italian label Amore on January 21, 2010 in Florence, Italy during the “Pitti Immagine Bimbo” fashion fair. The 70th children’s fashion show is till tomorrow.

— AFP photos

only people involved in fashion buying fashion. But the crisis means you look for ways out, for new solutions.” Thanks to the crisis, several leading houses, including Emanuel Ungaro, Yohji Yamamoto and Thierry Mugler, are not staging catwalk shows this season, saving tens of thousands of euros in the process.

A score of labels instead are showing their new collections in showrooms. The current darling of the Paris men’s scene, according to a panel of international buyers queried by France’s Journal du Textile, is Dior’s Kris Van Assche, who trots out his new designs today.

Though it is early to spot trends, seen throughout the main shows on Thursday were a plethora of puffa down jackets and vests for next season’s cold days-a sign its current popularity is not about to go away.

Even highly elegant top-ofthe-market Louis Vuitton liked the puffa in a collection of

Models display creations by JeanPaul Gaultier during the ready-towear AutumnWinter 2010-2011 collections shows in Paris. — AFP Fellow superstar Chris Brown, also known for bruising Rihanna, flew in from the Milan men’s fashion shows for Gaultier’s boxing-inspired autumn-winter collection, telling AFP: “I really wanted to see this one.” Known for rollicking catwalk parades that keep even the most cynical fashionistas on edge, Gaultier took the boxer’s robe as role model, throwing out hoodie shirts, hoodie jackets and hoodie coats on anything from streetwear to evening dress.

As two women in shorts and flesh-colored tops staged a mock fight in a boxing ring, and boys punched away at bags on a stage, a bunch of well-built male models-not the androgynous adolescent types often on catwalks-trotted out a darkly colored collection to a packed house. Sporting fake cuts, bloodied bruises, and 48-hour stubble, muscle-bound models strode in large bermudas, tight pants and even a couple of Gaultier’s trademark skirts to the sound of punches and the songs of Edith Piaf.

The aim of the show, Gaultier told AFP, was “to put up a fight against boredom and the general climate of gloom.”

“The whole world is in crisis,” he said, “not just fashion which lives a little in autarchy, with

emblematically chic male garb whose touch of eccentricity was provided by geometric inserts and paneling, as well as flashes of shirt left hanging untidily out. Inspired by early 20th century Vienna’s mix of business and leisure, the house invented the word “Bleisure” for the collection it says combines formality with comfort.

From the outset designers had a field day of creativity with trousers. Edgy Belgianborn designer Dries Van Noten coupled old-fashioned “Long Johns” with tailored jackets, while Gaspard Yurkievich, a cult figure on the Paris scene, harked back to the 1980s with hound’s toothed bell-bottoms.

“I wanted to play with traditional clothes such as the trench coat, and traditional fabrics such as twill, to renew them for young people today who’ve probably never seen them,” Van Noten told AFP. He cropped skinny pants well above the ankle to give his collection “a young dynamic feel”, and sent models out each carrying his own music “because young people are both very individual and very social nowadays”, he said. — AFP

Saturday, January 23, 2010

WHATʼS ON IN KUWAIT

15 Embassy information EMBASSY OF GREECE The Embassy of Greece has the pleasure to announce that with a view to promote business interaction and commercial relations between Greece and Kuwait and to present further support for the Kuwaiti importers, it requests all Kuwaiti Companies dealing with or representing Greek Companies in Kuwait to contact this Embassy as soon as possible and to provide by fax or e-mail the following information: (Name of the company, tel no, fax no, e-mail, type of business, name of the Greek companies/clients). The Embassy’s contacts are as follows: e-mail: gremb.kuw@mfa.gr; fax: 24817103, and tel no: 24817100, 24817101, 24817102.

EMBASSY OF INDIA On the occasion of the Republic Day of India, a Flag hoisting ceremony will be held at the Embassy of India premises on Arabian Gulf Street at 9 am on Tuesday, January 26, 2010. The flag hoisting will be followed by the reading of the message of the President of India, rendition of patriotic songs by Indian school children, and an Open House Reception. All Indian nationals in Kuwait are cordially invited to attend the Flag Hoisting Ceremony.

Seva Darshan holds mega program eva Darshan’s mega event Bharath Darshan 2010 was held at the Marina Hall on the 15th of January and was inaugurated by the Indian Ambassador Ajai Malhotra in the presence of other guests.

Bharath Darshan Convenor Mohankumar gave the welcome speech and Krishnakumar, President of Seva Darshan Kuwait addressed the audience.

The highlight of the event was the organization’s signature program ‘Bharath Darshan’ performed by the students of Bala Darshan Kuwait and Rythemscapes Academy of Media and Arts. By noon the guest artists took over the stage and the audience with their scintillating music.

Roopa, Jins Gopinath, Somadas, Prasob, Kottayam Nazeer, Kalabhavn Praod were the main performers of the day. Bharath Darshan 2010 was organized to fund the organizations ‘Maryaoor School Project’.

The project will help establish a residential school for the tribal children of Marayoor.

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FAIPS bags ASSE HSE Trophy AIPS hosted the third Health, Safety & Environment Week organized by the American Society of Safety Engineers, Kuwait Chapter, between 17th and 21st December. The event witnessed the participation of seven schools including Indian Community School, Salmiya, Indian Central School, Indian Educational School, Indian Integrated School, Indian English Academy School, Gulf Indian School and Fahaheel Al-Watanieh Indian Private

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School. Competitions like Extempore, Essay Writing, On-the-Spot Poster Making, Slogan Writing and Waste Reduction Exhibition was organized in which the students of FAIPS performed wonderfully. The first and second prizes in the Extempore competition were bagged by FAIPS students Angela Maria Pallickal of class twelve and Sharwari Pandit of class ten respectively. The FAIPS team for the HSE Expo competition consisting Rahul Raju, Nilasis Bhattacharya, Golden

Nivedita, Astha Bhadra of class eight and Aisha Tariq of class nine won the first position for their innovative waste reduction exhibits. FAIPS students, Immanuel Amrita Rhema and Lakshmi Ramabadran of class eleven won the first place in the On-the-Spot Poster Making Competition and the second place in the Slogan Writing competition. Immanuel Amrita Rhema of class eleven won the first place in the Essay Writing competition, Senior category. The FAIPS team for

HSE Quiz consisting Immanuel Adriana Rakshana of class seven and Rahul Raju of class eight, also won the first place adding to the score tally. On the whole, the stellar performance of FAIPS earned them a whopping score of 48 points winning them the school trophy, once again. Such effective organization and such a brilliant performance was only possible due to the relentless efforts of the faculty and students and the continuous support of the Principal.

Announcements

Graphic Design Exhibition at AUK he American University of Kuwait’s Graphic Design Senior Thesis Exhibition will hold its opening reception today from 7-9 pm.

This exhibition is the result of a GDES course titled, Senior Portfolio, where students are challenged to visualize an argument based on an observation and supported by research. The course, currently taught as an Independent Study by Professor Marcella Kulchitsky teaches students how to visu-

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alize the complex intersection between personal voice, conceptual understanding, and the USC of research for a graphic design exhibition. The course is largely self-directed and students arc expected to select and investigate a topic using design as a means to present their findings.

Students are graded on the creation and presentation of their thesis proposal, research, exhibit, and process book.

JANUARY 27 Lecture by Dr Muna: Ties Center presents: “Intercultural Communication Competence” a lecture by Dr Muna A. Ali PhD. Dr Muna head of the Euro-Gulf studies Center at Kuwait University as well as the Prof. of Political Science & International Relations. Her lecture will focus on avoiding communication conflicts when interacting both socially and in work related activities with other cultures. Join us for an intercultural experience and test your communication skills! Wednesday, January 27th from 7 to 8:30 pm at Ties Center Shuhada, Block 4, Street 413, Villa 67, Call 25231015 or 97798222.

JANUARY 29 Drawing contest: The Kuwait RSC (Risala Study Circle) is conducting drawing contest (“NIRAKOOT”) for children as part of its Zonal conference. Venue On 29th January 2010 Friday at 4 pm in Abbasiya community hail. The participants have categorized as Junior and Senior (up to 7 year old as junior, in between 7 and 12 as senior) those who are interested to join the contest may call 66009656, 99118976 or Email at rsckuwait@gmai1.com before 22nd January.

MARCH 26 CRYcket 2010: the 13th annual crycket tournament is scheduled to be held on Friday, 26th March 2010 at the KOC Hockey Grounds, Ahmadi. This tournament is organized by FOCC (Friends of Cry Club). Friends of CRY Club (FOCC) is associated with CRY (Child Rights and You), India and its main objectives are to create awareness of the underprivileged Indian children, help restore their basic rights, strive to provide support in personal devel-

opment of the Indian children in Kuwait and bring out the qualities of social commitment in them. FOCC has been organizing CRY awareness programmes for children through its two annual events - CRYcket (Cricket match for children below 14 years organized annually since 1997) and CRY chess tournament (for children of all ages organized annually since 2005) - and ‘Brain Bang’ programme which is an ongoing bi-weekly Accelerated Learning activity. CRYcket will be played by 24 teams of children and about 500 spectators are expected for this special one-day event. The deadline to receive the registration forms is 18th March 2010, however registration may be close earlier if the available slots of 12 teams in each category are filled. A colourful souvenir will be released to mark the 13th year of FOCC’s activities in Kuwait.

For details how to become a sponsor and/or to advertise in the Souvenir or to volunteer as a FOCC member, pls visit www.focckwt.org or email focckwt@yahoo.com April 16 Friends of Kannur holds drama competition: Friends of Kannur Expatriates Association (FOKE) is arranging a drama competition for their forthcoming fifth anniversary celebration. Competition will be held on April 16th at Daiya Auditorium.

Applications are invited from all art lovers in Kuwait to participate in this drama competition. Drama should be in Malayalam language and should be less than 40 minutes duration. All those who wish to participate in this competition are requested to submit their application along with a copy of their script before February 15th 2010. For further details you may contact 65071434, 99860832.

The Embassy of India has further revamped and improved its Legal Advice Clinic at the Indian Workers Welfare Center, and made the free service available to Indian nationals on all five working days, i.e. from Sunday to Thursday every week.

Kuwaiti lawyers would be available at the Legal Advice Clinic daily from Monday to Thursday, while Indian lawyers would be available on Sundays. Following are the free welfare services provided at the Indian Workers Welfare Center located at the Embassy of India: [i] 24x7 Helpline for Domestic Workers: Accessible by toll free telephone no. 25674163 from anywhere in Kuwait, it provides information and advice exclusively to Indian domestic sector workers (Visa No. 20) as regards their grievances, immigration and other matters. [ii] Help Desk: It offers guidance to Indian nationals on routine immigration, employment, legal, and other issues (Embassy premises; 9 AM to 1 PM and 2 PM to 4.30 PM, Sunday to Thursday); (iii) Labour Complaints Desk: It registers labor complaints and provides grievance redressal service to Indian workers (Embassy premises; 9 AM to 1 PM and 2 PM to 4.30 PM, Sunday to Thursday); (iv) Shelters: For female and male domestic workers in distress; (v) Legal Advice Clinic: Provides free legal advice to Indian nationals (Embassy premises; Kuwaiti lawyers 3 PM to 5 PM, Monday to Thursday; Indian lawyers 2 PM to 4 PM on Sunday); and (vi) Attestation of Work Contracts: Private sector worker (Visa No. 18) contracts are accepted at the Embassy; 9 AM to 1 PM; Sunday to Thursday; Domestic sector worker (Visa No. 20) contracts are accepted at Kuwait Union of Domestic Labor Offices (KUDLO), Hawally, Al-Othman Street, Kurd Roundabout, Al-Abraj Complex, Office No 9, Mezzanine Floor; 9 AM to 9 PM, Saturday to Thursday; 5 PM to 9 PM on Friday.

EMBASSY OF PHILIPPINES The Embassy of the Philippines wishes to inform the Filipino community in the State of Kuwait, that the recent supreme court decision to extend the registration of voter’s applies only in local registration in the Philippines under Republic Act no. 8189 and does not apply to overseas voters which is governed

by Republic Act no. 9189, hence it has no impact on the plans and preparations on the conduct of overseas absentee voting.

The overseas absentee voting for presidential elections will start on 10 April 2010 and will continue uninterrupted until 10 May 2010 daily at the Philippine Embassy.

Registered overseas absentee voters are advised to schedule their days off in advance to avoid complications in their schedules. Qualified voters are encouraged to get out and vote.

EMBASSY OF SOUTH AFRICA The Embassy of the Republic of South Africa’s working hours till Thursday, 31st December 2009 will be from 8 am to 10 am. Please note that the Embassy will be closed on Sunday, 3rd January 2010 on the occasion of the New Year. The Embassy will resume its normal working hours on Monday, 4th January 2010, from Sunday to Thursday.

Please note that the working hours will be from 8 am to 16h00 & the Consular section operation hours will be from 8h30 to 12h30.

Send to What’s On upcoming events, birthdays or celebrations by email: local@kuwaittimes.net Fax: 24835619 / 20

SPECTRUM

16 CROSSWORD 878

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Calvin Aries (March 21-April 19) You could be slowed in

the way you work today but this can be favorable— it will help you to be more accurate in the results that you are trying to achieve. Your management and directional abilities are in high focus. You will enjoy sharing the noon break time with friends.

There is some fun talk and new ideas to be shared at this time. This afternoon may be the right time to delve into projects that are new to you.

If disputes crop up in the work place—take the conservative stand for now—you may not know the whole story. Meeting new people is also most favorable. The domestic scene gains new appeal and it is a good time to chat with your parents and family. If possible, attend a theatrical performance with a loved one this evening.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) Your sense of humor could

get you out of some interesting situations today. Let this be the day to express just a few of those good oneliners you have been saving. You may even find the toughest co-worker favors a lighter than usual attitude this afternoon. A partner may help boost your finances today. You have a brilliant, intuitive and inventive mind—you can create a multitude of ways in which to help humanity. One of which can be an inspiration for people to lend a helping hand. There may be an issue concerning women-in-business that may direct your energies this afternoon. You and your friends will enjoy some fun times this evening. There may be a new friend joining your little group later tonight. You could be newsworthy—careful.

Pooch Cafe

ACROSS 1. Any of various units of capacity.

4. European freshwater game fish with a thick spindle-shaped body.

8. A workplace for the conduct of scientific research.

11. Of or relating to a member of the Buddhist people inhabiting the Mekong river in Laos and Thailand.

12. A Tibetan or Mongolian priest of Lamaism.

13. To make a mistake or be incorrect.

14. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth.

15. According to the Old Testament he was a pagan king of Israel and husband of Jezebel (9th century BC).

16. Aircraft landing in bad weather in which the pilot is talked down by ground control using precision approach radar.

17. Wish harm upon.

19. A colorless and odorless inert gas.

21. A soft white precious univalent metallic element having the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of any metal.

23. (Akkadian) God of wisdom.

25. A master's degree in business.

30. Someone who works (or provides workers) during a strike.

33. A large fleet.

36. A compartment in front of a motor vehicle where driver sits.

37. Late time of life.

38. The 7th letter of the Greek alphabet.

44. Small European freshwater fish with a slender bluish-green body.

47. The longer of the two telegraphic signals used in Morse code.

50. Fermented alcoholic beverage similar to but heavier than beer.

51. A plant hormone promoting elongation of stems and roots.

52. (Scottish) Bluish-black or gray-blue.

Gemini (May 21-June 20) Success is near—this is going to be a great day! Cash flow is a major issue—but will be improving. You will soon be able to see progress toward achieving your goals and little-by-little, you will see that your decisions are good. Work on realizing your inner worth and bring out that wonderful sense of humor. You have new ideas for the work place—present these ideas in person to someone in authority—not to co-workers. You will have positive results. These new ideas will be creating opportunities to take another step up the corporate ladder. Your philosophy and psyche are in a flux of change now—an indication that you are ready for new challenges. Relax this evening—enjoy the relationship you have with each family member.

Non Sequitur

Cancer (June 21-July 22) Many projects in the workplace will end soon and you would be well to exercise your patience. Some strange undercurrents could be discovered while walking from one office to another. This undercurrent of activity could distract you from your work—careful. Your work comes first, so it might be wise to consider a different path from one office to another. On a separate note, some surprising information regarding a business venture may create some thoughts of a job-change—give this more time. Weigh the pros and cons of any business venture. You are a can-do type of individual and you are not afraid to chase after your dreams. Home life is a focus for the afternoon and play is an important part of this time.

Leo (July 23-August 22) Your viewpoint may need changing today. Any progress that has seemed slow will begin to change now. You can really throw your energies into your work. This morning you must be prepared for some type of a different opinion, but by removing the emotions, the facts should reveal the proper direction for your energies.

Community activities may fit in your schedule this afternoon—this may bring you exciting and intelligent new friends. You have a need to be respected and you will achieve this easily as you organize people and encourage others in their efforts to effect some sort of community improvements. You have good ideas. Loved ones at home respond to you in positive ways and most activity at home this evening will go well.

Zits DOWN 1. Divulge information or secrets.

2. A very young child (birth to 1 year) who has not yet begun to walk or talk.

3. Weight to be borne or conveyed.

4. Burrowing marine mollusk living on sand or mud.

5. German chemist who was co-discoverer with Lise Meitner of nuclear fission (1879-1968).

6. A benevolent aspect of Devi.

7. A small cake leavened with yeast.

8. A human limb.

9. Type genus of the family Arcidae.

10. (informal) Exceptionally good.

18. The blood group whose red cells carry both the A and B antigens.

20. The selling of something purchased.

22. A white metallic element that burns with a brilliant light.

24. Harsh or corrosive in tone.

26. A nonmetallic largely pentavalent heavy volatile corrosive dark brown liquid element belonging to the halogens.

27. Before noon.

28. (Babylonian) God of storms and wind.

29. Light informal conversation for social occasions.

31. A public promotion of some product or service.

32. A soft silvery metallic element of the alkali earth group.

34. A radioactive element of the actinide series.

35. (Greek mythology) The goddess of youth and spring.

39. An official language of the Republic of South Africa.

40. A dull persistent (usually moderately intense) pain.

41. Type genus of the Nepidae.

42. A Chadic language spoken south of Lake Chad.

43. A wound resulting from biting.

45. The cry made by sheep.

46. A logarithmic unit of sound intensity equal to 10 decibels.

47. A white metallic element that burns with a brilliant light.

48. A heavy brittle diamagnetic trivalent metallic element (resembles arsenic and antimony chemically).

49. A soft gray ductile metallic element used in alloys.

Virgo (August 23-September 22) Some large-scale changes and life transitions are beginning. You may not notice right away, but changes are coming! Expect powerful people to enter your life. Account for your expenses so that you do not forget an important bill that will be coming due soon. You may be involved with sales and find a great opening that will bring you monetary rewards. Others will want to congratulate you on your achievements. This is a day full of unexpected surprises and as you can see, some of the surprises are good and some are not. Careful— sometimes when you try to accomplish two things at once they can become at odds with each other. Your strength comes from knowing how you stand emotionally—use this knowledge. Tonight is family fun night.

Libra (September 23-October 22) Bad impressions could happen if you are the one that holds up the wheels of progress. If there are lots of little things to tend to today, it would be wise to be guided by a list so that nothing is forgotten. You may not feel like giving all your attention to your work but within very little time this scattered thinking will pass. As you complete your work now, you will find a sense of fulfillment.

There will be some serious discussions this afternoon surrounding changes in stock matters at work. This can mean successful changes for you and the people you work for now. There is a personal need to be complimented or recognized for your kindness. People will comply with your requests but on their time table—patience. Romance is in the air this evening.

Mother Goose and Grimm

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) You have an ongoing

project, personal or business that can be productively completed with wonderful results. The eye for things out of place will have you straightening and moving things around today. You could be tempted with sweets at noon—knowing this ahead of time . . . don’t go into a fudge shop. Your creative side is flowing and you may think that anything is possible. Your work gives you a sense of accomplishment today. There are some good surprises on the horizon—watch for them. A need to be the center of attention takes hold in your life now; there is a craving to give and to be appreciated for your gifts.

This can be an expansive, creative and even romantic phase—a time you will look back on with pride and fondness.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) Your workday is busy with only a few emotional problems and much concentrated effort. This is a time of ambition and responsibility—a time to keep your cool and pace yourself. Unconventional romantic and social connections are likely. You will meet a new person today and may find yourself surprised by your feelings. Do not get too excited—this could only be a friend relationship. Ultimate answers come from far away. This is a time that you can make your home more comfortable.

Perhaps your home is too drafty, needs paint or it is too cold. Perhaps the colors are not right in one room. You can work it into your budget a little bit at a time if you need to do this. Now is the time that you will make the wisest choices.

Yesterday’s Solution

Capricorn (December 22-January 19) A need

yester

Yesterday’s Solution

to

INTERNATIONAL CALLS Kuwait Qatar Abu Dhabi Dubai Raas Al Khayma Al-Shareqa Muscat Jordan Bahrain Riyadh Makkah - Jeddah Cairo Alexandria Beirut Damascus Allepo

00965 00974 009712 009714 009717 009716 00968 009626 00973 009661 009662 00202 00203 009611 0096311 0096321

Tunisia Rabat Washington New York Paris London Madrid Zurich Geneva Monaco Rome Bangkok Hong Kong Pakistan Taiwan Bonn

0021610 002127 001212 001718 00331 004471 00341 00411 004122 0033 00396 00662 00852 0092 00886 0049228

Word Sleuth Solution

to prove yourself can lead to all kinds of challenges in the work place. The new broom sweeps clean; old patterns are ripe for an innovative approach.

Radical and inventive ideas hold the key to realizing your ambitions and advancing your status.

If you have your accounts paid off, now would be a great time to look around at the new cars. Wait until the middle of February before you make any moves to buy a new car. Be open to checking out the styles and type of car you think you might want. Good luck follows you around all day—why not try one lottery ticket, go for that job, ask for the promotions—hug your loved one. Be your courteous self when you deal with someone in authority. This is one of your best days for dealing with money.

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) Your accomplishments are many in the work place now— slowdowns are few and far between. You could find that you are appreciated for your many talents as well as the way you can step in and help a co-worker or contribute your share of ideas in a group meeting. You could be most persuasive with others—your self-expression is significant.

You have a multitude of original ideas and in a group meeting today— others seem to hang on your every word. This afternoon is a great time to be with old acquaintances. Talk about someone’s birthday may have you remembering good things. There is a chance to have a special time with someone you love this evening. Your attitude encourages an overall positive atmosphere. People love to be your friend.

Pisces (February 19-March 20) Today is the day you may find you are more inventive than you thought possible. A little glue here or a little comment there makes this day work. You have good ideas and you are also very thoughtful toward others. You can make wheels turn and pistons churn. Make sure you save enough time for yourself so that you can accomplish what you set out to do this day. You may be working on some new ideas with regard to controlling mechanical items at a distance. There will be more of a demand for this type of work as time goes on—open your mind to the many possibilities of some sort of automated system. If you are involved in some private invention at your own place of business or home, do not forget to do a copyright.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

17 ACCOMMODATION Sharing accommodation available in Abbassiya for Keralite couple from January 26th or February 1st onwards. Rent KD 65. Contact: 66598187. (C 20228) Flat near Al Ommooma hospital, rent KD 160, with new furniture, for sale, 3 dishes and 6 LNPs, separate parking, available from 25th January. Contact: 97549378/ 94054916/ 66511549. (C 20232) 21-1-2010 Single room available in Bneid Al-Gar for working decent ladies, central A/C, available from this month, very near to Al-Salam hospital.

Please contact: 97879611. (C 20224) Room for rent at Al Mugera St Salmiya near Fahaheel Expressway for Filipinos only, call 99057302 any time. (C 20226) One furnished room available in C-A/C 3 bed flat in Jabriya block 8, near Hadi hospital, rent KD 80/PM for decent couple or working lady. Contact: 66706118, 99067385. (C 20225) Sharing accommodation available for a small family in a 2 bedroom, hall & kitchen central A/C flat near Emirates hotel, Abu Halifa with Keralite Christian family. Contact: 97612421.

(C 20227) 20-1-2010 Fully furnished sharing accommodation available in Abbassiya for couple or for two bachelors from Feb 1st.

Contact: 99264892.

(C 20222) One room accommodation available for single Indian bachelor in C-A/C flat near Indian Community School Salmiya, rent KD 65. Contact: 97237934, 25658475.

(C 20223) 19-1-2010

Fully furnished sharing accommodation available for Keralite family at Abbassiya (only 4 months, from Feb 1st). Contact: 99962214, 66957146. (C 20215) 18-1-2010 Sharing accommodation available for family or bachelor, central A/C building, bathroom attached near Garden store, Abbassiya.

Contact: 65662085, 66274078. (C 20208) One room furnished available near Indian Central school Abbassiya for decent bachelor or small family from 25th January, Indians only, reasonable rent. Contact: 99764178. (C 20107) Sharing accommodation available in Abbassiya near German clinic for decent bachelors (non smoking and non alcoholic) with a Keralite bachelor C-A/C new building, rent KD 45. Tel: 94942964. (C 20206)

FOR SALE Mitsubishi jeep Nativa 6 cylinder engine, alloy rim, fog launch, silver color, excellent condition, cash price KD 3,100 negotiable, installment possible. Contact 66507741. (C 20229) Corolla 2002 (1.8), for sale, run km 180,000, registration on 6-4-2010, KD 1350 final.

Contact: 99864113.

(C 20230) 21-1-2010

option, sunroof, wood decoration, cruise control, company original paint, lady driven, price KD 1750. Contact: 66321932. (C 20218) Mitsubishi Gallant, model 2003, silver grey color, in very good condition and insured up to October 2010, engine overhauled in November 09, from M/S auto-1 (ex Al Gannam), price fixed KD 1150. Call: 66608427. (C 20217) 19-1-2010 Mitsubishi Pajero 2000 model, (V6) very good condition, golden color, KD 1650. Phone: 99951793, 66605926. (C 20204) 17-1-2010 Sony TV, Electric oven, boiler/ Coffee maker and dishwasher for sale. Please call 97850290.

Pejot Pointer delivery van, 2008 model, KD 1,350.

Phone: 66052331.

(C 20199) Jeep Ford Escape, model 2001, color yellow, four doors, 6 cylinders, very good condition with original paint, 200,191 km, price KD 1,250 fixed.

Phone: 97786744/ 66804825.

(C 20200) Prado 4 cylinder, model 2007, full option, Al Sayer maintained all five tyres new. Price KD 5,750, negotiable. Contact: 66050484.

(C 20202) 16-1-2010 Mitsubishi Lancer 2007, run 50,000 km only, silver metallic, one hand used manager. KD 2000 only (Al Mulla maintained). Contact: 66601607. (C 20193)

ATV 50cc E-Ton run great!.

Call 67039015. (C 20220) Household goods for sale.

Call 67039015. (C 20221) 20-1-2010 Toyota Camry XLi, 4 cylinders, model 2006, white color, done KD 47,000, excellent condition, price cash KD 3,150.

Contact: 97213518. (C 20219) Mercedes 99 E240, silver, very good condition, full

MATRIMONIAL Goan Roman Catholic parents invite proposals for their daughter BE, MBA 27/5.4 employed in Goa from professionally qualified boys. Email: portuguezh@yahoo.com (20233) 21-1-2010 Syrian Catholic parents in Kuwait invite marriage pro-

posals for their son, B.Tech, 29/177, employed in Kuwait.

Contact:jmj8002@gmail.com (C 20209) Proposals invited for Keralite Orthodox boy 27/180/BE, working MNC Banglore from professionally qualified girls.

Contact email: anish_relish@rediffmail.com (C 20211) Proposals invited for Keralite Orthodox boy financially sound, 26/180 MBA, bank employee in Kuwait, girls employed in Kuwait preferred.

Email: devson555@gmail.com 17-1-2010 Proposals invited for Keralite RCSC girl, 27/158cm, B.Sc MLT, working with MoH Kuwait as lab technologist, from professionally qualified RC boys working in Kuwait.

Contact email: geocee999@gmail.com (C 20196) Malayalee Christian Orthodox parents invite proposals from girls for their son 29/176cms fair, good looking well employed telecom engineer working in Kuwait. Email: varughesekurian@hotmail.com (C 20155) 14-1-2010 Proposals invited for a Tamil, Pentecost Christian girl, 31 years, 169 cm height, occupational therapist working in Kuwait. Email: cmatrimony78@gmail.com (C 20180) Proposals invited for Keralite Orthodox boy Kollam Dist.

30/174, working in reputed company in Kuwait, from employed girls please contact with details to: wilsonklm@yahoo.com (C 20187)

TRANSPORT

SITUATION WANTED Indian male, (MBA Finance) with 2.5 years accountant experience in India, currently seeking for job, proficient in Tally 9,SAP fico, MS Office. Holding valid transferable visa no. 18. Contact: 65547019, 25620738. (C 20214) 18-1-2010

Transportation available anytime, anywhere in Kuwait, new Toyota Hiace van, please contact: 66731349.

(C 20198) 20-1-2010

Looking for a part time house maid job, experience in cooking, cleaning also new born baby massage.

Call 66367806. (C 20203)

No: 14618

Looking for a suitable job as an accountant, qualification is M.Com, have nine years experience in Dubai, well versed in preparation of trial balance profit & loss A/C and balance sheet.

Please contact: 94942964.

(C 20205) 17-1-2010

CHANGE OF NAME I, Eusebio Fernandes holder Indian Passport No. E 3358259, hereby change my name to Eusebio Salvador Fernandes. (C 20231) 21-1-2010

Flight Schedule Airlines JZR KLM WAN GFA ETH DHX THY UAE ETD QTR JZR JZR JZR KAC JZR BAW KAC FC JZR KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC UAE QTR ABY ETD GFA WAN JZR JZR KAC JZR JZR WAN MEA IRM MSR JZR KAC WAN MSR KAC KNE JZR WAN SVA KAC JZR QTR KAC KAC RJA JZR MLR IRC GBB

Arrival Flights on Saturday 23/01/2010 Flt Route 0263 BEIRUT 0447 AMSTERDAM/BAHRAIN 2103 BEIRUT 211 BAHRAIN 620 ADDIS ABABA 370 BAHRAIN 1172 ISTANBUL 853 DUBAI 0305 ABU DHABI 0138 DOHA 0637 ALEPPO 0503 LUXOR 0527 ALEXANDRIA 416 JAKARTA/KUALA LUMPUR 0529 ASSIUT 0157 LONDON 412 MANILA/BANGKOK 201 BAHRAIN 0161 DUBAI 302 MUMBAI 344 CHENNAI 362 COLOMBO 676 DUBAI 332 TRIVANDRUM 855 DUBAI 0132 DOHA 0121 SHARJAH 0301 ABU DHABI 213 BAHRAIN 1121 BAHRAIN 0447 DOHA 0165 DUBAI 204 LAHORE 0425 BAHRAIN 0113 ABU DHABI 1021 DUBAI 404 BEIRUT 5066 MASHAD 610 CAIRO 0171 DUBAI 672 DUBAI 2301 DAMASCUS 621 ASSIUT 786 JEDDAH 745 JEDDAH 0257 BEIRUT 2001 CAIRO 500 JEDDAH 552 DAMASCUS 0457 DAMASCUS 0134 DOHA 284 DHAKA 774 RIYADH 800 AMMAN 0173 DUBAI 403 COLOMBO/DUBAI 6791 MASHAD 061 BAGHDAD/NAJAF

Time 00:05 00:10 00:50 01:05 01:45 02:15 02:15 02:35 03:00 03:25 05:05 05:35 06:10 06:25 06:30 06:40 06:45 07:00 07:45 07:55 08:10 08:20 08:20 08:25 08:30 09:00 09:05 09:35 10:45 10:45 11:00 11:05 11:05 11:10 11:20 11:20 11:55 12:55 12:55 13:05 13:25 13:35 13:55 13:55 14:00 14:10 14:20 14:30 14:35 14:45 15:00 15:10 15:25 15:40 16:05 16:40 16:45 16:50

BAB UAE KAC GFA SVA CLX ETD JZR JZR ABY THA WAN KAC ALK UAL JZR WAN DHX WAN KAC KAC KAC GBB JZR IRA SYR KAC KAC SIA KAC JAI IAC WAN OMA KAC MSR JZR KAC JZR JZR GFA MEA QTR UAE KLM KAC JZR JZR JZR JZR MSR MSR AXB DLH AFG WAN BBC WAN WAN

344 857 118 215 510 792 0303 0493 0239 0125 519 2101 548 227 982 0427 2003 473 1025 542 674 174 093 0177 607 341 104 562 458 618 572 993 1201 0647 614 618 0459 788 0343 0433 217 402 0136 859 0445 502 0449 0429 0117 0185 612 606 395 636 405 2201 043 1029 1129

BAHRAIN DUBAI NEW YORK BAHRAIN RIYADH LUXEMBOURG ABU DHABI JEDDAH AMMAN SHARJAH BANGKOK BEIRUT LUXOR/SHARM EL SHEIKH COLOMBO/DUBAI WASHINGTON DC DULLES BAHRAIN CAIRO BAGHDAD DUBAI CAIRO DUBAI GENEVA/FRANKFURT KANDAHAR/MUSCAT DUBAI MASHAD DAMASCUS LONDON AMMAN SINGAPORE/ABU DHABI DOHA MUMBAI CHENNAI/MUMBAI JEDDAH MUSCAT BAHRAIN ALEXANDRIA DAMASCUS JEDDAH SANAA/BAHRAIN MASHAD BAHRAIN BEIRUT DOHA DUBAI AMSTERDAM BEIRUT DOHA BAHRAIN ABU DHABI DUBAI CAIRO LUXOR KOZHIKODE/COCHIN FRANKFURT KABUL/DUBAI AMMAN DHAKA DUBAI BAHRAIN

16:50 16:55 16:55 17:05 17:15 17:15 17:15 17:30 17:35 17:40 17:45 17:50 17:55 18:05 18:15 18:15 18:20 18:30 18:40 18:50 18:55 19:00 19:00 19:05 19:20 19:30 19:35 19:40 19:45 20:00 20:05 20:15 20:15 20:20 20:30 20:35 20:40 20:55 20:55 21:00 21:05 21:20 21:35 21:40 21:55 22:00 22:10 22:15 22:25 22:40 22:45 23:00 23:15 23:30 23:35 23:40 23:40 23:45 23:55

Airlines

Departure Flights on Saturday 23-01-2010 Flt Route

JZR SAI UAL IAC PIA DLH KLM KAC ETH KAC DHX THY UAE ETD QTR WAN JZR JZR JZR GFA WAN JZR KAC JZR BAW KAC JZR KAC JZR KAC ABY UAE KAC QTR ETD GFA KAC JZR JZR KAC KAC JZR JZR MEA MSR IRM KAC KAC MSR KNE JZR JZR JZR JZR

0528 442 981 576 216 637 0447 203 620 283 371 1173 854 0306 0139 1020 0164 0112 0446 212 1120 0422 785 0256 0156 671 0170 551 0456 101 0122 856 547 0133 0302 214 165 0342 0172 541 773 0492 0238 405 611 5065 673 561 622 746 0176 0432 0426 0458

ASSIUT LAHORE WASHINGTON DC DULLES GOA/CHENNAI KARACHI FRANKFURT AMSTERDAM LAHORE BAHRAIN/ADDIS ABABA DHAKA BAHRAIN ISTANBUL DUBAI ABU DHABI DOHA DUBAI DUBAI ABU DHABI DOHA BAHRAIN BAHRAIN BAHRAIN JEDDAH BEIRUT LONDON DUBAI DUBAI DAMASCUS DAMASCUS LONDON/NEW YORK SHARJAH DUBAI LUXOR/SHARM EL SHEIKH DOHA ABU DHABI BAHRAIN ROME/PARIS BAHRAIN/SANAA DUBAI CAIRO RIYADH JEDDAH AMMAN BEIRUT CAIRO MASHAD DUBAI AMMAN ASSIUT JEDDAH DUBAI MASHAD BAHRAIN DAMASCUS

FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION 161

Time

00:05 00:15 00:40 00:50 01:10 01:20 01:25 02:20 02:30 02:55 03:15 03:15 03:50 04:10 05:00 07:00 07:00 07:35 07:40 07:45 07:50 07:55 08:20 08:35 08:55 09:00 09:00 09:10 09:25 09:35 09:35 09:40 09:55 10:00 10:20 11:40 11:45 11:50 12:00 12:00 12:05 12:15 12:25 12:55 13:55 14:15 14:30 14:35 14:50 14:55 15:05 15:20 15:25 15:30

KAC SVA KAC RJA QTR KAC KAC BAB MLR IRC GFA ETD UAE ABY JZR SVA KAC JZR JZR WAN CLX GBB JZR JZR THA KAC ALK WAN JZR KAC IRA SYR KAC WAN JAI OMA JZR MSR SIA GFA DHX KAC MEA FC JZR QTR KAC UAE KLM KAC JZR MSR JZR KAC

787 505 501 801 0135 617 613 345 404 6792 216 0304 858 0126 0262 511 543 0184 0116 2200 792 082 0448 0428 520 285 228 1028 0512 361 604 342 331 1128 571 0648 0240 619 459 218 171 675 403 102 0188 0137 301 860 0445 205 0526 613 0502 411

JEDDAH JEDDAH BEIRUT AMMAN DOHA DOHA BAHRAIN BAHRAIN DUBAI/COLOMBO MASHAD BAHRAIN ABU DHABI DUBAI SHARJAH BEIRUT RIYADH CAIRO DUBAI ABU DHABI AMMAN HONG KONG BAGHDAD DOHA BAHRAIN BANGKOK CHITTAGONG DUBAI/COLOMBO DUBAI SHARM EL SHEIKH COLOMBO ISFAHAN DAMASCUS TRIVANDRUM BAHRAIN MUMBAI MUSCAT AMMAN ALEXANDRIA ABU DHABI/SINGAPORE BAHRAIN BAHRAIN DUBAI BEIRUT BAHRAIN DUBAI DOHA MUMBAI DUBAI BAHRAIN/AMSTERDAM ISLAMABAD ALEXANDRIA CAIRO LUXOR BANGKOK/MANILA

15:50 16:00 16:10 16:25 16:30 16:35 17:30 17:35 17:40 17:45 17:55 18:00 18:10 18:20 18:25 18:30 18:30 18:35 18:40 18:40 18:45 18:50 18:50 19:00 19:05 19:10 19:15 19:30 19:50 20:00 20:20 20:30 21:00 21:00 21:10 21:20 21:25 21:35 21:45 21:55 22:00 22:10 22:20 22:30 22:30 22:35 22:45 22:50 22:55 22:55 23:25 23:45 23:50 23:55

TV PROGRAMS

18

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Orbit listings / Show listings AMERICA PLUS 00:00 Lost 01:00 Private Practice 02:00 Grey’s Anatomy 03:00 Cold Case 04:00 One Tree Hill 05:00 Lost 06:00 GMA Recorded 08:00 GMA Health 08:30 What’s the Buzz 09:00 Private Practice 10:00 Grey’s Anatomy 11:00 Ally McBeal 12:00 One Tree Hill 13:00 Cold Case 14:00 Ally McBeal 15:00 Inside the Actors Studio 16:00 GMA Live 17:00 GMA Health 17:30 What’s the Buzz 18:00 One Tree Hill 19:00 Lost 20:00 Law & Order 21:00 Private Practice 22:00 Grey’s Anatomy 23:00 Nip/Tuck ANIMAL PLANET 00:50 Animal Cops Houston 01:45 Surviving the Drought 02:40 Untamed & Uncut 03:35 Night 04:00 Night 04:30 Animal Cops Houston 06:20 Lemur Street 06:45 Monkey Business 07:10 Aussie Animal Rescue 07:35 Vet on the Loose 08:00 Wildlife SOS 08:25 Pet Rescue 08:50 The Planet’s Funniest Animals 09:45 Animal Precinct 10:40 Aussie Animal Rescue 11:05 Miami Animal Police 11:55 Animal Cops South Africa 12:50 Wildlife SOS 13:15 Pet Rescue 13:45 Xtremely Wild 14:40 Corwin’s Quest 19:15 The Planet’s Funniest Animals 20:10 The Most Extreme 21:10 After the Attack 22:05 Untamed & Uncut 23:55 I Was Bitten

19:00 Bbc World News - U 19:30 Our World - U 20:00 Bbc World News - U 20:30 Final Score - U 21:00 Bbc World News - U 21:10 The Conspiracy Files - U 22:00 Bbc World News - U 22:15 Sport Today - U 22:30Middle East Business Report - U 23:00 Bbc World News - U 23:10 The Doha Debates - U CARTOON NETWORK 00:15 Out of Jimmy’s Head 00:40 Chop Socky Chooks 01:05 Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends 01:30 Cramp Twins 01:55 George of the Jungle 02:20 Adrenalini Brothers 02:45 Gadget Boy 03:10 Ed, Edd n Eddy 03:35 Class of 3000 04:00 The Powerpuff Girls 04:15 Robotboy 04:40 The Secret Saturdays 05:05 Chowder 05:30 Ben 10 05:55 Best Ed 06:20 Samurai Jack 06:45 Cramp Twins 07:10 Eliot Kid 07:35 The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack 08:00 Skunk Fu! 08:25 Chop Socky Chooks 08:50 Chowder 09:15 Ben 10: Alien Force 09:40 Bakugan Battle Brawlers 10:05 Batman: The Brave and The Bold 10:30 Chop Socky 60 11:30 The Secret Saturdays 11:55 Best Ed 12:20 Eliot Kid 12:45 Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Heroes 13:10 Megas XLR 13:35 Samurai Jack 14:00 Ben 10

08:30 Backstory 09:00 World Report 09:30 Worldview 10:00 World Report 10:15 Cnn Marketplace Middle East 10:30 World Sport 11:00 World Report 11:30 Mainsail 12:00 Ireport For Cnn 12:30 Revealed 13:00 Larry King 14:00 World Report 14:30 World Sport 15:00 Talkasia 15:30 African Voices 16:00 Amanpour.

17:00 Political Mann 17:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart: Global Edi 18:00 World Report 18:30 Ireport For Cnn 19:00 Inside Africa 19:30 World Sport 20:00 World Report 20:30 News Special 21:00 Revealed 21:30 Mainsail 22:00 World Report 22:30 African Voices 23:00 Political Mann 23:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart: Global Edi DISCOVERY CHANNEL 00:00 Destroyed in Seconds 00:30 Destroyed in Seconds 01:00 Miami Ink 02:00 Street Customs 2008 02:55 American Chopper 03:50 Chop Shop 04:45 Mythbusters 05:40 Factory Made 06:05 Ultimate Survival 07:00 Smash Lab 07:55 Brainiac 08:50 Mythbusters 09:45 Factory Made 10:10 Street Customs 11:05 Biker Build-Off 12:00 Wheeler Dealers

BBC ENTERTAINMENT 00:35 Canterbury Tales 01:25 Building Wonders 02:15 Mission Africa 03:15 Rough Diamond Sd 04:05 Canterbury Tales 04:55 Building Wonders 05:45 Mission Africa 06:35 Bargain Hunt 07:20 Balamory 07:40 Tweenies 08:00 Fimbles 08:20 Teletubbies 08:45 Yoho Ahoy 08:50 Tommy Zoom 09:00 Balamory 09:20 Tweenies 09:40 Fimbles 10:00 Teletubbies 10:25 Yoho Ahoy 10:30 Tommy Zoom 10:40 Balamory 11:00 Cash In The Attic 12:00 Eastenders 14:00 Antiques Roadshow 15:40 Bargain Hunt 17:10 Cash In The Attic 18:10 Model Gardens 18:30 The Weakest Link 19:15 Holby City 20:15 Holby City 21:15 Canterbury Tales 22:05 Little Britain 23:05 Green Green Grass 23:35 Massive BBC LIFESTYLE 00:05 Ching’s Kitchen 00:30 Masterchef Goes Large 01:20 Cash In The Attic Usa 01:45 Hidden Potential 02:10 Living In The Sun 03:05 Ainsley’s Gourmet Express 03:35 Ching’s Kitchen 04:00 Masterchef Goes Large 05:00 Cash In The Attic Usa 05:55 Hidden Potential 06:20 Living In The Sun 07:15 What Not To Wear 08:00 Antiques Roadshow 12:10 The Home Show 15:30 Cash In The Attic Usa 18:00 Saturday Kitchen 19:00 Living In The Sun 19:45 Coleen’s Real Women 20:30 10 Years Younger 21:15 The Clothes Show 22:00 Ainsley’s Gourmet Express 23:40 Rick Stein’s Mediterranean Escapes BBC WORLD 00:00 Bbc World News - U 00:30 Survivor’s Guide To Work - U 01:00 World News Today: Business Edition - U 01:45 Sport Today - U 02:00 Bbc World News - U 02:30 Survivor’s Guide To Work - U 03:00 Bbc World News America - U 04:00 Bbc World News - U 04:30 Click - U 05:00 Bbc World News - U 05:30 Africa Business Report - U 06:00 World News Today - U 07:00 Bbc World News - U 07:30 Hardtalk - U 08:00 Bbc World News - U 08:30Middle East Business Report - U 09:00 Bbc World News - U 09:30 Click - U 10:00 Bbc World News - U 10:10 The Doha Debates - U 11:00 Bbc World News - U 11:10 The Conspiracy Files - U 12:00 Bbc World News - U 12:30 Newsnight - U 13:00 Bbc World News - U 13:30 Our World - U 14:00 Bbc World News - U 14:30Middle East Business Report - U 15:00 Bbc World News - U 15:30 Dateline London - U 16:00 Bbc World News - U 16:15 Sport Today - U 16:30 Equestrian World - U 17:00 Bbc World News - U 17:10 My Country - U 18:00 Bbc World News - U 18:10 The Doha Debates - U

The Incredible Hulk on Show Movies 1 14:25 Codename 14:50 The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack 15:15 The Life & Times of Juniper Lee 15:40 George of the Jungle 16:05 Skunk Fu! 16:35 Chop Socky Chooks 17:00 Total Drama Action 18:40 Ben 10: Alien Force 19:05 Bakugan Battle Brawlers 19:30 The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack 20:00 Megas XLR 20:25 Samurai Jack 20:50 My Gym Partner’s A Monkey 21:05 Ed, Edd n Eddy 21:30 Skunk Fu! 21:45 The Secret Saturdays 22:10 Ben 10: Alien Force 22:35 The Life & Times of Juniper Lee 23:00 Camp Lazlo 23:25 Samurai Jack 23:50 Megas XLR CINEMA CITY 01:00 Cass - 18 03:00 Taking a Chance on Love PG15 05:00 The Contender - PG15 07:00 Diamonds - Pt. *2* - PG15 09:00 High Crimes - PG15 11:00 The Last Lullaby - PG15 13:00 Greetings From the Shore - PG 15:00 Recount - PG 17:00 The Other Half - PG15 19:00 Teknolust - PG15 21:00 Familiar Strangers - PG 23:00 Midnight Bayou - PG15 CNN INTERNATIONAL 00:00 Connect The World 01:00 Backstory 01:30 World Sport 02:00 World Report 02:30 Ireport For Cnn 03:00 World Report 03:30 Inside Africa 04:00 World Business Today 04:15 Cnn Marketplace Middle East 04:30 World Sport 05:00 Larry King 06:00 The Situation Room 07:00 Mainsail 07:30 World Sport 08:00 World Report

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

American Chopper Street Customs Mega Engineering Extreme Engineering LA Hard Hats Factory Made Eyewitness Eyewitness Decoding Disaster Against the Elements Ultimate Survival Deadliest Catch Swamp Loggers

DISCOVERY SCIENCE 00:15 Weird Connections 00:40 The Greatest Ever 01:30 The Sun 02:20 Sci-Fi Science 3:10 Weird Connections 04:00 Beyond Tomorrow 04:50 How Techies Changed the World with William Shatner 05:45 Cool Stuff & How it Works 06:10 Mean Green Machines 06:40 One Step Beyond 07:10 The Sun 08:00 Junkyard Wars 09:00 Robotica 10:00 The Future of...

10:55 Superships 16:25 How Does That Work?

16:55 Weird Connections 17:20 Weird Connections 17:50 Mighty Ships 18:45 Japanese Schoolgirls 19:40 How It’s Made 20:30 Robocar 21:20 Sci-Fi Science 22:10 The Future of...

23:00 Mythbusters DISNEY CHANNEL 00:00 My Friends Tigger and Pooh 00:20 Handy Manny 00:45 Special Agent Oso 01:10 Lazytown 02:00 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 02:45 Handy Manny 03:10 Special Agent Oso 03:35 Brandy & Mr Whiskers 04:00 Fairly Odd Parents 04:25 Hannah Montana 04:45 I Got A Rocket 05:10 Wizards Of Waverly Place 05:35 Phineas & Ferb 06:00 Little Einsteins

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

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Handy Manny Lazytown Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Fairly Odd Parents Suite Life On Deck Wizards Of Waverly Place Jonas Hannah Montana Sonny With A Chance Brother Bear 2 Replacements Wizards Of Waverly Place Hannah Montana Jonas Wizards Of Waverly Place Suite Life On Deck Fairly Odd Parents Replacements Phineas & Ferb Famous Five Fairly Odd Parents Jonas Suite Life On Deck Wizards Of Waverly Place Hannah Montana Sonny With A Chance Cheetah Girls: One World Hannah Montana The Suite Life of Zack & Cody The Replacements Wizards Of Waverly Place Hannah Montana

E! ENTERTAINMENT 00:15 Streets Of Hollywood 00:40 E!es 01:30 25 Most Stylish 02:20 Sexiest 03:15 Ths Investigates 05:05 Dr 90210 06:00 Ths 07:45 25 Most Stylish 08:35 E! News 09:00 The Daily 10 09:25 Ths 11:05 Reality Hell 12:00 E! News 12:25 The Daily 10 12:50 Behind The Scenes 13:40 Perfect Catch 14:30 Wildest Tv Show Moments 15:25 Ths 17:10 Behind The Scenes 18:00 E! News 18:25 The Daily 10 18:50 Kourtney And Khloe Take Miami 19:15 Kourtney And Khloe Take Miami 19:40 Ths 20:30 Ths 21:20 Leave It To Lamas 22:10 E! News 22:35 The Daily 10 23:00 Perfect Catch 23:50 Wildest Tv Show Moments EXTREME SPORTS 00:00 Strikeforce 01:00 FIM World Motocross Championships 2008 02:00 Ticket To Ride 03:00 Strikeforce 04:00 LG Action Sports World Championships 2008 05:00 Ride Guide Snow 2008 06:00 F.I.A European Drag Racing 07:00 FIM World Motocross Championships 2008 08:00 I-Ex Season 2 10:00 Kenny Belaey’s Big Time 2 10:30 United By Fate 11:00 FIM World Supermoto 2008 12:00 I-Ex 12:30 I-Ex Season 2 13:00 Fim World Motocross Championships 2009 14:00 FIM World Motorcross MX3 Championships 2009 14:30 FIM World Motorcross MX3 Championships 2009 15:00 Kenny Belaey’s Big Time 2 15:30 United By Fate 16:00 SMP Shanghai Showdown 1 17:00 I-Ex 17:30 I-Ex Season 2 18:00 Fim World Motocross Championships 2009 19:00 FIM World Motorcross MX3 Championships 2009 19:30 FIM World Motorcross MX3 Championships 2009 20:00 SMP Shanghai Showdown 1 21:00 Kenny Belaey’s Big Time 2 21:30 United By Fate 22:00 Fim World Motocross Championships 2009 23:00 FIM World Motorcross MX3 Championships 2009 23:30 FIM World Motorcross MX3 Championships 2009 FOX SPORTS 02:00 Inside the PGA Tour 02:30 Champions Tour: Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai Rd. 1 Ka’upulehu-Kona, HI 03:00 World Sport 2010 05:00 Golf Central International 05:30 The Golf Channel - TBA 08:00 Rolex FEI World Cup Jumping London, United Kingdom 09:00 PGA Tour: Bob Hope Classic, Rd. 3 Palm Springs, CA 12:00 European Tour Abu Dhabi Golf Championship Rd. 3 16:00 2010 AT&T U.S. Figure Skating Championships Men’s Free Skate Spokane, WA 18:30 World Sport 2010 19:00 FIM Motocross World Championship 2009 - Season Review 20:00 College Basketball Game of the Week: Michigan State at Minnesota 22:00 College Basketball Game of the Week: Ohio State at West Virginia FRANCE 24 00:00 News And Magazines - U 21:00 The Paris Talk - U 21:30 News And Magazines - U MGM 01:25 I’m Gonna Git You Sucka 02:55 Triumph Of The Spirit 04:55 A Dangerous Woman 06:35 The Innocent 08:30 Death Rides a Horse 10:25 Ski Patrol 11:55 Prancer 13:40 Buona Sera, Mrs.campbell 15:30 Broadway Danny Rose 16:55 Mr. Wonderful 18:35 The Field 20:25 A Doll’s House

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My Friends Tigger and Pooh Lazytown Special Agent Oso Imagination Movers Little Einsteins Bunnytown Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Special Agent Oso Chuggington My Friends Tigger and Pooh Little Einsteins Imagination Movers Happy Monster Band Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Handy Manny Chuggington Imagination Movers Special Agent Oso Handy Manny Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Chuggington Special Agent Oso Little Einsteins Handy Manny My Friends Tigger and Pooh End Of Programming

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Son Of Rambow - PG Il Postino - PG Lenexa. 1mile - PG 15 Transporter 3 - 18 Charlie Bartlett - PG 15

SHOW MOVIES ACTION 01:00 Living Hell - 18 03:00 Iron Eagle - PG 15 05:00 Prom Night - PG 15 07:00 Boa - PG 15 09:00 The Last Winter - PG 15 11:00 Cloverfield - PG 15 13:00 Child’s Play - 18 15:00 The Last Winter - PG 15 17:00 Cloverfield - PG 15 19:00 Sukiyaki Western Django - PG 15 21:00 Normal Life - R 23:00 Taken - 18 SHOW MOVIES COMEDY 00:00 Jason Byrne Live At Vicar Street Theatre - PG 15 02:00 Kingpin - PG 15 04:00 Be Kind Rewind - PG 15 06:00 Zoolander - PG 15 08:00 Kingpin - PG 15 10:00 Christmas At The Riviera - PG 12:00 Just For Kicks - PG 14:00 Superstar - PG 15 16:00 Christmas At The Riviera - PG 18:00 Just For Kicks - PG 20:00 Meet Bill - R 22:00 The Heartbreak Kid - 18 SHOW MOVIES KIDS 01:15 Flintstones: I Yabba Dabba Do! - FAM 03:00 Scooby-doo And The Loch Ness Monster - FAM 04:30 Scooby-doo Meets The Boo Brothers - FAM 06:15 College Road Trip - PG 08:00 Beethoven’s Big Break - FAM 10:00 The Jetsons Meet The Flintstones - FAM 11:45 D2: The Mighty Ducks - PG 13:45 Dragonlance - PG 15:30 Max Keeble’s Big Movie - PG 17:15 The Fox And The Child - FAM 19:00 Dragonlance - PG 20:45 The Jetsons Meet The Flintstones - FAM 22:30 D2: The Mighty Ducks - PG SHOW SPORTS 1 00:00 Premier League Classics 00:30 Premier League Classics 01:00 Goals Goals Goals 01:30 Brazilian League Highlights 02:00 Premier League World 02:30 Premier League 04:30 Goals Goals Goals 05:00 Brazilian League Highlights 05:30 Scottish Premier League Highlights 06:00 Premier League Classics 06:30 Premier League Classics 07:00 Portugol 07:30 Brazilian League Highlights 08:00 Premier League 12:00 Goals Goals Goals 12:30 Portugol 13:00 Brazilian League Highlights 13:30 Scottish Premier League Highlights 14:00 Premier League 16:00 Futbol Mundial 16:30 Goals Goals Goals 17:00 Premier League Classics 17:30 Scottish Premier League Highlights 18:00 Live Scottish Premier League 20:00 Barclays Premier League Arabic Review 21:30 Futbol Mundial 22:00 Premier League World 22:30 Goals Goals Goals 23:00 Premier League Classics SHOW SPORTS 2 00:00 European Challenge Cup 02:00 European Tour Weekly 02:30 Futbol Mundial 03:00 Gillette World Sport 03:30 Barclays Premier League Highlights 04:30 Test Cricket Highlights 06:30 Gillette World Sport 07:00 Premier League World 07:30 European Challenge Cup 09:30 Test Cricket Highlights 11:30 Premier League World 12:00 Futbol Mundial 12:30 Snooker Masters

SKY NEWS 00:00 News, Sport, Weather - U 00:30 News, Sport, Weather - U 01:00 Sky News At Ten - U 01:30 Sky News At Ten - U 02:00 Sky News Tonight - U 02:30 Press Preview - U 03:00 Sky Midnight News - U 03:30 Cbs News - U 04:00 News On The Hour - U 04:30 News, Sport, Weather - U 05:00 News On The Hour - U 05:30 News, Sport, Weather - U 06:00 News On The Hour - U 06:30 News, Sport, Weather - U 07:00 News On The Hour - U 07:30 News, Sport, Weather - U 08:00 News On The Hour - U 08:30 Cbs News - U 09:00 Sunrise - U 13:00 Saturday Live With Chris Roberts - U 13:30 Saturday Live - U 14:00 Saturday Live With Chris Roberts - U 14:30 Saturday Sport - U 15:00 Weekend Lunchtime - U 17:00 News, Sport, Weather - U 20:00 Live At Five - U 21:00 Sky News At Six - U 22:00 Sky News At Seven With Steve Dixon - U 22:30 Sportsline - U 23:00 News, Sport, Weather - U SUPER COMEDY 00:30 The Jay Leno Show 01:30 The New Adventures Of Old Christine 02:00 The Ellen Degeneres Show 03:00 Everybody Loves Raymond 03:30 Late Night Show With Jimmy Fallon 04:30 Jimmy Kimmel Live 05:30 The Jay Leno Show 06:30 The New Adventures Of Old Christine 07:00 Frasier 07:30 Two And A Half Men 08:00 The Tonight Show With Conan O’ Brien 09:00 The Ellen Degeneres Show 10:00 Jimmy Kimmel Live 11:00 Everybody Loves Raymond 11:30 Frasier 12:00 The New Adventures Of Old Christine 12:30 Two And A Half Men 13:00 The Jay Leno Show 14:00 The Tonight Show With Conan O’ Brien 15:00 Late Night Show With Jimmy Fallon 16:00 The Ellen Degeneres Show 17:00 Everybody Loves Raymond 17:30 Frasier 18:00 Jimmy Kimmel Live 19:00 The Simpsons 19:30 Two And A Half Men 20:00 The Jay Leno Show 21:00 The Tonight Show With Conan O’ Brien 22:00 Late Night Show With Jimmy Fallon 23:00 Weeds 23:30 Jimmy Kimmel Live SUPER MOVIES 01:00 The Day the Earth Stood Still PG 03:00 Babylon A.D. - PG15 05:00 Lovely Still - PG 07:00 The X-Files: I Want to Believe - PG15 09:00 Arn: The Knight Templar PG15 11:00 Franklyn - 18 13:00 Get Smart - PG 15:00 We are Marshall - PG 17:00 Loins of Punjab Presents - PG 19:00 Franklyn - 18 21:00 Meet The Spartans - PG15 23:00 Deep in the Valley - 18 TCM 00:50 02:50 05:00 05:30 07:35 08:00 10:25 12:15

The Collector (1965) Victor/Victoria The Screening Room The Collector (1965) The Screening Room Ice Station Zebra Eight on the Lam (1967) North by Northwest

Star listings (UAE timings) Star Movies 16:00 Greatest American Dog 17:00 My Name Is Earl 19:00 Painkiller Jane 20:00 Eli Stone 22:00 [V] Tunes 00:00 Greatest American Dog 01:00 [V] Tunes 04:00 7th Heaven 05:00 Painkiller Jane 06:00 Greatest American Dog 07:00 According To Jim 07:30 The Bold And The Beautiful 10:00 Asia Uncut 11:00 Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?

12:00 [V] Tunes 13:00 Golden Globe Awards 2010 Granada TV

21:00 Too Posh To Pay 22:00 Northern Lights 23:00 Too Posh To Pay 00:00 Life Begins (Series 1) 01:00 Football Saved My Life * 02:00 Big Bad World (Series 1) 03:00 Half Broken Things 05:00 Northern Lights 06:00 Emmerdale WEEKEND OMNIBUS 07:30 Undercover Customs (Series 1) 08:00 Northern Lights 09:00 Revenge TV 10:00 Beyond Boiling Point 10:30 Young, Posh and Loaded 11:00 Come Dine With Me (Primetime Series 1) * 12:00 Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway (Series 2) 13:00 Don’t Try This At Home (Series

2) 14:00 Prime Drama: Prime Suspect (Series 5) 16:00 Come Dine With Me (Primetime Series 1) * 17:00 Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway (Series 2) 18:00 Don’t Try This At Home (Series 2) 19:00 Prime Drama: Prime Suspect (Series 5) Channel [V] 22:00 The Playlist 00:30 Double Shot 01:00 Loop 02:00 [V] Plug 04:30 Keys To The VIP 05:00 Backtracks 06:00 [V] Tunes

09:00 [V] Plug 11:30 Double Shot 12:00 Videoscope 13:00 [V] Countdown 15:00 [V] Tunes 17:00 Loop 18:00 Backtracks 19:00 [V] Special 20:00 [V] Countdown Fox News 20:00 Happening Now 22:00 The Live Desk 00:00 Studio B with Shepard Smith Live 01:00 Your World with Neil Cavuto 02:00 Glenn Beck with Glenn Beck 03:00 Special Report with Bret Baier 04:00 The FOX Report with Shepard Smith 05:00 The O’Reilly Factor

06:00 Hannity 07:00 On the Record with Greta Van Susteren 08:00 The O’Reilly Factor 09:00 Hannity 10:00 On the Record with Greta Van Susteren 11:00 Glenn Beck with Glenn Beck 12:00 Fox Report 13:00 Special Report with Bret Baier 14:00 Hannity (repeat) 15:00 The O’Reilly Factor (repeat) 16:00 FOX and Friends Saturday 19:00 Bulls and Bears 19:30 Cavuto On Business National Geographic Channel 20:00 ABOUT ASIA -Inside: The Emperor’s Treasure 21:00 History’s Secrets- Real Roswell

Conspiracy 22:00 Naked Science -Birth Of The Oceans 23:00 Taboo S5 - The Outsiders 00:00 Amazing Moments -Close Encounters 01:00 ABOUT ASIA -Inside: The Emperor’s Treasure 02:00 Naked Science -Birth Of The Oceans 03:00 Nat Geo Junior -Planet Mechanics : Tree Powered Truck 04:00 Thailand Special -Word Travels : Thailand 10 04:30 Food Lovers Guide To The Planet -Korean Code 05:00 ABOUT ASIA -Inside: The Emperor’s Treasure 06:00 Predator CSI -Man-Eating Lions

07:00 Megastructures -Hoover Dam Reinvented 08:00 Engineering Connections Ocean Airport 09:00 Microkillers -Malaria 10:00 Bavaria’s Alpine Kingdom 11:00 Japan’s Secret Subs 12:00 Convoy - War For The Atlantic Brink Of Defeat 3 13:00 Reverse Exploration -2 14:00 Big Melt -Naked Science : Glacier Meltdown 15:00 Japan’s Secret Subs 16:00 Convoy - War For The Atlantic Brink Of Defeat 3 17:00 Megastructures : Hoover Dam Reinvented 18:00 Big Melt -Naked Science : Glacier Meltdown

Saturday, January 23, 2010

NEWS 19 Building boom transforms heart of Beirut

PORT-AU-PRINCE: A girl drinks from a bucket as people wait in line to get water at a refugee camp in Port-au-Prince yesterday. —AP

French imam supports proposed burqa ban PARIS: A French imam active in Muslim dialogue with Jews has backed a law against full face veils, parting ways with most Muslim leaders in France urging parliamentarians not to vote for a planned “burqa ban”.

Hassen Chalghoumi, whose mosque stands in a northern Paris suburb where many Muslims live, said women who wanted to cover their faces should move to Saudi Arabia or other Muslim countries where that was a tradition. France’s National Assembly is likely to pass a resolution soon denouncing full veils and to try in coming months to hammer out a law forbidding them, deputies say.

A parliamentary commission studying the issue, which has been discussed alongside a wider public debate about national identity, is due to publish its recommendations next Tuesday.

Le Figaro said yesterday that parliamentary deputies have decided against a general ban on the burqa, but it would not be allowed in public buildings such as hospitals and schools or on public transport

services, citing the text of a decision by the commission obtained in advance by the French daily. “This measure would oblige people not only to show their face at the entry to public buildings and services but also to keep their face uncovered for the whole time they are in the public space,” Le Figaro quoted the document as saying. President Nicolas Sarkozy calls the veils an affront to women’s dignity unwelcome in France, home to about five million Muslims. Fewer than 2,000 women wear the veils, known here as burqas although most are Middle Eastern niqabs showing the eyes.

“Yes, I am for a legal ban of the burqa, which has no place in France, a country where women have been voting since 1945,” Hassen Chalghoumi, 36, told the daily Le Parisien.Chalghoumi, who has received death threats for his promotion of dialogue with Jews, said that full face veils had no basis in Islam and “belong to a tiny minority tradition reflecting an ideology that scuttles the Muslim religion.”

“The burqa is a prison for women, a

tool of sexist domination and Islamist indoctrination,” said Chalghoumi, whose mosque stands in Drancy, site of a wartime camp where Jews were detained before transport to Nazi concentration camps. Chalghoumi criticized some of the tougher measures proposed by conservative politicians, such as imposing fines or cutting off child support payments for veiled women.

But the Tunisian-born imam, who is a naturalized French citizen, agreed France should not grant citizenship to immigrant women who cover their faces.

“Having French nationality means wanting to take part in society, at school, at work,” he said.

“But with a bit of cloth over their faces, what can these women share with us? If they want to wear the veil, they can go to a country where it’s the tradition, like Saudi Arabia.”

French Muslim leaders and many opposition politicians oppose any ban, saying it would alienate Muslims and possibly violate civil rights laws. — Reuters

Identical airport security measures pose risk: US TOLEDO, Spain: Airports around the world must adopt different security measures or else it will become easier for terrorists to exploit weaknesses to carry out attacks, US Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said yesterday.

“What we do not want is a cookie cutter approach-where the same measures are in place everywhere-because then terrorists can plan and work around them,” she told a news conference in Toledo in central Spain. Napolitano recommended using a wide range of security measures, including information sharing on suspected terrorists and detection technology like full body scanners, to protect passengers.

“We need all of those layers in sequence to maximize the ability to protect travelers from terrorist acts,” she said, adding full body scanners were “a tool” but “there must be a combination of

other measures”.

“Nations decide for themselves the combination of these measures,” she added. Napolitano is meeting EU officials to try to convince the EU to install body scanners at its main airports for use by US-bound passengers. The United States has accelerated the installation of the scanners at its airports since the attempted attack on Christmas Day on a jet bound for Detroit from Amsterdam, and Britain and the Netherlands have followed its example.

But other European nations like Germany have been more cautious.

Spain, which holds the rotating presidency of the EU, wants the 27-nation bloc to develop a common policy on the use of the scanners, which can “see” through clothing to reveal concealed liquids, explosives or weapons.

Spanish Interior Minister Alfredo

Perez Rubalcaba said Thursday that the European Commission was carrying out the studies into the effectiveness of the devices as well as their possible impacts on health and privacy.

“Once we have these studies on the table we will make a decision,” he told journalists following a meeting between Napolitano and EU interior and justice ministers. The outgoing European Commission dropped plans to introduce the scanners Europe-wide in 2008 after the European Parliament opposed the move, calling for more studies on the possible radiation dangers and privacy issues involved.

Privacy campaigners say the technology violates European law by producing sexually explicit images of the passengers. They have raised the possibility that images taken by the scanners could be leaked online. —AFP

ICANN OKs Internet addesses in Arabic Continued from Page 1 root system that will be accessible to users worldwide by the middle of this year, according to ICANN. Sixteen applications in eight languages had been received as of Thursday. In October, ICANN approved a new multilingual address system which it

said would open up the Internet to millions more people worldwide.

In the future it will be possible to write an entire website address in any of the world’s language scripts. ICANN chairman Peter Dengate Thrush has described the new measure as the biggest technical change to the Internet for 40 years.

ICANN says more than half the world’s 1.6 billion Internet users use languages with scripts that are not Latinbased. ICANN, a non-profit body formed in 1998 by the US government, was last year given more autonomy af ter Washington relaxed its control over how the Internet is run. — AFP

Mitchell fails to lure Abbas back to talks Continued from Page 1 Jerusalem. The Palestinians seek the city’s eastern sector as their future capital. Netanyahu says he is willing to resume talks immediately and contends the Palestinians have set unreasonable preconditions. Talks broke down between Abbas and Netanyahu’s predecessor, Ehud Olmert, in December 2008.

However, Abbas aide Saeb Erekat said the onus is on Israel, not the Palestinians.

“When we say a settlement freeze that includes Jerusalem, that is not a Palestinian condition,” he said. “That is rather an Israeli obligation, and the same thing is applicable to our demand to have negotiations resume where we left them in December 2008.” Abbas and Olmert held talks for more than a year. The content of those talks was kept secret and no agreement was made public. Abbas aides have said resuming talks is pointless as long as Netanyahu refuses to pick up where Abbas and Olmert left off.

Erekat said Mitchell appealed to

Abbas to resume negotiations immediately but the Palestinians disagreed and asked Washington “to have the Netanyahu government drop its conditions.” A statement released later from the prime minister’s office said Netanyahu “stresses again that Israel does not place any preconditions on entering negotiations. The prime minister calls on the leaders of the Palestinian Authority to stop wasting time on talking about how to enter negotiations and sit down for negotiations instead.” The Palestinians fear that Washington’s failure to get Israel to halt settlement construction bodes ill for its ability as a broker once far tougher issues such as a partition of Jerusalem are on the table. Abbas is also concerned his personal standing — under constant assault from his militant rivals in Hamas — will erode further if he returns to talks while settlements keep expanding.

Nearly half a million Israelis have moved to the West Bank and east Jerusalem since Israel captured the terri-

tories from Jordan in the 1967 Mideast war. With settlements chipping away at Palestinian-claimed territory, setting up a Palestinian state would be increasingly difficult. Earlier this week, Netanyahu added a new complication by saying he would seek an Israeli presence in a prospective Palestinian state to prevent the smuggling of missiles and other weapons.

Mitchell started his latest mission Thursday, meeting with Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders. Despite the gloom, the envoy said Thursday that Obama still hopes to see a Palestinian state alongside Israel in peace. “We will pursue (that) until we achieve that objective,” Mitchell said Thursday.

In his interview with Time, Obama seemed pessimistic. “I think it is absolutely true that what we did this year didn’t produce the kind of breakthrough that we wanted and if we had anticipated some of these political problems on both sides earlier, we might not have raised expectations as high,” Obama said. — AP

BEIRUT: Blocks of historic Ottoman-era buildings, once pocked by bullet holes, have been majestically restored, and new high-rise apartment towers with mirrored facades front the glittering Mediterranean, signs of an unprecedented real estate boom that is transforming Lebanon’s capital.

Beir ut’s building craze, despite chronic political turmoil in recent years, has astonished even the experts, turning Lebanon into an investment haven at a time when other regions — including the oil-rich Gulf — are hemorrhaging cash. Even the seemingly unstoppable city-state of Dubai has hit the brakes after a massive debt crunch there rattled world financial markets. “The market is continuing to really stun a lot of people and to attract some new players,” said Raja Makarem, founder of Ramco, a leading real estate company. He added that Lebanon has seen a 30 percent increase in property value for each of the past four years. Lebanon has seen a window of relative peace since the devastating Israel-Hezbollah war in 2006 and deadly gunbattles two years later between Hezbollah and its political rivals in the streets of Beirut. Since then, political wrangling has continued, but Lebanon’s many factions have managed to keep their differences from exploding into violence.

Moreover, the financial meltdown that hit Dubai and elsewhere may have even helped Lebanon. While real estate buyers in Dubai were mostly investors and speculators depending on bank loans, the demand in Beirut is mainly from end users buying with cash, Mukaram and other experts said.

Real estate isn’t the only sector booming: Tourists have rediscovered the coastal nation with its beaches, scenic mountains and freewheeling lifestyle.

This week officials announced that Lebanon attracted a record 1.8 million foreign visitors in 2009, earning an estimated $7 billion, beating the previous record of 1.4 million tourists in 1974 — just before the 1975-1990 civil war broke out. For many, especially those who have not visited Beirut in a while, the transformation from the real estate fren-

zy is striking.

Blocks of elegant buildings with apartments selling at prices ranging between $5,000 and $8,000 per square meter have arisen downtown. Some are restorations of buildings dating back to the era of 19th Century Ottoman rule, others are brand new ones on plots where old rubble had long been bulldozed away. High-rises also now stand on land reclaimed from the sea.

The names of the new projects are as ostentatious as the developments themselves: The Beirut Souks, Venus Towers and Sama Beirut (Beirut Sky) are just some of the massive architectural projects underway. “It’s the new Beirut. It looks nice and modern, but the problem is you have to be rich to enjoy it,” said Iman Haidar, a 42-year-old mother of two walking recently through Beirut Souks downtown — a 100,000 square meter (1,076,400 square foot) outdoor shopping mall. The $300 million mall was built by Solidere, Lebanon’s largest construction and development firm, on the site of a historic souk, or market.

But with its high-end retail outlets, it is nothing like the bustling souks that existed there before the civil war, where people from all over the country came to buy everything from vegetables and clothes to jewelry.

Solidere has taken the lead in flattening and then rebuilding much of downtown. Many, like Haidar, worry that Beirut is turning into a hotspot for highend investments unaffordable to most Lebanese.

Experts say many of the new apartment owners are citizens of oil-rich Gulf nations and wealthy members of the 12million strong Lebanese diaspora living abroad, who want to keep a pied-a-terre for regular visits to Beirut. In fact, many of the luxury apartments lining Beirut’s famed corniche with panoramic views of the Mediterranean seem uninhabited, their glass facades unlit at night. The number and value of property sales have leaped over the past year, according to figures released by Lebanon’s leading Bank Audi this week.

The value of real estate sales in December around the country was $1.25

billion, up 40.8 percent from the same month in 2008. The number of sales in all of 2009 were up 27 percent over the previous year, it said.

“The global crisis that has strongly impacted the real estate market in the Gulf has somehow pushed investors to tur n toward L ebanon,” said Tina Chamoun, marketing manager for Plus Properties, the Dubai-based real estate marketing company currently promoting two high-profile projects in Beirut.

The $700 million developments, Plus Towers and Venus Towers, involve five luxury residential towers with duplexes and penthouses downtown and along Beirut’s waterfront.

Chamoun says sales are going beyond expectations — mainly Lebanese, but also Gulf nationals.

Also, several five-star international chain hotels have opened in Lebanon before the end of the year, including waterfront Rotana and Four Seasons hotels and Le Gray, part of the Britishowned CampbellGray Hotels. Another of the new projects is the 50-story Sama Beirut, which promises to be Lebanon’s tallest skyscraper once completed in 2014. The project, launched earlier this year, has been criticized by some who say the tower will destroy the architectural heritage in the historic area. The developers were unfazed.

“Mixing modernity with history is enriching,” said Massaad Fares, who heads Prime Consult, marketing and financial consultants for Sama Beirut.

Mona El Hallak calls this diversity an urban catastrophe. “Downtown Beirut used to be a meeting point for people from all backgrounds. Now if you don’t have money, there is nothing for you there, you feel you are not welcome,” said the architect, who is a member of the executive committee of APSAD, an organization that campaigns to classify Lebanon’s old buildings as heritage sites to protect them. She says old cultural heritage buildings are being destroyed to make way for towers without any urban planning involved.

“Ten years from now,” she said, “the city will not even bear resemblance to the Beirut we know,” she said. — AP

Buses, cash and radios flow amid Haiti’s rubble Continued from Page 1 reopen on Saturday and money transfer agencies did brisk business. Hundreds of people jostled for position outside a Unitransfer office that opened yesterday. “I want to get some cash sent by my family from Canada. It’s $500 but it’s difficult.

There are so many people,” said businessman Aslyn Denis, 31, waiting in the long line. The World Food Program distributed 1.2 million food rations to hospitals and orphanages on Thursday and hoped to give out 10 million in the next week.

“We may be able to scale up even quicker,” said Josette Sheeran, executive director of the United Nations’ World Food Program.

“We finally have supplies and food coming in from all over the world.” The seaport in Port-au-Prince was repaired enough to partially reopen for cargo ships, while airstrips outside Haiti’s capital and in the neighboring Dominican Republic received relief flights.

“It is coming in by ships and planes. We have five entry points into Port-au-Prince by land, sea and air,” Sheeran said. But nearly 1,000 hungry people swarmed a US military truck as an 82nd Airborne company known as “the Beast” handed out food and water at an encampment on a soccer field.

Overwhelmed, the troops pulled out after distributing 600 packaged meals, leaving 250 food packs still on the truck.

A large supermarket, Big Star Market, reopened in the Petionville suburb yester-

day, selling everything from slabs of ham and goat meat to Valentine’s Day chocolates. The store manager said they had only a week or two of stocks left and had received no deliveries. “It’s difficult because everyone is nervous of being inside, people can only pay with cash or check, it’s not easy,” she said.

Haitians are realizing it could take months or years to regain some sense of normalcy.

“We want it to be over, but it’s not finished yet, things are bad,” said Jeanette, a 53-year-old architect shopping at the market. “I’ve lost my office. I’ve lost a whole year of work. We have no stability, no direction, we’ve been left to fend for ourselves.

We can’t plan for the future, we’re just living day to day.”

The United Nations counted nearly 450 homeless encampments in Port-au-Prince alone and urged the government to consolidate them to streamline food distribution.

“The population is so diffused and all of them need the basic services,” Sheeran said. “We are really praying that we don’t get the rains because it will make it even more difficult to reach people.”

Haiti’s government planned to move 400,000 survivors from Port-au-Prince to new villages to be built outside the ravaged coastal city, where the homeless huddle, cook and sleep amid decaying corpses and mounds of garbage.

“We need shelter, showers. We don’t have food or water. When it rains we have

a lot of problems,” said Iswick Theophin, a student who was living in one of the makeshift shelters.

US Navy helicopters ferried in boxes of water to distribute to Haitians lining behind cordons at a sprawling camp that covered a golf course. Actor Sean Penn stopped by yesterday to deliver antibiotics, painkillers and water filters. “The whole city has collapsed,” he said. US troops have begun giving away 50,000 solar- and crank-powered radios to help displaced Haitians receive news and public service announcements.

The units also have lights and cellphone chargers.

More than 13,000 US military personnel are in Haiti and on 20 ships offshore, flying in supplies, evacuating the seriously wounded and protecting aid distribution points.

The United Nations is adding 2,000 troops and 1,500 police to its 9,000-member peacekeeping mission. But for many, life remained precarious.

At another camp in Port-au-Prince, a woman tried not to moan in pain as a student doctor bandaged her badly-injured leg.

In the dirty tent where he worked, cooking pots bubbled and a dog slept inches from the open wound.

“Of course there is the risk of infection,” said Alexi Guyto, 26. “For the most part, we have lost the people who came with major traumas after the earthquake but we still have lots of head and other injuries.” — Reuters

Israel pays $10.5m to UN for Gaza carnage Continued from Page 1 “It has to do specifically with damages done to the United Nations,” the diplomat said, adding that Israel did not take legal responsibility. He and Nesirky specified that the payment was $10.5 million.

A UN inquiry last year put the cost of damage to UN property in Gaza during the December 2008-January 2009 conflict at just over $11 million, almost all of it caused by Israeli forces.

The main damage to UN property in Gaza came on Jan. 15, 2009, when Israeli shells, some containing the incendiary substance white phosphorus, hit a com-

pound of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), badly damaging a warehouse and training center. Several UN-run schools were hit in other strikes.

UNRWA provides aid to Palestinian refugees. Israel said it attacked Gaza to end rocket launches by Palestinian Hamas militants into Israel, and that damage to UN premises was caused unintentionally when its troops responded to Palestinian fire.

The Jewish state, however, agreed to consider a UN reimbursement request sent in July. Nesirky said that claim related to the property damage and to minor injuries suffered by 11 UN employees.

The Israeli diplomat said his country was not terming the payment compensation and portrayed the negotiations as having being conducted with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

“We do not take any responsibility for what has happened, but we understand that there have been damages and that the Secretary-General cares about it, and this is important for him, and it’s also important for us what the UN is doing in Gaza,” he said.

Israel’s onslaught on Gaza killed more than 1,400 Palestinians, including civilians and Hamas fighters. A total of 13 Israelis were killed. — Agencies

35 Gitmo detainees face trial Continued from Page 1 now that it was not going to be met because assembling the information about the detainees and moving them out of Guantanamo is very difficult and we have to do it in the right way,” she added.

“We have had cooperation from many countries, in Europe and other continents, but it takes time to do it in the right way. that is the intent we will con-

tinue to moving in that direction, if it takes longer, it takes longer,” she said.

“The goal and the intent remain the same and the will to do so is unabashed,” Napolitano added.

Some 196 detainees remain at the US military prison in southern Cuba, including dozens already cleared for release, down from around 250 when Obama took office. Most have been held without charge or trial. The prison is widely seen

as a symbol of abuses carried out in the name of America’s war on Al-Qaeda and other extremists. But a Gallup poll published November 2009 found almost twothirds of those questioned were opposed to the detention centre closing and to prisoners being brought to the United States. Napolitano was in Toledo to take part in a informal meeting of interior and justice ministers from the 27-nation European Union. — AFP

Qatari prince settles row on Paris mansion Continued from Page 1 Under the agreement, the association withdrew legal proceedings against the prince, described by the ministry as “a great friend of France” who cares for its heritage.

“The prince... can now quickly being work to restore and renovate the Hotel Labert,” it said.

The Hotel Lambert is considered one of the finest examples of mid-17th-century French architecture, complete with mural paintings by Charles Le Brun and other masters of the day.

Built in the 1640s at the eastern tip of the Ile Saint Louis, it was designed for a rich financier, Nicolas Lambert, by the architect Louis Vau, who went on to oversee an expansion of the Chateau de

Versailles for Louis XIV. Rich with history, the mansion’s uses over the years ranged from a hideaway for the 18th-century philosopher Voltaire and his lover, to a political headquarters for Polish exiles in the following century.

The Qatari prince acquired the hotel from the Rothschild banking family for some 60 million euros ($85 million) in 2007.

— AFP

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Saturday, January 23, 2010

Wembley heartbreak spurs on Everton LIVERPOOL: David Moyes plans to use the disappointment of Everton’s FA Cup final defeat as inspiration to go all the way in the competition this season.

The Merseyside club defeated Liverpool, Aston Villa and Manchester United on the way to last season’s showpiece final at Wembley. But despite taking the lead through Louis Saha, Everton were left shattered after losing 2-1 to Chelsea. Moyes wants another big day out in May but once again his side will have to do it the hard way if they are to reach Wembley. Having defeated lower league Carlisle in the third round, the five-times former winners entertain Birmingham, the Premier League’s form team, in the fourth round at Goodison Park today.

But Moyes is confident his side can progress as they look to go one stage better than last term and banish those painful memories. “It was always going to be a tough ask to beat Chelsea, but we had beaten big teams going into it and we were playing well, so I felt disappointed by it and quite lonely when you don’t win,” said Moyes. “But overall to finish fifth and get to the cup final wasn’t a bad year for Everton. I saw that as progress so after the initial disappointment, I felt that there was something to shout about.

“You need the luck of the draw but we did not have it there. In other years we have pulled out Shrewsbury and Oldham and thought ‘that was a good draw’ - only to lose. Some of the draws last year made

you think ‘gee-whizz’ but we got through so it is a difficult thing at the moment and we have to hope we can do it again. I think what happens is that the best teams want to do it again and again. Every time Manchester United win the league they want to win it again the next year, and that is what my attitude is.” Everton are still without Joseph Yobo and Yakubu, who are away with Nigeria at the Africa Cup of Nations.

But youngsters Jack Rodwell and Dan Gosling, who have both been sidelined with hamstring injuries, are set to return. Ironically, both Gosling and Rodwell came to prominence at this stage of last year’s competition. Gosling scored a dramatic last gasp winner against Liverpool in the fourth round tie, while

Rodwell came off the bench replacing Steven Pienaar and impressed with a composed display.

Birmingham are unbeaten in their last 14 league and cup games under manager Alex McLeish, a run which included a hard-earned 1-1 league draw at Everton last month.

Although Birmingham boast a seven-point advantage over Everton in the league, McLeish expects Moyes’s side to be pulling out all the stops to win the FA Cup after last season’s heartbreak. “Everton were FA Cup finalists last time so I expect them to be doubly determined to go one further this year,” said the former Scotland manager. “So we know it will be another hard game, but we’ll prepare properly. “In

United’s chief steers clear as Tevez-Neville spat escalates MANCHESTER: Sir Alex Ferguson has refused to become embroiled in the escalating spat between Carlos Tevez and Gary Neville after the Argentina striker branded his former team-mate a bootlicker and a moron. Tevez’s colorful outburst came after he and Neville clashed during Manchester City’s 2-1 win over Manchester United on Tuesday and has set the scene for another explosive meeting between the clubs in next week’s second leg of their League Cup semi-final.

But Ferguson has no intention of fanning the flames of a dispute that was triggered by Neville writing in a newspaper column that United’s manager was right to sell Tevez to City last year rather than pay the 25 million pounds it would have cost to sign him permanently.

“I’m not interested,” Ferguson told reporters yesterday. “He (Tevez) is not our player any more. I’ve nothing to say about it at all.

Players argue with each other and have a go at each other time and time again, it’s not an issue for us.”

Ferguson also refused to condemn Neville, United’s club captain, for raising his middle finger to Tevez as the Argentina striker jubilantly celebrated the first of his two goals on Tuesday evening.

Asked whether he was disappointed in Neville’s conduct, Ferguson replied: “No. What conduct? I didn’t see that at all.” Tevez admitted on Wednesday that he had been hurt by Neville’s comments and, through his representatives, issued a fairly measured statement accusing the defender of showing uncharacteristic disrespect to a former colleague.

But in a radio interview with ESPN Argentina, conducted in Spanish, the forward’s tone was far more scathing. “My celebration was directed at Gary Neville,” he confirmed. “He acted like a complete sock-sucker (boot-licker) when he said I wasn’t worth 25 million, just to suck up to the manager. “I don’t know what the hell that idiot is talking about me for. I never said anything about him.”

Tevez, who has struggled to learn even basic English in his four years in England, added that he had been taken aback when his team-mates alerted him to press coverage of Neville’s opinions, originally expressed in a column for the Times of Malta.

“My team-mates were asking what I thought,” Tevez recalled.

“And I wondered to myself: “What’s the ‘tarado’ (translation: cretin or moron) talking about me for when I never said anything about him.” Tevez was hugely popular with the United fans during his two years on loan at the club but having opted to cross swords with Neville he is guaranteed a hostile reception at Old Trafford next week, although that will not concern him too much if he can help City reach Wembley at the expense of his former employers. — AFP

Tevez calls Neville ‘bootlicker and a moron’

training we’ve used the special Umbro balls solely used in the FA Cup and that will give the goalkeepers a feel for it as well as the outfield players.”

Birmingham hope a mini-break in Malta this week has helped recharge the batteries ahead of the second half of the campaign. “The weather has been shocking with the snow and then the rain over the last month,” added McLeish. “I’ve been on a few of these trips before and my experience tells me it can be very beneficial for the players. “It’s not a holiday. We were there to work hard - possibly even harder than we would normally because of the weather. “But it’s a wee bit of sun on the players’ back and will hopefully recharge the batteries ahead of the run-in.” — AFP

French Cup Preview

French giants out to avoid slip-up PARIS: French title rivals Bordeaux and Lyon can take a break from their league exertions this weekend as the former look to avoid a potential banana skin in the French Cup while Lyon have an awkward trip to Monaco. With an eightpoint cushion in the league after their midweek come-frombehind win over bottom club Grenoble, Bordeaux boss Laurent Blanc was Thursday happily admitting he didn’t even have a transfer window wish list - “though maybe a joker to cover an injury would be a good thing.” With a last 16 Champions League pair of encounters against Olympiakos to look forward to, a home round of 32 loss Saturday to second division Ajaccio would not exactly torpedo Bordeaux’s season. The club have won the trophy three times - compared to a record ten for Marseille.

Marseille themselves are now out of the Champions League as well as the Cup, meaning their priority is hacking away at an 11-point gap in Ligue 1 as they try to land a first trophy of any description in 18 years. Bordeaux should be at full strength save for keeper Cedric Carrasso, who injured a wrist against Marseill last week. “We

aren’t going to take any risk with him,” said Blanc. Veteran Ulrich Rame will stand in between the posts. Lyon travel down to Monaco on Sunday with coach Claude Puel urging them on after Wednesday’s recovery from going behind at Lorient.

Swede Kim Kallstrom scored a brace in a recovery which brought a 3-1 win and Puel on Thursday pronounced himself “very happy with the way the group showed this healthy reaction (to going a goal down) and showed their true colors.” Puel will be particularly keen for a win at Monaco having previously coached the Riviera side, leading them to the league title at the start of the millennium. Paris Saint Germain, mired in midtable following their home loss this week to Monaco, will only hope that third division Evian do not heap further misery upon them.

Coach Antoine Kombouare admits that “we are not talking about Europe,” but an eighth Cup success would prove a tonic. Kombouare says if his men play as they did in losing 1-0 to Monaco, however, they have no chance.

“We could have played for three hours and not scored,” he lamented. — AFP

Todayʼs matches on TV (local timing) English Premier League Man United v Hull City............................................ 18:00 Premiere Sport CL1 ShowSports 1 ShowSports 2 Spanish League Sevilla v UD Almeria.............................................. 20:00 Aljazeera Sport +6 Real Valladolid v Barcelona .................................. 22:00 Aljazeera Sport +2 Aljazeera Sport 2 HD Deportivo v Athletic de Bilbao ............................... 0:00 Aljazeera Sport +2 Italian League Catania v Parma ...................................................... 20:00 Aljazeera Sport +1 J uventus v AS Roma ............................................... 22:45 Aljazeera Sport +1

MANCHESTER: Manchester City’s Argentinean forward Carlos Tevez (right) is challenged by Manchester United’s Brazilian defender Rafael Da Silva during their English League Cup semi final first leg football match at The City of Manchester Stadium in this photo. — AFP

Chelsea seek boost at expense of Ferguson Jr PRESTON: Carlo Ancelotti’s promise to deliver success with style will face its latest challenge when the Italian’s Chelsea side travel north to face Championship outfit Preston North End today. At stake for both sides is a place in the FA Cup fifth round and for Preston, the chance to pull off one of the most memorable results in the club’s recent history. Ancelotti, though, will be looking for more than a mere victory after setting his side the daunting challenge of maintaining the outstanding form they showed in last weekend’s 7-2 demolition of Sunderland.

That victory came immediately after the 5-0 thrashing of Preston’s Championship colleagues Watford in the third round of the competition.

And as if the visit of Ancelotti’s freescoring side wasn’t daunting enough for North End, Chelsea are likely to head to Deepdale nursing a sense of grievance after

being toppled from their position at the head of the Premier League table by Arsenal this week. Arsene Wenger’s side moved ahead on goals scored following their 4-2 defeat of Bolton. And while Chelsea still have a game in hand on their London rivals, the shift in positions will crank the title race up another gear. Against that background, Ancelotti will be determined to oversee another confidence-boosting victory and reinforce the claim he made following the home victory over Fulham at the end of the December that Chelsea have turned the corner after a dip in form. The Italian will once again be without his African stars with the likes of Didier Drogba still on Africa Cup of Nations duty while Ghana’s Michael Essien is back at the club receiving treatment on a knee injury. Twelve goals in two games suggests Drogba has not been missed with first Daniel Sturridge and then Nicolas Anelka

filling the gap impressively in Chelsea’s two games without the Ivorian.

Ashley Cole and John Terry will be fit to start after being withdrawn as a precaution at half-time against Sunderland. Terry in particular can expect a testing physical encounter at Deepdale when he will encounter Preston’s burly striker Jon Parkin. Parkin will lead the North End attack as the home side attempt to mark new manager Darren Ferguson’s second game in charge with a shock victory to rival Leeds United’s defeat of Manchester United in the third round.

If Ferguson, the son of United boss Sir Alex Ferguson, has identified a way of springing a surprise, he is not owning up to it. “I don’t know how we can beat them, you tell me,” said the manager. “We are aware of how good Chelsea are as a team and their performance last week was magnificent.

“It’s a simple fact and an old cliche that if we are at our maximum and they are not then we stand a chance and that is what we have to hope happens today.” And he added: “My first home game in charge couldn’t get any harder. I suppose people will say we have nothing to lose but we will go into it and try and win it.”

Preston’s form suggests there is little chance of a shock with North End having won one of their last eleven league games.

Ferguson’s principal task is to revive the club’s campaign and halt a slide towards the bottom three and he knows an eye-catching result against Chelsea will have a wider impact on the Preston’s fortunes. “A victory would bring confidence and belief back into the squad,” he said. “We are a bit short of that so it is massive in terms of that. If we got the right result with that them I’m sure we could kick on.” — AFP

German League Hertha v Borussia ...................................................

Premiere Sport 1 Premiere Start FC Nurnberg v Eintracht ........................................

Premiere Sport 1 Premiere Start VFL Bochum v Schalke ..........................................

Premiere Sport 1 Premiere Start SV Werder Bremen v Bayern .................................

Premiere Sport 1 Dubai Sports 2 Premiere Start FSV Mainz 05 v Hannoverscher ............................

Premiere Sport 1 Premiere Start BV Borussia Dortmund v Hamburger....................

Premiere Sport 1 Dubai Sports 2 Premiere Start

17:30 17:30 17:30 7:30

17:30 20:30

Man United eye return to the top MANCHESTER: With Chelsea and Arsenal otherwise engaged on FA Cup duty, Manchester United can steal a march on their rivals and return to the top of the Premier League table with victory over Hull at Old Trafford. United’s third-round defeat by League One Leeds ensured United were able to bring forward their meeting with the Tigers, originally scheduled for the middle of next week, and they can’t afford to pass up the opportunity of three points.

Arsenal moved to the top of the table with a 42 win over Bolton in midweek but United could return to the summit with a win over Phil Brown’s side. United manager Sir Ferguson surprised some with the strength of the team that he fielded in the League Cup semi-final first leg against Manchester City on Tuesday. That match ended in a 2-1 defeat and now Ferguson must decide how many of his first-choice players he can afford to rest today ahead of the second leg against City at Old Trafford on Wednesday.

Ryan Giggs is likely to sit out the Hull match

and Gary Neville may feature while Dimitar Berbatov’s knee problem could mean a rare Premier League start for Michael Owen. The game looks likely to come too soon for Rio Ferdinand, who is working his way back from several months on the sidelines with a back injury and Ferguson is still digesting the news that John O’Shea is likely to miss the rest of the season with a leg problem that he picked up in November.

Even though United were beaten at City, assistant manager Mike Phelan saw some promising signs and insists they can string some victories together if they start taking their chances. Phelan said: “We want to keep some consistency in our game. At City there were signs that Manchester United are on the way forward. “If we can stick the ball in the back of the net we are in business “People keep saying the League Cup is not on anyone’s priority list but it is a cup game. “When you get to the semi-final of a cup you want to get to the final. Both clubs are desperate for that.” —AFP

SPORTS

Saturday, January 23, 2010

21

WCup qualifiers suffer in Angola LUANDA: The five leading cast members at the Africa Cup of Nations suffered varying degrees of stage fright during Act I of the competition.

Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Ghana and Algeria all eventually made it into the quarter-finals but each of the quintet experienced a World Cup reality check along the way. The first of the famous five to stumble was Ivory Coast, who almost came a cropper against Burkina Faso, Didier Drogba and his star-studded teammates fortunate to escape with a goalless draw.

The Elephants stepped up a gear in their next run out, defeating Ghana 3-1 to become the first side into the last eight with coach Vahid Halilhodzic a relieved man.

“I told the boys that we had to choose a path between paradise and hell as a nation like the Ivory Coast would never forgive us if we lost,” he said. “This wasn’t easy because we had to

hour, producing the decisive first half goal to bag them the runners-up spot behind Ivory Coast in Group B. Ghana’s Serb coach Milovan Rajevac said the injuries to key players like Essien were giving ‘Dede’ and the other youngsters’ the chance to shine.

“We’ve had a lot of problems with injuries throughout the entire team, some before the competition and others like Essien during it. “We’ve got big problems but this is a good opportunity for young players, they need to prove themselves, we believe in them.” Nigeria found themselves with their backs to the wall after an opening 3-1 defeat to champions Egypt. That led to an ultimatum to coach, Shuaibu Amodu - beat next-door neighbors Benin or else make way for assistant coach Daniel Amokachi. The Super Eagles duly beat Benin 10 and qualified with a 3-0 victory over Mozambique.

Fighting-fit Klose keeping the pressure on at Bayern BERLIN: Germany’s Miroslav Klose plans to fire both his country and Bayern Munich to success in the coming weeks as the German giants look to keep up the pressure on Bundesliga leaders Leverkusen. The 31-yearold, the top-scorer at the 2006 World Cup, scored his first German league goal of the season in last weekend’s 2-0 win over Hoffenheim which leaves Bayern two points behind Leverkusen. But today’s clash at his former club Bremen promises to be a battle royal and, although he is set to start on the bench, Klose looks sure to be used

by Bayern coach Louis van Gaal. Munich have scored 17 goals in their last five league matches and the return of the killer instinct in front of goal has sent the club off on an impressive winning run as they are now 11 league games without defeat.

Mario Gomez (five goals in the last six games) and Ivica Olic (four in the last five) have claimed regular status up front, but now Klose is pushing hard to win back his place in the starting line-up. “My goal is to become a regular again as fast as possible,” he said having suffered a string of injuries including ankle surgery and a sprained elbow which hampered his autumn.

“Provided I’m fit and avoid injury I’ll be picked to play, at Bayern and for Germany, because when I’m fit, I’m the best,” he said with the World Cup in South Africa now five months away.

World Cup-bound teams show little aplomb win the game (to qualify). The pressure was enormous on me.

“A great team is in the process of being born. “This win will give the players a lot of confidence. We’ve come here to go right to the finish line.” Next of the South Africa-bound teams to join them in the second round were Algeria, who had looked down and out when suffering a 3-0 thrashing by minnows Malawi in their opener.

That triggered an onslaught of criticism from the Algerian media who held coach Rabah Saadane responsible for the wipe-out. The Desert Foxes came back fighting with a 1-0 win over Mali and then ensured their last eight ticket with a 0-0 draw against hosts Angola. After the Mali victory Saadane said crisply: “This win has given the perfect answer to all our critics.”

Next into the quarter-final mix was Ghana, who qualified with a tight 1-0 win over Burkina Faso.

The Black Stars, the first team from Africa to qualify for the World Cup, went into their must-win game missing a raft of star players, including Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien, who suffered a serious training injury 48 hours before kick-off. Andre Ayew, son of one of Africa’s most decorated players, Abedi ‘Pele’ Ayew, was the hero of the

Match winner Osaze Odenwingie, who scored twice, said: “I’m happy for the team.

We had a lot of pressure on us, but since the start of the competition we have made daily progress, from the goalkeepers to the strikers.” Amodu added: “My job is to do a good CAN - I can’t avoid the critics. I’m happy that the boys were able to deliver the goods.” And finally to Cameroon, who after their shock 1-0 opening loss to Gabon were four minutes away from getting knocked out only for substitute Mohamadou Idrissou to head home the 86th-minute winner for a 3-2 win over Zambia.

Samuel Eto’o and his men had to make another comeback for a 2-2 draw with Tunisia in Lubango on Thursday to join their fellow World Cup contenders in the second round.

Coach Paul Le Guen said he had two objectives in Angola. “To get the best possible results in this Africa cup of Nations, and to prepare the squad for the World Cup. “It’s hard going, but we’ve shown we can fight back even if we are letting in a lot of goals. “I have had to take decisions (about team selection) which may appear tough but it allows me to prepare for the World Cup in the best fashion.” — AFP

decent spell at the start of the second half, we could have scored but overall we were disappointing. “We missed Aaron Lennon, he’s the one player with the pace to go at people and open teams up and we lacked that little bit of spark and pace.”

Lennon is again expected to be unavailable with a groin problem meaning he will miss out on the chance to face his former club.

Spurs have also shown an alarming tendency to slip up at home in the league this season with Stoke and Wolves pulling off unexpected wins while struggling Hull left with a point last weekend.

That record won’t have gone unnoticed by Grayson who knows the memorable victory at Old Trafford has increased both hope and expectation in West Yorkshire. “It’s another great game for us and once again we are the big underdogs,” said the young manager. “But that was the case in the previous round and look what happened? “We can go there and relax and enjoy it. Give it our best shot and see what happens. We’ll just try and repeat all the good things we did at Manchester United.” That unwanted legacy of that victory is that Leeds have failed to win any of their three subsequent games. But Grayson’s appetite for the competition is undiminished despite Leeds battling to return to the Championship. “In every game we play in we go out to win and this will be no different,” he added. “We want to get as far as we can in the competition, irrespective of the fact we are challenging for promotion at the same time. “But it’s a big ask for us. Tottenham have some fantastic players and I think they have the strongest squad they’ve had for a long, long time. “People are talking about them finishing in the top four, so that shows you how good they are.”— AFP

German League Preview Bremen,” he said. Bayern are expected to welcome back midfielder Franck Ribery, but will be up against a tough Bremen midfield which includes rising Germany stars Mesut Oezil and Marko Marin.

Ribery has been out of action with a troublesome knee injury since October 3 and is expected to play some role in the clash against sixth-placed Bremen. Both Bayern and second-placed Schalke, who are at Bochum today, have the chance to take top spot in the league with leaders Leverkusen travelling to play Hoffenheim tomorrow. Bottom side Hertha Berlin are looking for their second straight win at home to Moenchengladbach having finally broken their winless run at Hanover last weekend. —AFP

Milan’s title chances on line against Inter ROME: AC Milan head into this weekend’s top of the table derby clash with Inter Milan knowing defeat could spell the end of their Serie A title hopes. Champions Inter have a six-point lead at the top although Milan, in second, have a game in hand, away to Fiorentina in February. In-form Milan head into this match with eight wins from their last nine Serie A clashes while Inter have stumbled several times recently, particularly on their travels.

They have won only one of their last four away matches in the league and even needed two late strikes to earn a 4-3 victory at home to rock bottom Catania in their last home match. They will be the hosts at the San Siro tomorrow, although the stadium is also Milan’s home. The nominal visitors know that while a draw would not be a disaster, the loss of all three points would be. “The table says we are six points back with a game in hand although that is away to Fiorentina and will be very difficult,” said combative midfielder Gennaro Gattuso. —AFP

Spurs seek Cup boost as Leeds plot another upset LONDON: Harry Redknapp’s determination to avoid a humiliating FA Cup exit at the hands of Leeds United will have only increased following Tottenham’s midweek Premier League defeat to Liverpool. The Spurs manager has made no secret of the fact a top four finish and a place in next season’s Champions League is his side’s number one priority.

But Redknapp is also well aware of the glory a successful cup run can bring having guided Portsmouth to victory in the competition in 2008 - the only time the trophy hasn’t been won by one of English football’s ‘big four’ since 1995. The manager is well aware of the dangers posed

by Leeds following the League One club’s stunning third round victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford.

And Tottenham’s disappointing 2-0 defeat at Anfield-a game that saw Spurs concede for the first time in six games-will undoubtedly have provided Simon Grayson’s side with a boost.

Redknapp was left frustrated by the Liverpool loss and highlighted the importance of his side responding positively. “We have to pick ourselves up now because we have a lot of big games coming up,” he said.

“We’ve been on a good run and just because we’ve lost one game doesn’t mean we’re out of it. “We’ve made massive strides.

This time last year we were fourth from bottom and only out of the bottom three on goal difference. We’ve come a long way since then.” But the manager conceded the absence of the injured Aaron Lennon weakened his side and his assessment of Liverpool’s approach provided Leeds with a clear indication of how they should fashion their game plan.

“We like to play, but they wouldn’t allow us to play,” Redknapp added. “We had a

With three quality strikers fighting for two places at Bayern, Klose intends to carry the fight to Germany’s Gomez and Croatia’s Olic.

But Klose may have to be patient in terms of his first start since mid-November, as van Gaal reaffirmed his faith in Gomez and Olic after the Hoffenheim game. “I won’t change anything for the trip to

French giants out to avoid slip-up

LUBANGO: Peter Odemwingie of Nigeria controls the ball during their group stage match at the African Cup of Nations CAN2010 at the Tundavala stadium in Lubango. — AFP

Zambia look beyond star-studded Nigeria BENGUELA: Zambia are confident they can beat highly-fancied Nigeria on Monday to book a semi-final place in the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time in 16 years. Zambia were bottom of the standings in Group D but Thursday’s 2-1 victory over Gabon lifted them on to four points with Cameroon and the Azingo but they stole the Group D show having scored more goals. “Against Nigeria, our target is to reach the semi-final,” said Zambia coach Herve Renard, who grabbed Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) president, Kalusha Bwalya, in a big bear hug moments after the final whistle.

The Frenchman added: “We played against them in Durban in a friendly, two weeks ago, and the match ended in a 0-0 draw. They are a strong team with several famous players, but we have a good chance against them. “For one thing, the pressure is on them, not on us. We have nothing to lose. Our target at this competition was to reach at least the quarter-finals and we have done so now, and from this stage on, it is a bonus for us.”

“Zambia have always been a very skilful team, they know how to play football, but the discipline and the concentration on the pitch has not always been very good,” he continued.

Both countries last clashed in the final of the 1994 Nations Cup with Nigeria winning 2-1 to clinch their second continental trophy. “This has been a long time coming for Zambia,” said a delighted FAZ boss Bwalya, who featured in the 1994 final against Nigeria at the El Menzah Stadium in Tunis. “Our qualification is the reward for all the hard work we have done in the last few years. We can only get better after this.

“We will take a little time to celebrate this before we get back to work ahead of our match against Nigeria.” Bwlaya added: “We are all happy, the whole team, the whole country. We showed that there are no underdogs in football.

“We played well against Cameroon and Tunisia before we finished the job against Gabon.”

Skipper Chris Katongo, along with younger brother Felix and strikers Jacob Mulenga and

China-based James Chamanga tormented Gabon’s defence to achieve a milestone that many said was beyond this team.

“I believe we have answered some of our critics, who said that we were not scoring goals, but the most important thing is that we qualified for the next round,” said Chris Katongo, who led the Copper Bullets to fire five goals ahead of the four netted by closest rivals Cameroon. The Chipolopolo, making their first appearance in the last eight in 14 years, attacked Gabon from the start, aware only a win would keep their title hopes alive.

They took a deserved lead in the 28th minute when Rainford Kalaba was set up by Felix Katongo and the Portugal-based midfielder drove right through into the Gabon box before he clipped the ball over a lunging Ebang Ovono. The Chipolopolo increased the lead in the 61st minute when Chamanga tapped home after a superb run by Mulenga, who dribbled his way into the box from the left before he threaded his pass for Chamanga to finish off. —AFP

PARIS: French title rivals Bordeaux and Lyon can take a break from their league exertions this weekend as the former look to avoid a potential banana skin in the French Cup while Lyon have an awkward trip to Monaco. With an eightpoint cushion in the league after their midweek come-frombehind win over bottom club Grenoble, Bordeaux boss Laurent Blanc was Thursday happily admitting he didn’t even have a transfer window wish list - “though maybe a joker to cover an injury would be a good thing.”

With a last 16 Champions League pair of encounters against Olympiakos to look forward to, a home round of 32 loss Saturday to second division Ajaccio would not exactly torpedo Bordeaux’s season. The club have won the trophy three times - compared to a record ten for Marseille.

Marseille themselves are now out of the Champions League as well as the Cup, meaning their priority is hacking away at an 11-point gap in Ligue 1 as they try to land a first trophy of any description in 18 years. Bordeaux should be at full strength save for keeper Cedric Carrasso, who injured a wrist against Marseill last week. “We aren’t going to take any risk with him,” said Blanc. Veteran Ulrich Rame will stand in between the posts. Lyon travel down to Monaco on Sunday with coach Claude Puel urging them on after Wednesday’s recovery from going behind at Lorient.

Swede Kim Kallstrom scored

a brace in a recovery which brought a 3-1 win and Puel on Thursday pronounced himself “very happy with the way the group showed this healthy reaction (to going a goal down) and showed their true colors.” Puel will be particularly keen for a win at Monaco having previously coached the Riviera side, leading them to the league title at the start of the millennium.

Paris Saint Germain, mired in

French Cup Preview midtable following their home loss this week to Monaco, will only hope that third division Evian do not heap further misery upon them.

Coach Antoine Kombouare admits that “we are not talking about Europe,” but an eighth Cup success would prove a tonic.

Kombouare says if his men play as they did in losing 1-0 to Monaco, however, they have no chance. “We could have played for three hours and not scored,” he lamented. With the bad weather having made a mess of the previous round several round of 64 matches remain to be played, hence Saumur wouldget the ball rolling in the round of 32 late yesterday before today and tomorrow see a mixture of both rounds together. — AFP

SPORTS

22

Saturday, January 23, 2010

NASCAR to relax in effort to energize series CONCORD: NASCAR is relaxing some of its rules this season, and encouraging drivers to show more aggression and emotion, in large part to answer a growing fan sentiment that the series had gone stale.

“There’s an age old saying in NASCAR that ‘If you ain’t rubbing, you ain’t racing,’ “ NASCAR president Mike Helton said on Thursday. “I think that’s what the NASCAR fan, the NASCAR stakeholders all bought into, and all expect.” The first change will be evident when the season opens next month at Daytona International Speedway, where restrictions on bump-drafting will be lifted and horsepower will be increased by the use of the largest restrictor plate since 1989.

NASCAR had been slowly tightening its tolerance

on bumping at Daytona and Talladega - the two biggest and fastest tracks in the series, where the horsepower-sapping restrictor plates are used to control speeds - and it graduated into an outright ban issued the morning of the October race at Talladega.

The edict sucked the drama out of what’s typically one of the most exciting races of the year, and was the final straw for many stock car fans who had grown tired of watered-down racing. Even some drivers publicly complained, criticism that is usually frowned upon in NASCAR. “Let us RACE,” Denny Hamlin tweeted after the Talladega drivers meeting, later adding, “We signed up to drive our cars. Not be told how to.” He’s getting his wish. “We will put it back in the hands of dri-

vers, and we will say ‘Boys, have at it and have a good time,’ “ vice president of competition Robin Pemberton said on Thursday. The yellow out-ofbounds line that circles the bottom of those two tracks will remain, and Pemberton said the majority of drivers did not want that removed.

Another change will be an eventual switch from the rear wing to a spoiler on the back of the car, a design change that should both positively affect downforce and the aesthetic look that race fans prefer. Also on tap is an organizational restructuring.

The most prominent shuffle is the promotion of longtime director John Darby into an oversight position, and NASCAR is actively looking for his replacement in a role that is effectively the top cop of the garage.

Darby’s successor could be in for a busy year, particularly if drivers answer NASCAR chairman Brian France’s call “to mix it up a little bit differently” going forward.

As NASCAR exploded over the 1990s past its small Southern roots into a billion-dollar, corporatefueled series, its participants seemed to morph into robotic sponsor shills too frightened to make waves.

NASCAR wasn’t immune, either, and started policing on-track aggression and off-track emotion.

Intentional on-track retaliation was met with immediate punishment, while transgressions such as shoving a competitor or cursing in a television interview were met with monetary fines and/or points deductions. Fans were incensed that the rough and tumble

Vonn snaps up Cortina super-G

Skiing

Vonn returns to top of overall standings CORTINA D’AMPEZZO: Lindsey Vonn continued her extraordinary domination of the Alpine skiing speed events with a comfortable victory in a World Cup Super-G yesterday. The American, hot favorite for glory at next month’s Vancouver Olympics, made light of going out 18th to glide down the Olympia delle Tofane course in one minute 21.74 seconds.

Switzerland’s Fabienne Suter grabbed second in 1:22.41 with Anja Paerson of Sweden third. Vonn’s second Super-G win of the season propelled her back to the top of the overall World Cup standings after previous leader Maria Riesch took too many risks on the turns and finished 15th. “Speed keeps me happy. I feel able to generate power from turn to turn,” Vonn told a news conference at one of her favorite venues, where she landed her first World Cup podium place in a downhill in 2004.

Struggles in the technical disciplines this season and the constant threat of injury in one of the fastest and most dangerous sports around mean the 25-yearold is refusing to get carried away in her bid for a first Olympic medal. “A lot can change in a couple of weeks. My main goal now is to stay healthy and keep my confidence. Nothing is ever guaranteed in life,” she added after a seventh win in speed events this season. Her down-toearth nature was reaffirmed when she announced the top three would be auctioning off their signed bibs on eBay to raise money for the victims of Haiti’s earthquake.

Bright sunshine greeted the skiers to the jagged peaks of the Dolomites and only a handful of competitors had problems after a couple of minor crashes marred downhill training over the past two days. The famous five rings which still dominate the buildings of chic Cortina, the host of the 1956 Winter Games, will have concentrated minds on the fast approaching races in Vancouver.

Today’s downhill and tomorrow’s giant slalom must be navigated first, however, even if Vonn looks almost unstoppable for the downhill such was her ease of victory yesterday. — Reuters

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO: Lindsey Vonn of the United States takes a jump on her way to win an alpine ski, Women’s World Cup superG race, in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy yesterday. — AP

Cuche notches third WCup win of season

TALLINN: Italy’s Carolina Kostner performs in the Ladies’ Short Program at the 2010 European Figure Skating Championships yesterday. — AFP

Kostner takes control at European figure skating TALLINN: Italy’s Carolina Kostner moved closer to a third European figure skating title by leading yesterday’s short program. Kostner, the 2007 and 2008 champion, served notice she is ready to reclaim the title she lost last year to Finn Laura Lepisto by opening up a 1.54-point advantage on Finland’s Kiira Korpi. The 22-year-old gave an error-free perfor-

mance to a classical medley from Chopin and Tchaikovsky, nailing all of her elements, as she opened with a triple flipdouble toeloop and followed up with a triple toeloop and double axel. She scored a total of 65.80 points.

Korpi, the 2007 European bronze medalist, also hit her jumps, including a triple lutz-double toeloop combination, to

score 64.26. The defending champion Lepisto touched down on her opening triple-triple toeloop combination and stumbled on a spiral sequence to the music Imagined Oceans, leaving her in third with 62.96. The short program counts for a third of the points with the remainder coming in Saturday’s free skating finale. — AFP

KITZBUEHEL: Switzerland’s Didier Cuche notched his third World Cup race of the season yesterday by winning the Super G at Kitzbuehel, handing hosts Austria a frustrating start to their biggest weekend of the Alpine skiing year. Cuche, who has won in three different disciplines this season, beat home pair Michael Walchhofer and Georg Streitberger into second and third place respectively as he followed up his giant slalom win at Soelden and downhill in Lake Louise.

Streitberger was 0.01 seconds behind his compatriot.

Walchhofer, Super G winner at Val D’Isere last month, overhauled early pacesetter Andrej Jerman to whip the home crowd into a frenzy but they were quickly silenced as Cuche, racing immediately afterwards, beat the Austrian’s time by 0.28 seconds.

Austria have yet to win a men’s World Cup race this year, although that will quickly be forgotten with a home win in Saturday’s prestigious downhill on the famous Hahnenkamm.

World Cup leader Carlo Janka of Switzerland finished a disappointing 19th but it was enough to keep him top of the overall standings ahead of Austria’s Benjamin Raich and Cuche in third - the same position the 35year-old has finished in each of the last three seasons. “It’s always nice to win here and it’s given me more confidence for the downhill,” said Cuche after recording the 12th World Cup win of his career - five in down-

KITZBUEHEL: Switzerland’s Didier Cuche celebrates his victory on the podium after the men’s Super G during FIS ski World cup in Kitzbuhel yesterday. — AFP hill, three in giant slalom and four in Super G. “In the last three years, I missed the victory by making mistakes. Today, I didn’t make mistakes and I got the victory. “I was not so fast at the top but after that I got a better line and you also have to be a little bit lucky at the finish.” Walchhofer said he

was happy to finish in the top three. “It was a very important podium for me today, the day before the downhill. “There has been a lot of pressure in the last few weeks on the Austrian downhill team but I had a good feeling at the start. For me, it’s very important to be focused on the course.” — Reuters

series they once loved had been molded into boring, follow-the-leader racing, and their favorite drivers had become too vanilla.

It wasn’t until last autumn - when Hamlin waged a monthslong feud with up-and-comer Brad Keselowski, and Tony Stewart and Juan Pablo Montoya intentionally wrecked each other in the season finale - that NASCAR finally saw the lift the emotions and personalities can deliver to the series.

Still, Helton cautioned it won’t be the Wild West. “It doesn’t mean that you get a free pass-out-of-jail card,” he said. “But it certainly means that what we are encouraging the competitors ... for their character and their personality, within reason, to be unfolded.” — AP

Cricket snub ignites India-Pakistan row NEW DELHI: A perceived snub to Pakistani players by the glitzy Indian Premier League has sparked a diplomatic spat between the great rivals, for whom cricket is more than just a game. No Pakistani player was bought by the eight Indian clubs during an auction on Tuesday for the third edition of the league despite the Pakistan team being the reigning world champions in the Twenty20 format of the tournament.

The omission has triggered widespread protests in Pakistan with effigies of IPL chief Lalit Modi being burnt on the streets of Lahore amid condemnation from politicians and threats of boycotts from other Pakistani sports teams. Indian Foreign Minister SM Krishna was drawn into the maelstrom Thursday, denying that his government was behind the move following suggestions from IPL franchises that Pakistani players may have been refused Indian visas.

“The government has nothing to do with IPL, on selection of players and various exercises that are connected with it,” he said. In Pakistan, retaliatory steps saw a parliamentary delegation cancel their trip to India and a scheduled visit by the Pakistani kabaddi (traditional tag wrestling) team was called off. “I agree this is a private event, but Pakistani players being excluded without any reason and without looking at the background is unfair,” the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, Ijaz Butt, told AFP. Foreign office spokesman Abdul Basit told the newspaper Dawn “it is clear from what we heard from the Indian High Commission that the decision to not include Pakistani players was influenced by variables extraneous to sports.” India and Pakistan have fought three wars since their independence in 1947 and tension spiked in 2008 when militants killed 166 people in an attack on Mumbai. New Delhi pointed the finger at a Pakistan-based Islamist group.

India cancelled a scheduled cricket tour of Pakistan after the Mumbai attacks, breaking a sequence of bilateral Test series held on each other’s soil every year from 2004 to 2007. In a further setback, the International Cricket Council withdrew Pakistan’s right to host matches in next year’s Cricket World Cup, following the Lahore terrorist attack in March on the visiting Sri Lankan cricket team. Pakistan’s matches were instead shared among cohosts India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

The third season of the lucrative IPL, which features the world’s top players in eight teams owned by rich businessmen and Bollywood stars, will be held in March and April this year. One franchise official, who preferred to remain unnamed, told AFP that he was not surprised that the Pakistanis were excluded. “We were not sure if they would get visas and we did not want players who won’t be available,” he said. “Besides, there is also the security issue. No one was willing to take a chance.”

Indian cricket board secretary N Srinivasan, who owns the Chennai Super Kings team in the IPL, also said the franchisees should not be blamed. “They (the franchisees) have the right to pick the players they want. After all, it is their money,” Srinivasan told the Hindu newspaper yesterday. “How can you say if you do not buy a player from a particular country it is an insult to that nation? “How much a team is prepared to spend on and on whom is the sole prerogative of the franchisees.”

Srinivasan stressed that even players like West Indian batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan, Australian wicket-keeper Brad Haddin and England spinner Graeme Swann had been ignored at the auction.

Such arguments are unlikely to placate critics across the border. “I think this is a lesson to all the Pakistani players to think about their country only and don’t play only for the lust of money in the IPL,” Basit Ali, former Pakistan player said.

Leading sports personalities had also called on Pakistan to boycott next month’s field hockey World Cup in New Delhi where the arch-rivals are due to clash in the opening match on February 28. But Pakistan sports minister Ijaz Jakhrani said yesterday the national team will travel to New Delhi to take part in the tournament.

“The World Cup is an international eventnot an Indian one, so our team will participate in it,” Jakhrani told reporters in Islamabad. — AFP

SPORTS

Saturday, January 23, 2010

‘King’ James rules again as Cavaliers top Lakers Cavs sweep season series against NBA champions CLEVELAND: The Cleveland Cavaliers showed their Christmas Day win over the Los Angeles Lakers was no gift as they repeated the feat with a 93-87 win over their NBA title rivals on Thursday. LeBron James scored 37 points, including 12 straight in the closing stages, as the Cavs won despite playing their first game without injured Mo Williams.

JJ Hickson grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds and Anderson Varejao made three free throws in the final 20 seconds as Cleveland swept the season series between the league’s top two teams.

That could give the Cavs home-court advantage if they meet the Lakers in June’s NBA finals.

A lot can happen between now and then, but the win gave Cleveland confidence it might be able to thrive despite losing Williams, their All-Star point guard who will miss at least one month with a shoulder sprain.

Los Angeles’ Kobe Bryant finished with 31 points but was only 4-of-15 in the second half as the Lakers lost the opener of an eightgame road trip. Pau Gasol scored 13 for Los Angeles.

Bryant surpassed 25,000 career points in the first half, but he was unable to match James in the fourth quarter as both teams turned to their superstars.

With the score tied 80-80, James hit a 3-pointer from the left side, and after a miss by Bryant, the reigning MVP dropped another jumper to put Cleveland ahead by five.

James then hit another shot to make it 87-80 with 2:48 left and the Cavs looked to be in control. But Ron Artest hit a big 3 for the Lakers and Bryant made two free throws and a quick jumper to tie it 87-87 with 1:32 remaining.

James then blasted down the left side for a layup with 40.5 seconds to go. After Gasol missed two free throws that would have tied it, the Cavs called a timeout.

James then split a pair of free throws, but Varejao grabbed the rebound on the miss and was fouled.

Varejao, a 66 percent shooter from the line, made both attempts for a 92-87 Cavs lead with 20.7 seconds left. Bryant misfired on an off-balance 3-point attempt and James claimed the long rebound, flying into Cleveland’s bench to make the save.

Nuggets 105, Clippers 85 In Denver, the hosts made it a season-high five straight wins with a comfortable victory over Los Angeles. Chauncey Billups scored 13 of his 20 points in the third quarter to break open a tight game, while Carmelo Anthony - selected as a starter for the AllStar game in fan balloting announced earlier Thursday - had 28 points and 10 rebounds. It was the Nuggets’ sixth straight home win overall, and against the Clippers. Craig Smith’s 21 points led the Clippers, who fell to 0-12 on the road when scoring less than 100 points.

Los Angeles, opening a season-long eight-game road trip, played without guards Eric Gordon (sprained left big toe) and Sebastian Telfair (groin).

Despite that, the visitors took a 48-47 halftime lead, scoring six of the last seven points in the second quarter.

But Denver grabbed the momentum from there, going in front to stay with a 15-4 flurry to begin the third quarter. Billups touched off the burst by hitting a pair of free throws and the first of his three 3-pointers in the period. — AP

23 NBA results/standings WASHINGTON: Results and standings after Thursday’s National Basketball Association games: Cleveland 93, LA Lakers 87; Denver 105, LA Clippers 85 Western Conference Eastern Conference Atlantic Division Northwest Division W L PCT GB Denver 28 14 .667 Boston 27 13 .675 Portland 26 17 .605 2.5 Toronto 21 22 .488 7.5 Oklahoma City 24 18 .571 4 NY Knicks 17 24 .415 10.5 Utah 24 18 .571 4 Philadelphia 13 28 .317 14.5 Minnesota 9 34 .209 19.5 New Jersey 3 38 .073 24.5 Pacific Division Central Division LA Lakers 32 10 .762 Cleveland 33 11 .750 Phoenix 25 18 .581 7.5 Chicago 18 22 .450 13 LA Clippers 19 23 .452 13 Milwaukee 17 23 .425 14 Sacramento 15 26 .366 16.5 Detroit 15 26 .366 16.5 Golden State 12 28 .300 19 Indiana 14 28 .333 18 Southwest Division Southeast Division Dallas 28 14 .667 Atlanta 27 14 .659 San Antonio 25 16 .610 2.5 Orlando 27 15 .643 0.5 Houston 23 18 .561 4.5 Charlotte 21 19 .525 5.5 New Orleans 22 19 .537 5.5 Miami 21 20 .512 6 Memphis 22 19 .537 5.5 Washington 14 27 .341 13

Jets target Super Bowl with win over full stable of Colts FLORHAM PARK: The Indianapolis Colts may come to regret the decision to rest their regulars in a defeat to the then unthreatening New York Jets last month, the side that now stand in their way of a Super Bowl berth. After romping to a 140 record in the regular season to ensure a playoff place, the NFL-best Colts turned away from pursuit of a perfect season by resting players and losing 29-15 to the Jets, then a 7-7 team, and the Buffalo Bills 30-7 .

The Jets and Colts meet again Sunday in Indianapolis for the AFC title. With Indianapolis eager to prove they can win when it counts, while the wild card Jets are determined to make the Super Bowl for the first time in 40 years. “The big stage is every day in New York,” Jets rookie coach Rex Ryan told reporters when asked whether his 9-7 team could handle the pressures of the big game against the 15-2 Colts. “This will be as loose a team as you’ll ever see going into an AFC Championship game. We’re not afraid to compete against the Colts. We’re excited to.”

Peyton Manning, the 10-times Pro Bowl quarterback for the Colts, left last month’s game in the third quarter after a touchdown drive put Indianapolis ahead 15-10. New York feasted against the back-up players and scored 19 points.

“It is something we addressed at the time, and we have truly moved on from it,” Manning said Thursday on a conference call. Indy’s play-safe approach was taken to avoid injuries in the regular season’s penultimate game. The move brought howls of protest from fans who thought the Colts could join the 1972 Miami Dolphins as the only unbeaten Super Bowl champions.

BLITZ HAPPY While the 2006 Super Bowl winning Colts have continued a consistent run of success behind a

passing game steered by Manning, Ryan has sparked the Jets with a blitz-happy defense and power running game he has termed “ground and pound”. “They are a talented group of guys that play extremely well together and right now they are on fire,” Colts first-year coach Jim Caldwell said about New York’s defense. Ryan said his NFL-best defense got a positive jolt from three Baltimore Ravens players-linebacker Bart Scott, safety Jim Leonhard and lineman/defensive end Marques Douglas-he had coached as defensive coordinator before being hired by the Jets.

“They’ve had a huge impact, obviously,” Ryan said. “Marques Douglas coming in on the D-line.

You had Bart at linebacker, and then you had Jim

NFL Leonhard in the back end. You had three guys that the players could lean on to try to learn this system. To let them know it’s not overwhelming.”

One other standout on the defense that could loom large against the Colts is cornerback Darrelle Revis, who has had an extraordinary season shutting down top receivers.

Revis has made it his goal to strand the opposition’s best receiver on what he has jokingly called “Revis Island”. Manning’s primary target, Reggie Wayne, expects to go head-to-head with Revis. “We will never know what the outcome of that game would be,” Wayne said about the first encounter. “One thing we do know is that we have this game here, and we are definitely playing a full game.” Given Manning’s accuracy and ability to read coverage, Revis expects a busy day. “It’s going to be a lot of storms on Revis Island,” he told reporters with a laugh. “It’s going to be crazy.” — Reuters

Iverson voted in as Nash, Duncan get All-Star spots

CELVELAND: Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James (23) passes over Los Angeles Lakers’ Lamar Odom (7) and Ron Artest (37) in the fourth quarter in an NBA basketball game in Cleveland. The Cavaliers won 93-87. — AP

NEW YORK: A mostly absent Allen Iverson was voted to start in the NBA All-Star game on Thursday, while Steve Nash and Tim Duncan made late moves to claim starting spots. Nash passed the inactive Tracy McGrady as the second guard for the Western Conference, while Duncan disappointed Dallas fans hoping to see Dirk Nowitzki start by rallying past the Mavericks forward.

LeBron James was the leading vote-getter for the Feb 14 game at Cowboys Stadium, becoming the first player to earn at least 2.5 million votes three times. He will make his sixth All-Star appearance, all as a starter. “The fans still love and see what I do every night and they appreciate it, and I appreciate them for electing me as an All-Star starter,” James said.

“It’s still special.” Joining James and Iverson as Eastern Conference starters were Miami guard Dwyane Wade, Orlando center Dwight Howard and Boston forward Kevin Garnett.

Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant was picked in the West along with Phoenix center Amare Stoudemire and Denver forward Carmelo Anthony. Starters were decided by fan balloting at NBA arenas and electronically. The reserves will be chosen by votes by the head coaches in each conference and will be announced next Thursday. The fans still love Iverson, even though he’s played only 19 games during the worst season of his career.

He appeared on the West ballot since he began the season in Memphis, but they parted ways after only three games. —AP

Capitals fight back to beat Penguins PITTSBURGH: The in-form Washington Capitals scored the final four goals to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-3 on

Thursday in the first game this season between two of the NHL’s elite teams. Alex Ovechkin scored twice, Tomas Fleischmann scored the go-

ahead goal early in the third period and set up Nicklas Backstrom’s breakaway goal less than a minute later for Washington, which won its

NHL results/standings WASHINGTON: National Hockey League results and standings after Thursday’s games: Columbus 3, Boston 2; Ottawa 3, St Louis 2; NY Islanders 2, Florida 1 (SO); Philadelphia 2, NY Rangers 0; Carolina 5, Atlanta 2; Tampa Bay 3, Toronto 2 (OT); Washington 6, Pittsburgh 3; Detroit 4, Minnesota 3 (So); Phoenix 4, Nashville 2; Chicago 3, Calgary 1; Vancouver 4, Dallas 3; Los Angeles 4, Buffalo 3 (So); San Jose 3, Anaheim 1.

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

Eastern Conference Atlantic Division W L OTL GF 33 14 1 133 31 20 1 166 24 20 7 135 23 20 8 137 25 21 3 150 Northeast Division 30 12 7 141 27 21 4 145 23 18 8 125 23 23 5 131 17 25 10 139 Southeast Division 32 12 6 191 22 21 7 155 21 21 9 142 20 20 10 130 15 27 7 125

GA 105 149 135 153 140

PTS 67 63 55 54 53

117 153 124 143 180

67 58 54 51 44

141 164 153 156 167

70 51 51 50 37

Western Conference Central Division Chicago 35 12 4 169 115 74 Nashville 29 18 3 142 140 61 Detroit 25 17 8 129 130 58 St. Louis 22 21 7 132 142 51 Columbus 20 24 9 140 176 49 Northwest Division Colorado 28 15 6 147 135 62 Vancouver 30 18 2 162 124 62 Calgary 26 19 6 132 132 58 Minnesota 24 23 4 141 154 52 Edmonton 16 27 6 130 168 38 Pacific Division San Jose 34 10 8 174 126 76 Phoenix 29 17 5 137 131 63 Los Angeles 28 19 3 148 141 59 Dallas 21 18 11 144 161 53 Anaheim 23 21 7 144 161 53 Note: Overtime losses (OTL) are worth one point in the standings and are not included in the loss column (L).

fifth in a row. Eric Fehr and Mike Knuble also scored for the Capitals as Washington came back from deficits of 1-0 and 3-2.

Pittsburgh’s goals came from Sidney Crosby, Nick Johnson in his first NHL game, and Kris Letang.

Blackhawks 3, Flames 1 In Calgary, Alberta, Chicago built its lead in the Central Division to a giant 13 points with a win at Calgary. Ben Eager scored the go-ahead goal at 5:52 of the third period, and Antti Niemi made 19 saves for Chicago. Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith also scored for the Blackhawks. Jamie Lundmark scored for Calgary, who have lost six straight.

Sharks 3, Ducks 1 In San Jose, California, San Jose beat playoff nemesis Anaheim for the fifth straight time this season to maintain its Western Conference lead. Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Rob Blake scored rare goals in the second period, while Patrick Marleau assisted on both and added an empty-netter for his NHL-leading 35th of the season.

The Sharks have won four straight to remain two points ahead of Chicago for the most in the NHL. Matt Beleskey scored for Anaheim.

Kings 4, Sabres 3, SO In Los Angeles, the hosts extended their charmed run in shootouts, this time beating Buffalo. Ryan Smyth scored the

tying goal midway through the third period, and Dustin Brown had the winner in the shootout. The Kings have won their past six shootouts, all at home. Brad Richardson and Sean O’Donnell also scored for Los Angeles in regulation. Buffalo’s goals came from Craig Rivet, Clarke MacArthur and Thomas Vanek.

Coyotes 4, Predators 2 In Glendale, Arizona, Scottie Upshall scored three goals in the third period to lift Phoenix over Nashville. Ilya Bryzgalov made 41 saves for Phoenix, while Matthew Lombardi had a goal and an assist as the Coyotes moved two points ahead of Nashville for fourth place in the Western Conference. Patric Hornqvist and Martin Erat scored for the Predators.

Canucks 4, Stars 3 In Vancouver, Alex Burrows tied it late in the second period, and Christian Ehrhoff put Vancouver ahead 5 minutes into the third as the hosts edged Dallas. Mason Raymond and Kyle Wellwood also scored to help the Canucks win their third straight and move into a tie with Colorado atop the Northwest Division.

Trevor Daley, Toby Peterson and Loui Eriksson scored for Dallas, winless on the road since Dec 11.

Red Wings 4, Wild 3, SO In St Paul, Minnesota, Drew Miller scored his first career shootout goal in the eighth round

as Detroit survived Minnesota’s third-period rally. Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard stopped six shots in the shootout and denied Eric Belanger in the eighth round to set up Miller’s winner. Miller, Patrick Eaves and Todd Bertuzzi scored in regulation for Detroit.

The Wild overcame a 3-1 deficit with third-period goals from Martin Havlat and Andrew Brunette. Robbie Earl also scored for Minnesota.

Senators 3, Blues 2 In Ottawa, Peter Regin had a goal and two assists - all on the power play - to help Ottawa edge St Louis and extend its winning streak to five. Chris Phillips and Milan Michalek also scored for the Senators. The Blues’ goals came via Brad Boyes and Eric Brewer.

Flyers 2, Rangers 0 In Philadelphia, Ray Emery made 24 saves for his second shutout of the season, as Philadelphia blanked New York.

James van Riemsdyk and Mike Richards scored for the resurgent Flyers, who prevailed after a second period that involved three fights. The Rangers have been shutout three times in the past six games.

Islanders 2, Panthers 1, SO In Uniondale, New York, Matt Moulson scored the decisive goal in a shootout to give New York its sixth straight home win, pipping Florida. Rob Schremp also found

Caps claim fifth in a row the net in the shootout, while goalie Dwayne Roloson turned away both Panthers’ attempts.

Blake Comeau scored in regulation for New York.

Blue Jackets 3, Bruins 2 In Boston, RJ Umberger tipped in Anton Stralman’s power-play slap shot with 1:16 remaining to give Columbus a comeback victory over Boston. Chris Clark and Antoine Vermette also scored for the Blue Jackets. The Bruins slumped to their third straight defeat despite goals from Michael Ryder and Patrice Bergeron.

Lightning 3, Maple Leafs 2, OT In Tampa, Florida, Martin St Louis scored with 9.8 seconds left in overtime to lift Tampa Bay past Toronto. Steven Stamkos had a goal and two assists, and Ryan Malone also scored for the Lightning. Ian White and Matt Stajan scored for the Maple Leafs, who have won just two of their past 13 road games.

Hurricanes 5, Thrashers 2 In Atlanta, Eric Staal scored three goals in his first game since becoming Carolina’s captain as Carolina comfortably downed Atlanta. Cam Ward stopped 32 shots to tie Arturs Irbe’s franchise record for goaltenders with 130 career victories. Jussi Jokinen and Sergei Samsonov also scored for Carolina. The Thrashers got goals from Rich Peverley and Colby Armstrong. — AP

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Clijsters crashes out of Australian Open MELBOURNE: Kim Clijsters’s fairytale return to grand slam tennis came to a shuddering halt at the Australian Open yesterday just as Justine Henin’s own comeback started to gather momentum. Clijsters was dumped from the first grand slam of the year after losing 6-0 6-1 to Russia’s Nadia Petrova. The result was shocking enough but the scoreline defied all expectations, coming just four months after the Belgian won the US Open.

Statistics can sometimes be misleading but the numbers in this match accurately summed up a thrashing. Clijsters won just five points in the first set and made 26 unforced errors in total. It was all over in 52 minutes. “She was good but I made all the mistakes and she didn’t have to do that much. It just sucks it has to happen at this stage of this tournament. “This is something probably you want to forget as soon as possible and go home.”

No one was more surprised by Clijsters’s meek performance than Petrova. “I was preparing myself for a long day and a long match,” she said. “It might have been a

three setter.” Clijsters’s loss overshadowed a special milestone by her compatriot and long-time rival Henin, who beat Russia’s Alisa Kleybanova 3-6 6-4 6-2, marking her 500th career win. Henin would have reached her landmark a lot earlier if she had not decided to suddenly quit the sport in 2008 when she was the number one player in the world.

Then again, she might never have made it at all had she not been inspired to make a comeback

by Clijsters, who returned to the sport last year after quitting to start a family. “It’s a big challenge to come back and I think I love challenges.

That’s the way I am,” Henin said. “I need always to push myself and to push the limits back. I’m very proud of what I’m doing right now.”

ease but Rafa Nadal needed three and a half hours to beat dogged German Philipp Kohlschreiber. The defending champion eventually won 6-4 6-2 2-6 7-5 and meets Croatia’s Ivo Karlovic in the fourth round.

US Open champion Del Potro showed no lingering effects of his epic five-set second round win over James Blake during his 6-3 0-6 6-4 7-5 win over German Florian Mayer. Roddick recovered from a set down to defeat Spain’s Feliciano Lopez 6-7 6-4 6-4 7-6.

The American will next play Fernando Gonzalez of Chile after the 2007

E X P E C T E D RESULTS Juan Martin del Potro, Andy Murray and Andy Roddick all won their matches with comparative

Safina buries Melbourne ghosts to reach last eight MELBOURNE: Dinara Safina buried some of her 2009 ghosts when she raced into the fourth round of the Australian Open yesterday, expressing relief at getting through her match on Rod Laver Arena. It was her first appearance on Melbourne’s centre court since last year’s Australian Open final, when she imploded spectacularly under the pressure of the occasion to lose to Serena Williams in straight sets 6-0, 6-3.

There was a sparser crowd this time round to witness her 6-1, 6-2 thrashing of England’s Elena Baltacha, but the second seed still took heart from a winning return to the scene of one of her worst days in tennis. “I didn’t have good memories of the last match I played on Rod Laver Arena, for sure,” said the world number two. “I am glad to be back and I had to fight hard and make sure I won to forget the bad memories.

“I played some unbelievable matches on this court last year, saving match points and things, but had that one bad match.”

Safina simply overpowered the unseeded Baltacha, winning in under an hour. The Russian hit 19 winners in another improved performance, while her English opponent managed just four. She arrived in Melbourne with question marks over her chances of a maiden Grand Slam win as she returned from the back injury that hampered her in late 2009. However, the 23year-old has yet to drop a set in three

matches and has looked more comfortable each time she has stepped on court.

Safina agreed she simply overpowered the 83rd-ranked Baltacha. “My game is trying to put pressure on opponent,” she said.

“I managed to dictate from the first point of the match.”I think I was doing everything right and during the match I was trying to do it more and more, to give her less and less time.

“I think it was very solid match from my side. I’m pretty satisfied with everything I did.” Safina, seeking her first Grand Slam singles title having lost three finals in the previous two years, said there was still considerable room for improvement as the tournament progresses. “I think it was about seven (out of 10),” she said. “It doesn’t matter by the score that I won easier, there are still some moments in some games that I could do better.

“The more matches I’m going to play, I’m going to try to do more and more things and feel more and more comfortable on the court. Safina could face fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko in the fourth round and appears in a favorable section of the draw.

One of the Belgian comeback duo of Kim Clijsters or Justine Henin is likely to be her semi-final opponent if she reaches that far.— AFP

in the third set tiebreaker. Did the same in the fourth set tiebreaker,” Isner said. “I’m really proud of how I played in the clutch moments. I kept coming forward. I played to win. Kind of forced the issue in those two tiebreakers. I was real proud of that.” Isner first caught the tennis world’s attention when he beat compatriot Andy Roddick in a fifth-set tiebreaker at last year’s US Open.

“Just the way I won that match and kind of the stage I won it on, it showed me that I belonged in the top 20 players of the game,” he said. — Reuters

M E L BOURNE: As one of the few top Chinese athletes to break with her country’s rigid Soviet-style sports system, Zheng Jie has had to get used to life without the government’s mollycoddling hand.

A year ago, Zheng joined colleagues Li Na, Yan Zi and Peng Shuai in spurning the national system and its grueling regime of locked-down training camps that can span weeks and months. The benefit was an immediate pay-rise-she gets to keep as much as 92 percent of her earnings after formerly having to part with about two-thirds of them.

The cost has been the loss of camaraderie and the “iron rice bowl”-the state-sponsored benefits and perks that go to Chinese athletes who devote themselves to bringing sporting glory to the

MELBOURNE: Kim Clijsters of Belgium reaches out for a return to Nadia Petrova of Russia during their Women’s singles third round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne yesterday. —AP

Kuznetsova labors into fourth round MELBOURNE: Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova needed all her big match experience to dig herself out of trouble and beat German qualifier Angelique Kerber 3-6 7-5 6-4 at the Australian Open yesterday. Kerber, ranked 118th in the world, looked to be on the verge of a stunning upset when she outplayed Kuznetsova for the first hour before the world number three clawed her way back into the contest. The French Open champion struggled to find her rhythm in the

swirling wind in the late-night match at Melbourne Park, which started just before midnight after Rafa Nadal’s four-set win over Philipp Kohlschreiber lasted more than three and a half hours. As part of her preparation for the match, Kuznetsova left the confines of the players’ lounge to sit in the stands and watch the men’s contest. “I did that to motivate myself,” she told reporters. “It is so much better when you see it live.

2nd-division Celta hold Atletico 1-1 MADRID: Atletico Madrid scraped a 1-1 draw at home to second division Celta Vigo in their King’s Cup quarter-final first leg on Thursday. Earlier, Walter Pandiani’s late strike gave Osasuna a valuable away goal as they lost 2-1 at Racing Santander. In the other two ties, Sevilla took a giant step towards the semi-finals by winning 3-0 at Deportivo Coruna on Wednesday while Getafe won 2-1 at Real Mallorca.

The second legs are next week. Celta, who knocked out Villarreal in the last round, were the better side at a packed Calderon, and took a thirdminute lead after slicing open the home defense for Roberto Trashorras to score. Atletico’s new Portuguese signing Tiago nodded in from a corner to level

Sara Errani and will give Henin a stern test.

UNDER SUSPENSION Wickmayer made the US Open semifinals last year and is ranked 16 in the world but was overlooked for the seedings and forced to come through qualifying because she was under suspension when the registrations for the Australian Open closed.

Dinara Safina and Maria Kirilenko will play each other in an all-Russian fourth-round clash tomorrow.

Safina defeated Britain’s Elena Baltacha 6-1 6-2 in less than an hour and is slipping through the draw almost unnoticed even though she made the final in Australia last year and is ranked number two in the world.

Kirilenko matched her best performance at a grand slam when she defeated Italy’s Roberta Vinci 7-5 7-6, showing that her first round win over Maria Sharapova was no fluke. Ukraine’s Alona Bondarenko also advanced, beating Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic 6-2 6-3 and extending the former world number one’s poor run in grand slams over the past year. —Reuters

Unshackled Zheng enjoying it alone

Isner riding higher MELBOURNE: John Isner showed he has the big game to match his giant physique when he upset Gael Monfils of France 6-1 4-6 7-6 7-6 in the third round at the Australian Open yesterday. The 2.06-metre tall American thumped 26 aces past a bewildered Monfils to lift his tally for the tournament to 81 but the world number 28 insists his booming serve is not his only asset.

The 24-year-old showed he also has the temperament as he rebounded from a sloppy second set to win two successive tiebreaks.

“I was up a set and a break and I lost the second set. I got down 4-1 but then brought it back and played great

Australian Open runner-up outlasted Evgeny Korolev 6-7 6-3 1-6 6-3 6-4.

Murray overcame a minor injury scare and more questions about his serve to beat Florent Serra of France 7-5 6-1 6-4. “I don’t think my serve is an issue at all,” he said.

“Everyone is panicking about my serve.”

Murray’s next opponent is John Isner, the 2.06 meter American, whose main weapon is not hard to guess.

He thumped 26 aces past Gael Monfils in his 6-1 4-6 7-6 7-6 win over the Frenchman to lift his total for the championship to 81.

Henin’s win over Kleybanova was not her best performance at Melbourne Park this week but enough to thrust her into the fourth round against Yanina Wickmayer, another Belgian.

Henin would have to win another four matches to claim the title but the question is already being asked. Can she possibly win the Australian Open in her second event out of retirement? Her next opponent could provide some of the answers.

Wickmayer sealed her place in the fourth round with a 6-1 6-7 6-3 win against Italy’s

Racing stun Osasuna in Spanish Cup

MADRID: Atletico Madrid’s Argentinean forward Sergio Aguero (left) vies with Celta de Vigo’s Spanish defender Francisco Noguerol. — AFP

in the 11th, but it was a rare sight of goal for them.

Celta controlled possession and forced the hosts into mistakes throughout the game, with only the interventions of Atletico goalkeeper David de Gea denying the visitors a second goal.

At the Sardinero, Uruguayan forward Pandiani grabbed a lifeline for Osasuna on the counter-attack in the 89th minute after his goalkeeper Roberto had been left rooted to the spot by two stunning strikes from Racing. Gonzalo Colsa scored with a powerful shot from outside the area in the 63rd and Senegalese midfielder Papakouli Diop caught Roberto off his line with a curler from distance in the 84th. — Reuters

Communist Party-ruled country.

“In the first year of managing myself, I feel it’s been pretty good,” the petite 26-year-old, who upset French 11th seed Marion Bartoli 5-7 6-3 6-0 to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open yesterday said. “Before I had always been a part of the national team. I was quite used to this support. But now-and it’s not just me, it’s also Li Na, Yan Zi, Peng Shuai-we have to manage our own issues and our own teams.”

WIMBLEDON RUN Zheng’s surprise semi-final appearance at Wimbledon in 2008 made her the first Chinese to reach the last four of a grand slam, and since leaving the state-run sports system, she became her country’s first to break into the world’s top 15. Her and her colleagues’ independence has also brought higher scrutiny in China, where almost all elite athletes’ lives remain tightly managed by the state. The national tennis administration’s watershed decision to let Zheng and her team mates “fly away” has come under fire from some sports officials, while the country’s tennis chief Sun Jinfang told Chinese media the door to self-management is shut for young players outside the world top 50. Sun also suggested Zheng, whose ranking has dipped to 35, might be better off back inside the system like other “less talented and more hardworking players.” Zheng is unlikely to heed the advice. “The best thing about managing myself is that

“It was very hard to play after such a great match they played before, so it was a little bit late,” Kuznetsova said. Kuznetsova made things harder for herself when she did get on to the Rod Laver Arena with 39 unforced errors in an unconvincing display. “I did not play my best but she played really well and it took time for me to adjust to her game,” Kuznetsova said. “I think she’s very dangerous because she’s a leftie. All credit to her, she played amazing and I was lucky

when I go back to China, I can train at home with my friends and family around me,” she said.

“Before you had to train with the national team and you couldn’t go home.”

Zheng, who made a name for herself by winning the 2006 Wimbledon and Australian Open doubles titles with partner Yan Zi, does miss the “lively team environment,” though.

“That feeling of seeing so many players practicing together... It wasn’t just on tour, we’d be together everywhere. We’d be staying at the same hotels, booking the same planes, going out together. “Now sometimes when I’m training, I have my own team watching me, and I’m wondering ‘why are they just watching, why don’t they play with me?’”

CROWD SUPPORT Zheng, who numbers her husband among three specialist coaches, has enjoyed plenty of support at Melbourne Park, where last year she was forced to retire in the fourth round due to injury.

Chinese fans draped in national flags cheered boisterously as she came back to beat Bartoli and excitement at home should reach fever pitch should she knock out Ukrainian 31st seed Alona Bondarenko to make the quarters.

Zheng had mixed feelings about having to knock out friend and compatriot Peng in the first round, but still has Li Na for company in the draw. Li is set to play a tough third-round match against Slovakia’s Daniela Hantuchova today. “To have my compatriots advance with me is really a great motivation and really encouraging, and makes me want go further,” said Zheng, who does not like to dwell on her past achievements. “I want to go further and I also have higher goals, but I want to keep them to myself!” — Reuters

to survive.”

Although Kuznetsova was below her best, she was still able to scrape through and avoid joining Kim Clijsters as another third-round casualty. Kuznetsova will play Nadia Petrova in the fourth round tomorrow after the Russian demolished Clijsters 6-0 6-1 in the biggest upset of the championship so far. “It was really tough but I’m proud of myself, I was really fighting my way through this match,” she said. —Reuters

Real target perfect ten MADRID: Real Madrid have picked up one point from the last six on the road so will be glad of some home comfort at their fortress Santiago Bernabeu when they host Malaga tomorrow as they bid to close the five-point gap on leaders Barcelona. Real lost 1-0 at Athletic Bilbao last time out but are going for a 10th straight home victory in the league and need to maintain their 100 percent record to keep Barca within their sights.

Top-scorer Gonzalo Higuain is sidelined with a hamstring injury so the goals burden falls on the shoulders of Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo who has gone three games without a goal which is a drought by his high standards.

“I am not getting worked up about it,” said Ronaldo. “These things will come naturally because I’m working the same as I always do.

I’m sure the goals are going to come.”

Since thrashing Real Zaragoza 6-0, Madrid have failed to score in two of the subsequent three matches at Osasuna (0-0) and

Bilbao (1-0) so coach Manuel Pellegrini may choose to bring the club’s all-time leading goalscorer Raul back in from the cold after a lengthy spell on the substitutes bench.

Barcelona have not had much trouble in front of goal plundering nine goals in the last two league matches with Lionel Messi scoring five of the nine.

Today Barcelona travel to fourth from bottom Valladolid knowing a win would put them eight points clear of Real, at least for 24 hours. “It’s five points and that gives us confidence to keep on working,” said midfielder Xavi. “However, we can’t relax and we’ll try to stretch the lead over Madrid and Valencia.” Barca have a few personnel problems in midfield with Sergi Busquets injured while Yaya Toure and Seydou Keita are at the African Cup of Nations but Xavi is confident that one of the centre-halves could step into the breach and play alongside him.

“Rafa (Marquez) has played very well

over the years and Dima (Chigrinsky) is also very skillful and Gerard (Pique) played that role at (Real) Zaragoza so there are plenty of options,” Xavi explained. Valladolid, one point above the relegation zone, have won one of their last 10 league matches and come up against an unbeaten Barcelona side that are boosted by the news that coach Pep Guardiola has agreed a new contract.

Guardiola agreed a one-year extension to his contract until the end of the 2010/11 season although the agreement will not be signed until after this summer’s elections.

Valencia have moved three points behind Real in third although David Silva admits the club don’t hold out much hope of a title challenge with Barcelona already eight points ahead. “Up to now we have done things well but we have to keep our feet on the ground,” said Silva. “The target for Valencia is the Champions League and it is important to finish third to avoid the qualifier.”— AFP